The True Master of the Smash Brothers part 15
"The Great Offensive,"
The Halberd was finally seemingly arriving toward a structure out in the wilds. A feudal fort constructed of thick stone, with a drawbridge, thick walls that stood proud among the barren landscape. The Halberd was in need of some maintenance which must be applied while the ship is at rest. Marth had suggested this place since he knew the layout and it served well under the invasion of the Subspace army. The Halberd begins to descend to the ground stirring a large portion of dust in its wake. The ship slowly retracts its wings as the engine settles down to a low rumble. Eventually the ship makes a clean landing in the back of the fort. A hatch opens up from the bottom of the ship allowing a small group of the Smashers to exit the hatch in order to quickly secure the Fort. It was only a few of the of the Sonic Universe team, made of Sonic, Lucario, Toon Link, Zelda, Pit, and their guest Marth. The group trudged over toward the fort casually, but still cautious.
"Lucas didn't want to come?" Toon Link questioned.
"He's been pretty distant from everyone," Sonic said jabbing a finger upward. On the top of the command center of the ship one could see the small speck of sitting on the very top. "I don't think it's just the telepathy going wild like last time,"
"When I went to session with him about that it seems he's gotten a much better handle on his telepathic abilities now," Lucario said.
"Really, already, but how?" Sonic questioned.
"He does strike me as a fast leaner," Marth said voicing his opinion.
"Still something is seriously bothering him, and now me,"
"Well we can see to him when we are done securing the area, Meta Knight volunteered to watch over him. He says that him being alone is the last thing he really needs at the moment," Lucario said.
"It must be tough," Pit said with his bow on his shoulder. "Mortals aren't supposed to have god-like power for a reason ya know. They aren't at the level of fully comprehending what they have, and although it stinks to say it gods have a tendency of being well…inhumane and uncaring to others' suffering,"
"Pit?" Zelda questioned surprised with his insight on the subject. "Is your goddess like that?"
"No, she's different, that's why I pledge my loyalty to her so deeply," Pit assured.
"I think you guys are being a little silly, god is just a fancy word people like to call themselves when they can do some pretty admitabley fancy things," Sonic pointed out.
"Well I don't think you have a lot respect on the subject, and quite frankly you're stepping on certain people's beliefs with your words Sonic," Zelda said sharply with a few heated stares in his direction.
"Heh, my bad," Sonic said with a nervous expression with a bead of sweat on his brow. "Just when you've taken down a deity or two the word kinda losses it's meaning, ya know,"
"What?!" Pit questioned.
"What?" Sonic responded confused when his party stopped short of the entrance to the fort. "Oh come on guys the forts right there, let's just go check it real quick,"
"Sonic…you've taken on gods before…" Zelda questioned astounded. It sounded so unbelievable to the group hearing such words. Lucario comes from a world where Pokémon of legendary power and status can transcend time and space. Zelda and Toon Link have a very fraction of the Tri-force the bringing of life and created by the Goddess themselves. Marth was familiar with a few deities even met them in person. Pit should be spoken for. For them to hear someone speak so casually about taking on actual gods and winning was something absolutely stunning to them.
"Yeah…a few…"
"Like, how is that possible?" Toon Link asked.
"Usually when I go in blazing as Super Sonic not much can stop me," Sonic said with a smirk.
"Oh right your super form…that's pretty cheap if you ask me," Pit said.
"Seriously? I'm going up against some big bads and I'm being cheap,"
"Your super form is majorly unfair," Lucario admitted.
"Unfair, how so?"
"Well, you have invulnerability, you can fly, you're like 100 times faster, insane strength that makes Bowser and DK seem like kittens, plus a load of other crazy Chaos powers," Toon Link said rattling off a few things.
"Okay I get it, but it sure comes in handy to be that powerful when facing some of the guys I gotta take down. Omni might be one tough customer though, besides going "super" can't solve all these type problems so easily. There's always one hang up with having that kind of power. Besides the fact that anybody can get it, there must be something else,"
"Well we can discuss this with the others after we have searched the fort for any enemies," Marth said pressing the matter at hand. They divided up the search in pieces. Sonic would get the East and Western parts of the fort, Lucario and Zelda will take the North, Toon Link and Marth the South, and Pit the exterior. It took them a matter of twenty minutes to conduct their search of the fort to make sure it was safe. Once they were sure they informed the others. The other smashers soon joined them with the exception of Lucas who did not want to risk being overpowered with everyone's thoughts. Ike suggested they set up the defenses for the fort to be ready for in the need it will need to be defended once they were situated of course. First they all wanted to discuss the next step of whatever it was they were gonna do. The Smashers all gathered in the large hall standing on a long red carpet with suits of armor standing on the side equipped with very real weapons. Large pillars and spiky ends displayed the gothic architecture of the place and was somewhat stuffy though because of the poor insulation of keeping in heat with so many unsealed windows or small peaks through the walls. Although the Smashers didn't complain too much considering who knew how long they'd stay for.
"What about the Halberd?" Wolf asked.
"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.
"It's in need of repairs and restocking. Judging by how…feudal this place is we won't be able to get stuff like that here,"
"He's got a point, the ship has taken a bit of beating," Snake said.
"The Halberd will remain strong even in the face of such hardships. I have material on board that can do these patch jobs and sufficient supplies for just such an occasion," Meta Knight assured.
"Really, you mean you were prepared for this?" Bowser asked.
"When you live life as a Smasher you must be prepared for anything," Meta Knight said wisely.
"It is the life of an adventurer!" Popo exclaimed.
"Some adventure…" Wario groaned picking his nose.
"Well we should start on those repairs soon all the same, the faster the Halberd is back at 100% the better I'll feel," Falco said with his arms crossed. "Especially with no plan,"
"We have a plan," Pit assured.
"We have a plan?" Sonic asked. Eyes turned toward Sonic with concern. "Uh…right that plan…"
"We are so boned…" Falco muttered.
"Well there must be something we can do to turn the situation around," Peach said.
"Simple, we stop hiding and start fighting!" Bowser growled slamming his fist into his palm.
"I second that idea," Gannondorf said. "Omni is at a severe disadvantage right now, we should hit him hard while we have this chance,"
"Hit him hard where? Where are we going to hit him at, and how?" Wolf asked. "I'm all for going on the offensive, but we don't have a target,"
"Well can't we look for one?" Nana questioned.
"How do we look, what do we look for?"
"You're really throwen darts in our ideas for someone who is on our side," Bowser growled.
"Well these are questions that must be answered before a successful assault can be mounted," Marth said. "The fort serves as a rest stop and a preparation for what must come next. We finally have created enough distance between us and Omni and the Originals are not a problem at the moment. We have a chance to think about what we know so far, and respond. This can either be the turning of events for us or our final futile act before our downfall. But it all rides on us and how we approach the situation," Marth was displaying the good traits of leader allowing his general image to show more.
"I whole heartily agree with Marth," Zelda stated with some emotion of being moved by the short speech.
"But I'm the one in charge here," Sonic said gathering attention on him. "I say what we do, and how we do it," This made everyone frown at the hedgehog. "As leader I say we hit Omni where it hurts," Sonic said smirking and thus making the other Smashers smirk in anticipation. "He's beaten us down pretty bad so far, and we've been on defense too long. We're not sure what Omni wants to do with the power inside Lucas, but right now we have to take advantage of him not having it. While we recover we're ALL going to help pitch in with Lucas. He's going through a tough time right now, so we gotta help him keep his head on straight in any way we can. By helping him cope we can also help him get a handle on the power. With more control he might be able to do whole lot more. Also ROB had told me before we got here that the calculations he had been making are finished," At this news everyone brightened considerably. But the members who weren't part of Team Sonic Universe were confused.
"Calculations?" Ike asked.
"Yeah, Lucas pointed out that Omni has psychic powers which allow him to control the Originals. ROB had been trying to…uh…what was the word?"
"ISOLATE," ROB assisted.
"Right that word, the signal until he can find a way to jam it. We're going to work on that while we get our flying base up again. We'll be ready to take the fight to Omni and he won't know what hit him,"
"Well sounds like we have an actually plan here, with Sonic in charge no less," King Dedede said.
"He has his moments," Lucario said. "Are we going to tell Lucas?"
"I don't know…a part of me feels we should, another part says we shouldn't, but then another part says he's gonna read our minds and find out anyway,"
"Honesty would be the best move here. We're not trying to take advantage of him only help him. Being upfront with him without us hiding our motives will put him more at ease," Meta Knight advised.
"Good point Meta," Sonic said with a nod. "Alright, so we got our game plan, let's go over what we know,"
"We know he has a large amount of information on all of us," Zelda said. "Information is a large advantage he has over us,"
"Yeah, plus he can control the Original 12," Toon Link said.
"Don't forget the legion of warriors he has under his command too," Marth added.
"We don't know what kind of fighters he has under his control, but we should assume that they vary in power. We can also assume he would only claim talented fighters under his command, so possibly skilled warriors in his past death tournaments," Ike said.
"We can take whoever they are," Sonic said with sureness in his voice.
"How do you know?" Pit asked.
"The Original 12 are the best the tournament brought up. Omni may have some skilled fighters, but none of them meet the level of the Original 12 especially since they're the reason he's in his situation. All of us are virtually on the same level as them since they set the new bar of standards. I know we can take whoever Omni has, otherwise he wouldn't waste time controlling the originals if that was the case,"
"Good point," Wolf said.
"So those guys are just stronger Primids," King Dedede suggested.
"Let's see them that way, which puts them low on totem pole," Olimer said. "So what else?"
"We really need to figure out what happened when the Original 12 came to Smash World. That insight would be detrimental," Snake said leaning on a wall smoking on a cigarette. "Otherwise we'd just be wasting time and end up like those ghost warriors,"
"We can't exactly ask him," Popo said.
"And the only ones who knows what happened are all locked up," Toon Link added.
"I can help…" came a voice by the entrance of the fort. Everyone turned to see Lucas walking toward them. But what really caught their attention are the trophies of the Original 12 floating behind them.
"What are you doing?!" Olimer panicked.
"Has the kid gone AWOL?" Wolf said as his hand slid to his pistol. Lucas sat the trophies down in a circle around him then sat down.
"Lucas what's going on?" Sonic asked stepping forward. "No time for duck, duck, goose, we gotta keep these guys locked up," Sonic especially wouldn't like when goose was called.
"This isn't a game…I can tell you guys what happened when they first got here," Lucas explained.
"How?" Lucario questioned.
"Telepathy,"
"You can read their minds when they're like that?" Red asked surprised. Lucas nods.
"They aren't dead…just sealed in their own little universe. The seal keeps Omni out for the most part and it took a lot of concentration to break through it myself. But I've been able to look through their memories to piece the story together. I brought them along that way if you might have a question I can shift through the memories of one them since one of them might contain the answer,"
"That is so totally awesome!" Toon Link exclaimed throwing his arms up.
"Well I guess all our prep work will have to wait after story time," Sonic said sitting down. As he did everyone else followed taking a seat on the floor with ready ears to hear the tale of the first ever Super Smash Brothers tournament.
Okay, from what I gathered this is how things went. The original 12 had just finished each had fought a major battle in their careers which is the best way I can describe it for them. They had all settled down for quiet time in their own universe when they were taken without warning to this world. The world of Smash was a lot different to what we know. This world was torn apart by battles that have been waged here like wars. The ground was scorched and dead, the sun always looked on the verge of dying with blistering heat and then freezing nights, and being trapped cells for the majority of their stay here. Master Hand and Crazy Hand were like a pencil to him, the beginning and the end.
Omni…
For someone who speaks so highly of himself he appeared to be rather human looking, a large white overcoat that draped his entire body, some strange black material, and a mask over his face. A mask split between a frown and a laugh, joy and sadness. Master Hand searched the worlds for fighters, and crafted the arenas they fought in. Crazy Hand was the eraser, destroying the losing heroes world, sometimes their entire universe. It was all a harsh process, there actually were twenty fighters who first arrived here…those eight didn't survive the preliminaries…
"What were the preliminaries?" Sonic asked.
Omni would summon shadow warriors of the fallen fighters to duel with the new candidates seeing if Master Hand chose wisely. It was a way of figuring out first if the fighters were worth being put in the process before they cruelty truly started. It also served as a survival challenge. Twenty candidates are dropped on the continent and must survive to arrive at the arena. It was an awful fight for survival…Mario and Luigi actually considered ending each other's life simply because their trust in each other was tested. They almost did as well, as their mental boundaries were being tested. Samus actually killed on of the eight too, something she was never proud of even though it was in self-defense. Link, for the first time in his life, ran from a fight. Kirby lost his innocence, Fox had ice run through his veins with his kill or be killed mentality. They all almost killed each other at some point while out there trying to survive. Ness had blown someone's arm clean off. Every person winces at the brutality of it all, and the harsh and crazed environment. They found it extremely difficult wrapping their heads around the ones who taught them how to be Smashers, so broken and relying only on instinct.
"I don't believe this, we know these guys. We know they would never sink to the lows you describe," Ike said with bitter distaste.
You'd be surprised at what they would do to survive. However, they made it through preliminaries with the twenty becoming twelve. The warriors that made it through such an ordeal didn't trust each other one bit, bitter hatred between all of them. I suppose that was the point of the survival, strip them of all morals and logically thinking. Your left will animals who would bite whoever was right in front of them. But…that's what made the Original 12 so special…not because of how powerful they were. Believe me, a few shadow warriors could overpower all of them, so it was not their power that made them special. It was their hearts…no matter how horrendous it got, or what they did to survive they never truly lost themselves. Ness was just a kid, so naturally a few of them gravitated to him to ensure that he was safe. They saw how much stronger Mario and Luigi's bond had grown and showed great compassion and forgiveness with each other. Pikachu was sick, so Samus decided to take care of it without anyone knowing. Fox's kill or be killed mentality washed away when seeing Ness breakdown about wanting to see his mom. Link has been afraid before, but he never let that stop him. But this time the fear was very crippling because he felt like he was alone, Mario revealed that he wasn't. Donkey Kong's tenacity no matter what happened with all his strength he never lost control or brutalized someone even though he could. A quality that was respected and recognized. Under all the stuff they had been through they were all still good people. They banded together even though they had to fight each other like bitter enemies. That's what made them the first Smashers.
"Wow…" Toon Link gasped as an even deeper admiration of the Original 12 began to well up inside him.
"So, how did they beat Omni?" Gannondorf asked. Lucas shook his head.
"I don't know…"
"What, but you just-,"
"They have been gaining their memories back as time passes thanks to Omni's influence. I can understand why the memories were erased with how horrible they were…it was a lot of blood. But the point remains Omni is no fool. He knows that by controlling them more of their memory returns, which is why he doesn't mind them being in this state. He can't use em, but neither can we. He's gonna make sure that particular memory stays buried deep,"
"Can't you dig it out?" Red asked.
"That would require…a lot a skill…something I don't really have. For now all I can talk about is the Preliminaries,"
"I'm starting to think there's more to being a Smasher then just simply beating the snot out of each other," Snake said.
"I get that feeling too…whatever special skill the 12 have, we must have too otherwise we wouldn't be here," Pit said.
"Guys don't you see?" Sonic said with sureness in his voice. "We don't need to find what we need, we already got it! We're facing a hopeless situation right now, but we're still trying to fight. That makes us Smashers right there. No matter what the odds, we fight till we can't fight no more. You guys with me?"
"Where else would we be?" Lucario asked.
"I agree, let us fight to our very last breath!" Zelda exclaimed with her spirit brimming almost overflowing. Everyone was not used to seeing Zelda so spirited.
"Well our chance to strike is coming," Lucas alerted everyone. They all turned to him, some were surprised to see the boy not flinch under everyone's stares. "He's coming…soon,"
The room was silent for a few moments. "Alright then I'm ready to get into the fray!" King Dedede proclaimed. Everyone smirked as the penguin king's spirit was contagious, since he himself was known never knowing when to surrender.
"Good, then let's make them proud and keep fighting," Snake said with certainty. "Alright, we won't get any work done sitting around here any longer. Let's all pitch in around here and then we'll take the fight straight to Omni!"
"YEAH!" the Smashers cheered.
After the quick pep talk they all moved to iron out their specific tasks at hand. Marth and Ike set forth with all the Smashers who weren't on Team Sonic Universe to build up the fort's defenses, while Team Sonic Universe prepped the Halberd for an assault. The fort had taken on a few modifications courtesy of some extra stuff Meta Knight had on the Halberd, a spare laser cannon positioned on the highest tower of the fort, a few cannons, and a Vulcan machine gun torrent for just a little bit more security. A few steel plates to reinforce some of the weak areas of the fort, and placing the Original 12 statues in the lower parts of the Fort for safe keeping. Once they were done with the fort it looked more like an impenetrable fortress of solitude. They even put out a few landmines just for the heck of it. Marth was quite excited at the prospect of using more modern weaponry, but of course Snake had to teach just about everyone there how to use half of the items. Team Sonic Universe worked on repairs and restocking of the Halberd. Lucas used his telekinesis to lift up metal panels against the ship then sparked his finger like a blow torch and began adding the panel to the hull. Lucario quickly laid out the weapons that needed to be restocked and the cannons that needed to be cleaned. Meta Knight looked out over his ship inspecting it with an inquisitive eye to make sure there were no fowls on for anyone. His eyes fell on Lucas who was fixing the scar from Kirby's Dragoon rush attack from yesterday. He nods with assurance that the boy was alright and not feeling like an outcast. He saw that Sonic was keeping the boy company chatting away like he usually does.
"Meta Knight?" the small knight turned to see Zelda standing over him.
"Yes,"
"I can't help but notice you seem to be pay Lucas very close attention, am I wrong?"
"You aren't,"
"Why is that?"
"He is a boy having to carry a heavy burden, a little reassurance in himself is necessary,"
"I didn't realize you were a specialist when it came to children,"
"I can assure you I am no specialist at all…but seeing as I often must look after Kirby I suppose children aren't so beyond me,"
"Careful Meta Knight, your age is showing,"
"Age is just a number, I've been told you're only as old as you feel," Meta Knight chided. Zelda had a sneaky suspicion that this tip may've come from a certain Toadstool princess.
"Of course," Zelda said with a smile as she nods.
"How are you holding up?" Meta Knight asked.
"It has been hard…" Zelda admitted with a sigh seeing as hiding this fact from the insightful Meta Knight would be a lost cause. "Link always being there made every day better…but with him not here I find myself kind of lost. I've never been so unsure of myself before,"
"Because he was the closest thing to normal in your life and through him you felt like you yourself could be normal. Like a normal everyday person instead of a princess,"
"Yes…"
"Surely you cannot still feel that way so late in the game," Meta Knight said. Zelda looked at the knight unsure. "I've never heard you speak so freely in a group before. Even getting inside on the 'inside jokes' as they're called. You have blossomed and grown since you joined and no longer require a crutch. You just didn't realize it until it was snatched away from you,"
"Your right Meta Knight, thank you for your words of wisdom,"
"My pleasure," Meta Knight said proudly as Zelda walked away to actually go converse with Gannondorf of all people. Lucario landed next to Meta Knight from after jumping off a cannon barrel he looked from the knight to Zelda.
"This keeps up you should become the mansion counselor," Lucario said.
"Don't you have an aura you should be reading somewhere," Meta Knight huffed as he turned sharply swirling his cape around himself to vanish. Lucario smirked something he found odd. That despite everything that's going on, the Smashers could still crack jokes, tease each other, annoy each other, and even send one another to counseling. But they remain true which makes him wonder how in the world Omni plans on beating them. Lucario looked upward to see Sonic talking, probably done with his work by now, with Lucas, who is probably a little distracted with the hedgehog's rambling. Lucas however should be distracted he has a weight on his shoulders there is no need to constantly be reminded of that.
"Sonic ahaha, quit distracting me," Lucas smiled trying to surpass his laughter.
"Distracting you, now how can I do that when you're working so diligently?"
"You know you can throw people's game off with just words,"
"And I do know a lot of them,"
"Well that's a discussion for another time,"
"Did you know I had comic books in this world. Craziest thing, I mean seriously I am pretty darn hilarious in it too. It's all interesting too. They have me using words that I don't even know what they mean,"
"Like you haven't said words you simply heard and don't know what they mean just to sound smarter,"
"Well now you're just being transcendent," Lucas rolls his eyes beneath his goggles to block out the sparking of the metal on fire contact. "Okay I don't know what that word means,"
"My point exactly," Lucas paused realizing the conversation had reached a silence. A rarity for the hedgehog, but Lucas would take advantage of it to start a new topic. "So…from what I told you guys how do you think Team Sonic Universe would've done in the first tournament?"
"Well Gannon and Bowser would most likely have a few guys pushen up daises. Snake has killed people before so it won't be like something totally new for him, same goes for Wolf, and despite how chill he is I would not be too surprised if I heard Meta Knight offed someone…I hadn't realized we had so many killers on our team," Sonic said with a surprised realization. "Those five would kill for the rest of us. We'd survive just like the Original 12 did,"
"How do you know that, and how can you be so sure?"
"Sometimes you can't be sure," Sonic admitted. "When you're not sure, all you can do is hope,"
Lucas was silent for a few moments. "I'm done here,"
"Then let's get the team together so we can ride off into the sunset," Sonic said rising to his feet. Lucas stands at Sonic's side for a moment staring out over the Halberd.
"Do you think we can beat him?" Lucas asked.
"Yeah I do,"
"Are you sure?"
"Positive,"
"Sonic, you know you always make these huge promises…you can't always keep them,"
"Maybe I do sometimes…false hope is better than no hope right?"
Lucas smiled at the idea for a moment. "I'm scared Sonic…I don't know why but I am. This feeling inside me," Lucas winced as he allowed his facial features to contort. "It feels like there is a fire consuming me from the inside out. It hurts more and more as the days go by. Every hour, every minute, and every second feels like a living terror,"
Sonic stared down at Lucas in surprise. "Why didn't you say anything?" Lucas shrugged.
"What could I say and how would that have changed anything?"
"I don't know it would let us know what was wrong with you. We could've at least helped ease it or something. Meta Knight has pain relievers,"
"The concern is touching, but…I don't think anything can be done. The longer this power is inside me the more damage I fear I'm going to do. Sonic you have to help me,"
"Trust me I will…I suppose we can pull back our plans before we move…"
"No, I don't want to hold everyone back," Lucas said shaking his head. "I want to help I do, but if I do I might cause more harm than good,"
"Your special Lucas," Sonic smiled down at the child as he bent down to meet eyes with Lucas. "I think you have a gift and fighting through. You can survive anything you know. You're a survivor and one of the toughest people in general that I know. Lucas if that chump Omni can contain this I know you can. Don't try and play god, just be yourself,"
"…Okay," Lucas responds before nodding his head. Sonic smiled as he ruffles Lucas' hair before returning to his full height.
"I'll tell the others and we can-,"
"No," Lucas asserted. "I can do this, we can do this,"
"You sure," Lucas gave Sonic one of the most serious looks he's seen from him before nodding. Sonic was convinced as he returns the gesture. Sonic leaped down from the top of the command center. A few minutes later the Halberd was lifting up into the sky. The Smashers stayed at the Fort to watch over things and the Original 12. ROB had stayed behind to enact the part of the plan to remove the Original 12 from Omin's playing field. Once the Halberd had risen high enough it rushed forward through the air toward where the ruins of Smash Castle lay. The Halberd easily reached its top speed in a matter of moments after takeoff. It took only a few minutes for the Smash Castle to come around the horizon. Team Sonic Universe was prepared with a plan of action in mind. Prevent Omni from entering the realm might be the only thing they can do that might actually put an end to the conflict before it breaks out.
"Oh man…" Pit gasped seeing the castle in the distance. They see that the castle was changed into a black marble set against a purple finish. The towers were restored to full height and the lawn was now covered in death traps, Primids, and worst yet the ghost fighters.
"Alright everyone, let's go," Pit turned at Sonic's order to see everyone in the control room including Meta Knight after hitting a certain button rush out. He was confused at the motion but quickly followed to catch up.
"Wouldn't it have made more sense to attack with everything we got?" Pit asked.
"We needed the Originals to be watched and to see if ROB's wavelength works," Meta Knight answered.
"Okay…"
"Small strike force is best, you were paying attention weren't you?" Meta Knight could tell the angel was confused about everything that was happening despite everyone talking so thoroughly about what they were doing. "The eleven of us are going to attack the castle, take out and wound as many as we can. Once we reach the point of entry Omni plans to enter that will be our chance,"
"How do we do that again?" Meta Knight didn't respond. "Okay we're winging it, but why are we so high up though,"
"Because the Halberd is our life line, we lose it there may be no way we're escaping if things do go south,"
The team reached the deck outside high above the clouds seeing the sun beginning to set in the distance. It was a breathtaking and peaceful view of the sky. Seeing the red and yellow light stretch across the sky with just enough clouds to portray a peaceful feeling. It was calming seeing this vantage point as the entire team stopped to admire the view taking it all in. Zelda shifted into Shiek, Snake checked his weaponry and gear, Wolf made sure his weapon was fully loaded and charged, Toon Link checked his equipment, Meta Knight unsheathed his sword and released his cape, Gannondorf stood with his arms crossed and cape billowing in the wind, Bowser was showing his anxiousness as he twitched in anticipation, Lucas calmed his nerves, Lucario opens his eyes after probably using his aura to sense out the enemies, and finally Sonic their leader perform a few running stretches to stay limber. Pit saw them all readying for the coming battle. He took in a breath of fresh air then let it out savoring it before the assault began knowing full well that death was a possibility. Omni's abilities are both known and unknown. He is powerful, but they don't know how powerful or to what extent. He could very well smash their trophy forms, and even kill them before they can become trophies.
"We ready?" Sonic asked everyone. No one said anything, but Sonic took their silence as their acceptance of what was to come.
"How are some of you getting down, only two people here have wings?" Pit asked.
"And no parachutes," Snake added with some distaste as he looked down.
"Lucario?" Sonic questioned.
"If we want to make it down we'd better go now,"
Sonic nods then turns to Lucas who stands at attention. "I'll make sure no one gets hurt when landing,"
"Alright, we're going now," Sonic said. He stepped forward then jumps down off the edge of the ship to dive down head first. Soon after him everyone else followed his lead leaping down skydiving off the side of the ship to dive headfirst toward the ground. As they fell, the wind whistles in their ears almost deafening to them as the feeling of gravity independently acting on them during the fall and the longer they feel the faster they felt. They past the clouds and were assaulted to what appeared to be a legion of flying ghost warriors and Primids on hovercarts. From this point of view from the clouds the sky was dark foreboding and a storm appeared to be coming in. Sonic kicked out in a forward kick to knock away a warrior wearing a cape as he appeared flying without any visible assistance. Being the able to fly Pit and Meta Knight covered their teammates. Pit notched an arrow then let it fly taking out a large hover craft with one shot and erupted in a fiery explosion. Sheik vanished in a puff of smoke and hitched a ride on what appeared to be a humanoid-dragon. She pulled out her chain then put it around its mouth then began to coerce its direction making it crash and fight violently. Everyone was fighting as they fell down toward the earth below. Wolf took control of one of the hovercarriers after taking out the entire occupants with ease, but found himself surrounded by a few ghost warriors. Suddenly a powerful flame devoured the entirety of them all saving Wolf. Wolf turned back to see Lucas flying away. Lucas raised his hands above his head then brought them down in a hammer motion to unleash a energy crescent wave that annihilated a few more enemies. Lucario and Sonic moved together having similar speed and agility at the moment while freefalling. Bowser smashed an entire hovecraft in one shot while in his shell. Sonic and Lucario kicked off the debris riding it down. Lucario threw an aura sphere knocked away another creature as Sonic kicked a large piece of debris at another that Lucario missed. Toon allowed his sword to lead as he fell allowing him to shoot right through a hovercraft like a bullet being shot out a gun. Gannondorf landed on a carrier so hard he made the whole thing flip upside down making the occupants fall to their doom, he kicked off to do the same to the next carrier within range.
"Grounds getting closer!" Snake called.
"Relax!" Sonic responded as he rode on a thin piece of metal like it was a snowboard. "Making a landing from the atmosphere with no parachute is a lot easier than you think,"
"He's right let's form up!" Meta Knight called deflecting a flying swordsman with a jetback. Sonic looked to see the grounds of the castle. It was so much darker then he'd ever seen it with the way it appeared more like an evil lair now. He wondered why Omni would want to take their castle for. He understood the need to for a place to be at if he passes through, but why the Smash Castle of all things to take control of first.
"Sonic!" Wolf called from his place on the carrier large enough to carry everyone as he flies closer.
"Uh oh, Wolf jump!" Sonic called noticing a flying ghost warrior above him with an outstretched hand. Wolf looked up to see a beam of energy come barreling toward him. Wolf touched his reflector as the attack slammed into him. The reflector did its job of throwing the attack back, but it has its limits though. The force of the knock back was so powerful Wolf was slammed through the carrier and out the other side. Wolf was dazed at the blow and vulnerable. Pit grabbed Wolf and pulled him in to form up. Lucas looked back to see the more enemies falling in on them. Energy peaked out of his eyes as he summoned lightning to his fingertips. A major step up from his PK Thunder, he points his hands out to unleash a humongous lightning storm straight at all enemies annihilating the ghost bodies and destroying any Primid. "Geez…"
"Sonic ground!" Lucario exclaimed seeing the ground was only about a mile away and at their speed they'd cover that in seconds, a minute tops.
"Right," Sonic curled up and began spinning toward the ground ahead of everyone else. After a chain of somersaults he hit the ground to cushion the fall kicking a large amount of dust on landing. He shook off the initial sensation that comes with being on the ground again after such a fall, and hitting the hard ground so hard and in such a way. Sonic began running in a circle and in a matter of moments created a tornado that rose off the ground catching his friends. The tornado allowed them to hover until Sonic decreased his speed dispersing it and allowing everyone to land on their feet safely. "Aaaaand strike a pose!" At this the heroes weren't above striking a quick victory position just as the debris and Primids finally began raining all around them in a show of epic proportions really giving the idea of just how much destruce they caused while falling. After initial comments of 'that was exciting', 'that was sweet', or 'why did we have to pose at the end?'. They all looked out over the field that leads to Smash Castle. They couldn't land directly on the lawn or risk the Halberd being caught in air defenses. The field was something the Smashers hanged out in on occasions to get away from the Castle of being cooped up and often had a field day out here. The field seemed so much more clutter now seeing the large gathering of enemies in one spot. "So gang what say we?" Sonic asked.
"BRING IT!" They all exclaimed rushing forward ready for one of the biggest battles of their lives. However, with all the power they have and all the heart they contain. Will that be enough to topple a god of extraordinary power, especially when they have no idea what is happening inside the castle even as they punch things.
"Master they have arrived," bowed a ninja warrior.
"Thank you Yami everything is going all according to plan. Gather your team to confront them. Your performance last time was quite sad,"
"Sir our power-,"
"This castle is now an extension of our realm, you can finally go full out now. Show them why I allowed you four to keep your minds unlike the others,"
"Thank you sir," he said turning to leave.
"Soon, soon they will know who I truly am, what I stand for. They will know who the True Master of the Smash Brothers are!" Omni's voice hollowed throughout the halls of the castle.