Chapter 5
Fight for Power
Part 3
Yoshi and his team arrived at the valley and continued their search for the temple. However, they all kept a sharp eye out for any villains that may be around the area. The bounty hunter who was with them was also keeping an eye on things.
"This valley, it looks so quiet, so peaceful, and with a river and waterfall. Why would anyone bother attacking this place!" wondered Lucario as he looked around.
"I agree with Lucario, the valley does look peaceful." agreed Blaze.
"Wait, my Super Sense, there's danger in the area." said Yoshi.
"Where, I don't here anything." said Samus.
"He's right, I sense an evil aura in the valley!" exclaimed Lucario.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a massive group of vicious looking creatures appeared out of the nearby jungle area. They looked alien like in appearance, only more savage and feral. They had black and red skin, sharps claws, and oval shaped yellow eyes.
"Whoa, what are these things?" asked a shocked Charizard.
"I don't know, Samus, do you know about those monsters?" asked Yoshi.
"Can't help you there Yoshi, they may be aliens, but they don't look anything like the aliens I've seen, not even Space Pirates." replied Samus.
"Wait, I think Sonic once told me about these things, if I remember, I think he said that they were called Black Arms. They come in multiple varieties, and currently we're facing what appears to be Black Warriors and Black Oaks ."
"Forget about it, it's go time." said the bounty hunter as he rushed at the aliens, only to be swatted by a Black Oak, which knocked him to ground.
With that, the Black Arms all charged at thier enemies, and a huge fight ensued. Yoshi sweeped his tail under the legs of a Black Oak, knocking it off balance before tossing it into another. He then jumped up and performed a front flip, slamming his tail on a Black Warrior, thrusting it's head into the ground. He then thrusted his knee into the face of a second Black Warrior, then he jumped up, grabbed two Black Oaks and bashed their heads together, knocking them out. One Black Warrior tried to attack him from behind, but Samus struck it with a kick to the face. She the proceeded to fire a Super Missile at an oncoming Black Oak, who swatted the missile away. But then she decided on something.
"I don't need my suit to take on these guys." said Samus as she changed into her Zero Suit.
A Black Oak came at Samus from behind, but she flipped over it, slamming her fists on it's head before shifting her left leg forward and kicking it in the back, tipping it over. She hit a Black Warrior with a blast from her paralyzer gun before taking it down with a punch. She then used her energy whip to grab a Black Warrior and toss it into a group of other oncoming Black Arms. Charizard used his Flamethrower to keep two Black Oaks at bay, all the while using his tail to swat away attacking Black Warriors. He was suddenly grabbed by another Black Oak, which lifted him above it's head, attempting to snap his spine by bending it. However, the bounty hunter came up and kicked it in the stomach, making it release Charizard, who followed it up with a tailwhip.
"Thanks." said Charizard.
"No problem." replied the bounty hunter, who suddenly got attacked by a horde of Black Warriors, which he tried to fight off.
Blaze and Lucario both used their fighting skills to hold off some Black Oaks. Blaze struck one in the face with a midair back flip kick while Lucario jumped up and performed a midair split, kicking two Black Oaks in the face. However, it didn't take long for the Black Arms to suddenly gain the upper hand as more of them had arrived. The heroes soon started to get overwhelmed. The bounty hunter managed to take out four Black Warriors with punches and kicks, only to be slammed to the ground by a Black Oak. Yoshi simultaneously hit a Black Warrior and a Black Oak with a punch and a midair kick, but a second Black Oak grabbed him by the tail and repeatedly slammed him on the ground savagely. It then swung him around in the air and then tossed him towards a Black Warrior, which knocked him at another Black Oak that viciously swatted him into Charizard from the side. Charizard tried to get back up, but a Black Oak stepped on his back, pinning him down all the while crushing him.
Yoshi attempted to help him, but was intercepted by five Black Warriors. Though he tried to fight them off, they instantly overwhelmed him, bombarding him with violent attacks. Samus was also having trouble as she was restrained by a Black Oak, all the while two Black Warriors were beating on her. One was punching her in the face while the other was kicking her brutally in the stomach. Lucario and Blaze were at a disadvantage as well. Despite their teamwork, the two heroes founds themselves getting heavily beaten by three Black Oaks.
"This is bad, there's way too many of them, they've got us on the ropes." said Yoshi who was being choked by a Black Warrior.
"It looks like we're finished." said Charizard.
Then without warning, a mysterious black blur zoomed right out of nowhere and attacked the Black Oak that was crushing Charizard, knocking it off of him. It then proceeded to take out the Black Warriors that overwhelmed Yoshi, including the one that was choking him.
"What the heck, is that Sonic?" wondered Yoshi as he got up.
The blur suddenly stopped to reveal itself as a black and red hedgehog.
"Wait, that's not Sonic. If I remember, that's Shadow. I once had a fight with him during the war, I don't know why he's here, but I guess he might do us some good in getting rid of these creatures."
"You do know I can hear you talking to yourself." said Shadow.
"He may not be Sonic, but he does share some of his sarcasm."
Shadow just simply ignored Yoshi's comment and charged forward towards the Black Arms aliens. He rammed his fist into the face of the Black Oak that was holding Samus, knocking it out cold. Now free, Samus took out a Black Warrior with a powerful kick to the head. She then jumped forward and performed a double handstand, shooting her legs forward to grab the next Black Warrior and slam it into the ground. Charizard grappled with a Black Oak, managing to grab it's arm and slam the creature down on it's back. Shadow teleported out of the way of two Black Oaks and reappeared behind them, hitting them in the heads with a midair spin kick.
Yoshi dashed up the three Black Oaks that were beating on Blaze and Lucario and attacked them, ramming his head into one of them with great force. He punched out the other one and struck the third one in the face a kick to the chin. Yoshi then proceeded to help the bounty hunter who was being crushed by a Black Oak. He jumped in the air and bashed his fists on it's head then knocked it away with an uppercut punch.
"You okay?" asked Yoshi.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for the help." said the bounty hunter.
Pretty soon, the heroes and Shadow all continued fighting off the rest of the Black Arms until they were all defeated.
"We appreciate the help Shadow, but why exactly are you here?" asked Yoshi.
"You should know that I only came here because i sensed that these Black Arms were here. I never actually intended to help you." replied Shadow.
Anyways, since you're here, maybe you could help us look for the temple on this island."
But Shadow just turned around and began walking away.
"Hmph, no thanks. I have more important things to do than waste my time helping you and your friends locate some ancient building."
"Hey, you have no idea that the whole world is at stake here. There's a bunch of villains on this island trying to find the temple as well."
"And why should I care about that?"
"There's a jewel within that temple that holds unlimited, unimaginable power. But I've heard that it will only transfer it's power to the person it deems worthy. That power is the reason those goons are after it in the first place. If they get it before us, they'll use it's energy to become all powerful. They'll take down anyone who gets in their way, including you."
"I'm the Ultimate Life Form, they can't kill me."
"With the jewel's power they can."
"Come on Shadow, please help us." said Blaze.
"We could really use your help."
Shadow then stopped for a minute to think to himself.
"I don't feel like helping these pathetic heroes. Stuff like this doesn't concern me. I only work on my own ambitions." thought Shadow.
"Please Shadow, please help them. Do it for me." said a voice.
"Maria?"
"It's okay Shadow, I'm here for you."
Shadow briefly closed his eyes for a second, and then reopened them to find himself looking at what appeared to be the spirit of his old friend, Maria.
"Maria, is that you?"
"Yes Shadow, it's me."
"But I thought you were dead."
"I am dead, but I'm alive in your mind and imagination."
"That's good to know."
"Shadow, you must help the others stop the villains."
"But why?"
"You kept your promise to me, my request to you was to bring hope to humanity, give people a chance to be happy. Shadow, do it for me. Please."
"I will do it, for you Maria."
"Thank you Shadow. Always remember your promise, don't ever forget."
"I won't."
After that, Maria disappeared.
"So what do you say, will you help us?" asked Yoshi.
"Yeah, I'll help. But only because I made a promise to an old friend, that's all that matters." said Shadow.
"Now that these aliens are out of the way, we can keep moving until we find the temple."
The heroes all continued their way through the valley. But just as they got any further, they were suddenly confronted by a mysterious dark being. The ironic thing was that the being looked just like Samus, only her suit was dark blue and had a menacing appearance.
"You heroes aren't going anywhere unless you get through me, which you won't." said the being.
"Who are you supposed to be?" asked Yoshi.
"I am Dark Samus. You foolish heroes will not be reaching the temple once I'm done with you."
"Save it you Phazon freak, you can't take us all at once." hissed Samus who changed into her Light Suit.
"It's going to be a pleasure dealing with you again Samus. I want revenge for when you ruin my diabolical schemes for galactic conquest." said Dark Samus.
"I don't know what happened between you two in the past, but we can't allow this stupid knockoff to block our passage." said Yoshi.
"I'll show you a knockoff."
Without warning, Dark Samus shot out a vicious blast of Phazon, which struck Lucario in the chest, knocking him against a rock.
"I'll waste you like the pest that you are." said Samus as she fired a Missile at Dark Samus, but she knocked it away and fired out a Super Missile at her, which nearly damaged her armor.
"Your anger clouds your judgement Samus." taunted Dark Samus.
"Judge this!" said Shadow who came at her from the side. He attempted to hit her with a Chaos Spear, but before he could use it, he was suddenly kicked in the stomach by Dark Samus, who soon followed it up with a punch to the face, and then a Phazon blast.
"You're such a pathetic hedgehog. That feeble minded attempt was useless."
"How's this for useless." said Yoshi as he struck her with midair kick, which distorted her balance a little. Then she got hit by a fire blast from Blaze, a Force Palm from Lucario, a punch from the bounty hunter and finally, a Flamethrower from Charizard.
Catching her off guard, Shadow rushed at Dark Samus and hit her with a Spin Dash while Samus blasted her with a Charge Beam. But all Dark Samus did was shrug everything off.
"Hahahahaha, is that all you fools have got. You won't beat me with attacks like that. I'm more powerful than either of you can realize." said Dark Samus.
"Oh please, what could you possibly do to prove all that?" asked Yoshi.
"THIS!"
Gathering up a huge amount of Phazon energy, she then soon released the energy in a massive, destructive shockwave that knocked back everyone, as well as destroying most of the valley in the process because of the force. The heroes all layed sprawled out on the ground, having been hit hard by the attack. Lucario looked around the area, feeling devastated at the destruction of such a peaceful place.
"YOU. YOU MONSTER, DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE. HOW DARE YOU ATTACK SUCH A CALM AND WONDERFUL LAND, YOU HEARTLESS PARASITE." yelled Lucario with rage and hatred.
"Aw what's the matter, did I make you mad!" taunted Dark Samus.
"You'll pay dearly for this."
Suddenly Lucario engulfed himself in aura, which enhanced his power beyond it's natural limits.
"Is that all, what a waste."
Dark Samus shot a Super Missile at him, but in a surprising motion, Lucario swatted it off into the sky, where it exploded.
"My turn." said Lucario in a low, almost sinister voice.
Using his ExtremeSpeed, Lucario dashed forward with blinding speed, ramming his elbow into Dark Samus with great force, sending her flying backwards. Catching up with her, Lucario punched her multiple times and then kicked her high up in the air. He soon jumped up to meet her, hitting her in the face with a brutal kick, following it up with a punch. He then slammed his fists on her head, sending her falling back towards the ground.
"Watch the power of Aura!" exclaimed Lucario.
Charging up his energy, Lucario let loose with a powerful "Aura Storm" attack, sending the blast down at Dark Samus. The blast hit her with intense force, creating a crater the moment it touched the ground. Lucario kept at it for about several minutes, using most of the energy he had in the attack to keep it going until he came to a stop. He landed back on the ground, panting heavily with exhaustion.
Dark Samus slowly crawled out of the crater, severely weakened after being bombarded by a powerful attack. Because of her current state, she could barely keep her balance. But before she could do anything else, she was suddenly punched up in the air by Charizard. Blaze leaped up in the air and kicked her from behind, sending her towards Yoshi, who flipped forward and slammed his tail down on her head, driving her to the ground once more. Halfway, Shadow came up and kicked her to the bounty hunter, who then threw her towards Samus, who blasted her with a Super Missile.
"Sorry Dark Samus, you lose." said Yoshi.
"You were lucky, but I've got another ace up my sleeve."
Aiming her cannon at him, she then fired out a rather deadly Phazon blast towards Yoshi. He couldn't dodge it in time, and was hit by the blast which knocked him across the ground, kncocking him out.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" yelled an angry Samus.
"Oh don't worry, I just infected him with a deadly batch of Phazon. It may take a while for it to kill him, but at least it'll be worth the wait."
Laughing evilly, Dark Samus turns into a cloud of Phazon and flies away.
"Yoshi, wake up. Are you alright?" asked Blaze as she nudged him, trying to wake him up.
"Yeah, just a little dizzy that's all. That blast she hit me with was a powerful one, but why didn't it kill me." wondered Yoshi after regaining consciousness.
"Dark Samus infected you with Phazon. As of right now, your body is self producing Phazon. Overtime it's effects will corrupt you, and eventually, it'll kill you from the inside." explained Samus.
"I don't know why, but my body feels kind of funny."
Suddenly, Yoshi noticed his body beginning to change color. The color ran along his body until he was dark blue and his cheeks and belly were light blue.
"Samus, what's happening to me?"
"The Phazon is changing you."
"I feel some kind of strange power surging through me. It's unusual."
Then soon, Yoshi's eyes unexpectedly fired out a blast of energy which nearly hit Shadow, who ducked out of the way.
"Watch it, you almost hit me." said Shadow.
"Strangely, I actually feel good. This power that lays within me is tremendous. I feel like a new person."
"Don't get too attached to it, right now we still need to locate the temple, find the jewel and get off this island."
Meanwhile in the mountains...
Mario and his team were still searching in the mountains for the temple, but were continually unsuccessful. However they kept a close eye on the area for any signs of danger. They recently contacted Sonic's team who was still in the jungle, but even they had no luck either.
"I sure hope we find it soon, we've been searching for several hours." said Link.
"We can't give up now, we've got to keep trying." said Mario.
"Yoshi's team hasn't contacted us the whole time since we've been here. I think they might be in trouble." said Ness.
"No, if I know Yoshi, he'd never let that happen."
"It's too bad you won't live long enough to see your friends again." said a voice.
Team Red soon found themselves confronted by Shadow Mario, Earthlor and Ridley.
"Get out of our way, or else we'll have to get rough with you." said Captain Falcon.
"Save it for someone who cares. Once the jewel is ours, you meddlers will perish at our might." said Ridley.
"You've got that backwards Ridley, if anyone's getting that jewel, it's gonna be us." said Fox.
"Enough of this nonsense, get them." said Shadow Mario.
With that, they got into a fight. Mario faced off with Shadow Mario, Fox and Ness battled Ridley while Link and Captain Falcon fought Earthlor. Earthlor summoned two rocks from a mountain and launched them at Falcon, who rolled out of the way and shattered one with a Falcon Kick while Link slashed his blade through the second one, cutting it in half. Falcon came running at Earthlor and managed to nail him with a punch to the jaw, right before ducking out of the way of a rocky fist that was swung at him, allowing Link to slam his shield into the villain's head. Ridley fired his Plasma beam at Fox, but he activated his Reflector and knocked the blast back at him, but the villain evaded it and swung his tail. Fox jumped out of its range and shot two laser blasts at his face. Ridley then aimed his beam at Ness, who used his PSI Magnet to asborb the energy, right before countering with PK Flash and PK Fire simultaneously, which both hit Ridley with hard force, followed by Fox slamming his feet on his head.
Mario in the meantime was still fighting Shadow Mario. However, the plumber was at a slight disadvantage, as Shadow Mario was able to counter every attack he dished out. But Mario was able to dodge most of his attacks and return with his own, such as a successful punch to the face and a kick to the side.
"Hmm, impressive. You've gotten better since we last fought." commented Shadow Mario.
"I was just simply prepared for when I would get to face you again." replied Mario.
"You're in over your head. I beat you and your friends before, and I'll do it again, this time with help from my villains."
"We hope you'll enjoy having an early grave, because you're as good as dead." said Ridley who was choking Fox and Ness.
"That's not gonna be necessary." said Sonic, who appeared out of the jungle and hit Ridley in the head with a Homing Attack. Soon, the rest of Team Blue appeared as well. Bowser rammed into Earthlor's chest, knocking him back. Ridley slashed his right claw at Shiida, who ducked out of the way and kicked him in the lower jaw, followed by Marth and Meta Knight who both struck him with their swords. Captain Falcon and Link were busy helping Bowser fight Earthlor.
Mario and Sonic were currently preoccupied with Shadow Mario. Sonic came at him with a Spin Dash, but he narrowly avoided it, only to be punched by Mario from the side. But Shadow Mario retaliated with a kick to the face and punched Sonic in the stomach.
"This is getting us nowhere. We have to try something else. But what?" wondered Mario.
"How about that fusion that we've been working in the training simulator." suggested Sonic.
"It just might work. Bowser, Ness, Falcon, it's time."
"Right." replied the others.
Gathering up together, Sonic jumped up and went into a Spin Dash, followed by Ness creating a barrier of PK Fire around him. Mario shot a blast of fire at the barrier while Bowser joined in with his flame breath, igniting the barrier even further. At that very moment, Captain Falcon performed a Falcon Punch and hit Sonic forward, sending him blazing like a speeding, fiery comet. Shadow Mario prepared to counter the attack, only to be too late as Sonic slammed into him with massive force. After that, Sonic returned to normal.
"Hey look, what's happening with Shadow Mario?" asked Shiida.
The heroes all noticed that various parts of Shadow Mario's body were showing what appeared to be pieces of metal, such as his foot, which was now metal.
"What, why are parts of his body made of metal!" exclaimed Sonic.
"Wait a minute, I know those metallic body parts,it all makes sense now, he's a Metal Mario." said Mario.
"Metal Mario!" said a slightly surprised Bowser.
"Shadow Mario's not a single dark being, he's a corrupted Metal Mario."
Shadow Mario then regained conciousness and laughed evilly.
"Hahahaha, Blue Comet, Super Fireball, Burning Comet. You call those fusions? I will show you a real fusion." said Shadow Mario.
Earthlor lifted a massive boulder from the ground and tossed it to Shadow Mario. Using his fire powers, he lit the boulder on fire and kicked it up in the air. Ridley soon fired his Plasma Beam at the boulder, the force of the blast causing the boulder to shatter into smaller, burning rocks which rained down on the heroes.
"That's a fusion we call, the Destruction Meteor."
The heroes tried all they to could to avoid the falling rocks. Sonic used his speed to maneuver around most of them while Bowser withdrawed into his shell and began spinning around, shattering the rocks against his spikes. Mario dodged the rocks with his acrobatic moves, Link, Meta Knight, Marth and Shiida slashed up the rocks with their swords.
"You fools may have been lucky this time, but the jewel will still be ours once we reach the temple." said Ridley as he took off into the sky, with Shadow Mario and Earthlor following him.
"Well, now that they're gone, we better hurry up and find the temple before they do." said Sonic.
"Team Green to Team Red, come in. "said Yoshi's voice on Mario's communcator.
"Loud and clear, what's going on?" replied Mario.
"Good news, my team and I have located the temple right up ahead in a further part of the valley, we're on our way there now."
"Great work, we'll meet up with you in a bit. If any villains show up, stop them as quick as possible, don't let them get in the temple."
"Copy that, Yoshi out."
"Okay everyone, our search is over. Yoshi's team found the temple. We have to meet up with them and quick, there's no telling what those villains may do if they get to them first."
"Well what are we standing around for, let's get going." said Sonic.
Currently...
"Well, it took some time, but at least we finally found the temple." said Yoshi as he and his allies all approached a large pyramid shaped temple. It had all sorts of ancient markings on it.
"Wow, it's enormous." said the bounty hunter.
"You know something. Even though I couldn't stand you at first, I gotta admit, you've proven to be a valuable ally." said Charizard.
"No problem, even though I got beaten up a few times, at least I was still able to help out the best way I could. I may just be a crazy bounty hunter, but I've got some potential."
"So, what are we waiting for, let's go get that jewel." said Blaze.
"Hold it, we have to wait for the others to catch up with us." said Yoshi.
"How touching, I suppose you won't mind if we beat you around a little and then take the jewel." said a familiar voice.
The heroes turned around to come face to face with Ganondorf, Wario, Wolf and Conor.
"Well well well, if it isn't the traitors. Long time no see I suppose."
"I see you got a new look Yoshi. Was the old one too dorky for you!" taunted Conor.
"No, this is just the result of a new power I've obtained. Let me demonstrate."
Concentrating himself, Yoshi shot a Phazon blast from his eyes and hit Conor, knocking him across the ground.
"A word of advice to you Conor, never underestimate a hero. But since you're a villain, I guess you're too stupid and inexperienced to understand that."
"You wouldn't know inexperience if it took a bite out of your neck."
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know you were describing yourself."
"Enough of this, let's just beat these stupid heroes and get what we came for." said Wario.
"This is gonna be really interesting, beating up multiple villains all at once." said Blaze cockily as she got into her fighting stance.
Then afterwards, a fight began. Wario tried to hit Blaze, who ducked out the way of and countered with a fiery punch to the chin, right before being kicked from behind by Wolf, who was soon punched by the bounty hunter. Conor hit Shadow in the face with a punch and slammed his knee into his stomach, only for Shadow to block another punch and counter with a uppercut to the jaw. Yoshi dodged a Warlock Punch from Ganondorf and hit him with a Phazon blast which was fired from his mouth. Wario tried to attack him from behind by ramming into him, but Yoshi turned around and blasted him with Phazon from his hands, followed by Charizard slamming his tail at his face and Samus, in her Zero Suit, kicking him in the head.
Lucario slammed his elbow into Ganondorf's chest, and then struck him with a Force Palm attack. Conor rushed at him, only to be hit with an Aura Sphere and then a Homing Attack from Shadow, who then followed it up with a kick in the face. Conor attempted to punch him, but Shadow grabbed his fist.
"How pathetic." said Shadow before punching him square in the gut and then punching him hard in the face, which sent him flying backwards into Charizard, who grabbed him, flew up into the air and then tossed him down to the ground, where Conor was intercepted by a Phazon blast from Yoshi, who shot it from the tip of his tail. As a result, Conor was out cold.
"Conor, very cunning, yet so incredibly stupid."
Wario and Wolf had both been recently knocked out by Lucario, Blaze, Samus and the Bounty Hunter while Ganondorf had gotten defeated by Yoshi and Charizard.
"Just goes to show, villains are the stupidest beings in the whole universe, no denying that." said Yoshi.
"I still don't get why the four of them would try to fight all of us." said Samus.
"It's just like Yoshi said, they're a bunch of stupid villains who can't accept defeat." said Charizard.
Sometime later, Mario, Sonic and their teams all showed up.
"Looks like we got here just in time." said Mario.
"Hey Shadow, long time no see." greeted Sonic.
"Yeah, right." replied Shadow.
"What, there are more of you guys, this is surprising." said the bounty hunter.
"Uh, who are you suppose to be?" asked a puzzled Shiida.
"I'm a bounty hunter."
"Why exactly are you here on the island?" asked Marth.
"I originally came here with the intention of capturing some wanted supervillains for reward money. But somehow I got roped into helping your friends here find the temple."
"Wait a minute, time out. That is not true, the only reason you helped us is because you wanted to come along in the first place." said Yoshi.
"So what, I still got roped into it."
"By the way Yoshi, what happened to you, why are you blue?" asked a curious Bowser.
"I got infected with a blast of Phazon from Dark Samus."
"Look, we don't have time to stand around, we have to get in the temple." said Mario.
"Right." said Sonic.
"Let's go in through this entrance." said Link pointing to the nearby opening to the temple
With that, the heroes all entered the temple.
Later on...
"I knew this temple was big on the outside, but I never thought it would be bigger on the inside." said Sonic as he examined the surroundings. The entire inside of the temple was enormous to say the least. The most interesting bits were the various ancient markings on the walls.
"Look at those symbols, they're so unique." said Link.
"They're not just symbols Link, they are called hieroglyphics. It's an ancient term of writing, only rather than using letters, instead they carved graphical figures into the walls, as means of uncovering legends and revealing ancient prophecies." explained Lucario.
"Speaking of hieroglyphics, get a load of a the really big one on the wall." said Bowser.
The heroes turned to the left to look at what appeared to be a rather unusual image. It was a huge hieroglyph that showed a massive, monstrous creature wreaking havoc across the land. But because the temple was slightly dark, they could not see it clearly.
"What do you make of this one Lucario?" asked Samus.
"It's a prophecy. It tells of a sinister and savage beast that will one day be released from it's captivity, and it will ravage the land once more."
"Once again, you mean it attacked the land before?" asked the bounty hunter.
"Maybe so, but I can't tell."
"Uh oh, my Super Sense, the villains are coming, we better hurry. If they get to the jewel first, it'll be all over for us." said Yoshi.
"He's right, let's move." commanded Mario.
As the heroes travelled further into the temple, they kept their eyes peeled for any attacks or ambushes. They soon noticed a glowing red light in the distance coming from a room at the end of the area. As they got closer, the light got brighter. The sooner they entered the room, the heroes gasped at the sight of what appeared to be a diamond-shaped, crimson red jewel sitting upright on a pedestal.
"That must be the ancient jewel. It looks so glamorous." said Blaze.
"Look, there's another hieroglyph behind it." said Captain Falcon pointing at the wall.
The heroes all looked up to notice a hieroglpyh of four giant creatures engaged in combat. Three of them were birds while the last one appeared to be a dragon.
"This looks like another prophecy." said Yoshi.
"What does it say below?" asked Blaze.
"When the Phoenix's Shadow controls the beast of darkness, a battle of light and darkness will decide the fate of the world. By the light's triumph, peace will hold, by darkness triumph, chaos will take hold and armageddon begins."
"Wait, I've heard about the Phoenix. It's an ancient mythological bird that has a 500 to 1000 year life cycle. When it gets consumed by fire, it is soon reborn through it's own ashes." said Bowser.
"Hey, remember what Mewtwo said. The ancient jewel will only transfer it's power to the being it deems worthy, meaning that it must choose who is worthy enough to harness it. Wait, I think Mewtwo might have left out something about the jewel." said Samus.
"Samus is right, there's something written on front of the pedestal." said Mario.
"What's it say?"
"Hold on, I'll read it." said Lucario.
"Only a being with a pure heart and a good soul will be considered worthy to harness the jewel's energy. But a being who has a dark heart and a twisted evil soul will be rejected."
"So, the only way to find out who's worthy is if some of us grab it and see what happens." said Mario.
"Why don't you go first Mario, you're the leader." said Yoshi.
"Okie dokie."
Mario reached for the gem and picked it up. However, nothing happen.
"Sonic, you're next."
Mario then handed it to Sonic, only to get the same result.
"I think this jewel must be broken or something." said Sonic, who suddenly got shocked with red lightning from the jewel.
"Ow, that hurt."
"Haha, it seems the jewel must have zero tolerance for insults Sonic." Yoshi joked.
"Okay smart aleck, why don't you give it a try, since you're third-in-command."
"Alright I will."
Sonic gave the jewel to Yoshi. Then within seconds, the jewel soon began to glow brightly in Yoshi's hand.
"Why is it glowing so much brighter than before?"
"It's you Yoshi." said Charizard.
"Me, what do you mean?
"The jewel, it chose you. You're the one that it deemed worthy enough to transfer it's power to."
"So, when the jewel glows in someone's hand, that means it chooses that said person. But why would it choose me?"
"Are you kidding Yoshi, you've done all sorts of things for the entire day. For the past several hours, you battled some powerful villains like Hyperfire, Plasmotron, Ridley, Hydra, Masher, Earthlor,Dark Samus and even Shadow Mario. That's a possible example of why the jewel had chosen you, because of your confidence and bravery, that's what someone with a pure heart would do." said Ness.
"I guess you're right."
Soon, Yoshi could feel his body being energized as the jewel's energy surged through him. His phazon colors and powers also disappeared as he was returned to his original color.
"It feels like the energy is making me stronger." said Yoshi.
"Oh no you don't, that jewel belongs to us." said none other than Terrick, who came in from the other side of the room along with some of the other villains.
"How did you losers get in here!" exclaimed Sonic.
"We came in through the other side of the temple, and we're not leaving without that jewel, now hand it over." demanded Shadow Mario.
"You stupid villains are too late, we've got the jewel now." said Yoshi.
"Not for long, Terrick, get the jewel."
Doing as he was told, Terrick lunged at Yoshi, grabbing hold of the jewel. Pretty soon, the jewel's energy began to surge through him as well.
"Give up the jewel reptile, it's ours." said Terrick.
"Not a chance."
Suddenly, with a new burst of power, Yoshi shot a red energy blast from his left hand, blasting Terrick into Shadow Mario.
"Quick, let's get out of here and fast." said Sonic.
The heroes then took off running, with Yoshi still carrying the jewel.
"AFTER THEM, DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THE JEWEL." yelled Ridley.
In a quick rush, the villains began pursuing their enemies through the temple. Bowser and Charizard attempted to slow them down with fire attacks, blocking the villains with a wall of fire. Ridley blew the fire away with his wings and fired a plasma beam, but Fox quickly turned around and used his Reflector to deflect it. The blast ended up hitting one of the walls of the temple, causing it to start crumbling.
"Oh no, the temple's gonna collapse, we gotta get to the outside quickly, but first, I'll slow down those idiots back there." said Yoshi.
Turning around while still running, Yoshi unleashed a bright wave of red light from the palm of his hand, blinding the villains and stopping them in their tracks.
"So long losers, it was nice knowing you."
As soon as the heroes made it out of the temple, they watched from a distance as the entire structure collapsed into a big pile of rubble.
"Looks like those morons won't be getting out anytime soon." said Sonic.
"Heroes- 1 point, Bird brained villains- zero points, an easy victory."
"Yoshi, look at the jewel." said Meta Knight.
Yoshi looked on with astonishment as the jewel soon phazed itself into Yoshi's body.
"It merged with me, amazing."
"You've now become one with the jewel." said Lucario.
"All that matters is that we got the jewel, and now we can get off this island.
They soon arrived back on the beach, only to suddenly be confronted by Shadow Mario and the other villains, including some who they've never seen before.
"I figured those goons would reappear at some point in time." said Sonic.
"You heroes may have gotten stronger physically, but lets see how strong you are mentally, without further ado you get to take a trip to the Dark Dome, where your greatest nightmares come to life." said Shadow Mario.
Several of the villains formed a star formation, surrounding the heroes. But before they could do anything, Yoshi, Mario, Sonic and Link all suddenly got trapped in what appeared to be a cage composed of solid red energy.
"What's going on, where did this cage come from?" wondered Link.
"I did it." said a man. Judging from his appearance, he was tall and muscular with a well built body, a brown beard and brown hair, with a black fur hat on his head. His outfit consisted of a red military suit which had a white circle with a red star in the middle. He also wore a pair of goggles over his eyes.
"Who are you, some Captain America and Green Lantern villain wannabe?" asked Yoshi.
"I am called Red Star. You americans will pay dearly for what you've done to communism in the past."
Terrick then created a large collection of Shadow Bugs above the cage, followed by Dark Samus transferring part of her Phazon into the Shadow Bugs. Shadow Mario then shot a wave of darkness in with the two combined substances, creating a ball of dark energy. Ridley then fired a fully concentrated blast of his Plasma Beam at the ball, igniting it with the energy from his beam. Then suddenly, an evil wizard like being had appeared.
He was wearing what appeared to be some sort of cloak, which concealed his body. When he opened his cloak, it revealed what looked like a mini dark tornado composed of darkness.
"Who on earth are you supposed to be?" asked Sonic.
"I am known only as Nightmare, which is something you shall soon remember for the rest of your lives." said the villain.
Using his own powers, Nightmare produced his own darkness into the ball, and pretty soon, it turned into a dome which spreaded around the four trapped heroes, engulfing them in one large dome of darkness.
To Be Continued
Chapter 5 is here at last.
I would like to give credit to Storyteller222 for the idea of the Dark Dome and the Destruction Meteor fusions.
The chapter would have been longer than this, but I had to make some changes. The extra material will be included in a mini chapter I'm working on.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy it.
Also, tune in for the release of my latest story.
Marvel vs Capcom vs SSB: Battle For Glory
See you soon.