Okay. The next chapter up. I can't even pretend to be happy that I have another chapter up because everything's so emotional in the story right now. A warning to everyone: It ain't gettin' any better, dudes. Yeah. That's all I have to say. I also have to say... I'm sorry. *sniff*
It was only later that Sheik found out who had died from the four floating swords. Dark Pit, Luigi, Megaman, Rosalina's Luma, and Kirby. The wounded were much more. Because it was everyone who was outside. Many smashers had fled back into the mansion, but Sheik knew that it wouldn't be safe for them as soon as Core killed the ones fighting. The thought made her stomach churn. Besides cowards like Wario back there, little children were also in the mansion. Ness wasn't among them. He had come out, Sheik couldn't fathom why, and was crouching on the ground near Rosalina, who was hugging him. Both were scraped, bruised, and bleeding.
"I brought him!" Peach's scream couldn't have given Sheik more hope.
She flipped over a swinging blade and landed, blinking as Bowser bounded out of the mansion and towards them on all fours. He stopped with a roar and pulled back his head, puffed out his scaled chest, and a moment later had filled the atmosphere with the heat of his fire.
Sheik gritted her teeth and squinted her eyes almost shut against the heat, ever thankful for her mask's slight protection.
One of the blades dissolved in the air and the particles it was made of rained onto the grass below. A scattered cheer broke from the ragged group of fighters and Sheik's eyes blazed with hope. But she couldn't smile. In the back of her mind she knew, as soon as it was over, it would never be over. Because Ganondorf would always be dead.
"I didn't bring him before," said Peach's voice from behind her.
Sheik turned to see the pale princess clutching a frying pan.
"I thought he'd hurt people with his fire," she continued. "Did anyone else die?"
Sheik pressed her lips together. "We'll see when this is over."
"Okay," she sniffed, her hands clutching the handle of her pan tighter.
Sheik dashed forward and flipped over a blade, leaping backwards and towards Bowser. Core swung out and Bowser responded with a fireball. It singed the top of Sheik's head and she was sure her turban was probably toasted now, but she didn't care because the second blade dissolved. And Bowser roared with pain.
Sheik whirled as Marth's voice shouted, "He got hit from behind! Oh no! Corrin!"
Sheik leapt to the side as Bowser dove forwards, tucking himself into a spinning shell.
"Sheik! Corrin!"
The spinning shell struck Corrin F, who had been just behind Sheik, full on and the dragon girl went hurling through the air. The suited Samus caught her, but she hung limply in her arms.
"You monster!" Corrin M had always struck Sheik as calm, but he was anything but that now. Face a brilliant red he streaked towards Bowser's spiky shell and hurled a blue fireball at it. Bowser erupted from his green armor with a roar of fury.
"Stop it!" Ike roared. "Corrin, fight the blade!" One of the remaining two swung towards the pair of brawlers at that moment.
The fire was a strange purple brown as their two flames mixed and the third blade went down.
The three separate 'puddles' of black pixels on the ground abruptly rose into the air and Peach, Marth, and Robin F leapt away from them as they shot up to join the final blade.
"Big sword," came Roy's hoarse voice behind her. Sheik swallowed and pulled out her needles, heart beating fast.
It swung towards Ike, Marth, and Robin F. Marth leapt high into the air, Robin F ducked, and Ike raised his sword to meet it. Which meant he was hurled ten feet away and the giant blade broke in two.
"Double trouble!" yelled Zero Suit. Samus fired a ball of blue energy at the blade and Zero Suit jumped on her back and flipped off of it. With a flick of her wrist she swiped the blade with her laser whip and landed on the ground as the blade swung down after her. She was hit in the back and somersaulted forward with a shriek. Her sister dashed in to grab Zero Suit and the second blade rose to strike her as well.
Robin F got there first and flipped off Ike's back to slice with her jagged sword at the floating blade. It spun in the air and her sword went flying as she landed with a grunt on the ground.
Ike threw up his sword and leapt after it. "Aethar!" He caught Core in his golden blade and—
"Sheik!"
Without waiting to know why they were screaming her name, Sheik ducked and felt wind whistle overhead as the second blade barely missed her. It swung straight down and she sidestepped. Again and again it swung and struck at her and she sidestepped and flipped and somersaulted and avoided it. But her breath was coming in short gasps.
"Help!" she begged with a hoarse cry as she barely avoided another lunge. The needles she hurled at her nemesis didn't do much harm. Where was everyone? There were many smashers why weren't they helping? Maybe they were all wounded.
"Leave her alone!" Zelda's sharp voice was filled with anger as she dashed in and hurled fire at the blade. It swung up and avoided the pink flames, slicing down a moment later. Zelda's dress was torn and she gave a scream as her legs ware skimmed. She toppled over backwards.
Sheik ran forward and kicked the black sword with her foot, struck at it with a karate chop, and fled as it flew towards her. She stopped short and leapt high in the air in a backflip, landing just behind it as Core flew past her. But she could barely breath, her throat was on fire, and she knew she couldn't avoid him anymore.
Master Core turned back and flew towards her and Sheik bit her lip and stood there, hunched over, her hands resting on her knees, exhausted. How could she not even summon enough will to duck?
A grunt from above and a flash of white, blue, and gray. And the blade struck 'it' full on. Wii Fit.
The trainer gave a strangled cry and collapsed on the ground, the Core's blade half in, half out of her pale body. And it dissolved, covering her in black specks.
Wii Fit had jumped in and saved Sheik in the knick of time and now she was dead and… Sheik fell to her knees, bent her head until her forehead touched the ground, and sobbed out, "Why can't I just die now? Why did I ever come here? Of all the stupid things I could want!"
Lucina. Ganondorf. Wii Fit. The others she couldn't even remember. Who would be next?
She turned her head, her breathing filling her ears, and saw Ike and Roy standing over another pile of particles: the other half of the large blade. She returned her head to the ground and shut her eyes; teeth gritted, jaw clenched, hands balled into fists. "Let it end," she begged.
"Tell me he's dead!" Roy's scream brought her head up again and she forced her eyes not to look at Wii Fit Trainer's corpse, but at the red-haired swordsman as he stood stiff, tears streaming from his face, sword held firmly in his hand.
"What is it?"
"Is that a person?"
"Why isn't he moving?"
Sheik saw 'it' then. Core had transformed again. And she knew instantly what he had become. It was a Wii Fit Trainer. A male Wii Fit Trainer. And it was an inky black with no shadows or shine to it. And it stood still and unmoving on the grass.
"Careful," said Marth's voice. It was masked with pain and he stood slightly bent over by Corrin M, who was sitting on the ground holding his leg. Corrin F was leaning against him, unconscious.
"He might make a sudden move at anytime," Robin M cautioned, his eyebrows knit. His sister stood by his side and by both of them the Samus' lay; Zero Suit struggling to rise and Samus looking down at the sparks that floated from her broken arm cannon.
"He's not doing anything," Ike whispered. He turned and met Sheik's gaze.
She looked away and saw Marth dash over to Lucina's squashed corpse. And Zelda was crawling over to Link's unconscious form. Or was he dead? Sheik started forward and stopped as she realized her arm hurt and her leg wasn't feeling too happy about supporting her body weight.
"I'm going to kill him!" Roy's scream caused her head to snap up and she saw him rush towards the frozen shadowy figure. Ike, Robin M, and Rosalina, all angry, followed him.
They were only ten feet away, and yet still Core did not move. Perhaps it was dead and the male Wii Fit was simply a standing corpse.
"Hiyaa!" Pit's voice came from the sky and he shot down towards Core in a blur of white and gold, his sword extended.
Sheik was sure they struck him all at the same time. And yet it was Roy who gave an agonized cry, Ike who tumbled away, and Robin M who hurled backwards, taking Rosalina with him to the ground as they fell. And the shadow was now ten feet behind where he had originally stood and was in a crouching position, one arm out for balance and the other holding Pit by the neck.
The winged boy gave an agonized scream and Sheik screamed with him as she saw him crumple onto the ground, one wing completely dis-attached from his back and lying beside him on the ground. He didn't stop screaming.
Furious and scared Sheik stood, tense and waiting. Marth was standing beside Lucina, eyes wide in horror and anger and Robin F was running towards her brother.
"Robin! Wait!" called Sheik.
Core leapt forward and flipped over the white haired girl. The hands grabbed her two ponytails and jerked them downwards as he landed. She shrieked and fell backwards onto the ground. But the shadow continued forward, running straight for Zelda and Link.
"No!" screamed the brown haired girl. She pulled back her hands and then pushed them forward and along with it a ball of pink fire. It headed for him and he softly ducked beneath it without checking his pace.
Sheik started forward as fast as her weary body would allow and at the last moment Zelda leapt to her feet and spun around. All about her a forcefield of blue appeared and Master Core was hurled backwards. He flipped midair and gained his feet, dashing towards Zelda again. Again she spun around. The blue was less vivid this time, but it didn't matter, because the shadow simply leapt over it, her, and him and landed on the other side.
Sheik stopped and watched him, confused. Would he attack them from behind? But he kept going. She gasped. He was heading for Cloud.
"Hey!" she screamed. "You have to help—"
"He's got the sword!" Cloud's voice was full of desperation and Sheik saw the shadow kick him in the side as he ran back towards the main group of smashers, Cloud's huge sword shining in the sun as he wielded it.
"Run!" Sheik screamed, obeying her own advice and streaking towards Rosalina and Robin M.
She felt selfish as she stopped and turned. Peach was holding her golf club in hand as the shadow approached her. She swung and the club snapped in two as it collided with the metal blade. And then the metal blade collided with her.
It slammed against her side, gathering folds of pink cloth from her skirt with it. The dress was little protection and she gave a groan and collapsed on the ground. The shadow headed for the Samuses.
"Fire at him!" gasped Zero Suit.
"I can't! My cannon's broken!"
Zero Suit gained a hit as she swung out with her plasma whip, just as the shadow came into range. A brief flash of orange 'blood' streaked across his body, but the male Wii Fit made no sound. Cloud's sword sliced down and there was a loud crack as it hit Samus' robotic mask.
Zero Suit hit him with a punch and he swung at her. She ducked and Samus brought up a foot. Orange metal collided with the glinting blade and a clang resounded through the air as the sword was knocked from the inky hands. The shadow leapt into the air and grabbed the handle, landing in a position similar to the end of Ike's Aether jump. But the sisters were already beating a hasty retreat across the grass, helping each other along as they hurriedly limped away.
And Core followed.
Sheik narrowed her eyes, took a deep breath, and ran forward, a series of handsprings bringing her directly in front of the shadow. He didn't stop as he neared her, swinging out with the sword as if to clear away a piece of rubbish in his path. She leapt over him and landed just behind, striking out with a spin on the ground, legs spread out into splits. Both feet collided with his head and she rolled to her feet as he turned and swung at her. She jumped, but he was ready and she felt the blade collide with her upper shoulder and chest, slicing her down the front.
The pain came a moment later, sharp and agonizing. But she gave nothing but a moan as she landed in an anguished crouch, waiting for the sword to come down again and end her life.
The blade was raised and with a might yell Ike dove in front of her. The flash of gold and silver blinded her and she flinched. But a moment later everything was clear. Ike lay on the ground, Cloud's sword all the way through his stomach and coming out the other side. And his golden blade was in the exact same position, straight through the shadow.
As Sheik's shattering scream split the air the male Wii Fit dissolved into a puddle on the ground.
Yes. I want to cry. I did it. I killed him. I killed my precious. He's dead. I'm just going to go sob in a corner. Please excuse me...