The cool breeze of the summer winds blew across a large field teeming with butterflies and wildflowers. The sun was partially blanketed by thin clouds in the air, and a young moose led her two calves to a part of the meadow where they could graze on the vivid grass. Just then, the small family of moose was scared off by the hooves of a horse galloping across the field. Link was shown in his Champion's Tunic attire, riding on a saddled horse and taking in the fresh air of a wilderness-reclaimed Hyrule. The horse he was riding on neighed valiantly as she carried her master towards the large, ruined castle in the distance, which lacked the glow of malice that stung its walls for a hundred years.
Link continued riding his horse into the town surrounding the palace, tying the reins of the horse's bridle to an overhanging branch from a nearby oak tree that grew in the broken central fountain. When the horse hesitated, Link got off the saddle and stroked the horse's mane, calming her down.
"Epona, it's okay," Link hushed, gently rubbing his hand on her forehead. "I'll be gone for a while. The Zelda of this timeline wants to speak with me. You be a good girl and wait until I get back, okay?" The horse snorted, starting to feel safer when she knew her rider was going to be fine. The Champion of Hyrule walked towards the abandoned castle, looking at all the Guardians which were supposed to be protecting the place appear as though they have shut down. Link knew even though it had been ages ever since he rescued Hyrule from evil in another realm to everyone else it was just an hour ago in this one.
Plus, he could have stayed in the timeline where he saved the land from the corrupted Twilight Realm, but then again it was the same old, same old. Why did he choose to stay in another timeline? Why did the fighters he know that live in the same land choose to stay in the timelines they were most comfortable in? He knew that he, Zelda, and Ganondorf all came from the same timeline, but they chose to live in different eras of the reincarnations of the Triforce: Link in the reality where he woke up as an amnesiac after a century of calamity, Zelda in a timeline where the Hero of Time was defeated, and Ganondorf during the Hero of Time's era. Before, all three of them lived in the timeline of the Twilight Realm, and each of them knew it never felt the same without them. But that didn't matter now. All that mattered was meeting up with the Zelda of this alternate reality.
He climbed up the stone stairs to a point in the palace where he would meet the one he sought, shielding his eyes from the rising sun as he made his way up. Soon enough, he managed to find the Zelda he sought, who had vibrant blond hair braided into a crown on her forehead and a white gown covering bare feet.
"Link… I had been patient for your arrival," Zelda spoke in a British voice. During this time, Link remained silent for his interactions with the princess, knowing what she had to say was far more important than the words coming out of his mouth.
"After one hundred years, you had finally smitten the beast which I had been keeping at bay: The Calamity Ganon," the alternate version of Zelda continued. "And for this, my eternal gratitude to you is faithful as always. Though… I had been thinking. Just recently, I had received a letter with a strange emblem embedded on it. Perhaps you would like to give it a read?" Link approached the princess, noticing that in her hands she held a mysterious letter with red wax in the appearance of a Smash Ball. Knowing what this letter meant, the Champion of Hyrule snatched it from the princess's hands once she gave it to him. The Champion of Hyrule opened up the letter, noticing that there was a strange letter within the envelope. It read as followed…
Dear Link, the Champion of Hyrule,
We have been eager to announce your re-arrival to Arcus, where we will be visiting different worlds and learning about the conflicts from other worlds. Would you like to visit the planet now? You can head back to your corner of the multiverse whenever you like, as long as you remember its appearance.
Sincerely,
The Super Smash Brothers
P.S.,
Just press the word "return" in this sentence and you'll be on your way.
After reading the letter, Link looked at the Zelda of this timeline, knowing he might have more duties to attend to in Hyrule. However, the princess responded with an honest opinion.
"Whatever is going on in another realm seems far more important to you than it is to me," she spoke gently. "I will attend to this place on my own. Hope I will meet you again in another timeline, alright?" Link took a good look at the letter, pressing his finger against the word "return", which was marked in red different from the others that were written in black ink. A bright light enveloped the Champion of Hyrule, and it was different from the Sheikah Shrines he used to warp around Hyrule. Link vanished in a flash of light, disappearing in front of the timeline's Zelda in front of her eyes.
Cloud Strife laid out on his bed, letting the faint sunlight from the curtain-covered window soak up in his regular clothes, which were mainly a tank top and shorts with woolen socks compared to his SOLDIER attire. He sighed as he began to remember the planet he was trapped in, on how it all happened. The fact that he was among so many fighters that did not remember a war going on the World of Trophies until ten years later, and even then, he was already prepared after receiving some sort of false vision from the fact that they knew too much. Cut to ten years later, and he joined the crew upon realizing there was something greater than him, and he also took into consideration that he was held captive for ten more.
"I wonder how well they're holding up back at their places," Cloud thought. "Miss them every day." Just then, another person walked into the room. She had dark brown hair, a white tank top, and tight pants that held all her equipment. In her hands, she held some sort of envelop.
"Tifa… What are you doing here?" Cloud asked the woman sitting down on his bed.
"I… just wanted to let you know there's this letter that was mailed to you," Tifa Lockhart answered, giving her childhood friend the letter. "It said it was from a 'Smash World?'" Cloud Drive held the letter in his hands, noticing that it looked more of an invitation considering it had red wax with the emblem of the Smash Ball, just like Link's invitation.
Cloud opened the letter, and it read the same message that Link received except it had addressed Cloud Strife as the 1st-class SOLDIER.
"I suggest you should get dressed, wherever you're going," Tifa spoke. "It looks like wherever you're going seems of far more importance." Cloud left the letter on his bed, heading over to the bathroom and changing from his casual clothing. A few minutes later, he walked out in the SOLDIER outfit he had before. Tifa was sitting on the bed, and she stood up when she saw her sweetheart.
"Hope you can visit me and our friends sometime," Tifa Lockhart reassured. "We'll be waiting for you." She gave Cloud a short kiss on the cheek as a sign of luck, to which he kept his companionship towards her to himself. Without another word, the 1st-class SOLDIER picked up the letter and pressed the red word "return" on it. Soon enough, he was engulfed by a white light, vanishing as he left his childhood friend alone in the bedroom.
The cylinder-shaped hills watched over the Mushroom Kingdom with the eyes they had, gazing upon the laid-out blocks and Coin Boxes that were arranged above the pipes sticking out from the ground. Two iconic figures were dashing across the land, following wherever a Toad with red spots ran.
"Are you sure she's in another castle?" Mario asked. "This is the third time in a week Bowser's kidnapped her!"
"I'm quite sure this time I'm right!" the Toad answered.
"We clearly saw she can defend herself," Luigi responded. "Why would she let herself fall into trouble?"
"He's never learned his lesson, has he?" Mario sighed in annoyance. "We've been talking about this for months! Besides, there's this invitation we all need to accept in order to head back to Arcus to visit our friends and help protect the multiverse."
"I think we're here," the Toad told the Mario Brothers the second he stopped running. Mario and Luigi skidded across the ground, stopping in front of a large castle decorated with gothic interior and the face of a certain shelled beast. The trio entered through the open gates despite the Koopas guarding the walls, running over to where they heard wedding bells ring.
The Toad that accompanied Mario and Luigi stayed behind while his heroes went on ahead, jumping over the lava pits and avoiding the crushing spiked pillars as they jumped on the shells of the Dry Bones and made their way to a drawbridge leading towards a light from within the castle.
The enemies of the Mushroom Kingdom were dressed in the most formal attire they could afford, and they were sitting at the aligned benches. There was a fancy wedding going on, from the white decorations and the fact that Bowser was wearing a white groom suit with a top hat to boot. His Magikoopa Kamek served as the bishop, and Wario was by his side as supposedly the best man for the Koopa King in a black outfit and lacking a hat. Walking down the large room in the space between the aligned benches was Princess Peach herself in her wedding gown, holding a bouquet of tiny Piranha Plants while escorted towards Bowser by Waluigi. The tall mustached man stepped out of the way as Peach faced Bowser, and Kamek read from the book he held.
"Dearly beloved," Kamek crowed. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the wedding between our leader - and single father of the Koopalings - King Bowser Koopa and princess of the Mushroom Kingdom Toadstool Peach. Now then… considering how Bowser often gets impatient for the big moment, we'll skip the vows and jump straight to the short version. Do you, Bowser, accept Princess Peach to be your lawfully wedded wife through thick and thin, through sickness and through health, through life and death until the end of time?"
"I do," Bowser answered. Kamek then turned over to the beautiful bride Peach, with Wario and Waluigi getting ready to present the rings.
"And do you, Princess Peach, accept Bowser to be your lawfully wedded husband through thick and thin, through sickness and through health, through life and death until the end of time?" Peach slightly lowered the bouquet, taking a deep breath as she knew her time had come. She had no real choice in these matters. Before Peach could give out an answer outside of the vowel "I," Mario and Luigi kicked down the door and crashed the wedding. All the enemies turned towards the open door, catching eye of the Super Mario Brothers that entered the place.
"Okay, Bowser," Mario spoke out to the Koopa King. "Enough is enough. I have had it of you taking the princess away from the kingdom as though she was property!"
"Ruining my big day as always, Mario, and you even brought your wimpy brother along with you for the ride," Bowser groaned. "It's not my fault she sees herself as the damsel-in-distress just waiting to get kidnapped from a scary monster like me, and she can't even go outside with me snatching her from my airships."
"But we've been-a through this," Mario groaned, planting his hand on his face. "We've been playing through the same story over and over again, and every time I am always the hero. I've been expecting to go on a date with her, but it never happens."
"Welcome to the friendzone, pal. At least she's ready to accept me as her wife without the use of hypnotism," Bowser responded. "Ain't that right, my love?"
"You know what?" Peach chuckled, dropping the bouquet she held. "I guess I should be taking my leave right now. Any moment now, you're gonna send every one of your minions after us, and I don't want to get caught in the crossfire."
"Uh… I don't mean to be rude, but maybe perhaps Peach should learn how to defend herself? Because we've seen her fight multiple times. It wouldn't make any sense as to why she would allow herself to get kidnapped so many times. Besides, we've got this invitation back to Arcus, and as much as I'd love to sit around and hear you guys go on about how Peach is nothing more than a who-"
"An invitation?" Bowser interrupted, the letter Luigi held peaking his interest. "That sounds a whole lot more interesting than some wedding. What do we do if we're accepted into whatever they planned over there?"
"You… do know there are people watching, and they're hearing every word we're saying, right?" Peach objected.
"Okay, people! Wedding's cancelled!" Bowser called out to his troops. "Get back to your positions!" Soon enough, Bowser's army left the room in grumbling disappointment, leaving only the fighters in the empty room with the Koopalings and Waluigi.
"Whatever this invitation is, the wedding can wait," Bowser growled with glee. "What does it say?"
"It came from what we can assume is Smash World, a campaign that invites all the veterans who fought on another planet to save everyone," Mario answered, snatching the letter from his brother's hands and reading through the letter. "Looks like we'll have to head on over to Sarasaland, Kong Island, Yoshi Island, and the video game simulation Banjo and Kazooie are staying at."
"That sounds fun!" Roy Koopa shouted from the bench at the front with Bowser Jr. and the other Koopalings. "Can we go, boss?" The other six Koopaling generals clamored with excitement, and even Bowser's only son agreed to it.
"Alright, alright," Bowser chuckled, walking over to the eight Koopalings and rubbing his son's head. "I guess you can all tag along for now. Need to get back that Piranha Plant after he was abducted from my top lines of defense."
"So… I guess we should forget the fact that Peach got kidnapped?" Mario asked.
"I guess so. Looks like we'll call it a truce," Bowser responded, pulling the cloth off the altar table and revealing a large Koopa Clown Car in case of an emergency. The Koopa King and the Koopalings all hopped in, by which everyone in the room climbed in. Waluigi was about to climb in, but Wario stopped him in his tracks.
"Sorry, pal," Wario answered. "Looks like only top professionals can enter through Smash World."
"But… Wah! I can prove to you that I can fight!" Waluigi objected. However, the moment Wario climbed in, the large Koopa Clown Car flew out of the large stain-glass window and shattered it, flying out into the clear blue afternoon sky. Only a sad Waluigi was left behind, rejected from his big moment to shine and push his way to the top ranks.
Deep within Click Clock Wood, Banjo was walking through the forest to clear his mind of the war he participated in. He had been walking around the river bend for quite some time, remembering the peaceful days that had occurred when he wasn't fighting against the light and the darkness. Kazooie poked out from the backpack Banjo had been carrying, breathing in the fresh air through the nostrils on her beak.
"How many times are you gonna be in this same part of the video game, Banjo?" Kazooie asked. "We've been around this forest."
"I'm just… trying to remember what happened ever since we got back here," Banjo answered.
"Banjo, you do know nothing has literally changed before we left, right?" Kazooie objected in a doubtful voice, scratching the back of her head with one of her wings. "Whatever you're looking for, I doubt you'll find it here…" The bipedal bear then caught eye of a square-shaped hole on the forest floor, noticing how there were pixelated cobwebs covering it. They seemed to collect the dust as they remained untouched, with leaves and sticks protecting them from what appeared to be ages of weather. Despite surviving through it all, the cobwebs wore off, leading deep into the pixelated caverns below.
"Here it is," Banjo told his Breegull friend. "The only way into the world of Minecraft."
"Minecraft?" Kazooie cooed in confusion. "I thought we agreed to stay away from that place after what happened!" Despite his friend's objections, Banjo walked over to the strange hole, brushing away the cobwebs protecting it and looking deep into the darkness of the pit.
"I just want to return to the place that helped us discover we were far beyond special," Banjo told the bird living in his backpack. "Besides, Tooty won't be bothered by Gruntilda for quite some time after we took care of that evil witch."
"Yeah, it was kinda funny frying her death robot's circuits and watching her land on her face instead of her butt," Kazooie responded, trying to keep a straight face and hid her beak in her wings as she remembered that fight they had with Gruntilda earlier. She was so lost in the thought that she forgot Banjo jumped into the pit and was now sliding down the square hole, much to her dismay.
It only took about thirty seconds until Banjo & Kazooie emerged from the hole. The bear landed on his feet, feeling them sink into the soft forest floor. He wiggled his toes around, taking notice of how delicate those pixels felt. The woods he and Kazooie appeared in seemed to be a forest of spruce trees, with the cubic sun in the sky partially covered up by square clouds.
"Hm… looks different than the first time we appeared here," Kazooie cooed, knowing that this place did not feel like déjà vu at all. "Before, it was an oak forest. Wonder what happened…"
"Don't know," Banjo responded. "But it looks like we might have to look for the place I have been searching for…" The Breegull in his backpack ruffled the needles shedding from the spruce trees, and her bear friend managed to walk out of the forest into a grassy field. Mountains grew out from the background, with sheep and cows grazing the tall grass and flowers on the meadow. They didn't really care for the bipedal bear walking towards what he presumed was a village, with his bird companion poking out of the blue backpack once in a while.
When Banjo and his best friend Kazooie arrived at the village, they were surprised to see new faces that were different from the big-nosed civilians they associated with before. For one thing, they moved around freely, each one in a unique skin that made them differentiate from the others. They all moved stiffly and rigid, just like the spawnable mobs of this realm, the way they were supposed to. Many of these new faces were building contraptions that they never thought possible, ranging from simple artwork to highly detailed sculptures and inventions that would put Leonardo da Vinci to shame.
"Wow…" Kazooie cooed, marveled by the structures that were being built by so many people. "I never thought so much has happened ever since we left."
"Me neither," Banjo responded, walking over to a weaving booth. "There have been so many things added into the game that we missed out on. It's gonna be a while before we get used to these new changes…" Before the bear-and-bird duo could look at any more of the new updates, a mysterious mob bumped into them by accident. Some of the other players backed away as peculiar swirls generated from the mob Banjo & Kazooie ran into. This player looked exactly like the Steve they once knew, except he noticeably lacked the beard that looked like a smile and he moved and looked just like the other players without being hyperrealistic and uncanny. Banjo, upon looking at the player, started to remember the last time he and Kazooie were there: watching their old friend grow more demented and insane upon the changes he took, each one for the worst. It was a sign of trauma that would never go away. He was so lost in those memories that he didn't even notice a bell in the village ringing loud and clear, signaling the other players to prepare for an invasion of raiders and tusked creatures they rode on.
"Banjo? Banjo!" Kazooie snapped, poking his head with her beak and snapping him out of his trauma. "There's a raid going on! Stop getting lost in your fantasy world!" Dispensers hooked onto redstone repeaters were set up, and multiple players shot crossbows at the front lines of the village raiders while others set up cannons made out of pistons shooting lit TNT blocks at the strange beasts that charged towards the houses. Iron golems were built to keep back the big-nosed raiders that managed to get past the lines of defense, and Banjo & Kazooie had no idea what was going on as they saw some of the pillagers shoot flaming crossbows at some of the houses. The player the anthropomorphic duo bumped into hit them with his fist, pushing them away from the conflict going on. As soon as they were at a safe distance within the woods, the swirls around the player vanished.
"What in the Jinjonator's good green earth is going on!?" Kazooie cawed. "We don't remember this part of the game at all!" Banjo looked at the peculiar character, taking a good look at the Steve look-alike they just bumped into. He seemed to act more frightened and curious compared to the original Steve they got friendly with before. The playable character backed up near a tree, wondering what this non-pixelated creature he stumbled upon was doing here.
"Hey there…" Banjo spoke, keeping his distance from the frightened person. "We're… kinda new here. And by that, I mean we have just arrived here after what felt like an eternity. I'm Banjo, and this is my best friend Kazooie. Would you be so kind as to tell us what's going on?"
At first, the player got cautious of the duo instantly, but he did not draw any weapons until he found out they could speak in a language he understood. Still trying to keep his guard up, the player pulled up a notebook and feather dabbed with ink, opening it and writing in it. He tore out the page he wrote and gave it to Banjo, with Kazooie reading the message over his shoulder.
"Hello there, strange creatures," the message read. "What you have just witnessed was a major update in Minecraft, which included village raiders. I just so happened to bring them here with a special curse that draws these mobs in. As for my name, I don't exactly have one, and I'm often referred to as the Player by a bunch of others like me. Loads of us gather here, and we all collaborate on the greatest of ideas." Banjo looked at the note, noticing how the Player wrote on paper instead of speaking. Perhaps there were some things that haven't changed about this realm at all.
"How about we call you… Steve?" Banjo asked. "You kinda remind us of your old friend, y'know." The strange character thought a long while about that thought, taking only a few seconds before he came to a conclusion by himself. He wrote in his notebook again and pulled out a sheet of paper for Banjo & Kazooie to read.
"I guess that sounds like a good name," the note read. "Steve. Rings in my ears. What am I saying…? You two need to leave this place. More updates means more dangerous monsters to fight against. What are you two even doing here to begin with?"
"Uh… I think you're taking this the wrong way, pal," Kazooie responded. "We've been fighting against a literal angel of death and a Lovecraftian cosmic horror, the both of which were brothers with family and anger issues. I doubt you would understand considering you probably don't remember what happened."
"Come on… Steve," Banjo noted, holding out his paw for the Player to hold on to. "We've got somewhere to be in this place. It would be glad if you came along with us, and we could reconnect our roots to this place." The beardless Steve looked at the bipedal bear for a while, taking his hand upon curiosity. After taking Banjo's hand, Steve pulled open his notebook once again and write in it. He gave the written note for the bear-and-bird duo to read once more.
"Tell me exactly where we're going?" the note asked.
"You'll see once we get there," Banjo pointed out. "Follow us. We'll take you to a very special place." Their new blocky companion followed the animal duo into a nearby forest, the likes of which did not change in the dark oak trees that grew in its thick landscape.
In what appeared to be some sort of semi-futuristic setting set deep within a city, Mega Man was busy typing away on a keyboard with the research he was datamining from his code presented on a green holographic screen. Rockman was presented in more casual clothing, wearing nothing more than a white t-shirt with blue shorts and sporty socks paired with green sneakers. The helmet he wore was not present on him at the moment, and there was instead a wig of glossy dark blue flowing in messy waves to the back of his head. A USB cord was connecting his wrist to the computer he was typing away on, looking through the billions upon trillions of numbers that flew across the screen.
They were all the messages he interpreted as speech patterns, and multiple lines of dialogue vanished as quickly as they were discovered. Even with all that information, there was one thing that bugged Mega Man: that one message he heard while he was with his pals in the labyrinth of Hyrule 2.0. It left him confused and intrigued about the world they live in, wondering if there was a way to recover the memory within his databanks in the hopes that he might find what he was looking for.
"One result found," an automated voice from the computer spoke. The flying messages all vanished to reveal one line of code on the screen. However, what made it stand out from the others was the fact that it was corrupted and glitching, probably as a result of all the digits within it going crazy and just rapidly switching through them at random. Rockman's eyes widened as he found what he was looking for. He dragged his mouse across the screen and clicked play on the file. However, before the audio file could play, a warning message was displayed on the screen.
"Are you sure you want to continue?" the automated voice message asked. "This file contains massive threats of an unknown virus. Any attempts on playing the audio will cause major consequences to the system overload and malfunction database. Viewer digression is advised." In annoyance, Mega Man clicked yes, and upon doing so a loud screeching noise played back on the speakers. They were about to damage his hearing system until he managed to type on his keyboard some settings to edit the sound until it was tolerable enough to hear what was being said.
"You will pay for this!" the replayed voice snarled. "When I get back, I will drag you down to a place where there's no heaven, no hell – just nothing! Nothing as empty as the Mother's shell! She will live on! Do you hear!?" As the audio was played on loop, the blue bomber pulled out a USB device and hooked it to the computer, waiting until it was connected so he could dissect the audio feedback one part at a time. His fingers rapidly danced on the keys on the board, behaving like a supercomputer as he tried to look for results. However, since it was a corrupted file, all he got was different sounds that were loud and untranslatable with the technology he was using. At that time, the USB file he attached to the computer managed to save that same file into itself.
"I know there's supposed to be something here," Mega Man groaned in frustration. "But what could it be…?" It wasn't long before the corrupted file glitched the computer and obliterated it completely. A small explosion banged out of the computer through the keyboard, and the computer burned down as a result. Wires and microchips flew across the room, and Rockman put down his hands after he shielded himself from the small explosion.
"Dammit!" Mega Man snapped, slamming his hands on the desk after noticing that the computer blew up. He pulled the surviving USB file from the broken computer, relieved that it wasn't broken. All he hoped was that there was a computer more powerful than the one he used to play back on the file. Just then, the door to his room opened, and in walked a young girl with blonde hair with bangs tied up in a ponytail by a green ribbon bow and blue eyes, wearing a red dress and shoes that complimented her. She gazed in shock upon the desolated workplace, and the blue bomber was caught in it.
"Oh my…" the girl pointed out. "What happened here!?"
"Roll!" Mega Man noted, cleaning up his mess by moving all the pieces on his desk into one pile. "I was busy working here until the computer's circuits just sorta… burned out."
"What was it you were working on, exactly?" Roll asked, with Mega Man hiding his hands behind his back and unhooking his wrist from the cable. A small metal cabinet opened up behind his white t-shirt, to which he quickly shoved the USB file in.
"Wait. Don't answer that question," Roll noted as she pulled out some sort of disc. "A message from some… Smash World campaign arrived for you recently. I think it needs you to head over to their place." Mega Man looked at the disc that was offered to him, and it played with an automated message accompanied by dancing lights on top of its smooth surface.
"Hello there," the automated voice played from the disc. "You have been selected to participate in our new Smash World campaign, where we invite brave warriors from all over the multiverse to participate in get-togethers that are never going away at any time soon. Hang out with friends from other worlds. Fight intergalactic forces threatening balance beyond the stars. Feel free to join at any time and meet with familiar faces as well as some new ones. You can press the disc at any time."
"Sounds interesting," Mega Man noted, letting a glowing blue light envelop him as he transformed into his battle form. "Just let Dr. Light know that I'm gone, okay?" Roll gave him a wink as she knew what Rockman wanted to tell her, and she gave the disc to the blue bomber. With one press, Mega Man was transported to another realm in a bright light. Once Roll was alone in the room, she walked over to the shattered computer that laid around in pieces. She clearly recalled the fact that Mega Man was playing some sort of loud audio, but the circuits in her senses couldn't decipher what the screeching was.
She approached the glitching screen, noticing the strange symbols that the virus left upon impact. Some of the letters even looked like the ones Marx had on his horns, which added up to the explanation that they came from the same language not of this world… or any other. It was almost as if it was a combination of all worlds associated with it, and the language itself faded in obscure levels of memory. Roll, upon looking at the damage, knew whatever Mega Man was researching might either give them the answers for other worlds… or do far more damage than breaking a computer.
Either way, Roll mentally noted the thought of that fear of the unknown within her microchips.
Sonic and the other fighters staying in Arcus waited in front of the transporter, already anxious for the other fighters they invited to arrive. Ren Amamiya was the first one to arrive, and he was in some sort of school academy uniform wearing a pair of glasses. On his shoulders rested a black cat with white markings. Terry Bogard walked over to the student, chuckling as the two hugged in greetings.
"Hey there, kid," Terry spoke, breaking apart the hug. "Nice to see you back here."
"Yeah, we just finished the second semester's finals and we're now on summer break," Ren responded, rubbing the back of his neck as the cat he had jumped onto the floor. "Figured I'd hang out for a while after that app you made installed itself onto my phone, and it looks like Morgana decided to join me too."
"Anything for a friend," Morgana mewed, licking his paw and scratching his hand. The transporter activated again, and this time Link stepped out of the transporter. The Champion of Hyrule was still starting to adjust to the fact that some magical piece of paper brought him back to this place. Talk about a jump in technology.
"Uh… is this the right place?" Link asked, surprised when he spotted a few familiar faces. Just right behind him appeared Young Link and Toon Link, as well as the Zelda, Sheik, and Ganondorf they partnered with during the battle against Galeem and Phoenix.
"There are the reincarnations of the Triforce we all know and love!" Sonic laughed, hugging each one of the fighters from Hyrule before giving a noogie to Ganondorf much to his annoyance. Once the fighters stepped off, more lights appeared on the transporter. Out walked the Pokémon Trainer and the Pokémon that were labeled as Smashers.
"I received your message," Red pointed out, pulling up an invitation with the red wax in the form of a Smash Ball. "Took me a while to find all the Pokémon that fought alongside us."
"I received the message through my own powers," Mewtwo answered. "It was kind of difficult considering the nature of this body."
Soon enough, the lights on the transporter flashed one by one, and out walked multiple fighters from other realms reappeared back on the Legacy. They were all crowded into the quite small room, looking at the place as though a lot of things had changed.
"MK! Fox! Snake!" Sonic laughed, gathering the three fighters into a group hug. "I'm so happy to be seeing you again!"
"We can say the same for you," Fox McCloud noted. "What exactly happened here?"
"We've been busy for a few months," Sonic answered, breaking apart the group hug. "It sure looks like only the fighters returned. Wonder if any other people accepted our invitations…"
"Hold on a second… where are the bear and bird?" Snake asked, looking around the place. "I could've sworn they're invited back to here…" The chattering of the other fighters quieted down as the Mii Gunner spoke out.
"May I have your attention, please?" Sherry told the other fighters. "Welcome back to Arcus… or the Legacy, of course. As you can see here, there's been a few changes compared to what we had before. Thought we'd invite you back here so you can travel across the multiverse and bring balance and stuff. In the meantime, why don't you hang out in some of the guest rooms aboard the Legacy? You can head back to your planets at any time, as long as you remember what they look like." The fighters in the room began to head out, and the Swordfighter Ultimate Reborn caught eye of Mario leaving. Gilbert laid a hand on the red plumber's shoulder, catching the fighter's attention.
"Hey… do you know where Banjo & Kazooie are?" Gilbert asked. "We haven't seen them around here and are wondering where they went off to."
"We were going to ask you the same question-a," Mario answered. "We've been looking through the place where the bear and bird lived, and we asked the locals and Banjo's sister Tooty. None of them have seen them outside of a couple of red feathers. Did you abduct them or something?"
"Why would we?" Sonic responded. "I've caught eye of every Smasher in this room, and we haven't seen them." The iconic red plumber moved away, placing a hand under his chin.
"Wherever they might be, I hope they accept their invitation soon," Mario answered. "Otherwise we're going after them."
"Hope they don't get in trouble," Sonic answered. Eleven was all ears during the conversation, hiding behind the wall near the open door and listening to every word of it. The Hero walked away into the futuristic halls, looking for the leader of the Phantom Thieves. He managed to spot Ren about to enter his room on the ship, with Morgana arching near his feet.
"Hey… Joker?" Eleven asked. "Do you know if Banjo & Kazooie are around here?"
"Can't say that I have," the student answered, bewildered by the slide door that opened up for him. "Why are you asking?"
"…Do you remember when we reunited with the duo in Dharkon's version of Hyrule?" Hero responded in the form of a question. "When Bowser Jr. possessed by Kaos met us in the labyrinth while we were trying to get the gold back for the Gerudo from NiGHTS? He sent forth some sort of slime that, according to Banjo & Kazooie, was an uncanny, nightmarish version of the friend they once knew."
"God, Ireburn," Joker gagged, walking in and letting Morgana lie down on the only bed in the room. "Nobody doesn't even want to remember that incident, and I doubt Morgana wants to if I told him all the details down to the goriest."
"Well… after the story he told us, I think I know exactly where he went," Eleven answered. "But we're gonna need a little help from a few of our pals."
Deep in the world of Minecraft, Banjo & Kazooie with their new pal Steve stopped in front of a large dark oak forest, with blocky skeletons and zombies hiding in the shades of the pixelated leaves. They admired how the place hadn't even changed ever since they got here. It just felt sort of natural to the world they revisited. Steve wrote in his notebook, presenting the torn piece of paper to the bear and bird.
"Are you sure this is the place?" the note asked.
"We're sure," Kazooie cooed. "Ready to lead the way, Banjo?"
"Ready," Banjo answered, taking a step forward into the forest with Steve following behind him. As the two made their way through the woods, a couple skeletons shot their arrows in front of Banjo's nose, hitting the trunk of a tree. Steve hid behind the duo in the fears that he didn't have any strong weapons outside of a couple sticks and a stone pickaxe. However, the anthropomorphic duo got that covered.
"Alright, Kazooie," Banjo noted, throwing the Breegull like a spear. "Let's see if that beak of your is strong enough to pick their skulls out!" Kazooie cawed with glee as she danced around the flying arrows, hitting the skeletons and killing one of them. The other skeleton fired an arrow straight at her, but she quickly flew back into Banjo's backpack and watched as the arrow hit a zombie. Enraged, the zombie charged at the skeleton and attacked it. While the two undead monsters fought each other to the death, Steve wrote a note to the two confused monsters.
"I forgot to mention," the note read. "They've updated this world so that skeletons can be attacked by other mobs they've hit, monsters included. Should we get going to that place you two wanted to show me?"
"Yeah, let's go," Banjo answered, grabbing Steve's arm and running off deeper into the dark oak forest. Eventually, the two stopped in front of a peculiar hill. The mound of dirt was not pixelated or blocky. It was instead covered in dead moss that became more hyperrealistic as it got closer to the mound. There were rusty needles poking out of the entrance, which was sealed tight by a bunch of bedrock that surrounded it on all sides. Placed on top of the mound in picture frame was some sort of enchanted diamond sword.
"This… this is what we wanted to show you… as well as the reason why we came back," Banjo sighed. "There was a friend we made here, just like you. He was kind, brave, loved spilling secrets to us by which we would keep, never spoke, and was honestly a really chill guy. Then… we stumbled across this place. We ran out because we were afraid of what might happen to us. He chose to venture forth because he was determined. And through that determination… he became corrupt. He died just as he lived: a cold, heartless monster. Those song parodies he played for us were just a distraction from the real threat. That sword you see hung on that mound? That was his favorite weapon. And the place itself…" Steve looked at the strange place for a while, letting the thought that this was a grave sink into his blocky head. The bear then held the Player's shoulders, staring deep into those two pixels that were Steve's eyes.
"Listen to us, and listen well," Kazooie ordered. "No matter what you do, do not make the same mistake we did. Do not go near that godforsaken place."
"It holds a powerful force we do not yet understand, and it will bring terrible luck upon those unfortunate enough to enter," Banjo responded. "There is a good reason why we blocked it off with bedrock. Whatever happens, it's best if you stay away from here. Even though it's a tomb, it's also a spell keeping this world away from the terrors she'll have in her sleep. Please… for your health and sanity. The Steve we once knew before you vanished in an instant. All that remained of him was an empty, nightmare-fueled shell. And we don't want the same to happen to you." Steve flipped open his book, writing a message and giving it to Banjo & Kazooie.
"Then why did you come here?" Steve's note asked. The bear and the Breegull looked at the character in front of them, not knowing what to say without sounding like they didn't care for their old friend in the first place. Their gazes trailed across the ground, sighing as they walked off into the dark oak forest. They didn't even notice that Steve was staring at the lonely tomb covered in cobwebs and dust. Ominous voices began to grow louder when Steve approached the tomb, not really paying that much mind to them until he got closer.
The voices seemed to be getting more ominous and unnatural once Steve got close to the needles sticking out from the ground. Accompanied by the strange language was a deepened and threatening voice that offered a translation for the curious Player reaching for the needles without knowing it.
Uiopiauiopuiueasyl éshtcrauea Espceaueaueasyl umbrzah Iluealnoumbrsylsāhn. (Awaken the Queen of Demons.)
Zahëgueauea craueaëg ootëgueauioéshtueasāhnésht sāhnumbrnaiilnéueaëgsāhn. (Free her greatest soldiers.)
Ceasylnaiueauiosāhncra Ceaëgætchceaéshtuionaiceaüricra! (Unleash Uryutaluch!)
Without even thinking, Steve pricked the end of his blocky arm on one of the needles, and he quickly backed away from the sharp pain. A tiny red pixel that was supposedly blood dripped out, and the voices seemed to have stopped wailing. The picture frame then faded, and the enchanted diamond sword inside it dropped in front of the bedrock mound, floating like an item. As though Steve was a magnet, the diamond sword disappeared into his inventory.
"Steve! Come back here!" Banjo called out from the forest. Steve snapped out of his trance, and he ran after the friendly duo without even thinking of the sword he got in his inventory. From where he stood, tiny, boney hands dug out from the ground, with a long, humanoid snout mixed between a human and a rat clawed its way out. A strange, hyperrealistic rodent creature mashed up with a doll and fleshy pieces of meat loosely stitched together like Frankenstein's monster crawled out from the ground, with the rusty needles serving as quills and its tail squirming around its behind like a wriggling worm. The creature was blind until it opened up a single eye on its forehead. The abomination's throat gurgled as it followed the scent of the needle that carried itself on Steve, scurrying across the ground and frightening even the undead creatures that lived in the dark oak forest.
Sonic was in some sort of research lab on the Legacy, flipping through textbooks upon textbooks from cover to cover per second. There was some special kind of information he tried to find pacing through the pages that he just got easily frustrated over. He groaned as he flipped the last book over his head, sitting on a rolling chair so roughly he spun in it with his hands buried into his face.
Something happened in the world with that Zomburbia town, and he couldn't figure out what. He found information of the other fighters, but even then, they were all vague descriptions of themselves. There wasn't any real information on their backstories and motives, and his was no different. However, there were a few details to their backstories that he found out about them, like how Cloud's sword was a gift from his closest comrade Zack Fair… and how Ness and his pals fought against an intergalactic force. All Sonic found about his bio in all the books he read only told of him rescuing his home planet from robot forces led by an evil, egg-shaped scientist. This didn't answer the fact that he had no idea what the hell Zombots were. Perhaps he looked through too fast. Perhaps he missed a page.
"Trouble with something?" an ominous voice asked behind Sonic's chair. The blue hedgehog jumped out from his seat, the chair he was sitting in turning to face a familiar Legendary Pokémon.
"Mewtwo!" Sonic chuckled, trying to hide the sweat in his quills. "I did not expect you here to show up all of a sudden. At least remind me before you scare me."
"From the mess you made in the lab, I can assume you got angry trying to find something," Mewtwo telepathized, staring at the disordered pages lying on the floor outside of the empty covers. With a simple flick from his glowing, three-fingered hand, the Pokémon assorted all the pages back into their textbooks and rearranged them back on their shelves as though nothing had happened.
"Remind me again what you're doing here," Mewtwo continued. "You have gotten quite curious as to the origins of your past." The blue hedgehog sighed, resting his elbows on the desk near himself and resting his hands behind his head.
"…Can you keep a secret?" Sonic asked. "If by chance you were to scan my mind about the first thing I'm thinking of, would you not tell anyone?"
"I can't break a promise I'm intended to keep," Mewtwo telepathically answered. "Now then… let me see what I can do." The Pokémon's eyes flashed as he gazed at the blue hedgehog. At that time, Sonic was thinking about the man who spoke in hands: William Dexedrine Gaster.
"…There was nothing," Mewtwo responded with a bit of surprise in his telepathy. "Normally, my own powers work with what others are thinking with the simplest of words. Quick: what did you think of?"
"A man who speaks in hands," Sonic answered. "That's what I thought of…"
"I couldn't find anything of what you were thinking of," Mewtwo answered. "All I saw was an empty space. Try thinking of something else." Sonic then began thinking of the metallic zombies inside the memory he experienced before, as well as the one word somehow tied to them: Zombots. Once again, there was no response.
"That's strange…" Sonic noted. "I thought you were capable of peering into anyone's darkest thoughts."
"I know that," Mewtwo groaned telepathically. "I get it all the time. I don't understand why it isn't working… but I guess there's only one possible solution: whatever you know, no one else of flesh and bone must look into it." The two fighters then heard a muffled explosion from the room next to them, alongside the angered beeping and glitching swears from an enraged Mega Man. The two quickly made their way over to the blue bomber's room in the blink of an eye, surprised of the pieces of what was once a computer scattered across the floor with a tiny pile of wires and plastic on a sooty desk in front of Mega Man. The android was starting to get enraged to the point where he held his breath and let his face turn red to a point of a boiling level. The metallic coating was literally hot enough on his forehead to fry an egg.
"I just don't get it!" Mega Man shouted, pulling the USB device from what remained of the laptop, talking as though he knew Sonic and Mewtwo were right behind him this while time. "I've tried everything from every single number in my data and files, and I still can't figure out why the most powerful computer on this ship isn't strong enough to let me edit a damn file properly!"
"Hey… anything the matter?" Sonic asked. Mega Man turned around furiously, the lights in his eyes flipping through multiple colors. He unhooked the USB from the rubble, and he stormed right towards the two fighters.
"I've been trying to find out some secret meanings and messages about that Stevepost we encountered," Mega Man groaned. "I'm hoping that with the most powerful technology ever we could try to figure out what kind of secrets guys like him were keeping from us."
"Just calm down," Sonic answered. "There's probably a logical explanation for all this, and we hope you can find a computer powerful enough to… run that file of yours." Running past the open door were the Hero and Joker, who was in his Phantom Thief attire. The two stopped by the three fighters, much to their surprise.
"I think we know why Banjo & Kazooie haven't shown up yet," Ren told them. "They're both in a place we think they went off to. Follow us to the transporter." The two fighters ran off, with Mega Man dashing out from his working chair.
"Wherever Joker and Eleven are going, I hope that place has a strong computer," Rockman spoke to Mewtwo and Sonic. The Pokémon floated out of the room, leaving Sonic alone. Just then, a glitching aura appeared next to the blue hedgehog, and the semi-transparent miniature face of W.D. Gaster scared him.
I sense a terrible presence afoot, Gaster noted. You must go to where they travel off to.
"Don't scare me like that!" Sonic snapped. "At least give me a warning that you're gonna pop up out of nowhere!"
I apologize for my inconvenience, Gaster responded. Keep in mind of the message I told you…
"As long as you fan the eternal burning flame, find the demons who call her name," Sonic repeated in a tad bit of sourness in his tone. "I get it. And next time you show up… just appear only during appropriate times." The miniature face of Gadget's glitching face disappeared, and the blue blur dashed off towards the transporter where Mewtwo and Mega Man met with Hero and Joker.
"Uh… where's Morgana?" Mega Man asked.
"Peach is taking care of him," Ren Amamiya answered, tightening the collars on the ends of his sleeves. "She's honesty a very good cat person despite never actually owning a cat before." Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man, and Mewtwo all stepped on the platforms of the transporter, wondering where they would all be dropped off at.
"Next stop… Click Clock Wood!" Ireburn spoke. With the simple name of a location, the machine automatically activated, with the pads underneath the five fighters glowing underneath them. In flashes of light, they vanished from the Legacy, with a bypassing Pikachu confused as to who used it.
Near the square-shaped hole from where Banjo & Kazooie jumped out from, the bear-and-bird duo were just about ready to depart from the place.
"Well, that trip to the memorial sure was fun," Banjo spoke as though Steve was right behind them. "To be fair, we were not expecting a raid to go on in that village where we first met you." However, Kazooie noticed that from the distance, the companion they went with simply headed back to the village that was attacked earlier.
"Uh… Banjo?" Kazooie asked.
"I hope you learned that there are some things you shouldn't mess with," Banjo went on, ignoring Kazooie's objection and looking away from the fact that Steve was not with them. "The truth about the question you asked earlier is… we had a friend that looked just like you, albeit a few notable differences."
"Banjo…" Kazooie added, spotting the one-eyed eldritch rat thing scurrying towards the village with fear now in her green eyes.
"When he entered that place, he began to change," Banjo went on with sorrow in his voice. "We tried to help him change, but he said he was already saved from the insanity that took control of him. Kazooie and I… we didn't notice that transformation until it was too late…" The bipedal bear was snapped out of his monologuing by a rough peck on the head, to which he responded with a simple "Ow!" and rubbing with his paw.
"Are you gonna continue your motivational speech or look behind you!?" Kazooie snapped. "Steve went back and you didn't notice! There was also some sort of creature that followed behind him. I don't know what it wants with Steve, but it's probably nothing good…"
"The village?" Banjo asked. "Hey wait up! I was about to tell you something!" The bear dashed off into the field, running towards the houses that were being rebuilt by the other players. The two animals looked at the place in wonder, surprised that a utopian city was built from where was once the village. Power of a few players in the game, they guessed. Regardless, the numbers of those civilians grew multiple times to the point where it was hard to spot Steve from within the incoming crowd.
"Hey… has anyone seen Steve?" Banjo asked some of the players passing by. "He went with us and… he kinda departed from us. We just wanna say goodbye to him before we go…" Despite trying to ask the blocky characters, they seemed to ignore the bear's question. Kazooie then caught eye of Steve walking into a large blacksmith shop that was right around the corner.
"Banjo! Quick!" Kazooie tugged on the backpack she was resting in, alerting her bear friend. Banjo managed to spot the leg of their blocky friend walk into the blacksmith store, and he instantly ran inside the building, unaware of the strange rat creature that crawled its way through the bars on the windows.
Even though there were chimneys present throughout the building, there was plenty of smoke that watered Banjo's and Kazooie's eyes and clogged their noses with the terrible stench of smelting pig iron. The bear-and-bird duo could make out the fact that there were furnaces and cauldrons filled with lava, and on the other side of one of the rooms were iron doors where giant golems of steel walked in with blocks of what looked like to be some sort of ancient debris. The golems began pulling out rusty-black scraps from the furnaces and began loading the debris in the empty ones, tossing the scraps and gold ingots into the cauldrons. With their strong hands, the iron golems stirred the lava until they pulled out a glowing-hot ingot that fizzed and cooled to a smooth black once shoved into the water pits. The new ingots were then given to a bunch of players, who traveled deeper across the building and began merging the ingots with their diamond tools on what appeared to be smithing tables.
"Uh… excuse me!" Banjo called out to one of the players. "Can you tell us where Steve is?" The player he talked to was wearing some sort of green hoodie with a gamer headset, and he quickly wrote in his notebook and passed it to the bear.
"I think I spotted your friend on the other side of the blacksmith building," the note read. "Good luck trying to get to him, because these netherite ingots are booming right now. They're even stronger than diamond tools. Can you believe that?"
"Thank you for your time," Kazooie coughed, covering her beak to prevent any more smoke from entering her lungs. Banjo dashed through the building, trying to keep an eye out for Steve as they tried not to inhale the fumes as best as they could.
From the other side of the building, Steve placed the ends of his blocky arms on the smithing table in front of him, pulling out the enchanted diamond sword he got from the bedrock mound from earlier. He checked which spells were attached to the sword, and they were labeled as follows: Unbreaking III, Sharpness V, Smite V, Bane of Arthropods V, Mending I, Fire Aspect II, Knockback II, and Looting III. It was already an excellent weapon as it is, and whoever that look-alike before him was seems to dedicate a lot of time using the experience points he collected to upgrade that thing. That sword seemed to be given to him as a gift, especially after he got himself pricked by those needles. He placed the sword on the smithing table, starting to hear those voices silently fill his mind as the slight pain began to ache more and more. Despite the peculiar feelings, Steve simply shook them away due to his curious mind.
That was when the strange rat creature scurried onto the smithing table.
At first, Steve was confused by this one-eyed creature, noticing the needles puncturing its fleshy skin and slimy worm-tail squirming behind it. Another detail he found out about the creature was that it was supposedly bulging, and the creature simply threw up the object inside it next to the sword. It stretched like a balloon, coughing up some sort of mysterious ingot covered in green bile. As soon as Steve picked up the ingot, the rat disappeared by crawling out between the bars through a nearby window. The mucus dripped onto the ground, exposing a metal that gleamed brighter than jewels. It seemed to shift through different gem types on its surface, ranging from a radiant spinel to a solid jade and a vivid malachite along with plenty more gemstones.
Without thinking ahead of his actions, the default player placed the mysterious ingot on the smithing table, and as though it was magic the sword and the ingot fused into one entity. The green bile vanished, and all that remained on the smithing table was some sort of crystalline sword that gleamed as though it was merged with all kinds of gems, ranging from the most transparent to the most opaque, all blending with each other until they gleamed a pale white underneath the faint glowing light from the lava in the blacksmith building.
Once Steve took the upgraded sword from the smithing table, he left towards one of the many exits towards him without any of the players noticing. Banjo and Kazooie followed after him, and they both gasped for fresh air once they stepped outside. The gunky air inside the building seemed to do a lot of them, and they were surprised the terrible working conditions did not affect the players in the slightest. They managed to find Steve near the borders of the village, who was following after the strange rat creature through the field towards the dark oak forest. Knowing what they had just visited, Banjo's eyes widened in fear as he watched that new pal of theirs head off to such a dangerous place. Trauma and guilt washed through the bear's brain, aware that Steve was about to walk right into a trap.
"Did Steve just…?" Kazooie asked.
"I know," Banjo answered, running off straight after the Player.
The enchanted sword in Steve's blocky hands began to glow brighter the closer he approached the bedrock mound. Untranslatable, menacing gibberish echoed around the place, beating to the violent hammering of mad drums as the smarting where Steve pricked himself ached harder than before. Even though he could not express any emotion whatsoever, there was still terror trying to fight back against his actions. Whatever that rat thing he blindly followed was doing, he could not try to resist the actions he was automatically doing by himself no matter how hard he tried.
"Steve! Wait! Don't do it!" Banjo shouted to him from a reasonable distance. The Player looked back upon the bear galloping straight for him in an attempt to stop what he was doing completely, but the menacing aura the rat he found was portraying forced him to give in. He tried to fight back, but those physical urges to slice through the bedrock with that sword in his hands beckoned out to him. And how was a sword with a fancy makeover going to cut through bedrock, the only indestructible block in Minecraft?
Without even thinking as he looked back upon the Breegull carrying Banjo on her back as she ran to rest of the way, Steve slashed straight through the bedrock. The blade seemed to cut through as though the substance was soft butter, and the rat creature disappeared into the ground. Once Steve swung his sword, the bedrock began to crumble at where the mysterious sword struck. The only entrance into this strange and nightmarish place was opened, and what crawled out and snatched a frightened Steve in its grimy claws was an unspeakable horror.
The last thing Banjo & Kazooie remembered as they tried to back away from the creature that broke free from its prison was untranslatable screeching and the light of the sun absorbed into the dark oak trees put out.
"…Hey! Banjo! Kazooie! Wake up!"
"Get up! Please…
"C'mon, guys. Are you okay?"
Banjo slowly opened up his eyes, squinting his eyes from the bright light of the sun above him. The faces he noticed were blurry, but he could count the number of faces above him. With a rough peck on his forehead, the bear's eyes shot open. Kazooie was the one who woke him up, and he recognized a few familiar friends that came to visit him.
"Banjo! What happened!?" Sonic asked. "We found you and Kazooie passed out here in the forest!" Mewtwo gazed at the bear and Breegull, reading their minds of the events that occurred earlier before he and his pals even got here.
"It seems to me like they traveled to a world made entirely out of blocks, which is conveniently located through a two-way entrance in these woods," Mewtwo answered.
"Wait… are we back in Click Clock Wood?" Kazooie asked, looking around the woods. Banjo also glared at the sight, suddenly remembering the exact same trees that were in place when the duo slid down to the world of Minecraft. A sense of recognition hit Banjo & Kazooie as they realized where they were unconscious was where they entered through the hole. Instead, there was nothing but grassy forest ground where the entrance to the blocky world once stood.
"Uh... Wasn't there supposed to be a way into the world you described earlier?" Joker asked.
"Hey!" Banjo shouted in fear, slamming his fists onto the sealed entrance. "Kazooie and I should have been more responsible, Steve! We failed you! Please let us back in!"
"Banjo, it's not worth it," Kazooie croaked in fatalism. "It's closed off from us. It's done."
"What happened back there to the point where you both got kicked out?" Mega Man asked. Banjo stopped his pounding, his throat tightening as tears built up in his eyes, fueled by the thread hanging between deep sorrow and heartache. Why was that Steve person – and a better-looking one too – the definition of what he needed most? This wasn't right. That lookalike needed the anthropomorphic duo more than ever. Whatever that creature was, it took away the new leaf he and Kazooie made. Even though the bear choked back on his sobs, he buried his paws into the dirt and began digging through.
"Don't you guys lollygag! Help me!" Banjo shouted out to his pals in tears, with Kazooie lowering her head into the blue backpack.
"I've got an idea," Mega Man spoke out to Eleven and Sonic. "Hold onto my waist nice and tight. I think I have a Special Weapon that can help us. You too, Banjo & Kazooie." Banjo unburied his paws from the ground, wiping his face of the tears while not paying to mind of the mud sludge in his fur. The Smashers held on to each other real tight, clinging onto Rockman's back. The blue bomber began accessing through his computer chip for the necessary Special Weapon he stole from one of Dr. Wily's bots a while ago, and he managed to select Drill Man. His hands transformed into mighty drills, positioned at where Banjo dug through the earth.
"Do you two know how this entrance curves?" Mega Man asked the bear and bird.
"I think it was straight down," Kazooie answered. The blue bomber's drills plowed straight into the ground, taking all the fighters with them while Mewtwo floated behind. It seemed as though the light from the surface got darker and darker the farther Mega Man drilled, and eventually those drill-arms of his hit nothing but plain air. This was a sign that they made it to the other side with just a straight dig down. However, that short breath of air was suddenly tangled with the stickiest of webs that wrapped around the drills and halted progression of the dig. Thankfully, the hole to Minecraft was wide enough for the fighters to squeeze through, and they managed to land on quite some sort of rough ground. The grass felt sharp and rusty like the needles, yet they didn't really cut through their skin no matter how fast they moved through the field.
The world of Minecraft looked so much different than before. For one thing, it was like your typical apocalyptic wasteland with darkened red clouds and blocks that were gnawed on. The atmosphere of the place was quite unsettling, really. Thunderclouds and violent winds raged throughout the trampled landscape, and in the eye of the storm was some sort of three-headed beast with gaping jaws and glowing eyes that pierced through the darkness. There were a few players trying to run away from the beast, but they were caught by its grimy tentacles and turned to stone from its deadly gaze in the end.
"Oh my… God!" Kazooie gasped in fear, ducking behind Banjo's head. "Is that a… a… a Wither!?"
"I think so, except it looks far more…" Banjo answered before trailing off at the end of his sentence, unaware of what to describe that beast in the eye of the storm.
"Lovecraftian?" Joker replied in the form of a question. "My friends and I have faced these kinds of creatures multiple times. I'm sure you've encountered these types too." The Phantom Thief pulled out his gun and knife, dashing off towards the beast.
"We're coming too!" Sonic called out, speeding right behind Joker. The Hero cast the spell Accelerate and ran on ahead, with the bear-and-bird duo and the blue bomber running after the creature. The Wither creature spotted the fighters running towards it, and it used its eyes to destroy the ground in front and around them. Soon enough, blocky pieces of ground surrounded the group, and they looked up to discover the middle head open its mouth up to devour the gang.
"How did this all happen!?" Ireburn asked, too terrified to even use one of his spells.
"We have no idea either…" Banjo answered seconds before those blocky jaws swallowed the fighters whole in one gulp. Only the blue hedgehog was fast enough to avoid being eaten. The other Smashers were tumbling around in a brutal wind inside its poisonous stomach.
"W.D.!?" Sonic asked, avoiding the eye glares that moved around like spotlights and flaring tentacles. "I'd like some wisdom from you any moment now! I think I've came across one of those demons you mentioned. Or not… I guess I can't always rely on you to do things…" After Sonic avoided a powerful swing from one of the tentacles, a powerful blow to the chest knocked him back so hard he rammed into a nearby rock, denting it. The blue hedgehog groaned as he rubbed his head, his emerald eyes widening in horror as he gazed upon what was far more terrifying than that Wither thing.
The strange abomination that attacked the blue hedgehog was an odd combination of a wooden nutcracker and a pile of flesh and bones. Pulsing, nauseating flesh was packed with clusters of holes dripping with pus and maggots, and its ribs were elongated and making it seem as though it was crawling around like a centipede, complete with a stinger that had the mysterious sword as the main weapon. Buried within hardened organs below the legs was the struggling body of Steve himself, still showing no signs of expression even though he was being strangled by the veins and esophagus. Seven non-sentient heads grew out from the back on long, boney necks, with each one of those heads a terrifying mix of human and rat as their eyes were stitched out. In each of their gaping-wide mouths between their uncanny teeth were glowing orgs each in a different color. If Sonic looked closely, he could see different silhouettes of the people hibernating inside. Most disturbing of all was the main head, which looked like it could not decide between wood and flesh, with an unhinged mouth that seemed to sport the sharpest teeth imaginable. There were also those blank, soulless eyes that lacked any form of mercy. All in all, the creature was like Pinocchio merged with the physical embodiments of nightmares themselves.
The creature roared in an untranslatable language, only spitting insults at the blue hedgehog with the likes that he could not understand. Its organs coiled around Steve much tighter, draining his energy for its own benefit. It began to breath a blackened fire that spread across the field, chasing down the blue hedgehog as he hid behind a rock. Sonic felt like he was on the verge of madness just from looking at that thing. He noticed behind the blocky rock there were a few players hiding from the abominations, unable to show the tremendous amounts of fear they had because of the fact that they are unable to express emotions.
"What the hell is that thing!?" Sonic asked in fright as he spotted the nutcracker thing curl up into a ball like a pillbug and roll straight for the rock they were going for.
"We don't know!" a note written by one player and given to Sonic for him to read answered. "It just showed up out of nowhere and had the noob within its organs at that time! Then it proceeded to create a Wither and place a command block for activation. I thought the Order of the Stone took a creature out like that ages ago! I think you need to find their weak spots!" As soon as the nutcracker rammed into the rock, Sonic in the blink of an eye got the surviving players to the farthest end of the field.
"Listen to me: stay far away from those things," Sonic spoke in a commanding voice. "Find shelter. Build it, if you have to. Just let us take care of the rest. We're professionals to monsters like these…" The blue hedgehog ran back, coated in lightning as he punched straight at the large fangs of the nutcracker centipede's face and broke the jaw off completely with such a powerful knockback. The orbs in the mouths of the rats began to glow, covering the creature in a rainbow aura and healing it completely until the missing jaw grew back with far more gritty teeth.
"What!?" Sonic exclaimed as he jumped out of the way of the thrusting stinger that swung Steve's glistening sword.
Inside the large Wither, the other fighters were tumbling around gusts of wind that were as powerful as the eye of a hurricane. Blocks and immobile stone players were tossed around like leaves, and the Smashers were caught in the incoming collisions. Joker pulled off his mask, summoning Arsene to his side as they attacked the flying blocks until they were harmless rubble. Mewtwo caught eye of the ravaging storm caught within the center of the chaos, spotting a glowing block in the center protected by fiery and icy debris.
"I've found a weak spot!" Mewtwo telepathized to his fellow comrades, using his telekinesis to liberate a few blocks coming his way. "We need to get to the center and attack that block controlling this Wither!" The fighters knew what they had to do, and they got to work trying to survive within the ravaging winds as they ran straight for the heart of the beast.
The colossal Wither continued stirring up the storm, unaware that the prey inside it was not digested by its inner winds. Sonic had his hands full fighting the smaller creature on the ground, which still towered over him. However, something strange happened. He had no idea, but he could somehow understand what language the creature was speaking.
"Zahumbrnainaipiaueaëg sāhnueasylésht voætch éshtcrauea Ueaætchueasāhn umbrzah Ootumbril (Follower sent by the Eyes of God!)!" the creature snarled. "Ætchumbrcea crauioniluea voueaueasyl zahumbrumbrnainésāhncra ueasylumbrceaootcra éshtumbr piauiosylilueaëg nésyléshtumbr lnoætch ürinaiuiopiasāhn (You have been foolish enough to wander into my claws.)."
"Yeah? You were the one who caught me first," Sonic panted, unaware that he could completely understand the creature until it was pointed out.
"Uiocra, Né sāhnueauea ætchumbrcea ceasylilueaëgsāhnéshtuiosylil éshtcrauea naiuiosylootceauioootuea umbrzah éshtcrauea lnoceanaiéshtnénilueaëgsāhnuea sāhnumbr zahnaiuiopianaiueasāhnsāhnnaiætch (Ah, I see you understand the language of the multiverse so flawlessly.),"
"Yeah, I guess I- Wait, what?" Sonic responded, letting the fast realization of understanding the nutcracker centipede get to him.
"Sylumbr umbrsyluea üriuiosyl ceasylilueaëgsāhnéshtuiosylil éshtcrauea lnoceanaiéshtnénilueaëgsāhnuionai piauioætch umbrzah üriumbrlnolnoceasylnéüriuioéshtnéumbrsyl… ceasylnaiueasāhnsāhn éshtcraueaætch piaueaëguea éshtumbr puiueaueatæl cranésāhn lnouealnoumbrëgætch uioëgumbrceasylil (No one can understand the multiversal way of communication… unless they were to keep his memory around.)," the creature growled with a slight chuckle in its voice. "Ætchumbrcea puisylumbrpia piacraumbr Né uiolno ëgueazahueaëgëgnésyloot éshtumbr. Éshtcrauea umbrsyluea piacraumbr sāhntælueauiopuisāhn nésyl crauiosylilsāhn. Crauea craumbrnaiilsāhn uio sāhnueaüriëgueaésht lnoumbrsāhnésht ilueauioëg éshtumbr ceasāhn (You know who I am referring to. The one who speaks in hands. He holds a secret most dear to us.)."
"A… secret?" Sonic asked.
"Don't play dumb with me! Do you know who you're talking to? I am the Forgotten Gatekeeper! You are nothing more than an insignificant speck to a greater force in play, and I am one of the few relics of her toxicity and hatred towards all of existence!" the creature snapped in the common language, tightening its organs around Steve again as the Wither Storm flew away from the ruined fields. "No matter. You are weak and pathetic compared to my power. I am an unstoppable force that you cannot reckon with!" Sonic simply kept his eyes on the ground, with a small smile grinning on the side of his muzzle.
The blue hedgehog chuckled at that monologue from the creature, glaring at the Forgotten Gatekeeper with emerald eyes. A bright blast of blue lightning struck down upon Sonic, blinding the creature and the Wither Storm. Small streaks of electricity spiked through the blue quills, giving out a menacing aura from Sonic. With all his strength, the blue blur shot forth a bolt of lightning from his hand, incoming back the creature with a force powerful enough to make the Forgotten Gatekeeper back away. Its third-degree burns were being healed from the orbs held by the human rat growths, and its soulless, wooden eyes glared in wrath.
"Y'know, you are right about one thing," Sonic told the nutcracker thing. "I am different compared to you. I'm more than you'll ever know. Steve, if you can listen, just know I'm gonna get you out of there." The player nodded in reply, knowing he was safe in the right hands.
"This way!" Mewtwo telepathically called out to the other fighters within the Wither Storm, floating towards the glowing command block. Before he was just within arm's reach, the Pokémon was hit by a large boulder. Mega Man grabbed ahold of the cord connecting Mewtwo's head to the back of his neck, firing a charged projectile at the command block that pierced through the strong winds. Once the projectile hit the surface, the beast outside roared in slight pain.
"Hey everyone!" Rockman called out to Ireburn who had used the Kaclang spell, Joker, and Banjo & Kazooie. "I've got an idea! Spam whatever projectiles you've got and attack as hard as you can!" Mewtwo regained his flight ability and used his telekinesis to grab a few nearby blocks and chuck them straight at the block. Hero used his inventory of spells, while Banjo grabbed ahold of Kazooie and used her like a shotgun to cough out the Blue Eggs.
On the desolated field and raging winds, Sonic rubbed his hands behind the quills on his head in one slick motion, keeping his glowing eyes on Steve as he dashed straight ahead at the Lovecraftian nutcracker. Before the creature could devour him, Sonic zipped onto its back. The blue hedgehog began to sing a song of confidence and determination, directing his attention towards the Player trapped in the confinements of the beast.
My move into this whole new world
Another threat to me and you
Not a second drops one blink of an eye
Someone has to fill these shoes
The Forgotten Gatekeeper began lashing out its stinger at the blue hedgehog, to which he quickly dodged the tip of the mysterious sword attached to it.
My whole new race against the time
Won't stop me now
Sonic quickly grabbed the tail with extreme care not to cut himself, but even with his current strength he was unable to pull the sword out as the tail quickly wriggled around with him holding on to it as he continued singing for a frightened Steve.
Now put your front foot forward with me
We're gonna make this out alive
Gotta keep it quick, you gotta get out free
Get set to overdrive
Sonic jumped out into the air before the blade could even strike him, and all he could do was watch as the abomination coughed out a burning orb of blackened flames.
Follow me
Dashing through our course
The blue hedgehog simply curled up into a ball and began charging up an electricity-coated spin.
And maybe I'll catch new found
Hope on the other side
Can't hold me back!
A streak of blue lightning pierced right through the powerful projectile, hitting the Forgotten Gatekeeper in the face until wooden splinters mixed with pus-oozing flesh flew out as a result. Sonic landed on the ground, this time singing for the creature itself.
Can't hold me down
I'll get back up again
The creature curled up into a pillbug shape again, rolling straight ahead before Sonic zipped out of the way and made it crash into a surviving quartz pillar.
With a supersonic spin of fate
I will not hesitate
Can't hold me back!
The creature uncurled itself, healing its wounds with the seven orbs. This time, Sonic noticed their healing properties and knew exactly what to do as he continued singing while wagging his forefinger from left to right on one of his robotic hands.
Can't tame the beast inside my fire within
The beast began breathing the shadowy flames at Sonic, to which he ran around them while singing the next lyrics for Steve and giving him the courage to fight back against the monster constraining him.
We'll make out move so come along
We'll go in strong
I ain't holding back!
Steve seemed to be easily affected by those strong vibes of determination, and he began reaching into his inventory as best as he could and pulled out a Splash Potion of Blindness. He smashed it against the intestines, temporarily blinding the creature in general. Sonic noticed the Lovecraftian horror couldn't see, and its tail was blinding striking all over the place, eventually hitting behind one of the human rat heads and shattering the orb in its unhinged mouth in the process. The blue hedgehog knew what to do as he grabbed ahold of the tail and gripped it tight while still singing for the Player.
There's totality surrounding us all
A calamity endures
This planet's strange, but I've adapted
We'll kick its tail for sure
Sonic began thrusting the stinger at the other six immobile heads, shattering the orbs inside them and making the nutcracker thing screech in pain.
Chaos is theirs; the drive is ours
You can't stop me now
The Forgotten Gatekeeper was now significantly weakened, allowing Sonic to rip the glistening sword from the tip of the tail at ease.
So let our weapons speak for themselves
Their brawn will let us shine
Straight from the lab to vanquish all
You can't drag on the sideline
The blue blur thrusted the sword into the hard shell of the beast, making it cry with unnatural screams. Sonic got underneath the belly, shoving the sharp blade and twisting the exposed organs until Steve squirmed out.
Follow me
Show me what you've got
And maybe one day I'll find
Faith on the other side
Sonic gave the strange sword to Steve, taking care of not accidentally cutting the blocky player with such a strong weapon. The damaged Forgotten Gatekeeper began to grow bat wings from its large gash, and it now sprouted two pincers (like those you see on a large beetle) from its grotesque mouth. Sonic kept on singing his heart out, except he shifted his focus towards the nutcracker thing.
Can't hold me back!
Steve kept a safe distance from the monster, shooting arrows laced with harmful potions right at the nutcracker's wooden eyeball. Meanwhile, Sonic began rolling around in a ball, attacking the Forgotten Gatekeeper rapidly while not paying to mind of the Wither Storm struggling to keep its winds from obstructing the fighter team's chances of destroying the command block.
Can't hold me down
I'll get back up again
The nutcracker beast grabbed ahold of the blue hedgehog's neck with the claws on its wings, dragging him roughly across the ground.
With a supersonic spin of fate
I will not hesitate
Can't hold me back!
Can't tame the beast inside my fire within
Once Sonic was rammed into a pile of stone blocks so roughly the force applying him to the surface left a large dent in its wake. The blue hedgehog still kept his iconic smirk as Steve pulled out a crossbow and fired a straight shot into the nutcracker centipede's left eye.
We'll make our move so come along
We'll go in strong
I ain't holding back!
The abomination crawled straight for the Player on its multiple boney legs, picking up Steve and flying into the air while Sonic watched from the ground. He then suddenly remembered there was a massive Wither attacking the world of Minecraft right now, and the blue hedgehog slowly felt the ends of his quills start to crumble into stone.
You can't keep me
Sonic dashed away from the lights of the eyes, shedding off the stone transformation on his quills thanks to his seed.
Defeat me or berate me
He kept his eyes focused on the glaring lights and swinging black tentacles, knowing despite the invincibility it was completely vulnerable from the inside. All he needed to do was keep the Wither Storm distracted enough to fight back against the rest of his pals.
The next level meets your end
The raging winds inside the three-headed mutated kaiju seemed to die down, making the projectile spamming much easier. Mega Man, Banjo & Kazooie, Hero, Joker, and Mewtwo gave the command block everything they have gotten, and it wasn't long before the command block was on the verge of shattering. With one final hit, Kazooie laid a Grenade Egg by which Banjo picked up and threw it with a powerful aim. The command block shattered, and the dying roars of the Wither Storm seemed to resound throughout the place. The players turned into stone reverted back to normal, wondering what was going on right now.
"Get everyone out of here!" Mega Man called out. "This body will be going down with us in it!" As the blocks were about to fall due to the lack of winds, Mewtwo used his telekinesis to grab the fighters and Players from an impressive distance.
High up in the air, the winged Forgotten Gatekeeper kept its tight grip on Steve, but the Player slashed his sword at the legs restraining him so high up in the air. As Steve was falling from a high place, he pulled out from his inventory an elytra and slipped it on, gliding down safely towards the ground. He landed beside Sonic, the smaller abomination gliding down towards the duo with gaping jaws. Electricity coated Sonic's quills again, and he shot out a powerful bolt of lightning from his fingertips and burned off the Forgotten Gatekeeper's wings. As the creature crashed into the ground, the blue hedgehog looked at Steve with a grin of determination.
Come with me
Stand across the line
And maybe we will save the day again
The nutcracker centipede got back up, all battered and bruised as it charged straight for the two characters. Steve handed Sonic a Potion of Strength. The blue hedgehog pulled off the cork sprite with his teeth, spitting it out before chugging down the login. It had kind of a cherry taste in it, and the blue hedgehog felt himself get stronger by the minute as he also felt his static electricity spark up in him again once the charging creature was a few meters away from them.
Can't hold me back!
The legendary blue blur curled up into a ball, ramming straight into the exposed chest before jumping back for another hit with a homing attack.
Can't hold me down
I'll get back up again
The creature roared in annoyance, watching out for a black tentacle of the now-killed Wither Storm, its eyes flickering in and out of existence and their huge jaws open.
With a supersonic spin of fate
I will not hesitate
Can't hold me back!
Steve charged in once Sonic was knocked back by a powerful swing from the stinger-less tail, swinging his mysterious sword in the hopes it would hit something. Sonic squirmed out from underneath the monster's tight grip, kicking the nutcracker abomination straight into the face.
Can't tame the beast inside my fire within
We'll make our move so come along
We'll go in strong
I ain't holding back!
Mewtwo and the other fighters flew out of the collapsing Wither Storm, setting the Players of this world at a safe distance from the chaos while carrying the other fighters towards the exit to Click Clock Wood. Sonic finished the fight against the Forgotten Gatekeeper with his strongest spindash yet accompanied by Steve thrusting his blade down the monster's guts all while singing the last lyric to his song.
Can't hold me back!
The beast roared in defeat, its unhinged jaw squashing down upon its teeth until each and every one of them had shattered. A tentacle fell down upon the corpse of the creature, and the remains of the killed Wither Storm were raining out of the sky. A tentacle was about to fall upon the exit that his pals made through, about to trap the blue hedgehog in this world if he didn't escape. Steve grabbed ahold of his gloved hand, looking back upon the shattered orbs on the ground. Seven mysterious spirits floated into the sky to where the orbs were broken, their suspicious laughter accompanying them on their journey to freedom.
Sonic paid no mind to that and just simply dashed ahead, taking Steve along with him as they both got into the exit just as soon as the tentacle was about to fall on the entrance.
After what happened, the fighters accompanied by Steve were finally relieved to get some relaxation from that frightening nightmare. Steve looked around the place, and he was marveled by seeing smooth edges and fancy colors despite never showing emotion.
"Okay, Banjo," Joker sighed with a mixture of annoyance and tiredness in his now-grumpy tone. "I hope you're satisfied from your little detour. You too, Kazooie."
"Hey!" Kazooie squawked. "I didn't have anything to do with this! Neither did Banjo!"
"Yeah? Well… I'm just tired. I'm heading back to get some rest," the Phantom Thief mumbled, tossing each of the fighters what they assumed were small, white pellets. A spare pellet was tossed to Steve. Joker pressed his pellet and was warped out of the forest.
"Wonders of technology, am I right?" Hero asked. "We just found them in the prototype room and they let us borrow a few. No more phone calls from the control panel." The Luminary pressed his pellet, and he vanished in a blink of light. Banjo turned towards Steve, sighing as he twiddled his thumbs.
"Steve, I know this is hard for me to say this, and… I should have told you before we visited that memorial," Banjo spoke. "My point is: we should have pulled you away from that place faster than you knew, because we once had a friend like you. He was equally as strong and independent as you are. However, you seemed to have become better than him, because he just accepted it into his heart. I'm at least glad you pulled through in the end." Steve looked back on the square hole, wondering if he will ever return.
"I think it's blocked for a while," Kazooie reassured. "Guess you'll have to stay with us onboard the Legacy." As Mewtwo and Mega Man gave their pellets a quick squeeze and disappeared. Steve looked at his pellet, placing his hands together upon the device and activating it.
"You comin', Sonic?" Banjo asked.
"Yeah, I will," Sonic answered. As soon as he heard the bear-and-bird duo vanish, he breathed a sigh of relief. After what happened, there was the one guy he depended on the most.
What a peculiar journey you had stumbled upon, Gaster's voice spoke as the background faded into darkness. Dragged into a place where a strange creature attacks you with uncanny fangs.
"You think!?" Sonic snapped. "What the hell just happened back there!? That nutcracker thing with the ugly rat heads looked so disgusting and terrifying I'm not gonna be able to sleep!"
What you had just encountered was the last follower of the Goddess of Insanity, swearing its duty to protect whatever she holds dear to her heart, Gaster answered. It never really rests until its prey marked with the needles becomes a part of its amalgamation.
"Whatever she holds dear to her heart?" Sonic asked.
Listen to me: you cannot always rely on me to help you on your battles, Gaster pointed out. Sometimes, you need to solve things on your own. As for that creature you went up against, he was only a taste of what you will encounter. By the way, have you paid close attention to the bodies within the orbs? I guess that is why they it the Forgotten Gatekeeper.
"But… how did it explain the fact that I understood the language it was speaking?" Sonic objected.
Again, the answers will come in due time, Gaster added. You need to make the discoveries for yourself, but remember: you have a power unlike anything I have ever seen. The vantablack background and Gaster vanished, leaving Sonic within Click Clock Wood with the white pellet in his hands. The blue hedgehog looked back on the square hole as he gave it a squeeze and transported himself back to the Legacy.
There were more things to worry about in the aftermath of the war between Galeem and Dharkon, but his most recent battle exhausted him. He just wanted to sleep.
Author's Notes #2 (Slow Updates):
Lately, I've been having trouble keeping my focus on just producing a chapter, so expect slow updates. Keep in mind I am still progressing as I speak.
Song used: watch?v=ORGlXiQ8Jxk
The main reason why I used this song was because I wanted to describe how aggressive Sonic can get in terms of the story, and I hope it flowed well. I pay high respects to the original artist behind the song, and I have no affiliations or threats to his work.
Also, I have been recently hanging out in a Discord server that draws in talented Smash fanfiction writers and artists from all over the world, and the code to the server is here: gDK48ua
