For the next few chapters, there won't be any A/N's. It's to retain the mood of the stories.

Chapter 20: A Victory and a Loss

Sovia stirred in her sleep. She squeezed the boy next to her* a little tighter, being careful to allow him to breathe. She opened her eyes just a bit. She saw sunlight. Sovia closed her eyes. About five seconds later they shot open.

"Sunshine, T.J. get up we over slept", Sovia shouted. T.J. didn't hesitate, even in his sleep.

"Alright, grab the sleeping bag, I'll get the rest*", T.J. said, quickly getting up. Since all they had were their jackets, a sleeping bag, survival knives, and some food it wasn't long before they were leaving the log they had used for shelter.

"T.J. we're not moving fast enough, can't you do something", Sovia asked. The weather was calm, but cold, and snow covered the ground.

"Yeah, but I don't know how long I can hold it", T.J. said, stopping. He held his hands out. Snow lifted off of the ground and formed two discs. T.J. jumped on one, and Sovia jumped on the other. They were flying at a rapid speed above the ground.

"Gyaaaaaaaa", they heard something roar. T.J. lost his concentration, and the snow they were standing on burst into puffs of powder, sending them flailing to the ground. Sovia, landed on her hands and did a backflip so she would land on her feet. T.J. just broke the fall with his face*.

"Are you okay", she asked picking up a shaken T.J.

"Yeah", he replied shaking snow from his brown hair.

"What was that", Sovia continued.

"I'm not sure, but I know it's not good, the extraction point is just over that hill, come on, we better hurry", T.J. said.

Hero by Skillet

They rushed over the hill and gasped at the sight before them. In the valley below, Timmy, Tootie, Krystal, Tristan, James, Mario, and Sonic were struggling to take down a giant dragon shaped Shadow. Timmy and Tootie jumped above it, trying to slice it down the middle. The Shadow countered their attack by doing a front flip and its tail smashed down upon them. They flew to the ground, leaving a crater in the ground, just like everyone else. The dragon lifted its head high and conjured a red ball of energy in its mouth. It jerked its head down and the ball hurled toward the unconcience fighters. Just as it was about to hit, T.J. rushed in front of it and deflected it back to the Shadow with his sword. The Shadow reeled and was dazed.

"If there's one thing I hate, it's a Shadow like you", he said darkly. Sovia was now by his side with her bow raised high.

"Sovia don't, only I can fight this thing, if you try to help you'll only be getting in my way, take the others and signal evac*, now", T.J. said.

Sovia was about to object when she thought, He's right, if he's the only one who can fight this thing I'll just get in his way, I'd better get the others and get out of here, but I hope he'll be alright, I don't like him fighting alone.

Sovia grabbed Timmy and Tootie, she flung them over her shoulders and started to dragged Krystal and Mario to safety*. She would have to come back for the others.

"Alright, you want a piece of me you'll have to come and get some", T.J. taunted. The dragon wasn't dazed anymore and roared at its new opponent.

It rushed at T.J., fangs and talons shown. T.J. wasn't dumb he waited for his chance to strike. The Dragon Shadow bit forward and T.J. blocked it. It was as if time had stopped, the Dragon Shadow was stunned by the force of the pary. It tried to push harder with its teeth against the sword but did not succeed. T.J. sliced his sword forward and sent the Dragon Shadow flying back, but it quickly recovered. T.J. knew he had to end this quickly, because one of two things would happen. The Shadow would call for hundreds of thousands of others or it would figure out how to beat him. T.J. switched to his hammer*.

Sovia was still dragging James, Sonic, and Tristan to where the others were when she witnessed it. The Dragon Shadow had lunged at T.J. and attempted to take him down with his talons. T.J. jumped and attempted to crush it with the massive Smash Hammer. However, the Dragon Shadow's tail had cut him across his stomach. Fresh, warm blood splattered the ground. Sovia shut her eyes at the sight before her, trying to convince herself that the event did not just happen.

T.J. hit the ground and slid backwards, holding his wound. His armor and arms were soaked with his own blood. His vision was blurry and he knew he had already lost too much blood.

"Lucky shot", he grunted. T.J. knew he would have to by some time. He knew he would have to something completely stupid. By now blood was dripping from his mouth. He summoned the Blade of Time, and, despite the unbearable burning in his palms and stomach, completely stopped time. This time the only thing that was frozen was the Shadow.

That's odd, why am I not frozen too, she thought. T.J. used a small amount of fire to melt some of the snow. He then used the melted snow to cover his slash. The cut thinned, and the bleeding stopped, as if it were never there.

"That's more like it", T.J. said releasing time from its frozen prison. The Dragon Shadow didn't think about what had happened and went for another pass.

"The same trick won't work twice", T.J. said. This time, instead of jumping over the Shadow, T.J. ducked and waited for the tail to pass. With a quick slash of the Blade of Heroes, the dragons tail was dismembered. The tail disappeared with a puff of black smoke.

"Gywooooaaaaarrrr", the creature roared in pain. T.J. smiled, he knew this battle was almost over. But he had to be careful not to be over convident, the Shadow still had other means of attack.

The Shadow once again rushed T.J., trying to swallow him whole. T.J. saw his chance and jumped into the air, with his hammer in hand. Just as the dragon was in front of him, the Smash Hammer came down upon its head. The Dragon Shadow's body hit the ground and didn't move.

End

"Hmm, that was somewhat disappointing, Dragon Shadows usually are harder to take down", T.J. said, turning to Sovia, whom was taking care of the others.

"T.J. how did you heal yourself like that", she asked.

"Well-", T.J. started. The roar behind them confirmed his suspicions, the Shadow was only stunned.

"You've got to be kidding me", T.J. said, turning to see the Dragon Shadow, as well as two Hunter Shadows. The Dragon roared, and fear gripped T.J.'s body, it was calling for backup. All of a sudden billions of Shadows, Meterex, and Primids appeared out of nowhere.

I can Walk on Water I can Fly by Basshunter

"T.J.", Sovia said, terrified. T.J. knew he was going to do something he didn't think was possible.

"Sovia, stay behind me and radio evac, I'm about to do something completely insane", T.J. said sternly. When he turned around, Timmy came to. He watched as T.J. flew into the air and put his arms to his sides. The Dragon shot a red ball of energy at him.

"Guys, do you think you can do something", Timmy whispered to his green and pink gloves, out of earshot of Sovia.

"We'll try Timmy", Cosmo and Wanda said together.

"T.J. catch", Timmy yelled to T.J.. He turned and caught a sheild with such skill that he slid it onto his arm in the process. T.J. used it to deflected the attack back a the Shadow. he dropped the sheild and raised his hands above his head, palms flat. A small ball consisting of all of his elements formed above him. The enemies below tried to attck him, but some invisible force stopped them from getting too close to him.

While T.J. charged his attack he thought back to the day on the flight deck.

Flashback...

"Everyone, this is T.J. due to a set of recent events the Smash Carrier will now be under Level 3 Lockdown. Everyone is to be in their rooms no later than 9 P.M. I want all patrols roaming the halls 24/7. No one is to travel alone. Sorry for the inconvenience, I hope they will change back soon", T.J. said over the call of the intercom.

"What's the big deal, T.J.", Tootie asked him.

"If Tabuu is alive then he has taken over Subspace again, which means he has access to Shadow Bugs. They are what make up the Subspace Army, they can also slip onto this ship. The reason for the security is that Shadow Bugs can morph inot Smash Bros. and other living things", he explained.

Later that day...

"T.J., we have a problem", Falco said quickly, out of breath.

"What is it", T.J. said, turning from his consol.

"We've got Shadow Bugs on the outside of the Carrier, they have us trapped, we can't go in and out and they trying to take it over", he said.

T.J. dropped what he was doing and rushed to the front window. Beyond the giant glass, he could tell that Falco was right, there were trillions of Shadow Bugs on the hull of the Carrier. They were multiplying, squirming, and fastening themselves to the exterior.

"How many know", T.J. asked.

"By now, probably everyone", the falcon replied.

"Get my team ready, we can't wait for tomorrow, we're going to that world now", T.J. said.

Now the team was in the hanger, getting gear packed quickly.

"T.J. what's on this world that can help us", Sovia asked.

"The only thing that can stop the Shadow Bugs", T.J. replied.

Before they took off for the world below them, T.J. explained that there was a rare artifact that was the exact opposite of the Subspace Army it could immediately destroy the Subspace Bugs, but they had less than six days before the entire ship was over run, to find it. He then explained the shape and color of it. He also explained that he had only enough power to blast just them out.

Once they landed, they encounter immediate resistance. An entire army of Shadows started to attack. Even though they fought bravely, they were still overwhelmed. Just when they thought they had won, The Shadows used a combined attack and shot it toward the team.

"Join hands", T.J. shouted. Sovia managed to grab T.J.'s, but they couldn't reach the others before the attack struck in betwen them and were separated. She and T.J. flew one way, to another part of the world, Tristan and James went to another and the rest flew to another.

End flashback...

As T.J. remembered what they were fighting for he gave everything he had in that ball of energy, which was now as big as earth's moon*, and threww it toward the Shadows. Timmy and Sovia watched in amazement as the attack hurled to the ground. The ball made contact and exploded. The explosion was bigger than that of any supernova. The force that had kept the attackers from getting close to them now stopped the explosion from touching them.

After the dust had settled, T.J. felt pain grip his entire being. His vision again went blurry. He fell from the sky. Landing on his feet T.J. looked over. There were two blurry figures standing upright. He didn't know who they were, he couldn't think clearly. T.J.'s entire world was turned sideways as he fell to the ground. One of the figures screamed his name, which echoed in the back of his head. He could barely hear it over the slow, loud, thudding of his heart. T.J.'s vision went black. And he could no longer hear his heart beat.

End

Facts: 7

1. T.J. wouldn't normally sleep with anyone, but all they had was one sleeping bag and Sovia was still recovering from hypothermia.

2. When they were separated, T.J. and Sovia were left with little supplies.

3. Normally, this wouldn't have happened, but T.J. was tired.

4. Most of T.J.'s methods are based upon those of the U.S. military. He will often use words such as evac, A.S.A.P., and base.

5. As you can tell, Sovia has already begun to use her strength for other things.

6. T.J. had before often "stolen" Amy's hammer for practice.

7. When T.J. told the others that a Smash Brother's Final Smash was their strongest attack, he stretched the truth. For some Smash Bros. it is, but for others, there are attacks 1000 times stronger.