NOTES: Hey all, what's going on? I know, I updated, it's a freaking Christmas miracle! Okay, first off I'm REALLY sorry about the absurdly long delay. My first year of college took most of my energy, then during the summer in between working I have been experimenting with a few one-shots and working on my other SSB fic, Heart of Steel. Then the first semester of my sophomore year happened, and I had almost no time at all to even think about updating.

To be completely honest, during my time in college I lost almost all inspiration to both write and read, and almost retired completely as a gamer. It was depressing, but I had higher priorities that required my full attention. Fortunately, as of late I've felt my inspiration as a writer and reader slowly returning. I've changed a bit since I last updated and I've learned a few new things. You know, I was really hoping to finish this fic by the end of the summer before I went to college, but I guess you can't do everything.

Regardless, thanks again for the massive amounts of support I've been receiving from my readers and reviewers for this fic over the years. You guys remind me every time I receive a review or story add that my work is still appreciated, and it gives me even more motivation to keep going. Okay, here we go!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Super Smash Bros, nor do I own the Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Metroid, or any other franchise described in this story. These fantastic series of games belong to Nintendo, and SSB also belongs to HAL Laboratories. Need I say more?

Chapter 25: Victors and Victims

Admiral Vicks was pleased, at least for the time being. This small gaggle of what remained of Andross' followers was slowly being pushed back. Although they had taken his fleet by surprise and had managed to either eliminate or disable close to half of his forces, the Lylatian War veteran's quick strategic thinking and the skill of his men had been able to protect Venom and allow civilian shuttles and transports to flee to hyperspace without incident. On top of that, not a single enemy ground transport had managed to breach Venom's atmosphere. A small victory, but a reassuring one nonetheless.

The assistance from the Star Fox team had also managed to turn the tide in their favor, but currently they were being engaged by what looked like members of the outlawed Star Wolf team. For now, he couldn't do anything to assist them.

"Lieutenant Nichol, status report," Vicks asked from his captain's chair.

"Admiral, over fifty-five percent of the enemy forces have been eradicated or heavily damaged. The Reclaimer itself has taken some damage; shields are at forty percent strength and slowly climbing. Luckily, we've had no hull breaches but some of our forward turbolaser batteries have been disabled."

"Okay then, move the ship to starboard and regroup with the rest of the fleet: we're going after that flagship, gentlemen." He gave a slight smile as he reclined in his chair, keying a few commands into the panels on the arm rests when Lieutenant Jacobs almost shot out of his chair.

"Admiral, incoming transmission from the outside! Shall I patch it through?"

"Who is it? Our comm. channels are secure, so it's obviously not civilian," he stated, almost to himself as a small smile came over Jacobs' face.

"You'll definitely want to hear from this one, Admiral. She's an old friend of ours who picked up on some of the emergency beacons from our disabled ships. We could probably use her help."

Fox rushed through the twisted halls of Simian's Wrath, heading for the warship's hanger and dispatching any soldiers he saw with his blaster. He didn't know how much time he had left before Wolf lost his patience and slaughtered his teammates, but what he did know was that he had to get out there fast. More explosions rocked the ship as he almost fell over, hitting his head on the wall. He groaned as he brought up his holographic map again, his position being shown just outside the hanger. He rushed through the blast door ahead of him and stepped into a wide, open hanger. He was surprised to see no spare Venomian fighters lying around. He pounded the wall in frustration.

'Crap! Now what am I supposed to do…' he growled to himself as he pounded the wall next to the door, gritting his teeth.

A sudden beeping from his wrist comlink answered his question. He gave a slight smile when he saw who was on the other end of the comlink's interface screen.

'Talk about perfect timing…'

Two seconds.

That's how long it took for Oikonny to reach Link, crescent plasma swords looking to decapitate the hero where he stood. By the time the ape had reached Link's position, the Hylian was already behind his foe, rolling safely out of harm's way with the Master Sword drawn and ready. He sent a vertical slash to where Oikonny's head should have been but only hit air as Oikonny did a flip of his own, letting one of his crescent blades fly out of his hand.

Link jumped and twisted in midair as he dodged the projectile, landing perfectly on his feet as Oikonny caught his returning blade in midair and charged once again at the hero.

The ape took the inside half of each blade in a pinscher-like fashion and attempted to snap Link's body in half, but came up short again as Link did yet another midair twist and rolled to Oikonny's backside. He countered with a rising slash as he leapt back onto his feet, but to Link's surprise, Oikonny somehow caught the attack with a blade behind his back.

He spun around to face Link and was immediately met with an incoming horizontal strike to his body. He lifted the brunt side of both blades together and caught the Master Sword, pushing on his blades in an attempt to cut the legendary blade in half.

'What? Plasma doesn't cut through this kind of metal? That's impossible!'

The Master Sword only glimmered brighter as Link pushed back with his full body weight. Oikonny finally broke the sword lock, using his left sword to push the Master Sword aside while he came at Link with his right. Realizing what was happening Link did a back flip, feeling a bit of Oikonny's sword cut through the backside of his tunic and burning the skin underneath.

He grimaced a bit but had no time to dwell on the pain as Oikonny immediately ran at the Hylian again, both crescent swords raised high. Link raised his Mirror Shield just in time, sending the force of Oikonny's own attack right back at him.

The former Star Wolf member flew against the back wall, hitting it with such force that one could almost see his body's impact spot clearly imprinted on the once flawless metal surface. He slid off the wall, falling flat on his face. Link looked over at his fallen foe, breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath. A slight chuckle escaped Oikonny as he picked himself up, leaning on one of his blades for support.

"Glad to see that the prestigious 'Hero of Time' is as powerful as Ganondorf emphasizes," he commented. Link resumed his fighting stance as he watched his foe regain his footing.

"However, that was just a warm-up. Now, let me show you just how powerful I really am. Behold! A gift bestowed upon me by the almighty Ganondorf!" he proclaimed.

A strange blue light surrounded him, engulfing his entire body. Link raised the Mirror Shield to protect his eyes from the blinding light, lowering it when it appeared to have stopped. What Link saw next was similar to something he had seen before in many of Ganondorf's grotesque minions.

No longer was Andrew Oikonny the weak, meager ape he once was. Instead, what stood in his place was a creature twice the size of Link holding two enormous plasma scimitars. Oikonny's fur color had darkened to a blood red color, matching the thirst for vengeance in his eyes. His teeth were sharper along with his claws, and the mass of his almost-completely naked body was made up of several tons of pure muscle. The beast let loose a thunderous roar as soon as he set his bloodthirsty eyes on Link.

'This is definitely Ganondorf's handiwork all right…' he thought bitterly to himself, cursing the Gerudo King's name. Preparing himself for what he hoped would be a short battle as he glanced over at the timer to Fox's C-4 explosives, which now read twenty minutes, the Hylian hero readied the Master Sword and Mirror Shield before rushing at his opponent with a fierce battle cry.

Wolf O' Donnell continued to wait patiently inside of his Wolfen, his murderous left eye and robotic right studying the digital clock on his viewscreen carefully. McCloud had only one more minute to arrive before Wolf gave the order to the rest of Star Wolf to eradicate McCloud's team.

'Hmm, guess he's not coming after all. Oh well, he'll regret it when he finds the remains of his team floating in Venom airspace…'

His index finger inched closer to the button which would turn on his radio, mere centimeters away from grazing its smooth plastic surface when two rapid blasts hit his Wolfen from behind. A lone Arwing sped past his viewscreen, doing a few barrel rolls as it fired on the rest of Wolf's teammates, diverting their attention away from the rest of the Star Fox team. Wolf smirked as Fox's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"You wanted me Wolf, I'm here! Now leave my team out of this, it's only between you and me from here on out!" Fox exclaimed as Wolf saw his Arwing do a U-Turn, heading back toward Wolf.

The ruthless mercenary grinned as he primed his Wolfen's G-Diffuser, rushing to meet Fox head on with his blasters blazing.

"Heh, I wouldn't want it any other way pup…"

Falco breathed a silent sigh of relief as he saw Fox's Arwing speeding towards Wolf's Wolfen, initiating a deadly dogfight. His relief was cut short however by another blast from Leon's Wolfen.

"Don't think that just because Wolf's happy now that I'll let you off the hook that easily Falco. In fact, I think I'll torment you a bit longer before I cook you…" the lizard said with sadistic glee. Falco gritted his teeth as another blast rattled his Arwing. The shield readout on his viewscreen was dangerously low as he continued evading Leon's shots.

'Damn, shields can't take much more…' he thought grimly. He was surprised when an explosion rocked his ship, yet it seemed to have come from his six. Oddly enough, Leon's Wolfen no longer appeared on his radar.

Out of the corner of his sharp peripheral vision he could have sworn that he saw the shadow of an amethyst Omega-class gunship, a familiar gunship in fact…

"Hey Falco, leave these scumbags to me! Gather your team and go for Oikonny's flagship, its shields are down!" Falco grinned in his cockpit as he relayed the message to Krystal and Slippy, who had at some point mysteriously rejoined the battle. All three pilots returned to a close formation as they boosted towards the Simian's Wrath, which was being bombarded with missile and turbolaser volleys from Cornerian cruisers.

"Nice to see you too, Aran…" Falco muttered with a small grin.

Link ducked as one of the creature's scimitars came at him and did a back flip as another scimitar landed where he had been mere seconds ago. His back was killing him from being on the receiving end of one of Oikonny's kicks, but he dared not stop moving as the beast's eyes continued tracking him, sending a scimitar at him every once in awhile. He summoned more of his dwindling supply of magic power as he fired several Light Arrows at the beast's face, each one hitting its mark but seemingly doing no damage. He rolled out of the way of another strike, panting heavily.

'Dammit I'm not doing any damage! I didn't see a weak spot anywhere on his body, so what is he vulnerable to? Goddesses, I wish either Navi or Tatl was here right now…'

He glanced at the timer on Fox's C4, which read twenty minutes and decreased every second he spent fighting. Link knew he was cutting it close; he'd have to finish this battle quickly if he wanted to make it out of the flagship alive.

The creature started to open its mouth as it breathed in, sucking in energy. Knowing what was coming from experience, Link started running again in a counterclockwise motion as he felt what appeared to be a fiery acidic substance being shot at him from behind. He heard it getting closer as he ran, trying to avoid the flames. Taking a risk, he leaped toward the monster that had been Oikonny and rolled between its legs. He briefly glanced at where its calves were as he regained his footing, a glint of white light catching his eye.

'That's what I was looking for…'

The beast spun around looking for Link as the Hylian sheathed the Master Sword, taking out his Hero's Bow again and readying a few Fire Arrows. He struggled to keep the flame on the tips ablaze as his poured the last of his magic energy into them, firing right at Oikonny's eyes. The beast howled in pain as the projectiles scorched its face as Link pulled out the Master Sword and the Mirror Shield, aiming horizontal cuts at both legs where the white lights shone.

Oikonny screamed in more pain as his legs gave out from underneath him, exposing the shining, bare part of his back to the hero. Link rolled to his right to avoid the creature as he pushed up from his shield and ran at the shining spot on Oikonny's back. He leaped into the air, thrusting the Master Sword downward as he struck the weak point, green blood exploding everywhere as Oikonny let out an agonizing howl. Link pulled out the Master Sword again and leapt off of the beast as it attempted to rise before falling once again, its scimitars deactivating as it took one last breath of life.

The Hero of Time did a quick flourish with his blade before sheathing it, reattaching his Mirror Shield to his sheath and bandolier in the process before running at the elevator doors, taking a quick glance at the digital readout of the timer, which now read less than ten minutes. The doors automatically opened for him as he pressed the descent, taking one last glance at the creature that had once been Andrew Oikonny as the doors closed, the elevator descending for the lower levels. Link crossed his arms as he stood patiently in the elevator, his mind troubled by what Oikonny had said about Ganondorf.

'Now I definitely know something big is going on. If Ganondorf was able to influence, let alone make contact with beings in our galaxy such as Oikonny and given them some of his power, then could he have contacted others as well? What's he planning exactly? I don't know; it's hard to tell right now. Until something else comes up, Zelda and I should probably stay focused on winning this tournament so we can reclaim the Triforce, but I can't help but be concerned.'

The Triforce mark on his left hand glowed faintly as the elevator doors finally opened. Link rushed out toward the ship's hanger with his sword drawn, frantically racing against the clock.

Fox sat in the cockpit of his Arwing looking out at Wolf's disabled Wolfen, trying to catch his breath. It had been a hard fight, but Fox again managed to come out on top in the end. He had contemplated going for the kill this time, but for some reason, he still couldn't bring himself to do it. Wolf's tired voice crackled over Fox's headset.

"Guess I lost again, Fox. I'm surprised you haven't fried my ass already, seeing as how I'm defenseless at the moment."

"Unlike you, I actually have some mercy in me. Besides, what fun would that be? I'd have no rival then," Fox said with a slight grin.

"Heh, nice to know you take our rivalry seriously. Since you won this round I guess I owe you an apology for threatening your teammates while you weren't around. It was nothing personal; Oikonny offered us a huge sum for your hides, and you know how hard it is nowadays to find any real work."

"It's okay Wolf, I understand. Believe it or not we're not getting as much work nowadays either, which is partially the reason why Falco and I are competing again in the Smash Brothers tournament," he commented.

"Yeah, well make sure you stay alive long enough so that I can kill you myself someday, you hear? Leon, Panther, let's go!" Wolf ordered as his systems came back online. Panther and Leon's Wolfens joined his as they started adjusting for a hyperspace jump.

"We're getting out of here seeing as how Oikonny's fleet has been totaled. We didn't get paid but at least we got to fight you guys again. Until next time, Fox…"

The Star Wolf team disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving Fox to catch up with his team. He thought about Link as he sped toward Simian's Wrath, which was still putting up a fight with some of the Cornerian cruisers surrounding it. Before he could get any closer however, the flagship exploded in a massive ball of flames. He instinctively performed a U-Turn to escape the flames, sighing in relief as he saw all of his teammates' acknowledgment lights wink, signifying that they were safe.

'Link, I hope you made it out in time...' Fox thought with a slight frown as his team formed up behind him, heading back to the Great Fox.

Link killed yet another ruffian in the hanger as he dodged incoming enemy shots, using whatever he could for cover. He ducked behind a stack of cargo crates as more of Oikonny's remaining soldiers pinned him down. He knew he had less than two minutes before that C4 destroyed the flagship, but he couldn't contact Slippy and there were no spare fighters to steal. Even though he had no experience flying whatsoever, he would have still taken his chances. Anywhere was better than here at the moment.

"C'mon Fox, get Slippy to beam me out of here…" he muttered as he held his shield arm in pain. A stray blaster bolt had managed to pierce his shoulder while he was distracted, his ruined Goron Tunic doing little to ease the burning sensations running through his arm. One of the crates he was hiding behind exploded as he dove to the ground, covering his head with his gauntlets from debris.

Only one minute remained now. There was no way he would be making it out of this without a miracle. His thoughts turned to Zelda, a tear falling from his cheek at the thought of never seeing her again.

'Zelda…I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to you…'

"Hey Link, need a hand?" said a voice from his wrist. He lifted his shield arm with slight pain and glanced at the small viewscreen. Samus's cocky grin looked up at him with excitement in her eyes. Link could hardly believe what he was seeing. Of course, Samus' communicator! He had almost completely forgotten about it.

"Yeah Sam, that'd be nice. Um, could you maybe hurry it up a bit though? I'm kind of on a tight schedule…" he responded as he lifted himself up of the floor.

"Don't worry, Falco and the Admiral briefed me on everything. Just wait where you are for a moment while I clear out this hanger!"

Link covered his sensitive ears as a volley of blaster fire and missile explosions filled the hanger, followed by tormenting screams from the remaining ruffians. When the weapons fire stopped, Link stepped out from behind the crates, sighting Samus' new Omega-class gunship hovering above the ground.

"Just step into the gravity lift underneath my ship and we'll get out of here. Hurry!"

Link limped over to the craft and stepped into the golden light as it lifted him effortlessly into the ship. He felt the ship suddenly lurch forward as he touched the floor, racing out of the exploding Simian's Wrath. Samus always did have a thing for dramatic exits.

Suppressing a grin, Link made his way to the cockpit where Samus, dressed in her Zero Suit, sat at the controls, checking various instruments and setting a course for the Cornerian fleet, most likely the Great Fox. Marth sat in the copilot's seat, trying to keep up with Samus' orders as he worked a few instruments. Although he had never flown in space before and was still scared to death of what he called Samus's "reckless" piloting skills, he was still doing well for a beginner.

Roy and Peach were sitting there too, ceasing their conversation as they smiled up at Link as he entered. But what surprised him the most was the blonde haired woman who rose from her seat and rushed at him in a giant embrace, tears flowing down her face. Speechless, he wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her. He felt his voice return as she sobbed into his ruined tunic.

"It's okay Zel, I'm fine. You don't have to worry, I'm here now…" Link muttered as she lifted her head to look at him. He brushed some of the tears running down her cheeks with the back of his good hand.

Zelda stared into his eyes for a moment before wrapping her hands around his neck and enveloping in a full-force kiss. To Link, it was the best reward he could have ever hoped for. A small part of him wished that he had never left her in the first place as she broke the kiss, the both of them gasping for air.

"I'm just glad you're okay. I thought we weren't going to make it in time, and I…" she started before she noticed the wound in his shoulder. Samus glanced up at them from her instruments.

"Zel, why don't you go fix up Link and the both of you rest for a bit, okay? It's gonna be awhile before we're back at Smash Mansion."

"Smash Mansion? I thought we were heading back to the Great Fox?" asked Link in confusion.

"Nah, Foxy just sent me a transmission explaining that his team is going to stay for a bit and help out with the clean-up. He's fine, by the way, and so is his team. They told me to thank you for keeping Fox safe and for helping them defeat Oikonny. I already picked up your stuff when we made a stop at the Great Fox, so don't worry about that either," Samus quickly explained.

"Whoa, wait a second, when did you have time to do that?" Link asked.

"Oh…well Slippy's the one who we should all thank. He knew you guys were in trouble so he snuck away from the fight back to the Great Fox so he could transmit an Arwing to Fox on Oikonny's flagship. We caught him as he was heading back to the battle, and he led us to everyone else. Anyways, go and rest now with Zelda. We'll let you both know if something comes up, okay?"

The two Hylians nodded as they disappeared from the cockpit. Roy and Peach curled up next to each other while Samus and Marth continued working in silence.

"You know Marth, you're not that bad at this. Maybe I should start taking you out on missions with me, huh? The pay's not too shabby…" Samus commented with a seductive smirk. Marth gave off a nervous chuckle as he swiveled in his chair to face her.

"Yeah…well maybe in a year or two. Baby steps, Sam, baby steps…" he teased.

"Heh, okay. Guess I'll have to depend on Adam until then, right Adam?" she asked as she glanced down at her computer AI's glowing blue eye. Information about their flight trajectory filled her viewscreen as Adam finished making calculations before responding.

"I'm okay with that for now, Lady. Besides, he's too much of a distraction for you anyways. I think I might get jealous…"

Both Marth and Samus laughed as they continued working, their fingers intertwining beneath their chairs as Adam launched the small Gunship into hyperspace.

Ganondorf threw another punch at Captain Falcon as the two of them fought on the Brinstar Depths map in Smash Stadium. Falcon had put up quite the fight but had managed to knock off the Gerudo only once, while he had lost all but one of his five lives. The odds weren't at all in his favor, but that wasn't stopping him from giving the Evil King a good fight. He tried another Raptor Punch but stumbled when Ganondorf dodged effortlessly, kicking the pilot from behind and racking up his damage meter to the two-hundreds.

"I'd give up if I were you, Falcon. I'm disappointed; a fighter with such a reputation as yourself losing so soon? It's quite pitiable to watch," Ganondorf sneered.

Falcon ignored his comment as he regained his footing, aiming a double-roundhouse for where his opponent's head should have been. Ganondorf grabbed his second foot with ease, pushing it out of the way as Falcon fell to the dirt. The King of Evil grabbed Falcon by the neck, lifting him into the air. A purple aura started glowing around him as Falcon's eyes widened with fear.

"Of course I can't use my true abilities in this little tournament, so I've been looking for a Smasher that I can mirror moves from. And guess what? You're the lucky Smasher!"

Falcon struggled against Ganondorf's strong grip as he felt what he thought to be his fighter's spirit being sucked right from his body and into Ganondorf's. To the audience watching outside, it seemed like only a few seconds, but to Falcon the pain seemed like an eternity. The F-Zero pilot lost consciousness as Ganondorf flung his lifeless body aside, knocking it off the edge.

"Pathetic…" he hissed as he watched the pilot plummet to the acid below. He grinned as newfound energy coursed through his veins, the hologram of Kraid rising from the acid once again to rotate the circular stage. Combined with his own dark energy, these abilities would serve him well in the rest of the tournament.

"Game!"

Whew, thank God that arc is over! I actually have had the ending planned out for a long time now but for some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to write it. As I post this latest chapter now however, I'm at a crossroads. For now I'm most likely going to resume working on my other projects (both fan fics and original fiction) and return to this with a fresh mind and a fresh start, and I'm also not very happy with the writing style that I've been using for this story all these years. I don't know it just seems so…bland to me. Anyways I'd love to hear from you all as to what I should possibly do with this fic. Should I put it on hiatus for now and come back to it later, leave it unfinished, or just end it quickly in a few chapters since this story has been going on for so long (yes, there's a way I can do this but it again it might seem a bit rushed. I actually had quite a few more chapters planned). As always reviews are appreciated. Thanks for reading and for those of you who have been longtime fans of this fic, thanks for sticking with me for so long!

-Chief