Two Plumbers and a Hedgehog
Well, I've finally spit up this little guy. :D School and Band Camp can really torture you at time… T_T
Disclaimer: Don't own SSB or frankly, most of the guardians. So don't sue me… or else!
Cameron punched Golfer in the jaw, causing the other boy to back up into a tree. They had been arguing for about an hour already and all that resulted was a wrestling match between the two. Truth be told, Ike didn't mind much. He was just sad about Cameron not letting him take over so he could throw a few punches of his own.
Wrath had run off a little while ago to investigate noises of a fight. He actually seemed a bit disappointed that he couldn't participate in beating up Golfer. Ike wondered what Meta Knight thought of this whole situation.
He probably didn't care.
"What is wrong with you!" Cameron screamed, "You get your bloody life saved by her and your treat her like Ashera damned dirt!"
"You don't know what she did that day!" Golfer yelled back, "she betrayed me… she left me to die!"
"Will you two stop it!" Samus shouted for the umpteenth time. Her guardian ignored her.
As the shouting match went on, Samus took this time to search Golfer's memories for any shred of information she could get. If this fight erupted into anything worse than an argument, there was no way they'd be able to defeat Tabuu. She gently waved one hand over the spines of one bookshelf until she found one labeled: Traca's Betrayal: June 6th, Year of Darkened Blood.
In the book, she found pictures of what happened during this time. Frowning in confusion, she sat down and began to flip through the pages. There were a great many scenes of Golfer sitting across from Traca in a cafeteria of some sort. They were laughing and seemed like they were having a good time.
A strange power began radiating from the pages of the book as Samus' slim fingers, gently turned them. Far off in the distance, she could hear very faint laughter, the kind of laughter that would fill anyone with a sense of peace and happiness no matter what the situation was. For a moment, the huntress could almost see her own childhood right through these pages, her happier years when she was younger, before she was so cruelly forced into the life of a bounty huntress.
For the first time in decades, a single teardrop fell from Samus's bright blue eyes. her heart was wrenched in two at the thought of everything these two once great friends had suffered because of Tabuu, the cruel dictator she and her fellow Smashers had failed to defeat a hundred years ago. It was because of him that two pure lives such as these were torn from their bright future and instead thrust into a dark and twisted war.
Samus flipped a few more pages and she learned of how Traca told Golfer about a mission of some sort. During this mission, they would travel to a factory that created machines of war. It was an assignment from Tabuu himself and it was a great honor for it to be bestowed upon her.
Samus' stomach lurched in disgust at the thought of anyone being willing to carry out a mission for Tabuu. Especially since these two were so young. But what disgusted her the most was what this mission was all about.
Their goal was simple: destroy the machines and kill all the rebels.
But whatever else she had told him had been left blank in his memories. The words were rubbed away, as if he had forgotten them. Or, in the worst case scenario, had wanted to forget them.
The next few pages showed the two as they prepared for their mission. Though the shadow of doubt and death hung in the air, they still laughed and smiled as they moved about. Soon, the day of their mission arrived and the two left in a rush. As Golfer left, Samus saw him drop a piece of paper on the floor.
There were directions and tips written on it, one of these tips inked in deep red: "DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, TRY TO TAKE A WEAPON FOR YOUR OWN!"
It was a tiny, almost hidden thing in Golfer's memories. It was very possible that he knew deep down inside what that paper said, but couldn't remember what. The glow of this particular page had turned cerulean and Samus could almost imagine the broken shards of a lost memory that was shattered through the will of the person in question. She was glad that she had found this tiny bit of information.
Even the smallest bit could change the fate of Smashville itself.
She felt a blow of some sort jaw Golfer's mind. His vision swam slightly, but he threw another punch and managed to hit Cameron in the eye. Samus hoped that he wouldn't be knocked unconscious before she could finish looking through this memory. If Golfer was unconscious, his mind wouldn't work as well as it did now.
Cameron was shaking with anger now, so much that Ike was jarred slightly from his position in Cameron's mind. "W-What… is… wrong… with… you!"
Golfer wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth. "What are you talking about?"
Cameron panted heavily as he fought back frustrated tears. "You are treating a woman like crap!"
"You don't understand what she did to me!" he yelled back, "You don't understand what it feels like to trust someone with your life, only to have them throw it away like it was nothing!"
A great storm blew in Golfer's mind as he said this, ripping the book from Samus' hands. The bounty huntress watched in surprise as the pages flipped rapidly all about, finally coming to a stop at a picture of Golfer and Traca, cloaking devices on, lowering themselves through a sky roof. As she grabbed the book yet again, she felt something cut her, like the shards of a broken spirit.
Ike felt a sudden gust of wind in Cameron's memories, grabbing numerous books from the shelves and tossing them about. From what he could judge from all the random pictures that passed him, all of them had something to do with an all too familiar red sticky substance…
"Cam…" Ike ducked a book just in time. His guardian seemed to ignore him, as the storm in his mind never calmed down.
"Don't understand? DON'T UNDERSTAND! You think we're so different, huh! You think you're the only one whose past, present, and future got nuked by some stupid blue idiot! I'm just like you, Golfer, whether you like it or not! If it hadn't been for Tabuu, I'd probably grow up with some friends and not have to bloody fight to live!"
Ike bit his lip, the guilt of being unable to kill Tabuu the first time hitting him with full force. He remembered very clearly how easily Mia had been ripped from him. But what he never truly understood was how Tabuu's influence affected the rest of the world, including his guardian.
He knew now…
"I had to kill millions of people just to survive!" Cameron screamed, "I could've done something, anything, to stop that, but I didn't! And I did it all because I had to survive! Ever since Ike started living in my head, my conscience hasn't stopped eating me up! Dammit, I can't eat or sleep because of everything I've done! And now, I'm trying everything I can to set things right so I don't go bloody burn in Hell! But you… you haven't had to kill a million fucking people in your life! You think you've got the worse past of all of us, but think again, dammit! What about Heather? Wrath? Pikana? Nask! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TREATING YOUR BEST FRIEND LIKE TRASH AFTER SHE SAVED YOUR ASHUNERA DAMNED LIFE!"
"Cameron! Calm down!" Ike yelled over the wailing wind. He could've sworn that the wind died down very slightly for just a moment before picking up again.
"You wanna know why she deserves all of that treatment! Well, I'll tell you!" Golfer yelled back, "Yeah, she saved my life. But it was all for me just almost tripping off a ledge! Almost right afterwards, we lowered ourselves through the sky roof into the rebel base. We were just about to nuke the damned machine when those stupid rebels catch us somehow and now while I'm fighting to get us out, she ditches me! After everything we went through, she ditched me!"
"That's still no reason to treat her like trash!"
Though what Golfer told Cameron was true, Samus alone knew what had really happened. While Traca flew up to start placing C4s on the ceiling near the machine, Golfer handled the base and wherever he could reach from the ground.
It was then that his eyes fell on the gun. He dropped the C4 he was carrying and just simply stood there and stared at it, all instructions he had received before forgotten.
All that mattered was that gun!
It was a beautiful piece of art as far as guns go. It was silver in color, with a large barrel and a light trigger. The thing looked quite easy to carry and it helped that it came with its own holster. Samus saw that it was the kind of gun that was dangerous, but everyone wanted to have it. Those guns usually were the cause of wars over it and many other things besides.
Golfer reached out to grab it. Samus screamed at him to stop, though she knew she could not change the past. At the moment Golfer's hand touched the weapon, sirens blared all around. An electrical shock coursed through him, causing his cloaking device to go haywire. Near the ceiling, Traca watched in horror as Golfer's cloaking device shorted out and he was revealed to all the surprised rebels around him.
An uproar began after the moment of stunned silence passed. Grabbing all the weapons they could reach, the rebels rushed at the boy and began shooting at him while those who grabbed bludgeon weapons ran on. Some of the rebels, with their terrible aim, actually hit and killed some of their own number whereas others were shot by Golfer. The bullets coming towards him simply bounced off a force field that protected him.
Thank goodness for Fox's inventions.
Golfer grabbed the gun and pulled the trigger. Sparks flew into the air and showered all over the floor. An electric blast popped right out of the gun and managed to destroy one rebel in a flurry of blood and limbs. Golfer nearly dropped the gun in surprise.
That was his first intentional kill. Samus could feel it through the pages. She could feel the horror and fear he felt, yet at the same time the pride and the need for more. Once someone had committed a murder, there was no going back.
Ever.
Bullets whizzed back and forth, blood sprayed into the air like a fountain. Though Golfer's aim was excellent, he was only to take down one rebel at a time. And even with the rebels shooting their own comrades on accident, there were too many for him to handle. He looked up imploringly at Traca, who though he could not see, he knew was there.
"TRACA! A little help here, please!"
The girl's back was turned in this vision, so Samus couldn't see her face. For the next few pages, it was of nothing but red streaks staining the walls and floor, made from both Golfer's and the rebels' blood. Each scene was different as ten rebels were shot down and another twenty replaced them. There were numerous cuts and bruises on Golfer's face from the bludgeon weapons, but even more corpses at his feet. In this memory, Samus could tell that he had never killed so many people before.
Whatever innocence he had left was gone.
Though her friend cried out for her, Samus saw that Traca made no move to help. Instead, she simply floated there while a single tear ran down her face. Spreading out her wings, she took off into the air and flew right out a window, never looking back at her old friend. She could feel the anger, the fear, and the frustration coming off of the memory in waves and she listened as the laughter she had heard earlier began dying away into nothingness.
"Traca!" Golfer let his guard down in his confusion, which allowed for a rebel to come close to him with a blunt weapon. Golfer just barely managed to dispatch it, but wasn't prepared for the hard blow to his ribs from a crowbar. Staggering back, he was just barely able to strengthen his force field in time to reflect back the bullets that were hurtling at him. His head pounded, a trickle of blood was working its way down his cheek, but he kept on shooting.
Samus knew sooner or later his gun would run out of ammo. Either that or the mass of rebels would overtake him. Fearful though she was, she wondered how in the world he managed to escape. The bounty huntress turned the page, her fingers shaking with anticipation.
It was blank.
Samus was taken aback. Surely there had to be some remnant of a memory! She desperately flicked through the blank pages, searching for a clue. But no matter how far she looked, nothing came up. And still the whirlwind around her never died, as if her guardian was feeding off of the anger now spinning out of control from this memory.
Cameron and Golfer were still fighting. Ike thought it was amazing how different his guardian's fighting style was from his. With his humongous sword and great strength, it was inevitable that the mercenary would be a slow one. Cameron, on the other hand, lacked his strength and instead exchanged it for speed. While his blows did not deal nearly as much damage as Ike's used to, they were faster and came in rapid succession.
"You've got some serious nerve to talk to a woman like that!" Cameron spat as he managed to block an upward punch with his forearm.
Golfer scowled. "She didn't do anything back then and she's definitely not going to do anything about that now. Besides, I saw Nask pick up her stone. She was staring at it earlier, too! Traca's completely defenseless without that thing and she can't attack without it to save her life!"
"Untrue!" Ike argued, "She's Roy's guardian so she can easily find a stick somewhere to use as a sword!"
Something rustled in the bushes nearby. "Aw man… I leave you two alone for five freaking minutes and you decide to duke it out… what a day, what a day…"
Neither of them needed to turn around to know it was Wrath. In spite of himself, Ike glanced briefly at the ebony haired boy, taking his eyes off the evenly matched fight. He sputtered in surprise.
When Wrath had gone to investigate the sounds of a fight, Ike had expected him to return with a few scratches and maybe even a wound or two. What he didn't expect was for him to return with two, no, three people! All of them had the identical spark in their eyes that Cameron and all the others did.
The spark that told him they were meant for great things.
Golfer and Cameron dropped their fists when they saw these three new people. Wrath gestured to each one in turn as he spoke their names.
"Guys, this is Mah." He pointed to the tall, tanned girl. Samus recognized her as the girl Golfer had spared long ago. "She's the guardian of Yoshi. That," he pointed to the scowling teen in the back, who tried his best to hide his face in the shadows. "Is Squall. He's a huge dick and the guardian of Toon Link."
"Hey!" Squall yelled, "Who are you calling a dick!"
Wrath rolled his eyes. "You, of course." He pointed to the shortest of the trio, who looked at his surroundings with slight interest. "This is Ridere, guardian of-"
Cameron gave a shout of surprise. Ridere frowned at him as he staggered back. It wasn't really polite to shout at people when being introduced to them.
"Geez, what's up with that kid?" Snake wondered.
Meanwhile, Ike was perfectly aware why Cameron had shouted. The boy's name had been mentioned by Nask on the night they left the continent of Tellius and came to this world.
Was it possible that he was Nask's long lost brother…?
Woo! Woo! Woo!
The sounds of a siren ripped through the air, interrupting Ike's thoughts. The mercenary frowned in confusion at the sudden sound, wondering what in the world that meant. He could tell from the worried looks the guardians exchanged that they knew what was happening.
"What's going on!" he asked Cameron, who was unbuckling his rapier.
He watched as Golfer ran past the young man and into the trees, in the direction he had come from earlier. Wrath motioned for Mah and the two others to follow him as he followed Golfer, who was clearing a path with his hunting knife.
Cameron finally managed to unbuckle his weapon and swung it around experimentally. "Sirens are only activated when someone's in trouble…" He glared in the direction they were headed, where red and blue flashing lights could be seen. "And the only person over there… is Eric!"
Ike's jaw dropped in disbelief. "You're kidding me! There's no way anyone would find us all the way out here!"
Cameron shrugged. "Anything's possible…" With that, he gripped his rapier all the more tighter and took off after the other guardians.
Traca punched another hole in the tree, causing Roy to wince in pain as the scraps all over her knuckles were widened even more. At this rate, she might actually die from the loss of blood.
"Are you done yet?" he asked, wincing again as another tree was given a gaping hole from her fist.
Traca fell to her knees, tears falling down her cheeks. "That stupid… dickhead… jerk!" Just as she was about to punch another tree, a hand shot up from nowhere and caught her fist in midair.
Mars calmly surveyed the scene, taking in all the now hollowed trees. "I'm pretty sure the trees don't like having big fat holes in them."
Aly struggled her way through the bushes, leaves stuck in her hair. "Mars! I told you to wait up!" She dropped to the floor on her butt and accidentally set her guns off.
Mars resisted the urge to bang his forehead on a tree. "Aly… didn't Eric and I tell you that the trigger goes in the holster?"
The other pilot cocked her head slightly. "Well… then how am I going to get my guns out and shoot people?"
"That chick really needs to get some help," Falco sighed.
Aly bounced over. "So, what's up?"
Roy felt Mars loosen his grip on Traca's hand, but not enough to allow her to escape. "Well, as you should be able to tell, this one's been having a little too much fun with those trees…"
"Without me!" Aly frowned, "That's not fair!"
Mars groaned. "Aly, stay on task…"
"You're always doing crap without me!" Aly ranted, "Like that one time you went to the convenience store with Eric and drove the clerk nuts and that other time when you two went to that one diner and saw an alien burst out of some guy's chest, and that other time when-"
Roy had gotten bored of the argument by this time. He walked to the back of Traca's mind and began searching her memories, thankful that the girl was too distracted by Mars and Aly to notice. He found the particular book he was looking for and began to read.
The memory had started when she was standing in her room. It was a dark and dreary morning.
"Since when has it not been dark these days…" Roy muttered. Though the comment was lighthearted, his mood was anything but. Something squirmed inside him as he remembered that it was his fault all of this happened.
He looked out the window of Traca's room in this memory and saw nothing but a great black landscape interrupted only by the occasional splatter of deep red. His disgust and hatred for himself grew at the thought of how he had played a hand in ruining the lives of so many young children because of his failure. Still drowning in his own guilt, he turned the page, hoping to get his mind off of this.
Most of the pages passed by uneventfully as his guardian went about her daily business. But just as Roy was about to put the book away, something caught his eye. It was a note of some kind, describing a mission that would be perilous to her and whomever she chose as her partner on this mission. But what confused him was that unlike the official notes that Master Hand used to send out- all typed and neat- this note was written in an extremely messy scrawl. Heck, some of the words were even badly misspelled.
The half- dragon could almost feel her emotions of this through the pages. He expected to feel surprise, excitement, something other than what he felt right now.
He felt the vague shards of a broken heart and an even more shattered conscience.
Roy kept reading. There was not much to be said over the next few pages as the two left on their mission and scaled a cliff. True to Traca's word, she had saved the boy from certain death. Roy raised an eyebrow when he saw that there seemed to be a phone of some kind on her belt. There was absolutely no need for a phone at that moment,
"Well, it's not my fault that I ate the rest of the beef jerky… I like meat!" Aly was saying outside. Roy looked up to listen.
Mars waved her comment away. "Anyways, that's not what we're here for…" he turned back to Traca, his dark eyes cold as ice. "I know you have something to hide, so spit it out."
Roy could feel the defiance radiating off of Traca in waves. "I-I don't have to tell you anything!"
Mars scowled. "True, you don't have to, but what's the point if you don't? Look, we're trying to help you here. I don't give a shit if you just freaking nuke that Golfer guy. But there's something going on here and Aly and I have to stop it from coming between the other guardians, not just you two."
"…" Traca hesitated, wondering what the best choice was. She reached for her necklace, but realized it was gone. She was powerless to fight her way out of this and Mars' grip only tightened around her wrist.
"It might not be all that bad…" Roy offered.
He could feel his guardian's defiance build up for one moment only to be dilapidated the next. This was a fight she could not win. She took a deep, shuddering breath and began her story.
"We were on a mission… we had to kill as many people as we could and destroy a powerful machine ASAP…" Aly dropped two of her guns at those words while Mars' expression remained cold. "I… Golfer and I… we… we weren't all too sure about this whole thing… and before the mission, when I received the note… "
"Wait a minute," Mars interrupted, "You said you were on a mission? What kind of mission? Killing as many people as possible and destroying a machine as quickly as possible doesn't sound like Tabuu's style…"
Falco nodded. "Yeah… he's the kind of guy that likes to play with his food before he eats it…"
Roy felt Traca's overwhelming guilt as she spoke again. "That's because… it wasn't from Tabuu…" Roy gasped, remembering the badly spelt note on her table.
That explained a lot…
"So you went there and you shot everyone dead?" Aly asked, just a bit eagerly.
Traca shook her head. "No, instead, we…"
Roy turned his attention back to the book. Traca and Golfer were now putting C4s all over the machine. It seemed like tedious work as the two were constantly making calculations. They had something to do with physics, which was something Roy could never grasp the concept of. Once again, he was about to put the book away when he noticed Traca digging around in her bag…
… and pulling out a really nice looking gun.
"Oooh… shiny…" Roy had always been fascinated by guns. Having rarely handled one himself, the past hundred years had been awfully boring without one. And Samus didn't make it any better when she started describing the physics of the gun to him.
Taking care not to let her partner see, she quickly backed up and placed the weapon on the conveyor belt nearest to him before flying back up and latching C4s on again. She did her best to keep her expression neutral, but the single bead of sweat sliding down her cheek gave her away just a bit.
Roy frowned in confusion, wondering why she would do this. Sure enough, the gun soon caught her partner's eye and it wasn't long before the boy had picked up the gun and the alarms were blaring at full blast all around them. Roy heard Golfer scream at Traca for help, but the girl did not listen. Instead, the phone at her hip vibrated once and she immediately turned her back and flew off.
"So I had to abandon him…" tears were rolling down his guardian's cheeks, her body trembled in all her grief. "If it meant I could know who I was… why I'm here… why my parents are…"
Roy could almost taste the broken shards of her fighting spirit as she abandoned her greatest friend. Once again, his own guilt of not beating Tabuu before he could spread his influence hit him with full force. He watched as Traca, tears rolling down her cheeks, flew out of the sky roof and landed a few yards outside of the perimeter of the building. Roy wanted to cry as well, but being accustomed to bringing about death by his own hand, he was able to hold back his tears.
The shards of Traca's spirit became even more scattered as she flew out of the building, unable to look back. Unhooking the phone from her belt, she opened it and out popped a holographic image of a figure, its face shrouded in shadow. When it spoke, it revealed itself to be male.
"Has your task been fulfilled?" the holographic figure asked, his voice muffled by the crackling of the hologram. Roy felt a sense of hollow obedience from his guardian, mixed in with her misery and her anger.
Traca nodded in response. "Yes… he's dead… the spark in his eye will never be a threat again…" Her voice was empty of emotion. Roy suddenly felt a lump in his throat as he remembered that there had also been some… people… that had been sent out to kill him as well.
The figure nodded absentmindedly, sending a surge of anger through Roy's very being. The girl had just given up everything for him and now he was nodding it off like it was a small thing? "Excellent, excellent… Lord Tabuu shall reward me beyond everything I have ever dreamed!"
Traca squared her jaw and made an expression similar to Roy's when he would face off against an enemy. The former Smasher had a sudden flashback image of him wearing that same expression, his friends behind him and ready to support him all the way. "It's time for you to hold up your end of the bargain!"
The figure scratched his chin amusedly. "Ah yes… who your parents are…"
Roy felt his gut wrenching at the mention of his guardian's parents. It had been so long since he had seen Eliwood, his ailing father. His mother had (supposedly) died while giving birth to him, so he did not know who she was. Some said that her name was Ninian. Others said that she was Fiora. And still others whispered that his mother was Lyn, one of the Assist Trophies he had often seen around the mansion.
He turned his attention back to the two figures. Traca was shouting angrily at the silhouette while the shadowed man laughed, throwing back his head. Roy could feel her anger radiating off the pages of this memory as she continued to shout.
"You promised!" she screamed angrily, "You promised that you would tell me if I killed him for you!" The book suddenly glowed red hot in Roy's hands, causing him to cry out in pain. Though his fingers began blistering under their gloves, he held on and continued to read.
"But you did not!" the man retorted, "You merely left him to his demise while you escaped. You were supposed to kill him with your own two hands!"
"Monster!" she shrieked, "I did that so I can know who my parents are! Tell me, now!"
The man merely scoffed. "I have no time for this. I take my leave, girl!"
And just like that, he was gone. Traca ran forward with a scream, her fists out and ready. She threw a punch at the hologram as it faded, but was unable to hurt the man. His cold cackle filled the air as he laughed at the fruitless efforts of the manakete trying to harm him. With one last laugh, he disappeared and that was the end of it.
Roy flipped through the next few pages. All of them were quite bare. He thought this to be rather suspicious, seeing that he could still see the bits and pieces of the memories from where they had been ripped out. There was a dark patch here, a bloodstain there, but the rest of the story was lost in the efforts of time and Traca's wish to not remember anything else about the event. Roy threw the burning book on the ground in anger, turning his attention back to the outside world, expecting to hear Traca telling her story.
"And that is why chickens can't fly!" Aly said triumphantly, crossing her arms and smirking.
Roy blinked. "Whoa… where have I been…?"
"Weren't you paying attention, Roy?" Traca asked, "These two put up a really good debate… after… after I told them anything, like you said…"
Mars was seething. "Chickens can't fly because they lack the-"
"Mars, shut up," Falco rolled his eye, "None of us speak nerd, you know."
"Who's side are you on?" he demanded angrily.
Before Falco could answer, Mars' radio gave a small crackling of static, cutting across the bird's response. Falco glared at the radio, as if it was its fault he was so rudely interrupted. Smirking, Mars picked up his radio, spun it once in his hand and held it to his face.
"Yellow!"
"MARS! ALY! GET YOUR BUTTS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!"
All three guardians winced at the sound of Eric's high, panicky voice. In the background, screams- obviously female- could be heard as well as the sounds of a frying pan and the roars of Pokemon. Falco found it interesting that Eric had found yet another group of girls somewhere.
Boy, he was one big babe magnet.
"More girls!" Mars snarled, "And again, you're not sharing!"
"Now's not the time, Mars!" the mechanic shouted back, "It's them! They're here!"
Fox cocked his head in confusion as Aly jumped a foot in the air and started grabbing at her guns. "Who? Who's here? Aly, calm down!"
"Calm down? Calm down!" Aly began loading bullets into one of her guns, causing it to overflow with gunpowder, "How can I calm down when possibly one of the worse threats in this world has found us all!"
Mars grabbed Traca and began dragging her off to the right while Aly ran to the left, already blasting away with her guns. Fox looked over his shoulder at Mars' and Traca's quickly retreating figures.
"Wrong way, Aly!"
The girl skidded to a stop and looked over her shoulder. "Oh… I knew that!" With that, she ran off after her two companions.
"Get down!" Sakura shouted at the two girls as she removed Peach's frying pan from out of nowhere. Lyn and Beeh reluctantly obeyed as a great pillar of fire danced above their heads.
Eric, having accidentally wasted his bullets, was forced to charge up an aura sphere and release it to counter a whole rain of red hot fire balls. Though the tiny ball of aura died down immediately after it had counteracted the fire balls, their enemy staggered back, the flames of the aura lightly licking his mouth.
Peach wrung her hands in worry. "Yoshi! It's Yoshi's body! We shouldn't hurt him so much…"
Sakura deflected an incoming egg from Yoshi, who was cowering in the back, throwing his infamous egg bombs. "Sorry Peach, but this is war. We'll have to make sacrifices sometime…"
It had happened so fast. One moment, Peach was panting in relief as the young man finally stopped firing at them, thanks to Lucario's intervention. Sakura and Eric were talking and getting to know each other while Beeh and Lin stared at the Arwings in fascination. In truth, Peach did not really understand the whole appeal of the two Star Fox ships and the Wolfen.
After all, they weren't pink!
Just as Eric was about to pick up his little phone thing and call his other friends, a rustling in the bushes caught the guardians' attention. From out of the bushes came an all too familiar little green dinosaur, his nose pointed to the ground as he sniffed away. He managed to get all the way to where Wrath's bag was sitting when he looked up and noticed the four people staring at him.
Before any of them could make a move, Yoshi had thrown back his head and let out a shattering scream that pierced the skies. Lin and Beeh had fallen to their knees whereas Eric, out of habit, had put up his shields. From out of the same bushes Yoshi came from, two figures, both of them as familiar to Peach as the day was long, burst from the bushes.
And yet another fight for their lives began.
Peach winced as the flat of her pan connected with her own body, which was running up for a slap. Eric unleashed a whole flurry of aura spheres, only to have Mario Mario dodge all of them.
"Concentrate on your aura, Eric," Lucario instructed, "Remember, you are the master of the aura… the aura does not master you…"
Eric leaped out of the way just in time to dodge Bowser as he charged towards him. "Easy for you to say! You're 'The Aura Pokemon'!"
Lucario sighed, slightly offended. "Well, anyone can do this. You merely have to train, just as Sir Aaron did-"
"Eric! I heard you shooting, what's- AHHHHHHH!"
Lucario felt Eric whirl around, jolting the Pokemon from his meditative position. Psyche had just entered the clearing and got a face full of Yoshi's fire power. She staggered back, wiping her face. Yoshi, who had just noticed the rather weak looking girl enter, leaped up and prepared his tongue to swallow her whole.
Pit saw this coming and didn't have time to think of a strategy before Psyche swung his bow around and caught the green dinosaur right in the gut. He was knocked back for a moment, but regained his composure and started throwing eggs at her. But this time, Psyche was ready. With a flick of her wrist, she brandished Pit's mirror shield in front of her, causing the eggs to bounce back.
"Lin, get up!" Red begged. Much to his relief, she did when she realized the screaming had stopped.
Beeh got up as well, rubbing her head because of a rather painful bruise from where she had hit her head. "Ow…" She blinked in surprise at all the chaos around her.
Lin pulled out a Pokeball and charged to Sakura's aid, who was holding her own quite well against Peach's powerful butt attacks.
"C'mon, Beeh," Olimar told her, "Pluck a few Pikmin and let's go!"
Beeh did as she was told, but was completely caught off guard when a Yoshi egg slammed into her stomach. The winded girl staggered back, but was just barely able to throw a few yellow Pikmin. Unfortunately, the dinosaur dodged them with ease.
She heard rustling in the trees behind her. Fueled by fear for her safety, Beeh grabbed as many Pikmin as her little hand could hold and threw them with all her might.
"Ow!" Mah shouted as a Red Pikmin made contact with her skin.
"Mah!" Yoshi couldn't stop staring at the searing burn that had appeared on his guardian's skin. "Are you alright!"
Ridere repeated the question as he burst into the clearing, just barely dodging a wave of Yellow Pikmin. Without even looking at who threw them, he pulled out Snake's bazooka and prepared to blast away.
"IMMA FIRIN' MAH LAZAH!"
"It's a bazooka…" Snake corrected.
Ridere rolled his eyes. "Whatever! IMMA FIRIN' WHATEVER THIS THING IS!"
Snake groaned. "Why me!"
"Ridere, no!" Mah screamed just as he squeezed the trigger.
A huge missile shot out at lightning speed, headed right towards Beeh. Beeh's eyes widened in horror at the oncoming rocket. Olimar closed his eyes, hoping desperately that some miracle would come and they would be saved.
Their miracle came in the form of a very pissed off Wrath.
Wrath was ranting. He didn't seem to actually notice the fighting around him because of his ranting. He threw up his arms every so often, brandishing his sword.
"And then you guys start trying to give each other bloody noses on the way here! Seriously, what is wrong with you two! Can't I leave you alone for five min-"
Cameron burst through the bushes, spitting leaves from his mouth and sporting a blood nose. "Wrath, look out!"
Meta Knight felt a rush of adrenaline through Wrath's veins as the young man reacted to the force of the missile hitting the sheathe of his sword. He felt a strong pulsing from the pommel of Wrath's sword as the bullet made impact. A white light engulfed both him and Beeh as the missile was disintegrated right before their very eyes. When the light cleared, Wrath and Beeh were completely unscathed.
"A useful power," Meta Knight observed, eyeing the pommel of Wrath's sword, "Where did you learn it?"
Wrath shakily looked around. "I-I… I don't know…"
Mah ran forward, worry filling her eyes. She hesitated slightly at the sight of Beeh, her forehead creased in confusion. Yoshi noticed something in her memories stir at the sight of the girl, but it soon faded as a roar ripped through the air
Bowser roared his anger as his fire missed again and again. Lin and her Pokemon were doing well against Bowser, while Sakura and Traca took on Peach in hand to hand combat. Bullets, aura spheres, and bright blue arrows wizzed through the air at Peach, who dodged some and got hit by others. Sakura and Traca occasionally got hit, but theywould feel no resentment towards the trio and the girl for hitting them.
After all, all was fair in love and war.
Bowser charged towards Beeh and Mah. Wrath jumped into the air and tried to stab him in the head, only to get his sword stuck right in the turtle's shell. He began riding Bowser rodeo style, his face going green.
Cameron and Golfer ran forward, despite their Smashers' protests. They ended up crashing headlong into Nask and Heather, who had just entered the fray when they heard the sounds of the sirens. Pikana was riding on top of Nask's head, her eyes slightly less red and puffy than before. She leaped off Nask's head and rolled to the side, blasting away at Bowser as he charged blindly towards the small group of guardians.
The two groups crashed headlong right into each other, causing Nask to accidentally punch Cameron in the jaw while Heather landed on top of Golfer, pinning the boy under her heavy metal covered leg.
Wolf looked at the situation with interest. "Wow… you sure are a good magnet for trouble, Heather."
His guardian sighed. "I think we all are… oh, and sorry." She got off of Golfer, who stood up with a rather deep scowl. It was never a pleasant feeling having the wind almost stabbed out of you by a metal object.
Heather rolled off to the side as a storm of Yoshi eggs came hurtling at her. She held up her staff, red magic dancing around it.
"PSYFORCE!"
The blast managed to stun Yoshi, but it only barely managed to sting the dinosaur, as Heather had refused to use her more potent version of this power. Wolf raised his eyebrow as Heather's attack was soon followed by a single blast from a bazooka and a couple bullets from a gun. Golfer and Ridere both smirked at Heather and gave her a thumbs up, only to be stunned slightly by Yoshi's eggs.
"Serves them right!" Wolf laughed.
Suddenly, Bowser reared back his head and let out a truly terrible roar. Sakura, Psyche, and the three pilots dropped their defenses long enough to receive a whole round of slaps from Peach. Heather, Ridere, and Golfer froze in fear at the horrid sound. The group of guardians battling Bowser, who were closest to him, covered their ears and trembled in fear as the roar ripped through the air.
Then came the rustling. It was very subtle at first, so almost no one could hear it over the koopa's roar. But Peach, who was actually pretty used to Bowser's roar from being kidnapped by him so much, caught a flash of bright red in the trees. Her breath caught in fear as she realized that there could only be one person that would wear such a color.
"No…"
Sakura felt the Princess's fear and slowly turned her head in the direction of a few trembling leaves. One by one, each guardian turned their attention to wear Sakura was looking, their fights forgotten as their enemies joined with Bowser's cries. In Sakura's mind, Peach trembled with fear and anticipation.
A flash of red seemed to light up the area as a great figure leaped from the trees. Fire shot out in all directions around him as he flipped once in the air and punched the ground with his gloved fist, sending tremors all around. The guardians gasped in fear while their foes roared and shrieked in triumph.
The great Super Mario had joined the Brawl…
"See anything, Chester?" Sam asked, kicking at a few pebbles in the dirt.
Chester groaned. "For the millionth time, NO!"
"You don't have to be so mean…" Pichu chided.
Chester banged his head against the tree. "Why… why! Why am I stuck with you two!"
Joe pushed himself out from under the car looking annoyed. "Quiet, guys. That Falcon Punch ruined our car!"
Captain Falcon sniffed. "Forgive me… I know what it's like to lose something as beautiful and precious as your car… it's like… it's like…"
Joe tried turning him out, but he found it really hard to not listen to a voice in his head. He picked up a wrench and continued working, hoping that the stench of oil would distract him from Captain Falcon's raving.
Meanwhile, Sam was fooling around with a stick, trying to think of something for him to do. Young Link sat back and sighed, wondering how Hyrule was doing. It had been years, after all, since he had last gone there.
According to them, he had died two hundred years ago…
Chester frowned in confusion as his ears picked up the sounds of screaming and roaring in the distance. Though Smashville was rarely ever quiet these days, even for Smashville during the Reign of Tabuu, that was really unusual. Pichu trembled in fear at the sound of a fight, as he was never much of a fighter. The Pokemon was possibly the most naïve and innocent of all the Smashers.
And it had been the goal and dream of every Smasher kid to destroy such innocence.
Sam heard these strange noises as well and looked up in confusion while Young Link began to doze off. The boy had long become accustomed to the sounds of a fight and it would take a lot to jar him awake, especially since he no longer had his body.
Joe just kept working.
Chester hopped off the branch. "I'm going to go check it out, and-" He froze.
A roar ripped through the air, sending chills down everyone's spines. Every living thing in the vicinity froze at the sound, their hearts racing like jackrabbits. Pichu dove for cover and hid in the furthest crevice of Chester's mind he could find. Young Link was jolted awake immediately and out of habit, he reached for his little wooden boomerang.
Joe just kept working.
Pichu trembled in fear as the sound went on and on. This was horrible for him! Not only did his guardian scare the heck out of him, but this whole situation was scary. He ahd never seen so much blood or death in his life!
And it didn't help that his guardian was half dead.
His eyes widened in fear as the people in Chester's mind hissed and growled at the noise. Fangs descended in the mouths of vampires, sparks danced at the fingertips of witches. Then, from out of the ground, came whole hordes of the undead. Their ice cold fingertips prodded and poked all over the little Pokemon's body, caressing him from head to toe.
"Go away… go away…"
But the fingers did not listen. There were now bugs and snakes all over him, pulling at his fur and flesh. Pichu couldn't take another moment of this, but though he tried to let out his electricity, he could not.
He saw bits and fragments of memories all around him, one of them so very clear. It was of a beast of some kind, misshapen and deformed. It seemed to be a flour sack of some kind, with sharp and evil looking eyes and mouth. In his great sack- like hand, he held a great stone knife longer than anything Pichu had every seen.
He watched as the blade weaved in and out of the arm of a figure chained to a table in front of the monster, the figure's screams echoing all around. Bits of flesh and chunks of muscle flew every which way and all through this, the sack creature just kept on laughing and laughing at the other's pain.
The horrifying image disappeared as quickly as it had come. In addition, the many undead creatures around the little Pokemon soon faded as the roar outside stopped. Pichu got to his feet, his little body shaking in fear.
"Um… Chester…?"
His guardian unfroze himself, but was still getting over the shock of such a high, terrible, piercing roar. "Y-Yeah…?"
"Do you have any wipies?"
"Uh… no? Why?"
"… I wet myself."
"AHHHHH!" Chester screamed, falling out of the tree. Sam raised an eyebrow as his friend banged his head on every surface possible, screaming about baby Pokemon and their bad habits. He rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Hey Joe, was it you or me that slipped crack into Chester's drink again?" Sam asked, glancing to where the noise had come from.
"What's up with that kid?" Captain Falcon asked as Joe pushed himself from under the car, allowing the racer to see Chester. "He looks like he's having a seizure."
Joe groaned. "Sam…"
"It's not my fault he's acting like this!"
Young Link was busy chortling at Chester. "Hahaha! Pichu pissed in his head!"
"Young Link! Naughty words are bad for you! Now Chester… CALM THE HELL DOWN, WILL YOU! WHAT THE CRAP ARE YOU DOING!"
"… Jerk…" Young Link muttered.
Joe walked over, a large toilet brush in hand. "Hey Chester, are you al-"
Chester grabbed the toilet brush and stuck it in his ear, letting it go out the other end before pumping it in and out. "Ah… perfect!"
"That's what she said!" Captain Falcon said cheerfully.
Sam grabbed the toilet brush from Chester and threw it over his shoulder. Young Link had the sudden flashback of a certain hand sticking out of a toilet in Termina. He shuddered at the memory.
"What are we waiting for?" Sam asked, "Besides Chester finally getting a brain. Let's go!"
Joe shook his head. "No way! I'm not leaving my car!"
"She's too beautiful!" Captain Falcon agreed, "Don't let him tear me apart from my new love!"
Sam grabbed Joe by the ear and began dragging him away as Chester went on ahead. "SQUADALA! WE ARE OFF!"
"And now I'm being dragged away…" Joe grumbled
"And he didn't even give you time to lock the car! What if something happens to her!"
Joe struggled in his pockets for the keys and started desperately pressing the lock button. But he was too far away for the buttons to work.
"Sam, stop! I need to lock the car!"
The sounds of shooting had now joined the shouts and screams of fighters. Chester loped on ahead with easy grace, though Pichu was still unable to control his bladder. The teenaged corpse bit his lip in concentration as he cautiously approached the clearing. He could see the backs of four figures, three of them wearing almost identical uniforms. The fourth figure was dressed in rags, her tiny form almost obscured by the larger figures beside her.
Closer… Closer… almost there…
"CHESTER! I NEED WIPIES!"
"AH!" Chester tripped in surprise at the sudden scream of Pichu. He landed face first in the dirt, causing dust to fly in all directions. He heard the shooting as well as the sound of a developing Aura Sphere stop as his noises drew the attention of the three people in identical uniforms. Chester looked up and gave them a shaky smile.
He could see the fear and confusion flit between each of them as they continued to stare awkwardly at the undead kid that had just stumbled near them. They took no notice as Sam dragged Joe over. Chester hesitantly got up and walked up to them with his hand out.
"Hi, my name is-"
The girl spoke first. "Z-Z-Z… ZOMBIE!" She yanked a second gun out of the nearest holster and started firing away. Chester let out a scream as the bullets licked his skin before he ran away. The girl chased after him.
Sam and Joe were nearly knocked over by the force of Chester and the girl as they passed. In front of them, the two male pilots each gave a mutual nod before the one with jet black hair sheathed his gun and took off, nimbly dodging a rain of turnips being thrown at him.
Sam and Joe exchanged looks. Young Link, meanwhile, continued to watch as the girl chased Chester around the area. Captain Falcon was still sobbing over his car.
"Looks like we've found the source of the noise…" Joe said evenly. Captain Falcon's continued sobs were bugging him.
Sam cheerfully pulled a katana blade out of a sheathe at his side. "Well, what are we waiting for? LET'S GO!"
Their commander approaches…
Their hero was near…
Their last hope drew closer…
The great Super Mario himself was never a man to back down because of something as small as losing his body. No, as long as the plumber's strong soul existed, there would always be hope for both the Smashers and the humans of the known worlds. He was the first and the most famous of them all, his fame and prowess even surpassing Master Hand at times.
It was only natural that the human vessel of this great and awesome plumber would be from his own world. Once a peaceful place, the Mushroom Kingdom had been since warped beyond all belief, all through the efforts of a certain Koopa whose only goal was to rule the world. And it was only natural that the one of the greatest heroes of them all would be doing a truly heroic thing…
Playing video games while sitting on the toilet.
A knock sounded at the door as the boy finally reached the last level, his dark eyes blazing eagerly. The blaze soon faded to sheer annoyance as his concentration was broken and he died.
Again.
"MS! OPEN UP!" yelled a voice on the other side. Mariosonic, also known as MS, threw his game system in the direction of the door.
"Can it, Green!" he snarled, "You made me die… again!"
Green continued to pound hopelessly at the door. His long black hair was drenched in sweat as he had been doing his share of the chores all day. As a result, his skin had long been tanned from the hard labor in the sun he had to do, but at this moment, it didn't really matter to him. When he needed to go, he needed to go!
"Come on, MS!" Green was doing the potty dance by now, "I'm sorry, okay? I'll do your chores, too!"
"NO! You made me die!"
Behind Green, a young African American male looked up from his newspaper and let out a sigh. He had been forced to live with these two since it was either that or getting fed to the Koopas. Frankly, he occasionally considered whether or not being fed to the Koopas would be nearly as painful as hanging with these two.
This was one of those times.
He ran a hand through his short curly hair, careful not to knock off the sunglasses he wore atop his head. "Green, you know that once he dies while playing one of those, he becomes the world's biggest dick." He watched as Green slid hopelessly to the ground, trailing a line of sweat off of his green track jacket and black jeans. "Oh, cheer up. Just grab a battering ram and break down the thing!"
"But I might be invading his privacy!"
"Dude, the guy is sitting on the toilet, playing his video games. I'm pretty sure he hasn't even remembered to pull down his pants yet."
Up above, three of possibly the most famous clouds of gases in the known worlds watched with slight interest. Well, at least two of them were famous. The third one, which happened to be green, was usually ignored despite all his great deeds. The blue cloud of gas was just completing his hundredth circulation of the room.
"Just look at these guys," the hedgehog remarked, coming to a stop, "The don't look like they have the speed to satisfy me!"
"But-a Sonic… they inherit your powers-a," Luigi pointed out.
"Shut up, plumber!"
Mario glared at the rude hedgehog. "Don't-a talk to my little brother like-a that!"
Sonic snorted. "Whatever! Anyways, so it looks like it's time to hang out with our guardians for a while and blah, blah, blah… Mario, I'm not good with these random sappy speeches so you do them."
The plumber shifted uncomfortably as all eyes went to him. He cleared his throat.
"Well-a… we have-a been waiting for this-a moment for a long-a time, and…"
"Lame speech done!" Sonic interrupted, "Seeya, slow pokes!" Before either of the Mario Brothers could answer, the Blue Blur of Speed was already out of sight. The brothers blinked in surprise.
It had been a while since the hedgehog had shown his speed.
Mario was slightly put back for being beaten to his guardian by the hedgehog. Huffing in slight offense, he nodded once to Luigi before disappearing into the bathroom door. Luigi heard the sounds of something being dropped into the toilet inside. Not wanting to be left behind, the green plumber floated near the head of the young man who leaned so sullenly against the door. Luigi pitied him slightly as he remembered so many days back at the Smash Mansion where he had been ignored for living so long in Mario's shadow.
Why didn't people pay attention to Luigi!
Luigi hesitated at this, unsure of what to do now. There was no doubt that this person- whose name he knew to be Green- was his guardian. After all, the African American kid had just kicked the table, spilling hot coffee all over him. He seemed to be yelling at something- or someone- in his head and the boy near the bathroom thought this to be rather odd.
Forgetting to do the potty dance, he stared at the other male like he was crazy. "Hey Miles, you okay?"
Before Miles could answer, the bathroom door was engulfed in a bright blaze. Luigi watched as both Miles and Green leaped back in surprise and the person in the bathroom stepped out. Earlier, the three had witnessed Green yelling at MS through the bathroom door. Now, the young gamer walked out in amazement, flames licking his fingertips as he kicked down the door.
Luigi recognized the red flames around MS's fingers. Mario lived within him and frankly, he didn't think that his brother was all too happy. Then again, it was a lot better than nothing!
MS seemed pretty excited at what was going on. "Guys! I've got the voice of a random Italian inside my head!"
Green looked at him like he was crazy. Miles' jaw dropped in disbelief. Luigi knew it was time. Taking a deep breath, the plumber closed his eyes and allowed his form to being dragged away by the wind. It was a painful experience, as if something was trying to suck his nonexistent flesh from his equally as nonexistent bone. The younger Mario brother screamed in terror.
"LUIGI WANTS-A HIS MAMAAAAAA!"
He was still screaming by the time he was deposited in the core of Green's mind, which happened to be an almost exact copy of his own mansion. Luigi wondered if this kid was really for real.
He hated his mansion.
He suddenly felt jarred, as if his guardian had jumped up and hit his head on the low ceiling. Looking out a little white portal to the outside world, Luigi could see Miles slowly backing away while MS just simply kept burning stuff with his fire. He knew he ad to speak.
"Um-a… Hi? My name's-a Luigi, and-"
"Thanks a lot, MS," Green moaned, "Now I have the voice of a random Italian inside my head!"
Luigi was offended. "Luigi is-a not some random-a Italian!" He sniffed. "Why does no one pay attention to Luigi!"
Green blinked. "Y-You're… you're Luigi! Holy crap, you're practically my hero! I'm not the kind of person that would ignore you!"
MS looked up from where he was burning the TV, much to Miles' dismay. "Who's Luigi?"
Green's jaw dropped. "You don't know the Green Wonder? The Green Plumber? Mario's little bro!"
MS blinked. "… Who?"
Meanwhile, Mario was impatient at getting out of this world and back to the Smashers. "We can-a have plenty of time to catch-a up later. Now, we must-a get out of here and back to Smashville-a."
MS looked out the window, where there were Koopa Troopas around every corner. "How! Those things have been trying to break in here ever since we've stumbled on Miles. We haven't been outta this house for like… a month…"
Mario rolled his eyes. "There's-a no need for you to fear-a now that-a you have inherited my powers-a!"
MS hesitated. "I don't know…"
Miles jumped up. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going!" In the blink of an eye, he was gone, leaving only a puff of dust and a small boom! as he broke the sound barrier.
Green and MS exchanged looks before hesitantly stepping out the door. Bright sunlight met them, almost blinding them for a moment. This caught the attention of the Koopa Troopas, who immediately charged at them as fast as their stubby legs would carry them.
Green put his palms together, relishing the feel of the green flames licking his fingers. Before the Koopas had gone within ten feet of him he had loosed a whole flurry of green fireballs, which were soon accompanied by red ones as MS joined the fight as well.
Luigi felt the exhilaration of jumping high above the ground once again as Green leaped above the heads of the Goombas that were coming for him and proceeded to jump on each of their heads one at a time. MS just kept shooting fireballs because he thought it was fun.
A whole horde of Goombas rushed at MS, but he was ready. Gritting his teeth, he aimed a swift sweeping kick at them and they fell to the ground, becoming easy targets for Green, who was still jumping around. The great boom! of the sound barrier breaking told them both that Miles had returned from where ever he had been.
"I really lightened our load over there!" he said proudly.
Green and MS didn't answer, as they were too busy still beating up Bowser's minions. Miles couldn't help but wonder why they were so easy to beat. Despite Bowser never really being one to have very powerful minions, he had expected for there to be Chain Chomps at the very least. Sonic read his thoughts and pushed them aside.
"The old turtle could barely keep up with his diet, let alone have decent minions," the hedgehog scoffed, "Tabuu's probably running out of them because they're too slow!"
Miles shifted uncomfortably as he watched MS and Green easily beating the Goombas and Koopas away. "I don't know, Sonic… I just don't know…"
Pichn was the first to recover his senses. He leaped over numerous corpses and hundreds of discarded weapons and armor to reach his brother. He grabbed onto Picho's shoulder- the good one- and shook him. Kirby noticed that Picho was losing an awful lot of blood.
And that his shoulder was mangled beyond anything he'd seen…
"Cimar, get up!" Zelda begged, "He's coming for you next!"
Her guardian stirred slightly and hoisted himself up, only to fall right back down. Link, meanwhile had managed to stir Rinku to get back up on his feet, but he was clutching at his side where numerous Warlock Punches had met him. When he took his fingers away, a red stain began spreading all over him.
Link's eyes traveled to Sorius, who had just yanked his sword out of the boy and was now headed towards Cimar's bloodied form. The young man glared heavily at him and struggled to get up, but his legs collapsed under him and his nose hit the floor. Zelda's eyes widened as the black sword was raised in the air above them and came whistling down.
Clank!
"Ngh…" Rinku gasped as he took on the full weight of the man holding the sword. Link knew this move to be the very one he used when he had faced off with Ganondorf long ago as they crossed blades to decide on who would land the next blow. It was called Chance and it took much of Link's stamina to even keep the sword up.
Rinku was faltering…
Clank!
Rinku looked behind him and grinned. Cimar had managed to struggle to his feet and was now using his sword to support the other Hylian in this deadly game of Chance. With the two combined blades, they were able to push back the evil Usurper, but at the cost of their stamina and energy quickly draining them. Now with the extra sword supporting Rink, Link could see that once again, their strength was evenly matched with the Usurper's.
Suddenly, a bright light filled the room, nearly blinding the two Hylians. For one deadly moment, they allowed their swords to falter as they stared in sheer horror at what had just appeared in their opponent's hand. Likewise, Link and Zelda were completely lost for words when they saw this.
"No way…" Link gasped before he was slammed against the back wall of his guardian's mind. Both young men had let their strength falter at possibly one of the worst times during a battle and had been thrown back. Blood rushed from twin cuts at their sides and another bruise was created for each of them when they slammed into the nearest pillar. Cimar's sword went hurtling in one direction while Rinku's sword was thrown at the Usurper, who deflected it with his own sword. Meanwhile, Zelda and Link were shaking with fear and disbelief at what they had just seen.
"T-That… that was…" Zelda couldn't bring herself to say it.
Cimar coughed up some blood and wiped the corners of his mouth. His vision was swimming. "T-Tr-Triforce… o-of… P-Power…"
Rinku staggered to his feet, clutching his side. "H-How…?"
Sorius grinned maliciously, showing all of his yellowed teeth. "What? Do you foolish little boys truly think that you are the only vessels of the great beings known as the Smashers?" he laughed, sending chills down everyone's spines. 'Yes, it is true. I am one as well… but unlike you, I house no mere mortal, but a god! The great King of Gerudos himself lives within me! And it is with his power that I shall defeat you once and for all! Hyrule shall be mine!"
Rinku snarled angrily. "N-Not… while… I can s-stand on my t-two feet!"
Zelda gasped as Cimar struggled up as well, swaying slightly from loss of blood. "A-And not while I can still breathe!"
Despite everything, Sorius could only laugh and advance on the two some more. They rolled away from him and hid behind a fallen pillar, much to his amusement. He proceeded towards them, slashing down the great stone pillars of the throne room as he went. His laughter never ceased.
"You two can run, but you can't hide!"
Link bit his lip. "He's right…We can't keep running forever… eventually, you two will have to stand up and fight…"
Rinku nodded. "I know…" he eyed the sword of a fallen warrior and picked it up. It seemed to weigh a thousand pounds in his hand. He winced as the ice cold hilt touched his flesh. It was like taking something from the very fingers of Death himself.
"Cimar, you're not going to fight as well, are you?" Zelda asked worriedly. In truth, she hoped that her guardian would not fight. If both him and Rinku should fall in battle, there would be no one to help the twins escape.
Cimar gave her a shaky grin. "Since when have I not fought for Hyrule…?"
Picho and Pichn limped over to where they were. Picho was leaning heavily on his brother, his face ghostly pale. Red rims ringed Pichn's eyes. But weak though they were, their faces were set in determined lines.
"We'll fight with you!" Pichn yelled.
"We'll beat this guy one way or another!" Kirby agreed.
"After everything you two did for us, it's time that we pay you back," Picho grinned weakly, "I can still shoot stuff from my hands… you guys can handle the close combat!"
"Everyone…" Rinku looked away to hide his tears.
Link felt sudden warmth in Rinku's pocket as the two guardians said this. It was almost unnoticeable at first, but it soon grew and grew until it was almost white hot. Indeed, Rinku yelped in pain and grabbed for whatever it was in his pocket that was causing this heat. He ended up pulling out the shard as it radiated a light that could rival that of the Goddesses.
By this time, it no longer felt white hot, but was only pleasantly warm. But what was truly marvelous about this wedge was that it filled all four guardians with a kind of energy, a peace within them that could not be cut away by even the sharpest of blades. Rinku's and Cimar's swords began to glow. Brighter and brighter they glowed until they were engulfed in white like.
Rinku's sword changed shape and morphed until he was holding another sword altogether. It glowed with a faint blue light, as if it had just come from a divine forge. The hilt was deep purple inlaid with the symbol of the Triforce. Speaking of the Triforce, the great object itself began glowing on the back of the young man's palm. Link's own left hand was pulsing, as if the Triforce was itching to come out and fight. Rinku swung the Master Sword experimentally, his eyes wide.
"The Sword as chosen you as its master…" Link whispered, "In a way… you're like my heir… bear it well, Rinku…"
Meanwhile, Cimar's sword was changing shape as well. But rather than taking the form of a sword, his sword instead chose to curve itself into a bow. It was beautifully carved and inlaid with jewels. On his back, he could feel the sudden weight of a quiver of finely hewn arrows. Zelda looked on in amazement as the Triforce symbol too glowed on the back of his hand.
The Light Arrows had come to aid them.
The four looked at each other and without speaking at all, they came up with a plan to defeat. Now filled with confidence, despite their great wounds, the two Hylians and the twins stood up and faced their enemy, fear no longer an option to them.
Sorius saw them seeming to rise from nowhere and laughed, confident in his victory. "Foolish boys! Do you truly think that you can defeat me with nothing more than your silly little so- called 'powers'? You are weak and powerless compared to the power of the great god, Ganondorf!"
"You tyrannical reign ends here, Sorius!" Cimar shouted, gripping his bow, "We're going to end this here and now!"
"For my father!" Zelda screamed, "That murderer shall perish for taking my father away from me!"
Sorius eyed the bow warily. "A mere bow? Is that the only weapon you are given! Bah! I shall crush you and grind that bow to splinters!"
Picho coughed. "W-We'll beat you! I know we will!"
"With what? A pathetic little arrow? Ha! No arrow can penetrate my magical defenses! Soon, I shall have your heads and hang them upon my wall!"
Pichn grinned deviously. "No… you can have… MY BIG GAY DANCE!" He started dancing, laughing and kicking his legs up. Kirby smiled at the memory of King Dedede doing this dance long ago.
Sorius let his sword falter for a moment to stare in bewilderment at the boy who seemed to have lost his mind. Once Pichn had stopped he shook his head. "What in the world was that supposed to be?"
Pichn pointed to something behind him. "A distraction!"
Cimar jumped on the balcony railing where he had teleported using Farore's wind. Drawing back the taut string of Zelda's bow, he let loose a whole flurry of Light Arrows. Zelda smiled when all of them hit their mark and Sorius was immediately stunned as the powers of light penetrated his now weakened defenses. Her father will be avenged!
Meanwhile, Rinku had finished playing around with the Master Sword at Link's urging and was now rushing up to his enemy, hate burning brightly in his eyes. the Triforce of Courage glowed brightly on his hand as he leaped up and flashed it before Sorius's eyes, encasing the Usurper in a great spinning Triforce cage. When he tried using his black magic to break out, Cimar swung down via tapestry and added his own Triforce to the spinning cage. With Courage and Wisdom working together, the Triforce of Power was no match.
Rinku pointed the Master Sword at his father. "Usurper King Sorius of Hyrule, we are here to judge your crimes!"
Picho ran forward, wincing with every step as pain shot through his shoulder. "This is for all the lies you've told!" He placed his hands together and a glowing green ball appeared between them. "PK FROST!"
Pichn grabbed his brother as he collapsed to his knees. "This is for hurting my brother!" He gently laid Picho on the ground and pulled out Kirby's sword. With a great flip, he leaped up and lodged the blade into Sorius's shoulder. The Usurper King howled in pain.
Cimar came up next. He grabbed a fallen sword and faced the Usurper without a single shred of mercy. "This is for all the people you killed!" Doing a flip just like Pichn's he lodged the great blade into the Usurper's other shoulder. Another howl filled his ears, but he held on, ignoring the crimson substance as it seeped onto his clothes.
"And this is for my father!" Zelda shrieked. She added her own power into the sword, setting the blade alight with Din's fire. Sorius's pain could not be described as he screamed on and on. Seeing Zelda's example, Picho added a crackle of thunder to his brother's sword. It glowed bright blue and sparks flew through the air.
Rinku was last. Link clenched his jaw as the young man held his sword upright so the tip pointed straight to the ceiling. He could feel the hate and anger that radiated off his guardian in waves. He was taken back in time to the battle so long ago between him and Ganondorf that decided the very future of Hyrule.
The end was near…
"Death is only too good for you…" Rinku hissed. His sword flashed through the air.
Picho added all of Ness's powers to the Blade of Evil's Bane. "For the Smashers!"
"For Hero Link!" Pichn yelled jamming the blade deeper into the man's shoulder before leaping off.
"For Princess Zelda!" Cimar copied Pichn's example and twisted his sword every which way before jumping off and rolling to the side.
Rinku leaped into the air. "FOR HYRULE!"
Ganondorf found himself separated from his guardian, his surrogate body at the moment the Blade of Evil's Bane thrust itself through the chest of Sorius. He was dead now. No longer could he spread his evil all over the world.
He didn't care…
Pit thought he had been the first to be released. What a joke. No, it was he, Ganondorf, that was released first. He had managed to slip out quietly one night after a visit from his goddess, Din.
The golden gates of the Sacred Realm were before him. He reached out and they opened at his touch. Golden light came through and bathed him in warmth.
Finally…
"Ganondorf!"
He knew that voice. He turned and there she was, dressed in a gown of pure flames. Her fiery red hair blew behind her, as if it was being lifted by the wind. Her expression was of pure anger.
"Goddess Din…" he knelt before her, "I have come to the Sacred Realm at last… to repent for my crimes…"
"You have had a hundred years and more to repent, Ganondorf," Din said, "A hundred years to repent…"
"And I have, my lady," he said, "I know my crimes… with great power comes a great price… and I had done everything I could to try to avoid it all my life… but now I pay it with my life…"
"Foolish Gerudo," Din snarled, "Do you not know why it was you, not the angel, that was released first? Do you have any idea why you were given to one of Tabuu's top minions as his Smasher?"
Ganondorf hung his head in shame. "Forgive me, Lady Din… I have failed you in my mission…"
"You were to lead him off the path of evil," Din continued, her voice just on the edge of anger, "And instead, you once again submit to it. Where is King Harkinan, Father of the Princess Zelda? His spirit is on the other side of those golden gates, forced to watch as his kingdom succumbed to darkness… your darkness!"
"Have mercy, Lady Din!" the Gerudo King begged, "Please, allow me to do penance and pass into the Sacred Realm! I do not deserve to live because of all my crimes!"
"You do not deserve a thing for your crimes!" the goddess cried, "Death would be too good for you… and yet, if your force continues to exist, your evil may plague the world once again."
"Give me another chance!" Ganondorf got on his knees, "Another chance to pay for my crimes! Please, Lady Din, I shall do whatever you ask!"
Din waved her hand and before Ganondorf, a portal appeared. It showed him the image of a beautiful backdrop of stars. He watched as a small streak of orange and yellow sauntered by, as if weighed down by a great many hardships. A second streak zoomed by, this one deep purple and calmly floating along. In fact, it seemed to radiate a power far beyond mere brawn, a power that very few could master.
"We give you one last chance…" Din told him, her expression softening slightly.
Ganondorf walked up to the portal and reached out to it, but stopped. There was a question nagging at his mind and he wondered if the goddess would answer it. Surprised at his boldness, he turned around and faced the goddess burning red eyes, his face unflinching.
"Goddess Din…" he said, "Will you allow me to ask one final question…?"
Din frowned for a moment, but nodded. "Ask then, Smasher."
"Way back when Rinku, Link's guardian was brought before me, I happened to spy the Master Sword. Sorius, my guardian, picked it up, but it did not affect him one bit. During the battle, Rinku was given what seems to be another sword! Please, I need to know… why was that…?"
"The sword your guardian stole was nothing more than a clever copy, forged by my two sisters," Din explained, "It served as a test for the other four guardians to be revealed in Hyrule. If they truly were deserving of the powers of Courage and Wisdom, in addition to the Master Sword, they had to show that they were worthy. They had to show that though their only hope seemed lost, they would still fight to the very end… for in the final battle with Tabuu, they will need such a quality within them to survive…" She adjusted her flaming robes. "And though they have passed the test… you have failed yours, Ganondorf… Do not fail us again, Gerudo King! This is your last chance…"
And then, she was gone. He found himself floating alongside the two other Smashers. The first one shied away from him slightly and seemed to zoom off as quickly as the wind could carry it. The second acknowledged him with a nod.
Ganondorf's journey of penance had begun…
Hey everyone! Let's finish this up with... The Mario!
Do the Mario!
Swing your arms from side to side.
Come on, it's time to go.
Do the Mario!
Take one step, and then again.
Let's do the Mario, all together now!
You got it!
It's the Mario!
Do the Mario!
Swing your arms from side to side.
Come on, it's time to go.
Do the Mario!
Take one step, and then again.
Let's do the Mario, all together now!
Come on now.
Just like that!