Chapter 12: The Misunderstanding

"Get off me," Marth barked, pushing Fox away. "What the hell are doing here?"

Fox got to his feet and looked around. He didn't see any sign of Pyra or one of his portals. He did see an arrow come flying at him. He hit his reflector and the arrow bounced off, sticking into the ground.

Marth came up and hit Fox in the back with a swipe from his sword. Fox fell forward and rolled to his feet. He jumped over Marth's next swing, landing right behind him. He hit his reflector again. It slammed into Marth, sending him towards Link. Link jumped to the platform over head and threw his boomerang. Fox rolled under it.

"What are doing in our final match?" Link demanded, throwing a bomb at Fox.

Fox hopped away from explosive and the rushing Marth. Marth swung at Fox, who ducked and weaved between the swipes. Marth was slowly pushing Fox back to the edge. He didn't know what else to do so he shot forward with a Fox Illusion. Marth wasn't expecting it and was hit by the shimmering after image.

Link dropped from the platform above, sword down, ready to impale Fox. Fox launched a Fire Fox, knocking Link from the sky. Now on the upper platform, Fox ran to the other side of the arena. Link and Marth followed.

"I'm not here to fight you two," Fox shouted, dodging another arrow.

"Then you picked a bad place to be," Marth shouted as he tried to impale Fox with his blade.

Fox ducked to the side only to get hit with Link's blade. Fox was cut across the back, bleeding on his flight jacket. He jumped over the slanted platform and landed on the top platform all the way to the right. Link and Marth went after him. The crowd was cheering, despite being utterly confused. Fox gave them no consideration.

"Both of you are in grave danger," Fox shouted, jumping away from the two sword masters. "Someone is coming to-"

He was stopped by a vicious swipe from Link, who hammered him into the ground. Marth followed with a Shield Breaker. Fox was sent into the pillar in the middle of the stage. He rolled to his feet and jumped over the pillar, dropping to the little passage leading to the lower level. He ran down and fired up at Marth and Link as they followed. The green bolts stopped them for a few seconds. But then the power cell died.

Fox ran for cover as he slid in another cell. He only had a couple more. He put the blaster away and jumped to the small island to the right. He spun and waited for the other two. Link reached the edge first and threw a bomb over the gap. Fox hit his reflector, bouncing the bomb back at Link. Link saw it coming and backed up. The bomb exploded harmlessly on the lip of the gap.

Marth took a running leap and jumped over the gap, landing right next to Fox. Fox brought the Beam Sword he still had around, blocking the swing. Then he kicked Marth in the stomach, stunning him for a moment. Fox pressed his advantage, attacking Marth, keeping him off balance.

But then Link was there. And he swung, making another cut across Fox's back. Fox spun around, sending the beam sword across Link's feet, knocking him into the air. Fox kicked him away, punched Marth once more in the chest and hopped off of the little island. He ran to the left and jumped up next to the little covering all the way to the left. Link and Marth recovered and went after him.

"I don't want to fight," Fox said again. "Pyra is coming. He is going to take you both."

They didn't answer. They kept attacking. Fox got caught in Marth's Dancing Blades attack. He was thrown into the air where Link got him with his Spin Attack. The blade caught Fox in the face, slashing him across his left eye. He landed under the small shelter and clutched his eye. He wiped the blood away but couldn't see anything with it.

"Please," Fox said. "Stop this and listen to me."

"And why should we listen to you?" Link asked.

"Because then you might have stood a chance," a new voice said.

Both Marth and Link turned to face the owner of the new voice. He was tall, had a black trench coat and a tail. Pointed ears stood up from his brown hair. His broad smile was filled with many, dagger sharp teeth.

"But having exerted yourselves and leaving poor fox half-blind, I'm afraid our fight can only have one out come."