Gwyn let out a scream of rage and pain as Ike brought up Ragnell above his head.
The great almighty King of the Gods had been bested by a mere mortal.
"Ugh!"
Gwyn took a step back as Ike slashed violently across his chest. The great flamesword in Gwyn's hand dropped to the ground as the slash went right through Gwyn. He fell, the eternal first flame behind him bursting with power and energy .
Even at the absolute height of his power, Gwyn and his Kingdom could not stand up to Ike and his forces.
The only thing left to do now was to figure out what to do with the Eternal Flame. Ike approached it, sword in hand, and raised his sword. Blue flame surrounded it as he swiped across it, snuffing out the Eternal First Flame with a single strike.
Without a second thought, he turned his back on the darkness and began to walk away.
But then someone began to laugh.
Ike whirled around, sword in hand, as the remains of the Eternal First Flame flickered. Out from the shadows stepped a dark figure. Ike narrowed his eyes.
"Zant."
The Twilight Usurper stepped out from the shadows. Next to him stood the tall, lithe serpent Darkstalker Kaathe.
"Well done, Radiant Hero." Zant said. "You have just cast an everlasting shadow across all of reality. Well done."
Ike narrowed his eyes. "What?"
"You see." Zant began, as he stepped closer to the dying first flame. "I introduced the lovely Princess Hilda of Lorule to Lordran. She was so distraught by the state of things there that she sought to fix them. She had never made a wish on her Triforce, you see, and had always longed to be as selfless as Princess Zelda had been for her."
"You tricked her."
"I did no such thing." Zant denied. "She did this of her own volition. She wished upon the Trifoce to make the First Flame burn forevermore, which gave Lord Gwyn the ability to lead the world into an everlasting age of prosperity… one that, amusingly enough, you seem to have singlehandedly put an end to." (1)
Ike gripped Ragnell.
"You would blame me for the coming darkness?"
"Blame?" Kaathe asked, blinking at him coyishly. "Do not be think us so malicious. The Age of Dark is a natural part of the cycle of the world. Hilda putting an end to it with the power of her gods was an affront to nature. It was a blasphemy. You correcting her mistake and ushering In the age of dark is, no doubt, a great thing. You should be proud."
Ike leapt forward, swinging Ragnell with incredible force. Zant gracefully avoided the blow, leaning back with an impressive flourish.
"With the First Flame eliminated, there are no light spirits here to drive away the Twilight." Ike said. "And Zant will…"
"Rule this land, yes." Zant said, his voice bored. "Once I eliminate the few light spirits among the Super Smash Brothers… no light will remain. All will become spirits, and you will have lost."
The helmet retracted, showing off his teeth. He smiled.
"In fact, Radiant Hero… you are already becoming a spirit."
Ike grimaced. His heightened senses of the supernatural that he had acquired as a member of the Super Smash Bros knew it was true. The Twilight that Zant could bring upon him was one of the very few things that could force him back into his natural state: that of a spirit, no different than the countless others that existed in Subspace.
"You can't win." Ike rasped. "Palutena's light will broke through the darkness, and when it does-"
"Our forces are more than enough to overwhelm a mediocre goddess." Zant said coldly, as Ike's body began to become transparent. "Goodbye, hero."
Ike closed his eyes, grimacing, as he succumbed to the oncoming Twilight.
…
The Wolf looked up, its ears perked, as Link lowered the Master Sword.
"It's coming." He said, as the sword began to emanate a gold glow. "The Twilight."
Mythra gave him a dark look and threw her blonde her behind her shoulder.
"The Twilight?" She repeated. "You can't be serious."
"With the First Flame extinguished, a powerful source of Light has been eliminated from the world." Link said. "And Zant seems to be taking advantage of that."
"Hmph." Mythra said. "Palutena and I should be fine… but who else can keep fighting?"
"I'm not sure about the wedding guests." Link admitted. "But I will be fine. The Master Sword emits quite a lot of light. The Hero of Twilight used it to invade the Palace of Twilight itself-"
He stopped talking, his brow furrowed. He looked over the distance.
Charging towards them was a gargantuan creature, made of steel and shadow, that crushed the ground with each of its six limbs.
"That's the Fused Shadow." Link breathed. "But those can only be used by-"
The creature let out a shriek of rage as unleashed a powerful strike against them. Link got to the ground, while Mythra leapt up into the sky, her eyes narrowed. The Wolf Twilight bared his teeth.
"Raaah!" Mythra let out an unearthly scream, as the power of her sunlight emanated from her completely. The creature froze, completely taken aback by the sheer force of her power, as Link rose up, and in three expertly timed swipes severed the Fused Shadows from their host.
The being collapsed at his feet and Link stared down at her.
"You are Midna, the Princess of Twilight… are you not?"
The girl coughed. She rolled over on her side and glanced up at him.
"L-Link…" She whispered, as she held up a hand to him. "I-is… that you…?"
"It is."
To his surprise, however, her gaze fell on to that of the wolf.
'I'm sorry…" She murmured. "I couldn't… stop him… he made me…"
She coughed. Blood trickled out of her mouth and onto the grass.
"You need to see a Doctor." Link said, as he bent down and picked her up. Her hands hung limply at her sides as she looked up at him, clearly dazed.
"You…" She murmured. "Who are you?" (2)
…
Palutena lowered her staff and glared at the opposing creatures of shadow with an incredulous gaze.
"The Ing." She said. "I thought Samus Aran eradicated them when she destroyed Dark Aether."
Pit adjusted the swords in his hands as he glared at them with intense dislike. "Doesn't look like it."
"Oh, I wish Samus was here." Palutena lamented. "The weapons she acquired on Aether would be a big help to us now."
The Ing let out an unearthly screech, and the creature began nothing more than a blur of shadow. Palutena raised her staff, and an intense wave of light hit it. The creature screamed, and vanished.
"You're doing a fine enough job dealing with them yourself, Lady Palutena!"
"Thank you, Pit." She said, smiling. "Do stay close to me."
"rrrrrgh!"
Palutena frowned as a the lumbering body of what seemed to be a Galactic Federation Trooper lumbered towards them.
"S-Samus… Aran…." The soldier, a woman, moaned. "This wouldn't… happen… to Samus Aran…"
The body gave a shudder, and then all of a sudden gave an unnatural lurch.
"Where am I?" The woman asked, a little bit too calmy for the situation. "What happened to the others?"
Pit took a step forward to help her, but Palutena stopped him with her staff.
"It's only pretending." She said. "Miss Angseth is long dead."
Angseth gave an unnatural lurch, and raised the weapon. Pit leapt forward this time, and hacked the body to pieces. It fell to the ground where it stood.
"The Ing possess the ability to possess corpses." Palutena explained. "Not unlike the X parasites."
Pit looked disgusted. "That used to be a real person?"
"We couldn't have saved her Pit." Palutena said. "And neither could Samus." (3)
…
"Nearly all of the Super Smash Brothers have been eliminated." Kaathe said.
"Excellent." Zant said. "Those that remain will be destroyed along with the planet. I will seize the Triforce and make my deepest wish a reality."
"Lady Palutena and the others continue to resist."
"They will succumb eventually." Zant said dismissively. "Nothing can stop the darkness."
He sat on his new throne and watched as the last sputters of the First Flame died away. The world was now cast in Eternal Darkness.
"Now we will see just what True Darkness has in store for us." Zant said. "I will rule this world, and all that-"
He stopped. In front of him was a great, mighty, door. It had appeared, seemingly, out of nowhere, in the void of Twilight that surrounded them. But it stood, tall and intimidating.
"The Door to All Worlds." Kaathe breathed. "Kingdom Hearts. The Door that leads to True Everlasting Darkness."
"The door the scientist known as Ansem once sought?" Zant asked, as he got to his feet. He stepped down to the door and stared up at it. "Why has it appeared now?"
"You have taken so many hearts into the Twilight." Kaathe told him. "That likely it has appeared to you out of deference, and respect."
"I see that that must be so." Zant said. "What must I do now?"
"You must open it." Kaathe urged. "Let the darkness of all Worlds come into being. Let them overwhelm this world, and drown them all in everlasting darkness."
"Yes…" Zant whispered, as he raised his hand. "This is the power I have been seeking. "Proof of my victory over the gods of Hyrule!"
He reached for the handle and opened the door.
"Kingdom Hearts…. IS LIGHT!"
Zant let out an intense scream as the most intense burst of light he had ever seen burst out from behind the door. It covered his entire room and then spread across the land, singlehandedly restoring natural light into the world. He hurriedly moved to close it, but before he could a glove hand stopped him.
"A New Challenger Approaches." He said. (4)
Zant let out a whimper as he fell onto his back.
"No." He whispered. "Not you."
The radiant light behind the new arrival shone even more brilliantly as he stepped forward, the strange shaped sword in his hands brandished in front of him.
"It is me." Sora said, as he raised the Keyblade above his head. "You've lost."
Zant let out a scream as the Keyblade fell onto his head. The Darkstalker Kaathe, using every ounce of his guile and cunning, tried to flee into the darkness, but quickly realized there was no more darkness to flee too. Sora threw the Keyblade almost lazily at his head, and it sent Kaathe's head bursting into light.
It was then that the boy realized he was completely alone.
"Donald?" He asked, turning around. "Goofy?"
There was no answer. Frowning, Sora looked around the room in wonder, trying to decide just what he needed to do next. Before he could, however, Ike's spirt began to reform.
Sora stood, shocked, as the swordsman appeared seemingly out of nowhere, Ragnell in hand.
"So." Ike said. "You are the last."
Sora smiled cheekily. "Well, that's what the Hand told me." He said. "But I don't know what that means… exactly."
"We will explain it to you." Ike said. "Please. Follow me."
…
A/N
Wow it sure took a long while to get this chapter out. I've been having problems sitting down and working on the story, but I'm happy with the way this chapter turned out.
Ike, in defeating Gwyn, ended the Eternal Age of Fire. In this story, The Princess Hilda from A Link Between Worlds wished upon the Triforce to restore Lordran to its former glory, and Gwyn used that opportunity to conquer the worlds of Dark Souls II, III, Sekiro, and Elden Ring. So essentially, Ike conquered the combined forces of every character from those games. The twist, however, was that this was all a ploy by Zant (The Legend of Zelda: Twiilght Princess) to usher in the age of dark, which would allow him to cove the land in Twilight.
Link is rei-incarnated throughout the ages. So BOTW Link and Twilight Princess Link are not the same person. Midna, being brainwashed and controlled by Zant, had no control over her actions, and is fondly remembering her days with Twilight Princess Link.
I don't expect anyone to get this one. Angseth was a Galactic Federation Trooper that crash landed on Aether in Metroid Prime 2 and fell victim to the Ing. Samus discovered her body and logbook, in which she details her admiration for Samus herself. I always really liked that little discovery, and decided to pay it homage in this story. That is what this fic is all about, after all.
Sora wasn't announced when this story began. I knew there was a good chance it would happen, so I deliberately avoided referencing Kingdom Hearts in earlier chapters of the story. At one point I deeply considered making Sora an antagonist, but now that he is officially a member of the Smashers, I have re-worked my plans to incorporate another major Kingdom Hearts character in that role instead. (I think Disney fans will get a kick out of this one)
I feel like I've had to cut down a lot of my ideas for the story to keep the pace going forward, but rest assured… many more iconic characters will be making an appearance in the future. Please stay tuned.
