Chapter edited 15 Jan 2018 to account for some events in the main story and a day the very smart author failed to account for.
Chapter summary: Snake's group discovers just what they and their enemies are capable of. Meanwhile, some shady goings-on are unearthed in a small forest village.
Chapter Four: New Limits
Night falls, and Popo knows exactly where Nana went.
But he doesn't tell the others to keep from disturbing them. If they're going to break the siege, they'll need to be prepared. The others will need a good night's sleep.
Popo sighs wistfully, but rubs his eyes and keeps trudging down the dirt path towards the village entrance. It takes him a moment, but he finds Nana crouched behind the crates that thankfully haven't yet been moved by the locals—perhaps they're still too afraid to approach the robot.
"What are you doing here?" Nana hisses.
Popo says nothing except with his eyes, Hypocrite.
"If I can do this by myself, then I'm gonna." Nana adjusts her grip on her mallet.
"Don't be ridiculous," Popo says. "We don't even know what it's capable of."
"Well, it doesn't know what I'm capable of, either."
"Nana, we're great at ice climbing, but this is something entirely different. We've never fought except over toys!"
"If I can do this, then the others don't have to put themselves in danger. And if something does happen, you can call the others and take it down while it's distracted by me. Am I wrong?"
As usual, Popo is beaten by Nana's flawed yet confident logic. It's just that he prefers to be more prepared for these things. If he doesn't think of something soon, his sister is going to face Indeom on her own and he'll be at an even greater loss as to what to do, and he might end up doing something equally rash.
"Stay here, Popo," Nana says, and steps out from behind the crate.
Popo's breath hitches in his throat. He doesn't believe himself to be adequate backup, but he can't take his eyes off Nana to go look for their companions.
So he watches on.
Nana's steps are quiet on the dirt. Indeom doesn't seem to acknowledge her presence until she's once again about five metres away from it. She's dwarfed by it, and the robot's form threatens to swell in the obfuscating darkness.
Take that, you big meanie, Popo thinks, biting his lip. It's all he can do to stop himself from running out there and attacking Indeom himself so Nana doesn't have to.
Nana paces in front of Indeom. It watches her movements intently, head creaking slightly.
Nana makes the first move. She dashes forward, taking a mighty swing at one of its arms. Indeom shifts out of the way and grabs at her with its other arm. Nana darts beneath its underside and hefts her mallet.
"Take this!" she cries. The mallet flies into the leg.
It has no effect.
Nana is struck by the recoil and feels her bones rattle violently. She breaks out of her daze only in time to see a green hand descend upon her.
"NANA!" Popo shrieks. He charges out from the behind crates and tackles Nana out of the way of the hand just as it slams into their previous spot. They tumble onto the dirt.
Popo sees the green hand headed for him, now.
He shields his face, but doesn't feel the incoming blow.
Popo opens her eyes and sees that something cold is streaming from Nana's outstretched palms. Half of Indeom's arm is partially frosted over, enough to stop its movement for the moment.
"Heck yeah!" Nana exclaims. She grins proudly at Popo.
"How are you doing that?" Popo's eyes are wide and he'd smile if he weren't so bewildered.
They feel strong arms sweep them off the ground.
Indeom? Popo panics. No, it's Snake. He's found them out in the dark and is carrying them away from the robot, one child in each arm.
"What's the big deal, mister?" Nana exclaims.
"We can't coordinate an attack if we're in a panic," says Snake. "We're falling back for now."
"Well, I'm not in a panic, so let me at 'em!"
"Come on, Nana," Popo says. "We're working as a team now. We have to think beyond ourselves."
Nana groans but doesn't struggle. They leave the robot behind them.
*.*.*.*.*
"It was so cool! We were completely at the robot's mercy, but a voice told me to stand my ground."
"A 'voice' told me to do that too," Popo deadpans. "That voice's name was 'mortal fear'."
"Perhaps we have also been granted additional powers," Lucario contemplates. "It would surely help us to turn the tide in our favour."
"But how will we know if we were?" Snake asks. "There's got to be a better way to know than being on the receiving end of that robot's fist."
Snake feels a sharp blow to the back of the head. The blow sends his senses into a spin, but causes no pain.
"What was that for?" he hisses.
"Seeing if I could awaken your powers," says Nana, lowering her mallet when nothing happens.
"I'd rather you wouldn't. We're not completely defenceless, after all." He examines his SOCOM[1] for a moment before doing a double take.
"What is it?" Jigglypuff asks.
Snake doesn't answer immediately. He rotates the SOCOM in his grip several times, and eventually replies, slowly, "I fired some shots last night, but there's no evidence that the bullets were used up—it's still fully loaded."
Nana lets out a whoop.
"Then is that your power?" Popo asks, starry-eyed.
Snake grunts but a small grin escapes him. "If it is, then I have one less thing to worry about. But that still leaves the rest of you. Any ideas?"
"Well, I have a set of moves to base my investigations on," Lucario replies. "Aura Sphere, Force Palm, Double Team and Extreme Speed."
Of course the names go over Snake's head, but he makes no indication of such.
"I also have some moves," says Jigglypuff, "however I am skeptical of their usefulness. But I will find a way."
"I sure hope your ice powers didn't skip a sibling," says Popo, jabbing Nana in the arm.
"You wanna go?" Nana challenges. "You might find your powers! And that your sister is better than you."
"Hey!"
"Take it outside, kids," Snake interrupts.
"It is so on," Popo declares. He and Nana rush out of the inn with their mallets.
Snake sighs, and finds himself staring at Jigglypuff and her wide turquoise eyes.
"Kids will be kids," she says with a motherly smile. "Do you suspect you were granted any more powers?"
"No clue. You?"
"I'd be surprised if I was. My repertoire is more along the lines of... performance."
"Do not underestimate yourself, Jigglypuff," Lucario cuts in. "Your kind weaponises artistic flair with great finesse, am I correct? Surely if we could think of something, it would be quite surprising for the enemy."
Jigglypuff flushes a deeper shade of pink.
"Well." Snake rises from the table with his SOCOM in hand, "I'll leave you two be to figure all this out."
"Actually, I shall be meditating on the roof," Lucario corrects him. "If you two would excuse me."
And once again, Snake finds himself utterly bewildered by the Pokémon. He's almost beginning to expect it.
*.*.*.*.*
An earthquake rattles Tayll Village later that morning. For a moment, all activity and order in the village dissipates. Lockdowns are ordered but poorly enforced, and many villagers end up on the streets screaming and crying, racing through the streets in panic.
A great circular void appears in the sky, swallowing up the Smash Brothers' Stadium. The fringes of the void shimmer, hungry for more, its swelling only halted by its inability to sustain its fervently-desired growth. The residents can do nothing to increase their distance between it and them, and so fear doesn't truly disappear after the initial quake.
Indeom is unperturbed.
*.*.*.*.*
"Poor guy, we're accusing him of a crime he may not even have committed," Captain Falcon muses.
They'd managed to locate the village head and found that no one had been aware of any suspicious activity in the village that was beyond the usual, so after spending a night in one of the head's spare cabins, they departed after sleeping in late and were now taking a stroll down a road off the main street, keeping a discreet eye out for any signs of foul play. They didn't exactly want to go knocking on doors for fear their supposed adversary began to suspect them.
"Poor guy if we find out he's guilty," Olimar remarks, "and we manage to do something about it." He adds this last part weakly.
"Yeah, but we don't want to look like a police patrol," Wolf mutters, arms folded.
"We don't even know what the patrols here look like," says Link, "if there are any."
"Exactly! Why are we still doing this? We have no leads and we barely know what sort of place this is. Let them figure it out, that way we don't have to get our hides tanned."
"To be fair, our suspect could not have gotten very far before unloading his captive," Olimar says. "He was in and out in the time it took for us to visit the doctor. Perhaps he did not go beyond the village—so in that respect, the siege robot isn't a problem."
"Speaking of the robot," Link says, "what happened to our guide? He's not still waiting for us, is he?"
"Probably not," Wolf replies, voice gruff. "He probably got his pants scared off like the rest of this place. Everybody's holed up inside."
And Wolf is right. The main street is empty save for their group, and while the shops aren't technically closed, all the doors and windows are shut. Even with their unfamiliarity with the village, they can tell it wasn't meant to feel like a ghost town.
"These poor people..." Pichu whimpers.
"Well, as long as we can get back into contact with him when we can finally leave." Falcon shrugs.
"He is there."
The until then silent Mewtwo extends a paw out, pointing into the distance to the side of the street. A young man wearing a beanie has emerged from a small bricked shop and is about to turn down an alleyway.
"Hi, Mister!" Link calls, waving his hands in greeting.
The man looks up, stares at them for a moment, then walks further into the alleyway.
"Mister, it's us!" Link rushes ahead of the group in pursuit. "We'd like to talk about our arrangement."
"You think he's involved?" Falcon suggests quietly.
"Let's see if he runs," Wolf challenges, and chases after Link and the guide.
Link reaches the alleyway to see the man round the corner, behind the shop.
"Hey," he calls. "We need to talk! Did we do something to offend you?"
Before Link reaches the bend, a flash of light blinds him for a moment. When he opens his eyes the path has been blocked by a Snorlax.
It finally dawns on Link, but he's shoved to the side by Wolf, who springs up onto the massive Pokémon's belly and then over its head.
When Wolf hits the ground, his body is stunned by a green flash. With a growl, his head snaps up to glare at the culprit, who is some distance away, pointing a ray gun at Wolf.
Too bad for you, your hands are shaking.
Just as the paralysis fades, the man shoots again but misses. Wolf flashes forward and tackles the man. They struggle, but Wolf wrestles the gun out of his grip and plants himself on top, pressing the man's head against the dirt with a clawed hand. The man's beanie had flown off his head at some point but Wolf can't see where, and could care even less.
"That's no way to treat your clients," Wolf says into the man's ear, grinning so that his fangs gleam.
He hears several pairs of footsteps behind them and tightens his grip on the man, in case the others manage to divide his attention in some way.
They don't, thank Lylat.
"I-I just thought I was being chased by criminals," the man stammers, "I haven't done anything, I swear! If you—"
"You looked at us a tad too long for me to believe that. You recognised us. Why'd you run?"
The man squirms but Wolf holds his ground.
"Did it have to do with some sort of statue?" Wolf asks. "Or perhaps a captive?"
"You don't know how things work around here, do you?" the man taunts. Clumsily, he adds, "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play that game, we're smarter than that. What's in it for you?"
The man is silent for a while and his body relaxes. Wolf anticipates the following thrashing around and pushes the man's head down harder into the dirt.
"Maybe next time, sunshine." Wolf whistles.
"It's just a little money," the man utters. "Things aren't exactly a palace here, as you could probably tell."
"Thank you. Is there anyone else involved?"
"Just me."
Wolf decides he doesn't believe the man, but slackens his grip anyway as a mercy in response to the man's sorry expression.
"Lead us to the captive," Wolf commands.
"No way."
"You've been caught and told us so much already. May as well finish the job."
"I'm not spilling."
"If you continue being difficult, I could hit you very hard."
"And then what would you do? My trophy lying in a back alley would look mighty suspicious, wouldn't you say?"
The comment momentarily confuses Wolf, and the man conjures up a sudden strength, enough to slip out of Wolf's grip.
A green light flies above Wolf's head and paralyses the man before he can take a step to escape. Captain Falcon appears in his field of vision, drops the ray gun and grabs the man by the collar, hoisting him into the air.
"Come on, man," Falcon says, "we don't need to treat you like a criminal. You seemed like a nice guy."
"I'll say nothing!"
"Want me to hit him?"
"No!"
"Then—"
"It's my house!" The man covers his face with his hands and groans.
Falcon lowers the man but keeps a grip on his arm. "Which one is it?"
The man grimaces before replying, "It's not too far. Up the road, take the right and a left, it's the one with the broken front window."
Falcon raises his other hand and the man cringes. Falcon ruffles his hair.
"Sorry, I guess," Falcon apologises. "I think we're all a bit flustered right now."
"Okay... May I have my beanie back?"
Link sidles forward and holds out the beanie.
"Sorry, sir," Link says. "I wish we weren't so rough." He directs a piercing glare in Wolf's direction but his target isn't paying attention. "Thanks for helping us out."
"No problem," the man manages to squeeze out. "To be clear, I didn't lie about the location. But no way in hell am I going with you people. And don't mess up my house."
With that, the man crams the beanie back on his head and leaves, hunched over with his hands in his pockets.
Pichu leaps up and nuzzles into Link's arms.
"I kinda feel bad for him, too," Link murmurs, stroking its yellow fur.
"At least we know where to go next," Olimar says, wringing his hands nervously.
*.*.*.*.*
After some target practice and a quick close quarters spar with Lucario behind the inn, Snake emerges out the front door to find a crowd has assembled in the street. He walks to the edge of the wooden porch and hopes it's not a gathering drawn by some morbid curiosity.
The crowd of animals has formed a ring around two small figures who are circling each other.
Seems like the parka kids have a following now. He's not quite sure if it's a good thing or not—at least the kids haven't knocked each other out.
Nana shifts her grip on her mallet and rushes forward, hefting her weapon for a mighty overhead swing. Popo sidesteps and stretches a hand out as his sister barrels past. A small cloud of frost splutters out, enough to upset her balance. She falls over and Popo advances, but she rolls to the side and throws her mallet into his side and sends him stumbling several metres, almost to the edge of the crowd.
"You okay?" Nana calls as she staggers to her feet.
"Kickin'."
After a moment, he rushes her and Nana holds out a hand. Popo dodges the blizzard and swipes at her legs, but she jumps over the swing and frosts him again, then swings her mallet while he's stunned. The attack connects and he flies back again.
Snake flinches and the crowd murmurs. He's about to push himself through the circle of people when Lucario drops from the sky, landing delicately between the siblings with her paws raised.
"Perhaps that is enough," Lucario suggests. "This is not something we want our robot to see."
It's unclear whether the groans of the crowd or the siblings are louder.
"But we were all having fun," Popo protests. "Even if I was the one losing."
"We thought we should provide some entertainment for these people," Nana elaborates.
"That is kind of you, but we must remain discreet."
Popo sighs and lowers his mallet. "Alright. Nana?"
She frowns but doesn't object further. She turns, with one hand raised and says, "Thank you all for coming. We hope you had as much fun as we did!" She takes a sweeping bow.
There's some whoops and applause, then the crowd begins to disperse.
Snake descends the steps of the inn and says to Lucario, "You took the words right out of my mouth."
"I know. I felt your aura from the roof." Lucario stares at him with her glinting ruby eyes. "It was... intriguing. I had the feeling you were watching something unremarkable, effortless to follow—something that perhaps had a calibrating effect on your mind, yet you were disapproving all the same."
Snake feels his face tense, but says nothing.
"Hey, guys!" Nana greets them with a puffed out Popo in tow. "Found anything new?"
Snake shakes his head.
"I'm afraid I will only discover my new limits during battle," Lucario says. Before Nana can say anything, she adds, "I am unwilling to take the risk of exposure for now."
"Maybe we can find a more suitable place to practice," Popo wonders. "But not now, I'm beat."
Nana snickers. "Beaten by me." Popo puts his head in his hands.
"Hello!" Jigglypuff calls from the inn's entrance. "We're serving lunch! Would anyone like to come join?"
"Me!" Nana and Popo rush up the stairs and disappear into the inn.
Jigglypuff chuckles after them. "And how about you two?"
"I wouldn't mind," Lucario replies. Snake shrugs, and the three of them enter the inn.
He hopes they can fine-tune their plan in time for them to make their rescue.
[1] Okay it's not part of his moveset in-game but it was hard for me to incorporate his other weapons considering how I've set this story up.
a/n: The latter half of this chapter onwards really gets into stuff I only wrote within the past month or so, I've actually written ahead for this fic to make sure I knew what I was doing with it lmao
Feel free to review!