Chapter 13: Good Old Fashion Jungle Beat

Super Smash Bros. [DK Jungle, Donkey Kong Country]

Warning: Their are OC Kong Family members included

After some time teleporting to various locations, Viridi's crew found themselves in a heavily wooded jungle environment. The temperature was oddly low considering it's they were in middle of a rainforest, making it an ideal location for wild life to be more than comfortable. "Are we sure we're in the right jungle this time?" Sonic wasn't wrong to question this place because Viridi had been teleporting them all the way from Outset Island to visiting Bubbles in Clu Clu Land. It took several tries but at last they made it to a jungle. To verify that they made it to DK's domain, Pit looked around and saw that Jigglypuff was snacking on a banana from the smorgasbord of fruits found on the trees and floating in midair.

"Yeah this is the place." Stated Pit.

"How do ya know?" Upon asking the question, Pit turned to the side to see Pikachu and Luigi trying their best to not slip on the ground littered with peels, to no avail.

"Just a good guess. Trust me." Regardless of the hilarious scene that had betaken the Smashers, their was something that was missing amongst them. "Hold on... where's Viridi?" Luigi picked himself up, wiping away a banana peel off his right shoulder mumbling something about never getting a break, where he gazed upon the familiar environment he'd been through racing in a Mario Kart Grand Prix. Peaceful. Peaceful and serene, making him feel both at ease and vigilant. Let's not forget the golden rule of the jungle, 'Lions and Tigers, and Bears! Oh my!' Of course their weren't that many predators on this island... except for the occasional Piranha plant relative snacking on a long piece of blonde hair. All the blood oozing down from the jaws grounding bones and fleshy parts til they easily mushed down the throat! Oh the humanity! Such as the savage circle of life, mercilessly letting others serve as the gruesome meals of ravenous appetites of the carnivores!... Just kidding. None of that realistic shit is going down. The only things voluntarily doing such would be the Dusk Templar and their over the top brutal ways. No instead a certain celestial blondie was stuck inside the maw of a Chomp murmuring her struggle amongst the leathery plant hide of its mouth.

"Uh, I think I've found that Viridi girl." The plumber pointed upwards at the plant devouring the goddess. Luigi's outlook on the beautiful forest was buried by the dangerous flora wanting to take a bite out of anything moving. He didn't expect anything less, considering that every wonderland had it's hidden monsters every now and then. The rest of the group assembled to where Luigi pointed at, where the Nature goddess was ironically being eaten by a ravenous plant. She was still alive since she was still struggling inside of jaws she was stuck in. All the others heard was her muffled screaming inside the Chomp, not budging despite having its prey kicking around madly.

"We have to get her out of their!" Yeah, no kidding Pit. They could just leave her their and have no way of teleporting back. Sarcasm aside, Pikachu suggested it electrocute the plant in order to free the Nature Goddess when it charged up an electric attack. "Wait Pikachu!" It was too late for the mouse had shot out a ThunderShock onto the Chomp, giving it such a bolting it had no choice but to release it's recent meal. The attack not only electrocuted the plant, but by the way the captive sounded inside, she also received a good shocking as well, so when she slipped out of the Chomp's lips Viridi was covered in plant saliva and was somewhat singed all around her. The Task Force gathered underneath where Viridi fell from. Unfortunately she landed on Luigi, always the unwillingly bullet-monkey to this fic's humour. Viridi twitched from being electrocuted alongside the Chomp before sitting back up.

"Good fer nothing piranha plant reject, I had that in control y'know!" Same ol' ungrateful and bitter goddess. Pit and Sonic tried to reach for her hand to help her up, however the proud goddess refused the help callously. "Don't!" She got off of Luigi, not even showing any regard to the plumber who unwillingly broke her fall. "Stupid mouse. No one said to electrocute me!" Pikachu scowled at the insufferable female, turning its head away contemptuously. A thank you for saving my life would be in order, but NO!

"Pika."

"Alright you sorry bunch of louts, now that it's obvious we are on DK Island, the only thing we have to do is locate where the Kongs have placed themselves this time." What she said should be taken into light. In his last return to DK Country, Donkey's house was located deep in the jungle like so many times before, but more recently he's been found celebrating some sort of anniversary or birthday closer to the coast, no sooner being interrupted by the barbaric Snowmads, so that means their must be different homes for DK depending on the season.

"So far, it seems to be the end of summer, meaning he's bound to be going inland to avoid the cold." Sonic analysed from the surroundngs.

"Right. So our best option is to look further in the jungle. That and follow a trail of banana peels." Immediately Jigglypuff tripped upon a loose peel on the ground. "And try to avoid slippng on them. *Scoff*" Pit was looking at the numerous amount of compost littered about and didn't have to time to react to Viridi bonking him on the head with her staff. *Konk!*

"Ow! What was that for?" The angel asked, rubbing the pained spot on his cranium.

"That was for letting that Pokemon jolt me. Now let's move out team!" Following the Nature Goddess, the team of Smash Bros. members followed the trail they blazed on the hunt for Donkey Kong and Diddy if they were lucky. Going through brush and glorious scenery of the untouched land, Viridi chimed about how the rest of the world(s) should look as beautiful as this, admiring so many of the exclusive fauna and flora found on this island paradise. Luckily they avoided many of the grouchy inhabitants and looked out for any cartoonish hazards lying about along with sneaky banana peels. Hours seem to have past with many of the team feeling too beat to carry one. Viridi didn't give two shoes about how tired they were and pushed on, dragging the rest of the team with her toward the mission. The fatigue seemed to be tricking some of the guys, for Pit seemed to have spotted young woman with a ponytail climbing about on a waterfall they passed by, and Luigi had tripped and had a mirage about him falling down a pitfall (when in reality he had just fell in some isolated sand). Thankfully they snacked on the many banana's in the jungle rejuvenating their strength to go on. I guess DK was right to put value on these tasty fruits.

"Are we there yet!" Whined Pit.

"We'll get there, when we get there!" Viridi had had up to here answering Pit's complaining far too many times, considering knocking him on the head and leaving him where he was.

"Geez. We've been at this trek forever. Where could Donkey Kong be?" Asked Sonic, losing his patience on finding the large brown ape.

"I don't know. Usually when he's not hanging around with us, he's chilling out in solitude here." Luigi responded. "We never once been on a safari in his place."

"Great. Grrrr, why couldn't he just make signs leading to where he lives. It's not like any of these animals are not cool with him, and if they do have beef, why would they be dumb enough to steal from him after all the 'successful' times attempted."

"Maybe he knows where they are by instinct. Besides, can't you like locate him with some godly powers or something?" Quipped Sonic, just about as tired as Viridi is at this expedition.

"Um, nope. Not with those Dusk Templar roaming about. Besides, don't you have like some super speed to travel around this island or something?" She retorted.

"Well I could if their weren't any trees I can bump into." Before an argument could be established, Jiggly sensed something in the air. Something it instinctively yearned for amongst it's kind.

"Jiggly!" Jigglypuff dashed into a shrub past Luigi, having everyone give a quizzical expression.

"What could that airbag be going to this time?" Pit stepped closer to where the balloon Pokemon entered and perked his ear in that particular direction. It only took a moment to hear glimmer of something lively past the ambience. It was faint, but Pit could definitely hear something in the distance. It would attract the attention of a musical creature like the singing Jigglypuff.

"Hold on... I hear something too." Exclaimed Pit holding a hand to his ear. "I think Jigglypuff's onto something! Let's follow!" As demeaning it is to follow an inferior, Viridi gave them the benefit of the doubt, since she was emaciated from the long trek. The further they went through the brush, the more clearer the beat of drums rang throughout the air. It was certainly bothersome for the group to shove past ferns and other outgrown plants that came slapping back to anyone behind. After a moderate hike through the forests, our heroic band came into a clearing that was a sight to behold. (play Jungle Level Jazz Style) A stage made out from the jungle itself which had a band of Kongs playing the very catchy jazz tune out to the party goers. The guests consisted of every notable Kong family member and other distant relatives not seen or mentioned like various gorillas, chimps, monkeys, and even gibbons partying like it's 2018. Dk's Animal friends were also present ranging from Rambi the Rhino snacking on a pile of salad to even a flock of Helibirds playing darts with Squawks (Minus the marine pals who could not join from it being inland. Don't worry, in the Summer, a beach party is promised to have them be included.) Funky Kong ran the refreshments ranging from fruit cocktails and the Kong favorite, Banana Smoothie, from an improvised station made from a downed air plane. Lanky Kong hung out with various Kongs retelling the time the DK Crew thwarted K. Rool from blasting the island off the map with his deathly Blast-o-matic while Kiddy Kong was playing amongst the treeline with other Kong young collecting other fruit abundant above. The rag music got many Kongs getting down with the groove, giving the contagious funk to the newcomers.

"Shoot! It's a good 'ol hootenanny in these woods!" Exclaimed the ecstatic nature goddess. "Well as long as we're here, lets party it up!" Pit grabbed the little goddesses arm before she could exit the bushes.

"We don't have time for fun and games. We should find DK and Diddy to join us. We have a mission to do."

"Unhand me plebe!" She pulled herself away from the angel boy. "I'm in charge of this expedition, y'here? And I say it's time for a little break. Besides, I don't see the big lug anywhere, so maybe we should wait him out and enjoy our free time."

"Now we're talking!" Sonic agreed. "Lets get down with our bad selves!" Pikachu followed the care-free members into the crowd of dancers who let the newcomers in without hesitation. Pit questioned whether he should wait for the jungle duo with his comrades, seeing Viridi getting down with the rag, Swanky Kong joining her on the dancefloor, Pikachu grabbing a small bowl of ketchup and Sonic busting a move. Luigi grabbed at a beverage being served by a tortoise going around serving a platter of them.

"Maybe it would be wise to wait for the host to come out. DK will come to see us, but in the meantime let's wait at our leisure. Itsa 'bout time I got a well deserved break." Hesitating at first, Pit gave in to fun commencing around him. It isn't everyday you meet Donkey and Diddy's extended family. Perhaps they live around the globe, swinging around different environments or adapting to modern/urban locations. If Yoshi's, Koopas, Goombas and various creatures could live in modern communities, why can't Kongs live like people. It's nice to meet relatives of a friend who is more action than words, with many family members and friends looking somewhat like the big ape, which is especially prevalent in all Kongs. Our angelic hero looked onto the crowd, considering joining Viridi in an innocent dance with the merriment. It really caught Pit's eye that there were certain guests who were not Kongs or animal friends socializing. In fact, no one expected to see the spokesperson of Jack In The Box conversing with Banjo and Kazooie, or an outgoing blue haired girl posing and expressing her rivalry with another girl by the surname Doma. Elsewhere at a far off table, an older fella and his troubled looking grandson attended the party, enjoying their share in fruits and refreshments.

"Urp! Where's the meat at? I mean, I know they're gorillas, but I never seen 'em go off and fish for termites or munch on leaves or any of that crap." Complained the old man.

"Gee Rick, the least we can do is enjoy the party. Hell, we haven't spoken to one person since we got here." Retorted his grandson.

"Cuz I don't want to get involved in all the insanity that follows. I mean, everywhere these Smash Bros. go there's there's, there's like catastrophe or utter mayhem straight behind them. Like those Dusk Templar and their sadistic warpath."

"Oh geez! Rick Does that mean there's, there's going to be those Transformer knights coming to this party? Are we going to die here or be enslaved in some demented messed up zoo? Oooooohoooooh!"

"Calm down Morty. Don't spoil it. Just calm the *uurp* fuck down. We're going to be long gone before any attack happens. Besides, the author to this fanfic doesn't own us, so we'll be safe at least as far as the story goes."

"Yeah, but anything goes in a fanfiction Rick! Anything goes. Hahahave have you ever read the Mission from God thing? Hell, everything went down in that!"

"It's pronounced Mishonh frum Gawd Morty. Jeez, and no I don't read fanfiction, it's just a bunch of unprofessional fan shit any lifeless loser with no perspective can write. Any hasbeen with a eighth of a brain could come up with this work."

"Hey come on Rick that's just dickish. You know, some authors could be reading this and be really offended."

"If they've seen the stuff on our television show, they know I could say much worse. I'm holding back how real I can be here because of the demographic of this tale. Besides, it doesn't matter what I say now. This story isn't about you or me Morty, It's about the Super Smash Bros. joining up again to stop a major common foe that could seriously end their very existences altogether. Not, featuring Rick and Morty. Hell, were just cameo guests to put in a a a, aaaa 'hey look it's those guys!' bit."

"Wow. When you put it that way Rick, I feel so unimportant. I mean will we be shown again after this?"

"That depends Morty. *Urp!* That depends on if the reviews want us to cameo again. But that's beyond the point. It's great to just travel in between dimensions and see things you've never seen."

"Yeah, you really changed topics dramatically."

"Sh-sh-sh-shhh. This is the part where the main focus comes into place leading up to the climax of the chapter." (end BGM) On cue, going away from the side conversation, the music quieted down to show Diddy Kong come up on stage wielding his guitar from his 64 game chanted out to the audience who were just as thrilled to see the famous Kong. Pit went over to Luigi as soon as he saw the past Smasher.

"Hey Luigi, their's Diddy Kong." He shook Greenstache's shoulder. "What's he sayin?" Luigi looked at the angel not in the position to answer the question.

"Iunno. He seems to be encouraging the partygoers to have a good time and..." Diddy interrupted with a sweet rip with a guitar solo, gaining the awe of all those present. After a time that would gain a tip a the hat from Marty Mcfly, the monkey finished his solo with a phresh pose, one arm in the air followed by a thunderous applause from his family and friends. The chanting did not end for him even as he left the stage, waving out to his wonderful crowd on his descent from the side stairs. Fortunately this was a good time for Pit and Luigi to intercept Diddy Kong and finally meet.

"Diddy! It's us, Luigi and Pit!" Hollered the angel. Diddy hopped and whooped at seeing his old friends. "Yeah it's great to finally see you too. So where's DK?" The monkey's happy demeanor shifted to disheartenment the moment his partner was mentioned, not setting up any good signs.

"I believe I can shed some light on this topic." Next to the back of the big stage, a caped ball snuck out of a hut showing it's yellow eyes to former Super Smash bros.. He wrapped himself in his cobalt cape, sans his iconic mask, his pauldrons sticking out from the top corners of his compact body.

"Whoa, is it really?!"

"For the sake of all that is good, let's assume I am who I'm supposed to be." Said Meta Knight with no time to waste. "We will discuss more in here, so as to not upset the partygoers."

"Luigi, find the others, and tell them we've found Diddy and freaking Meta Knight!" The angel gushed at the ending of this statement.

"The one and only."

"Wait, what about D..."

"Don't."

After Luigi had reassembled the rest of the force into the hut, they sat and stood at a table with Meta and Diddy Kong in the moderately lit hut space. On one side of the place had snacks and drinks to partake in, enough for any passing group to enjoy and stay for socializing. Elsewhere on stage, a band of Kongs assembled to play the next song starring a female and male Kong leading the band. Brandy Kong and Quincy Kong now perform a rendition of the favored song "Monkey Rag" (which would be a great time to play Monkey rag now) in the background of the main party's discussion.

"Yes. Terrible news it is to here of Mario's capture." Meta Knight started in the most logical sense. "We miss one the founding fighters of the Smash Bros. And not to mention one of the most influential of it's roster."

"What the hell is he going on, starting off with that." Said Viridi, but not out loud. "We hadn't even mentioned anything about Mario, more or less even began talking, and he starts with 'Terrible news about Mario's capture'"

"We are not in a winning position against the Dusk Templar. Many of the Smashers are under captivity inside that fiendish ship. Perhaps even more than we know are imprisoned on the carrier."

"What about Donkey Kong?" Asked Sonic.

"Diddy has confirmed that Donkey Kong is no longer free to fight on our side." Meta Knight looked to Diddy, showing melancholy for Donkey Kong's capture. "However it's safe to say that any prisoners on board the ship are alive. But it's not confirmed on their living arrangements."

"Well isn't that peachy. No pun intended."

"It's all good."

"Yeah well our main focus was to find Donkey Kong when we got here."

"Hey! The point of this mission was to find any past Smasher that happened to be hiding with DK." Scolded Viridi to the Blue Blurr. "And we've found our fair share in Smashers."

"How many are with you at Palutena's Temple?" Meta Knight demanded for curiosity.

"Well," Started Pit. ",we have me of course, Luigi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Ness, Sonic, R.O.B., Toon Link, and you two. Since we all have to stick together in this."

"It's not enough." Exclaimed the star warrior. "At the rate Knightscourge is going around capturing the rest of the Smashers, it'll only be a matter of time before he succeeds."

"That's encouraging." Moped Luigi.

"Whatever the case," Viridi said. "If that's everyone here, we should hop back to the temple before anything bad happens. AND BELIEVE ME, it doesn't get better than this."

"Meta Knight. Oh Meta Knight!" Someone was calling outside of the hut the group took refuge in. It took a few seconds to have a young blonde female moved the bamboo beaded door. Her outfit consisted of a black top baring her midriff, white sashes overlapped over her chest and shorts, purple boots wrapped in black bindings and a blue fiery scarf sizzling in electricity at the end. A prominent feature was a vine wrapping around from her left thigh going up around her body and ending at her left arm. "Hey Meta, there you are. Their's beginning to be a slight shortage of cantaloupe, does Diddy know if there's..." The girl looked to the other guests, quickly singling out Pit and understanding his affiliation with them. Then she really paled upon seeing the Goddess of Nature sitting amongst the crew, who happens to be her boss as well. "Oh."

"'Oh' is the right word here!" Viridi began her angered statement. "What in blue blazes are you doing here, Phosphora!?"

"Well,"

"Well? This better be a good excuse to go missing along with a lot of my army. Where are my over commanders while I'm at it?"

"Actually," Phosphora elaborated on her fellow commanders location. "Arlon is chilling with a mango mist over at the cantina and i'm pretty sure Craggy is passed out in a pile of fruits."

Cragalanche, the golemic creature of the Forces of Nature, was in a shut down state lying on it's back with several kid kongs playing around it like most pestering children would to big object or to a relaxing senior. Of course Cragalanche was not at all phased by the childrens antics considering it is inactive.

"Dafaq?!" Viridi swore with a close euphemism. "What's that supposed to mean? Everyone left their post while I was out chewing out Palutena?! What authority said any of you could just up and leave the job?!"

"No disrespect ma'am, but you did promise that we could take some time on vacation while you prepared for a new campaign." This news didn't sit well with many of the company especially Pit who had no idea Viridi was planning another atrocity against humanity (a real dense one Pit is), but that embarassing prospect would have to wait. "Plus nothing was really happening, so Arlon and I thought we could invite Cragalanche to relax at his leisure."

"At one of our world's most dire times you decided to go on break!? And another thing. Cragalanche doesn't need vacation time, he doesn't even need breaks, he's made of rock, which nullifies those distractions, and I decide what's best for my creation, not my supervisors."

Meta Knight fake coughed to get back the Nature Goddess's attention to the real matter. "Viridi. Our problems only worsen as we hold haste. We must locate as much extra Smash bros. as necessary."

"Yeah, yeah. Cool your horses Mr. Meta." She resumed to Phoshora. "Look, I give my word that I will permit you and Arlon will resume your vacation days on another date, but right now is an upcoming apocalypse, so I need my full force to help Palutena in finding this confederacy of heroes and stop the Dusk Templar from bringing our existance to void. So will you lend me your limited divine powers to help in a righteous cause?"

"What 'chu talking about limited?" Questioned Phosphora about the assumption. "My powers are working fine."

Viridi gave her a quizzical look that reeked 'o rly'. "Is that so?"

"... for the most part." Phosphora had to admit, it took her more energy than necessary to float in mid-air than she used to and the spark she had before inside her is more at 50% than before the Dusk Templar showed it's nasty mug. So as a goddess herself, she was most definitely facing the problems Palutena and Viridi were facing with limited power and vulnerability.

"Thought so."

"If anything, if the Gods are at the mercy of Knightscourge, how can we let alone the Super Smash Bros. stand a chance.?" Lamented Luigi.

"Of course their's another way." Said Meta Knight. Viridi gave him a sceptical glance when he proclaimed an alternative to divine help.

"Yeah, and?" Suddenly the star warrior flipped open his cape, showing that his little gloved arm held a purple shell with a pull-string attached near the opening of the shell.

"With this device!"

"Oooooooh. The Magic Conch Shell." Luigi, Pit, and Sonic moaned in zeal. The Pokemon were not entranced by the mystical piece of plastic. As for Viridi and Phosphora, they held miffed expressions upon contact of the toy. "Oh boy. Not this thing" Scoffed Viridi.

"Oh Magic Conch Shell, what shall we do in our predicament?" Meta pulled the string, hoping on a joyous answer from the all knowing conch shell on how to deal with the Dusk Templar. What it said in response was this: "Nothing."

"The Conch has SPOKEN!" The guys chanted, then proceeded doing that weird tongue thing with their mouths in a tube shape. "Wooloolololololololoololololololoolololololololooloolololololo!"

"Are you morons serious!? We don't have time for this nonsense!" Viridi's orders were heard by deaf ears for our fellas (including Meta Knight taking an OOC moment) had heeded the conch's answer by doing absolutely nothing. Luigi has been known to succeed by these methods. Even Jigglypuff and Pikachu were in on the act, sitting motionless in the hut. "Augh! I need fresh air, so that the stupidity doesn't spread to me." Phosphora followed suit when Viridi left, not letting the moment get to her. "Alright. So as I was saying..." Viridi looked to the left. What she had left of her dwindling god senses had her detect a forbidding force on the horizon. It it was a big one I'll tell you what. "Phosphora, you feel that. Like a murderer is closing in on you?"

"Never actually felt that feeling and I don't want to know how you know of such. But could it be?" The nature commander retorted.

"We have to be on our toes. I think trouble has just found us!" Viridi dashed toward where she felt had an ominous presence. The little Goddess went around the crowd of Kongs who were cheering Arlon on as he played a righteous tune from a saxophone (and I can bet you know what legendary piece of music he was performing with the brass), to which he saw a head of blonde hair run at the edge of his eye.

"Hmm. Milady Viridi?"

The other Smashers left their trance and peeked outside. "Where did Viridi go?" Asked Pit.

"Ah! You guys! She ran off into the jungle saying she sensed some off putting presence." This news got the team riled up, knowing who was out in the jungle, looking for a fight. "Could it be them?"

Viridi had travelled a considerable distance from the party in order to meet her enemy first before they reached her. Then again, she could have considered that the innocent partygoers would be caught in the crossfire so she planned to take the battle away from the festivities. However, it seemed her senses were stronger than she anticipated, since she saw no sign of the mysterious presence above or in front of her. She stopped to catch her breath, looking around to see if the aura was still in this zone. Nothing could prepare her for a whizzing sound to be heard as a whirling glave zoomed at her from the overgrowth. In magnificent reflexes, the Goddess fell back onto her hands to avoid being cut in two, getting back up to her feet to look back at the spinning blade coming back. Viridi moved aside to hit her back against a tree, but had to drop to the ground as a second glave came to tear into her as well. She got up and leaped over a third one, landing again to see it go around for another loop. It shredded through vegetation as it whirred back to it's target, cutting into the side of tree trunks and tough plants like knives through vegetables. Another blade had a trajectory to hit Viridi from the back if the girl was to dodge the previous one. Sensing this, Viridi waited until the glaves came in close enough until in lightning fast precision she fell to her knees, back bent to the ground to have the glaves collide into each other and break upon impact. It seemed the weapons would have arced down to dice her had she fallen down to evade, but two at the same time ended that loophole. Viridi rose up, recollected herself, and looked to the mess of the weapons. "Hmph. So much for advanced technolo-guh!"

At that moment, some clamp had slammed shut just above her ankle, ripping into her flesh with sharp metallic teeth. She looked to her wound to see a trap sinking into godly flesh, making her see a substance she believed mortals to only have spill out of where the trap had bitten into. "Auuugh! But how!?" It just so turned out that those spinning glaves were actually launched traps shot out from our voracious neighborhood Dusk Templar, a brutal tactic used to hold their prey in place when not accompanied by Verrutts. The Nature Goddess tried to touch the steel trap but it shot an excruciating pain through her that had her scream for dear life. "Aaaah! *Huff* *huff* Nnnnrgh!" She finally got a grip on the steel trap cutting into her leg, trying her hardest to pry off the contraption. However it seemed to be closing down upon her flesh, ensuring that with any struggle, the mechanism would dig deeper into it's unfortunate target. Viridi has heard of these traps horrendously used by humans to trap animals, leaving the poor creature to stay in place in agonizing pain. The Coyote is a brutal example of a method to escape this, but in Viridi's position, she would lose her right foot either way if she did something or not. The pain was too much for her. She could never imagine any living creature going through this slow, painful process (let alone losing ones body part). If the Dusk Templar didn't find her and finish her off, then she would probably wilt away by being stuck there, or worse, not die and go through the agony until the clamp reached bone and maybe snapped through. Who knows if her Immortality had been lost with her other divinities. The only thing going through her mind was that her allies find her and get this thing off her before any Dusk Templar came by. But her luck went bad as loud metallic footsteps edged closer through the brush, accompanied by a droning sound of a flying ship above. "...huh?" Is this how she was going to end? Forever in Knightscourge's collection of hunting trophies, until he saw fit to resort to taxidermy.

Fate had other plans when explosive peanuts collided with the nearest monstrosity approaching Viridi. The the Dusk Templar warriors stopped in their tracks as the other Smashers came through to challenge them, with Diddy riding his Rocket Barrel Jetpack ready to shoot to thrill. The stare down between the Smashers and Dusk Templar held a cease-fire, waiting to see who would strike first. "Meta Knight how is Viridi?" Pit asked in full seriousness. Meta Knight had his Galaxia sword strike the trap to no avail. He attempted to pry the blasted thing off, but it wouldn't budge. However, Pit helped using his weapon to finally have the Nature Goddess come loose from the dire trap, yet she still suffered from a grievous wound still bleeding. It shocked her and Pit to see a God bleed which is thought to be impossible, furthering the severity of the Dusk Templar's presence to Celestials.

"She should be fine. Of course her wound will obviously impede her mobility." Both warriors returned their death stares at the enemy troops yelling something at them to maybe come at them. "To be honest, I'm not so sure how any of them are going to end up."

"Here's a hint." Sonic boasted. "Battered and begging fer uncle." Luigi was unsure if fighting these fiends was a wise decision, but since these warriors had green circuitry lined in their bodies, and not orange, Rosalina did say that these types were low ranking grunts in the vicious invading force, so they must be simpler to take down. Pikachu and Jigglypuff angrily grumbled at their foes, feeling the way an animal would feel to an unnatural, malevolent disturbance nearby.

"Don't worry Viridi, we had Phosphora and the other captains go and evacuate the party when we left. We'll handle these bastards." Pit had an unusually pissed off vibe going on, showing just how much he loathed what Knightscourge and his cronies did to the innocent. Diddy Kong looked back at Viridi and gave her a reassuring wink to let her know everything will be fine, tinting some pink upon her cheeks. The three Dusk Templar Gerrags lost their patience and aimed their guns to the punin challenging them.

"Fools." Meta Knight teleported to slash the central Gerrag's rifle out of it's hand catching the other knights off-guard. This in-turn gave Sonic the chance to Spin Dash over to a distracted knight, shoving it back slightly. The rest of the group charged in to converge upon the giant adversaries. The Gerrags swiped at the Smashers in order to get them into range or at least into sight, so that they may incapacitate them. Jigglypuff smacked and pounded at the armor of an imposing warrior, miraculously giving hell to the unlucky monster fighting it. Luigi utilized his jumping prowess to hop over one Gerrag's attacks as Pit fought against it so it wouldn't take mind to Luigi, who did the same thing. The small size of these punin was very difficult for the Dusk Templar to hit, and the way the vermin hopped around them was simply annoying to the savage knights. Eventually more knights came out of the jungle, wielding guns and short swords and throwing axes. Diddy supported the ground fighters by barraging the enemy with fiery nuts, seemingly overwhelming the giant foes. To Meta Knight, these great adversaries stood no chance against his swordsmanship as he butchered past a ranged Gerrag.

"Come now. Is that all they got. They may seem large, but they have no skill against a smaller foe." As if to test Meta's claim, another knight came rolling into battle, with a shorter stature to the other Gerrags. The Zelguum came equipped with keen knives (compared to this still large enemy), slimmer armor and where the eye openings to it's helmet blocked by some solid blocker that would give the impression that it did not rely on sight in a fight. "Perhaps this will prove more challenging."

Both warriors dove at one another, exchanging clashing blades despite the disproportionate heights. Unlike the ordinary grunts they were facing, this new type of Dusk Templar is proficient in carving up it's victims preferring to swiftly charge into close quarters and slicing up their enemies with whatever blade they carried. This new foe certainly gave Meta a run for his money, if he wasn't already so badass that is. In an instant as the Zelguum had broke through the clashes and had lunged into the tiny fighter, Meta Knight had used his Dimensional cape to counter past the strike and cut at one of it's wrists, so much that any farther would leave it hanging off the forearm. "Hmph. You have much to learn." Meta Knight looked back and saw that the giant took fascination in the wound before turning back and charging again to battle.

Pikachu zapped a Dusk Templar at it's chest with a Thundershock, but had to avoid it's retaliating fire. It only seemed to be irritated by the voltage prompting the mouse to try and up the power in it's attacks. "Chuuuu!" The knight sidestepped from the jolt, hitting a tree behind in exchange for the large target. The Gerrag soldier fired automatic rounds to the tiny mouse Pokemon that was of course to evasive but the bolts from the gun were big enough to engulf the target if a direct hit was enabled. Luckily Pikachu zig and zagged away from all the shots fired, followed by Diddy Kong shooting back at the enemy.

Pit was being cautious not to let his foe hit him in any way. Unlike Meta Knight who could hold off a blade the size of his entire form, the angel was afraid that if he let a swinging gun or knife slam down on him it would just break through his defense with no problem. Pit made sure that he would not be hit by the giant which gave him little chance to fight back. Of course stray nuts from Diddy struck the cyber menace grabbing it's full attention. It called out to it's comrades in it's foreign language that implied that they obliterate the nuisance buzzing around the air. Following the command, the Dusk Templar switched their gaze up to the flying monkey firing their rounds to dispose of him. Luckily Diddy saw this and did his best to evade, that is until a stray bolt grazed one of his jetpacks which was just enough to make it go haywire and send him crashing down to the trees. Good thing Diddy Kong escaped the ensuing explosion but now he was in the fray with his fellow Smashers against the dark knights.

Luigi threw straight fireballs at a distracted Gerrag which unfortunately caught it's attention to the plumber. Thankfully Sonic and Jigglypuff both rolled into it, having it keel over on account of it's busted up abdomen. Luigi took the chance and hopped up to karate chop it's helm, breaking off slivers of the left side of the helmet. "... Eaaaiigh!" The Mario Bro. held his hand upon which the excruciating pain of chopping at a foreign metal with bare hands. The afflicted knight got back upright and moved through the injuries too determined to harm it's enemies to worry about it's battered state. The brutes were getting punished by their smaller adversaries but the resolve to capture them (with a little roughin' up of course) kept their bodies from tiring in the midst of a life-or-death situation. It wasn't easy for the Smashers either. Sure they were super and extraordinary (debatable for the Pokemon series, but we'll make an exception for the Smash Representatives) but their average training wasn't enough to quickly dispose of the menacing Dusk Templar invaders efficiently. If only they had extra weaponry to help them bolster their combat efficiency, but for now, with every fallen Dusk Templar, more crashed through the brush of the jungle to greet the Smashers with deadly force.

"Stubborn savages they are." Spouted Meta Knight after he had tore up a Gerrag's throat in a upward thrust.

"I'm not sure our regular attacks are enough to take them down fast enough!" Pit had shot out arrow after arrow, piercing an attacking knights eye out with a volley. "Nrgh. How many of them are there!?" Seeing an unusual abundance of enemies appearing through the Kong Island, Viridi had finally gotten out of watching the Smash bros. tense battle to use some sort of divine sonar sense to see across the environment for the reason for this horde. Seeing past trees and other jungle objects, she noticed that the Dusk Templar had landed five drop ships so that it won't seem obvious that they had arrived some distance away, and it's safe to say that each dropship had enough room for a strike team to land. They were definitely outnumbered of course.

She shouted over to her team upon her realization. "Guys, they've landed about five dropships, with still about two dozen more heading towad this position!" Four Gerrags and a Zelguum, and still the Smashers were no where close to defeating the opposition.

"So what. Do we hold out these guys, or what?" Luigi asked with despair starting to come out of the shadow of his voice.

"I suggest we fall back. You got what you came for." Suggested Meta Knight. "Their's no point staying her much longer." Sonic decided to regroup with the others but to his surprise, Gerrag had caught his leg during a jump and swung him across the jungle hitting some trees through flight, finally smacking across a branch on impact

"Gurgh." The Blue Blurr picked himself up however but was caught face to face with some Gerrags ripping through the vegetation to finish him off. Beyond that, he could hear a small Pokemons cry as it shrilled throughout the jungle in the midst of the vicious fight between the belligerents. Sonic intended to resume the fight, but the pain in his back hurt like hell, and he could swear that the impact of the throw had sprained his knee badly. "(Darn! Of all the times.)" His thoughts were interrupted a by the arriving Gerrags, gazes filled with contempt, which Sonic was happy to return, looking down upon a pathetic injured animal. "Well don't keep me waitin' buckethead. Do it! Just finish me then!" Oh, and the Gerrag was all too glad to. It's eyes look like they squinted in glee, seeing it's target in a vulnerable state asking it to finish it off. Drawing out a a throwing axe, it was supposed to lay down the hurt yet coincidentally, some heavy lasers from the sky thought differently as they crashed through the canopy, shredding through the three Gerrags standing over Sonic. Sonic was blown away by the blasts, but came out okay, looking at the zapped steaming remains of the knights. Afterward Pit, accompanied by Pikachu raced over to help Sonic out, seeing his injuries and deciding to help him up. "What was that?" Asked Sonic while being held up by Pit.

"It's excellent knews! Team Star Fox is here!" Pit said reassuringly.

This time up in the skies, two Arwings had come from above to challenge the Dusk Templar, however they also brought with them a small fleet of Venx's for air superiority. In one of the Star Fox Arwings was the titular leader of the mercenaries, Fox Mccloud, Star Fox himself, alongside his trusty (but passionate) partner Falco Lambardi in support. "Bogeys at one-o-clock!" Said the Smasher.

"I see 'em." Responded Falco. "Let's light 'em up." Facing off a much larger force of Venx's, the Ace pilots took a level in badass when they evaded the oncoming hailstorm of bolts and lasers from the Dusk Templar craft swarming to them in effective form. The smaller Arwings shot back using their rays to damage the fiendish Venx flock, shooting out one that had received more concentration of the blasts. Comparing the two fighters is like putting a 2ds next to an Xbox one. (warning: I do not own the names to these devices, that privilege belongs to the respective companies and designers)

"That got him."

"Yeah, but compared to the many." The vast amount of Venx came for another round at the Star Fox pilots. "They're coming around!"

"That's fine." Said Fox. "Give them some more heat!" The air battle went on positively, both types of ships exchanging laser fire going in favor of the smaller Arwings. Alas with more blasts coming from the Venxes the Arwings were resuming the dogfight unscathed. It only took a matter of time before the Venx could puncture through the hull of it's enemy. After setting fire to a few Venx, the toll of the bigger blasts were finally starting to get through the arwing's shielding and damage major parts of it. "We're going down! May-day, May-day, May-day!"

"Aw crap, don't clip my wings!" Shouted Falco. "Fox you better get out of this! Don't you go dying on me!"

"Don't you worry 'bout that. Just get ready for the ground fight!" Fox shouted back through the communicator. Our heroic Arwings plummeted from the dogfight, trailing down with smoke coming from the damaged craft. It seems not even the former Smashers were not even enough to tip the scales (sorry Robi/yn) leaving the air to be unrivaled by the Dusk Templar and challenging them with the others amongst the jungle.

The Arwings crashed some distance away from the main fighting, which ending up having the Smashers retreat in hiding, carrying the fighters incapacitated from battling the evil Dusk Templar knights who are now hunting them through the trees. Sonic and Viridi are suffering from bad injuries like a deep wound or sprained leg and Jigglypuff took a bad swipe from a Gerrag's rifle, really putting on the hurt. The remaining Smashers had no choice but to hide from the Dusk Templar so that they could tend to the afflicted. Cause let's face it, they couldn't hold back the ravenous killers and protect their allies at the same time, there were too many hostiles in the environment. Pit took a peek from the overgrowth they took shelter in, thankful none of the Dusk Templar bothered to look in here (yet). "It's only a matter of time before they look in this patch." Pit said returning to the others. Note: They have to speak quietly so the knights do not hear them. "We aren't given much of a choice here. I think we have to leave immediately."

"Augh. I'd love to, but these wounds are impeding my concentration." Complained Viridi. "I can't be sure how much power I've already lost."

"Aw geez. I knew something like this would happen." Lamented Luigi, afraid of the imminent death stalking around them. "All I hear are those wicked craft of theirs, so the Arwings are out. Now we're completely surrounded and with no escape."

"I didn't say that. I could maybe see what I could do before... well, before I become utterly useless."

"Don't speak like that." Pit told the Goddess.

"We all know how this is going down. We're not all getting out of this, and Knightscourge is eyeing for you guys especially."

"Just what are you saying Viridi?" Asked Sonic, having a hunch on what she actually meant.

"No. We're not leaving anyone behind!" Pit spoke up, raising his voice.

"Sorry Pit. But we have to face facts. My powers are waning. Soon I'll be no match for Knightscourge, let alone his warriors. It's folks like me who are most effected by the invasion. It's only a matter of time." This certainly is disheartening, to lose such a powerful ally. No one wanted to know the gods of the realms are losing their overall powers, which meant no divine help to repel the Dusk Templar. It seems the other mortals are doomed to the might of Knightscourge and his armies.

"It doesn't have to be this way. We can all get out and be at the temple." Viridi looked to Pit who was reassuring her.

"Heh. I do hope so Pit." Just then Meta Knight motioned his hand at the others to let them know something was coming in their direction. "What is it. Did they find us?" He didn't answer. He looked around outside, but what really got them astonished was the hand gesture the star warrior was making to the outside.

"The hey are you doing!" Meta didn't pay much care to Sonic closing the brush and resuming to hide. Thankfully Meta knight wouldn't have alerted a Gerrag or Zelguum to where they were, so in turn what did arrive was Fox and Falco, slightly scratched from escaping the crash-landing.

"Well how about that. No wonder the Dusk Templar sent a platoon to scour these parts." Falco snarked. "Thought they needed such a force for Donkey Kong." Diddy Kong was not pleased by the comment but subsided hostility in such a dire situation.

"What're you all doing here? Banding together will only make it quicker for Knightscourge to succeed." Exclaimed Fox.

"Well sorry. But we're on a divine mission of sorts." Said Luigi. "You know, to reassemble the Smash Bros. again."

"How will that help?"

"Well it's the only idea on the table." Said Falco. Even I was expecting him to be critical about the plan. "Remember the Subspace thing?"

"Yeah. I guess that would have been disastrous had we not banded together. So how far have you come, and who's leading the whole enchilada?"

"That would be Lady Palutena." Answered Pit. "Including you guys, I'd say we're pretty close to full assemblage."

"Good enough for now. I suppose introductions can wait given the circumstance. Anyone have any ideas on how to leave said situation?"

"Yeah, we don't exactly have our Arwings anymore and if we did, we couldn't fit everyone inside two." Added Falco.

"Viridi here could help. But because of those guys out there, she's losing her powers rapidly." Pit looked back to what Viridi said about not all of them will make it back. He wasn't going to let anyone pull off a sacrifice for the many.

"Perfect." Fox said with a hint of sarcasm. "What we really need is a distraction, so that we could pull off a getaway." The Dusk Templar chopped down a grove of trees so as to either flush out their prey into the open and deprive them of any hiding place and/or crush them under the weight of the fallen trees. Ignoring a small isolated amount of vegetation got their suspicion, but a dark forebading portal emerged from a nearby waterfall releasing out a mighty creature from a parallel world. A lone Zelguum approached a certain patch of jungle not chopped down and was about to tear into it if it wasn't for wailing screech that came straight at it, giving it a face full of tail from the magnificent beast. Hearing the new conflict escalate, the team peeked from the bush to see what came to challenge their foe. It was a Pokemon, a large gray dragon best known as Giratina, pokemon ruler of the Reverse World. Coming at right the time everything seemed over for our heroes, the violent pokemon came just in time to divert the attention from the Smashers in a coincidental distraction. Hopefully they could get just the right amount of time to transport safely to Skyworld.

"Pika?" Pikachu, despite being exhausted from the furious fighting, couldn't help but wonder what could Giratina be doing facing a larger force all on it's own. The rounds of gunfire from the Dusk Templar firing back Will-o-Wisp and Dragon Breath inflicting major damage against it's foes. Pikachu leapt out of the brush, jumping at a Gerrag flanking Giratina, swinging an Iron tail to it. "Pikapikapika, pikaa!" The force of the blow broke the rifle and it's wrist holding said weapon. Seeing their cover being blown, Fox and Falco came out to lay on the hurt, utilizing their blasters to hold off the ravenous enemy. A Gerrag somehow got the jump on Giratina, slugging it on the side of it's neck, resulting in the pokemon to screech before it blew a Will-o-Wisp at point blank range. A Zelguum hopped around the blasts, rushing to sink it's knives into the dragon, but Giratina saw this move beforehand and stomped onto the Zelguum's chest, then pushing it's entire weight on to splatter the unforgiving brute. A pair of Gerrags grappled the dragon almost taller than the huge pokemon. Pit and Luigi supported the others with their projectiles, seeing that the legendary Giratina was enough to turn the tide of battle. Unfortunately, the Venx from above caught wind of this and sent some to fire down on the non Dusk Templar. Giratina vanished with Shadow Force from the knights wrestling it, reappearing behind and chomping into ones throat and headbutting the other one a sure distance. Luckily it sensed the air support closing in and rushed to defend the Smashers. Giratina took the most concentration of fire, launching a Dragon Breath to knock three Venx back into a collision. After taking out a substantial amount of Dusk Templar, the rest of the Venx from the squadron hovered to the clearing, forcing the remaing knights to back off and watch the carnage from afar. Giratina roared again at the uneven odds along side the growling Pikachu. Pikachu's vision of the Venx was blocked by the legendary's tail, looking up to it. The expression on it's face said it all: 'Go. I've got this. Go fulfill your mission.'

"Pika!" 'I'm not going to leave you!'

"Screech!" 'You have a bigger role in this story. Don't let my struggle go in vain. Now go! Escape! I'll hold off as much as I can.'

Pikachu, even though it couldn't barev leaving it's poke-brother behind, knew that it's importance was far too great to let Knightscourge have. In great reluctance had to fall back to Viridi, who was under Meta Knight's protection.

"This isn't how it will end." Said Meta Knight. "I'm prepared to fight them all easily."

Viridi had some time to prepare her last amount of power to think over how she will use it. "Not today bub." With the wave of her staff at Meta Knight, he was transported out of the Kongo Jungle through a flash. Pit looked back at what had happened, wishing the Nature Goddess wouldn't do this. After Sonic was beamed up, then Jigglypuff, then Pikachu, then Fox, then Falco, then Luigi, not full prepared for transport.

"Viridi. What are you doing!?"

"Do me a solid Pit. Get those Smash Brothers together, and kick Knightscourge's butt for me."

"Viridi...!" But before he could finish, even the angel was teleported back to Palutena's sanctuary. After her squad was safely away from the fight, the blonde Goddess picked herself up and limped on her staff over to Giratina. The Venx were just about ready to start a firing run.

"So, Renegade Pokemon. We may not know each other very well, but there's always a start." The Pokemon responded with a huff of agreeance. It stared down against the barbaric craft, setting a scale of anxiety of when the stream of lasers will come hailing down. "This may not be the best place for introductions, so let's just keep it simple for the moment. Can you keep up with me?" Giratina took it's gaze off of the Venx to the tiny Nature Goddess, an ally in arms for as long as they are able to that is. "Let's see how many heads they will be missing at the end of this."

Flash*

Trophy description: Dusk Templar Gerrag

Standard shock troops of the Dusk Templar war machine. These fearless warriors make up the frontlines of the Dusk Templar wielding various types of weapons ranging from firearms to shortswords and throwing axes. Most commonly low ranking warriors, they still show utter sadism to any species not belonging to their order maliciously slaughtering all who pose as enemies. The Gerrags under Knightscourge's command use traps and baiting mechs to catch their prey for their master's gallery he's built of captured beings. Big ol' mooks is what they are. Luckily the Super Smash Bros. can handle these giant knights.

Dusk Templar Zelguum

A more melee oriented soldier, the Zelguums seemed crazed for ripping apart their enemies first-hand, carving them up primarily with knives. Sometimes smaller than other Dusk Templar, they make up in agility and speed when facing off adversaries. The knights are refrained by Knightscourge to keep any needed punin alive, however, everything else is fair game to these lunatics.

Dusk Templar Venx Type-669

Personal aircraft of the Dusk Templar fitting a team of two knights, one to pilot and the other for high weapons command. The secondary rider wields an array of secondary weapons including blacklight flares, and back mounted guns to pick off any tailers willing to face them in a dogfight. The main pilot uses the main cannons to rain fire forward mainly for hunting down any foolish enemy aircraft and for fast raids against ground based targets. These terrors of the skies reign supreme and are considered light assault space/aircraft with quick manoeuvrability and high class engine power. If these are just light class, i'd hate to see the real heavy hitters.

Smasher appearaces: Diddy Kong; Meta Knight; Fox; Falco

Finally! I'm real sorry for the excruciating wait. Will get the next one done sooner. Until next time, see you later.