Disclaimer:
The Smash Brothers series belong solely to Nintendo. Other Characters belong to their respective owners.
The news ran as quickly as water in a cascade, hitting hard on those who where on its path.
Luigi was walking tranquil in the sunny halls of the Smash Brother's mansion when… he saw it… or bits of it
"Wha…wha…wha…whaaaaaaaa…" Luigi yelped, flinching and falling at the floor at the scene.
There where pieces, pieces of a mechanical being.
That being was none other than R.O.B
Its head lied just behind the poor scared plumber, the rest of the body scattered around in front.
There where no signals of bulge or damages, but still, finding it all disassembled…
Question was "how?" : from the past Dairantou, R.O.B where really sturdy and difficult to break, not to mention the past incident that involved lots of them. They where also really well assembled and not to mention strong. This R.O.B, being their leader was surely much stronger than the rest.
And still, there it lay. Sad and uncared, pieces scattered like part of a puzzle.
Luigi shook his head in disbelief, flinching again while standing up and running away.
"MAAAAARIOOOOOOOOO!!" he yelped, as if he where chased. There was nobody there but he wasn't going to stay to investigate.
In the hall that leads to the Dinning Hall, he crashed with none other than his brother
"What-a is going on-a?" Mario shook his head to replenish the recoil of the fall
"Mario! Mario! He's … he's…"
"He's-a who?" he frowned confused. He knew Luigi wasn't much of a valiant fighter, but it was really weird to find him this scared. "What-a is going on Luigi?"
"He's… he's-a… dead…"
Dairantou Smash Brothers EX
-Event 5-
Stamina.
"WHAT?! ANOTHER ONE?!"
The uproar was at all its power in the dinner room.
The Smashers discussed, talked and mumbled between each other.
The current events weren't at all something to be ignored.
First Purin… now R.O.B
"Wonder if it's the ghosts of the Polygon Team" Young Link told the Ice Climbers which shivered "You know… they say they disappeared after the original Dairantou and would sometimes get out their prison to steal souls…"
"Ah! Is it true?" Nana squeaked
"What are polygons?" Toon Link crossed his arms
"We saw R.O.B last night at the party, didn't we" Fox asked Falco who nodded
"Yep, he just told us he had to do something and well… now we know what happened…"
"This is too inconclusive, wouldn't you say Fox?" Wolf asked quietly
"I must agree with you in this one"
"Beep! Beep beep!!" Game and Watch was obviously the one much more concerned. His friend, the only one… was lost…
"Hang in there Watch" Yoshi placed a hand over… well… his flat head? "I'm sure he'll be all right. We just need to fix him right?"
"This is getting to weird for my likes" Zelda commented "It seems like a curse… like if somebody is punishing them for loosing…"
"Now that you say…" Link placed his head over his crossed hands. He looked at everyone, every movement he could
"But… what about that Wario dude" Sonic said among the crowd "He also went to do something and well… he's not around…"
The Smashers talked much more.
Could it be Wario's making?
"Wario? Could he have done something?" Peach looked at Mario worried.
"I don't know-a" he sighed "But I haven't-a seen him ever since last-a night-a"
"Oh no! Mario!!" Luigi trembled on his place.
"Hmmm… this is getting too fishy time to time…" Snake pondered in his place, opening a line for codec communication. Any information would be good for the moment.
"Not another one… oh my goddess…" Pit lowered his head sad "This is going beyond anything I've experienced"
"Beep! Beep beep be be beep beep!" Game and Watch reminded Pit about something. The smashers looked at the Angel curious
"Oh yes, I do have Patulena's mirror on my room" he now seemed a bit… not happy but at least with the valor up "I brought it just after I heard about Purin's loss. I think it will be useful"
"Patulena's Mirror?" Zelda asked
"Yes. This is how my goddess is able to see what is going on in the world. I can't use it's full power yet, but I was wondering if it could help us find who or what could be doing this"
"Hmmm… sort of a divination pool eh?" Ganondorf's cold voice came from the other edge of the table. Even he was getting, if not worried or concerned, curious about this fact. The least the King of Evil wants is to have a menace that can take away his power…
"Yes, we could say that…" the Angel nodded. He wasn't frightened the least about the Gerudo, but he had learnt to keep himself a bit distant and impersonal with him.
"Also" Ness was able to speak out after a moment of silence "Lucas and I went to check on Purin last night."
"We used our PSI but…"
Both kids sighed
"No result. It seems she's so scared at what ever happened, it basically blocked or even erased that part… we can't know…"
"How about if we check with Mewtwo?" Fox suggested
"Speaking of that giant psy-cat, where the hell is he?" Falcon asked.
"Well, I saw him in the morning outside, probably meditating" Marth replied serenely "He is the one which gets up the earliest…"
"But man… 5 AM in the morning?" Roy said, rolling his eyes "What the heck… not even Falco caws at that time…"
Some smashers laughed slightly at Roy's comment. Even Fox and most obviously Wolf.
"So… you still have that custom eh? Chicken boy?" Wolf taunted
"GRrrrrrr!! I can't fight it!" Falco twitched his fists. He really wanted to kick Roy badly "And what about you eh? Singing to the moon eh?"
"At least is much better than go 'caw caw' each time at the morning"
"Go to hell…"
The snickering from the hall fainted almost instantly.
"So, wadda we gonna do eh?" Dedede asked.
"Meta knight and Ike went to see Zephir" Marth told the Smashers. "To see if he has worked on with the past and now this case."
"Hmm, but-a we don't seem to have much-a response from him, have we?" Doctor Mario remarked
"Well, he told us he was very busy with the Smash Bros tournament" Peach was currently playing with a lock of her hair, probably to drive all the stress out.
"But why won't he cancel it then?" Yoshi tilted his head, shrugging also.
"Meh… Look it at this way pipsqueak" Bowser intervened, his rough voice sounding around room "what if he cancels it anyways and the attacks continue eh? Have you thought about that?"
The room fell silent.
Some nodded in agreement.
And well, at some point they owed a good Dairantou to the public.
Ness and Lucas sighed at unison, unable to find themselves useful for now.
"I have realized that point to but…" Link leaned towards his chair "…it could clear up some things…"
"We could probably ask him to halt the tournament a day…" Peach suggested "Just to see if any attacks or anything weird happens. Just so we see if it's the smash tournament or anything…"
"…and then, because of being lost…" Young Link, was currently retelling the story of the polygon's ghost to Toon Link, awed in such dark tale "…they began to plot a revenge that one day, they would come back and make the world look worse than when they where at popularity"
"You mean…" Toon Link's eyes widened
"Yes… 16-bits or less…"
"NO!!" he yelped, bringing the attention of the crowd. Noticing that, he laughed nervously
"What are you doing Young Link?" Link asked, reprehending his younger self
"Well… er… I was telling him about the…"
"Is it true the Polygon's would snatch your soul if you don't leave a pair of stones near your door?"
"Of course not" Zelda tried to calm the trio of Links. Well, this was a job she was meant to do anyways… but managing 3 Links was a bit hard. Specially the older one since he always seemed to be looking for something 'evil' to slay. Not ever since Dairantou but… still "And the Polygon Team still lives, they just left to a different place"
"Actually, some of them-a sell the tickets for the Melees-a" Mario pointed out
"Ah! Oh…" Toon Link sweatdropped "I see…you little trickster!"
"Hey" Young Link winked "You fell for it anyways…"
"So… they are not real?" Nana asked afraid
"'Course not sis" Popo comforted her "We invented that story out to scare Pichu in Dairantou DX"
"That was fun wasn't it?" Young Link sneered
"Rai RAI!!" Raichu leered
"Now, no more talking about ticket sellers and let's focus" Peach ordered slightly, in the way she used to: with her sweet voice.
"Oh oh oh ahh oh oh ah?" Donkey Kong asked the red plumber, he placing a ponder face "oh eeh oh ah eeh eh ah"
"I suppose we could do that… Say Fox, do you have any extra surveillance cameras?"
"Surveillance?" he frowned "…hmmm… I ought to ask Slippy for some…"
"Not necessary anymore…" Snake's voice sounded "I already asked Otakon to fetch me some… this is high tech we are talking about here"
"Wow, you are really a step ahead" Falcon said
"My job precisely…"
At the contrary of all the chaos inside the Dinning room, the backyard (or… huge back part of the mansion?) was tranquil and serene.
Mewtwo laid just under the natural waterfall, cleansing both mind and body and probably soul.
He had been in the same position for about 4 hours, but that wasn't probably enough for somebody who overstrained himself in solo battle or with others, not to mention the training he did with his newly reported pupils: Ness and Lucas.
If one where not to be a close looker, one would even confuse him with a statue, a memoir of a warrior who once participated in Dairantou DX and was bound not to return.
But there he was, proudly displaying his mental resistance at the cold running water of the morning; the sun's rays weren't completely on full around the area giving probably a small tingle of warmth.
Then suddenly a noise.
Somebody unannounced came and not only wondered to stare at the scenario but prepared it's attack.
The psychic pokemon did not respond. Why would he bother in doing so, now that he was feeling completely relaxed and free, much more than he could probably do in the real world.
The figure, noticing how it didn't move decided to step forward and send its charged attack at him.
The blob of energy came closer and closer, sparkling with some loose plasma and other different lights, straight towards its target, merciless.
Two orbs then lighted up. Those where his bright and deep purple eyes which sprang open just 1 feet before the attack could hit.
Using confusion, he deflected it upwards, dashing later at the figure who dared to interrupt him.
The figure shot yet another charged blob at him, jumping backwards just as it did so.
Mewtwo sent one of his signature shadow balls at it, making a small explosion in the air and some smoke.
At this chance, the figure sent a missile combo composed of static electricity at him. Mewtwo scanned his surrounding area, preparing himself mentally in a proper counter.
Teleporting, he found himself behind such figure and slashed it with his long tail. Or so he thought.
It seemed the figure chuckled, grabbing it with it's left arm while he shot another attack with it's right.
Flying high Mewtwo found himself, and just below him a shining orb of energy menacing to hit him. This was different than the one he had been dodging, it was shiny red, sparkling with yellow.
Teleporting once more, he went down just to barrage the being with shadow balls.
Being hit by some few, it landed on its feet some meters away from him.
Mewtwo smirked, launching himself at it while the figure repeated gestures.
He slammed his charged left hand at the being's charged right limb, both orbs of energy working as barriers and as a sort of mine that menaced to explode if either prolonged longer or moved inwards.
The psychic tried another tail bashing at which the figure skillfully jumped, but this was what he exactly expected.
Using his right hand, he punched the figure in the stomach, later to release the shadow ball stored in his left hand causing the figure to flinch and fall backwards.
There it stood for a moment, unmoving.
Mewtwo smirked, but this wasn't one of those evil smirks. Mostly, amused.
"You're done already?" he asked with a hint of fun "I thought giving you an advantage would help you…"
But the figure stood up quickly, giving a punch of it's own to Mewtwo's own stomach. It used it's really hard right limb. Naturally the pokemon exhaled all his air and fell on his back.
Grunting, he managed to stand up, only to find that the creature was already charging some seeker missiles. Joy…
"I had just … oh, never mind…"
He charged again, the shadow balls being smaller in other to make the missiles explode in the air as they entered in contact.
The smoke made son dissipated, but the battlers where still at large.
Tail bashing, grappling with some strange energy whip and giving missiles and attacks as they could.
Suddenly, both stopped.
Both fighters glanced at each other at the level of their eyes, panting slightly due their battling and still on fighting stance.
Then, a small laugh from the psychic.
"Well, good morning to you too Samus" he greeted, placing himself in a more comfortable pose. "My… with armor already at this time? People might actually say you're crazy…"
"You know as good as I do that both you and I don't give much care of what they say"
Pressing a button in her helmet with the left hand, a small hiss was heard and so the helmet came down, revealing her face covered with a messy blond hair tied abruptly in a ponytail.
It also had a surprisingly warm smile. Something the Smashers don't seem to see usually on her (being her face one of them…)
"True" he chuckled "And yet, some feedback wouldn't make us sick would it?"
"If you are trying to get me to Zero suit, that is a no" she placed her left hand on her hip, raising her cannon up. "It's cold. Cold to me at least. You must remember the BSL mission still lives within me particularly"
"Ah yes… you hate cold"
"Not that I hate it, but I can't stand it. Not with the scrambled DNA I have now. It's like you and the sun: you can have some but not too much"
At this, the pokemon closed his eyes, crossing his arms
"How did you figure that one out?" he asked serenely
"Well, you go out mostly on night and in the mornings when there is low sun light, figures…"
"So now, you are a researcher… clever Miss Aran, you are truly full of surprises Lady…"
Samus chuckled at this. He calling her like that, reminded her of so many things. But it was still funny nonetheless.
"You are right about the sun: I can get some dozes of but my skin isn't particularly happy with much exposure. You must understand that the coloration I have plus some other factors aren't much in my benefit. It's either that or the cloak"
"By the way, where is it anyways? You know, the one from the last Christmas gift exchange some 2 or three years ago"
"The one you gave me?" he chuckled again, looking at her "Oh, I still have it. But don't get it wrong, I just like my old one. Brings some memories as well I must say I like just how it feels…"
Both laughed, each in their way. Mostly quiet but heartily.
Still, silence invaded the two later. Both sights turned distant and serious.
"You know about what happened last night, do you?" Samus asked him, eyes fixated on his.
"I'm afraid I am lost on that one"
"Another assault, another smasher has been affected by these odd events"
"Hmm, I see" he lowered his head; eyes closed in deep thought "Any particular reasons of what caused it or who?"
"Well, there are a lot of theories. I just passed by the Dinner room where at least all the Smashers are. I tell you, all of them are over each other in one particular place of the table, murmuring and discussing theories. For once, Snake and Fox offered themselves to put surveillance cameras in the Mansion"
"…" he did not respond
"There is Pit also who brought some sort of mirror…"
"Palutena's Mirror"
"You know about it?" she frowned
"Heard of it, but not much know of it… It's an old myth around this places that states that such artifact is Patulena's way to guide and see the world, as well as to reveal one's true self"
At this point, he smirked.
"You also know… that I have some 'extra' powers that allow me to do… well, such thing"
He looked her at the eyes. Hers being sparkly cerulean.
"Yes I know" she replied dryly "Why do you point this out?"
"For no particular reason" he closed his eyes once again, expression now serene.
Silence again.
"So… who was…?"
"R.O.B, he was found disassembled in one of the halls by Luigi"
"Hmm, I suppose you might call me cold in stating that 'it's just a mere machine needing fixture' but… that is the blunt truth"
"Well, right now he will be taken with the Star Fox team to check him out. What I heard is that they are talking with Zephir about this"
"…Zephir… what a sharp name that is…"
"Sharp?" she looked at him confused
"…ignore me on that one, I must have thought out loud"
"Probably…"
And so, the two stood there silent, engulfed in their own ponderings.
"Welcome back fans to Dairantou Smash Brothers EX!"
The Fans cheered at the returning staff and Smashers.
There was a look on them of confusion, sorrow and worry.
The host walked towards them and nodded for some reason.
Some smashers where wondering if he tried to tell something with that. The others remained silent.
"Listen everyone!" he spoke again to the crowd "Today's match will be really neat, but just before that I would like to announce that tomorrow's match shall be cancelled"
The crowd started mumbling. Why would they cancel?
The Smashers meanwhile where awed. Had Zephir actually taken their suggestions in consideration?
If that was the case, then they would have to get ready to start the research and search.
"Calm down… calm down" he hushed them lightly "Now, what would be a tournament with our battlers worn down? It would be too easy I'd say. So tomorrow and the next day also will be resting days for them"
The crowd seemed to get the grip of it.
It was a bit disappointing, but remembering Dairantou DX, they recalled how some matches seemed too blunt because some where over exhausted.
So they just clapped, congratulating the Smashers in their efforts and most importantly, the host for making such considerations. Maybe he was being better than Master or Crazy hand.
"This will be our chance-a then" Mario called them up "Those two days-a we will see what we can find"
"Roger" Snake nodded "I already got the cameras ready to hook up"
"Slippy also gave me some nice gadgets; this ought to give a small back up" Fox announced
"Do you think the attacker will show up those days?" Peach asked
"I don't know-a" Mario pondered "But… we can't-a take much risks"
"Very well, you might already be wondering what do we have for this next match eh?" Zephir announced to the public "Well, this time there will be no fighting… or a physical fight to say the least. It's a small thing I'd like to call 'the battle of Wills'"
The crowd just cheered, although most of them seemed confused.
"Heh, I noticed your looks" Zephir sneered "But don't worry, you'll find out how fun this can be"
Clapping, he made two small columns emerge, each one with a fishbowl filled with papers. Apparently each had the names scribbled on there.
The fans 'ooooh'-ed, leaning to see better
"So we gotta pick a guy from there?" Young Link asked nobody
"I think so… but I dunno…" Popo leaned also to see better.
"It would be weird if we all had to grab a paper, don't you kids think?" Falcon looked at the bowls. This seemed simple enough. "I think Zephir will be the one picking"
"Aw… and here I wanted an 'All star' Dairantou… just like the old days…" Young Link crossed his arms, disappointed
"You weren't even in the old days kid…" Falcon raised an eyebrow "And how did you figure out about the Polygon team? It's beenyears since I fought with them"
"Well… I heard it from Ness, at how strong there where so I went and investigated" he grinned
"…you sure have a lot of time in your hands…."
The host walked in the middle of both columns, raising his hands ceremoniously at the bowls to later 'dig' them.
Swirling them within, he pulled out two papers which he started to open slowly.
"Ok, first competitor for this match is…"
The Smashers waited for their names to be called. Some exited and some others just wondering there.
"Captain Olimar" Zephir announced
"Oh dear… just when I thought I had gone invisible…" Olimar told himself in his small squeaky voice
"and…" he unfolded the next paper "Ike"
"Oh well, guess I should be moving" Ike said, pulling his sword and thrusting it on his shoulder.
The two participants came to the center of the arena, awaiting orders.
"Now, today you shall not fight, but measure your wills. This might sound awkward at first but once you get the grip…"
Both disappeared, transported later to the arena called by the smashers 'Final Destination'. This was the place where they fought Master Hand some time ago.
In front of them was a long and heavy stone wall, going side to side the stage, each battler at the side of the wall.
It was such an odd fixture for them, what the heck where they going to do anyways?. They fought… so… what else did they have to do?
"All right, on your count…" Zephir told the fans who obediently started
"3…. 2… 1… GO!!"
"So, what am I supposed to do?" Ike looked at the wall that ran side to side, looking at how tall it was. It would take him days to climb it, not to mention it was illogical to make a battle of such sort.
He wasn't sure how Olimar was doing on the other side, nor what would he be thinking, but he wasn't going to stand there waiting.
"'Kay, here goes nothing"
Charging his power to his sword, he let go a great blow on the wall, causing debris and smoke to fall out and spread across his side of the arena.
What surprised him was that the wall didn't even bulge, or showed signs of deterioration.
He frowned. All right, that wasn't a normal wall, he'd figure out, but… still.
Seeing a bomb-om behind him, he backed up and threw it at the wall.
And in came other items to try and blow it up: sticky mines, normal mines, and more bomb-oms, fire flowers, one of Kirby's stars, random exploding capsules.
All thrown towards the wall, which apparently laughed at the poor attempts made by the warrior Ike who was panting due the wasted efforts.
What else could he do? No item or attack would make a scratch on it. Not a bit.
While thinking on it, he felt the floor he stood suddenly shaking.
The shaking became more prominent and instinctually looked behind him: the arena, it was being swallowed up…
Not eaten but, disappearing. Slowly and with the passing time.
"Crap!" he exclaimed, standing up from the crouching position he held while inspecting the wall. He had to act fast, or the own arena would knock him out.
With no other option, he plunged his sword into the wall; surprisingly finding it had actually dug in and stuck. So now, his only option was to climb the wall.
"What kind of challenge is this?" he asked before heading on top of his own sword, looking how the arena withdrew from him.
There was little time now, and he had to find a way to get up. But his sword was too heavy to use it to climb, and most of the items where already gone.
Not to mention that every time he saw how grim his situation was the arena seemed to grow less.
Wait… a battle of will.
"That's it!" he clapped his hands. So the one fighting him was none other than himself and the fact the arena withdrew was due his doubts. Doubts about why the wall wouldn't move and how would he escape.
Everyone had their moments like this, but now it was up to him to finish the test.
Was it possible that Olimar figured that out? How was he fairing about such challenge?
He chuckled, the match was perfect and it didn't involve melee combat, yet he was loosing.
"Got to get the grip sometimes…" he said. At that point he saw the arena had halted it's dissolving, but it didn't return to its original size. So now he had to work with less than 1/4 of the size of the half of the arena.
He stepped down from his sword, carefully pulling it out afterwards so he wouldn't find himself falling on his back to the middle of nowhere.
It was actually quite a site the one 'Final Destination' had, but he had no intensions of being part of it.
"Ok… now that I got that figured out, how do I get out of here?"
He looked at the wall again. That had to represent something too right? If the arena's disappearances meant his despair and doubt…
"Then that must be fear… that one who stops us from doing what we must… I cannot face an enemy or foe with fear because it would only block me, like this wall here."
Gripping the handle of the sword, he started to charge again. Now focused.
He wasn't destroying a wall… but his fears, his doubts… all those things that could cloud his mind in both battle and daily life.
"Here I go… GREAT AETHER!!" He exclaimed with all the strength he had, focused that the enemy about to topple down was his own weaknesses.
There was a ripple in the part of the arena he stood, quake waves severing the wall until it started to crumble.
Fire came in next, burning the debris and materials that it was once made of, falling to the other side of the wall where surely Olimar awaited.
After a long roar made by the gigantic separation, Ike coughed.
Some debris had entered his airways and he wanted them out.
Opening his eyes, closed to cover them from the dust, he scanned the other side of the place.
It was of the original size, no changes, nothing. But most awkwardly, there was no opponent to be found.
"What?" he frowned confused. Where was Olimar?
He looked everywhere, side to side, not finding an answer.
That was, until he saw some shattered glass beside him, and just under him, under all the rubble a small twitching hand…
Dun dun dun…..
See you next episode….