Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story.
BGM: Just Wondering (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories)
"Okay, start explaining." Dorothea said once they got to the airships. "What the hell was that all about and what was with that shadow lady? Didn't we destroy that freakish cult several years back? Is there a resurgence that we weren't aware about? Who are you guys?"
"Dorothea, calm down, I'm sure there's a likely explanation to all this." Byleth said.
"Well, I know that, but we almost got roasted by Rhea… if that was her!"
"It was… I could hear it in her voice."
"Alright, alright… we'll definitely have to explain what happened." Marisa said. "…Anyone want to take a crack as Shadow Queen? I don't know her backstory that well aside from Mario kicking her ass."
"Allow me to explain!" Bowser smirked. "You see-"
"Can we get to introductions first?" Dorothea asked. "I don't mean to be rude… it's just that what had happened earlier has got me a bit on edge." She said and then heard a roar as they saw Gloomtail making a fiery barrier around Garreg Mach. "Oh great!" She groaned.
Reimu sweatdropped. "Well, that's gonna be a problem. Anyway, we're-"
One long introduction later…
"Nice to meet you all." Byleth said, then noticing her wife having anime tears while holding a notepad. "Hon, you okay?"
"I can only write fast when I'm writing music… not listing everyone's names!" She complained. "Not to mention some of you have the same voice so it's completely confusing, and two of you have Lady Rhea's voice!"
"Is… is that a problem?" Lucy asked, turning to Makoto.
"I'm not exactly sure…" Makoto said.
"Eh, you get used to it." Ryuji said, waving it off.
"Anyway… so what was that all about earlier?" Byleth asked.
"Allow me to explain, green head!" Bowser grinned. "You see, back in the old days, Shadow Queen was tearing this world apart but yours truly swooped in and kicked her ass to the curb while everyone watched in sheer awe. Yours truly defeated her in true awesomeness… but it turns out that she didn't like that and came back for a second round. This time, I'm gonna make sure it hurts!"
"…That is a major lie and you know it." Luigi said and explained what really happened in the battle with Shadow Queen while also explaining what happened to Bowser before.
"Mmph… party pooper…" Bowser grumbled to himself, folding his arms in annoyance.
"That's way more believable." Byleth said with Dorothea agreeing in a nod. "Anyway, continue."
"For some reason, this Organization XIII brought Shadow Queen back and made a mess of things, starting with scattering the Crystal Stars, killing my brother, killing Peach for good measure and is trying to make our lives completely miserable. She just got to full power after unleashing Darkest Day over at the Galar Region and now has full control of the Heartless… not to mention a few certain beasts as well." Luigi explained. "The only way to truly defeat her is gathering the Crystal Stars, her one weakness."
"How many Crystal Stars do you have?" Dorothea asked.
"Five. This would be our sixth." Luminary explained. "There are seven Crystal Stars."
"Can't you defeat her with just only five?"
"If only it were that simple. If that were the case, then Shadow Queen would have been defeated a long time ago."
"Oh… okay."
"So the Crystal Stars brought you over here, but unfortunately it's guarded by Lady Rhea…" Byleth said. "Hmm…" She folded her arms. "What to do…"
"Maybe get Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude on board and help us out?" Dorothea asked.
"Aha!" Byleth pounded her fist into her palm. "Honey, you're a genius! We go to the three kingdoms in these flying… machine things, gather those three up and then come back and slay that purple dragon, knock Rhea to her senses, grab that Crystal Star and go find the last one!"
"Whoa whoa WHOA!" Dorothea said. "Dear, I was joking! Besides, look at this group right here, there's TONS of them and I think some of them would be in the background destroying things! Wouldn't adding a few more be completely overkill?"
"Oh, and me recruiting and pulling everyone from Blue Lions and Golden Deer based on gut instinct wasn't overkill?" Byleth smirked. "I believe you called me crazy."
"I… uh…" Dorothea folded her arms. "That's… mmmph… a very good point…" She rolled her eyes. "I guess I shouldn't mention the fact that you were crazy enough to propose to me all those years ago. Could've sworn you were into Sylvain or Ferdinand… or even Claude for that matter."
"They were decent picks… but you were the cutest out of the bunch. Besides, you were checking me out a few times too, as was I."
Dorothea blushed hard. "Oh honey! Stop it! You're making me blush!" She giggled.
"Get a room, you two…" Scout muttered.
"Jealous, are we?" Tracer teased.
"…Maybe…"
"Oh, we'll definitely get a room once this is over." Dorothea said, seductively checking out Byleth with a wink. "So!" She clapped her hands together. "Where are we going to first?"
"I believe we should go to the Adrestian Empire first." Byleth said. "But before we go personally meet the emperor… I think we should go pay her a visit."
"Her?" Dorothea tilted her head. "…Oh! Her!" She grinned. "Yeah, we should definitely do that!"
"Who's her?" Marisa asked.
"Definitely a good friend, probably." Reimu said.
"Well, the more the merrier… let's go pay her a visit… whoever she might be." Meiling said.
"In this massive crowd? Hope she doesn't suffocate." Gray said as they got on the airships, with Byleth taking hold of the wheel upon her request.
"Alright, to the Adrestrian Empire!" Byleth said, swinging the wheel… and tilting the entire airship in the process. "Wah!" She yelped as Dorothea held on to the mast while Fairy Tail, Luigi, Jade, Veronica, Rab, D. Va, Winston, Link, Zelda, Marnie, and Gloria had to grab on to something to prevent falling and landing hard on their backs.
"Byleth, I think you oughta let someone else take control of the ship… otherwise we're all gonna die!" Dorothea exclaimed as Byleth corrected herself.
"You're probably right…" Byleth sweatdropped.
"You tryin' to kill us, lass?!" Gloria yelled.
"I'll take control." Luigi volunteered as he took control as the three airships flew off, with Byleth leading them to the Adrestian Empire.
End BGM
A little bit later, in the Castle…
"Lady Edelgard… there seems to be unidentified flying ships heading to town." A guard said. "They seem hostile."
"Flying ships…?" Edelgard looked perplexed. "Have you been drinking too much wine again?"
"Um… no…? Not recently, no."
"Flying ships sound preposterous. There's no way that would actually happen." Edelgard said.
"Lady Edelgard!" Hubert appeared before her. "It would seem that the guard is speaking truth. There appear to be hostile, given its appearance on the mast of the ship. It appears to be draconic."
Edelgard raised an eyebrow. "Show me." She said. "I wish to see this for myself." She said as Hubert took her to the balcony and gave her a pair of binoculars. "Let's see… what in the world is this?!" Edelgard exclaimed, seeing the airships flying over to them. "That is so…"
"Do we engage?"
"Yes, we should. Those three look threatening and I do not tru-… hold on a second." Edelgard took a closer look. "Oh my goodness… I haven't seen those two in a long time, but what are they doing here?" She wondered. "And why are they pulling up to… oh no, that huge monster just hopped off the ship and is headed straight for…!"
"Something wrong, Lady Edelgard?"
"Mmmph! Hubert, come with me. I do not like where this is going."
With the others…
"Why is this house so isolated?" Marisa asked.
"She has her reasons." Byleth said.
"Let's just say she's socially awkward." Dorothea said.
"She, huh?" Scout sounded intrigued. "Go on…"
"Ten bucks that he gets dumped hard." Soldier said, earning a chuckle from Engi.
"Let us do the talking." Byleth said as she and Dorothea walked over and the former knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
"Bernie? It's us, Byleth and Dorothea!" Dorothea said, as there was a loud gasp and then several locks were heard unlocking and then Bernadetta opened the door, her eyes sparkling.
"Professor?! Dorothea?! Oh, it's so good to see you!" Bernadetta smiled, hugging the two.
"I'm actually surprised that you have a house all of your own." Dorothea said.
"I like it that way… plus no one's able to bother me, so there's that!" Bernadetta smiled. "So what are you doing here?"
"We were hoping you'd come with us on a mission." Byleth said. "We could use your sniping skills."
"Oh, sure, let me just get my bow." Bernadetta said as she headed to her room and grabbed her quiver and bow and arrow. "Coming~!" She said as she walked out. "Alright, I'm ready to go."
"Okay! Let's head out then." Byleth said as they turned around as Bernadetta saw the whole gang.
"Hiya!" Tracer waved.
"Heya!" Marisa waved.
"Huh, she looks cute!" Meiling said.
"Welcome to the crew, purple head!" Bowser grinned.
Bernadetta blushed a deep red and let out a scream before she quickly ran inside. "NO! NO NO NO NO! I REFUSE TO WORK WITH STRANGERS!"
BGM: Funny Footsteps (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
"I was honestly thinking she grew out of that." Byleth sweatdropped.
"Once a social awkward person, always a social awkward person." Dorothea scratched her head.
"So what's plan B?" Marisa asked.
"Allow me to go with plan B!" Bowser said, pulling out a sack. "We kidnap her!"
"NO!" Byleth yelled. "That'll just make things worse!"
Zero chuckled a bit. "Allow me." He said, teleporting inside Bernadetta's house.
"EEEP!"
"Hello, my timid purple haired girl. You're coming with me."
"St-stay back! I-I'm warning you!"
"Your hands are shaking, there's no possible way for you to hold a bow and arrow properly."
"D-Don't come any closer! Ack! Un… Unhand me! I'm warning you!"
"Or you'll do what?"
"Or I'll do… THIS!"
"Oh please, like a button would do any-"
CRASH!
"WAAAAAAAAH!" Zero yelled as he faceplanted into the ground. "Springboard underneath the floorboards… what the hell…"
"She went out of her way to rig her own house?" Dorothea mused. "That's impressive. That's definitely a good security system."
"Alright, plan C!" Bowser said, holding the sack.
"NO!" Marisa yelled.
"Alright, I know just what to do." Scout said as he walked around the house and climbed through an open window.
"AAAAH! HOW DID YOU GET IN?!"
"The window was open, my dear."
"D-dear?!"
"Yes. You look like the type of gal to be swept off your feet."
"W-well, that's tr-true… but I want it to be a guy that I'm more familiar with!"
"Then perhaps you can be familiar with me."
"AAAH! HEY! PUT ME DOWN! LET GO OF ME!"
"Ow! OW! Feisty girl, aren't you?"
The door unlocked and had Scout walk out with Bernadetta over his shoulder, the latter kicking and screaming to let go. "Ta-dah! I got her!"
"…Honey, hold me back, I'm gonna kill him." Dorothea said as Byleth quickly grabbed a hold of her. "ARGH! YOU LET GO OF MY BERNIE RIGHT THIS INSTANT, YOU CHICKEN LOVING FIEND! AAAGH! SWEETIE, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO STRONG?!"
"Sorry ladies, but this chick is mine. There's no way you two could score such a prize like myself. Besides, you two are old compared to her."
"Old?" Byleth's eye twitched.
"Uh oh…" Bernadetta paled a bit.
"…Honey, hold my sword." Byleth requested, giving Dorothea the Sword of the Creator as she marched over to him and socked him right in the face, knocking him down and making him drop Bernadetta, who landed on her butt.
"Phew…" She smiled and then ran off.
"Stop her! She needs to go in the sack!" Bowser said, as Bernadetta tried to flee but Erza quickly got in her way with the Flight Armor, with Tracer accompanying her.
"Eeep!" Bernadetta paled.
"Bernie, sweetie… it's going to be okay." Dorothea said. "These people are really friendly and are trying to save the world."
"Save the world? Is that why the sky is so dark?"
"Yes. That's one of the reasons… the other reason is-"
"What is going on here?" A voice asked as they turned to see Edelgard walking over to them with Hubert behind her. "Why are you harassing Bernadetta?"
"Harassing? No, it's not what it looks like." Marisa said.
"Then explain why that dragon is holding a sack that says "For kidnapping purposes"." Edelgard mentioned.
"You gotta be kidding me…" D. Va groaned.
"Of course he'd have that written on the sack…" Lucy groaned.
"Start explaining… and if I don't like your answer, you'll be subject to my torment." Hubert said. "Same goes for you, Professor Byleth and Dorothea."
"Still a ray of sunshine after all these years…" Dorothea said sarcastically.
One explanation later…
"Hmm… your explanation sounds valid…" Edelgard mused. "That would explain why everyone has been so on edge lately… but to think Rhea would be the one to turn on you two over this… Crystal Star."
"We were going to get you and a few others, but we thought Bernadetta would be good since she her sniping skills are spot on." Byleth said.
"I… I honestly think Claude is a better sniper than I am…" Bernadetta mentioned. "I'm just… decent."
"I beg to differ." Dorothea winked.
"Hmm, well, I suppose it is reasonable to come to us for help. I will join you." Edelgard said.
"If Lady Edelgard goes, I will go as well." Hubert said.
"Just one question. Why is the group so ridiculously big?" Edelgard asked.
"The more the merrier, of course!" Natsu grinned.
"Something to that extent." Gray said.
"Mmm… I still don't know how I feel about this." Bernadetta said.
"Oh Bernie, I heard the bakery at Garreg Mach is having a sale." Dorothea said. "Cupcakes, brownies, cookies…"
Bernadetta looked at her. "Even the-"
"Yes, even the strawberry cake."
Bernadetta drooled at the thought before slapping herself. "Fine! I'll do it." She said before realizing what just happened. "…Oh, why do you guys always do this to me?" She asked with anime tears falling through her cheeks.
"It's not healthy being cooped up inside all day. Besides, you need the fresh air." Byleth said as they hopped on the airships.
"I canget fresh air if I open up the windows!"
"Not fresh enough."
"Aww…"
"Mind if I give this a try?" Edelgard asked as she took control of the wheel. "This is nothing more than a regular ship, how hard can it be?" She asked as she spun the wheel… and turned the ship upside down that caused everyone to fall off, though Edelgard was holding on for dear life. "Mmmph! A little help?"
"You guys are hopeless." Reimu groaned as she flew over and helped Edelgard put the airship right side up.
"I think I'll refrain from doing this…" Edelgard said.
"Probably for the best." Veronica said as they got back up.
End BGM
Later, at the Leicester Alliance…
"Lord Claude!" A guard ran over to him. "Flying airships have been spotted!"
"Flying airships? Ohohoho! This I gotta see." Claude said as he walked off.
"They may be hostile! They have weird dragon faces!"
"All the more to check them out!" Claude said as he hopped on his Pegasus, having Hilda climb aboard and the two flew off together.
With the airships…
"Anyone else see a flying horse coming this way?" Piers asked. "Must be a new Pokemon."
"That is peculiar…" Impa mused.
"Oh! That's a pegasus!" Sakura exclaimed.
"A pegasus?!" Elise's eyes sparkled. "Oh man, they're so cute!"
"Are we in a no fly zone?" Dorothea asked.
"I doubt it… otherwise they'd send more pegasus fliers." Byleth said as the Pegasus landed one of the airships.
"Wow, this is pretty sweet if I say so myself." Claude said.
"Claude? Is that you?" Dorothea asked.
"Hmm? Oh, if it isn't Dorothy and her beautiful wife. How are ya?" Claude greeted.
"Oh, we're alright." Byleth said.
"That's good. So, who are the rest of these fine folk?" He asked.
One long introduction later…
BGM: Hungry March (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
"Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, my princess." Claude said, taking Zelda's hand and gently kissing it.
"O-oh my!" Zelda blushed a deep red. "It's an… honor to meet you too!" She said, smoke coming out of her eyes.
"Hey, we're princesses too, ya know!" Elise said as Sakura nodded, which Claude responded by giving the two head pats.
"Cute little princesses, aren't ya?" Claude grinned
"We're not little! We're older than we look!"
"You sure? You both look like cute little cinnamon rolls to me. You don't look that old." He said, giving a playful wink and walking off.
"W-We'll get our chances some day, Elise." Sakura said, seeing Elise fuming.
"I hope so!"
"So! What are y'all doing over here in the Leicester Alliance?"
"Getting you." Byleth said and gave the more nutshell version of what's going on.
"Huh, I see… Shadow Queen, Crystal Stars, Rhea goin' nuts… yup, I'm comin' with ya. Hilda is too."
"What! I didn't agree to taking on Rhea!" Hilda complained.
"Welcome to my life…" Bernadetta sighed.
"And another thing! Look at how many people there are! Isn't this a bit overkill?" Hilda asked. "I think they can take on Rhea by themselves."
"And have us miss out on the fun? Heh, oh Hilda, where's the fun in that?" Claude smirked.
"Ugh! Fine…" Hilda sighed.
"Oh, be right back. I just remembered something." Claude said as he flew off on his pegasus.
"Well hello there gorgeous." Scout said, wrapping his arm around Hilda. "How about the two of us-" His ear was suddenly pulled away by Lucy. "OW! OW OW OW OW!"
"Good grief, can't you stop flirting with girls for five minutes? You're worse than Loke!"
"I don't know who that is! OW! OOOOOW!"
"Don't mind him, he's always like this around girls he never met." Ann said.
"Trying to have his way with them?" Hilda asked.
"Yup." Jade nodded.
"Failing miserably?"
"Oh yeah." Haru nodded.
"Getting his crotch kicked in?"
"Ooooh, I think I need to do that." Gloria mused.
"Mind if I join you?" Marnie asked.
Hilda smirked. "You two get his crotch. I'll get his diaphragm!"
"Little man will not get babies at this rate." Heavy said, already hearing the sounds of Scout screaming.
"I don't think he's ever getting married." Chrom said.
"If he does get married, I'll eat my own hat." McCree said.
"I'll stop eating junk food if he ever does it." D. Va said.
"At this rate, I don't think he'll ever get laid." Brigitte said.
"Agreed." Genji agreed.
"If he does, I won't kidnap Peach for a month." Bowser said.
"Papa, what does getting "laid" mean?" Junior asked.
"I'll tell you when you're older."
"Okay!"
Claude returned to the airships. "I'm back, and I have a friend!" He said. "Everyone, this is Lysithea. Lysithea, this is… ah, well, I'll introduce you to them during another timeskip."
"Hettho." Lysithea said, having cookies in her mouth before swallowing it. "Sorry… I was in the local sweet shop when Claude kidnapped me."
"I didn't "kidnap" you. Think of it as "borrowing you for a long extended period of time"." Claude said.
"Sooooo, kidnapping." Lysithea said.
"If that's what you wanna believe, I ain't stopping you."
"Oh joy." Lysithea rolled her eyes. "Hilda? He dragged you into this too?"
"Unfortunately, yes…"
"Oh, cheer up!" Claude chuckled.
"Alright, let's head over to Faerghus now!" Byleth said as they flew off.
"Mmm…" Edelgard clenched her fists.
"Lady Edelgard, are you okay?" Hubert asked.
"Yes… let's just hope Dimitri will be okay."
End BGM
Later, at Faerghus…
"What was that now?" Dimitri asked.
"You heard right, your highness." A guard said. "Three airships are headed this way! They look ferocious!"
"We are being invaded!" Dimitri growled. "I'll take care of this myself!"
"Your highness, wait a moment." Dedue walked over to him. "Perhaps this would be best if we listen-"
"No time for that, Dedue!" Dimitri said and walked off, grabbing Areadbhar while doing so. "This is a war that will be stopped by my own hands!" He said and then marched off.
At the airships…
"This sounds overkill." Lysithea said. "No, really, how many people are in this group?!"
"You can never have enough men for a war, Lysithea." Claude said.
"Well, I know that, but… come on now! All this for like… a Shadowy Queen lady? Seems a bit overkill if you ask me."
"Alright, here we are… Fhirdiad." Byleth said as the airships landed just outside the kingdom's walls as they walked toward the gate… but suddenly Dimitri burst through the gate.
"You! You dare invade with your demonic airships?! You will pay with your life! Step any closer and you will-"
"Cut the theatrics, big guy. We're not invading you." Claude said.
"…Claude…?" Dimitri asked, snapping out of his mini rage and seeing his former friends.
"Is he normally this angry?" Marisa whispered.
"He's… complicated." Dorothea said.
"…You have to forgive me… this dark sky has been putting me on edge and-" Dimitri spotted Edelgard. "You."
"Lady Edelgard, stay back." Hubert said, moving his hand in front of Edelgard.
"You, of all people have come to this kingdom during these times? Why are you here… Flame Emperor?"
"I have my reasons to why I am here, but we need you to help us."
"And why should I help someone who killed everyone during the tragedy? Answer me!"
"You know very well that that was someone else."
"But you were wearing that damned mask… you were willing to destroy everything!"
"Hmph! I see someone isn't over it." Hubert smirked.
"QUIET, HUBERT!"
"Alright, let's just all just calm down!" Claude said.
"These dark skies… they were your doing, wasn't it?" Dimitri growled. "You created these dark skies just to put me on edge… well, guess what… it's not going to happen any further!"
"What makes you think I'm responsible for the weather? I do no such thing!"
"SILENCE! This is where… YOU DIE!" Dimitri yelled and charged at Edelgard.
BGM: Face It! (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories)
"…Is he serious, over this large group?" Marisa asked, reaching for her Mini-Hakkero.
"I'm afraid so." Luigi said.
Edelgard got in front of Hubert and was ready to knock some sense into him with Amyr and her shield… but suddenly a Thoron got between the two.
"Oooh! Nice save, babe!" Byleth grinned.
"Um… that wasn't me." Dorothea said.
"Huh?"
In an instant, Robin got between the two, as did Kamui. "Enough!" Robin spoke up.
End BGM
Chrom let out a gasp. "Ro-Robin?"
"It is true that that the dark skies have been putting everyone on edge, but now is not the time to destroy each other over something so trivial." Robin said. "As Byleth was explaining to us that you two were great friends before that incident, but you two worked together to destroy this cult, did you not? You put your differences aside to destroy a common enemy and you both were at peace all these years later. So why are you willing to kill each other right now?"
"Yes, Robin has a point! You two are friends!" Kamui said. "There is no need to do something this insane!"
"Out of my way!" Dimitri said.
"No." Kamui said.
"Then I'll force you to get out of my way!" Dimitri yelled, lunging at Kamui but she transformed into her dragon form, making him halt as she roared at him before whacking him with her left arm. "Nnngh!"
"Whoa!" Hilda, Lysithea and Bernadetta exclaimed while Claude whistled.
"Daaaaaaang." Claude said. "That was pretty sweet."
"Just try it! I dare you!" Kamui snapped.
"Nnngh…" Dimitri sat up, shaking his head. "…My apologies…" He said and stood up. "I have not been myself since the skies have turned dark and everyone has been on edge. It is foolish of me to dwell in the past…"
"Oh thank goodness, I was afraid we'd have to put you to sleep to calm you down." A voice said as Dimitri looked up to see Ingrid flying down on her pegasus with Mercedes by her side and landing near them, and then Dedue walked over.
"Are you okay, your highness?" Dedue asked.
"I will be when we get rid of this damned dark sky!" Dimitri said and turned to the others. "I do not care if this group is ridiculously big. If this is more than enough to destroy the dark sky… then so be it. Let's move." He said, walking over to the airships.
"I think we should come along, just in case." Mercedes said.
"Right." Ingrid agreed as the three got on the airships as well, with everyone climbing aboard.
"Next stop, Garreg Mach!" Byleth said as they flew off.
Meanwhile…
Three ships docked at a pier and a lone man walked off of one of the ships, cocking his gun. "Now… where are you?"
"Jack!" A voice called as he turned around to see a woman approaching him.
"Fareeha? You responded to this darkness as well?"
"Yes… and it lead me to this place."
"I did not expect you two to respond to it." A voice said as the two turned over to see a man approaching them with a bow and arrow.
"Hanzo. You too?" Fareeha asked.
"Yes." Hanzo nodded. "Let us go. We must be close to the source."
Jack cocked his gun. "Right." He nodded as the trio walked off, ready to take out whoever had caused this darkness.
When you know you have way too many characters in a party, so all you can do is just make fun of yourself for it. *shrugs* I mean, hey, you do what ya gotta do!
Could be worse though... it could be the amount of characters i've had in my old New Age of Darkness and Dawn of Chaos KH stories. Sure, fixing the timeline by going back in time and stopping Voldemort in the Naruto arc trimmed some of the fat, but... still a lot of characters. Oh well, what can you do?