Ridley's big. Like, really big. All jokes aside, however, there will be some notes here to justify decisions I have made in this story:

- It's been six years since his death on Planet Zebes. He was first cloned during the Subspace debacle by Tabuu, and the first cloning process actually worked as it was intended.

- After he was killed again in the Subspace Bomb Factory, some of his DNA made it onto Samus' armor in time for the events of Other M, resulting in the Ridley clone that is seen in that game. Instead of basically going through a stress episode, Samus did not waste time unloading her arsenal into this Ridley.

-After Other M and Fusion (Fusion happened a month after Other M), the Space Pirates found what remained of his lifeless husk after it was savaged by the Queen Metroid, and cloned him with their technology.

- This is the fourth incarnation of Ridley, but he is flawed due to the primitiveness of the Space Pirates' cloning technology. He is roughly the size of when Samus first encountered him on Zebes, his eyes have shrunk into his head (this doesn't impair his vision), and he looks more skeletal in body structure.

- To attempt to remedy this, Ridley's taken to razing colonies to eat people and use their flesh to regenerate his own (like what he did to Samus' parents in the manga). It's not that effective, however.

- Despite Dark Samus' death, some of her still survives in small traces of Phazon across the galaxy, with some in the ruined Frigate Orpheon.

Frigate Orpheon...

Geoform 187, better known as Ridley, was resting in the ruins of the Frigate Orpheon. Today had been surprisingly prosperous, as he had managed to find two largely populated colonies, and just like he had on the colony of K-2L, back when he had first met the Hunter, he razed both colonies to the ground and ate all of their inhabitants. Two whole colonies! Alas, their flesh could do nothing for his skeletal frame, as the Space Pirates' technology had severely impaired some of his abilities. It had all begun with his sixth encounter against the Hunter...

Flashback to Norfair...

As Ridley dueled the Hunter in the catacombs of Norfair, she had stopped firing at Ridley and instead began shooting at the walls. While initially baffled by this sudden change in her tactics, Ridley shrugged it off, grabbed the hunter in his scaly claws, and began to drag her across the walls in an effort to damage her suit. Unbeknownst to him, however, the shots fired at the walls had weakened the structural integrity of the room, and when Ridley stopped dragging her across the walls, he resorted to repeatedly bashing her against the wall in an attempt to end her.

After he had slammed her about seven times, however, Ridley heard a large rumble in the catacombs, and looked up. That split-second moment of lost focus sealed his fate, as the Hunter shot him in the jaw and dropped to the ground. Recoiling, Ridley then felt sharp pains in his back, and he began to plummet towards the floor. The last thing Ridley remembered before blacking out was the Hunter rolling to a safe location.

The Hunter's tactic had worked in her favor, as the ceiling had collapsed, dislodging a large amount of rubble that had buried the Space Pirate Commander.

When he came to, Ridley saw nothing. He bumped his head against something hard, and then remembered that he was completely buried under a pile of rubble. He pushed the debris off his head, only to see the Hunter pointing her Super Missile launcher right at his face.

Right before she had fired and ended his life, Ridley screeched in defiance before shooting his tail out of the rubble and attempting to impale the Hunter where she stood...

End Flashback

Ridley was snapped out of his musings by a loud clatter. Flying to the darkest place in the Frigate, he hung in the shadows like a bat, primed to strike and kill the next poor soul that dared to trespass on his domain.

Master Hand cursed the limited visibility he had in the ruined vessel, and continued his search for Ridley. Upon arriving in the room that he had used as a stage in the third tournament and was planning to use for this one, Master Hand noticed a gleam of yellow from a very dark corner of the room, and immediately snapped his fingers.

He heard a screech of outrage getting closer and closer as he pulled the construct of light towards him, and Master Hand instinctively floated backwards.

The cage of light crashed on the floor, and the former Space Pirate commander snarled in anger at the being before him. Why would he be here if he was to serve as an obstacle for the Smashers to overcome again?

Master Hand, now cautious, said, "Now, now, Ridley. I haven't come all this way just to make you a boss again. If you don't try to kill me on the spot, I will release these bonds and tell you my terms. Deal?"

Much to his surprise, however, he heard Ridley hiss out, "Very well then."

Master Hand snapped his fingers, causing the cage of light to dissipate. Ridley, slouched over, was attentively listening to the hand.

"See, in the past, we've had to reject you because your bodies were, ah, how can we say it, too big. But, you've been an integral part of the tournament's history for all eleven years it's been active, and I think this is long overdue..."

Ridley awaited the hand's words with gusto.

"...Welcome to the Super Smash Brothers tournament, Ridley. I trust you can find your way there."

As Ridley nodded, a cruel smile settled on his face. At last, he could do whatever he wanted to those blasted fighters. No restrictions, completely unfettered, and without any mercy whatsoever. The Hunter would be his first target, as revenge for that incident in Norfair six years ago...

Master Hand snapped him out of his thoughts, saying, "Ah, but I do have certain... conditions for you to abide to, as your lack of scruples makes you very dangerous."

Ridley rolled his eyes to the best of his ability, thinking, "Of course they would."

"Impalement of other fighters?"

"Only on the battlefield."

"Evisceration?"

"Not really possible, given our protective enchantments..."

"...I still get my chance at the Hunter, yes?"

"That is correct."

With a triumphant screech, Ridley flew through the roof of the Frigate Orpheon and towards the Smash Mansion.

Master Hand, with a slight gesture, flickered out of the Frigate and towards his next destination.

Unbeknownst to the both of them, however, a small trace of sentient Phazon had overheard the entire conversation, and through intense concentration, managed to create a small wormhole to the destination the two had mentioned...

And that's the largest presence an Echo Fighter will have in this story.

I hear that Dracula's Castle has risen again...