Not much to say here except "Hope you enjoy the chapter". (smiles)
Chapter 9: A Show of Force
An enraged Princess Daisy, exhausted from a thorough search of the city, plopped herself onto a nearby bench and dropped the pitchfork she was carrying. Most, if not all, of her anger had slowly drained away while she was gallivanting about the Island. "Why don't these aliens show up so we can teach them who's boss already?" she gasped irately in-between heavy breaths. "I should've paid more attention in physical education . . ."
"Calm yourself, Daisy . . ." Roy warned the princess, handing her a bottle of cold water from a knapsack he was carrying.
The princess eagerly took the bottle and drank from it in long, greedy swallows. After gulping down half of the bottle in record time, she thrust the bottle back at the fiery-haired swordsman. A 'thanks' escaped her lips, and as Roy placed the bottle back into the knapsack she replied to him, "How can I? I don't want the world I'm living in to be destroyed . . . do you? It worries me to see what little anyone's done to protect their home."
"If it does, you certainly don't look it." Lilina giggled. All of her laughter stopped with a dirty glance from Daisy to the young mage. The princess retorted hotly by asking where the mage thought the aliens would hide, to which Lilina simply shrugged.
"I'd think they'd hide in a place where they wouldn't be likely to get caught." She answered finally, nodding in emphasis. "The only problem with that is that there are too many places on this Island for them to hide."
Daisy merely sighed while Lilina cutely cocked her head to the side, a figurative question mark popping up above her head. "Well, I doubt we'll find them just sitting and looking at each other." She motioned for the other Smashers to follow, while she stood up and glanced around the park, picking up her pitchfork in the process. "Okay, so where are you, you damned aliens . . . ?"
As the young monk Artur wandered amongst the faded ruins of New York, he sighed and meditated privately as he twirled his staff around in his hand. Much of the city was lying in ruins, but there was still life in it as tourists and tour organizers wandered its streets, just like him. 'Sigh...even amidst this destruction, they still can be joyful. I wish it were like that back home in Renais...'
Continuing to read through a small book he had obtained through a religious bookstore, Artur stopped with his work long enough to notice that the street he was walking on was quickly becoming deserted. Frowning slightly, the orange-haired man quickened his pace until he ran smack dab into a girl of around the same height. "Whoa, where's the fire?"
"Huh?" Zelda looked up at the strange person in front of her. He was carrying a silver staff that was adorned with many decorations as well as a scroll box that was hooked onto his belt. He had bright orange eyes and hair, but what surprised her most was that he also had a Stiletto dagger in his belt even though he was supposed to be a holy man. Zelda quickly come to her senses and scrambled up. "Sorry about that, I have to go!"
"Perhaps it would be helpful if you could tell me what in the world's going on here?" The monk replied, smiling enigmatically at the Hylian princess.
"Huh? What are you talking about? Listen, my friends are in big trouble here and I need to get help!" Zelda brushed dust off of her legs. "If you wanna help, thanks a lot, but seriously, I've got to go!"
"Patience is a virtue, my girl." The monk blinked a couple of times. "I am Artur Fleinhardt. I am a holy man, if you couldn't notice from my attire."
"Can you fight?" Zelda asked, her patience deteriorating slightly.
"I am skilled in the ways of light magic, my girl. I sense thine urgency." Artur gave the princess a small bow.
"Okay, good! Uh…" She pointed down the street, opposite of where she was headed. "My friends are fighting a couple of hot-headed soldiers, so I'd really appreciate it if you could help!"
"At a maiden's command…I will do as you wish." Artur walked in the direction she indicated, continuing to read the religion book.
"What a strange man…" Zelda mumbled. "But enough of that! I've got to go help my friends!" She continued on her mission.
"Grrrr…" Link groaned as he deflected a bullet with a rusted hubcap. "Why the hell are you attacking us anyway?"
"Because you're a filthy spy! No doubt you've summoned the aliens to destroy our fair Smash Island!" The soldier exclaimed before attacking.
"Don't be foolish!" Link yelled before rolling under his gunshot and using the butt of his revolver to deliver a hard whack to the man's head. The man teetered on his feet for a couple of seconds before collapsing to the ground. Link leaned on a nearby wall, panting. "Too late."
"God, where are all these guys coming from!" Colm yelled as he smashed his dagger into the back of a soldier that was threatening Neimi. "This is ridiculous!"
"Thanks, Colm..." Neimi replied shyly. She scrambled up and aimed an arrow into the throat of a soldier behind the thief.
"..." Link looked around at the battered remains of the crumbling ruins. The initial battle had gone well for them; he and Fox had shot down several of the trained fighters, while Luigi, Zelda, Ness, Pichu, Colm and Neimi had scattered to systematically eliminate the rest. However, sometime during the fight a soldier had thrown a smoke bomb into their midst, and by the time it cleared up many of the Smashers were fighting for their lives. Zelda had run off to get help, and Link was desperately hoping for her return. Grabbing Pichu and Ness and running, he motioned for the others to do the same. "COME ON! We have to escape!"
"OH NO, YOU DON'T!" A soldier yelled as he fired upon the Smashers. Luigi grunted in pain as a force knocked against the sole of his shoe. The bullet fired purposely at the earth ricocheted and hit the back of his boot with enough force not to pierce the leather, but to knock him clear off his feet. Luigi fell forward to kiss the charred ground. "AHA!"
"NO! LUIGI!" Link yelled.
Luigi began to visibly shake as he stared down the barrel of the soldier's gun, the muzzle mere centimeters away from the bridge between his eyes. He drew back his weapon with a cruel smirk, but before he could blast Luigi's brains, a single ringing voice in clear tones broke the silence.
"MAY THE LIGHT OF ST. LAKOTA ANNIHILATE THEIR FILTHY SOULS!" Before the soldier could turn towards the source, two beams of light shot forward into the soldier as blood and muscle erupted from his body. Luigi screamed in terror as the headless soldier collapsed backward, blood and ooze draining from the hole in his chest. The other soldiers widened their eyes in panic as they tried to escape, but a flurry of light spears charged forward and mercilessly tore them to shreds.
Luigi shuddered; mouth gaped open and eyes bulging at the dead corpses in front of him. He was in such a state of shock that he didn't acknowledge the gritty footsteps approaching him, until a hand lightly grasped his shoulder and a silky voice that pierced through the bitterness greeted him.
"You alright?"
Shivering and tears glistening in his eyes, Luigi turned around and glanced upwards at this new being. It was another human with white robes flowing in the breeze and his ruby eyes calm and reassuring. His orange hair blew loosely around his lean face, and a scroll box, a satchel of elixirs and a Stiletto dagger hung from his belt. The Purge spell book in his other hand clearly showed that this was the warrior who had just saved his miserable life. For the sake of first impression, Luigi hastily wiped the moisture from his eyes.
Worming her way to the front in order to get a better view of what happened, Neimi had taken a look at the holy man and nearly dropped her jaw to the ground in shock. "Artur? Is that you?"
"Neimi!" Artur blurted out, whirling around to face the assembly. Spotting the magenta-haired archer, he had run over to her with concern. "Are you well? What are you doing here?"
"I was about to ask you the same." Neimi responded.
"Well, really, I...you see, what happened was..."
"You know this guy?" Colm asked somewhat darkly.
"It's not what you think, Colm." Neimi giggled at her friend's single-mindedness. "Brother Artur is a friend of mine...just a friend."
"Ah, you must be Colm, then." Artur replied to the blue-haired thief. "Neimi has told me much about your deeds; you seem to be a righteous man in your own right."
"Er...I guess you could say that..." Colm laughed, embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head. However, he ended up blinking and stared menacingly at the bishop. "That had better not be an insult..."
"But no!" Artur replied simply, brushing dust off his white robes. "Really, it is not in my position or in my power to judge other people just by their deeds."
"I should hope not!" Colm retorted hotly, causing Neimi and a few others to burst into laughter. Several minutes later, Zelda ran back to rejoin her comrades, with at least two of the local authorities. Their heavyset frames and beer bellies had slowed their coming considerably, as by the time they got there their attackers had already been slaughtered. Out of fear, the two policemen had screamed and were on the process of running back to the police station as fast as their flabby bodies could carry them.
Zelda, after one look around, had sighed discontentedly. "Man, I guess you didn't need me after all..." Zelda walked up to Link, pouting slightly. "But I'm glad to see that you're all alive, though!" She punched the blond Hylian lightly on the arm, grinning. "I knew you guys could do it!"
Link smiled wryly at her. "We almost didn't. I assume the crazy guy is a friend of yours?" He jerked a thumb towards Artur, despite his protests of not being 'crazy.' "You did a good job, Zelda."
"Why, thank you! I did my best." Zelda giggled happily. "So what do we do now?"
"Well…" Link glanced around the abandoned city. "Our first priority is to find someone to help us out here. We definitely need to get out of this city and as much as we could stay here, it wouldn't help us find our friends." Link frowned and let out a sigh.
"Indeed." The vulpine concurred with the Hero of Time. "We've already drawn enough attention to our position when we rescued Neimi, and we certainly don't need more bad publicity on our hands."
"Perhaps I could help?" Artur asked suddenly, and all eyes turned to stare at the carrot-haired bishop. Biting down a small sigh, he explained, "On my way here, I overheard two of the patrols talking about something. They seemed to talk a little too loud. Anyway, one of them mentioned some kind of depot to the west, and he pointed somewhere that way." Link's eyes followed the bishop's finger to the ruined Panasonic building. "One would assume that something important could be contained there."
"All right..." Link nodded, trailing off slightly. "Let's see what's inside that ruin."
Several minutes later, the group of nine had made it to Times Square. Keeping to the shadows, they darted through the ruins, checking buildings and dodging guards. Making their way to the Panasonic building, they peered into the grimy windows and grinned triumphantly.
"Awesome!" Link replied as he darted into the building. Wondering what was inside, the other Smashers, Colm, Neimi and Artur peered inside. They had stumbled into a weapons storehouse; guns, swords, lances, bows and even tomes were stacked and sorted neatly in each corner of the room, and in the center was a M1-A1 Abrams tank with at least two Jeeps alongside it.
Pichu squeaked happily after a long silence. "YAY! WE CAN ESCAPE!"
"A...are you crying, Luigi?" Ness asked as he turned towards the green machine.
"L...look!" Luigi sobbed happily, pointing to a machine on the dashboard of one of the Jeeps. "A GPS!"
Fox's eyes widened to small ovals as a glorious revenge plot hatched in his mind. "Hey, Link...you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Oh, yeah." Link snickered. "Salazar, you're going down. Zelda, you'll drive the tank."
"Wha-! ME! But...I don't know how!"
"You can learn along the way..."
The Burger Chest Fast-Food Joint on the edge of the plaza was a modestly-sized building of painted stucco and wood that would form the body of the treasure chest. On the rooftop, at least three giant plaster burgers were shown exploding out of the wooden container, the paint chipping and the wooden teardrop that represented sesame seeds scattered around it. Above that was a poorly made half-cylinder of painted wood that was to be the chest's lid, though the weather and the abuses of nature had reduced it to its underlying plastic shell in some places.
Between bites of cheese-slathered ground chuck on an undistinguishable bun, Lloyd and Colette were eyeing the plaza dubiously for any signs of the military convoy that had been so unkind to them the few hours before. The other aliens had settled themselves around the room, much to the dismay of its occupants, and tension and anxiety settled itself among patrons and alien cosplayers alike.
The young Chosen was one of the first to note the heavy silence, and she sighed pensively as she bit into a stick of dusty potato. "Oh, Lloyd...what has happened to the people to make them feel this way?" Colette chirped sadly. "Everywhere we look, they treat us so harshly..."
"Don't worry about it, Colette." Lloyd replied, staring out into the lonely plaza. "Hopefully things'll get better, huh?"
"Yeah..." Colette replied as she scooted closer to the twin swordsman. "I hope that they learn that we are not their enemy."
The poor girl's hopes were violently shattered, though, as an all-too-familiar princess burst into the restaurant, waving her pitchfork like a flag. "AHA! So THIS is where you've taken refuge, alien scum!" Daisy pointed the pitchfork maniacally at the other Smashers and replied, "I have found you!"
"Er, technically, Lilina's the one who spotted them in the window . . ." Samus corrected, to which Daisy twitched involuntarily and sighed.
"Okay, so maybe Lilina DID see you all first. But we'll still make sure you pay for trying to take our home!"
"Hey, we're not looking for a fight!" Lloyd protested. "But if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!"
"Fine! Bring it on!" The management and the occupants stared, wide-eyed, as they dropped their sustenance and engaged in a furious stare-down with the others as tension flowed in abundance. But before the fight even got so much as a trigger, a loud GRUMBLE permeated the silence as everyone tensed up for what it was.
"...oh. Oops!" Daisy giggled with girlish embarrassment. "My stomach's telling me it's empty."
"WHAT!" everyone yelled as they collapsed to the floor, dumbfounded. In shock, Lloyd blurted out, "That's the kind of thing you check BEFORE a fight!"
"That totally killed the seriousness of the scene." Genis derogatorily pointed out.
Shooting a glare at the half-elf, Daisy replied, "I know! I'm sorry!" Wending her way over to the burger counter, similar groans and grumbles came from the stomachs of Roy, Lilina and Samus and caused a ruckus before they too joined the dinner line for some food.
Amidst the chaos, Mewtwo had handed the dirty china and paid for their meal, then tapped Lloyd, who was still gaping in shock at Daisy and her posse, on the shoulder.
"I think this would be a good moment for a discreet departure." he said when Lloyd turned. He nodded his head in the direction of the whiny princess and her crew, who were similarly voicing their discontent in front of the lunch counter.
"What?" asked Lloyd. "Oh, I see. Good of you to say so. Come on, guys, we'd better get out of here." He abandoned the fast-food joint to Daisy and the others, and he and the other aliens slipped out the door.
"Thanks, Mewtwo." Colette said to Mewtwo. "But have you not perhaps made for yourself more trouble?"
"I'm sure of it." Mewtwo told the female angel. "But I believe I owe her one, because of a prank a few weeks ago involving my tail, pink glitter and a ridiculously large yellow bow; I can't think of a better way of evening the score." Colette giggled at the thought.
"It seems singularly appropriate." Falco added, stepping forward. "But I would like to point out that we still have the damned military breathing down our necks. I don't suppose you'd like to tell us if you have a plan?"
"As if Lloyd DOES have a plan..." Colette said under her breath, giggling slightly as she wrapped herself around Lloyd's arm. Falco and Genis were both looking expectantly at Lloyd, Mewtwo was sighing at Lloyd's lack of forethought, and any minute now Princess Daisy would realize that they had managed to escape again. It ought to be more hilarious than one of Pichu's screwball pranks, of that much she was sure.
A large BOOM interrupted the sinister silence of the devastated thoroughfare as a large tank stood in the spot where the high-voltage gates stood. Soldiers, stunned and caught in panic and disarray, had taken up their arms and fled in wild abandon as the tank crushed a car under its Vulcan rubber threads. "Zelda! Be careful!" Link yelled from his roost, manning the machine gun on top of the Abrams.
"Sorry! This isn't as easy as it looks..." Zelda squeaked from inside the tank.
"I TOLD you that I should've driven that thing!" Fox yelled from one of the two Jeeps that served as their escort. The first had Fox, Luigi, Pichu and Ness; while the other held Colm, Neimi and Artur. As the tank slew wildly across the dirt, Zelda shouted, "Where to!"
"Take us back to Fox's hideout!" Link yelled over the whine of the tank's engine. "Colm, Neimi and Artur will be safe there."
"You're going to leave us!" Colm shouted in disbelief.
"It'll be much safer for you to escape the Island than for you to get involved," Link answered. "It's going to get more dangerous as the night wanes, and I don't want to worry about someone to coddle while the militia's firing whatever they've got at us!"
"Link, when Neimi and I came over here u..." Colm stopped before saying, "—to visit an old friend, we were already involved."
"Wait, we have a...mmph!" Colm quickly covered Neimi's mouth to prevent her from butting in as Link mumbled an incoherent reply. As Colm asked Link what he said again, Neimi whispered into Colm's ear, "You never told me you had an old friend on the Isle! Who is it, and did you know her before?"
"SSSH! Just play along, Neimi, and I'll explain it to you later—wait, 'she?'" Colm raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "...you were worried I was seeing someone on the side?" At that, Neimi turned a dull red and stared at the ground as she tapped her foot on the floor of the Jeep nervously. Artur just laughed, but quickly stifled it when the normally cheerful archer shot him a deadly glare.
". . . you're so mean, Colm . . ." Neimi pouted while she continued blushing to the floor. Link, watching these events unfold, shrugged and picked up the walkie-talkie as Colm just shook his head in exasperation and pat the archer on the back awkwardly, not quite knowing what to say.
Daisy was pacing around on a sidewalk in frustration, uncharacteristically muttering string after string of whatever profanities she could think of. It wasn't until at least a good five minutes had passed that Lilina pointed out that she should be more focused on finding the aliens instead of acting like a five-year-old having a temper tantrum.
"Don't tell me what not to do, Lilina." Daisy told her. "I'm busy venting my anger at this moment."
"Well, personally, I think your anger would be better vented against the aliens, but it's YOUR anger . . ." The mage just sighed, massaging her forehead in frustration.
"Look, Daisy, we're all tired of this." Roy tried to reason. "Let's just go home, huh? A revolution can wait until tomorrow..."
"This isn't about a stupid revolution!" Daisy yelled. Suddenly her tone of voice had changed into that of a mix of sorrow and determination. "If we allowed them to take over our Island, we are essentially letting our future down. Look," Daisy gestured to a group of kids who were playing on the street. "Look at those kids! Just look. If the aliens take over, they're going to grow up under oppression and seething anger... they're going to learn that they have certain rights. They will learn about them in school in a couple of years...and they'll tell them that no one has the right to take their rights away from them. They've got to believe that. They include the right to be different. Well, now we have a group of aliens have decided that we have to get out of here or die just because we're different!"
"Daisy..." Lilina cut in.
"It's not about me at all." Daisy replied, dropping the pitchfork to the ground. "Those aliens think we're not nice. Do we have to smile in their faces and say that we're nice! I WILL admit my methods are unorthodox, to put it kindly; but whenever someone is forced to do something they don't like, they will end up losing their voice in the world. We don't have to win the right to be free! It's the same as running away, Lilina. It's staying on their terms, and if we can't stay on our terms there are no more places to stay anywhere...for you—for me—for those kids—for anyone." Daisy suddenly fell to her knees as her body quaked with sobbing.
"...oh, Daisy..." Lilina replied sympathetically, kneeling next to the princess. "I'm so sorry...I just thought you didn't care about what you did."
"...well, I guess I WAS acting a bit stupid..." Daisy replied. "If you don't want to help, I understand."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm going to stick around and help." Roy replied with an indignant tone in his voice. "Besides, we're already knee-deep in this war, and I don't intend on backing out, no matter what the odds are."
"Guys..." Daisy sobbed a bit. Samus rolled his eyes as Daisy sobbed again, but couldn't help but flash a smile her way. "Thanks. Now what do you say? ON TO BATTLE!"
"ONWARD!" Samus yelled. Sometime during Daisy's tantrum, Samus had been charging a shot for use against the aliens. However, it was a wrong time for her to throw her arms into to air, as the shot had freed itself from the arm cannon in her suit and plowed straight into a battery of soldiers. The soldiers, fearing their own safety, started to charge at the four Smashers. In panic, Daisy, Roy, Lilina and Samus ran down the street, and right into the path of Lloyd and his troupe.
"! NOT HER AGAIN!" Lloyd shouted in a panic.
"It's the aliens! THEY'RE HERE!" Daisy shrieked. "I'm going to stop you!"
"NOT IF WE STOP THEM FIRST!" the soldiers yelled, rushing past Daisy's group and charging at Lloyd and the others.
"What in the hell?!" Instead of allying to fight the aliens, the Smashers and soldiers were soon engaged in a frenzied fight against the other, forgetting the aliens completely as the soldiers fired bullets towards the wayward youths. Roy, however, had somehow obtained some Molotov cocktails, throwing them into the mass of soldiers. They retreated to get reinforcements while the other Smashers gave chase to avoid another surprise attack. Lloyd and the other aliens were soon by themselves again, standing in the middle of the lonely cobblestone street.
"What in the hell was THAT about?" Falco asked after a long, awkward moment of silence.
"Who knows?" Lloyd replied. "We gotta get out of here, though...come on!"
On the mainland side of the bridge, Joseph Salazar was sneering evilly as packages of C-4 and blasting caps were being placed and loaded onto the pavement, and soldiers were marching the streets behind him, shooting all who tried to stop the attack. His reverie was interrupted, though, by the buzzing of the radio. "Hold it!" As soldiers dropped the loads of C-4 and other explosives they were handling, Joseph strolled over to the radio and swept the receiver into his hand. "Yes?"
"Well, well. Old sergeant Salazar. You're too dumb to make captain, you know?" a voice taunted from the other end. Joseph nearly squeezed the receiver to breaking point when he heard that voice.
"Link Alben Gaiden. What a surprise."
"Uh, that's Big Daddy Gaiden to you. Or did you already forget what happened at Ground Zero?" Link taunted.
"Hmph." Joseph snorted, spitting on the ground. "So tell me, Link, how's the Mansion?"
"You're about to find out, Salazar." Link laughed as his convoy approached the bridge. "With a mouth like yours, they're going to love you on the inside."
Joseph's teeth were grinding as he slammed the receiver down onto the table inside the command post. In a state of lucid rage, he commanded, "FIND GAIDEN! The minute he sees me will be his last. Understand?"
"YES SIR!" the soldiers replied. Suddenly, another soldier, a youth, rushed into the command post and told Joseph, "Sir, one of our convoys wishes to cross the bridge. What should I do?"
"Oh. Well..." Joseph followed the youth across the length of the roadway, being sure not to trip the bundles of C-4 laden along the asphalt. After dancing some kind of safety juggle, he and the youth had crossed the bridge over to where the tank and its Jeeps lay in wait to cross. "Right, then. State your business."
"Well, you see, sir..." the youth replied nervously. "They want you to talk to them yourself."
"...of all the bloody stupid things I have to do tonight..." Joseph strolled up to one of the Jeeps and asked, "State your business in this city."
"Transport." The driver, who was clad in a military uniform, stated.
"Of what?"
"Just transportin' stuff, sir." The driver replied. "They dun say wot it was."
"...very well." Joseph replied, waving them through. "But once we cross, I want to see your cargo." The tank crossed, along with the two Jeeps, and the team was forced to wait until both Joseph and the youth had crossed the bridge in order to get the green light. Once done, Joseph swung himself up into the trunk of the Jeep and attempted to pull off the covers, but the passenger had a strangely tight grip on the cover. "Sir...let me see your cargo." Joseph replied with some forced patience.
"It's-a nothing..." the passenger replied before realizing his mistake and covering his mouth. "Oops-a."
"! IT'S THEM!" Joseph yelled. Yanking off the cover, he was treated to an ambush in which Artur bashed his skull with a healing staff. The driver, Fox, hurled a smoke bomb in the direction of the other soldiers, effectively blinding them.
Meanwhile, the youth had sneaked into the command post amidst the chaos and was ransacking the chamber, hurling various papers to the floor before finding a data disk inside a drawer. Smiling to himself, he pocketed the disk before rushing outside into the fog of war. His well-trained eyesight picked out the shapes before him as he wormed over towards the tank.
Joseph and his soldiers were having a tough time as the teams led by Fox were effectively pushing their troops back towards the depot. Amidst fireballs, arrows, thunderbolts, lasers and bullets, though, a soldier had managed to creep towards one of the Jeep and grabbed Neimi. "'Ey, boss! I caught that little wench of yours!"
"Let go of me!" Neimi yelled, kicking backwards into the soldiers' privates. Stooping over in pain, he let go of the archer before an arrow pierced his throat and ended his life. The young archer hid behind her lover as the thief threw several knives at the soldiers, killing a few.
However, things couldn't last as well as they liked, and our heroes were soon running out of ammo to use against the enemy. As the light tome crumbled in Artur's hands, he shouted, "What do we do now? Link and Zelda are safe inside the tank, but...!"
"Heh heh heh... trapped liked a bunch of rats." Joseph laughed as he strolled over to the Jeep and reached out to grab Neimi's wrist. "You're coming with me."
Before Neimi could even squeak, a gunshot pierced the lone silence as Link, armed with a rocket launcher took aim. But the silence had left him in much wonderment as those around him tried to locate the source of the gunshot. The puppeteer of stillness left his marionettes in a state of immobility until Joseph's shriek of agony tore it from his grasp. For there, in the center of his right hand, was a giant hole, in which blood and marrow dripped into the asphalt below. After a sharp intake of breath, Joseph yelled, "WHO DID THIS!"
"I did." A lone voice answered coolly, and all turned to behold the youth who had accompanied Joseph across the bridge, now holding a smoking revolver in his hands. "Next time I won't miss."
"You...traitor! Treason! TREACHERY!" Joseph yelled, lunging at the youth.
"So impatient, are we? Well, I guess I should be too." With one fluid motion, the youth had pulled two grenades from his satchel, tore off their pins and threw them behind him, in the general direction of the bridge. Joseph's eyes widened as he tried to stop in time while the youth had pulled out a hookshot and fired it into a nearby bell tower, pulling him out of the range of the explosive...
BOOM!
Joseph and the soldiers were thrown violently backwards as grenades and C-4 detonated, sending a wave of plaster, wood and asphalt into them as the roadway wiggled unsteadily. Unable to take the added stress, the ropes holding up the bridge gave way as the road crumbled into the sea below, churning it into a valley of whirlpools.
Snapping out of his shock, Fox yelled to the Hylian, "LINK! Now's our chance!"
"Right!" Link yelled as he motioned for the others to move. As Joseph and other soldiers stumbled out of the dust cloud created by the explosion, the tank and the Jeeps sped off as quickly as possible.
"G...GET THAT BASTARD!" Joseph yelled. "I AUTHORIZE THE USE OF DEADLY FORCE TO STOP THAT TANK! NEUTRALIZE IT AT ALL COSTS!"
Choppers and tanks rushed Link and the others as they were ground into flaming balls of scrap metal as a result. Zelda haphazardly steered the cumbersome metal monster as it rolled over parked cars and traffic lights, squashing them under the treads. "OOPS! Sorry..."
"You know, someone had better leave a note..." Link warned as an Army truck and a battery of soldiers led by Salazar waited for him up ahead. Another team had the tank breathing down its flank, and Salazar sneered.
"Right, men. OPEN FIRE!"
Link's sharp eyes had noticed the threat of the Army jeep and forced him into the tank, where he grabbed the steering wheel from Zelda's hands and turned it sharply to the right. The artillery shell flew by the tank and missed them by mere inches as the enemies behind them were incinerated with the blast. "Goddammit!" Joseph yelled vehemently.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Was that your ride?" Link taunted through his walkie-talkie.
"No, but yours is going to take you straight to hell!" Joseph threatened as he slammed the receiver on the table, his teeth grinding against each other.
Pure crimson rage flowed through Joseph's veins as the screaming metal of the choppers seared the silence of the night. Citizens and soldiers alike were running through the streets of the once-tranquil city as the fleeing crowd knocked over fruit carts, barrels and trash cans while Link's convoy rolled through the streets, crushing cars and starting havoc wherever it went. Joseph's wrist throbbed and the crimson of his pernicious anger dripped onto the cobblestones as he yelled to the choppers, "OPEN FIRE!" The metal cranes rushed forward into the chaos of fire and smoke.
Meanwhile, Link had found himself strafing a tank in the circle of the plaza as mortars were exchanged between the feuding parties. The sustenance around them was thick with smoke and dust as missed shots pulverized the buildings around them into fine dust. Amidst the chaos, Colm and Neimi had jumped out of their jeep and rushed into the ruins around them, re-emerging minutes later as panicked citizens ran to safety.
"That the last of them?" Colm yelled as a mother and her child escaped to the hills in the distance.
"Yes, Colm!" Neimi yelled. However, an explosion rocked the building she was in, and minutes later her leg was pinned under large pieces of sheet rock and wood as she tried in vain to wretch her leg from the stone deathtrap. "ACK! HELP!"
"NEIMI!" Colm yelled, rushing over to the aid of the young archer. However, the driver inside the tank heard Colm, and had redirected his course as treads rolled through the park towards the thief. Link, however, had taken advantage as a lobbed shell at the tank sent it exploding into a heap of scrap metal, sending bolts and plates raining upon the circle.
As the thief lifted the stone high enough the pull Neimi's leg out, the archer clutched at Colm's shirt protectively, saying to him, "I knew you wouldn't leave me here."
"What, you thought I would?" Colm laughed, kissing her forehead.
Anger and rage seemed to override thought and reason as Joseph ravaged the city with his war machines, looking for Link and the other Smashers. As the smell of gunpowder and smoke lingered through the forest air, the whirring of helicopter blades echoed through the trees as several of the metal birds seared the skyscape looking for Link and the other Smashers.
Suddenly, two of the helicopters had located their target and veered towards the tank and the nearby Jeeps, letting loose a hail of bullets upon their targets. Soldiers whooped and hollered until a well-placed arrow sent the pilot falling into the abyss of death. Abruptly the chopper crashed into the bell tower and sent a mess of stone, plaster, wood, metal and charred flesh raining onto the plaza behind Link.
"...nice shot, Neimi!" Colm cheered as the magenta-haired archer collapsed into her boyfriend's arms.
"Thank you..."
"My, my. I didn't know the two of you became lovers." Artur mused as Ness and Pichu broke out laughing.
"Guys, I-a don't mean to interrupt-a, but...DUCK!!!" Luigi yelled as another chopper passed overhead. Sprays of stone, dirt and twigs shot up like geysers as bullets rained upon the small Jeep. Many ricocheted off the metal plating while others narrowly missed our heroes, embedding themselves in the soft fabric of the seat cushions. The metal pellets bounced off the metal armor of the tank as well, forcing the other Smashers to duck as they ricocheted into nearby buildings.
"Man, these guys just don't quit!" Fox yelled above the chaos as he aimed a rocket launcher at the same chopper. "Link, you all right in there!?"
"Yeah!" Link yelled as he peered out of the tank. Suddenly, the metal cavalry rolled to a complete stop as Zelda peeked her head out to see what was going on. "Zelda, hey, what'd you stop the tank for?"
"I'm just looking around, hold on..."
"Not much to see out here, other than fire, collapsed buildings and scrap metal." Artur replied.
"Artur's right. You'd better get back inside the tank, Zel..." No sooner as the princess was back in the driver's seat, two choppers had flown down to their level and was flying in their direction. Turning around to look for himself, Ness spotted the choppers and nearly screamed to high hell.
"LINK!!!" Ness yelled. "CHOPPERS ON EITHER SIDE!"
"Oh, shi..." Fox nearly cussed. "Want me to get the rocket launcher?"
Spotting a side street a little ways ahead, Link smiled and said, "I have a better idea." Dropping back into the tank, he sat next to Zelda and directed her towards the screen. "Zel! See the street there? Think you can steer us into it?"
"I could try..." Zelda replied, taking hold of the steering wheel.
Several in the Jeeps were wondering what Link had planned as the choppers came ever closer, their blades whipping the wind and the bullets ending geysers of dirt and charred plaster into the air. The smell of gunpowder lingered in the air from the spent ammo, and the streets were thick with blood from civilians and soldiers alike. Before Fox decided to intervene and pull out his rocket launcher, the tank suddenly jerked forward and swerved left into the side street, knocking over a trash can and several support beams of a nearby balcony. As the wooden deck crashed onto the tank, Pichu and Luigi had taken control of the Jeeps and drove after Link and Zelda, parking right behind them.
The choppers in pursuit never had a chance as their targets moved away at the last minute. Both tried to stop, but momentum and the wind were against them as they collided into each other, causing a large explosion that obliterated a few nearby buildings and caused several cars nearby to go up in a fiery column of smoke. Colm, Artur, Neimi, Ness, Pichu, Luigi and Fox all had to duck as shards of metal sliced through the top of the Jeep and left the driver completely exposed. Other soldiers nearby who had come to investigate weren't as lucky as the shards sliced right through them, killing them in one blow.
A blaze of static greeted Joseph as he tried to contact the chopper. Then he heard a loud explosion from the general direction of the choppers as fire and smoke rose up from the spot. Grinding his teeth and slamming the receiver onto the table, he growled, "Goddammit!"
"Heh. Tanks, choppers..." Link taunted through the radio. "What's next? You going to level the city?"
"Only if you're still in it, you bastard."
"Hmph. Keep this up and you'll have nothing left, Joseph."
"You and I have some unfinished business to take care of, homeboy." Joseph growled as he turned off the receiver. Then, he snatched an AK-47 from the nearby table and plopped down into a nearby motorcycle. With determination in his eyes and three clips of ammo in his pocket, Salazar sped off towards the ruined city in order to end this battle once and for all . . .
Link and the others had taken to hiding themselves in a lush forested grove near thecity's edge. As Colm looked from the tall granite cliffs into the brew of smoke, flames and buildings below, he frowned slightly at the civilians, who were panicking and running about the town while the soldiers were trying to contain the chaos. "This is insanity." He muttered as he rejoined the others. "What, exactly, are the soldiers trying to accomplish by tearing apart the city?"
"I don't want to know . . . do you think they know we're not there anymore?" Neimi replied as she pulled her bow and the quiver of arrows from the Jeeps.
"Whether they think so or not, it's safe to assume that the soldiers won't be clueless for long." Link replied as he slammed the hood closed on one of the Jeeps, the same one whose top had been shredded by flying steel. "FOX!"
"Yes?" the vulpine asked, polishing his laser blaster.
"You and the others need to get out of this city." Link replied sternly. Tossing Fox a bag of bombs, he commanded, "You and the other Smashers get into that Jeep—" he pointed to the unblemished Jeep, "—and flee the city. The bombs I gave you will take out any enemies you find, but use them sparingly. The rest of you..." Link motioned to Neimi, Colm and Artur. "...are coming with me."
"Are...are you sure, Link?" Zelda asked worriedly.
"Yeah, Link. We don't want you getting killed out there." Fox replied in agreement. "We could always accompany you, you know."
"Thanks, guys, but let ME take care of the worrying." Link replied. "Or do you not trust me at all?" He glanced over at Fox especially; after a few tense minutes he let out a long sigh.
"Well...alright." Fox replied. Motioning to the others to get into the Jeep, he hollered, "YOU HEARD HIM! GET IN!" As the Smashers piled into the terrain-friendly vehicle, Fox stopped Link for a bit and tossed him a Desert Eagle. "Good luck, Link. We'll meet you on the highway leading out of here."
"Thanks, Fox." He replied, patting his friend on the shoulder. Then, with one last glance backward, he motioned for Colm, Neimi and Artur to get into the other Jeep and jumped in the driver's seat before speeding off on the dirt roads.
The Jeep screeched to a sudden stop in front of the vulpine's hidden bungalow as Link looked around. "Looks like we haven't been followed..." he mused quietly as Colm, Neimi and Artur got out of the Jeep as well. They were more interested in the surrounding area, though, instead of their somewhat precarious situation.
"Pray tell, what exactly is your business in the area?" Artur questioned suspiciously, glancing around the bayous and the swampy waters. "There's but naught to be found out here save that lonely little shack in the middle of the swamp." He gestured to the modest house nearby.
"Listen. The military's after us now because they think we committed treason against the Smash Island." Link replied as he gestured to the three to follow. Opening to door to the bungalow and stepping inside, he motioned for them to sit at the various chairs scattered about. He continued. "I am grateful that you were able to help us loosen the military's grip on the city, but from here on out it's far too dangerous for you all to get involved."
"So?" Colm responded somewhat arrogantly, Neimi by his side. "We've all been in far worse than this. It's not like this is our first battle."
"It still remains to be seen that the military's going all-out on us," Link answered.
"You...you don't considered what happened earlier being at full power?" Neimi questioned, her soft pink eyes glistening with a few tears. Using her glove to wipe her eyes, she added, "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but didn't you help Colm save me from that lunatic? That would merit some form of gratitude, yes?"
"Er, well..." Link hadn't anticipated that particular argument.
"I believe that we are indebted to you, for if we were unable to snatch her back from those fiends, who knows what could have happened." Artur added.
"Yes, but—"
"Look, Link. We're coming along with you whether you like it or not." Colm replied, slamming his hands onto the table in front of him. "To be honest, our queen has requested that we come here to attempt an alliance of sorts with this Island, as well as some of the other kingdoms here." Link opened his mouth to say something, but Colm quickly added, "The young woman with you; same blonde hair and blue eyes: that's Princess Zelda of Hyrule, correct? If royalty like her is involved in a conflict of this scale, then why not involve the emissaries from other lands?"
"Because it's not your problem!" Link replied. "As much as it is a shock, I do not wish to involve you in our affairs! You're here to arrange an alliance with us and this Island by the order of your queen. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Link, when Joseph kidnapped Neimi we became involved in this little war of yours." Artur bluntly replied. "Now, tell us, what's going to be our next move?"
Link sighed at this point, massaging his forehead. To be honest, he hadn't expected that the Halloween prank would be broadcast all over the Island, much less mushroom into a civil war between both trick-or-treaters and the militia. And now, here he was, arguing with a group of emissaries from some unknown land, looking for him. Realizing that this argument was going to get him nowhere, he replied, "Very well, the three of you can come along with us. But this isn't a field trip! If you get yourselves lost, you're on your own."
"Then that will be on us." Colm replied, glancing out the window. "So, what's our next move?"
"You won't have a next move." A sinister voice growled from the dark corners of the hideout. Suddenly, a badly burned Johnson stumbled out from a hidden nook of the house, the gaze of the four teenagers slightly blinded from the sight of electric light on metal. "None of you are going to walk out of this house alive."
"Whoa, what happened to you?" Colm asked.
"Did you venture into the burning depths of hell? It certainly seems so." Artur added.
"I thought you were dead!" Link yelled accusingly at the soldier.
"Even if I WAS dead, which I'm not, I'd drag you all down with me!!" Alabama yelled, lunging at the four teenagers with gun in hand.
"Hey, what the-!" Colm pulled out his dagger, poised to strike. Suddenly, he heard a scream from behind him, and turned just in time to see Neimi hurl a rather large book at the undead soldier. The thief winced as it connected with Johnson's face, and he could hear several bones crack before both soldier and book fell onto the floor with a dull THUD. "Geez, Neimi...I think you knocked him out or something." He poked the body with his dagger to check.
"But...Colm! He's so scary...and he tried to kill us..." Neimi sobbed, jumping into the thief's arms. Colm hadn't anticipated her leaping into his embrace, and so when it came he overcompensated, sending both archer and thief crashing onto the nearby table before both fell down in a volley of surprised squealing/shouting and a shower of oaken splinters. Artur just watched the sight and chuckled quietly, slightly amused at their playfulness.
Link, meanwhile, wasn't too amused. "Don't wreck the place!" Neimi and Colm stood up, though both were blushing furiously, more so out of embarrassment. Hormones seemed to be very hard for them to control.
As the four left, Link then dragged Johnson's body out into the think swampy open before pushing the body into the muddy waters below the bungalow. "Now that that's done, let's get out of here."
The magenta-haired archer stared at the marsh below them and shivered. "He's not going to come back again, is he?"
"I should think he won't." Link responded. "Otherwise, we've got a real problem on our hands."
'...ink...LINK!'
"Eh?" Link pulled out the walkie-talkie stashed on his person and spoke into it. "Fox, what's going on?!"
'The military's found out where we're hiding. Unless you want to be left behind here, you'd better finish up over there and haul your ass back here!' a rather frustrated Fox responded from the walkie-talkie. His message delivered, the small device became silent once more. The elf looked at it, slightly infuriated at the fact that the others had been found so quickly. "Great, more problems . . . as if there weren't enough as is." Link muttered darkly. He glanced over at the three characters behind him, and motioned them towards the Jeep. "Come on, get in. We don't have all night."
"Whose idea was it to start this war, anyway?" Artur yelled above the engine noise as the jeep bounced along the rough roads ahead. "Really, I'm getting tired of shot at!"
"I honestly don't know how it escalated to this. One minute, we're throwing a party at the Smash Mansion, and the next we're running around the Island, blowing shit up and kicking military ass." Link glanced out towards the sea, a thick black blanket of tranquility as they made their way towards the Smash Island's main thoroughfare. He glanced over towards the forests around them, and almost smiled. "You know, if our enemies weren't trying to kill us I'd almost be having fun. It's like a game of hide-and-seek, this thing."
"Really?" Neimi asked the elf. "Heehee . . . our adventures back home in Renais were rather similar to that at times." She giggled, glancing towards Colm. "Isn't that right?"
The thief's face was a contorted veneer of exasperation. "Hey, don't put ME on the spot! As I recall, you're the one that caused more grief towards everyone else at camp! Don't think I don't know the truth about that time involving the Queen and that black paint I . . . erm, borrowed from Forde!"
Neimi let out a squeak of panic as she looked about ready to cry. "Colm . . . I thought you promised you wouldn't say a word . . ." The girl sniffled as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Aah, wait, that's not . . ." The thief replied too quickly, trying in vain to keep her from crying. The fact that Artur was trying to stifle his laughter, and failing greatly, was NOT helping the situation one bit. Colm was SO glad this was amusing that damned pious priest. "Oh, shut up. You're only making things worse!"
Artur only responded by breaking out into a fit of laughter, ignoring the glares that both Colm and Neimi were giving him. He apologized, though he still looked like he had some laughs left in him. "Really, you two are about as bad as the married couples that visit our church. Why don't you two . . ." He laughed even harder, while both teenagers' faces turned dull red as they looked down at the floor.
"Be quiet, Mr. Gigglefits!" Link yelled, suppressing an urge to stop the jeep and toss him out of it. "Do you want to announce our position to the whole world with your laughing?" He brought his free hand to his forehead, and was vastly relieved when the monk's laughter ceased. "Thank you." As he turned away from the rocky cliffs bordering the road and onto the thoroughfare, he frowned slightly as he discovered several soldiers on motorcycles in pursuit of Fox and everyone else. "You've GOT to be kidding me . . ."
"Oh, joy." Colm said flatly as a soldier saw them and proceeded to open fire. The occupants ducked bullets as the thief threw a knife at the motorcycle, piercing the tire and causing the soldier to lose control and crash into a few others. "When is this going to end?!"
"Hey, Link!" Fox yelled as he spotted the elf behind him. "Think you can get these people off of my back?"
"Of course." Link responded as he reached for a revolver. "Now, who should I . . ."
"I WON'T LET YOU!" In the next minute, Joseph's motorcycle flew out of the shrubbery near the highway and landed next to Link's jeep as the general threw a grenade towards the jeeps. It missed and hit the cliffs behind them, setting off a rockslide that blocked off the road behind them. The soldiers yelped and stopped short of crashing into the pile of rocks themselves, though a few weren't so lucky.
Joseph's sudden appearance caused several people to yelp in surprise. "What in the world . . . ?" Pichu peeked out to see what was going on, and nearly fell over from the shock. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"
"Well, I'M NOT!"
"But I thought you were!"
Joseph had to suppress an urge to throw his gun at the electric Pokèmon's head out of sheer annoyance. Instead, he opted for shooting at them, pulling out his revolver and firing several shots in the jeep's direction. "Do you think I'm dead NOW, you stupid Pokèmon?!" He growled as the bullets ran out, and tossed the empty gun behind him as he pulled out another grenade. Pichu gulped and sent an electric shock towards the general, who easily dodged the orb with ease. "Learn how to aim, you piece of shit!"
"I'm seriously getting tired of people trying to kill us." Fox muttered blandly as he gave Joseph the finger. Seeing Joseph's reflection in the mirror, he yelled, "Leave already! We don't wish to kill you!"
"And that will be your downfall." The general sneered. He noticed Neimi, and let loose a howl of laughter. "My dear, you should really have stayed behind. What can these idiotic bastards offer you?"
"More than you ever would . . ." the archer glared. Truly, Neimi had had enough of this idiotic joker. She grabbed her bow as well as an arrow, and took careful aim as she looked at Joseph in the eye. "I'm sorry, but I could not be less interested in you!" With those words, she let go of the bowstring and let the arrow fly.
Joseph shot her a glare. "All that talking, and you mi—" He never had a chance to finish that thought as the motorcycle bucked and bounced dangerously, almost throwing him off of it. Looking down, he noticed the arrow sticking out of the tire and finally got it – she wasn't trying to kill him, she wanted to stop him. Well, it worked; Joseph had to jump off of the motorcycle and landed harshly on the ground as the bike flew over the side of the cliff and fell a few hundred feet before going up in a ball of flames.
As all three of the vehicles zoomed away into the night, there was naught that Joseph could do but grind his teeth in anger as he pounded his fists into the pavement. "Dammit! Like hell I'll let you upstage the military like this . . ."
"Well, that was fun." Link commented dryly.
"I hate it when we have to stick our necks into other's business just to get something done." Fox muttered in reply. "But I guess it comes with trying to help our friends, yes? Where do you want to stick your neck out next?"
"Try Neonopolis. It's the next city this highway is going to." The elf nodded as he looked into the mountains, already aglow from the many colored lights of the city of many pleasure.
Sorry if the ending was a bit rushed, but I hope you enjoy reading it! And also, sorry for the delay; the computer had some problems, so we had to get it fixed first . . .
-Gamer21