And by tomorrow I mean... "Next Year! Several months from now, at least a month after I've played a Smash Brothers 4 Demo at Bestbuy an hour away from my house!" Yeah forget it... you know the drill by now. Honestly, I think I post sooner when I don't put a timeline on a chapter.
To be completely honest though, I thought I had a lot of this done, but the reveal and the flashbacks were incomplete, and reading through it I kept on wanting to add more to the reveal scene... more to other scenes...
I swear this will be finished one day...
Day 30: A new year
Everyone was just staring at me in shock. "You know who the mole is?" Mewtwo said, rather amused.
"Yeah, I just figured it out." I said. "It was thanks to the fireworks."
"The fireworks?" Everyone questioned.
"Don't ask how my head works, they just tipped me off okay." I nervously said.
"Doesn't that break one of Knox's 10 commandments?" Ness wondered.
"Shut up..." I snapped.
Oh crap... I spoke without thinking... This is going to suck…
I had a hunch, but it wasn't anything massive, just a simple little hunch of 'this person said and did this, and it doesn't add up, and is way to suspicious.' At the same time, I knew I couldn't let the Smashers go to sleep tonight, not without revealing who the mole was. Otherwise, one or perhaps all of us would never wake up. At least I now had all of their attention.
"Are we sure someone didn't put something in Nugai's hot chocolate?" Wario grumbled, holding onto a bottle of alcohol.
"No, I assure you, I'm quite sober. Unlike you." I said. "Though, I do have to say, congratulations to the mole. You had everyone fooled. Even myself."
There was silence. I was pretty sure many of them were thinking something along the lines of 'oh no, he's going to do the entire stereotypical long-winded explanation, and dramatic reveal, isn't he?' to which I would have to answer, 'Yes! Of course! I mean there are only so many times in their life that a normal person would get to do this. Most of them would be acting for a show, a play, or a class project... I was going to milk everything I could out of this!'
"Well, I guess we better pull up a bunch of drinks because this is going to take a while." Claus said.
"Crap…" Ness muttered.
A wireframe began to disperse some hot apple cider for everyone. I got a cup and took a drink. The rest of the Smashers also followed. Only, Sonic, Wario, Link, and Mewtwo politely declined, because they still had other drinks.
"As you all know there is a mole among us." I said beginning to pace through the middle of the Smashers. "While I had suspicions for a while, The Reaper came right out and said it."
"How can we be sure that, that wasn't just something to catch us all off guard and disorganize us?" Zelda questioned. "We shouldn't exactly trust the words of the Reaper as the truth. And he would have a lot to gain from doing that, by making us disorganized and not trust one another, that would just make us easier targets."
"True, the Reaper would have a lot to gain, but I can assure you the mole is very real." I said. Everyone looked around in shock.
"And what's your proof?" Dr. Mario asked, rather unsurprised.
"Yes, of course." I said. "First of all, for a long time The Reaper had something called the Life Flame in him, because of that he was unable to lie. So, I'd actually trust his word over plenty of yours."
They actually seemed a bit offended by my comment. Ah well, they would get over it. "You've lied to me in the past 29 days, hid stuff, tested me, and have never really trusted me." I said bluntly. "Some of you were only bordering on tolerating me. With the Life Flame, he couldn't do that."
"Not really." Mewtwo said, interrupting me. "There is a bit of a flaw to that condition put into the Life Flame. If he considers what he's saying to be the truth, or as far as he knows the truth based upon incomplete information, the life flame wouldn't attack him. However, in this case, he would know that there would be a mole, so continue."
I took a few seconds to regain myself, and then continued. "Someone within the Smashers had also been leaking information to the Reaper." I said. "The Reaper seemed to know our every move, and how to counter it. He knew where our hiding locations were. The Smash Mansion, and now Smashville." I said. "Each time we tried to run away, and found a new hiding spot he was right behind us."
"But, he kidnapped Lucas, wouldn't he of found out from that?" Sonic wondered.
"No, Lucas wasn't an old Smasher from the Melee days. He was only in the Smashers for about the same time I was. Unless Ness told him about it, he wouldn't have known about the Smash Mansion. And we only just found out about Smashville." I said. "Not to mention, the Reaper also knew about our escape plan to get away from the HQ. Therefore, I think it's fair to say that the Reaper's accomplice is someone among us and was relaying information as we tried to escape."
"Hey, Nugai, you're pretty suspicious yourself." Wolf pointed out. "You appeared out of nowhere."
"Yes, I realize that." I said calmly. "I am perhaps the most suspicious out of anybody here. I knew the Reaper in my world, and we were best friends. I brought him here to this world for the first time, and even now he has helped me out multiple times when I came into this world. But at the same time, he has also tried to kill me. I currently only have my words, but I swear to you all that I am not the Reaper's mole."
"And how are you going to prove that?" Mario wondered.
"Well, the real mole has targeted me on a few occasions, such as in the storage room in the Pleiades."
"You could have planned it." Wolf said. "Had that crate tip over towards you, and know that the others would react fast enough."
"That is a possibility," I admitted. "However, I don't think it's that likely. If I were the mole and trying to make it look like an accident, why would I risk endangering myself? Personally, if I was going to make it topple over towards me, I'd want more than a 100 percent chance that I wouldn't be squished. There would be no guarantee that the people I was with would be capable of reacting fast enough, or they may freeze up. Even if I know something is coming at times I freeze up when it happens. Just like a jump scare in a movie, even on repeat viewings, it could be just as scary. Also, if I was the mole, and I was going to make that crate topple over towards me, I'd personally like to test a trap like that beforehand."
"What do you mean by test?" Toon Link asked.
"Well, like one of your pranks Toon Link." I replied. "If I was the mole, I'd like to test how it would topple over, so that it would get to a certain spot with very little margin for error. Like for example a bucket of water that falls on someone when they open the door, I'd want it to land and douse the person opening the door. But if I was the mole, I would be unable to test that trap."
"Wait why?" Bowser asked.
"Well, for starters, when the crate fell, the whole ship shook and you all came rushing in. If it was a test, and I had knocked it over beforehand, even if I lied, I think that area would of quickly become restricted and no one would have been able to enter it for the remainder of the trip. Not to mention I wouldn't have been able to put it back up on top of the other crates."
"So, the mole would of only had one chance?" Roy said.
"Yes, which also makes me think that it wasn't planed, or anything. The mole just saw an opportunity for some victims. He didn't really care who, or how many, or even that they were saved somehow. He just wanted fear and despair to take over and possibly get us to stop trusting each other. Or make us think that the Reaper was on board."
"That would make a bit of sense." Pichu said.
"But that's all just speculation on your part." Zelda said.
"Yeah, I agree with Zelda, if it's just speculation on your part it's just a gigantic waste of time." Sonic said. "The mole probably made sure to leave no clues behind to who he was."
"Oh, but he did." I replied.
Everyone looked at me in shock. "What?" They all said.
"Yes, the mole has left several clues behind, perhaps due to arrogance, or carelessness." I said. "Or maybe he was just going too fast."
"Just what were these clues?" Luigi wondered.
A smile crossed my face. "Several." I replied.
"If he's just going to continue to use vague blanket statements, this is going to be a bigger waste of time than I thought." Sonic said. "I'm out of here. I want to get to sleep." Sonic however was suddenly paralyzed. Mewtwo had raised his hand and froze him in his place.
"You should stick around Sonic." Mewtwo said. "I've known for a while that there has been a mole here within the Smashers, and I've been watching over this person, to make sure nothing too bad happened."
The other Smashers were all just staring a bit offended at Mewtwo. "You knew all this time?" Peach said.
"I made sure nothing too bad happened." Mewtwo calmly said, "and nothing too life threatening has happened. Now, Nugai, why don't you tell us who you think the mole is and the mistakes this person made."
"If you know, why don't you just say it out loud?" I wondered.
Mewtwo just chuckled. "Please, you know me by now, I never let anyone take the easy way out. Besides, think of it as revenge for Master Hand not renewing my contract. I'm a valuable asset, and I'm just proving it to him."
Everyone just paused and stared at Mewtwo in disbelief. "What?" They all said rather annoyed.
"Speaking of the Hand, where did he go?" I wondered.
Everyone just looked around a bit confused. "Where did they go?" Claus said confused.
"They were with us, right?"
"Not really." Meta Knight said. "They vanished once we all started doing all of the resolutions. I think they feared that after the newcomers they were next."
"Now then, Nugai, who is the mole?" Mewtwo asked. "And please try to be quick about this and not use any more blanket statements. It's getting annoying."
"Hold it, don't change the subject." Peach said. "You let all this happen just because of Master Hand not renewing your contract!? Can you possibly be even more petty?"
"Yes." Mewtwo replied bluntly. "I want the mole to suffer. After all, he is personally responsible for my contract not being renewed!"
All of the Smashers just looked at each other a bit confused. "What?" Mario said confused.
"Did the mole light your contract on fire?" Pikachu asked.
"No, but that's close enough. The Mole, initially refused accepting the invitation to the Smashers." Mewtwo said.
Mario's eyes suddenly opened up in shock and horror. "Oh no..." he mouthed, I think he realized who the mole was. I don't think anyone else besides me noticed it though; everyone else was too transfixed on Mewtwo.
"When he came to us asking if the invitation was still open, it caused a bunch of paperwork that caused mine to essentially get lost in the shuffle, and by the time anyone noticed, it was far too late. So I want to see the mole suffer. I want to see each of his plans fail, and him get more and more miserable and frustrated." Mewtwo said, with a sinister smile across his face.
"And possibly put our lives on the line?" Captain Falcon snapped. "Because your paperwork was lost?"
Mewtwo just shrugged. "What was I supposed to do?"
"You could of revealed him." Captain Falcon said.
"But I can't." Mewtwo replied. "Sadly, even if you knew, none of us could. He has a certain political immunity. If we were to reveal him or her, that immunity could be brought up and it could be discrimination, so it had to be an outsider. Isn't that right Mario?"
Everyone glanced at Mario.
"Yes." Mario said. He was looking at the ground; his hat was covering his eyes. It was hardly doing anything to hide the tears coming out of his eyes. He really didn't want anyone to see him. His aura was a complete mess, a mix between frustration, sadness, and shock.
"How long did you know?" Mewtwo asked.
"I just figured it out." Mario admitted.
"I guess this would hurt you the most." Mewtwo said. "So Nugai, who is it?"
I was caught off guard and flinched at the mention of my name. All of the Smashers looked at me and began to make me feel even more nervous.
"Well, um... er... eh..." I began to stammer out.
"Sorry for putting you on the spot." Mewtwo said. He just placed his hand on my shoulder. "Breath in and out slowly, just say it when you're ready."
I closed my eyes and began to think. I began to recount every single event. I really shouldn't of said that I knew who the mole was before hand, I had a suspicion, but I wasn't fully sure if that person was the mole. I looked at all of the Smashers. In my mind I was just quickly going through each of them once more. Crossing off a mental checklist with all the clues that I had, or think I had. "Yes, it's all clear to me now." I said. "I now know who the mole is!"
"What?!" Everyone said shocked.
"You mean you didn't know before hand?" Ganondorf said annoyed.
"Well, I had a suspicion. And I figured that the mole would strike again tonight so I wanted to keep everyone together and figure out the mole, honestly I was hoping for a bit more group discussion to work through the last few things but that didn't happen."
"Then it's do or die time." Falco said. "Who is it?"
"Yes, the mole is one among us, but now I've figured it out." I said. "You did a good job of masking it, but the truth will always be revealed."
"Why don't you stop beating around the bush and actually just reveal who the mole is?" Samus said frustrated.
"Can't I do a whole deduction scene, and just watch as the mole's cocky facade breaks apart bit by bit in a battle of psychological warfare?" I wondered. "Watching as each new piece of evidence brought to the table acts like another stake going into their heart?"
"I've trained you so well." Mewtwo smiled.
Everyone else however was glaring at me rather impatiently. "No." They all said at once.
"Fine, I get it. You are the mole!" I shouted and pointed dramatically towards a Smasher. I imagined action lines and the music from Phoenix Wright beginning to blare. I was only hoping that the mole would have a similar over the top reaction like the characters in those games did. Much to my disappointment he just stood there calmly, his arms folded and with a rather smug look across his face.
Everyone else gasped in shock.
"No way!" Peach said.
"I don't believe it!" Bowser said.
"Impossible!" Ness added on.
Each of the Smashers had their own little shocked comment. Each of them staring at me, and then at the Smasher I was pointing at. After all, the one that I was now pointing at, was none other than Sonic the Hedgehog.
"That's a big claim." Sonic said, rather calmly. "You better have some proof to back that up."
"I do!" I said.
"So, what is it?" Sonic asked. "This ought to be good for a laugh."
"For starters, let's talk about your immunity that Mewtwo was just talking about." I said. "You're a third party, not necessarily loyal to the Smashers, but you're here. I'm not completely sure about all of the things regarding about the policies, but I know Sega hasn't been in a good position, and that could quickly come up as a discrimination card, or something."
"Or something?" Sonic laughed.
"You could just say 'I'm a good will ambassador.' or something." I replied. "That's why I think only Snake and myself could accuse you, as we're fellow outsiders."
Sonic's eye just twitched.
"In my world, Sega had to become a third party to survive after losing tons of money in poor investments, such as the Sega CD, and the Sega Saturn. The Dreamcast while good, wasn't strong enough to recoup the losses. At one point a single game called Shenmue had to infamously sell two copies to every single owner of the Dreamcast to break even. What's it like here?" I asked.
"I'd say about the same." Snake said. "Their stupid mistakes added up, to where they are today. Spending money on unnecessary things." Sonic just flinched. "As all of you know, Nintendo and Sega weren't always on good terms. In fact I'm sure they barely still tolerate each other, just their current closeness is a public act, the two big ones that are all that's left of the rebirth. I'm sure behind that facade they both want to still rip each other to shreds still. And wouldn't this seem like the perfect opportunity? Have someone who none of the normal Smashers could attack, and have him start destroying them from the inside. If anyone ever suspected anything, he could just play the discrimination card."
"And really the three people with the discrimination card are myself, Snake, and you Sonic." I said. "I know I'm innocent."
"And I know I'm innocent." Sonic said. "See how easy it is to say that? Why can we believe you?"
"Because my mind is an open book now." I said, "And if I was thinking of joining the Reaper or betraying the Smashers, Mewtwo would kill me faster than you can run. Mewtwo, Lucas, Ness, Claus, will you vouch for my innocence?"
"Of course." Lucas said.
"Yeah." Ness added on.
"We can do that." Claus said.
"Hold on!" Sonic said. "You've been getting rather friendly with them. You've been around those four the most during your time you were here!"
"Well, Mewtwo was teaching me how to fight, and I just felt more comfortable with the kid Smashers, to be honest." I replied. "I don't know how to talk to royalty, or a bounty hunter. Others made me really nervous to be around, for example Captain Falcon said he would blow my brains out if I'm remembering correctly."
"All four of them are psychics." Sonic said. "Don't you think that getting close to them would impede their ability to read your mind? That they would be afraid that their friend would betray the Smashers? Afraid of their friend's dark side?"
"That would require me thinking we actually were friends." Mewtwo said.
"Yeah, kind of figured that." I sighed. "Your sadistic tendencies kind of gave it away. Besides, I think psychics are better judges of characters because they can see the hidden side of people."
"I wonder what deep dark secrets you hold." Sonic laughed. "I bet you don't even care about this world."
"You're right." I replied. "I don't."
"Wait, what?!" Sonic said surprised.
All of the other Smashers looked at me in shock. There was some truth to it. "I've been about returning back to my world since day 1, and that hasn't changed. My opposition to the Reaper, and everything that followed has been based upon the false belief that I would leave once I fought and beat him. I could leave right now if I wanted to." The Smashers were clearly growing more and more frustrated with me.
"And why don't you?" Sonic asked.
"I want closure, I guess." I said. "I still have unanswered questions, such as if the person who tried to kill me by pushing over the crate is in fact you, or if I'm barking up the wrong tree. A Reaper is still running around. And perhaps most importantly, things have changed since I came here. But you tell me, should I care about a world that I will never be able to return to again in five days? Not caring now will bring less pain then. And even if I do return, time passes much faster here, if or when I come back, The Smashers as you or I know it probably won't exist. They'll be long gone. It will be a new batch. But, that's enough about me, Sonic! This is all about you, and why I think you're The Reaper's mole!" I pointed my finger at him dramatically. "So you can shut up, and stop trying to push the subject away from your prosecution!"
"Fine, fine," Sonic laughed. "Since you seem so certain of yourself, you must have some damning evidence, so let me hear it. What's your proof?"
"For starters, you're fast." I said.
There was about 5 seconds of silence, and then Sonic burst out into laughter. The other Smashers were just switching between looking at him and myself a bit shocked. Eventually he stopped and just glared at me. "Tell me something I don't know." Sonic replied.
Remain calm.
I had to remain calm. The moment I lost my cool, was the moment that Sonic had won. Although in hindsight, that was kind of a stupid thing to say...
"So what, I'm fast. If that's all the proof you have, you've got a lot of explaining to do." Sonic taunted.
"Don't worry." I laughed. "I'm just getting started. It's not that you're just fast. You also seemed to disappear, and reappear, not to mention that you were rather jumpy."
"Your proof is really flimsy." Sonic said.
"I have to agree with Sonic." Luigi said.
"Not yet. Let me finish" I said. "Sonic was absent during the time when The Reaper attacked the Smash Mansion. However, the Reaper needed a Smash Pendant to get through the barrier. He didn't get through by forcing his way in, but he just walked right in. You let him borrow your Smash Pendant."
"So, I was just hiding elsewhere in the mansion." Sonic said.
"Not really." I replied. "The mansion had a way for tracking where each Smasher was. And unfortunately, you weren't in it!"
"But Sonic was in the room with us!" Luigi said
"Yeah." Several others added on.
"Sorry, I meant when the Reaper's attack started." I said. I suddenly paused.
Wait, I didn't check the wall, was he even there when I did the head count? Shit... I was so focused on Toon Link... try and remember, there were a few missing, but I only remember Toon Link since we ran to get him... crap, crap, crap...
Thankfully Sonic had fallen for my bluff. "So what, one time I wasn't there." Sonic laughed. "Is that enough to make you all think that I sold you all out to the Reaper?"
I breathed a sigh of relief. "No, it isn't." I replied. "But don't worry, soon you'll be sorry. After all earlier that day you told Mewtwo and I that you had places to go and people to see. In case you had forgotten, the Smash Mansion was isolated in a forest far away from any cities."
"And I'm the fastest thing alive." Sonic said.
"You claimed to be the fastest thing alive, but, if I'm remembering correctly, you were actually one of the last Smashers to get to the Smash Mansion."
"I've never been there before." Sonic sighed. "It was quite annoying to be honest. Running through that forest, not knowing what to do, not having Master Hand explain to us how to actually find the place before ejecting us from that ship."
"How did other newcomers find the Smash Mansion?" I wondered.
"Master Hand did explain to us how the pendants worked," Claus said. "During the paper signing and stuff."
"And he sent out a telepathic message to everyone telling them to get to the Smash Mansion." Ness added on.
"He did?" I said a bit confused. "I never got that."
"Same with me." Snake said.
"And me." Sonic added on.
Everyone paused and looked at us.
"If you were unconscious, you probably wouldn't have gotten the message, or maybe Master Hand didn't exactly put out for your frequency since you three are different." Mewtwo said.
"Well then, looks like we were left out of the loop intentionally by Master Hand, I guess he didn't fully trust us." Sonic said.
"I think that would be a wise choice then." Snake laughed. "We didn't know. Still, Nugai how did you find out about the pendant's power?"
I paused for a few seconds. "Someone told me."
"And you told me." Snake said.
"Wait, who is that someone?" Sonic wondered. "If it's the Reaper..."
"It isn't," I replied. "It was an old man I met in the park and played chess with."
"And how did the old man know?"
"That's not my place to know or care." I replied.
"What if that old man was the Reaper in disguise?" Sonic wondered.
"I don't remember the Reaper being able to transform into a glowing, blue, naked person." I replied.
Everyone just stared at me. "Glowing, bule, naked person?" Ness said. The psychics read my mind and they just had a blank expression on their faces.
"He wasn't kidding..." Claus said.
"Anyways, what I want to know is how did you know about the pendant's powers?" I asked.
"I found out about it when the search party actually came and got me." Sonic said annoyed. "When everyone was using it, it was quick and easy to learn, and with the Smash Pendant I could easily find my way back to the mansion, I'd never have to worry about being lost, or missing dinner or something. Civilization could be a long ways away, and I could still get there instantly either with my speed, or with Chaos Control."
"With Chaos Control." I said. "Not only that, with Chaos control, you can pass through concrete matter. Can't you?"
Sonic just shrugged. "Yeah." He said. "So what?"
I cracked a small smile. "The way I see the attack playing out there is either one of two possibilities. The first you just threw your Smash Pendant to the Reaper who was outside of the barrier and returned into the Smash Mansion and then the Reaper destroyed the barrier for show, or you handed it to him outside of the barrier and used Chaos Control to teleport into the house, since the Reaper destroyed the barrier to let you in, but you didn't expect the security system to block all entrances and exits to the house."
"So what? I can teleport, so can plenty of other Smashers." Sonic said.
"Yeah, I know." I said. "But, while that wasn't your first slip up, it does give your first one a bit of context. At least if you really are the mole..."
"So you're not sure yourself." Sonic laughed.
"No, I'm sure." I replied. "I have to be at this point..." It was do or die time. "Prior to that attack, there was another attack from the Reaper a few days earlier. I was attacked by a copy of the Reaper, after it was defeated it turned out that it was just a reprogrammed assist trophy. However, the Assist Trophy can only last a few minutes tops, but I was being chased around by the Reaper's assist trophy for quite a while. Much longer than a normal assist trophy lasted."
"And what does that have to do with me?" Sonic wondered.
"Lucas suggested that it had a much bigger battery than all of the other assist trophies. But this assist trophy also seemed to have memories. This was something chaotic that the Reaper couldn't have predicted."
"What are you suggesting?" Sonic asked.
"I'm suggesting that the battery that was in the assist trophy was actually a chaos emerald!" I replied. "The Chaos Emerald stirred up the sealed memories in the assist trophy. And things just happened. Assist trophies are supposed to be weaker than their real life counterparts, I imagine as a safety precaution, or in case something like this happened. And while he couldn't truly compare to the real Reaper, the assist trophy was still much stronger than a normal assist trophy or wireframe. If what was inside was really a chaos emerald, I think that would explain a lot of the things that happened."
Sonic just laughed. "So what, he could have found the Chaos Emerald anywhere."
"Or it could have been given to him." I said. "When the search party went out for the Reapers corpse, you disappeared. I actually think you went to find the wireframe, because if anyone else found it, and found the chaos emerald inside, you would immediately be under suspicion. Which is quite a bold move for a jewel that can be found 'anywhere'."
"So, just because I went out on sentry duty to make sure that the Reaper wasn't watching in the shadows, that immediately casts suspicion on me?" Sonic wondered.
"Considering at the time we all thought that the Reaper was dead, I'd say yes." I replied.
"I thought that maybe he would have supporters watching too." Sonic said, shrugging off my comment.
"But if he did have supporters watching, I doubt they would of let me get to the mansion." I said.
"Come on, did anyone even think that the Reaper would die from an explosion? That would be rather anticlimactic, don't you think?" Sonic said. "I think it was perfectly reasonable that he was still alive. I've survived an explosion in space, I've come back from the dead, I've survived reentering the atmosphere, Shadow has survived reentering the atmosphere. Bowser has survived a black hole, a big bang, and being knocked into a sun! Ganondorf has had swords impaling him and he doesn't die. You think the Reaper would be dead in our world?"
"He kind of does bring up a valid point..." Pikachu said.
"But, I thought those were just like movies in this world." I said.
"Sort of." Mewtwo said. "Think of what came out as movies, were based upon real events. They actually happened, and it's reenacting the events. Some times some of the things are a little embellished... but other times, it's true to what happened."
I just glanced at Bowser, Wario, and Ganondorf. "How the hell aren't you guys arrested for all that you do?"
"Community service goes a long way." Bowser replied. "That and being a king, and how it would be war, and the amount of people who think it's just a show, or festival between nations... Ignorance is bliss."
"We really don't think about it that much..." Ganondorf said.
"I can tell." I said a bit annoyed. I glanced back at Sonic. "Now where was I?"
"That I apparently separated from the search party to fetch a chaos emerald that was inside a wireframe." Sonic said, looking at his glove, rather bored.
"Okay, right." I said. "That wireframe wasn't found."
"Why would it be?" Sonic asked. "It was practically at ground zero of the explosion. It would have been vaporized."
"And if there was a chaos emerald in it, I think that would have been all the more reason for you to separate and look for it." I said. "They have been broken in the past, you would need to make sure it was still in one piece."
"Still, the wireframe wasn't found at the scene of the explosion, it could have been vaporized." Sonic said.
"I don't think that's the case, I think you found it." I said. "Lucario and the Reaper had fought a bit and put some distance between them and where the wireframe was. And they kept on battling while I was running. Lucario had given me three minutes to get away, before he did his sacrifice. The wireframe might not of been present at where the explosion actually took place. I also think that if something like that hit the chaos emerald, the damage would have been much more severe than a crater in a forest..."
Everyone just looked at me a bit confused. "What do you mean?" Marth asked, as he took a drink from his cup.
"The chaos emeralds are chaotic." I replied. "Six of them were able to blow a giant chunk out of the moon. In the Chaos Emerald's mythos, it's also said that they could transform thoughts into power. This is only a theory on my end, but if they got consumed by an explosion essentially made out of the will of someone, I'd think that they would react to that will and also explode. If it was a chaos emerald in there, and the Reaper realized what Lucario was doing, he could have surmised this possibility as well, and drawn Lucario away from the chaos emerald."
"And why would the Reaper do that?" Sonic wondered. "Isn't he here to kill us all?"
"The chaos emeralds also have the ability to warp time and space." I replied. "He still want's to prevent our two worlds from colliding. I'd imagine that the power of Chaos Control being activated accidentally and with no one near it to control it would scare him. Anyways, my belief is you went to find the wireframe and chaos emerald, to hide the emerald and destroy the wireframe. But, at the time you couldn't destroy the wireframe."
"Come on, I'm the fastest thing alive, if I was the mole, I certainly would of destroyed that wireframe, it would have been over in a second." Sonic said.
"But, then that wouldn't explain the wireframe that you found in the storage room. Or rather, I should say, the wireframe that you placed in the storage room after the accident. You were the one who cut the straps holding the crates and pushed them towards us. You used the power of Chaos Control to get out of the room immediately after. We didn't notice because, PK Flash, and PK Love created a bright light. If we saw it, we just thought that your Chaos Control was part of the PK Flash and PK Love."
Everyone was staring at me. A few of them seemed rather tired though, and wanted to go to bed. A few were beginning to fall asleep while sitting down. I was also feeling a bit sleepy as my eyes were getting rather heavy.
Better wrap this up quickly then…
"The wireframe was completely damaged too, Dr. Mario said that the muscles were torn, presumably from pushing the crate. We also couldn't figure out what it had transformed into previously. My guess is that the chaos emerald had short circuited it." I continued. "I also think that the muscles being torn was from the fight with the Reaper. As a copy, and it fighting and over exerting itself, it was damaged beyond operation."
"Is that all? Just some circumstantial evidence and your guesses?" Sonic wondered.
It was just slightly odd to me, I was expecting the Smashers to all jump on Sonic's side. Or maybe they didn't trust him either. "Yes." I replied. "Without a shadow of a doubt you're the mole!"
"And, to complete this comedy, what is my motivation?" Sonic wondered, still keeping his smug look. I just wanted to punch him in the face. "Why would I want to kill the Smashers?"
"You told me yourself. The reunion of the Sega Superstars." I said. "You wanted to go back to the days of the Sega Superstars, and the Smashers were an obstacle to that."
Sonic's reaction was unexpected. He suddenly began to burst into laughter. "Nugai, that's rich! None of you guys can actually believe that, can you?"
"I think Nugai got everything correct." Mewtwo said.
"I can verify a few other things too regarding that the wireframe that was found." Dr. Mario said. "We did some repair work and it was in fact able to transform into the Reaper. And that the internal organs had residue from a chaos emerald over them."
Sonic looked at all of the Smashers. "Come on, why are you believing him? He just made this whole thing up!"
"You're aura tells a different story." Lucario said. "Despite your good acting, you're nervous!"
Everyone surrounded Sonic. They were ready to attack at a moment's notice.
"It's over." Mario said.
Sonic just began to burst into laughter. "This is rich!" He laughed. "I knew it would come down to this. You're all gullible idiots!"
"What?" Lucas said.
"That's right." Sonic laughed. "I admit it! I'm the mole!"
Everyone stared at the blue hedgehog.
"But why?" Mario asked. His voice was shaking.
"Nugai got it right. The Sega Superstars. I hated all of you." Sonic said. "You could all keep walking into the future as some timeless icons, while me and my comrades were all doomed to become a relic of the past! Doomed to obscurity forever. I decided that it couldn't happen, and I wanted to bring you all down to your knees to know the suffering that I had endured. I had met the Reaper a few times before, and I decided to serve him. If there was anyone who could return me to my former glory it was him."
I just stared at Sonic in shock.
"So, I traveled around and gathered information for him. If there was any rumor he would know about it. All that it would require was my unending loyalty and the entire alliance that I had commanded. Everyone else seemed rather amused that they had a chance to return to their former glory. But then something happened. I was invited to the Smashers! I initially refused, because of the principle. I didn't want to associate myself with you people. But then, The Reaper said that I could relay information from there, from the biggest neutral force in the world. Since he had burned his bridges here in the past, he realized afterwards how important it was for someone to be in there. It would be his best chance to grasp any and all power he wanted, I would act behind the scenes, with hopes of aggravating the factions, leak some information here or there, and if things ever got ugly I'd just get out of there instantly. It was perfect. With the Smashers out of the way, the last hope for this world would vanish. And then, something unexpected happened. You appeared Nugai."
"I appeared?" I questioned.
"Yes." Sonic said. "You appeared. And everything changed. The Reaper realized that you could ruin his plans, and thus he decided to stop for the time being, he initially called you into this world because he wanted you to join him, so you could work together." Everyone stared at me. "But, since you lost your memories, you were just a lost cause, you just wanted to defend the Smashers. You might as well just die! These worthless people aren't worth saving."
All of the Smashers lunged for Sonic to try and hold him in place, however, Sonic had moved away. He just looked at all of the Smashers. "You're all too slow." He laughed.
I ran for Sonic and swung my sword. However he suddenly turned into Super Sonic, and caught the weapon.
"But how?" I asked.
Super Sonic just smiled. "How? The Reaper made it so that I didn't need the seven chaos emeralds to do this."
I was tossed aside. The other Smashers had all recovered and rushed for Sonic, however a golden barrier appeared around him and stopped all of the other Smashers from reaching him. The barrier then expanded and knocked everyone away. "You're all so weak, I don't even need to touch you to send you flying." Sonic laughed. "I'm going to enjoy watching you all die!"
"So you did all of this because the Sega studios closed?" I asked.
"You don't know this since you came from that back ass place but those studios are world powers!" Sonic replied. "What we did was just do things that would keep the general populace entertained so the world didn't go up in flames like it is now!"
I looked at the Smashers. Most of them just nodded.
"It was the way of preventing war previously." Princess Peach said. "But once the Sega studios collapsed, so did everything else. Whatever peace we tried to have, it disappeared in an instant."
I looked at all of the Smashers. Each of them nodded in agreement. "The public doesn't really know this." Mario said.
"So this justifies everything else?" I asked Sonic.
Sonic just shrugged. "Why do I care what happens to anyone else? I'm the only person who matters."
I wanted to run at him, and punch his face in. I wanted to wipe that cocky smile right off of his face. "I thought I knew you. I thought you fought against injustice."
"You just projected a made up personality on me." Sonic said. "That's all."
I clenched my fist. "Sonic!" I shouted in rage.
Samus just placed her hand on my shoulder. "No, he does have a point." She said. "I feel like people don't know me, and project what they think I am on me."
"Tell me Samus, how long is it until you get a perverted director, who will force his own vision on you?" Sonic asked. "Suddenly make you afraid of Ridley after you've battled him what... 8 times? That such information would only be found in some comic that was made 18 years after the series debut, and only available to a fraction of the fanbase? Because that's what happened to me with Sonic 2006. 'We have these new toys, let's do this!' 'No, let's do that!' nobody knew what they were doing and it led to that mess. But in the end, I got paid for that train wreck."
I felt like I had just received a critical hit to my childhood.
It was also super effective.
I just collapsed onto my knees. For some reason I hadn't noticed that I was really exhausted up until now.
"What a wimp, you can't even accept the truth!" Sonic laughed. "Or maybe it's something else…"
"What is the truth?" I asked.
"The truth? I'm a selfish person who only thinks about himself. That I'm not going to vanish into obscurity!" Sonic said. "If I'm going to die, I'm going to go out with a bang! That being said, I think everyone can come out of hiding now."
There was a flash of green light, and standing behind Sonic was a large amount of people. I figured that these were the SEGA Superstars. I could hardly make any of them out. Sonic just began to laugh.
"We are the SEGA Superstars." Sonic said. "And we will replace you Smashers! I figure the drugs must be kicking in right about now."
"Drugs?!" Dr. Mario said.
"That last batch of apple cider had a little something extra in them." Sonic laughed. "Courtesy of me." Several of the Smashers suddenly began to fall down to the ground rather weakened. "Just a nice little knock out drug, to make you all easy pickings. Now then, I think the Smashville slaughter shall begin!"
I just drew the sheathed sword. My vision was beginning to get blurry, but I figured I could do something with the Akashic point's power. "That sword of yours is weak." Sonic said glaring down at me. "What do you think you can do with it?"
I began to fall forwards. My strength was leaving me. "SONIC!" An outraged Master Hand shouted.
"Crap, they've got the hands here." One of them said.
"We should retreat for now then." Another said.
My eyes were too blurry, I couldn't distinguish who was who. Then again even if I could I only knew the Sonic gang.
"You're right." I heard Sonic say. There was suddenly a golden barrier surrounding them, and Sonic and the SEGA Superstars just floated up into the sky.
"We'll finish this at SEGA Island!" Sonic laughed.
Soon I fell asleep.
"Are we really staying out here all summer?" A voice asked.
I looked around. I was at a cottage. To me, it was an extremely familiar cottage, it was owned by my family. Essentially all of my aunts and uncles had all pooled together to buy a massive cottage that we could all visit any time. Nowadays though, most people didn't come to the cottage. Most of my cousins had part time jobs that they went to during the summer. There might be the odd weekend where the older ones would bring their friends for drinking and partying, but beyond that it didn't get too much use.
"I don't really have anything else to do." The words escaped from my mouth. I looked at the person who spoke earlier. It was that kid again that I didn't recognize. He was definitely younger by a few years. Maybe parts of my memory were still foggy, maybe I did know him, just my mind was still a blur and meshing everything together. Or maybe it was just a nonsensical dream. But for him to be here, why would I bring him here?
Damn it, I don't know!
When I woke up I was in the town hall on a mat, and underneath a blanket. Most of the other Smashers were like this. Link, Wario, and Mewtwo were rushing around tending to the Smashers.
"Nugai," Master Hand said rushing towards me. "You're up. Can you help the others?"
"Sure…" I said a bit confused. I managed to glance at a clock. It was currently 6AM. The knockout drug had kept us under for several hours. I made my way to the washroom, and just quickly took a leak. As I was cleaning my hands I glanced at myself in the mirror. I splashed some water up on my face and let off a sigh. "What's going on…" I muttered.
I got out and quickly began to help with whatever was needed. Much to my surprise, Mewtwo, Link and Wario hadn't gotten any sleep yet. They had been looking over us after putting away all of the tables and stuff from the new years eve party.
"Nugai's finally awake." Wario grumbled. "Does this mean we can leave now and get some sleep?"
"No." Mewtwo said. "Nugai, replace everyone's towels on their foreheads."
I just walked around to the various Smashers. Each of them had a towel on their foreheads. I didn't know why.
"You only had a bit of the drug." Mewtwo said. "You were lucky. Everyone else who finished the cup that they had, they've been sweating like crazy."
I just looked a bit afraid. One by one the other Smashers woke up, including Dr. Mario. He quickly rushed off and returned several minutes later with a liquid. "Give this to everybody who even had a little bit." He sternly instructed.
I got a cup, and just drank it. I was expecting it to taste disgusting, but it really just tasted like cold jasmine tea. They fed the ones who were still unconscious, and within a few minutes they were back up.
"Nugai!" I suddenly felt a hand slap my back. I turned around to see the kid Smashers standing there. "Congratulations, you figured out who the mole was." Ness said.
I just looked at the other Smashers who were getting their bearings. "A lot of good it did us. If Master and Crazy Hand weren't here, we probably would of all been killed." I said.
"Come on, let's go find Sonic and kick his ass." Claus said.
I was a bit surprised at how forward Claus was. Maybe I was just too used to Lucas' reserved nature. The other kid Smashers also nodded in agreement. "For right now, I'd like to recover. We should wait until Dr. Mario says it's okay to go. With how he made even those of us who were awake take it, I think the drug did a bit more than just knock us out." I said.
"Yeah, my head is kind of splitting." Popo said.
"And even though we've been out for so long, I still feel tired." Toon Link said.
"Still, how did Sonic block all of us psychics from reading his mind..." Ness said.
"Silver the Hedgehog." I said. "One of his friends, and I imagine part of the SEGA Superstars. He's a psychic hedgehog who can also use Chaos Control. He was most likely the reason for why no one could read Sonic's memories about his dealings with the Reaper."
"But I thought Silver just had psychokinesis." Claus said. "Only being able to move objects with his mind. It's probably something else like the Reaper somehow made his mind unreadable…"
I wanted to collapse and just get some more much needed sleep, but it appeared that things were about to get a bit difficult within the Smashers. Sonic's betrayal had sowed the seeds of distrust.
A very tired and frustrated Link had just snapped. I didn't catch what he said at first, but every voice died down in an instant, and every head in the town hall turned towards Link and Snake. "How can we be sure that you aren't an mole too?" Link asked, his hand on his sword and ready to attack at a moments notice.
"Ask Nugai." Snake said lighting a cigarette, showing no concern that he was inside, or of his current situation.
Everyone just turned to me. "So, Nugai, why isn't Snake a mole?"
I was taken aback by the sudden question. "How should I know?" I asked.
"You saw something that proves my innocence." Snake said.
I did?
Honestly, now everything was just a blur. Things were unclear. I could barely remember anything that happened before I touched the Akashic point.
Wait... In the jungle, when we met up.
"There was that camp in the jungle. You were arguing with that person. Then they attacked you and we had to fight to escape the camp."
"Correct." Snake said. "It was a Sony camp, and the person you saw me arguing with was Raiden. He's part of the PAS."
"P A S?"
"Playstation All-Stars." Snake explained. "A group much like the Super Smash Brothers, or the Sega Super Stars. An elite fighting group composed of their all-stars. Made with the intent of actually ending this war. Of course they don't just have their own people, but also some 3rd Parties too. Like Sonic and I are 3rd parties for you."
It was quite clear the effects of Sonic's betrayal. All of the other Smashers were now nervous and about to go on a witch hunt. The Smashers would be destroyed from the inside. "Why should we take your word for it?" Link snapped. "Both of you are outsiders."
"Link, stop!" Toon Link said. "Nugai is innocent!"
"Yeah right…" Link said. "I bet he knew who the mole was the whole time, and just saw it fit to reveal him then and there, because his own goals might have been compromised."
Muttering began to cover the room. It began to get louder, and louder, until eventually I couldn't even hear myself think. It was just so loud and over powering. All of the Smashers were getting angry at each other, about the only ones who weren't were the kid Smashers who were just in a constant state of confusion or terror. Lucas was beginning to tear up. "Please stop fighting, please stop fighting." He whimpered as he burried himself into his brother's chest, covering his ears with his hands to try and block everything out. Claus just embraced his brother and patted him on his back, he was whispering something into Lucas' ear to try and comfort him. But that did nothing to help.
"Nugai!" Link was shouting. He was being restrained by Captain Falcon and Ganondorf. Both of them were clearly struggling to hold back the warrior.
"Everyone." Mario shouted. "It will get us nowhere if we start suspecting each other. If we start fighting it will just make us easy pickings for the Sega Superstars, the Playstation All-Stars, or the Reaper."
Within a second Mario had completely calmed down everyone.
"For better or for worse, we're here, and Sonic betrayed us. We have to believe in each other." Mario said.
"Believe in each other? HA! I'm not listening to this Saturday morning bullcrap." Link said walking away. He was soon met with a fist to the face from Captain Falcon.
"I think you just need to take a nice little nap." Captain Falcon said. "You know how cranky you are when you get sleep deprived Link."
Link fell down to the floor and was soon transported to a storage closet so he could sleep peacefully.
The two hands came back into the Town Hall and looked at everyone. "I see everyone is up. Is anyone hurt?" Master Hand asked.
"Only our spirit." Mario said.
Master Hand continued to float there. "The SEGA Superstars." He sighed. "I can't believe this, so, they were biding their time, and now work for the Reaper. Sonic had everyone fooled."
"Mostly everyone." Mewtwo said.
I could only imagine that Master Hand was glaring at Mewtwo. "We're going to have a discussion about this later, Mewtwo." he had an extremely threatening tone in his voice. Mewtwo however didn't flinch.
"I'm sorry, I'm no longer under contract." Mewtwo replied. "Since you're not my employer anymore, I had no obligation to tell you anything."
"Mewtwo…" Master Hand growled. "If you think that I'm going to renew your contract after you essentially let the mole do multiple things because you're extremely selfish and petty, you have another think coming!"
Mewtwo actually backed away terrified. I was just surprised; I didn't expect to ever see a look of fear on his face. A lot of other Smashers were also glaring at Mewtwo. "Mewtwo," Captain Falcon said. "Why don't we talk about some repair costs to my ship." He cracked his knuckles. "There could have been so much that was avoided if you just said that Sonic was the mole."
There was silence and Mewtwo just teleported away.
"I'd say we all go find Mewtwo and get him back for this, but that would be a waste of effort." Master Hand said. "We should probably just all get ready and go to kick the SEGA Superstars ass."
Everyone seemed to like that idea. "Yeah!" They cheered.
Master Hand clenched his fist. "Yes, that is probably the best choice. It's time for us to enter this war, and end it!"
Everyone began to cheer. It seemed as though everyone's spirit had been revived. However, Master Hand floated over to me.
"Nugai, I want you to stay behind." Master Hand said.
I was in shock. "But!"
"It's probably safer here." Master Hand said.
"But, I can help all of you!" I said. "Please. This is my fight too; I'm a Smasher as well! Right?"
"You are." Master Hand said. "But, you shouldn't involve yourself with this. The SEGA Superstars were some of our greatest enemies back in the day. Please, stay out of this. This is something we have to do ourselves. But you also have something only you can do yourself. Go, fight the Reaper and end this battle."
"I understand." I said.
"But don't worry, you won't be alone." Master Hand said. He snapped his fingers and several assist trophies walked towards me. Saki, Isaac, Little Mac, Kat, and Ana.
"I don't need assist trophies, I can do this by myself." I said.
"Hey, who ever said we were assist trophies." Saki said.
I looked at Master Hand shocked. "What?"
"These are the real ones, not assist trophies. They will help you in your battle. I trust that this is satisfactory." Master Hand said.
"I don't want to endanger anyone." I said. "It would be better if they went with you guys to support the battle against the SEGA Superstars."
"You won't, we're Smashers, we're used to doing dangerous things that could cost us our lives." Little Mac said.
"Besides, they are the elite." Master Hand said. "You probably believed that we were neutral, and tried to stay out of the war. While there is some truth to that, there were occasionally events that needed some attention. These are the Smashers that while unlisted and away from the public's eye, are apart of our core and do the dirty deeds that need to be done."
I glanced at them. Two of them were kids... I estimated about 4 or 5 years old, it just kind of creeped me out a bit. Those two little girls were possibly murderers.
"Well then, you best get used to them, they're going to help you whether you like it or not." Master Hand said. "Everyone else, rest, or do what you want for today, you can fall asleep here in the town hall, we depart tomorrow morning."
I just glanced at the five of them. I didn't know what exactly to do. "I guess you can disperse." I said. "I'm too exhausted to go and fight the Reaper right now."
The five of them then went their own merry little way.
I went out of the town hall for some fresh air, and saw Mario walking away to a constructed building. He was actually looking depressed. I decided to follow him. Inside the building was a coffee shop, which sort of looked more like a bar to me...
Mario was sitting on a bar stool and just glanced up at me when I came through the door. On the other side of the bar was a pigeon.
"Can I get you anything?" The pigeon asked.
"Um... Hot chocolate."
Mario just glanced at me. He was drinking coffee.
"Nugai, I owe you an appology." he said. "Please sit here."
I just sat down at the bar beside him.
"About what?" I asked.
"It's my fault that Sonic joined the Smashers." Mario said.
"Don't beat yourself up over this." I said. "It's not your fault."
Mario just let off a weak laugh. "I just thought some good will would help Sonic get rid of the bitterness in his heart. But, I was wrong."
"Bitterness?" I asked. The pidgeon had finished preparing the hot chocolate and just gave it to me. I took a sip. It was okay. Not as chocolatey as I'd make it.
"Resentment, hatred." Mario said. "I didn't think it was this deeply rooted in Sonic."
I felt like I only knew part of the story. Well, I knew quite a bit actually. From my world, Sega stopped being a console manufacture with the Dreamcast, and began publishing their games on other systems. It was the result of them bleeding money from previous bad desiscions regarding the Sega Saturn, the scrapped Sega Neptune, making a game that would never recoup the costs unless every owner of the dreamcast bought two copies, and then collapsing from the weight.
But in this world how did it all play out with the studios? I wanted to know. "What happened?" I asked.
"Nugai, please make yourself comfortable, because this is a tale of friendships, rivalries, tragedy, success, and failure; this is the tale of Sonic the Hedgehog."
"And Mario does it once again!" A reporter said. "After the Crashes, and everyone thinking that the studios were done for, he makes an amazing recovery! He has surely gained the title Super Mario! Is there nothing he can't do?!"
Mario was in front of a large crowd. He was dressed up in a suit. Along side him was Bowser who was wearing a suit, Luigi also in a suit, a red haired Peach, or as she was called back then, Princess Toadstool, and finally there was a Toad with them.
"Mario, Mario, Mario!" people were chanting. Amoung them, Mario noticed a young blue hedgehog.
"I thank you for your cheers. But, all of this couldn't have been done without the help of everyone else involved in the development." Mario said. "All of our hard work has paid off. From Luigi's, Koopa's, Toad's, and Toadstool's, this was an effort of all of us working together. Not to mention all of the people who worked behind the scenes."
Thunderous applause erupted. Soon the five were directed to a table where people began to line up and wait for autograph signings. This was the success of Super Mario Bros. Eventually that blue hedgehog that Mario had seen had gotten to the front of the line.
"And what's your name?" Mario asked.
"I'm Sonic!" the blue hedgehog said. "And one day I'm going to be just like you!"
Mario smiled. "I wish you much luck on that. It's a long hard road. But I know you will be able to do it if you put your mind to it."
And that was the first encounter between Mario and Sonic.
Time passed. Because of the success of Super Mario Bros. a new life was thrown into the various studios. They worked, and icons rised.
"And Mario Madness strikes again." a reporter said. "After the success of Super Mario Bros, comes Super Mario Bros. 2!"
People were cheering.
That same blue hedgehog was there in the crowd.
And more time passed.
"It just doesn't stop with Super Mario Bros. 3!"
The success and fanfare kept on coming. And then one day, while going about his daily routine, he saw a commercial on TV for Sonic the Hedgehog. It shocked him. "So, he's with them." Mario said. He kept a smile on his face and just nodded. "I wonder how you'll do?" It was then and there he decided to go to the premier.
He must of turned a lot of heads when he showed up at the premier.
"Is that Mario?" Reporters were asking. "What's he doing here?"
"Is he allowed to check out the competition?"
"What's going on?"
"Is this going to be a PR Nightmare?"
Cameras were constantly flashing, but it was nothing new to Mario. He just walked up to Sonic and extended his hand.
"Congratulations, kid." Mario said.
Sonic looked in shock at Mario. "You remember me!?"
"Of course." Mario smiled. "I wish you luck on your work in the future. But now I know I can't just rest on my laurels."
Sonic nodded, and shook Mario's hand. Flashes erupted once again.
It of course didn't take very long before the media started to do some stupid things. "Mario is too old school, and white collared. He's too nice for his own good." Such things as that began to come out of the Sega studios.
Mario was positive it wasn't Sonic saying those things. That he wouldn't erupt into this childish war. Mario just did his best to ignore the comments.
"Word is that you're too safe nowadays." A reporter said. "What are your thoughts on that?"
"No comment." Mario said. He tried to ignore the taunts. Nothing good would ever come of it. They were just always looking for their next thing for their tabloids. In the end he thought that people would ultimately choose what they thought was fun.
One day on his way home from doing stuff for the development of Super Mario Kart, he stopped by a riverbank. It was evening time, and he looked out towards the setting sun. It had been a long time since Mario had stopped to look at the sunset. And then he paused.
He heard someone crying. He looked down the river bank to see a brown haired boy wearing red. He walked down to him. "Are you okay?" Mario asked.
The boy didn't even look up at him. "No." He said, just burying his head in his arms deeper. Mario just sat down beside him.
"What's wrong? Do you feel like talking about it?'
"I debuted as SEGA's mascot, but now I've been replaced." He said punching the ground beside him. "By that stupid hedgehog."
Mario just glanced at the kid. He pretty much knew who it was now. Alex Kidd.
"I hate him! I hate him!" Alex snapped. "Everyone's happy that he's there and we're doing well, but now I'll be left in the dust, forgotten."
"I've heard that it's a brutal and cruel world." Mario said. "That you have to step on people to get your own success, you have to push others out of the way, and do things no matter what the cost to stay ahead."
"Yeah." Alex said. "It almost makes you wonder if Mario has that problem."
"I wouldn't know." Mario replied.
"Because of Mario, and seeing what he did, I decided to also become a star." Alex Kidd said. "And I was for a while. Until one day when Sonic showed up, and then I was forgotten about... The directors were all happy about the new blood, and wanted to use him. And well, Sonic's first game came out and everything changed. It's kind of hard to feel appreciated, or that people like you, or even know about you, when Mario himself had gone to see Sonic to wish him luck."
Mario just froze. "I'm sorry." Mario said.
"What are you apologizing for?" Alex asked, not even looking back.
"I feel sorry for you." Mario replied. "I should have supported you more back then..."
"Don't be. After all, I'm just a video game character, so as long as there's no one to control me, I can't do anything but just stand here stopped."
"That's a rather grim way to look at it… Maybe you need to be a bit more aggressive." Mario said. "Just ask, and maybe you will get a new game."
Alex just shook his head. "Sonic has them all in the palm of his hand..." Alex said. "They won't give me the time of day."
"You don't know..."
"I do." Alex snapped. "I went to talk to Sonic and congratulate him too, but what he said is probably going to be stuck in my head forever."
"And what did he say?" Mario wondered.
"Get lost. You're old news, it's all over now." Alex said. "A little shrimp like you, you're just going to be annoying. No one want's to see your ugly face again. I mean have you even seen this poster? It gave me nightmares."
"Did he mean the Enchanted Castle one?" Mario asked.
"Yeah."
"To be fair that one was kind of ugly and the artist should have been fired…" Mario said.
"Yeah…" Alex said. He let off a heavy sigh and just began to laugh. "You're probably not going to believe me, but that Sonic the Hedgehog, he's bad news. He has some darkness inside of him..."
Mario just nodded. "I've seen a lot of people think that they are the next big thing, and get consumed by arrogance."
Alex just nodded. "Sonic though, he's something much nastier than anything I've seen before, he's really ready to do anything to stay on top."
"I see." Mario said.
"Everyone is banking it fully on him too." Alex said. "Soon, I'll just be forgotten..."
"No, I'll remember you, Alex Kidd." Mario said getting up and walking away. "You should get back to your house. Hopefully one day you'll have another game."
"You're right!" Alex Kidd said. He turned around and saw that Mario was walking away. He just backed up in surprise. "No, way..."
Sadly, the time for Alex Kidd to rise again never came. After that, he only got a minor role in Segagaga.
Mario and Sonic continued their work. Sonic in particular seemed to be getting quite stressed. Platformers were commonplace.
It probably didn't help that a bunch of other smaller studios were trying to make their own animals with attitude characters. Some worked, others such as Awesome Possum quickly became roadkill.
Other platformers such as Pulseman, or Rocketknight also came out and fared better. But Mario and Sonic were able to remain as the respective kings.
But the good times wouldn't last. For neither Mario or Sonic. Their golden age had finished with the introduction of a new giant studio. At the forefront, was a bandicoot and a swordsman who held a giant blade. Crash Bandicoot Cloud Strife. Mario had met them once, and the experience wasn't exactly all that pleasant...
"The old world is dead, old man." Cloud laughed.
Mario just smiled. "No, I don't think it's dead just yet."
"Watch it!" Crash laughed. "You're doomed."
"I've been hearing that since before you guys played any of my games." Mario said. "I'll be fine. I think you should be more worried about yourselves. With all those who have been a flash in the pan before you..."
"It looks like the nice plumber does have some sparks of his own." Cloud laughed.
"No, just a fair warning. At the end of the day, who will be the ones remembered?" Mario calmly said as he walked away.
The Sega studios began to flounder. They made several expensive investments, that didn't go anywhere. Sonic had several games that didn't come out or didn't finish development. In a desperate moment they made a game starring someone named Ryu. But that failed.
As for the Sega studios, they were able to survive by becoming a third party and developing for the other studios. They started with the Nintendo Studios. The first day Sonic arrived on the set he was frustrated beyond belief.
"Just bear with it." Tails said.
"I can't!" Sonic snapped frustrated. "This is humiliating! They should of let us just die! We've lowered ourselves to this." He threw a script against the wall, on it was the words 'Sonic Heroes'. After the launch of that Sonic had a small outburst at the executives. As punishment, he was temporarily pushed aside for Shadow to take a lead role.
And then the worst blow to Sonic's career happened. Sonic the hedgehog 2006. He had been laughed at, mocked, and just torn to shreds.
"What a waste."
"Geeze, he's such a loser!"
"I can't believe that he used to show promise. Maybe it was all just a fluke!"
Sonic grew frustrated, and eventually found himself drinking.
Mario had approached Sonic. "You come to laugh at me too?" He said annoyed.
"No." Mario said. "I just came here to talk to an old friend."
"Yeah right." Sonic scoffed.
"I envy you." Mario said.
"And what could the great Super Mario be envious about me?" Sonic sneered.
"You can make games beyond just rescue the princess. You can have plots not just Bowser kidnapped princess Peach. You games have your friends. Mine don't even have my brother nowadays. And any friends or characters that are introduced, don't normally ever come back." Mario said. "I'm tired."
"When you put it like that, I guess I'm a bit envious of you." Sonic said. "I wish it could just be like the old days of going to fight Dr. Eggman. I don't need these deep plots, who cares about these new friends. Just me, the chaos emeralds, a mad scientist."
"Sonic, why don't you join the Smashers?" Mario asked. "I can put in a good word to Master Hand, and well if you get in, things will go up."
Sonic just sighed. "Thanks but no thanks." He said. "I won't leave the Sega Superstars like that."
"Well, I'll talk and maybe someday in the future you can come." Mario said.
"And that's that." Mario said.
I just looked at Mario in shock. "I didn't know there was so much drama over here." I said. "It sounds like movies in my world."
Mario just nodded. "Fame and fortune changes people. So does tragedy." Mario said. "Those changes might not always be for the better, but, they happen."
"But, why did you offer Sonic a role in the Smashers?" I wondered.
"I saw this as a chance to make up for my greatest failure." Mario sighed.
"Your greatest failure?" I said confused.
Mario just nodded. "There were some other people that I wanted to save, those people that I thought of as dear friends, however... No, that's not important. You don't need to know this."
"But I'd like to know." I said. "Please, Mario, tell me."
Mario just sighed. "Very well then. They were my good friends Banjo and Kazooie. This was a while ago, before the formation of the Smashers."
It was supposed to be a routine recon mission. Just go find out some information, but they had found out something much more sinister lay in wait. They had quickly made their retreat to some canyon where Banjo, Kazooie, Mario, and a fourth person were all hiding. "We have to get this information back to everyone." Mario said.
The others nodded in agreement. "I can't believe that there was a superpower just waiting like this." Banjo said. "I thought it was bad before with just the one we had to worry about, but now a second..."
Mario nodded. "Indeed. If they do what they want, there will be a huge paradigm shift. We have to be ready for their attacks too."
The fourth person just cocked a gun. "Well, don't worry about that Mario, we will get you back to the base even if it costs us our lives."
"I wish that it wouldn't come down to that Joanna." Mario said.
The fourth person was a woman, known as Joanna Dark, or known better by her codename: Perfect Dark.
Suddenly several explosions happened near them. They glanced up from their hole in the ground and noticed an army that had followed them.
"Oh no." Banjo said.
Mario just let off a heavy sigh.
"Mario, go." Joanna said. "We'll lead them off, you need to get back to the base."
"Right." Mario said.
The three of them ran elsewhere. Mario just watched, hidden in the shadows. Joanna pulled out some guns and began to fire. After a few minutes had passed, Mario had run off. "I'll be back soon." He said. "I promise."
However his escape didn't go unnoticed. There was an orange anthropomorphic cat that noticed him running away and gave chase. He appeared in front of Mario and just laughed. "You better stop, old man."
"Who are you?" Mario asked the cat.
"I'm Blinx." He said. "A name you will be knowing all too well old man..."
Mario couldn't help but laugh. "Seriously? Have you even looked in the mirror? You're a cat. You don't even look the least bit threatening..."
"Your mustache looks like a good place to start with sharpening my claws..." Blinx said annoyed. "You don't even know what I can do! I'm a time sweeper!"
Mario however had gotten behind Blinx and just delivered a quick attack to knock him unconscious. "Sorry, but I don't have time for you." He said.
Soon, Mario returned to the Nintendo base, and explained the situation.
A squirrel looked at Mario. "I'll lead the search party." He said.
"Thank you Conker" Mario said.
But, Conker never returned. They later found out that Banjo, and Joanna were captured, and switched sides. They soon found out after that that Conker had been a mole and was leaking information out.
Soon after that, the third superpower revealed themselves, and a vicious battle began.
"After years of fighting, we realized that fighting was pointless, and it would just become a war of resources, something we didn't have at the time. So we stepped back, and tried to remain out of this war, but, while it saved us on many fronts, we were just diverting our eyes from the truth. We were always fighting." Mario said. "I think I'm just like Snake. I'm tired of this fighting, it's been ages since anything felt fun. I just want to live peacefully."
I nodded.
"Listen to me rambling on like a drunk fool." Mario laughed.
"You can't get drunk on coffee." I said.
Mario just pulled out a flask hidden in his overalls. "I don't drink coffee plain." Mario said. He handed it to me and I just opened the lid. Inside, there was definitely something, but I couldn't smell anything.
"Vodka?" I asked.
Mario just nodded. "Yes."
I handed the flask back to him.
"Nugai, what's your world like?" Mario asked.
"Much like this one." I said. "You are all characters in video games, that we can play. I've been told that it's our thoughts in the other world that is able to shape this world. The different factions are just different companies. Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, and others. This though seems to just of spawned from console wars?"
"Console wars?" Mario said confused.
"It's really just childish arguments about why X console is better than Y for small reasons." I sighed. "But what you described, were pretty much events that happened in my world. Rare being bought out, Microsoft and Sony entering into the console scene. Sega backing out and becoming a third party..."
"It seems to me like our worlds are intertwined. Now I guess the question is whether our world exists because of you guys making these video games, or do these video games exist because of people like you who can travel between the worlds and just recreate what they see."
I just sat and thought. "Since I closed the portal between the two worlds... if they truly influence each other, then would that mean both worlds will become stagnant?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, just everything becomes repetitive. Only certain games are made, yearly sequels or something like that." I replied. "Ah well, it's probably too much to think about now right now. We've got our own tasks to worry about. If we live through everything, then we can start worrying about it."
"Yeah, I guess you better get ready to confront the Reaper." Mario said.
"You're right. I'll see you around then." I said.
"Good luck."
"You too."
I began to walk away, but Mario called out to me one last time. "Nugai." He said. I froze in place. "Before you go, I have one question for you."
"What is it?" I asked.
"What are you going to do if you can't beat the Reaper?"
I just paused. "If all else fails, destiny bond."
Mario just nodded. "I see," he said rather grimly.
When I got out of the building it was quite clear that a lot of time had passed while listening to Mario's story. It was now evening. Most of the Smashers were busy preparing themselves for the fight against the Sega Superstars.
I made my way to the stadium, to try and relax and clear my mind. I ended up spending hours in the yoga room with the two instructor robots.
"Breath deeply as you do this move."
"Visualize your ideal body."
"Can you feel your muscles stretching?"
They began to correct my poses. "You're far too tense." The female one said. "Just relax. Let all of the tension in your body go." She began to push several different points.
The room was filled with the sound of waves cresting against a coast. And they took me through several different routines to get relaxed.
After a few hours, and a few other Smashers coming in for some yoga I walked out. The male wii fit trainer directed me to the change rooms. "Please take a shower." He said.
I just nodded, and he walked back to the room to give further yoga lessons or help out the other Smashers with their exercises. Quickly I looked around the change room to make sure I was the only one here, and then quickly stripped down. I stepped underneath the stream of water and just quickly washed myself with some soap so I hopefully didn't smell like BO.
I had gotten changed back into my normal clothes, when suddenly through the door burst the kid Smashers. "There you are Nugai!" Claus said.
"You've been avoiding us." Ness laughed.
"Not really, I've just been trying to relax." I sighed.
"And here we thought you had all ready gone to fight the Reaper yourself." Toon Link said.
The thought had crossed my mind, but I feared that I wouldn't be in good enough shape for an all out fight with the slight lack of sleep, and not knowing if that drug was still in my system.
"Ah well, let's go get some food." Ness said.
"I'll catch up to you guys." I said.
They nodded and left the room. I just sat there for a few minutes thinking over somethings.
My mind was clear. Tomorrow, I would face the Reaper for what I hoped would be the last time. I needed to win. I didn't need to sweat the details. Tomorrow it would all end, and then hopefully the Smashers would return before my time was truely up.
I got up and walked out of the stadium and to the mess tent, and just sat at the table with the Kid Smashers. If anyone was just sitting in for the meal, you wouldn't of been able to tell that in under 12 hours they would be at war. They just went on like they normally did.
I looked down at my plate of food. I had just been dissecting it for the past few minutes. It had dawned upon me that I was going to miss them, I was going to miss the loud meals that they shared together.
"Is something wrong, Nugai?" Lucas whispered. "You're crying."
I raised my hand and just wiped away a tear. "It's nothing." I lied.
"Well, you can let me know." Lucas said. "I promise I won't make fun of you for it, I can't say the same for Claus or Ness though..."
I let off a small laugh. "I'm going to miss you guys." I said.
"Everyone will miss you too." Lucas said.
After some dinner, I just found a bed in the city hall and fell asleep. Despite the rather poor conditions and the bed just being a piece of foam, I don't think I had ever slept better.
So, yes, Sonic was the mole. I intended for him to always be the mole.
That being said... Either I didn't actually write it, or in editing I had accidentally deleted the scene, or thought it didn't flow, but there was a scene where Nugai had looked at the photos and saw that Sonic wasn't in the Smash Mansion when the Reaper attacked. Opps... Yeah... I sort of made it work but damn that feels sloppy. A lot of this chapter feels sloppy…
I originally had SEGA as all caps, but every time I looked at it, it just didn't really look good so I changed to Sega. I may of missed it a few times though.
REFERENCES GALORE!
Going by the History of Sonic the Hedgehog, and Mewtwo's progress on the Brawl disk, it's believed that the reason Mewtwo wasn't in Brawl was because of Sega initially refusing for Sonic's inclusion in Brawl, however, late in development, they changed their mind. This was the reason for the first delay. Had Sonic never been included in Brawl, we might of had Mewtwo. So, contrary to what the some people believe, Lucario didn't replace Mewtwo. There was also other factors probably at play. Apparently Brawl's development was horribly unorganized, not to mention a lot of time lost on making Subspace.
"I've survived an explosion in space (Sonic Adventure 2), I've come back from the dead (Sonic 2006), I've survived reentering the atmosphere (Sonic the Hedgehog 2), Shadow has survived reentering the atmosphere (Sonic Adventure 2)"
"Suddenly make you afraid of Ridley after you've battled him what... 8 times?" Yeah, referencing the Other M, Ridley scene... I still hate that game. Time doesn't heal all wounds, and it won't.
"That such information would only be found in some comic that was made 18 years after the series debut, and only available to a fraction of the fanbase?" Referencing the Metroid Manga, and almost everything that I hate about the defense "It's in the Metroid Manga, it makes perfect sense." No it doesn't. It was sloppily retconned in.
So, have you heard of the Japan only, Dreamcast game Segagaga? A lot comes from it. How the video game characters are real, and it looks more like a movie studio. And there is one scene where, Alex Kidd is sitting on a riverbank with the main character talking "I'm just a video game character, so as long as there's no one to control me, I can't do anything but just stand here stopped." Was taken was from a translation of that scene.
No, seriously, The north American cover art for Enchanted Castle looks hideous… urgh…
Blinx the Time Sweeper... a game for the X-box. I haven't played it. I was going to pick it and the sequel up at a pawn shop for 5 bucks, but when I went there it was gone. Haven't seen either of them since.
Don't know if I said this before but the Smash Pendant was sort of based off of the pendant from the Monster Rancher anime. (Hence the use of the flames...)