The Origin Files

Chapter Zero: The Discovery

The catacombs behind Master Hand's bookshelf were something of a Smash legend. Many of the Smashers had theorized that something was amiss about the shelf, as it was the only thing in a relatively plain office. Mario's curiosity had peaked when Lucas had blurted "Does Master Hand even need to read?" at dinner one night. But alas, even as the bequeathed boss of the Smash Bros, it had been kept secret from him.

That was, until tonight.

Mario turned the leadership book on the shelf, as Mewtwo had instructed. The bookshelf parted, revealing the long dark catacombs ahead. His two accomplices, Kirby and Shulk, followed in behind him. Kirby, who had eaten a fire flower to become Fire Kirby, brightened into a soft ember as the chamber ahead became more visible. From what Mario had gathered, he was standing in a warehouse. He had seen many like it in his hometown of New Donk City. But what was surreal to him w3ere the items that he and his counterparts had used to step closer to victory, stacked in a neat, orderly fashion, almost as if they were waiting to be shipped via freight.

"How long does this go?" suddenly whined Kirby, "I'm hungry!"

"We just had dinner you…" snapped an annoyed Shulk.

Mario held his fingers to his lips, silencing the two.

And stay in silence they did, for what seemed like an eternity. As they moved through the enormous warehouse, each of them had noticed that the items they saw were going up in destructiveness. At first smoke balls, then boxes, then hammers, then Pokeballs, then Master Balls At some point, Shulk had seen the faint, multi-colored glow of Smash Balls. Mario reasoned, that they had to be coming to the heart of the lair.

As they advanced forward, the light became brighter and brighter, until they reached a door. The door was seemingly concrete, a rainbow hue bursting out from under the door. Mario grabbed the rusty-feeling, metallic handle, and pulled. Immediately, a blinding rainbow light enveloped the small group as they stepped inside. The next thing Mario knew Shulk had practically vaulted over him, swinging the Manado at an unknown foe. From the gnarly clank noises Mario was hearing, he reasoned that Shulk was using the Manado to parry whatever strikes this thing was lobbing at him.

"SMASH" cried Shulk.

Mario and Kirby's eyes were barely adjusted to the light now. They could make out Shulk's now-red aura, but the figure fighting him was still a mysterious being. Kirby sprung into action next, as pillars of flam jutted from both of his nub-like hands. With a mighty cry, he brought them down upon the mysterious foe as Shulk launched a fully changed Manado blow into the center of the creature. The creature leaped backward, striking a three-point stance in shock

It's-a human then. A… red human.

At this point, Mario's eyes adjusted to the light. The being was red, sculpted in the anatomical visage of their friend Captain Falcon. Where its face would be was a mysterious orb, glowing red.

Alloy, Red means….

"IT'S A CRUEL ALLOY!" shouted Mario.

Kirby immediately tensed harnessing all of his fire energy into a horizontal pillar of the inferno. Mario leaped into the air, shooting fireballs in rapid succession. One of them managed to pierce the orb. Suddenly, the Alloy came to a rigid halt, his red orb turning a soft sky blue.

"Greetings Master Mario. I am Guardian Alloy."

"Guardian Alloy?" repeated a confused Shulk.

"Before your time Master Shulk, the Master staffed this house with automatons, whose existence consisted of nothing more than being the guardians of the weapons you see before you. As you have no doubt learned in your search, The Master Core's power cannot be measured. It is what powers this realm."

"If the Master Core is gone, then wouldn't it stand to reason that this entire realm should fall into disrepair?" Shulk asked, Mario, nodding in agreement.

"Logic would dictate this, yes" Guardian stated, "However, Master Hand foresaw this, and made it so that The Smash Realm is independent of any power source. However, something as powerful as The Master Core can only truly be safe in a pocket dimension like this. I trust I don't have to say what will happen if the Core is found by someone of ill-repute."

Alloy let the threat hang in the air before continuing in his monotone voice.

"Nonetheless, you are Master Hand's appointed successor Mario. Would you like to see the archives?"

"Archives?" asked Kirby.

"Master Hand has meticulously recorded all of the important events that have happened, and will happen in and regarding this realm."

"Master Hand-a recorded the future? That's incredible! We can…"

"Master Hand has left the future locked, only after it happens will you be able to view it."

Mario smirked, Lock the future behind a wall. That sounds like Hand alright.

Suddenly, the floor between the Smashers and Guardian opened, revealing another staircase. Guardian wordlessly proceeded down, and the trio followed. At the end of the staircase, in a room Mario reasoned was meant to emulate a dank dungeon, was an enormous computer terminal. As Shulk stepped to it, the screen flared to life, showing five subheadings, the fifth and bottom-most one obscured by an obnoxiously large letter 'X.'

12

Melee

Brawl

Duel

"These are the Origin Files" piped up Guardian, startling the three, "They were placed here first, so that you may attempt to understand Master Hand's thought processes. Old tournament footage will also be available per request, but that's irrelevant right now."

Mario paused for a moment, "Shulk, where should-a we start?"

"The beginning? I've always wanted to see what some of you old-timers were about."

Mario smirked, opening the "12" folder with a click of a mouse. The first file read "Father's Orders."