Gamer4 in. Well, it's been, what, three or four months since I updated last? Sorry, but it's taking me a while to update any of my stories right now. But I'm back! Let's get back to this story!

Disclaimer: During the painfully long hiatus, I still didn't manage to gain ownership of either Super Smash Bros. or Warriors from Nintendo and Erin Hunter.

Chapter XXV

Lucario, Master Hand, and Taebus

As the five of them walked towards the dining room, discussing what the Master Hand might tell them, Firestar spoke up. "Well, one thing I wonder is, what kind of, um, magic, would Tabuu use on killing a man, or having Scourge kill a man for him?"

"Who knows?" Zelda said. "That's a kind of magic called Necromancy, death magic. I don't practice it, but I know enough to know that there are many, many things that they might get from killing someone. Just knowing that he killed someone isn't enough."

"Who would know more about it?" Graystripe asked.

"Well, Mewtwo couldn't tell us..."

"What about Lucario?" Luigi suggested. "They have similar powers, don't they? Maybe Lucario knows more about this than Mewtwo does!"

About what? They all heard the voice inside their heads. They turned to see Lucario coming down the corridor.

"So you finally shook Toon Link off, huh?" Mario asked.

Yes. It's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, including trying to fight Tabuu. But what might I know more about than Mewtwo?

"Well, you know about that guy dying last night, right?" Graystripe said.

Yes. That's something I wanted to talk to you about, as a matter of fact. There was a strange amount of energy coming from the spot where the newspaper said he died, at the same time. I'm pretty sure it was magic. Isn't magic your department, Zelda?

"Yes. If the magic happened because of the death, than it was probably Necromancy. But there are so many things that necromancy could accomplish that I don't really have any chance of finding out what happened without more information. Do you have any?"

Yes, Lucario said, sounding thoughtful in his thoughts, There was something strange about that magic. I can't put my finger on it, but that magic seemed-

He was cut off when they heard a voice coming down the hall. "Lucario," it was saying, and they recognized it as Toon Link's. "Mr. Flibble is very cross."*

Oh, ****, I have to go, Lucario said, and ran like they'd never seen anyone run before. He had run just in time: Toon Link came around the corner. He had a hand puppet on.

"Hey, did you guys see where Lucario went?" he asked.

"Nope, haven't seen him all day," Zelda said. "Why don't you go let the Master Hand know?"

Toon Link looked at them for a second, then said, "Okay. Well, let me know when you see him, okay?" With this, he started heading down another hall, singing to himself. "And he waddled away, waddle waddle waddle."

"What's up with him?" Graystripe asked, looking like he felt sorry for Lucario.

"It looks like Toon Link's grown attached to someone again," Zelda said. "The last time this happened, it wasn't a good time for the other guy."

"Why, who was he?"

"Well, there's a reason Taebus hasn't been here in a while."

XXXX

Finally, they arrived downstairs in the dining room. The smashers that weren't there already were coming in as they came. As they walked in, they saw the robot they'd seen earlier (even though they didn't know exactly what he was) talking with a short twoleg with a glass sphere over his head. They walked in and sat where they'd sat the previous night, and waited for the Master Hand to come. After a bit of waiting, the doors swung open. In came the Master Hand, floating beside a twoleg who was clearly incredibly old. He was hunched over on a walking stick, and had hair white enough to blend in with snow that came down to the middle of his back. He had an equally white beard and moustache that came to his chest. He was dressed in gray, in clothes that looked like they belonged to a time older than Link and Zelda's. As everyone in the hall watched, the hand and the twoleg made their way to the head of the table.

"That's the guy I saw in my dream!" Firestar said to Graystripe. "That's Taebus!"

"Yep, that's him, all right," said Luigi. "You don't forget someone like old Taebus."

"Emphasis on old," Graystripe said, looking up at the man. They didn't get another chance to talk, though, before the Master Hand called their attention to him.

XXXX

"Well," he said, seeming to look around the hall (Though it was hard to tell when you're only looking at a hand in a glove) "I have some bad news and good news tonight. I'll start with the bad news.

"First, I have to tell you that it appears that the mass murderer I told you about last night has joined forces with Tabuu. For those of you-" He had to raise his voice here, because there was some frightened muttering at the sound of Tabuu's name- "For those of you who don't know who Tabuu was-" here he looked at Firestar and Graystripe- "I will have to trust that you will be told as soon as possible. For the rest of you, I must continue on.

"It seems that the two of them, the killer and Tabuu, are using magic of some kind, definitely Necromancy, but we're not sure what the spell is that they're trying to work. We urge anyone who has any more information than what we're about to tell you to come and tell us as soon as you can.

"As for what I have found out already, when I heard that the killer, Scourge, was probably using magic, or else helping Tabuu to perform magic, I thought to all the spells that could possibly be used by Tabuu for his own ends. A long time ago, a book containing all the magic in the world was given to me, to keep safe. Ever since the attack of the Subspace Emissary, I haven't had any need to look in it. When I heard that magic was being employed by either Tabuu or Scourge, I went to the book and found several pages torn out. Not just any pages, but the pages containing information on a certain branch of Necromancy: the branch that requires sacrifice. The only thing I can think of is that Tabuu must have taken the pages during his attack on our planet. That branch of Necromancy seems just like the thing he'd be interested in, and go to great lengths to get his hands on, no pun intended. Having discovered this, I am now going over every spell from the missing pages in my mind, trying to think of one that might be useful to him. Again, anyone who has information, come forward with it."

He made a motion that seemed to be the hand equivalent of shaking his head, then his voice took a happier tone. "But on to happier thoughts. First, I am happy to say that the final of our tournament will be occurring tomorrow. The final countdown: Sonic vs. Bowser! The winner will be awarded our trophy for a while, until someone else wins a tournament." There was some cheering and applause at this. It seemed that the smashers were always ready for a brawl. "And this brings me to the best news we could have received in a time like this: Taebus, as some of you have no doubt noticed, has returned, maybe a little earlier than we expected, but I don't really think any of us will complain." There was a lot of cheering at this news. Finally, the Master Hand seemed done. "Okay, well, don't let me keep you anymore. Let's eat!"

As they all started to eat, Taebus came around the table to where Mario, Luigi, Zelda, Firestar, and Graystripe sat. "Mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Of course not," Zelda said.

As Taebus sat, he turned to Firestar. "I see you got my message."

"What, you didn't think I did?" Firestar asked.

"Well, you never know, dream messages have been known to go awry. You might have though I was a real dream after all, and not given the Master Hand the information I needed him to have."

"Why did you come a day early?" Graystripe wondered.

Taebus turned to him. "Graystripe, right? Nice to meet you. Well, I was originally planning to come tomorrow, but when I realized that an event of this magnitude happened, I picked up the pace a bit so I could make sure the Master Hand got my message. The sooner we find out what Tabuu and Scourge are up to, the better, after all."

"So you don't know?" Luigi asked, looking a little disappointed.

"No, I literally have no idea," Taebus said, leaning back a little. "Who do you think I am, Santa Claus? I don't see them all the time. What do you want me to do, give them coal this year?"

"What are you talking-" Firestar started.

"Oh, nothing," Mario said. "So, Taebus, have you talked to Mewtwo and Lucario yet? I think they have something important to tell you."

"Oh, really?" Taebus asked. "Well, I'll go talk with them, then." With this, he stood and walked over to the pokemon.

"So that's him?" Graystripe asked.

"Yep," Luigi said. "The one and only."

"How old is he, exactly?"

"He probably was yelling at Adam and Eve to get off his lawn."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. It's not important. Let's just eat."

*A cookie to anyone who knows where this line is from.

And that's all for now. Sorry for the incredibly long break, hopefully it won't happen again. Please R&R, flames are bad, constructive criticism is fine, Gamer4 out.