Anoter day and another chapter in my Super Smash Bros/Fire Emblem crossover. Marth takes center stage in this chapter, though Ness plays a role.

Disclaimer: Fire Emblem and Smash Brothers are products of Nintendo.

Chapter IX: Altea Under Siege

Marth, Ness, Paula and Poo emerged from the gate to Akaenia to meet with a starling surprise. Ahead was Castle Altea, but a purplish vortex was forming above it.

"I can't believe the Subspace Emissary had so many dang troops left behind" sighed Ness.

Marth took a step forward to inspect the area around of the village which lay in front of Castle Altea. Sure enough, the shadows of Supspace remnants and Majora's army surrounded the area.

"Ness, Paula, cover me and Poo from a distance as we cut down the enemies that matter and join the Altean soldiers trapped in the castle" instructed Marth, his hand on Falchion.

"No problem" nodded Ness.

The four headed entered the village area and began to pass through when a group of Bytans and Primids ambushed them. Marth and Poo cut down several of the Primids, while Ness and Paula cast their best Psi spells. One Primid tried to sneak up on Paula, but the black haired teen smashed it aside with his Bat.

"Psi Starstorm!" Poo's Psi power struck down the remaining enemies attacking them. Marth and his group charged through the village, cutting down some Sword Primids and Shadow Warriors as they went.

As they broke through the other side of the village, they ran into a group of mounted Altean Calvery, spearheaded by a dark-haired Cavalier, fighting off a group of Sword Primids. Marth rushed ahead and cut down a Sword Primid trying to attack the dark haired man from behind.

"King Marth? Thanks for the help" said the man.

"Thank us later, Frey. What's the situation?" inquired the swordsman as he took down two more Sword Primids. The remaining enemies were decimated as soon as Ness, Paula and Poo caught up.

Frey replied"The strange creatures we just fought came from that wierd purple hole above the castle, I don't know how. Caeda is heading the defense of the castle, much to Jegan's chargrin. She just can't seem to keep herself out of danger, Merric and Lady Elice are helping her to coordinate our defenses."

Marth struggled to surpress a chuckle, his wife was stubborn at times"What's the situation with the rest of Akaenia?"

"Most of the other countries are having problems of their own, everyone's unable to send reinforcements anywhere. The villagers are afraid to leave their homes for the time being" sighed Frey.

"It's up to us, then. Frey, you and your squad will join my group and we'll save Altea together" said Marth, determined.

"May I ask who's with you?" inquired Frey.

Poo stepped forward"My name is Poo, Prince of Dalaam. It's in another world, my companions are Ness and Paula."

Frey was astounded"Seriously Marth, I don't intend to be a stick-in-the-mud, but they don't look like much."

Ness flashed an indignant look before Marth inerjected"They are powerful spellcasters, you can't exactly judge by appearences. Now let us not tarry any longer, we can't let Altea fall to the enemy."

The group rushed to the castle, which was surrounded by Bytans, Primids and some of Majora's dark soldiers. Marth brandished his Falchion and cut one Primid down, while Ness blasted most of the other monsters with Psi Rockin.

"Right on time" remarked a voice as two more Cavaliers and a Paladin cut through the rest of the surprised foes. Ten Sword Primids attempted to sneak up on Ness's group, when Poo intercepted.

Marth acknowledged the newcomers as they helped knock down more Subspace remnants"Cain, Abel, Jagen, how are my sister and Merric faring?"

"They are directing the defenses from the throne room. You returned just in time, King Marth" replied Jagen.

"King? I mean no offense, but weren't you a prince, Marth?" inquired Ness.

The Altean King shrugged"Yeah, technically, but you know regulations at Smash Mansion recommend that we keep private info like that from each other."

"Look out!" cried Paula, spotting several shadow bugs spreading down from the purple aura that Frey mentioned. Ness and Marth braced themselves, knowing what the shadow bugs were capable of.

Upon landing, the shadow bugs transformed into a giant Marth clone. The clone swung it's sword downward, which Poo and Marth intercepted with their blades. Dark Marth countered with a thrust and lunged at Ness. Jegan interposed, and recieved a blow to the thigh.

"That's it, PK FLASH!" cried Ness, blasting the clone backwards with a greenish flash of light. The doppelganger quickly recovered and swung it's blade at Paula, Ness quickly shoved her aside and got hit in the wast.

The real Marth charged at his doppelganger and stabbed the monster, causing the shadow to vanish into thin air. Ness took a moment to heal his injury with Psi Life-Up.

"Seriously, what were those?" commented Cain.

Marth shook his head briefly as he walked towards the castle"No time to explain, but the monsters we just fought were part of an unknown army from Subspace."

"Subspace?" inquired Abel, confused.

"Again, there is not much time to explain" said Poo, who healed the injured Paladin with Psi Life-up.

Marth turned his attention back to the castle"Let's go, I have to make sure Caeda and Elice are safe."

The group rushed into the castle, fighting off the remaining Subspace forces as they went.

The throne room of Castle Altea was covered in debries caused by Subspace forces, as a dark blue Cleric held her ground alongside her two allies, a light blue Falcon Knight and a green haired Mage.

An Altean Soldier addressed the dark haired woman"Lady Elice, King Marth has returned."

"About time, we sure needed help with those strange monsters" said Merric.

Paula took a moment to ponder the vortex she saw outside"Call it a hunch, but the siege should end if we do something about the anomaly outside."

"Oh, I wouldn't count on that" sneered a voice.

Merric readied himself"Who's there?"

A horde of Primids, Shadow Warriors and some Greeps appeared before the heroes. Among them was a dark haired man with a black cloak. Marth was astonished"Gharnef!"

"Heh, you fell into my trap. Using the ancient powers of Majora's Mask, I've revived even more shadows of the universes' pasts" sneered the voice, again.

Paula cringed at the dark aura"How utterly evil, Majora's definately on to us."

Ness took a battle stance"Well, they won't last, Psi Rockin!"

The blast from Ness's strongest Psi power blew away most of the encroaching horde of Subspace Remnants, but Shadow Gharnef remained unharmed and countered with a blast of dark magic.

Ness barely dodged before getting himself nicked, while Poo repelled two of the Primids from advancing with his blade. Marth was the least surprised by their opponent"Only the Starlight spell could take Gharnef down. Merric, you still have it?"

The mage nodded"No problem, just leave that joker to me."

Even as they spoke, the remaining enemy horde advanced and attacked. Marth, Caeda, Frey, Abel, Cain and Jegan charged into the enemy horde and attacked the remaining Primids and Greeps.

Paula addressed Ness"The vortex above is seriously suspicious. Ness, think you can teleport up there and neutralize it?"

"I'll do my best, though I have a feeling that it won't be that easy. Poo, protect Paula for me will you?" chirped the black haired teen.

"I will do everything in my power" nodded the Dalaamese prince.

Paula took a moment to kiss Ness on the cheek. The black haired hero flushed as he exited the room and made for the castle terrace. Nearby, Marth and his Cavaliers were surprised by the brutality of the Subpace remnants, but preservered.

"Starlight!" Merric took his shot at the Gharnef clone. The sorcerer retaliated with another dark spell, which Elice took the time to quickly heal. Merric cast another spell, only to have it clash against Gharnef's.

"Psi Starstorm!" Poo's spell knocked the clone back long enough for Merric's spell to collide into it, destroying the Gharnef look-a-like.

Merric acknowledged Poo"Thanks for the help."

"No problem" nodded the Dalaamese Prince.

"It is not over yet!" howled the voice of Majora, as a final shadow appeared in the fallen shade of Gharnef's place. Marth recognized the dragon that appeared before them.

Caeda, who'd taken out another few Sword Primids, pierced a Greap with her lance before being countered with a blow to the shoulder from another one. Marth furiously cut down the Greap before attending to his wife"You all right?"

"Yeah, I just got careless" gasped the Falcon Knight. Elice hurried over to Caeda and healed her before rushing off to help one of the Altean Knights.

Upstairs, Ness made his way out of one of the tower windows and carefully used his Psi Lightning to boost himself up onto the rooftop. There, he found a series of platforms leading up to the vortex, which is guarded by a group of Shoodows.

"Psi Flash!" The black haired teen blasted through them as he made his way up, boosting himself with another psi spell as he ascended into the vortex. Much to the dark haired hero's surprise, the area within resembled the Subspace dimension.

Before the young Psi hero's eyes, a group of Starmen appeared and fired lasers at Ness. The teen dodged and weaved around the blasts, smashing aside the monsters with his bat as he drove forward.

"Looks like you could use a little help here" said another familiar voice as three Pokemon and a familiar blue hedgehog appeared and caught the remaining Starmen by surprise. A red capped man with black hair accompanied the newcomers.

Ness was pleasently surprised"Red? Sonic? Charizard? Squirtle? Ivysaur? How did you get here?"

Red the Pokemon Trainer shrugged as he directed his Pokemon to scour the area, while Sonic stopped next to Ness"Kanto and my homeworld were facing a serious problem, I guess Subspace wasn't completely gone. I had rushed into a purple vortex to fight the monsters and ran into Red as I made my way deep into this paradox."

Ness turned to face the rest of the purple dimension as he addressed his companions"Marth's homeworld is under attack as well, but Paula and I think the source of this vortex is inside here."

"No doubt about it, let's get this show on the road" said Sonic.

The group proceeded deeper into the vortex, fighting off more Primids and Starmen as they went. The vortex eventually led to a mysterious black fortress with dark purple turrants and towers. Ness was astonished"Is this the bad guys' base?"

"Possibly, but something's off" mussed Red.

The blue hedgehog squared his shoulders"No worries, there. Let's get inside and find the source of this vortex."

Ness's group entered the fortress, which featured a greyish inner chamber. At the center was a flight of steps leading up to another floor. Sonic rushed on up"I'll go first."

The five proceeded up the stairs into another chamber, which featured a purple room with black and red tiles. At the center was a black orb, supported by a small silver pedestal.

"I sense dark power coming from that thing, let's smash it and get out of here" said Ness.

"Think again" said a voice, as five armored figures appeared. Accompanying them was a black hedgehog and a retigiment of Primids.

Sonic braced himself"Shadow, what are you doing here?"

Shadow the Hedgehog grimaced"You walked right into our trap. Majora dosen't want to just overwhelm the universes, but to destroy all who oppose him."

"Well, I say it's time my team introduced ourselves, I am Axem Red. These are my teammates, Black, Green, Pink and Yellow" spoke one of the armored warriors.

Sonic turned to Ness"Things are going to get hectic, let's blast through these punks."

Red held up his Pokemon ball"Now you're talking. Ivysaur, Squirtle, Charizard, help us out here."

The three pokemon showed themselves at their master's call and assaulted the Primids. Sonic darted and teased the Axem Rangers as they attacked and tried to cast spells at him.

Shadow the Hedgehog responded in kind by emiting a wave of shadows, slowing Sonic's speed. Ness turned his attention to the device and cast his strongest power"Psi Rockin!"

The device was shattered in an instant, but not before the Primids got involved in the fight. Some of them turned on Shadow, who gasped"What the heck is going on?"

"You are tied with Smash Mansion, are you not?" said a voice as a dark winged warrior showed up in the room.

"Meteor Blast!" Axem Green's spell knocked Shadow and Squirtle unconcious. Charizard blasted some fire at the Axem Ranger, who dodged while Axem Red smashed the Pokemon.

Sonic turned towards Ness as he saw the area begin to collapse"This was a trap, get out of here Ness. Red and I will slow them down."

"Sure about that?" inquired the dark haired teen.

The blue hedgehog grinned"Not a problem, they can't catch me."

"Don't bet on it, you won't make it out of here" whispered Dark Pit.

Back at Altea Castle, Marth and Paula fought the shadow version of Medeus the dragon, as it shot at them with it's fire breath. Paula countered with Psi Freeze, which Medeus countered with another firey breath.

Nearby, the Altean Knights fought off the remaining Primids with minor casualties. Poo turned his attention to where Marth and Paula were fighting a dragon and rushed to their aid.

"Psi Starstorm!" The starry spell slammed Medeus, who countered with another firey breath. Marth took opprotunity of the distraction and slashed the illusionary form of Medeus, killing him.

Nearby, the Altean Knights finished off the attacking Primids, though not before suffering injuries themselves. Cain sighed as he inspected his wound"Ha, that's just a flesh wound compared to before."

Elice immediately healed Cain before tending to the remaining wounded. Up in the sky, the vortex seemed to implode as it shrank down to a tiny black hole and vanished. Marth sighed"I sure hope Ness made it out of there."

Paula sighed"I hope so, too."

"Look!" cried Merric.

Ness teleported into view and stopped in front of Marth. The Altean King inquired"Thanks for helping me protect Altea, but how exactly did things go up there?"

The black haired teen shrugged"I ran into Red, his Pokemon and Sonic on my way, that vortex contained an enemy stronghold. The vortex was a trap, Sonic and Red are probably in danger, and so are the rest of us."

"What else did you find out?" inquired Poo.

Ness replied"It looks like Majora's heck-bent on eliminating us, I was told by Sonic to escape while he and Red stayed to hold of Majora's lackies."

"So they've been captured?" frowned Marth.

"Most likely, I didn't sense any vanishing spirits up there, even as the anomaly vanished" said Paula.

Ness sighed"Why did Sonic tell me to abandon him anyway? Deep down, I feel like I could've stopped the Axem Rangers when I destroyed the device responsible for the vortex."

Paula put a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder"You did your best, we stopped the invasion of Marth's homeworld and that's what's important. Besides, as long as Sonic, Red and the three Pokemon who were with them are alive, we can save them."

"She's right, and we have more pressing concerns right now. I fear for Roy's homeworld, and then there's Magvell. Right, everyone who's not injured can tend to the wounded and inspect Altea for anymore signs of Sorcerer Majora's army that might still be lurking in the shadows, after that we return to Smash Mansion" spoke Marth.

Ness squared his shoulders"Yeah, I know you and Paula are right, Marth. So what should I do?"

Marth replied calmly"You and Paula can rest while the rest of us secure the area to make sure it's completely safe, I'll have to make a letter to the neighboring nations of Akaenia to explain the situation."

Ness smiled as he addressed Paula"Want to go with me to the outlying village?"

"I'd like that, if it's okay with Marth" replied Paula.

The Altean hero responded"I heard that, I don't mind if you explore my kingdom. But the currency from your world isn't valid here, so I'll lend you some gold."

"Thanks" smiled Paula.

My apologies for the wait, this chapter is now up and running. Sorry if I wasn't detailed enough in the action scenes, I just didn't want to be too violent about it.

Ike will be the focus for next chapter, and possibly for the rest of the story.

Oh, and as for my poll, I decided I should replace that since I have some idea now for what endings to use in the epilogue. That won't be for quite some time though, since I'm trying to make this story as long as possible.

Please feel free to review.