"No way."

"What?" Pit whined, completely ignoring the schoolwork in front of him.

Ike sighed, rubbing at his temple. The mentor sincerely wished the other boy would accept no for an answer and drop the subject, but he knew by now that it was unlikely for Pit to do such a thing. "You heard me."

The brunette huffed, sticking his bottom lip out in a pout and pointing an accusatory finger at him. "Why not? It's a good idea and you know it, and it's not like I'll be in any actual danger!"

"It is absolutely not a good idea, and your mother would kill me if she found out." Ike shot back, unfazed by Pit's argument. Instead, he tried to turn his attention back to Pit's open copy of To Kill A Mockingbird, skimming through the words on the page.

But the winged boy was just as stubborn as Ike; he made a point to turn around in his chair, facing away from his schoolwork and crossing his arms in defiance. "My mom doesn't have to know. I don't see what the big deal is!"

Ike groaned, dropping his gaze from the book to hold his face in his hands. He should have never told Pit about the patrols his friends and he went on at night. "The big deal is that your idea is too dangerous!" He said, dropping his hands back onto the table. "Look; maybe you think it'll be safe because we'll all be there to step in if something does happen, but you need to remember that none of us are invincible. Didn't I tell you how badly my friends and I had our asses handed to us the night at the museum? What if we run into someone like that again; someone we can't handle?"

Pit still refused to look at him. "But it was only three of you guys who got into trouble, since you just waited outside. This time around, your group is bigger! And if push comes to shove, I know how to defend myself too."

"Why are you so interested in acting as bait in the first place?" Ike gave an exasperated sigh.

"I want to help you and your friends catch these bad guys. You said you think it has something to do with our powers, so why not? I'd be a good target."

Ike was starting to get sick of this discussion. "We don't even know for sure if there are any bad guys, Pit." It was true; so far their nighttime walks had given he and his friends little results. Occasionally, they found themselves interfering with a robbery or assault, but nothing significant had happened to prove Marth and Roy's theory.

"Then what's the big idea with not letting me go?" Pit shot back.

"What's this about going somewhere?" A new voice chipped in. Palutena had entered the room to begin rummaging through the cabinets, more than likely in an attempt to start dinner.

Before Pit had the chance to dismiss the topic, Ike cut in. "Pit wants to come with my friends and I on our night patrols to act as bait, and I told him no."

The brunette glared at him, but the other boy inwardly reveled in his triumph; now that Palutena knew about Pit's plan, she surely wouldn't let him go through with it. Ike had long since learned that the boy practically never disobeyed her.

"Bait?" Palutena raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms in front of her. "That sounds incredibly dangerous."

"I can handle it!" Pit pouted, but Palutena was barely listening to the boy.

"No, no. Ike's right. I don't think you should go." She shook her head.

"Oh, come on!" Pit groaned, but finally dropped the subject afterwards, turning back around in his seat to face his schoolwork again.

Ike was thankful for that. "Alright, let's get back to this chapter." He said, gesturing to the long-forgotten book.


Going on patrol wasn't the best way to spend a Halloween night, but Meta Knight had insisted. Besides, it wasn't like Marth and his friends had anything better to do. They lamented the fact that they were a bit too old to go trick-or-treating, yet none of them seemed too keen on getting involved with the parties held by their classmates.

So Ike, Marth and Roy sat on a city corner, awaiting the arrival of the rest of their group. It was late enough that most kids had long since retired from trick-or-treating, but the streets were still held a bit more traffic as some adults lingered around town. Regardless, the three paid them little mind.

The soft sound of wings flapping guided their attention to the left, where Meta Knight approached. "It's good to see the three of you came," the batamon greeted, nodding its head in satisfaction.

"Yeah," Roy shrugged. "But why'd you insist we do this tonight? It's Halloween, don't you have, like, plans?"

"No," Meta Knight narrowed its eyes, which glowed an eerie yellow in the dark. "Other people certainly will, though, and this many people out at night could mean that there's a higher chance for crime."

Marth hummed in thought, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. His mentor had a point, but the bluenette figured the batamon was thinking backwards. While stopping petty theft and whatnot was all well and good, the whole point of their nightly patrols was to see if they could catch those who were possibly behind the theory they had concocted. And if those criminals had yet to show their faces on regular nights, why would they try anything on a night in which there were more people about, and therefore a higher chance of getting caught?

The bluenette snickered under his breath at the thought that perhaps Meta Knight just enjoyed their heroic antics.

More footsteps shook Marth out of his thoughts, as their last arrivals rounded the corner. He raised an eyebrow at the second person walking alongside Link, confused.

"Hey, Link. Who's this?" Roy greeted, cutting right to the chase.

The second person was dressed in rather tight, dark clothing; it was perfect for stealth, but Marth also couldn't help but think of the possibility of it being a Halloween costume. Regardless, the person pulled down the cowl that covered part of their face, introducing herself as a girl. "My name is Zelda, though you can call me Sheik while I'm dressed like this. I'm a friend of Link's, and I want to start helping you guys out."

Zelda? Marth knew he'd heard that name before, and after a moment of thinking he recalled a girl in his history class with the same name. However, was it even possible they were the same person? After all, the girl in his class had brown hair, blue eyes, and sharp features; this Zelda had yellow hair, red eyes and a more rounded face.

Ike raised an eyebrow. "Sheik? What, is that like your alter ego or something?"

"Yes, actually." Zelda replied flatly, unimpressed with Ike's attitude. "I figured that if we get caught by the police for something stupid again, they can't put it on my criminal record if they don't know who I actually am."

"Okay, but, like, can't the police just match your face with your ID or something? What's a costume gonna do?" Roy pointed out.

It was at that point that Zelda's face changed, her features slowly shifting as her hair and eyes changed color right before their eyes. Marth's own eyes widened in shock upon seeing the girl from his history class he had previously thought of. So his initial thought was right; they were the same person.

The girl smirked at their surprised looks before shifting her face back into that of her alter ego's and pulling the cowl back up. "Does that answer your question?"

Roy grinned widely. "Yeah, okay. That's so cool!" He laughed. "Makes me kinda wish we got into costume."

"I'm glad you've decided to help us, Sheik," Meta Knight interrupted, folding his cape around his small body. "But enough small talk, let's split into groups and get going."

"I call being with Sheik!" Roy said.


A soft grunt escaped Snake's lips as he finished his job dismantling the alarm system. Content with his work, the man walked back to the front of the store, where Bowser was waiting patiently. They had long since picked the lock to the door, and with Snake's task done they now had free reign of the place.

"It's all yours," Snake said, gesturing an arm to the inside.

"Thanks," Bowser gave a satisfied growl as he stomped into the jewelry store.

The other man said nothing as he followed behind the koopa. Admittedly, Snake could have found something better to do with a Halloween night than break into a store, but at the same time, he was never too interested in the holiday to begin with. Besides, when Bowser announced he planned to break into the store, Ganondorf had insisted that Snake tagged along. The man didn't really understand why, yet didn't really have a reason to argue.

"What do you even need out of here, anyways? If you wanted money we could've robbed a bank instead." Snake shrugged as he observed Bowser stalk through the display cases, eyeing the merchandise.

"I need to find a nice ring for when I ask Peach to marry me." The other replied bluntly.

Snake raised an eyebrow, and resisted the urge to laugh. "Whoa there, pal. You're not even gonna take her on a date first?" He joked.

Bowser, however, failed to see the humor. "Why waste my time? I already know we're soulmates."

The other man pressed his lips together and didn't say anything, leaving the koopa to focus on his search. For a moment, the man entertained the idea of being the good guy and educating Bowser on healthy relationships. However, the thought lasted little more than a few seconds, as he doubted the beast would even listen. Besides, those fantasies seemed so ridiculous to Snake anyways; he didn't expect to see Bowser get very far with such romantic endeavors.

Muffled noise reached his ears, and Snake jerked in his position, instinctively activating his power and becoming invisible to the plain eye.

He was just in time, as two strangers seemed to come out of nowhere and rush towards them. "Stop right there!" One of them shouted, his red hair easily distinguishable, despite the minimal lighting.

"Yeah? Or what?" Bowser snorted in amusement. The beast flexed its claws, as if to intimidate them, but the strategy failed to work on either of the two. Instead, the quieter of them pulled a needle out, the thin weapon gleaming dangerously, as the redhead held his palm out.

Snake was a bit taken aback as flames ignited in the stranger's outstretched hand, but he was careful to make no sound. The intruders had given no indication that they knew Snake was there, and he wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Bowser's voice was a mixture of growls and amusement. "That's a nice trick, kid, but fire doesn't work on me," he said, opening his mouth in preparation for his own fiery attack.

"Then how about water!"

Snake jerked in surprise for the second time that night as a blob of the aforementioned liquid streamed in from the outside, gliding through the air before smacking Bowser on his snout. Following it were two more people, one with blonde hair partially hidden by a floppy green hat; the other had a sword strapped to his belt and water that defied gravity and bubbled around his hands.

The koopa let out a ferocious roar, but was interuppted mid-screech by the redhead's jarring laughter. "Oh my god, that was simultaneously like the coolest and lamest thing I've ever heard you say!"

The sword wielder shot a glare at his laughing friend. "Roy, please! This is serious!"

The name clicked in Snake's head, bringing back the memory of a visit with Douglas at the bar; how he'd been told a group of teenagers had broken into an art museum, and the cop was responsible for their case. An itching suspicion told him these teens were the same people his friend had told him about.

Roy, as Snake now knew him as, tried to stifle his giggles, turning back to Bowser. "Okay, okay. So here's the thing; we're gonna take your butt to jail now."

The koopa, however, was furious. "I'd like to see you try, pipsqueaks!" The blue-haired male drew his sword at Bowser's words, holding it with practiced ease. Snake's eyes shifted warily between him and the one holding the needle; both of them seemed the most dangerous, and he had to determine which of the two to go after once a fight broke out.

"Wait." The one with the needle spoke, making no move to attack Bowser. Instead, she held out her arm in front of Roy, to prevent her own group from instigating anything. "Let's try a different approach. How about this; we'll ask you some questions, you tell us what we want to know, and we'll leave you free to continue whatever it was you were doing in here."

"Seriously? We can't just let him walk away, he's stealing!" Roy argued back, the one in the floppy green hat nodding in agreement with him.

"Perhaps, but what's more valuable to us in this situation? Information, or the state of a store none of us have any affiliation with?"

"That's... true." The blue-haired boy pressed his lips together, thinking.

Roy, however, was still unconvinced. "But it's the principal of the matter; he's stealing, and he should be punished for it. Why don't we just beat the questions out of him and turn him into the authorities afterwards?"

"Because you cocky idiots keep acting like you're strong enough to force me to do what you want, when you're not!" Bowser hollered. Sick of the chatter between the teens, he rushed at Roy, claws outstretched. The redhead only had time to stumble backwards, the koopa catching his abdomen and tearing through the cloth of his shirt, the pressure just barely enough to create a thin slice across the area. He hissed in pain, grasping at the fresh wound to cover it with his hands.

His friends moved in front of him, the blue-haired male with his sword outstretched and the female with her needle pointed at Bowser's throat. The blonde with the green cap stayed back, surveying the damage Roy had taken.

Bowser, however, was not deterred by either of them. As they pointed their sharp weapons in his direction, he only bared his teeth. "You're mistaken," said the one with the needle. "We greatly outnumber you, and we have reinforcements on the way. You have no hope of escape. I think it's reasonable to assume we'll win if you decide to continue fighting us."

Her words only produced an amused snort from Bowser, steam starting to curl out of his nose as he released his breath. "I'm not afraid of any of you punks," he said. "And I don't have to tell you anything."

With that, he opened up his mouth once more. But instead of being interrupted as he had earlier, a steady stream of fire blasted forth, heading straight for the two of them. The one with the needle swiftly dodged, but the blue-haired male was not as graceful. Fire caught at the bottom of his pants and started to sear his skin, the water floating around his hands now dripping down to put out the flames.

Snake took this as an opportunity, sneaking up behind the distracted swordsmen and using his arm to secure the other in a choke-hold. It worked, and the blue-haired man let out a strangled gasp, trying to wrestle Snake's arm away with his free hand. He jerked and lashed out, using his elbows to jab at whatever he could, but Snake kept his grip firm.

"What the hell?" Roy, who had since recovered, exclaimed. As the needle-wielder became locked in combat with Bowser, both the redhead and the boy in the floppy cap came after the invisible force that was restraining their friend. Snake, however, saw them coming, spinning around and using his captive as a meat shield.

They circled each other, the two friends attempting to get behind Marth and go after Snake, but the man wasn't letting his guard down. As they were locked in a stalemate, the invisible man leaned over and quietly spoke in Marth's ear. "If it's information you want, I'll give it to you." He offered.

The blue-haired male froze for only a moment before continuing his struggles. "Yeah, right. What's the catch?" He hissed back rather sarcastically.

"You're gonna have to pay me for it."

"How much?"

"Whatever's on you, and your secrecy. I don't think my friend here would like it very much if he learned I'm a sellout," Snake chuckled softly to himself.

"Deal." The other boy whispered back, then turned to his friends. "I'll be fine, you two! Go ahead and help Sheik!" As if to emphasize his point, the one Snake now knew as Shiek slammed into the far wall, and Snake could see parts of their clothes had already been singed.

Just as he had asked, Roy and the other male had nodded and left to engage Bowser, their fists raised. Snake relaxed his grip on his captive, but he kept up the act of struggling. "What is it you want to know?" He asked.

The other dropped his hand into his pocket, pulling out a wallet and slipping it to Snake. "We think something's going on involving those with powers; like how a friend of mine stopped this same koopa from abducting someone, and how another friend of mine has also disappeared. Do you have any idea what the connection is?"

Towards the back of the store, Bowser and the other three were evenly matched. The koopa's hard shell made it difficult for Roy or the blonde boy to land a decent hit, but attacking from the front left them a perfect target for getting fire breathed on them. On the other hand, Bowser only had so much strength, and keeping three different enemies at bay was no easy feat.

"You people are quite clever, trying to connect the dots like this on your own." Snake said as Bowser unleashed another fiery blast. Roy counteracted with his own flames, giving Sheik the opportunity to launch a needle through the koopa's foot. "I'll confirm your little theory; we are specifically targeting those who possess powers."

Bowser yanked the needle out of his foot with a hiss, then threw it at the blonde male. He tried to duck, but was a bit too slow; the weapon caught him in his shoulder. Still, the boy was not deterred. He ripped the thin weapon out in the same fashion Bowser had done before charging back towards the koopa.

The blue-haired male opened his mouth, but paused to gather his thoughts. Snake patiently waited, using his own free hand to dig through the contents of the wallet handed to him. He was surprised and lucky to find quite a few bills inside. After all, a credit or debit card account was only useful if the owner wasn't smart enough to cancel the account. "We? How many of you are in on this?" The other finally asked.

"About seven." Snake estimated.

At this point, the other three had gained the upper hand. Even if the blonde boy had stopped using one of his arms, most likely due to the shoulder injury, Sheik had successfully lodged another three needles into Bowser's thick skin. Any attempts the koopa made to launch a flamethrower became neutralized by Roy's own fire. Snake's comrade growled in frustration, looking to him for help. He immediately tightened his grip on the blue-haired boy, who played into the act and kept thrashing about.

"And how many people have you taken so far?" He spoke again once Bowser looked away.

"Four."

"... What are you people trying to accomplish with this?"

Snake folded the wallet back up, done with his extraction of almost all the contents. The invisible man decided to take all but the others' drivers' license (as he, personally, had no use for it) before slipping it back to his fake captive. "I'm afraid you can't afford that information." He said, before releasing the boy and taking a few steps back.

More footsteps clacked towards the front of the entrance, signalling the arrival of another, rather buff male with a dark-colored batamon. By now, the fight between Bowser and the three teenagers had all but come to a close, small fires lazily flickering around them.

Snake's captive raised his sword back up, but looked to the newcomers. "Be careful, I know we've almost got this taken care of, but there's an invisible person hiding in here somewhere."

"Got it," the buff male responded as the batamon wordlessly launched into aiding the effort to subdue Bowser. The koopa, however, had had enough.

"That's it, I'm sick of dealing with you brats!" He growled, forcefully shoving everything and everyone he could out of his way as he stomped towards the front entrance of the store. "I'm outta here, but that doesn't mean you've won! You haven't seen the last of me!"

The two blue-haired friends, however, were quick to block the front entrance in an attempt to keep the koopa from escaping. But Snake saw this as his cue to leave, as well; he snuck up to the two and kicked at them. The two lost their balance for a moment, giving both him and Bowser the time they needed to get out the door and disappear down the road.


"Damn it!" Roy cursed, idly kicking at nothing and shoving his hands in his pockets. "We were so close!"

Sheik hummed, cleaning blood off the needles she could still recover. "Maybe, but this wasn't pointless. Now we know almost for certain that this koopa, and quite possibly others, are more than just ordinary criminals."

"Indeed." Meta Knight nodded along. "Now we just need to be patient, and wait for another opportunity to catch them once more."

Marth looked up, stray droplets falling from his fingers as he used the last of his water reserves to put out the small fires within the store. "We know more than just that," He smirked. "Turns out the invisible guy was willing to take a bribe, so he told me a few things."

He received mixed reactions, mostly that of shock, from his friends. "So that's why it took you so long to wrestle him off you," Sheik murmured. "What did he tell you?"

"It wasn't much," Marth admitted, sheathing Falchion back onto his belt. "But I managed to get some confirmation, and some numbers. There's about seven people in on this business, and their target is anyone who possesses superpowers. Unfortunately, he refused to tell me why, but he also said that they've kidnapped four people so far."

"So we were right about the whole powers thing," Roy commented, putting a hand to his chin as he processed the information.

Meta Knight scowled under his mask. "Now there's almost no doubt that they're responsible for what happened to Lucario. From now on, we must be even more cautious."

"Right," Ike piped up. "But right now, let's get out of here before someone calls the cops. I'd rather not have a repeat of what happened the last time we broke into a building."


I should've had this up a wee bit sooner, but better late than never. Thanks for reading!