A/N: OMG! My 100th review! I've never gotten 100 reviews on ANYTHING! 8D (receives an award) Oh my! I'd like to thank my readers, Nintendo, and my pencil named Bob! Thank you! (blows kisses) Okay, ANYWAYS, onto the next long chappie! In the second half, there will be a lot of odd jumping around, so think of it like a movie sequence. K? OKAY!

"Rise

Throw away

The charade of your life.

Let the flame of my heart

Burn away

Your complacence tonight.

I command you to rise.

Wash away

The decay of your life.

Feel the light of your eyes.

Find the way

Through the darkness tonight,

Fearing no one..." -Rise, Disturbed

Brother Squadron: Chapter 13: Rise Again

Night crept in slowly as the afternoon sun retreated behind the mountains. By then Link had caught up on his sleep, and the caravans were parked fifty miles north of Prague, the former capital of the Czech Republic. The night was exceptionally chilly, and the Nintendians huddled close to the weak fire to try and keep warm as dinner was passed out.

Link tugged his jacket closer, shivering. "God, it's freezing..." he hissed, a puff of breath escaping into the nippy air.

"It should be winter by now," Ness explained, taking his steaming bowl of stew in gratitude. "But with the near-lack of climate, no one notices anything but the change in temperature."

Link thought of this, then ordered, "Right then, in that case, break out the blankets before we all freeze to death."

A feeble cheer broke out as Fox brought out a box from within the lead caravan. They gathered around as he broke out the top with his fist, and many hands reached for the warmth the thick pieces of cloth would guarantee. In minutes, all Nintendians were wrapped in the security of wool or cotton, beginning their warm meal as random conversations began to pass the time and distract themselves from the bitter cold. Talks of battles, prisons, weapons, anything that came to their minds. But no discussion was as ultimately important as the one Luigi was about to begin. He looked up at Link, who set down his empty bowl, and spoke.

"... Link...?"

The elf promptly ended his meal with a soft belch, then turned his gaze to Luigi. "Yeah?"

Luigi shifted to a more comfortable position before asking. "... You think we'll ever find the Portal?"

Link continued to give him that unreadable, mysterious gaze, until his peacock orbs grew warm and a smile grew to match it. "It's possible. As long as it still exists, there's always hope."

"Well, it has to still exist," Ness interrupted. "The Hands need it in order to produce more of their Wire Frame armies from their separate dimension."

Fox sighed, leaning against a caravan tire and cocooning his blanket in close. "The only problem is finding it. We have no idea where it is, and it could be anywhere on this godforsaken planet."

And then a clear, yet dark and familiar voice cut in. "I know where the Portal is."

The conversational hum died away, and all attention was drawn the Ganondorf, who sat calmly without a blanket, as if he was used to the extreme cold. His hands were folded on his bent knee, his face calm, as if not realizing what he had just said. Cold faces, with their wispy breaths framing their heads like silver halos, stared at him unbelievingly.

Link shifted so that he faced Ganondorf, looking at him cautiously, debating whether to trust him or not. Then again, his worst enemy was the only lead they had, so he spoke. "... You know where it is?"

"Did I stutter?"

"Then where is it?"

Ganondorf did not shift, completely comfortable in his position. "Inside the Hands' Fortress in Berlin. Only they have access to it, and for a good reason."

There were groans around the camp as the shock and morbidity hit them. They knew the cursed Hand Warlords were keeping it all to themselves, but they never expected them to hold it within their most likely heavily-guarded walls.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me..." Falco moaned.

"Fine, don't believe me," Ganondorf chastised coolly. "Go on and chase it around for another twenty years, see what happens."

Silence. Link's gaze lowered thoughtfully, deduction and calculation scuttling back and forth between his eyes. Even with his own thoughts cascading about through his brain, his sharp ears still caught the discussion that continued around him.

Luigi chewed on the end of his finger in thought as well. "... How far is Berlin from here?"

"150 miles north," Ness instantaneously responded.

"Whoa, wait a sec," Fox interrupted, giving Luigi an incredulous stare. "You aren't actually thinking of us going in there, are you?"

"Well, what else is there to do?" Luigi's voice began to rise in anger. "The Portal rightfully belongs to us! How could you possibly not what to get it back?"

"Well, I dunno," Roy started, sounding pissed off as well. "Maybe because it's SUICIDE!"

And with that, a flurry of shouting and arguing cycled through the camp. A whirlwind of resentment, swearing, and anger took the Nintendians by storm, all except for Ganondorf, who massaged his forehead in frustration, and Link.

In fact, Link was so distracted by his own thoughts, the shouts seemed faint and far away to him. There was a high chance if they attempted to lay siege on the Hands' Fortress that they'd all die before they'd even get inside. But then Link thought of their rewards if they were to succeed: the porcelain blue skies and emerald fields of home. Hyrule was waiting for him and his sister, and so was his beloved brother... The risk was worth it.

His mind made up, he looked up at the fight taking place before him. A scowl formed on his face in response to their ignorance, and it was time to take a course of action. He leaped to his feet, his blanket flopping to the ground like a discarded shell.

"ENOUGH!" Link bellowed, and the buzz died again, all faces turned to him. His eyes focused on each stiff, frozen face of the Nintendians, shivering from the cold. And it disgusted Link.

"Look at us. We're shivering in the cold like rats! And why? Because we're being hunted like animals!" He started a slow walk around the circle, the fire casting shadows from behind and adding to the illusion of his fury. "We live in constant fear and uncertainty, not knowing if we'll live to see the next morning! And look at this place!" His arm waved out towards the empty desert. "Nothing but sand and waste as far as the eye can see! An orange sky that's unbelievably polluted by day and nothing but the stars and the moon for light in the pitch black night!" His voice escalated as he continued. "And barely any food and resources! We've been reduced to thieves, of all things! Thieves! How low can we go? Don't you remember what we used to be? We used to be heroes!" Someone cleared his throat, and Link glanced down at Bowser and Ganondorf. "... and villains. But don't you see what this place is doing to us? You've seen others die due to insanity! Do you want that same fate? Do you want to live in this death trap any longer? DO YOU?" he nearly screamed, and the rest coiled back in intimidation. His face was twisted in a deadly scowl, the shadows from the fire making it seem more demented and hellish. Then, his face softened, brows knotted in grim determination. "Because I sure as hell don't."

The Nintendians all exchanged glances in a tight-lipped silence. Most would agree that they were tired of living on the run.

Link continued, calmer now. "... There's nothing we can do to save this place. It's already doomed. But now we know where the Portal is, and it's so damn close! We don't have to roam or hide anymore! Don't you see? We have a chance to actually go home!" He paused, a little choked up, but regained his composure as he looked down at his intent followers. "I know you all want to go home as well. None of you would want to stay in this hell hole if you had the choice. And now, we have only one chance..." He clenched a tight fist. "...and we have to take it!"

The Nintendians were nearly convinced, but there was still some hesitation...

"No, we're not going to just waltz right into the Hands' Fortress. That would be suicide. But we have each other. I see fifteen Nintendians capable of engaging in combat in front of me. If we work together, we might actually have a chance to win! The risk of death is worth the chance of going home!" He sighed, realizing his voice had risen again, and calmed down, standing rigid and glancing levelly at his squadron. "Which of you is willing to take this risk?"

Silence. Dead, thick silence, until a light and preppy chirp pierced its way across the camp. Bolting up from under its blanket, Pikachu bounded up past the surprised Nintendians and towards Link excitedly. The elf smiled lightly and held out his arm, and it leaped nimbly onto it, perched firmly on his lower arm as it reached over and licked his cheek. Withdrawing at last, the rodent gave the elf a cute smile, determination flickering in those auburn eyes.

Link returned a smile of gratitude, turning back to the rest. "Anyone else?"

Still silence, until Mario took a firm grip on his sniper rifle and stood simultaneously with Luigi, both of their blankets floating to the dirty ground. They both gave Link a confident nod. Others soon began to rise, their offensive force growing bigger and stronger. With each Nintendian standing to take the risk, the blankets fell to the ground like shed skin, their security no longer needed. The fierce will to return home was the safe haven they needed. In less than a minute, all were standing, except for one. Patient, Link glanced down at the unsure Nintendian.

"What about you, Fox?"

The vulpine looked up, and in those jade eyes was not uncertainty, but deep thought. Finally, he wordlessly got to his feet and stood in front of his leader, meeting him eye-to-eye.

Link cocked his eyebrows. "Well?"

Fox shrugged. "You've led us this far." He grinned wily. "Besides... You ain't going on the battlefront without me backing you up."

A big smile spread across Link's face as he placed a firm hand on his shoulder, to which Fox did the same, that same warm grin on his furry face. Everyone knew these two couldn't be far apart when facing a major fleet, and this last fight would be no exception.

Link turned to the rest of his followers. "Go get your sleep. It's too late at night right now, but in the morning, we'll be heading north and preparing for the Siege."

Once everyone was fully awake and fed, orders were swiftly given out by Link for the preparations of Operation Siege. Every part, every role was just as important as the last.

"Ness, as we get closer to Berlin, I want you to scan a full analysis of their Fortress. Get any piece of information you can salvage. I wanna know where the bathrooms are in that place!"

"Yes, sir, right on it."

"Good. DK, how many plasma cannons do we have?" he asked the weapon specialist, knowing well that the plasma cannons were the strongest weapon in their arsenal.

"Um... Five..."

"Good, that's enough for one for each caravan. I want you to charge up the cannons, and in the meantime, count up our complete arsenal. We should have nearly sixteen of everything, make sure of that."

"Ya, sure, I can do dat."

Link raised his brow, but was satisfied nonetheless. Though DK sounded stupid, he sure wasn't stupid when it came to orders and weapons.

"Fox, you're in charge of the battle strategy. Once Ness scans the layout of the fortress, he'll send a map to you, and you'll plan out the sequence of attack based on the arsenal we have. Make it a good one, because it's most likely we won't be welcome."

"Of course. Leave it to me."

"The rest of you, start training with your weapons. We have two days to get this done. We'll stop several times along the way for field practice. For now, get in the caravans, 'cause we're moving north."

The Squadron dispatched into the caravans, fueled by sheer urgency. But as Link began to approach the lead van, a shrill cry from behind caused him to stop.

"Wait, Link!" He turned to see Zelda sprinting towards him, stopping before him to catch her breath. Link held her by the shoulder, supporting her to make sure she didn't collapse.

"What is it, sis?" he asked, his voice smooth as silk, the usual tone he used whenever his sister was distraught.

She looked up at him with sapphire eyes nearly identical to his own, but devoid of any hardships or suffering. And they also looked scared, terrified even. "Do I have to use a weapon, too?"

Link sighed ruefully, knowing she wouldn't like the answer. "Yeah, you do."

Her worse nightmares coming true, Zelda sobbed into her older brother's shoulder, his strong arms holding her tightly and protecting her like a father does for his child. "I know you don't like weapons, Zel, but it's you're only chance. I want you to live to see Hyrule again. You want to see it again, don't you?"

Zelda choked, but nodded.

"Tell you what. Tomorrow, I'll help you train, alright? In the meantime... I want you to charge yourself up for any healing you might have a chance to do, alright?"

Zelda looked up at him with glassy eyes. Never before had he let her use her full potential of healing for obvious reasons. "You'll let me..."

Link nodded slowly, taking a hand and caressing the side of her soft, delicate face, brushing aside the locks of gold with his thumb. "You'll be in charge of keeping all our remaining Nintendians alive. Can I trust you with that?"

Smiling brightly through her tears, Zelda nodded. "Uh-huh."

Link gave her a warm, nurturing smile. "Good." And he returned another hug. A warm, brotherly hug.

The inside of Ness' caravan looked like the innards of a computer hardrive. Wires and circuits plugged into every outlet, sparking with electric power. Gadgets of a mad variety and monitoring computers hummed as they were either running or charging. Not a space on the wall was clear, with only a couple trailing wires and cords that were too long to completely coil up. All loose nuts and bolts were stored away, no matter how rusted and useless. Geniuses were such neat freaks.

Ness currently sat at his main computer, a small laptop hooked up to nearly every damn thing in the van. His youthful face was illuminated in the screen's blue glow as he waited intently for the downloading process to finish up. He heard the familiar sound of boots stomping inside, but he didn't bother to turn to see who it was. Only two people were authorized to come inside, and one of them was out in the field practicing.

"How's it coming?" Link asked, standing right beside him.

Ness leaned back and crossed his arms, chuckling. "Hacking into their systems was unbelievably easy. It's all wrapped in vulnerable wires, and the firewall protection is pathetic. It's sad, really. And stupid."

"But then again, they would never expect anyone to even have a computer, right?" Link grinned, knowing how Ness' mind worked.

"Exactly." He turned to the computer screen. The message DOWNLOAD COMPLETE ran across the screen in glowing, white letters. "It's done." He reached over and clicked the mouse all over the place.

"You got everything?"

"Yep." The map of the outer base popped up. "Looks like they have good physical protection, though. Not only do they have a twenty-foot-high concrete wall surrounding its perimeter, they've also got an ionic shield, protecting themselves from aerial attacks."

Link grumbled. "Just what we'd expect."

"But they're stupid here, too," Ness added, flashing his leader a grin. "Because the generators are outside the shield. Right there." He pointed to one of the circles marking the corners of the octagonal barrier. "They're at each base tower of the wall. Eight in total. Really weak shields themselves, easy to destroy."

Link thought about this carefully. "What about the front entrance?"

"The doors are weak. Easy to break through."

Link nodded, suddenly encouraged. "Fox has got the easiest job in the world. Send it to him."

Ness pressed a single key, and the hardrive buzzed. "Done."

"You got the interiors as well?"

"Yeah, already loaded it into my handheld," Ness answered automatically, bringing out a small device that looked like an electric planner. He flipped it open, and up popped the interior map. "There's four levels to this place, plus a basement. Lots of twists and turns, probably to confuse enemies who managed to get inside." He compressed a chuckle as he pointed to a few small, yellow dots. "Those are the bathrooms."

"Funny, Ness. What's that?" Link pointed at a large purple dot on the top floor.

Ness paused, then answered with a smile. "That's the Portal. Ganondorf was right; it's in there."

Link's brain was currently on overload, trying to register all this information, but it stopped briefly at the word Portal. Now they knew for sure. Home was one siege away.

"Oh, hey, before I forget, I wanna show you something," Ness' voice broke his train of thought, and the brainiac dragged him over to the opposite side of the trailer. Giddy, he reached in drawer and pulled it back out, concealing something within his closed fist.

Link sighed. "Ness, I don't have time for this, I have a billion other things to do."

"No, no, just look!" Ness brought him in close with one arm, then uncurled his fingers. In his palm was a tiny device the size of a bottlecap, a single button in the middle. The old SSB symbol surrounded the button, bringing back memories.

Link's mouth hung in a small gape. "No way. No fucking way."

Ness grinned. "Yes fucking way. I reconstructed them after all these years. More powerful than the last ones. That power is still limited, though, so we have to use them wisely."

Link stared at the small chip, then back at Ness, a smile creeping onto his face. "You never cease to amaze me, kid."

Ness giggled excitedly, withdrawing the chip and placing it in a pile of identical ones. As he arranged a few things around the trailer, Link watched him silently, then looked around the genius' clutter of a lair.

"You know you're gonna have to leave all this stuff behind."

"No worries. I've been storing all the blueprints for everything in my handheld so I could rebuild it all. That was its only purpose until now."

Link grinned. "So you're still sticking with gadgets after all this?"

"Yep." Ness swiveled in his chair, flashing Link a smile. "Gonna start designing online shooting games."

The two laughed heartedly in unison.

Evening came quickly, but before dinner even began to cook, there was a cluster of Nintendians surrounding the Arsenal caravan as they lined up for weapons.

"You'll be given three weapons," Link's voice rang out above the noisy hum. "A handheld, a standard, and an automatic. You'll also receive a few rounds of ammunition. Now, this ain't like the video games where you can pick up ammo just about anywhere. What you get is what you've got for the entire siege, so use it wisely!"

"Well, what if we do run out of ammo?" an angry voice pierced through the hum, and all turned to a frustrated Roy. "What happens then?"

All that ruined the silence was the fierce desert winds. Link stiffly turned, and Roy was met with a stone-cold scowl, nothing but his wind-blown bangs moving about his face. Boots crunching in the sand, Link moved forward until he stood face-to-face with a suddenly intimidated Roy.

"... Well, then, I dunno," Link replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I guess you'll just have to find discarded weapons from dead Frames. Now could you stop asking stupid questions and let me finish?"

"Uh... Y-yes, sir..." Roy shrank back into the line, coiled like a frightened squirrel.

"Grow some backbone, people!" Link's voice rose again to its former volume. "This ain't any old riot! We're raiding the Warlords' Fortress, and you better not chicken out during the siege!"

The Nintendians exchanged glances, then rushed to make amends, getting back in line and going back to their buzz.

"Right then. After you get your weapons, report to Ness for a shield. It's just like old ones, including the limited power, so you're only using it on command!"

As Link kept going, Mario and Luigi approached the front of the line. Luigi grabbed his weapons while Mario stood by idly as an exception to the orders. Upon request, all he needed was his pistol and sniper rifle. He simply accompanied his brother for companionship purposes. As Luigi was absorbed with picking up the right guns, Mario turned to look upon Link as the elf shouted orders.

"Seems pretty tense, doesn't he?" he stated out of the blue, knowing his brother was smart enough to know what he meant.

"Well, yeah, I mean he's got a lot to do." Luigi turned away from the arsenal table with a revolver and standard machine gun strapped to his belt, and his rifle in his hands. He smiled at his older brother. "But you gotta admit, he's handling this pretty well, huh?"

"Yeah..." Mario replied without much enthusiasm.

"Just think," Luigi whispered, growing giddy as he held Mario close with one arm. "We'll soon be back in Mushroom Kingdom!" He grinned, excited, and departed for the other line. Mario watched him quietly, then smiled. He had to admit, he had little hopes in this final mission, but seeing the hope in Luigi made him begin to reconsider. Perhaps he was just worrying too much. But for now, he simply followed his brother.

It was now early the next morning. Most were still asleep in the caravans, except for two Nintendians who crept a few yards away for privacy and the solitude needed for the task at hand.

Slightly shaking in fear and anticipation, Zelda stooped behind a rock, a shotgun in her trembling hands. Letting out a sigh to calm down, she propped the barrel upon the dry rock as she squinted through the scope. Her brother appeared in the crosshairs, and thankfully, he wasn't her target. Link placed a discarded food can from the night before on a rock quite a distance away from her location, then crept his way over to her, cautious to preserve the quiet of the early dawn.

"Alright, Zel, let's give it a try," Link murmured in a hushed voice. He leaned over behind her, using his sturdy body as a cushion against the gun's recoil. He held his precious sister's delicate arms for support as she held the rifle.

"First, give yourself some good support so you don't go flying when the gun fires. Dig your feet into the ground and stiffen up." Her boots crunched in the weak soil as she ground in her soles. Hearing this, Link continued his instructions.

"Good. Focus on the target and make sure it's in the center of the crosshairs, or it's a glancing shot. Concentrate, sis." Afraid, yet determined, Zelda aimed as straight as she could, even with her trembling hands.

"When you feel you've got a bead on the target, push that switch down with your thumb." She did so. "And pull the trigger."

Bang! Zelda gasped at the explosion unleashed at her fingertips. The sound echoed on like a ripple in a still pond far past the horizon. The Hylians watched as the can returned to the earth with a thump, a clear dent through its middle.

Zelda stood, aghast, moving the gun to her side. Link smiled, placing his hands on her shoulders comfortingly. "Nice shot, sis. That's all there is to it."

Breathing hard, Zelda nodded slowly after a long pause. All that power, exerted so simply, with enough force to take one's life. For a moment, she regretted ever firing the gun, even though the victim was a harmless tin can. But then she remembered what she was doing this for: for both of her brothers.

An entire day passed. Every hour on the road was closer to confrontation, and a plan had to be drawn out. Finally, after much calculation, Fox had a plan by evening. As the caravans stopped once more, the vulpine laid out the map of the outer Fortress defense, marking it up with a white-ink pen as he explained to his fellow comrades.

"Alright, we enter here from the south, then begin circling the perimeter." Xs and arrows around the wall. "We activate auto-driver to utilize all our fighters, then one from each caravan will be armed with a plasma cannon, and they'll wipe out the shield generators at the top of the towers. The rest will cover by shooting any Frames atop the wall." More arrows and a big X at the southernmost wall. "Now this is the problem area. Once all generators are gone, the shield will be down. But the wall is too tall to scale, so we have to find some way to bring down the wall."

"A big blast will suffice," Mario responded, producing another object from his pant pocket, and they all gaped in shock. Neatly fitting in his hand was a black ball, round white eyes and small feet, a fuse at the top.

"A Bom-omb!" several shouted at once.

"Mario! You had a Bom-omb, and you never told me?" Luigi cried out.

Mario nodded, a wily grin on his face. "Was saving it for an emergency. They never found it on me." He tossed it about idly, to which everyone panicked.

"Don't toss that thing around!" Link persisted cautiously, as if his voice would set it off. "It'll blow us to smithereens, and that's all we've got for piercing through their defenses!"

"Oh, don't worry. It lays dormant until the fuse is lit. How do you think I was able to keep it for so long?"

With that, they all relaxed, and Link's gaze nervously went down to the siege plans. "Then we just go right in?"

"Yep. Ness said most of their defenses are outside the Fortress, so once we're inside, we're home free."

"Home..." Link whispered staring up at nothing with retrospective look on his face.

"You okay?" Fox asked.

"Mmm?... Yeah..." he responded weakly, reaching for the speaker. "... Get our last dinner started. We attack at dawn."

"Get out from under them

Resist and multiply!

Get out from under precipice

And see the sky!

Get out from under them

Resist, unlearn, defy!

Get out from under precipice

And see the sky!" -Out From Under, Incubus

A/N: So? Hmm? How's that? Not too confusing, was it? Didya notice the symbolism in the first half? Didya? DIDYA? (twitch) Just kidding. Review please!