Two days passed in the Land of Sarasa, yet Lucina and Ike failed to return to the village. Anticipating this outcome, King Marth had arranged for his soldiers to be ready to march. By dawn, most of Marth's marching army had been outfitted in armor, both heavy and light, been given weapons and some horses. The King, anxious to begin marching, quickly walked pass a group of his soldiers waiting by two horses. In the group were Greninja, Ness, Shulk, Robin, Lucario and Corrin. Like most of the smaller, more agile soldiers, Ness wore extremely light armor and wielded a small sword. Unlike Ness, the other three wore metal chainmail. Noticing King Marth passing them, they bowed out of respect.
The King nodded at them and kept walking in the direction of Roy, who petted an armored black horse on the snout calmly. As Marth got closer to him, Roy stopped petting the horse and turned to face his King. "Your Majesty," Roy said with a bow of his head.
"Had we left two days ago, we would already be in a battle," Marth said, looking at the horse as Roy rose his head, "Robin said that the scouts found a Sarasa battalion just south of here. They were getting ready to invade."
"Well, let's go engage them now," Roy suggested as he mounted his horse. He took a breath of the fresh, slightly chilly morning air and cracked his knuckles, "I've been eager for a good fight since they attacked us."
"So why did you want to wait?" the King asked as he approached the armored horse next to Roy's.
Roy chuckled as his King climbed onto the horse, "I'd rather go into a war with Lucina and Ike than go into one without them, so sorry for having hope that they aren't dead."
Finding his comments amusing, Marth returned the chuckle, "I don't think they're dead; I simply recognize the very real possibility that they got captured and executed."
In response, Roy smiled and laughed silently. He shook his head and looked down for a few seconds, snickering quietly now. After he was done, Roy shrugged his shoulders and straightened back up. King Marth kept smiling slightly as he moved to be in front of his army, who were not organized in a marching formation. As they chatted among each other, pondering as to why they had not started moving yet, Robin approached the King and said, "We're waiting for you, Your Majesty."
After leaving Castle Town, Kirby hopped on his Warp Star and flew towards the border of the Gerudo Valley and the Smash Territory. A few minutes of flying later through the dark night sky, Kirby landed at the base of Icicle Mountain, an area which was not fortified by the Gerudo-Koopa forces. When he landed on the cliff of a ravine somewhere on the large mountain, Meta Knight appeared from the darkness of a few trees.
"Do you mind telling me what has been happening in Dreamland?" Meta Knight asked as he wrapped his dark cap around his small, spherical body.
Kirby sighed and looked into the ravine, which must have been close to a hundred feet deep and thrice that in length, "You know that everything I do and orchestrate is in the name of the Rightful King of the Realm. You just have to trust me, Meta Knight."
"I don't know if I can," Meta Knight responded, stepping closer to the Little Lord, "You know, King Ganon never authorized the bombing of Butter Building… If he did, he never consulted the Small—"
"Like I said, I have everything under control," Kirby explained, interrupting him, "And, I suggest that you get out of The Capital soon… Like, very soon…"
"Get out of the…? Are you mad? I have to be in The Capital," Meta Knight responded, "I'm King Marth's most trusted spy; if I'm not in Smashville—"
"Then you'll be safe," Kirby said, as if implying something that was beyond Meta Knight's understanding, "Listen to me: now that King Dedede has declared High King Mario as the true Protector of the Realm, Dreamland is an enemy of Ganon's Crown. The longer that you're in The Capital, the more at-risk you are."
Meta Knight let out a heavy sigh of confusion and disappointment, "You've gone and made Dedede a King again, huh?"
"That's not important. What's important is your well-being; stay away from The Capital as much as you can."
Kirby turned back to his Warp Star and began mounting it. However, Meta Knight approached him with confusion and called, "Kirby—!"
Kirby interrupted Meta Knight by presenting a folded piece of paper to him. When Meta Knight took it, Kirby put his green cap on firmly and said, "Like I said, everything I do is in the name of the Rightful King of the Realm."
Meta Knight quickly unfolded the paper and saw what was on it. On the old, slightly yellow-colored paper was a drawing of a sword with a hilt that curved away from the grip. Upon first glance, it looked like a drawing of a regular sword with no importance. "What the hell is this supposed to be? It's just a drawing of a sword! And a horrendously one at that…" Meta Knight commented.
Kirby sighed in disappointment and did not look at Meta Knight. To further show his disappointment, the Little Lord sighed again, "This whole thing was supposed to be a neat moment where I give something to you that explains why I'm doing the things I'm doing; you see, the sword was supposed to tell you that I—oh, forget it."
Kirby, frustrated, flew away from Meta Knight and up into the night sky. As Meta Knight watched the tail of Kirby's path trace the sky and stars that hung over him, he realized that the drawing was the emblem that Marth always used on the red sealing wax of his letters. Now, Meta Knight felt like a thick fool for not understanding what Kirby meant.
"Kirby!" he called out, hoping that Kirby heard him, "I'm sorry!"
High King Mario and Zelda stood on top of the Gerudo-Hylian Border that they had before the Accords. Now that their fight was in the desert-esc landscape of the Valley, the Gerudo-Koopa forces had an advantage; they knew the land and weather far better than anybody on the High King's side. As they High King stared at the lands ahead of them, Princess Zelda walked towards their camp. After taking the border, they were sent re-enforcements; their force of forty-five thousand strong after taking the border grew back to a steady fifty-five thousand. And, when King Dedede was to arrive with the Dreamlanders, their forces would soar to sixty-five or seventy thousand. The High King's Small Council voted to begin the Gerudo Valley Offensive a fortnight after Dreamland arrived.
Princess Zelda walked slowly passed some of her soldiers, who sparred each other. They stopped upon her presence and bowed, like most men do in the face of royalty. As she kept walking, she heard somebody run up behind her. Quickly, she turned around and saw a Toadette wearing all white with a red cross on her chest.
"Your Majesty, the Silent Knight has woken up," she gasped for air.
The Princess, who suddenly had a massive smile on her face, said, "Tell the High King and his council!"
Eager, Zelda ran to the medical tent. When Zelda entered the tent obnoxiously and excitedly, Link turned around to investigate the fuss. His hair was longer, but not very much longer, and there was a great scar across his face from the blow that nearly took his life. It stretched from his eyebrow, through his nose, and onto his opposite cheek. The cut was very deep, so the scar still looked very red as a result. As soon as Link turned around, he was met by a hug from Zelda. During their hug, High King Mario and the rest of his council entered the tent.
"Oh my… He's actually alive," Luigi muttered, awestruck.
Bewildered, the High King approached Link and asked, "What happened to you? Who bested you on the field of battle?"
The Silent Knight said nothing, only looking down in shame. "Come on, Link. You have to tell us," Luigi encouraged.
Before anybody else could say anything, the Toadette from before rushed into the tent. In her hand was a cup of clear liquid and a few pills. She gave them to Link as Luigi continued, "Link, I know that you have this silent thing about you, but you have to tell us what happened to you."
"Even if he wanted to talk now, he can't," the Toadette explained as Link took the pills and medicine, "There's a laceration inside his throat that destroyed his voice box. Beyond a few grunts, he can't say much of anything anymore."
"How did that happen?" High King Mario asked, horrified.
"He must've fell down hard onto something after he was defeated," Toadette explained with a sigh, "That's the only thing that I can think of."
"No matter what happened, at least we have you back," Zelda said, now clinging onto Link's arm.
Luigi turned to the Toadette and asked, "When will he be ready to fight again?"
The Toadette answered, somewhat unsure, "Certainly not anytime soon, however."
"Regardless, this still calls for a celebration," Zelda said joyously, "For the first time since our failed assault, Link is awake and alive! We have so much to tell you, my Silent Knight."
Link nodded and smiled while looking at the Princess. Quickly and lightly, Sonic commented, "First, we should get him some new clothes; I think the last time those ones were clean, we were still in Kakariko Village."
As Luigi exited the tent and looked over at Hyrule Field, he saw thousands upon thousands of Waddle Dees and Doos marching towards the border. At the front of the army were three Waddle Dees struggling to hold up a red circular banner with a yellow star in the center. Also at the front was King Dedede on an armored stallion who, like the Waddle Dees behind him, was struggling. Luigi called for the High King and, when the High King came out of the tent, he looked on at Dreamlanders.
"That's easily twenty thousand, maybe more," Luigi said, shocked by the sheer numbers of Dreamland's army, "I thought that he only could spare a force of ten, fifteen at a push."
"Well, now our army doubles Lord Bowser's," the High King commented before leaving.
The spot next to Luigi was quickly replaced by Princess Peach, who must have followed closely behind High King Mario. When she stood next to him, she said, "With what we know now, I have a bad feeling about this."
"I don't either," Luigi agreed, still looking on, "But, we have twenty thousand more soldiers because two enemies have a common interest."
"It's not the Mushroom Kingdom that Dedede hates, though; it's Hyrule," Peach said, watching the Dreamland forces enter the gates of the border, "Whenever Dedede and Zelda disagree about anything, it turns into a fiery argument…"
"It doesn't help that our King always takes Zelda's side, even if she is in the wrong; no wonder all of our enemies see him as a puppet of her creation…"
In Smashville, Meta Knight walked into the Small Council chamber. Inside the room, Captain Falcon, Wolf and Mewtwo. Although a Koopa retrieved Meta Knight for a Council Meeting, the King was not in the room. Meta Knight hid his confusion as he sat down in his chair across from Captain Falcon, who looked just as confused.
"Where's the King?" Meta Knight asked the room.
After a few seconds of silence, everybody shrugged and muttered, "I don't know…"
"In that case, what's the point of this meeting?" he asked the room again.
Once more, silence followed his question. Before Meta Knight could ask another question, the King quickly entered the room with his fists clinched. Something was unusual with him on this day; he walked angrily, brooding much more than usual. In addition, he wore the Crown of Smash on his head. During regular council meetings, King Ganon often dressed down and skipped the crown. Today, however, he had the crown on and nice, clean black robes as well. Behind the King were a squad of five Koopas and Gerudo guards. They walked into the council's chamber and stood perfectly still by the door.
When King Ganon reached the head of the table, he did not sit in his chair. Instead, he placed a piece of parchment on the table. Meta Knight quickly noticed that the parchment that his King placed on the table was the one Kirby gave him earlier. Luckily for Meta Knight, his face was hidden from the room behind a mask.
King Ganon began, hiding the anger in his voice poorly, "This drawing was found in the castle today. Do you all recognize what this symbol is?"
"It's a sword, Your Grace—" Captain Falcon answered plainly, looking down at the parchment.
The King gave Captain Falcon a look of disgust. Then, when the King spoke, his anger was not hidden at all, "A sword! It's just a sword, right?! It's not the same symbol that Marth used during the days of the Smash Brothers, right?! Do you remember what happened to him? Do you know where he is now?"
"He's in Sarasa now, across the Orange Ocean…" Meta Knight answered emotionless, still not making eye-contact with the King, "Rumour is that he's planning to invade the Realm…"
"Yes, My Lord, everybody in this room knows that," the King Ganon, smiling ironically. His smile soon shifted as he looked down the table, at each individual member shortly, "Some people in this room know more than others."
Mewtwo looked up at the King, "What are you saying, Your Grace?"
"Do I have to spell it out for you? There's a traitor in this room," the King snarled, "And I know who it is."
The King's gaze went towards Captain Falcon. When everybody else followed his eyes, Captain Falcon shouted, "Me!? Are you serious!?"
"Well, you're the only one in here who used to be considered one of the good guys," Wolf muttered in agreement with his King.
"What about Meta Knight?!" Captain Falcon yelled as his pointed towards the masked puffball, "Have you ever considered him? All he does is stay up in his tower, brooding about Gods know what!"
"Meta Knight would never do anything to betray the crown," King Ganon brushed off rather quickly, "Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, Captain."
"I see it clearly now," Captain Falcon shook his head, "I see why they refer to your reign as the Tyranny of King Ganon; you only see the world the way you want to. You don't care for truth nor justice. You decide what's right and wrong, and you shape the world to cater to your own agenda. God forbid somebody get in your way or try to talk sense into you. You'll just butcher them like me."
The room became tense as King Ganon clenched his fist harder than he had before. He gritted his teeth, approached Captain Falcon slowly and asked, "Are you done, Captain Falcon?"
"I demand a trial by combat!" Captain Falcon shouted as the Council watched the events unfold.
"Alright," the King nodded in agreement, reaching to his belt and gripped a dagger, "You'll get your trial by combat… Right now."
Quickly, Meta Knight saw the King take the dagger from his belt and jab it into Captain Falcon's stomach. And again. And again. And again…
When it was finally over, Captain Falcon hit the ground hard as the guards by the door walked over. As they removed him from the Small Council Chamber, King Ganon grabbed a cloth off a nearby shelf and wiped his black dagger. Everybody in the chamber was shocked and remained silent. Slowing his breathing down in attempt to relax, the King sat at the head of the table and stabbed his dagger, now clean, into the parchment that lay on the table. The force and sound of the knife into the table echoed throughout the deafening silence in the room.
"The dead man brought up a good point," King Ganon said as he looked at Meta Knight, "Because of your history, and because I have no idea how far Marth's influence has infiltrated my people, I'll be keeping my eye on you. You're lucky that I already spilled somebody's blood today, Meta Knight. If I hadn't killed him, I would've killed you."
"You have no proof on either of us," Meta Knight responded, looking down at the dagger, "For all we know, you just killed Captain Falcon in cold blood.
"I'm the King of the Realm of Smash, idiot. I can do whatever I want, to whom I want, when I want."