A/N: Alright! NOW the story's getting interesting!

Ed: (yawn)

Kim: (bop)

Ed: OW! I was just tired from chasing Roy!

Roy: (collapsed on the floor) 8D

Eliwood: (staring at him) ...are you sure you're my son?

Link: After knowing you all this time, I am most positive he is.

Eliwood: Really? Bah...

CHAPPIE TIME STARTS NOW!

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Chapter 9: Banding Together

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"Aw, Marth, come on...!"

"No. I don't care where he is, I'm going to find him."

"Okay, so he's spending a lot of time with Ryka, so what?"

"And not telling us anything about it?"

"...Well..."

Marth and Link had been debating the topic of their friend's well-being for hours now, unaware of how late it was. Running out of patience, the cobalt resolved to find Roy and pry the truth out of him, with the elf trailing behind him as he marched down the halls, trying to persuade him otherwise.

"Seriously, Marth...!"

"If you don't want to get involved, why are you still following me?" the prince bitterly asked, eyes trained forward.

Link sighed and rolled his eyes. "Because I'm stubborn enough to think I can still change your mind."

"I mean, I'm not saying it's a bad thing!" Marth countered to no one in particular. "I'm just saying, if Roy's not talking to us, it could be very possible that he's involved in something that he shouldn't be!"

Without missing a beat, Link responded, "And it could also be possible that you're a paranoid psychopath."

Finally, Marth acknowledged Link's words with an irritated glare. "I'm paranoid because I'm worried about a friend's safety?"

"That's not what I'm saying!" The Hylian was beginning to lose his own patience. "You're paranoid because you think Ryka is out to get Roy! You've been paranoid ever since she got here! All you're looking for is a reason to label her as a bad guy!"

Marth froze in his steps as if awakened from some sort of trance. He glanced up and realized they were in the Foyer now, Link's words echoing throughout the wide space. Was that really it? Did he confuse his thoughts that easily?

"...I..."

But before he could say anything, the front doors slammed open as the friend in question entered, wheezing and out of breath as if he had run a good distance, but gasping for other reasons. The two stood in surprise as he glanced up wearily, fresh tears running rivers down his face.

"Guys! Guys!" he cried out desperately, panting and wheezing while sobbing at the same time. He pushed off the door frame and rushed towards his friends as if about to collapse.

"Roy!" Marth caught the exhausted boy in an embrace, shocked as he cried into his shirt quite loudly. "Roy, what's wrong?"

"They... Th-they took her!" Roy howled in dismay, burying his face in the fabric and muttering into it. "Th-th-they took her away...!"

"Whoa, okay, slow down," Marth assured. As far as he was concerned, the suspicions he had before were far less important than whatever Roy was upset about now. "Start from the beginning. What happened?"

The young half-dragon sniffed and rubbed his red eyes, trying to calm himself down. His lips quivered as he began. "...I...I noticed Ryka's powers... and so I asked her and found out that she was a half-dragon too..."

The two exchanged glances, and Link slapped his forehead in realization. "Oh, jeez, no duh!"

"I talked to her about it," Roy continued, rubbing his nose as he stared at the floor. "Sh-she told me how dragons were still alive, and how it was her duty as a half-dragon to help protect them from greedy people..."

"Whoa, wait, dragons still exist?" Marth questioned, surprised when Roy nodded.

"In few numbers, but still..." Fresh tears began to well up in his distraught eyes. "I... I wanted to help too... I-I wanted to help dragons as best I could, and she said I needed to perfect my dragon powers and she offered to help me..." He started to sob again. "Sh-she was willing to teach me to be a better half-dragon and how to use my flames and how to speak Dragon Tongue and... and..." His tears took hold of his words as he nuzzled Marth's shirt again.

"So..." Link spoke up to clarify. "This whole time, ever since she's been here, she's been teaching you how to rightfully use your powers?"

Roy nodded. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you and made you worried, I'm so so sorry!" he begged for forgiveness as he continued to cry. Link gave Marth a disapproving scowl, who slowly began to feel the guilt pile up. This whole time, he had thought Ryka was hurting Roy, but instead she was helping him with something no one else could. No wonder he was happier. He had discovered his mixed blood had a divine purpose, a purpose no one else could've known.

Marth felt simply horrible after taking this into consideration, holding Roy close as the boy trembled, scared of how his friends would react, but when there was no anger or argument, he continued.

"She... she taught me everything she could..." Roy spoke softly, sniffling. "But... I still can't transform..."

"You mean into a dragon?" Link asked.

Roy nodded again, shaking. "We were up in the northern mountains... she made her place in a cave up there... we tried again tonight, her doing it with me... and then these men came in and she couldn't stop her transformation..." He moaned in misery. "...Now I know why she wouldn't tell anyone..."

Marth blinked. "Why not?"

"She was being hunted!" Roy sobbed, catching their attention. "This guy, Jasper, he calls himself a dragonologist, but all he does is hunt dragons and sell them for profit... He's only seen Ryka's dragon form and thinks she's some new rare breed... sniff... And I tried to protect her, I really tried, but... he cast dragon dust and tamed her instantly, and one of his goons knocked me out... sob... and when I woke up, they were all gone!"

As his cries continued, Marth was almost afraid to ask. "... what'll they do to her?"

"...sob... They'll kill her and sell her parts!" Roy cried out miserably.

"...Her..." Link grimaced. "...parts?"

"Every part of a dragon is worth something..." he explained woefully, ignoring his gushes of tears. "The horns, teeth, eyes, bones, claws, hides, blood... He'll sell everything just for money!"

"Augh!"

"The slimeball!"

"You guys gotta help me!" Roy pleaded, pulling on Marth's shirt. "I don't know where they took her, but I have to save her! I know I've been a jerk to you guys, but...!"

Marth held up a hand, shaking his head in disagreement. "No, Roy... you're not the jerk. I am."

Lip quivering, Roy glanced at his cobalt friend questioningly.

"I've been a Suspicious Sam ever since Ryka got here, thinking she was a danger to you..."

"He sent me out as a spy!"

"Link, shut up!" The elf winced and shut up instantly. "Roy, it's okay that you couldn't tell us; I can now understand why. You don't have to beat yourself up, alright?" Roy nodded, sniffing, and looked up to see a smile grace Marth's face. "Don't worry, we're still buddies."

Roy beamed through his tears.

The smile faded to a determined glare. "But right now we have to find Ryka and make that Jasper creep pay."

"Right on!" Link cheered. "I was waiting for that!"

Roy glanced between the two. "...Y-you guys really mean it...?"

"Of course. We'll do everything we can to help."

"Us too!" A new voice called out, and the trio turned towards the interior of the Foyer as all the rest of the Smashers emerged from the various hallways leading into the grand entrance room. It was evident that they had all heard the story, for their responses were all alike.

"Aw... HOW SAD IS THAT?"

"Poor Ryka!"

"That Jasper's a nutjob!"

"Yeah, we can't let him get away with that!"

Roy was surprised to see so much reaction, looking very puzzled. Mario approached to explain. "It's easy to hear stuff from a room this big."

The mamkute blinked, watching as they all came in, gathering together with soft conversations slowly cooling down. Roy stared on in surprise, than glanced back down at Mario. "Is this...?"

"We have a fellow Smasher in peril, and it's our duty as a whole team to save her," Mario confidently explained. "I think it's obvious that everyone agrees on the decision."

"Speak for yourself!"

"HEY, SHUT YOUR FACE, BOWSER!" Mario snapped, tired of the Koopa King's attitude. "Ahem... Anyways, we'll all help out too."

"Huh, not a bad idea," Link nodded. "Jasper sounds like the kind of coward who's got loads of goonies." He patted Roy on the back hard. "Looks like you've got the whole team on your side, half-dragon!"

Roy smiled as everyone voiced their agreements one way or another. A sense of determination and encouragement echoed throughout the air as, for once, the Smashers were united under a single cause.

"Ahem..." And then Samus stepped up to voice her own opinion. "That's great and all, but how are we gonna find them if Roy was unconscious when they left?"

All was quiet as most tried to ponder this over. Roy's quick mind, however, beat them all to the punch. "I know how," he answered, beginning an empowering stroll towards the dorms. He never had to push past anyone as they all cleared out of his way at his fiercely indomitable aura, then, curious as to what he would do, they swiftly followed behind. For a moment, only Link and Marth were left, quite confused as to what had just happened.

"...Well..." the cobalt prince spoke first. "...that was a bit on the... unexpected side..."

"Heh, you're telling me!" Link laughed. "The Smashers getting together to save another? What's this world coming to, eh?"

Marth gave out a small chuckle before a thought crossed his mind. Indeed, it was rare when the Smashers put rivalries aside and joined together; the last time that happened was when Vanuto attacked the Mansion in dragon form, and there they were forced to join forces. And yet Roy and Ryka's plight had succeeded in moving them enough from them all to band together and lend a hand to help the half-dragons in need. With this in mind, a smile crossed Marth's face, puzzling Link.

"Huh? What is it?"

"Ah...nothing..." Marth shook his head, though the smile was still there. He began his stroll to catch up with the others. "Come on, slowpoke! Let's see what Roy's got up his sleeve."

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Roy worked fast, ignoring the watching eyes around him as he pulled out a clean vial for whatever he was going to cook up. Once again, he cut into his fingertip with his pocket knife and produced a thin line of crimson blood. He allowed a few drops to fill the tube as he had always done, and again he used the knife to heat up the substance and purify it.

Most Smashers were quiet in watching, even as the latecomers, Link and Marth, entered from behind and tried to get a good view. But as they settled in, the elf's astute hearing caught a whispering, painfully familiar voice.

"This is so bogus..."

Briefly, Link turned to give Captain Falcon an odd stare. "What's your problem?"

"Sure, whatever, the rest of them can go on this wild chase, but why do I have to?" he grumbled, obviously one of the few who were forced to jump on the band wagon like everyone else. Normally he would've simply told the bounty hunter to shut up, but Link was in too much of a good mood to be so bitter, so the Hylian grinned in a most feyish manner as he began a different approach.

"Y'know, Falcon..." he started, voice equally quiet to preserve the scene around them. "Roy told me once that dragons have a natural habit of hoarding treasure. Has to do with building their nest or courtship or something like that." He paused to let that info soak in through Falcon's thick skull. "So, this guy, Jasper, he hunts dragons, right? Imagine how much treasure he gets from their dens..."

Slowly, very slowly, this fact began to dawn on Falcon as the scowl disappeared. "Ooh... Hey, yeah..."

Link smirked. "You're a bounty hunter, so you can just accept it as paying for bagging a poacher, right?"

"Hehe, yeah..."

"Right on." Knowing he wouldn't complain anymore, Link turned his attention back to the center of the dorm where everyone else's were.

His blood turned chartreuse, Roy opened his cabinets and searched hastily through them, finger reading across every label of the tubes and flasks. "Salamander grease, salamander grease...Can someone help me look for salamander grease?"

"Okay!" CRASH!

"...without breaking anything..."

"Sorry..."

Fox's eyes scanned through the cabinets until they landed on a particular flask with a strange label that wrapped around its base. Curious, the vulpine took it in his hand and gazed at a picture of a yellow, black-spotted, six-legged salamander.(1)

"Oh! Thanks, Fox." Before Fox could ponder of it, Roy snatched the flask from his hand, leaving the kitsune to blink in confusion. As quickly, yet carefully, as he could, he poured a fair amount of the ochre, syrupy substance into the vial with his purified blood. There was an instant reaction as the new product bubbled and fizzed, almost overflowing the top. Roy blew on it to prevent this, then stared intently at the green concoction as if preparing himself.

"Ooh, what's that?"

"What's it gonna do?"

"He's not gonna drink it, is he?"

But opposed to that particular statement, Roy faced the crowd of Smashers almost boldly, raised the vial to his lips, and lifted it in a hefty swig. The response was as immediate as it was predictable.

"EWWWWWWWWW!"

After swallowing the last drop, Roy coughed up a puff of green smoke, as it was obvious the potion was not tasteful. And then he stood and stared off into space, waiting. The room held its breath, waiting to see what would happen next. When Roy's eyes began to blink rapidly, Marth pushed through the crowd to see if anything was wrong.

"...you okay, Roy?"

"Oooooh..." The boy tipped over dizzily into Marth's arms, eyes wide and pupils dilating as if adjusting to some bright light. "Whoa, okay, hang on a sec..." He took a minute to adjust, but at last his pupils narrowed like a cat's, giving off a reptilian feel to their appearance.

Marth looked at Roy in surprise. "Whoa, Roy, what was that supposed to do to you?"

Roy blinked a bit more. "Well... it was supposed to enhance the senses a lot... Wow, it feels weird..."

"Does that mean it worked?"

But the half-dragon's nose twitched as it caught a whiff of something. Turning it up, Roy sniffed the air, then his nose wrinkled and he made a face of revulsion. "Aw, jeez...!" He turned swiftly to one Smasher, and all attention shifted to Captain Falcon.

"...what?"

"You haven't showered since this morning, have you?"

"Well...!... no..."

The Smashers gasped, and Falcon immediately sought to heal his injured pride. Hey, I was just going to when his sob-story stopped me!" Regardless of whether that was true or not, those close to him inched away all the same. "Oh, come on! You guys didn't notice before!"

Attention was set back to Roy, who suddenly muttered, "...I heard that Bowser."

"Wha...? I DIDN'T EVEN SAY NOTHING!" the Koopa bellowed quite loudly.

"No, but you were thinking it," Roy answered in such a way that gave them the impression that he actually was true to what he was saying.

Bowser, however, failed to catch that. "Oh, so, what, that potion's made you psychic now?"

"No. But your hostile brainwaves could be heard a mile away."

The Koopa King gaped, unsure of how to counter that. In fact, everyone had been left in that same dimwitted state in response to Roy's actions.

Finally, Marth was the first to recover. "...I think that potion of yours worked."

"Me too," Roy agreed, grinning at the prince with a friendly, reptilian glance.

"...Okay..." Once more, Samus sought to fill the plot holes of whatever plan Roy had in mind. "So what do enhanced senses do for us?"

The sly mamkute grinned, waiting for one of them to figure it out. At last, Fox snapped his fingers as it came to him. "To track Jasper down!"

At Roy's nod, the Smashers all cried out in realization. Now it was finally starting to make sense.

"Let's head out to the mountains and go from there!" Mario commanded, and upon that, the Smashers flooded out the door. Roy watched them all go, waiting for the crowd in the doorway to thin, then smiled at Link and Marth, took their wrists with both hands, and tugged them along to finally get the rescue started.

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(1) Six-legged salamanders are known for their magical properties. And the grease is the slime they coated themselves with, so none were harmed. :)

A/N: Um... hooray!

Ed: You run out of things to say?

Pretty much.

Kim: TOO BAD! (beats me with a soda can) DENT!

AH! OW! OUCH!

Link: ...yep, everything's the authoresses' fault.

Eliwood: At LAST! Someone to blame my son's craziness on!

Roy: (running in circles) 8D

Please review!