Gamer4 in. Alright, there's an issue that has come to my attention lately, and I feel I should address it. It is, after all, something I've received many a comment about. (Apparently two comments over the last 4-5 years I've been writing this series counts as 'many'.) And that is... the lack of Fire Emblem characters and references in these stories, outside of Roy. Now, here's the thing- I don't have anything against Fire Emblem. Far from it- from the little knowledge I have of it, the story, the characters, the lore, the setting, all that good stuff, it sounds like a series that's right up my alley. Unfortunately, however, you read that right- the little knowledge I have of it. Everything I know about the Fire Emblem series, I know because of Smash Bros., or I specifically looked up for my own reasons. (See the 'Eliwood' jumble from last story for an example of Fire Emblem wiki searching gone awry.) Again, my lack of knowledge isn't because I have anything against the series, but the thing is, I have very little experience with it because, bluntly, I suck at it. Seriously, I had trouble getting through the tutorial. As much as I'd like to experience these games, it's just not something that's ever been on my radar because I'm just so bad at them. Kind of the same story with Final Fantasy- I'm generally actually pretty decent when it comes to RPGs, but the moment said RPG has the words 'Final' and 'Fantasy' in the title, I'm making stupid mistakes like not giving myself a White Mage. Yeah, I know, there are people who are good enough at the game to not need a White Mage, but very clearly, I'm not one of them. Anyways, sorry if this little rant has disappointed anyone. I didn't single out Fire Emblem as a series that I just didn't want to talk about in my stories, it really is just that my abysmal skill level at said games has prevented me from learning about them the way I've learned about Mario, Zelda, the Xeno series, EarthBound, etc. etc. In fact, it's almost the same story with Pokemon, but with that series, I grew up with the anime, and am lucky enough to have two or three friends (Shout-out to WaterBoy and Gandora) who always fill in my knowledge gaps with that series. Again, hope this doesn't disappoint anyone too much- it's just something I needed to address. Alright, we're going to end these opening notes if it kills us- assuming anyone's still reading at this point, let's jump into the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I have searched the whole world over, looking for a place to sleep. I have seen the strong survive, and I have seen the lean grow weak.

Chapter IX

Mark of the Emissary

It actually wasn't a far walk from Slender's woods to the tent the Farons were staying in. As he approached, he could hear Link speaking. "I'm serious, though, Sonic's pretty awesome! I mean, seriously, did you see the things he could do with that kart? It's like he's more than an athlete- he's an artist!"

Mario was just lifting up the flap as Peach turned on her brother, a mischievous smirk on her face, and said, "Oh, is someone in love, Link?"

Link, turning red, quickly came up with the witty retorts he was known for- "Shut up."

Too late- Kirby and Meta had turned on him, wide grins on their faces. "Sonic, I love you!" Kirby sang out.

"Sonic, I do!" Meta picked up.

Neither of them flinched when Mario joined them for the final line- "When we're apart, my heart beats only for you!"

"Oh, Mario, you're back!" Link noted, spinning around at hearing his voice.

"Did you give that guy the talk?" Zelda asked from her position at the dinner table. Very subtle and camping like.

"For the nine thousand and first freaking time," Mario agreed.

"Do you really think this guy'll stay away now?" Midna asked, glancing over from the game of Xenocards she was playing with Linebeck and Rusl.

"Yeah, not likely," Mario muttered. "I just bought us some time..."

As Linebeck, Midna, and Rusl returned to their game, debating about the match along the way, Zelda returned to the book she was reading, and Kirby and Meta Knight continued to pester Link, Mario turned to see Peach pulling out a notebook of sorts and beginning to scribble in it. "Wrapping up some Summer homework?" he wondered, taking a seat next to her.

"Oh- Mario!" Peach gave the smallest of yelps as she noticed him taking his seat. "Oh, uh... no, actually, this is... something else..."

Mario's eyes fell on the page. "'God knows that I would follow you if that was what you wanted,'" he read out. "'Take me into all your darkest shadows, and you'll see that I'm even stronger than you could know.'"

Peach turned red and yanked the page away. "It's not ready!" she yelped.

"Writing a poem, or something?" Mario asked, interested.

"A song," Peach muttered quietly. "Me and a few other girls from school... well, we all play an instrument, so we thought..."

"And you're a lyricist, huh?" Mario thought out loud. "Hm... whenever you finish... I'd like to hear it."

Peach looked even more embarrassed at this, but luckily for her, Rusl chose that moment to announce that it was time to go to sleep- after all, it would most likely be another early morning the next day to return to Ordon Cottage.

As Mario began trying to settle in to his bed, he began struggling to contend with the festivities. He could hear Rusl saying, "Oh, I don't envy Gaignun, being on duty through all this... telling Germany's supporters they have to stop celebrating... happy fun times."

Nevertheless, Mario must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing he knew, he was being shaken awake.

"Mario! Get up, Mario! Mario!"

"Whattabuddawadhaping?" he muttered, trying to rub said sleep from his eyes.

"Apparently, the Germans are getting really into their partying," came Kirby's sleepy voice from nearby.

But even in his half-asleep state, Mario could tell that wasn't quite true- there was still a great deal of noise outside, but it didn't sound nearly as jubilant as the noises he'd been hearing last night. Those weren't yells of victory... those were... screams...

"It's not the Germans," Rusl said quickly, affirming Mario's suspicions. "Everyone, grab your power controllers- those that wear clothes, just grab a jacket- and go!"

Mario jumped out of his bed. He typically slept dressed anyways, and his hat should be stowed away in his pocket, so...

Link, nearby, was in a similar situation, already dressed in his tunic, belt, boots, floppy hat, whole shebang. He grabbed his sword from next to his bed and followed Mario on his flight out of the tent to see what was going on.

Something had gone horribly, horribly awry. Fires were burning everywhere, tents were being trampled, and people were running every which way, though the mass exodus seemed to have the general destination of the woods. And, in the center of it all, a sight that chilled Mario to the bone...

A large group of smashers was marching through the campground. They were all dressed in a strange uniform, entirely devoted to a single color, white, blue, red, or even gold. Their faces were entirely hidden behind visors, with strange designs on their chests, triangles and rectangles, and, placed dead center, a strange sigil consisting of a circle with a line going halfway across the center.

Mario's eyes were struggling to take this in as was, but then they were drawn to the space over the group, where three figures were hovering overhead. Mario recognized one of them- Kyon, the site manager, still dressed in his blue blazer. Alongside him were two girls in sailor outfits, being pulled along as if by some invisible force linking them to the smashers below.

"Okay, they attacked Kyon?!" Mario asked, flaring up- almost literally. "Now it's personal!"

"Mario, no!" came a nearby voice, as Zelda entered the scene and grabbed his sleeve to prevent him from attacking. "There are too many of them, and besides, if you hurt the one keeping them up, they could fall and get seriously hurt!"

Mario didn't like it- not at all- but Rusl took Zelda's side. "She's right, Mario. Listen- I'm going to join up with the Government, try and stop them- Linebeck, Midna, Rob, with me. Everyone else, into the woods. I'd make a reference to a great play-turned-movie right now, but we don't have time. Just hurry into the woods and stick together!"

And so it came to be that Kirby and Meta Knight donned unusually serious looks as they took the lead in their flight towards said woods, Mario, Link, Zelda, and Peach in tow. They only looked back at the edge of the trees. The crowd was growing ever larger, and while some of it was down to Government smashers trying to quell the riot without bringing harm on Kyon or the other two girls, Mario was enraged to see that some of the crowd was actually joining in the ones who'd started the whole thing- the ones in the multicolored alien-like uniforms.

Fortunately for everyone involved, he didn't really get to act on any impulses- the crowd heading into the woods pushed the whole group in. Less fortunately, Mario found himself being separated from the rest of the group as the large fleeing crowd pushed him around like a ball in a pinball machine.

Finally, the crowd seemed to disperse somewhat. Unfortunately, Mario couldn't tell for sure, because he'd now entered a part of the forest so dense he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. "Link!" he called out, feeling around. "Zelda! Kirby! Meta! Peach!"

"I'm here!" came Link's voice nearby.

"Right beside you," spoke another voice he recognized as Zelda's. "But I think the others got separated..."

"Well, in that case," Link's voice spoke up again, "why don't we just-" his words were cut off as he let out a yelp and a grunt.

"Link, are you okay? Are you okay? Are you okay, Link?"

Another voice spoke nearby. "He's been hit by- he's been struck by- a smooth criminal!"

"Oh, boy," Zelda's voice muttered. "Din's Fire!"

The area was suddenly illuminated by a handful of fire being held by- of course- Zelda. With the new light, they could see Link, looking disgruntled, picking himself up from the ground, where he'd seemingly tripped over a tree root. "Man, I'm tired of slapstick," he muttered.

"Then again, if someone's gotta stick their neck out for a bit of slapstick, it was never gonna be anyone but this story's biggest clown, was it?" spoke the aforementioned mysterious voice again. All three closed their eyes, hoping it wasn't true, and slowly turned until they were looking at the source, then opened them.

No such luck- sure enough, the voice was coming from Bowser Dragmire, casually leaning against a tree.

"Oh, gee, just what I needed," Mario muttered.

"Oh, hey," Bowser grinned, pretending to be surprised. "Fancy seein' you here, huh, Mario?"

"Yeah, yeah, we know, it's...uh... me, Mario," Mario muttered. "Great to see you, too."

"Naturally," Bowser grinned. "Just thought I'd stop in and see how my favorite trio of blood traitors and wollywogs was doing."

Link told Bowser to do something that Mario thought was a little risque, even for a story that was now rated T.

"Oh, sure you should be using language like that?" Bowser managed to keep his voice sounding smug, but his smile had vanished. "Sure you want to upset your mommy? Leave the cursin' to Mario, dog- he ain't got one!"

"Bowser, unless you want a pre-mortem cremation," Mario growled threateningly, summoning fire to his hands.

"Hey, no need to be getting all hostile on little ol' me," Bowser raised his claws, grin returning. "Just thought I'd stop by to give you a little friendly advice- as a fellow Smash bro, you know? Just... keep her outta sight, you got that?"

Everyone looked from him to Zelda. "And... why?" Zelda asked, question marks in her eyes.

"What, you don't get it?" Bowser chortled. "They're after muggles- I'm sure they'd have a ball if they found one pretendin' to be a smasher!"

"Zelda is a smasher," Mario pointed out, eyes burning.

"Well, if you don't think those trained professionals can spot a wollywog at twenty miles, you need to brush up on your history," Bowser smirked, shaking a finger at them. "These guys are the elite!"

Link was turning red again- this time with fury- and Mario could hear the familiar teapot whistle that signified the swordsman getting dangerously close to snapping. However, any retort the warrior in green might have summoned was cut off as a loud bang sounded nearby, along with several screams.

Bowser shook his head, laughing quietly. "Ah, the rabble. Scare real easily, don't they? Now that I think about it, where's that father of yours, Faron? Trying to get the muggles down, I suppose?"

"You'd like to know that, wouldn't you?" Mario growled. "Report back to your daddy, right? I'm guessing he's one of the freakazoids out there wearing matching plugsuits."

"Oh, come on, now, they don't even look like plugsuits!" Bowser pointed out. "And even if he was... you really think I'd be about to tell you?"

"Shove it, Bowser," Zelda muttered, pointing a finger in his direction. "You two, come on."

Mario and Link reluctantly turned their backs on Bowser's crud-eating grin and followed Zelda back off into the forest.

"Well, if I didn't think so before, I sure as heck do now," Link muttered. "Yeah, definitely. Ghirahim's out there, alright..."

"Then we can hope Mr. Faron catches him," Zelda put in. "For now, let's just focus on finding Kirby, Peach, and Meta."

Abruptly, Mario's ears pricked, as he heard a strange voice singing out, "Talk to the sunset, 'how do you do?' 'I've got me a problem, and I'm counting on you!'"

"Whoa, buddy, not that way!" he said instantly, reaching out and grabbing Zelda by the sleeve, turning her to face another direction. "He's that way."

Turning pale at the idea of walking directly into Mario's... *ahem* old friend... Zelda nodded and began leading them on a different path.

As they continued walking, Link reached into hammerspace and produced a lantern, adding to their little circle of light. Seeing this, Mario, feeling left out, reached into his pocket for his cap. Except...

"Ah... oh, crud," he muttered, drawing the others' attention.

"Something wrong, Mario?" Zelda asked, looking concerned.

"My hat," Mario explained quickly. "I lost my hat."

"Huh?" Link asked, turning on him as well. "You lost your power controller?"

"Yeah, that's... that's basically what I said, just with different wording," Mario agreed. He ran a couple desperate hands through his pockets, feeling for any out-of-place lumps, but no dice. The others raised their light sources high in the air, allowing him to search the general area around them, but no cigars. Or hats either, for that matter.

"Did you leave it back at the tent?" Link suggested.

Mario racked his brains, but couldn't think of any place he might have dropped it. "Well... we can hope..."

He was feeling very... wrong, right now. Though he'd spent the first eleven years of his life without any sort of head gear, the past three years had gotten him accustomed to the idea of wearing his hat. At this point, it really felt like his red cap was a part of him- being stuck without it, he felt... naked, in the dark.

"Don't know how we didn't notice before," Zelda noted, seemingly agreeing with his sentiments. "You look so... so strange without it on..."

"Yeah... you're like a whole different person!" Link agreed.

Further conversation about the oddity of seeing Mario without his trademark head warmer was cut off when a bush nearby rustled, and a pink dinosaur-like thing came hurtling out. A moment later, Mario recognized it as Birdo.

Birdo was in a near-blind panic. "Dark smashers- evil smashers!" she was crying. "Birdo has to- has to get out of the way!"

For some reason, Birdo seemed to be struggling, almost like there was an invisible someone pulling her back. Struggling against whatever invisible bonds were there, Birdo tore back off into the woods.

"What was that all about?" Mario wondered out loud. "I mean, I can get wanting to get out of the way of those whackjobs, but... well... why couldn't she run properly?"

He turned to Link, the only pure-blooded smasher there, for explanation, but Link looked just as stumped as he did. "Um..." the blond swordsman was clearly grasping, rubbing at his hair as he spoke. "Maybe... I think it might be because... because that von Karma guy ordered her to stay at the tent? If he did, then maybe she's being held back by a compulsion to obey his order... but at the same time, doesn't want to... I mean, I don 't know if it really works that way, but it's the best I've got."

"Well, if that is," Zelda burst out, looking furious. "What... I mean... how could smashers do that to another race? What kind of deal did yoshis get with the smashers?"

"Well, you heard her talking about von Karma earlier, right?" Link pointed out. "She thinks the sun rises and sets on the guy, and she did keep talking about how yoshis are supposed to find happiness in this kind of stuff..."

His voice quailed under Zelda's furious gaze. "Link Faron," Zelda growled, eyes flaring. "Did I just hear you advocating for the slavery of an entire race?"

Link was cowering at this point, but they were interrupted by a nearby bang, prompting Link to choke out, "Oh, hey, they're coming this way! We should get going!"

Zelda still didn't look satisfied, but conceded the point, turning and leading them onwards. Mario, distinctly remembering the last war between the two, fell back on his old strategy of determined neutrality, and thus spent the time continuing to search his pockets. Yeah, he knew his hat wasn't there, but he couldn't help it.

After a long trek, Mario finally gave up, collapsing against a nearby tree. "Alright, how about we take five? We're pretty far out here, we'll be able to hear anyone coming..."

No sooner had these words left his mouth than there was a strange whirring sound and M. C. Ballyhoo appeared, a propellor coming from the top of his hat as he flew down into the clearing. "What the- what are you three doing way out here?" he asked, sounding distracted and nervous.

"We're trying to get away from... the riot," Mario explained, slowing his speech as he noticed that this seemed to be news to the Smash-Up announcer.

"Riot? Riot? What riot?" Ballyhoo asked, seemingly looking around nervously.

"The one back at the campsite?" Link stepped in, sounding just as confused as Mario felt. "Group of freaks in some weird uniforms? Raising some muggles up into the sky? You didn't hear about-"

"Goombas!" Ballyhoo called out randomly, sounding frustrated. With that, the propellor in his hat reappeared, and he took off into the air once more.

"Ooooooookay," Mario's eyebrow raised. "I repeat my question from earlier- what was that about?"

"Kind of odd," Zelda agreed, hand raising to her chin. "I mean, he only organized the whole match, you'd think he'd be aware of what was going on... especially something this big..."

"Yeah, the way Rob tells it, he's something of a nut," Link agreed. "But he was a great brawler in his own time- led the Mushroom Kingdom team to victory three times, at his best."

And so it came to be that the three entered a period of silence. Their ears were pricked for anyone approaching, friend or foe. Eventually, Link grew bored and produced a Sonic the Hedgehog action figure, which, being made by smashers, was alive. He placed it on the ground and allowed it to run around the clearing. Mario, personally, felt that an acceptable Sonic the Hedghog action figure (with real sprinting action) would just be a Sonic with a button on his back, which, when pressed, said "Sonic's the name, speed's my game! Want to see me run around the whole world?" Brief pause. "Want to see me do it again?" But, maybe he was just thinking out loud.

"It would be great if Dad caught Ghirahim, though," Link spoke up after a while, continuing the conversation from much earlier.

"Yeah, that'd be pretty bawesome," Mario agreed. "Along with just about as many of those uniformed freaks as they can handle..."

"What about the muggles, though?" Zelda asked, sounding anxious. "Will they get hurt?"

"Nah, the Government wouldn't let something like that happen," Link shook his head. "Nasty thing to happen to Olimar, though, wouldn't you say? This whole last year's been just one gong show after another for that guy- first Roy escapes, then Epona disappears right under his nose just before she was set to be executed, and now this..."

Further conversation was cut off, however, as Mario raised a hand for silence. "Quiet!" he said quickly. "I think I heard something!"

The other two fell silent as well, their ears perking up- after all, both of them had pointed ears that could hear better than Mario's round ones could. But even he could hear the soft footsteps just next to the clearing.

"Um... hello?" Mario called out softly. "Someone there?"

And then, out of nowhere came a voice- a high, cold voice devoid of any sentiment whatsoever. It cried out: "Take that!" Mario was about to respond with the pretty honest question of what the voice was offering when he was distracted by the flash of light that seemed to originate from the same place as the voice- it was caused by a jet of said light that was currently firing into the air like a firework. For a moment, it streaked into the air, where it exploded into form.

It was a design Mario recognized- the same design that had been on the chests of those people back at the campsite. A circle, with a line starting at the left and crossing halfway, before stopping abruptly in the middle.

Abruptly, screams began to rise around them. Mario looked around, surprised. It was a pretty simple shape- what about it could incite such fear in people? And yet, at the same time, he couldn't discern any other possible cause for the fear...

"Mario, we need to go," Link said quietly, grabbing at his hand.

"Just a second," Mario shook his head, still looking around for the origin of the voice and of the design. "Hello? Somebody there?"

"Mario, we need to go," Zelda repeated Link's sentiment, grabbing onto his hand. "We don't want to be found here."

Mario turned on his friends, and was surprised to find them both looking frightened. "What is it?"

"That sign- that's the Mark of the Emissary!" Zelda explained quickly. "That's the sign of... of You-Know-Who!"

"T-Tabuu?" Mario asked, caught off guard, and causing both of said friends to flinch.

"She's right, we need to go," Link nodded. Finally, Mario gave a slight nod and allowed Zelda to start leading their flight from the clearing, but then... they were surrounded. A large group of smashers appeared from the trees, and the three of them were forced to duck to avoid getting hit by the myriad jets of light, arrows, bullets, and other projectiles being fired at them. It only stopped when another voice rang out over the clearing, much more familiar than the last one to do so-

"STOP!" came the cry of Rusl Faron. "THAT'S MY SON!"

Mario tilted his head up slightly to see said tall blond man running into the clearing, desperately waving his hands for a ceasefire. "THAT'S MY SON!" he repeated. "EVERYONE HOLD YOUR FIRE!"

Finally, the fire did cease. Incidentally, have we said 'fire' enough in the past couple paragraphs? Well, whatever.

Mario looked up to see Rusl's face, white with fear. "Link! Mario- Zelda! Are you three alright?"

Mario was on the point of nodding when a voice deep enough to shake the foundations of the earth spoke. "Stand away from them, Rusl."

They all turned to see the parrot-like face of Manfred von Karma approaching, fury etched into his lined face. "Alright, which one of you did it?" he growled in his characteristic demonic rumble. "Which one of you summoned the Mark of the Emissary?"

Mario wanted to throw out a self-reference, but didn't figure breaking the fourth wall would win him any points with the enraged government official. Not that he needed to speak, anyways- Link was picking up the slack.

"Hold it!" said swordsman cried, the words appearing in a stamp. "We didn't summon that- we didn't do anything! We were just standing here when you all come in, guns blazing-"

"Do not lie to me!" von Karma shouted, turning his glare onto Link. "You've been caught red-handed at the scene of the crime!"

Mario was quietly shifting his brain into 'retreat' mode- von Karma didn't look like he was exactly in the best frame of mind at the moment.

Behind him spoke a tall woman with brown hair, dressed in what appeared to be a military uniform of some kind. "Manny," she said warningly, "think about what you're saying. These are just kids you're talking to..."

"Right," Rusl nodded, trying to reassume a professional manner. "Of course- you three, where did the mark come from?"

"Over there," Zelda said quickly, pointing at the direction from which the cold voice had come. "Someone in the trees... shouted something out, and the mark appeared..."

"A very easy story to come up with," von Karma scoffed, but he was the only one there at that point that really seemed to consider it even a vague possibility that Mario, Link, and Zelda were to blame for the mark- the other government officials had already turned and were beginning to scour the trees for signs of the true perpetrator.

Finally, the squad of officials came back, being led by Jr., shaking his head. "Nah, they're gone already," he said, seeming as out of place as ever, a twelve-year-old leading a squad of adults. "Looks like they teleported away..."

"Ah, the youth of today give up too easily," came a crotchety-sounding voice, and everyone turned to see an aged monkey stepping forward, cane in hand- Cranky Kong, Donkey Kong's grandfather. "We tore right through those trees earlier, odds are someone hit whoever really did this. Let me show you young'ns how it's done..."

Everyone watched as the elderly simian headed into the woods. A few grunts, mumbles, and "Ah-ha"s later, he called back, "There, see? What'd I tell ya?! Found them! But... well, that throws me off, I'll tell ya!"

"What? What is it?" Rusl called back.

Cranky Kong reappeared, carrying a pink shape over his shoulder, fireman style. Approaching them, he dropped said shape in the center of the clearing, illuminated by the circular sky design. Mario gave a gasp of recognition, recognition he also saw on the faces of Link and Zelda. Very long-winded way of saying they all recognized Birdo laying there on the ground in front of them.

Everyone looked up at Manfred von Karma, who looked extremely taken aback. "B-Birdo?" he gasped out. "This- this isn't..."

Everyone watched him as he hoisted his cane and headed off into the trees, clearly to do some searching of his own. "No point, there, Manny!" Cranky called out. "Even I couldn't find anyone, no one else has a chance!"

This didn't stop von Karma from stomping into the shadows, cane held high. Cranky shook his head as he turned back to everyone else. "Well, we'll need this yoshi to testify," he grumbled. "Even if Manny thinks he's gonna find someone else... not that I blame him, if it got out his own yoshi had done something like this..."

"You really think Birdo did this?" Rusl asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "The Mark of the Emissary- it was developed and used by smashers. It can't be done without a power controller."

"Ah, you mean like this one?" Cranky asked, producing a red hat from his pocket. A very familiar red hat.

"Hey, that's mine!" Mario piped up, staring at it.

"Yours?" Cranky asked, looking surprised as he turned on Mario. "That a confession, boy? You threw this hat away after summoning the mark?"

"Now that I get a good look at you... yeah, I'm surprised-"

"You didn't notice it before," Mario finished the sentence for him. "Yeah, yeah, we all know, I look weird without my hat."

Rusl shrugged before turning back to Cranky. "And as for you, Cranky- think who you're talking to! Not just a kid, but Mario Mario? Is there anyone less likely to summon the Mark of the Emissary than him? Well, maybe the Master Hand, I suppose, but even so..."

"Right... right," Cranky shook his head- even after he'd said it, he seemed to have already dismissed the idea. "Don't know what I was thinkin'..."

Everyone looked up, distracted from further conversation as a whirring sound filled the clearing, hailing M. C. Ballyhoo's reappearance, propellor on his hat carrying him down into the clearing. "What is it? What's going on? I saw the mark- who summoned-" he fell silent as the strange scene greeted his hidden eyes.

Just as he touched down, the trees rustled, and Manfred von Karma returned, looking extremely agitated and gripping his cane so hard his knuckles turned white. Ballyhoo turned on him for explanation. "Manny, what's going on? The mark- and you weren't at the match, even with Birdo saving your seat- and for that matter- Birdo! What happened to her?"

"Caught in the crossfire, I'm afraid," von Karma growled, pushing his cane up under his shoulder and using his newly free hand to tightly grasp his arm. "And Cranky here seems to believe she is the one responsible... for this."

"For... for what?" Ballyhoo asked blankly, looking around. Everyone simply flicked their eyes up at the sky. Ballyhoo glanced skyward as well, then back to earth. "What, you mean- no- nooooo- she couldn't have! Birdo, summon the Mark of the Emissary? She'd need a power controller!"

"And she had one," Cranky interjected, brandishing Mario's hat. "Seems she took it from this boy here! Her behavior tonight has been very suspicious... so, let's hear what she has to say for herself, shall we? Anyone here a healer?"

"Well, not specifically," Jr. spoke, stepping forward, "but I'll see what I can do." He raised his twin pistols into the air and shouted, "Ether Drive!" A glowing light surrounded him, then spread to Birdo, whose eyes began to flicker open.

She sat up, seeming dazed, only to freeze as she saw all the smashers surrounding her. Her eyes flicked from one face to the next, and finally to the circle in the sky. Not nearly as cool as a spirit in the sky. Where I'm gonna go when I die...

"No!" the yoshi cried out. "The narrator- he's singing again!"

"We'll silence him later," Cranky interjected. "For now, we need to talk to you about this mark."

"B-Birdo did not do it!" Birdo cried immediately, fear filling her eyes. "Birdo could not have done it- she doesn't know how!"

"You know who I am, yoshi?" Cranky grumbled out, glaring down at her. "Cranky Kong, head of the Government of Smashing's department for regulation of smashing creatures! You have been found beneath one of the most evil marks in smashing history, carrying a power controller- if you have anything to say for yourself, say it now!"

"Birdo does not know!" Birdo cried, sobbing. "Birdo could not have summoned the mark- does not know how!"

"Furthermore," Cranky continued rambling, completely ignoring Birdo's desperate pleas of innocence, "it has been found you took this controller from Mario Mario, here! So, here's the situation I'm picturing- the boy drops his controller in the woods, you happen upon it, and decide to have a bit of fun- resulting in the summoning of that mark!"

As Birdo continued to blubber, Zelda stepped forward, anger in her eyes. "OBJECTION!" she shouted, the usual stamp appearing. "We heard the person who did it, and they didn't sound anything like Birdo! Did they?" she added, appealing to Mario and Link to back her up.

"Nope," Mario agreed, shaking his head.

"It did sound like a woman," Link put in, "but a human woman, I think. Couldn't have been Birdo."

"Well, we'll see," Cranky grumbled, brandishing his cane. "Time to run a little test- a nice little way of seeing the last piece of smashing a power controller performed. I oughtta know, I was there when they invented it. Boy, that was back in the day- actually, it was based on this effect that happens when two controllers with the same core are forced to do battle with each other, they just show what they did last- kind of out of place to mention here, but then the lovely people over at Harry Potter Headscratchers page wouldn't let it go if it wasn't mentioned somewhere, no matter how out of place, I tell ya, no respect for their elders-"

"Er... you were saying, Cranky?" Rusl interrupted.

"What? Oh... right. Time to see what this hat did last." The... experienced ape touched the bottom of his cane to Mario's hat, and from the front of the hat came a much smaller reproduction of the mark currently hanging over their heads- literally.

"N-no!" Birdo cried. "Birdo- Birdo did not do it, Birdo could not do it, Birdo does not know how!"

"Do not try to escape your guilt, yoshi!" Cranky cried, glowering down at her. "You've been caught holding the controller that did it, it's time to confess your crime!"

"Calm yourself, Cranky," came a more reasonable sounding voice, and everyone turned to see Gaignun stepping forward, reason in his eyes. "Think about what you're saying for a moment- could Birdo really have done it? She would have to have learned it somewhere- and where could she have?"

"She could not have," von Karma growled, turning a glare onto Cranky. "Unless, of course, this wretched primate is suggesting that I- Manfred von Karma- have taught my servant to summon the Mark of the Emissary!"

"Oh, I'm not suggesting anything of the kind, Manny!" Cranky said indignantly, very much unhappy with the description given to him by his coworker. "I'm sure she could have picked up anywhere!"

"Yes, and therein lies the problem," Rusl spoke up. "I think you just hit the nail on the head, Cranky." Speaking much more gently than anyone else so far, he turned his attention to Birdo. "Birdo," he asked kindly, "where did you find this hat?"

"In... in the trees," Birdo choked out. "It was on the ground, found it in the mark's light..."

"And there you have it," Rusl nodded. "Seems a very likely story- no sarcasm intended. Whoever actually did this stole Mario's hat at some point, used it to summon the mark, throws it away, and poor Birdo comes across it, picks it up, and happens to get caught in the crossfire."

"But if that's the case," Cranky spoke, suddenly seeming much more interested, "then she'd have been within a few feet of whoever really did do it! Did you see anyone else, yoshi?"

Birdo gulped, glancing around the clearing, particularly, Mario noticed, at Manfred von Karma, who- though Mario might just be imagining it- seemed to very slightly tilt his head from side to side, as though he was shaking his head 'no.'

Birdo, trembling, said, "Birdo saw no one, Mr. Kong, sir. Birdo... saw... nobody."

"Quite unfortunate," von Karma abruptly spoke up. "However, if she saw nobody, she saw nobody. Nothing to be done about it. That said, Cranky, I would appreciate it if you left any disciplinary action to me."

"Manny..." Cranky said, a note of warning in his voice.

"She has nothing further to add to this investigation. And rest assured, the transgressions she has committed will not go without retribution."

Mario shuddered at how the deep voice had suddenly grown colder than the Winter Solstice... on Pluto.

Birdo seemed to sense it too. "Mr... Master von Karma... please..." she seemed to be begging.

Von Karma, however, wasn't in the mood, silencing his yoshi with a glare that could freeze magma. "I ordered you to stay behind in the tent. You failed. I ordered you to keep watch over our... possession... and even in that simple task, you failed. When we get home, you will receive a present, Birdo- my personal copy of Stephanie Meyers's Twilight."*

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Birdo cried, horror blazing on her face. "Master von Karma- please!"

Mario recalled what he'd learned from Yoshi (the yoshi actually named Yoshi) the previous year- a yoshi could only be set free from their smasher family if presented with written work.

Zelda stepped up, glaring at von Karma, enraged. "She was afraid!" she shouted. "Those people in the suits were tearing up everything in their path, attacking anyone they felt was inferior- and no, I'm not going to make that reference again! Not happening! Anyways, she was scared- how can you blame her for wanting to get out of the way?!"

"This is none of your concern," von Karma rumbled, his wintery gaze turning on her. "I have no use for a yoshi who disobeys me. That is all."

A very uncomfortable silence fell, punctuated only by Birdo's sobs. Finally, Rusl broke it. "Very... very well," he stammered out. "The... the rioters have gone, now... we should all return to our tents. I've got a feeling things are going to be very busy tomorrow, we should all rest while we still can. Oh- Cranky, Mario will need his hat back."

Even Cranky seemed to be pitying Birdo, but he broke his eyes away from her, gave a curt nod, and handed the red cap over to Rusl, who, in turn, handed it to Mario, who put it back on his head. Ah, sweet relief- he hadn't realized how much he depended on that light weight on his head until it had been gone.

Rusl gently touched the children under his charge on the shoulder, and began leading them back to their tent. The moment they were out of earshot, Zelda turned on him. "What's going to happen to Birdo?"

"Hard telling," Rusl shook his head hopelessly. "I don't know if von Karma would really fire his yoshi over this, but either way, I certainly don't envy her position when they return home..."

"It's barbaric," Zelda growled, fury in her eyes. "The way they all treated her... like she wasn't even human!"

"Well, in fairness, she's not," Link pointed out. "And- well, how many smashers are really human in the first place? It just seems like that phrase doesn't mean as much here as it usually would-"

"And just because those other smashers aren't human, does that mean they don't have feelings?" Zelda asked, rounding on him with fire in her eyes.

"I'm not trying to say that!" Link objected quickly. "It's just that-"

"It's disgusting," Zelda cut him off. "It's horrible, terrible, and-"

"Zelda, I'm on your side- I really am," Rusl interrupted gently, "but there's nothing we can do for her, not now. We need to get back to the tent ASAP. What happened to Kirby, Peach, and Meta Knight?"

"We got separated in the crowd," Mario explained quietly.

"Ah," Rusl intoned, looking slightly nervous. "I see."

Any thoughts of further conversation were nipped in the bud as a crowd outside the woods assailed them, looking worried.

"What happened in there, Rusl?"

"Who summoned... that... that sign?"

"It's not... it's not him, is it?"

"No, no, of course it's not!" Rusl declared, raising his hands for calm. "For one thing, we have witnesses that have testified whoever did it was female. Everything is alright, don't you worry. Nobody's dead, nobody's in danger, everything's being taken care of by government officials as we speak. Now, if it's alright with everyone, I'd like to get some sleep."

Slowly, the crowd dissipated, allowing Rusl and the kids passage through towards their tent. As they entered, Mario's eyes quickly raked around, and he breathed a sigh of relief- everyone was already back; Midna, Linebeck, Rob, Peach, Kirby, Meta- everybody. Linebeck, Midna, and Rob all bore signs that they'd been doing some fighting since they got separated, but the others seemed unhurt, albeit shaken.

"Dad!" Linebeck spoke, standing as they entered. "Oh, and you three! Thank Farore- we were afraid for a bit there, when Peach, Meta, and Kirby came back, saying that you all broke up..."

"Did you find them?" Midna interjected, looking somewhat urgent. "The person who summoned the mark?"

"No, we didn't," Rusl sat down wearily as he spoke. "We found Manfred von Karma's yoshi unconscious under it with the power controller that did it-" it seemed it would take longer than necessary to explain that it had been Mario's hat- "-but she just picked it up after it had been done. We never found the person that actually did it."

"What?" came Midna, Linebeck, and Robs' unified gasps.

And so it came to be that those who were in the know of what had happened explained it to those who were not. By the end of their tale, Rob sounded absolutely furious.

"Well, if that is the case, then Manfred von Karma was most certainly in the right to dismiss that failure of a yoshi," he growled, sounding very strange growling monotone. "Disobeying him, humiliating him in front of all those government officials- why, when I think of the damage it might have done to his reputation-"

"His reputation?!" Zelda repeated incredulously, her temper from earlier flaring up again. "His reputation? Her only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time- and if that were a crime, Mario would already be in Subspace for life, just for repeat offences!"

"Yeah, thanks for summing that up," Mario muttered.

Rob looked flabbergasted- as did several of the others. Zelda and Rob arguing... it wasn't a common occurrence. She usually got along fairly well with the robot- well, as well as anyone could. Their shared love of Da Rulez (TM) gave them a common ground, but now, here Zelda was, looking like she was ready to tear out Rob's non-existant throat.

"Zelda," Rob spoke, turning his condescension knob (TM) up to eleven, "Mr. von Karma can't afford to have a yoshi who's going to be seen gallivanting around public with a power controller!"

"She wasn't 'gallivanting around' with it!" Zelda shouted back. "She just picked it up off the ground- for all we know, she was planning on returning it!"

"Hey, how about we put a pin in this conversation?" Mario suggested, raising his hand. "As riveting as it is- and it really is riveting- there's something else I want to know- namely, what the heck was that sign everyone was getting so worked up over?"

"I already told you," Zelda explained reproachfully, turning on him, still with some of the leftover fury from Rob. "It's the Mark of the Emissary- it's You-Know-Who's insignia!"

"Moreover, this is the first sighting of it in thirteen years," Rusl joined in, taking a seat with a bottle of Mountain Dew in hand. "I don't blame anyone for panicking- it was almost two steps short of seeing You-Know-Who himself alive again."

"Well... okay," Mario shrugged. "I get it- it was Tabuu's sign. But even so-" (he continued, ignoring the collective wince that arose at the use of Tabuu's name,) "- it's just a circle and line, up in the sky. I mean, putting it there could be really petty and childish- kind of like drawing swastikas on bathroom stalls and thinking it makes you all that and a bag of doritos- but a crime?"

"It's worse than that- so, so much worse," Rusl shook his head. "There's no way you could know, you're just too young. It inspired terror, at the height of You-Know-Who's reign- terror the likes of which can't be imagined by someone who hasn't experienced it. Not only was it the symbol You-Know-Who and his followers rallied under, they set it over any building that they'd invaded. It was to show that they'd deemed that spot, and the people who lived there, unworthy... and that they'd killed... if you can imagine, coming home, seeing that sign over your house, and knowing what it meant..."

"I'm glad it's something I never had to witness," Midna noted, a grimace crossing her face. "But still, it didn't exactly help us out tonight. We didn't catch a single one of those Starmen- they all teleported away and scattered the moment that sign appeared."

"Starmen?" Mario repeated blankly. "What's a Starman?"

"It's what You-Know-Who's followers called themselves," Linebeck explained. "And if I had to guess, what we saw tonight are the last ones out there- the ones that managed to live through the war and keep themselves out of Subspace when You-Know-Who fell, at least."

"We can't know that for sure," Rusl interjected. Everyone turned to look at him, and slowly, his bravado faded, and he looked hopelessly down at his soda. "Though... it probably was."

"Of course!" Link abruptly spoke up, snapping his fingers. "Of course it was them! We met Bowser out in the woods- Bowser Dragmire- and he as good as told us that his dad was one of those nuts!"

"What bugs me," Mario spoke up, "is why they did what they did. Breaking in here, causing all that terror, attacking Kyon and his friends- why? What's the point? It's not like it'll bring Ta- alright, You-Know-Who-" (he shifted gears as he saw everyone about to flinch again,) "-back. What goal could they have had? What was the point?"

Rusl snorted. "Your mistake, Mario, is thinking there was a point at all. We've been calling them all sorts of names through this chapter- whackjobs, freakazoids, nuts- and the thing is, that's exactly what they are. There was no reason for what they did- they just found it fun to cause pain and suffering. Very much like AFOSB."

"And here I thought we were done with that," Mario muttered.

"Sorry, but the opportunity was just too perfect," Rusl shrugged. "And hey, at least it wasn't the Harry-"

"Moving along!" Link spoke, louder than normal. "Even so- if they're You-Know-Who's followers, why run at his sign? Wouldn't they be glad to see him again?"

This time, it was Midna who snorted. "Alright, Link, I know your brain is made of bread, but try to use it, alright?" she interjected, sounding pretty irritable- maybe due to the heavy nosebleed she was currently nursing. "It's like Linebeck said, those are the last remains of the Starmen- the ones who didn't die in service for him, and then renounced him to avoid getting sent to Subspace! You think You-Know-Who'd be happy with them? No, if anything, they have more to fear from him than we do!"

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up!" Zelda put in, raising her hands. "If that's the case... then the person who summoned the Mark... were they doing it to show their support for what was going on... or to scare them off?"

"Hard telling," Rusl shook his head. "We just don't know enough- but I will say this. Even if whoever did it has reformed, I'd be willing to bet good money that they were a Starman at some point- they're the only ones who ever knew how to summon that Mark."

A dead silence fell following this semi-ominous pronouncement. Finally, Rusl spoke again. "Alright, everyone get some sleep. You're going to need it- Midna, Linebeck, Rob and I in particular. This isn't going to blow over overnight. We'll wake up early tomorrow, try to grab an early Whir-Gate out of here. Just hope Gaignun will hook us up..."

Mario did as he was told and returned to his bunk, making sure to know where his hat was when he took it off. He knew he should feel exhausted, but somehow, he just didn't. Thoughts were racing around his head faster than Sonic ever could.

Three days. That was how long it had been since he'd awoke from that strange dream with his scar burning. It felt much longer (along the lines of two months and a week) but it was only three days. That strange dream, his scar burning, and now Tabuu's sign had appeared for the first time in thirteen years. He could help but feel like these things were like signposts, leading him along some unknown path... but where? And for what?

He shook his head and turned over in his bed, trying to empty his mind, but even so, it took a couple hours before Linebeck's heavy snores lulled him into an uneasy sleep.

XXXX

*I generally don't like to get into fandom rivalries, but my status as a Harry Potter fan basically contractually obliges me to throw out a few derogatory references to Twilight every now and again.

And... a chapter complete! Hopefully this monster of a chapter makes up for the week without an update, broken by a random quicky, of all things. Incidentally, should I be worried that my fingers tried to type out 'Marik' every time I tried to type 'Mark' as I was writing this? Hmm... anyways, if you people have any kindness in your soul, you'll raise a glass for all the brave, valiant cans of Mountain Dew that sacrificed their lives so this chapter may live. They really went above and beyond the call of duty, Wave Existence rest their soul. Please remember them as you kindly R&R, constructive criticism or questions embraced, flames not so much, Gamer4 out.