Chapter 6: A Bounty on Ylissean Royalty
Super Smash Bros. [Fire Emblem: Awakening; Regna Ferox]
During the Shepherds visit in Regna Ferox, Robyn searched a marketplace for interesting items. She was accompanied by Gregor, Kellam, and Cherche. They were happy to follow their great tactician into shopping (leaving Severa behind for obvious reasons) but when the hours passed, they couldn't steel themselves to go on. Robyn was very discriminate on what she wanted. Not just some knick-knack could be a part of her collection, it was her hobby. Robyn collected many things that made many folks think that the young tactician was mindlessly hoarding random novelties. It didn't matter to her, they just looked interesting enough to remind her of her travels and the people she has met there. Especially the moments she has shared alongside her beloved friends. She would rush to the nearest souvenir stands and collect the most outstanding item. She's gotten the best deals from fellow Shepherd Anna, so she knows the best way to see which merchandise is the best things to have. Robyn was looking into a shop of textiles of various patterns, wondering which would be best to add to her personal collection.
"Hey sis, you done finding junk?" Coming up to her side, Robin, Robyn's twin brother and fellow tactician of the Shepherds, surprised his sister.
"They aren't junk. It's our first time in Regna Ferox without worrying about having to be in conflict between the Kahn's of the nation." Robin's twin scolded her brother. "It would be nice to remember this occasion." Robin couldn't deny that. After all the hazardous war and drama they have been in. It's been a while since the end of the Valmese war, now planning on invading Plegia once again for the final Gemstone. The time of the invasion is upon the Ylissean army, and their little break is coming to an end. "How's everyone doing?"
"We're about ready to go. We leave for Plegia by next morning." Robin said to his sister. "Have any of you seen Chrom? He said he would unite with your company when he was done visiting Arena Ferox."
"No." Gregor said in his vague accent. "Lucina came by looking for him, saying that a flying creature flew by over to the Arena."
"She's been rambling on about some 'invisible dragon' following our group for a while." Cherche commented. "If it were a dragon, or a wyvern to be exact, I would've known. Plus Minerva would've sensed it's presence."
"Lucina?" Robin's attention was more brought on his question on Chrom. "Where did she go?"
"She went to arena looking for her father, Chrom." Kellam answered. That worried Robin. He felt an uneasy presence from a strange anomaly that had been appearing in the sky recently on their travels. Robyn grew suspicious of her brother's behavior. He's been rather jumpy around Chrom and Lucina. Especially the girl. Robyn has had her suspicion on the supposed daughter of their Exalt. She has her doubt on her relationship to Chrom. To be more specific (and to herself), she did not fully trust the young woman. She doubts she could even protect Chrom the way her brother and her have.
"Is their a problem, brother?"
Robin hesitated on the answer. "Umm, no. Of course not. "Perhaps, maybe I should go check up on Chrom. Make sure nothing happened." In a hurry, the male tactician ran off to find Chrom and his daughter.
"Robin wait!" Robyn called out to him. Her brother was too far and determined to notice her call.
"Oi, that boy is always on his mind to help Chrom." Said Gregor. "Always by his side." Robyn gave him a scowl. "Er, well your by his side as well."
"Or maybe it's something else." Cherche said with a sneer. Robyn didn't like what was going on in the wyvern ladies mind, but another thought came to her mind.
"Assemble the Shepherds. I fear Chrom's safety." Robyn was taking command, and advising her company of the situation. "I don't want to find out my fears of assassins when we arrive! Hurry we don't have time!"
Within the Arena Ferox, Lucina was pushed back harshly from a powerful force. Behind her, Chrom lay injured from the battle with the assailant. "What is this power?" Lucina readed herself for more. Past the dust cloud stood a scarfed man in a blue armored flight suit, sporting yellow boots and a red helmet concealing his eyes behind a black visor (also replacing the vision of his eyes with two with scalene triangles). He had a single shoulder pad on his right shoulder and he had arm protectors beneath the gloves covering only his hands. A gold falcon stood on the front of the helmet, letting his victims know exactly who he is, however in Ylisse no bounty hunters or assassins ever dressed the way this one had. For this was no ordinary bounty hunter, it was the legendary F-zero pilot and bounty hunter: Captain Douglas Jay Falcon.
"Stand aside girlie. This is between him and me." The bounty hunter said to Lucina.
"You coward! I saw what you did! You appeared from the shadows to land a decisive blow against my father, where is your sense of honor?!" Lucina snapped back.
"Oh so this is your daddy? Strange? I mistook him for your brother, you two can't be too far apart in age."
"It's true. Only because I come from a terrible future where I have no father because of a vile demon!"
C. Falcon made a disbelieving face as he tilted his head slightly. "...um... time travel? Like some 'Back to the Future' type shit? Okay, never happened. And if it did, how can you prove it to me?" Lucina was not in the mood to play '20 questions' with this man. This man had just attacked her father, leaving him immobile. If what she assumed is true, he's going to either take Chrom dead or alive and she was not having that.
"I don't need to tell you anything assassin! If you want him, you'll have to go through me!" Lucina was determined to beat this cutthroat away from Chrom.
"Alright then princess. Come at me." Falcon posed, prompting the young princess to strike him. Lucina looked back at her father, struggling in his pain.
"For my father, hrrrungh." Lucina dashed toward her enemy, lashing out at him with her Falchion. The slash didn't make its mark, allowing C. Falcon to punch toward Lucina. Luckily Lucina hasn't made contact with the fist, brushing her with the force that the punch would've done if it hit her. She quickly tried to slice him once more but Falcon back-flipped away.
"You have to try better than that." C. Falcon said, readying himself to counter. Lucina thrusted her Falchion right toward his center but the racer deflected the strike away then drop-kicked the girl's sword up. The princess was thrown off guard, taken aback on her vulnerability.
"How can this be?" Lucina thought. "I'm sorry everyone. I've failed you. Mother, father, I couldn't stop Grima." Lucina was thrown back from the last attack, letting C. Falcon charge up his signature move, "Falcon..." However, before he could finish the deadly attack, two green waves fell between Lucina and C. Falcon, interrupting his signature move and elsewhere, infuriating fanboys/girls across a universe somewhere. Falcon leaped out of the dust, back flipping away as he landed. At the end, Falcon looke up to the new opponent.
"Who dares interrupt the holy 'Falcon Pawnch'?" A white haired man closed his wind tome in one hand and held a lightening shaped sword in the other. He floated down in front of Lucina, the girl sat looking at her and Chrom's savior just happy to avoid the 'Falcon Punch' that, through assumption, would have been disastrous. The person looked back to Lucina, still with his hood concealing his face.
"It's going to be alright." The familiar voice penetrated to Lucina's thoughts, making her realize who could've come to face C. Falcon, the bounty hunter. To confirm Lucina's guess, Robin pulled back his hood to show who he was swinging back his Levin sword in preparation to fight. "Time to tip the scales!" Falcon looked at the sight of the young man coming between him and his bounty.
"...uuuh... what am I looking at here? Is that your introduction quip?" Falcon was unimpressed.
"Robin! What are you...?" Lucina tried to ask.
"Well when you kept saying that you saw some flying monster following us many times before, I was about as sceptical as the others." Explained the male tactician. "But soon I saw something out of place in the sky, something distorting the very air around it." He turned toward Falcon. "That wouldn't happen to be you sir?"
C. Falcon was perplexed on the tacticians knowledge of his presence here in this world. "Aren't you the perceptive one. So it was you constantly looking up at me for long moments. And I thought you were merely thinking hard and looking up to the sky like a sap. Or maybe you were thinking about your suggestive dreams?" Robin felt himself cringe on the reminder of his dreams.
"What are you talking about, lowly dog?"
"Oh I think you know what I'm talking about fella. While I was examining your bunch, I was able to catch your conversations and your petty plans. Not only that but your most private moments."
"Silence you!" Lucina interrupted, feeling uncomfortable about this man spying on them. "You speak treacheries!"
"Oh do I?" Falcon said. "Oh the moanings you said at night. 'Oh, don't nibble on my toes like that. Please, Lu...'" Before he could finish his description of Robin's past dreams he eavesdropped on, Robin launched forward an Arcfire to Falcon, making him dodge the burst of flames. "aRCFIRE Lucina was curious where the 'Lu' part was going, rather suspicious of what Robin had on his mind nowadays. She was going to have to keep a better eye on that man.
"Now that's enough stranger. It's time you leave us be." Anounced the tactician.
"Sorry kid, but I ain't leavin' without that guy." C. Falcon pointed to Chrom, still laying down in defeat.
"Very well, but I tried to warn you." He began quietly chanting a spell making one of his tomes begin to spark and sizzle.
"No you didn't." The racer was launched from the gut by a long beam of lightning Robin blasted out from his tome. The tome was flying around the tactician, until it floated back to his hand. "Thoron!" Lucina got up from her spot to accompany Robin.
"Wow, you have so many tomes!"
Robin looked back at her. "I can only use them so many times. Which is why I carry my Levin Sword!" Out of some rubble, the bounty hunter hunting for Chrom emerged for his revenge.
"Alright kiddies. Maybe you missed class, cause now it's time to get schooled!" The F-zero racer, now pumped up, was ready to fight both the princess and and the Shepherds tactician.
"This is no time for me to rest. I'll fight by your side!" Lucina drew her Falchion once more. C. Falcon dashed towards his opponents with his 'Raptor Boost'. The pair of swordfighters flanked the racer and Paired up to duel the experienced bounty hunter. Chrom looked up from the ground to see his best friend and daughter fighting together to protect him from his bounty hunter.
"I suppose I'll get my chance another day." Said the Exalt before cringing back to defeated form. Lucina drew Falcon's attention by striking at him head-on, meanwhile Robin threw his magical attacks toward his foe but C. Falcon continued to evade and strike them in their close combat between them. He was impressed on the fluid cooperation the girl and the tactician had, putting him in a hard place trying to overcome the duo. The two worked in a truly determined movement that was hard for the captain to stay on one target. However, it was harder for the younger ones to actually lay a blow on Cpt. Douglas Falcon, with his advanced combat training enabling him to carefully land a couple of hits, but keeping them down was the real problem the racer was having. Lucina and Robin, despite being slightly battered, valiantly fought back the powerful fighter. The pair regrouped next to Chrom.
"Huff, Robin. What're we going to do?" Lucina asked exasperated. "He's just too strong. Huff. I've never seen magic like this that conjures fire and physical strength in such a way."
"I agree, but now that I've analysed his moves, I have found a way to finally best him." Robin advised Lucina. "O.k., just follow my lead." Robin walked around the stadium trying to gain Falcon's attention, which he did.
"Oh you want some huh kid? Well, your friend there is going to have a front row seat to me messin' you up bad. Then I'll get rid of her next, then I'll just be on my merry way and collect my bounty." Falcon had grown impatient and just wanted to just knock these two senseless so he could finish his job.
"That's not going to happen." Robin replied, very sure of himself.
"Is that right? Then prove it to me!" The racer dashed forward with another Raptor Dash, while Robin struck back with with some Elwind waves. C. Falcon evaded the winds and jabbed toward Robin pushing him back. When the boy recovered, he came back swinging his Levin sword keeping Falcon at bay. This time when Falcon tried to deflect this weapon, it really shocked him (literally and figuratively) on contact. The two jumped a distance away from each other for more elbow room. By this moment, Falcon was intent on ending this and judging on Robin's condition, their was no chance of him avoiding this move. C. Falcon crouched down, for one of his other signature moves. "Falcon Kick!" The racer kicked forward, being followed by a stream of flames similar to his Falcon Punch, toward Robin. Before the wondrous impact could be made, Robin used Goetia, bringing the racer further in without much of his control. Instead of meeting with the male tactician, he found Lucina beyond the dark fog awaiting next to Robin in order to swing her Falchion toward C. Falcon. C. Falcon yet again dodged her attack to the side, but this time she grabbed toward Robin and with his help swinging her at the F-Zero bounty hunter, Lucina kicked him away, finally knocking him off his feet and to the ground. C. Falcon was not out of the battle, but his advance was stopped when a Levin Sword came near his throat.
"That's enough out of you." Wielding said Levin Sword, the female counterpart to the male tactician he was fighting showed up just in time to annul furthering the conflict. She was accompanied by a large force of the Shepherds, restraining the out of place racer. Flavia, Lissa, Virion, Fredrick, Gaius, Henry, Gregor, Sumia, Ricken, and Sully came to make sure everything was under control, only to find Chrom injured; Robin and Lucina tired and battered from a nasty fight; and a strange man wearing an other-worldly armor of sorts.
"Chrom!" Lissa and Sumia rushed over to the Shepherds' Exalt to care for his injuries, while it took the combined might of Sully, Frederick, and Gregor to keep Falcon from struggling free.
"What a peculiar assassin you are." Stated Flavia. "What brings you here?"
"I was here on a job." Falcon answered. "To collect a certain someone by Chrom to my employer."
"So you are a bounty hunter? You've picked the wrong Exalt to choose hunting. We can't just let you go off scot-free. You must pay for harming our Exalts and tactician."
"Aye." Says Sully. "I say we soak him in hot oil. See how he likes that!"
"Wait!" After being healed by his sister, Chrom rose up to see his bounty hunter, now not very impressed with his failure to capture him. "Let's hold on to him for now, see who he's working for."
C. Falcon grinned to the young ruler of Ylisse. "I don't need to speak to you freaks. I'd rather die than live being you're prisoner."
"Don't tempt me, bounty hunter. I would rather have your head, for laying arms against my daughter. Now, will you speak or not?" The racer spat toward Chroms boots, angering his captors. "I gave you a chance, now you seem eager to lose your head." He pulled out his Falchion, ready to behead the F-Zero racer.
"Wait father!" Chrom was halted by his daughter's plea. "We can't kill him now. How will we know who sent him here. It could be someone, or something, worse than even the Grimleal."
"I can agree." Robin stepped forward, gaining a disbelieving look from his sister. "Maybe this is how our enemy fights in combat, using magic in physical strikes. It may be vital to gain some info on this guy." Chrom was sceptical on the suggestions, but maybe some sort of mercy was necessary to negotiate with this bounty hunter, for now. He brought his sword next to Falcon's throat. He looked him straight in the eyes (or visor, however you want to put it).
"You live, only because my daughter allowed you. But don't think I won't have a close eye on you."
"Woopie." Falcon said with a sarcastic grin.
"Take him to the camp. We'll find out about him, one way or another. Let's go!" The Ylissean soldiers dragged Falcon out of the arena and toward their camp to interrogate him. Lucina followed but Robyn held her brother back to speak with him.
"What the hell happened here? That man was unarmed, yet not even Chrom could not dispatch him. And what was this about fire magic in physical attacks?"
"I don't know." He answered her. "However, he probably knows of our plans and of Grima."
" 'Probably' isn't good enough. Do we really want this guy hanging around our camp? After what he did to you, Lucina, and Chrom? Who knows what he could do to the rest of the army with his otherworldly arsenal."
"Now sis, we don't know that he has an arsenal, let alone that strange object he holds in that tiny hilt on his thigh. Beisdes, if me and Lucina could hold him, then he's not as powerful as he seems. And that's not just underestimating the guy."
"Look, I don't like this Robbie." She said to her twin. "I don't know if Lucina's judgement on this guy is relevant enough. I don't think he's putting enough of a fight like an ordinary prisoner would."
Robin put his hands on his sister's shoulders. "Would you just trust me on this? Maybe we can get something off this guy. It's worth a shot, plus there could be something going on in the shadows, something none of us are prepared for. I'll keep a close eye on him, if that'll make you feel better. If he even moves funny, I'll let you know." Robyn felt a little assured by her brothers suggestion, but couldn't help but feel uneasy.
"Fine. But only for now. We should be heading out with the others. We leave for Plegia." Robyn walked to the arena exit, with Robin following up. He did pause for a moment, but resumed to walk with the army, back to the safety of their camp.
We bring in the Fire Emblem Newcomers!
Smasher appearances: Robin (Male and Female), Lucina, and Captain Falcon
I made sure to have all the characters in the Smash Bros., even the palette swaps. I'm sure I've already said that, just making sure. I'll be sure to give both Robins differing personalities to tell them apart. They will both be present at the same time in this story. And just to remember, all trailers of Smash 4 will be shown/referred to in this as this is the origin story of the fourth Super Smash Bros. game and how they got back together.