Thanks for all the reviews! Sorry I didn't update until now. Homework kept me busy until today, and then I was reading the Hunger Games for the first time today.
At Anonymous: Erm... yes, there is a reviewer named 'Sorceress of Shadows'. She suggested I change the summary to that and I copied and pasted it into the summary and gave her credit.
Chapter 5
32 Smashers remaining…
"I guess everybody's in favor, then?" Mario asked, the leader of the remaining Smashers, by consensus. When no noises of opposition were made, Mario nodded firmly and stood up. "Good. Everybody, get moving. We don't have much time."
Everyone got to their feet and started moving- everyone but Pit and Charizard to go move the sick to Meta Knight's Halberd, which was heading west- Pit and Charizard, the only others who could fly, were heading east. They wanted to try and find any other elemental warriors headed in the direction of the Smash Mansion, to be as prepared as possible.
Ash patted Charizard affectionately on the head and said, "You keep safe out there, okay? Ill see you in a couple days."
The fire pokemon roared happily before stretching his wings and jumping into the air. Pit and Meta Knight nodded at the crowd of Smashers hurrying to the halberd, then took off into the air as well.
"Hurry!" Dr. Mario called as Olimar and Pokemon, who still seemed to be immune to the disease, carried stretcher after stretcher of sick Smashers onto the ship. "We have to get out of here soon."
"Well, you know, we don't really have a plan besides flying off west and hoping Samus or one of the Star Fox team reports back. We don't really have anything to hurry up for," Mario pointed out, within Toon Link's earshot. He gasped.
"Star Fox!" he exclaimed. "Oh, no- did we ever manage to get in contact with them? They were going to attack those elemental bastards- did anyone ever stop them?"
His worried question was met with horror-struck expressions from everyone who'd heard- no, they had not alerted the Star Fox team to their new decision; not that they'd had any way to. Once they had left their arwings, the Smashers had had no way to contact them.
"Now!" Fox shouted, and he, Falco, and Wolf sprang into action. The beasts launched themselves at the three unsuspecting humans, or whatever these elemental warriors were, as they finally managed to cross the river, but the Star Fox team didn't get far.
Before they knew it, the Star Fox team was struggling to back up fast enough to get out of reach of the three's blades, who didn't seem to be taken by surprise at all. One, who looked the most human except for his blue hair, easily dispatched Fox before turning to the others, who were still trapped in battle. With a raised hand and not much else, he caused ice crystals to form out of thin air around them, freezing them slowly in place.
Fox stared at them in horror as the others turned to him, hands raised in a similar fashion to then lie ones. He ran as fast as he could, and when he chanced a look over his shoulder they were sending streams of fire after him- and if he didn't speed up, he'd be cooked medium well in three seconds.
Shouting in alarm, he dived into the river just as the fire rocketed over his head. Being the fox that we was, he was able to swim faster than humans and by the time the elemental warriors had made it to the river, Fox was on the other side.
Panting for breath, Fox narrowed his eyes and watched as the trio discussed something for a moment before turning around and walking back towards Falco and Wolf, who were still frozen in place, unable to move. Seeing Fox pulling out his gun, Falco shouted, "Get out of here, McCloud! Now! They're too strong for you!"
"I'm not leaving you behind!" Fox yelled as he took aim at one of the elemental warriors, who didn't seem to care about him at all.
"You can't fight them!" Wolf shouted at him. "Get out of here now! Get help and come back then!"
Fox hesitated, but he waited a moment too long. The blue-haired one that had trapped Falco and Wolf raised his hand and suddenly, they all disappeared. The three elemental warriors, Falco and Wolf- just like that. They were gone.
Still staring at the spot where the rest of his team had been in horror, Fox called his arwing and ordered it to come to his current location. He had to tell the other Smashers what had happened and get back Falco and Wolf, now.
"Pika, pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, jumping up and curling into a tiny ball in Ash's arms when the Pokemon Trainer walked into the room.
"Well hey, Pikachu," he said, fondly patting him on the head. "What's up?"
"Pika pika pika! Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed. "Piiiiiiika!"
Frowning in concern, Ash held Pikachu out in front of him, trying to decipher what he was saying, but the pokemon was talking too fast. "Pikachu, slow down. What's going-"
"He's trying to say that Ness just got worse," Captain Falcon said as he entered the room and reached out for Pikachu. "He doesn't have a fever anymore and his heart rate's slowing down. Give me Pikachu; we need the Pokemon to help Olimar since no one else is allowed near the sick people."
Holding Pikachu tighter, Ash gestured for Captain Falcon to follow as he walked along the deck of the Halberd, a hot wind blowing dust into his face as the ship increased in speed, as he hurried to the the sick bay. "Wait, isn't that good? I mean, no fever and I'm guessing his pulse was a little fast before; doesn't'-"
"But he's not getting better, Ash. Dr. Mario looked at him and said the fever went away because Ness's immune system is shutting down. He's still sick, but his body's getting too weak to fight it- obviously explains the low heart rate, too."
"You mean… he's… dying?' Ash asked slowly, closing his eyes as a familiar pang of nausea hit him. He'd felt a little off ever since boarding the Halberd but had discounted it as just his fear of heights acting up. Nowadays, anybody who felt sick in the morning ended up in the sick bay that afternoon. Ash was praying that that wasn't the case- that he was fine.
When Captain Falcon nodded grimly in agreement , Ash closed his eyes and, still holding Pikachu, fell back over the side of the ship.
Pikachu cried out in terror gripped Ash's sleeve, using a burst of electricity to rise up above the ship. Captain falcon reached and grabbed Ash's hand, yanking him and, consequently, Pikachu, back to safety.
When he saw the blood on Ash's face, he instantly dropped the Pokemon Trainer to the ground and turned to run to get Dr. Mario. Pikachu nuzzled his head into Ash's neck, fur bristling with electricity as he growled angrily, as if he could scare the infection away.
It wasn't until Lucario emerged from the ship that anybody learned of what had happened to Ash, though. He'd actually been looking for Pikachu, because someone else had just been found passed out in the hallway- Captain Falcon.
The longer they let this disease rampage, the more people it took. It wouldn't be long until they were all on the floor, unconscious...or looking at where Ness was headed, dead.