The Crossover Saga
A Fanfiction by Stoney
THE AUTHOR'S FOREWORD-COMMENTS-NOTE-THINGY:
IMPORTANT NOTE THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO SKIP OVER: Anything that is indicated in brackets [like this] is an action, description, or narration. It is NOT dialogue!
.....Wow. I actually managed to be serious for once..............amazing....
(Greetings, people! Since Stoney's still, um, 'incapacitated', we the Parentheses will be reading your letters for this chapter!)
Stoney: [muffled] I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS! MARK MY WORDS!!
(Um…..heheh…..Let's go to the first letter, shall we? It's from one of our long-time readers, Yoshiman!! He says: )
"Great. As usual. All right, I've heard enough of Kamek casting Final Fantasy spells. Let's see some real deal!
(Well, Yoshiman, we TRIED to get the Light Warriors for the story, but the negotiations didn't really work out between them and Stoney. Black Mage, being the destructive maniac he is, wanted to have it written into his contract that he could burn kittens in the story whenever he felt like it. Stoney, being a cat, didn't exactly like that idea.)
Stoney: Yeah, but all of them wanted specific rights written into their contracts, not just Black Mage. Fighter wanted the mystical Excalibur of King Arthur fame, and Thief demanded that he write his contract himself. Luckily, Red Mage agreed without adding anything to his contract after we told him about all the EXP he'd gain from accepting the offer.
(Last we checked, though, he's been going on a subquest with the other Light Warriors. So, they're pretty much out of the picture for now.)
Stoney: Well, actually, Black Mage did agree to small cameos every now and then until the subquest is over.....so we might see him later sometime.
(Yoshiman's letter continues: )
"I'll start a chant."
(Uhm…..)
Stoney: That's really not necessary…..
"LIGHT
WARRIORS! LIGHT WARRIORS! LIGHT WARRIORS!
Oooooo-oooo-OOOOh!"
Stoney: Oh God, please kill me now…..
"LIGHT
WARRIORS! LIGHT WARRIORS! LIGHT WARRIORS!
Oooooo-oooo-OOOOh!
Or something like that. I don't even have a tune. Make
something up."
(Howzabout the Final Fantasy Victory Theme? That's appropriate.)
Stoney: Parentheses, shut up!!
"-Yoshiman
P.S. '[You've been] a real pantload' is a message in
Space Quest IV after you die. (Thank you for playing Space Quest IV! As usual,
you've been a real pantload!) (Boy, am I a geek or
what?)"
(Nah, you're not a geek! You're just 'informationally knowledgeable'.)
Stoney: Yeah, I also know lots of useless trivia like that…..
(The next letter is from Everybody's Favorite Gamemaster, Anthony Bault!)
Stoney: WHAT?!?! Let me respond to it! Oh please oh please oh PLEASE!
(No.)
Stoney: Damn you…..
(Anyway, Anthony says: )
"Sorry,
I haven't reviewed for a while...oh wait, hang on a bit..."
[Anthony
uses Telekinesis to lift the wet sponge off of Stoney]
(OH, NO!!!)
Stoney: YAY! [climbs up out of impact crater] Thanks Anth! [grabs the wet sponge out of mid-air and throws it at Parentheses]
(OW!)
Stoney: [dusting himself off] Anyway, now that I'm free, I'll be nice and let Parentheses read the rest of your letter before I beat the living snot outta' them for putting me in that hole.
(Uh….................thanks…..?)
"There you go. Anyway, the story's still looking great so far! And you even gave me a mention! Thanks! ^_^"
Stoney: Welcome! You can cameo here anytime, Anth! In fact….
AT THAT MOMENT, INSIDE THE INTERNATIONAL ARCADIAN HEADQUARTERS ON EARTH....
Reporter: I'm Shmala Shmee--shmesh, live at the scene of the Arcadia Peace Conference, where legendary Gamemaster Anthony Bault is about to sign a treaty that will henceforth ban all wars, FOREVER!
[Camera pans over to show Anthony sitting at an executive-looking desk in front of a huge crowd containing all the representatives of the various Arcadian worlds. He leans forward, preparing to sign his name at the bottom of a elaborately-written document.]
Reporter: This is what we've been waiting for, folks! Eternal peace, from here on in!
[POOF! Anthony suddenly disappears!]
Crowd: [gasps]
BACK WITH STONEY....
[POOF! Anthony Bault appears out of nowhere.]
Stoney: Hello, Anth!
Anthony: [still holding the pen] What the heck?! Where am I??
(Welcome to the Abode of the Mentally Insane. The cat in front of you is the resident psychopath.)
Stoney: Just for that, Parentheses, I'm gonna beat the living snot outta' your families, too.
Anthony: [points at Stoney] Who are you?!?!
Stoney: [bows low] A huge fan of yours, sir.
Anthony: [pauses, sweatdrops] Oh God, not another one...
Stoney: [still bowing] I am extremely honored to be in your presence, sir. Please accept this cameo as a sign of my gratitude for inspiring me to be as authorly as yourself.
Anthony: Uh........okay.........
Stoney: I now return you to your house on Earth, so you can return to your activities.
Anthony: My house? [blinks] But...wait! Not there! When you brought me here, I was--
[POOF! Anthony's gone.]
Stoney: Right, there you go! I hope you liked the cameo, Anth! Now, I do believe some unfinished business is in order…..[cracks knuckles while looking at Parentheses menacingly]
(Er…..hey, look over there! Is that a free bag of catnip?)
Stoney: HUH?? Where?!? [turns to look]
(Yoink!) [disappears]
Stoney: [looks around and notices that Parentheses are gone] Dammit!
~Too bad for you, huh?~
Stoney: Oh, hello Tilde! Glad you could join us! Everybody, this is my new replacement for Parentheses! Say hi to everybody, Tilde!
~Hi!~
Stoney: Now, we need to go find Parentheses. Where would I go if I was a punctuation mark.....? Hmmm.....[thinks]
~I've got some more letters here…~
Stoney: Not now Tilde, I'm thinking!
~But these are really interesting, though!~
Stoney: Oh, fine, I'll deal with Parentheses later. Who's the first one from?
~Angel-Weasel Woman.~
Stoney: Oh yeah, I remember her. One of the RMF, isn't she?
~The what?~
Stoney: Rabid Mecha Fans.
~Oh. Yeah, she is…wanna read it?~
Stoney: Okay! She says:
"Kwaa! ^_^ I got around to reading this again! Is so good! *grinz* Keep up the good work!"
Stoney: Tilde, as your first assignment, please go look up the word 'grinz' in Fanfiction.Net's dictionary.
~Actually, I think it's--~
Stoney: DO IT!
~Eeep!~
Stoney: [re-reads letter] Well, that's nic-
[ZOOM! A blurry shape rushes by Stoney.]
Stoney: What the--?
Rabid Mecha Fans: THERE HE GOES!
Stoney: [turns around and sees a massive crowd of screaming fans bearing down on him] Aaaaahhhh! Stampede! [starts to run away] Flee for your lives! Seek higher ground!!
RMF: HURRY! DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!
Stoney: [catches up with the blurry shape that passed him earlier, recognizes it as a certain robotic hedgehog] Well, well, well, who do we have here? [takes deep breath, then yells really loudly] HI, MECHA!!!
Mecha: [emits a startled shriek and looks behind him to see who spoke] You!
Stoney: Me!
Mecha: [Breathing hard in relief, clutching at his chest] Don't DO that! I thought you were one of THEM!
Stoney: Who?
Mecha: [points at the pursuing crowd of RMF's] THEM.
Stoney: Oh.
Mecha: How'd you find me?!
Stoney: That's my secret! By the way, look out.
Mecha: What? [turns around and sees a tree flying towards him]
[WHAM!!]
Mecha:…..Ow. [stumbles away dizzily from the tree] That hurt…
Stoney: [looks at tree, lightbulb blinks into existence over his head] Wait, I think I've got an idea! Mecha, why don't you climb up this tree and escape?
Mecha: [points out the many branches on the tree] They'd follow me.
Stoney: Not with….THESE! [pulls a chainsaw and a can of Crisco out of nowhere]
MEANWHILE, ABOUT 50 YARDS BACK…
Angel
Weasel-Woman: [Finally catches up to the
other RMFs] Sorry all! I had to make a pit stop in the Sonic
Underground universe. [gestures to Manic, who's
hog-tied and being dragged along behind her by a chain]
Manic: [speaking through a gag
wrapped around his mouth].... Helf meh....pleezh....
Angel: [notices that the RMFs are all camped out at the base of a humongous redwood tree that, suspiciously, has no branches and is greased up; secures chain around ankle] What's with y'all?
Random RMF: [points to the very top of the tree, around 200 feet up]
Angel: [takes out a pair of binoculars and looks through them; she
sees an angry Mecha sitting on the only branch at the
very top of the tree, with a chainsaw and an empty can of Crisco by his side.] Great,
you've found him! So who's gonna go up there? [notices that everyone is looking at her] Wait, you don't
expect ME to.......I mean, how th'
heck am I gonna get up there?! [folds
her arms, fluttering her wings irritably]
Everyone
else: [GLARE.
One guy smacks his forehead with the palm of his hand.]
Angel: [glances at wings] ...... Oh yeah! ^_^
[Meanwhile, Tilde reappears from his definition hunt.]
~Wow, I didn't know you could speak in emoticons…can you teach me how to do that?~
Angel: Maybe some other time. [flies up to top of tree] MECHA!!
Mecha: [notices her] AAAHHH! Dammit Stoney, you said this would work!
Stoney: [emerges from behind the tree, where he'd been hiding] Oops…
Angel: [dives at Mecha] Come here, you cute little Mechie--poo!
Mecha: [screams and activates rocket engine, flying away at top speed]
Angel: Hurry, after him! [lands on the ground and starts running after Mecha]
All
RMFs: [follow Angel]
Manic: [being dragged along behind them by the chain attached to Angel's ankle, screaming for dear life]
Stoney: [watching all this and laughing his head off]
[KABOOM! A rocket comes zooming down from the sky and explodes at Stoney's feet, just barely missing him]
Stoney: Yipe!
Mecha: [yells from far away] Stop laughing! This isn't funny!!
[Angel, the RMF's, and Mecha disappear over the horizon]
Stoney:...........well, that was certainly interesting.
~Hey Stoney, I'm back! It turns out that the word 'grinz' is a typo. It's supposed to be 'grins'.~
Stoney: Well, who'da thunk it?! Thanks, Tilde!
~Never mind that, I've got more letters! Here's one from Formerly Known As.....~
"And lo, Stoney came down unto the miserable peoples of the internet and said unto them 'There shall be another chapter.' And lo, there was another chapter. And there was much rejoicing!"
Stoney: Uhm, yay, I think. [nods]
".....Right, anyway! Had to get that out of me. GREAT chapter. Lots of suspense and
action. I like Kamek being a great programmer
but hating computers. Nice twist.
Kamek: Yeah, well, I hate it! [glares at Stoney] Why couldn't you pick on someone your own size, huh?!
Stoney: Do you want the realistic answer or the sugar-coated one?
Kamek: Realistic. Tell me the truth!
Stoney: They'd fight back.
Kamek: [speechless]
Stoney: Anyway, thanks for visiting, Kamek! Tilde, if you would kindly show him to the door?
~This way, please.~ [picks Kamek up and tosses him out an open window]
Kamek: [falls for a bit, then flies back into view on his broomstick] That wasn't funny.
~I thought it was.~ [closes window, cutting off Kamek in mid-retort]
Stoney: We now return to your regularly scheduled mail-reading:
"It's really nice to know that there are people out there that really care
about the characters, about their reactions, preferences, histories,
PERSONALITIES....."
Stoney: I'd like to point out at this point that Formerly Known As considers me, quote, 'The god of giving characters personalities.' End quote. FEAR ME, FOOLISH MORTALS! BWAHAHAHA!
~Okay, now you're starting to creep ME out.~
Stoney: Sorry about that.
"It's just great to know that for those of us who care...we're not alone.
And um...M. E. are my initials. It has nothing to do
with the Knuckles theme...THEY STOLE MY INITIALS THE LITTLE....Uh...sorry bout
that. I never really thought about how the Knuckles theme has my initials
before now...Hmmm....those little thieves..."
Stoney: Oh, don't be so modest. Seriously, how much did they pay you?
"Okay, this review is practically as long as the story, so um...I'll go
away now...Keep writing and finish another chapter or suffer the wrath of the
impatient fans!"
Stoney: [grumbling] Too late. I've already gotten five mail bombs this week. FIVE! I sure hope you fans are happy with yourselves. [sighs] Oh well, dem's the breaks. The next letter is from the irrepressable AnT! Joy! He says:
"Man. Someone from some Final Fantasy game is in the fic--"
Stoney: Actually, like Yoshiman said, that was just Kamek casting spells. Sorry for the misconception.
"--Sigma is making his move, Sonic is taken by somebody he thought was Knuckles, and poor Bowser. What's next?"
Stoney: Read below and find out!
"Hey, I'm also making my own Mega crossover that's a little bit like
yours, only it'll have anime and some american
cartoon characters as well as game characters. And the fic
stars in my own charcters as the main
characters."
Stoney: [strokes his furry chin] Curious.....well, what do you know! The next letter is from me best bud, Sparky the Seventh Chaos! Take it away, Sparkster!
"Ooooo... this is cool! Very very very very... Who's the guy Bowser put in cryo-stasis?! Is he a certain hedgehog with black and red quills?! Or am I just showing off the the weirdness of being a rabid Shadow fangirl again?"
Stoney: Nope! See, Bowser originally TRIED to freeze Shadow, but our favorite Ultimate Life Form didn't like the idea of being frozen again, and basically wound up kicking his ass. So, the Koopa King had to choose another, less hostile candidate. Sorry, Sparky, you'll have to wait a bit more if you want to see the other SEGA characters.....
"YAAAAY! Luigi get major role! With Link, no
less! And Sparky even likes Mega Man and his sidekicks, even though she has
never played any of their games!"
Stoney: [shaking his head] Tsk, tsk.
"Very
well done!
SPARKY LIKES! SPARKY LIKES A LOT!!! Yaaaaay! Wheeeeeeeeee..."
[abruptly faints]
Buck the Mewtwo: [sighs and pushes Submit Review button]
Stoney: Oh, hello Buck! I didn't see you there. Is she on a sugar high again?
Buck: Like I've never seen. I'm gonna go take some asprin now.....see ya.
Stoney: Bye!
~He seemed nice.~
Stoney: Yeah, but I wonder sometimes how he puts up with Sparky's constant hyperactivity. [shrugs] I guess it'll just remain one of those unexplained mysteries of the universe.....until someone writes a book about it.
~The next letter is from Dr. Sipp, who I am highly suspicious is some distant relative of Dr. Pepper.~
"Hey!
Good fic you have here, Stoney.
I'm not too familiar with all the characters.....but, I like the story a lot.
The vocabulary is great, the insight of the chars is
awesome.
Hem, is the figure our ol' pal Knuckles, or is it Robo-Knux?
Keep writing... or I'll..um...
do something. Yeah..."
Stoney: Something, such as send me a mail bomb? Yeah, I thought you were one of the people behind that. And on another note, why didn't you bloody TELL me you were on Netraptor's website?!? (The same question goes out to you, Aura Starfire!) I must say that is one of the coolest things I've ever heard of. Be proud of yourself; I know I am.
Hmm. It seems like a lot of people are having difficulty familiarizing themselves with the characters.
~That can mean only one thing.~
Stoney: That's right! ROLL THE CREDITS!!
[big, cheesy fanfare]
Stoney's
THE CROSSOVER SAGA
--Credits--
Director--Stoney
Producer--Stoney
Screenplay Writer--Stoney
Makeup Artist--Stoney
Clothing Designer--Stoney
Camera Guy--Stoney
Chief Snorkeler 3rd Class--Stoney
Inspiration--Netraptor, Anthony Bault, Murr Quan Lord #2, Arxane, Miranda Pauge, Lady Rose, Dan Drazen, Red Draco, Jetmode, Ian Potto, Formerly Known As, DragonBoy, Yoshiman, and countless unnamed others. Thanks for being such great writers, you guys!
Cast (not necessarily in order):
Pikachu--If you don't know who this is, then please leave the rock you've been living under so somebody else can stay there. Part of the genus 'Pokemon', which are animals famous for their speech impediments. Can shoot lightning from its cheeks, and even call upon a thunderstorm for aid when in battle. Fell asleep one day and wound up in Dreamland; Is currently possessed by Dark Matter and running amok somewhere. (Pika!)
Mario--Not knowing who this guy is, is a crime worse than never hearing about Pikachu. For orgins 'n stuff, look at the Prolouge.
Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Bowser, and the Koopa Troop--Same as above.
Kamek--Bowser's chief wizard and all-around advisor, Kamek has been around for a long, long time; ever since before Mario and Luigi were born, in fact. Once, when the Mario Bros. were still in diapers, Kamek took a peek into the future and saw how much trouble they were going to cause him. He tried to get rid of Luigi, but forgot about Mario, who enlisted the help of the Yoshis to rescue his bro. Of course, they succeeded. Kamek learned his lesson and abstained from any more kidnapping plots, instead letting Bowser take care of that department.
Kirby--With a past shrouded in mystery, nobody is really sure whether to regard Kirby as a living, breathing individual, or just a giant pink marshmallow. Hailing from planet Pop Star in a solar system now known as Kingdom Dreamland, this famished fellow has often saved several from pompous penguins and deadly Dark Matter. His role in this story takes place before the events of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.
Dark Matter--Nobody knows exactly where this evil presence came from. All that is known is that one day it decided to start possessing the bodies of random Dreamlanders, and Kirby had to go stop him with the help of friends Rick, Coo, and Kine, as chronicled in his second Game Boy game. In Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Dark Matter takes over an entire planet.
Normally Dark Matter lives on the nightmarish Dark Star, but the appearance of portals lately has allowed it to travel into other worlds, including the Mushroom Kingdom.
[dum dum DUM!]
Sigma--Sorry, can't say anything about this guy just yet. It'd ruin some of the suspense for those of you not familiar with him. (Which excludes pretty much all of you.)
Mega Man--Ah, yes. The Blue Bomber. Champion of Truth, Justice and the American Way, or something like that. In the heady years of 20XX, robotics has become highly advanced to the point where near-sentient robots are being produced on a regular basis. Mega Man happens to be one of them.
Originally named Rock, he was meant to be a lab assistant to the elderly, kind-hearted Doctor Light. But then a botched experiment caused Dr. Light's partner, Dr. Wily, to go clinically insane. The crazed Wily reprogrammed ten robots he and Light had been building with the intentions of helping out humans with hard labor, and declared war on the whole frickin' planet.
Light remodeled Rock into a combat robot (complete with a modified laser gun he named the 'Mega Buster') and renamed him Mega Man. Light sent him off to destroy the robots and capture Wily. Mega Man was successful on the first objective, but not the second. Wily got away and returned a couple years later with a new batch of robots and another bid at world domination. Mega kicked his ass. Wily escaped. Repeat again, but this time Wily supposedly dies underneath a massive multi-ton steel beam that clonks him on the head when his place of residence--a massive fortress shaped like a human skull--spontaneously decides to collapse. Mega Man is rescued by a mysterious stranger, and discovers that before creating him, Dr. Light and Dr. Wily had built a prototype robot they'd named Blues. When Blues was accidentally hurled across space/time in a teleporter accident, he renamed himself Protoman and spent the next several years trying to get home. By the time Wily goes 'splat', he succeeds. (Yes, he was the mysterious stranger who saved Mega's bacon.)
Big family reunion, lots of hugs, yadda yadda. Wily, who turns out to be not-quite-dead after all, kidnaps the daughter of a big Russian scientist named Cossack and blackmails him into building eight new robots to destroy Mega Man. Mega blows shit up, and Protoman rescues Cossack's daughter. Then Mega Man goes and beats the crap outta' Wily yet again.
Fifth go-around, Wily frames Protoman with a robot look-alike and kidnaps Dr. Light. The real Proto doesn't appreciate that, and helps Mega destroy the imposter and free the good Doctor. Of course, this doesn't hinder Wily's remarkable ability to flee from battle when things aren't going his way. He puts this ability to good use right here.
Next year this weird old guy named Dr. X hosts a competition to see who can build the smartest robot. Bunches of scientists enter, including Dr. Light. But it turns out to be a hoax; Dr. X is really Wily in disguise! (For an insane guy, he's pretty crafty.) Wily takes all the robots that had been entered, reprograms them, and uses them to take over key locations in each of the continents. Of course it's up to Mega Man to stop them. You can pretty much guess the outcome of this confrontation on your own.
At this point Wily decided that there's something special about Mega Man that allows him to lay the smack down so well. He builds his own equivalent of Mega Man, and names him Bass. Bass tricks Mega Man into thinking he's one of the good guys, and pretends to be hurt so Mega will offer to take him back to Dr. Light's HQ for repairs. Bass accepts, goes to the HQ, and has a good old time wrecking everything he can see while stealing some plans for enhancements originally meant for Mega Man and his robotic dog helper, Rush. Bass gives the plans to Wily, who immediately uses them on Bass and his robotic dog, Treble.
Mega Man goes home and finds a catastrophe. He becomes decidedly pissed, and storms off to Wily's citadel in a rage. Bass meets him there, and the two of them fight. Bass loses of course, but returns shortly with Treble. The two of them merge into a super 'bot that Mega easily defeats. Bass is furious, demands to know why he can't beat Mega Man, but teleports away before the Blue Bomber can answer. Without Bass to stand in his way, Mega opens up the can of whoop-ass on Wily and escapes while the fortress blows up.
At this point, Mega Man goes into stasis mode to recharge one night and suddenly finds himself in Dreamland. He calls Rush, Tango and Eddie to his side to help him out; but they're unable to teleport away afterwards like they normally do. Mega decides to make the most of his situation and takes up residence in the first town he finds, which happens to be the Forest Village that Mario & Crew arrive at later. The rest is history.
Sonic--The Fastest Thing Alive. The Blue Blur. The Hedgehog with an Attitude. Whatever you call him, the meaning is always the same; Sonic is aptly named, due to his remarkable ability to reach speeds exceeding Mach 1 on foot. Blue in hue, with flesh-colored arms, stomach, and muzzle, Sonic is obviously not a normal hedgehog. For one thing, he can speak fluent English and Japanese. He's bipedal. His quills are sharp enough to slice through iron. And when he curls up into a ball, he becomes a deadly projectile.
His past is one that has been subject to much argument and speculation. One theory states that he lives on a planet known as Mobius, and took up residence in the capital city of Mobotropolis until the nasty fat man Robotnik performed a coup on the resident King and named himself Supreme Dictator for Life. After that Sonic grew up with a band of fugitives in the secret forest village of Knothole, and at age 16 formed a band of Freedom Fighters with them to operate hit-and-run missions on the newly-named Robotropolis.
Another theory declares his place of residence to be at South Island on the planet Earth, where he began fighting Doctor Eggman after the mad scientist began performing illegal experiments that involved turning animals into robots. He joined up with a young two-tailed fox named Miles Prower and repeatedly wrecked the Doc's plans over and over, enlisting the help of a dreadlocked echidna named Knuckles along the way. Later the doctor attempted to ressurect an ancient water demon named Chaos with the help of seven magical gems named Chaos Emeralds. By the time Sonic discovered what was going on and attempted to stop Eggman, Chaos had already gained all seven Emeralds. Using the newfound power at its disposal, Chaos proceeded to completely annihilate the bustling Sapphire City, which was about the size and population density of America's New York. With some help from his friends, Sonic was able to steal the emeralds' power back from Chaos and use it to transform into his invincible alter ego, Super Sonic. At that point, it was no contest. Super Sonic smacked Chaos around and taught him a lesson. Chaos saw the light and after an emotional scene, joined the good guys' side. Meanwhile, Eggman got away. Go figure.
For the purposes of this story, both of the theories on Sonic's past have been used.
Metal Sonic--No matter which theory about Sonic you choose to believe, chances are that Metal Sonic is part of it. Occasionally called Mecha or just plain Metal, he is the most advanced robot ever made by Robotnik/Eggman, and built to resemble a twisted reflection of Sonic. He has a built-in rocket engine in his backside that he uses to match Sonic's speed; His eyes are made of tinted black glass, and his pupils are a glowing electronic crimson. (Creepy, eh?) He has a passionate hatred for Sonic that runs far wider and deeper than his creator's, and will do anything possible for the chance to destroy his namesake.
Link--Well, excuse me for putting him last on the list. As the profecised Hero of Time in the feudal kingdom of Hyrule, this kid has probably rescued as many princesses as Mario has, if not more. Raised by a group of forest people called the Kokiri, his life was fine and dandy until the King of Thieves, Ganondorf, decided to muck things up. He threw a coup and killed the king, but forgot about the princess Zelda, who escaped in the nick of time and went into hiding. Link decided a coup was not a good thing, and tried to get a weapon that was guaranteed to defeat Ganondorf once and for all; the blade of evil's bane, the Master Sword. Unfortunately, this sword seemed to have a mind of its own, and other plans to boot. It decided that tiny 10-year-old Link was a bit too young to swing it around like a baseball bat, and threw him into a coma for seven years until he grew old enough to properly weld it. During that time, Ganondorf conquered Hyrule.
Poor Link woke up to discover the land he loved in a virtual state of ruin. He went on a Holy Crusade to awaken seven Sages that were said to hold the power needed to get inside Ganondorf's nifty new floating castle where Princess Zelda was now being held (after finally being stupid enough to get herself captured). Short version, Link makes it inside the castle. Upon confronting his mortal enemy in the highest room of the tallest tower, he spake unto Ganondorf; "Yo' ass is mine, biatch!"
Insert big battle scene here. Link rips Ganondorf a new one and high-tails it out of there with the princess while the place crumbles down around his ears. Once he makes it outside, he discovers that some villians just don't stay dead like they're supposed to. Ganondorf comes back to life as the monster Ganon and makes a really bad choice in deciding what his new body should look like. I mean.....ick.
Link, who by now is wholly pissed, takes the Master Sword and stabs Ganon in the head. Zelda shows him her undying gratitude by involuntarily forcing him back in time until he's a kid again. Pretty crappy award if you ask me.
Fast forward to the present, before the events of the Nintendo 64 game Majora's Mask. Now the green-wearing Hylian is up to his pointed little ears in big steaming piles of trouble. What, oh what can he do?
Stoney: Whew, what a list! Now, we've got just a couple more letters left to go. Let's hurry up and read them, eh wot? The first is from Pokemonrex. He (she?) writes:
"A thought just occured to me. On the game 'Star Fox Adventures' for the Gamecube, it says the Krazoa Spirits have the ability to control dark matter. Just thought I'd let you know."
Stoney: [pouts] I still haven't been able to play that game, even though I own a Gamecube! It's just not fair.....
"I somehow think you've played SSB: Melee before. Are Marth or Roy not going to be in the fic? They're just my favorite characters. And Mewtwo. He's just plain cool."
Stoney: Good deductive reasoning! Yes, I own the game, it rocks, blah blah blah. But it doesn't mean I'm gonna limit the characters to those that appear in SSB: Melee, though (unlike an alarming number of recent game crossovers)! As for Fire Emblem, please refer to the note at this chapter's bottom for your answer.
"Anyways, great story. Not sure if I've reviewed before, but decided to when I thought about the Krazoa thing. For now, so long."
Stoney: New reader Sakura Isthill writes the next letter:
"I love it! The only thing that could possibly make this better is if Shadow was in it!" [nudges author suggestively]
Stoney: Hey! Aagh! [falls over] Ouch.....look, I'll put Shadow and the other SEGA characters in the story eventually, all right?! Just not yet. If you read this chapter, you'll understand why and how. And since I don't think there are any letters left to read.....be my guest!
By the way, welcome to 2003, people! This year, I resolve to keep my resolution. Go ahead, try to figure that one out. I still haven't.
--------------------
"It all started several months ago, when I accidentally stumbled upon the most remarkable spell I'd ever seen….." Kamek began.
--------------------
"So, what do you call it?" Bowser prompted the Magikoopa standing next to him.
Kamek paused to push his glasses back up onto his nose-beak. The white glow from the shimmering portal in front of them reflected blindingly off the lenses, forcing Bowser to turn his head away and blink the spots out of his eyes. "I think I'll call it a 'Plot Hole'." Kamek finally replied.
Bowser stared at him, forgetting about the glare his glasses gave off for the moment. "WHAT?"
"Plot Hole. Got a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
Bowser sighed and shook his head. "Fine, whatever. I suppose you have your reasons for naming it that. What does it do?"
"Well, it appears to be a gateway to other worlds. Their destinations seem to be random, but with some practice I'm sure I'll be able to conjure one up that'll always take you to the same place."
Bowser gazed intently at the Plot Hole, studying every inch of its shining surface. "You say you found the summoning spell by accident?"
Kamek bobbed his head. "Indeed. I was trying to figure out a spell that would create clones of our existing Koopas in order to enlarge our ranks."
"A clone army?" Bowser mused. "Hmm....interesting. Well, what happened?"
Kamek frowned. "Some joker decided it would be funny if he pulled the ol' switcheroo on me and exchanged my personal spellbook for another one from the library. I didn't discover the switch until I tried the cloning spell and one of these Plot Holes appeared, instead."
"Ah, I see." Bowser smiled. "Well, this is certainly an interesting development. How could we use this to our advantage...?" He trailed off at the end, his expression one of deep thought. Kamek privately thought it looked painful for the Koopa King to think that hard.
"I have an idea," Bowser exclaimed at last. "But it will require time and planning to execute. Kamek," He turned to the Magikoopa, "round up your best mages and have them meet me in the War Room to discuss......strategy."
Kamek saluted. "Understood. We'll be there in half an hour."
"Good. Dismissed."
Kamek leaped up on his broomstick and flew swiftly out of the room, leaving a thoughtful Bowser gazing at the portal.
"I've got you now, plumber..." He muttered.
--------------------
"In retrospect, our plan really hadn't been thought out well enough. We had decided to try to use the worlds to our advantage, but first we needed to learn more about them before doing anything else. We dispatched several of our troops into the portals to investigate them….."
--------------------
"Okay mages, listen up." Bowser spoke gruffily to the rows of robed Koopas sitting before him. "It has been several weeks since I first informed the lot of you about Kamek's accidental discovery of the Plot Hole spell. Since then, Kamek has perfected the spell to the point where he can direct where the Hole will take us. Kamek?"
The blue-robed Magikoopa stood up and approached the front of the room to stand beside Bowser. "According to my studies," the Magikoopa explained, " the portals can take us to several different places, each one represented by the Hole's color." He pulled out his wand and muttered something under his breath a few moments, before pointing it at the front of the room.
A shimmering red portal appeared on the spot he'd pointed at. Kamek turned back to the roomful of mages and continued.
"Red is the color of a Hole that leads to our world. Light Blue would take you to a technological world filled with machinery; green leads to a primitive land still in the Middle Ages, but rich with natural resources; white goes to a bizarre world that randomly changes its shape and the shape of those in it; blue will yield a place ruled not by humans, Toads, or Koopas, but by animals; but as for yellow, orange, and purple, I am uncertain as to where they take you."
Bowser spoke up at that point. "Your mission is to learn the Plot Hole spell from Kamek, and use it to explore these new lands for anything that may be useful to us. Do all of you understand this?"
Numerous nods and murmurs of agreement answered this question. "Very well," Bowser rumbled, "training will begin tomorrow at six sharp! Dismissed."
--------------------
Kamek hang his head, tone becoming bitter. "…..but sadly, we had no idea that the portal-worlds were so well-guarded."
--------------------
The tiny electric radio hissed and spat like an overanxious cat, static crackling through its speakers while Kamek twisted the small knob on its top from side to side. Wildly varying pitches yowled out like a death cry before the radio admitted defeat and turned to the correct channel.
"---and keep low!" Someone finished yelling as the static cleared. "Those bombs can blow your head clean off if you get too close to one! Alpha team, you take the ridge! I'll cover you!"
Faint sounds of gunfire and screams could be heard in the background during this. Someone close to the speaker gurgled, as if underwater, before falling silent. Kamek turned up the volume slightly.
"General Kain, sir!" Another person's voice wafted up out of the background noise. "They're attacking from the rear! It's a tr--!" BANG. A gunshot echoed through the metallic innards of the radio, and the voice ceased.
Someone close to the microphone that was relaying the sounds muttered a not-so-civilized curse. "They're on to us! This isn't good!"
"Sir!" The pounding steps of someone wearing heavy equipment grew louder as someone approached Kain's position. "General," Someone panted, "I came as soon as I heard! Are you all right?"
"Kurt, there you are!" Kain exclaimed with relief. "Never mind about me! Listen--our radio's on the blink. It can send but it can't receive. Quick, use your radio to contact the Alpha team, and tell them to get out of there before-"
The ear-numbing roar of an explosion ripped through the radio, making Kamek wince.
"-oh damn." Kain finished the now-useless sentence. "They've brought out the big guns! Kurt, don't bother to radio Alpha-they're beyond help now. Call for backup!"
There was a pause, during which the terrified screams and yells seemed to increase in intensity.
"Kurt?" The first speaker repeated. "Kurt, radio them!"
Another pause, longer this time. The sharp whistling of a falling object, promptly followed by another explosion. Kamek could hear every quick breath that Kain took as the leader waited for his radio man to confirm his order.
"Kurt, for the King's sake!" Kain yelled angrily. The sounds of someone getting up and hastily walking trickled through the radio's speakers. "Radio them NOW, before we all--" The sentence stopped with a sharp intake of breath.
Kamek heard Kain release the gasp in a slow sigh, several seconds later. "Oh heck." Kain snarled. "Kurt's gone." There was the sound of someone picking up the microphone that was relaying the sounds. "I think this thing is still sending...hello? Can anybody hear me?" Kain spoke into the radio. "This is squadron Charlie-Beta-Iota, in the Light Blue world. Have suffered severe casualties and require assistance. Mayday, mayday. Repeat, we are under heavy fire and request immediate ba-" Kain's voice was suddenly overwhelmed by a loud roar, and the sounds dissolved into static.
Kamek slowly turned the radio off, his face grim and ashen.
Bowser stomped into the room. "Kamek, there you are. What's going on?" He asked seriously, no hint of humor marring his mood.
The MagiKoopa glanced briefly up at his boss before letting his empty gaze fall back to the radio, sitting innocent and silent upon the tabletop. Hey, don't kill the messenger, it seemed to be saying to him. "We lost the Light Blue squadron." He spoke in a flat monotone.
Bowser went stiff with surprise and disbelief. "What? Are you sure?"
Kamek nodded mutely. Bowser swore. "Damn." He snarled, the action twisting his already monstrous features even more. "That makes it...." He paused. "What does that make it?"
"Four, sir." Was Kamek's deadpan reply. "The Green, Blue, Light Blue and Orange teams."
Bowser muttered some rather unkind words toward the defenses of the portal worlds. "Perhaps we should reconsider our strategy." He rumbled. "Too many innocent Koopas are losing their lives here."
"What else
could we do, sir?" Kamek spoke up, raising his head
to lock gazes with the Koopa King. His eyes shimmered
with a quiet anger; an anger not directed at Bowser,
but at the merciless forces that had killed so many of their men today. "We
still don't know what we're dealing with, here. And until we get more
information, we never will."
Bowser scratched under his chin with a single claw. "Maybe we should try the
indirect approach."
Kamek's face was as blank as a new sheet of paper. "Indirect approach, sir?"
"Instead of just charging in with all weapons drawn, we'll go undercover, in secret." The monstrous turtle elaborated. "Incognito, if you will. It'd keep the defenses from detecting us while we go about our business and explore their territory."
Kamek began to see where Bowser was going with this. "And since we've already determined that a large force won't work, we'll only send in two or three of our best spies to each world."
"That's right." Bowser grinned in satisfaction. "Call the remaining teams and tell them to return to base. I'll go round up some suitable soldiers for this new plan."
"Yes, sir." Kamek watched as Bowser exited in his usual stomping manner, then switched the radio back on and slowly began to twist the dial on it's top, searching for the right channel....
--------------------
"Our mages used a bit of magic to disguise themselves and some soldiers as inhabitants of the worlds they were entering. Thankfully, this tactic turned out to be quite successful, and no more Koopas died."
--------------------
"All right, Kamek. Report!"
The MagiKoopa bowed. "All the mages and soldiers are present and accounted for, Sir."
"Excellent. Did they return with the requested materials?"
"Yes, Sir."
Bowser clapped his claws together. "Wonderful! Things are going perfectly!"
---------------------------------------
"Wait, wait, wait. Time out for a second." Kirby interrupted Kamek's recap. "What did you mean by 'requested materials'? Did you guys take stuff from our worlds?"
Kamek hesitated before replying. "Yes."
"Well, what did you take?"
"Machine parts and raw minerals, mostly. We found the Star Rod in one dimension. It seemed impossible, seeing as how the Star Rod was still supposed to be in the custody of the Star Spirits, but then I saw it for myself."
Kirby nodded. "Yeah, there's a Star Rod in Dreamland, but it's different from the one you have here. It acts more as a power source and general stabilizer for Dreamland than a wish-granting device."
Kamek suddenly paused. "Wait.....you mean there are TWO Star Rods? They aren't one and the same??"
"That's right. Why'd you bring it up, anyway?"
"I.....er....." Kamek suddenly looked extremely nervous. "Well, it kind of went like this....."
------------------------------------
(A couple days earlier.....)
How could he tell him?
This was the question that plagued Kamek like a horde of locusts as he ran down the stone corridor to Bowser's Throne Room.
how? How? HOW?
What should he say? He asked himself. How could he sugar-coat this to make it less of a shock?
He arrived before the massive, golden arch that was the Throne Room entrance. Kamek paused and stood nervously in front of it, thoughts running furiously.
What to do, what to do.....?
The door slowly opened with the soft creak of hinges. A lone guard stuck his head out and glanced from side to side briefly before finding the MagiKoopa. "Mr. Kamek?"
Kamek heard the question, but gave the faintest of nods. The guard opened the door all the way and stood to the side of its opening, motioning him inside with a bow. "You're right on time. King Bowser is waiting for you."
Heart pounding in his ears, Kamek swallowed heavily and walked forward past the guard, who dutifully shut the door behind him.
"Ah, Kamek! There you are!" Bowser boomed out from atop his bone-clad throne. "What news have you? Anything interesting brought back from the portals yet?"
The MajiKoopa swallowed hard and bowed before speaking. "Well, the Light Blue Plot Hole had a huge amount of potentially usable machinery in it, and the mages brought back some useful parts from there. Nothing of much interest otherwise, except for the two that went through the white portal."
"Really? What did they find? And stop bowing like that! I prefer to be looked at when talked to."
Kamek straightened to look Bowser in the eye. "The two who went to the white portal.....believe they've found the Star Rod."
Whatever Bowser had been expecting, it wasn't that. "WHAT?!? THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"
"I thought so too, until they showed it to me."
"They brought it BACK with them?!?"
"Yes, sir."
There was a brief pause that seemed to last an eternity to Kamek, during which he waited breathlessly for the King's response.
The guard outside the throne room door pressed his head up against the wood to catch the conversation occurring inside. Not hearing anything, he opened the door a crack and peeked through it as maniacal, gleeful laughter echoed throughout the Throne Room. The guard blinked in surprise at what he saw, then shut the door quickly and turned to lean up against it, face white with shock and amazement.
Inside the room, Bowser was happily dancing about like someone who'd won the lottery while Kamek watched and sweatdropped. "IT'S MINE AGAIN AT LAST!" The Koopa King cheered. With a surge of muscles, he leapt into the air and clicked his heels. "ALL MINE! BWAHAHAHAHA!"
Bowser landed with an impact that shook the whole room and left two unsightly craters in the floor. He turned to his Chief MagiKoopa, who was still giving Bowser an odd look. "I tell you, Kamek, I have not felt this happy in a long time!"
"Sir, I took the liberty of running some tests on it....." Kamek began, deciding now would be a good time to break the news.
Bowser didn't catch the note of apprehension in Kamek's voice. "And?"
"It seems to have.....changed, somehow."
A seed of worry suddenly came out of nowhere and planted itself into Bowser's thoughts. His happiness began to rapidly diminish. "What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure how.....perhaps it was affected by being in another world for so long. But now it no longer grants wishes. Instead, it has a seemingly unlimited amount of energy stored inside it."
Bowser
blinked, disappointed but intrigued at the same time. "Well....can we use this
energy for something?"
"It's quite similar to electricity, but slightly altered on the molecular level. I don't think it would be too difficult to use it for powering our machines, though."
"Very well, make it so." He paused. "You know, I've always wanted to say that."
----------------------------------
Kamek trailed off when he noticed that Kirby was no longer listening. The Dreamlander's left eye was rapidly twitching, and his teeth were bared. His pupils flamed with a deadly rage, and Kamek realized with no small amount of fear that it had been focused at him.
"Are you...telling me...you...TOOK...the Star Rod?" He slowly spoke through gritted teeth, pronouncing each syllable separately so as to get their full message across.
"Um..." Dozens of excuses sprang to Kamek's mind, none of which were good enough to use. "...uh...well...that is, to say....er…..yeah?" He answered in a tiny voice.
Mega Man analyzed Kirby's current behavior and estimated a 98.2% chance that the Dreamlander would attack at this point. He was prepared, therefore, to leap forward and hold Kirby back as the pink puffball leapt for Kamek's throat. Kirby instantly began to fight against Mega's grip in a blind rage, furiously yelling to the whole world exactly what he thought about Kamek and his mother.
The MagiKoopa in question had wisely retreated behind a large rock outcropping to escape Kirby's wrath. "Eeep!" He squeaked, vivid images of him being piledrived into the ground flashing through his mind.
"So THAT'S why Dreamland is so messed up!" Mario realized, seemingly oblivious to the events taking place around him. "It's because the Star Rod's gone, isn't it?"
"I'm so confused." Peach sighed. "Mario, what are you talking about?"
"I'll tell you later." Mario promised. "What happened after that, Kamek?"
The Koopa peeked out slowly from behind the large rock where he'd hid. Seeing that Kirby was still firmly grasped in Mega man's grip, he relaxed ever-so-slightly, although he remained behind the rock nonetheless. "Well...by this time, we'd found a problem; it took a lot of energy to cast the Plot Hole spell, and even more to keep one open for very long. Before we knew it, our mages were completely exhausted from the effort and couldn't help us any more unless they rested and regained their strength. We needed to find some alternative energy source to power the portals, and fast….."
----------------------------------
"Well Kamek, give me your opinion. How long do you estimate it shall take to build?"
Kamek straightened back up from the half-bow he'd sunken into and cupped his chin in one hand, thinking. "Well, at the required size.....months, sir. At the least."
Bowser sobered up a little. "I expected such. Very well, tell the mechanics they have half a year to work with. That should be enough time, don't you agree?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Good. By the way, how's Kammy?"
Kamek perked up visibly. "Well, we're still trying to decide on a date, but she's already picked out a dress. Said it's been in her family for ages."
"What about you? Have you chosen the ring?"
"Oh, it's beautiful, Sir. Solid gold, and studded with diamonds."
"She'll be impressed, then."
"If you don't mind, Sir.....I was wondering if you could be the Best Man."
Bowser grinned widely. "My dear Kamek, I would be honored. You can be dismissed, and I wish you both the best of luck."
"Thank you, Sir."
--------------------
Mario was staring in open shock. "You and Kammy? Together?!" He blurted out.
Kamek blushed. "Well, yeah!" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "What's so surprising about it?"
"Well…..it's just that…..I mean, aren't you two a bit, well…...OLD to be getting married?"
"Love cares not how old you are, it comes, stays and leaves just the same." Mega Man quoted.
Kamek looked righteously furious. "How DARE you accuse ME of being old!" He raged. "Why I oughta….."
"Just calm down and tell us what happened next!" Daisy burst out, startling Kamek into silence and sapping the anger out of him.
"But I…..oh, all right." He growled, with an angry scowl in Mario's direction.
--------------------
"Look at it." Bowser grinned. "It's incredible, isn't it?"
Kamek glanced sideways at his King for a moment before returning his gaze to the massive Plot Hole Power Generator in front of them.
Taking up the entire wall of the massive room they were in, it ballooned out at the ends like an hourglass. The tube in its middle shimmered and swam with all the colors of the visible light spectrum, making it appear to be white from a distance. Far too many wires to count ran into and out of the bottom and top portions, ending in the walls and ceiling. In the very center of the tube, invisible amidst all the colors, hovered the Star Rod.
Just minutes ago, it had been activated. Kamek had to admit that the mystifying colors of its tube were pretty, in a way. "Yes."
"I still can't believe the mages we sent into the White portal actually found and brought back the Star Rod." Bowser continued.
Kamek scratched his head underneath the pointed hat he always wore. "It was a definite surprise, all right." He agreed.
"So, tell me again; what does it do?"
Kamek unconsciously rolled his eyes. This was probably the fourth time he'd had to explain this. "It can create portals to the different worlds, by using the power of the Star Rod as an energy source. A supply of electricity is stored in our backup batteries throughout the worlds--" He pointed across the room at a row of large, black cylinders hooked up to the generator via wire-"in case the Star Rod's power ever fails for any reason." Kamek stood up straighter and clasped his hands behind his back. "I also hooked it up to the castle's power supply through the batteries we've got here, so it'll give us power for our electric devices as well."
"Brilliant." Bowser marveled. "Now we won't need to be so dependent on thunderstorms for electricity."
"Yes. Should I order the lightning rods on the roof to be dismantled?"
"No, leave them up. In fact, connect them to the batteries--it's been a while since those things have had a recharge."
Kamek saluted smartly. "Consider it done, sir. Anything else?"
Bowser stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment, and Kamek had to fight the urge to laugh at the corniness of it all. "Yes. I'd like to show you an experiment my son Ludwig performed with a new invention of his…..could you meet me up in the Keep within the next two hours?"
"Of course, Sir."
"Excellent. That is all, then."
--------------------
"Well, that's all lovely and everything," Daisy butted in, "but it doesn't explain what just happened to the castle!"
"I was getting to that." Kamek nodded. "See, there were some unforeseen side-effects to the building of the Generator-"
"Like what?" Peach blurted, covering her mouth afterwards sheepishly. "Sorry."
"S'all right. To answer your question, the main side effect was the appearances of random portals that we didn't create."
"WHAT?!" Kirby screeched, slipping out of Mega man's arms at last. His mood had suddenly changed from angry to frightened in an instant. "Do you realize what that means?!" He demanded, eyes suddenly wide. "You've doomed us all, you idiots!"
Kamek was taken aback. "What are you talking about?"
"Yeah Kirby, could you let us in on the secret so the rest of us can all wet our pants, too?" Mega Man quipped, arching an inquisitive eyebrow.
Kirby seemed about to hyperventilate with terror, looking like he wanted to do three things at once. "…..you haven't figured it out?!"
"The only thing I've figured out is that you need to cool off a bit." The azure robot replied. "C'mon, it can't be that bad, can it?"
Kirby gave an audible glup. "Yes, it can." He whispered.
Mega Man raised his other eyebrow to join the first as Kirby struggled to calm himself down to a semi-normal level again. "Okay, it's like this. Our worlds are generally kept apart by a series of invisible walls. Every world has a different wall that keeps it apart from another specific world. You can't see them or feel them, but they exist just the same. Every time someone like him--" Kirby jabbed an arm at Kamek-"Creates a portal, it's the equivalent to punching a hole through a wall between two worlds."
Mario, Mega Man and the princesses slowly nodded. "Okay, making sense so far." Mario agreed. "Keep going."
"Now, when someone puts too many holes in these walls, they do the same thing any wall would."
Several pairs of eyes grew wide. Princess Peach spoke apprehensively as what Kirby was implying began to dawn on her. "They collapse?"
Kirby nodded. "That's right. The random portals are a sign of the walls' instability. It means the barriers are already starting to break down."
"I'm sorry, but I still don't see the problem with all this." Daisy declared, shrugging noncommitably. "So what if the walls collapse? What happens then?"
Kirby stared hard at her. "Well, one of two things will happen." He answered slowly. "The first outcome is that all the worlds might combine, resulting in a single conglomeration containing a little bit of each world's characteristics, properties and inhabitants. This wouldn't be a good thing, though, because it would erase mass portions of each world in the process and leave only a small percentage behind."
"Which is something we definitely don't want, because there won't be any way to control what stays and what gets zapped." Mega Man concluded.
"Exactly." Kirby agreed.
"Okay, so what's the second possibility?" Mario asked tentatively.
Kirby went quiet. After a couple moments his solemn reply came: "The second possibility…..is that all the worlds will instantly cease to exist." He looked up at them.
Like a switch had been flipped, the area had gone quiet as a tomb.
"Armageddon." Mega Man exhaled in a whisper. Peach and Daisy exchanged a startled glance. The gravity of the situation had finally been revealed to them all, and it wasn't a welcome change.
Mario cast a glance around at the expressions of those present: They ranged from shocked, to frightened, to angry, mirroring all the emotions he himself felt. Is this really happening? He wondered to himself. Is this it? The end of everything?
"This is insane." Kamek spoke up quietly. "I had no idea building the machine would cause such a drastic outcome. We must prevent this from happening."
"I agree," Mega Man stepped forward, face paler than usual. "Kirby, is there any way we can keep the walls from collapsing?"
The pink puffball shook his head sadly. "My home dimension of Dreamland is the only one that doesn't have any walls restraining it. Consequently, it's something of a crossroads between all the dimensions, acting as a sort of central governing force and keeping each world safe from the others."
"Let me guess. The Star Rod keeps things running smoothly there?" Mario hazarded.
Kirby nodded glumly. "Yup. Without it, the walls are dangerously weak, which is the reason they're starting to collapse at all. If we can retrieve the Rod and put it back where it belongs in Dreamland, things should stabilize again…..but from what Kamek has told us, it was one of the main components of their generator machine, which means its disappeared along with the castle to who-knows-where."
"So, it's hopeless?" Peach asked weakly.
"No, it's not!" Kamek exclaimed, hope suddenly brimming within him. "I know where the castle has gone!"
That got everyone's attention. "What? You do?!" Kirby exclaimed.
The MajiKoopa nodded fervently. "It was a security measure I built into the generator in case the castle was ever attacked, and I'm guessing the power outage triggered a chain reaction that activated it. The machine was to create a giant portal around the castle that would transfer it elsewhere until things were safe again."
"Well, where did it go?" Mario asked eagerly.
Kamek shifted his glasses up farther onto his beak. "It was a location I'd only recently discovered, outside of the portal worlds entirely--"
"WHAT?!" Kirby shrieked again. "You sent it to Earth? Are you mad?!"
"Earth?" Mario asked quizzically. "What's--"
"Its supposedly the place that created our worlds. You can't send Koopa Castle there!" He exclaimed fiercely.
"Why not?"
"Because it'd cause mass hysteria, probably." Mega Man pointed out. "How'd you react if you woke up one morning and found a castle on your front lawn?"
"Yes, but there's more to it than that." Kirby continued. "The people on Earth think we don't exist!"
"Right, that does it. Somebody get me a compass, 'cause I'm lost." Daisy threw her hands up into the air exasperatedly. "How'd they supposedly 'create' us if they don't think we're real?"
"They created us indirectly, through thought. Ya see, the humans of Earth have some remarkable psychic powers innate to their race. By merely imagining us and our homelands in their minds, they unknowingly altered time and space enough to create our worlds."
"Psychic mind powers?" Mario scratched his scalp thoughtfully. "You know, that sounds really familiar….."
"How do you know all of this?" Peach asked curiously.
Kirby shrugged uncomfortably. "Remember me telling you how Dreamland has no dimensional walls? Well, that includes any walls that separate us from the Outside. Anyone who lives there has potential access to the knowledge of all worlds, even Earth."
"Sounds like a pretty neat place." Daisy commented. Kirby's face darkened briefly.
"Not necessarily." He replied. "Believe me, there are some things about the universe that you'd be better off not knowing. I myself have had a tough time trying to forget some of it." The ominous note in his voice silenced any argument the princess might have made.
"We'll take your word for it," Mario conceded as he glanced behind them at the barren hill that once housed Bowser's Castle. "Is there any way for us to reach Earth from here?"
"Yes, but it wouldn't help us any. The Earthlings don't think we exist, remember? If we go there, think of what it'll do to their psyches. You don't want to mess with their minds, especially since their mental powers can affect our worlds so much. We'd do more harm than good."
"Well, there must be something we can do!" Kamek cried out. "We just can't stand by and let this happen!"
"It doesn't look like we have any choice." Mega Man agreed. "Somebody will have to go to Earth, whether the humans there like it or not." He pressed a hidden button on his wrist, changing out of his Battle uniform and into casual clothing in a flash of light. "I look the most human out of us all, so I'll go."
"But what about the rest of us?" Mario demanded indignantly. "I refuse to just wait here and do nothing when the fate of the universe is at stake!"
"I've got jobs for you guys, too." Kamek spoke. "Even if Mega Man gets to Earth somehow and manages to locate the castle, he won't be able to enter it. I programmed an impenetrable force field to activate when the castle warped, to keep anyone from invading it. The downside is that no portals can open inside of the field, as it partially negates some of the Generator's power."
Peach rolled her eyes. "Always the paranoid one, eh Kamek?"
"Hey, I had to have SOME way of making sure no Earthlings decided it'd be nice to blow us up while we were on their planet!"
Mario quietly massaged his temples, trying to comprehend everything that had been told to him. "Okay…..so how do we deactivate this field?" He asked.
Kamek sighed. "I tried to make the process pretty complex to keep just anyone from turning it off, although I assure you I'm kicking myself for it right now. We hid a separate power source for the field in each of the portal worlds, so that if one was destroyed then the backups could fuel it instead. To destroy the field, all of the batteries powering it must be eliminated, one by one."
"Lovely." Daisy muttered sarcastically. "So you're suggesting we go on a world-hopping trip."
Kamek shook his head. "There's not enough time for all of us to go to each world-we'll have to split up." ("Even better," Daisy growled.) "Mega Man, you'll have to go take out the one in your world before you head for Earth. Kirby, I assume, can take care of Dreamland's battery. Mario, could you take the princesses home and remove the one in the Green portal-world? I'll see about getting Kapi to help, although I'm not sure she'll want to leave the King right now….."
"Leave her be, we'll go in her place." Peach broke in. "There's no way you guys are just gonna leave us behind like little children," she continued before Mario could open his mouth to protest. "This is as much our fight as it is yours."
Daisy nodded, agreeing with her cousin's words. "It's true. You guys will need all the help you can get."
"Fine." Kamek snapped. "Get yourselves killed, see what I care. Daisy can go to the Dark Blue world. Peach, you can take care of the one in Mushroom Kingdom. I'll try to let our troops know you're all coming beforehand so they won't perceive you to be a threat and treat you like one. Okay?"
Each person nodded silently. "Okay. Since we're out of range of the Portal Generator, I'll have to transport you guys instead. But once you're in the worlds, you'll be on your own; my magic isn't strong enough to reach you there, and it'll be taxing enough on me just to send you that far."
"Whatever, just send us there. Time is of the essence." A deep, rumbling voice spoke from behind Kamek. He whirled around with a gasp, nearly fainting when he spotted the massive form that had been shielded from view behind the rock where he'd hid. "King Bowser!"
The Koopa king stomped into view of the others, who couldn't help noticing how red his eyes were. "That's me, all right." He bobbed his head a knowledgably.
"How long were you standing there?!" Kamek's voice took on a more worried note. "And are you all right?"
"Long enough, and I'll be fine. I realized that I shouldn't really have a reason to be sad--if what you say is true, my children will be quite safe until we get them back. But anyway, back to the subject at hand; I notice you've forgotten about some of the worlds, Kamek. Kapi volunteered to enter the yellow world, so I'll travel to the orange one."
Worry etched into Kamek's complexion. "Sir…..please…..you mustn't put yourself in danger so--"
"I can and I will. Peach was right; it is as much my fight as yours. Hurry and open the portals, Kamek. That's an order!"
Kamek slumped in defeat. "Aw, I hate it when you pull rank like that…..fine, all right." He pointed his wand behind him at a flat expanse of open plain. Several colored portals began to appear as he began chanting an archaic tongue. As each one grew in size, Kamek's strength began to rapidly diminish.
"Go!" He finally gasped out as the portals burst into full size, the orange one extra-large to accommodate Bowser's huge frame. Immediately he began to weaken even more under the added stress of keeping them that way. "Hurry!" He panted, visibly straining. "I…..I can't hold them open for very long….."
There was no time for any farewells. With one last glance at each other, the members of the group leaped forward into dazzling colored light.
--------------------
Stoney: So now, it begins.
This chapter marks a major turning point in The Crossover Saga. We have finally entered the higher conflict of that plot I referred to earlier. Things are going to pick up the pace a bit from here on in, meaning more action and less dialouge than before.
If ever there was a time to request an appearance of a video-game character, now is it. Soon it'll be too late to put any more in, as I'm already planning out the future chapters in my head. E-mail me your request if you have one, and I'll work on adding them to the story. Wait to do so.....and well, you'll just have to forever hold your peace.
Oh, and before Yoshiman sends me a hundred e-mails demanding Final Fantasy characters, let me inform you that there will be an upcoming chapter devoted entirely to various RPG's. (No, I'm not going to tell you which ones. Sorry.)
As a side note, no, I am NOT trying to rip off Anthony Bault. This story had already been brewing in my head LONG before I ever read his 'Heroes of Arcadia' series, and it's just a coincidence that both of them involve psychic humans. Just so we're clear.
SHAMELESS CRY FOR HELP: I'm in need of a good editor or two to review my chapters before I post them and suggest changes, so I don't look like a total klutz because of a spelling error or something. If you're willing to accept the job (and are capable of making positive criticism) then please let me know!
Pikachu: Cha! Pikacha ka pika?! Pakachu chiu kichu aca kaka!! {Hey! Where the heck am I?! I haven't seen any page space since chapter 9!!}
Luigi: And when am I going to join up with the others? I wanna save the universe, too!
Link: Yeah, walking through unknown corridors like this is starting to get really boring.
Stoney: Be patient, you guys. I haven't forgotten about you, don't worry.
Sigma: It's not nice to leave someone stranded in a shut-off computer for so long, you know.
Stoney: Oh, shut up. Take it like a Reploid.
Malon: [singing] I'm all aloooooone.....there's no one heeeeeere besiiiiiide meeeeee.....
Stoney: Aw, come on! Give me a break, willya?!
Black Mage: Nope, that's not possible. Shinkuu.....HADOKEN!
Stoney: AIIIIEEE! [flees for his life, chased by a fireball the size of Alaska]