Super Smash Brothers: Guardians Arise!

by PitFTW

An old enemy returns, this time ripping the souls of the Smashers away from their bodies. By taking possession of them, he hopes to take over the Smash World. 100 years later, the Smashers must turn to humans for help. But some just can't get along...

19. Fyre, Doggie, and Kage

The Final Test

Hooray! It's out! :D

Disclaimer: I got the rights to Smash Brothers! Not…

---

Tabuu gripped the railings of the platform, glaring down as a thousand great blobs of gray moved in robotic droves all around him. His latest victory had left a particularly good taste in his mouth and what better way to celebrate than to torment the little people? He watched as all of them moved in droves, doing the exact same movement at each station. Off to the sides, three Smashers stood ready with powerful whips fashioned out of the Chains of Light. One little touch of the powerful shining thongs and any human would be writhing in more pain then they would feel in a lifetime.

Oh, he loved his job…

Tabuu leaned even closer to the simultaneous movements down below, scrutinising the identical movements of the many hands below. He was searching for a sudden break in the pattern of forging, moulding, and completing his synthetic Smashballs, but he could find none. Growing weary of watching the same thing over and over again, he gave a small nod to the Smasher at his right.

Pit raised an eyebrow at his master, his expression inquiring. Tabuu could only smile at the angel, whose insatiable curiosity lasted even after his soul had been ripped out. With a small flick of his wrist, he indicated a particularly thin slave girl directly in front of Pit, in perfect whip's distance.

She was a slight creature, clad in ragged grey pants and a patched black hoodie. Beside her stood a tall walking stick, which she used to help her walk about when she needed to run to get supplies. Normally, Tabuu wasn't all too irked with the stick because the girl was crippled or something around the ankles and needed the thing to walk. After all, a wasted slave meant at least one wasted Smashball, right? Either way, Tabuu had allowed her to keep the stick.

That is, until today…

He watched with hawk- like eyes as the girl carefully shaped the synthetic Smashball in front of her into a sphere, but realized that she was almost out of Plutonium and was forced to get up to get more. She used her walking stick to hoist herself up and slowly but surely, she hobbled her way to the table.

A smirk appeared on Tabuu's lips as he turned to Pit and uttered one single word. "Now."

In a split second, Pit's whip was in the air, the powerful thong hurling right towards the girl with the stick. Two cracks! sounded as one snapped her stick right in half while the other lashed across her back, creating a huge wound that could only be formed by the most potent of all powers. And it was not long until the wound gushed forth a torrent of blood that stained everything around it and caused a great uproar.

Before the girl could let out a single shriek of pain, she was grabbed from behind where her arms were twisted behind her back by the two other Smashers: Wolf and Fox. She would've screamed here had it not been for the twin whips shining menacingly at her from each anthropomorphic animal's belt. With nothing more to do, she only bit her lip and held her tongue. Slowly but surely, she was dragged up to where the blue man stood, past all of the pitiful eyes of her fellow slaves. Her mind burned with anger at the thought of being blamed for something she did not do, but though she wished desperately to rail against the master of the house for blaming her like this, she knew that once she opened her mouth, the only sound that would come out was the scream she had been holding back since the whip lashed across her shoulders.

She was brought before Tabuu and forced to her knees, watching with hate filled eyes as her master- how she hated the word- glared down at her. She spat upon the ground, a thin trail of saliva, before glaring back up at him and waiting for him to speak. When he did, his voice was high and cruel.

"So… you see to cause trouble in my factories, don't you little girl?" the girl bit her tongue even harder as she glared up at the hated man, her eyes narrowed into tiny slits. Up above her, a certain cloud of cream colored gas surveyed the area, unsure of where to start the long search it knew was up ahead.

It watched as the girl was hoisted up by the two possessed pilots and hauled out of the room, trailing a wide path of red behind her as she went. He shot a glance behind him, just as the force began tugging at him to follow the girl as she was dragged out the room. All of the slaves had just gone back to their monotonous work, ignoring the stain of blood on the ground as if nothing had happened. With the force tugging him all the while, the Smasher turned his back on the mindless slaves below and followed the girl's winding trail of blood through a great many hallways up and even more stairs. It wasn't long until they were dragging the girl up the winding staircase, headed for a room that was undoubtedly at the top of the stairs

It was strange to see this dusty hallway of the mansion, seeing that this was once one of the attics of the Smash Mansion. Master Hand used to keep his spare parts up here if they didn't fit in the garage or armory and it was more often than not that the lonely Smasher would come up here and look through the treasure trove of items kept in this attic. He remembered one night long ago when he had stumbled upon a leather bound book…

Wolf kicked down the door and waited as Fox unceremoniously threw the girl in as if she was nothing more than a sack of potatoes. Two figures already in this room looked up as she was thrown in, staring with widened eyes at her bloody condition and the obvious lack of care that the two human- like animals possessed. Without so much as a grunt, the two walked out, leaving the bloodied, shivering girl at the hands of the two others in the room.

"Oh my god…" one of them whispered, "Fyre, get that towel over there… she's hurt!" This voice was obviously female from the sound of it, but her silhouette against the grey light of the large window was rather… odd.

The Smasher watched as the other figure got up and ran over with a dirty white towel. The girl pressed it to the other girl's back, allowing the blood to seep into the dirty piece of cloth. She seemed tense as she worked, not wanting to open up the wounds even more and allow blood to flow as fresh as ever.

"There you are, ROB," a voice said behind him.

The former robot turned and found himself staring right into Bowser's see through cloud of gas. The King of Koopas was staring down at the humans as if they were filth, but ROB could almost sense something behind the Koopa's gaze. A sad, futile longing of something that he most likely lost when he was stuck in the jar. Then again, the robot realized, they all lost something before.

"What's wrong, Bowser?" King Dedede asked, floating down from what seemed like nowhere, "You look like you just walked out of a morgue or somethin'!"

Bowser hung his head and quietly floated there as he continued to stare at the three teens below. "… In a way… I have…"

"Cannot compute what is troubling organic life form," ROB beeped. Bowser almost shot him a glare, but seemed to think better of it and only shook his head.

"Listen, you two… I don't know what you've been doing over the past hundreds of years, but… I had time… a lot of it… I had an awful lot of time to mill things around in my head… sure for the first decade or so I made up plans and stuff to finally beat Mario, but after about ten years… making those plans just felt so… empty…" Bowser's voice cracked slightly at this.

"Empty plans!" Dedede yelped, "But plans always make us evil geniuses happy! Heck, I spent the first twenty years thinking about how I'm finally going to beat Kirbs in that eating contest we never had!"

"This is serious, Dedede…" Bowser said darkly, "Don't you get what I had to go through while I was in that stupid jar!"

"…" the penguin remained silent.

ROB beeped slightly as he tried to think of a response. "… Organic life form pines for something… can not find what it is in memory systems…"

"You're not a robot any more, ROB," Bowser said bluntly, "You have no memory systems…"

With a shake of his cloud, the Koopa King dived down to where the three humans sat in a circle. Shrugging, Dedede followed him as well before ROB finally descended. By the time he reached the bottom, the three humans were already speaking with each other, telling the story of the great attic. Fyre, who seemed to know the most about this, was telling the girls what had happened.

"This attic…" he gestured around at all the furnishings, "Was where that one slave girl escaped!" His excited whisper seemed to send chills throughout the group.

"That's impossible, Fyre!" one of the girls exclaimed. Now that ROB had a closer look at her, he noticed that she was rather… strange looking in general. She seemed normal enough at first, with chestnut brown hair and deep brown eyes. But what really gave her away as a rather unusual sort were the two fluffy dog ears she possessed in place of her regular ears and the equally as fluffy dog tail that twitched occasionally as the story wore on. Her expression was kind.

Fyre shook his head. "Believe it or not, Doggie, I'm telling the truth… that slave girl… Psyche or whatever her name was… she escaped from this very room… right after her friend saved her…"

ROB couldn't help but wonder if the Psyche they were talking about was the same one that Pit often complained about. The angel was always the picky sort and by the sound of things, his guardian was no exception. When he wasn't railing about her inabilities, he was moaning about how long it would be until he finally got his body back, if at all.

Typical Guardian Syndrome.

Doggie shook her head, her ears wagging. "No way. I mean, just look at that glass!" She pointed to the window, which was obviously bulletproof. Just from looking at it, ROB could tell that it was replaced in the recent past. "According to everyone else, her friend broke that glass with his bare hands and heroically pushed her out, knowing that it would cost his own life! And then they said that he fought both Ike and Roy single-handedly before he died! They even said he ripped Ike's arm off and ate it…"

ROB felt the familiar sensation of needing to bang his forehead on the floor. It was quite often that humans mucked up bits of information when it was told as gossip. The more outrageous it was, the more willing they were to believe it.

"That there's some serious false info!" Dedede commented, "I oughta get in their heads right now to set things straight!"

Bowser remained silent as he floated closer to Fyre. Before ROB knew what was going on, the Koopa King had disappeared without so much as a whoosh! He yelped in surprise, causing him to propel right into the girl who still had a towel over her shoulder. Before anyone knew what was happening, ROB was hurtling through the corridors of her mind, stopping only to examine the strange fragments of memories as they passed by. The robot was used to seeing images pass by him, seeing that he once had a motherboard to store his memories, but these strange fluid fragments were nothing like he had ever seen before.

Was this what it was like to be human?

ROB emerged into a great open space, a space filled with freedom and color. It looked so different from the grey, bleak surroundings that it almost surprised the robot for a moment. He watched and listened as a breeze blew past him, as laughter rang through the air…

Ah…. Human fantasies…

The girl jumped, as if she detected an intruder in her mind. ROB could tell from the way the meadow shifted and stirred that she knew he was there, but couldn't figure out where or why.

"Greetings, Human," he said politely, never one to back down from adding someone new to his memory disk. "Name: ROB. Status: Defeated Smasher. Processing questions…"

The girl let out a scream. "Who are you!" ROB realized his mistake. He had forgotten that it was the natural reaction of pretty much every human to jump in fear and possibly even scream when a voice they did not recognize suddenly spoke up in their head.

The other two humans in the room looked at her strangely, before furrowing their brows in confusion. ROB didn't need to scan them to know what had just happened. Bowser and Dedede, those two vile villains, had just taken up residence in their minds. They seemed to be listening to whatever the two villains were telling them, as they should.

"What is your name?" ROB asked, "Prepared to receive answer."

The girl shivered slightly before answering. "M-My name? I'm Kage…"

"Kage," ROB repeated, "Adding to system memory."

Kage raised an eyebrow. "Uh… okaaaaaay…?"

Doggie smiled at her when she heard her talking. "You hear that voice too, don't you?" Fyre caught her eye and nodded, indicating that he heard as well. Doggie shifted her position before tapping the side of her head. "Everyone, meet King Dedede, former ruler of Dreamland!" Her eyes were shining with excitement as she said those words. "He's just like how those stories describe him…"

Fyre stretched and yawned, sending a small tongue of flame between his teeth as he did. "Everyone, Bowser. Bowser, everyone." ROB couldn't help but wonder how someone could stay so at ease when a voice suddenly spoke up in their head, claiming that they were once among the greatest warriors in all the known universes.

ROB could almost imagine the Koopa King shouting at Fyre. Bowser was one who preferred to be treated with respect, something that he usually never got from his fellow Smashers.

What kind of super villain lost to a fat plumber anyways?

"Name registered to system memory," ROB announced, "Processing plan to escape…"

"Escape?" Kage repeated, like she never heard the word in her life. "We're… we're escaping…?"

"It only makes sense," Fyre told her, "I mean, according to Bowser…" He crossed his eyes slightly as he listened to whatever the Koopa King was ranting about now. "According to him, we're supposed to get outta here… and up Mount Smash…"

Doggie stood up, her eyes flashing determinedly. "Then we bust our way out!" Her poise was fearsome, her eyes alight with excitement. "We can redo exactly what Psyche and that… that other guy did! We can break out and maybe... maybe we'll find them along the way!" Her face screwed up in concentration as King Dedede told her something that was obviously either extremely elaborate or completely ridiculous.

Or both…

Kage shook her head. "We won't be able to make it out like this… I mean, sure we've got… powers, I guess, but…" she gestured to the window in front of her. "If the stories are true, the window that her friend broke was made of glass and probably really easy to break with something…"

"Break that thing?" Fyre smirked. "Who said we're going to break a window?" Before either girl could protest, the crackle of fire filled the air. The girls watched in horror and fascination as Fyre's eyes went from light brown to deep wine red. The flames licked his cheeks, but didn't burn them as he turned and took careful aim a particularly rotted part of the wall behind him. It gave way as soon as the fireball touched it, leaving nothing but a tiny pile of ash on the ground. The two girls stared with wide eyes as Fyre swallowed his namesake and burped, gesturing for them to hop out of the hole he made.

"After you t-"

ALERT! ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!

"We are not intruders!" Doggie sounded offended. She ran towards the hole, but not before stopping and picking up a book that was laid near her. She smiled sheepishly in response to Kage's confused expression. "It's my mom's… pretty much the last thing I have to remember her by…" She showed the title of the book: Dreamland, the Final Frontier.

"Uh… guys?" Fyre interrupted as Kage was about to touch the tome, "We can be nice and chatty and all, but… we're kinda in a hurry here!" The sounds of heavy footsteps were heard outside as he spoke, signalling to the guardians that they only had minutes until they were caught. His adrenaline kicking in, the boy ran forward and leaped out the hole, diving right into the bushes below.

"Get those two to hurry up!" Bowser shouted. The turtle was more concerned with actually getting out alive over anything else, but having two companions with you had its benefits. After all, who else would be push in front of him if he ran into trouble?

The turtle watched as Doggie managed to push both her and Kage out at the same time. Though she landed lightly on her feet, Kage landed painfully on her butt, missing the bushes by about a foot. Struggling painfully to her feet, the girl struggled some more just to take a step.

"What's wrong with her?" Bowser asked impatiently. "We have to get the Hell outta here now!"

"It's her ankles," Fyre explained as he ran over to help, "They're… kinda swollen…"

"C-Condition…" Kage managed to gasp as she rubbed her sore limbs, "I-I'll be fine if I-"

Thwack!

An arrow lodged itself just inches to the right of her ear. With a gasp of surprise, Kage pushed over both Fyre and Doggie to avoid another one, this one covered in flames, aimed directly at her face. Two short Smashers glared down at the three slaves from up above, both of them wielding powerful looking bows. While one was flimsier with flaming arrows, the other was stronger and more durable. All in all, it was one deadly two man archer team.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Another three arrows bit the flesh of the retreating guardians as they ran into the woods, Fyre and Doggie dragging a limping Kage. It wasn't long before Young and Toon Link grew tired of shooting arrows and instead jumped down themselves and chased the guardians into the woods. Twin swords flashed through the air, twin cuts were produced on Doggie's arm as she fought to defend the other two from the attacks.

"AH!" she stumbled and fell, clutching her arm as it bled a fountain of blood. Fyre managed to help Kage over to a small clearing, but there was just no way he would make it on time to save Doggie.

Doggie was really in on it now. With her allies too far away to help and little options left, she could only wait as the two boys before her dashed forward with their swords flashing white hot in the dim light. She rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding another rain of blows as the two young Smashers did a double spin attack in hopes of hitting her at least once.

"Go!" she shouted to the other two as she dodged behind a tree to avoid the arrow rain. "I'll hold them off as best as I can for now!"

"Doggie, that's suicide!" Fyre protested. Kage tried to get up, only to fall back down with a scream of pain as her ankles throbbed and pulsed. They were raw red, mostly from the running, but also from the abuse she had received in the factories of Tabuu. With every passing second, it was as if she was reliving every single slash of the whip upon her shoulders once again. ROB did his best to soothe the pain, but he only made it worse.

"Doggie, please!" Kage begged as she struggled to her feet, using Fyre's shoulder for support. "Doggie!"

"Go!" Doggie screeched as she leaped aside to avoid the arrows. "GO!"

"We're not leaving you he-"

"GO!"

At that moment, three arrows appeared as if from nowhere and slammed themselves into the girl's legs. While two only hit her calves, one rammed itself right into her thigh, causing the blood to drain out in torrents. Doggie collapsed to her knees, a scream ripping from her throat. This was painful, too painful to endure. King Dedede had felt nothing like this before, not even when he was soundly defeated by Kirby, not even when he was forced right out of his beloved body and into a jar, not even when he was forced to watch helpless as Dreamland fell forever…

This was the end…

---

They landed with a resounding thud! Ness became aware of about three bodies pressing down on top of Picho. Desperate to get out from under the great mass, the boy struggled to his feet, only to be forced down again in a great tangle of arms and legs. Something- he assumed was Rinku's foot- kicked at his jaw and nearly dislocated it.

"Ow!"

"Rinku, that's my leg!" Cimar sounded annoyed.

"Your leg! My ribs!" Rinku shouted. Someone's elbow had just jabbed itself into his ribcage and cut off his air.

Picho sniffed the air and immediately gagged. "Who had garlic for lunch?"

Rinku rolled his eyes. "We didn't have lunch, stupid!"

"I'm hungry!" Pichn gasped as he finally wriggled himself free. The other three guardians wrestled each other for just a few minutes more before finally untangling themselves and lying down on the floor in sprawling heaps.

Picho groaned and rubbed his head. "Ugh… that was one crazy ride…" He used what felt like a nearby table to hoist himself up, not caring that his hand was travelling through an entire century's worth of dust.

"You're telling me…" Ness groaned, feeling very sick inside, "What does a boy have to do around here to get a good night's sleep…?"

"And why are we all standing in the dark?" Cimar asked, "Stand back, everyone."

The faint noises of shuffling followed this as the other three guardians backed up as far as they could against the walls. They couldn't tell exactly where Cimar was standing, but the extremely faint outline standing in the center of the room gave them a few ideas. Cimar squinted into the darkness, trying to make sure that the other boys were as far away from him as possible. When he was absolutely sure that the faint outlines of his fellows were way out of range, he raised his palm in the air, feeling the pulsating waves of great power and heat radiating from his fingers.

"DIN'S FIRE!'

Fwoosh!

A great ball of fire burst forth from the young man's fingers spraying heat and power into the air and illuminating the room. Huge embers flew every which way as the great ball of fire grew in size and power until it was nearly the size of a human head. Taking care not to release the ball of flame, Cimar lowered his hand and watched as the tiny fire illuminated their surroundings.

The three were standing in a bedroom of some kind, filled with two sets of bunk beds. The bunk beds were all rather rickety and cheap looking, but they seemed sturdy enough to hold someone the size of Ganondorf at least. They were all identical except for the differently colored sheets on the beds: lilac purple, forest green, jet black, and plain white. The room itself was rather simple, consisting of only a cheap wooden desk, an uncomfortable looking wooden chair, and the tiniest wardrobe ever seen.

Cimar suddenly became aware of a small sound in his head. It was small and sad, like a sob. He raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… you okay, Zelda?"

"This room…" the princess whispered, her eyes sweeping every inch of the cobwebbed and dust filled area, "It's just that… I…" She took a deep, shuddering breath. "It… it brings back memories…"

Meanwhile, Picho and Pichn had long lost interest in the room and had just pushed open the door leading out with a resounding creak! Before either of the two Hylians could stop them, the twins were already racing each other down the darkened hall, past a great many doors identified only by crudely carved pictures on them.

"Oh, those two are so in trouble now!" Rinku fumed, stomping out of the room after them. As he left, the princess could've sworn that she saw a flicker of forest green smoke coming from his ear. The princess knew only one man would possibly want to stay behind and look at this room…

… A room that held an awful lot of painful memories…

"Cimar… you go ahead and catch up to those guys," Zelda said slowly, watching Link's cloud from the corner of her eye. "I… I need a moment alone…"

Cimar raised an eyebrow. "As you wish, princess…" He walked out and closed the door behind him, just as Zelda managed to emerge and partially materialized in the centre of the room.

Though the room was pitch black, Link's familiar features were accentuated by the glow he seemed to carry with him. In fact, if all of the Smashers were put together in this same room in their gaseous form, all of them would be glowing.

But that wasn't important to her right now…

She walked over to him, her blood pounding in her ears. That one moment by the lake only minutes before was still fresh in her mind. She had been so close, so tempted to do something right then and there, but she was interrupted. When they had left Hyrule, she was brought back to her senses and once again, Link became the quiet, distant man she had come to know over years of coaxing words out of him. And again, she had faded into her guardian's mind, her heart ready to burst with what she felt. But now, here he was again…

And so was the temptation…

She realized that she was staring at him again, drinking in his every feature from his square jaw to his pointed ears. He cocked his head slightly when he noticed her staring, causing the princess to look down and blush. The Hero of Twilight was a breathtaking sight, a wondrous spectacle of light in the dark abyss of what Smashville had become in the past 100 years.

And there was no doubt that she loved him…

"Princess…" his voice cut her, slicing like a knife through her very being. It was harsh, much harsher than she had ever heard. What was more, it was laced with stiff formality and indifference that was usually only reserved for the Hylian Royal Council. She stared in disbelief into her fellow Hylian's eyes, but like his voice, both of them were stone cold.

"Link…" she whispered, "Why…?"

The Hero turned away from her, tearing up on the inside because he was completely unable to shed the tears he wished to shed. "You and me… we… I'm sorry, Zelda, but… but…" His hands were shaking as he spoke, the tremors ripping through him like earthquakes. "We can't be together… if… if the guardians fail… if I fail to protect Rinku… if Cimar fails to protect you… the pain… it'll be too much to bear… I will never be able to forgive myself if you die because of this war… because of all this pain that my failure brought upon you and all the guardians…"

"Link…" Zelda was aghast. What madness had driven him to this? "Link… what are you saying…?"

He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Princess… if anything, I'd… I'd like nothing more than to be with you, but… but right now… now isn't the time…"

"…" Zelda remained silent.

"I swear to you that if both of us make it out alive…" the Hero hesitated here, unsure of what to say. There were a million things he wanted to say, but he just couldn't find the words. His passion for the princess had grown over the years they were forced to be locked inside their glass prisons, but now…

What was it?

She placed a hand on his cheek, thankful that her form prevented her from blushing. "Shh… there's no need to say it… I understand…" They leaned in…

"OW! DAMMIT, RINKU!"

"It wasn't me, I swear!"

"Yeah Cimar, quit blaming your boyfriend for everything!"

"Why you little…" Cimar's voice was followed by the sound of footsteps thundering down the hallway. The two Hylians exchanged looks before floating out of the room, ready to take over if needed.

The scene they found by the time they reached the kitchen was a rather typical one. Pichn was digging his way through the fridge, eating everything in sight. He was assisted slightly by Rinku who often wrestled him for the chocolate stuffed in there. Cimar was chasing Picho around, aiming arrows at the boy as he ran around laughing like a maniac.

"Admit it!" he laughed, "Cimar and Rinku sitting in a tree, F- U-"

"Quiet you!" the two guardians said at the same time. Cimar shot another light arrow at Picho, who dodged it easily. But the boy was unable to dodge the bowl of chocolate pudding from Rinku, much to Pichn's chagrin.

"That's a perfectly good waste of pudding!" he said angrily. Kirby licked his lips as the pudding slid down Picho's face. He struggled to contain his jealousy as the boy happily lapped it up. Without so much as a look at each other, Link and Zelda quietly slipped back into their guardians' minds.

"You best not waste the food," Zelda said when she settled herself, "After all, soon enough, we might have thirty five mouths to feed…"

"Zelda's right," Cimar agreed, even though none of the others could hear the princess, "We should really stop wasting all that food and save it. After all, we can't fight on empty stomachs."

"Here, here!" the other three chorused happily.

"Popo! Popo! Did you hear that?" a voice asked excitedly. The four guardians froze, listening intently. The noise seemed to be coming from the room next door, the room the Smashers knew to be the "meeting room". "There are people here! And… and I thought I heard them mention Princess Zelda!"

"Hold you horses, Nana," a male voice answered, "You don't know if those guys are friends… or Tabuu's Subspace people…"

"Popo, stop being so paranoid!" Nana chided, "Master Hand's been gone for decades already! Surely if Tabuu actually sent anyone to smash our jars open, he would've sent them the moment Master Hand disappeared!" She then raised her voice to call out to the four newcomers. "Please, don't be afraid! We won't hurt you! We merely wish to know who you are and why you are here! Please, come out! We heard you mention Princess Zelda and we're friends with her, you see…"

Kirby was the first one to get over his shock. "That's Nana! She's a Smasher too!" he smiled fondly at the memory of the two Iceclimbers, who were never seen apart. "She used to give me her leftovers at dinner!"

Pichn finished licking the pudding off his face and grinned. "Well, let's go guys!" He grabbed his brother by the arm and started dragging him out. Before leaving the room, he stood in the doorframe and wriggled his eyebrows mischievously. "Of course, unless the happy couple wants to-"He and his brother ran away hooting with laughter when a small ball of flame narrowly missed them.

Kirby's excitement mounted as the four guardians entered the room. Everywhere he looked, he saw all too familiar surroundings, bringing back memories of how he was forced to stay trapped in the jar, forced to stare at these exact pieces of furniture for a century, dreaming of the foods he could no longer eat. Here were the chairs that were once used by the Smashers for meetings, here was the huge cabinet that held documents upon documents for all to see, and here was the great wall of bookcases filled with materials to read…

But what truly caught his eye was the huge table in the very center of the room, covered with a century's worth of dust. Numerous jars were scattered upon this table, many of them overturned and empty. Off to the sides of the room, there were even more overturned and even shattered jars, opened when they were flung against the wall by some unknown force. Kirby smiled when he saw this great mess.

It was just like home.

Out of the seven jars that still had pulsing coloured blobs in them, one stood out in particular to each of the Smashers and guardians. This one had not one, but two separate colours swirling within it: blue and pink. Often times, the blue would overlap the pink for just a minute and vice versa, creating a swirling vortex of colour. Both of them had a pair of deep brown eyes that smiled happily as the four guardians approached.

"Welcome!" the feminine voice said, "I'm Nana and this is my brother, Popo!"

"Nana!" Kirby felt like he was going to cry. Not far away, Ness' bottom lip trembled as he remembered the good times with the two climbers. But he shook his head, reminding himself that he had grown up and matured over such childish games.

Nana gazed at each guardian in turn, her eyes twinkling happily. "Wow! You guys look just like how I imagined! How do you do, Cimar?" She smiled at the young man. "Rinku?" She nodded at the blonde Hylian.

"Nice to meet you, Picho and Pichn!" Popo said cheerfully. Behind him, the six other blobs of color murmured greetings. The bright yellow and purple one let out something that sounded a lot like a fart.

"Uh…" Kirby felt Pichn shift awkwardly. "How do you know who we are…?"

"Oh, Princess Zelda and Sir Link told us all about you guys!" Nana exclaimed cheerfully, "Kirby and Ness too, when they came… Oh, I remember this one time when-"

"Miss-a Nana?" a white cloud of gas interrupted, "Perhaps-a you should proceed-a to the information-a…"

"Right, sorry!" Nana let out a sheepish little laugh. The four guardians looked at each other for a moment. Whether it was some sort of understanding that passed between them or the growling of their own stomachs, it didn't matter. At the same time, all four of them knew exactly what the first question on their mind was.

"Well, first thing's first," Cimar said briskly, "Is there any way we can gather more food? These two," he gestured at Rinku and Pichn, "Ate half of it."

Nana clucked her tongue. "Boys will be boys…" she rolled her eyes before speaking again. "Don't worry about that. Master Hand put some kind of spell on it so that it would never run out of food as long as at least one guardian stays in this base… he did that the day… the day before…" her voice wavered and faltered. Instead, she descended into what sounded like a whole barrage of dry, tearless sobs.

"… The… the day before…" Popo took a deep breath. "The day before both he and Crazy left us…"

Kirby suddenly had a brief memory of that fateful day…

---

(flashback)

He was watching as Master Hand put meat, butter, bread… all the food anyone would want in the fridge and the cabinet. Being the one jar that had the best view of the kitchen, it had been agonizing torture for him to stare at it day after day, unable to go in.

"I am leaving you all…" the hand announced after placing a small jar of cookies onto a counter. "I'm afraid… I'm afraid that my presence here is no longer needed for the time being…"

"But Master Hand!" Captain Falcon had protested, "We can't defend ourselves like this! What if Tabuu comes back and smashes our jars before we can see our guardians!"

The giant floating hand had looked solemnly at the racer's jar and shook his head. "There is no need to worry, Captain Falcon… both my brother and I have taken the most careful of precautions to-"

"BRUTHA!" Crazy Hand shouted from the next room, "BRUTHA! I can't find da cookiez! I NEEDZ DA COOKIEZ!"

Master Hand sighed. "Erm… I have them, Crazy, don't worry!"

"I WANTZ DA COOKIEZ!"

"Smashers…. You are all wonderful, wonderful warriors… the greatest in the world…" Master Hand's voice cracked as he spoke. "I know that whatever happens, you'll be able to take care of your guardians… I know that when the time comes, all of you will put your talents together to defeat Tabuu once and for all… "

"And if we should fail?" Meta Knight demanded. He was still angered, bitter over everything he lost.

Master Hand shook his"head". "Do not allow that to concern you, Smashers… you are all capable of being the protectors of the ones who shall swear and dedicate their lives to helping you achieve your goals…"

"Do you really think so, Master Hand?" Red the Pokemon Trainer asked.

For a moment, Kirb could've sworn that Master Hand almost smiled at the 35 jars in front of him. "… I know so…"

The Smashers began whispering amongst themselves. Just as Master Hand was about to depart the room, a single voice spoke up above the others, a young, innocent little voice.

"When are you coming back, Master Hand?" Pichu asked, eyes shining with worry. The hand had stopped in the doorway, casting one last melancholy look at the little Pokemon who had been loved by so many. He seemed to wish to say something, but only shook his "head" when he tried to. Finally, he turned to face every single Smasher, almost staring at them right in the eye.

"I promise you, Smashers…" he whispered, "Both of us… my brother and I… we shall return… we will return when cowards gain courage and the final Smashball returns… I promise you…" Without another word, he had floated away, leaving behind the Smashers he had raised and cared for like his own children. Some cried while others could only sit there and stare, wondering what was going on. There was a flash of white light…

And then, nothing…

(end flashback)

---

"… I'm sorry for your loss…" Cimar murmured, "All of your losses…"

Nana shook her cloud. "It can't be helped… what has happened has happened… we can't change it…" She smiled at the guardians. "I'm just glad that… that at least we're doing what Master Hand has always believed was ri-"

Both Cimar's and Rinku's pointed ears suddenly twitched. Blinking in surprise and confusion, the two Hylians exchanged glances before bolting out of the room. Picho and Pichn barely had time to blink before the two were gone. With twin apologetic glances at the still trapped Smashers, the boys followed their longtime companions out. They found them near the edge of the summit overlooking Smashville, staring at something that seemed to be off in the distance.

"What the Hell is that thing!" Rinku demanded.

"It looks like an aircraft of some kind…" Cimar's voice was filled with interest, "But it's nothing like I've ever seen in Hyrule…"

"Says the guy who spent half his life underground," Picho said with a roll of his eyes as he stepped forward. "I say those are aliens coming to EAT US!"

Ness scoffed. "Please… those are aliens coming to DESTROY THE WORLD!"

Pichn grinned. "Who knows? Maybe those aliens will be friendly!"

"And give us cool alien food!" Kirby said excitedly.

Though the boys eagerly awaited the coming of the flying airships, Cimar looked more worried than excited. He frowned as the ships came closer, their wings shining in the faint light. It was strange to see three ships seem to randomly appear out of nowhere, but as with many people, Cimar saw these ships as potential enemies. Still, he kept his silence and could only wait.

"Do not fear, Cimar," Zelda assured him, "Whatever comes out of those ships, you, the twins, and Rinku can fight them… and if need be, the Smashers shall take over…"

Cimar nodded. "Yes… whatever happens, we'll be able to handle it…" The ships were even closer now. One of them, the smallest and sleekest one, pushed itself ahead of the others. It approached the summit, still partially covered by the clouds. It came closer, closer, closer…

BZZT!

"Holy shit!" Rinku cursed as a lightning bolt appeared out of nowhere. It struck the ship on the side, causing a part of the wing to go flying off into space. Another bolt of lightning and a larger chunk of the same wing went flying. Even without Hylian ears, Picho and Pichn could easily hear the screams of a bunch of people inside.

"They need help!" Kirby shouted.

Pichn nodded. "On it!" But before any of them could take a step, something very thin and blue in colour fell from the sky and onto the ship itself. It landed and paused for a moment before standing up and revealing itself. Zelda recoiled in shock when she recognized what it was.

"A Blue Alloy! Master Hand built those and based them off my fighting style!" As she said these words, a red one fell from the sky. "What the…?"

"They're everywhere!" Picho yelled as he pointed upwards. "Look!"

Sure enough, they were everywhere. They would fall from the skies and land easily on top of one of the three ships. Soon, they were everywhere, right to the point where every single surface on the ships was simply covered in Alloys.

"… Should I be worried for the guys on those ships or happy that we won't have to fight all that much?" Pichn asked. As if in answer to his question, something else fell from the sky.

This one was pink in colour, with some kind of symbol for a head. It seemed to be made of a mesh of wire, powered by a glowing sphere in its core. The four Smashers with their guardians still standing on the summit recognised it immediately.

"A Wire Frame!" Ness gasped.

"I thought Master Hand got rid of those!" Zelda took a step back.

"If that's a male one, then that means…" Link gulped, "There's a female one somewhere as well…"

"And there are even more coming!" Kirby pointed upwards, where true to his word, Wire Frames and Alloys were now falling from the sky.

Rinku drew his sword. "What are we waiting for! We need to help them!" He charged at the ships.

Cimar was in the middle of pulling out his bow when he couldn't help but notice something in the corner of his eye. "Rinku, wait! Don't-"

BZZT!

"AHHHHHH!" the prince was hurled back before he could even reach the edge of the summit. He slammed onto the ground where he shakily got up, panting. All around the summit, a dome of what looked like pure green energy could be seeing flashing in the sky. It was there only a moment before it disappeared again.

"What the Hell was that!" Rinku demanded angrily.

Cimar calmly walked up to the summit and held his hand up to where the barrier should be. The barrier appeared, shimmering slightly. Its energy vibrated onto the Hylian's hand before he removed it and it was gone again.

"Looks like some kind of impenetrable barrier…" he muttered, "Whatever's happening, we can't get out to save them…"

"… That's a load of bullshit…" Rinku got up and frowned at the ships. "There's gotta be something we can do…"

Picho frowned as well as he stared at the ships. "… Maybe… maybe there's something we can do…" He rubbed his hands together, little embers of flame already licking his fingertips. "PK FIRE!" A column of fire rose from his hands and blasted its way towards the Alloys and Wire Frames that covered the ships. Only a few fell off, but it didn't take long for anyone to realize the significance of what he did.

"Pichn! Go get some arrows!" Cimar shouted as the lightning began crackling all around them.

"Where would we find arrows!" Kirby asked as his guardian dashed through the halls.

"I don't know!" Pichn said desperately, "But… we can still ask the Smashers, right?" Without waiting for an answer, Pichn wrenched the door to the room of jars open and ran inside. He waved to the greetings the Smashers gave him and instead skidded to a stop right in front of Nana's jar.

"Nana, please tell me you know where you guys keep arrows!" he shouted, shaking the jar slightly to emphasize his hurry.

Nana's eyes widened. "Arrows! What for!"

"We're under attack!" Pichn explained, "We need arrows, now!"

Nana paused for a moment. "… Well… there used to be the-"

CRACK!

"What the…?" Pichn screamed in pain as the jar he held suddenly grew white hot. All around him, the room was shaking and the wind howled in his ears. The boy was throat right off his feet, his face a mess of cuts and bruises from the bits of broken glass that flew at him and from where he hit the wall.

Three of the jars were shaking. Nana's and Popo's were easily recognizable from their dual colors, but the other two that shook and quacked were both brown in color. The only difference between the latter two were that one cloud was larger than the other and that the smaller cloud had the slightest red tinge to it. Pichn ran forward to stop the jars' shaking, but something held him back.

"Nana! Popo!" Kirby screamed, "Donkey! Diddy!" He watched with tear filled eyes as the jars shook faster and faster. "Be free!"

At that moment, as if in answer to the puffball's call, the three jars were slammed against the far wall and the top popped right off. The two brown coloured gases flew out immediately, as did the blue streak. The only one that remained behind, the pink streak, floated in front of Pichn and smiled at him.

"Check the armory," she said, "There used to be a nice supply of arrows…" Her grin seemed to widen. "Good luck… I'll be joining you soon…"

"C'mon, Nana!" Popo shouted from outside as he looked in on her.

"Coming!" Nana gave one last smile at Pichn and her fellow Smashers. "Goodbye! I'll see you all soon!"

She turned tail and flew away, away from the shelter she had known for over a hundred years, away from the thing that had long since been her prison. No more glass, no more dust, no more cobwebs…

She was free at last…

---

Silence…

That was all there was…

Complete and utter silence…

Silence that rang for miles around…

Silence that was louder than any gunshot ever heard…

Silence…

"H-Heather…" it was the one sound that broke the silence. Slowly, the eye of every single guardian fell on the speaker, a certain tiny brunette still dressed in the rags she wore when she escaped.

"That was…" Wrath was next to break the silence. He shifted awkwardly. "Just… just weird…"

"I…" Cameron shook his head. "I… I can't believe… I threatened to pummel the asshole…" he glared at the person he was talking about. "But… she… Heather… Holy crap…"

Nask blinked and got out of the defensive stance she had been standing in, realizing that she was trying to protect Ridere during the whole time Heather was screaming. By this time, the boy had backed away and was awkwardly standing next to her, watching as Psyche simply stared off into the distance.

"We have to go find her…" Psyche whispered. "She can be hurt… or something!"

Sakura shook her head. "It's true… but… but what if she's… too dangerous to be around us right now, Psyche?"

Psyche turned on her with teary eyes. "Dangerous! Heather isn't dangerous! She's just… she just has a problem… but she can fix it, I know she can!"

"Psyche…" Squall walked up to her. "Look, I know I haven't known Heather for very long, but…" He scratched the back of his head. "It's time we get to be realistic here…" He took a deep breath. "As much as you care about Heather, we have to face reality, Psyche… she's dangerous. I mean, you saw how she screamed… she nearly killed Golfer… and you're just willing to approach her in that state?"

Psyche's fists shook with anger at that remark. "The way you talk about her… it's like… it's like she's a wild animal to you!"

Squall bit his lip and took a step back. "I… in a way… she is a sort of a wild animal… we all are… but she's dangerous… if she gets any closer to us, who knows what will happen?"

"She's a guardian too, you know!" Psyche sobbed. "She's a guardian and you think I'll just abandon her, just like that you heartless jerk?"

Squall shifted uncomfortably. "I…"

"I'm finished! FINISHED!" Eric cheered as he threw his wrench in the air and caught it expertly with one hand. Almost right after Heather left, he had started working almost obsessively on the three broken ships. He needed something, anything to take his mind off of what had just happened, and his work paid off. With Joe's help, he had finally managed to fix the ships.

That was when the mood broke. Glaring silently at Squall, Psyche left in a huff and sat in a tiny corner of the clearing. Other guardians blinked and got set to work doing what they were supposed to do. Though Heather's disappearance had left them worried and shaken, now was not the time to fret over it.

With or without her, they were going to get up Mount Smash.

"Impressive work, Eric," Lucario complimented him, "But… is that really necessary?" He gestured to the Mudkip sticker on Eric's window.

Eric grinned. "Of course! I liek Mudkipz!"

"Hey Eric!" Ridere waved from inside the cockpit of Aly's ship. "I herd u liek mudkipz!"

Eric waved back. "Yep!"

Snake facepalmed. "Why…? Out of all the humans in Smashville, why you, of all people!"

Joe pushed himself out from under Mars' Arwing and stretched. "Well, all that one actually needed was a good oil change…" With no where else to wipe his hands, he did it on the grass.

Lin bobbed over curiously, taking care not to touch any loose parts of the three planes. "They're… done…?"

Eric proudly slapped Joe on the back. "That's right! I've never seen better mechanic skills, Joe!"

Joe shrugged. "I have to work on my car all the time… Sam's too busy being a lazy bum to do anything and Chester's… Chester." Joe ducked as one of Sam's katanas sailed over his head.

"I heard that!" Sam snapped.

"That was mean!" Young Link added. "Throw the boomerang at him!"

"Young, your boomerang is a piece of wood… it won't hurt him!"

"It'll… um… it'll give him a big huge splinter!"

Cameron came over as well, a scowl clearly etched on his face. "Can we just pack up and go already? Those two," he pointed at two certain guardians on opposite ends of the clearing. "Are starting to piss both me and Ike off!"

"We're all pretty mad at them, Cam…" Psyche said uneasily. She was still worried, very worried, about Heather. That scream of rage… that anguished cry… it had pierced both heart and soul of every guardian for miles around. Heather was a strong woman, but unpredictable as well. Psyche worried for not only the Wolfon's but everyone else's safety.

After all, she had seen her rage first hand…

"She'll be fine," Pit said, answering Psyche's unasked question for the tenth time that day. "Chill out, will you?"

Cameron kicked the dirt. "I still don't get it… why can't I just punch the asshole and be done with it?"

"Uh… how about because Pikana will kill you for starting another fight between teammates?" Sam offered as he yanked his katana out of the tree.

"… She didn't say anything about Smashers!" Ike said cheerfully, "C'mon Cam, lemme take over…"

"No! Not if I'm going to have my body maimed and castrated by some crazy Chu all because you hogged all the fun!" Cam crossed his arms. "And that's final!"

Sakura looked concernedly at Golfer over on the other side of the clearing, guarded by Wrath, Nask, and Lin. While Lin and Wrath were on task, Nask was… distracted. Sakura could tell that there was just something that bothered her at the moment, whether it was the task she was given or something else. Sakura wasn't all too sure, but she made a mental note to Nask about it later.

"She isn't the only one that seems distracted today," Peach pointed out, "Looks like Mah and Beeh are a bit off right now as well…"

It turned out that the princess was only half right. Beeh was chatting away to her Pikmin like nothing was wrong, but Mah remained awfully quiet as she stared at the little girl. Once or twice she would open her mouth to speak, only to close it again as Beeh plucked up Pikmin and cheerfully threw them in the air. The little creatures made a squeally noise as they were thrown, but Beeh never looked over her shoulder, never seeing the way Mah was looking at her.

"Those two look kind of alike, don't they?" Peach asked as she looked back and forth between the two girls. Sakura only shrugged in response.

"I'm bored…" Eric said as he put away his toolkit. "Someone should go out there and look for Aly, Mars, and that zombie guy…"

Joe shook his head. "And get in the way of that girl's guns? No thanks."

Eric frowned. "We'll need those two pilots here if we're ever going to get these things in the sky…"

"What if-"

Eric read the thought even before Lucario could voice it. "Uh uh! No way! No one except the three pilots are driving these things!"

"I was merely stating an idea…"

"A horrible idea!" Eric insisted, "There's no way I'm letting anyone drive these ships who are not named Mars, Aly, or Eric!"

"What about people named Sam?" Sam asked eagerly. He loved taking things for joyrides.

"Certainly not people named Sam!"

"Maybe you should get out of here and help look for those three," Snake suggested as Ridere began rifling his way through the mini refrigerator he found near the back of the plane, wedged in between a bunch of suitcases. The boy finished digging through for a moment to answer.

"Hm… maybe I should… but first…" he took a potato chip out of a bag he was holding. "I will take this potato chip…" He paused dramatically. "AND EAT IT!"

"Ugh…" Snake facepalmed.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MAH CHIPS!" a girl's voice shouted not far away. Every single guardian standing in the clearing turned and watched as Aly struggled her way through the bushes. Two of her holsters lacked guns and there were a few cuts on her face from the branches, but she was otherwise unscathed. Mars followed only a few seconds after her while Chester trailed behind. The undead boy looked uneasily at the others before going to stand next to Joe.

Aly stomped into her Arwing and grabbed the bag out of Ridere's hands. "Can't you read?"

"… No…"

Aly blinked. "… Well, don't touch mah chips!"

Mars looked his Sky Claw over once. "Hm… not bad, Eric… it's just that…" He pointed to a speck of dirt on the window. "You missed a spot."

"Then clean it up, you lazy bum!" Falco scoffed. "Back in my day, we would use our own spit to clean our windows!"

"C'mon, Mars, I've fixed pretty much every part of that ship… surely you can clean off one little speck of dirt?"

Mars rolled his eyes. "Fine…" He reached in his pocket and took out his coin. "Heads Eric cleans it, tails I clean. Deal?"

"Fine by me," Falco said.

Eric nodded. "A fifty- fifty chance…" He smirked. "You're not gonna be so lucky this time, Mars!"

Mars flicked his coin up in the air and caught it with relative ease. "… Heads!" Now it was his turn to smirk. "Start cleaning, wench!" He walked away, leaving a seething Eric behind in his wake.

"He rigs that coin of his, I swear it!" Eric muttered as he started scrubbing away.

Though it didn't take long to clean up the spot of dirt, it still took a while to load all the guardians into the Arwings. Complaints from pretty much everyone, plus Aly's insistence of not dumping her luggage to make room took up most of the hour. By the time the three ships were ready to take off, the sun had already given up trying to shine through the dank clouds that had long covered Smashville and sank back into the darkness. Had it not been for Eric's aura seeing ability, Sakura's encouragement, and Cameron's subtle threats, the others would've taken a lot longer and be forced to wait until the next morning.

But in a world like this, that was something they could never afford.

Pichu shook with fear and excitement as Chester boarded Mars' ship, following just behind a still pissed Pikana. The little Pokemon had never truly traveled in the skies before, so this was both an adventure and a great fear to him. Being one to stay well away from the great unknown, Pichu was both fearful and excited by the prospect of flying for the first time in his life.

"OW! Watch the tail!" Pikana groaned, yanking her tail out from under Chester's foot. Pichu's guardian backed away in fear of the girl.

"S-Sorry!" he apologized. At that same moment, he backed into Cameron, who was the last to climb aboard. Sigmund gave off sparks at his touch, almost shutting down the Sky Claw's systems. "Sorry again!"

"Hey! You people better not be messing with my stuff back there!" Mars yelled over his shoulder. "Aly's going to kill me if anything happens to her spare bullets!"

"Like Hell I am!" Aly's voice cheerfully crackled over his radio. "I could use a new target for target practice, anyways. Eric's getting a bit… dull… And what's taking you two so long? I'm ready to fly!"

Pichu watched in sheer fascination as Mars picked up his radio and started speaking into it. It was like a magical box! He could talk to someone in another one of those planes with that thing! For once, Pichu forgot all about the prowling shadows all around Chester's mind.

"I've got everyone in here," Mars replied, "Let's see… Cam, Nask, Chester, Ridere, Pikana, and… wait, where's Psyche?"

Pichu looked out the nearest window. "There she is, Chester! She's just standing there…"

Chester nodded. "… She's an awfully quiet one, isn't she…?"

Pichu frowned. "Maybe she needs a hug… give her a hug, Chester! A nice, warm, happy hug!"

Chester did a double take. "Wait, what!"

"You can give free hugs to everyone!" Pichu said cheerfully, "Then people will stop being so scared of you!"

"I am not giving free hugs to people!" Chester hissed.

"Okay… then say your hugs are only one Smashcoin! Then you can buy me wipes!"

Chester rolled his eyes and got out of the Sky Claw, despite Mars' protests. There was definitely something wrong with the girl. Ever since Chester arrived in the clearing, she was actually the only one that didn't greet him when he was introduced by Joe. She only gave him a sad smile and a small nod before walking away, not saying so much as a 'hello'.

"Uh… Hey, you're Psyche, right?" Chester asked, "Guardian of Pit?"

Psyche jumped at the sound of his voice. "Oh!"

"See Chester? You need to give her free hugs," Pichu said pointedly.

Chester waited until the girl recovered herself. "Uh… well, you know who I am…"

A few seconds passed before Psyche gave him a tiny nod. "Yeah…. You have Pichu in your head…" She looked over her shoulder as she spoke, staring longingly at a small clump of bushes before looking back at him. "It's… it's nice to meet you, I guess…"

"You seem distracted," he observed casually. Almost at the same time, the girl looked over her shoulder again, as if hoping that something… or someone would burst out of those bushes. "Are you alright?'

Pichu watched as the girl bit her lip and looked over her shoulder again. "I'm… I'm just worried, I guess… about Heather…"

Chester had heard a little bit about this "Heather". From what Joe had told him while helping Eric work on the planes, this woman was a truly formidable person. Though kind and strong, there was supposedly something about her that caused most of the guardians to shy away from her. Joe had told him about how frightening… how truly horrible she was when angered. He had witnessed it first-hand, or so he said, as two guardians argued against each other. Something within the young woman had exploded with the force of a Subspace Bomb and then…

… nothing…

"She'll be fine…" Chester said uneasily, "I mean, from what I heard, she's a really strong person, so…"

"It's not that," Psyche said quietly, "I'm just worried that… well, we're leaving her behind… I'm just worried about how she'll feel about us leaving her behind…"

Chester placed his good hand on her shoulder and carefully steered her towards the open door of Mars' Sky Claw. "Don't worry… she'll find her way to Mount Smash, eventually…"

Mars closed the door as soon as they entered. Grinning like a fool, he took his seat and eagerly began flipping switches. Pichu watched in even more fascination as lights started flashing everywhere. They were so pretty!

"Activating turbo thrusters…" Mars muttered as he worked, "Getting plane up in the air… fastening seat belt… radar online…"

"Prepared to activate Ludicrous Speed option!" Eric shouted over the radio, "We fly on your mark, Aly!"

The guardians clamoured over to the windows to watch as the Arwings lifted themselves in the air, spewing a strange smelling gas into the skies. Pichu felt a strange pull in his gut as he watched the ground disappear below him. A long time ago, he would have never believed that he would ever be strong enough, brave enough, to even dare take off like this. He had dwelled in the ground for so long that he never thought, never dreamed that he would someday be flying through the air.

"Whoa… check out that bloodstain!" Cam laughed as he pointed down below him, "That looks like Mario's face!"

Ridere squeezed in next to him. "… I think that is Mario's face…"

"Fasten your seatbelts everyone!" Mars called over his shoulder. "And please, for the love of God, don't barf!" Before any of them could do a thing, his finger had already moved to the small red switch on his dashboard.

BOOM!

"AHHHH!" Pichu screamed as the pull in his guts was strengthened to a full out yank at the moment Mars' finger touched the switch. All around him, he watched every guardian's face as each of them twisted from surprise, to fear, to utter airsickness. Nask even leaned over and puked in the nearest bucket as the plane blasted its way through the air streams all around them.

The wind howled in Chester's ears, his eyes were slammed back against his skull as the Arwing shot like a bullet to its destination. Pichu could've sworn that his guardian's skin was peeling right off the bone at times, but at other times, he could only tremble in fear and excitement as the plane struggled to keep itself in one piece. It was as if every nerve in his body was screaming for release, the way the skin seemed to pull back upon his muscles, sinew, and bones, clawing its way forth and away from the body itself. It was so horrible…

… and yet, it felt so good…

"MY BRAINS ARE GOING TO MY FEEEEEET!" Chester howled over the racket.

"WHAT BRAINS!" Pikana yelled back. She had grabbed onto Cam's scarf and was hanging on for dear life. The mercenary, meanwhile, had somehow managed to pin one of the many cherry red suitcases to the floor of the Arwing and was holding onto that to stay alive. Nask had positioned herself over Ridere, as if she was guarding him or something. Every time the boy tried to dart past her, she would only grab onto the back of his shirt and pull him back down under her. There was something in her face that threw Chester off…

"OW! PIKANA, GET YOUR BLOODY HANDS OFF MY SCARF!" Cam yelled as the ship gave a particularly powerful lurch and the crimson piece of cloth was forced tighter around his neck. "OW! ASHERA DAMMIT, PIKANA!"

"Al… most…" Mars struggled to reach for the red switch. "Hold… on…"

"Press it!" Falco yelled over the noise, "Those guys back there are gonna puke some more any second!" He winced as Nask threw up some more in a nearby bucket, allowing Ridere to escape.

Pichu watched Mars struggling for the switch, only for his hand to be caught in the wind. For the first time, he became worried, stricken with fear over what would happen if Mars never hit the switch. Would they ever stop? Would this thing ever run out of gas? Would they wander forever until their skin peeled off and they were nothing but skeletons?

At that moment, Mars slammed the switch down, causing the plane to freeze in midair. The guardians in the back of the plane were thrust forward and slammed their faces to the floor, Pikana being the only one unscathed because she just landed on top of everyone. Hesitantly, they all got up, sporting nothing but a couple of bloody noses as a result of the crash landing.

"I don't wanna do that again!" Pichu sobbed, "That was too scary! And now I need more wipes!"

Up in the cockpit, Mars was laughing his head off. "WOOO! That was awesome! We have to do that again!"

Nask struggled to her feet, panting. "N-Never… again…"

Cameron pulled a still struggling Pikana off his scarf as he glared at Mars. "Whose bright idea was it to put a freaking Ludicrous speed button on this thing!"

"That would be me!" Eric answered cheerfully over the radio, "I'd have to say it's one of my pride and joys! Of course, that potato peeler was too, but someone had to put a virus in it!"

"Not my fault, Eric!" Aly shouted happily as her Arwing came into view of Mars'. "Well, this is your captain speaking! Up ahead is beautiful Mount Smash! To your left is a random forest! To your right is… oh wait, that's just Eric. Don't look at his ugly mug if you wanna live!"

Mars chuckled as he veered his Arwing to the left and zipped past the other two towards Mount Smash. Pichu could feel the excitement and anticipation mounting in him as the great mountain approached. The mists themselves seemed to part at the plane's touch, the summit just materializing out of the din. Pichu saw the familiar landscape of numerous trees and even more caves pass by him as the plane floated towards the summit.

Almost…

"I'm home! I'm home, Chester! I'm home!"

BZZT!

"WOAH!" Mars grabbed the wheel and jammed it to the left just as a huge bolt of lightning slammed into the side of the ship. The bolt flickered for a moment, seeming to glare menacingly at the guardians inside before disappearing. Mars was just about to try again when this time, three lightning bolts slammed into his ship, shorting out half of the controls on his dashboard. Mars grabbed onto his dashboard and started whacking it with a fist to no avail. The controls just wouldn't respond!

Suddenly, all was black. Each of the guardians in the Sky Claw and possibly the other Arwings gave a great shout of surprise as their few sources of light were cut off just like that. The air itself seemed to thin as the light was cut off, but in the middle of the Sky Claw, Cam raised Sigmund in the air and generated enough of a spark to light up the place. Every face in the plane was etched with fear and disbelief, even Mars', though he tried not to show it.

That was when the shadows around them began to move. They moved slowly at first, their limbs scraping against the strong glass windows of the Sky Claw. Once or twice, a single tiny ball of light would reveal itself in the swirling mass of blackness, but it would quickly disappear, just as each guardian pointed their respective weapon at it.

Chester could sense these beings. They were everywhere, crawling about the Arwing like spiders ready to pounce on their prey. Here and there a part stuck out: an arm, a leg, a head… but they were all the same. They were truly grotesque shapes, humanoid in many ways, but not human at the same time. They seemed to be living skeletons of some sort, colored in four different colors. From the scraping sounds they made to the huge wave of indistinct babbling emitting from them, anyone would know that no sane person would dare come out and fight…

Then again, since when had he been a sane person?

"ATTACK!" Chester slammed the sky roof opened with a single punch before leaping out in one fluid motion to face his foes. Before the Alloys and Wire Frames could so much as look at him, his own electrical power was blasting through them, hitting them right at their very core. One by one, they exploded from the force and the power of the lightning, but more just dropped in out of nowhere.

"Behind you! In front of you! To your left! Your right! AHHHH!" Pichu screamed as Chester reeled from the force of the blast.

"Chester!" Nask shouted as she hoisted herself upon the Arwing as well. Cameron and Ridere followed her, Pikana and Psyche appearing moments later. Nask slammed her Naginata into the nearest android, creating a shower of ice that rained like hail upon their foes.

Chester kicked and punched the Androids as they came at him, his skin completely immune to their pathetic blows. Thankful that he was undead, Chester even ripped off his bone arm and swung it around like a club. The bone connected once with the Androids before they were sent flying off the Arwing. Meanwhile, Pikana and Psyche were back to back, combining electricity with Pit's powerful arrows. It was a deadly combo, made only deadlier as Bazookie flashed through the air.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Over their heads, a rain of arrows appeared, falling down from the heavens and hitting their foes right in their glowing white orbs. Another second passed before the arrows were joined by a rain of fireballs. Chester looked up at the summit to see their saviors. There were four figures up there, two holding bows. The third had fire dancing around their hands while the fourth only stood there and watched. Chester only had seconds to dodge another rain of arrows before the Androids returned for their vengeance.

On the other planes, it was clear as day that the Androids did not just choose the Sky Claw for a target. The guardians were fighting hard, though the Androids numbered in millions by now. There were even some waiting for them on the small ledge near the summit, staring up and ready to leap on the Arwings if needed. Chester reattached his arm and snapped the nearest Android in half.

"These things are pathetic!" Cam shouted as he simply kicked the Alloys off the ship. "I mean, come on! My grandma would put up a better fight that this!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!"

"HOLY SHIT!" Pikana cursed as something huge and dark leaped down from up above.

Ridere gasped and stuck his head back into the sky roof to shout down at Mars. "VEER LEFT IF YOU WANNA LIIIIIIIIIVE!"

Mars wasted no time in taking action. True to Ridere's word, he veered left just as an enormous shape slammed itself into the ground below, creating a huge crater of trees and other plant life that were so cruelly ripped from their roots. A single roar was ripped from the creature's throat as two giant fists beat its chest, causing all three Arwings to shake.

"No way…" Mars stared at the creature like he had never seen it before. "Is that…?"

"GIANT DONKEY KONG!" Falco shouted. "HOLY MOTHER OF FU-"

CLANG! BANG!

"What now!" Mars screamed as he looked up. He felt the blood rushing from his face as he saw the huge dents that were made just above his head.

"METAL MARIO BROTHERS!" Ridere shouted as he stuck his head back in. "And they're just as bad as the body of the real thing!"

"RIDERE, BEHIND YOU!" Snake shouted. Ridere whirled around and slammed a C4 into Metal Luigi's face before rolling to the side and detonating it. "IN DA FACE!"

Cameron ducked as Metal Mario came flying at him. "I take back everything I said about this army!" The Alloys were coming at him mercilessly.

Chester looked down to where the giant Donkey Kong was. A large number of guardians were already down there, fighting it. He looked at the ones that had remained on the ships. They seemed to be handling the Alloys and Wire Frames easily enough, but the Metal Mario Brothers gave them some trouble. Despite this, Chester leaped off the ship and headed right for the Giant DK.

"Chester!" Sam slammed his katanas into the nearest Wire Frame while Joe managed to keep Metal Mario distracted with a Falcon Punch. "Where the heck is he going!"

"Less talk more nuking!" Golfer shouted as he blasted away on his gun. "Dammit, I'm out of bullets!" He called down to Aly. "Hand me some of yours!"

Aly shook her head. "NOOOO! THE BULLETS ARE MINE! My precious…"

"ALY!" Eric's voice crackled over the radio, sounding panicked. "Give him the damned bullets!"

"But Eric-"

"NOW! OR I AM CONFISCATING YOUR GUNS!"

Sam yanked his katanas out and double stabbed two Wire Frames in front of him. "We can't keep this up! We're going to get tired eventually!"

"Use the boomerang!" Young shouted.

"NO, DAMMIT!'

FWOOSH!

An Alloy that had been sneaking up on Sam fell, fire licking its limbs. Sam stared at it for a minute before realizing that the fire had come from above. Young Link squinted at the tiny shape in the sky as Sam looked up, but couldn't exactly make it out. All he could really see were two streaks, one green and one red, making their way towards them. When familiar looking fireballs and even some lightning crackled in the air around the shape, he knew exactly who they were.

"They're here…"

Captain Falcon looked up and grinned as Joe dispatched a few Wire Frames with a Falcon Kick. "THE MARIO BROTHERS!"

And indeed they were. Every guardian stopped fighting for just smallest fraction of a second to watch as the two guardians of the Mario Brothers, holding a young African American man between them, flew towards the fight using the power of what they recognized as the legendary Red Star. As they flew over the giant Donkey Kong, they dropped the African American down where he started running at a speed worthy only of Sonic. Then, with a nod at each other, the one dressed in red dived down toward two of the ships while the one dressed in green flew over to Sam.

"Hey, hope we're not late!" he said with a cocky looking grin. "Name's Green! Guardian of Luigi!"

Sam shook his hand. "Sam, guardian of Young Link. How did you…?"

"Know who you guys were and that you needed help?" Green laughed and pointed at Joe. "Luigi recognized that punch of his right away." A Wire Frame rushed at Green at that moment, but he grabbed it and squeezed, green electricity wrapping around his fingers. A tenth of a second later, the Alloy exploded in a flurry of wire and metal.

"So many guardians…" Sam murmured as Green leaped to the next ship and started battling. "But… why…? Aren't we supposed to get to the summit…?" He looked up and another rain of arrows and PK Fire dispatched a wide circle of Wire Frames and Alloys around him. "Young…"

Young Link shook his head, almost ready to cry. "I… I just don't know, Sam… I mean, Master Hand… he said we have to get you guys up here… that once we're all here, we'll receive one final test…"

"Indeed, Young Link!" a voice echoed all around. Suddenly, the Alloys, Wire Frames, Metal Mario Brothers, lightning, and even the Giant DK stood still. The guardians all nearly dropped their weapons in surprise as they looked around, realizing that there was a whole rainbow of color floating around them. Nask felt her shard grow hot in her pocket, vibrating with warmth and power. Wrath's sword did the same thing, as did Beeh's necklace. Psyche looked around her and sent her questions to Pit, who ignored every single one of them. Up above, the figures on the summit gave some shouts of surprise and one of them, Pit could tell he was blonde, reached into his pocket and pulled out a shard.

… A shard that was covered with rainbow light…

"Guardians!" the voice announced. "Know that I am Master Hand, the embodiment of creation and the organizer of the Smash Brothers tournament! Long have my brother and I waited for your return!"

"And yu didn't bringz me cookiez!" another voice said indignantly.

"As many of your Smashers should have told you, you are to come to Mount Smash to receive further instructions on what to do in this war against Tabuu," Master Hand explained, his voice booming for miles around. "Many of you have already arrived, but many of you have also not arrived yet… but that does not stop the setting of the final test…"

"That's Master Hand alright…" Pit murmured. "Completely loony at times and really, really archaic…"

"Your final test is this, guardians," Master Hand continued, "The base atop Mount Smash shall become your home until all thirty five guardians are assembled. When that time comes, the end of this war will be in sight. However, to get atop Mount Smash, like so many Smashers before you, you all must prove that you are worthy for such and honor… you all must prove that you are both courageous and powerful. You must prove that you are worthy of being allowed to enter the summit of the most important mountain in all of Smashville…"

Marth looked up and for the first time, he saw the dome of green energy that surrounded the summit. "… We'll have to get through that…"

"This final test is not simple, guardians," Master Hand said gravelly, "Nor will it guarantee that you will be worthy of passage to Mount Smash…"

"Always a catch to everything," Pit muttered.

"The task may seem simple enough… penetrate the barrier to Mount Smash… you are to do this while being attacked, as you can see, by my synthetic giant Donkey Kong, my reanimated Metal Mario Brothers, and my army of Wire Frames and Androids. You are to do all of this and more… if you can find a way to penetrate the barrier… then my brother and I shall both return… Smashers… you have been waiting for us for decades… it is time we return to you…"

Pit nodded. "Well… it's… it's about time…" He couldn't help but smile.

"I speak to you now, guardians of Smashville…" Master Hand's voice grew in power and volume as he spoke. "Complete your task and you shall gain the power to carry the light of the new day to Smashville… fail and another hundred years of darkness shall fall… Guardians… you are our last hope… our protectors of all things light… do your duty… and vanquish the evil of Smashville once and for all…"

The deity's voice wavered and faded. The power that each guardian had felt before also lessened slightly. The air was suddenly ice cold again.

All pandemonium broke loose. The enemies they had faced for so long were alive again and beating them with no mercy. The Metal Mario Brothers faced off against the guardians of the Mario Brothers, all of their blows almost identical in speed and strength. The giant Donkey Kong roared its anger and slammed his fists into the ground.

In the middle of all of this, Chester was watching as the giant ape threw numerous guardians in the air and snapped even more trees. They were losing and he knew it. Alone out of all the guardian here, he was the only one that had not yet used the powers gifted to him by his Smasher. He was afraid of using them, scared that by using them, he would hurt others. Pichu's powers were legendary, but unstable beyond anything. He was afraid that he'd hurt himself as well, not knowing if Pichu's powers would affect him the way it usually affected the little mouse Pokemon. But now…

All that mattered was keeping the others safe…

"VOLT TACKLE!"

Pichu felt the electrical core within him sputter and quake as it contracted within itself, building up an unimaginable power. It pulsed with life and grew larger and larger until it was ready to simply burst out of his chest. He did his best to restrain it, but it pained him to. The pain was absolutely unbearable, it grew with every breath he took. He had to let it all out, knew he had to…

It was time….

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Pichu blasted his energies outward, illuminating Chester's darkened mind. The electricity crackled with pure power, vaporizing all within its range. From the mind, it passed through him and out into the open, a powerful bolt of lightning shaking everything within reach. The trees themselves seemed to bend to Chester's will as the pure power was pushed out of him, slamming right into the giant ape.

In spite of himself, in spite of the great bubble of triumph rising in his chest, Chester screamed. It was a scream unheard of by anything in the world. He was ripped from his body, his heart, his soul. For the first time since he died, he could feel the way his skin seemed to catch fire as the powerful energy that even Pikachu himself was unable to control.

An energy that saved them all…

---

"Oh, the pain!" Nao shouted as he collapsed to his knees, panting. "We've been running for hours already! Please, stop!"

Teal skidded to a stop and glanced back at him. "Nao… we've been running for three minutes…"

Kai walked up calmly behind Nao. "Idiot…"

Nao looked offended. "Hey!"

"Foolish boy," Mewtwo said, "With my power, you could have simply teleported to where you wished to go."

Nao kicked at the dirt. "Everyone's against me today!"

Teal's nose twitched as he picked up a scent. "Heather…" He closed his eyes as he concentrated on her scent and only her scent. From what Lucas could tell, the thing Teal was currently tracking was steadily moving away from the group. The further it got, the weaker the scent. From the direction of it, Heather was moving deeper into the forest…

"C'mon," Teal ordered, taking off running again. Kai huffed and puffed behind him, Ganondorf's speed slowing him down greatly. Nao groaned and tried levitating, as he had been trying to do for the past three minutes.

As usual, he failed.

"Hurry up, Nao!" Mewtwo growled. "Beings as powerful as we are always first to the event of the time."

Nao groaned. "I haven't even had breakfast yet…" He ran after Teal and Kai.

Teal skidded into the tiny clearing, still sensing for Heather. Lucas could just barely feel the force of something nearby, but it was not Heather. Unsure of whether or not to tell Teal about this force, the boy could only watch as the others caught up and Teal took off again.

It took a moment, but Lucas realized that they were headed towards the force that he ahd sensed earlier. But as they approached, the force grew more potent and separated into not one, not two, but three different forces. Each of them seemed to carry the bearing of regret amongst them and this was something that Lucas had never felt before.

"I think…" he blinked, remembering the three streaks of light that had passed overhead earlier. "These three…"

Kai halted next to Teal, who looked at the Lucario in question. Kai nodded, sensing the aura of the three lifeforces that were ahead of them. By the time Nao finally caught up to them, the two were off running again, but not in the direction they were headed before. Instead, they chose to follow the three lifeforces, knowing that there was something, wrong, very wrong going on.

"Hurry, Nao," Mewtwo instructed, "We must defend the weak ones, if necessary."

"… Shut up…" Nao said with a scowl. Kicking up his legs, he began running towards the sounds of what sounded like something hitting the trees not far away. He could hear shouting as well, but didn't know if it was merely his companions messing with him or his own imagination.

Thwack!

An arrow quivered inches from the young man's head as he rounded the corner. Definitely not hit imagination.

There were three people he didn't know, two of them simply covered with blood. The third one, a girl with the ears and tail of a dog, faced off against two figures almost invisible in the forest because of their green tunics. Mewtwo calmly looked on as Teal blasted a few icicle shards at them, only to have them soundlessly shattered by a counter rain of arrows.

Nao ran forward, despite Mewtwo's protests, and unsheathed the twin blades that hung at his sides. Before Kai or Teal could stop him, he was locking blades with the two young Smasher, their powerful swords glancing off the sides of the twin blades like they were nothing.

Young Link rushed forward and drove the point of his sword home to Nao's shoulder as Toon Link distracted him with his trademark boomerang. Teal ran in and grabbed Nao out of the way just in time as Toon Link then dove in for the kill. Kai grabbed the boy and slammed his face into the nearest tree while Young was dispatched by a giant hammer out of nowhere. The dog- like girl grinned at them.

"Thanks for the help!" she shouted as the little warrior got up and rushed at her again. A single tongue of flame set his tunic alight, however, and he was forced to run off in an attempt to douse the flames. In the meantime, Teal slammed Toon against the nearest tree one last time before allowing the little warrior to wrestle himself free.

"HYAH!" Nao ran forward again and slammed his blade into the boy's throat. It pained him to see such a young face contract in rage and pain. But it disappeared just as quickly as it came, replaced by a look of sheer malice and anger as the boy landed on his feet and leaped right off the ground in an attempt at a Jump Strike.

"Oh no you don't!" Nao ran forward and got ready to block it with his twin swords. Teal saw a shift in the shadows behind the young man, but Nao did not notice. He was too concentrated on the boy leaping high above to see the flaming arrow loaded upon a single bow aimed right for his heart. Teal dashed up and threw himself in front of Nao at the same moment the arrow was set loose.

"Mother Ocean!"

From out of nowhere, a huge wave of water rose high above the ground. The arrow slammed uselessly into it as did Toon Link once the wall reached him. Teal put all the energy he could into up keeping the wall of water, gritting his teeth to keep from showing his exhaustion. One moment of weakness meant that it could all be over for them.

"Teal, let me help!" Lucas begged. "PK Freeze!"

"Delta Strike!" Teal gasped. From out of his palms shot two great waves of water. Though seeming weak at first, the water grew in size and power until they were huge blocks of ice, shattering upon contact with the two Links. Teal wrenched Nao aside as the huge shards of ice flew towards them as well. This time, Kai stepped forward and charged a powerful punch.

"Oh… ARGH!" Kai's purple covered fist slammed into Toon Link before he even had time to recover. The Smasher was thrown back where he slammed into his young counterpart. But just as the two Heroes were about to get back up, Kai sent them away with a Wizard's Foot. Two green specks were suspended in the sky a moment more before they were blasted away and that was that. Nao and Kai stared up at the sky, satisfied with their work.

"Are you alright?" Kai inquired at the three weary looking strangers. Judging from the rags they wore, these were escaped slaves. From their mixed auras, he could tell that all of them had just recently bonded with their Smashers. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of that they were another step closer to their goal of possibly conquering Tabuu.

The girl with dog ears stepped forward, a grin on her face. "Yes, thanks… I'm Doggie, by the way. Thanks for helping us out and everything…"

The young man behind her nodded. "Name's Fyre… and this…" He gestured to the girl with swollen ankles, who was struggling to her feet. "Is Kage…"

Teal nodded. "… A pleasure to meet you all…"

"Indeed," Kai agreed. "And… may I be so rude to inquire whether or not you are…" He hesitated before saying the word. "Guardians?"

The word definitely had an effect on the three of them. Doggie's jaw dropped while Kage nodded her agreement. Fyre stepped forward, confusion written all over his face.

"H-How…?"

Nao grinned and spun his swords, wincing at the pain in his shoulder. "There is a lot you guys need to know…"

"But not much we can explain right now…" Teal murmured quietly as he looked up at the sky, "… Heather… she's still out there… I…" He bit his lip. "I… I need to find her…"

Nao's silver eyes dimmed slightly. "Teal…"

"I know I'm being selfish…" the young anthro whispered hoarsely, "I know our top priority is to help everyone get up Mount Smash, but…" He took a deep breath. "But… I have the feeling… I just get this feeling that wherever Heather is right now… she needs me… she needs my help… that scream… that wail… it was hers… I'd know it anywhere… she only screams like that if…" He gulped. "If there's something wrong, very, very, very wrong…"

Nao sighed. "Teal…"

"I'm sorry, guys, but I just can't stay here… I need to keep searching for her… for Heather…"

"Teal…" Nao stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Teal, whatever is going on with you… you're not being selfish… if anything, you're being the most selfless person in the history of ever…" He paused. "… You're doing this because you've been searching so long for someone you care about… after what you did today… after you saved my life…" He smiled. "You're the one person in this world… the one person that deserves to find what they're searching for the most…"

"He's right," Kai agreed, "Your intentions aren't selfish… they are noble as can be… if you alone are the one person that can understand this… Heather… then it is best that you find her and help her figure out what's going on… if you don't do it… no one else can…"

"Nao…" Teal gulped. "Kai…"

Nao gave Teal a gentle push. "Go, before we change our minds…" His smile was reckless.

Teal nodded. "I… thank you…"

He ran.

---

She tripped.

She got back up again.

She tripped.

She got back up again.

She tripped...

...and skidded across the ground, wounds opening up again and clothes being torn to shreds by the branches surrounding her.

She remained lying down, unmoving as the blood seeped out from her body once more from he re-opened wounds. The rain poured down making the blood rush down her skin further. The only thing that was warm and wet on Heather's skin were the tears running down her face. A look of torment and terror was upon the woman's face, as she stared blankly at her left arm, outstretched, panting from her mouth.

"How can you look after everyone else...when you can't even look after yourself?"

Heather scrunched up her eyes, teeth gritting as the quote echoed inside of her head over and over again. Once more, she let out a scream of anger and rage, her face being covered in dirt and blood, pounding the ground with her metal fist. Heather's worst memories screamed inside of her head – from when she was near death at 19 years old to her constant discrimination because of her rage prior to her execution...

"Heather! SLOW DOWN!" she heard Wolf cry out.

Realising once more her mind was killing her Smasher, Heather let out another cry of despair.

"I SAID SLOW DOWN WILL YOU?" she heard him cry again.

The end result this time was her head aching from the wracking sobs from her mouth. Eventually, her sobs turned into whimpers and sniffs as she let the rain pour down on her as she lay on the forest floor. For too long, she had kept herself together in front of everyone, hiding how she had been slowly falling apart. She even had enough power to hide it from her own smasher.

But now she was on her last legs...

No one loved her. All that love for her had passed her by when she lost her family...

"You've been living a lie, Heather Elektra Wolfon." she heard Wolf speak upon hearing her thoughts.

She sure missed seeing that one in the reflection, didn't she? That realisation had passed her by while she wasn't paying attention to her own feelings. She had rushed and raced so fast that she had forgot her purpose of living.

She had got absolutely nowhere...

A gleam in the dim light caught Heather's eye. Lost in her ocean of guilt and forgetting to breathe, Heather reached out and touched the glimmering art piece sitting only inches away from her hand. She wrapped her hand around it's handle and withdrew a rusty, ragged dagger. It was a simple knife, forged from a block of steel with it's edges caked in rust. Scraping the blade with her fingernails, Heather cleared the rust and as she saw it clearly, recalled seeing a few Smashers and Primids carrying such a weapon on them. Upon the blade she saw two engraved words...

Triumphus tandem.
"I triumph at last..."

The Subspace Army motto.

Heather examined the blood stains on the tip of it's blade. Red blood...what had clouded her vision just half an hour ago...how tormenting...how frightening...terror flew into Heather's heart on the thought of her own corruption. It was more terrifying than Black Heather...all she could see was red and she didn't even want to know what Wolf went through during that entire time.

Well...it was not to happen ever again...EVER...

Too afraid to disappear forever because of the rage, Heather raised the dagger to her throat. Wolf immediately lunged at the white portal to the outside world where he could see the dagger slowly moved it closer to her throat, her arm trembling.

"NO! I CAN SAVE YOU! HEATHER! PLEASE, TAKE MY HAND! I CAN LEAD YOU OUT OF THIS!" Wolf cried in desperation, his paw at the least going through the portal. But Heather's will held strong as she gritted her teeth, her hand still trembling. Finally, she held the blade to her throat.

Wolf saw his life flash before his eyes. Everything from his previous missions against Star Fox to the times when he was a smasher. It was all about to disappear forever...

"I CAN SHOW YOU HOW MUCH PEOPLE LOVE YOU AS A PERSON BEFORE YOUR LIFE FLIES BY! HEATHER, PLEASE! NO! DON'T DO IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

"HEATHER!"

Quick as a flash, someone… or something leaped out of the bushes nearby, hurtling right towards Wolf's guardian. Heather froze for a moment, long enough for the person to knock the knife right out of her hand. The one that stood in front of her, an anthropomorphic wolf of some kind, was staring at her like he couldn't believe she was real. Everything from his light blue clothes to his black fur was a bit tangled and covered with leaves.

"Heather Elektra Wolfon! How could you even TRY to kill yourself?" Teal screamed in Heather's face, a look of disbelief on his face.

"..." Heather did not reply.

"Well? How could you?" Teal snapped.

"...blood red vision...fire...rage...near corrupted me...so...I'm so...I'm so scared...can't...can't let that...destroy me...can't let...it destroy...people...can't..." Heather trailed off into sobs again.

Teal's look softened upon hearing the fear in her voice.

"Your rage nearly corrupted you again?" Teal asked.

Heather nodded as she got on her hands and knees and pounded the ground in anger.

At this moment, Wolf came outside of Heather's mind into transparent form.

"You must be her smasher..." Teal said.

"You too huh? Who's yours?" Wolf asked.

"It's me, Wolf." Lucas appeared out of Teal in transparent form.

"Ah..." Wolf nodded, then moved around to face Heather in the eye. Teal put a hand on Heather's shoulder.

"Listen...you can't keep blaming yourself all the time...yeah okay, so your problem is a bit harder to work with, but how long have you been dealing with this?" Teal asked.

"...15 years..." she murmured. "and it's still not fixed..."

"You idiot..." Wolf face palmed, "Do you not see? 15 years, Heather. You've dealt with this for over half your bloody life, since you were a child! I don't think I'd know any one else who could cope with something like this, ever! That person would've probably killed themselves at age 15 or turn evil for Christ's sake!"

"..." Heather did not reply.

"If Master Regenade taught us anything, Heather...it's to never give up, never leave one behind, but most of all, stick together...you remember that...don't you?" Teal reminded her.

"...yes..." Heather's eyes glowered a little.

"You know...I think your Master Regenade knew this would happen...that you'd become guardians...that this was your destiny. That you were suited for me and Wolf. In a way, he may have known...and that may have been why he took you as your apprentices." Lucas said.

"You think so?" Teal looked at Lucas surprised, Lucas nodding with a smile.

"He could be right, you know..." Wolf ran a claw through Heather's hair, "Out of all people in the world I could've come to, I came to you. It was you. It was you who was chosen to be a guardian and it was you who was good enough to be my guardian. I had my doubts, don't think I didn't. You were a woman and you're body was built for power and defense, not for speed and power like mine used to be...and then...there was..." Wolf could only remember how he first met Black Heather before the real Heather, the vicious blood stained green that wished to bite his ears off.

"Don't..." Heather whimpered.

"But then I realised just why Master Hand chose you for me...inside your mind, I've witnessed your head and your heart constantly collide with each other chaotically. Your memories were sending me spinning towards the ground and I just couldn't grab hold of them to try to help you. But I knew that I had to try...and I know that I have to now. I felt like I was chasing a clock that I couldn't stop when you were being corrupted...but that's not going to happen any more. I'm not going to let that happen to you any more, Heather...because I realise...you're just misunderstood..." Wolf looked to the ground.

"...Wolf..."

Lucas had never seen Wolf turn so soft in his life. Now he fully realised just how greatly a guardian could impact on a smasher. But by far, this was the biggest impact he'd ever seen a Guardian make on a smasher. Wolf was one of the most ironical, satirical and cocky tough guys he had ever known...and it hadn't taken him 100 years to change.

No...it had taken this one woman to do it...

"You were the most worthy person out of all to hold the soul of your smasher, Heather...you could've easily run away, but you never did. You never asked for any of this...and yet you took it just like every other responsibility you've taken and never backed down..." Teal placed his hands on Heather's shoulders, "All of Master Regenade's teachings, Heather...we can't forget them now..."

"Well said, Guardian of Lucas," a voice echoed in the din. Heather's staff began to emit not a red light, but a whole rainbow of colour. The two guardians could only stare at the staff as it pulsed with life and energy, their Smashers' jaws dropping open in surprise as the familiar voice reached their ears.

The voice was ancient, powerful, but loving. It was everything that Tabuu was not. While Tabuu's was high and cruel, this voice was deep and kind. And when it spoke again, a song could just barely be heard in the background, a song thought to be lost with the centuries

Spes omnibus, mihi quoque.
Terror omnibus, mihi quoque.
Ille
iuxta me.

"Arise Heather Wolfon, Scion of Rage!"

"And breengz me cookiez!"

"What the fuck?" her voice was cut off by the wind. She watched as her staff began to change. Now, she had a gold dragon atop the staff holding her red orbed Smash Ball, which flashed all of the colours of the rainbow and every one in between.

Slowly, a bright light began to engulf her and her staff, almost blinding the people surrounding her. Smasher bodies and guardians alike whirled around to stare at her, some of them in fear while others in fascination. Wolf himself felt a great surge of energy blast its way through his guardian's veins and after what seemed like hours, the light faded away.

Teal, who had shielded his eyes, took his hand away as Heather's new form was revealed.

"Heather…" he gasped.

No longer did she look like a skeleton ready to crumble upon being touched, nor did she have open wounds or ripped clothes. Now, she adorned a black shoulder pads with red lining and a black sash with red lining and Hylian writing on it was worn over her tunic. A new cape hung was clasped around her front by the SSB symbol and on the back, she had red Hylian patterns similar to those on Ganondorf's cape, Lucas noted. Her gauntlets had taken a new design, the one on her right hand being shorter than the left and with 'RAGE' engraved in silver on her backhands and with some red on the bottom. She also had new boots, which were now black boots covering her jeans. To top it all off, she now had a black Hylian sign emblazoned on her right cheek as she saw in the pond before her.

"That means rage in Hylian..." Teal murmured in wonder, "and Scion...Scion...means god-like in Hylian..."

"You're kidding..." Wolf couldn't believe it.

That was when the images began. They flew past before the two guardians' eyes almost at the speed of light. They were just barely able to discern them as they passed, their confusion and surprise growing as each and every image passed. There was a tiny clearing in a forest, a jungle of some sort, a great mountain, and a small town. With each place they saw people there, all of them with eyes blank and grey. But there was always something that stood out among the grey: a small spark of life, a golden beacon signalling a person meant for great things. All of these Heather and Teal saw and more…

"Go out and search for the ones in the forest clearing…" the voice told them, "Once they have been found, come to Mount Smash… there is much to discuss…"

"And breengz me cookiez!" the second voice cackled again.

Wolf and Lucas couldn't help but smirk upon hearing Crazy Hand's words. How good it was to hear their leaders' voices once more.

Heather stood up from where she was and twisted her wrist around.

"So, Heather Wolfon...what now?" Teal folded his arms.

"...Scion of Rage..." it couldn't have made her this strong...could've it? She took a good look at her new form, from the writing of 'rage' engraved on her gauntlets to the Hylian mark on her right cheek.

"It's not something you can control, Heather...but it's something you can control enough that you can stop from using on the wrong people...and that, I have seen first-hand." Wolf smiled encouraging at her.

Her eyes glowered. Scion of Rage...she was the Scion of Rage...

"Tabuu...Clark..." the good and bad memories flashed through Heather's mind. The memory of her father paused for a moment before Wolf.

A small smile came on Teal's face.

"In the name of my father...of the Wolfon family...of my dead friends...and of the Super Smash Brothers..." a snarl escaped Heather's lips as she grit her teeth, looked to the sky.

She roared.

"I WILL KILL YOU!"

---

Usual excuses for me. Band, school, homework, blah, blah, blah…

Anyways, seeya next chapter!