Author's Note:

Guess who has two thumbs, a high school diploma, and amazing time management skills! Not me. I was hoping to get this chapter out over the weekend but I didn't finish it in time.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who suggested a name for Cannon Girl. Since she won't be showing up for a while, you guys won't see the name I picked soon.

Also, I didn't pay too much attention during E3 besides Nintendo's Direct. My thoughts: the guy's name is literally, The Hero. I'm just sitting here, trying to figure out how to write the guy and his three alts in since I know almost nothing about Dragon Quest! And for Banjo-Kazooie, admittedly, I don't care too much since I never interacted with the series but I know that a lot of people are excited for them.

One more note before we start the chapter, this is the first time that I'm uploading from my phone so there might be some issues compared to how I usually write.

Review Responses:

Elysium: They have canon names? I am so confused right now. Also, it's nice to see that you're coming up with theories on who Oblivion is. Maybe you're wrong, maybe you're right. Also, thanks for telling me about TvTropes! That's one thing off my bucket list!

Bubblenyan: Those are cool names. Have a nice day to you too!

Cookie 2000: That's an interesting name. I'll add those two fighters in when they get released so I'll keep an eye out!

Chapter 23: The Party is Back Together

Crazy joined your party

Clarence joined you party

"You what!" Crazy slammed her hand onto the table, knocking over her chair.

"Crazy, please. It's not that bad." I stepped back, raising my hands. I looked over to Clarence for help. The knight was at the table next to Crazy, calmly sipping tea. Upon catching my eyes, he gave a shrug before focusing on his hot leaf juice.

Thanks a lot man.

"You. Lost. MY. BEAM SWORD. THE BEAM SWORD. THAT I. LET YOU. BORROW." Crazy began jabbing her finger into my chest, emphasizing each word she said.

"Why are you so focused on the Beam Sword?" I said. "I lost the Boomerang and you didn't get this angry."

"THAT'S BECAUSE IT WAS A BOOMERANG, NATHANIEL," she took another step closer, sticking her face into mine. "THE BEAM SWORD IS A FEAT OF TECHNOLOGICAL ENGINEERING. HAVE YOU EVER MADE A BEAM SWORD?"

"No?"

"EXACTLY!"

"How much did the sword even cost to buy?" I asked, leaning away from Crazy.

"Honestly, not that much." Crazy's anger deflated impossibly fast. In the calmest of fashions, she went back to her chair and sat down. "I'm just mad that you lost my stuff."

"WHY DOES THAT MATTER? I could have died!"

"Because," she locked eyes with me, giving me a look that would slay armies, "it's my stuff."

Piranha Plant and I managed to make it back to Honey Queen's Dojo without getting into anymore fights which was good. Crazy and Clarence have already waited an entire day for me there. While telling them what happened, Crazy flipped out on me.

"Anyway," I said, continuing with what happened. "I got Pichu's amiibo and turned on the generator in the Power Plant. After that, I got kidnapped whe-"

"By who!" Crazy shot up again.

"Weren't you just obsessed with me losing your stuff earlier?" She answered with a glare. "Okay okay, um. I only got one of their names. The first guy's name was Joker and then there was a Cannon Girl but I didn't get her name."

"Joker? Black haired guy, dressed in mostly black, white mask, red gloves, pretty good looking?"

"Good looking? Not sure about that but otherwise yeah."

Sighing, Crazy threw her face into her hands. "What god did I piss off to get this?"

"Excuse me? I get that I've been asking a lot of questions so far but what do you mean by that?"

Crazy waved my question aside. "Just tell us what happened next."

"Well," I said, continuing my story. "I woke up tied to a tree. They said something about Galeem wanting me for some reason and they wanted to learn what it was. I have no idea what they were talking about. That's when Piranha Plant showed up and helped me escaped. I did forget the scythe though."

"So, this strange plant is not some creature that you brought back because you thought it was cute," Clarence said with a wave of the mug at the aforementioned plant. Piranha Plant gave a wave of a leaf before resuming its feast of spinach.

"No. I prefer to think that it's a friend and not some creature that I'm holding captive against its will."

Clarence turned his attention to Crazy, "Ms. Crazy, doesn't this contradict what you told me earlier?"

She nodded, "It does somewhat. I'm still trying to figure out why."

"If what you said earlier is true, this plant could be explained as an oversight but the two who kidnapped Nathaniel? Maybe Galeem brought them here."

"What are you two talking about?" I butted into the two's conversation. "What did Crazy tell you Clarence?"

He turned back to me, "During the time I was away from you and Crazy, I saw no wildlife. No wild animals and the town was devoid of life beyond the Puppet Fighters. I questioned her about why. Galeem turned all sentient life into Spirits and is using those Spirits as an energy source for the Puppet Fighters."

"Yeah. I knew that. And then we have Dojo Masters and Shop owners who are not in Spirit form after we freed them because of how close we are to their location." I thought back to Crazy's explanation at Anna's Shop.

Clarence nodded, "So, now we have the emergence of three new people. The plant here, and then Joker and the so called Cannon Girl."

"Don't criticize me on my name choices you avocado."

Ignoring what I said, Clarence continued. "If all sentient life was turned into Spirits, how are these three not Spirits as well? I know that I am not because I was called to this world after Galeem fused it."

Crazy grimaced, "I wasn't caught in the fusion because I was searching for my brother. Thankfully, that meant I was out of range from being in the fusion."

The cliff I was on before all this started flashed through my mind. "I think the same applies to me, I was here after the fusion."

We all turned to look at Piranha Plant. The plant lifted its head enough to return the look. "So now," Crazy said. "The question is how did Piranha Plant survive?"

Piranha Plant opened its mouth and reached inside with a leaf. Digging around for a moment, the plant pulled out a drool covered letter that had a red wax seal, depicting a cross.

"I am not touching that." I said, taking a seat.

Crazy gave a long sigh, face in hand again. "So, that's what my brother meant."

"What do you mean?" Clarence asked as I tried to get Piranha Plant to put the letter back into its mouth. Instead, the plant was trying to hand me the letter.

"My brother, Master Hand, told me that he had a surprise fighter coming to this year's tournament. The only one he told me about was Joker but kept the other five a secret."

"Wait, so there's four other fighters out there?" I asked.

"Most likely. But that still leaves the Cannon Girl."

"Oh yeah." I turned to Clarence. "I think it was Chapter 14. You told me about a dream you had of Master Hand and he was asking for help."

The knight groaned, "Stop saying chapters as if this is some kind of book. And yes, that's how I got here. Someone named Master Hand asked me for help in a dream."

"Cannon Girl said that too."

"The bit about chapters or Master Hand?"

"Master Hand."

"Great," Crazy said. "My brother just makes things worse."

"What do you mean by that?" I turned back to Crazy. "Other than being controlled, he's not doing much at the moment."

"You mean other than being controlled and bringing people from other worlds into this mess," Crazy corrected. "He called Clarence here and now also, Cannon Girl. Who knows who else he summoned and, thanks to the lack of instructions, Galeem can manipulate them into doing what he wants."

Clarence narrowed his eyes, "Crazy, I think you're being harsh on your brother. He might not have had enough time to give us elaborate instructions."

Crazy gave him a stony glare, "He thought that putting lifelong enemies under the same roof was a good idea. It was considered a lucky day if there was less than three explosions or attempted murders before breakfast. Thankfully, we decided on a different housing system before the last tournament."

"Wait, how does that letter explain how Piranha Plant came here?" I asked, finally getting the plant to put the letter back into it's mouth.

"Simple," Crazy folded her arms. "The letters were designed to be keys that enabled multiversal travel. Either they were in mid-travel as the fusion occurred or the rest of the energy stored in the letter was used to protect the fighters from being turned into Spirits. Regardless, the letters are just fancy pieces of paper now."

I clapped my hands, "Well, what's next? Finish breakfast and then go back to kicking butt?"

Clarence answered, "We're going to the city. There were too many Puppet Fighters for me to deal with."

Finishing our food, we stepped outside the Dojo, only for a voice to stop us.

"Oh! Before the four of you leave," Honey Queen called, "I have some gifts for all of you."

"Oh really? Thank you!" I held my hands out, and got a pile of Beehives.

Item Acquired:

Beehive x4

"Are these Beehives?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes, of course!" Honey Queen answered joyfully.

"Filled with bees?"

"Er, yes. That's why they're called Beehives." The queen was a bit more hesitant now but still had a joyful demeanor.

"Bees that sting, buzz, and are a general bane of my existence?"

"Are you okay with bees?"

"Absolutely. This is an amazing gift. Thank you so much." I said, a smile breaking out on my face. "Hey Clarence! Want a beehive?"

He took a step back at my question, "As long as you don't throw it at me."

"Nevermind then."

"You were planning to throw it at me!" Clarence yelled. "What is wrong with you!"

Crazy ignored us, turning to Honey Queen. "Thanks for putting up with us Queeny."

"It is not a worry Crazy Hand. Best of luck to you in your quest."

We began heading south to the city, passing through a small town, traveling mainly in silence. I didn't talk mostly because the earlier conversation left me tired of talking. Crazy kept her attention on the path, Piranha Plant kept running ahead of us and then back and Clarence mainly kept to himself, but I saw him sneak looks at me out of the corner of my eye.

I turned to ask him why he kept looking at me, but a familiar ape landed in front of me.

"Oh cheesecakes." Donkey Kong threw out a punch, hitting me in the chest and I flew back. I twisted in the air, landing on my feet. Donkey Kong chased me after me. I jumped, using his head to get more air.

I landed behind the ape, pulling out my Beam Sword. "Perfect. I forgot. Lost that one."

DK slapped the ground, sending out a shockwave that threw me into the air. I tried to regain my bearings, only for DK to jump after me. He clasped his hands together, bringing them down on my back and slamming my body to the ground.

My hands were barely steady, but I brought myself to my knees. Bringing my head up, DK was about to stomp on me. I shielded, trying to block the foot.

A spike ball flew out from behind me, knocking into DK moments before his attack landed. Piranha Plant jumped over me and slammed its pot into DK.

While Piranha Plant fought Donkey Kong, I turned to see what was occupying Crazy and Clarence's attention. They were fighting a pair of kids with hammers and parkas as well as a Lucario that was entirely gold for some reason. I think it's a shiny?

Yeah, I think I'll just gang up on ape with the plant.

I pulled out the Steel Diver and fired a shot. Piranha Plant jumped, letting the torpedo hit DK squarely in the forehead. The plant fell to the ground, chewing something.

I ran forward, with the plant giving me a boost as I jumped. Aiming, I landed on DK's head, giving a crashing stomp before jumping again. Twisting my body in midair, I fired another torpedo, blasting DK into Piranha Plant.

The plant spewed out a purple gas from its mouth at the ape as it landed. Apparently, the gas was poison. DK flailed a bit before falling to the ground and exploding into smoke.

"Oh," I said. "Is making the enemy explode normal for that move?"

The plant put a leaf to its chin before shrugging. Okay, don't make the plant mad.

A familiar swordsman was thrown into the plant knocking it away. "I'm guessing you guys aren't doing so well."

"No thanks to you," Clarence replied as he picked himself off the ground. I turned, just in time for Crazy to get thrown into me.

"I am starting to hate Lucario," Crazy muttered as she got off me.

I lifted my head to see that while the twins were defeated, the Gold Lucario was still there. And was on fire with lots of aura.

"Do we have a plan?" I asked.

"Hit it until it dies?" Clarence suggested.

"Blow it up." Crazy said, hefting a Bob-omb in one hand and her Staff in the other.

Piranha Plant just made a bunch of chomping noises.

"Let's go with all of the above."

Crazy and I fired into the Aura Pokemon at the same time, with both shots landing. Sadly, Lucario barely flinched.

Clarence dashed ahead with Piranha Plant following close behind. He swung his blade at the gold Pokemon, aiming for the neck. Lucario moved out of the blade's path before slamming a fist into Clarence's side.

As Clarence flew back, Piranha Plant spewed the poisonous gas into Lucario's face. The Pokemon ignored that as well, kicking the plant back.

I jumped, catching Clarence as he flew through the air. After a quick thanks, he jumped to the ground as I fired another torpedo. It blew up in another useless explosion.

Clarence spun, swinging his blade and sent out a small tornado that flew into Lucario, launching it into the air. Setting the Bob-omb on the ground, Crazy wielded the Staff like a golf club and shouted, "Fore!"

She swung the Staff, hit the Bob-omb and it flew through the air, colliding with Lucario in an explosion.

"As long as we don't say, 'I think that killed him,' or anything like that, we should be good." I said.

Lucario dropped out of the smoke. Crazy and Clarence decided to take a moment to glare at me before we charged back the Pokemon.

Clarence dashed forward, sword aimed at Lucario and covered in a flaming blue aura. Lucario vanished as the blade struck him, reappearing behind Clarence and gave him a kick.

I jumped, aiming with a kick at Lucario's head. The Pokemon jumped above me and struck me with a hand, sending me into the ground.

Crazy threw a Deku Nut at Lucario. Catching it, Lucario threw the nut at Crazy. In a flash of light, Crazy was stunned which Lucario used as an opportunity to slam a palm into her stomach and sending her flying.

Piranha Plant landed behind Lucario and swung its head, now black and covered with spikes into Lucario's back. The Pokemon sidestepped the swing and slammed its palm into Piranha Plant, only to miss. The plant had withdrawn its head into the pot, dodging the strike. Tilting the pot, Piranha Plant's head shot out, taking a bite out of Lucario.

The Pokemon fell back, collapsing into smoke and releasing the Spirit.

"Finally," I groaned. "Can we just make camp and make it to the city tomorrow? I'm in a lot of pain."

"Seconded," Clarence called out.

We made camp and decided to recover from the sudden fight while Crazy explained why Lucario was gold.

"Normally, becoming a Gold Fighter is not something that a Fighter can get normally. It requires a Xerneas from a Pokeball or collecting 100 coins on the Gold Plains stage."

"Weah, sho?" I asked.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Crazy said.

I swallowed my sandwich before repeating, "Yeah, so? Galeem probably did it."

"True," Clarence said. He turned to Crazy, "What does being gold entail? Galeem might send more Gold Fighters after us."

"It means that the fighter is stronger and has Super Armor so not many attacks can make them flinch."

"Cool. I want it."

Crazy ignored my comment before continuing, "I don't think Galeem will send more. He probably just made a couple as experiments since that was the first one we've seen. Besides, if he was sending more after us, he wouldn't have gotten Cannon Girl and Joker to fight us."

"That fight with them wasn't the best," I admitted. "So what are we going to do about them?"

"If, well, when we meet them again, we'll just have to explain the situation to them," Crazy said.

"Talking may not be the best solution," Clarence pointed out. "If they refuse to listen to what we have to say, then we may have to resort to violence."

"Then violence we shall resort to," Crazy answered. She turned to me, "I forgot to give you some stuff when we were at the Dojo."

She looked through her pockets and pulled something out. Giving a nod to Clarence, she and the knight both tossed some items to me. They were amiibo.

Smasher No. 12

Jigglypuff

Smasher No. 18

Dr. Mario

Crazy walked over to her tent. "I'm heading to bed. You boys better not peek in on me."

She ducked into her tent and we soon heard a light snoring coming from within.

"Today sure had been something," I said, staring at Piranha Plant. The plant had been quick to fall asleep. Unsurprisingly, as it hadn't got any rest since the fight with Cannon Girl and Joker. I turned my head to see that Clarence was staring. "What?"

"Earlier, at the Dojo," The knight began, "when we were talking about how we all managed to survive the world merge, you said that you arrived after it happened."

"Yeah, so?"

He looked me in the eyes, "How did you get here?"

I took a moment to think of an answer. Didn't Oblivion say that he was the reason I was here?

"Don't tell him about me!" Oblivion cried out.

"Why not?" I thought back.

"Because then he'll clearly tell Crazy. Either because he believes you and wants to make sure that Crazy is on the same page or because he doesn't and thinks you're insane!"

"I'm not insane. I'm bananas."

"Take this seriously!"

"I'm just joking."

"I'm not sure how I got here," I told Clarence. "Crazy doesn't know either. Maybe I'm here because of Master Hand like you but I don't remember since, y'know, amnesia."

Clarence was silent, before finally saying, "Maybe."

I shrugged, turning over to my sleeping bag and shut my eyes. Before sleep could overtake me, Oblivion piped up.

"You didn't recover any memories from those amiibos, right?"

"Nope. Just like Bowser's amiibo."

"Have you figured out why? It'd be nice to know more about who you were."

"I think I know why," I thought. "It's because I wasn't the one to awaken the Smashers."

"I don't follow."

"Clarence defeated Giga Bowser at the fortress but I didn't get a memory from Bowser's amiibo. Now, there's Jigglypuff and Dr. Mario's amiibo, defeated by Crazy and Clarence respectively. No memory. I'm starting to see a pattern develop."

"What are you going to do about it?"

I sighed, "I'm not sure."

Save File 2: Saved

Party: Nathaniel, Oblivion(?), Crazy, Clarence, Piranha Plant

Items: Nathaniel- Steel Diver, Fire Flower, Special Flag, Beehive x4

Crazy Hand- Staff, Deku Nuts, Green Shell, Bob-omb, Bombchu x3, Smart Bomb

Clarence-None

Piranha Plant- None

Smashers: Mario, Link, Kirby, Fox, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, Jigglypuff, Peach, Bowser, Dr. Mario, Pichu, Lucario, Villager

Author's Theater:

Crazy: What are you working on MG?

MG: The Hero from Dragon Quest.

Nathaniel: Which one? The Nintendo Direct showcased the guy has like, three alts.

MG: That's the problem. How do I justify writing one of them in the story, but not the others?

Clarence: Maybe if you hadn't brought the problem up for discussion, people would not have realized the problem and would have made their own answers to justify the existence of one and not the others.

MG: *jumping off his chair* Who knows? And we got something more important to do.

Nathaniel: Like what?

MG: SWOL has hit 35 followers recently thanks to TegamiBachi25, Toy2711, Nahim03, Galieo Figaro, and Shadowmwape 'TetraKarne! If anyone doesn't want to be mentioned, just PM me and I'll remove them. Thanks to all you readers who have been enjoying SWOL so far!