AN: HAPPY NEW YEAR! I'd like to apologize for not updating this fanfic in like, practically 2 MONTHS or so. I'm so sorry, but I was so busy and hit a wall in terms of how to go about this chapter...but it is up, and just in time for 2017. I hope this year treats everyone with lots of fun and happiness and no more celebrities die! Because honestly Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds at the very end of 2016, with George Michael like WTF?
Anyway, I'm glad to be back with this chapter, and a recap: Link gets hit in the head with a board and sh*t hits the fan! I'm really hoping to tie up some things, and even though some explanations may seem lame, I will go into more detail in later chapters, because it will fit better. So I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and review, favorite, or follow if you can. Enjoy!
Mario's ears were ringing as he watched Link hit the ground, screams from the Smashers around him as the second-in-command heavily collapsed. Two Smashers, Ganondorf and Sonic, sprung toward Bowser, grabbing the hysterical boy's arms in an attempt to restrain him as chaos resumed in the sleeping quarters. Screaming and shouting, people moving frantically, pushing farther and farther from the weakly-built walls, turned toward the main field of the Sanctuary, when no doubt, Floows lurked.
Zelda pushed aside Mario, kneeling next to Link and lifting his upper body off the ground, a hand in his hair. Mario went down next to her. In the darkness, Mario could still see the slickness of blood dripping down Link's brow. Mario couldn't tell if he was breathing or not in the darkness, which made his heart beat even faster.
"THEY'RE GONNA KILL US! IT'S HIS FAULT! IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!" Bowser screamed, spittle flying from his mouth as more and more Smashers began to panic. Zelda was continually saying Link's name, shaking him, her voice becoming panicky, higher and higher pitched with fear.
"Is he breathing? Please tell me he's breathing..." Mario muttered, saying the last part more to himself than anything else. Zelda brought an ear close to Link's mouth, eyes wide and darting rapidly across the dark room as she did.
"I-I think so..."
"You think so?" Zelda's gaze snapped back up to Mario's face, irritation and fear creased in her face.
"Mario, now's not -"
Zelda was cut off by one of the walls exploding, scattering boards and sticks everywhere inside the sleeping quarters, new screams from the Smashers splitting the air, joining the metallic wails of the Floows.
The hunters had found their prey.
"Help me drag him away from here!" Zelda screamed into Mario's face, as debris flew around them, adding to the ridiculous amount of panic inside the now destroyed sleeping quarters. Mario could hear Sonic's yells over the chaos, but had no idea what direction the yells were coming from.
"Okay!" Mario yelled back, before grabbing Link's legs, hefting him up slightly as he did, while Zelda grabbed the unconscious boy from under the arms. Stumbling, keeping their heads ducked, they shuttled Link toward the back of the sleeping quarters as chaos reigned around them, bringing Mario's heart rate up faster than it had ever gone before.
As they set Link gently down, Mario saw the second-in-command's brow furrow in the dark, teeth slightly gritted. He was alive. Unconscious, but alive.
"Stay with him! I'm going to try and help out!" Mario didn't wait for a response from Zelda as he sprung away from her and Link, ducking and weaving through people and debris. He saw, in the darkness, Sonic and Ganondorf grappling with Bowser, who continued to struggle against their hold, shrieking at the top of his lungs, kicking out frantically as he did.
Mario saw Bowser break free from their holds, and run out into the open of the Sanctuary, where no doubt, more Floows were waiting.
As much as Mario despised Bowser, he wasn't keen to see the boy get Taken, or torn apart by the Floows. Not that night.
Mario ran out of the sleeping quarters, quickly followed by Sonic and Bowser, both boys hollering at either Mario or Bowser to come back. Floow shrieks were all around them, but Mario couldn't tell from exactly where - it sounded as if the air around them was simply replaced by screams.
"Bowser!" Mario yelled once, and was instead answered with a Floow scream, a ways away. He was near the Med-Tent now, the last building that was completely intact. Any sign of danger, and he would flee inside - that was his plan. Mario could still hear Sonic and Ganondorf's cries for him, but he didn't want to respond, in case of Floow lurked nearby. "Bowser!" Mario whisper-shouted, now very aware that this attempt to retrieve the AWOL Smasher was very flawed. He was putting his life on the line for, quite honestly, a guy he disliked...
A twig cracked from somewhere along the wall of the Med-Tent, making Mario jump and whirl around. He nearly cried out in response, but held his tongue, now focused on the large, darkened figure standing just a few feet away.
"Bowser, we gotta go somewhere and hide. Let's cooperate, for once in our lives." Mario said, forcing himself to keep his voice steady.
"I saw what you did, you piece of dirt. You got us here, and you're gonna kill us all. You and that girl. It's all your fault that we're here, that we're stuck here and we keep dying and losing everything and, and -" Bowser cut himself off with a growl of anger, taking a threatening step towards Mario, who backed up, back pressed against the Med-Tent door.
"Bowser," Mario whispered, fiddling with the door opening behind him, unclasping the latch, keeping his eyes fixed on Bowser's hulking figure. He'd run inside, shut the door, lock it, hopefully Bowser wouldn't go on a rampage -
Too late.
Bowser let out a yell of fury, throwing a punch at Mario's head, who barely avoided it, the blow coming in contact with the flimsy door. As the door collapsed, Mario fell backward, before scrambling back up as Bowser delivered another frenzied blow.
Mario heard the air next to his ear whistle as Bowser's curled fist blurred by as he stumbled backward into Luigi's medicine cabinet, before grabbing a glass beaker and hurling it at the larger Smasher. The beaker's shards ricocheted off the wall behind Bowser as the beaker itself shattered, while Mario upset a cot, avoiding another blow from Bowser.
Bowser's swings and jabs were crazed, accuracy poor, striking the containers and shelves around them, bringing different jars and tubes down to the floor in a symphony of shattering glass and roars of fury. Mario was trapped, and no doubt, would the Floows hear the commotion.
As Mario's thoughts were occupied, he was struck. Stars exploded into his vision as Bowser placed a well-executed punch into his cheek, sending Mario tumbling to the ground, not before swinging his legs out to catch Bowser's, making the Smasher crash to the ground. Mario's world was spinning as he steadied himself on a cot, tasting the iron of blood in his mouth and in the distance, hearing the metallic screeches of Floows.
Mario began to stand, but not before a hand closed around his throat, forcing him up and back into the wall. He heard the beakers and jars next to him tremble with the sudden force, and as he tried to breath, the action was cut off brutally with the tightening of Bowser's hands.
His lungs began to burn, mind becoming fuzzy and dumbed down with his quickly depleting supply of oxygen. Bowser's face was contorted into fury as Mario clawed at the older boy's hands, hissing in indignation. Mario weakly kicked out at Bowser, gritting his teeth with the exertion. He couldn't die. Not at the hands of a stupid jerk named Bowser, he'd rather die from getting Taken, or straight-up mauled by a Floow.
As Mario's eyesight began to blur around the edges, his request was answered, as the Med-Tent walls behind Bowser collapsed, a Floow's long, snake-like arms whipping out, grabbing Bowser around the waist and yanking. As Bowser was wrenched away, Mario collapsed to the ground, before standing up straight away, stumbling outside.
In the distance, near the kitchen and sleeping quarters, flames were springing up throughout the Sanctuary, giving an eerie glow to the various scenes unfolding around them. He saw Bowser getting dragged away by the Floow, now, too far away to retrieve. Mario could only watch, an ice-cold chill curling down his spine.
"Mario! Oh god, what the heck just happened?!" That was Sonic, running towards him, flanked by Luigi and Ganondorf, who both looked battered, but were brandishing bludgeons made of wood and scrap metal.
"Bowser! He -" Mario turned to look at the nearing trio, until, with a heart-wrenching shock of surprise, Mario was slammed to the ground, before getting dragged farther and farther away from the trio of Smashers.
"MARIO! NO!" Sonic screamed, as Mario twisted himself around in a panic, grabbing frantically at the ground, ripping up grass and dirt in the process. A metallic arm was dragging him closer and closer to its owner, a wide-mouthed, half-crouched over Floow. The Floow seemed to be making a howling sound, which elicited a screech from Mario, as he began to beat at the arm holding him tight with his free arms and one leg. Ganondorf and Luigi rushed the Floow, streaking past Mario with battle cries, while Sonic ran beside Mario, beating at the Floow's arm with a staff of wood.
Sparks began to fly up from the Floow's arm, combined with Sonic's brutal attacks and Mario's kicks and wrenching. Though the Floows overpowered any Smasher, Ganondorf and Luigi were putting up a merciless attack, making the Floow wail and shriek with every blow.
With a bright shower of sparks, the Floow's arm split, freeing Mario from its hold as the offending creature screamed in what sounded like artificial agony, before it was swamped again by Ganondorf and Luigi. The two Smashers had to occasionally duck and dive out of the way of the Floow's attacks, with both teeth and arms.
Mario stumbled up, Sonic grabbing him by the upper arm. "You okay?" Sonic questioned, moving backwards from the Floow's flailing, dismembered arm.
"Y-yeah, it just -"
Mario was cut off by a shout of victory, followed by a metallic crunch and wail. Ganondorf had managed to rip out the side and lower area of the Floow's face with his bludgeon, sending the metal fragments across the ground as the Floow slunk backward, twitching as it retreated, something Mario had never seen a Floow do before.
"Yeah, beat it! Get outta here, wuss!" Ganondorf bellowed, as Luigi jeered with him.
Mario could only stare at the Floow that was fading away into the darkness. "They still got Bowser..."
"A tough loss, that one." Sonic responded, not even attempting to keep out the bitterness in his voice. "He had it coming, either way. He did almost kill Link..."
Mario didn't hear what Sonic said after that; he was more focused on the shards of metal that lay about them, the metal that had come from the Floow. The metal seemed to make up what would be the Floow's mouth and jaw - among the large, twisted fragments, were long, very sharp, and barb-like points of metal, at least three inches long. Mario picked up a few from the ground - they felt damp, as if coated with a substance of some sort.
It hit him. People got Taken by being bit, and that meant that the stuff that induced the process was in, or on the teeth. And the serum that was in the Med-Tent, made people see things... things from outside Subspace.
And maybe the answer to all the madness surrounding the Smashers.
"Hey, Sonic," Mario said, discreetly pressing the pointed tips of the Floow teeth into his thigh, mentally preparing himself for whatever pain came next.
"Yeah?" Sonic turned to him, and green eyes met blue.
"Be sure to get some of the serum in the next minute or so, would you?"
Sonic's brow furrowed in confusion. "Mario, what do you -"
Mario inhaled sharply, before stabbing himself cleanly into his thigh with the multiple metal teeth. Pain exploded in every nerve in his right leg, and he stumbled backward, where the pain to began to scream and sear its way through every nerve in his body, screaming at him to stop whatever he was doing -
"MARIO! MARIO, WHAT -!" Sonic screamed, and caught him before he hit the ground hard. "Mario, what did you do?!" he shook Mario roughly, his voice laced with almost anger. "MARIO, WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
"Didn't - you -" Mario could only choke out those two words, mind swimming in pain and delirium. His leg was getting numb.
Realization slowly glossed over Sonic's eyes, eyebrows climbing upwards as he understood.
"Luigi, come here! Mario did..."
Mario's world began to get fuzzy, the voices around him echoing and hurting his ears. His mind was caught between numb bliss and excruciating pain.
He was falling...
Falling...
Falling...
The scene was clearer now. The two teens, one boy and one girl, working across from each other on simplistic, yet futuristic computers. The screens floated in front of them on clear glass, the keyboard only visible as the two teens' fingers danced across the table, buttons lighting up.
The girl's eyes continued to flit up into the boy's face, who would sometimes look back with an understanding gaze. One of urgency. And almost fear.
People, disappearing one by one to those places, where the groups became trapped. But where? They didn't know where.
But they, the two teens, they were the designers. They helped bring the idea in. They helped those hells come into existence. They helped the monsters come to life, even if they didn't know it. Or remember. Why didn't they know where those people - kids - were going?
Pain and fear on subjects' faces. But why?
The supervisors watching over their movements. He couldn't pick out their blurry faces.
Maybe it was for the good of everything. They would see, but they didn't remember.
It was their fault that everyone was trapped, wasn't it?
TABUU is good, isn't it?
Pain.
Mingled with fear and the unknown. Every feeling when they try and escape -
Floows bearing down on kids, with their gaping maws and horrific voices.
The girl at the computer, programming whatever went into those places.
Watching people they maybe knew getting killed every day.
Until they got sent in themselves.
He didn't understand. He still didn't remember. What was this? Why is this occurring? For the good of life?
TABUU is good.
He kept falling, over and over, into scenes of technology, of codes, puzzles, various groups' failed attempts, some making it out...
Falling,
Falling,
Falling.
"...Is he ever gonna wake up?"
"...Wait...I think he's..."
Mario scrunched up his closed eyes, ears ringing slightly. Everything hurt. He could still feel his leg throbbing painfully, cutting through any wooziness or lesser pain. How long had he even been out?
With a massive effort, Mario forced his eyes to open, his eyesight fuzzy, only being able to pick out dark shapes and white light.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly. "Mario? Are you okay?"
"...Urgh..." he could only respond with a mumbling, incoherent sound, and opted for attempting to sit up instead. Mario would've fallen back completely, if it not had been for the pair of hands gripping him by both shoulders, keeping him upright.
"Are you okay?" The person repeated, their voice gentle. Mario's eyesight was focusing now - his gaze fixed on Peach's now not-blurry face, whose face was rather close to his, eyes reflecting concern.
Mario felt his face grow hot at the close proximity of Peach, but he didn't back away. "I...I'm fine." he croaked out, and Peach's face relaxed, but only slightly.
"You sound like you've been better."
"You think?" Mario replied, voice hoarse. He cleared his throat. "How long have I been out?"
Peach frowned slightly, shrugging her shoulders. "A day, about. A little more."
"A day? Then -"
"Yeah. Another night. Another Smasher got snatched." Peach stood up from her sitting position on Mario's cot. "Everyone is at the end of their wits. They're thinking...we're thinking, about...making a break for it. The way that you and Sonic found."
"...Oh." Mario nodded slightly. "They're really considering it now, are they?"
"Well, there are some of them...Bowser's friends, they think it's a bad idea. Listening to what you and Sonic say is a stretch for them, so..."
"Right, well - Peach, I had this really weird dream, where we -"
Mario was cut off by the sounding of footsteps, reaching the side of Mario's cot. "There's no more legitimate door, so...Mario, you're up, I see. Finally."
Mario couldn't help but sigh slightly at the interruption, but he turned in his sitting position on his cot, seeing Sonic standing there, arms crossed. Mario was slightly irritated at the interruption, but he held his tongue. He'd have to talk about his vision with Peach later, the vision that confirmed the unknown fear he had about himself.
"You've gotten better way faster than any Taken kid I've seen. And you don't seem...changed, in any way, so to speak."
"I don't...feel any different, I guess. Just sore." that was truthful on Mario's part - he wasn't like Snake, at least. Sonic smiled.
"I'm glad you've recovered. Link is tons better too - he bounced back super quick, Luigi thinks it wasn't too bad, so maybe he was spared a concussion."
Mario sighed in relief. "That's good to hear."
Sonic's smiled faded slightly as he spoke again. "We're thinking about making a break for it now. That place we found...it's the only way we have left."
Mario hesitated to speak, but he forced himself to, his dream rolling around in his head.
"It is the only way out. If we mess up...we'll all die."
Mario emerged from the half-destroyed Med-Tent about an hour later. He had told Sonic and Peach everything he could remember - his and Peach's involvement before Subspace with TABUU, that the Sector 7 region seemed to be the only way out - but it was all shrouded in uncertainty. He and Peach had something to do with Subspace. Not just being thrown into it, but making it.
But why him? What was so special about him?
The atmosphere was gloomy in the Sanctuary. The sleeping quarters were destroyed. Smoke from fires that had sprung up, still rising steadily into the dark grey sky. It was early morning, according to Sonic. And they were planning to escape that night.
There was no plan, apparently. Just that the people who wanted to leave, would leave. And fight for their lives. Mario's heartbeat picked up every time he thought about the prospect.
Kirby reunited with Mario not long after Mario left the Med-Tent, with a worried expression on his face. As if they communicated with each other telepathically, they both went to one of the collapsed trees by the sleeping quarters and sat down in silence. They watched the Smashers bustle about, trying to recover from another night - one that Mario had been reeling about in dreamworld, not fighting off the Floows.
"Mario, I'm scared." Kirby said after a long while. "I know that we're gonna try and get out of here, but..."
"I'm freaked out too." Mario replied.
Kirby sighed. "And we're just...kids, right? Why would we be here? Why is this TABUU doing what they're doing?"
Mario winced at that. He knew he had something to do with this. He had something to do as to why Kirby was here, why everyone was here. But he didn't know the exact reason, and that was what worried him.
"...I don't know."
A very lowkey way to end the chapter, but it was getting lengthy and everyone will be reintroduced in the next chapter! For this fanfic, I'm only expecting about a few more chapters maybe? I've loved writing this fanfic, I have to say that, and I'm super excited to soon be writing the conclusion :) So, just hang on tight for the next chapter (I don't know when that'll be...), and I hope y'all enjoyed! R&R! ~ALBS