Chapter 34: Crash Landing
Hey guys, back with another chapter. Let's read the responses.
Lymeryk: Hey there Crystal Brick, just wanted to share some thoughts after reading through your entire story thus far.
I'm on board for this concept. Opening with the Miis and discovering this mysterious new world through their eyes is an interesting approach, particularly when we then learn about this idea of the omniverse and how the smashers are all duplicate/alternate versions of themselves from their original worlds. I also really like how they set out on unique quests to find each of the newcomers, overcoming challenges both psychologically and physically along the way. Your original scenarios, dream sequences which hint at the Miis' backstory, creatures, and this elusive FW (whoever or whatever he/she/it turns out to be) certainly have me curious to see how it'll develop from here!
My only suggestion would be to do some revisions if possible; especially on the early chapters. Not that they're unreadable or anything, I just found them a little rough when it comes to grammar, describing action, and referring to characters by too many different nouns/pronouns. Other than that though, I don't have a criticism on the story itself because again, this whole premise and what you're doing with it is pretty cool!
Anyhow, I hope this helps! I'll be staying tuned, so carry right on!
Cheers,
Lymeryk
Well thanks Lymeryk, i'm glad you enjoy it, I saw what you meant, and i'll try to revise it when i finish this entire story. I'll keep what you said in mind.
Anyway back to the fanfic
Brawler and Gunner were frozen upon hearing Sword's revelation. The silence was finally shattered when the fist-fighter broke it. "Charging?! You mean it's storing up energy?"
"Exactly." Said Swordfighter, looking at the stone once more. "I know it's charging for a fact. Because, like I said, I felt the energy it was giving off. Right now the energy is weak, but eventually, it'll become fully charged again."
"You know all of this by just touching it?" Asked a perplexed Gunner.
"No. I…uh." Frowned the blonde, trying his best to describe the process without sounding too nonsensical. "It's the same reason why I thought playing the game would release us; it came to me…and it made sense."
"You couldn't understand that just by touch alone. Hmm… do you think that the stone was telepathically giving you information without you realizing it?"
Brawler was flabbergasted. "How the hell did you came to that conclusion?"
"I had a conversation with Mewtwo about his powers once." She respond in an unsure manner. "He told me one of his strongest psychic abilities was Telepathy; how he could transfer his thoughts and memories to others, how he could control someone's actions with only his mind. He was really strong."
"And this is related because you think the crystal is telepathic? That's quite a stretch, don't you think?"
"It's not that crazy. We've seen stuff way weirder than this."
The fist-fighter rolled his eyes and faced Swordfighter. "Do you really believe it's true?"
"I'm willing to believe anything at this point." Admitted the blonde Mii. "But I think we should be focusing on what could happen when this stone reaches maximum power."
"Can I see the stone?"
The blade-wielder gave Brawler the crystal; the orange side glowed in his hand as he observed the strange artifact. "Whenever I touch the sphere, it turns orange. Whenever Gunner touches the sphere, it turns blue. And when Sword touches it, nothing happens… I think I understand why it's charging."
"Well let's hear it out." Said Sword.
"This stone, is mostly likely a fusion between the gems we've collected over our journey: The white stone came from Sword, The blue stone came from Gunner, and the orange-red stone came from me."
"Yes, we all contributed to this… ball." Replied the shooter.
"When the sphere was fully powered, it created a prison for us, forcing one of us to play the game when Swordfighter touched it." Explained the black-haired Newcomer.
"Still can't believe it had so much energy stored up inside." Spoke the blade-wielder.
"Since the crystal is still functional, and since it doesn't react to blondey anymore. We can assume that this sphere, this mysterious treasure, will be still active for me and the shooter to touch when it's ready."
"You think the stone will be waiting for us to touch it?!" Blurted out Gunner.
"That has to be the case." Argued Brawler. "The sphere only reacts when both of us make physical contact with it. Sword already had his fair share." He gestured to himself and the girl he was pointing to.
"But… What would happen if we activate it when it's charged?"
"It'll most likely create a game for us to play; one for each of us."
"Oh, I'm not comfortable with this, we got to warn the others!" Gunner tried to grab the stone from Brawler's hand, but the fist-fighter jerked his arm away.
"What?! No! That's a stupid idea! We can't do that!" Declared Brawler.
"Why not?" Questioned Sword, raising an eyebrow as he folded his shoulders.
"We can still benefit from using the crystal ball." He said, showcasing the item he held in his hand.
"Benefit?! How-"
"All three of us have significantly different fighting styles in the art of Smashing. When you finished the game, you were suddenly granted knowledge of becoming a professional swordsman. Which resulted in you becoming a better Smasher." Explained Brawler. "I just know it in my bones, that if Gunner and I use it; she'll become a better shooter, and I'll become a better puncher.
"I admit, it does seem like a fantastic plan, but I think we should notify the rest of the Smashers before doing anything else."
"No." Said Brawler, standing his ground. "If we do that, they're just going to take it away from us. I can see it now, we'll ask why and they'll say: Oh, this is for your own good, we don't yourselves getting hurt now. Believe us, we now what we're doing. Ugh, disgusting. They would rather have us become sitting ducks rather than letting us protect ourselves? How the hell is that helping anyone?!"
"They don't want anyone else to get hurt!" Retorted Sword. "When Gunner got killed on her mission she-"
"-Got revived, got some hugs, and a god-damned juice box." Interrupted Brawler. "Don't you get it? If we can be brought back to life at a moment's notice, it makes death meaningless. They're just upset that failed in protecting their own, and now they're overreacting."
The fist-fighter took a couple of steps to the blade-wielder before continuing. "They'll get over their overprotective behavior eventually, but right now, we need to prepare ourselves for what's to come."
"And what's coming? If you don't mind me asking?" Gunner said in a polite tone.
The black-haired Mii rolled his eyes. "Things are getting more dangerous: Unstable society waiting to take over the world, fellow Newcomers and Veterans in hostile situations, and now, (Worst of all.) We go a master terrorist on the loose! He almost cause the ecological disaster of the century and helped armed that damned cyborg ant in that cyberpunk hellhole! " He faced the blonde again. "Do you see now? We got to do everything in our power to save this world, even if the others don't agree or understand what needs to be done. It'll be a shame if everything feel apart because someone didn't take the initiative. What do you say? Are you with me?"
As much as Sword didn't want to admit it; he had a point. For three weeks, he had seen tremendous threats come to fruition from within the WOT. Even if the Super Smash Brothers failed once in their mission, it could be the start of chaos. So reluctantly. He accepted. "Alright I'm in, but only because I don't see any other option."
"That's great!" Spoke the fist-fighter as he turned to the shooter. "Gunner?"
She felt awkward being in the spotlight, not sure on what to choose. "I don't know Brawler, I don't like the idea of hiding secrets from the people who took care of us. It just doesn't feel right."
"We won't hide the sphere from them forever." Brawler clarified. "After we all have a go with the gem, we'll just present this artifact to the Smashers. (Preferably Lucario or R.O.B.) We'll say we found this thing in our chest and it gave us knowledge on how to fight. Easy peasy."
"But what if-" She stopped talking when Brawler grabbed both of her hands in a quick but gentle motion.
"Gunner, please." He said a comforting tone. "Please go along with the plan. We got so much to lose in the future if we don't."
The shooter bit her lip, she didn't want to be secretive among her fellow fighter, but at the same time, she couldn't forgive herself if anything happen to them because she was weak. "Okay, I…I'm in."
"Good. Everyone's on board." Brawler said as he released her hands. "Let's keep the crystal in the chest, and hide it under one of the beds. Just to be sure no one would snoop around."
"That seems like a decent idea." Muttered Gunner.
"But hold on!" Uttered Sword. "Which bed are we going to use to-"
*CRASH!*
A loud crash could be heard throughout the entire room, followed by an intense shaking that vibrated the entire room-it only lasted for a moment.
"What the-was that an earthquake?" Asked the girl.
"It didn't feel like an earthquake." Responded Brawler.
"We need to know what's going on, let's go!" Shouted the blonde.
The fist-fighter tossed the gem in the chest and closed it with haste, to which he tailed his team out of the door to gain insight of the situation. The trio kept running until they encountered the balcony where'd some of the trophies were staring out to the distance.
"What's happened?! We'd heard a crash!" Said Sword.
"Something big fell from the sky." Answered Wario.
"Yeah its looks like a giant spaceship." Ness pointed to the distance. "It crashed pretty hard, I'm amazed it's still intact."
Looking outwards towards the fields, a spiral like object could be seen sticking out of the ground; the only sign of damage were the large amount of smoke coming off it.
"Do you think there are still people inside?" Asked Link.
"Only one way to find out." Declared Wolf as he leaped of the railing to the dirt below, still in one piece. Wario, Link, and Ness chased after him to the direction of the U.F.O.
"Should we jump on after them?" Gunner questioned nervously.
"I think it's best if we used the stairs, come on!" He shouted as the three of them went back inside. By the time the trio exited out of the mansion's front doors, they could see that a majority of the Smash Brothers had gathered around the ship. Gunner, Sword, and Brawler quickened their paste until they finally came in contact with the group, getting past everybody to get front row seats of the source of chaos.
What they saw, surprised them to no end.
A princess wearing a blue dress and a yellow star climbed out of the wreckage, she appeared quite winded from the accident.
"Princess Rosalina?!" Mario shouted in surprise.
"Mario? Why are you here?" The blonde woman was very confused; what was going on.
Accompanying the Newcomer were Snake, Lucario, Pichu, Zero Suit Samus, Pit, and Diddy Kong; All of whom were climbing out of the ship.
The solider was the first to get off, he did a wonderful front flip as he landed on the cold grass below. He let himself collapse to his knees, panting heavily as he let the air seep into his lungs.
"I need…a cigarette."
"-and there were, trying to fuel up the ship; asteroids coming downs from the heavens to smite us all. Just when everything seemed hopeless, her vehicle powered up, and we shot off straight to the WOT." Said Lucario, explaining their adventure as he was cutting up his steak with the knife.
After they interview the latest Newcomer, the Smash Brothers prepared dinner. Most of the Trophies were sitting at the dining table, enjoying a variety of foods; including Rosalina and Luma. The only fighter that wasn't present was R.O.B., still working at the lab like the workaholic that he is.
"That was a pretty intense Lucario, I'm just glad your team got out before things got ugly." Commented Pokémon Trainer as he took drink of bottled water. "That escape was pretty clean if you asked me."
"Well it wasn't completely clean." Spoke Sonic, pausing in his chewing of a chili dog. "They did crash land their spaceship in our front lawn."
"Oh that's right, how did that happen anyways?"
Snake groaned, not wanting to tell this part of the story. "The gravity pulled us in harder than we expected. We couldn't pilot the ship properly and we made a little crater into the valley. It's just a miracle no one got hurt."
"Yeah! Lady luck was on your side today. You guys were on a roll." Cheered Toon Link as he stood up in his chair.
"Toon Link, don't stand on the chair when it's dinnertime. It's rude." Zelda lectured.
"Sorry." Apologized the boy as he sat back down.
"I suppose we had a tremendous amount of luck on our mission, but we can't rely on probability alone." Reminded Zero Suit. "We have to more careful next time, perhaps we should do more training?"
"Ha!" Spat Brawler. "That's kind of ironic, since you guys banned us Newcomers from attending our sessions."
The atmosphere had soured slightly, everyone felt a bit uncomfortable to where this conversation was heading.
Lucario sighed. "Brawler-"
"Save it. I don't want to hear it." Interrupted the fist-fighter. "Arguing with you guys is like talking to a brick wall—accomplishes nothing. Hopefully when things get bad enough, everyone will come to their senses." He slurred, downing down a glass of vodka.
"Brawler, how much did you have?" Questioned Peach.
"I'm certainly not tipsy if that's what you're asking."
"I think you had enough." The princess was about to grab the bottle but he swiped it away.
"Oh no you don't!" The drunk Newcomer poured himself another drink as he stared deep into the royal's eyes, forgetting the fear she put in him two weeks ago. "You guys *HIC* took away the chance for me to improve myself. I'm not letting any of you take this too." The Mii was going to sip from the glass cup, but instead choose to drink from the bottle to the shock of the team.
"Brawler! You not supposed to consume vodka in large volumes, but that bottle down!" Warned Mewtwo.
He ignored him. "Why should I? We're immortal aren't we? We are banished from death's presence. There's no point of it all. We're here to stay, till the world rots away. With no hope of seeing the other side. What a joke! "
Mewtwo rose up from his chair. "Listen to me-"
"Whhhyyyy do ya care?" Brawler's started to speak his words slowly and sloppily; indicating that the alcohol has taken effect. "I've seeeennnn the look on yar faceeeee. Yoooouuuuuuu hhhaaaatttteeee me. Despise mmeeeeee. Want me gonnnneee. So stop the actttttttt, it's not fooliiinngggg meeeeee. I'm going to driiinkkkk the damn thinggggg tillllll thhhhhheeee end of timmmmeee; and there'ssss nothing ya caannnn-"
"I had enough to drink, I don't need anymore." Mewtwo spoke; his eyes glowing blue; raising his paw at the drunk's direction.
"I had enough to drink, I don't need anymore." Brawler said in a dull monotonous voice, giving the bottle back to Peach.
"I need to rethink my life's choices."
"I need to rethink my life's choices."
"I'm feeling very tired, I need to rest."
"I'm feeling very tired, I need to rest."
"Now sleep." Commanded Mewtwo. Brawler immediately close his eyes, breaking the silence with his loud snoring. The psychic teleported to him and used his telekinesis on the body; lifting him up from into the air.
"What did you do to him?!" Demanded Gunner.
"I push some suggestions into his mind, to make him stop. We wouldn't want him to become an angry alcoholic now would we?"
"But why-ugh, was that really necessary-" Asked Swordfighter.
"Yes, with his flaring personality, I doubt he would've give us the bottle under his free will. This was the cleanest option." Said Mewtwo. "I'm sending the drunk back to his bed, I'll be back momentary." He stated to the Smashers dining around the table; teleporting himself and the unconscious Brawler out of sight.
"Does your friend in the red shirt, do this regularly?" Rosalina questioned Gunner.
"No, that was a first. I wonder why he's acting like this. It's not like him."
"Maybe he's one of those aggressive drunks?" Suggested Sword.
"Possibly, but I doubt that's the case." Answered Rosalina, the first time she spoke after leaving the interview room.
Lucario was taking note of her aura, she was feeling sad, a common emotion that most Smashers felt when the realized their true purpose. But there was also something else…happiness? She was at peace, why?
Before Lucario could ask the princess, Luma's stomach growled, which prompted the star to frown and whine incoherently to its guardian.
"Luma? What's wrong, are you alright?" Zelda asked the cosmic-creature.
"Oh, he's just hungry is all." Rosalina carried her child in her arms, doing her best to calm it down. "I suppose you don't have any star bits, do you?"
"What is that?" Said Link.
Mario spoke first. "Sorry Princess, but we a don't any of that a stuff here on the World of a Trophies."
Rosalina frowned at this development, she wasn't devastated; just very disappointed. "If you don't have star bits at hand, I'll have to find a substitute; do you happen to have foods containing large amounts of sugar on the premises?"
"Yes, we have a plenty of desserts and candy stored somewhere in the kitchen." Marth Elaborated. "Take as much as you need."
"Thank you." Said the princess. "Now my child won't go hungry for the night. I-"
"Wait! Hold on. Did you just say that Luma eats a food called: star bits?!" Spoke Samus.
The comic blonde blinked a couple of times before replying. "Well, yes. As I said earlier, Luma mainly consumes a substance known as star bits. They're basically-"
"A stars favorite snack…Oh my god that's it! The answer we've been looking for." The woman in the metallic suit exclaimed, her words confusing the majority of the dining Smashers.
"Pika pi?"
"Answer?"
"What is she talking about?"
The trophies were murmuring with themselves, whiles Fox got out of his chair. "Come on, let's go see R.O.B." The vulpine said to the bounty hunter, prompting the two to dash into a hallway, disappearing into the shadows.
"I'm going after them" Snake whispered to his blur companion, rising off from his seat.
"I'll accompany you, just in case something happens. Excuse us, we'll be right back." The canine vocalized to the group, after which the two of them sprinted into the corridor. Perplexing the fighter's minds once more.
By the time Snake and Lucario entered R.O.B.'s domain, they saw Samus, Fox, and the Robot himself, all hunched over a computer. Oblivious to their presence.
"Mind telling me what that was all about?" Snake Asked. Gaining the attention of the three Smashers.
"I finally figured out the code for one of the boxes, specifically the white one." Replied Samus. "Remember what it said? What's a stars favorite snack? Luma consumes a food called star bits. It makes too much sense."
"I see, so you thought that was answer, and you and Fox came running down here. Right?"
"Pretty much." Said the leader of Star Fox.
"Well, as much as I'm glad that we've might have finally found the code, I'm a bit weary how this FW would character, knows what Luma eats. There was no evidence of Rosalina's and Luma's existence in the WOT until today." Explained Lucario, feeling unnerved slightly.
"[Not necessarily.]" Interrupted R.O.B. "[It's not much, but there are some things in this realm that references Rosalina and Luma directly. Like her ship for example, floating in the void of space for god knows how long. Or the fact we have two games that features her somewhere in the game room. I believe they were called: Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 respectively.]"
"But how would he find out though? The ship would have been too far away to be seen from the planet, and we would've have noticed a break-in the game room. Either one of those possibilities seem very unlikely."
"Maybe the answer to that question is inside the computer." Commented Samus.
"You really we should input the code?" Said Snake.
"We got nothing else to go on, this is the only thing that could lead us to FW. Besides, Zelda and R.O.B. did their scans on this computer with magic and data mining respectively. There is nothing dangerous about the program."
The solider moaned. "Fine, just enter it already, hopefully there is something of worth inside the files."
Samus turned her head towards the screen, pressing the enter key on the keyboard. Almost immediately, the screen started to glitch out; displaying distorted pixels and negative colors on the screen.
"What the hell!" Shouted Snake, voicing the popular opinion of what the other Smashers were thinking about. They certainly did not expect this.
A stream of 0's and 1's beamed out of the glass of the monitor, glowing a lively green that lit up the surrounding area. The numbers were gathering near a spot near the computer-right beside the mouse.
The code was converging into a shape that was long and slender, with a sharp spike on the end. When it stopped glowing, it was revealed that the digital energy had transform into…a pencil.
When the writing implement appeared, the screen ceased its malfunctions and went back to normal, starting back at the desktop. The fighter's jaws were dropped, shocked to see this spectacle take place in their line of work. The walls of silence was shook when the vulpine decided to speak. Beginning with an awkward comment.
"Well…um…Out of anything I could have imagined, I didn't expect that to happen."