When the light of the explosion cleared away, Kirby and Mario found themselves at the crossroad again, with the pieces of the false giant R.O.B. they had defeated strewn about before them for a brief moment—vanishing into thin air after a short while. The black Mario responsible for defeating the humongous mecha turned to his comrades with a bright smile and a thumbs up, though it did not last long once his body glowed and dispersed into light, leaving behind the spirit of light that had allied with Kirby and Mario.
"Say, that's-a nice power you got there," Mario complimented. "That really helped us outta that jam!"
' !'
'Eevee! Vee!' As Eevee and the nameless spirit playfully nuzzled against each other—with Mario adoring the sight—Kirby noticed something large and imposing wrapped in a multicolored aura descending upon them, and he pointed this development out to the others. As they watched, they could make out its large six-legged hull covered in grass and moss, and bright orange lights ran across its large frame while cyan lights came alive throughout its head. When it finally landed, the giant robot's cycloptic lens flared to life once again.
*BONG*
Cautiously, the guardian stalker surveyed its surroundings and concluded that it was at the crossroad from before its battle against the fighters. Curious, it was, since it did not see any of the fighters themselves, at least not until it felt a light tap on one of its legs. Angling its eye downward, it spotted Kirby prodding at its leg, trying to get its attention. When Kirby realized he had its attention, he gave it his famous two-handed wave meant to assure the machine that he was of no threat, though much to Mario's and the other spirits' horror the ancient robot had picked Kirby up in one of its claws. For a minute Kirby and the guardian stalker simply stared into each other's eyes (or eye in the guardian's case), and to everyone else's eventual relief the robot eventually sat Kirby back down gently on the ground, expressing silent gratitude toward the star warrior and his friends for freeing it. Kirby gave a happy little twirl and stuck a pose on his foot, shortly before feeling the fatigue of several consecutive battles get to him and culminating in him falling forward into a tired position.
"Kirby!" Mario rushed toward the little guy and did him a once-over to make sure he was alright. Thankfully, the lad had fallen asleep, and Mario knew a nap and food was all Kirby needed to regain his strength. "Phew, he's just-a tired…" Truth be told, Mario was too after just having the tar beat out of him by Kirby and then almost getting gotten by the guardian stalker, and he could tell that everyone else was too. If only there was a safe enough spot in this death world for them to rest…
'…' What happened next was that the guardian stalker had picked the sleeping Kirby up again, but this time the machine had placed the boy atop its head, letting him rest there for the time being. Mario found it to be kind of sweet for a robot to do that, and the next thing he knew he was being swept up towards the guardian's huge hull by two of its appendages.
"Oh, aren'tcha the caring type eh? *yawn* Welp, guess I-a better get some shut eye too. Wake us up if-a somethin' happens yeah?" The man stretched out against the guardian stalker's frame and found himself drifting off to sleep along with his cap companion, followed by the Eevee and Smoky Progg spirits finding a spot to nap on Mario's body. With everyone asleep, the guardian stalker did a double take of its surroundings to ensure the lack of hostility nearby, and its sensors picked up the life readings of at least three hostile lifeforms rather close by, presumably one stationed at each end of the crossroad. Not wanting to take chances and risk getting its newfound allies killed, the guardian stalker quickly backpedaled away from the area toward a safer spot. Down the road it could see a hilltop overlooking the area, and it kicked its limbs into gear and made haste to the hilltop where the group would not be disturbed, also making sure not to drop any of its occupants on the way. Eventually, it had finally reached its destination, climbing up to the top of the hill and releasing Mario from its hold to lay on the grass below, and it carefully plucked Kirby from the top of its head to rest nearby the man. The guardian stalker, of course, remained ever vigilant and took to watching over the group until the had slept away their exhaustion; that was where it had laid its eye upon the fell god responsible for the universe's situation, and for a while the two locked glares with one another. The guardian stalker silently swore that the abomination of light would dearly rue its every action either through its own hands or another's. With that settled, it returned to its peaceful patrol over the hilltop.
'Hooooooo…' came a sleepy call. The guardian searched the immediate area wondering where the sound came from, and it found a red female owl apparently just waking up beside it. In her tired daze, when she looked at the massive machine she did not falter in her mood, instead cordially greeting it. 'Hello there, my name is Celeste, Museum Observatory Operator of Smashville. And you are?' The guardian recognized it as a fellow disembodied spirit freed by Kirby and Mario's group, and after disengaging some of its aggro protocols it allowed itself a peaceful conversation with the lady.
'…'
'Oh my, you are a guardian you say—as in, a guardian from an ancient kingdom? My, that is simply fascinating! Of where do you hail from?' The two spirits held their chat for what seemed like ages, and the guardian was pleasantly surprised with how sociable the little bird was, finding her an enjoyable person to talk with. Likewise, Celeste was simply taken in by everything the guardian had spoke of with her; though it had no mouth she could hear its spoken thoughts just fine, and with a compassionate ear she listened to all of its recounting from its creation and active duty to its fall from grace and subsequent liberation. The guardian need not fear for much else anymore, though it had expressed a clear concern for the hero and princess of Hyrule.
'I understand how that feels. I too worry about everyone and just hope that they're alright, especially the young'uns. Those children running for mayor, and their adorable assistant Isabelle… We see them from the sidelines sometimes, other times we don't. I always root them on so they can do their best in this little shindig, but now…I just want them to be safe out here…' The guardian had just realized that; there were innocent children out in the world, ripped away from their worlds and killed all the same as everyone else. Children who were likely scared out of their minds and wondering what in all of heaven and hell is going on, and there was nothing they could do about it. That thought depressed the guardian, and it wondered just who else was out there, crying out for help. 'Aw, I'm sorry for making this take a sad turn. I just can't help it with all that's going on now, but I have to keep staying strong for everyone back home and for the little ones out there.' The guardian could agree with the sentiment; it must remain strong and vigilant for the sake of this world, and until the day came where peace would finally take reign for many years to come it would not rest.
Hours had passed into the sunset evening, and the two spirits continued their talk of various things ranging from serious topics to more mundane ones, and this was when the fighters began to stir from their naps.
"Hoooooweeeee…" Mario yawned with a stretch. "That was a…gouda dream."
"Was that necessary Master Mario?" Cappy complained as he roused from his slumber.
"Aw come on-a Cappy. I gotta make at least-a one pun a day, right?"
"Once a day? Goodness Master Mario, you certainly have interesting hobbies…" The man rose to his feet and stretched the sleep out from his bones. "Mmm, feels good to be back at one-hundred percent again! Hey Kirby, you—oh." The star warrior was still snoozing away, occasionally rolling over to one side in his sleep—a simply precious sight for sure to anyone watching. "Actually, let's let 'im rest for a little longer; he's done a lot already, so he deserves this." The rest of the group simply sat and enjoyed the scenery; despite Galeem messing everything up, the sky still looked absolutely beautiful from where they could see it, and no amount of hardships could take that from them. Soon, Kirby started stirring from his sleep, sitting himself up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes before he opened them. He saw everyone watching him with smiles on their faces, and he broke into one of his own.
"Rise and shine little fella!" Mario greeted. "Had a nice-a nap?" Kirby never felt better—actually that was a complete lie, but still the point still stood in that Kirby was rarely so refreshed in his life. With a fist pump Kirby was ready for action. "Glad to hear it little buddy! Everybody else ready to go?"
"Ready when you are Master Mario."
"I AM READY TO PROCEED FURTHER ON THE JOURNEY MARIO."
'Vee, Eevee vee!'
'Ready to go sweeties.'
"Oh hey, I don't think I-a met you yet. I do think I've seen you in either Smash-a-ville or Town and City—one of those two though I-a can't remember which. Glad to have-a you on the team miss!"
'Oh, thank you dearie! My name is Celeste; a pleasure to meet you!'
"Likewise!" Mario and Celeste shook hands and then the group was off, making their way back downhill all the way back to the crossroad where they had met the guardian. Before they could reach the center of it, a strange voiced had spoken to the group out of nowhere, sounding familiar but hard to pinpoint for certain
Your friends await you at each of the crossroad's ends ahead… You must carefully consider who you wish to save and who you will leave behind…
"Wait, what's-a that mean? We have to pick-a someone and ditch the rest? That doesn't seem-a right to me." The group walked up to the middle of the crossroad and found three of their friends patiently waiting for them at each end. The path leading west was blocked off by Prince Mars Lowell, affectionately known as "Marth", who stood with his Falchion drawn and his steely eyes boring holes into the group. Toward the north end was Princess Zelda Wakana Hyrule IV, adopting "Sheik" persona, and she readied her variant of the traditional Sheikah-jutsu stance. Lastly, to the east was one of the Smashville mayor candidates, the one specifically known as "Redd Smascevilla" or something along those lines, and in his hands was his trusty bug-catching net. All three of them were enclosed within a single wing strip and encircled by halos with shimmering blues auras just as Mario had been, and they stared expectantly at the group waiting for them to make their choice; deep down the trio knew that this was a hard decision for their friends to make, and it wouldn't be made after careful deliberation.
"Geez-Louise… Which one do we-a go after?" The guardian was easily in favor of rescuing the princess above virtually anything else, but at the same time it did not want to abandon the children that its new friend Celeste cared for so deeply. Celeste was obviously very anxious and worried for the villager children, and it was in her nature to want to save them, but she couldn't do it at the expense of the other fighters despite not knowing the other two as well. Mario simply didn't know who to choose; between Marth, Sheik, and the villager boy, all of them were potent fighters in their own rights and would be invaluable in helping them out, but under the assumption of taking one of them while permanently leaving the other two behind made him not want to choose, and Kirby was in the same boat as Mario. It appeared the villager boy would win out the vote in the end, so the group was starting to err towards rescuing him…
'Share Stock…!'
Just then a bright flash of light erupted from Kirby, and out flew the nameless spirit taking on the same grayscale, golden-eyed Kirby form from before. The spirit looked at them with the flames of determination inside its eyes, and that could only mean one thing: the spirit intended to save them all, and with taking on a physical form once again it would have nothing less.
"Hey, why didn't I-a think of that?" Mario said. "We have-a three fighters here, so that means each-a one of us could free each-a friend!" The group beamed at the prospect, having outsmarted Galeem's little trick. "Alrighty then, who's-a going to save-a who now?" The nameless spirit stared down the path of the villager boy, and Celeste lent them her power of item gravitation along with the Smoky Progg providing the spirit with an unira; Kirby himself was facing Sheik and was merely accompanied by the guardian stalker's spirit, being granted no power without a primary spirit of his own for the time being. This had left Mario and Eevee ready to square off against Marth, and both Cappy and F.L.U.D.D. were able to support their partner in any way they could through Eevee's web of connections. "Best of luck to you guys!" Mario gave his encouragement to the rest of the team before he went to face the prince. Marth could see Mario approaching him, and though he wanted to wish him the best in freeing him like Kirby had done with Mario, a different set of words escaped his lips instead.
"You intend to fight against Galeem, the Lord of Light who shall rid this world of the foul darkness forever?" It was less of a question and more of a statement, and from his own experience Mario could tell that Galeem was using Marth's experiences against the Shadow Dragon on him. Still, he answered his friend with complete honesty.
"Marth, we're not just-a gonna fight Galeem," Mario said, "we're-a gonna beat Galeem and free this-a world from its control. Because of Galeem, the balance is outta whack, and it is up to us to restore it." Even when under the fell god's control, Marth was known for his grace and politeness, so he merely sighed and shook his head in disappointment even though on the inside he couldn't be prouder to call Mario his friend.
"I had expected you to say so, but you know as well as I do that this battle—this war you wage against Lord Galeem—is pointless. You will be tried for your treason, but it is not too late; just return to our side and I can vouch for you so that your betrayal will not be so severely punished. You are, after all, still my friend after all this." Marth even held out his hand as to extend an olive branch at a time like this, but Mario knew all too well that this was just Galeem twisting who Marth was and what he stood for, using his kind nature to get him back under Galeem's control.
"Sorry Marth, I can't do that. If you want-a me to come back, you'll have to take-a me by force because I'mma not going down without a fight."
"Then you leave me with no other favorable options my friend. If you will not return to our side, then I shall do what I must and spare you the judgment Lord Galeem will surely rain down upon you." Marth raised his Falchion and pointed it at Mario, past the point of convincing him to come back and only wishing to fight. "In the name of Lord Galeem's new world of light, I—Prince Mars Lowell of Altea—challenge you to a duel! En guarde!"
Kirby had approached Sheik with nothing but the guardian stalker's spirit giving him sideline support, but Kirby was simply glad that the robot was around to help him; it made it feel like Kirby was adventuring with his Robobot Armor all over again, though without the copy abilities at his disposal this time around. The Sheikah gave Kirby her most intense glare, analyzing Kirby's every movement. While Sheik was internally relieved to see that Kirby had no fear in him, she was also worried that this would lead to his very undoing if he was not careful against her possessed body.
"So, you have finally come Kirby…" Sheik spoke. "You are a fool to believe that you stand any sort of chance against Lord Galeem. You can either choose to wisely surrender and I will mercifully terminate you, or you can do this the hard way and drag out your painful demise. The choice is yours…" Kirby had made it this far and rescued Mario along the way, and though he still had quite a ways to go he wasn't going to give up and quit no matter who said what to him. "So be it. As you take your dying gasp, know that you have only yourself to blame for your fate." Sheik's stance had gotten lower, and Kirby knew that in any second the warrior would pounce him so he readied his guard and prepared for the fight.
The nameless spirit stared down the possessed villager boy, watching for any sudden movements in the kid's stance. It knew it didn't have much longer in the spare body it had created in Kirby's image, so it had to act fast and end the fight as soon as possible before it destabilized again. The villager boy's body gave the spirit that same unwavering smile on its face, though its occupants were anything but smiling on the inside. The eight children, minds somehow forced into the first villager's body and with an equal amount of control over it, were scared to be frank; they knew this creature was on their side, but they feared what would happen if they were pushed too far and go nuts on the spirit. Much like the memes that had circulated due to their status as a "psychopathic murderer", they found themselves dangerously close to nosediving into the persona. Maybe the tournaments really had changed them, or perhaps it was the influence of Galeem tainting them like poison in their bloodstream, but they hoped and prayed that this Kirby doppelganger ended the fight soon and that the killer in them did not come out, otherwise they would never be freed from the evil god's possession.
Marth was the first to attack, dashing out and sweeping his Falchion wide to catch Mario with the tip. This forced the plumber back for a moment, knowing he had to play it careful with Marth given his overall poor track record against the prince up until the preceding tournaments. With no projectiles to speak of, Marth's game plan revolved around getting in close for the tip of his blade, and Mario had to keep the swordsman out of that range.
"If you intend to stand against me then fight with honor!" Marth commanded, often just barely missing Mario by a hair with his dancing blade. Mario had quickly dodged toward Marth's back, swishing out his super cape to flip the prince's orientation the other way once the man had caught on to Mario's presence behind him. Marth predictably struck empty space and was quickly tripped up by a pair of legs sweeping out his own from underneath him. The prince had heard of the phrase "Don't Knock It 'Till You Try It", but he had found himself slowly becoming irritable with Mario's tricky shenanigans; he had always fought with the utmost respect for his opponents' abilities and as a true prince should, yet here Mario was playing him like a novice fool. Then again, he could still admire the effectiveness of it—Mario knew what he was doing and did it well, and were it not for the fact that Galeem still held a bit of control over him, he would have complimented friend. He eventually rose back to his feet after rolling away several feet from Mario, giving him time to recompose himself.
"Very well then, you leave me no choice. It's time for me to—?!" The net thing Marth knew Mario was barreling toward him full speed and lunged at him with a dropkick, squarely planting his steel-toed boots into the prince's chest and flinging him far off the battlefield. Mario did not want to waste time freeing his friend from Galeem's control, and he ran after the falling prince with a meteor knuckle at the ready. He didn't get far off the platform before Marth quickly made it back with a dolphin slash, striking him along the way and launching him far enough to give Marth a safe landing. "Hah…Not one to waste time hm? Fine by me, for Lord Galeem!" Mario never knew just how much hearing that could tick him off, seeing his friend so devoted to the very enemy responsible for him being in this predicament. Not thinking straight, he charged into what looked like Marth preparing an attack of his own, and when he threw his fist out aimed at Marth's pretty-boy face his knuckles found steel instead. Marth had just blocked Mario's attack and flung his fist far to the side. "Take this!" Marth's Falchion found itself dead in between Mario's eyes, forcing the plumber back to clutch his bloodied face in pain, and the prince darted after him.
"Aiee! Since when could—" He didn't have much time to complain before Marth's hand found itself at his collar and his knee pummeling his gut repeatedly. Marth must have been sufficiently mad with him if the prince threw him to the ground with nary an ounce of grace followed by a kick to the face, something Marth would never consider doing and was a clear sign Galeem's influence was taking over. Rolling a few feet away, Mario knew he had to end this fast, so he clapped his face harshly to force his senses into him, right in time before Marth could pin him to the ground with Falchion. Mario tripped the man up with a sweep and flicked out his cape at him once again, pushing him towards the edge. Before Marth could even register what had happened, he was hoisted up by his shoulders.
"I'd-a really hate to do this to ya' friend," Mario said to the shocked prince, "but I have to." Marth was flung straight up and kicked once on the way up before getting punched away hard. The abyss eagerly awaited the prince below but he would not let it claim him, jumping his way back to the edge, only for Mario's cape to push him away once again. Realizing what had happened, Marth desperately pushed his momentum towards the stage with an air dodge and dolphin slash his way up again, and that was when he felt a high-pressure blast of water blast him far away from the ledge and out of recovery range. The only thing he could do was scream out as he fell helplessly to his doom, cursing Mario to the last yet commending him a well-done for his victory on the inside before he exploded into light.
Kirby's fight against Sheik hadn't been any easier, constantly on the dodge against her fast and furious strikes. Impa had certain trained her well, as Kirby had next to no openings, and what openings there were he was too scared to jump the chance and capitalize on them thinking that Sheik was merely misleading him.
"Dodge all you may, you will tire out sooner or later," Sheik yelled out. "You cannot escape your fate, so just lie down and accept it." Sheik had found an opening in Kirby's stance and bashed him over with an axe kick, following it up with a roundhouse wheel to place him a ways into the air. From there she swiped at him and landed quickly for another roundhouse wheel, following up with another swipe and landing right beneath him to axe kick him once more. There she tossed out a burst grenade to catch him as he fell, pulling the pin and leaving him trapped in the bomb's vortex as it prepared to detonate. Kirby didn't even have time to react properly once the bomb went off, launching him into the air, and Sheik was quick to lunge at Kirby with her bouncing fish attack. Already the Sheikah warrior had landed him a little over halfway into critical condition with her quick flurry of attacks, and now she was gathering up needles in her hand. Kirby ran up to her to force her into making a mistake. She had stored the needles and had a deku nut in her hand prepared, slamming it into the ground right before Kirby could catch her and releasing tons of smoke into the air. Kirby quickly looked around him and didn't find the Sheikah above or behind him, assuming her to be past the cloud of smoke. He jumped back hearing needles fly at him followed by footsteps, and he dodged Sheik's double swipe just in time.
"Wha—" Kirby quickly grabbed the Sheikah and landed five punches to her before piledriving her into the ground behind him, blitzing her with his triple kick and quickly dashing out at her with a burning tackle. To her credit, Sheik was quickly able to regain her footing from such an attack and conjured her shield in a desperate bid to keep Kirby from attacking her again so soon. The star warrior instead went for another grab and laid into her with more punches, and before she had a chance to throw him off of her she was slammed down and furiously stomped on.
"Hyaah!" Kirby smashed Sheik beneath him full force, quickly hopping away from her before she lashed out at him, watching her instead opting to back off and recompose herself. Sheik had been surprised by Kirby's ability to remotely lay a scratch on her, let alone severely harm her to such a degree. The Sheikah had decided to simply let Kirby make the first move and counterattack him; Kirby had seen this stance and took it as a pre-pouncing gesture, letting himself slip into a defensive stance as well. The two smashers kept their eyes on each other for around a minute long, and the Sheikah found herself getting impatient, having long realized that Kirby was waiting for her to strike first much like what she was doing. Slowly she inched her hand to her back, reaching for the dagger sheathed behind her, and in response Kirby reached to his back as well to grab the cutter sword on his back. After several more seconds of intense glaring like a lion and tiger staring each other down, something snapped in the two and they bolted at each other without restraint, slashing at one another with their blades.
It took some time afterward, but they each finally reacted to the other's attacks: Kirby winced from the many cuts and his arm grew a little heavier but he held his stained blade tight, and Sheik struggled to keep her trembling legs supporting her—failing and falling to her knees as several large gashes revealed themselves on her legs, chest, and arm. Sheik had failed to remember that Kirby had ninja training as well and that he was used to handling much larger swords than the one she carried, explaining his ability to actually strike faster than her and lessen her own blows in the process. Before Sheik could recover her strength, Kirby was poised to finish the fight; with the swiftness of a bluster he reached her and caught her in a series of five rising slashes, topping off the combo with a spinning final cutter slash back down to the ground and firing her off along with the shockwave. Sheik silently accepted that this was her punishment for failing Lord Galeem, having been blasted too far away and in too bad a shape to recover, yet even then she couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride in that Kirby had managed to best her with all his skill and might, proving him the superior ninja warrior of the day.
The spirit eyed the villager boy warily as he innocently planted a sapling into the ground and watered it into a full-blown tree, only to heartlessly hack into it from where he stood with his lumberjack axe. The kids inside could only feel for that poor tree, the gardeners in them cringing at how quickly they would dispose of a tree. The spirit dared not get any closer, knowing the villager would feel the tree above them. Seeing this, the villager moved in front of the tree and pulled a Lloyd copy out, letting it fly forward at the spirit and forcing them to jump over it. Now airborne, the spirit was vulnerable to the villager's slingshot attacks, quickly landing to smack the spirit with his umbrella. The spirit decided that now was a good time to pitch its unira at the villager, forgetting that the boy was capable of pocketing it and storing it for later which was exactly what he did. Still, the spirit did not let this deter them and dashed up to the villager, getting within punching range and dodging to the boy's back.
The spirit wasted no time grappling the villager and throwing him in a suplex behind them, and without giving him time to rest they descended upon him with a drill kick. Following that was a series of upward kicks and airborne crescent kicks that kept juggling the village boy further into the air; the spirit refused to give the village boy any room to breathe so they set upon him like a man possessed, capping off the assault with a final cutter attack that brought them both back to the ground. After launching the villager away the spirit set off to reignite their onslaught, only to get beaned in the face with the unira they threw at the villager earlier. Thinking quickly, before the unira could land and extend its spines the spirit caught it midfall using the gravitational pull provided by Celeste. The spirit planted it on the ground, leaving it as a hazard and not wanting to chance the villager pocketing it again.
Again the village boy planted a sapling and grew it into a tree. He pulled out his Lloyd decoy and let it fly, using it as a distraction to chop into the trunk of the tree, priming it for timber. The spirit could see this ploy but remained still, waiting for the villager to come to them instead. Predictably, the boy let loose another Lloyd and trailed after it, lumberjack axe in hand. Though the spirit was able to block the Lloyd rocket's attack, keeping their shield up left it ready to be shattered by a single swing of the villager's axe. With the spirit vulnerable to attack, the villager lashed out with their axe and drew forth blue-and-whitish essence from them and quickly retreated to behind his tree. It took a while for the spirit to recover from losing a bit of their lifeblood, but to their credit they were back on their feet and ready to continue the fight. They pulled out their final cutter sword and slammed it down on the ground, the bladed shockwave racing toward the villager's tree and felling it on top of the boy. Realizing this too late the villager tried blocking the move and ended up with his shield fully shattered. The spirit was quick to charge up their hammer to its full charge, and without a second thought spared to the village boy they unleashed their hammer flip upon him.
The spirit knew that it was not enough to get rid of the boy for long, and they could feel their copied form beginning to destabilize little by little, so they hurried and pursued the villager off the battlefield knowing that they were at severe risk of losing the fight with the villager. Much like the spirit expected, the village boy was quick to stall his fall with the Lloyd dummy and pulled out his helmet to take a balloon-fueled trip back to the stage. It was not to be; though he had a long-distanced recovery, his doom was spelled out to him when he heard the spirit changing into their stone form, dropping down faster than he could fly out of their way, and they ripped straight through his balloons to plunge him deep into the darkness below. Though the village boy's body screamed out in pain and terror, the children inside could not be any happier, whooping and cheering the spirit on for their victory.
…
'Gods…damnit…' A frustrated Reflet could not believe he was bested at chess so effortlessly; every move he made was countered immediately, and the few captures he could manage were meant to set him up for a fall later into the game. 'First Virion and now this?'
You fail to learn from your past encounters Reflet Wyrmtongue Lowell…You treat chess the same as how you approach true warfare, and your unwillingness to sacrifice units of no major significance to accomplish your goal will spell your defeat virtually every time against a less discerning opponent…
'I just…I don't—'
'Come now, don't worry about it so much,' Lucina said to her uncle who was ready to tear his hair out. 'You'll have your victory next time, positive.'
'If you say so Lucina…'
Take this as a learning experience and use it to hone your abilities. You are a remarkable strategist in your own right, yet you are too held back by your inability to make sacrifices for the better good save for yourself. Overcome this and you may yet see a victory against other advanced players.
'Gee, thanks. Way to boost a guy's confidence here.'
'Ha!' Sonic meanwhile was laughing over the outcome, earning a few glares from Chrom, Robyn, and Lucina. 'Pay up Cloud. I told you Galeem was going to beat Reflet in chess and I said exactly why he was going to lose. There it is straight from the horse's mouth.'
'We didn't bet,' Cloud simply replied, not caring for the outcome of the game either way.
'…Dang.'
'I doubt you could do any better hedgehog,' Ganondorf taunted.
'You sure? I snagged a win against the ol' doctor once. I mean, sure, it was a bit of an unusual battle, but that's gotta count for something eh?'
'Oh, so the blue rat is not as simple as he seems to be hm?'
'Watch it Old Manondorf; the last person to call me "just a blue rat" is wishing he could erase all the poor life choices he made, and I don't look like it but I am a pretty darn good sword knight if I do say so myself.'
'Wait, you're a knight?' Chrom asked. 'I never would have guessed that looking at you now.'
'Since when?' Ike asked. 'I've never seen you with a sword of any kind the whole time I've known you, not counting the beam swords or the killing edges of course.'
Ogilvie Maurice Hedgehog has received extensive training from the legendary sword Caliburn within the storybook world of "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table". During the events that had transpired within the book his deeds had earned him the right to rule as "King of Camelot", though he has since abdicated the throne in favor of Merlina Ambrosius claiming it in his steed.
'Aw come on, I was going to get to that part myself!' Sonic complained, almost ignoring the many surprised stares he had gotten. 'What? Being a king isn't really my style you know?'
'Even so, that is still a very huge honor and responsibility,' Meta Knight said. 'Giving up kingship is not without profound consequences Sonic.'
'Trust me, I know. But I had my own world to get back to, and I know Merlina will do a great job as queen—'
'Wait a second, Merlina?' Richter asked incredulously. 'You don't mean the royal wizard that stabbed you in the back and became that monstrous "Dark Queen of the Underworld" right? Please tell me you seriously didn't just hand over the entire kingdom to that witch of all people?'
'Ooh, not too fond of witches are we my boy?' Bayonetta teased, though not without that subtle undertone of malice. The man backpedaled after his statement and attempted to salvage the conversation.
'N-No I don't, it's just…she's…'
'Something tells me you didn't finish reading the story didja, and besides: so what? She had good intentions behind that whole betrayal thing and I managed to get through to her by the end. I'm sure the story is doing just fine without me.'
'How can you be so blasé about this? Sonic, man, I just don't—'
'Please, Richter, let us drop this topic,' Zelda interrupted. 'Let us trust in Sonic's wisdom and respect his decision on this one shall we?'
'I—ah…sure, I guess…'
'As interesting as ol' Sonic boy here being king is,' Wolf said, 'shouldn't we be more concerned about Kirby? Speaking of which, what's the status update on him eh Galeem old pal?'
Kirby's group has defeated Prince Mars Lowell, Princess Zelda Wakana Hyrule IV, and the Smashville mayoral candidates…
'So, that's how many victories Kirby against your forces has now?' Ridley taunted.
Far more than your victories against Samus, which still rests at one to this day…
Ridley was so ready to let loose a piercing screech at Galeem but reigned himself in, knowing that the light god was merely pushing his buttons, and he wasn't stupid enough to incur the being's wrath like how King K. Rool almost got them all obliterated with his remarks earlier.
Though the group has won and defied the choices I have laid out before them, I have a remedy for this issue. Observe…
Back in the realm of light, Kirby's group was observing their friends, watching them reawaken into the world as changed people. To Mario the Hero-King's new clothes was replete with navy and golden armor pieces adorning his torso, arms, and legs, and his cape was lined with a fur trim at its collar and tail. His exposed arms were now covered in sleeves and his white cloves had small blue "claws" at the ends of the first three digits. A few other fancy adornments such as epaulettes and a cravat were seen, but most notable was that Falchion's design had changed, having evolved into an appearance similar to how the Shadow Dragon chronicles had depicted it, and what looked like the very Binding Shield itself was on Marth's left arm.
Sheik had also been changed in notable ways, her entire suit having switched from a traditional Sheikah stealth suit to one that rung a darkly familiar bell in Kirby's head even if Sheik's original colors were retained along with the Sheikah symbol. Armor was retained though her shin pads and the new forearm guards had small spikes on them, and her shoulder armor extended to cover her collar area. The suit's tighter composition left far to the imagination than before if anyone was ever confused as to what sex Sheik was even with her pronounced musculature. Most notable was addition of small conical Sheikah straw hat decorated with talismans. Sheik's face was covered behind a transparent cloth with the Sheikah symbol on its front, and hidden in the scarf was a necklace of prayer beads.
The village boy had one of the more drastic changes; his limbs were longer than previously, his hair was messier, his lashes were longer, and he wore a black t-shirt with red trims that read "NTDO 1889". His pants were also brown and tan patterned and he wore white tennis shoes. The whole change had made the boy look a tad older than previously, and the spirit could only imagine just how much the other villagers had changed, but they dare not dwell too much on that. Gently, they tried rousing the boy to see who would wake up. Green eyes slowly opened up while the body stayed the same, showing the spirit that the body's original owner was in control. Surprised, the boy took a few glances around him to see where he was, and he found himself back in control of his own body once more. To his right he saw that the spirit he fought against was smiling at him the way Kirby would, and he knew that he was in the company of a friend, smiling in his newfound safety.
"Ugh…" Sheik groaned from the intense pain she was waking up from, rubbing her face from the experience and immediately jumping from finding something in her face that was not there before. A cloth draped over her face from the hat she was now wearing, and without needing to be told she could feel that her suit was also different. In a start she sat up to find out the meaning behind it, and she found a smiling Kirby fight before her. Then she remembered the battle she just had with him, quickly deducing that Kirby had just freed her from Galeem's control. "Kirby…"
"Oof, my head…" Marth was barely cognizant of what had just happened to him; he and Mario had done battle and he was on the losing end of it. He didn't think Mario could hit that hard, or was that him blowing up that made him feel like he got trampled by an earth dragon or two? Speaking of said plumber, he was standing to his left, offering a hand to help him up. The prince graciously accepted his friend's help, taking hold and letting the shorter man help pull him to his feet. Once he was standing tall, Marth was quick to repay the gesture with a polite bow. "Truly, words cannot express how grateful I am for your aid. I sorely needed the rescue."
"Hey, no problem-o Marth. That's-a just what friends do right?"
"Indeed. How fortunately I am to have a friend like you."
"Looks like our group's-a gettin' bigger. Let's a get back to the others eh?"
"A splendid idea Mario. Let's—"
RAHAHAHAAA!
There goes that deep laugh that everyone was all too familiar with. Snapping into existence was the Master Hand of the old world, sizing the fighters up from their positions. He wasn't here to fight them however; his lord had forbade him from taking direct action against the meddlesome fighters as much as he wanted to, but perhaps this new scheme was more fun this way. He merely raised his first three digits up with his thumb pressed against his middle finger, and then the Master Hand snapped them together. At first it seemed like nothing happened, but when the fighters looked around to see exactly what he did, they found that behind them was a giant spherical forcefield lined with hexagons right in the center of the crossroad. Realizing the trap that they had walked into, they all ran back to push past the barrier and reunite with their separated friends. Eventually they realized that there was no way to get through or around it; now they were cut off from their friends, looking to each other with uncertain glances. Just as it seemed their group had gotten bigger, Galeem had managed to splinter it up into smaller pieces. Making matters worse was that the spirit that had helped Kirby had finally ran out of energy, reverting back to their original form with their energy spent, and through a mysterious force at play they could not fly past the barrier in place. The only thing the fighters could do was to press on their chosen paths and hope to cross with each other once again soon, but to their shock they had to get past hostile spirits that had just so happened to be stationed behind the imprisoned fighters should they fail.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…!
The Master Hand took such sick glee at their misfortune before snapping out of existence, his laughter echoing in their heads long after his disappearance.
"Gods, that fiend…!"
"Easy there Marth," Mario said to calm him down. "We gotta keep-a cool heads about this, especially since we gotta fight comin' up." True to Mario's words, Marth could see up ahead where the clouds of light barred their path further, and guarding it stood a false Zelda dressed in blue, possessed by a young woman with similar clothing colors, and behind her was a false Richter that didn't look too different from original self aside of a few minor color changes. Standing before Sheik and Kirby was a single false Sonic sporting green bands around his hands and green shoes, and his body was used by what looked to be a robotic doppelganger of his, which likely explained the metallic sheen that coated the hedgehog's body. The villager boy by the name of Redd Smascevilla was staring down a false Wendy O' Koopa that was flanked by two small yellow R.O.B.s, and they all seemed to be controlled by a teenage girl with big brown hair and wearing pink. Separated as they were, the fighters knew they had to make a stand if they wanted to be reunited, and they prepared themselves for their next big battles…
…
'Tch, so what you've separated them?' Dark Pit said. 'They'll just regroup. No big deal.'
Assuming that they will survive the ordeals ahead of them…
'Mario's gonna be okay,' Luigi countered. 'He's been through a lot worse than this.'
A false statement, which is why he shall fail. Though many of the fighters and spirits resist my control, they shall all inevitably fall under my complete sway and carry out their tasks…
'Assuming that they do not break free from your control before they are freed,' Mewtwo stated. 'Without exerting complete dominance over another's mind, there will always be a chance for the control to be broken.'
And that is if I do not destroy their original sense of self, which poses a severe disadvantage to my goals as not only is their original personalities the lifeblood that fuels their powers but destroying the spirits' and fighters' original senses of self very taxing on my powers. I have applied a viral effect to my control that will slowly erode any and all resistance against me to conserve and regain my strength…
'Avoiding spreading yourself thin hm?' Palutena surmised. 'I'll admit, that's actually pretty smart.'
'What, so you're giving Galeem kudos Palutena?' Dark Pit scoffed.
'Hey, don't start copping an attitude with me mister.'
'Oh kiss and make up already,' Wario jeered. 'So what she thinks it's smart? It's what I'd do.'
'Oh please, you make Mario and Luigi look like brain surgeons,' Daisy taunted.
'I'm sorry, what was that Princess "Always the Backup Never the Prize"? I distinctly remember having Tatanga kidnap you to mosey on in Mario's castle while he went to rescue some princess he didn't even know existed at the time, whose kingdom was basically unheard of and ignored by everyone else until he spread word of it after he saved you.' Wario knew he was playing with fire smashing Daisy's buttons like he did, playing off her pointed dislike for lack of visitors to Sarasaland and basically just being "Peach's Friend" outside of her own kingdom. Instead of an indignant protest, to his surprise the normally chipper princess remained silent in the face of the insults hurled toward her. 'Hah, that's what I figured.'
'Hey, don't you dare talk to Daisy like tha—'
'It's okay Luigi.'
'But, Daisy, he just—'
'Just ignore him. He's clearly looking for attention so don't give him any.'
'I'll get it one way or another,' Wario continued talking. 'Besides, you not defending yourself shows that I'm right! Wahahaha—' Out of nowhere Wario was struck by a bolt of light, shocking whatever wind he had left in his sails.
Silence, I tire of your noise. You dare claim great intelligence citing your ultimately failed endeavor to take over Marius Gonzales Mario's castle undone solely due to your ignorance-born arrogance, and for the express purpose of "one-upping" him to be recognized much like how you attacked Dú-Xùn Jú-Huā Gōng-Zhǔ over her and her kingdom's lack of recognition. Thus you did not achieve the fame you sought and consequently you doomed yourself to be seen as an odious and obnoxious attack on Marius Gonzales Mario's good character for the rest of your life. While Dú-Xùn Jú-Huā Gōng-Zhǔ may not have the popularity or respect that her cousin Princess Peach Toadstool has, she shall always be loved unlike you who does not even have the basic respect of anyone besides said princess.
The words were surprising coming from Galeem and everyone could feel just how much they stung the WarioWare president even if they couldn't see his face. Daisy almost felt kind of bad for him despite him unashamedly flinging harsh insults at her. It was telling how bad it was that Wario merely growled in response instead of coming up with a snappy retort like he did with Daisy. Perhaps it was unintentional on Galeem's part, but the words had made a good number of fighters in the room somewhat self-conscious. Still, the fact that Galeem actually came to someone's defense even if only briefly while slamming into someone else caught everyone off guard; there was so much that no one knew about Galeem, but now they knew even more not to personally piss the being off if they didn't want to be emotionally crushed like Galeem did with the universe—also that Galeem was not above giving someone advice like it had done with Reflet for chess. Either way, they hoped that this situation would not last too much longer, silently praying that Kirby and his friends would come to wake them all up from this nightmare. Who knew what Galeem had in store for the future of their worlds…