Chapter 36: Technology
"Location: Amity Park, The World Of Nickelodeon, November 22nd 2109"
The facility that the Guys in White used as a weapons factory had the appearance of a regular looking factory, but on the inside, everything was high-tech. The factory built invisibility suits, Ecto-Skeletons, planes, cars, and tanks.
Several agents guarded the facility, alert for any kind of threat. One agent was in a monitor room, where his instruments started to pick something up. Two signatures appeared on the Ecto radar and began making their way to the factory. The agent quickly alerted all of the other guards about the approaching intruders.
"We have two ghosts approaching the factory airspace! All units prepare for battle!" the agent announced through the factory's loud speaker system.
A white plane that contained two agents in Invisibility suits took off into the sky to deal with the intruders.
"Intruders dead ahead. Getting confirmation now. One appears to be the the rock star ghost Ember. The other appears to be some kind of high-tech armor wearing ghost. Identity unknown." the pilot of the plane said.
The two agents in Invisibility Suits flew forward from the plane to engage the ghosts. Ember got ready to battle, but Skultech held his hand up.
"Save your strength for the real fight down below. We'll deal with the small fries first." Skulker ordered.
"Fine." Ember muttered.
The two agents charged at Skultech, ready to do battle. Technus took a scan of the Invisibility Suits.
"Not bad. I'll give the humans credit for the construction of these suits. However, it pales in comparison to our might!" Technus said.
Several metal tentacles sprung out of Skultech's back and began firing lasers at the two agents. The two agents dodged the blasts and flew around Skultech, blasting at him. However, Technus pulled up an energy shield that protected the robot body. Then, with lightning fast speed, two tentacles shot out, grabbed the two agents, and delivered a mighty shock that knocked them out.
"Two down." Skulker said.
He dropped the two agents. They fell a couple of feet before a parachute sprung out of the backs of the Invisibility Suits and gently lowered the agents to the ground.
"A neat little safety feature. Now let's deal with the plane." Technus said.
The plane fired a missile at Skultech, but the ghost destroyed the missile in midair with one of his tentacles. Skultech then flew towards the plane and ripped one of it's wings off. The plane went spiraling towards the ground and the agents inside leaped out with parachutes.
"I'm beginning to love these new upgrades." Skulker said.
"I knew you would. Now head towards the ground. I have a special new upgrade that I want to try." Technus ordered.
Skultech flew towards the ground with Ember behind him. The ghosts were immediately surrounded by agents. Some were carrying weapons, while others were either wearing high-tech armor or riding in vehicles.
"Ember, deal with the humans that are carrying the guns. We'll deal with the ones with the armor." Technus ordered.
"Fine by me." Ember said.
She fired a sound wave that knocked several agents down. An agent in an Ecto-Skeleton charged at Skultech and locked arms with him. Technus smiled as a small port in Skultech's chest open up. A tentacle with a claw shot out and stabbed the Ecto-Skeleton in the chest and started bombarding it with green electrical energy. The agent in the Ecto-Skeleton let out a yelp and leaped away from Skultech. The agent looked down in confusion at the small hole in the Ecto-Skeleton. Suddenly, the canopy of the Ecto-Skeleton flew open and the arms of the Ecto-Skeleton reached in, yanked the agent out, and dropped him to the ground. All of the agents stared in shock as the canopy closed and the suit started to turn black and green. The canopy turned black and a green, and a red and green skull-like face appeared in the middle of the canopy.
"Yes! My Technus Takeover Virus was a complete success! I now have the ability to take over any machine and turn it into my own personal minion! With this power, I shall rule all technology!" Technus shouted.
All of the agents in armor and vehicles looked at Skultech nervously. Skultech fired several tentacles that hit several agents in Invisibility Suits and a couple of tanks. The Invisibility Suits ejected their occupants and turned black and green, with a computer visor displaying the green and red skull taking the places of the heads. The tanks turned black and green, and a bunch of metal on the back started to form into a big round upper body with multiple TV screens displaying the green and red skulls and two big arms. The virus possessed tech turned on the other agents and started fighting them.
"I must admit, that's impressive." Skulker said.
"Yes, I am hip." Technus said.
"Man, taking this place out is going to be easy." Ember said.
"Yep, that's the plan. Destroy everything." Technus said.
"Location: Skyworld, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, November 16th 2175"
After finding out that Viridi had gotten kidnapped, Pit decided to report it to Palutena. He and Dark Pit (who had gotten filled in on everything after waking up and decided to accompany Pit) said goodbye to Danielle and Phosphora and got on the Lightning Chariot. They went to Skyworld, and once there, Pit jumped off the chariot and ordered some centurions to take care of the unicorns. Dark Pit got out of the chariot, and he and Pit ran towards the meeting room. Pit slowly opened the door and walked towards a chair that was next to Palutena.
He sat down on it and gave Dark Pit a look of pity, but the black haired angel had his head held low, his hair covering his eyes. So he decided to tell Palutena the entire story while Dark Pit just listened. After Pit told the story, a Centurion guard snorted.
"Eh, who cares about that little brat? She's the reason that humanity is dying out." the guard said.
Dark Pit looked at the guard and then brought out the silver bow and charged it at him, his eyes full of hate and anger. Luckily, Pit pinned him against the wall and held him there.
"Pitto, you can't kill him." Pit said.
"For the last time, don't call me Pitto. And why can't I?" Dark Pit asked.
He raised his hand and hit Pit's chest, making the brown haired boy fall and giving Dark Pit an opportunity to disarm him.
"Because he's just an innocent guard. Besides, he might know where to find her." Pit replied.
Dark Pit froze after those last words. Pit got up, and he and Dark Pit faced Palutena, who was watching everything occur.
"Me and Danielle, once you go back and get her, will use the power of flight to get you two to the town faster." Palutena said.
Dark Pit nodded.
"Come on. Let's get everything in order." Dark Pit said.
"Location: Richmond, Virginia, November 22nd 2109"
At the castle, Maddie was sitting at a computer in the lab, listening in on some radio signals when she suddenly up the sounds of a distress signal. She used the computer to pinpoint the origin of the signal before shooting to her feet and running towards the others in the living room.
"Everybody, I just picked up a radio signal that a Guys in White's weapons factory is being attacked!" Maddie announced.
"Who would do that?" Izzy asked.
"I don't know, but whoever it is, it can't be anything good. We better go check it out." Vanellope replied.
She chose to have Candlehead, Swizzle, Snowanna (she sent Nougetsia to watch Crepe), Danny, and Zarina come with her to the weapons factory.
"Everybody else stay here. We'll call you if we need anything." Vanellope said.
She took out her portal key and generated a portal to Amity Park, and she, Candlehead, Swizzle, Snowanna, Danny, and Zarina disappeared through it.
"Location: Ylisse, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, March 30th 2143"
At first, there was nothing but a blinding white light. It was everywhere Iniabi looked. Confused and disoriented, he found himself stumbling about through the surreal white for a seemingly immeasurable amount of time. Two seconds, two weeks, two months, two years, it was all a blur that went by slowly and quickly.
Then, Iniabi opened his eyes. He was still wearing his coat, but his suit underneath and Falchion were gone. He was in a small room with nothing but metal surfaces, a bed with a mattress stuffed with chunks of smashed bricks, and a toilet. There was a door that came in the form of a tiny slit in the wall. The man slowly got up from the bed that he only now realized he was laying on and staggered towards it. He peered through the narrow opening. All he could see was a long hallway that stretched out as far as his eyesight would permit. He sighed, turned around, and slumped against the door. He looked around the room, giving it a good scan. It was air-tight, as expected. There weren't any kinks in the system, as far as he could see.
"But there are always kinks. There's always some way out, one way or another." Iniabi thought curiously. He then looked at the corners of the room and thought "Alright, so the room has four security cameras at each upper corner. Then there's the one exit, the slit. Though, judging by it's design, I suspect it comes from that brand of security doors, the one with slits so thin that they are almost invisible to the naked eye. In that case, I can't break out on my own. Perhaps I can get a little help from the guards.". He then noticed a strange red reticle mounted over each of the cameras and thought "Hmm, it looks like the cameras have emergency weapons, so I can't do anything to them. Wait! I know! Now all I have to do is get ready to strike!".
"Location: The Mushroom World, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, January 5th 2151"
In the Darklands, Bowser was addressing a Hammer Bro soldier.
"So, my pathetic minion, how are my two prisoners going?" Bowser asked.
The Hammer Bro looked up at Bowser's expectant (and impatient) face.
"Huh? Oh, uh, sir, didn't we capture more then two? Which two are you referring to?" the Hammer Bro asked.
The Koopa King groaned in mock tragedy.
"You imbecile! You should know perfectly well that I'm referring to those pipsqueaks Mario and Rosalina! And you, of all people, should know that, considering that you were the one that captured Rosalina!" Bowser replied angrily.
The Hammer Bro blanched at the viciousness of his king's voice.
"Of course, of course, sir!" the Hammer Bro said.
Bowser huffed.
"Well? Where's the status report? How's Rosalina and that goody-two-shoes Mario?" Bowser asked.
"They are still behind bars, and we have two times the security on Mario as compared to the rest." the Hammer Bro replied.
"Good. If that rotten twerp escapes, everyone will eventually follow. It's only Mario and Rosalina that you'll need to really keep in check... wait, on second thought, double the security on the princess, too!" Bowser ordered.
"The princess? Are you referring to... Princess Peach?" the Hammer Bro asked.
"Well, duh. Who else, stupid? She seems to pack quite a punch despite being a girl. Go and double the security on her. Forget about those mushroom-headed losers!" Bowser replied.
"Yes, my king. the Hammer Bro said.
"Location: Skyworld, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, November 16th 2175"
Back at the temple, Danielle was in her room, crying her eyes out. Phosphora was patting the blonde haired child's back, trying to comfort her.
"Come on, it's not that bad. Pit and Pittoo... I mean, Dark Pit, are on there way to talk to Palutena right now. They'll be back, and then the three of you will rescue your mother before you can say shizno." Phosphora said.
Danielle peaked her eye out at the older woman.
"Shizno." Danielle said.
Phosphora let out a sigh and shook her head. After Viridi got kidnapped, the temple had been slowly withering away. Every now and then, a vine would fall of the ceiling, or a rose would wilter. Even the Forces of Nature were having trouble staying organized. Every once and a while, a fight would break out between the soldiers. Even one time, Phosphora got mad at Arlon (who returned to the temple after hearing about what happened) for not doing anything while Viridi was gone. The fight finally ended after thirty minutes and a lot of things got destroyed, including three statues and four walls, and two soldiers, a Hugworm and a Pew Pew, got wounded. Overall, Danielle thought that Arlon won, but she hadn't told Phosphora yet. Suddenly, Pit and Dark Pit burst into the room.
"Danielle, we're heading out." Pit said.
Danielle nodded and prepared to leave. Once she was ready to go, she started saying goodbye to her friends.
"Okay, guys, I'm leaving now." Danielle said.
Phosphora smiled at her.
"Give your mother my regards." Phosphora said.
Danielle smiled back.
"Sure thing." Danielle said.
Cragalanche gave her a rock for good luck, and Arlon patted her on the back and winked. The girl waved to everybody and then turned to Pit and Dark Pit.
"Let's go." Danielle said.
"Location: Amity Park, The World Of Nickelodeon, November 22nd 2109"
After Vanellope, Candlehead, Swizzle, Snowanna, Danny, and Zarina arrived in Amity Park, they made their way to the factory. After twenty minutes, they reached the factory and saw what was happening. They saw Guys in White agents fighting with several armors and vehicles. The agents were slowly retreating from the factory as the machines moved forward. Danny studied the machines and recognized the style of them and who was controlling them.
"This is Technus's doing." Danny said.
"Who's that?" Zarina asked, not too familiar with the ghosts in the Ghost Zone.
"He's a ghost that controls technology and has a thing for shouting out his plans. I'm sure that once we find him, he's going to gloat about how great his plan is. He has a pretty big ego." Danny replied.
The group fought a few of the machines as they made their way towards the front of the factory, where they meet Ember and Skulthech. Danny looked at Skultech with a look of shock on his face.
"Skultech? What are you doing in this timeline?" Danny asked.
Skulker and Technus looked at one another, confused. Danny's allies looked equally confused.
"How do you know our combined name?" Skulker asked.
"What do you mean this timeline?" Technus asked.
That response calmed Danny down a little. This version of Skultech was from this timeline, not the one that Dan came from.
"Never mind. I don't know what your up to, but we're going to stop you!" Danny replied as he got into a fighting stance.
Vanellope, Candlehead, Swizzle, Snowanna, and Zarina got ready to battle.
"Oh, isn't that cute? Phantom brought out some fan girls to help him fight." Ember sneered.
"This should prove to be fun." Skulker said.
"You fools stand no chance against the might of Skultech!" Technus shouted.
The sides rushed towards one another. Vanellope, Candlehead, and Danny went against Skultech, while Swizzle, Snowanna, and Zarina went against Ember.
"Try these beats on for size!" Ember shouted.
She fired a high-pitched sound wave at Swizzle, Snowanna, and Zarina with her guitar. Swizzle and Zarina flew out of the way, while Snowanna stood where she was. The sound wave hit the 9 year old brown skinned girl, but it didn't seem to cause any harm.
"Sound powers. I'm immune to all sound based abilities like yours. Your out of style anyway." Snowanna explained with a smirk.
"I'M NOT OUT OF STYLE!" Ember roared.
Her flaming ponytail shot up, and she started firing fireballs at Snowanna. The girl dodged out of the way of the crazed rock star's attack and then threw a smoke bomb at Ember, covering her in a cloud of dark purple smoke.
"You think you can beat me with a little smoke?" Ember asked as she looked around, trying to find Snowanna.
"The smoke's part of your new show." Snowanna replied.
A sound blast flew from the smoke and hit Ember, making her drop her guitar and sending her flying a few yards before hitting the ground hard. The ghost struggled to her feet, but she suddenly felt something wrap around her leg. She looked to see a metal cable wrapped around her leg attached to Zarina's arm.
"Time to take you on tour!" Zarina shouted.
She shot forward into the air, dragging a screaming Ember on the ground. The Dust-Keeper fairy flew all around the base, slamming the Musical themed ghost into possessed Invisibility Suits and Ecto-Skeletons. After several minutes, Zarina shot up into the sky, dragging a battered and bruised Ember. The fairy then detached the cable and Ember dropped to the ground. Before the ghostly rock star could do anything to save herself, Swizzle appeared with a large missile launcher that he had picked up.
"Time to send you off with a bang!" Swizzle said.
He fired the missile at Ember. The missile hit the ghost with a might boom, sending her flying and crashing into a possessed tank, wrecking it. Ember laid in the remains of the tank in a dazed heap.
"Well, that's one ghost down." Zarina said.
"Let's help deal with some of the possessed machines and then help the others." Snowanna suggested.
"Alright." Swizzle said.
He, Snowanna, and Zarina went about, fighting the machines. Meanwhile, Skultech was fighting Vanellope, Candlehead, and Danny. Danny took the lead and used his knowledge from the battle that he had with the Skultech from Dan's timeline to his advantage. He nimbly dodged the tentacle claws and delivered a couple of powerful punches to Skultech's main body. The machine ghost managed to swat him away with one of his fists and then retreated a few rads back, putting some distance between himself and the others. The high-tech ghost looked at Danny wearily.
"How is this possible? This dose not compute! He's avoiding our attacks as if he's fought us before! That's impossible!" Technus said.
"Oh, trust me. You guys are predictable." Danny explained with a smirk.
"You'll pay for that insult, Phantom!" Skulker shouted.
"No one can match the power of Technus's creations!" Technus shouted.
"Wow, you guys really are predictable. And you were right, Danny, because Technus does have a big ego." a voice behind Technus said.
Skultech turned around just in time to receive a kick in the back of the head from Candlehead. The ghost crashed to the ground with a thud.
"Nice one, Candlehead." Vanellope said.
"Thanks." Candlehead said.
Skultech got up, and Candlehead quickly fired a fireball at him. The ghost quickly pulled up an energy shield to block the attack, but Danny slammed into him from the side, knocking him to the ground. Skultech shot up, glaring at the group.
"You will not interfere with our plan!" Technus snarled.
"Oh, please tell us what your brilliant plan is this time." Vanellope said sarcastically.
Technus looked like he was going to tell them about the plan, but quickly stopped himself. Skulker took over.
"We plan to destroy this facility in order to strike a blow to the Guys in White and set their operations way back." Skulker explained.
"That's the plan." Technus said with a fake grin.
Vanellope eyed the two ghosts. It didn't take long for her to figure out that Technus had no intention of destroying the factory. He wanted to take it over and make himself an army. She suddenly had a flashback of a time that she had watched footage of the time that Technus took over the Fenton house and turned it into a mobile fortress and went on a rampage. If he took over the factory, he'd be stronger then ever before.
"Skulker, listen to me. Technus is just using you to get control of that factory. He has no intention of destroying it. He wants to use it to make himself stronger and give himself an army." Vanellope said.
Skulker looked at Vanellope and then down at Technus.
"Hey, who are you going to believe? The child that bested and humiliated you, or the guy that gave you a bunch of hip new upgrades?" Technus asked.
Skulker thought for a moment.
"Sorry, Schweetz, but I don't believe you. We're going inside of this factory to destroy it, and if you interfere, we will destroy you." Skulker replied.
"Fine, I didn't want to do this to you, but you leave me no choice." Vanellope said.
She prepared to fire a blast of pixels. However, Technus quickly activated a weapon on Skultech. Arms shot out from the body like rockets and grabbed Vanellope, Candlehead, and Danny. The arms dragged the three of them across the ground before slamming them into each other at an incredible force and dropping them to the ground in a heap. Skultech's arms reattached to him as he floated over to the three down heroes, all of his tentacles charged up with energy.
"And so ends this game of cat and mouse." Skulker said.
But before they could attack, a bunch of energy blasts slammed into Skultech, knocking him back. Swizzle, Snowanna, and Zarina flew in and helped Vanellope, Candlehead, and Danny up.
"Looks like we got here just in time." Snowanna said.
"Thanks for the save." Candlehead said.
The six heroes faced Skultech. The ghost eyed them, not exactly liking their odds. He then decided that another fight wasn't worth it and flew off in the direction of the factory.
"We have to hurry and stop Skultech! If Technus get's control of the factory, we're going to dealing with some real trouble." Danny said.
The heroes raced towards the factory. Skultech was almost at the entrance of the factory when he saw Ember laying in the remains of the tank. He rushed over and picked her up.
"Are you alright?" Skulker asked.
"I've... been better." Ember replied weakly.
"Let's get going. We have a job that needs to be done." Technus said.
The ghosts went through the entrance of the factory. The factory workers saw them and ran away, screaming.
"We need to get to the master computer. There, I will delete all the files and then we can go about destroying the factory." Technus said.
Skultech flew to a large office that was positioned on the second floor above the assembly line. In the office, there was a bug computer that was surrounded by several computers. Skultech sat Ember in a desk chair before turning to face the computers.
"Time to get to work." Technus said.
Several tentacles plugged into the computers. In a few seconds, all of the computers displayed a green and red skull face. Skulker looked around in shock as the factory's interior began to change. Everything turned black and green, and several screens displaying the skull face and various turrets sprung up around the base.
"The takeover is nearly complete!" Technus said.
He disappeared from Skulker's chest and then appeared in front of Skulker in his ghost form.
"The girl was right! You were just using me! All you wanted was to take over this base and create yourself an army! I'll destroy you!" Skulker shouted.
He tried to raise his arms, but found that he couldn't.
"I can't move my body! What did you do to me?" Skulker asked angrily.
"Oh, just a few little changes to make sure that you won't attack me, my little puppet. Don't worry, I won't destroy you or anything. I still might have a use for you." Technus replied with a grin.
"You traitor!" Ember snarled.
She tried to get up and attack Technus, but a bunch of wires shot out of the wall and tied her up. Technus turned to the computers.
"Now if you excuse me, I have to turn this factory into a nice little mobile base to help me take over the world!" Technus said.
On the outside of the factory, everybody watched in shock as several three clawed metal tentacles shot out from beneath the factory and made the building stand up. The factory turned black and green, and several screens displaying a green and red skull appeared, along with turrets that were armed with various weapons.
"BEHOLD ARSENAL TECH VERSION POINT 2!" Technus's voice boomed over the loud speakers.
"This is bad." Swizzle said.
"Location: Skyworld, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, November 16th 2175"
"I thought you said you knew where you were going." Dark Pit said angrily.
"I do. I-I just need time to think." Pit said.
Pit, Dark Pit, and Danielle were at a crossroad. There was no one around to ask for directions, so Pit took it upon himself to find the nearest town. And now they were lost, out of rations, and in a sour mood. The Palutena bow in Pit's left hand reacted to his anxiety by rotating it's blades in a circle. Danielle sighed and walked up to him.
"Hey, Pit, we need to get moving." Danielle said.
Pit nodded and pointed at a sign.
"Well, that sign had a map, but it looks like someone took it." Pit said.
Danielle looked at a wooden box that was indeed empty. Dark Pit let out a grunt.
"Well, any ideas?" Dark Pit asked.
"We can go ask that random old lady that appeared out of nowhere." Pit replied.
Dark Pit and Danielle turned around. Sure enough, there was a random old woman standing nearby. The three of them walked over to her.
"Good afternoon! I am Pit, Servant of the Goddess of..." Pit started to say.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Not important." the woman replied.
Pit froze mid-victory stance.
"Not important?" Pit asked.
He crawled into a ball and started crying. Danielle walked over and started petting Pit's head softly as if he was a infant. Dark Pit shook his head and turned back to the old woman, who was now eating mushrooms.
"Do you know where the nearest town is located?" Dark Pit asked.
The woman popped a mushroom into her mouth and pointed east.
"Town's that way. Take this food and water. It should last you all about a day." the woman replied.
Dark Pit nodded and attempted to thank her. However, the wind blew in his face, making him look away. When the wind cleared and he looked back, the woman was gone but the supplies were still there. He wondered if what had happened was real or not, but he shook it off and decided to think about it later. Pit called everyone together, and they gathered the supplies and headed for the town.
"Location: The Mushroom World, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, January 5th 2151"
"Among the forest mass you must head first..." Moon chanted.
He had done that repeatedly to himself until Juliet told him that there were just too many trees and shrubs to notice even the slightest difference in the surroundings.
"You know, bro, it's not that I'm starting to think that you were wrong in that riddle. It's just that... we're not getting anything with just walking among the trees for more then a hour now." Juliet said.
Moon nodded wearily.
"Yeah, your right. But still... I have a feeling that we're on the right track by being here on Yoshi's Island. Let's take a break." Moon said.
"Sounds good to me. I'm starving." Birdo said.
All three sat down on the grass near a tree. Moon sighed as he threw his head back, and then he laughed when he suddenly heard his grumbling stomach.
"Okay, is anything to eat here, Biro?" Moon asked.
Birdo looked pointedly at a nearby bush.
"The berries over there are actually pretty good. Just don't try to pick anything else." Birdo replied.
Moon nodded, got up, and walked over to the bush. He picked berries, put them in the pockets of his robe, and walked back.
"I'm back." Moon said.
"Mmmm. Even though these aren't Star Bits, these will probably be really good. Let's go eat!" Juliet said.
"Don't worry, there's plenty for everyone." Moon said.
The trio had some of the berries until they got full. Once they were done, Birdo stood up and started walking away.
"Come on. We'll be able to find the clue if we keep looking. I'm sure it's around here somewhere." Birdo said.
Moon nodded and got up. But as soon as he stood up, something grabbed him. Birdo stopped cold and spun around just in time to see Moon get picked up. Juliet followed the direction of Birdo's stare.
"Huh? What was that?" Juliet asked.
"Location: Skyworld, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, November 16th 2175"
Pit, Dark Pit, and Danielle finally made it to the town. Everyone was tired by that point. Pit contacted Palutena, who directed them towards an inn. They rented two rooms and then food. The Inn owner was even kind enough to give Pit some ice cream, although he dropped it right away (he still ate it). Suddenly, the lights in the hall went out, making the group stop in their tracks.
"I guess it's the air. Don't worry, I've got this." Danielle said.
She snapped with her fingers, creating a sphere of light green light above her hand. But it immediately extinguished. She snapped several more times with her fingers, but no light survived longer then one second.
"That's strange." Danielle said.
A rustling noise caught their attention. Pit, Dark Pit, and Danielle turned around.
"What was that?" Pit asked.
They tried to see in the dark, but with no result. They then heard the noise again. It was like something was crawling on the wall.
"I, Danielle, Princess of Nature, demand you to reveal yourself!" Danielle shouted.
The noise increased in volume. It sounded like metal jointed legs, as if a huge centipede was crawling.
"What is making that noise?" Danielle asked.
Suddenly, the rustling noises stopped. The group waited a minute, but there was nothing to hear anymore.
"There was nothing there. Maybe that was just us seeing things." Dark Pit said.
He, Pit, and Danielle decided to wait and see if he was right. At first, it seemed like everything was peaceful, but the noises came back. The group looked around and formed a circle. There was actually something in the room, and it was hiding in the shadow in the corner and crawling around. Danielle extended her hand in protection and slowly took a step to the hiding place. Dark Pit noticed what his girlfriend was doing.
"Danielle, get back here!" Dark Pit ordered.
Danielle ignored him and continued walking. She was afraid. A hissing sound made her squeal softly and shoot a light beam at the hiding place. Before the light immediately disappeared, she saw that the corner of the room was empty. She looked surprised and turned back to Pit and Dark Pit.
"Huh. I guess there really wasn't something there." Danielle said.
Suddenly, a sharp object pierced through her lower back. Pit and Dark Pit gasped.
"Danielle!" Dark Pit shouted.
He and Pit tried to run towards her, but they found themselves unable to move. Meanwhile, Danielle let out a pained gasp and reached for her back. A barb made sure that the demigoddess couldn't remove the sickle-like object from her back. She made a scream in fear when three centipede-like legs clamped around her waist and chest. The legs were gross and slimy. She struggled to get the thing off of her, but the scorpion tail stabbed deeper into her back. Her skin was torn, and the sticky blood made her nauseous. She felt the legs clamp even tighter to give the tail more space to penetrate her body. The demigoddess was in shock and faltered around before falling against the wall. She knew where this thing was looking for. The place where every living being kept their will, mind, and emotions.
Pit and Dark Pit knew that, and they reattempted to move. They regained their bodies movements and rushed towards Danielle, who was trembling and slackened when the monster hit a sensitive nerve. Pit took out his bow, loaded an arrow, and shot it at the tail. The arrow hit the tail, and something screamed in pain before removing it. However, in the process, a burning pain went through Danielle's whole body before her soul flew out. Her body fell to the ground, while her soul, which looked like a blue transparent version of herself, fell back onto the ground. Dark Pit ran up to her and helped her up.
"Are you alright?" Dark Pit asked.
Danielle nodded.
"Well, besides the fact that I was just separated from my body, I've never been better." Danielle replied sarcastically.
She, Pit, and Dark Pit then looked back at the thing that attacked her. The air seemed to fizzle before something started to appear and infested wings started to spread out. Pit's eyes faltered. The wings seemed a bit... familiar. As soon as he, Dark Pit, and Danielle got a good look at what it was, they gasped. They got the details. A eye, a bug body, and a hooked tail. They knew exactly who it was.
"No way! He's back? The Chaos Kin is back?" Pit asked in shock.
"But how? I thought that you two defeated that thing!" Danielle asked.
"We did, but apparently, it wasn't dead after all." Dark Pit replied.
Before Pit or Danielle could respond, there was a loud crash and debris flew everywhere. A familiar laugh rang out, a laugh that the three of them never thought that they would hear again.
"Is that?" Danielle asked.
"It can't be." Pit replied, visibly shocked.
"I'm afraid so." Dark Pit said, scowling.
Hades floated into the room, grinning smugly.
"Hades!" Pit sneered.
Hades laughed again.
"Hello there, Pit and Pittoo. And you too, Dani. What better way to celebrate my return than with a festive little bloodbath? After all, I have been gone for 163 years." Hades asked.
Dark Pit groaned.
"Ugh, don't call me that. It's Dark Pit, not Pittoo. It's bad enough that everyone else does that all the time." Dark Pit hissed.
"I know, that's why I did it." Hades said. He then turned to the Chaos Kin and ordered "Anyway, first order of business, take the princess!".
Danielle screamed and started to run, but Hades snapped his fingers, and the girl disappeared and reappeared next to him.
"Can't outrun me, Princess!" Hades said with a laugh.
"Danielle!" Pit and Dark Pit yelled, distraught at the sight of the demigoddess possibly in danger.
Hades looked at the Chaos Kin.
"Alright, bug, take out those two angels. Start with Pitty Pat first!" Hades ordered.
The Chaos Kin nodded and slashed it's tail at Pit and Dark Pit. The two were able to dodge the tail, and Dark Pit knocked the Chaos Kin away with his staff.
"Now it's your turn, Hades!" Dark Pit shouted.
He and Pit attempted to charge at Hades, but the Lord of the Underworld held up a hand.
"Not so fast. You wouldn't want anything happening to Little Miss Flower Child there, would you?" Hades asked.
Pit and Dark Pit looked over at the other side of the room. Danielle was lying on the ground, with the Chaos Kin standing over her, it's tail held inches from her back.
"One more step, and the girl's soul get's consumed." Hades said.
Pit and Dark Pit stopped. The two of them, especially Dark Pit, didn't want to see their friend get lost forever because of them. Reluctantly, the two angels fell to their knees, forced to obey the evil duo.
"Excellent work, bug. Now, let's dump them in the past to ensure that they don't cause any trouble with our plan. Bowser will take care of them just fine." Hades ordered.
He then snapped his fingers. Pit, Dark Pit, and Danielle disappeared in flashes of red light. Once they were gone, Hades picked up Danielle's body.
"Now let's get out of this place and head to the Underworld. Skyworld isn't going to know what hit them." Hades ordered.
With that, the two villains made their escape from the town and headed to the Underworld.
"Location: Ylisse, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, March 30th 2143"
Iniabi went over his plan mentally one more time.
"Alright, it's time I leave and get those idiots that imprisoned me." Iniabi thought.
Iniabi got up from his position on the floor and looked at the four cameras positions and the mattress. At that moment, he dashed for the mattress, ripping the aged fabric at the seams. Iniabi, before any of the security guards could react, tore out a chunk of smashed brick and lobbed it at the nearest camera. All at once, sparks, debris, metal, and dust exploded in that corner with a loud cracking noise accompanying it. All of the guards watching his cell slammed on the buttons that were labeled 'Subdue', only to watch as Iniabi suddenly hopped back, tore the grimy mirror off the wall, and pinned himself on the floor directly over one of the functioning cameras, holding the mirror outward from him. A red beam exploded from each of the cameras and aimed at the blue haired man aside from the one that he was below. But rather then subduing him, they hit the mirror and bounced off it, shooting up into the camera above Iniabi and short-circuiting. The man jumped to his feet, deflected the beams of electricity still bursting from the cameras, and darted to the bed and jumped on top. Finally, he deflected two final shots as they bounced off in the opposite directions and were hit right back, frying both of their mainframes.
Iniabi panted and dropped the mirror onto the bed, ignoring the noticeable scorch mark on it, and hopped down onto the metal floor. Immediately, he realized that he was still going to have to deal with the inevitable heard of guards trying to get into his cell and subdue him. Looking over to the bed, the man instantly had an idea. Within seconds, Iniabi threw the mirror in the corner, smashing to pieces, and flipped the bed over onto the side that was sliced open on top, and ran it into the door, creating a makeshift barricade. Not two seconds later, a hideous screeching alarm began to blare right outside of his cell. Iniabi went back to the bed and removed several brick chunks out of the mattress.
Footsteps approached. They had nothing but cold companionless fury in them. Iniabi sat there, sweat tricking down his brow as he sat in anticipation. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. He ran over to the broken mirror, swiped five shards from the ruins, and slipped them in different corners between the mattress and the underside of the bedframe. As he slid the bed back into place, the door suddenly swung open. The guards outside were confused at the sight before them briefly, though it was just enough. Iniabi lobbed brick chunks at them before they could even realize that they were looking at a bed, leaving nasty dents on their heads as they fell onto the cold metal floor. Iniabi peeked over the bed and immediately ducked back down as blasts that came from more guards that were behind the others narrowly missed his head and left scorches in the ceiling. Iniabi, in response, threw more chunks at them, but the guards dodged with ease.
"You get close enough to push the bed over, and I'll blast him when it goes down!" one of the guards shouted.
A second guard nodded in response. The first guard darted up to the wall, his back against it for cover as he ducked another chunk. The seconds guard charged towards the bed, gun raised and ready to fire. He aimed right at the glass, just about to blast the bed over. He pulled the trigger, and a ball of plasma erupted from the barrel. It worked it's way over to the shard in a second and met the smooth surface. However, much to the guard's dismay, it bounced off, and he didn't have any time before it blasted him in the chest and sent him sprawling across the floor, his blaster sliding further down the hall.
Checking to see if there was anyone left, Iniabi carefully slid the bed outward just enough for him to slip by before scurrying down the hall and plucking the blaster from the floor, and then picking up Falchion after noticing it in a case. However, he didn't have much time to examine what type of ammo the blaster took, as a metallic clanking sound began approaching him. He looked around but saw nowhere to hide. However, he suddenly got an idea.
Ten guards darted down the corridor. They rounded a corner and, their deflective armor glistening, raised their blasters as the cell door came into sight. In a second, they were upon the makeshift barricade. A guard with a stronger build violently overturned it with ease as the rest poured into the cell.
That's when a shadowy figure emerged from the darkness of the immeasurably high ceiling, hands and feet pressing against the walls and carefully lowering themselves down.
Iniabi dropped down on the floor silently, his eyes darting to a panel that was to the right of the cell door. The only button on it was a large red square that simply read 'Door'. He dashed for the button and slammed his hand on the button with a loud beep. The doorframe shrunk down to the size of a minuscule window to the rest of the complex. Taking advantage of the guards brief confusion, Iniabi ran.