After having listened to Yui Ikari's story about the Angels and how she and the other residents of Tokyo-3 had become replacements for the missing heroes, Princess Peach and Mario exchanged a thoughtful look with each other.
"So, Mrs. Ikari..." Peach then spoke up. "What are your plans for the future?"
"Most important for me is that I want to give my children the possibility to do what they think is right," Yui explained, smiling at the blue-furred form of her quasi-daughter, Rei. "They have suffered under the schemes of my husband more than others, and I don't want to make the same mistake. I wasn't there when they needed me, thus, they will have my full support."
Rei thought about her mother's words. Her past actions... her commitment towards Commander Ikari and NERV... didn't she make all those decisions by herself?
On the other hand, was there ever another reason for her not to obey Commander Ikari? Was there ever another reason for her existence? After all, the Commander was then man who had always shown her more fondness than any other human being...
Still, why did she feel so betrayed whenever she thought of his name?
"As for everything else, I really don't know..." Yui went on. "It all depends on the decisions that half-god Palkia and her superiors will come to, regarding our current situation... I don't really want to take the place of another human, and when Samus Aran returns, she will want to have her Power Suit and ship back..."
"I hate to be a bother, but shouldn't we concentrate on the problems at hand?" Daisy then asked. "What shall we do about Bowser? He obviously is up to no good. He has kidnapped all those people from their worlds and turned them into THIS!" She gestured at the Assist Trophies that were still standing next to the table they were sitting on. "Shouldn't we worry that the Mushroom Kingdom is his next goal?"
"I really don't know if we should pull Mrs. Ikari and her children into this," Peach said. "I mean, they are just guests in our kingdom, and they don't even know Bowser..."
Rei then surprised everyone by saying: "We are already part of this. The entity Master Hand and his obviously scheming brother Crazy Hand have pulled us from Earth to replace Krystal, Samus Aran and all the others. Master Hand stated that he had chosen us to fight his enemies. Class rep... I mean, Lupina has explained that she and Commander Ikari have joined the organization known as 'Subspace Syndicate'. They are responsible for the disappearance of Krystal and the others. Since they know everything about us, we cannot just act as if this situation does not concern us. If this 'King Bowser' is another member of the Subspace Syndicate, I suggest we try to find this factory of his so we find out more."
While the princesses and Yui were speechless for a moment, Mario smirked. "You know, she has a point-a. We definitely have-a to find out what Bowser is planning. And-a the more help we get, the better."
"Well then, I guess you would find THIS interesting," Fox said as he walked in from the balcony, accompanied by Shinji, and put something on the table.
Everyone stared at the map in surprise, even Rei raised one of her eyebrows.
"Where... did you find this?" Yui wondered.
Shinji chuckled. "PenPen gave it to us... you know, Misato's pet penguin?"
Yui looked at her son sternly. "Shinji... this is not the time to make jokes."
"I'm not joking," Shinji insisted. "He appeared on the balcony, gave me that map and disappeared again."
"That is more than unlikely, Pilot Ika... Shinji," Rei said.
"Is it really important how he managed to get that map?" Fox asked. "Look at all the details... it HAS to be genuine. It also shows its exact location, here, on the backside... 'Cookie Mountain'... do you know where that is?"
"You bet we do," Luigi said. "That's-a part of Dinosaur Land. Bowser and his kids once kidnapped Yoshi and his pals and trapped them in various castles strewn across Dinosaur Land. Cookie Mountain was where Ludwig von Koopa had his castle. It is-a destroyed by now, however."
"But what if they built the factory at the place where Ludwig's old castle used to be?" Peach asked. "Luigi, Mario... you've been there before. Do you think it would be easy to attack Cookie Mountain?"
"Well, that's-a tricky," Mario said. "We would have to come either from the South, where the Forest of Illusion is situated, or across the Twin Bridges, which connect Cookie Mountain with the other huge mountain in Dinosaur Land, the Vanilla Dome."
Shinji sweatdropped. "Why are so many places in your world named after food?"
"I dunno, but who knows, maybe the discoverer of Dinosaur Island was a gourmet," Daisy chuckled.
"I say we attack the factory, the sooner, the better," Fox said.
"I agree," Rei nodded. "They won't expect us to strike now. I request that Mr. Mario and Mr. Luigi accompany us since they are familiar with the surroundings."
"Well, I'd be happy to join you, after all, I have some questions I'd like to ask Bowser or whoever is in charge of the factory... but if you want to take along a true expert of Dinosaur Land, we should take Yoshi along. After all, he was born there."
Shinji didn't have to think about it for long. He had often been called a wimp and a spineless coward, not only just by Asuka. Battling the Angels had helped him a bit to reaffirm his hidden courage, but it was this situation that had turned his opinions completely upside down. Being stuck on a foreign world, having to fill in for a hero, being trained by a master swordsman, forming a friendship with another, rather timid boy who had been forced to be a hero... all of this had turned Shinji into what he was today. Not a pink puffball... that was just his outer appearance. No, it had turned him into a courageous, young man who was willing to fight for his friends and family.
"I will come with you... sis!" he told Rei.
Yui smiled. "Well, when both of my children agree on this, I can't possibly let them go by themselves, can I? Besides, I don't want anyone to be transformed into such trophies anymore. It's bad enough that this cute little Metroid and a pair of little girls have become victims in this..."
Everyone around her sweatdropped. "Did she just call that floating, energy-sucking alien 'cute'?" Fox murmured.
Rei then stepped up to him. "Commander McCloud," she said. "I hope you don't mind the presence of my family on this mission."
Fox grinned. "Hey, that's no problem at all. Since they are not even part of my team or the Cornerian army, I couldn't really protest against them. Besides, I have heard quite a few things about Samus Aran, and if your mother is only half as a skilled fighter as the original Samus, I think she's going to be quite the asset for our team."
Fox knew how important family was. He just wished he still had the chance to tell his father...
Within the galactic Space Federation, Mute City was a quite important place, and known as a link between different trade routes as well as an information link for the entire known universe. It is also known for the famous F-Zero races that are being held on the various tracks that are hovering above the city.
Since the city itself is the meeting point for many, colorful races of the universe, no creature would really look out of place here. Nobody looked twice when a pair of creatures that were known as Pokémon on another world were walking down the crowd-filled streets of the huge mall in the center of town. Or, to be exact, a pair of hybrids that were half human and half Pokémon.
"Are you sure this is the place?" the humanoid Blastoise known as Balthasar asked her companion in a worried tone of voice.
"Affirmative," her green-skinned Venusaur companion replied. "Our mission is to meet with a contact that knows where we can find the designated object General Ikari requires."
"Well, if you say so... but this town is pretty big. Where shall we start searching?"
"Did you not listen during the briefing?" Melchior frowned. "The place where we are supposed to meet our contact is the 'Chain Bar'.
"Well, why didn't you say so earlier?" Balthasar asked and pointed across the street. "Because I've seen that bar ever since we came past that corner."
Melchior looked across the street as well, and, sure enough, there was a big sign over the entrance of what looked like a lively night club.
"Chain Bar," Melchior read. "Well done, Balthasar!"
Feeling a burst of pride within her heavily shelled body, Bal couldn't help but smile when she followed her follow Magi across the street.
In front of the bar, a huge, burly creature resembling a dinosaur was standing. Every so often, he would shake his head when someone wanted to enter the bar. Sometimes, however, he gave the people a toothy grin and nodded, allowing them to enter.
"Oh, what shall we do if that guy doesn't allow us in?" Balthasar wondered.
"We will find a way in," Melchior simply stated.
But Bal's shouldn't need to worry. As soon as the dinosaur man saw them, he smiled at Melchior and said: "Hey there, baby! A sexy girl like you is always welcome for a drink. Come in, and your friend as well."
Melchior didn't know how to react to that, so she simply said: "Thank you!" and walked in. Balthasar hurried after her.
The Blastoise giggled. "That bouncer sure seemed to like you, Mel," she said while nudging her plant friend. "Why don't you go back and flirt a bit with him? I'm sure we'll get some free drinks on top of everything..."
"We are not here to flirt, drink or make jokes, Balthasar!" Melchior frowned. "We are here to retrieve information regarding the lost Chozo artifact we are looking for. So keep your eyes open and try to find our contact."
"Okay, okay... but what is he supposed to look like?"
Melchior sighed and showed her companion a picture of a tall, muscular alien in a futuristic suit that had a scaly, green skin. "That's him. And his name is Pico. So look around! And if you don't see him, ask around!"
And thus, the two Pokémon hybrids split up and searched the crowd for the man they were supposed to meet.
Balthasar was feeling a bit lost. Never before had she met so many different people, not to mention so many creatures of different races. Multiple times, she saw someone who had green skin, but it never was the man she was looking for.
In the end, she was getting thirsty. "I feel so dried up, I don't think I could even shoot water out of my cannons..." she muttered. She decided to go to the counter and ask the bartender what kinds of drinks were being served here. She had no money, but maybe she could do the same as Melchior and use her feminine wiles, so somebody would offer to buy her a drink.
When she reached the counter, her shell accidentally bumped against someone who was standing there. "Oh, excuse me!" she said.
The man turned around and smiled. "No need to apologize. I see how crowded it is in here... why don't you take a seat?"
"Thank you," Balthasar smiled with a faint blush. She wasn't used to that kind of attention. True, the man was furry, and not scaly, like her, but he still had some sort of attractive charm to him. Maybe she could ask him to buy her a nice drink?
She decided to go for it. "If I may introduce myself," she said. "My name is Balthasar."
"Charmed," the humanoid fox with the sunglasses smiled. "My name is James McCloud, ex-space pilot and F-Zero racer."
Celebi closed his eyes and smiled. 'And thus, the first two members of my new team of 'parental heroes' have met...' he thought.
On the edge of the Crimean army camp, a small, wooden hut was used to keep war prisoners behind bars. Currently, there was only one prisoner inside.
Samurai Goroh heard the sounds of battle coming from outside and tried to peer through a crack in the wall. But the only thing he could see was a chaotic mess of blurs and fuzzy images.
"What's going on there?" he grunted. "A battle? Dang, do they have forgotten about me? I want to go out there and get some of the action, too..."
Suddenly, the door to his small prison flew out of its hinges by a powerful blow from the outside. A dark, furry shape was standing inside the door and threw something to Goroh's feet, where it landed with a clatter.
The renegade samurai picked his blade up and frowned. "Took you long enough to get me out of here."
Dread Kong smirked. "Don't you get all cocky with me, Goroh! You managed to lose the Fused Shadows, and the Commander is not too happy about that."
"Hey, what was I supposed to do?" Goroh yelled angrily. "That bitch of a time god Pokémon just dumped us on this world, and bang, what happened? They got me surrounded!"
"Well, you will have your chance to prove that you are still willing to help the Subspace Council," Dread Kong said. "Draw your weapon and fight, there is a fight to be won!"
He wanted to turn around and run back into battle, but Goroh called him back: "Hey... I know I'm in it for the money, but why are you helping that Gendo guy? What did he promise you?" He smirked. "A bunch of bananas?"
Dread Kong stayed silent for a short while. "He said... this is the only way of saving our home planet."
Goroh frowned while wondering what kind of planet that primate could come from. The planet of the apes, maybe?
"And you believed him, just like that?" the samurai grumbled.
"Of course not!" the black-furred ape snarled. "Neither of us wanted to believe it at first. Deputy Commander Fuyutsuki had a long discussion with Commander Ikari... but in the end, he, along with the rest of us, had to come to realize that all the commander said could only be the truth."
"Huh? What did he say to convince you just like that?" Goroh muttered.
"I... can't say..." Dread Kong grumbled. He winced and rubbed his head. "But... I remember seeing someone standing next to him... a small, black-haired girl... with a magic wand..."
Goroh sweatdropped. "Oh yeah, sure, that explains a lot..." he murmured, suspecting that the black ape had more than a screw loose. "Say, how about we just go out there and show those mercenary fools who's boss?"
Dread Kong nodded. "Yes... yes, that's good. And maybe you still can salvage the Fused Shadows from that Twili girl..."
"Me? What about you?" Goroh barked in annoyance.
The muscular primate smirked. "I'll see if I can acquire a pretty, little trinket as a souvenir... for the commander!"
Link shoved his heavily armored opponent backwards with his shield, then he jumped over the dark soldier's head and attacked him with a powerful slice.
"See, that's how you deal with Darknuts," he said while the monstrous knight fell to the ground.
"Not to bad, but I prefer the 'stun and run' strategy," Asuka said as she threw one of the Deku Nuts she had found in her pocket at another Darknut. Then she ran up at her opponent and attacked with a mighty backflip kick, which threw the Darknut on its back.
Link frowned. "Stun and run? That's it?"
Asuka grinned. "Well, stun and run and BLOW 'EM UP!" The next thing she pulled out of her bag was much bigger than a Deku Nut. After lighting the fuse of the bomb, she let out an angry yell and shoved the explosive into the helmet of her fallen enemy.
While the explosion did the rest, she simply turned around and wiped her hands. "There, that's more my style."
"Oh, is it?" Link muttered. "I'd really like to know how you do the house-cleaning..."
He looked around himself. "Looks like there are no other Darknuts around here." He could still see the soldiers of the Crimean army fight the Koopas and ninja monkeys, but at least the most powerful opponents were taken care of.
"Still, I can't help but wonder where these Hyrule-type monsters have come from..." he murmured.
Heavy footsteps behind them heralded the arrival of another enemy... the most dangerous opponent they could ask for.
It was the Black Knight. Surrounded from head to toe in a massive, black suit of armor, he slowly approached the two youngsters.
"I brought them here, warrior from Hyrule," the dark general said while lifting his huge sword. Asuka gulped when she imagined what kind of damage such a weapon could do. The only time she had seen a sword as long and heavy as this was back when she had met Ike...
To be honest, Ike's sword looked surprisingly similar to the Black Knight's weapon...
Link grimaced and raised his own blade, while Asuka went into a fighter stance.
"Do not bother," the Black Knight said. "This armor is enchanted... only a sacred blade can penetrate it. In fact, the only time someone actually managed to pierce it was when the young Ike brought the blessed sword, Ragnell... which is the twin to my own sword, Andolite."
"Is that so?" Link asked. "Well, you might be interested to hear that this sword was crafted to fight the forces of evil... and was also blessed by the three goddesses of Hyrule."
Behind his helmet, the knight narrowed his eyes. "You don't mean..."
"Yes, this is the Master Sword!" Link proclaimed, pointing his blade at the dark general. "The Blade of Evil's Bane!"
"How unexpected..." the Black Knight muttered. "This will prove interesting..."
"H-hey, I'm still here as well, you know?" Asuka protested, angry at being ignored by either of the two swordsman.
"Stay out of this, Asuka!" Link said. "You can't harm him!"
"Oh, can't I?" the red-headed ninja princess and Evangelion pilot shouted. "Well, in case you have forgotten, I am a member of the royal family of Hyrule now... and I also have a weapon that is being blessed by the goddesses!"
In a bright flash, she changed back into her royal archer outfit, complete with bow and quiver. Aiming an arrow at the Black Knight, she charged it with the mystical powers that were the birthright of every female within the royal family.
The Black Knight looked at her... but he didn't seem to notice the Light Arrow which was aimed at him at all. Instead, he was solely focussed on Asuka's face, which wasn't covered by the Sheikah mask anymore.
"Miss... Miss Soryu?" he stuttered in a barely audible voice.
"Say good night!" Asuka yelled and fired her arrow.
The holy projectile shone brighter than ever and hit the Black Knight's armor with a force that actually made him stagger backwards.
It still wasn't enough to pierce his armor, though.
Instead, it knocked his helmet off his head.
Asuka's eyes widened. 'No!' she thought. 'That can't be...'
The man in the heavy, black armor, who was just recovering from the heavy impact of the Light Arrow, was none other than Deputy Commander Fuyutsuki of NERV.
"Deputy... Commander?" Asuka stuttered.
"What the... you KNOW this creep?" Link shouted in surprise.
"Miss Soryu... this is surprising for both you and me," Fuyutsuki said as he looked back at her. He sighed. "Listen, since you have obviously been recruited by the evil creature known as Master Hand..."
'Wait a second here...' Asuka thought. 'I thought Crazy Hand was the evil one?'
"Everything that he must have told you was obviously just a lie," Fuyutsuki said. "He forced you into the role of Princess Zelda, didn't he? He forcefully removed you from your home planet and put you into a position you never wanted to be in, isn't that right?"
'Well, that's PARTLY true...' Asuka thought. 'Which teenage girl doesn't sometimes dream of being a beautiful princess?'
"But... but didn't the same happen to you?" she then blurted out. There was no other way she could explain his presence here... or in the armor of a man who was known as a dark general to the people of Tellius.
"No," Fuysutsuki replied. "That was completely different. Unlike you, I had a choice. I was OFFERED to help Commander Ikari in his quest to save Earth."
"SAVE Earth?" Asuka shouted. "Wait a minute... I thought... Mew told me that Crazy Hand was the one who wanted to do all sorts of bad stuff..."
"Nothing but lies!" the Deputy Commander said. "With the help of the Subspace Council, we can drive away the Aparoids that have infested our home world... also, the Angels won't be a danger to Earth any longer... all we have to do is to bring them the Artifacts of Destiny."
"And what... is that?" Asuka wondered.
"Items that are touched by destiny," the new Black Knight explained. "I never thought it possible, but Adam and the other Angels proved that there is more in the universe that mankind could possibly imagine. There are also the forces of the universe that cause evil persons to be evil, and heroes to be heroes, gods to be gods... and they are also responsible for placing certain, powerful items in the history of all living creatures. These items have affected the flow of destiny significantly. You have seen a few of them... Lip's Stick, the Fused Shadows, the sacred blades Ragnell and Andolite... and the Master Sword, too. And those are just the beginning."
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Asuka asked, dreading the answer.
"Because... we need them," Fuyutsuki said. "While not all of them are magical in nature or blessed by the gods, they still are filled with the power of destiny. And the Subspace Council knows how we can extract this power."
Asuka was beginning to fear that her Deputy Commander had become crazy. "And... what do you need that... power for?"
"So we can create the ultimate weapon against those who have driven us away from our home planet..." Fuyutsuki sighed, a content expression on his face.
Link sweatdropped. "Asuka... I know one single word to describe that man: CUCKOO!"
"He can't understand us, Asuka!" Fuyutsuki almost pleaded. "He is an outsider, from another world... we have to work together to save our home planet. From the Angels, from the Aparoids... from everyone!"
"Is that the reason... why you are commanding your troops... to kill all those people?" Asuka asked, glancing at the battle that still raged around them.
"They wouldn't understand our plight," the Black Knight said. "They would do anything in their power to stop us from acquiring those Artifacts of Destiny. But they are aliens, outsiders... we don't have to care about what happens to them. We are a dying race, Asuka Langley Soryu..."
Asuka looked into his eyes for a while, then she shook her head. "No," she said. "That's a load of bull! I don't know what the commander or that Subspace Council did to you, but you cannot be serious about this! And I might have been placed into this situation against my own will... but currently, I AM the princess of Hyrule... and I know who my friends are." She raised her bow and let another Light Arrow appear. "You want the Master Sword? Over my dead body!"
Fuyutsuki sighed. "I see... it is most unfortunate that you have decided to side with the villains in this fight, Miss Soryu... but you've always been a rash, premature girl, haven't you?"
Those words made Asuka seethe with anger. "SHUT UP!" she yelled and fired another Light Arrow.
Dozens of Koopas let out yells of panic when they abandoned ship. They used parachutes to safely reach the ground, while their battleship went down in flames.
"Only a couple more ships remaining, sir!" the skull knight called Butch spoke into the communicator in front of him. "They are concentrating their fire on us and are leaving the winged horses and the dragon-like creatures alone."
"Concentrate our fire on the biggest ship they still have," Meta Knight commanded. "That must be their flagship. When their leader falls, they will all fall."
"Roger, sir! What will you do?"
"I will join my comrade in the battle on the ground."
With those words, Meta Knight switched off his communicator and looked up at Ike. "Are you ready?"
"I'm always ready to help my friends," the young general smirked.
The masked Dream Lander nodded. "So be it, then." He flapped his wings and grabbed Ike around his arms, pulling him up into the air. Like an unusual paraglider, the two unlikely allies soared down to the ground.
"Where shall I land?" Meta Knight asked.
"Well, I suppose we should try to find Titania, my second-in-command..." Ike muttered. "Wait a minute... what's that?"
He stared down at the ground at an unusual scene. A young, red-headed woman was bombarding a man in a bulky, black armor with arrows of light, while shouting profanities in a language he was not familiar with. Next to them stood a young man in a green tunic, holding a shield and a sword, who looked like he was uncertain what to do.
"Link and the princess?" Ike gasped. "They are fighting the Black Knight? They have no chance... I must help them. Quick, fly down and..."
But when his gaze fell on another part of the battlefield, he froze. He saw his sister, Mist, standing behind a row of Crimean soldiers that were fighting the strange lizard creatures, and healed them whenever they were hurt. But in the trees above her, he could see a dark shape... a vicious-looking ape that was about to pounce on her...
"No, turn around!" Ike shouted. "My sister... we have to save my sister! Down there, down there!"
Meta Knight also had seen the danger the girl was in and flapped his wings to speed up. "To attack a young, unprotected girl from behind... is unforgivable!" he shouted and drew his blade while they dove at the form of Dread Kong, who was about to jump down on Mist...
A sly grin appeared on the face of the black-furred ape. All of his senses were concentrating on the young healer down below him... or rather, on the medallion that was dangling from her neck. 'Only one more pounce... and we will have one of the most powerful Artifacts of Destiny in our grasp...' he thought. 'The Fire Emblem...'
"MIST! LOOK OUT ABOVE YOU!" Ike shouted, but he still was too far away for his sister to hear him. A pained expression appeared on his face. 'If that beast rips her to shreds...'
Suddenly, the melodious tweet of a bird's voice caught Mist's attention. She saw a small bird, with red and yellow feathers that was fluttering around a tree.
She smiled. "Oh, what a cute little bird!" She looked up... and screamed when she saw the form of the hulking ape that was looking at her.
'Damn, she spotted me...' Dread Kong thought with a grimace. 'It's now or never...'
But before he could jump, the whole tree he was crouching in began to shake. "Hey, what the...?" he gasped. "No, not that... noooo!"
Down below, next to the trunk of the tree, a spherical-shaped robot with a huge drill on its front side was standing, using aforementioned drill to bring down the tree.
"Oh yeeeessss," it said in a female voice, accompanied by a chuckle. The drill pierced the trunk completely, and the whole tree began to fall... with Dread Kong still on it.
Satisfied, Kyoko stopped her drill and listened to the ape's howl of pain when he met the floor. "That felt nice..."
With a roar, Dread Kong came jumping out of the fallen tree's foliage and landed in front of Mist. "I need the Fire Emblem, and I will have it!" he shouted.
He reached out to grab the terrified girl, only to be stopped by a pair of swords that appeared out of nowhere.
"I wouldn't do that," Ike said darkly.
"It is over," Meta Knight added.
Mist couldn't be happier in this moment. "BROTHER!" she shouted. "You're back!"
Dread Kong grumbled when he heard the footsteps of a robot behind him.
"Make no sudden moves," Kyoko said. The dark ape just growled.
On the branch of another tree, the little bird sat down of the head of a pink, spherical creature and chirped happily.
Jigglypuff smiled when she looked up at the bird. "Jiggly! Jigglypuff!"
The small bird - who was called Yune by some people - nodded in agreement. That really had been some good timing. She then tilted her head and chirped a question.
Jigglypuff smiled and gestured over to where a rotund samurai was trying to sneak up on a female Twili...
'I have you now, bitch...' Goroh thought as he raised his blade to bring it down on Midna's head. 'In a minute, the Fused Shadows will be mine again... as will the big reward!'
He frowned when a small, red creature with a leaf on its head came flying out of nowhere and clung to his shoulder. It looked up at him and squeaked.
He angrily shook his left arm. "Geddoff, you stupid thing..." he hissed.
Out of nowhere, a swarm of red, blue and yellow creatures came flying, and in seconds, his whole body was covered by them. He yelled out in panic and tried to slash at them. "WHAT THE... GET OFF, YOU LITTLE PESTS! GET OFF, I SAY!"
Midna turned out in surprise. "What the heck... YOU again?" she shouted angrily.
"Oh, don't worry, my little Pikmin friends will keep him busy," an amused voice coming from her left said. Midna saw a small man with a round nose and a helmet that covered all of his head. "Who... are you?" she wondered.
The small astronaut smiled. "I am Captain Olimar... at your service!"