Falco's Theatre (pt. 1): Trouble in Lylat

Now let's see what Mister Lombardi and his guys are up to in the Lylat System. This is certainly going to be interesting…

Continuity-wise, I will follow the "Goodbye, Fox" ending from Command, but this theatre (and most of the story in general) will be set at time before Marcus McCloud (Fox's son) reaches adulthood.

Edit as of 6/19/2016: After looking at this chapter as of late, I find the Ozzy Osbourne inclusion to be a little too dumb for the story. Because of my changed perception, I have changed the jukebox situation to include an in-universe version of the famous metal singer. As for the species, think of the in-universe equivalent as being an anthropomorphic porcupine with some of Ozzy's traits.

Lust is a twisted perversion of love…

It is the black rose that serves as a corrupted offshoot of its blood-red counterpart…

It is what drives certain men and women to commit actions that they would not do under usual circumstances…

It is one of the many factors that can lead up to a mental instability, especially for the souls already affected by a traumatizing or otherwise life-changing event…

Heinous exploitations have resulted from this deadly sin running rampant, uncontrolled by outside forces…

Sometimes, murder can also result…

Whereas love seeks to bring happiness to those involved in a relationship, lust only desires to bring satisfaction to those driven mad by it, with no regards to the people around them…

The Great Fox, destined for the Lylat System, zipped through the portal and soon found itself floating in a vast world of celestial wonders. The grandiose scenery was one that could potentially overload an observer's mind; in fact, regarding visual details, it was so intense that its appearance almost seemed unreal. Millions, if not billions, of stars dotted the area to coat the blackened background with sparkles of white. The large number of nebulae present spanned across the entire visible spectrum, producing almost every known color in existence. Asteroids near and far drifted across the infinite space as part of the endless march of the cosmos. Distant planets belonging to Lylat were also present, but their far fewer numbers resulted in them being mere rarities in comparison to the rest of what mysterious intergalactic forces had provided. The sheer beauty of it all could be best personified as a lovely woman whose appearance could mesmerize almost anyone and, right now, most of the Smashers aboard the Great Fox were falling for her.

"This is truly amazing. I've never seen anything like this…" Popo, one of the two Ice Climbers, muttered. The young boy, now approaching his adolescent years, was recognizable by a blue parka designed to protect him from freezing weather. Strangely enough, at least to the other Smashers, he would almost never keep it separated from his body, even when approaching warmer climates. His physiological growth, as per his aging, was marked by a slightly lower voice and a noticeably taller stature, making him seem less reminiscent of a younger child. Another interesting property to note was a wooden hammer in his left hand; this longtime personal tool of his was designed to break through ice and, if necessary, pummel foes.

"Tell me about it," Ness, a black-haired, black-eyed psychic from Eagleland, muttered. His attire consisted of a red hat turned to his right, a shirt with stripes alternating between blue and yellow, light blue shorts, ankle-length socks, and a pair of red, lace-ridden shoes. However, most of his clothes, excluding the cap, were noticeably larger to accommodate for his taller form; like Popo, he was undergoing a period of growth, but because he was now stuck within the earliest part of adulthood, his changes were significantly more drastic. To be more precise, Ness's height increase was at least twice as great as that of the young Eskimo's, maybe even greater than that, and his voice was much lower than before. But even so, there was still a boyish tone to his words whenever he spoke. Meanwhile, his facial features exhibited more adult-like qualities, with one such example of this change being a more refined chin, and his torso had vanquished some of its previous chubbiness to form a leaner body. Such alterations to his once-childish appearance revealed the man that was already emerging from within.

Perhaps the only unchanged aspect was his backpack, the same old sack that still carried his most valued possessions even after years of use. There appeared to be no obvious wear and tear, something that stimulated Popo's curiosity upon the examination its surface. It was clear that whoever designed the thing had used the sturdiest materials found in nature. However, this was overshadowed by a more stimulating thought inside his mind.

"I would to like revisit space after we prevent the Svärtad Orm from being reawakened," the male Eskimo, full of eagerness, resonated.

"Hey, you know what I've got from my friend, Jeff? He and his father are working on a rocket for a space mission to Mars. It's still in the developmental stages, but it should be ready within the next few months. I've been invited to join the expedition."

"Wait, are you seriously going with them?"

"Yes, I am."

The younger boy's face illuminated with excitement. "That's pretty cool! Do you think you can take me to Eagleland for this occasion?"

But with a tone of uncertainty, the psychic replied, "I need to ask Dr. Andonuts to see if he can allow you to enter the shuttle."

Popo's smile faded slightly upon hearing the comment, appropriately paired with reduced expectations in his mind. "Oh… Well, let me know whenever he says-"

He was instantly silenced by a blast of loud music from a multicolored jukebox standing no more than a meter away. The sudden noise was, unfortunately, so loud that it nearly caused the Esmiko to leap into the ceiling.

All aboard! Hahahahahahaha!

"Alright," a higher-pitched voice yelped. "Who decided to blow our ears out with that noise?" Even in his momentarily shock, and through the music's noisy opening, Popo quickly recognized the voice as Nana's. The pink-clothed, hammer-wielding Ice Climber was his longtime companion, with the strong bond between the two almost like that of a loving brother-sister duo. Like him, she was being transformed by the process of aging, though her gender was directing her down a significantly different path. Her voice's pitch was, for the most part, unchanged, but her body was being a morphed into a form that was almost drastically different from her previous appearance. There were numerous changes to be noticed by others around her, but perhaps the most obvious was the development of her breasts; such a sign was revealing her transformation from girl to woman.

"Okay," a nearby Falco snorted. "First off, I was the one who turned on the jukebox. Second, this is not noise. This is the legendary Spiky Osbourne performing his greatest song ever, "Crazy Train". If you don't like it, then boo freakin' hoo. You're gonna have to deal with it until we get to Venom."

As the blue pheasant allowed his body to stretch across his seat, a strongly distinct guitar riff sounded over the speakers to intensify the still-noisy music, much to the chagrin of the others. In fact, a few of them had to shield their ears to soften the condemning blow of the screaming volume.

"Dear Arceus, I have never heard a piece of music so ear-piercing…" the Aura Pokémon, Lucario, telepathically muttered. The jackal-like creature was recognizable by its sharp, visually distinct fur pattern, with blues, blacks, and even grays arranged into an appearance like no other. The backs of its paw-like hands were decorated with spikes that extended no more than a few centimeters from the center area, contributing to the seemingly fierce aura of its appearance. The eyes possessed a red coloring that would be momentarily replaced by a golden hue when Lucario's ability to sense Aura energy was active. Its ears were erect, as if though they were perpetually stuck in a state of constant vigilance. Its mouth never appeared to move when speaking, but its voice could be heard via telepathy, a trait that only a handful of Pokémon possessed.

Crazy, but that's how it goes

Millions of people living as foes

Maybe it's not too late

To learn how to love

And forget how to hate

By this point, Falco was now rocking his head back and forth to the tempo one of his favorite songs, allowing every note and beat to stimulate his excitement. It was a shame that the others were refusing to share his love for classical metal. Otherwise, they would also be subdued by the sheer awesomeness of the song. But no matter; this would be all the excitement he needed on the way to Venom.

Mental wounds not healing

Life's a bitter shame

I'm going off the rails of a crazy train

I'm going off the rails of a crazy train

"Oh man," Sonic, the fastest blue hedgehog alive, groaned to himself. "I need to get my ears checked once we get back to the Smash Mansion."

Horror.

Horror.

Horror.

That was the only word that echoed throughout his mind.

Complete ruin had manifested itself in the form of a completely annihilated city, right in front of his eyes. Skyscrapers suffered the full brunt of the catastrophe; while most were still standing, they were absolutely stripped down to the bare fundamental structures required to avoid collapsing under their own weight. Pieces of shattered glass littered the abandoned streets like fallen hail, their numbers somewhere within the millions. They were not necessarily a serious threat, since most of them were too small to inflict any sort of real damage. His boots were also contributing to the lowered risk levels, being tough enough to withstand most sharp objects. Back to the scenery, many excessively damaged vehicles were flipped over, while others were crushed against nearby buildings. Due to a power failure, there were no lights to illuminate the area, which was still darkened by the early morning's heavy clouds.

But the one thing that truly chilled his mind was the fact that he was all alone. To his knowledge, there was no one else in this decimated area; most of the citizens of this place were, to his horror, swallowed by the wave of destruction. Just simply acknowledging the fact rendered him a nervous frog.

A gulping noise was the only sound that zipped out of Slippy Toad's mouth. The blue-eyed amphibian was renowned for his work as Star Fox's top-notch engineer, even if he was on the clumsy side when doing just about anything. His attire consisted of an engineer's suit with predominantly yellow overtones, black gloves and shoes, and a personal red-and-white cap that he had owned even before joining the ranks of Star Fox. Another noticeable property of his was the often-optimistic personality of his; even during bleak moments in wars, he would push out comments that calmed tension-ridden nerves. Being a recognizable foil to the more pessimistic Falco as well as others like the bird, losing hope was rarely on his mind. No matter what, he was always envisioning a brighter outcome to many situations.

However, he could not detect a reason to be even slightly cheery in this scenario; as his search dragged on for depressing hours, his hopes started to fade away. How could he possibly hope to locate a survivor if the chances of him or her surviving the terrible disaster were close to nil? Maybe it was better for him to abandon the search and return to his friend's place, located several kilometers away. He was starting to become exhausted anyway, physically and mentally.

"Ah, what's the point?" he muttered.

Falco's selected song was still ringing across the Great Fox's bridge at extreme volumes. By now, the other Smashers on-board were beginning to develop an extreme intolerance for what they deemed to be pure noise.

I've listened to preachers

I've listened to fools

I've watched all the dropouts

Who make their own rules

One person conditioned to rule and control

The media sells it and you live the role

"Beep beep beep!" the black, two-dimensional figure known as Mister Game & Watch beeped. The pitch of his beeps seemed to indicate an irritable tone, mainly as a natural stimulus to the monster of a noisy song. They would have been interpreted as an order to shut the music off, or least reduce the volume to where ears could no longer be shaken. But Falco had no intention to listen, for his mind was still focused on the song's rhythm. Or maybe, as some of the others would put it, he had gone deaf from constant exposure to loudness; it was difficult to tell. Regardless, all protests, even those from the telepathic Lucario, were ignored completely. The fast-paced song was a drug that rendered the pilot a bona fide addict, with absolutely no resistance on his part simply due to pure excitement. Nothing would ruin his fun now…

Mental wounds still screaming

Driving me insane

I'm going off the rails on a crazy train

I'm going off the rails on a crazy train

"-alco! FALCO! Can you hear me?"

A high-pitched voice, one that wielded enough power to overwhelm the music, suddenly dragged the ace pilot out of his entranced state.

Hold on.

A high-pitched voice…?

To his knowledge, only Nana could speak in higher pitches. But the new speaker was more… masculine in character. This sort of voice was not present in his group of Smashers, so someone else was currently speaking. And surely enough, the answer revealed itself in the form of Slippy's face on the main screen. Falco stared at the screen, only to have annoyance accumulate inside his mind.

That toad should have something important to tell me, or I will have wasted my time for something stupid, he pondered. Against his own desires, and much to the relief of the others, Falco had the music temporarily disabled for the sake of auditory clarity.

"Alright, Slip," he angrily grunted. "What the hell do you want?"

"Okay," Slippy mumbled, the worried expression on his face growing tighter with every passing second. "Peppy and I were in Corneria City doing our everyday activities like, you know, we always do until he called me a few days ago. He said that he was receiving some odd signal on his threat-detecting radar and wanted me to come to his place. So, I did what he asked me to do. When I made it, he tried to pull up an image of the incoming threat, but there was some strange interference that suddenly came out of nowhere and-"

"Wait, where was that interference coming from?"

"No idea. But anyway, Peppy wanted me to find its source as soon as possible. I was about to put my engineering skills to the test when I noticed a faint blue sphere soaring across the sky at Arwing-level speeds; seriously, it was real fast. It quickly reached the city, and then… And then…"

"And then what? Just get on with it, Slippy."

During the next couple of seconds, the engineer was speechless for reasons that were not yet identified. His face and body were completely paralyzed by what appeared to be a form of mental trauma from witnessing something very disturbing. Drops of sweat were starting to dampen his slick skin and vibrations, although subtle at first, rocked his body like an earthquake. His wide jaw was undergoing a gradual plunge that appeared to be very deliberate in character. While the other Smashers curiously stared on, Falco's fast-increasing impatience forced him to overlook the obvious details in favor of his longtime co-pilot's complete response.

"Slip, are you gonna answer or what-"

"OH, IT WAS TERRIBLE!" the toad suddenly shrieked, his voice suddenly cracking. "The blue thing just exploded, and it completely wiped out the entire city! We barely managed to escape the explosion by fleeing into an underground shelter for nuclear strikes or anything of a serious nature, but when we were able to safely emerge afterwards… Oh, it was so freaking terrible!"

Falco was left immobilized by the comment, allowing it to sink into his mind. The mentioning of a city-busting object troubled him greatly, which was unusual for a nonchalant being like him. That thing must have originated from somewhere; it was surely ridiculous to believe that something that powerful would appear out of the blue. And another thing, there must have been a reason why a powerful weapon would be directed at Cornerian lands. It was possible that the remains of Andross's army were responsible for the attack due to their anti-Cornerian motives, but they were defeated during the Aparoid invasion, right? Considering the heavy number of casualties suffered, there was almost no way for them to be unleashing something of mass destruction upon a well-defended city. The Anglar and Aparoid races also could not be responsible for the destruction, as they were wiped out years ago. But then, who would so desire to attack a peaceful place…

The Orm's Lords suddenly come to the pilot's mind. Given their ambitious mission, they were the most plausible candidates to force the blame on. But there was not enough evidence to support to his claim, so he would have to investigate Corneria City to find out.

"Alright," he finally puffed. "Now what do you want me to do?"

Slippy slowed down his breathing to relax his mental state before continuing. "Okay, Falco. I need you to meet me in Corneria City as soon as possible. I will be at the Peppy's place, and Peppy himself will be there, too."

"Gotcha. I'll see you later."

Zip!

Moments after the main screen regressed back to its blank appearance, Falco could not help but feel slightly irritated. This recent turn of events would slow down his search for the staff piece on Venom, which could give the Lords a chance to ruin the primary mission and drift one step closer to the success of their plans. However, at the same time, he was not the type of person to completely abandon his teammates. Sure, it was true that he had gone solo several times before, but at least he always returned when things started to go south for the others. And he sure as hell was not going to turn down this request, even if Slippy was on the more annoying side.

"So," Lucario muttered, having overheard the conversation, "We must help the toad with his situation…"

"And you're correct, pal," the bird replied. "Even if Slippy is a pain in the ass sometimes, I would do anything in my power to help him and the other members of Star Fox."

"Now let's give a helping hand to the guy, shall we?" Sonic interjected.

In a matter of seconds, Falco accessed the navigational computer to alter the Great Fox's route.

Nearly an hour after the Smashers' departure, Lillian wandered into the main hall alone. Her eyes caught the sight of light pouring from the windows like a waterfall that was both intangible and very still. No doubt, the morning sun was now rising over the crisp forest to bring illumination to an otherwise dark world, and it was also dispelling the macabre elements of the mansion's nighttime state. But despite the newfound comfort surrounding her body, a hint of worry was still glued onto her mind. With the Lords lurking in almost every known realm, it was possible that they were already approaching the location of each piece; in fact, it could already be too late for the Smashers to retrieve them in time.

But, why was she allowing herself to fall into a pessimistic viewpoint? To her knowledge, the Lords still had no clue where the exact resting places were, and, more importantly, they were also unaware of her current location. The latter fact was an especially good thing, because if they captured her, then there was no telling how serious the subsequent disaster would be. Master Hand appeared to have the power to protect her, but whether said power was enough to battle the Lords remained unseen. For now, the only thing available for her to do was to keep her hopes high, for the sake of her endangered people and for the sake of the realms.

Traveling up the main stairway, silent taps accompanied her every step. The environment was suitable for long-lasting echoes to repeat almost continuously, as if someone else was mimicking her actions. In fact, were it not for her attentive mind, she would have fallen for the auditory illusion. One left turn later, she found herself to be inside the second level of the hall, separated from the ground floor by a few meters. Doors were littered across the four walls, each one featuring fancy, brightly-colored details; the one closest to her featured shades of water, gold, and blood.

"I wonder where this doorway leads to…?" she whispered, her Scandinavian accent still present in her speech. Pushing the golden handle down and pulling the door open, a slight rush of air forced her light blonde hair to flow for a second before the environment became still again. But this event had gone unnoticed because her mind was focused on the scenery in front of her; in front of her was an elegant hallway filled with chandeliers, lights stuck to the wall, massive windows, decorated carpentry, and numerous wooden doors leading to rooms of some sort. The Victorian-style beauty was still unraveling, as Lillian had led herself to believe, and it was unlikely to stop doing so in the future. Closing the door behind her, she slowly trudged across one of the mansion's many hallways, only to notice symbols on each of the doors.

"What is this?" she muttered. Approaching the first door, her eyes were presented with a door printed with a red, mushroom-like symbol. Oval-shaped eyes and dots on the cap were present, two things that were not present on the mushrooms in any realm other than Mario's. No doubt, with her knowledge of the Smashers now being considerably strong, thanks to her ability to identify others with a telepathic connection, this room was likely associated with Mario. The next door was nearly identical to the first, except that the symbol there was green instead of red. This had to be a room for another one of the Mushroom Kingdom's inhabitants, most likely Luigi.

"These doors must lead to bedrooms," she pondered. Passing through each bedroom, the hallway suddenly became repetitive as doors, embedded with a symbol based on the occupant's universe, were passed by in seconds. A left turn prevented monotony from setting in, but this was not enough to prevent another round of doors from appearing. However, what truly caught her attention was the presence of a darkened stairway beyond the last door.

"What is up there?" she asked herself. But before she could take one more step, she noticed a hand-shaped shadow off to her left side. Slowly twisting her head, she was slapped in the face with a sudden image of Master Hand, causing her to leap back and nearly lose her usually-stable footing in surprise. The shock of it all was nearly enough to warrant a sudden heart attack, in both a literal and figurative sense.

"Oh, my apologies, Lillian," Master Hand puffed, worried about the maiden. "I didn't mean to scare you like that. I was just seeing if you were getting lost."

"I'll be fine, Master Hand," she replied. "Of course, I would like to further examine this place. I have not seen a realm like this before, much less a mansion meant to house some of the strongest warriors from numerous realms."

"Well, I'll give you a short tour of this place. That way, you will be more familiar with what's in here."

"Okay."

Wasting no time at all, Master Hand proceeded to guide Lillian throughout the mansion…

Somewhere in Cornerian airspace, approximately a half-hour earlier…

The Great Fox was quickly engulfed in a field of intense heat as it plunged into Corneria's atmosphere. Slight vibrations rattled the mother ship's foundation, with all occupants inside being slightly shifted in random directions against their own will. Reactions to the entire event were mixed, so to speak. Falco, as usual, was coolheaded and kept any traces of nervousness suppressed. Lucario appeared to be unreactive, almost as if it was expecting all this to occur. Mister Game & Watch stiffened his body, waiting for whatever event was next. Both Ice Climbers gently held hands, also awaiting the inevitable. Ness was patiently standing still, undeterred by the shaking or the ominous appearance of the heat. Lucas, the timid, light-haired psychic without a stable family, was stammering out of fright. Even though he was five years older, the childhood-born shadow of fear just could not keep away from him; owing to how he usually behaved, it would be reasonable to assume that it was nearly one and the same with his mind. And finally, Sonic was revealing a smirk of excitement, not because of the upcoming adventure on the victimized planet, but simply because of the high speeds of the ship. If anything, speed truly was his passion, one of the few reasons why he chose to live.

"Okay, guys," Falco called. "Brace yourselves."

Whoosh…

Immediately after the ace pilot's announcement, the Great Fox was impacted by a gust of wind that dispelled all heat from the surface. Shades of red and orange were displaced by greens, blues, and dull grays. The violent shaking ceased as a new tranquility flooded the ship's foundation, much to the relief of Lucas and Game & Watch. A life-filled world surrounded the Smashers as they drifted below the stratosphere, and it was certainly the type of scenery to gawk at. Everything was serene in appearance, with nothing unusual or disastrous in the area. However, as Falco's mind was quick to point out, that was only because the group was not within Corneria City's boundaries.

"Nothing seems to be wrong here," the observant Ness squeaked.

"Just wait, Ness," Falco snorted. "You're about to enter a newly created hellhole."

The vehicle continued to drift across gentle waters and lush greens, down the very same path that the Star Fox team took during Andross's insurrection. Even with continuous aging, the trail seemed unaltered. If there was any sort of change, it was either nonexistent or very subtle. Of course, that was what Falco believed.

"I'm surprised that this trail hasn't changed at all," he mumbled to himself. As per his animalistic kin, his eyes were very attentive, searching for any sort of changes. But nothing was around to prove his statement wrong, which was heightened by the fact that his memories of the Lylat crisis were still alive and breathing.

"Hold on," Sonic suddenly gasped, "What's up with the burnt coloring ahead?"

Passing up the last strip of green, Falco and his partners were now veering into a horribly scorched land filled with ruin. With the flora completely reduced to ashes, the now-barren earth was coated with a layer of black. Compared to the greener environment from before, this new color was even not natural to begin with. Instead, it was an indicator that something terrible had befallen the delicate Cornerian soil, with the "something" being the explosive from some time ago. Trees, once present in decent numbers, were entirely absent. Several nearby buildings were reduced to their metallic foundations, while others were missing large portions of their overall areas. Pieces of rubble, such as concrete bits and vehicles damaged beyond repair, were scattered across the ground by the thousands.

"This is horrible…" Popo whimpered, executing an almost-perfect imitation of Falco's initial reaction from years past. Even though he was no stranger to decimated areas because of his experiences with village-busting avalanches, the absolute destruction of Corneria's capital city was, in his opinion, much uglier than any other incident of such high magnitude. The colors alone provided a nastier overtone than what most past disasters had offered, and the amount of rubble only increased the messiness of it all. Overall, this hellish mess was so terrible to the point where it nearly seemed unreal to him.

"Lucario, can you check for any signs of life?" Falco asked.

"I will check," the jackal-like Pokémon answered. Tapping in its Aura-sensing abilities, its vision was swallowed by a dull monochrome dotted with the blueish outlines of each Smasher present. The world around it was very empty, as traces of life were close to nonexistent… if the Smashers were not counted. Even as it stared into every direction possible, nothing appeared to be detectable in the slightest. Lucario was fully aware that its range for sensing Aura was limited, with its ability being unable to reach absurd distances, but the lack of non-Smasher traces was especially disturbing. If there was no other life in the area, then…

"Falco, I am afraid that we are alone for the moment. We should get closer to the interior of the city if we are to find any other beings nearby. But…"

"What do ya mean by "but"?" Falco interrupted.

"There is a possibility that we may not see any survivors aside from your comrades. The people that used to live in this area are either farther away or…"

"Obliterated?" Sonic finished.

"I wish I could say otherwise, Sonic."

The Great Fox drifted deeper into the wasteland of steel and rubble, with the amount of damage increasing with every meter traveled. When it reached the downtown sector, all occupants were overwhelmed by the apex of the new horror surrounding them. With skyscrapers barely standing, darkness overshadowing the streets, no living beings nearby, and heavy wreckage in most areas, the once-prosperous city now resembled a larger, more futuristic version of Chernobyl, which, as far as the Smashers were concerned, was a town deserted in the aftermath of a nuclear disaster.

"Whoever did this must be one sick bastard…" Falco snarled. Just then, Slippy's face reappeared on the main screen.

"Falco," he mumbled, "Are you in Corneria City yet?"

"Yeah, Slip," was the pheasant's response. "Can you send me the coordinates to your location? I'm gonna have a hard time finding Peppy's place in all this rubble."

"Sure thing, Falco. I'll get the beacon ready in a second."

Zip!

Not long after Slippy vanished from the monitor, a map of Corneria's most populous city revealed itself to the Smashers. The map itself was very detailed, as per numerous innovations in technology. Not only was it decorated with the names of all major buildings, roads, and other noteworthy locations, but it also revealed the Great Fox's exact coordinates in the form of a blinking white dot. Combined with other minor features, it was far more advanced than most other maps of its time.

"I wonder where Slippy is at…" Ness sighed.

"Right here," Falco chirped, pointing at a newly-formed orange dot on the map. It appeared to be set at a moderate distance away from the group's location, but the Great Fox's speed would be able to bring the group there in a few minutes, as the pilot himself believed.

"I hope nothing bad shows up when we arrive," Sonic added, his nervousness provoked by the decaying scenery.

"And what do you mean by-" Popo started, only to be cut off mid-sentence.

"Well, it's possible that whoever caused this mess could still be in the area. And that person, no, group could be the Orm's Lords that Lillian warned us about."

"Well, I don't see anyone else in the area aside from Slippy," Falco spat, his eyes locked on a nearby radar.

"He is right," Lucario whispered, still seeking out whatever Aura was present. "There is no other trace of life here."

The hedgehog shuffled his feet around. "Well, I'm just sayin'. I could be wrong, though."

The approach to Slippy's location was a short one, but it was not without additional images of absolute ruin. As the full extent of the damage was slowly revealed, even Falco could not help but admit that the chances of anyone surviving the recent disaster were extremely low, if not outright nonexistent. Worse yet, Slippy's mentioning of electronic interference resulted in even more chills; if the explosive's electromagnetic wave was powerful enough to disrupt even the most advanced of equipment, then any attempt to alert the entire populace would have been out of the question. Lucario's attempts to find survivors were yielding no results and the radar on the Great Fox's main panel revealed nothing, which only solidified the Smashers' fears. Questions shot through the minds of all as they stared at the mess:

Who would be evil enough to attack this place? What did the city do to deserve such a cruel fate?

As the Great Fox approached the beacon's origin, it slowly removed all forward momentum from its frame. The resulting jerk was enough to knock the Smashers out of their confused mental states.

"Okay, guys," Falco announced, lowering the ship to the ground. "Let's get this show on the road."

Exiting the ship via the hangar, a grounded view of the ruined city awaited the Smashers. This new perspective appeared to be no better than the aerial view; in fact, witnessing the city's decimated state here was even more unbearable because the hideous details were now far more visible. Pieces of glass tainted the ground, with some even having the potential to cut through skin, especially for shoeless characters like Lucario. Besides the shards, the ground possessed a blackened appearance from the explosion's intense heat. The rest of the scenery remained just as horrible as ever.

"Alright, that toad's gotta be around here somewhere…" Falco muttered. But no sooner had he spoken than the temporarily-relieved Slippy emerged from the remains of Peppy's residence.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here, Falco," he sputtered. "Peppy and I need your immediate assistance and… Wait, who are these guys?"

Falco realized that the engineer was referring to the other Smashers. "Oh, you mean the guys behind me? They're a couple of my partners in the Smash Brothers organization."

"You mean that famous fighting group with characters from numerous universes?"

"Yep."

"I'm Ness," the Eaglelander spoke up.

"…Lucas," the orphaned one muttered.

"I am Lucario, the Aura Pokémon," the jackal-like creature added.

"Sonic's the name," the hedgehog interjected.

"I'm Popo," the male Ice Climber chirped. "And with me here is Nana."

"Beep!" Game & Watch beeped. Slippy was then about to address his problem to the pheasant, but he stopped upon noticing that someone recognizable was missing.

"Hey, Falco?" he asked. "Where's Fox?"

"He's with Samus on Tallon IV," Falco responded. "Now, what do you want from us?"

"Peppy will explain the whole situation to you guys once we're inside."

Following the clumsy toad, Falco and his group were directed towards a three-floor building with faded red coloring. Like all the rest, this one suffered heavy damage, but the better reinforcement of its structure meant that it was still intact to some degree. Most of the windows were damaged, but some were still shielded by a couple of now-unstable blast doors. The main doorway was standing strong, but the explosion's extreme power had caused much of its sleek appearance to deteriorate greatly; to be more precise, the previous coloring had eroded to reveal a blackish-red color while the frames of each door appeared to be crooked, most likely due to the explosion's extreme force. Approaching the entrance, the Smashers were harboring eagerness in their hearts, waiting for everything to be revealed by Peppy.

"This situation better be worth my time," Falco puffed.

"Trust me, Falco," Slippy squeaked. "It will be."

Somewhere in Downtown Corneria City…

Silence tore through the air, but it was not of the peaceful kind. No, this was the type that would always appear in the aftermath of a terrible event, such as the one that impacted this innocent place days ago. The quiet wind provided a sound that could easily chill unprepared spines, perhaps to the point of provoking nervousness. Everything was still. No one was out on the darkened streets…

…except for one man.

This figure was clothed in a black robe, complete with a red variant of a serpent-like symbol on the front. This sort of clothing was identical to Agnetha's, but the man underneath was a different matter altogether. His face was mostly obscured, but enough of it was exposed to allow others to identify his elderly age. The facial hair present was long and colorless, as was the hair on his scalp. Though not very noticeable, wrinkles were present to emphasize the number of years he had lived through.

"Now is the time…" he hissed, witnessing the lack of living beings. "What I do next will certainly be useful for my intents…"

After raising it into the air, he slammed his left hand into the ground, slightly damaging the already-beaten ground in the process. An ominous glow of purple, one of the usual indicators of dark magic, slowly crawled across the streets like a ripple of water. The sky, somehow corrupted by this foreign magic, transformed into a blackened incarnation of itself.

"Arise, my servants… Arise and become one…"

Shit... I just don't know who would have the guts to bomb this place. But whoever this person is, I'm gonna kick his sorry ass whenever I find him, even if that someone is a member of the Orm's Lords that Lillian warned me about.

-Falco Lombardi

Uh oh. It looks like the unknown man has something nasty in storage, and Falco's group isn't even aware of it…

We'll find out about Peppy and Slippy's request in Part 2.

Addendum (as of 12/31/2014): I would like to wish all you readers a fabulous new year.