The SSBM Chronicles – Chapter 31: Roy's Test
An SSBM Fan Fic, by Smoke_Rulz
srssbm.cjb.net


Roy leaps away from the hands and dashes away, through what appears to be infinite darkness. The hands suddenly materialize in front of him. He skids to a stop and jumps backward when they attempt to grab him. Unsheathing his sword, he slashes them, slicing them in half. They disappear. More appear below him on the ground and grab his ankles. He stabs his sword downward at them, then notices more coming via ground. Roy surrounds his blade with fire and strikes the ground, creating a small fire blast that slides across the ground and takes out the strange hands. He pulls his sword back up, and is surprised when it's suddenly ripped from his hand. He turns to see the hands swarming him again. He backs up. They're never-ending... He thinks.

Then suddenly, the hands stop moving toward him, and recede into the darkness. The Sword of Seals clangs to the ground below. All the surrounding darkness disappears, and Roy finds himself in a bland stone room. Not very big, and one metal door a few yards in front of him. He picks up his sword and approaches the door. He opens it slowly, glancing on the other side for a threat. He sees... a rectangular room, with plants and greenery adorning the long sides. He enters and glances around. It's a bit dark, but all the plants and trees can clearly be seen. Roy ventures into a room a little ways, and then suddenly hears the metal door slam and lock behind him. He stands ready and glances around the room several times, but sees no one. Hesitantly, he decides to continue forth. Though he quickly notices: The signature dark mist is abundant throughout the greenery, but not on his pathway. He then notices something worse: Tons of forest animals lie amongst the greenery unmoving. He approaches a few. They vary: A green caterpillar; A yellow worm; A small leaf-headed creature. Wait a minute... Aren't these Pokemon? Roy wonders.

He ventures a bit forward, and notices more, such as a leaf-headed dinosaur-like creature, and a white four-legged beast. He recognizes them from his battle at Kanto Skies. Definetly Pokemon... Those fiends. Tainting the innocent with that mist and adorning them for viewing like this... Roy thinks to himself, obviously troubled.

He spots another metal door farther down the room. He continues down the path, passing by countless more fainted Pokemon. He elects to not look at them, though he can't help but notice them out of the corner of his eye. He opens the metal door and shuts it behind him. Just as he suspected, it locks. He now finds himself in a MASSIVE arena-like room. He glances up, and notices no ceiling, but rather darkness, which appears to stretch far. The room in itself is lit with dim lights. No exits can be seen. Roy knows what is to happen next: A battle. He readies his sword and waits. He doesn't have to wait long: The dim lights brighten up. He then hears sounds of things opening. 5 holes open around the arena. Roy watches as things that appear to be ballons begin to inflate. They form into what look like Pokemon: All purple, and ghost-like. More balloons? What a nice reminder... Roy thinks.

The balloons fully inflate, and rise up high above the arena. Roy quickly notices: They hold other Smashers captive with a strange energy field. He sees Marth, Game & Watch, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and a Pichu. He assumes it to be the Pichu who aided him at Kanto. The Pokemon notice Roy and yell out in their own languages. "Roy! You came!" Marth yells.

"Marth! Yes, of course! What is going on here?" Roy asks.

"It's time to be tested... Our fate is with you." Marth says.

Roy then hears the booming voice of Master Hand. "And so he is right! This is your Test of Darkness, Roy! Win, and your friends are out of the Void. Lose, and you will join them!" The Hand yells.

Roy swings his sword around once and prepares a battle stance. He watches as two teleporter beams appear. Two strange beings step out of the beams. One is green, with long blades for hands. The other is of similar build, but is red, and has pincer-like hands. "Oh no... Scyther and Scizor... I should have guessed." Pikachu states.

"What are these things?" Roy asks, as they slowly approach him.

"They're Pokemon, Roy! Scyther and Scizor!" Marth yells down.

"You've gotta be kidding! First they lay out an army of tainted Pokemon, and now I'm forced to fight them? You're sick, Master Hand!!" Roy yells out, hoping Master Hand can hear him.

Scyther and Scizor continue to approach. Roy notices a red glow in their eyes. They're being controlled. "I can't watch..." Pichu says.

The two Pokemon stop and raise their deadly natural weapons. Roy raises his sword. "I'm sorry, Scyther and Scizor. But I have to do what must be done..." Roy says.

Scyther and Scizor then flap their wings and begin speeding toward Roy. Not expecting this kind of speed, Roy rolls forward, dodging the attacks. The two Pokemon turn and lunge. Roy raises his sword and blocks both attacks. The two jump away and lunge again. Scizor goes low, and Scyther goes high. Roy spots this and leaps into the air, blocking Scyther's upward attack, and dodging the lower from Scizor. Roy then lands and immediately spin slashes behind him, striking Scyther. Scyther cries out and jumps forward, turning back at Roy with a nasty look. He then spins around and slashes with one of his blades. Roy blocks, and is immediately struck by Scyther's other blade. He falls backward, and quickly spots Scizor coming downward. He rolls right several times and jumps to his feet, just in time to spot the two Pokemon zipping toward him. Roy rythmicly pulls his sword upward, blocking, and then twirls it 180 degrees and slashes. A successful split-second counter attack. The two Pokemon to leap back in a failed dodge. "Wow... I can't believe Roy has lasted this long." Pichu exclaims.

"Do you think he knows that those two are weak to fire?" Jigglypuff says.

Marth listens in, and his happy that he can understand the Pokemon. "Roy! Those two are weak to fire! Use your flares!" Marth yells down.

Roy cracks a smile. Scyther and Scizor obviously heard Marth, and glance at Roy, with determined looks on their faces. Looks as if to say, "Just try it." Roy picks up this vibe, and holds his sword out in front of him. His sword suddenly lights aflame. Scyther and Scizor quietly discuss a quick plan. Scizor's wings then begin to glow. He leaps back and spins around, firing the silver energy toward Roy: Steel Wing attack. Roy ducks it, and sees Scyther swoop in. Just as he expected. Roy jumps with a massive swing upward. One of his signatures: The Blazer. Scyther is engulfed in flame, and is sent flying over Scizor's head. He lands, defeated. A glow then starts showing from above. Roy glances up, and sees that the balloon holding Mr. Game & Watch is glowing. It pops, and Game & Watch is free. He lets out a few beeps in excitement, and disappears in a flash of light. Scizor remains standing, looking at his fallen comrade. He turns back to Roy, the most vile look in his eyes. He lunges toward Roy. Roy blocks with the Sword of Seals, which is what Scizor wanted. He now has a firm grip on the sword. Roy doesn't seem to mind. His sword suddenly lights aflame, which doesn't surprise Scizor, who keeps a grip, attempting to destroy or take the sword. But strangely, to Scizor, the sword begins to glow brighter, and let off a high pitched sound. It seems to be charging energy. It begins to shake. It then lets out a quick flash, temporarily blinding Scizor and causing him to release his grip. Roy then takes his sword and slams it downward on the surprised Scizor, causing a massive explosion. Roy's second signature: Flare Blade Strike. Scizor is sent flying across the massive arena. Roy then glances upward, watching as Jigglypuff is freed from his binding. "Alright! You did it, Roy!" He says as he disappears.

Pikachu and Pichu cheer, but Marth says nothing. Roy stands ready, expecting the next attack. Scyther and Scizor disappear in the teleportation beams, which release 2 new Pokemon adversaries: Both of them black hounds. They look at Roy with their red, glowing eyes, growling. "So... What are these, Marth?" Roy asks.

Marth consults with Pikachu for a moment and responds. "Houndoom and Mightyena. And I'm afraid they're not weak to fire..."

The two hounds spring into action and charge toward Roy, who charges himself. He decides to attack the one on the right: Mightyena. As it gets close, he attacks, but is astonished when Mightyena suddenly turns into a shadow. The blade passes right through him, and he disappears. Roy spins around, just in time to be brought down by Houndoom. Houndoom looks down at Roy, snarling. It then opens its mouth. Roy notices fire beginning to appear inside Houndoom's jaws. He quickly throws the Pokemon off of him and steps back. Out of nowhere, however, the shadow of Mightyena appears and slashes across Roy, knocking him down. It reforms into Mightyena. Marth and the Chus look on. "Faint Attack..." Pichu says.

"Roy can't counter that... Pikachu states.

Roy jumps to his feet. The two hounds stare him down. Houndoom then lets lose a massive flaming attack, which Roy dodges, only to be caught by Mightyena. Mightyena latches on and begins to squeeze. "Oh no!! Crunch attack!" Pikachu says, obviously distressed.

"Come on, Roy!!" Marth yells.

Houndoom watches, almost as if to be smiling. Roy cringes, but appears to be resisting. Out of nowhere, he yells out, and a blast of fire explodes around him. Mightyena is forced off. Roy then turns around and strikes a massive blow to the hound, sending him flying away. This takes him out of the battle. Up above, Pichu is freed from the balloon, and disappears. Houndoom looks on, frozen after what he just witnessed. Roy turns to him, and wastes no time in attacking. With 3 swift flaming slashes, Houndoom is taken out of the picture. Pikachu is freed. Marth looks on in awe. Where did that come from? I've never seen Roy use such power... He thinks.

Roy falls to his knees in front of the fallen Houndoom. This is torture... These Pokemon are innocent... Why must those fiends force the innocent to suffer at the hands of the righteous? He thinks to himself.

Houndoom and Mightyena then disappear. Roy stands up and glances around, waiting for his next challenge. The whole arena then begins to violently shake. Both Marth and Roy look around, their gazes eventually seeing a giant flying beast approaching from the void above. It's extremely long, green, and appears machine-like. It's almost too big to fit in the arena. Its eyes glow with the red of possession. It glances down toward Roy and lets out a massive roar. Roy stands, terrified. Marth can only watch. "I'd know this one from anywhere... Roy! It's Rayquaza, a Dragon! It's incredibly powerful!" He yells.

Roy readies his sword, clueless as to how to face this gargantuan. Rayquaza roars again, this time attacking. A massive wind-gust blows past Roy as he is stricken by a powerful beam. It and the wind send him flying almost across the entire arena. From across the arena, Rayquaza fires a swirling blast of strange fire while Roy is getting up. Roy is overtaken by it, as it lashes upon him. It stops, and he collapses. He slowly begins to rise, as Rayquaza approaches. Alright... This one is a Legendary, I know it... Not even Master Hand could outright control it... There must be something on him... Only one way to find out... He secretly plots.

He stands back up, though in pain. Huh? What is he doing? Rayquaza is too powerful... Marth thinks.

Rayquaza looks down at Roy. "Is that all you got, you damn snake? Blowing me around with some wind? I DARE you to try that again!" He yells.

This quickly strikes Rayquaza's nerve. He prepares the attack again. Roy readies himself. The blast fires, and Roy takes it head on. It sends him upward, but this time, he was in just the right position. The windy attack sends him flying above Rayquaza, and he lands directly on top. Rayquaza is unaware, and begins looking around for Roy. Roy fights through his pain, and realizes his plan worked. He stands up and glances around for anything strange. He sees it: A massive dark collar around Rayquaza's neck. It has strange glowing symbols adorning it. Roy realizes that it must be the device. His sword begins charging energy. Rayquaza realizes Roy is on him, and tries to shake him off. Roy holds his ground however, and brings his mighty blade down: Flare Blade Strike. The explosion shatters the top of the collar like glass, and the rest falls down and shatters on the ground below. The attack also stunned Rayquaza. He begins to fall to ground. Roy hangs on, as the massive Pokemon tumbles to ground, causing a planet-shaking quake upon landing. The impact sends Roy flying off and tumbling along the stone ground. Roy gets back up, his whole body aching. He turns back toward Rayquaza. It's over. He has passed his Test of Darkness. He hears footsteps, and looks over. Marth stands next to him, a white aura around him. The aura is slowly getting brighter. "Thank you, Roy. You have done a great deed, despite having to fight the innocents. You would make the people of Altea proud." Marth states.

Roy says nothing, and instead reaches behind him, revealing Falchion: Marth's beloved blade. He points the handle toward Marth. Marth smiles, and takes back his sword. With that, he disappears. Afterward, a high-pitched sound can be heard. A clear beam of light comes shining down from the abyss above. It falls upon Rayquaza, who slowly disappears. Then, the Pokemon Roy battled before - Scyther, Scizor, Houndoom, and Mightyena - run into the beam and disappear. Roy then watches happily as the large crowd of Pokemon he passed earlier flood into the room and disappear within the beam. Roy sheathes his sword, and slowly walks into the light. He can feel all his pain and injuries melt away, as he ascends to the top. Everything then turns white...


THE END
Next: Chapter 32 - Fox's Test

Note: Chapters 29 through 32 happen simultaneously.

Note 2: In case of confusion, italicized underlined text is Pokemon speech. Only Marth and the other Pokemon can understand it.