CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Those Who Remain
Juri hadn't been lying when she said that leaving the rest of the army to fend for themselves in Tokyo was a bad idea. They had been attacked by a massive horde of Moblins no more than ten minutes after Amaterasu and Tetra's groups had left. This would have been find if the Moblins had been on their own, but several things accompanied them that easily made this day and battle a complete disaster.
The first were large birds about the size of a human being, swooping down and pecking at the members of the resistance, all of them shooting, punching, slashing, or doing anything they could to get them away. These Kargarocs were even strong enough to pick some of them up as a small group of them swooped down and hauled Zero and Lucas up off of the ground, but someone had different plans.
"I don't think so!" Falcon shouted as he once again displayed his badassery. "FALCON PUNCH!"
The huge birds dropped Zero and Lucas upon Falcon's flaming fists slamming into their heads, both landing with their feet set firmly on the ground and both firing whatever they could at the approaching pig-men. Meta Knight swooped all about, slashing at lightning speed at anything that came too close. Vergil functioned in roughly the same way, but in a far more extreme manner thanks in part to him being half-demon and able to jump through portals…being half-demon would be crazy and kind of awesome is what I'm getting at here.
"Samus!" Vergil shouted. "Behind you!"
Samus turned just in time to see two Moblins jumping at her with their spears raised, only for a fully-repaired X to zip in and tackle one away and unload a charged shot on the other.
"Keep your eyes out, okay?" X called. "I can't keep looking out for you like that."
"Looking out for me?" Samus laughed. "You're the one who got torn in half by a giant flying reptile!"
"Well, hey! You got beaten nearly to death by the same giant flying reptile! Don't judge!"
On the horizon and approaching fast was Amaterasu's group, Felicia and Pikachu clinging desperately to Kirby's Warp Star while Jon (now back in his wolf form) ran as fast as a speeding car and Ness and Batsu were seated comfortably on Amaterasu's back, marvelled by just how strong she truly was. Amaterasu herself didn't care for how much they weighed her down. She just couldn't believe she'd been fooled so easily.
"Juri Han…a disgusting human being if I've ever met one."
Whether Juri was pure evil or not wasn't something to ponder on at that moment, though. The sight of her allies fighting as hard as they could brought her some moderate relief, but even she doubted that they'd be able to hold out for long with the kind of army they were up against. As if things weren't bad enough already, Ness kept fidgeting and randomly clenching his grip on Amaterasu's back.
"Ness?" the celestial wolf asked. "What in the world is wrong now?"
"G…Gi…gas…huh?" Ness uselessly babbled.
"What are you doing?!"
"I heard it…him. He's here…he's coming for me."
Another Poltergeist, this one out to get Ness. The horrifying red cloud that didn't even slightly resemble the being it once was. It was stuttering, stringing words together to form some kind of speech…and it was unleashing wave after wave of some strange attack that couldn't have its true form grasped.
"Phew!" said X as the group finally approached. "You got 'em back okay."
"Where is Saya?" Amaterasu demanded.
No one answered her as they continued to battle save for Lucas.
"Wait…you didn't find her on your way back?"
"No!" replied Felicia. "We thought Jill and them would have picked her up and brought her right back!"
"We haven't seen any of them! Not Jill, not Mewtwo, none of them!"
"Damn…" Batsu growled. "What about Tetra and Link?"
"We haven't seen them, either!" Samus replied. "Hell, even Morrigan's gone…not that her bailing from responsibility is anything new, but we've got bigger problems right now! This whole city's getting overrun! We've got to WHAT THE F*CK?! IS THIS THING HUMPING ME?!"
Much to Lucas' shock and horror, a gang of ReDeads had crawl from the ground and one of them had latched on to Samus…but the real question was what in the world was it doing? It seemed to be attempting to bite her head, but with the manner in which it squeezed her with its arm every time it did so…
"Jeez, just when I thought these things couldn't get any worse…"
"GET OFF ME, YOU SICK PIECE OF CRAP!" Samus shouted as she flipped the ReDead over her shoulder and blasted a missile into its wide open mouth.
The remaining ReDeads opened their mouths and prepared to unleash their ear-splitting screams, but a certain half-demon jumped through a conjured gateway and a certain small knight nosedived into the fray, both unleashing large slashes and wiping the undead banshees out just in time.
"I don't know what those things were, and after seeing what just happened, I quite frankly don't want to know what those things were." Vergil said monotonously
"Let's just start killing these things before…" Felicia started, her attention immediately getting sucked away once a large shadow swept over the ground and a loud call rang out. "SWEET HOLY MARY, WHAT IS THAT?!"
The object in question was a massive bird, almost as large as Ridley if not more so. It heavily resembled the Kargarocs circling around underneath it with its shining golden tail feathers, but what made it vastly different was the helmet on its head, shielding its face from any frontal damage. As it opened its beak and released another loud call, Fox and Falco immediately jammed their steering consoles off to the side and piloted back toward the great avian.
"I don't know who or what that is, but he obviously ain't nice." said Falco.
"Wait…" Krystal muttered, a faint memory echoing in the back of her head. "Link's seen this…this is the Helmaroc King he was talking about!"
"Helmaroc King or Helmaroc Prince, this sucker's goin' down!"
Plasma flew from the Arwings' cannons, doing little more than deflecting off of the Helmaroc King. Their pilots quickly thinking up an alternative, the two ships circled back down to the ground.
"Samus! Falcon!" Fox called. "Jump on! We're gonna have to hit him from point-blank!"
"Got it!" Falcon replied, firmly positioning him feet on Fox's Arwing as Samus did the same on Falco's. "Let's take it to him!"
The fighter jets lifted up off the ground once again and proceeded at a steady speed, the bounty hunters jumping onto the massive bird's back the second they were close enough.
"Looks like fun." X said. "Hey, Kirby! Meta Knight! Wanna give me and Zero boost up there?"
"And let you get torn in half again?" Meta Knight asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, it's either that or let that huge bird tear those two apart up there…not that I doubt them or anything, but y'know. They could use the extra help."
"…blasted stubborn robot."
"Yes, but I'm YOUR blasted stubborn robot, right?"
Meta Knight sighed, but nevertheless shifted his cape into his wings and seized X by the armpits, demonstrating some surprising strength when he was able to lift X up with some moderate strain but otherwise showed no difficulty hauling him upward. Zero hopped onto Kirby's Warp Star and the four jetted off to continue the fight against the massive bird. With a slash of his blade, Vergil opened a gateway leading to the Helmaroc King and jumped through it, muttering that they would need all the help they could get to take down this beast.
"Give Zero one thing." Batsu said in a mocking tone. "At least he doesn't scream bloody murder when he's on that thing."
"Oh, shut up!' Felicia growled. "Kirby doesn't show any mercy on that thing!"
"Speaking of not showing any mercy." said Jon, cocking his head toward the approaching horde of Moblins. "We've got company!"
Those remaining on the ground leaped in action…or at least attempted to when they suddenly saw Ness freeze in place, a terrified look on his face and his whole body shaking.
"No…no!" he stammered.
"Ness!" Lucas shouted, starting to break into a run toward him.
He didn't make it. A wave of energy blasted Lucas and those following him away before the defenseless and frightened Ness was engulfed in a shadowy dome. Within that dome, he saw nothing but…it. Him. A massive red cloud swirling inward and revealing a face with its mouth open in anguish…as though it were crying out for help.
"Neeeeeeeeeeeeess…" it whispered.
Jedah hadn't been lying. It had happened. Giygas had come for him, and all the horrifying memories of their previous encounter came rushing back to the boy. He remembered the waves of darkness flying out…crippling him and the rest of his friends. Paula…Jeff…Poo…they all fell before him. And every time he spoke, it sounded anything other than fighting talk. It sounded like…he wanted to destroy Ness from inside or make him his friend or…he had no idea! What did Giygas want from him?!"
The bottom line was that Ness was scared, confused, and unsure of what to do except launch everything he had at the monstrosity that he wasn't even sure was there. The face continued to leer at him, its expression unchanging and its mouth still hung open in that same scream of agony.
"It's not right…it's not right…NESS!"
"Leave me alone!"
None of the bolts of lightning or shots of fire had any effect, and Ness couldn't grasp the true form of Giygas' attack as he unleashed a massive wave of darkness. When it slammed into the poor boy, it did more than harm him. It completely devastated him. He felt all of his strength leave his body in one fell swoop, and he found himself crashing into the ground in a ruined heap.
"I can't…guys…help me."
He wasn't sure if he was referring to his allies in the immediate area or his friends back home. Either way, he'd certainly stand a better chance. Even then, had it not been for Paula, he and the rest of his friends would never have made it. But at least Fox and Falco and Meta Knight and all them were having better luck with the Helmaroc King…right?
Short answer: they weren't.
The Helmaroc King had knocked Fox and Falco's Arwings out of the sky, the two crashing into the ground with their passengers tossed around in the cockpit like ragdolls. X and Zero were plucked off of the King's back by the swarm of Kargarocs, pecked until they looked full of holes, and were finally thrown hundreds of feet to the ground. Meanwhile, Samus, Vergil, and Falcon clung onto the King's back for dear life while Meta Knight and Kirby continuously circled around him.
With a strong beat of his wings, the King generated such a gust that the two star warriors were blown out of the sky without any means of resistance. Meanwhile, his wings' recoil knocked the three "passengers" off of him, though they thankfully were able to twist around in mid-air quickly enough to land feet-first on the ground.
"Thought I was the only tough bird around here…" Falcon growled.
"Tell me about it…" Samus started before she turned her head to the chaos behind them "What the hell is that?!"
Without thinking twice, the group that had remained on the ground jumped into the dome of shadows in an attempt to aid Ness, only to be witness the disturbing form of Giygas and wonder what in the world they had done to deserve this.
"Oh my God…" Jon muttered.
"Ness?! NESS!" Lucas shouted in a vain attempt to get Ness' attention.
"P…PK THUNDER!"
The massive bolt of lightning flew at the face and slammed into it. A loud and ear-splitting scream echoed throughout the air, the pitch and tone constantly changing and sounding like nothing they'd ever heard before. It sounded like Giygas really was in pain, not helped when this scream was accompanied by him continuing to ramble.
"It hurts, Ness…it hurts…it hurts…MAKE IT STOOOOOOOOOOP!"
Another blast of darkness, this one more devastating than any one before it. Their strength was sucked away yet again, only Amaterasu having enough resistance to stay on her feet while all her allies collapsed around her.
"This cannot happen…" she panted. "How can this simple spectre be this strong?"
"Well, that is simple, Okami Amaterasu." laughed a voice from outside the shadows. "This simple spectre is more than meets the eye. Away now, Giygas."
The shadows and Giygas vanished, relieving Ness though not shaking off all the feelings of dread Giygas had forced into him. How could he be back after what he had done to him? He knew it wasn't the real Giygas. It couldn't be, but that certainly didn't matter. It instilled the same sensations he'd felt in their first encounter: terror, hatred, shock, and sadness.
And to think it was only going to get worse…
"You again!" Amaterasu snarled as Jedah floated into view.
"Quite…ah, good!" Jedah said, turning his head and fixing his gaze on Vergil. "You're 'up and at them', Son of Sparda!"
Vergil said nothing, deducing in a nanosecond that this was undoubtedly the one that had struck down his brother and leaped into the air with his blade drawn. With a spurt of his blood, Jedah formed his own blade and the two clashed. Even with Vergil swinging as fast as sound, Jedah showed no signs of difficulty in blocking and parrying every strike.
"Angry, I see." the demon said with a sinister grin. "Quite unlike you. Is something troubling you, Vergil?"
"Yes. Your existence."
"Oh, I seem to be troubling a number of people with that recently."
Vergil let his guard drop at perhaps the worst possible moment, Jedah stabbing inward and just barely nicking the half-demon's rib cage, crippling him long enough to land a sharp uppercut against his chin and send him sprawling backward.
"You son of a bitch!" Samus shouted, dashing toward Jedah with her Super Missile activated and ready to fire.
"No, no. Not yet, Ms. Aran." Jedah said, casually seizing Samus' arm cannon and letting his blood leak through the miniscule cracks in the Power Suit and began to brutally sting her. "The party's only just begun."
The pain overtook Samus, the blood flowing up her body and up to her, blinding and choking her until she finally collapsed onto the ground. Jedah let the blood retract before...
"FALCON PUNCH!"
Falcon's flaming fist slammed into Jedah's back, sending the demon reeling and hitting his head against a nearby lamppost. Sadly for them and us, the blow hadn't killed him, but he was certainly bleeding. Not his offensive acid blood, but a legitimate sign of injury. Jedah turned to the lone bounty hunter with a certain fire now in his gaze. This man had to have been one of the many warriors he'd intended to use as pawns. He was one of the ones that had unfortunately not been present at the time of Saya's ultraburst.
"SOMEONE seems a little quick to violence." Jedah growled, licking away the trickles of blood coming from his mouth.
Falcon's response was to lower into a fighting stance and cocked his head.
"COME ON!" he shouted in a loud and even somewhat triumphant boom.
And Jedah did, regretting it a second later when Falcon jetted forward and seized him in a bear hug before engulfing him in flames and kicking off with a loud shout of "YES!" Jedah immediately flew up after Falcon only to wind up on the receiving end of the Falcon Kick. Jedah had already flipped himself right-side up by the time he had reached the ground and was ready to shoot back, but what he landed on and where said object had struck him immediately rendered his readiness moot.
"That's for trashin' my Arwing, you big horse's ass!" Falco shouted as he retracted his foot from Jedah's groin.
The great demon fell onto the ground gasping for air and clutching at his lower regions, looking at the talking bird with pure malevolence in his eyes. How could such a filthy animal even think of doing that to him? It made him sick…as did the phenomenal pain Falco had inflicted on him.
"Why, you…"
Captain Falcon and the beaten but still intact Star Fox stood ready to strike Jedah again, ready to finish this maniac off and finally put an end to this chaos, but the still-airborne Helmaroc King would have none of it as he dove downward and scraped along the ground where they stood. The four dove out of the way just in time, but realized too late that they'd left themselves wide open. The three Star Fox members were easily subdued by Jedah when he struck them with a punch to the stomach for Fox, a roundhouse kick for Krystal, and a groin shot for Falco.
"THAT is for being perhaps the most uncouth thing I have ever encountered, you filth."
"Yeah…I have a knack for that."
Jedah was about to speak, but smiled triumphantly when he heard the sound of rattling armour beginning to echo through the air.
"And now the curtain rises on the second act."
"Ah, so many meddlesome insects, so little time." Ganondorf sighed as he stood before the steadily rising group. "I suppose I ought to give some credit to you for managing to avoid capture like the rest of your allies."
The thought dropped onto them and they steadily realized in horror what exactly that meant, and Lucas was the only one brave enough at that moment to step forward with his fists clenched in anger.
"What did you do to Saya?!"
"Hm? …ah, yes. You were that boy 'so valiantly' guarding her before." the great evil king said, nonchalantly sneering at the young boy who'd been foolish enough to approach him. "To answer your question, nothing. Not to worry, though. She will receive what's coming to her soon enough."
"You can't!"
"Oh? And who shall stop me? You?"
"Yeah. Me."
All of Lucas' allies were back on their feet, their strength having returned to them after being wiped away by either the Helmaroc King, Jedah, or Giygas. They were standing defiant. Strong. Ready.
"Me and all of them."
Ganondorf smirked and let out a light bit of maniacal laughter.
"So be it, then. I should warn you, however. My next young friend may be a little more than you can bear."
With that, another figure appeared from nowhere, a disturbing mask fixed onto its face. Though it wore clothing that resembled a tunic with pants and boots, all of it was colored in a strange pattern of purple, red, blue, and yellow. As the mask's glowing yellow eyes caught sight of them, long tentacles dropped from the figure's palms.
"What the hell is this thing supposed to be?!" Batsu growled
"Wait…" muttered Krystal as she began to dig deep into the creature's thoughts.
She heard it. Screaming, the sound of flesh mutating…but that voice. It was familiar. Too familiar.
"Oh, God no!" she finally said.
"What is it?!" Vergil demanded.
"That thing…it's Link!"
Whether it was Link or not, this monster was clearly not in the mindset for rational thought as it let out a menacing screech, the eyes of its mask beginning to flash a different array of colours before anyone realized what was happening.
"BRACE YOURSELVES!" Amaterasu hollered.
It was too late. "Link" shrieked again and the mask unleashed a massive wave of darkness, expanding at a phenomenal rate and slamming into every single one of the heroes. They all felt their bodies being wracked with the dark energy, and many of them fell with only Captain Falcon, Lucas, Ness, Vergil, and Amaterasu still on their feet. The remaining five looked around in horror at their fallen allies, all still breathing but now in no condition to keep fighting.
"You son of a bitch!" Falcon shouted, lunging headlong at the corrupted Link with his Falcon Punch pulled back and ready to…be countered by a similar move from Ganondorf. The Falcon Punch and Warlock Punch struck each other at the same time, diffusing each other but also leaving Falcon reeling long enough for Ganondorf to rush forward and seize him by the neck.
"You have much power, I see. How unfortunate that it's not nearly enough."
Without another word, heavy jolts of electricity flowed from Ganondorf's fingers and wracked Falcon's body before the evil king tossed Falcon away like a rag doll.
"All too easy." he smirked. "Would anyone else care to be as foolish as him?"
The remaining four gritted their teeth, but they still had one final trick up their sleeves…or at least, Vergil and Ness did. They quickly glanced at each other and nodded before Ness sparked his hands.
"PK FLASH!"
Instead of striking any of his opponents, Ness' attack struck the ground and released a brilliant flash of light. While Jedah and Ganondorf were distracted, Vergil slashed his blade and conjured a gateway before turning to Lucas and Amaterasu.
"Go! Quickly!" he ordered.
"What are you talking about?!" Lucas half-shouted. "We're not leaving the two of you behind!"
"We're going to hold them off here! You two have to Saya and warn her of what's going on! No matter what, she has to stay away from the city!"
"But…"
Ness turned to Lucas with the brave smile that the latter boy knew all too well now. Ness wasn't afraid to be a martyr, but why? If he had been terrified of Giygas, why was he not afraid of what seemed to be an impending death at the hands of Ganondorf.
He didn't need to mull it over in his head. Ness' words gave him the clarity he needed.
"It's not about us anymore, Luke. It's not even about Saya. It's about the world. Saya can stop this. She's got the power to do anything she wants, and she wants to use it for good. I can feel it."
Amaterasu turned her head to Vergil and smiled.
"So Hell has frozen over, eh?"
Vergil said and did nothing at first, but gradually, his stoic frown became a light and even sad smile.
"I try not to get too invested in my human side…but I guess she made me realize that it wouldn't be so bad to think of someone other than myself for a change."
"And how does it feel?"
"Don't push it. Just go before the flash fades!"
Amaterasu nodded and dashed through the portal, though not before looking over her shoulder and beckoning to Lucas.
"Hurry, child!"
Lucas couldn't hurry. He couldn't even bring himself to take one step toward the gate. Not just because he couldn't stand the thought of leaving his friends to die, but because this was familiar. Horribly familiar…reminding him off that one dark and fateful night when he lost his mother forever. He could have stopped it, but he didn't…Hinawa had given her life for him and Claus. He couldn't let anything like that ever happen again.
"I can't just leave you behind!"
Alas, he didn't have a choice. The light from Ness' PK Flash finally faded and Ganondorf lunged straight at them with his fist reeled back. Ness dove forward and gave Lucas a quick but strong shove, knocking him backward just enough that he fell through the portal!
"NESS! VERGIL!" Lucas cried.
The last thing Lucas heard from Ness in that moment made him feel dismayed. He'd failed to protect someone yet again as they forced him to flee, but at the same time, he felt empowered by Ness' words as he fell through the gate. He may not have been able to help Ness and Vergil, but he could still help Saya.
"We're counting on you, buddy!"
When Lucas and Amaterasu were finally deposited elsewhere and the gate shut behind them, neither one could think of the first place to look for Saya. Thankfully, they didn't have to look far.
"Lucas?! Ammy?!"
"Oh, thank God…" Lucas breathed at the sound of Saya's voice.
Lucas immediately spun around and ran to Saya, and though he didn't have the strength or morale to accept her embrace, he was at least happy and relieved to see her. Amaterasu meanwhile caught sight of Sheik, who began approaching her and was about ready to kneel in respect before the celestial wolf shook her head. She still didn't want to blow her cover, and she still didn't completely understand why. It was for a petty reason, but that petty reason meant more to her than anyone thought.
"How did you two get here?" Sheik finally asked.
"Vergil and Ness…" Lucas muttered.
"Eh?"
"…Saya…they got them. Everyone but Ammy and me. Jedah and Ganondorf got them."
This revelation was nearly enough to send Saya reeling into an ultraburst again. The army that had built up…the army they thought would be enough to takedown these monsters. It was gone. She, Lucas, Amaterasu, Zelda, Shulk, and Hiryu. There were all that was left to stop them.
"This can't be happening…" she whimpered, clutching the sides of her head with her hands. "There's no way this can be happening!"
"Even worse…they did something to Link." Lucas continued.
"They got him, too?!"
"The older Link. I don't know what they did exactly, but…he had tentacles coming out of his hands and he was wearing some kind of weird mask."
Sheik snapped to attention at the mention of a mask and narrowed her eyes.
"What did this mask look like?"
"Um…heart-shaped. A whole bunch of different colours with spikes on the edges."
"Majora…"
"What?"
Sheik cracked her knuckles and lifted her head.
"We have no choice left. We'll have to launch a sneak attack on their base of operations."
"Are you nuts?!" Lucas cried. "We're get massacred!"
"Is there any alternative?"
"We just have to get as far away from Ganondorf as we can!"
"That will not work. Every moment Ganondorf is present in this world, corruption steadily begins to spread further. If we do nothing, the entire world will be overrun with his minions."
The thought of Moblins, Kargarocs, and especially ReDeads everywhere was enough to get Lucas to stop arguing, but Sheik still didn't seem to have made her point.
"I will have to show you. There is no other option. We must commence an ambush and cause as much damage to them as we can. To the Aokigahara!"
If Saya or Lucas didn't want to go anywhere in the world, especially in this dire moment, it was there. As Sheik had said, though, what other choice did they have? They couldn't run. There was nowhere to run. They had to go straight into the lion's den and do something. Anything. But if dozens of valiant warriors couldn't stop Ganondorf, what could?
Perhaps…Yami's power?
As the six began running across the plain back to the Aokigahara, Ryu watched them from a fair distance away. From where he stood, he could see the land around the haunted forest miles away, craggy and reeking of demonic corruption.
He had to hurry. They all had to hurry.
*in Homer Simpson's voice*: "D'oh! It just gets worse and worse!"
Ah, Giygas. The infernal abomination of a final boss that has haunted so many gamers. And no, I'm not gonna bother apologizing for "spoiling" Earthbound's final boss. If you haven't seen Giygas before by now, that's your problem...sorry to sound so harsh.