Chapter 25: The Battle Begins
Villager's eyes slowly flickered open. The smell of sweet grass met his nose as a gentle breeze blew through his hair. He rolled over, gazing up at the starry sky above him. He hadn't seen stars this bright in a long time. He sighed, taking in the beautiful sight as a small, silvery Luma bobbed by him. Something tugged at his mind, giving him the sense that he was missing something. His last memory came flooding back to him as he remembered Samus shooting him in the chest with a stun beam. He sat up quickly, looking around. He was laying on a small grassy planet, over the horizon of which he could see the Smashworld far below. Jazz lay next to him, unconscious. The Starship Mario hung in the sky nearby.
"Jazz, wake up!" he said, rubbing her bare shoulder.
"Huh?" Jazz mumbled groggily, rolling her head to look at Villager.
"Something's happened, Jazz. We've got to get up!"
Jazz pushed herself up onto her elbows, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. She gazed around at her surroundings for a minute before it finally dawned on her.
"Where are we?" she said, jumping to her feet. "How did we get here?"
"I don't know," Villager said, standing too, "I think Samus knocked us out."
"Why? Why would she do that?"
"She did it to protect you," someone said behind them.
Villager and Jazz turned to see Garrett standing behind them. His muscle shirt was damp and his pale skin was glistening as though he had gone for a couple of jogs around the planet while they were out.
"Garrett? What are you talking about?" Jazz asked.
"Samus felt you weren't ready for combat, so she made sure that you were out of the way for the upcoming battle," Garrett replied.
"And what about you?" Villager asked.
"Oh, you know," Garrett said, looking away.
"Garrett," Jazz said slowly, "Please tell me you didn't know about this."
Garrett bit his lip, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Garrett, tell me you didn't do this."
Garrett rubbed his chin and turned to look straight at her. "Babe, you don't belong here. You belong back at the gym, with me. You're a teacher, not a fighter. This place isn't for you. Come back with me."
He reached out to take her hand, but she pulled it back. "Don't touch me," she spat.
"Babe," Garrett said, stepping toward her, but she positioned herself behind Villager in return.
"Get away from me," she said. "You betrayed us."
Garrett rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Jasmine. Do you really think you or the squirt stand a chance down there?"
"His name is Villager. And he and I are both a heck of a lot more capable than you give us credit for."
"Babe, quit deluding yourself. You know you're not cut out for this."
"Hey!" Villager shouted. Garrett looked down at him, a little surprised. "I don't know how you and Jazz know each other, or what history you have, but I'm not going to let you talk to her that way. Jazz has worked the hardest out of all three newcomers since getting here, and I've seen her accomplish some pretty amazing things so far."
Villager looked back at Jazz, who smiled appreciatively.
"Yeah, yeah. I wasn't talking to you, kid," Garrett said, forcibly grabbing Villager by the shoulder and shoving him across the grass.
"Hey!"
Villager hit the ground hard, and rolled over to see Jazz nail Garrett across the chin with a well-timed punch. Garrett reeled back, massaging his chin.
"You two are taking all of this way too seriously," he growled.
Villager saw something glint in the sky above the two Wii Fit trainers.
"Look out!" he shouted. Jumping up and pushing them both out of the way, a bullet bill struck the ground where they stood, exploding on impact. Villager and Jazz were thrown by the blast, rolling a good distance across the grass. They sat up to see a large round burn mark where the bullet bill had hit. Garrett lay unmoving on the ground a few feet away, his clothing singed.
"What was that?" Jazz asked. The two stood and turned to see eight flying pirate ships approaching the planet. Standing at the bow of the lead ship stood a small koopa with a spiked shell and a white bandana with painted-on teeth around his neck. The small koopa looked down at them and giggled with delight.
"We have got to find a way out of here!" Rock said, punching halfheartedly at the glass wall.
"Shush," Sonic said, "I'm trying to think of something, but we need to keep quiet so that we don't alert the good doctors over there."
He pointed to the spot across the stadium where Dr. Eggman and Dr. Wily were busily collaborating on some new mechanical monstrosity. All around their glass cage, Badniks, Mets, and other types of robots patrolled the area. Rock looked down at the civilians trapped in the floor beneath them. He recognized a few as people from his world, Sonic's world, and the Nintendo worlds, but there were several others from worlds that he had to assume hailed from the other Flash Fighters' worlds. He examined the panicked faces, but he couldn't identify if any of them might be warriors or not. Probably not, he thought to himself. He glanced at the edges of their cell. Small flashing explosive devices rigged to go off if Rock or Sonic tried anything.
A small moan drew Rock's attention. He turned to see Sonic's little fox friend stirring.
"Tails," Sonic said, hurrying to his side, "Are you okay?"
Tails sat up, rubbing his temples. "What happened?" he mumbled.
"We've been caught in a trap by Eggman and Wily," Rock said, kneeling down next to Sonic and Tails. "Do you remember anything that happened?"
"Yeah," Tails said, closing his eyes in concentration, "We were in the middle of the tournament. A bunch of the fighters all got letters from their homeworlds and had to go, leaving only three of us. We decided to keep the tournament going as best as we could. I don't really remember much after that, except . . . Eggman!"
Tails jumped up, running to the edge of the glass. He looked around in horror at the robots surrounding the arena. He looked down to see the spectators trapped beneath them. "What did Eggman do?"
"Tails, you said there were three of you, right?" Sonic said. "Who were the other two?"
"Oh, they were—"
Tails cut off as a dark figure landed in the middle of a small grouping of robots. The three heroes turned to see the figure start silently attacking the robots, swiftly destroying them all with needles, a chain, and its bare fists before any of them could raise an alarm. Rock looked back to glimpse Eggman and Wily still going at their project, unaware anything was amiss.
After finishing off all nearby adversaries, the newcomer sidled up to the edge of the cage. The figure was wearing skintight blue spandex, ninja gear, and sarashi wrap. A turban and thick scarf covered most of the person's face, while long blonde bangs obscured bright red eyes.
"Sheik?" Sonic whispered.
The stranger held up two fingers over where their mouth should be. "If you're going to make an escape, do it now," the person said in a deep but feminine voice, "Draw their attention."
"But they've rigged the cell below us to explode," Rock said, "The civilians will be killed."
"Don't worry about that," the stranger said, "Just do it."
"But—"
"Rock," Sonic interrupted, "Do it. I fought with Sheik in the tournament last year. She knows what she's doing."
"She?" Rock asked.
"Come on, let's do it!" Sonic said, ignoring the question. He turned to the wall on the other side, curled into a ball, and started rolling in place. As he picked up speed, he started to glow. After a couple seconds of charging, he blew forward, smashing into the glass with all of his might. Rock bit his lip and followed Sonic's lead, setting his arm to gun mode and firing off a number of rounds into the wall. Tails assisted them by pinpointing key points for them to attack while using his twin tails to wear down the already damaged spots.
Eggman and Wily finally looked up from their project. "Hey," Dr. Wily shouted, pulling out his detonator, "You three better knock that off, or you can kiss your fans goodbye!"
He made to press the button when something flashed past him like a rush of wind. A sound like a sword slash was heard, and the detonator fell to the ground, cut cleanly in two. Wily screamed in agony, clutching his hand as blood gushed from it. The assailant stopped a few feet away, and turned to face them. With a swish, the wings on his back turned into a dark blue cape dangling from a small round creature just like Kirby. Deep red eyes glared at the two scientists from the visor of a round knight's mask. In his gloved hand, he gripped a golden sword with six wicked prongs sprouting from the side.
"Sorry to disrupt your plans," the knight said. He nodded to the ninja.
Rock turned to see that the ninja was gone. Instead a tall, statuesque woman with flowing blonde hair wearing an ornate silk dress stood in his place. She focused, creating an orb of fiery energy in her hands. She pushed the orb forward into the glass wall. With a snap, the orb exploded, sending ripples of energy over the dome. With a tap of her fingers, the cage disintegrated into fine dust, which cascaded down over Sonic, Rock, and Tails' heads. Civilians cheered noiselessly below their feet as the three stepped out of their prison and marched towards Eggman and Wily.
"Looks like it's time to fry me up an Eggman," Sonic said, cracking his knuckles.
Fire spread over the Super Mario 3D Land and Gerudo Valley stages as hordes of villainous minions ravaged the 3DS Grounds, pulling down as many stages as they could and destroying everything in sight. Samus and her armies reached the gate connecting the 3DS and Wii U Grounds.
"Stop them," Samus said brusquely. She primed her arm cannon and ran forward into the fray. Behind her, Smash fighters, Akaneian soldiers, angelic centurions, mushroom people, and a very large dog surged forward into the battle. All around her, Samus could see Altean archers flinging arrows into squadrons of Kremlings, and centurions taking on Pigma Dengar's starfighters. To her left, a group of Macedonian troops were blown to bits by gang of bob-ombs. Pit swooped past her, sending light arrow after light arrow at the floating head of Andross. Samus shot off as many beam shots and missiles as she could, taking down a space pirate here and an eggplant wizard there. She did a screw attack into an orange pterosaurian condor from Icicle Mountain and dropped a bomb on a couple of unsuspecting Shy Guys. A series of loud crashes alerted her to the presence of a new threat. She turned to see and entire line of Thwomps launching themselves into the air and coming back down with an impact that shook the entire battlefield. With every crash, the Thwomps propelled themselves continually forward. Enemy forces expertly sidestepped them, while allied troops scrambled to get out of the way.
"Look out!" Samus shouted over the noise of combat.
The Thwomps came down only a few feet away from Samus. The one closest to her gave her a cruel sneer. As they raised themselves into the sky again, Samus quickly dodged underneath them as they came down exactly in line with where she had been standing. Samus breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived as the Thwomp that had glared at her rotated itself back around to look at her.
"Great," Samus muttered. The Thwomp launched itself back into the air at her. Samus charged her cannon, raised it to the Thwomp's underside that was rapidly approaching her head, and fired. With a loud crack, the Thwomp burst into a thousand tiny chunks that rained down around her head.
All around, the battle continued. The goddess Medusa had grown to massive size and was now batting at a single Arwing piloted by Fox. Donkey Kong was nearby throwing punches at a Manky Kong, while Peach was using her frying pan to dismember a Pokey one segment at a time. Epona the dog was currently gnawing on one of Porky Minch's robotic spider legs, while his two riders had jumped off and were laying waste to a group of moblins. A flap of leathery wings alerted Samus to a new challenger behind her. She turned to see the massive purple form of Ridley the dragon looming over her. He glared down at her with his glowing red eyes and grinned, showing off his jagged teeth.
"Well, well, well, it certainly has been far too long, eh, Samus?" he cackled.
"Ridley," Samus said, poison infecting her every syllable, "I'm not surprised to find you here."
Ridley laughed, a deep throaty laugh that resonated in his large ribcage covered only by a thin layer of purple skin. Samus glared at the dragon with endless loathing. She hated everything about this foul creature. She had hated him since the day he and his degenerate pirate crew had sacked her homeworld and slaughtered her parents. All of her life, there was only one person that she was determined to finish off for good, and he was standing before her now.
"What do you say, Samus? Let's make this a little more private," Ridley said, whipping his long segmented tail around her waist and took off into the sky.
"Piiikaaa!" Pikachu shouted, skittering between the legs of an enemy wiggler. He jumped into the air and charged to send a thunderbolt at Ridley. His attack was interrupted, however, when a large black-and-blue object knocked him out of the air.
"Don't get hasty, little mouse," a smooth voice said, "I desire a battle first."
Pikachu shook his head and hefted himself to his feet. He looked up to see a tall human with long, greenish-blonde hair and an eyepiece. Behind him stood the Pokémon that knocked Pikachu out of the sky: a large, three-headed, draconic Hydreigon. Pikachu growled at them, arching his back, sparks flying from his red cheeks.
Far off in the distance, Ridley continued to carry Samus. Samus kept trying to get herself in position to shoot at Ridley, but every time she did, he would veer sharply in a new direction, ensuring it would be impossible for her to hit him until he put her down. He flew to the ruined remains of the Arena Ferox stage, entered through a hole in the roof, and deposited her on the wooden platform in the center.
"Now," he said, landing beside her, "How about a little one-on-one, Samus? You and me. Just like the old days?"
Mario dodged to the left, the blade narrowly missing him. He rolled across the marble floor and righted himself to face Metal Mario. The iron menace glared at Mario and stabbed at him again. Mario dodged once more, then leapt into the air, coming down on top of Metal Mario's head, the same way he had dispatched hundreds of koopas and goombas over the year. Metal Mario hit the floor with a loud clang, but unlike goombas or koopas, there was no disappearing or tucking into a shell. He rolled over and sent long tentacles of liquid metal at Mario, snagging his left arm and one of the straps on his overalls.
"Aagh!" Mario groaned as the metal started to seep over his hand. He yanked at the metal binding him, pulling Metal Mario and smashing him against a nearby painting. Metal Mario slumped to the floor, his tendrils releasing. He looked up at Mario, a grin spreading across his face. Mario caught on seconds before the possessed Professor Gadd stabbed him in the back. He dodged out of the way, the metal stabbing through his arm instead.
Mario cried out in agony, clutching his bloody arm. The pain was intense, but there seemed to be something more to it. He wasn't sure how, but he knew something had gotten into his arm. Something alive and moving.
"You can feel it, can't you?" Metal Mario said, standing up. "You can feel the small part of myself my offshoot left inside you."
Mario panted, sweat beading on his forehead. "Oh, don't worry," Metal Mario assured him, "You shouldn't be in any danger of being fully controlled by me, for now. You see, in general, we can only take full control after our host is dead or dying. Since you have avoided a mortal wound so far, I can't truly possess you."
"I guess that means it won't do Ace much harm if I do this!"
The sharp point of a sword protruded from Metal Mario's chest. He turned his head to see Link standing behind him, grasping the hilt.
"You!" he snarled. He turned to see Captain Falcon and Ness lying on the ground, large open wounds on their chests sealing themselves. With a loud sucking noise, Kirby inhaled Professor Gadd and spit him back out at the wall nearby. Link wrenched his sword from Metal Mario's body and moved around him to stand by Mario and Kirby. Metal Mario fell to his knees, the metal ooze retracting from Ace's body until it only surrounded the eyes again. He looked down at his chest to see the wound swiftly vanishing. Captain Falcon, Ness, and Professor Gadd stood, having recovered from their injuries.
"Get them!" Ace hissed.
Mario, Link, and Kirby stood back to back as their metal foes surrounded them. Link dug in his bag and slipped a small yellow-and-orange flower into Mario's hand. "This may come in handy," he whispered.
Mario nodded, not taking his eyes off of the approaching Ace and Captain Falcon. He gripped the flower, raised it to his mouth, and took a bite. A familiar heat flooded his body as the flower worked its magic on him. As it spread down his torso, his red shirt blazed white, and his blue levis turned red. After the heat had worked over his entire body, it concentrated itself in the palms of his hands in the form of a slight tingling sensation. Mario breathed deeply, savoring the power he felt. The wound on his right arm burned like never before, but he ignored it. He glared at Metal Mario, thinking of the lives his actions had cost and the damage he had caused. Fury welled up inside him, and he unleashed a barrage of large, round balls of fire from his hands.