Falco's Theatre (pt.4): Poisonous Gases
Into the hazardous land of Venom we go…
Trust is a fragile object…
It is very easy to shatter, and extremely hard to fully repair…
In most situations, it only requires one serious event to break a relationship between two or more souls…
When this happens, the perpetrator's image is ruined in the eyes of trusting beings…
All good people will turn away from him, and certain possessions can be taken away or destroyed by the betrayed souls…
The most serious acts of treachery will make the resulting damage irreparable…
The belief of frailty in trust has been burned into the minds of many, unrefuted by any opposing viewpoints…
It is not unreasonable to believe that it is a primary factor in keeping families and trusted ones together…
"So, the Lords wish to reassemble the Staff of Björn to unleash the Svärtad Orm on all of the realms?" Krystal gasped slowly. Her eyes began to widen with shock as she spoke.
"Yep," Falco sighed, keeping a grim expression on his face. "And they will stop at nothing to get what they want. I mean, they killed nearly the entire population of Corneria's capital city just for that particular goal."
"When Marcus and I were captured and sent over to the base on Macbeth, a strange man with a red emblem on his cloak revealed to us that those merciless villains have also disposed of the miners within the complex. At first, I thought he was making the story up because I had not seen any bodies on the planet's surface."
A flare of curiosity ignited inside the pilot's mind. "I wonder what Lars Isberg, the guy who was talking to you earlier, said to make you change your mind…"
"Before I could continue, he revealed to us that he was actually using the bodies for something important to him. I tried to interrogate him on that matter, but he refused to respond. I guess he was trying to keep the details hidden."
Bodies used for something important...
That thought made almost no sense at all. How could corpses of innocent souls be utilized in any sort of fashion? Unless Lars was skilled in necromancy, which he did not appear to be, the usefulness of dead flesh seemed too far-fetched for the ace pilot to believe. Then, another important fact popped into his mind…
"Well, he's dead, so we can't ask him now. Maybe we'll find something else that can give us more insight on his little experiment, though I highly doubt it."
Inside the medical wing…
"I don't think he'll hold up for long," a bandage-covered Sonic sighed, grimacing at the sight in front of him. Lucas, now barely conscious, was partially covered by an assortment of bloodstained bandages on his body. The red coloration present was undoubtedly deep and quite appropriate when considering the severity of the freshly-made injuries. It was also a reason for discomfort, as the sight of it was ugly enough to force the hedgehog's current expression onto his face. Meanwhile, the psychic's skin was colored an unhealthy pale due to the heavy blood loss. This unnatural hue sharply contrasted with the blood, as all observers had noticed.
"Maybe," Peppy mumbled, his aged eyes staring at Lucas. "I just hope he doesn't give out before we reach Venom, or we will be one guy short in our fight."
"Peppy, he's not in a state to continue fighting," a patched-up Lucario added. "For the time being, we will keep him inside this area until we return to the Smash Mansion. Maybe Lillian can do something about this, that is, if she has healing abilities."
"Hmm, do you think that Slippy and I can stay at that mansion of yours until this whole thing is resolved? Staying at Corneria City is out of the question, and there's no base within the Lylat System to hide at. Oh, and let's not forget about Fox's family; they also need a place to stay."
The Aura Pokémon paused for about two seconds, most likely for a moment of consideration, before replying. "Yes, you are more than welcome to seek refuge at the mansion until we defeat the Lords."
"Finally," Slippy sighed in relief, "We'll be able to rest for a little while. Thanks for accepting our offer, Lucario."
Lucario replied with an affirmative nod before strolling out of the room. As it did so, it could hear Ness mutter the following words in a hopeful yet worried tone:
"Please, Lucas… Don't die on me, man."
At the main palace of the Lords…
"Mästare," an extremely alarmed servant gasped, "Allow me to enter!"
"You appear to be concerned about something," the physically obscure leader whispered. From his perspective, the servant was almost out of breath; maybe he had been sprinting all the way up here. Like most of the other members of the organization, the subordinate's face was concealed by a hood, but his alarmed expression underneath was something that his leader could somehow detect without having to necessitate a close approach.
"I have some grave news for you," the Lord continued. "Given the information from the survivors, our groups in each of the assigned realms, except for the one in Altea, have been experiencing attacks by unidentified beings. We are not sure who they are or how they figured out our intentions, but we need to get rid of them before they inflict any more damage upon us. Also, we have lost contact with our base on the Lylatian planet of Macbeth."
"What about Lars Isberg? Have you established contact with him?"
"I have been unable to get a response from him, for reasons I cannot explain. It is possible that the base was raided by the very same aggressors that hope to force us into ruin."
The leader now felt a disturbing chill through his body as soon as his servant was finished speaking. A new force was now attempting to halt the Holy Serpent's revival, and if it was strong enough, this precious organization could be obliterated in a matter of days, if not hours. This was not acceptable in any way. The aggressors had to be stopped before it was too late, but there was one thing that should be done prior to that…
"I want you and the others to analyze who our new threats are. We must find a weakness in them, then strike all of them down when they least expect it. We also need to find their gathering place; when we destroy it, it should cripple their operations."
"As you wish. I will work with our realm experts and any survivors from the assaults to gather information as soon as possible."
Within seconds, the leader was once again alone in his room. Silence crept into the room at a chillingly rapid pace when the door ceased to creak. To the man himself, it was a very commonplace experience. Maybe he had nothing else to do, besides commanding an army dedicated to the Svärtad Orm, but this was perhaps an integral part of his personal world. Besides keeping himself isolated from the constant turmoil of his world, it allowed some breathing room for thoughts to flow into his head. He had lost count as to how many times he was stuck in an absence of sound, but that mattered little; no matter what, silence was an inescapable yet beneficial entity that was constantly holding his hand. Nothing could separate him from it, not that he desired to break the bond.
But while numerous thoughts began to roam free, one suddenly stood out from all the rest. Since the beginning of the entire battle for the Holy Serpent's revival, there was one person that he had been constantly seeking, someone very important to the Lords' plans. So far, there had been no success in pinpointing that character's location, but all that would change soon. Very soon…
"I will find you," he whispered under his breath. "You will not escape me…"
A dark green haze began to spread across the windows as the Great Fox plunged into the toxic atmosphere of Venom. The coloring of the gases was nauseating to many of the people on-board. In fact, the mere sight caused images of the most disgusting things imaginable to begin plaguing their minds; it was only when a few minutes had passed that this unpleasant effect began to fade away entirely. Besides the nasty appearance, the haze also partially blocked out whatever was awaiting the Great Fox by limiting the distance of visibility to only a few meters.
"Not the kind of place I would want to live in," Sonic chirped. His statement was truly realized when the gases of the upper atmosphere slightly dispersed to reveal a wasteland unlike any other. The soil was barren, with no traces of flora due to the poisonous gases. Jagged mountains littered the area to provide a sort of scenery that was very reminiscent of other hostile lands, such as the Mushroom World's Dark Land or Halcandra, a lava-filled planet within Kirby's universe. Colorless, highly acidic oceans were also in sight, their presence alone intensifying the already dark mood of this forsaken planet. Combining all this with the fact that there was very low lighting, Venom was essentially a living hell stuck in a state of perpetual darkness. It was a symbolic place of damnation meant to destroy Andross many years ago.
"I don't see how we're supposed to find the piece in this place," Popo sighed. "This landscape has nothing distinctive about it."
"If I recall," Falco replied, diving into his personal pool of memories, "Andross used to have a base on this planet. We may need to check it out first, but then again, the piece can be anywhere else in this loathsome dump." As the pilot and the Eskimo continued with their conversation, Lucario activated its life-seeking abilities to sniff out any traces of life. The Pokémon was fully aware that Venom's atmosphere was not capable of sustaining most forms of life, but this process was a simple precaution to ensure that no threats were around. Besides, something about this planet seemed… off to it. It was as if something was hidden underneath the planet's surface, waiting for the right time to strike at the Smashers. The fact that there were no evil forms of life energy present did little to comfort the Pokémon.
"Is something wrong?" Sonic asked, noticing Lucario's suspicious expression.
"We may need to watch our backs from here on out," was the Aura Pokémon's reply. "There may be unseen threats lurking within this planet."
Falco could barely hold back a scoff as he overheard Lucario's seemingly ridiculous comment. "Are you kidding me, man? There's no way that life still exists on Venom, not after we annihilated Andross's army and the Anglars."
"I understand, but there's something not right here. I can feel it…"
"Well, we're gonna find out if your claim is true or not." Falco proceeded to direct the Great Fox into the direction of Andross's former base. During this time, an uneasy silence broken only by the low hum of the ship's engines formed to match up with the auditory properties of the outside. One could assume that it was most likely due to Lucario's comment, though it could also be due to a lack of any interesting subjects to talk about. Or it could be both. Despite the vehicle's motion, the strange forces of nature were at work to fool the Smashers into one thing: continuously making laps around the same area. It would have been successful, were it not for the main monitor's map.
Inside the medical wing…
"Easy, buddy," Ness muttered. "Don't push yourself too hard." Lucas was now awake, though his blood loss was threatening to drag him back into unconsciousness; his vision was plagued by blackouts despite his eyelids being as wide open as possible. In addition, his body was struggling to sustain itself due to reduced physical strength.
"How… how long was I out for?" the timid psychic weakly groaned.
"You were incapacitated for nearly an hour," Peppy answered. "The blood loss turned out to be more serious than I initially thought, and I had to quickly patch you up before your condition could get any worse. You should be okay for now, but you'll have to remain here until we get to the Smash Mansion."
Lucas pressed a feeble hand against his aching head, only to realize that the pain would not disappear despite the pressure. Maybe Peppy was right about the blood loss; it was serious enough to be causing these problems to him, all to make his life more hellish. "Okay. I just… hope that the Lords… don't burst into this ship again."
The general's ears perked up in response to the comment. "You took the words right out of my mouth, young man."
Ness, concerned for his best friend's safety, twisted his body to face Peppy. "I would like to stay here in this wing to keep my buddy safe," he suggested. "It's just in case those robed freaks decide to show up."
As per his generous nature, Peppy's next comment was one of approval. "Sure. You get to stay here; besides, it would be harmful for him to be alone if we do have another run-in."
As the general exited the room, Ness stared at his friend's beaten form and then out a nearby window. It was here that a thought penetrated his mind, one that seemed clearly vital to him. While it was expected that this new adventure would be filled with peril, he had never expected it to be just as danger-filled as the Subspace incident. Maybe it was even more dangerous than before, seeing as though there was a near-casualty at this early point in time. Still, it was too early to jump to conclusions. For one thing, he had no idea as to the status of the other groups. For all he knew, they could be performing their tasks without any problems, or they could be trying to desperately drag themselves out of hellish situations. Secondly, Lillian had not provided any details about future threats that might be lurking in just about all the piece-bearing realms.
But hold on…
Why did the maiden fail to warn the Smashers until after the threats were encountered? It was possible that she was not aware of what the hostile forces might have had up their sleeves, but…
Was she hiding something?
"I need Lillian to answer some of my questions soon," he whispered. "I think I'll talk to her in person. That way, I'll know if she's holding anything back."
The Great Fox was now in the field where Star Fox held an epic battle with Star Wolf many years ago, near the end of the Lylat Wars. The memories were, miraculously, still strong within Falco's mind; it had been many years since then, but it just felt like they had all occurred only a few days ago. To add, this field was mostly unchanged, as if the forces of nature had forgotten about it entirely. All the hills were still in their same shapes, but the hole leading into Andross's subterranean base was now absent. Falco was suddenly reminded of what Cornerian forces had done to the base following the Lylat Wars: dismantling what remained of the base to ensure that no other villainous army would utilize it for any sort of dangerous motives. Of course, this, coupled with the lack of any unusual discoveries, meant that the staff piece was not likely to be located inside.
"Let's go search somewhere else," he grumbled under his breath. As the ship passed through the next couple of hills, few of the Smashers expected anything out of the ordinary. The piece was most likely located in a well-hidden place, and the hazy, monotonous scenery was the perfect environment for keeping many things invisible to peering eyes. The map on the main screen did not seem to reveal anything unusual or noteworthy. To worsen things, much of the planet was left unexplored by Falco, mainly due to a lack of interest, and it was certainly not explored by the others at all. This search was going to be a very confusing one, with no obvious indicators whatsoever. If they were lucky, they would find the safeguarding area in a matter of minutes, but this was very unlikely. Patience was the only thing left to rely on.
Within the next few minutes, there was little to no activity in the bridge or the entire ship. The only noteworthy event was Falco playing some of his music from the jukebox, albeit with the volume kept at a minimum to avoid disturbing the others. But even then, the plethora of carefully-arranged musical notes was not enough to add energy to the slow-paced atmosphere. Boredom was still overshadowing the Smashers, perhaps to the point where they could potentially be driven insane. There was truly nothing better to do, to be honest. But, unbeknownst to all, a dark force was silently stalking them…
Several meters away from the Great Fox, an enemy ship was slowly pursuing from behind, keeping its distance to avoid detection. The shape of the ship was identical to the vehicles used by the Lords during the battle at the mining complex, with the same body and the same features that were present. This dangerous vehicle, however, was concealed by a special light-bending field utilized for stealth operations, which could easily fool any opponent who did not have access to enhanced vision. This cloaked machine was a hidden predator in the air, quietly biding its time until it was ready to strike. The inside housed many things: a set of switches used for operational purposes, a primitive-looking yet advanced radar, a leather seat, and vice versa. The one thing that stood out the most, however, was the pilot.
It was Lars, revived and ready to attack. His body was beaten and bloodied, but he was otherwise unchanged in appearance.
"If you think that you can get to the piece first," he quietly puffed, "Then you are sorely mistaken." As he spoke, he pressed a dark green button on the dashboard to charge up one of the ship's weapons. Back on the Great Fox, Falco noticed the faint outline of a distant structure.
"Hey," he announced, "I'm seeing something up ahead. It's look like a building of sorts."
Suddenly dragged out of his stupor, Popo willingly allowed his curiosity to flare up. Within seconds, he realized what the pilot was referring to.
There must be something interesting up ahead, he pondered. And, as expected, there was; joining the pilot in sightseeing, he noticed a structure up ahead. While most of the exact details were a little fuzzy, it was about as tall as the Macbethian complex's now-decimated base, maybe even taller. The heavy fog, combined with the fact that the Great Fox was too far away, made it difficult for the climber to tell. The width was ridiculously large to the point where it almost seemed unrealistic, spanning from one distant hill to another and leaving very little open space in between. The roof contained a dome that stretched its body across the entire perimeter, leaving only the corners untouched.
"I don't think I've seen this building before," Falco grunted. "We should all go check it out. For all we know, it could be housing the staff piece that we need."
Then it hit Nana. She quickly realized that the group needed some form of protection from the suffocating atmosphere of Venom. As the building was completely swallowed by the hazard, and because the ship was unlikely to fit inside, this would be helpful information to the others. But there did not appear to be anything aboard the ship that could help. Curious, she was quick to ask Falco the following question:
"Falco, do have anything that can protect us from the nasty gases?"
As if expecting the question, Falco confidently answered, "Sure. The ship has some suits that can used when going into dangerous environments. They're in the hangar bay. Now, once we put the Great Fox to a halt-"
The rest of the pilot's sentence fell away from Lucario, for at that moment, the Pokémon could feel a hostile force approaching the ship. Its vision once again lost nearly all color, with the sole exceptions of any Aura present. At the front of the ship, it was a sea of blue clashing against a dull world; the threat was obviously not coming from the front. Lucario pivoted its body towards the sides and the blue coloring was taken out of view, but there was still no visible sign of any threat. Its heart was beginning to beat faster, thanks to the spirit of nervousness utilizing his hands to slowly crush it alive. Hopefully, it pondered, its mind was not playing deceitful tricks on it. Turning towards the back of the Great Fox, it noticed a faint radiation of evil. This was not a good sign.
"I feel something coming from behind…" it whispered.
"You what?" Ness interjected.
"I said that I feel something coming from behind from us. It is something… evil. Whatever it is, it's trying to stalk us. Falco, I need you check on the ship's radar; we need to know what we are dealing with. We can only pray that it is not one of the dreaded Orm's Lords…"
With no word spewed from his mouth, Falco checked up on the ship's radar. Much to his surprise, there was no red blip to be seen, even when there should have been one due to a nearby foe. This struck the avian pilot as odd. How could there be a hostile nearby when the ship's equipment was not even detecting the presence of such? There were only three explanations for this; the radar was malfunctioning, the enemy was no longer in the area, or Lucario was lying. As far as Falco was concerned, the radar had undergone a recent inspection last week to check for any problems, which there were none. The chances of a glitch occurring now were quite low, largely thanks to the stability of the radar's components. As for the enemy leaving the surrounding area, that seemed like the most plausible scenario, but nearly all the Lords within Lylat were wiped out by the bomb, right? And there were no other hostiles to be concerned about, at least per the group's knowledge. Finally, Lucario was not the type of creature to lie in most circumstances, given its truthful nature.
"Beep?" Mister Game & Watch, now observing the radar, asked.
"I am sure of it, Game & Watch," Lucario replied. "This dark force is closing in on us."
"I'm not too sure of your claim," Peppy grumbled quizzically, "But there is only one way to find out. Falco, do you think you can check out the ship's exterior for any bogeys?"
"I'll use the ship's rear-facing camera," Falco answered, all while pressing a blue button on the dashboard. As a new image of Venom's environment zipped onto the screen, everyone waited for a foe to be made visible. After a few seconds, however, it was clear that there was nothing following the Great Fox, Lord or otherwise.
"Guess you were wrong after all, pal," Falco spat. "I don't see anything out there."
"Yeah," Popo concurred. "I think something must be messing around with your Aura-seeking skills."
Lucario let out a soft sigh as the rest of group sided with Falco. There had to be an enemy out there, it pondered. Otherwise, it would not have detected that one tiny trail of malevolence. But, as if luck was playing a cruel trick on it, it had no way of proving its claims beyond any reasonable doubt. Meanwhile, Falco resumed his normal activities for the time being. Maybe this was one of the times when Lucario was making things up.
Unless something was off. If that was the case, then…
BZZZTTT!
In a fraction of a second, all equipment aboard the Great Fox unexpectedly lost power, including the lights and, more importantly, the engines. Most of the ship's inhabitants were left confused, with the explanation for the sudden shutdown left unknown to them. Falco harshly mashed his fingers against every single button on the dashboard, hoping that this new event was just a temporary glitch. But it soon became apparent to him that this was something of a more serious nature, as repeated button presses failed to restore any of the ship's functions.
"What the hell is this crap?" he puffed. "Fox told me that everything should be working fine!"
"Maybe he forgot to check up on some important things," Peppy sighed.
"No. Fox specifically told me that all the ship's systems were not having any mechanical problems during his diagnosis. And that was a week ago, so-"
"I do not believe that the ship itself is the problem…" Lucario interrupted with a confident tone of voice. "It might have something to do with the enemy behind us."
"And how the hell are you so certain about-"
But the pilot was cut off as soon as the ship began plummeting into the ground. Confusion morphed into terror as the Ice Climbers and Mister Game & Watch were overloaded with panic, while Falco and Slippy desperately hurried to the engine room to restore power before it was too late. As its falling speed increased, the ship slowly entered a nosedive position, with the bridge ready to take the full brunt of the incoming crash. The increasing acceleration was also causing many of the adventurers to float into the cold air.
Inside the medical wing…
"What's going on here…!" Lucas whimpered.
"Something's knocked the ship offline," Ness grunted, struggling to hold his ground. "We're gonna crash if something isn't done soon!" As soon as he stopped speaking, a flurry of objects on the far wall, be it medical supplies or anything else important to the wing, began to rain down on the two young men. In addition, the increasing falling speed of the ship began to carry Ness and Lucas upwards, right into the center of the room. Carrying Lucas with him, Ness was now standing on a wall as the ship proceeded to perform a nosedive into the planet. He had no problem dodging whatever was out to fall upon him, but upon reaching the doorway, he was forced to stop when he noticed that the dark area ahead possessed a long drop into the end of the hallway below. Examining the hallway with his PK Fire, it also became realized that there was also nothing to hold on to, at least not within his reach: no doors, no juts in the walls, or anything that extended outwards. This left him worried, now that he had almost nowhere else to go; his current location was decorated with a medium-sized window, and if that shattered in the crash, the resulting gases would suffocate him and Lucas for sure. There was only one way out of this situation.
"I wonder if my jump can reach the top…?" he mumbled.
"I can get up there!" a distant voice shouted. Before Ness could act, Falco suddenly emerged from the bridge's previously-destroyed doorway and began racing towards the ship's rear. During the supposed descent, at least from Ness's perspective, he had to engage his blazing Fire Bird to blast through a deactivated door leading into the hangar bay, which housed an elevator to the engine room. Upon landing on a wall…
"Aw, I have to navigate through all this shit?" the pilot groaned. Most of the area's heavier objects, including the vehicles, had been scattered across the closest wall and made the area resemble a near-unpassable junkyard. Scrambling hurriedly and using his blaster's flashlight as guidance, he eventually reached a metallic container filled with specialized suits and popped it open. The suits were decorated with a plain shade of white, possessing no other decorative factors, and were slightly baggy because of their large size. On the top of each suit was a helmet equipped with a see-through visor.
"I better start passing these out now," he grunted. Leaping back to the bridge, he tossed out the suits to everyone on-board, including Krystal and the terrified Marcus.
"Mom, I don't want my life to end like this!" the cub squealed. His eyes were very close to being soaked with tears.
"Everything's going to be okay," Krystal replied, though she was clearly frightened herself. She fidgeted with her suit and was rather slow to force her body into its interior, most likely due to panic. The others slipped into their suits with little hesitation, but by then, the ship was very close to colliding with Venom's barren earth. Slippy, upon noticing this, instantly descended into a state of madness.
"OH, MY GOODNESS!" he screamed. "WE'RE GONNA DIE! WE'RE GONNA GET TORN TO PIECES!"
"Oh, damn…" Peppy gasped, staring out from the bridge's windows. "We're screwed…"
CRASH!
Outside, Lars smirked out of satisfaction when the Great Fox slammed into the ground like a meteor. Now that the Smashers were out of the way, he could obtain the staff piece without further opposition. Its retrieval would certainly benefit the society of Orm-worshippers. And on top of that, there was a building nearby that could be its possible resting place. This was much easier than he thought it would be, or maybe it was just luck. Either way, victory was his.
"Falco and his group are finished…" he sighed before leaving.
Inside the Great Fox, the bridge was in absolute ruin. With no protection from the impact, its shape was disfigured beyond repair and its windows were now tiny shards of glass scattered across what used to be the main computer. Of course, all of this was not visible to the crew aboard due to the lack of light. Most of the Smashers, along with the McClouds and the Star Fox team, were now slumped against the wall with the most damage, with a few of them suffering from injuries due to the fall. Slippy, specifically, was afflicted with a concussion because of a major head injury.
"Ow…" he moaned. Aside from the slight noise of the others standing back up, the engineer could hear a faint ringing noise in his ears.
"Uh…" Peppy coughed. "This is truly a crock of crap. Did everyone get into the suits?"
"I did," Lucario answered, with no changes to its voice's clarity. It proceeded to light the bridge with its deep-blue Aura. "And I believe most of the others have done the same. All we need to do now is to climb out of this place." With its Extreme Speed, the Pokémon ascended to the medical wing, where it was revealed that the window had shattered during the impact. Thankfully, however, Lucas and Ness managed to put on their suits before they were terribly poisoned. As Ness stepped out into the hostile wasteland with Lucario, the Great Fox slowly began to regress back into the position it was in before the power loss. This made it easier for most of those on-board to leave without any greater form of assistance; Slippy and Lucas, however, had to be supported on the way out due to their injuries. Inside the hangar, Falco had to open the larger doors via manual override before preparing his Arwing for launch.
"Fuck…" he growled, face fraught with frustration. "Fox is going to be pissed when he learns of this." Driving his trusty vehicle into the hellish land, Falco was soon able to get a clearer view of the distant building. The overall structure was forged out of stone, something that could not have been used by Venomian forces when they constructed their bases throughout Lylat, and possessed a bright, untainted sliver color that sharply contrasted with the dark earth. There were no windows to be found, neither was there any machinery on the outside, but there was one property that certainly captured the pilot's attention for virtually a minute. Right above the only pair of doors was an insignia that Falco was not at all familiar with; inside the boundaries of this new symbol were two roses sprouting from the bottom and a noble lion, whose head was perpetually staring at the sky.
"I've never that symbol before," he sighed. "Maybe I should ask Lillian about this…"
At the Smash Mansion…
"How long has your kingdom been at war with the Orm's Lords?" Master Hand asked. He was floating over the dining room's table, with Lillian sitting on the chair closest to him.
"We've been fighting them for approximately nine years now," the maiden responded, chewing on a green apple between her sentences. "One day, they approached our kingdom with an ultimatum: surrender the staff pieces and the "pure-hearted one", or watch the kingdom crumble from their wrath. Immediately, we realized that they were planning to revive the Svärtad Orm, so we sent our forces to search for whatever bases they might have established prior to their threat. Meanwhile, the king responded to the group's leader via letter and stated that he had did not know where the pieces were at, but the leader was not convinced. He said that he would attack if the demands were not met. By that time, a base was discovered and immediately destroyed by the kingdom's army. This event was what sent the whole realm into a state of war."
"I see. Where were you when this war flared out of control?"
"I was within the kingdom's central city, and I, alongside my older brother, was kept hidden because I was only a child back then and my parents feared for my safety."
"But during the time that you were in hiding, you were given the magic that allows you to detect the pieces, right?"
Lillian pulled her hair up before continuing. "Yes, but it was only after my brother reached adulthood that I was given such abilities. You must understand; the magic that I have is a very experimental one. It was created by the most powerful magicians of the kingdom using exceptionally rare materials from nature. There were people before me who had tried to use it, but its instability at the time resulted in very harmful side effects, such as hallucinations, mental breakdowns, paralysis, and, in the most extreme cases, uncontrollable violence."
"That makes sense. Now, what about your family members? Where are they at now?"
"They-"
"BOO!" a voice from behind shrieked. The maiden leaped straight from her chair, barely choking back a scream in the process.
"Crazy, what the hell was that for?!" Master Hand roared, staring at his unstable, left-handed counterpart.
"Oh, man!" Crazy Hand giggled. "You should have seen the look at this girl's face! I really caught her off-guard, didn't I?"
Master Hand was not amused by the prank in any way, nor was he convinced by the comment. "Look, I could care less if you do that prank to any of the Smashers, assuming it's not done in excess, that is. But this young woman here is a guest of ours. You should know better than to treat her like that. Do you get me?"
"Sorry…"
A brief pause hanged over the air before the commentator redirected his attention to Lillian. "I am terribly sorry for that. This here is my brother, Crazy Hand. You shouldn't be taking him seriously, regardless of what he claims. He's more on the… goofy side, if you know what I mean."
An unstable brother of his, the maiden pondered. I wonder if he's dangerous in any way… I surely do not want him to cause damage when I least expect it. She cleared her throat before continuing the conversation with the following words:
"Is he a threat?"
"No," Master Hand answered. "He won't be causing any serious damage. Not while I'm around."
"That's right!" the crazed one exclaimed. "I'm totally harmless, so you can play or chat with me without the possibility of harm coming to you."
"Thank you," the maiden muttered, "But I am not in the mood for any sort of child's play… or any sort of conversation with you."
With a slight giggle, Crazy Hand zipped into the mansion's hallways. Everything was silent afterwards, save for a barely audible groan from Master Hand. Lillian was left with a dumbfounded expression on her face, most likely due to witnessing the crazy one's usual behavior. Hopefully, Master Hand was right about him being harmless. After a few seconds, she was ready to open her mouth, but before she could do so…
"Lillian…!" Falco's voice rang. "Hey, can you hear me?"
"Hold on, Master Hand," Lillian suddenly sputtered. "Someone's trying to contact me."
Back at Venom, Falco was now approaching the ancient building via his Arwing. The others were following him in a beaten but functional Landmaster piloted by Peppy.
"Falco," Lillian whispered inside the pilot's mind, "Is there something that you need to tell me?"
"Yeah. I need to tell you a couple of things. First, the Great Fox is out of commission due to a power failure; I don't know what the hell was responsible for that, but Lucario claimed it was because of an enemy from behind… which we couldn't see. I swear, if it was a Lord that zapped the ship…"
"Maybe the Great Fox must have experienced a mechanical problem. That's one possible explanation for the sudden loss of power."
Falco groaned angrily at the words sent to his ears. That possibility was certainly not true. "A week ago, Fox checked up on the ship's systems and everything turned out fine. How the hell can a ship suddenly go on the fritz without some sort of major malfunction beforehand?"
A soft sigh was heard before Lillian resumed the conversation. "I am not saying that my belief is true. That is only one out of many possibilities, but since you've mentioned the inspection performed by Fox, it does seem unlikely that the ship would shut down unless there was a problem. Now, is there anything else you want to tell me?"
"Yes. We've located a temple on the planet. The front is decorated with an insignia that has a lion and roses inside of it. Call me crazy, but I think the staff piece is inside."
"A temple with an insignia, you say? That is the piece's resting place. Numerous accounts from ancient times have stated that a temple embedded with the kingdom's emblem was forged on a life-threatening planet to prevent evildoers from completing the staff."
"Okay. I'm gonna go pick up the piece and then get the hell out of this wasteland. Tell Master Hand to get a portal ready as soon as possible."
"I will. Just try not to get yourself killed while he does so."
With no more words to be spoken, Falco continued his journey to the temple. The greenish gas continued to inhibit his vision, but it failed to stop him from successfully landing his Arwing close to the front of the deserted building. When the ship's transparent hatch opened, everything was suddenly silent. There was no wind to carry whatever could roll across the ground: no rustling, no active Arwing engine, nothing at all. The suit on the pilot's body only served to further suppress any possible sounds, however meager they were. This lack of audio, in Falco's mind, was very appropriate for a death-ridden world like Venom. It was virtually impossible for the planet to produce auditory sources of its own. This environment was something of a noiseless hell to him; while he was never religious to begin with, he had sometimes imagined what the world of damnation would be like, even if the concept of such was too outlandish for him. Maybe this would be his answer, even though he had never pondered about this during his first trip to the planet.
"Once I get the piece, I could probably say to my friends that I just went to Hell and back, more than once to be exact," he chuckled bitterly. With his vehicle locked up, he proceeded to approach the temple in a slow manner, keeping his blaster in hand for emergency situations. A few meters away, the Landmaster was closing in on his position.
"Okay, everyone," Peppy announced, "Get ready to disembark."
"I'll stay here to watch over Lucas," Sonic commented. "He's… still not doing well."
"Marcus and I will stay as well," Krystal added, fearing for her child's safety. With no other comment, most of the passengers obeyed Peppy's order immediately as the vehicle slowly came to a halt.
The windowless interior of the temple, isolated from the morbid sight of Venom, expanded upon the beauty of the exterior to a great degree. The metallic doors were coated with a chrome layer that provided immunity to the air's ability to cause rusting, resulting in a magnificent appearance that managed to remain unchanged with the passage of time. Silver and golden lights were dotted across the normally subdued hall to give a stark contrast between light and darkness. The floor was branded with the same insignia printed on the exterior of the building, albeit with a shade of gold instead of silver. Simply put, it was an eye-catching sight that had the potential to attract many observers, even with the gases of Venom running amok.
"The piece cannot hide from me forever," Lars sighed, examining every possible spot from every different angle. Even though the massive room appeared to be empty, the captain's instincts were warning him of a hidden feature within this building, one that just might expose what he was currently searching for. The search had only lasted for a couple of minutes, but the ghost of time was at work to stretch the period into hours, not in reality but in Lars's mind. It was inevitable that a feeling of impatience would repeatedly strike him like an aching pain that refused to leave.
"Where are you…" he groaned softly. Upon realizing that the piece was not likely to be located on this level, he guided himself towards the only other pair of doors in the vicinity; behind it was a stairway that led to the floor above him. Halfway through the ascent, the mysterious man could hear the door slowly shutting, along with the echoes that came with it. However, there was a second sound that he failed notice: a larger doorway slowly opening.
Back at the ground floor, Falco and his party were in the process of entering the building. The darkness, resisted only by the faint lights on the walls, made it difficult for them to notice the details within the sacred place, but as soon as all eyes were adjusted to the sharp change in lighting, all travelers were left mesmerized.
Well, holy shit, Falco pondered. The architects really wanted this place to look top-notch, and they truly succeeded. His body was frozen in place, temporarily unable to be removed from the trance overtaking it. Never had he encountered such beauty in one place; speaking of which, even the Smash Mansion seemed plainer in comparison, and that was designed to be one of the beautiful mansions in the multiverse. He was not the only one left unable to move, as the other Smashers were soon affected by the same peaceful curse.
"By Arceus, I've never seen a structure this astonishing…" Lucario gasped. Even its razor-sharp concentration was succumbing to the otherworldly architecture, as the Pokémon itself soon came to realize.
"Wow," Nana gasped. "This is so beautiful, just like the lights in the arctic skies…"
"I bet it is," Falco concurred. "But we should get going now."
With nothing else to be said, the others followed the avian fighter into the temple. As the doors behind them closed, footsteps and a faint thud were all that shattered the silence. This low-noise environment was quite appropriate for a place that had been abandoned for centuries, maybe even millennia. Due to low luminosity, Lucario and Falco were forced to illuminate the group's surroundings with their Aura and blaster-mounted flashlight, respectively. Still, the darkness, now stronger due to the closed doors, was enough to inflict chills upon some of the party members.
"Hey, why does a neat place like this have to be so dark?" Popo mumbled nervously, his voice trembling noticeably.
"The proprietors don't live here anymore, kid," Falco grunted. His flashlight was fixed in front of him, lighting up a nearby door. As he kept it in place, his hand shook for a split second. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but there could be something hiding in this cold, black area. "But otherwise, hell if I know…"
"There doesn't appear to be anything in this area," Lucario sighed. "We should head upstairs; there should be something that will lead us to the piece."
Steps once again echoed continuously, with no end in sight. Falco pulling on the door to the stairway caused a creaking noise to join the world of perpetually reverberating noises, though this did nothing to affect the Smashers in any way. The following ascent was marked by faint lights on both walls, no windows, and a repeated, silvery scenery that was almost continuous. Mainly due to the height of the building, the travel to the next floor was quite long, but not to the point of completely exhausting the adventurers; hopefully, Falco believed, no one was getting tired now. When the group was almost at its destination, however…
"Wait," Falco whispered, suddenly stopping in his tracks, "Did you guys hear something?"
"Beep?" Mister Game & Watch chirped, confused by the pilot's sudden change in behavior.
"It sounded a lot like a faint thud, like the kind that you hear when something or someone hits the floor hard enough. But maybe my mind's just playing tricks on me. I mean, it's not like another person's already beaten us to the piece. I want someone in this group to see if I'm correct."
"I can do that," Lucario interjected. Its life-seeking abilities were once again active, this time searching the ancient place for any beings, regardless if they were hostile or harmless. This place was, for the most part, devoid of any life. In fact, only the Smashers were supposed to be here, unless someone else had somehow entered this place before they did. The ground floor was empty, so the only other area to check was the upper floor. Everything was progressing smoothly… until a faint trail of red appeared in the Pokémon's vision. Falco's statement was now incorrect, for there was someone lurking within this temple, but even that was not the most surprising thing.
By a sheer stroke of luck, this evil force was the same one that incapacitated the Great Fox a few minutes before.
"There's an enemy in here," Lucario puffed harshly. "And it's the same one that took down the ship. I have a feeling that it is about to steal the piece from this place. We must hurry."
"Are you sure about this?" Peppy grunted. "It could just be something different than-"
Lucario was quick to interrupt the elderly rabbit's comment by placing its right paw close to the latter's face. "There is no time to discuss this, General. We need to head upstairs before it's too late!"
Before the others could mutter a word, the jackal began sprinting up the stairway. Falco groaned for a split second before signaling his allies to repeat what the Pokémon just performed. If this was a false alarm, the pilot pondered, there was going to be some hell to pay... big time. After a hurried ascent marked by repeating lights and, oddly enough, a mysterious wind, the heroes were introduced to a hall identical to the one from before. There were a few differences at certain points, but that mattered little, for in front of the group was a foe thought to be dead.
"Lars?!" the space ace gasped. He had to be imagining things right now. There was no way that the captain was still standing after suffering total dismemberment. "How are you still alive? I thought I had beaten your ass back at the Great Fox!"
"You clearly have no idea about Återuppliva," was his opponent's response. "It's a spell that allows me and my brethren to regenerate from most injuries. I have realized that you could figure out the flaws, with it not being able to withstand burns or dismemberment, but there is a spell that I have grants me immunity to those elements. I hope you keep that in mind."
"Then why didn't you immediately regenerate after you were torn apart earlier?"
Lars's expression began to darken, with a subtle anger slowly emerging as he spoke. "I wanted to fool you into thinking that I was defeated by you wretched pieces of garbage. This trick gave me the perfect opportunity to put you down once and for all."
Falco's jaw nearly dropped upon hearing that comment. "So, you were the one who shot down the Great Fox? Is that what you're saying?"
"Correct. Now, I wanted to ensure that I could get the staff piece without any more interference on your part, but since you have survived the crash, I am left with no choice but to kill all of you. Mark my words; you will not taste victory on this occasion."
Falco let out a loud chuckle before continuing. "Oh, really? You do realize that you're outnumbered, right? Also, we've got some serious firepower outside, serious enough to blow you apart a thousand times over. What have you got to say about that, huh?!"
"Since your arrogance is boiling over, I will gladly offer a response to your bluff." After his response, a now-glowing Lars began to chant in his native language, much to the confusion of the adventurers. Falco was the only exception to this, instead firing off a charged shot from his blaster to interrupt what appeared to be a summoning. This action ended in failure when a shield was conjured to deflect the attack. Now deciding to get physical, Falco rushed forward with his trusty Phantasm, but upon contact with Lars…
ZAP!
"YOW!" Falco screamed as he felt a painful wave of energy tear through him. "Oh, that cheating son of a bitch…!"
"PK Flash!" Ness yelled. As he called out his attack, a greenish sphere of raw energy formed over his head and then proceeded to approach Lars at a sluggish pace, all while increasing its luminosity at an exponential rate. The subsequent impact caused a spectacular burst of light that momentarily shattered the darkness, but it failed to inflict any damage. As the others joined in the assault, an inexplicable rumbling was slowly gripping the sacred place. It was not initially felt by anyone, but it quickly intensified to where some of the heroes were nearly swept off their feet.
"What's happening?" Popo gasped, fearful of the possible threat approaching the group.
"Something is approaching us, and fast…" Lucario muttered, noticing a dark force approaching from outside the temple. But before it could command its partners into ducking, the far wall suddenly shattered into several pieces, revealing the new threat.
"My fucking goodness, that thing's ugly as shit," Falco grunted. The monster ahead was a pale-skinned creature with features that would best suit a demon from a hellish world. Razor-sharp teeth littered the interior of the mouth, something commonly witnessed in other hostile beings, and they appeared to be sharp enough to completely tear through flesh and bone. Its eyes were a bloodshot red, much like the color that would appear after crying, but far more exaggerated and certainly more demonic. The top of its head was decorated with two white horns that pointed sharply towards the dark skies above. Aside from color, they appeared to be something that many demonic creatures were often depicted with. The smooth body was very muscular, rivaling and even surpassing the strongest beings of the combined multiverse; even Ganondorf would be put to shame if he was to be used as a comparison. Finally, there were claws attached to its fingers. Though short-ranged, they appeared to be just as sharp as the teeth, if not sharper.
"What is… that?" a very nervous Peppy croaked. Even with all his experience, he had never witnessed a monster this vicious. In all honesty, it was making the entire collection of Andross's bioweapons look like mere toys in comparison.
"Something very big…" Nana whimpered.
"…and something very pissed off," Falco continued, preparing for the incoming battle.
"And this is not all that you must face," Lars growled. Upon pressing his hands together, an ironically heavenly light began to surround his body. A few seconds passed before the transformation was complete, and the results completely left the adventurers in even greater shock. With his old uniform gone, Lars was now clothed in cobalt-colored armor from head to toe. The only opening was on the front of the helmet, its only purpose being to provide eyesight; this was truly a problem for the captain's enemies, since there was almost no way to cause burns or inflict dismembering blows. The aesthetic visuals of the suit seemed more modern than the medieval era of knights, but at the same time, it was too ancient to be considered part of the culture of today. If anything, it appeared to be something out of a steampunk film, as Falco led himself to believe. Besides the armor, Lars was now in possession of a claymore, a long blade capable of slicing off multiple heads at once.
"What a grueling battle this is going to be," Lucario spat.
"Okay," Falco interjected, "Let's just cut the bullshit and get this over with. I just want to get the piece and leave this damn place for good. Lars, I hope your ass gets slaughtered during this fight. I really do."
"Really?" Lars sneered. "Okay then… Prepare to fight!"
Both sides approached each other, ready to risk life and limb for the still-hidden piece…
Okay, where did that monster come from? I don't understand how Lars managed to find that cursed thing and bring it under his control, nor can I grasp the concept of the Lords having so much up their sleeves to where they can pretty much destroy a world faster than anyone can say "You lose!". There's just a good number of things that have not yet been explained to us. I sincerely hope Lillian can reveal more to us; that way, we can stop those guys more efficiently.
And another thing, I hope Lucas stays safe during this battle. That creature looks like it can rip up a tank in seconds.
-Ness
Writer's block and college… I hate those two things because they impede with my work on this story… Though on a good note, I won't have to deal with the latter for a while.
So, the piece is indeed in the temple, but where exactly it is resting is something that will be revealed in the next chapter, which is also the finale for Falco's theatre. There is also going be something else that will to be important to the story.
R&R, as usual.