Chapter 20: Rumble In The Jungle
Elsewhere, back below on the surface of the world of light and far east of the volcano. Fox, DK, Captain Falcon, Falco, Little Mac, Banjo and Kazooie, along side their most recent new addition, Mr. Game and Watch whom they rescued back in the Pac-Maze finally arrived at their destination at the entrance to a portal of light that would most likely lead them to the Jungle Japes, DK and Diddy's home and very like have been twisted by Galeem in some way just like how Ryu's world and Pit's Skyworld was turned into some kind of sub-world within the World of Light
"So once we step through here, we'll be in the Jungle Japes and that's where we'll find Diddy?" Fox turned to verify what Mr. Game and Watch told them.
Even though Mr. Game and Watch could only answer with beeps, most of the veteran fighters could still understand his words.
"Will you be okay, DK? This is your world after all." Fox asked the giant gorilla who seemed lost in his thoughts.
"Ooh ooh." DK nodded with a fiercely determined look.
"I get it. Don't worry, we'll make sure to comb every part of that jungle for Diddy. He's our buddy too. I know if things were reversed, Diddy would stop at nothing to try and rescue you too. Just like back in the Subspace Incident, the little guy's a true fighter." Fox gave a comforting pat on DK's back.
"Well, what are standing around for? Let's check this place out." Kazooie impatiently squawked.
"Geez, she's so pushy." Falco grumbled.
With no more delay, they stepped through the portal of light that would take them to Jungle Japes.
As everyone arrived on the other-side, they saw the familiar layout of DK and Diddy's homeworld, a sprawling jungle stretching as far as the eye could see.
"Feels like old times, eh Falco?" Fox grinned.
"Ugh, don't remind me about the Subspace Incident."
"Um, what's this Subspace Incident that you keep speaking about fellas?" Banjo asked innocently.
"Yeah, you guys keep mentioning this thing as if it was some great big event." Kazooie agreed with Banjo's question.
"It was quite the adventure! That was where I first met Olimar as we infiltrated the enemy base that was responsible for the incident." Captain Falcon recalled with fondness.
"It's a loooong story. I coud be here for hours trying to explain it all. I can tell you what least what happened to me and Falco during the whole thing." Fox scratched his head.
"I'm kinda curious to know myself. I wasn't here when all this happened either." Little Mac was intrigued to hear the story too.
"So, the way I first met Diddy—he was in the claws of some strange green dragon—which I know now was Rayquaza. After I saved him and we chased off Rayquaza together—Diddy basically dragged me along with him to help save DK who had been kidnapped by Bowser who was working with Ganondorf and Wario at the time. It was a little while after that we found Falco or rather he found us."
"Hey I saved yours and Diddy's life! I even took out that weird looking gun Bowser was using to turn people into trophies." Falco bragged proudly.
"Yes, yes I know. I haven't forgotten." Fox rolled his eyes. "Anyway, long story short, Falco got dragged along by Diddy as well. He was so persistent in asking us to help save his friend DK that we both kind of caved in and just went along for the journey." Fox finished with a toothy grin.
"Yeah well, it was kinda hard to say no to the guy." Falco sighed and shook his head. "By the end of the whole Subspace Incident—Diddy became a good buddy of ours."
"Wow, that sounds like quite an adventure." Little Mac commented by the end of the tale.
"Wait a minute. If Bowser was one of the guys who was helping this Ganondorf and Wario guy during this whole Subspace Incident to turn people into trophies...WHY THE HECK ARE WE LETTING HIM HELP US NOW?!" Kazooie screamed.
"You know, you have some anger issues, lady." Falco scowled.
"Look, I know Bowser doesn't have a pristine record of being nice. Mario still says he's causing problems back in their homeworld when we aren't holding any Smash Tournaments. I think we can agree though that we all share the same enemy right now in Galeem—and eventually we'll be taking the fight to this Dharkon too. So for now, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, get the saying?" Fox reasoned.
"Uhh..." Banjo looked confused.
"He's saying that Bowser is basically a frenemy right now, Banjo." Kazooie sighed and explained it in plainer terms for her partner to understand.
"Ooooohh..." Banjo finally understood.
"Look, this isn't important right now. We're wasting time and we've got a giant jungle to explore." Falco impatiently stated.
"Since you are most familiar with this jungle, DK, we'll let you lead us." Captain Falcon suggested to DK.
"Ooh ooh." DK nodded eagerly and took the lead as he guided the others through the Jungle Japes.
They made sure to explore everywhere, from the shacks, stalls and caves for any sign of Diddy or any kind of life but no matter where they looked, there was nary a soul in sight. Other than the occasional Puppet Fighter that would jump out of hiding.
The further they went in, they could see DK was looking even more depressed.
"This must be rough on you, friend. I can only imagine how it feels to see your home being twisted like this." Captain Falcon gave a comforting pat on DK's back.
"I really hope everyone back home is okay, don't you Kazooie? Imagine what would happen if Galeem ever reached our home." Banjo looked grew more concerned as they still had no idea how their world was faring right now, if it was still safe or it became another world Galeem has devoured.
"..." Kazooie didn't want to admit it but she was starting to feel worry about what became of their world after they were summoned to this place.
Mr. Game and Watch bleeped something at Banjo and Kazooie who didn't understand a single word they had he had said.
"Translation please?" Kazooie glanced at one of the veteran fighters.
"He was trying to comfort you guys." Fox smiled. "He said that chances are your world is one of the few still out of Galeem's reach, so have faith that you'll see your home again when this is all over."
"Aw thanks, little guy." Banjo thanked Mr. Game and Watch for the kind gesture. Which Mr. Game and Watch bleeped in response with something that looked like a smile on his face despite not being able to express himself as well as the other fighters could.
"You'd be surprised how talkative Mr. Game and Watch can be once you understand what he's saying. It was the same for me when I first got invited here." Little Mac added.
They soon arrived at what looked like a large lake but to Fox this brought back memories. "Hey, this is place where I first met Diddy. Man, this feels nostalgic."
"So this is place where you fought that giant green dragon you mentioned." Little Mac questioned.
"Rayquaza? Yup." Fox confirmed with a simple nod of his head.
"Ooh Ooh!" DK called out.
"Hey guys, you need to come and see this." Falco called out to the other fighters who were still looking at the lake.
When they arrived to where both Falco and DK was, they arrived at the location to find a giant stash of bananas that looked more like a hill.
"That's...a lot of bananas." Fox went eyes when wide at the sight.
"Say, DK? Did you and Diddy make this giant hill of bananas by yourself?"
DK nodded, looking very proud at his and his friend's collection of bananas.
"Why would anyone make a giant hill of bananas and then horde it away like some treasure trove? It's not like anyone's going to steal them!" Kazooie complained.
"I like to think treasure comes in many forms, Kazooie. For DK and Diddy, this is their treasure." Banjo told his partner.
"Uh huh, what what's your treasure then?" Kazooie smirked.
"Oh that's easy!" Banjo smiled. "My treasure is my friendship with you, of course."
Kazooie was stunned and faintly blushed. "O-Oh is that right? Well, the feeling is mutual. I refuse to have anyone else but you as my partner." Banjo beamed with joy that statement.
"Oooh Ooh ooh." DK was explaining something to the group but since Banjo and Kazooie still could't understand a word DK was saying, Captain Falcon translated for them.
"He said that during the Subspace Incident, their stash of bananas was stolen by some of Bowser' minions. So since then after the said incident, DK and Diddy made a promise to keep a closer eye on their stash so he believes if Diddy is anywhere in the Jungle, it would be here."
Mr. Game and Watch bleeped in panic and pointed upwards towards the top of the banana stash.
"What's got him in a-" Kazooie started to ask before a peanut bullet made contact straight on the head. "OW! WHO DID THAT? SHOW YOURSELF COWARD!" Kazooie raved.
"Is that who I think it is?" Little Mac and the rest of the fighters turned their gaze upwards to the tip of the hill of bananas to see it was indeed Diddy Kong standing there with the Master Hand clone that was puppeteering him. The hand loomed over them menacingly before Diddy jumped down from above and landed at the base of the stash of bananas behind him.
DK went in front of the team in hopes of trying to reach out to Diddy. For the briefest moment there was hesitation in Diddy's eyes as the red glow flickered but they soon glowed even more red, pushing back whatever moment of clarity Diddy had in that brief moment. He pulled out his two peanut guns yet he didn't fire at them right away. It was as if Diddy was trying to prevent himself from actually pulling the trigger.
"Hang in there Diddy, we'll break you out soon enough!" Falco called out to Diddy hoping he should hear them.
DK had an idea that could help them make this fight quick and decisive since he didn't really want to fight his best buddy longer than they had to. Just as the gang was getting ready to assist to fight, DK was the first to charge towards Diddy, winding up a powerful punch and struck Diddy quickly before he had a chance to counter DK's attack.
The punch made direct contact, causing Diddy to be sent flying into the stash of bananas, resulting in sending many bananas into the air and ruining their hill that they had painstakingly built together.
But the punch worked as DK had hoped since it was strong enough to change Diddy instantly back into a trophy, bringing the battle to an end before it could even begin.
"Gosh, that looked like it really hurt!" Banjo went bug-eyed.
"Remind me to never get on the Ape's bad side." Kazooie whispered to Banjo.
The Master Hand clone tried to retreat when they realized their fighter had been defeated and therefore freed from their control, but the other Smash fighters wasn't going to let them escape.
"Oh no you don't!" Fox fired some blaster shots. "Don't let them escape!"
Captain Falcon used what remained of the stash of bananas as a jumping platform and leaped into the air higher enough to reach the fleeing clone.
Captain Falcon prepared to use one of his most strongest moves, once it was ready, he didn't hesitant to use it. "Falcon Punch!"
The punch made contact and just like with Diddy, the punch was so powerful that it instant-killed the Master Hand clone, causing it to explode upon impact with the punch.
Captain Falcon then landed gracefully and gave his signature victory pose. "Yes!"
"Wow, we were completely useless." Little Mac sighed. Along with Mr. Game and Watch who was also bummed out they didn't have a chance to contribute.
"Don't worry you two—you'll get your chance next time." Fox attempted to cheer up the two crest-fallen fighters.
DK didn't waste time to dig out Diddy's trophy from within the stash of bananas and quickly tapped on the trophy to awaken the fighter.
Diddy blinked in confusion and shook his head to try shake off the fuzzy light-headed feeling in his head. Upon seeing the face of his best friend, he was soon jumping for joy and the two apes shared their special of celebrating by beating their chests proudly.
"Um, what are they doing?" Banjo questioned.
Captain Falcon simply smirked and told him, "That's just their special greeting and celebrating."
"Oh, kinda like how Kazooie and I have our own special way of celebrating, right Kazooie?" Banjo clicked.
"Oh yeah, with our instruments right? I suppose we have more in common with the two apes than I first thought." Kazooie grinned back at the bear. "Shame we didn't bring them with us when we got summoned to this wacky place."
"Yeah, I bet we could entertain everyone with our music too. Oh well." Banjo agreed.
"At least we got summoned together. I mean knowing how gullible and hopeless you are, you'd be a sitting duck without me." Kazooie gloated.
Banjo sighed with a smile and simply shook his head. Kazooie would never admit it, but it was her way of saying that she was happy that she and Banjo were able to remain together even after being summoned rather than being torn apart which could have happened but thankfully never came to pass.
Diddy didn't waste time to glomp both Fox and Falco who he was also overjoyed to see again.
"I know, we're happy to see you again too." Fox greeted their buddy that he and Falco bonded with over the Subspace Incident.
Once Diddy released them, he suddenly remembered something important and quickly reported what he knew right away to his friends, waving his hands to try and illustrate what he was saying.
"Wait, you've seen Shulk recently? Do you know where he was now?" Little Mac asked.
Diddy nodded quickly and was eager to show them where exactly he remembered seeing Shulk last. "Ahh ahh!"
"Okay gang—let's follow after Diddy. Lead the way then." Fox pulled his blaster followed after Diddy who was leading the way back out of the Jungle Japes and back to where they began at the entrance once passing back through the portal of light.
"Do you guys hear that? It sounds like a fight doesn't it?" Little Mac noted as he heard the sounds of a battle going on from on top of tall cliff that had a waterfall.
Diddy pointed to a sign nearby that said 'Waterfall Peak'.
"Waterfall peak huh? So Shulk's somewhere up there. C'mon whoever is fighting against Shulk right now needs our help." Fox led the charge with the other fighters following after as they scaled up the cliff path leading up to the top of Waterfall Peak.
Meanwhile on the summit of Waterfall Peak itself. It was indeed a possessed Shulk, controlled by a Master Hand clone with strings attached to the wielder of the Monado like a puppet.
Another clash of blades collided against the Monado that belonged to a long blonde haired woman in white and black body armor.
"Snap out of it already Shulk! Can't you tell it's us?!" Mythra yelled her frustration at him as she tried once again to try and break through whatever mind control he was under right now.
Another young woman with short red hair garbed in similar body armour to Mythra instead the colour of her armour was red tried to attack the hand itself but they were able to counterattack against her causing her to be flicked away like a fly. It caused her to fall to the ground with a harsh thud.
"Pyra!" Mythra hurried over to her fellow blade and who until very recently shared a body with her until they arrived in this messed up world. They found themselves in separate bodies which was both a blessing and a curse since it meant their power was also divided up between the pair of them so they were now weaker as a result. Teamwork was now more important than ever between them.
"Sorry Mythra. I got careless." Pyra apologized as she slowly sat back up.
"Don't worry about that you dolt. We've got bigger problems to worry about. I can't get through to Shulk, nothing I say seems to work!" Mythra shook her head and helped Pyra back on to her feet.
"I think it's that hand that's controlling Shulk. Remember what Master Hand told us? Galeem captured the Smash Fighters and usurped their free-will. I'm certain those hands are an extension of Galeem's will to control them from afar." Pyra reminded.
"No way, and here I thought Dharkon was the worst of our problems. Now we've got two of these psychopaths to worry about."
They both dodged another attack from Shulk who tried to attack them while they were talking.
"HEY! It's rude to attack when people are having a discussion! Geez, that Galeem loser has no manners." Mythra yelled.
The Master Hand clone was about to control Shulk into attacking Pyra this time but was stopped in their tracks when Fox arrived delivering a powerful kick to Shulk, causing him be pushed back a fair distance away.
Fox got primed ready to counterattack while turning his head slightly to the side to talk to the two newcomers.
"You two okay?"
"Wait...are you one of the Smash Fighters that we were told about?" Pyra's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden rescue and questioned the fighter in front of both her and Mythra.
"Uhhh yeah? Why do you ask? And how do you know about us?" Fox looked visibly confused at the question, they were definitely new but how would they already know who they were?
Soon the rest of the fighters soon arrived to come to Pyra and Mythra's aid.
"Are ya both okay?" Banjo turned around to check the two fighters if they were hurt.
"Wait...Banjo! And Kazooie! You're both alright! What a relief!" Pyra was overjoyed to see both the bear and bird again.
"Eh? Wait, we've met before?" Kazooie was puzzled by this reaction from the red-head.
"Oh great, it's the squawking parrot again." Mythra groaned.
"Squawking parrot?! Why you-"
"Kazooie, we're in the middle of a fight right now. This is not the time." Banjo tried to calm down his easily-angered partner.
Pyra sighed. "Mythra, please don't start a fight. I know you both must be confused right now. I promise to explain later but let's save Shulk first." Pyra calmly told both of them.
DK went charging towards Shulk and managed to pin him down to the ground with one hand while Shulk was struggling to break free, he also dropped the Monado upon impact with the ground.
"Whoa, that's one strong ape." Mythra's mouth was wide open in shock at the ape's strength to be able to pin down Shulk with just one hand.
"That's our DK for you. Can you help us cut those strings connected to the Master Hand clone? You'll be able to free Shulk from Galeem's control by doing that." Captain Falcon asked for the aid of the two blades.
"I knew it. So that hand really is controlling Shulk. Let's go Mythra!" Pyra jumped into action, flying back up into the air and flying towards the hand.
"Gotcha. Keep that hand off us while we're doing that." Mythra told the others as she followed after her fellow blade.
"You got it, lady. Let's teach this impostor a lesson or two." Little Mac headed towards the Master Hand to distract it from the two blades and the other fighters followed suit.
DK on the other hand was able to keep Shulk pinned to the ground unable to attack or anything. So the other fighters were free to take the fight straight to Shulk's puppeteer.
Mr. Game and Watch managed to get on the back of the hand of the Master Hand and started whacking it with chairs, air pumps, flags, everything at their disposal to deal damage to their enemy. Diddy, Banjo and Kazooie also joined Mr. Game and Watch and aided them by dealing damage with their own attacks.
Fox and Falco blasted the hand with blasters from the ground while avoiding the lasers that would shoot out from time to time from the Master Hand clone's fingers.
Captain Falcon and Little Mac would deal damage when the hand was low enough for them to reach as they lacked the air mobility that their fellow fighters had.
Pyra and Mythra went to work on using their blades to cleanly slice through every string they they could see.
"I have an idea Mythra, stand back." An idea lit up in Pyra's head and she set her blade on fire using her innate fire powers and unleashed a strong fire attack to set the remaining strings on fire, causing them to snap as the heat of the fire burned through them.
"Ha! Nice Pyra! That was a piece of cake. Let's get away quick." Mythra had a triumphant smile as the two blades quickly escaped before the hand realized what they had just done.
The red glow in Shulk's eyes faded and disappeared completely as Shulk's eyes returned to their normal blue shade. "...Huh? What? Where...am I?" Shulk felt very disoriented but was quick to realize he was being pinned down by something or someone, he looked up to recognize the one keeping him down with one hand right away. "DK? It's you! If you're back to normal then that must be mean-"
"Ooh ooh!" DK was happy to see Shulk had been freed from Galeem's control and quickly moved his hand away but before Shulk could stand up, DK took hold of him and gave him a tight bear hug.
"Urk! Yes, I'm very happy to see you again too, DK. Could you please let me go? I can't breathe!"
DK realized he was hugging a little too tight and released his hold on Shulk. "Whew. You sure are a strong one aren't you, DK?" Shulk sighed in relief before picking up the Monado and securing it behind his back.
Meanwhile other fighters were busy taking down the Master Hand clone which the final blow was finally dealt by a duo attack made by Pyra and Mythra who sliced their blades at the same time, causing the Master Hand clone to be sliced apart before exploding mid-air. Mr. Game and Watch, Diddy, Banjo and Kazooie was able to flee before the explosion as they was seen descending back down to the top of Waterfall Peak using Mr. Game and Watch's black umbrella and the fighters clung to the 8-bit fighter as gracefully landed.
"Haha! Alright, another one bites the dust!" Fox grinned victoriously.
"Pfft, they weren't that hard." Falco gloated.
"Let's not get too cocky, Falco. That one could have been tired out by those two girls over there before we arrived. The important thing is that we've not only rescued Shulk but we've found not just one but two newcomers at the same time. I call that a big win for us."
"Speaking of those two, they're a really strange pair." Falco muttered.
"Ah, you mean Pyra and Mythra. They come from the same universe as me." Shulk came over to see Falco and Fox.
"Hey, Shulk. Long time no see, glad to have you back among us." Fox gave a thumbs up to their fellow fighter.
"So you know those two girls?" Falco questioned.
"Well...sort of? It's complicated to explain how we met exactly. Let's just say we had a chance meeting." Shulk tried to logically explain without making it too complex. "I can assure you though—they're good people." He then added.
"Shulk!" Pyra ran over along with Mythra to Shulk's side. "Are you okay? You're back to your normal self now?"
"Yes, I'm sorry for the trouble I put you both through." Shulk nodded and reassured the two blades.
"I kinda figured you weren't yourself. Red glowing eyes and all. Does Galeem do that to all of you guys?" Mythra crossed her arms.
"Unfortunately yes, and I fear I won't be the last fighter you will have to fight in order to liberate them." Shulk sadly stated.
"So how much do you remember? You know, after we got nuked by those beams of light." Falco interjected with a question of his own.
"I'm afraid my memory after the battle is a blank. Would you tell me everything that has happened so far?"
"Sure can do. Okay, so this is what's gone down since our first failed attempt fighting Galeem-" Fox started to tell the whole story in full detail to Shulk and the two newcomers who were also listening intently.
"Wow. You've all done a great job so far in liberating many of our friends from Galeem. Not only that—finding a weak-spot in Galeem's defenses too." Shulk was very impressed after hearing everything the Smash Fighters have accomplished
"It was a team effort. Megaman was the one who figured out Galeem's weak-spot. And everyone has pitched in to help save our friends—even Bowser—if you can believe it." Fox added.
"I'm so relived to hear that Sora, Joker, Piranha Plant, Steve, Min-Min, Terry and Kazuya have been found too. I know Banjo and Kazooie are here but I had no idea what became of the others after we were separated."
"You've all met before?" Shulk inquired curiously.
"It's a really, really, long story. You wouldn't believe what we had to go through after being summoned here by that Master Hand of yours! I don't think this is the right place to talk about it either—in the open like this." Mythra gave a long deep sigh.
"I think Mythra is right. We should wait until we're in a safe location away from Galeem's gaze. Besides, if you want you said is right and they've all suffered memory loss—then it's important that they hear our story too. Maybe it'll trigger their lost memories back."
"Yeah, that could work. I recall a theory about how memories can be triggered if certain keywords are spoken—or if they see a location that has importance to —it causes some kind of unconscious response from the brain to unlock memories that could have been mentally blocked by the victim themselves. Even without them even knowing that they did it." Shulk theorized.
"Heh, same old Shulk. You haven't changed one bit." Mythra smirked.
"So what you're saying...is that our Newcomer friends could have unknowingly locked away their own memories by accident?" Fox tried to simplify.
"Exactly." Shulk smiled.
"Then we should head back to Great Fox—we're using it as our base of operations since—you know—our Smash Manor is gone and we're still on the run from Galeem who's still hunting us and now trying to capture the Newcomers as well."
"What?! When did this happen?" Pyra gasped.
"I recall some order from Galeem being given back when I was still under their control but I didn't remember what it was. So, Galeem intends to enslave us again." Shulk added.
"Ahh ahh!" Diddy spoke up.
"You're right, Diddy. No way we're going to lose a second time. My pride as both an Arwing Pilot and Fighter won't tolerate it." Falco agreed entirely with the smaller ape.
"Which is why we're trying to save as many of our friends as quickly as possible and take down that shield that protects them." Captain Falcon included.
"This shield—do you know how much it has weakened right now? I remember you mentioning that you saw the shield broke two times already." Mythra questioned.
"Here's hoping that shield won't last much longer. I can't wait to finally teach Galeem a lesson or two they won't soon forget." Little Mac hoped, making a few feint punches as he did so. Mr. Game and Watch also joined in on the feint punches.
"I'm going to contact Megaman and tell him to pick us up. This shouldn't take too long." Fox told everyone as he activated his headpiece to make contact with the Great Fox's bridge.
And so, the team waited for the Great Fox to make its approach towards them. Now reunited with not only Diddy and Shulk but found two new allies in the two Newcomers, Pyra and Mythra who may have the answers they many of them—the other Newcomers included—had long been searching for since this journey first began.
They could only hope that Samus and Isabelle's groups were having as much luck as were. Wherever they were right now.
.:Review Corner:.
Unknownnights97: Thank you for your review! Thanks for your kind words, I will try to update as much I can, thankfully it seems I'm in the right frame of mine to keep writing, still got at least three chapters left in my notes before I can continue my play-though. But here's hoping that I'll be able to get those chapters up sooner rather than later. XD
Dario Sato: Thank you for your review! I don't know if that will be possible given the narrative that I've already set. It's a cool idea, but I don't know if it would work in World of Light. There is a Smash Comic series on GabaLeth youtube channel that I highly recommend called the 'Revival all The Smash Bros Arc' that has cameos of characters from different games and Doom Guy is one of them. It's a really good series and it's one of my biggest influences and inspirations for this fan fic. Except this one is essentially a novelization adaption of World of Light while the comic series is based on a timeline where World of Light never happened I guess? =3
.:End of Review Corner:.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and rejoice because it won't be long until the World of Light Arc ends and the World of Darkness Arc begins. Only just four chapters to go, there is going to be a special chapter where it goes into the Origins of the Newcomers and how they got here, I'm really looking forward to that chapter. Muahahahahaha! :D
Also upon refreshing my memory while re-watching the DLC reveal trailers, that both Male and Female Byleth were see in the trailer so logically they could both be summoned at the same time, so should I just stick with female Byelth (since she was the one who won the poll I put out years back) or include Male Byleth along with her? I don't mind either way since they haven't debuted in the story yet, but I would like to hear what you lovely readers think? I'll have to remember that there's sixteen and not fifteen DLC fighters in this story if I do include Male Byleth too. =3
Until the next chapter, happy reading everyone! Moogle Empress out!
Moogle: Kupo!