Chapter 75: Toys Lost, Toys Gained

What was first a sprint had now resorted to relaxing jog for the Veterans catching up with rainbow figures. Lucario took the lead, he was by the figures side. He could still hear their voices but it became to muffed to hear.

"Anything?" Lucas shouted to Lucario.

The jackal shook his head. "I can't understand them well. It's too quiet. But I think they're straining."

"Probably because they're carrying a body up the hill." Snake pointed out. He looked to the sky. "Ah, looks like they've finally made it."

The famous ships the Star Fox, the Blue Falcon and Samus' Gunship floated high above the clouds, casting several dark shadows on the plains.

Diddy's communicator ringed on his hip, he unhooked it from his shirt and pushed the button. "Sorry for the wait! Anything we missed?" Fox said through the device.

"Oh ak. Ohh awk. Oook ahh ook ah ahhhh ook oh ah ok oooook." (Barely squat. Unless you consider jogging after rainbow people up a hill exciting.)

R.O.B. entered the conversation. "[Diddy, we're prepping for a war, your boredom can wait! Just keep following the anomaly, we might be able to discover what happened to our Newcomers!]"

Suddenly, the rainbow figures climbing the hill began to flicker, warp and finally vanish out of sight. The Smashers on the ground halted from utter confusion. "It's gone?" Snake said aloud to himself, he turned to the rest of the crew. "It's gone!"

Lucario stared at the spot their target last stood. 'It just… disappeared?! We were so close? How?!'

Diddy's communicator buzzed with fury and humming from the frame of the speaker. "The light went dim? Report! What's going on down there?"

"Ook! Ah oooohhh ack… oh okkkk!" (Fox! The rainbow things… they disappeared!) Said the monkey.

Fox was sitting in the pilot's chair. The vulpine was about to demand clarification when a beeping sound was heard on his beep dashboard. He lowered the spare communicator from his mouth. "Falcon is calling me from his Falcon?" He flipped a switch.

"Fox! The lights! They've-"

"Yes, they've already told me Captain. They've disappeared." Fox huffed. This may have been their only lead to regaining their once lost friends. And now they're gone. How can he go back home with confidence knowing that the Newcomers may be lost forever? Will their continuous supply of new blood be drained from their unorthodox family? Will the cap of available men be the mark of the dark age? Will everything they have worked so hard for be ripped from them all because of a stupid crystal?!

"No. Look from your window."

The vulpine's ear perked up from the command. He lifted himself from his chair and pressed his nose against the windshield. His tail wagged.

"[They're gone! This is a disaster! This is an absolute disaster!]" R.O.B's voice was so loud that Fox almost dropped the device out of instinct.

"Ok oh ah, ooh ook ack oh ack ack oh? Ooh ah? Ohh?" (Now hold on, maybe we can still salvage this? Right guys? Right?)

The leader of Star Fox pushed the communicator right up to his ear. "You're absolutely right, Diddy! No need to short out your wires. The mission is still on!"

Lucario cracked his head back to Diddy. "Still on? The figures are gone!"

"No. Just relocated. Up on the hill, look!"

The jackal cracked his head to the mount. The colorful color had indeed reappeared there, only more brighter. "He's right! I can see it. It's very bright, what's causing it to glow so such intensity?"

It was Zero Suit's turn to voice her discovery on the communicator line. "It's hard to tell from here, but I think there are more of them!"

"Pichu pi chu p pichu! Pichu chu hu pi chu!" (Only one way to find out! Race you guys to it!) Pichu challenged as he darted across the dandelions rooted in the meadow.

Dr. Mario shouted in response to his boasting. "Pichu don't do that!... he's still going. I should have been the one on the ground instead."

The forces on the ground climbed up the hill with tiring and great succession. Peach was the one to reach the top. The sheer sight of the colors made her step back a few. "Oh! Is that…?"

The rainbow figures of Little Mac, Brawler, Wii Fit and the stranger were up as Fox reported, but also the entirety of the Newcomers that went missing. All of them were sitting to make the shape of a rough circle. Their mouths were moving, indicating that they were indeed having a conversation.

"Oh my! I think that everybody. They're right here!" Announced the Princess.

"I don't think a so. We can't really a touch them." Luigi prodded the rainbow Wii Fit with a nearby stick. It went through as suspected but it still freaked the plumber enough to drop his tool.

"But we know they have something to do with this." Snake said, kneeling down on his knee to absorb the scene playing in front of him. "It doesn't make sense for this visual spectacle to just happen out of nowhere." The soldier turned to Diddy. "Be sure to take a snap of this."

The monkey nodded and activated the camera function on the communicator.

"That's right! R.O.B., we took some pictures of the rainbow figures we saw. You want me to send them over to you now?" Fox said.

"[Absolutely! If I observe the photos first hand I might get a clearer picture on what you've been witnessing, pun not intended.]"

"Of course, you send yours too Diddy." After the monkey activated the shutter, both mammals transferred the digital photographs all the way back to the mansion.

Upon receiving the contents, R.O.B. uploaded the pics and converted them into JPG images- expanding multiple windows across one big screen. The robot Smasher focuses the lens of his visors to get a better look.

"[This is… these figures match them.]" He looked at the two pictures: the one where several of entities carrying another entity in there arms and the other were they are all sitting down on the grass. "[But… what does this mean…]" R.O.B. focused his attention on the humanoid entity in the middle of the circle. It doesn't match with any of the Newcomers.

R.O.B. went to another monitor that was hooked up with the command center. A part of him didn't like the idea of him taking the shortcut, but his time in the lab demand convenience, especially in times like this. He clicked the tab; still blinking and strong. The unfamiliar figure and the signal, it was connected it had to be.

R.O.B. laid back in his chair in deep thought. This gives more credibility to the theory that they were teleported to a different dimension within the WOT. It's the only realistic plausible way the teleportation could have happened in the first place. Multiple dimensions existing in the same universe wasn't a new concept after all. But he needs more than a picture, he'll need to see in person.

But even if they did confirm the existence of this hypothetical dimension there was still the lingering problem of actually getting there to rescue the Newcomers. R.O.B. twisted his head to the crystal ball on the counter; still inactive.

"[All of this… because of a stupid rock.]" He wasn't sure why the rest of the Newcomers, and only the Newcomers were affected in the first place. The Miis had sole interaction with the cursed artifact, so why did teleport an entire generation of Smashers god knows where? Could this have been a weapon against them? To cut their numbers down on the will of the Hands of the ever-mysterious F.W.?

"[Those three found the pieces by chance though. That would be a very poor delivery a weapon if that's the case.]" R.O.B. shook his head; more questions than answers.

The robot claw knocked over a plastic coffee mug rest on the desk. The container tipped over and fell on the floor causing a brown stain on the carpet. "[Oh by- Ugh, I told Fox not to leave his food by the computers!]" Great, this will be the second mess he'll have to deal with today.

He quickly lowered himself down to pick up the mug and saw the famous circle with two lines intersecting it, reassembling the smash ball itself. This was the symbol of their organization, their community, the trials they had endured and overcome. R.O.B. personally didn't really have much connection with the logo but a bunch of the fighters here did. They loved it so much that some of the artistic of the Smashers decided it would be a good idea to draw and craw this symbol on various objects and places around the mansion. Both as a hobby and as a way to motivate people, remind them of what they accomplished.

'[Motivation is what we need right now.]' R.O.B. thought. The robot was about to rest the mug back where'd he found it but then he saw another detail in the photos that he just know realized. In both photos the eyes all entities were bright yellow… and was it him or did the colors seem a bit like… fire?

He stared at the pictures then the mug, then the pictures again. "[Hold on. That's the smash ball!]" More specifically, he was recalling the state of when a Smasher breaks a smash ball. The colors… the yellow irises. They look so similar. He knew for a fact that the smash ball allowed any Smasher to activate their Final Smash, their ultimate move.

Is this what he was seeing? Their true spirit or inner working of… ugh. They never did have a name for this, as it was confusing to even research the topic with how hard finding a smash ball in the wild is. But he's certain that he was seeing the Newcomer's with his own eyes. Or at least a portion of them.

Wait. If the appearance of the Newcomers in the other dimension caused these… apparitions? Yeah let's go with that. If the apparitions are a result of them being in the other dimension. Could the same happen in reverse? Like if-

"R.O.B. something's going on the figures!"

Fox voice came from the built-in computer speakers, the robot was brought back to reality. R.O.B. pressed a button on the keyboard to the monitor.

"[I'm here. What do you mean, Fox?]"

"Diddy reported to me that that figures are leaving the hill but… the way they are moving is off."

"[Off?]"

"Is like a broken video game. They sometimes freeze in place then they reappear farther from the spot moving as normal. I believe in gamer-speak it's called "lagging". They also flicker in and out too."

"[And this just occurred out of nowhere?]"

"Well… some of the guys heard voices coming from them… something involving a gas station, but there's no such thing in Techma Fields…. They're moving pretty fast from the ground team, I don't think'll they'll be able to catch up."

"[Try getting Zero Suit to fly her ship down to pick you guys up. You all should be able to keep track of those entities in that way. If anything else weird happens report it to me. I'm going to further analyze those photos you sent to me in the meantime.]"

"Roger that."

The call ended, R.O.B. had all the time in the world to inspect every pixel of the digital photos. He leaned in more, there was something yet again that he missed. It was small, but it was visible, blended in with the color so well.

"[Is that… No! That's impossible!]"

It was high noon, the ships were keeping close to the clouds. Their task for now was to keep an eye on the rainbow people moving on the ground. Aside from the mix of concentration and tiredness, everyone was doing fine.

Except Zero Suit's gunship.

"Pi chu pichu! P ich pichu pic pi chu!" (It's so tight! I can hardly breathe in here!) Yelped Pichu.

"You're the smallest one here! You have the most space out of all us! What are you talking about?" Questioned Snake.

"Can you please stop stepping on my dress?" Asked Peach.

"Guys hush!" Zero Suit call out from the pilot seat. The pace of their targets forced the bounty hunter to give her friends a literal pick-me up. The ship was big enough to carry Diddy's team but with the added load of the ground force it was making seating arrangements very... difficult to say the least. They were pressed up together like a can of sardines, it would have been funny in any other scenario but now it was irritating beyond hell. "You're making me lose my focus."

"Speak for yourself, Zero." The jackal winced as he felt someone pressed up his aura sensors. He regretted getting inside the ship, should have gone with the cardio option. "I feel like I'm in a sleeper hold."

"It's uncomfortable I get it, just hold out for a little bit longer. Alright? How well can you move?"

"Fine… I a guess?" Luigi answered as he unwittingly forced against a wall.

"Ok… I can see the figures, they have appeared to have slowed down." Zero Suit said. "It appears that they are… searching?"

Lucario rose his head up. "Searching? Like digging?"

"They're inspecting the air as if something was there but I see nothing but grass."

"Maybe they found those bees?" Suggested Dr. Mario.

"No, those creatures hibernate at this time of year. Zero, can we get a closer look?"

The bounty hunter took the jackals request and told the other two ships that she's going to lowering the vehicle down for easier view. "Shuffle up to the front if you can but don't touch the controls."

Some Smashers pushed forward while others went further back. Lucario was among those that walked close to the windshield. Like a mime, the rainbow figures acted out as if they were ransacking a location, their gestures made it clear they were very invested in their motions. "I'm going on a limb here and say they're probably scavenging for supplies." Said Snake.

Zero Suit turned to him. "How'd you figure that?"

"Well that's what we did before the mansion." The soldier pulled out a cigarette from his pocket. "I remember that I had to look in every crook and cranny to find one of these treats. Any Veteran before the 4th era would understand that living off the land like hunters was the primary way of living before we changed that. Assuming that what we are seeing are the actual Newcomers."

"You're saying wherever the Newcomers are right now it's… barren?" Peach replied.

"Barren as in actual mansions and grocery stories, then yes." Snake answered.

Lucario looked back at the entities. 'It would add up, If Snake is correct then the Newcomers would have been living like this for at least a week. Even with the strengths they hold surviving completely on your own with no real reliable shelter or food supply is detrimental to their being, even if the can't die. But they don't seem to be struggling that bad… they are actually working on a team. Had they finally managed to pull themselves together? Has their training paid off?'

The figures begin to flickered in and out simultaneously. They reappeared in a small section of the field right on top of a bed of flowers. The figures were panicked it was clear to see why: Three tall humanoid figures colored completely gray flickered in with them.

"Pichu!" (Woah) Exclaimed Pichu.

Zero Suit was on the edge of her seat. "There are more! But without color and… antlers?" The gray figures began to violent approach the rainbow ones and both were quickly engaged in a fierce battle.

Peach pointed to the gray monsters down below. "Those things are attacking them, what are they?!"

"I don't have a clue." Zero Suit's ship receiver produced the sounds from a familiar concerned vulpine.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing, it's total war down there! Those gray things are definitely not Smashers. I'm going to report this to R.O.B." Fox said.

"You think Master Hand is responsible for that?" Lucas replied.

Lucario gripped hard on Zero Suit's chest. "We can't let this continue any longer, we need to put an end to this."

"I'll try firing something a precise laser at those grays. I'll be careful to avoid the rest." Zero Suit pressed several buttons on her dashboard. The gunship aimed it's barrel at the gray entity furthest from the group. The small beam of intense light scored that section of the grass but it didn't do anything to the enemy. It didn't even notice.

"It's just like last time. We can't touch either of them. Those rainbow guys are going to have to fend for themselves… wait, I think the tide is turning in their favor. Look!" Captain Falcon exclaimed.

The rainbow figures were using their wit against the grays. With the use of powerful fighting techniques and skills, they were able to defeat the bad guys one by one. The final gray was killed by a figured looking similar to Gunner, who fired a cannon-like device at its skull.

During the entire fight, Diddy took several pictures using the communicator to capture the intensity through the use of hundreds and hundreds of pixels. The moment the battle ended, the rainbow figures talked and resumed their scavenging. Then they ran out of the bed of flowers and sprinted; rainbow bags of presumed goodies bouncing over their backs.

"They're running away again." Snake said. "Flickering too."

Zero Suit used the receiver to communicate with Fox. "The figures are moving, resuming chase."

"They seem to be heading back to that hill, keep that in mind as you get behind their tail."

"Roger that." She turned her head back to the passenger. "I'm going to push the speed, try to hold on." Pichu grabbed onto the leg of Snake. The gunship powered up the thruster and sped like a bullet. The entities moving more erratically now, barely leaving out of view.

As Fox predicted, they did went back to the hill but things took a turn for the worse. "There are so many!". Exclaimed Lucas.

"Is that a car?" Captain Falcon said through the gunship receiver.

"Too many things moving at once. I'm going to land on the hill, keep your eyes peeled." The small gunship landed near the rounded edge of the grassy bump, Falcon's ship joined them in their landing as well. The male bounty hunter jumped out of his vehicle and went to the section where all the Smashers were pouring out of the flying tin can.

So many grays surround the rainbow figures in a square-based formation. They didn't charge all at once as expected, they instead kept clawing and banging at invisible walls will only a couple getting in at once. Four entities were guarding the south of the hill with two guarding the south.

The rest were interacting with a much larger rainbow anomaly. The fighters literally went past the walls of savage grays and stood where the larger glow was. It was a car, Falcon said it was a pick-up truck. "I bet they're fixing it for a quick getaway, hopeful these… things can get away." Said Captain Falcon.

Diddy was frustrated on how the Smashers are not calling it as it is. "Oh ack oh oooh ah ack? Ook ok ah oh ack!" (Where are you calling them that? These are obviously our friends!)

"I tend to believe that, but we have not proof. It could easily be an illusion created by the hands. Do not get your hopes up if that's the case." Snake said. "But it might help if we get more photos for R.O.B.."

Diddy sighed and activated the camera function on the communicator.

Lucario walked closer to the car and pressed his finger against it. "Still intangible." He got an all around the place. If what they are truly seeing are the Newcomers, he prays with all his heart that they would escape this raging nightmare. Those grays… the creatures laying on the assault. They look like deer but have the bodies of men. All of his time in the World of Trophies has he even seen an animal like that. This is brand new, but maybe the records back home might hold something.

"Look! That dude is a flying!" Luigi pointed up. He was referring to the rainbow entity that was walking on thin air several feet above. It looked like Villager, and it running from another gray monster. In its arms. The figured tripped in a jerky manner on its way to the top of the hill, must have been stairs. The gray picked the entity up by the throat and opened its mouth.

"NO!" Peach extended a hand towards the scene, as believing her intervene would solve everything.

A loud bang echoed across the entire hill. A figure held the object in its hands, colored smoke pouring out of it. It was a shotgun. The gray that was holding the small colored entity fell dead, it was safe for now. The speech was too muffled to understand, but Lucario could tell that both parties were grateful.

Fox's ship finally caught up with the rest of the Veterans. It hover somewhat high from the land. Diddy's communicator buzzed as he was finishing up with his pictures. "Finally caught up. What's going on, I see a lot of gray!"

Zero Suit Samus walked over to the spider monkey. "There's a horde down here, our colorful friends here are doing their best to escape."

Pichu turned his head back and jumped frantically to get attention. "Pi pic pichi hu hu pic!" (The gray things are breaking in!) The deer-like lights crawled and broke through invisible barriers; moving colors were being packed closer and closer until they made a dash to the car.

"The rainbow is getting brighter, what changed?"

"Hold on!" Zero Suit lowered the communicator from her lips. The whole scene was flickering but the scene was clear: All entities piled up in the flashy car, accompanied by the iconic "whirling" of the engine. The truck wheels sped like a bullet and was heading straight towards Luigi.

"YAHHHH!" The plumber screamed and ducked his head as the car phased through him, then he looked back up. He forgot about the intangibility, that didn't stop him from having mini-heart attack.

The jackal ran several steps down, witnessing the colorful car speed down the slope leaving the furious animals to bite the dust. The burden that had been resting on his shoulders felt lighter, but he knew that the heaviness would return. But it was quite the rush seeing them escape death with leveled heads.

He almost felt like a father.

The cockpit of the gunship was much more comfier when they decided to divide the team around the three ships. Samus too Diddy's team in her ship, the team that Lucario was a part of went back to the Great Fox, and Falcon rode alone. The gunship went back to the mansion whilst the rest were ordered to track the anomaly.

The car was slower compared to last time making it less of a challenge and more of a chore to follow it. The car stopped a section of fields where there wasn't plant-life growing on the soil, not even weeds. The rainbows fighter piled out and walked on the barren dirt.

They walk seemingly aimlessly around until they started to walk on air again. They did some more walking down then up, but finally stopped a little space high up in the air. They laid on their backs and sides without worry, the flickering increased until they suddenly disappeared from sight.

"Huh? They're gone?" Lucario said.

"Looks like it." Replied Snake. "At least for now, I've got a feeling that it won't be the last that we'll see of them."

"This is a bad." Dr. Mario crackled his wrist in frustration. "This is the first major setback we have and the battle hasn't even started yet."

"We can't give up a hope now bro!" Luigi retorted. It felt awkward for the plumber to know he technically had two of the same brother, but he still feels that strong love for both of them nonetheless.

The doctor moved his head to meet Luigi's. "Never a said anything about giving a up. I'm stating the facts. I fear most for the new guys, if those were really them I can't imagine what they're going through right now. Do they have the skills to survive?"

"Their training has yet to be completed." Lucario wanted to mentally slap himself, if they only knew that this would happen, they could have prepared. No, it's not good thinking like that, no one could have known. But he was amazed at the moves that was displayed. "Their training has yet to be complete, but they are no amateurs."

"The lights are gone, what now?" Falcon said to Fox.

"With those figures gone there's no real point in staying here. Well, there is the signal. I'm going to give call R.O.B., I want to ask him." Fox pressed several buttons on the dash and flipped a switch. "R.O.B. we followed-"

"[Fox! You will not believe what I found, I think it's a game changer.]" R.O.B. interrupted, his voice was a mixture of shock, amazement and worry.

"Are… you talking about the gray entities?" The vulpine cocked his head.

"[The ones with antlers? No, in my entire life neither me or my… people ever encountered so creatures. I don't think they're even native here. They're brand new.]'

By now the crew had become interested in the conversation- moving closer and closer to the cockpit to listen more clearly to the robot's words.

"[I'll look into it later. I was talking about the first photos you sent me, I know why those entities were colorful. It was the smash ball!]"

Snake halted in the intake of his cigarette and pulled it out of his mouth. "But they didn't take any smash balls."

"[No! They… *sigh*... I should have rephrased it. You know when a smasher breaks the ball they get a rainbow aura? That's what you've been seeing.]"

"A final smash?" Lucario pondered to himself.

Dr. Mario shook his head. "Don't know, seems a bit far out there for my liking."

"[Think about it, when you were chasing them did you notice that their eyes were bright yellow?]"

Lucario thought back when they were on the ground. It was hard to get a clear view because the colors were so bright, but he definitely noticed two yellow circles on all of them. "Yeah, he's right. I remember seeing yellow ovals in their faces."

"So what does this mean, R.O.B.? Are those truly the Newcomers?"

"I have no doubt that's the case, but I need to be there to physically scan them. The theory I have proposed of them living in a parallel dimension in the WOT. Which brings me to my next point." R.O.B. became silent for a long time. It's not like him to be this quiet.

"R.O.B…. what's the issue?" Said Fox.

"[Guys… I think… I think Tabuu is somehow involved in this.]" Everyone went ridgid, even Luigi had been scared stiff.

"What?" Growled Lucario.

The cigarette fell from Snake's hand.

K L KID S C CROW: Sure, just leave credit. Hope you story goes well.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Just got back from vacation so I'll have plenty of time to work on this story. See you next time.