Brave: I dunno. This chapter felt a little awkward when I first wrote it. I hope it's not too eye-bleedingly bad.


Super Smash Brothers: Return

Chapter VII: Introductions

"Activate primary screen," Meta Knight commanded. A large view screen slid down from the ceiling of his quarters.

"Ahem! My lord minister," He addressed the screen.

"Ah… the knight has news for his king," The Ancient Minister said calmly, both of his hands were with him at this point. "What have you discovered in your absence?"

"It appears that our enemies are stronger than we thought. With the minor aid of the SSB-BII, the Hunter, Samus, had taken down the SPS Vol Paragom. We are not to underestimate this one, she has a 99.29 completion rate, after all," Meta Knight informed.

"Hmm…" Master Hand stroked the 'chin' of the Ancient Minister, "What of the other point-seven-one percent?"

"A failed mission on the planet of Sol III. The details are unclear, but research has uncovered encrypted documents on a massively powerful nuclear reaction device. She was charged to destroy it, but the machine survived her assaults. Its creator has since disappeared. We have reason to believe the Space Pirates stole the device after its creator's escape. She is a formidable opponent," the Knight explained.

"Anything else?" The Minister himself asked.

"Yes, the pirate base on Hyrule was also crippled in a tandem operation between her and a hylian named Link. It is regrettable, but our platoon of Primids is still marching through the Hylian Sea. It appears I vastly misjudged the pirates' ability. Ah… but I have good news for you, my Minister!"

"AHA! WAFFLES!" Crazy Hand exclaimed randomly.

"I have another hand now, left," The Minister snarled. "I shall fulfill my promise," Master Hand viciously slapped his brother, under the control of the Subspace Leader.

"Er… yes…" Meta Knight's eyes shifted from side to side. "My report is that I recently received a priority eight auxiliary call from Mario himself. He invited me to his base, SSB-BII, codenamed the Smash Station. It is the ship that aided Samus in her destruction of the SPS Vol Paragom.

"I will accept this invitation and relay all information back to you. You cannot refuse us this chance, my lord minister," Meta Knight bowed.

"And I shall not, my knight. I can see that your battleship is already on course for the station, excellent," The Minister approved.

"Excellent, I shall contact you in three days time. Their doom is nigh! The Smashers cannot escape the power of Meta Knight, the Subspace Emissary!"


"Thank you for-a being so punctual, Samus," Mario thanked the hunter, "and you too, Link, as well as her highness, Princess Zelda. I appreciate you coming here today, for when all the other Smashers arrive, we have very important business to discuss."

Samus had her Chozo armorsuit on once more; its life-support was slightly better than the one on the SSB-BII. This was namely for the fact that it only had to provide oxygen to only one entity instead of an entire space station.

"Bro!" Luigi called, "The transporters are online, and the Mushroom Kingdom carrier has docked on external bay 31!"

"Thanks, L," Mario turned to face his brother, "Go work the transporter room, get those guys up here!"

"Sure thing, Bro!" Luigi ran off down the hall towards the transporter room. Mario looked back at him, until he was out of sight, and then turned back to his guests.

"Anyway, the Mushroom Kingdom group is about to arrive, I'd say our guests from Altea and Elibe will be the next to arrive."

"Altea?" Link asked.

"Elibe?" Zelda wondered.

"Your friend Marth is the prince of Altea, and Roy is the son of Marquess Eliwood Pherae, one of the kingdoms in Lycia, a territory in the continent of Elibe. I've recruited a few more people from that general area to assist you, but I don't think that they'll be arriving for a while.

"Anyway, those who have their own ships will arrive as soon as they can, so I can't tell you when they'll arrive. They might come in two minutes, or two hours, I'm not sure."

"Hey! Mario!" A girlish voice called as the door behind the chair Mario was in slid open. Five people, counting reptiles and other mammals walked through the door.

"Ah… Peach! It's-a good to see you again!" Mario walked over to Princess Peach Toadstool and shook her hand vigorously. She giggled and kissed Mario's bulbous nose, causing the plumber to blush.

"Gwa-ha-ha!" The evil King Bowser Koopa laughed in his deep baritone voice, "I'm lookin' forward to whooping your fat ass, Mario! Any time, any place!"

"Garoo! Heya, Mario!" The gargantuan, burly ape Donkey Kong greeted pumping both arms into the air. "It's been a while, so I hope there aren't any hard feelings from last time, huh?"

Mario smiled, "None at all, big fella! It's-a good to see ya!"

"Hiyahiyahiya Mario! I'm glad you and the big guy are friends again!" The smaller, more hyperactive chimp, Diddy Kong squeaked.

"Diddy!" the Italian plumber exclaimed, "Man, I almost didn't recognize you! You've gotten a lot bigger!"

"Yeah, I've gotten a lot stronger too! Just wait and see! Just wait and see! Gwooo!"

"Yoshi! Ya-hooooshi! Hi there, Mario!" the mid-ranged voice of a bipedal green reptile cut through the commotion as Yoshi trotted up to his heroic companion. His verdant scales, the scarlet pad on his back, and the yellow soles of his boots seemed as vibrant and cheerful as the lizard himself.

"Hey, it's my little dino friend, Yoshi! It's-a nice to have you by my side again," Mario gave Yoshi a juicy red apple, which he gulped down in an instant.

"Mm! Thanks, Mario, I'll give you ride anytime! Just ask!"

Luigi walked into the room once more, this time he was carrying a large pear. He walked over to Yoshi and presented the fruit, which he devoured ferociously.

"Well, Bro, the next shuttle has arrived, it's carrying five more fighters, this time from the land of Altea, and League of Lycia!" He bowed as the five from the Mushroom Kingdom took their seats, and the next group arrived.

"Hmph. This place looks a lot cleaner than that old mansion that you had us in last time," the blue-haired prince of Altea remarked. "Oh, it seems that we have a new member already!" Noticing Diddy, the man bows, his light armor clinking quietly as he kneeled to Allow me to introduce myself, sir chimpanzee, my name is Marth, I am the heir to the Altean throne."

"Hi, sir! My name's Diddy, Diddy Kong!"

"It is an honor to meet you, my pre-evolved acquaintance," Marth responded politely, but frowned momentarily. "Not sir. I'm not a knight. Your Highness should do fine, er, 'Diddy'."

"Oh come on, dude, lighten up a bit! You don't have to be so dang formal all the time!" The teenage son of Lord Eliwood Pherae entered the room. Marth rolled his eyes at his acquaintance's attitude, it was unbefitting for one of noble birth.

"Hey all o' you! The name's Roy, little chimp, you'll know me by the time this is all over!" Diddy looked towards the larger ape and let out a burst of mirth, both of them gasping for air once they were done laughing. Roy looked on at the scene in puzzlement, his blue-gold armor drooping along with his expression.

"Roy…" His father, Lord Eliwood, entered the room, shaking his head in amused disapproval. "Please try to be a bit more polite with people you don't know."

"Oh dad, you know that I've seen most of these guys before, the only new guy is that little monkey over there!"

Eliwood just laughed at his son's casual attitude and took his seat along with the rest of them. The table seemed to grow larger as more people were seated at it; with new seats appearing as if by magic when there were no more.

Luigi entered the council chamber once more, heralding new arrivals. "Great! People are-a really staring to arrive now!" the green brother noted, grinning. "Now, here come some special guests from the Kanto region!" As the man in green, Luigi, left the room, three strange creatures and one human entered the council hall.

"Pika, pikachu!" A yellow mouse exclaimed.

"Jiiig! Jiggly-PUFF!" A pink puffball that somewhat resembled Kirby told them.

"Uh… what?" Diddy asked lamely, taking off his red baseball cap and scratching his head.

"They're pokemon," the human said, he wore a red hat and a red vest with a black, short-sleeve undershirt. On his legs were a pair of blue jeans, and on his back was a yellow backpack emblazoned with the pokeball symbol. "They can only say their names, it's a genetic trait."

"Interesting," Zelda said. "You know, I'll bet that I can cast a spell that'll allow you to understand the way these creatures talk! It could take a little while, though," she mumbled. "I'll have to read about it first."

"Hmph… you pathetic humans are all alike. Tampering with nature to benefit yourselves… how typical," this came from a strange grey pokemon, using psychic powers to communicate with the other humans.

"You should know me, but if you are too ignorant to remember, I am Mewtwo an incredibly powerful pokemon of the psychic type. More powerful than any of you, at least. I, however, dislike you bundle myself in the category of 'pokemon'. I find it demeaning. Those who defy me shall be destroyed, and any humans who cross me shall feel my wrath."

"Name's Matthew," the human greeted, waving his hand, "I'm a great pokemon trainer. I use these three in all my battles, they're Charizard, Ivysaur, and Squirtle. I've beaten the Elite Four and Champion of all four Pokemon Leagues. I'm the best there is!"

"Hey! Bro!" Luigi came barreling into the room. "Four vessels have just docked! One looks like a big ol' battleship, and the other three seem to be Arwings, two of 'em have been modified a bit!"

"Hmm… Mario said to himself, "That should be those foxes, and Falco. But that battleship… Ah! Meta Knight is taking the Halberd, so that'll be him."

"Oh, also, a Warpstar has docked in bay 64. I believe that it's Kirby's vehicle of choice, so be prepared for five more guests." Luigi left the council chamber one more time to return to the main controls.

After about three minutes of light conversation, an animal in a bluish-gray flight suit entered the council hall. It was a heavily modified version of the suit that she had worn during the time between the Aparoid Wars and the Anglar Oppression. There was a mask covering much of her face, enough that only her eyes were showing. No fur showed on any of her body, not on her hands, face, or legs.

She had a handgun at her belt, though her weapon of choice was the PSYCHO, the Physical-Spatial Yin Cannon with HyperOptic modifiers. In other words, it was a blaster that formed around its user's hand. It fires bolts of energy that can hit foes that have phased out of physical existence, such as ghosts, phantoms, and objects travelling through a hyperspace channel, if she was precise enough. It is typically used by Kursed, as she is often viewed as a dark, brooding creature. It's shots could not be seen on the normal spectrum, due to its Hyperoptic modifiers.

She walked up to Mario without introducing herself, and whispered, "Tell anyone of my true identity while I'm around and I'll see to it that your funeral is arranged prematurely. Got that?" Without waiting for an answer, she stalked off towards her chair; it was between Samus and another empty seat.

A few moments of awkward silence existed between them, each growing somewhat uncomfortable, despite their passive exteriors. A few minutes passed, apparently Kirby, Fox, Falco, and Meta Knight had either a run in while they were walking through the corridors, or they had gotten lost.

Samus coughed, "Erm… My name's Samus Aran, I'm a bounty hunter for the Galactic Federation. You are…?"

"The name's Kursed. I'm a gun for fire, give me enough money and I can do anything. That enough of an introduction for you?"

The Hunter laughed to herself; she had turned her armorsuit's speakers off for just a moment while she expressed her mirth. "Well, I suppose we're a bit alike I suppose, both girls, out in space to make a few credits."

"Not quite," the fox said, "You're not an enemy of your planet."

"I don't have a planet," Samus informed, "I was born on the Space Colony of K-2L, where we harvested Afloraltite. One day, pirates attacked, trying to get that incredible power source. But… my father, he went in his fighter and destroyed the Afloraltite, however, it's a very volatile substance… the resulting explosion… well… it destroyed the entire colony, the only people left on it were myself, and the pirate's leader, Ridley.

"I was only three years old at the time, the space dragon Ridley would've killed me then and there, had the Chozo not found me, saved me, and took me to their colony on the toxic planet of Zebes. The bird-like aliens saved me, and trained me in combat. This Varia Suit," she pointed at her armor, "is of Chozo origin. It's saved my life many times."

"We're still so different, Samus Aran. Have you ever lost the man you loved?" Kursed asked. "It was him that caused me to be a mercenary, a bounty hunter, if you wish."

"…"

"Samus?"

"… Yes… yes I have…" She answered slowly. "He was my CO a long time ago, back when I was in the Federation Police. His name was Adam Malkovitch, and he saved me from a Space Pirate ambush. His bravery… cost him his life.

"Like I said, I was serving under the Galactic Federation, but after the death of Adam… I've been a bounty hunter. The best of the best… next to him."

It seemed as though Kursed was about to say something, but at that moment, two others entered the room.

"Man, Fox, it's really great to see you again, where have you been?" Falco asked as they walked through the door.

"Just drifting," Fox replied, "well, that and… wait, here we are!"

"Hm?" Falco looked at everyone else, "Well whaddaya know! Looks like almost everyone's here already!"

"Say," Kursed asked Samus, "Who just came in? I can't see too well from here."

"Oh, it's just that Fox and his featherbrained friend. You know the guys?"

"…"

"Kursed?"

"A little," she answered curtly.

Fox sat across from Samus, and Falco lounged next to him, putting his feet up on the table, wings behind his head. "So, Fox, have you gotten any news from the rest of the team?"

"Not at all," he muttered sadly. "I was hoping that you might have some idea where they are."

"Well, I know that Slippy's on Aquas, probably with his fiancée, Amanda. And I'm pretty sure that good ol' Peppy's back on Corneria, living out the rest of his days in peace. I… haven't heard anything about Krystal, though. Sorry if I couldn't be a bit more helpful, Fox," Falco concluded.

"Eh, it's not a problem." Fox sighs. "Nothing I didn't already know, though," he mumbles dismally.

Just then, the main doors slid open once more, and conversation temporarily ceased. In walked three short figures, one was a human boy named Ness. His psychic powers were strong enough to rival Mewtwo's and his attire was tacky enough to rival even the most generic kid from the '50s. The other two were knights, Kirby, a Warpstar Knight, and Meta Knight, the leader of the team the… Meta-Knights… They weren't enemies, per se, though they are definitely rivals. This time, however, things were different, Meta Knight was tense, and his eyes darted back and forth, taking in everything he could about the SSB-BII.

"Hey, Kirby," Ness said, "Thanks a lot for letting me ride with you, it was really nice of you!"

"Poyo!" Kirby responded cheerfully.

"Alright, Bro!" Luigi entered the council chamber one last time. "We're getting our final arrivals, seems like someone just teleported inside the station, one just seemed to appear, you should know him, one arrived in a small, one man fighter, and the other two arrived by shuttle. Oh, and one arrived in a cruiser identified as the Falcon Flyer. If you don't mind, I'll just wait here, now that everyone's finally getting here!"

"Sure thing, Luigi," his brother replied before a flash of golden light appeared in the council room.

"Hmph. Finally. This place deserves to die for confusing me like that…"

"What the!?" Link shouted, drawing his blade from the scabbard at his back. "Ganondorf! W-what are you doing here?"

"Ah… so the kid and the princess are here too, how nice. I look forward to destroying you this time. Have some down time to get all ready, I'll face you then," the Great King of Evil laughed uproariously.

"No, no… I mean… you're alive?"

"The Sacred Realm works in strange ways, kid."

But before the Gerudo could explain more, the doors slid open and let in Nana and Popo, the two Ice Climbers, the mysterious Mr. Game & Watch, and Captain Falcon.

"Wow, we finally found this place!" Popo said.

"It looks really cool!" Nana followed, and they both burst into laughter.

"Beep?" G&W looked at the two as best he could, since he's actually a two-dimensional object.

Before anyone could laugh at the strange, 2-D creature, Mr. Game & Watch, a blue blur sped through the door. "Yeah! Sonic's here, and no one's gonna beat me and my amazing speed! Not even you Mario!"

"We'll-a see about that," Mario nodded slyly.

"Ha! Yah! Hiyah! Don't worry, all o' you! The super awesome Captain Falcon is here! Ha! Hoo! Ha! You'll all be blown away by my pwnage fightin' skills, watch and be amazed!" Falcon began punching air in a fashion befitting his over-the-top attitude.

"Oh crap…" Samus groaned. "It's him." After a few more seconds of the ordeal, Samus deemed it necessary to hit him in the gut with a missile. He seemed to recover instantaneously, though he stopped 'showing off his pwnage fightin' skills'.

The door opened one final time, letting in the figure of…

"Wolf!" Fox stood up.

"Wolf!" Falco flipped through the air onto the table, and pulled out his blaster while he was in midair.

"Wolf...?" Kursed stood looking at all three of her former teammates.

"Wait, that… that voice…" Fox muttered. Kursed inconspicuously sat back down.

"What is it Fox?" Falco asked, his blaster still pointed at their rival.

"Nothing," he said, looking around. "Nothing at all."

"Fox," Wolf snarled, "I didn't come all the way across the galaxy to fight with you. I came here for the 20,000 credits I was promised. By the looks of it, a lot of people were promised a hefty wad of dough. But that's no object to me, let's get to it!"

"Well… we're-a all here!" Mario said.

"Then let's-a go, Bro!"

"Wait!" A voice called.

"What…?" Everyone turned towards the door.

"Wa-ha-ha! Here's… WAAAAAAARRRRIIIIOOOOOO!!"