Disclaimer: Ray Liotta impression: "As far back as I can remember, I always loved playing video games." (Regular voice) That holds true to almost all of us who have played games in the past three or so decades and I'm sure this story will feed the need to those who enjoy games, especially retro games. In the early 1990's, there was an animated cartoon known as Captain N the Game Master where a teenage Nintendo fan was taken to a land where his favorite video games were real. The concept was awesome, but the characterizations and stories didn't follow the games all that well, so that's why I decided to this fan fiction. With all the retro gaming that's been happening for the past few years, I feel it would be cool to do an update of Captain N set in the seventh generation of video games. Kevin and Lana will generally look and act the same (with less idiocy) and the video game characters and worlds will be kept to their original sources. (I may take elements from the Nintendo comics as well) Now with the history lesson out of the way, let the first chapter of this epic tale begin. Enjoy! (Note: This is loosely based off the first episode of the TV series)
Chapter one: The Video Universe
Many strange legends have been foretold about universes parallel to Earth. None so strange than the story of one known as the Video Universe, where characters of video games come alive and are more than just sprites or digitized environments in a cartridge or compact disc. To people of Earth, video games are a form of entertainment, electronic recreation that had taken the world by storm for over three decades. Early games tickled people's imagination and as technology advanced, games became more epic like a movie playing before ones eyes. However, in the Video Universe, these stories were real and its denizens lived everyday lives, or at least they've been trying to for an alliance of the Video Universe's most notorious scum and villainy declared war on the entire land. One member of this group was seen walking through a dark hallway.
The individual in question resembled a cross between the mystical European dragon and a pterodactyl, the extinct dinosaur. His name was Ridley, a high-ranking officer among a group of space pirates. Ridley opened the double doors at the end of the hallway. Inside the room were several people and creatures that each had evil intentions in mind when it came to accomplishing their goals. Before them stood a large brain inside a large glass container hooked up to some sort of machine. It is known as Mother Brain.
Ridley stood in front of Mother Brain and spoke, "Success is close, Mother Brain. All is going according to plan. So nearly complete, so nearly perfect, the only place that remains to be seized in our hostile take over is the Palace of Power where Princess Lana continues to formulate resistance to our path of doom."
A computer screen near the container Mother Brain was kept in started spelling out text. It was needed in order for Mother Brain to communicate with this army. The text read, "The girl has been the one thing that has prolonged the inevitable. A generation ago, her efforts would have been admirable, but with no more defenses, it's just foolish now. Once the palace of power is under our control, not only will we be able to rid the Video Universe of our enemies, we'll have access to anything we desire," the people and creatures before Mother Brain all posed evil grins across their faces and began chuckling, which soon turned into maniacal laughter.
At this moment in the castle of power, on the throne sat a young girl with brown hair and limpid gray eyes wearing boots, a two -piece dress, a tiara, and a necklace with three green gems. Her name was Lana, princess of the Video Universe.
In said room were four people standing around her. One was a red haired, tall, well-built man with a black outfit vintage 16th century and had a whip in his hand. His name was Simon Belmont, famous Belmont clan member of vampire slayers.
The second person was a woman in a full body suit of red and orange coated (possibly copper and gold) spacesuit with a green visor on her helmet and an arm cannon on her right hand. Her name was Samus Aran, a bounty hunter from Outer Space.
The third person was what appeared to be a ten-year-old boy, but he was in fact a robot, who was covered head to toe in blue armor and a blue helmet on his head. His name was Rock, but the world knew him as Mega Man.
The last person was an angel who looked about teen age, complete with wings, a white chiton, brown sandals, gold around his neck, wrists and leg, blue eyes and a crown of laurel on his head. His name was Pit, an archer and Plautena's most loyal servant. Lana had her head hung low. The group of four all noticed the sad look that could only mean that things are the bleakest they've been for quite awhile.
Mega Man spoke sincere, "Princess, you look like you're about to cry."
Lana sat down in her chair, "Would you blame me if I did, Mega Man?"
Pit was in disbelief, "I can't believe the four of us are the only ones who volunteered to align so we can stop the evil-doers. Fighting our foes by ourselves won't cut it anymore!"
Lana pointed out, "My ideas have run dry the past few years, I've tried everything I could think of, but you all did your best despite the odds being against us. All that's left is for them to invade is the castle. Very disappointing. To think one day I was supposed to be queen of this land. I guess there are more glamorous things to be than royalty."
"All of the Video Universe in Mother Brains power and Ridley's finger tips. I never thought this day would come. Ever," Samus sadly noted.
"There must be something we missed that could help us," Simon thought out loud, "I don't know about you, but I'd hate to be the Belmont who goes down in history as the one who didn't stop Dracula this century."
Suddenly, a voice from above got their attention, "If at first you don't succeed, Lana, try and try again."
"Try again, but how?" Lana asked curious.
The bodiless voice continued, "An ancient prophecy tells of a warrior who is destined to save the Video Universe from the forces of dark, Captain N the Game Master."
For the first time all day, Lana felt hopeful, "Will the Game Master eventually help us stop Mother Brain?"
"That is for Captain N to decide alone, but first we must bring him here," a blue light started forming in the air, "Behold to the Ultimate Warp Zone!" the light zapped at the wall and there formed a portal.
Meanwhile on Earth, a teenage boy walked into his bedroom. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and wore light denim jeans, a yellow shirt and a red Letterman jacket with white sleeves and a Varsity letter N. His name was Kevin Keene. A dog with a bandana around his neck was in Kevin's room and woke up at the sound of the door opening. He got excited seeing Kevin come back.
"Hey, buddy," Kevin greeted his dog. The dog, named Duke, responded with a bark.
Kevin's favorite past time was playing video games. His room was filled with video game systems from every generation of consoles such as ones from Atari, Sega, Turbo Grafix-16, Neo Geo, Intellevision, ColecoVision, Commadore 64, Sony, Microsoft and even PC. A lot were hand me downs from relatives who were also into video games. His favorite company however, was Nintendo. The walls on his room had posters of many Nintendo games such as Super Mario Bros., the Legend of Zelda series, the Metroid franchise, Castlevania, Punch Out, Battletoads, Double Dragon, Goldeneye 007, Banjo Kazooie, F-Zero, Star Fox Adventures, Wii Sports and more. Deciding to go old school for the day, he resumed a game he already had on pause for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was the aforementioned Punch-Out, the original version featuring boxing legend Mike Tyson.
Kevin was just about to have the Little Mac sprite knock out King Hippo when a strange blue glow appeared on his TV.
"Huh?" Kevin was confused yet curious since he leaned his eye in observantly. What happened next surprised Duke and him both. It began blowing in air, trying to suck Kevin into the void! "Whoa!" Kevin stood up as he got zapped with blue electricity all over his body. All Duke could do was bark in alarm at what's happening. Kevin held onto his windowsill for dear life. A few of his Nintendo accessories from systems old and recent flew into the portal. The windowsill finally broke from the wall and Kevin went right into the television, screaming as he entered. Duke on instinct leaped in the TV after him.
Back in the Castle of Power, a yelling was heard from the Ultimate Warp Zone. Princess Lana and her group all looked inside in anticipation that Captain N was on his way. About a second later, Kevin and Duke fell right out of the portal, landing hard on the ground.
"Ouch!" Kevin groaned as he pushed himself up, rubbing his ribs for comfort, "What a trip," he looked at his faithful canine, "Are you okay, Duke?"
Duke walked around a bit and wagged his tail. No limping and nothing felt broken, which made Kevin relieved.
"Teleporting isn't easy on the first time," Mega Man spoke up, "Dr. Light told me I'd get used to it."
Kevin looked up and his face turned from pain into wide-eyed shock, "Simon Belmont! Samus Aran! Mega Man! Kid Icarus!" He stood up not believing his eyes.
"That's Pit, actually," Pit corrected.
"And you must be Captain N the Game Master," Simon finished for him.
"Captain who? The Game what?" To say Kevin was confused would be an understatement, "I have to be hallucinating. You're not real."
Mega Man took that the wrong way, "Just because I'm a robot, you think I'm not…"
"That's not what I meant," Kevin interrupted, "You guys are video game characters. Just a bunch of sprites."
Ignoring what Kevin said, Samus tugged a bit on Kevin's jacket, "Not exactly the appearance I was expecting."
Kevin backed away, making Samus let go. He was officially freaked out since he could actually feel Samus touching him. Duke sniffed around the group of four to pick up their scents and barked at Kevin.
"You actually picked up their scents, boy? Then that means…" Kevin still hadn't gotten out of the denial stage at this point, "Nah. This has to be a joke! You're all just a hallucination, or I'm dreaming. Yeah, I hit my head too hard coming in and I'm seeing things!"
"It's neither of those things. We are as real as you," Lana finally spoke.
Kevin looked to his right to see who said that. He did a double take when he scanned the Princess from her feet up to her face. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her eyes, her hair, her smile, everything about her to him were gorgeous and made his heart race. It could have been love at first sight. Could have been a bad case of something in his stomach. Either way, his worries faded away and had a change in attitude.
"I hope at least you're real," Kevin spoke out loud, not realizing what he said.
"I beg your pardon?" Lana asked puzzled.
Duke put his paw over his eyes in embarrassment at his master's behavior. Kevin shook off his daze, "I said, uh, I'm a bit lost on what to say about all this."
"Oh, I can answer any questions you have," Lana offered, "I expected you would."
Kevin saw this as an opportunity, "Okay, I'd first like to know who you are."
"I'm Princess Lana," she introduced.
"Princess?" Kevin had never been in front of royalty before, so this came yet another surprise to him. Nevertheless, he bowed, "Your majesty," Duke did the same by sitting down and bowing his head.
Lana chuckled, "A sweet gesture, but you don't have to be so formal."
Kevin stood up straight again and introduced himself, "Oh, my name is Kevin, and the dog is my friend, Duke," he petted Duke's fur as he talked.
"Nice to meet you," she said shaking Kevin's hand, "Let me be the first to welcome you here."
Kevin scratched his head, "Where exactly is here? Sure isn't anyplace I've ever been."
"I'll show you," Lana then motioned to the others, "Please, excuse us a minute."
Samus, Mega Man and Pit nodded while Simon spoke for them, "Of course, Princess," when they were out of hearing range, Simon turned suspicious, "I think we should do a bit of a background check on this ancient prophecy. As you said, Samus, that Kevin kid doesn't look the part."
"No, he doesn't," Samus agreed. In her mind though, she thought, "But he is kind of cute."
Lana took Kevin to the balcony, beginning to explain their location, "This castle is the Palace of Power where my family has lived for decades," when they got the balcony, she pointed to the view of outside, "And this is the Video Universe. Everything here is my kingdom."
Kevin ran to the edge and put his hands on the rail. Duke followed him and did the same, standing on his hind legs, "Wow!" Kevin exclaimed in awe.
Lana continued, "Each part of land is a home to all the different citizens who live here. Some are kingdoms themselves, but the Palace of Power holds everything together. Sort of like a Supreme Court or government."
"This is incredible!" Kevin commented looking at the view. He turned to his dog, "Can you believe this, Duke? It's like a video game players ultimate fantasy come true!"
Lana chuckled at Kevin being like a kid in a candy store, "You're as giddy as a school boy over this."
Kevin looked at her a bit sarcastically, "Maybe you haven't noticed, but I AM a school boy."
"Sorry," Lana cleared her throat, "The bad news is it's not as peaceful as it used to be."
Kevin and Duke shot a glance at each other before looking back at Lana, "Really? How come?"
Lana motioned them to walk with her back inside. They stopped at a wall filled with pictures and she pointed to one in particular, "Do you know whom this is?"
Kevin nodded, "I do. That's Mother Brain, one of Samus' enemies."
Lana explained, "In the Video Universe, there's a lot of good people and a lot of bad. A lot of the citizens dealt with their own rivals by themselves until Mother Brain had Ridley have all those with a dark purpose join together. That was seven years ago, and we've been at war ever since."
Kevin felt quite a bit of mixed emotions with what Lana was telling her. The video game characters he played lived in an actual world and were at war. War was a word not to be taken lightly. Death, destruction, tragedy, and violence came with the territory. Kevin couldn't help but feel sorry for this, and sorry for Lana since she was in charge of all this. It had to be tough on her to do this for the past seven years, and it was. One video game boss was bad enough, but the thought of all of them together in a team and causing such trouble was downright scary.
"Lana, how is all this put on you?" Kevin asked.
"My father disappeared a long time ago. No one's been able to find him yet," Lana sighed, "I have no idea whatever happened to my mother and my brother wasn't up to taking the responsibilities feeling it wasn't his time. I've done what I can to stop Mother Brain and the enemies of the Video Universe, even tried forming my own team, but the only ones who were willing enough…"
"Were us," came the sound of Simon's voice He came in with Samus, Pit and Mega Man.
"That's a tough break," Kevin looked in deep thought for a second until one last thing popped in his mind, "I think it's time I asked the most important question. What's all this got to do with me?"
"And ancient prophecy told us about a warrior called Captain N the Game Master, and it opened the ultimate Warp Zone," Lana answered.
"I remember the warp zone pipes in Super Mario Bros. Is that anything like them?" Kevin asked curious.
"Somewhat," Lana got back on topic, "The Warp Zone sent you here, so that means you're the one the prophecy was talking about who would bring peace back to the Video Universe."
Kevin put his hands up defensively, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! You expect me to fight against Nintendo's biggest villains? I don't even have my drivers license yet."
Lana pointed to Kevin's belt, "But you were given the power belt and zapper. See?"
"Huh?" Kevin saw his belt now had a holder for his NES zapper and an NES controller was in place of a belt buckle, "How did my controller get here?" deciding to worry about that later, he looked back at the others, "Anyway, this just a play gun," he explained taking out his zapper, "It's not even loaded. Look," he pointed the zapper straight and pulled the trigger. What he didn't expect was a flash and a bang sound. Since he was aiming at a plant, it burned to show it was shot.
"My daffodils!" exclaimed Lana.
Kevin was with a blank face seeing what just happened. He looked inside the barrel of the zapper and pulled the trigger again. When the flash dissipated, his head was gone. Everyone gasped fearing the worst, but Kevin popped his head out of his shirt, "I don't understand any of this."
Kevin pointed the barrel back out and Simon noticed it was at him for a moment, "Hey, don't point that at me!"
Kevin protested, "I swear, I didn't think it was loaded!" he put the zapper away and looked down at the controller, "If my gun has real ammo, I wonder what this'll do here," he pushed the A button on the controller and he was taken by surprise as he jumped right into the air, "Heeeeey!" up until he hit the wall and fell to the floor. The others closed their eyes and flinched at the impact of Kevin's misfortune. Kevin slowly got back to his feet, "Ouch! I've had enough of this. Come on, Duke, we're going home."
Duke followed his owner as they went back to the portal in the wall. Lana however tried to stop him, "Wait! You're not going to stay and help us?"
Kevin faced her, "It's not that I don't feel sorry for you guys because I do, but you got the wrong guy. I'm just a normal kid from California who likes to play video games, not some superhero. Now I have to get back before my mom finds out I'm gone. See ya," before he could get back into his room, the warp zone disappeared causing Kevin to hit the wall and fall on his back. He sighed, "I'm really getting tired of hitting the wall and the floor."
Duke sniffed the wall wondering where the warp zone went. Whimpering, he scratched the wall like he would a door when he wanted to get out. Nothing happened and he howled upset.
Kevin got up and looked to Lana and the others, "This isn't funny anymore. Bring that portal back before I get into trouble. I don't want to have to be forced into this."
Simon defended himself and his friends, "We're not responsible for that portal closing, kid, but if you want to sit and do nothing that's fine with me," he then turned to the princess, "Don't worry, Lana, we'll still try to save the Video Universe ourselves."
But Lana wasn't listening. She was once again sad that her kingdom was still in peril, especially since Kevin isn't willing to help. Tears began to go down her face and she began to cry. Running away from the group, she got on a platform that took her upstairs.
Samus called out to her, "Princess Lana! Wait!"
She went after her with Simon following, "Your highness? Your highness!"
Pit and Mega Man stood where they were feeling sorry for the Princess. Pit put his hands on his hips and looked at Kevin in disappointment, "Nice going. Kevin, even though we just heard it a few minutes ago, that legend could have been our last hope. You really let the princess and the rest of us down."
Mega Man nodded in agreement, "This is much more serious than any of your games!"
Kevin felt a bit of regret at that time, "Come on, I didn't meant to make her cry," he looked down at the floor with his hands in his pockets, "I was just being honest."
Pit and Mega Man sighed and shook their heads at Kevin and his attitude. Deciding to worry about Lana for now, they left the room leaving Kevin alone with Duke and his thoughts. Meanwhile, outside the halls, a spy was seeing the whole thing unfold from a window. It was a space pirate, an alien being that stole and misused things for their own personal gain.
"Hey!" the pirate looked to see castle guards had it spotted, "You don't belong here! Get out! Scram!" Knowing it was out numbered, the space pirate fled.
Later at headquarters, Ridley reported to Mother Brain, "Our spy has told us that an ancient prophecy brought a young man who supposedly was to be a threat to us, but he's not. He refuses to stand a challenge and therefore no threat."
The monitor on Mother Brain began spelling out text, "Music to my ears, if I had them. That means there is only one thing left to do."
Ridley wickedly smiled, "Yes there is. Minions, come forth!"
As if on command, two large figures came into the room out of the shadows. It was King Hippo, the same boxer that Kevin was playing against earlier while playing his games. Hippo had pink skin; a face earned him his nickname, a crown and boxing clothing. The other to appear was the Eggplant Wizard; a creature that resembled the same vegetable but was anthropomorphic and carried a staff. The two saluted as they stood before Mother Brain and Ridley.
Mother Brain gave them orders in text, "I have a job for the two of you. King Hippo, penetrate the defenses of the castle of power. Once inside, grab Princess Lana and bring her back here. Eggplant Wizard, you go along for strength in numbers. Do not fail me again!"
Eggplant Wizard gripped his staff and acknowledged, "At once, your motherly ness."
King Hippo evilly chuckled, "Don't worry, Mother Brain. That castle won't know what hit it. Literally."
The two took their leave and Ridley rubbed his claws together, "Good. Good."
Back at the palace, Kevin was sitting on the throne and tapping his fingers against his knee while pondering about his predicament. All he could think about was getting home. This whole savior of the Video Universe bit was the last thing he ever thought of being. That was for certain.
Kevin got up and spoke up, "Duke, I know she's probably upset with me, but that Princess might be the only one who knows a way of getting out of this world. Let's go see if we can find her," Duke barked in agreement.
In another part of the castle sometime later, a wall smashed down thanks to a punch by King Hippo. He and Eggplant Wizard walked in revealing behind the hole that several guards have been knocked out or stunned thanks to eggplants on their bodies.
Eggplant Wizard laughed, "They'll have to get better security now that you made a backdoor."
"Cut the jokes!" King Hippo snapped, "We need a way to find the princess."
A voice could be heard down the hallway. It was Samus, "I really think Lana wants to be alone."
The two minions hid behind a pillar, watching Samus and Simon walk by. Simon retorted, "She's had more than enough time to herself, Samus. Some cheering up will do her some good."
King Hippo smirked, "Bulls-eye," he motioned to Eggplant Wizard to follow Simon and Samus, unseen of course.
Kevin and Duke on the other hand felt like mice in a maze since they didn't know their way around the castle. Kevin sat down on a chair exhausted. Duke sat down as well, panting, "Look on the bright side, Duke. At least you got your walk today," Kevin joked.
At that point, Mega Man and Pit walked by, stopping when they noticed the boy and his dog. Pit addressed them, "Kevin, you look tired. Is something wrong?"
Kevin explained, "I'll say. My dog and I have been walking around this castle for an hour already trying to find Princess Lana."
Mega Man pointed to a flight of stairs, "She's in her bedroom behind the double doors to the right, but I don't know if she would want to see you."
Kevin got out of his seat, "That's a chance I'm willing to take," and with that, he walked passed the two heroes up the stairs with Duke right behind him.
Lana was indeed in her room wiping the tears from her eyes as she sat at her dresser. She grabbed a photograph of her father, who looked elderly and had a big white beard, and began speaking to it, "Father, I'm at the end of my rope on what to do. The only possible chance we could have had left won't help us. You'd probably say you would be proud that I did as best I could, but that doesn't change the fact I failed you," she sniffled.
Outside, Simon knocked on the door, "Princess, its Simon and Samus. Can we come in?"
"Just a minute," Lana's voice answered.
What they didn't see was King Hippo sneaking up behind them. When he got close, he grabbed both heroes and knocked their heads together. The impact hurt Simon more because of Samus armor. Eggplant Wizard put a bag over Simon, tied it up with him in it and put it in a laundry chute. King Hippo then put Samus into her from where she was morphed into a ball and sent her down air vent. Noises could be heard clanging from her going down the castles central system.
Lana finally opened her doors, "What is it, Simon?" King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard came through her doors causing the princess to scream in fright. The double doors shut tight.
No sooner than that did Kevin and Duke come up the stairs. Kevin felt relieved to have found the bedroom; "Finally," he knocked on the door.
Inside the room, King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard rolled Lana up in a rug. She yelped and squirmed to no avail. The two overheard Kevin's knocking, "Princess Lana? Are you in there?"
"Uh oh," Eggplant Wizard said in alarm, "We better get out of here now."
Kevin continued knocking and put his ear against the door. What he overheard did not sound like Lana at all. It was King Hippo unbeknownst to him, "Quit moving around, will you?"
Kevin's eyes widened at what he just heard and tried opening the doors. They were locked tight no matter how hard he pulled, so he took out his zapper and shot the middle of it. He slowly opened the door to take a peak inside and gasped at what he saw. Lana struggling to get free while the villains picked her up.
Kevin backed away and called for help, but only above a whisper, "Mega Man! Pit! Anybody?" he looked back at the room and peaked back in, "Looks like it's just you and me, boy," he and Duke barged in and he pointed his zapper, "Put her down!"
King Hippo saw Kevin and smirked, "Okay. You asked for it," then he threw Lana in the rug right at him.
Kevin caught the rug, but fell back on the floor hard. Lana shouted, "Let me go!"
"Lana! It's me, Kevin. Relax," Kevin reassured.
Lana saw Kevin and smiled knowing someone came to her rescue, but then gasped when she saw Eggplant Wizard wave around his staff, "Kevin! Watch out!"
Kevin quickly got up, not taking his eye off the walking vegetable. Eggplant Wizard sent an eggplant at Kevin, who remembered what the controller did last time, pushed the right side of the D-pad. This caused him to move away to the right at a fast speed, dodging the eggplant in the process. Kevin smiled that it worked and then pressed the D-Pad left to dodge another eggplant. Another eggplant came, but Kevin pressed the down direction and it made him roll away. Then he pressed up on the D-pad and he did a back flip to dodge another eggplant. Eggplant wizard grew angry and charged at Kevin ready to strike him with the staff. Kevin pressed the A button and jumped over him, however, he landed right in front of King Hippo.
King Hippo rubbed his gloves together and threw punches at Kevin. Kevin jerked his body back and forth to avoid four punch attempts. He then threw his own right hand punch, hitting King Hippo in the jaw. Taking advantage, he punched the large boxer three more times in the face. On the forth try, King Hippo blocked Kevin's punch and gave hit the boy with a jab. Kevin fell and rubbed his chin trying to ease the pain.
"He's just as strong as he supposedly is in the game," Kevin thought in his head.
Duke growled at King Hippo for what he did and even grabbed one of King Hippos socks with his teeth, "Let go of me, you mutt!" he demanded while shaking his leg. He finally got loose of Dukes grip and tried to give the dog a double axe handle.
Kevin quickly pressed the D-pad again and zoomed passed, grabbing Duke so King Hippo wouldn't hit him. Once out of the way, Kevin looked at Duke, "Let me handle them, boy."
"I doubt that," Eggplant Wizard stepped forward, "No one is quicker at the draw than me."
Kevin took that as a challenge and faced him, "Oh, really? You haven't seen me play light gun games."
The two stared at each other like in the old westerns. After a moment, Kevin quickly put his hand to grab his zapper…only to find out his holder was empty. He looked around the rest of his clothes, patting his pockets trying to find his weapon. Spotting the zapper on the floor, he quickly sprinted over, grabbed it and pointed at the Eggplant Wizard, but it was too late. An eggplant was already shot at him and stuck to his head, turning him into an eggplant. Duke gasped and ran over to his owner. He sniffed the eggplant, hoping the effect was only temporary. It was, for the eggplant turned back into Kevin, who pulled the smaller eggplant off his forehead.
Kevin got up and noticed that the room was empty. It was like King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard had disappeared, but worse than that was the princess was gone, too! He looked at Duke, "Did you see where they went?" Duke put his head down indicating he didn't. Kevin quickly ran out the room, "Simon! Samus!"
Downstairs, Pit and Mega Man were listening to a guard talk. Frantically as the case may be, "I saw it with my own eyes! I found the guards knocked out on the floor. There has to be intruders in this castle."
Mega Man gave the guard quick orders, "Get them medical attention and have other guards search the castle. Quickly!"
The guard saluted and left. Just then, Kevin and Duke ran up. Kevin caught his breath, "The princess is in trouble! We have to do something!"
Pit tried to calm him down, "Relax, Kevin. Simon and Samus should be with her by now. She's perfectly safe."
The boy from Olympia was about to eat his words. The group heard noises coming from the walls. It was revealed to be Samus, who still morphed in a ball came out of a loose opening in the air vent. She rolled over and uncurled back to normal. A voice was screaming through the walls as well. The bag Simon was in fell out of the chute and tumbled around. An axe tore through the bag and Simon angrily stood up.
"This is humiliating!" declared the slayer.
Kevin sarcastically remarked to Pit, "You were saying?"
Pit gasped, "She's not safe!"
Kevin noticed Samus and ran to her aid, "Are you alright?"
Samus took off her helmet. Her face was revealed to be of a beautiful young woman with her blonde hair in a long ponytail, "I've got a slight headache," she mentioned while she rubbed her head. She noticed Kevin looking at her oddly, "What is it?"
Kevin took her hand and helped her up, "I, um, just noticed you have a prettier face in person."
Samus smiled while looking into Kevin's eyes, but the tender moment was interrupted quickly by Mega Man, "Did the intruders do this to you both?"
Samus responded, "Yes, but we didn't get a good look."
"I did," Kevin interjected, "It was King Hippo and an Eggplant Wizard," hearing that last name made Pit cringe. Kevin continued, "I tried to stop them, but they got away with the Princess. We need to go find her and fast!"
"Wait just one minute," intervened Simon, "Who died and made you in charge, kid? As Princess Lana's first enforcer, I'll give the orders."
Samus quickly disagreed with that, "Since when were you declared second in command? Since this is Mother Brain we're talking about, I'll lead this rescue."
"What am I, chopped angel wings?" Pit asked rhetorically.
"Why can't I be considered leading?" added Mega Man.
The four heroes started getting into heated bickering and arguing with each other. Kevin kept trying to speak up, but to no avail, "Duke, I'm beginning to think the princess was the one keeping this together. Don't you?"
Duke whimpered a bit in agreement while watching the bickering.
Kevin looked at his controller buckle and, not taking this arguing any longer, hit the pause button. That did the trick. Simon, Samus, Pit and Mega Man were all frozen in time, "This isn't getting us anywhere arguing. You need to fight against this war, not fight each other. I'll bet Lana was taken to their hideout or a base. If you guys have a map and a ride to get there, I'd like to see it."
The pause effect wore off after five seconds. After hearing Kevin's little talk, Simon turned his attention to the task at hand, "What are we doing?" the others felt sheepish at their behavior unsure to answer. Simon answered his own question, "We are wasting time, that's what! Samus, is that vessel of yours fixed yet?"
Samus put her helmet back on determined, "I got the ride if you got the map," the others smiled hearing that. Now was the time to get to work.
When they were in the lower level of the castle, Mega Man was taking to Samus, "Pit and I will go on ahead of you and meet you there. We'll make sure it's safe…"
As that went on, Simon walked up to Kevin, "Kevin, why is thee deciding to come with us? That's a pretty sudden change of attitude."
Kevin knew he needed a good reason given how he acted earlier, "Why else? The princess might be the only ticket to me and my dog getting back home."
Simon knew Kevin was hiding something and teased him a bit, "Come on. You see the princess get taken, you try to stop the kidnappers, and you couldn't and let them get away. Sure there's not another reason?"
Kevin didn't want to admit that perhaps he also might have a certain feeling for Lana. So he had a good cover up, "Simon, no decent person wants to wish anyone hurt."
Thankfully for Kevin, Samus called them to her gunship, "You two ready?"
"Coming!" Simon called back. As the two walked onto the ship, he gave a small warning to Kevin, "Remember, we're going into the lions den, so keep your eyes on the mission and off the princess."
Kevin then teased Simon, "Why? You have a different reason yourself?"
Simon simply nudged him onto the ship, "Alright, on thy ship, Game Master."
The group made it to the fortress (after meeting up with Pit and Mega Man) that Mother Brain and her alliance were residing. Kevin, Duke and the others snuck passed the guards and slowly tiptoed their way around trying to keep quiet. They stopped near what looked like a door used for vaults that was on the ground.
Samus started to untwist it; "This will take us in to the lower level. After that, it's all upstairs from there."
She got it open and the group jumped in. Before Kevin jumped in, Duke whimpered a bit and barked. Kevin looked to his pet, "I know it looks scary boy, but we need to get inside. Come on!" he then leaped in as did Duke.
Once inside, the group observed the area. Samus grew suspicious, "Wait a minute, this room isn't constructed the same way as I saw it the last time I tried to infiltrate this fortress. The floor looks more like…" she gasped, "An arena floor!"
A voice boomed, "Correct! And I am your opponent," out of the shadows came Ridley flying all the way to the group.
"Ridley!" everyone took out his or her weapons ready to fight.
"Samus Aran, so nice to see you and your friends again," Ridley greeted. He spotted Kevin as being an unfamiliar face, "So, you're the Game Master sent her to defeat Mother Brain. You'll have to get through me first."
Kevin kept his eyes on Ridley, not withdrawing his zapper for a second, "I've played Metroid several times. I know which order I have to do this."
Duke growled at the giant dragon like creature. Ridley roared, practically shaking the building. The fight was on! Ridley began by dragging his tail against the floor. Lit up sparks emitted from doing so. Everyone moved out of the way and Kevin pushed the A button on his buckle to jump. He grabbed a lamp that was hanging from the ceiling and held on. Ridley flapped his wings repeatedly causing a gust of wind, trying to blow Kevin off. Samus and Mega Man both fired off their arm cannons, shooting missiles and plasma shots respectively. Ridley stopped his gusting and flew away to dodge the shots. Pit tried shot an arrow at Ridley, who deflected it with a whip of his tail. He then tried to bite at pit with his large teeth, but Pit used his bow, which was metallic, and got caught in a struggle against Ridley.
Kevin wasn't sure how to get back to the floor. He grabbed on to his controller buckle, and it suddenly detached. Surprised for a moment at what happened, he pulled it out and noticed a cord attached. Simon took out the vampire killer and whipped at Ridley like a tamer at the circus. This gave Kevin an idea. He pulled out some more cord, swung the cord around a few times then tossed it. The cord wrapped around a stalagmite and Kevin swung down, but his feet slid against the ground causing dust then he tripped and rolled. His controller got loose, but Ridley was right above him. Kevin grew nervous, but Simon threw a crucifix like a boomerang, that hit Ridley. He growled while turning his attention to Simon.
Kevin pulled his cord back and the cord retracted back in his belt until his buckle was back in place. Simon cracked his whip at Ridley and it wrapped around his claw. Ridley flew up taking Simon with him. Pit flew after them and shot an arrow at Ridley. A direct hit made him scream and Simon fell with his whip. Pit grabbed the whip and set Simon down on the ground.
"Nice work, kid!" Simon praised.
Pit gave the thumbs up. Unfortunately, Ridley came down and stomped on Simon. Then he grabbed Pit and rammed him against the wall. He then held Pit with both hands with a sinister look in his eye. Kevin acted by pressing the A button on his buckle, jumping up and punched Ridley's jaw, making him get rid of Pit.
Both heroes got to the ground and Pit thanked Kev, "Thanks, Kevin."
Kevin smiled, "Don't mention it."
They felt a bit of wind forming again, and gasped to see Ridley flying straight at them! He tackled the boys down with them hitting the ground with a thud. Duke ran to his master with concern. Mega Man charged up his mega buster and fired a charged shot at Ridley. Ridley flew away from that and tried the tackle stunt again on Mega Man. Mega Man however did his slide move away. Mega Man tried kicking Ridley, but Ridley twirled to dodge. Samus then charged up her cannon and fired a large blast at Ridley. Ridley ducked, and tried to scratch Samus with his large claws. Samus jumped away, stuck her legs out and did a twirl kick, hitting Ridley several times.
Ridley rubbed his chin and then grabbed both Samus and Mega Man, rammed them against the wall and scrapped both of them against them at highflying speed. He then let go of both of them, letting them fall. Both hit the floor hard and began to spark electricity through their bodies. Everyone slowly got back to his or her feet. Those last blows each took left them strained. Ridley then flew up and began spinning around fast right at the whole group. Kevin grabbed Duke and all of them leaped onto their stomachs, bracing themselves with their eyes closed. Ridley flew passed and everyone felt the gust of wind as he went by.
As all this happened, King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard presented Lana to Mother Brain. Lana struggled as she spoke, "Mother Brain, I might have known you'd try something like this!"
The screen above Mother Brain began typing text, "But I can't have all of the Video Universe until I have the last piece of the puzzle, the palace of power. Now that I have you, it'll be my property."
"Don't count on it!" Lana snapped, "My teammates will come and rescue me. I swear it!"
Mother Brain's text read, "Like they rescued your father?" This made Lana put her head down in sadness. Mother Brain then ordered, "Take her away to the tower prison!"
King Hippo threw her into an elevator, "Up you go, princess!"
The door closed and the elevator transported Lana up to the prison tower. The platform sealed any chance of her getting down. She ran over to the door, struggled to get it open, but it wouldn't budge. She went over the windows, but all were boarded shut with iron bars. Lana knew right there she was absolutely one hundred percent trapped. She closed her eyes and whispered a prayer to herself, "My team, if you can hear me, you are coming to get me as we speak."
Back downstairs, Mega Man pointed to a door, "There's a way out!"
The team ran over, but they all stopped when they saw they were on the edge of a cliff. Kevin's eyes widened seeing how deep that was. Their only chance of getting there was to hop across three moving platforms and get to where the door was. Simon, Mega Man and Pit all jumped over no problem.
Mega Man signaled to Kevin and Duke, "Come with us!"
Kevin was very nervous to say the least. Only lord knows what was at the bottom of that fall, and he sure didn't want to miss, but he had no choice, "Okay, just let me get a running start," he backed up several steps, took a deep breath, ran over and jumped as high as he could. He landed on the first platform and Duke soon followed. Kevin laughed happily that he made it. The group jumped hopped the other two and made it to the door.
Before they opened the door, they turned back and noticed Samus still holding off Ridley. She shouted to the others, "Just go! I'll catch up!" she then rolled away from Ridley trying to head butt her.
The group hesitated at first. Kevin, then knowing Samus can be trusted with her old enemy, opened the door, "We still need to find the princess!" Duke, Mega Man, Simon and Pit went with him and shut the door behind them.
They all caught their breath and Mega Man observed the area for guards, "Coast is clear. Let's move."
The team walked through the area for a bit hoping to find Lana. Lana looked outside with despair on her face, which turned into a look of hope as she saw her friends outside. Her prayers were answered after all. Back on the ground, they came to a tall tower of the fortress.
Pit looked up and pointed, "Look!"
Everyone did so, and saw Princess Lana waving. Simon pointed out, "Just like in the fairy tales."
"Halt! In the name of Mother Brain!" a voice chanted. It was several fortress guards.
Simon jumped forward and took out his whip; "I'll hold them off while you get Lana out of there!" Kevin and the others felt weary leaving another teammate behind, but ran inside the tower regardless. Simon whipped a guard's wrist, making him drop his spear. He then whipped a guard to his left across the face, then his whip wrapped around the foot of a guard to his right. Simon pulled his weapon back and tripped him. Several guards grouped against him and tackled him against the wall to hold him back.
Upstairs in the tower, a blast blew down the door to the prison room. It was thanks to Mega Man, who ran in with Pit, Duke and Kevin, much to Lana's delight, "Am I ever glad to see you!" she then saw Kevin and was a bit perplexed, "And I'm surprised to see you, Kevin. Why are you here?"
Kevin cleared his throat, "Ahem. I just wanted to make sure you were alright," footsteps were heard coming up the steps and shadows could be seen, "Aw great. Simon didn't couldn't stop all the guards," as soon as the guards all got up to the room, Kevin hit the pause button on his pad, freezing them all.
Mega Man and Pit stood there, weapons ready. Pit realized, "Oh, I almost forgot," he then tossed something to princess Lana.
"My power scepter!" Lana smiled.
Pit nodded, "We'll take it from here."
Knowing the pause effect didn't last long, Kevin grabbed Lana's hand and they both ran downstairs along with Duke trying to make their escape. Three guards stood waiting for them, ready to strike. Duke pounced on one of them, which knocked them all over like dominos. Lana and Kevin ran passed and continued running. The guards ran after them. Kevin looked back and fired his zapper at each guard. They pixilated when shot. The three came to a gap in the floor and blocks moved in and out of the wall, making a bridge. The trio ran across quickly.
A guard walked down the halls and spotted the trio escaping. He held up his shield hoping to ram them, but Kevin decided to see what his B button would do and pressed it. He formed into a ball of light, which snuck up behind the guard. He then shot the guard, and he pixilated, disappearing. They then came to a spot that had nothing they could step on to cross. Kevin looked up and saw a hook on the roof, then he took out his controller like earlier, tossed it and the cord wrapped around the hook. Kevin picked up Duke and Lana held on to him as he swung across. They made it and he retracted his cord before they continued running.
A guard was waiting behind the corner and surprised them bringing his sword down at the group. Lana brought up her scepter and blocked the strike. She then pushed the guard away, leaving him open for Kevin to shoot his zapper, which he did. With the guard pixilated and gone, they continued on. They found a door up ahead and went through it.
They all stopped when Lana saw who was there, "Mother Brain!"
Mother Brain's monitor typed text directed towards Kevin, "A valiant effort for someone who, from what I was told, didn't want to help. I'm afraid your attempt at getting out of here has come to an abrupt end."
"Is that what you think?" Kevin asked confidently. He pointed his zapper with point blank range at Mother Brain. Though when he pulled the trigger, nothing happened, "What?" he tapped the gun against his free hand and tried shooting again, but still nothing. Kevin sighed and asked rhetorically, "Why does the hero always run out of bullets at the worst time?"
Lana signaled to the door, "We need to go back!" they ran over back where they came, but the door slammed by King Hippo. He and Eggplant Wizard then surrounded Kevin, Duke and Lana.
It looked like this was the end of the line for them when a ray of hope came, in the form of Samus' gun ship that is. Said ship busted through the wall causing everything to shake. King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard ran away thinking this room could collapse.
Samus voice could be heard, "Kevin! Princess! We have to get out of here now!"
"But what about Mother Brain?" Kevin asked.
Samus continued, "Ridley is still after us! There's no time to stick around and finish this."
Lana looked at Kevin sincerely, "I know this looks like the best opportunity, Kevin, but you came here to save me and you did. We'll try again another day."
Kevin looked back and forth between the ship and Mother Brain, but realized Lana was right. And with Ridley still trying to get them, he didn't feel right letting his favorite video game characters risk getting caught, so he nodded and looked at his dog, "We're heading back, Duke."
Mother Brain's monitor typed text once more, "You may get away with it today, but I'll be ready for you next time."
Lana declared, "It still isn't over until it's over, Mother Brain. We'll be back."
Later at the castle of power, after the heroes got out of the fortress and made it back, Kevin and Duke were in a bedroom that was their new assigned quarters. Lana came in at that moment, "What are you doing, Kevin?"
A hologram screen was in front of Kevin with a list of various items, "I found out what the select button does. It shows me how much ammo I have left in my zapper and I have other weapons that look like my game accessories. Makes me wish I knew about this earlier," he pressed the select button again and the screen disappeared, "So what's up?" unexpectedly, Lana gave Kevin a hug making him blush, "What's this for?"
"It's to thank you for all you did today," Lana said grateful, "Especially since I thought you said you wanted nothing to do with the Video Universe."
Kevin embraced the hug and put his arms around Lana to hug her back, "I'm really sorry I didn't take you seriously before. About the war and all."
Lana pulled out of the hug, "I'm the one who should be sorry, for ever doubting you. Does this mean you'll reconsider helping us against Mother Brain? This battle was won, but the war is far from over."
"That depends. Will you help Duke and I find a way back at home?" Kevin asked hopeful, "I don't want my parents to be worried and I don't even want to imagine the homework I'll have to make up when I get back."
Lana nodded, "I assure you, I'll do what I can to make sure you go back safe."
Kevin held out his hand to shake on it, "Deal," instead of shaking it, Lana held it and then kissed Kevin on the cheek. This certainly took him aback. He sat on his bed and looked at Duke, "Know something boy? I think this is the beginning of something big for us," Duke smiled and licked his masters' face. For the time being, Kevin Keen was here to stay as Captain N the Game Master.
Phew, well, it took me a long time to write this chapter, but I finally did it. I told you guys I had other ideas in the works and here it is. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and stick around because there is more to come featuring a lot of favorites of Nintendo video game characters. That'll about do it for me. I hope to have my next Kingdom Hearts chapter up by Halloween. For those who read that story, I think you'll know what's coming since it IS that time of the season. Until next time, take care everybody. I'll see you next time.