CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
A Fighting Chance
When hundreds of thousands of innocent Tokyo civilians stepped outside and saw the swirling clouds in the sky, they never could have guessed that they were all about to be taken hostage. But they were. Man or woman, young or old, once they were spotted, the massive army of Moblins grouped behind them all and began ushering them toward Tokyo Square. Many of the children caught in the mob looked ready to cry, their parents calming them down as quickly as they could out of fear the beasts corralling them would lash out at them.
As they were lead into the square, they saw the massive group of heroes. Every single one of the people who had fought so hard to fight off Ganondorf's forces and put a stop to this madness, all restrained by shadowy hands and all too weak to fight anymore. They all looked about at each other, some still not willing to accept the situation they were in and bucking against their restraints. Juri, Ghirahim, and Hades all stood guard around them, and in the front stood Ganondorf, giving Zelda a firm smirk.
"You put up a fine fight, indeed." he said, one hand lightly clutching the princess' chin. "What a shame that it has all gone to waste.
Zelda scowled and shook her head until Ganondorf's hand released itself from her.
"Don't get so high and mighty just yet. You haven't any proof that Saya won't come back and put an end to you."
"Ah, yes. The young girl with all the power in the world and not a clue how to use it. Yes, I suspected that there was more to her than met the eye. I did not expect her to house the Master Sword within her, of course, but she has met all my expectations otherwise. Let her return if she can. She should finally prove to be a worthy challenge."
"I take it your lackeys are aware of this, too."
"Of course not. Sometimes a few pawns must be sent in blindly for the king to make his finishing blow."
"You sick bastard…"
The great evil king laughed.
"Call me what you will. Nonetheless, one piece of what I truly desire remains."
"You won't extract it so easily from me."
"Certainly not. You may not be much of a powerful influence, but you do indeed have a strong will. Nonetheless, you cannot take the Triforce of Wisdom with you to the grave, can you?"
Chained high above the turmoil and forced to watch was none other than Morrigan, too weak to move her battered and bruised body much less taunt Jedah as he floated smugly in front of her.
"Ah, how the mighty have fallen…well, that would be the appropriate thing to say were you mighty in any sense of the word."
"You can't just leave well enough alone…can you?" Morrigan wheezed, refusing to look Jedah in the eye.
"Leave well enough alone? Makai crumbles even further every day you exist. If you took some responsibility for a change and acted like a real ruler should instead of going off into the human world and frolicking with this trivial creatures that aren't worth the time of day, maybe none of this would have happened."
"Nah…you've had it out for me even before I got so high up. And as for humans not being worth the time of day, hoo boy. I couldn't disagree more. They can do the craziest things once they're pushed to their breaking point."
"But it's too late for that now, isn't? Take a look. Watch as the human world crumbles around you. All of this is your fault. You shirked your responsibility, and now you and your allies will pay for it with your lives."
The innocent civilians were brought to a stop in front of the restrained heroes, Ganondorf stepping between the two groups and smiling evilly.
"I bid you welcome." he said in a loud and booming voice. "I am Ganondorf, and before long, you along with all people the world over shall kneel before me."
To prove his point, he raised his arms as a shadowy aura appeared in his hands. Massive chunks of the city streets were ripped up out of the ground, several of the civilians gasping at the sight with some even screaming. Ganondorf slammed the pieces down, unleashing a heavy tremor that knocked some of the civilians off of their feet.
"As you can see," the dark lord continued. "I have no limits. Against me and my allies, resistance is pointless. And I know that some of you would choose not to believe such a thing, so behold."
He stepped to the side and motioned his arm at the group of heroes, letting the crowd get a good look at them in their weakened state.
"A group of so-called 'heroes' who tried their best to defeat me and failed miserably. Should you attempt to resist us, you will share the same fate as them."
No one in the crowd spoke a single word, all of them too afraid of what Ganondorf might do to them if they set a single toe out of line. They weren't ready to bow, but they certainly weren't ready to rebel. He smiled down at them.
"Jedah, I leave the rest to you. Ghirahim, you will join me."
"Why leave, my lord?" asked Ghirahim. "Do you not wish to see your enemies crushed before you?"
Ganondorf gave a simple smirk, keeping his voice slightly hushed so that only Ghirahim could hear him.
"It is of no concern of mine whether they live or die. To remain behind at the sight of a crime just waiting for the law enforcement to arrive is not a wise thing to do."
"What are you…you don't suppose that she is still alive, do you?"
"I do not suppose. I am certain, and she must certainly be bringing reinforcements with her."
"Damn…so what shall we do?"
"We will do what we will do. Worry not."
In a flash of violet light, Ganondorf and Ghirahim vanished, Jedah floating downward and smiling smugly at the restrained heroes.
"And thus we come to the end of the third act, my fellow players." he said. "A tale of bloodshed and hardship that ends in tragedy. Ah, almost Shakespearean."
He began pressing his hands together, likely about to summon the same cloud he had used before. The cloud started to materialize over the heroes, steadily growing larger and larger. Some of them squeezed their eyes shut and others stared in nearly unbearable suspense at it. All of them were brought great relief, however, when a sudden noise startled Jedah from high above and caused the cloud to dissipate, and it was what that noise was that brought surprise to even the heroes.
"Oh, looks like Old Blueberry Skin's puttin' on a fancy light show!"
Jedah didn't have time to look about and find the source of the noise before he heard a loud crash directly behind him. He turned and found himself staring right into Bowser's furious eyes.
"Remember me?"
"How did you…"
He didn't get an answer out before Bowser seized his collar and slammed their foreheads together, Jedah taking the greatest deal of damage from the hit and stumbling backward. Bowser gnashed his teeth and flexed his claws before looking over at Mario.
"What did I say about keeping Peach safe, you moron?!"
"Wha...well, hey, I couldn't do a thing about it!"
"Ah, never mind. I'll beat your ass for it later. Anyhow, guess who I found."
And all those who Rosalina had saved jumped into view. The second Saya came close enough, she slammed her fist into the ground, the shockwave shooting out far enough to free the heroes from their restraints.
"Fight, everybody!" she shouted. "FIGHT!"
And they fought. The Moblins in a fit of shock and confusion abandoned the crowd of innocents and dashed headlong at the freed heroes, all of them receiving lethal blows and falling without any effort from their opponents. As soon as Lucas joined Saya in fighting off the still-approaching horde, Ness ran to them to assist.
"I knew we could count on ya, Luke!" Ness cheered.
"Uh…I didn't really do a whole lot, though."
Saya smiled.
"Don't say that. You gave it your all and I'd say it definitely paid off."
Poison and Hugo struck their way through the oversized pig-men, a whip here and a club-like punch there. As one Moblin tried a sneak attack on Poison, it was met with a charged shot from Samus.
"This is certainly a refreshing change of pace." the bounty hunter said with a smirk behind her visor.
"The whole 'end of the world' crap didn't really float our boats." replied Poison.
Pit flicked out his bow and fired as fast as he could, breaking his bow into his two short blades and slashing once they got a little too close for comfort. His blades locked with a Moblin's spear, its wielder knocking him backward and going in for a stab when it was met with a flash of light and a strong repulsion as a certain emerald-haired maiden descended to the ground.
"Lady Palutena?" said Pit.
Palutena smiled at her young subordinate.
"It was about time I personally gave you a hand, wouldn't you say?"
Pit gave a cocky smile before looking up at the still-chained Morrigan. By now, she had fallen unconscious, and even though Pit considered her nothing but a royal pain, he somehow couldn't stand to see her suffering in that manner.
"Shall we?" asked Palutena, likely thinking the same thing he was.
Pit nodded, and the two flew up to where Morrigan lay dangling, Palutena waving the staff she carried and severing the chains and Pit catching the succubus before she fell.
"Morrigan?" Pit whispered as he lowered himself back to the ground with Morrigan in his arms. "Can you hear me-MMMPH!"
He didn't know if her unconsciousness had been an act or not, but he nonetheless grew quickly irritated once Morrigan planted her lips against his. He struggled to get free from her and succeeded after several moments, only to meet with her salacious grin and get even more annoyed.
"I can always count on you, can I?" she said weakly.
"Real funny…hey, stop laughing."
Palutena had been floating behind the two and laughing as Pit was forced into yet another discomforting situation, but the three quickly set that situation behind them when they heard Hades groaning in mock disgust.
"This is Tokyo, you know. If you need to a place to stay and 'do your business', you just need to head down the block."
"So, Hades." said Palutena as she adopted a stern and defiant expression. "You're still floating around and helping Ganondorf when there's nothing in it for you."
"Nothing in it for me? Really, even the slightest pot shot at any goody two-shoes is worth it so long as they're suffering. It just so happens that Pitty Pat was caught up in all of this."
Pit reformed his blades into a bow and prepped an arrow as he spoke.
"Good thing I was. Now you're gonna really eat it!"
"Really? Mimicuties have great legs."
"…what?"
"Oh, sorry. I thought we were just swapping information neither of us cares about. Your turn."
Across the square were Fox, Krystal, and Falco, all punching and kicking as fast and hard as they could. A roundhouse kick to the face here, a strike from Krystal's staff there, and Falco being a huge show-off just about every chance he got.
"Phew…" panted Fox. "These big freaks just keep on….oh my God, here come more!"
"Good on them!" Falco shouted. "Fry 'em and serve 'em up with eggs in the morning!"
"Ugh, Falco…"
The Moblin over Fox's shoulder was quickly taken down with a single shot from Chris' pistol, Fox offering him a quick smile.
"Nice work!"
"You, too." replied Chris. "I gotta say your buddy's a bit of a loose cannon, though."
"Yeah. In fact, there's a certain way of describing every member of my team. Falco's not as fast as me, not as strong as Krystal, and not as smart as Slippy, but…I really don't like using this word, but…"
Fox ducked just as Falco performed a stylish kick over his head, landing on his hands and vaulting himself into another kick. Fax rolled his eyes.
"As you can see, he's one with the most swag."
As a Kargaroc swerved in from the sky toward Krystal, she prepared to strike it only to notice several more coming in. Thankfully, she didn't have to worry about a single one of them as lasers rained from the sky and eliminated every one of them…wait, lasers from the sky? And swerving around overhead…was that an Arwing?
"WOOOOO-HOOO-HOOOOOOO!" cheered a high-pitched voice from inside the small space-fighter's cockpit.
"No way!" Falco sputtered.
"Hey, guys! Sorry it took so long to find ya!"
"Slippy?!"
Their amphibian and baseball-capped friend was indeed the one inside the cockpit, firing away at all the airborne enemies and even eliminating a few of the nuisances on the ground. Unexpected considering he was probably the most bumbling of all the Star Fox pilots, but here he was clearing the way for the others to kick some ass.
Elsewhere, past Dante and Vergil slashing away with Link and Tetra not too far from them, past DK and Hugo combining their muscle and throwing large objects at any enemy they spotted, Mario stood swinging his hammer while Bowser stood back-to-back with him, spitting fire and slashing his claws. Just as Mario stumbled once one of his opponents finally had the somewhat intelligent thought to dodge the attack, Rosalina dropped in out of nowhere and launched what looked an awful lot like a tiny galaxy into the mob of pig-men and sent them flying away.
"We meet again, Mario." she said with a smile. "I trust you've been well."
"Yeah, but I gotta say I wasn't expecting you to show up-a here."
"You'll be glad I did. I brought someone with me."
Just as Mario was about to get hit from behind, Luigi ran in and tossed a small green fireball, staggering the Moblin just in time for him to finish the attack with a strong uppercut.
"And that's what ya get for-a touchin' that!"
At the sight of his brother, all Mario had the strength to do after staring at him in surprise for several seconds was pull him into a bear-like hug. Luigi smiled and returned the brotherly gesture with a light chuckle.
"Easy, bro. I'm still-a human, you know."
"Don't you ever go-a scarin' me like-a that ever again, Luigi! I thought-a you were dead, for goodness sake!"
"Hey, c'mon. I get through crap like this all the time just fine, don't I? …hey, you got my hat!"
Mario handed his brother's cap over just as Bowser clapped his hands down on the brothers' shoulders.
"Alright, now that the sentimental garbage is outta the way, let's give that sucker Jedah the treatment he deserves."
"Or perhaps I should so the same for you!" Jedah bellowed before snapping his fingers.
Engulfed in another shadowy dome, Mario got that familiar chill up his spine and began to panic yet again as the Shadow Queen reared up from the ground, snarling at the four below her.
"This certainly looks interesting." muttered Rosalina. "Shall we?"
"Wait, wait, wait, hold on a second!" Luigi called. "She's a ghost-a, right?"
"Yeah, I guess. What about…" Mario started before letting the question sink in. "Oh, no way!"
A somewhat evil smile crept across Luigi's face before reaching into the large pocket of his overalls and pulling out a small red box, a large handle and funnel on one side. As he pulled on the handle, the box extended to backpack-size, fitting since there were two leather straps that Luigi used to throw the box onto his back. Finally, he pulled the funnel from its stowed position, revealing a hose attaching it to the box.
Every one of Luigi's comrades raised their eyebrows at him. Was he seriously going to use a vacuum to fight off something that powerful? He clearly thought his allies would find this weird, so he turned and offered them a quick smirk.
"My friends, I give you the Poltergust 5000!"
He turned the so-called "Poltergust 5000" on, and a massive spiraling gust appeared from the funnel. What was strangest of all, however, was that it was actually working! The dome dissipated, as the Shadow Queen found herself being pulled tail-first into the vacuum. No longer concerned with eliminating her target, she instead began attempting to flee, Luigi pulling back like he was reeling in a big fish.
"Oh, boy, we got a fighter!" he called before he was comically pulled forward and onto his front.
Even as the Shadow Queen flew about and bucked about however she could to get free, Luigi held on despite being dragged all over the ground.
"C'mon! Get in there!"
Luigi found his footing again and gave one final heave just as the Shadow Queen lost all her strength. With that, she was pulled into the funnel and didn't emerge, Luigi triumphantly twirling the funnel about before sheathing it.
"And that's how it's-a done!"
"Atta boy, Luigi!" Bowser cheered.
Jedah gritted his teeth at the loss of another Poltergeist and lunged at the green-clad plumber before his way was blocked by Amaterasu.
"You know, I have just now realized that you do not fight very well when you start to lose your composure."
"Oh, trust me, Okami Amaterasu! You haven't the foggiest idea of what it means for me to lose my composure!"
With a blood blade ready and raised high, Jedah lunged at the goddess and was met with a massive cherry bomb drawn with the Celestial Brush. A second after he was launched high into the air, Amaterasu reached his height with a single jump and drove her foot into his side, sending him slamming into a building and collapsing in a heap at its base.
Ness, Saya, and Lucas continued to fight as hard as they could with Ryu quickly joining them. Juri rushed them, aiming at Saya as she jumped high into the air and launched her foot forward.
"Why don't you just lie down and die, you rotten little bitch!"
"SHORYUKEN!"
Once Ryu's fist connected with her chin, Juri went rolling along the ground and accumulating numerous cuts and bruises. Just barely managing to get to her feet, she spat out a trickle of blood and looked at the four with a look of pure venom.
"You're all dead…you're all DEAD! GET THEM!"
Moblins and Kargarocs came streaming toward the four, far too many for just the four of them to fight off. Of course, surprises can be found at every corner, and Ness and Lucas certainly had a surprise for them.
"Ready, Ness?"
"Ready, Luke!"
The two high-fived and shot each other a cocky smirk.
"Bottoms up!" they said in unison before slamming their arms to their chests and raising them to the heavens. "PK STARSTORM!"
And the Moblins and Karagarocs were certainly surprised. Two boys in their early teen years had done nothing more than yell at the sky, but what had it done? Well…nothing substantial. That is, if dozens upon dozens of comets coming down like rain could be considered nothing substantial. With their trump card doing the dirty work, the boys could just stand back and watch the fireworks, but it seemed that Saya had a little addition to the surprise once she saw Palutena, Morrigan, and Pit struggling against Hades.
"Hey, boys!" she called. "Check this out!"
She reached out and seized one comet before it struck the ground, and with her gaze locked on Hades, she sank backward and launched her hands forward. The comet redirected itself and flew headlong at Hades, who noticed it just a hair too late.
"Oh, poo…" he muttered to himself.
The comet struck and bowled him over, letting loose a massive tremor as he struck the ground and lay there in a dizzy state.
"Well, this isn't very much fun, is it…" he groaned.
"Boo-yah!" Saya cheered. "Didn't see that coming, did you?"
Then she noticed Ness and Lucas staring at her wide-eyed and speechless, the latter of which began clapping while keeping the same expression.
"Yeah, I, uh…kinda started using the so-called cursed power for a better purpose. Looks like it's working out so far."
"Yeah, I could kinda tell." said Ness.
"Anyway, let's…wait a second."
She felt a familiar signal in her mind and heard a single voice. Ryu's.
"You haven't transcended your humanity! You've thrown it away!"
Another Poltergeist. Closing in on them. She turned to warn her three comrades, but the one that needed the warning the most was staring off into the distance. Clenching his fists and jaw, knitting his brow, and flaring his nostrils at the figure marching menacingly toward him. A tall and muscular man with flaming red hair, a black gi, tanned skin, and red eyes staring evilly into Ryu's.
"Akuma."
The dark figure of Akuma sank into a fighting stance very similar to Ryu's, and Ryu himself did the same. There were no words, and Saya and her two comrades knew there was it wasn't fear that caused Akuma to haunt Ryu. It was anger. Something Akuma had done had made Ryu unable to forgive him for it, and had set the two as mortal enemies.
They both seemed to move in for the first attack at the same time, Ryu's fist slamming against Akuma's. Akuma countered with a chop to Ryu's neck, which he blocked and countered with a Shoryuken. They struck at each other over and over again, sometimes hitting their mark and sometimes not. It was clear who the stronger opponent was, however, when Akuma managed to land a punch at Ryu's ribs. Ryu lost his breath and went flying backward, barely landing on his feet as he clutched at his hurting side, only to look up and growl under his breath before launching back at his opponent.
Another thought pinged in Saya's mind. She remembered what Ryu had told her. Not the thing about controlling her power, but more what he had used as an example. The Satsui no Hado. A dark power that was unleashed when one was pushed to the breaking point, just like Saya and her ultraburst.
The breaking point. Pure rage. The longer Ryu fought Akuma and didn't make any progress, the angrier he got. And once that anger got to a certain point…
"TATSUMAKI SENPUU KICK!"
Ryu's foot came up, got caught in Akuma's grip, and a sharp pain went through it once Akuma clenched his grip hard and brought his free hand slamming into the underside of Ryu's thigh. Ryu let out a loud shout as he went down, but he only stayed down for a second before he finally gained made some progress, sweeping Akuma's legs out from under him with a strong kick.
"You just had to show up now. Of all the times…"
Ryu received no verbal answer; only Akuma's fists shooting at him. He blocked and dodged and did whatever he could to prevent himself from getting hit. It barely worked. He avoided most of the blows but took far more hits than he would have liked, and even the blows he blocked rattled his bones. Finally, after dropping his guard at the wrong time, he suffered a terrible blow to the face before Akuma seized him in a headlock. With that, the Poltergeist pummelled Ryu in his chest and stomach again and again until depositing him on the ground like a piece of garbage.
At this point, Lucas was about to step forward and help only to be blocked by Saya's arm.
"Don't." she said. "You won't make it."
"But we have to…"
"No. Watch."
Truth be told, Saya was scared that Ryu would eventually become too weak to keep fighting, and it certainly looked like that was the inevitable outcome for a moment as Akuma continued to strike Ryu over and over again. The young fighter could barely keep his arms up let alone counterattack whenever he got the chance, and every time he got hit afterward, his arms seemed to drop another half-inch until they were dangling at his sides as he stood there and took hit after hit, finally getting sent backward onto his hands and knees.
Then his eyebrows started to tilt up, his nostrils flaring once again. Through the bruised mess of his face, Saya saw his angry eyes start to look at her. The bruises started to clear, but underneath them there was now a light-red tint to his skin, his hair starting to redden and his gi started to blacken.
"This is it." he mumbled. "Once I'm done with him…bring me back."
Saya nodded, and Ryu gave in. He got to his feet and let out a loud piercing roar at the sky, a red aura surrounding him as he completed his transformation.
"What the hell's happening to him?!" Ness shouted.
"He's been consumed by the Satsui no Hado." Saya replied. "He's given in to his inner evil."
Once Ryu had finished roaring and the aura vanished, he stood hunched over with his muscles veiny and swollen. He looked literally like a stereotypical demon, just without the horns and goat legs. But what truly scared Saya was just how angry he was. She had never seen herself her own anger when she let out an ultraburst, but this had to be pretty close.
Ryu was now acting on pure animalistic instinct, and there was no stopping him until he had torn something (or someone) into pieces.
The second Akuma moved even a fraction of an inch, Ryu attacked. Come to think of it, "attacked" didn't even seem like an appropriate word. It was more like Ryu had flat-out mauled Akuma. He was faster, stronger, but not necessarily better. Certainly not, in fact. There was no form to his fighting. No sense of remorse in the way he attacked. Just strike after strike, not caring where he struck Akuma or how he struck him. Just trying to strike him as hard as he could in any way he could.
"DIE, YOU BASTARD! DIE!"
Akuma finally attempted to put up a fight, blocking some of Ryu's strikes and even parrying a few of them. When he finally got one hard strike in, it looked like Ryu was about to go down again, but no. continued to dodge all of Akuma's attack while a light violet aura formed around his arm, and once Ryu had dodged one last blow, he let loose with the final blow.
"SHUN GOKU SATSU!"
Ryu's fists struck Akuma hard and fast, a column of light forming around the two as Ryu let out another roar. Within, they could see Akuma twisting in pain as he steadily began to dissolve like all the other Poltergeists before him, but did Ryu notice? No. He was too busy with the satisfaction of victory, smiling a parted-lip smile that made even the most messed-up of lunatics look perfectly normal. And he had just turned that smile to Saya as it reformed into another snarl.
"You…" he growled.
"Ah, crap, here we go." Saya muttered.
She sank into a fighting stance and waited for Ryu to lunge. Ness and Lucas were about to step forward when Saya looked over her shoulder.
"I've got this…I hope."
Ryu at last launched forward, his fist making contact with Saya's palm before she palm-stuck his forehead. He stumbled backward but came again, this time with a hefty Tatsumaki Senpuu Kick. Saya blocked the blow and palm-struck his chest, which he responded to by grabbing her wrist and vaulting him over his shoulder. She landed right-side up and held her fists up, ready for his next attack.
"HADOKEN!" Ryu shouted, launching a fast moving sphere of energy at Saya.
"Don't bet on it."
With a strong swing of the Master Sword, Saya launched the sphere back at its sender at a much faster rate. It struck Ryu's chest and bowled him over, but he got up no more than a second later. They lunged at each other, striking each other's faces at exactly the same time. Keeping his fist pressed against her, Ryu shoved further and knocked Saya to the ground. He stomped his foot down, barely missing her before she balanced herself on one hand and stuck him in the jaw with her own foot.
"DAMN YOU!" Ryu shouted.
"Alright. Guess I'll have to beat him unconscious."
They traded blow for blow, Saya suffering just as many blows as her opponent and reacting just as much as he did. She began aiming for his pressure points, striking a few of them and managing to get more of a reaction out of Ryu, but he remained standing. He began aiming for some of hers, striking a single one in her leg and causing her to go down in an instant. She let out a single grunt and growl before getting to her feet.
"Okay. That's the way you want it? Then that's the way you're gonna get it!"
They lunged inward again, punching and kicking and doing whatever they could to take each other down. They attacked, dodged, blocked, counterattacked, anything. They were equally matched in just about every way. Strength, speed, endurance. Saya struck, Ryu took the blow and struck. She took the blow and struck again. Each was sweating bullets and bleeding just as much as the other.
Ryu thought nothing of the entire situation, focused only on brutally murdering his opponent. Saya however was truly amazed at just how powerful of an opponent she had before her. She almost wished she had asked Ness and Lucas to help her. But no. With the kind of strength he had, Ryu would have annihilated them.
What a thing to think the second she got launched backwards, Ryu jumping at her with fist raised high.
"NOW YOU DIE!"
"No. You be a good dog and lie down!" said Zelda.
In truth, Saya was relieved someone had finally jumped to her aid, and even more so when she saw that it was Zelda. With a cast of her hand, Zelda trapped Ryu in a triangular barrier, his arms pinned to his sides as he angrily bucked about.
"Now, Saya!" Zelda shouted. "Finish him while you still have the chance!"
Saya ran forward and slammed her fist against Ryu's chest, knocking all the air out of him before she pressed his temples with her fingers. Ryu let out numerous pained roars, bucking about in Saya's grip and very nearly breaking loose, but she held strong.
"Any second now…"
Before long, Ryu's skin grew lighter, his gi and hair returned to normal colour, and once Saya finally removed her fingers, he doubled over panting. The barrier dissipated and he titled forward, Saya managing to hold him up just in time. As the Japanese fighter steadily regained his strength, he gave Saya a smile of gratitude.
"Phew…wasn't counting on you giving me that much of a hard time. Thanks."
"Hey, you said to 'bring you back'." Saya laughed. "How else was I supposed to do it?"
Juri, now fully recovered from all the damage she'd suffered, looked about at the mob of heroes and snarled.
"Unbelievable! That little brat's supposed to be dead and she just…"
"Han, I would love to see you blow a gasket right now," Hades sighed. "But it's my guess that a certain dark lord needs us back over at a certain forest. You know, so said little brat doesn't come running in and tearing everything up while we're not there."
Juri let out a loud shout of frustration, but nonetheless accompanied Hades in leaving the city untouched. Saya watched them leave with a satisfied smile, and smiled even more as the heroes began to check on all the civilians now that the Moblin army was gone. Through the crowd, she caught a quick sight of none other than Phoenix, not expecting to see him again after what had happened at the courthouse. What she quickly noticed was the girl hugging him tightly. It was Trucy Wright, the very same girl Phoenix had shown Saya and Dante before they left the courthouse.
"She must have been with the rest of the guys when they were going to execute them." Saya said to herself. "Good to see that she's safe."
"So you finally bent your dark power to your will."
As Ryu found the strength to support himself, Saya turned to meet Zelda's smile, feeling at the back of her arm as she managed her own smile. Zelda truly did deserve to hold the Triforce of Wisdom within her. Had anyone else told Saya that Yami's power would be able to help her, she would've dismissed them as an idiot and continued to be the helpless weakling she'd been not long ago.
"Yeah…took me long enough. And I've still gotta get used to it, but I think it's starting to work out for me."
"Dark power is still only power. As long as it requires a host, it can and must be submissive to that host."
"He kinda said the same thing to me, and I think it's safe to say he knows what he's talking about."
The two shared a laugh. No need to remind either of them.
"Nevertheless, I think you're ready for the real battle. What do you say?"
Saya looked at all of their accumulated allies again and breathed a sigh of relief. The power was something else, but she would get used to it. She had to. She had the biggest fight of her life ahead of her.
"I say yes. Finally…we've got us a perfect army. This whole nightmare is finally coming to an end."
She was far too happy to even consider that saying such a thing would jinx her. Yet it happened as Jedah's voice slithered in her ear.
"No, Kusanagi. Not nearly so. In fact, the nightmare is only just beginning."
And before anyone knew what had happened, she was pulled away.
I'm not exactly back from vacation yet, but I'm finally in an area where I have Internet, so at least you guys can see what I've been working on. And you know how I said that not having Internet would eliminate distractions? Well, that's true, but you know what else it does? Makes me nearly bored to tears, that's what.
And Takamaru is in SSB4! ...as an Assist Trophy. On the one hand, I'm disappointed he's not a playable character, but on the other hand, it's awesome just to see him at all. And who knows? Maybe he'll get the Little Mac treatment before long. What's the Little Mac treatment. Step 1: A character from a relatively unknown series appears in Smash as an Assist Trophy. Step 2: A new game in the unknown series comes out that enough people play to increase the demand for the character in Smash. Step 3: The character then becomes playable in the next Smash game. It's foolproof! ...not really.
SOUNDTRACK SO FAR
Saya, Ness, and Lucas- "Pollyanna" from Earthbound (SSBM)
Marth to the rescue- "Together We Ride" from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (SSBM)
X and Zero versus Kirby and Meta Knight- "Meta Knight's Revenge" from Kirby Super Star (SSBB)
Link versus Morrigan- Morrigan's theme from Marvel versus Capcom 3
Link versus Dante- "Never Surrender" from DmC: Devil May Cry
Krystal and Trish versus the Moblin horde- "Lock and Load" from Devil May Cry 1
Krystal versus Mewtwo- "Poké Floats" from Super Smash Bros. Melee
Saya versus Ghirahim- Ghirahim's battle theme from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Frank versus Ghirahim- "On a Mission" from Dead Rising
Courthouse caving in- "No Redemption" from DmC: Devil May Cry
Samus escapes- Metroid Prime main theme
Chun-Li versus Samus- Chun-Li's theme from Street Fighter IV
Standoff on Mount Fuji- "Douchuumen" from The Mysterious Murasame Castle (go on Youtube and look for a version by a group called ysk1210)
Saya and Lucas- "Love" from Mother 3
"LET'S ROCK!"- "Devils Never Cry" from Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
The Devil Trigger- "How Old is Your Soul?" from DmC: Devil May Cry
Ryu and Ken versus Juri- Ryu's theme from Street Fighter IV
Jedah's assault on the airship- Airship theme from Super Mario Bros. 3 (SSBB)
S.I.N. versus B.S.A.A.- "Ride on Sea" from Resident Evil: Revelations (or Biohazard: Revelations if you live in Japan)
Ike to the rescue- "Eternal Bond" from Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Saya's sorrow- "Kinder Days" from Sin and Punishment: Star Successor (known as Successor of the Skies in Europe and Australia)
An army of twenty-one- Main menu theme from Super Smash Bros. Melee
Dante versus Dante- "Empty" from DmC: Devil May Cry
Saya's rage- Tabuu's theme from Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Tetra's pirates- "The Great Sea" from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Lagiacrus- "Sea and Land Tremble" from Monster Hunter 3
The Ancient Mother- "Shenandoah" from Endless Ocean
Vergil versus Lilith- "Super Ultra Violet" from Devil May Cry 1
Moblin attack on Tokyo- "Taiyo High School Rooftop" from Rival Schools: United by Fate
Mac and Batsu to the rescue- "Minor Circuit" from Punch-Out! Wii
Star Fox reunited- Star Fox: Command's ending theme
Amaterasu's "little game"- "Humoresque of a Little Dog" from Earthbound (SSBB)
Halberd going down- "Crisis" from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Samus versus Ridley- Ridley's theme (any variation you choose but my pick is the one from Other M)
X versus Ridley- "Dr. Wily's Castle" from Mega Man 2 (look for the version by SongeLeReveur)
Captain Falcon to the rescue- "Mute City" from F-Zero (SSBB)
Wild Pokemon to the rescue- Pokemon Red and Blue theme
Attack of the Shadow Queen- "Shadow Queen stage 2" from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Sheik to the rescue- "Temple" from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (SSBM)
Attack on Aokigahara- "You Will Know Our Names" from Xenoblade Chronicles
Their last chance at escape- "Justified" from Dead Rising
Amaterasu's confession- "Luma" from Super Mario Galaxy
Saya and company versus Takamaru, Lilith, and Giga Bowser- "Final Destination" from Super Smash Bros. Brawl
A surprise return- Super Mario Galaxy theme
Ryu's rampage- Akuma's theme from Marvel versus Capcom 3