World Crossing

by pgasniper

Chapter 19 plus: Splatoon Arc: Trapped in an unknown world, Alex searches for a way to return back to the Smashers, meeting three inklings who have a small problem that he can help with. They're one squid short of a squad for an upcoming tournament. However this world is hiding several secrets.

23. Now or Never

Chapter 23: Now or Never

Falling, he was falling.

The air pushed against his body, offering little resistance as he plummeted. His baggy clothing offered little in aerodynamics to help slow his descent. And then he looked down.

He was falling towards a strange and unfamiliar city down below. As the buildings got closer and closer, he just aimed for an alleyway, and stretched out his hand.

"Aero!" He shouted.

Around him a gust of wind seemed to slow his descent, ever so slightly, but at the speed that he was going at, it was pointless.

"Aerora! Aeroga!" He shouted in quick succession, trying to slow his descent even slightly.

"Zero Graviga!" He shouted, casting the spell on himself. Suddenly he stopped falling and just breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay Sora, what did you get yourself into now." He muttered to himself. He just quickly observed, trying to find a place that was safe to land when the spell ended.

He saw a large pile of garbage bags, and focused on that, hoping that it would be soft enough to break his fall. The spell ended, and Sora continued to fall.

"Aero! Aero! Aero!" He continued spamming, before eventually impacting with a loud crash.

He looked up at the sky. His body ached all over, and he just groaned. "That could have gone better... Heal!" He cast a final spell, and the pain began to go away.

Slowly, Sora got up.

He looked around the alleyways, and took note of the garbage pile that he landed in. What remained was thrown about, no doubt a side effect of both the impact and the magic he had used to slow his descent.

He was in a new and unfamiliar form, that was thankfully easy enough to move around in. At best he just felt slightly smaller than what he was used to.

He just grabbed his chest and tried to catch his breath. His heart was beating a mile a minute. As he looked around frantically trying to get his bearings, he just leaned against a wall and just muttered to himself. "What happened?"

And then off in the distance, he could hear sirens. Unsure of what all to do, he just quickly began to scale up a nearby ladder, and got to the roof. There he could hear the sirens getting closer and closer. And then they stopped.

He peered over the edge and saw several people in strange armor stopping in front of the mess he made.

"The target has entered Inkopolis, and is probably somewhere nearby. Start looking they can't have gone too far! Capture them alive!"

"Yes sir!"

Sora just looked around, trying to find an exit, or someplace that he could hide. He knew it would only be a matter of time before he was found.

"There's a fire escape, perhaps they went up to the roof." One said.

"Right, check it out!" Another ordered.

"Understood!"

Sora just began to run to the edge of a roof, and jumped across to another building even dashing in the air to make up any extra space that he needed to cross.

Unfortunately, they had quickly gotten up on top of the roof and were seeing him jumping across another to another building. "Target is mobile and running!"

Quickly Sora just jumped down into the streets below hoping to lose them. However they were quick to follow, constantly shouting commands, and catching up.

"Hey! In here!" A voice suddenly said.

Sora froze, and saw someone just waving and guiding him into a building. Thinking nothing of it he quickly rushed in, and the inkling closed the door.

He just put a finger over his mouth to signify for Sora to be quiet. They could soon hear the people pursuing them outside passing. He just motioned for Sora to follow him, and he obeyed.

They made their way into an apartment, and sitting on the table was a phone. It currently just had an app up. "We've lost sight of the target."

"He couldn't have gone far, keep searching."

The inkling just went over and turned off the app and looked at Sora.

"Who are you?" Sora asked.

"My name is Tyler, Ty for short."

"I'm Sora. Thanks for helping me."

"No problem."

---

The alarm clock began to blare at 7am. A large amount of inklings just began to groan. The majority of them had decided to stay in the apartment after the party last night.

"My head hurts..."

"Did someone spike the punch..."

"Stop talking... everything hurts..."

Alex had made it back to the bed, in the few minutes he was outside for some fresh air and had talked to Zero, someone else had claimed the bed. Not particularly caring that someone else was in the bed, he just collapsed and had quickly fallen back asleep.

But now he was also struggling to get back up. A rather frustrated Ink was just looking around his room. "All right everyone get the hell out of here!" He said. "My team and I have to prepare for our fights today!"

"But food! I'm hungry!"

"I don't know how much food is in the fridge, and I'm not feeding you. Just take the cold pizza and leave!" Ink snapped.

Within an hour, most of the inklings had left. Sora, Ty, Soda, and Berry were some of the last ones. "Well, we better get ready too." Ty said. "Thanks for letting us crash here."

"No problem!" Ink said.

Ty just extended his hand in front of Alex, and Alex just shook it. "The next time we meet, we'll be rivals on the Turf War field."

"Right." Alex said. "Hard to believe that it's only a few hours from now."

"Yeah. Don't hold anything back, okay?!"

"I wasn't planning on it."

"Well, see you on the Turf." Ty said.

They just walked out the door, and down the hallway.

"Okay, we have an hour to eat and plan!" Ika said. "Then we better get going to Inkoplis Plaza."

They found themselves in front of the TV and just observing some of Ty, Sora, Soda, and Berry's matches from yesterday.

"It seems the big thing we still have to worry about is Sora." Levi muttered. "His movements with that Inkbrush are even weirder than yours."

Alex just nodded. "I can stay as an inkbrush to fight him."

"But can you win a one on one fight?" Ika wondered. "They're also ready to jump in at any moment if Sora is in trouble to keep their momentum going. Inkbrush against an inkbrush might not be the best move."

"I'm not sure." Alex replied.

"If your not sure, you can sub to something else." Levi suggested. "It's probably the smarter move. If we lose this, we're out. We have to play to win."

"Right. But anything else besides an inkbrush makes jumping around rather difficult." Alex sighed. "Unless it's light weight."

"I'd still think this would be the last group you'd want to be jumping around against." Ika said. "They're no doubt aware of how to counter it with Sora being their teammate."

Alex just nodded. "Yeah... But they haven't faced off against me yet."

"Still, don't get too full of yourself!" Ika sternly replied. "Pride before the fall and all that."

Alex just nodded. "Right."

Planning continued, but they came to realize that the end result would be based upon luck. That it would be a hard fought match, and that ironically, it was Alex who was the weakest link among all of them. While others had their experience to fall back on, Alex was still rather new turf wars, if the other team realized that, then they could easily exploit that to take them down.

And then there was the other matter. Zenith. Alex anticipated that they would do something to try and capture him. But with so many variables such as not even knowing what the new stage was, they didn't have much to go on.

"Well, that's all we can do." Ika sighed.

"In the end, it comes down to who plays better." Levi added on. "Well we can only do the best we can... Let's get ready!"

"Right!" Everyone replied quickly finishing their food and getting dressed.

As they were exiting the apartment, Ink just froze. He looked at the door, and checked that it was locked several times. Ika just looked at her brother rather impatient.

"I feel like we're missing something." Ink said. "Did we turn off the oven?"

Ika just cracked a small smile. "You're really nervous."

"Yeah." Ink replied. "This might be the hardest match of the tournament."

Levi just patted him on the back. "Win or lose, we just need to have fun." He said. "Then regardless of the results, we're the real winners."

As they walked through the hallway to the elevator, several Inklings were popping their head out of their apartment, to wish them good luck. Even as they got down into the lobby, several inklings shouted to support them. With every bit of reassurance, Alex felt any nervousness he had disappear.

They stepped outside and felt the refreshing morning breeze greet them.

"All right, so Inkopolis plaza, right?" Alex wondered.

"No." Ink replied. "We've got a new place to go to. We're going directly to the new stage. Don't worry, I'll lead the way!"

"Okay." Alex replied.

Ink just took the lead. After they had traveled a block away, Ink just looked back at the apartment, before shaking his head and continuing on.

---

They arrived at the area that contained the new stage. Currently, the new stage was still concealed by numerous walls. However they could see numerous bleachers filled with a bunch of inklings. Outside this area there were currently some food trucks set up.

Even as they were passing by to get to the change rooms for the participants, people were shouting and cheering them on. But a few were oddly glaring.

They just made it to the competitor only area, got checked in and relaxed. Each of the four teams had their own makeshift locker room that was boxed off, exclusively for them.

Ink just stood up rather nervously. "I think I need to use the little squid's room." He said, just quickly rushing out.

"I told him to go before he left the house." Ika sighed, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, I'm going to go check out those food trucks."

"Same." Levi said. "I don't think I had enough earlier."

"Okay, I'll stay here." Alex replied, having gotten comfortable in a chair. "Could you bring me back something?"

"Yeah, no problem." Levi said. The two departed, leaving Alex alone.

Several minutes passed and then Alex heard shouting.

"Hey! You stop! You're not allowed back here!" A voice shouted.

A moment later, a slightly younger inkling rushed into the tent. He just quickly dived and hid behind several chairs, 10 seconds later a head popped through and saw Alex. "Hey, did an inkling come in here?"

"No." Alex replied. "I've been here alone since my teammates went to the food trucks."

"Ah, okay. Well there was an inkling here that doesn't belong, so if you see him please let security know." the inkling said.

The guard walked away, and Alex just stood up, and walked over to the hiding inkling. "So, are you going to explain who you are, and why I shouldn't just get the guards to throw you out?"

The inkling just looked up at Alex in shock. He had purple eyes and was wearing a purple helmet, along with a purple t-shirt, along with some very tacky looking brown leather boots. "Uhhh..." He began. "I'm Raisin! And I want to battle on that new stage! And I was hoping to get in there and check it out before anyone else got there... But obviously, I was seen, and... Can I join your squad as a backup?"

Alex just let off a sigh. "I don't know how that works..." He admitted.

"Please, I need to fight on that stage!" He said. "I swore to all my friends at school that I'd be there."

Alex just looked over Raisin a few more times. "Wait, a substitute! If all eyes are on the battle, even for a few seconds, I could use that time to run away..." He thought it over in his head a few times before eventually speaking up. "That might actually work... Well, Raisin... I can talk to my squad... but I can't promise anything."

"Okay, great!" Raisin said, already a bit too excited about this.

"Is it okay that I'm just using this kid?" Alex muttered. "Then again he is kind of using us..."

They stayed in the tent, until the others came back. Ink was the first. He just stepped in and froze. "What the?!" He said. "I didn't think I was on the toilet for that long that you'd have to replace me."

"Yeah, sorry." Alex joked. "Here's Raisin, your replacement."

Raisin just beamed with confidence. Ink however just sternly looked at Alex and just approached him. He leaned in and whispered so that only Alex could hear. "Who is this kid and what is he doing here?"

"I really don't want to explain this more than once." Alex sighed. "Can you wait a few minutes so Ika and Levi can get back?"

Ink just nodded. "Okay, I guess." He said.

A few minutes later, Levi and Ika returned with some food. Both of them just looked at Raisin a bit shocked. "Okay, we weren't gone that long." Ika said. "Who's the new guy?!"

Alex just stood up, and motioned for Ink, Ika, and Levi to get into a huddle. "Okay, listen up, this is going to sound strange, but this is Raisin and he wants to join our squad, even as a backup. I think this might be the best way for me to escape from Zenith."

"Seems pretty convenient. Sure he's not a plant?" Ika wondered.

"He kind of had all the time to do whatever when you guys were out." Alex replied.

"Well, I'm out of ideas, so I say let's try it." Ink said.

"Same." Ika added on.

Levi just broke away from the huddle and turned to Raisin. "Hey, Raisin, what do you play?"

"Slosher!" He replied.

Levi just went up to him and stretched out his hand. Raisin replied by shaking it. "Nice to meet you, and welcome to the team."

Raisin just seemed a bit shocked. Everyone else just began to eat the food that Levi and Ika had brought back, and mentally prepare. When Levi was done he just got up, and stretched.

"Alex, can I talk to you for a few?" Levi asked.

"Yeah, sure. About what?"

"We need to get Raisin properly set up as our fifth member." Levi replied. "Before the matches start."

"Okay." Alex replied. Just walking with Levi out of the tent. They just made their way to the registration tent, and Levi was quickly able to get another person added to their team.

"Well, he's there and registered on our team, but only if we're 100 percent sure we're going to lose and you need to use him to escape." Levi replied.

"Wait, is there something that you're not telling me?" Alex questioned.

"He's lying." Levi whispered.

"About what?" Alex asked.

"Playing Slosher." Levi replied.

"How can you tell?" Alex questioned.

"His hands. They're too soft, they're not callused from the friction of the handles on the Slosher." Levi replied. "He's green."

Alex just looked at Levi rather surprised. "Thanks for this though." Alex said.

"Still, I'd rather not use him." Levi admitted. "I want to win the tournament, but at the same time your safety should come first."

"Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3?!" A voice suddenly came over the speakers. Suddenly cheers erupted from the crowd.

"Looks like we better get ready." Levi said.

"Yeah."

They made their way back to the tent as various inklings began to hype up the crowd for the tournament's final matches. When they got in, Levi just tossed Raisin a badge to signify that he was supposed to be here. "All right kid, with this it's official."

Raisin looked shocked. "Thank you!" He said.

A few minutes later someone came to get them, to lead them to an area in front of the crowd and the currently unrevealed stage. As the other teams came out, Ty and Sora just gave a strange look seeing the fifth member of their group.

The confusion was short lived, as suddenly a small sample of Calamari Inkantation began to play. Walking out onto a stage was the squid sisters. Another song began to play, this one Alex had recognized as Off The Hook's Nasty Majesty. Pearl and Marina stepped out on to the stage.

"Hello Inkopolis!"

Deafening cheers went off. But at the same time, something seemed off about it, like it was canned.

"Are you ready for some turf wars?!"

More cheers erupted.

"Hey don't you think that the stands are looking a bit more crowded than usual?" Callie asked.

"Well, the obvious answer is that this is clearly the fight everyone wants to see." Marie replied back.

"Yes, the fight between Sky and Alex!" Pearl chimed in.

"Who could imagine that such a fight would happen so soon!" Marina added on.

Alex just looked out at the crowd. "Even if this was a fight everyone wanted to see, this is still too strange. This sense of animosity too..."

He looked through the crowds, and soon found Zero who was just remaining stoic, looking forwards intensely. However there was a brief second where the facade dropped, and she suddenly mouthed "Run!" It was only for a split second, and then her iron face was back up.

"These people are from Zenith. Even if we win, they can still apprehend Sora..."

Ink just placed his hand on Alex's shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

"Just nervous about the fight." Alex replied. "And what comes after it."

"Well, win or lose, we're going to fight with our all." Levi replied.

"We kind of have to, especially since we're going against an X ranked team." Ika added on.

"Right." Alex said. He just looked at his team mates and motioned for a quick huddle. Awkwardly, Raisin tried to squeeze in. They realized this and quickly let him into the huddle.

"Listen, the audience..."

"What about them?" Ink asked.

"I think a good chunk of them are Zenith agents." Alex muttered.

"What's a Zenith agent?" Raisin asked.

"We'll tell you later." Alex replied. "Listen, I think they're going to try and apprehend me if we lose."

"Want to stick with the plan, to cover you and you escape to the sewers?" Levi wondered.

Alex just quickly glanced around trying to gauge how possible such a thing was. The current boxed off and unknown stage was taking up a good amount of space. And there did seem to be several sewer grates. He closed his eyes and focused. He could sense several presences waiting in case someone tried to escape that way.

"That's not going to work." Alex muttered. "They've blocked that route..."

"What do you mean?"

"I can sense something down there." Alex muttered. "And I don't think they're trying to watch the match from down there."

"Should we call Cap'n Cuttlefish?" Levi asked.

"Haven't you noticed?" Ika whispered. "No signal."

Ink just quickly checked his cell phone, and much to his surprise there was no signal.

"You sure these guys are Zenith?" Ink questioned. "Us not dying yesterday really must of pissed them off."

Alex sighed. "It's not that... I think Final was working alone and away from them... It's more me, and what I said... They probably want to capture me..."

Ink, Ika, and Levi just nodded. "There's probably no escape route then..." Levi muttered. "We can't exactly stall the match as we figure things out..."

"If you go to the washroom and disappear..." Ink whispered. "In theory, this should be the safest time for you to run away."

"Not necessarily." Ika replied. "While they wouldn't try anything bold while the match was going on as planned, if Alex tried to abandon this place and they saw him, I'd imagine all bets would be off."

Alex just nodded in agreement. "Well, I have at the most what 15 minutes to figure things out once the matches start?"

"Well, three minutes for each turf war, two minutes between for a cool down..." Levi replied. "So assuming that we can stay even and win 2 matches and drag it to the fifth match, 25 total."

"We could stall the clock..." Ink pointed out. "Also taking a time out to go over some strategy..."

"But we only have one 3 minute period if we call that at the last second." Ika pointed out. "So we're up to 28 minutes. 31 if the other team uses theirs..."

"But we really can't communicate with them for the plan to stall..."

"Maybe we can during that recon period." Alex replied.

"If they let you." Ika said. "We can attack each other during that period. Keeping them locked into their spawn point, while your team inspects the stage is a valid strategy."

"How would that even work?" Alex questioned. "All stages are perfectly symmetrical."

"But if you block them off, they might not have finished inspecting, and will be going in blind." Levi replied. "They might not have figured out something about the stage layout, and will be at a disadvantage."

"Okay, I see..." Alex replied. "I guess that makes sense."

"Now there's your situation." Ink said.

Raisin just looked extremely confused at what they were discussing. For the time being they broke the huddle, and returned back to watching Callie, Marie, Pearl and Marina recapping some of the previous day's turf wars.

This just gave Alex plenty of time to get lost in his thoughts, and grow increasingly frustrated. Any way he looked at it, it was just a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation with no way out.

"I'd have to be able to open up a portal during a match." Alex sighed. "But if I could do that, I wouldn't be here right now."

"So what's the plan?" Ika asked.

Alex looked over at the other squads who were currently trying to pay attention to the presentation. "I don't think I'm the only target. Sora is in danger too... I can't run from this match... I think it's only fair to them as well that we do this match..."

"So you're just going to do this match despite what comes after?" Ink questioned.

"Yeah, I think we owe it to them to do our best damn turf war we can do." Alex said. He closed his eyes, and there was a brief moment of serenity on his face. That he had accepted his fate.

It really did seem to be hopeless. Every escape route he could think of was covered up, and he was just trapped.

"Are you really giving up?" Ika asked.

"No." Alex replied. "As strange as this may sound, I think the best opportunity to escape will be when they try and capture me."

"What makes you say that?"

"A good portion of car accidents happen when you're nearly home." Alex said.

Everyone just looked at him rather confused. "What does that have to do with anything?" Levi wondered.

"You let down your guard since you're sure you're safe. You don't pay as much attention." Alex replied. "I think the same thing will happen here, and an opportunity will present itself."

"So they think that their plan is foolproof, and something that can only be seen in the moment, will be revealed. And you think they'll slip up."

"Yeah, that's it." Alex replied. "And about my only hope."

"Could you possibly learn how to open a portal mid match?" Ink questioned.

"I mean, possibly, but for something I've been trying to do throughout the week, and to suddenly grasp it mid match, I don't see that happening."

"Why not?" Ika wondered. "Ink does some of his best school work by waiting until the last minute and working under pressure."

"It's not quite the same thing..." Ink protested.

"Maybe it is." Levi replied. "The pressure of having to get something done and a looming deadline can make you see something that wasn't there before or take a shortcut..."

"Yeah, I still don't know the first thing about creating a portal to another world." Alex sighed.

He just focused his attention back to the presentation.

"You may remember that we had announced a new stage, that has never been seen before would be the battleground for the finals and semi-finals!" Marie said.

"And now the time has come to reveal that stage!" Callie said.

There were cheers from the audience. But a quick glance showed that very few inklings were actually cheering.

A few actually stopped cheering and were glancing over at the stoic inklings that sat beside them, rather confused.

"Way to give yourselves away." Alex laughed. "If it wasn't already obvious enough."

The partitions that were blocking view of the stage were just pulled down, triggering fog, and dust that obscured the stage for several more seconds. And then it was cleared.

Alex was just looking at the stage in shock. It looked like a facsimile of Isle Delfino's Delfino Plaza. The first thing about it was the border to the stage. It was surrounded by lots of water. Currently there were bridges that would allow the teams to enter or exit. There also seemed to be a valve that once open would quickly allow all the water to drain in the sewers. Alex imagined that if he tried to escape that way, he would just be flushed out. The next thing about the stage was that there were canals of water going through the whole thing at the bottom level. Next there were numerous buildings. Buildings were built up, on both sides of the canal, there was then an extension acting as a skybridge between the two.

There was another box of buildings that seemed to make a courtyard in the center of the stage. In the exact center, was a replica of the shine tower.

"Yes, this is the new stage!" Pearl announced. "Dolphin Resort!"

"Hey, what's wrong, you look like you've seen a ghost." Ink said.

"Yeah, I have." Alex replied. "I just feel like I've seen this stage before, in a dream or something."

"Well, anything we should know about?" Levi wondered.

"No." Alex replied. "At least I don't think so. Well, it's not the exact stage per se, but it looks very similar."

Raisin was just ecstatic. "This is the new stage! Cool!" he shouted. "Everyone is going to be so jealous I got on the stage before them!"

Levi just rolled his eyes. "Could you be a little less obvious?" He muttered to himself.

They were escorted to a bridge that granted access to the stage.

"The first two teams will be given a 3 minute period to inspect the stage. After that's over, the matches can finally begin!" Callie explained. "All members of both teams will be able to be on the stage at this time!"

As Alex stepped on the bridge, he just glanced at his team. "I'm going to go fight Sora." He said.

Ink, Ika and Levi just gave a knowing nod, while Raisin just looked confused.

As soon as the buzzer rang to start the recon, Alex just ran onto the stage. Jumping up onto the roofs of a building and just making his way to the center of the arena.

"Sora!" Alex shouted out. "Come up here and face me!"

Suddenly a laser scope was pointed directly at him, and a charger fired. Alex just swung his inkbrush intercepting the charger's ink and knocking it away. However it had hit with such force that his arm was shaking from the impact.

A moment later Sora jumped up onto the roof of the building in the center of the stage.

"I didn't imagine that you would come right for me."

"Sorry, but I don't have much time." Alex replied. "This can be done in three matches, so that's only 9 minutes at most! So let's fight! Just you and me to our heart's content! No one from either of our teams interfering."

Berry got up onto the roof of the building. They had their charger aimed straight at Alex. "That's pretty arrogant of you to assume that you'll be able to win this in 3 matches!"

"I never said we were going to win." Alex replied. "I just said that this tournament can be done in at least 9 minutes... or well 15 minutes..."

Ty just jumped right up and looked around.

"That's not what a turf war is." Sora said. "It's not a one on one fight. It's a fight between a team. We can do it during this recon period if you want, but not during an actual match."

Alex just sighed. "Is that so."

"I'm not going to hinder my team and hold them back by not inking this turf." Sora said.

Alex just let off a heavy sigh and looked around the stage. The two other inklings on Sora and Ty's team had just gone to inspect other parts of the stage.

"Then this is the end." Alex said. "There's no way for us to make overtime in this tournament. Once this round starts, it's a countdown of at least 15 minutes left on one of our lives."

"What do you mean by that?" Ty wondered.

"At the end of this tournament I will disappear." Alex replied. "I imagine I'll be squidnapped."

"What?" Ty said.

"Probably you too, Sora, because you're just like me." Alex replied. "You're from another world."

Sora just grabbed his inkbrush and held it defensively in front of him.

"And we need to get out of here."

"You're still going on about that? No, I'm staying." Sora replied.

Alex just looked over at the clock. "Two minutes remain in the recon period." He said. "Alright, I'm going to give it my all to convince you." He held up his ink brush like a sword. "Ty, I'm sorry this doesn't concern you. But can you step back."

"No." Ty replied, cocking his N-Zap. "I'm not going to stand back while you fight one of my friends."

"I see, so it will be two against one." Alex replied. "I'm sorry then. But Sora, if you are who I know you are, you're going to have to use the Keyblade!"

Alex just rushed forwards and swung his inkbrush right at Sora. Sora could only block with his inkbrush. The two just stood in a deadlock for several seconds, before Ty tried to shoot at Alex. Alex just jumped to the side and quickly winded Ty with the handle of the inkbrush.

Upset by this, Sora rushed for Alex and swung his inkbrush right at him, which Alex countered with his own. The two inkbrushes clashed, resulting in a ripple in the air.

Sora jumped back suddenly his inkbrush glowed with a bright light and they transformed into dualies and began to rapidly fire ink right at him.

Alex just jumped back trying to get out of the range. However the ink almost seemed magical, as though it was reaching for him. Alex just put aura into his feet and jumped back to avoid the attack, and they followed him. Quickly thinking Alex just slashed through the ink.

When he landed, Sora was now holding an inkzooka. He just fired it right towards him. Alex jumped out the way again. Instead of just being a single column of ink that eventually petered out, it instead exploded.

"Crap, this might have been a mistake." Alex muttered.

"What's going on!?" Pearl said rather shocked. "It looked like Sora just used multiple different weapons, and specials, which is definitely against the rules. This match may have to be canceled."

Alex just quickly used aura to look around at the spectator stands. Several of the inklings were now active and making their way to what he assumed was the stage to apprehend them.

"Shit, this definitely was a mistake." Alex replied. He just looked at Sora and held on tightly to his inkbrush.

"This match is over, Sky's Team is disqualified!" A male's voice came over the intercom. "Sky, you will be aprehended. Do not try and resist."

Boo's just came from the stands.

"What?!"

"What's going on!?"

"Who the hell are you?!"

Alex just sprung forwards, and swung his inkbrush down. Sora's weapon had transformed back into an inkbrush and he just blocked the attack. "Sorry, but things just changed, you're going to have to use your keyblade to open a portal to get us out of here!"

Ink, Ika, Levi, and Raisin had jumped up onto the roofs. "Just what the hell happened?" Levi asked.

The other two inklings from Ty and Sora's team also got back on the roof. Understandably they were looking rather upset. "Why are we disqualified?!"

Alex let up his attack and just had his arms down to his side. Sora's arms just fell limply to his side, he looked absolutly defeated. "I can't." He managed to say. "I should have told you sooner, I can't travel to other worlds. It's not that I don't want to! It's that I haven't been able to since I came here."

"Shit." Alex muttered. "Well I just screwed this all up."

Several inklings began to get onto the stage, and within a minute they were completely surrounded. One inkling began to clap. "Congratulations! Team Inkwell, you have progressed to the finals. Now then, Sora, you should come over peacefully."

Sora just began to walk forwards, however Alex just quickly grabbed him and stopped him. "He's not going with you." Alex said.

"Oh, how sweet... we can detain you as well, you know." the inkling laughed. "This has got to be the easiest work day I've ever had."

Alex gritted his teeth. However Ty stepped forwards. "Stop this, right now!"

There was a brief moment of confusion between all of the Zenith inklings. However the one that was in charge spoke up once again. "We can detain you as well for protecting this anomaly."

"What?!" Ty said.

"And you, you're the squid responsible for what had happened yesterday!" One of them suddenly said, looking directly at Ty.

"What?!" Ty said rather shocked.

"Yes, we're taking you into custody too, 'Final'!"

"No, you're wrong, this is a mistake!" Ty said walking forwards. Alex was quick to realize what was happening and just quickly swung his inkbrush to block the path.

"It's a set up!" he whispered, "Don't get any closer!"

"What did you say?!" Someone from the crowd shouted, it was kind of obvious it was a plant.

"It is as I said, that squid Final, is none other than this squid here! He tried to destroy Inkopolis!" On the screen appeared two pictures, one was of Final, and the other was of Ty. They were extremely similar, but there were still some notable differences.

The crowd was booing. But it was very obviously canned as many inklings were looking around confused

Alex just closed his eyes and tried to remain calm, looking for any escape route with his aura. However there were still several inklings waiting down below in the even that they managed to get past all of these inklings. It was then he had noticed that just within arms reach was a strange spot in the air. It was glowing, and almost looked like a tear in space.

"When my inkbrush collided with his keyblade, it must of resonated." Alex muttered.

"Get a move on, it's pointless to waste any more time. We don't want to add to your crimes, now do we?"

"I hope I'm right about this..." Alex's eyes flared open and he just faced the inkling who was giving orders. "Sorry, but we're not going anywhere, at least with you." He stretched out his arm and grabbed the spot where the inkbrush and keyblade had clashed.

There was a flash of light, and the nine inklings had vanished from sight.

---

Form Alex and the group of inklings perspective, they were consumed by a white light.

They were blinded by that light. While they were still blinded, they felt the hot sunlight just beat down on their skin. They could hear nearby waves cresting. And feel a breeze on their skin. Slowly their eyes readjusted. Levi, Ika, Ink, Raisin, and Alex just looked around unsure of their sudden change in location. The other team of Ty, Sora, Soda, and Berry, were also looking around equally confused.

They were on a small single island surrounded by water with nothing on it but a single palm tree and a strange green pipe, Off in the distance at least 200 meters away, was another much bigger island with numerous buildings, including a bell tower and a lighthouse. Off into the sea, they could see what appeared to be an airport.

Alex just fell on his knees and let out a scream of victory. "Holy crap! I did it! I don't know how! But I did it! I opened a portal!" He laughed. All of a sudden it was light a massive weight had been taken off of his shoulders.

The others were just taking in the change of scenery.

"What is this place?" Levi asked.

"It kind of looks like the stage we were about to do a turf war on." Ink said.

"Or at least what it was based off of." Alex replied.

"Hey, Alex, what's going on? Why are you suddenly much bigger?!" Ika suddenly shouted. "Wait, is this what you actually look like?!"

Alex looked down, he had reverted back to his human form. The Inklings at least came up to his chest. "Yeah... I guess..." He replied. As he looked over at the other squad of inklings, two of them had become human as well.

Ty was slightly younger and shorter than Alex, at about 14 years old. He had short black hair. He was currently wearing a black t-shirt with a white long-sleeved shirt underneath it, and loose gym shorts.

As for the other inkling who had transformed into a human; it was Sora, he had spiky brown hair, and was currently wearing a black, red and grey shirt and pants.

"Well, I guess we got away from Zenith." Ink sighed. "That's one less thing we have to worry about, right?"

"Yeah I guess." Alex nervously replied.

Wasting no time, Ika pulled out her charger and quickly began to scan the island. "Can I see?" Alex asked.

"Of course!" Ika said, throwing a spare scope to him. He just caught it and looked through the scope and saw what looked like a market with some vendors selling fruits, along with some creatures on the beach.

Alex just tried to focus on the creatures on the beach. They were rather large looking, and were multicolored. They seemed to be wearing grass skirts, and on top of their heads were mini palm trees. "Pianta's. So, we're at Isle Delfino." He thought to himself. It was unmistakable, especially with the orange and white tower with the golden sun that was in the middle of that small town. Having gotten his bearings, he just turned to the other group of inklings.

Comparatively, Ink, Ika, and Levi were taking the sudden changes quite well. Raisin was freaking out. "What the?! NO!" He shouted. "Where are we? What happened?! Where's the stage, the inklings?!" He just collapsed onto his hands and knees in the sand. Ink just sat down beside him to try and comfort him.

Soda and Berry on the other hand were looking at Ty and Sora rather frustrated. It was quite clear to see that they were feeling rather betrayed.

"What's going on?!" Soda suddenly asked. "You have a lot of explaining to do!"

"Oh do I ever..." Ty whimpered, all color had drained from his face. He was just looking terrified. "Where do I even start..."

"First of all, who was that other inkling yesterday who had your face?" Soda wondered.

"I don't know." Ty replied. "I've never seen them before."

"Do you have some twin brother you know nothing about?" She said rather aggressively.

"Apparently." Ty sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, I don't know I'm in the dark as much as you are. It's just everything in the past 24 hours has just been a blur... I haven't been able to sleep well for the past few days and..." He just broke down and collapsed onto his hands and knees in the sand. "I didn't want any of this to happen, I just wanted to do turf wars with friends!"

"Why did you lie to us?" Berry asked.

"About what?" Ty cried.

"Everything!" Berry replied. "You're not an inkling, you're something else, for all we know you just want to eat us!"

"What?! I'd never do such a thing!"

"Why were you masquerading as an Inkling?"

"It was just the form I obtained when I entered into that world." Ty replied.

Alex just walked over and sat down beside Ty. He just patted Ty on the back and looked at his two team mates. "I don't think he meant to lie to you. A whole lot is happening, and I get that we're all stressed, and everything is coming out at once."

Soda and Berry were just glaring at him. "And you, you're some other outsider!" Berry snapped. "Do you think it's fine to just come into our world, and become some superstar!? Some of us worked hard to get where we are! And why are you three silent at this?!"

"Because we knew he was an outsider." Ink replied. "He told us."

"And when your idiot brother brings home a squid that fell out of the sky, you can't help but ask questions." Ika added on.

"You might as well just have been cheating for the tournament!" Berry snapped. "And you show up today with a fifth inkling too!?"

Levi just walked over to Soda and Berry. "Look, I get that you're frustrated, but this isn't the time or place. We need to get off this island..."

Soda nodded. "Yeah, let's deal with that later, when we're not surrounded by death."

"Fine," Berry sneered.

Feeling that they had at least calmed down a bit, Alex just turned his attention back to Ty. "I guess we need to talk." Alex said.

"I don't think I'm ready for that." Ty replied.

"That's fair." Alex sighed. "I royally screwed up, and I guess I just ruined the tournament for us."

"It doesn't matter..." Ty muttered, looking down rather grimly.

"Maybe if we get back, and that whole mess is cleaned up we can actually have that turf war." Alex said.

"It'd be an easy win for you, looks like my squad is done for." Ty said.

Alex just glanced over at the other side of the island where Soda and Berry were currently residing. Sora had approached them and it looked like they were talking to him.

"I don't think so. A lot just happened and everyone's stressed." Alex repeated. "When everyone calms down, I'm sure you'll all be back together."

"I disagree..." Ty replied. "Not if everything comes to light."

Alex didn't bat an eye.

"You were right." Ty grumbled. "Sora is exactly who you think he is."

"Why was he in Inkopolis?" Alex questioned.

"I don't know." Ty replied. "He didn't say anything to me. Just that he woke up there. And then was pretty much being hunted by those people..."

"He was being hunted?" Alex questioned.

"Yeah... he crossed over somehow and was chased by them..."

"Zenith?" Alex questioned.

"Yeah." Ty replied. "I protected him and that was that."

"Why?" Alex wondered.

"Why what?" Ty asked.

"Why did you protect him?"

Ty just sighed. "I don't know anymore..."

"Okay... Listen, why don't we at least get off this little island and then we can continue this later." Alex said. "If the tide actually changes, I don't want there to be any casualties."

Ty just nodded. "Okay. You're taking this really well, all things considered."

Alex just nervously laughed. "Well, deep down, I'm kind of terrified."

"Really?" Ty questioned.

"Yeah." Alex replied gesturing to the inklings. "Have you ever tried babysitting 6 very soluble people on an island?"

Ty just laughed. "No."

"Neither have I. It's also kind of not helping that it's now 6 completely normal inklings, that I just kind of abducted and dragged into this against their will..." Alex replied. "I have to keep them safe until I can get them back to Inkopolis."

"Don't think of us as that weak." Levi said walking over. "I mean sure, this water is kind of a large issue, but... we can, mostly, take care of ourselves."

"Well, I know you can." Alex replied. "But the others..."

"They're X ranked, I think they'll be fine." Levi laughed.

"Well, yeah but... Okay, I think we need to address the elephant in the room then." Alex sighed.

"Don't you mean elephant seal?" Ink questioned.

"Whatever." Alex replied. He just looked at the inkling dressed in purple. "Raisin."

Raisin tensed up and looked up at everyone. They were also looking at him. "Yes?" He said rather scared.

"Berry, you were wondering about our fifth member. I was too." Alex said. "He snuck into our waiting room, and I hid them from security. He wanted to join our team. I saw this as an opportunity to have a dummy and use that for a few seconds where I could hopefully sneak away from the turf wars if it looked like we were going to lose so that group wouldn't be able to apprehend me. Of course, I royally screwed that up, but anyways I think he has a bit to answer to."

Raisin had adjusted himself so that he was now kneeling in the sand. He was crying and looked extremely uncomfortable about now being the center of attention. "I don't know where to start."

Levi just sat down beside him and gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "Well, you could start with why you were lying." Levi said.

Raisin just looked at Levi a bit shocked. "About?"

"This will be a lot easier if you don't play dumb." Levi replied, as softly and reassuring as he could manage. "For starters that you were a Slosher."

Raisin just looked rather surprised. "You knew?"

"From the second I shook your hand." Levi replied.

Raisin just went white. He looked down at the sand and just cried. Levi took a few seconds to just pat him on the back. "It's alright. I don't think we can be too mad since we were using you too."

Raisin just nodded. "I'm not a very popular inkling at school." He admitted. "And the way I thought I could be fresh was if I was in the tournament and got to be on that stage before anyone else... but no one wanted me to join their squad. They said I was too inexperienced... But, how did you know without looking at my stats or anything?"

"Your hands." Levi replied. "They don't have any calluses."

"Oh..." Raisin replied, a bit shocked. "Something like that gave it away... But yeah... I just started doing turf wars a month ago, and I'm just a completly normal inkling... I want to go home!" reality seemed to suddenly kick in, and he began crying once again. Levi just leaned over and gave him a supportive hug.

"It's alright, it's alright." Levi repeated. "We'll keep you safe."

"That's right! Whether you like it or not, you're a member of our squad now!" Ika said. "But as a member of our squad, you're apart of our family."

Raisin just looked at Ink, Ika, and Levi rather shocked. "So, can I call you big sis?"

"No." Ika replied rather sternly.

"When we get back, we'll let you into our squad proper." Ink said. "We'll help train you, and then the next tournament I'm sure inklings will be jumping up and down to have you on your team."

Raisin just began to smile. "Really!? Thanks!" He looked up at everyone else. "Please bear with me!"

"Now then with that over, I think it seems like we're all in agreement, let's get off this island." Levi said.

"The question is how though?" Ty said. "Especially with the inklings. Sora, Alex and myself could probably swim... But the same can't be said for you guys."

Alex just pointed at the warp pipe. "Maybe that." He replied. However as he approached it and looked inside, he saw that it was clogged with sand. "Or not..."

He just looked at the water, and let off a sigh. There was one option that he could do, but it would require several trips to and from Isle Delfino, as he ferried them across. Even if he went back to Isle Delfino and found a boat, it would require them to believe that he was coming back and not make any panicked rash decisions that they would immediately come to regret.

"Okay, I can get us off of the island." Alex said. "But I need you all to trust me." He looked at Soda and Berry as he said the last bit.

"Okay, yeah! So, who are you, and why should we trust you?" Soda asked.

"All we know about you is that you were just making headlines." Berry pointed out.

"Yeah, that really wasn't my intent." Alex sighed. "Unfortunately, things happened. It's just long and complicated and..."

"Oh we've got all day." Soda said. "I'm not quite sure about Berry, but I can't exactly go anywhere." She replied sarcastically gesturing towards the little island they were on.

Alex just closed his eyes and let off another pained grunt. "Okay, here is the very quick version. I'm from another world." He replied. "Through a complete accident, I was sucked into your world somehow, which not even I know how. In my world, there is currently a giant crisis where multiple different worlds are slowly fusing together, and reality is breaking apart. That group that tried to capture Sora and I before we were teleported away, are the ones behind it. They're known as Zenith."

Ty just looked at Alex rather surprised.

"And you want us to believe that?" Berry laughed.

"I mean, you now have no choice but to." Alex replied. "We're at Isle Delfino. A tropical island paradise, at least for anyone who doesn't dissolve in water."

"And how do we get back home?" Soda wondered.

Alex just sighed. "That I don't know, and I currently can't guarantee that I can get you back." He said. "Last time, we found something called the Chaos Seed and it was germinating, and we destroyed what was guarding it, and then it became a seed again, and things returned to normal. Leading to how I got to your world... At the very least, I can hopefully get you back to the group I work with, The Smashers, and we can hopefully get you back."

"Um, hey Alex..." Levi tried to get his attention. "You may of forgotten, but the word Smashers is known as a taboo on our world."

Alex just nodded. "I didn't forget that." He replied. "Your world was run by Zenith in the shadows... Like even you should have noticed how they didn't stop the match for Final yesterday, as opposed to today where they stopped it at the drop of a hat."

Soda's expression changed. She was looking at Alex rather seriously. "I'll believe you." She said.

Berry was looking at her rather shocked. "You can't possibly believe this!" he said. "What could possibly make you believe that?!"

"I had a friend," she said. "Her name was Lemon, and curiosity perhaps got the better of them. She wondered why the Smashers were a taboo, and tried to research it before disappearing."

Berry just looked at her rather shocked.

"If she's captured, and still alive..." Soda said. "I want to find her. If Zenith did that..."

Levi just winced and did his best to hold back any further reactions.

"I see." Alex replied. He just turned to Berry, who was looking rather afraid right now.

"I'm not sure if I trust you." He said. "But for right now, I'll believe you. Not that I really have much of a choice."

Alex just breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay do you have any other questions?"

"How did we get here?" Berry asked.

"It wasn't me." Sora replied. "I told you, I can't open gates or travel to other worlds. At least I haven't been able to since I came to Inkopolis."

"It was me." Alex replied. "At least I think it was... I think I opened a gate. Or forced one open to get us out of there."

"Think?!"

"Yeah I don't know how to do that myself." Alex sighed. "I thought I saw a glimmer in the air and took my chances reaching for it, and it apparently worked. Otherwise, I haven't been trained. I've just been figuring out a lot of this as I go along. A lot has happened okay? I opened a portal to Inkopolis from an exploding space ship. And now this. For right now we're relatively safe."

"Okay. So, let's get off this island." Levi said. "What's your plan."

Alex just looked around. "Well, I was hoping to go back to the mainland and get a boat and come back... That was about it since I'm assuming that only three of us could actually swim."

"You mean something like that?" Ika questioned, pointing out to the sea.

There was a speedboat that was just currently driving across the sea and currently about 100 meters away from the island. It was decorated with orange paint. "Actually yes!" Alex replied. "Now then guys, let's wave down this boat." They began to frantically wave their arms and shout. It eventually seemed like they had gotten the attention of the person in the boat and it got close to the island.

"Hello!" A voice said. Driving the boat was a woman with her brown hair tied back in a ponytail. She had slightly tanned skin, and wore an orange two piece bathing suit.

"Hi..." Alex said, not exactly expecting to get this far.

"It looks like you were trying to wave me down." She laughed.

"Yeah." Alex nervously laughed. "We kind of are stuck on this island..."

"And how did that happen?" She wondered.

"Well, the boat we used to get to the island, was pulled away by the undertow since we didn't fasten it properly." Alex nervously laughed. "And unfortunately, six of my friends can't swim."

"I see!" She said. "Well then, come onboard!"

"Ah, thank you." Alex said. "I'm sorry, I never got your name, who do we have to thank?"

"I'm Princess Daisy of the Empire of Sarasaland!" She said. "But please, just call me Daisy."

Alex just immediately tensed up. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know I was in the presence of royalty."

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Daisy laughed. "Well, come aboard."

Alex just stood in the water and helped the Inklings get onboard the boat. Sora, and Ty were able to get in on their own. They found a seat, and when they were all ready, Daisy started up the boat once again.

"I hope you don't mind but, I'm not exactly ready to head back to the mainland just yet." Daisy said. "I was hoping to just enjoy my time out here."

"What is she saying?" Ika asked.

Alex just did a quick double take, having to mentally punch himself for forgetting that he had the magic, or whatever it was of the Smashers on his side that allowed whatever he said or heard to instantly be translated to any language, which they didn't. "She said that she wasn't exactly ready to head back to the island, and if it was okay if we were just out here for a bit."

The inklings all immediately tensed up. "Is it safe?!" Soda asked.

"Should be..." Alex replied.

"Oh, you're foreigners." Princess Daisy said. "Though all things considered, I shouldn't be that surprised. Sorry, I don't understand your language. What's it called?"

"Oh, uh... um... inkling?" Alex said rather confused.

"You're very fluent in mushroomnium." Daisy said.

"I try my best." Alex nervously laughed.

"He's not the only one." Ty said.

"So, are you all fine with staying out at the sea for a bit?" Daisy wondered.

Alex just looked at the inklings, they were a bit unsure, but at the current moment they seemed mostly okay. "Do you want to go right back?" Alex wondered.

"Well, if it's safe, and we're not going to fall in the water, I wouldn't mind being here for a bit." Levi said.

"Same." Ink added on.

"If we're kind of on a vacation, I guess we could enjoy some of the sights." Ika replied.

They looked over at Soda, Berry, and Raisin. Berry actually seemed really nervous about this. "I don't want to be that squid and ruin it..." He said, clearly rather uncomfortable.

"Look, if you don't want to be here, we can just ask to go back to the mainland." Soda said.

Berry however shook his head. "It's okay." he repeated.

"If we're stuck here, I wouldn't mind seeing some sights." Raisin chimed in.

Alex just nodded. "Okay, it seems like we're done deliberating. We're fine with staying out at sea for a bit longer."

"Sweet!" Daisy laughed. "All right! Get ready! And hold on!"

The speedboat took off away from the island and out to the sea.

After ten or so minutes of driving Daisy stopped the boat, and just quickly lay anchor before jumping in the water.

"Come on in!" Daisy said. "The water's fine!"

"Sorry, I didn't bring a bathing suit..." Alex replied.

"You sure are a strange one. Going to that island despite some of you being unable to swim. Not bringing your bathing suit even though you were going to be at the beach." Daisy laughed, before diving underwater.

"Well, it isn't that bad." Berry said letting off a heavy sigh. Alex just looked out at the sea. At this point, Isle Delfino was just a small spec far away.

From the water several Bloopers just jumped out over the boat. They landed back in the water, and one remained visible on the surface for several seconds before diving back down.

"What are those?!" Ink asked.

"Bloopers." Alex replied. "They're like you guys, squid like creatures. Although they stay in the sea, mostly."

"Interesting..." Levi muttered. "I've seen art of them around..."

"Yeah like at Museum d'Alfonsino, and the Shellendorf Institute." Ika said.

"Maybe we should see if there's an aquarium here so that you can see them in full." Alex said.

"Maybe." Ink said.

A few more minutes passed, before Ty just stood up and looked around, unsure. "Something wrong?" Levi asked.

"No." He replied. "I'm going to go in the water..." He said. Quickly he had stripped down to just his boxers and jumped in.

Alex was just watching, however it quickly became clear that Ty wasn't exactly a strong swimmer. "I'm joining him." Alex sighed, quickly also stripping down to his boxers and jumping in. He quickly swam out to Ty, who was actually struggling a bit.

He quickly dove under the water and came up under one of Ty's arms to support him. "You're not much of a strong swimmer." Alex said.

"I can swim."

"Not well enough for the open sea." Alex sternly said. "Sorry. Let's get you back to the boat and see if there's a life jacket on it."

They made their way back. Daisy was currently just swimming in front of the boat. "Hey! You did decide to come in!" She laughed.

"Yeah, is there a life jacket on the boat?"

"Yeah, try under the seats you were on."

A few minutes later they were back out in the sea. Alex just looked out and enjoyed the sea. Under the seats he had found a mask and snorkel, so he decided to dive under the water and look at the various coral. However eventually after some time had passed, they got back on the boat and just dried off.

"Well, I'm ready to return back to land!" Daisy said. "Did you want to be dropped off at the beach behind where I picked you up? Or did you have another area in mind? Is there someplace closer to your hotel?"

"That's a good question." Alex said. He looked at the others. Considering that they just were teleported here and had nowhere to go, he was unsure what to do.

"I mean, you probably want to get back to the Smashers, right?" Daisy said.

Alex just did a quick double take. "Wait, how did you know?"

"You're wearing that pendant." She said. "I've seen Peach with it multiple times. I believe it's a symbol of who's a Smasher."

Alex reached up for the pendant that was on the necklace, and felt it. "Right, that's a thing..."

"I'd like to request that we don't..." Ty said, once again a bit uncomfortable.

"Oh that's fine too!" Daisy said. "If you want to be dropped off near where I picked you up, that's no problem. I think there's a marina around there."

The inklings who couldn't follow along with the majority of the conversation, suddenly had their interest peaked when they heard the word 'marina'. "Marina, from Off the Hook?!" Ika asked.

It took Alex a few seconds to actually realize what was going on. "Oh, no! Not that!" He said. "Marina as in a harbor, it's for small boats to dock."

"Oh..." Ika said rather disappointed.

"Anyways get dressed." Daisy said.

"Right..." Alex said rather embarrassed, remembering and realizing that he was only in his boxers.

Ty and Alex got their clothes back on, and they sat down. Daisy was just preparing to get the boat started again.

Alex looked over at Ty and Sora, deciding to just let it be for right now. "Yeah, let's go back to Delfino Plaza!" He said. "We can get food there, and then figure out what to do next."

"Right."

"Oh, if you're looking for food, you could come to my private yacht!" Daisy said. "My chefs can easily make you something."

"Oh, no it's fine." Ty said. "I wouldn't want to impose..."

"All right, I was planning on having Peach over some other time this week, so there's plenty of time to come over." Daisy smiled.

"Well, thank you for the offer." Alex said. "We'll think about it..."

"No problem." Daisy laughed.

She started the boat and drove off, eventually getting to a small marina at Delfino Plaza. They all exited out of the boat, and she was soon driving off.

"All right, time to find some food!" Alex laughed.

"That's a great idea and all, but how are we paying?" Ink wondered.

Alex just paused and thought about that for a few seconds. "Shit." He muttered. He quickly turned around, hoping that it wasn't too late to take up Daisy on that offer of having her chefs make food. But she was already long gone. "Well, Crap..."

"Actually, I do have some coins." Ty said. "I can pay for it..."

"Really?" Alex questioned.

"Yeah." Ty replied, just pulling out what appeared to be a debit card.

They found a pizzaria, and just quickly ordered some pizza for everyone. Much to Alex's surprise, Ty did in fact pay. "We should also probably withdraw some money too..." Alex said.

"Yeah that's not a problem. I just need to find an ATM..." Ty said. He stood up and quickly ran off. A few minutes later he was back. "Okay I got some coins, that should help us."

"Right."

They finished eating their pizzas, and quickly made their way out of the parlor. They took a quick tour of the plaza, just taking note of the Piantas' selling various fruit.

They were getting various looks, that Alex didn't quite understand. There did seem to be some whispering behind their backs. It wasn't until they turned the corner and suddenly saw a wanted poster that caused Levi to freeze.

"Stop!" Levi whispered.

Alex just looked at the wanted poster, and things began to fall into place. There were crudely drawn pictures of a person. Their face was mostly hidden behind a mask, and goggles. Their hair though was unique, and looked like tentacles, along with having suction cups outside. "Octarians." Ika said. "What are they doing here?"

Alex just quickly inspected the wanted poster. "Seems like they're wanted for vandalism and theft... There's believed to be multiple..." He suddenly had a moment of realization hit him. "We need to get out of here now."

"What? Why?" Soda asked.

"They may have mistaken you for them." Alex replied. "Let's move."

That seemed to be all the explanation that they needed. They just moved on and saw a beach. Deciding that it was probably best for them to disappear into a crowd, Alex walked towards the beach. The others followed.

However, the beach wasn't exactly as crowded as Alex had hoped. To make matters worse, almost instantly four Piantas dressed as police officers had surrounded the group of 6 inklings and the 3 humans.

"Attention, you are all under arrest, and we're taking you into custody!" One said. "Do not try and resist!"

"What's our crime?!" Alex asked.

"You came here asking that?" One officer said. "Well for starters, coming here illegally!"

Alex had to bite his tongue to avoid giving a snarky remark and making things worse.

"The second being that your appearance here is awfully suspicious with the World Council Summit, and some incidents that have occurred." Another said.

"And what incidents might those be?" Alex asked.

"Murder of several politicians!" One replied.

"Wait what?!" Alex said rather shocked. "That certainly wasn't anything like what the wanted posters said..."

"So, you're just going to pin the crimes on us, and close the case?" Ty wondered.

"Pretty much!" One laughed. "Everyone else will be happy. The Smashers will lose face for saying that they'll catch the murderer, and then life will go on like it does on Isle Delfino."

Alex just let off a heavy sigh. "Right, crap... I forgot how corrupt and massively incompetent the Isle Delfino police force was." He just glanced over at Ty. "I don't know about you, but I don't plan on getting arrested and tried for someone else's crimes."

"Neither do I." Ty replied.

Alex just assumed a fighting stance. Ty followed. Sora suddenly summoned a giant key, and the Inklings held out their weapons, ready to use them.

The Isle Delfino Police were actually rather shocked, and weren't expecting them to put up a fight. "Hey, you don't want to do something you're going to regret!"

"I'll take them out. Protect the Inklings!" Alex whispered, he began to shout the next part: "we'll meet everyone back at the amphitheater in Gelato Beach."

"You sure? That's quite a distance away from here."

"Yeah." Alex replied. "Now, good luck."

Alex just dashed for the first of the pinata police officers and just socked him right in the face, sending him flying across the beach and into the ocean. He followed it up with a roundhouse kick that knocked the second into the third. And then followed up with attacking the fourth and final officer by just grabbing the tree on it's head and tossing him into the second and third. Those three were knocked unconscious.

Alex just turned to face the inklings, Ty and Sora, who hadn't even moved. "Or not!" Alex laughed. "I guess they were weaker than I thought."

"We still should get out of here." Ty said.

"Right." Alex replied.

"Where to though?" Ink asked.

"The amphitheater in Gelato Beach." Alex repeated. He looked over at the police officer that he had sent flying into the ocean. They had recovered and swam back to the island, and was running back towards them.

"Do you even have a plan?" Ty asked.

"Yeah, we'll get the Smashers to meet up with us." Alex replied.

"What?! Who are these Smashers?!" Ika asked.

"I'll explain everything there." Alex replied. "Now go!"

Everyone just began to run away. Alex just faced the one lone pianta officer. He suddenly pulled out a weapon and aimed it at the fleeing group.

Alex just rushed towards him as the officer fired an attack from the blaster. Alex crossed his arms, and reinforced them with aura to block the attack.

However, it still hit, and his arms just fell down limp. They were tingling and Alex just glared at the officer pianta. Alex just breathed a sigh of relief that he was at least solid again. "You're going to regret that!" Alex said.

"I think you're mistaken." the officer replied. "You're going to be captured right here."

"You can't do anything to capture me." Alex laughed. "You're going to run and get the Smashers to meet up with us at the amphitheater in Gelato Beach."

"That's big words for someone who doesn't have use of their arms any more!"

Alex just laughed. "I don't need them to beat you!" He just ran forwards directly at the officer who just raised his blaster once again. He fired, but this time Alex jumped out of the way into the air and kicked the blaster down out of the pianta's hands and onto the ground. Alex followed up with another kick that launched the pianta officer up into the air.

Alex readied another kick and just as he was about to finish off the falling pianta officer, his kick was blocked by someone else also delivering a kick.

Standing there in front of Alex with his foot interlocked with his was someone in a blue karate gi. He had black hair that was standing up on end, probably from far too much hair gel. "Attacking an officer of the law." He said. "You must be stopped, and apprehended."

Alex grunted rather annoyed. "Look, I don't know what you think the situation is, but I need to tell you: you're wrong."

"You attacked these officers, and the group you were with ran away." The person replied. "They're the ones wanted for vandalism of the island, aren't they?"

"Well, I guess you're partly correct." Alex sighed. He jumped away from the person and just tried to move his fingers. Unfortunately his arms were still numb. "Let's just jump right to the case, my name is Alex, and you're Young Cricket, right?"

"How does a villain such as yourself know me?!" Young Cricket asked.

Alex just laughed. "Is Wario here? Because I want to meet him at the amphitheater on Gelato Beach!"

"Sorry, but you won't be going there!" Young Cricket said. "You're going to be captured, and tried for your crimes."

"I'm guessing this is a really bad time to tell you that the Isle Delfino police is known for being extremely corrupt." Alex sighed.

"You won't be able to talk your way out of this one villain." Young Cricket said.

"Urgh damn it." Alex muttered.

Alex just stood his ground. For Young Cricket to be able to block his attack, he also had to of been able to use aura. Feeling the clash of aura, had caused his leg to go slightly numb, however he remained in control of it unlike his arms. Alex figured that Young Cricket's leg was also probably pretty numb from blocking the attack, and that was why he hadn't attacked once again. Just going by that one interaction of blocking his attack, Alex figured that Young Cricket probably had about the same level of mastery as him with aura.

Alex tried to look around, and find any way out of the current battle. But being on a beach, his escape route was limited. To his back, there was nothing but ocean. To his right there was the lighthouse and in front of him, he assumed the way was blocked by Young Cricket.

Not to mention there was another detail that he had to worry about. If Young Cricket was here, his master, Master Mantis couldn't be far behind. If his young apprentice was in danger, he imagined that he'd jump in as soon as possible to save him.

Sensing Alex's hesitation, Young Cricket ran forwards to attack. Alex just quickly dashed towards the lighthouse. Young Cricket just laughed and followed. It only took a minute before Alex had been boxed in by cliffs, buildings and the ocean. For any normal person they would have been trapped.

Alex quickly tried to jump up into the air to get onto the roof of the buildings, but Young Cricket anticipated that escape and just immediately intercepted, kicking Alex down towards the ground. Alex crashed, and skidded along the ground until he was just at the steps to the light house.

Young Cricket's attack had knocked the wind out of him, and he just gasped for air. He struggled to try and move his arms but they still wouldn't respond. Young Cricket just began to approach.

"Give up, there's nowhere for you to run!" Young Cricket said.

Alex just laughed. Nothing went according to his plan. He couldn't even move. He was just stuck on the ground, looking up at the sky. He just closed his eyes and used aura to focus on Young Cricket approaching him cautiously.

"I would have liked to of fought you with my arms actually being usable." Alex said.

Through aura Alex was suddenly able to see a glimmer of light on the lighthouse. It looked like a small crack. "That's right..." He thought. "The warp to Gelato Beach was here. But I still don't know how to open portals. Well now it's time to find out!"

Alex's eyes flared open and Young Cricket froze, unsure of what suddenly awakened the person. As far as Young Cricket was concerned, Alex should have been defeated. His will to fight should have been shattered.

Alex just sat up. His body hurt, but he bore with the pain and just glared forwards keeping Young Cricket within his sights at all times.

The young martial artist didn't approach any closer as Alex got up off of the ground.

Alex then just began to walk backwards, until his back had hit the lighthouse. As his arms just continued to dangle there uselessly, he just tried to move them, and his fingers once again. This time he was able to find that he could at least tap with his fingers against the light house. He put his finger against the spot where that crack of light was on the lighthouse and just focused on that spot.

Young Cricket was unsure what Alex was doing, and just stood there ever at the ready for when he made his move.

But for Alex, he found that putting a bit of aura through his fingers, he was able to reach into that light. He had his escape route. He just used aura to open up the portal and then fell through the wall.

A moment later the portal closed, leaving Young Cricket dumbfounded at what just happened since from his perspective, it just appeared like he had fallen through concrete matter.

Alex on the other hand fell onto the sand of Gelato Beach. He just laid there for a few minutes, catching his breath and a bit unsure how he managed to escape, and how that idea even worked.

Slowly he began to regain strength in his arms and was able to freely move them again. He then made his way up to the meeting spot, the amphitheater. He just sat down on one of the steps or seats and took in the view of the beach down below. He looked over at the amusement park in the distance, before looking down at the beach once again. He just let the tranquility of the island wash over him.

He must of dozed off because the next thing he remembered was being woken up by a very frustrated Ty. "How did you get here before us?!" Ty shouted.

Alex just yawned. "I opened the portal at the lighthouse." He managed to say. "Kind of a fluke though, I still have no idea how I did it. Anyways, you weren't followed or chased, right?"

"No, I don't think so." Ty replied. "What's the next step in your plan?"

"We wait here until the Smashers get here." Alex replied.

"What?!"

"Yeah that's about it." Alex replied.

"We can't do that! That's dangerous!" Ty protested.

"Does someone want to explain what the Smashers are?" Berry asked.

"I thought I did..." Alex replied. "But, they're a group. They'll help us."

"How can you be so sure?!" Ty asked rather afraid. "They're dangerous!"

"Only if you're on their bad side." Alex replied.

"You just assaulted some police officers!" Ty pointed out. "They're going to assume we're all dangerous."

"Well, you all can wait down by the beach then." Alex replied. "I'm waiting here. Actually, can all of you inklings go get food? Even if it's just a fruit smoothie..."

"Yeah." Ika replied. "I think we can."

"All right. Great. Ty, Sora... stay here." Alex said.

The inklings went down to the beach below, and Alex just looked at Ty. "So, how do you know who the Smashers are?" Alex wondered.

Ty just looked around rather uncomfortably. "I've just heard things about them." He replied. "That they're dangerous. And I've been warned that I shouldn't engage them."

"From who?" Alex wondered.

"From others who can travel through worlds." Ty replied.

Alex just glanced at Sora. "You've ever met them?"

"No." Sora replied.

"Then, I need to ask you something Ty." Alex replied. "You're from my world, Earth, right? This is just a place from Super Mario Sunshine to you right?"

Ty froze. He looked around and then back at Alex, eventually nodding. "Yes."

"The worlds were supposed to be sealed." Alex replied. "So, no one was supposed to be able to enter, or exit it. This leaves me to believe two possibilities. The first, Sora, using the power of the keyblade has been unlocking the worlds for you. However, that's pretty unlikely considering..."

The Inklings suddenly super jumped onto the amphitheater stage. "This is bad!" Levi said. "There's a group down there. They're looking for us."

"Are you sure?" Alex wondered. "Are they with the Isle Delfino police?"

"No. They didn't look anything like those guys who attacked us earlier."

"I must of been out quite a while then." Alex replied. "All right, we wait up here."

"What?!" everyone shouted surprised.

"Yeah." Alex replied. "We wait."

"But..."

"It will be fine. Trust me." Alex said. He just looked down at the beach, already he was seeing the group scrambling trying to find the inklings. Alex just smiled and walked towards the steps of the amphitheater.

"Just sit down, and relax." Alex said. "This is under control."

"You call this under control?" Ty said rather afraid.

"Yeah, just trust me." Alex sighed. "Everything is going to be okay."

A figure just rushed up onto the the amphitheater. It looked around and just snarled. It's eyes focused on the Inklings. "I found you!"

"Yo, Wolf, long time no see." Alex said.

Wolf was taken aback. "What!? Alex?!"

"You know, when I heard that there were Smashers on the island, I wasn't exactly expecting you to be here."

"There's actually a lot of us." Wolf replied.

Alex just laughed. "That so? How much is a lot?"

"17, I guess you'd make 18." Wolf replied. "Anyways, I'm here because some idiot decided to attack the police force."

"Oh, well you found them. That idiot was me." Alex replied.

Suddenly Pit just came flying in.

"Wolf, why did you run off like that!" Pit said, "We're supposed to be looking for some dangerous people."

"Yeah found them." Wolf said.

"Where?"

"Yo!" Alex replied. "How many more are in your little search party?"

Wolf just laughed. "A few more I guess." Suddenly two more figures just jumped in. One Alex recognized as Dark Pit. The other, he was a bit confused by, since it was Lucas' twin brother Claus. They just looked around a bit confused.

"It's not Chara, I'm going back to the hotel." Claus said turning away.

"Wait right there." Dark Pit said just yanking his arm. "You're not going anywhere."

"Yeah right." He muttered.

"Wait, how much did I miss in the week I was gone?" Alex wondered. "Because I was pretty sure he was trying to kill us back on the Bionis."

"A bit, I guess." Wolf replied. "Anyways, he's working with Dark Pit to kill Hades now, they're here for solar energy or something. Now why are you here?"

"Well, I got tossed elsewhere, then got tossed here, the police said that we were illegally entering the place, and that we were awfully suspicious, and they figured that they could pin some murders on us. I fought back, and we ran here and I told them to send a message to the Smashers they hate so much."

Wolf just laughed. "I see. Yeah, I could smell the corruption here a mile away."

"I guess you do have a nose for garbage." Dark Pit muttered.

"What was that?" Wolf growled.

"Anyways, who are all those people beside you?" Pit asked.

Alex looked over at the Inklings. "Well, these 6 are inklings. A race of squids from a different world, that I may of accidentally dragged here... And then those two are Sora and Ty. Who I met up in the previous world I was in and accidentally dragged here..."

"Well this certainly complicates things." Wolf sighed. "Well, it's not my problem, let's get you back to the hotel where we're staying. There's someone who wants to meet you."

"What about the Inklings, Ty and Sora?" Alex wondered.

"They can come too. The sooner the better. The police might still be looking for them, so if we register them as guests of the Mushroom Kingdom, then, well we can hopefully be rid of the majority of this mess. Peach might actually like this with what she can get from Isle Delfino." Wolf laughed.

They began to walk away, however Ty just stopped Alex. "Wait, before we go any further. What was the second possibility that you believed?"

Alex just shrugged. "I don't think that's important right now. And to be honest, if there is a murderer out and about on Isle Delfino, I don't think you should be alone. Even if you are from Zenith."

Ty just froze. He backed up a bit afraid, unsure of how to process this. "How did you know?"

"That's the second possibility." Alex replied. "And honestly the simplest answer for how you could travel through worlds and know about the Smashers and to avoid them."

Ty just nodded. "Yeah... I'm not really from Zenith... it's just my dad works there, and he just tossed me in one day."

"I guess on that note, did your dad really name you Tyrrhenian?"

"No, that was just a name I adopted in that world to blend in." Ty replied. "It's actually Tyler, but you can just keep calling me Ty for short."

"So he just threw you in?" Alex questioned.

"Yeah. Just about." Tyler sighed. "I've barely ever seen him back then or since. I don't think I even really recognize him as family."

"So, in that case, as far as I'm concerned, you're just a normal kid who is unaffiliated with Zenith beyond just having a family member who works there. And you just unfortunately got trapped in the worlds." Alex said. "So, just relax. I'm not going to hurt you unless you intend to bring harm to the Smashers."

Tyler was rather shocked. "But aren't the Smashers supposed to be ruthless?"

"I think we've both got quite a bit to learn, Tyler." Alex said extending his hand.

Tyler just nodded and took it. The two of them shook hands and were on their way.

Wolf had pulled out a phone, and just began to call someone. "We need a pick up. We found the troublemakers, and they've been taken care of. Or rather they're under our custody now."

"Understood."

---

The next thing that Alex knew was that they were in front of a rather lavish and expensive looking beachfront hotel on the other side of the island. Alex just looked around rather confused, because he was expecting to go to Sirena Beach, and Hotel Delfino. But this location was new to him.

"Where are we?" Alex asked.

"Princess Peach's private beach and hotel!" Pit laughed. "She owns this whole portion of the island."

"Okay." Alex replied, just accepting it.

"Although we have a few problems." Wolf replied. "There's no vacancy, so you don't have rooms... But we can probably figure something out."

Alex just nodded. He looked over at Tyler who had gone dead silent, and was just trying not to draw any attention to himself. The inklings actually seemed rather excited.

Suddenly out of the front doors to the hotel, a black blur bolted towards them. The next thing Alex knew was that he was tackled to the ground.

"Master!" Zoroark shouted. "You're alive, your safe!"

"Yep." Alex laughed. "Sorry about that Z."

He got up and just embraced his Pokemon. Tyler was just looking on in shock.

They entered into the hotel and, Princess Peach was waiting in the lobby. It took her several seconds to register the presence of everyone. "Alex?!" She questioned. She looked around at the others. "I guess there's a lot that happened."

"Yeah..." Alex replied.

"These were the poor fools that the police were trying to frame for the murders." Wolf said.

Peach just let off an annoyed groan. "Okay." She managed to say. "I don't even know why I'm surprised... Anyways, I'm sorry, we've got no vacancies, or any place to hold you. So... I'm about to meet with a friend and see if I can make some arrangements for you."

"Oh, thanks." Alex said.

"But in the mean time, please feel free to use whatever amenities we have here." Peach said, handing him a card. "Just have them scan this, and I'll pay for it."

Alex nodded. "Thanks."

"Anyways, she should be here any minute. So, if you could relax or something." Peach said.

"Right." Alex said. "I think I'll hit up the restaurant here... I never got that fruit smoothie..."

"Okay." she said. "Just listen, I do want to talk to you later to explain what's going on."

"Okay." Alex said. He just made his way through the lobby and to a bar. He just sat down at a stool and looked up at a bartender. "Can I have a fruit smoothie?"

"Yeah, just a second." The bartender said.

It only took a few seconds for him to blend together the various fruit, pouring it out, and handing it to Alex. He took a few sips of the drink and just looked up at a TV, which was currently playing back a golf tournament.

He just looked away, trying to take in any sights.

Tyler came in and sat beside him. "Hey."

"Hey." Alex replied.

The bartender came up and Tyler just ordered a pop. They just spent the rest of time in silence, just occasionally sipping their drinks. Alex felt that Tyler wanted to talk about something but was too afraid to say anything. So they just continued to sit in awkward silence.

---

Princess Peach just continued to wait in the hotel lobby. She looked around, occasionally glancing up at the clock. "Daisy, I'd like to see you some time this week..." She muttered.

As if on cue, a Princess Daisy walked into the lobby. She took a quick look around, and then focused on Peach. "Peach!" She shouted approaching rather quickly.

"Daisy!"

The two just hugged.

"So, you needed to talk to me about something?"

"Yeah, let's talk in private."

"Of course." Daisy replied.

Peach just led Daisy to a meeting room that the hotel had. There was a wine bottle and two glasses prepared. Peach just poured out some wine and handed Daisy a glass before walking over to the other end of the table and sitting down.

"Oh, this bottle was expensive." Daisy laughed. "What's the occasion?"

"So, Daisy, I need a huge favor." Peach said.

"That depends." Daisy replied.

"I was wondering if I could use your yacht to house a few people." Peach replied.

"More people? Did they just arrive at the island?" Daisy wondered.

"Yes." Peach replied. "We weren't prepared for this group, and had no idea they were coming."

"Really, Peach?" Daisy said. "Interesting."

Peach just let off an annoyed sigh. "Daisy, you don't need to beat around the bush."

"Did you call in backup after the incident?" Daisy wondered. "Are these more Smashers?"

"Not really." Peach replied.

"Not really?" Daisy pressed. "Then who are these people?"

"One of them is associated with the Smashers." Peach replied. "I haven't exactly gotten the time to talk to them to find out why or how they're here, or why they brought some others and who they are... Things have just been going too fast today."

"Yeah especially with that group that attacked the Isle Delfino police." Daisy said.

Peach just slumped back in her chair. "That was them."

"Really?"

"Daisy, please just cut the act. You know I hate these probing questions, and I think it would be much less awkward for the both of us."

"Yeah, we both do kind of hate all the formalities that this week brings." Daisy replied. "Everything has to be perfect, you can't show any sign of weakness, or represent your country badly." They both just took a sip of wine. "I'm so envious of the kids who can just hang out at the amusement park all day and don't have to worry about anything."

Peach nodded in agreement.

"Why did you do it Peach? You put yours' and the the Smashers' reputation on the line?"

"Did I really have a choice?" Peach replied. "That's the Smasher's job, it's to put an end to this. My hand was forced. The president of Isle Delfino would love to have this little piece of land back..."

Daisy just nodded in agreement."But I guess, back to business. My own personal superyacht, that's not going to be cheap Peach." Daisy smiled. "Maybe if I get into the Smashers."

"You know I have no control over that." Peach sighed. "Besides, it's not all fun and games... And I wouldn't want you getting hurt."

Daisy just pouted. "Well, there is a few other things that you can do... I wouldn't mind a week here at no charge. The nicest rooms, all expenses paid... The best food, you know, the works.."

"Well, that is slightly more doable..." Peach replied.

"Maybe a round or two of golf or tennis where you let me win." Daisy added on.

"Don't push it too much." Peach replied.

Daisy just laughed. "Well, with all the trouble going around, I wouldn't mind a few extra guards on my yacht. And if it's a Smasher, well, I guess that'd make things extra safe. So this might just be a coincidence, but I guess I can house them."

"Great."

"But Peach, I also want you to bake me one of your famous cakes." Daisy replied. "Bring that over, and we can have dinner, and it will be a potluck."

"Of course." Peach replied.

"Now who are the guests that you want me to house?" Daisy wondered.

Peach just pulled out a phone. "They can come in now."

Alex, Tyler, Sora, Ink, Ika, Levi, Raisin, Soda, and Berry just walked into the meeting room.

"Oh, it's you guys!" Daisy said.

"You guys?" Peach questioned.

"I met them earlier, and they were stranded on an island, and I took them out on my boat..." Daisy replied.

"Yeah, thank you for that." Alex replied.

"But how did you arrive at the island?" Daisy wondered. "The airports were shut down to prevent the murderer from escaping. No one should be able to enter or leave…"

Alex just tensed up, he could feel Daisy just looking right through him, as she just casually took a drink. He knew that if he lied about anything, she would somehow know. "I... one of my powers is opening up portals, and right now I don't quite know how I did it, but the portal I opened up from my previous location led to that island."

A smile crossed her face. "Great." She said.

"So, I've arranged it that you will all be going to stay with Daisy on her yacht." Peach said.

Ika just quickly walked over to Alex and quickly got his attention. "How can we understand her? While we can't understand the other person..." Ika pointed out.

"Oh!" Princess Peach said. "If that's an issue I can do something about that."

"Wait, you can?" Alex said surprised.

"Of course." Princess Peach replied. She pulled out her smash pendant and began to channel some magic into it. A few moments later she had taken it off and approached each of the inklings. She just put it on each of their foreheads and then walked away.

A strange energy had washed over each of them. "I don't feel any different..." Ink said.

"But, I understood you that time." Daisy replied.

"And I can understand you now!" Ika said rather surprised.

"Hey, Peach, can I ask you some questions?" Alex asked. "Because I really need to know how to use this!" he said pulling out his Smash Pendant.

Peach looked at it a bit shocked. "Oh, okay, I can teach you." She said. "Of course, I'll be short on free time for the rest of the week. But after this is over, and we're back at the Smash Mansion it should just take an afternoon of your time."

"Great." Alex said.

"Now then, you two." Peach said looking over at Tyler and Sora. "However, you two, you're not inklings... Do you need this as well?"

"No..." Tyler began.

"Interesting..." Peach said. "Why?"

"Um, well..." Tyler began to mutter.

Alex just quickly stepped between them. "Peach, I can vouch for them. They're okay. They also got sucked in with me from Inkopolis..."

"I'll take your word for it then." Peach replied.

Alex just breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"Now then, Alex, Daisy will lead you all to her yacht. However I wanted to talk to you and bring you up to speed on everything. Could you come back here tonight?"

"Of course." Alex replied. "Should I bring the inklings?"

"No, this is Smasher duty." Peach replied. "It should only concern you."

"Right." Alex replied.

"Can I sit in?" Daisy wondered.

"Of course. But it's really just going to be recapping what you already know." Peach replied.

"That's fine." Daisy replied. "I do want to see some official Smasher duty." She just turned and faced the group. "Now then, do you have your bags?"

Alex just looked around rather nervously. "Um, unfortunately we only came with the clothes on our back." Alex replied. "The teleportation was kind of sudden."

"I see." Daisy said. "Well, Peach, they're going to need new clothes. We can't have them all in that for the rest of the week."

"Right, that can easily be arranged." Peach replied. She just clapped her hands and a toad rushed in. He looked around a bit confused.

"What do you want, Princess?" he asked.

"I need you to take down measurements for all of them, and then go buy clothes." Peach said. It was a rather quick and painless procedure. Within a few minutes, the toad was on his way.

Daisy just led the group out of the hotel, and towards her yacht.

Alex just kind of took the lead, heading to the cruise ship that had "Princess Daisy" written on it.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

Alex just turned around a bit confused and pointed at the ship.

"Oh no, that's just my cruiser!" She laughed. "Everyone else from my empire who's here is there, we're going to my yacht!"

"Okay..." Alex said a bit surprised.

"Sorry, but I like having my own area." Daisy replied.

"I see." Alex replied. "How many boats do you own?"

"Yes." Daisy replied.

"That wasn't an answer..."

Daisy just led the way to a comparatively smaller boat. She just stepped onto a platform, that currently was folded out to create steps onto the back of the boat. Alex, Ty and Sora followed. However the inklings just froze.

"Uhh... Do we have to go on that thing?" Ika asked.

"Yes, it's fine." Alex said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, it's a boat, it floats. That's what it does..." Alex replied.

Princess Daisy just laughed. "Of course it's fine. I'd live on her if I could! Come on, I'll show you around!" Reluctantly the inklings jumped onto the boat.

Daisy just reached for a lever and just opened up a compartment on the stern of the boat, revealing two love seats and a small table. "This is the beach club area." She explained. "That door leads to the engine room, don't go in there."

She walked up some stairs, onto the main floor and into a cockpit area. There were some benches around some tables, stairs that led up into another area, and two large sliding glass doors. She just opened them, revealing the saloon.

The inklings just walked in, their mouths agape.

"I think this is bigger than our apartment." Ink muttered.

The saloon contained a few sofas, along with chairs and a dining room table. There were some gorgeous floor to ceiling windows that would allow for a spectacular view, if they weren't currently docked.

However sitting on the sofa they saw a rather young looking boy with dark skin. With the lower half of his hair shaved and dyed white, while the upper half was in several short dreadlocks. On one dreadlock there was two blue rings. He wore a long white jacket, and black leather fingerless gloves. Underneath was a black sweater and green pants. He wore brown boots. He appeared to be about 12 years old.

"Um, who's that?" Alex asked.

"Oh, this is Ron." Daisy replied. "He's a bodyguard."

Alex just looked at Ron a bit confused, not recognizing him as a character from any of the Super Mario games.

"Ron, these people will be staying in the yacht." Daisy said. "This is as a favor to Princess Peach."

"Of course, Princess Daisy." He said.

Levi was just looking over him and trying to size him up. "But he's a kid, right?"

"Are you aware of the Smashers?" Daisy asked.

"Beyond that Alex is one, not really."

"Well, much like them, don't judge his abilities by his appearances." Daisy replied.

Ron just stood up and bowed. "I am Princess Daisy's ninja bodyguard." He replied. "There has been no disturbances since you left, Princess."

"Thank you Ron!" Daisy replied. "He sleeps in the crew quarters. Anyways let's continue the tour!"

Daisy just headed to a door, and pressed a button that opened it. She walked into a corridor and continued the tour. "There's a day head here."

"A what?" Alex asked.

"Washroom." Daisy replied. "But this room right here, is my room." She opened the door and walked through to a small study area. She continued into a rather large bedroom, showing off the side balcony and the en suit.

"Why do I get the feeling that half of this tour is just her flaunting her wealth." Alex muttered.

"You mean this isn't normal?" Tyler wondered.

"No." Alex replied.

"Oh..." Tyler said a bit surprised.

"Why do you seem shocked about that?" Alex questioned.

"Just one time when I went home, dad took me on a vacation on a ship that was bigger than this..." Tyler replied. "Though, he was mostly just doing business..."

Alex just looked at Tyler, rather confused. "Wait? Who is-"

"All right that's enough here!" Daisy said. "Now follow me and I'll show you where you'll be staying!"

She lead them back to the corridor, and to some steps. "Down here, is the guest cabins!" She said. "These two right here in front of us are twin cabins. Each with two single beds. Each also has an en suit. Next there are two other guest cabins. They're double cabins, each with a single double bed. So there's 9 of you. So you're going to have to divide up. Two of you to each room... And one room with three. I think we do have a spare cot that we can get for you."

Everyone just looked around a bit confused. "Uh..."

"Hey, Soda, do you want to bunk with me?" Ika asked. "Us girls should stick together.

"Right."

"Sora and I can bunk together." Tyler said.

"I'm fine with Ink." Alex said.

"As long as I actually get a bed. I'm happy." Ink said.

"So that leaves me and Berry, and Raisin." Levi laughed. "Okay. So how do we decide who gets what room?"

A few minutes later they had been properly sorted into their rooms, and the tour continued. The next place Princess Daisy brought them to was the upper corridor, and the wheelhouse. "If you see anyone in my crew, please don't bother them." She said. "Right now they're mostly relaxing, just enjoying their time being docked at Isle Delfino."

In a chair, there was a toad who was wearing a captain's hat. "Hello, I'm Captain Aft." He said.

After a brief conversation, Daisy continued on showing off the bow lounge, before eventually leading them back through the wheelhouse and into the upper saloon. A comparatively smaller saloon, but still it had a bar.

"And over here is the upper deck!" Daisy said walking over to another set of sliding doors.

They just walked out in shock. "How big is this ship?!" Ink asked, looking at all of the chairs.

"And we're not even done!" Daisy laughed. "There's one final area." She just directed to some stairs that went up to a sun deck with numerous lounges.

"Is that everything?" Berry asked in shock.

"Well there's a few more areas, but those are the crew quarters, and the engine room." Daisy replied. "I can show you the pantry if you want to make your own food, but that's about it."

They were just left in awe. "Anyways, that was the tour. I'll leave you all to your own devices. You can relax here, or on the island. The ship won't be departing anywhere for a while."

"Okay then. Thank you, Princess Daisy." Alex said.

"Of course, no problem." Daisy replied. She just made her way down the stairs.

Alex just found a lounge chair to lie down on in the sun. Tyler just looked around. Everyone else had just dispersed, leaving him alone.

Night time had soon hit the island, and Tyler just walked through the boat, he was like a zombie just barely registering anything, finding his way outside to the beach club. He just sat down at chair, and looked at the water.

"Hey..." A voice said.

Tyler just looked up to see Berry and Soda. "You mind if we sit here with you?"

"Go ahead..." Tyler muttered.

"You look terrible squid." Berry said. "And, I guess some of this is my fault... I wanted to apologize, I over reacted when everything happened and we came here. And I guess I took it out on you."

"Thanks, apology accepted." Tyler weakly smiled. "Are we still friends?"

"Yes, of course!" Berry said. "Why wouldn't we be?"

Tears just ran down Tyler's face and fell down to the ground. "I never really had many friends."

"But what about Sora?" Soda asked. "You two were like brothers when I met you."

"Sora's different." Tyler said. "I guess like Alex, he kind of just fell out of the sky one day, and I happened to be the one who found him. I hid him, and well, yeah, we were so alike we hit it out of the park and just became best friends..."

"So... what exactly is going on?" Berry asked.

"I thought they already told you." Tyler said.

"But we want to hear you say it." Soda replied.

Tyler just nodded. "Well, there's tons of different worlds out there. And I'm a world hopper, someone who has the ability to cross over through different worlds despite the boundaries. I moved from world to world... and I honestly thought I had found a place where I could be happy and settle down or at least return back to, a place to call home..."

"Why did you hop across worlds?" Soda wondered.

"I don't really have a family." Tyler said. "I know I have a dad, but, I can't really say I call him that. He's been so hands off. And the last time I saw him was years ago... But I've just been hopping between worlds, looking for a place where I belong."

"So why didn't you tell us?" Berry wondered.

"I wanted to tell you." Tyler muttered. "That I wasn't from your world, and I had to leave once the tournament was over. But the news came out of nowhere to me, and I didn't know how to tell you, and I was afraid of how you'd react."

"Sorry." Berry apologized again.

"And now I guess you're stuck here because of me." Tyler sighed. "Your family is probably worried..."

"Well, I'm sure we'll get back there eventually!" Berry laughed. "But in the mean time..." He just stood up and embraced Tyler. "Sorry about that squid."

Tyler just nodded and hugged him back. After a few seconds they separated.

"And, look squid, we've been through so much as a squad, I'd say we're practically family." Berry laughed. "We're going to be with you for this road trip, okay?"

Soda just playfully scoffed. "Having you as my brothers? Ew... I wanted to escape that, that's why I went to Inkopolis in the first place. You guys better clean up after yourselves! And you better not parade around in just your underwear!"

"I'll do my best." Tyler laughed. "Though I don't know what it's like being a brother."

"You fight, you argue, but they're there for you." Soda replied. "I guess they're just friends that you're related to."

"Well, I'll do my best." Tyler replied.

"Great, well, I guess we'll see you in the room!" Berry said.

"Right, I'll be there in a bit." Tyler said.

Berry and Soda just rushed back into the boat leaving Tyler out by the beach club all alone. After a few minutes Tyler just got up, and climbed the stairs to see Alex just waiting by the doors. Alex just stood up and walked towards him.

"How much of that did you hear?" Tyler asked.

"Pretty much all of it." Alex replied. "I was a bit worried about you."

"Oh?"

"Just you seemed out of it." Alex said. "Want to take a walk around Isle Delfino?"

"I mean is it safe?" Tyler questioned.

"I think we'll be fine." Alex replied. "I just wanted to go to a beach anyways."

"But there's a murderer out there." Tyler pointed out.

"Well, I think we can defend ourselves." Alex replied. "Besides, it's really only like 100 feet that ways."

They just began to walk, quickly just reaching the private beach for Peach's hotel. The evening breeze hit them, and the waves cresting and crashing against the shore was rather relaxing.

"Now that we're finally alone, you look like you have a lot to talk about."

"Yeah there's a lot on my mind. And has been since I overheard you and Zero talking."

Alex just nodded. "I guess there would be."

"Is what Zero said true?"

"I guess that depends on what part." Alex said. "I mean, I don't think she had anything to gain by lying to me."

"That they destroyed games." Tyler replied.

"That I don't know." Alex replied. "I feel like she wasn't bluffing about that. And they probably have in the past."

"They have..." Tyler replied.

"What?"

"I've just been giving a lot of thought to things lately." Tyler sighed. "I guess that's what happens when your entire world has been shattered. I came across an empty world once before. There were so many people that I called friends, that I spent time with. But when I returned, the world was destroyed. It was just an empty vast void of white. I asked about it, and was told that the Smashers did it."

"As far as I know, they'd never do that. We're supposedly for protecting the worlds." Alex replied. "But, to be honest, that's only as far as I know, and I can't say I fully trust them."

"Why not?"

"When this whole mess began, Master Hand, the leader of the Smashers, tried to kill me." Alex replied.

Tyler just looked at Alex rather shocked. "What?!"

Alex nodded in response. "Yeah, that's pretty much it. There is this thing called Chosen Champions, it was supposed to be a way to find the leader that would lead 12 humans and the Smashers to fight back against Zenith and protect both worlds. And then, it kind of went to shit."

"If you don't mind me asking, what do you know about Zenith?" Tyler asked.

"It's apparently a company that works for the betterment of mankind." Alex replied. "That being said, they've been working on some form of technology to fuse the two universes together. Beyond that, they take technology from this universe, patenting it in ours. If you don't mind me asking, what do you know?"

"Nothing." Tyler replied. "Just that it's where my dad works."

"What about your mom?"

"Never knew her." Tyler replied. "She died when I was born."

"I'm sorry." Alex replied.

"It's okay, you didn't know." Tyler said.

"So you really have no family?" Alex asked.

"Not that I really can recall." Tyler replied. "I've just been here in the games since I was young enough to survive on my own."

"And how old was that?" Alex wondered.

"Four or five I guess." Tyler replied. "And even before then... I don't really have any memories of my dad. Otherwise, I was raised by people at Zenith."

"Oh? What was that like?"

"Boring." Tyler replied. "Then when I was able to tie my shoes by myself, and read I was tossed into the games. Not literally, but just left to explore. No school, no real interaction with people my age."

"No school?" Alex questioned. "Did you get an education?"

"Well, I guess there's online courses that I had to do on my laptop. Otherwise, well, they kind of have ways to just put knowledge in your head. It's just instantly downloaded." Tyler said. "But, what's your family life like?"

"Ehh... It's okay, I guess." Alex replied. "I guess I have one... But, it's pretty distant. I live at home alone with Zoroark. My mother is rarely home because she's off doing book tours. My dad, well, they're divorced. My dad cheated on my mom, and I have a half brother who I get to see sometimes. His new wife... well, I don't like her, she's kind of a bitch."

Tyler just laughed. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." Alex replied. "She never liked me, and made it very apparent. But because dad likes her, I have to be nice though."

Tyler just laughed and sat down on the sand. "It must be nice. Having a father, beyond just vaguely knowing who he is and that he can't be bothered with me beyond maybe once or twice..."

Alex sat down and just looked out at the sea. "This topic is getting depressing, can we talk about something else?"

"I guess." Tyler replied. "Though I don't really know what else to talk about."

"Do you still not trust the Smashers?" Alex wondered.

"It's pretty hard too, all things considered." Tyler replied. "But, I'll try it, and it's not really like I have much of a choice right now."

"This won't cause any problems with your dad right?" Alex wondered. "His son being with the Smashers? If he's just an honest guy, struggling to make a living, I really don't want this to complicate things for him."

"I don't think it will." Tyler replied.

"Okay good."

"I mean, I guess I might as well just be classified as company property" Tyler sighed.

"Okay, this is way too depressing to think about!" Alex suddenly shouted. "You're your own person, you're not some company's property okay?!"

"If you say so." Tyler replied.

"I know so. Besides, if you are, I'm stealing you away!"

"Isn't that kidnapping?"

"Kidnapping is reserved for people, if you're just some item or property, it's stealing." Alex said.

Tyler just laughed. "All right. I'm my own person!"

"Good." Alex said.

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" Tyler wondered.

"No idea. Probably just try and stay on guard. Or who knows, we can sneak off and hit up the amusement park, I doubt it will have lines at this point."

"Sounds like a plan! I've never been to one before..."

"Well I just hope there's more than what the game showed here." Alex replied. "Otherwise, our trip might be over very quickly..."

Tyler just laughed. "I hope so."

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you travel to other worlds? Could you open portals to other worlds by yourself?" Alex wondered.

Tyler shook his head. "No, not by myself. I used a tool..."

"And where is it?" Alex wondered.

"Back in Inkopolis." Tyler replied. "I'm lucky I even have my wallet to be honest..."

Alex just suddenly froze. "Wait... you paid for something earlier..."

"Yeah..." Tyler replied. "I used my debit card, it automatically converts to whatever the local currency is."

"Wait... oh no..."

"Is something the matter?" Tyler asked.

"Is that a company card or something?" Alex wondered.

"I mean, I guess." Tyler replied.

"Shit... they might be able to track us..." Alex replied.

"But no one can get on or off the island unless they teleport, right?" Tyler replied. "Because of the murderer, they closed off all entry points..."

Alex just breathed a small sigh of relief. "I hope so. Otherwise, we have more issues than just a murderer running around the island..."

Tyler just looked over his shoulder nervously. "On that note, shouldn't we be getting back?"

"Yeah." Alex replied.

"Well, thanks for letting me talk." Tyler said.

"No problem." Alex replied.

They got up and made their way back to Daisy's yacht, where Daisy was getting ready to leave. "Oh, I couldn't find you on the yacht, so I thought you had taken off before me." Daisy said.

"Oh, no, just was enjoying the beach, and talking with Tyler." Alex replied. "Anyways, I'm ready to go."

"Great, so am I!" Daisy replied.

Tyler just got on the yacht and watched as the two of them walked off towards Peach's hotel. Tyler just made his way through the ship until he got the guestroom Sora and him were staying in. Tyler just had a large smile across his face.

Sora just looked at Tyler as he entered. "You look like you're in a good mood."

"Yeah." Tyler replied. "For the first time in a week, I think I'll have a good nights sleep!"

He just collapsed on the bed and instantly drifted off to sleep.

---

Alex just walked into the boardroom at Peach's hotel. Sitting there was Princess Peach. She was surrounded by Little Mac and someone Alex didn't recognize. He wasn't sure if it was the gloves that the person was wearing, but their hands were a metallic blue. They also had blue hair stylized into a spring. "Hello?" Alex said rather confused.

Noticing the look, he just smiled. "Oh, hey, I'm Spring Man. I'm Little Mac's friend. Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Alex. Nice to meet you..." Alex replied, still rather confused. "Anyways, you wanted to see me Princess?"

"Yes." Peach replied. "Sorry about this, but you've kind of popped up at the worst possible time."

"Yeah... It sounds like I've got quite a bit to catch up on." Alex said.

"Which is why I called you here." Peach said. "Welcome to Isle Delfino, and the World Council Summit. Let me get you caught up with everything that has happened over the past few days."

---

File 1
Do you want to save?
YES
Party 1: Alex, Ink, Ika, Levi, Raisin, Tyler, Sora, Soda, Berry,
Mario, Luigi, Fox, Olimar, Captain Falcon, Geno, Starlow, Twink, Rosalina
Dark Pit, Claus, Kirby, Mallow, Starfy
Peach, Falco, Wolf, Zoroark, Bowser, Pit, Wario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Little Mac, Spring Man

---

So, I guess the next chapter will be an extended flashback explaining the various happenings of the World Council Summit.

Raisin: I originally wanted to call him Grape, but... Well, let's just say I feared what I'd typo that into, or if it was misread with speed reading...

Daisy's superyacht: Half the reason why it's there is because I fell down a youtube rabbit hole of watching yacht tour videos...

Ron: He is from Ninjala. That free to play ninja gum game on the switch...