Solo and Eight found themselves in a field just outside a beautiful kingdom. Eight was awestruck. "Wow. Hey! Look at that giraffe! It's enormous, even by giraffe standards! And there's a dragon!"
"Looks like they'd be fun to fight, actually. But, and this may be weird coming from me, let's not right now. We have a job to do, so let's just get moving. The sooner we find Pyra, the better." Solo stated.
The pair started moving forward across the plain and eventually found themselves outside a small village.
There seemed to be a festival going on. Townsfolk approached them staring at their swords, some nervous, some in admiration. "Those men over there, are they Drivers too?"
"Greetings travelers!"
Solo and Eight looked over to who had greeted them. A man with grey hair, wearing an open jacket and an eyepatch and a large sword strapped to his back stood before them. Just behind him, a girl in a short purple dress stood. She had green hair, thick glasses, pointed ears, and what looked like a hat with a lightbulb on it. She also had a tail with another lightbulb on the tip.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Solo asked.
"Hah! You must not be from around here to have not heard of the legendary ZEKE VON GENBU! BRINGER OF CHAOS! And his glorious Blade: PANDORIA!" The man yelled while he and the girl did a bunch of overly dramatic poses in perfect sync.
"O...kay, then. Well, can you tell us where in the name of Zenithia we are and where we can find someone named Pyra? Please, before my migraine gets bigger?" Solo said, already tired of this weirdo's antics.
"But of course, noble travelers! You are in the town of Torigoth on the Gormott Titan! And dear Pyra is with my chum Rex at the home of our dear friend Tora with all our other friends! I was just on my way there when I ran into you two. Come! I shall take you there!" Zeke answered.
Zeke led Eight and Solo through town until they came across a bridge.
"Well, we're almost there. Tora's house is just a short ways past this bridge."
But before they could make it two steps across the bridge, Zeke suddenly tripped over seemingly nothing and fell over the bridge's surprisingly low guardrails into the sea of clouds below.
"NOT AGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!"
"Eh, he'll catch up. Let's keep going." Pandoria said as she led the two heroes forward.
"He'll be fine, right?" Eight noticed Munchie interacting with a small turtle-like creature on the ground. "Huh?" He crouched down. "Seems like Munchie's made a new friend."
"Don't mind him. That's just Turters; he's our pet. Now come on then," said Pandoria.
The guard-turned-prince could practically picture Solo scolding him for caring about the safety of an illusion created by that "oversized light bulb."
"Ah, where are my manners?" He picked both the animals up and followed Solo and Pandoria on the bridge.
Soon after, the trio, alongside their small animal companions, made it into a small yet cozy-looking home. The home had several visitors, including a woman dressed in a military uniform, a woman in a blue dress with long blue hair in buns, which were on fire, a small furry creature, a robot that resembled a little girl, a girl in a yellow jumpsuit with cat ears, a large tiger-like creature with white fur, a 15-year-old boy in what looked like a blue scuba suit, and finally, the very two people that the heroes were looking for.
"Pyra! Mythra!" Solo called.
"Oh! It's you! How nice to see you again! How are you? I haven't seen you two since Smash! Look who it is, Mythra!" Pyra chirped.
"Yeah, it's our old pals, the heroes Eight and Solo. What brings you two here?" Mythra asked.
Eight saw the others behind Mythra and gulped. "To...meet your dream, uh, team!" He smiled nervously.
Solo rolled his eyes and was about to just get to the point. He wasn't in the mood to play games and wanted to just cut through all the crap. But before he could get a word out, Pyra began introducing everyone with a sweet smile on her face.
"Of course! These here are Morag and Brighid."
"A pleasure." The military woman greeted.
"Greetings." The blue flaming woman said.
"This is Nia and Dromarch." Pyra continued.
"Hey there." said the cat girl.
"An honor to meet some of Miss Pyra's former companions." The tiger stated.
"Here we have Tora and Poppi." Pyra added.
"Tora is very happy to meet new friends!" The furry creature said.
"Poppi has always wanted to meet people from when Pyra went to Smash. Pyra always makes it sound super exciting." the robot stated.
"It seems you've already met Zeke and Pandoria, so the only one left to introduce is Rex. The best Driver and boyfriend anyone could ask for." Pyra concluded.
"Aw, Pyra, you're making me blush," Rex said.
Pyra's only response was a kiss on the cheek. Solo felt like gagging at the open display of affection.
Eight faced Poppi. "Why thank you. That sure was a bright spot for all of us. But really, you guys should also meet the other two Heroes: Eleven and Erdrick. They're the real legends. Speaking of Zeke, wonder how he's doing. since he fell down on the job. Seriously, someone should go check on him."
"Oh, I'm doing fine, thanks."
Everyone, especially Solo and Eight, yelped at the voice of Zeke.
"How did you get up here so fast?!" Solo snapped.
"I climbed. Anyways, what was this I was hearing about meeting some other Heroes?" Zeke asked.
"New friends offering to take Poppi and others to meet other heroes named Eleven and Erdrick. Where other heroes, Mr. Solo?"
Solo decided to play along for the time being. Even if he did start some kind of argument or fight, he doubted he and Eight alone could win against so many opponents at once.
"They're back at the Smash Mansion. That's where we all lived when Smash was still going on. Why not head there now?"
"I'd love to, but I think I'll stay here," Pyra stated. "Our friends and I fought hard to make this world peaceful. Something I never thought I'd live to see. So I want to enjoy it. Plus, Mythra and I want to catch up on lost time with Rex. Isn't that right, Mythra?"
"Yep. Couldn't agree more. I don't want to be separated from Rex any longer."
Mythra capped off her statement by leaning down and placing her own kiss on Rex's cheek, resulting in more blushing and stammering from the boy. After forcing his gag reflex down again, Solo turned to Eight with a glare that read: 'You try something this time.'
Eight sort of whispered to his teammate. "I am. I am. I just don't know how to break it to her! This is something we have to do delicately."
"Do what delicately?" Pyra asked.
"Yeah? And what do you need to break to us?" Myhtra added.
Solo's fuse had reached its end. And it's not like it was a long fuse to begin with.
"We're breaking the news that this is a lie! All of this! None of this is real! You were captured by Galeem and he trapped you here in some kind of fantasy word!"
"I-I don't understand," Pyra stated, taken aback by Solo's outburst.
Eight took a couple of steps back fearing the worst. "Oh, now you've done it, but yeah, what he's saying is true, and we came to save you."
"N-no. That's not true. Smash ended. Peacefully. We all went home to live happy lives." Pyra reasoned.
"Who told you that, huh?! Who?! Wake up, already! The world is crumbling! Galeem captured most of us and scattered the rest! If we don't get back out there now, he's going to kill every last one of us to get his way! Enough with this stupid fantasy and come back to the real world already!" Solo snapped.
This constant stream of unpleasant news, combined with Solo's harsh tone, made a few tears prick the corners of Pyra's eyes. This did not go unnoticed by Rex and Mythra. The former went to comfort his girlfriend while the latter glared angrily at the two heroes.
"You! How dare you make my sweet little sister cry! I will make sure you pay for hurting such a kind and loving soul!" Mythra declared.
She and everyone else present slowly drew their weapons. Knowing this was a fight they would not win, Solo and Eight quickly ran away, many of the others following.
The two heroes ran toward a dock near the back of town. There was a large military airship docked there. The pair entered the warcraft and hid in a side corridor until they were sure everyone was gone.
"You think we lost them?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I think they're gone. So now what?"
Eight for the first time was visibly angry with Solo. "Oh, so now you turn to me for advice?" However, he recognized this. To calm himself down, Eight reached down in his pocket to consult Munchie. But something was...off. The creature in his hand felt unusually hard. He pulled it out. "Turters?! Oh no! I must've left Munchie back at the house!"
"Forget your stupid rat and forget that stupid turtle! We need to figure out what to do about Pyra. We can't go back, all her imaginary friends will cut us to ribbons if we do that. So again, what do you think we should do, Mr. 'Meet your dream team'?"
Eight hunched over and turned his back to Solo, clenching both of his fists. "You fool. You don't know anything. He's not just a rat; he's family to me. Are you telling me you wouldn't do the same for someone you care about?" He then made an X-formation with his arms and grumbled with the fury of an approaching thunderstorm before releasing all his built-up anger in one blast powerful enough to knock Solo over.
Eight's appearance had changed drastically. What was once a soft-faced Hero with brown hair topped off with a bandana, and wearing a blue tunic under his coat was now what appeared to be a furious demon with tall, glowing lavender hair that and tunic. "YOU'RE LUCKY I DON'T JUST TEAR YOU TO SHREDS RIGHT HERE AFTER ALL THAT YOU PUT ME THROUGH!" He rummaged through the vessel, destroying any object that looked breakable and breaking down any door that wouldn't open right away with a Hatchet Man, listing his grievances toward his traveling companion in addition to their situation overall as he did so.
"THAT DOOR!"
"MY VOICE!"
"MY LOYALTIES!"
"MY FAMILY!"
"AND NOW OUR VERY LIVES-ALL JEOPARDIZED BECAUSE OF YOU!"
Solo could only look on in shock. He never would have imagined that Eight was capable of acting in such a way. From the moment they met, he had always just pegged Eight as a happy-go-lucky goofball. Never would he have thought his bandana-wearing companion was able to express that much anger. Now he knew how the others felt to be around him.
He slowly managed to get to his feet after his head stopped spinning from being knocked down by Eight and hitting his head on the wall. Once he did, he followed the trail of destruction Eight left in his wake until finding the man himself slumped against the wall with a prominent look of unhappiness on his face. Solo approached him slowly.
"Are...you okay?"
"YOU SAID IT YOURSELF: TO LEAVE THIS AIRSHIP IS A DEATH SENTENCE. NONE OF THIS WOULD'VE HAPPENED IF I HAD BEEN MORE UPFRONT. AND SO HERE WE ARE."
Solo sighed and decided to swallow his pride. Or at least try to.
"L-look, man. I get you're upset with me for what I said and how I acted. I'll tell you right now, though, that I have no intentions of changing how I am, so you best deal with it. But, I'll also say that I...didn't think it would affect you that much. I...didn't know that's how you felt. So, it seems that...maybe...I might owe you some sort of...um...This isn't something I normally do. So listen and listen good. Because I'm about to tell you that I'm...I'm..."
"Yes?"
"I'm...uh...I'm...s-sor...Wait, shut up. Listen."
Solo could swear he heard the sound of someone or something pounding on a metal door.
"Do you hear that?" Solo asked.
In addition to the clanging metal, Solo also thought he could hear a feminine-sounding voice. It was faint, but he could make out a few words.
"...elp m...et m...ut o...ere!"
"It sounds like it's coming from the deck below us," Solo said.
Eight, who had gone back to normal during Solo's speech, brushed himself off and followed Solo below the decks. On the way down, he told the full stories of both his tension and why Munchie means so much to him, with gradual pauses at increasing intervals to hear the voice as they got closer to it.
"It's basically something that happens when you Psyche yourself Up a whole bunch all at once, or things just get really, really tense. And, you see, there was a Dragovian whose daughter had fallen in love with a human, and..."
Solo was only half listening to Eight at all but didn't let it show. As he ran, he mentally sighed in relief that he didn't actually have to say the word: sorry.
As the pair traveled, the metal clanging and yelling got louder. Eventually, they found themselves in the brig.
"Is anyone here? Who was it that was yelling and screaming?" Solo called.
"Over here!"
Eight and Solo went to the door from which the voice had come from. They both knew the voice.
"Mythra? Is that you?" Asked Solo.
"Yes it's me! Not open the door! Let me out!"
"Alright, hold your horses. Get away from the door."
Once Mythra was away from the door, Solo executed a Hatchet Man attack, destroying the door and sending it across the cell. Mythra finally stepped out.
"It's about time I got out of there."
"Hold on. So there's a Mythra up there and down here?" wondered Eight.
"WHAT?! Someone is going around masquerading as me?!"
Both of the Heroes nodded. "And she, along with the rest of the party, is trying to kill us."
"Ugh! The nerve of her and those fools! Anyway, I really should thank you for thinking about me back there, bandana boy."
"No problem; I wouldn't be a hero if I didn't. The name's Eight by the way."
"Uh-huh. Now let's move out!" Mythra forcefully marched her way looking for an exit.
"And that's why I decided to venture into this dream, my dear Solo."
Solo rolled his eyes and ran to catch up to Mythra. Once he did, Mythra turned to him and asked:
"So what is this 'other me' like anyway?"
"Almost as sickeningly sweet as Pyra. During our first encounter, Pyra got sad and the fake called her 'sweet little sister' and a 'kind and loving soul'. She also admitted to being in a relationship with...what was his name? Rex? Him. She also gave him a kiss."
Mythra looked like she was trying to hold back vomit.
"She said what?! I would never say such cutesy crap out loud! I need to kill this phony, and I need to kill her now! So stop staring and take me to her!" Mythra yelled before stomping off as loud as she could.
"Who knew Mythra was such a softie on the inside. I wonder if Solo's like that too deep down." "What do you think, Turters?" All Eight got out of the turtle was a blank stare, causing him to sigh."I like him, but it's just not the same." He followed Solo and Mythra as dutifully as ever.
Once they got out of the airship, they slowly made their way back toward Tora's house. Mythra went in first to see if any of the others were still in there. Luckily, the only ones there were Pyra, Rex, and the fake Mythra. The real Mythra signaled for the heroes to join them since the coast was clear. Pyra appeared to be in higher spirits since the last time the heroes had seen her.
"I'm glad you're feeling better Pyra." The fake Mythra said.
"Thanks to you. I'm so lucky to be surrounded by such nice people. Such as a caring and attentive sister and the best boyfriend I could ever ask for." Pyra replied.
"Now, now. Remember, Pyra. He's our boyfriend. Not that I mind sharing, of course." 'Mythra' added.
After that Pyra and the fake version of her sister got on both sides of Rex and kissed him. Pyra kissed his neck while 'Mythra' captured his lips.
The real Mythra could no longer stand the sight of her doppelganger. Much less her acting in such a way. With an angry war cry, she charged into the room, grabbed the sword attached to her clone's back, and with one swing, struck down the fraud impersonating her.
Rex shouted a cry of bewilderment. "WHA? Two Mythras? What's your problem?"
Pyra started crying again. "How could you do that you, you...you impostor!? You're one of those swordsmen from earlier, aren't you?" She turned then did the unthinkable and turned her Aegis Blade on her own sister.
Solo and Eight entered the room as Mythra reluctantly turned her own blade on Pyra.
"Pyra, listen to me. That was the imposter. I'm the real Mythra. I've been trapped in a prison since the Galeem attack. Now that I'm here, I'm going to get the two of us out of this dumb fantasy of yours. So, is there any chance we can settle this without our swords?"
"But we defeated Galeem together! The only reason you would say such a thing was if you weren't even there. And we both know for a fact that would've been impossible!"
"Oh, really?" And how did we defeat Galeem? Much less together? You should know that we shared a body during Smash. I thought you were smarter than that."
"Wait..." Rex started. "I thought that..."
Mythra pointed her Aegis Blade at Rex.
"Shut up! This doesn't concern you, idiot! This doesn't concern some figment of Pyra's imagination! You're not the real Rex!"
Rex crossed his arms and flashed a stern look on his face. "So now you're accusing me? That just proves that you are the fake! Let's show 'em what we're made of Pyra! For Mythra!"
"Right!"
"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Eight shouted as he struck a fighting pose.
Solo and Eight surrounded Rex to keep him from getting involved. And there wasn't much he could do about it since he had no weapon.
Pyra, on the other hand, very much had a weapon. And she swung that weapon at Mythra, who blocked with her own weapon.
"All I wanted was a peaceful and happy life with all my friends! Is that too much to ask?!" Pyra yelled.
"It is when the way to get it is to be a puppet to a false god and attacking others in the real world. Not to mention LOCKING ME AWAY IN A DEEP PRISON!" Mythra argued.
Eight chimed in, keeping his sword pointed toward the fake Rex. "Pyra, do you really think we're the type of people who enjoy breaking in and ruining someone's life because we feel like it? Would I just not give you back Turters? Because here he is." He held the turtle out toward Pyra, smiling.
Pyra slowly reached out for Turters and held him in her hand. "Hello, little guy. How are you? Where have you been? Zeke and Pandoria were worried when they couldn't find you. All they could find was some kind of rat thing."
"I'm sure they would appreciate it. You know, he really is quite a precious little thing. Hold on, did you say rat thing?" Eight momentarily winked facing Mythra.
"Oh. They left him over on the living room table with a bit of cheese before leaving to find Turters." Pyra answered.
Taking advantage of Pyra's distraction, Mythra slightly lowered her blade.
"So, are you ready to discuss this like a civilized person? Or do things still need to turn ugly? Because I'm not particularly in the mood to fight you, alright?"
Pyra was shocked by her gesture, unsure which point Mythra was proving to her. "You're not?"
"Look, I don't mind beating up on morons who are dumb enough to get on my bad side. But I'm not as comfortable doing it to you. I-it's only because you're my sister though. It's not like I couldn't if I wanted to. I just...am not as fond of seeing you sad as I am others. Got it? I just want the two of us to get out of here and get to killing Galeem. And the easiest way for me to do that is to make you realize this is a lie. That's all." Myhtra explained, barely looking Pyra in the eye and hoping the redhead didn't notice her faint blush.
"But we already..."Pyra gasped as her eyes glowed red as everything around them turned to a lifeless gray.
Rex flinched backward. "Pyra? Are you okay? This isn't like you!"
"Heresy. Enemies of Galeem's are to be destroyed, and I will do so without hesitation. Come, Rex"
Before he could do anything, Pyra was hit with a stream of fire that seemed to come from nowhere, momentarily breaking the curse on her that had supplanted her fantasy.
"What happened here?" When she looked down to find the source, but the only thing there was Munchie standing on a sofa. She then developed a splitting headache and strings of light began to wrap around her. "Mythra, you have to take over and get me out of here before Galeem takes control of me again!"
"You heard her Mythra," said Rex.
"So how do we do this?" Solo asked.
"The old-fashioned way, of course. We knock her out, I get to take control. Think you two can do that?" Mythra replied.
Before either of the heroes could respond, Galeem took control of Pyra again.
"Insolent whelps! You dare try to resist the control of the almighty Galeem?!"
"Why don't you leave Pyra's body and face us yourself? Filthy coward!" Solo screamed.
"There are much bigger issues for me attend to. I find it not worth my time or effort to personally deal with you simpletons." Replied the possessed Pyra.
Mythra's grip on her blade grew tighter as her face adopted a look of fury.
"Did. You. Just. Call. Me. A. Simpleton?!"
With that, Mythra swung her Aegis Blade at Pyra, knocking the redhead back a ways.
The two Heroes wrestled Pyra for her blade, holding her down in the process. Even Munchie tried to help by slapping her face with his little rodent hands.
"Say it! Say that this is all a lie!" screamed Solo.
Eight eventually sweep-kicked the Aegis Blade out of Pyra's hand. "Mythra! Hurry and grab it while you can!"
Mythra made a mad dash for the blade. This did not sit well with the evil Pyra.
"NO!"
Using strength that no one would have guessed the petite-looking Pyra had, she threw Eight and Solo off of her. She then grabbed Munchie and threw him right at Mythra's face, distracting her long enough for Pyra to grab her sword.
Pyra sent a trail of flame across the floor in Mythra's direction. Mythra blocked it with her light powers. The pair locked blades again as Solo and Eight got to their feet again.
Solo ran forward first, swinging at Pyra. She ducked under the attack and then decked Solo in the face, sending him stumbling back and holding his nose.
Eight then moved to attack. Pyra pushed Mythra back and clashed blades with the bandana-wearing hero.
"Come on, Pyra! Resist him! You did it once, I know you can do it again!" Eight pleaded.
Pyra broke the blade lock and swung at Eight's feet, sending him falling to the ground. She raised her sword and prepared to bring it down. But before she could, she suddenly held her head, as if she was nursing a massive headache. She also stumbled back and would have fallen over if she hadn't started using her sword as a crutch. She had managed to break Galeem's hold on her. She turned to her blonde sister and looked her dead in the eyes.
"Mythra, please. Do it. Do it now!"
Though hesitant to have to attack her own sister, she knew it had it be done. So she decided to just do it quick and get it over with. To that end, she performed the quickest move she could.
"Photon Edge!"
Mythra ran forward at the speed of light and slashed at Pyra numerous times just as quick. After the last sword swing, Pyra was sent flying back until she collided with the wall and fell to the floor.
The dream began to fade until only the Fighters remained. Mythra breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't worry. I can take care of it from here. See you back in the lab!"
The Heroes would be surprised by that if she hadn't already revealed that she could see into the real world earlier. Eight knelt down to accept Munchie into his hands and checked to see if he was injured, which he thankfully wasn't. "I know you probably know this, but please don't attack Pyra when we wake up. The last thing we want is more drama."
Squeak
Eight smiled as he led his pet back into his pocket. "High five, Solo?"
Sigh "Just this once." He then proceeded to roll his eyes again, although this time he had to put his hand to his mouth to cover up a smirk. Not gonna lie, I guess Eight's rat does have its uses. He tilted the hand to amplify the next thing he said. "Alright old man, you can let us back in now! You better."
Back in E. Gadd's laboratory, the quirky scientist had noticed a change in Pyra's mental state. A quick look at a screen on the machine told him that the woman had been freed. With that knowledge, he flipped a few levers and knobs on the machine, bringing the three of them back to the real world.
"Welcome back, my friends! I'm so happy to see that your mission was successful!" E. Gadd exclaimed.
"Yeah. Entering someone else's mind was quite an experience. I dare say it was actually a fun experience." Said Eight.
"Speak for yourself."
Everyone looked over to the source of this voice and were surprised to see Mythra attached to the machine as opposed to Pyra.
"My word! You're not the same woman that I initially hooked into my device!" E. Gadd stated.
"I did not have a good time being trapped in my own mind for so long while Pyra acted as nothing but a puppet and her mind was trapped in an overly happy fantasy with a fake version of me. If you guys don't mind, I'm going to go outside and stretch my legs and get some fresh air."
Without another word, Mythra unhooked herself from the machine and walked out of the lab as fast as she could.
As she walked, she could hear Pyra talk to her inside her head.
("Listen, Mythra. I'm so sorry about what happened. I didn't know that the you were being held prisoner or that you were replaced by the Mythra in my fantasy. I swear I didn't know it wasn't you. I feel so embarrassed about it. Please forgive me.")
Truth be told, Mythra was still fairly pissed about being trapped by her own sister for so long, not to mention replacing her with a sappier version of herself. But at the same time, she felt that Pyra had been through enough recently, and the fact she wasn't doing it of her own free will, so Mythra decided to bite her tongue.
'Just forget it. All we need to focus on now is killing Galeem. I don't know about you, but I'm going to enjoy cutting that oversized nightlight down to size.' Mythra said mentally.
Back in the lab, the two heroes were discussing their next move.
"What should we do now?" Eight asked.
"Nothing to do but wait for Eleven and Erdrick to finish with Roy, whenever that is. Better not take too long." Solo responded.
