The chapter of the previous title has been changed slightly in case you haven't noticed it. It now says "False Gods" rather than simply "Gods."

Chapter 17
The Unseen Side of Master Hand

BGM: Master Core (Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U)

Roaring loudly at I Am, the transformed Master Hand lunged at the leader of the Smash Pros at a fast speed. The former leaped out of the way fast and fired laser beams rapidly from his gun at him, but the shots seemingly did nothing to him. Master Hand lunged at him the second time, only to miss again when I Am zipped to the side at a fast speed while still airborne.

After landing from his jump, I Am dashed into Master Hand at an incredible speed, leaving behind afterimages of himself when he did so. He collided into Master's Hand body from the side with enough force to push him back. Master Hand didn't go far, as he planted hit feet firmly against the ground to come to a halt.

I Am jumped away from him just as he stomped the ground to make spikes made of dark energy grow in his direction. I Am leaped into the air to escape them and then used a couple of air jumps to get close to Master Hand before falling towards him to hit him with a drill kick. In response, Master Hand swung his scorpion-like tail at him and slammed its tip against his feet.

The drilling motion of I Am pushing against the tail caused sparks to fly everywhere. Eventually, I Am backed off a bit and jumped higher into the air before igniting his entire body, and then he slammed down onto Master Hand's back with a powerful force, slamming him onto the ground.

Master Hand let out a cry, and seemingly out of nowhere, a purple lightning bolt dropped down onto him, zapping I Am, who was still on top of him. An explosion of purple electricity was created, and all those close by could feel the force of the energy trying to lift them off the ground. "What power!" commented Mewtwo.

"I didn't know Master Hand is capable of this! He never told us about it!" said Fox.

"Could he always do this?!" wondered Samus.

I Am jumped off Master Hand's back and appeared to be unharmed for the most part. Master Hand growled at him before lunging at him again. In response, I Am performed a back flip without jumping too high to kick him in the chin. The kick was actually strong enough to knock Master Hand into the air. I Am then tossed himself at the black beast and struck him in the belly with a nonstop barrage of roundhouse kicks.

Master Hand was eventually kicked away and performed several flips before landing on all four. He let out a roar before jumping up at such as speed that it looked like he disappeared. He reappeared above I Am and tried to crush him with his landing, but the latter moved out of the way in time.

I Am then lunged at him and kicked him hard in the snout. Master Hand uses his strength to hold himself in place and push against the attack. In the midst of doing so, Master Hand suddenly "exploded," and I Am flew forward as a result. The dark energy particles that scattered into the air and then got into smaller groups and fused together to become large swords, five of them in total.

"He's taken that form again!" said Samus when she saw this new form.

Each of the swords swung around like crazy in an attempt to hit I Am, who moved around swiftly to avoid them. I Am jumped at one of the swords, grabbed its handle, and swung it at the others. He clashed the sword he grabbed for a few times before it wiggled violently to shake off of his grasp. That sword pointed at him and charged forward, stabbing him in the body.

Onlookers who saw this were surprised and even glad. "He got him!" exclaimed Kouchou.

However, I Am activated his armament haki at the last moment and was able to avoid being impaled. Kicking straight up, he knocked that sword high into the air. The five swords then got close to each other before slashing the air to shoot energy blades that transformed into energy balls as they soared through the air. I Am once again moved around swiftly to avoid getting hit by any of them.

After moving around the air to avoid the projectiles, I Am covered himself in fire and then shot at the swords. The swords pointed their tips in the same direction while pressed against each other before charging at him. Both sides clashed against each other and created a fiery shockwave.

They pushed against each other for a while before the swords spread out as I Am pushed through them. He kept on going and hit the metal dome covering the volcano dome with a powerful force that it got bent a bit.

The five swords headed for I Am and swung at him furiously. The latter got out of the way, and they ended up striking the dome several times so hard that it ended up badly shredded.

I Am jumped all the way to the other side of the dome and ignited himself to ready to shoot forward. Knowing that he is on the other side, the five swords once again touched the tips against each other before charging forward. Both sides collided into the metal dome from both sides, more or less destroying the entire things with the actions.

They collided against each other over the mouth of the volcano with a powerful force that once again released a shockwave of fire and energy, one powerful enough to destroy the dome entirely. I Am was able to dash his way past the five swords, sending them in directions.

I Am landed onto the rocky ground, and then the five swords got together and flew to the air above him before merging together to become the black beast again. Master Hand fell down onto him, but the latter got out of the way and even avoided the shockwave created from the stomp.

Acting fast, I Am charged at the tail, grabbed it, and with all his strength, swung Master Hand around and slammed him onto the ground over and over before hurling him away, but Master Hand was able to land on all fours.

Mewtwo decided to attack I Am next. With his hand covered in purple energy, the Pokemon teleported in front of him and swung his hand at him. I Am easily dodged it by sliding back, but Mewtwo kept on swinging his hands at him to fire energy blades nonstop, only for each of them to be avoided.

I Am dashed behind Mewtwo at a fast speed and tried to kick him, but the Pokemon spun around in time and caught his leg. Using telekinesis, Mewtwo forced I Am back into the air at a fast speed, towards Master Hand, who was jumping at him from behind with his mouth wide open. However, I Am dashed out of the way before the mouth closed around him.

I Am landed and faced the Smashers who were up against him, all of them in fighting stances. "Give it up! You're outnumbered!" Fox said to him while pointing his gun at him. "Look around you! Your men are being taken down one by one! You may be strong, but when up against several of us, you'll be worn down eventually!"

I Am looked around and saw that several of the Smash Pros were taken down. Even the three god-tiered members had been killed, and the only ones who were still fighting weren't the most powerful members.

"This is most unfortunate. Whether it is because they are weak or because the winners won using foul tactics, I will see to it that their deaths are not a waste," said I Am. "I shall accomplish what we plan to do and rebuild this world from scratch. Only then can there be true peace!"

"Enough of that peace talk crap!" said Samus angrily. "Your method will never bring true peace! You're just a deluded madman who thinks he's a god!"

Hearing that offended I Am greatly, so he said in an angry voice, "You dare call me a god?! Gods are weak, lowly insects that cannot be compared to me! I am superior to any god in literally way possible! Gods can never hope to achieve the same status and power as me! I rule over the gods! I am a being that transcended godhood!"

"Then you are worse than having a god complex," R.O.B. said to him. "This only proves you are more dangerous and delusional than expected."

"Weak, foolish beings like you will never understand my mind," said I Am. "I am the reason this world exists! I decide everything that goes on in this world! I have the right to control every aspect of this world! Without me, life will never exist!"

The good guys stared at each other with unimpressed looks when they heard this. "He's an idiot…" said Katsura.

"I know, right…?" replied Fox.

"All those who look down on me shall suffer consequences! I shall purge this world of all that is wrong! You people are not allowed to exist!" said I Am as fire burned around him intensely, and then he shot forward at a fast speed.

BGM: Final Destination (Super Smash Bros. Melee)

Master Hand lunged at him with his mouth wide open, but I Am steered to the side and then went above him before dropping down with powerful force, hitting him in the head and pressing him onto the ground hard. I Am jumped off Master Hand landed not too far away after that, and then the others closed in on him to attack him.

Katsura tried several attempts to hit him with her sword, but he moved away from each of the hits. Kouchou, with butterfly wings on her back, flapped and fired wind blades that he was able to avoid.

Fox charged at I Am and tried to attack him with swift punches and kicks, but I Am easily blocked them all and then struck back to knock Fox away. The latter then jumped aside to avoid a beam fired at him by Samus. Taking out his gun, I Am fired laser beams at Samus, who ran fast to avoid it but still got shot a few times and fell back.

A gun came out from the base of R.O.B.'s body, and then missiles were fired at I Am, who moved swiftly to dodge them and even caught one of them before throwing it at R.O.B. Mewtwo stopped the missile in its track using telekinesis before hurling it at I Am, who easily swatted it away.

The Pokemon then raised his hand over his head and created a ball of purplish-pink energy to throw at I Am. I Am dodged it, but the explosion caused by the projectile hitting the ground was a strong one that managed to catch him and blow him back.

I Am tumbled violently for a while before coming to a stop. He was standing back up when suddenly a shadow loomed over him from behind. Turning around, he saw Jim, and right behind him was a giant figure in the form of a humanoid dressed with a tribal native and having a bull's head and eagle's wings.

"The power you obtained from Soul Reapers…" I Am said in response.

"I believe you have never seen it in action, right?" Jim said to him. "Then you shall witness it and fall by it!" Under Jim's command, the giant being slammed down his fist towards I Am, who backed away from it.

When I Am came to a stop, he looked around himself and saw all the Smashers standing around him, all of them in fighting stances. They had all defeated the Smash Pros, so I Am was the only person left that needed to be dealt with.

"It's over!" Link said to him. "You're the only one left! There is no way you can defeat all of us!"

"Yeah! Give up while you still can!" Bowser said to the leader of the Smash Pros. "Or don't, so that I can beat you up!"

All the others said similar things, like telling him to give up and there is no way he could possibly take on all of them at once. Despite this, I Am said, "So you lowly beings intend to fight until the end, don't you? Very well… Since the world as you know it will be no more very soon, you might as well take the opportunity to enjoy whatever you like one last time."

"You have a lot of confidence in that, but unfortunately, that's not going to happen!" Captain Falcon said to him.

"You don't get to decide when the world ends or how people should live!" Link said to him.

"No matter what the state of this world is, destroying it and rebuilding it from scratch is not the answer," Marth said to him. "There are innocent people as well, and they do not deserve to go down with the guilty."

"This world may not be in a pleasant state," Master Hand, still in the form of a beast, said to I Am, "but there is still good in it that must be protected, and the people who still have light in them will continue to fight for what is right and make sure that such evil do not take over the entire world. You may have the noble goal of wanting to restore peace to the world, but your method is wrong. This is the reason why people are trying to stop you!"

Despite hearing all this, I Am said, "Fools… You have no idea what you are talking about… This world is beyond hope. You underestimate the darkness of mankind's hearts. The world as it currently is will only get worse, and my method is the only way to ensure that does not happen. Obviously, I cannot convince you people. No matter what you say, my method is the right one, because I am higher than the gods, so I have the right to do what I want!"

BGM Ends

TO BE CONTINUED

I can't remember if I said it before. You should have figured it out by now. I Am is based off Fox, who is the highest tiered character in Smash Bros. Melee. Since the Smash Pros are based off competitive Melee players who refuse to acknowledge the existence of any Smash Bros. games past Melee, it only makes sense for their leader to be based off the best character in that game.

Well, things are indeed entering the climax next chapter. I hope you look forward to it! There are some things in this story I really look forward to showing you all, so let's hope I can get there as soon as possible!