Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Robin and Lucina have been confirmed for the new Super Smash Bros.! YYYEEEEEEEEAAAAAHH BAAABY! For those of you who don't know what I just did, it was a Bruce Campbell impersonation from the movie Army of Darkness. Anyway, time for the first part of the battle against Walhart! I really hope you all enjoy!
Robin, Chrom, Flavia, Lissa, Frederick and Say'ri stood before the massive walls of Valm Castle.
"Where is his army?" Chrom wondered.
"No sign of them yet, milord." Frederick replied.
"I doubt Walhart wouldn't notice our forces approaching the castle." Say'ri said.
"Hmm…" Robin hummed as he thought about what might possibly happen.
"I don't like this." Flavia said. "They're probably buying themselves time."
"Buying time for what?" Lissa asked.
Meanwhile inside Valm Castle, Excellus and Cervantes were having a discussion.
"Tyaha!" Excellus laughed. "Those fools have no idea what they just stepped into! Eeehee!"
"Mmm, the anticipation before a battle." Cervantes said as he stroked his beard. "My hairs stand on ends, every one of them! Makes it difficult to brush, if I might say… But today's struggle will set the course of history, once and for all!"
"Today's 'struggle', Cervantes?" Excellus questioned. "I think you mean today's 'SLAUGHTER'!"
"That's the spirit, tactician!" Cervantes laughed heartily.
"What? No!" Excellus shouted before he groaned from exasperation. "I JUST finished explaining this to you! What's wrong with your ears?! The Resistance will destroy itself and you and I don't even need to lift a finger. The Ylissean league thinks the dynasts no longer fear us, but they don't understand how… persuasive my methods can be. Heeheeheh! They'll know once their former friends put knives in their backs!"
"Chives and flapjacks, you say?"
"The battle is won before it's started without a single more casualty on our side! Hyaha! Brilliant, if I do say so myself. And really, no one else is capable of judging… Ah, well, tea, Cervantes? I have a stash of gray-root blend here. It's simply divine."
"Why, Excellus, thank you. It IS quite the divine 'stache', isn't it, eh wot?"
"You imbecile! 'Stash'! The tea! The-Oh, forget it! Why do I even bother? If only there were someone with the intellect to appreciate my talents…"
Excellus and Cervantes turned around upon hearing armor-clad footsteps approaching them to see Walhart walking toward them.
"Cervantes." Walhart spoke with his booming voice.
"Y-yes, my master!" Cervantes kneeled before the Conqueror.
"Who is the pinnacle of man, in body, mind and spirit?" Walhart asked Cervantes. "Who is greater than the gods?"
"Only you, my master!" Cervantes answered.
"Well, Excellus, that seems to contradict your last statement." Walhart leered at Excellus. "What say you?"
"M-my master!" Excellus panicked, got to his knees and bowed rapidly. "I assure you, I meant no offense! I only celebrate achievements in your service, master. To your glory!"
"Glory is won on the battlefield!" Walhart stated with intimidation. "Glory is meeting your enemy's eyes and watching the hope drain away with his life! Glory is not won hold up in a castle with plots and cowardly schemes! And I'll be dead before I let some dynast farm lord take today's glory in my stead!"
"Oh, why yes, of course!" Excellus continued to kiss Walhart's ass. "And so well put, my master, hyaha! I only meant that-"
Walhart ignored Excellus' words and walked away without saying another word.
"That sick mind of yours sees much, Excellus." Cervantes said. "That much is certain. But for someone so clever, you can really be quite daft."
"What?!" Excellus yelled. "You DARE speak to me like some child?! Like your EQUAL?!"
"Tahaha!" Cervantes laughed. "Your equal? No, fear not. I will never think of you as my equal worm. Now if you'll excuse me, I would shave and wax up before the fight."
Cervantes walked away, leaving Excellus alone and seething with rage.
"Broom-faced twit!" Excellus growled to himself. "To hell with him! To both of them! Guh… Now, Excellus, keep your wits about you. They're all you have… besides good looks. Let Walhart charge ahead, you big, stupid lobster! I'll end up on the winning side one way or another! Weeheeheehee!"
Back outside of Valm Castle, the Shepherds mobilized themselves miles away from the fortress and were waiting for the Valmese troops to appear. At the forefront were Chrom and Robin and they seemed the most anxious for the battle to start.
"If they haven't mobilized yet, they will in a few minutes." Robin said.
"Robin…" Chrom said. "After this battle, we're heading back home to Ylisse. We need to search for the last of the sacred gemstones."
"Yeah… we'll be going home…" Robin said.
"Something wrong?"
"No, everything's fine."
Before any more questions could be asked, Valmese soldiers poured out of Valm Castle and Walhart stood far in the back on his warhorse.
"That's him, isn't it?" Chrom guessed. "Walhart… Brave of him to face us."
"Brave, aye." Say'ri said, standing right behind Chrom and Robin with the other Shepherds. "But more likely he just wants to enjoy this himself."
"You do your sister's legacy proud, Prince!" Walhart shouted to Chrom from across the battlefield.
His voice was so booming that it carried over enough for all of the Shepherds to hear him.
"But humanity already has a savior." Walhart said. "A conqueror who broke stronger men than you when they refused to bow. Warriors of Valm! Ride with me now! Together we will stamp out this final pack of insurgents and unite the world!"
All of the Valmese soldiers began to charge toward the Shepherds.
"Shepherds, charge!" Chrom commanded.
The Shepherds all charged forward with their weapons, tomes and staves drawn. Despite the large numbers, the Shepherds seemed to be dominating in the fight with the primary foot-soldiers.
"Bring in the reinforcements!" Walhart commanded his men. "Rain down upon them like a blizzard of swords!"
From the top of the Valm Castle's walls, riders mounted on wyverns flew down and prepared to swoop down at the Shepherds. One of them was heading for Chrom.
"Father, look out!" Lucina shouted as she got in front of Chrom and slashed at the wyvern's head with Falchion.
The wyvern's head was cut clean off and its body crashed into the ground along with its rider. As the wyvern riders were ready to begin their next attack, Robin quickly scanned the area for Virion and eventually found him.
"Virion!" Robin called out. "Shoot down as many of those wyverns as you can! Any mages with wind tomes, you do the same!"
Virion aimed down his sights and managed to knock down three wyverns in quick succession and Ricken managed to knock out two with his Arcwind tome. Robin pulled out his Rexcalibur tome and managed to knock down five wyvern riders in a single blow.
"That's how it's done." Robin smugly said.
However, Robin then noticed that a foot-soldier was about to swipe his sword at Virion in his blind spot.
"Virion! Look out!" Robin shouted at the top of his lungs.
Just as Virion turned around, a giant purple shield blocked the sword and pushed back the soldier before impaling them in the heart with their spear.
"Are you all right, Father?" Kjelle asked Virion.
"I am." Virion answered. "Thanks to you, Kjelle."
Robin sighed with relief and continued to fight on with the rest of the Shepherds. After cutting his way through several more soldiers, Chrom finally confronted Walhart near the gates to the capital.
"Walhart!" Chrom shouted.
"Why do you resist me, little Prince?" Walhart asked.
"You enslave the weak and kill the able!" Chrom replied. "You are the enemy of peace!"
"I would end the reign of the gods and you object on moral grounds?!" Walhart questioned. "Blood is spilled in any new birth, Prince! And in many a just cause, as you know."
"There is no justification for what you've done!"
"By whose laws do you judge me? Your sister's? The gods?! Look at you! Are you not ashamed?! Your mind is filled with nothing but secondhand beliefs! You prance about the god's stage like their puppet! I refuse to be a slave to tradition! To the gods! Damn them and their fates and destinies! I will obtain true freedom! And any man who offers less will be snuffed out!"
"In my eyes, you're nothing but a tyrant and a murderer! Nothing more, nothing less! And I will bring justice down upon you!"
"Hahahaha! That's more like it, Prince! Don't be an agent of someone else's justice! Be an agent of your own brand of justice!"
As the two began to clash swords, Say'ri had cut down another foot-solder and looked toward Walhart. Simply looking at him made her seethe with rage and without thinking she charged directly for Walhart. After he parried one of Chrom's blows, Say'ri tried to take the opportunity to strike at Walhart while he was open. However, Walhart blocked her attack with his sword and she jumped back.
"Ah, the princess of Chon'sin." Walhart said. "It's a wonder how you're still alive."
"I have survived your gauntlet of betrayal and death!" Say'ri said. "Shall I describe to you the searing pain of it all? The torture of watching friends, family… my entire kingdom perish?! The fresh hell of each new day, with no respite in sight?!"
"Pain is a concern of men." Walhart responded. "And respite? Beg that from your gods. Your concerns are not mine. I have risen to a higher plane of existence."
"Then you come crashing down to the hell you made of this one!" Say'ri said before charging at Walhart again.
Walhart once again blocked with his sword and Chrom tried to take advantage of the situation by trying to attack him while he was too busy blocking Say'ri's strikes. However, regardless of how quick Chrom would try to swing Falchion, Walhart was able to block every attack thrown at him.
"Trying to attack me while I'm too busy fighting your teammate is the most obvious tactic in a two on one battle!" Walhart said. "You're going to have to do better than that!"
Just then Walhart was struck by a devastating Thoron blast in his blind spot. Chrom and Say'ri looked past Walhart to see that Robin was the one responsible for attacking Walhart.
"Robin…" Say'ri muttered.
Walhart turned around to see Robin. "Well played, Ylissean tactician. But one sneak attack won't do much against me!"
Walhart began to charge at Robin and he pulled out his Levin Sword to block the incoming attack. However, the sheer force of the attack sent Robin flying backwards and rolling across the ground.
"Now, die!" Walhart shouted as he was ready to deal the killing blow on Robin.
Before Walhart could bring down his weapon, he felt something pierce right through his right shoulder. He looked to see a familiar sword had been thrown at him.
"That's… Yen'fay's sword…" Walhart muttered.
Say'ri leaped onto the back of Walhart's horse and grabbed Amatsu's hilt. She kicked on Walhart's back, pulled the sword out of his shoulder and flipped backwards off of the horse.
"Damn you!" Walhart grunted.
Suddenly, Chrom was charging right for him and was ready to deal a third deadly blow on him. His horse moved out of the way and the Falchion strike grazed Walhart's left leg. Walhart looked around to see him surrounded on all three fronts by the three warriors.
"… This is not yet over!" Walhart shouted.
After receiving too many wounds from fighting Chrom, Say'ri and Robin all at once, Walhart took his horse and ran back into the Valm Castle. The three of them tried to give chase, but several soldiers got in between them and they were easily cut down by the prince, tactician and swordswoman.
"Walhart has retreated into the capital!" Say'ri said. "Fie, will this war never end?!"
"His men gave their lives to secure his escape." Chrom said. "They won't lay down arms until he does."
Lucina then ran up to them. "Father, are you all right?"
"I'm fine." Chrom answered. "Thanks, Lucina."
"Then we must pursue Walhart and see that the deed is done." Lucina said.
They were then distracted by the sound of men cheering and charging in their direction. Upon closer inspection, it looked like the dynasts that had betrayed them the other day at Fort Steiger.
"Damn! We're surrounded!" Chrom said, readying for another fight. "The dynasts ride against us!"
Hold, sir!" Say'ri said, pointing her finger at the flood of dynasts.
Back inside Valm Castle, a Valmese messenger was speaking with Excellus.
"He… He lost?!" Excellus questioned the messenger. "But bow?! How could the Conqueror be conquered?! He's insurmountable! Incontestable! Invincible! But that means… Oh my! Goodbye then! Do see to it that-"
Excellus stopped speaking upon hearing Walhart's footsteps approaching him and both him and the messenger turned to face him.
"Going somewhere, tactician?" Walhart asked.
"M-master!" Excellus started groveling in a panic. "I-I was just coming to make sure you were all right! Are you hurt?"
"Rally our forces in the capital!" Walhart ordered. "We will put an end to this here!"
"At once, my master." Excellus responded. "Only… have you considered, perhaps, waiting one more day? I do have the dynasts and their men on the way. With them to help us, we-"
"Have you seen the battlefield?" Walhart asked. "No, I suppose not with your head up your arse. Take a look outside."
"Wha-?! Fine!" Excellus said as he approached a nearby window. "I'll prove to you that-Hm? AH! What the hell is this?!"
"If you had even half of the mettle of that Ylissean tactician, you'd already know." Walhart said.
Outside, all of the dynasts were making a siege on the capital.
"But that's impossible!" Excellus shouted. "We had an agreement! Just like with… Oh no! Did they find out about Yen'fay?!"
The Shepherds couldn't believe what they were seeing; the dynasts that had nearly stabbed them in the back just a few days ago were now assisting them in taking the capital.
"This… boggles the mind…" Say'ri just stared out at the dynasts in amazement.
"Well, their allegiance seems pretty clear now." Flavia said as she approached the group.
"I can hardly believe it…" Say'ri said. "They're from the lands my brother commanded. Finally, now, they answer the call?"
"Finally is right." Flavia said. "It's taken a lot of hard work to get here, Say'ri. A lot of sacrifice. From you, from Basilio, from your brother. Don't forget this moment."
Say'ri looked like she was about to let loose her tears. "Aye, my lady. Aye."
Robin walked over to Say'ri and placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and he simply gave a confident smirk.
"Let's end this, Say'ri." Robin said. "Here and now."
Say'ri smiled and tears started to stroll down the side of her face.
"Th… thank you, Robin." Say'ri said.
A/N: I tried my best to keep the dialogue as different from the game as I feel I could, but I think I made a fairly humorous exchange between Walhart and Excellus near the end and a more heartfelt moment between Robin and Say'ri in the chapter's conclusion. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned for next time!