Chapter #11: Dark Alliances Are Forged…

Top Floor of Smash-Mart

Up on the top floor, Peach had just left a department store (not Sears) with a set of purchased dresses for Zelda, Daisy, and herself. Another store further down the row caught her eye, and she started toward it. But suddenly she heard shouting, from a familiar voice.

"Come on, raccoon! Turn around and fight me!"

That sounds like Fox, the Princess thought. But he doesn't talk like him. Have Dr. Mario and Falco found him yet?

Suddenly someone rounded a corner and nearly crashed into Peach. It was a brown raccoon wearing an apron. "Oh! So sorry about that, miss!" he stammered.

Peach blinked several times, wondering where she had heard that voice before, and opened her mouth to ask him if they had met. But then Fox dashed around the corner, wielding a Hammer. There was a mad light in his eyes that she had never seen before, and she backed away, as did the strange coon.

"Now I have you!" Fox panted, chuckling with uncontrollable glee. He slowly moved closer to his prey, not noticing Peach standing next to him, stunned. He also failed to hear the sounds of footsteps; the rest of the sporting goods group and Dr. Mario stopped behind him.

"We've caught up!" whispered Roy in between pants. "Now what?!"

Dr. Mario pulled a syringe of green liquid out of one of his coat pockets. "If I a-inject him with a-this," he replied, "then he will a-settle down. But we a-need to get that a-Hammer out of his a-hands and put him on the a-ground. And he can't a-see the syringe, or else he'll a-panic and maybe turn a-that Hammer on us; I've a-had to get Bowser and-a Ganondorf to drag him into a-my office for his a-shots."

Marth let out a low whistle; their friend must fight hard for the Italian physician to ask the evil Smashers for help. "I don't blame him; that needle looks pretty sharp."

"So how do we do all that?" Captain Falcon asked.

A light bulb appeared over Link's head, and he grinned. "Easy: we fight Hammer with Hammer!" He pulled another Hammer out from behind him; he had picked it up just before leaving the sporting goods store, thinking it would come in handy. "Remember the Melees? If you grab a Hammer and hit someone else who also has a Hammer, chances are that he'll go flying."

"That's a-50 percent of the time," Dr. Mario warned with a worried frown. "The other a-half is that you are a-sent flying."

"Yeah, but you forgot one thing, Doc: I'll get him for sure if I attack from below. What I need you guys to do is to get him in an elevated spot so I can come out from under him. Got it?"

"Got it!" the rest whispered.

A hand tugged on Link's tunic, and he looked down to see Ness. "If you send him to the hospital like last time, can I have his blaster?" he eagerly asked. Several of the Smashers rolled their eyes.

Link put his hand forward. "Now let's do it!"

Everyone stacked hands and cheered. But the smiles faded from their faces when they saw Tom Nook on the run once again with Fox at his heels. He was getting awfully close…

"We'd better hurry before he mauls Nook," said Falco.

Dr. Mario pointed at a nearby assembly of vendor's carts (you know, the kinds you sometimes see in malls outside stores). "Those a-look like a-good places to catch a-him."

Roy volunteered, "Marth and I'll get Nook and lure Fox onto the carts! Wait for our signal, Link!" They dashed off on their self-appointed mission, and the others followed. But a familiar voice called out, and all but the three swordsmen stopped.

"Dr. Mario! What's wrong with Fox?"

"Princess Peach!" the group exclaimed in unison.

"He is a-reacting to his animal instinct, Your a-Highness," the doctor explained to her. "Foxes and a-raccoons are natural enemies. Don't a-worry; we have a plan."

Marth and Roy managed to grab Tom Nook, who was surprised by their sudden appearance, and leaped on top of one of the carts. Snarling angrily, Fox followed with his Hammer. The two swordsmen jumped to the next one, and they grinned as their pursuer ran in place; the gap was too far a jump for him. He paused to make a decision, and the pair saw their chance.

"Now, Link!"

Taking a deep breath and muttering "Here goes nothing", Link pressed the red button on his Hammer's handle, activating it and its theme jingle (the one that plays when someone uses a Hammer). Gripping it tightly as it automatically vibrates (thus causing him to move up and down as you see in Melees), he ran straight for the cart, and around it to Fox's position. When Fox's back was turned, he gathered himself and jumped. The leap was big enough to make contact, and their vulpine friend reeled from the blow. He fell off the cart onto the ground, dropping the Hammer in the process.

The other Smashers wasted no time in rushing over to him, and they planted his limbs firmly on the ground so he couldn't move. Then, after Capt. Falcon covered McCloud's eyes to prevent him from seeing, Dr. Mario injected the liquid in his syringe. Fox yelped at the prick and then went limp as the medicine went to work.

"He's asleep now," said the Italian with a relieved sigh. "He should be a-calm when he wakes up."

The others also sighed and wiped their foreheads, glad it was over.

Princess Peach, who had also run over when Fox fell from the cart, overheard the news and said, "Oh good." Then she turned to the raccoon. "Are you all right, Mr., um…"

"Tom Nook," the shopkeeper replied with a bow. "I'm all right, thanks to your friends. And you are…?"

"Princess Peach."

Nook's eyes bulged out of their sockets, and he broke into a sweat. "Oh! Princess! Um, yes, that's right! I should have remembered you by your voice! Err, I mean…"

"My voice? You mean we've met? Funny, I seem to recall hearing your voice somewhere…"

His honesty got the better of him, and he stuttered, "W-well, I c-called your phone a f-few hours ago…I-I think th-that's where you heard me."

The Smashers froze and took turns staring at him and one another in shock. Nook was the telemarketer that Peach had been arguing with on the bus! They looked at Peach to see her reaction. At first, she only stared at him silently. Then a smile crept onto her face. But they knew that that wasn't a friendly smile. It was the smile she gave Ness whenever he messed with her most valuable possessions and broke them.

Nook was in big trouble.

Link whispered into the coon's ear, "A word of advice, Nookster: run." But he only gulped and nodded; the usually kind Princess's stare had him rooted to his spot.

Finally Peach held out a hand to Link and said calmly, "Give me that."

Puzzled, he raised an eyebrow at her. "Give you what?"

Her face suddenly cracked into a maniacal grin. "The Hammer."

With a scream of terror, Tom took off at a sprint for the nearby elevators, with a furious, Hammer-wielding Princess in hot pursuit.

"Should we help them?" Falco inquired to the others as they watch the two leave.

Captain Falcon plopped down on a bench. "No way, I'm pooped," he whined. "Besides, Peach will probably turn on us if we help. We'll be flattened."

"Like pancakes!" quipped Ness.

Roy rubbed his stomach. "Speaking of food, I'm starving! Let's check out the Food Court!"

There was a groan behind them, and they turned to see Fox sitting up and rubbing his head. "What happened?" he mumbled.

"We stopped you from mauling Nook, Fox," his wingmate answered.

McCloud sat up straight and covered his face. "Oh yeah! Man, do I owe that guy an apology! I hate it when stuff like that happens! Where is he?"

They looked down on the middle floor and heard angry shouts and frightened screams. "Uhhh, he's busy right now with an angry customer," replied Link. "We'll talk to him when he gets back."

But his mind silently added, …if he even does…


Food Court, Top Floor

Meanwhile, Kirby was answering the call of his rumbling, bottomless stomach. But when he got to the Food Court, he tripped on one of the hundreds of banana peels littering the floor. Confused, he watched where he put his feet more carefully and looked around for his buddy Yoshi.

He found him in a different corner of the court than where he had left him, lying on a table next to an enormous pile of peels. But he isn't alone; Donkey Kong sat at the base of an even bigger pile, peeling off another banana while licking his lips. Another pile was next to theirs, but it was abandoned.

Yoshi brightened when he saw the pink Smasher. "Hey, Kirby! Where've you been?! I thought you were in the restroom!" he greeted and questioned at the same time.

"It's a long story, Yoshi," Kirby replied, hopping onto the table next to him. "First off, what happened here?"

The green dinosaur gestured to the banana-peel piles. "Oh, nothing special, just DK, Boshi, and me having a banana-eating contest."

"Whoa, whoa, wait! You had a contest without me?! And Boshi was here?!"

"Sorry about that. You just took a long time, and Boshi showed up and wanted a pizza-eating contest. After that, DK had us eat bananas. He won, of course."

The ape grinned at them, held up his banana, and offered, "Ook eek ack ook eek eek ack (But you guys did pretty good)."

"Where is Boshi now?" Kirby inquired.

Yoshi shrugged. "He went into the bathroom like you did before. He hasn't come out. By the way, what took you so long in there?"

The puffball shivered. "You're not gonna believe this, but there was some guy in a cloak in there. I asked him who he was, but he knocked me out! When I woke up, I found Meta Knight there. He told me the guy wanted him to keep me in the bathroom. I had to use the ventilation system to get out! And I tell ya, it was a tight squeeze!"

Yoshi's eyes widened to the size of saucer plates. "They're working together?! Do you have any idea who this guy is?!"

"Not a clue! I've never seen him before!"

"We should go in there and find out who he is!" the dino exclaimed, standing up.

Kirby frantically waved his stubby arms. "No way hosay! He'd get us both! He was really quick! We're no match for him, especially if we're full of food!"

"Then we should tell everybody else! Mario will know what to do!"

"What about Boshi?"

He stopped and thought about it. "I can't believe I'm saying it, but I hope he's okay. For all we know, that creepy guy could be hurting him right now!"

---

Actually, the exact opposite was taking place in the dangerous bathroom. With a big, cunning grin on his face, the blue Yoshi shook the gloved hand of the mysterious stalker.

"So, you're sayin' that if I help ya knock off this Italian dude, you'll help me get payback on Yoshi?" he asked slowly.

The cloaked head nodded. "Exactly," replied a voice, its features masked by a low tone. "I don't plan on hurting him; he just has something I need—something that was stolen from me." He looked down at his free hand, which tightened into a fist. "They mean a lot to me. And if he's hurt them, I'll make him pay…"

"You're really takin' this seriously, aren't ya?"

"Of course. I'm not leaving here until I get them back." Realizing how much he had said, he stopped and looked at his new accomplice. "I think we'll make a great team, Boshi."

"So do I, my man…so do I…"


Meanwhile, on the shoulder of a highway a ways from Smash-Mart…

Mr. Game & Watch's fun had come to an abrupt halt. He had underestimated the police, and they had surprised him with a spike strip. The tires on both the jeep and the trailer were blown out, and it was stranded on the side of the road. The police had surrounded him and ordered him out of the car, and he reluctantly did. Recognizing him as a Smasher, they contacted the Super Smash Brothers complex to report him. As they did so, they also discovered the trailer's contents; they questioned him about where he got it all, and he claimed that the items had been purchased. But he lacked the things that would prove it: the receipts. The two-dimensional Smasher moaned and slammed his head against the trailer several times.

He was in a lot of hot water, and the only person who could get him out of it was half an hour away in Smash-Mart…


Sears, Top Floor

Game & Watch wasn't the only one in big trouble. Inside the Sears store, Dark Samus had ambushed the Princesses, the evil Smashers, the Ice Climbers, and her good twin. They had taken cover in the appliance section yet again, but they were running out of hiding places. Bowser, in particular, was an easy target because of his size.

But as the evil Aran took aim at him, Samus appeared and fired a plasma cannon shot; her dark twin was sent sprawling, and her shot at the Koopa King went wide. The Ice Climbers cheered for their rescuer, but their happy cries turned into shocked gasps when Dark Samus suddenly tackled the good Samus to the ground. They wrestled briefly, and then, to the horror of the Smashers, the dark-suited Aran shot a plasma blast into her hunter's chest at point-blank range. Good Samus shuddered and lay still.

Cackling with delight, Dark Samus turned back on her prey. Daisy and the Ice Climbers were huddled in a corner, unable to escape. Zelda, who had transformed into her Sheik costume, stood over them protectively, armed with her throwing knives.

This only amused their enemy further. "Ha! Like those primitive things could pierce my armor! You so-called 'Smashers' are weaker than I thought! You four should make excellent hostages!"

But suddenly a giant Koopa claw knocked her into a weak shelf that collapsed over her on impact. Bowser took up a defensive position in front of the girls and the Ice Climbers, and he roared, "Nobody takes the princesses captive but us!"

"That's a comforting thought," Sheik muttered to her friend, with a roll of her eyes.

Dark Samus, realizing she was outnumbered, wisely chose retreat over battle. She backed away toward one of the paths through the giant Sears store, intending to disappear again. But she couldn't resist one final taunt. "At least I finally defeated my rival!"

"Guess again!" called a familiar voice.

Kablaamm!!!

The Smashers gasped and covered their eyes. An immense blast of energy had slammed into Dark Samus from the side! She was knocked clean off her feet through five shelves of appliances, all the way to a thick wall. She soon disappeared under a pile of microwaves, toasters, blenders, and other small kitchenware devices.

Popo was the first to open his eyes, and he spotted a figure striding toward them. "Samus!" he cried.

And Samus it was, but a big change had happened. Her armor was gone, have split apart into several pieces both from her enemy's blow and the powerful blast she had fired back. Instead, she wore a hard, blue outfit. In her firing hand she held a blaster which could convert into a lightsaber-like whip. With a nod to her shocked friends, she walked to the pile where her doppelganger was buried; only her helmet was showing. The good Aran held the beam of her weapon an inch above Dark's throat, her face serious and firm.

"Leave my friends alone, or I will reconsider returning you to Master Hand alive."

Dark Samus shook visibly, and ducked deeper into the pile of ruined appliances. Bowser came over and dug through them, but was mystified to find no one at the bottom. Samus frowned and shook her head.

"She must have used a cloaking device to sneak off." Noticing her comrades staring at her new form, she put the matter away and turned to them. "It's a recent upgrade called the Zero Suit. It's backup armor strong enough to protect me in combat." Then she bent over and began collecting the pieces of her normal armor. "But I need to get this one repaired. I doubt we've seen the last of Dark Samus."

---

Samus was closer to the truth than she could have suspected. A few aisles down from them, in the tools section, Dark Samus shook hands with Wario, who had witnessed the whole incident.

"We both hate 'em, so let's work together," he said with a conniving grin, rubbing his hands together.

"Agreed," she whispered. "I suggest we leave them and kidnap one of their other friends. I saw others while running from my do-gooder twin."

"Good idea! I think I know where to start…"


Entrance to Smash-Mart, Top Floor

"So, what Nintendo world are you from?" Young Link inquired as he, the Mario Brothers, and the two new Smashers walk into the mall. He had already asked Pit; his current question was directed at the quiet human in the sneaking suit.

Snake halted and searched the top floor for signs of other Smashers, but none were visible from there. Without looking at the others, he responded, "…I'm not from this universe."

"Huh?!"

"A-what do you mean?!" Mario sputtered.

The agent turned around and looked at them seriously. "There are other universes besides this one, but most of them are smaller than yours. I'm from one of them. I was summoned here by your boss, Master Hand. He needs outside help with a crisis that has occurred here."

"A crisis?!" Pit exclaimed. "You never mentioned that to me before!"

"It's supposed to be classified, but I guess there's no harm in letting you in on it, since you're involved in it. Take a seat; it's time I brief you."

Immediately the four Nintendo characters sat down on a bench, their eyes on him. After a moment of silence and looking to see if they were alone, Snake began.

"There has been a breaking of rules concerning the interactions of universes. For a long time, the Nintendo universe did not mingle with other universes like it; but that has changed. A citizen of one of your worlds has traveled into another universe—no one is sure whether it was on accident or on purpose—and stolen a number of unknown items from one of the worlds. An inhabitant of that world has, in turn, traveled here to take them back. Master Hand believes he's stalking you even now, intent on getting the stolen items back. And it is my understanding that he refuses to return to his world without getting what he wants."

"Do you a-have any idea who a-did it?" Luigi stammered.

He put his back to them, contemplating the question. "Not really. We only know who he's following around." He turned around and looked directly at Mario. "That would be you, Mario."

The red plumber's eyebrows shot up. "A-me?! "But a-why?! I have a-traveled to other a-places, but I a-certainly didn't a-steal anything!"

"I know that, and so does Master Hand. We think you might have been mistaken for someone else. For now, let's keep our eyes open and be ready if the visitor from the other world shows up to fight."

Mario nodded and stood up. "We a-should tell the others about a-this!"

"Good idea, bro!" Luigi said, following suit.

The five ran out of the lobby onto the walkways of Smash-Mart, hoping to run into the other Smashers before the stalker from another universe could strike.

---

…But it wasn't the stalker himself that would strike first. The true troublemakers were Dark Samus and Wario. They had just left Sears when they spotted Princess Peach chasing a brown raccoon with a Hammer up and down the rows of store. They followed them and snickered in the darkness together. They had found a way to get their revenge on the Smashers in Sears…