Chapter Fifty-Two: Fire Emblem Under Siege
The Nintendo multiverse is a vast, complicated expanse made up of hundreds of different universes. Some are lighter and friendlier, like the Mario or Pokemon universes, and some are darker and more dangerous, like the Metroid and Starfox universes. The dark, swirling emptiness of Subspace lies between them. As big as the multiverse is, its outer borders are not the end. Several multiverses lie beyond, each containing their own stock of individual universes. Among them, the Sega and Capcom multiverses lie closest, the greatest heroes each has to offer: Sonic and Mega Man, both currently visiting the Nintendo multiverse. Beyond them, the multiverses of Rare, Konami, Square Enix, Ubisoft, and many others float silently, each consumed in their own particular goings-on. At the moment, however, a certain hero on the edge of the Namco multiverse prepares himself to make the journey between his world and Nintendo's.
"Yes, honey," a small yellow ball creature with a wide mouth said into a cell phone as he made his way through a dark maze to find the portal that would take him to the Smash World. "I promise I'll be careful. You just take care of the baby, and I'll be back when the tournament's over. Yeah, yeah, I love you, too. See ya. Bye."
The yellow ball put the phone away. He shook his head. Checking his map, he rounded three more corners to see a round glowing portal straight ahead. "There it is," he said, popping a pill into his mouth and diving in.
Scene Break
As the hero named Pac-Man raced toward the Smash World, six other heroes already there set out on a secret quest to infiltrate the heart of their enemy's territory. At their head, the prince Marth stood with the young warrior Ike atop a rise overlooking the valley between themselves and the Smash Grounds. Behind them, Marth's surviving troops Navarre, Merric, Lena, and Julian marched up the hill.
Marth took one last look back at the Brawl Grounds. Several miles away now, it was barely visible, a tiny speck on the edge of a distant canyon. He hoped that the other Smash Fighters would understand, and that his mission wouldn't be for nothing if he failed.
"Okay, everyone, listen up," Marth said, his voice shifting by reflex into the tone he used to give orders. "We'll make for the woods on the north side of the grounds. Except for Merric. I want you to get as close to the wall as you can, using your magic to take out any border guards. Once the rest of us reach the woods, Lena, you will teleport Navarre, Julian, Ike, and I inside the grounds. Once we're in, you and Merric get to safety. Don't try anything stupid, got it?"
Lena, the young red-headed priestess, nodded slightly. She slipped her hand into Julian's and squeezed it.
"Once we're in," Marth continued, "Navarre, Ike, and I will move together, taking the metals head-on, while, Julian, you will stay hidden and try to find out as much as you can about our enemy. If you learn anything important, try to get a message out to the other Smash fighters, understood?"
Julian nodded. "Yes, your highness," he said, "But . . . what will happen to the three of you?"
Marth started to answer but hesitated. He locked eyes with Ike and Navarre.
"Chances are, we probably won't be making it out," Ike finished for him.
Marth put his head down.
Navarre clicked his tongue and swung his Killing Edge around carelessly. "So it's a suicide mission, eh? Sounds good to me."
"Sounds like a brave plan," a woman's voice said from somewhere around the group. "May I offer you perhaps a faster one?"
The soldiers looked around for the source of the voice. "At our feet!" Lena shouted. The team looked down to see metal ooze leaking up out of the dirt below them. Everyone backed up quickly as the metal started to gather and shape itself into three distinct bodies. The three stood, each slowly gaining more definition as the metal faded into three familiar faces.
Ike's mouth hung open. "How is this possible?"
Samus grinned at them, her red-and-orange power suit shining in the afternoon sun. Beside her stood two figures who shouldn't exist. On her left was an exact replica of Samus herself, minus the power suit, wearing her blue form-fitting Zero-Suit. On her right was Sheik, Zelda's well-known alter ego.
"What is this?" Marth demanded. He looked at Sheik. "Zelda, when did they take you?"
Sheik showed no sign that she had heard him, staring blankly into space.
"Don't worry your pretty boy head about it, Prince Marth," Samus said. "Princess Zelda is still free of our control, at the moment. These beings you see before you are creations of our masters, designed to help me in my assignment."
"Are you the three Lucario detected outside the Brawl Grounds?" Marth asked.
Samus nodded.
"I assume that means that your 'assignment' was to find a way to penetrate our defenses."
Samus smirked. "Please, your defenses have been penetrated for weeks now. You just didn't know it. Our job was more or less to distract you from the real thing. Although, we did occasionally check for weak points."
Marth scowled and held his sword up to Samus's helmet. "Are you implying that we have a traitor in the Brawl Grounds? Who is it?"
Samus smiled at him. "You'll learn in time," she said. "Once you're one of us." She scanned the small group then leaned in to her double in the Zero-Suit. "Kill the healer first."
Samus leapt into the air, curling into a ball and dropping a small bomb that forced the group to scatter. Meanwhile, Zero-Suit Samus set her stunner to kill and fired off a shot at Lena.
"No!" Julian shoved Lena out of the way, taking the shot himself which left a deep hole in his abdomen.
"Julian!" Lena shouted. The young thief fell to the ground, the wound in his stomach starting to leak blood profusely. Lena tried to get to him, but Navarre grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her out of the way. He placed himself between her and Zero-Suit and raised his sword.
"Years ago, I vowed I would never harm a woman," he told Zero-Suit. "Please don't make me break that vow."
Marth and Merric teamed up against Samus, while Ike took on Sheik. Marth noticed that the strange clones of Zero-Suit and Sheik didn't appear to be using any Elcidi-based abilities. The two simply used the familiar moves that Samus and Zelda had always used. The original Samus, on the other hand, was using her metal extensively, creating a blade to clash swords with Marth, and summoning a shield to block Merric's magical attacks.
Navarre and Zero-Suit went head-to-head. Navarre stuck to defense, never making an attempt to strike her, but simply keeping her from attacking himself or Lena. Zero-Suit kept up her attack so fiercely, it was all Navarre could do to fend her off.
"Navarre, look out!" Lena cried.
Navarre looked down too late to see Julian's body, metal now leaking from his eyes, sit up and stab him in the stomach. The distraction was enough for Zero-Suit to nail him in the heart with a kill shot. He hit the ground with a loud thud at Lena's feet.
"Navarre!" Marth shouted, he and Merric letting their attention slip away from Samus. After all of Marth's years in combat, he should have known better, but losing two more comrades when his army was already down to five was too much for him. Samus hooked her blade around his, shoved him down, and stabbed him in the gut. Merric tried to attack her from behind, but she swung around too quickly and thrust him though.
Marth clutched at his waist, sweat forming on his forehead, watching the life leave Merric's body and metal starting to take its place. He had no idea how bad the damage was to his own body, but he seemed to be still alive for now. Samus removed her blade from Merric and stood over Marth, grinning as her sword shifted back into a gun and she pointed it at Marth's head.
"Aether!"
Like a tank, Ike's massive sword struck Samus in the side and sent her flying into Zero-Suit and Navarre. In moments, Ike was at Marth's side, bearing his head up. "Are you alright, Marth?" he said.
"Yeah," Marth said, panting. "Lena, are you alright?"
"Yes, my prince," Lena said, rushing to his side. She had tears streaming down her face, but she seemed to be okay.
"Lena," Marth said through ragged breath, "you and Ike need to get away from here. Get back to the Brawl Grounds. The others need to know about the traitor."
"What about you?" she said.
"I'm done for," he said. "I think I've already been infected. Get yourselves out. Hurry."
Lena bit her lip and glanced back at the metals. "I'm sorry, Prince Marth," she said, raising her hands and muttering incantations under her breath. Marth recognized it as the warp spell. Magical energy started to swirl around Marth and Ike, making the world around them become fuzzy.
"Lena, stop! What are you doing?" Marth tried to shout. His last image of her was her throat being slit by Navarre.
