Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I paid attention to all the reviews, and I put a lot of thought into this chapter, so I think you'll like it.
Mario stood on the edge of Final Destination, staring into the swirling and glowing clouds. He tightened the straps on the jepack Fox had given to him. Around him, Ike, Samus, Link, Sonic, and Lucario all wore the same jetpacks. Pit, who was the only one who didn't need a jetpack, flapped his wings as though he couldn't wait to get off the ground.
"Remember what I said!" called Sonic, struggling to be heard over the roaring winds of Final Destination. "Stay with the group! And don't lose your Chaos Emeralds! If you're unprotected, the energy will kill you in five seconds!"
Each of the Smashers was wearing a belt with a pouch containing one of the Chaos Emeralds.
"I wish we could've just flown in the Great Fox," muttered Ike. "But, of course, machinery much larger than these jetpacks will be destroyed a little ways into the area around Final Destination."
A suddun loud sound caused all seven Smashers to look up. The Great Fox was hovering overhead.
"This is as far as we can go," came Fox's voice out of the ship's speakers. "We came to wish you luck."
"We'll be waiting here if anything goes wrong," came King Dedede's voice.
"Pika pika pika pika!" came Pikachu's voice urgently. "Pika pika pika pika!"
Thanks, all of you. And don't worry, Pikachu. We'll make sure not to drop the Chaos Emeralds.
"He thought we would...drop the only thing keeping us from a painful death?" frowned Samus. "I'm not sure whether or not I should be a little insulted."
"Hey, I was thinking," said Mario. "Why did Marth die? Why didn't he just turn into a trophy?"
Stunned silence followed his words, mostly because the Smashers were disgusted with themselves for not noticing this already.
"I...don't know," said Ike, hope creeping into his voice. "But we did hear Crazy Hand talking to a prisoner, so maybe that was Marth! Maybe Crazy Hand accidentally left behind a fake body instead of a fake trophy."
"I don't think so," came Fox's voice. "Crazy Hand knows how we turn into trophies. He wouldn't make such a stupid mistake."
Link's eyes widened as a look of horror came across his face. "Um...guys?"
"Yeah?" asked Sonic.
Link swallowed hard. "What if the destruction energy from Crazy Hand that's breaking down space and time by causing the fadeouts...is also wrecking the natural cycle? So what if his power is causing us to stay dead?"
Mario turned toward him. "That means...that means...he can just kill us all and we won't come back unless we defeat him."
"He must've intended to turn Marth into a trophy and steal it," said Ike slowly. "But Marth died instead. Crazy Hand must have been as surprised as we are."
"Wait a minute," interjected Fox. "That day in the training room...why didn't Link, Pikachu, and I die instead of becoming trophies?"
"I guess it could've been because we were too far away from the source of Crazy Hand's power," reasoned Samus. "Marth's castle is much closer to Final Destination than the dojo is."
"So, if we die, we'll stay dead unless Crazy Hand is killed to?" asked King Dedede quietly.
"Pika," muttered Pikachu softly.
"I know, right?" said Pit. "I don't want to stay dead either."
At that moment, there was a sound like sheet metal scraping against the side of a building. Unnoticed by the Smashers, Galleom had flown up to Final Destination and grabbed onto the side of the Great Fox with one hand. With the other hand, it started punching the sides of the ship, trying to find a weak spot.
"Galleom!" moaned Pit. "Why now?"
"Massacre. Slaughter. Wreck. Ruin," answered Galleom.
The Great Fox turned on its engines to full power, trying to escape Galleom. Galleom kept a firm hold on the ship, but he was lifted a few feet off the ground. The Great Fox swung around its main cannon and started shooting Galleom in the face. This didn't do much damage, but it did prevent Galleom from smashing up the side of the ship any further.
"Go!" screamed Fox from inside the cockpit. "We can handle this! You need to hurry, before Crazy Hand finds out you're here!"
"We're not just going to leave you!" yelled Link. "He'll tear the ship apart!"
The seven Smashers activated their jetpacks or spread their wings and flew up towards Galleom's head. They landed on it and started smashing it with fire, lasers, swords, or whatever other weapons they had. Galleom roared in pain.
"Destroy! Crush! Annihilate!" Galleom shrieked in its mechanical voice. It swung itself around, desperately trying to dislodge the Smashers without letting go over the Great Fox. Sparks were spraying from Galleom's damaged face as it staggered around. Its eyes were badly damaged; it couldn't see where it was going. And then suddenly, Galleom tripped, stumbled, and fell straight off the side of Final Destination, still holding on to the Great Fox and with the seven Smashers on his head.
Galleom plummeted through the space below Final Destination, screaming as the energy in the air ripped through its metal armor plating. With shock, the Smashers all remembered what Sonic had warned them- that no machinery any larger than their jetpacks could survive the space around Final Destination.
Unfortunately that included the Great Fox.
The Great Fox started to fall apart, wires and metal tearing off and soaring away. Fox, King Dedede, and Pikachu were hitting every emergency button they could find, until those eventually fell apart too. And all the while, Galleom was suffering the same fate. As for the seven Smashers with the Chaos Emeralds, they had their jetpacks on and were keeping pace with the falling Galleom and Great Fox in the hopes that they could help the Great Fox stay together.
But there was no hope. Finally, both Galleom and the Great Fox shredded into nothing, leaving Fox, King Dedede, and Pikachu tumbling through the air, unprotected by any Chaos Emeralds.
NO!
Lucario's cry of panic and rage rang out as he flew desperately toward the three falling Smashers, pushing his jetpack to the limit. The six other protected Smashers soared towards Fox, King Dedede, and Pikachu, trying to catch them and share the Chaos Emeralds' protection.
But there was no way to reach them within five seconds, and as the protected Smashers helplessly watched, Fox, King Dedede, and Pikachu simply disappeared in midair. Gone. Completely destroyed.
"No!" whispered Samus.
The seven Smashers hovered silently for a moment. Three of their friends had just died, joining Marth in the ranks of the dead. All Smashers from now on who were killed would stay dead, instead of becoming trophies. And the only way to bring any of them back was to defeat the insane spirit of destruction with unnatural powers and a plan to destroy the universe. There were seven of them, and they were alone. No help would be coming, because there was no other way to survive the space around Final Destination besides the Chaos Emeralds.
Lucario closed his eyes. Blue Aura flames glowed around his hands.
We need to keep going. The only way to save Marth, Pikachu, Fox, and King Dedede is to destroy Crazy Hand, so that's what we're going to do. I can still use my Aura to guide us. We're not that far away from him.
Sonic grinned. "Let's do this. Let's make Crazy Hand sorry he ever showed his face around us."
Emo Sprite, in your review, you mentioned that you were disappointed Marth had died instead of becoming a trophy. Well, now you know why! Doesn't look good for the Smashers, does it? Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review!
