Chapter 6: The Other Four Smashers
Mario soon found himself on the surface of Planet Zebes. Looking around, he was again reminded of the harsh feeling of gloominess that hung over the dark planet. Lost in thought, he was suddenly attacked by a flying purple dragon!
"Whata the-" Mario jumped back into Luigi, away from the dragon.
Suddenly, the dragon twitched in pain and fell over, with jolts of energy traveling up and down its back. Behind the dragon stood an intimidating armored figure, holding a freshly used gun.
"Samus! Justa the bounty hunter Ia wanted toa see." Mario greeted gratefully.
Samus nodded in greeting to Mario. She motioned for Mario to come closer, and she whispered in his ear.
"Mario, your voice…"
"I know, but the others have heard me use that stupid voice for years. Their visions of me would be shattered if I told them the truth. My throat REALLY hurts, though."
Samus nodded officially, but her amusement was obvious. "So, what brings you all to Zebes?" she said out loud.
"What-was thata dragon?" Luigi wondered, still a little startled.
"Oh, that's just Ridley." Samus replied. "He's a nuisance, but easily taken care of. So, you never answered my question."
Fox spoke up. "Four of our (well, collectively, I guess) greatest enemies have united and are trying to take over the (well, a) world. And we need your help to stop them."
"Oh, I see. So we're not entering another tournament?"
"Not that I know of." Link replied. "I hope."
They all laughed. Finally, Samus pointed to Jigglypuff. "What is that?"
"Oh, that's another Pokemon. Some mysterious kid decided that we can't have just one…" DK replied dryly. "Stupid monsters."
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted, shocking DK with electricity.
"All right, that'sa enough. Wea have to recruita Kirby, Ness, anda Captain Falcon." Mario interrupted.
"I beg your pardon?" Samus cut in.
"Oh, yeah. This kid also told us to find Ness and Falcon. I can only hope he knew what he was talking about." DK responded.
Mario shrugged and activated the device.
"Destination: Dreamland."
"Herea we go!" Luigi said. "I coulda really get used toa traveling bya portal."
Rolling their eyes, the other eight fighters entered the portal.
"Hey! Waita for me!"
One portal trip later, Mario emerged onto a cloud. The others looked around, but Mario stared straight ahead, looking at something that was approaching fast.
"Geta down!" he shouted, and the nine ducked (except Pikachu and Jigglypuff, who didn't need to).
The object rocketed over their heads and skidded to a stop at the edge of the cloud.
"Sorry guys! These things are hard to control!"
"Kirby!" Mario greeted. "Justa the-er-character I wanted toa see."
"Wow, what a reunion. What's going on?"
Mario patiently explained the situation again. Kirby nodded and grinned.
"Well, I couldn't be happier to help. Things have been boring around here since I beat O2."
"Oh good. That was easy." Link commented.
"These next twoa won't be." Mario replied somberly. "Ness anda Falcon don'ta know whoa we are, so they won'ta be asa friendly."
"True. Well, we outnumber them." Samus pointed out. "Let's go!"
Mario shrugged and activated the device again.
"Destination: Onett."
The ten fighters entered the portal, and emerged in a happy, colorful little town.
"How are we supposed to find Ness here?" DK wondered.
"Are you looking for Ness?" a police officer nearby asked.
"Well, yes, actually." Fox replied.
"He lives right over there."
"Thanksa a lot!" Mario replied.
Following the officer's direction, Mario soon found a young boy wearing red and blue, playing with a yo-yo.
"Excuse me, do you know where Ness is?" Link asked, looking for a fighter.
The boy chuckled. "I am Ness."
"You're joking." Samus laughed. "We came here to recruit a little boy?"
"I'll show you!" Ness shouted angrily. "PK Fire!"
A little bolt of energy shot out of Ness's fingers, and it hit Samus. Suddenly, a pillar of fire appeared, right over Samus!
"Ouch! Stop! The pain!" Samus shouted, until the psychokinetic fire went out.
Mario and the others stared, impressed.
"All right, Ness, listen." Fox began. "We need your help. Four evil people are trying to take over the world and-"
"Oh, I have experience with that. I just beat up someone trying to take over my world."
"What was his name?"
"Giygas."
"Bless you." DK grunted.
"No, really. That's his name."
"Oh."
"Anyway, wea want you toa come with us."
"Sure, why not. Giygas won't-"
"Bless you."
"That's his NAME!"
"Oh."
Ness sighed. "Who's the monkey?"
"His name is DK. We can introduce ourselves later, but now we need to find a Captain Falcon." Link replied.
"Never heard of him."
"I didn't think so. Well, let's go, Mario." Samus said impatiently. "This place is too-happy."
"Ha! You'vea never been toa Yoshi's Island!" Mario laughed. Luigi and Yoshi joined in.
"Destination: Mute City."
"Whatever. Here wea go!"
The eleven jumped into the portal.
"What-there's nobody here!" Ness noticed as they stepped out.
Pikachu and Jigglypuff started walking forward when they felt a rumbling in the distance. Suddenly, a large blue car rolled right over them!
"Pikachu?" Mario shouted. "Jigglypuff?"
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted, very frightened.
"Jiggly!" Jigglypuff replied in the same condition.
DK stepped forward. "Are you two-"
Suddenly, four more cars sped past. DK barely stepped back in time as the drivers motioned angrily for DK to get out of the way.
"Hmm. Must be some sort of race." Samus commented.
"Race? We only race on horses, and these aren't horses." Link replied, stunned.
"No, these are cars. What planet are you from?" Ness said, laughing.
"Never mind!" Mario sighed. "Where'sa Falcon?"
The eleven rushed over to the finish line, where a tall man was stepping out of his car, posing for cameras in front of a huge crowd.
Mario pushed his way to the front. "Excuse me, are youa Captain Falcon?"
"Why, yes I am, little man. Would you like an autograph?"
"Uh, no. We camea to ask your-"
"Captain Falcon! Falcon, how does it feel to win another race?" a reporter interrupted Mario.
"Well, it feels great! As usual!"
"Excusea me?" Mario said angrily.
"Oh, sorry, buddy. The media are killers, aren't they?"
"Yeah, sure. So, wea need you to-"
"Falcon, what is the secret to your success?" another reporter wanted to know.
"That's it!" Samus shouted. She fired a huge energy ball into the air. "Anyone who's not a Super Smasher, GO AWAY!"
The reporters and fans stared at each other, then left.
"Thank youa, Samus…" Mario sighed. Bounty hunters, apparently, were not trained to be subtle.
"Who are you people?" Falcon asked nervously, seeing the circle of eleven closing in on him.
"We want you to help us save the world." Fox replied.
"Oh, no. I'm a racer, not a fighter." Falcon responded, pointing enthusiastically to his car. "Ain't she a beauty?"
"Oh, so you're afraid?" Samus stepped forward.
"Afraid? Me? The great Captain Falcon? Never!"
"Let's see what you've got, Captain Crunch!"
"Samus, don't…" Mario sighed, lowering his head onto his hand.
"Too late." DK pointed out.
Falcon didn't waste any time. "Falcon kick!" he shouted, as he whizzed across the floor, leaving a trail of fire. Upon connection with Samus, she fell over ablaze.
"Oh, so that's the way you want it? Fine!"
Samus screwed Falcon.
Well, you know. She did her Screw Attack.
Falcon fell down from that attack, but Samus was slower to recover. "Falcon….Punch!"
With that, Captain Falcon's first launched forward, leaving an impressive afterimage of an orange falcon. The superhumanly strong punch hit Samus hard, and she flew backward, right into Yoshi.
"Hey!" Yoshi shouted.
"He talked again!" DK pointed out gleefully.
"OK…Falcon." Samus said dazedly. "I guess you're…good enough…to fight alongside me."
Falcon grinned. "Show me your moves!" he taunted.
"Well, now we need to head to the battlefield." Link reminded everyone. "We finally are all here."
"Pika!"
"Jiggly!"
"Yoshi!"
As the Pokemon and Yoshi expressed their excitement, the other nine fighters expressed their readiness and eagerness to battle.
"I guess we'rea agreed then." Mario said happily. "Let'sa go!"
"Destination: Battlefield."
The portal appeared, and the twelve heroes jumped in.