I was away from home for a couple of days, hence the reason for the long wait for this chapter.

Chapter 4
Arrival at Secon Island

After the military was done cleaning up Onett and helping the citizens the best they could there, several of them left, at least the high ranking ones. There were still some lower ranking soldiers hanging around, told by their superiors to stick around until they were given the permission to withdraw completely.

Meanwhile, the Smashers were getting ready to take off in the Final Destination to go to Secon Island in order to protect the Endpoint there from the Smash Pros.

These were the one who were going to go: Mario, Bowser, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Link, Ganondorf, Charizard, Lucario, Greninja, Mewtwo, Kirby, Fox, Falco, Captain Falcon, Samus, Ridley, Marth, Dark Pit, R.O.B., Brawler, Gunner, Swordfighter, and Snake.

The Final Destination was hovering in the sky above Smash Mansion, while the Smashers were gathered together at the yard right below it. Master Hand was down there with them, saying to them, "Are you all ready? We better move out fast, because for all we know, Secon Island may indeed be the Smash Pros' next destination, and you know that the military can't go there, so it's up to us to protect the Endpoint there."

"Ready wheneva you are!" Mario told him.

"Just take us there already! I'm dying to beat up those bastards!" said Wario while punching his palm.

"Please be careful!" Peach said to the Smashers who were leaving, and the ones who were staying behind said the same.

"Don't worry; we'll be back safe and sound before you know it!" Link assured them. "This will be no different from all the times we saved the world!"

When Master Hand told them that they could set off now, the Smashers gathered closely together right underneath the Final Destination, as he had told them to do so. A beam of light suddenly came down right above them, and then they found themselves floating into the air.

Yoshi looked up and said, "It's just like alien abduction!"

"When did the Final Destination have this function?" asked Fox.

"I'm making upgrades to it every once in a while," Master Hand, who was floating up by himself alongside them, told him.

The bottom side of the giant floating platform had an opening in which the traction beam came out from, and when the Smashers were taken inside, the opening closed up. Inside the floating platform, the interior was much larger than then outside, which wasn't anything new to the Smashers, as they had been inside it before.

Ridley was new to this, however, but he didn't look as surprised as he should. "This thing uses fourth dimensional space technology, huh? We have that back in my world too, but it's not something you see every day. In fact, it's not available to the public."

"It's not available. I'm just talented enough to make something like this!" said Master Hand, sounding proud.

As the Smashers were spreading out to find places to hang out at until they reach their destination, Samus asked Ridley, "Is it all right for your two pals to be by themselves at home?"

"They'll be fine. They're not children," Ridley told them.

Currently at Ridley's apartment, Dark Samus and Piranha had invited over a bunch of people over to the place to throw a party. These people were neighbors and Ridley's co-workers at the anime store the pterodactyl-like creature works at.

Piranha was singing karaoke, while the audiences clapped and cheered. He was singing Only My Railgun, the first opening theme of the first season of the anime A Certain Scientific Railgun.

While the Smashers hung out in what was basically the living room of the Final Destination, they talked about among each other about their plan for when they arrive at Secon Island.

"So are we going to go up to Whitebeard and tell him everything?" suggested Kirby.

"I'm not-a sure about-a approaching someopne as powerful and dangerous as him…" said Mario nervously.

"But the people on that island like him, so he probably isn't that bad," said Yoshi.

"We still have to be careful and not get too casual around someone like him," Marth reminded him. "He's apparently a pirate, criminals of the sea, so it's not like he's a saint who would welcome anyone to him so easily. I suggest that we resolve this situation ourselves as much as possible. We wouldn't want the people there to be in panic from finding out about this."

"Not sure if it's possible to keep it a secret from Whitebeard, though…" said Captain Falcon. "I think he deserves the right to know what is happening to his island."

"Or maybe he'll find out about it himself one way or the other eventually," said Ganondorf.

Master Hand popped up in the room and said to them after overhearing their conversation, "You lot go and gather information while posing as tourists, and keep an eye on out on suspicious people who might be related to the Smash Pros. As for Whitebeard, I'll decide whether or not to tell him, so leave everything about him to me."

"If that's your suggestion, then let's go along with it," said Mewtwo, agreeing with that he heard.

It didn't take too long to arrive at Secon Island, as the Final Destination moved at a fast speed. However, the floating platform didn't simply stop over the island and let the Smashers land on it.

Instead, the platform landed at sea, some distance off the coast of the island. Due to who owns the island, Master Hand did not think it was a good idea to simply fly onto it without a warning. After all, it was a powerful pirate crew in charge of that place, and those people weren't exactly friendly folks you want to get on the bad side of.

The Smashers then arrived on shore via boats provided by Master Hand. Arriving at the harbor, the Smashers saw that the place was rather populated. Several people, some of them natives of the place and some tourists, were walking around with large smiles on their faces. Some were doing touring, some shopping, and some doing businesses.

"Wow! This place looks fun!" commented Yoshi.

"I wonder what sort of delicacy they have here," said Kirby as he began to drool.

"For an island ruled over by a pirate, this place sure is lively and cheerful," commented Samus.

"Well, they did say Whitebeard is actually a nice fellow who treats the people here well, so I guess there really is nothing to worry about," said Captain Falcon.

"Hey, you guys just arrived at this place?" someone called out to them. The Smashers turned to see a tanned, mustachioed man wearing a dark blue suit and a top hat. "If so, then welcome!"

"Hello, nice to meet-a you! We are here for a tour!" Mario cheerfully said to him. "I hope you don't-a mind!"

"As long as you come in peace, we don't mind!" the man cheerfully said to him in response. "Enjoy your time here and don't cause trouble! Our dad doesn't like it if you mess with his territory."

"Your dad?" said Fox curiously.

"Not literally, but that's what we call our captain, Whitebeard," the man told him. "You do realize that he owns this island, right?

"Yes, we do," replied Marth.

"Not trying to scare ya or anything," said the man. "You should know how dangerous he can be when you get on his bad side. But don't worry! He's also one of the nicest guys in the world! We Whitebeard Pirates are all nice folks! Don't let the thought of this scare ya and go enjoy to your fullest! I suggest the hot springs! They're all the rage in this place!"

"Thanks for the suggestion!" Captain Falcon happily said to him.

"Enjoy!" said the man as he began to leave. "My name's Vista, by the way." Then he left.

After he left, Link said to his comrades, "Well, what do we do first?"

"We need to look for the Endpoint," suggested Samus. "We don't know if the Smash Pros are here yet, but we have to beat them to that volcano before them and keep an eye on it."

"Is that the volcano we're looking for?" asked Brawler while pointing in a certain direction. The Smashers looked and saw a massive mountain located far in the distance, and it had a Hollywood-style sign on it that wrote Kazanonsen.

"Well, that's the only volcano I see," said Ridley.

"Judging by how they even set up a sign there, I assume that it is a place kept under watch and that we cannot go there so carelessly," said Captain Falcon. "We should look around for info first before heading there. Don't wanna get into trouble for trespassing…"

Samus then turned to Brawler and said, "By the way, did your voice sound different just now? I remember it sounding more… robotic…"

"Yes, Master Hand updated our vocal chords," said Brawler as he pointed at Gunner and Swordfighter with his thumb. "We know have the ability to mimic human voice perfectly and change it in various wells." His voice then became feminine-sounding. "We can even make ourselves sound like the opposite sex!"

"I always thought your original voices sounded creepy…" said Kirby. "No offense."

"I found it funny to listen to," said Yoshi.

"Either way, let's talk a walk around this place and see if we can find anything interesting," said Fox.

"How about we split up?" suggested Captain Falcon.

"That's usually a clichéd and overdone method of doing things, but at least we're not in a haunted mansion," said Link.

"At least one of us should try to gain access to the volcano," suggested Mewtwo. "I'll volunteer myself if no one is willing."

"Well, you can get there without anyone noticing you, so why not?" Ganondorf said to him.

So it was decided that they would split up to gather info and look for potential Smash Pro members in hiding. Mewtwo, as agreed on earlier, would head over to the Endpoint first.

Ganondorf, Bowser, Snake, and Ridley felt like grabbing something to eat and drink. After walking around the town for a bit with the help of a map, they came across a bar and decided to try out that place.

When they went inside, they saw that there were a lot of people, so much that it didn't look like there were any seats left. A waiter came up to them and said, "I'm sorry, customers, but we are all occupied at the moment. If you want to, you can either order take outs or wait here at the entrance until there are seats left. I apologize for the inconvenience…"

"What do you think?" Snake asked the others.

"Not like this is the only place to eat around here," said Ganondorf. "Let's go check out other places first."

"Good idea," said Bowser with a nod.

The four eventually came across another restaurant called LGBT Supreme. There was a sign there that said same-sex couples and transgender people could get 20% discount at the place.

The four then turned around and saw a food stall along the road that had some tables next to it. It wasn't exactly the cleanest-looking food stall, though there were still some people eating there.

They shifted their eyes to LGBT Supreme and stared at it for a few seconds, and then Snake pointed at the humble-looking stall and said, "We're all in agreement to eat there, right?" The others nodded.

"No way I'm hanging out in that kind of place!" said Bowser while pointing and looking at LGBT Supreme with a look of disgust.

Mario, Wario, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong were traveling together when they arrived at a relatively worn down building that had quite a bit of people heading inside of. They saw a sign outside that told them that this was a fight club where one could bet fights and even participate in them. "Sounds neat!" said Wario with interest.

"Eez something like-a theez even legal?" wondered Mario.

"I'm sure they have regulations and all," said Diddy. "Besides, I'm not surprised a place like this exists when this island is ruled by pirates. You know they are a rowdy bunch and all…"

"I'm interested to see what's in there!" said Donkey.

Mario was going to tell them that they should be gathering info and looking for the Smash Pros instead, but they didn't listen and instead went inside without him. Mario sighed before following them inside.

Inside, there were several people standing around and cheering for a fight that was currently underway in the center of the place. The Smashers made their way through the crowd until they could see who the fighters were. It was a Japanese dressed in a white karate gi and a blonde American in a red karate gi.

The two fighters were throwing powerful punches and kicks at each other. Both sides were equally skilled and showed no signs of advantage. The Smashers found themselves greatly invested in watching the fight, especially Wario, whose eyes were basically glittering with joy, as if he wanted to have a piece of the action.

The two fighters fought on for a couple more minutes, and then they backed away from each other while breathing heavily. "Looks like you've still got it, Ryu!" the American said to the Japanese.

"Shouldn't that be obvious?" the Japanese said to him. "I should be saying that to you, considering that you have a family and business to take care of and so shouldn't have much time to practice your fighting skills."

"Once you're mastered fighting, it becomes equivalent to breathing. There's no way I can ever forget it!" the man referred to as Ken said to him. "All right, I'm going serious now!"

The two then charged at each other to battle again. This time, Ken somehow generated fire from his punches and kicks. Even so, the man referred to as Ryu was able to block them without showing signs of getting burned.

"Wow! Look at that blonde guy!" said Diddy in awe. "How is he doing that?!"

"This is awesome!" commented an excited Donkey.

"They really are good!" said Mario.

"Yeah! Fight on! Beat up each other! Show me what you've got!" said Wario while punching the air over and over.

The crowd became wilder and wilder the more Ryu and Ken fought each other. Ken eventually shot a fireball out of his hand at Ryu, who sidestepped it and then rushed at him to hit him in the abdomen. However, Ken blocked it with his hand and also the punches that followed it with consecutive success.

Ken then kicked Ryu in the head and knocked him back some steps, but the latter easily recovered from it before shooting a blue energy ball from his hands at him. "Hadoken!"

Ken dodged it and then performed a spinning roundhouse kick that somehow propelled him through the air and towards Ryu. "Hurricane Kick!"

Ryu blocked it with his arm when Ken's leg came to him, and after shoving his opponent onto the floor, he delivered a jumping uppercut to his chin. "Shoryuken!"

Ken was knocked back into the air and fell onto the floor with a thud. The crowd went wild and cheered for Ryu, thinking that he won the fight. Ken got back up again, which made those rooting for him cheer.

"Not bad," said Ken while rubbing his chin.

"Think you can still go on?" Ryu asked him while in a fighting stance.

"How long have we been fighting? Ten minutes?" Ken asked him.

"Didn't keep track, though I'm sure it's been a while already," replied Ryu.

"Whatever, I'll throw the fight," said Ken while raising his arm and then sighing. "Getting a bit tired already…"

The referee then declared Ryu the winner, and the audience cheered loudly while clapping their hands for Ryu.

"Wow! That was an awesome fight!" exclaimed Diddy while clapping loudly.

"I agree!" said Donkey.

"You know… I have the feeling that I've seen that guy before…" said Wario while looking at Ryu and clapping his hands. "He looks so familiar…"

Ryu didn't particularly have a strong reaction to winning and seeing the people clapping for him. He looked around and noticed the Smashers. Seeing Wario, he said, "Wario! I did not expect to see you here!"

Wario was surprised to see him. "Huh? You know me?"

Ryu nodded while approaching him. "Indeed. We battled alongside each other against dinosaurs in that dinosaur theme park. Remember?"

Wario thought about it for a while, and then it dawned on him. "Oh yeah! No wonder you look so familiar!"

"I can never forget the people who I fought alongside of! It is good to see you again!" Ryu said to him.

"Ryu? I rememba da others saying that there wuz someone with theez name coming to our mansion once…" said Mario.

Ryu nodded. "Yes, I intended to visit your place after the incident at that theme park, but then I remembered I had other business to attend to and thus could not make it. You are the Smashers, right? I'm glad to finally meet you!"

"Your friends, eh?" said Ken as he came over to Ryu and the Smasher, and then he said to the latter, "Hi there! I'm Ken Masters! I think you might have heard of me!"

"Yeah, heard of you," Wario said to him while shaking his hand. "You almost always rank first place in American martial art tournaments!"

"Glad to know that I'm that famous!" said Ken happily.

"What brings you to this place?" Ryu asked the Smashers.

Mario knew that it was best that they do not tell him the truth, and just as he was wondering what to say, Wario said, "Who cares why we're here? Now that I'm in this particular place, I want to know where to sign up for a fight! I'm dying to get into one after seeing you fight!"

"Easy!" Ken said to him. "Just look for the registration desk, and he'll get you into a match in a jiffy! Registration fee is quite cheap, and you get back a large sum if you win!"

"Just my sort of thing!" said Wario while punching his palm.

Wario wasted no time in signing up for a fight, and in no time, he was called to the arena to face his opponent.

"He sure is fight happy, isn't he?" Diddy said while looking at Wario introducing himself to the crowd.

"He's always been like-a that," Mario told him.

"All right! Who's the unlucky guy who has to face me?" Wario said out loud. "Come out here and face me already! I'll be sure to give you a rotten day!"

There was suddenly a loud roar, and all eyes turned to a doorway at one side of the room and saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes from the darkness within. "Oh, that guy," said Ken.

"I was wondering when it would be his turn," said Ryu.

The person within the doorway then rushed out and ran down the path leading to the arena. When he came to a stop, people saw that he was an anthropomorphic tiger with fire coming out from the front of his waist. The tiger let out a roar while stretching out his arms to the sides, and the audience cheered for him.

"Your opponent…" the referee said to Wario while pointing at the tiger, "…is the Pokemon known as Incineroar!"

TO BE CONTINUED

Ryu returns after a somewhat lengthy absence in Dino Panic, and he's here alongside Ken and Incineroar! Hope you look forward to more appearances from them and their roles in this story!

And if you're a One Piece fan, you'll recognize Vista as a character from that series, though he's a minor character. A few more One Piece characters, all from Whitebeard's crew, will show up, so please look forward to them!