Another chapter coming right up, sorry to make you wait. At this rate, I could get this fic done around Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.
Disclaimer: Fire Emblem, Super Smash Brothers and all characters, locations etc. are created by Nintendo.
Chapter XIII: Marth and Roy's Gambit
The Altean swordsman, Marth and his companions headed for the master chamber at the top floor of Smash Mansion. As they got there, a voice spoke"Marth, you returned. Roy, is that you?"
"It is, master. Have you fully recovered?" said Roy.
A disembodied gloved hand approached"I awakened just now, I have witnessed the treachery of Shadow the Hedgehog in my sleep. Then, there is King Bowser and Ganondorf, no?"
"Actually, we don't know if any of the 'resident villains' were involved. I've returned to inform you of Sorcerer Majora and the Subspace Remnants" replied the Altean warrior.
Isaac spoke up"It's a long story, but the mysterious shadow army has great numbers. Roy here intends to have everyone here trophilized on purpose to make Majora think they're dead."
"Ah, that was King Dedede's ploy when Tabuu commanded the Subspace forces, wasn't it? I suppose that could work, but you two alone can't pull this one off" sighed Master Hand.
"Yeah! What you said brother!" shouted a voice as another disembodied figure appeared.
"Crazy! Where've you been you simple-minded buffoon?" demanded Master Hand.
Crazy Hand shrugged"Ah, such harsh words, bro. I didn't want to get involved in the whole mess with Subspace, so I bolted."
Roy interjected"Not to interrupt, but I need to sign back in."
"Really? Oh, how swell, underrated hero" jeered Crazy Hand.
Master Hand slapped Crazy in annoyance before addressing Roy"Just put your name on the parchment on my desk, that's how I keep track of registered fighters in the mansion."
Marth's group went to the desk to glance at a parchment with names signed onto them. Roy squared his shoulders, took a quill and wrote his name on a blank space. Instantly, a glow surrounded him for a second.
"All right, let's go" said Marth.
Below Master Hand's office, Samus and her group had joined the defenses at Smash Mansion. As she, Fox and Pit patrolled a section of the first floor hallway, the room seemed to shake, as an explosion was heard outside. Samus was astonished"What the heck was that?"
"Let's check it out" said Pit, racing to the entrance hall. The three ran out of the mansion's front door and into the gardens, where a large purple vortex greeted them. Greaps, Shoodows, Bytans, Primids and Shadowy warriors exited the portal.
"PSI Starstorm!" A blasted wiped out some of the monsters, but more poured out. Following them was Dark Pit and three armored warriors. The mass of Subspace monsters seemed to flow until there were dozens surrounding the vortex.
"Samus! Pit" called Poo's voice as his group rushed to their fellow heroes' defense.
Pit drew his bow"Pitoo! What are you doing?"
"I was just working for Majora's army for the heck of it, the sorcerer was very convincing. And I believe I told you before not to call me 'Pitoo'!" yelled the dark haired warrior.
Just then, Peach and Mario raced out of the mansion. The Mushroom Kingdom princess addressed Samus"There's more trouble, Marth is up to something that's beyond me. He just trophilized Snake and Lucario!"
"What? He's turning on his own allies?" whispered Samus, appalled.
"Even better for us, not that I care" said the red clad warrior.
"Banana Slamma!" Donkey Kong charged at the horde of Subspace remnants. Ness, Paula, Poo, Kumatora, Dixie and Diddy joined the battle.
The red clad fighter snarled"Now Axem Black, strike down the defenders out here. Axem Pink, you're with me."
"Axem Red? I don't-a believe it" said Mario.
Axem Red glanced at him"The Axem Rangers are nearly indestructable, yet Yellow and Green were permanently destroyed. Now, I will have my revenge on you for my defeat!"
Samus shot a barrage of missiles at the two Axem Rangers, who dodged out of the way. Mario and Peach rushed into the subspace horde to help Donkey's group, as they found themselves surrounded by the mass of Subspace Remnant fighters.
"We should fall back and draw them into the corridors of the mansion" said Pit.
The bounty hunter sighed"I hate to abandon our allies, but I guess we have no choice."
The pair ran back into the mansion, where Lucas was cowering behind a pillar by the entrance. Claus attempted to encourage him"Lucas, you have to stop cowering, we have to protect our allies outside."
"I know, but I'm scared" said the younger brother.
Two dark arrows rang into the room and shot Lucas and his brother. Samus turned to see them turned into trophies"Blast!"
"You'll pay for that, Pitoo!" yelled the winged smasher.
Dark Pit flew into the room and fired an arrow at Samus. The bounty hunter dodged while Pit shot an arrow back at his dark counterpart. Dark Pit was about to fire another arrow when Marth barged into the chamber"Samus, Pit."
"Just in time" said the bounty hunter.
Dark Pit fired an arrow at the Altean Prince, who retaliated by jumping over the arrow and bringing Falchion down on the dark fighter. Dark Pit staggered from the blow and said"Pit, this isn't over!"
"Thanks for the help, Marth" said Pit.
The Altean warrior was silent"I didn't come just to save you, Roy and I have a plan to save the other smashers before they are crushed by Majora's army. Samus, I know this must hurt, but Roy believes that we can prevent our destruction by turning the others into trophies. But I can see I was too late to save Donkey and Ness's group."
"What's the meaning of this? I can't let you do that!" snapped Pit.
Dark Pit stepped back a little"I see, you intend to defeat yourselves on purpose. Maybe I'll help a little."
Samus pointed her gun at Marth as he pointed his sword at the blond bounty hunter"I can't believe you, tell me this is all a joke. I will have no mercy if you really want to betray us."
"My apologies, but I won't allow anyone to be enslaved or killed" whispered Marth, striding towards her.
Samus fired a laser at Marth, who dodged aside and thrust his blade at the bounty hunter. Samus jumped backward and countered with a charged energy ball shot. Marth dodged that and thrust at the bounty hunter, who dodged and fired another barrage of missiles.
Dark Pit swung his blade at his light counterpart, who countered by dodging and shooting an arrow. Dark Pit dodged and fired an arrow of his own, Pit rolled out of the way and shot back, his arrow barely nicking Dark Pit in the shoulder.
"It's not nice to fight your friends" sneered a voice as Axem Red entered the room, followed by Axem Pink, a large group of Sword Primids and a few Bytans. Master Hand and Crazy Hand flew in shortly after, dropping a series of bombs on the four combatants. Samus bit on her lip to keep from cursing.
Master and Crazy Hand attempted to smash Marth and Samus between them, when they dodged. Pit and Dark Pit struck at Crazy Hand, inflicting a blow with their blades. Master Hand fired some bullets at Samus, who dodged and fired back with a laser ball.
"Marth, hold on!" Roy entered the room, just as a blast of fire struck Axem Pink from behind.
Cringing, the pink Axem Ranger groaned"My makeup's running."
"Change Brands!" shouted Axem Red, turning to face the newcomers.
Roy charged at Axem Red, brandishing the Sealing Sword. Axem Red dodged and struck back with his axe, which the Lycian hero countered with a thrust. A voice spoke"Ha, you're just in over your head." Before Samus's eyes, the speaker was a green shelled yellow koopa with a reddish mane, behind him was Mario and Peach.
"Mario, Peach, are the others okay? What's Bowser doing here?" called Samus.
Peach sighed"It was a disaster, the kongs just got captured by Axem Black. Kumatora and Poo rushed into the portal to save them, but it closed as they went in. Mario and I would've gone too if Bowser hadn't shown up. Also, I'm afraid that Ness got trophilized while Paula was trying to fight off some Primids."
"Funny you should mension that, Ness got zapped by me, I teleported him and Paula to the top floor. The blond girl has just been turned into a trophy as well" jeered Crazy Hand.
"Another traitor, what the heck is going on?" seethed Samus.
Bowser turned to intercept a group of sword Primids, while a group of Fire Primids entered the room and set the area ablaze. Marth angrily attacked the Fire Primids, while Roy joined Bowser, Peach and Mario in fighting off Axem Red.
Roy took down some Primids before turning his attention to Pit and Dark Pit"You're going on."
"Oh yeah?" said Pit, charging at the Lycian Swordsman. Roy skillfully slammed the flat part of his blade on the winged smasher, resulting him in turning into a trophy.
"Interesting tactic, knocking your own allies out like this. Well, you still have to deal with me" Dark Pit slashed at Roy, who dodged and countered with a thrust. Dark Pit dodged and was about to shoot another arrow when a bolt of lightning struck him.
Samus turned to see the smasher who cast the lightning, a yellow mouse-like Pokemon"Pikachu, you're all right." Kirby, Meta-Knight and King Dedede rushed into the fray, having dispatched a large group of Bytans that accosted them.
Master Hand sighed and addressed his counterpart"Time to really get involved."
"I hear you, brother!" responded Crazy.
"What are you doing?" said Samus, still shocked at the turn of events.
Master and Crazy Hand rose to the celing and began to glow with magic as they pointed their fingers at each other. Below, Marth and Roy fought off the Subspace Remnants and struck Bowser in the back. The koopa king was transformed into a trophy figure.
"Okay, that's it" muttered Samus, cocking the canon on her power suit before launching a barrage of missiles and an occasional laser ball at the Subspace Remnants. Pikachu pitched in with bolts of thunder and charged headfirst at Axem Pink. The pink Axem Ranger dodged and attempted a clumsy swing at the mouse pokemon.
"Meta-Knight, were there any other smashers in the mansion?" inquired Marth as he slashed down a Primid.
The masked smasher sighed as he beat back some Primids with a flurry of slashes"Olimar and Game and Watch were trophilized by some Shoodows, I do not know if anyone else is okay besides my group."
"Dang" cursed Samus as she gunned down several more Subspace monsters. Pikachu, Mario and Peach continued to struggle against the Primids at the bulk of the invasion force, while Roy and Axem Red dueled fiercely. Isaac slashed at some of the shadow soldiers, casting a Psynergy spell here and there.
Above the chaos, Master Hand and his counterpart finished charging up before throwing down lasers at the mass of Subspace remnants. At the last laser strike, the two flew down and smashed groups of primids between them.
Axem Pink charged at Peach, who dodged and retaliated with a jump kick. A bomb exploded into the battleground and struck King Dedede. Axem Black had joined the fight, tossing another bomb at Mario. The short hero dodged and leapt upward to land on Axem Black. Axem Black staggered back and swung his axe.
Roy managed to knock Axem Red back and cut down some Primids that attempted to interfere with his duel. Nearby, Fox fought back some of the Bytans while dodging counter blasts from Shoodows. Falco, Wolf, Krystal and Slippy joined the battle, having defeated some Bytans on the second floor of the mansion.
Master Hand was tiring rapidly, he had blasted most of the Subspace remnants as best he could without hitting his own smashers. Crazy Hand kept on going until he found himself floating to the ground"For pete's sake, these guys don't give up."
Marth defeated the last of the Sword Primids before turning to help Mario fight Axem Black, as the monster tossed bomb after bomb and got in some quick strikes at the Smashers. Roy and Peach fought the other two Axem Rangers while the other heroes kept the Subspace remnants off their backs.
Master Hand curled itself into a fist and glowed with more magic energy. Crazy Hand floated upward to it's brother and connected to the magic on the opposite entity. Before Marth realized it, the two hands let out a burst of magic energy, which spread all across the room. The heroes and remaining villains shut their eyes to shield themselves from the magic burst.
The Altean warrior shielded his eyes until the glow subsided to find the Subspace monsters destroyed and most of the other smashers trophilized. Dark Pit and the remaining three Axem Rangers recovered from the blast to see the battle ended.
"How did they do that?" mussed Roy.
Axem Red snorted"Who cares? That was all those pitiful puppets could do. What a waste."
"I don't think so" said Marth.
"You two are the only ones left here, sucks for you" jeered Dark Pit.
"They are not the last active fighters here" said Isaac, casting Ragnarok. The summoned blade struck down Axem Black"Gah! My shades are broken... System malfunctioning..."
A purple wave of energy blasted into the room, throwing Roy and Marth backward. Isaac glanced towards the source, a dark clad man"What the? Majora?"
"Yes, and I baited Master Hand and it's counterpart into unleashing a blast of magic which nearly rivals Tabuu" said the man.
"How did you know about Tabuu?" said Marth.
Majora sneered"Heh, he too was created by the dark power of my mask, but now is enough. With most of your allies fallen, you will now surrender to me."
"We'll never surrender to you" said Peach as she and Mario stood at Marth's side, having survived the magic blast.
"Ah, I fear you have no chioce, your numbers are few. Your base has been nearly purged, now bear witness while I initiate the final stages of my plan. Or better yet, Axem Rangers, finish them!" cackled Majora, vanishing.
Axem Black, despite his critical wound, tossed a bomb at Marth, who rolled out of the way. Mario and Peach double teamed the black Axem Ranger and proceeded to smash him into a pulp.
Axem Pink charged at Roy, who dodged while he still had his sword drawn and felt the metallic warrior skewer herself on his blade. Marth jumped out of the way as Axem Red lunged one last time at him. The Altean Warrior brandished Falchion and double slashed the red Axem Ranger. Axem Red collapsed from the fatal blow.
Dark Pit scowled"That's it, it's the deep freeze until this blows over." With that, the dark haired clone vanished.
"So now what do we do?" said Peach, once she and Mario put Axem Black out of his misery.
The red-capped fighter replied"We don't-a have much time, we have to revive the others and find Ike. We need the Dawn Emblem."
"What happened here? I didn't forsee this" Yune appeared.
While Marth proceeded to explain, Roy looked for Master Hand and found him laying on his back"Are you okay?"
Master Hand gasped"Heh, this is nothing, but this is what would happen if you channel your whole being into an attack. Not that Crazy and I actually have one, just revive the Smashers that are left. We can still make Majora pay for his transgression on my turf."
Roy glanced at the dormat Crazy Hand"Hm, you two might still be okay. Can you two still join us once Ike's group comes back?"
"I'm afraid not, Crazy Hand and I need to recharge. Good luck" said Master Hand.
Nearby, Yune finished listening to Marth's explanation"Looks like we're going to give Majora a nasty surprise. First however, Tellius must be saved, I will go inform Ike."
"We'll recupperate while waiting for you, my lady" said Marth.
Mark stepped out of the shadow"Hoo boy, that was the scariest battle I've ever witnessed. Roy, how is everything?"
"We didn't anticipate Majora's invasion, we just weren't quick enough to put my first plan into action. If my dad knew of my foolish tactic, he'd give me an earful, of course he'd be nice about it" said Roy.
Mark sighed"Either way, sorry I didn't help with the battle."
"You need not apologize" replied the red headed warrior.
Meanwhile, at Renias, Ike and his allies had settled for the evening after a relaxing dinner at Ephraim's castle. The king of Renias set about sending his soldiers to assist with the rebuilding of any villages that were destroyed in the battle with the monsters.
In his room as he slept, Ike opened his eyes as Yune materialized into the chamber"Ike, I have grave news, Smash Mansion was heavily assaulted. Some of your allies there are captured."
"What? Blast, I should've returned earlier. Is everyone there okay?" inquired the Crimean Mercenary as he sat up in bed.
"Yes, but only a few remain to help combat your adversary. Tellius must still be saved, but Majora's set a trap for you" said Yune.
Ike sighed"If my homeworld is still being plagued by Majora's forces, I will go and defend it. Yune, what exactly is waiting for me there?"
"I do not know the details, just that your old friends there require help. Even the Laguz are hard-pressed against the monstrosities that invaded Tellius" said the Deity of Chaos.
Ike proceeded to walk out of the room"I'm going to leave a note on King Renias's throne to let him, Link and Zelda where I'm going. I know this sounds selfish of me, but could you teleport me to Tellius?"
"What do you think my bird is, a hawk? Cease your impatience, but I can open a portal to allow you to return to Smash Mansion and take a dimensional portal to Tellius. I myself will let Link and Marth know what your intention now is, but do you truly wish to go alone?" inquired Yune.
Ike nodded"My mind is made up, and I have the Dawn Emblem with me. I only hope Zelda will forgive me for my impusiveness, but I'm going to use the Dawn Emblem to save Tellius from the monsters attacking it. Even if I can't find Majora's lair, I must now return home."
"You do realize that it will take a while for reinforcements to come to your aid, Majora has a formidable adversary awaiting you" said Yune.
Ike thought for a moment, then said"I will take that risk. Besides, I won't be alone, I will join back up with the rest of the Greil Mercenaries."
Yune smirked with amusement"You're still pretty confident for a being that can die, but you should wait until dawn. It won't do if Crimea's greatest hero were to fall in battle."
"I will take your advice, Yune" said Ike.
Satisfied, the Deity of Chaos vanished. Within seconds, Zelda entered the room"Is something wrong?"
"Hey Zel, what are you doing up?" wondered Ike.
The Hylian princess replied"I thought I heard a voice, did Yune show up again?"
Ike nodded"Smash Mansion was invaded, and most of our friends there were captured or trophilized. Zelda, as a Crimean Mercenary and former general of the Crimean army, I can't turn a blind eye to my home's plight. I elected to go by myself and use the Dawn Emblem's power to save Tellius."
Zelda was astonished"By yourself? Ike, you know what we're up against, it's best if we go together with Link. I'm sure King Ephraim will also aid us, he seemed sympathetic to our mission when we talked with him and Eirika earlier."
"Trust me, I won't die that easily" said Ike.
Zelda sighed"I suppose you won't be disuaded, then I wish you luck. I'll let Link and King Ephraim know, just don't get killed. One more thing, is there anyone special you fight for in your homeworld?"
"What brought that on?" said Ike.
Zelda replied"Link has always protected me, I'm sure some of our friends at Smash Mansion have a special somebody they live for. Donkey Kong has Candy, Diddy's in love with Dixie, Mario and Peach are a cute pair, and I'm sure Pit has someone."
"I-I can't really begin to understand what that's about, huh?" Ike had paused, as he suddenly went mute for a moment. Memories of his journeys around Tellius came back to him, at least three different girls caught his attention. One particular memory set upon a certain emerald-haired queen of Crimea.
"Ike?" Zelda prodded him.
The Crimean Mercenary snapped out of it"Elincia, Mia, Aimee, they all caught my eye, yet I chose none to settle down with. Well, not Aimee, she was quite the stalker. By giving up my peerage, I may have lost any right I might've had of courting Elincia. I was just not cut out to be some snooty noble."
The Hylian Princess put a hand on her shoulder"If she hasn't already moved on or found a husband, you might still be able to take her back into your life."
Ike nodded"Yeah, though it sounds strange now that I think of it. I never had the strength to say what's in my heart."
"Most men are bad at feelings. Well, I think we talked for a little too long, good night" said Zelda.
Ike went back onto the bed, thoughts of Tellius and the friends he left behind filling his heart.
Got the next chapter done, at last. Another three chapters ought to wrap this up. As for Dark Pit, I played Kid Icarus: Uprising, and realized I had him OOC the whole time, oh well.
Please review, if you'd like.