~Together We Stand~

/~/

~Chapter One: Fall From Grace~

Nothing. Darkness. A void that consumed everything; sound, light, touch, smell. He couldn't remember anything; his name, his purpose, where he was. He wasn't bothered by it though, for all he knew this had been his whole existence. Floating, a speck of nothing in an even bigger sea of nothing.

And then, something. A sound, something he vaguely recognized he realized with a jolt. And, light. A small point of light that grew bigger and bigger every passing second. And as the light grew, he suddenly remembered.

My name... is Mario.

/~/

Mario inhaled a huge breath and his eyes shot open, gasping for air as he took a moment to regain his bearings. Right... the army of Master Hands. Galeem, controlling the phantoms and staring them down. Shulk warning everyone to run.

The beams of light that honed in on everyone.

Luigi's terrified shriek as he and Daisy were consumed.

Sonic reaching for Pikachu but ultimately failing.

Himself, desperately reaching for Bowser Jr. but couldn't do so in time.

Mario blinked, and slowly sat up. His eyes met the watery ones of Kirby who let out an excited noise and barreled into him, refusing to let go. Mario chuckled and returned Kirby's embrace. "Grazie, Kirby." he murmured. "Were you the only survivor of what happened?"

Kirby broke away from Mario and sadly nodded. A pang hit Mario's heart realizing how difficult that had to have been for someone as young as Kirby. He glanced around at the surroundings, noting the mismatched scenery. "Do you have any idea where the others might be?"

Kirby pointed a stubby arm out into the path forward, and Mario understood what he and Kirby needed to do. Like what happened in Subspace, they needed to rescue their friends. "Then let's get started."

/~/

A few fighters later and the growing group had stopped to take a small breather. As they'd learned, they hadn't been the only beings affected by this calamity, it seemed everyone across their combined worlds and then some had been completely wiped out by Galeem, their spirits crammed into souless puppets of their friends and forced to fight. At least they seemed a bit more jovial after being freed and offered their aid to help save the others, but it was still chilling to think they died for that to happen.

And Mario was worried. What if the spirits could never come back to life? His fellow Smashers were lucky enough to retain their bodies but was everyone else not as lucky? Were they really and truly separated from their bodies forever?

And speaking of Smashers, a large portion of them were still missing. He hadn't found his brother yet, Daisy, Peach, Wario, Bowser, Junior, Mega Man, Pac-Man...

...Sonic.

Mario wholeheartedly admitted that while he and Sonic were talking again, things weren't great. The tension was thick and obvious to everyone, though only a few Smashers had pieced together that they'd impulsively slept together. Everyone else assumed that it was just lingering feelings causing the tension, and they wouldn't be wrong. Both Mario and Sonic had admitted to each other that they still had feelings for each other but called a truce at friendship to not further damage either of them.

Lingering feelings aside Mario would be worried anyway. He was worried for everyone unfortunate enough to be invited to this tournament, as this was far worse than when Tabuu had attacked. He stole a glance at the Villagers and Isabelle who huddled together, clearly shell-shocked by what they'd just gone through. The spirit of Isabelle's twin brother Digby floated above them, clearly wanting to help his sister and friends in any way he could.

"Mario."

Mario turned his attention towards Samus who had been discussing tactics with Captain Falcon, Link and Kirby. "Falcon thinks we should split up into groups so we can try and save as many of us as possible. You're our leader, so you get to decide on teams."

Mario's gaze shifted between the four fighters. What surprised him most was how serious Captain Falcon looked. During the Subspace Emissary he'd still been the goofy flirt he'd always been, but even he seemed to realize the severity of the situation they were in right now. Mario pondered for a few moments, taking into account who was present and how their talents would meld together.

"Link and Samus will take Kirby and half the Villagers with them. Me and Captain Falcon will take Isabelle and the remaining Villagers. If either of our groups run into trouble try and make a beacon of some sort so the other can see it and come to help." he paused for a moment, trying to remain the professional leader his friends expected but his frayed emotions were slipping through. "Please stay safe. I can't lose you after we just got reunited."

Kirby wrapped his arms around Mario's leg and squeezed tight. A flicker of understanding flashed in Link's eyes and he sternly nodded. Samus, while remaining her normal stoic self, placed a supporting hand on Mario's shoulder.

"We'll come back to you Mario. Don't you go disappearing on us either."

The Smashers broke off into their groups, the Villagers clearly not wanting to be separated from each other or Isabelle but none of them put up much of a fuss. They may have been children but they still grasped the situation they'd found themselves in.

"Good luck." Mario said to the other groups retreating forms. He took a deep breath to compose himself and looked towards his own team. "Lets save our friends."

/~/

Where am I?

A pause to concentrate on everything around him. He could feel other presences near him, as if they were all connected in a web of darkness. It hurt to breathe. His lungs felt like they were full of thorns. He recognized the presence closest to him, but couldn't place the name.

Who are you?

Who am I?

AN: Well, well, well, what's this? An update to Runaways and the next installment of the FRtR saga in the same week?

This story has been in development since 2018. I wanted to wait and see which DLC characters would be added before writing something concrete.

I'm glad I waited. A specific character is going to be very important to the plot.

The phoenix rises from the ashes once again, and she's stronger this time.

~Steel