In this chapter, Pit and Hope are going to try land battling. And yes, not all of their missions will be in the air. As you can probably tell already, Hope is going to be rather happy about that...for reasons that were stated in the previous chapter.
This time we're going to be featuring land enemies...though admittedly most of Pit's foes are capable of flight. Not all of them can though. They must be envious...
And no, Pit's wings aren't going to burn up and make him fall to the ground for the fight. That would be tragic.
Chapter 2: Land Battle
At Palutena's Temple, Pit and Hope were awaiting their next training session. It was a good thing that Palutena was guiding them. Without a guide, how would they know how to fight the Underworld forces?
"I think that our air battle training session went over well...are you ready to try land battling?" asked Palutena with a smile on her face. Of course, since Hope could fly, technically she didn't need to battle on land...but since she was acrophobic she decided that she should learn how to do that as well.
"I'd rather fly through the sky again..." answered Pit. He really liked soaring through the air. Of course, since his wings were growing, it was only a matter of time before he could fly through the skies without Palutena's help. Of course, Palutena often did troll him during air battles...but he thought that it was worth it. Of course, he wasn't sure how Hope would react if Palutena tried trolling her.
Now that he thought of it, the same likely applied to his doppelgänger, Dark Pit. His wings were growing too. They did share a connection, after all.
Oddly enough, he hadn't seen Dark Pit for a while. Maybe he was busy? Of course, he wasn't affiliated with the Centurions like he was...he was probably doing his own thing.
"Again?" questioned the goddess. It seemed rather odd to participate in two air battles in a row...though it wouldn't be so odd for Dark Pit considering that he could fly longer than Pit could...even without Pandora's powers.
Hope had a different idea in mind...one that DIDN'T involve flying...and one that involved her staying on the ground where she felt safe.
"I want land battling!" exclaimed the female angel.
"I guess we need a tie-breaker then...I vote for land battling!" stated Palutena.
"Awww..." complained Pit. It looked like he wasn't going to be able to fly this time. Well, he couldn't always have what he wanted. Where did he put his Lightning Chariot, anyway? He could fly at super speed if he knew where it was.
On the other hand, Hope was much more enthusiastic.
"Yes!" cheered Hope, raising her fist in the air.
"Alright then...I'll be sending you back to the first town where you fought Twinbellows..." said the goddess.
"Twinbellows?" questioned the angel.
"He's the ferocious dog of the Underworld...generally, he's considered to not be particularly strong though..." noted Palutena. Of course, that would depend on which difficulty they were playing on.
"Are the populace in danger?" asked Pit. Chances are that the Underworld army were looking for more souls...especially after their master Hades was defeated.
"No, this is just a simulation." explained Palutena.
"Phew!" exclaimed Hope, wiping sweat off of her face. She wasn't looking forward to humans dying. It was horrifying.
Of course, humans had declared war on each other in the past...so maybe there would be casualties even if the Underworld Army DIDN'T show up.
Immediately, Palutena sent them to the replica of the first town that they had visited. As before, there were Underworld monsters waiting for them...though Pit and Hope got the feeling that Palutena had created them herself.
Sure enough, there were several Skuttlers nearby. Oddly enough, they were one of the few members of the Underworld Army that COULDN'T fly.
The Skuttlers noticed them and began to walk over to them. They were looking forward to taking down members of Palutena's Army. Medusa would be so proud.
However, Hope pulled out her bow and proceeded to shoot at them. It was a good thing that she was fighting them from a distance so that their clubs couldn't reach her fragile feathers.
But as it turned out, the Skuttlers happened to have ranged weaponry of their own...presumably to shoot down angels with. They weren't too fond of Palutena's forces. Why did she have to always defend their forces? Without her collecting souls would be MUCH easier.
Some of them did anyway. Apparently, they wanted to try something different rather than simply whack Pit with their clubs. Whatever worked, he guessed.
They were starting to pull out cannons.
"If only we had cannons too..." stated Hope. Unfortunately, they were not pirates on a pirate ship. If they did, they would probably have eyepatches and say "Yarr" a lot.
She had heard a rumor that there were pirates even in outer space, oddly enough. Were the rumors true? If so, the constellations themselves could very well be in danger. What else would decorate the sky at night?
Fortunately, as it turned out, there were treasure chests nearby. Judging from the fact that there were halos on them, they were for Palutena's Army.
That, and a Skuttler was having a hard time opening it. It was frustrating.
Hope shot the Skuttler, causing him to burst into hearts. He never saw it coming. Of course, he only had one eye. Why did Hades design his soldiers like that?
Hope looked inside and found a cannon...it had a picture of Palutena on it. Perhaps Palutena had designed it herself instead of Dyntos.
Either that, or Dyntos was on good terms with Palutena.
"There we go." stated the angel.
Fortunately, it appeared that there were many different weapons scattered throughout Skyworld...so arming themselves would be a rather trivial matter. Dyntos had certainly made many different weapons.
Not only that, but there also appeared to be some powerups.
Hope decided to see if there were any other treasure chests. Of course, she had heard a rumor that not all treasure chests should be opened...but she was willing to press her luck for the time being.
As a matter of fact, there were.
"I wonder what's in this one..." stated the angel.
As it turned out, it was a Centurion Assist.
"It's nice that Lady Palutena's army is giving me support...just like Lady Palutena herself." acknowledged Hope.
Sure enough, the Centurion Assist began to shoot at the Skuttlers. Those arrows sure were effective against the forces of evil.
However, a Skuttler Mage showed up. He wanted to put a spell on them. An evil spell.
Immediately, he shot a blue fireball towards Pit.
"Ow!" bellowed Pit as he was hit. That fireball was really hot.
"You alright, Pit?" asked Hope.
"I think so..." nodded the angel. A few of his angel feathers had been burned...but they would grow back.
The Skuttler Mage flipped through his spell book, looking for more spells to hurt Pit and his new comrade, whoever she was. Maybe there was one designed specifically to be used against angels? If so, he really wanted to learn that spell. Maybe he would even get a promotion.
However, Hope was not going to put up with that. She wasn't looking forward to being finished.
Quickly, she shot a cannonball at the Skuttler Mage, causing him to burst into hearts. All the more to add to her big bag of hearts, she supposed.
Maybe she could try donating them to Lady Palutena. She deserved it.
Shortly afterwards, a jar showed up. Oddly enough, it had a picture of some snakes on it. It also had the Underworld Army logo on it as well.
"I wonder what's in that jar?" questioned Hope.
She was about to find out.
At that very moment, Shemums began to pop out of the jar. Apparently they had managed to detect their presence...though technically they were expecting Pit. They wondered where he could be. It would be a great pleasure to sink their teeth into his neck.
"Whoa!" bellowed the female angel. That was rather surprising.
One of them bit Hope in the arm.
"Ouch!" bellowed Hope. They had rather sharp fangs. Of course, what else would she expect from the Underworld Army with their craving of souls?
All of a sudden, she wasn't feeling so good.
By the looks of it, she had been poisoned.
"Ugh..." murmured the angel. Being poisoned made her feel rather sick.
Fortunately, unlike the humans that fell victim to Shemums, poison was temporary for angels...and it wore off a few seconds later.
"Ah...much better." said Hope. She was glad to have that out of her system.
However, she noticed that more Shemums were starting to pop out of the vase. It was as if it was a giant snake nest.
"How many of them are in there?" questioned Hope.
She would look inside...but she was worried that she would end up being bitten in the face.
She tried shooting at the jar to keep more Shemums from showing up...but all the projectiles kept bouncing off. What exactly was the vase made out of?
"Why isn't this working?" questioned Hope.
It occurred to her maybe she shouldn't try attacking the jar from a distance. Maybe she needed to keep up close and personal.
She decided to try that, and the vase burst into pieces.
"There we go!" exclaimed Hope.
A few Monoeyes showed up later...though they weren't after her.
They began to shoot at Pit with their purple energy spheres of doom.
"You again?" questioned Pit. It appeared that Monoeyes were going to be his enemies for all eternity. He had been encountering them every since the original Kid Icarus.
Quickly, he hid behind a wall so that he could evade the shots.
However, the wall was starting to crumble. Apparently, it wasn't that durable.
It looks like he was going to have to try to take them down.
"Here I go!" bellowed Pit.
On the way there, he noticed a treasure chest.
But when he tried to open it, he got punched in the face. This particular treasure chest included a boxing glove. What a nasty trap.
"Ow!" exclaimed the angel, being knocked into the air.
Perhaps he should have examined the chest a bit more carefully before opening it.
Hopefully there weren't other booby-trapped chests in the area. Somebody didn't like it when people took their treasure.
Shrugging, he pulled out his sword and started to slash at the Monoeyes.
They burst into hearts.
"Yeah!" cheered Pit.
"Any other Underworld monsters in the area?" questioned Hope.
"Let me check..." answered Palutena.
As it turned out, there were others in the area. How many had she managed to draw to the training ground?
"Nothing particularly dangerous..." stated the goddess.
Hope sighed in relief. She wasn't as experienced at fighting than Pit was.
As it turned out, there were Wave Anglers flying around...their shots were always harder to avoid than the Monoeyes. It was a good thing that Pit knew how to dash to help him avoid their attacks.
Also, there were some Miks...if they got too close, the Miks would lick them like a dog. A ferocious dog. Not as ferocious as Twinbellows though.
It would probably be best not to simply charge forward. Otherwise, they could get attacked.
Well, now seemed as good of a time as any to start fighting.
"Are these Underworld Army forces made out of souls? If so, is Hades back from the dead?" questioned Pit.
"Oddly enough these Underworld forces only seem to be made out of evil souls...I suppose we shouldn't be feeling too sorry for them..." answered Palutena.
Pit nodded. Sometimes humans could be mean and nasty...just like the gods themselves. Though Viridi would probably say otherwise, they had more in common with humans than anything else.
Pit decided to check the treasure chest to see what he could find inside.
It was a Twinbellows Cannon.
"Alright!" bellowed Pit.
Quickly, he used it to start setting the Miks on fire. Now if they tried licking him, they would end up burning their tongues. He knew how that felt when he tried some of Palutena's spicier cooking.
However, the Underworld Army had a monster that could counter Pit's efforts.
Suddenly, some Nettlers appeared. Again, Pita and Hope noted that a lot of Underworld monsters only happened to have one eye. It probably interfered with their vision.
Immediately, they started shooting bubbles at him.
Unfortunately, it appeared that the Twinbellows Cannon wasn't going to be too effective against them. They weren't being burned at all.
Hope wondered if she should try pitching in...but what exactly could she do?
Fortunately, it appeared that there were more treasure chests nearby.
Maybe there was something that could help.
Looking inside, she discovered a Phosphora Bow.
"Hey! That's mine!" bellowed Phosphora from a distance.
"Who said that?" asked Hope.
"That's the Goddess of Lightning, Phosphora. She has a habit of leaving her bows around, it seems..." noted Palutena. The temple she decided to relax in during the war against Hades came to mind.
"Why do I keep losing them?" questioned the lightning goddess. She needed to keep better track of her belongings.
"Beats me..." answered Hope.
"Well, I can always make more..." stated Phosphora.
With that, she disappeared.
Curious, Hope decided to fire an arrow to see what it did.
They had a...spark to them.
Suddenly, Hope had an idea.
Immediately, she began to shoot arrows at the Nettlers.
This worked surprisingly well. The Nettlers ended up being electrocuted on the spot.
Now, if only she had some salt...
"Way to go, Hope!" bellowed Pit.
"Thanks..." answered Hope. Though admittedly fighting on the battlefield did make her rather nervous (especially when she wasn't even on the ground), she did admit to herself that she was proving to be a fast learner.
"You're doing very good. More Underworld forces incoming!" exclaimed Palutena.
"How many souls does it to make an Underworld monster, anyway?" questioned Pit.
"It depends on how big and powerful the Underworld monster is..." stated the goddess.
"I see..." nodded the angel. Presumably Monoeyes and Miks wouldn't require much. They weren't very strong.
The Wave Anglers shot lasers at them, but they telegraphed their attacks too much. Pit and Hope managed to take them rather quickly.
This time, some Octos showed up.
"You up for calamari?" questioned Pit.
The Octos began to spit smoke at them...oddly enough, Pit and Hope could simply walk right through them.
"Why do you keep leaving a gaping hole whenever you spit out smoke?" asked Hope. It made dodging their attacks a lot easier.
The Octos looked at each other. Perhaps they should try changing their strategy. Maybe they could try shooting smoke in a different pattern?
Of course, their new leader wasn't paying them to strategize. He just wanted them to go out there and get some souls. It was a rather simple task...or at least it would be if Palutena didn't always step in.
They were starting to see why Medusa hated Palutena so much...and why she would want to lock her away in such tight security that she could never be saved...not that it ever stopped Pit from trying. No wonder Palutena made him captain of her forces.
Quickly, Pit and Hope began to shoot at the Octos in order to take them down. Fortunately, they already knew how to dodge the smoke.
"Right...anything else?" asked Pit.
Suddenly, Pit and Hope began to hear croaking. Hope found it rather odd since they weren't located anywhere near a swamp or a pond.
As it turned out, it was the Kerons. Normally they preferred to remain on land...though they were capable of flight.
"These are Kerons. Though are capable of flying...they usually remain on land." stated Palutena.
"That reminds me of someone...I wonder who?" answered Pit.
Hope shrugged.
Suddenly, one of the Kerons grabbed Pit's leg with his tongue. Pit didn't even know that they had such long tongues.
"Whoa!" bellowed Pit.
He tripped and fell on his back.
"You alright?" questioned Hope.
"Yeah..." nodded Pit as he helped himself back to his feet.
Apparently, the Kerons had learned a few new tricks since Pit had last encountered them. Unfortunately, it appeared that the Underworld Army was evolving ever since they defeated Hades.
It appeared that evil never rested...it was a shame, really. Palutena liked to take naps...sadly, her snores had a tendency to shake her temple.
Fortunately, Hope and Pit knew their weak point...their eye. Did Hades like staring at people in the face or something?
Within a few minutes, the Kerons were eradicated.
"Good job...I think that you two have taken down enough Underworld forces for one day. Of course, a boss monster is inevitably going to show up sooner or later...so I hope you're ready." answered Palutena.
"Yeah...we will be." stated Pit.
"I'll be on the lookout..." said Hope.
Palutena returned them both to her temple.
Meanwhile...
Medusa decided to contact her new master. She was unhappy about being resurrected...again.
"So let me get this straight...why exactly should I work for you?" questioned Medusa.
"Rest assured, that unlike Hades, I don't resurrect people simply so that I can toy with them. It's rather redundant to have you lose to Pit over and over again..." stated Medusa's new master.
"And you assume that I'll manage to beat Pit this time?" asked the goddess.
"You always were the one to look for revenge..." answered this mysterious individual.
"I suppose I am rather vengeful...of course, nowadays Pit has a new sidekick...apparently he decided that he didn't want to go on his little adventures alone..." stated Medusa.
"I suppose it does get lonely in the Underworld after a while..." acknowledged the evil overlord. "I'm so glad that I have an army to keep me company..."
"Didn't it use to be Hades' Army?" questioned the evil goddess.
"Yes, but I'm not going to resurrect HIM. He managed to beat me oh so long ago and take over the Underworld...fortunately, after his death I managed to take back what was mine..." answered the evil individual.
"I'm just glad that Hades is gone...I never liked him from the start." stated Medusa.
"Neither did I. He always thought that he was better than me...well, whose alive and whose dead?" questioned the evil overlord.
"You make a good point." nodded the goddess.
"Anyways, I think I'll send something more original after Pit and his new friend...I'm sure that he'll appreciate dealing with something new for a change..." stated the dark individual.
"I bet he will." agreed Medusa, smiling.
In the next chapter, there's going to be a boss battle! And that's going to be it for the prologue, I guess. After that Pit and Hope are going to fight against Medusa's forces.
Of course, you're probably going to wonder who the main villain is going to be. In case you're wondering, it's not going to be Hades. It's going to be a different character entirely. Someone really evil...and someone you've probably heard of.