And now, back to our regularly scheduled program.
Zhenxuan20002: Yes that is Team Rocket.
Authorial Nerd: There are many things that happen in team battles. Could you blame me?
Another laser blazed past Fox and Meta Knight. Dirt licked their heels as they dove for cover, coming to a stop behind one of the few towers of crates still standing.
"It's about time you showed up," Fox said. "Where were you?"
"Travel complications," Meta Knight said. His eyes flickered for a moment, but he shook his head. "As much as I'd like to help, I need you to keep Ganondorf's allies distracted while I sneak inside."
"What?"
A loud buzzing cut their conversation short. They looked back over the battlefield. Fox groaned.
"Great, now we're going to have to deal with that again," he said, narrowing his eyes as he watched Krusha haul the Blaze-o-Matic to aim it down the clearing. "Sure thing, boss. I'll see if we can keep the giant laser on us while you run away."
"You don't quite understand what is at stake, Fox," Meta Knight growled. "I need to ensure Ganondorf does not drain the Star Rod energy. If he does-"
Before Meta Knight could finish, a wave of bright yellow energy swept through the area. The wave passed Fox's sight, and when he blinked it was already gone.
Behind his mask, Meta Knight's eyes took on a fiery orange tint as they narrowed to slits. "Get. It. Done."
His cape gave a ruffle, and it unfurled into two large wings. In a dark blue blur, Meta Knight leaped back into the clearing. Fox jumped after him, his blaster out and primed to fire. He wasn't happy with the order, but he was in no place to argue. He was just about to run off when a deep buzzing reached his ears.
"Where do you think you're going?" Krusha said, taking notice of Meta Knight's fleeing form.
Fox cursed, watching as the Kremling hefted the Blaze-o-Matic again, swinging the giant cannon over to Meta Knight. Acting swiftly, Fox pointed his weapon at Krusha. A stream of laser fire poured out from his blaster. Krusha only had time to see the red lasers fly toward him, and his eyes widened.
Phantom Ganondorf swept in before they hit. His red cape fluttering in the wind, and the shots bounced harmlessly off his chestplate. He met Fox's gaze with glaring yellow eyes, almost daring him to shoot again.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Krusha snapped from behind Phantom Ganondorf. With an angry snarl, he shoved the flickering red cape out of his face. He scanned the clearing for his target, but, to Fox's satisfaction, he had already disappeared inside.
"He got away!"
Phantom Ganondorf leveled at Krusha with his glare. The Kremling bared his teeth but otherwise didn't reply. Phantom Ganondorf kept his gaze on him for a second more, before it turned back to Fox. His arm disappeared in a blur, and without a word, he charged.
Fox jumped back. The phantom's broadsword swung past his face seconds later, inches away from severing his head. Fox had barely landed on his feet before he stepped to the side, and the broadsword crashed into the ground in front of him. With a grunt, Fox swung his blaster back up, but the phantom vanished in a black mist. A rumble was his only warning before, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a giant blue laser barrel toward him.
Fox's reflector came up just in time to intercept the blast. He didn't have time to angle it away, however, and the force sent him flying into a stack of crates. The moment the laser dissipated, Fox pushed himself back up and fired again. Once more, Phantom Ganondorf materialized before the Blaze-o-Matic, blocking the shots.
Gritting his teeth, Fox activated his earpiece. "I could use some help," he said.
In front of him, Phantom Ganondorf opened his palm. A yellow orb flared to life above it, crackling with magical energy. The phantom hurled it at Fox, who dove away to avoid being hit. The orb crashed into the crates behind him, and the wooden boxes exploded into a shower of splinters.
"On my way," he heard Mario's voice buzz over the sounds of battle.
"I'll try to get there," Link piped in. Fox kept himself from sighing in relief. He just needed to hold out until the plumber arrived.
Granted, with a magic phantom and a laser-cannon-toting crocodile, it was going to be a bit of a challenge.
Fox batted aside another orb of yellow energy with his reflector, and Phantom Ganondorf rushed at him again. This time, Fox ducked under the first swing and lunged for him.
He yelped as his hands went through a cloud of black smoke. The moment he felt grass beneath him, Fox tucked his legs into a roll, jumping back to his feet in seconds. He whirled around to face Phantom Ganondorf, but something else had caught his attention.
To his surprise, Phantom Ganondorf evaporated again. He only had seconds to think about it before the ground started shaking beneath him. His instincts yelled for him to jump away, and as he sprang up, and blue energy beam from the sky cut across his sight, followed by the low buzz of engines.
Before Fox could get on the ground again, a searing pain spread across his back. He flew across the clearing, tumbling over the ground and breaking through a smoldering pile of wood. Thinking fast, he dug his fingers into the ground, and he pulled himself to a stop. As he pushed himself to his feet, wiping the dirt off his face, a shadow cast over his line of sight. Fox looked up just in time to see a blade streak toward him.
Before it could reach him, a blue and red blur rushed in front of him. Two leather boots slammed into Phantom Ganondorf's face. As he stumbled back, Mario flipped off his face, landing neatly in front of Fox.
"Glad to see you held out for me," Mario said, giving Fox a wink.
Phantom Ganondorf blindly flailed around, and as he stepped back again, a bomb rolled behind his feet. He tripped over it, and the bomb exploded, sending him into the air. Link landed where the phantom had been moments before, taking a few steps forward to catch himself. The second he did, he spun around, catching Wario, covered in flickering tongues of fire, with his padded leather gloves and hurled him at Krusha.
The Kremling hissed, and he swung the Blaze-o-Matic out of Wario's path. Wario rolled over the grass, coming to a stop at the cave wall. While the pudgy yellow man tried to stand, Link dusted off his gloves, extinguishing the flames on his coat.
"Sorry I couldn't get here faster," he said, turning to them. "What's the plan now, boss?"
Fox opened his mouth to speak. A tiny voice called out from behind him before he could say anything.
"Get out of the way!"
A frown crossed Fox's face. He tapped his earpiece, confused as to why it was so quiet.
The deep buzzing of engines caught his attention. He, Mario, and Link looked behind him to see Samus's ship hurtling toward them, smoke streaming out behind it. One of its wings was completely gone, a giant fire in its place. With growing dread, all three of them realized that the falling ship was growing closer by the second.
They scattered as quickly as they could. Krusha and Wario weren't so lucky. Krusha tried to jump out of the way, but he tripped over his own weight, while Wario only saw it coming as he wiped the last of the dirt out of his face.
The hulking red ship crashed into the cave. It crumpled with a nasty metal creak, before it went up in a massive explosion that shook the ground beneath them. Fire and scrap metal, flying everywhere. Debris tumbling over the dirt. Mario and Fox watched from a distance, blinking in awe as a wave of heat washed over them.
A cloud of black smoke rose out of the rubble. Mario and Fox tensed. They watched in silence as the mist began to gather itself into the form of Phantom Ganondorf. The phantom gave a loud roar as it emerged from the mist, and two orbs of magical energy burst to life in his hands. His arms drew back. His eyes glowed brighter.
Before he could hurl them forward, Link leaped out from the left. Phantom Ganondorf's head snapped on to him, but it was too late for him to react. With a cry, Link swung the Master Sword across the air, separating the phantom's head from its body. The phantom gave an ear-splitting shriek as it dissolved into an inky black stain in the air, a terrible sound that quickly faded as what had once been Phantom Ganondorf vanished from sight.
As Link pulled his sword back, his eyes drifted back over to the wreckage. "That was Samus's ship, wasn't it?"
Fox took one look at it, and a worried feeling wormed its way into him. He glanced at the sky, and to his immense relief, he saw a red figure fly through the air. Samus was still alive.
As he watched her tumble across the blue sky, a grapple beam shot out of her cannon. It writhed its way forward, flinging itself farther out until it latched on to the wing of Wolf's ship.
With the jerk of her hand, Samus flicked herself up and over the ship as it sped overhead, coming to land over the glass cockpit. She reared her hand back and sent shards of glass trailing behind the ship as she thrust her hand inside. When she pulled it back, Wolf was dangling from her hands.
From the ground, Fox could only catch a murmur from her, before she tossed Wolf to the ground. He tried to get back up, surrounding himself with a bright purple flare, but before it could ignite behind him, Samus swung her arm cannon over the edge and fired a missile at his face. The projectile exploded, and the force spiked him back down. He slammed into the grass with a crack, bouncing up once before coming to a stop at Fox's feet.
Samus wasn't too far behind, landing in a crouch at the center of the clearing. She rose, rolling her shoulders, and as she looked around, she said, "I guess that settles it."
A wooden thud came from behind. All four of them whirled around, but it was only Donkey Kong and Yoshi who walked into view. They stepped over what remained of a wooden board, shattering it beneath their feet. Donkey Kong came to a stop a few feet away, and with a grunt, he tossed the unconscious bodies of the man, the woman, and Waluigi before them.
Fox scanned his eyes over the clearing, small fires etched into the dirt all around them. He whistled, kicking a foot out as he took in all the destruction they had caused.
From the wreckage of Samus's ship came a cough. From the reflection of his green eyepiece, a sheet of metal moved aside with a loud screech, and who else emerged from the rubble but Wario, covered in burns and bruises.
An expression of fury overtook Wario's face the moment he saw them. He tore a bomb out from his overalls and lit the fuse. Without turning, Fox fired his blaster at the bomb, detonating it in Wario's face.
When the smoke cleared, the pudgy man slumped back over the mangled pile of scrap, unconscious.
"I guess it does," he finally replied, just as, in the distance, several ships appeared in the sky.
Okay, we're back. I took some time during Thanksgiving to rethink this story, and I think I've got the hang of writing team battles now so hopefully, this is an improvement.
I think something that was missing from the last time I had the Smashers fight their bad guys was that the battlefield was kind of plain. Yes, there was a smokescreen up, but since the toys I could play around with were so limited compared to the scene before that one, it didn't feel as exciting to me. With action scenes, the best ones often take place on a dynamic battlefield, where the characters and the environment can interact with each other.
Take hazards for example, like the blind fire from Samus's gunship. Since there's a laser going around and tearing up the ground, the characters need to constantly adapt to avoid being burnt to a crisp mid-fight.
Next chapter will come around December 11th.