A/N: Hello, and welcome back to Smash: Emissary! I apologize for the long gaps between chapters so far, but the good news is that's stopping now. Part of the reasoning for the lack of chapters was my focus on completing my first story The Defenders of Remnant, which ha sin the past two months concluded. I also spent that time to change up some story ideas I have and redo the outline for this story. So, after such a long wait, Smash: Emissary will be updating more consistently, alternating releases with it's now sister story, RvBvRWBY: Incursion, which is a sequel to The Defenders of Remnant. Both of which are other works I put a lot of time and hard work into, and encourage you read them as well, as despite no franchise connections, every story I write, these included, are and will be in the same overarching continuity.
To add to that, there might be some background story you might not get some purpose behind without having read Defenders. Even if they weren't connected, I would still reccomend reading them.
Before this chapter begins I want to respond to a question in the reviews page-
1900009trumbullpups: "Where are the Fire Emblem characters?"
Answer: For this story, I chose what I consider the core characters of Smash, not solely based on their history in the franchise but their importance in the larger gaming world as well, hence why I made choices like including X but not, say, Ness. And while Fire Emblem is a big Nintendo franchise, they do not fit in what I consider the core roster. I also consider characters by how writing a story for them would be like, and how familiar I am with the character as well. For example, leaving Kirby out of the story would be dumb, but don't expect a character arc or meaningful side story for a character that is a pink gumball that can barely talk.
I will say now, this won't be the only Smash story I will write, so Fire Emblem characters and more will appear in the future, but for Emissary, i chose either the biggest, most iconic, or more story-driven characters to ensure I have a decent sized main cast where everyone can do something and present a purpose for being included in a first entry. In future stories, I can afford to have side characters that can be there just to be there like Kirby is here. SO long story short, no Fire Emblem or Earthbound on this first trip, but next time around, yeah probably.
Anyways, with that out of the way, enjoy the newest chapter for Smash: Emissary!
Sonic: Previously, on Smash: Emissary...
"Pichu!" A high pitched voice squeaked.
"So… is that thing yours?" X asked, turning back to Samus.
"There has got to be a better explanation than 'I crashed in another universe'."
"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."
"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.
"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."
"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."
"Sonic?" Zelda repeated. "Is that your name?"
"Sure is," Sonic replied.
"My name is Zelda, and that is Link," Zelda introduced.
"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."
"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'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. Mario just smirked and adjusted his cap.
"Let's a-go."
Smash: Emissary
Chapter 4: The Fleet Way
X and Samus arrive in an expansive hangar space, where Samus's ship was being worked on by a full crew of reploids with repair tools. Samus frowned under her helmet. "Make them get off my ship," She requested. X nodded and called out to the technicians.
"Alright guys, that's enough for today! Go ahead and clear out!" The reploids all traded confused glances, but packed up their tools and cleared off the ship. Once they were all off, they all filed out of the hangar as well. Samus approached her ship and lowered the ramp before walking in. X followed suit.
"Mind telling me why you wanted them gone?" X asked.
"I can fix my own ship. Every good pilot should know how," Samus replied. The two made their way to the cockpit room, where scorch marks from their previous battle still remained. Samus approached the main terminal up front to check the status on the systems of the ship, Pichu still perched atop her shoulder.
"Pichu?" it squeaked.
"Don't touch anything," Samus said firmly, "Either of you."
X put his hands up defensively. "Hey, not touching anything."
"Rrrgh! The whole damn control system's fried," Samus cursed. "I don't know what happened to this ship, but nothing short of a complete reconstruction of the entire system will fix this… This could take days to repair."
"On your own, maybe. But I can help, if you'll let me," X offered.
"I thought I made it clear-" Samus started, but X cut her off.
"Yeah, yeah, don't touch anything. Do you seriously plan to do it all on your own if it's going to take that long?" X questioned.
"That's the idea."
"You are a stubborn woman," X remarked.
"I've heard worse," Samus replied flatly. "I don't trust you, and I don't trust them, whatever they are. Those…"
"Reploids," X answered.
"What even are they?" She asked.
"Well… they're cybernetic beings created to help the humans of this world. They were also created from me," X answered.
Samus paused and rotated her head to face him again. "How so?"
"When Doctor Cain found me, my composition was far beyond anything else he'd ever seen, even a century after my initial creation."
"You were made a hundred years ago?" Samus questioned, raising an eyebrow underneath her helmet as she began to tear the paneling off the control console.
X nodded. "I was originally designed and created by the brilliant Doctor Light long ago, meant to be better in every way to his original Mega Man unit, Rock. However, Rock was still active, and the world wasn't ready for me yet, so Doctor Light put me in stasis. Doctor Cain recovered me a few years ago now, and upon marveling at my construction, reverse engineered my makeup to create the reploids. My uncovering created a revolution in modern technology and societal makeup."
Samus finally pried the panels off the console and dug her hands into the terminal to begin inspecting internal damage. "Sounds like a lot of needless weight on your shoulders."
"You aren't much for people, are you?" X questioned.
"Took you this long to figure it out?" Samus replied. "I hunt on my own for a reason. I don't do people anymore. Haven't for a long time."
"Why not?" X asked.
"It's not something I want to talk about," Samus answered coldly.
"I see…" X replied, quickly picking up on the meaning behind it. "But if you really wanna get home as soon as possible, you need at least a little help. Please, let me help. You can tell me to do whatever you need, just let me do something. Is that enough for you, lady?"
Those last words seemed to make Samus freeze. She stopped working on the console before her and looked over her shoulder. "What did you just say?"
"I don't mean to overstep my bounds, but if you truly want this ordeal to be over, you need my help. Like I said, you can tell me what you need me to do." Samus stared blankly at X for a few moments, her eyes hidden behind the green light of her helmet visor. X felt slightly uncomfortable with how long she stared at him. "So…?"
"Fine," Samus said flatly. "You can start by comparing the cargo ledger in the bay with what's actually left in storage, see if I lost anything. I was hauling Federation cargo when I crashed. Come back to me when that's done."
A smile came to X's face. "You got it."
"And take… Pichu with you. I need to focus on this, and it'll only get in the way."
X nodded and glanced at the small creature. "Come on, fella," he waved to it. Pichu glanced at Samus before reluctantly hopping off her shoulder and skittering over to X. It crawled up his body and perched on his shoulder instead, then the two left the cockpit.
Samus sighed and slowly removed her helmet. Fresh cool air from outside the ship mixed with the warm air full of burning aroma from severed wires as it hit her face. Her long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail dropped down now as well. Her pale skin nearly reflected light off its surface, and her bright blue eyes shined brightly. This was the first "fresh" breath of air she'd taken in this whole ordeal. Samus preferred to stay in her suit whenever she could, but she was still human after all. Mostly. Even she needed a break from it from time to time, even if it was just the helmet. It was one of the few things left that reminded her she was alive.
She took one more breath before returning to work on the command console, her undivided attention being put towards it and nothing else.
The Mario Brothers alongside the short pink spherical Kirby stood face to face with an entire deck full of Koopa Troopa, spears sharpened and shining, the bladed ends aimed towards the heroes, poised to attack.
"Looks like we got a good fight on our hands," Luigi remarked.
"Nothing we can't handle, little bro," Mario smirked confidently. Then the Koopa count nearly doubled as more of Bowser's soldiers poured out from the doors leading to the interior of the ship. They also took positions with their weapons. The trio had become completely surrounded. Mario's smirk waned. "Ok, this might be a little tough."
"Poyo!" Kirby chimed. The two brothers glanced at Kirby.
"We can't understand ya, pal, but if you have any ideas, now would be a good time to put 'em in action," Mario said. Kirby nodded and quickly motioned for the two brothers to get down.
"What's he saying?" Luigi asked.
"I think he's sayin' hit the deck!" Mario exclaimed. The two brothers threw themselves flat onto the ships deck just before the Koopa's began to charge towards them. Kirby's mouth then opened impossibly wide and his spherical body grew outwards. Suddenly, a vortex of wind began to pull each turtle warrior into his gaping maw, winds stronger than the world itself. Dozens of Koopas were sucked in, swallowed whole. Kirby gradually rotated his position to suck in full squads of soldiers at once as they disappeared into the black abyss of the pink ball's mouth. The brothers took cover behind Kirby's mass to avoid being pulled into the cyclone themselves. Before long, every Koopa on the deck was pulled into the pink blob's mass. The windy pull of Kirby's insides subsided, and he returned to his normal size.
The Mario brothers stood back up to their full height and slowly turned back around to face their pink ally. Kirby looked back up at them with a smile before letting out a triumphant laugh. "Mario?" Luigi quivered.
"Yeah?" Mario replied.
"Forget what I said before. I'm terrified."
"M-Me too," Mario agreed. Suddenly the large doors leading to the interior of the ship slammed open, and in the doorway now stood Dedede, his giant hammer in hand. As soon as he eyed Kirby, his eyes narrowed and he spun his weapon in his hands.
"You…" The penguin snarled.
"We'll take him, Mario! You go save the princess!" Luigi said.
"You sure?" Mario questioned.
"Don't exactly have time to think of something better!"
"I'll squash all of you!" Dedede exclaimed before charging at Mario, winding up a swing with his hammer. Mario quickly sprinted forward before dropping down and sliding right under the animal king. Once past him, Mario shot back up to his feet and sprinted inside the ship. Dedede growled, then faced Luigi and his rival. "You two will have to do."
"You ready, little guy?" Luigi asked his companion. Kirby gave a firm nod with a determined look on his face. Dedede lunged for them and took a wide swing with his hammer. It connected with Luigi's body and sent him into the rail of the deck, but Kirby hopped out of the weapon's arc. Kirby then opened his mouth, reached in, and pulled out his own mallet, a weapon just as big as he was. Kirby twirled and struck the face of his mallet with Dedede's hammer, both of their attacks canceling each other out and creating a small shock wave that shook the already unstable ship below them.
They traded attacks at a rapid pace, canceling each other out each time, keeping them on equal ground. After the series of draws, Dedede leapt back. He winded up an attack, holding his hammer above his head, then swinging downwards from behind his shoulder. The head of his weapon slammed down and blew apart the deck, as well as creating a shockwave that sent Kirby flying back, slamming into the mast, splintering the wood. Kirby dropped back down onto the half-destroyed deck, temporarily stunned. Dedede smirked and raised his hammer above his head again to bring it down on his archnemesis-
Then Luigi's head connected with his jaw. The plumber had launched himself forward like a torpedo and bashed his head into the king's beak, stunning and staggering him. As soon as Luigi landed, he crouched down and closed his fist firmly. He put all his strength into his legs and his fist, then leapt upwards, delivering a harsh uppercut that sent Dedede stumbling backwards. Dedede howled and rubbed his eyes. By the time his vision cleared, it was quickly consumed by the end of Kirby's mallet.
Bowser sat in his ship's throne room, with Princess Peach tied to a chair next to him and his son Junior flying in his pod around the room. Bowser snarled as his ship kept rumbling and shaking from the blasts hitting the hull outside. Suddenly, two of his Koopa Troopas rushed into the throne room and slammed the doors shut, bracing it closed themselves. "What is going on out there?!" Bowser exclaimed.
"It's Mario, your highness!" One of the Koopa's answered. "And he brought help!" Suddenly, the doors blasted open and the Koopas were sent flying. Leaping into the room was Mario himself, a confident smirk on his face. Bowser frowned, while Peach smiled.
"Mario!" she cried out.
Bowser scowled. "Junior, deal with him!" he commanded.
"You got it, Pops!" Junior cackled before flying his pod towards Mario. From the sides of the pod came two spindly metal arms with buzzsaws spinning at the ends, the jagged rotating blades aimed towards the hero. Instead of recoiling, however, Mario ran towards the prince Koopa, closing their distance even faster. Junior let out a haughty laugh of malice as he began to bring both arms down on where Mario would be. Mario quickly dropped down and slid under Junior's pod, narrowly avoiding being shredded by the sawblades. Before Mario was even done sliding under the prince, he slammed his hand down to stop his slide before launching himself upwards into the air, right above Junior. Mario dropped down onto the young Koopa, slamming him into the control panel of his pod, then launched off of Junior's shell, flipping through the air gracefully before landing firmly on his feet. As Junior was pressed against his controls, his pod lurched forward and slammed into one of the room's walls, putting him even more off balance. The saws jammed up as the arms got forced into the wall. As soon as Junior recovered, he snarled and detached the arms from his pod, turning the floating vehicle back around to face his foes. The metal arms were left dangling in the wood.
Junior let out an angry but squeaky roar before settling himself back in the seat of the pod and manning the controls fully. Emerging from the inside in the front of the pod was a large canon with a sleek metallic black barrel. It quickly fired a cannonball that Mario wasn't able to avoid. It hit his torso dead center, slamming him into a wall and blowing all the air out from his lungs. He let out a painful groan and held his stomach.
"I hit him, Pops! I hit 'em!" Junior celebrated.
"I'll congratulate you when he's dead. Finish the job," Bowser furrowed his brow.
"Yes sir!" Junior slowly moved his pod over to the downed plumber. As the cannon retracted back into the pod's interior, another mechanical arm with a sharp blade protruded from the right-hand side, already aiming at the recovering Mario.
"No!" Peach cried.
"Shut up!" Bowser snarled. He grabbed her head and yanked it over to face the encounter in front of them. "I want you to watch as you see my victory in full, princess. I'm done with the games for affection. Now I will take your kingdom by force, starting by taking your beloved hero off the board."
Junior got right up to Mario, and thrust the blade downward. Mario recovered just in time to roll right out of the way of the attack, narrowly avoiding being impaled, before leaping back towards the center of the room to get out of Junior's reach. Mario took a quick breath of relief before flipping back around and readying himself for the continuing battle. Junior threw his arms up in frustration before the cannon in his pod shot out again and began to fire. Mario was able to dodge the shots this time, though again, just narrowly.
"Dance, plumber, dance!" Junior squawked as he kept firing at Mario. "Dance till you're dead!" Mario was still able to avoid being struck a second time, but knew that couldn't last forever, and with the young Koopa firing as rapidly as he was, he wasn't going to be able to close the distance fast enough. So instead of focusing on stopping Junior, he had to stop the cannon. And he got an idea of how to do just that. Mario played the evasive game a little longer before Junior fired a shot that was going to hit him dead on. Instead of attempting to evade the cannonball, Mario leapt up and struck the projectile with both of his feet, sending the projectile back at his attacker. The ball struck the pod and temporarily halted Junior's attacks, but as Mario began to sprint to the Koopa, Junior already regained his vehicle's balance and began to fire again. Mario moved his head out of the just as a cannonball sped just past his head, feeling the disturbed air around it as it shot by.
Mario moved evasively again until he had another chance to send a shot back. He once again leapt up and kicked a cannonball back, denting Junior's pod and sending him spinning out long enough to close some distance, but again, Junior regained the pod's balance before he could fully close it, continuing his onslaught. Mario was getting nowhere with this. If this continued, he could risk the Princess being struck by one of these wildly fired projectiles. And with Fox's continuous assault on the galleon, he only had so much time anyway before they dropped from the sky. Then he formed another idea, knowing how to end this quickly.
Junior's storm of cannonfire of course continued, but little did he know the battle was already his opponent's. Using the same attack repeatedly didn't help his case either, but he was too young and brash to realize the more you used a single attack, the less effective it became. The same process, Mario evaded for a few moments, then kicked a cannonball again, only this time instead of striking the main pod, he aimed lower, for the spinning turbine at the bottom of the pod keeping it afloat. It obliterated the turbine, and Junior quickly lost control of his vehicle. It flew wildly before crashing into a wall and dropping to the ground. Junior was left dazed. Mario smirked and began to approach the wrecked war vehicle.
The young Koopa recovered from the crash and noticed it landed with the cannon still aimed forward. He smirked and fired the weapon again. Mario swiftly moved out of the way and kept moving towards him. Not running, but walking in a proud stride. Junior began to panic and fired again. Mario sidestepped it again and began to pick up his pace. Junior let out a whimper and fired it one last time. Mario didn't dodge. He caught the projectile in both of his gloved hands and spun around with its momentum. As he spun, flames began to emit from his hands and grow around the cannonball, until it was completely consumed by an inferno in the plumber's hands. Junior let out a yelp and started to scramble out of the pod clumsily. Not fast enough, though. Mario spun around for a moment longer before launching the cannonball right back at his adversary. The flaming projectile tore right through the pod's outer shell, and without notice, the pod exploded, blasting the prince of the Koopa's across the room, landing right at his father's feet out cold with smoke billowing off his scorched shell.
Even Mario was surprised at what had occurred, and he looked down at his hands to see the remaining flame fade away from his palms. "How did I do that…?" He wondered aloud. He could only ever perform pyrokinesis with a fire flower, but he had just done so with no power up at all. He was broken from his confusion when Bowser's scaly fist connected with hsi skull and sent him flying as well, only stopping when he slammed against the wall near the entrance and dropped back onto the floor flat. The King of the Koopa's now stood tall with a ferocious expression, baring his razor-sharp teeth and claws.
"You humiliate me for years, thwart me at every turn, and now you harm my son," He snarled at his arch-nemesis. "I will enjoy burning you to a crisp before I swallow you whole." Mario pushed himself back up onto his feet and sprinted forward. He quickly leapt up and lunged forward, reeling his fist back to strike his nemesis. Bowser quickly caught the fist midair, then used his free hand to form a fist and strike Mario. His much smaller human adversary flew back again and slammed into the wall. Mario had barely bounced off the wood before Bowser's massive form collided with his in a shoulder charge, smashing him through the wall and into the next room. "The Mushroom Kingdom will be mine to rule, and with Tabuu's help, your name will be forgotten to time while my new kingdom will be everlasting."
"T-Tabuu…?" Mario groaned. "Who's-" Bowser stomped down onto Mario's back, cutting the hero off. The King Koopa then lifted him up by his skull effortlessly before throwing his body hard upwards, breaking the ceiling and sending him through several floors of wood and stone before he broke through them all and landed flat all the way back up on the deck of the ship. Mario held his ribs and started to recover when Bowser shot up from the hole in the deck and far above the deck itself, then began to plummet back down. Mario let out a yelp of surprise before launching himself out of the way just before Bowser's clawed reptilian feet smashed back down onto the deck, right where Mario had been laying moments before, cratering the wood but not breaking through. Mario returned to his feet and raised his fists, more than ready to continue, albeit more cautious now.
Bowser chuckled heartily. "You have no idea how outclassed you are now. Things just got a whole lot bigger."
"Why is that? Is it because of this 'Tabuu'? Need someone else to help you? What kind of king is that?" Mario asked.
At this, Bowser frowned. "Listen here, plumber-" Bowser started, only for Fox's Arwing to speed through and collide with the koopa like a supersonic metal battering ram, taking him off the deck of the ship.
"I'm listening," Mario remarked to the empty space.
Bowser dug his claws into the hood of the Arwing, clinging to the starfighter. He looked up through the viewport of the ship and snarled at the fox inside. He clawed his way further up the hull, then reeled his head back. A faint orange glow began to grow from the back of his throat. Fox raised his eyebrows in curiosity, then from Bowser's mouth came a torrent of flame that quickly began to heat up the ship. The cockpit quickly started to become stuffy and warm, and sweat dripped from Fox's fur, after only a few seconds of Bowser's flamethrowing breath. If the shields were not active, he'd be melting right through the ship. Fox had to get him off before the shields gave out. Fox gripped the controls and immediately put the ship into a wild spin. Bowser stopped his flaming attack in order to attempt to hang on, but the force of the spiral was too much, and his claws tore through the hull, costing him his grip and sending him flying through the air.
Fox adjusted and stopped his spin, regaining his balance before swinging the ship back around, boosting right for the falling king. "Let's make sure you're put out of business." Fox locked onto Bowser with the Arwing' primary weapons, and as soon as he had a straight shot, opened fire. A storm of laserfire bore down on Bowser. The connection of the lasers to his large shelled body created massive explosions that created a large black shroud of the smoke in the sky. From that shroud dropped a small drop in comparison, like fragments from a meteor. Fox watched as Bowser, bellowing smoke off his body, dropped fast out of the sky, and out of sight. Fox smirked.
"Barrel roll, works every time," he said to himself. He then turned the ship around and headed back for the galleon. When he arrived, Mario had helped Peach up to the deck as well, and he eyed an unconscious Dedede buried in a massive pile of wood and stone. He also spotted the ship began to fall more apart. He had done more than enough damage to ensure the cruiser's fate. He pulled the Arwing up to the side of the ship and called out to the others. "Hurry up! This ship's gonna go anytime now!" The Mario brothers helped Peach to climb onto the ship first, then they as well as Kirby hopped on. Fox hit the engines and put a short amount of distance between them and Bowser's galleon before interior explosions rocked it from the inside and flames burst through the deck. The galleon then began to drop from the sky, plummeting down to the earth below.
"Well… that could've gone worse," Luigi said with a positive tone. Mario glanced up at Peach, who at first glanced back at him, then looked away with a frown. Mario looked down and sighed. It would be a long flight back to the castle.
Zelda, Link and Sonic stopped short of a beachline hugging the edges of a large lake, and standing in the center of that lake was a massive bronze mechanical automaton in the shape of an elephant, keeping frozen still in the deep waters far out of their reach. "So that's the big beast thing, huh?" Sonic asked.
"Vah Ruta, the divine beast assigned to Zora's Domain," Zelda clarified. "It uses the water to function and move, or supposed to at least."
"Yeah, water and I don't get along so well," Sonic frowned.
"Can't swim?" Link asked.
"I don't swim so much as sink," Sonic replied.
Zelda chuckled a bit. "Well, not to worry, Sonic. We won't be swimming. They will." Zelda pointed forward towards three aquatic red-scaled shark-like humanoids zooming through the water towards them, members of the Zora race. They quickly reached the shoreline, and the Zora in the lead leapt up into the sand and stood tall with a toothy grin. He was tall, stocky and muscular, and held himself with extreme confidence.
"Link, Zelda! Great to see you, my friends!" he boomed.
"Prince Sidon. It's a pleasure as well. Last I saw you, you were so little. How much you've grown!" Zelda pleasantly replied.
"A hundred years'll do that to ya! It's an honor to see you again, princess," Sidon smiled. He then turned to eye Sonic. "And who's this?"
"I'm Sonic, pal. Nice to meet you," Sonic greeted while shaking Sidon's scaly hand with his gloved one.
"Now, it was reported there are issues with Vah Ruta?" Zelda asked.
Sidon nodded. "Indeed. Once it came back down from the mountaintop after Calamity Ganon's defeat, it went back to its old spot and shut down altogether. It's like it just died. It won't come back up."
"That is strange," Zelda agreed. "Have you spotted the cause?"
"No, nothing. What's weirder though is that some of the guys have said they heard a girl's voice in there, but can't find anyone. I haven't heard anything."
Link brought his hand to his chin inquisitively. "I saw Mipha's spirit when I freed Vah Ruta from Ganon's control. Maybe it's her, and she hasn't moved on yet?" He suggested.
"It's possible, but there's only one way to know for sure," Zelda said.
"Right," Sidon nodded before hopping back into the water. "Hop on. You three!" All three Zora seemed to be gestruring fo them to mount on their scaly backs. Link and Zelda did so, with Link gripping onto Sidon and Zelda on one of the other Zora, but Sonic shook his head.
"Sorry, no way pal."
"Sonic, you have to cross the water somehow," Zelda said.
"Yep, it's called a peel out," Sonic replied before his legs sped up in place, moving so fast they seemingly formed a blurry red figure-eight below him. "I'll see you at the beast!" Then suddenly he blasted forward, running atop the water and kicking up large tides as he ran. In just a few moments, he crossed the lake and found himself on an elevator platform attached to the exterior of Van Ruta. He let out a sigh of relief at making it before waving to the others. "Hey, come on, slowpokes!"
"An energetic one, isn't he?" Sidon remarked.
"Something like that," Link frowned, not particularly entertained by Sonic's headstrong and carefree attitude that came off as hot headed and uncaring to him. The three Zora then swam towards Van Ruta, as effortlessly as a bird flies through the air. The water was their domain. No others could match their aquatic speeds. So while not as fast as Sonic had crossed, the Zora quickly made their way to the same platform, letting the Hylians hop up to join their hedgehog acquaintance.
"Will you join us in this inspection, Sidon?" Zelda asked.
"Unfortunately not, Princess," Sidon replied. "My team and I have been up and down Van Ruta all week. I won't be of help. Besides, I'm needed in the village. But should you need me, you know where to find me."
"Indeed we do," Zelda nodded. Sidon gave a wave, then he and his companions swam away from the divine beast.
"So, what's first?" Sonic asked. Zelda pulled her Sheikah Slate off her belt and led the other two inside, where several mechanical parts the size of small buildings were interconnected.
"We must figure out what is wrong with Vah Ruta. Sidon said they couldn't find the problem, as if the divine beast simply gave out and died. I can't access any of its systems from the Sheikah Slate. It should be online, but it just… isn't. What could be wrong here?" Sonic glanced around the interior before beginning to speed around Vah Ruta's interior. Link shook his head with a muffled scoff. Zelda looked up from the Sheikah Slate at him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Link simply said, before also going off to inspect the divine beast on his own. Zelda frowned, but stayed where she was and went back to the slate in her hands.
Sonic was running up and down the paths throughout Vah Ruta when he suddenly felt a tingle of something familiar. He slowly came to a stop and looked around in confusion. It was like a twinge on the back of his neck, or a word on the tip of his tongue he couldn't quite recall. It unnerved the Mobian hedgehog. He then slowly walked forward, feeling that tingle become stronger and stronger in the base of his neck. Eventually, he realized he was almost right on top of the source. But what was it? He eventually stopped as the tingle turned to a headache, placing a gloved hand on his forehead and massaging it to ease the creeping pain.
Sonic? He heard a young female voice say, somewhat distorted as if through a digital filter. Sonic, is that you? Sonic frantically looked around until, propped by itself in a dusty corner, was a stone cog with markings carved into its design. The markings faintly pulsed with a bright blue glow. He recognized the object immediately.
"A gear for the cyberspace gates back on the Starfall islands…" He said aloud. He stepped cautiously over to the artifact and lifted it up. Suddenly his brain pulsed in pain again, then the voice became more clear, though still slightly distorted.
Sonic? Father? Anyone? Can anyone hear me? Now, the Hedgehog hero recognized the voice.
"S-Sage?! Sage, is it really you?" Sonic exclaimed.
Anyone? Is anyone there?!
"She can't hear me…" Sonic frowned. He then sped back to the main auditorium, where Zelda and Link had reunited as well.
"Sonic! Did you find anything?" Zelda asked.
"For this Divine Beast thing? No. But I did find this," Sonic replied before holding the cyberspace gear forward.
"It's just a piece of machinery," Link said.
"It's a piece of machinery from my world," Sonic corrected. "This shouldn't be here. But I think it's the source of those voices the Zora were hearing. I don't know if it's related to what happened to Vah Ruta, but this is weird either way. Is there anyone in Hyrule who could help with ancient technology like this? Something this different from the divine beasts and your ancients?"
"Well…" Zelda started.
"No," Link said firmly.
"LInk, she could help us."
"She's so… disturbing," Link shuddered.
"If this gear is of importance, she's the only one who can help," Zelda countered.
"What am I missing here?" Sonic questioned, raising an inquisitive eyebrow..
Zelda glanced at Link with an almost begging look. That alone seemed to be enough to break through hsi hesitance. He let out a heavy sigh, and Zelda smiled. "Well, it seems we are due to pay Purah a visit." Unbeknownst to them, as the trio left back for the exterior of the divine beast, watching and listening from the rafters above them had been Metal Sonic, taking in every word. He then dropped from the rafters and flew out of the divine beast, heading back to his creator to report what he had just discovered.