15

15. Search (Link)

Fox exits the portal warily as I look around. We seem to be in a very happy dimension. Even the trees look happy. It must be Yoshi's Island.

Sure enough, Fox soon finds a group of Yoshis walking around in front of us. "Well, I don't see any boxes." Fox says tiredly. "Can we go home now?"

"No." I reply. I'm not used to giving up. I've been fighting Ganon for long enough to know that it never pays to give up. I always found a way. "Keep looking."

Fox shrugs and walks over to the Yoshis. "Excuse me, have any of you seen a large box around-"

"Fox McCloud, I presume?" a voice emanates from one of the Yoshis that sounds nothing at all like Yoshi.

"Yes, but who are you?" Fox asks nervously.

"Oh! Surely you recognize the voice of your own father!"

Suddenly the Yoshi disappeared in a flash of light, and another fox appeared.

"Father?"

"Oh Linky, I've finally found you!" another Yoshi yells, but this voice is sickeningly familiar.

In a flash of light, my horror is confirmed, as Ruto appears.

"Not you again!" I cry, but Ruto runs over to me.

"Now we can finally get married!" she shouts. "But first…"

With that, she reaches over my shoulder and grabs my neck. I feel an odd pinching sensation there, then she lets go. I see that Fox's father is doing the same to Fox. Ruto and Fox Sr. back up to the other Yoshis, and there is another large flash of light. This time, all of them disappear. In their place stands Falcon, Ness, Link, and Fox.

"Let me go, Link!" Falcon shouts. "What?…Link?"

"Fox, put me down!" Ness shouts. "Huh? But…that's Fox!"

I look at the real Fox and shrug. I jump forward to try to save Falcon, but the object in the back of my neck vibrates and sends an electrical shock through my body. My pain is increased when the captain Falcon Punches me…but I thought he was the good one…Just before I fall unconscious, I see Fox struggling to get his device off of his neck-and collapsing.

16. Search (Falcon)

I picked Ness to be my partner. I didn't really know anyone else, and besides, us unknown people have to stick together, right?

"So, Ness, what are your adventures like?" I ask, trying to make conversation.

"Oh, I've only been in two. I usually just run around with my friends using PSI powers and saving the world from Giygas."

"Bless you."

"That's his NAME!"

"Oh." I reply, sheepishly. "Well, I'm a-"

"I know, I know. Famous race car driver."

"Um, yes. And I've-"

"Won the championship three times?"

"Well….yeah." Sheesh. This kid is being really obnoxious.

"Turn on the device, Falcon." Ness sighs. I do so, and we jump through the portal. When we emerge, I almost get run over by a fast blue car. In fact, it looked a lot like-mine!

"Hey, wasn't that your world-famous car?" Ness asks.

"I think so." I reply, then notice his sarcasm. "Hey!"

He laughs and points. "Shall we follow?"

"Are you kidding? You couldn't catch up with my car if your life depended on it!" I reply indignantly.

"No, I suppose not. But this other car probably can."

He points behind me to a pink car, desperately trying to catch up.

"Samurai Goroh? He probably has less chance of catching my car than you do!"

But although the car was Samurai Goroh's, the driver was not. It was Ness!

"What am I doing driving that car?" Ness asks.

"Why don't you ask him?" I suggest. "You're supposed to have psychic powers!"

"I'm trying!" Ness replies. "He's blocking my telepathy, but we need to catch up to your car!"

"No, we don't." I reply, looking straight ahead. There, I see the blue car coming back on a collision course with Ness and me. The driver, as I had already guessed, is me.

I jump over the car and Ness jumps to the side. Both cars turn a bit and stop on a diagonal, effectively stopping us from going forward. Ness and I step out of the cars. Even as I prepare to attack, I hear the familiar rumbling of a car motor behind me. Two more cars approach, the yellow car of Dr. Stewart, and the red one of "Mighty Gazelle". Instead of hitting us, however, the cars stop on diagonals, trapping Ness and me inside of a large diamond of cars. Pikachu steps out of the yellow car, and Samus steps out of the red one. They join the other Falcon and Ness, and we all just stay still for a moment.

All of a sudden, the other Ness pulls out his yo-yo and knocks the real Ness out. I watch the other three for an attack, but don't see Samus charging her gun. As Pikachu winds up to pretend to attack, Samus blasts me from behind, and I collapse into unconsciousness.

17. Planning

Master Hand sits in his own dimension impatiently. My minions should be finished by now! Where are those Smashers? He says to himself, floating around aimlessly. It was child's play to manipulate my son to bring those fighters to me, and it won't be long before my scouts find Mistress. Then, our family reunion will be complete, and I will have my revenge!

Suddenly, he receives a mental message from one of his scouts. "Sir, we have found Mistress. She is in the toy dimension."

What? My minions have been there waiting for hours! How could they have missed her? "Well, bring her to me."

"Um, I'm afraid we can't do that, sir."

What incompetents. I don't know why I even bother with scouts anymore. If I weren't so lazy…

"Why not?" Master Hand almost roars mentally to the timid scout.

There is a long pause where Master Hand drums his fingers on his platform. The scout stammers for a while, never managing to complete a word, let alone a sentence.

"WELL?"

The scream finally snaps out of his stammering fit, and sighs before finally revealing the situation. "Mistress is dead, sir."