A/N: Okay, guys! Time for the next chappie!

Eliwood: I GOT 'EM! I GOT 'EM!

Link: WAAAAAAHOOOO! 8DDDD

Roy: HOORAY! (they dance together)

Alright! No sour faces around here! Chappie time!

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Chapter 4: Assault

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"Jeez, this is dumb..."

"We really need to come up with a better emergency plan than this..."

"Hey, until we learn how to organize a big group, this is the best we can do."

"Sheesh, how stupid..."

The said emergency plan consisted of herding the Smashers into the Foyer and taking a head count. What only made it worse was that it could happen at any time someone was considered missing. This time it was apparently before most could get to bed, as they were dressed in pajamas and nightgowns, heavily disgruntled.

"Alright, alright, settle down!" Mario called out o the crowd as he stood at the top of the second floor flight of stairs, flipping the balled tail of his nightcap out of his face. "Okay, I know everybody needs their 'beauty sleep,' so if we could all just quiet down and cooperate, we can get this done!" Getting no response, he clapped his hands repeatedly. "Yo, hey, I'm over here! Shaddap!"

Absolute silence was the result. Mario beamed in satisfaction. "Good! Now, lemme get a head count! ...One, two, thr... Hey, stop moving, I'm trying to count here!"

Marth, in blue thermal sleepwear, sighed, losing his patience. "This is ridiculous."

"Tell me about it," Link agreed, with only a simple white t-shirt, red shorts, and white socks, his normal sleep attire.

The prince eyed him dubiously. "Uh... Link? Why exactly do you have your bow and arrows with you?"

"Huh? Oh, I was target practicing before the alarm went off."

"Before bed?"

"Well, yeah." Link grinned. "Helps me relax."

Marth shook his head. "You are so weird."

"Okay, okay!" Mario brought attention back to himself again. "Okay, now, without Pit, I got a count of 25! ...Is that right...?"

"The Ice Climbers count as two, so there should be 26," Zelda answered.

"Oh!...Really? Hmm... Oh, wait, did I count myself? I don't remember..."

The entire Foyer rumbled with an annoyed groan.

"For crying out loud... Roy's missing too!" Marth called out to end the confusion.

"Oh, he is? Oh, he is! Good eye, there. So, we got ourselves two missing Smashers," Mario reviewed. "Okay, for your safety, stay put in here while I contact the local authorities..."

"Oh, come on!" came a fed-up shout, and all attention swerved over to Bowser. "Why can't we just go find them and get it over with? We're fricken' Smashers, for Koopa's sake! Who says we can't handle anything ourselves?"

A heavy boom then echoed through the large room, like a soft object colliding with thick glass. It got heads turning in all directions warily as battle instincts were beginning to set off.

"What was that?"

A shrilling scream brought all heads to Peach now, caterwauling as she pointed upwards in horror towards the slanted windows near the ceiling. Following her terrified gaze, they looked up to find some grotesque figure latched to the windows, scratching it up with vicious claws. When its grip became too strong, the glass shattered beneath it, light shimmering off the cloud of individual shards before they splintered against the floor. The beast appeared behind this cloud, suspended by cruel wings of jet black, and descended upon the Smashers in attack.

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Roy slowly came to with a groan, his head throbbing in one gathered spot near the corner of his hairline. He touched it with a single finger and hissed when only slight pressure shot warm pain through the bump that had grown from the injury. He withdrew it and bit his lip in annoyance at the bloodied fingertip he brought back.

Ignoring his wound, he sought to recollect his memories, glad when he was sure that bump hadn't messed with his brain. Then realization hit as he sat up and a light object rolled down his forehead, past his vision line, and into the palm of his gloved hand: a perfect, ivory white feather that had been callously cast away during that horrible transformation. Honoring its beauty, he smoothed its edges with his fingers, frowning regrettably. This must've been Pit's secret. He knew this would happen, he tried to warn him, but Roy was just too goddamn stubborn on getting what he wanted to care about how Pit felt. And now he was that... monster.

...No. No more wallowing in guilt. He created this mess, he was going to fix it.

Leaving the feather with its counterparts, Roy departed southward, predicting Pit's destination to be the Mansion. He grew more determined with each stride in his run, not even halting as he began his own partial transformation to equal the other's strength. One could see it in the trail he left behind in the soil as his human footsteps became clawed tracks, accompanied by thin streaks of tail swishes. As he continued, he soon began to canter on all fours, claws scraping across the dirt trail, his wings (which had remained during his respite) folded by his sides in an aerodynamic way. His snout panted your inner temperature control as the sweat pores on his skin closed up, his muscles surging with power and increasing his speed as every second passed by. Every sense within him sharpened by mind-boggling proportions, his vision piercing through the nightly gloom, his nostrils following Pit's ominous scent, and his large, pointed ears flared up in hopes of catching a clumsy noise from his prey.

With his metamorphosis complete, he dashed out of the forests and towards the Mansion, where he easily found the area of chaos.

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Chaos is what could easily describe the Foyer's current situation. The Smashers were in a state of panic as they dodged broken glass and flying claws, talons, and tail as the monstrosity that had broken in leaped about swiftly, its bloodlust unquenchable. This was just the kind of thing the Smashers couldn't quite handle themselves, not without warning, and certainly not in their PJs.

As of now, Link and Marth had ducked under the stairs, smartly avoiding detection and apart from the current melee for now.

"What the hell is that?" Marth wheezed.

"I dunno," Link breathed, and he certainly didn't want to peek out of his perfect hiding place to get a better look.

But to the elf's dismay, realization finally hit Marth. "Hey, wait a minute! You're the only one of us who's got a weapon!"

Link eyed the bow in his hands, pretending as if just noticing it. "Oh... yeah..."

"Why haven't you shot it down yet?"

"I..." Link braved a glance over his shoulder, finding the creature latched to a far wall, wings outstretched in agitation before he leaped at a random Smasher, someone out of the blonde's view. "...I dunno. Something in my gut's telling me not to..."

"You don't have to kill it, just bring it down!" Marth assured hurriedly. "But unless we get some miracle savior, you're our only hope of avoiding any fatalities!"

Link pondered this over, then notched an arrow in his bow and nodded. "...Okay. Just cover me."

"I'll try."

With that, the two jumped out of their sanctuary to take a stand against the menace. Marth stood before Link protectively as the Hylian aimed above his shoulder, his arrowhead point following the beast's rapid sprints across the walls and floors.

"Hurry up, Link!" Marth stressed.

"Hang on!" he grunted, trying not to break his concentration. "I'm trying to get a bead on 'em... Damn, he's quick...!"

"NOOO! STOP!" A sudden shout caught many's attention, and they all swerved towards the shattered front doors, where there stood a creature who looked like Roy, panting heavily. "Don't hurt him! It's Pit! I don't know what happened, but he turned into that...thing!"

"WHAAAT?"

"Are you serious?"

Link instantly lowered his bow. No wonder his instincts had been bothering him.

"What do we do, then?"

"I'll keep him at bay while the rest of you either get outta here or figure out a way to change him back!" Roy answered the demand, outstretching his wings and snarling Pit's way as a challenge. The mutated angel twisted around to face him, and the two exchanged heated stares before they both took running leaps and met in mid-air combat above the terrified and wounded Smashers. They jumped off one another, thrusting claws and baring teeth, exchanging hot blows and slowly wearing each other down.

Aware of the lack of time, more of the less courageous Smashers made a run for it, and the more compassionate lifted the injured ones away. Link and Marth were among the few who hadn't moved, the prince's mind racing at 100 mph while the elf clutched his bow, deeply horrified by the thought of almost shooting down not only a fellow Smasher, but a friend, something he'd never live down if he had done so.

"Yo! Link, wake up!" Marth's commanding voice snapped him from his thoughts. "We don't have a lotta time, here!" A tormented cry of pain turned their gazes up to the fight, where Pit had headbutted straight into Roy's ribs. Hard. The half-dragon managed to bat him away with a swing of the back of his wrist upon his opponent's head, yet doubled over with a vicious cough. "Both of them are gonna get seriously hurt unless we do something!"

"I know!" Link barked back anxiously, then began to frantically think. "Um... ah, wait... his new form, it looks dark... Maybe light will counter it!"

"Oh, right!" Marth agreed, eyeing his bow. "You've got Light Arrows, don't you?"

Link's gut churned. "...Y-yeah..."

"Then if you could get in a shot, it might reverse the process! And with Roy keeping him busy, he's an easier target!"

The Hylian's fingers subconsciously tightened around his bow. It was an ideal plan in theory, but something deep within him detested it fiercely. "W...what if I hurt him...?"

"Just don't hit him in a fatal place! Come on, Link, you gotta take him down!"

Hesitant, Link finally nodded, reaching for his special, light-powered arrow, notching it, and taking aim. Both Roy and Pit hovered in his sight, and his insides tightened in horror at the possibility of aiming wrong and striking the wrong target. Under heavy stress, he lost control of his drawn-back hand, and it lost its shaky grip and released the arrow. It flew between the two, and they both turned to watch it hit the wall in a showy flash of golden light. With his adversary distracted by bestial attraction to the light, Roy took the opportunity and rammed himself into Pit, effectively wrapping his arms and tail around him in a lock, purposely leaving him vulnerable to outside attack.

"He's open, he's open! Shoot him now!" Marth shrieked at Link, who fumbled for another arrow. "Come on, hurry!"

"I-I know, I'm going as fast as I...!" Highly distressed, Link barely managed to set up another arrow and lift it again, his aim terribly shaky. Seeing the twisted Pit struggling to escape Roy's hold on him, Link could not bring himself to shoot. He stood still, wide eyes gripped with agony.

"Goddammit!" Marth cursed, snatching the bow from his hands and taking inexperienced aim. His shot, however inaccurate it was, held no hesitation, and turned out to be extremely effective.

The magic arrow pierced Pit's hip, releasing a shrilling roar of defeat as the beast convulsed to the spirals of light that spawned from the arrow and entered his body. Roy withdrew, and him and the rest watched the victim's figure as it became enveloped within a blinding golden glow. A burst of energy released a cloud of pure white feathers into the air, one of which Roy caught and gazed over silently in the palm of his clawed hand, awed.

There came a soft thud before the light died down, and he looked down to find his former enemy on the marble stone, lying gracefully like a shot dove upon his side. All of his gruesome features were gone, with only his ripped white tunic left as their trace. The dark dragon wings were replaced by his original angel wings, flowing behind him like a white dress. He laid in a puddle of a dark substance, most likely blood, slowly sprawling outwards.

There were shouts of surprise as most began to gather around him or move others towards the Hospital Wing. Link, who had been rigid in disbelief of his inaction, was the only one who noticed Roy descend, looking tuckered out, so he hurried over and caught the mamkute before he could collapse.

"You alright, Roy?" he asked, concerned.

"...unh... yeah, terrific, thanks," he groaned in response, leaning against Link, exhausted. "Hold on to me." The elf did so, watching as Roy silently ordered his own alteration back to his original form. His snout pushed in and claws and wings retracted as he melted back into a human, though he remained conscious, as the partial form took less energy. Once it was done, he asked tiredly, "...how is he?"

"Huh?"

"How is he...?"

"Who, Pit? I dunno, I came to you first." Link glanced towards the mob. "Hopefully they're doing something over there besides staring at him."

Roy lifted his heavy gaze that way, sighing deplorably. "...I'm sorry, Pit," he whispered to himself. "I really am."

Link paused, then slung Roy's arm over his own shoulder, getting off one knee. "Come on, let's get you to the Hospital Wing."

Roy complied at first, attempting to stand, but a sharp cry of pain and the buckling of his knees told Link that it wasn't gonna happen. He knelt beside Roy as the half-dragon bent over and clutched his ribs with his free hand, his other clamping to his friend's shirt. The immense pain was clearly seen on his face, contorted in a cringe.

Link looked around quickly for help, spotting Peach making her way out. "Yo, Peach!"

The mushroom princess twirled around quickly. "Yes?"

"Are you getting a stretcher for Pit?"

"Yes, he's awfully shaken and hurt."

"Could you get one for Roy too? He ain't exactly doing too well either."

"Of course." She hurried away with others to fetch their needs.

Link turned back to Roy, who was still caught up in his pain, but was now whispering "I'm sorry" over and over again, his grasp on the elf's shirt noticeably tighter. Link frowned, holding him a bit closer in some comfort.

"...I'm sorry, too."

Meanwhile, those still capable of standing stood above Pit in diminishing fear and increasing worry. The little angel looked not demented, but tortured, his clothing near torn to shreds and stained by the same dark substance, his sepia locks a ratted mess, his bare limbs battered and bruised, and his hands and feet limp from fatigue. His face was innocently tired, like a slumbering child, wiping away the thought of the youth mutating and attacking them ruthlessly.

Few had actually gotten down to inspect his injuries, and among those was Marth, who was puzzled by the inky liquid flowing out of his wounds. The cobalt traced a finger through the fluid and eyed it closely on his tip. It was black and warm as tar, but syrupy and metallic-smelling, just like...

"...unh..."

"Hey, he's coming too!" Mario exclaimed as Pit stirred, moaning ever so softly. He began to shiver on the stone floor, curling further into his fetal position as he whimpered softly, like a child awakening from a bad dream.

"Shh, shh, it's alright," Marth found himself comforting the poor thing, taking one of his limp hands. It was shockingly cold, but firmly took his. At last, Pit cracked his scared eyes open, half-lidded in weakness, glancing up into the young concerned face of Marth and round, perplexed face of Mario.

"Hey, you," the latter greeted, looking as if in shock. "What the heck happened to you?"

Pit didn't answer this, trying to turn over when a flash of pain stopped his progress. When he glanced down, he squealed in terror at the arrow planted in his side.

"Calm down, I'll get it out," Marth assured, getting a tight grip before yanking it out with the expected nasty noise and howl of pain. He eyed the bent, close to broken weapon. "It's a... well, was a light arrow. Guess it took all its magic to change you back."

"Ch-change me ba..." Pit repeated breathlessly, but it did little to ease his anxiety. "Oh, no... oh no, no, no... I'm sorry... I-I... so sorry..." Tears began running rivers down his face.

Mario tried his question again. "What happened to you? What was that?"

"...sorry... so sorry..."

"Give it a rest, Mario," Marth dismissed him and continued his soft approach. "Pit, it's alright. Whatever it was, it obviously wasn't you, so you didn't do anything wrong..."

"...d-did I hurt anybody...?"

"Well..." Marth paused. Lying about that would get nothing done. "...y-yes, there was injury, but..."

But Pit didn't hear the end of it as his wracked sobs took over. "N-no, I... I hurt... oh, no, I'm so sorry..."

Marth bit his lip nervously. That wasn't the response he was hoping for. But a surprising save came from the usually clueless plumber beside him, beaming. "Hey, it's all good. At least you didn't kill no one!"

Pit's damp glossy eyes snapped his way. "I...I didn't?"

"Nope. From what I can tell, the worst you delivered was property damage. Everything else, we can recover from. We're Smashers, after all!"

"We... got to you before you could seriously hurt anyone," Marth elaborated comfortingly. "Don't you worry about that."

Pit let out a massive sigh of relief, or as massive as it could be in his weakened state. Marth smiled, glad to have brought him some solace.

Mario beamed, equally satisfied. "Yep! And that last bit was mostly thanks to Roy over there." He scooted over and jacked a thumb. "He kept ya at bay so no one else would get hurt."

Pit slumped his head that way to spot the half-dragon some ways away, being lifted onto a stretcher. He looked awfully hurt and cried out in terrible pain when they tried to move him. Seeing this, Pit felt his eyes well up again with heavy guilt.

"Oh... R-Roy... I'm... so..."

"Pit?" Marth noticed his wavering consciousness. "...Get your rest. We gotta get you to the Hospital Wing too."

"T...tell..."

"Huh?"

"...t-tell him... I'm sorry..." he pleaded in a voice barely able to be heard, and then he let his consciousness slip away.

Marth sighed. "...he's out."

"Hmm, alright. Then let's move him onto the stretcher." Mario took him by the knees. "You got 'em?"

"Yeah," Marth responded, his hands under Pit's arms, and the two lifted him up and onto the hard mobile bed, and he was quickly wheeled away with the others. The commotion soon migrated out of the Foyer, and a few were still left surveying the damage. After watching them roll out Roy, Link slowly approached Marth from behind, though he was a bit frightened to.

"...Hey."

"Huh?" Marth turned to face him, and it seemed what had happened between them slipped his mind for the time being. "...oh, right. Here." He casually held up the bow, which Link took, a bit baffled. Regardless, he let it go for now and found himself staring down at where Pit once laid.

"What's that black stuff?" he asked with slight revulsion. "It's not Pit's blood, is it?"

Marth sighed. "It was coming out of his wounds, so... it is."

"Ugh..." His fine nose scrunched up. "An angel with black blood...?"

"...Hmmp. Guess this is that deep, dark secret you were talking about."

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A/N: Woof... is it just me, or are my chappies getting longer and longer?

Link: WEEEEEEEE (running in circles)

Roy: O.o I think you got him TOO much, Dad.

Eliwood: Yeah... I'll go working on that. (drags Link away)

Review please!