After two incredibly long chapters, we finally get one that isn't too long for once!

Enjoy! ;)


Chapter 7: The Seafloor Palace

[BGM: Elysium in the Dream – Xenoblade Chronicles 2]

Trifle was sitting in the living room all by himself, since the rest of the gang was at one of the guest rooms tending to Eight and Zelda's injuries. However, Trifle had a saddened look on his face due to how horrible his cousin's injury was and the action she did to him previously, as that made him remember something similar happening to her back when they were kids.


Flashback…

"Hee hee hee! Can't catch me, Trifle!" Young Zelda taunted, running through a field filled with flowers while being chased by Young Trifle.

"Oh, I sure will!" Young Trifle smirked, as Young Zelda looked back at him while playfully sticking her tongue out.

Unfortunately, by doing that, Young Zelda couldn't see what was in front of her as she suddenly tripped on a log. "Eep!" she yelped and fell face-first to the ground… while accidentally pricking her right palm into a sharp rock hidden among the flowers. "OOOW!" she yelled in pain.

Young Trifle immediately gasped. "Zelda!" he rushed over to her. "Zelda, are you okay?!"

Young Zelda began to cry in pain. "N-No…" she teared up before wincing.

"What happened?"

"I…I… I d-don't want t-to sh-show it…"

"Why not?! I need to see what it is even if it's bad or not!" Young Trifle demanded.

Looking defeated, Young Zelda slowly lifts her bloody palm that she hid it from Young Trifle, earning a horrified gasp from him as he saw blood dripping down her hand.

"Th-That pointy rock d-did this…" Young Zelda blubbered, pointing at the sharp rock. "Ow… I-It hurts, Trifle!"

"Zelda…" Young Trifle frowned sympathetically and took Young Zelda's arm to drag her to the log she tripped on, and made her sit down on it. He then sat down next to her, pulled her hand with the injury to right below his chest level so he was looking down directly at the wound, and took out a piece of white cloth from his pocket. "Here…" he wrapped the cloth around the wound, as some of the blood was being absorbed by the cloth.

"Th-that didn't help at all…" Young Zelda sobbed. "It s-still hurts…"

"I know, but at least your wound is covered up until we can get you patched up." Young Trifle said with a smile.

"Trifle…" Young Zelda whispered, looking at her covered palm for a bit… and then she threw herself towards Young Trifle for a hug, surprising him by this sudden action. "Th-thank you…"

Young Trifle smiled softly in return, and hugged her back. "Anytime, my little cousin."

End of Flashback


Trifle sighed after that flashback played in his head, feeling awful that something so similar happened again to his cousin. There's no doubt that his concern and worry for her is intense, not unlike his Heroic BSoD that he underwent back at his first journey in space due to Zelda being kidnapped. He just hoped that something even worse than that would never happen to her sometime in the future.

[BGM End]


Later…

By this point after the timeskip, Eight and Zelda were already feeling better due to Jewel and her three Bodyguards healing them with the Healing Garnet and Fullheal spells respectively. This resulted in Eight no longer feeling pain in his crotch and a scar being left behind in Zelda's right palm, just like the scar left on Melia's left thigh after Arusu healed her.

Then, after the Loyal Bodyguards got their magic supply back to full by drinking each an Elfin Elixir from their item bags, the gang was ready to set off. Thus, they grabbed their weapons and Palutena opened the gates after giving the Magic Wings to the group.

"Duty calls! And we answer!" Pit said as he and the group jumped out of the gates.

[BGM: The Seafloor Palace – Kid Icarus Uprising]

Outside, they found themselves flying above the clouds over some sand dunes. "Ugh, are we really flying over a desert?" Arusu groaned.

"Yep, we are." Solo nodded.

"I just hope it won't be as hot as the deserts back in Mario's world…" Eleven hoped as they began diving through the clouds and opening fire at some Monoeyes, where Palutena proceeded to instruct them:

"We need to refocus our efforts on Medusa, so today's target is Tanatos, god of death."

"Tanatos?! You mean THE Tanatos?!" Pit asked, as they all arrived at the desert area after fully diving through the clouds.

"Wait, isn't it spelled 'Thanatos'?" Jewel raised an eyebrow. "You know, the personification of death?"

"No, I'm pretty sure is Tanatos. Also, he's a GOD of death, not a personification." Palutena corrected. "Is this another thing of your 'Greek Mythology' stuff?"

"…Yes…" Jewel muttered. "And I know… you never heard of it…" she rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Um, anyways…" Eight quickly interjected in order to change the subject. "Who's this Tanatos?"

"Ah, right." Palutena cleaned her throat before saying, "Back in the '80s, Tanatos took the form of a snake on Medusa's head. He's quite the chameleon, you see, and that was his 'look' back then."

"Great fashion sense, I guess." Trifle said with a shrug. "But as god of death, he must be a big deal in the Underworld Army for sure."

"Indeed. He possesses a key to the Underworld, and he's leading Medusa's invasion of the sea."

"So we'll be fighting his forces in the sea? How are we supposed to do that?" Pit asked.

"Just use your gills. Tell me, everyone, how are you with branchial respiration?"

"Oh, no worries. I minored in branchial respiration."

Everyone else glanced at Pit with utterly befuddled looks. "Pit… You do realize that we DON'T EVEN HAVE GILLS, RIGHT?!" Arusu yelled at the last sentence in order to knock some reality sense into the angel.

"WAIT…" Pit blinked, as that reality sense knocking seemed to have worked almost instantly and he shouted at Palutena, "OH, YEAH! YOU'RE CRAZY!"

"OK, just hold your breaths then. For about two hours." Palutena replied.

"TWO HOURS?!" the group yelled.

"I SAID YOU'RE CRAZY!" Pit yelled.

Eleven sighed. "At times like this, I wish we had Penguin Suits…"

"Or even Mer Shells." Eight added.

Shooting their way through many Underworld forces, the gang could eventually smell the salty air coming from the nearing sea. "Ahhh, I can smell the ocean." Pit smiled after taking a deep breath.

"We're heading to Tanatos's base, the Seafloor Palace." Palutena said as the gang flew up a dune, where they could get a clear view of the massive sea up ahead.

"It's so massive…" Shulk awed, before blasting at two Octos.

"Hey, uh… You were kidding about holding our breaths, right?" Pit cautiously asked Palutena.

"Watch and learn, pupils. Witness the true power of the goddess of light!" Palutena exclaimed as the gang stopped in front of the ocean. "Ready, set… Dum da da daaah~!"

Then, right before the gang's very eyes, the ocean suddenly began to part, Moses-style, forming a passage in the middle.

"Whoa ho ho ho hoooaaa!" Pit shouted in amazement, as the group all had the same reaction. "You've outdone yourself, Lady Palutena!"

"Next stop: the Seafloor Palace!" Palutena announced, and the gang instantly began to fly into the passage, taking down more Underworld monsters while also marveling at the sight of the massive stationary walls of water on both their sides.

"This is amazing!" Zelda beamed, shooting arrows at a few Komaytos.

"You said it!" Pit chimed in before addressing Palutena, "This is just one more bullet point on your already-impressive resume!"

"Heh heh! What can I say? I'm an overachiever." Palutena said proudly.

However, Jewel was the only one not buying this. "I don't know about that…" she mused as the others looked at her. "I mean, even though Palutena is quite a powerful goddess, there's no way her powers could extend to the point of being able to split the sea apart!"

"And who do you think could have done this then, Jewel?" Eight asked.

Jewel placed a finger on her chin. "Well, it could possibly be-…"

"Ho, now! Just one second there, lassies!" an elderly voice suddenly rang in, interrupting Jewel.

"Huh?" Pit wondered, he and the others looking around to find the source of the voice.

"Oh, heh heh…" Palutena chuckled sheepishly. "Lord Poseidon!"

"Tsk, tsk, Palutena. Lies don't become a lady." Poseidon chided, as a large projection of him appeared in the sky so the gang could see how he looked like.

"I'm sorry. But can't a goddess have a little fun?"

"…Ah, yes! Poseidon! The god of the sea!" Jewel quipped, doing a side punch to her palm. "Honestly, that was the first thing that just came into my mind before I could say it to you all!"

Hearing this, Poseidon looked down at Jewel with his eyes and eyebrows perked up in interest. "Hmmm?" he began. "How curious… That little human seems to know something about me somehow. How come?"

"Oh, um… H-Hi there, Lord Poseidon!" Jewel waved nervously at him. "I know about you from Greek Mythology that my real-life persona told me! Surely you have heard of it! …Right?"

"…Nope, never heard about it."

Jewel blinked incredulously by that response… and then her fists clenched in anger. "Y-You…" she then yelled out loud, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

"Woah! Calm down, my beloved!" Trifle jolted, flying closer to Jewel and placing his hand on her shoulder. "There, there, just take a deep breath." Jewel did it so, and calmed down in an instant.

"Was it something I said…?" Poseidon wondered.

"Uh, sorry… My girlfriend over here tends to get all…fumed up wherever anybody in this world doesn't seem to know about this Greek Mythology thing." Trifle apologized sheepishly.

"Oh, I see it now."

"Wait, so anyways…" Pit changed the subject. "That sea-parting business was…?"

"'Twas obviously my doing, silly boy."

"To pull off an attack on the Seafloor Palace, I went to the sea god himself." Palutena explained.

"It all makes sense now." Melia said.

"I wouldn't allow anyone else to part my ocean!" Poseidon stated. "In fact, I've half a mind to put it back together!"

Pit's eyes widened in horror. "No! Please don't do that!" he pleaded.

After shooting dozens of Octos and Gyrazers along the way, the gang came upon a very deep waterfall crevice leading deeper into the ocean. "We're going deeper now." Palutena let them know, and they all flew down into the deep, passing by several cavernous locations and ruins on the way down.

"Despite your mischievous ways, you should know you have my full support." Poseidon said.

"'Mischievous'?" the gang thought, raising an eyebrow.

"Much obliged, Lord Poseidon." Palutena thanked.

"It was bad enough when the dark forces were contained in the Underworld." Poseidon said, as the gang soon made it into a surprisingly pretty-looking crystal cave as they proceeded to shoot more enemies in it. "But extending their reach to the sea and land is completely unacceptable. As the goddess of light, it falls on to you to destroy them. I have faith that you will."

"You have my word."

"Uh, and ours too!" Pit added.

Next off, the gang got out of the cave and were now flying through what was apparently the ruins of an abandoned city. "I guess this used to be a city?" Eleven guessed, unleashing a Swoosh spell to defeat a group of Zurees.

"Yes, but I sunk it long ago." Poseidon replied.

Eleven blinked in surprise. "…You sunk it?!"

"That's a bit…extreme." Palutena trailed.

"Humans consist of equal parts hubris, envy, and deceit. Sometimes one has to put them in their place." Poseidon said.

Trifle seemed a bit ticked off by that. "Not ALL humans are like that, you know…" he grumbled.

"Besides, you DO realize you have humans along with Pit who are going to put a stop to the Underworld Army, right?" Palutena threw in.

Poseidon smirked. "I did say 'sometimes', didn't I? Even I know that some humans aren't that bad."

"Ah, good." Trifle smiled. "You've earned my respect for real now, Lord Poseidon."

As the gang flew further while dealing with some more enemies, they soon came across a lovely bed of coral. "This coral is sooo beautiful!" Zelda gushed.

"True, but don't forget the old saying that every coral has its thorn." Palutena warned.

"Don't you mean roses?" Solo tilted his head, fully knowing that the old saying is actually 'every rose has its thorn'.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're thinking of those." Pit threw in.

"And I'M pretty sure I'm thinking of coral." Palutena replied as they flew out of the coral bed, and were now onto the bottom of the ocean. "We've arrived at the ocean floor. Only a little longer until we reach the palace! From there, we'll defeat Tanatos and take his key to the Underworld."

"Roger that!" Shulk exclaimed, unleashing Monado Cyclone to destroy a mob of Underworld monsters around them as they flew even further, until they finally came across a large structure in the distance.

"Look." Palutena pointed.

"So that's the Seafloor Palace." Eight said.

"Huh, I thought it'd be covered in barnacles and kelp, but it's actually very nice." Pit remarked as they flew around it upon being close enough.

"I'll be closing the sea now." Poseidon interfered. "It should wipe out any Underworld stragglers."

"Just give us one more moment." Palutena said.

"Please! We're not wearing life vests!" Pit begged, and then they all flew into the palace just as the sea was starting to slowly close up around them.

[BGM End]


[BGM: At the Seafloor Palace – Kid Icarus Uprising]

"The sea is closed now." Palutena informed once everyone got in the palace.

"My work here is finished. Good luck, you all!" Poseidon blessed and left.

"Thanks for your help!" Zelda thanked.

Then, everyone took a moment to observe their surroundings in this palace; its great halls highly resembled a massive underwater aquarium, with some ancient-themed structures and clean floor tiles. As the gang proceeded to take out a nearby Wave Angler, Zurret and Snowman, a goofy-sounding voice soon rang in:

"Oh, goody – guests! Protecting an impregnable fortress can get awfully lonely."

Everyone blinked. "Was that…?" Shulk wondered.

"Is that you, Tanatos?" Palutena asked.

"Actually, I go by Thanatos now. The extra H is for…HAMAZING~!"

"…WHAT." was all Arusu could say after a brief moment of silence, summing up basically everyone's reactions right now as they never expected the god of death himself to have this sort of personality.

"…Have we met before?" Pit questioned dumbfounded.

"I'm wounded, truly I am." Thanatos replied with a fake sob. "I know it's been awhile, but surely you haven't forgotten your old foe?"

"Sorry… There are just so many foes and only one of me."

"You know we've crushed Medusa's other commanders, Thanatos. Just give us the key to the Underworld, and we won't be forced to harm you." Palutena threatened.

"Hoo hoo hoo! Impatient as always, I see!" Thanatos laughed, either unfazed by or completely ignoring Palutena's threat. "But since you've come all this way… Wouldn't you like to stay and catch up for a bit? Oh, pretty please?"

"So you're not going to give up the key."

"No need to get all huffy now. I'll have you know that I much prefer honey to vinegar. And I prefer witty repartee to any condiment!"

"…What kind of conversation was that?" Trifle questioned as they went up the stairs, arriving in a room with a few Wave Anglers, a Gyrazer, two jars spawning Shemums, and a harmless Treasurefish.

"I know, right?" Melia threw in, shooting at the Wave Anglers. "This is getting nowhere. Our goal here is to track down Medusa, right?"

"Yes. Thanatos is basically Medusa's right-hand man." Palutena replied. "That's why he has the only key to the Underworld."

"I have no such thing! None whatsoever!" Thanatos denied. "Honestly. HONESTLY."

"…How did THIS guy get to be Medusa's second in command?" Eight questioned.

"Beats me. Seniority?" Palutena shrugged.

"Helloooo? It's rude to exclude!" Thanatos exclaimed.

"Okay, if Thanatos won't give up the key, then we'll just have to take it from him." Jewel settled, wailing on an Armin that just spawned shortly after.

"The longer we wait, the more we have to lose. We need to strike soon." Palutena said. "We only have a little way to go, so buckle down."

"We're buckled and ready!" Pit proclaimed.

"Yoo hoo! Can you hear me? I'd like to be a part of this conversation please!" Thanatos interjected.

"Shut it already!"

"Me? But you and the others have been talking this whole fanfic!"

"Well, at LEAST we aren't annoying!" Trifle retorted.

After dealing with this ambush, the gang walked into the next hall and three grind rails appeared. "The grind rails run parallel to each other, so you can switch between them." Palutena instructed as they hopped on them. "Stay focused on what's coming up!"

The gang grinded their way through the tunnel, dodging electric orbs and shooting at a few Shrips and Monoeyes as they did. But as they were nearing the end of the road, they could see a hole up ahead.

"Wait! Is that a hole up there?!" Pit asked.

"Uh-oh!" Palutena exclaimed as they all fell in… and while most of them landed perfectly on their feet… Pit and Eight landed on their faces instead.

"Ooof!" they yelled.

"Ouch…" Palutena winced along with the others. "Everything OK, you two?"

"Yeah, it just surprised us." Eight replied as he and Pit got up, and then they were all immediately ambushed by a few Octos and a Shelbo.

"There are more holes in the floor around you, so be careful. It makes us all look bad when you fall. Oh, and it hurts too."

The gang then eliminated the enemies in the room while making sure not to fall in any of the holes, and after that was taken care of, they proceeded onward to a small elevator… which took them back to where they started.

"Wait, weren't we here already?" Eleven wondered.

"Yes, but there's good news! A new path has appeared." Palutena replied. "Follow it to move forward."

With that, they ran along the new path and got through a door…where they began to notice that it was getting colder. Because of that, there's one particular member of the gang that refused to step into the next room (which I'm pretty sure you all know who) while the rest went in… only to slip and fall on their butts to the floor. The reason? The floor was completely covered in ice, hence why this room was cold.

"Whoa!" Pit nearly lost his balance again while he was getting up. "It's slippery!"

"Hoo hoo! Isn't ice skating just delightful?" Thanatos chuckled.

"I wish MY domain had a skating rink." Palutena said, a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"Yeah, it's really…great." Pit replied sheepishly. But then, once they finished taking out the Snowmen roaming this chilly room, it was at this moment that Palutena noticed that someone among the gang was missing:

"Hold on… Where is Eight?"

By hearing this, Jewel, Trifle, Zelda, Shulk, Eleven, Arusu and Solo's eyes widened in alarm, as they knew exactly why Eight was not with them. They immediately darted their eyes to the room's entrance as Pit and Melia followed suit… where they saw a flustered Eight shivering both from the cold and in fear, looking down at the icy floor as if it was lava.

"Uhh… Why is Eight still over there?" Pit asked.

"And why is he looking so scared?" Melia added.

The group who knew about Eight's fear exchanged glances and nodded, before Solo decided to answer for them, "Well, that's because…" he paused for a bit before eventually saying, "…Eight is deathly afraid of the cold."

Pit, Palutena and Melia were surprised. "What…?!" Melia whispered.

"Yep…" Eleven nodded.

"Oh dear… I wonder if Eight was always afraid of the cold ever since?" Palutena wondered.

"Actually, he wasn't." Jewel shook her head. "He gained this fear just recently. We'll tell you how once we're done here."

"Alright, but… How are we going to get Eight to join up with us without making him traverse this room?" Pit wondered.

"Don't worry, I got an idea." Zelda replied. "Just get to the other side of the room the rest of you, okay?"

They complied, and then Zelda made her way back to Eight carefully due to the slippery ice. Once she got to him, she casted Farore's Wind to teleport him and herself to the other side of the room where the others awaited.

"There we go!" Zelda winked.

Eight blinked a bit, letting the realization of him being on the other side of the room without having to traverse it hit him, and then he sighed in relief. "Thanks a lot, Zelda."

"Anytime." Zelda nodded, and with that, they went on their way as the temperature thankfully returned to normal again and came upon an elevator.

"An elevator! Well, that's convenient." Pit remarked as they started going up.

"Going up." Palutena said… and after a few seconds, "Now approaching…the second floor." she talked like a computer-generated voice.

"This play-by-play really isn't necessary." Pit grumbled, as a few Handoras landed on the elevator but they were quickly taken care of.

"Now approaching…the third floor." Thanatos played along… only to be met by complete silence. "Are you all ignoring me?"

"No, we're clearly paying attention to you." Arusu said sarcastically while rolling his eyes, before yelling in exasperation, "WHAT DO YOU THINK?!"

Everyone stepped out of the elevator once it stopped at the third floor, heading into a room inhabited by two Snowmen and a Frozum. Eight easily melted the Snowmen away by inflicting the burn ailment on them after shooting from his palm, while Melia launched a Flare Impulse along with Eleven, Arusu and Solo firing a Kafrizz each at the Frozum to also melt it away and open the way to the next room.

There, they first took out a Shelbo before moving along the way, and as they did, the Loyal Bodyguards spotted a treasure chest on the corner as they went over to it while the rest went on ahead. But when they tried to open the chest… it suddenly sprouted feminine legs.

"What the hell?!" Arusu exclaimed.

"Hoo hoo! You just met a Mimicutie!" Thanatos chortled in amusement. "Now watch as its beautiful legs destroy the likes of you!"

"Thaaaat's not creepy at all!" Eight exclaimed, clearly disturbed by that as the Mimicutie proceeded to unleash rapid-fire kicks at them, but they blocked said kicks with their shields.

"It's like a Mimic… but way more disturbing." Eleven trailed. "Now all it remains is for it to have access to Whack spells…"

"Well, this isn't our world, so we're probably fine." Solo reassured as they eventually managed to destroy the Mimicutie and kept going as they saw another treasure chest at the end… only for them to fall into a trap door.

"WAH!" they yelled, landing back in the main room… which just so happens to be where the others were standing right now.

"Oh there you are, my Bodyguards!" Jewel exclaimed. "Got sidetracked a bit?"

"Yeah… And it was not worth it." Arusu grumbled as they got back up.

"Just your run-of-the mill trap door." Palutena spoke up. "Shake it off and keep moving."

Sure enough; there was a passage just right in front of everyone as they went there, taking a left turn to reach a room with narrow walkways and electric orbs traversing them. Eventually, they next went to a darkened room where a Vakloom and two Octos suddenly showed up.

"See that mollusk-like enemy? It's called a Vakloom." Palutena told them.

"So what's its deal?" Shulk asked.

"It absorbs the energy of ranged shots and then fires it back at you as a laser. Until it fires at you, though, it remains protected by an armored shell."

"Well, if it's hungry for shots, the only thing to do is shoot it." Pit said. "I'll get it out of that shell any way I have to!" and then he repeatedly shot the Vakloom with arrows, avoiding its laser afterwards and then finished it off by swinging his Upperdash Arm at it.

Meanwhile, the group was dealing with several Zaks being controlled by a single Zik, and after those were taken care of, the gang noticed that a large panel on the floor was lit up. "What's this?" Melia wondered.

"Looks like a moving platform." Palutena replied as they all stepped on it and it began moving up. "Stay on it." the platform then took them to a curved room filled with many walls and icy winds on the way, as the gang proceeded to move away from the former and jump above the latter during the ride.

"Let me jazz things up for you a smidge." Thanatos said. "We do have to keep things interesting! Hoo hoo hoo! Keep on trooping, little troopers!"

"I'm curious about something, Thanatos."

"Yeeees?"

"You are the god of death, are you not? And if the Underworld is the land of the dead, why don't you outrank Medusa?"

"I'm not really interested in climbing the corporate ladder. You wouldn't believe the amount of overtime you have to put in. Plus, that sort of strict hierarchy isn't the Underworld style."

"You're avoiding my question." Palutena could tell that there was more to this than what Thanatos was saying.

"Yeah, something's really fishy about this…" Jewel mused suspiciously. "And it might be because..." she thought.

"What was that? You seem to be cutting out!" Thanatos replied. "La la laaaaa la! I can't heeeear you!"

Everyone blinked. "It's hard to get a good read on him… I can't tell if he's weird or just dim." Solo remarked.

"A-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa!"

"What is WITH this guy!?" Arusu questioned in annoyance while firing at a Bluster.

"Out thoughts exactly!" Trifle threw in.

After making through the obstacle course, the gang used a warp to transport themselves back to the room where they fell into a trapdoor before, as they then took the nearby elevator to go up and head into a room that appears to be a grand hall, with marble columns lining it.

"Thanatos should be in the next room over." Palutena informed.

"Oh, goody! Hoo hoo hoo! Then do let us get to the fisticuffing!" Pit exclaimed, imitating Thanatos's voice.

This got a good snicker from the group. "Okay… THAT was a top-notch Thanatos impression there, Pit." Trifle said in between snickers.

Pit couldn't help but chuckle in response. "Glad I could brighten my friends' day."

Just then, the whole room was filled with enemies: those being Shemums, Zik & Zaks, a Skuttler Cannoneer, a Stackjaw, a Bumbledrop, a Shelbo, a Snowman, a Frozum, and a Mega Mussel. One by one, the gang split up to deal with each of the enemies.

Jewel slashed through the Shemums, while Trifle went after the Zik to destroy it to sever its telepathic communication with its Zaks before the prince got to work on them next. Zelda fired arrows at the Skuttler Cannoneer before quickly dodging the Stackjaw's laser as Pit and Arusu were wailing on it, while Shulk avoided the Bumbledrop's charge before firing a clean charged shot at it and finishing it off with Monado Purge. Solo stood a good distance away from the Shelbo as it was trying to suck him to it while he was shooting it repeatedly on the eye. Next to him, Melia was shooting at the Snowman after adding the flare element to her orbitars, while Eight quickly fired a charged shot at the Frozum to melt it with the burn ailment before it could even attack, and finally, Eleven channeled his Luminary powers to his club to fire even more powerful shots from it at the Mega Mussel until it was defeated.

Once all the enemies were dealt with, the way to Thanatos's room opened up, and after downing some Drinks of the Gods, the gang rushed in to finally confront the god of death.

[BGM End]


The room was large with glass windows surrounding it and at the other end of it was a large throne, where Thanatos himself floated down right in front of it in a relaxed pose.

"Oooah! I must have dozed off there. Hooah. Waiting around is such exhausting work!" he said.

"Heroes always arrive late on the scene!" Pit proclaimed, striking a battle pose along with the others.

[BGM: Boss Fight 1 – Kid Icarus Uprising]

"Thanatos is a skilled chameleon." Palutena said. "Don't be surprised if he changes into a spider or scorpion or cockroach or tick… Or a moth or lizard or leech or tapeworm or centipede or bat or snake or…cat."

"Was that overly long list really necessary?" Trifle questioned with a deadpan expression, as everyone proceeded to fire at Thanatos while dodging his energy beams.

"And did most of its listings HAD to be bugs?!" Melia complained in disgust, using Starlight Kick to kick Thanatos in the gut.

"But a cat…would be kind of cute, right?" Pit asked sheepishly.

"That…depends." Shulk trailed. "It could be the stuff of nightmares." this led Pit to pale up.

"Oh, no thank you!" he exclaimed frantically, before dodging a skull-shaped blast of dark energy that Thanatos fired at him.

"I'm tempted to reach for my book of snappy comebacks, but…" Thanatos began. "Maybe I should just show you? And a one, and a two… And a ONE, TWO, THREEE!" a puff of smoke surrounded him, as he suddenly morphed into a large sword that highly resembled Magnus's blade while being surrounded by an array of spears. "Slicety sliiiice~! Dicety diiiice~! Stabbity stab stab stab stab~!" he sang.

"Geez! No need to sound so gleeful!" Eight sweatdropped, as they dodged the spears while Eleven pulled out his greatsword and first parried a slash from Thanatos before delivering an Unbridled Blade right back at him.

Thanatos was knocked a good distance away as he decided to morph into something else, this time into a large bat. "Keee keee!" he shrieked.

"That's not even what a bat sounds like!" Solo said.

"Woop woop woop woop woop!"

"And neither is that!" Arusu retorted. "This is getting really annoying really fast!" he fired a charged shot from his blade at Thanatos, only for him to disperse into a swarm of bats that charged towards the gang as they avoided, and then they waited until the bats re-coalesced back into the large bat where they opened fire at it nigh immediately.

After that, Thanatos changed form again, now becoming a large floating urn. With a yawn, Thanatos lazily said, "I'm just going to catch a few z's here. By the way, your attacks are useless." and as he said that last sentence, it proved to be true since all of the shots the gang threw at him just bounced off the urn harmlessly.

"Well, he wasn't wrong!" Shulk remarked.

"There must be some way to hurt him." Melia stated, as they watched Thanatos dropping out several skulls from the urn's opening at them.

"Why don't you try hitting those skulls back at him?" Palutena suggested, and taking her advice, Pit took out his Guardian Orbitars to reflect some of the skulls back at the urn as Melia, Zelda and the Loyal Bodyguards joined in by casting Reflection, Nayru's Love and Bounce respectively, and with that, all of the skulls were knocked back at Thanatos and he was forced to change form again, that one being a large doll of himself.

"What's this?!" Eleven asked.

"It looks like he turned into a doll." Palutena replied as the gang noticed a peculiar red spot in front of the doll, and so they proceeded to shoot it nonstop until the doll suddenly opened up to reveal a smaller one.

"There's something inside of the doll!" Zelda exclaimed.

"Wait… Inside Thanatos…is a mini Thanatos?" Palutena asked. "I wonder if they sell these in the gift shop."

"…Now I see! That's a matryoshka doll he turned into!" Jewel grinned as they repeated the process of firing at the red spot on each smaller and smaller doll that would pop out… until an incredibly tiny Thanatos in his normal form came out from the last doll. "Ah ha! There he is!"

Due to being tiny, Thanatos was easily knocked around the room by the gang's melee blows as he quickly morphed into yet another form, that being… a giant foot.

"…You're kidding me, right? A foot?" Trifle questioned incredulously.

"Really, how much harm could-"

"Ever heard of athlete's foot?!" Thanatos asked, cutting off Palutena as he began to rise up higher into the air.

Pit paled up, knowing exactly what's coming. "Uh oh! Run!" he shouted and everyone complied, dodging Thanatos's powerful stomps while shooting him repeatedly until Thanatos was forced out of his final transformation and was back to his normal self.

Thanatos then proceeded to fire a barrage of bats from the branches of his shoulders, but the gang managed to overtake him as Melia used Shadow Stitch to bind him in place, and then Jewel ran over to Thanatos and slashed through him, as he let out a painful cry of defeat.

[BGM End]

"Crushing victory!" Jewel declared.

"Crushing defeat!" Thanatos cried, and then he suddenly inflated like a balloon before exploding into a mass of dark flames. "Fareweeeeell!" he yelled and disappeared, leaving behind a pink gem with the logo of the Underworld Army printed inside of it as it fell to the ground.

"Pick up that gem, Pit." Palutena said as Pit did it so, he and the others inspecting it. "This is our key to the Underworld."

"And I just have…to hold it?" Pit wondered.

"More or less. But first, we have to get you geared up for the final battle." Palutena then extracted everyone out.

To be continued…


Hmm... Is it really going to be that easy? Are our heroes actually going to the Underworld or are they going somewhere else next time? Find out in the next chapter!