T-R-A-I-T-O-R
First Strike

Ferox had stayed in the corner of his cell the entire day.

The mysterious creature did not move from his spot, did not make any noise, but in the moments where it made brief eye contact with Mario, the plumber could see an almost human emotion of frustration and pain.

Ferox was an oddity. An hour ago, it had shape-shifted into an exact replica of Lucario, and in the next hour it was a plant-creature, its metallic leaves swaying in the nonexistent wind. And now, it was a nondescript person, its head bowed as he crouched in the corner, little wisps of silver dancing off its back. There was something hauntingly beautiful about its transformations. It was a silence dance that mocked Mario's lack of understanding about what true beauty was, as well as his fear of the unknown.

Mario noted each of its transformations down carefully on the computer and tried his best to ignore Crazy Hand, who was hiding among the crates to keep a close eye on him.

You are different than the others.

Mario struck the wrong key in his surprise and turned around. Ferox was staring at him with a great intensity that made the plumber uneasy. It stood up, liquid metal dripping from its body. Ferox tilted its head and its words resounded through Mario's head. Whenever you look at me… it is with… an odd emotion I do not understand. Your people… they look at me with the fear and hatred I deserve. Why do you feel this emotion?

Mario opened his mouth to answer, and then noticed Crazy peeking over. If he answered Ferox, the Hand was sure to run off to his older brother and rat out the plumber. He returned his attention to the computer and, as calmly as he could, pretended to type.

I know you can hear me. Ferox walked up to the bars of its cell. Slim fingers reached out, only to be jerked back by an electric shock. What is this emotion you call? The emotion you're feeling? It is odd. It is similar to sadness. What is the name of it? Mario felt a surge of anger flash through his mind. Answer me!

He would have loved to answer Ferox, but it was damned impossible as long as Crazy Hand hung around. Mario snuck a glance at the Hand before carefully typing out the words on the computer screen. Can you read this?

Ferox's eyes zeroed onto the screen and the plumber felt its satisfaction. You are the most empathetic of your people. I can sense it. You understand my plight.

Mario hesitated before slowly typing, Who are you?

I am an organic machine. An OM. My sole purpose was to be the ultimate weapon.

Mario stopped. A weapon?

You are alarmed. But you are not afraid. That is good. Ferox was beginning to melt, merging into the silver puddle at its feet. Its scarlet eyes were still fixed on the Mario. Let me out. Its voice was suddenly demanding. I cannot remain confined in here. I will die.

I can't do that, Mario typed. Ferox suddenly froze in place for a second. Its thoughts blasted in Mario's mind with an overwhelming anger.

Let me go! Are you willing to let an innocent prisoner die? A defenseless one at that? I came aboard that ship without a fight!

Mario closed the laptop, turned to Ferox, and said loudly, "I'm going to catch up with the Council." As he began to leave, chilling words echoed through his mind.

I gave you the chance to let me leave this wretched prison without any of your friends getting hurt. You will regret your decision. I promise you that.

"Damned robot," Mario muttered and slammed the door shut.

"This is humiliating," Pit said as the Waddle Dees carried them via liter. The angel was dressed in baggy disco clothes with an enormous afro wig atop his head. If someone had passed by, they wouldn't have recognized Pit at all… and would laugh their heads off at his hairdo. Dedede chuckled.

"You look fine." A sly grin broke out on the penguin's face. "Nice afro, by the way."

"Shut up," Pit snapped. "I'm nervous enough. How far is it?"

"Not far, not far. We're almost there." King Dedede stretched out on the liter. "You smell nice too."

Pit glared at him. Dedede held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Don't get a cow. Besides, it's been a while since I've had a laugh. The Council's all screwed up and everything and I barely get any breaks." Dedede rolled his eyes. "They're all arguing over nothing and the Hands are no help at all. I can't stand it. And the people who can actually change things are hanging in the corner…"

"Hey," Pit said. "Zelda's doing her best."

"Did I say anything about your girlfriend?" the king answered coolly. "Heck no."

Pit looked away. "We're just friends."

"Just friends?" Dedede asked. "I thought you two made a cute couple. Did anything go wrong?"

"It didn't work out, I guess." Pit sighed. "We sorta… fell apart. That's why we ended it I guess… sometimes I think it's my fault. I mean, I didn't really visit her as much last month and we've been out of touch."

Dedede patted the angel's hand and smiled. "Look at me, Pit. C'mon, we can't waddle around in the past right now. It's all behind us. This is the present. And you know what cliché term they use: 'Today is a gift, that's why they call it the present.'" He gave a loud laugh. "Aha! Listen to me! I sound like some idiot! Those acting classes I'm taking must be affecting my mind!"

Pit returned the smile. "I can tell."

Then it happened.

Everything went so fast that Pit didn't know what hit them. One moment he had been chatting with Dedede, and the next, he was lying on his back among the charred rubble, staring at the smoke hanging around the ceiling like thick smog. The angel barely registered the Waddle Dees running off and the huge figure slumped against the wall. He felt like he was in a dream, that nothing was real anymore, and that this was all an illusion, and that he should wake up any second now. Pit blinked, once, twice, before his senses returned to him. He turned his head to look at the figure once more and instantly sat up when he recognized it as Dedede.

Pain shot through him, forcing him to lie back down. Pit looked down and swore. A piece of sharp debris had lodged itself below his lungs. The angel slowly crawled over to the king, doing his best to ignore the pain. When he got there, he saw with alarm that Dedede was not breathing. Pit, now dizzy with the loss of blood, tried to remember what to do. Against his will, everything began to slip into darkness and his thoughts disappearing into a blank stupor.

"No," Pit muttered. "The radio…" He clung onto the frail memory like a lifeline and forced himself to stay awake. "In… the pockets…" Pit rummaged through Dedede's huge pockets and retrieved the handheld radio. His fingers clumsily fumbled for the on button and he accidentally dropped it in the process. Pit picked it up again and turned it on. In a breathless voice, he said, "Men down… two severely wounded in… in…" The words drifted away and the radio dropped from his slackening grip. Pit slumped to the ground and succumbed to unconsciousness.

The rescue team was conducted of a measly three people: Meta Knight, Ike, and Marth. The trio had been insultingly nicknamed the 'Three Musketeers', but no one ever dared to say the words in their faces. Only two people could get away with it. One of them was Master Hand. The other was Sonic.

It was a rather small team, which worried the Council members. After all, whatever had forced two veteran fighters, who were all extremely skilled, to fall back, how were the swordsmen going to accomplish the task ahead of them? Ideas were batted back and forth across the table and it all amounted to nothing. Master Hand stayed in the background, comfortable in his seat of power while the Smashers bickered among themselves.

"We could enlist the help of the Wireframes," Marth, who happened to be one of the Council members, said. "If there is any trouble, they could easily even out the odds."

"The Wireframes?" Bowser snorted. "We haven't heard from them since god knows when! I doubt that they will help us, unless we have something of value to trade. And we don't. End of discussion."

"Don't be so quick to judge," Zelda said. "They may be more than willing to help as this seems to be a threat to both of our cultures…"

"And how would you know?" Bowser countered.

"The team right now can handle it," Master Hand interrupted. "They know what to do and what not to do. I want to downsize the risks. A smaller force will be harder to detect than a large one. Besides, they'll be in and out before the enemy knows it. The element of surprise is on our side. All in favor in the plan, say 'aye'."

The Council looked at each other before a resigned chorus of 'ayes' rang through the air. Master Hand gave a thumbs up.

"Perfect. Now we can focus on the other matters that–"

The room started to shake and a huge boom resounded through the Smash Mansion. Many of the Members had jumped to their feet at the sound. Master Hand didn't waste time lingering there. He flew out of the room and was soon followed by the rest of the Council…

"Jigglypuff jiggly puff puff jiggly!" Jigglypuff shouted at the pixilated people. The Infantry and Tanks summoned from the assist trophies blankly looked at her and continued to move the stretchers at a frustratingly slow pace. Jigglypuff slapped her head and glared at Lucario.

The Pokémon said, "Quicken the pace. We need to get them to the infirmary right away." Lucario frowned. "Jigglypuff, it would be best if you go with them. I will help direct the affairs here…."

"What happened?"

The two Pokémon turned to find Master Hand and the Council standing in the hallway. Jigglypuff puffed up larger. "Jiggly, jiggly puff jigglypufff!"

"We will inform you of everything when the patients are safely moved to the infirmary." Lucario said. "Right now, you are a liability, along with the other Council members, if you do not move away. The few Smashers here are severely injured and–"

"What happened?" Master Hand repeated coldly.

"It was a bomb," a monkey, Diddy Kong, emerged from the thick smoke, holding an advanced looking computer tablet. He coughed and said, "It was a big one too. Phew…"

"You can talk now?" Bowser growled. Diddy glanced at the Koopa King.

"R.O.B. gave me lessons in English and… ah… wait… yes… uh…" Diddy Kong began to stammer at the impatient sigh Master Hand gave. "The bomb was trigged by motion, just like a motion sensor bomb. But it isn't a motion sensor bomb, if that's what you're wondering, you know." He nervously looked at his tablet. "When this device exploded, it also emitted EM waves which knocked out some of our electronic equipment and such. So, it was designed to only harm a certain area so I can guess what our bomber wanted to do."

"Do tell," Master Hand said. Diddy Kong cleared his throat.

"He, or she, wanted to knock out some of our security computers and such so we could be rendered blind. And this explosion and such is to distract us from… uh… whatever they want to do."

Master Hand floated there, fingers twitching. It wasn't a good sign. "And what do you think they want to do?"

"I'm not sure–"

"This is Snake!" Lucario's radio sprang to life. "We have a major problem down here! R.O.B.'s missing and Ferox has escaped!"

A/N: Oh, and the tension heightens XD; Enjoy and review :3