Previously, on Smash: Emissary...
"Do you recognize the design at all? Could it be Mavericks?" X asked.
"I'm not sure about Mavericks. I don't recognize the design, but that doesn't mean much. Approach with caution.
He charged his mega buster, but set it to build up charge for a more powerful shot. Samus did the same with her weapon before flipping back onto her feet and aiming at X. The two met gazes as both of their weapons were charging, visible orbs of energy building up to their peaks in the barrels of their respective weapons. Neither made a move, realizing one movement could end the battle one way or the other.
"Pichu!" A high pitched voice squeaked. Both X and Samus slowly turned their heads to see a small furry black-and-yellow creature, less than a foot tall, with pointed ears, a rectangular tail and rosy red cheeks sitting on one of the few storage crates. It stared at the two of them with a smile, and they remained silent for a few moments.
"So… is that thing yours?" X asked, turning back to Samus.
"Sonic?" Zelda repeated. "Is that your name?"
"Sure is," Sonic replied.
"My name is Zelda, and that is Link," Zelda introduced. Sonic looked over at Link behind her, and Link gave a small nod.
"Not much of a talker, is he?" Sonic pointed out.
"I am when I need to be," Link replied.
"Sometimes actions speak louder than words,
I got ganged up on by Egghead and his two new cronies, a couple guys named Wolf and Ganondorf."
"It's.. it can't be… could he be related to Calamity Ganon…?" Zelda wondered aloud.
"The Toads and my people from Sarasaland have tracked Bowser and his ships to the very edge of the kingdom, where they've stopped and settled," Daisy informed the brothers. "We don't know why they've stopped, but this is as good a chance as any to get aboard Bowser's ship and rescue Peach before they move again and we lose him."
"Thank you, Daisy," Mario replied gratefully. "Luigi and I will start heading there immediately."
Then all of a sudden a metal airship snapped into existence in the sky, billowing smoke as it sped for ground level. It crashed with an earth-shaking collision.
The cockpit of the ship blasted open, and out crawled an orange-furred humanoid in a marked uniform with metal legs and a pistol of some kind holstered at his side. He glanced around at his surroundings, not seeing the brothers immediately. As he scanned around, another person hopped out of the ship; a small round ball of pink flesh with two big blue eyes, two stubby arms sprouting from its sides, and small red feet connected right to its round body.
Finally, the fox person eyed the brothers further up the ridge and waved them down. "Hey! Mind giving us a hand with this?" He asked.
The brothers once again traded confused glances. Maybe what was going on was bigger than they had initially thought.
Smash: Emissary
Chapter 3
Tabuu looked down on Ganondorf, Eggman and Wolf and spoke evenly, with an almost monotone voice. "As I had promised, your teamwork led to the defeat of sworn enemies with minimal effort."
"'Minimal Effort'?" Wolf repeated. "I lost my Arwing!"
"A simple replacement with manipulation of my own reality," Tabuu replied as he waved one of his translucent hands, and in a mere moment, an Arwing identical to Wolf's that was destroyed appeared on the platform next to them. At this, Wolf smiled and hopped up onto the ship.
"Impressive. Was that manipulation of existing matter, or was it simply a matter of moving an Arwing from another universe to this one?" Eggman questioned.
"An analysis of my power and this world is pointless, Doctor Robotnik. It is beyond human comprehension," Tabuu said.
"What is this place?" Ganon asked. "You brought us here so suddenly and sent us out just as quickly, it hadn't crossed my mind."
"This is what is called Subspace, a pocket dimension placed between their realms of existence. A world between worlds, if you prefer such simplified phrasing. In Subspace, I am the only power. I control this realm as I see fit," Tabuu answered.
"If you're so powerful, how come you need us?" Wolf questioned, finally prying himself away from his restored ship.
"Because he can't leave it," Eggman deduced. "He's given us a chance he can never have: to leave the Subspace and travel the multiverse. But not him. No, he's trapped here, isn't that right?"
Tabuu let out a low growl, the first show of emotion they had seen from the apparent omnipotent being. "Unfortunately, you're correct. I cannot leave the Subspace, so I require the aid of others to influence the worlds outside my realm."
"So that's why you needed us. You needed soldiers, pawns," Ganon snarled. "I do not appreciate being manipulated, Tabuu."
"I have soldiers in abundance, simply awaiting a command. I needed truly cunning and powerful beings to lead them. But before I can trust any of you with a grand plan of any kind, you must prove yourselves, all of you," Tabuu replied. "I can give you what I promised and more, but the details of the mission will stay out of your reach until Bowser and Dedede return."
"And how long will that be?" Wolf asked.
"That is at their current discretion. Bowser successfully kidnapped Princess Peach and fought off the Mario Brothers with Dedede's aid, but the King Koopa chooses to stay and celebrate prematurely before returning to the Subspace. I wait to see if this will yet again be his downfall. Arrogance consumes both of those animal kings, and I will not endorse the actions of power hungry fools too stupid to see the errors of their ways. Should they prove themselves unworthy of the responsibilities and power I will bestow upon you all, they will find themselves victim to my own wrath as their final punishment."
"You'll kill them?" Ganon raised an eyebrow.
"No," Tabuu simply replied. "And let us hope you never find out for yourself what my punishment entails, Ganondorf. A demonic tyrant you may be, but even if you had your precious power, it would still be dwarfed by my own. Keep that in mind." Ganon growled angrily, but Tabuu continued before he could say anything. "As for you three, your collaboration in defeating Sonic the Hedgehog was noted, even if not perfect. You've shown worth, but fifty percent of a job done is not quite enough."
"Half a job?!" Eggman exclaimed. "That rodent is lost between worlds, trapped in the fabrics of pace and time!"
"He was, indeed. But the Hedgehog has now found refuge in a world Ganondorf should be familiar with, and has made company of his own sworn enemies."
"The Hylians… He is in Hyrule!" Ganon exclaimed.
"Indeed. That is why I recommend the two of you journey to Hyrule and begin your conquest yet again, Ganondorf. I believe the good doctor can muster the forces you might require to create the beginnings of an enforcing army with his Badniks. And when Bowser and Dedede return, I will divide my own forces accordingly to assist you," Tabuu assured them.
"What are these forces you keep hinting at?" Eggman questioned. "You said troops would not be an issue. But I see no armies in this Subspace of yours."
"As I said, all will be explained in due time. When the others return, I will call to you to reconvene, and the grand plan will be shown to all of you. Until then? Go to war."
"Very well," Ganon relented.
"Power is more than simply material magic, Ganondorf. Before possessing such abilities, your cunning was what served you well. Let it serve you again now, and your material power will be returned in time. As they say, patience is a virtue."
"I had waited years to control my world before I was able to conquer it. I can wait again for a little longer," Ganon agreed.
"Then be off, Gerudo, and make Hyrule quake."
The Mario Brothers still stood rooted to the spot, unsure of what to make of what had just happened before them, and what it meant. To put it simply, they were confused. An airship came out of nowhere with a crack of thunder, crash landed before them, and out of it had stepped a fox-person with metal legs in a flight suit and a small pink ball of flesh. It was strange even by their world's standards.
"Uh, hello? I said, can you give us a hand with this?" The fox called again.
"Should we go help?" Luigi asked his elder brother.
"I think we should at least go see what's goin' on," Mario said. The two siblings then ran downhill to meet the strange pilot. "Um… hi there."
"Sorry, we must've given you a scare," The pilot said.
"Yeah, something like that," Luigi nervously chuckled.
"What the heck was that?" Mario asked.
"That's… a little tougher to explain… I'm Fox by the way. Fox McCloud," The pilot, Fox, greeted as he put his hand out.
"Mario," Mario replied in kind as he shook the pilot's hand. "This is my little brother Luigi."
"The pink little guy over there is Kirby… I think…" Fox said, gesturing over his shoulder to the pink fleshy mound with big blue eyes that started wandering the clearing.
"You think?" Mario raised an eyebrow.
"He doesn't exactly talk like you and I. I had to have my teammate Peppy whip something up for me to understand him, and it's a little finicky."
"Finicky how?" Luigi asked.
"Poyo!" The high pitched voice of Kirby cried with a wide smile.
"Well, he either said hello or he just threatened your life," Fox answered, tapping the singular-lens visor affixed to his furry head.
"Oh… well that's nice…" Luigi shuddered.
"So, what happened to you guys exactly?" Mario asked.
"Well, that's where it gets tough to explain," Fox replied, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm not sure I understand it myself. To put it in short terms, Kirby showed up on a world called Corneria where I was stationed, and what followed him there was this big penguin guy and my rival, another pilot named Wolf. They attacked both of us, so I took him in my ship into space to put some distance between us and them, then we're pulled into this… rift thing? Next thing I know, we're crashing here."
"I'm not sure I understood any of that," Luigi said.
"In simple terms, I don't think I'm from this universe. A few things Wolf and even Kirby said raised some red flags, and before I left Corneria, Peppy brought it up as a possibility. Kirby brought up planets that to my knowledge just don't exist. And what's this planet called?"
"Um… we just call it the Mushroom World," Mario answered.
"Doesn't exactly paint a clear picture for me, but I still assume we're in a different universe entirely," Fox said.
"Yeah, you'll still have to rewind back to the different universe thing. How?" Luigi asked.
"I don't know. Nothing is making sense…" Fox shook his head and groaned in frustration.
"You mentioned a big penguin guy," Mario said. "Really big and wide, blue with a stocking cap and a giant hammer?"
"Uh… yeah, actually. You know him?" Fox asked.
"He attacked us too. Helped our enemy Bowser kidnap Princess Peach," Mario replied.
"Poyo!" Kirby squealed.
"Kirby says his name is King Dedede, and he's from his world," Fox translated. "Are our enemies working together?
"It seems like," Mario nodded. "Which means we should work together too." The heroic plumber stretched his gloved open hand forward to the Arwing pilot, who smiled and firmly shook it.
"I can get behind that," Fox agreed. "If you help me get my Arwing back in business, I'll fly us right to this 'Bowser' and save your princess."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Universal travel… Incredible…" The old man said. X had told Samus his name was Doctor Cain, the creator of what were called Reploids, which was what X himself was. A reploid was a mechanical human look-alike. Even on the way to this home base of X's, Samus now thought about how many of the bystanders she saw were human and who was reploid.
Cain was a frail old man with a bald head, pointed nose, and a bushy white beard and eyebrows. He wore a blue overcoat with red trim and a red collar. He was also sitting in a floating chair of some sort, life support technology hooked into his body. "I never thought something like this possible," Cain smiled with anticipation. "Quite the day for me to come out of retirement."
"No offense to you, but this sounds ridiculous," Samus said, unconvinced. "There has got to be a better explanation than 'I crashed in another universe'."
Cain's chair spun around so the elderly scientist could face the armored bounty hunter, whose own face still hid behind her green visor. "Well, tell me Miss… Aran, was it? Do you recognize this as the Earth that you know?" Cain questioned. Samus reluctantly shook her head. "Have you ever heard of reploids, mavericks, or even Abel City, the very community you find yourself stranded in?" Again, Samus reluctantly shook her head.
"That doesn't mean-" Samus started to say.
"If you don't mind me asking, Miss Aran, what year is it for you where you come from?" Cain cut her off. X looked between the two curiously, watching the display back and forth.
"It's… Fourteen-fifty EC," Samus answered.
"For us," X said, "It is currently Twenty-Four XX."
"Our Earth has also not made consistent use of space travel," Cain added. "What else must it take to convince you of this theory?"
"It's exactly that: a theory," Samus countered.
"You wouldn't listen to a scientist's words on scientific matters?" Cain questioned. Samus just growled under her breath before the small yellow furred creature from before hopped up onto her shoulder.
"Pichu!" It smiled adorably. Samus just sighed. It had decided to follow her since it appeared on her ship. She didn't even know what it was supposed to be. As a bounty hunter, she'd seen thousands of species of creatures, but this was surprisingly alien to her.
"Need I add that none of us can identify that little one there, meaning he must be from even a third world," Cain added.
"Again, doubtful," Samus said, though now she seemed unsure of it, as if it really was in the realm of possibility.
"I suppose until we find out more, he can be called 'Pichu', given that sound he makes," Cain said.
"Creative," Samus deadpanned. The small… Pichu nuzzled up to her neck, purring as it did so. She grunted and pushed it away. It frowned and hopped off her armor. "So if I really am in another universe, how do I get back to mine?"
"That… is a more difficult query, something I will have to work on. Tell me, what was the last thing you remember before crash-landing?" Cain asked.
"I'm… not sure…" Samus replied. The more she tried to focus on anything immediately before her crash, the foggier it became. "Nothing is coming to mind."
"Possibly a side effect of interdimensional travel. The human mind, or any living mind for that matter, might not be able to comprehend the experience."
"So I'm just stranded here?" Samus asked.
"Yes, at least temporarily," Cain answered.
"Don't worry, Samus," X assured her, "I know Doctor Cain will find you a way home. He's the smartest human on the planet. If anyone can do it, he can."
"I appreciate the support, son, but this will not be an easy task. Though it is certainly worth coming out of retirement for. Now, why don't you show Miss Aran to a place she can rest while I call Alia to aid in this experiment of ours?"
"Yes sir," X nodded before turning to Samus. "Come on. We have a spare room you can use."
"I'm not tired," Samus said.
"What, you want to sleep in your crashed ship?" X asked.
"Yes," Samus simply replied. "But I am more intending on repairing it before anything else."
"Well, that's fine I guess. It's been moved to a vehicle storage facility here on-site. I'll take you to it." X started to lead her to the exit, and Samus took a step to follow when the little yellow 'Pichu' stood in front of her with an almost begging look on its face, like it was about to cry or whimper. She sighed, crouched down, and put her arm out towards it. It let out a happy chime and scurried up her arm and settled on her armor's shoulder, perching itself there like it was a bird instead of a small mouse creature. In this affectionate, clingy manner, it reminded Samus of another alien creature that had attached to her once upon a time.
"You coming?" X asked. It brought her back to the moment and, with the small mouse perched there, followed X out.
The rift opened and out stepped Ganon and Eggman onto a rock peak overlooking a hot, dry desert land that reached far and wide, expanding past the horizon. The sweltering heat hit the doctor harshly, but for Ganon, it felt like being home.
"Argh! So painfully warm! What is this place?!" Eggman exclaimed.
"My home," Ganon answered. "Welcome to the Gerudo Kingdom."
"You're from here?"
"Yes, a long time ago. In my time, I was the king of this land, the first male born in years. How… small it seems now…" Ganon recollected.
"So, what, you want the first thing we do to take back your kingdom?" Eggman asked.
"On the contrary. We're going to turn it into glass. Once Hyrule is rubble, the Gerudo will share their neighboring kingdom's fate," Ganon smirked.
"In case you forgot, we can't do any of that without the army, and before we can do that, we need a staging ground, and right in front of another kingdom won't do," Eggman reminded.
"Yes, I am aware. Thankfully, I have the perfect place," Ganon said before turning around and leaping up. He gripped onto the stone slope of the higher mountains, digging his fingers into the stone, and quickly climbed upwards. Eggman shook his head. His floating pod came through the rift, and he hopped inside it before flying up to the top, surprisingly just ahead of Ganon, who had ascended very quickly.
"Some elaboration would be nice about now, Ganondorf," Eggman furrowed his brow.
"Look there, doctor," Ganon pointed. Eggman followed the gestured direction and saw an old castle in rubble and ruins, falling apart at the seams, directly in the center of Hyrule. "The Hylians' old castle that still remains in ruins from my calamity, clearly not in use even after my departure. They must be afraid to even step foot near it."
"Will it be suitable to stage a war?" Eggman asked.
"It will do. No witnesses, plenty of room. They won't know of our presence until it won't matter anymore."
"I would be more cautious if I were you," Eggman warned. "The hedgehog with your adversaries? We underestimated them before individually. Together, they alone prove a much larger threat to our plan than anyone else in this world."
"I assume you have a plan?" Ganon questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"I am at least cautious," Eggman said. He pressed a button in his pod, and blasting out of the rift they came through and flying up to them was a short robotic imitation of Sonic. It had clawed fingers, a large turbine in its chest, and small, menacing red eyes against black eyeballs. "Meet Metal Sonic, one of my greatest creations. He can find the three heroes and tell us their locations at all times. If they make any move against us, he'll know."
"Simply a trinket," Ganon scoffed.
Eggman growled at the Gerudo, then turned to his creation. "You have your orders. Go." Metal Sonic nodded and flew off into Hyrule, soon leaving eyesight.
"Which reminds me, when Tabuu first summoned us, he mentioned bringing back someone close to you. A daughter."
"It isn't your business," Eggman growled.
"On the contrary, if we are supposed to be partners-" Ganon started.
"As if you care, Ganondorf. You are merely here to recover your lost power and rule your land. You would prefer I not be here, correct?" Eggman questioned.
"Correct," Ganon agreed, "But Tabuu seems to be a near deity, something I admittedly wouldn't equal even with my power returned to me, so I don't have a choice."
"But I have a choice to keep my secrets to myself, and I will do so. Now, are we going to that castle or not?" Eggman frowned.
"I suppose we are," Ganon replied before hopping over the edge and sliding down the mountain slope. Eggman scoffed and started flying his pod directly there.
Fox's Arwing lowered down from the clouds, and just on the edge of their eyesight was a floating galleon kept up by propellers. Their flag, waving in the wind, bore the face of King Bowser. Fox piloted the ship from the cockpit, while Mario, Luigi and Kirby crouched on the wings of the ship.
"We're coming up on it. I'm gonna swing right by and drop you guys off," Fox said.
"And then what?" Luigi asked.
"I'll lay into the ship with the Arwing's weapons. I'll try to give you guys enough time to get your princess and get out, then that flagship is going down," Fox answered.
"Sounds like fun to me!" Mario exclaimed over the roaring wind. Fox smirked and boosted the Arwing even more, coming up even quicker on the galleon. Just as they were coming over it, Fox started to pull the ship up.
"Alright, everybody off!" He exclaimed. The Mario brothers and Kirby all leapt off the wing just as they passed over. Mario and Kirby landed safely, while Luigi face planted into the deck. He quickly got back up to his feet and wiped his outfit down.
"I'm okay!" Luigi assured. The Arwing zoomed back over and fired its cannons into the side of Bowser's ship, burning large holes into the hull of the ship. Fox started to make another pass. Meanwhile, in front of the three others was a deck full of koopa troopas, which now angrily glared at them and drew spears for weapons. Mariojust smirked and adjusted his cap.
"Let's a-go."