Author's Note: Is this thing on?

I was going to wait until the weekend to buckle down on this chapter, but I realized that the one-year anniversary of my fic was upcoming, so I worked extra-hard to get this chapter out in time for it. Has it really been a whole year? It feels like just yesterday I was penning the shitty antics of some horrendously out-of-character Nintendo mascots. And yet here I stand today, still penning the shitty antics of some horrendously out-of-character Nintendo mascots, but exactly one year older.

For all my readers who were here from the beginning, I thank you from the bottom of my withered black heart for sticking with me for an entire year. For those who joined in later, I still thank you just as much! You are the reason I write; I take pride not in the words I type out, the narrative I tell, or the jokes I attempt to make, but in the entertainment I hopefully bring to you all and the positive responses I receive in exchange.

So here's to another year, yeah? Review away if you like what I write. Hopefully I can output more than a measly fourteen chapters this time.

Published 7/14/16

A Big Battle

- The Great Cave Offensive, Kirby Universe –

"So, anyone want to list off any of their life's regrets?" Pikachu asked. The footsteps of the Space Pirate army were causing the ground to shake around the Smash Bros. Their photon blades cut rivets into the ground with a vwoosh sound as they dragged across the grassy cavern floor, their owners howling and roaring with bloodthirst.

"Aww, now's not a time to give up hope, Pikachu! We can get through this if we work together!" Yoshi grinned.

"Oh, I know I'm getting out alive. I was just wondering if you B-listers had any embarrassing stories I could laugh about once you're six feet under."

"I don't plan on dying either, but I regret never telling Peach how much I appreciate her cooperation in my kidnappings. She's a real gem," Bowser muttered, baring his claws.

"And I regret not doing this sooner." Kirby inhaled Pikachu and swallowed him, gaining his power and ejecting the rodent in an undignified heap.

At last, the army of Space Pirates collided with the Smash Bros., and an all-out brawl of fists, lasers, swords, and other assorted weapons erupted. Donkey Kong let his fist fly right into a line of three Pirates, bowling them over, while Link engaged two sword-wielding Pirates at the same time. Mario, meanwhile, leapt around the battlefield using his cape to reflect energy blasts back at their senders, while Kirby used his new power to electrocute any Pirates who got too close.

Pikachu rubbed his head and stood back up, observing Kirby putting the stolen power to use. "Son of a- HEY! Hold on! Unlicensed use of my likeness! Ohh, I am gonna sue the crap outta you!" Pikachu's smirk curled upward toward his ears. The thought of Kirby starving away, buried in poverty and lawsuits entertained him even as a Space Pirate kicked him away like a football.

Kirby used Thunder Jolt on the Pirate to stun him, then pulled out a hammer and whacked it hard in the back, breaking several vertebrae through the armor. A second Pirate opened fire with its blaster, forcing Kirby to shield. Link finished his opponents just in time to leap into the fray, cutting the trigger-happy Pirate's arm off with a jump attack and shield-bashing him in the face to knock him to the ground.

To the side, Shulk was currently dueling a Commando Pirate in a swordfight, sparks of energy flittering through the air each time the Monado collided with the photon blade.

"Yarr, ye be a good arm with that laser sword, but I be the dread Commando Y'klarflub, scourge of the seven-hundred galactic seas!"

Shulk scratched his head. "I'm sorry, mate, I have absolutely no clue what language you're speaking."

Y'klarflub began yelling something in an even-less-decipherable Space Pirate tongue, wagging his blade at the Homs. Shulk saw this as an opening and cleaved the Monado through the Pirate's waist, putting an end to the legend of Y'klarflub. Before he could catch his breath, a barrage of blaster fire peppered his back, burning holes through his jacket. He fell to the ground as another Pirate swung his blade down at Shulk's neck, moving in for the kill. At the last second, the Pirate was bowled over by one of his own comrades tossed by Donkey Kong.

"Indubitable defeat. Pushed past the tip of labascation by your own ilk."

"Huh. Thanks, Donkey! Uh, I can call you that now, right?"

"Oh, absolutely. However, it's pronounced 'Dr. Kong'. Now, then, shall we-"

"HEATHEN PIRATES! HEED MY WORDS AND YOU MAY REACH SALVATION YET!" Pit had jumped up on a rock and bellowed out his words across the Pirate masses. "Accept Lady Palutena as your savior, and I shall spare your lives."

"Arr, go to Space Hell, ye maggot."

Pit grinned. "Good, I was hoping you'd refuse." He broke his bow in half to create two separate blades, and jumped down into the melee, slicing Pirates apart and parrying incoming strikes with ease.

Shulk was more impressed by the weapon than the skills of its wielder. "Wow, your bow can come apart and go back together like that? That's awesome!"

"Uh… it's not actually supposed to, I just wanted two blades for that." He looked forlornly at the broken ends of the blades, and pulled out a roll of duct tape to repair the bow with.

The Pirate whose hand was cut off by Link charged at Pit while he was distracted, flailing his new hook hand around haphazardly. Shulk saw the danger and moved in to help, but before he could get close Yoshi rolled past in an eggshell, quite literally knocking the Pirate's legs out from under him. The now-triple-amputee Pirate swore in alien tongue as he dragged himself across the ground toward one of their docked ships.

"Should… should I stop him? For his own sake?" Shulk asked out loud, watching the Pirate stain the grassy floor a gross yellow with the blood oozing from his leg stumps.

Before Pit could answer, Zelda stumbled over and picked up one of the severed Pirate legs. "Hey, lookses! I've got a leg up over the competishish…!" She waded back into the brawl, smacking Pirates across the head with the limb and stumbling just barely around blades and blaster shots alike.

On a lower level of the cave, Pikachu tumbled to the floor with a light thud, his Space Pirate kick voyage coming to a halt. "Damnit. I'm all alone down here. …Uh, I mean, ha! What I said was, 'I don't need my allies in order to kick ass all alone down here'!"

Three Pirates heard him talking to himself, and rappelled down the wall, yarring and gahaaring at the mouse, who assessed the situation before frantically dashing over to a treasure chest.

"I could definitely take you all on by myself, but I want to practice with items on, okay?! C'mon, c'mon, there's gotta be something useful here…" He pulled out an Assist Trophy. "Sweet!"

The glass capsule was shattered, and out emerged Dr. Wright.

"Aww, what? I find a rare item and all I get is a green-haired Adolf Hitler?!"

Pikachu pouted, but then a blaster shot grazed past his ear, singeing his fur.

"Gah! Save me, Hitler!"

Dr. Wright approached the three Pirates and poked the ground near the center one with his pointer.

"Starting today, you're the mayor!" he cheerfully announced.

"Gar? I be no petticoat-wearing landlubber, ye gi-"

A miniature city erupted from the ground, the center Pirate meeting a gruesome end on a skyscraper antenna while the other two were smacked back into the cavern walls, down for the count. Dr. Wright wiped his brow and disappeared back into the ether.

"Well, that worked better than I thought it would."

Ridley and Samus had been locked in battle for quite a while now.

"SAMUSSSSSSS!"

"RIDLEEEEEEEY!"

"WHY ARE WE YELLIIIIING?!"

"Because I'm pissed off!" Samus punctuated that statement with a Super Missile, blasting Ridley's extended claw away from her helmet.

"Why?"

"Because I hate you!"

"Why?" Ridley smacked Samus in the chest with the side of his tail, but the hunter recovered quickly.

"Because of all the shit you've done to me. Like when you trashed a Chozo artifact site, and knocked me into a generator shaft, and stole the Metroid Hatchling, and died, and then your clone harassed me, and probably some other shit I can't remember. But you know what I'll never forgive you for."

"Killing your parents and eating them?" Ridley had taken to the air, stabbing his tail into the ground trying to impale Samus.

"What? Oh, that was annoying. But I'm talking about that time I went to Auntie Gravity's Interstellar Diner on Asteroid 512M-FN in the Klar Nebula. You were in the booth next to mine. I got a grilled cheese and fries, and when I went to salt up the fries it turned out you had loosened the salt shaker's cap while I wasn't looking! For ruining my meal, you must die." A Charge Beam burst against Ridley's chest, staggering the beast.

"Oof… Ha HA! I forgot all about that! That was revenge for the time you switched all the labels around on my filing cabinets during your first Zebes base raid, though. Do you know how long it took me to re-sort everything?! It was worse than the time Kraid re-sorted my files by how the folders tasted!"

"I forgot I did that. Speaking of Kraid, did you ever find the Kraid porn I hid in there?"

"Oh, that explains Ensign D'voriscy clawing his own eyes out while helping me. Ol' No-Eye, we call him now." Ridley grabbed Samus and dragged her roughly across a cavern wall, but she smacked a rock into Ridley's eye and escaped while he reflexively rubbed the spot. "Well, until he was accused of insubordination. Now we call him Cadaver No. 1593512, A.K.A. Elite Pirate Ration Supply No. 1593512, but it was fun while it lasted."

"Huh, what was his traitorous act?" Samus asked casually, the fight being autopilot muscle memory for both of them.

"Complaining about the green door to the latrines on the SPC Scylla only being openable with a high-frequency mining cannon, or something of that nature, I think. Ol' Poopypants, we called him."

"Wait, I thought he was No-Eye?"

"We cycle through nicknames pretty quickly in the Space Pirate Confederation. I was once known as Sir Llewellyn Merriweather Haitaka Francesco di Trichinopoly de la Guillermo the Ninth, Esquire for a length of time shorter than it took me to say that name."

"Fascinating! By the way, I've got a present for you." Samus jammed her arm cannon into Ridley's mouth and fired a Super Missile. Ridley staggered back, collapsing onto his knee.

"Ergh… hey, did you keep the receipt? I hope you're not offended if I decide to regift that…" He belched out a fireball that knocked Samus backwards into a wall.

The Villager faced off against a lone Pirate Commando.

"Shiver me timbers, you're a small lad! It'd not be right for you to meet your end to a scallywag like me."

He pulled an electrified sword out of its holster. "But we're not exactly right, are we? Draw your weapon!"

The Villager reached into his pocket, pulled out Wham Bam Rock's hand, and slammed it down on the Commando.

"Gar."

Meanwhile, the one-armed no-legged Pirate had successfully replaced his feet with peg legs. He glanced down at his artificial legs, then at his artificial hand, then at his natural hand. Shrugging, he lopped the remaining limb off with his hook and replaced it with a hook as well.

"Arr, that be more symmetrical."

He hobbled back into battle, but Mr. Game & Watch parachuted down next to him and blasted him in the eyes with 2D bug spray, which hurt less because of being harmful fumes and more because it was composed of infinitely-sharp dimensionally-anomalous particles interacting with a 3D world.

The Pirate howled in pain and hobbled back to his ship, retrieving a pair of eyepatches to complete the look. Just as he achieved Pirate nirvana and began to ascend to the pantheon, an Elite Pirate stomped out of the ship, crushing him under his heel and swatting several lesser Pirates out of the way with his arms as he approached the Smash Bros.

"Despair."

"Well, you're a big guy, aren't you?" Kirby asked, tilting his head at the sight.

The Wii Fit Trainer stopped slicing a Pirate to ribbons with a hula hoop to gawk at the newcomer. "Ooh, impressive! Can you show me what Space Pirate fitness regimens are like to achieve results like that?"

"Actually, I think those guys are just pumped up on gallons of Phazon," Bowser commented, swatting a Pirate Aerotrooper into its comrade. "At least, that's what Samus said."

The Wii Fit Trainer frowned, and then scowled. "Juicing? How d͈̝i̟̙̥̭͙̣̯sa̼̭̪͖p̲̼͖po̪͔̖̭̺i̝̞̹͡n̳̠͖̖ti̪̱̦̪̙͚͈ṋg̮͎̯͓͔̖͎.͏̙̦͈̦̩̠.̴̹.̛̱̠̘̺," she sighed, charging up a Sun Salutation.

The Elite Pirate trudged forward, attempting to squash Kirby, who dodged around its feet trying to shock it with Pikachu's power. It was unclear whether the monster was protected from electrical shocks by its armor or simply had too degraded a nervous system to be affected, but either way Kirby made no progress. As it tried stomping the puffball, it also fired plasma grenades at Bowser and Mario, who danced around trying not to burn their feet. An arrow from Pit's reassembled bow struck its left shoulder at the same time one of Link's struck its right, the former projectile leaving a glowing wound and the latter embedding itself painfully. The Wii Fit Trainer's fully-charged Sun Salutation was released, striking it in the chest and toppling it over.

"Now, someone finish this insult to proper health and training off!"

Mario took this as his cue, and grabbed Bowser's tail.

"Hey! Lemme go, you idio- whoa, whoa, whooaaa…! Stop spinning meeeeee!"

Mario released Bowser, sending him flying up into the air and onto the prone Pirate with fatal force. "So long-ay, Bowser!"

Bowser pulled himself up off the oozing corpse. "I'm not gay. And even if I was, why would you say that? It's not very heroic to discriminate, you know."

"But I said-a 'So long-ay, Bowser!'"

Bowser and Mario got into a long argument about who said what and how annoying Mario's accent was. Off to the side, Zelda had somehow knocked a Pirate's entire upper jaw off with the severed leg, and was remorsefully pouring absinthe down the exposed neckhole to try and make it better.

That was the sight Pikachu was greeted by as he climbed up out of the lower levels. "Well, this is stupid."

Kirby walked up to him, taking a break from the horde of Pirates. "This is how it usually is when we're not actually fighting each other. And sometimes even when we are."

"Yeah, I suppose you have a- Hey, you're still using my powers?! Stop infringing on my copyright! I should charge you ten thousand dollars for every watt you produce!"

"You don't own the entire concept of electricity!"

"I am the entire concept of electricity!" he yelled loud enough to bring the entire battle to a halt, Pirate and Smasher alike looking in his direction. "Yeah, you probably think I feel like a real idiot yelling like that, don't you? I'm not embarrassed at all, actually. I was simply speaking the truth."

Ridley and Samus were too busy to be distracted by the screechings of an arrogant rodent. Their fight had degenerated into rapid-fire Power Beam shots, claw swipes, Missiles, and tail stabs.

"Why won't you die?!" Samus squawked.

"Why won't you die?!" Ridley squawked back.

"Why won't either of us die already?!"

"You foolish woman, you know I can't die! I am the almighty and unstoppable Ridley! The biggest and baddest Space Pirate around!"

"So big you couldn't get into Smash Bros. Ohhhhhh!"

Ridley rolled his eyes. "Yeah, laugh it up! But next time I'm definitely gonna be in."

"That's what you said about Brawl."

"Yes, but-"

"And this one."

"Well, maybe my invite hasn't arrived yet! You ever think about that?"

Samus's communication line crackled to life. "Is this thing on?" Crazy Hand's voice blurted from the other side.

"Yes, but-"

"Put me on speaker! Put me on speaker!"

Samus did as requested. "It's for you, Ridley."

"Okay, good! Bro wanted me to say speak this to Ridley if he ever asked about that. The answer is… yes!"

Ridley whooped and jumped up, clacking his heels together in excitement. "See?! I told you!"

"…And that is the opposite of the answer I supposed to give you! I just felt like that. The real answer is, and I quoting, 'No, never, not in a trigintillion years, like hell you're ever being a fighter in my tournament.' End quoting. HOO HOO HAA."

Ridley's face fell to a neutral, emotionless expression. "Oh. Okay. Good day."

Samus hung up. "Now, can we get back to our fight?"

"No."

"Why the hell not?"

"I don't feel like it anymore. Goodbye." The larger-than-life dragon calmly walked away, back to the primary battlefield. "Pack it up, boys. We're leaving."

"Gahaar?! But these scurvy dogs were about to walk the space plank!"

"Don't care. Let's go."

Samus caught up. "Aww, come on! I was having fun!"

"Sorry, maybe another day. Pirates, I don't see you moving."

"Yarr… can we at least keelhaul one of 'em? Maybe the creepy boy." A flattened Pirate Commando suggested.

"Ship. Go."

The Pirates collectively sighed, and began their march back into the space ships.

"In the name of Lady Palutena, what did you do to him?" Pit asked Samus, flabbergasted by Ridley's decision.

"Crushed his hopes and dreams, I guess." She grinned under her helmet. "Good."

Ridley's voice called out from above, the Pirate leader hanging out the door of his flagship. "By the way, Samus!" he spat with particular venom in his voice. "I've been saving this for years. When I killed your parents… That wasn't the first time I had encountered your father! He and I have a bit of a history!"

"What do you know about my dad, asshole?"

"It's a long story! Goodbye!"

"Get back here!" She fired several shots up at him, but he ducked back into the ship and took off through a hole in the cavern ceiling, returning to base.

"Damnit, he got away." She pouted. "I wanted to know."

Yoshi beamed with the radiance of a hypernova. "Hooray! We ended the fight by talking things out! And that's a real victory! Good job, everyone!"

Samus shot him with a Missile.

- Sukazu Castle, Street Fighter Universe –

Meta Knight, Robin, Lucina, Olimar, Wario, and Toon Link stepped out of the portal, entering a new world.

"Ah. Finally, human civilization. I… really didn't like being bitesized," Lucina commented, looking around at the pagodas and Eastern-style structures that now surrounded our beta team.

"Which realm is this, Meta Knight?" Robin asked. "It reminds me of Chon'sin."

"This is… Wait, what is this realm? It doesn't look like anything I've heard of in the Nintendo multiverse."

"Did we maybe exit that multiverse?" Lucina posited.

"I don't think we should stay here long… Let's look for another portal."

"HEY, GUY!" Toon Link cupped his hands into the shape of a megaphone, yelling loud enough to shatter windows if there were any around. "WHAT'CHA DOIN' UP THERE!"

Lucina unplugged her ears. "Gods! Why does everything keep hurting my ears on this adventure?"

"Seriously, what the hell was that for, Toon Link?" Meta Knight demanded.

"I was trying to talk to the guy up on the roof!" He pointed up, and sure enough there was a man sitting on one of the castle's beams, silently meditating. "I know he heard me…"

"Huh, how about that. Maybe one or two of you should climb up there and ask him for directions?"

Robin blinked. "…You're the one who can fly."

"Yeah, after that gliding incident I'm not sure I wanna try an altitude like that. Let's put it to a vote. Who votes that Wario and I go up there?"

Robin raised his hand.

"Who votes Olimar and Toon Link go up there?"

Nobody raised their hands.

"Who votes Robin and Lucina go up there?"

Meta Knight raised his own hand, and Toon Link and Olimar joined him. Just to add insult to injury, Meta Knight grabbed Wario's arm and pointed it upward, the large man too busy picking his nose with his other hand to care.

"That makes it four for Robin and Lucina, one for me and Wario, and one abstention."

"Damnit."

Robin wheezed as he pulled himself up onto the highest parapet of Suzaku Castle. "I think I might… take the fast way down… after this…"

Lucina jumped up after him. "You need to exercise more. Wait, couldn't you have just used Elwind to fly up here?"

"What? You can't fly with tomes, Lucina… That's just silly."

"Well, if you say so. Regardless, we're here."

She approached the meditating man, who raised one eyebrow in response to her presence but did not bother to open his eyes.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"I sense you are a powerful warrior. Fight me."

"I'm not here for that."

"Then leave."

"I just want directions."

"And I just want a strong challenger."

"Have you seen any weird portals around here? We're looking for a way out of this world and to the next."

"You could always take the fast way down from here if that's truly what you desire, but I don't recommend it."

"I didn't mean 'next world' like that."

"No, I have not seen any 'weird portals'. Unless you wish to fight me now, I must ask you to leave and not disrupt my training any further."

"Well, okay. But I admit, I am curious. What does this do for you?"

The man opened his eyes. "I am Ryu. I seek to be the strongest warrior in the world. Meditating up here gives me peace of mind. It is also a good place to practice some of my techniques, such as the Hadoken."

Robin perked up. "The… Hadoken?"

"Yes, the Hadoken." Ryu stood up. "HADOKEN!" He fired off a blue ball of ki, which traveled a few feet before dissipating.

"How did you do that without a tome?!"

Ryu sat back down and closed his eyes, meditating once more. "Tomes? Reading is for the weak. I seek only strength, not history or literature."

"No, see, I have tomes that let me- nevermind. What other techniques do you know?"

"Many, such as the Shoryuken and the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. But I am done demonstrating."

"Whoa, hold on. The… Tatsu… mahi…"

Ryu's eyebrow twitched. Lucina noticed this. "Uh, Robin?"

"Senpo…"

Ryu scowled and opened his eyes. Lucina noticed this as well. "Robin? Stop."

"Yuckoo? Did I pronounce it right?"

"You have insulted the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. This is a grave insult that cannot go unpunished." Ryu stood up, and began to shuffle toward Robin, Street Fighter-style.

ROUND 1! FIGHT!

"How are you walking like that, and what was with that voice? W-wait a second, 'punish' me? Why?!"

"Did I not already say? You have insulted the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. Your punishment shall be the pain of one Shin Shoryuken."

Lucina tried to stop him. "Wait, don't you think this is a bit extreme?"

Robin chimed in, backing up until his heels were hanging over the edge of the castle. "And not that I really want to know, but wouldn't it make more sense to use the Taso- the move I mispronounced, rather than a different one?"

"The Tatsumaki Senpukyaku has been dishonored by your butchery, and cannot be used again until it is avenged."

"How does anyone pronounce that right on the first try?!"

Ryu silently pushed past Lucina and continued toward Robin, still shuffling his feet in that weird classic fighting game way.

"Uh… uh… I'M TAKING THE FAST WAY DOWN!" Robin belted out, dropping off the ledge and plummeting toward the ground hundreds of feet down.

Ryu blinked, considering his next move. "Is your friend an idiot?"

Lucina sighed. "If he survives that fall, I'm probably going to be the one who has to carry his broken body around. So right now, I'm not in the mood to say anything other than 'yes'."

Robin looked for anything he could use to slow his fall. "Maybe I should have thought this through…! That wasn't very tactical of you, was it Robin?!"

Desperate, he pulled out an Elwind tome and cast the wind magic downward, braking his fall and allowing him to land relatively unharmed on the ground. "Huh, I can't believe that worked." He grinned, looking at the helpful tome. "I think I have a new favorite use for you."

The earth near Robin erupted into a cloud of dust, Ryu hitting the ground with the force of a small meteorite. The warrior emerged from the dust, his glare fixated on Robin as he continued moving forward.

"Oh, COME ON!" Robin whined, sprinting in the opposite direction.

Lucina slowly made her way down the castle wall, watching Robin run away from the unstoppable juggernaut. She simply sighed, and turned her attention back to descending safely.

Toon Link happened to be on Robin's path, and he grabbed the tactician as he ran past. "Whoa, what's the rush, pal? And did you just get the meditating dude to join us?"

"No time… wants my blood… go do Toon Link stuff to him please!" Robin begged of the cel-shaded swordsman.

"Uh, sure. Meta Knight found a way out almost as soon as you started your climb, by the way. He's over there."

"Thanksthanksthanks!" Robin took off in that direction.

Toon Link turned to look at Ryu. "Sheesh, you look like you're a real blast at a party, eyebrows. Alright, let's see you deal with… this!" He erected a brick wall in Ryu's path in a matter of seconds. Ryu simply walked into it, the bricks crumbling apart as he pushed his way through.

"A wise guy, huh? How about… this!?" Toon Link reached into his belt and pulled out a remote control. He pushed a big red button, a steel wall rising in front of Ryu by its command. The indomitable man didn't even blink or acknowledge the hazard, pushing against it until the metal strained and rended apart. Ryu's march was not slowed in the slightest.

"Okay, this is getting kinda silly, even by my standards." Toon Link pulled out a wooden mallet with a head about the size of Final Destination, and slammed it down dead-center on Ryu with enough force to send dust and dirt flying for miles around. "That oughta do it. Easy as stabbing Ganondorf in the forehead!"

The wood began to creak and splinter apart as Ryu forced his way through that too, undeterred. He emerged, shuffling past Toon Link and keeping his eyes locked on Robin's cloaked back.

Toon Link gaped in awe at the man's sheer determination. "You are one tough nut to crack. I'm almost kinda tempted to let you reach Robin just to see what you do to him. Buuut I gave him my word, so…" He pushed a second button on the remote, and the floor beneath Ryu opened up to reveal a massive treadmill, which began rolling its tread. Unfortunately, it was facing the wrong way, and instead of slowing Ryu's progress simply provided him with a speed boost.

"Ahaha. Oops."

"'Oops?' That's all you can say about that?" Lucina asked, catching up and watching the spectacle. "Also, what is 'that', while I'm asking?"

"It's a treadmill. You don't have those in your time."

"I thought you said we had similar levels of technology?"

"I never said I had them in my time!"

Lucina sighed, realizing this line of questioning would get her nowhere. "Look, he's traveling in a straight line, so maybe… I don't know, find a way to make his path longer?"

"Ooh, great idea, Luci!" He pulled out a shovel and quickly dug a trench in front of Ryu, turning a five-meter stretch of dirt into a deep half-pipe that was more than ten times that in surface length. Sure enough, Ryu did not deter from his course, walking down through the pit.

"Okay, let's get out of here now," Lucina grinned, joining Toon Link in following Robin's trail.

By the time Ryu emerged from the pit, walking up a nearly 90-degree surface to do so, the six foreigners were gone, and the portal they used to escape had disappeared as well.

"Hmm. He escaped." Ryu closed his eyes and sniffed the air. "I sense you. You cannot run forever. I will not rest until I have delivered my Shin Shoryuken to your jaw, and restored the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku to its rightful glory."

He marched in a different direction, following what he believed to be a path to Robin.

"Also, he doesn't need to know that I flubbed the pronunciation for five years before I realized I was saying it wrong."