Sorry I put this chapter off for so long! In the future, I'll try to take less time between chapters. Anyway, enjoy!
Pit flew through the sky, dodging around the clouds as he soared down towards the ground. He tightened his grip on his bow as the grassy surface became faintly visible beneath him. He pulled his wings in around him, gliding above the plains below.
Suddenly, a massive metal arm punched up from underground, tearing through the soil. It belonged to a massive robot, which pulled itself up from underground. It was none other than Galleom, the Subspace Army's weapon of mass destruction.
Galleom's eyes glowed red. "Destroy," it said. Rocket jets blasted from under the soles of its metal feet as it rocketed up through the sky towards Pit.
Pit didn't waste time wondering why Galleom was active when the Subspace Army had been destroyed. He didn't wonder why Galleom was targeting him, or how it had gotten here. He flew for his life, dodging the missiles that launched towards him from the launcher on Galleom's shoulder.
"Destroy," said Galleom. "Murder. Kill. Annihilate."
Galleom grabbed at Pit, who dodged desperately, barrel-rolling in between Galleom's fingertips. He retreated, shooting brightly-colored bolts of energy out of his bow. They had very little effect. Galleom's thick armor absorbed the energy easily. Pit flapped his wings hard, flying straight through a cloud as Galleom pursued him higher into the sky.
"Obliterate," said Galleom.
Pit gripped his bow as he dodged another few rounds of missiles. He knew that he had a chance to destroy Galleom, but he had to time it perfectly.
Pit ducked low, swooping under Galleom's massive fist. He launched a single bright bolt of power from his bow. It soared through the air and connected directly with Galleom's eye.
Galleom shrieked in pain, smoke coming out of its damaged eye. "Eradicate!" it roared, lunging for Pit.
Pit cartwheeled in midair, almost dropping his bow. He knew he couldn't keep this up for much longer..and then it happened.
Galleom slapped Pit hard, knocking him out of the air. Pit gasped as he tumbled toward the earth. Nothing had ever hurt so much. He tried desperately to flap his wings, but he could barely move. The ground came closer and closer. Pit closed his eyes.
A sudden feeling of warmt and safety surrounded him. He opened his eyes to find that he was bathed in golden light. He was hovering about five feet off the ground. And then he heard a voice.
"Don't worry, Pit! I've got you. But you need to hurry north. Something terrible is happening, and you need to stop it."
"...Lady Palutena?" whispered Pit.
"Yes, Pit. Galleom thinks you're dead, so it's gone for now. But it will return. However, you need to head north immediately."
"Yes, Lady Palutena!" said Pit promptly.
"I've healed your wounds as best I can, but you'll still need medical attention as soon as-"
The glowing gold light surrounding Pit flashed bright silver and the temperature around him dropped about thirty degrees. Pit shuddered uncontrollably from the cold as he unexpectedly plummeted the remaining five feet to the ground. The glowing light faded out.
"Lady Palutena?" Pit asked. "Lady Palutena?"
Wow, you're a moron. And here I thought that plumber was stupid. Did you think that Galleom would be here to annihilate you without me?
The voice echoed around Pit's mind as he staggered backwards, pulling out his bow. "Who's there? Is that...Crazy Hand?!"
Hasn't anyone filled you in yet? Then again, I guess they're kind of busy. Some of them are about to kill an innocent person and toss the trophy off a cliff. How very rude of them, but I guess murderers deserve to be killed and tossed off a cliff.
"What are you talking about, Crazy Hand?" snapped Pit. "None of my friends would ever kill anyone innocent! And who's a murderer?"
Well, nobody's actually a murderer. That would be too boring and obvious. So I just set someone up instead. That boy with the green hat...what was his name?
"Link has never killed any of his friends, and he never would! Have you framed him! And where's Lady Palutena!" roared Pit.
Oh, that goddess lady? I broke her mental connection with you. She's probably weeping uncontrollably right now. Anyway, enjoy Link's death!
Pit was vaguely aware of the cold around him fading away, but he barely noticed. He was running north as fast as he could. He had to stop Link from being killed.
Pit charged over a hill. In the small valley below, he saw the wreckage of what used to be the training dojo. He saw Link, Mario, Fox, and Pikachu backed up against a pile of rubble. Samus, King Dedede, and Ike were advancing on them. Ike was in the lead, his massive golden sword at the ready. He was seething with rage, but strangely, there also seemed to be tears in his eyes. He raised his sword. Link readied his own blade. Around them, the other five Smashers prepared to continue fighting. By the looks of things, they'd been through a long and awful brawl.
"STOP!" Pit screamed, racing down into the valley. "What are you doing?"
Ike turned toward Pit. "This scum here killed Marth! Marth was a hero! Without Marth, we might not have even defeated Tabuu! And this monster killed him! We found some of Link's hair next Marth's body. Now I'm going to cut him to pieces. And if these traitors insist on defending him, then they'll have to be slaughtered too! I've gathered a few Smashers who are still honorable, and they're going to help me.
"No! You can't!" urged Pit. "Crazy Hand killed Marth and framed Link! He told me himself!"
Ike frowned. "I..I trust you, Pit...but I also trusted Link, and look where that got me. My best friend is dead."
"But it wasn't Link!" said Pit. "Please, I promise you. You have to believe me."
"I've told you over and over I never killed Marth, Ike," said Link.
Samus stepped forward. "I've had a hard time believing Link would kill Marth," she said. "I only agreed to help you because I wanted to avenge Marth's death. It makes sense that Crazy Hand would frame him. Spreading chaos and distrust is exactly what he would do."
King Dedede, Fox, Pikachu, and Mario all voiced their agreement.
Ike closed his eyes. "I believe you. But I need to have proof."
A female voice echoed around them. "Link was innocent, Ike. I was watching. I know."
"Lady Palutena!" grinned Pit joyfully.
"If you're a goddess, why didn't you do something?" demanded Ike.
"I can't just teleport," said Palutena voice. "I'm not a magician. I rushed to Marth's castle as fast as I could, but it was too late."
Ike slowly turned toward Link. "I...I'm sorry. But you need to help me find Crazy Hand and make him pay for what he's done."
"I will," said Link. "I promise."
"And we'll all help too," said Mario. "In fact, that's what we were going to do. I know someone who can help us get to Crazy Hand. We need to find them as soon as possible."
Ike looked at Link, Mario, Fox, Pikachu, Pit, Samus, and King Dedede. "Then I guess we have some work to do," he said.
Please tell me what you thought of this chapter, so I'll know what to do when I keep writing the later chapters. And if anyone was wondering, yes, I'm going to finish this story. I hate when people just leave a story unfinished. Anyway, thanks for reading!
