ROBOT OPERATING BUDDY INITIATION SEQUENCE...
SEQUENCE INITIATED...
POWER SYSTEM: ONLINE
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: ONLINE
MOTORS: ONLINE
SCANNERS: ONLINE
WEAPONRY: ONLINE
BURNERS: ONLINE
SPEECH SYSTEM: ONLINE
MISSION PARAMETERS: UPLOADED
COMMENCING MISSION...
The Metroids- or whatever they were called- we surprisingly hard to defeat. Ness really didn't like that. His baseball bat was merely sending them back, his PSI seemed to hurt them, but they still kept coming. And he was getting tired. Another Metroid came towards him. And he stepped into his swing:
SMAAAASH!
The invader was sent away, it's balance ruined, it's control no longer existent. Like a rocket, it flew, high into the sky.
Ness would have smiled and walked away happy... if there weren't, like, twelve dozen other Metroids coming at him. And so, Ness did the one thing he never did during his adventure:
He ran. Not because he was afraid, but because he needed time to think. It'd been so long since he'd fought alone. He'd almost forgotten how to do it, he'd fought with friends by his side for so long. But now, there was no Poo, no Jeff... no Paula. In fact, he couldn't help but think:
Maybe I should have called them?
Ness was now in a park, and he kept running. He was getting close to that old Cafe, if he remembered correctly. Where the Mani-Mani statue was, where he'd entered that bizarre dimension of Moonside.
A shiver went down his back. And then he realized something:
They might not have been with him physically by his side, but psychically they were with him. At least, in a fashion.
Ness turned around, and then, with a cry and a hand motion, he shouted out the words:
"PSI FIRE!"
A small lightning-boltesque projective came from his fingers and darted towards the lead Metroid. And, when it struck it, the invader burst into flames.
...but kept coming!
Ness once again reached for his bat, but stopped. The time for games was over: it was time to unleash his ultimate ability:
Ness jumped and let out a scream: "PSI ROCKIN'!"
From somewhere, the strands and shapes crossed the sky: not quite physical, but not quite intangible. It was not quite fire, but not ice, either. They were simply the parts of PSI Rockin', and they streaked and strobed into and around the Metroids. Cries came from the strange air-jellyfish-things, and they ran away. Finally.
Ness was tired now, but at least he figured those things would be gone now, or at least no longer threatening anybody. Right?
Flap-flap-flap-SCRRIIIITTTCCH!
Wrong, thought Ness. He turned his head to the air, and he saw what was making the sound. It was... some kind of dragon or dinosaur. It was big and a dark purple, and, well, Ness could already tell it wasn't friendly. And, as it turned to face him, with Metroids following, Ness immediately realized the fight wasn't over.
Ridley and his cohorts attacked!
But maybe, he thought, he could end the battle before it began. Once again, he thought back to his friends. Putting great effort into his mind, he called it out:
"PSI THUNDER!"
Nothing happened. He tried again.
"PSI THUNDER!"
Nothing. He must have been tapped out. No more power. Tapped out.
The dragon- "Ridley"- dove downwards towards him, and Ness pulled out his baseball bat to prepare for a fight he sensed he couldn't win.
And thought for a second about everything: Buzz Buzz. Paula. Jeff. Poo. Magicant. Giygas. Pokey.
"Come and get me, loser! Spankety spankety spankety!"
The dragon kept coming, perhaps only seconds away when...
Pew, Peow, Pew, Peow! Light-green laser shots streaked across the sky, and the dragon screeched to a halt in the sky. And then, streaking across the sky were two planes.
No, not planes. They were like space-ships, like star-fighters from the Onett arcade, off-white wings swept back from a cockpit between two big blue structures. And then, from behind them, shooting out strange beams at the Metroids, was another ship, purple and gray. The two white fighters continued to fly on, and turn into the battle against the Metroids, but the gunship, it turned towards Ness. It looked almost like a helmet, or a person, to Ness.
Please don't be evil, he thought, Just please don't be evil.
The ship landed, an elevator came down from it, and stepping out was a strange, almost mechanical figure. Ness wasn't feeling particularly confident now. The visor of the being seemed to look almost like a Starman, coming from the sky to do Giygas' bidding.
But then, something happened, the suited figure's helmet dissolved, and from it flowed yellow hair. It was a woman! And as she walked towards him, she extended a hand:
"My name's Samus Aran, we were told you could use a little help."
Ness extended his hand upwards (Samus was tall!), and returned the greeting:
"Hi, I'm Ness... thanks!" he stopped for a second, "Who are these guys?"
"Serious business," Samus replied.
Then, lofting through the air, came a sound: a heavy flap-flap-flap.
Samus' helmet reappeared upon here head, and her right hand moved downward into what Ness could now see was a cannon.
And it was then that the flap-flap became louder, and closer, and then, there was a screech... and a voice!
"This world is none of your business, Samus!" Ridley cried as he glided over them. Samus aimed her arm cannon at the creature and let off a few shots, but they were fruitless. They saw Ridley crash into a building in the distance. Screams rose in that direction. Ness didn't even ask the new arrival for help- he just ran. He could tell that this Ridley was a bully, and he hated bullies.
Samus ran after him, but couldn't help opening up a radio link to the other interdimensional arrivals:
"Star Fox team, how's it going in the air?"
Fox McCloud sat in his Arwing's cockpit, but he wasn't the only being who was riding it: some of the creatures- the Metroids- had latched on. A quick check to his right side revealed his wingman, Falco Lombardi, was having an even tougher time of it. But the communications systems of their birds were still in perfect order, as they were not only able to hear the message from Samus Aran, but reply.
Or, in Falco's case, sarcastically reply: "Oh, it's going great up here in the skies for the Star Fox team, Miss Aran. We can only hope it is going as well for you down there."
"Cut it, Falco," said Fox, "Samus, you said these things don't like the cold, right?"
"Correct, unless you have a Nova Beam or a very large explosion."
"How big of an explosion?" asked Fox, deadpanning as another Metroid went and landed on the fast-moving Arwing.
"A planet or two often does it," said Samus.
The Star Fox team didn't even bother answering that. Too ridiculous of a comment. Then again, they should have talked.
"Well, Falco," said Fox, "We really just need to get these things off us right now."
"Yeah, thanks, Fox, I realize that," his friend replied.
"You know what Peppy would say..." said Fox.
"No. No, I am not saying it!"
"Time to barrel roll!" said Fox.
A twist of the controls, and Fox's Arwing began to spin, briefly, he could see the ground below, and just as briefly, he could see the Metroids falling from his hull. A brief check to his right showed the same to Falco.
"Gun it, before they come at us again!"said Fox.
"Jeez, I know, Fox," Falco replied, as their Arwings sped up away from the disoriented Metroids, "And it's not a barrel roll, it's an aileron roll, why do we keep letting Peppy say that?"
Fox wasn't sure whether to dignify that with a response, but a beep on his cockpit console gave him another reason.
"Hang on, Falco, we've got incoming!"
"Great, just great..." said Falco.
And then, the incoming identified himself with a chilling, angered voice:
"Hello, Star Fox!"
Fox knew that voice: Wolf.
Ness and Samus ran to the building that Ridley had broken into. It was an ugly sight: injured people lay on the ground, scared people ran in every direction, and, of course, one guy just sort of stood around wondering what all the fuss was about. The front of the building had been all-but completely torn down, but hanging from the side, tilted and knocked down, was the sign, checkerboard-backgrounded and with yellow letters: "CAFE".
"Why?" shouted Ness, "We smashed it!"
"What?" asked Samus, a bit confused: she and the Star Fox team had been told that there assistance was needed, the robot hadn't really told them the details. But now that she'd seen Ridley, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Ridley was, somehow, once again alive. And that meant that she was going to kill him, something she swore she'd already done several times. Once, Ridley had been like a bogeyman to her, a looming nightmare. Once, it had gotten the best of her, somehow.
But she'd decided since then to make it the other way around. Ridley, whether the original or some type of clone, was going learn to be afraid of her.
But at hand, Ness spoke of a different nightmare: "The Mani-Mani Statue!"
"What was that?" said Samus, who weaved past a scared Foursider who ran past them. They were perhaps only a few dozen yards away now- Samus's visor could already pick up Ridley.
"A strange... evil... statue... thing."
They were now so close to the cafe. Ness too could see Ridley, and he had words for the strange dragon invader:
"Hey dummy! The statue is gone!"
Skrriiiitch! The invader turned and faced the young psychic and the the armored bounty hunter. His wings opened up, and he raised a talon that held a strange metallic bag.
"Not everythingggg, boy!" spouted out Ridley.
Samus began to charge her arm cannon, but before she could unleash her charge beam at the fiend, he took to the air. She swirled around and saw Ridley fly away.
"Not this time!" she yelled, unleashing more shots from her arm cannon.
Ness couldn't help but stand there wondering how he could help this strange woman. He didn't have enough energy for a PSI attack, but maybe he had something else. As Samus began to run at the fleeing Ridley taking shots at the space pirate, he opened his backpack. He went through his inventory:
An old Yo-yo? Nope, that wouldn't help. Besides, he had a better one that he had out already.
Insecticide? Nope, Ridley didn't look like a bug.
Slingshot? It'd have to do. Ness zipped up his backpack and ran to try to catch up with Samus.
Samus' latest shot again missed, and she knew that this wasn't going to end well. It was taught back at the Galactic Federation: Air support! Air support! Air support!
"Where is my air support, Star Fox team?"
Ee-yook-yook-yook-yook! The Arwing's innards were on red alert.
"We're a bit busy, Samus!" shouted Fox. Somehow, Wolf had gotten behind him and dealt some damage. Stupid mistake. Falco was never going to let him hear the end of it.
"Fox, Wolf's on my tail. A little help?" said Falco.
Wham! Fox juked his head backwards to once again see Metroids gaining on him. The Arwing wouldn't be able to take much more.
"I'm sorry, Falco, it appears I'm going to have to bail," Fox spoke not just to Falco but to Samus.
"Scared, Fox?" snarled Wolf, tapping into his communications (one of these day's Fox was going to get Slippy to fix that!).
"Are you kidding, O'Donnell? Without me getting in his way, Falco will handle you in no time!"
Another Metroid hit the Arwing, and Fox knew what he had to do. He closed his eyes, and, with the press of a button, the cockpit opened, and he ejected from the Arwing. A Metroid came at him, but a swift kick shooed it away. As Fox fell towards the ground, waiting for the right moment to activate his rocket pack for a good landing, Fox heard Samus again:
"I still need air support!"
Samus and Ness weren't going to catch Ridley, and Samus realized that her only hope was going to come from the air.
"I repeat, I need air support!" she shouted into her radio, "I need somebody to shoot him out of the sky."
"I don't think they can hear you- whoever they are," said Ness, who then spotted something coming down from high to his right, diving down from the sky. He couldn't quite make it out, but it seemed... orange?
"What's that?", he cried.
Samus turned her head quickly. Her visor saw the incoming object as well. She tried to zoom in, but it was coming in too fast. So fast, in fact, that within seconds, the zoom wasn't necessary... and the object identified itself with a cry that echoed throughout Fourside:
"CHAAAAARIZAAAAARD!"
The wind whipped in Red's hair as his Charizard dived down at the strange purple dragon, and he couldn't help but smile as his old friend, now back to his old self, gave off a battle cry. In fact, the feeling of exhilaration was infectious, and it wasn't long before the other Pokemon on Charizard's back were shouting the same as they dove into battle:
"PIKACHU!"
"PICHU!"
"JIGGLY!"
Red smiled and shouted: "Okay, Charizard! Those people need help, let's do it!"
The dive increased even more, and the purple dragon got closer, closer, closer. For a second, Red thought he'd heard it turn and yell "WHAT?!", but the wind was probably playing tricks on him. And it didn't matter anyway, because a second later, Charizard's aerial tackle landed squarely...
Samus stared as the smoke and dust rose from the ground not far from where Ridley had been trying to fly away. She turned towards Ness, checked that he was okay (maybe because he was a kid), and saw him holding a slingshot. Samus wasn't sure whether to admire his use-everything courage or sigh at the idea of trying to take him down with such a pitiful tool.
Ness looked at her, gave a quick smile.
"Well, we did okay, right?"
"Yeah, uh... sure..."
It was then that the smoke and dust began to clear. And walking out of it was a strange group. One of them was human- far closer to the "human" that Samus was used to instead of the big-headed humans that she'd been seeing in Fourside, but with him were... creatures. Animals? Monsters? She wasn't sure. There were two relatively large rodents, yellow and black. There was a large (although far from Ridley-size) dragon with a fire emanating from the tip of it's tail. And, strangest of all, there was a round, light-pink creature, with eyes bigger than it's mouth.
The human, wearing a red baseball cap, waved at them:
"Hi, I'm Red," he said.
"Pikachu!" shouted the larger yellow mouse.
"Oh, and this is Pikachu. He and Charizard are my Pokemon, and Jigglypuff and Pichu here are our friends, so they kind of tagged along to help out."
"I'm Ness... and..." he stopped for a second and pointed towards the small monsters, "So... those creatures... fight for you?"
Red scratched the back of his head, "Well, yeah. That's what Pokemon trainers do... it's my cause," he paused, "I guess."
"That is so awesome!" blurted out Ness.
Samus then spoke: "I'm Samus Aran, and that was a good move there."
"Thanks."
Samus walked up to Red, and though the Pokemon trainer probably expected a hand shake, she was looking for something else. And, inside the small crater, she found it: Ridley. Beaten up, in shock, at her mercy. Ridley was very much alive, but he wasn't in any state to escape, of that she was sure.
"Time to go, Ridley..." she said to herself, as she began to charge the most powerful beam she had.
"What are you doing!?" yelled Red, who ran to her.
"My job," Samus said.
"It's helpless, beaten! It can't fight back!" Red said (Pikachu, on Red's shoulder, gave off a loud cry of agreement).
Ness ran up between them: "Uh, yeah, Ridley here doesn't look too good... seems kind of cheap..."
Samus knew these kids probably wouldn't understand. She could already tell they had never seen the type of stuff that she'd seen. Heck, Red looked like he had his monsters- his Pokemon- do the work for him. Still, it was only right if she enlightened him:
"'Ridley here' is responsible for thousands of death, he's a space pirate with no remorse or care, and he would kill all of you if he got the chance, I need to finish him now."
"No," said Red, "No you don't. He can't fight back. It's not right to do this."
Samus' charge was now complete, all it would take was a little motion, and she could blast Ridley's head off.
"It's finished! It can't fight anymore!" shouted Red.
Ridley, meanwhile began to laugh: "Heheheheheh..." and, producing a small object, began to fade.
Samus shuttered and fired her fully charged beam. Bright energy flowed out of her suit and streamed towards Ridley.
"NO!" yelled Red.
A purple void opened, and then Ridley- and all he carried- disappeared into it.
Samus stood still for a few seconds, looking at where Ridley had once been. She had had her chance and blown it, because of some stupid kid. She opened her helmet, let her face be shown as she turned to face the meddler.
"You," she said, "have no idea what you just did."
Falco had the Wolfen in his sights, locked on...
"So long, dear Falco!" said Wolf.
"Where you going, O'Donnell?"
A brief opening of purple, and the Wolfen disappeared. Falco couldn't believe it, and quickly took to the comm: "Uh, anybody else just disappearing out there?"
"I saw it too, Falco, with the Metroids" Fox said, "Now get back down here, it looks like Samus and some newcomer are having a... disagreement."
Fox had gotten a few stares as he ran through Fourside, but by the time he got back to the group, he was the one staring.
In front of him, two who should have been allies were instead in each other's face: Samus and the newcomer, and some little animals backing the newcomer up. The kid they'd been told they'd meet, meanwhile, was trying to get between them, to stop them.
"Listen up, 'Red'," said Samus, "I don't know where you come from, but where I come from, it's kill or be killed."
"Well, I'm glad I don't live there," said the newcomer, "because you seem to like attacking helpless opponents!"
"I seem to like doing my job!" shouted back Samus.
"Stop it!" yelled the local, who obviously wasn't getting much attention from either of them.
Fox decided to help as well: "Cut it out! Both of you!"
Red and Samus both turned and faced him- so did the creatures that were with Red, the local couldn't help but look a bit disappointed, as if he wanted to say "Why did it work for you but not me?"
"What happened?" said Fox, crossing his arms.
"She was trying to kill someone who was helpless!" shouted Red, who's yellow creature said "Pika!" in agreement.
"I was trying to put an end to a mass murderer!" said Samus.
"Both of you let him escape with what was left of the Mani-Mani statue! Argh!" shouted the local.
Fox heard an approaching Arwing- Falco was getting close.
"And, let me guess... he escaped through one of those purple rifts?"
"Yeah," said Red.
Fox was a born leader, and he knew right away that how this turned out could help determine the success of this new team. The robot, after all, had seemed to imply to them that this was just the beginning. Where had that robot gone anyway? Didn't matter. What mattered now was what he was going to say here: he had to come up with words that were not only correct and truthful to his opinion, but wouldn't offend any of the others. It didn't take long for him to come up with a good way of doing that:
"You should have tried to take him captive, maybe he'd have information," Fox said. A good line, he figured: he wouldn't give away what he thought, and it was true- it would have made sense to interrogate Ridley. Fox may have been more mercenary than soldier, but he knew strategy, that was for sure.
But there was one thing that was bugging him:
"Samus, why couldn't you have used your gunship to go after Ridley?"
Samus was silent for a second, and then, with a sharp, dry voice, responded:
"Who put you in charge?"
Ness then spoke: "Uhh, Mr. Fox-person, I, uh... think something's about to happen."
THOOM! A blast of wind hit them. And, suddenly, behind Ness, another rift opened. Only this one wasn't purple, and it wasn't a tear or wound. No, this one was round and a light blue, with perhaps a very dim yellow-orange aura to it as well. And, from it came not an aggressive Metroid, but instead the robot that had recruited them.
It wasn't very big, but it seemed like was something that had a hidden power to it: a elongated rectangular head, black "eyes", unusually shaped arms, a white rod for a torso and a odd base on the bottom where wheels and thrusters were hidden.
"Greetings again," it said in a droning, machine-like voice, "and to you, Ness of Universe 0789, greetings for the first time."
Ness was surrounded by stuff that he, in a word, found to be awesome. A person who had monsters fight for him instead of against him? Awesome. Armored bounty hunter, albeit a bit grumpy? Awesome. An ace pilot who looked like he was some type of human fox? Awesome.
And now there was a interdimensional robot? That was awesome too. In fact, it was sort of surprising he was able to keep his jaw up as he looked at the new arrival.
"I am R.O.B.," said the robot, "I have been tasked with assembling beings who have been exposed to the rifts in order to form a group to investigate and defeat the unknown opponent..."
Ness realized that R.O.B. was talking to him.
"So, uh, do you want me to help?", he asked.
"Affirmative. Please proceed through the wormhole, where you will be able to see what so few in the multiverse have ever seen," the robot turned it's head towards the others, "Please bring your weapons, vehicles and Pokemon..."
Ness heard Fox saying over his comm: "Falco, fly though the portal."
And he also heard Samus tell Red: "This isn't over."
But he didn't particularly notice either of them. He was about to go on an adventure!
