~Chapter Five: And Thus Light Fell to Dark~
Galeem was just as terrifying as it had been when it first appeared on the horizon with its swarm of Master Hands, only this time the Smashers were facing off with their numbers halved. Still, Mario eyed the abomination with newfound determination as his brethren gathered behind him ready to go to battle once more. Galeem's single eye swept over the Smashers with a bloodthirsty shine and Mario's hand tightened into a fist.
No more running. In order to save their trapped friends they needed to defeat Galeem here and now.
Galeem seemed to sense the courage in the fighters in front of it and with a shriek levitated higher above the Smashers, a swarm of Master Hands filling the sky. Mario tensed, Marth had originally estimated they'd all need to take out around ten but with half of them missing...
"Only focus on the Master Hands if they're in your way! Otherwise just focus on Galeem!" Mario ordered, before taking a deep breath and charging forward with his hands igniting in flames. Behind him the Smashers brandished their weapons and followed their leader into battle.
Link was the first to land a direct attack, dropping a bomb on the ground before swinging his sword like a bat and sending the bomb sailing straight into Galeem's eye like a baseball. Mario raised an eyebrow, impressed by the tactic before side-stepping and combining his flames with Pikachu's thunderbolt.
Pit - aided by Viridi's spirit granting him the power of flight - took to the skies with Charizard, arrows and flames raining down onto the battlefield as Red and Leaf commanded their grounded Pokemon. Their Ivysaur used their vine whips to throw their respective Squirtle in the air to deliver powerful skull bashes to a Master Hand that had gotten too close. Little Pichu quickly dodged out of the way as she scampered around trying not to get caught in the crossfire.
Ness, Lucas, Nana, Popo and Toon Link had grouped together shielded by Lucas to get closer to their enemy. Right behind them were the Inklings taking the fight incredibly seriously, using their unique ability to disappear in and out of their ink to create a distraction.
Pac-Man and Mega Man flanked either side of Mario, even if they were missing Sonic the Primary Colour Crew were going to stand together until the bitter end. Pikachu hopped up onto Samus' shoulder as the feared bounty hunter shot off missiles to keep the trap Snake was setting safe. Isabelle meanwhile protectively stood in front of the Villagers, she had vowed to keep them safe and she was not going to break that promise.
Bowser had no choice but to team up with his enemies from the Mushroom Kingdom. He and Donkey Kong were aided by the spirit of Pauline while Peach infused Yoshi's eggs with white magic to then be thrown by an over eager Diddy Kong.
"You're ideal heart rate is zero!" Mrs. Fit exclaimed as she saluted the sun. Her husband Mr. Fit followed in his wife's footsteps as Fox and Falco's Arwings zigzagged in the sky above.
And suddenly an attack from nowhere struck Galeem with enough force to knock it back significantly. Mario blinked, confused, and frantically glanced around for the source of the attack.
He almost wished he hadn't when he located what looked like cracks in the sky and watched in horror as the sky shattered and a dark behemoth slithered out of the jagged hole it created.
"That's what I saw in my vision..." Shulk mumbled and Mario tensed, bracing himself for another potential battle. His gaze flicked back and forth between the gods of light and dark as they stared each other down.
Dharkon...
The name echoed in Mario's mind as a swarm of Crazy Hands descended onto Galeems army of Master Hands. Within seconds the two sides were locked in a fierce battle as the Smashers regrouped and watched with bated breath.
With a final blast from Dharkon Galeem fled, taking with it the fleet of Master Hands. Satisfied that it's competition was gone for the moment the whole sky broke open like an egg and Dharkon proudly hovered in the place Galeem once had. Mario immediately reeled as the wave of darkness crashed over him but steadied himself as he gazed into the new world presented to them.
"In there..." Shulk confirmed, and with newfound determination the Smashers stepped forward into the World of Dark.
/~/
Everything hurt and their lungs were on fire and what was happening?
If they could have screamed they would have. Something dark had slithered in and they found themselves moving against their will and no, no, no.
The light was gone, vanished completely. They could feel the others panicking as well, please make it end, please make it stop.
Please help me.
Review Replies:
SilverXephon: From the way the fighters are cloned in one of the opening cutscenes it really seems like it would be an unpleasant experience. And now that Dharkon's showed up I imagine it would be even worse. Thank you for the review!