"No…" Zelda quietly gasps as she reaches out in front of herself, crunching up her face in sorrow.
"Focus, princess," Mewtwo demands. "We cannot account for every error made on the battlefield. Such is the nature of war."
Zelda looks down as she places her right hand on her face. In the endless framework similar to the depths of space, the only thing that can be heard are a young woman's sobs.
"Well, thanks for being a buzzkill," Ness criticizes.
Mewtwo sighs and places his left hand on Zelda's right shoulder.
"I'm sorry," he begins. "But we do not have the luxury of…" but he realizes the futility of his words. "Just don't take too long."
"Soooo…" Ness adds in. "Maybe we should alert someone?"
Mewtwo's eyes glow blue.
"Pit," he calls out.
"Mewtwo," Pit mentally replies.
"Giga Bowser is moving. Make sure you and your battalion intercept and lure him to the stadium. Our final siege is shortly coming. I'm sending over items to assist you. I'll have Ness alert the rest of the fighters."
"Roger that," Pit replies.
"One more thing. Don't die."
"Hmph."
Mewtwo's eyes return to their normal appearance. He looks over to Zelda with sympathy and patience, a feat he has no recollection of prior.
"Zelda…" he says calmly.
The princess presses both hands against her face and rubs them until the slide off of her cheeks. She turns up and closes her eyes and then sighs. She remains that way for three seconds. She opens her eyes and turns to Mewtwo with sheer determination, an unkempt flame begging to dance upon its prey.
"I'm ready," Zelda replies.
In unison, the two close their eyes raises both of their arms, engulfing themselves in a blue light. Several smaller bright lights are glowing and move, taking the form of a beautiful meteor shower.
"My turn," Ness says with a smirk, cracking his knuckles. He closes his eyes and makes psychic contact with Marth.
"Marth," he calls out.
Back in the stadium, Marth is caught off guard by the sudden intrusion of his mental physique. He composes himself and responds with a dictatorial tone.
"Yes."
"Pit's battalion is leading Giga Bowser towards the stadium. We'll be sending over items shortly. Are you guys ready?"
Marth turns to his sight to the friends and rivals he has come to share a deep respect and admiration for. He is met by many proud and happy gazes. As varied as the expressions are, they all had one thing in common: A ferocious urge to fight for their allies and extinguish this flame that has engulfed far too many lives. As many as they are, today in this moment, they fight together as one. Marth can't help but smirk.
"We're ready," he proudly answers.
"Okay," Ness responds.
"Fox," Sheik calls out from upon the ruins formerly known as Bowser's Castle.
"We haven't scouted this area yet."
Fox dashes over to Sheik's location and flips over some rubble.
"Plus five style points," Sheik says.
"Noice," Fox responds as they both dash ahead.
Several meters north from Sheik's observe point, Fox and Sheik discover the rubble of formerly known as Bowser's Kingdom. Characterized by many portraits of Bowser in various positions of power bended, ripped, and burned in several places along the broken up statues of his likeness discarded across a charcoal colored grass. Warp Pipes varying in green, red, and yellow were also sliced to bits and enshrouded in claw marks. It would take someone of tremendous power to achieve this feet. Fox and Sheik observe the seemingly deserted ruins for a moment until Fox notices a shiny, rectangular piece of technology a few feet away. He puts his left hand on Sheik's right shoulder and points to it with his other. The two of them sprint towards the device. Upon closer inspection, they discover it is a smart phone covered with a light red case with a Wendy O. Koopa charm attached to it, it ice skating on thin air holding a ring bracelet in her left hand with her trademark evil grin. The screen was cracked.
"What is this?" Sheik asks.
"A phone," Fox answers. "A smart phone to be exact."
"I was not aware that phones were capable of intelligent thought. What manner of sorcery is this?"
Fox chuckles. "Uh, it's just technology. Arbitrary technology at that. It's pretty a common device actually."
Sheik's eyes widen. Fox could practically smell Sheik's embarrassment. To that he smugly smiles. Sheik's eyes get serious.
"You tell no one about this," she says pointing her right index finger at Fox's face.
"No promises," Fox says as he smugly looks to the side and smiles. Sheik unsheathes her dagger and flashes it right in front of him.
"You take your life as a joke?"
Fox nervously chuckles. "Uh, so let's check this phone for clues, yeah?" He rummages his finger through all sides of the device as Sheik sheathes her dagger and studies it with curiosity and bewilderment. After fingering it for a few seconds, he discovers a small button on the upper right hand side of the phone and holds it until the screen lights up, greeting them with a Nintendo logo.
"I hate that they make these buttons so small and similar," Fox shares. "It's like they want us to struggle finding the power button. Sometimes I end up turning off my phone while I'm listening to music because I mistake it for the volume button because it's right under it. I swear, these phone makers are evil."
Sheik observes the button Fox pressed and points to it. "This button has a symbol on it."
Fox studies the button and sees a tiny white "c" flipped on its back with a line sticking out of the gap. It helps that it was etched into the button. Fox thinks back on all of the times he could have avoided accidentally turning off his phone while he was internet browsing or talking to Crystal on the phone, leaving the impression that he rudely hung up on her. His jaw drops and his pupils take the size of periods. Sheik takes note of his embarrassment and smirks with her eyes.
"You tell. No one. About this," Fox says in a deadly serious tone pointing at Sheik with his free hand.
"No promises," Sheik says in a devious tone, a smile so wide it made visible lines through the mask. Fox intensely inhales, his palm facing skywards shaking with fury as he stares at Sheik with a not so serious scowl. A second later he shifts his focus to the phone while squinting his eyes. He's at the home screen with several icons for internet, YouTube and several games including ports for Pac-Man and Super Mario Land. With his right thumb, fox presses the an icon, four white lines going down forming a square, on the bottom right hand corner of the phone. It was the standard icon for recent apps used. The latest apps used were from least to most recent were Tinder, Instagram, and the camera. Fox opens the camera app.
The phone then shows a high resolution image of the ground below him. An icon shaped like a movie camera appears on the right side of the screen right above a dim version of a camera used to take pictures. He was in record mode. At the bottom of the screen, there were four square windows with thumbnails of Roy Koopa giving Larry a noogie, Wendy winking at the screen, all of the Koopalings in go karts drifting on a road with Wendy in the lead as Iggy has been flipped over by a green shell, and the latest one Lemmy looking back to the screen with a devious look following Roy, Ludwig, Morton, and Bowser Jr., all in their clown karts. Fox presses that thumbnail since the latest one seems to be the most important to finding clues.
The Koopalings giggled uncontrollably. Bowser Jr., Lemmy, and Ludwig were carrying assist trophies in their hands.
"Sh-shut up guys," Bowser Jr. whispered. "He's gonna hear us and then we'll be busted."
"You're laughing too," Iggy pointed out.
"You just like telling people what to do," Ludwig accuses Bowser Jr.
"How about all of you shut up?!" Wendy whispered. "You guys are gonna wake the whole castle at this rate!"
"Says the loudest one here," Larry pointed out.
"SHUT UP, LARRY!" Wendy whispered. The rest of the Koopalings chuckled. After a long pilgrimage through a hallway filled with caricatures of Bowser in several poses indicating what he perceived showed authority and sophistication mimicking the likeness of Julius Ceasar, Joseph Stalin and John F. Kennedy among others, they arrive at a red door with a large picture of Bowser looking down with his hands on his hips above it.
"Remember," Iggy warned. "We have to do it exactly like the video shows. Or it may not work."
"Yeah, yeah," Bowser Jr. responded.
"Who put you in charge?" Ludwig asked.
"Lemmy is saying words," Lemmy added in.
With Bowser Jr. leading, the Koopalings open the door.
Bowser slumbers on a big ass bed that has space for several more people, his arms and left leg stretch at his sides while his right leg slightly bent while slouching over to the right. His immense snoring made it impossible for any other sound to be detected. A snot bubble slowly built up and popped during every snore. The Koopalings share in an inaudible laugh until Bowser Jr. silences them. He pointed to his father to signify his brethren to get into position. Lemmy and Morton go around the bed on Bowser's right, Morton positioning himself at least half a foot away from Bowser, while Ludwig floats two feet away from Bowser's left. Jr. hands Roy the assist trophy as he moves next to Ludwig. Iggy began a countdown with his fingers starting with three. Upon zero, he swings his arm down to point at Bowser.
Ludwig, Roy, and Lemmy throw their assist trophies to the ground. A violent colored version of Mewtwo, Gannondorf and Dr. Mario pop out. The doppelganger Mewtwo charges a Shadow Ball to full power while the Gannondorf charges his Warlock Punch. At full power, the Mewtwo releases his attack and right before Ganndorf's attack connects, Dr. Mario low jumps and fire a Megavitamin. Bowser's eyes open while his snot bubble pops. Morton, scared out of his wits, dashes towards Bowser and grabs him using the pulley from his clown kart, the only way he could have had Bowser remain stationary. Bowser quickly sits up and grabs Morton right out of his kart in an instant. He was no stranger to having assassins or plumbers making an attempt on his life, which is exactly why he doesn't have guards for his quarters. He welcomes anyone to try.
"What is the meaning of…?!" Bowser spits out. But before he can finish, all of the attacks make contact with him simultaneously. Bowser's face rapidly shifted between proportions followed by various parts of his body doing the same. The doppelgangers disperse after their attacks landed.
"Wendy!" Jr. shouted look directly at the camera.
"I know!" Wendy responds zooming in on the sight taking place before them. Lightning bolts crashing through the stone ceiling with no effort strike Bowser, a piece of discarded rubble hitting Iggy in the face shattering his glasses while knocking him out of his. His eyes glow an intense white that would have blinded the Koopalings in a larger quantity. Bowser screamed and arched his torso backwards, every fiber in his being lit on fire. He tenses his muscles, translating to a tightened grip on Morton to which he made a cross eyed frown. The rest of the Koopalings are paralyzed with fear and amazement. Several tiny explosions surround Bowser, making the rest of the Koopalings take shelter behind furniture and Morton screaming, Wendy being careful to catch the full spectacle behind a large table carrying a lamp. Then, a demonized version of Bowser literally brakes through his skin like a wrecking ball on a building.
After seconds of silence Jr. peeked from behind Wendy. Morton who shielded his eyes with his hands out of fear peaks through a gap between his fingers to see the steel grimace of King Koopa, his shell covered in spikey scales, the spikes on his shell made longer and more menacing along with the claws on his hands and legs which were wider as well, the horns on his head curving reminiscent of The Devil, his body proportions made bulkier and longer. Even his hair took on a cryptic appearance, growing in length and looking like a lit flame. Curiously enough he was not actually any larger in size before his transformation. In fact, he actually seemed even smaller.
"Guys," Jr. calls out. "Look."
The Koopalings gather around Bowser from the sides of the bed.
"Huh," Ludwig said blankly. "Gotta admit, did not expect that to work."
"Regardless," Jr. responded with a sly grin. "You still lost the bet. So…"
"Actually," Ludwig grunts, putting his left hand in front of them revealing his middle finger wrapped around his index. "I had my fingers crossed the entire time. Since I never agreed to anything, I technically never lost anything."
Jr.'s face turns red as steam blows out of the side of head. "NOW LISTEN HERE," Jr. starts.
"Uh," Morton said. "Can somebody get me down from here before I make a mess in my shell?"
"Dude," Roy chuckled, his arms folded to signify his confidence. "Quit lying. You can smell that all the way from the Mushroom Kingdom."
Lemmy giggles.
"Shuuuuuut uppppp," Morton whispers very embarrassed.
Lemmy observed Iggy. "Iggy got thowmped," he noted.
Iggy groaned.
Larry observes his siblings bickering amoung themselves and sighs, his mind ruled by the thought of the wrath of Bowser once he finds out it was them that were the cause of this not so harmless prank. Even though he didn't actually do anything, he speculated Bowser would punish them all as a unit. He shifts his gaze at Bowser, still staring blankly forward. After a few seconds of observation Larry blinks and his heart skips a beat as his eyes meet with Bowser's.
"Uh," Larry nervously said. "G-guys. Guys…"
In an instant, Bowser tosses Morton into a stone wall, making him ricochet all across the room, not giving Roy any time to react to the sudden interruption in the conversation, his arms still folded but his dropping leaving his mouth open. The wind from Morton zipping past him made his shades slide down slightly revealing terrified eyes.
"What the shell?!" Jr. exclaims.
"Oh my God," Wendy weakly lets out, her energy drained from the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Then without warning, Bower leapt into the air and delivered a Ground Pound so powerful it shattered the stone floor below them.
"OH MY GOD!" Wendy screams. That was the last thing heard before a rock flies past the phone, grazing it and distorting the screen.
Sheik and Fox stand utterly stupefied by what they have just witnessed. Fox swallows to regain a bit a fluid in his mouth.
"What," he started. "The. Hell."
"You mean to tell me," Sheik says letting her fury very apparent. "All of this—all of this madness, this wanton destruction happened because of some stupid children's prank?!"
Afterwards, Sheik walks up to the disembodied head of a Bowser statue with a smile so wide it reveals the contents of his mouth. She rains both arms into the air tensing her fists and releases a low scream that increases with every passing second reaching its peak when her arms come crashing down, shattering the head to indistinguishable pieces. She stands there for a seconds looking down upon the rubble below her, ashamed that she let herself get so discomposed in spite of her training to keep her anger in check.
"Wait," Fox calls out. "How could they possibly know about what happened then?"
After a moment, Sheik, who gripped both of her biceps out of shame finally responded albeit weakly.
"Maybe he told them."
"No. We all agreed to keep this catastrophe under wraps. And Bowser's pride wouldn't allow himself to tell the Koopalings about such a colossal failure."
Another moment passes by.
"Vee-dee-yo," Sheik enunciates. Fox looks up from the phone at Sheik.
"What?" he chuckles?
"One of the Koopalings mentions a vee-de-yo."
"A video," Fox corrects. "And Sheik, you're a genius. Maybe we might find a clue from Wendy's YouTube history."
"Aside from that justified compliment, I have no idea what you just said."
Fox touches the recent apps icon and clicks on the YouTube icon. On Wendy's profile, he clicks on the history icon.
"No dice," Fox says. "All she's been watching lately are cat videos and clips of Channing Tatum from Magic Mike."
Sheik walks over to Fox to observe the screen for a second.
"Fox McCloud," Sheik says. "In the near future, you will get me more information on this Mike of the Magic."
Fox glares at Shek.
"Er…" Fox stammers.
Suddenly, Sheik takes a defensive position and raises her hand to Fox's mouth.
"Wait," she abruptly and sternly says. She looks to her left side for three seconds. She swiftly tip toes west of where they are signaling Fox to follow who did so. They were behind a large piece of what appears to be part of the roof of the castle that miraculously remained in tack. Sheik peeks her head around the corner and observes the horizon for a moment.
"Uh," Fox eventually says. "Yeah, what exactly are we looking at here? Besides a repeat of what we've been looking at for like thirty minutes now?"
"Shh…" Sheik commands, putting a finger over where her mouth is hidden under her mask. "Do you here that?"
Another moment passes.
"Nothing but good ol' eerie silence. Yeah, my favorite."
Sheik snickers. "Those big ears are useless."
Sheik runs ahead and does a mid-air front flip over parts of a pipe and a decapitated statue.
"H-hey…" Fox says half seriously grasping his ears and pulling downward on them before repeating Sheik's movements and landing next to her. Sheik takes a defensive stance, bending her knees while crouching slightly and gripping the dagger on her back with her left hand.
"Me being half ninja," Sheik explains. "I have a heightened sense of awareness for my surroundings."
"And?"
"And being a princess, I'm also very skilled at noticing when I'm being followed."
Sheik pulls out six needles and tosses them behind herself, seemingly aiming at nothing. The sound of needles piercing stone is heard. Then a nearly inaudible "Yow!" follows. Sheik and Fox look at each other before Sheik dashes ahead while simultaneously preparing more needles with Fox following, pulling out his laser pistol and gripping it with both hands having it aimed at the air. As they approach the origin of the yelp, they hear the sound of footsteps and rubble falling. Their prey was slower than them and much less graceful. Swiftly bouncing off walls and discarded pipe pieces, Fox and Sheik close in on their target whose shadow, which was nothing but an indistinguishable flat figure from their perspective, was seen going around a large chunk of castle. Sheik teleports, leaving a smoke cloud behind and Fox uses his Phantom Fox to past the corner, doing a summersault and quickly positioning himself up right, his laser pistol aimed directly in front him. He is joined by Sheik who appears next to him after another cloud of smokes, crouched down and prepared to throw her needles.
"Free…" Fox demands with routine authority but immediately stops. His eyes widen and his mouth opens slightly. Sheik stands up straight as shock fills her eyes.
"By the gods…" she gasped.
"Please," Jr. weakly says, his body littered with scrapes, bruises, and dust. "We-we-we don't want any trouble. Behind him are the battered bodies Wendy kneeling in front of Kamek with sadness in her eyes, Morton sitting against a wall with an angry expression, Iggy without his glasses squinting his eyes, Roy sitting across from them to a parallel wall, his eyes hidden behind his shades and Lemmy peeking his head out of his shell to observe the two bewildered troops with a look of utter despair.