Chapter Five: Masterful Warriors
On an island somewhere far from Mushroom Kingdom, DK was whimpering. He had been alone on his island for about three years. He found all his friends missing or dead. He even felt sorry for the evil king that lived on his island, too.
Actually, he wasn't alone, but talking to those Chomps is very difficult, especial if they were raised to maim anything that got to close.
For those lonely years, he had rebuilt the torn up tree houses he had returned to. It took almost a year to do it, and winter didn't make it easy. Winter was short, but it got cold. He brought firewood into the sky-hut, but he knew a fire might burn down it down, so he didn't. He knew the old piece of furniture and posts would make the fire get out of hand.
DK whimpered again remembering finding his friend Diddy mangles and hanging from a noose. Some of the others were like that, but the rest were gone. He picked up a banana and peeled it. It took baby bites from it, hoping it would cheer him up. It didn't. He threw the peel behind him and out a badly made window. It fell onto a pile of decaying banana peels. He missed Candy's coconut pies and other delicacies.
He looked at the remaining bunch and sighed. He got up and put it in the terrible basket he made. Sighing once more, he walked out the slanted doorway. He ignored the holes in the walkway and climbed down the ladder that he saved from the destruction. He only worried about his knot-work.
He reached the ground and starting walking towards the beach where he woke up. He remembered it was close to that plane ape. He couldn't remember his name, but he had several planes and boats he tried to work. The Purple Guys did very well in destroying all the technical things he did not understand.
DK reached the beach and sat where he had returned to his island. The shoreline was covered with trash and debris from far off countries and lands. He continued to think about the past, the sun slowly going down to his right. It was sad, sad, sad, sad...DK fell into a sleepy trance, watching more junk wash up on shore.
-----------------------------
-You must go and save him.- said a bodiless voice. Two people standing in light, surrounded by shadows, looked around for the person, but they couldn't find it.
"Whose there?" said the tall one, dressed in blue. The one in red looked in shock.
"What is wrong with your voice, Marth?" As he said this, he looked shocked as well.
"What is going!" yelled Marth, turning in all directions frantically.
-I have brought you here, because you are needed in a far away land. Your skills will be amplified and enhanced, and you will be able to understand and talk like the others. All you have to do is accept.-
"We don't even know what we're doing here!" Marth's voice was sounding angry and intense.
-For one thing, I'm only a few feet away from you, so you don't have to yell. For another, you may refer tome as Grim or Grim Reaper.-
"That guy who controls death?" asked Roy, trying to find Grim.
-No, that is a power greater than I, so it would foolish of me to impersonate him. So, I am only going to have you refer to me as Grim Reaper as a friend.-
"Will you show yourself?"
-Later, much later. For now, I ask of you to go and rescue DK from himself. He is very depressed and very suicidal right now. Plus, he isn't alone on that island. Three clones are about to ruin his already ruined life.-
"Hold it! Whose DK and what are these clones?"
-DK is a hero in a sense. He defeats villains and has crazy experiences. He was evil at one time, but he turned good for the better. The clones are copies of other heroes that Maxwell Hauteur captured in the past.-
"Why don't you explain everything before you go into the whole damsel in distress routine," said the red person.
-Roy, DK is male.-
"Well, it's still a damsel in distress routine."
-Well, three years ago, a eight-year-old boy named Maxwell Hauteur expanded his mind so greatly that he was able to form a sort of mini-universe. In it, he filled it with the story lines of every game he has played. Most of them being Nintendo games. You two are from a video game. In his power, he decided to fight and destroy the greatest Nintendo heroes. They were Mario, DK, Link, Samus, Kirby, Yoshi, Fox, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Captain Falcon, Luigi, and Ness. Well, unexpectedly, the heroes defeated him, so his control on his creations was closed. The heroes returned to there homes, but Maxwell did some work before he lost it. SO, they think their nonexistent lives are ruined. DK is about to kill himself and he is being sought after by the clones. Maxwell has regained control on everything, so he wants to destroy his creations. I, how ever, learned about this at school, when he was talking about the possibility of creating and exploiting alternate realities. I have this power, too, so I infiltrated his without him knowing it, yet. You two don't exist in his mini-universe, so he will know something is up when you reach his planet.-
"Hold it! First, we rescue this ape, then we invade his planet? Are you nuts? From what you say, he could make us nonexistent in a flash!" Marth was mad now, his face going pink and his ears red.
-Well, actually, I want you to teach DK some of the skills I'm going to give you. Plus, I want you to find Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Peach. Teach them, and then I'll bring you here. Of course, you will need to be patient with them.-
"This is so stupid! I'm out of here!" cried Marth, walking towards the edge of the light. He walked through. Roy was watching him and then heard a gasp. He turned to look the other way and saw Marth standing there.
"Well, this is funny," said Roy, laughing at his friend.
"Shut up," said Marth, unsheathing his sword and throwing it into the darkness. It came back and hit Roy.
"Ouch! That's sharp!" Roy took the sword and chunked it into the darkness. It came back from behind and hit him again. Marth started to laugh, but was met with a blade at his throat.
"Care to live?"
"Yes I do," he replied, looking at his sword.
"Then what do you do?"
"You do this!" said Marth, grabbing Roy and throwing him into the shadow behind him. As he did this, he ran forward, grabbed his sword, and jumped at Roy as he appeared. Roy did a few flips and landed on his stomach, his sword flying into the shadows. It stopped half in and half out. Marth placed his at the back of Roy's neck.
"See?"
"Yeah." Roy flipped over and kicked Marth out of the way. He then flipped backwards onto his hands. He pushed off and landed on his feet. He ran to his sword and kick it up into the shadows. He turned back to Marth and kicked him backwards. His sword shot through the light and into Marth's back. He stopped, coughing up some blood, and fell forward.
-Nice.-
"What do you mean by 'nice?' I just killed my friend."
-Not really, but it would help if you turned around.-
"What do you mean..." Before he could finished, Marth got up and sliced at the back of Roy's neck, nicking half of it. He fell forward, falling half in and out of the light.
-Well, I've seen what you two are capable of, so I will use you to destroy Maxwell.-
"Another task for us to perform for some one that I think is a wimp?" said Marth, thrusting his sword into Roy's head. The reply was a hardy laugh from nowhere.
-Do you think that it was you that had the idea to kill your friend? I don't think so.- From Marth's right, a child walked out in front of him. He looked normal in every way, nothing that said he was an all powerful being.
"You're the Grim Reaper?"
-Once again, you fail to understand that I am using that name as a reference to me. That does mean I am claiming or am the Grim Reaper. So, when you say 'you're the Grim Reaper,' that's implying that I am the Grim Reaper. So, you should say, instead, you're Grim Reaper, as a name, instead of an actual being.-
"A lot of words from some one who can't talk verbally."
"Technically, if I used words or sounds, that would be verbally. The thing is, you only heard it in your mind. since you think you heard words, and they were words, it's verbally." Grim smirked at Marth's incompetence. He then pointed his finger at Roy and snapped his finger. Roy lit up like a bulb and he stood up. His wounds were gone and he looked stronger. Much stronger. With a swift hand, he knocked Marth back into the shadows. He went for about three turns, before finally falling on the ground. Grim snapped his fingers again.
"Despite all that you think, masterful warriors, I am powerful. Would you like to try me?"
"I'll pass," coughed Marth, turning over on his side. Roy, who had become normal, was watching Grim Reaper.
"You?"
"I'll be fine living, if you don't mind."
"Don't you understand anything I told you? You do not exist, except in the minds of people and video games. That means it is impossible for you to be technically real."
"If I wasn't, would I feel pain, have emotions, do things in a normal and abnormal length. Do you think it's impossible for me to exist because I'm a made-up character in some other dimension."
"You are nothing more than a computer simulation, like everything else in this realm. Even the image you see of me isn't real. Watch this." Grim pointed a finger at Marth and shot a ball of energy at him. It struck him, covering him up and slowly vaporizing him. He moved as though he wasn't in pain as his skin began to dissolve and his bones and muscle leave as well.
"Stop it!" cried Roy, only to see Marth get up.
"What do mean? This feels good, having no will of my own, join me, you will like it."
"You're starting to freak me out, Grim."
-Good, because you two need to save DK. Now! Take these Star Men, they will make you invincible for a short time. I will open a portal when you get him. Leave now!-
"No!" said Marth. Grim didn't look surprised. Marth was back to normal, but Roy felt something different about him. He felt something different for himself, too.
-Why?-
"I do not want to be part of something that I was brought into against my will."
-Things will always happen that are against your will. All you have to worry about is what they are getting you into.-
"Well, I want to go back to my world."
-There'll be a great challenge for you if you go.- Marth smiled as he heard these words.
"What kind of challenge?"
----------------------
DK looked down at the ground below him. He trembled as he did, knowing what he was about to do would scare him to death if he wasn't going to kill himself.
He put the noose around his neck and gulped. He knew that his poorly made rope might break, so he made several spike beds on the ground. He knew one of them was going to kill him. He jumped off, his arms and legs spread out. Only two seconds stood between life and death.
Just as the rope was about to tighten, an arrow shot through, making him fall towards the spikes. Another two seconds. He closed his eyes, waiting for death.
Another arrow was shot from no where, and it hit him the side. DK recoiled, turning sideways, into a ball. He landed hard on the spike beds, missing all, but one spike. It shot through his right ankle, nearly ripping it off. DK fainted, but he thought he heard voices.
'What kind of name is Donkey Kong?'
'I don't know, maybe he envied his cousin, King Kong?'
'It isn't that. I'm talking about Donkey.'
'Donkey? What's wrong with that?'
'Isn't donkey another word for ass?'
'Well, technically, yeah.'
'Ass is also another word for a dolt, nincompoop, fool, dope, and all sorts of other names.'
'Well, that is true, but that doesn't make this person a fool.'
'I think that's what he is. He tried to kill himself.'
'He was smart in how he was going.'
'I'm not sure what you are talking about.'
'He tried to hang himself with a poorly made rope, so he placed spikes under himself.'
'So, he had two chances to live?'
'Two chances to die, you ass.'
'Hey, don't swear at me!'
'You were swearing.'
'I was talking the correct way when using the word "ass."'
'Then what do I say?'
'Either use the other form of the word, or say I'm being an ass, you ass.'
'You just swore!'
'No I didn't! You just think I did, because you are being an ass.'
'Now you've done it, I'm going to kick your-'
'Silence, you two, or you'll be worrying more about your lives than your tail ends.'
'Sorry boss.'
'Yeah, sorry...ass.'
'Yoshi, I wish he never gave you an understandable language or a mind that can comprehend ours.'
'Sorry. Yelp!'
'Link, if you touch him again, you'll be using that sword as a crutch.'
'Sorry.'
'Yoshi, don't you dare turn him into an egg.'
'Sorry.'
'And will you please address me as Ness. Boss is a stupid name for some one not in charge. Master Hand is.'
'Yes, Captain.'
'Just Ness, okay?'
'Okay, Nest. Oomph!'
'Link, remind me to untie him after we deal with DK.'
'Okay. Bye, Yoshi!'
'Urmph! Urmph urm urmph!'
DK, in his state of delusion and unconsciousness, felt himself being dragged away.
He awoke, his head and ankle hurting very badly. He wasn't sure which one woke him, but he knew it was a good thing. He remembered the voices, so he knew they would be somewhere around.
He looked around and saw he was in his sky-hut. That meant the pile of decaying banana peels were outside. He wanted to kill himself, not be killed.
"I think he's waking up, Boss," said the voice he recognized as Link's. DK took his chance. He jumped off his poorly made bed and fell over. He then noticed why his ankle hurt so bad. The bones were messed up and his ankle hung to side, useless.
"Oh, man," DK muttered, looking at the door. Shadows were moving around the cracks, making DK feel a certain doom. He looked around to see if he could find anything he could use. He saw a post sticking out of the firewood pile. He grabbed it and used it as a crutch. He got over to his window and jumped out onto the pile of decaying peels, sinking within its bowels.
Link opened the door for Ness, allowing him to walk in to see his captive.
"Is he awake?" asked Link, looking inside. He was met with a firestorm yo-yo.
"You imbecile, where is he?"
"Ouch, that hurt!"
"I'll hit you somewhere else, if you don't tell me where he is!"
"I don't know!" Ness started to turn red. He pulled out a bat and hit Link. The warrior fell forward, feeling pain that can only be imagined if you felt it.
"Well, then go find out!" Link, slowly and painfully, walked over and climbed down the ladder. There was a creek and a snap, just before Link fell backward, still holding the ladder. With a loud crash, Link landed on one of the spike beds.
"Aaah!"
"You nincompoop!" Ness jumped down to Link and pulled him out from the spikes. The hole that was made started to ooze with blue goo.
"Man, that hurt."
"You better be lucky Master Hand made us clones better than the last batch. Go find him, now!"
"Okay, what about Yoshi?"
"I'll release him, so he can help you. Now go!" Link ran off into the forest, holding his wound. Ness walked over to where Yoshi was tied up.
"Okay, Egg-layer, go help Link." He untied him and the dinosaur ran off. Ness walked back over to the ladder and put it back on the tree house's porch. With his psychic powers, he tied it tightly, so I wouldn't fall again. He went inside. DK continued his escape from there.
Ness got into DK's food supply and got a banana. He peeled it and threw the peel out the window. As he ate the banana, he thought of something. He looked out the window and saw the ape emerge from the pile and run into the forest. His face went bright red.
"See anything?" asked Link, relaxing his sword. Yoshi came out of the bushes.
"Not a thing, but I think he would head towards the Chomp River."
"What makes you so certain?"
"Where else would he go? When Master Hand programmed us, he put everything that was on this island into heads. Think!"
"Grumpy's secret cabin. DK has been here long enough to find out where it is. Let's go." They turned back and headed for the river.
DK stopped running and rested next to an old cart on a track that went from one side of the island to another. It would serve as a good hiding place if he was being sought after. He knew he was, but they didn't know where he was.
DK started to close his eyes, but he thought he saw two dark figures stop and continue on their way. He went to sleep.
"I don't see anything." said Link, relaxing his sword again. Yoshi walked out of the outhouse.
"Nothing in there."
"Are you sure? You know an ape twice as big as that could fit in there?"
"Right now you shouldn't worry about apes," said some one. Link lifted up his sword and looked around.
"Who said that?"
"You just did," said a different voice.
"What?" Two figures walked out of the forest, both holding similar swords.
"Ready to party?" asked the tall, blue clothed swordsman.
"I sure am," said the small, red headed swordsmen.
"I'll take elf-boy."
"I'll take Godzilla."
"Who in Hyrule are you two?" asked Yoshi, preparing to fight. The red head smiled as he faced him.
"That's strange, I thought Link was from Hyrule."
"Does it matter?"
"Not really, but I'm ready to go."
"Then go!" Yoshi charged him, but it was avoided.
"By the way, my name is Roy. Nice to meet you Yoshi." Roy sliced at Yoshi's tail, nicking it. Yoshi yelped, but turned around and threw an egg. Roy knocked it away with his sword and jumped at the lizard. He kicked him in the chest, sending him into the cabin wall. Roy pulled back his sword and began to make smoke come forth. Yoshi turned to his aggressor, trying to make out what the wind was for.
Roy started to glow, so Yoshi attacked before he could be struck. Roy released the energy he gathered into his sword and swung at Yoshi's head. It went through, causing an explosion. Yoshi was sliced in half and burned to a crisp.
"A little too crispy," he said, kicking the remains into the river. Several chomps jumped up, fighting over them.
At the same time as that, Link and Marth started to fight.
"Hiyah!" cried Link, swing his sword at Marth. Marth held his up, blocking it. The two started exchanging hits with their swords, the other blocking it with theirs. The explosion from Roy didn't faze them at all.
"By the way, my name is Marth."
"Nice to know that before you die!" Link ducked down and tried to do a low blow, but Marth jumped up and came down with his sword. Link lost some of his hat to it, but dodged the full blow of the attack. Marth landed on the roof of Grumpy's cabin, his back to the clone.
"Get down here!" yelled Link, pulling out his bow and arrow.
"As you wish." Marth did a backflip and landed behind Link. Link tried to turn around, but he was met with the handle of Marth's sword. Link fell back against the cabin wall. Marth charged his sword and swung it at Link. Link put up his energy shield, but Marth shot through it and struck Link. The Hyrulian went through the cabin wall.
Marth watched the hole carefully, making sure Link didn't get an upper hand. An arrow shot past him, ducking down.
"Die!" cried Link, jumping out of the hole, bring his sword down. Marth rolled out of the way and brought his sword around at Link. Link blocked it, knocking the sword to the bank of the rover. He then placed the tip of his sword at Marth, making him back up to the edge of Grumpy's Cabin.
"Wonderful," said Roy, preparing to help. Link turned to him, pressing the sword towards Marth.
"Make one move, and your friend dies."
"Do you think that a weak blow with your sword could knock his sword away? I mean, you wear hitting harder when you were at full strength and it didn't happen. He isn't even tired." Link knew Roy was right, turning back, he saw that Marth was gone.
"Looking for me?" asked Marth, watching Link act cool and composed. From behind him, Roy tossed his sword and Marth caught it. With a quick slash, Link lost an arm. Marth then kicked him, and link fell off, stabbing the edge of drop-off. His sword was the only thing keeping him up.
"How?"
"Old School has nothing on me," said Marth, kicking Link's sword away. Link grabbed onto the edge as best he could. Marth smiled, grabbing Link's sword and jamming it through Link's remaining hand.
"Argh!" Link screamed in pain, trying to pull free of his own weapon. Marth pushed the sword down deeper, making Link scream more. Finally, Marth touched Link's hand with the hilt.
"Had enough?"
"What do you think, bonehead! If I could, I-aaaah!" Before he could finish his sentence, a Chomp jumped up from out of the water and took a big bite of Link. The pull ripped Link's hand from the sword. Half of him was gone, and the other half slipped into the water, which was then argued over by the other Chomps. Roy and Marth smiled.
"Let's go find DK," said Marth, jumping to the bank and getting his sword. Roy joined him, getting his sword back.
"Yeah, let's." They charged through the forest.
"Wake up you sorry piece of simian!" cried Ness, kicking DK hard in the stomach. DK didn't know which hurt more, his belly or his ears. Ness then grabbed him and through him into a tree. He then shot a fire bolt at him, singing and shocking him.
"Rrrr!" DK growled, trying to get free of the electric fire. Ness shot another at him, causing more pain.
"Hey!" cried Marth, charging out of the forest and hitting Ness. He was sent into the cart, knocking it back on the tracks. Roy then charged the cart, making it go off towards somewhere.
Ness looked out and saw he was headed towards a dead-end, so he tried to jump out. A crack in the tracks made the cart flip with him in and out of it. He came to a cluttering crash at the dead-end sign.
"Well, if he isn't dead, that sure stumps me," said DK, moving his body parts to see if they were functioning.
"Don't worry, we'll take care of him for you," said Marth. DK started rotating his arm around and around until smoke appeared. With that, he stopped and charged towards the crash. Marth and Roy tailed him,
At the dead-end sign, Ness burst through it all with a powerful green flash. He landed on the train tracks, surging with energy.
"Prepare to die! PK Thunder!" Ness froze up and started to produce electricity. From it, he formed a ball and shot it at them.
"Bad move!" said Roy, jumping up and swinging his sword at the electric ball. His sword went through it, and he through it down to the train tracks. Marth and DK jumped off the tracks. The sword hit the metal beam, absorbing all the electricity. It shot down toward Ness, electrocuting him.
"Now take this!" cried DK, punching Ness hard in the skull. The kid's skulls caved in and all the electricity stopped. Ness went flying into crash debris. He landed on a metal spike that went through his stomach. Roy walked over there and charged his sword. He then sliced at Ness, causing a big explosion. He was dead.
"I can't believe it was that easy," said Roy.
"Yeah, Grim tricked us," said Marth, looking at DK. "Of course, we had no choice. He would have made us do it anyway."
"Excuse me, but do what?" asked DK, listening to the two warriors. They looked at him and then looked at each other.
"Well, you know Maxwell Hauteur, so let us tell you about Grim. He is a person like Maxwell, but he wants to keep us in this nonexistence," said Roy.
"Nonexistence?"
"Yes, you see, we live in a universe where we exist in an unreal plain. At anytime, some one could slip on the balance beam, if you know what I mean. If they do, they either throw this place into chaos, or they throw it into nonexistence."
"So, what about Grime?"
"That's Grim. He's a person like Maxwell, controlling things, making things happen, destroying things. However, unlike Maxwell, he would rather keep you in this nonexistent realm, than have you not exist at all."
"So, why did you come here?"
"We were sent here to save you from yourself and the three clones."
"Clones?" DK remembered that on Maxwell's planet, there had been several clones that were more powerful than the original characters.
"Yes, they were clones, so you don't have to worry about killing your friends."
"I wouldn't exactly call them friends."
"Well, we got to go," said Marth, staring at the sky. A large portal was coming towards them, getting bigger as it did.
"What in the world is that thing?" cried DK, backing away from Roy and Marth.
"Our ride out of here," said Roy as they were all engulfed. It seemed like they were in one of those wormholes from the show 'Sliders.' You didn't really see them, but you saw the light that represented them. Until the three of them popped out and landed somewhere.
"Need help?" asked Marth, reaching to DK, who had landed on his back. He grabbed Marth's hand he was helped up.
"Where are we?" he asked, looking around. He knew it was familiar, but he couldn't quite placed where he was.
"Why, you are in Mushroom Kingdom. Welcome back, Donkey Kong," said Roy, sitting down on a small boulder that was nearby. DK went wide-eyed, turning every which way, trying to see anything he recognized.
"Now, we got a few things we need to teach you, first, before we head off to find Mario," said Marth.
"Mario?"
"We'll tell you in a little while, right now, we have to teach you some new tricks." DK was staring right at Marth, but then, he seemed to just vanish.
"Where..." started DK.
"Behind you." DK turned around and came face-to-face with Marth's sword.
"Whoa!" cried DK, falling back. Marth helped him up again.
"Now, I'm going to transfer the information on how to use some of these techniques, and..." Suddenly, the area around them exploded and the three where sent back. They landed about twenty feet from their original positions.
"What happened?" called Roy.
"We've been found!" cried Marth, standing to face his attacker. The other two did as well. They watched all around for some one to appear. From their right, they saw several figures come up from the hill. It was Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Peach, being chased by Bowser and...
"Marth?" asked Roy, looking at his buddy.
"It's another clone," said DK, charging up a punch.
"Right," said Marth, watching his clone. They got closer to them, and they hoped this would be easy.
On an island somewhere far from Mushroom Kingdom, DK was whimpering. He had been alone on his island for about three years. He found all his friends missing or dead. He even felt sorry for the evil king that lived on his island, too.
Actually, he wasn't alone, but talking to those Chomps is very difficult, especial if they were raised to maim anything that got to close.
For those lonely years, he had rebuilt the torn up tree houses he had returned to. It took almost a year to do it, and winter didn't make it easy. Winter was short, but it got cold. He brought firewood into the sky-hut, but he knew a fire might burn down it down, so he didn't. He knew the old piece of furniture and posts would make the fire get out of hand.
DK whimpered again remembering finding his friend Diddy mangles and hanging from a noose. Some of the others were like that, but the rest were gone. He picked up a banana and peeled it. It took baby bites from it, hoping it would cheer him up. It didn't. He threw the peel behind him and out a badly made window. It fell onto a pile of decaying banana peels. He missed Candy's coconut pies and other delicacies.
He looked at the remaining bunch and sighed. He got up and put it in the terrible basket he made. Sighing once more, he walked out the slanted doorway. He ignored the holes in the walkway and climbed down the ladder that he saved from the destruction. He only worried about his knot-work.
He reached the ground and starting walking towards the beach where he woke up. He remembered it was close to that plane ape. He couldn't remember his name, but he had several planes and boats he tried to work. The Purple Guys did very well in destroying all the technical things he did not understand.
DK reached the beach and sat where he had returned to his island. The shoreline was covered with trash and debris from far off countries and lands. He continued to think about the past, the sun slowly going down to his right. It was sad, sad, sad, sad...DK fell into a sleepy trance, watching more junk wash up on shore.
-----------------------------
-You must go and save him.- said a bodiless voice. Two people standing in light, surrounded by shadows, looked around for the person, but they couldn't find it.
"Whose there?" said the tall one, dressed in blue. The one in red looked in shock.
"What is wrong with your voice, Marth?" As he said this, he looked shocked as well.
"What is going!" yelled Marth, turning in all directions frantically.
-I have brought you here, because you are needed in a far away land. Your skills will be amplified and enhanced, and you will be able to understand and talk like the others. All you have to do is accept.-
"We don't even know what we're doing here!" Marth's voice was sounding angry and intense.
-For one thing, I'm only a few feet away from you, so you don't have to yell. For another, you may refer tome as Grim or Grim Reaper.-
"That guy who controls death?" asked Roy, trying to find Grim.
-No, that is a power greater than I, so it would foolish of me to impersonate him. So, I am only going to have you refer to me as Grim Reaper as a friend.-
"Will you show yourself?"
-Later, much later. For now, I ask of you to go and rescue DK from himself. He is very depressed and very suicidal right now. Plus, he isn't alone on that island. Three clones are about to ruin his already ruined life.-
"Hold it! Whose DK and what are these clones?"
-DK is a hero in a sense. He defeats villains and has crazy experiences. He was evil at one time, but he turned good for the better. The clones are copies of other heroes that Maxwell Hauteur captured in the past.-
"Why don't you explain everything before you go into the whole damsel in distress routine," said the red person.
-Roy, DK is male.-
"Well, it's still a damsel in distress routine."
-Well, three years ago, a eight-year-old boy named Maxwell Hauteur expanded his mind so greatly that he was able to form a sort of mini-universe. In it, he filled it with the story lines of every game he has played. Most of them being Nintendo games. You two are from a video game. In his power, he decided to fight and destroy the greatest Nintendo heroes. They were Mario, DK, Link, Samus, Kirby, Yoshi, Fox, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Captain Falcon, Luigi, and Ness. Well, unexpectedly, the heroes defeated him, so his control on his creations was closed. The heroes returned to there homes, but Maxwell did some work before he lost it. SO, they think their nonexistent lives are ruined. DK is about to kill himself and he is being sought after by the clones. Maxwell has regained control on everything, so he wants to destroy his creations. I, how ever, learned about this at school, when he was talking about the possibility of creating and exploiting alternate realities. I have this power, too, so I infiltrated his without him knowing it, yet. You two don't exist in his mini-universe, so he will know something is up when you reach his planet.-
"Hold it! First, we rescue this ape, then we invade his planet? Are you nuts? From what you say, he could make us nonexistent in a flash!" Marth was mad now, his face going pink and his ears red.
-Well, actually, I want you to teach DK some of the skills I'm going to give you. Plus, I want you to find Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Peach. Teach them, and then I'll bring you here. Of course, you will need to be patient with them.-
"This is so stupid! I'm out of here!" cried Marth, walking towards the edge of the light. He walked through. Roy was watching him and then heard a gasp. He turned to look the other way and saw Marth standing there.
"Well, this is funny," said Roy, laughing at his friend.
"Shut up," said Marth, unsheathing his sword and throwing it into the darkness. It came back and hit Roy.
"Ouch! That's sharp!" Roy took the sword and chunked it into the darkness. It came back from behind and hit him again. Marth started to laugh, but was met with a blade at his throat.
"Care to live?"
"Yes I do," he replied, looking at his sword.
"Then what do you do?"
"You do this!" said Marth, grabbing Roy and throwing him into the shadow behind him. As he did this, he ran forward, grabbed his sword, and jumped at Roy as he appeared. Roy did a few flips and landed on his stomach, his sword flying into the shadows. It stopped half in and half out. Marth placed his at the back of Roy's neck.
"See?"
"Yeah." Roy flipped over and kicked Marth out of the way. He then flipped backwards onto his hands. He pushed off and landed on his feet. He ran to his sword and kick it up into the shadows. He turned back to Marth and kicked him backwards. His sword shot through the light and into Marth's back. He stopped, coughing up some blood, and fell forward.
-Nice.-
"What do you mean by 'nice?' I just killed my friend."
-Not really, but it would help if you turned around.-
"What do you mean..." Before he could finished, Marth got up and sliced at the back of Roy's neck, nicking half of it. He fell forward, falling half in and out of the light.
-Well, I've seen what you two are capable of, so I will use you to destroy Maxwell.-
"Another task for us to perform for some one that I think is a wimp?" said Marth, thrusting his sword into Roy's head. The reply was a hardy laugh from nowhere.
-Do you think that it was you that had the idea to kill your friend? I don't think so.- From Marth's right, a child walked out in front of him. He looked normal in every way, nothing that said he was an all powerful being.
"You're the Grim Reaper?"
-Once again, you fail to understand that I am using that name as a reference to me. That does mean I am claiming or am the Grim Reaper. So, when you say 'you're the Grim Reaper,' that's implying that I am the Grim Reaper. So, you should say, instead, you're Grim Reaper, as a name, instead of an actual being.-
"A lot of words from some one who can't talk verbally."
"Technically, if I used words or sounds, that would be verbally. The thing is, you only heard it in your mind. since you think you heard words, and they were words, it's verbally." Grim smirked at Marth's incompetence. He then pointed his finger at Roy and snapped his finger. Roy lit up like a bulb and he stood up. His wounds were gone and he looked stronger. Much stronger. With a swift hand, he knocked Marth back into the shadows. He went for about three turns, before finally falling on the ground. Grim snapped his fingers again.
"Despite all that you think, masterful warriors, I am powerful. Would you like to try me?"
"I'll pass," coughed Marth, turning over on his side. Roy, who had become normal, was watching Grim Reaper.
"You?"
"I'll be fine living, if you don't mind."
"Don't you understand anything I told you? You do not exist, except in the minds of people and video games. That means it is impossible for you to be technically real."
"If I wasn't, would I feel pain, have emotions, do things in a normal and abnormal length. Do you think it's impossible for me to exist because I'm a made-up character in some other dimension."
"You are nothing more than a computer simulation, like everything else in this realm. Even the image you see of me isn't real. Watch this." Grim pointed a finger at Marth and shot a ball of energy at him. It struck him, covering him up and slowly vaporizing him. He moved as though he wasn't in pain as his skin began to dissolve and his bones and muscle leave as well.
"Stop it!" cried Roy, only to see Marth get up.
"What do mean? This feels good, having no will of my own, join me, you will like it."
"You're starting to freak me out, Grim."
-Good, because you two need to save DK. Now! Take these Star Men, they will make you invincible for a short time. I will open a portal when you get him. Leave now!-
"No!" said Marth. Grim didn't look surprised. Marth was back to normal, but Roy felt something different about him. He felt something different for himself, too.
-Why?-
"I do not want to be part of something that I was brought into against my will."
-Things will always happen that are against your will. All you have to worry about is what they are getting you into.-
"Well, I want to go back to my world."
-There'll be a great challenge for you if you go.- Marth smiled as he heard these words.
"What kind of challenge?"
----------------------
DK looked down at the ground below him. He trembled as he did, knowing what he was about to do would scare him to death if he wasn't going to kill himself.
He put the noose around his neck and gulped. He knew that his poorly made rope might break, so he made several spike beds on the ground. He knew one of them was going to kill him. He jumped off, his arms and legs spread out. Only two seconds stood between life and death.
Just as the rope was about to tighten, an arrow shot through, making him fall towards the spikes. Another two seconds. He closed his eyes, waiting for death.
Another arrow was shot from no where, and it hit him the side. DK recoiled, turning sideways, into a ball. He landed hard on the spike beds, missing all, but one spike. It shot through his right ankle, nearly ripping it off. DK fainted, but he thought he heard voices.
'What kind of name is Donkey Kong?'
'I don't know, maybe he envied his cousin, King Kong?'
'It isn't that. I'm talking about Donkey.'
'Donkey? What's wrong with that?'
'Isn't donkey another word for ass?'
'Well, technically, yeah.'
'Ass is also another word for a dolt, nincompoop, fool, dope, and all sorts of other names.'
'Well, that is true, but that doesn't make this person a fool.'
'I think that's what he is. He tried to kill himself.'
'He was smart in how he was going.'
'I'm not sure what you are talking about.'
'He tried to hang himself with a poorly made rope, so he placed spikes under himself.'
'So, he had two chances to live?'
'Two chances to die, you ass.'
'Hey, don't swear at me!'
'You were swearing.'
'I was talking the correct way when using the word "ass."'
'Then what do I say?'
'Either use the other form of the word, or say I'm being an ass, you ass.'
'You just swore!'
'No I didn't! You just think I did, because you are being an ass.'
'Now you've done it, I'm going to kick your-'
'Silence, you two, or you'll be worrying more about your lives than your tail ends.'
'Sorry boss.'
'Yeah, sorry...ass.'
'Yoshi, I wish he never gave you an understandable language or a mind that can comprehend ours.'
'Sorry. Yelp!'
'Link, if you touch him again, you'll be using that sword as a crutch.'
'Sorry.'
'Yoshi, don't you dare turn him into an egg.'
'Sorry.'
'And will you please address me as Ness. Boss is a stupid name for some one not in charge. Master Hand is.'
'Yes, Captain.'
'Just Ness, okay?'
'Okay, Nest. Oomph!'
'Link, remind me to untie him after we deal with DK.'
'Okay. Bye, Yoshi!'
'Urmph! Urmph urm urmph!'
DK, in his state of delusion and unconsciousness, felt himself being dragged away.
He awoke, his head and ankle hurting very badly. He wasn't sure which one woke him, but he knew it was a good thing. He remembered the voices, so he knew they would be somewhere around.
He looked around and saw he was in his sky-hut. That meant the pile of decaying banana peels were outside. He wanted to kill himself, not be killed.
"I think he's waking up, Boss," said the voice he recognized as Link's. DK took his chance. He jumped off his poorly made bed and fell over. He then noticed why his ankle hurt so bad. The bones were messed up and his ankle hung to side, useless.
"Oh, man," DK muttered, looking at the door. Shadows were moving around the cracks, making DK feel a certain doom. He looked around to see if he could find anything he could use. He saw a post sticking out of the firewood pile. He grabbed it and used it as a crutch. He got over to his window and jumped out onto the pile of decaying peels, sinking within its bowels.
Link opened the door for Ness, allowing him to walk in to see his captive.
"Is he awake?" asked Link, looking inside. He was met with a firestorm yo-yo.
"You imbecile, where is he?"
"Ouch, that hurt!"
"I'll hit you somewhere else, if you don't tell me where he is!"
"I don't know!" Ness started to turn red. He pulled out a bat and hit Link. The warrior fell forward, feeling pain that can only be imagined if you felt it.
"Well, then go find out!" Link, slowly and painfully, walked over and climbed down the ladder. There was a creek and a snap, just before Link fell backward, still holding the ladder. With a loud crash, Link landed on one of the spike beds.
"Aaah!"
"You nincompoop!" Ness jumped down to Link and pulled him out from the spikes. The hole that was made started to ooze with blue goo.
"Man, that hurt."
"You better be lucky Master Hand made us clones better than the last batch. Go find him, now!"
"Okay, what about Yoshi?"
"I'll release him, so he can help you. Now go!" Link ran off into the forest, holding his wound. Ness walked over to where Yoshi was tied up.
"Okay, Egg-layer, go help Link." He untied him and the dinosaur ran off. Ness walked back over to the ladder and put it back on the tree house's porch. With his psychic powers, he tied it tightly, so I wouldn't fall again. He went inside. DK continued his escape from there.
Ness got into DK's food supply and got a banana. He peeled it and threw the peel out the window. As he ate the banana, he thought of something. He looked out the window and saw the ape emerge from the pile and run into the forest. His face went bright red.
"See anything?" asked Link, relaxing his sword. Yoshi came out of the bushes.
"Not a thing, but I think he would head towards the Chomp River."
"What makes you so certain?"
"Where else would he go? When Master Hand programmed us, he put everything that was on this island into heads. Think!"
"Grumpy's secret cabin. DK has been here long enough to find out where it is. Let's go." They turned back and headed for the river.
DK stopped running and rested next to an old cart on a track that went from one side of the island to another. It would serve as a good hiding place if he was being sought after. He knew he was, but they didn't know where he was.
DK started to close his eyes, but he thought he saw two dark figures stop and continue on their way. He went to sleep.
"I don't see anything." said Link, relaxing his sword again. Yoshi walked out of the outhouse.
"Nothing in there."
"Are you sure? You know an ape twice as big as that could fit in there?"
"Right now you shouldn't worry about apes," said some one. Link lifted up his sword and looked around.
"Who said that?"
"You just did," said a different voice.
"What?" Two figures walked out of the forest, both holding similar swords.
"Ready to party?" asked the tall, blue clothed swordsman.
"I sure am," said the small, red headed swordsmen.
"I'll take elf-boy."
"I'll take Godzilla."
"Who in Hyrule are you two?" asked Yoshi, preparing to fight. The red head smiled as he faced him.
"That's strange, I thought Link was from Hyrule."
"Does it matter?"
"Not really, but I'm ready to go."
"Then go!" Yoshi charged him, but it was avoided.
"By the way, my name is Roy. Nice to meet you Yoshi." Roy sliced at Yoshi's tail, nicking it. Yoshi yelped, but turned around and threw an egg. Roy knocked it away with his sword and jumped at the lizard. He kicked him in the chest, sending him into the cabin wall. Roy pulled back his sword and began to make smoke come forth. Yoshi turned to his aggressor, trying to make out what the wind was for.
Roy started to glow, so Yoshi attacked before he could be struck. Roy released the energy he gathered into his sword and swung at Yoshi's head. It went through, causing an explosion. Yoshi was sliced in half and burned to a crisp.
"A little too crispy," he said, kicking the remains into the river. Several chomps jumped up, fighting over them.
At the same time as that, Link and Marth started to fight.
"Hiyah!" cried Link, swing his sword at Marth. Marth held his up, blocking it. The two started exchanging hits with their swords, the other blocking it with theirs. The explosion from Roy didn't faze them at all.
"By the way, my name is Marth."
"Nice to know that before you die!" Link ducked down and tried to do a low blow, but Marth jumped up and came down with his sword. Link lost some of his hat to it, but dodged the full blow of the attack. Marth landed on the roof of Grumpy's cabin, his back to the clone.
"Get down here!" yelled Link, pulling out his bow and arrow.
"As you wish." Marth did a backflip and landed behind Link. Link tried to turn around, but he was met with the handle of Marth's sword. Link fell back against the cabin wall. Marth charged his sword and swung it at Link. Link put up his energy shield, but Marth shot through it and struck Link. The Hyrulian went through the cabin wall.
Marth watched the hole carefully, making sure Link didn't get an upper hand. An arrow shot past him, ducking down.
"Die!" cried Link, jumping out of the hole, bring his sword down. Marth rolled out of the way and brought his sword around at Link. Link blocked it, knocking the sword to the bank of the rover. He then placed the tip of his sword at Marth, making him back up to the edge of Grumpy's Cabin.
"Wonderful," said Roy, preparing to help. Link turned to him, pressing the sword towards Marth.
"Make one move, and your friend dies."
"Do you think that a weak blow with your sword could knock his sword away? I mean, you wear hitting harder when you were at full strength and it didn't happen. He isn't even tired." Link knew Roy was right, turning back, he saw that Marth was gone.
"Looking for me?" asked Marth, watching Link act cool and composed. From behind him, Roy tossed his sword and Marth caught it. With a quick slash, Link lost an arm. Marth then kicked him, and link fell off, stabbing the edge of drop-off. His sword was the only thing keeping him up.
"How?"
"Old School has nothing on me," said Marth, kicking Link's sword away. Link grabbed onto the edge as best he could. Marth smiled, grabbing Link's sword and jamming it through Link's remaining hand.
"Argh!" Link screamed in pain, trying to pull free of his own weapon. Marth pushed the sword down deeper, making Link scream more. Finally, Marth touched Link's hand with the hilt.
"Had enough?"
"What do you think, bonehead! If I could, I-aaaah!" Before he could finish his sentence, a Chomp jumped up from out of the water and took a big bite of Link. The pull ripped Link's hand from the sword. Half of him was gone, and the other half slipped into the water, which was then argued over by the other Chomps. Roy and Marth smiled.
"Let's go find DK," said Marth, jumping to the bank and getting his sword. Roy joined him, getting his sword back.
"Yeah, let's." They charged through the forest.
"Wake up you sorry piece of simian!" cried Ness, kicking DK hard in the stomach. DK didn't know which hurt more, his belly or his ears. Ness then grabbed him and through him into a tree. He then shot a fire bolt at him, singing and shocking him.
"Rrrr!" DK growled, trying to get free of the electric fire. Ness shot another at him, causing more pain.
"Hey!" cried Marth, charging out of the forest and hitting Ness. He was sent into the cart, knocking it back on the tracks. Roy then charged the cart, making it go off towards somewhere.
Ness looked out and saw he was headed towards a dead-end, so he tried to jump out. A crack in the tracks made the cart flip with him in and out of it. He came to a cluttering crash at the dead-end sign.
"Well, if he isn't dead, that sure stumps me," said DK, moving his body parts to see if they were functioning.
"Don't worry, we'll take care of him for you," said Marth. DK started rotating his arm around and around until smoke appeared. With that, he stopped and charged towards the crash. Marth and Roy tailed him,
At the dead-end sign, Ness burst through it all with a powerful green flash. He landed on the train tracks, surging with energy.
"Prepare to die! PK Thunder!" Ness froze up and started to produce electricity. From it, he formed a ball and shot it at them.
"Bad move!" said Roy, jumping up and swinging his sword at the electric ball. His sword went through it, and he through it down to the train tracks. Marth and DK jumped off the tracks. The sword hit the metal beam, absorbing all the electricity. It shot down toward Ness, electrocuting him.
"Now take this!" cried DK, punching Ness hard in the skull. The kid's skulls caved in and all the electricity stopped. Ness went flying into crash debris. He landed on a metal spike that went through his stomach. Roy walked over there and charged his sword. He then sliced at Ness, causing a big explosion. He was dead.
"I can't believe it was that easy," said Roy.
"Yeah, Grim tricked us," said Marth, looking at DK. "Of course, we had no choice. He would have made us do it anyway."
"Excuse me, but do what?" asked DK, listening to the two warriors. They looked at him and then looked at each other.
"Well, you know Maxwell Hauteur, so let us tell you about Grim. He is a person like Maxwell, but he wants to keep us in this nonexistence," said Roy.
"Nonexistence?"
"Yes, you see, we live in a universe where we exist in an unreal plain. At anytime, some one could slip on the balance beam, if you know what I mean. If they do, they either throw this place into chaos, or they throw it into nonexistence."
"So, what about Grime?"
"That's Grim. He's a person like Maxwell, controlling things, making things happen, destroying things. However, unlike Maxwell, he would rather keep you in this nonexistent realm, than have you not exist at all."
"So, why did you come here?"
"We were sent here to save you from yourself and the three clones."
"Clones?" DK remembered that on Maxwell's planet, there had been several clones that were more powerful than the original characters.
"Yes, they were clones, so you don't have to worry about killing your friends."
"I wouldn't exactly call them friends."
"Well, we got to go," said Marth, staring at the sky. A large portal was coming towards them, getting bigger as it did.
"What in the world is that thing?" cried DK, backing away from Roy and Marth.
"Our ride out of here," said Roy as they were all engulfed. It seemed like they were in one of those wormholes from the show 'Sliders.' You didn't really see them, but you saw the light that represented them. Until the three of them popped out and landed somewhere.
"Need help?" asked Marth, reaching to DK, who had landed on his back. He grabbed Marth's hand he was helped up.
"Where are we?" he asked, looking around. He knew it was familiar, but he couldn't quite placed where he was.
"Why, you are in Mushroom Kingdom. Welcome back, Donkey Kong," said Roy, sitting down on a small boulder that was nearby. DK went wide-eyed, turning every which way, trying to see anything he recognized.
"Now, we got a few things we need to teach you, first, before we head off to find Mario," said Marth.
"Mario?"
"We'll tell you in a little while, right now, we have to teach you some new tricks." DK was staring right at Marth, but then, he seemed to just vanish.
"Where..." started DK.
"Behind you." DK turned around and came face-to-face with Marth's sword.
"Whoa!" cried DK, falling back. Marth helped him up again.
"Now, I'm going to transfer the information on how to use some of these techniques, and..." Suddenly, the area around them exploded and the three where sent back. They landed about twenty feet from their original positions.
"What happened?" called Roy.
"We've been found!" cried Marth, standing to face his attacker. The other two did as well. They watched all around for some one to appear. From their right, they saw several figures come up from the hill. It was Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Peach, being chased by Bowser and...
"Marth?" asked Roy, looking at his buddy.
"It's another clone," said DK, charging up a punch.
"Right," said Marth, watching his clone. They got closer to them, and they hoped this would be easy.