Chapter 26: The Plan

The group photo fit nicely with the rest of the pictures on the wall of Lucas's room. Somehow Ness had gotten everyone to go with it, even Bowser who stood in the background towering over the kids along with Dedede. Not that Bowser smiled for the camera...but Ness did, and it looked genuine this time. He'd worked so hard to get everyone to get along, maybe a little too hard.

Now Lucas knew why. An old photo of Boney caught his eye, the first one Alle had taken of him once she got her hands on a camera. Boney was nine now, which was quite old for a large dog like him...he had three or four years left to live at best.

Lucas had his own way of distracting himself: lighting the fireplace with PK Fire, sitting on the rocking chair, and reading the rest of Rosalina's book about Mario's space adventures. He already knew how it ended, he'd heard the story from Mario last tournament, but the novelization was beautifully written. Vivid prose sent him to distant star systems and weaved a tale of heroism and adventure across planets of fire and ice, fields of asteroids and space junk, pocket dimensions with warped physics, and naturally Bowser's space stations. It all culminated in a showdown at Bowser's lair in the center of the universe (hadn't Dr. Andonuts said there was no such thing?) where Mario yet again beat the Koopa King and rescued Peach along with the Grand Star powering Bowser's so-called 'galaxy reactor'.

A reactor which broke down and turned the sun it used into a black hole. Rosalina miraculously destroyed that black hole with the power of the seven Grand Stars and the help of many Lumas, making it detonate as a supernova instead. She'd saved everyone from that explosion...even Bowser, the one who accidentally caused it. Was that a mistake? All Lucas knew for sure was that it spared Junior from going through something no ten-year-old should have to.

Lucas closed the book and put it back on the shelf, then just closed his eyes and listened to the crackling fireplace. It was a nice way to relax and get ready to sleep.

He needed it when he had a busy week coming up.

It started with even more training.

"PK Thunder!"

Mewtwo waved his three-fingered hand and deflected the yellow sphere of electricity into the cave wall where it dispersed into sparks.

"I know you can do better than that."

"I'm trying!" Lucas threw another lightning orb, but a tail swipe sent it to the ceiling just as easily.

"Are you? I recall finding out that the first time you used this, you blew off Galleom's left arm. So why does it have so little power now unless you propel yourself with it?"

"Um...well..." Lucas frowned. "I don't know, sorry...and all I did was finish it off, Marth, Ike and Meta Knight softened it up a lot already."

"That still doesn't explain it."

"Hey, PSI is weird, ok?" Ness said. "I've been using it for over a year and I still don't get half of how it works."

"Only over a year, despite the fact this is your fourth tournament? That reminds me of the fact this tournament is outside of normal space-time...Lucas, how much time has passed since you were in the previous tournament?"

"I can't believe it's been almost a year...I guess time really does fly."

"So you've had almost a year to practice, and you still haven't learned more than the basic PK Thunder?"

Lucas looked down in shame. "I don't know, it's just hard! I don't know why I suck so much at it..."

"It's not like you'd understand, you were made super strong!" Ness said. "It all comes naturally to you, so you've never had to work hard."

"I was made to have vast psychic power, but not knowledge of how to control it. Another of the many mistakes they made in my design..." He sighed. "As much as I hate to thank Giovanni for anything, the time I spent wearing his power-limiting armor did help me learn restraint. So why has learning been so difficult for you?"

"You're the one who was in my head, you tell me!" Lucas pouted, then sulked. "Ugh, I don't know why I even try, I'll never learn it like Ness..."

"Hey, it's not your fault...I'm not better than you, I just didn't go through all the crap you did with lightning." Ness said.

"That may be the case, but how much time have you actually spent attempting to overcome your phobia? Answer honestly instead of telling me how stupid you think you are."

"Uh..." Lucas trailed off and scratched his head. "I don't know. I tried it at least a dozen times, but then I gave up..." He frowned. "I just thought I'd never get it, so I didn't wanna waste my time. I had a lot of other stuff to learn anyways, stuff that wasn't so hard..."

"Well you can always learn it now, right? Poo told me something once: the best time to do something you're putting off is yesterday, but the second best time is today. So don't feel bad, everyone procrastinates sometimes." Ness's eyes widened. "Wait a minute, that reminds me: there's another thing we've been putting off!"

"What?"

"Remember what Sarah Connor and the other guy said?"

"You mean Reflet and Robin? Yeah, they want us to help them get their memories back..."

"No, not that! Well, sorta. I mean the other thing, they wanted us to figure out a way to make it safer since they've got that creepy dragon in their brains." Ness adjusted his cap in thought. "And all I thought of so far was getting Kirby to copy our PSI, but that's obvious...there's gotta be more we could do than that. Right?"

"I don't know, I didn't think of anything else..."

"Well, how about we go ask them?"

"But that doesn't make sense...we're supposed to be the ones figuring it out, right?"

"Sure, but the more we know about the Skynet wannabee, the better. Maybe they know stuff we don't, and if we get 'em to tell us we'll figure something out."

"Huh...that might actually work!" Lucas sulked again. "I wish I thought of that..."

"Relax, Luke, you're not dumb...I mean, you just figured out a mystery the other day!"

"Thanks..." He smiled slightly.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go talk to them!"

"R-right now? But what about the training?"

"What about the training? It sure wasn't helping today, and if you ask me it's 'cuz Giygas 2.0 here is a crappy teacher, not because you're stupid."

"I am not a poor teacher, and I don't appreciate wasting the time I set aside."

"Whatever you say, dude..." Ness shrugged. "I think talking to them is gonna help more with the plan anyways. Or do you want us to fail 'cuz we didn't get enough help?"

"I don't know how I put up with this." Mewtwo shook his head.

"So...does that mean we can go?" Lucas said.

"As quickly as possible."

They teleported away and left Mewtwo to float in a sitting position, close his eyes, and meditate in peace.

It took several PK Teleports and minutes before they sensed the tacticians in one of the square white training rooms and peeked their heads around the doorway. Lucas crouched down so Ness could see over him, and the latter kept his hat from falling off via telekinesis.

Corrin threw a large water shuriken that Lucina jumped over before slashing at her in midair, making Corrin lean back enough to only be grazed, yet the force still sent her flying into the wall where she fell in a groaning heap.

"Ugh...that barely touched me, so why does it hurt like hell..."

"Falchion is the bane of all dragons, but it's not only that: I learned from Marth to focus its power at the edge." She sheathed the sword and its blue glow faded. "Don't feel bad, you learned something too."

"She really did take notes from Greninja..." Reflet said while sitting in the corner and writing in her book alongside Robin who did the same.

"Not like it worked..." She stabbed her sword into the ground and used it to help herself up. "So much for a Hoshidan weapon saving me for once."

"To be fair, I did spar against someone else who threw strange weapons today...it was Mr. Game and Watch. Wario said I should fight him since we have so much in common, and at first I didn't understand, but now I do: he too had to wander desolate lands and face hordes of soulless monsters, thanks to his time in Subspace. His unorthodox style showed me I have to be ready for the unexpected in this strange tournament."

Robin's eyes widened, then he facepalmed. "Oh, Lucina...I'm afraid that's not what he meant."

Reflet sighed. "It was a crude joke...he was comparing you two because Mr. Game and Watch is almost completely flat."

A moment passed, then Lucina's eyes widened.

"That fiend! The next time we fight, I'll-"

Ness burst into laughter while Lucas stifled a chuckle. Everyone turned and stared. And in Lucina's case, glared.

"It's not funny!"

"Don't worry, you're beautiful just the way you are." Robin said, making her blush faintly.

"Not gonna lie, it kinda is funny...but I guess I shouldn't body-shame when I used to be one of the fat kids." Ness pondered his still somewhat round belly.

"I suppose I'll let it slide...I do owe both of you for trying to help Robin, after all."

Lucas scratched his head. "Well, don't thank us yet, we don't know if it'll work...that's why we came here, actually. We wanna talk to Robin and Reflet and see if they can help us figure out how to help them." That look of gratitude made Lucas realize why she'd hesitated to hit him for a moment in their earlier battle. And here he'd thought it was just because of his age...

Corrin's look was the opposite: annoyance and shame radiated off of those red eyes in equal measure. Not for losing to him and Cloud, but just him, not only a child but that one crybaby who was on the news. Lucas frowned, of course people thought of him like that. He'd be ashamed if he lost to himself too. Corrin looked from him to Lucina.

"I thought your sense of humor was poor, not nonexistent. You didn't figure out what he meant after all this time? Did no one make jokes where you grew up? I grew up in a fortress of all places, and I still heard plenty from my siblings and the knights."

"People tell me that often." Lucina sighed. "And yes, some did, even when there was little reason to. It was a way of coping for many in those dark times, like Inigo. But I always thought I should be different...I was meant to lead everyone after Father died, after all. What kind of leader doesn't take her duty seriously?"

"Laslow-I mean Inigo still does that now, if you're wondering. I'm still not used to calling him by his real name...though from what you said he looks like, his disguise was paper-thin." She paused. "He misses you, you know. So do Odin and Selen-er, Owain and Severa."

"And we'll be able to see them again once this tournament is over, but then we'll have to deal with Anankos." Reflet said, then turned to them. "And if we can remember how we became tacticians in the first place, perhaps we'll be better prepared to handle that. So how is it that you think we can help?"

"Well...there's gotta be more stuff you didn't tell us, right?" Ness said. "About that creepy dragon, and whatever you can guess about your past."

"Ugh, you're right, I should have thought of that sooner!" Robin facepalmed. "I was too busy with other things to think of explaining more of the details...I must have forgotten you don't know everything I do."

"So, are we done training then?" Corrin said.

"Oh no, you and Lucina can continue while we leave to talk with them. Have fun, you two." Reflet smiled with a glint in her eyes that didn't reassure Corrin, who pulled her sword from the ground and made it glow purple while two of the four oval symbols on the blade glowed red...

"Um, can I ask you something?" Lucas said. "How come only two of those circles on your sword are glowy? And for the other you, it's the other two circles, even though his sword looks different..."

"Do I have to explain?" She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, fine. The Yato transforms based on which of the other four divine weapons combine their power with its own. For me, those are Siegfried and Brynhildr, and for Kamui, it's the Fujin Yumi and Raijinto, because he sided with Hoshido. I call this form the Shadow Yato, and he calls his the Blazing Yato. We can't unlock the Yato's full power because we'd need the trust of all four wielders of the weapons...but Ryoma and Takumi are dead, and while Hinoka and Sakura took up their weapons, I doubt they'll ever forgive me." She said bitterly. "So there's no way in hell that's happening now."

"Oh, sorry I asked..." Lucas's shoulders slumped in shame. "I really think you should talk to someone about all those things, though..."

"I'm fine. Just go already and let me train."

Lucas raised his eyebrows when he felt a strange emotion, it felt almost like she'd lied, and not just about being fine. Did that mean she had gotten help? He walked out the door with the others and decided he didn't want to know, not if his way of finding out was telepathy.

He hoped she had, though.

The four of them walked out to the hallway, then the waiting lobby, where they took a seat on some of the comfy chairs. Except for Ness, who took four cans of soda from a vending machine and floated them into everyone's hands.

"Just what is this made of?" Reflet said.

"Carbonated water and addiction, bud." Ness said while opening his own can.

"Um, you could read the 'Nutrition Facts' list?" Lucas said.

Robin squinted at the back of the can. "This isn't helping, I don't know what any of these labels are."

"I thought you were the smart guy, you figure it out." Ness shrugged and took a sip.

Robin rolled his eyes. "Whatever it is, I've survived worse poison." He took a careful sip, gulped it down, and spent a few moments calculating if he'd been poisoned. "It's fine, but the drink I tried the other day was better. Pepsi, I think it was called?"

"You think Pepsi is better than Coke?" Ness said with an exaggerated look of shock and betrayal. "You're dead to me."

Robin shrugged. "Does that mean you're not helping?"

"No! I mean yes...I mean...you know what, I'm gonna pretend you never said that." Ness took another sip.

While he did that, Reflet looked back at them. "So, where do we start? Grima, or what little I know about my past?"

"Hold on, lemme say something first. I did think of one way to help you guys...you know how Kirby can eat people and copy their powers?"

Reflet pulled out a book and flipped through its pages rapidly. "Kirby, fighter number 6...hails from Dream Land, wherever that is...can defy all logic and inhale enemies despite them being larger than he is and replicate their abilities...has saved his planet on numerous occasions, sometimes with the help of his tutor, Sir Meta Knight..."

"Yeah, I was thinking he could copy our psychic powers and give us a hand. I know he doesn't have the experience, but he could at least give us a boost, ya know? And the little guy packs a heck of a punch."

"Well, that's something. Anything else?"

"Sorry, not really. I tried asking Master Hand if he could just snap his fingers and fix your memories, but nope. He said that's a bad idea, something about how 'mortal minds endure great strain when exposed to a power like mine', whatever that's supposed to mean." Ness said while mockingly imitating Master Hand's voice and making hand gestures equivalent to his body language. "Sounds like he's just lazy to me..."

"I see...if that's all, then let's get back to what I was saying: what should I start with, Grima or my past?"

"Let's go with the dragon. How the heck did he time travel anyways?" Ness said. "There's no way he built a time machine when you guys are so backwards...uh, no offense. So did he do it with magic?"

"Yes, but not with his magic...it was a portal in time that Naga created to send Lucina and her friends to the past. However, Grima followed them through it using the body of my future self that he'd possessed...somehow, he was the one to arrive first, nearly a day before Lucina and the others. But as much as luck was on his side, he made a mistake: he got greedy."

"How's that?"

"He tried to possess me. Well, he was already possessing me, but I mean the current me...ugh, no, I mean the me of that time! The me from a few years ago. The point is, he could have just killed me, but instead he wanted to control both versions of me at once, and he failed. Instead of bending my mind to his will, he broke it and wiped all of my memories..." She frowned.

"So that's how you forgot everything! I totally forgot to ask earlier..." Ness said.

"I'm glad he couldn't control you, but how come it happened like that? Wait, if you forgot everything, then how do you know how he made you forget?" Lucas said.

"Because he told me later on. He claimed that at the time, my body and mind weren't yet ready to host his power, but he might have lied." Robin said. "It may be that he simply didn't have the power to control two bodies at once...you see, he only had a fraction of his full strength while traveling to the past with the body he stole, and he couldn't regain it without reviving his real body in that time. In other words, by resurrecting and merging with his past self."

"Then why didn't he just kill you after he screwed up?" Ness said.

"Good question. I've asked myself that many times, but I have a guess: Grima and his followers were always ranting about how destiny can't be changed. He must have left me in that field hoping I would become Chrom's tactician despite my amnesia, so he could possess me once I was friends with him and stab him in the back, making history repeat itself..."

"But we outsmarted him." Reflet said with a smirk. "He never knew that wiping my mind still left me with a memory of my future self right when Grima forced her to kill Chrom. It's thanks to that dream and Lucina's help that I was able to see it coming and change things."

"That's nice..." Lucas said, then furrowed his eyebrows in thought while taking another gulp. His thoughts went back to the Egg of Light and how it had both erased and restored Duster's memories. "So if it's Grima's magic that screwed up your memories, maybe he could fix them too? I doubt he wants to, though..."

"That's the problem, and that's why I have to rely on you two instead. But because Grima is lurking in my mind, I need to make sure he doesn't hurt you or drive you to madness." She shook her head and muttered to herself. "Gods know he'd delight in tormenting anyone who dared to help me..."

"So the worst case scenario isn't if we can't get your memories back, it's him driving us nuts?" Ness said. "Eh, Giygas tried that and it didn't work for him either."

"Oh, it can get worse than that..." Robin said ominously.

"Worse? But he can't kill us here, we'd just turn into trophies. Wait..." Lucas's face paled. "He possessed you guys before, so the worst thing would be if he did it again! Then if he stayed in control for the whole tournament and got back home..."

"I see you're a fellow pessimist." Robin said, then took a sip. "It's a good habit if you don't overdo it: there's no avoiding the worst outcomes if you can't predict them. So, any thoughts on how you could prevent him from possessing us?"

"Uh..." Lucas looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes in thought. What could prevent possession? One mind invading another, like when Mewtwo attacked him, or when Ganondorf did the same only to get driven back by... "Wait, that's it! Link could help stop Grima from possessing you just like he helped me against Ganondorf! Maybe the other Link could help too, they've both got the Master Sword..."

"Holy crap, that's perfect, dude!" Ness said. "With two Master Swords and two of you, we're pretty much set. It seems like overkill, honestly...we can just help you one at a time, right?"

"About that...there's just one problem with that." Robin said. "You know how I said that when Grima fully revived his body, he merged with the version of himself from the past?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"The problem is what that implies. The future version of Grima could connect his magic with the one from the past, so what about two Grimas who are identical save for possessing different versions of me?"

"Hold on, you're saying he could team up with the other version of him somehow? So if we tried to only help out one of you at a time..."

"You'd likely have to deal with the other Grima regardless. That's why it would be best if you helped both of us at once, to contain both versions of him simultaneously."

"Huh...now that you say that, I better think of something to make this easier too."

Ness gulped down the rest of his Coca Cola. Ideas bubbled and fizzed in his brain for the next minute...who else could help those two? Two amnesiacs, amnesiacs thanks to evil time traveling dragons possessing them with some kind of dark magic. Did he know anyone else who could cure amnesia or stop brainwashing or undo magic like that?

Then it hit him.

"This is gonna sound crazy, but I think Roy could help you guys...I mean the guy with the magic sword, not the turtle!"

"How? He doesn't have any psychic powers like you two." Robin said.

"I know, but his sword can do some really weird stuff. He said he used it to turn some crazy dragon back to normal by getting rid of the dark magic that made her evil, or something...I dunno how it works, but maybe it could stop you guys from getting possessed too."

"You mean what he said about Idunn? I see, that might be helpful after all...damn it, I wish I'd thought of that sooner..." He muttered the last part.

"Well, that's all I've got...I guess we're good to go now. There's no way we could screw it up with five..six...uh..." He counted on his fingers. "Seven of us helping you two!"

"It'll be ten of you, actually. I've found a way that Lucina, Chrom, and Marth could help as well...it's because of how the Falchion weakens Grima. Even if they lack the means to help restore our memory directly, they can help prevent Grima from taking control just by standing near us and holding the Falchion while we're unconscious."

"Still, don't tempt fate." Reflet added. "There's no guarantee it'll all go as planned."

"Yeah, we don't know if they'll all agree to it..." Lucas said. "I don't wanna put them in danger either."

"C'mon Luke, relax. It'll be less dangerous for everyone if we work together, right? I'm sure they'll think so too."

"Well..." Lucas sighed. "Okay, I guess you're right...going it alone would just be stupid."

"I hate to admit it, but I was wrong about you, Ness." Robin said. "I thought you were just a spoiled brat, but in that case you wouldn't risk yourself for a stranger."

"What was that again? I didn't catch that, say it louder." Ness said cupping his ear.

"I've changed my mind."

"Aw, come on!" Ness pouted, then got out of his seat. "That's it, I'm done. Let's go, Luke. We gotta ask the others if they're cool with the plan anyways."

"But wait, they didn't tell us the other stuff yet..." Lucas said.

"What stuff?"

"You were the one who asked what we can guess about our past." Robin said. "I thought you'd remember."

"Oh. Right. That." He sat back down. "Okay, fine, let's hear it..."

"There's not much to hear. I was born in the kingdom of Plegia, and my father was Validar, the leader of the Grimleal. The name makes it obvious, but it's a cult that worships Grima."

"Oh, like the Happy-Happyism cult? Those guys were nuts."

"I have no idea what Happy-Happyism is, but yes, it was a cult. They don't allow anyone in their group to question their beliefs, let alone leave. But that's exactly what my mother did...she fled with me since I was born with the Mark of Grima. She knew I would be raised to be his vessel, so she ran away so I could avoid that fate."

"Man, that's kinda like how Carpainter kidnapped Paula so she could be their high priestess...good thing I beat him up and got rid of the Mani-Mani Statue making them crazy."

"Um, what happened after that? You got away from those bad guys, right?" Lucas said.

"The only thing I know for sure is that the Grimleal never managed to capture me again. At some point, we must have left Plegia, or else I never would have ended up near Southtown in Ylisse, but I don't know when we left...I don't know who taught me swordplay, or magic, or tactics either. Only that my talent for magic must have come from my father, and that's the only good thing he's ever given me."

"What about your mom, where is she now?"

Robin frowned. "I don't know...honestly, I doubt she's still alive. Chrom found me alone in that field, and even if we were separated, she would have heard about me in the years since then, and I haven't seen any signs of her. It doesn't help that I can't even remember her name or face."

"Oh...sorry..."

"Don't be, it's not as if I can mourn someone I don't remember."

"What about your dad? How could he want you to get possessed by that dragon?" Lucas said. "That's awful..."

"I wish I knew. He never cared for me as a person, only as a tool to revive his dark god, and a way to succeed where he failed. He was not born with the Mark of Grima, nor was his father before him, but I was, and he thought losing my free will would be the greatest honor possible."

"That's crazy..." Ness said.

"I know. He was raised with their insane beliefs, but that's no excuse for all the atrocities he committed. I don't regret killing him for a second."

"You killed your own dad?!" Lucas gasped.

"Well, it was in self-defense...I didn't even know he was my father until he told me, so all he was to me was a madman trying to destroy Ylisse."

"That's still messed up..."

"I suppose...but I've said enough, and I doubt I know anything else about my past that could help you."

"Wait. There is one thing..." Reflet frowned. "The war. They need to know about the war between Ylisse and Plegia, and not the one Gangrel started. It happened when Chrom and I were both around five, so we might remember some if it, and I don't want you children walking into that unprepared..." She sighed. "It started when Chrom's father, the previous Exalt of Ylisse, invaded Plegia. He called the Grimleal heathens and sought to wipe them out, even though most Plegians don't even worship Grima. But more specifically, he started the war because he knew a child with the Mark of Grima had been born: me. The war started because of me..."

"That's not fair, it's not like you wanted to be born with that stupid mark!" Ness said.

"I know, I know...but I was, and he chose to throw all those lives away just so I couldn't grow up to become Grima's vessel. The worst part is that it was all for nothing. No, it was worse than that, since so many Plegians wanted revenge for what he and his armies did, and it's thanks to that that Gangrel was able to start his own war a few years ago. Not that he was any more justified..."

"Well, I think it's a good thing you survived..." Lucas said.

"If I hadn't, Grima wouldn't have been able to revive himself in the original timeline, at least not yet. Then again, I wouldn't have the chance to kill him permanently in this timeline either..."

"I just wish Lucina's timeline hadn't been so terrible..." Robin said. "But enough about us, I think we've said enough for now."

"Yeah, that's all a bummer, sorry guys. I guess we should get going...but is it just me, or are you guys getting along way more now? I thought you hated each other's guts." Ness said.

"Believe me, it's cooperation out of necessity." Reflet said. "We can't spend all our time arguing when we have so many plans to make."

"Okay then...hey Luke, I texted Link and he said he and the other Link are on that floating island near Skyworld, so we can go talk to them there. Roy still hasn't gotten back to me, though."

"Okay...bye!"

They waved goodbye, threw out the empty soda cans into the trash cans, then Ness spun like a top and used PK Teleport Gamma.

The air was thinner up on Skyloft. It was a large floating island connected to several smaller ones, and even had a huge statue of a goddess like Skyworld did. The difference was that it looked more like a town than a temple, not that there were any people in it, and it didn't have that same style of architecture.

Lucas took back that thought, there were at least two people on it. Link and his adult counterpart sat on the edge of the island, their legs dangling dangerously over the abyss.

"He really wanted to name it 'Grooseland'? Thank Nayru the name didn't stick!" The younger Link said.

"Hey Link!" Ness waved.

"Oh, it's Ness." Link said to Link, then turned. "You said you wanted to talk about something, right? So what is it?"

"Okay, this is gonna take a while, so lemme explain...have you met the tacticians? They've got this amnesia problem, and we might be able to help..."

Ness sat down next to them, his legs also dangling over the long, long way down. Lucas wiped a drop of sweat off his forehead before reluctantly doing the same. At least the view was nice, with fluffy white clouds above, below, and to their sides, Skyworld not far off in the distance.

They explained the situation for the next few minutes.

"So, are you in?"

"Sure, why not? It was Lucas's idea and I owe him one, and it's the right thing to do."

"Thanks, but aren't you worried?" Lucas said.

"It'll be fine...it worked against Ganon, didn't it? I doubt Grima's any worse than him."

"Nice, what about you?" Ness said looking at the older Link.

"..."

"You don't wanna join? I mean I get it, if fighting him is anything like Giygas this could get ugly fast. It's cool, you don't have to he-"

"No. I would, but I can't."

"Why not? You've got the Master Sword too, so just have one of them hold it and there, no possession."

"Fi can't help you while she's asleep."

"Oh...but couldn't we just wake her up like Luke did? Or would that cause a time para-"

Link shook his head. "You couldn't even if you tried. She went into a long slumber to gradually destroy Demise's residual Malice after she absorbed it." He frowned. "I haven't spoken to her since."

"That's a bummer...that guy's such a dick, he didn't just screw over future Links, but you too, huh? Man, that's rough..."

"It's my fault for not stopping him from casting his curse. Ludwig was right about me being the weak Link...future generations will suffer because I didn't finish the job."

"Come on, that's not fair! Sure, maybe some bad stuff happens in the future, but that's not your problem! If you hadn't done anything there wouldn't even be a future! So it wasn't all for nothing, right? If they screw it up, that's on them!"

Ness blinked. Oh. He wasn't just saying that to Link, was he.

"Yeah, what he said." The other Link said. "I know you can't talk to Fi anymore, but I can, and she says she misses you."

"...Thank you." Link smiled. "But will you be fine without her help?"

"We can use Roy's Binding Blade instead of your Master Sword, so don't worry about us." Lucas said. "It'll be fine. Probably..."

"You're not inspiring confidence there, Luke. Where is Roy, anyways?" Ness looked off into the distance.

"Maybe he's in the castle?"

"Maybe. He still hasn't texted me back, so I guess we should look there first and ask around if anyone's seen him. You wanna come with, Link?"

"Eh..." Link looked back at Link, then Ness. "Sure, if we're all gonna work together later. I'll come back here once we're done talking."

"I could warp you here again, but you could just use the teleporter room. Using PK Teleport too much really gives me a headache..."

"Okay, fine." Link got up from his seat at the ledge and Lucas was quick to follow his example and no longer have his legs dangling over the abyss.

"Let's use PK Teleport Alpha this time, I don't wanna lose my lunch..." Ness got up and ran in a straight line with Lucas and Link running behind him, the latter waving goodbye to the older Link before running into a blue portal.

The Battlefield Fortress was familiar by now. Lucas hardly noticed the castle's checkerboard-colored floors and hallways with red carpets, he was too busy closing his eyes and searching for Roy's mental presence.

"There, he's over in the sparring hall that way!" Ness opened his eyes and pointed first, he was the one more familiar with Roy's psychic signature. Ness ran and Lucas and Link hurried after him. Clashing metal and burning flames echoed through the walls until they turned the corner to the same large arena Ness had sparred in before.

BOOM!

An explosion of blue flames sent Roy flying and landing on his back with a groan while the Binding Blade clattered to the ground next to him. The smoke cleared to show a muscular blue-haired swordsman with a headband.

"Ugh...you win again, Ike..."

"Hah, so that's why you didn't answer my texts: you were busy getting your butt kicked!"

"Shut up, Ness...I'd like to see you go a round with him."

"Nope."

Lucas healed Roy with Lifeup's green glow and lent a hand to help him to his feet, while Link picked up the sword and handed it over.

"For the record, he didn't 'get his butt kicked', he put up a good fight this time..." Ike wiped a bead of sweat from his headband as if proving his point, then looked back at Roy. "But you still rely too much on your ice magic. I know you're part dragon, but people pass down things more important than just their blood. That's why I'm teaching those kids how to use an axe...there's no way I'll ever have any children, but I'm not letting the skills I learned die with me either."

"Dude, we all know you're gay, but you know what they say, adoption's an option." Ness said.

"Not an option I would ever choose. Teaching people to fight is hard enough, but it's nothing compared to raising a child. I still have no idea how Father did both."

"Y'know what, good call, you're really dodging a bullet there. Or an arrow, I guess." Ness shrugged. "Anyway, we're here to talk to Roy."

"And here I thought you just showed up at the perfect time to mock me."

"Okay, sorry, but no. You know Robin and Reflet, right?"

The three of them explained the situation once again.

"Yes, of course I'll help."

"Sweet! Then all that's left is finding Kirby. Anyone got any idea where he is?"

"I know where Meta Knight is, and he should know where Kirby is." Ike said. "Just give me a minute."

Then he took a pouch from his pocket and poured some Warp Powder from it onto the ground, making a gold magic circle appear and teleport both him and the powder away.

"I wish I could teleport..." Link sulked.

"Trust me, you're not alone in that." Roy said.

A moment of silence passed.

"Guess we're gonna be waiting a while, huh?" Ness said.

"Yeah...hey Roy, are you sure you wanna help? It might be dangerous..."

"It'll be more dangerous for everyone if I don't."

"See, I told you he'd say that." Ness said.

"Besides, this won't even be the first time I've restored someone's memories. I doubt it'll be that difficult if we all work together."

"I sure hope so..." Lucas said.

They continued to chat until a few minutes later, Meta Knight warped in in a flash, then swished his cape so it was no longer covering Kirby.

"Poyo!" Kirby smiled and waved both stubby hands adorably.

"Hey there buddy!" Ness smiled and waved back, then looked at Meta Knight. "Okay, so the reason I asked you to bring Kirby here is 'cause those guys-"

"I already know. Ike told me."

"Oh. Uh. That helps. Wait...you still brought him here, so does that mean you're ok with it?"

"Yes."

"Wait, for real? I thought you'd be overprotective since you're like his dad..."

"Once again, I am not Kirby's father. In fact, he has no parents at all, since those of our species are born from the dreams of others. That is why there are so few of us, and why we have such power. I'm not worried for his safety because he has faced worse enemies than this on many occasions. If anything, it is the rest of you who should worry."

"Poyo poyo!" Kirby nodded, as much as that was possible when he was almost a sphere.

"You're saying you'll be fine?" Lucas said. "Okay then...I hope you're right. I'm sure we can handle this with you on our side."

"Poyo?"

"Yeah, we'll give you plenty of food after if you help, haha!" Lucas smiled. "You'll have to wait a while, though...we can't do this until Ness and I figure out how to fix people's memories. Sorry about that."

"Poyo..." Kirby sulked, tears welling up in his starry eyes.

"Aw, don't worry little guy, you'll still have plenty to eat in the meantime." Ness said. "And now that you're in the team, we've got the gang all together! Now we just have to go back and tell those guys. Luke, you wanna teleport us this time?"

"Sure, but there's five of us now, so I'll have to make two trips..."

"Okay, then just take everyone except me, and I'll go by myself."

Lucas nodded, then ran in an increasingly larger circle while Ness went in a line, and both of them went through blue portals, with Link, Kirby, and Roy following behind Lucas just before his portal closed.

Lucas was quick to sidestep after sliding across the floor, and sure enough, Kirby tripped and pushed Roy into Link knocking them all over like dominoes.

"Dang it, Kirby, you gotta watch your footing! Oh well, I guess you're too used to using the Warp Star..." Ness said while he and Lucas healed everyone who fell in a heap and groaned.

"You're back already? I thought it would take longer." Robin stepped out of the training room where Lucina sparred with Reflet while Corrin took a much needed break sitting on one of the couches in the lobby.

"Hey, we're not slowpokes, we can get stuff done if we try." Ness said.

"Wait a second..." Robin narrowed his eyes. "Didn't you say both Links would help? Did the other one not want to join?"

"He did, but he's got this problem where he can't get his sword to wake up." Ness said, then snickered. "Pfft, I swear that wasn't on purpose."

"I don't believe you, but fine. Why is that, anyways?"

They explained.

"Oh. Well, that's unfortunate...but the plan should still work even without his help." Robin turned to the others. "I'm not sure if Ness told you all the details, so here's what we'll do..."

They all spent a little while longer talking and figuring out more of the details of how they'd help those two once Ness and Lucas knew how to restore memories.

"Oh yeah, I probably should've said this before, but we found out Pikachu has some amnesia too...he only forgot a day, though, and he doesn't have a crazy dragon in his head, so it'll be really easy compared to you guys. But maybe Kirby should help us anyways, just so he can get some practice. What do you think, little guy?"

"Poyo!"

"Perfect."

"You should've mentioned that before...oh well, it doesn't matter now. You can all leave now if you have anything better to do than watch those two fight."

Lucas started to walk away, then stopped. "Wait, there's one more thing you guys should know: it's not just their memories that we're all gonna see...it's our own too. I know since that's what happened when I was fighting Mewtwo, so are y'all still okay with this? I don't wanna violate anyone's privacy..."

"In that case, we'll all have to keep each other's secrets." Robin said.

"Yeah, if anyone tries to snitch, we'll just snitch on them right back. Mutually assured destruction!" Ness said with a smirk.

"That's not the best way to put it, but yeah, haha..." Lucas laughed awkwardly, then walked away again along with Ness. He sighed in relief once they turned the corner. "That was a lot of work for a weekend..."

"Wait, so you're not gonna talk to Pikachu?"

"Uhhhh..."

"Listen, Luke, it's fine to put stuff off, but knowing you you'll just feel bad for being lazy. You're better off at least getting started today."

"Yeah, you're probably right...thanks."

"No problem."

Lucas ran off and teleported yet again. Now that they had that all planned out, he had to deal with his own fears before looking at the mind of an electric type Pokemon or someone with a lightning sword.

It was shaping up to be another busy week.