"Under arrest!?" Fox bellowed in disbelief. Ratchet had dragged Ken away from the pulsating core and to a more open space of the core's chamber, where he was now surrounded by many angry Nintendo mascots. "You're not cops so you can't really arrest him. This lunatic needs to be executed!"
Fox armed his blaster and pushed it against Ken's forehead until Ratchet swatted it away. They traded angry glares.
"We are under orders to capture Ken Watanabe, not kill him!" Clank explained, but Fox ignored him.
"This bastard's destroyed cities, burned down villages, attacked us multiple times, brainwashed people, tried to destroy our universe, and even kidnapped my son! Don't test me!"
Claude folded his arms and looked to Kirby. The puffball nodded and stepped between Fox and Ratchet.
"Fox, please. Why does he have to die? He didn't kill anyone."
Fox looked disgusted.
"Just because he didn't kill anyone doesn't mean it wasn't his intention," Samus said, keeping heavy surveillance on Derrick.
Kirby gaped. "Samus, you too?"
"Well, I'm not saying he should die, but I'm not sure locking him up somewhere will stop him either."
"She's absolutely right!" Ken said and giggled. "Exit command!"
Nothing happened.
"It doesn't work in core chambers, jackass," Ratchet said bluntly, slapping Ken in the back of the head.
"Oh my," Ken responded in a strangely gleeful manner. "Looks like I'm really in a bind now!" He said, jiggling the cuffs on his wrists. Ratchet slapped him again.
"You're really annoying, do you know that?"
Kirby looked around for any signs of help on his side of the argument. The only one he was absolutely sure felt the way he did was Claude, and that's when the idea hit him.
"Fox! You owe Claude! He saved James, didn't he?"
Fox grimaced and his face became somewhat apologetic. "That's right," he recalled, turning to Claude. "I don't really know how to thank you..."
"Two things," Claude said, holding up two fingers. "First, don't kill Ken."
Fox's jaw dropped. "You must be joking! Even you know how dangerous he is. He's tried to kill you before too!"
Claude stuck to his position. "I know, but I think you might get in trouble if you kill him anyway. He's from Earth so people would notice if he didn't come back home, ever, and if there's some kinda investigation, Nintendo just might have to tell 'em about this place and the DWA Machine. You might even get arrested."
Fox chuckled. "Yeah, right."
"The man's tied up and insane. Lawyers would have a field day with you. You'd get tore up from the floor up. You'd wreck yourself before you checked yourself. You'd-"
"Okay, I get it!" Fox threw up his arms in defeat. "Jeez, I won't kill the man, alright?" He put his blaster away and punched Ken in the gut. "But that doesn't mean I can't knock some sense into him!"
"I'm not done yet," Claude said, stopping Fox in the middle of another punch. "The second thing I wanted you to do was say Shadoink."
Fox raised a brow. "What!? You want me to say that stupid word you made up?"
Claude sighed. "You make it sound like the worst thing ever."
Fox growled and his ears went flat. He did owe Claude, and decided to get it out of the way. He gulped and said, "Sha...doink..."
"What? Shadow wings?" Claude smirked.
"Ugh. Shadoink, you clown."
Claude's smirk grew into a smile as he pried further. "Doink the Clown?"
"SHADOINK, DAMMIT! SHADOINK!!!" Fox screamed at the top of his lungs. The chamber burst into laughter.
"That's perfect!" Roy said with a devilish smile. He was aiming the blue phone Marth had earlier directly at Fox. "I'm so glad this phone can record video!"
Fox was flustered and only his fur managed to hide how deeply he was.
"If only Iris could see you now!" Zelda voiced happily.
"Oh, she will!" Roy was glad to report. "Again, and again, and again!" He played the video and Fox's cries of "Shadoink!" filled the room again.
"Give me that!" Fox chased after Roy, circling the chamber.
Wind suddenly picked up and blew past them all towards a shimmering blue portal that opened up behind Ratchet. "Looks like that's our cue," he said, peering into the wormhole.
Yoshi was disturbed by the sight. "Hey, I thought you said that wouldn't work here!"
"I said the exit command didn't work here. I didn't say anything about portals," Ratchet replied. There was a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Wait!" Samus cried when Ratchet began to drag Ken to the portal, pushing Derrick aside. "You haven't told us exactly what you're going to do with Ken!"
Ratchet looked to Clank, who took over. "It's really up to the company," the little robot informed them, holding a metal finger in the air. "But rest assured, he won't come here ever again."
"So we have no say on the matter?"
"None, I'm afraid."
Ken giggled again. "It proves just how weak you Nintendo scum are! But my oh my, Derrick, you're quite the little traitor. Traitor, traitor, traitor!" He sang. Derrick clearly looked uncomfortable. He suddenly stopped as if hit with a revelation. "I see, I see. Oh, you're even worse than I am! Tee hee!"
"What are you talking about?" Derrick finally said, attempting to defend himself. "You're crazy. The only reason I went along with you was because I was mad, but I never wanted to destroy this universe just because of that. I'm just glad you showed me everything before I had to stop you."
"Liar, liar! I can see right through you, my traitorous little apprentice!"
"Be quiet," Ratchet hissed, and literally kicked Ken through the portal. Clank jumped in after Ken's flailing body. Ratchet was next, but before he left, he gave them one final message.
"Maybe you guys weren't that bad after all..."
The portal closed and there was a short silence.
"Well, I guess everything is back to normal..." Derrick said nervously when the attention turned to him.
"Wait just a minute!" Samus ordered. Derrick ceased all body movement.
"You look funny!" Young Link said, circling the boy with interest. "What's with all the chains?"
Zelda grabbed Young Link and pulled him away before saying, "a better question would be, who exactly are you?"
"Derrick Salvas," Claude explained. "I thought I recognized you before. You're the guy that got mad 'cause you didn't win the contest."
"And you're the guy that shouldn't have won," Derrick retorted.
"That's pretty funny considerin' that I did win and met Shigeru Miyamoto."
"Okay, boys," Zelda said, stepping between them before anymore was said.
"You still haven't explained anything," Samus said, jabbing Derrick in the back harshly with her arm cannon.
Derrick took a deep breath. He didn't realize just how much pressure was on him until he looked around and saw the familiar faces staring at him, silently demanding answers and displaying discontent.
"Well, I lost the contest. I was so mad I stormed out of the Nintendo World Store and decided to walk home." He paused. "Actually, I didn't want to go home because I wasn't sure how to tell my parents. So I walked around the area a bit and that's when Ken stepped out of an alley."
"Uh-huh," Yoshi mumbled and folded his arms.
"Hey, that's exactly how I met him!" Derrick shouted. "I thought he was some kind of wino at first, but he knew all about the contest. He said he saw it and agreed that I should have won. He had an offer for me. I figured, since he had to be buttering me up with that talk about how I should have won, I'd at least listen to what he had to say. That's when things started to get weird..."
"He started talking about giving me the prize, which was a digital machine thing...he said it connected our worlds. That this world was real. He told me about how I could get revenge for losing while he completed his task."
"And you just believed him and jumped on board?" Samus asked incredulously. "A machine that connects dimensions is a little farfetched, especially on Earth. I doubt walking up to kids on the street and telling them would garner that response."
"Of course I thought he was insane!" Derrick defended. "He wanted me to be his apprentice or whatever as long as I agreed to it. I was curious so I went along with it, then I knew he had to be telling the truth when he showed me his power. We were on another 'plane' and he just walked through building walls like they were nothing. I followed him and soon enough, we were in the Nintendo World Store. No one even realized we were there. Then he led me into the room with the machine."
"Lies!" Yoshi hissed. "Nobody has powers on Earth!"
"He did," Derrick replied quickly. He thought explaining his situation would make things better, but it seemed to be doing the opposite.
"That would explain how Ken got inside the room," Samus whispered. "I have a theory, but it can't be proven right now. So your word isn't very credible at the moment."
Derrick sighed. "But that's exactly how it happened. He even played around with the machine, telling me stuff every now and then about what it could do. He leveled a city with it but said that wouldn't be enough and decided that we needed to go into this universe. He put a disk into the machine and started talking about how I needed to 'outfit myself appropriately' for the trip...that's where these came from," he tugged at his new clothing and some chains rattled.
"When we got here, I couldn't believe my eyes. I wanted to explore, but Ken only wanted to destroy. He kept talking about the mission. I thought that maybe I could stall him, getting him to tell me everything...about the gateways, the core, the orb, stuff like that. And I began checking out the lands for myself but he started getting suspicious every time I went exploring, and he'd even send you guys to follow me," he said, pointing the Wild Arms trio. "You were there waiting for us when we first arrived."
"Why not just go get help?" Zelda asked.
"Like I said, they were sometimes following me. I think he ordered them to kill me if I tried anything. But I never participated in the fights! Really, I never had any intention on destroying this world! You guys are my idols!"
Yoshi closed in on Derrick, causing him to back up. "Just because you didn't fight us doesn't mean you didn't think about it!" He stayed on the Derrick's case until the boy nearly backed into Bowser.
The large reptile rolled his eyes before saying, "the boy's story checks out. He helped me after Ken ejected me from my castle." Bowser grimaced. He didn't like recanting the story so he kept the details at a minimal.
Roy nearly choked. "Bowser? Defending someone else!? That's odd!" The large reptile folded his arms in response.
"Enough!" he shouted deeply. "Let's get this over with." He eyed Derrick impatiently.
"You've got to make a little room for me," the boy said. Bowser complied and released a blast of flames from his throat.
"Hey!" Roy called, jumping back from the fire and wielding the Sword of Seals. "What's the big idea?"
Derrick ran towards the core, holding the teleporter. "Now!" Derrick yelled. Bowser broke off the attack and headed in his direction. Several figures materialized in a line next to Bowser.
"I forgot to mention that while I was exploring, I did a little bit of recruiting of my own..." Derrick smiled. "Don't feel bad. Ken didn't see this coming either."
"Damn," Claude said, both scared and fascinated by the newcomers. "Ganondorf, Dedede, the Star Wolf team, Blood Falcon, and..."
"Asylik!?" Samus barely uttered.
"Asylik?" Claude asked. "I don't know no Asyliks!"
"I heard the famous hunter Samus Aran had her sights on me...so I jumped at the opportunity to get her first. The hunter has become the hunted!"
Samus aimed her cannon at the criminal. "I'll just have to get payed early today."
"You can try. They don't call me "The Shell" for nothing," the insectoid replied smugly. He was right after all. Heavy armor covered most of his body.
"She won't be alone!" Captain Falcon announced, standing rigidly next to Samus.
"She won't be alone!" Blood Falcon mocked in a whiny voice. He stared with a crazed grin.
"To this very day, I still don't know why anyone would EVER clone Captain Falcon!" Yoshi moaned. There was a chorus of agreement.
"Silence!" Ganondorf hissed, stepping forward. "You told us about this core's power, now follow through with your word!" Derrick nodded and walked towards the core until a laser pierced the ground at his feet.
"No," Wolf demanded, pointing a blaster at Derrick. "I don't trust you."
Derrick looked horrified. "What!? You did before! This is what everyone agreed to! I'd divide the lands for everyone!"
"Well, I changed my mind. Is there a problem?" He waved the blaster a little and smirked.
Derrick sighed but didn't dare do anything else with a gun turned on him. "But if I don't do it, who will? You?"
"Ridiculous!" Dedede cried at the idea. "How can we trust Wolf anymore than the boy?"
Ganondorf chuckled. "'We'? Why are you here, bird? You're not even a real villain."
"Said the pig-man," Bowser muttered under Dedede's growls.
Dedede pointed his hammer threateningly towards Ganondorf. "Take that back, Ganon-dork!"
"Or what? Face the further wrath of your amazingly sharpened wit?" Ganondorf chuckled again. As far as he was concerned, he could belittle Dedede all day.
"Panther thinks that Wolf should do it," Panther stated in third person, as usual.
"Oh, shut up you pretentious moron." Bowser wasn't sure how long he could stand to be around Panther, and wasn't going to let him have his way.
They all continued to argue amongst themselves while Blood Falcon laughed maniacally at nothing in particular.
"This is really happenin', right?" Claude asked, giving the others amused glances.
Samus shook her head in disappointment. "And this is why villains can never work together," she said flatly. She took a step forward, attempting to take advantage of the arguing, only to hear several guns load. At least four cannons emerged from hidden compartments in Asylik's armor.
"Don't even think about it, hunter!" The insectoid warned. "I can rain down destruction on you all from the safety of my armor!"
"You blew it, Samus," Yoshi whispered harshly from behind her. "Way to go." Samus simply replied by swinging her arm back and slapping him across the nose nonchalantly.
"So, it's a stalemate," Roy said, exuding a cool aura. He didn't seem to be too worried about the situation. "You guys are over there and we're over here. But, we outnumber you. If a fight breaks out. We'll win. We always do."His voiced reeked of confidence, maybe even arrogance.
"It doesn't take numbers to secure the core," Ganondorf responded. "Which is what I think I should be doing since I am the King of Evil and that puts me above you all automatically."
The arguing broke out again.
This time, Derrick began to creep towards the core. He didn't care what any of them said. They wouldn't rob him of this opportunity.
"Hey!" Wolf cried. Derrick broke into a dash and Wolf didn't hold back, opening fire with the blaster and hitting the boy square in the back. Derrick flew forward and collapsed within the pulsating core, his body engulfed by it's energy.
The chamber began to quake and the core pulsated wilder than ever.
"Wow..." Derrick's voice echoed. "I can't believe this. This is great!" He laughed with newfound enthusiasm. "It's really a shame none of you were nicer to me. I could have given you what you wanted, now there's really no point. The world will be reborn the way I see fit...and those of you that don't belong here...well, you'll probably be deleted."
His final word echoed the loudest. The core discharged a wave of energy that spread from the chamber, the eight seals and throughout the rest of the Nintendoverse. And starting with the center of the chamber, it slowly began to dissolve and disintegrate into tiny particles.
Ganondorf flew towards the core and was flung back by a jolt of lightning. Soon, he too began to dissolve along with everyone else until there was nothing left but an empty, black void.
The Nintendoverse had deleted itself.
Now marks the final turning point of the story. There will be less humor and more darkness (in more ways than one) than before. I always wanted to write something like this, and now, I've got the chance. Oh yeah, I'm also going to be re-doing the summary with the next chapter to reflect the transition between the light-hearted first half of the story to the darker approach coming up.