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Chapter 7: The Gathering Storm

Part 13: Enter the Falcon

                After they left Hyrule, the Metroid Hunter jumped into Hyper Space. Samus then turned to Mario and asked,

                "Mario, what's going on? What happened to Marth's leg? Who are these two girls? And what happened to Roy?"

                Mario looked around to see if there was any assistance coming. Marth was siting down, with his head in his hands, sobbing. Saria had woken up, but was so engrossed with her new body that she was unable to go 5 seconds with out touching it. Her expression was one of curiosity, tinged with fear and excitement. The shock of seeing the only planet she had ever known disappear in the distance had knocked Malon out. Mario wondered if he could get away with the 'Link's dead' thing again, or if he should tell the truth. Well, let's see what happens with the truth…

                "To make a long story short, Luigi turned evil, joined Bowser, and led an army to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. I narrowly escaped with my life, and went to Hyrule to find help. However, when I arrived, I learned that Hyrule had been conquered by an incredibly evil, yet also quite polite, person named Keller. Then I and the green-haired girl ran into Roy at the red-haired girl's ranch. We rested for a while, but then these two nasty soldier things appeared, killed her father, and forced us to escape. We broke into the evil guy's castle to free Marth. We succeeded, only Roy sent Keller into a psychotic rage, and we had to run away before Keller decided the world would be a better place without us breathing. We got to the field. Then Keller magically appeared out of nowhere, turned Saria, who used to be a ten year old Kokiri girl, into the beautiful young woman she is now, spent a few minutes insulting us, and telling us how all the evils in the universe were uniting, and what was going on back in my and Roy's homes, i.e. bad things, and then tried to kidnap Malon, only he missed and grabbed Roy, and then he disappeared and this big army appeared and you rescued us. Marth's leg was sliced off by Keller. The green-haired girl is Saria, and the red haired one is Malon. Oh yes, and Keller used to be Link, only don't call him that as if you do he goes psycho and tries to flambé you."

                "I really, really hope you are lying."

                "I wish I was"

                "Luigi and Link turned evil?! That's horrible!"

                "And that's not the worst of it. Keller isn't the only one of Ganondorf's servants we have to look out for. There is also this walking suit of orange armor named Onox, and an evening dress wearing woman named Veran, and something called Majora, which is either a mask, or someone who just got back from a rather tacky costume party. And they were talking about how Bowser and Mewtwo had just joined Ganondorf."

                All of a sudden, the com-link crackled to life. The face of Douglas Falcon appeared on the screen. He looked as if he had been crying. Tears trickled down his face. 'Samus! Mute City has been destroyed! Ripley has conquered the federation! Millions have died! Goroh, Summers, all of my fellow racers, they're all dead!"

                "WHAT! Where are you? I'll come and get you." Samus read the co-ordinates and steered for the Falcon Flyer's position.

                *              *              *

                The Falcon Flyer was not a pretty sight. It was severely scorched, and smoke billowed ominously out of it. A couple of repair droids ran across the surface, putting out flames. As Marth looked at it, he realised something. Those flames were magical in nature. This Ripley fellow must have had help. No laser blast, or natural fire, could scorch metal that badly.

                As they docked, Marth kept running thoughts through his head. He was not to blame, he knew that. Link had made his own choices. Keller could believe what he wanted, it was all a lie. And yet, somehow, he did feel guilt. His country needed him, his family needed him, and here he was, running away. It was like Altea all over again…

                He was thrust out of his grim train of thought by the sound of a door sliding open. Captain Douglas E. Falcon strode into the room, and made a beeline for Samus. They all got out of his way. His face was that of a man who had been through hell. His track suit was burned, and his helmet had a large crack in it. Samus spoke, "Now, Douglas. What happened, in your own words?"

                Captain Falcon sat down and removed his helmet. "The race was starting. The president was there, about to wave the flag. All of a sudden, hundreds of space pirate ships land. Thousands of pirates poured out. The galactic troops started firing at them, and then us racers jumped out of our vehicles and pitched in. We were winning, but then there was this noise like finger's snapping, and this army of pig things appeared out of no where, and then this army of humanoid birds in yellow robes appeared and started sending fire everywhere, and then this crazy woman in evening dress appeared alongside Ripley, and she turned the President into a newt and stepped on him, and I had to get out of there. It was a massacre! I was the only racer left, the soldiers were being wiped out, and this pair of bird things kept trying to scorch me! I reached my ship and the bird things just start shooting at it until I zap them a couple of times. I take off, and behind me the Space Pirate fleet takes off too, and then the city just explodes!"

                "Damn. Looks like you were right about that whole 'All the evils in the universe are uniting', Mario." Mario looked embarrassed. Of all the times for him to be right.

                "Samus? What is going on? Why is Marth missing a leg, and why are he and Mario here anyway, and who are these two, and why does the green-haired girl keep touching herself? Girl, find a man to do that for you. Pretty thing like you could have a line going twice around the block if you went looking." Saria blushed. Samus muttered something about pigs, and then kicked Captain Falcon right where, not to put to fine a point on it, he kept what he considered his most important part. His eyes crossed. "Ungh…Ow!"

                "Now that I have your complete attention, Douglas, I can answer your questions." She answered them the same way Mario answered hers. Captain Falcon had no reaction, though he did seem a bit startled when informed of Link and Luigi's defections. Finally, when Captain Falcon was up to speed, they got down to business. They had to race against the clock in order to save more heroes, and maybe even planets. It was decided that they would split into two teams. Samus and the girls would go searching on worlds that hadn't been conquered yet, and Captain Falcon and the boys would go on rescue missions to worlds that had already fallen. Their mission was simple. To save the universe from the force of darkness!

                *              *              *

                "Alright, Marth. Before we do anything, I'm getting you a prosthetic limb."

                "A what?"

                "You'll see."

Part 14: Earthbound3: The destruction of Eagleland

                Ness surveyed the battle field. So far, they had managed to hold the Starmen back, but they and their allies grew stronger by the minute. The Eagleland forces were hiding in the ruins of central Fourside. They had already lost the eastern front, the western front had been trashed, the southern front didn't exist anymore, and the northern front had been crushed like an egg. And they still had no idea who was in charge of the opposing army.

                Ness had changed a great deal since the tournament. No longer did he resemble a potato. Instead, he had spent the last couple of years working out. He now looked more like a carrot, and no longer had the figure that had inspired Young Link to spend the tournament calling him 'spud', and Old Link calling him a 'pathetic excuse for a warrior, who should spend more time working out, and grow 3 more feet'. Y. Link. He wondered how things were going for him. After the tournament, the elf boy had returned to his own dimension. They had met just once since then, at Marth & Zelda's marriage. Y.Link had introduced Ness to his fiancé, Y. Zelda. It really was amazing how Hylians handled these things. Come to think of it, Old Link hadn't been around for that wedding…

                A massive explosion broke his thoughts. Poo and Paula were running towards him. "Ness! They've got past the west blockade!!"

                "What? Jeff was in charge there! Where is he?"

                "Mwa ha ha ha ha!" That voice. Where had he heard that voice? "I'm afraid your bespectacled friend has been scattered across 50 feet." Mewtwo. Of course. But where was he? "Yes. My Shadow Implosion technique proved too much for him."

                "And as for your pathetic soldiers, they're all dead. My Darknuts proved too much for them. Of course, they deserved it for trying to fight against the greatest tactical genius in the history of the universe, me, General Onox! And for even daring to challenge the army of the Great Ganon!

                So. Jeff was dead. He should feel sad, but the news just left him, well, empty. He could shed tears later. Right now, he had more important things to deal with. Like how to save an entire city of people.

                All of a sudden there was a flash of light. Mewtwo appeared, just as menacing and frightening as ever. Then there was the sound of fingers snapping, and a purple mushroom cloud, and an orange figure appeared behind Poo. It stood 6"5' tall and Ness certainly hoped that that helmet wasn't based around how the head actually was shaped… "Poo! Behind you!"

                "Naughty, naughty, boy" Poo turned around just in time to see Onox grab him by the throat.

                "Hey! Let go of me, you bully! P.K. Fire!" Onox caught on fire. Ness smiled. Well, that was the end of that.

                "Fool! Feel my wrath!" Onox tossed Poo far into the air. Then a black nimbus surrounded him. When it cleared, a huge black dragon had replaced Onox. 30 feet tall, with tremendous black wings, it made Mother seem like a nice person. It caught Poo with 2 claws, grabbing his shirt. "Now, what to do with you? Mewtwo, do you have any preferences?"

                "Eat him."

"Right." Onox exhaled. Black fire came from his mouth, frying Poo to a crisp. He then popped Poo in his mouth. "Tastes like chicken."

                "Now go, and spread destruction! We shall make an example of this city, so that the other countries of this world will bend before our master!" With a nod, the creature flew off. Mewtwo turned back to Ness. "You might be wondering what I'm doing here. Well, to tell you the truth, I got tired of Pokeworld. And one day, I was meditating in my lair, when all of a sudden a messenger appeared. Apparently, Ganon, you remember him, right? Well anyway, Ganon was moving to conquer this universe. And the second person he came for to help him and his minions out, after Bowser, was me. He offered me any world I desired provided I agreed to serve him. Well, I picked this one. Giovanni has Pokeworld sewn up pretty tight. So I came, took command of the Starmen, and then sent for assistance, which I got in the form of my heavily armored friend that just ate pajama boy, and his considerable army. Right. That's that sorted out. Now we…" They never found out what he was about to say, because Paula threw everything she had at him.

                "P.K. Destruction!" Mewtwo rose one hand, and caught the incoming ball of death. Then he smirked.

                "Very good, girl. I almost felt that one. Well, you showed me yours, now I'll show you mine. Shadow Implosion!" A massive wave of dark energy shot into Paula. Nothing happened.

                "What? Is that your best?"

                "Wait…" Paula suddenly started to flake. Her skin just came off her bones, and then her bones just disintegrated. "Well, Ness? What are you going to do now?"

                "Shrivel up and die, Mewtwo!" A round energy ball slammed into him from behind. A familiar armored figure appeared. "Come on Ness! He'll be back up soon!"

                "Samus? It was terrible! He killed every one!"

                "I know. That's been happening a lot, lately. Now hurry up!"

                "Leaving so soon? I don't think so. Onox!" The black dragon reappeared. Mewtwo floated up next to Onox's head. "Goodbye, heroes." He whispered something to Onox, and then teleported out.

                "Uh-oh. That is frighteningly large." Onox idly torched a nearby building. "We're dead. Sorry, Ness."

                "Well, at least you tried. I want to die, actually. I let them kill my friends.

                "Sorry to disappoint you, then, boy!" A young woman ran past Samus, dressed in a green skirt, and a very tight green blouse. "Now what's that spell? Oh yes." She started to chant. "Light of ancients, hear my plight. Stop this evil, by the power of what's right!" There was a blinding light. When he was able to see again, he saw that the dragon had just frozen, not moving. "Right! Now hurry up! It only works once!"

                "Right, Saria. Ness, I'm sorry about this, but we have to hurry. Saria, tell Malon to press the green button!" She ran forward, picked up Ness, and then ran towards her ship, Ness struggling every step of the way.

                When the dragon did wake up, it could only watch as the ship flew off into space, where evem he couldn't reach. It shook its head, and returned to its normal form. "Keller is not going to like this one bit." Then Onox ran off to join the battle. He still had a city to conquer!

Well, that's a turn up for the books! Next on Pathways of Fate, Dreamland has a rather nasty visitor, and Samus&Co learn that no matter where they go, they can't escape from the forces of evil.

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