Kyoko: This took AGES to write but now I present to you... Chapter 13! It's the longest chapter yet! This is a very sad chapter I'm afraid...
Mario: Why's that?
Kyoko: I'm not tellin'!
Zelda: Make sure I don't die, OK?
Kyoko: I'm not saying who's going to die, OK? You'll just have to read it! Anyway, who's going to do the disclaimer?
Bowser: Me! JapanFan Kyoko does not own any of the SSB characters but she does own Yoshiki Inukai, Takeshi Deguchi, Koji Konda, Ai Hoshino and Fumiko Kawai.
Koji was reluctant to follow his ex-boss and leave Takeshi. Glancing back at his dead friend with a saddened expression, he felt tears well in his eyes. He tried to force them back, aware of Yoshiki's eyes glaring at him from behind, yet he couldn't contain his sorrow any more.
"Koji… Koji, it's OK… Please don't…"
Ai held him tightly as Koji's knees gave way. Yoshiki stared at him blankly.
"Don't be so pathetic, Koji," he spat acidly. "This is just the beginning. You'd better get used to more than one dead body around here…"
"No one else is going to die except you," Roy interrupted, unsheathing his sword. Yoshiki merely laughed at the challenger and suddenly unsheathed his own katana from no where.
"You seem confident, Roy. Maybe whilst the others fight we'll have our own little duel…"
Yoshiki briskly turned away and walked on. Roy stood still and waited until everyone had gone past him before joining Marth.
"If he thinks he can act all cool around us then he's got another thing coming…" he growled.
Marth didn't reply. He looked ahead, watching the other Smashers disappear around the corner. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him. Pulling his friend back, he warily scanned the area.
"Roy! While they go with Yoshiki we could look for the Smashers!"
His friend anxiously bit his lip.
"I dunno, Marth… That sounds too risky…" he replied. "I mean, Koji and Fox will be worried and stuff and-"
"Roy!"
"Yeah?"
"Come on!"
Without waiting for him to reply, Roy was dragged by his cape in the opposite direction from where everyone else had gone.
They noticed as they ran –or in Roy's case, stumbled- through the wide corridors that the lights had seemingly lost their glow the further they went. It no longer seemed as though the hallways belonged to a luxurious mansion on a distant planet; instead it had the disturbing appearance of an abandoned basement in a haunted house. Indeed, the mansion had been transformed from an innocent work place into an inescapable death-trap. Yet Marth and Roy carried on…
Meanwhile, although they had only been walking for a minute, Koji, the Smashers and Yoshiki proceeded into a dimly lit hallway devoid of the luxury it had boasted about in the conservatory. Just ahead was another corner lit by a soft light in a stone corbel. As the group turned, the lights suddenly became a lot brighter, revealing a large purple door glittering before them.
Yoshiki said nothing as he moved a little more quickly and shuffled to the right of it, concentrating on the password-operated panel which would lead them inside.
Metaknight and Pit stood together in perturbed silence, glancing around at the lights flickering in their eyes. The horrifying experience had amazingly bonded everyone together rather than discouraging them. Link and Zelda had linked arms just like Koji and Ai. The former workers of Yoshiki held each other tightly in fear of losing one another and, despite Yoshiki's looks of disgust, even passionately kissed, fearing it may be their last. Snake was still the same on the outside, but on the inside he had formed a stronger determination to help his team and succeed. Ness remained inconspicuous in the group, and as for Fox and Falco, a stronger friendship was apparent and their willpower had grown even more as was the case during each of their adventures together.
"Get in," said Yoshiki, standing aside as the doors slid open.
The Smashers, Koji and Ai warily stepped into the room, Yoshiki walking behind them and watching their every move.
The room was brightly lit and took some getting used to. The walls… You couldn't define any. It was just a large expanse of gold nothingness with no horizon to define it. Below them there was neither shadow nor reflection; above them was no ceiling.
"W-what is this place?" Samus gasped.
Irritatingly, there was no reply. Yoshiki walked towards what looked like the middle of the room and watched them wait impatiently for an answer.
Turning away he finally replied, "This is where Master Hand is."
"…Master Hand is here? But where is he?" exclaimed Pit, fluttering his wings restlessly.
"In front of you of course…"
They all whipped their heads around at once; nothing. No giant white gloved appeared in front of them.
"We've all had enough of your games, Yoshiki," growled Fox. "Where is he?"
The youth laughed. "I just said, Fox: He's right in front of you…"
The fox looked around a second time. Nothing. His anger rendered him speechless.
"…Give up?" Yoshiki asked finally, folding his arms and cocking his head to one side.
"No way!" exclaimed Falco defiantly. "You have no chance against us!"
A few eyebrows were raised at this comment.
"…Is that so?" Yoshiki replied coolly.
"Yeah! We'll show you why we're called Smashers!" Metaknight announced daringly.
"Fine, fine... You've come this far, it would be a shame if it was for nothing." said Yoshiki.
Just then, there was a humming noise behind them. The automatic doors slid open and a familiar teenage girl with long pink hair burst through.
"Ah! Sorry I'm late! Did I miss anything?"
"No, Fumiko. It hasn't even begun."
Fumiko dusted herself down and quickly took on a formal stance before Yoshiki. She then realised that the Smashers were also there.
"I see you've been acquainted with my boss!" she smiled.
"So has been the case for nearly a month…" Fox sighed almost inaudibly.
"So you're the lucky ones who'll be made into better Smashers!"
"EH?! WHAT D'YA MEAN?! YOU KNEW ALL ALONG?!"
"Sheesh Falco, do you have to shout like that?!" yelled Yoshiki, mimicking Falco's outburst. "Of course my dear Fumiko knew about this. But you're not gonna be changed by me. No way! I'll be leaving that to Master Hand."
Hearing her being spoken of in such admiration flattered Fumiko greatly and she blushed shyly at her boss. She had never doubted his enticing charm ever since she joined him. It was the same with all the other girls who worked there, except she knew he favoured her above the rest; after all, she was responsible for organising TV broadcast times and which channels would broadcast them which was a very important job.
"Right, Koji, Ai, come with me."
Yoshiki walked away from them. Fumiko pouted when she realised her name was absent in the sentence. Her boss turned round and looked back at her.
"Oh, Fumiko! How could I forget you? I think you'll have to come with me too…"
Fumiko squealed in delight and rushed over to join him. Koji and Ai watched, perplexed.
"Don't worry too much. I just want these Smashers to prove to me that they can defeat Master Hand, that's all. If that's true, they won't need any help."
"WHAT?! DEFEAT MASTER HAND?!"
Yoshiki ignored Falco's shouting and proceeded in walking away from. Koji and Ai obediently followed, keeping in mind that the last person to defy him was now dead. Yoshiki pulled a remote out of his belt and pressed a button, revealing a white door which before had been magically hidden.
"You first," said Yoshiki, nodding at Koji and Ai.
Fumiko paid no attention to her fellow workmates as they nervously entered the room. Inconsiderately, all her concentration was focused on Yoshiki's attractive face.
With that, Yoshiki waited until Fumiko had also gone through the door then followed them, sneering evilly as the door faded back into the gold background.
There was a strange stillness about the Smashers after he left. It felt too quiet. They could feel a presence of something, but it didn't feel like Master Hand. No, something bigger than Master Hand was with them.
"OK… What now?" whispered Snake.
"…We wait." said Fox, smiling sarcastically. Underneath his seemingly cool composure he was infuriated beyond imagination. They couldn't escape. They were being held hostage. Their friends were being killed one by one… and he couldn't stop it from happening. If he had only seized the opportunity to kill him when he was cornered… but even then he wouldn't be able to access every room without Yoshiki's incredible knowledge of passwords.
"Um… Fox?"
Pit flew above the Smashers and scanned the floor below. The presence of that something was growing stronger.
"I think we won't have to wait for long… Look down…"
Fox and the other Smashers looked down at the floor. It had strangely changed from gold to a grey and black colour, almost like a marble effect. Suddenly, it then started to shake violently.
"AAAH! What's going on?!" screamed Zelda, falling over.
Everyone was asking the same question. As the floor shook, they felt as though they were rising upwards very quickly.
Suddenly…
BOOM
The Smashers were thrown off of the floor and plummeted through the golden void it left behind.
In a frantic effort to think of a way to survive, the Smashers fearfully searched for something which could save them. At first everyone looked at Snake seeing that he was an expert in dealing with this sort of situation, but were put off by his surprised expression.
High in the air, a creature was approaching. A gargantuan grey and black mechanical monster dived through the abyss at terrifying speed, clawing at the helpless Smashers as they waited for the point at which they would slam into the ground with brutal force.
But it never came.
They were somehow suspended in an endless fall.
The creature was now closer than ever. The mechanical being was now so close that even the tiniest details could be seen, including the Japanese kanji for Inukai which were emblazoned on its side. This was the superior Master Hand.
And so this is the final battle…thought Fox as he stared open-mouthed at the frightening beast.
…And they expect me to lead them… I don't know if I can…
…It's my fault… I'm used to predictable enemies like Andross, not some murderous freak who plans to make his own Smashers…
…In a few seconds, it'll all be over. We will be defeated; Koji and Ai will undoubtedly be killed for their defiance against him and the other Smashers will meet the same fate as the five who are now considered superior Smashers…
…I've failed them…
…Smash will be over before it's even begun…
…I'm sorry…
…Marth, Roy… I realised that you were gone… It's up to you two now…
…Only you can save us now…
"Enjoying the fight?"
Koji and Ai were sickened at the sight before them. A giant flat-screen TV showed the Smashers falling through the void with this terrifying beast diving towards them.
Fumiko had very little interest in what was going on as she absent-mindedly stirred her cup of tea with a spoon whilst sitting on an armchair.
Yoshiki watched with interest, a smile creeping on his face. "I'm glad you're still part of my team, Koji. Still, I can't understand why you even liked that Takeshi in the first place. Sure, he was an interesting person who I could depend on, but after a while he just got in the way of everything. He became more like a leader every day. He was a filming director, not boss of SMASH! News."
Koji glared at him. "Takeshi was my friend, Yoshiki…" he growled dangerously. "He was a great person with so much potential, a great life ahead of him and… you killed him… He would have made a better boss than you…"
"Koji, please don't…"
Ai still had a firm grip on Koji's arm. A wrong move now could result in another death, and she was still traumatised by Takeshi's.
"Just do what he says. I don't want you to die too…"
"Well isn't this romantic!" sneered Yoshiki. "Ai, you're such a quiet girl and very intelligent … I knew you would still stay with SMASH! News."
At this point, Fumiko abruptly looked up from her tea and frowned slightly. It was only when she received a sly wink from Yoshiki that she smiled sweetly and felt at ease.
Ai turned away and shook her head. Koji slowly pulled out his gun.
"I know Fox didn't want to anyone to do this yet, but now I've got you exactly where I want you." he said, leering.
"Aw… I never knew Koji had the guts to take on the boss, Yoshiki! This is gonna be fun…"
Yoshiki pulled his gun out of his belt and aimed at Koji.
"Don't do it, Koji!" Ai pleaded.
"You've picked a wise girl, Koji. Listen to her, there's still time to join me…"
"No. I know you want what's best for me, Ai, but today I'm going to do what's right."
His finger trembled on the trigger. Yoshiki stood completely calm, watching his victim-to-be shake in fear.
Summoning all the courage he could, Koji finally managed to look his foe in the eye and aim his gun at his chest.
"Heh heh… that took you a while didn't it?"
"Koji!"
Ai reached out to grab the gun but Koji pushed her away.
"…Well? Aren't you going to kill me? Or are you afraid?" Yoshiki taunted, tapping his trigger.
Koji said nothing. Why was he hesitating? Now was his chance. But he wasn't taking that chance. Something was stopping him.
"Surely you're not scared… Maybe you don't know how to use a gun? OK, first you aim, preferably at the head or chest. Aiming at the chest usually gives a longer, more painful death so I think I'll go with that one. Next, you get your finger ready on the trigger and show no mercy. Now I think you know what comes next…"
Koji's fingers stiffened. All confidence disappeared from him. Yoshiki tapped his trigger impatiently.
"…and then you fire…"
"Look, Marth! It's that way!"
"No, I don't think so... What did that sign say again? Floor 5, door 26? I think we turn left then go straight ahead and we'll see it,"
"Er… I don't know… We should've stayed with everyone else! We'll get lost up here!"
"Hey Roy! Listen!"
"What?"
"I can hear voices…"
The two swordsmen stopped in the dark hallways and listened. There were many voices echoing around them. They all sounded very familiar.
"Isn't that… Captain Falcon's voice?" asked Roy.
"Er… Yeah! It is! I told you, Roy!" said Marth, dragging his friend in the direction which the voices came from.
"Er…Which way was it again?"
Marth stopped abruptly causing Roy to trip over his feet.
"I think it was left then straight ahead…" Roy sighed, standing up.
"Oh yeah!"
Marth and Roy ran through the corridors, taking note of the door numbers. As they turned the corner on the left, door 26 was right in front of them.
"Just as I thought!" said Marth. "But now we have another problem: We don't know the password."
"What password?"
Marth pointed to a round silver object at the side of the door.
"What could his password be?" Roy wondered aloud. "What about… power? Or fame? They're things that Yoshiki would think of all the time! Try them!"
Marth typed in 'power' first; it didn't work. The second idea also proved unsuccessful. Just then, he looked at the door and spotted something.
"A keyhole! We can use something to unlock it!"
"…A key?"
"No, Roy! Have you got a hairclip?"
"WHAT?!"
"Never mind…"
Marth and Roy stared at the keyhole in thought. Roy bit his lip and exchanged glances from the keyhole to Marth.
"Hey Marth!" he whispered.
"What?"
"Maybe if we just charge up our swords the door will break!"
A few seconds after saying that, Marth and Roy held their swords high in the air and built up their strength. In two ferocious bangs of red and blue, the door cracked and shattered into two pieces.
"Ha! Serves him right for breaking down Master Hand's door!" said Roy, rubbing his hands.
The room ahead of them was even darker than the corridors which they had been running through. There was no light at all. The walls were uneven and cold, almost as if some inexperienced builder had been hired and made a complete mess of it. Plus, it was absolutely freezing. Yoshiki had enough money to install central heating in every room and build everything to perfection, so why was this room not as magnificent as every other room they had seen?
"MARTH! ROY!"
A gigantic rose out of the darkness and charged straight towards them. Marth and Roy sidled out the way and watched as a yellow monster with a spiked green shell revealed itself in the dim light of the corridor.
"Oh, guys! I'm so glad you're here!"
"Bowser!" exclaimed the swordsmen.
After that, several more familiar shapes rose from the ground and moved into the light.
"What's going on? First we're in the Smash Mansion then were in this spaceship and THEN we're in this place!" gasped Diddy, rushing out of the cold room.
Mewtwo floated out of the room with Pikachu and Pichu. Captain Falcon began exercising in hope of getting warm again.
"Have you seen Ness?" asked Ganondorf. "He was taken away by Yoshiki and we haven't seen him since!"
"Don't worry, Ness is fine," said Marth reassuringly. "But as for some of the others, they weren't so lucky I'm afraid…"
"What happened to Peach?" demanded Mario, bursting through the group.
Roy and Marth looked at each other uneasily. That was enough to convince the plumber that his suspicions were correct.
"Don't tell me…" he breathed. Luigi put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's OK, Bro, she'll be-"
"BUT HOW CAN IT BE TRUE? Peach… I begin to wonder a few seconds before she… do you think she expected me to save her as always? Yet I… I could do nothing…"
Mario fell to the ground crying as his brother tried to comfort him.
"Mario! We might be able to save her!" said Roy.
Instantly Mario jumped to his feet and grinned.
"You really think so?" he replied excitedly.
"Roy…What are you doing?" hissed Marth.
"I'm just reassuring him! If you feel strong you'll succeed!" Roy whispered back, winking.
"And I expect that the others who were taken are also dead?" Mewtwo enquired.
"Er, yes…" Marth replied sadly. "But we can still get them back! Look, Koji and Fox's team are in trouble. The film director Takeshi was killed an hour before we came and now everyone is depending on us to help them. Yoshiki also mentioned that Master Hand was also here."
"No way!" shouted Donkey Kong. "Anyway, he betrayed us!"
"Actually, he didn't," smiled Roy. "That was all Yoshiki's fault. Probably brainwashing… Anyway! We can't waste any more time! Let's go!"
Dazzled by the sudden change in light along the hallways, the Smashers followed Marth and Roy back towards an elevator which they had used a few minutes before.
As they descended back down to the first floor, they began to wonder if everyone was OK. There were so many questions that needed to be answered but there was little time to answer them…
Calling out his name brought no memory of who had worked with for so long. Master Hand, it seemed, had been totally brainwashed.
Pit flew around the huge metal hand and tried to knock some sense into him but the hand's violent actions ceased to stop.
"It's useless!" yelled Fox. "Just attack! If we have any chance of survival we must attack!"
As the hand came closer, Fox used his Firefox move to launch himself onto the top of the hand. He took out his blaster and mercilessly fired at the exposed wiring between the fingers.
One by one the other Smashers followed their leader and soared upwards to grapple onto the hand and attack it.
Zelda and Link combined their attacks of magic and the Master sword to severely damage one of the fingers, but even then a sudden electric current shocked everyone who touching the hand.
Armed with their knowledge of electronics, Fox and Falco worked together to jam open the metal appendages to cut off the electrical supply, but nothing much was happening.
Then, unexpectedly, the hand made itself into a fist. Link lost his grip and became suspended in the air. There was little time to recover, so he pulled out his hookshot and grappled onto the wire.
It was the perfect opportunity for the hand. With one powerful strike, Master Hand crashed into Link. The force was so brutal sent the Hylian hero hurtling past the Smashers and deeper into the void.
Everyone looked down; Link had vanished.
"Come on!" yelled Fox. "We can't stop now!"
Zelda was peering over the hand, frozen. Samus helped her to her feet and pulled her away from the edge.
"This isn't working, Fox!" Falco shouted over the air rushing past them. "We need something to cut these wires and nothing, not even Link's sword was able to cut them!"
Fox didn't reply. He watched his team fighting the beast which was once their friend. He was right; nothing was working. In his anger, he shouted in frustration and recklessly fired at the exposed wires.
"Fox, you moron! That's not working!"
"I KNOW THAT!" Fox replied sardonically. "It's up to Marth and Roy now! Unless we find a weakness we'll all be killed! We have to stop Yoshiki! We've lost Peach, the Ice-Climbers, Ike, Kirby and now it looks like we've lost Link… We can't give up now!"
Fox stopped firing. Samus was firing blue balls of energy at the fingers and Snake was carefully cutting certain wires inside them. Ness knew that electric against electric wouldn't work, so PK Thunder was definitely not an attack he could use. PK Flash and PK fire were also useless, so he cautiously looked around him for some clue to help his friends.
"I just hope they come soon, Falco," Fox sighed. "As for Koji and Ai… I hope they're safe, too…"
Ai screamed. Fumiko dropped her cup. Yoshiki smiled with satisfaction.
"KOJI!"
"Ai, leave him. With you're intelligence, you can help me make the superior Smashers. You'll get more pay…"
"Don't you get it?!" Ai screamed, her hands shaking. "I DON'T WANT MORE PAY!!"
She knelt beside Koji. He was critically injured with a bullet wound to his chest, barely breathing.
"Koji… Koji? D-don't move… I-It's OK…"
"Ai...Leave him…"
Ai brushed her hair out of her eyes, tears streaming down her face.
"Yoshiki… I don't want to join you! Y-you're just sickening… You're disgusting… W-why would I want more pay f-from you?"
Yoshiki watched Koji with a blank expression lay almost motionless. If there was no help in the next hour, it was certain that Koji would die. Ai looked up at the murderer.
"Y-Yoshiki, you don't have to be like this. Please… at least try and change… please save Koji…"
It was a pitiful attempt to change the man, but the only one she could think of. For a moment, consideration flashed across Yoshiki's face, but was dripping with sarcasm.
"I might be able to help…" he said.
"… It doesn't matter. I don't trust you anyway. I was hoping for just a little bit of emotion that's all." Ai responded furiously.
Yoshiki lifted his gun and pointed it at Koji once more.
"No, really! I'm surprised you chose this pathetic waste of space for a boyfriend. I could just end his suffering right now if you like."
Ai swore irately, guarding Koji in case he was being serious.
"Ai…"
Koji tried to lift his head but was too weak. Ai held him lightly. There was nothing she could do to help and she feared the worse.
"It's OK, Koji, we'll be out of here soon," she said quietly, never tearing her eyes away from Yoshiki.
"Ai, I'm sorry you got caught up in this. It's all my fault… Forgive me, I… I should never have got involved in this in the first place… Please try and escape… Don't let Yoshiki kill you too…"
"You won't die Koji!" Ai choked, more tears flowing down her cheeks. "We'll get out of here together!"
"No, Ai… Take my gun… Just shoot him now… I was stupid… For some reason I couldn't do it… Please, Ai…"
Lifting his head a little higher, he gazed into her eyes.
"I can't, Koji… I can't do this without you…" Ai cried.
Koji reached out and held her hand.
"Ai… I love you… Never doubt that…I know you can do it… You're stronger than me… You need to warn the others… I… I missed my chance to end this ordeal… Please, Ai…"
Ai felt his hand loosen. She didn't want to leave him but he had told her to go. All throughout the journey they had always been linking arms, always by each others side. She just couldn't leave.
"Koji?"
She leaned closer to see Koji's face. His eyes were closed. She frantically searched for a pulse… it was faint… there was hardly one at all.
"There isn't long for him to live now," said Yoshiki. "Well then, aren't you going to do as he says?"
Ai stared at the gun in Koji's other hand. She had never used a gun in her entire life, yet she grabbed it and got to her feet.
"Yes…" she said finally, wiping her eyes. "I know I can't save Koji and nothing can save you from those twisted thoughts in your head, but I can save the future of the Smashers. It ends now, Yoshiki. I can't let you cause any more pain…"
Her hands trembled as she held the gun.
"Well, Inukai-san, it was such a pleasure meeting you…"
Wasn't that sweet? Then again it was so sad... Poor Koji. He's almost dead and it seems like nothing can save him... It's its up to Ai to warn the Smashers and get out of Revolution Smash! And what's gonna happen to Marth and Roy's team? Gosh, everyone's swapping teams and I can't keep up with them!
Will Ai have enough courage to kill Yoshiki? The story is almost at an end, but the next chapter isn't the last! Master Hand has turned evil and nothing seems to be able to stop him... Will the Smashers defeat him? All will be reveald in the next chapter!
Please review!