Tom, Herald of Fear
A/N: Finally, eh? I'll just save the apologies and such and just let you get to the story. Hopefully, next update won't take nearly as damn long...
"What am I doing here?"
Her voice echoed all around the Plains of Smashville, gently cradled by the wind. She lifted up her hand to her forehead, shading her eyes from the bright Smashville sun. A gentle wind brushed up against her hair.
In the seven years that had passed, Kage had grown as a warrior and a person. Compared to the thin slave girl seven years ago, the Guardian of ROB had grown into a tall and confident young woman. Her hair was still worn long, swept up in a make-shift bandana. Clear eyes, bright like the stars, blinked up at the skies above. She leaned precariously on a cane, her foot twisted strangely due to a Smashball related injury sustained long before she discovered who she was and the role she had been forced to play in the Guardians War.
Footsteps sounded behind her. Turning around, Kage caught sight of a familiar face. He was a tall young man, with silvery hair tied into a ponytail, topped with a white witch's hat, encircled by a golden band. He wore a black dress shirt under a white sleeveless trench coat, with a tall collar and golden triangular shoulder guards. His deep violet eyes contrasted starkly with his white pants and whitewood sandals. Completing the look was a silver and gold jeweled cane and a pair of riding goggles worn atop the hat, giving him the look of some eccentric billionaire which, if Kage had read his letters right, he was.
"Eclipse!" she gasped, hobbling forward to embrace her fellow Guardian. When the rebuilding in Smashville was done, Eclipse had taken it upon himself to expand Wario Wares to the other known worlds. He had engaged in little correspondence with anyone. It was assumed by most, including Kage herself, that he had been kept quite busy.
"Kage," he muttered when they broke apart, grinning from ear to ear. "It has been too long."
"We were starting to get worried about you," Kage told him, her excitement of his return evident on her face. "Most of us sent tons of letters your way, but almost none of them were replied to, and-"
Eclipse held up a hand. "I know… and I'm sorry. But I can't tell you why I haven't been around here and why I haven't answered any of your guys' letters. It's confidential information and… well, let's just say that things are looking to be troublesome… anyways, allow me to introduce you to someone."
For the first time, Kage noticed the little girl clinging to Eclipse's leg. She was a pretty little thing, with pale skin and light blue eyes. She wore a blue minidress and mary janes, the outfit doing little to hide the white wings neatly folded on her back. Her hair, tied into twin pigtails, was also light blue.
"Kage, meet my daughter, Martel," Eclipse said, his expression softening as he looked down at her.
Kage smiled. "Hello, Martel. Guess you already know that my name's Kage. I'm the Guardian of ROB."
The girl blushed slightly and hid her face.
Eclipse shook his head. "She's shy, but we're working on it."
Kage raised an eyebrow. "We?"
Eclipse cleared his throat. "Yes… y-you remember Mima, don't you?"
Kage rolled her eyes. "How could I forget? When you weren't being accused of being Tabuu Spawn, you were yelling at Mima and Wario to- oh Eclipse, I'm so sorry…"
There was a visible sag in her fellow Guardian's shoulders, as if a great weight had just fallen upon them. The garlic-eating plumber, Eclipse's Smasher, had been rarely mentioned by anyone ever since his death. In spite of his seemingly selfish and arrogant demeanor, Wario had sacrificed himself to save Eclipse. It had been an unprecedented move, one that Eclipse could only dream about thanking his Smasher for.
Eclipse shook his head. "Don't be. We have had seven years to mourn our losses. Now is the time to-" his breath hitched suddenly. Kage blinked as he whirled around and looked over his shoulder. "What was that?"
"What was what?" the former Guardian of ROB asked in confusion.
"That noise," Eclipse replied. As he spoke, the air around them seemed to grow colder.
"Noise?" Kage asked in confusion. She was never one to pay too much attention to her surroundings, yet she was almost positive that whatever Eclipse heard was little more than the rushing of the wind around them.
"That noise," Eclipse repeated, tilting his head slightly as if to somehow increase his chances of hearing it again. "You heard it too, didn't you Martel?"
The little girl frowned and shook her head.
"But… but surely one of you must have heard it," Eclipse protested, whirling around suddenly to look over his shoulder. "There it is again!" his voice rose in pitch. "Mima hears it too! Surely one of you must have heard it this time!"
Kage and Martel exchanged looks. Eclipse had been slightly prone to paranoia during the Guardians War, so this was almost normal for Kage. However, she had lost touch with the former Guardian of Wario after he left for his old home to restart the business, which left Martel and Eclipse himself to fill in the gaps.
"Something's coming!" Eclipse whispered, wringing his hands fervently. "Something's coming! It's approaching! Coming closer… so close…"
"Dad?" Martel whispered, trembling slightly. Her voice was bell-like. It seemed to pierce the very air itself. "Dad, why are you acting so weird…?"
"Oh God..." Eclipse whispered, deaf to the cries of his daughter. "Oh God, oh God, it's him..."
There wasn't much to say. Kage bit her lip as Eclipse fell to his knees, whispering a single name that she did not recognize. From the look on Martel's face, there was no doubt the little girl did not understand what her father was saying either.
"Tom, Tom, Tom..."
"Eclipse?" Kage asked. "Who's Tom?"
"Tom... Oh my God, Tom's coming..." Eclipse grabbed his head, trembling like a leaf. "I can feel it! Mima can too!"
"I don't understand, Papa..." Martel whispered. "You said... you said..."
"I KNOW WHAT I SAID!" Eclipse roared. "But... there's no other explanation! These things... these things I see... they can only be- HURK!"
He lurched backwards, hands clawing at his throat. Kage and Martel stared in horror as he struggled against some invisible force, grabbing at thin air and struggling desperately to throw whatever it was that was choking him off. Martel let out a scream, running forward and placing her hands on Eclipse in a desperate bid to save him. Before she could chant a spell or do anything to assist him, she was thrown back by a mysterious wind, the maniacal laughter of someone far away filling the air. Kage ran forward and caught her just in time.
Eclipse's face turned blue, contrasting starkly with his pure white hair. His hands, stark white, clutched around something in the air and shook it, as if trying to confuse it long enough to throw it off. Not knowing what else to do, Kage concentrated on it and allowed a faint heat to build up behind her eyes.
She had not used this ability in so long, not since they failed to resurrect their fallen comrade, ROB. Tabuu had crushed the Smasher in their final battle, and though the Guardians did everything they could, they could only ever reconstruct the robot's body. The very essence of ROB, what made the sentient robot so special, was gone forever. They still tried, of course, to reawaken what once was, but as the days, months, and years passed, hope grew smaller and smaller.
She let out a laser, bright red, and burning. Her eyes watered slightly, as she concentrated with all her might on keeping the beam going. It evidently found its mark, as just as it was about to slice through Eclipse's neck, it hit what seemed like some kind of invisible barrier. A thin trail of smoke curled into the air, the rank stench of burning flesh reached Kage's nose. Next to her, Martel whimpered as something thick and black began to form, shedding whatever invisibility spell it had been hiding behind.
Then someone swore.
"What was that!?" Martel asked, trembling. Before Kage could answer, a true horror appeared before her.
The first thing they saw was the tendril. It was thick and black and seemed to dance in the air, writhing and twisting as Kage's laser relentlessly blasted into it. It let go of Eclipse's throat, allowing the former Guardian of Wario to dash away before it could come down on him again. As Kage's laser fizzled out, the tendril seemed to grow longer and longer, reveling in its twisted dance. The longer it danced, the more tentacles appeared, until it seemed like there were a thousand of those things, just writing and twisting all about.
Kage tasted bile in her mouth, her stomach churning at the sight of such disgusting nest of limbs. The tentacles all seemed to have a mind of their own, as they slithered about like snakes, seemingly hissing at their surroundings. Kage readied herself, already prepared to launch another- albeit weaker- laser at the mass. Next to her, Eclipse twirled his cane, as if preparing to cast a spell. Martel, meanwhile, fingered a pendant she wore around her neck, all the while quickly scanning the mass of tentacles, as if knowing there was something she should be looking for.
"I-I know you're there!" Eclipse shouted. "I know you're there and let me just say, I thought you were dead!"
At first, there was no answer. Then, the tendrils began to transform. Some of them elongated, reaching the other side of the fields, and widened. They became fluid in nature, shrouding the three in a dome of purest black. As Kage's eyes darted back and forth, she could not help but notice numerous streaks of red in this black prison. These streaks of red looked and moved horribly like veins.
The dome seemed to be alive. It pulsed slowly, like a gigantic heart. With each beat, the red streaks seemed to grow and shrink, a strange fluid inside them moving downwards. Kage's own heart pounded wildly as she spun around, trying desperately to find the way out. But no matter where she looked, she saw only an endless stretch of black.
"OH MY GOD!" Martel shrieked suddenly, pointing at a spot above her. Eclipse and Kage quickly turned in the direction she was pointing, ready to strike at any time.
Suspended above them was a boy, hanging in a transparent black and red cocoon. He was naked, curled up into a fetal position, his bare skin glowing white in the darkness. His light brown locks mingled with a million strange, black, and thorny vines in his red prison. The thorns seemed to dig deep into his scalp and as Kage watched, they pulsed slightly, as if absorbing something from him. The boy's eyes remained closed and yet, horrible though his prison seemed to be, his expression was peaceful. Had the circumstances not been so terrible, Kage would've thought him to be sleeping.
"Tom," Eclipse whispered, his eyes widening in horror at the sight. "It really is him."
Before Kage could answer, another scream from Martel shook her out of her trance. For all over the cocoon of this strange boy, she could see small, skittering bodies. One by one, these skittering bodies produced threads and slowly lowered themselves to the ground. Millions of these skittering things arrived and dropped, until the cocoon itself was nearly hidden from view.
"Spiders!" Kage shrieked, jumping in fright as she felt tiny, hairy legs crawling up her body. She shook her arms and feet, trying desperately to shake them off, but it was of no use. The spiders were relentless in their pursuit of her, as more and more piled onto her until she could no longer tell the difference between her own skin and these horrible, warped arachnids. The shuffling of the spiders was deafening, only helped by Martel's and Kage's screams of fear.
"KAGE! MARTEL!" Eclipse shouted over the din. "Where are you!? Answer me!"
Kage opened her mouth, but the only sound that came out was a low, menacing hiss. Suddenly, she felt her body, long and powerful, dancing to some kind of unknown tune. Her green scales- the patches that could be seen under the spiders- shone. She tried to scream in horror, but only managed another hiss as she writhed desperately, both to shake off the spiders and to make sure that this body was truly hers. She called for Martel, for her friend Eclipse, for her fallen Smasher...
In front of her, she saw a monster. Tall, dark, with glittering white teeth about as long as her arm (did she still have arms period?). It was extremely large and hulking, its single eye rolled about in the center of its forehead. She tasted its stench with her tongue. It was horrid, like rotting cheese and corpses. This monster turned to her, its single eye narrowing in anger? Fear? It didn't matter. She had to strike now, and soon.
She lunged.
Mah pushed her long brunette hair out of her face and sighed. Two hours of sitting up in the same tree and still, her target was nowhere in sight. She and her younger sister, Beeh, had been assigned to follow certain individuals on the suspicion that they were up to no good. Down below them, Yoshi and Fox had silently spread out so as to gaze intently at the spot they were watching.
Seven years had been kind to her. Her tan skin, once covered in muck and grime from working in the Smashball factories, now shown with a healthy glow. Her deep brown eyes, sharp like the thin blade she held in her hand, scanned the lush field. She lifted a thin hand and carefully shielded her eyes from the bright Smashville sun, taking extra care not to let her eyes wander away from her viewing point.
"I still can't believe this, Mah," Beeh whispered, wringing her slightly chubby hands together. She had grown to look quite a lot like her older sister, save for the lack of red tips on her hair. "Out of all the people at the mansion, why him?"
Mah shook her head. "If there's anything we learned from Tabuu, it's that people can become our enemies at any second…" there was a hint of bitterness in her voice, one that she was obviously trying to hide.
Beeh frowned. "… You're thinking of her again, aren't you? Of Heather?"
Mah took a deep breath. While she had not been particularly close to the Guardian of Wolf, she had respected her somewhat for her fighting skill. Heather's defection to Tabuu's side had hit her greatly, however, and though she later learned about the Blood Pact- a binding contract that would cause the death of those close to the signer if not fulfilled- Heather had been placed under, her betrayal still hurt nonetheless. She let out her breath and smiled down at Beeh, brown eyes filled with sadness.
Beeh took her silent reply and frowned again. "But… it's already been seven years… and I didn't think you'd-" she was interrupted by her sister's hand clamping over her mouth.
Mah's eyes found a small green hand as it gave her a tiny wave. Yoshi's eyes locked with hers, the dinosaur's lips pulling into a small smile as he began making small but quick gestures with his hands. She read them silently, her lips moving to form words as she did so.
Two people were coming. One of them was their target, the other was an unexpected extra. Mah bit her bottom lip. If the time when they needed to strike came, the "extra" would be an extreme inconvenience.
Over the crest of the hill, they saw two figures emerging. As their voices carried over to their hiding spot, Mah and Beeh couldn't help but notice that the voices sounded as if they were arguing. One of them seemed to be attempting to coax something, while the other voice- the one that belonged to their target- was being as evasive and defensive as could be.
"What is he doing with him?" Beeh asked. "This wasn't part of the plan at all…"
Mah placed a finger to her lips and gestured to the two approaching figures. Now was not the time to blow their cover. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yoshi inch closer to the bush he was hiding behind, forcing his young Guardian to bite back the warning she was about to whisper to him. Blinking twice to steady her vision, she concentrated on the two figures as they came into view, her breath coming out in an even, pulsing rhythm so that her nervousness would not give them away.
"I don't care if you're coming out here to strip naked and dance like a drunken idiot!" a gruff voice said angrily. "You're treading into the wrong territory, kid!"
"I told you, already, I'm coming here to meditate a bit," an ice cold voice shot back.
Mah saw Yoshi and Beeh shiver slightly at the sound of that voice, realizing that she herself was also quivering. It was horrible, the way this voice- once so warm and kind- had changed over the past seven years. It was as if the owner of this voice had been killed, murdered and replaced by something that was like him in so many ways, but all too different…
"Meditating," the gruff voice repeated, disbelief shining through. "Meditating… in front of her grave?"
"She's dead, you miserable, love-sick fool," the cold voice replied cruelly. "And you need to get over i-"
Wolf O'Donnell, former Commander of Star Wolf and Smasher of Heather Wolfon, let out a snarl. It was one unlike any Mah had ever heard before. This one was full of anger and hate, backed up with the pain and misery of the life Wolf had lost during the war. He had loved his Guardian, loved her unlike anyone he had met before. And in a single blow from an arrow, she had been taken from him. Ripped away like so many others the Guardians had touched in their lifetime.
Mah vaguely remembered how Wolf had spent the majority of the seven years training. Training to protect the lives of those whom Heather had sacrificed for. Never a single day would pass when he would be found blasting at targets or ripping through training dummies or even flying through the air in his Wolfen. And when he wasn't training, Mah knew, he was visiting Heather's grave. He could spend days there, without even knowing it. Smashers and Guardians alike often had to bring him food and water, to prevent him from dying in his own misery.
"Don't you dare-" Wolf began, only to be caught off by his companion.
"Don't I dare what?" a cold laugh rang through the air. Mah shivered yet again as an image of the long-dead Subspace Lord flashed within her mind. That laugh sounded so much like his, except…
She couldn't stand it anymore. She had been assigned by Master Hand to watch the area where Heather's grave stood, as he had suspected that someone was coming to defecate it. She had been given no other information other than that. Steeling herself for the worst, she shifted forward, peeking out from behind the leaves that covered her just enough to catch a brief glimpse of their target.
Red, the Pokemon Master.
"You… you've changed," Wolf whispered. "You've changed, kid, and I don't like it…"
"We've all changed, Wolf," the cold Pokemon Master replied. "All of us… we've changed. But for better or for worst? Well, I believe that's up to the eyes of the beholder."
"It's more than that, kid," Wolf said, "So, so much more…"
"Get out of here, Wolf," Red spat. "You've spent the past seven years doing nothing but mourning her. It's high time that you move on and get over it."
Wolf's glare hardened. "There is no 'getting over' her, kid."
"Not for you, maybe," Red said lightly. "But frankly, she annoyed me anyways. What, with the whole anger management thing-"
Mah let out a gasp as Wolf crouched down and made a lunge for the Pokemon Master. Red remained calm, simply side-stepping to dodge the enraged lupine. Wolf's claws ripped into the earth, angry foam dripped from his snout. But before he could so much as get to his feet, Red had already applied a powerful kick to his snout.
"I don't see what your problem is, Wolf," Red said coldly. "But I do know this: you're obsessed. If you knew her as well as you thought you did, you would've seen it- her betrayal- coming. You would've found a way to stop it. She almost killed Cam and Link before anyone got through to her." he spat on Wolf. "Who knows? If you had actually figured out something, rather than just sit there and moan like some sick little puppy, you could've prevented her death..."
"You've... changed," Wolf whispered. He shakily got to his feet. "You've changed, kid..."
"He has," Beeh whispered to Mah fearfully. "Mah, he's changed so much..."
"So I have," Red said quietly. His gaze shifted for a moment to Heather's grave, then back to Wolf. "But what exactly are you going to do about it?"
"I'm going to tell the others," Wolf said determinedly.
"You do that."
"They'll stop you!"
"I'd like to see them try."
"You'll be kicked out! Made to wander around in whatever region you were in before you came here until the end of your days!"
"With that cult running about, I'm guessing they'll need all the help they can get." Red's eyes glinted. "Let's face it, Wolf... I'm one of their best tacticians. If anyone knows battle strategies, it's me.
Mah looked around and caught Fox's eyes. The vulpine nodded for a moment as he reached for his holstered gun. But before he could draw and shoot, Wolf was gone. Obviously, he had run off to the mansion, to warn the others. That left the small group of Yoshi, Mah, Beeh, and Fox and Red, who stood in the clearing. Red, who- they hoped- believed he was alone.
Red knelt in front of Heather's grave, hiding his face from their view. Mah leaned a little further out, squinting her eyes in order to see what he was doing. For a few long minutes, Red simply sat there, like a statue, as if listening for something.
Then, he spoke. "The coast is clear. You can show yourself now."
At first, nothing happened. Then, a thin trail of what looked like smoke curled up from Heather's grave. This trail grew into a tendril, then thickened into a plume. The plume of smoke paused for a second before it began to take form, shaping itself into the image of what looked like a young man.
"I found a couple of idiots on the Plains," the shadowy boy spoke in a low, cold voice. "Two former Guardians and some stupid kid."
"And?" Red asked impatiently, crossing his arms. "I hope you haven't killed them. You were giving specific instructions not to-"
"Relax, Pokeboy," the shadow drawled. "I just messed with their heads a bit. Spiders, hallucinations, the works."
"Hmph," Red shook his head. "Are you at least prepared? Your time is nearly here. Once Austin-"
"I know," the shadow interrupted. "And I'm ready as always."
"Make sure they don't suspect too much," Red said lightly. "The plan will go to waste if you are not prepared to strike when needed." he paused. "And refrain from the nightmare fuel. You can give them nightmares, but until you're allowed to strike, don't do anything more than that."
"I feed on their fears, Pokeboy," the shadow laughed. "A nightmare here and there will be more than enough to keep me satisfied..." something of a smile formed on its dark face. "Those Guardians and Smashers will never know what hit 'em. I can't wait to start fucking with them."
"Funny," Red said. "I do believe you can start 'fucking with them' soon."
"Other than those three idiots I found there on the plains?"
"Oh yes, in fact..." Red turned towards Mah, his icy blue eyes burning deep into her soul. "There's a group of four right over there."
Mars stooped down and touched the wrist of the still figure before him. From the moment he and his fellow pilots heard shouting from a floor above them, they knew that they had found their old friend Cam. What they didn't expect when the three ran upstairs, however, was their old friend Cam standing over the dead or unconscious form of some random guy with blue glasses.
"Nasty stab wound right there," he muttered, gingerly passing a hand over the red stain on the unconscious young man's shoulder. "And looks like you gave him quite the shock too."
"I had to," Cam answered him as Eric carefully bandaged some of his wounds. "The guy literally attacked me for no damn reason."
"Will he be okay?" Aly asked. She had picked up the golden hilted sword that was lying near the body and was in the process of examining it. "Huh… not a bad weapon. Sharp, lightweight, and pretty nice-looking." she frowned as her eyes found the sapphire on the hilt of the sword. "But… a heavy jewel like this would seriously weigh it down…"
Mars hid a smile. Aly had learned a great deal about weapons over the years, not just guns. While it was true that in flight, he was the master tactician of the three, it had to be said that when it came down to one-on-one combat, you could always count on Aly to discern the best weapon to use against a lance or an axe or even a gun.
"What I want to know is… did you seriously use a Lightning Redirection Technique against this guy?" Eric asked in slight wonder. It took a great warrior to be able to learn the technique, let alone be able to use it properly in combat. Although, it came as no surprise that the Guardian of Ike picked up a trick or two from his Smasher while he was helping to rebuild Tellius.
Cam shrugged, unable to hide his wince as pain shot up from within him. "I-It hurt… like Hell, it hurt… but in the end, I got him, right?"
Mars let out a small sigh. "Yeah, you got him… and we better wake him up before he becomes a vegetable…"
"On it!" Aly said cheerfully, pulling out her canteen. One spray of water later, the person on the ground was sputtering and coughing in surprise. Mars watched him, his hand trailing to his gun holster in case he should spring.
"A-Ah!" the young man sputtered, wiping the stray drops from his mouth. "Talk about a rude awakening!" he shot Aly a shaky grin. "M-Maybe next time you can use an alarm clock?"
Mars frowned down at this person. Could this be the very same young man whom Cam had claimed to have been attacked by? Other than how well-balanced the sword was, he didn't seem like that much of a threat. If anything, this kid was a moderate opponent at best. Maybe even a pushover.
Mars had always been one to judge harshly.
"You sure this guy attacked you out of nowhere?" Aly asked, turning to Cam. The Guardian of Ike nodded emphatically, wincing as Eric applied a salve to his wound. "Definitely him, alright. You should've seen him, bloody crouching in front of me like some kind of-"
"W-Whoa there!" the young man interrupted. "I don't know what you're talking about, but as far as I know, I didn't attack you… or at least…" Mars couldn't help but notice that the obvious spark in his eye was gone. It was as if someone had closed shutters behind these eyes. "I don't remember if I have… anyways, mind explaining to me who you guys are? Because seriously, I'm pretty sure I didn't order any room service…"
Mars calmly pressed his foot into the young man's chest, placing just enough pressure on it so he wouldn't be able to escape. "We'll do the asking around here, if you don't mind…"
"If you do, expect a bullet or two in your skull," Aly said lightly, tracing one of her guns. "I haven't shot at anything bigger than a bird in a long time…"
The young man gulped. "W-Well… might as well get on a first-name basis with you guys, eh? Name's Matt."
"Matt," Mars repeated, committing the name to memory. "Well then, Matt, mind telling us how you got up here?"
"I… er… well, I guess you can say I just kinda… woke up here?" Matt did his best to shrug. "I know it sounds weird, but I seriously don't remember anything aside from waking up in here and thinking that this place smelled like the inside of some old lady's purse."
"Agreed," Eric muttered. Cam shot both of them a heavy glare.
Mars frowned. "… Don't know if I want to accept that answer, but I guess it isn't that important right now…" he leaned forward, placing even more pressure on the young man's chest. Matt gasped in surprise as his breath was suddenly cut short, a flash of fear appearing from behind his eyes as this happened. Unwavering, Mars asked his next question.
"So… why'd you attack Cam?"
"… I don't know."
"Right, right, and I'm the King of Tellius!" Cam said indignantly. A gunshot and a yelped silenced the young mercenary. Aly blew on the smoking barrel of her gun and nodded at Mars to continue, shooting a warning look at Cam in the process.
"I don't know," Matt repeated. His brown eyes looked right into Mars' black ones through specs of blue plastic. "I don't know… I don't remember…"
Mars bit his bottom lip. "Do you remember ever attacking Cam in the first place?"
"Would you?" Matt shot back.
Mars rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure I would remember if I decided to suddenly jump at the first idiot that ran into the-"
A giggle sliced through the air, its pitch high and cold. Mars felt a shiver running down its spine as it echoed throughout the spacious room. The former Guardian of Falco lifted his foot off their prisoner and turned in a slow circle, searching for the source of the strange noise. Unconsciously, he felt his hand move towards the staff hanging in a sheathe on his back, the gilded gold rod a gift to him from Master Hand for his services as a Guardian. Without thinking, he unsheathed this staff and activated it. The gem at the very top of the staff glowed green, ready to blast powerful bolts of electricity at any moment.
The echoing laugh continued, seeming to increase in pitch and volume with every passing second. It soon became a distorted clamor, as if several people were laughing all at once. Mars' head whipped around as he attempted to trace the source of this strange noise, dark eyes narrowing as he attempted to make out the form of a ghost, a projection, anything to explain this!
"Over there!" Eric shouted, pointing to a nearby wall. The three pilots, Cam, and Matt whirled in that direction, gasping in surprise as a door suddenly materialized seemingly out of nowhere. Without a second thought, Mars charged at the door, splintering it with a single jump kick.
The room within was dark, a stark contrast to the light of the room before. As Mars eyes scanned the room- the horrid cackling still ringing in his ears- he couldn't help but notice that it was surrounded in high windows, similar to the ones in the previous room. But these windows were barred, as if declaring to the intruders that there was no way out.
The cackling had reached fever pitch now, echoing around the room and bogging Mars' senses. It seemed to take on the voice of thousands, rising and falling like the ocean tides. Mars' hands trembled as he lifted his staff, aiming for the rafters above.
"THERE!" Eric was first to shoot, unloading his pistol on something he saw up above. Mars squinted through the bright gunfire, the light from Eric's gun and the barred windows illuminating the place just enough for him to catch a small flash of white disappearing into the shadows above.
"Hehehehehehe..."
"I'm tired of this motherfucking giggling in this motherfucking tower!" Aly shouted angrily, pulling out her own guns and shooting at the rafters above. "We came here to answer a distress call and what did we find? A random kid that attacks an old friend and some kind of giggling ghost!"
The mere word made Mars' skin crawl. He had heard of haunted towers before, but he had always believed that, as the Goddess' Tower, the Tower of Guidance would be at least somewhat ghost-free. He knew of the many lives lost in its halls, heard stories from Cam of the horrors and tortures faced by numerous Laguz in its sacred rooms. Now, standing here at the very heart of the Tower itself, surrounded by naught but laughter, he couldn't help but wonder if it was this, not the workings of a madman that made the Laguz feral.
Mars shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He had to concentrate. If they were going to make it out alive, he had to remain focused. He studied the rafters, waiting for the opportune moment to strike...
"There!" Matt shouted.
Mars launched a plasma bolt of out his staff at the sudden flash of white, cursing as it slammed against a rafter. The giggles filled the air again, only this time, they were louder. Almost maniacal. They seemed to taunt the group down below, teasing the fact that no matter how hard they tried, they would never catch the culprit.
"Unload it all!" Aly ordered, shooting at the rafters. Eric and Mars observed her briefly, watching as she slowly started from one side of the room and began to gradually ease her way to the other. It was a classic tactic: force the foe into a corner and then let it rip. Mars and Eric added their own shots into the mix, while Matt and Cam kept a pair of watchful eyes on the rafters, in case their opponent did anything fun.
Finally, the white was in full view, and the three pilots held nothing back. Bullets and bolts whizzed through the air, slamming into the strange slip of white as it paused briefly in midair, being slammed with the powerful attacks until they finally stopped. The group watched as the strange white thing fluttered to the floor, riddled with bullet holes and who knows what else.
It was simply a white dress.
"The Hell?" Mars asked, glaring at it. "This is what we were shooting at?"
Aly frowned. "It can't be... there's gotta be something else..."
"I guess you guys didn't have a ghost of a chance at catching whatever it was," Matt joked, attempting to lighten up the mood. When his pun fell flat, he sighed. "Guess that wasn't very punny at all..."
"I don't get it," Eric muttered, toeing the dress gingerly. "If this was all we were shooting at then what-"
The laughter pierced the air again, its pitch risen into a near scream. It now sounded like a combination of a screeching cat and nails upon the blackboard. Mars covered his ears and closed his eyes, biting his lip desperately in an attempt to block out the horrible noise. But the more he struggled, the louder it became, until there was an invisible banshee in the room, screaming a lament at the top of her lungs.
Mars groaned, silently begging for the scream to stop. He felt it pierce his very soul, ripping through it like it was paper. It shook him to the very bone, and in his mouth, he could taste the coppery flavor of blood.
Suddenly, it stopped. The banshee's shriek was instead replaced by a shocked scream. For standing before him was a golden haired girl, who was standing behind Cam. The Guardian of Ike was choking, clutching feebly at the steel blade protruding from his chest.
"Pit?"
Seven years in Skyworld and she still called his name.
"Pit?"
Seven years in Skyworld and she had just learned to shoot a bow.
"Pit?"
Seven years in Skyworld and he still cared about her more than anyone in the world.
"Yeah Psyche?"
His Guardian entered the library, light silver mail glittering slightly in the gentle light. Pit's breath caught slightly as he realized that she had put it on incorrectly, as it was bunched up a bit in certain places. In spite of this, however, he thought that she still looked the part of a warrior.
Seven years had not changed her at all. She was still much, much shorter than average and extremely thin. Her dark brown hair and deep brown eyes clashed gently with pasty white skin. She was still the stubborn, hot-headed girl that had borne the burden of his soul all those years ago. In spite of the fact that she had just learned to shoot a bow, she was still the great warrior she once was.
She just had to remember.
Seven years ago, Tabuu had brutally beaten the young woman, robbing her of the memory of the great adventure she shared with the angel. It had broken his heart to learn how an entire life-changing journey had been robbed from her in just a few blows. In spite of this, however, he had taken the girl under his wing (no pun intended) and brought her to Skyworld where he hoped that some training under him could potentially restore at least part of her back.
Her recovery was slow, yet hopeful. Nothing had pleased him more than the day she asked about the other Guardians. He had not yet explained to her who they were and what they meant to her, thinking that such information could potentially overwhelm her. But the fact that she remembered that the Guardians were of concern to her was a start. And he hoped to take things from there.
"Lady Palutena is looking for you," Psyche sighed. Her face twisted into that all too familiar smirk. "You two aren't… doing anything, are you?"
Pit rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Squirt, I thought you'd grow up by now." he had developed this name for her over the past years. He was often teased by his goddess for giving his Guardian what she claimed to be a "pet name."
Psyche giggled. "Look who's talking."
Pit rolled his eyes again, tossing her some hearts as he walked out. "Do me a favor and get us lunch or something. I'll meet you there once business is all done."
Psyche gave a small wave as she walked down the hall. "Don't complain if I get you eggplants again!"
Pit snorted. "Do that and I'll shove you off the nearest cloud." but she was already out of earshot by the time he managed to get that out. Shaking his head and smiling to himself, Pit walked down the opposite way to his lady's throne room.
The first sign that there was something wrong was the lack of His Lady's beautiful voice when he knocked on the door to the throne room. In fact, the voice that answered was quite timid, nothing at all like the voice of Palutena, which was always overflowing with the confidence befit the Goddess of Light. A bubble of fear rose within him as he pushed open the doors and rushed in, His Lady's bow at the ready in case the intruder should spring.
"Put that away, please," the same voice spoke. "I just want to talk…"
Pit's muscles tensed at this request. He was a proficient fighter, and in his many experiences, no opponent would simply "want to talk". More often than not, "want to talk" translated to "ambush".
"Show yourself," Pit said, making sure his voice held command. "Show yourself, stick your weapons on the ground, and then we'll talk."
There was a pause and the reluctant shuffling of feet. Pit watched, his position never shifting as his would-be assailant slowly walked out from behind Palutena's empty throne. He felt his breath catch slightly in surprise as he realized how small and… almost frail this person seemed.
There was no doubt this one was female. Pit could tell just from the shape of her body and the bits of deep brown hair peeking out from the bits of bandages wrapped around her. She was dressed simply: a gray shirt and black cargo pants with a strange little black item sitting atop her leather-gloved wrist. The look in her deep brown eyes was slightly fearful as she regarded the Commander of Palutena's Army. Pit's gazed followed her, never wavering from her face as she walked out. Very slowly, she took off the glove with the strange black box and set it on the floor, lips quivering as she stood up and dressed him.
"I-It's just me, Pit," she spoke, her high voice quavering slightly. "Only me…"
Pit frowned. There was something familiar about this person, yet he was 100% sure that he had never seen her before. Then again, of course, she certainly looked harmless enough. Never taking his eyes of this strange intruder, the angel lowered his bow and placed it on the ground before him. The two faced each other, weaponless, vulnerable to attack at any moment.
"Who are you?" he asked, muscles tensing slightly. If he was going to be weaponless for this, he might as well ready himself for the worst. "How did you get in here? Where is Lady Palutena?"
The girl hesitated before she spoke. "My name… is Sarah. And how I got in here… well, let's just say I have my ways…"
"That doesn't answer my question," Pit said coldly, narrowing his eyes at the figure before him. "How did you get in here? This room has the highest security possible in Skyworld. You wouldn't be able to so much as stick your nose in here without it getting impaled on an arrow." his hands curled into fists. "Where is Lady Palutena?"
"She is fine, Pit," Sarah said quickly. "Please, Pit, I don't know how much time I have left. I-I came here with-"
"Where is she?" Pit repeated, his anger rising. "Tell me!"
"She is safe, Pit!" Sarah answered desperately, shaking as her eyes darted back and forth. "Please, Pit, I don't have much time! I'm here to warn you!"
"About what?" Pit spat. "About how my goddess is gone? Gee, thanks, that would have been a Hell lot more helpful-"
"No, it's not that," Sarah interrupted softly. "It's… it's just that soon… very, very soon, something's going to happen, Pit…" her voice dropped to a near whisper. "Something horrible is going to happen…"
"I kinda got that notion when my goddess turned up missing," Pit snapped.
Sarah shook her head. "Pit… even if she were here, she wouldn't be able to help you with what's coming…" her deep brown eyes widened. Pit saw the trace of a strange spark within him. "Gods can't interfere in matters laid down long ago… your actions… your Guardian's actions… your friends' actions… they've all been accumulating over the years… accumulating towards The Storm…"
Pit's fists tightened. "What are you talking about? What actions? What's 'The Storm'?"
Her eyes were shining brighter than anything he had ever seen. They were horrible, seeming to stare at nothing and everything all at once. A cold wind blew into the room, sending shivers down the young angel's spine.
"Answer me!" he said angrily. "What is 'The Storm'? What do Psyche and the Guardians have anything to do with it? Where is Lady Palutena? Who are you?"
"Your world is ending, Pit…" she whispered. As she spoke, the wind seemed to bellow around her, wailing a horrid song of pain and decay. Her eyes shone like twin stars, seeming to grow brighter and brighter with every passing second. "Sooner or later, everything you know will be undone." she seemed to be speaking in two voices, both of them clashing horribly with each other with each word spoken. "Everything you know, everything you've worked for, will be consumed in fire."
The explosion happened behind him.
Pit only had seconds to roll out of the way as one of the colossal pillars surrounding the room suddenly tumbled form their foundations, reeling to the floor. Concrete bit the back of his wings as he did his best to cover himself, gasping in surprise as the floor began cracking beneath him. The angel leaped to his feet, only to leap to the side again as a chunk of ceiling brushed past him. He whipped his head towards the spot where Sarah stood, his hand already reaching for the bow that lay on the floor.
She was gone.
"Palutena dammit!" he cursed, turning on his heel and dashing out of the room.
Pit was immediately met with horror. Monsters not seen since the Uprising War were everywhere, terrorizing innocents and Centurions alike. Whole chunks of buildings were being ripped out and throne, as if the various monsters had somehow gained immense strength. Pit fired several arrows as the monsters spotted him and rushed at him, desperately searching around for anyone he knew.
"There you are!" his dark counterpart, Dark Pit, shouted over the din. Pit watched as his mirror twin leaped off of the roof of a nearby building and pierced a Specknose in the eye. "Where were you? Where's Palutena?"
Pit opened his mouth to answer, but quickly turned to deflect a flying eggplant. "I was in the throne room searching for Palutena. There was this girl there, and-"
"DUCK!" Dark Pit loosed an arrow, which Pit immediately ducked. The squeal of what sounded like a Reapette sounded in the background. "Girl? How the Hell did a girl get in the throne room?"
"I don't know!" Pit spliced his bow into twin blades, slicing through a rain of Octos as they rushed at the two. "The girl said that she is safe, but I really, really doubt that! What happened out here?"
"Hell if I know!" Dark Pit shouted, pulling out a large blue cannon and aiming it at something above Pit's head. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Pit covered his ears as the powerful Poseidon Cannon took out a swarm of Gloomerangs buzzing above him. "These Underworld Army idiots just appeared out of nowhere! There was this wind and all that, but none of us really thought anything of it until an Octos smacked into someone's face."
Pit grit his teeth, weaving easily through various projectiles flying all over the place. "We're going to have to work together to beat these guys! Just like old times!"
"KINDA FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE HERE!" Dark Pit shouted as he blasted the Poseidon Cannon a few more times. "SAVE THE FRIENDSHIP SPEECHES FOR- hey, isn't that your Guardian over there?"
At the mere mention of Psyche, Pit whirled towards where his double was pointing. Sure enough, his brunette Guardian was holding off Underworld enemies with a few daggers, swiping them every which way with inhuman speed. Pride swelled within the Commander of Palutena's Army as he recognized a few knife techniques he had spent long hours helping her to perfect.
Then, something went wrong.
A Specknose flew right up to her face, jarring his Guardian for a moment, but not enough to stop her left hand from coming up and swiping the offending creature right between the eyes. The Specknose squealed and reeled back, black blood dripping from a deep gash. Psyche grinned in triumph as she stepped forward for the kill…
Only for another few Specknoses to ram into her back, sending her tumbling over the edge of the floating Skyworld island.
"NO!"
In a fit of rage, Pit sent a barrage of lightning-fast arrows at the offending Specknoses, eliminating all of them within seconds. Before Dark Pit could so much as comment on this attack, the angel was already on his way. Many enemies attempted to stop him, but all of them fell before the blade of the enraged Commander of Palutena's Army.
"PSYCHE!" he screamed. "PSYCHE!" he dashed towards her, cursing his ineffective wings. He saw her slim white hand slipping, heard her shriek of terror as a piece of Skyworldian concrete fell near her. Pit felt a tremor deep within him as fear bubbled its way up to his stomach. He saw a crack in front of him widen, forming a fissure to block the path to his Guardian.
His Guardian about to fall millions of miles to the ground.
He summoned everything he had, unfurled his wings, and leaped. For a moment, he hovered, his jubilance rising as he conquered his long-time handicap at last. But there was just the smallest breath of wind, the slightest change in direction that stunned him, making his wings useless. He began to plummet, reaching out his arm and grabbing the edge of the fissure just in time.
Around him, Skyworld roared. He could see whole chunks of it falling to the earth. The mortals below would no doubt believe that this was the end at last. That after eons of existence, their time was coming to an end. Pit shed a single tear for those he had cared about all these years before summoning all his strength and hoisting himself onto more stable ground.
His Guardian was still holding on with all she had. But she was slipping. He could see her flailing in fear as her fingers steadily inched closer and closer to the edge. For a moment, all time seemed to freeze as yet another crack appeared, this one slowly making its way towards the area her fingers frantically clung onto. Pit hurled himself forward, desperately reaching out to her just as the crack finished its course.
He was too late.
He reached her, clawed at her, begged her to take his hand. But by the time he was close enough to her, she was already gone. Her fingertips barely brushed his own as her scream filled the air. Pit watched his Guardian fall through the clouds below, shaking in shock and misery. Tears welled up in those eyes of sky blue as the tiny figure of his Guardian disappeared. Her horrified screams echoed in his ears.
Skyworld was falling. Centurions lay dead or dying. Many of the Skyworldians had either been captured by monsters or killed. Dark Pit, whom he had last seen fighting desperately against numerous enemies, was nowhere to be found. His home, his friends… they were all being ripped away from him. Ripped away and burned in the flames of hate and fury.
He didn't care. His Guardian, the girl who had bourn his soul seven years ago, and whom he had watched over for the past seven years was gone. He had allowed her to slip through his fingers.
Pit reared back his head and roared.