Chapter 32: Lunar Scavenging
"[-And now you're trying to evade the coming storm with the help of the Newcomer's ship?]" R.O.B. asked worryingly.
"That was the idea, I would prefer the trip to be much smoother, but apparently space had other plans for us." Answered Lucario, sighing with disdain for the amount of bad luck they've been getting.
Whiles Rosalina piloted them to the moon, the group decided now was the best time to let R.O.B. know about everything they encountered: How they located the Comet Observatory, how the meeting with one of the Newcomers had almost become hostile, how the princess had already became the trophy, and how there is now over a thousand meteors coming their way.
Today had really been a crappy day.
"Well hopefully this trouble will soon be over, we're heading towards the beam of light now, and we'll be back on the planet before you know it." Said the angel.
"[That's good at least.]" The robot spoke as he relaxed in his chair.
"Should we call you back when we get back to earth?" Suggested Snake.
"[No. Usually I would say yes, but now I do not feel comfortable in this current situation you're in. Just keep me on the line; it'll be better for all of us if I have constant contact with you all. I might even be able to give so advice if something goes wrong.]"
"If we're going to do that, I'm handing the communicator back to Snake, we'll let you know if anything happens." Lucario replied as he gave the device back to the solider, he then took a peek over the edge and smiled. "And I think we arrived at our destination."
Looking over the edge of the ship, the group could see that cratered-filled surface of the moon was coming into view. Within a minute, they landed perfectly on the large white sphere, indicating that it was time to get off and step on the white ground.
Moments later, Rosalina and Luma came back to the Smashers, ready to follow their rescuer's directions.
"Where to now?" Asked the princess?
"Like we said during the flight, there is a beam of light that can transport matter from our planet to outer space, if we get into the light, we'll be transported back to our homeworld. All we have to do is…!" Lucario suddenly became silent, his body tense as fear emanated from his muzzle.
"[Lucario. What's wrong?]" R.O.B. said.
The jackal turned to the communicator and spoke the words that put everyone on edge. "The light. It's not there anymore!"
Diddy almost choked on his own spit. "OHH AHH UGHH UGGH OOHH AHH UGH!?" (WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOT THERE ANYMORE!?)
"I mean that the beam is gone, it vanished!"
"No that can't be right! Perhaps it's just dimly lit!" Pit Exclaimed as he ran towards the spot where the light once shone, with everyone following him.
"I can't believe it! It's gone!" Zero said in shock, looking at the earth in shock. "What could have caused this?"
"[Something bad must had happened to the light bulb! It's the only thing that explains why it's not working anymore!]"
"R.O.B., couldn't you send another team to the lighthouse to fix the bulb?"
"[I can try! Wait! How close is the meteor storm?]"
The group looks up to the sky, horrified to see a plethora of glowing dots in the distance, slowly getting bigger. "I don't know, but I have a feeling it won't be for long!" Rosalina Spoke.
"[Well if that's the case, I'm going to hurry up and find some volunteers! I'll be very soon! Try to find anything that might help you in your current situation!]"
"Like what?! We're on the moon!" Said Pit.
"[I don't know; just do your best to find anything that might help against the coming storm. I have to go now to prepare the group now! I'll be back shortly! I promise!]" R.O.B. spoke worryingly before cutting off the mic.
"Pich hu chu hu pic pic chu pichu pic chu chu pich pichu" (We're in the middle of nowhere! We're defenseless! How are we going to escape the asteroids!)"
"Should we run to the other side of the moon to avoid getting hit by the meteor storm?" Suggested Pit.
"No way! We won't be able to reach there in time!" The jackal replied sharply.
"Well could we use the ship to fly back to our home world?" Suggested the angel as he pointed to the earth.
"My ship doesn't have enough fuel to make the trip!" Answered Rosalina; with her star nodding solemnly behind her.
"What does your ship run on?" Asked Snake.
"It uses Power Stars as an energy source!"
"Stars? You mean like the sun?" Interrupted Zero Suit.
"No! Power Stars are completely different from celestial ones! Power stars are tangible; have the body shape of a five-pointed star, and have two black eyes on the front of it. They look similar to Luma here, but except they're much more stiff and non-living!"
"Could we find these "Power Stars" here on this moon?" The angel told the princess.
"I doubt it, Power Stars are usually found in the void of space, not on celestial objects like the moon."
Whiles the Smashers were deciding upon a strategy on what to do next, Pichu bumped his foot into something hard; looking down; he could see something shiny sticking out of the soil of the moon.
"Pichu!" (Guys!) The mouse's yelp got the attention of everyone. "What is it?" Snake asked harshly than usually.
The small yellow Pokémon gripped on the shiny object, attempting to uproot it from earth of the moon. "Pichu pic chu pic pic chu!" (There's something big underground!)
"Is that thing glowing?" Asked Zero Suit.
"Ugh ooh ook." (I think so.) Commented Diddy Kong.
"Let me see that!" Rosalina knelt down to shiny object, after examining it for a second or two, her Adrenaline spiked in excitement. "Everyone I think we found a Power Star!"
"We did! Oh thank the heavens!" Exclaimed pit; his voice outmatching the surprised voices of the group.
"Hold on, why would a Power Star be doing underground, didn't Rosa said they're commonly found in space?!" Said Snake.
"That doesn't matter right now! Let's just get the star out of the ground!" Samus sat on her knees, using her fingernails to dig out the lunar dirt surrounding the shiny object. "Don't just stand there! Help me!"
Under her command, every last one of the Smashers did their part to dig out the shiny star. Even Luma joined in to help.
When the finally got rid of all of the surrounding earth, they were confused to what they found. Instead of a Power Star, they found something else: The shiny object appeared to be in the shape of a crescent moon; its form glowing a yellow hue. The strangest thing about this "Moon", was the two wide blue eyes staring back at them.
"Is it alive?" Lucario?
"I don't think so." The princess told the canine as she lifted the shiny object in her hands. Taking a closer look in the pit, she could see three more moons inside. "Hey there are more of these…moons inside!"
"What the heck are they? I haven't seen anything like that before." Stated Pit.
"Neither have I, and I have explored the Cosmos for years! This is a first for me." Said Rosalina. "Hmmm."
The bounty hunter spoke the Newcomer. "What's wrong?"
The floating woman shook her head in reassurance. "Nothings wrong, I'm just thinking. Even though I haven't seen these objects before, I realized that these moons do look similar to the Power Stars I mentioned earlier."
"Do you think that means something?" Questioned Lucario.
"Possibly." Rosalina became silent, observing the star for a moment before an idea formed inside her skull. "Wait! If these moons are similar too…could it be possible that…I got to try this out!" The princess muttered to herself before flying off to the ship, being followed closely by the star-like creature.
"Ohh! akk okk ugh ahh?!" (Hey! Where's she going?!) The monkey exclaimed
"She's going back to the Comet Observatory!" Announced Lucario.
"You think she figured something out?" Snake asked his right-hand man.
The canine looked back to his friend. "I don't know but we should follow her!" The jackal scooped up the remaining stars in his arms. "Come on!"
The Veterans chased the Newcomer back to the space ship, where they found Rosalina floating very close to glowing sphere. She extended her arms outwards, the shiny moon becoming visible within her arms.
The moon floated out of her grasp, levitating in mid-air as it spun around horizontally at an in incredible speed.
Then it slammed into the sphere.
The ball of plasma absorbed the moon, when it did; it seemed to glow significantly brighter.
The princess seemed astonished at what she accomplished. "So it is compatible with my ship after all. This changes the game."
"What do you mean "It changes the game"?" Asked Solid Snake; who like the rest of his team, finally caught up with the runaway Newcomer.
She turned around with a new founded sense of hope. "I'm talking about the moons we found. They can be used as an alternative fuel source for my ship. That means we have a way of getting out of here!"
"If these moons are out ticket out of here, how much more do we need for takeoff?" Lucario said, presenting the three moons in his arms.
Rosa looked at the sphere, making calculations. "Judging by the state of the core, we're going to need more than four moons."
"So we're still screwed?" Asked Pit.
"Not necessary. It's possible there are more moons hidden within the lunar crust." Reminded the princess.
"If that's the case. How are we going to find it? The moons could be anywhere." Said Zero Suit.
Rosalina thought carefully before realizing what she can do. "If I can use my cosmic magic on the moons we currently have. I can detect the one's that are still hidden underground; if there's still any left there is."
"Well what are we waiting for? Lucario, give the Newcomer the moons. Times of the essence right now."
The canine obeyed, giving the princess the three shiny objects he held within his paws. Rosalina carefully touched the moons within her grasp; closing her eyes when until they shot up like a speeding bullet. "Oh my! There are moons hidden everywhere. The surface is practically littered with them!"
"That's good; at least our last chance of survival wasn't a lost cause." Sighed Snake.
"Ohh ahh ugh ugh ook ook ahh ahh ugh ook." (Hey guys, I think the meteors are getting closer.) Diddy warned as her pointed to the sky.
Following his finger, everyone could see that the meteor storm has indeed gotten closer than before, the background of space being turned from a dead black to a fiery orange.
"We can't waste any more time!" Rosa exclaimed as she threw the moons into the core. "We have to get those moons as soon as possible! That means we have to get digging! Luna and I will mark the spots where the moons are located. Then we'll join you in unearthing our much needed fuel source. Does everyone understand?"
"Yes Madam."
"Got it!"
"We'll do it no time."
"I uh, yeah sure! We can do it!"
"PICHU!" (YES!)
"Ook." (Yep.)
"Lumma!"
"Then let's get digging!" Rosalina shouted at the top of her lungs, energizing the group. The trophies leaped off of the ship, with the princess and the star taking the lead. The duo flew to seemingly random spots on the ground; sketching thick "X's" deep into the moon.
Once the spots were visible, the Veterans immediately went to work. They divided into three groups of twos: Snake and Lucario, Zero Suit and Pichu, and lastly, Diddy and Pit.
The individual groups went to the sections where there was a high volume of X's in the surrounding area.
The team consisting of the angel and the monkey chose the section where the X's formed a rough circle on the ground; they positioned themselves in the very middle of the lunar shape.
"So how are we going to do this?" Pit asked his partner. "Should we dig all of the spots as fast as we can?"
"Ooh, aah ook ugh ugh ook ah hook ooo." (No, we'll waste a lot of time by doing that.) Diddy scratched his head before asking. "Ohh ahh ugh ohh akk ugh, ohh ughh ahh okk ughh?" (Maybe we can blow it up, do we have any explosives?)
"Oh, good idea. Let me check." Pit laid his backpack down and opened it up, once he examined the contents of the carry-on. His face display great disappointment. "Sorry buddy, but we don't have any bombs we can spare."
"Ooh akk okk ugh ugh ahh ohh ooohh uggh ah hook ugh akk, ook ooo ahh ahhh?" (Well perhaps there's something in there that can still help us, can I see the bag?)
The teen handed the pack to Diddy, allowing him to see the inside of the sack for himself. Inside the backpack were: A Star Rod, a Fairy Jar, A tub of ice cream (Really Pit?), a Pokéball, and lastly a winged blue shell. Most people in this situation wouldn't find any use for these items, but Diddy Kong was very crafty for a Smasher. Once he spotted the shell he formed a scheme inside his skull.
"Ohh ahh okk ahh, okk ahh okk ahh ugh ugh." (I have a plan, but you not like it.) Said the monkey.
"Why?" Pit asked curiously.
"Oh akk ugh ohh aah ugh ugh huh ook ahh ooh ugh ugh." (I'll explain in a second, We can potentially uncover the moons in one go if we use this blue shell.) Diddy said as he pulled the item from the bag.
"How would that thing help us?"
"Ohh ahh ugh ughh ack oh ok." (If we get this shell to hit that spot.) Diddy explained ash he pointed to the circle. "Ugh uhh ah hook ah, ugh ohh ah hook ahh okk hah hoo." (It may destroy the dirt, allowing us to get the moons without any hassle.)
"But the blue shell only targets the Smasher that's closer to the thrower." Spoke the angel. "How are you going to get it to hit the spot?"
"Oh, ooh hoo haa ack ugh oo ahh. Ohh ahh ugh hah oh, oh ahh ugh ugh ho ha-" (Yeah, this is that part you might hate. If I used you as bait, and threw this shell at you-)
"WHAT?! USE ME AS BAIT?!" Pit yelled out in disbelief.
"Ohh ugh ahh! Ohh ugh ahh. Ohh hoo ugh ugh ah hack ugh ugh haa, ugh ahh ooh ook ook. Ugh ooh ack hoo haah ook ugh ugh ah." (Let me explain! Let me explain. If you stood in that spot whiles I throw the shell at you, and if you dodge it just in time. We can accomplish our harvest without any causalities.)
"I guess that makes sense, but why am I the bait?!"
"Oh hack ugh ugh ohh ahh ha." (Because you are faster than me.)
"Oh I don't know Diddy, this plan seems too dangerous! What if either of us gets hurt or-" Pit was interrupted when Diddy laid a paw on his shoulder. "Ohh, ugh ugh hoh ha ha ugh ook ohh okk ugh ack ack, oh uh uh ahh, oh hoh ho ha, oh oh. Hoo…" (Pit, this may be our only shot to bring in the mother-load, to save everyone, to be a hero. Please…)
Pit stared at the Kong for a couple seconds before nodding his head with a sense of duty. "Alright, I'll do it!"
"Ooh! Oh ugh ah hoo haa hoo ook." (Great! Now I just need you to stand right here.) Diddy guided the angel to the middle of the circle, after he was done, he quickly exited the ring and winded up his arm. "Ohh. Hoo? HAH!" (Ok. Ready? GO!) The monkey threw the shell with a quick flash of his limb. Once the item left his paw, it almost immediately hovered over Pit, vibrating heavily in the air.
"Hoo Haa Ooh." (Wait for it.) Said Diddy.
The angel reluctantly obeyed, not wanting to mess up their chance.
"Hoo Haa Ooh!" (Wait for it!)" Diddy repeated at a louder tone.
Pit was shaking in his sandals, worrying that any moment now; the big blue terror from above would crash down on his holy head.
The shell did a flip as it faced the hard end of its structure downwards to the angel.
"HAAA!" (DODGE!) The little Kong exclaimed
Pit didn't need to be told twice. When he heard his cue, he used his wings to fly out of the danger zone, just right before the moment it hit the marked area; a cloud of dust covering the impact. The teen was so focused on getting out of there; he didn't realize he was heading towards Diddy. When he saw his mistake, he tried to avoid his fellow Smasher but it was too late.
He accidentally crashed into the monkey, sending them both forcefully towards the ground.
"Oof! Man that smarts. Sorry about that." Pit said sheepishly as he apologized.
"Ugh ook, hooh haa ack ugh ugh." (It fine, it's no big deal.) Diddy responded as he pulled Pit and himself off of the ground. "Oh hook ugh, ack hoo haa hoo ugh ack hoo." (No come on, let's see if our plan was successful.)
The duo went closer to the new crater that was formed moments ago when the shell hit the lunar earth. Looking inside, they could a huge pile of shiny moons piled up together, producing a glow that mesmerized the two Veterans.
"Yep, it worked!" Pit said victoriously as he offered a fist bump, to which Diddy pounded his paw against the angel's hand. After which they immediately sprinted to the crater.
Snake and Lucario went to the section where all of the moons were all clumped together into a large mass, like that of a tumor. However, unlike the rest of the X's, this X was marked upon a large boulder. Indicating where the team should mine.
"So our fuel is in that rock." Remarked the solider.
"It appears so." Replied Lucario as both of them got closer. The canine placed a paw on the hard surface as he winded up his fist. "I'm going to attempt to use a force palm on it, might want to stand clear."
His blue palms glowed with aura, projecting a powerful beam at the lunar stone, unfortunately, the attack didn't do anything. It merely just tilted the rock a little ways backwards before going back to its original position.
"It didn't work." Said Snake, folding his arms around his torso.
"We'll find another way, we always do. We just need to find it." The Pokémon told his friend. "Did your crafty mind find any solutions to our problem?"
Snake observed the boulder in closer detail; visible on the boulder's surface, there were several spider webs of large cracks on the surface. Seeing this, Snake internally smirked. "There are cracks on the boulder, do you see them?"
Lucario took a second look and saw what Snake was talking about. "I see them, what about them?"
"If we focus on causing damage on the cracks, we could shatter the boulder into pieces; allowing us to get to the moons."
"That seems like a solid strategy, but the boulder is very dense. I doubt we can break it by using our normal attacks."
"Then let's use our specials then." Snake said as he pulled out some explosives. "We need to put these C4 on the weakened areas. Once we're done, we'll get to a safe distance and I'll press the trigger." The solider looked at the rock once more and frowned. "Hmm, although I don't think I'll be able to navigate the boulder as effectively as I like to."
"Then let me place the bombs." Butted in Lucario. "I'm fast and athletic. I'll go around and set up the C4. That way we'll have time to spare."
Snake handed him the explosives. "Alright then, when you're done. Come back here."
The jackal nodded at his friend, starting his task by jumping into the air. He did another jump as he landed with both his feet on the rock. He used Extreme Speed to place the bombs; the view of the canine disappear and appearing on various parts on the boulder before finally stopping next to Snake. "It's set. Push it."
The solider obeyed, gripping the trigger with absolute confidence.
The boulder disappeared within a cloud of fire and dust, clouding the nearby area with lunar debris. When the visibility cleared, Snake and Lucario could see that the large rock had been split into many pieces; with Power Moons being mixed in between them.
"It's super effective!" Exclaimed Lucario; earning a smirk from Snake as they went to the exploded area to gather more fuel.
Pichu and Zero Suit Samus were the last Smashers to yet gain some stars. The section that hasn't been taken over by the other two teams, had moons that were scattered all over underground, being spread far apart from on another.
Luckily, the dirt happened to be very loose, letting Pichu, Zero Suit, Rosalina, and Luma to unearth the moons without any struggle.
"Pichu pic chu hu chu pichu?" (How many more do we need?) Said the electric mouse, his voice feeling strained from the digging he was doing.
"I don't know." Replied Rosa. "And since I don't know how many more moons we still need, we have to gather as much as we can before the storm comes."
"Lets hope we get enough by then." Spoke Samus.
"LLUUUMMMMAAAAA!" A high-pitched cried rang through all of the Smashers ear drums. They all turned around to see Luma had discontinued his digging; gazing at the sky with utter fear.
The meteor storm had come closer than expected, the floating rocks becoming bigger in the eyes of the trophies. Pockets of small asteroids had split off from the swarm; hitting the moon at various places on the surface.
"Oh no! The storm is inching near!" Exclaimed the princess. "We need to hurry up our endeavor!"
"But there are still moons here that we need to gather! We can't just leave it behind!" Argued Zero Suit.
"But if we continue harvesting, we are putting our self at risk by getting hit by the small meteors! How do you plan to get around that problem?"
The athletic blonde was thinking of a potential solution, at that moment in time, she got one. "Pichu!" She yelled, getting the small Pokémon's attention. "I need you to destroy any asteroids that come near us, can you handle that?"
The mouse didn't even hesitate; he gave a big salute as he kept his eye to the sky.
"Are you sure he's up for the task?" Asked Rosa.
"Trust me." Reaffirmed Zero. "I know what I'm doing."
"If we're doing that, I'm going to give Luma a job as well." Said the Newcomer as she turned to the star. "Luma. Try to help the others with bringing their moons to the ship. I'll be there shortly."
The Luma made a noise that was along the lines of agreement, as it flew away.
The girls were digging under the intense pressure they were in right now; being target by meteors. Thankfully, Pichu volunteered himself to protect the female Smashers from the dangerous rocks with his electric powers. Even though using his powers would mean he'd get hurt in the process, it was the price he was willing to pay. After all, what kind of friend would he be if he didn't help them out at their time of need?
Pichu spent a minute or two jumping into the air, swatting tiny meteors about the size of golf balls, away from Zero and Rosalina.
'Pichu, pic chu hu chu chu pic pic chu.' (Okay, this seems to be going good so far.)Pichu said to himself before his eyes widen. 'Pich chu pichu.' (Spoke to soon.)
Five asteroids were heading towards their dig site. These asteroids were significantly larger then the ones he knocked away. Pichu thought their size were similar to the big colorful balls Wii Fit Trainer uses in her exercises.
Upon realizing he couldn't take them out with pure strength alone, he sighed and gritted his teeth. Pichu did a high leap off the ground, following up with a double jump to land on the first meteor.
He then landed; charged his little chest with electricity-sparks dancing around his body. When he was ready to release, he zapped the boulder, making it exploded into several pieces.
Pichu twirled his form to do a back-flip, using Quick Attack to reach his second target. Just like the first asteroid, he shattered the second one using the kinetic energy of his ability.
There were only three more left, but they were getting dangerous close to the girls. If he took the rocks out one at a time, it would be too late. He'd have to destroy them in one shot.
But as luck may have it. The asteroids happen to move in a linear fashion, forming a crooked line. Seeing his chance, he generated a thundercloud from above, commanding it to discharge a lighting bolt that went through the three meteors into Pichu.
The move vaporized the rocks, to Pichu's relief. But because his own electric powers tend to hurt him whenever he used them, the mouse became stiff in pain when the bolt touched his body.
He was free falling now, heading towards the moon at fast pace; just when he was about to hit to ground. Zero Suit used the energy whip that was built into her gun to catch Pichu.
"Pichu! Can you still hear me?" Asked the bounty hunter as she reeled him in.
"Pichu pic." (Never better.) Pichu said in a daze as Samus laid the Pokémon onto her shoulder. "Pichu pic chu pic pi chu." (Did we win already?) The mouse spoke whiles his eyes were forming spirals.
"If your asking about our harvest. Rosalina said we got all the moons we need. Isn't that right?" Zero asked the space princess.
"You're correct!" She answered, using her magic to condense the moons into a ball, making it float in her hand. "We got everything we can get. We have to go to the ship and deposit these moons before it's too late!"
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's move now!" Ordered Zero Suit Samus.
The three trophies ran over to the Comet Observatory. On their way there, they could see asteroids the size of trucks heading towards the moon, seeing this, they quicken their already fast pace. Sweating and panting all the way until they reached the core, where everyone else was waiting for them.
"We gathered all the moons we could get our hands on, what do we do now?" Said Snake.
"We have to deposit our fuel into the core! Allow me to do the work." Rosalina used her magic to merge all of the moons that everyone has scavenged, into a mega moon. With the manipulation of gravity, she tossed it into the glowing sphere. Upon doing so, the red ball had quadrupled in size; its color now turned a shiny blue.
The princess had gone over to the computer, using her wand to access the controls. "We have enough fuel for takeoff! I'm going to start the ship now!"
With a flick of her wand, the engine roared to life. All of the Veterans could feel the ground vibrating under their feet. Indicating their salvation is just around the corner.
"Here we go! 3! 2! 1! LIFT OFF!" Shouted Rosalina as the ship propelled of into the sky, barely missing the large asteroid that struck the spot the ship was previous resting at.
Within a couple of seconds, the Comet Observatory glowed with power, shooting off with light-speed at the Smasher's planet. Leaving the meteor storm to bite it's dust.