Chapter 74: Rest 2: The Sequel

Lucario spoke what was on everyone's mind. "What in the name of Arceus is that?" Something was glowing of the bottom of the hill, it producing all source of colors. No one can tell exactly what is was but it looked human-shaped.

"Is that the Newcomer?" Fox looked over the communicator in his hand. "It's coming from below. It's no doubt then… but what is it doing?"

"The a glow makes it hard but I think its running." Luigi said.

"Running." Lucario repeated. Why would it be running? The colorful anomaly fell on its knees before collapsing on its back. "I think it's hurt! C'mon!" The jackal ordered. The Veterans sprinted down the grassy slope being mindful not to trip and get a face full of dirt. They got a better look.

And what a look it was.

The colorful light shaped itself into what appears to be a teenage human male, additional colors formed on its body were clothes and big sword of some kind. Captain Falcon crouched and pressed his finger against its leg; surprised when it phased through the "skin". He pulled it out.

"*Ooh Ak oh Ahh?!*" (What are you doing?!) Diddy blurted?

"I'm inspecting it." The bounty hunter stood up. "I didn't feel anything, I think it is intangible."

"How are we going to bring the Newcomer back with us, if we can't touch him?" Snake pondered to himself.

"Look, more of them are coming." Zero Suit warned.

"More?!" Lucario turned his head to see three more similar colorful figures circling around the fallen figure. But these three seem familiar…!

"It's them!"

"Huh?" Fox said

"It's three of the Newcomers that disappeared! Look!" The Pokémon pointed with a clawed finger. One had a slim figure, one had big gloves and the other a big head.

"Fit, Mac and Brawl." The vulpine observed, shocked to see the newbies before his eyes. "But, what's wrong with them? I need to call this in." Fox used the camera function of the communicator and snapped a picture, then dialed R.O.B. "R.O.B.! We have big news!"

"[What? Have you found the target?]"

"Not exactly."

He could just hear the confusion over the speaker. "[Not exactly?]"

"It's hard to explain. It's like we're seeing a rainbow hologram instead of an actual person. We can't touch it without our fingers passing through and by the looks of it, it can't hear us either." Snake explained. "There are more of these figures too; about three more. They look like the missing Newcomers: Wii Fit, Little Mac and Brawler."

"[What?! What are they doing now?]" Shouted R.O.B.

Fox looked back at the three standing figures of rainbow, they were towering over the fallen one now. The entire group voices, but it was quiet and faded in and out like TV static.

"Is he a New… get out here?"

"Who cares, we… the farm."

"Is he going-"

"…fine… tired… help me here."

The trio of familiar figures helped the teenage figure onto the back that looked similar to Little Mac. They sprinted as fast as their load would allow. The fighters were astounded. "They're picking up the unconscious figure and going somewhere else!" Fox reported.

"[Well then go after them!]" R.O.B. ordered.

"Will do!" Fox turned off the communicator and turned to face everybody. "We can't let them get away. Follow it!"

"But wait! What about our vehicles?" Asked Captain Falcon. "We can't leave them behind! What If we go too far?"

"Then we'll bring them along!" Announced Fox. "Falcon and I will fly our vehicles and follow from above. Diddy, send a member of your team to do the same." The vulpine, bounty hunter and the other bounty hunter were running back over the hill in great strides.

"*Pichu! Pi Chu Pi Hu?*" (Wait! What do we do?) Questioned the small electric mouse.

"What do you think? Chase after the rainbow people!" Fox said before all three of them disappeared over the green horizon.

"Well so much for a simple mission." Luigi moaned… then panicked when the figures were already making some distance. "Oh no! Come a back! Wait for a us!" He shouted, sprinting in the direction of rainbow. The rest followed suit with fast jogging or slow running. Lucario stood as he assessed the situation.

"Newcomers… what on earth is going on with you?" He said to himself as he followed the rest of his brothers.

Gunner was the last one up the tower of escalators, her pants became slower and slower until she met with everyone on the top floor. "My legs feel like spaghetti."

"Not much of a runner?" Questioned Little Mac.

Gunner swiped the sweat from her forehead. "My strength is in my eyes, my heels are a different story. Please tell me we're done with climbing."

"Ok… we're done with climbing." Sword slightly smiled. "The map said the room was on this floor, we just go to find the door. Rosalina, directions?"

The princess pulled out the pamphlet and traced her finger over the printed image. "It's right here." She directed a fingernail to a grayish metal door; half the thickness of a brick. Aside from the doorknob, the door was plain but relatively spotless in terms of grime.

Brawler jiggled the knob and pushed his body against the door. "Of course, it's locked. I suppose you guys haven't found a key chain lying around during our walk, did you?"

Silence.

He sighs. "Fine, let's get this over with." Brawler aimed the barrel of the shotgun at the door knob but Greninja gripped the shaft of the weapon. "This is my shotgun, I thought we all agree on that?"

"There's a better way." He wrote.

Brawler looked directly in his eyes, then he did something that caught Sword's interest. He lowered the firearm… he seemed defeated. No resigned. The fist-fighter would usually scowl and bring up the temperature of the room up by a hundred, but he's not. This is a recent change… why's he acting like this? "And that would be?"

The Pokémon set his writing materials on the floor and focused his attention to his hands. Water materialized in his webbed palm and formed several small thin tools in his grasp. He immediately went to work on the lock, putting an ear close to the door.

"You can pick locks?" Brawler said.

"Gre." Greninja nodded. Focusing your skills on the art of stealth was a good investment. The frog heard a click and pulled on the knob. The door opened with no problems, satisfied with the results he picked up his clipboard and turned to face his team.

"That was so cool!" Boomed Villager. "Do you think you can teach me that?"

Greninja smirked. "Maybe when you're old enough."

"Thanks for doing that man, I'd hate to think we'd have to be sleeping out in the open tonight." Little Mac playfully punched the shoulder of the Pokémon.

"Yeah…" Brawler was looking at Greninja but he's view was elsewhere. He didn't carry malice, frustration or even annoyance. He seemed oddly relaxed. "Thanks."

Sword shined the flashlight inside and cautious walked in. The room was small but not tremendously so. Two conjoining desks were pushed against the back wall accompanied by two black desk chairs; rows of computer monitors hanged from above, all dead off course. A vending machine and a potted plant was stuff in a corner, the plant had wilted long ago but there was still life in the machine still had some life in it in the form of expired candy bars. And who could forget the spilled coffee pot on the floor, the stain was awful… at least to Sword. He never did like the smell of coffee.

The swordsman stepped further in, his companions followed close behind. Several of the Newcomers placed their glow sticks on the desks and tables to bright up the room. It was still dim but it was better than nothing.

"Empty… looks like this security room is safe." Villager said.

"Not yet." Mega Man pointed to a lone wooden door to the left. "There's one place left."

Sword handed the flashlight to Greninja. "Keep it on the door." He pushed his back to the wall as the light covered him and the surrounding. He mouth the words, get ready then place a hand on the door knob.

He began whispering. "3…2…1!" Then swung open the door, the Newcomers took their stances; fearing another surprise attack. The Mii pointed the tip of his weapon inside.

This room was even tinier, based on the video tapes, security equipment and a cardboard box labeled, "Lost and Found" on the shelves, Swordfighter believed this to be a makeshift storage area.

He relaxed and inserted his sword back in the sheathe "Just a closet full of video tapes and junk."

"So it's safe?" Questioned Gunner.

"The way I see it… yeah."

"Wait, you said video tapes right?" Wii Fit went inside and picked out several sitting on the left shelf. "No, label… but it looks to be good condition. We could use Mega Man to power up the VCR so we can watch it."

"About that... I'm looking around and I don't see a VCR anywhere." Little Mac pointed out.

"What? But this is the security room! Why have video tapes if you don't have a VCR?"

"Little Mac means that the device in question is missing." Rosalina swiped her finger against the desk. Luma followed her guardian's action like it was a game. "This part is less dusty than the rest of the desk. I assume that the VCR had been removed- most likely stolen."

"Ugh…" Groaned Wii Fit. "We could have learned what could've happened during the outbreak."

"Dude… we're in a mall, a place that serves all kinds of products. I'll be surprised we didn't find a hundred of those things in bin somewhere." Brawler said.

"Well that has to wait until tomorrow." Mega Man said. "We have to get shut eye remember. Although it's somewhat freaky to sleep in the dark."

Brawler blinked several times if he heard the question right. "Are you playing or did your chip had a malfunction?"

"No! I know its common sense to turn off the lights before bed, but this is too dark!" The android explained. "The flashlights are too bright and I don't trust the lighters to not set this room on fire. That only leaves the glow sticks but they're not bright enough."

"I can fix that." Rosalina said.

"How?" Shulk asked.

The Princess held her hands together and breathed in and out. She extended her want a pointed to the ceiling. Sparkling dust went off of the star and floated to the ceiling, this dust formed into clusters until they formed themselves into small glowing spheres.

Shulk was blown away. "What is that?"

"Those are stars, white dwarfs specifically."

Shulk did a double take on the stars. "But… those are too small to be stars."

Rosalina chuckled, followed by Luma raising its fist in the air. "These are modified stars. They're not too hot and they wouldn't blind us. Just enough to brighten the room. I thought of creating several miniature galaxies instead, but I was afraid that would make the place to bright."

Shulk slowly turned his head to the Newcomers. "Galaxies?"

"When we said she was a space princess; we weren't exaggerating." Little Mac said.

Something crashed behind them all, they went into fight-or-flight mode and turned around. Villager looked over the fallen cart on the ground. "Oh yeah… I caught it as it was falling."

Brawler scowled with annoyance as he rested the shotgun on his shoulder. "We got our food and light. Now we need a place to sleep."

"We already did." Villager replied.

"If you think sleeping on the rug is a good investment, then go ahead. The rest of us are going to need mattresses or something."

Greninja tapped on his clipboard to get attention. "There were plenty of sleeping bags on the first floor; we need at least ten."

"We're going downstairs again?" Gunner whined before lightly banging her head on a wall. "Why does everything have to be so difficult around here?"

Brawler spoke. "Probably because the universe gets off of our suffering."

The walk made them more tired on the way down. It made it worse knowing that they'll have to go back up again. A quick scan of the area failed to reveal any supplies that would be useful for catching those sweet Z's.

"So we're going back to the tents?" Little Mac repeated. "I don't know, doesn't seem sanitary."

"This whole place isn't sanitary in the slightest." Wii Fit said. "It's like the concept of cleanliness had disappeared altogether."

Brawler huffed. "Suppose the janitor was the first one to become deer lunch?"

Rosalina faced soured. "Please don't joke about that."

Shulk felt a tap on his shoulder, turning around he saw Greninja. He had two sleeping bags in his possession. One hung over his back with a strap and the other carried between his torso and arm; both were colored red and blue respectfully. He handed the Hom the blue sleeping bag and Villager took notice. "Woah, Greninja! You already found some?"

The Pokémon nodded his head and wrote. "Was behind the escalator on the first floor, didn't notice it on the way down."

"Good for you two… I suppose you two wouldn't mind for a trade for a certain trainer would you?"

"Not a chance."

"Trade? Trade for what?" Questioned Shulk.

"I will trade the bag for… helpful dietary advice?"

"Um… no thanks I'll pass."

"Ha! Don't think you'll be able to swindle out of this one Miss "Health Nut", you're going to scavenge your bed like the rest of us." Brawler gave a sly smile. "Don't worry, you'll get plenty of exercise."

He could have sworn her eyelid twitched. "Don't push it."

"We'll be setting our stuff upstairs, we'll wait." Greninja gestured his head to Shulk to come along as he walked up the once-rotating steps of the escalator.

"Yeah… we'll wait." Shulk waved before catching up with the blue Smasher. They went silent as they went up. It was only upon reaching the second floor when Shulk heard a small "Gre" his way. He turned to Greninja, clipboard gripped between fingers. "What's going on?"

"You can vocalize? I thought you were mute?"

"I speak a different language. I can understand everybody but it doesn't work the other way around. Hence the writing." Greninja pointed the previous words he had written.

The teen shrugged his shoulders. "I know just as much as you do; stuck in a mall… everyone's gone missing-"

The frog scribbled again. "I was referring to you."

"Oh that…" Shulk shifted uncomfortably in his skin, he really didn't want to answer that question. "It's no big deal really; just taken off-guard."

"It's not common to cry when one is taken off-guard." Greninja wrote the best he could as he climbed the steps. "Its fine, I won't judge if you tell me."

"I don't know… I don't want to burden you all with my woes."

"You'll only burden yourself with holding on to those troublesome woes. Trust me, I know from experience. Is it about your friends back in your original universe?"

Shulk looked at the weapon strapped onto his back, he made so much memories back in the day. Now it's just him and this godly sword. Just him and infamous sword that turned his life upside down. "I am down about that. I knew I wouldn't be with them forever, just didn't think the good times would end so soon. I do have the memories thought, I'll cherish that forever. And my other self is still back there. But that's what scares me. Greninja… am I real?"

"Of course you are real. Why would you think otherwise?"

"According to Sword, all Smashers are clones to the original right now to the personality and abilities. If that's true, I'm not actually "Shulk". Only an entity believing he's the real deal. My life is a lie…" The Hom droned, thinking about the short time he's actually been alive.

"I see… you think of yourself as a cheap imitation instead of an actual living person?"

"We were originally made as toys for an eldritch being. How could I not think that way?" Shulk explained. "We even turn into statues after we "die" and we come back after a tap on the base. We are characters, fictional beings based on real people."

Greninja took special care with the paper on this one, he wrote small yet eligible to anyone who wished to read his words. When he was ready, he tore off the page and handed it to Shulk. "We are unorthodox entities, I admit. But that doesn't mean you don't existence is not validated. You think, therefore you are. I had the same problem as you when I first came into existence into this realm. I worried that my existence was nothing more than a cruel stupid joke. But then I thought, it'll only be if I think that way. This emptiness I felt came into being when I was too attached to the past. I heard stories from the other Smashers, how they coped with it. Once bitter rivals in one world became friends in this one; heroes grinded to bone with work now finally have a chance to relax; people who were lost had found their new purpose. If they can turn their lives around, I'm sure you can too. You are not chained to your past like a dog leashed up in the rain. Who knows, maybe one day we'll be able to cross the temporal-dimensional barrier and you'll get the chance to meet your friends in person."

"Cross? But the barrier is impenetrable!"

"At the moment it is, but who knows? Maybe in the future we can finally find a way to go and see the big wide world for ourselves. You just to keep your head up."

Shulk smiled. "Thanks… that really meant a lot to me. I never knew you were so wise."

"Wise have nothing to do with it, everyone needs to be reminded of their spirit every now and again."

"Spirit is all I have at this point. I'm just hoping the original is keeping everything safe back in my world."

"Knowing you, I feel like he wouldn't have any trouble."

They reached their resting space, the security room. Greninja and Shulk took the best spots in the middle of the room. As they unrolled their sleeping bags the sounds of multiple footsteps came out side. Shulk snapped his head to see the entire gang there with their individual sleeping material.

"I see you already made yourselves right at home." Said Wii Fit.

"Yeah and screwed us over, of course you guys would take a lot of available space." Brawler grunted.

Greninja resisted the urge the chuckled and took out his pad. "Nothing personal my aggravated friend… it's what I believe you humans call: You snooze you lose."

Here's the next chapter guys, next will be the Veterans investigating the rainbow figures. I'm trying to pick up the pace of things without it looking... strained. Anyways, Hope you guys like this, enjoy.