Smash: Emissary
Chapter 1: Smash Out
When Princess Peach Toadstool wanted to prepare for the banquet she had planned, she wasn't expecting to face as many complications as she was here. The kitchens had been a chaotic, hectic scramble last she checked, and time was running out before the princess of Sarasaland arrived at the castle. In all of this panic, at no point had the Mario brothers shown their faces. She was irritated before, but this was unacceptable. She turned to one of the nearest Toads, her faithful servants, stopping him as he passed by.
"Have you seen the brothers yet?" Peach asked him.
"Not yet, princess, but last I checked they were close with the gift!" The Toad replied.
Peach let out a quick sigh. "Please go check again. We need this to go off without a hitch if this alliance has any hope of standing."
"But I thought you and Princess Daisy knew each other?" Toad asked.
"Daisy and I are on good terms, yes. But formality or not, we still have to go through this if we want a permanent alliance between the Mushroom and Sarasaland Kingdoms. Such an alliance would prove formidable against the enemies of our kingdoms, including Bowser," Peach explained.
"Your highness, they're here! They're here!" Another Toad called from down the hall.
"About time. Go on, help the other Toads in the kitchen. They'll need all the help they can get," peach said.
"Yes, princess!" The first Toad exclaimed before running off. Peach then made her way to the front entrance of her castle. Carrying a large crate through the massive front gates were none other than the Mario brothers themselves, Mario and his younger but taller brother Luigi.
"Easy, Luigi! Don't want to drop and dent this, after all," Mario said.
"I'm-a trying, Mario! But it's heavy!" Luigi replied.
"Toads, please help the boys with that," Peach sighed with a smile. A large group of Toads shuffled over and took the large crate from the brothers, taking the weight off of them.
"Phew, what a relief…" Luigi sighed, sounding exasperated before sitting in the middle of the walkway to rest. Mario, meanwhile, turned to the princess and bowed.
"It's-a good to see you Princess," He greeted.
"You as well, Mario. I appreciate your help with carrying that piece of craftwork from the smith to the castle," Peach replied.
"It's for a good cause," Mario simply said. "When is the meeting?"
"This afternoon. Daisy is a very open-minded individual, so I hope this goes off without any issue. If we're lucky, Bowser will have two kingdoms to deal with next time he strikes."
"I have faith in you, princess," Mario said.
"Your belief is appreciated," Peach said. "If you wish to stay to oversee the discussion, I welcome you to, but I must help in finishing the preparations. We will call for you when it begins, if you stay." Peach then turned on her heel and went back the way she came, turning the corner and leaving from sight.
"That seemed to go well," Luigi said as he took his older brother's side. "All things considered."
"I think she's still a bit-a mad about last time we talked," Mario said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You mean when you and Bowser fought to propose to her?" Luigi questioned.
"Yeah, that," Mario deadpanned.
Luigi gave Mario a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Mario. She'll come around sooner or later. You're the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom after all!"
"Easy for you to say, brother," Mario sighed. "Sometimes I lived a slightly simpler life, like you."
"I would not call fighting-a ghosts so simple," Luigi said. "Though I would take King Boo over Bowser any day."
"At least Bowser is simpler than relationship problems," Mario said.
"Until Bowser becomes the relationship problems," Luigi pointed out. "How many times has he tried to kidnap her over the years now?"
"Too many too count," Mario replied. "You'd think at this point, he'd-a move on."
"Wishful thinking, brother. Wishful thinking." Theme a resounding boom shook the entire castle around them, and crumbling rubble could be heard after.
"No kidding," Mario said before the brothers sprinted to follow Peach's path. Their running stopped when they entered a large conference room with the high ceiling blown to bits. Descending from above in hovering pods were Bowser and his son, Bowser Jr., a tiny Koopa already the spitting image of his father. Clutched in one of the metal claw arms of Bowser Jr.'s pod was peach, struggling to get free. "Princess!"
"Mario!" Peach exclaimed.
"She's mine, and mine for good this time, plumber!" Bowser exclaimed.
"We'll see about that, King Bowser!" Mario replied, both he and Luigi readying themselves for a fight. Bowser smirked and dropped down from his pod.
"Junior, take the girl and go," Bowser told his son.
"But, Pops-" Junior started to say.
"You heard me, son! We'll handle the heroes," Bowser said as he cracked his knuckles.
"We?" Mario questioned just before a large hammer hit Luigi and sent him flying back down the hall, crashing into the wall at the end of the corner. "Luigi!" Mario turned to see Dedede spinning his hammer for another attack, but leapt out of the way just before it connected, only for Bowser's claws to connect with his stomach. The powerful swipe by the King Koopa sent Mario also flying into a wall. Before the heroic plumber could recover, Dedede's hammer came down on him again, and his vision went black.
Mario didn't know how much time had passed, but he was woken up by his brother yelling his name and shaking him. "Mario! Mario!"
"I'm up, Luigi, I'm up…" Mario groaned. "What happened?"
"They're gone. They took Princess Peach."
"Figures…" Mario said as he got to his feet. "Who was the penguin? He sure packed a wallop."
"I'm not sure, but Daisy is helping reorganize the Toads to repair the castle and start the search for the Koopa Fleet," Luigi told his brother. "Then we can go do our usual job and save the Princess!"
"Daisy is here?" Mario asked.
"Yeah, we were out of it for a while. But she's got everything covered here!"
"Well, until someone finds Bowser, so do we," Mario said. "C'mon, let's get to work."
The Emerald Coast was a long, expansive shoreline, with a beautiful blue sea riding the shore as well as interweaving into the land itself, leaving small patches of land as tiny islands specked along the edge of the mainland, with wooden bridges placed to create paths between almost every single one. The entire zone was peaceful and quiet.
That is until a blue blur sped along the shoreline at the speed of sound, being chased by an airborne fighter ship firing along the path, trying to actually land a hit on the speeding object. Or rather, speeding hedgehog. Sonic glanced back at the ship zooming behind him, which was narrowly avoiding the high-rising trunks of palm trees while also keeping pace with his target. He smirked while watching the pilot have those difficulties.
"I guess Egghead ran out of stupid robots to throw my way, so he bought stupid hired help instead!" Sonic quipped.
"I'm gonna fry you!" The pilot replied.
"You'll have to catch me first, slowpoke!" Sonic said before blowing a raspberry at his pursuer and speeding off even further ahead. Wolf, in the cockpit of his Arwing, growled even more before setting his eyes on his control panel.
"Super shields coming online… I'll show you who's slow." Quickly, his Arwing was surrounded by a blue energy field, and he pushed the acceleration as far as he could, sending the ship blasting forward. Its shielded hull now simply tore through the trees or other obstacles in its path, quickly catching up with Wolf's intended target.
"Huh, I must have really ticked you off, buddy!" Sonic smirked confidently. Wolf fired the Arwings main guns again, only narrowly missing Sonic. "Woah! Definitely ticked off!" Sonic had to quickly zigzag in and out of the main path to avoid being hit by the Arwing's blasts, but Wolf was getting closer and closer to nailing him with every second's passing. "Okay, maybe Eggman does know how to pick 'em! I better end this fast!"
Sonic clocked his speed up to eleven, managing to get even further out of Wolf's reach, and once he was confident both he and Wolf had great enough velocity, he leapt upwards and curled himself into a spiked ball and shot backwards, turning his forward velocity into a backwards homing attack with the power of a cannon, blasting through the shield and shattering the cockpit. Sonic's curled up form collided with Wolf, but the force didn't stop there; Sonic's attack pushed Wolf through the back of his ship, tearing through the metal smashing him into the path. Sonic launched himself off of the ace pilot and let him fly back, uncurling and landing on his feet perfectly. The Arwing wasn't so lucky, as it kept flying forward, but without it's pilot, shot off outwards to the wider ocean and quickly sank under the water.
"Well, looks like ol' Egghead will need to fix you up a new ship! I almost felt bad tearing it up, Tails would've loved to get his hands on that," Sonic smirked.
"Rrrg…" Wolf groaned as he held his stomach and got back to his feet, clearly in pain. "Do you ever stop talking?"
"Not really, it's a big part of my charm," Sonic shrugged.
"Then your tongue will be the first thing I claw out," Wolf snarled before baring his ten sharp claws, each one sprouting from his fingertips.
"That's cute," Sonic chuckled. "Sure you're really gonna be able to hit me with that eyepatch on though? I mean, maybe that's why you kept missing me."
"I just have to get one in, and with him holding you down, aiming won't be a problem,' Wolf assured.
"Him? Let's not play the pronoun game, now-" Sonic started to run his mouth before a massive hand forced it into the dirt, cracking the ground beneath them. Sonic was so caught off guard, he was completely dazed for a short time, even as Ganon's massive hand lifted the anthropomorphic hedgehog by his quilled head above the ground.
"Such an insignificant creature overthrew Robotnik again and again? Perhaps he is another weakling to be culled like all the others," The Gerudo king remarked.
"As I recall, you were also defeated by those you called lesser, correct, Ganondorf?" Eggman sneered as he lowered from the sky in an orb-like pod.
"Even they supersede this small rodent," Ganon sneered. "This was no challenge at all."
"For you, maybe!" Wolf exclaimed. "All you did wa shit him from behind! I had to chase him, and I lost my ship!"
"Perhaps you would like to share his fate, Wolf?" Ganon threatened. Wolf snarled at this. Ganon may be strong, maybe even kill him, but he would take his eyes first at least.
"Enough, both of you!" Eggman cut them off. "Fighting each other will get us nowhere!"
Amongst their bickering, Sonic was able to recover from the first attack, and once his senses came to him, he spun upwards within Ganon's grip and kicked him in the jaw, hoping to catch the Gerudo off guard long enough to break free. The attack barely seemed to phase him, however. Ganon's grip remained tight as steel and his piercing eyes glared down at the hedgehog.
"Heheheh… whoops…" Sonic nervously chuckled.
"Fool," Ganon simply said before slamming Sonic into the ground again, forcing all the air from his lungs and stunning him even harder than before. Ganon let him hang from his grip as Eggman brought his pod to ground level, a devious smirk forming on his face.
"There it is… the look of defeat on your face, the realization you are beat. I've craved that for so long, especially since you left me alone on the Starfall Islands… right after you let Sage die," Eggman's grin turned into a hateful scowl as he spoke the last part of that sentence.
"W-What? Oh, Eggman, no, I didn't-" Sonic started to say, trying to speak comfortingly to the mad scientist. But mad he was, and he didn't listen.
"Shut it, rodent! You will pay for Sage's death by living the rest of your days in between the folds of infinite realities, where you could die instantly or in a thousand years. Either way, I hope you suffer as much as possible before your existence comes to a frivolous end," Eggman scowled before clicking a switch in his pod. "This is Robotnik. Open the rift." He then clicks it again to end the transmission, and momentarily a tear in reality, a rift, opens next to them.
"S-Seriously, Eggman, wait!" Sonic tried to get them to stop so he could speak to the scientist.
"No more talk! I never want to hear your annoying voice ever again! Ganon, dispose of him!"
"With pleasure," Ganon smirked before tossing Sonic up into the air and bringing his hand up to his opposite shoulder, purple energy building up in his fist. By the time Sonic fell back down to level, his fist was almost consumed by the energy, so Ganon struck his fist backwards against the hedgehog, releasing the energy all at once and blasting Sonic through the rift with a powerful backhand. The rift closed shortly after, and Sonic the Hedgehog was banished from his own world.
The two overlooked the vast kingdom filled with lush greenery from an elevated cliff overhang, the once chaotic lands having a sense of peace for the first time in a century. But that doesn't mean that the work of the hero and the princess was done, far from it. They had to help reorganize, bring structure back to the land that had been wild for so long. It was time for it to take a breath, a sigh of relief.
Zelda, dressed in a blue-and-white long sleeved outfit with black fingerless gloves, black leggings and travel shoes, her golden locks of hair flowing in the wind, glanced down at the ancient Sheikah Slate in her hand, the blue screen showing a map of the kingdom of Hyrule before her.
"We'll make our way to Zora's Domain," She said. "Divine Beast Vah Ruta… looks like it stopped working. Let's investigate the situation."
Link, dressed in his sky blue champion's tunic, pale leggings and worn, dark traveler's boots and the sheathed Master Sword and Hylian Shield strapped to his back, nodded towards her. Zelda looked up from the Sheikah Slate, her small smile disappearing as other thoughts came to mind. She let the hand holding the slate drop to her side.
"Mipha's father… I believe he would like to hear more about her. The least we can do is visit him and offer him some closure. Although Ganon is gone for now, there is still so much more for us to do, and so many painful memories that we must bear." She took a few steps forward, towards the rest of the kingdom, before stopping suddenly. Link kept to her side, also taking those steps before stopping at her side. "I believe in my heart, that if all of us work together, we can restore Hyrule to its former glory. Perhaps… even beyond. But it all must start with us." Zelda's tone soon turned more chipper, and she put her hands behind her back and headed for the horses she and Link left back at the main path. "Let's be off."
Link also smiled, and after taking one last glance at the vast Hylian landscape, including the withered and destroyed castle, began to follow her back to their steeds. Zelda stopped short again, however, with ehr back to him, which also gave the hero pause.
"I… can no longer hear the voice inside the sword. I suppose it would make sense if my power had dwindled over the past one-hundred years…" Again, Zelda slowly turned to look at Link, who was caught off guard by her sudden gaze. It was quiet for a moment, then the princess's full smile returned to her lips. "I'm surprised to admit it… but I can accept that." She then chuckled a bit, her smile only growing wider, and for some reason, Link couldn't help but do the same. He then jogged to catch up with her and the two hauled themselves atop their horses and began to ride the path downhill, leaving the higher cliff behind for the forested roads leading across the kingdom to the aforementioned Zora's Domain.
Silently they rode for a few minutes, listening to the sounds of the wind pushing the branches of trees and the chirps of wild birds. They were little things, but things Zelda had not heard in a long time, things that she missed. After taking it all in for long while, she glances over at Link, who was also looking at her, but turned away as soon as she looked at him, facing forward on the path. A tint of blush came to her face, but she smiled, seeing him again as well.
"I'm sure it hasn't felt as long for you, spending a century unconscious in that chamber, but it has indeed felt like forever for me since I saw this kingdom, since I saw you last. It's almost a shame duty must come before peace for ourselves. I missed you, dear friend," Zelda said with a smile. Link also smiled and let out a small laugh. It only made Zelda smile wider.
"Quiet as always. I'm surprised you managed to save the kingdom, as quiet as you are, but actions have always spoken louder than words for you."
"Hmm.." Link replied. "Not much to speak of, when you awake with no memories. I remember waking up confused. I barely even remembered my name. To think I had to recover from that before saving you. I only wish I got there sooner."
Zelda kept her smile at hearing his voice again. He had spoken bits and pieces in the few days since the end of the Calamity, but just as she had remembered him, he had been sparse with words and followed her without question. That had frustrated her beyond belief, once upon a time. Now? She was glad to still have one friend left by her side.
"How much do you remember now?" She asked.
"Almost everything. Some things come and go, but I remember the important things," Link answered.
"Like…?" Zelda pushed.
"Like our friends. Mipha, Revali, Urbosa, Daruk. I remember when we found the Divine Beasts. More importantly, though…" Link looked back at his princess, her face showing that she was waiting for the answer. At first he wanted to say And you, but figured that would come across the wrong way. "I seem to remember you constantly running away from me and almost getting yourself killed."
Zelda crossed her arms and let out an exaggerated insulted "Hmph". However, her smile returned and the two laughed at the interaction. "Your stubbornness seems to have persisted across time, Link. So it has saved me yet again."
"Hopefully, for the last time," Link said.
"Hopefully," Zelda echoed. "With Ganon gone, perhaps things can return to normal. As normal as can be, at least."
Link gave the princess a slow nod before looking back forward to focus on the forward path. In silence they tread again until a loud boom could be heard, and a flash of light reached further down the path. The two Hylians traded glances before mushing their horses down the path until they reached the origin of the light. Link leapt off of his mount and prepared his shield and sword in case of danger. Zelda slid off her horse, and followed carefully behind him. Slowly moving past the treeline, they enter the forest and find, in a smoldering crater, a short, blue anthropomorphic animal in red shoes unconscious and banged up pretty bad.
The two traded glances again before turning back to the small creature. "I don't recognize it. Do you?" Zelda asked. Link shook his head and gently poke dit with the Master Sword. It remained unconscious, but let out a small groan. "Poor thing…"
"We don't know if it's friendly or not. I'll get some rope from the horses. Zora's Domain will have to wait." Link sheathed his blade and went back to the horses to grab rope to restrain the creature with. Zelda kept looking at the quilled being, however, fearing its sudden presence marked the start of something else for her kingdom to worry about.