Author's Note:
Super Smash Flash 2 is based on the popular fighting franchise by Nintendo and is currently going through its beta stages. This story, which is based on version 0.8, takes the characters, unlockable and otherwise, and the stages as they are to form the map of the imaginary world of Smash Flash. Each update twists the story drastically. Despite the title, this is the very first chapter in the series.
At Hyrule Temple, Tails questions Lloyd as to what led to Link's death.
"Who did this?" Tails asked.
"You." Lloyd said under his breath.
"What did you just say?"
"You! You cooked up a half-baked plan and hung me and Link out to dry! And now. . ." Lloyd dropped Link's corpse to the ground in front of Tails. "And now my best friend is dead. Too bad for you, I'm still here!" Lloyd charged swords-first toward Tails.
"Fool." Tails said as he pulled out his electron cannon, firing a shot to Lloyd's torso just before the swordsmen reached him. The blast sent Lloyd soaring a dozen feet backwards, landing on his back hard. "It doesn't matter how many swords you bring, to a gun fight." The fox said as he re-concealed his weapon.
"You could have killed him!" Goku said with rage and concern.
"He'll be fine" Tails replied "so long as he rests for the time being. But you and I must go now."
"Don't forget about me!" Naruto said, stepping from the shadows where he had been meditating. "Let's go clean 'em out."
"You seem awfully optimistic about this, Naruto. You got plans or something?" Goku asked.
"Ichigo died in my arms." Naruto replied, proceeding to stare at the ground. His eyes became moist.
"What's ironic is that Mario didn't." Tails said. "Your home is Konoha, and yet when Mario faced Falcon, you weren't there."
"Are you saying this is my fault?" Naruto angrily asked.
"I'm not placing blame on anyone; I'm simply pointing out the irony." Tails explained.
"We are going to kill them. And after we do, you're next, Tails."
"But of course." Tails replied, not considering Naruto a real threat. "We must go now, since there is even a chance he is alone."
Fox could see the fire forming in Falcon's fist. These were the only times he didn't intercede on behalf of those unlucky enough to incite the captain's rage. The only time he didn't try to reason with him. The captain turned back to look at Fox.
"I should have hosted the tournament, not you."
"But we agreed that for you to be unlocked, there needed to be enough energy generated from the fighting, The Great Fox Tournament. It was the only way, captain."
"Yes but, I don't know, I just wish it wasn't."
"You upset captain?"
"What? No, why do you ask?"
"Your fist still flames."
"You're right. I need to get rid of this tension. Black Mage," he called "launch a flaming rock at me, full force, like you did earlier." Eyes lit, Black Mage raised a stone from the ground that grew in size as it ascended. It caught fire at its apex. Without holding back, Black Mage drove it toward the ground toward Falcon, as the captain had commanded. "Falcon. . . PUNCH!" The captain screamed as he shattered the rock, almost making it seem easy. This was part of the reason Black Mage had chosen to follow the captain. Here in the Chaos Shrine, his actions are so fitting.
"Watch out!" Fox shouted as he leaped over Black Mage and activated his reflector, blocking the electron blast that was intended for Black Mage.
"Ahhh!" Naruto couldn't hold back the scream as the blast hit him, unexpectedly.
"You know, for a ninja, that wasn't very elite of you." Fox teased.
"Visitors, excellent." said Falcon "Tails, I knew you would come to be the leader, but I did not expect such a bold move. I must say that I am most impressed. But I'm afraid you've come a long way just to die. After our last encounter, do you really think you've improved so much as to take me?" The pilot got into his fighting stance, raising and clinching his fist in excitement.
"He's not here for you captain" said Fox "are you, Prower?"
"You dare call me by that name?" Tails responded.
"We both know you're in no position to be upset."
"In these days, do we even need a reason?" The two foes gave an evil smile to each other. Tails took a step toward Fox. Fox leaped in the air and back flipped towards Falcon, landing next to him. He whispered to him:
"Captain, why don't I take this two-tailed freak off your hands, I know you and the wizard can manage here without us." The captain glanced down at Fox and gave an ignorant yet evil smirk.
"Very well" he said. "And if you see Sora and Wario, please inform them that they are past curfew."
"Yes sir." Fox said, activating his reflector, reflecting the electron blast originally headed for them. The captain gave a salute, and with that Fox fled to the nexus. Tails swiftly pursued, not caring what had been said between Fox and his captain, not even acknowledging the captain as he passed by him during his pursuit of Fox.
Black Mage slowly walked over where Fox was standing, next to Falcon, and took his fighting stance. A good twenty feet away, Goku and Naruto, the remaining opponents responded in kind.
"Ahhh, Goku" Falcon said "the pinnacle of anime, about to be killed by my hand. Oh what a day this is. And the ninja of Konoha, icing on the cake. Tell me, ninja. Have you been able to clean every ounce of Mario's blood from the grounds of your village? Or is it a set-in stain?"
"Don't let him knock you off-focus Naruto." Goku said. "Get ready."
"Gentleman," Falcon shouted "let us begin!"
The Casino Night Zone seemed a weird stage for battle, but Tails didn't mind. He was bent on Fox's destruction.
"Remember when we used to go to casinos, Prower?" Fox asked.
"I do" Tails answered "You'd scam at least 5 stations before we had to make a break for it."
"We both know there was no solo effort in those days. Those were good times, Prower. Why can't we just go back to those times?"
"Because things change. I don't do things like that anymore. I'm a different person now."
"Bullshit! People don't change, Prower. We both know that. You're still the same money-laundering, street-fighting, con-artist from so long ago. We both are. Prower, after you screwed me over and nearly got me killed, I too tried the side of good. But unlike you, I was the hero, not the sidekick. I served as what you might call an "on call enforcer for justice" for quite a while. I led other's who were on the side of good, but whose inferiority to me was clearly evident. In a way, I was just like you are now. Huh, we always were just alike." That sentence made Tails snap. He rushed at Fox, launching the hardest blows he could muster. Ducking to avoid Tails' last punch, Fox landed a vicious back flip kick to Tails' chin, sending the two-tailed fox skyward. Tails hit the bumper just above them and came crashing back down in front of his foe. "Come on now, you couldn't have gotten that much weaker. Where's my friend, huh?" Fox said as he held Tails down, pulled out his blaster and began whipping him with the butt of the gun. "Where's my friend?" he whipped the gun across Tails' face once more. "Where is he, Tails?" He pistol whipped him once more. "Where's Prower?" Another hard whip. "You're weak. I miss my friend." Tails flipped Fox off of him, staggering to his feet as fast as he could. "And slow too. I don't know how you ever kept up with Sonic." Fox landed a summersault kick before Tails could turn around to face him. Tails was sent rolling to the edge of the ledge.
"I did what I did because I wanted to feel useful, doing something good for a change." Tails said, as he pulled himself up from the ledge.
"What good are you doing if you've become weak to the point that you're doing no good at all? This 'Good Tails' is nothing compared to Prower." The foes charged at each other. Tails leaped into the air, propelling himself higher and higher to build up momentum. He was met with the Firefox as he reached his apex. He was set aflame until he landed. "I was like you after you first betrayed and abandoned me. Weakened by all the experience I had doing 'good'. I had to unleash the old relentless Fox McCloud to be great again. But maybe Prower really is dead. I guess I'm just too late to save him." Fox turned around and began walking away.
"I should have killed you when I had the chance." Tails said as he struggled to stand upright.
The nexus to the west of the Battlefield leads to a dead end. This meant that Wario and Sora, neither of which had returned to Falcon since they left, were stuck between an angry Donkey Kong and a hard place.
"We can't stay here forever, Wario." Said Sora
"Oh like fuck we can't. It won't be long before the pits of hell freeze over. Then it should be safe to go back to the Chaos Shrine."
"Who's wrath do you fear more, that of the captain's or that of some random ape?"
"Is there that great a difference?"
"I'm sure it's calmed down by now. As long as we take a detour around Jungle Hijinx, we should be fine."
"That ape has been going crazy ever since it lost to Fox in the Great Fox Tournament. It's great that he took out Lloyd, but it's a double-edged sword. First he kills Lloyd, then he turns on us."
"How do you know Lloyd's dead?"
"I'm optimistic. So are we gonna go or what?"
"Sure, but when we start, we can't stop running. Lest we risk him catching us."
Hyrule was getting boring. Those not assigned to a job in the plan began to get restless.
"At least I have you, Yoshi." said the princess. "I don't think the rest understand our pain." Yoshi couldn't talk, but he understood. "I just feel God awful right now. Can I tell you a secret Yoshi?" Yoshi closed his eyes as he began to listen.
The Hyrule Temple Stage had the size to allow everyone the privacy they desired. On the side opposite the princess, Sonic reflects alongside Lloyd.
"Am I weak, Lloyd?"
"Yes, Sonic. You're weak. We're both weak. We lost in the first round of The Great Fox Tournament. You lost to Pikachu. Pikachu! But it's ok Sonic. Not everyone can be Mario."
"You know, I still think I could take you down. Is that what you want?"
"At least I lost to a formidable opponent. Look, if you're looking for a sympathetic ear who gives a shit, you're in the wrong place. I just got done carrying the corpse of my best friend and then proceeded to bury him. I think what you need is a good dose of truth. The truth is, you stopped being Mario's rival long before his death. He surpassed you long ago. The day you lost to him in the Twilight Town Tournament is the day he began to get stronger and you to plateau. And now you're wallowing in your own disgusting rut, without so much as apologizing to Tails for leaving him to die. So you know what? Yes, I do think you're weak. Maybe you should have died when you lost to Mario. Then you at least wouldn't be obsessing." Sonic curled into a ball, ready to attack. Lloyd crossed his swords in defense. Just then, Yoshi ran headfirst into Sonic, sending him skyward. "Well" Lloyd said as he dropped his guard "that happened." Yoshi ran up to Lloyd, screeching noises no one could quite understand. "I'm sorry, I'm sure it's important, but no one understands you."
"I thought I could trust you Yoshi!" screamed the princess as she hit the dinosaur over the head with her signature frying pan.
Sora and Wario do their best to elude an angry ape on their way back to Chaos Shrine. They made their way through Wario Ware.
"Shouldn't we have taken the path through Final Destination?" Sora questioned.
"Trust me; I know how to avoid angry apes better than you." Wario answered.
"It just seems like this is the first place anyone would go if they were looking for someone named Wario."
"It doesn't think, it just goes on instinct. We should have a clear shot there now." They passed through the next Nexus and into the Temple of Time. There they found Princess Toadstool. "Your highness, to what do I owe this grace presence?" The princess' heart filled with fear when she saw the two enemies. She began to back up, slowly. "You don't have to be afraid of us darling. If you like I can flip my hat inside out and we can pretend I'm Mario. Heh heh heh."
"Got to hell!" the princess said as she turned around and began sprinting to the Eastern nexus in an effort to alert the others next door. Sora landed in front of her just before she could reach it. The spiky-haired foe gave an evil smirk as Wario walked up behind the princess. They had her surrounded.
"Sora, I can handle this. You had better go report to Falcon on our behalf."
"Whatever." And just like that the enemy left.
Tails had Fox on the ropes. On Fox's next missed kick, Tails grabbed his leg and gave a hard chop. In horrible pain, Fox fell to the ground. Tails quickly took advantage and hopped onto his foe and began mercilessly punching him square in his face. Fox blood began to blend in with the red floor.
"Is this close enough for you?" Tails asked, pulling out his electron cannon and aiming it directly at Fox's bloody face.
"Yes!" Fox replied. "It's good to see you again, friend." Fox said as he stared down the barrel of the gun.
In the temple of time where Sora had left, the princess re-greeted the late Mario's nemesis with a sweet oral embrace. At least that's what the two lovers themselves would have called it.
"I've missed you Wario."
"The feeling is mutual baby."
"Why can't I come with you?"
"You know it's not safe if you come with me baby. I don't think Falcon's the most chivalrous guy."
"I hate that no one thinks I can defend myself."
"It won't be much longer that we'll have to sneak around like this, I promise. Until then, stay out of trouble, okay?"
"Okay." The princess said as she allowed Wario to flee the scene.
For the first time in a while, Goku regretted ever getting into a fight. Every inch of him was in pain. He watched as Black Mage took down clone after clone of Naruto's until Falcon finally found the real one with his knee, straight to the back of Naruto. Every clone disappeared into thin air. As soon as the ninja fell to the ground, both Black Mage and Falcon turned their attention to the downed Goku. Realizing it, he quickly stood to his feet, despite the roaring pain.
"You think this is over?" Goku said as he placed both hands by his side. "It's not, not by a long shot!" Goku took a quick look down to focus. "KA-ME-HA-ME" Goku looked up to find that the pilot was still there, smiling, not even preparing to block the attack. He just stood there, smiling, alone. "He's alone?" Goku thought to himself as he began to panic in his head. Before he could launch the attack, he was grabbed from behind and a rock formation rose from the ground of the shrine fast, launching Goku into the wall behind him. He heard Black Mage laugh as footsteps began getting closer. Then he sensed something right in front of him. Still downed, sitting upright against the wall, he raised his head and opened his eyes. "Tails, you're back. I was getting worried, not about you of course. But as you can see, we're in a sticky situation here. I might be in over my head." Tails only stood silently, facing Goku's enemies. Goku noticed that Fox had also returned and was standing across the room among those enemies. "Tails, you didn't beat Fox? Tails?"
"I'm not Tails" the two-tailed fox said as he began to turn around, looking down at Goku, raising his electron cannon to the saiyan's head. "I'm Miles Prower."
