Welcome back, everyone! I hope you're ready for another great chapter of this story. I've got a lot of cool things in store for this chapter, and I hope you enjoy.

Happy Halloween, everyone! In honor of this spooky holiday, I've dedicated this chapter to one of the most horrible monsters within Nintendo's library. Those of you who have played Xenoblade Chronicles should know what I'm talking about. Let's get it on, shall we?

Super Smash Bros. © Nintendo/Masahiro Sakurai

*outside Lucina's room*

*8:30 AM*

*knock knock knock*

"Lucina, are you in there?" Shulk asked.

"Who is it?" She asked from behind the door.

"It's Shulk. I think I left the Monado in your room last night after our chat. Do you mind if I run in and grab it?" Shulk stated.

A few moments of silence passed before anything happened. Shulk was about to repeat his question, but then he felt something hit his foot. He slowly bent down to pick up whatever had brushed up against his foot. It was Lucina's room key.

"Enter." She said.

Shulk put the key in the lock and entered the room. Sure enough, he saw the Monado leaning up against the wall. He walked across the room and grabbed it, strapping it to his back. He then turned around and saw Lucina from behind grabbing a shirt and preparing to put it on. She appeared to have several strands of tape across her chest. Shulk immediately looked away.

"Whoa!" He shouted.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know you were getting dressed!" Shulk said, still refusing to look at her.

Lucina looked down and realized the only thing on her upper body was her makeshift bra. She blushed a bright red and attempted to cover herself, even though her back was to Shulk. She quickly threw her shirt on and grabbed the rest of her uniform.

"Oh gods! Why did I let you come in?! You didn't… see anything, did you?" She asked.

"No, I didn't! I swear!" Shulk said.

Lucina calmed down slightly as she quickly put on the rest of her outfit. She then turned to face Shulk.

"It's alright, you can look now." Lucina reassured.

Shulk slowly turned to face her and sighed when he saw she was fully clothed.

"Lucina, I'm so sorry! I didn't know…" Shulk started.

"Enough. I suppose it is my own fault for allowing you to come in when I had no shirt on. As long as you saw nothing… explicit, I can let it go, just this once." Lucina stated.

"Don't worry, I didn't. I only saw you from the back, anyway." Shulk said.

"Good." Lucina replied as they walked out of her room together.

"If you don't mind me asking, was that… tape, across your chest?" Shulk asked.

"…Yes." She replied after a moment's hesitation.

"Well, why would you…?" He started.

Lucina had a pretty good idea what he was about to ask and cut him off.

"If you recall from my story, when I first arrived in the past, I had disguised myself as a man. In doing so, I had to hide anything that could… give me away as a woman. Even after I was discovered, I still kept doing it, perhaps out of habit. And I continue to do so, even now. Even if it makes me look not as beautiful as others like Zelda or Peach or, gods forbid, Samus. Now please, no more questions about my clothing, or I will get really mad."

"Alright. But… if it means anything to you… I don't think that way about you." Shulk said hesitantly.

"No?" Lucina inquired.

"No. And anyone who says otherwise is a damn fool who ought to be shown the business end of the Monado." Shulk said, hoping to boost her confidence.

Lucina actually found herself stifling a chuckle at the mental image of Shulk chasing Inigo around with his powerful blade. Once her little fantasy ended, she began speaking again.

"Anyway, shall we head to the main hall? I'm anxious to see this week's fighting schedule."

"Yeah, so am I. Let's go." Shulk responded.

It had been several months since the tournament first began, and Master Hand had announced that he would be bringing back a few functions from the previous tournaments, such as team fights. Once Shulk and Lucina made it to the main hall, they took a look at the week's fighting schedule.

"Let's see here. When do I fight next? Hmm. Oh! It looks like you and me are gonna have a fight together later today." Shulk exclaimed.

"Are we, now?" Lucina asked.

"Yeah, it's you 'n' me against Wario and Pikachu at… Alright! Gaur Plain!" Shulk said happily.

"Gaur Plain. Is this an area from your home world, Shulk?" Lucina inquired.

"Yeah. It's where I made the jump from my world to this one. Since I've been here, I've yet to actually fight there. I can't wait! It's gonna be at 5:00." Shulk said.

"Very well then, I shall see you at 5:00." Lucina said.

"See ya then." Shulk said as he and Lucina went their separate ways.

*4:57 PM*

Shulk and Lucina were both standing just outside the Transporter Room waiting for their opponents to arrive. The schedule had said that this fight would be one stock match, so no one expected it to last that long. Still, it would be fun, all the same. Shortly thereafter, the two sword wielders saw a small yellow Pokémon come down the hallway toward them.

"Hey there, Pikachu. Ready for a fun match?" Shulk asked.

"Pika Pi!" The electric rodent said while nodding.

The three of them then stood waiting for Wario to show up. They waited for a solid 10 minutes until he finally made his way to the Transporter Room.

"So, you losers ready to get this over with or what?" Wario asked while picking his nose.

"Where were you? We were supposed to begin the match nearly 10 minutes ago." Lucina asked.

"Whatever. So, you ready to lose?" Wario replied.

"We'll see." Shulk said as he and everyone else stepped inside the Transporter Room.

The 4 combatants stood on individual platforms as they began to glow and send them to their destination.

*in Gaur Plain*

Shulk and Lucina stood atop a large rock platform taking up nearly half the stage while Wario and Pikachu stood atop another rock platform of a similar length.

"This world has some… interesting rock formations, Shulk." Lucina said as she looked around.

"You think so?" Shulk asked.

Before their conversation could go any further, the battle announcer's voice began counting down to the fight.

3

2

1

GO!

The two sides immediately ran toward each other, ready for battle. Lucina jumped down onto a rectangular rock formation below one of the main rock platforms. Shulk, on the other hand, jumped onto the rock platform opposite the one he started out on. Wario and Pikachu immediately jumped after their opponents.

Lucina moved toward Wario and attempted to strike him, but he merely knocked her upward with his forehead. Shulk retaliated by jumping down next to Wario and knocking him skyward with the Monado. Both Wario and Pikachu jumped at the pair but Shulk jumped up, allowing Lucina a chance to attack. With one sword swing, she sent her two opponents flying in two separate directions. Wario fell back while Pikachu attempted to use his Skull Bash move. Unfortunately, it wasn't very effective, as Lucina dodged and Shulk's eyes began glowing. He also sidestepped the attack then swung the Monado behind him, sending Pikachu flying backwards a short ways. The two sword wielders jumped after the Pokémon as Wario also came toward them.

Wario tried attacking Shulk, but the blonde-haired fighter simply swung his sword, hitting both Wario and Pikachu, knocking them toward Lucina, who knocked them both upward with a swift strike of her sword. Wario jumped away from Lucina, heading toward Shulk, while Pikachu went toward Lucina again, only to get knocked onto one of the rock platforms.

Shulk then jumped up and ran after Pikachu while Lucina stayed behind to deal with Wario. She knocked the fat man a ways away with a powerful sword strike, but he recovered and jumped after her. Meanwhile, Pikachu ducked under Shulk to go after Lucina again, but Shulk pursued. The four of them danced around each other for some time until Lucina managed to knock Wario away from her again. While this was happening, Pikachu grabbed Shulk and sent a few volts of electricity through the Monado wielder's body. Wario jumped back up, then he grabbed Shulk by the collar and bashed his skull against Shulk's. Shulk escaped Wario's grasp and swung the Monado at the ground below the overweight fighter, knocking him back. Pikachu was also caught in the attack, as he had attempted to get a decent hit in on Lucina.

"This is going pretty well so far, wouldn't you say?" Shulk asked his partner.

"I would, Shulk. But we cannot stop now. We must press forward." Lucina replied.

The two teams jumped around each other for a few seconds, with no one landing a decent hit on anyone from the opposing team. Until at last, Shulk swung the Monado at the opposing pair, sending them back while he and Lucina jumped on top of one of the rock platforms.

They all met up again, and immediately Lucina sent a stab toward Wario's feet. He quickly jumped back up, however, and hit Shulk and Lucina skyward by throwing his hands skyward. They responded by swinging their swords at their opponents, throwing the both of them about halfway across the stage. Pikachu and Wario recovered and prepared to attack again. Pikachu sent a lighting ball in their direction, but it missed. Once they landed in front of the two sword users, they were quickly knocked away by Lucina again, but not before both she and Shulk were shocked by Pikachu.

In an attempt to keep both of them off Lucina, Shulk jumped toward the other side of the stage, hoping to get one of his enemies to follow him. It worked, as Wario came after him, leaving Lucina alone with Pikachu.

Pikachu grabbed Lucina and shocked her a few times before she escaped his grasp. Meanwhile, Shulk managed to throw Wario up to the rock platform at the top of the stage, then jumped up to pursue. He then ran toward Wario, ready to strike him off the stage.

"What do you lot think you're doing, then?"

Shulk froze dead in his tracks and his blood ran cold at the sound of this voice. He would know that voice anywhere. It was a voice that he had hoped to never hear again. A voice he thought was silenced a long time ago. This wasn't possible. How could he of all people be here? How could this be? How could this be?!

Shulk turned around and his fears were confirmed. Right before him stood an extremely large mechanical beast. The same one that had attacked his colony, killed several innocents, including his good friend Fiora, supposedly. Before him stood the Mechon called Metal Face, also known as Mumkhar.

"There we go." Mumkhar said as he perched between the two rock platforms.

Lucina, Wario, and Pikachu didn't know what to make of this new arrival, but they all agreed that he looked absolutely terrifying and was probably not going to be friendly. Lucina looked over at Shulk and saw only a look of terror on his face, which only led her suspicions to grow.

Pikachu approached the metal monstrosity, readying an electric attack. But as soon as he got close, Metal Face swiped his massive claw at the little Pokémon, injuring the poor creature and sending him flying across the stage, until he hit the invisible barrier with a shriek of pain.

"Come near my claws and you might get a nasty surprise." Metal Face said.

"Wah! Screw this! I'm getting out of here!" Wario said as he cowered as far away from the Mechon as he could.

Shulk continued to stare in shock and horror as Lucina came up right next to him.

"Shulk, are you alright? What is that thing?" She asked.

Shulk ignored her and pointed the Monado at Metal Face, then screamed:

"You! What are you doing here?! How are you here?!"

Metal Face turned to look at Shulk, and as soon as he saw the Monado wielder, he stared at the boy for some time.

"If it isn't the puny boy himself! You miss me?" Mumkhar taunted.

"No! How are you here?! You died! I saw you die at Sword Valley! We saw your remains on the Fallen Arm!" Shulk screamed.

"I dunno about the specifics, but I got brought back to life by some big, floating hand. He told me I could live again, and all I had to do was stir up some trouble amongst you puny fighters. Fair trade, if you ask me." Mumkhar explained.

"Master Hand! But… why?" Shulk muttered to himself.

"Shulk? Is this one of those creatures from…? What was it? Mack-ohn-nys?" Lucina asked.

"You mean Mechonis? And yes, that is a Mechon. But not just any Mechon, that's the same one that betrayed his entire race to Mechonis, attacked my colony, killed so many innocent people, including Fiora. That's Mumkhar!" Shulk shouted.

Lucina's eyes widened with shock. She had remembered what Shulk said about Mumkhar while telling his tale. All the horrible things he had done, the selfish reasons he had done them, and how he had done them from inside a giant machine. She didn't know what that meant at the time, but now she understood.

"You mean to say that there is a person inside that… thing?" She asked.

"Yes." Shulk answered.

"Aww. Has Monado Boy gone and found himself a new girlfriend? No matter, I'll squish her like a bug while you watch, then use that ugly sword of hers to scrape the gunk off of my machine." Mumkhar said.

"How dare you insult me and Falchion in such a manner! Face me, monster!" Lucina shouted.

She ran across the rock platform toward Metal Face. Shulk was about to attack Metal Face himself, but suddenly his eyes began to glow.

He was having a vision.

Lucina continued to run toward Metal Face, raising her sword for a strike. As she ran, Metal Face reared back one of his claws, preparing to use it against Lucina. Unfortunately, Lucina didn't seem to notice this.

"Let's see if you can hit me, girl. I doubt you can make the CUT!" Mumkhar said as Lucina came at him.

At that last word, Mumkhar swiped his claw at Lucina. She screamed in agony as the claws cut deep into her flesh. She dropped her sword as she was thrown to the side and fell into the abyss below. She had three deep cuts across her body and one across her face, each one spurting large amounts of her blood. Metal Face's claws were also tainted a deep crimson red.

Shulk was returned to reality as the vision ended. He then looked ahead at Lucina, who was still running.

"Lucina, wait! No! STOP!" He shouted.

Lucina continued to run toward Metal Face, raising her sword for a strike. As she ran, Metal Face reared back one of his claws, preparing to use it against Lucina. Unfortunately, Lucina didn't seem to notice this.

"Let's see if you can hit me, girl. I doubt you can make the CUT!" Mumkhar said as Lucina came at him.

At that last word, Mumkhar swiped his claw at Lucina. Fortunately, it never hit her. It was blocked by the Monado's blade. Shulk had managed to run past her and block the fatal blow with the help of his Speed Art.

"Don't you ever stay out the way?!" Mumkhar shouted.

"Never! I'll never back down as long as one of my friends is in danger!" Shulk replied.

"So be it. Let's pick up where we left off, shall we?" The Mechon said.

With that, he flew a few feet into the air readying another attack. He then came crashing back down, burying his claws deep into the ground. Shulk and Lucina just barely managed to dodge the attack. Metal Face pulled his claws out of the ground and faced the duo again.

"Stop right there!" An unseen voice boomed.

Shulk and Lucina recognized the voice as that of Master Hand. Shulk was hoping for an explanation as to why one of his biggest enemies was here, especially since Mumkhar stated that Master Hand was responsible for his resurrection.

"Your orders were to only attack the fighters when they got close to you, and to refrain from using any lethal blows. Not to pursue them and actively try to kill them. Stand down, now. Otherwise the deal is off, Metal Face." Master Hand commanded.

"Oh, shove it, you stupid glove! I'm through taking orders from you! I'm gonna start doing things my way now! Starting with finishing what I started with Monado boy here." Mumkhar said.

With that, Metal Face brought one of his massive claws down on Shulk, who blocked them with the Monado's red blade. He then pushed the claw off of him and went on the offensive. He swung the Monado at Metal Face's arm, but the Mechon retracted his arm.

Lucina ran under Metal Face and stood behind his legs. She then swung Falchion at the back of his leg, creating a sizeable cut. The cut sparked and cackled with electrical energy as Metal Face shrieked and was forced down on one knee.

"How did you do that?! The only weapon from Bionis that can hurt Mechon is the Monado!" Shulk asked.

"I'm not from Bionis, Shulk." Lucina reminded.

Metal Face got back up and faced Lucina. He swiped a claw at her, but she deflected it with a swing of her sword. She then began swinging her sword in a series of movements, starting with a hard blow, then a quick cut, and ending with a series of jabs. Mumkhar screeched in pain as the attack hit.

"You'll pay for that!" He shouted.

He prepared another claw strike, aiming at Lucina once again. But at that moment, Shulk ran forward and intercepted the attack with the Monado. He then activated his Buster Art and swung at Metal Face's arm, causing serious damage. He then jumped up and hit Metal Face in the chest twice.

"Air Slash!" Shulk yelled as he attacked.

Mumkhar was knocked back by the attack, but recovered and swiped both claws at Shulk. He was knocked across the ground by the attack until he stopped near the stage's barrier.

"Shulk!" Lucina called worriedly.

She then approached Metal Face, sword gripped tight in her grasp. The large Mechon brought both sets of claws down on her, but she rolled out of the way both times and swung her sword at Metal Face. She then blocked another blow from him, keeping his massive claw at a distance with Falchion. He was about to run her through with his other claw, but at that moment, Shulk came back in and knocked the claw away. He then swung the Monado right at the base of Metal Face's arm.

"You're gonna pay for that, boy!" Mumkhar shouted.

Metal Face proceeded to fly into the air and charge up the laser on top of his head. Mumkhar then pointed the laser at the two warriors below him.

"Lucina, watch out!" Shulk shouted.

Metal Face then fired his laser down below. At the last second, Shulk pushed Lucina out of the way. The laser hit the edge of the rock platform and completely blew it away. Fortunately, Lucina and Shulk were unharmed.

"Are you OK?" Shulk asked as he and Lucina got to their feet.

"I'm fine. Look out!" She shouted.

Metal face came back down on them, hard. The two of them just barely managed to avoid being crushed by Metal Face's large legs. They quickly regained their composure and attacked once again.

Shulk jumped up and landed a blow on Metal Face's mechanical wing, seriously damaging it. While this was happening, Lucina swiped her sword at Metal Face's abdomen before running under his legs to attack from behind. Shulk continued his attack by swinging the Monado at Metal Face's back with another Air Slash. Shulk then gripped his Monado and went through his Arts before finding the desired one.

"Jump!" He shouted.

Metal Face tried to swipe his massive claws at Shulk again, but the Monado wielder simply jumped out of the way. Once he landed, he jumped incredibly high into the air, completely soaring over Metal Face's head. He then jumped up again and brought the Monado down on the engines on Metal Face's back.

"Back Slash!" Shulk yelled as he performed the attack.

As soon as the Monado made contact with Metal Face, time seemed to stop for a split second. A series of explosions then surrounded Metal Face as the machine began to buckle and come apart.

"This ain't how it's meant to go!" Mumkhar screamed as his machine kept exploding.

Mumkhar continued to scream as his Mechon began falling into the abyss below. Shulk and Lucina merely looked on as they saw the mechanical monstrosity fall.

"Phew. Glad that's over." Shulk said as he was catching his breath.

"So am I. Shulk, might I ask you what exactly that… Gah!" Lucina shouted.

Shulk turned around and saw that Lucina had been kicked in the back by Wario, who had finally come out of his hiding spot now that Metal Face was gone.

"That was a dirty trick, Wario!" Shulk angrily shouted.

"Please. Whoever accused me of playing fair?" Wario replied.

Wario immediately grabbed Shulk by the collar and punched him in the face no less than three times. He then threw Shulk behind him. Shulk responded by grabbing Wario's shirt, hitting him in the head with the Monado's handle, then slicing him with the powerful blade. The attack almost got Wario to hit the stage's invisible barrier. However, the fat man got up and kept on attacking.

Lucina tried swinging her sword at Wario, but he dodged by jumping off the rock platform and onto the rectangular rock formation below. Unfortunately for him, Shulk was waiting for him down there. Shulk jabbed the Monado at Wario, hitting him with both the red and blue blades. The attack sent Wario flying more than halfway across the stage. Wario landed on his back as Shulk and Lucina pursued him.

Wario managed to avoid several of their attacks and finally managed to land a decent blow himself, punching Lucina in the face. Shulk landed a follow up attach, quickly followed by another one from Lucina. Wario was again almost KO'd, but remained on the stage.

He got back onto the undamaged rock platform and again punched Shulk away from him, but then Lucina came in and grabbed him. She kneed him in his overweight stomach a few times before throwing him to the side. She followed him and attempted to knock him off the stage once and for all. However, Wario dodged the attack and hit her with a spinning attack, which knocked her into the invisible barrier, KO'ing the blue haired warrior.

"Lucina!" Shulk cried worriedly as his friend disappeared.

With only Shulk and Wario left, the battle was about to come to an end and they both knew it. Wario ran away from Shulk as fast as he could, since he knew he was at a major disadvantage. However, Shulk eventually caught up and swung the Monado at him. Unfortunately, he missed and Wario took the opportunity to counterattack. He punched Shulk in the gut and jaw, knocking him up and on top of the damaged rock platform. Wario jumped after him, thinking he finally had Shulk on the ropes. However, Shulk simply swung the Monado behind him, hitting Wario square in the stomach. The attack launched Wario all the way into the invisible barrier, KO'ing Wario and finally ending the match.

"GAME!" The battle announcer declared.

"The winners are: Shulk and Lucina!" The announcer said.

As soon as everyone was back in the Transporter Room, the first thing Shulk did was run over to Lucina, who looked exhausted and ready to collapse from the battle with both Metal Face and the two Smashers.

"Lucina! Are you OK? You alright?" Shulk asked.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I'll be alright." Lucina answered in between breaths.

Wario, ever a sore loser, went over to Shulk and Lucina.

"Hmph! I hope you know you only won because that stupid robot…" Wario started.

"MASTER HAND!" Shulk angrily shouted, completely ignoring Wario.

On cue, Master Hand himself came into the room. Wario left in a huff as the large hand went over to Shulk and Lucina.

"I suppose I have some explaining to do." Master Hand said sheepishly.

"Yes, you do! What was that all about back there?! How is Mumkhar alive?! Why did you bring him back?! Why did you ever think making a deal with him would be a good idea?! He tried to kill us!" Shulk shouted.

"Alright, alright. Calm down, please. To answer your questions, yes, I did bring Mumkhar back to life. I did the same to a few other major enemies of some Smashers here. I wanted to make a few of the stages a little more exciting. I told him that if he would only attack others when they attacked him and didn't use any killing blows, he could stay alive. And for a time, it worked out. I didn't think he would break this deal even if he saw his biggest enemy, you. Now I see that I should have kept him on a shorter leash. I should have realized that he wasn't simply a robot that could be reprogramed like the Yellow Devil or a mindless beast like Ridley. I am deeply, truly sorry to the both of you for putting you in this position. This is meant to be a tournament of fun, not one of life and death. As a token of apology, the both of you will be excused from all fights for the rest of the month, with pay. I'll also repair the damage done to Gaur Plain, and make sure Metal Face is gone for good. He'll not ever be part of that stage again, I swear it." Master Hand said.

Shulk was still unhappy over the whole situation, but decided to accept Master Hand's apology and move on from the whole thing.

"Is Pikachu alright?" Lucina said, finally speaking up.

"As soon as he was knocked out by Metal Face, I had him brought to the Mansion's medical wing. Dr. Mario is treating him now. He should be fine. And again, I'm sorry for this whole thing." Master Hand said before floating off.

Once he was gone, Shulk and Lucina slowly walked out of the Transporter Room.

"You sure you're fine, Lucina?" Shulk asked.

"Yes. I'll be fine, don't worry. But I do have several questions about that creature we faced." She replied.

"Like what?" Shulk said.

"Well…"

Another chapter come and gone. Hooray for me!

What great timing for me to get this out. A chapter about a big metal monster published on a day celebrating monsters. I honestly didn't think I'd have this chapter done by now. But here we are. I only hope the next chapter comes out before the next big holiday.

Speaking of, the next chapter will involve some visitors coming to the Smash Mansion. What visitors, you might ask? Well, stay tuned to find out.

If you liked this chapter, show your support by dropping a follow, favorite, or review my way. I'd greatly appreciate it. I would also appreciate a lack of negative or hurtful comments.

Until next time, see you later. Have a happy Halloween, folks! BOO!