World Crossing

by pgasniper

"Unless you can stop it, in five months time our worlds will face their biggest crisis: either they will be fused together, or all dimensions will be completely annihilated. You humans, along with the Smashers are our only hope to stop this crisis."

11. It gets worse

Masked Gamer said: Wait, so Samus died?

Response: *Insert witty attempt to reference Schrödinger's cat here, only to fail and find out at Awesome Games Done Quick 2016, that this is an actual ability of Samus in Metroid Prime through a glitch, and that she can be in any spot at any time, in any loaded room*

I didn't get this out in December... And January is almost over... Ah well. Happy New Year!

I still want to go back and edit a few more things in the previous chapter. So far the only thing that I've added was a few additional lines to Nugai's and Zero's encounter. I still want to go back and edit more. Also, since the last characters have been confirmed for Smash I also added in Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta to the vision scenes in chapter 8.

I'm not going to lie, during Bayonetta's reveal trailer there was a moment at the very beginning where I must of gone white thinking it was going to be Hades. (Focusing on Pit, Palutena saying a challenger approaches as the camera had zoomed out, and began to fly in.) But looking up some reaction videos, I wasn't alone. I wonder how much I would of had to change what I have written/plotted out.

Due to the game only being out in North America and Europe for less than 2 months when I post this: Spoiler warning for Chapter 5 of Xenoblade Chronicles X.

---

Chapter 11: It gets worse

"Damn it, Hades. This is just embarrassing, can you stop playing around?" The cold voice said.

Dark Pit, Magnus, and Phosphora just looked for the source of the voice. In the room's shadows there was a person standing there. He was in red and black armor, that kind of looked like muscles. He was wearing a black mask that covered the entirety of his face. There was also a silver brace along the jaw line.

"How long has he been standing there?!" Dark Pit asked.

"Oh, pretty much the full fight." The figure replied. "So, are you actually doing something Hades?!"

"Oh come on Vanitas, why are you ruining my fun? I was humoring them a bit." Hades laughed.

The remains of his body was suddenly covered in blue flames, and then turned to ashes. Everyone just stared in shock. "What the hell is going on?!" Magnus was the first to say.

However a few seconds later, Hades appeared in the room, or at least an astral projection of him. Hades let off a heavy sigh. "I guess you aren't Pit's clone after all."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Dark Pit asked.

"I'm positive Pitty-Pat would have figured out he was fighting an impostor." Hades replied. "Or maybe you are his clone, and it would have been Palutena who told him. Anyways, that was just a double that I had made up to entertain you."

"What?" Dark Pit said.

"To be fair, it was the first thing he said. 'I'm sorry, but your Lord of the Underworld is in another castle.' you were just too stupid to connect the dots." Hades laughed.

"What?!" Magnus said surprised. "Why go through all that trouble?"

"I was just being cautious in the odd chance that you could beat me." Hades replied. "So I prepared that double, and watched carefully to see if you had any tricks hidden in your togas. And it looked like you did have a few. It really should have clicked in Dippy Pit, those Angelic Artes wouldn't have worked on a God that well, no matter what materials were used."

"Want to show yourself, and say that after taking them head on you coward!" Dark Pit snapped.

Hades just sighed. "'If you know yourself, and know your enemy, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.' Didn't you yourself just finish saying that? It was a completely legitimate tactic."

"Oh yeah?!" Phosphora said.

"You should be patting yourselves on the back, if that was me you were fighting, you might of actually been able to kill me, with Magnus' sword" Hades said. "Unfortunately for you, I couldn't allow any of my plans to be foiled and stopped indefinitely due to me being vaporized again. So, I decided a duplicate was the best course of action. But now that you've wasted all twelve of your prepared Angelic Artes, I guess the least I can do is kill you personally."

The astral projection suddenly became solid. Phosphora started by firing an arrow at him, however before it even hit it was deflected back at her. She quickly moved out of the way.

"No, I still have a 13th Angelic Arte that I had prepared." Dark Pit said. "And I will use it against you."

"Hades, are these people even worth your time?" Vanitas asked.

For the first time, Dark Pit focused on Vanitas. All he could sense from him was Darkness. He was a being of pure darkness. "Who is that?" Dark Pit asked. "He doesn't look like any underworld army flunky I've ever seen."

Hades just laughed. "Ah yes, you see, as the Lord of the Underworld, I do get some rather unique perks beyond a good dental plan, that are of a great use to me."

"Wait, you don't mean!?" Dark Pit suddenly shouted out surprised.

"It seems that our little goth has figured it out." Hades laughed. "Congratulations, you get a star. Yes, every person who dies, I get to see them, and witness what type of person they were. Vanitas here was no exception. I can create bodies for them. I just simply ask if they would like to return to life, their only condition is serving under me!"

"Hades!" Dark Pit snapped. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?! The balance of souls has yet to actually correct itself from the last war you started!"

Hades just yawned rather bored. "And?"

"What?"

"And what's your point?" Hades replied. "Of course I know what I'm doing. And I don't care about this so called balance."

Dark Pit was just seething with rage. "Why?!" He shouted.

"Yawn, what's all the racket." A voice said. A new person had walked into the ruined throne room. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

"Sorry, Chara." Hades said. "I was just about to dispose of some guests."

Dark Pit just stared at Chara, like Vanitas, he was radiating something. This time it was pure hatered. He looked like a kid, about 12 years old, with brown hair, and a yellow and green striped shirt.

"Oh can I?" Chara wondered, he pulled out a knife from his pocket, and just had a twisted smile across his face.

"No, not yet." Hades replied. "These people were able to destroy my clone, I think it's fair that I take care of them myself."

"Oh. You know, I'm getting bored." Chara replied, pouting. "I really want to start cutting something..."

"What the hell?" Dark Pit muttered. "How could someone so sinister exist in a human child?"

"Oh, so you noticed." Hades said. "Well, too late. I bore of explanations, I really just want to go get some sleep. So, it looks like I've got to end this now!"

Magnus, Dark Pit, and Phosphora suddenly found themselves unable to move. The atmosphere had become suffocating and filled with Hades' malevolence. Hades stretched out his hand and suddenly a ball of energy appeared.

"Good bye!" Hades laughed.

The ball of energy rushed towards them, and there was a large explosion.

"Oh, not even their bodies probably remained after that." Chara sighed. "I was hoping I'd get to carve them up..."

Hades however was staring at the smoke that the explosion had made. "I was wondering when you'd get here." Hades said rather excited. "And it seems like Dyntos had fixed that little toy after the last time I destroyed it. Pit!"

The smoke cleared revealing a giant Mech: The Great Sacred Treasure. "Hades!"

"Pit!"

"Hades!"

"Pit!"

"Hades!"

"Pit. Oh it's been so long since we last did that." Hades laughed. "I'm almost feeling nostalgic. And it only happened, what two and a half years ago?"

"Why are you here?!" Dark Pit shouted.

"I'm here to save you." Pit replied. He just looked at Hades, and then at Chara and Vanitas. "Wait, who are they?"

"Some new lackeys that Hades has." Magnus replied. "It's been quite a while angel face."

Pit just aimed all of the Great Sacred Treasure's weapons at Hades, Vanitas and Chara.

"Hey, don't aim at me." Vanitas said, raising his arms up. "I was just observing."

"Same." Chara said. "But you can try to shoot me, but I'll just dodge it."

"It is as they say." Hades said. "They were just simply observers. It had only been them versus me this whole time."

Pit just stared at Hades. "I want to end this right now." Pit replied. "The pain and suffering that you're causing once again."

"And why don't you?" Hades taunted.

Pit just shook his head. "Because the last time we fought the Great Sacred Treasure was destroyed. I don't know how, but you're stronger than you were last time... I can sense it."

Hades chuckled. "Ah, yes, it seems like you caught on. Unlike your stupid clone."

"I don't know how or why though." Pit replied.

"Well since you came all this way, allow me to reward you." Hades said. "I've decided to expand my domain and used a chaos seed to do exactly that. Because of that, I've had a new influx of souls. I'm no longer limited to the souls of our world. Now, I've got Hyrule, The Mushroom Kingdom, you get the idea, the list goes on and on. Many other worlds are now under my domain, and with them my power increases!"

Inside the Great Sacred Treasure, Pit was clenching the controls rather tightly in frustration. "Hades, you must be stopped. The Smashers will stop at nothing to make sure you're defeated!" Pit replied.

Hades just laughed. "But Pitty Pat, what makes you think I'm going to let you escape and relay that information? This is my underworld! And all that transpires here is of my choosing!" Pit was suddenly also frozen. He couldn't move the Great Sacred treasure. Hades also began to get larger and larger.

"What the?!" Pit said rather surprised. "Why can't the Great Sacred Treasure move?!"

"Maybe the clone is just as stupid as the original." Hades sighed. "And I thought I just finished explaining it. Fine I'll go over it once again, nice and slowly. I've merged a bunch of different worlds. Increasing my domain. And with it, increasing my power. Not even Dyntos' Mech can stand against me this time!"

"Oh, so that's what happened. And here I thought I shouldn't have taken that left turn at Albuquerque." Another voice said. Walking into the room was a woman dressed in what appeared to be black leather, that was cut in such a way that it revealed a lot of skin on her hind legs. On her heels were two blue guns. She held two more blue guns in each of her hands that were covered with white gloves that went up past her elbows. She was wearing glasses, and had short black hair.

Hades was just staring at her in shock. "Who are you!?" He asked. "Walking through my domain like it's nothing? Wait a second! I can sense a demon within you as well! You've made a pact?!"

The woman just glanced at Dark Pit, ignoring Hades. "So there are angels here too?" She wondered. "Although, I have to say you're not as ugly as the other ones..."

"Answer me woman!" Hades shouted, sending his fist right for her. A purple portal appeared from behind her, and a green and purple fist rushed out and collided with Hades' fist. There was a rather loud and audible snapping sound. As Hades pulled his arm back and his hand went limp.

She just looked over at Hades. "Don't fuck with a witch."

"What's wrong Hades?" Vanitias laughed. "Seems like your plan had a bit of a hitch in it. You weren't expecting someone like this to appear. What happened to 'all that transpires here is of my choosing?'"

Chara just had a rather big smile across his face. "This will be fun. I want to cut her up!"

"Shut it both of you." Hades just glared right at her. "Who are you? Woman!"

"Now that's no way to talk to a lady." She said.

"You are really pissing me off!" Hades muttered.

She just sighed. "It looks like I'm going to have to teach you a lesson." She just aimed the two guns in her hands right at Hades and fired them. From them came out magic bullets. They hit Hades and caused him to stagger backwards.

"What the?! How could mere bullets hurt me?!" Hades said rather shocked. "Wait, Magic Bullets. I see... I've heard of monsters like you, an Umbran Witch."

"So it seems like you know of me." She said. She just rushed forward, suddenly transforming into a panther. She then jumped up into the air and from behind her, the giant fists began to rapidly come out of portals. Constantly hitting the giant God. From her back appeared a to be feathery wings. The majority of them were black, however the tips were blue.

Hades threw a punch however she seemed to dodge it, and then suddenly disappear. Hades went flying backwards after a volley of super fast attacks hit him. "What the?!" Hades said rather annoyed. "Being forced this far by a mere mortal?! Vanitas, Chara, get back."

Vanitas just created a portal of darkness and stepped through it. Chara followed. A moment later it disappeared. Just leaving Hades alone with the woman. She wasted no time in summoning a giant dragon head. It rushed for Hades who just jumped away.

"Gomorrah, the Devourer of the Divine?" Hades said. "But how our why do I know that?" Gomorrah rushed for Hades' arm, and sung it's massive fangs right into it, ripping it off. However Gomorrah had ripped off Hades' limp arm. Hades used his still good arm to grab Gomorrah's head and twist it until there was a snap. A moment later, it's body disappeared into strands of hair.

Hades' arm just regenerated, and he began to walk towards the flying umbran witch. He swung his hand that she just avoided graciously. The woman just aimed all of her guns right at Hades and began to rapidly fire.

Enough time had passed for Pit to get used to Hades' domain and he was now able to move once again. He rushed towards Hades, a long blue sword appeared in the Great Sacred Treasure's hand and he slashed Hades across the chest. Pit just quickly flew back.

"Whoever you are in there, you're pretty good." The woman said.

"Thanks, listen, I think we should get out of here." Pit quickly said. "Hades is planning something."

Energy began to surge around Hades. "Pit, I'm not going to let you escape!" He shouted. "I'll turn you all into ashes and feast upon your souls!" Hades stretched out his hand, and a sphere of energy appeared right in front of it.

Pit just fired the main cannon of the Great Sacred Treasure at the sphere of energy. It hit, and pushed it back into Hades, where it exploded, and sent Hades flying back. This gave Pit enough time to grab Magnus, Phosphora, Dark Pit and the mysterious woman with the Great Sacred Treasure. Pit quickly began to flee from the Underworld Castle. "Pit, you idiot! What are you doing!?" Dark Pit shouted frustrated. "Put me down!"

Pit however didn't comply. The Great Sacred Treasure just opened a portal and he flew through it.

Hades had just walked out of the castle and looked up at the sky. He then began to laugh as Vanitas and Chara emerged from a new portal.

"What's so funny? They got away." Vanitas said rather annoyed.

"Oh, I was just thinking how fun this was going to be." Hades replied. "Watching them struggle. All their suffering. There is so much I want to see happen! Everything has only just started! This is going to be so much fun!"

Chara had a devilish smile across his face. "I agree. I can't wait to meet them again, and then I'll get to carve them up! Their screams will be music to my ears!"

---

Time remaining to escape the Bottle Ship: 9 Minutes

The Smashers just stared at Avalanche Abaasy. They could all feel it's immense power, even as it just stood there. With each breath they could feel their skin crawl in terror. It was as though they were staring upon death itself.

Saki had gone white. "This scent... It was all over that cave we were in."

"What?" Isaac said.

"That cave must of been where it was storing food... And we ate it." Saki said. "Unfortunately for us, it's seems to be extremely territorial ."

"And whose fault was that?" Isaac shouted.

"To follow us all the way to the Bottle Ship." Alex laughed. "Well who cares if it's the strongest Super Boss in the game, let's just kick it's ass."

"Master, are you okay?" Zoroark asked.

"Honestly, I've never felt better!" Alex laughed.

However before they could do anything a giant beam of energy came down from up above. It pierced right through Avalanche Abaasy, causing it to fall down onto the ground. Dead.

Jumping down from up above was Samus. "What all did I miss?" She asked.

"Not a whole lot." Alex laughed.

"What was that?" Shulk asked.

"My ultimate attack." Samus replied. "The Zero Laser. With a little bit of a plasma beam to go right through it, it never stood a chance. With a clean shot to it's head, it was dead instantly."

"If only it was that easy in the game." Alex sighed, rather disappointed.

"Anyways, we need to escape." Hayden said.

Everyone just nodded. Somehow the door was now open, they just ran right through it..

"How did you survive?" Alex asked.

"Crystal Flash." Samus replied. "It's a very last resort thing. Basically it creates a cocoon, and then an explosion, and manages to exhaust almost all of my suit's energy but absorbs the energy from the explosion."

"And if your suit had no energy, how did you do the Zero laser?"

"You misunderstand." Samus said. "The suit get's back it's energy from the crystal flash, I just lose all my power bombs and missiles. After that Zero Laser, I'm basically running on fumes now."

"Ah, okay."

"Anyways, sorry I took so long, I had rushed to go free Adam from his room." Samus said. "He's now waiting at the Galactic Federation's ship."

They just nodded as the shaking began to get worse. They had made it up a floor, and now had seen that Avalanche Abaasy was much too big to fit through some of the hallways, and had made it's own path. The structural integrity of the Bottle Ship was no longer any good, and it was beginning to fall apart. The shaking began to get more intense.

They began to run through the hallways. Various parts of the Bottle Ship began to glow with a bright white light.

"What the?!" Reyn said rather surprised.

"It must be everything returning back to it's rightful place!" Melia surmised.

They made it back to the elevator and the they began to go back up.

As they got off of the elevator it became quite clear that the Bottle Ship wasn't holding up, and probably wasn't going to make the 9 minutes. There were piles and piles of debris that had fallen. Noah just quickly fired missiles at the piles to destroy them and clear the way, and they just continued to run down the hallways of the Bottle Ship.

It almost looked like they were in the clear, however suddenly some of the ceiling caved in, separating Alex from the rest of the group.

"Master!" Zoroark shouted.

Alex had jumped back in time so that he wasn't crushed. "I'm fine!" Alex shouted. "Listen, there's another route, I'll take that!"

Zoroark just nodded. "Understood! Get out safely Master!"

"Right!"

They ran away, and Alex just quickly turned back, rushing through the Bottle Ship. Trying to find the route. But it was collapsing. He just shot Aura Spheres towards piles of rubble, hoping that it cleared everything away. He cleared a pile, however something suddenly cut more debris down in front of him.

"A simple hello would have sufficed." Alex said rather frustrated, sending another aura sphere to destroy the fresh debris.

"You're not going anywhere." A voice said. Alex turned to see Zero standing behind him.

"I don't have time for this Zero." Alex said. "I need to escape."

"You know as well as I do, that you're trapped on this ship, and that there was only ever one route." Zero replied. "And now it's too late, you can't exit before it reenters back into it's universe. But I can save you." He just stretched out his hand for Alex to shake it. "All you would have to do is just surrender to me."

Alex just turned away. "Sorry, I'm not interested." He said. "I'll find my own way out. Maybe there's an escape pod or something..."

"Listen, I want to help you." Zero said. "Andrew has been lying to you, and using you!" Alex just froze and glanced back at Zero. "It seems that I got your attention."

"Just who exactly are you?" Alex asked.

"I am Zero, the soldier of Zenith." Zero replied.

"That's not what I mean." Alex said. "Who are you underneath that cloak! How do you know my cousin's name?"

"Come with me, and swear loyalty to Zenith and all your questions will be answered." Zero replied.

Alex just turned away. "Sorry, that's not happening."

"Even if you die here? Even if you're being used, and he's lying to you?" Zero asked.

"Even if he is, I trust him." Alex replied. "He was there for me, and supported me. If he was using me, and lying to me, I'm sure he has a good reason."

Zero just laughed. "You know nothing! He was there for you? HA! He kidnapped you and was trying to make sure all his hard work didn't die!"

Alex just flinched. "What?!" He said surprised. "No, you're lying! I remember so much! Tons and tons of family gatherings and..."

"Your memories are fake and have been fabricated. Everyone's memories had been altered so that you were always there and his beautiful little lie could continue." Zero replied. "He has that power as an Akashic Point user. You should never trust him!"

"So, I should trust you instead?" Alex said. "Sorry, but you're my enemy!"

"Am I?" Zero wondered.

Alex just looked around frustrated. "I don't have time for this!" He snapped.

"Once again, I can save you." Zero said. He just stretched out his hand. "Just trust me."

"No." Alex replied.

"Then don't. I won't ask you to trust me, just to hear me out." Zero said. "Hear my side of the story, and then make your own informed decision."

Alex just stood there. He was seething in anger. "No." Alex replied. "If you have something important to say, you can tell me right here! I'm not going with you just so you can badmouth my cousin further!"

Zero just sighed. "How unfortunate. It seems he's used his power over the Akashic Points to turn you into an obedient little puppy." He said. "He's just using you, but if you can't see that... I guess this is goodbye for now. If you survive, the next time we meet, we will be enemies. Maybe I'll be able to explain further then." However despite his calm demeanor, Alex could tell that he was upset. "So prepare yourself, I will be willing to kill you then."

A portal appeared behind him, and he walked into it. "Zero, why are you upset?" Alex asked.

Zero just glanced back for a second, however the portal closed. Alex followed up by punching at the wall. Upon impact, he let out an explosion of aura leaving a rather noticeable dent in it. He regained his breath and composure before he resumed running through the Bottle Ship, looking for an alternate exit. But talking with Zero had wasted valuable time.

"The Bottle Ship has received substantial damage. Evacuate immediately. Activating self destruct protocol. Time until self destruct 3 minutes." A message was broadcasted through the remaining speakers.

Alex just froze and closed his eyes, trying to think of another exit. "Wait, there is one!" He said, his eyes suddenly bolting open. He began to rush through the halls and got to the command center that Adam had been in. He made his way to the back of the room and began to rush through the hallways. Until eventually coming to the control bridge. In the game, Samus fought against Phantoon here. Phantoon had destroyed the room, and opened it up to the vacuum of space. But now, Alex could see Sword Valley out of the windows.

He just charged an aura sphere and threw it right at the windows, hoping to break them and escape. But there was a problem. Alex had greatly miscalculated, the glass had been tempered to withstand the harsh environment of space, and withstand any asteroids or rocks that ran into it. There was not a whole lot that he could do using aura.

Alex just collapsed onto his knees. His last window of hope had been shattered.

There was soon a bright white light that consumed everything. Alex included.

When he could see again, the windows no longer showed Sword Valley and the Mechonis looming over it outside, but now it just showed the vast expanse of space. His body began to float up into the air. "Self destruct in 1 minute. Evacuate." The distorted prerecorded message said.

He couldn't move. The only thing he was currently feeling was despair. With less than a minute left he couldn't figure out any way out of this now. If he broke the windows, he was at the mercy of the cruel vacuum of space. He wouldn't even last a minute out there.

"Self destruct in 30 seconds."

Alex just closed his eyes. He was absolutely terrified. "Damn it." He thought. "If only I had Zero's power to open up portals. I don't want to die!"

---

The Smashers, and the Galactic Federation crew were rushing through the hallways. Zoroark was occasionally looking back, hoping that Alex had found the alternate path and was now following them.

"Zoroark, we have to hurry!" Samus ordered.

"Right!" Zoroark said. "Master will make it. He has never failed before."

They ran through the hallways without further incident, eventually making it to the hanger. The group from Bionis and most of the Smashers rushed out of the ship. Samus just stayed behind for several seconds, to say her goodbyes with the 07th Platoon.

"Anthony."

"Save it Samus." Anthony said. "We are going to meet again!"

"Right." Samus said. "Just make sure you protect Madeline Bergman."

"Of course." Anthony replied.

The two just shook hands and went their separate ways. Samus made it over to the group from Bionis, and the Smashers.

Anthony and the rest of the 07th Platoon got onto the ship.

"We need to have our shields up for when it reenters back into it's original space!" Anthony said. "Something's telling me that the Bottle Ship is not going to last much longer after that."

As if on cue, the message blared through out the ship. "The Bottle Ship has received substantial damage. Evacuate immediately. Activating self destruct protocol. Time until self destruct 3 minutes."

Everyone just nodded. Soon a white light appeared and consumed them, sending them back to their original space.

The group from Bionis and the Smashers had to shield their eyes as the Bottle Ship had disappeared. Everyone just waited with bated breath that Alex would be there on the floor of Sword Valley, that he had safely made it out. They looked around the area. But there was nothing. There was no sign of him or any trace that the Bottle Ship was ever there.

Zoroark just looked around. "Master!?" He shouted out. "Master!?" He called out once again. He was expecting a response, but none came.

"Alex if you're here can you say something!?" Saki shouted out.

"Yeah come on!" Isaac said. He just placed his hand on the ground of sword valley and closed his eyes. "Venus Djinn help me." He said. Several Venus Djinn appeared floating around him. He just continued to concentrate. However after several minutes he stopped. "It's no use. There's too much stuff moving across the ground and through it, I can't distinguish between people or Mechon."

With each passing moment the air was getting heavier. "Master had to of made it out..." Zoroark said.

"He could still be with Anthony and the other Galactic Federation soldiers." Samus suggested. "The Bottle Ship was returning to it's original place, right? And if he found another route, he could have made it to their ship, and they would certainly help him."

"That's right..." Zoroark said. He was trying to reassure himself, however it was failing.

"We can contact them once we get back to the Smash Mansion." Samus said. "I'm sure he made it out safely."

"You're right!" Zoroark said. "Then let's finish our job here, and get back to the Smash Mansion."

The Smashers nodded in agreement. "We have finished our job." Roy said. "We separated the two places. But, I think we can at least see them to Galahad Fortress."

"That would be appreciated." Shulk said.

"We're all exhausted from that adventure." Riki chimed in. "If any Mechon show up, it will be hard to deal with them until we recover."

"Right, and maybe Master got out, and will be waiting there at Galahad Fortress, as he knows that's where you're going next." Zoroark said, suddenly optimistic. However, it only sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

Slowly they made their way through sword valley, taking out several Mechon, and a few fortresses to open the gates of Sword Valley. With every step, Zoroark just seemed to get more and more desperate looking for Alex. He ran up the walls, and tried to get a good vantage point to see down below.

"How can he have so much energy?" Reyn said.

"I think he's just as exhausted as the rest of us, it's just he's refusing to stop. The moment he stops, is the moment reality will hit him." Dunban said. "And the moment he realizes that he most likely didn't survive."

"What about the Monado?" Sharla wondered. "It's helped us find lost people in the past. Find items. It even helped you rescue my brother!"

"I can try." Shulk said.

"That would be great!" Hayden said. "At the very least it would help calm down Zoroark!"

"But..." Shulk said.

"But?" Hayden wondered.

"Ever since you got here, not once have I had a vision including you." Shulk said.

Zoroark just jumped down in front of Shulk. "Please try, for Master's sake." Zoroark begged.

Shulk just nodded. "Very well." He pulled out the Monado and closed his eyes. "Monado, guide us!" It opened up and began to glow.

---

There was a sea of static. All Shulk could see was a constant sea of static. "You are trying to use the Monado to see beyond it's current limits." A voice said. "But you're not yet ready."

"Who said that?" Shulk asked.

"You must find your true Monado. Only then will you be ready to help them."

---

Everyone just waited with bated breath. Shulk however just fell forwards and collapsed.

"Shulk!" Reyn said, catching him.

Sharla quickly got to his side and began to check up on him. After several minutes he had regained his composure.

"What did you see?" Dunban asked.

"I don't know." Shulk replied.

"Was Master there?" Zoroark asked.

Shulk just shook his head. "I'm sorry I don't know. All I could see was a sea of white."

"A sea of white?" Zoroark questioned.

"It was so fuzzy, and I couldn't focus." Shulk replied.

"Like static?" Noah wondered.

"Yes, like static." Shulk replied. "I couldn't see anything, I'm sorry."

Zoroark just nodded. "You tried. Thank you." He just began to walk away and continue his survey of the area, hoping that Alex had somehow escaped, and maybe he was tossed away by the explosion, and he was just lying across the ground unconscious.

Everyone continued onward until they eventually got to Galahad Fortress. They all just stared at the giant fortress. The front line base of the Mechon.

"Well, we're now at Galahad Fortress." Dunban said. "I guess this is where we part ways. I'm sure you want to start looking for your friend."

"Yes." Zoroark said.

"I'm sorry that we can't continue to help you further." Samus said. "Unfortunately, our presence has overstayed it's welcome."

"Riki don't mind strong Hom Homs! Strong Hom Homs can continue beating bad guys!" Riki chirped in.

"So you don't want to do any work fur-ball?" Reyn said.

"Riki is offended! We are entering Mechon Stronghold! More Hom Homs is a good thing!"

"I have to agree with Riki." Dunban said. "While having a large group may be advantageous, at least in the fighting department. However our small group of six also has advantages and we can sneak through the fortress easier."

"Frankly, I'd prefer having more firepower." Reyn said. "But, if you have to return to your place, I fully understand."

"We've interfered enough, haven't we?" Hayden said. "Our mission was to remove the Bottle Ship, and we succeeded."

"Besides, this is our battle to fight." Shulk said. "They have their own battles that they need to do. And find their ally. Besides, once our battle here is done, I have the feeling that we will meet again."

"Yeah, perhaps." Hayden said.

They said their good byes. And then Zoroark had finally rejoined the group. He looked rather distraught.

"Shulk, listen." Zoroark said. "Mumkhar will be waiting for you to battle. Be careful."

"Of course." Shulk replied. "And when you see Alex again, say hello for me."

"Right, of course." Zoroark said. "And you go save Fiora."

"Of course."

They all stepped away. "So, now that the good byes are done, how are you leaving?" Reyn asked.

"Simple." Hayden replied. He just stretched out his hand and a portal appeared. Zoroark just looked at him in shock. "With space and time no longer being bent and rather chaotic here, we can use this power. Now then let's go home."

The Smashers just nodded and walked into the portal. It just appeared to send them through a long white hallway that they continued to walk through.

"What is this place?" Zorkark asked confused.

"A portal." Hayden replied. "It acts as a door between worlds, and stuff."

"Is this your ability that your 3DS has?" Zoroark asked.

"Ah, no." Hayden sighed. "Sorry, it's nothing like this. This is just a normal ability that all the Chosen Champions have access to."

Zoroark just froze. "What?! Can you repeat that last part?"

"It's a normal ability that all the Chosen Champions have access to." Hayden replied. "Master Hand explained it to us in one of our meetings..." He suddenly realized that Alex hadn't been present during the first meeting. "We were given the ability in order to send monsters back into their own world."

"Master never said anything about this. He didn't know..." Zoroark stammered out. He was trying to mask his frustration, that Master Hand was withholding information to them.

"I thought he knew!" Noah said shocked. "Not to mention, it's kind of limited..."

"Only 10 people max can go through the portal." Hayden said. "And you can only open a portal back to the Smash Mansion, or to what game is in your 3DS."

Zoroark suddenly smiled. "Master may still be alive somehow!" He said. "Even if he didn't know about this power, he might of been able to access it. I need to get home and see what game is in his 3DS! He may be there then!"

The renewed hope had given Zoroark a new source of energy and he rushed through the long hallway, before emerging through another portal at the other end.

World Complete!

On the other side was the Smash Mansion and a bunch of fanfare. Many of the Smashers were there, and now cheering at a mission well done. But said cheer seemed to only further upset Zoroark. It took the Smashers a few seconds to realize that they came back with one less than they had set out with.

"Hey where's Alex?" Marco asked.

They explained the situation as best as they could. How they took the chaos seed, and the place began to fall apart, and then were separated.

"I see." Master Hand said. "Can I see the chaos seed?"

Noah pulled it out. Master Hand followed up by snapping his fingers and a chest appeared. "Please put it in the chest." Master Hand instructed. Noah did as told and just placed it in a spot in the chest. There were numerous little indentations that he figured were for the other seeds.

"What's going to happen to the seed?" Noah wondered.

"Well, if left unattended it will germinate again, and then we would have another crises." Master Hand replied. "As long as it's in this chest, it won't be able to absorb any chaos, so it will lay dormant. Still, this chaos seeds... Hades... why would he use it..."

"He must of wanted to know what would have happened." Crazy Hand suggested.

Master Hand just nodded. "That's a possibility." He said. "But I don't think it's likely. He probably knew what would happen. Especially since there are only 7 of these in the entire universe. And he holds all seven, or six now..."

"What?!" Ness said surprised. "Why would he have all the rest?"

"He just had them, no one paid any attention because the amount of chaos that the chaos seeds needed to do anything was far greater than he would be able to get through normal means." Master Hand said. "But he has access to a dimension known as the Chaos Vortex. It might be because of that, he was able to get the seeds to this stage."

Samus just nodded. "All right." She said. "Now then, let's try and see if we can figure out our next mystery. Where Alex is."

Samus went to a monitor and began to type something. Within a few minutes, it looked like a video call had been made. On the monitor a window appeared, and inside it was Anthony.

"Hey, Samus, long time no see." Anthony said. "As you can see, we made it out safely."

"That's good. And by chance, Alex wouldn't happen to be with you?" Samus asked.

Anthony looked down a bit grimly. "I'm sorry but he isn't with us."

"Then is the Bottle Ship still there?" Samus asked. "He must still be in the Bottle Ship."

There was just silence on the other end. Anthony was grimacing on screen and looking like he was trying to figure out how to word something.

"I don't know how to break this to you." Anthony said. "But, as soon as we reentered into our space, and flew out of the Bottle Ship, it exploded. Nothing's left. I'm sorry Samus, but odds are he's dead. He's not you, there's no way he could have survived that."

There was just silence.

"We can all confirm that." Maurice said. "Sorry Samus."

Samus just nodded. "I understand." She said. "When you get back to the Galactic Federation, be careful you guys."

"We will." Adam said. "Don't worry about us."

They ended the call and Samus just let off a heavy sigh.

"That's it?!" Zoroark snapped. "Just that you understand! You're not sad or anything!?"

"I've only known him for a few days." Samus bluntly replied. "I've lived and gone on countless missions where people are killed and don't return. It's sad, and unfortunate, but it's the reality of the situation. We all know we could die on a mission. My hope is for the rest of you to take this lesson to heart, and decide if you really want to be here or not."

"Samus is right." Master Hand said. "This is the harsh reality of it. Your lives will be in danger."

"Our lives will be in danger even if we don't fight." Hayden sighed. "With the monsters crossing over."

"Yes." Master Hand replied. He snapped his fingers and Hayden, Noah, and Alex's 3DS appeared. Hayden and Noah walked up to get their 3DS and Zoroark got Alex's. "But, you can walk away and live in peaceful ignorance. You can forget everything and not face the hardships that we will face. The choice is ultimately yours. I won't hold it against you if you all want to leave now and accept Alex's death as a warning."

Zoroark just scratched the wall with his claws. He looked over at Master Hand rather frustrated. "Master is still alive, I know it!" He snapped. "There's got to be some other way, we can still trace him right?"

Master Hand just floated there. "You're not going to like this." He said. He floated over to a computer and began to type. And then, on the screen, it showed a picture of earth, eventually zooming into Alex's house. Everyone just stared at the screen.

"And because he doesn't have his 3DS with him, I can't trace him." Master Hand said.

"What about the suits?" Noah asked. "Don't they have some sort of tracking?"

"The suits are still only in the prototype stage." Master Hand admitted. "They would of, but that feature hasn't been added yet due to time."

"So he's either dead, or out there, lost..." Saki said.

"What can we do?"

"Not a whole lot." Master Hand said. "I guess just hope that he is still alive and one day he shows up."

"Master is still alive." Zoroark replied.

"We can only hope." Hayden muttered.

"I'm sorry." Master Hand said. "It's best to move on and continue on wards like he has fallen."

Zoroark just glared at Master Hand. "What?!" He shouted. "You're not sorry about this! You don't care for him at all, in fact, you're glad this happened!"

"I'm not." Master Hand replied.

Zoroark just looked furious. "You wanted this!" He snapped. "You wanted this the whole time! You wanted him eliminated from the beginning, and now that he's gone, your not going to do anything!" Zoroark's claws began to glow. Lucario and Greninja were quick to get between Zoroark and Master Hand. "Get out of my way! He willingly withheld information from us!"

"Zoroark, stop, and think calmly! What is this going to accomplish?" Hayden asked.

Zoroark just looked at the humans, and then back at Master Hand and the Pokemon that were defending him. "If nothing else, it will at least allow me to blow off some steam."

Master Hand just floated there. "I'm honestly not happy about this." He said. "Because now our numbers have dwindled again. There was 10 when this expedition began, two were eliminated while you were out there. And now one has disappeared or is dead. We're down to 7. For right now I'm forbidding anyone else from eliminating another Chosen Champion."

"Oh, now you're forbidding it!?" Zoroark snapped.

Noah just looked at Zoroark. "Listen, I understand your frustration, but right now isn't the time or place. I think we should trust Alex, if he survived, he will eventually find us, or we'll find him."

"And right now we especially don't need anything else further dividing our ranks." Oren added on.

"And it gets worse." Master Hand said. "Something came up, and several of the Smashers have gone to investigate it, but we haven't heard anything from them since. That's why I'm requesting that, I'd like the Smashers to stay back here. If something comes up, you'll be able to summon them whenever you want, and I'd prefer it if you could stay here during any time you don't have any commitments."

There was silence from each of the Chosen Champions. "I have no problem staying here permanently." Lily said.

"Great, that's wonderful." Master Hand said.

"Just I wish to go home for a few things before I stay here." Lily said.

"Of course."

"We've got school." Hayden said, motioning to the others.

"I don't mind not going." Noah laughed.

"Same." Oren said.

"Unfortunately with you guys, I've been informed that I'm supposed to keep you going to school." Master Hand nervously replied.

"What?" Everyone flatly said.

Master Hand just shook his hand rather defensively. "Sorry, don't shoot the messenger."

"Geeze, the world could end, and some idiot is more concerned about us getting a proper education." Rune muttered.

"Then what about Lily?"

"I don't go to school." Lily replied.

"You're home schooled?"

"I didn't say that." Lily replied. "I don't go to school."

"She-" Zoroark began.

"Stop!" She quickly snapped, cutting off Zoroark. The Pokemon just complied.

Hayden looked around. "But if we're still going to school, and we don't have access to our Smashers, there has to be some other way to defend ourselves. Because some of our abilities are not exactly inconspicuous."

"There is something else you can do besides use your ability that I gave you for self defense." Master Hand said. "You can absorb one of the essences of the Smasher's into yourself. And you become stronger."

"So, we become one? Is it like fusion?" Rune questioned.

"I guess that is an adequate way to explain it." Master Hand said. "But it's really you just gain their powers, and experiences, and are able to use their abilities. It's just temporary, and a way to defend yourself in case anything happens. So be careful."

"Right."

"Well then, I figure that's everything, you're all dismissed."

Everyone just nodded and began to leave the room. Zoroark was the last to go, straggling behind the rest of the chosen champions. Master Hand just glanced over at Zoroark as he was leaving the room. "Zoroark, for what it's worth. I believe he's still alive."

"You're just saying that." Zoroark snarled.

"Maybe." Master Hand replied. "But the thing is, I know how cunning Nugai is, if he chose Alex as his proxy then he isn't going to kick the bucket like that. He wouldn't allow it."

Zoroark just walked out the room. "I hope you're right." He managed to say. Deep down, Zoroark was worried and doubting that Alex had survived someway. Fear was beginning to hit him, that he would never see him again. It was eating away at him so much he wasn't paying attention to the chosen champions in front of him, and he tripped over Noah and fell.

When he got back up he noticed they had all stopped in a living room. Oren was just facing Lily.

"It looks like what you said happened, happened." Oren said.

Lily just nodded.

"What did she say would happen?" Hayden asked.

"That Alex wouldn't return from this mission." Oren replied.

Zoroark's body began to tense up, everyone looked around nervously.

"And why didn't you tell him?" Zoroark sneered. "If you knew, why didn't you say anything?"

"Because, I still didn't know how it was going to happen." She replied. "All I knew was that he wouldn't come back. If I said anything, I may have greatly altered the outcome to something worse..."

"I guess that makes sense." Hayden said. "In trying to prevent disasters, you have to be careful that something even worse doesn't happen."

"And do you know if Master comes back alive?" Zoroark asked.

Lily just shuddered. "I don't know."

"You don't know?!" Zoroark snapped. "Then how did you even know that he was going to be-"

"The Morpogenetic Field." Lily replied. Zoroark just froze. "That's the best way I can explain it. I don't know how or why, but I just know things. It's like they are being put into my head from a future or alternate timeline."

"She's telling the truth." Oren said.

"How do you know? What's this Morpogenetic Field?" Rune wondered.

"It's a long explanation, but I'll believe you then if that's the case." Zororark said.

Everyone just looked in shock at Zoroark. "What really?!" Hayden said surprised. "Just like that you'll believe her?"

"Yes." Zoroark replied. "Nugai has said he was able to access it. I don't see why others couldn't. Besides what's done is done. We can't get Master back now, we can only trust that he survived and will one day return to us."

They just looked at Zoroark rather surprised.

"Yes." Lily replied. "Now then, what's next?"

"Well, since you're the only unallied chosen champion that remains, maybe it would be better for you to join us." Oren suggested.

Lily just continued to nod. "Yes, that would be for the best." She said, as she pulled out her 3DS, and everyone else did the same. One by one they just updated their friend list.

"So, Alex is the only one you're not allied with." Hayden said.

"And what about that 3DS?" Lily asked, looking at the Pikachu 3DS that was in Zoroark's hands.

"It was one of Master's spares." Zoroark replied. "His real 3DS is back at home, I can give you the number and you can give me yours and we can insert them."

"That won't work." Marco said. "Unfortunately those that the 3DS has bonded with is the only one that can only one that can add or remove friends."

"It's a safety precaution so that people don't die."

They soon split up, and just spent their time resting.

---

The Kid Smashers were in their tree house. All ready Ness and Lucas were constantly being pestered by them to give all the details and what happened during the mission.

"So, are you going to tell us about your adventure?!" Popo asked.

"Oh come on." Ness replied. "It wasn't that exciting. It was just a regular mission, you know?"

Toon Link just looked over at Ness. "Yeah right, you guys got to fight giant robots, and-"

"Giant killer robots." Ness corrected.

"Yeah!" Toon Link said. "Come on, tell us what happened! If you do we've got some interesting things to tell you."

"Couldn't you have watched it on the monitors?" Lucas wondered.

"We tried, but it kind of hurt our eyes." Popo sighed. "It was like you were constantly being fast forwarded. You were going in super fast motion Only Master Hand and ROB could keep up."

Ness shrugged, and eventually decided to recount the events. And soon it was over. "All right, now that interesting thing you have to tell us." Ness demanded.

Toon Link just had a big dopey smile across his face. "Well, you see, I over heard Master Hand talking to Crazy Hand. They think that the Shulk person would be a great addition to the Smashers!"

Ness and Lucas both smiled. "That's great!" Ness said.

"Yeah!" Lucas added on. "Has he mentioned anyone else?"

"No, I just heard that little bit." Toon Link sighed. "But, aw man, if he's getting new Smashers, I really want to know who else he's considering!"

"Yeah." Ness sighed. "Shulk would be great here!"

They just spent the rest of their afternoon hanging out.

---

Soon it was time for the Chosen Champions and Zoroark to leave and return back to their world. They were all gathered in the transporter room. Soon a portal opened and one by one they walked through it. "Zoroark wait!" Master Hand called out.

Zoroark turned around, and glanced back at Master Hand.

"Listen, all ready we have ROB searching for any sign of Alex. If I find any trace of him, I'll notify you immediately." Master Hand said.

Zoroark just nodded. "Thank you," he said as he stepped through the portal.

---

They had emerged in a park consisting of a rather large field, that had a baseball diamond and a small soccer pitch that kid sport groups used. There was a jungle gym along with a swing set. It was thankfully dark, and no one was around to see them. "Well, I guess this is where we all go our separate ways." Zoroark said.

"Not so fast." Hayden said. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Zoroark just looked over at them a bit confused. "What?" Zoroark wondered.

"We left all of our stuff at your house. We need to get it back." Hayden said.

Zoroark just nodded. "Well, very well then, follow me." He lead them all back towards the house.

When they got there the front door was locked. Zoroark just went into the garden and found a spare key, that was hidden inside a fake rock, and then hidden in an illusion. He just let them all in, and they soon found all their bags right where they left them in the living room. Rune pulled out a cell phone from one of his bag's pockets and just had a bit of a freak out.

"Oh no, my parents are going to kill me!" He said.

"What? Why?" Echo wondered.

Rune just showed them the screen on the phone. It was now about 1 AM Sunday morning. They all just stood around for several seconds trying to digest this information.

"What the?!" Hayden muttered.

"Could it be that the Smash Mansion runs at a slightly different time than our world does?" Marco questioned. Everyone just turned to face him a bit confused. "Like how the Bionis seemed to be constantly fast forwarding through a movie."

"That's likely." Zoroark said. "Or maybe the Smash Mansion moves at the same time, it's just a different time zone."

"Well, I don't think it's too important." Hayden laughed.

"What, you don't have parents that are going to kill you for not telling them where you are?" Rune said. "They must be worried sick about me. Oh no, mum is going to pull out all of her hair... They're going to think I've been kidnapped!"

"Then why don't you call now?" Noah suggested.

Rune just looked at his phone, he gulped at the notification of 45 missed messages. "I really don't want to. If they got to sleep they'd kill me for waking them up..."

Suddenly a house phone began to ring. "Call from Andrew." The digitized caller display said. Zoroark just walked over to it, and picked it up.

"Hello?" Zoroark said. Everyone just watched him rather nervously. "I see, I'll relay that information. Thank you, Nugai." He hung up and everyone just looked at him a bit nervous.

"What did Nugai want?" Hayden wondered.

"His exact words were 'tell anyone that's worrying about what their parents are thinking, that I've all ready taken care of it. As far as they know, their kids were just at a friend's the whole weekend.'" Everyone just seemed a bit relieved. "So, I guess that means you're all staying another night." Zoroark said.

"Wait, you don't mind us here?" Rune wondered.

"I really can't ask you all to leave now." Zoroark sighed. "I wouldn't feel comfortable that you would get to your houses safely. And if Master ever found out, he'd scold me. Besides I feel like I need the company."

"I've been wondering this for a while, but, why do you call him Master?"

"It has always been Master." Zoroark replied. "That's the way I wanted it. I'm happy for Master for taking me in, and protecting me."

"Um... did Nugai know what happened?" Echo wondered.

"If he did, he certainly wasn't letting anything on." Zoroark sighed. "Well now what..."

"You said you were going to check his 3DS." Noah pointed out.

Zoroark's eyes lit up and he ran down to the basement. The other Chosen Champions followed. Sitting there in the charging cradle was the 3DS. Zoroark just rushed towards it, opened it up, and turned it on. And then nothing. He just stared at the sterile white menu. There was the other buttons for the health and safety menu and the apps. And then the folders that contained Alex's downloaded games. But there was nothing in the cartridge slot.

"Hayden." Zoroark closed the 3DS and turned to his companion. "Can you open portals to just the game in the cartridge slot?"

"As far as I know, yes." Hayden replied. "I tried to do it to a few of the games that I had downloaded, and nothing was happening. Why?"

Zoroark just collapsed onto his knees and began to shake. He held the 3DS close to him. Despite that position, and his giant hairy paws, they could see the cartridge slot was empty. "Master..." Zoroark cried.

Everyone looked around nervously, unsure of what to do, or say. For the time being they decided to just let Zoroark be alone, and made their way upstairs. Slightly hungry, they just heated up some leftovers that were in the fridge and nervously looked around.

"Even if he knew, he had no place to escape to." Oren said. "It looks like that is the end of Alex."

"No, it can't be, not like that." Marco said.

"The only other place a portal could have opened up to was the Smash Mansion." Hayden sighed. "It's looking rather definitive."

"The only thing we can do now, is destroy his 3DS and the save state will warp him back to his previous life." Echo said. "At the very least, Zoroark and him will be reunited."

"You can't do that." Noah said.

"None of us can." Hayden sighed. "Since we all allied with him. Only Lily can destroy the 3DS, since they haven't allied."

A few minutes later Zoroark came up the stairs. "I was wondering where you all went."

"We figured you wanted to be alone." Hayden said.

Zoroark just nodded. "Thanks."

"We can get Alex back if we have Lily destroy that 3DS." Hayden said.

"What?" Zoroark said shocked. He looked at the 3DS that was in his hands and just back at them.

"When the 3DS is destroyed, it sends them back to their previous life." Hayden said. "Basically, when we all got the powers and enlisted into this fight, a save state was made of our life. Upon the destruction of the 3DS, that save state is reloaded. And while we may have died here, we wake up not knowing the wiser. Our memories and everything is wiped. And our lives just continue as though we were never apart of this. Even you could do it."

"I can get Master back?!" He said shocked. Zoroark just placed the 3DS on the counter, and his claws began to glow. He raised up his claws, however he froze. "I can't do it. If I did it, and Master was still alive, I would effectively be killing him, right? I can never bring myself to hurt Master."

"That's fair." Hayden replied.

"I'm choosing to believe in him." Zoroark said. "That he made it somehow, and is somewhere safe. And that one day, we will be reunited."

Everyone just nodded. "Can I ask why?" Hayden asked.

Zoroark nodded. "Master has never given up, and never stopped fighting. And Nugai once told me something."

---

Alex was making his way to the insane asylum where Nugai was currently being kept. In his arms was a small Zoura, whom Alex had instructed to act like a stuffed animal. They made it past the guards and to the visitation room.

"Hey." Nugai said.

"The egg hatched." Alex said.

"And it became a Zoura." Nugai replied. "Just like I said it would."

"I still don't know what that is..." Alex muttered.

"Well, it will eventually be revealed to you." Nugai chuckled.

They just continued talking, and soon the visitation time came to a close.

"Little Zoura." Nugai said. "Protect him when I can't be there to protect him, and believe in him no matter what, even when the world has turned against him."

"Quit it, this is embarrassing..." Alex muttered.

"They can't see or hear us." Nugai replied, as he reached up and ruffled Alex's hair.

---

"I won't doubt Master." Zoroark replied. "He will come back one day."

"Well, if you believe in him, then I will too." Hayden said. "I'm positive he will come back."

"Yes, but in the mean time, well let's do something else." Zoroark said. "How about some more video games tonight!"

They didn't actually get to sleep that night. The 7 of them were constantly changing games, constantly switching controllers, and for the time being just enjoying the peaceful times that they currently had.

Some time around 10AM, they all began to leave.

Zoroark just stood there on the porch watching as each of them walked away. "It's kind of nice." Zoroark laughed.

"What is?" Noah wondered.

"Well, being with friends. Forgetting about everything that happens. Just relaxing and playing games..." Zoroark laughed. "I needed it to keep my mind off of Master..."

"He's still alive, I'm positive." Noah said.

"Same." Zoroark replied."Unfortunately, I'm dead tired now."

"Yeah." Noah yawned. "This may seem like an inappropriate time to ask... but what about me? What should I do now?"

"You can still stay here." Zoroark replied. "Master would have wanted it that way."

Noah just nodded. "Thanks." He said. "But this really isn't my house, and I feel kind of weird staying here without the owner."

"Says the guy who was camping in the shed." Zoroark replied.

Noah just nervously laughed. "Well, I mean..."

"Just forget about it." Zoroark said. "Right now, it's your home."

"Thanks."

"Now then, let's just go get some sleep."

---

In Skyworld, a portal appeared, and the Great Sacred Treasure flew through it. It flew through the skies, until it landed among the majestic buildings of Palutena's Temple. Pit just deactivated the Great Sacred Treasure and landed on the ground. Dark Pit however immediately tackled him. "You idiot!" He shouted. "I had him where I wanted him! He wasn't going to survive!"

Pit just kicked his clone off of him. In the struggle he had pulled out the scroll that Dark Pit had written down the Angelic Artes upon. He just opened it and looked at the thirteenth and final Angelic Arte that Dark Pit had planned. Pit could only look in shock as he read over it. "Pittoo... You can't be serious..." Pit said actually afraid. "You were going to use this?"

"Yeah!" Dark Pit replied. "I was ready to lay down my life to clean up this mess of yours!"

"And you really think that would have worked?" A voice said. They all just turned to face Palutena, who was walking towards them.

"Yes, it would have!" Dark Pit replied. "Nothing would have remained. It would have been all annihilated!"

"What was this 13th angelic arte?" Magnus asked.

Palutena just took the scroll from Pit and read it. "The one that Dark Pit had prepared would have temporarily gained powers rivaling that of a God." Palutena replied. "But at the cost of his life."

"And it would have gotten rid of Hades too." Dark Pit replied. "It would have been fine, right! After all, I'm only a copy! It doesn't matter what happens to me as long as the original survives!"

"And how would you have guaranteed that?" Palutena asked.

Pit just looked at Palutena a bit confused. "Lady Palutena, are you coming down with a cold? Your voice sounds so different."

"It's nothing don't worry about it." Palutena replied.

"Maybe I could whip up some herbal medicines for you." A new voice said. Walking towards them was Viridi. "Now, Dark Pit why don't you tell Palutena how you planned on taking down Hades with that Angelic Arte?"

"I modified it." Dark Pit replied.

"How?" Palutena asked.

"I mixed some powder from the grounded up seeds of reset bombs into the ink." Dark Pit replied.

"A reset bomb?!" Palutena said shocked. "Viridi, you're making more of them!?"

"I planned on it." Viridi replied. "But, they take hundreds of years to grow, so you have a while."

"And how would have a reset bomb defeated Hades?" Palutena asked.

"Viridi explained it to me." Dark Pit replied. "Before they go off, they draw in all the impurities in the air in a certain radius, along with spiritual energy and then it creates an explosion. At point blank, all of Hades' energy would be absorbed and than anything that manged to survive would have been vaporized by the explosion."

"And you would have died. Along with Phosphora and Magnus!" Pit said.

"I planned on sending them away." Dark Pit replied. "So why are you here Viridi?"

"You really thought I wouldn't have noticed you stealing some of my wine and then giving it to a human?" Viridi asked. "I really should just pluck your wings off right this instant."

"Woah, hey, there's no need to do that." Pit said, standing between his clone and Viridi.

"Ah well, I won't do that." She said. "That was one of the bad years anyways, so I wasn't too fond of it. Besides, I think you had the right idea. It's just Hades was one step ahead of you."

"And now we can't do another surprise attack like that." Dark Pit muttered. "Of course, maybe if we stayed there, that woman could have have taken care of Hades!"

They all turned their attention to the woman who was standing there rather patiently. Viridi and Palutena immediately held out their staffs and looked at her rather antagonistically. Pit however was oblivious. "Sorry if I was a little rough with grabbing you." He said. "Just Hades was planning something."

"And you think I couldn't handle a god?" She said. "The Black Angel seems to have more faith in me than you did."

Dark Pit just gave pit a rather childish 'I told you so' look.

"The other two were complete unknowns..." Pit replied. "Hades was charging something up and we needed to get out of there I could sense other things approaching fast. I'm sorry, but I couldn't let an innocent person get dragged into this."

"That woman is far from innocent, Pit!" Palutena said. "She has made a pact with a Demon. And now that you brought her here, she is a threat to us!"

"Hold it!" Dark Pit said. "You can't execute her, we owe her our lives!"

The woman just stepped forwards. "You can try and execute me, but it's not going to end well for you. But at least you seem open to negotiations, unlike the angels from where I come from."

"Wait, angels where you come from?" Palutena asked.

"Who are you?" Pit asked.

"My name is Cereza, but you can call me Bayonetta." She said. "As for where I come from, the Angels of Paradiso hunted down witches with the Lumen Sages, and I'm now one of the two last surviving umbran witches."

"So, why are you here?" Viridi asked.

"Angel boy, why don't you explain." Bayonetta said. "That lunk explained it to you twice."

Pit just flinched. "Gee, thanks for putting me on the spot. Well, Hades somehow has managed to merge a bunch of different places together. That's what he said to us, at least."

"And my world was no different." Bayonetta replied. "A portal appeared, and some monsters were escaping it, so I took care of them and went into the portal to find the source, and now I've been dragged in to this mess."

"I see." Palutena said. "It would appear that our worlds are very different. We have no qualms with you. As long as you don't attack any of the inhabitants here, I won't attack you."

"Well, that works for me." Bayonetta replied.

"We can offer you a place to stay, however I'm uncertain of how you will get back to your world." Palutena replied. "I'm sorry that I'm not well versed in this situation."

"That's fine." Bayonetta replied. "I just need a place to crash until I go back and kill that God. I'm sure he will be able to open the portal to my world."

Pit just looked rather shocked. "You can't!" He said rushing up to Bayonetta. "Hades is not someone you can fight alone! And now, he'll be expecting you to come back to fight him. You likely won't have the advantage, since it seems like he somehow knew about you."

"Wait? He somehow knew about you?" Palutena asked.

"He called me an Umbran Witch, while you only could determine that I was dangerous because you sensed the pacts I made with the Infernal Demons." Bayonetta replied.

"It can't be." Viridi said rather shocked. "Soul Osmosis!"

"Soul what now?" Pit said confused.

"Soul Osmosis." Palutena repeated. "If that's the case, than this is bad."

"So what is Soul Osmosis?" Pit asked.

"Did you pay attention to anything in school?" Viridi wondered.

"Um, well PE." Pit happily replied.

"I should have known. If you eat a soul, or absorb it, you gain power." Viridi replied. "But you also unconsciously gain the knowledge that the soul had. Most of the time, or well, in any recorded instances it's just something small and insignificant. But... If Hades has been eating or absorbing hundreds and hundreds of souls, then he might have accumulated a great deal of knowledge. And if Hades realizes this, this is bad."

"Agreed." Palutena said. "We need to end this quickly."

"I can do something." Bayonetta said. "I have a few more pacts with some Infernal Demons. And if Jeane was here, we could summon Queen Sheba..."

Palutena just looked at Bayonetta. "I'm sorry if this sounds like I'm underestimating you. But, you had your chance. Hades will not be caught off guard again. His jovial attitude is just a front he uses it to mask his sinister and scheming side. He must of been planning this since his last defeat."

"And how did you defeat him last time?" Bayonetta asked.

"It was a long battle that involved, destroying his heart, cutting him in half, decapitating him, and then eventually he was vaporized. And as you can see, it wasn't exactly permanent." Palutena replied.

"And what makes you think that I'm the same as you?" Bayonetta asked. "I've taken out numerous gods in my world. Jubileus, Aesir. Fighting angels and demons is a normal day for me."

Palutena just shook her head. "Even if you were confident in your abilities, I can not let you fight Hades. Not like this." Behind Palutena appeared a radiant halo made of light. "Any further opening of the gateway to the Underworld will begin to break it. Letting Hades have free access to our world once again."

"So, we're just letting our world's problem be pushed on other worlds?" Dark Pit snapped.

"Our world has yet to have it's balance restored after Hades' last fight." Palutena replied. "And I want to stop him as much as you do, but..."

"Our best bet now is the Smashers, I guess." Viridi said looking at Pit.

"Yeah, we're working on it." Pit said.

"And what are these Smashers?" Bayonetta asked.

"A group of warriors formed from across worlds, and brought together in order to fight any crisis like this one." Pit replied.

"And they can do this while I can't?" Bayonetta wondered.

"Among the Smashers there are others who have felled Gods." Pit replied. "If we pool together our strengths, we can do it."

Bayonetta just smirked. "I see. Interesting. And how does one sign up for this?"

"I'm about to go back. If you would like, I could take you too." Pit said. "Pittoo, why don't you come too?"

"The Smashers eh?" Dark Pit sighed. "Sorry, I'm not interested."

"And why not?" Pit asked.

"Well first of all that would mean being with you." Dark Pit replied. "Secondly, you should know I don't like being caged up, or being someone's pawn."

"At the very least though, you should go over there to tell them what information you've learned." Viridi suggested. "If they know, they won't make the same mistakes you did."

"And why can't Pit tell them himself." Dark Pit replied.

"Because, I'm still furious about what you stole, and I will pluck your wings if I see you for a while." Viridi replied. "The only reason I'm not doing it right now, is because everyone else is here. But I'm sure that's nothing a little bit of sleeping powder won't fix."

Dark Pit just looked absolutely terrified. "Fine." he replied.

"Phosphora, you're coming with me for right now." Viridi said.

Phospohora just nodded and began to walk away.

Pit just laughed. "Well come on Pittoo, I guess we better get back to the Smash Mansion. Miss Bayonetta, please follow us."

Dark Pit just glared at him. "Fine, but only because I feel like I'm going to be killed if I stay here any longer." He muttered.

"Very well then." Bayonetta said.

"Sorry about this Lady Palutena!" Pit said bowing. "I promise I'll stay longer next time."

"Okay, have some fun with your brotherly bonding." Palutena cheerfully smiled.

Dark Pit could only feel dread creep across his back. Pit just wrapped his arm around Dark Pit's neck. "Yep, we will!" Pit laughed.

Pit walked away, while dragging Dark Pit. Bayonetta just followed at a distance. Magnus on the other hand just stood there a bit dumbstruck. "Did they just forget about me?" Magnus muttered.

"Magnus." Palutena said approaching the swordsman.

He just looked up. "What is it?" He growled.

"Do you still wish to fight Hades?" She asked.

"Yeah," Magnus replied. "Sorry, but I don't exactly plan on taking this sitting down."

"I see, that's good." She replied. "Please follow me."

She began to walk away, and Magnus followed. "Where are we going?"

"I'm going to train you." Palutena replied. "For only being a mere mortal, you are among the strongest that our world has, and you have much experience on the battlefield. However when fighting Gods, you are but a novice."

"So you're going to train me to slay gods?"

"I guess that's one way to look at it." Palutena replied.

"And what if I turn that talent on you?" Magnus wondered.

"You won't." Palutena replied. "But, if you did, you'd have to deal with Pit."

"True, he is pretty frightening." Magnus laughed.

They made their way to a colosseum. "Here many centurions and soldiers from sky world fight." Palutena said. "And here is where you're going to train."

"Not a bad looking place, but aren't you a bit afraid that I'm going to destroy it?" Magnus asked.

"If it comes to that we'll cross that bridge when we get there." Palutena replied. "But this place has withstood myself and Pit fighting in it, so don't be afraid to go all out."

"All right." Magnus laughed.

"This is going to be your first lesson." Palutena said standing about 10 feet away from him. "You are going to walk up to me."

"That's it?" Magnus laughed. "Wow, what sort of training is this."

"You felt it, didn't you?" Palutena asked. "When Hades was ready and activated his final attack how you were all paralyzed?"

"Yeah? What about that?" Magnus asked.

"That was him extending his battle aura to paralyze you." Palutena replied. "I will do the same, and you are going to have to learn how to move around under that pressure. This will be the start of your training."

"Fine." Magnus said. "Let's begin. Just don't hold back against me."

"Don't worry, I won't." Palutena replied.

---

In their ship, the 07th Platoon and Madeline Bergman were all around a table. They had just finished recounting the events. Unfortunately in the explosion with the Bottle Ship, their ship was badly damaged. They could no longer use warp speeds. So they had a while until they would make it back to the Galactic Federation.

Adam just let off a heavy sigh. "I'm afraid with what you've told us, this separate faction in the Galactic Federation will be after us now. Trying to stop you from getting back."

Madeline Bergman just nodded. "I honestly don't think I'll ever be safe there or anywhere else now." She said. "They're going to hunt me down no matter what to silence me."

"Well then, we're going to do everything in our power to protect you." Adam said. "You have my word. In the mean time, I wish I could say we can have a nice extended vacation. As I think we've earned it. But, the ship needs to be repaired to the best of our abilities. If you find any internal damage, report it and try to repair it. Of course none of us are really mechanics or engineers so the repairs that we do will probably be of the limited duct tape variety. In the mean time, try to relax."

They were dismissed, and they made their way through out the ship. Each going their separate ways. Anthony made his way to the kitchen and just got a cup of coffee ready. He relaxed for a few hours, before making his way to the bridge, with the intention of letting whoever was currently watching over everything go take a break. However he found K.G., Adam, and Lyle in the bridge. They were looking rather frantic.

"What's going on?" Anthony asked.

"Anthony, you're here, that's good. There's been something bothering me." K.G. said. "Ever since we escaped the Bottle Ship, and was hit by that energy wave...Well, we've been drifting through space. But I don't exactly recognize these star clusters, I'm also not finding any references in our systems. I know I'm not exactly a navigator, but... this is too weird."

"I'm looking though out all of the star charts that we have in our database, and there are no matches." Lyle said. "This is too strange."

"I'm wondering if that wave of energy accidentally activated warp before blowing our systems?" Adam wondered. "Are we out of Galactic Federation space?"

"Maybe, but even then, I'd be expecting a match or two for the stars..." Lyle said. "There's not even that, we're completely lost."

There was just silence. Everyone looked around a bit confused. "Well, I guess this makes things easy for protecting Madeline Burgman then." Anthony said. "If we don't know where we are, then there's next to no chance for the Galactic Federation finding us."

"But then that brings out the question of what else is out there." Adam said. "It could be like Bionis and Mechonis again. For all we know, we just got out of the frying pan and were put back into the fire."

More hours passed as they drifted through space. Lyle and K.G. were constantly looking for any signs on where they were, Adam had stepped out to go take a break, and Anthony just piloted the ship, making sure it didn't crash into any debris.

"Any change in the situation?" Adam asked as he came back into the room.

"None." Lyle replied.

"The ship also seems like it's holding together quite well." Anthony said.

Adam just nodded. Time passed, and they just continued what they were doing until they saw a giant white space ship. Their eyes focused on the flag of the United States of America painted on it. "Is that?!"

"It can't be..."

With nothing to lose they just activated their distress signal. A few minutes later they received a message from the ship. "This is Captain Kentaro Nagi of the USS White Whale. We have received your distress signal. Please state your situation."

Everyone looked rather shocked. "He's speaking English!" Adam said rather surprised. He just quickly opened his communications port. About ten seconds later they received a video feed. Standing there was a man in a military uniform. He had short black hair, and a scar underneath his lip. Despite his best attempts to mask it, he was rather surprised at the appearance of the 07th Platoon.

"My name is Commander Adam Malkovich. Our ship has broken down and we would like to request help." Adam replied. "Our exact situation is something that I feel can not be discussed over these open communication lines."

Captain Nagi just stood there. It was clear that he was thinking it over. "I can switch to a private encrypted line if you'd prefer." He said.

Adam just nodded. "Yes, that probably would be for the best." He said. "I will take this call in a private room." He just got up and walked to a room that was off to the side. As the image of Captain Nagi disappeared, Anthony suddenly found himself rather nervous.

Inside the room, Adam just took a seat, and waited. Soon he received the encrypted signal and the video feed of Captain Nagi.

"Are you alone?" Adam asked.

"Yes." Captain Nagi replied.

"Now then, is that ship really from Earth?!"

"Used to be. Earth was destroyed, and we were one of the few ships that made it out."

"What?" Adam said rather shocked. "What year is it?"

"2056 AD, we've been drifting through space for two years, trying to find a new planet to call home."

Adam just looked down rather grimly. "So, then that confirms my deepest fears. I will now explain our situation to you." He just began to explain what had happened.

"An alternate dimension?" Captain Nagi said. "This sounds hard to believe."

"I know it's hard to believe. But it would explain why our star charts weren't matching up. I am apart of an organization called The Galactic Federation, and we've had space travel for a long time. But it seems like you only just got to space travel."

"Yes, due to our unfortunate circumstances." Captain Nagi said.

The two continued talking.

Outside of the room, with every second that passed, Anthony, K.G., and Lyle were getting more and more nervous. Eventually Adam stepped out of the room. "They are letting us aboard." He said.

"What!?"

"Through my discussion with Captain Nagi, I found out a few things. The first, we were indeed transported to another dimension. Again. Get Madeline and Maurice and I'll explain everything else."

"Understood, sir!"

---

They had docked and entered through a door Standing in front of them was a large muscled blonde haired man with a mustache. He was in a tank top. He had a tattoo on his left bicep.

"Welcome aboard the USS White Whale. I'm Jack Vandham, the chief engineer here."

"An engineer comes to greet people?" Lyle said.

"Sorry, but we're rather short staffed." He said. "That and Captain Nagi has informed me that your ship is in need of repairs. My team can help. Although our resources are rather limited."

"That's fine." Adam said. "Just do whatever repairs you can, and then we'll be on our way."

"On your way? Shouldn't we be sticking together?" Vandham said.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know how much Captain Nagi briefed you on our situation." Adam replied. "But we have our reasons for wanting to get away."

"He did say that you weren't actually from our dimension." Vandham replied. "Well, I don't care. It's only my job to help get this thing fixed up."

"Thank you." Adam said.

The Galactic Federation soldiers just sat back and watched as the engineers began to work on the ship. There were rather large robots that were patching up the outside.

"Mechon!?" Lyle said surprised.

"They're Skells." A voice said. Lyle turned to see a young girl about 13 years old standing right beside him. "Aren't they so cool!?"

"Uh yeah." Lyle said a bit taken back by her sudden appearance. She just walked over to the ship and began to investigate it.

"This technology. Oh wow. It's so different. With it, I may be able to finish the Flight Module!"

"Is she an engineer too?" Anthony asked.

"Oh? Lin." Vandham laughed. "Yeah, and don't let looks fool you, she's one of our best. And right at the young age of 13. Hey Lin, come over here and introduce yourself to them!"

The girl just walked over. "Hello, I'm Lin Lee Koo." She said.

"Nice to meet you." Anthony said. "Please take good care of our ship." Now that she was closer, Anthony's eyes were drawn to her red hairclips.

"Of course!" Lin said.

"Your hair clips?" He said.

"What about them?" She asked.

"They look just like the sword that someone we just met used." Anthony replied. "The Monado."

"The Monado?" She said. "Never heard of it."

Anthony just nodded. "That's okay. Well do your best to repair our ship."

"Of course." Lin said.

They just watched for a bit bit longer. They sat at a table and were drinking some coffee as the White Whale's engineers worked.

"At least we're safe from the Galactic Federation." Madeline said.

"Maybe, but I'm afraid of what destroyed Earth in this world..." Adam sighed. "If it will chase after them, and if we'll be caught in the cross fire."

"And then what about what that separate faction is doing while we're not there?" Anthony wondered.

Adam just shook his head. "I don't really want to think about that. The best option is to return back to our world and then deal with them."

Lyle was scanning things with a device. However he suddenly froze when a crew member suddenly got in the way of his scan. He just looked at the result and stepped back. He began to make his way back to the rest of the group. With each crew member of the White Whale he passed, he scanned them as well, and the results were the exact same.

Eventually he saw Adam and the rest of the crew.

"Commander, can we speak privately?" Lyle asked. "Just us?" He motioned to the rest of the 07th Platoon and Madeline Bergman.

"Of course."

They just made their way to an isolated spot. "What is it Lyle?"

"Commander, I was scanning everything here in the ship and had discovered that everyone here is a robot."

Adam just nodded. "Yes, this was explained to me. Their real bodies were put in stasis. And they're controlling the robotic duplicates from the lifehold unit. Another part of the ship." Adam replied. "It's nothing to worry about."

"Thank you, Commander." Lyle said.

"Although, since you're all here, I feel that it's probably for the best if we leave this place as soon as possible." Adam said. "Unfortunately, whatever destroyed earth in this universe is still out there, and I fear that it might be coming for them. So once the repairs are done, we probably should leave."

"But can we travel through dimensions?" Anthony asked.

"If we can find where the portal we entered through was, we might be able to open it back up again, and we might be able to get back home." Maurice said.

"But those forces, would they follow us into our world." K.G. wondered.

"It's likely, but with the Galactic Federations technology, we should be able to fight against them." Adam said. "For right now, we just need to wait for repairs to be done."

---

File 1

Do you want to save?

YES

Party: Zoroark, Noah

7? Chosen Champions Remain

---

Notes:

This chapter was even shorter than the last one... Ah well, 15,000 words feels a lot more manageable than 25,000 - 35,000 editing wise.

I am so glad I saved that F-Bomb. I figure a T is like PG-13, you're allowed one.

Okay, since some characters that may show up that aren't apart of the current games and stuff, I'll explain where they come from in the notes if people don't know. Spoilers below for both of the characters:

-Vanitas is from the Kingdom Hearts series. Specifically Birth By Sleep. He is Ventus' darkness that was extracted from him. So that Ventus became a being of pure light, while Vanitas was a being of pure darkness.

-Chara is from Undertale. He is the first fallen human child, who only appears and taints your save if you do a Genocide run. In the Genocide run he takes over the MC, and then infects other timelines.

If I'm remembering correctly, Hades didn't have a nickname for Dark Pit. (I can't check right now... I kind of deleted my save file, to replay it again, but only got up to Lunar Sanctum before other stuff came out, Yes I know there's multiple save slots, don't ask why I did that instead of starting a new slot...(I'm a bit weird... I need to have the first save slot...)) He just said he looked rather goth. So I kind of made "Dippy Pit" up. Was kind of going for something like how he calls Pit "Pitty Pat"

Bayonetta actually has two types of wings. The feathery wings which are for aerial battles. And then there is the butterfly wings that she had in the trailer, were for double jumps.

I was actually considering having Phantoon Appear.

My original plan was having them stuck on Mira. But since I have beaten the main story of Xenoblade Chronicles X, and due to how it ends with a bunch of things unanswered, and a giant cliffhanger, and it's built up to a currently unannounced second game, I'm probably not doing that now.