Super Smash Bros 3D: World of Realities

by NX WORLDS

Nintendo gamer Jace Riders has stolen a limited-edition 3DS console, only to find out the console has magical properties that brought Smash Bros. characters to life in New York City! (New Ep update Sept 27th '18! Back after a long hiatus): Bayonetta sets her plan in motion. Jenn steals the 3DS from Jace. The Super Smash Bros. track down Bayonetta and Star Wolf and falls into a trap

25. Ep20:: Treasure Hunting in 3D

Disclaimer: I don't own Smash Bros. The series itself belongs to Nintendo.

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Super Smash Bros. 3D

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Treasure Hunting in 3D

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xxx

Our World: Plaza Hotel, Back in New York City

Fox had some sort of scanning machine working in his hands.

The scanner ran its laser couple of times over the cryptic message "I HAVE PEACH" written in blood on the living room wall by a creepy villain.

He looked at the scanner screen, tapped a few buttons here and there and made pondering "Hmmm…" sounds as if in deep thought.

"What have you found out?" Samus asked him.

He turned to his fellow Nintendo companions currently in the room. Samus, Mario, Luigi, Rosalina, Link, Zelda, Pit, Palutena and Falco.

"It's just as I thought." He said, "The message isn't written in blood."

"Then what's that creepy red thing?" Luigi asked.

"Cranberry jam."

The Smash Bros. exchanged stunned glances. At that same moment, Kirby entered the room with a piece of bread and a butter knife. "Yum! Yum!" he squealed before hopping over the wall to scrape the message into his bread, smearing the wall in the process.

"Cranberry…?" whispered Rosalina.

"…jam?" finished Palutena.

"That's disgusting!" Falco coldly spat.

"Disgust—? More like psychotic!" Pit shouted, "Who would do such a thing? It's not April Fools y'know?"

Link turned to the two goddesses, "Uhh, goddesses? Doesn't this remind you of last time?"

Palutena and Rosalina turned to each other, nodding in agreement.

"What happened last time?" the curious Mario asked.

Link and the goddesses all looked at Mario. Zelda glanced back at them also but with a knowing look.

"It's the villains is it?" she whispered.

"The villains? You mean Bowser?" Mario then shook his head, "That's not his style. Bowser would literally carve up the walls with his fireball, not use marmalade!"

"That's true." Rosalina said, "But last time we've received a cryptic message like this, it came from—"

The door swung open. All heads turned to the source. It was Jenn. She looked pretty shaken. Pretty disturbed. And she wasn't alone. Mr. Belldam and two of the Plaza's security guards were with her.

"That's it!" Jenn waved her finger at the now smeared wall. "Right there! That's the message I got splattered in the wall!"

"You mean the same message eaten up by Kirby?" Mr. Belldam said sarcastically. "And why would it be eaten by Kirby when the message itself is edible?"

It occurred to Fox and the others that Jenn didn't see that the message was completely smeared over before she barged in with accusing finger. She finally turned to the wall and realized what happened to it.

"Uhh… what…?" Jenn couldn't form the words out.

"The message was not in blood but in cranberry jam." Fox said.

The security guards froze up. At first he thought they felt their jobs insulted by a complaint that felt like a prank and couldn't find the words to tell them off. But it wasn't that. They were just not used to seeing him and his comrades—Nintendo residents—in their world.

"What are you looking at?" Samus said.

"I'm… uhh…" the security guard stuttered, "…well, it's just that we can't…buh-believe… that we're standing face-to-face with Nintendo characters. And Samus Aran of the Metroid series!"

"I am such a huge fan." the second guard said.

"And you are so hot…" the first guard added, drooling.

"And you have such huge big—"

"Okay" Jenn interrupted and started pushing them out the suite, "Thank you for your service guys!" she turned to Belldam who was following them, "You too, Mr. Bellum!"

"It's Belldam." The manager groaned, "It says it on my nametag. Bell-Dham!"

The trio left the suite and Jenn closed the door. She turned to the Smash Bros.

"You could've warned me!" She snapped, "Before I made such a big fool of myself!" she then sighed and a softer worrisome look settled in her face, "So, what are we going to do about this?" she waved her finger over the message, "And about Peach?"

The Smash Bros. turned to the smeared wall.

"It's up to you, Jenn." Samus said, "What do you want to do about this whole situation we got ourselves into?"

Jenn's face hardened, "Well, I'll tell you one thing I want to do: find Bowser. And kick his ass."

xxx

Nintendo World: Dark Cave

A sudden crack and an explosion stunned Captain Toad.

The impact almost knocked him and Shulk—his chaperone to this quest—off their feet. Debris and pebble fell into a billowing cloud of dust before them. The duo coughed violently while trying to stay on balance. The shaking wouldn't stop.

The treasure-hunting Toad turned to Shulk. He knew his brave companion would say something uplifting to calm him down. He just has to!

But one look into his eyes and he knew Shulk was staring like he just saw Death itself, sneaking up from behind him.

"What?" Capt. Toad squealed, "What is it? What's wrong?"

Shulk looked up the ceiling. So did Capt. Toad.

"Why is the ceiling moving down on us?" the Captain said, "WHY IS THE CEILING MOVING DOWN ON US?"

Shulk looked back at Capt. Toad and forced a nervous smile, "Remember that bad feeling I had earlier before?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Well…" Shulk stuttered.

"Well, SPIT IT OUT BUD!"

The rumbling brought Shulk's attention again. Capt. Toad looked up also. The entire ceiling was shaking. Yet no cracks, dentures and large rocks—only except few dusts and debris—were falling, crumbling from it. It was like the ceiling itself—an entire ceiling—was coming down at them at a bulldozer speed.

Shulk and Capt. Toad turned back for the exit, only to see a huge wall before them instead.

Capt. Toad seized Shulk's large young hand, looking like he's about to burst out in tears.

"I think I should've mentioned this." Shulk swallowed, "Before we stepped into the cave."

Capt. Toad looked at him, jaws dropped.

"I saw that we were gonna get trapped."

"And you picked the PERFECT TIME to reveal THIS KIND OF INFORMATION?"

"Look, I'm sorry man! But I didn't wanted to crush your dream of exploring this particular cave, and… well, I've never been to Weyard before and…!"

"Well, congratulations!" Capt. Toad barked, "My dreams are about to get literally crushed by a ceiling! WITH ME AS THE GROUND BEEF!" Capt. Toad turned ahead to the chamber. Tunnel end led to complete darkness. No exit, other directions, or corners were seen. Nothing.

"Aww… man, I can't believe the others are gone and it's just us. We had to pick the perfect time to split!"

"Come on, Captain! I can get us outta here!" Shulk argued.

"Oh, can you really?" Capt. Toad said almost with a sarcastic tone.

"Yes, I can!" Shulk stepped forward, "and I'm not going to rely on my visions this time… okay so if we run down that way, REALLY fast. And we're able to reach whatever that is… in there…"

"—we might fall into a hole!" Capt. Toad exclaimed.

Shulk swallowed, "Maybe. But if we don't, we might be able to make it before…" He looked up the moving ceiling again which was about 24 feet away from his head, "…well obviously, before we get crushed." He nervously chuckled, "How hard can it be?"

"Obviously." Capt. Toad exclaimed, "WE'RE GONNA GET CRUSHED!"

The ceiling roared above them. It was now 20 feet away to ground.

"Go!" Shulk shouted, shoving Capt. Toad to the front. Capt. Toad sprinted down the chamber without a second thought. Shulk followed seconds later. Debris and dusts continued to fall on the treasure hunters. Their footsteps pounded the cemented ground. The roaring of the earth quake rang in their ears. Their blurry eyesight remained focus toward the darkness before them: the point of no return. Their anticipation to what was waiting before them heightened and the very thought of it sent a surge of adrenaline through their nerves.

The ground slammed again. Shulk almost tripped but quickly regained his balance. Capt. Toad briefly looked back at him to see if he was okay, and failed to look before him. The ground collapsed into piles of rocks, seconds before Capt. Toad threw his foot over it.

"CAPTAIN, LOOK OUT!"

Capt. Toad felt the ground fall under his feet. He plunged down, screaming. Shulk grabbed him by the hand and both jumped over the reduced rock pile and to the other side. Another ground shattered into a pit before them. The duo again leapt over the pit. Five more seconds later, another ground collapsed again. They jumped it over. But the ceiling was now 15 feet down. Shulk's head slammed on the moving ceiling. He dropped to the ground, letting go off Capt. Toad.

Capt. Toad's scream echoed to a frightening fade-out.

Shulk rolled over to a complete stop. His head jerked up; his heart was chaotically beating; his face painted of sheer panic. Capt. Toad had vanished from the ground.

The hole was the size of a crater and he was right at the edge!

"CAPTAIN!" he shuffled toward the hole, "CAPTAAAAIN!" he shouted again.

xxx

Our World

-Jace, Hunt and Maple were not aware they were being targeted.

Their plane have landed in the Kingdom of Glendor, a small country north of Britain but not far from Scotland, where they were supposed to be instead, to attend Maple's great uncle's birthday. He was turning 80 this year. But due to technical issues, the plane had to make a short stop to the infamous kingdom.

They crossed the airport terminal heading for the lobby. A great hall of gleaming white space with a spectacular glass skylight sweeping in a huge curve above. It reminded them of the British Museum.

The banner spread across the walls, showing off the emblem of the country. It was that of two white eagles woven in circle surrounding a golden ball.

Maple let out a painful groan, "My feet are killing me," she complained as she came to a stop with her carry-on luggage.

She pushed its handle down, sat on it, and proceeded to take off her summer shoes to rub the sole of her feet, "At this rate, I'd kill for a luggage cart to carry this huge sack and myself right into the hotel."

Turning to Jace, she suddenly lit up, "…or an even better idea: you could use your 3DS to teleport us there. Or teleport us to Scotland, by great uncle's house!"

"Love to do that, but 3DS battery is almost dead and it could deplete it." Jace said. "But hey, I'm not worried about how long this trek to the parking lot is. I'm more worried about Hunt and how is he going to fit in the luggage cart."

Hunt frowned, "Fit in the luggage cart? Dude, first of all, I'm in great shape. And second," he pointed at a luggage cart passing by on cue, "these things are dangerous."

Jace chortled, "Yeah, so is the merry-go-round, which you don't need a helmet to ride in it."

Maple almost broke into laughter. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "A helmet? Really?"

"Yes." Hunt boldly said, unashamed. "Because Merry-go-Round are dangerous!"

Maple couldn't keep the laughter off her voice, "You raced through Tokyo on race cars and battled Space Pirates and Mii Fighters back in New York. But you still think Merry-Go-Round requires helmet?"

"Hey!" Hunt barked, "The race car in Tokyo was Jace's idea!"

On cue, Jace held his arms out in surrender, "Guilty as charged." He said, grinning.

Hunt looked back at Jace then at Maple with a stunned look, "You guys can't seriously believe that I can be a badass?"

"I know I don't believe it." Maple said. Jace then pointed at Maple while nodding in agreement.

Hunt sniffed, "Okay. All right. Then I'll prove it to you. To BOTH of you. Here in Glendor, I will do something so heart-pounding, so thrilling, so disquieting, that you guys will have NO choice but to call me the biggest badass in the world!" he turned to Jace, "Jace!" then snapped his finger, "write that down. Biggest badass in town."

"Got it." Jace on cue went for his luggage and started to unlock it. "By the way, Hunt." He said, "Risk-takers don't say disquieting."

It was now Maple's turn to point at Jace while nodding in agreement.

Jace unlocked the luggage then froze. "That's odd." He finally said after a minute of quiet.

"What?" Maple asked.

"I don't remember my luggage having a lock." He blinked, "Heck, I don't even remember me knowing where its key was."

He unzipped the luggage and pulled it open.

Everyone back pedaled a few steps, staring in shock.

Instead of being a luggage full of clothes and necessities, the luggage was full of diamonds, glistening with the reflection of the sun and the color of rainbow. It looked like the diamonds from Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, except they were real.

"Where did you get that?" Maple asked.

"That's not my luggage." Jace gasped.

"Of course it's not your luggage. Then whose is—?" Hunt's sentence died once he turned to see a man in a black suit and black sunglasses coming toward them. He turned the other direction and saw two men dressed the same. He looked behind him and now he saw three of them getting close.

"Warning, warning. Danger! Danger!" Hunt hissed. Maple and Jace turned to the ominous men approaching. Jace quickly zipped the luggage, locked it and stood up. The men were now standing close to the trio.

One of them, the leader possibly, was standing inches close to Jace. He had close-cropped brown hair and frown lines that almost made him look like Agent Coulson from Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Is there a problem, officer?" Maple asked, trying to keep the nervousness off her tone of voice.

"Open up your luggage, sir." The Coulson clone ordered Jace.

Jace hesitated, but he obeyed. He bent down and unlocked the luggage. Before he could even unzip it, another one of these agents pushed Jace aside, practically knocking him down on the ground.

"Wh-? Hey!" Jace shouted, "Watch it!"

The agent didn't give a care. He tore the luggage open and the diamonds started scattering on the floor. He ruffled through them.

"Okay… officers!" Hunt raised his voice, trying to sound bold. "What you're doing is a complete violation of our human rights unless—!"

"We have a search warrant?" the Coulson clone said before pulling out a small yellow sheet from under his tux, "Yeah. One to search every luggage in this damn airport."

Hunt's mouth hung open, "is that even…" he paused, "…possible?"

"Look, sir! This isn't our luggage!" Maple said. "Someone must've switched it with ours! And what are you looking for anyway from under a pile of diamonds?"

"This." The agent searching the luggage exclaimed as he pulled out a shiny golden ball from under the diamonds pile. It was the size of a baseball, radiating under the bright skylight.

"What is that?" Jace asked.

"The Glendorian Royal Treasure. No doubt." The agent said, "They're the thieves!"

Next thing the gang knew, the agents aimed their guns at them.

"They're gonna shoot!" screamed Maple, raising her hands.

Jace held his arms out, "Whoa, whoa, whoa... now wait a second here...! There must be some kind of mistake!"

Hunt tried to protest but his mouth was parched with terror.

"You know what the mistake was?" the Coulson agent said, the barrel of his gun leveled directly to the trio, "Letting you go, Classic Capers."

"Classic Capers?" Maple repeated. "We're just three innocents young things!" she stepped back as the gun-wielding agents circled around them, "You gotta believe us!"

"Sorry but I don't believe that." The Coulson agent said just as one of his agents went behind Jace grabbed his arm and locked them behind his back. Another agent grabbed Hunt the same way and so did another agent with Maple.

"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to escort you down to HQ." the agent said.

Hunt heard the click of the handcuffs. He felt his blood drain in an instant. "Who are you? What are you going to do to us?" he asked.

"Just standard procedure." The agent said. "If you don't give us any trouble—!"

Apparently, Jace did. Before the Coulson agent could finish that sentence, he threw his head back, slamming the other agent's face with such powerful force the impact came with a violent crunch of bone.

The agent wailed in pain as he let go off Jace and staggered, holding on his face. Blood were oozing between the fingers.

The Coulson agent froze with a gaping mouth while the alerted agents raised their guns and pulled their triggers. Instantly Jace stepped in front of Hunt, Maple and the luggage and raised the magical 3DS in the air. A shield enveloped them and the bullets bounced on the shield, clattering on the ground.

Once the guns were out of ammo, Jace went on full fighter mode. He swept a back roundhouse kick at one agent, sending him flying in a twirl. Then he shot out a thrust kick at another agent. The other agent flew to the ground where he dropped hard onto his face. Another agent charged at him with a punch. He ducked and threw one of his own below the belt. The agent bent down with an Oomph, shot out of his breath. Jace finished with an uppercut, sending him to the ground.

He then turned to the Coulson agent and threw a high-kick at the hand clutching the golden ball. Coulson grunted in pain as the ball flew off his grasp into the air. All watched in panic the ball being airborne. But the panic receded soon as it landed into Hunt's hands.

Then two agents suddenly grabbed Jace from behind. He struggled. Two more agents lunged at him. He pushed his feet off the ground and pounded them on their chests. They propelled before a growing crowd of people, who were now starting to notice.

Next thing the trio knew, more security people and agents started swarming the airport. Hunt and Maple stared with their jaws open.

"Guys, don't just stand there! Do something!" Jace shouted.

Hunt clapped his teeth shut and rushed to Jace's aid. He wrapped his arm around the neck of one of the agents holding Jace from behind and pressed two fingers on his jugular. The agent lost consciousness and lolled his head back.

"Sorry." Hunt whispered to his ear. The other agent quickly let go off Jace and approached Hunt threateningly, "What are you doing?" he shouted.

But Hunt was too quick. He rolled behind him, wrapped his arm around his neck and pressed his two fingers to his jugular. That knocked him out too.

"Sorry to you too." Hunt said.

More security came galloping toward the trio.

"Give me the ball, thief!" shouted the Coulson lookalike agent. He tackled Hunt and pinned him to the floor with his knees pressed on his chest. The ball rolled off Hunt's hand. Maple grabbed it. It was safe.

But Hunt wasn't. The agent went swinging, throwing punches after punches. Hunt blocked every blow with his arm but he was getting exhausted.

Jace rushed to his friend's aid but Hunt was quick in recovery. He slammed two palm thrusts on the agent's chest. The agent let out a painful grunt as he arched forward. Hunt then finished with a solid punch across the jaw, knocking the agent off him.

All the agents were down.

The geek boy scrambled to his feet, "Sorry." He said to the dazed agent on the ground. "Again."

Maple rushed to the opened luggage and stuffed the golden ball inside, "We gotta get out of here!" she shouted, zipping the half-filled horde of jewels shut, locked and ready to roll.

Jace spotted a luggage cart nearby, "Come on!" he shouted out and ran for the cart. Hunt and Maple followed. The agents were now hot on their tail.

The trio dropped the luggage on the cart and Jace and Maple hopped on it.

"I'll push!" Hunt said.

"You're not going to hop on it?" Maple shouted.

"I'll need a helmet!"

"Stop right there!" shouted the agents. Surprised, the trio whipped their heads toward their shouts. More agents were coming! And they got their guns drawn and loaded!

"LET'S GO! GO! GO!" Jace and Maple shouted at the same time. Hunt let out a roaring grunt and ran as he pushed the cart. The cart rolled down the grand hall, zipping past citizens and travelers who got out of the way in panic and watched the chaos unfolding. The trio were now heading toward the main entrance, and Hunt finally managed to climb into the cart.

Then a gunshot echoed across the hall, and now the crowd started to panic. Men, women and children took off in fear of getting hit by a straight bullet from an inexperienced agent. Maple, Jace and Hunt ducked in fear. Seconds of their lives were felt ticking away like time bombs.

"They're shooting at us! WHY ARE THEY SHOOTING AT US?" Maple screamed.

Hunt then noticed a shadow growing under him. He looked up. It was a man, dropping from a balcony floor. Another agent!

"Watch out!" he shouted but too late. The agent's heavy body slammed onto Jace, knocking him off the cart and to the ground. Jace roared in pain as he rolled around with his assailant. He glanced up and to his shock it was no agent.

"You!" he gasped.

Ryan Somith was on top of him, a P220 Sig Sauer firmly gripped in hand. The cold metal barrel of the gun pressed hard below the chin of his hated rival, a finger trained on the trigger.

"You dare testing me bro?" he snarled. "Think again."

"Whoa...!" Jace gasped, feeling the cold metal so close to blowing his brains out.

"Ryan! Get off him!" Hunt shouted. Maple was frozen, her hands over her mouth and tears forming in her eyes.

"Give me what I want, thief," Ryan threatened, "or I'll let my single finger make the squeeze off your head." He smirked, "Y'know, I would've used my special zapper but why waste time on that when I have the real deal?"

"So you finally admit your zapper is a toy!" Jace exclaimed.

"You bloody…!" Ryan growled, curling his finger hard on the trigger.

That's when Hunt went full Kung-Fu Mode on Ryan. He let out a battle cry and lunged at him. Ryan whizzed his head around to Hunt but too late. Hunt knocked him off Jace's chest with a flying kick, crunching his face. At that same moment the gun went off and more people quickened out of the way, screaming in panic. The bullet found itself dug into a nearby seat next to an old lady. Her eyes stared widely at the stray bullet before she took off whimpering.

Jace breathed heavily. He felt his neck... He wasn't shot! He turned to Hunt who held out his hand. He was fine too.

"Come on!" he said, "He won't be down for long!"

Jace noticed Ryan unconscious on the floor. "Dude, you saved my life!" he said, turning back to Hunt.

"Told you I can be a badass." Hunt grinned.

"Guys, come on! They're gaining on us!" Maple shouted.

Jace threw his arm out to Hunt. Hunt pulled him up and the trio dashed out for the main entrance back on their luggage cart.

"European airports have rental cars by the parking lot!" Maple said, "Let's grab one and get outta here!"

The gang reached the door, the cart tires gritted the airport's white floor, along with the pounding feet of the agents. The agents slowed down to level their guns. They opened fire again.

Hunt screamed at the bullet's sound. He almost got hit! The trio reached the exit and disappeared into the dispersing crowd.

"DAMN IT!" Ryan screamed, pounding his fist on a wall. He couldn't believe he missed his target! He couldn't fathom it!

The agents slowed down next to him.

"What do we do now?" asked one of the agents.

The Coulson agent looked at the agent. "What do we do? We go after them!" he said.

The man was definitely not like Agent Coulson, Ryan thought, because he was ruthless and his name meant to kill. That brought a glitter of hope in his heart.

"But there're civilians." another agent objected.

"I DON'T CARE!" Ryan exploded, "SHOOT THEM! DO WHATEVER NEEDS NECESSARY! TAKE THEM—!"

The Coulson agent raised his hand, stopping Ryan, "They're right. They're civilians. And we're still part of the Federal Bureau, and must abide by our code." He then made a signal for the agents to go after the suspects and they did.

"But—!" Ryan tried to object.

"No but, Mr. Somith!" said the Coulson lookalike, "You chose to be part of the investigation and thus need to abide by our code also. Unless you want me to arrest you! For attempted murder!"

Ryan grumbled. Now the meaning of that name of his sounded like a joke. "Fine… …Damien. We'll go by your code."

"Let's go." Agent Damien said and the two followed the other agents ahead.

Jace hopped into the driver's seat of the rental car. It was a dark-green Hummer. Well-furnished, freshly-new with that new car smell, and its engines were already running. His best friends Hunt and Maple jumped into the car as well. Hunt had called shotgun.

Jace thought this vacation was going to get his mind off his blackmailer. But he never expected to be on the run from the FBI while dragging his friends along for the ride.

He laid hands on the wheels. Suddenly a terrible fear came over him, freezing him to the toes like ice. He saw a flash of darkness as if he went blind for a second, and then emerging out of that darkness was a flaming skull with horns.

Orne? He whispered under his breath.

Then just like that he was back to reality. Behind the wheels of the ready-to-drive Hummer. But he remained frozen with his jaws half open. What the heck was that?

"They're heading this way!" Maple's warning finally made him come to his senses and forced him to move. He was still in trouble. With the FBI and a stolen luggage full of diamonds and a golden ball inside.

He turned to Hunt, "You drive."

"Whuh—! Me?" Hunt couldn't keep the surprise off his tone of voice.

"Drive renegade!" Jace said again and hopped off the seat, shoving Hunt over to the driver's side. Hunt reluctantly took the wheels and Jace went over the front passenger side.

"Buh-but… I don't have my driver's license yet!"

"To drive?" Maple was now unable to keep the surprise off her voice.

"In this country!" Hunt clarified.

Jace was stunned, "Dude I thought you were badass! And save my ass!"

"Yeah but I'm not a thief!" Hunt argued.

"It's a rental!" both Jace and Maple shouted in unison.

Hunt looked troubled. He was about to argue more but many shouts started to fill around them. The agents were near the front entrance and there was a middle-aged man running toward the Hummer, raising his fist in the air shouting, "HEY! Get out of my car!"

"That's not a rental! That's someone's car!" Hunt exclaimed.

"WHO CARES?" Jace and Maple shouted again.

"Felony!" Hunt snapped.

"PUNCH IT!" Another voice shouted. It wasn't Jace or Maple or both. Everyone turned in surprise.

It was Sonic the Hedgehog.

"NOW!" the hedgehog shouted again and this time, Hunt obeyed. He slammed on the gas pedal and the Hummer took off like a bullet, leaving the agents without anyone to arrest and an old man screaming for his Hummer back.

xxx

Nintendo World

"CAPTAIN? CAPTAIN?!" Shulk screamed again in the closing darkness.

No sign of Captain Toad.

It was now him, a hole the size of a crater, and a ceiling now 10 feet from crushing him into flat cakes. Shulk's mind was red with fear. He glanced at the ceiling. He glanced at the hole where Capt. Toad fell. He didn't hear any splat below that hollow cave. He must still be falling. He didn't know how deep that hole was.

Now the ceiling barely scrapped Shulk's back. He couldn't turn his head anymore to look, but he knew he'll be crushed any second as its weight started pressing hard on him.

He had no choice.

He shuffled into the hole and with an agonizing cry of fear dove into the crater beyond.

"NOOOOOO!"

The next moment felt painful. He rolled down and down into the blinding darkness, bouncing hard off stones and rocks, scraping pieces of cloths and flesh away from his face and body. The fall felt like a long time and he couldn't see where he was heading. Couldn't see but felt nothing but pain, agony, and fear…

…then he hit rock bottom. The impact jarred all over his body, his bones ached.

But Shulk was still alive.

Lying still and gasping for breath, he stared up at nothingness. Nothing but darkness.

"Captain…" he managed to croak.

No answer.

He tried again, louder this time.

"Captain, are you all right?"

Nothing.

"…please say something!"

He heard a groan.

He breathed with relief.

"Captain, you scared me for a second. I thought you were a goner." He said, barely forming a smile. "But you're okay."

The groan was heard again, only louder.

Shulk stopped smiling. That was not a groan. That was a growl.

And an ominous 8-bit Music!

He held his breath. Something ferocious was breathing down his neck. No, breathing down his face! Literally.

He quickly rolled to his stomach then shot to his feet. The pain hammered all over his body, forcing him to do so slowly.

He pulled out his Monado from his back. He didn't need to make the sword lit up, because the ominous creature was right in front of him. A giant horned skull surrounded in bluish-green flames with tiny small skulls circling around it.

"Orne…" Shulk breathed his name.

The Orne charged.

xxx

Our World

The Hummer shot forward into the freeway. Sceneries by the window rushed past Hunt, Jace and Maple at blurring speed.

Hunt never expected to find himself on the run from the FBI. He was a good kid and always has been. His first instinct was to corner his rebellious best friend Jace with all kinds of questions beginning with the first classic: What the hell did you do?

But now he was thinking about asking these same kind of questions to a different culprit in the Hummer: Sonic the Hedgehog!

"Is it safe to ask what's going on now?" Maple inquired, "Or is the FBI still hot on our trail?" she looked behind her to see the Hummer was passing all kind of cars. No policemen or black SUVs with gun-wielding agents inside were spotted.

"Looks like the fire has doused out a bit." Sonic said, looking back. "It's safe now."

In the next instant, Pac-Man popped out of nowhere in the passenger's seat next to Maple. Then Mega Man popped out opposite of her. She jumped back, startled.

"Pac-Man? Mega Man?" Jace gasped, glancing at the three classic game characters.

"Can I ask you a question, Sonic?" Hunt said, glancing at him via the rearview mirror. "What the hell did you—?"

Jace raised his hand out and Hunt was quiet, "Not now, man." He turned to Pac-Man, "What's going on?"

Pac-Man and Mega Man looked at each other. Pac-Man shrugged. Mega Man scratched his head with the side of his blaster arm.

"Pac and Mega are men of few words." Sonic said, "I'll give you the short version of what's been happening: First of all, we're the Classic Capers."

"Classic Capers?" Hunt whispered, taking time to digest the words.

"Yeah, classic vigilante traveling all across the Video Game Realm, wanted fugitives in three: the PlayStation World, the XBOX World, and the Nintendo World." Sonic said, "I'm sure you've heard of them, White Knight."

"Everybody is aware of them." Jace almost said sarcastically.

"Well anyway, I must apologize for the mix-up earlier." Sonic went on, "We had to switch out our luggage with yours to throw our enemies off."

Pac-Man pulled out the teens' real luggage from out of nowhere. Both luggage were now in the back seat of the car next to Maple and the three classic characters.

"Never intended to get you all into trouble so soon." Sonic said, "Y'know. They're after the treasure."

"Yeah, a treasure you STOLE!" Maple screamed.

"And the enemies are the FBI!" Hunt exclaimed.

Sonic bit his lower lip, looking uncertain, "I… wouldn't worry about the FBI."

"Huh?" the trio said. Pac-Man and Mega Man nodded as if in agreement to Sonic's words.

"They're the least of our problems." Sonic said, "You should worry more about the… CIA." He said the last word with distaste.

Hunt gasped, "The Central Intelligence Agency?"

"No, the Criminally-Intelligent Activists."

Hunt thought his heart was going to explode. He and Jace turned to stare at each other. Their eyes were wide with shock and fear.

"TERRORISTS?" they shouted.

Maple let out a shrilling gasp in response, covering her mouth.

Sonic moved his head sideways as if trying to pick the right answer, "More or less." He finally said.

Pac-Man and Mega Man nodded again.

The Hummer lurched before a Stop sign. The silence was deafening. Hunt swallowed.

"Can I ask that question to them now?" he managed to ask Jace.

"Knock y'self out." Jace barely whispered.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?"

-Somewhere in Afghanistan…

لقد وجدنا موقع الكرة الذهبية ، ماستر ("We have found the location of the Golden Ball, Master.")

The old man heard his messenger in his native language, Arabic. He set his tea cup down but didn't bother to turn to face his messenger. He was still staring at the craggy wall of his old house before him.

و ... ("And…?")

He replied in Arabic.

بعض مجموعة تسمى الكلاسيكية يثب يكون ذلك ("Some group called Classic Capers have it.")

ولكن هي الكرة الذهبية لا تزال في المملكة ("But is the Golden Ball still in Glendor?")

نعم ("Yes.")

The old man let out a relieved sigh.

هذا هو كل ما تحتاج إلى معرفته. يمكنك التعامل مع يثب ("That's all I need to know. You deal with the Capers.")

تقصد ...؟ ("You mean…?")

نعم. اقتلهم. ("Yes. Kill them.")

xxx

Nintendo World

"No…" Shulk shook his head, "No, this can't be...Orne!"

Shulk heard about the curse of the Orne before. Anyone who crossed path with this death messenger would get an untimely end. But there was a catch. Those poor unfortunate souls would've been given a dark task to complete and had to be branded.

He quickly rolled up his sleeves, hoping, praying that he didn't get branded.

He was.

On his left forearm was the tattoo of the Smash symbol, its glowing color pulsed around him with searing red.

He turned to the Orne. It was fast approaching now. Getting on his face. He quickly backed away until his back felt a craggy wall.

"Oh gods, no please…!" he pleaded, shutting his eyes and looking away, "No, stop!"

The Orne froze.

Shulk was gasping for breath now.

He then heard a snap of the finger. As if in obedience the Orne turned around and went the other direction until it vanished. Its eerie light was gone and the entire cave was plunged back into complete blackness.

The eerie music was gone too.

Shulk slowly opened his eyes. No more Orne.

He let out a heavy sigh of relief. He couldn't believe what he got himself into. He wondered what kind of task he was given and who marked him. He knew he woke up in that village in Weyard, and met Captain Toad there, searching for that treasure, and decided to accompany him with the other guys as chaperones. Nothing dark about that.

But it didn't matter anyway. He was a goner either way. Even if he succeeded on his task against his will, he was still going to die.

He swallowed, slowly pushed himself off the wall and drew his Monado off his back. The sword lit up and with no threat on his face, he could see the cave the way it was.

There were walls closing in on both sides of him. Both walls made of hard cement and craggy rocks. Ahead there was a path. Maybe Captain Toad went that way, he thought.

Taking a deep breath he went on the search. It wasn't long until he heard Captain Toad's frantic cry.

"Captain?"

Captain Toad cried out again.

"Captain!" Shulk ran down the path and stopped at an intersection. The Captain's frantic voice were coming from the right. He turned there quickly. He pushed onward, almost tripping on solid rocks in the process.

He reached an opening of the cave to find a large shiny pool of water stretched out before him. The water seemed to bring some light in the cave, enough for Shulk to see what's ahead. And there he found Captain Toad, sitting by a wall with his mushroom head lolling back to the chest as if dazed.

"Captain…" Shulk ran toward him, "Are you—"

"He's fine." A throaty but quiet voice spoke in the cave. Shulk froze at its sound. It sounded like his blackmailer. He turned around. And there he was.

His blackmailer sported a white hooded garb that hid his face and most of his skeletal appearance.

"But he won't be down for long." The strange man said.

Shulk pulled out his Monado.

"You're wasting time." The man said, "The sword will not make a scratch out of me. The Monado can't hurt people, remember?"

"Wanna bet?" Shulk growled back at him. "Who are you?"

"Your guardian angel." the man smirked, "Or rather your worst nightmare."

The man spoke again, this time from behind Shulk, "I see that you've been afflicted by a terrible curse."

Shulk turned around to see him crouched next to Captain Toad. "Yeah, one you've inflicted on me I assume." he said.

The man caressed his mushroom head like a baby, "That's quite an unfortunate turn of event for you."

Shulk raised his Monado blade, "You stay away from him!" he threatened.

The man turned to him, clueless.

"If you want something, you're gonna have to get it from me, NOT him! He's innocent in all of this!"

"True." the man straightened up, "But you know what I want. What we all here for."

Shulk didn't know what the man wanted but he had a pretty good idea on what he was after.

"The Scroll of Secrets?" he asked.

"Yes." the man said, "The key to the greatest power in the history of the Nintendo World. And only Weyard, a land many believe to be just a legend, can hold that secret."

He was right. That treasure was highly revered by many in Weyard and Captain Toad's main goal was to find it. Now he knew what his mission was, and that is helping the Captain find that treasure.

"What power does it hold?" he asked, "Alchemy?"

The man shook his head, "No."

"No?"

"I have little knowledge of the power that scroll holds."

"Okay, then let me ask you this. How did you know about my mission? The treasure hunt with the Captain."

"Because I inflicted it on you."

Shulk's heart pounded, "I knew it." he swallowed, "But why...?"

"Monado boy, is it?" the man grinned, "You want to go home? Back to your family? I'm the one who brought you in to Weyard. I chose you to complete this mission for me and I picked this treasure seeking mogul to do the dirty work while you were the guide to influence him with your psychic ability, which I have amplified with my dark powers."

Shulk narrowed his eyes, "What's at stake here?" He said, "And why would you do this?"

"Because I want power." The skeletal ominous man said, "And what's at stake here is your life. So you two better get the Scroll of Secrets and you will be spared. The curse placed on you-the Orne torment-will be lifted and you and Captain Toad will go home."

"But... what if we fail?" Shulk whispered after a small quiet.

"Oh that's easy." The skeletal demon man laughed, "Orne will finish you and you will suffer a fate worst than death: an eternity locked in a miniature trinket of a statue stasis the Ancient Elders call... Amiibo."

Shulk could see the man frowning his violet eyes at the sound of that name, "Seriously, what kind of name is that? Have the Elders ran out of ideas?"

He looked back at Shulk as he walked past him, "Do as you were asked."

"So all you need is that Scroll?"

The man didn't reply.

"Who should I refer you as?"

The man stopped, turned back to Shulk and said with a satisfied smile, "Call me... Dullahan."

Captain Toad made a few groaning noises. Shulk turned to him. He was waking up. He turned back to the Dark Lord… only to see that he was gone like he was never there.

"Wh...what's... going on?" Captain Toad groaned.

Shulk went to him, "Captain, are you all right?"

"Where... Where are we?"

"You hit your head pretty hard." Shulk said, "But we don't have much time. We've got to keep moving."

He helped Captain Toad up to his feet. The captain shook his head and pushed him away, "Wait, no." he said, "I can't."

"What?"

"I'm want to leave this place..." he slurred, "...this...thing we're after. It's not worth it."

"What are you talking-"

"I don't want to lose my life over something that could just be a small piece of paper."

"But Captain." Shulk tried his best not to sound paranoid. He knew what was at stake and what he had to do, but he couldn't let the Captain figure out his endgame. "The Scroll of Secrets is no small piece of paper."

"And how do you know that?" the Captain said, "You didn't even know what it was until we met back at the village."

Shulk opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. The captain was right. He knew nothing about this Scroll of Secrets until he met Captain Toad. Until he started having these terrifying visions of Orne.

"You're right." he said, "But we have to keep moving."

xxx

Our World

Jace was surprised that no one recognized him and his friends when they got to the Glendorian Novotel Hotel.

It was like business as usual. They've checked in with their luggage, got their room keys and ordered room service. And all that time, there was no news on TV about the Classic Capers or what happened at the airport, or when he stole that Jeep from some unknown guy.

He swiped the room key on the little door slot and the door clicked. He entered the room and dropped his luggage on the nearby bed. Hunt and Maple followed, both of them carried the second luggage and set it down on the floor.

Sonic, Pac-Man and Mega Man followed behind, smiling as though they were about to enjoy the best vacation yet.

"I gotta say, that's an excellent choice of hotels." Sonic said. "And you should know Glendor is a fine country of luxury."

"Why are you still here?" Maple snarled.

"Wuh?" Sonic puckered.

"Don't pretend that this whole thing doesn't bother you." Maple exclaimed, "I was supposed to be attending my great uncle's birthday party! He's turning—"

"Eighty!" Both Jace and Hunt groaned in exclamation, "We know." Hunt moaned, "You've said it seven times already."

"Three times when we were in the stolen Jeep." Jace said.

"Two times when we were checking in." Hunt added.

"And two more times when we got here!" Both boys shouted.

"Sheesh boys, you don't have to keep scores." Maple muttered.

Jace gazed at the suite. The walls were of different shade of color from white to sandy brown, the carpet was a moss color and the queen bed was neatly done with a set of white sheets and quilt with golden trims. There was one caramel candy on each pillow. Two designer lamps of cylinder shape lit up the room with a soft glow.

"You're right Sonic." Jace picked a candy from one of the pillows and unwrapped it, "Hotel is nice." He dunked the candy into his mouth. "But we have to do something about the situation that you three put us into!"

Mega Man and Pac-Man lowered their sad heads.

"You're right." Sonic sighed. "We're trying to help a friend." Sonic glanced at Pac-Man and Mega Man. Both classic game characters have lowered their sad heads. Sonic hopped on the bed and lowered his sad head also.

"Those agents said that Golden Ball is a Glendorian Royal Treasure. Why would you have it, and what's with all the diamonds in the suitcase?" Hunt asked.

"The diamonds belong to Captain Toad." Sonic said, "We've been placed in charge of them for him. It was something that we've agreed to do ever since he disappeared. As for the Golden Ball…"

Sonic paused to glance at Mega Man and Pac-Man, as if searching for approval to go further. Both characters nodded in approval.

Sonic sighed, "We believe that someone else is trapped inside it."

"Someone else?" Maple asked, "Who?"

"Our friend Shulk."

The trio looked at each other.

"We consulted an old man, a fortune-teller who calls himself the Seeker, about Captain Toad and Shulk. He had no clue on the whereabouts of Captain Toad, but he told us that Shulk was trapped in Amiibo stasis inside the Glendorian Royal Treasure, the Golden Ball. He's been locked in there for a long time."

Mega Man and Pac-Man nodded in agreement.

"We didn't know where that ball was, except with the knowledge that it was here in Glendor. Our search was futile up until recently, at the Royal gala last week." Sonic said, "Long story short, we broke into the Glendorian Palace and without anyone seeing our faces proceeded to steal the ball."

"So now that you have the ball," Maple opened the luggage, dug her hands through the pile of diamonds and pulled out the Golden Ball, "you can now free him right?"

"Well," Sonic paused, "It gets… complicated."

Hunt placed his hands on his hips, "How complicated?"

"The Ball cannot be broken." Sonic said, "It can only be unlocked by the spirits of Four Elemental Djinns. Whatever they are."

Jace and Hunt looked at each other. "Wait? Did you say elemental djinns?" Hunt asked, suddenly his voice went to a high pitch of glee.

"As in Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Mars Elemental Djinns?" Jace added.

"As in Golden Sun Elemental Djinns?" Hunt exclaimed.

Sonic looked at them. Mega Man and Pac-Man perked up. "Wait, you know what they are? Where they are?"

"No, but we know of their origins." Jace grinned.

"No, we LOVE the Golden Sun series." Hunt declared.

"Uhh, you do." Jace corrected, "I only like it at a small amount."

Hunt tossed a dismissive hand, "Whatever man. But before we get to that, what does the CIA—the criminal kind of CIA—got to do with that Ball?"

"Oh, that old man, the one I was telling you guys about, is their leader. When he found out what we did, he told us what we needed to do to break it. By blackmailing us to find the Ball and unlocked it with the Djinns."

"Blackmail?" Hunt said, "Who does he have?"

Mega Man pressed the side of his head and instantly a holographic image formed. It showed an image of Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Dr. Light, and Ms. Pac-Man all tied up in a room of metal walls. The trio gasped.

"If we don't do as he says, in less than 24 hours, he'd kill them all." Sonic said.

Mega Man and Pac-Man nodded again, this time furiously.

"What kind of a sick twisted old man would do this?" Hunt exclaimed.

The holographic image vanished.

"You probably heard of the name: Aamir Black." Sonic said, "He set this whole thing in motion."

Jace's face darkened. "Aamir Black?" he growled.

Sonic looked surprised, "You know him?"

"Know him?" Hunt gasped, looking at his friend who was turning red, "We thought he died in the war on terror."

"Apparently he didn't." Jace said.

"Who is he?" Sonic asked.

"He's Al Qaeda's second advisor to its leader. He's responsible for what happened on 9/11. He's responsible for my father's death."

xxx

Nintendo World

Somewhere ahead of the cave, there seemed to be some sort of light.

It cast a faint gleam toward Captain Toad and Shulk, enough to see a yellow glistening pool of water.

"Come on!" Toad said as he pressed onward. Shulk followed. Their entire trip, the young man appeared to be on edge. And many times already, Captain Toad had tried to ask him what was wrong. And many times he decided against it.

But this time was different. Shulk was as pale as the moon, as if all blood had drained from him.

"Hey!" he called out. "Are you all right?"

Shulk was quiet.

"Shulk!" Captain Toad tried again.

He briefly turned to him with a monotone look. Then he blinked as if he just came back from spacing out. "Uh what?"

"Are you all right?" the Captain asked, "You look like..."

"...I've seen a ghost?" he finished.

"Yeah! That's exactly what I was going to-" the Captain trailed off, "...are you seeing a ghost?" he gasped and looked around, "Are we in trouble?"

"What? No!" Shulk shook his head violently, "No, no trouble. It's just that..." he sighed, "Captain. There is something I need to say to..."

Captain Toad's attention was drawn away from Shulk to the pool of water he now was seeing up close and personal. This was no pool of water, this was gold.

"Oh boy! Oh boy!" he ran toward the pile of gold, which was inside an enormous cavern, more vast than any places he has ever been before.

"I've never seen this much gold before! That's so cool! That's..."

The Captain hesitated. There were more gold then he could imagine: stack of coins, scattered bills, goblets and rings of all shapes and sizes, and diamonds. So many diamonds.

Without another hesitation, the Captain jumped into the pile of gold like it was a swimming pool and swam over it.

"WHAOH! Gold! GOOOLD!" he squealed, "We're rich! We're actually rich! Hey, Shulk! You should join me! Rip your shirt off, would ya!"

Shulk brought a smile on his face. He didn't look worried anymore. That's a good sign.

"Yeah... No." Shulk said, "We still have to find the Scroll of Secrets." He pushed past the coins and started searching. "Come on, help me search."

The Captain stopped swimming in the pool of gold and lowered his head, "Oh. Right. Way to ruin the fun."

xxx

Our World: Café de Fleur, Glendor Kingdom

-Sonic, Pac-Man and Mega Man had no idea on who they were dealing with, until Jace, Hunt and Maple share with them the sordid tragic tale of September 11, 2001 and how Jace's father, a successful businessman, was among the victims who died.

Jace was only eight years old when it happened. But the memory was still fresh in his mind as if it was yesterday. It was only recently that SEAL Team Six got rid of the terrorist's leader. But they were not successful in killing Amiir Black, the true mastermind behind the attack. And America and the entire world had no idea he was running the Criminal Intelligent Activists.

The next morning, the gang entered the Café de Fleur. The coffeehouse was alive and bursting with joyful conversations, laughter and cheers from friends and couple alike. Right now three young criminal teens wanted by the FBI and the terrorist-version of the CIA, have walked into their coffeehouse and the Glendorian citizens were totally oblivious about that fact.

The 3rd Dimensional Screen vibrated in the clutch of Jace's hand. That was a good sign for him and his friends.

"This is the very spot." He said.

"Spot?" Sonic asked, "Spot for what?"

"The 3rd Dimensional Screen can open portals to the Nintendo World." Jace said, "One of the devices' many perks. Now that we know that we only need the Elemental Djinns' assistance in opening the Golden Ball, we can get to them before anyone else could."

"But dude, how are we going to open a portal in front of so many people?" Hunt whispered to him.

Jace paused. He hadn't thought about that. "You're right. Drat."

Maple glanced at the mural on the upper wall around the coffeehouse. It was painted with lots of ancient historical characters.

"Ever wonder what life was like when those guys were around?" she said.

"I know what life would've been like with Hitler around." Hunt joked, only to get a glare shot back.

"You know this is the worst week of my life right? We're supposed to be in Ireland celebrating my great uncle's birthday, not treasure hunting with video game characters!"

Jace turned to look at Maple, "And that doesn't sound like fun to you?"

Maple was about to respond but then paused. Treasure hunting with video game characters did sound like fun. The last time she ever had fun with her great uncle was when she was five years old and he was playing Peekaboo and Princess Tea Party with her. And he still play those games with her now!

"I see your point."

Cassie de Bellefort had the worst luck in men. Ever.

Unlike the joyful noises of the Café de Fleur, Cassie felt no joy in heart, but embarrassment. Once again, she found herself single and sulking over her black coffee. Her last date ended up being the worst date ever. Not only it was the worst date ever, it got broadcast on FaceBook, Twitter, and CNN!

"It's official." She sighed in defeat, "I am done with the dating life."

A slam on the table jolted her up. Her friend Sophia sat beside her with her hot chocolate froth. She totally forgot she was there.

"Girl, snap out of it!" she said, "It's been three months since Terry decided to take pictures with you and then sell them on the Internet and then dump you the next day after scoring six hundred thousand Euros overnight. You shouldn't swear off men just because of one lousy selfish one!"

Cassie groaned and quickly buried her face into her arms. If only she had sunglasses, she'd get out of this place before anyone could recognized her: Cassie de Bellefort, Princess of Glendor, Daughter of the Grand Duke, now a disgraced celebrity worthy to be in this year's Wall of Shame.

"Three months!" Sophia reminded her again, "Just drink your black coffee, honey, and pretend like it's a good day. Because it sure is."

She raised her head up a bit to peek over Sophia, catching sight of her violet eyes, tanned skin, and her long black luscious hair that reached her mid back. Sophia dressed kinda like a tomboy: green shirt with a black vest over it and dark blue jeans.

She glanced around the café when she noticed a group of teens over at the register looking frantic. They were not having a good day. But since Sophia insist for her to have one…

"Okay," she finally muttered, "As long as you have a pair of sunglasses for me then I can enjoy my day."

"You don't need sunglasses." Sophia said, "You already have a glow in you without it. Heck I think that—!"

Cassie suddenly raised her head off the table, totally losing track of what Sophia was blabbing about, her attention remained on the three teens. There were two guys and one girl. The girl looked Irish, the boy with the glasses looked Asian, but the second boy looked familiar.

Way familiar.

"Holy Golden Ball…" she breathed.

"Did you cursed on your national treasure?" Sophia asked.

Cassie shook her head. Her mind was spinning. She couldn't believe that guy was…

"Mr. Chunky Hunk."

Sophia cocked her head on one side, "Chunky Who?"

Cassie pushed her chair back and stood up, "Chunky Hunk! I mean—!" she walked up behind her friend and grabbed her shoulder, "Look!"

Sophia turned around, looking at the direction her friend was staring.

"What do you want me to look?" She said, "I only see the bartender, some guys with a girl, and some old ladies on—!"

"The guys and the girl!" Cassie said, "You see that blonde Asian boy with the round glasses?"

"Yeah…" She said sultrily.

"You see his friend?" Cassie said, "That's him! It's the guy I dated back in Sweden!"

"Ohhhhh. You told me about him. Your date with him didn't go well either. Like all dates."

"Hey!" Cassie snapped, "In my defense, he was dating another girl at the same time!"

Sophia gave her a stare.

"…yeah, I see how pathetic that sounded." Cassie then noticed the girl, "…aaand that other girl is with him right now. Dang it! I seriously have the worst luck in men!"

Sophia glanced back at the group, "But hey at least you were right! He IS hot!"

Jace turned past a couple, a group of girls, some boys in football jerseys and an old odd couple. He froze. Something has caught his attention. Or rather someone.

"Jace?" Hunt called, "What, do you see anything?"

"Oh I see something all right." He looked mesmerized. As if hypnotized.

Cassie gasped, "Oh gosh, he's staring."

Cassie shook his head, "I can't believe this. I think I need to get out of here before he sees me." She turned to head for the exit. Then Sophia said with a grin,

"But hey at least, he's not as hot as his Asian friend. He is SUH-MOKE-ING!"

Jace pressed the 3DS to Hunt's chest, "Here."

Hunt quickly grabbed it, stunned.

"You find the portal." He said.

"Wait? Whoa, me?" Hunt blinked.

Jace popped his collar and zhuzhed his hair, "I gotta see this girl." He took a few steps away toward the table where two girls were sitting. He spun back, "How do I look?"

"Is this really the time to be dating girls?" Maple asked, "I mean I think you have to lay low for a while and—"

"I'm not dating you Maple."

"Drat!"

Cassie glanced back at the group. They eventually split up and the man she dated started walking toward her.

"Gotta go." She quickly said to Sophia and leapt off her seat.

She didn't get far to the exit when the door opened and in came a crowd of rowdy rugby players cheering out loud and pumping their fists to celebrate their latest game victory.

She froze. Next thing she knew the café was packed and she lost her way. She looked around desperately. Where to go? How to sneak out of here?

She finally felt a bump on her shoulder and she stuttered back. Someone bumped into her.

"I—I'm sorry…" she lowered her head down, trying to avoid the person she had bumped into. She turned around.

"Cassie?" the voice spoke.

Cassie froze. She knew that voice. She always melt at the sound of it. Slowly turning around, she saw she was right. It was him: Mr. Chunky Hunk.

"Heeyy…" Cassie forced a smile.

He approached her, his bad boy aura and lean muscle made her want to faint under his arms.

"What are you…?" he began to say.

"…doing here?" Cassie quickly said, "Yeah, I live here. Well, not here in this café. Just… in the…"

She almost lost herself in the gaze of his piercing green eyes. They look like they were borrowed from a greek god or something.

She shook her head, "what are you doing here?" she tried to sound mad, "Assuming that you're the real deal and not the creepy clone you set me up with."

Now it was his turn to look nervous. He glanced down at the floor, twisting his grip on the lace of the messenger bag over his shoulder, "I see you're still pissed off about that, huh?"

Cassie nodded, biting her lip.

"I'm sorry. About that. And uhh… well, I'm…" he paused, looking over his shoulder, "…on vacation." He finally said, "Me and my friends were supposed to go to Ireland but our plane got grounded for technical reasons so we're here instead."

"Oh." Cassie tried to keep the disappointment off her tone of voice. "So you're going back to the airport soon?"

"Hmm… not really." He shook his head, "Long delay. I'm… starting to like it here is all."

"Oh!" Cassie perked up. "That's great!"

He flashed a smile. That wide sexy white smile of his, contrasting with his bronze tan skin and black spiky hair, made her heart palpitate. Man, he was hot, Cassie hated to admit. And she had to admit also that she was happy to see him again. Of all the men she's been with, this one always felt right for her.

Okay she needs to stop calling him this guy, this one, or Mr. Chunky.

"Y'know funny thing is… I didn't catch your name last time we met." She finally said.

"Is that right?" he laughed, "Huh! We gotta stop meeting like this, not knowing each other's names."

Cassie laughed before noticing the people in the café. Apart from Sophia, they were finally noticing her with a new beau. If she didn't get out of here, she'll be on the next cover of the Sun. She quickly grabbed her mystery man and they dashed out of the café. She pulled him behind the building where no one was in sight. Perfect spot.

The man looked startled. He didn't expect that.

"Sorry. Force of habit." She said. "Let's start over."

She took one step back and held out a hand. "I'm Cassie. Cassie… De…Lee. Cassie Delee." she couldn't risk telling him her real last name yet.

The man smiled and nodded. He took her hand. "Jacen. Jacen Riders."

They shook hands.

"But people call me Jace." He added.

Cassie smiled, "Jacen. Sounds sophisticated."

"You busy tonight? Or tomorrow night?"

Cassie swayed back and forth, glancing upward, "Mmmhhh… I can arrange my schedule."

"How about I call you?"

Cassie already pulled out her phone. "Got my phone. You can put your number in."

Jace went for his phone also. Just as they were about to do the number exchange, Jace froze up. Something on his phone caught his attention.

"Uh-oh." he breathed.

"What?" she asked.

He quickly stuffed his phone back in his pocket, "Uhh… something I have to deal with." He stuttered, "It won't take long. Gotta go." And he took off running, shouting, "And if I don't come back, I'll see you at the town square by the clock tomorrow!"

Cassie sighed. She doubted it wouldn't take long, especially since she always got the worst luck in men.

At least she knew his name and she didn't end up on the country's tabloid this time. It was fun while it…

Wait a minute. She perked up. She recalled his last words. The town square. There was still a chance. Her smile returned to her. This time, wide and more joyful than the café people.

xxx

Nintendo World

"Wow!" Captain Toad squealed, catching Shulk's attention.

"Did you find it?" Shulk asked.

"No! But I found a chest full of diamonds! Toad squealed, pulling the chest with him with a rope attached. It was so full in the chest that closing it would've been a problem.

Shulk let out an exasperated grunt, "Captain, we don't have time to admire diamonds. We have to find that Scroll!"

The Captain dropped the rope, "Why are you being so negative?" he snapped.

"I'm not being negative."

"Yes, you are!"

"I'm-"

Shulk cut himself short. There was an awkward silence between the two adventurers. Shulk lowered his head and looked away. Captain Toad could tell something was definitely wrong.

"You can tell me what's going on, Shulk." he said, "I'm a great listener! See I once listened to Luigi's story on how he found some marvelous compass and rescued some Princess called Eclair for an eight hour sitting, without blinking."

Shulk raised his eyebrows, "Wow, really? How did he rescued her?"

"Well it all started when he got a letter from..." Captain Toad stopped, "Oh no buddy! I am NOT telling you the whole story again! Listening to it was already a PAIN! Wanna learn more, buy its books! But now-"

He stuck a finger at him, "YOU start talking!"

Shulk sighed, "You're right. I've been hiding something from you."

"What is it?"

Shulk rolled up his sleeve to reveal the mark on his forearm.

Toad gasped.

"I know." Shulk sighed, "It's an abomina-"

"No, look!" Toad exclaimed. He wasn't staring at Shulk's symbol on his forearm. His attention was drawn to something else inside the chest full of diamonds. A piece of rolled up paper was sticking out of the diamonds.

Captain Toad ran to it without a double take and pulled the paper out. It was a scroll glistening with a bronze color.

"Could this be it?" the Captain said. "Could this be the Scroll of Secrets?"

Shulk rolled his sleeve back. "I think so." he said. "What does it say? What's written in there?"

Captain Toad unrolled the paper and lay eyes on its content.

"It's all... gibberish." The Captain frowned. "What language is it?"

"A mix of Arabic and Japanese." spoke a voice.

Captain Toad jumped. Shulk wheeled around to the voice's source. It was Dullahan.

"Dullahan." Shulk gasped.

"Mewtwo?" Captain Toad called him.

Shulk turned to the Captain and the Captain turned to him, "What?" they both said.

Mewtwo, or whatever name Shulk called him, brought a dark smirk on his face.

"Well done, fungus-sized midget." he said, "And great job, pretty locks. You have accomplished your mission."

Captain Toad frowned, "What is he talking about?"

Shulk hesitated. He turned to Mewtwo, "Dullahan, you have what you're looking for. We found the Scroll of Secrets. Now send us home on our merry way."

Captain Toad stepped back, "Wait, what? You're working for him? You're working for Mewtwo?"

Shulk scowled at the Captain, "Mewtwo?"

"The Shadow?!" Captain Toad yelled.

The two heroes stood staring at each other, confusion intersected their ways.

"Aww," Mewtwo-or Dullahan-broke the tension, "Isn't such a marvelous moment I am experiencing." the smile vanished, "Doesn't matter what you call me. But do call me the Shadow. You've heard of me haven't you, Shulk? Sneaky, conniving entity, that toys with his opponents' minds."

"...no" Shulk gasped, his response meant that he knew him and heard of him, but he couldn't believe he'd be face to face with him.

"Now, for your reward, Captain." Mewtwo pulled out of his garment, a large dark ball. The Third Dimensional Sphere. He raised it up and aimed at Captain Toad.

Shulk's eyes flew open. "No!" he yelled. He was going to use that sphere-that accursed sphere-to banish Captain Toad to some oblivion that only Mechons know.

He had to stop him.

Quickly, he dug his hands down his pocket, pulled out a golden ball, and tossed it at Mewtwo. "Golden Ball! Lock him in!"

The ball flew toward Mewtwo. Mewtwo raised his free hand and did a sweeping motion at it. The ball telepathically took a U-turn and went for Shulk.

"NO!" Captain Toad jumped in front of Shulk. The ball hit the Captain.

"NOOOO!" Both Shulk and Mewtwo cried out just as a bright light overwhelmed the chamber, along with Captain Toad's cry of panic and a loud humming moan.

Mewtwo squinted and looked away. Shulk too. It took a long moment for the light to vanish.

Once it did, the humming sound faded away also. Shulk and Mewtwo remained. But Captain Toad was nowhere to be seen. All that was left of the Captain was that golden ball.

Shulk dropped on his knees to stare at the ball. The ball his friend was being held prisoner inside.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Captain."

xxx

Our World

Jace tore through the narrow kingdom's street until he reached the square packed with people.

He then turned left and found himself at the Glendor Kingdom's Square. It had a large tall statue of the obelisk in the middle, very similar to the ones in DC and Paris but this particular one was made of marble and glistened under the sunlight.

And standing in front of that marble obelisk was the Coulson lookalike agent. And he wasn't alone.

His agent men was there also, and so was Ryan Somith. All of them had their guns ready, roughly aiming between Jace's torso and his head. Jace caught sight of a large black truck behind them. It was fit to either lock a pack of criminals in, or unleash a pack of SWAT Team members.

"You have a choice, Jacen Riders!" the Coulson agent said, "You give us what belongs to the Glendorian Kingdom, or—"

A series of loud bangs rocked the block van. Jace caught sight of Hunt, Maple, and the Classic Capers inside.

"…we take you all to custody." The Coulson guy finished.

"You'd still book us either way!" Jace shouted, "So why bother?"

The Coulson agent paused, as if he was reconsidering the deal. "Yeah you're right, I haven't thought this through."

"Aargh, Damien you idiot!" Ryan shouted, "Give him a better threat than this one!" he then lit up, "Ooh! Say something that'll scare his willies. Like how you're going to have him be fed to the Freakish!"

Freakish. That word suddenly surged a wave of terror in Jace.

"Freak what?" Damien the agent scowled.

"Freakish." Ryan gladly explained with his sadistic smile, "Half Snake, Half Titan? Took over London Tower a while back? You haven't watched the news?"

Damien's eyebrows shot upward.

"You know, with the power of the 3DS, now in their hands, I can summon it back."

Jace caught sight of an agent, clenching inside an evidence bag the 3rd Dimensional Screen. He willed his heart to calm down with a deep breath, and gulped. Jace may have overcome his fear of snakes, but that Freakish encounter brought back that terrifying childhood experience to a whole new level and that terror was still fresh in mind.

"You wouldn't." he whispered.

Damien gave Ryan a stern look, "You are weird, you know that?" he said. Ryan shrugged dismissively.

"I don't care what you think." Ryan said, "All I care about is getting rid of this pest named Jacen Riders, and I will use that 3DS to make it HAPPEN!"

At those words he rushed for the evidence bag and grabbed it. The agent holding onto it tugged it back. A tug of war for the 3DS ensued.

"HEY! THAT'S POLICE EVIDENCE!" the agent shouted, "DON'T TEMPER IT!"

Ryan finally yanked the bag off the agent's hand. The bag tore in two and the 3DS twirled in the air.

And then in an instant, it happened. The 3DS opened by itself and a blinding light shot out of the screen, blinding the entire square. Jace had to shut his eyes tightly and look away until the burning redness in that darkness faded away.

He opened his eyes as soon as the light vanished. Everything was still the same. The crowded people in the street, the black van, the agents—

The agents were gone. The Coulson clone Damian, the one holding the 3DS as evidence, the ones aiming their guns at Jace. They had all vanished.

That was underwhelming. Jace thought, thought he was revealed there was barely a brawl. He expected the peaceful kingdom street to turn into a gun-blazing bloodbath especially since he had dealt with worse adversaries in the past.

"Damn it! They're all gone!" A voice shouted, alerting Jace. Ryan was still here.

Damn it!

Ryan gazed at the 3DS on the ground, intact from asphalt scratches but only just a few feet away. Maybe 2 feet away from him, while Jace was 10 feet from it.

Ryan looked at Jace. Jace looked back. The crowd of people surrounding them to their subconscious knowledge watched with bated breath. Only one of those guys was going to get that 3DS.

He jumped for the device, but Ryan was too quick. Too close to it. He grabbed it in a millisecond and aimed the screen at Jace. Jace held his hands up.

Ryan laughed, "Not so tough without your device now huh?"

"Ryan." Jace did his best to sound calm and rational, "Please. The 3DS. It's dangerous. You can't—"

"Can't what?" Ryan interrupted, "Tamper with its power? Yeah… well then how—"

The black van door burst open, ripped off its hinges and flew past the crowd. It was as if a bomb had exploded inside the truck that caused it to burst. As soon as the smoke cleared, Mega Man was seen, blaster pointing forward.

Pac-Man and Sonic hopped off the van, followed by Maple and Hunt.

"Hey!" Ryan shouted, "What the—"

Sonic struck Ryan in the stomach with his Spin Dash attack. Ryan let go off the 3DS and flew right through the window of a nearby restaurant, scaring off customers. The 3DS landed into Pac-Man's hands.

"Nice Spin Dash, Sonic." Jace said. Sonic offered a fist bump.

"Thanks." Jace fist-bumped with him, "Been practicing."

"AHEM! AHEM!"

The heroes turned to Mega Man. Mega Man had his arms crossed and was pouting.

"You too Mega Man." Sonic said, "And Pac-Man. Nice catch!"

Pac-Man gave a thumbs up.

Jace turned to his friends, "Are you guys okay?" he asked.

Maple looked like she just woke up from a nightmare and the remnants of it were fading away, "Y-yeah…" she managed to say, "We're fine."

"How did you know we were in trouble?" Hunt asked. "Those agents took our phones away!"

"One of the agents sent me a text from your phone." Jace pulled out his phone and showed them the readout: Bring the diamonds and the Golden Ball to us. Or your friends die. Picallidi Square. You have 90 minutes. Damien, FBI.

"That's one long text." Hunt said.

"Err guys?" Maple said just as the sound of the police sirens overwhelmed the street, along with a mass number of people in the square.

"We gotta get out of here!" Jace grabbed the 3DS from Pac-Man and went on the console's Home Menu. He pressed the Portal App and a portal formed before them. It was a swirl of violet and blue, churning behind a glowing door frame, similar to the portal in Smash 3DS All-Star Mode. The portal soon attracted dozen of people with smartphones and cameras. Snapshots furiously clicked, dozen of flashes blinded the heroes. Very soon—and once again—Jace and his friends will make headlines.

"Where are we going?" Maple shouted through the commotion.

"Where the portal takes us!" Jace answered and the teens and Classic Capers jumped into the portal.

The portal opened and the Gamers—Jace, Hunt and Maple—and the Classic Capers—Pac-Man, Mega Man and Sonic—shot out of it.

To Maple's amazement, she had landed onto firm grass and found herself before a soft grassy meadow, stretching out farther than the eyes could see. It was covered with all kind of gorgeous flowers of many colors glittering under the early spring sun.

Before her and the meadows was a castle. More like a castle reduced to ruins and covered in ivy leaves. She gasped with sudden recognition.

"Oh my gosh!" she shot to her feet and pumped her fists in the air, "We're here!"

The gamers and the Classic Capers scrambled to their feet.

"Here?" Hunt said, looking around, "Where is where? We're in the middle of nowhere!"

"Ballycarbery Castle!" Maple squealed, "The famous ruins of County Kerry! My home in Ireland!"

She couldn't help containing her excitement. She broke into a series of jigs and twirls, singing, "We're here! We're saved! Ladee-Ladadaaaah!"

"…y-your home huh?" Jace replied, sounding less enthusiastic.

"That means I can make it on time to see Great uncle at his 80th Birthday party!" she then let out a heavy sigh of relief, "Boy, I thought we were going to be at Glendor for a looooong long time."

"Ohhh thank God we've escaped those agents!" Hunt exclaimed with glee, but Jace still sounded halfhearted, "Yeah, lucky us."

Maple couldn't help but notice the deadpan attitude. "Whuh— I thought you'd be excited for me! For US! We escaped the FBI in a cinch!"

"Yeah I know," he said, "but it's just that I have a date with this hot girl I met at the café tomorrow and I can't afford to stand her up and…" he trailed off, noticing his friends shooting him deadpan expressions.

"You don't care do you?" he said.

Hunt let out a gasp of revelation, "Shakes Almighty! We forgot our suitcase!"

"Wait, what?" Jace exclaimed.

"Forget that!" Maple exclaimed, "What about—"

She stopped, suddenly dawning on her that missing suitcase—not the one with their clothes inside she thought Hunt mentioned—was indeed very important. The boys were looking at her, as if waiting for her to get to that point,

"Oh shakes almighty; we totally forgot the suitcase." She finally said.

Ahem! Ahem! Someone cleared their throat. The three friends looked at each other but none of them made a sound. They turned around to see Pac-Man and Mega Man. They totally forgot the Classic Capers was with them. Pac-Man had the diamond and golden ball suitcase on hand.

"Phew! You just thought of everything, did you Pac-Man?" Hunt said.

Pac-Man winked and gave a thumbs-up.

"Hey, where's Sonic?" Hunt asked.

And right on cue, Sonic's voice echoed from inside the ivy-covered castle's ruins. "Yo, guys! C'mere! I found something!"

The gang followed Sonic's call into the castle. Inside they were greeted with the smell of lichen and cement mixture. Walls of grey enclosed around them on all sides. They saw Sonic below the stairs. He was knelt on the ground, looking at something that somehow has bewitched his full attention. He didn't even turn around when the gang got close to him.

"Sonic? What is it?" Hunt asked.

A small tiny head looked away from Sonic to greet its new visitors. "Well, fancy meeting you all, lassies!" It spoke an Irish accent. It was a brown creature with pointy horns on its head and blue beady eyes. Its color was that of a tree trunk and was the size of the Yoshi Amiibo from Yoshi's Wooly World.

Hunt let out a teenage girl shriek that jumped Maple's heart and startled the group. Hunt's face flushed pink with excitement. His eyes sparkled with delight. He pressed his fists so close to his mouth to avoid letting out an explosive fangirl-style hype roar.

"Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod!" He croaked, pointing at the tiny creature, "Y-Y-y-you're him! You're that Venus Djinni! Fu-Fu-Fu-Fu-Fffff—"

"Flint?"

"Flint!" Hunt cried at the same time as the Djinn. "AAAAHH!" He shoved Sonic out of the way and grabbed the Djinni like the last bestselling Furby toy in the market

"I… love… you!" he managed to sound serious.

Flint blushed, "Uhh, thanks? But next time, be gentle when you scoop me up. I don't appreciate been manhandled!"

"Oh. Sorry." Hunt quickly settled Flint down.

"So. I see Hunt is a huge Golden Sun fan." Maple quipped. Jace nodded, "Mhn-hmm. But please, do not get him started on Isaac being excluded from the new Smash game. He'll go political debate on—"

"OHHHH MY GASH! You have NO idea, Flint…" Hunt shouted out.

Jace sighed in defeat, "Here we go."

"…HOW pissed off I am that your boy Isaac was not included in the latest Smash Brothers game! I mean COME ON! It's an insult to all of us fans to this great RPG game series! An insult! I mean, it was created by Nintendo. Adored by its developers. Isaac appeared as an Assist Trophy, but STILL—"

Sonic shoved Hunt out of the way, "Can we get to the important matter at hand?" he said.

Flint's confused and lost stare snapped away, "Oh right." He said, "You need my assistance with erm… some… Golden Ball?"

Pac-Man opened the suitcase. Mega Man went through the pile of diamonds then finally pulled out the golden ball. He handed it to Sonic, who placed it next to Flint.

Flint hopped toward the ball. He took a quick whiff at it. The heroes watched with bated breath.

"Just as I thought." He said, "It is indeed the Golden Ball."

"Is our friend inside?" asked Sonic, "His name is Shulk."

Flint shook his head, "I can't say for sure. Only when the golden ball breaks by my power and the powers of Forge, Gust, and Chill…"

"That's the other Elemental Djinns." Hunt explained with his joker-like smile on his face.

"…you will know whether or not your friend is trapped inside." Flint then stepped back, "All right. Time to work my magic!"

He hopped toward it again at full speed and plunged into the ball. His body took a golden glow before melting right into the ball. The ball stopped pulsed with Flint's glow, then to everyone's amazement, it made a crack like an egg about to hatch.

"Wait a minute!" Hunt exclaimed, "Flint! Where are we going to find the others?"

The cracked golden ball pulsed again with Flint's glow, "Forge and Gust are found in Glendor! But Chill is beyond County Kerry in a small town called Tralee!"

"Tralee! That's where Great uncle is!" Maple smiled with gleeful pride.

"And the others are back in Glendor!" Jace smiled back.

"Easy!" Sonic said, "We go to Tralee, and then we get to Glendor!"

Hunt however looked troubled. "But guys, we can't just get one and then get the other. We have to find both elemental Djinns at the same time. We have to move fast. We don't have much time!"

Sonic let out a troubled sigh, "You're right." He said, "The FBI may be gone but there is still those terrorists in our tail."

Silence loomed over the gang.

"Wait!" Jace formed a lopsided grin, "I just got the best idea! How about we split?"

Maple and Hunt turned to him. "Split?" they said together.

"You and Hunt go to Tralee." Jace said, "Take Pac-Man and Mega Man with you. You can attend your Great uncle's birthday party and still have time to find the two elemental Djinns."

"What about you two?" Maple asked him and Sonic.

Sonic smirked, "We do what we do best!"

"Y'all gonna go to Glendor through the portal are you?" Hunt guessed.

Jace snapped and pointed finger-gun, "Bingo."

Hunt rolled his eyes. "You guys could get in trouble!" Maple said, "At least you're not going with the suitcase."

Too late. Sonic had it on hand, "Who says we're not going with the suitcase?" He turned to Jace, "Jace! Get the portal ready!"

Jace already had the 3DS out. It didn't even take a second and a new portal formed before them.

"Done!" he declared.

"And while we're at it," Sonic said, "Jace won't have to miss his date with his new giiiirlfriend."

Hunt, Maple, Pac-Man and Mega Man almost broke into laughter.

Jace turned to Sonic, "Heey! How did you—"

"Dude, c'mon." Sonic's grin grew wide, "The lopsided grin, the finger gun point… I read the signs, player!"

Jace blushed.

Maple turned and noticed a group of Irelanders coming toward them from a distance. She gasped, "Guys! I see tourists! You have to go."

"Oh right." Sonic turned to the Portal, "Come on!" He jumped into it.

"Dude. Stay safe." Hunt said to Jace.

Jace paused. He turned to Hunt and shook his head, "Dude, have I ever stayed safe?" he winked before jumping into the portal. The portal shrank until it vanished in an invisible speck.

Silence.

"He's never gonna stay safe." Maple reminded.

Hunt groaned, "I know that!"

xxx

Nintendo World

Mewtwo/Dullahan and Shulk were still, staring at the Golden Ball, where Captain Toad was held prisoner inside.

"No..." Mewtwo breathed eerily before he let out a loud screech, "Noooo!"

Shulk reached down to get the ball, but the ball suddenly jumped off the ground as if telepathically and landed right into Mewtwo's hand.

"Whoa!" Shulk quickly stood up.

"You fool." Mewtwo tightened his grip on the Golden Ball, "What in the name of Darkness did you do?"

"What did I do? This device was supposed to lock demons like you for all eternity, not my best friend! This device is made only by Weyard people to solve their Umbra monsters problems and is a one of a kind! It can only be broken by the power of Four Elemental Djinns and I need it to free Captain Toad!"

Mewtwo raised his hand up, "Not so fast."

Shulk froze in place. He couldn't move. It was as if Mewtwo had some sort of telepathic hold on him.

"I plan on breaking it." Mewtwo snarled, "So that I could free that friend of yours and get what I want. And finish him as I planned."

Shulk strained against Mewtwo's hold. With a sudden battle cry he stretched his arms and legs out, and a shattering sound resonated in the cave.

Mewtwo dropped his hand and stepped back, startled. "You broke... my Psychic hold? How...?"

Shulk pulled his Monado out, "Careful, skeleton. My Monado may not hurt people, but it can hurt people like you."

Mewtwo snapped his fingers and the treasure cave transformed into an Omega-Form battle arena. His eyes darkened, "I beg to differ."

Mewtwo placed his hands together and a ball of darkness began to form between them. Shulk didn't hesitate. The circle on his Monado formed a blue Arts symbol and he charged toward him at a fast speed.

Shulk charged at Mewtwo. Mewtwo threw his charged-up Shadow Ball. Shulk dodged it with his speed and with his Dash attack swung his blade. Mewtwo flew across the cave, but with quick recovery he jumped back.

Shulk turned back and charged at him again just as Mewtwo was forming another Shadow Ball. Mewtwo threw the ball again, this time it was an incomplete Shadow Ball. Shulk dodged and threw another sword slash, sending him flying.

He chased after Mewtwo. Mewtwo double-jumped behind him. Shulk threw a Back Air strike but missed. He freefall to oblivion, but double jumped back to the platform with an Air Slash.

Mewtwo waited without making a move. Shulk brought his Monado down. Mewtwo dodged and swung his tail over Shulk's feet, tripping him. He threw another tail attack to send him flying up.

Mewtwo then teleported before him and slammed him with his feet, shooting him downward. Shulk's body bounced on the ground and went skyward. Shulk recovered midair and threw another back slash from the sky.

He brought his sword down, aiming for Mewtwo's head. Mewtwo dodged. Shulk raised his blade up, ready for a thrust, when he saw Mewtwo's eyes. They glowed with a fierce red flash.

A massive headache assaulted Shulk. He dropped his sword and clutched his head, roaring in pain.

Mewtwo seize that chance. He grabbed Shulk's neck, squeezing him. Shulk tried to pull away but he couldn't. For a skinny freak, he had the strength of a freak giant demon in a mechon's body.

"Time's up."

He tossed Shulk backward. Shulk landed on a wall, but stayed there, pinned up. He struggled. He tried to break free again, but he was too exhausted from the fight.

"You are a failure. And you failed your mission." Mewtwo snapped his finger and both the Sphere and the Golden Ball floated besides him. He turned around and started to leave, "Say goodbye to your life, pretty locks."

Instantly Mewtwo vanished and the light that filled the treasure cave got plunged into sheer darkness. Shulk continued to struggle but to no avail. He couldn't move his arms. Couldn't move his head. Heck, he couldn't even lift a finger.

Then, his worst nightmare came true. That 8-bit Eerie music started playing. His heart pounded. His breathing got worse. The creepy creature, the Orne, was fast approaching from a distance.

"No... Oh, gods. No." he gasped, tears filled his eyes. His friend, Captain Toad, was locked in the Golden Ball, now in the hands of Mewtwo the Shadow. The same Mewtwo the Shadow that cursed him to go on that damned mission.

There was nothing Shulk could do now. The Orne was coming for him.

xxx

ON THE NEXT EPISODE

- The Palutena and Rosalina storyline will continue after the treasure hunting saga.

- The treasure hunting saga for the remaining Elemental Djinns continues. Maple, Hunt, Pac-Man and Mega Man mingle with Maple's family and great uncle; while Sonic and Jace's adventure in Glendor leads them to a royal treat.

- Jace is plagued by terrifying nightmares and visions of a certain evil Nintendo enemy.

- The next episode will be a special dedication to social media.

Super FaceBook/Twitter Bros.

#TheHypeIsReal

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Next Episode: Super FaceBook/Twitter Bros. in 3D