CHAPTER 25
THE ALLIES COME TO THE RESCUE
The V.G.S.A. Transporter ship had just approached the atmosphere of the planet at that very moment and was beginning to look for a landing spot.
The ship quickly sped past the lava geysers, dodging every one as they shot magma out.
As soon as the palace was in sight, Ryukyu began to power the ship down and turned the control yoke slightly to the left to coast around the palace towards the back where nobody could see them.
"Okay, everyone," said Ryukyu on the pilot's radio messenger, "We are about to hover down and power down the engines. We have just arrived at our destination. We can be sure that this is where Wizpig's REAL headquarters are. Surely, Diddy Kong must be being kept as hostage somewhere in this very building. Remember the drill everyone! Nobody make any fatal mistakes as soon as we get inside. The entire place could be crawling with guards. We may not know for sure, but if it is, we must take extra precautions."
Ryukyu put the radio messenger away and powered down the engines. Then, he got up out of his pilot seat and walked out of the cockpit towards the boarding room of the ship.
As he walked up to the ship's door, he peeked through the small window to make sure that the coast was clear. Thankfully, not a single guard was seen.
Feeling assured that it was safe, Ryukyu turned the latch and opened the door slowly.
As another ranger approached him, Ryukyu turned to him, "Round up the characters and tell them to come out of the ship."
"Affirmative," replied the other ranger, and he walked into the back room where all of the video game characters were waiting to come out.
A large number of characters were pumping up their bodies and preparing their own weapons for use against Wizpig's men.
"It's safe to exit the ship now!" informed the ranger as he walked in.
"YES!" said DK excitedly.
"Let's give them a piece of our minds!" yelled Sonic.
"That-a-little monkey needs-a-help!" put in Luigi.
"QUIETLY, PLEASE!" said the ranger.
All of the characters quickly became silent and they followed the ranger out of the room and towards the ship's door.
As the ranger stopped them at the doorway, he turned around to face them.
"Two at a time please!" he said.
Most of the characters nodded their heads and gradually followed the ranger out of the ship double-file.
As soon as the characters and rangers were all out of the ship, Ryukyu stepped in and began to speak again.
"Okay, guys," he began, "This is what we've been waiting for over the past 24 hours. It's time to give Wizpig and his men a piece of our minds."
Some of the characters raised their weapons silently as their "yes" response.
"Be aware, though … ," continued Ryukyu, " … that this palace may be crawling with traps set up by this pig's guardsmen. We don't want to fall for any of their traps or risk losing any lives in the hands of the palace guards. Remember what we went over back on the Nintendo planet: All experienced rangers must keep the smaller characters safe from any potential harm … and all large characters must keep those dangers away from our rookie rangers. This is not a drill this time. This is the real deal. This very building can be very deadly and if any one being is not careful, he or she could risk not only his or her life, but dozens of others as well. If you've got weapons, make sure they're all charged to the max. If you've got good body muscles, use them wisely against the guardsmen. Does everybody understand?"
All of the characters that were at least smart enough to understand (thankfully, more than three quarters of them) nodded their heads.
"All right, then," said Ryukyu, "Let's march forward and look for a safe entrance."
Meanwhile …
Up in Wizpig's room, Diddy was still crying over his defeat and about losing everything he had in life.
Just then, he heard the faint sound of a sword begin drawn. It sounded like it was coming from outside the window he was restrained right next to.
Diddy tried his best to stop his heavy crying long enough to at least look out the window. Once he took one gaze out that window, he gasped in surprise. He noticed a ship that looked very familiar to him … in a good way. It appeared to be the V.G.S.A. Transporter. He looked below the ship and saw something that drained all of his sadness away. He could see all of his fellow V.G.S.A. rangers and video game characters. Every one of them was still alive! Diddy immediately stopped crying and let out the first smile he had put on in days. He felt so relieved.
"THEY'RE ALIVE!? OH, MY GOD! I WAS SURE I'D NEVER CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THEM AGAIN! Maybe I still have a chance to show them how much of a hero I can still be! I can still prove to everyone that I am no zero! If everyone would be willing to do this for me after I did it for them, I'm sure I could do my best to repay them the big favor!"
However, he soon remembered that he was still stuck in Wizpig's open restraining machine, but then he thought that somebody would be brave enough to make it through the dangers of the palace and save him from Wizpig's possession. Of course, he would then have to keep his promise to his good friend, Howard Newman, and destroy Wizpig with his own hands.
At that moment, Diddy felt strong enough to believe that his chances of victory were coming back, but not strong enough to break out of Wizpig's restraints.
Meanwhile …
The characters and rangers searched everywhere around the palace, but they found no other way inside other than the main entrance where the guardsmen would likely await them.
"I guess we have no choice," said Ryukyu as the rangers and characters stood in front of him, some of them looking as if they were losing hope, "We will have to use the front entrance."
"Well, … I guess that's a real bummer," commented Funky Kong.
"At least we're armed with our own weapons and natural fighting instincts. If they could only use weapons and very little strength … and if we have them outnumbered, … then I'm sure that the odds are on our side," said Ryukyu with the feeling of hope coming to him.
The others soon began to feel some hope that made them feel stronger and braver. They soon felt more than ready to tackle Wizpig's men and whatever else stood in the way between themselves and Diddy.
"If we have everything an army could possibly need …" said Link.
"And … they still have some things missing from their advantages, …" put in Solid Snake.
"Then, … the spirits that believe that evil never wins must truly be on our side, everyone!" finished Hattori.
"The advantages are on our side, guys!" said Tails Prower, "That's all we need!"
The characters and rangers (except Ryukyu) all cheered with hope and raised their weapons and pointed them towards the red skies.
"Well," commented Ryukyu, speaking to no one in particular, "If the advantages: the weapons, the number of enemies, the winds, the spirits, the hopes … are all on our side, … then … I guess … we can all beat these guys with everything we've got!"
As the last couple of words in that sentence were heard by everyone, they cheered even louder. They felt as strong as they had ever been throughout their lives. Not a single being was willing to back off and chicken out at this point. Everyone wanted to help Diddy, and now everyone felt ready to use everything they had: their natural instincts, their weapons and, most importantly, their bravery, to tackle the dangers that Wizpig had set up for them, not realizing that any of them were still alive.
Moments later, Ryukyu stood on a rock in front of everyone surrounding him and let out a battle cry, "WELL THEN, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR!? LET'S BREAK IN AND TAKE THEM DOWN!"
Everyone cheered loudly and ran quickly towards the palace's front door, ready for action.
Inside the entrance hall, the guardsmen heard loud cheering coming from outside the door. It sounded like it was coming from thousands of voices as they quickly drew closer.
The guards soon knew what was about to happen as they listened in. They all cocked their guns and prepared to shoot whomever would come in from behind the door.
A moment later, all rangers and characters who had weapons with them charged them up and aimed them at the door. They all took shots at the hinges.
Then, the door began to tilt slightly towards the entrance hall. The palace guards began to slowly back away as they soon realized that the door was about to come down on their side.
The rangers and characters all ran up to the door and heaved greatly until the door came down onto the floor with a huge thud, rumbling the walls of the palace. The quake could be felt from every room in the palace. Even Diddy could feel it upstairs in Wizpig's room.
"INTRUDERS!" yelled some of the guards.
"NOT JUST ANY OL' INTRUDERS!" yelled Ryukyu, "THIS IS THE VIDEO GAME SPACE ARMY AND WE COME TO BRING THE UNIVERSE BACK TO JUSTICE!"
Ryukyu turned to his supporters behind him.
"AAATTTTTTAAACCCKKK!" he screamed.
Upon hearing the command, all of the rangers and characters began their charge towards Wizpig's guardsmen.
"FIRE!" yelled a guardsman.
At his command, the guards began to fire their weapons at their enemies.
The war was about to begin …