Clash of the Smashers

Chapter Thirteen: Wizzrobes whizzing with the wacky wonderful watchful wafting wary witty…Aganihm.

The Smashers were slightly tired. Not physically tired, the healing they received rejuvenated them quite well. What they had done so far wasn't to big a deal for Link, Kirby, Meta, Samus, Diddy and Mario as they all had at the very least been on several adventures this long, maybe more. Falco, who spent his journeys usually in the cockpit of a starship wasn't used to this kind of fighting, but he was seasoned for battle. Raichu, had journeyed far and battled much, and while never actually being in a type of outing like this he at least was able to hold his own. Bario…was an enigma.

None of the Smashers really seemed to comprehend how little they knew about him. That was most likely because they did know some things about him, and those were probably more important than his past or motives. He was friendly, patient, quite knowledgeable…yes; he'd make a great hero. They all believed this was his first time on a long adventure like this. But he did seem to be doing remarkably well for an inexperienced adventurer…

Regardless, the battles were difficult and they seemed to have increased in difficulty when they arrived in Hyrule. They were mentally and emotionally drained and as they left the Shadow room and entered another room with a spiraling staircase Bario decided they needed a break.

"Hey…before we climb those stairs and face whatever Ganondorf throws at us, I thought you might want to ask some questions, that you had before," Bario said, looking pointedly at Diddy and Raichu. Realizing that they were taking a short but much needed break the Smashers immediately stopped.

"What? Oh…," Diddy said as he realized what Bario was talking about, "Raichu, you ask him the question about the Links, and then I have a question for you."

Raichu nodded and prepared to speak, while several of the Smashers looked at him confusion, wondering about what the "Links" are.

"Uh…before you said something about there being other Links, like you said Dark Shadow Link had fought with other Links…what did you mean?"
Bario looked surprised by the question, but quickly realized that it was a decent one, as not everyone knew Hyrule's rather bizarre history.

"Ah…I guess that would be a good question. It's actually kind of simple, if a bit strange. According to certain books I have read about Hyrule's history, Ganondorf was born a long time ago perhaps hundreds of years, but I personally doubt that, it was probably only a hundred to two hundred years ago, as the "King of Thieves," referring to the Gerudo people. He was the only male to have been born a Gerudo in a century. Because of that he became King of them. But King of a city of thieves wasn't enough for him…oh no."

As Bario told Ganondorf's history, Raichu, Diddy, Falco and Kirby all listened intently, never knowing this about such an evil creature. Mario and Link listened, but with an air of tedium, as if they've heard it all before. Samus feigned disinterest, but it was obvious from the way she leaned forward to catch some of Bario's words, that she too was listening. Meta of course just quietly mumbled nonsense to himself. Bario continued.

"Ganondorf used his army of Gerudos, his basic magic skills and the abilities of two powerful elemental witches, Koume and Kotake, to attack the kingdom of Hyrule, and through that eventually reached the Sacred Realm. Many tried to stop him, but they were unable to as he was already very powerful. When Ganondorf reached the Sacred Realm he tried to seize the Triforce, an immensely powerful mystical item, but his evil will caused it to shatter, giving him the Triforce of Power, and sending the Triforce pieces of Wisdom and Courage to Link and Zelda."

At that Raichu looked questioningly at Bario and interrupted.

"Wait…I thought you said this all happened a long time ago…how was Link around then?"

"I was getting to that. Back then both Link, and the Princess Zelda, who was the princess of this castle before Ganondorf took over again…I wonder where she is now…anyways, their ancestors back then were also named Link and Zelda, and they managed to stop Ganondorf. Every once in a while he'll escape from his imprisonment, but another Link, usually with another Zelda will stop him."
Diddy nodded as a lot more made sense now, but was still curious about one thing.

"Why are they all named Link and Zelda? Do they not have a lot of names to choose from?"
"No, they just name them that in remembrance of past heroes. It's an honor type thing."

"Ah…," Diddy said.

Bario looked around at everyone before saying, "Well, does any one else have any questions?"

Diddy thought for a second…he had something he wanted to ask…oh yeah!
"Raichu!" Diddy exclaimed. Raichu turned to look at the monkey. "Before when you did the lightning thing…you looked confused after it…why?"

Raichu looked at him, puzzled, before realizing what he meant.

"Oh! You mean my Thunderstorm attack! Yeah, the reason I was so confused was because it was WAY more powerful than it was last time I used it, plus it drained a lot more energy from me. I was just surprised by that."

Bario surprised everyone with what he said next.

"I think I know the reason for that."

Raichu wheeled around and fixed Bario with an interested and surprised look.

"You do? How? What?"

"Well, I think this may interest everyone…but I believe that we're somehow growing stronger after each fight we get in. Maybe we're just getting more experience as combatants…but I think we might absorb some of the power from the villains we kill, and that sort of…powers us up a little bit…maybe."

The other Smashers looked at Bario with shock…and agreement. Obviously he had noticed the slight jumps in power and skill and had been thinking of a reason for a while. However, while it may have been rational and very likely, some of them didn't like it.

"I'm not sure I like the idea of having those…creatures become part of me," Raichu said, with a hint of disgust. Diddy and Falco nodded their agreement.

"Now wait a minute!" Bario said, surprise evident in his voice, "I didn't say anything about them becoming part of us, just some of their power! We're not like getting their minds or thoughts or anything like that! Plus, don't forget, I could be wrong."

Raichu looked at Bario and slowly nodded his head.

"Okay…I still don't like it, but it's not like any of us could do anything about it…and it may be helpful."

Everyone else nodded, but whether they were agreeing with Raichu about not liking it, or Bario for accepting it wasn't clear.
"Well, I think that covers everything…are you all up for whatever is going to attack us next?" Bario asked.

They all answered his question by vigorously nodding their heads. Bario smiled and charged up the stairs, with the Smashers right behind him. He slammed into the door at the top, bursting it open. He and the Smashers charged in, a battle cry on their lips…that quickly died as they saw what was in the room.

There was nothing. The chamber looked mostly similar to the last two, but there were no terrible monsters, no evil beings. Just two doors. The one they came in through, which quickly slammed shut and barred as soon as all nine were in the room, and another, equally barred door at the opposite end of the rectangular room.

"Uh…where is-" Falco started before being cut off by a "Shh!" from Bario. When Falco shot him a questioning look Bario answered by saying, "I think I heard something."

As Bario said those words, there was a faint rustling noise, like dry leaves across the ground…or the sound of a cloak moving. The rest of the Smashers heard it as well, and faced the barred door across from them. At first there seemed to be nothing there, but slowly, oh so slowly something seemed to be forming. A large, humanoid shape was slowly coming into view…

Suddenly the shape stopped flickering and became abruptly solid. It was revealed to be a large, apparently human, man, wearing a large red cloak that covered all but his eyes and hands. His visible skin was a light blue and his hands had pointed nails, almost like claws. There was a large purple eye on the cloak, although what it signified was unclear. This man, upon appearing began laughing in a most evil way.

"Uh…Bario…who is that?" Diddy asked.

Before Bario could respond, the man answered, although how he heard the question from the other side of the room is perplexing.

"I am the great wizard Aganihm. And it is so nice, to be presented with such…entertaining people. Really Link, do you think these mortals will entertain me for long? Oh but you…you will be most enjoyable to destroy, I've wanted to kill you for a while now."

Link looked at Aganihm in confusion.

"Ah," Aganihm said in a deep, malevolent voice that seemed to slightly echo in their minds…almost as if he was in and out of their psyche, "That's right…you never battled me. How unfortunate, I was most looking forward to killing the one who killed me…twice. But alas, my old mind plays tricks on me, and I forget that you are different. No matter, this will still be a worthwhile endeavor."

Aganihm appeared as he would ramble on but Bario interrupted.

"Dang it! Guys…prepare to fight Aganihm, a wizard who helped Ganondorf out a while ago. He's supposed to be invulnerable to all weapon strikes, so I guess try and blast him with special moves."

Rather than being upset that he was cut off from his evil rambling, Aganihm seemed rather amused.

"Ah yes! Feel free to plan away. It won't do you any good, oh no!"

"And just why is that?!" Falco demanded, irritated at Aganihm's apparently unshakeable nature.

"Well you see…I have some help this time…yes…help."

The Smashers looked at Aganihm in confusion…there was no one with him, when fifteen beings suddenly appeared in front of Aganihm. They wore long rows and tall, pointy hats. Five of them wore green, five wore blue and five had red clothes. The red ones hats flickered as they were covered in flame. The blue ones sparkled and shone, as they were made entirely out of ice. Their faces were covered in shadow, and only their glowing white eyes were visible.

"Uh…Bario…what are those?" Diddy asked nervously. Something about these creatures freaked him out.

"Yes Bario, tell them! Tell them everything! You know they won't survive!" Aganihm cackled.

"Shut up!" Bario shouted with surprising venom. Aganihm stopped cackling in shock, and glared warily at Bario.

"Sorry, I just really don't like him. Anyways, those are Wizzrobes. The green ones shoot energy blasts, while the Fire Wizzrobes, and not surprisingly shoot fire and the Ice Wizzrobes can shoot ice. They all have the ability to teleport, but physically aren't to strong. A few good whacks will take them out."

Aganihm had appeared to have had enough of the waiting around. With a few gestures, the Wizzrobes turned around and blasted a ball of energy at Aganihm. He collected it into one massive ball, which formed into a glowing white shield around him. The Wizzrobes then turned and fired fifteen blasts. Five energy waves, five fire, and five ice. All fifteen flew towards the Smashers at a frightening speed.

The Smashers didn't waste a second. They all dodged out of the way, with only a few getting nicked by the edges of the attacks. Before the Wizzrobes could realize they missed, missiles, peanuts, laser shots, fireballs and thunder balls flew at them. Several Wizzrobes managed to teleport away, or deflect the attacks, but three Green Wizzrobes and a Fire Wizzrobe were killed.

The Smashers had no time to celebrate as a Fire Wizzrobe teleported over to behind Falco. It blasted before he had a chance to realize it was there. His clothes caught on fire, but he rolled rapidly and the flames went out. He yanked out his pistol and fired three times, but only one shot grazed the Wizzrobe before it teleported again.

An Ice Wizzrobe teleported behind Mario, hoping to smack him as Falco was smacked. However Wizzrobes make a distinctive "ding!" noise and when Mario heard it he back flipped over the ice attack and landed solidly on the Wizzrobes head, killing it.

Aganihm watched the battle intensely. His shield would hold as long as the Wizzrobes survived. The Smashers mostly seemed to reacting to what happened. They were on the defensive, and even though five Wizzrobes had been killed, the remaining ten were causing problems. Plus, Aganihm had some more tricks up his considerably long sleeve.

Bario whipped his head around, trying to anticipate the next attack. A Green Wizzrobe appeared in front of him and he slashed at it, cutting the creature in half, but an Ice Wizzrobe that appeared behind him at the same time managed to blast him with a ball of ice. Bario fell to the ground and groaned. The Wizzrobe seemed emboldened by its success and prepared to fire again, when Meta's sword removed its head from the Wizzrobe's body. Meta then flew off. Bario got up and instead of looking at Meta, he flashed a glance of what almost appeared to be gratitude in his purple eyes to…Mario of all people.

Diddy flew up in the air, with his jetpack. That way he could see if any of the Wizzrobes were sneaking up on someone. He'd only be able to stay up for a little bit, but he already saw two Wizzrobes. He shot peanuts at one attacking Kirby and one attacking Link. Once stunned the respective heroes managed to destroy them. However the last Green one soon found Diddy and shot a blast at him. Diddy was hit and fell to the ground mostly unharmed, although his chest hurt from where it slammed into the ground. He angrily spun around, but the Wizzrobe was already gone.

With only six Wizzrobes left, they decided to change to hit and run strategies. They all appeared in one corner of the room and fired six balls of energy, ice and fire. The Smashers dodged and kept dodging as they sporadically appeared, too far away for the Smashers to retaliate. Soon the Wizzrobes had herded the Smashers into a tight clump.

The Wizzrobes appeared around them in a hexagonal shape and fired. The Smashers had nowhere to run, and they quickly realized that. Kirby turned into a rock in front of a blast of fire, while Link used his shield. Meta and Bario used their swords to deflect the attacks, while Mario and Falco returned an ice and a fire attack back at a Wizzrobe, destroying it, with their Cape and Reflector. In this manner all six attacks were rendered harmless.

The Wizzrobes were temporarily stunned that their master plan had failed…and that was when Raichu, Bario, Link and Samus leapt forward and quickly destroyed them. Aganihm let out a groan of annoyance as his shield flickered and died. He fixed the group of heroes with a glare of defiance.

"Give it up Aganihm! You won't be able to beat us!" Raichu said.

Aganihm smirked.

"Oh, I'm not through yet! Attack!"

The Smashers stared at Aganihm as if he was out of his mind…there were no enemies left…or were there? A loud noise, like the sound of a moron laughing echoed through the room…and then eight new Wizzrobes appeared. At least, they looked sort of like Wizzrobes.

"Why are giant toucans wearing robes?" Diddy asked.

The new creatures had the head of a bird with a large beak, and wing-like arms that carried a wand. They floated above the ground, five wearing red cloaks and three wearing yellow. Aganihm seemed quite pleased as his new companions spread out around the Smashers.
"Grr…Look's like he's got some Red Wizzrobes and Yellow Wizzrobes. The Red ones can shoot balls of fire, and the Yellow Wizzrobes can summon weak enemies," Bario said, appearing exasperated more than anything else.

"Summon?" Diddy asked, apparently not to excited by the prospect.

"Yes, summon! ATTACK!" Aganihm said again.

The five Red Wizzrobes did their moronic laugh again before firing three fireballs each in an expanding pattern. The Smashers rolled and deflected, but Samus and Kirby both got hit pretty hard.

The Yellow Wizzrobes cackled again and then each one did an annoying summon. One summoned a swarm of bat-like creatures (Keese), six Keese were normal and there were four Fire Keese. Another summoned to birds with interesting feather design (Kargarocs) while the final one summoned what looked like twenty spiky black balls with a large red eye (Morths).

"Dang it! Guys, I don't have any real good advice right now, except to kill the Yellow ones first!" Bario yelled.

The Yellow Wizzrobes were still cackling when an arrow shot through one of their heads. The creature let out a noise that almost sounded insulted before exploding into black powder. Link smiled at his pointy handiwork. The Red Wizzrobes vanished, but the remaining Yellow Wizzrobes angrily shot several fireballs at Link. He pocketed his bow and raised his shield, deflecting most of the blows, but a pair of Keese slammed into his legs and he fell over, and got slammed by a fireball.
The fire went out quickly, as magical fireballs usually blaze in an instant before dissipating, but the Wizzrobes didn't seem inclined to stop there. They hit him with two more before Samus blew one of the Wizzrobe's to pieces. The final one tried to teleport away, realizing how much danger it was in but Mario jumped up and slammed it with his hammer, snapping its neck and killing it instantly.

The Morths dived at Kirby, who inhaled three. He tried to absorb powers from them, but they merely disintegrated in him like powerless creatures usually did. Several stuck to him…about seven. They weren't pointy, just their green spiky-looking tips were sticky. Kirby tried to move when he realized the weight of the creatures were dragging him down, making him barely able to move. One each was on his arms and feet and the other three were on his body. He tried to walk, wave his arms, anything…but soon he couldn't even stand and the heavier than they looked creatures brought him to the ground.

The remaining ten Morths looked around for another victim…and saw Raichu trying to blast one of the Kargarocs with a ball of electricity. The bird was staying just out of Raichu's reach and shrieking. Raichu growled and carefully aimed when a blackish ball leapt at his face. He growled and tried to brush the Morth away…and it stuck. Slightly surprised but not yet scared he tried to tear it off, but for some reason his hands just slid off the creature. He felt its surprising weight, and it seemed to get heavier as the seconds slid by. Suddenly he felt five more attach themselves to him, one on each arm and leg and the fifth on his long lightning bolt shaped tail. He soon befell the same fate as Kirby. The Kargaroc looked at him and quickly dismissed him as not a threat. Big mistake.

Raichu growled and quickly did one of his most useful little abilities. He coated his furry body in electricity. Small sparks shot out, and his fur stood up on end…although considering it isn't very long, it wasn't very noticeable. The Morths still clung on despite the change in Raichu's fur, but that wasn't much of an issue. Raichu increased the amplitude until soon…all the Morths were fried. Relieved of his burden Raichu stood up and fired an electrical ball at the annoying Kargaroc.

The ball missed and the angry bird spun around in the air. It screeched and dived at Raichu, hoping to slice him with its razor-sharp talons…when four peanuts slammed into its head. The Kargaroc yelped in surprise more than pain, before slamming roughly into the ground. Raichu took this opportunity to zap the Kargaroc. It wasn't a very strong creature, and soon it perished. Diddy jumped over, smiling, as he raised his pistols, looking for something to shoot.

Kirby still struggled to get up but although the Morths seemed small and light they appeared to possess a magic that he couldn't beat. He just hoped someone came to his rescue eventually…

The remaining Kargaroc was working with the Keese, making dive-bombing runs at Link, Samus, Mario, Bario, Meta and Falco. The five were shooting off the persistent creatures and avoiding all but the smallest scratches and bruises. The beings they fought obviously weren't very intelligent as they never changed their strategy and it was obvious that the Smashers would soon kill them all rather rapidly. Something that was not obvious was when Meta suddenly broke off from the group and ran off.

"Cotton is affordable!" he gleefully shouted as he ran away.

"Where's he going?!" Falco asked.
Meta was going right towards Kirby. The four surviving Morths were near Kirby and when they saw Meta they dived for him. He sliced them all to pieces before they got close. He flew into the air, and with a few deft stabs, skewered all the Morths. Kirby, relieved of their bizarre weight got up and thanked Meta with an "Okay!"

Bario sliced the final Keese in half. All of the minor enemies were gone and the nine Smashers regrouped to find out where the Red Wizzrobes had gone. It didn't take long for the Smashers to see that they were floating by Aganihm who seemed most displeased by the amount of damage they had wrought to his mystical forces.
"I am most displeased by the amount of damage you had wrought to my mystical forces!" Aganihm exclaimed.

"What's a 'wrought'?" Falco asked.

"You fool! It is a…uh…a…oh just prepare to die!" Aganihm cleverly said, "Wizzrobes…kill all but the one clad in green, he's MINE!"

The Wizzrobes nodded and fired their fireballs at the Smashers, breaking up the group. They teleported around and fired rapidly, until all but Link were herded away from Aganihm. However Meta suddenly shot several energy balls from his sword that nicked a Wizzrobe attacking him and he managed to burst from their herding techniques. When the Wizzrobe tried to get him back with the others and away from Aganihm, Bario burst out as well and ran with Meta to Link. The Wizzrobes were prepared to try and bring them back, but a command from Aganihm cut them short.

"Don't worry about them! I'll take care of them. You worry about THOSE six."

The Wizzrobes nodded and started firing their triple fireball attack, not with the intent to herd but with the intent to harm now. While Samus, Mario, Falco, Diddy, Kirby and Raichu dodged and attacked and evaded and struck the real battle was about to start as slowly Meta, Link and Bario edged toward Aganihm, wary of his power.

"Ha! You mortals don't stand a chance against me. I once housed Ganon inside my person! I was his speaker, and his enforcer! You are all NOTHING! DIE!" Aganihm shouted before firing off four small blue energy balls that were attached by some invisible magic.

They spun through the air, and flew over to Link. He prepared to dodge, but the blast landed four feet in front of him, cleanly missing. Link looked at Aganihm…surely his aim couldn't be that bad?
"Dang it Link! MOVE" Bario shouted.

The blue ball that was in front of the procession shattered…and with that, sent the other three flying towards Bario, Meta and Link. Bario and Meta managed to avoid it, but Link was caught b surprise and was really close. The ball slammed him in the head and knocked him to the ground. Already severely weakened by the Yellow Wizzrobe's attack Link drifted in and out of consciousness.

"Ha ha ha! Is that the best the hero of time has to offer? Pathetic!" Aganihm said.

Bario growled and ran forward, slicing at Aganihm. Aganihm laughed and appeared to try to do something…but when he was unable to he looked confused, and later hurt Bario's swords slammed into his legs. Aganihm yelped and backhanded Bario, sending him back a few feet. The wizard looked at his attacker with confusion.

"What? How…?"
"You're not escaping from this one!" Bario said.

Aganihm looked at Bario with new respect and a tinge of fear. However he soon had to dash to the side to avoid another attack from Bario. Meta flew forward and slashed at him as well. Aganihm raised a temporary magic shield and blocked the attacks, but the shield shattered after that. Aganihm suddenly raised his hands and fired off a swarm of lightning bolts that threw back Bario and Meta, while at the same time seriously injuring them.
"I'm not out of tricks yet!" Aganihm said, with a hint of his old amusement.

"It'll take more than tricks to get you out of this!" Bario said as he got up and charged again.

Meanwhile the rest of the Smashers were finishing up the last Red Wizzrobe. The creatures really weren't designed for sustained combat. Diddy used his tail to slam it at Falco who used a series of kicks to snap its neck. With all the Wizzrobes gone, they turned to face the combat against Aganihm. Several of them wanted to dash over and help out but Samus stopped them.

"Stop. If we go over there, we'll only get in the way. Aganihm's magic works best against multiple targets, so as long as we stay out of it, it should be okay," she said in her rarely used voice.

Several of the Smashers jumped as they weren't used to her speaking…but maybe she was just getting used to them.
"Does any one else notice something strange?" Falco asked.

"Yeah!" Diddy replied, "Aganihm isn't teleporting around…why is that?"
None of them had any answers.

Aganihm shot off several energy balls at Bario, but he deflected them back at Aganihm. He then yelled in pain as Bario drove his swords into his stomach.

"You're done Aganihm, it's over!" Bario said.

However instead of looking upset at the fact of his imminent death, Aganihm actually smiled. "No…it's not!" He said as he fired an orange energy ball at point blank range, sending Bario flying.
Aganihm then stood up, albeit shakily and suddenly his outline dimmed. He seemed to split into three Aganihms which fired off multiple energy balls at Bario and Meta. Meta countered by shooting some back from his sword, but they were blocked by the swarm of attacks coming his way. Bario took off running, and Meta took off flying, dodging and deflecting attacks. They came together and sliced right through the right and left Aganihms…literally through! They were just illusions. Suddenly each of the "illusions" blasted Bario and Meta. Apparently they were illusions that could hurt.
"Ha! You thought I was done for didn't you? You will soon realize that I can't be stopped! I am Aganihm the Dark Wiz-Agh!" Aganihm said as a sword appeared in his chest.
The illusions disappeared and Aganihm slowly turned his head to see Link, with his sword piercing his heart.

"That makes…four times now, hero…," Aganihm said before exploding into the healing dust. The barred door opened as well.
The Smashers stared at Link, who hesitatingly put his sword and shield away, while also looking at them embarrassed. They then, as one gave a rounding applause for the hero. That, if anything served to make him look more embarrassed, but at least now he was smiling. Bario then directed them to the door, but before they left, Diddy asked him a question.

"Great job out there Bario…but why wasn't Aganihm teleporting when you were fighting him? That would have made him way tougher."

Bario seemed strangely uncomfortable about the question, but answered it anyway.

"You guys saw that? Well…I know some basic magic skills and I thought I'd try out one. That one prevents enemies from escaping, and I guess it worked pretty well."
That statement seemed to surprise several of the Smashers, except Meta, who obviously doesn't care, and Mario who looked at Bario with calculating interest.

"How much do you know?" Raichu asked.

"I'm not sure what I'm capable of…but don't worry, I'll do my best to help us out until we get to Master Hand," Bario said.
The answer seemed to satisfy many of the Smashers and deciding that there was no point in waiting around, they entered the door…