Twenty minutes earlier:
"That seems to be the last of the Shadows in this building, Wildcard." Lavenza chimed. "You're free to proceed."
"Alright, we're good to go, Hero." Joker called out, waiting for Lucina at the front door. It took a moment (She most likely found a chest), but the bluenette turned a corner into view, holding a box of scrap metal. Joker cocked an eyebrow at her. "What's with the dumpster diving?"
"Dumpster diving?" Lucina asked. Right… She was from a "Medieval Fantasy" world. He pointed to the box. "Oh! I found these in a collapsed part of the building. I thought maybe we could use them for something. I'm not too sure what exactly."
"Not a bad idea. We're bound to find some use for 'em later." He looked out the door. Looked to be almost five o' clock. At least to his best guess. "We should probably head back for now, don't want the others worrying too much."
"Right." Lucina nodded, falling in line with Joker as they started the walk back to base.
Or could he call it home at this point? It's been almost a week since he got here, and every night of it he's slept on a couch in that gym. They should really find some proper beds. Lucina and Sonic didn't seem to mind, but one fought in war so she probably had low standards of proper sleep. The other could probably fall asleep running across the ocean. Him and Mac were starting to get a sore back now.
"I have a question, Joker." Lucina asked.
"Shoot." Joker said, pushing aside his train of thought for a mattress fit for Thor to the side for now.
"Shoot? Right, right." Lucina muttered, starting to understand modern slang. "Why do we need these code names? Is there an issue using our actual names?"
This brought Joker's mind to a sudden stop, racking itself for an actual reason. Truth be told he was just used to having to need one. "I was kinda going on instinct, truth be told. I'm not sure if we actually need them." He scratched his chin, running through some ideas and logics. "But it's probably best to keep using them outside of the base. We don't know how the rules of this world work. Some elements are similar to Momentos, but others are completely different. Something could be listening, or it might have a negative impact on our immediate surroundings."
"I've never thought of it that way." Lucina said, looking around at the buildings. "This could be a stitched together group of worlds. I don't think there's much of a way to know how it all works without finding the one that did this. That thing…" She trailed off with a growl, words full of venom. She huffed to herself, picking back up her walk.
They walked in silence, both on the lookout for any shadows. But the alleys were empty. Very empty. Like outside of the groups lurking the main roads, there was nothing. That didn't make sense. There were hoards of them in the other direction, and the way they got here. Something was off…
"Look out!" Joker was shoved to the floor as a large ball of fire shot past them. The duo rolled away and got to their feet. Another ball came flying at them… was that a flaming Volleyball? They dodged out of the way of the ball, which sailed past and smashed into the wall behind them. It blew a hole in it, smoldering chips of brick scattering into the building behind them.
"Lavenza, what's the story?!" Joker called hastily. Why were they not warned about this? "Lavenza?!" No response. Fuck. Another ball shot at him, and he had to kick off a wall to dodge it.
The Trickster raised his gun to shoot at whoever was throwing the fire when another ball hit his hand, injuring his wrist as well as sending the gun skidding along the alley. He looked back at the gun for a moment, going to reach for it… until a snow white hand grabbed his arm.
"When exerting yourself, remember to keep breathing."
"Huh-" The wind was knocked out of him when a knee slammed into his stomach. He hacked for a moment before he was thrown into a wall.
"Joker!" Hero called for him, running up and slashing at the attacker. The first slash struck, but the second missed from a sidestep. A fist was sent her way, but she blocked it with her shield. She was sent skidding back a few feet, and now both members of the new Phantom Thieves could make out the attacker. "Wii Fit?"
A tall woman stood there, face blank. She had pitch white skin with glowing yellow eyes. She wore a white tank top and a pair of orange and black yoga pants. A black headband held the strangest part of her. Her hair was a inferno, burning off into a ponytail.
"Feel the burn." She said, her voice echoing on herself. She tossed a volleyball into the air and smacked it, igniting it as the now fireball hurled towards Lucina. She tanked it with her shield, getting pushed back again.
"Good to know she's not weak to fire like Ann was." Joker groaned, picked up his gun and shot at the trainer from his downed position. "Might as well try and tank better. Pyro Jack!" The pumpkin witch laughed as he faded in, shaking his lanturn menacingly.
Wii Fit pushed an advancing Lucina away, grimacing at the bullets. She launched another fireball the trickster's way. Joker rolled away, Pyro Jack's resistance keeping the damage lower. He couldn't afford to become bacon right now. If only he had his grappling hook. He rolled over to a wall and kicked down, pushing himself up against it before pushing off, barely dodging another fireball. He was able to roll onto his feet, ripping off his mask to summon Pyro Jack.
"Rekunda!" With a shout, Pyro swung his lanturn, placing a curse on Wii Fit Trainer, lowering her defense. "Hero, try to cool her off."
"Got it!" Lucina called, readvancing on the Trainer. Instead of going for a sword swing, which the Trainer expected, she bashed her with her shield, sending the fitness junky staggering back. Joker popped a few more shots at her to keep the pressure up. Using this to her advantage, Lucina swung down, slashing the Trainer before jumping back. Hand to her mask, she pulled. "Freya, Bufu!"
The Warrior goddess sprung to life, bringing up her iced sword. "Of course, noble warrior. Feel my bitter cold!" Swinging down, the sword shot out a ball of ice. It crashed into the Trainer, sending mist and smoke all around.
Joker pocketed his pistol, he'd be out of ammo until the next enemy encounter. He hacked for a moment, clutching his stomach. "Ow." He coughed. A quick switch to Angel and he was feeling better already, letting the green energy of Dia wash over him. Lucina bit into a devil fruit, healing some of the scratches she got from the Trainer. "You good?"
"I think so." Lucina muttered, rolling her wrist. "She was incredibly strong. And she looked different from how she usually does."
"That happened to Mac, didn't it? Guess the same rules will apply to everyone we meet. Let's hope the others around here aren't as hurty as she was." Joker sighed, walking over to the smoke covered area Trainer went down in. "We should get her bac-"
He stopped, hearing something. It was quiet, really quiet. Most people without his level of perception would have missed it entirely. Breathing… Deep breaths in a rhythmic fashion. His eyes widened, and he just had enough time to switch to Pyro Jack before a flaming first rocketed out of the smoke into his cheek.
"When exerting yourself, remember to keep breathing." The Wii Fit Trainer said happily, as if she hadn't just sucker punched Joker. She grabbed him as he staggered, kneeing him repeatedly in the stomach.
"Not *Ugh* again!" Joker gagged, slashing at her side with his knife. She was back to peak condition, if not stronger.
A sword came down on Trainer's back. If it hurt, she didn't react. Lucina brought her sword up again. "Don't worry, Joker! I got you!"
"Let's step up the intensity!" Trainer spun around, throwing Joker into Lucina. They rolled back along the ground. Lucina barely had enough time to raise her shield to block the fireball heading their way.
"Any ideas?" Lucina groaned, standing back up. Joker jumped up, knife in hand.
"We could try pincering her." Joker suggested, watching as Trainer slowly walked towards them. Pulling his mask off, he casted Rekunda on her. "That should help us do more damage." Lucina nodded, gripping her shield and sword tightly. "Here goes nothing." They lept into action, ready to bring down the Trainer.
"Guys? Where are you~?" Sonic called out, rolling his wheelchair. He had sped out of the base, but after clearing a few blocks in under a second, he knew he'd need to take it a bit slower if he wanted to find his friends. "Joker? Hero? Anyone?" No response. He slowed down, taking in his scenery. He was alone. He didn't know where Lucina and Akira were, where any of the others could be, if they were here at all. And all because… because…
"This is all my fault." Sonic rested his face in his hands. "If I hadn't froze up, more people would be okay, alive…" He trailed off, looking up to the forever scarlet sky above. "We'd have more manpower, my legs would work again…" He looked down at his legs. His stomach twisted in knots as he struggled to try and move them. No luck. His heart dropped as he looked off into the city streets. "And Lucy wouldn't be constantly on edge. Oh Chaos, she must have been at wits end when I was out. I put her through hell all cause I hesitated." He banged a fist on the arm rest. "I am a horrible friend."
Sonic slumped back in his wheelchair, fighting back his self depreciation. "No, now ain't the time to think like this, dude. We gotta go find the others and bring 'em back. That's plan A and I ain't making another."
He wheeled along, doing his best to stay out of sight from the Shadows. He was sure he could take some, even like this, but he couldn't chance anything now.
But it was strange, there weren't many Shadows around, even on the main street. It seemed like they thinned out suddenly. He could see a herd of them off a few blocks down, and a few blocks back from where he came. But this road was basically empty.
"Uhh, what's going on here?" Sonic muttered, rolling into an alley, peeking his head back out into the main street. "Is it bingo night or something?"
His answer came in the form of something wet dropping onto his head. Just a few drops, but it felt nothing like rain. He touched it with his glove, bringing his hand back down to look at the strange liquid.
"Orange goo?" Sonic question. He heard a ticking and something dropped onto his lap. "OH CHAOS A BOMB!" He swiped the pyramid shaped explosive away, but it detonated a foot away from him, covering him in orange pain and sending him flying out of his chair. "Inkling? That you?" He groaned, sitting up.
Stepping into the alleyway, a young girl stood. She was squid-like in appearance, sharp teeth, and hanging blonde hair. But that's where the similarities to Squid Kid ended. Her squid hair curled and split into octopus tentacles. Her eyes had black markings around them and her ears were rounded instead of pointed. It looked like some weird mix of squid, kid, and octopus.
"That hurt, Ink Brain. What's your deal?" Sonic said, pointing down the child. "Not cool." He rolled away from a blast of paint, now pressed against a wall. "Not talking huh? Fine, so be it." In the blink of an eye, Sonic rolled into a ball and started revving up. Though it took longer than usual, he was able to shoot off into the alley. "Come and get me!"
He rolled along the alley, scanning for anything that might work to give him an edge. He knew he wasn't gonna win a scuffle like this without his legs. So why not follow Tails' advice and use his head?
Inkling was in hot pursuit, raining down paint on the Blue Blur. The rolling hedgehog was a mix of blue and orange at this point. Sonic knocked over trash cans, random crates, anything he passed to slow down the squid. His speed was nowhere near his peak with his injuries.
"Are you mad about being called Ink Brain? If you stop shooting I might take it back." Sonic laughed, rolling along the wall to get some vertical distance. All the buildings in this large alleyway system were at least two stories tall, no real way to get up there for now.
Something flew over his head, and in just the nick of time, Sonic jumped over a paint bomb. It blew up, spraying him with paint, but luckily his jump got him out of the worst of it. The blast also shot him upwards. With a grin, he rolled along the wall, grabbing the ledge and pulling himself up onto the roof.
"Nice try, Ink Brain, but I'm just too good~" Sonic laughed, dragging himself away. In the distance he saw smoke and fire coming out of another alleyway. "Try again next ti-'' A paint bomb landed in front of him. Deadpan, the blue hedgehog sighed. "Touche."
BOOM!
Sonic was flung back into the alley. He landed on a garbage can, grunting in pain as he tried to push himself up and hold the new gash in his side at the same time. Inkling walked closer, ready to paint the hedgehog red.
"Alright, you win. Ow" He breathed, holding his side. "Can't we talk about this? I mean, I still gotta save my stepmom and everything. Peach would be very disappointed it I died in a back alley. So how about we bury the hatchet?" A splatter barrel was pressed against his head. "Guess not. You know maybe it's the blood loss from that wound in my side but my head is getting kinda woozy."
"Fear not, blue hero! That pain is nothing but aches compared to our will."
"Oh great, now I'm hearing voices. Solaris, that you?" Sonic laughed through the pain, his head pounding. "I ain't walking all those stairs to the pearly gates, bud."
"I am thou, and together we shall ride to victory! Steal the world aroint from those that only seek to wrong it. Accept I and thou shall fend off this strange squid child."
"Geez, you hearing this dude, Ink Brain?" Sonic said, spinning a finger next to his head. "Total loon, am I right?" Inkling tilted her head in confusion, even possession not being able to fend off just how baffled she was right now. Or maybe he was sending some hive mind for a loop. That would be pretty cool.
"Will thou listen to I? Together we can save thy friends and even the world."
"Yeah that does sound pretty good. So get with it and stop making my head hurt already." Sonic smirked, pulling himself up against a wall. "I need to return the favor to that brat right now." He pointed at Inkling, who just stood there in confusion. "Uh actually she's not really a brat. She's a nice kid. Sorry, Inkling."
"Are thou done?"
"Not really but I'm apparently getting on my own nerves so let's do it to it." Sonic laughed, feeling his whole body heat up, a bright light shining from him. A green helmet visor appeared on his face, though it was a bit too small for his big head. "Sweet visor. So I just rip this off, right?"
"Correct. Now where was I? Oh right. I am thou, thou art I."
"Oh you are so in for it now, Ink Brain! Let's go, King Arthur!" Sonic pulled the visor from his face, and the light took over the whole alley, a pillar of blue flames and broken chains shooting into the sky.
Inkling covered her eyes from the blinding light. As the light faded, she looked at her opponent in shock, who only had one thing to say.
"Yosha!" A gloved fist met her face.
Joker shot a blast of electricity from Pixie as he struggled to dodge Trainer's assault. Lucina was pulling herself off the ground, looking beat to hell. He was faring much better sadly. Trainer was much stronger than before. They were already struggling, but this sent them to their limit. Any of the damage they were doing would just be healed off by her breathing.
"If we want to win, we'll need to take her down in one hit so she can't heal." Joker said, jumping away from Trainer. Easier said than done at the moment. To get even a shot at something like that they would need to exploit a type weakness. Ice had been his first idea but that hadn't worked. Curse, Bless, Elec, Fire, Phys and Gun either hadn't worked are there was no way they would. All that was left was Nuke, Psy and Wind. He didn't have any of that. Would Crit fishing be their only way out?
Lucina barely blocked another fireball, panting heavily. "I'll try my best." She called out in a labored voice. Despite her obvious fatigue, she was faring better than Joker was. He was just good at hiding his pains.
"Dia!" Pixie swirled around, giggling. Lucina's wounds closed. "That's all I got left."
"Right!" Lucina nodded. She rushed forward, swinging at Wii Fit Trainer. She kept her pressure up, trying not to let Trainer get a second to breathe.
Joker was about to join in until a blue flame shot up in the distance. What the hell?
"Hero! Change of plans? We're running!" Joker called, pointing down the alleyway. "Come on!"
"What?!" Lucina called, ducking under a fist. "Uhh Okay!" She sprinted after him, dodging fireballs. "What's the plan?"
"Keep running and hope it all works out?" Joker grinned, hopping over a blast of fire. He didn't even need to see Lucina's face to know what she was thinking. "Just trust me, I got a good feeling about this."
"Whatever you say, Sir." Lucina called, keeping pace.
As if a gift by god, they hear the faint sound of… a motorcycle? Bellowing winds wisped through the alleyway, blowing up trash and light debris. The sound grew closer and closer.
Turning a corner they saw the source of the noise. A black and green motorcycle barreled down the street, the driver holding something or someone.
"Excuse us, Gentleman and Lady!" A voice called out. The driver skidded to a stop in front of them. They wore a blue biker jacket and dark blue jeans. They had a motorcycle helmet that was black in color with a green visor, and two triangles on top that made it look like cat ears. What stood out the most was the gloves and shoes. The gloves were white and looked stitched. The shoes were red with a white stripe and gold buckle. "Your reinforcements hast arrived."
"Geez, what a show boat. A bike after my own heart, truly." A muffled voice came from the biker. They, no, he grabbed his helmet and pulled it off. Spiky blue hair matted against peach skin and emerald green eyes. He ruffled his hair and it puffed up. "But I am here to help you two kick some butt. Brought Ink Brain too but I think she's out of it." He pointed to a woozy shadow Inking that sat on the side of the bike.
Joker and Lucina stared at the man in silence. Their jaws were on the floor.
"SONIC!?" They yelled in unison, causing Sonic to cover his ears.
"Ow ow ow! Yeah it's me, can ya tone it down. You'll blow my darn head off with that volume." Sonic groaned. "Yeah it's me. And before you ask, no, I don't know how. Even Ol King Arthur there doesn't know what happened."
"You should hath seen this fool. Bleeding in an alley covered in paint. If not for awakening I, thou would be a goner." The bike said, revving in excitement. "Fear not however, for King Athur is hither to save the-!"
CLONK!
"Enough outta you!" Sonic barked, kicking at the bike. "You're making me look bad!"
"Thou doth that by yourself, Knave!" Arthur spat.
Joker and Lucina watched the two… or one technically, fight. For a moment, they forgot about the chase.
"Sonic!" Joker called, snapping the two out of their squabble. "We're being chased, mind giving up a hand?"
"You got it, Bedhead." Sonic laughed, hopping on Arthur and revving the bike. Small tornados blasted from the exhausts. "Let's get this chump!" They all got into formation, surrounding the alleyway.
"When you see her, Sonic, blast her with your strongest wind attack." Joker ordered. Sonic nodded from under his helmet, giving Arthur a small rev. "If she goes down, we jump her on the spot in an all out attack."
They group all agreed in a nod, waiting for Trainer to find them. Since they lost her, she'd probably start wandering, but there was no way out except the exits next to them.
Eventually, the flaming yoga trainer walked out of the alleyway, back at peak condition. From their hiding spots, Joker and Lucina ripped off their masks.
"Arsene!"
"Freya"
The two persona lashed out, striking the Trainer with everything they had. She stumbled. That's when she heard the revving.
"Garu!" Sonic yelled, peeling out as wind shot from the exhaust. The wind blasted into the trainer, bringing her down as the wind was knocked from her lungs.
"It worked! Now go all out!" Joker called. The trio jumped Wii Fit Trainer, striking her over and over again in a blitzkrieg of power. When the attack was over, Joker and Lucina hopped back. Sonic? He had to showboat.
He started a short break dance, spinning on his back. After a moment he kicked up into a jump, striking a pose with his arm below his leg. As he did it, the dark energy corrupting Wii Fit shot from her like blood. In Joker's mind, a title card appeared in that split second, a lush hill with a city in the back and a deep blue sky. Written in the clouds was a familiar phrase to anyone that knew Sonic, though it was lost on the Trickster.
'YOU'RE TOO SLOW!'
Wii Fit collapsed, the fire in her hair extinguishing. Slowly she turned back to normal.
"We should get her back as soon as possible. The same goes for Inkling." Lucina said, picking up the dizzy squid kid. The others nodded.
"Hold on, let me load them on my bike. Arthur can bring them back." Sonic said, picking up Wii Fit. "Man it's weird having long limbs."
"Yeah, we'll need to talk to Lavenza once we get back to base. There is absolutely something about your sudden body change that is fishy." Joker scratched his chin, looking the new human up and down. He went through this same bit with Morgana and Maruki. There was a higher power at play. But he'd put that aside for now. They needed to get these two back to base.
Yoyoyo! Back again, only 2 months this time. I know I said I was gonna work on Desert boy, but I wanna make sure that story is given the time and attention it deserves. I don't wanna give it any less than 100%. This story is more of a fun writing exercise.
Making Sonic a human was planned from the start, but I had some great ideas for it only recently. There will be reasons for it revealed at another time.
Some things I wanna disclose real quick.
Joker will most likely be the only DLC character to show up. The other didn't get their invitations sadly.
In the future, the possessed versions of the Smash Roster will bare resemblance to other characters. Whether it be an enemy, a rival, an enemy, or something else.
Wii Fit Trainer was influenced but Ring Fit, while Inkling was obviously fused with Octoling.
That's a bout it, have a good one and stay Golden.