I cannot believe part one of this chapter is finally done. Well luckily some scenes in the second half of the chapter are done but I just wanted to post this before I get too engrossed with Breath of the Wild on Friday (my dad preordered me the Wii U version of the game).
We tried our best to add both a mixture of the usual dumb humor in the story with the more serious scenes. I will guarantee the ending is going to be a happy one!
Anyways, trigger warning for ableist slurs and the like.
Chaptar 38: The Day the World Revolted Part 1
- Since someone on the AO3 port asked for the final HTK opening, well here it is. "Main Theme (Orchestra)" from Chrono Trigger plays as it ties in all of the important events from all of the Arcs in the story ranging from the beginning of Hot Topic's fate to the reveal of Yoshi. Many of their fights were demonstrated, ranging from the mall battle to even the more ridiculous one from the bubblegum and grape soda factory. It transitioned over to the reveal of Morgan, the other members getting the individual montage as well revealing Icarus before the Mirror of Truth revealed his actual appearance. In the emotional part, it showed the Resistance, Future Lana, the goddesses along with Palutena reaching for someone's hand, however the figure gets engulfed by darkness. A flash of events from Arcs 2 and 3 appear ranging from Melee City to Dark Pit time traveling. The intro then ends at Dark Pit facing the fortress as Erebus is directly staring at him. Honestly you guys can seriously envision your own intro which consist of all the important events of this shitstain of a fic.-
- "Military Facility Dungeon" from the Skies of Arcadia OST plays-
"After all this time, we're finally here."
Dark Pit glanced at the fortress near them as the three main groups finally arrived near it. Everything seemed like smooth sailing from there as the coast was clear. While everyone discussed things with one another, the dark angel felt that there was something else. He found it rather odd how Erebus would leave the entire front of the fortress unattended, almost as if he wanted his enemies to come after him. It was all too suspicious the further he thought about it.
"Hey Pittoo! Aren't you coming?" Pit called after him.
The raven haired angel's eye twitched as he heard his brother call for him as the group decided to proceed on without him.
"Yes Pit-stain… and for the last fucking time, stop calling me that!"
Dark Pit rushed towards the group, just to be abruptly stopped by a familiar salesman from Koridai. Morshu and his pals rose out of nowhere as they stood on a floating podium, causing the members of the HTK, Heroes of Light and the MemeMemeMeme Brigade to gasp in shock. Cia on the other hand, grimaced and growled under her breath.
"I thought we were done with this shit!" she shouted towards the shopkeep.
"Well," Morshu simply exclaimed, "you see, that was Mewtwo who had his chance of getting revenge. While you did manage to prove your worth, I've decided to make things much more MMMM interesting. In fact, you edgy shitheads should be rather grateful I've decided to change it up rather than go directly for you seeing how you demonstrated that during your battle against the former taker of lives."
"What exactly do you mean by change it up?" Shadow questioned, being caught by surprise. The dark hedgehog suspected Morshu for the type to usually keep his vengeful promises, especially when they revolved around an entire populous being demolished in the ravages of war. Why the humble shopkeep didn't want to murder Cia or any of the other Lancias' anymore perplexed him.
"You see, while I originally wanted to murder the entire Lancia family to avenge the people of Koridai, I've decided that the motif was of no valid use once she managed to learn the true meaning of suffering. So instead, I present to you edgelings the obstacle course of a lifetime!"
With those words, Gay Piplup pressed a button while Fat Pikachu popped some confetti as the obstacle course revealed itself, blocking the path to the entrance of the base. Everyone watch the courses unfold themselves in awe, being quite impressed with the portly man's latest work.
"Wait, now you're working with Icarus?!" Wolf exclaimed in shock. "Whatever happened to you being you being neutral?"
"Just because the big bad himself funded me doesn't mean I work under him now," Morshu replied, huffing.
"Then what's the entire point of the obstacle course anyways," Donkey Kong asked, "you might as well join him if you already constructed him something."
"For the last time, I'm not on anyone's side," the hefty man clarified yet again. "Now allow me to explain the purpose of each of the courses. You see, there are about ten obstacles total that each of you must tackle in order to make your way towards the entrance, however there's a catch. One of the major rules is one participant per course as they must win in order for all of you to progress. In addition to that, only members of the Hot Topic Krew can partake in these courses as it is one member per course."
"Something tells me that Morshu might have a few tricks up his sleeve," Nikki commented.
"I agree," Mario chimed in. "Something-a tells me that he might try to be-a slick."
As they chatted amongst themselves, Dark Pit tried his best to mask his own worry as he wondered what challenges Morshu had planned for each of the individual members. With the Koridian's words in mind, everyone made their way towards the first obstacle. To keep themselves entertained, various members of each group browsed their phones and began playing with their apps.
-"Boss battle theme" from the Bomberman 64 soundtrack plays-
Dry Bowser led the members of the Resistance towards the secret location which was inside a vacant bathroom out in the middle of nowhere. As the boney man opened up the door to enter inside, he was blockaded by an unexpected visitor.
"Well, well, well, looks like we got ourselves a bunch of liberal snowflakes."
Curious to who it was, Fan Niu flipped on the light switch as it revealed to be none other than millennial bigot Tommy Labia, the orange platinum blonde hair girl who claims to hate labels yet labels herself anyways.
"What the fuck, we don't have time to deal with these bullshit conservatives!" Ryuko bemoaned with annoyance.
"What's the matter, gonna cry liberal snowflake?" Tabasco Landrover mocked, motioning her hands as she called them all a bunch of big babies.
"Oh please, do us a favor and shut the fuck up already," Priam commented, having enough of the girl's snobbish attitude.
Tommy Butterfinger chuckled before getting ready to fire a powerful beam at them.
"How about you all die! Get over it, Trump has won and we own the house and the senate, plus my show ratings give me powers to destroy communists!"
Everyone in the Resistance unsheathed their weapons as they knew this was either going to be a long fight against an annoying twit.
-"From Seeing the Rouge Wave" from the Phantasy Star Online OST starts playing-
While Dry Bowser and Resistance were fending off the annoyance that is Tumor Lawrence, meanwhile the others which consisted of the Kirby Crew, the Dungeons and Dragons friends and the Real Goths Group made their way towards the opposite side of the fortress.
"Are you sure you know another secret route Orson?" Pac-Man asked, wanting to make sure the grey ghost was exactly keen on where they were going.
"I'm sure of it," he replied. "I recall Erwin talking about the secret routes before just in case the government tried to infiltrate them!"
"The government? Why would they get involved in all of this mess!?" Peach questioned, tilting her head in slight astonishment. "Doesn't that Icarus guy already have them wrapped around his finger?"
"About that," Tetra exclaimed, jumping in, "you see apparently the giant goon decided to betray both that CIA agent and his lover Bane so in return, they told their leader."
"Didn't you guys even bother to watch the news?!" Ashley dully exclaimed.
"Who even watches the news these days?" Owain remarked, surprised and not acting like how he usually does by making out of this world references and whatnot.
"Point taken," Olimar exclaims as everyone nods in agreement. As Orson ushers the group to follow him, Dedede stops within his tracks, noticing something odd up in the sky. Meta Knight turns around and walks up to the blue penguin, wondering what Dedede is concerned about.
"Guys, it looks like we may have some visitors…"
Kirb glanced up at the sky as ROB zoomed in to get a closer look at their unexpected guests. It turned out it was none other than the United States government.
"Oh boy," Kirby commented, "something tells me today is going to be a long one."
The group made their way towards the first obstacle as it revealed itself to be none other than go-kart racing. Luigi's photo popped up on the giant screen projector as the green plumber started to make his way towards his go-kart. The course has yet to be revealed however, Luigi at least got the chance to see the participants.
The participants consisted of Morshu, Fat Pikachu, Gay Piplup, Bowser, Dick Dastardly and Muttley, Toad, Chocobo, and Scooby Doo and the gang. Luigi found the line up to be pretty wacky as opposed to the usual Mario Kart routine but given how most of its actual participants were engaged in other tasks, it would have to suffice.
"This match is pretty simple Luigi," the portly man explained. "In order to help your friends proceed onto the next round, you must win the race. Do I make myself clear?"
Luigi nodded as he felt a lump in his throat. The green plumber worried about failing his friends and costing them the chance of saving the world yet knew it was a risk he was willing to take. After all, he wanted to prove himself.
- "Tricktrack Part 1" from the Phantasy Star Online OST plays-
Little did they know, the games have just begun. Icarus observed go-kart racers getting prepped up from his giant monitor as Palutena eyed him. She knew Erebus was up to something as a wicked smile made its way across the redhead's face, almost as if he had a plan. In response, the older angel motioned his right hand towards a button however halts for just a slight moment.
"What are you planning now?!" Palutena exclaimed, narrowing her gaze towards him. The goddess knew he managed to put the real Icarus in a deep slumber as his pleas for help slowly but surely, ceased.
"Let's just say things are about to get a little more fun," Erebus replied in the angel's body. "You see, it would entirely be a waste of time if I allowed the Krew's efforts to go unwatched so in retrospect, I've decided to do them a favor and allow the entire world to watch in anticipation."
"So you're going to take over every television station out in the entire world? Man, how clichéd can you get?" Palutena commented, being highly uninterested. Part of her wanted to give Erebus the benefit of the doubt however given the archangel's track record, the goddess decided not to. Erebus — in Icarus's body — in turn, rolled his eyes as if her answer bothered him.
"Well duh, not to include this also takes over every website, app, you name it. No one can escape its clutches as this button prevents that. After all, who wouldn't want to pay attention to the fate of their own universe?"
With those words, Icarus finally pressed the button as every single device and television station around the entire globe of Amerijapanadaropesiafrica as denizens everywhere were shocked to see their channel changed. To make matters worse, some even tried to tune into another station yet to no avail, they couldn't escape seeing the menacing angel's face.
- "Tricktrack Part 1" fades away as it is replaced with "World Revolution" from the Chrono Trigger OST-
"Greetings citizens of Amerijapanadaropesiafrica," Icarus proudly exclaimed, "for those who are not familiar with me, I am none other than the fantastic Icarus Leventis (Palutena exclaims "You're full of shit Erebus" in the background) - SHUT. UP!" This was quickly followed by a nervous chuckle as the angel muttered a quick apology under his breath before resuming on. "If you're devastated about missing your favorite primetime show or constantly checking up on useless social media sites like Facebook, then you're not really missing anything at all. In fact, I present to you all a grand show of a life time!"
With those words, the screen will transition over as it revealed the entire obstacle course which acted as a blockade towards the fortress's entrance before zooming in on the first course which consisted of go-kart racing.
"You see, there are ten special snowflakes who think they are going to save the world," Icarus explained, not sugarcoating anything this time. "The rules are simple, in order for them to proceed on to do their "heroic deed", they must endure ten trials but here's the kicker; in order to progress, they must remain victorious otherwise all their hard work would be for nothing. While at it, this isn't a game anyone could play. In fact, I'll like for you all to meet the very ones your life will be depending on."
Millions of screens around the world transitioned to show the members of the Hot Topic Krew in the order they were going in. The only one that remained a mystery was the final contestant as they were to take their turn after Dark Pit.
"So this entire time, we've been fighting against an evil ginger?!" Chrom remarked in complete shock.
"Who knew Icarus was actually a redhead the entire time. I honestly didn't see that one coming," Sonic added, scratching his nose out of pure boredom.
"Ginger Pit bad! Ginger Pit evil!" Riki gleefully commented, bouncing around.
"Wait, does this mean that Pit and Dark Pit have recessive genes in them?" Tiny Kong curiously guessed. Before either twin could reply, Doc Brown began to examine both of the angels.
"Great Scott" he exclaimed. "It turns out both of them have freckles on their cheeks and all over their backs and shoulders!"
"Gee joy, fantastic find Doc, now if only my damn game would work," Cia replied with little to no enthusiasm as her Fire Emblem Heroes app was completely taken over by the live feed of Morshu's obstacle course.
Meanwhile everyone else gasped, cornering them as both angels turned beet red from all the unwanted attention they were receiving.
"So according to my scientific calculations," Chrom explained, "Pit and Pittoo are half angel, half soulless seeing how gingers have no souls."
Dark Pit slapped his face and shook his head in response from the Exalt's absurd statement, wondering why they were even discussing something so trivial when instead, they should be focusing on reaching the base. It didn't help that the blue haired man gathered his sources from a television show for crying out loud!
"While I would love to joke with you guys to lighten up the atmosphere, now isn't the time. The last thing we need to do is to poke fun at the angels' appearance, just to end up losing," Reyn stated as the others simply nodded in agreement.
Inside the fortress prison, the girls gasped as they were surprised Icarus decided to go this route in hopes of securing victory.
"I can't believe he's turning shit into a game show," Viridi cried. "Puh-lease, how more pathetic can this even get? I mean really, talk about being seriously awful at this villain thing. Even I did a better job playing the role of villain back in my hay day!"
"He's probably doing it to make up for all the times he screwed up or something, who knows," Marie guessed.
"Or he's probably trying to entertain people thinking he's going to be the next Nintendo Switch," Callie chimed in, sighing.
"Well, I just hope those kids make it out okay," Kynthia exclaimed, her voice being full of worry. She wasn't sure if the angel had some nasty tricks up his sleeve to prevent them from proceeding on purpose.
As the women talked amongst themselves, meanwhile Rosalina was engulfed in her own thoughts.
"Something doesn't quite add up. This definitely isn't the same Icarus from yesterday… in fact, his eyes are far more alarming, devoid of life even," the goddess thought as she took note of how lifeless they appeared to be. She began to wonder if the man was even Icarus at all or if the angel himself gotten himself into one of those situations where he eventually learned that evil isn't a toy to be messed with. There were so many possibilities yet so little time given how he wanted them to perish before having his world completely.
In the castle of Arendale, Elsa, Anna and Phosphora were enjoying their tea time as the redhead decided to check out was currently playing on TV, only to be bummed out by what was being presented instead.
"And I thought something interesting would finally be on," Anna complained as she groaned under her breath.
"Wait… that place looks awfully familiar," Elsa commented, inching closer towards the screen. Before she knew it, the queen of Arendale gasped as she recognized it to be none other than the base of the Big Bads. She was surprised how the other heroic groups managed to finally arrive as she desperate hoped for them to take the evil forces down once and for all. She glanced at Phosphora who was oddly being quiet the entire time.
"If you want to leave, please do so," the blonde simply replied. "I can see you're concerned for your mistress and the others. Why hold yourself back here when you demonstrate your full potential and claim what is rightfully yours."
Phosphora stared at Elsa for a moment before nodding. With those words, she swiftly took off as she knew the queen was right. There was no point in sitting around in Arendale forever especially when the world and the one she served under was at stake.
Meanwhile in the presidential office of golden showers, I mean Drumpf, Donald Trump was about to give another one of his meaningless rants gloating about himself as he frowned. A secret service man rushed over to him.
"Mr. Pissadent, that deranged lunatic angel took over every radio station, television channel, website, app, you name it!" he panted.
"HE DID WHAT NOW?!"
Donald Trump turned on the TV as he watched the preparations going on in the course. He was curious to see where this was exactly heading as some of his men were already heading towards the fortress to stop the evil terrorists from taking over the world.
Last but not least in Angel Land, otherwise renamed to Skyworld by Masahiro Sakurai, all of its residents were in complete shock of the events currently partaking back down on Earth. The scholar the angel twins talked to previously observed her television as she decided to rewind it back and play it from the beginning. As she observed Icarus's mannerisms, right away she was able to detect something was completely off as it immediately hit her.
It suddenly made much more sense why the captain of Palutena's army alongside his brother were interrogating about Erebus. From the archaeologists' who undid his seal long ago to the chaos damaging the planet, the events almost exactly mirrored the archangel's reign. With those thoughts in mind, the scholar swiftly shuffled out of her desk and dashed out of the library to inform the citizens of her findings.
In another building not too far from the library, the angel council eyed the events unfolding back down in the universe. Truth be told, they have been actually investigating the entire ordeal since the destruction of the bubblegum and grape soda took place. As the council members chatted with each other, another council member with a medium dark complexion appeared to be engulfed in their own thoughts. The raven haired, dark-winged angel closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before sighing as he stared off into the distance. His side bangs were neatly combed to the right, meanwhile the sides and back of his hair was rather identical to both of the angel twins. Another council member took note of the other angel and approached him.
"Ourias, who knew that your youngest son would wind up being the mastermind behind this entire mess?" the other angel simply remarked. "To think he used to be such a good kid too…"
Ourias sighed in response as his crimson eyes glanced at the floor for a second before giving the other council member his undivided attention.
"I'd never thought I would even be saying this but honestly, I feel that it's entirely my fault for what he has become," he replied. "Our relationship from the start was always distant. After all, I was always trying to push him to his fullest potential compared to his brothers because to be honest, I saw hope in him..."
- "Illuminated by the Sunlight" from the Tales of Xillia OST plays-
It was only a few days since Zeus appointed Ourias's youngest son as his daughter's bodyguard. While his friends and family congratulated Ourias for having one of his sons get chosen for the task, the dark angel felt otherwise. He wasn't sure if Kid was entirely up to the job or even capable of holding such a tough task to begin with, especially with his young age. It also didn't gravely help that unlike the majority of the other angels, Kid was rather fragile — being the runt of the family — overly sensitive, a gender nonconforming male and not to mention the boy was rather clumsy when it came to handling simple tasks. In other words, Ourias wasn't confident in Kid's abilities or sure if he could even handle such a devious task.
There were plenty of times he begged Zeus to reconsider however the ruler of Gods refused Ourias's pleas as he saw promising potential in the young angel. So in defeat, Ourias had no choice but to accept fate for what it presented him even if it warranted for his youngest child to be placed in dangerous situations.
Instead of fretting further about Kid's placement, Ourias figured he could start training the small angel on how to use a bow, dodge, and all of the other basics of combat as of now. Truth be told, not once has Kid ever struck Ourias to be the fighting type compared to his four older brothers given the boy's meek and gentle nature. The dark angel took a deep breath and exhaled, knowing that today was going to be rather tough as he began looking for his youngest son.
"Now, where would I find him?" he pondered to himself. Ourias tapped his chin for a slight second, trying to get his noggin working before realizing Kid is most likely outside either playing or daydreaming. His youngest son was always known for having his head up in the clouds as the angel would sometimes stretch his arm out and gravitate it towards the sun. The child had quite the vivid imagination, allowing it to drift him off into newly crafted worlds and even contemplate out of the box ideas inside his own head. Ourias stepped outside his home and began searching for the young boy as he trotted his way toward the flower fields, recalling that Kid frequented any location which reminded him of his mother.
Not from afar, the dark angel caught a glimpse of a tuft of red hair as the boy appeared to be in his own world, crafting flower crowns and other objects he could think of. Ourias walked over towards the smaller angel's direction, startling him in the process as he quickly dropped his flower crown.
"F-fawthuricus…" he stammered, "w-whaut aure yew dewing hwere?"
The redhead winced, glancing away as the young angel already anticipated the worst from Ourias. The older angel in turn, sighed as he gazed at his youngest son while he took note of the child's body language.
"Get up," Ourias simply instructed. What seemed simple to him felt rather intimidating to Kid as the small angel swiftly obeyed his father and got up from the flower field. From there, both angels proceeded to fly towards the backyard as Ourias guided Kid towards the target range before landing. The raven haired angel took out his bow along with a smaller bow as he handed to Kid before speaking.
"Seeing how you've been recently appointed to keep watch and protect one of Zeus's many children, you must learn how to engage in combat, not only to protect her but yourself as well," Ourias explained, grabbing a arrow from his quiver.
"Now Kid, before you can even begin, you must determine your dominant eye as it is more accurate in aiming and judging distances. When it comes to archery, eye dominance is more important than hand dominance because it will allow the bow wielder to determine their target of the arrow," the older angel instructed as the redhead simply nodded in response. "Proceeding on, it is heavily important to use equipment that matches your dominant eye along with the appropriate gear."
With those words, he would hand his son over some bracers to strap on his wrists to prevent it from getting slapped by the bowstring. Kid would began putting on the arm-guards as his father instructed, making sure to get it right the first time in fear of getting scolded for something trivial.
"Next step is to position your body perpendicular to the target and your feet shoulder-width apart. Your posture is crucial to your aim as it is heavily important to stand upright without tension."
Ourias would get into position, ushering his son to follow in pursuit. He inched towards Kid, helping him get into the correct position before transitioning himself back into place.
"Now, you place the arrow shaft on the arrow rest, attach the back of the bowstring using the nock, and use three fingers to lightly grip the arrow on the string."
Ourias demonstrated his explanation to show Kid a visual as the boy copied his father to the best of his ability before speaking once more.
"Next, you raise and draw your bow by pulling your string hand towards your face. Your inner elbow should be parallel to the ground and your bow should always stay vertical. Afterwards, aim for the target and release the arrow by relaxing the fingers of your string hand, then move your draw hand back and finish the shoulder rotation. Please don't be alarmed if you don't hit the target in the middle."
The man let go of the arrow as it landed straight in the middle as Kid was impressed. Trying his hardest, the boy accidentally let go of the arrow too early as it landed on the ground instead. Ourias observed him, his eyes silently judging Kid's every move as the young angel tried his hardest to impress his father. While his imagination demonstrated him to be quite the archer, reality demonstrated otherwise as Ourias took a deep breath and sighed, his doubts about Kid's abilities coming to him once again.
"Take a break and try it another day," the dark angel hinted with irritation evident in his tone, "I'm sure you'll eventually learn to correctly aim your bow someday, even if it takes years."
His harsh words caused Kid to stop in his tracks and accidentally shoot his last arrow near the porch where his brothers were residing. In response, Ourias grumbled a few curse words under his breath while the small angel tossed the bow down and kicked it in retaliation.
"Steupid bouw," Kid muttered before taking off towards the house. As the runt of the family passed by his siblings, his brothers laughed at his pathetic temper tantrum as two of them even commented on it.
"Giving up already?" Adonis remarked, snickering. "Wow, how pathetic."
"Adonis," Vasilis chimed in, "you're forgetting that this is Kid we're talking about. That pathetic weakling will never amount to anything, no matter how hard he tries."
The four brothers laughed some more as they continued making rude remarks about their youngest sibling. Shortly after, a blonde angel stepped out of the temple while Kid clutched onto her, sniffling as she narrowed her gaze at her husband.
"Ourias!" Melaine scolded, "You need to stop being too hard on Kid. He's only six for crying out loud!"
Ourias on the other hand, sighed as he knew his wife's words spoke nothing but truth, no matter how stubborn he was to admit it at times.
"Melaine," the dark angel protested, "how else is Kid supposed to grow up and become a man if he's being coddled twenty-four seven!? I'm just teaching him the same way my father taught me."
Ourias didn't want to admit to his wife that he heavily toned down his father's methods of both teaching and parenting. After all, the final thing the dark angel needed was to unstitch his wounds again.
"I agree," Lapidos exclaimed, joining in. "Father taught the four of us with his strict teaching methods and we turned out just fine. I honestly don't see why the baby should get special treatment just because he throws temper tantrums when things don't go his way!"
The other three brothers nodded their head in agreement while their mother frowned, disagreeing as she knew her youngest son learned better if one were to be gentle with him.
"Leave your baby brother alone! Just because you guys are okay with it, doesn't exactly make it a good teaching method."
- "Arks Shipwreck Field" from the PSO2 soundtrack starts playing-
Ourias watched his wife turn around with his youngest son as the flashback transitioned itself onto the next scene which took place eight years after that little incident. It was around the time when Icarus just turned fourteen a month ago as he went by his middle name for about three years now. After Melaine's death, Ourias decided to move down to Earth with Icarus as the boy's siblings were old enough to take care of themselves, not to mention they were out living on their own and pursuing their dreams.
Ever since Icarus's return from the psychiatric hospital three years ago, nothing has been the same for Ourias. For one, he noticed the boy's demeanor immensely transformed from his timid, sensitive, imaginative self into someone more distant, impassive, and someone who was easily prone to aggression. In addition, the boy changed his appearance, dying his wings black, his hair a dark brown color along with wearing blue eye contacts.
The overall atmosphere felt dull, lifeless even as Ourias grew more concerned for his son with each passing day. Part of him feared Icarus might try to harm himself or even contemplate on committing suicide while another felt the boy might wind up abusing illicit substances. Furthermore, it didn't help that Icarus became so engrossed with grunge music and its subculture. Ourias recalled studying the lyrics as the majority of grunge music were about social isolation, apathy, confinement and a desire for freedom.
Being worried for his son's wellbeing, Ourias made his way towards the boy's bedroom, opening the door as he glanced inside. The young angel's bedroom was covered in a plethora of band posters, ranging from Nirvana, Pearl Jam, to even Radiohead. On top of his shelf consisted of action figures from Power Rangers, Beast Wars to some of his favorite DC and Marvel characters. Meanwhile another shelf consisted of neatly organized Sailor Moon plush toys along with his stuffed animal collection. Icarus appeared to be working on another contraption on his desk while an episode of Hey Arnold played in the background.
Ourias took note of his son's outfit as the younger angel donned a striped sweater, loose faded jeans with worn-out converse sneakers to accompany his attire. The older angel stared off into space, trying to think of how to even strike a conversation with the boy as he was either consumed in his work or ignored his father's presence on purpose.
"Hey kiddo," Ourias simply exclaimed, "Are you up for watching a movie by any chance?"
Icarus halted his work for a moment as he turned his head towards his father, narrowing his gaze. He already look uninterested in his father's request, let alone wondered why Ourias was even bugging him to begin with.
"Buzz off old man, I'm busy," the boy responded with a slight attitude. Ourias grimaced at his son's reply as despite the two being rather distant with one another, he was still his father.
"Kid, just who do you think you're talking to!? I am your father, you better show me some damn respect," the man reprimanded, folding his arms. Icarus's face scrunched up in complete revulsion as the angel gritted his teeth before slamming his fists down his desk, causing his screwdriver to roll off onto the floor.
"Respect?! You, out of all people demand respect?!"
Icarus got up, inching towards his father's face as he cornered the older angel in the hallway.
"YOU NEVER ONCE GAVE ME ANY OUNCE OF FUCKIN' RESPECT IN MY DAMN LIFE AND NOW YOU'RE DEMANDING ME TO GIVE IT TO YOU?!" he yelled, aggressively jabbing his finger near Ourias's shoulder blade. "Why the fuck should I give someone who never gave two shits about me some damn respect in the first place?!"
"…." Ourias was lost for words as his son was having one of his outbursts. While he knew how to quickly stop Icarus from presuming on any further, his entire body felt frozen as the boy's harsh words stung.
"Answer me old man. ANSWER ME!"
"…."
"You probably hate me, don't you? Heh, I can see it in your face. You wish I was never even bo-!"
The dark angel smacked his son in the face with full force, causing Icarus to fall on the floor. The young teenager glared at him while tears began to weld up in his eyes. Icarus quickly got up and bolted for the exit, slamming the door on the way as Ourias watched him take off in defeat.
"Oh Melaine… if only you were here…"
One of the things Ourias vowed to do was to never treat any of his children the same way his father treated him. Realizing what he had just done, the black-winged angel felt extremely ashamed of himself as his face crumbled, ancient scars re-emerging which were tailored by his own brain, tormenting him with all of the times his father struck him just for either accidentally screwing up or even for the hell of it. It pained to be reminded how he was the product of an affair between his mother and an anonymous angel. She had lied the baby belonged to her husband's yet his dark wings revealed unfolded another tail beneath the man's prying eyes.
Guilt consumed Ourias, feasting upon a side dish of his regrets, taking in account the man's insecurities as its main course. While he could apologize for accidentally being consumed by irritation and striking his son, it'll never wash away the stains he injected into himself.
Since that eventful day, Ourias recalled his son never speaking to him unless it happened to revolve around important matters: school, mealtime, appointments, meetings. In fact, Icarus kept his distance as the angel was either cooped up inside his room or spending time outside as long as possible. After the boy graduated high school, Ourias never saw him gain as he completely dropped off the face of the Earth. For the longest time, the crimson eyed angel assumed that his son either committed suicide or even turned to illicit substances yet his speculations were proven wrong the day Palutena announced her newest captain.
The announcement of the Goddess of Light's newly appointed general was mandatory for all of the higher ups in Skyworld. Tons of residents gathered around the stage near Palutena's temple, murmuring to one another about the exciting event. Ourias was engulfed in his own thoughts, wondering if Palutena herself possibly knew the whereabouts of his youngest son however, quickly leaped back into reality as the green-haired goddess took center stage.
"Hello everyone!" she greeted, "I hereby gathered you all for a very special day as it involves your new protector of Skyworld!"
The crowd roared as they couldn't want to see who was chosen to be her next captain of the guard. They heard rumors that this brave warrior proved his worth and managed to triumph over Medusa. Palutena lifted up her staff, motioning it towards the curtain as the drapes slowly unveiled itself to reveal a small angel who looked around to be about roughly eight years old. Pit walked towards the center stage as he beamed, being proud to serve his goddess.
"My people, I present to you the next captain of the guard, Pit!"
Everyone cheered as Palutena beamed, being proud of her new champion. Ourias observed the young boy's features, taking note of how similar they were to that of his missing son's. As everyone fixated their gaze on Pit, the councilman took note of another angel child clutching behind Palutena's leg. The boy's features exactly mirrored Pit's except his wings matched the color of his hair and his eyes were crimson, just like his. The angel had a good hunch that both the new captain and his sibling were in fact, his grandsons from Icarus himself.
Deep down, Ourias knew that Icarus probably hated him which in all honestly, he couldn't blame him. As a matter of fact, the only reason why he moved down to the surface world in the beginning was due the bullying issue which immensely escalated out of hand. He realized his mistake far too late as the dark angel felt like he didn't deserve the boy's forgiveness. The dark angel regretted ever being so hard on him and actually understanding Icarus on a personal level. Before he could dwell further on his many requests, the scholar barged into the room.
"I'm sorry to interrupt but I bring dire news! Erebus has returned!"
-ambient kart noises play -
All of the participants sat in their respective vehicles as the course chosen was none other than Luigi Circuit. This took the green plumber by surprise because frankly, he was expecting the shopkeep to pick one of the many incarnations of Rainbow Road. The Lakitu glided its way towards the starting line, holding onto a fishing pole with a loose traffic light swaying back in forth in a rhythmic pattern.
Every participant began to start their engines, from Morshu and his pals on a customized kart personalized for them to Fred firing up the Mystery Machine. Luigi was attentive at all times, observing the light as the countdown began.
Three… two… one… GO!
-"Luigi Circuit" from Super Smash Brothers Brawl begins playing-
Luigi and a couple of the other racers managed to perfectly time their boost meanwhile others such as Bowser and Fat Pikachu faltered. The plumber took to the course, taking note of how fast Morshu actually was. Truth be told, he heavily underestimated his opponents as Gay Piplup quickly picked up momentum, passing him as the plumber was now in fourth place.
It perplexed Luigi how Morshu managed to even take the lead, especially given he would be classified as a heavy driver in Mario Kart rules.
While Bowser and Fat Pikachu where far behind, Dick Dastardly and Muttley managed to get off course to initiate one of their sinister schemes. Muttley chortled as Dick managed to somehow confiscate the giant banana peel from King Kong and placed it in the middle of the road, taking out Toad, Gay Piplup, Scooby Doo and the gang, Chocobo and the judge looking guy from Wand of Gamelon, causing their karts to fly off course. Luckily Gay Piplup leaped out of his and utilized his parachute, landing safely near the audience.
"THIS IS ILLEGAL YOU KNOW!" he screamed.
Dark Pit rubbed his chin as he watched the competition disappear. "Wait, since when did Chocobos drive go-karts?"
"Since Chocobo Racing Pittoo!" Pit gleefully answered.
"Wait, that's something that actually exists?! You've got to be kidding Pit-stain."
"It was released for the PlayStation one back in 1999 however Chocobo didn't use a go-kart. Instead he used jet-blades as Cid wanted Chocobo to take a test run with the racetrack behind his lab."
"Oh, that makes sense I guess."
"Well, Pit does know his videogames. Viridi didn't call him a videogame historian for nothing."
"Pit-stain, please do me a favor and never refer to yourself in third person ever again."
Dick and Muttley chuckled before getting back on track as they took more than half of their competition. Because of this, Luigi was now in second place as he was racing neck to neck with Morshu. Luckily for him, Dick managed to land a spiny shell as he released it, the blue shell launching its way towards the shopkeep to stall him. Next, he managed to land a star powerful as he rushed his way towards Luigi.
Soon, Luigi gave Dick the famous Luigi Death Stare as it completely mortified him and Muttley, causing them to crash into a nearby wall.
"Remind me to never-a piss off Luigi," Mario simply stated.
"We could all use that reminder," Link added. Even Luigi's death stare wasn't enough for the Hero of Twilight — and the one who wield the Triforce of Courage.
Luigi was now in first place as he took on his final lap, dodging random obstacles of surviving green shells, fake item boxes and banana peels. He managed to pass by Bowser and Fat Pikachu before seeing the finish line. The green Mario brother could smell victory however Morshu managed to get a spiny shell and launched it at him.
This in turn, caused the Krew's eyes to widen in fear as Luigi was so close to winning. Luckily for them, the plumber managed to actually pass the line and become victorious before his kart got hit.
Everyone cheered as Luigi's picture was crossed off, allowing everyone to progress to the next round.
-"From Seeing the Rouge Wave" from the Phantasy Star Online OST resumes on-
The SWAT team stepped down as they tried to get the others to hand themselves over. It didn't help that they knew they were not going to go down without a fight, especially seeing how they were going after the wrong enemy.
"Is there any point in fighting these guys?" Fiora exclaimed, being completely bewildered by their presence.
"I don't really think so," Caeda answered. "I mean, they're technically outsiders just like us."
"Hmm, let me see if I can convince these guys we're not the enemy." With those words, Orson glided his way towards the SWAT team and other forces that Trump sent after them. The grey ghost held his hands up, signaling he comes with no intention of harming them. "Hello everyone! My name is Orson and to clarify, I was held prisoner in that base by that no good Erwin and the other Big Bads. You see, the real bad guys are inside the fortress. We on the other hand, are on the same side. Perhaps we should set aside our differences and work together."
The members of the SWAT team paused for a moment and glanced over at the members of G.U.N. and shrugged before raising their firearms.
"You guys are obviously lying," a G.U.N. member commented. "Why the hell would we listen to a talking ghost and his ragtag bunch of freaks?! We already had enough of dealing with Sonic's antics, we don't need to deal with you guys as well."
"Wait, what did Sonic even do?" R.O.B. asked.
"Two words: Sonic Adventure 2," Peach replied. She took out her deadly frying pan as the princess knew they were going to have to put up a fight. As everyone unsheathed their weapons, prior to their own knowledge, help was on the way as they took off from the skies to help aid their allies.
- "Military Facility Dungeon" from the Skies of Arcadia OST plays again-
The group trotted towards the next obstacle before the ground violent shook, causing some to lose their balance. Before they knew it, a concrete floor rose from its dusty blanket, revealing to be none other than a floor used commonly for Pokemon battles. Not too far from them were Morshu and his pals standing across the other side. Morshu clutched onto a pokeball, keeping his gaze on the arriving edgelings as they made their way toward. The giant screen crossed out Luigi's name as it was now Greninja's turn to take to the stage.
The ninja Pokemon made his way towards the stage, even stretching as he got ready to make progress and triumph his foe. Little did he know, Greninja had much more in store for him. The shopkeeper stared at him while the others crowded around, posing as audience members to give the emphasis of an actual league match.
- "Military Facility Dungeon" fades away as it is replaced with "Battle! Trainer" from Pokemon X & Y-
"Now, I'm sure all of you think this is going to be more of an untraditional Pokemon battle, am I right?" No one responded as Morshu glanced at the Hot Topic Krew and the others, already knowing they expected it to be more like a traditional smash battle. "Well to clarify, Greninja is going to be participating in traditional Pokemon battle seeing how Luigi got to partake in a Mario kart race plus, what makes you think I'll give some leeway to you guys."
Morshu shrugged, pacing a round before stopping in his tracks. "If I decided to make these challenges play out like smash matches, nothing would be equally balanced and to be honest, there's no fun in that. This is also the reason why the rest of the challenges are unique and differ from one another." The shopkeep cleared his throat as everyone kept their mouth shut. "Anyways, I didn't mean to prolong you all but anyways, here are the rules. This is your average mill of a Pokemon match, you know, each take turns hitting one another till the other faints. If you guys lose, then you will not be able to proceed onto the next obstacle thus endangering your entire world to some deranged lunatic — whoops, wasn't supposed to say the last part out loud."
With those words, Morshu tossed his pokeball as Greninja's opponent turned out to be none other than the Koridian's beloved Azumarill. Shadow immediately recalled the events which partook back at Melee City with Morshu and his pals kidnapped Cia, just to divert them away from their main goal. The black hedgehog clearly remembered seeing Greninja fall head over heels for the man's Azumarill. It was definitely love at first sight, even if it was one-sided as the aqua rabbit Pokemon's charms turned the ninja Pokemon into complete mush, causing him to lose both balance and focus which in turn, completely rendered him useless. In addition, it didn't help while Greninja is a water/dark type, Azumarill on the other hand is water/fairy and if one did their research, they would know that dark types are weak against fairy types.
"Something tells me Morshu planned this from the start," Shadow brought up, rubbing his chin. "He knew that Greninja was not only a water/dark type Pokemon, but he is also charmed by his Azumarill."
"While you do bring up a fairly excellent point, something tells me Morshu has something else planned," Toadette replied. She was one of the select few who managed to hear the last part of Morshu's explanation before he quickly averted their attention towards his Azumarill.
"What-a makes you think that?" Luigi wondered where Toadette was even going with this. He knew she was the observant type yet still, he couldn't help but feel defeated given the odds pointed against the ninja Pokemon.
"You see, Morshu brought up how if Greninja manages to fail, the world will be endangered to the Big Bads. If the famous YouTube Poop icon did want us to actually fail, he wouldn't have slipped up on purpose. It's definitely not like him at all to even slip up. Something tells me he wants to see everyone succeed because deep down, if we actually manage to fall, Koridai will experience the same turmoil it did years ago — the only difference is that this time, they wouldn't have the aid of CD-i Hyrule to provide them with supplies, food and shelter as they too will collapse under Icarus' twisted world."
"Now that you-a brought that up Toadette, it makes a lot more-a sense."
After listening to Toadette's explanation, everyone gave their undivided attention towards the battlefield while Greninja and Azumarill stood at opposite ends, being fixated on one another as if they tried to predict their opponent's first move. Dark Pit knew Greninja was completely at a disadvantage give the different types as the only thing he could do was sigh. It was hopeless and Morshu made sure to see their downfall despite Toadette's claims.
As the battle began, Greninja lost all focus as it turned out, he was still somewhat in love with Morshu's Azumarill. While he became engrossed in his own fantasies — and wasting a turn by his own refusal to use a move — Azumarill used play rough, doing massive damage to Greninja as it depleted all of his HP, rendering the ninja Pokemon useless.
Fat Pikachu clutched onto a microphone as he donned a bow, making his way towards the stage.
"It appears that Greninja is unable to battle," he exclaimed. Lucina winched while Mr. Game and Watch felt that all hope was lost. While the others were about to admit defeat, Pit suddenly remembered that they still had a chance to win. "And the winner is-!"
"WAIT!" Pit interrupted, startling Fat Pikachu in turn as it almost caused him to drop the microphone.
"What is it now?!" The fat mouse Pokemon placed his hands on his hips, narrowing his gaze in slight irritation towards the white-winged angel. "If you're going to ramble on about some useless facts about a topic nobody wants to hear about, make it quick!"
"Well, I was just going to tell you that the HTK still has one more Pokemon left." Pit crossed his arms in annoyance and huffed. "They have Deoxys so all hope isn't lost yet."
Fat Pikachu was about to but in however was stopped by Morshu. The hefty shopkeep placed his arm in front of his friend, murmuring some words towards him before glancing at Pit and the others.
"We'll allow it."
The HTK members beamed wide while Dark Pit slightly smiled as Deoxys took to the stage to challenge Morshu's Azumarill. Meanwhile, Gay Piplup used a max revive on Greninja to restore him back to full health — and to clear the stage for their newest challenger before waddling back towards Morshu and Fat Pikachu.
Before the match proceeded on once more, Deoxys' form started shifting, transforming into its attack forme. Both Gay Piplup and Fat Pikachu gasped, surprised at its sudden change in form yet kept their mouth shut for the time being. They were extremely curious to see how this was going to play out — as well as being thankful, hoping it'll complete the second obstacle so the group can proceed on to take Icarus out once and for all.
Deoxys used zap cannon, taking down Azumarill in one hit. Morshu was taken aback by its sudden power and wished he brought more Pokemon yet truth be told, he just wanted this entire mess to be done and over with. The final thing the shopkeep wanted was for Koridai to suffer the plague of mass destruction once more, especially one it cannot recover from.
"I forgot that the HTK even had an extra Pokemon member on their team." Morshu took out his Pokeball and stretched out his right arm, aiming it at Azumarill so he can return her back inside. "You did well out there Azumarill."
Deoxys made its way towards the Krew, shifting from attack forme back to its standard form. Gay Piplup and Fat Pikachu glanced at one another, commenting on the entire scene which took place in front of them not too long ago.
"I find it absolutely strange how Deoxys was able to change forms on its own," the penguin Pokemon commented. "Especially seeing how it can only change its form at will in Veilstone City, Kanto Route 3, Nacrene City, Ambrette Town, Fallarbor Town, or Hakulani Observatory."
"Now that you've brought that up, you do have a very valid explanation," Fat Pikachu added, nodding while snacking on a cheeseburger.
"Well, if the Super Smash Brothers franchise doesn't follow the TM rule, why would this odd Fanfiction where breaking the fourth wall is supposedly illegal would," Morshu chimed in, bringing up an extremely excellent point about this entire trainwreck of a story. "To confess, I would rather have absurd logic like this than search for anything on DeviantART."
"Oh god, yeah. Just seeing all those useless stamps makes me want to puke." Gay Piplup stuck out his tongue, recalling the time he lost a dare against Fat Pikachu where he was forced to search random things on there. He recalled useless stamps how hetereophobia exists, virgins supposedly live longer, straight pride to even racist stamps that scream the epitome of privilege. I wish I was making this shit up, I really wish I do but unfortunately, it actually fucking exists.
The three nodded in agreement as Greninja's name was crossed off, allowing the group to proceed onto the next obstacle.
-"Boss battle theme" from the Bomberman 64 soundtrack resumes on once more-
Ryuko dodged Timothy Land-ho's useless rhetoric beams as they were full of hate, bigotry and how people needed to get on with the times — despite conservatives wanting to live in the good old days of yesteryear.
"Why are you even in this hell of a fanfic to begin with?!" Priam questioned, stating the obvious. Everyone else shrugged as Tom Landlakes laughed before pushing Ryuko away with her powers of alternative facts.
"Shut the fuck up already you liberal snowflakes." She took notice of X shooting some solar bullets towards her direction as the platinum blonde deflected it with her bullshit barrier. "You guys whine too much. This is racist, how dare you not give rewards to more black people, you need to put trigger warnings on campus' to be courteous to students — please stop crying and being so politically correct about every little thing already! You don't see me crying when Obama got elected in office, so do me a favor and build a bridge and get over it."
To make matters much worse, Tim Lasagna received aid from none other than Sean Spicer — no not Jack Spicer from Xiaolin Showdown who is actually cool, the guy on Trump's administration who looks like a foot implanted on some faux leader — and the master of alternative facts herself, Kellyanne Conway.
"And shit just hit the fan even worse," Morgan commented, rolling her eyes. While Sean lectured about something stupid and brought up nothing that had to do with anything, Kellyanne decided to lecture them to divert their attention away so Timtam Legacy could defeat them all with one fatal blow.
"Have you ever heard of Ivanka's clothing line because I suggest going out and buying it right now. In fact, I am wearing the Ivanka shoes, purse, dress…" She rambled on and on as Satsuki slashed her sword in her direction, just to have it be reflected by alternative bullshit.
Warrior Link trudged his way towards the evil millennial Republican, deflecting a fire beam.
"I don't know why you stupid idiots are fighting anyways," said the orange girl, "in fact, why the hell would a group who came from the apocalyptic future even be concerned about politics to begin with!?"
"For starters assface," Ryuko explained, clutching onto her scissor sword as she swung it at Sean, "you see, Trump help aided the world's downfall. He never saw the massive takeover coming and since his ego's so large, he thought he could easily convince the mastermind to cease what he was doing? Did it work? Hell fucking no."
"Pfft, that's just fucking retarded."
Ryuko growled as she lunged towards Tootsie Leftovers, getting consumed by anger. Dry Bowser observed the battle the entire time, finding everything to be one hell of a giant shitstorm.
- "Military Facility Dungeon" from the Skies of Arcadia OST resumes on again-
It was now Shadow's turn to take to the stage. The hedgehog walked forward, getting in position as he wondered which challenge Morshu was entrusting him with. To admit, he was surprised how bare his surroundings look as he glanced back at his teammates. Luigi simply shrugged while Lucina pointed towards the screen. Before he knew it, his surroundings began to vastly transform itself, the once desert which the fortress was located complete diminished away, almost as if he was in a dreamlike state.
Instead of being surrounded by his friends, instead the ambience was replaced with the interior of aged, maroon sandstone walls. The black hedgehog couldn't feel something was awfully familiar about this location, especially with its crumbled walls, elaborate network of rusted pipes and steel plates curving towards the ceiling. Shadow glanced down at the ground, noticing the smooth concrete of the random arena completely replaced by giant, cobblestone tile alongside contaminated, murky golden brown water which took up the majority of the room. Before he knew it, a futuristic screen appeared around Shadow, revealing Morshu as the portly man grinned.
"Greetings Shadow, your challenge is to best an enemy from your past. Out of all the obstacles you've triumph during your time as an anti-villain, the opponent the magical arena selected is none other than the Biolizard. I wish you the best of luck – you'll most certainly need it!" Morshu simply instructed before the screen quickly disappeared.
Immediately the ground shook with substantial force, causing the black hedgehog to almost lose balance. A gigantic creature slammed into the shallow pool in the center of the room as the black hedgehog instantly recognized it to be the Biolizard. It donned a mixture of both mechanical and living flesh, as its long, neck stretched out across the room, balancing its thick, vigorous empennage. The Biolizard lacked eyes as instead, two mechanical couplings took place on the gruesome creature. Shadow was all too familiar with the Biolizard and how to conquer it. As a matter of fact, the only difference between Morshu's recreation and the actual battle was the fact that in the fight he conquered long ago, the chaos emeralds weren't present behind it.
Shortly after, the hedgehog walked towards the original prototype of the ultimate life form, no – a replica of the Biolizard created ages ago by Gerald Robotnik. It was Gerald's final agent from beyond the grave, one that captured his very emotion and hatred towards humanity as a whole. With hindsight, the Biolizard was an anthropomorphic personification of Gerald's emotions – representing loss, despair, anger, rancor and lastly, vengeance.
-"Believe in Me" aka the Biolizard Theme from Sonic Adventure 2 starts playing-
The Biolizard screeched menacingly, its high-pitched cries unsettling Shadow just a tad before immensely reaching down, its heading lunging at full force.
Everyone watched Shadow take on the grotesque creation with anticipation, some even cheering him on to boost up his confidence.
"Ooh, I love this song!" Pit gleefully exclaimed. It's been a long while since either he or Dark Pit played Sonic Adventure 2 battle on Palutena's GameCube.
"Wait, you guys actually played Sonic Adventure? Why?" Reyn expressed a mixture of disgust and perplexity as he heard numerous of mixed reviews on the 3-D Sonic games.
"Because it's actually fun," Dark Pit bluntly replied. "Besides, quit acting like Sonic Adventure is Sonic 06."
"True." Inklet chimed in. "Nothing is as bad as Sonic 06."
"Correction, Superman 64 and the ET Atari game are much worse than Sonic 06," Ness informed them, causing everyone to shudder in horror.
"We're gonna take you back to the past," Pit sang. "To play the shitty games that suck ass-"
"Oh for the love of fucking god Pit-stain, now isn't the time to be singing the AVGN theme song." Dark Pit complained. Pit sighed, pouting as he looked into his brother's crimson eyes with a look of defeat.
"Can I at least sing along to the Biolizard theme?"
"…Fine."
Meanwhile, Shadow sped away around the side of the colossal beast with all his might. The Biolizard turned, immediately pursuing the hedgehog to the best of its ability, its toothless jaws snapping ferociously at its opponent. The beast couldn't keep up with Shadow's momentum, whipping its gigantic tail at maximum speed with its strength, causing Shadow to leap high to avoid getting hit.
From there, Shadow rocketed towards the Biolizard's head, hasting his way towards the monsters back. The monster howled in pain as Shadow jumped over to safety. After crying in pain, it returned to its routine of pursuing its tormentor, circulating in full force after the hedgehog. Shadow leaped every time he passed the gap between the ground and the diluted water while the Biolizard shot out an electrical energy ball at its prey, the wave of energy expanding as it got closer to the hedgehog.
Shadow swiftly moved left right, dodging with full speed, trying his best not to get hit by the creature's bile. Eventually the metal bar on its face light up once more as Shadow jumped on it and grinded his way towards the top, and bounced onto its life-support system. Once again, the creature gave off a high pitch shriek, even causing some of its audience members to cover its ears.
"When will this thing stop screaming?!" Zelda complained, covering her ears.
"As soon as Shadow defeats it," Sonic quickly answered.
After a few more times of rinse and repeat, Shadow triumphed over its foe, the beast's long neck and tail arched over its back, giving off another screech as it rocked the room, mirroring the frustration and limitless hatred Gerald felt for all living beings. As it collapsed onto the floor, the creature slowly dispersed into thin air along with the course, transforming itself to the bare, concrete course as everyone cheered.
"Way to go Shadow!" Lucina beamed.
"Beep beep!" Mr. Game and Watch cried, saying good job. The group cheered over Shadow's victory as they progressed forward, making their way towards the fourth obstacle.
"Hang in there Lady Palutena, we'll be there soon."
- "Conquest (Ablaze)" from the Fire Emblem Awakening OST plays-
At last, the group arrived at the fourth obstacle as it was now Robin and Lucina's turn. The stage transformed itself into a barren forest ignited by the fury of flames and engulfed by thick smoke. Near the terrain were some high leveled Risen, waiting for their prey, being created by the stage's simulation program.
"In the next obstacle, Robin and Lucina are to engage in combat on Lunatic mode," Morshu explained. "Their goal is to survive and take down the Risen in the battlefield."
"That sounds plausible." Robin got ready to battle with Lucina as he began discussing strategies with the Ylissean princess. Neither of them was aware of the unexpected guest they were bound to get on their team as Tharja decided to make her presence known.
"Tharja? What are you doing here?" Lucina was startled by the dark mage's sudden presence while Robin pondered about her intentions.
"Well, since the real Goths sent Henry over to help aid the Memes, they figured your ragtag mall Goth group could utilize my abilities," she dully replied, making her way towards the stage. The Ylissean princess nodded her head in response as they got ready to tackle their obstacle course. When Robin finished his strategies and the battle was confirmed, the faces of their friends faded away, being consumed by the dim smoke emitted from the battlefield's flames.
"Thankfully we're not bond to the logic of FE Heroes," Robin commented as he advanced his way towards a Pegasus Knight Risen, equipping his Elwind tome. Tharja and Lucina agreed, recalling how for some reason, tome wielders in the phone application couldn't even attack close range like they could in the actual Fire Emblem games.
Lucina dashed towards an Axe Wielder, unleashing her Aether skill, intensely focusing on her foe before dashing towards it, unsheathing Parallel Falchion as she slashed at the Risen, landing a critical hit as it immediately perished by the tip of her blade.
Tharja chortled, deciding on which foe to swiftly annihilate with the use of her dark arts. Catching a glimpse of a standard yellow EXP Risen, the dark mage scurried her way towards its location, clutching onto her Goetia tome.
Subsequently, it was time for the Risen to make their move. The Pegasus Knight moved towards Robin as the grandmaster leaped towards the side, managing to strike down his prey with Elwind, downing the beast as it disintegrated from his eyesight. Shortly after the EXP Risen followed in pursuit, meeting its demise from Tharja's magic meanwhile Lucina managed to barely dodge the Paladin's silver lance yet landed another Aether, getting a critical hit on her foe as it met its doom.
The trio was sweeping the battlefield slowly but surely yet Robin felt an ominous presence near him. The next thing he knew, a peculiar Risen revealed itself however it wasn't like the others. Its features were rather distinctive and familiar to the grandmaster. The next thing he knew, it was a Risen replica of his fiancé as it clutched onto its staff.
"How is that even possible? Cia's not even a FE character." Lucina couldn't believe it either. She wondered what made Morshu possibly conjure this model up before recalling his harboring hatred towards the sorceress. Despite it being kind of petty, the princess felt that his deep antagonism was completely justified, not only for the many lives that were lost but also for the sake of the Koridian people as well.
"What, why did that shopkeep make a Risen out of me? That makes no damn sense," Cia commented from the sidelines. Morshu on the other hand, merely chuckled at the dark sorceress' response.
"Seeing how I have no full intention on destroying you at will anymore, I've thought it would be a lot funnier if I see your fiancé strike a copy of you," Morshu replied, shrugging. "And besides, it was originally going to be a Risen version of Dark Pit, however that would have been in much bad taste. While he may be a bratty pain in the ass, he's only thirteen unlike you."
Cia muttered a few curse words as she crossed her arms and looked away. Dark Pit kept his mouth shut as he continued to watch the battle unfold, rooting for the trio to come victorious.
Robin switched over to his Thoron tome, aiming a bolt of lightning at the Cia Risen however it only did some damage. Lucina made haste towards the location to rally up Robin as Tharja got ready to strike. The Risen swung its scepter, launching the crystalized end towards the tactician as it did a number to his hit points.
"Robin!" Lucina rushed over, slashing at her foe twice before Tharja landed the final blow with a Nosferatu tome.
"Nicely done," Morshu remarked, applauding the Fire Emblem trio. Their surroundings vanished along with the dark atmosphere of the smoke and ash, revealing the stage along with their teammates. Cia knew he was only commenting because they managed to destroy a Risen replica of her yet decided to keep her mouth shut. She knew it was for the better anyways as Robin and Lucina's pictures were crossed off, making haste towards the next round.
- "Prison Island" from Xenoblade Chronicles plays-
"Hmph, so they do have it in them after all," Icarus commented while his gaze never left the screen. His tone seemed fairly calm yet Palutena knew Erebus was getting pissed. He had little to no faith in the Krew and expected them to perish by the fourth obstacle. Alternatively, Palutena was glad the Krew triumphed through each course. It was almost as if Morshu had intended this bit on purpose given the Koridian most likely knew prior Erebus' reign of terror will affect his homeland once again and unlike Cia's domination – no one will be able to pick themselves up again. A small chuckle escaped the goddess' lips, causing Icarus to snarl in disgust before inching towards her. Fearing the worst possible outcome, Palutena quickly recalled how much the archangel adored gloating about his importance. Utilizing her own wit and merit, the Goddess of Light decided to shift the dismal atmosphere around into one of pride and arrogance – from the one and only self-proclaimed god Erebus.
"Say – oh mighty Erebus," Palutena started, fueling his ego. "Why do you want to rule the world? You were never quite clear on that."
Icarus stopped in his tracks, narrowing his gaze towards the goddess before exchanging a devilish grin, highly amused why the all-seeing eye goddess would institute such a foolish wringer.
"Well," the cocky angel began, "you see, for eons of time, I've witnessed the world slowly but surely, crumble into decay and no – it's not just the humans. Gods are also equally at fault, same with any other animate life form living on this planet."
"Oh quit bluffing already! You're just trying to impress me by making yourself look good," Palutena bluntly pointed out. The archangel rolled his eyes in response before resuming on with his life story.
"Long before you were even born, everyone practically worshipped the ground I walked on. I was extremely adored, everyone loved me and my peers supported me every step of the way, unlike the pathetic fool named Kid Icarus. In fact, your father blessed me with the highest of honors hence my archangel title. Will your precious little Pit ever be granted with such high prestige? I most certainly think not! After all, who would want to award a flightless angel? No one, that's for sure."
Palutena's expression grimaced when she heard the monster insult Pit. While he and his brother were both disabled, that alone didn't stop the boys from their goals and ambitions – and Pit wishing to fly on his own someday. While her father may have seen potential in Erebus, the archangel forgot Zeus also saw promise in Icarus as well. She knew Erebus was trying his best to push her buttons so instead of giving him the response he desperately wanted, Palutena decided to change the subject instead.
"I remember watching you on live television during your Splatfest takeover," Palutena simply exclaimed, "the thing I'm not grasping is why do you want to abolish all fonts except Papyrus? I mean, out of all terrible fonts you could have chosen, it had to be Papyrus."
"It's elementary my dear Palutena," Icarus replied, "why use bad fonts which help dyslexic people when you can choose one that's completely dreadful! Besides, that blue Pocahontas film made by one of the greatest pioneers used it."
"You mean Avatar? Not the airbender but the terrible movie James Cameron made right? The so-called film that grossed in two billion dollars which shortly everyone forgot its existence a year or two later."
"Yes, I'm talking about that Avatar. Well good news Palutena, the sequel's projected to come out in December 2018! In addition to that, there's three more sequels planned afterwards! Oh isn't life grand?"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Outside the fortress, Pit heard his goddess' distressful cry not from afar. This in turn caused the light angel to flinch seeing how Erebus never installed a barrier to prevent Palutena from giving him both guidance and reassurance.
"No no no no no no no NO! He's torturing Lady Palutena!" Pit cried.
"Torturing her how?!" Dark Pit asked.
"He's torturing her with … James Cameron!"
Dark Pit's body stiffened, his fingers curling up into claws as his eyes widened with fright.
"No… you don't mean-!"
Pit frantically nodded as his brother paused for a moment when he learned the film was getting a sequel which was subsequently followed by the dark-winged angel's cries.
Icarus chuckled as Dark Pit's screams were like a symphonic orchestra to his ears before realizing he fell for one of the goddess' many tricks of her causing him to go off route. Taking a deep breath, the angel huffed in frustration before diverting his gaze towards the goddess yet again.
"Now, where were we?"
"You explained about your past, insulted my captain before I inquired you about your so-called "evil" font," Palutena flatly reminded him.
"Anyways – while countless of angels adored me, I also witnessed their innumerous suffering. Instead of asking the gods for advice, they turned to me instead. They worshipped me on a pedestal, even higher than the one your father could ever claim with his greedy hands!"
His ego was definitely either on par – no, definitely surpassed Pyrrhon's, blowing the former sun god's massive ego out of a raging volcano completely. Palutena couldn't help but ponder why Erebus needed constant validation from his peers left and right. Perhaps his parents were never around or failed to see his potential hence his petty way of getting revenge on trillions of innocents. In short, the Goddess of Light believed the archangel to be misunderstood.
"Erebus," Palutena exclaimed, "you're only like this because your parents most likely neglected you, never giving you the love and care you needed."
Icarus paused for a moment before he was consumed with laughter, clutching onto his gut as he bent down, his howls echoing throughout the entire lair. The goddess narrowed her gaze, crossing her arms and huffed, unamused by the sudden chortling which took place – and to think she showed some ounce of sympathy for the devil.
"I'm highly entertained how you're actually showing some concern for me, acting as if every villain out there is misunderstood," the angel replied, airing the term in quotation marks while he mocked the goddess. "In fact, my parents loved me to pieces. I couldn't ask for better. Why is it that idiots such as yourself have to go out of their way to justify a villain's actions? So suddenly if someone does something cruel, they must be doing it because they're so misconceived and had a lousy childhood – oh please, if that were the case then there would only be anti-villains and antagonists."
The angel inched slowly towards Palutena, taking small steps while his lips curled up, revealing the top row of his teeth as Icarus grinned immorally. "During my time, everyone wanted to practically be me! I could see the gleam in their eyes as they envied me yet no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't despise me. The fact that you're actually showing sympathy for the devil amuses me Palutena."
"Then why are you doing this?!" Palutena cupped her mouth, realizing she just basically answered her own question and on top of it, made herself look like a fool to Erebus.
The archangel laughed. "Seriously, that's all you can say? After I spewed for a few good minutes, the only thing you can usher is why? Newsflash Palutena, I'm a villain for the sake of being a villain! Not once I have cared for anyone or even showed any ounce of interest towards those surfeiting vermin! As a matter of fact, I have a little story to tell you."
Icarus snapped, causing the lights to dim down on cue as both a projector and a projection screen came forth from the ceiling. Shortly after, the projector turned itself on without any sort of command, showing an image of a female angel with dark, lush hair thick as wild bushes in an extravagant garden filled with roses, shrubs, willow trees and any plant one could think of as far as their gaze extends. The girl was definitely a sight to behold, a classic beauty whose bronze skin tone radiated with an earthly glow, rendering her alluring to her companions and passers-by. Palutena promptly remembered the information Pit relayed to her about his findings on Erebus, allowing the goddess to know the fiend was about to share the woeful tale of poor Aeris.
"You see," he began, "this poor little angel is none other than a woman by the name of Aeris. While most of her peers trained themselves to engage in physical combat, she on the other hand, was gifted in the art of magic. Aeris was a timid and kind individual, always placing the need of others before herself, even receiving the nickname glittering sunshine due to her understanding nature and her love of flowers. I became quickly intrigued by the angel, even going through desperate lengths to pull her within my grasp."
"You mean use her?" Palutena corrected, being unamused by his lark. The Goddess of Light felt repentant for the female angel, knowing the relationship between Aeris and Erebus was completely one-sided by a long shot.
"Of course! I wouldn't be the magnificent Erebus if I developed some sort of emotional attachment to my victims, now wouldn't I?" The angel flaunted, receiving a slight glare from the goddess in turn however, it didn't faze him one bit. "Anyways – as I was saying, slowly but surely, our relationship transformed into one of kinship. Aeris eagerly leaned onto my every word like a lost puppy, abandoned by its mother in a gloomy alleyway, left to fend on its own. This allowed me to slowly but surely, isolate sweet, delicate Aeris away from her friends and family, even utilizing manipulate tactics for my own personal gain. I managed to convince her they were evil, they despised her and only stood by her side because they felt obligated to – in short, none of her relationships were genuine. Eventually, I got her to the point where she strictly focused on harnessing her magic abilities, complimenting her as a means to reassure her only I was the one she could trust. As her time came close, I had no use for her."
The projector changed the image, revealing a grotesque monster alongside the archangel. Palutena squinted, taking note of a petrified angel fused within the creature being none other than Aeris.
"Before she could even respond, I fused her with my beloved beast." He glanced towards the Goddess of Light, frowning while he took note of her dull expression. It was almost as if she knew the tale and it didn't help the event took place long before she was conceived. Subsequently, Palutena raised her arm yet before she could seize the chance to interrupt, the archangel decided to cut her off.
"Now that I think about it, the story about Aeris' fate is quite dated for someone of your time so I'm going to be kind enough to tell you another story." Icarus snapped his fingers, cueing the projector to change the scene completely, transforming from the young angel's fate to one Palutena was extremely familiar with; the tale about Icarus the fool.
"Seeing that bewildered look on your face, it's obvious you know about the poor tale of your former bodyguard." Surprisingly unlike the time he spoke Aeris' tale, the projector actively changed images to correspond with the scenes as Erebus talked, giving Palutena a visual. "During my imprisonment allotted by your father, I vowed to get my revenge on that wretched priestess Iris and all of her descendants. As years turned into centuries, my hatred gradually grew stronger as none of Iris' scions were vulnerable to influence like Aeris. My soul sat inside its prison for eons, planning for retribution until one faithful moment, some idiotic archeologists managed to stumble upon my seal by chance. They were fairly clueless to what the ancient artifact was, even bent on studying its origin. Little did they know, just with one touch, the group of archeologists undid my seal, releasing me from penitentiary. My aura killed everyone present within hand's reach, depleting their life energy to gather up my strength. Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough as my body was extremely weak after being confined in that contraption for so long."
Palutena kept her mouth shut the entire time. When "Icarus" mentioned the archeologists, the goddess conjectured if they were the group Dry Bowser went on an exhibition with during his archeology days. While he shuffled upon the three ancient relics, his colleagues found the urn Erebus bitterly resided in for centuries. At one point, Palutena wouldn't be surprised if her former chemistry teacher encountered the archangel in his weakened state. As a matter of fact, it suddenly made complete sense why Dry Bowser decided to hide the ancient relics in the first place especially if Erebus could easily destroy the Staff of Adriel in its split state. Her eyes were fixated on the projector as the image showed a weakened Erebus clutching onto a circular charcoal marble.
"One of the side effects of imprisoned for so long was the massive fatigue which took a heavy toll on my body. Realizing this, I immediately knew I had to start my desperate search in need of a host body to rely on. Luckily, the perfect opportunity arose as I sensed a strong yet familiar aura from above the Earth's surface, hidden amongst Angel Land. I grew morbidly curious as I somehow managed to make my way back up into the heavens above, my curiosity eventually blossoming into desire as I caught glimpse of its wielder. Without hesitation, I knew the pathetic angel was descended off that priestess' bloodline and you want to know what's even better Palutena?" he lectured, throwing back his head towards the Goddess of Light, smirking gleefully to spite her.
"What?" Palutena furrowed her brow and narrowed her gaze towards the angel, crossing her arms and exchanged a fake smile, trying to prevent Icarus from deducing her.
Icarus extended out his arms as he beamed wide, standing tall with the confidence as his pushed his chest out to demonstrate dominance. "Like Aeris, your precious Kid Icarus was an extremely vulnerable target given how he was raised and what he endured every day from his miserable school life to his brothers constant harassment – oh, not to mention his overly strict father added onto his pile of misery. Seeing how he'll eventually crumble into desolate remains, I bided my time, allowing myself to feel the dark energy omitting from his aura as it yearned for revenge however, it needed someone to help ignite the flames. Misery followed the boy wherever he went – from the depths of the school yard, the family who's supposed to protect him to gnawing at the melancholy which is his own, poignant life. His mask slowly but surely, cracked, allowing his withering emotions to feast upon the decaying surface of the angel's emotive state. Eventually the right moment came along and I rushed in right away to seize the perfect opportunity for vengeance. During his time at the psych ward in Skyworld, I planted the stone within his reach on purpose so little Icarus could release me."
Palutena gasped in response, receiving a chuckle from the menacing archangel who resided in his former friend's body, growing more amused by how much he was breaking her. Icarus walked back and forth around his lair before circling the green haired goddess in anticipation.
"When I first laid my eyes on him, I already sensed the devastation and loss of hope in the boy. This made it much easier for me to perform my job as I spoke to him, the boy lingering onto my every word as if I was some prophet heeding his plea for help. I amplified the child's darkest, cunningly persuading him his father despised him just because, how everyone to include you will forever exclude him on purpose and oh – no matter what he does, he'll always be second to none. Reeling my precious puppet in was pathetically easy. Hell, the fool was stupid enough to look up to me as a father figure!" The man proudly boasted, lifting his chin while raising his arms up in the air, giving a cue for the lights to turn back on while the projector and the projection machine rising back up into place.
Palutena paused for a moment, reflecting on both the story of Aeris and Icarus, coming to the conclusion that Erebus is exactly mirroring the events which partook eons ago in the past. Every time Erebus opened his mouth, she grew angrier. The archangel was all talk, his pride and arrogance getting the best of her as not once he displayed any sort of sympathy or even empathy for his victims. To think so many people were proud of this egotistical brute long ago conclusively appalled her. It was indefinitely clear Erebus showed signs of being a manipulative bastard and utilized it for the sake of his sick, twisted enjoyment.
"You're nothing but an abusive jackass!" Palutena shouted, snarling under her breath as she leaned her back forward, clenched her fists while her nose crinkled, her blood boiling as the magma rose from within, ready to erupt at any given moment.
"And you aren't?" Icarus barked back, causing Palutena to take a step back, flinching from his accusations. "Think about it, we're more alike than you think goddess. I'm using the fool, meanwhile you're using your so-called captain of the guard. You utilize his nativity to your upmost advantage, even coddling him to the point where he is heavily codependent on you, even going far as to where he can barely function on his own! His twin disparately sees through your controlling bullshit, fiercely clashing with your ideals for security with his beliefs for freedom. Believe me, if the flightless chicken could fly on his own, he would've escaped the clutches of his coop a long time ago."
"… They're only thirteen for crying out loud!" Palutena snapped, slamming her fists onto table near her. She was sick of his false accusations despite knowing very well she takes advantage of Pit without even realizing it at times. The Goddess of Light always supported his dream of being able to fly on his own someday, that's what mothers do. It was obvious he was trying to make her crack to hurt her emotionally since he promised Icarus he wouldn't do any sort of physical harm to the goddess.
"So? Now you're just spewing complete nonsense, trying to divert yourself from hearing the truth. You see, my job to have Icarus under my control was far too easy, especially since one of his children mirrors the person he despises most, his own father."
While the two continued bickering with one another, Palutena trying to prove she wasn't like Erebus, Icarus listened to the two, feeling helpless he couldn't take back his own body nor convey his thoughts to the goddess. Instead, he could only regret everything he's ever done, feeling powerless and senseless for even trusting the archangel in the first place. Before he knew it, the poor, defenseless angel began recalling a memory – one which Erebus kept erasing on purpose for a reason.
It finally hit him – Icarus had met his sons prior to these drastic events currently taking place.
- "Rin's Melody" from the Fate/Stay Night UBW OST plays-
The older angel remembered meeting two small angels a couple of times at the park in Smashville. Both of the angel twins were always elated to see him every time he decided to hang around under the large oak tree. There were many instances where he brought them little treats to snack on, sometimes even presents because he couldn't help but feel connected them somehow. Icarus showed concern for their tiny, fluffy wings on their back as it wasn't something like he's seen before. Cases of flightless angels were unheard of and were practically impossible to get unless one were to have procreated with a mortal.
He grew extremely fond of the boys, becoming close enough where they allowed him to playfully mess with their hair. Every time he did so, their wings fluffed up, receiving a giggle fit from Pit while Pittoo's face turned complete red like the rim of his glasses.
While Icarus concluded living beings to be nauseating pests, both boys proved him otherwise. This in turn, greatly angered Erebus as the archangel recalled the oracle's final vision, seeing the twins resembling the two angels who will put a stop to his desire of obtaining the world. He despised how frequently Icarus wanted to see and play with the little angels, knowing it could very well put a stop to his plan.
Luckily for the archangel, one day managed to be their last as Palutena came into the picture.
"Boys, you know better than to talk to strangers!" She scolded, placing her arms on her hips. Both Pit and Pittoo rushed over and frowned. Icarus on the other hand, tried his best to hide his face from her for tons of reasons. The last thing he wanted was for the goddess to convince two innocent children he was a ruthless angel with no regards for anyone but himself. As the trio walked away, the angel twins faced Icarus, frowning before leaving his sight. Their departure destroyed him, the older angel finally realizing last minute they were his children yet one question remained – where was Emily in all of this?
The last thing Icarus recalled was Erebus changing the memory to make it look like they were monsters. Every time the angel dreamed bits of pieces of the memory locked within his subconscious, Erebus would always erase it and tell him he was just dreaming what ifs.
Icarus watched the archangel hurt Palutena with his cruel worlds, feeling completely useless. He couldn't even take back what belonged to him, even realizing how much of his relationships Erebus actually destroyed in the process. He strained all of them, making the angel look like a complete barbarian in front of everyone else. While at it, the angel finally understood why his father got so upset with him when the angel claimed that he hated him and wished he was never born.
His father did in fact, care for him yet he had trouble showing it. His methods weren't exactly the best yet the fact Erebus antagonized Ourias so much set Icarus at a huge disadvantage. He wasn't sure which of his father's actions were true and which were complete lies for the sake of manipulating him.
Okay, I'm curious. How do you guys want the story to end? Tempted to see if anyone can guess the ending (bonus: if you answer this with an account, I'll PM you if you actually got it right).
