Minor edit on 10 Jan 2018.
A/n: And here is our final ragtag group!
Chapter summary: Subspace's influence begins to become apparent as our two parties are intercepted by twin sieges.
Chapter Three: Twin Sieges
"Take that, you monster!"
"Hrgh! What is your problem?"
"You betrayed me!"
"Excuse me? Hrk!"
"You were planning to eat me! That's why the other Pokémon were afraid of you—they knew you were dangerous!"
"Argh! Hold your fire! You are mistaken. I mentioned my calibre, yes? Why your instincts told you to flee? That is due to my power alone—I have neither the desire nor need to deceive other Pokémon. I would especially not like to waste time engaging in idle talk."
"…You're telling the truth? Why are you so strong, then?"
"That is a separate tale altogether, capricious one. But if you look around, you'll see that we are no longer where we used to be…"
*.*.*.*.*
Olimar thanks his lucky stars for perhaps the millionth time that his Pikmin had accompanied him to this strange new realm.
He's also glad that he has acquired a companion who can talk and doesn't need to be issued orders. A tall, imposing companion, but a companion nonetheless. He is also just about as lost as himself, which will make confiding any confused ramblings in a modicum less embarrassing.
His name is Captain Falcon. Upon their first meeting the previous day, the first thing that struck Olimar was his size—perhaps three times his own height, but, when he thought about it, much smaller than he expected any other species to be. The second thing was that they were both 'captains'. However while he was more specialised in exploration, he had learned that Falcon was involved in racing—something he could never imagine himself handling very well at all.
These pleasant surprises had become small mercies in orientating himself in this new world—a village called Orfan, as far as he could see (literally—the village was surrounded by a dense pine forest). Knowing that he wasn't alone was making the whole experience somewhat less overwhelming. That and the fact that he had different types of Pikmin with him, which might prove strategically advantageous in the near future.
Earlier today they'd met a set of four strange characters (though by now, he shouldn't really be considering anything strange—he's seen it all): a child with a sword, an anthropomorphic wolf, a bipedal feline and some sort of electric mouse. Turned out they were in the same situation as himself and Falcon—complete strangers that suddenly appeared out of thin air—and they're currently about to leave the village to reach their respective portals back home.
It's all very surreal.
"Hurry up, kid!" Wolf shouts. He crosses his arms, watching as the child swordsman, Link[1], reluctantly walks away from a nearby window sill. "You had the opportunity to look at shiny things yesterday."
"I was confused!" Link complains. "None of it sunk in."
"Do you want to go home or not?"
Link looks at his feet sheepishly. "It'd be nice to bring something home."
Wolf sighs.
Captain Falcon snickers and says to Link, "You'd better make it quick."
Olimar hears a triumphant "Yes" as Link rushes back to the window sill. He turns around and for a minute he's lost Mewtwo and Pichu, but then he spots them sitting very still on a bench on the other side of the street. Despite their proximity, neither is making eye contact and Olimar feels the awkwardness radiate off them.
It takes a minute for Link to return with a small package and a wide grin on his face. Mewtwo stands and Pichu leaps off the bench.
"Are we ready to go?" Mewtwo asks.
"Outta my way!" a voice yells.
Without further warning, a cart comes speeding down the street. It swerves into Link, throwing him hard against a nearby wall and Olimar's heart nearly out of his chest. Olimar tries leering after the driver but the vehicle's metallic cargo manages to reflect the sunlight directly into his eyes.
Luckily for any other potential crash victims, the street is mostly empty. The cart rounds the bend and disappears. Link is dazed but indignant and once he's regained his senses, a fresh bout of anger blossoms when he sees he's dropped his package.
Olimar does a quick headcount of his Pikmin before staring at Link.
"You're not hurt?" he asks, dumbfounded. "But that vehicle was going so fast."
Link eventually realises he's being talked to and stops grumbling under his breath about his souvenir.
Wolf unleashes a gravelly sigh. "You'll need a check-up. I don't want a dead kid on my hands, right now."
"Don't worry, I'm fine."
Wolf growls and barely resists baring his fangs. Link holds up his hand in surrender.
"This road is obviously not meant for vehicles," Mewtwo observes, noting the assortment of obstacles that clutter the road as if it were an abandoned alleyway. "Something isn't right."
Pichu squeaks softly in agreement.
"Let's get some aid. Before anything else happens."
*.*.*.*.*
The six emerge from the medical centre no worse for wear, Link having passed the assessment of the village doctor and his enthusiastic Infernape.
"Told you I was fine," Link teases.
"Good," Wolf says curtly.
"We can meet up with guide now, right?" Olimar asks apprehensively, before doing a quick headcount of his five Pikmin to calm his nerves.
"If nothing else happens..." Wolf mutters.
They walk down the main street in silence, headed for the village entrance where the guide Captain Falcon arranged for would be meeting them.
Some minutes later, the ground begins to vibrate erratically. They hear screams from ahead and a cloud of dust blows past their feet.
Wolf releases a grating sigh.
Link, who decides he's had enough of Wolf's lack of enthusiasm, runs ahead. Pichu is on his heels.
"What are you doing?!" Olimar cries.
"We're gonna help!" Link responds. He unsheathes his sword.
"It might be dangerous!"
"Exactly!"
The pair are about to round the bend but they stop in their tracks. The two captains quicken their pace. Mewtwo and Wolf reluctantly follow.
"Well, then," Falcon deadpans when they've caught up.
A large, bipedal robot is pacing around the village entrance, kicking up dirt with each tremendous step. The villagers are fleeing up the main street. There's triumphant cackling coming from the robot's direction.
"This robot is your guardian, now!" the cackler announces.
"He sounds awful already," Link growls. "Come on, you guys!"
"Oh no," Wolf argues. "Do you want to get home or not?!"
Link shoots him a searing glare before charging ahead again with Pichu.
"C'mon, man," Falcon says to Wolf, "kids will be kids. All we can do is help them not get hurt." With that, he hurries after Link and Pichu.
"The robot is blocking the village entrance," Mewtwo finally. "I don't think we'll be leaving before someone deals with it."
"Does it have to be us?" Olimar laments. He looks on forlornly before eventually rallying his Pikmin and hurrying onward.
Mewtwo gives one last piercing look at Wolf.
"We can't help playing babysitter, can we?"
"No."
So they advance.
*.*.*.*.*
Popo arrives at Jigglypuff and Lucario's room and is very relieved to find them there, after having walked past Snake and Roy's empty one.
"Where's Snake?" he asks them. "I didn't find him in his room this morning."
"He left to scout out some information," Lucario says. "Unfortunately I am not familiar enough with his aura to locate him."
Jigglypuff squeaks and her thought shortly follows. "You look like you've been out and about, Popo." Lucario had spent the morning attempting to facilitate a psychic channel for Jigglypuff to speak to their party through, and had partially succeeded after significant mental effort on both their parts. She'd still need to calibrate it to Snake once he returned.
"Yeah, I asked what people knew about the robot and if they had any countermeasures against it. I don't know who is in charge around here, so I just asked some random people at the market. Apparently, this siege was a complete surprise and there is no formal defence force to speak of."
"Are the people alright?" Jigglypuff asks.
"There was no evidence of panic. Significantly fewer people at the market than yesterday, though."
Jigglypuff almost appears to deflate.
"No defence, you say?" says Lucario.
"No. Not anywhere in this land, in fact. I find it unusual."
"Agreed. Thank you for your diligence, Popo." Lucario nods her head and Popo finds it appropriate to return the gesture. "Where is your sister?"
"As much energy as she displays during the day, she likes to sleep in late. She'll be very awake once I remind her that we've got people to rescue."
Lucario laughs. "You'd better go do that."
Popo disappears from the doorway, leaving Lucario and Jigglypuff alone.
"I feel bad for doing nothing to help," Jigglypuff says.
"Well, we can't know how these people would react to creatures like us, one of whom can speak through minds."
Jigglypuff lets out a deflated sigh. They hear a yell from the other side of the wall.
"Why the hell didn't you wake me up earlier, Popo?!"
They don't hear the reply, but they do see Nana burst through the doorway.
"Good morning!" she chimes. "Are we ready to go?"
Popo blocks the doorway before she can leave without checking if anyone is following her.
"Shut up, Popo!"
"I didn't say anything."
"Come on!"
"I didn't even fill you in on what I found out! And Snake isn't back yet, either."
Nana throws her head back and groans, but sits down against the wall and waits for Popo to give them the lowdown. Just as Popo opens his mouth, Snake suddenly materialises behind him, scaring the words into a small yip.
"You didn't miss me, did you?" Snake grunts.
"A little," says Popo, after the fright in his chest diminishes. "What have you found out?"
"Not much. Got a feel for the laws of the land, so to speak. Apparently people can't be killed around here."
"What?" Nana exclaims.
"If you get hit hard enough, you turn into metal until someone 'brings you back', whatever that means."
"I saw that happen to our friend last night," says Jigglypuff, bowing her head in a moment of sadness.
"Then we have a great advantage," Lucario contemplates. "We can take a few more gambles."
"Sounds too good to be true," Snake says. "The moonlight might have been playing tricks on our eyes yesterday, and there could be other things afoot."
"So what about the robot?" Popo asks. "Has anyone confronted it, yet?"
"The folk are generally avoiding it and the outskirts of town where it patrols. The robot is too fast for any messengers to slip by, and anyone who approaches from the outside is unable to leave, so it'll be up to us if the rest of the world is as technologically modest as this village."
"Then, let's get to it!" Nana proclaims.
*.*.*.*.*
"So, how are we gonna kick some robot butt?" Nana whispers.
The band of five have positioned themselves behind some crates a few metres from where the robot is standing, just beyond the village arches.
"I'm thinking we shouldn't all go out at once," Snake says, "so that the enemy can't size us all up immediately. We need a distraction, then someone else can sneak up behind it and try to get it under control. It could prove useful."
"Distraction, got it," Nana says, and springs out from behind the crates.
"Nana, wait!" Snake dives out to grab her but misses by a hair. He darts back behind the crates and watches intently.
"Hey!" Nana yells, waving her mallet above her head. The robot turns to face her. Its double-pronged helmet gleams in the sunlight.
She strides towards it with her mallet over her shoulder. The robot watches but remains still. She whistles a tune as she begins circling the robot, gradually drawing closer as she moves.
Popo rises but Snake holds him back. They groan when Nana manages to, relative to them, position herself behind the robot, so their view of her is obstructed.
When Nana is about five metres away from the robot, it pushes itself off its haunches with its bulky green hands. Its metallic joints creak as it stands to its full height, placing Nana in its shadow.
It suddenly turns its head to stare into the distance before it leaps over Nana and charges past the crates and down the main street, leaving clouds of dust in its wake.
"What prompted that?" Lucario wonders.
"It probably caught someone else trying to escape," Snake grunts. "I guess now we'll have to stop the locals from interfering."
*.*.*.*.*
The cackling man[2], who they'd learnt was the one who'd nearly run them over earlier, had left in his empty cart to let the robot do its work. He'd called the robot Thalleom, and it seemed intent on standing its ground.
Captain Falcon lands a heavy, flaming punch into the Thalleom's leg. It barely dents the metal, and his attack is reciprocated by the robot swinging a leg at him, which he narrowly avoids by diving beneath the crook of the incoming leg.
Wolf is standing behind Thalleom to try and climb it, but it's moving about too erratically for him to get a decent foothold. Link aims his grappling hook to take out its eyes, but is having similarly little success. Mewtwo is hovering just off the ground and circling the robot as it stomps around, looking for a weakness in its construction.
Pichu, Olimar and the Pikmin watch timidly from a distance.
Falcon slides through Thalleom's legs, stands up and delivers a strong kick to its back. Mewtwo advances and grabs the base of its neck. Dark energy crackles through the robot's body and momentarily paralyses its upper half. Thalleom then swivels around with its arms out. Mewtwo jerks back in midair while Falcon and Wolf are knocked back by Thalleom's orange, rubbery hands as the last of the dark energy sputters out.
Pichu squeals in horror as his companions go flying. Without a thought he charges forward with a crackling cloud forming above him. He leaps at Thalleom's head.
An orange hand shoots up and catches him in midair.
"Pi!" Pichu's reserve of electricity escapes him, but refuses to travel through Thalleom's insulated hand.
Link's grappling hook latches onto Thalleom's wrist and he tugs. As Thalleom begins to pull back, Wolf fires some shots at the hand in an attempt to stun it.
Olimar jolts as he realises that he can help. He orders his Pikmin into a chain formation and throws them at the offending wrist. Thalleom is immobilised for a moment, but then it brings its other hand around and lets out a mighty tug.
Link and Olimar go flying with their ropes. Thalleom spins them around like a discus, then brings them to ground level and smashes them into Mewtwo and Captain Falcon before flinging them and Pichu past the tree line. Falcon and Mewtwo collide with the hard trunks of a tree before they feel their bodies seize up and they lose consciousness.
Thalleom snorts through its three-pronged helmet before charging down the path to deal with some other potential escapees.
Link, Wolf and Pichu barely register a flash of light nearby as they eventually come to a stop on the ground. But Olimar is the first to his feet, scrambling to locate his Pikmin. Before he can find them, he finds a metallic statue of what looks like Captain Falcon at the base of a tree.
He shrieks.
Wolf, though dizzy, notices that he doesn't have a scratch even though he had just taken a harsh tumble across about thirty feet of forest floor—it's vexing.
Link rushes over to Olimar.
"What is it?" he cries.
Olimar points to the statue of Captain Falcon with a quivering finger.
"What the hell is going on?" Wolf growls. He spots the statue, walks up to it and raps his knuckles on Falcon's forehead. "What the hell is this?!" He kicks the golden base of the statue in a sudden, frustrated jerk.
A flash of light from the statue catches them off guard.
"Ah!"
When the light dies down, the statue is no longer there. In its place, Captain Falcon is on his knees and breathing heavily.
Wolf groans. "What the f—"
"Captain Falcon!" Link exclaims, crouching down to assist him. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah," Falcon replies, holding his head. He winces before looking up at the others with a crooked grin. "I guess we won't be trying that again for a while."
Wolf shoulders past Link and grabs Falcon by his scarf, shoving him up against the tree.
"What the hell did you just do?" Wolf growls, baring his fangs.
"H-huh?" Falcon has his hands up in surrender but is glowering at Wolf's animalistic display.
"What's that metal shtick you just pulled off? What did you do? Who's working with you?"
Falcon is silent for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "I'm just as confused as you, buddy."
Wolf shoves Falcon again so that Falcon is almost off the ground (as close as he can manage with his inferior Lylatian height)[3], knocking his head against the tree trunk. "I'm sure you are."
"No, really! Are you just gonna hold me here until you hear the answer you think you want to hear?"
"Explain what you just did!"
"I said I—"
"You turned into metal!" Link exclaims. "Then Wolf kicked you and you returned to normal!"
"He knows what he did," Wolf growled.
"I don't believe so."
Wolf, Falcon and Link turn to see Mewtwo, Olimar and Pichu standing behind them, with Olimar's recovered Pikmin.
Wolf loosens his grip on Falcon slightly. Falcon makes no attempt to move. Wolf stares at Mewtwo, demanding an explanation.
"I was also turned to metal," says Mewtwo, "but Olimar brought me back while you were squabbling."
Link pouts and says, "I wasn't squabbling."
"Apparently I became metal when I lost consciousness. Olimar returned me to normal by touching the base of my statue. He noticed that Falcon had turned back when you kicked the base, Wolf."
"Or did you lose consciousness when you became metal?" Falcon wonders. Wolf sighs and suddenly releases his grip but Falcon catches himself.
"So what good is all this?" Wolf grumbles. "We can't get out of here with that metal bastard blocking the way."
"Oh!" Olimar suddenly shouts. Olimar's hand flies to his mouth and Wolf scowls at the interruption.
"You have something to say?" Mewtwo coaxes.
Olimar stumbles over his words for a moment before saying, "I remember seeing a metal statue on the back of that man's cart."
"He didn't have anything when he left," Link says.
"He must have dropped it off somewhere while we were at the medical centre. Well, dropped a 'who' somewhere. I believe it may have been a person, turned to metal like you two were, and—this is a reach—but if they were brought in that state, I'd assume it was against their will."
"I don't follow," Wolf says, almost too quiet to hear.
"We found Falcon and Mewtwo each at the base of a tree, so I'd assume they slammed into it after they were thrown. The blow must have triggered that metallic transformation. None of us ran into anything, so we didn't get hit hard enough to be transformed."
"So this supposed person was knocked out and brought here, you say?" Falcon says.
"What does that have to do with us?" Wolf snaps.
"I-I don't think that it's right to ignore what I saw," Olimar stammers, shrinking away from the irate Wolf.
"Well, you might have been hallucinating."
"Well, I'd like to do a good deed!"
"So, where do you suggest we start looking?"
At this, Olimar loses his voice and tenses up.
"Lay off," Link says, stepping forward. "I'd like to help, too."
"I like your spirit," says Captain Falcon with a grin.
"I'm hesitant to help, as you are, Wolf," Mewtwo says, "but perhaps good will come our way in return."
Wolf's ear twitches and he lets out a groan. He pokes Olimar in the chest with a clawed finger and says, "Fine, but you'd better have a good idea of where to start."
*.*.*.*.*
Before the end of the day, posters are up all around Tayll alerting the villagers to stay away from the village outskirts so their attack can be planned without interruption. Snake notes this as he returns to the inn, and finds his party congregated on the lower floor.
"They may not have a military, but their word sure travels quick," Snake says with a hint of irony.
"Sometimes the word is more powerful," Jigglypuff sighs. "And aren't they nice, doing all that printing for us! If only we had something in return for the people at the newsagency."
"Though, now the whole village expects us to be able to deal with the robot," Popo mutters, sinking into the lounge with his arms folded. "I sure hope it can't read."
"Even if it could, we'd pound it to bits," Nana says.
"Speaking of which, perhaps we should elaborate on our plan that was so rudely interrupted earlier today," Lucario suggests. "Snake, you suggested a distraction and a sneak attack if I heard correctly."
"You did. And if no one else has any better ideas then I think we should begin delegating."
Despite herself, some time into their plan, Nana feels her attention slip.
[1] Say hello to Toon Link. Maybe I'm overthinking/being meta but he's the only Link in this bunch so the nickname seems out of context in-universe. I briefly addressed this pet peeve of mine in a silly fic I wrote back in 2015, which is actually the most recent piece of fanfic I published before this one lmao.
[2] This is Wario btw. He's now fulfilled his role and left this story to go participate in my SSE fic. big nasty
[3] This contradicts some obscure canon publication, but I headcanon that Lylatians are short compared to humans. So, for example Falco is tall for a Lylatian but he's probably like 5'9" which I'm guessingisn't too remarkable (I'm short myself so...)
a/n cont.:
a) I hope this isn't confusing (my bad). The gist is that these characters were pulled into the 'World of Trophies' and have congregated into two groups in two villages, one in Tayll and the other in Orfan, to take names, kick butt and eventually return home.
b) inb4 I call (Toon) Link 'Toon Link'. (His real name is... Tink.)
Feel free to review! Next chapter is when we finally begin to hit some more recently written stuff...
