The Return of Captain N
Part 2
"Gannondorf!" cried Princess Lana.
"Well, well, well!" Samus hissed as she aimed her blaster at the murderer before them. "This little piggy ain't so little any more!"
"Princess Lana, it's been awhile." snickered Gannondorf. "You and that Captain N boy thought you'd seen the last of me after the little Potion of Power incident, didn't you?"
"How did you get enough power to escape?" the princess demanded.
"Pikachu!" the electric mouse stepped forward to add to the group's threat.
"Do you recall the last time Video Land was 'upgraded,' princess?" the fiend smirked.
"What of it?" the princess glared.
"Every world here in Videoland was affected by it." Gannondorf explained. "And Hyrule was no exemption."
"I get it." Said Samus. "When the whole place got powered up, so was everyone in it!"
"Pretty smart for a bounty huntress." Gannondorf snorted.
"Watch it, pig-face!" Samus clenched her teeth and took better aim at him.
"So what's your plan now?" glared Captain Falcon.
"Well, I figured that with no Mother Brain or foolish game master around, the Palace of Power was free for the taking!"
"Not while we're around!" Samus fired a shot dead on at the wizard. Gannondorf just smirked as he wielded his sword and easily deflected the shot right back at Samus. Too shocked to move, the bounty huntress was hit directly by her own blast and knocked unconscious.
"Samus!" Princess Lana rushed to her friend's side. Samus was still very much alive, but she would be out like a light for a while.
"Now," Gannondorf stepped forward. "Relinquish the throne of Videoland to me or suffer the consequences!"
"Never!" the princess retorted.
"You're gonna have to get by all of us first!" cried Captain Falcon as he raced at Gannondorf, his fist flaring. "FALCON PUNCH!"
The blow connected with the villain's chest, but aside from having to take a step back, Gannondorf was unharmed.
"Is that the best you've got, Falcon?" the wizard snickered. Captain Falcon glanced up at him in shock as the fiend's mighty hand came at him and belted him across the room. The racer slammed hard into the wall and fell into a heap.
"FALCON!" Lana screamed.
"Now, if you're little army has had enough…" Gannondorf began.
"PIKACHU!!!!!" the electric mouse unleashed a powerful Thunder attack that could shame a Raichu. When the sparks died down and the pokémon was able to look, Gannondorf simply stood there, grinning at him.
"My, my, did I scuff my boots on the carpet?" the wizard faked a yawn. "Perhaps I should be more… CAREFUL!"
Too exhausted and drained to dodge, Pikachu was slapped carelessly out of the way and into an unconscious Captain Falcon. Gannondorf looked around, pleased at not seeing anyone else to interfere with him.
"Looks like your luck has run out, Princess." Gannondorf stepped up to her menacingly. "Hand over the throne and I might let you live… in the dungeon!"
"Not a chance!" she retorted.
"Fine… have it YOUR WAY!" Gannondorf reared back with his sword, aiming to bring it down on the Princess's head.
"KEVIN!!!!!!" Lana screamed as the blade came at her.
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a bright bolt struck Gannon's hand, causing him to cry out and drop his weapon. Realizing she was still alive, Princess Lana opened her eyes. Against the back wall, a warp zone opened up, surging with power. A familiar 'whoa!' echoed from it as the warp dropped none other than the Game Master himself sprawling onto the floor.
"Kevin!" Lana cried, relieved, startled, and scared all at once.
"WHAT?!" Gannondorf glanced back at her before focusing his attention on the newcomer. He was still holding his wrist, which was still smarting from the earlier blow.
At the sound of the princess's voice, Kevin stood up immediately and looked around. In one corner, he saw Falcon and Pikachu piled in a heap, and by the throne, the princess knelt by Samus, with Gannondorf staring back at him.
"I'm back!" Kevin let the words escape him as his mind slowly accepted where he was.
"No!" Gannondorf hissed. "It's not possible!"
"Gannon!" Kevin reached instinctively for his Zapper, but unfortunately found himself at a loss for it. "Oh no! My Zapper!"
By this time, Gannondorf had recovered from his initial shock and powered up to attack.
"YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME AGAIN, GAME MASTER!" he roared, firing a blast.
"Whoa!" Kevin leapt out of the way of the tremendous projectile and rolled over to Lana's side. "Are you alright, princess?"
"I'm alright," she replied. "but Gannondorf is trying to take over the throne!"
"He won't while I'm here!" Kevin glared down the wizard.
"Without your Zapper, YOU'RE NOTHING!!" Gannondorf fired again. There was no place to go. If Kevin dodged, Lana would be killed, and even if he managed to get Lana and himself out of the way, Samus would be helpless.
A shot fired, sending Gannon's blast off course and into the throne. When Kevin and Lana looked up, they spotted Duke with the much-needed Zapper in his mouth. Somehow, the dog had managed to fire it and deflect the lethal shot.
"Duke!" Kevin could hardly believe what he saw. "Good boy! Extra doggie treats for you! Definitely!"
"WRETCHED MUTT!" the wizard screamed, swinging his weapon murderously at the dog. Duke dodged nimbly, as though he was playing a simple game of keep-away with the villain.
"Over here! Duke!" Kevin called. "Quick! Bring me the Zapper, boy!"
The dog raced over to his master and gave him the gun. Gannondorf took another swipe at the animal and scratched Duke slightly in the side. The dog yelped in pain as the blade wounded him.
"Duke!" the game master screamed at the sight of his best friend's near miss. Fuming, Kevin took aim and fired furiously at Gannondorf. Though it was obviously not doing much damage, the shots were still enough to make the wizard flinch. The fiend sheathed his blade.
"You haven't seen the last of me, Captain N!" Gannondorf shook his fist. "I'll come back, and when I do, that gun'll do you no good!"
With that, Gannondorf left in a fury through a nearby warp zone. A groan stirred the silence of the room as Samus sat up dizzily and rubbed her head.
"Oh…" she moaned. "What hit me?"
"Samus, are you ok?" Kevin asked, offering a helping hand.
The bounty huntress shook her head to clear her vision. She certainly didn't recognize the voice of the person talking to her, but if he was being friendly, what was the worry? After a moment, she finally looked up at him.
"I've been better…" she replied, then suddenly recognized him. "Hey! Aren't you Captain N?!"
"That's what everyone calls me!" Kevin smiled.
"Oh wow! So YOU'RE the legendary game master!" Samus quickly stood up and shook his hand firmly. "I've heard so much about you! I'm honored to meet you!"
"Aw, I'm not that great!" Kevin blushed. "I'm just good at what I do, and that's video games!"
"Oh Kevin!" Princess Lana nearly pounced on him, hugging him tightly. "I missed you so much! I didn't know what to do without you!"
"I missed you too, Princess." Kevin hugged her back. "Not a day went by without me thinking about you or the rest of the N-Team. Which reminds me… where is the N-Team?"
"What, we're not good enough?" grumbled Captain Falcon as he picked himself up off the floor.
"Captain Falcon?" Kevin blinked.
"That's my name, don't wear it out!" the racer dusted himself off.
"Wow, my hero from F-Zero!" Kevin extended his hand to shake Falcon's. "And you were great in Super Smash Brothers!"
"Why thank you!" Falcon took Kevin's hand and shook. "So, you're the infamous Captain N. The Princess never stops talking about you!"
A sad whimper distracted everyone from the friendly reunion.
"Duke!" Kevin and the others knelt by the dog's side to look over his wound. "Are you alright, boy?"
Duke whimpered softly, but licked his master's face to reassure him. The Princess rushed to the medical lab of the palace and returned with some cloths and bandages. In nearly no time, Duke was all patched up.
"You'll be ok, boy," Kevin pet the dog gently. "But you're going to have to take it easy for awhile, ok?"
The dog whimpered disappointedly, but acknowledged his master's words. He hated missing out on all the action, and until the injury healed, that's what he'd be doing. Seeing the sad look in Duke's eyes, Kevin pulled some of his best friend's favorite doggie biscuits out of his pocket and fed them to him.
"Eat up, you deserve it, boy." said Kevin.
Samus and Falcon had been taking care of Pikachu while Kevin and the Princess tended to Duke. Aside from a few nasty bumps and bruises, the pokémon was in good shape. The electric rodent stood up and moved in every way possible to make sure nothing was broken. He then hopped over to where Duke was to get a look at the newcomer.
"Pikachu?" the pokémon twitched its ears inquisitively. Kevin just laughed warmly.
"Wow, Videoland really has gotten quite the upgrade!" the game master smiled. "The Pokémon games are still popular back home!"
Kevin reached out to pet the yellow mouse on the head, then suddenly remembered how this particular pocket monster was capable of packing an intense electrical whollop. Gulping nervously, he reached forward, this time, much more slowly. As his hand neared the animal, it stood up on its tiptoes and accepted his kindly gesture.
"Cha…" the pokémon purred contently, an occasional, harmless spark escaping its cheeks.
"Kevin…" came Lana's low, but serious voice. "We need to talk."
The game master stood up, and seeing that Samus and Captain Falcon had the same, serious looks on their faces, he nodded.
"I'm guessing this is about Gannondork back there." he said.
"Yes," the princess replied. "We'll update you on what's been happening since you left."
~~~~~~~~~~
How's this coming along? I certainly hope everyone is enjoying this. A few things I'd like to mention in case some of you are wondering.
First of all, depending on the reviews that I get, I may or may not take Pikachu out of the picture. I know alot of people are sick of Pokémon nowadays, but because I wanted to bring in some other Nintendo characters, Pikachu just seemed like a reasonable idea.
Secondly, if you're waiting for the old N-Team to make an appearance, I promise you that you won't be disappointed! I will be bringing them back in later chapters.
Finally, any other characters that I bring in may not all be Nintendo-specific (you know, they may be on games for other systems), but rest assured that anyone I do bring in will at least have had one game on a Nintendo system. (Original NES, Super NES, N64, Gamecube, you get the idea.)
As usual, if you liked it or hated it, please let me know! It helps me write faster!