Author's Note: So I have decided to continue the story. I might change the title to more accurately reflect the plot, but for now it stay's the same.
Special thanks to Flying Chariot for encouraging me to take this up.
As a serious Fire Emblem fan, I felt obliged to give the FE characters a little more exposure in this story. To make things clear, the timeline I followed here is that Lucina has married the male Avatar (who I shall call Robin here for simplicity), and Morgan is their daughter.
And no, there will not be any cross-universe pairings in this story.
The chapters will also be a bit shorter than in my other stories; this one is going to be on the long end compared to others.
"Ugh," Chrom grunted as he watched his daughter and tactician attacking Captain Falcon. He tried to push himself up to help them, but his injuries were too great.
He had seen the letter for himself, and while he was proud of his Lucina being invited, it had been rather irritating to be ignored. Until Captain Falcon had shown up. Now that the bounty hunter had solidly beaten him, Chrom resigned himself to his exclusion. "I suppose I'll get my chance...another day..." A wave of pain surged through him and he grit his teeth, temporarily abandoning his efforts to rise.
"No, yours comes today, Chrom, Exalt of Ylisse," a voice said above him. He was suddenly surrounded in a golden aura and he could feel his injuries fading. The fighting had stopped as Robin and Lucina turned to face the newcomer. Meanwhile, Captain Falcon backed further away.
"Do not think you are going anywhere, Falcon," Master Hand called, noticeably irritated. "Fighting with other contestants before the tournaments begin is against the rules! As a veteran, I would think you understand that!"
"Sorry, Master Hand, but there's no harm in a little fun, is there? Know your opponent, that's the strategy to win!"
"Harm? Have you not seen the damage you have inflicted on this man? This is not Smashverse, Falcon, my protective powers have no hold here!"
Captain Falcon said nothing more, but instead let his gaze slowly drift towards Lucina while Master Hand continued to heal Chrom's injuries. The deity, unfortunately, noticed.
"Haven't you caused enough strife already, Falcon? Off with you, now!" He flicked his index finger and Captain Falcon fell backwards through a portal that had opened behind him. "My apologies. Always reckless and looking for a fight, that one is."
"Who are you?" Chrom demanded, finally able to stand. Lucina rushed to help him stand.
"I am Master Hand, creator and ruler of Smashverse. I believe you understand why I am here, no?"
They nodded. "Well then, we should not delay any further. I am, unfortunately, extremely busy. Follow me, please." He opened up a portal with his fingers and beckoned them to follow.
"Wait, what about our realm? And our friends?" Lucina asked. "And Morgan," she thought.
"Your kingdom will be safe whilst you are gone," Master Hand assured them. "I will not allow other worlds to fall into chaos on account of my tournament. As for your daughter, you will see." Lucina's face had gone ashen at that. "Oh," Master Hand chuckled, "I do not read minds, Princess. Decades of experience with creation have familiarized me with the human personality on the most intimate of levels. I assure you, I merely create; I do not, and cannot, manipulate what has been made. Now we must be going."
"Pardon me, but could I have a word with her before she leaves?" Chrom asked.
"Take your time. I shall open another entrance - " Master Hand passed Chrom a note " - here, and you are free to enter when you wish. As for saying goodbye, Chrom, it is unnecessary. Robin and Lucina both accepted only on the condition that you accompany them. Farewell for now, contestants. I must be going."
And he departed, the portal closing behind him, leaving a stunned Chrom and beaming Robin and Lucina in the Arena Ferox, which had strangely repaired itself during their conversation.
Smashverse
"Ah, Bass, I presume?" It was not Master Hand who addressed the robot, but a different one. This one twitched and moved erratically, occassionally clenching in a death grip, and radiated a dark aura. "I am Crazy Hand, the brother of Master Hand. Since he did not expect your arrival so soon - and you know he is a busy being - he requested that I show you around instead. If you will follow me." It wasn't a request, but a command. Bass grudgingly obliged; if he was going to be a part of this tournament, he'd have to play by other people's rules...for now.
Once he had been shown his room and Crazy Hand left, Bass started to wander around the mansion and grounds again. Over the course of the next few hours the place started to become more populated; it appeared as though the newcomers had moved in first.
Bass sat in the shadow of a tree at the far edge of the front lawn, observing the other Smashers getting to know, and in some cases, reacquainting with each other. He grit his teeth angrily when he recognized Sonic, who was in animated conversation with Mega Man and winged boy that Bass didn't know.
Before he knew it, he was on his feet. Treble followed at his heels. Rage pulsed inside of him. He could come to grips with losing to Mega Man - while the latter might win in a one-on-one, Bass had accomplished feats not even Mega Man could, or at least beaten the Blue Bomber to it. But his pride refused to let him stand defeat to another.
"Pika!" A small yellow creature yelped as he stepped on it. Bass ignored Pikachu and kept marching towards the group.
Meanwhile, some of the other contestants had noticed the newcomer striding wordlessly and angrily into their midst. Bass changed his arm into his buster as he drew closer.
Meanwhile Pikachu was growing rather irritated with this stranger who had unceremoniously stepped on him without apology. A cloud formed over Bass and a second later a thunderbolt shocked him. Treble tackled Pikachu in the next instant while Bass turned to examine him.
"What sort of freak is this supposed to be?" He never got the chance to shoot though, as several other creatures soon had Treble surrounded. They remained mute, but their message was clear. Reluctantly Bass signaled Treble to drop Pikachu, who yelled "Pika!" after them angrily but did no more.
"Well, there's one way to make a first impression," Sonic grumbled from behind him. "Though I would say it's not a good one."
Bass turned to face him. "What do I care of impressions? All that matters to me here is victory and becoming even stronger. And speaking of victories - " he re-equipped his buster " - you're a dead rodent for that last one."
"What, when we beat you on the Wily Egg? Pfft, you don't stand a chance now, not without Metal Sonic to help you."
"Why don't you go ahead and give it a try then? Afraid you'll lose?" Bass lunged for Sonic's neck, but the hedgehog vanished in a blur.
"I'm not even warmed up, and already you're too slow!" he taunted, spinning his legs.
"Why you - ! I'm going to flatten you into roadkill!" Bass's golden highlights turned green and yellow.
"No!" Mega Man suddenly tackled him from out of nowhere, using Super Arm to hold him down. Treble leapt on him and clamped his jaws on his neck, causing the Blue Bomber to gasp and relinquish his grip as he tried to pry the vicelike jaws apart.
Bass grinned wickedly in triumph as he spread his hands. "Astro Crush!" The sky darkened and the contestants looked up to see a meteor shower descending on them.
"Naga!" Lucina exclaimed. "What is this sorcery?! The very sky is falling on us!"
"That's it. He needs to be stopped." Robin started forward, drawing his sword.
"Robin, no! He'll destroy you!" Lucina started after him.
"We don't need to kill him, just stall him long enough for Master Hand to get here and put an end to this madness! Now come on!"
Before Lucina could protest further, another voice said, "I'm with you, Robin! Let's take this hothead down a peg!" To their surprise, Captain Falcon was running alongside them, as was a green-haired woman and two blonde youths, one with a sword and shield and the other with a strange-looking energy blade.
But their intervention was proven quite unnecessary at that moment.
"ENOUGH!" Master Hand yelled, so loudly that the contestants nearest to him were knocked off their feet. With a wave of his hand, the Astro Crush vanished.
"What has been happening here?" he demanded. When nobody answered, he sighed.
"Such is the trouble of bringing so many diverse personalities together," he grumbled, before raising his voice again. "I gave you a chance to reveal yourselves, troublemakers. Now, you will face the consequences for having the nerve to start a fight under my nose and not admit it." He grabbed several of them and unceremoniously threw them inside the mansion before slamming the door, though it didn't really matter. His yelling was so loud it was visibly shaking the building.
"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT?! NO FIGHTING OUTSIDE OF THE ARENAS! SONIC, PIKACHU, I EXPECTED BETTER FROM YOU, AND FOR YOU TO REMIND OUR NEWCOMERS OF THAT!"
"Boy, I've never seen him that angry," Pit remarked. Some of the other veterans muttered assent.
"DO NOT THINK YOU ARE OFF THE HOOK BECAUSE OF THIS, BASS!"
Robin cleared his throat. "Well, as long as we are here, we may as well make acquaintances with each other. My name is - "
"THEN CONTROL YOUR TEMPER BETTER! THERE IS NO EXCUSE! PERIOD!"
"I think," Dark Pit remarked slowly, "introductions will have to wait. Besides, this is far too entertaining to miss out on." Behind him, a loud bang made everyone jump. Apparently Master Hand had pounded himself into the floor in frustration.
The fighters had awkwardly dispersed as the yelling got even louder if that was possible.
Mega Man had sat down in the garden, contemplating what was going to happen. Rush was lying by his feet, and Beat was flying between the trees. It was quiet here, but despite the serenity he was quite worried about what would happen to them; Master Hand did not look like a figure easily perturbed. At least, they would be suspended from matches for some time, if not evicted and sent home.
"Wait, why am I worrying about Bass?" Despite the fact they'd been on the same side recently, Mega Man was no fool even if he gave chances too willingly. He knew Bass was doing it for his own purposes. And Bass had taken his trust when they first met and slapped him in the face with it. That recollection still made him angry.
"But others have said that he has the same potential to see right and wrong. We can't all be hopelessly optimistic."
"Regardless of his potential, his basic programming is to terminate me." No robot had complete free will; even Mega Man himself. While Dr. Light had never verbally forced him to do any fighting, he had programmed his son with the sense of justice to compel him to do so, time and time again, against ever-greater obstacles and odds. Just like there were mental reactions that humans couldn't avoid, so there were instincts even Robot Masters were bound to.
Beat chirruped and spread his wings as he jumped from another tree. Suddenly a stone struck him and he fell to the ground. A girl's laughter rang out. "Gotcha!"
"Morgan!" Another voice, also female, but slightly older-sounding. "Behave yourself! We are here as guests!" Beat shook off the hit and tried to take flight again, only for another stone to hit him.
"Morgan, I'm warning you!"
"Oh come now, mother, this is Smashverse! A few stones won't damage it, not with Master Hand's protections present. Besides, I don't throw hard, just well."
Mega Man picked up a faint sigh of frustration. "It's not polite to injure other people's companions, regardless of how much damage it physically does!"
"He can't be injured, he's a machine!"
"Um, if I may interrupt," Mega Man started, for he sensed Lucina might be on the verge of losing her temper, "It's fine. Beat's a tough bird; he's been through worse."
"Be that as it may, I apologize for my daughter's lack of sensitivity. Go to your room, Morgan."
"You mean our room? And this isn't your house!"
"Morgan, don't make me tell your father about this!"
"Okay! I'm going!" she disappeared down the path, whistling to herself. Lucina waited until the sound had faded before speaking again. Rock, meanwhile, told Rush and Beat to head back to their room.
"I apologize for the poor first impression my daughter has made. I am Princess Lucina of the Halidom of Ylisse."
"Heh, a newcomer too?" Mega Man asked. "My name's Rock, but they call me Mega Man."
"But there's nothing 'mega' about you," Lucina said without thinking. She turned slightly red a second later. "Apologies, that was rude of me."
But Rock just laughed. "Nah, it's fine, I get that all the time. I was named after my primary weapon, the Mega Buster. Anyways, pleasure to make your acquaintance, your Highness."
"O-Oh, um, well, Princess or Lucina is fine. I'm not one for long, fanciful titles."
"I stand corrected." Mega Man bowed slightly. "So, you must have a story too, right?"
"Well, it...it's not something I want to talk about right now." Now it was his turn to be embarrassed. Of course he should have figured that not everyone would have a history like his.
"I'm sorry for being pushy. You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to." He sat and she stood in silence for a few moments. "Wanna sit down?" He moved aside slightly to make room for her on the stone bench.
"Um, I don't think that would be proper, seeing as I already have a husband."
"Come on now, your husband must trust you more than that otherwise he would have been following you! I don't have any intentions, I swear."
Well, it couldn't hurt to be polite. So Lucina set herself down.
"Ooooh!" Morgan suddenly leapt out of a nearby bush. "Alone with another man! Just wait until Father hears about this!" She scampered off, cackling gleefully and leaving both of them very red in the face.
"Excuse me, I think I should be going," Lucina said quickly before picking herself up and walking hurriedly after her daughter. Mega Man nodded in understanding, but if she caught the movement she didn't acknowledge it.
"That darn girl is going to start spreading gossip around, and it's only the first day. What did I get myself into..." He gave Lucina a few minutes to put some distance between them before following the path back to the mansion.
Morgan was still laughing when she emerged from the garden foliage ahead of her mother, who was yelling for her to come back.
Suddenly she ran into something solid and metallic.
"What's so funny, little girl?" Bass growled. "And you shouldn't be here; this world is not for weak children."
"So? Who needs strength when you have wisdom?" Morgan asked cockily.
"Wisdom? If you had any wisdom, you'd have done well to avoid running into me." Bass grabbed her arm as she tried to run past. "I don't think so. You say your brains will conquer my strength? Well, why don't we put that to the test?"
Lucina emerged from the garden path to see her daughter in the grip of none other than the gold-and-black robot from earlier. Without hesitation, she drew Falchion and rushed him. "Let her go, or I will make you pay!"
Lucina saw a flash of dark purple before she was intercepted mid-rush and tackled by Treble. Falchion spun from her hands back into the thick foliage of the garden.
Bass roared with laughter. "Foolish woman, you're no smarter than your daughter!"
Treble snarled but made no further moves. Lucina tried to push the wolf off of her, but he was a lot heavier than she'd expected, and it didn't help her resolve when she saw that his fangs and claws looked sharp enough to rival Falchion's edge.
Meanwhile Bass had lifted Morgan off the ground by her arm and was studying her as though trying to determine what would hurt most without leaving lasting injury, ignoring her protests. He set her on the ground but kept a firm grip on her arm after she started yelling about her arm being dislocated.
With a suddenly surge of effort Lucina shoved Treble off of her and rushed Bass. He didn't even look as he raised his buster and fired a charged shot. Lucina rolled to avoid it and rammed the android with her shoulder, causing herself a considerable amount of pain in the process but dislodging Morgan from Bass' grip.
"Going somewhere? Oho, I don't think so!" Suddenly Lucina's armor felt a dozen times heavier. Falchion's empty scabbard weighed a ton. She took a few more steps forward and collapsed, her legs unable to support the extra weight, pushing Morgan away from her with as much force as she could muster in the process. Meanwhile the powerful magnet inside Bass' buster was slowly drawing her back, and with nothing to grab her hands on, she was helpless to resist.
"Morgan, run!" she screamed. "Don't worry about me! I'll manage!"
She wouldn't and they both knew it. But Morgan took off towards the mansion anyway. Bass tried to magnetize her too, but she was already out of range and didn't have anything metallic on her. He cursed. He'd have to make do with just one.
"Lucina, the time-traveling heroine of Ylisse," he mocked. "Give me a break; this is all it takes to make a hero in your world?" He kicked her hard in the solar plexus as she tried to rise, knocking the wind out of her even though the blow was cushioned by her armor. "Pathetic."
Lucina did not bother to rise again, instead taking the time to catch her breath and try to figure a way out of it. But all she could think of was how foolish she'd been. The shame of certain defeat licked at her insides like a burning fire. What was she thinking? She'd seen his power firsthand, even cautioned Robin against fighting it, and had stupidly challenged him one-on-one! The burning shame within her was now a raging inferno.
"Not so high and mighty without your precious sword, huh?" Bass kicked her hard enough to send her flying back towards the garden. Lucina slid to a stop at the edge of the foliage and suddenly spotted Falchion glinting from just a few feet away. Summoning her will, she scrambled to her feet and dove for her sword, Bass' rapid-fire shots flying all around her. One struck her already-sore shoulder as she picked up Falchion, almost causing her to drop it in pain, but she held firm. She would not yield so long as hope remained. She would see to it that she was avenged for her embarrassment.
"And now," she turned to him with a look of purest loathing, "let's truly see which one is stronger!"
Bass chuckled. "You never learn, do you?" Nothing visibly happened, but Lucina felt her armor tugging at her again, and her sword too. Slowly, inexorably, she was being drawn back towards Bass. She tried to swing her sword, do something to stop this power, but the sword remained locked on its bearing like a compass needle pointed towards north. She only succeeded in losing her footing and falling face first at Bass' feet. Spitting out a mouthful of dirt, she ducked back down just in time to dodge Bass' kick and counterattacked with a swipe that slashed parts of both of his feet off. Bass lost his footing and fell to one knee.
Lucina gave him no respite before kicking him backwards and jumping in the air with Falchion held behind her, ready to deliver a devastating blow. But Bass had outwitted her again. He did a clumsy jump as his golden highlights changed to white and grey, and he did a spin while slashing his arm in a horizontal motion, a blade of pure energy following its path.
There was no avoiding it. She couldn't fight gravity. The Tengu Blade slashed through Lucina's armor and flesh like paper. The cut it left in her wasn't deep owing to the small length and width of the blade, but he had slashed straight across her stomach. Lucina tumbled to the ground, gasping in pain. Falchion spun away again.
Bass watched his vanquished opponent lay on the ground, bleeding and in pain. He felt a twitch of sympathy as he thought back to when the Roboenza virus had overcome him. She must be feeling the same way right now. Broken, ashamed, and utterly helpless. Treble had saved him then; otherwise, he wouldn't be here. The episode had taught him that even the most powerful couldn't go it alone. Another feeling came to the surface as a moan of pain escaped Lucina's lips. Pity.
And then something strange happened. He switched to a weapon he'd copied only because he was too lazy to micromanage the mass copying of weapon data from Wily's archives: Plant Barrier. He hesitated another second before kneeling down over Lucina and turning her so her wound was facing him.
"G-Get o-off - " she feebly attempted to push him away with one arm, but he held her down. He summoned the barrier and four brightly-colored petals flowed out of his buster and surrounded him. He seized one of the petals and placed it over the wound in her stomach. He didn't know what he was doing, or if it would even work. Plant Man's weapon synthesized plant tissue, not animal tissue. Bass wasn't a biologist, but he was fairly certain that the two didn't mix. Still, the parallels to his collapse from Roboenza were too numerous for him to turn heel and walk away.
To his and Lucina's astonishment, the instant the barrier touched her mangled skin, it bonded to it, covering the wound. The combination of energy, cytoplasm, and organic compounds began to break down, her body using the material to regenerate the damaged tissue. Bass applied the other three petals and another whole Plant Barrier before he was certain that the wound had healed. Meanwhile, Treble had retrieved Falchion and, with some difficulty, slid it back into its scabbard. Once he was satisfied that she was healed, Bass stood and suddenly walked away from the stunned princess.
"Um..."
"Nothing happened just now, got it? I won't speak of this to anyone, and neither will you. I never helped you." With a swish of his cloak he and Treble disappeared into the night.
With the energy imbued by the Plant Barrier petals spent, Lucina fell back to the ground, her body exhausted from the strain the treatment had placed on it. The thought that she should return to her room before sleeping flitted across her mind briefly. Oh well, this wasn't a bad place to sleep either. Her last thought was that she didn't even ask the name of her opponent and unexpected savior.
And so the story truly begins. I apologize for the Fire Emblem bias in storytelling for those of you disappointed by it. Other characters from other franchises will make appearances, however, the main characters will still be Bass and Mega Man, and there is a secondary emphasis on the FE characters for reasons that will become apparent later.