Chapter III
The Guardians of the Realms
"So you two know each other?" Midna asked Ike and Zelda as they trudge through the forest away from a battle near the castle.
"Zelda accidently found the portal leading to here one day when we were little and I happened to be there at the right moment. Good thing too because that panther would've torn you to shreds," Ike said and nudged Zelda's shoulder.
"Don't remind me," Zelda snapped.
"I thought that annoying green guard for Zelda was the guardian of our realm…" Ganon said coldly.
"He is but so is Zelda! Technically all three of you are because you possess a piece of the Trifoce. A few realms have more than one guardian either because the realm is larger than average or the guardians live in different time zones. Take Crimea for instance. Ike here is a guardian but so is Prince Marth who is in a different time zone than Ike. Marth is almost two hundred years in the past protecting Crimea but he can transport here at any time and Tabuu can attack both time zones at the same time! It's a lot of information to process but you'll see when we get to the Temple," Mario explained to all of them. Ike cut down a vine and stopped in front of a large boulder.
"Wow… no fancy statue?" Bowser asked.
"We have to keep this portal safe so why not disguise it as something plain and ugly?" Ike responded and felt around the boulder. He climbed to the top and stuck his sword into the boulder.
The ground rumbled as the boulder collapsed and replaced itself with a beautiful statue of an angel holding three objects above her.
"The triforce!" Midna said pointing out the famous triangle in the middle. The other two items look unfamiliar to Zelda except one was a key and the other a shield.
"The three most powerful objects in the galaxy; Marth has the Fire Emblem, the shield to protect Crimea against Earth Dragons and the other held by Pit; Palutena's key," Mario said as the statue glittered in the sun.
"Why are they so special besides being extremely powerful? A silly shield and key up against the mighty triforce?" Ganon asked.
"The triforce gives the one to decide fate. The key will open up any portal or possibly other galaxies and the shield makes you invincible against anything," Ike replied. He touched the triforce and the statue transformed into a portal. "If he gets all three objects he's considered the master of death perhaps because he'll only use them for destruction." Zelda heard a branch snap and pointed her bow at a man with electric blue hair holding a box. He dropped the box and took out his sword, speaking in a language that Zelda didn't understand and waved his sword around like a professional.
"Marth its fine they're friends. Look its Mario, put your sword down," Ike said to him. Marth looked at him and then pointed his sword at Mario.
"That thing is Mario?" Marth asked.
"First off I'm not a thing, pretty boy. Second we're wasting time I'm sure the others are already there," Mario replied. Marth muttered in his strange language and put his sword back into its holder and picked up the box.
"Royalty first," He said, his accent thick as he shoved aside everyone and walked into the portal.
"Cherry fellow," Ganon replied. Ike shrugged his shoulders.
"He's a spoiled brat what do you expect? Let's go before he starts his famous fit," Ike said and watched as the group entered the portal. He grabbed Zelda's arrow bag and pulled her back. Peach looked back and sneered.
"Mario told everyone Hyrule was taken over by Tabuu. How are you holding up?"
"Link is with Tabuu either dead or will be unless I go back and save him. How do you think I feel?" Zelda snapped at him.
"Zelda, I thought Link meant nothing to you."
"That was three years ago when I told you that, Ike. People grow up and he's my best friend. You left me when I needed you most so don't talk to me like we're friends." She turned and walked into the portal leaving Ike behind.
The Temple was massive and could a thousand people if there were that many guardians. It was circular and rose above a large center stage with a podium where Mario was standing talking to a woman with green hair. Zelda looked around and noticed the different guardians from other realms. Very few looked like they would belong in Hyrule let alone the two realms she visited today. Ike walked past her without a word and sat next to a man wearing a strange helmet and body suit. Zelda noticed two children playing with a weird device on a string and a snake. Ahead of her a women in a tight body suit was cleaning her weapon and talking to a man with a bandana on his head wearing a similar outfit to her. She noticed Zelda and smiled.
"So you're the famous Princess Zelda? Nice to meet you call me Samus. This is Snake," She shook Zelda's hand. Snake nodded at her and went back to talking to Samus.
"What is that you're cleaning?" Zelda asked Samus.
"This? It's a gun. I use it to stun people but you have to clean it regularly or the chances of it getting jammed is high."
"That's not a real gun." Snake held out a larger version of Samus' gun and winked at her. "This is a real gun." Samus rolled her eyes and made a gagging noise. Zelda turned and watched a creature in blue run in place, his feet moving so fast all she saw was a blur of white and red.
"That's Sonic the hedgehog. Annoying beast," Bowser said to Zelda.
"Why is he so fast?" Zelda asked.
"Hm… not really sure. All I know is he races people for stupid rings and his girlfriend is the most annoying person on the planet."
Zelda looked around and saw other weird creatures. A fox wearing a jacket, boots, and pants with something weird strapped to his head as he talked to a bird and wolf all wearing similar outfits. Across the temple stood a small green dinosaur wearing boots watching a yellow cat roll around the ground laughing as a smaller turtle splashed water on people.
"Alright! Let's start this meeting!" Mario shouted over everyone just as a blond man walked in without wearing a shirt. A few girls turned to stare as he waved to a few people and sat down near the front.
"Shulk I told a thousand times, we wear shirts in here except for the various animals or strange Pokémon," The girl with green hair said to the blond man even though her face turned red.
"Oh Palutena you love it don't lie," Shulk replied and grinned at her.
"ALRIGHT! SHUT THE HELL UP ALL OF YOU AND SIT DOWN!" Mario screamed and at once everyone took a seat. Peach sat next to Peach and Rosalina who both were holding weird fat stars. "When I call your name say here or present please. This is important for tallying the remaining realms."
"What if our realm was destroyed but someone found us beforehand?" Shulk asked.
"Well I guess you should say something about that shouldn't you?" Palutena said sarcastically.
"Hey girl I'm just saying. You need to clarify on some things," Shulk replied and examined his blade.
"Alright Bowser and his kid are here…. Captain Falcon?" Mario asked. The man sitting next to Ike stood and saluted Mario.
"Present and may I say my realm can be used as a hideout. We recently added some new protection forces," Falcon replied.
"That's nice to here, Captain Olimar?"
A tiny man wearing a weird bubble around his head and body suit waved his arms, his strange plant creatures followed his motions. "Thank you! Pikmin was the first realm destroyed by Tabuu so those nearby please watch out for any rubble or damage to the forces. Charizard?" Mario asked. An orange dragon roared and Mario checked him off. "Dark Pit?" A boy wearing a black dress with dark hair waved and sat down. "King Dedede?" A giant penguin raised his hammer and grunted. "Diddy and Donkey Kong?" Two monkeys screeched in response and the bigger one shook his head. "Ouch sad to say but Kongo Jungle has also been destroyed. Thank you Fox for saving them. Dr. Mario?"
"Here idiot thanks for almost leaving me behind," A man said who looked exactly like Mario but wore a white coat and had a circular device on his head.
"Yeah whatever. Duck Hunt?"
The room grew quiet as they looked for Duck Hunt. Fox raised his hand and stood up.
"I couldn't get there in time… sadly they never made it," Fox said and a few gasps echoed the temple. Mario stood there shocked and wrote something down on his paper.
"Falco Lombardi?"
"Present!" The bird next to Fox said.
"Alright Fox, and Ganon are here… Greninja?" Mario heard a weird noise coming from Pokemon section and checked him off. "Ice Climbers?"
Two people dressed in blue and purple shouted happily.
"Ike is here, Ivysaur I saw you earlier… Kirby?"
"Here!" A giant pink ball said and waved at everyone.
"Everyone Link is not here but he are sure that he is still alive since he is one of the only ones who can open the door to the Triforce. Little Mac?"
"Right over here and Pit found me last minute before Tabuu's army attacked so my realm is probably long gone," A small man wearing a black shirt and green shorts said.
"I'll look into it. Lucario you know what… is Mewtwo, Pichu, Pikachu, Ash, and Squirtle all here? Too many damn Pokémon guardians."
The section where majority of the exotic creatures shouted their approval and Mario checked off all their names. "Ness and Lucas?"
"Both here and Mario… Mother is gone as well. It was destroyed last night," The boy with the backpack said.
"Thank you Ness, I'll look into that as well. Lucina?"
"Always here, Mario," A girl who looked exactly like Marth replied. She flipped her hair behind her and smiled.
"Mega Man? Ah already see you. Meta Knight?"
"Here and sad to say but since the other two idiots can't talk I'll be the one to say that Dream Land is gone also."
"I noticed it this morning. Thank you, Meta Knight. Mr. Game & Watch?"
A small black figure raised his hand.
"Pac-Man?" Mario asked and heard Pac Man to his left.
"Palutena, Peach, Pit I all see you… R.O.B.?"
A robot blast beams of light from his eyes in response. "Thanks. Robin and Roy?"
The two men raised their hand and slapped Ike's back. One had hair as white as snow with a book in his hand and the other red hair with a beautiful designed chest plate.
"Samus?"
"Over here, sexy!" Samus joked and Mario blushed.
"Shulk I see you, dirty bastard. Snake? Yeah I see you too put that gun away, idiot. Sonic I already got you, Villager?" Multiple fireworks went off and everyone turned as a small child stuffed the end of the firecracker behind his back. "Lovely… anyway, Wario? Yeah yeah I see you pudgy. Wolf O' Donnell?"
"The wolf sitting next to Fox howled loudly and those sitting by him covered their ears and complained. Yoshi I already saw you we need to talk anyway and Zelda arrived with me so good we're all counted for."
"Why are even here, Mario? Tabuu is already on his way to taking the Triforce so why bother fighting him?" Meta Knight asked and majority agreed with him.
"Unlike you sorry saps I live in this galaxy and I would like to live a little bit longer. My wedding is coming up and we need to handle this like actual guardians," Mario replied.
"How are we going to be able to stop him then? Please explain this to us, big shot," Fox shouted.
"I completely agree with Fox. Here here!" Shulk shouted.
"We still have the other two objects in our possession!" Palutena shouted, her wings expanding behind her. "As long as we keep them in our hands, Tabuu won't stand a chance against all of us."
"The Triforce is the most powerful of all three!" Ganon shouted.
"Link and Zelda are the only two who can open the door to reach the Triforce. Link would never let Tabuu enter the sacred realm unless Tabuu kills him in the process."
"Then it looks like Link will be a lost cause," Lucina hollered and a few guardians laughed.
"What if rescued him?" Zelda asked and everyone stared at her.
"Wow let's just go into the same realm and stop the galaxy's biggest bad guy to save one simple hero. What a nice plan Zelda," Fox sneered.
"Link and I are the only two who can open the door… If we rescue Link then that would mean Tabuu wouldn't be able to open the door therefore we can easily stop him," Zelda shouted back.
"Zelda… as much as we all want Link here… Hyrule is in complete ruins. Tabuu is extremely powerful at the moment. We need to all get our strength back before jumping into a full out war," Mario said.
"I think Zelda has a point though. What if we send in a rescue team in a week? We'll train the best of us to grab Link and then hide him and Zelda somewhere Tabuu will never look," Rosalina suggested. "Perhaps my observatory?"
"Hmm…. That may work… but where would we all hide for the week? Most realms are in ruins or under the radar of being attacked," Shelk said.
"Um… my realm is well out of the range of fire… I am the farthest guardian from anyone and Mute City is so small Tabuu would never think to go there to look for us," Captain Falcon said. A few nods of approval from those surrounding him and Mario looked at Peach.
"We will be fighting Tabuu though won't we?" Shulk asked.
"Yes you idiot how do you think we'll beat him? Challenge him to a game of chess?" Ike joked.
"Now… we already lost one of us so I want to keep everyone together because in the end we will have to go to war with Tabuu and his army. I want to see what everyone has to offer and work on teamwork."
"Teamwork? Half of us work alone!" Someone shouted. A few people shouted in agreement and Zelda stuffed her face into her hands. Idiots…. Majority of the guardians are idiots.
"HEY armies work together all of you need to shut it. My god no wonder why half of you aren't married," Ike huffed.
"Look at yourself you're not married or seeing anyone. What the girls think you're too aggressive?" Fox sneered.
"No I actually am not found of the women in my realm," Ike cooed and looked over at Zelda. She felt her face grow hot and looked away from him.
"SHUT IT! Idiots… Captain Falcon will Mute City allow all of us to hide within the city?" Mario asked him.
"All what fifty of us? Sure why not? I want a raise though," Captain Falcon replied.
"What a great idea to throw all of us together so Tabuu will have an easier time hunting everyone down. Nice plan!" Robin shouted at Mario.
"Got any other brilliant ideas, book worm?" Wolf howled.
"Yeah I do. Let's split up and fend off our own realms and if Tabuu invades any major ones then call for backup," Robin said.
"Your own realm is destroying itself you need all the backup you can get!" Snake laughed. Zelda looked at Ike and his group who looked beyond upset at Snake's comment.
"Really everyone I think my brother has a point. If we keep everyone together we can learn about each other's strengths and weaknesses so we do have a chance of beating Tabuu. I think rescuing Link within the week is also a good idea that way if he hasn't opened the door yet then where would he go? Marth and Pit have the other two weapons and if Tabuu invades Mute City then we'll fight him there," Luigi said.
"Oh swell let's just rage war on my realm. You know my people are just as important as your mushroom headed freaks back home," Captain Falcon replied harshly.
"HEY! Say one more thing about my citizens and I'll stuff a pan up your –"
"Peach let's keep the vulgar language to a minimum," Mario cut her off and looked around at everyone. "Guys we never had to fight someone this big let alone actual work together. We hardly know one another except for the yearly reunion that no one will even attend anymore. Look at us. Half of us hate everyone and the other half only work alone. We're guardians not stuck up high school girls."
"Preach it man," Wolf shouted.
"Thank you, Wolf. Everyone Duck Hunt is dead and he was one of our own. Don't you understand that Tabuu wants to kill us not destroy our realms he rather see all of us dead. Link is somewhere inside Hyrule probably being tortured to open the door and we're sitting around acting like children. In a week we'll gather the best fighters and plan an rescue mission but this is our time to save OUR galaxy. If you aren't in then I suggest you turn in your guardianship because our job is to protect the realms not watch them turn to dust." Mario stood there as the silence closed in. Shulk stood up and started clapping slowly. Fox, Wolf and Snake also stood up and clapped before others joined in.
"Well… my fiancé isn't completely hopeless like I thought he was," Peach replied and Rosalina giggled.
"I want everyone in Mute City in an hour! If you have any close love ones please check with Captain Falcon before bringing them with you but only a maximum of three people unless you have a valuable excuse," Palutena shouted as the guardians stood up clapping for Mario.
"GUYS! Hey everyone how are we all doing? Anyway, within Mute City there is a huge race track. Please stay off of that, the city is hosting a huge celebration tomorrow evening and the mayor wants everyone off it so they can decorate it for the parade. Also, the Plaza Hotel is where I guess you can all stay in until I figure out something else and its on the corner of Hubbard and Finn so please check in there so Palutena and Mario can keep track of people. Thanks everyone!" Captain Falcon shouted and everyone whooped.
"What is a hotel?" Meta Knight asked Peach.
"A place to stay when you want to travel. You'll get your own room and people can deliver food to you when you wish," She replied.
"Wow…"
"Honestly some people are complete idiots. Ugh now I can't go back and grab extra clothes and my swimsuit," Peach complained. Zelda got up and walked over towards Midna and Ganon who were talking to Ike and Robin.
"They'll probably send Fox's team and one of you since you know the area well enough," Robin said.
"I think they should send a couple Pokémon, annoying as hell and I wouldn't mind a few dead," Ike muttered. Behind them Marth and Roy were talking in their weird language and snickering at Lucina.
"What about Mario?" Lucina asked.
"No Palutena and Mario have to stay behind. If either one of them die then we could possibly crumble," Ike replied.
"What about Pit? He can fly and he's tough," Midna suggested.
"I think Snake and Samus should go too," Zelda said and Ganon actually looked like he agreed with her.
"Yeah Snake could probably distract them with a few smoke bombs and blow up a few buildings," Robin said.
"Ike you should go. You're fast and I'm sure you can find Link faster," Lucina suggested.
"Maybe," Ike replied and looked over at Zelda. "I'm sure someone wouldn't like me in her castle though. Who knows where I'll end up." Zelda threw him a nasty looks and looked over at the other guardians speaking to Captain Falcon. She wanted to punch Ike.
"Zelda!" Peach called out. "I need you to hold onto my Luma for a bit. Mario is letting me go back for my clothes and a few things before we head out to Mute City." Peach handed her the fat Luma and waved goodbye.
"I thought they couldn't go back…" Zelda muttered.
"He lied. Mario just hates Bowser and his kid," Ike said. Just thing a loud siren went off in the Temple and Palutena looked up on the ceiling. Zelda never noticed the ceiling until now where two stars expanded above them and exploded.
"Well shit…" Snake said and sat himself down next to Zelda. "Well… at least I didn't really have anyone close back home." Zelda looked down at the Luma who was quietly sleeping when Sonic wailed. There went Sonic and Snake's realms. Zelda looked over at him sadly as people around him tried comforting him. A portal in the middle opened and Captain Falcon tried grabbing everyone's attention.
"I'm really sorry Snake and Sonic but both of your realms were really close to the Temple. I think we should get everyone who's ready to head to Mute City out of here now," Captain Falcon said. One by one, guardians lined up and walked into the portal. Palutena held onto Sonic as they walked in together. Zelda looked over at Ike and grabbed his hand.
"I don't want him to die," Zelda said and the Luma in her arms moved in his sleep. Her eyes started to fill with tears as she looked up and saw Hyrule still colored in red. Captain Falcon looked over at them, a smile curling on his face. Ike glared at him and pulled Zelda over towards the portal.
"Shove it, Falcon," Ike said and walked into the portal with Zelda and the tiny Luma in his arms. She didn't want Link to die. She couldn't imagine a world without her green hero and for the first time since being separated from her best friend she started to cry.