Author's note: Okay, so I got this up much quicker than the last chapter. :) But it still wasn't at soon as I hoped. (I blame a stupid argument in English.) This chapter sets up the plot for the rest of the story, kinda. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter Eight: Aftermath
Mario sat down outside his makeshift tent and sighed. Luigi stood next to him silently. Surrounding him were a few of the uninjured Smashers not occupied with other duties: Zelda, Ike, Pit, Snake, DK, Kirby, and Meta Knight. "What is our exact condition after the fight?" Mario asked, dreading the answer.
Zelda began with an explanation of everyone's medical condition. "Samus broke her right arm pretty bad; she'll recover, but not as quickly as she'd like. We don't have any heart containers or maximum tomatoes to heal the injuries. Our supplies were either completely raided or completely destroyed."
"Not looking good," Mario muttered.
Zelda continued: "Link is still unconscious from his battle with Ganondorf. He doesn't seem too injured though so hopefully he'll wake up soon."
"Don't worry Zel, he'll be fine," Kirby said. Meta Knight had managed to salvage a translator so that everyone could easily understand the pink puffball.
Zelda smiled weakly. "Thank you, Kirb. Ness recently woke, but suffers from a concussion. He's having trouble remembering short-term things. Hopefully it's just temporary short-term memory loss and not amnesia."
"Ness is a good fighter," Luigi said. "It would be bad if he lost his memory."
Snake nodded. "He got hit in the head hard; rather, he hit the tree with his head hard."
"Fox is alright except for a few scratches; landed in a rose bush." Everyone winced. "Falco…" Zelda broke off mid-sentence, struggling to compose a response. "I don't know. I used our only heart container to heal him. He was injured very severely when his Arwing was shot down. He couldn't evacuate in time. He managed to avoid most of the damage from the explosion, but he was still severely burned. He's doing a lot better, but… Only time can tell." Zelda sighed. "If only we had more healing supplies; if only…"
The others seemed to understand the rest of her sentence. "If only I could heal…"
"I'm sure you're doing the best you can," Pit said. "Everyone is grateful for your help."
Zelda smiled weakly. "We'll all have to do our best."
"What about Marth?" Ike asked. "How did his fight go?"
"Is Marth okay?" Meta Knight asked.
Zelda shrugged. "Physically he's fine, but mentally…"
"What happened?" Mario asked.
Zelda's face clouded with incomprehension when realization dawned upon her. "Oh…You don't know…"
"Know what?" Luigi asked.
"Roy joined the villains. He's evil now."
Shocked silence ensued. "Why that no good, dirty rotten son of a…" Kirby went off animatedly in a rant involving quite an impressive, colorful vocabulary. Seeing everyone's shocked faces he became embarrassed. "Right…you guys can understand me now.."
Mario's eyes darkened. "I find it hard to believe that Roy would become a villain so easily."
"He seemed pretty mad at everyone when Nintendo cut him," Pit commented.
"Is Roy someone from Marth's world?" Snake asked.
Zelda shook her head. "No, but he and Marth became really close friends; they were as close as brothers."
"Marth must be taking this pretty hard," Luigi said thinking about how he would feel if Mario turned evil.
"It doesn't help that Roy stole Falchion. He knows how important the blade was to Marth."
"More bad news," Mario muttered. "Donkey Kong, were you or Diddy Kong able to salvage anything useful?"
The ape shook his head regretfully. "Most of what we found was either damaged or of little use. We salvaged lots of food thankfully, but we have practically no medical supplies and little other practical goods." (He had also received a translator.)
Mario sighed. "I figured as much," he muttered glumly. "Looks like we'll have to look to other worlds for aid."
"As long as the villains haven't already destroyed our worlds already," Donkey Kong said glumly.
"I don't think they would destroy our worlds if they were planning to make this attack a surprise," Zelda said. "That would have alerted that something was up. We always keep check of our own worlds when we fight in this tournament."
"Actually I have no idea what Tellius is like," Ike said. "I don't know what the situation there is."
Mario said, "Then you might want to check your world soon just to make sure that everything is alright."
Ike nodded. He flexed the tendons in his sword hand briefly.
"It also might be best to split up," Mario said.
Everyone looked at him in shock.
"Why?" Kirby asked.
"Because when we travel to our worlds, it may be difficult for them to provide aid for about thirty warriors. Also, some of us will feel out of place in other worlds. I personally know I feel comfortable almost anywhere, but I doubt people like Samus will fit in a place like Hyrule."
"You have a point," Zelda said. "And Link and I would feel out-of-place in Zebes or another planet in Samus' galaxy."
Mario nodded. "We should probably split up into three groups depending on the similarities of our worlds."
"So Marth and I would probably hang out with Zelda and Link?" Ike asked.
"And probably Pit and Toon Link," Mario said. "We can decide who exactly will go into each group later. Right now we need to focus on helping our wounded and salvaging anything useful. We can't afford to tarry too long through. We have to stop the villains before they strike again."
A robot slowly made his way over to them. "R.O.B.!" Pit exclaimed. "I was sure that you were destroyed in the attack."
"I escaped the battle unscathed," the robot said. "I also have a small store of supplies from before the battle. I hear you are in need of them."
"Badly," Zelda said. "How many medical supplies do you have?"
"Three heart containers and four maximum tomatoes," R.O.B. said. "It would be prudent to save them for emergencies."
"And Falco is in need of more help," Zelda said. "He needs another heart container."
"Understood," R.O.B. said, procuring the requested item.
"I'll go tend to Falco," the Hylian princess said, hurrying back towards the camp.
"Is anyone else in need of medical assistance?" R.O.B. asked.
"Samus," Luigi said.
"What happened to the bounty huntress?" R.O.B. asked.
"She broke her right arm very badly," Meta Knight replied. "She is right-handed."
"Then a maximum tomato should restore her to fighting condition," R.O.B. said, procuring said item.
"I'll take it to her," Kirby volunteered.
"Alright," Mario said.
Kirby grabbed the tomato and floated off.
"I suppose everyone else can take care of things as they see fit…does anyone know where Mr. Game and Watch is?" Mario looked around at blank faces with a sigh.
"My scanners indicate that he is somewhere in the vicinity of the Mansion," R.O.B. said.
"Alright, R.O.B. and Luigi come with me; we'll rescue Mr. Game and Watch. Everyone else, help out where you're needed."
--
Samus bit back another curse. Repairing her power suit was always difficult, but it was near-impossible with only one free hand. She sighed; she probably should have asked someone for help, but she didn't trust anyone with her suit.
"Having trouble?" a friendly, high-pitched asked.
Samus looked up from her work to see Kirby standing in front of her. "No offense, Kirb, but your arms aren't exactly suited to delicate repairs."
"Then it's probably a good thing I brought this," Kirby said, holding up a maximum tomato.
Samus' cerulean eyes widened. "Where did you get that, Kirb?" she asked.
"R.O.B. had some extra supplies," Kirby replied.
"You should probably save that for when someone really needs it," Samus replied.
"And you really need it," Kirby protested.
"I'll be fine," Samus said stubbornly. However, as soon as she had said this, she accidently jarred her injured arm on a part of her armor. Wincing in pain, Samus bit her lip to keep from crying out.
"But you'll be better with this," Kirby said, offering her the tomato.
Seeing that Kirby would not be deterred, Samus took the maximum tomato and ate it. (It's a tomato so you eat it, right?) Immediately she could feel its healing properties coursing through her arm. Moments later she could flex the muscles and tendons in her right arm without much protest. It was still a bit stiff and sore, but so much better than earlier. "Thanks Kirb," she said.
"No problem," the pink puffball said. "Mario just wanted to ensure that you were in fighting condition in case the villains returned; I also thought you seemed miserable with yourself crippled by a broken arm."
"Well, now that I'm healed, I wish my suit could repair itself just as quickly."
"I could help you."
"No offense Kirb, but you have problems putting Legos together. My power suit is much more complex than that."
"I could hand you tools then."
Samus shrugged. "If you want to help."
"What do you need help with?" a voice asked.
Samus looked up to see Snake standing a little ways off. She sighed. "I'm pretty sure I have this handled, Snake," she replied.
"Come on, Samus," Kirby protested. "It will take you forever to fix your suit by yourself."
"Do you not trust me with your suit?" Snake asked.
"Not really," Samus replied bluntly.
"Would you trust Link with your suit?"
"Hell no. Link can't even remember which way to turn a screw."
"Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey."
"I was exaggerating."
"I know."
Samus sighed. She didn't like strangers working on her suit, but Snake would help her repair her suit faster. And his offer did seem sincere. "Alright," Samus said. "Just do as I tell you. This is advanced Chozo technology, nothing like your little Codec communicator."
"Don't worry Sammy; I'll get the job done."
"Do not call me Sammy."
"Will Sam work then, it's not so girly."
"Samus doesn't like nicknames," Kirby said.
"Everyone else seems to like nicknames unless their name is one-syllable."
"I''m different. Sue me," Samus said.
Snake shrugged, sitting down next to Samus. "So what exactly do I gotta do?"
--
Marth stared up at the starless night sky. A gentle breeze rustled his silky, sleek, blue tresses. The Altean prince sighed. His entire body ached and his head was pounding.
"What's bugging you?" Fox asked, sitting next to the Altean prince. "You've been sighing for like ten minutes."
"And you've been sighing for like fifteen minutes."
"Touché. What's bugging you?"
Marth sighed again, looking up to compose his thoughts. Finally he said, "It's Roy."
Fox looked up, intrigued. "Did something happen to Roy? Is he alright?"
"Oh, he's alright," Marth said bitterly. "He's a villain now."
Fox blinked twice. "What?"
"Roy joined the villains. He's evil now apparently. He even took Falchion."
"I thought only you could use your sword."
"I don't think Roy took Falchion to use it; I think he took it only because he knows how important it is to me."
"You must be taking this change in events hard."
"That's the thing – I don't know how I feel. I can't tell if I hate him or if I truly don't care that he went evil."
"It's probably the shock still," Fox said.
"How's Falco doing?" Marth asked, changing the subject.
Fox fell silent. "I don't know. Not too good; I think he's…I think he's dying. Zelda's trying to be optimistic, but one heart container won't be enough to save his life. He was too injured from the explosion."
"You must be taking this hard," Marth said quietly.
"Falco has been my best friend and partner for almost forever. The thought of losing him…"
Marth placed a hand comfortingly on Falco's shoulder. "It's too early to be pessimistic."
Zelda walked up to Marth and Fox. "How's Falco doing?" Fox asked, fearing the worse.
Zelda smiled. "Much better. R.O.B. had some leftover medical supplies and I used another heart container on Falco. He's stable now; all we have to do is wait until he wakes up."
Fox smiled in relief. "Finally some good news. I was worried that we'd lose him."
Zelda nodded. "He'll be fine once he wakes up." She turned to face Marth. "How are you doing?" she asked.
"Fine," Marth muttered, "I don't have any serious injuries."
"That is not what I mean," Zelda said softly.
Marth sighed. "What do you want me to do? Should I hate him? I want to, but I can't. Label him a villain? Roy's not a villain. If anything I feel sorry for him because he was so easily blinded by his anger. I don't know how I feel."
"It seems to me that you know how you feel; you just don't like it," Fox said.
Marth didn't say anything. "I don't know. I should hate Roy; I want to hate Roy. But after all the time we've been friends, I just can't hate him. There's no anger either, just… disappointment. A feeling like somehow I'm partly responsible for his change of sides. That if I had been a better friend, he would not have joined the villains."
"You were the best friend Roy could have had," Fox replied. "It's not your fault he went evil."
"I wish I could feel that way," Marth replied sullenly.
Zelda sat down next to Marth, placing her hand comfortingly on his shoulder. "Don't blame yourself for things that you have no control over." She smiled faintly. "Link says that to me all the time at least. He says I have a bad habit of blaming myself for things I have no control over."
"That's because you do," Fox said. "You can't control everything, Zel."
"Sometimes I wish I could," the Hylian princess said with a sigh.
An Arwing zoomed overhead. Fox, Zelda and Marth looked up as it landed in a clearing. "Who's that?" Marth asked, standing up.
"It must be Katt," Fox said, "although I wasn't expecting her back this soon."
"She'll probably want to know what happened here," Zelda said.
Fox nodded. "I'll go inform her of what's happened. Watch over Falco for me." He rushed off.
"What if it's a trap?" Marth asked suddenly.
"I didn't think of that," Zelda said. "One of us should have gone with him."
"I'll go," Sonic said, rushing up to them out of nowhere. Marth cried out in surprise.
"Okay," Zelda said, unfazed. "Go catch up to him."
"I wish he wouldn't just appear out of nowhere so that," Marth muttered.
Zelda smiled. "You should meet my bodyguard."
--
"Mr. Game and Watch should be ten feet southwest of us," R.O.B. said, leading Mario and Luigi through the ruined part of the Mansion. The crumbling building was painfully derelict compared to its former splendor. Mario and Luigi walked in contemplative silence.
"I've been thinking," Mario muttered.
"About what?" Luigi asked.
"Where did Master Hand and Crazy Hand go during the attack?"
Luigi thought about it. "Good question; I don't know."
"More importantly, why didn't they help defend the Mansion?"
Luigi had no answer.
"And if they didn't defend the Mansion, then that means…"
"It means they're on the villains' side," Luigi finished. "That's not good; Master Hand and Crazy are both omnipotent beings."
"This looks very bad," Mario agreed.
A series of soft, snore-like beeps confirmed that they were nearing Mr. Game and Watch. His flat, 2D form was trapped by a pile of leaves. Mario rolled his eyes.
"It must suck to be 2D," Luigi replied.
Mario sighed. "Come on; let's get him free."
Together, Mario, Luigi, and R.O.B. freed Mr. Game and Watch from the pile of leaves. "Hey G.W. wake up!"
Mr. Game and Watch leapt to his feet, looked around, then celebrated his freedom with a little victory dance. He looked at Mario, Luigi, and R.O.B., nodding as if to say "thanks."
"Come on," Mario said. "Time to head back to camp."
--
"Falco's what?" Katt asked in shock.
"Relax, Katt," Fox said, "Falco's fine. He's still in bad shape, but he'll recover. He was a lot worse earlier." He smiled slyly. "I didn't think you cared so much about him."
Katt blushed. "It's kind of shocking to return to a damaged Mansion and find out that one of your allies is seriously injured. I was just here, yesterday."
"Speaking of which, why are you back so soon?"
"Wolf is definitely working with the unknown aliens."
"Yeah," Fox said, indicating the damage around them. "I know."
"We also think we know where Krystal and Slippy are."
Fox's eyes widened in surprise. "Where?"
"The aliens built a base in an asteroid field; we are ninety-two percent sure that Krystal and Slippy are being held there."
"Then we have to go rescue them," Fox replied.
"What do you plan on doing?" Katt asked. "I mean what is everyone hear doing?"
"I don't know," Fox replied. "I'm sure that Mario came up with some kind of plan, but I don't know what it is. I've been too worried about Falco."
"So are these the same aliens in the picture?" Sonic asked.
Fox cried out in surprise. "Where did you come from?"
"From the camp," Sonic replied with a shrug. "Zelda and Marth wanted to make sure you weren't walking into a trap. Then I heard you talking about aliens, so I wanted to see if these were the Black Arms."
"Is that what the black and red aliens are called?" Katt asked.
Sonic nodded. "If you're red and black aliens are the same ones that I'm thinking of. By the way, I'm Sonic the Hedgehog."
"Katt Monroe." She smiled. "You don't look like a hedgehog."
"I'm not anatomically correct."
"I can see that. So what do you know about these Black Arms?"
"They are ruthless fighters who nearly conquered the Earth a few years ago. Shadow and I defeated their leader, but I guess this Mewtwo creature is their leader now."
"Mewtwo?" Katt asked.
"Mewtwo used to be a member of this tournament," Fox said. "But he got replaced."
"Sounds like he's out for revenge."
"That pretty much sums it up."
"Alright hedgehog," Katt said. "How about you help us rescue Krystal and Slippy since you know so much about these Black Arms."
"Sure," Sonic replied. "But what about Mario's plan?"
"We'll have to talk to him about our plan," Fox said, "But I'm sure he'd agree that we need to rescue Krystal and Slippy. We'll need all the allies we can get in the upcoming battles."
"Alright," Sonic said. "I'll go talk to him." Sonic took off running back towards the camp in a blue blur.
"Wow," Katt muttered. "He's fast."
"Show off," Fox muttered.
"By the way where's Falco?"
Fox pointed out the tent which Falco occupied. "Going to check on your boyfriend?"
Katt shoved Fox. "I'm just curious as to how an old gang mate is doing." She waltzed off towards the camp.
--
"Congratulations on your first fight as a villain," Mewtwo told Roy as the villains celebrated their first victory. "You're performance was golden."
"They certainly were shocked to see me," Roy agreed. He moved his hand to the second blade now belted to his waist. Falchion was much lighter than the Sword of Seals, but Roy knew enough of Marth's fighting style that he was confident he could teach himself how to use it. "How'd the rest of the fighting go?" he asked. Mewtwo had not been at the battle because he had been watching over several important prisoners.
"We won," Mewtwo replied. "Ganondorf beat Link. Bowser kidnapped Peach. Wolf shot Fox and Falco from the sky; I heard Falco ended up pretty bad. Wario knocked Ness into a tree. Half the Mansion was completely decimated. Almost all their supplies were taken or destroyed. They won't stand much of a chance."
"No they won't," Roy agreed. He smiled. Who knew being a villain could be so much fun? "What do we do now?"
"Wait and set traps for the heroes when they come to check their worlds. Then we can either capture or kill them."
"Right," Roy said after a moment. "I'd better go train with Falchion so I'll be able to use if effectively." As he walked off only one thought circulated through his mind: kill them?
Mewtwo watched Roy walk off. He knew the swordsman's true reaction to his statement. We may have trouble with that one, he thought. A command entered his mind. Coming Master.
--
Mewtwo bowed before Master Hand as he entered the conference room. "Greetings Master," he said. He quickly glanced around the room. Bowser, Ganondorf, Wolf, King Dedede, Wario, Waluigi, and Ridley were all in the room; the other villains were either busy with other stuff (or in the case of Roy, not informed of the meeting.)
"Welcome Mewtwo," Master Hand replied. "Welcome all of you. The meeting may now commence. First of all, I would like to congratulate you for your victory. I was impressed that the attack was so devastating."
"The attack took them completely by surprise," Ganondorf said. "I was glad the attack went so well."
"Indeed," Master Hand continued, "but this war is far from over. The heroes may have lost, but one battle does not win a war. They will recover and fight again. We must continue to outthink them. We have the upper hand. WE WILL NOT LOSE IT."
"Of course, Master," Bowser said.
Master Hand turned towards Mewtwo. "You have a complaint with Roy?"
"Not necessarily a complaint; merely a concern."
"Explain."
"I mentioned killing the heroes and he suddenly grew apprehensive. He will be a problem if he interferes with our plan by saving them."
"It seems the little swordsman is still plagued by his conscience," Ganondorf muttered.
"We cannot let Roy return to the hero's side," Master Hand said. "He know much of our plan."
"I believe I can help," a dark voice said.
Everyone turned around. A tall man clad in purple armor walked in. He had blond hair and a goatee with calculating hazel eyes.
"Who invited you here?" Master Hand asked.
"I invited myself," the man replied.
"Who are you?" Master Hand asked.
"I am Zephiel, King of Bern. I can help you with your Roy problem."
"How so?"
"If he tries to go to the other side, I have a most interesting means of keeping him here." A beautiful woman covered from head to toe in a purple robe walked in, holding a girl with blue eyes and hair. The girl wore a red and white dress and a red cap sat on her blue tresses. She struggled, trying to break free from the woman's grasp.
"This is my partner Idoun," Zephiel said, indicating the woman. "As long as you have this girl, Roy will do anything you ask of him."
The girl fell still at the mention of Roy. "What did you do to Roy?" she asked.
"Nothing," Ganondorf replied, "he is only working with us."
"Liar!" the girl spat, turning her blazing blue eyes on Zephiel. "Roy would never work with you!"
Zephiel smiled. "Ah, but Roy doesn't know I'm here, Lilina."
"Roy is working with us villains," Bowser said.
"Roy is not evil!"
"Perhaps not," Master Hand said, "but nonetheless, he is gladly helping us for revenge."
"Roy wouldn't…"
"Roy did." Lilina fell unusually silent.
"What do you want to do with her?" Zephiel asked.
"Mewtwo, lock this girl in a cell. She'll make an excellent hostage if need be."
Idoun handed Lilina over to Mewtwo. The girl kicked and tried desperately to break free from Mewtwo's grasp; using his psychic powers, Mewtwo rendered all her attacks futile.
"Welcome to the conspiracy," Master Hand told Zephiel and Idoun.
--
"I wish we could send more people with you," Mario said to Link and Zelda. "But there actually aren't many low-tech fighters here."
"We'll be fine," Zelda said. "Our group is full of capable warriors."
Mario nodded. "Try to find ways to keep in touch with us."
"Don't worry, Mario; we'll be fine," Link said. "Focus on keeping yourself and your group safe."
They had split up into three groups:
Group A – Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Ness, Lucas, Sonic and Shadow (after they helped defeat the Black Arms), Jigglypuff, Pokémon Trainer, and Mr. Game and Watch
Group B – Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Snake, Captain Falcon, Fox, Falco, Sonic and Shadow (only while they were fighting the Black Arms), R.O.B., Pikachu and Lucario
Group C – Link, Zelda/Sheik, Marth, Ike, Pit, Toon Link, and Lyn
"Good luck rescuing Peach," Zelda called to Mario.
Mario nodded and turned to Group B, which was preparing to leave. "Safe travels," he called.
Samus nodded in acknowledgement. "We'll be alright. Just keep your group safe."
Mario nodded. "Group A, time to head out."
A/N: Finally, this chapter should have been up weeks ago, but I have practically no spare time right now. But I will soon so hopefully I can get the next chapter up faster. Please R & R :)