Thank you for the reviews! I realized that it's been just over a year since I started writing this story and it's no where near finished. xD Sincere gratitude to everyone who's been following me for so long!

Chapter Thirteen

"No!"

As Pit watched, Marth backed up quickly, lifting his sword to defend himself from his opponent. The Altean Prince was fighting Kirby on the moving stage of Delfino Plaza and they were currently on the beach.

Kirby had just broken the smash ball and was glaring threateningly at Marth.

"That's right!" the Star Warrior yelled, walking close to him, and waving his short arms around as an attempt to look threatening. "You better be scared!"

Marth hesitated, not knowing what to do. He seemed to want to dash up to Kirby and knock the smash ball out of him but was reluctant because he didn't know what Kirby's final smash was.

"You better not come near me!" Kirby cried, still jumping around. The platform beneath them was beginning to move, floating up to the sky to bring them to a different place.

"Kirby, I know your tactic," Marth said. "You're not actually planning to use the smash ball, but instead want to scare me so I'll trip up and give you an opening to attack. That's what you did to all of your opponents before."

"Ooo, think you're so smart?" Kirby cried. Pit couldn't help but think how cute the Popstar citizen was, jumping around and trying to act scary. Ike, who was watching beside Pit, groaned worriedly and scratched his neck.

"C'mon, Marth!" Ike muttered. He was sitting beside Pit and was watching the match apprehensively. "You better win!"

"But Kirby has the smash ball," Pit pointed out.

"Well, if you really think that way, why don't you come closer, huh?" Kirby continued to taunt. "This is the finals so I have nothing to lose by using it here!"

Pit blinked. Kirby did have a point. The little pink creature was the only one of them that had yet to reveal his final smash. He no longer needed to hide it here, now that he was so close to winning.

Marth, at this moment, seemed to be getting a headache. He groaned and backed away.

"Can't you just use it already?" Marth pleaded. "I swear, I'm going to jump off this stage if you keep this up."

"Then prepare to feel the wrath of Cook Kirbyyyy!" Kirby raised his hand into the air and he was suddenly wearing a chef's hat and was holding a pot and a spatula. He knocked them together over his head and a giant cauldron appeared in front of him. Yelling in surprise, all of the Smashers leaned forward to watch.

Poor Marth stood his ground and raised Falcion in a defensive position but it didn't seem to work for he was dragged into the pot as if he had no control.

"Marth!" Ike stared as Kirby brought out a spoon and began stirring the pot. Pit knew it was all special effect and that Marth wasn't really being cooked but he still cringed. The prince was spat back out and sent flying into the sky with a strangled cry. The win was obvious now.

Pit jumped from his seat and cheered, completely fired up. The crowds were just as loud as the smashers, screaming and cheering for their second tournament winner on as he did backflips for them and danced adorably. Kirby shook hands with Marth who seemed to be taking his defeat quite well. He even laughed and said, "well played." Kirby in response jumped onto his shoulders and asked to be carried off stage.

Before he ran up to congratulate the two fighters, Pit turned to the mercenary sitting beside him and smirked, stretching out his hand.

"Pay up, I won the bet."

Pit's hands gripped his bow worriedly as he walked down the main hallway. They were going to head out in less than a few hours and he had to make sure to keep his cool. It wasn't going well so far, because he was so jittery he had to keep pacing back and forth.

"Maybe I should force Red to train with me," he thought. But then again, the trainer was injured and maybe it was best to not ask him.

Pit saw the door to the room ahead open and Samus walked out. He waved. "Hey, Samus! You guys heading out?"

Samus saw him and smiled but he didn't miss the worry in her eyes. "Yes, right after Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong gets back," she replied.

"Where are those two, anyways?" Pit asked, frowning.

"I don't know…" Samus' brow was furrowed too, as she stared at the ground.

Pit took a breath and looked to the front door. "Well, I'm gonna go out and bring them back," he said, walking off.

"Uh…" Samus sounded hesitant.

He brushed her off. "Oh, no need to worry," he said loudly, breaking into a run. "Those two probably got lost 'cause they found a banana tree or something." Samus was a nice person but she worried too much in Pit's opinion.

Nonetheless, when he ran into Sonic, Captain Falcon, and Luigi, Pit asked them to come with him.

"We'll find them faster if there're more of us," Pit said as they walked out the front gate.

"Why can't you just fly around town?" Sonic grumbled. "You'll find them in an instant."

"I can't fly without borrowing Palutena's power," Pit grumbled back. "It takes a lot of effort to call down her blessing and it lasts a few minutes at most."

Sonic sighed. "Well, I'm going ahead," he said. "Step it up, you guys!" The hedgehog shot off towards the hill, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

"Hoo-yah! I'm not going to wait around either!" Captain Falcon yelled, also breaking into a full sprint.

Luigi coughed and brushed the dirt off his clothes. "Geez, they're so annoying," he muttered. "But I do agree, let's run."

Pit and Luigi took off into town, careful to scan for primids. They didn't run into any however, and Pit wasn't sure whether to be worried or not. He caught Luigi giving the subspace in the distance frequent glances as they walked down a sidewalk, calling softly for DK and Diddy.

"Mario's alright," Pit told him. "He's one of the strongest people I know. Nothing's going to happen to him." Pit meant what he said. Ever since they had first met, Pit could tell that Mario was a force to be reckoned with. The plumber was one of the most confident, charismatic, and brave Smashers out of all of them.

"I… I hope so," Luigi said quietly. "I've been trying to hide my worry in front of Princess Peach but truth is… I know Brother can't handle everything," he admitted helplessly. "I was there when Duon took him away… I watched as it happened."

"Hey, hey." Pit smacked the green clothed man on the shoulder, hoping it was a comforting gesture. "Don't go blaming yourself like Ness and Zelda are. We don't need more people getting depressed," he said grimly. The princess and the psychic boy have both changed from what Pit remembered. Zelda was quieter now, and Ness was more serious, more grown up. Falco, despite the arrogant contempt evident whenever he opened his mouth, seemed more nervous around the others and Meta Knight, from what Pit heard, wouldn't talk to anyone other than Ike and Marth.

"I… ok," Luigi said quickly. "I won't."

"Blaming yourself doesn't help anyone," Pit said. "You have to focus on doing all that you can to bring Mario back."

Luigi blinked and looked away. Pit could still see the worry on his face but the shorter man nodded. "You're right, Pit."

Pit grinned. "I'm always right."

That was when they spotted Sonic running towards them from quite a few blocks down. The blue hedgehog skidded to a stop in front of them, his face a mixture of worry and alarm.

"You guys better follow me. And hurry," Sonic said, not looking them in the eyes.

Captain Falcon was already at the scene when the three of them showed up. The racer was kneeling beside Donkey Kong and looked up as they approached.

"We found them like this," Captain Falcon reported, looking dead serious for once.

Pit took one look down at the two Smashers at his feet and suddenly found it hard to breath. Diddy Kong was still conscious, but just barely. Pit wondered if he knew they were there. The small monkey's arm was bent at an awkward angle and his tail was twitching ever so slightly. Donkey Kong was in even worse shape. The massive ape was laying spread eagled on his back with blood pouring out from a cut on his head, not moving at all.

"We need to get them back," Captain Falcon said in a low voice.

"I-I'm going to get some of the others," Luigi said, his voice choking. He turned and headed back to the mansion.

"Me, too," Captain Falcon said. "Stay here with them as I bring some stretchers."

Sonic nodded and the captain dashed off.

"Who did this?" Pit whispered hoarsely.

"If only I knew," Sonic muttered. He knelt down next to Diddy Kong and tried whispering to get the wounded Smasher's attention.

Pit scanned around for enemies but there was no one around. He highly doubted this was the fault of primids. There was just no way that those stupid robots could injure two Smashers so fatally, unless they were ambushed by hundreds. However, Pit couldn't even see one primid, much less an army.

He didn't know long they waited until he heard the footsteps of other Smashers approaching. Jigglypuff, Pikachu, Peach and Sheik, who was Zelda's disguised form, came back with Luigi. They all had a scared look in their eyes, like animals caught by surprise. Peach was clutching her golf club and Sheik had out throwing needles.

"What happened?" Jigglypuff cried as they neared.

"We found them like this," Sonic said darkly, standing up to talk to them.

Captain Falcon came back not a minute later with Lucario, Ness, Nana, Popo, and Toon Link.

"Met up with the kids out in the garden," Captain Falcon muttered, sounding a bit guilty for bringing the youngest Smashers to the scene. "Told them to not follow me."

Toon Link stared at him defiantly. "Our friend's hurt," he said. Nana and Popo was already at Diddy Kong. Nana looked so worried Pit was afraid she might cry as Popo examined Diddy's wounds.

Peach had a hand over her mouth. "Who… who did this?" she whispered shakily.

"No primid, that's for sure," Pit said grimly. "They were probably ambushed by Galleom or another one of the stronger enemies."

"No, it's not Galleom,"Luigi said, kneeling down next to Donkey Kong. "These wounds… they're not from him."

"There was magic in use," Sheik said, gently touching Donkey Kong's broken arm.

Pit looked Donkey Kong over more closely. He could see the heavy burns he had received on his arms and chest. Bits of his fur were singed, not because of fire but because of something else… electricity?

Sparks flew from Pikachu's cheeks. "L-lightning! I'm sure of it!" the pokemon cried.

"I can see a lingering aura on their bodies." The aura pokemon looked over Donkey Kong carefully and his eyes suddenly widened in surprise. He blinked, standing still in shock.

"Lucario? What is it?" Pit asked.

"Um… nothing." Lucario's reply was short but Pit didn't miss the quick glance he gave to Ness. The angel frowned as something clicked in his head. Wait a minute… fire and lightning and magic?

Ness didn't seem to have caught on to it all but a few others did. Peach's expression was one of disbelief and Sheik's was that of shock. Pit sucked in a breath and almost spoke before a wave of guilt washed over him. Ness didn't do this. It wouldn't make any sense.

Diddy Kong suddenly murmured something and Sonic crouched to hear him.

"Diddy Kong, can you hear me?" Sonic asked softly.

"…ere," Diddy muttered.

"What was that?"

"He's still… here…"

Sonic reeled back to warn them just in time. Pit spotted something hurtling towards them out of the corner of his eye. He jumped in front of DK and Diddy to block the attack but it landed to their left, exploding as it contacted the ground.

Sonic and Pikachu also leaped in front of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, ready to defend. The others quickly surrounded them, scanning for the enemy.

Someone had attacked them with an explosion of some sort. It carved a crater on the ground, close to where Diddy Kong was. The smoke and dust sent up obscured their vision and Pit could hear the others coughing.

A figure jumped down out of nowhere, merely a few paces from where the Smashers stood, making them tense up. When he lifted his head and began walking towards them, Pit reeled back in shock.

It was Lucas.

Pit's heart thumped painfully. Could it be? One of the kidnapped Smashers had returned to them! For a second, he was so thrilled he couldn't control his smile. The others were overjoyed too, Pit could tell from the way their eyes lifted and their weapons dropped. But when Ness ran towards Lucas, for some unexplainable reason, a chill suddenly ran down his spine.

Something felt off.

Pit couldn't immediately put a finger on it. In his confusion, he glanced over to the still smoking crater on the ground and suddenly, finally, realized that the attack that they have just been ambushed with was a PK fire.

"Ness!" His shrill scream surprised himself.

Pit instantly dropped his bow and ran forward, extending his arms. He just managed to catch Ness as he collided into him and they both went tumbling into the hard ground. Pit rolled onto his back and wrapped his arms protectively around the boy to shield him.

Ness tried to take in air in uneven gasps. He shuddered violently in Pit's arms, and his eyes widened when he realized what had just happened. The others jolted in shock at the suddenness of it the attack. They all stood still, too confused to move. Pit couldn't blame them. He wasn't even sure how he managed to react in time.

Now that he got a closer look, he saw a faint hue of purple mist surrounding Lucas, trailing off his skin. They boy's eerie golden eyes stared straight on, unblinking and cold as stone.

Lucas ran forward towards Pit but Sonic crashed into him from the side and they both tumbled away. The hedgehog stood protectively between them, crouching for another attack as Lucas got back up.

Sonic was yelling to Pit without looking back and it took him a moment to figure out what he was saying.

"Is Ness alright?"

Pit blinked the shock out of his mind. "I don't- no he's not," he stammered, hugging the boy tightly. Lucas' attack had hit Ness square in the chest. Pit couldn't believe it; he had never witnessed a Smasher attack another Smasher like this, not even those like Mario and Bowser who were sworn enemies. It had been an attack meant to kill.

Peach was suddenly beside him.

"I'm taking Ness back to the mansion," Peach said, lifting the dying boy into her arms. The control in her voice caught Pit by surprise and he nodded dumbly.

"Look out!" Sonic suddenly cried.

Pit turned in time to see that Lucas had gotten past Sonic and was headed their way. Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and Sheik intercepted this time, and blocked him.

"He's only aiming for Ness!" Pit realized that Pikachu was right.

"Peach, go!" Lucario covered her as she turned and ran without another question. She left their sight quickly, disappearing behind a building.

Meanwhile, Toon Link had drawn his sword and was running towards his friend.

"Lucas, what's gotten into you?" he cried, swinging his sword. He sounded furious. "You could've killed Ness!"

Lucas stepped back, dodging Toon Link's sword. He threw a powerful force of psychic power towards him and Toon Link was thrown backwards but he managed to flip onto his feet as he landed.

"Toon Link!" Nana and Popo ran to their friend, who clutched his sides and fell to his knees. They didn't see the PK fire coming until it hit Popo's arm and exploded, making him cry out in pain.

"You kids retreat!" Captain Falcon yelled. "Hurry up and leave!"

Trembling, Nana helped Popo to his feet and half dragged, half carried him away but Toon Link didn't seemed like he wanted to leave. He raised his sword back up and walked back towards Lucas, only to be stopped when Captain Falcon grabbed him and lifted him into the air.

"Lucas!" Toon Link yelled, struggling from Captain Falcon's hold. "What's wrong with you? What… what happened to you?"

"Toon Link, stop it!" Captain Falcon ordered.

"They did something to him," Toon Link insisted, angry tears brimming his eyes. "Why did this…"

Lucas, at the moment, was having a match with Luigi. The plumber wasn't attacking, and instead used his fireballs to deflect the boy's PSI powers. Hesitance kept flickering across the Luigi's face. The PSI user, however, wasn't going the least bit easy on him.

"This is too dangerous!" Pit thought, his heart hammering at his throat. He had to stop the battle somehow. There was no way any of them could hurt Lucas, even though the boy seemed to have become their enemy.

A punch sent Luigi to the ground and Sonic jumped in immediately after that. The blue hedgehog wasn't as kind as Luigi. He attacked Lucas, pushing him back with his lightning fast kicks until the boy retreated to a distance and suddenly stopped moving.

The other Smashers all hesitated to attack, wondering what he was up to. Lucas was staring at them, his face still void of emotions. Their eyes made contact for a second and Pit couldn't help feeling intimidated.

Pikachu jolted beside Pit. The pokemon sensed something and was staring at into the distance. Sure enough, something was approaching.

Pit's instincts told him to run but there was no way he could leave Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong lying on the ground. Pikachu growled, lighting cackling around him. Lucario got ready to fire an aura sphere.

"How's it goin' all?"

Porky's voice could be heard loud and clear even though he was still a block from them. His gigantic spider robot suit hummed with energy as it neared. Pit unintentionally took a step back. He remembered fighting against Porky before. He was just a boy but his machine was powerful and dangerous.

"Haha! You should see the look on your pathetic faces!" Porky was grinning ear to ear as he stared down at them in glee. He didn't seem posed to attack, more to gloat.

Lucas, whom Pit remembered to be Porky's enemy, didn't seem the bit fazed when Porky walked up behind him. He still wasn't taking his eyes off them.

Pit stepped forward. "What happened to Lucas?" he yelled, glaring at Porky.

The boy merely laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know!" he taunted, staring down at them. "He's on our side now! Couldn't you tell from the way he tried to kill you?" Smirking, Porky glanced at Toon Link who was supporting his ribs, and Nana who was helping Popo stand.

"What did you do to him?" Pit demanded. He aimed and fired an arrow to Porky's head but to everyone's surprise, Lucas jumped between them and absorbed it with a wave of his hand.

"Lucas, why are you shielding him?" Pit demanded, stepping out to meet him. "Get out of my way!"

"He can't hear you," Porky said, smiling. "It's useless to try. Lucas serves Master Tabuu now. The only way to get him out of your way is to kill him."

"No…" Luigi whispered.

It couldn't be that Porky was telling the truth... Pit refused to believe him but his conviction wavered when he saw Lucas focused on them and gathered PSI powers into his hands, ready to attack.

"Consider this a warning," Porky said. "I was sent here to tell all of you to give up. Now that your fellow comrades have been infested by shadow bugs, their minds have been overtaken and they will fight you to their last breath. It's useless to struggle, for you will all eventually join them in Master Tabuu's army."

Pit felt the world sway before him. He quickly shook his head, not daring to believe what he heard.

"Wait a minute," said Captain Falcon. "You said 'fellow comrades?' So all the others that got taken have also become this?"

"No!" A strangled gasp came from Sheik. She stumbled and began to glow slightly, transforming back to her true form as she lost concentration. Zelda's legs wobbled and she would've fallen if Lucario didn't steady her.

Thankfully, Porky turned to leave. "Well, we have to head back for today," Porky said. Lucas turned to follow him. "Consider yourself lucky this time." He gave them one last look. "But you better start preparing yourselves for the next attack, huh?" The boy laughed with glee as his robot suit walked off.

Lucas didn't even glance back.