Author's note: AND I HAVE RETURNED! How's everyone doing? Can't believe it's been more than a month since I added a new chapter. Things have been thought through and I think I'm all set to start releasing chapters again. And let me tell you, with my plan, things are gonna get interesting. I only have this chapter and another one since the hiatus began. So we'll be rolling them out today and tomorrow. With enough luck we'll have another one ready for a third day.
Anyways we have Sephiroth in smash now. I was curious who it was going to be, then it was that music… that damn music. While I'm glad we have him in the game this throws off my entire plot plan and I had to do extra planning so I could carry out the plot and still get him into the mansion as a resident. You'll see what happens in the next two episodes.
Another thing you may have noticed is that we finally have an original cover image drawn up by me. The way this works is that the only things that are visible are characters and objects that have made a physical appearance in the story (i.e Trucy's hat, Tifa, etc.) As the season goes on I will prepare more variations of the image to slowly reveal all the blacked out characters and items. More may get added onto it without warning so be prepared.
And another thing, shortly after this has been uploaded, as you may have noticed from the summary info. I am changing the title of the story. This story here on out will be called…
Legends of the Mansion
I think that works out to help paint a picture for the story as a whole. It was this or Chronicles of Fighters and well, I'm already using the word Chronicles for a fic on Ao3.
This is the long awaited and technically promised Final Fantasy VII Remake episode/plotline. This episode, next episode, and episode 4 will have a main focus on Cloud and Tifa. For reviews I have one thing to say from ultimateCCC.
"Doo-Doo meet fan."
Uh, accurate summary of what I thought when originally planning this arc for S6-S8. Next review is from Charmander17.
"If you're still needing side plots I have a few. Like a story to why skull kid doesn't seem to hang out with young link and the other kids or a detective story."
Hmm, I could probably do something with Skull Kid. As for the detective idea I would probably need more elaboration on that. Just who would be involved. Next thing is that I need to address a certain review from goddessgamer13. Mainly about the requested characters.
"1. Luzalina (OC from the Super Mario universe)
2. Alicia (OC from the Fire Emblem universe)"
Okay normally I love the character requests. It can help get plotline ideas that revolve around those characters. The problem is that both of the requested characters are OCs, and they're not even mine. While I did have an OC show up in the past I am limiting OC appearance from here on out only if the world demands an OC-like personality, for instance the summoner in Fire Emblem Heroes. But when it comes to an OC like a character you created then I will have to say no. And even if I did allow it there's still the problem of what they look like and their personalities. If I don't have that info on hand or researchable I can't really do much to write the character well.
So let it be known, character requests are okay just not OC requests.
Season 6 episode 2: ex-SOLDIER
(January 16th, 2021)
Cloud's past was something that was known to very few. Master Hand had respected his wishes when he first came to the mansion and had limited the search engines to hardly show any info on it at all. It was a whole segment in his life he was trying to move on from. As of now the only ones in the mansion other than Tifa that know are Corrin and Link. The two both being close friends of the ex-SOLDIER.
Things were never easy for him though, the whole situation with Sephiroth in the past caused a lot of trouble. Many things changed, and many people were lost. And someone close to Cloud had been killed at the one-winged angel's hand. It had been so long ago though that he felt he was finally moving past it.
...Until he and Tifa saw that black feather.
After a couple days two had finally reported it to Master Hand. Only for him to reveal that no black feathers showed up in the security footage while it clearly showed both Cloud and Tifa. Not acting out of the ordinary in the slightest. The man of the mansion, thinking that the two were paranoid over the time problems, decided to sit them down. "Okay so walk me through exactly what happened again when you saw this black feather," Master Hand said.
"Well it felt like the world went static around me like it did back then. And it left a nasty headache. When things cleared up though we both clearly saw a feather land on the concrete and disintegrated," Cloud said, he was keeping all seriousness within him despite the situation.
"After that we could hear his voice in our heads," Tifa said. She then shook her head and looked as Master Hand pleadingly. "I know it looks like we're making it up, but it was just like this with Cloud too before we were able to see Sephiroth ourselves. We thought he was dead that time too."
"I see," Master Hand said as he leaned back in his chair. "I won't lie to you two, I am very skeptical about this. But at the same time, maybe this was inevitable."
"What do you mean by inevitable," Cloud asked. It took a minute but Master Hand pulled up a page and turned his monitor around to show the two. It clearly showed the logo for the Final Fantasy VII Remake game. "You think the remake has something to do with this."
"Of course it's all theories on my end, but the Remake left quite an open ending. Originally I was under belief it was going to follow the same story as before. But they threw in a sort of character that is meant to guide a destined timeline. Make sure a singular story happens. However at the end of that game during a fight between Cloud and Sephiroth those creatures ceased to exist and with that alternate timelines began to spring up. The story in your world is changing and that may affect things over here."
"How so?"
"Well, you know how, um… your friend was killed by Sephiroth. Let's say in this new timeline your world will adapt to, she lives to the end. And as such she will once again exist in Midgar. However if Tifa or Barret were to die in the new timeline they would cease to exist in the present."
Link (Champion of Hyrule): Oh so that girl could end up being alive in a new timeline. Hmm, I'm noticing a lot of game series turning towards time travel as of late.
Cloud and Tifa were at a loss for words for a bit there. Tifa then said, "So what you're saying is that Sephiroth being here may be an effect of this change in timelines."
"Potentially, it just means that if he is here we would have to take him out again." Master Hand then turned his monitor back towards him. "Until then, just keep me posted on the thing if it gets worse. That is all."
"Thank you for hearing us out Master Hand," Cloud said before simply getting up and leaving the office. With Tifa following after him. Once they were outside and started walking down the hall Cloud stated, "We're getting to the bottom of this."
"I knew you wouldn't let this slide," Tifa said with a smirk. They then walked into the elevator. "So what's the plan?"
"First we need to gather those that we can trust," Cloud said as the elevator doors closed. "After that we need to hijack the bus and head to Midgar."
Ever since coming to the mansion last year Azura has had one particular goal in mind. And that was convincing both Corrin and Kamui to return to Valla when the off-season started. She knew both were wary of becoming joint rulers, but it was their birthright. The songstress decided she had given them enough time and that it was time to get to the bottom of things. Her first step was finding either of the siblings.
However, she wasn't making much progress head way. She was mainly looking for Corrin right now but the dragon prince was nowhere to be found. She was not aware that he was currently with Cloud and Tifa in preparation for the Midgar visit. Azura eventually decided to find Kamui. And of course one way to find her was by asking around. Which is what led her to the auditorium where R.O.B. looked like it was doing some work on the fly system. "ROB, I was wondering if I could ask you something," Azura said walking up to the robot.
"IT IS… NO PROBLEM. WHAT IS… YOUR QUESTION,' ROB had asked, turning around to face Azura. The system behind him was capable of holding its own.
"I was wondering ig you knew where Kamui was. I haven't been able to find her."
"UNFORTUNATELY… I DO NOT KNOW… MAYBE LOOK AROUND IN HERE," ROB stated before going back to work.
With a sigh, Azura turned around and began to look. She of course noticed all of the seats in the auditorium and the stage she was on(1). As a songstress she was no stranger to performing, having done so many times before. "Corrin, Kamui, I need to understand why you two are so hesitant," Azura said to herself before she continued looking.
Kamui (Dragon Princess): Looks it's not that I don't want to take my rightful place in Valla, it's just… I don't know if Azura wants both of us or just one, because Corrin has shown interest in not taking the throne. If she requires both of us there may be a problem.
Since their attempt to see if anyone was seeing similar issues, Ann and Ryuji were now in the computer lab to investigate. They decided that the first step to learning something in this situation was research, which was why they were looking up Persona 5 Royal. "How much do you want to bet that Master Hand has something on here blocked," Ryuji asked Ann as he pulled up the page.
"That's a sucker bet and you know it," Ann replied scoldingly to him. Once the page was fully loaded Ryuji scrolled down. It looked like most of it was there but anything after the original final boss and anything related to Kasumi were marked out. "Looks like he doesn't want us knowing anything about Kasumi and what's supposed to happen in that third semester."
"Yeah, seems that way," Ryuji said. He then got the feeling that someone was watching them.. Looking around he eventually spotted a very suspicious camera on the ceiling in the corner of the room. "Futaba," was all he said as his phone buzzed, as well as Ann. Both knowing who it was they pulled it out and opened up a new private chat.
Groupchat: Ryuji, Ann, and Futaba
Info: (None)
Futaba: Would you all like to explain why you're looking up info on Royal?
Ann: How long have you had that camera there?
Futaba: Last year during World of Light keep up. Answer my question!(2)
Ryuji: Both of our phones have had sudden glitches of the metaverse app showing up before going away again. Twice for me, once for Ann.
Ann: We were checking to see if it was related to anything within this game.
Futaba: Wait, you mean when you guys asked if anything strange was going on with or phones that was what you meant? In that case you might be interested in this.
Futaba: IMG.0834
Ryuji: It showed up on your phone too!
Ann: When was this Futaba?
Futaba: Just a couple hours ago. Meet me in my room. I might have some more theories on this.
"I think we may be heading in the right direction," Ann said as the two left the computer lab. They left the window open though. Noticing this, Dillon went ahead and turned it off, since he was also in the room.
Dillon (Armadillo Charger): People really need to start learning to close out of their pages when they're done. I may just stop caring.
Getting the team for Midgar was the easy part. Corrin and Link were easily convinced. Getting Lucina had been a bit harder since she didn't want to leave Morgan. Robin, however, assured they would be fine and calmed Lucina's worries. With the future witness with them now they had arrived at the hard part. Getting the bus out of the underground parking lot.
Driving wasn't the hard part as Cloud, Link, and Tifa knew how to. The problem was that Kapp'n always keeps the keys on his belt. Meaning they had to somehow distract him and get the keys off him without noticing.
The group eventually found him in the underground garage. He looked like he was doing maintenance of some sort on the bus. "Okay so how are we going to distract him," Link asked the group as they watched from the arwing. "He's right there!"
"Quiet," Cloud hurriedly whispered to the champion. He then observed what Kapp'n was doing. "He's almost done that much is clear. Someone ask him about one of his stories and get him talking. That ought to distract him." With that in mind the ex-SOLDIER pushed out Corrin to be the bait for this one.
While slightly offended the dragon prince waited until Kapp'n was indeed finished. Eventually he got his chance and walked over to the bus driver saying, "Oh hey Kapp'n I was looking for you."
"Corrin, hardly see you talking to me. Anything you needed me for," Kapp'n said. He has stepped away from the bus and over to Corrin. The other took this as their chance to begin sneakily heading over to the bus while Tifa prepared to sneak his keys off him.
"Well, I remember how Villager said you always have stories from back in your day. And I was kinda curious what one of them were," Corrin said.
Villager (Mayor of Smashville): It's true he has quite a few stories. I normally listened to them while on my way to the island, but he ran out after awhile.
"Ah, there sure are quite a few. Let's see. Ah, I know the perfect one, you see I was a lot younger.." Kapp'n began to say as he got into the story. The rest fell on deaf ears as Tifa went ahead and began making a move to steal the keys. All while Cloud was hijacking the bus to get the doors open.
"Hopefully Corrin doesn't actually get too interested in his story that we'll have to leave him behind," Link said. Eventually Cloud managed to pry the bus doors open and the group hopped on. "Wait, we still need the keys."
"Tifa's almost got them," Lucina said as they watched as Tifa inched closer to the keys on Kapp'n's belt. Very slowly she then began to take them off and successfully got them off. She then hastily made her way onto the bus and handed the keys to Cloud. "What about Corrin."
"Don't worry, got that covered," Cloud said as he put the keys into the ignition.
Kapp'n continued his story saying, "And it was around that time I-" until he got cut off by the bus starting up. "What the." The driver then saw the tires screeched as the bus made a couple quick turns around and drove right next to Corrin. The dragon prince grabbed onto Tifa's passing arm and was pulled onto the bus as he continued to drive towards the exit. "What are you guys doing?!"
"We'll be back," Cloud shouted back as he had the bus open a portal and drove it through. "Okay, next stop. Midgar."
Getting used to the mansion life had been surprisingly easy for Athena. Not only were a good portion of the residents very nice of her, but Lyn wasn't kidding when she said she wasn't the only one with a troubled past. She met and related with a couple other residents. Right now the defense attorney was with her boss from the past in the game room. "So what am I like in the future anyway," Phoenix asked her. "I didn't become a ruthless person like Von Karma right?"
"Oh no, you're very much like you are now. Though you are a mentor now to me." She saw Phoenix breath a sigh of relief at that. Guess he was worried something would happen to him.
"Then, one other thing I'm curious about," Phoenix said, stroking his chin. "The Trucy from your time says she misses someone named 'Polly?' Who is that?"
Athena lit up for a bit before saying, "Oh Apollo was your mentee before me. You hired him before you even got your badge back. Right now though he's not in LA, he's abroad. It's been a few months since we last saw him and well we do miss him."
"So it seems. I can tell you're close with him. And Trucy too," Phoenix said. A crash was then heard in the room and the two looked to see that someone had flipped a card table after losing a round of poker and walked out. "Looks like Wario lost again."
Wario (Greedy Microgamer): No matter what I have, what's in the pool someone always manages to have a better set then me. Luigi must've set up the cards somehow!
Luigi (The Older Brother): I-a honestly just believe Wario doesn't have luck on-a his side. These cards aren't-a rigged.
"Do poker matches like those happen often," Athena had asked.
"Not often, but some get together sometimes and play," Phoenix said. He then got an idea. "Athena, how would you like to see your boss try his hand?"
Athena looked rather flabbergasted. "Wait, you play poker?! I had no idea."
"From what matches I have been a part of, I'm an ace player," Phoenix said. The former defense attorney then walked over to the card table. "Luigi, deal me in."
"Ah, I see Phoenix is-a joining us-a once again. Haven't-a seen you play since May," Luigi stated as he shuffled the cards. The other players were Decidueye, Ike, Krystal, and Mario. "I guess this-a works out for-a you since Wario left on-a us."
Phoenix went ahead and sat down in the chair Wario was in as Luigi dealt out the cards. Athena looked on with slight interest.
Portal Vortex
Tifa Lockhart (Childhood Friend): How long it's been since we were last in Midgar? I don't think we've been back there since the tournament started last year. So it's been sometime.
Cloud (ex-SOLDIER): When I first came to the mansion in 2015 I didn't exactly go back to Midgar until 2018. I got called back pretty quickly due to Ultimate though. Overall, I have been at the mansion more than home these past years.
Link (Champion of Hyrule): Visiting Cloud and Tifa's home world. That'll be interesting as they never said much about it. Given context clues I would imagine a great city with a forest and lake somewhere.
Music: Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII (Remix) - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
The bus holding the group off to Midgar was currently in for a bumpy ride. With Midgar's current location on the travel scale a dangerous route had to be taken. More time vortex openings were likely and the portal rocks were floating around. "Everyone is holding onto something right," Cloud asked the others in the back as he swerved to the left.
As the swerve was made Link ended up falling onto his face. "Well I was then you made a sharp turn," Link replied as he quickly got himself up."
"I've never seen the portal vortex like this before," Tifa said as another turn was made.
"I guess this is what happens when the fabric of time is coming loose," Lucina said. She was holding onto the seat in front of her.
"How much farther anyway," Corrin had asked. He was directly behind Cloud.
"You think I know," Cloud shot back. The ex-SOLDIER looked at the dashboard when he got the chance. "Just another minute, but we're gonna need to spin this bus a full 360 if we're gonna make it."
"I don't like the sound of that." Corrin gripped the seat he was holding harder.
"You really aren't," Cloud stated as a large cluster of rocks showed up. He then kicked the bus into a different gear and began to pilot it around all of them.
At this point Lucina lost her own grip on the seat and went flying to the other side of the bus. The impending crash caused the window to crack and Lucina to slightly slump. "Lucina," Tifa shouted with worry as she checked her for injuries. The future witness looked fine for the most part, but she was knocked out cold. "Cloud!"
"Made it," Cloud shouted as he cleared the rest of the rocks and sent the ship right for the exit portal.
Midgar
Once through the portal Link made his way to the front of the bus to see what the place looked like. "A lot of desert down here. Would've expected more life in this world," he said.
"Yeah not much to look at here, but we're close to the city," Cloud replied. He then turned the bus to go around a tall rock mountain. "Gonna be a bit though since we're on the ground. If we could fly this would be a lot quicker."
Corrin was making his way over to where Tifa and a knocked out Lucina were. "Is she gonna be okay," Corrin asked in worry.
"A concussion, but she should be fine. We'll have to take here somewhere she can rest when we do arrive though," Tifa said. She then got Lucina up off the floor of the bus and back onto a seat. "Midgar shouldn't be too far."
"What does Midgar look like anyway," Link asked. Cloud then directed Link's head towards the front window as he stopped and parked the bus by a ledge. Link couldn't believe what he was looking at. It looked like a giant metal structure but had been wrecked pretty badly. "That's Midgar?! What happened to it? I get the feeling it wasn't always looking like that."
Cloud got the bus moving again before grimly saying, "Sephiroth and a meteor happened. Like I said before it was a long story. Tifa only gave you a rushed version, so I now have to fill in the holes." Cloud got the bus on a downhill slope leading into the sector slums below. "Years ago, Sephiroth was a decorated war hero. The first SOLDIER, but things changed. He ended up becoming a threat to this world's destruction. After many, many things a meteor came and caused Midgar to become the way it is now. Everyone was evacuated beforehand, with help from the turks. Aerith was able to destroy the meteor and save what was left of the city and its people."
"Did you ever try rebuilding," Corrin asked.
"There's no hope for that, because of all the mako leaking around the city it's become uninhabitable," Tifa answered. She then noticed another city coming into view. "That is where we're going."
"Another city?"
"You could say that. We call this place Edge," Cloud said as he sped up the bus to make it there. "Once we arrive we'll see if we can find anyone we're on good terms with and ask some questions."
(Music ends)
Smash Mansion
Ryuji and Ann were now both in Futaba's room. The hermit herself was on the computer trying to look through the same website they were on. "What kind of blocker does Master Hand even use? Is this some sort of level where you're supposed to lose," Futaba asked herself as she continued to try and hack past the block.
"Master Hand is pretty powerful so I'd imagine he would do that," Ann said as Futaba continued to type furiously. "Futaba, he may have it blocked for a reason."
"And that reason might be able to help us prepare for what's to come," Futaba shot back. "I mean we get the chance to see what's supposed to happen in the near future, and I'm not letting that slide."
"Think that might be the point," Ryuji stated. The two looked at him, as if asking to elaborate. "I'm just saying, with what's going on now you think he may just be doing it as a precaution."
"I guess that is a possibility out of many but it's still frustrating," Futaba said. She tried one more time to get through the blocker before giving up. "Kasumi already told us plenty about what she did when she was with us in Royal, why does he have to have everything on her blocked?"
"Maybe we could ask him ourselves. Compared to this and the metaverse app showing up on our phones he may know something," Ann said.
Master Hand (Man of the mansion): What are the chances of the metaverse app showing up on their phones. I wouldn't say it's likely but it's entirely possible I guess. Maybe I should look more into that.
"Do you really think he would tell us that? He's kept secrets before," Futaba retorted. She fully knew what happened in October last year. "Can we trust him on this?"
"If he says it's best we don't know until a certain time then there's no point in investigating further. Only preparing for it," Ann replied.
"Well I guess there's only one way to find out then huh," Ryuji stated. After a round of nodding between the three they left the room in hopes of getting to Master Hand's office.
Speaking of Master Hand's office, that was where Kapp'n was running right now to inform him of the stolen bus. Though, he wasn't actually running, more like just walking at his own pace regardless of how urgent or the reason why they stole the bus. When the bus driver got into the office he noticed that Master Hand was once again doing paperwork. It took a couple seconds for the man on the mansion to even notice he was there.
"Ah, Kapp'n how are you," Master Hand greeted Kapp'n. The de facto bus driver went ahead and got up onto the chair across from his desk. "I don't see you in here often so I can only assume something happened."
"Something did happen in fact," Kapp'n said, "Cloud, Tifa, Corrin, Link, and Lucina hijacked one of our buses and took it out of the Smash World." The bus driver was expecting Master Hand to burst in fury, since stealing the buses like this was actually against mansion rule. Rule #28 Never use the bus unless you have approved permission to do so.
Mewtwo (Legendary Pokemon): Ah, that old rule. We implemented it because a certain someone decided to take it out for a joyride.
Captain Falcon (Racer): Look it was the first time we had a bus in the mansion I wanted to see how that baby did on the highway.
Falco (The Wingman): Guy then proceeded to crash it into the mall. And somehow got it all the way up to the second story.
Instead Master Hand just leaned back in his chair with a frustrated look. As he was in human form he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I told them to leave the whole Sephiroth business alone for the time being. And this is what they do."
"Master Hand?"
"Kapp'n thank you for bringing this to my attention. I know why they took that bus, and I'll deal with it when they return," Master Hand said before making a shooing gesture. Getting the message Kapp'n left the office shortly after. With him gone, Master Hand pressed the intercom button. "Anyone there with access to the empty rooms in the invite residential building?"
"In the kitchen of there right now, what's going on," Maria Renard said through her end.
"Maria, haven't heard from you in a bit. Anyway, if you could, can you please prep an empty room on the top floor for an arrival. I have a feeling we may have someone else coming out of a time vortex pretty soon," Master Hand said.
"I've been told not to doubt you when it comes to time matters. I'll get on that, maybe get Alucard to help." With that in mind Master Hand let the intercom signal go off and continued his work. He'd deal with Cloud's team soon enough.
Edge (Midgar)
Music: Cosmo Canyon (Remix) - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Eventually the bus pulled into the side of the street and came to a complete stop. Once the engine was off Cloud opened up the doors and the five got out. Due to Lucina still being slightly unconscious Corrin was supporting her. "First things first, we need to find either Barret or Yuffie. From there we can find a place where Lucina can rest for now," Cloud said as the group made their way through the city.
"No offense you guys but this place looks like it's in near ruin," Link said as they continued to walk. They passed by some people while they were at it. As they prepared to turn the corner the ground began to slightly shake. "Uuuh, are earthquakes common here?"
"They're supposed to be non-existent around here," Tifa said in shock. The ground then shook more violently this time. "What's going on."
"Everyone look out! Here they come again," said a random citizen as they closed their window. The group then watched as at least five time vortexes opened up around where they were and remained open before two spat out a rock before all closing.
"Looks like a rather tame one this time," said a citizen Cloud found familiar. He was in a cowboy-like attire, complete with the hat and vest. "This keeps up, things may not last here."
"Sam, what's going on," Cloud said, walking over to the man.
The man turned around and wore a face of recognition as he saw the ex-SOLDIER. "Well if it isn't Cloud. Nice to see you. You as well Tifa, and I see you brought some of your friends with you." He then noticed the expression Cloud wore, asking him to cut to the chase. "Right, recently these green portals of sorts have been showing up all over the place. Sometimes rocks come out of them at the very least. And if we're talking big a whole car came out of one at some point. You wouldn't happen to know anything about 'em do you."
"They're called time vortexes, special portals that can lead to anywhere in the past or future," Tifa answered in Cloud's place. "They've begun to show up in the Smash Island too. And when we learned of… something potentially happening here we came to find out what was going on."
"So this is a multiversal thing. I can't help you in that case, however, Yuffie luckily isn't in Radiant Garden right now. You can find her somewhere over there. Barret's with her," Sam said. He then noticed the chocobo with him was getting riled up. Quickly calming it down he said, "I may as well get this guy back to the ranch." Before walking away.
"The vortexes being frequent here must be because of that remake that was released nearly a year ago," Corrin said. Lucina seemed to be stirring. "We may want to get Lucina somewhere to lay down pretty quickly."
"This way," Cloud said before leading the group down the street once again.
Corrin (Dragon Prince): So our world isn't the only one being affected like this. Others are too? Oh man, I must say there are some people I definitely hope don't show up back home.
Kamui (Dragon Princess): Who would we not want to show up? Well, there are a number I guess, first and foremost though Garon is one. Definitely don't want him to return.
(end music)
They eventually came across a special building where Cloud simply knocked before opening the door. Once inside they saw a materia role across the floor. The ex-SOLDIER picked it up and looked to his right. Seeing Yuffie Kisaragi at a table. "Yuffie," Cloud simply said before tossing the materia back to her.
"Cloud, Tifa," Yuffie said as she caught the materia and stashed it. "Can't remember the last time I saw you two. Oh right, April." She was then bearing a less than happy face.
"You know my stance when it comes to the choice of living here or the Smash Mansion."
"And Tifa follows along with it. But I digress, it's nice to see you guys again. And nice to see you guys too I guess," Yuffie said, gesturing to Corrin, Link and Lucina. "Now that I see it, what happened to her?"
"Bumpy ride, ended up hitting her head on the bus wall so hard it knocked her out," Corrin said. "She's been stirring for awhile and we feel like we should have her laying down on something." Everyone then heard some large footsteps coming down the stairs. "Who's that?"
"That would be Barret," Tifa said as the man became visible coming down. Just like before on the Halberd he was wearing the same getup as last time. "Hello Barret."
"Well if it isn't Cloud and Tifa. Been awhile since we last saw you two, and I must say you chose quite the damn time to come back," Barret said. He then walked over to a cabinet and opened it. Pulling out a few glasses. "I'm sure you may have noticed on your way over here, but those Time Vortexes are popping up all over the place."
"Well it's not just here either. It may not be as frequent but they've showed up at the Smash Island as well," Cloud said to the two. "So it's a multiversal issue. Something happened there and Tifa and I decided to gather allies and scope things out here."
"What could've possibly happened on the island that would warrant a visit here," Yuffie asked. Barret had noticed Lucina at this point and directed Corrin up the stairs and towards the bedroom.
Cloud was silent first for a bit before saying, "Sephiroth has returned."
"Sephiroth," Barret said in his own shock. "So those vortexes aren't just spitting out items they've spat out people too?!"
"So far just people for us. There are two others on the Island that come from Earth in the year 2028," Link said, referring to Trucy and Athena. "Out of fear of what's going on we decided it was best to keep anyone displaced in the mansion for the time being."
"We're also wondering if anything strange has been going on here other than the vortexes themselves. Anything that's reappearing for no reason," Cloud asked.
"Well, unfortunately you're asking out of our territory now," Barret said. He then grabbed one of the glasses he filled with water and continued. "There have been some occurrences where it looked like certain parts of Midgar were phasing back into existence."
"We're not leading that part though. If you want to know more you'll need to go over to the old church in the sector 5 slums. Reno and Rude have been searching the area top to bottom," Yuffie said.
"I thought you said the city became unihatible," Corrin asked as he was coming down the stairs. Having laid Lucina down on a bed.
"Did I ever say people couldn't visit the area if they wanted too. As long as they don't stick around for too long they should be fine," Cloud said without even looking at the dragon prince. He then turned to walk out the door. "Let's go."
Smash Mansion
Azura was walking around the courtyard when she finally spotted Kamui coming out of the fighter residential building. Figuring now was the ideal time to talk to her the songstress walked over. When Kamui took notice of her, she didn't run for once, instead she just let Azura make her way over. "Kamui, I was hoping to speak with you," Azura said once she made it over.
"Hello Azura. Does this have anything to do with Valla," Kamui asked, full well knowing that was why she had been approached. Azura nodded. "Look I can explain-"
"Kamui, you and Corrin should both know that it is in your birthright to ascend the throne there. Without you two the kingdom would be lost."
"I never said anything about not ascending the throne!" This caused Azura to stop talking in shock. "Have I expressed a disinterest, yes, but it's not because I don't want to be a ruler. I just don't think I'm ready. A responsibility like that is very big."
"Kamui, you and your brother united and led an army," Azura said with a deadpanned expression.
"I know, but that's not the only reason either. While yes, I'm keen on one day taking the throne, I'm not sure Corrin could say the same thing," Kamui said. The two realized they had unconsciously walked to the courtyard and sat down. "We have been talking and it turns out, he doesn't wish to be a ruler."
"I see. I will have to talk with him about this of course. I'm sure what would happen if Valla only had one of its rulers," Azura said.
"If you want my honest opinion. I think only having one would be perfectly fine for Valla." Kamui said. Azura was going to be thinking long and hard about this.
The poker round in the game room had been going on for quite a bit now. And it was getting close to the end too. Once Phoenix had entered the results very much went in his favor. If no one could take the pot this round it would be ever. "Okay-a everyone this-a is the river," Luigi said as he put down a Queen of Diamonds. The other cards consisted of a 7 of spades, Jack of diamond, 7 of clubs, and an ace of diamonds. "This is-a the final round for-a this pot, Ike?"
Ike looked at his two card. He didn't have much left and was nearly all-in. With a shrug Ike went ahead and moved the last of his pieces forward. "All-in."
Mario was next the red plumber had already gone all-in though so he was skipped. Krystal was in the same boat so it was skipped for her too. Decidueye was last, the archer owl went ahead and turned his cards over to Luigi. "Fold. I'm not winning this one."
Phoenix was the last one, and he had not allowed Athena to see his hand. Eventually with a smirk Phoenix also said, "All-in." Greatly shocking the other at the table, knowing he was risking his win with this.
"A bold-a move. Let's-a hope it pays off," Luigi said. He then motioned for the others to reveal their hands. Ike only had a pair, Mario managed a three of a kind, and Krystal did get anything special. Phoenix however, had none other than… "A royal flush! Congrats Mr. Wright," Luigi said.
"That's-a the hardest thing to-a pull off-a in the deck. How did-a you get so good at poker," Mario asked.
Phoenix sheepishly grinned and held the back of his head. "Well I guess after being in as many trials as I have you really learn how to play your cards," he replied.
"Well I think it's safe to say you won this. Good game," Decidueye said before getting out of the chair and walking away from the table.
Trucy Wright (2021)(Phoenix's adopted daughter): I knew my daddy could do it. And he even did it without my help this time.
Ike (Young Mercenary): He put up a tough fight that's for sure. Won't tell others in case they end up going up against him. I'm gonna go see if there's any chicken in the kitchen.
"Boss, that was crazy," Athena said walking up to Phoenix. "I honestly had no idea you were that good. You didn't really talk about your disbarment much."
"Well that's because it's a whole part of my life that's behind me where you come from. Right now though, this is what it's like. And well I wouldn't be trading that anytime soon," Phoenix said. He then got an idea of a topic. "By the way, a bit of a word to the wise in the future. Master Hand plans to make it a rule that those from the future can't tell certain people what happens in their future."
Athena flinched at this knowing she hinted something to Lyn. "I'll keep that in mind for the future."
Sector 5 Slums (Midgar)
"Well this place looks like it's seen better days," Link said as they approached the old church in the slums. It looks like it had fallen apart in recent time, multiple bits of the roof were missing, but most of it was still intact.
"Would you believe me if I told you it looked like that even before the meteor," Tifa asked, to which Link shook his head no. "Fair enough."
"So why would those two guys Barret mentioned be here," Corrin asked.
"Because this place was rather important to Aerith. If she's going to come out of a vortex one day she'll likely end up here," Cloud said as he got up to the doors. He then opened them and walked in. Sure enough Reno and Rude were in the building.
Reno had bright red, spiky hair, a slightly unbuttoned suit, and black pants. And he also had goggles on his head. Rude however was wearing a very nicely put together black business suit, gloves, sunglasses, and was completely bald. Reno noticed the group walking in and said, "Well look who it is! Man it's been ages since I've seen you two."
"Reno," Cloud simply said. The ex-SOLDIER looked over at Rude and two shared a short nod. He then continued, "We're here from the Smash Mansion because a lot of things are happening right now. Due to something that happened the fabric of time is coming loose. Because of that."
"All those vortexes are showing up around here. And things are phasing back into existence because of it," Rude questioned walking over.
"Yes, this place is affected pretty badly due to something else back on Earth. It concerns the remake game," Tifa answered. "They've made it so it looks like what happened before won't happen again."
"Well that complicates things. So what is our home going to adapt to this new timeline. Some people stay alive, some come back to life, and some die," Reno asked. He was confused with the concept of the vortexes to begin with.
"That's what it would seem like," Corrin said. "Another thing is that the vortexes have spat out people before. So we were checking to see if anyone showed up over here. Barret said something about you two investigating things that aren't supposed to be here?" Reno was going to answer but then noticed the camera that was recording things.
Reno: Oh hey what's this?! Streaming some sort of reality show here? Well hello anyone that's watching this, name's Reno. *gets pulled away by Rude*
Rude: Terribly sorry for him. Had to get him out of that before he got too far.
"Can you guys please focus. This is serious business we're on here, besides they aren't showing anything live this is being recorded to be edited and shown at a later date," Cloud answered as Rude successfully pulled Reno away.
"Well if you must know nothing around here really has shown up. No rocks, no floorboards, not a single person. We were just about to leave in fact when you came in here," Rude answered.
"Well that stinks. How much time do we have left before we need to get back," Link asked.
"Not much. Look if there is anything that happens here that requires us to come right away, let us know," Tifa said as she handed the communication device to Rude. The turk nodded and pocketed it.
"So I assume the whole time thing is happening in the mansion too," Reno asked. Cloud nodded. "Yeah I guess that would cause some problems."
"We should be going now," Cloud said. As the group turned to leave though the ground shook again. "Another wave of vortexes?"
Green lightning spark and rang out across the church and over the floor. Eventually a large time vortex opened up and released a great force of wind, nearly sending everyone flying. "Whatever coming out of this one is huge," Link commented.
Eventually someone came flying out of the portal and landed into the pool of water below it. As the person stood up Cloud couldn't believe just who he was looking at. "Corrin if you can, contact Master Hand. There's someone coming back with us."
Smash Mansion
"This is the third time today someon has come into my office with a panicked expression, though I was not expecting you three," Master Hand said. In front of him were Ryuji, Futaba, and Ann. All of them were in chairs across from his desk. "So I assume this has something to do with the addition in Royal?"
"That and more. For instance we noticed you had everything on Kasumi blocked. Even the simple things she told us about were inaccessible. I'm kinda curious why it's necessary," Futaba asked.
"And I'm telling you that you will know when the time comes," Master Hand said. This didn't do much to satisfy them. "I can also tell that this isn't all."
"No. It's freaky but the metaverse app has been reappearing on our phones before disappearing again," Ryuji answered. Master Hand made a quick gesture if he could see for himself and Ryuji tossed him his own phone. After unlocking it and opening up the phone he did indeed notice the metaverse was phasing in an out of the home screen.
"We're also curious if that had anything to do with Royal," Ann asked.
"Well, I wasn't expecting that to happen, but yes it does," Master Hand said as he handed the phone back to Ryuji. "I can't explain everything, but I can at least tell you this. There will be another palace you will all go to. And in that palace will everything regarding your questions be answered."
"So our work really isn't done yet," Ann said. Master Hand nodded his head, indicating that was indeed the case. "Can we tell the others about this?"
"Well… I don't think it would cause too many problems. I can allow you to tell them, but you can't say anything about this to Kasumi. She will be affected the most due to that palace and it's best if she walks in blind."
"For real," Ryuji shouted, springing up from his seat. Futaba and Ann both looked on in their own shock. "We already kept it a secret from her if we knew her last year! You want us to keep more secrets?!"
"I am terribly sorry Ryuji but we don't have a choice!"
"Of course we have a choice, Master Hand! We could go into this fully prepared," Futaba shouted.
"Or… we could destroy the bits of the timeline we have left," Master Hand stated, distraught. "It's bad enough you guys know this is going to happen, if we deviate the timeline too much it could cause a whole mess of problems that we do not need right now. So please… don't say anything to Kasumi."
The three were silent, until they all nodded. Agreeing to what Master Hand had asked of them. "We'll see you at dinner," Ann said before leaving the office. Ryuji and Futaba left shortly afterwards.
Once the door was closed Master Hand leaned on his desk with his head in his hands. "How many more secrets do I have to keep before everything comes tumbling down," Master Hand said to himself. He then saw the intercom button on his desk flashing. Pressing it he asked, "What is it?"
"Master Hand, Cloud and his group are back," Kapp'n said. Master Hand lifted his had off the table at this. "Someone has come back with them, Cloud said she from the past she's supposed to be dead right now."
"Please direct them to here immediately, Kapp'n," Master Hand asked before taking a finger off the intercom. He then went into where he was keeping track of residents and went ahead and typed in a single name. He then watched as the door to the office opened and Cloud walked in with someone else in tow. "That was quite the stunt you pulled their Mr. Strife."
"Well someone's mad," said the new person.
"He's like that when someone disobeys him," Cloud simply stated. "Master Hand this is a friend of Tifa and mine on Midgar. As you probably already know she's not supposed to be here."
"Already have her down Cloud. I had a feeling you'd bring her here. Though, how about we properly introduce ourselves," Master Hand said. He then walked over to the young woman and held out his hand. "So what's your name miss?"
"Aerith," said the girl, shaking Master Hand's hand. "Aerith Gainsborough."
To Be Continued…
Music Used (In order of Appearance):
Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII (Remix) - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Music: Cosmo Canyon (Remix) - Super Smash Bros. UltimateThe cover art will be updated to show Aerith's materia flying out of a portal momentarily.
(1) When I realized I could've used Azura in the concert episode last season.
(2) For those that don't remember or need a quick refresher. Futaba and Morgana were both temporary residents in Season 3. With Morgana staying as a permanent afterwards and Futaba coming back in Season 5.
