(A/N: If you haven't read my 5th fic yet, do so! You'll find out why Giga Bowser is here!)
Chapter 7: The Elite
Giga Bowser landed right in the middle of the main battle. Roaring loudly, he beckoned to his neighbors to challenge him.
"OK, Giga Bowser," Marth said, stepping forward. "Let's go."
"You're not fighting without me!" Roy protested.
"Let us come!" the Ice Climbers put in.
"I'm coming too." Peach volunteered. "It's about time I had revenge on a Bowser."
Marth and Roy looked at her oddly for a moment, then shrugged and chased Giga Bowser off to a remote area.
If Clyne could beat this freak by himself, Marth thought (but in Japanese), the three of us should have no problem!
"I can'ta believe thata mutant camea back," Mario sighed to Samus and Master Hand. Wolverine just looked on, puzzled, then shouted, "Hey! We've got company!"
A large shadow appeared in front of the four fighters. It looked rather normal, as shadows go, but it was very large.
"Whaddaya want, bub?" Wolverine growled, holding his claws offensively.
Instead of answering, the shadow proceeded to change shape. Bending over forward, it became a large black tank.
"What the-" Samus gasped, as the tank rolled forward, firing black balls of energy.
Mario tried to shoot a fireball at it, but it bounced off.
"I am Morphshadow!" the tank whirred.
Maska, Link, Zelda, and Tails regrouped, having destroyed all of the shadows, when they saw a larger shadow appear. It seemed to be wearing a cloak, and carrying some sort of stick. Maska prepared his mind for battle.
"I am Magishadow!" the shadow shouted.
"Magic?" Maska snorted. "You couldn't do magic if your life depended on it!"
Maska held his hands to his head and closed his eyes. "Mind Focus!" he shouted, naming his spell, as a bright beam of magic shot from his head to the shadow. The shadow laughed as all of the energy fell harmlessly on his torso. Magishadow's body began glowing with Maska's energy, until he fired off the excess in a huge blast. Link barely managed to duck in time, but he held up his Mirror Shield to reflect it back onto the shadow. Magishadow laughed as the beam passed right through the shield.
"That's impossible!" Link gasped.
Juvenor, Pikachu, and Gerick returned to the victorious Clyne, DK, Dr. Mario, and Falcon with a report. "Shadow is being held in a small building, but it's next to impossible to get to him."
"I doubt it," Clyne replied, still unable to accept the gunman's equality to the Juvenor he knew.
"See for yourself." Gerick suggested.
The group of seven hiked along, until they came to a huge metal wall. Down the middle was a corridor that seemed pretty innocuous. At the end of the corridor was, indeed, a small building.
"What's the big deal?" DK wondered, stepping forward.
"NO!" Juvenor shouted, holding DK back.
Gerick held up his crossbow. "Watch this," he said gravely.
He aimed his bow straight down the corridor and fired. As soon as it passed the threshold of the metal barrier, a hole opened on the wall of the corridor on either side and shot out a spear. The arrow just barely flew past. This pattern continued all the way down, until the arrow was eventually hit by a spear. All of the spears remained exposed, then shrank back to their hiding places.
"Whoa," was all Dr. Mario could say.
"That-could be a problem." Falcon surmised.
"Obviously," Clyne reported, "we need something, or someone, faster than Gerick's arrow."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Gerick grinned.
Sonic raced past two shadows' punches to find Knuckles and some others facing a hulking brute-looking shadow. Mewtwo and Ness were at the fore, firing off manifestations of psychic power. Mr. Game & Watch was beeping away too, swinging a small hammer and flinging sausages (bacon?), and ringing that stupid bell. Balendin and Ganondorf were also there, attacking in their own ways. Sonic decided to help them out, when suddenly Mewtwo stiffened.
Sonic…
Sonic skidded to a halt, hearing a voice in his head. He quickly realized that Mewtwo was communicating with him telepathically.
Sonic, the team that went after Clyne needs your help.
Oh, I'd be glad to help them. Sonic thought back.
That's good. Go to them.
Anything for the team. Sonic replied, and dashed away. Mewtwo chuckled, knowing that Sonic would change his tune.
"Looka out!" Mario shouted to Samus, as the tank-shadow rolled past. Although it was slow at turning, its energy cannons packed a punch, as Wolverine found out. His healing factor kept him going, but Mario could see that Wolverine was being extra careful not to be hit.
It didn't seem to matter, though. As a tank, this opponent was nigh invulnerable. Mario smashed it repeatedly, but the tank just kept turning until its barrel was in line with Mario's chest. When it fired, Mario swung his cape just in time, and the blast was reflected back at Morphshadow. Despite its effectiveness against the smashers, though, it had as little effect on itself as the smashers did. Mario groaned and continued smashing, as the barrel slowly turned away to menace Master Hand.
Giga Bowser roared and breathed fire. The Ice Climbers tried to counter with their ice attack, but Giga Bowser was much stronger. Roy snuck up from behind and silently charged his Flare Blade, but the mutant noticed just in time and spun around in its shell, sending both Roy flying from the back, and the Ice Climbers from the front. Marth and Peach approached, and Giga Bowser headbutted Peach. She was ready, though. Her trusty servant Toad took the hit and reflected it back to Giga Bowser, who roared in pain and fell over. Marth wasted no time in using his Dancing Blade to further injure the deformed Bowser.
"Nice work, Peach!" Marth shouted.
Peach nodded in reply, too focused on the rising Giga Bowser to answer.
Magishadow laughed cruelly as he fired a shower of sparks from his wand. Zelda couldn't activate Nayru's Love in time, and shouted in pain. Maska stepped forward, trying another spell.
"Mind Vortex!" he shouted, sending a glowing tornado at the sorcerer. The cyclone, unfortunately, went right past Magishadow's outstretched arm and disappeared harmlessly around the shadow's body.
Link sighed in frustration and charged forward, swinging his sword angrily. Magishadow laughed scornfully and fired a bolt of lightning out of his wand. Link flew backward and collapsed.
Tails stared helplessly, then noticed a group of shadows approaching from the rear. He resolved to take care of them.
"What?" Sonic shouted, furious. "You called me over so I could save him?"
"That's right," Clyne replied, glaring. "We're all part of a team. Even Mario and Bowser are working as a team!"
"If Mario is foolish enough to let his guard down-" Sonic began, but Juvenor interrupted.
"You think you're so righteous?" he asked caustically. "Once a villain, always a villain? No one can change?"
"You don't know him," Sonic scowled.
"Obviously, you don't either! He's made many contributions over here, and he saved Clyne's life."
"That was just a façade so he wouldn't have to deal with me." Sonic replied haughtily.
Juvenor threw his hands into the air in desperation. "Sonic, you're hopeless."
"Hold it! I said the same thing about Mewtwo and Ness, and now they're best of buddies."
"Mewtwo and Ness?" Sonic gasped. They always seemed so friendly!
"Oh, yeah! They argued constantly over who had better psychic powers! We almost had to send Mewtwo back!"
Sonic couldn't believe his ears. If Mewtwo and Ness used to be bitter rivals, could he and Shadow actually-
No. He couldn't give up on his suspicions now, not in the middle of a war!
"Sonic, we need you. The team needs you." Falcon put in. "We're not asking you to help a friend, we're asking you to help a teammate."
Sonic closed his eyes in thought, and opened them a few moments later. He nodded slowly.
"What do you need me to do?" he asked.
"Say, just out of curiosity," Ganondorf asked as he charged his smash, "Did anyone bother to keep track of the unconscious bodies that were over there?"
"Um-" Balendin glanced over, only to confirm Ganondorf's worries, "Yep, they're gone."
"Great."
Anomaly's assistant laughed as he watched the elite battle. None of the smashers were making headway except the fools trying to save Shadow. He had a special challenge in store for them. Anomaly and Apocalypse were basically at a standoff, but whenever either one fell over, they inevitably crushed many fighters on both sides. It was only a matter of time before victory was assured.
(A/N: Now that the elite have arrived, do the smashers stand a chance? And will Sonic be able to outrace the traps and his anxiety to save Shadow?
Also, in an unprecedented request (at least for me), I would like some suggestions for the name of Anomaly's assistant (because, in case you haven't noticed, he doesn't have one yet). Include your idea in a review. Thanks!)