Kyoko: Hi! Chapter 6 is up! First, I would like to answer Ralph Jones' question which he sent to me. He asked is there was something going on between Falco and Ai, and my answer is... yes! In the last chapter of Chaos in the Limelight when Ai confides in Falco I began wondering if they could be more than just friends. At first it seemed impossible but now it seems to fit with the storyline! But will this actually happen? Ai still thinks about Koji, so will it still remain as a friendship?

Marth: You'll have to find out later! Anyway, summary time! Ai gets distracted from her mission, Dedede distracts Wolf with a strange object and everyone is shocked when something falls from the sky!

JapanFan Kyoko does not own any SSB characters but she does own all the members of the SMASH! News team.

A few minutes later we arrived in Tokyo, well, the remains of Tokyo. I waited until the all of the Smashers had disembarked the ship before I stepped outside but Roy offered to stay behind with me and Falco rather than go with his friend Marth. He's been acting strange lately, always disappearing and saying very little. Maybe he's just ill.

I reassured them both that I would be fine, they have already done so much, and the mission's not about me. The three of us stepped out together, and I forced myself to walk in front of them and stare at the sky, hoping that I would see the skyscrapers above me. Surprisingly they were there, but severely damaged, burning and no longer recognisable. The streets were deserted and hostile, broken glass was shining in the glare of the flames. Neon signs lay lifeless on the floor, their lights fading and electric wires firing sparks on the ground, even the green train bridge had collapsed in a heap of twisted steel. This was once Akihabara.

Immediately I felt weak again. He couldn't do this, Yoshiki couldn't do this. My eyes began to sting as I caught sight of a man lying amongst the wreckage.

The Smashers stayed together chatting. Falco had joined them but Roy still lingered in between me and the crowd. I began to wonder if we would be split up again into our different groups. After all, Falco seemed to be struggling to cope with all of us… Not that he's not capable of that of course! A few minutes later, as if he read my mind, Falco ordered us into teams. However, Falco's looked a little small; most of his members had been turned into superior Smashers so a few rearrangements were made.

The next step? Well, even though I didn't want to, we had to explore Tokyo, possibly stay somewhere for the night if there was anywhere suitable. And then there are the Smashers. They couldn't possibly be at Yoshiki's mansion, especially if the press are after him…

They boarded the Great Fox again. It seemed a better idea to search the ground from the air since most of the roads were now treacherous. Again, whilst the Smashers stayed in the passenger area, Ai stayed in the cockpit with Falco. She wanted to feel what it would be like to be in control and to get the best view of the city. Plus, it was quieter and sitting with Falco was less stressful than being squashed in between several noisy Smashers. Occasionally Roy came in and sat down in between them, his face redder than his hair.

"Roy, is there a reason for you wandering in apart from friendly conversations?" asked Falco, starting to get annoyed.

"Ah, no. No, sorry, I'm just ill, that's all. Yeah, don't mind me." the swordsman replied hastily as he ran out again. Ai watched him nervously.

"Ill?" she said, settling back down in her chair and turning to Falco. "I wonder if he's alright. He's been a bit jumpy lately…"

Falco craned his head as he scanned the ground looking for a building that was still intact. "Oh, right," he replied, not really listening.

Ai smiled as he tried to concentrate on the controls and look down at the ground at the same time. It was the first time since the adventure began that she actually had something to smile about, even if it was pointless.

"Let me try," said Ai, standing up.

"Wha-? You? Drive?" Falco exclaimed. The Great Fox rolled sideways, throwing her against the wall as Falco's concentration became exhausted. "Oh, sorry! Oh yeah and… no."

"Oh go on!" Ai pleaded, her smile becoming wider. "Teach me!"

Something strange came over her. She skipped happily over to Falco's chair and rested an elbow on it.

"Ai, sit down," Falco sighed, playfully pushing her away. But Ai still stayed where she was. As Falco sat back down he jumped in surprise when he realised that Ai was in his seat.

"Ai!" he squawked. "Get out!"

"Only if you teach me!" Ai replied, tapping the edges of the chair. "I've been in such a bad mood lately, I just want to do something fun for a change…"

It was rare for Falco to succumb to an innocent face, but this was situation was a little different. It was the first time in ages since he saw her laugh, perhaps the only time since he met her. It was dangerous to consider her to be a trainee pilot, especially since she hadn't driven a ship before or a car for that matter. On the other hand it would be a good experience if it went well, and to see Ai in a happier mood made him reconsider.

"…Fine," he said after a few minutes of pondering. "Just be careful, OK? I don't want you killing everyone!"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Ai replied. "Now how do we move forward?"

Falco nodded towards a long lever and imitated a pushing movement. Ai grabbed the lever and pushed it forward in the same way, causing the ship to accelerate faster. Amazingly, from that moment Ai seemed to grasp the basics easily. To Falco's relief there were no problems in flying over Tokyo, at least until Ai became curious about more advanced techniques.

"Well, I think that's all you need to know for now," Falco said finally. "I think I should take over."

"But what about a barrel roll?" asked Ai. "I used to play StarFox games, you know! I bet it's easy enough!" She obviously knew too much from the games and it was too late to change the subject now.

"That's not a good idea… Just let me take over before-"

Before he could finish his sentence the Great Fox suddenly swerved to the left and rolled over; a spectacular barrel roll. Unfortunately everyone was thrown all over the place, including Ai and Falco.

"Wow, did I just do that?" Ai crawled back to her chair, laughing so hard she could barely stand. Falco hastily took over with the controls and the ship became level again. Marth burst through the door.

"What's going on?" he yelled, unsteadily grabbing onto the wall.

Falco said nothing but pointed an accusing finger at Ai who was still laughing uncontrollably. "Don't ask."

"What's wrong with her? Is she… is she laughing?" The blue-haired swordsman watched Ai as she steadily got to her feet and her laughing died down. "What have you two been doing?"

"Oh, well, I thought I'd do something fun to take my mind off things," Ai replied, smiling. "So Falco decided to help me become a pilot!"

"I never said a thing!" Falco countered. "You sat in my seat!"

"Well, it's nice to see you're OK," Marth replied, taking a seat next to Ai.

He looked down out of the window at the vast area of burning buildings and trains. Ai also looked outside and she instantly reverted back to her sombre mood.

"Aw, not you too," Falco said mockingly when he noticed Marth had made himself at home in the cockpit. "I'm not looking after both of you!"

"Oh, sorry," said the swordsman. "I'd better see if Roy's OK. I have no idea what's wrong with him."

"There!" Falco stood up and pointed at a building on the outskirts of northern Tokyo. "Looks like an old hotel. We'll stay there for a while."

Marth stood up and left the room. As he went through the door they could hear the disgruntled complaints about Falco's driving, to which he replied, "It was Ai, you morons!"

Feeling guilty, Ai fell quiet. It was only as the ship began to descend towards the ground that Falco noticed her change in character again. "It wasn't that bad, ya know," he said.

"Ha, I got too carried away," Ai sighed, a small smile creeping onto her face. "Maybe some other time?"

Falco laughed, almost losing concentration again. "Yeah, sure. One day you'll be donning the StarFox uniform and chasing StarWolf!"

"Yeah, it would be nice!" said Ai, joining in with the sarcasm.

A few minutes later the ship landed with a thump onto the ground. This time they all left together, and Ai was particularly determined not to become distracted. After all, this was serious. People had died because of Yoshiki, she had seen one victim among the wreckage; how many more would she see before his reign ended?

It had been a while since Wolf had last seen Dedede. It wasn't that he was concerned, it was just suspicious. He couldn't possibly be following orders… He could hear him murmuring something to himself.

"Hey! Dedede! Get in here!" Wolf demanded, irritated.

The bird waddled into the cockpit, his eyes glued to something in his hand. "Yeah, yeah, I'm here. What's all the shouting about?"

Wolf glanced briefly at the object in Dedede's hands, wondering why it was so interesting. "Give that here," he said.

Obediently King Dedede handed over the tiny black object, a look of intrigue still present on his face. It was about an inch in width and height and had small white letters printed in English on one side and Japanese on the other.

"So this is what you've been mumbling about," Wolf sighed, shaking his head. "And here I am thinking you've got this amazing plan and you're saying it out loud to yourself…"

"Don't doubt my intelligence!" said Dedede angrily. "Read it!"

Wolf glared at him, feeling insulted by his ridicule and annoying self-confidence. He did, however, read the writing on both sides. His immediate reaction was shock. Turning to face Dedede again, his face was written with disbelief.

"Where did you get this?" he asked guardedly. "This is about the Smashers! Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?!"

"Heh heh, you never asked!" chuckled Dedede.

"Well, yeah, that's because you never told me, you idiot!" Wolf growled. "Anyway, it says something about the Smashers and… wait! Superior Smashers! Tell me where you got this!"

"Under the table in the Smash Mansion," replied the bird. "Looks like a memory card, doesn't it?"

Wolf carefully placed it in his other hand and held it close to his face to examine it. Meanwhile Dedede jumped onto the seat next to him and took over with the controls. "Honestly, I'm surprised we haven't crashed yet…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

"Yeah, right. Come and look at this. If you look closely it says Yoshiki Inukai. Isn't he that guy who's missing?"

Dedede quickly glanced over his shoulder and nodded . "Oh yeah," To tell the truth he wasn't really that bothered. "Look, I'm trying to drive here so stop distrac-"

Suddenly realising what he was doing, Wolf dived onto the controls and guarded them protectively. Dedede casually hopped off of his chair. Wolf threw the black object back to him, but he missed and it fell to the floor, smashing into two pieces.

"…Oh well." he said, throwing the pieces away.

"What?! No! Give them here!" Wolf yelled, diving off his chair again. "They were important!"

"For what?"

"Didn't you notice anything when you were looking at it?" Wolf asked angrily. Dedede shook his head, his face blank. Wolf desperately tried to remind himself why he had allowed him on the ship. Annoyed, Wolf picked up the broken pieces and pressed them together. "Look, it says Master Hand,"

"Oh! That guy who invited us to the Smash Mansion!" exclaimed Dedede, his face lighting up. "Wow, it says something on this one as well!"

Just when Wolf thought the conversation couldn't get any crazier, Dedede pulled out another black object out of his robes. The wolf, close to defeat from Dedede's insanity, hit his head on the back of his chair in fury.

"Get out," he growled. "And give that to me,"

"Yeah, sure," the bird responded with a smile. "Oh, and by the way, I think we're about to crash into Earth…"

Despite its damaged appearance from the outside, the inside of the old hotel was in good condition compared to the surrounding buildings. There were a few broken walls and there was no electricity; an elevator lay in the centre of the main hall as if it had been chucked there. Some of the Smashers offered to carry blankets into the hotel to make their stay more comfortable. Wario, -who only appeared when he was hungry on the Great Fox- was glad about this; the amount of times he kept tripping over them when he wanted to raid the food boxes was driving him mad.

The Ai, Fumiko and the Smashers went to the first floor of the hotel. It must have been five stars; the rooms were spacious and equipped with large TV's, bathrooms and furniture. Excitedly the three teams split up and made themselves at home until it was decided there should be one room per team, and so they began to quieten down for their first night on the ground since they left the Smash Mansion. Eventually, the three rooms became quiet as midnight came.

Fumiko had left her team to find her own room, saying that it was too crowded and she couldn't stand Pit.

"I'm not annoying!" said Pit sleepily. "I'm just not tired!"

"Same with me," Ai replied as she pulled her blanket closer around her. "…Hey, Roy, are you feeling better?"

"Oh, a little," said Roy, his voice quiet.

Snake lay underneath his box and Metaknight sat on the top, already fast asleep. For Falco, his night in the hotel much more comfortable since he had taken the double-bed before anyone else could jump on it, saying, "I deserve the better bed after putting up with you lot!". Everyone else had to sleep on the floor.

"Well, I guess I should try and get some sleep," yawned Marth. "We should be prepared for tomorrow."

And so eventually, Marth fell asleep. Soon after that Ai was defeated by fatigue, and reminded herself that would be the only thing that defeated her.

The hours passed, and before long the sunlight shone through the windows but it didn't succeed in waking them. After all, it was only five o' clock. On the other hand, Mr Game and Watch was already wide awake and looking out of the window at the depressing scene of Tokyo against the backdrop of grey clouds. Something was moving in the sky and coming towards them.

He ran up to Ganondorf, the leader of his team and rang his bell, startling him.

"What?! Oh, it's just you. Go back to sleep, oh, and get me some more chocolate from the box will ya? I'm starving!"

Mr Game and Watch rang his bell again and pointed at the window.

"Oh, right," said Ganondorf, crawling out of his bed. He too saw something flying towards them. "Go and alert everyone else!" he ordered.

The 2D character quickly rushed out of the room and into the room of Mario's team. Yoshi was already stuffing his face with junk food. Mr Game and Watch ran over to Mario and rang his bell again.

"Mamma mia!" he exclaimed. "Ah, Mr Game and Watch! What is it?"

Mr Game and Watch jumped up and down and ran out the door. He then ran into the room of Falco's team and rang his bell for the fourth time, waking up everyone instantly. He repeated his actions then ran out the room again, the ping of his footsteps fading downstairs.

"That was weird." said Pit.

"I think he wants us to follow him." sighed Metaknight. "Come on!"

A few minutes later, everyone -including Fumiko who had been forgotten- gathered outside where Mr Game and Watch stood pointing at the sky. The object was a lot closer now.

"What is it?" asked Wario.

"I think I know…" said Snake, backing away. "Everyone, get back!"

"But what-"

Before anyone could move, the giant silver object slammed into the ground, smashing several buildings and shaking the ground. Slowly it rose up into the air again, it's fingers glowing red. A few Smashers stood back in shock when they realised who it was.

"That's… that's Master Hand," gasped Metaknight "The superior Master Hand!"

Master Hand is back! Yay! I still haven't explained why Roy is feeling ill, but don't worry, everything is revealed in the next chapter. And PLEASE tell me what you think about the idea of a FalcoxAi couple! I want to know what you think and if it's a good idea.

Please review!