Hey! I'm back! Okay, so before we begin, I have to say that people who take the Ten Commandments seriously, particularly the second one, might be offended by the beginning conversation between Pikachu and Gamecube.

But, considering that you've stuck with the story, I'm assuming it's no problem.

Disclaimer: I only own the layout of the Realms, Gamecube, the 'odd place' that's mentioned later on, the portal system, and the story itself. I DO NOT own SSBM, its characters, or its stages. The name 'Gamecube' is copyright of Nintendo.

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"So, God is the guy you believed in your human life?" Pikachu asked.

Gamecube nodded.

"Okay, so you use his name in expressions?"

"Yes. Mostly when I'm pissed or shocked or anything like that," Gamecube replied.

"We… don't really do that with our gods and spirits. It's considered a bit disrespectful, and besides, it sounds funny. But this sounds pretty cool, using 'God' in some stuff. More… emphasis on what you're saying."

"Kinda like when you use curse words?"

"Yeah, that's what it feels like."

Pikachu and Gamecube were discussing this next to where Jigglypuff slept, where Pikachu once was. They were back in the camp, and the moon was rising once more. It was so hard to believe that three days ago, Pikachu was unconscious and lying on the same moss that now belonged to Jigglypuff.

"So, what kind of expressions do you use?"

"Like, 'I swear to God,' or 'Oh, my God!' or, my personal favorite, 'Goddammit!'"

"I see," Pikachu replied, nodding.

A new voice joined in. "Hey, guys?"

Gamecube and Pikachu turned their heads to see Ness coming toward them, his hand clenched closed.

"You got the berries?" Gamecube asked.

"Yep. Right here," Ness replied. He opened his hand to reveal two more Oran Berries for Jigglypuff to have when she woke up.

"Good," Gamecube said, accepting the berries. "So," she began again, turning to Pikachu, "do you know Jigglypuff?"

"Yeah," he replied. "We met during one of Ash's first journeys. She would just sing and sing if she saw anything that remotely resembled a stage, and if you were caught off guard, you were out like a light before you even realized it. Then, we would all wake up with marker on our faces. But, in the end, she and I became friends, so seeing her for the first time in that arena… I was scared shitless."

Gamecube thought about that for a moment. Though she could not remember any friends from her old life, she realized that she would have been scared too if it were Pikachu or Ness she saw in that arena.

"…I understand," Gamecube finished.

"Yeah. I can't imagine what I would have done if I saw Paula or Jeff or Poo in there!" Ness exclaimed. He suddenly flinched. He turned back to Jigglypuff and stared intently. None of them said anything for about a minute, when Gamecube finally prompted:

"Err… Ness? What are you doing?"

"Just wait," he responded.

After another minute or so, Jigglypuff stirred. She gave a grunt and slowly opened her eyes. Pikachu gasped in joy and moved in a bit closer to his friend.

Jigglypuff opened her turquoise eyes and turned to Pikachu.

"Pikachu…? Where… am I?"

"Somewhere outside Nintendo City. How we got here is another story," Pikachu replied.

"What do you mean?" She asked, sitting up. Immediately, her eyes widened in surprise, glancing first at Gamecube, then at Ness. "Are these… friends of yours?"

"Yes. These aren't the only ones I'm traveling with, though," Pikachu answered.

"Not the only ones?"

"That's right. Including you, there are twenty-one of us. It's a long story, Jigglypuff, and right now, we want to know what happened to you. Who caught you? What did you see? We want to know everything," Pikachu stated.

"And everyone will want to know this," Gamecube pointed out, handing Jigglypuff the berries. "Maybe we should gather everyone together, and Jigglypuff can tell her story then."

Pikachu stared at the ground for a long while, and then nodded. Looking back up at Gamecube, he nodded.

"Okay. Get everyone in the middle of the clearing. I'm going to tell Jigglypuff what's been happening."

"Good. And don't leave a single detail out!" Gamecube said, starting to head out into the clearing.

She immediately noticed that everyone was awake, but some were getting ready to sleep.

"Don't fall asleep! Jigglypuff's awake! You need to hear the story she has to tell! Get out here!" Gamecube yelled.

The heroes did as she told as Pikachu, Ness, and Jigglypuff came to join her. The heroes circled around them, leaving a space around the four. There were murmurs coming from the crowd.

"It's good to see you're well, Jigglypuff. It's a pleasure to have you with us," Meta-Knight stated, giving a small nod.

"Thank you," Jigglypuff replied, nodding back. "But you need to know everything that I saw. It could help you learn more about this threat that Pikachu was talking about."

Jigglypuff took a deep breath. "It was a couple weeks ago," she began. "It was like any other day. I was just wondering around, like normal, but these purplish, human-like, things jumped out of nowhere. There must have been seven or eight of them! I was caught off guard, so I didn't stand a chance! They knocked me out…But when I woke up, I wasn't in control of my body! I just remember standing in this odd place…" She trailed off.

"Can you describe this place?" Gamecube prompted.

There was a pause. "…I don't remember most of it," Jigglypuff said at last.

"It's okay. Just tell us what you do remember," Pikachu encouraged.

"Well, there were others there. I didn't see them clearly, but there was one to the right of me that looked vaguely familiar," she continued.

One of the missing heroes? Gamecube thought."What did this one look like?" she asked.

"I thought I glimpsed brown shoes, overalls, and a green hat," As Jigglypuff spoke, she looked as if she was struggling to remember.

"That… That sounds like Luigi!" Mario cried. "Do you know exactly where this place is?" He asked Jigglypuff.

She frowned. "I wish I knew."

"Did you see anything else?" Ness asked.

"Well, there were those purplish people things. Lots of them. I'd guess there was hundreds, even thousands."

Jesus Christ. She did not just say thousands, Gamecube thought.

"And there were also two giant gloves. They talked to each other about horrible – no, evil things! They were terrifying!" Jigglypuff exclaimed.

Gamecube realized that this was her chance to find out as much about the Hands as possible. "Did you hear their names? And what 'things' do you mean?"

"There was a really twitchy one, and a calmer one. The calm one was called 'Master' while the twitchy one was called 'Crazy.' And the plans they spoke of… They planned terrible destruction and killings of innocents. They even spoke of…" She suddenly shut her eyes as if trying to shut out the most horrible sight the world had to offer.

"Spoke of what? What?" Gamecube prompted, feeling terror grow in her stomach.

"…They even spoke of finding people close to us – you, me, and the others who were with me – and watching our reactions as our friends and loved ones were tortured and killed… 'Nice and slow,' they said."

This drew out many gasps and cries of horror from the crowd. Gamecube searched her mind to find people who the Hands could capture, but it was no use. Most of her memory from her old life was gone.

Did the spirits do that to protect them, as well? Gamecube wondered. Shaking it off, she furiously shouted:

"We can't let that happen! We are going to stop these Hands EVEN IF IT KILLS US! Right?"

"Yeah!" The response came from all; a united voice.

"The moon may be setting now, but when the sun rises, our quest continues! Ness, do we have another lead?"

"Yes, we do! There's another portal due north of here. We just need to head that way starting tomorrow," Ness replied.

"Good."

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THIS IS A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

I now can email the picture of Gamecube that my friend did! If you want to see, just send me a message – USE YOUR NORMAL EMAIL, NOT AN FF PM – and I'll send you the picture in return! If you think it's risky, don't worry! I'm clueless in virus-making, and I am not a stalker. Whether you believe me is your decision.

And… that's all for now.

No, wait! RoyalFanatic, get Chapter 13 of "A Grasp At Life" up soon, okay? I've been waiting!