Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Act 1: Roy

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Caller

It had been a boring day at Smash Mansion. Sure, it was a nice, sunny day with only a few wispy clouds high in the sky, but nothing was happening. It had been quiet for weeks, and Roy had been feeling the boredom. The mansion always felt so empty during times like this.

During times when all of the Smashers would be present at their headquarters, the building would buzz with life. Roy would wake up every morning in the swordsman’s wing, as it had been dubbed with Marth in the room to the right, Ike in the room to the left, and Meta Knight in the room across from his. But those were usually times when training would occur to keep their skills sharp or for team building exercises to keep team building sharp.

Sadly, Roy was on monitor duty. Which meant that he was here with only a handful of Smashers to be able to respond quickly to immediate events. And Roy had been bored. So very bored. He was even sorta wishing that he’d gotten roped into that mission to destroy that Subspace Core out in the middle of nowhere in space. So here he was, sitting in front of a computer, in a voice call. Thankfully, the time difference between Unity City and Ostia was only 4 hours.

Lilina smiled back at him over a video chat.

“Don’t worry,” said Roy. “I’m only on active duty for one more week. We can make it to the art festival.”

“That’s wonderful!” said Lilina excitedly. “It will be amazing! They’ll have art from across the galaxy there!”

Roy smiled at Lilina’s excitement. “I know you’re really excited for this!”

“Aren’t you?” Lilina’s eyes narrowed. “Oh wait, you’re going to try and figure out people’s strengths and weaknesses from their art again, aren’t you?”

Roy chuckled sheepishly, “You know me!”

Lilina glared at him through the monitor. “There’s more to life than just tactics, Roy. Learn to live a little bit! Enjoy something! I can’t just let my cousin be a stick in the mud!”

“I helped save Elibe from Zephiel with tactics, Lilina. You know I can’t just let it go.”

Lilina sighed.

“I know. I just miss the old days.”

“Yeah. Things were simpler back then.”

The two sat in silence for a moment.

An alarm began to blare. Roy glanced quickly over at a different monitor. It was a Code Red Alert. That was the highest level of alert that the Smashers had. Whatever it was couldn’t be good.  

“Lilina, sorry, we just got a major alarm. Gotta look at this one. I’ll call you back later.”

“Ok, I’ll see you later! Bye!” said Lilina quickly before Roy cut the connection.

Roy leapt out of his chair and activated a device on his wrist.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “False alarm?”

ROB’s voice sounded back, “Negative. A masked swordswoman accompanied by what appear to be clones of various Smashers have begun to attack the Galactic Assembly.”

“The Galactic Assembly? In broad daylight!?” asked Roy in surprise. “You’re not pulling my leg here, are you?” Clones of Smashers attacking the Galactic Assembly? That sounded like something out of a children’s cartoon.

“Negative. We have received an emergency call from the Unity City Police Department asking for our immediate assistance.”

Roy’s eyes narrowed as his tactical mind kicked into gear. This was a very stupid opponent. Or very confident. One or the other. He wouldn’t be able to tell till he got there.

“How long ago did the attack start?” asked another voice.

“2 minutes ago, Mr. Game and Watch.”

“I’ll get Pac Man,” said G&W. “Is Mega Man ready to go?”

“Yes, he is preparing the dropship for takeoff,” replied ROB.

“Good. Roy! You meet us all in the hangar!”

“On it,” said Roy. Roy dashed through the hallways and rushed into the elevator and slapped the lowest basement floor. He waited impatiently as the elevator took him down to the hangar.

As he stepped out, he saw Mr. Game and Watch and Pac Man, step into the dropship. Pac Man turned around.

“Just in time!” he said.

Roy sprinted onto the craft and quickly sat down in the back with Game and Watch and Pac Man. Megaman sat in the cockpit and ROB stood next to him. Roy put his earpiece in his ear and turned it on.

The thrusters of the dropship flared to life and the ship took off.

“What does the situation look like?” asked Roy.

“There have been five assailants identified. Four appear to be dark clones of some sort of other smashers. One does not appear to resemble any smasher based off of appearance alone,” said Mega Man.

“Which ones?” asked Pac Man.

“Samus, Pit, Link and Captain Falcon,” replied Mega Man. “They are led by a blue haired young woman wearing a butterfly mask over her eyes. She is the one who does not resemble any other Smasher. She wields a sword.”

Roy furrowed his brow, thinking.

“So, what’s the plan, Mr. Tactician?” asked G&W.

“Let’s go with the usual. I’ll go first and make a fuss and take on the leader. I’m probably best suited to duel her since she has a sword. You guys take on the others. ROB and Mega Man, you have better long-range abilities, so you should go after the Pit and Samus clones. Game and Watch, Pac Man, can you handle the Link and Falcon clones?”

“We’ll take ‘em, no problem!” said Pac Man with a grin.

“Affirmative, we will follow your lead,” said ROB.

“Right, ROB, can you take pictures of the assailants? We’ll analyze them later,” said Roy.

“Affirmative.”

“Also, let’s capture them if we can. Random people don’t attack the most heavily guarded place in the known galaxy and have this much success without a plan and resources. If this isn’t backed by some person with grand delusions of being able to beat all of the Smashers with a handful of clones, we’re up against somebody with a lot of resources and well laid plans. In which case they are backed by someone or something that poses a significant threat. We need to know who or what it is.”

This was met with a chorus of agreement.

“Heads up, we’re approaching the Grand Assembly Hall. The police have set a perimeter around the building, but the enemy is pushing them back,” said Mega Man.

“Drop us at the perimeter,” said Roy. “Land the dropship somewhere and then come back us up. I’ll try to talk until you arrive. Have you sent out the emergency signal to the other Smashers?”

“I have, as according to Equinox Protocol,” said ROB.

Mega Man swooped down and hovered the dropship just above the police cars on the street below.

“I’ll drop you off here!” he said.

“All right, hot shot, time to go fancy pants mode,” said G&W.

Roy pulled out a pair of sunglasses with a flourish and put them on with a smirk.

“Naturally! Let’s move!”

Roy jumped out of the back of the dropship, followed by Mr. Game and Watch, Pac Man and ROB. The police officers on scene stepped back as they made their way to the front. Roy’s eyes widened, as he saw the masked swordswoman raise her blade over a downed representative. He leapt forward and blocked the downward strike. The representative crawled away as the other smashers walked up behind him. The crowd of police and onlookers began to cheer. Roy grinned as the masked swordswoman took a few steps back and resumed a guard stance.

“It’s Roy your Boy!” he proclaimed as he spun his blade in a flashy salute, activating his pyrokinetic abilities and cloaking his sword in flame. He finished by pointing his blazing sword at his opponent. He flashed her a winning smile. He’d taken a long time to perfect his “Roy your Boy” persona, and it was his usual face when around the public at large.

“And who might you be?”

“My name is irrelevant,” she said as she tucked her long blue hair behind her ear again and readjusted the butterfly mask covering her eyes. A nervous tick. Time to destabilize her composure further.

“But surely, such a beautiful lady like you has a name?” said Roy.

“The only name you should remember is that of my master.”

“And what name is that?” asked Roy.

“Ganondorf.”

“The Scourge of Hyrule? Do you not know that Ganondorf is a dangerous man? It is unwise for anyone, even one of your beauty and skill, to associate with such a villain!”

“Hmph. You know nothing. We are the Reclaimers, and we will prevail. We shall exact justice against oppressors such as you! We will create the perfect world!”

“Reclaimers? Oppressors? Perfect World?” asked Roy. “What are you talking about?”

“You know why, villain. You know your crimes. Prepare to die!” said the masked swordswoman. She dashed forward, slashing at Roy. Roy blocked her strike with ease. She jumped back quickly.

“Kill them all!” the swordswoman shouted to her companions. Her comrades sprang into action as Roy adjusted his stance. Whoever this person was, she needed to be defeated. But more troubling was the revelation that Ganondorf had returned. The Smashers, especially Link and Zelda needed to hear this information. But first, to win this duel. He pulled his shades down a little and winked at the masked swordswoman. She grit her teeth, and vaulted into battle once again.

Megaman dashed up as the masked swordswoman’s companions sprung into action. The dark clone of Pit soared up into the sky as he drew closer. He aimed his Mega Buster and fired a barrage of shots. The clone dodged and brandished a weapon that looked near identical to Pit’s sword-bow hybrid weapon. Dark Pit fired several arrows as he flew towards Megaman. Megaman began to spin rapidly, deflecting the arrows.

“Top Spin!”

As Megaman stopped spinning, he pulled circular metal sawblades out of his arms, and hurled them at his opponent.

“Circle Blades!”

The Pit clone fired another barrage of dark hardlight arrows at him, which Megaman dodged. Megaman fired off several shots from his arm cannons, before charging a Mega Buster shot. The clone swooped in for a dive bomb, slashing at Mega Man with his bow – sword hybrid. Megaman dodged the attack and fired his Buster Shot as his opponent landed. He turned around and extended his hand. A glowing shield appeared around him that repelled his shot back at Megaman. Megaman activated another function as his hand burst into a blaze of flame.

“FLAME SWORD!”

The attack dispersed the Mega Buster shot. Keeping the ability active, Megaman resumed his fighting stance.

The clone glared down at him disdainfully.

“Give it up, you stupid rust bucket! I’m Dark Pit! You’re no match for me!”

Megaman would have rolled his optical sensors if he hadn’t been autotargeting his opponent. If this clone thought he hadn’t heard that one before, it was probably because he was literally born yesterday.

Pac Man ducked underneath a flurry of punches from the Captain Falcon clone and rolled backwards.

“Hah! You can’t beat me!” shouted the clone. “I, the great Blood Falcon, shall destroy you, Smasher!”

“Yeah, and I’m the King of Hyrule!” muttered Pac Man sarcastically.

“What was that? Couldn’t hear you over the sound of me being AWESOME!”

So, his opponent had the mental capacity of an edgy teenager. Lovely. It could have been worse. He wasn’t one of the oldest smashers by dumb luck. Time to show this youngster how it was done.

Blood Falcon rushed at Pac Man, eager to start the fight. Pac Man pulled a key out of his pocket and hurled it at Blood Falcon as he dashed up. The clone dodged the projectile, and Pac Man took a different stance.

“CHOMPER FORM!” he shouted as he transformed into a yellow ball with a mouth.

“Falcon Kick!” shouted Blood Falcon as he neared Pac Man.

Pac Man rolled to the side as Blood Falcon’s flaming foot whizzed past him, turned himself, and chomped down on Blood Falcon’s hand. As Blood Falcon yelled out in pain, Pac Man spun himself and hurled his opponent into one of the pillars of the Galactic Assembly building. As he transformed back into his normal form, Pac Man saw Blood Falcon pull himself to his feet and begin dashing straight back at him. Pac Man sighed. Too bull headed to stop, eh? He pulled a fire hydrant out of his dimensional pocket and placed it down on the ground to the surprise of some of the nearby police officers. He lined up the nozzle of the firehose, ready to blast his charging opponent with a pressurized stream of water. This fight was going to take a while. But it wasn’t going to end until he’d rained on his opponent’s parade, at least once.

ROB stared up at the visor covered visage of the Samus clone. She stared back down at the robot.

“Surrendering now is advisable. You are no match for the Smashers. Should you choose to pursue a combative option, you have an 89.2% to 97.8% probability of failure. I therefore must conclude that your best option is to surrender,” said ROB.

It was considered by many cultures to be the morally superior option to try and end a fight without bloodshed. ROB agreed with that idea. Wanton waste was considered immoral, and there was no need to waste his energy reserves on a fight that he could perhaps talk his way out of.

“Never! Do you know who you’re talking to? I’m Dark Samus! I will destroy you!” hissed the clone as she began charging a shot in her arm cannon.

Unfortunately, ROB had had little success with this strategy. Still, it was worth attempting. Despite his efforts, it was concerning that his success had been limited. He couldn’t understand why, though. Organic beings were said to be quite rational, and he had laid out all of the facts as objectively and concisely as he could. Many, however, did not meet this rational standard. Why they would disregard logic was beyond his AI programming. Perhaps he should consult Peach or Marth in the future, ROB mused, as he fired a laser out of his eyes at Dark Samus. They were much better at getting organic beings to agree with them.

Dark Samus dodged his laser, and fired her own charge shot at him. As he activated his thrusters to dodge, ROB wondered if his lack of success was perhaps the limitations of his ancient AI programming. After all, he had been manufactured just over 2 centuries ago. Dark Samus fired a missile at him. He fired a gyro to intercept it midair. A few years ago, they had celebrated his 200^th manufacturing date, or birthday, as the others referred to it. They had gotten him a new power supply, custom made for his base. It had been a thoughtful gift. But he was getting off track. Back to the primary objectives.

“STAND STILL!” yelled Dark Samus as she rushed at him, brandishing her arm cannon.

This clone of Samus lacked the original’s rational mind. What a curious observation. Perhaps it was worth dragging the fight out a little bit to observe this specimen. Doubtless, this could be useful evidence to analyze later. He opened a new file and created a new document in his computer drive as he spun his midsection and outstretched arms to smack the charging clone backwards.

Observations of Samus Clone:

1) Does not appear to have same disposition as original Samus.

2) Assuming true clone, gender is female.

ROB paused his mental listing. He should run a scan just in case. Such an inaccuracy could potentially be problematic in the future.

“SAY SOMETHING!” screamed Dark Samus as she fired another missile.

Perhaps the cloning method had caused mental instability? Or was the irrational anger simply the product of a different personality? Which then brought of the question of nature vs nurture. ROB noted that the results of this scan could potentially be controversial as he destroyed the missile with a laser shot from his eyes. Was this evidence of the existence of the ‘soul’ as some had argued for? All the more reason to run a scan. This subject certainly required further observation.

Dark Samus fired another missile.

“DON’T IGNORE ME!”

Mr. Game and Watch pulled a frying pan out of his dimensional pocket and assumed a fighting stance as the clone of Link silently drew his sword. It was an advantage that he shared with Pac Man, coming from Dimensional Town and all.  The clone took a fighting stance. In G&W’s opinion, it looked like a cheap imitation of the original’s fighting stance.

“Who taught you that opening stance? They ought to be fired!” said G&W.

The clone said nothing but attempted to correct his stance. No verbal response. This one seemed pretty quiet. G&W glared sternly at him.

“Don’t try me, boy. The original Link has a hard enough time fighting me. You should back out while you have the chance.”

The Link clone said nothing but charged at him with a hoarse yell. G&W grit his teeth as the clone approached. He wasn’t the most powerful melee fighter, but he had years of experience to draw on, and a lot of familiarity with an unusual weapon. He could give even the best smashers a hard time and this clone would be no exception. G&W parried his strikes with a surprising amount of ease. He’d sparred against Link before, and while the technique looked the same, this clone clearly didn’t have the experience and the fine control that the original did. However, somebody was still teaching him to mimic the original. But how had they been able to copy his style to such a precise degree?

“You got a name?” asked G&W.

“Dark Link,” rasped the clone, his voice hoarse from lack of use.

“Huh. The name’s Game and Watch. You think I can get you to surrender peacefully?”

Dark Link rushed at him again with an aggressive strike. So much for that idea. G&W grimaced and rolled past him as the clone overextended himself. G&W took the opportunity to chuck a bomb at the clone’s back. The explosion caused the clone to stumble forward and faceplant. G&W rushed up to end the fight, when Dark Link suddenly rolled over and chucked a bomb of his own at G&W. The 2D fighter merely leaned to the side as the boomerang whizzed past him. Being totally flat was an advantage that few others were blessed with. Dark Link slashed his sword at him as he began to close in. G&W paused just out of Dark Link’s range, and pulled a cannister out of his back pocket, and began spraying an irritant gas at him, which Dark Link managed to mostly disperse with a swing of his shield. As he was swinging, G&W leapt forward, and smacked Dark Link with his frying pan. Dark Link swung his shield wildly and managed to connect with G&W, who was sent flying. Being totally flat also came with its drawbacks, namely a lack of weight. As both fighters got to their feet, G&W tightened his grip on his frying pan and prepared for another round of combat. This clone wasn’t going down so easily.

Roy parried a swift series of slashes from his opponent, before feinting with his sword and following it with a wide slash. The Masked Swordswoman pivoted just out of the range of his sword, before rushing back in. The two exchanged another flurry of blows before backing up, and circling each other, swords in guard position. The masked swordswoman watched him warily. It was time to change up the pace of the fight. Roy cloaked his sword in flames.

“Flare Blade!”

The masked swordswoman jumped back out of the range of the attack and landed.

Roy followed it up with another flurry of strikes, which his opponent evaded with surprising agility. Roy swore that she reminded him of somebody, but he couldn’t place it. She was by far the most balanced swordswoman he’d seen in a very long time. She wasn’t nearly as strong Ike, nor as graceful and precise as Marth not as fast as Corrin. Balanced was a good way to describe her. She was definitely a sword specialist though. Her blade control was far superior than a less dedicated swordfighter like Corrinne or Shulk. It was her sword style that was throwing him for a loop. Where had he seen a style like hers before?

Roy engulfed his sword in flames again, when his enemy suddenly dashed at him.

“ASTRA!” she shouted as she pulled off the five hit sword technique. Roy blocked the first four attacks, but rolled under the fifth, and kicked her in the back of her leg. She rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding his strike to her back. The masked swordswoman scrambled to her feet and reached behind her belt for something. Roy didn’t give her the time and pressed his advantage.

“Fireball Barrage!” he shouted as he swung his sword at the air, shooting several fireballs from his sword. The masked swordswoman ducked out of the way and threw three spherical objects at ground in front of her.

Roy’s eyes widened as he resumed his guard stance.

“Incineroar! Greninja! Lucario!”

It was now a 1 vs 4 situation. This was bad. If he was working in concert with other Smashers, being outnumbered 4 to 1 was no problem, but on his own………Roy needed to come up with a new strategy fast.

“Attack! All of you!” shouted the swordswoman.

The Lucario suddenly zipped at him with superhuman speed, Roy narrowly blocking the incoming punch with his sword, but he had to pivot quickly aside as Incineroar dove at him with a fire covered tackle. Roy dove out of the way and dispelled several of Greninja’s water shuriken with a swing of his sword before landing a quick but powerful pommel strike to Greninja’s face, causing it to stagger back. But there was no time to think. Already, Lucario was on top of him again, throwing punches and kicks. Roy managed to land a kick to Lucario’s gut, before turning and blocking a sword strike from the masked swordswoman from behind. Suddenly, a blazing punch slammed into his side. Roy grunted. Being a pyrokinetic himself, fire didn’t affect him as much, but that Incineroar was not weak by any stretch of the imagination. Roy charged a greater amount of fire into his sword, with the tip of the fire going past the tip of his blade by a few meters.

“Great Flare Blade!” he shouted, as he slammed his blazing sword into the ground again. The entirety of the flame coating exploded, sending the nearby Incineroar flying and making the swordswoman jump out of the way of the explosion. Roy whipped around, as Greninja slashed at him with a water blade. Roy blocked it, and grabbed its arm, before kicking it backwards at the charging Lucario. Lucario jumped over its ally and began attacking Roy with a large bone made of energy that it used like a staff. If Roy wasn’t mistaken, he’d watched a Pokemon battle with Red and he’d mentioned that the move was a ground type move called Bone Rush. It was trying to get a type advantage on him because it thought he was a fire type. Because it was…. steel and fighting, right? Or was it steel and ground? Roy couldn’t remember off the top of his head.

Suddenly, a strong pair of arms wrapped around him from behind. Roy tried to wriggle free but was caught too tightly in the powerful grip of Incineroar. A spike of panic shot through Roy. This was very bad. He needed to act fast. 

Reaching deep within himself, Roy cloaked himself in fire and unleashed a mighty blast of fire outwards from his body, blowing the Incineroar back. Roy stumbled forward and quickly picked up his sword and took a defensive guard.

The other Pokémon and their trainer resumed their fighting stance and closed in around him.

“Don’t kill him. We want this one alive,” said the swordswoman.

Mr. Game and Watch saw Roy escape the grip of some red bipedal furred cat thing that was probably a Pokemon, but he wasn’t sure. Either way, somebody needed to help out Roy. He shook his head. It was time to pull his trump card. He ducked under Dark Link’s strike and smacked him in the face with his frying pan. As the dark clone stumbled back, G&W stowed his frying pan in his dimensional pocket and took a deep breath. He began to growl as his form began to mutate, and grow larger and larger, into a larger mass. Dark Link stared for a moment, before pulling out his bow. He began to nock an arrow as a large shape began to form. He fired an arrow, but a tentacle shot out from the shape and smacked it aside.

“KILLER KRAKEN!” shouted G&W as the massive form of a 2D octopus appeared in the air above the battlefield. All of the other combatants turned to see the giant loom over Dark Link and smack him to the ground easily. The masked swordswoman gasped.

“Lucario! Greninja! Incineroar! With me!”

G&W glared at his opponents and took a deep breath and fired a massive blast of ink, blasting Lucario square in the face as it charged at him. He swung his tentacles as Greninja, Incineroar and the masked swordswoman, who attempted to dodge. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other clones disengage from their fights and run up to support their leader.

“It’s Game and Watch’s most powerful form! Watch the ink spray!” shouted the masked swordswoman.

“That’s Mister Game and Watch to you!” boomed G&W. So, these kids were all going to take him on all at once. That suited him just fine.

G&W fired another blast of ink, catching Dark Pit off guard, and sending him spiraling off into the lawn of the Galactic Assembly building. Blood Falcon dashed right as Dark Link dashed left. G&W wasn’t having it. He swung his tentacles again, knocking both flat on their backs, before making a vertical swipe at the masked swordswoman. She sidestepped the tentacle and slashed through it with her sword. G&W recoiled in pain, as the masked swordswoman charged at him with her sword. He blocked the strike with one tentacle and smacked her away with another, sending her flying ungracefully into one of the columns of the Assembly Building. She hit the ground and lay there unmoving.

“LUCINA!” shouted Dark Pit. Her Pokémon and other allies ran up to her. They seemed to talk amongst themselves for a moment, before recalling the three Pokemon and rushing into the building. G&W took a few deep breaths before starting the transformation back into his normal form. He collapsed to his knees. Using that form always took a lot of energy out of him. Lucina, huh? Quite the pretty name. Shame it was wasted on someone like her.

Roy leaned on his sword, panting. Thankfully, G&W’s distraction had gotten the heat off of him. He had NOT been expecting that. He mentally scolded himself – he needed to be more prepared for this kind of thing. Megaman, ROB, and Pac Man rushed up next to him. He quickly surveyed the situation. Roy gripped his sword tightly as he saw their opponents flee into the building.

“C’mon! Before they get away!”

As they rushed into the building, Roy saw G&W attempt to get to his feet. He must have exhausted himself in the fight.

“Stay here!” Roy shouted. “We’ll get them!”

“Get ‘em good!” shouted G&W back to him.

Roy rushed down the stairs as the others flanked him. He saw the door swinging to one of the stairwells of the building. He rushed to the door, and bolted in. He could hear the sound of hurried footsteps beneath him. Roy glanced down the empty space in between the stairs and saw his fleeing opponents rushing downwards. It didn’t make sense. Why were they going downstairs? Had they dug a tunnel into the bottom of the building? It was one of the most secure bunkers in the galaxy, how on earth had they made it in there?

The pursuit continued down a floor, then a second floor, and then two more. Roy dashed through the door of the fourth basement level as another door at the other end of the hallway swung shut. Roy, digging deep into his endurance, hurled himself towards the door, and made it in just in time to see the door of a maintenance closet slam shut. That was a dead end. Why had they gone there? He approached the door slowly, as the others caught up to him. Sword at the ready, he placed his hand on the doorknob, and swung the door wide open. Dark Samus and Dark Pit snapped their heads towards him as Blood Falcon and Dark Link carried their leader through a dark, swirling portal in the back of the closet. The two fired a power shot and arrow at his respectively, causing him to duck back to cover. Roy poked his head into the room again to see Dark Samus and Dark Pit walk through the portal, moments before the portal dissipated into nothing. Roy leaned on the doorframe, and panted, catching his breath.

“Hey, Megaman, ROB? Did you record any of that?”

“Affirmative. Recording saved, as well as record of R-47 radiation,” said ROB.

“Good. There’s no way they’d believe us if we didn’t have something to show them. Wait…..R-47!? Where was that recorded!?” demanded Roy.

“The portal was emitting R-47 radiation,” stated ROB.

Roy ran his hand through his hair. This was a whole lot bigger than he’d thought.

There was only one thing that caused R-47 radiation.

That one thing was Subspace Energy.

And that was NOT good.

As requested, this report has been written as an analysis of the Super Smash Brothers, and how best to counter them. These individuals have been ranked on a threat level scale of 1 to 5. A ranking of 1 will indicate a junior or child smasher. A ranking of 2 will denote a smasher with a heavy emphasis on a non-combat role and does not pose as significant of a combative threat as other Smashers. A 3 will correlate to one of the rank and file combat smashers, one of “average” power amongst their Smasher peers. A rating of 4 will be reserved for Smashers with one very powerful ability but otherwise are average. Finally, a rank of 5 will denote the most powerful of the smashers. Full justification for one’s ranking will be included as well as a brief analysis of each smasher’s known abilities and pertinent history, as well as potential counters and strategies. Furthermore, as requested, an analysis of our allies will also be performed, and strategies to help them reach their fullest potential will be listed.

-  ???

Smasher: Roy of Pherae

Threat Rating: 5

The main reason that Roy is ranked so highly is because he is the lead tactician of the Super Smash Brothers organization. As such, it is his mind that is dangerous, more than his fighting ability. Despite this, he’s no pushover in battle, though without his masterful tactical abilities, he would ranked lower. Roy has led the Lycian Army to victory against overwhelming odds against Bern during the most recent conflict in the region. This feat is made more impressive due to the fact that his forces were consistently outnumbered by large margins for the entirety of the war. He’s been reported to have once won a battle while being outnumbered 100 to 1. Roy’s brilliant tactical mind is undoubtedly the driving force behind many of the Smasher’s successes. As such, he should be a priority target.

Removing Roy from the equation would cripple the Smasher’s ability to move and fight strategically. While assassination is preferable, Roy should be engaged in combat at any safe opportunity as his loss or even incapacitation would be catastrophic to the Smashers.

Should Roy be fought in a head on battle, it should be noted that he is a skilled swordsman and wields pyrokinetic abilities. My best analysis of his technique suggests that Roy uses a personalized balance focused sword style that draws from several schools of Elibian swordplay. As such, his style by itself does not have any major strengths or weaknesses. This is probably a strategic decision, and not a bad one at that.

A possible weakness presents itself with Roy’s baser instincts. He is a known flirt, so sending an attractive woman to fight him may be a viable strategy. It is also preferable to fight Roy when he is alone so that he cannot call upon their aid of allies and strategize with them. Roy is also known for his pyrokinesis, so any means of dousing his flames, like water attacks or a damp environment should be taken advantage of. Finally, any opening for Roy to strategize should be shut down as quickly as possible. It is Roy’s mind that is his strongest weapon and any means of preventing him from thinking could be key to defeating him.

Chapter Text

Smasher Profile: Mr. Game and Watch

Threat Rating: 3

Mr. Game and Watch (G&W) is a fighter from Dimensional Town. One may look at G&W and think nothing of him, but to do so would be a tremendous mistake. G&W is versed in a wide variety of improvised weaponry as well as hand to hand combat, and his totally flat body combined with his middling height make him a very small target. However, the two things make G&W most dangerous are his experience, and his transformation, known as Killer Kraken. G&W is a venerable fighter, having been recorded as fighting in various conflicts up to 40 years ago alongside his longtime friend Pac Man.

This much experience makes him a natural team leader among the Smashers and makes him difficult to surprise and outwit. This is something that doesn’t really have a counter, with the exception of an attack or strategy that he’s never seen before. Due to his experience, it’s probably safe to assume that he’s most likely seen some variation of most tricks, so trying to trick him with something new is most likely a bad strategy.

As for his Killer Kraken transformation, G&W has the ability to mutate into the form of a giant octopus. This appears to increase the power of his attacks and also grants him the ability to spray ink in this form. This transformation also increases his size greatly, making him a larger target to hit.

To counter G&W, it has been previously recorded (see my report on the Tabuu incident) that G&W lacks weight and has a tendency to be ragdolled by large area of effect force blasts, like explosions or powerful gusts of wind. Furthermore, it is advisable to send an equally experienced fighter to face him to help level the experience differential. Finally, due to his age, G&W is no longer in his prime. As such, a long, drawn out battle is likely to exhaust him more quickly than a younger adversary.

Smasher Profile: Pac Man

Threat Rating: 3

Pac Man is a fighter from Dimensional Town.  He is versed in hand to hand combat, and a variety of improvised weaponry. He also has the ability to turn into what is known as his “Chomper Form”, in which he transforms into a sentient yellow ball with a mouth. He’s been known to use this form to great effect. He is also known to be able to transform into a larger version of the Chomper Form, reportedly called his “Giga Chomper” form. He is also one of the older smashers, having been recorded as fighting in various conflicts up to 40 years ago alongside his longtime friend G&W. Similar to G&W, this level of experience makes him a natural squad leader among the Smashers and makes him difficult to surprise and outwit.

To counter Pac Man, it may be advisable to send a fighter who can unleash moves with a lot of knockback. Both the Chomper and Giga Chomper forms lack any limbs, meaning that it is more difficult for him to stopping himself from rolling if he gets knocked back. As such, he could be knocked back into a worse position, or perhaps environmental hazards. Pac Man also lacks any notable projectile attacks beyond a few throwing items, so a ranged fighter could pressure him significantly. Additionally, an experienced fighter may be able to nullify some of his experience advantage. Finally, like with G&W, due to his age, tiring him in a stamina heavy battle may be an option.

Act 1: Roy

Chapter 2: Beneath a New Light

Roy leaned back into his chair. It would still be a few minutes before the call started with the others.  After making it back to the mansion, he’d quickly come to the conclusion that the other Smashers needed to be alerted quickly. He’d called an emergency council, which consisted of a select group of veteran Smashers. Which was why he found himself sitting in one of the chairs in the control room of Smash Mansion, right where he’d been talking to Lilina earlier that day.

This was probably going to require the immediate response of all the Smashers which was going to be quite the hassle. He’d most likely have to do much less in terms of rushing to arms since he was already at the mansion, but he’d also be in charge of coordinating things at the Mansion itself. Roy wasn’t looking forward to that. He turned his chair around to face Pac Man, Game and Watch, ROB and Megaman, who were sitting behind him, waiting to watch the proceedings.

“So. We’re up against Subspace again. As if the Tabuu incident wasn’t bad enough,” said Game and Watch, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, that was a nightmare,” said Roy.

“Hey, you were knocked out for most of that,” said G&W. “I was the one who actually fought during that incident!”

“Yeah, but I woke up to the biggest dumpster fire I’ve ever seen,” said Roy.

“Touché,” said G&W. “That was a disaster.”

“I agree,” said ROB. “Between the bad publicity and the overall damage caused, it was a tremendous blow to the Smashers. We should take every precaution to avoid a similar situation if we can with this incident.”

“No kidding,” said Pac Man. “I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how to feel about this one. On one hand, this could be a quick and easy opportunity to take down Ganondorf for good. But on the other hand, we could be looking at another Subspace War. And we don’t have any information to lean either way.”

“Which is why we need to get more,” said Roy. “We’ll see what the others think, but I think we’re gonna have to investigate more than the satellite scan we just ran.”

“Honestly, I’m relieved,” said Mega Man. “I’m just glad that the bad guys aren’t near Dr. Light and Roll…”

Roy nodded. “A fair point. I’m happy that they aren’t too close to Elibe. At least Lilina and my father should be safe.”

Roy leaned back in his chair and sighed.

“We need to be careful,” said Roy. “Every Smasher is important, and we don’t know how big this is yet. There are only so many of us. Our whole thing is quality over quantity. We’ve got greater numbers then we did in the past, but still, we can’t have too many people getting hurt or worse.”

“Like back in the Tabuu incident. I think it was just you, Master Hand, Crazy Hand, Young Link and Bowser who got hurt in that first attack, but we were hurting for manpower the entire time,” said G&W. “And also the kids getting lost behind enemy lines didn’t help either. We were looking for them for days!”

ROB nodded. “Indeed. It took quite some time to find them without proper support.”

“It would have taken longer if Red and friends weren’t able to fly,” said G&W.

“You know, I’m glad that all I showed up for was the final battle,” said Pac Man.

“Yeah, me too,” said Mega Man. “Though I might have been able to assist with the search.”

“Yeah,” said G&W. “Pac Man and Mega Man, you have no idea how lucky you were just showing up for the final fight!”

“If we hadn’t gotten Master Hand’s emergency beacon, we wouldn’t have made it in time,” said Pac Man. “It was an awfully close thing.”

“It was too close,” said G&W. “And we are NOT letting that mess happen again.”

“No, we’re not,” said Roy decidedly. “Though this time, it’s going better. For one, I haven’t gotten sent flying headfirst into a wall and gotten put into a coma!”

“Not yet, anyway!” said Pac Man jokingly.

“Well, thanks for the vote of confidence,” grumbled Roy. 

“Don’t worry, sleeping beauty,” said Pac Man, “You’re still awake this time around. No slacking this time!”

“Yeah,” said Roy with a chuckle. He glanced at the clock. “All right. Its time. I’m gonna set up the call.”

“Sounds good!” said Pac Man.

Roy settled into his chair and began setting up the meeting. Hopefully this went well.

It had been about 15 minutes before all of the attendees had arrived and it had taken him another five minutes to explain what was going on. The reactions were about what he expected.

“Say WHAT!?” said Link, eyes widened with shock and disbelief. He slammed his hands on the table. “Tell me your kidding!”

“I’m afraid not. This ‘Lucina’ claims to serve Ganondorf. Who’s somewhere along the line picked up cloning technology. And has also copied several of our fighting styles and taught them to the clones. The only person who didn’t appear to be a clone was their leader,” said Roy.

“This Lucina character. Have you run a facial recognition scan on the pictures that ROB took of her?” asked Mario.

“No matches, but it’s hard to tell with the mask on. These ‘Reclaimers’ also seem to have indoctrinated them all very thoroughly with the whole ‘oppressors’ thing. Problem is, I don’t know what we’re oppressing,” said Roy. “So, we still don’t have a motive. Other than Ganondorf trying to take over the universe again. As if that one time several years ago wasn’t enough on top of all of the times he’s tried to take over Hyrule.”

Master Hand sighed. He didn’t look happy through the video conference.

Roy leaned back in his chair as the connection lagged for a moment. Master Hand was leading a team deep into empty space to dispose of a Subspace Core that they had captured from Andross just over a year ago. Thankfully, they’d been able to get a stable, but still somewhat grainy connection for the Hand to join the council. However, it was still cause for concern that he was so far away in a time of crisis.  

“Well, this is most certainly troubling,” Master Hand boomed. “You were right to call this meeting, Roy. Can you tell us anything else about the warriors you fought?”

“All of the fighters appeared to be clones of various Smashers. Link, Samus, Captain Falcon, and Pit to be precise. And they appear to use the same fighting styles as the originals. So, they’ve got some way of copying our fighting styles on top of cloning technology. Even this ‘Lucina’ character reminds me of somebody,” answered Roy. “Can’t place her, though, but I got this strong sense of déjà vu while fighting her.”

“And she or one of her compatriots also uses the power of Subspace?” asked Master Hand.

“No, I don’t think it was her. ROB picked up R-47 radiation of the portal they used, but she was unconscious when they went through the portal. Judging by the dispositions of her allies, I doubt it was them either,” said Roy. “If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that somebody else created that portal.”

There was a moment of complete silence as the weight of what Roy just reported sunk in.

“So……how are we going to handle this?” asked Samus.

“I had ROB run a scan on our satellite network. We’ve picked up several hotspots of R-47 in four places across the galaxy. These locations are Lonely Isle near DK Isle, a location in a neighborhood just off Highway 287 here on Harmony, a location somewhere in Lost Woods in Hyrule, and a final location deep in the Grann Desert in Begnion,” said Roy. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that portal they escaped through went to the location along Highway 287. It’s probably more energy efficient to quickly open and close a portal to two locations on the same planet. It also makes sense that the hideout is in a suburban part of Harmony. Nobody would ever think to look there, and they could also attack Unity City quickly with another portal. I just don’t know why they’re attacking the capital so quickly. It’s a very bold move. If they wanted to destroy Unity City, they should have sent more than just 5 moderately strong fighters.”

“Well, we’re probably not the people to ask,” said Captain Falcon. “You’re the tactician. What’s your best guess?”

Roy shook his head. “Well, let’s set up a hypothetical scenario. Let’s say I were to send Pit, Ryu, Megaman, Corrin, and Marth on a mission. Before I go on, let me just say that I overall estimate those five as stronger than the opponents we fought today, but they’ll serve as rough analogues for this example. But let’s say that I was going to send them on a mission deep into enemy territory to attack the enemy’s ruling council. Why would I do this? I’m not trying to capture them. If I was, I’d send either Snake and the stealth team to capture them covertly. If I wanted to lure out strong enemy fighters, defeat them quickly and then escape, I would send a team of some of our strongest fighters for such a risky mission. This leaves two possibilities in my mind. The first is that they want to send some sort of a message. The second is that this is bait for a larger plan.”

“What kind of message could they possibly hope to send?” asked Marth.

“I don’t know. Bait for a larger plan seems more likely to me. Like I said, we’ve found R-47 hotspots around the galaxy. They could be traps. Either that, or this foe of ours is incredibly reckless or greatly overestimates the power of his fighters.”

“Trap or not, we need to investigate these locations as quickly as possible,” said Mario. “We can’t let these people just run rampant around the galaxy. Who knows what kind of havoc they might cause? We need to at least investigate.”

A chorus of agreement was heard.

“I agree. The question is, how will be investigate?” asked Master Hand.

“We could split everybody into teams and investigate all of the locations,” offered Captain Falcon.

“Yes, but if something goes wrong, there’s no one available to send backup. Also, we don’t even know who we will even be fighting and we could be sending the wrong Smashers to locations where they won’t be useful. I like the idea, but we should send smaller teams,” said Link. “We’ll have a group of backup smashers at the mansion as reinforcements as needed.”

“I believe that this is a wise course of action,” said Meta Knight. “It will help us gain information on the enemy without causing us to overextend ourselves. How shall we proceed with this in mind?”

“I can take the Comet Observatory to Harmony. That way, I’ll be able to take Smashers where they need to be and we’ll be able to mobilize quickly if we need to send backup to any location. Just have everybody report to Smash Mansion. I’ll also pick up all of the Smashers who live in rural areas, as usual,” said Rosalina.

“I’ll also bring the Great Fox. It will help to have another fast home ship available,” said Fox.

“And, as usual, the Halberd will also be at your service,” said Meta Knight.

“All right. Then the only question is who is going where?” said Master Hand.

“I’ll lead a team to Lost Woods, since it’s right in my backyard,” said Link. “I’ll take Sheik and Young Link with me, but I’d like to have a few more people. Optimally, if I could the Pokémon Trainers to go with us, that would be great.”

“I’ll go to DK Isle and meet DK, Diddy and K Rool there. I’m thinking I’ll probably bring Yoshi and Luigi too, for extra sets of eyes,” volunteered Mario. “We’re already close.”

“I can investigate at Highway 287. Just send Timberwolf Squad and Falcon with me, and we should be fine,” said Samus. “All of us are used to urban environments and most of us have nonlethal options if we encounter those clones. We’ll be able to capture them.”

“I’ll go to the Grann Desert with Pac Man and Mr. Game and Watch. I’ll pick up Marth, Chrom and Ike on the way,” said Roy. “Between all of us, we should have what we need to match just about anything.”

There was a moment of silence. Master Hand cleared his throat and said, “Listen, everyone. We know that our enemy wields the power of Subspace. If we can nip this in the bud quickly, we absolutely must.”

Marth asked, “Do you think that Ganondorf, or one of his subordinates has enough control over the power of Subspace to cause another cataclysm like the Subspace Wars of old? The Hands, Chozo, and Star Warriors still are recovering from that war from 300 years ago, correct?”

“That’s correct, though it is not just the Hands, Chozo and Star Warriors who are still recovering. However, I cannot say with only the information we have now. However, I doubt Ganondorf himself possesses such power. From what we know, it takes at least somewhere around two and a half centuries of mastery to even come close to reaching the devastating power that the old foes of the Subspace Wars possessed, and according to Link, Ganondorf is no more than 60 years old. That is correct, right Link?”

“That’s right,” said Link. “The official record states that he’s 58.”

Master Hand nodded and continued.  “While he may wield the power himself, I don’t think Ganondorf has had enough time to grow that powerful. If it is one of his subordinates, like the ones Roy fought earlier, they most likely either are very low-level wielders. However, we need more information. If Ganondorf has somebody from a species with a long lifespan like a Chozo or a Hand on his side, then we may be in trouble.”

There was a pause. Master Hand paused and floated a little lower, his fingers drooping more than usual.

“While I cannot say for sure….I cannot rule out…..no, I truly hope…. that it will not come to…another Subspace War,” said Master Hand. His voice was quiet, burdened down with the weight of old wounds.

Rosalina cleared her throat and said, “Master Hand. Even if it comes to another Subspace War, we four veterans still remain. Furthermore, we won’t be as unprepared as we were during the last conflict.”

Master Hand sighed. “I know. The wounds of the last war have not faded yet for the Hands, I’m afraid. We Hands….no, all of us, suffered far too much in that conflict. And to think that I’m hundreds of light years from home destroying a Subspace Core of all things…”

“Do not fear, my friends. I will not allow what happened back then to happen again,” said Meta Knight resolutely. “My blade has not grown dull, though many years have passed. Should the threat of Subspace return in force, the Star Warriors will once again answer the call, as will I.”

“And my powers have only grown since then,” said Rosalina. “Surely, the same goes for Crazy Hand, Meta Knight and yourself?”

“Yes, we have honed our skills since then. But…I cannot help but worry. It will take us at least a week to make it back,” said Master Hand. “And the years have not been kind to the group of heroes we once fought with. But as you say, not all is lost.”

“Yes,” said Meta Knight. “We have the Smashers. And we also have the honor of fighting alongside many of our old companion’s descendants and successors.”

“I will fight with you, like my ancestor Anri, with Falchion in hand!” said Marth.

“And Hyrule will ensure that there will always be a Champion like Groose to wield the Master Sword beside you,” said Link. “I’m Ike and Roy and the others feel the same.”

“The Binding Blade is once again at your service,” said Roy.

Master Hand dipped a little bit as he floated in the air as a sort of bow. “I am honored that you would fight beside us. But this is not the time for such talk. For all we know, they are merely dabbling with a force they know nothing about. Let us hope that this is the case.”

“By the way, you did destroy that Subspace Core already, right?” asked Fox, taking a sip of coffee from his mug.

“Yes, it’s destroyed,” said Master Hand. “However, we’re still quite far out. We’re lucky that we were able to get a signal. We’ll be on our way back immediately.”

“A wise course of action,” said Rosalina. “We will do our best in your absence.”

“Yes, we will,” said Mario. “All we need to do now is to put out the signal to the rest of the Smashers to return to the mansion. Roy?”

“Hold on a second….” muttered Roy. He opened a different window on his computer and typed in a password. After a few moments of processing the computer allowed him access. Roy clicked on a few buttons on his screen before resubmitting the password. A window popped up, informing him that the message has been sent.

“The signal’s been sent for all Smashers to return to Smash Mansion to respond to an imminent crisis. We’re live.”

Across the Galaxy….

DK was reclining in a hammock, sipping a drink from a half coconut shell from a straw. The sun was meandering its way to the horizon in front of him on the beach as the sea breeze rustled through the foliage of the jungle just behind him. The water appeared red like a watermelon in front of him as it lazily rolled onto the beach in wave after wave. Suddenly, DK’s phone went off. He rolled over and grabbed it, expecting a complaint from Cranky or a meme from Funky. DK sat up as he read the message. Quickly, he rolled out of his hammock and barreled off into the woods. This couldn’t wait.

Shulk awoke to the sound of a phone buzzing. Groaning he rolled over in his bed, and reached for his phone, tapping the screen blearily. The buzzing didn’t stop. As he woke up a little more, he noticed that it was not his usual morning alarm. He grabbed his phone lazily and held it up above him, reading the text. He blinked. He hadn’t misread that, had he? He blinked again and reread the text. No, he hadn’t. He sat up, now fully awake. He looked at his surroundings. He’d need to pack fast.

Olimar tossed a ball into the air. His son caught the ball, adjusted it in his hands and threw it back. Olimar caught the ball with little effort and tossed it back. Near to him his wife and his young daughter walked near his wife’s flowerbed. He loved being here in his backyard with his wife and kids. It was a nice day out, with the sun nearing its zenith in the cloudless sky. His phone began to buzz. Olimar silenced his phone absentmindedly and threw the ball back. His phone began to buzz again, almost immediately. Olimar, rolling his eyes in frustration, pulled out his phone and his eyes widened when he saw the message. The returning ball fell near his feet.

“Daaaaad!” shouted his son. “You’re supposed to catch the ball!”   

Olimar pocketed his phone.

“Hold on, son!”

He walked over to his wife and motioned for her to talk to him quickly. She walked to meet him.

“Something has come up, I’m afraid…”

Dedede stared out across Dreamland from his castle. He took a deep breath of the morning spring air. It was beautiful. Sure, it had taken some doing, but Dreamland was prospering unlike any other time prior in its history. He chuckled. They’d said he was a bad king when he’d stolen all the food in the kingdom. That…hadn’t been his most inspired plan, in retrospect. But boy oh boy had he eventually proved those naysayers wrong. And he was very proud to be the King of Dreamland.

His phone began to buzz. He pulled it out of his pocket, and his eyes widened.

“Your majesty?” asked one of his guards.

“My goodness! There’s trouble afoot and they’re getting the Smashers back together! We got Subspace!”

“Subspace?!” exclaimed the guard in horror.

“Don’t you worry!” said Dedede. “I’m gonna clobber this Subspace fellow into next week! I can’t just let this guy harm Dreamland! What kinda crummy king would do that? I just need my hammer!”

Dedede glanced back down at his phone as it buzzed again.

“All righty. Looks like I’m gonna be out for a few weeks. Let Bandanna Dee know he’s in charge while I’m gone, all right?”

And with that, the portly king dashed off into the castle, shaking the tiles and windows as he thundered through the hall, leaving the poor Waddle Dee guard behind at his post.

“Uh…your majesty?”

Chapter Text

Act 1: Roy

Chapter 3: Together We Ride

The second basement level of Smash Mansion was abuzz with life as more and more Smashers arrived at the mansion from around the galaxy. It was home to the armory, a massive complex taking up the entirety of the floor. The armory was a part of the mansion that was more for function then form. The floors and walls were made of concrete, and various pipes ran across the ceiling. Though the insulated walls and ventilation system kept the temperature stable, it was still a large, cavernous room, akin to a massive unfinished convention center room. The room was broken up by four long rows of chain link cubicles, one along each wall and two running back to back straight down the middle. Each cubicle housed the gear, supplies and combat equipment of a specific Smasher.

Amid all the activity outside, Roy sat in his own cubicle, going through his gear in preparation for his mission. Thankfully, as a swordsman, he didn’t require as much preparation time as some of the other smashers, namely the gun users, and their endless magazines of ammunition.

Roy looked into his backpack, a large waterproof military style one that Snake had recommended. He began going through his gear. Long-range communicator? Check. Turns on and off? Check. Spare batteries? Check. The old ones were probably fine, but there was no need to be caught out in the middle of nowhere with no means of contacting the rest of the world. Three extra sets of clothes, including capes? Check. Backup set of armor and backup sword? Check. Emergency supplies and first aid kit? New and unopened in the bottom of the pack. Camping supplies in case the mission ran longer than expected? Check. Field laptop, with tactical notes, maps, and battle simulation software? Ready to go. Roy looked down at his arm on which he was wearing a sleek, form fitting, high tech looking glove. Instant Digital Deployment system online? Check. Roy sat up. That was good. Nothing had changed since the last time he’d checked five minutes ago. 

Roy leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. He had everything he could possibly need. Why was he so nervous? The Instant Digital Deployment system, or IDD, let him digitally store, absorb and deploy farm more items then any backpack could, even if organizing his items within a backpack was still recommended. The device let him bring everything he could possibly need.

From the first moment that Roy had laid eyes upon the IDD, he’d known that the potential that it held for the Smashers was tremendous. There was a reason it had quickly become standard equipment for the Smashers. While some Smashers preferred to use their own item carrying equipment like Pac Man and his Dimensional Pocket, and others such as DK opted not to carry one at all, Roy was tremendously thankful that the device was at their disposal.

But alas, even that wasn’t enough to quell his worry. Who did Ganondorf have at his disposal? What other villains were they trying to accomplish? Taking over the galaxy was a likely given. But how were they going to accomplish it?

And all of this with Master Hand and a proper task force away. The task force included Crazy Hand, Joker, Luminary, Banjo and Kazooie, Terry, Byron, and Waluigi and his Piranha Plant. The two Hands being away especially hurt in terms of power and leadership.

Roy shook his head. Maybe he needed a walk to clear his head. It would be a few hours before they left. He could afford to do this.

As he walked through the massive rows of cubicles, Roy saw a group of Smashers sitting in the hallway. One was a young man sitting on a small stool in the entrance of his cubicle. He was a young man with short brown hair wearing a yellow shirt and jeans. His trademark jacket was hung up on a hook next to the door of his cubicle, a red jacket with white sleeves and an N emblazoned on the chest. He leaned against the chain link wall of the cubicle as he cleaned his blaster.

“Oh, but it gets better! So, this other guy decides he can get the jump on me, so he rushes at me with his knife. I see him coming, and I jump out of the way, right? So, as he goes past me, I stick out my foot, and he face plants hard. I put my foot on his back so he can’t get up and say, ‘You need to ground your expectations!’”

There was an awkward silence.

“Dude. You may not make it as a comedian, but you’re going to be a great dad someday. Your kids will never hear the end of the dad jokes!” said King Dedede from his cubicle, as he inspected the mechanical parts of his hammer.

“Yeah. You’ve got that right!” said Snake. He looked at the barrel of his disassembled SOCOM pistol. Satisfied that it was clean, he began reassembling his weapon. “Though you could really use some new material, you know!”

A dog with a duck sitting on its back trotted up to the young man and dropped an old, unwashed pair of socks at his feet. The dog stood up on its hind legs and began laughing at him while the duck quacked and flapped its wings.

“Real funny, guys,” groused the young man.

“What!? It’s a representation of the quality of your jokes!” chuckled Dedede.

“How did you make it in the military again?” asked Snake good naturedly.

“Hey, the great Captain N never gives away his secrets!” said the young man. His dog and duck walked into his cubicle. Captain N petted the dog’s head fondly as he reached for four bowls.

“Here Duke. Here Hunt. Let’s get you two fed!”

Duke perked his head up and began wagging his tail. Hunt hopped off Duke’s back and approached the bowls, spreading his wings to balance himself as Captain N began placing turkey into Duke’s bowl and pouring bird seed into Hunt’s bowl, while pouring water into the other bowls.

Behind them, several cubicles down another figure exited his cubicle and made his way quickly towards them. He wore a plain baseball cap with sunglasses perched atop his cap. A military balaclava covered his face, and his combat boots scuffed along the ground as he walked. He also wore two heavy duty IDD gloves over a grey windbreaker with red stripes, a more advanced version then the standard issue Smasher one.

“Hey! You guys seen Cordelia?”

“Nah, we haven’t! Were you expecting her, Packrat?” said Dedede.

“Yeah! She was supposed to be down here a while ago. I’ve even finished doing checks on all my sentry guns, and she’s still not down here!”

“All of them?” asked Snake in surprise.

“All of them.”

Packrat spotted Roy.

“Hey Roy! You seen Cordelia?” asked Packrat.

Roy shook his head. “No, I haven’t.”

“She’d better hurry up…” grumbled Packrat. “She’s the one who wanted me to look at her powersuit.”

“Right behind you, silly,” said somebody suddenly from behind Packrat.

“GYAH!” shouted Packrat. The others laughed as a new person appeared behind Packrat.

She was distinguished by a ratty, but clearly well-loved beanie, which was perched proudly on her head. She cut an athletic figure with long running pants and a tank top. Her formerly white running shoes were a dingy grey, and a purple bandanna and goggles over her face gave her the appearance of a ruffian. Her belt holstered two pistols, itching for action. She also was wearing two IDD gloves.

“I’m going get you back for that, Cordie,” grumbled Packrat.

“Oh, I’m sure you will. But I got you good!” said Cordelia.

Packrat just sighed. “All right. Anyway, what was wrong with your power suit?”

“My jetpack came up with something on the diagnostic test earlier. Can you look at it?” asked Cordelia.

“Sure thing,” said Packrat. “Let’s go take a look.”

He turned around and walked back down the line of cubicles with Cordelia and entered one of the cubicles, one of four in a row with a stylized wolf head picture taped to the front.

Suddenly, somebody bumped into Roy.

“Gah! Sorry about that!” apologized Shulk. “I’m not really feeling it today! Lost Fiora’s radiator cap while checking her engine, and I had to go find it, and then Fox drank my coffee because he ran out, and then it turned out that one of the focusing capacitors on the Monodo was loose and I had to go take it apart and fix it…”

Shulk slowed down as he surveyed the situation. “Uh, what did I miss?”

“Captain N got roasted by his own dog and Cordelia jumped Packrat good,” said Dedede without missing a beat.

Shulk nodded. “Business as usual then.”

They all shared a laugh.

“Heh, weapon maintenance. Gotta love it,” said Dedede. “How long ago did you build that thing again?”

“I built the Monado nine years ago,” said Shulk. “One of my best builds yet!”

Roy nodded. Shulk’s skills as a mechanic and tinkerer were top tier.

“Yup,” continued Shulk. “The Monado is only two years older than Fiora.”

Snake shook his head. “Why’d you name your bus house thing after your girlfriend again?”

“Well, I had to name it something! And I wasn’t about to name it after Reyn or Riki, that was for sure,” said Shulk.

They all burst out laughing again.

Roy smiled. Ken, Ryu, Cloud, Captain N, Little Mac, Terry and Shulk all formed a sort of international group of biker heroes for hire on their home world. Upon being called by concerned citizens or local police, they would ride out on their bikes and assist with everything from defeating dangerous criminals, assisting with disaster relief, and providing general security. They also rode with charity events and parades. Well, most of them rode motorcyles. Instead of a motorcycle, Shulk drove Fiora, his bus converted into a miniature house. When Roy had first heard about them, he immediately knew that he had to invite them to join the Smashers.

Dedede said “Anyhoo, Roy, you look like you’ve seen a ghost! You doing all right?”

“Ah, just the nerves,” said Roy. “I’m trying not overanalyze everything to death, even if we have almost no information to analyze. Was gonna go stretch my legs and get my mind on something else for a little.”

“Hey, don’t let us keep you,” said Snake. He turned to an opened MRE near his foot and pulled out a packaged cookie. “You want one? These are the fresh ones! Only made a year and a half ago!”

 “I think I’ve got some Maxim Tomato Ice Cream in the freezer,” said Dedede. “You can have some if you want. Finest in all of Dreamland! That should get your mind off it! Just don’t let Kirby see you.”

“I think I’ve got a stress ball somewhere,” said Captain N, rummaging through his backpack. “Oh wait, that’s just a ball of rubber bands. Eh, still works, right?”

Roy smiled. At least they meant well. “Thanks for the offers, but I think I’m good. I’m gonna take that walk though. I’ll see you around!”

“All right then, buddy!” said Dedede, waving. Snake, Captain N and Shulk waved as well.

Roy turned and walked out the door. Now that he thought about it, maybe he should have taken Dedede up on that ice cream.

Roy walked down one of the back hallways of the mansion, nervous energy still pulsing through his veins.  As he rounded the corner into the hanger, he nearly bumped into Falco as he walked out.

“Whoa! Didn’t see ya, buddy! How’ve ya been?” asked Falco.

“Not bad. How about you? How’s the F Zero life?”

“It’s been fantastic, but Falcon is darn hard to beat. Been keeping myself busy. How about you?”

“Same old stuff. Rebuilding Lycia after the war with Bern. Playing politics. The boring stuff.”

“Heh. Good old Roy. Anyway, I’ll catch you later. Gonna grab some lunch. Still gotta gas up my Arwing and clean out the thrusters.”

“All right! I’ll see you later!”

Roy sauntered into the hangar to see Fox take a swig from his gallon sized thermos, filled with coffee, as he cleaned out various parts of his Arwing’s wings. The hangar door was left wide open, letting a pleasant breeze gently gust into the still somewhat stale room. It had been quite a while since the Smashers had all needed to respond to a crisis. As Roy strolled through, he heard a voice say, “Hey, Skylark! Samus! Olimar! Fox! Can somebody give me a hand?”

Both Samus and Olimar poked their heads up, and Fox began to get off of his chair. Roy also walked over, curious. Roy rounded the corner of a large dropship to see a young man crouching next to the hood of his ship.

He wore a worn military helmet on his head, with a much newer pair of ski goggles hanging around his neck, though his balaclava was still pulled up. His trench coat, well-kept but showing the wear of many years, was a dull military green. The lower parts of the trenchcoat stuck out past his body stiffly, the only hint to an onlooker that the trenchcoat was armored. His jeans and heavy combat boots were in a similar condition, as were the IDD gauntlets on both of his hands. His utility belt held a well-worn pistol and a weathered trench shovel. Leaning up against the side of his aircraft was his partially disassembled sniper rifle that he had been cleaning and a technologically modified ballistic shield.  

“What’s up, Scrapper?” asked Fox, as he and the others approached.

“Looks like there’s a bird in my engine. Can I get a hand to get it out?”

There was a rustling of wings and some squawking. 

“Hold your horses,” said another voice from the back of the ship. A young woman rounded the back of the dropship. She wore a white windbreaker with a medical symbol emblazoned on both arms under a ballistic vest. There were also several pouches strapped to her jeans, each a different color and having a different insignia. She too wore a military style balaclava and she carried a military style helmet under her arm. On her belt sat a pistol and a med gun, both of which had clearly seen plenty of action.

“Not again, Scrapper! How many times have you gotten some poor creature stuck in that engine of yours?” she said.

“Oh, come on, Skylark!” grumbled Scrapper. “It’s not my fault animals get attracted to the warm engine after I turn it off!

More squawking was heard.

“It’s still alive? How’d it even get in there?” asked Fox.

“Probably through the gaps the feet go through when I land. The big question is how we get it out without hurting it.” said Scrapper.

“Stun laser? It won’t kill a bird, right?” said Fox.

“I’d hit it with my Stasis Beam, and then pull it out, but I don’t know if I can reach that far. It’s really backed in there,” said Scrapper.

Maybe we can arrange my pikmen to scare it out?” asked Olimar. “My red pikmen should be fine to get back in there.”

Samus sighed.

“You guys are so clueless.”

She quickly walked back to her spaceship and rummaged around in her lunchbox for a second. She came back with a corner of a sandwich. She pushed the others aside and held out the piece of bread in her hand. She made some bird like noises, trying to coax it out. After some time, the bird inched its way forward, and began to peck at the piece of bread. It eventually climbed into her hand. Samus slowly pulled her hand out of the engine, pulling the bird out. It got spooked as she pulled it all the way out of the engine, and took off out of her hand, making a beeline for the wide-open hangar exit.

Skylark sighed. “I would have liked to take a look at the bird. Make sure it was all right.”

Scrapper just shrugged. “It looked fine to me.”

“Seriously. You didn’t think to lure it out with food?” said Samus.

“I don’t think birds are fond of carrots,” said Olimar.

“Ok, I’ll give you a pass Olimar,” said Samus. She glared at Fox and Scrapper. “You two, though……”

“I usually deal with the animal after it’s dead!” protested Scrapper. “I only do conservation when I go hunting for invasive species!”

All heads turned to Fox.

“I don’t think birds are fans of coffee,” said Fox coolly, taking another swig from his thermos before sauntering back to his Arwing.

Samus just sighed and shook her head. Olimar just shrugged as the two returned their craft. Roy chuckled.

“You ready to rumble out there, Scrapper?” asked Roy, as Scrapper closed the hood.

“Just about. My ship’s ready to go at any rate. Found the bird as I was finishing my diagnostic test. Just need to finish cleaning my rifle. Samus wanted us to investigate the location here on Harmony, right?”

Roy nodded. “Yeah. You’ll be going with Samus.”

Skylark nodded and said, “Speaking of which, do we have any intel on who we’ll be fighting? What kind of injuries should I prepare for?”

“I’m afraid we don’t know who you’re up against, though you might be up against the clones I fought yesterday. So blunt force trauma, bladed weapon wounds, and laser burns.”

Skylark nodded. “All right then. Falcon’s coming with us too, right?”

“Yeah, Samus asked for him as well,” said Roy.

“That’s good, we’ll have two heavy hitters with us,” said Skylark.

Roy just nodded. “Yeah. Hopefully you won’t be encountering too much resistance there, but it never hurts to be careful.”

“No kidding!” said Skylark.

Roy grinned. “All right. I won’t keep bothering you. See you around!”

“See ya,” said Skylark with a wave.

Roy sauntered past Scrapper’s dropship and stood for a moment in the open door of the hanger. The fresh breeze tugged at his cape. It was nice. And with that, he turned on his heel and walked back into the mansion. 

After wandering aimlessly for some time, Roy found himself in the backyard of the mansion. He sat down on one of the lawn chairs, overlooking a pool and a patio area with a grill. He sighed. It was a perfect day to jump in the pool if the galaxy wasn’t potentially ending. Four shadows whizzed over him. Roy looked up to see the four people landing on the grass behind him.

Pit landed with a running stop.

“That was fun! It’s good to get out and stretch your wings every once in a while!”

A Pokémon trainer with a signature red vest and cap landed next to him with his Aerodactyl.

“Yeah! Aero’s been itching to fight! We’re ready to go!” said Red.

Another Pokemon trainer with spiky brown hair, a black shirt and purple cargo pants dismounted his Charizard.

“We’re ready too,” said Green. “That was a good idea to have Aerodactyl and Charizard warm up before we make a long flight.”

“Of course!” said Palutena, flexing her wings, before folding them behind her back. “It’s always good to warm up with one’s abilities! Just like hardlight manipulation!”

As if to prove her point, she created a small hardlight version of the Smasher’s logo.

“You have been practicing, right Pit?” Palutena asked, turning to her captain of the guard.

“Uh, of course I have, Lady Palutena!” said Pit, slightly sheepishly.

“Have you?” asked Palutena.

“Of course, I have!” said Pit.

Palutena gave him a look.

Pit groaned. “Only every other day. Come on! You know I’m really bad at hardlight manipulation! You’re a master! That’s not fair!”

“That’s why you need to practice and get better,” said Palutena calmly. “And anyway, you’re not so bad anymore.”

“Yeah, after decades of literally making no progress,” grumbled Pit.

Roy sauntered over to them.

“Sup, guys! How were the skies today?”

“Beautiful and clear, as it should be,” said Palutena. “Done with your preparations?”

“Uh huh. I’m killing time till we get going. I take you are as well?” said Roy.

“We’re all ready,” said Green. “Actually, ROB and Megaman wanted Indigo and Blue to look at something. Did they say anything to you?”

“No,” said Roy. “They didn’t. I’ll have to go and check that out.”

“Oh, before you go,” said Red. “I was just wondering, since we did a little reading on Subspace, and research on Pokeana about Subspace is scarce. Can wounds inflicted by Subspace weapons remain infectious with Subspace?”

“Infectious?” said Pit, sounding surprised and worried. “Nobody said anything about Subspace Infections! I’m not going to get sick, am I?”

“No, you’re not,” said Roy. “Well, not very likely anyway. The only wounds that appear to be infected by Subspace are ones inflicted by a Master of Subspace. And they don’t take over your mind and make you evil or something, I think they just prevent the wound from healing. So, it’s possible to have a wound infected with Subspace, but considering everything that we know, highly unlikely.”

“Whew,” said Pit. “That’s a relief!”

“Ok, just wanted to double check,” said Red sheepishly.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Roy. “It’s a good question to ask, honestly.”

Palutena smiled. “Don’t worry, Pit. You’ll be fine.”

“Oh, come on, Lady Palutena! You know I’m just being careful!” protested Pit.

Roy smiled. “Anyway, I’d better go check on ROB and Indigo and whatever they’re looking at. Do you know where they were working, Green?”

“I think Indigo said the control room,” replied Green.

“Right. I’m off.  I’ll see you later!”

The others waved as Roy made his way back into the mansion. But Roy wasn’t feeling the jovial mood anymore. His mind was kicking back into gear.

Roy made his way up to the control room at a quickened pace. He saw ROB, Megaman, and Samus standing behind two Pokémon trainers, who were sitting in chairs and looking at a computer monitor. One was a young woman with long brown hair. She was wearing a teal tank top and a red skirt, with a white hat perched comfortably on her head. The other was a trainer wearing a dark blue windbreaker and baseball cap as well as a pair of khaki cargo pants. He had short cut brown hair and dark blue eyes. He wore an eye piece that sat on his ear as well as a Snag Machine that sat on his left arm. His backpack sat on the ground next to him. An Arcanine lay on the ground next to the young man, while a Jigglypuff and a Blastoise sat behind the young woman.

“Hey! Green said you were looking at something?” asked Roy.

“Yeah,” said the young man. “ROB was looking at this frequency here.” He pointed at the screen.

“Ok, Indigo, what am I looking at?” asked Roy.

“Well, as best I can tell, looks like Phazite,” said Indigo. “It was somewhat faint, which is why we had to filter it several times to get rid of the noise, but it looks like the enemy might be using Phazite?”

The young woman spoke up. “It’s not very strong though. So, they probably didn’t use any attacks that involved Phazite, but they had it on them.”

“Do you think that they were near a cache of Phazite beforehand and there was residual radiation from it on them, Blue?”

“No,” said Blue. “You could walk past a lot of things that emit some form of radiation and not have enough to reach the levels we are seeing here.”

“Which enemy was this scanned on?” asked Roy.

“My clone,” said Samus irritably.

Roy sighed, and thought for a moment. Samus was notoriously opposed to Phazon, or it’s supposedly safer form, Phazite. Roy could tell that she was irritated, worsened by the fact that it was found on her clone. That was a recipe for disaster.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” said Samus. “But I am gonna beat the snot out of this clone and get her to tell me where she’s getting the stuff. And then I’m gonna blast her cache into oblivion.”

“All….right….” said Roy slowly. “Just make sure to let me know when you do it. Cleanup crew and all.”

“Sure,” said Samus tersely before falling silent.

“Anyway, I think we need to go feed our Pokemon before we go, right Indigo?” said Blue after a moment of silence.

Indigo nodded. “I think it is. Gonna have a long flight ahead of us. Rosalina said was going to drop us off with Roy and the others in Tellius, so we’ll be flying to Hyrule from there.” He quickly saved the software he was using before shutting down the program.

“C’mon Jaws! Let’s go get lunch!”

The Arcanine jumped to his feet and followed his trainer out of the room. Blue and her Pokemon followed suit. Samus turned to follow them. Roy opened his mouth, but Samus beat him to the punch.

“No, I’m not going off by myself. But we will be seeing this Phazon destroyed,” she said.

“Yes, we will,” said Roy. “Just try not to do anything too rash out there.”

Samus sighed and shrugged. “Fair enough. I need to swing by my ship for something. See you around.”

And with that, she stalked off down the hallway.

Roy found his way back to the armory again. The area was mostly empty. Roy marveled at how different the ambiance was as he made his way through the area. He stopped by Snake’s locker. He really didn’t like the timing of this whole thing. The Stealth Team had just wrapped up a long undercover mission on Pokeana a few weeks ago. Optimally, they would have had a few more weeks to rest, but unfortunately the circumstances demanded otherwise. Thankfully, the Stealth Team was comprised of a hardy bunch. Often working with local law enforcement on large scale operations and dangerous missions, they already had helped bring down several large criminal syndicates. Led by Snake, the core team included Sheik, Corrinne, Joker, Blue, Indigo, and Scrapper, though they received assistance from other Smashers as needed.

“If you are worrying about the well being of the Stealth Team, I would lay those fears to rest,” said a calm voice behind them. “And should all else fail, know that the members of the Diplomacy Team are fresh for battle.”

Roy turned to see Corrin behind them, in full samurai armor, two katanas sitting at his belt.

Contrary to popular belief, not all problems could be solved with blunt force trauma. As such, the Diplomacy Team was deployed when peaceful solutions could still be reached. Corrin, alongside his fellow teammates Marth, Peach and Vaughn, had been able to finesse several tense diplomatic situations to great effect. And should the talks fail, it was worth noting that the samurai armor wasn’t for show. Corrin had served as a battlefield commander before, after all. Well, the exact same could be said for Marth. And Peach had more tricks up her puffy sleeves then most would give her credit for. There had been many would be assassins who had learned that the hard way.

Of course, there were other groups of Smashers whose skills lent themselves well to particular specialties. For instance, Roy, alongside Red, Master Hand, Meta Knight and Rosalina formed the strategic and tactical core, while Mario, Luigi and Isabelle ran the business end of things. However, the main two Smasher teams that saw the most actual field work as a group were the Diplomacy and Stealth teams.

Roy smiled. “Ah, of course. You certainly look ready to go.”

Corrin smiled. “I suppose I’ve been hankering for a bit of action. Tea time and diplomacy gets a little old after a while. I was looking for Corrinne, though. Have you seen her?”

“No, I haven’t. What did you need her for?”

“Oh, it was something that Ryoma wanted me to pass on to her. Nothing critical or important. Just a personal matter,” replied the swordsmaster.

“I’ll let her know if I see her,” said Roy.

“Thank you,” said Corrin. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Corrin performed a small bow before going on his way.

Roy paused. Something felt off. He felt his stomach shift uneasily. He looked up and saw a small ball of water hovering above Corrinne’s cubicle. Roy shook his head and walked over to the cubicle. He opened the door, to see Corrinne pop her head out of one of her lockers.

“Is he gone?” she asked.

“Yeah. You’ve gotta stop using that trick, though. I’m going to be sick one of these times,” grumbled Roy.

Corrinne shrugged. “It’s a good subtle way of getting your attention. Hydrokinesis is pretty great. And the best part is that Corrin hasn’t figured out how to do it yet!”

Roy rolled his eyes. “You are prepared, right?”

“Yeah. My sword, bow and hidden weapons aren’t hard to get ready, you know. Everybody’s favorite Adventurer is always ready to lighten some purses!” she said with a cheeky smile.

Roy snorted and shook his head good naturedly. “Anyway, why were you avoiding Corrin?”

“I don’t feel like dealing with him right now,” said Corrinne with a sigh.

“Did you have an argument recently?” asked Roy.

“Yeah. You know. The usual stuff from Mr. Perfect Samurai there,” groused Corrinne.

“He didn’t go through the same things that you did during the war,” said Roy. “You need to remember that.”

He outright hadn’t. Corrin had been at the diplomatic table as frequently as he’d been at the front of an army. In contrast, Corrinne had spent a lot of time slogging through the wilds of Nohr behind enemy lines on a campaign of sabotage and misdirection. Corrin had feasted with nobles, forged alliances and built a legendary reputation, while Corrinne had gnawed at stale bread, fought against overwhelming odds, and garnered the moniker “Bandit Princess”, one that inspired more fear in her subjects then loyalty. The difference in experiences during the war had driven a seemingly immovable wedge between the two siblings.   

“I know. It’s just exhausting every time we try and see eye to eye. I don’t know why we even bother anymore,” grumbled Corrinne.

“What do you think was he wanting to talk about?” asked Roy.

Corrinne sighed. “It’s probably that necklace that Corrin’s been going on about. My mother’s necklace. He’s still insisting that I take it as an heirloom or something. I mean, I appreciate it, but he doesn’t have to keep pushing it on me. I’ll take it when I’m ready, you know?”

Roy nodded. “You never got to say goodbye.”

“Yeah,” said Corrinne. “I never did. Mother passed away shortly after I returned to Nohr.”

Roy sighed. “I’ll see if I can keep you two in different groups in the field if this turns into something big. Just try not to start an argument for now, all right?”

“I knew you were good for something!” said Corrinne gratefully. She kissed Roy on the cheek.

Roy kissed her on the cheek in return. “We’re still keeping this on the down low, right?”

“Of course,” said Corrinne. She hugged him tightly. “Stay safe out there, ok?”

“No, I want to go out and get myself killed,” said Roy sarcastically.

“All right. Try and get chopped to bits then. It’ll save on coffin size,” said Corrinne.

Roy chuckled quietly. “Of course. We wouldn’t want an open casket funeral.”

“I’ll make sure to give a tearful eulogy about how noble you were,” said Corrinne.

“I’m touched, truly,” said Roy.

Corrinne kissed him again. “Anyway, as much as I want to stay here, don’t you have to be off?”

Roy glanced down at his watch. A spike of panic shot through him. He was late. “You’re right, I gotta get out of here. I’ll see you later!”

Corrinne chuckled as Roy hastily rushed out the door.

“Good luck out there, hero.”

Roy leapt out of the elevator, his feet pounding against the floor of the top floor of the mansion. G&W in particular hated being behind schedule and Pac Man wasn’t much more lenient. He skidded to a stop, and walked out onto the Warp Star Balcony, trying to look a little more dignified in his entrance. 

 He saw the Pokémon Trainers lounging next to G&W, Pac Man, and Rosalina.

 “You’re late!” said G&W disapprovingly.

“I know, I know.”

“I think that’s everybody. Are we ready to go?” asked Rosalina.

There was a chorus of assent.

“Very well,” said Rosalina. She extended her hand, and a Launch Star appeared in the middle of the balcony.

Roy filed into line with the others, as Pac Man stepped into the Launch Star and was vaulted off into the sky towards the Comet Observatory.

Roy clenched and unclenched his fist. At long last he let his analytical mind kick back into gear. The enemy had made the first move. And it was time for the Smashers to launch their response.

Chapter Text

Yoshi

Threat Level: 3

Yoshi at first glance may appear to be a standard member of his species, however, this would be a gross underestimation. Yoshi seems to fall in the middle of the pack, as far as Smashers go, in many aspects. He is neither overwhelming powerful or lacking in strength and he has no major weaknesses in any area. Rather, Yoshi is a Smasher defined by a solid, balanced fighting style and a compassionate heart. The hallmarks of his style include powerful kicks and headbutts, the ability to generate and throw eggs, create eggs around him for both offensive and defensive purposes, and the ability to extend his tongue and catch enemies with it. Yoshi is also known to carry powerups. His most commonly used powerups include the following: one turns his skin red and increases his speed, one turns his skin blue and causes him to puff up and float, and one that causes his skin to turn gold and grants him limited light manipulation. Finally, Yoshi also appears to have the ability to spit the juice of fruit that he eats at high velocities. By my rough estimation, the juice that he spits carries approximately the same force as a fire hose.

While Yoshi does not have any glaring weaknesses, there are some aspects of his fighting method that one can exploit. First of all, he has never been recorded using any overwhelmingly strong power attacks outside of those powered by a Smash Ball. Furthermore, as he is a user of powerups, preventing him from consuming them can prevent him from reaching his true power. Finally, as an attack against Yoshi’s psyche, threatening civilians or other bystanders may be a useful tactic, as Yoshi is known for his kind heart. Remember, Yoshi wins battles of attrition, not wars of power. If you have the ability to overwhelm him quickly, do so. Whatever you do, don’t write him off as weak. While he may appear unassuming, Yoshi is known to pull out surprise victories against powerful opponents, such as Kamek and Bowser. While the exact specifics of these victories are unclear, it is worth proceeding with caution when fighting Yoshi. Make sure you’re not the next sap he adds to his win list.

Mario Mario

Threat Level: 5

Mario Mario is a very powerful fighter. He has years of experience of fighting a multitude of enemies in defense of the Mushroom Planet. His list of attributes is a formidable one. He is a very skilled and well-rounded hand to hand combatant and is much faster and more mobile than his appearance would suggest. Additionally, Mario wields pyrokinetic abilities, and is armed with a pressurized water device known as FLUDD that allows him to spray highly pressurized water. It also doubles as a jetpack. Finally, Mario is infamous for is use of powerups. While I won’t be able to include a complete list here, be wary should he use the following powerups, as the following seem to be the most dangerous ones: One is  a red flower that boosts his pyrokinetic abilities, one is a blue flower that grants Mario cryokinetic abilities, one is a metal flower that turns his skin metal, and two of his powerups are near identical looking mushrooms. One causes him to shrink while the other causes him to become giant. This second mushroom allows Mario to access to access his most powerful form, Mega Mario. Also be careful should Mario choose to stack powerups. For instance, during Ganondorf’s Invasion several years ago, Mario took on a Subspace Core powered Ganondorf by himself in the city of Ostia by stacking his metal form and ice form. This combination of powerups allowed him to contend with Ganondorf for nearly fifteen minutes. While the fight ended inconclusively, this should stand as testament to Mario’s combat skill and the power of his powerups. 

To fight Mario, be prepared to deal with a fist fighter who wields a variety of physical and elemental attacks. As such, it may be a good idea to attack Mario with a melee weapon as it may give one a range advantage over Mario’s fists. However, this is no surefire way to beat Mario, as he’s defeated many other weapon wielders. Another possibly way to get a slight advantage over Mario is to threaten either his brother, Luigi, his significant other, Princess Peach, or any of his friends of the Mushroom Defense Force. Just remember that this also not a surefire way to beat Mario, as seen in Bowser, who was repeatedly unable to leverage this advantage against him. Another note that may be useful is to bring elemental attacks or defensive abilites to counter Mario’s elemental abilities. This will mitigate one of the things that makes him so dangerous and give you a somewhat better chance of winning or surviving. Finally, above all else, it is imperative that Mario does not have the time to consume any of his powerups. Should Mario access one of his powered-up forms, do not attempt to engage him unless you have the power to match his. He is considered one of the strongest smashers for a reason. Treat him with extreme caution.

Luigi Mario

Threat Level: 3

Luigi Mario is the younger brother of Mario Mario, distinguished by a green color scheme as opposed to a red one. Luigi is known primarily for his specialty of Boo disposal but is also a proficient hand to hand combat specialist like his brother. He also is capable of pyrokinesis, however, his fire is green instead of red. While it’s unknown what additional effects this may have, it does not appear to be too different from regular fire. In addition to this, he wields a Boo catching vacuum device that for some reason is equipped with a built-in flamethrower, water sprayer and ice thrower (For the curious, I am also perplexed as to why these features are necessary for Boo removal). Luigi also uses the same powerups that Mario does. Finally, Luigi’s most powerful move is a technique of unknown origin, in which he generates a green field around himself. Being caught in this field seems to cause victims to have their movements slowed, and undergo severe mood swings, usually sobbing uncontrollably or experiencing a major panic attack. While there is literally no information on this attack, how Luigi uses it, or what it actually does, what is known is that the field expands out from Luigi in a radius. As such, if you notice a green field emanating from Luigi, get clear of it as soon as possible.

In terms of weaknesses, unlike his brother, Luigi appears to be quite the coward. While it would not be unreasonable to assume that he has similar combat potential to his brother, this personal flaw cripples his fighting ability. As such, it may be worth trying to scare Luigi to further intimidate him. Finally, what can be said for Mario can also be applied to Luigi, that being using ranged weapons, using shielding and elemental attacks and making sure he is unable to consume powerups. Just remember that Luigi is not Mario and will be a much easier fight then his brother.

Act 2: Yoshi

Chapter 1: Jungle Japes

Yoshi stepped off of a large, seafaring boat at the port of DK isle, waiting as a half dozen Toads moored the ship to the dock. Luigi sauntered off behind him. Yoshi looked back at the boat to see Mario following them down the gangplank. The ship was a fast, oceanfaring ship, commissioned by Princess Peach as a means of quick transportation around the Mushroom Planet for the Mushroom Planet Defense Force. And considering the call that he’d received yesterday, Yoshi was very glad that they had it at their disposal.

“So, you’ll meet us at the dock we’re at? Okie dokie, we’ll wait here,” said Mario, still on the phone.

Luigi stopped next to Yoshi. The green hatted plumber observed the area. “Well, this sure beats Bowser’s castle, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. No lava pits, no deadly spikes, and fantastic weather. Living the dream!” said Yoshi.

Luigi grinned. “White sand and crystal beaches for once! I almost thought we were going on vacation!”

Yoshi took a look around the pier. It was a bustling place, with many ships docked, loading and unloading goods. The sky was clear with a few clouds floating high in the sky and the hot tropical sun beat down on Yoshi. The water off the docks was crystal clear, allowing Yoshi to see the sand below.

“Hey! Yoshi! DK said that he was going to be a minute, and I was thinking that maybe Luigi and I could pick up smoothies while we’re waiting. There’s a stand close by. Can you wait here in case he comes by before we get back?” said Mario.

“Sure thing!”

“Do you want us to pick something up for you?” asked Mario.

“Uh, sure!” said Yoshi.

“What kind?” asked Luigi.

Yoshi thought for a second. “Grab me Papaya Bananna, please.”

“Okie dokie! We’ll be right back!”

Yoshi sat down at the edge of the pier, his legs dangling over the water. He loved DK Isle. The warm weather, the laid-back atmosphere and of course, the delicious tropical fruits. He was glad to be back. If only they could be there on less dire business. Sure, it would be great to be able to see everybody. He’d made so many new friends during his time with the other Smashers. However, outside of occasional team training sessions, the only time they all gathered was for world ending crises. They seriously needed to start an annual picnic or something. He should talk to Master Hand about setting one up once this whole mess was cleaned up.

In a few minutes, Mario and Luigi came back, smoothies in hand. Luigi handed Yoshi his smoothie.

“What did you get?” asked Yoshi as he took a sip.

“Coconut and Pineapple smoothie,” said Mario.

“Lychee Shaved Ice,” said Luigi. “We don’t get much of the tropical fruits out in the Mushroom Kingdom. Gotta get them when we can!”

The bros sat down next to Yoshi and the trio enjoyed their drinks in the warm sun.

After a few minutes, a translucent beam appeared on the pier. A few seconds later, Rosalina zoomed out of the sky, slowing down to a stop as her feet touched the ground. As she did, DK, Diddy and Dixie came into view, coming around a pile of crates. DK waved as he lumbered down the pier.

“Kong Isle welcomes you!” bellowed DK cheerfully.

“We’re glad to be here!” said Mario cordially. “It’s good to see you!”

Rosalina smiled as the Kongs walked up to her and the other Smashers. “Are you ready to go to the Observatory, Diddy and Dixie? I’ve already picked up Ness, Lucas and Bowser Jr.”

“Yeah! We’re ready! Good luck out there, Donkey!” said Diddy.

Dixie also gave a thumbs up. “Get them good, Donkey! Don’t get hurt!” 

DK smiled. “I’ll be fine! Remember, a warrior is like a banana! Tough on the outside but sweet and kind on the inside!”

Diddy and Dixie nodded in unison.

“We know!” said Diddy.

“Yeah, you’ve told us that a hundred times!” said Dixie.

“Good! Make me proud!” said DK.

“We will!”

Rosalina nodded, and with a wave of her hand, a warp star appeared. Diddy stepped into it and rocketed off into the sky. Dixie stepped in after him and was launched into space.

“Take good care of them,” said DK.

Rosalina smiled as she entered the Warp Star.

“Your little ones will be safe with me,” she said before she also rocketed off into the sky.

DK smiled, and then turned to his fellow Smashers. “Well, let’s not keep K Rool waiting. Funky is watching him now, and I know he doesn’t trust him at all, just like everybody else around here.”

They began walking down the network of piers with DK in the lead.

Luigi shrugged, “After what happened, I don’t really blame them.”

“Yeah, but better relations with the Kremlings would be nice. Scuffles tend to happen when Kongs and Kremlings are present,” said DK. “I try to be the leading example, but the others aren’t quite following me yet on this one. And it doesn’t help that K Rool isn’t the easiest guy to get along with, though. It’s not like I totally trust him either, but things will work better if we are able to work together.”

“Yeah,” said Mario. “All that bad blood isn’t going to disappear overnight.”

“It will fade with time,” said DK with a smile. “Hopefully, that is.”

They fell into silence as they made their way through the town. Yoshi sidestepped a pile of crates and stepped over a large coil of rope. They passed by sailors and merchants, mostly Toads and Kongs with a few Koopa Troopas and the odd Kremling milling about their daily business. Every now and again, a sailor or merchant called out a greeting to DK, who waved and responded in kind.

After some time, Mario said, “It’s been a long time since we founded the Mushroom Planet Defense Force, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it has been a while. That was after that nonsense with Bowser in space?” asked DK.

“The second nonsense in space,” said Mario. “He finally saw reason when Bowser Jr. got hurt.”

“Bowser Jr. got hurt?” asked DK.

“Not badly. His ship malfunctioned and the engine exploded. It was a manufacturing flaw in one of the parts. Bowser Jr. wasn’t super close, but he still caught a bit of the blast. I think it shocked Bowser into realizing what he was doing.”

DK smiled. “I’m glad he saw the errors of his ways. He’s a strong ally to have.”

“I’ve gotta say, though, Peach almost didn’t approve the Defense Force idea. I’m glad that she eventually did,” said Luigi.

“She almost didn’t?” asked DK. “I mean, I don’t blame her, I just don’t think you ever told me about it!”

“Oh yeah, she did. Big time. She was a little worried about Wario and K Rool, but mostly about Bowser. You to some extent as well, since she’d only heard of the bad stuff,” said Yoshi. 

“Eh, can’t blame her,” said DK. “People who aren’t familiar with the Kongs tend to hear only the bad stuff, not the good stuff. But we’re not a bad bunch when you get to know us!”

“Yeah. Wario was one thing. Sure, he’s not the most savory guy, but he’d helped us in the past. K Rool was another thing. We’d heard bad things about him but the Mushroom Kingdom, but we never personally went up against him. But he seemed decent enough,” said Mario.

“Yeah. We were the ones who mostly dealt with him,” said DK, nodding.

“Bowser, though. She was very suspicious of Bowser. I really can’t blame her,” said Mario.

“Why did you include him in the first place? Not that his inclusion was bad or anything,” asked DK.

Mario sighed. “We couldn’t just ignore the Dark Lands. It’s too significant of a part of the Mushroom Planet to not be represented when much smaller places like Yoshi Island and DK Isle got representatives. We also had fought alongside him on a few rare occasions when we were up against a common enemy. He was a surprisingly effective ally, considering we usually were trying to kill each other. And from the interactions that we did have after the second time he went to space, he seemed much more subdued. He was a changed Koopa, that much was evident. So, we decided tha4t we should try for peace between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Dark Lands.”

“And now we race carts and play sports together,” summarized DK. They all laughed at that.

“How did you convince Peach, though?”

Mario chuckled. “That was the trick. It took a lot of talking and convincing. I think it was the representation thing that got to her. It would have been a PR nightmare if we hadn’t at least extended an olive branch to try and get a representative from the Dark Lands. And anyway, Bowser hadn’t done anything for three whole years. Toadsworth was actually really worried that they were planning something big, since Bowser usually had some sort of annual raid.”

“Gotta say, it all paid off on the end,” said DK.

“It paid off massively,” agreed Mario, taking a sip of his drink.

They continued their way through the patchwork of docks. As they rounded a corner, Yoshi spotted a pirate like ship bearing the Kremling crest. It sat proudly in the water, a splendid representation of the Kremling’s achievements. Funky Kong stood on the dock in front of the ship, casting distrusting glances at K Rool as he stood at the wheelhouse of the ship.

“DK!” said Funky, as the Smashers approached.

“Funky! Thanks for hanging around here! We’re going to be going soon.”

Funky flashed a grin. “Cool beans, dude! K Rool hasn’t been up to anything weird, at least as far as I can see. We’re all good!”

DK sighed. “Yes, K Rool shouldn’t be up to anything. Good work. Remember, you’re in charge while I’m gone. Try not to just let everything slide.”

“You got it, dude!” said Funky. “I’ll just wait here until you get out of port, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” said DK with a smile. 

“Come on! Don’t just stand there! We’ve got places to be!” shouted K Rool from the wheelhouse.

“Better get going,” said DK. “After all, time may be of the essence.”

The Smashers boarded the ship. It was a moderately large seafaring ship. The hallways and rooms were tight, but not as cramped as it was on most ships, most likely to accommodate K Rool’s imposing build. As they made their way through the ship, they passed a few Kremling sailors. In little time, they made their way up to the wheelhouse. 

“What took you so long?” asked K Rool.

“The winds were against us on the way here. Sorry about that,” apologized Mario.

“Whatever, let’s get going. Whatever is at Lonely Isle won’t stop itself,” said K Rool.

“Agreed,” said DK. “Let’s get moving.”

The Smashers sat down in various chairs around the wheelhouse as K Rool took the helm. DK gave Funky a wave as they trundled out of port. He waved back at him, satisfied that his mission was complete.

Yoshi cast his gaze out at the wide blue yonder as they exited the port. He could spot a small grey shape on the horizon. Lonely Isle, and whatever it held awaited them. Hopefully, they were prepared for whatever lay in wait.

Just over an hour later, the ship anchored just off the coast of Lonely Isle. K Rool lowered a smaller boat off the side of the ship, and the smashers clambered in, leaving the Kremling sailors to man the ship in their absence. Yoshi felt a sense of foreboding as he stepped onto Lonely Isle. It wasn’t just lonely, something didn’t feel right. He glared suspiciously at the dense tropical forest around him as the others disembarked from the boat. K Rool pulled out his cannon in readiness and Luigi adjusted his Poultergust and fiddled with the nozzle. The others were feeling it too. Mario glared sternly into the forest and looked around at the trees. The forest was dead silent. The usual sounds of birds chirping and animals scurrying around were gone. Even the leaves of the trees and bushes were totally still.

“All right. Let’s keep it quiet. We don’t know where they’ll be,” said Mario.

There was ax chorus of assent. Mario pulled out a small rectangular device with a screen that Yoshi recognized as a scanner. Considering the mission, it would be calibrated to scan for R-47. Mario straightened his back, adjusted his cap, and began walking into the forest, scanner active.  Yoshi cracked his neck and followed behind him with the other smashers.

The humidity was oppressive, away from the sea breeze. Yoshi pushed another branch out of his face, and narrowly avoided putting his hand on a tree with sharp thorns on its bark. He swatted at the cloud of mosquitoes around him as sweat dripped off of his nose, but it was in vain. The brush was thick, a frustratingly opaque visual wall and a somewhat thorny, slippery obstacle to forward movement. Yoshi found himself shoving aside branches and going around thick bushes at an agonizingly slow pace.

Eventually, K Rool said, “Enough of this! Let me go first!”

Moving to the front of the party, K Rool stepped forward and began slashing at the brush in front of him, slowly clearing a path.

“Hey, that’s not a bad idea, K Rool!” said Yoshi, as he stepped over the stump of a bush that K Rool had cut down.

K Rool grinned and nodded. “This is how we do it back home. Figured maybe we could get around faster.”

Yoshi grinned back. He could tell that K Rool often felt like the odd man out of the Mushroom Planet Defense Force. As such, he took every opportunity to try and make him feel more at home. It kept the harmony of the group intact. And it let him help DK a little by keeping K Rool in a good mood. The crocodile could be grumpy and irritable for weeks if provoked to boiling rage.

As the Smashers walked in the wake of K Rool’s deforestation efforts, Yoshi’s eyes caught a bright color in the trees. HIs eyes lit up. He knew a mango when he saw one. He reached out with his tongue and yanked it into his mouth. A little underripe, but honestly, he wasn’t complaining. He heard a snort next to him. He looked over to see Luigi chuckling and shaking his head. Yoshi rolled his eyes and spit the pit just in front of his nose. Luigi jumped.

“Gah! Don’t do that to me!”

“Keep it down!” whispered Mario quietly.

“Right, sorry,” said Yoshi.

DK tapped on Luigi’s shoulder and handed him a mango. Luigi took it and began munching on it as he walked. Yoshi looked around to see Mario and K Rool munching on mangos of their own. He smiled. Hopefully it would keep everybody’s spirits up in this oppressive heat.

After going some distance through the thick jungle, the smashers came to a small clearing in the forest, where several trees had fallen over, allowing the sunlight to reach the ground. Yoshi relaxed slightly. Finally, a break from the dense vegetation.

However, Yoshi had to stop abruptly to avoid bumping into K Rool’s back. He looked up and scanned the clearing. On the other side of the clearing, a tall man stood, his white lab coat creating a stark contrast with the green jungle behind him. He had unruly grey hair, and a large moustache. Yoshi tensed. He knew exactly who this was.

“Dr. Wily……” said Mario as he and the other Smashers stepped out from behind K Rool.

“Hello Smashers. I see that you have found my little island.”

“Yes, we have. I’m afraid that I’m going to have to ask you to leave the premises. This island belongs to the Kongs,” said DK.

“I’m afraid that I cannot. The Boss was rather specific that this island was to be occupied,” replied Wily. 

“The Boss now? I thought the great Doctor Wily answered to no one,” said Mario.

“I have joined a greater cause! I have joined a collective far greater than you could possibly imagine!” shouted Wily in a grandiose manner.  “Under the leadership of the Boss, we will rule the galaxy!”

“I thought you and Ganondorf weren’t friends,” said Yoshi.

“Uh? We were never friends. I’m only tolerating him for the moment!”

“Tolerating……so Ganondorf isn’t this Boss then……” said Mario.

“What, you think I’d join a coalition led by Ganondorf or Egg Face for no reason? Hah! You really don’t know anything, do you? No…the Boss is actually worthy of respect, even if he works with such fools as Ganondorf or Egg Face!”

Mario narrowed his eyes. “So, what do you even hope to accomplish with all of this?” he shouted defiantly. “You’ll never be able to beat the Smashers! Our members have individually defeated all of your allies, and we outnumber you!”

“Feh! You haven’t beaten all of us. But it doesn’t matter! You are all doomed! You cannot hope to defeat a collective as powerful as ours! We will reset the world into a fair society! Where talent and skill like mine are recognized and not opposed!”

“And talent and skill are not recognized already?” asked DK.

“Talent and skill such as mine are hated and oppressed! Surely even you can see this!”

“You sound like a madman, Wily! Stop and think about what you’re doing!” shouted Mario.

“Hmph. And you sound like a naive optimist. We will rule the galaxy. You will never be able to stop……”

“Yeah, yeah, skip the evil speech and stuff. You’re really evil, we get it!” shouted Luigi.

Yoshi smiled. It was good to see Luigi overcoming his usual paranoia.

“Very well, Green Mario.”

“It’s-a Luigi….”

“What’s that? I couldn’t hear you, Green Mario.”

“My name is Luigi!” shouted Luigi. “You see this L? That’s for Luigi!” 

“I thought that L stood for loser!!” jeered Wily.

“Hey! Don’t insult my bro!” shouted Mario. “You’d better take that back!”

“We will see about that,” said Dr. Wily, raising his hand. Out of the jungle, dozens of Wily combat robots made their way out of the brush.

“Ready for battle!” shouted Mario, taking a fighting stance. Yoshi followed suit.

“Farewell for now, Smashers,” said Dr. Wily, turning on his heel, and disappearing through the bush.

Yoshi grit his teeth. It was time to fight.

There was a pause as more of Wily’s robots appeared. For a few moments nobody moved, both sides staring the other down.

Suddenly, Mario lunged forward, and all of the Smashers followed suit. Luigi chucked a number of green fireballs around at the robots. DK rolled under a few shots before crushing the chassis of a robot with a powerful punch, as K Rool fired his cannon at a few Wily bots taking pot shots in the back. A few bots tried to get close to K Rool, but were slashed apart before they could do anything. Yoshi hurled a few eggs at the Egg Bots and kicked down a few more that tried to rush him, before creating an egg around himself. He rolled through the massed robots, knocking down a few more.

 After some distance, he burst out, and turned on his heel. He was now in the thick brush again, but behind the enemies. He quickly and quietly snuck up behind the back lines of robots. Through the robots, he could see the other Smashers dodging their shots and destroying the robots. He slunk up behind some of the robots and began attacking them. Surprised, some of the robots turned to face him. Yoshi kicked one in the face, knocking it over, before headbutting another one and crushing its chassis. In front of him, Mario blasted another robot away with a fiery blast, and DK punched another away. K Rool had put away his cannon, and was viciously slashing the remaining robots apart as Luigi destroyed a few robots with a Luigi Cyclone.  Yoshi hurled a barrage of eggs, distracting some of the other robots, allowing for the other Smashers to defeat them.

In little time, the Smashers stood victorious over the defeated robots.

“Wait, that’s it?” asked Luigi. 

“Looks like it. I thought Wily was supposed to be dangerous…” said K Rool.

“Those were just some grunt Wily Bots. It’ll be harder going in, I think,” said Mario.

“Why’d he even attack us with such low level robots? He’s gotta know we’re stronger than that,” said DK.

K Rool shrugged. “Maybe he wanted to see who was going to fight him?”

“Hmm…..that may be true. But he could have sent some drones to spy on us,” said Yoshi. “He’s a robot specialist after all. Maybe he accidentally ran into us and just attacked us with robots to give himself time to escape?”

Mario rubbed his moustache thoughtfully. “Perhaps. I think we should split into groups. One group should see if they can find his base. If he’s on this island, it shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

Mario tossed his R-47 scanner to Luigi.

“Luigi, I want you and Yoshi to use that scanner to find Wily’s base. K Rool and DK, I’ll need you to get me back to port for the other part.”

“Uh, ok?” said Luigi. “We can do that! But why are you taking DK and K Rool?”

“It’s K Rool’s ship, so he’s there to sail his ship. However, when we get back to port, the Kongs won’t trust him if DK isn’t there with him,” said Mario.

“What are we going back to port for?” asked K Rool.

“To call in a few reinforcements. I think we need at least Megaman’s expertise on this one,” said Mario.

“You think so?” asked DK.

“Yeah, I do. I think we’ll want to call in some of the others while we’re at it. Some of the ones with more experience at fighting robots then we have,” said Mario.

“So, we’ll find the base and then wait for you and the others to get here?” asked Yoshi.

“That’s right,” said Mario. “We shouldn’t be too long.”

“All right. We can do it!” said Luigi.

“Meet us back at that beach we landed at. It should hopefully be far enough away from Wily’s hideout to be relatively safe,” said Mario.

“We’ll radio you if it’s not,” said Yoshi.

“Sounds like a plan. Good luck out there,” said Mario.

Yoshi swatted again at the cloud of mosquitoes that had formed above his head. Looked like he was getting the short end of the stick this time. “Yeah. Thanks.”

Chapter Text

Donkey Kong

Threat Level: 3

Donkey Kong of Kong Isle is an old friend and opponent of Mario who is known for his immense strength. Emphasis on strength. Donkey Kong is one of the most physically strong Smashers, and any contest of strength with him should be avoided. He has been recorded throwing punches that can rip through 6 inches of steel armor plating and throwing objects that weigh hundreds of pounds. While his martial arts technique appears to be a form of Kong hand to hand combat, it does not seem that he is a master of the technique. Rather, his strength is so immense that even if he lands a glancing blow, he will deal significant damage, and his skill in the technique is merely sufficient to allow him to land bows consistently. In terms of ranged combat, DK has been occasionally recorded using a Coconut Cannon, a Kong weapon that fires coconuts at high velocities. He is also known for generating sound waves by clapping his hands or slapping the ground as alternative projectile attacks. Unsurprisingly, he is also known to play drums.

To fight DK, a ranged weapon user should be preferred. While DK possesses some ranged attacks, his true strength lies in close quarters combat, meaning that a ranged adversary would put him at a disadvantage. Furthermore, a very fast user of a polearm may be able to contend with DK. Any shorter weapon will not give the wielder a reach advantage due to the length of DK’s arms. Furthermore, speed is key as DK is far more agile then his size would suggest. For someone with significant forces at their disposal, it may be of use to try and surround DK with projectile wielding minions and fire upon him. While he is agile, he is only so fast, and this strategy would turn his large figure against him. Finally, it is worthy of note that DK does not appear to use any powers, weapons or powerups on a regular basis, except for the Smash Ball. As such, it may be effective to send a fighter that has access to special powers, as DK will have no answer to them. Whatever you do, just don’t try to overpower him in a contest of strength. That’s just asking to lose.

King K Rool

Threat Level: 3

King K Rool of the Kremlings is an old foe of Donkey Kong, and many of his feats of strength and power have shown him to be every bit the equal of his former nemesis. His strength is prodigious, though not quite on the level of Donkey Kong, and he is known to utilize his claws in a number of powerful slashing attacks. Additionally, while talking about K Rool, his defensive abilities are also of note. His thick skin is known to be resistant to a number of attacks, and he is also armed with an extremely durable chestplate that covers his chest and belly. While the exact metal alloy of this chestplate is unknown, it has been recorded to have taken an immense amount of abuse for its wearer, including direct punches from DK, explosives, lasers, and bladed weapon attacks. In terms of ranged weaponry, K Rool is also known to carry a cannon and performs the unusual practice of throwing his crown as a weapon. The crown also has been observed returning to him, most likely through a magnetic glove or a similar contraption. It should also  be noted K Rool is an opponent who is more technically and tactically minded then his Kong neighbors. He is known to have a cunning streak, as seen during his invasions of Kong Isle. Do not underestimate him. Finally, while DK and K Rool used to be enemies, it would appear that the two have shored up their relationship over time, as the two are teammates on both the Super Smash Brothers and the Mushroom Kingdom defense force. To the best of my sources, it is most likely a futile effort to attempt to turn one against the other.  

That being said, K Rool is not without his weaknesses. First of all, K Rool is not a quick Kremling, as his large gut would suggest. While he hits hard, he is nowhere near as fast as his Kong rival. This, combined with his generous figure, makes him an easy, if damage resistant target. As such, powerful ranged weapons should always be considered when fighting K Rool. Just remember that he is capable of shooting back, unlike DK. Additionally, a close range battle should be manageable against K Rool as long as one has sufficient heavy armor or a shield to take his hits, though this is going to need to be extremely heavy armor. That being said, his primary weapons are his claws, and they will only do so much against a piece of metal. Finally, it should be noted that while Kremling technology is effective, it is a relatively new science. As such, it is likely that any Kremling tech that K Rool attempts to use may be quickly be shut down if exposed to electrical discharges. His gadgets are likely not electricity resistant, unlike other, more advanced technologies, like Chozo and Cornerian tech. While EMP attacks will be equally effective against K Rool’s electronics, such attacks are better saved for other Smashers. In summary, K Rool is tough, but not unbeatable by any stretch of the imagination.

Part 2: Bramble Blast

A few hours after Mario and the others had split off, Yoshi and Luigi were still slowly trekking through the jungle. The air was humid and full of bugs, while the ground crawled with ants. Every tree, bush and vine was wet and slippery from the intermittent rain showers. Yoshi was quite envious of Mario and his team at the moment. They got to enjoy the ocean breeze going back to DK Isle while he slogged through the jungle. But that wasn’t going to help him find this stupid, stupid base. Yoshi sighed, and continued moved as quickly as he could, scanner held straight in front of him. The signal was getting progressively stronger as they moved along, but the thick brush made travel horrendously slow.

It had been a while since he’d seen a fruit tree either. Snacking always kept his spirits up, which was why he’d already cracked open his stash of munchies. Already, he’d eaten three plums and given two more to Luigi. Thankfully, his stash was a big one – it took up almost a quarter of the space in his IDD. In contrast, another quarter of his IDD’s space used for his powerups, and his Smasher standard required supplies taking up almost another quarter of his space. The last quarter was empty space, in the event that something in the field needed to be taken with them. Yoshi was lucky in that regard. While his standard supplies included some standardized things like water and various equipment, Yoshi didn’t have to bring other things like armor, weapons, ammunition, or oversized tents and sleeping bags like some of the other Smashers. It left him ample space for his snack stash while still allowing him to act as one of the Smashers who could carry extra stuff in the field.  

And then there was his secret stash. That one didn’t officially exist, for obvious reasons. So maybe he had a little less water on him then he said that he did. Nobody would notice, right? Fruit still had water in it! It still counted!

Yoshi ducked under a leafy curtain of hanging plants and forced his way through the branches of another bush. He pushed another branch out of the way and saw a small clearing in front of him, where a large tree had fallen and taken a few smaller trees with it. Very close behind was a massive cliff face with a small waterfall cascading down into a pool from the heights. The stream flowed off in a different direction then the one that they had come from. Yoshi wiped the sweat from his face as he walked into the clearing. He sat down on one of the fallen logs. Luigi followed suit and plopped down next to him.

Yoshi deployed his third water bottle, half empty and guzzled down the rest of the water. Two more left. Well, before he started digging into his official water supply. This was just his snack stash water supply that he carried in proper thermos bottles, which kept the water cold. Yoshi took a look at the sky. It was about midafternoon. They’d better find this place soon unless they wanted to trek out in the dark. Next to him, Luigi poured some of his water into a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his face.

“Ahh. That’s a little better,” said Luigi. “So which way are we going now?”

Yoshi looked at the scanner in his hand again. It was showing that they were getting quite close, pinging higher levels of R-47 radiation in a northeasterly direction. Yoshi looked towards the northeast and saw the cliff. He switched the scanner to the map function, and his eyes narrowed. The cliff that they were walking towards was actually a small plateau sitting in the center of the island. And it looked like Wily’s base was on the top of it. Just lovely.  

“We head that way. Northeast,” Yoshi said, pointing towards the cliff. “There’s a plateau on the top. Hopefully our base is there.”

Luigi whistled low. “That’s a tall cliff. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to be easy to climb. How are we going to get up there? Is it less steep on another side?”

Yoshi thought for a moment. “I’ll use a Blimp Fruit. You can catch a ride on my back,” said Yoshi.

“All right. That works,” said Luigi.

“Let’s sit here a few more minutes,” said Yoshi. “My legs are still killing me.”

Luigi chuckled. “So is my back. So many low branches!”

“I know, right?”

Yoshi just sighed as they sat there on the log. In the clearing, the humidity was somewhat lessened, but the sun was now beating directly down on them. He deployed his next water bottle and drank more of his water. It was nice to take a bit of a break.

The weather reminded Yoshi of southern Yoshi Island in the summer. It was hot, but doable for him. Luigi on the other hand wasn’t faring so well. He was used to the temperate climate of the Mushroom Kingdom. His shirt was already soaked through with sweat, and Yoshi knew that the humidity must be unbearable for him. All the same, Luigi was a trooper, and despite his careful, cautious and sometimes nervous nature, there was no quit in him.

Luigi pulled out the nozzle of his Poultergust and fiddled with a few switches. He pointed the nozzle into the air. Suddenly, water began shooting out of it like a sprinkler. Yoshi chuckled as both he and Luigi got sprinkled on as if it was raining.

“Ahh, that’s much better!”

Good old Luigi. You could count on him to be able to find a creative solution to things.

After some time, the ache in his legs began to dull. Yoshi pulled himself to his feet.

“You ready?” asked Luigi.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” said Yoshi. “We should get moving again.”

“Sounds good to me!” said Luigi.

Yoshi pulled out the R-47 scanner and oriented himself towards the signal. It was still coming from the massive cliff looming behind them.

“All right, this way.”

They made their way through the jungle for a short distance before reaching the cliff face, where the waterfall poured into what looked to be a deep pool. Yoshi deployed a Blimp Fruit from his IDD.

“All right. Let’s keep it quiet from here out. We don’t know how close his base is to the edge. You ready?”

“Yeah. Let’s-a go!” said Luigi.

Yoshi nodded at Luigi, who climbed onto his back. Yoshi popped the fruit into his mouth. Immediately, his skin turned light blue, and he puffed up, full of helium from the fruit. Slowly, he began to float upwards. As they made their ascent, Yoshi glanced downward. They had to be at least 30 feet off the ground. He gulped but kept his mouth shut. No need to lose helium right now.

They continued to ascend, slowly but surely the rocks and vines of the cliff passed them. Yoshi grit his teeth. Now was not the time for any mistakes.

A few tense minutes later, Luigi whispered, “Hey Yoshi! We’re almost to the top!”

Yoshi nodded and did his best to crane his neck up. He could just barely see the edge of the cliff. Yoshi started releasing the helium in his body as they reached the ledge. Luigi quickly hopped off his back. Yoshi let out the remaining helium in his body with a quick burst of compressed air before landing on the edge of the cliff next to Luigi. He pulled out the R-47 scanner and surveyed the area with it.

Yoshi whispered, “All right, we went in the right direction. Signal’s much stronger. Let’s go.”

Luigi nodded, and the two continued to move quietly in the direction of the R-47 signal. They kept themselves low to the ground, trying to avoid disturbing the foliage at all. It was incredibly slow going, but Yoshi could see a large clearing ahead. It had to be Wily’s base. It had to be.

A few dozen meters ahead, the two smashers stopped at the edge of the foliage. Yoshi was thankful that his skin had turned green again so as to blend in with the foliage better. He could see a few scattered patrols of Wily Bots marched around the cleared area.

“Looks like we’ve got our hideout…..” whispered Yoshi, as he made a marker on the map he’d brought with him.

In front of them was a moderately sized concrete building, with the Wily emblem painted on the sides of the base. It was no bigger than a 1 story house and exceedingly plain in make.

“Looks a little smaller than I thought…..” said Luigi.

“Yeah…..I wonder if there’s more underneath,” said Yoshi.

“I hope so. It would be terrible if we trekked through the jungle for next to nothing.”

Yoshi scanned the area, taking a few pictures with his phone for later.

“Hey, you think that robot saw us?” whispered Luigi nervously, pointing at one of the robots who seemed to be looking in their direction.

“Don’t know. Let’s wait for a moment,” whispered Yoshi.

The robot began moving towards their location.

“Maybe we should go,” whispered Luigi. “I don’t know if we can take on all those robots by ourselves if it sees us…”

“It might not have seen us. Stand really still and try to crouch low in the bushes,” said Yoshi.

Luigi shook his head but crouched down low in the brush. Yoshi followed suit.

The two sat in absolute silence as the robot trundled its way towards them. It came straight up to the tree line and scanned the forest. After some time, it turned around and began rolling back to its post.

As soon as it was far enough away, Luigi whispered, “I think we need to get out of here.”

Yoshi nodded. “I think we’ve seen enough. You’re right, let’s get out. We’ve found the base. We don’t need to stick around.

Yoshi began quietly making his way back though the jungle, following the river back towards the cliff with Luigi close behind. As they did, Yoshi pushed his hand against a partially fallen tree to balance himself. To his horror, the trunk began to crack. He pulled away his hand, but it was too late, and the rotten trunk fell over with a crash. He looked over at Luigi with a look of total panic in his eyes.

“GO!” he whispered loudly.

The two rushed through the jungle as fast as they could, stealth no longer an option. They could hear the robots behind them, coming to investigate the noise. Yoshi continued to move as quickly as he could but came to a screeching halt when they came to the cliff. Luigi managed to catch himself just in time.

“Oh no! Where do we go now?!” said Luigi.

Yoshi turned his head quickly. He could see the bushes rustling from where the robots were moving. They were getting close. He glanced over the cliff and took a deep breath.

He stuck his tongue out, pulled Luigi into his mouth and jumped over the edge.

Yoshi could feel Luigi panicking inside his mouth, kicking and probably screaming as the two plummeted down the cliffside. The pool at the bottom of the waterfall rushed towards him. After a few moments, Yoshi began to Flutter Kick as hard as he could. For a split second, panic rushed through him as the didn’t seem to be slowing down. However, as he continued to Flutter Kick, his fall began to slow, and he  managed to slightly gain a little altitude just before he hit the water.  It was good enough for Yoshi, and he immediately stopped Flutter Kicking. Spitting Luigi out, he fell into the water with a splash.

The two surfaced, sputtering.

“Mamma Mia, Yoshi! Warn me before you do that next time!”

“I would, but the robots were onto us. Didn’t want to be seen,” panted Yoshi.

Luigi sighed and looked around. “Well, all’s well that ends well, I guess.”

The two swam to the edge of the pond at the bottom of the waterfall. Yoshi pulled himself out and sat down on a rock. That was a lot closer than he liked to cut it. Luigi stood next to him, wringing the water out of his shirt and overalls.

“You know,” said Yoshi. “We found the base and that beach sounds really great right now.”

Luigi grinned. “The beach sounds pretty great! Let’s get out of here!”

Nearly two hours later, the two had made their way back to the beach, thoroughly convinced that the Wily Bots weren’t chasing them. Yoshi flopped down in the sand. He’d never been so relieved to feel the ocean breeze in his life. Luigi went down to the water and waded into the surf, cooling himself off in the ocean.

Yoshi pulled himself up and shuffled over to a large piece of driftwood, and he sat down on it heavily. His stomach growled. Yoshi deployed an apple from his IDD and took a large bit out of it with a resounding crunch. The sweet taste of the apple was a treat, as always. Yoshi savored it for a moment, before taking a deep sigh of contentment. This was what paradise was like, wasn’t it? Nice weather, perfect beach, no mosquitoes. He looked up at the sky. If only there weren’t a whole hoard of bad guys on the loose. He could stay here forever if he was allowed to.

Yoshi yawned and stretched again. He was going to enjoy it while he could.

A few hours later, Yoshi scanned the horizon again as Luigi paced restlessly. A small speck caught his attention. As he stared, he saw the sail of a ship as the sun drew lower to the horizon. Mario was nearly back. Took him long enough.

After some time, the boat anchored in the deeper water. The gangplank extended from the boat, and Mario waved from the side of the ship.

“Come aboard! We’re going to have a quick strategy meeting before we move out!”

As Yoshi borded the ship, he grinned as he saw who Mario had brought. Megaman and Sonic waved, as Bowser accompanied DK up the stairs from the galley.

“So, did you find it?” asked Mario, tossing him a sports drink.

Yoshi tossed him the R-47 scanner and cracked open his sport drink. “Yeah. Check the map.”

Mario opened the map function and rubbed his moustache thoughtfully. Sonic poked his head over his shoulder. “Yikes! That’s really deep into the forest. How are we going to get there?”

“That’s a good question,” said Mario.

“Why can’t we just walk there?” asked Bowser.

“It’s on a plateau through some of the thickest brush I’ve ever seen,” said Yoshi. “We had to use powerups to get up there.”

 “So, we’re up against Dr. Wily, correct?” asked Megaman.

“Uh huh,” said Luigi. “Saw his robots crawling all over the place.

“Are you sure it was him?” asked Mario.

“The base had his insignia on the front door,” said Yoshi, passing his phone around to show the pictures he took of the base.

“And that’s why we’re here! Right Megaman?” said Sonic.

“Exactly,” said Megaman.

“So, back on topic, what’s our plan?” asked K Rool.

Mario turned to Megaman. “What do you think? You’ve fought him the most.”

Megaman thought for a second. “I think we should make a swift strike.”

“Why’s that?” asked Mario.

“If Wily doesn’t have all of his Robot Masters at this location, we don’t want to give him enough time to call them in.”

“How powerful are these robot masters?” asked Luigi.

“Probably a fairly fair match in a 1v1 against most of the Smashers,” said Megaman. “They’re probably weaker than the average smasher overall, but if they specialize in something that you’re weak against, don’t fight them. They’re not to be underestimated. Though Bass is an exception. He’s just as strong as me.”

“Then they will be worthy opponents!” said Bowser.

“Yeah, be careful. I’ve nearly gotten taken out by several Robot Masters in the past,” said Megaman.

“Duly noted,” said DK.

“Then the only question that remains is how to get there,” said Mario. “Anybody have any ideas? We’re working with a plateau in the middle of the island. It has steep cliffs on all sides.”

“Don’t worry about that,” said K Rool with a grin. “I’ve got this one!”

He went to the helm of the ship and pressed a button. Suddenly, the sails folded up and helicopter style rotors extended from the mast.

Yoshi raised an eyebrow, impressed. Kremling technology had been improving.

“Well K Rool, I was honestly expecting a catapult or something. Gotta say, this is a lot better!” said DK

“It’s the finest that Kremling technology has to provide in shipbuilding!” said K Rool proudly. “Let’s get this thing rolling! We don’t have all day!”

K Rool pressed another button and the engines whirred to life. The helicopter rotors began to spin, gaining speed, and eventually taking off from the ground. In no time at all, they were flying over the island.

In front of them was the large plateau that he and Luigi had scaled earlier. It seemed worlds easier, being on an airship. Well, it was worlds easier. And safer too, since K Rool’s ship wasn’t made of ramshackle stuff.

He looked down at the rainforest below them. It seemed so far away. All the better, in his opinion.

Mario and Luigi were looking over the edge of the ship, enjoying the view.

“Look! Ahead! Is that the enemy base or is that just a large rock?” shouted Bowser over the rush of the wind. He pointed towards a dull grey figure on the top of the plateau that Yoshi and Luigi had so painstakingly located earlier.

Yoshi began to deploy his binoculars, but he glanced over to see Luigi already scanning the horizon with his own.

“Yeah! That’s it!” he shouted.

“No wonder the satellites didn’t pick it up!” said DK.

“All right! We’re almost there!” shouted Mario.

“Hang on! Be ready to jump off and fight!” shouted K Rool.

The airship swooped in towards the plateau. As it did, one of the robots spotted them and raised the alarm. As K Rool maneuvered his ship into place, a crowd of Wily Bots amassed to oppose them.

Bowser grinned, and vaulted himself over the edge of the ship, pulling himself inside his protective shell, letting the shots bounce off of it harmlessly.

“Bowser Bomb!” Bowser slammed himself into the ground, creating a shockwave that knocked over nearby robots.

Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Sonic, Megaman and DK leapt off behind Bowser. They plowed into the crowd of robots, dodging their laser fire, and destroying them with their various attacks. Mario, Luigi and Yoshi landed powerful punches and kicks to the robots, crushing them, while DK, and Bowser landed much heavier hits, sending the robots flying. Megaman fired shots at his opponents, while Sonic zipped around, dealing fast hits, and disorienting some of the larger robots. In very short order, all of the robots outside of the base were defeated. K Rool landed his ship in the clearing, small legs coming out of the bottom of the ship to allow it to land.

Megman rushed up to the door of the bunker and inspected it for a moment, before charging his Mega Buster and blowing it down.

“What was that for?” asked K Rool as he caught up to the others.

“Sometimes Wily traps the door, so you’ve gotta be careful. Thankfully, Dr. Light installed X Ray capabilities into my optical sensors,” said Megaman. “C’mon, let’s move!”

The Smashers rushed into the room. It was an extremely nondescript base with concrete walls and a floor. There was nothing in the room, except for a stairwell that seemed to lead to an underground hallway that went downward at a gradual slope.

The Smashers quickly moved down the stairs and down the hallway. Yoshi glanced at his surroundings in surprise. Megaman had always mentioned that Dr. Wily tended to have very metallic bases. This place, especially the bunker above, looked hastily thrown together. There were wooden beams holding up the dirt ceiling. He sniffed the air. While he couldn’t smell the telltale scent of freshly turned soil, the air wasn’t stale either. There was no way this place had a proper ventilation system with how rudimentary it was. The lighting was literally limited to lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling. It looked more like a mineshaft then a base. That meant that the base was a relatively recent addition to Lonely Isle. It was a good thing that they’d detected it so quickly.

Another group of robots rushed up to meet them as they continued down the mineshaft like hallway. Yoshi pulled himself into an egg, and rolled straight through the crowd, bowling over several robots in the process. He broke out of the egg to see Bowser tackle a group of robots, crushing them under his immense weight, while the others fell to the rest of the Smashers.

“C’mon! Before they can respond!” shouted Mario. The smashers rushed forward again. After dashing several dozen meters, they came to a wide open room. In front of them stood eight robots, each one with some sort of theme. Dr. Wily stood behind them, holding a computer, monitor, keyboard and mouse in front of a dark, swirling portal.

“Get them Robot Masters!” he shouted before stepping through the portal.

The robots lined up in a line. Yoshi stared them down next to Mario and Luigi. The other smashers stood alongside them, ready to fight.

“We will defeat you for the great Dr. Wily, Smashers!” shouted one who appeared to be made of bricks. “We are the Robot Masters! And I am their leader, Stone Man! And we will destroy you!”

All of the robots took fighting stances, as did the smashers.

“All right! Let’s get him, bro!” shouted Mario.

“Right with you!” shouted Luigi. Two Robot Masters clanked up.

“Then I, Stone Man, shall obliterate you!”

“And I, Star Man, shall dazzle you!” shouted an orange Robot Master with several stars on his body.

“Uh huh,” said Mario. He deployed a metal toilet plunger from his IDD into his hand. “Robot Masters? Meet the Septic Annhilator!”

Star Man began cracking up. “It’s a metal toilet plunger! Who brings a metal toilet plunger into battle? BWAHAHAHA!”

“The guy who’s going to beat you,” said Mario menacingly. “Now, are we just going to stand here and trade insults or are we going to fight?”

Stone Man raised his fists and took a fighting posture with a smirk. “I thought you’d never ask!”

Megaman tensed, ready to fight. Sonic crossed his arms next to him. “Hey! You guys gonna wait there all day or are we going to fight?

“You! I’m gonna destroy you!” yelled a blue Robot Master that looked like a diver.

“Calm down, Wave Man!” said an orange robot master with two drills on his arms and one on his head. “We need a strategy here!”

“No!” shouted Wave Man. “I’m going to obliterate these Smashers, Drill Man! Especially Megaman!”

Megaman merely readied his Mega Buster. “Bring it on!”

Bowser stepped up and roared menacingly. K Rool bared his claws and growled.

A purple robot with two rockets on his arms, his head sunk into his chest and another rocket launcher mounted on his head stood up to face them.

“You would be wise not to trifle with us. Perhaps you could leave this place? If you do not, I will be forced to obliterate you,” said the Robot Master.

“Oh of course. Because that worked last time,” said another Robot Master sarcastically. His head was also sunk into his chest but had spike on his head and was painted a dark shade of blue.

“It’s only polite to ask, Needle Man,” said the first Robot Master.

“I’m just pulling your leg, Napalm Man,” said Needle Man.

“Fat chance!” said Bowser. “We’ve gotta take you out! No hard feelings?”

“None at all,” said Napalm Man. “En Garde!”

Yoshi glanced over at DK. “You ready to take them?”

“Absolutely!” said DK. He punched his fist. “Time to bring the pain!”

Yoshi around up to see a robot master that looked like a heavily armored deep sea underwater diver. He was accompanied by another robot wielding two metal rings in his hands.

“I am Ring Man!” said the Robot Master with two rings.

“And I am Dive Man!” shouted the heavily armored one.

“And we will destroy you!” they shouted in unison.

Chapter Text

Sonic of Mobius

Threat Level: 4

Sonic the Hedgehog is the well-known hero of the planet Mobius. What makes Sonic so dangerous is his speed. He doesn’t have the nickname “Blue Blur” for nothing. Its known that he regularly breaks the sound barrier, though it does not seem that Sonic is faster than light. This still leaves him in the running as the fastest person alive. Furthermore, Sonic is known to spin into a ball and attack his enemies. This is purportedly known as a Spin Attack. While it is unknown how he can spin very fast and hit targets with great precision, it is a staple attack of his that is known to break down the heavily armored machines of Dr. Eggman with repeated strikes. Sonic is also known to be a proficient hand to hand combatant; however, his style seems to be a loose collection of techniques from a variety of fighting styles. Sonic also does not appear to have any projectiles in his arsenal. Finally, Sonic has a powered up form, Super Sonic. What this form lacks in variety, it more than makes up for by increasing Sonic’s speed to greater heights and giving him a much-needed boost in power. This form is accessed by gathering all of the Chaos Emeralds or by using a Smash Ball. There is a difference in the transformation depending on the method used. It appears that Sonic can hold his Super Sonic form for nearly an hour when using the Chaos Emeralds, while he can only access Super Sonic for around a minute with the Smash Ball. As such, it may be of benefit to hold one of the Chaos Emeralds in one of our vaults to deny Sonic long-term access to this powerful transformation.

As for weaknesses, it should be noted that Sonic does not possess any particularly powerful moves. While his Spin Attack is strong, it is an attack that needs to be landed multiple times to bring down even moderately armored foes. As such, sending a heavily armored fighter to combat Sonic may be worthwhile, even if there’s a significant speed differential. Furthermore, Sonic wears no armor, and is known for dodging attacks rather than blocking them. This suggests Sonic is a glass cannon, and landing attacks on him, while difficult, may be much more significant then landing attacks on other Smashers. Finally, as Sonic’s strength is his speed, any strategy that gets him to stop running, to slow down, or to trip him up is a worthwhile strategy. This may be achieved in a number of ways, including traps like tripwires, slow or stasis fields, or hazards put on the ground like ice or caltrops. Just remember that any way to slow Sonic down is a good strategy.

King Bowser of The Dark Lands

Threat Level: 3

Bowser of the Dark Lands is a physically imposing fighter that has stood as Mario’s greatest rival for decades. While the two have made peace and are no longer enemies, it does not detract from Bowser’s power as an opponent. Bowser brings a number of powerful advantages to the table. The first is his fire breath, which he can amp up to a devastating torrent of fire. The second is his shell. While koopa shells in general are known for their superhuman durability, Bowser’s shell in particular seems nearly indestructible, having survived the vacuum of space, the heat of lava, and incredibly powerful hits from Mario. (Note: Before I go on, it should be noted that it doesn’t seem that Bowser’s shell makes him impervious to damage, but it does absorb a lot of damage for him. What I mean to note here is that attacks that are too weak will not harm him.) Finally, Bowser has prodigious strength, rivalling that of other hard hitters like DK or Ike. Bowser is no lightweight, and knows how to use his claws, teeth and spiked shell for a number of brutally powerful attacks. Finally, it should be noted that Bowser is a competent tactician, having successfully invaded the Mushroom Kingdom on multiple occasions. While one may question his competency due to his many losses to the Mario Bros, it should be noted that it took a tag team of fighters as strong as the Mario Bros to defeat him.

Despite his many strengths, Bowser is not without exploitable weaknesses. First of all, Bower is not particularly fast. While his speed has increased in comparison to his days terrorizing the Mushroom Kingdom, he’s still not going to be rushing down people faster than they can react. A fast enough fighter should be able to avoid the overwhelming majority of Bowser’s attacks without too much difficulty. Another weakness is Bowser’s limbs, which are not protected by his shell. While they are still scaly and can take punishment, they are not nearly as durable as his shell. While not a true “weakness” per se, it’s something that should be taken into mind when fighting Bowser. I will conclude this analysis by listing some ways to counteract Bowser’s strengths. First of all, bringing water or ice based attacks to counteract Bowser’s fire breath is advisable. Furthermore, wearing armor to help guard against his claws and spikes can also give one an edge. Finally, bringing any means of increasing one’s mobility like a jetpack or a grappling hook that will help keep you out of Bowser’s range and exploit his bad speed is worth considering.

Ally Analysis: Dr. Wily

Dr. Wily is a scientist with the technical know-how and creative mind to produce some of the finest robots the world has ever seen. His Robot Masters all pose significant threats to notable organic fighters, and his foresight and ability to adapt to his situation are incredible strengths. However, he is getting up in years, has never trained for combat himself, and relies heavily on his robots for combat purposes.

To help Dr. Wily to achieve his peak level of performance, I will suggest the following. First of all, I recommend picking up as much tactical skill as possible. While this is important for any fighter, it is incredibly important for Wily to remain out of combat, and a higher level of tactical mastery will help ensure that. Second of all, I recommend that Dr. Wily make consistent usage of his Wily Capsule. It greatly increases his mobility, durability and gives him the ability to engage in combat. Additionally, any upgrades he makes to it will only further increase his combative power. Finally, I recommend either the creation of new Robot Masters and/or upgrading of the current Robot Masters. These robots are powerful in their ability to fight on even ground with high level opponents. An increase in number or quality will ensure that they have the ability to succeed in battle. In conjunction with advanced tactics, Robot Masters will be able to corner off and destroy small groups of Smashers with ease.   

Act 2: Yoshi

Chapter 3: Jungle Hijinxs

Luigi’s eyes narrowed as his concentrated on the fight in front of him, the nozzle of his Poltergust in hand. This “Star Man” fellow, though a primadonna in every sense of the word, seemed to mean business. Thankfully, he was keeping up with the Robot Master. But he wasn’t having the easiest time.

Mario was really the better of the two for this. But Mario was fighting Bricks Man or whoever he was. Knowing Mario’s talent for fighting, the enemy was probably Passing Bricks Man right about now. He just needed to focus on fighting his opponent while Mario finished off the other Robot Master. Star Man fired another barrage of energy stars at him. Luigi hosed them down with his vaccum cleaner’s water spraying function. He had no idea why E. Gadd had decided to add the ability to spay fire, water, and ice in the first place to a vacuum cleaner meant to suck up Boos, but that functionality had saved him in more fights than he cared to admit. Especially in the old days, because that thing directly countered Bowser’s infamous fire breath. But these were different times. With far less annoying enemies.

“You can’t beat me, Green Mario! I’m the pinnacle of what a Robot Master can be! You are no match!”

Luigi remained in his fighting stance.

“Yeah, I’m not as strong as my bro. That’s just a fact. And I’m not as brave. But I’m not going to give up! The Mario Bros never give up!”

“Your grave, Green Mario!”

“It’s-a Luigi…..” muttered Luigi irritably.

“What’s that? I couldn’t hear you sniveling!” sneered Star Man as he charged at Luigi.

“Luigi! My name is Luigi! I’m my own person! Separate from Mario! I’m taller, I jump higher, I’m less fat, and I wield Green Fire! I’m a totally different person! Mamma Mia! Can’t you see that?” snapped Luigi. He stashed the nozzle of his Poltergust and charged fire around his hands.

“Green Fire Cannon!”

Star Man took the short range but fiery blast square to his overconfident face, and staggered back, smoke steaming from his head. Luigi relaxed his stance slightly. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad?

Suddenly, the other Robot Master went flying in between him and Star Man.

“Stone Man! Are you all right? What happened?” exclaimed Star Man.

Star Man pulled himself to his feet as Mario advanced on him. “This guy’s unstoppable!” he exclaimed.

“You don’t have to fight us,” said Mario, pointing the Septic Annihilator at Stone Man. “Surrender, and we’ll make sure you’re treated fairly.”

Luigi smirked. Nobody took a metal toilet plunger that fired lasers like the Septic Annihilator seriously. Though according to Mario, it was great for fighting enemies who you didn’t want to throw too many actual punches at, like a robot with a metal chassis. That was probably why he was using it now.

“Never! I won’t let Dr. Wily down!” shouted Stone Man. He held his hand out. Stones materialized around him and he shot them at Mario.

“Power Stone!”

Mario pressed a button on the Septic Annihilator, firing the laser function. He managed to shoot down the first couple stones, before deflecting the other ones with his cape. Star Man began to charge energy to make stars, but Luigi pulled out his Poultergust and sprayed him in the face with the ice function, freezing Star Man in a thin layer of ice. The Robot Master broke out quickly.

“How dare you cramp my style!” Star Man groused.  

“Let’s finish them, bro!” said Luigi.

Mario grinned. “Thought you’d never ask!”

Stone Man and Star Man fired stones and stars at the Mario Bros again. The two dodged in unison. Luigi rushed in and slugged Star Man with a few punches and kicks. He grimaced. Maybe he should get his own version of the Septic Annhilator. His knuckles would thank him for it later. Star Man attempted to reply in kind, but Luigi blocked his strikes with ease. To his left, Mario jumped and flipped around Stone Man, avoiding his powerful punches.

Luigi dashed in and landed a powerful kick to Star Man, denting his chassis.

“How dare you!?” hissed Star Man, inspecting himself. “I’m beautiful! How dare you damage me!?”

Luigi rolled his eyes as the Robot Master continued to survey the damage. He grabbed his Poultergust, lined up a shot, and fired a suction plunger out of the Poltergust, which stuck to Star Man’s chest.

“Eh?” grunted Star Man in surprise. Luigi gave the rope attached to the plunger a vicious tug, dragging Star Man towards him. As he did, he charged Green Fire around his hands, and began to spin, arms extended out wide. As he did, a large green blaze of fire appeared around his fists.

“Green Fire Cyclone!”

“GEYAH!” screamed Star Man as he got hit by the spinning, flaming attack.

He was knocked back onto his back foot. Luigi, seeing his advantage, flared his green fire around his hands even more.

“Grand Green Fire Cyclone!”

Luigi spun for several seconds, creating a large green, flaming vortex around him. The attack illuminated the room with an eerie, unnatural green light as Star Man was sucked in and tossed around like a ragdoll inside.

As the attack died down, Star Man fell to the ground with a thud, steam pouring from all of the joints of his body. He didn’t move.

Stone Man turned. “Star Man! NO!”

Mario jumped into the air while he was distracted, high above his head.

“Ground Pound!” he shouted and rocketed down, butt first, crushing Stone Man into pieces.

Mario pulled himself to his feet amidst the broken parts.

“Mama Mia, bro! No need to go all out so soon!” chuckled Mario.

Luigi, panting on a knee, took Mario’s hand and pulled himself to his feet.

“Had to take him down somehow! Anyway, let’s go help the others!”

Mario grinned. “That’s the spirit!”

Megaman fired a barrage of shots at Wave Man and Drill Man while Sonic ran circles around them. The nice thing about Sonic was that he was so fast that he could easily dodge friendly and enemy fire with little difficulty. As such, he could put a ton of shots downrange without worrying about accidentally hitting his ally. He charged up a Buster Shot and fired it, narrowly missing Wave Man. Wave Man brandished his two arms, one armed with an arm cannon and the other with a harpoon, and fired off the harpoon. Megaman sidestepped it and fired off more shots as Drill Man took wild swings at Sonic.

“Get back here!” he growled. “I can’t believe we’ve got another blue nuisance on our hands!”

“You’re too slow!” taunted Sonic as he whizzed around Drill Man.

“SHUT UP YOU OVERGROWN BLUE HEDGEHOG!”  

Megaman switched his combat mode and pulled a variety of circular saws out of his arms before chucking them at Wave Man. Wave Man pulled up his arm cannon and fired a focused stream of water, knocking the Metal Blades aside. He rushed at Mega Man, and shot the harpoon again, but Mega Man activated his Flame Sword ability and batted the weapon aside.

Sonic suddenly rushed up behind Wave Man and shoved him, causing him to face plant.

“Hey!” shouted Wave Man indigently.

Drill Man revved his drills and lunged for Sonic but was not fast enough.

“Get back here! I get it now! If you’re not a robot and you’re blue, you’re a pest!”

“Mega Man is blue too, you dolt!” said Wave Man, shooting blasts of water at Mega Man as he got to his feet.

“Uh, if you’re blue, you’re a pest then!” growled Drill Man.

“I’M BLUE TOO!” yelled Wave Man. “Am I a pest?”

“I mean….I’m not saying you aren’t,” said Drill Man.

“Hey! Not cool!” growled Wave Man.

Mega Man relaxed slightly as Sonic stopped next to him as the Robot Masters stopped fighting to argue with each other.

“You just want to watch? This is pretty funny!”

Mega Man shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

“Remind me, who has a literal water gun?” yelled Drill Man. “At least both of my arms have actual weapons!”

“I’m specialized for underwater combat!” retorted Wave Man. “I’d like to see you do half as well under water!”

“Well I’d like to see you do half as well underground!” roared Drill Man. 

 “Oh, you want to see my try?”

“Yeah! I would!”

Sonic elbowed Mega Man. “You think they’re actually gonna fight each other?”

Megaman shook his head. “I don’t know. Though something is strange with all of this.”

“Why’s that?” asked Sonic as the two Robot Masters continued to argue.

“They’re too weak,” said Mega Man.

“What?”

“They’re too weak. They should be more powerful than this. It’s like Wily sent cut rate versions of the usual Robot Masters. Did he run out of time to make them or something?” said Mega Man. “The fight should be a whole lot more intense.”

“HEY! WHO ARE YOU CALLING CUT RATE?!?!?” bellowed Wave Man, pointing at Mega Man.

“You! He’s calling you cut rate!” said Sonic.

“HOW DARE YOU!” screamed Drill Man. “I’M NOT CUT RATE, YOU ARE!”

“Umm….”

“THAT’S IT! NOW YOU’RE REALLY IN FOR IT!” howled Wave Man. He rushed at Mega Man, shooting his harpoon and his water cannon.

“Leaf Shield!” shouted Mega Man. A number of leaves appeared around him, deflecting the harpoon and water shots.

Sonic rushed at Drill Man with a Spin Dash and bowled him over. He jumped into the air and landed a flying kick as he dropped to the ground.

“Gah! I’m getting you for that!” shouted Drill Man as he tried to climb to his feet.

Sonic began Spin Dashing again but began charging his attack this time.

“Super Spin Dash!” he shouted as a faint blue aura began forming around him. He slammed into Drill Man’s chassis and shot out the other side, a blue trail behind him.

“Drill Man!” shouted Wave Man in a panic.

“Crash Bomber!” shouted Mega Man, shooting an explosive at Wave Man. It stuck to the Robot Master on contact.

“No!” shouted Wave Man. Mega Man fired two more Crash Bombers at Wave Man before all three exploded into one massive fireball.

Mega Man lowered his arm cannon as pieces of Wave Man tumbled to the ground. A blue blur slowed down to reveal Sonic coming to a running stop next to him.

“Hey! Not too bad! You’re pretty good at this!”

Mega Man grinned. “It’s my job. Can you go help out the others? I’m gonna look at these Robot Masters, see if I can learn something about them. Something seems off.”

Sonic flashed a thumbs up. “No problem, buddy!”

And with that, he dashed off. 

Bowser breathed a plume of fire as Napalm Man fired a barrage of homing missiles at him. The fire intercepted the missiles and caused them to explode, obscuring the area in smoke. K Rool took cover behind Bowser and returned fire with his blunderbuss. Needle Man shot several needles at Bowser, who bared his claws and knocked them aside. Bowser pulled himself into his shell and whirled his way at Napalm Man.

“Whirling Fortress!”

Napalm Man fired more missiles at Bowser, but they exploded harmlessly on his shell and he was sent flying as Bowser crashed into him. Needle Man shot another barrage of needles at K Rool, who rolled out of the way. Landing on his feet, and slinging his blunderbuss over his shoulder, he rushed at Needle Man on all fours. Needle Man stepped back a few steps, before brandishing the needles on his arms and head, and rushing at K Rool. K Rool, seeing this, raised his arms and caught Needle Man by the arms holding him back.

“Grrr…I won’t lose!” grunted Needle Man as he tried to overpower K Rool.

K Rool shifted his weight on one leg and sidestepped quickly, letting Needle Man go.

Needle Man stumbled forward several steps. K Rool lunged for him, claws at the ready, but Needle Man recovered his balance and managed to avoid K Rool with a quick roll. He fired a few spikes as he walked in a wide circle, rounding his way back to where Napalm Man had backed off to. The other Robot Master was still shooting missiles at Bowser to little effect. Needle Man continued to shoot spikes as K Rool blocked them with swipes of his claws. A few of the spikes bounced off K Rool’s chestplate, having escaped the claws but doing no harm to him.

Bowser skidded to a halt near K Rool. “Hah! You think that’s enough to beat me?” he shouted.

“If you think that’s all I’ve got, you’re sadly mistaken!” shouted Napalm Man.

K Rool relaxed slightly as Bowser retorted, “If you think that’s all I’ve got then you’re sadly mistaken!”

He turned to K Rool. “Eh? What’s with you letting that guy live for so long?”

“I’m just curious to see how long spiky guy is gonna waste time shooting those needles at me. I don’t think he’s actually got anything that can hurt me,” said K Rool loudly so that Needle Man would hear him.

“I’m more than powerful enough to kill you! And don’t you forget it!” roared Needle Man, clearly irritated by the comment.

“Right. Of course,” muttered K Rool. He turned to Bowser. “Anyway, let’s finish these jokers off. I don’t have all day.”

“Hah! Good old K Rool! Straight and to the point. Let’s do this!” said Bowser enthusiastically. He rushed towards Napalm Man, who had been watching him carefully. He began firing missiles at Bowser. To his noticeable surprise, Bowser began zig zagging to avoid the missiles. K Rool allowed himself a small smile. He had an image to keep and a level of professionalism he needed to stick to, especially due to his former reputation and the former reputation of the Kremlings, but watching people react to Bowser’s surprising level of agility never got old.

Napalm Man activated a thruster on his back to avoid Bowser, who had jumped forward to tackle him. Napalm Man got his feet under him and tried to fire more missiles, but Bowser just pulled himself into his shell and began whirling, letting the missiles harmlessly explode on his shell.

K Rool caught a flash out of the corner of his eye and sidestepped a few spikes from Needle Man. K Rool unslung his blunderbuss again and fired several cannonballs at Needle Man. The Robot Master hurled precise barrages of needles in return, countering the cannonballs. Needle Man then lowered his head and began rushing at K Rool like a bull.

“Spiky Rush!”

K Rool pushed a button on his arm and two helicopter rotors deployed from a backpack he was wearing. He jumped in the air and activated the rotors, just avoiding Needle Man’s charge. He guided himself to where Needle Man began to slow down. He deactivated the rotors and landed with a massive belly flop.

“Crocodile Crusher!”

He landed belly first on Needle Man, smashing him beneath his weight. K Rool got to his feet and jumped into the air again. There was nothing wrong with doing it again just to be sure that he destroyed the Robot Master. 

“Crocodile Crusher!”

Needle Man attempted to roll over and shoot needles at K Rool as he shot down towards him, but the Robot Master was too badly damaged to properly move, and he was crushed underneath the Kremling.

K Rool looked up to see Naplam Man use the rocket on his back to boost out of the way of Bowser’s fire breath. The Robot Master stopped to fire missiles as Bowser rushed at him. Napalm Man tried to dodge, but Bowser was already on top of him. Bowser grabbed Napalm Man and jumped into the air.

“Flying Slam!”

Bowser landed on Napalm Man with a heavy impact. Bowser jumped into the air again.

“Bowser Bomb!”

As Bowser impacted Napalm Man, a massive explosion from Napalm Man’s reserved rockets engulfed them. As the smoke cleared. K Rool could see Bowser getting up.

“Hey! You’re done too!” said Bowser. “You beat me to the punch!”

K Rool grinned. “I guess I did.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” said Bowser. “Let’s go finish off the other ones and let’s get out of here!”

Yoshi tensed for a moment, as did DK. The Robot Masters took a fighting stance. Looking to his side, Yoshi could see the Robot Masters each squaring off against the other smashers. He clenched his fists and waited for his opponents to move.

Dive Man suddenly fired several missiles out of his chest at Yoshi. Ring Man followed it up by hurling his rings as well. Yoshi pulled himself into an egg and rolled out of the way of the attacks and burst out to see Dive Man charging straight at him. Yoshi ducked aside, as DK stepped forward and began grappling with the robot.

Suddenly, Ring Man was rushing at him again, slashing at Yoshi with his bladed throwing rings. Yoshi dodged the strike, and managed to catch Ring Man with his tongue, swallowing him and pooping out an egg. He picked up the egg and hurled it at Dive Man, who was stumbling backwards, having gotten the worse end of the encounter with DK. The two collided, and landed hard, rolling a few feet each.

Yoshi took the opening to reach into his pocket, pull out a Dash Pepper, and gulp it down. He felt a new surge of energy rush through him as his skin turned red from the effects of the pepper. Dive Man, back on his feet, fired another barrage of missiles at Yoshi. This time, Yoshi dashed through the barrage of missiles at an amazing speed and landed a flurry of kicks to Dive Man’s face, knocking him back down. He ducked under Ring Man’s throwing rings and caught the Robot Master with his tongue, dragging him towards him. At the last second, Yoshi let go and landed a powerful headbutt to Ring Man’s face, dodging the rings as they returned to Ring Man. Apparently, they acted as boomerangs as well? Yoshi looked to his side and saw Dive Man aiming his rocket launcher at him. He backflipped over a pair of missiles and landed about a few meters away. The two Robot Masters got to their feet as Yoshi backed up to where DK was.

“C’mon! We’re better than this! We can’t just these Smashers beat us!” yelled Ring Man at his partner.

“Hey! Why aren’t you doing any better! You’re the one specially designed for combat!” growled Dive Man.

“And you’re the one with missiles who can’t beat an unarmed dinosaur and an unarmed monkey!” hissed Ring Man.

Yoshi took the moment to catch his breath. “How are you doing against that other guy?” he asked DK.

“Not too bad,” said DK. “You’re cracking out your powerups already – do you want to switch?”

Yoshi paused for a second. He’d gotten carried away because he was nervous and rushed for the attack. Yoshi shook his head. “I’m just rushed and little tired after hiking earlier today.”

“You sure?” asked DK.

“Yeah, I got this. Don’t worry about me,” said Yoshi.

“All right, let me know if you need a hand,” said DK, stepping up. Yoshi sighed. He probably shouldn’t be fighting quite as aggressively as he was. But at least he hadn’t gotten hurt. He turned to his pocket and quickly grabbed a watermelon slice, before chucking it into his mouth. He noted that his skin had returned to its usual green hue. Looked like his Dash Pepper powerup had run out. He turned his focus back to the two Robot Masters.

“All right, you go for the monkey, I’ll go for the dinosaur, does that work, your highness?” yelled Dive Man in a frustrated rage.

“As long as you don’t screw it up!” yelled Ring Man back at him.

Yoshi grinned. The longer they kept fighting each other, the better.

“Look! They’re laughing at us! Get them!” shouted Ring Man.

Dive Man moved first, firing a barrage of rockets at Yoshi, as Ring Man moved right to contest DK. Yoshi spat a stream of juice, knocking the rockets off course as DK lunged forward to engage Ring Man in hand to hand combat. Ring Man hurled his ring boomerangs at DK, trying to slow him down. They missed, but continued to fly towards Yoshi, who to spit juice at one, successfully knocking it out of the air, while dodging the other. However, as he did, Dive Man charged towards him, thrusters on his back propelling him forward. Yoshi tried to stop him by spitting juice, but it wasn’t enough, and he took the brunt of the attack to his face.

Clambering back to his feet and shaking the ringing out of his ears, he pulled himself into an egg and rolled towards Dive Man, who had managed to stop himself.

“Egg Roll!”

Dive Man side stepped Yoshi in turn, who popped out of the egg and spat juice at him again.

“Gah! Stop doing that!” shouted Dive Man, shooting more missiles.

Yoshi began rushing at him and jumped in the air, kicking him in the face. Dive Man crashed to the ground but continued to fire rockets. Yoshi jumped to avoid the rockets, Flutter Kicking to stay in the air for a little longer and landed near Dive Man as the Robot Master also pulled himself to his feet.

Yoshi took a different stance as Dive Man raised his rocket launchers. He dashed forward and stuck his tongue out, catching Dive Man. He jerked the Robot Master towards him, throwing him off balance.

“Yoshi Combo!”

Yoshi lowered his head and landed a mighty headbutt to Dive Man’s chest as he stumbled toward him. He followed it with a powerful kick, then jumped in the air and battered Dive Man to the ground with a Flutter Kick barrage to the face. Yoshi jumped in the air again, righted himself and finished the combo with a Yoshi Bomb.

The attack struck Dive Man in the chest, causing him to explode.

Yoshi pulled himself to his feet to see DK bat aside Ring Man’s rings with a backhand, and begin swinging his arm in circles.

“Giant Punch!” shouted DK. The titanic punch slammed into Ring Man’s chassis, causing him to shatter to pieces.

DK rubbed his fist. “Ugh, punching metal objects isn’t as great as they make it out to be! It’s just like punching a palm tree only to find that there’s no coconuts on it! You put in the work, but all you’re left with are bruised knuckles and a feeling of disappointment!”

Yoshi just chuckled and shook his head. DK and his fruit metaphors.

Yoshi looked around as the others began to walk up to them, having defeated their respective Robot Masters. Yoshi looked around again. Something seemed off about the room. Suddenly, it hit him.

“Uh, guys? Where did that portal go?” he asked.

The others looked around. There was decidedly no portal in the room. Otherwise, the room looked like a dead end. The only entrance to the room was the stairway that they had descended on the way in. Mario pulled out his R-47 scanner.

“No readings. Must have been that portal.”

“So that was it? Nothing else?” asked K Rool in surprise.

Megaman’s eyes turned blue and he looked around the area. “I think this is it. I’m seeing nothing with X Ray vision. This is very strange, though. Dr. Wily never does this. His bases are always very fortified. Never thrown together like this.”

Mario nodded in agreement. “You’re right. This is strange. You sure you don’t see anything else, Megaman?”

“No, I don’t see anything. Not even anything that could be mistaken as an anomaly in the terrain.”

“Hmm……This is strange. Let’s take a quick look around, and make sure that there’s nothing about this place. Wily even took all of his computers,” said Mario.

“It’s like they made this place intentionally cheap,” said DK. “I’ve never seen such a shoddy base in my life,”

“Yeah. Even I would put more effort into a base, even if I was short on resources,” said K Rool.

Yoshi sniffed the air, but it didn’t detect anything else. DK pounded on the ground a little in search of a hollow noise that would indicate underground passage, and Megaman continued to scan the area. Sonic even ran outside and surveyed the area for anything that might resemble a hidden entrance. After some time, they returned to the middle of the room, having turned up nothing. Mario rubbed his moustache as the others waited expectantly.

“Well, this was quite unusual. If anyone thinks there’s anything else, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

After a few moments of silence, Mario said, “Well, that might just be it. I say we head back for now. There’s clearly nothing more for us here.”

The Smashers made their way back up to the surface and onto K Rool’s ship.

Yoshi sighed as he stepped back onto gangplank of K Rool’s ship. He was exhausted. He leaned on the railing, surveying the base as K Rool returned to the helm. Surely, he hadn’t missed something, right? The motors revved to life and the rotors on the mast picked up speed. 

As the ship took off, he cast one last glance at Lonely Isle as he turned to make his way to the lower decks.

“Goodbye,” he thought. “Goodbye and good riddance.”  

Chapter Text

Link of Hyrule

Threat Level: 5

Link of Hyrule is the Champion of the Hylians. He is a jack of many trades, master of a few. Those few include swordsmanship, archery, and tactical maneuvering. Though this should not take away from Link’s other skills, which range from combative skills like spearmanship and explosives to non combative skills like cooking and wood carving. If it’s a skill that could reasonably be learned by a Hylian, Link probably has some skill in it. It should be noted that his Master Sword is also made of Haxium, and was originally wielded by the Hylian hero Groose during the Second Subspace War. Additionally, it appears that Link is in possession of a Fairy Pouch, a pouch that allows for the storage of many items. It is unknown whether this is an extradimensional dimension or not, but this pouch allows for the storage of items that are several times larger than it. While the exact mechanics are unknown, note that Link can pull out a number of items and weapons out of it in very little time, much faster then the IDD used by many other Smashers. On top of all this, Link is known for his ability to keep fighting even while injured. Link is most notably reported to have defeated Ganondorf one time with a broken leg and three broken ribs. This alone is testament to how tough of a fighter Link is, and his stamina, durability and pain tolerance is not to be underestimated. Finally, Link is equipped with the Sheikah Gauntlet, a weapon developed by the Sheikah tribe. While the technology is very unique due to its place of origin, its functional properties include some sort of stasis attack, fire, wind, ice and electric attacks, what appears to be magnetic field manipulation, a defensive dome style shield and a powerful laser beam. While this alone would make any average fighter quite dangerous, it is catastrophically lethal in the hands of Link.

To fight Link, one must be ready to deal with a powerful but versatile swordsman. His most commonly seen supplementary weapons include a bow and specialty arrows, bombs, a boomerang, a hookshot, and of course his Sheikah Glove. Link has also been observed using other weapons not listed here, so beware that he could pull out something different then what’s listed here. The best counter I’ve been able to identify is attempting to use electricity against him, as his shield and any armor he’s wearing will be made of conductive metals. Another possible tactic would be disarming him, just know that Link is the type to have a fall back plan for that. If everything else fails, a last ditch effort option may be to send several strong fighters at Link, one at a time. While his stamina borderlines on superhuman, he will tire eventually, though this method will likely result in several casualties.

Sheik

Threat Level: ???

Very little is known about the warrior known as Sheik. The only concrete facts that I was able to uncover about this Smasher was that he is a master of martial arts and wields a short sword. However, what limited knowledge that is available of the Sheikah may shed some light on him. The Sheikah are a group of shadowy warriors and assassins known for their stealth and efficiency in their service to the Hylian Royal Family. They are known to practice swordsmanship, martial arts and marksmanship with thrown weapons and various smoke bombs.

While it is unknown if Sheik has any special abilities, no great showings of strength have ever been shown. As such, all that can be recommended is to keep a close eye on one’s surroundings if one suspects that Sheik is known to be in the area. It is common Sheikah practice to use ambush tactics. Additionally, the Sheikah in general are not known for extremely powerful attacks, so sufficient armor may nullify enough of her attacks. Finally, it is also possible that Sheik is a high ranking Sheikah who formerly guarded one of the members of the Hyrule Royal Family. This should be noted in the event that it is necessary to target King Roham II or his sister, Princess Zelda.

I apologize that this bio is very incomplete. Most of my information comes from known facts and speculation from the Super Smash Bros fan website Smash Bros Profiles. Between the fact that Sheik is not a popular and well known hero and the general mystery surrounding him, there was precious little information. Furthermore, all other attempts to find information elsewhere proved fruitless. If any more information is discovered, please relay it to me so that I can add it to Sheik’s bio. 

I also apologize for the lack of a rating. However, it is very difficult to rate the power of a Smasher on which there is so little data.

Link of the Forest People (aka “Young Link”)

Threat Level: 3

Young Link is a Kokiri and the champion of the Forest People, a collection of various forest races under the leadership of the Great Fairy. Young Link is equipped with a sword and shield, and has been spotted using a bow, boomerang, bombs, a slingshot, and Deku sticks. He seems to store them in a Fairy Pouch. However, this is not what makes Young Link an imposing warrior. Young Link is dangerous as he is in the possession of several transformative masks. Upon wearing one of these masks, Young Link will transform into a different combat oriented body. This is where his combat prowess truly shines. Young Link has been spotted transforming into the following forms: Goron, Zora, Rito, and Wolf. It is unknown if Young Link possesses any other masks or where he even gets them from, though it would seem to be a safe assumption to say that he got them from the Great Fairy.

To counter Young Link, one must take into account the form that he’s currently in. If he is in his Kokiri form, remember that he is still a Kokiri and is stuck with the body of a child. The lack of physical strength and reach will be easily exploitable weaknesses for one to take advantage of. One strategy that may prove useful here is to catch Young Link while he is switching masks. Not only will he be in his Kokiri form, it opens an opportunity to destroy the masks and limit his transforming power. I’ll briefly list a summary and counters for his other forms here. The Goron form is strong, but is not particularly fast and is likely bad in an aquatic environment. The Zora form will most likely come out in an aquatic battlefield to allow for faster swimming and better aquatic maneuvering, but this form will likely be weak to electric attacks. The Rito form can fly and will grant enhanced eyesight, but damaging the wings/arms will seriously cripple him. Finally, the Wolf form can be dispatched like any other animal. It is most likely best to combat Young Link with a fighter who is flexible in combat and who can deal with a number of varied fighting methods. Fail to keep up and you’ll be bringing the wrong approach for whichever form he’s taken.  

Act 3: Young Link

Chapter 1: Minuet of Forest

Young Link looked to the sky from one of the peaks of Hyrule Castle, watching the western skies with focused vigilance. He’d been up there for nearly an hour while wearing his Rito mask, using the enhanced eyesight granted to him to watch for their incoming allies. It was noticeably colder on the highest terraces of Hyrule Castle’s towering spires, and the winds were usually stronger. A shape on the horizon caught his eye. He stood up, peering into the distance. No, it was just a bird. Another false alarm. He sat back down on the edge of the wall.

“Anything yet?”

“Nothing yet, Linkle.”

“They’re late.”

“They still have another eight minutes to get here on time.”

“Well they’d better hurry up! They’re flying and barely making it on time! Link’s getting antsy too, you know!” Linkle muttered, peering into her telescope.

Young Link sank into silence, as he continued gazing from his perch. He shouldn’t have been worried. With a calm temperance and the wisdom of the sages from all of the various peoples of Hyrule, King Roham II would surely make wise decisions should anything bad happen. From what Young Link had been told, he was just like his father, King Roham I, before the former king had been slain by Ganondorf. Then, there were the Champions, the greatest warriors of their races. Although they’d be short two champions should he and Link be absent with the Smashers, Young Link knew that they’d put up a tremendous fight to anyone who dared to challenge their might. Daruk and Urbosa in particular were known to be forces of nature when cornered, and Impa, Mipha and Revali were not to be taken lightly either. He would know, as Champion of the Kokiri. Link did too, as Champion of the Hylians. And that was to also ignore the other notable warriors of Hyrule, like Linkle, Prince Sidon, Sage Darunia, and Chief Darbus, among many others. There was nothing to worry about, right?

“Hey! You see that?” said Linkle suddenly. She pointed in a more southwesterly direction then Young Link had been watching. Young Link turned his gaze and got to his feet again. Sure enough, two winged shapes were making their way towards the castle.

“You think it’s them?” asked Young Link.

“Dunno, who else has a stupid looking Guardian arm thing that doesn’t do anything useful?” asked Linkle as she folded up her telescope carefully.

“You should be more respectful. Indigo’s Snag Machine isn’t useless.”

“Yeah, sure…..”

Young Link smirked as he stepped up onto the balcony.

“I know. Race you down!”

He jumped off the edge.

“Hey! That’s cheating!” shouted Linkle, before dashing for the stairs.

Young Link let himself freefall for a few seconds, before opening his wings, and slowing his fall as he glided downwards. He saw Linkle dash at breakneck speed past the guards towards Link, where he stood in the courtyard. He landed next to them, just as Linkle dashed up.

“Oh c’mon! Flying is cheating!”

Young Link laughed, pulling off his Rito Mask, and reverting back into Kokiri form.

“We saw them on the horizon. They’re almost here,” said Young Link. Link looked at his watch and nodded.

“Four minutes early. Not bad.”

As he said that, a rushing of wind was heard above them, and Red, Green, Blue and Indigo landed in the courtyard on the backs of two Tropius. Blue and Red clambered off the backs of one, while Indigo and Green scrambled off the back of another. Blue and Indigo each recalled their respective Tropius back into their Pokeballs.

“Hey! How’s everyone?” asked Red cheerily.

Young Link grinned. “Doing all right! We need a minute – Sheik got delayed.”

“Ok, that works,” said Red. “We don’t mind getting to stretch our legs. How much farther do we need to go to get to Lost Woods?” asked Red.

Young Link said, “It’s an hour trip to Kokiri Forest by Loftwing. We’ll have to go on foot from there. The forest is too dense to fly any farther and have a spot to land. Are you sure your flying Pokemon are ok?”

“We have more flying Pokemon with us,” said Blue. “We’ll fly with our other Flying types while our Tropius rest.”

“Yup,” said Indigo, recalling his Tropius and sending out a Skarmory. “You ready to go, Striker?”

Striker spread his wings and cawed loudly. Blue fondly patted his head.  

Young Link nodded. Blue and Indigo tended to prepare well in advance. Maybe it was because they were only married couple in which both lovebirds were Smashers? Young Link wasn’t sure if that was why they were always so prepared. Maybe it was something else? He really didn’t know. 

“Sounds like you’re prepared! We’ll leave once Sheik gets here,” he said.

“That sounds good,” said Green. He released his Charizard, before deploying a berry and handing it to the Pokemon. The Hylians watched in amusement as the fire type gobbled up the berry with delight.

 Link turned to one of the guards.

“Bring out the Loftwings. We’ll take wing soon.”

“Right away, sir!” said the soldier.

Young Link smiled as Red released his Aerodactyl. The prehistoric Pokemon shuffled up to him with a cry of delight. Young Link patted him on the head. He liked to fly just as much as Young Link did. As the two most senior Smashers who could fly at high speeds while unassisted by technology, Red and Young Link were often paired together, as it was often dangerous to fly alone on missions. This had forged a fast friendship between the Kokiri and the Pokemon Trainer. Young Link chuckled as the Aerodactyl licked his face.

“Whoa now, Aero!” said Red.

Aero screeched grumpily at Red. Young Link just laughed.

“Anyway, how are you, Young Link?” said Red.

Young Link opened his mouth to answer, but a quiet voice behind him said, “He’s doing all right. How have you been Red?”

Young Link jumped and whirled around to see Sheik leaning against the wall behind him.

“Gah! Don’t do that!”

Sheik just patted him on the head as Red laughed at his expense. Young Link glared at her. Sheik just smirked. Not that Young Link could see her smirking, but the way her eyes crinkled told him that she was smirking. What could he say? He knew Sheik pretty well. Well, he knew Zelda well. Sheik was just one of her many alter egos, though it held a special place as her dedicated combat alter ego and the only publicly recognizable alter ego. It was Sheik and not Zelda who was officially part of the Smashers, though public details on Sheik were scarce, and all of the adult Smashers knew of Sheik’s true identity. The other alter egos were used for Zelda’s usual role, deep infiltration. It was a skill she’d picked up during Ganondorf’s multiple invasions of Hyrule as a means of self-preservation, now repurposed to crime fighting and assisting law enforcement agencies across the galaxy.

“Ah, I’ve been doing all right,” said Red. “Kanto’s been pretty uneventful.”

“I suppose that’s a good thing,” said Sheik.

“You bet it is!” said Red. “By the way, is there a courtyard or something I could go to? I’d kinda like to let my Pokemon warm up a little before we go.”

Sheik pointed at Young Link and said, “He can show you. I need to speak with Link.”

“Oh, convenient timing much?” said Young Link. Sheik just chuckled and walked off. Young Link shook his head. “Anyway, come with me. There’s a place that isn’t too far from here.” 

Half an hour later, the Smashers took off from Hyrule Castle. After landing in Ordon Village, and letting Link chat with the mayor, the Smashers headed in a southeasterly direction through the forest on an overgrown and poorly marked path. As they walked down the path, they passed many densely packed trees and low hanging branches. Young Link moved with a silent, grim demeanor. This was his path home. The fight had come to his own backyard, and he intended on fighting. After some time, they reached a lone bridge spanning a wide gorge. On the other side of the gorge, the trees grew even more thickly. Waiting for them on the bridge was a green haired girl who appeared to be the same age as Young Link.

“Hey Saria!”

“Hi Link. I see you’ve brought your allies. Allow me to welcome you all to the Forest Sanctuary. The Great Fairy sends her regards.”

“Thank you, Sage Saria,” said Green respectfully.

“C’mon Saria, you don’t have to that formal,” said Young Link.

“All right. Hi Link and Link. Did you not bring Link with you?” she said facing Young Link and Link.

Red burst out laughing. Green and Indigo cracked a smile and Sheik and Blue chuckled under their breath. Young Link only rolled his eyes. This was typical Saria.

“Toonie’s far enough away that we had Rosalina pick him up and take him to the mansion,” said Young Link. “It would have taken him nearly a week to sail here with Tetra.”

“Well, let’s be on our way. The Great Fairy was most anxious that this be dealt with,” said Saria.

“You’re such a demanding boss,” joked Young Link as they began to make their way through Kokiri Forest. “Where is the Great Fairy by the way? Still at the Great Fairy Fountain?”

“She had left to plant another Great Deku Tree. You know that spot near the waterfall east of Hyrule Field?”

“Yeah. I remember. I scouted out that place.” Young Link remembered the place well. The forest in the area had been heavily cut down for logs during the war but had been left behind when Castle Town had been relocated northward.

“When the news arrived, we had just left. She gave me instructions to take charge while she was gone and to evacuate the forest in case of an emergency.”

“It sounds like planting a new Great Deku Tree is a big deal,” said Red.

“It is. The Great Deku Trees serve many purposes. They act as leaders away from the Great Fairy Fountain, and they are places of refuge during crisis. They also help the forest expand.”

“It’s really an interesting place!” said Blue, looking around. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an interesting mixture of people living together.”

“Yes. The Great Fairy has worked very hard to make sure all are included. We Kokiri live in harmony alongside the Faries, Deku Scrubs, and Koroks,” said Saria. “This settlement is the main place where Kokiri live due to our……unusual circumstances. Though most Kokiri live with a fairy.”

She turned to stare emphatically at Young Link.

“Hey! Navi left of her own accord after Ganondorf’s invasion! The others that were taken in needed Fairies, and I didn’t need to have one!” It was true. Many of the existing Kokiri and their guardian fairies had agreed to let the newcomers have guardian fairies during Ganondorf’s invasion. Young Link and Navi had been one such duo who had made that decision. Navi came to visit rather frequently, so it wasn’t that big of a deal for Young Link though.

“I know, I just love busting your chops.”

“You’re centuries old, and you still act like a little kid,” grumbled Young Link good naturedly.

“Hey now, I’m just under one and a half centuries old, thank you very much! You should respect your elders more, Mr. Quarter Century!”

“That’s right, little brother, respect your elders!” said Link jokingly.

“How many times do I need to remind you that you’re only a few minutes older than me?” asked Young Link. “You’re my twin brother!”

“An infinite amount of times, little brother.”

“Wait…..you’re twins?” asked Red, confused. “I thought you were older and younger brothers.”

“Yeah. Wait……what does the word Kokiri mean to you?” asked Young Link.

“Uh……A Hylian word for child?” asked Red. “I assume that’s not correct?”

“No…..A Kokiri is……well was a Hylian child who was taken in by the Great Fairy, and transformed into a eternal child. To protect the Kokiri, the Great Fairy has prevented us from aging,” said Young Link.

“So that’s how you’re 25 years old and also…..uh….” said Blue.

“Physically 10 years old? Yeah. I get that reaction a lot,” said Young Link.

“Wait…..so you never get old?” asked Indigo.

“And never get sick! It’s great!” said Saria.

“So……you basically can’t die?” asked Green.

“Not by natural causes. You could kill a Kokiri in any normal way, just not with sickness or old age, basically,” said Young Link matter of factly.

“So, you’re older than gramps,” said Green.

“If he’s under 147 years old, then yeah!” said Saria.

“He’s 74.”

“Wow! He’s pretty young to be a grandpa! I’m not even a mom yet! I’m only just a sage!” said Saria.

Young Link rolled his eyes, as the others tried to laugh politely. “She uses that one on everybody, don’t feel bad.” Saria tried. She really did. But she did need better material.

“Although, it gets really annoying when everybody thinks I’m just a child! I’m older than all of these ‘adults’, you know!” grumbled Saria. “The sage life isn’t as great as everybody says it is!”

“Here she goes again,” mumbled Young Link.

“Sure, being an advisor to the King and all is great, but literally nobody respects you because you’re short and look like a kid! Oh well, at least I don’t have to run for reelection like Raaru and Nabooru do. I’m just appointed by the Great Fairy!”

“Sages are just advisors to the king? I thought they were supposed to have some sort of powers?” asked Blue.

“The sages of old did. Nowadays we’re basically advisors appointed by our people to advise the king. Each group or tribe gets one representative to help the King make better decisions, especially with regards to their people. Although Fado and I tag team the sage position for the Forest People. We alternate with each other every year. It’s…..not good for a Kokiri to be away from the forest for too long.”

Blue nodded her head and said, “That makes sense.”

“So, Link wasn’t taken in by the Great Fairy then?” asked Red.

“Our parents were both slain during the Hyrulean Civil War, and my brother and I were separated in the chaos,” said Young Link. “We were toddlers at the time. Link was eventually found by our uncle. I was eventually found by Fado and ended up here.”

Link nodded in agreement.

Young Link narrowed his eyes. “You know, you and Sheik need to talk more!”

Link only raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yes, I know I do a better job than you, but I’m tired of doing all the talking! Nobody respects the short guy! You need to talk more! And that goes for you too, Sheik!”

“I don’t talk much for a reason,” said Sheik quietly.

“Yeah, I know, but it’s like working with moving statues with you two! Say something every once in a while!”

“Something every once in a while,” said Link.

Everybody laughed at that.

Link chuckled, “You know, you and Saria are awful comfortable with each other. I didn’t know you were into older women, little bro!”

Young Link rolled his eyes, and Saria only giggled.

“Oh, and now you decide to talk. Oh, and uh, Malon? You know, my girlfriend, mister no girlfriend?”

Link gave him a funny look. Suddenly, a realization came to Young Link. “Wait a second…….you’re not……”

Link just grinned.

Young Link gasped. “You’ve finally moved up in the world! My brother is finally not a failure with women! I thought I’d never see the day! Who’s the lucky lady?”

“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” said Link.

“Yup, that’s my brother right there, people!”

Everybody just laughed. They continued chatting, making their way through the winding paths of Kokiri Forest. The place had been greatly expanded since Ganondorf’s invasion due to an influx of dozens of new Kokiri. The various residents of the village looked up from their tasks and stopped their play to stare at the visitors. Young Link waved to some of his friends as he passed through. They waved back, smiles on their faces. Young Link forced a smile back. He hoped that they’d still be smiling once the mission was done and they returned.

After some time, they reached the other side. Saria stopped.

“Anyway, we’re here. Across this bridge is Lost Woods. Good luck out there, Smashers.”

“You know, I know they way through my own home town. You didn’t have to take us,” said Young Link.

“I know. It was just a good opportunity to see you, since I’ve been in Castle Town for the last several months.”

“Yeah. It was good to see you, Saria.”

“You too. And Link? Stop worrying. It’ll get you killed out there,” said Saria.

Young Link just coughed awkwardly. Link grinned and patted his head.

“I’m not that worried! Not any more than you are, Saria! Gah, stop patronizing me!”

“You’re talking more than your usual talkative self. You’re nervous. Don’t be. You’re the Kokiri Champion! You’ve faced bigger things before.”

“All right. I’ll stop worrying. See you later, Saria.”

“See you later, Link. Good luck out there.”

After some time walking through the forest, following Indigo and his R-47 sensor, Young Link was starting to wonder if something was wrong at all.  There was nothing different about the greenish haze that blanketed the forest itself year-round, and the place overall had always had a bit of an eerie feel to it. It had become quite the comfort to Young Link over the years. It had a strange peacefulness and yet an unsettling feel as well. Lost Woods was always a place of contradictions, and it was a place that Young Link never found old. The forest itself stretched for miles and miles of uncharted wilderness, and many a reckless adventurer who had gone missing had never been found, even by the best Kokiri trackers.  It was dangerous, even for the enhanced senses of a Kokiri or Hylian. But Young Link knew this neck of the woods quite well, which was why he was there.

Next to him, Indigo nearly tripped over a fallen tree branch as he intently stared at the R-47 scanner in his hands. Blue managed to catch him.

“Watch your step, eh?”

“Thanks.”

“What does the scanner say?” asked Sheik.

“It’s over 9000!” chuckled Indigo.

There was an awkward silence.

“Sorry hun, you need to stop using those obscure refrences,” sighed Blue.

Indigo sighed. “Oh well. Signal’s still strong from the west. Looks like we’re within half a kilometer.”

The other Pokemon trainers grabbed their Pokeballs quickly.

“You could have said something earlier!” said Red.

“Well the signal is kinda spotty!” groused Indigo. “These woods are weird man! I can’t get a signal out here, my Shadow Scanner keeps showing weird error messages for stuff that I know isn’t broken because I checked it before we left, and the compass on the scanner is literally spinning in circles! No wonder they call this place Lost Woods! This is exactly the kind of place you don’t want to be out in after dark!”

“Says the guy who goes into the worst parts of town in the middle of the night with no fear……” mumbled Red.

“Hey, I’d rather risk the gangs at the black market! You can at least predict what they’re going to do!”

“Yeah right……” muttered Green. “And anyway, what if we were to get ambushed?”

“Sheik’s a ninja, Link’s half ninja, Young Link’s probably got a ninja mask, and you know what Blue and I usually do. We’ll be fine!” said Indigo.

Link and Sheik chuckled quietly.

“Hey! My Sheikah Mask counts!” said Young Link.

“Suuuuure…….” snickered Link.

Sheik rolled her eyes. “I’ve heard cattle stampedes quieter than you.”

“No, that’s Toon Link and Tetra. You know, with the Bombchu Battalion strategy?” said Young Link.

“Hmm…..I won’t argue with you on that one. Those two are the definition of loud and proud,” conceded Sheik.  “But they can be sneaky when they want to. You always sound like an overweight Goron walking through a pile of dry brush.”

“Uh, Goron Mask, hello?”

Sheik shrugged. “Fair enough.”

Indigo suddenly stopped. “Ok, we’re within a quarter kilometer due west.”

Young Link paused for a moment. “I think I know where it is. You can put away the scanner for the moment. Follow me.”

Young Link led them in a westerly direction over an increasingly steep incline. After several minutes of hard climbing, they reached the top of the hill. Just in front of them looked to be a steep valley in the middle of the plateau that they had just climbed.

“Meteor Valley. The plateau here was hit by a meteor a long time ago, creating a giant valley in the middle of this plateau. It would be a great place to hide away. Even us Kokiri don’t come here often,” said Young Link as they walked up to the edge of the valley.

His breath hitched as they came to the edge. The forest had been absolutely destroyed within the valley. The ground itself had been turned into a disgusting mess of what looked like sludge from the top of the ridgeline. There were circles of massive, cracked open eggs situated in clusters around in the sludge. In the side of the valley was a large metal wall with a large observation window, and next to it, a small metal door.

Indigo pulled out his R-47 scanner.

“Yeah, this is it. Readings are spiking. Good call, Young Link.”

Chapter Text

Pokemon Trainer General Info:

The four Pokedex Holders that are part of the Super Smash Bros are quite the formidable group, either together or by themselves. Hailing from the planet of Pokeana, these trainers include Red, Green, Blue, and Indigo. Their coordination, tactics, and versatility with their Pokémon is astounding, making them very powerful threats in battle. I will include general counters as well as specific counters for each member of this group.

Generally, for Pokémon Trainers, the most important thing for one to know is to have basic knowledge of a pokemon’s type strengths and weaknesses. This is extremely important for taking out a pokemon quickly. Using a fire based attack on a water type will be futile, but using a fire based attack on a grass type will be very useful. If you have any questions, please see the type matchup chart in the back of the manual for more information.

As for other tactics, it is advisable to attack the Trainer whenever possible. While their Pokémon are the ones about to obliterate you, all of their coordination and planning comes from the trainer. As such, taking out the trainer is the best option if possible. It should be noted that every single one of the Pokedex holders does have at least Pokémon capable of flight, and they are known to try and escape if need be. Additionally, all of them appear to be proficient hand to hand combatants to varying degrees.  It should also be noted that it is common practice among Pokémon Trainers bring medical supplies for their Pokémon. While not meant for use on other beings, they can be used to good effect on subjects that are not Pokemon in a pinch. Furthermore, it is worth breaking or damaging the activation switches of a Pokémon Trainer’s pokeballs if possible. While this won’t harm either the Trainer or their Pokémon, it does trap a Pokémon in its ball, and prevents the Pokemon from being called out into battle.

Finally, it is customary for Pokemon Trainers to carry a maximum of 6 Pokemon with them. This is the number of Pokemon that’s widely considered to be the maximum one trainer can care for in the field and this number has become the standard of every Pokemon Leauge. While it is known that each Smasher Pokemon Trainer has been spotted commanding more than 6 Pokemon in battle and they have each brought 7 or more Pokemon to major battles in the past, it is likely that most of the time, they carry the standard amount of Pokemon. As such, it may be useful to know how many Pokemon they have on them, should you be able to knock some of them out.

Should we ever invade Pokeana, please consult the Champions, Elite Four, Gym Leaders, Dexholders, and Other notable trainers section in the back of the manual. Pokeana is filled with strong trainers who are supported by a modern supply chain and have modern means of communication widely available. Should an invasion ever occur, they will certainly rally and pose a very serious threat to any operations on the planet, even without the 4 Smasher Dexholders.

Red of Pallet Town:

Threat Level: 4.5

Red is the leader of the Pokemon trainers and is the strongest one of them all, with strength just shy of the highest echelon of powerful smashers. He formerly served as Champion of the Kanto-Johto Pokemon League and has an impressive track record of title defenses against a number of varied of opponents. His administration was remarkably centrist and several surprisingly balanced bills were passed regarding controversial topics in the region. Notably, Red was never defeated, rather, he stepped down from his position to join the Dexholder Initiative, an international peacekeeping unit containing some of the strongest trainers Pokeana has ever produced. The unit was named this way as an overwhelming majority of its members were recruited from Professor Oak’s Pokedex Research Project, and were owners of the original lines of Pokedexes. Red currently serves as one of the field commanders of this unit as well as a Smasher. While Red is a prolific battler, he is no slouch should he be targeted in battle. Red has been spotted using martial arts, nunchucks and ninja weapons, most likely taught to him by Kanto-Johto Elite Four members Koga and Bruno. As a last note, Red’s tactical and charismatic power should not be underestimated. He operated as the Smasher’s lead tactician after Roy was incapacitated during the Subspace Incident of a few years ago and his overall popularity as a Smasher is no accident either. Should the opportunity arise to eliminate Red, it should be taken.

While Red is rightfully considered to be the most dangerous of all the trainers due to his battling prowess, he is not without weaknesses. Red is known to let his guard down outside of battle (see my reports on the Team Rocket Silph Co HQ incident, the Kanto-Johto Elite Four rebellion and the Masked Man and Cipher Incident in the Sevvi Islands) and walking him into a trap is most likely the best way to beat him. Attempting to battle Red in a head on fight is less advisable, as he is known to be a very reactive fighter and will tailor his approach to defeat you specifically. It is also unwise to attempt to use an environmental advantage against him, as he’s been frequently recorded turning such advantages on his enemies. Finally, it may be advisable to attempt to overwhelm him with numbers. While he could send out his entire team, Pokemon trainers usually do not fight with their entire team on the field, and the distraction of trying to coordinate so many Pokemon will most likely cause him to not watch his back. Watch out for his Poliwrath, Venusaur and Pikachu, they are Red’s strongest Pokemon.

Red’s observed Pokemon include Poliwrath (Water/Fighting), Venusaur (Grass/Poison), Pikachu (Electric), Snorlax (Normal), Eevee* (Normal), Aerodactyl (Rock/Flying), and Dugtrio (Ground)

* Red’s Eevee has the unusual ability to be able to evolve to and from its evolutions Flareon, Vaporeon and Leafeon.

Green Oak of Pallet Town

Threat Level: 4

Green is the second strongest trainer of all of the Pokémon trainers, and is the grandson of renowned Pokémon researcher Professor Samuel Oak. He is known for his calm and focused approach to combat, and for training rigorously to improve one’s individual power. He is also known for having trained his Pokemon to be able to fight without him giving commands. This makes Green a formidable foe, especially in single combat and he is a very close second to Red in terms of power. However, it should be noted that Green is much more cautious and calculated when compared to Red. He formerly served as the Gym Leader of Viridian City during which time, he gave away a record low of 87 gym badges over the course of 7 years. As his gym team was significantly weaker than his combat team, this speaks very well to his skill as a trainer. Green is also well versed in martial arts and also in staff combat due to his apprenticeship to the Gym Leader Chuck as a child. I estimate that he is the most proficient of all of the Pokemon Trainers in traditional hand to hand and weapons combat.

Green is not invulnerable by any stretch of the imagination, though, and like all Smashers, he has weaknesses. Green is a person who is very assured in his own strength. While he has this confidence for a reason, his pride and overconfidence has been his downfall in the past (see my 128^th Kanto -Johto  League Grand Tourney Final Four analysis). Furthermore, Green is best in single combat, and while he can battle proficiently with two Pokemon on the field, he has never been seen with more than two Pokemon on the field, even when greatly outnumbered. As such, I can recommend trying to overwhelm Green with numbers. While he will likely fight alongside his Pokemon, he will never have more than two Pokemon out, and it will be easier to outnumber and overwhelm 3 opponents then the other trainers, who are more likely to just send out their entire team. Another tactic I can offer is to try and make him think that he’s stronger than you and then take advantage of the openings he provides. Just do not expect him to be sloppy in any aspect of his fighting technique. You will need to find flaws with the moves themselves, not in his execution of said moves. Be careful of his Charizard and Scizor, as they are his most powerful Pokémon.

Green’s observed Pokemon include Scizor (Bug/Steel), Charizard (Fire/Flying), Rhyperior (Rock/Ground), Pidgeot (Normal/Flying), Machamp (Fighting), Kabutops (Rock/Water), and Persian (Normal)

Act 3: Young Link

Chapter 2: Nocturne of Shadow

“All right, what are we up against?” asked Red.

Indigo activated his Shadow Scanner and surveyed the area.

“Not much other than those eggs. I assume they don’t belong to local creatures?” asked Indigo.

“Absolutely not,” said Young Link. “Never seen anything like this before.”

“Does anybody recognize what they are?” asked Green.

“Dunno, but let’s leave them alone for the moment, we can deal with them later. We should get in the facility and see what’s in there,” said Red.

“All right. How do you propose we get in there? Can your Pokemon fly us down there? The walls are pretty steep for Sheik and Link,” said Young Link, putting on his Rito Mask.

“Yeah, we can give you guys a lift,” said Red, releasing his Aerodactyl. “Aero! Time to fly!”

“Charizard!” shouted Green, releasing his Pokemon.

“Striker!” shouted Indigo, releasing his Skarmory.

“Jiggly!” said Blue, releasing her Jigglypuff.

Charizard picked up Link, and Aero picked up Sheik, while Blue and Indigo clambered on top of their respective Pokemon. It was only a short glide down to the floor of the valley near where the door was situated, but the difference of environment was immediately noticeable at the bottom of the valley.

“What is this? It looks like rotting meat……..”said Green, poking at the ground.

 “It stinks horribly too……” said Young Link.

“I never knew so many flies existed!” exclaimed Red, swatting at the cloud of insects that swarmed over his head.

 “Let’s just get ourselves inside,” said Indigo, holding his nose. He went up to the door and found an outlet in the control panel.

“Dux! You’re up!” he said.

A Porygon Z leapt out of the emitter of his Snag Machine. It turned around, let out a cry, and entered the outlet. A few moments later, the door opened.

“Boom! Universal Key!” said Indigo with a grin. “Good work Dux!”

“Only for virtual locks…..I wanna see that thing pick a real lock,” joked Young Link.

“Hey, that’s what I’m for!” grinned Indigo back at him.

The Pokémon trainers recalled their flying Pokémon and released different members of their team.

“Saur! Let’s go!” said Red, releasing his Venusar.

Green pulled out a pokeball. “Scizor!”

Blue pulled out another pokeball and sent out her Blastoise. “Blasty! Get ready!”

“Jaws! Let’s get them!” said Indigo. An Arcanine landed in front of him.

Link and Sheik drew their swords in readiness. Young Link equipped his Goron Mask and transformed. He clenched his fists, ready for battle.

The door slid shut behind them, cutting off the stench of the outdoors. They gazed down the long hallway. It was time to move.

“Whew…..that’s much better……” said Blue as they began moving down the hallway. The hallway led down to a pair of locked double doors with a keycard input. A few seconds after they walked up, the door unlocked on its own, courtesy of Dux. They quickly moved into the next room. It was a well kept laboratory, complete with white halls and harsh overhead lights. Several desks around the area had computers, as well as a variety of chemicals and vials. There were also a number of empty stasis tubes that lined the walls. The smashers quickly moved around the room, inspecting the area.

“Any of this look familiar to anyone?” asked Red.

“Kinda reminds me of Ein’s lab,” said Indigo. “If I were a betting man, I’d say this lab was working with biological samples.”

“This over here,” said Green, walking up to a piece of equipment. “This machine allows for DNA splicing. I’ve seen one before. They’re making genetic monsters.”

There was a moment of silence.

“That’s bad, isn’t it?” said Young Link.

“Yeah. Hopefully, they weren’t able to make too many of them,” said Green.

Suddenly, Indigo’s Pokedex gave off a few beeps. He pulled out the device and looked at it.

“Ok, Dux is in the control room now. He’ll tell us who is here and where to go. Let’s stay put for the moment.”

After a brief pause, Indigo said, “Dux will need a minute. Hang tight.”

Young Link sat down behind one of the desks and the others took cover as best they could and tried not to stand out too much in the lab.

He looked around in shock. He had no idea that this was here. Nobody did. Not Saria, not Link, not even the Great Fairy. Dozens of questions flashed through his mind. How long had it been there? What was being done here? What was its purpose?

How? How on earth had a place this massive escaped his notice? He patrolled the area on a semi regular basis, while looking for the odd Wolfos or Stalfos after a sighting in Lost Woods. But he’d never seen this. The Great Fairy had been focusing on the expansion of the forest recently, and she’d had him scouting fairly intensively for new locations to plant Great Deku Trees, build villages and expand the forest at large. And when he wasn’t doing that, he was usually in Hyrule on Champion business or on business with the Smashers. He was a busy Kokiri. He couldn’t be blamed for missing this, could he?

Young Link’s thoughts were broken when Indigo said, “Ok, Dux sees only five people, and a few giant monsters in giant stasis tubes all in one room.”

“Do they see us?” asked Young Link.

“Nobody’s in the control room right now, so I don’t think so?” said Indigo.

“Where are they?” asked Green.

“In the room with the giant test tubes. It’s a massive room so we’ll know when we get there,” Indigo paused for a second as his Pokedex screen lit up again.

“Are they about to release the monsters?” asked Red.

Indigo typed the question into his Pokedex. After a moment, he said, “Dux doesn’t know. We’d probably better hurry though.”

“Where is this room in relation to us?” asked Young Link.

“Uh……hold on a sec, Dux is uploading a map of this place……..Oh, it’s just down the hall! We can cut them off before they do anything! C’mon, let’s move!”

The party swiftly moved down the corridor, eventually reaching a large double door. It slid open before them to reveal a large room with the test tubes. It was a massive, cavernous room that must have been at least two or three stories tall. Giant stasis tubes, glowing with a green light coming somewhere from the base, were spread out throughout the massive room in a grid like pattern. Young Link took a wary glance at the giant tubes next to them. Most were empty, but three of them still appeared to have giant, vicious looking monsters inside of them. There were also several stasis tubes that were much bigger than the other ones, but all of them were vacant. Young Link wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

As they walked down the main walkway down the center of the room, they saw five figures in front of them, illuminated from the front by the lights in the test tubes, casting long shadows behind them.

Indigo motioned for his allies to take a stealthy stance. Young Link quickly took the opportunity to swap his mask and transform into a wolf. Hopefully the smaller profile would help him against enemies a potentially cluttered scientific lab battlefield. Down on four legs, he took a sniff of the air. That was strange…..some of the scents seemed familiar, beyond the scents of his fellow Smashers. Who did those scent remind him of? Was it the smell of chemicals? No, that wasn’t exclusive to Skylark……

The figure in the center turned.

“Ah, so the Smashers have finally joined us. Welcome, Smashers, to my laboratory.”

“Show yourself!” shouted Red. “Saur! Get ready!”

“Of course!” The figure snapped his fingers, and dozens of lights on the ceiling turned on, illuminating the room. Blue gasped.

“You…..you look just like….”

“That inferior joke of a hero that refers to itself as Mario? Yes. I am a clone of that thing. But, know that I have attained superiority in every conceivable area. I make that fool look barely sentient. You may refer to me as Dr. Mario.”

The doctor stood tall in a white lab coat. He looked to be a near identical clone of Mario, even styling his hair and moustache in the same fashion, though his neatly pressed dress shirt, tie and dress pants gave him a more professional look. Next to him, Young Link recognized Blood Falcon and Dark Link from the pictures taken by ROB. They stood alongside two other people. One looked like a bandit version of Luigi and the other looked like Princess Peach in a nurse outfit. Dark Link drew his sword. Matched with Blood Falcon’s menacing grin, Young Link was sure that they would put up quite the vicious fight. The other two took fighting stances. Were they clones too? Young Link sniffed the air with his enhanced wolf senses. All of them smelled distinctly of metal and artificial chemicals.

“Allow me to introduce my colleagues. You Smashers have encountered Dark Link and Blood Falcon before, but I believe that you have yet to meet my personal assistants, Mr. L and Nurse Peach.”

“You’re a doctor? You’re in charge of this facility?” asked Red.

“Indeed. And this is my laboratory. Where cutting edge research and development in biological sciences takes place. And would have continued to take place, had the Leader not chosen to move my lab elsewhere. Alas, it is a casualty to the greater plan at large. It’s a shame.”

“Oh? Greater plan? I don’t think many plans would involve abandoning a laboratory of this……scale,” said Blue.

“Hmph. Like I said, it’s a necessary sacrifice. A pity too. I was getting attached to this place.”

“And all of the flies outside?” asked Blue cheerily.

“They can stay in this infernal humidity. It’s absolutely intolerable. And of course those flies are attracted to the feeding pit. If only the world could be terraformed to stay at a consistent scientific room temperature……but I digress, such projects must wait.”

“Sounds like it must be a pretty grand plan if the end result is terraforming an entire world on that scale,” said Blue. Young Link relaxed his stance slightly. The more information Blue could get, the better. And the more talking that occurred, the less fighting. Hopefully.

Dr. Mario only smiled cruelly. “You’re right about that. It is quite grand, if I do say so myself. But, I won’t spoil it for you. It would only ruin the surprise. Who would I be to ruin the surprise for a young lady like yourself?”

“Oh! I do love surprises!” said Blue, playing along. “But couldn’t you give us just a tiny little hint?”

Dr. Mario chuckled, rubbing his moustache, contemplating for a minute.

“Hmm……let me think.”

The two warriors at his side looked at him, surprised.

“You’re actually going to do that, sir?” asked Mr. L.

“Of course. I would be remiss to treat a lady in such an uncouth fashion as to not grant such a small request.”

Dr. Mario deliberated for a moment.

“Ah, yes. Your hint is ‘Antlion’. Yes, ‘Antlion’. Now, are you all ready to die?”

“Die?” gasped Blue dramatically. “I’m too beautiful to die!”

Young Link took a fighting stance and waited.

“Yes. I’m afraid I can’t let you live, little lady. Farewell.” Dr Mario pulled a PDA out of his pocket and pressed a button. Nothing happened. He pressed the button a few more times. Still nothing. Blood Falcon’s hands flared with Falcon energy and Dark Link. Mr. L and Nurse Peach tensed, ready to fight at a moment’s notice.  

Indigo chuckled. “What? You didn’t think that I wouldn’t figure out that you had this whole thing rigged up to a remote control system?!”

Dr. Mario paled, and took a fighting stance.

“Of course you had to show up! Use the manual release! GO!” he shouted.

The five leapt out towards the devices. The Smashers lunged after them.

“Dux! Jam the manual release if you can!” shouted Indigo. “Jaws! With me!”

Young Link rushed after the doctor himself, but was too late, the doctor had made it to the side of one of the occupied test tubes, and pulled a lever. The water inside the tank began to spill out, and the monster raised its head. It was a massive, rotund beast that quickly smashed through the glass with a mighty roar. It resembled a mixture between a blimp and a pig with a large nozzle for the nose. It began to stomp towards him. It was an absolutely massive in size, nearly as tall as a one story house.

“Saur! Tie him up with Vine Whip!” shouted Red suddenly from behind Young Link. “Get the doc! I’ll take on this monster!”

Young Link nodded and turned to pursue the fleeing doctor.

Link and Sheik rushed down after Dark Link. He dashed by one of the occupied test tubes, slashing it with his sword as he went by. The monster opened its eyes and burst through the tube as it awoke. It was another massive creature that could be better compared in height to a ranch style house then a person. It had four legs and a large bulbous body. Its eyes peered down at them, observing as Sheik and Link as they dropped into fighting stances, brandishing a Sheikah short sword and the Master Sword respectively. It roared loudly at the two of them.

Link grit his teeth, and nodded at Sheik, nodded back at him. They would take this monster on together. It was time to see how tough this monster was.

Green, flanked by Blue chased down Blood Falcon. He jumped for one manual release lever and managed to get it down. The sides slid down as the fluid inside drained. Another balloon – pig monster righted itself and stomped out.

“Blasty! Use Surf!” shouted Blue next to him. A massive wave of water crashed into the monster. The monster took the hit and didn’t look to be too badly hurt. It roared again and stomped towards Blasty.

“Blasty! Use Mega Punch!” shouted Blue.

Green narrowed his eyes as Blasty landed a punch to the monsters face before grappling with it. The monster aimed its snout at Blasty and unleashed a torrent of fire. The fire hardly affected Blasty, who responded with a retaliatory jet of water.

Green glanced at Scizor. Sure, he was at a disadvantage, but it wasn’t an unwinnable one.

“Scizor! Use Swords Dance!” he said. This monster looked tough. It would be quite the opponent.

Young Link rushed through the stasis tubes in hot pursuit of Dr. Mario, who was fleeing towards the far end of the room. He saw Dark Link and Blood Falcon approaching the door as well. On the other side, Mr. L and Nurse Peach stood at a control panel, waiting for them to make it through the door. This had better not be a 5v1 fight. Young Link was a strong fighter to be sure, but a fight that lopsided would be very hard to win.  Suddenly, the doors slammed shut in front of Dr. Mario’s nose as he tried to exit the room, cutting him off from his escape route. It was a very thick, sturdy looking door, probably meant to contain the monsters should they break out. Dr. Mario and his underlings swiveled on their heels, ready to fight.

“Leaving so soon?” asked Indigo as he sauntered out from behind another stasis tube. His Arcanine growled and took a lower stance, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.

Young Link quickly changed his mask and stomped forward as a Goron, cracking his knuckles and ready to fight.

“Glad to see you, Young Link!” he said. “I thought I was going to have to fight them all by myself!”

Young Link grinned menacingly. “Yeah! Let’s get them!”

Indigo grinned as he approached Dr. Mario and his minions.

Dr. Mario hissed. “You……..I’ve been told about you and that hacking Pokémon of yours, Pokémon Trainer……..”

Blood Falcon stepped forward, aggressively. “You think you can beat me?” he scoffed.

“I don’t know. Can I?” asked Indigo, still smirking.

“Stuff your dad jokes! You even know who you’re talking to?”

“Someone I can’t fight,” said Indigo.

“Why? Too scared?” asked the young man arrogantly.

“Your ego is suffocating. I think I need to step away and catch a breath of fresh air,” said Indigo flatly. “Young Link, you want to come with me?”

“Actually, just pass me a pin. Somebody’s gotta pop that ego. Might as well be me,” said Young Link, right on beat. Indigo was too good at being a smart aleck to pass this up.

“I’m Blood Falcon! I never lose! My confidence is justified!” shouted the young man.

“All right then, Blood Falcon. You really think you can beat us?” asked Indigo.

“Of course! Mother taught me how to fight! There’s no way I can lose!”

“Uh huh,” said Young Link in a less then convinced manner. This guy was a joke. Well, mentality wise. According to Roy, he’d put up enough of a fight against Pac Man to not be quickly beaten. So maybe he was at least competent in a fight? Though if he was just playing stupid, this Blood Falcon was a darn good actor.

“Mother is really powerful! You should respect her! She is the wisest and most powerful member of our group! Other than the Leader! But she’s second most powerful! She’s so powerful, she can even beat me!”

“Ok then,” said Indigo, sounding thoroughly unconvinced.

Dark Link glared at them wordlessly. Blood Falcon sneered “That’s really stupid to doubt Mother’s abilities! You Smashers are really as dumb as Mother said you were!”

“I’m sure we are,” said Young Link sarcastically.

“Hey! Take me seriously! Or you’re going to regret it!” yelled Blood Falcon. “I’m powerful, you know!”

Young Link locked eyes with Dark Link. “You don’t seem to talk much. What’s your name?” asked Young Link.

“My name is Dark Link,” said the clone, his voice raspy from lack of use. “You will not defeat us.” 

“You heard him! You can’t win!” boomed Blood Falcon. “And we can’t lose! We win no matter what!”

Young Link resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Roy mentioned that the clones and that girl he fought the other day had someone they called ‘Mother’. I assume she’s the same person?”

“Of course! That’s mother! And that girl the red dude fought is my sister! You’d better not be picking on her, or I’m really going to have to beat you! And don’t call her just some ‘girl’! Lucina is the best of us! She can even beat me!” shouted Blood Falcon.

“And she couldn’t beat Roy in a fight? His best skill is hitting on chicks,” piped up Indigo.

Blood Falcon scoffed contemptuously. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that! Lucina destroyed that red head dude and would have got him too if it weren’t for the flat dude and his cheap octopus thing!

Indigo just sighed. “Listen, I’ve gotta take you and your buddy and your boss in. Nothing personal or anything. Can I get you to surrender quietly?”

“What part of ‘Blood Falcon never loses’ did you not get? I’m Blood Falcon! I never lose, dude!”

“Truly, what profound reasoning,” said Young Link sarcastically.

“But you said that your sister and your mother have beaten you before. So, you don’t have an undefeated record, which means that you do lose sometimes. Which one is it?” asked Indigo.

Young Link grinned. “Yeah! That doesn’t add up!”

“I….HEY! Not cool! You’re getting it now!” Blood Falcon took a fighting stance. Dark Link took a fighting stance as well. He glared at the two smashers. Young Link glared straight back at him and cracked his knuckles.

“And you, Doc?” said Indigo. “You know, Dux has that door shut tight. You’re gonna have a real hard time getting the manual override to work on this one. You might as well just surrender.”

Dr. Mario looked up from the door panel that he was frantically fiddling with. He stood up, straightened his lab coat, and clenched his fists.

“Destroy them!” he hissed.

Indigo shook his head. “I thought so. Young Link? You ready to go?”

“You bet I’m ready!"

Chapter Text

Blue

Threat Level: 4

Blue is a different kind of trainer when compared to Red and Green. While she boasts a compliment of powerful Pokemon on her team, her strength does not lie in her power, but rather, her strategy and unusual tactics. Blue's style of battle in high profile battles is defined by her ability to do the unexpected and apply a number of tricky and unconventional tactics in battle (see my Sevvi Islands Masked Man and Cipher Incident analysis). While unfortunately her background is largely shrouded in mystery, a few things are known. She formerly had a connection to the Mask of Ice, but the only information available is that their relationship was antagonistic. It appears that she spent most of her young life on the run and supported herself through thievery and con artistry. More recently, she had an unsuccessful stint as an actress. All of this points to a resourceful, slippery, and dangerous opponent who is perfectly capable of slipping away into the shadows if needed. Additionally, she's known to be a smooth talker as well, notably talking down several groups of gangsters, as well as serving as the spokeswoman of the Dexholders Initiative. As such, do not underestimate Blue, even though she may try to pass herself off as just a pretty face.

Defeating Blue is an entirely different matter then defeating her fellow Pokemon Trainers as her strengths lie in different areas. First of all, it is advisable to send a strong-willed fighter to face her so as to mitigate her silver tongue. It's also recommended to bring her to a battleground of your own choosing so that she will have a difficult time hiding or slipping away. It may be helpful to bring some means of seeing through smoke such as infrared or X ray goggles as she's known for using smokescreens on a regular basis. This also may allow for one to see through any optical illusions she may attempt. Finally, Blue appears to be the weakest physical combatant of the Pokemon Trainers and targeting her specifically may be the fastest way to defeat her. Judging by her mentality, it goes without question that she has some failsafe to defend herself, however, there is no information on what that is. Finally, Blue has been observed using more than 6 Pokemon on a semi regular basis. Be careful of her Blastoise and Nidoqueen, as they are her most powerful Pokémon.

Blue's observed Pokemon include Jigglypuff (Normal/Fairy), Blastoise (Water), Clefable (Fairy), Nidoqueen (Poison/Ground), Tropius (Grass/Flying), Mightyena (Dark), and Rapidash (Fire).

Indigo

Threat Level: 4.5

While Red earns this exceptional threat level due to his battling prowess, Indigo earns this exception threat level for one reason and one reason alone, his Porygon Z. Do NOT allow him to get near any electronics or he will send his Porygon Z to hack it and then use that device against you. Indigo has been seen using this strategy on a regular basis and it would be foolishness to assume that he might not use it should the opportunity be presented to him. NEVER knowingly consider sending Dr. Eggman, Dr. Wily, or any robotic fighters to fight Indigo, lest we hand him a robot army to hack on a silver platter. While it's unclear on how large of a scale Indigo is capable of hacking, its something I don't want to test.

Beyond that, Indigo is a Threat Level 4 fighter. He distinguishes himself from the other Pokemon trainers as a middle ground between power and trickery. He is also known for favoring double battles and is the most likely of the trainers to have more than two Pokémon on the field at a given time. He has a criminal past, though like Blue, much of it is shrouded in mystery. He is known to have connections to the defunct criminal syndicate Cipher, though he seems to have antagonistic relationship with them (See my report on the 2854 Masked Man and Cipher Incident in the Sevvi Islands). Having participated in Orre's Shadow Crisis, he has been seen using Shadow Pokemon in battle. Shadow Pokemon are Pokemon that have their emotions completely blocked and are more aggressive and powerful then average Pokemon. It takes a balanced and level headed trainer to control them, which speaks to Indigo's mentality as a trainer, though official records state that all known Shadow Pokemon have been purified, so don't expect to see them on the field. It is also likely that many of Indigo's Pokemon are former Shadow Pokemon. It is unknown if this grants them any special abilities or special weaknesses. Finally, Indigo brings a Snag Machine and Shadow Scanner to battle. It appears that he's modified them to have uses outside of dealing with Shadow Pokemon, but these additional functions are unknown. The only thing that is known for certain is that Indigo frequently has his Porygon Z enter his snag machine and sometimes launch attacks form the energy projector in the palm. This allows him to augment his hand to hand combat, which is otherwise lackluster and appears to be centered around street brawling rather than any formal technique. However, he has been observed using a variety of items in combat, ranging from throwing items like Flame and Toxic orbs to spraying opponents with items like Repel to blind them. While not the strongest martial artist, Indigo brings a lot of x factors to the table that make him dangerously unpredictable. Indigo's Pokémon battling style favors manipulating the environment to his advantage, frequently using entry hazards and changing the weather and terrain. Interestingly enough, when cornered, he seems to fall back upon a hyper offense strategy that seems to work more often than not, possibly a holdover from his time as a Shadow Trainer. Notably, he seems to favor a Sunny Day + Grassy Terrain setup with his Arcanine and Rapidash when cornered, so use that information accordingly. Be careful of this should you corner Indigo, he's been observed turning many losing fights around with this tactic.

The best strategy to bring down Indigo is to control the environment yourself to the best of your ability. Try to catch him away from anything he might be able to hack during a fight or combat him indoors where he can't use a weather or terrain altering move. A well armored opponent may also be able to attack Indigo himself and be immune to some of his bag of tricks. As a final warning, Indigo has been frequently observed using more than 6 Pokemon. Watch out for his Arcanine, Rapidash and Nidoking, they appear to be his strongest Pokemon. And whatever you do, keep an eye on that Porygon Z as best you can.

Indigo's observed Pokemon include Arcanine (Fire), Blastoise (Water), Breloom (Grass/Fighting), Porygon-Z (Normal), Skarmory (Steel/Flying), Nidoking (Poison/Ground), Tropius (Grass/Flying), and Rapidash (Fire).

Final Note:

Blue and Indigo are married, the only couple of which both are Smashers. Furthermore, the two have had a very long history of working together, both in their criminal past and during their time as Pokedex Holders. I mention this because it combines to make the two a very dangerous pair when working together in battle. While any combination of the Pokemon trainers is exponentially more dangerous than other Smashers teaming up, the combination of Indigo and Blue is especially potent. Rumor has it that they can take on the duo of Master Hand and Crazy Hand. Again, this is based off of rumors and not supported by any concrete evidence, but it speaks to how dangerous the two are when working together. Use this information as you will.

Ally Analysis: Dr. Mario

Dr. Mario is a highly intelligent and innovative scientist who has been instrumental in helping us build strength with his Enhanced Monster Program. His monsters are powerful juggernauts capable of immense destruction and are a valued contribution to our cause. He has two capable assistants, Mr. L and Nurse Peach, who assist him in the lab and on the battlefield. Though a scientist first and a combatant second, Dr. Mario is a formidable fighter who is not to be underestimated.

I will make a few recommendations to help Dr. Mario and his assistants reach their peak combative potential. The first thing to note is that Dr. Mario shares a near identical genetic makeup to Mario. The same is true for Mr. L and Luigi as well as for Nurse Peach and Princess Peach. This means that Dr. Mario is capable of the same potential that Mario is, and the same goes for his assistants. I would recommend continuous martial arts training for all three, while they are no doubt formidable fighters, keeping one's fighting form in top shape can be difficult on top of cutting-edge research and experiments. Another option that may be useful for Dr. Mario and his allies are the usage of a variety of weapons and gadgets. While physical combat is important, a number of gadgets may give Dr. Mario and his assistants greater versatility in combat and help level the playing field against the Smashers. Additionally, an arsenal of useful and versatile gadgets should be right up the alley of an inventive doctor. My final recommendation is for Dr. Mario and his assistants to wear light weight armor under their clothing. The armor will make Dr. Mario and his allies harder to injure in battle and improve their longevity in a fight. I have a few recommendations for materials for lightweight armor, though I doubt this will be necessary, as Dr. Mario is more than knowledgeable in such areas.

Act 3: Young Link

Part 3: Bolero of Fire

Red stared down the monster that stood in front of him. He glanced at the name plate of the stasis tube that it came from. Inscribed on the front was “Species: Firey Blowhog”. Underneath that was inscribed “Subject 025”. Whatever that meant. It wasn’t any Pokemon that he knew of. Maybe it was worth trying to catch it? The Firey Blowhog roared at Red and Saur. The Venusaur merely ruffled its leaves and remained at the ready. Good old Saur, ever levelheaded in the face of immediate combat. 

“Saur! Use Sludge Bomb!” shouted Red. Saur fired a barrage of dark purple blobs at the Blowhog, striking it square in the face. The monster staggered back and breathed a blast of fire at Saur, who didn’t take the hit well. Red quickly recalled Saur.

“Poli! Let’s go!” he shouted, sending out his Poliwrath.

Poli hit the ground and flexed its muscles at the Firey Blowhog in an act of defiance. The Blowhog roared and charged at Poli.

“Poli! Use Circle Throw!” shouted Red.

Poli stood its ground and caught the charging Blowhog with its enormous strength. The monster pushed against Poli but was unable to overcome the powerful Pokemon’s grip. Poli suddenly spun on his heel and threw the Blowhog, sending it flying through several stasis tubes.

“Now, Poli! Hydro Pump!” shouted Red. Poli unleashed a spray of water that would put a firehose to shame. It blasted the Goliath as it tried to get up, dousing it in water. The Blowhog rushed back at them, however, as it drew close, it puffed itself up into the air and tried to crush Poli beneath it.

“Poli! Use Focus Punch!” shouted Red. The Poliwrath focused for a moment, before slamming the Blowhog in the gut with a powerful punch. The monster let out a deafening bellow of pain as it rolled over onto the ground.  

“Now! Ice Beam!” shouted Red. Poli smirked and fired a frigid beam at the Fiery Blowhog. As it was covered in water already, it was quickly frozen in a layer of ice, freezing it in place.

Red took a breather for a moment. It looked like the fight was mostly over.

Red dropped back into a ready stance when he saw the monster’s snout flare red and spew fire again. Weakening the ice with the heat, it quickly thrashed itself free from its frigid prison and scrambled to its feet. The Blowhog breathed another blast of fire at Poli.

“Poli! Use Hydro Pump again!” he shouted.

Poli unleashed another focused blast of water at the Blowhog, extinguishing its fire breath, and dousing it in water, even spraying it in the trunk. The Blowhog sputtered and roared again.

“Poli! Use Ice Beam on the floor!” shouted Red. Poli fired the beam at the floor, freezing over a large patch of it. The Blowhog roared and attempted to charge across the floor but lost its footing and went sliding to the edge of the ice.

“Poli! Use Suf!” shouted Red. Poli fired a large wave of water at the Blowhog, pushing it away and drenching it in water.

“Pika!” shouted Red, reaching for another pokeball, and sending out his Pikachu. It hit the ground on all fours, ready to fight.

“Use Thunder!” shouted Red.

The monster, already covered in water, was struck by the powerful blast of electricity. It roared in pain as electrical currents surged throughout its body. Pika crouched warily as the monster convulsed. It didn’t move for a moment, before it attempted to get to its feet again.

“Use Thunder again!” shouted Red.

Pika unleashed another powerful electrical discharge, striking the Blowhog dead on. The monster roared again and fell to the ground. After some convulsing, it lay still. Red, Poli and Pika watched it for a second to make sure that it was dead.

Red turned to Poli and Pika and hi fived them. 

“Yeah! Good job, guys!”

Green and Blue stood behind their Pokemon, staring at a large, monster in front of them. Green took a look at the nameplate of the test tube.

“It’s called a Firey Blowhog,” he said quickly.

“Umm, all right?” said Blue. “Maybe don’t bring out Scizor for this thing?”

“We’ll be fine. We just have to beat it,” said Green. “Scizor! Use Bullet Punch!”

Scizor flew at the Blowhog at a surprising speed and landed a series of swift hits. The monster didn’t appear to have taken much damage, and attempted to breathe fire at Scizor, who managed to avoid the attack.

“Scizor! Use X Scissor!” shouted Green.

“Blasty! Use Skull Bash!” commanded Blue.

Both attacks hit the Blowhog square in the face. It recoiled and screeched again. It suddenly rushed forward, slamming into Blasty, knocking him over onto his shell.

“BLASTY!” yelped Blue in surprise. Green narrowed his eyes. Blastoise would be nearly helpless while stuck on its shell, and it would need some time to roll back over.

Blue reached for another Pokeball. “Nidory!”

A Nidoqueen landed on the ground, ready to fight. The Blowhog pawed the ground, ready to charge.

“Nidory! Use Superpower!”

The Nidoqueen rushed at the Firey Blowhog as it tried to charge again and managed to hold back the charging monster.

“Scizor! Use X Scissor!” shouted Green.

Scizor landed a massive X shaped slash on the side of the Firey Blowhog, which recoiled in pain.

“Nidory! Use Hyper Beam!” shouted Blue as she pushed against the side of Blasty’s shell, trying to help him right himself. Nidory charged whitish energy in its mouth, now free from trying to hold back the monster, before firing it in a massive beam.

The Firey Blowhog staggered back in the face of the mighty Hyper Beam, screeching in pain.

A thud sounded from next to them as Blue managed to roll Blasty over. Thankfully, he looked relatively unharmed.

“Blasty! Are you all right?” asked Blue. Blasty nodded but remained alert.

The Blowhog roared and sprayed another burst of fire. Blasty and Nidory blocked the attack with her arms, while Scizor quickly repositioned itself out of range.

Green grit his teeth. He turned to Blue.

“Hold it off for a minute, but don’t use water or ice moves if you can.”

Blue nodded. She had a pretty good idea of what Green was planning. 

“Blasty! Use Flash Cannon!” shouted Blue. “Nidory! Use Thunderbolt!”

“Scizor, return!” shouted Green. He pulled out another Pokeball and tossed it. A Charizard, tall and proud landed in front of him, and roared at the Blowhog.

“Charizard! Use Slash!” shouted Green. Charizard dove for the Blowhog and slashed at it with its claws. The Blowhog managed to land a headbutt, knocking back Charizard. The Pokemon roared in defiance.

“Now! Flare Blitz!” roared Green. Charizard cloaked itself in a firey aura and slammed itself into the Blowhog headfirst. 

The Blowhog staggered back, before breathing fire wildly to try and keep its foes at bay.  

“Charizard! Use Flamethrower!” shouted Green.

The attacks collided and cancelled each other out in a large ball of flames. Suddenly, the Blowhog charged again, slamming into Charizard and knocking it back onto its back. Green ran up to check on his Pokemon. The Blowhog roared fiercely at him, as Charizard scrambled to its feet.

“All right, Blasty!” said Blue. Green turned to see the Blastoise fully tucked into its shell, except for its cannons, which were facing away from the Blowhog. Blue was standing in between the cannons, lining up the Pokemon for a shot at the Blowhog.

“Now! Hydro Pump!” shouted Blue.

Blasty rocketed off at an impressive speed and crashed into the Blowhog with immense force. The Blowhog went flying through several test tubes. It didn’t get up.

Green and Blue watched it for a moment as Charizard flexed its wings, making sure that they weren’t injured.

“Well, I think that’s it,” said Green after a moment of silence. “Let’s go back up the others.”

Link and Sheik stared down a giant beast of a monster. Sheik stared at something behind the monster.

“The name plate says it’s called Spotty Bulborb.”

“Sounds familiar,” said Link. “Can’t place it, though.”

He quickly sheathed his sword and pulled out his bow. Reaching for his specialty arrows, he quickly fired a bomb, electric and ice arrow at the monster. All of them seemed to have little effect. He put away his bow and drew his sword again. A few small explosions struck the monster in the face, causing it to roar in irritation. Sheik took a few steps back, short sword at the ready. It looked like her Sheikah style smoke bombs and irritants weren’t working either. This was going to take a more brute force approach.

Link reached for his Fairy Satchel. Just like Young Link’s, it had fourth dimensional and weight reducing abilities from Fairy Dust, bestowed upon it by the Great Fairy herself, and could carry significantly more than the average person would expect. It made more sense to him then the IDD that most of the other Smashers carried with them. To each their own, he supposed.

He reached in and grabbed his ball and chain. The Bulborb roared and charged at him. Link jumped to the side and began swinging the ball and chain around his head. After a few circles, he swung the ball at the monster. It hit it straight in the leg with an audible crack. The monster roared in pain and recoiled slightly. Sheik hurled a small bomb at the Behemoth’s eyes followed by a Deku Nut. The bomb exploded in a small puff of powder, followed by a swift flash from the Deku Nut.

The Bulborb screeched in pain and thrashed wildly. Both Link and Shiek jumped back to avoid the erratic attack. The Bulborb began to get its wits about it, but Link was already swinging the ball and chain again and struck the monster square in the snout. It roared in pain again, and charged wildly, crashing into a stasis tube but failing to hit either Sheik or Link. Sheik took the opportunity to sneak behind it and climb up the Blowhog’s back. Balancing precariously on the back of the monster, Sheik plunged her weapon into the monster’s back, hanging on for dear life as it began to flail, roaring furiously.

Eventually Sheik was thrown off, and she was sent careening through one of the remaining test tubes, glass and greenish fluid flying everywhere as she crashed against the base of another one of the test tubes.

Link unsheathed his sword, having already put his ball and chain away. It wasn’t doing enough damage to cripple the beast and judging by how far it had just thrown Sheik, it was quite powerful. The Blowhog turned to him and unleashed another blast of fire. He jumped backwards, narrowly dodging a lunge, and chucked his boomerang. It flew just to the side of the Blowhog’s ear, distracting it for a split second. It was all Link needed. He lunged forward and unleashed a flurry of slashes to the Blowhog. It roared in pain, but Link backflipped away before it could retaliate while casually plucking the homecoming boomerang out of the air.

The Blowhog shook itself and pawed the ground. Link tensed. It was ready to charge. Link extended his hand, his gauntlet glowing a familiar Sheikah blue, when suddenly Sheik landed in front of him, between him and the monster, which had begun to charge.

“Daruk’s Protection!” she shouted.

Suddenly, the gauntlets on her hands flared to life with Sheikah technology and her palm began to glow. As the Blowhog began to charge, Sheik was encased with a powerful translucent red shield that materialized around her and Link.

Link was extremely glad that the Sheikah had seen fit to outfit both him and Sheik with Sheikah Gauntlets. The Sheikah Slate was pretty handy, but the miniaturization of the device into a glove had made it significantly less cumbersome to use in combat.

The Blowhog crashed headfirst into Shiek’s shield, which faltered slightly upon the impact. Link was impressed. No ordinary hit could cause the infamous Daruk’s Protection to even flinch for a second. 

Sheik let the shield fall as Link stepped up and held out his right hand, the Shiekah glove on his arm flaring to life.

“Urbosa’s Fury!” he shouted.

A bolt of electricity surged forth from his hand and shocked the monster in the face. It reared back in pain, and thrashed its trunk wildly, taking a few steps back.

Sheik pressed a different rune on her Sheikah Glove and extended her arms. A yellowish beams shot out from her hand and attached itself to one of the pod base. It suddenly began to float into the air.

“Magnesis!”

Sheik swung the pod base and slammed it into the Blowhog with sufficient force to knock it off its feet.

Link took his chance. He charged up to the fallen monster and plunged his sword between its eyes. It let out one last final screeching roar and fell still.

Link pulled his sword out and shook the blood off of it before sheathing his weapon. He nodded to Sheik and she nodded back. And with that, they set off to aid their allies.

Young Link and Indigo stood ready to battle, next to Jaws. The Arcanine was crouched, ready to spring. Indigo pulled out another Pokeball.

“Nido! You’re up!”

A Nidoking landed in front of him, next to Jaws. It roared and stepped forward. Dark Link and Blood Falcon stepped back, clearly having never fought the kinds Pokémon before them. 

Indigo chuckled menacingly. “All right! Who’s up first?”

Young Link grinned. It probably looked more like a grimace, in Goron form, but it didn’t matter too much at this point.

Dr. Mario suddenly lunged at Indigo and attempted to tackle him. Indigo jumped to the side, dodging the tackle. However, Blood Falcon lunged at him as well, managing to drag him to the ground.

“Jaws! Go for the Doc! Nido! Give me a hand!” yelled Indigo as he grappled against Blood Falcon.

Young Link caught Dark Link rushing at him out of the corner of his eye. He turned and blocked the incoming sword strike with his rocky arm. It looked just like something Link would do. Dark Link launched a flurry of blows, which Young Link successfully blocked with little effort. It was like fighting a worse version of Link. Young Link grabbed Dark Link’s sword and headbutted the clone, who was quick enough to block with his shield. Young Link grunted and batted the shield away, before headbutting Dark Link again sending him sprawling while knocking the sword out of his hand.

The clone got to his feet and whipped out his bow and began firing arrows at Young Link. He blocked with his rocky arms again, the arrows bouncing off them harmlessly. Suddenly a bomb flew through the air and blew up in his face, and Young Link took a step backwards from the force. Dark Link fired his clawshot at Young Link and latched on to his arm, before giving a strong tug. The force nearly pulled Young Link off his feet. He hadn’t been ready for that. Despite the weight of a Goron, they weren’t as immovable as they looked if you happened to catch them at just the right moment. Or wrong moment, whichever you preferred.

Young Link stumbled forward a few steps before regaining his balance and turned his head to see the follow up strike coming and managed to raise his arm to block Dark Link’s flying kick in time. Dark Link loosened his clawshot and lunged for his sword, but Young Link was faster. He curled into a ball and rolled towards the sword. A momentary second of resistance with an accompanying grunt of pain told him that he’d landed a hit. He pulled himself out of his curl and rushed back towards Dark Link as fast as he could. Dark Link was already crawling towards his sword. He turned and chucked two more bombs at Young Link. The impact of the explosions slowed him down, blinded his eyes and made his ears ring. Young Link shook his head as it wore off, slowing down. His vision returned to reveal Dark Link back on his feet, sword in hand again.

“C’mon!” Young Link shouted, punching his hand. “Is that all you’ve got?”

Dark Link silently shifted into a different stance. It looked familiar, but he couldn’t place it. Then again, he was no master of highly refined swordplay. Young Link grit his teeth. He wasn’t going to let some fancy new style beat him. He glowered at Dark Link as the two paced around each other, each waiting for the other to make the first strike. Dark Link lunged forward, and Young Link brought his arms up to block. Was that it? Too easy.

Indigo ducked under a punch from Blood Falcon and threw a punch at the clone’s gut with his Snag Machine arm. Having a fist that was encased in a metal machine let him hit a little harder than with his other hand. Not that it seemed to be doing much here. From behind Blood Falcon, Nido swung his tail, which Blood Falcon jumped over with a flashy backflip.

Indigo resumed his place behind and just to the right of Nido, panting. He had no idea why this lunatic was so intent on ignoring the angry Nidoking right in front of him and gunning for him. Not that he was the worst brawler in the galaxy, not by a long shot. It was just that Red and Green were more suited for this. Green had trained under Chuck, a fighting type expert and martial artist as a child, and Red had the advantage of training with both Bruno and Koga while he was the Champion and had picked up a lot of tricks.

Not that his street brawling experience was bad or anything, Indigo just wasn’t the guy you picked first for a fist fight. The Captain Falcon clone was nearly as strong as the original but wasn’t nearly as experienced or creative. Already, Indigo had pulled off a few tricks that Falcon would have seen through instantly. Though they were to try and keep Nido in the fight instead of him. Seriously, who went for the trainer first when their Pokemon was roaring in your face?

“Nido! Use Aqua Tail!”

Nido roared, ready to fight and land a mighty slap of the tail to Blood Falcon’s face, sending him flying into the wall. Blood Falcon jumped back onto his feet and lunged for Nido.

“Falcon KICK!”

Nido staggered back from the force of the kick and Blood Falcon lunged for Indigo again. Why was that stupid muscle head going for him? What part of the giant poison monster trying to beat him up didn’t this guy get? Indigo sidestepped his first punch and caught the second.  Blood Falcon began charging fire around his free fist.

“Falcon…..”

Before he could finish, Indigo whipped a can of Repel out of his back pocket and sprayed him in the face.

“GYAH!” shouted Blood Falcon, losing focus on the attack and his fighting stance as he tried to rub the substance out of his eyes. While made to preemptively scare off wild Pokémon, a face full of Repel was a nasty suprise, even to a trainer.

“Nido! Use Thunderbolt!”

Indigo let go of his opponent as Nido landed a brutal electric shock to the clone, who fell over, convulsing.

Nido ran up to Indigo, who took a knee, looking concerned.

“I’m good, Nido, just roughed up a bit. Need a second to catch my breath. You cover me, ok?”

Indigo knew that he needed to have one of his Pokémon ready to catch the crazy maniac before he got bowled over again. If this nonsense kept up, his Pokémon would need to hit him just to hit his opponent.

Nido nodded happily and stared down the recovering Blood Falcon with its intimidating visage. Indigo reached for another Pokeball.

“Delta!”

A Breloom sprang from the Pokeball, and landed in a fighting stance.

“Quick! Use Spore!” shouted Indigo. Breloom tried to fire off the sleep inducing spores, but Blood Falcon backflipped well clear of the spore cloud.

“HAH! Your cheap tricks won’t work on me!” boomed Blood Falcon proudly.

“Delta! Use Energy Ball!”

A greenish ball of energy shot through the spore cloud quickly and struck Blood Falcon square in the chest, sending him flying back into the wall.

“You were saying?”

“Stop sending your pets to fight me! FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!” roared Blood Falcon as he pulled himself to his feet.

“Nah, I’ll pass,” shrugged Indigo. “I’m a Pokémon trainer. I don’t really do the punching thing.”

“COWARD!”

“Meh.”

“Have you no shame? To not fight like a man?”

“No, not really,” shrugged Indigo.

“Then you are truly the most evil of the evil! For justice and freedom, I must vanquish you, scum!”

“Uh huh. Yeah. You go do that.”

“Falcon……” bellowed Blood Falcon, charging fire around his fist as he ran towards Delta.

“Counter, Delta!” shouted Indigo.

“PUNCH!”

The flaming punch struck Delta, but as quick as lightning, Delta turned on his heel and landed a tremendous tail strike to Blood Falcon’s side. The clone crashed into the door, narrowly missing Dr. Mario. The doctor cursed and backed up a little. Jaws was standing in crouched position in front of him, snarling and growling, as Dr. Mario pointed a spray bottle at him. Indigo glanced over to Delta. He looked hurt.

“Come back, buddy! Good job!”

Indigo caught a whiff of something and sniffed the air again.

“You’re using repel too, huh? You’ve done some research, haven’t you?”

“You….I was told about you…..I won’t let you beat me!” hissed Dr. Mario.

There was a silence, as Blood Falcon pulled himself to his feet, looking much worse for wear.

“All right. Let’s say the three of you can beat me and Young Link. Then what? Are you going to beat all of the others after me and my friend have worn you out? There’s seven of us total, it’s not going to happen, even if your friends on the other side of the door come to help you. Surrender, and we won’t harm you.”

“Never!” hissed Dr. Mario.

Blood Falcon charged again with an enraged cry. Nido grunted with irritation and took a defensive stance in front of Indigo. 

Indigo grimaced. So much for talking them out of it.

“Keep him pinned Jaws! I’ll be over to help you in a minute!”

Young Link blocked another flurry of strikes, not giving up an inch of ground as his opponent launched another offensive. He hadn’t thrown so much as a punch in the last few minutes.

This new style was balanced, but in a different way then Link’s style that the clone had been using. Link’s style was balanced around using techniques from several styles, connected together with a variety of general techniques. Powerful strikes, deft footwork, quick lunges and solid defense characterized Link’s personal sword style, a physically demanding but powerful and effective brand of swordplay. This was different.

It was more muted, drawing from several styles to be sure, but never straying into anything too powerful. It was strong, yet swift, yet dexterous, but in a much more unassuming way. Young Link knew he’d seen this before. It was a very down to basics style, it should have been distinctive amongst the many flashy but fairly ineffective swordsmen he tangled with on a regular basis. But where? The clone had even slung his shield onto his back. Whose style was this? It almost reminded him of Roy or Corrinne, but it didn’t quite fit either.

Dark Link rolled to his right and landed a slash to his rocky back. Young Link barely felt it. He turned and landed a mighty backhand to the clone, sending him sprawling, but the opponent picked himself up quickly and rushed back into the fray. Young Link grunted in frustration as he blocked another flurry of strikes. He had to change up his strategy. They were just stalemated against each other.

He took a quick glance around. The ceiling was not high enough to use his Rito Mask, using his Wolf Mask would be suicide against a swordsman, and his Zora Mask wasn’t going to help him in this fight.

Maybe it was better to stay in Goron form. But all he was doing was taking hits. What if he could use that to his advantage?

“Hey, buddy!” said Young Link, blocking a strike. “You want to tell me where you got that sword style? I’ve never seen it before!”

Sure he wasn’t much of a diplomat, but it didn’t hurt trying, right?

The clone remained totally silent and continued striking at Young Link. The Kokiri continued.

“You got friends? Hobbies? Uh…you got a girlfriend?”

The clone continued his silence but began attacking more aggressively.

“You don’t talk much, do you,” Young Link said flatly.

The clone jumped back and took a suspicious stance.

“You want to stop fighting? I’m ok with that,” said Young Link. Dark Link watched warily for a moment, and suddenly sheathed his sword.

“Hey! That’s a good start!” said Young Link, relaxing his stance. “I’m Young Link! What’s your name?”

Dark Link suddenly chucked a bomb followed by a boomerang at Young Link, who took both to the face.

Young Link sputtered and curled himself into a ball, hoping to get rid of the ringing in his ears while in a strong defensive position. Well, that was kind of cheap, though technically, he had sorta set himself up for it. He could feel the sword strikes fall wildly on his tough back and arms.

As the ringing in his ears faded, Young Link suddenly sprang up from his curled up ball form, causing Dark Link to jump back in surprise. He threw a quick punch, but narrowly missed his more agile opponent.

The two squared off again, staring at each other, neither willing to give up the fight.

Dark Link didn’t budge from his defensive stance. Young Link clenched his fists. All right, it was time to switch things up now.

Young Link rushed at Dark Link and threw a mighty punch. The clone blocked with his shield as best he could, but his arm still faltered under the might of the punch. He followed it up with a headbutt, sending his opponent sprawling. Young Link quickly pulled off his Goron Mask, reverting to his Kokiri form. He glared at Dark Link, who was getting back to his feet and pulled a Deku Stick out of his Fairy Pouch. Wielding it like a staff, Young Link launched a swift offensive of strikes, off balancing Dark Link and forcing him back onto a knee as he did his best to block with his shield. Young Link paused his assault as Dark Link shrunk behind his shield and shove kicked Dark Link’s shield, knocking him to the ground.

Quickly, Young Link tossed his Deku Stick aside and reached into his Fairy Pouch again, this time retrieving his Hylian Mask. He slapped it on, and transformed into an older Hylian version of himself. With one fluid motion, he drew his sword, thankful that his Great Fairy Sword changed length to match his Mask Transformations. With a battle cry, he rushed at Dark Link, who had just gotten back to his feet.

Dark Link looked around in a panic, before suddenly firing his clawshot at a grate on the ceiling. Young Link’s slash narrowly missed. He looked up to see Dark Link already releasing his clawshot and falling back towards the ground, sword pointed down. Young Link recognized that technique. The Finishing Blow. He rolled backwards, dodging the strike. He regained his balance to see Dark Link plunge his sword into the floor, watching the blade shatter. Dark Link looked at his sword in shock.

Young Link raised an eyebrow. That was a rookie mistake. Sure, he’d broken a few training swords learning the Finishing Blow when Link had taught him the technique, but the first thing that was taught while learning the technique was to avoid whiffing the move on a hard surface for fear of breaking one’s blade. Had nobody taught him this?

The clone deployed a hammer from his IDD, and Young Link shifted his stance.

Suddenly, Young Link heard a roar of pain and yell of surprise. He glanced aside to see Nido fall on his back, and Blood Falcon tackle Indigo to the ground. Fire gathered in his hand.

“FALCON….”

Indigo punched Blood Falcon in the face before opening his hand and pointing his Snag Machine at the clone. “DUX! BIG HACKS!”

Dux suddenly popped his head out of the central projector of Indigo’s snag machine and fired a triple beam of energy at Blood Falcon, who narrowly rolled out of the way.

Suddenly, Dr. Mario yelled, “RETREAT! NOW!” and he pressed the button on the door, opening it with one hand, while spraying a significant amount of Repel to keep Jaws at bay.

Dark Link turned on his heel and bolted immediately. Indigo lunged for Blood Falcon in an attempt to tackle him as he fled the battle but missed. Blood Falcon dashed off after Dr. Mario and Dark Link. As Blood Falcon dashed through the door, Jaws lunged for him, trying to bring him down, but Dr. Mario was already at the control panel on the other side and slammed the door in front of Jaw’s nose. Jaws slammed into the door with a crash.

“Jaws! You all right buddy?” asked Indigo, recalling Nido.

Jaws pulled himself to his feet and growled at the door.

Young Link rushed up to the door and pressed the open button frantically. The door slid open to reveal Dr. Mario and his two compatriots rushing down the hallway as fast as they could.

“Hey! What’s going on?” asked Red as he and all of the other smashers arrived behind them.

“They escaped through the door!” shouted Indigo as he rushed through the door. “AFTER THEM!” 

Young Link bolted down the corridor as quickly as he could, followed by Indigo and Jaws, who were also running at breakneck pace behind him. He couldn’t see the enemy, but he’d seen them turning around a corner, just a little further down the hall. He whipped around the corner to see a dark, swirling portal. Indigo came up close behind him, when suddenly, the portal disappeared into thin air. The others ran up just as the portal vanished.

 “Hey! Where’d it go?” asked Indigo.

“I dunno,” said Young Link. Had they disabled the portal from the other side? How were they able to do that so quickly?

Indigo pulled out the R-47 scanner.

“No signal. That portal must have been it,” he said.

“So that portal was what we were homing in on all this time?” asked Green.

“Seems like it,” said Indigo.

“How were they able to get away?” asked Blue. “Wasn’t Dux jamming the door?”

“They attacked me head on and I eventually had to call Dux in to get that Blood Falcon guy off of me. But the way they fought was strange. It’s like they were trying to forcing me to recall Dux by attacking me directly to get him out of the control panel.” said Indigo.

“So, you’re saying that they had information on you?” asked Green, worried.

“Seems like it, yeah,” said Indigo. “I didn’t think I was that important. Mario? Definitely. Link? Yeah. Red? Wouldn’t be surprised. Me, though? I’m not one of the big shots. That seems strange that would even bother with me.”

“I dunno, you’re the one who can hack entire buildings with that Porygon Z of yours. I’d be worried,” said Blue.

“Eh, fair point. But you know me and how I fight. How did they know that?” asked Indigo.

“That is strange…..do you think they have that kind of information on all of us?” asked Red.

“I don’t think so,” said Young Link. “The Link clone that I fought didn’t seem as prepared to fight me. He didn’t know beforehand that my skin in Goron form can resist sword strikes.”

“You fought my clone?” asked Link.

“Yeah. His fighting style matched yours too. It was like a poor man’s version of your technique.”

“What? I guess they really did copy my style,” asked Link in surprise.

“I guess they did. Though we should take a look around while we’re here. It sounds like they were planning on abandoning this place anyway but there might be something still left around,” said Green.

“Sounds like a plan!” said Red.

The Smashers dispersed throughout the area. However, they soon discovered that the base was totally gutted other than the room with the test tubes and the laboratory they had passed through. On closer inspection, the machines in the lab were discovered to be cheap look alikes touched up to look like more important pieces of equipment. A few were rigged with explosives but these were quickly defused by Blue and Indigo. All of the valuable equipment had been removed from the location. After sweeping the base, taking biological samples from the fallen monsters for Olimar to analyze back at Smash Mansion, and inspecting anything of interest, they reconvened at the entrance.

“Well, I guess that’s it,” said Red.

“So…..what now?” asked Blue.

“We report back to Saria and let the Great Fairy know what’s going on. After that, we get back in contact with Smash Mansion. See if Roy needs help or something,” said Young Link.

Green nodded. “All right. I’m sure the others will want to hear about what we’ve found.”

Young Link nodded. 

As they walked out, Link patted him on the shoulder. “Hey, good job on fighting my clone! Hope he wasn’t too much trouble?”

Young Link grinned. “Eh, not too bad. You can never quite copy the original, right?”

Link grinned. “I guess not.”

As the others filed out of the doors, back into the feeding pit, Young Link took a glance back into the laboratory. A feeling of dread washed over him. There had been a lot of empty stasis tubes. Hopefully it was just a bunch of those monsters that the others had fought. But there had been the bigger stasis tubes. A pang of guilt shot through Young Link. How had he missed this place? How could he have….

“Hey Young Link! You coming?” said Red, climbing onto Aero’s back. Blue and Green had already taken off and Indigo and Striker were already out of sight, high in the sky.

“Yeah! Right behind you!”

Young Link slapped his Rito mask onto his face and quickly began flapping his wings, taking off from the ground, and soaring into the sky after Red. He took one last look at the lab below him, before swooping off after the others. 

And with that, Young Link left the lab to sit desolate in the forest.

Chapter Text

Samus Aran of the Chozo

Threat Level: 5

Samus Aran is a powerful Chozo warrior and considered to be one of the strongest Smashers. The first thing to cover when discussing Samus is her power suit. The suit is armed with a powerful arm cannon armed with a vast arsenal that includes a variety of laser and elemental weaponry, a number of missiles and a compliment of bombs. Coupled with her precision marksmanship, this alone makes Samus an opponent to be feared. The armor itself is quite durable as well and has been seen protecting Samus from dangers like acidic environments, close proximity to lava and the frigid depths of hard vacuum in space. Furthermore, Samus’s suit is equipped with a number of movement enhancing abilities, including a thruster pack, the ability to minimize itself into a ball, and of course is equipped with the Chozo’s famed Spin Attack. Now to discuss the warrior under the suit. While significantly less threatening outside the suit, Samus is a top-notch martial artist and wields a whip variant of Paralyzer. She is also equipped with rocket boosters on her feet that allow her to fly short distances, even outside of the suit. They also pack a nasty punch when used with a kick. It should be noted that Samus is not one that is known for going all out in battle on a regular basis. This can be accounted for by the Chozo tenants of restraint and using exact amounts of force in battle. Nevertheless, if necessary, Samus will use everything at her disposal to down her enemies.

To fight Samus, it must be mentioned that any means of disabling her power suit, or more specifically, her arm cannon, is worthwhile. It is her only weapon on her suit, and without it, she’s lost most of her ranged weaponry. Do not forget that even without her suit, she is dangerous martial artist, though she is much less menacing than with her arm cannon. Furthermore, though her armor is tough, it is not invincible, and it can be damaged with overwhelming firepower. One strategy that may be worth attempting is launching an all-out offensive against Samus at the beginning of a fight, due to her Chozo mentality of moderation, as she will never open with her most powerful weaponry. This strategy may be able to catch her by surprise and allow for one to seriously damage her armor or arm cannon early in the fight. A second strategy would be to surround Samus with a team, as Samus’s weaponry is mostly lasers and missiles and she shoot in more than one direction at once. Remember, Samus is a potent fighter at both short and long ranges, and underestimating her at any range is folly at best.

Timberwolf Squad:

It is common knowledge that many consider Humans to be inferior in all aspects to many of the other species in the galaxy due to their lesser ability to improve their physical abilities then other species and lack of children born with special powers. However, a careful analysis of their methods of warfare reveals many interesting tactics and strategies never seen before in the galaxy at large that may be able to match or even surpass the gold standard of tactics as we previously knew it. As the four members of Timberwolf Squad are well versed in such strategies and tactics, they are not to be underestimated. As with the Pokemon Trainers, I will provide a general history and general counters here before providing specific information and specific counters for each member of the team.

I will first include a brief summary of relevant human history. It appears humans come from a homeworld known as Earth. At some point, they began to colonize inhabitable planets, using wormhole generators to get from planet to planet. Eventually, they colonized a stretch known as the “Far Arm”. However, after some sort of disaster, the wormhole generator leading back to Earth was destroyed and the Far Arm colonies were cut off. After a rapid succession of catastrophic events and brutal civil wars, the Far Arm colonies were reduced to a single planet, Horizon. After a civil war of its own against a would-be dictator, the planet’s political climate appears to have stabilized and the humans enjoy relative harmony. The four members of Timberwolf Squad all call this planet home.

Human soldiers utilize firearms and explosives near exclusively and are equipped with personal energy shields. This trend holds true for the members of Timberwolf Squad. This makes them very dangerous at medium, long and extreme combat distances. In this respect they are similar to the Cornerian Armed Forces, save for their near laser focus on ranged combat, and their highly intricate squad tactics. Each member of Timberwolf Squad additionally carries specialized weaponry that allows them to fill a specific role on the team. While equipped with melee weapons like knives, they have an extreme de-emphasis on melee combat and generally prefer ranged combat.

Timberwolf Squad, despite the name, was not originally a military unit. Instead it was a small salvaging company founded almost 5 years ago. Salvaging companies are enterprises that return to the abandoned human colonies and attempt to salvage and bring back useful things from the ruins of the former colonies. As there are a number of dangers associated with being a salvager, most salvagers are well versed in combat and many are former soldiers. The members of Timberwolf Squad are no exception to this rule and are quite dangerous opponents. They ran a successful operation until they were recruited by the Smashers. The circumstances of their recruitment have never been disclosed to the public.

On the surface, the plan to defeat them is simple – all one needs is a fighter fast enough to dodge their weapon’s fire and get into melee range. From there, the humans will be too slow to react and will be easy pickings. While this plan is good in principle, there are a few things that complicate matters. First are their energy shields, which are known for being able to eat many hits. Energy shields are capable of absorbing multiple lasers and even absorbing nearby explosions before breaking, so do not expect to be able to break it with a single punch. Second is their focus on teamwork. Often, they’re seen taking support roles in combat with other Smashers, and it is very rare to see any of them fight alone. This means that they will often be surrounded by other fighters who are better suited to conventional combat. Finally, their focus on longer range combat may make it difficult to close the distance. Despite all of this, closing the distance and defeating them in hand to hand combat is the best strategy. Other strategies that may help include disarming them or disabling their power suits and shields with EMP.

Note 1: These four Smashers share many similar abilities and weapons. The weapons that I can confirm that all of them carry include a laser assault rifle, a laser pistol, and a combat knife. They also are armed with energy shielding. They also appear to use power suits that increase the wearers strength and durability. The power suits also include jetpacks, heavy energy shielding and arm cannons that seem to differ from Chozo designs. All of these arm cannons appear to have the ability to fire a laser LMG, rockets, grenades, and flamethrowers. Each member of Timberwolf Squad also appears to carry their own personal weapons – I’ll discuss these in their personal bios.

Note 2: As humans as a species are very recent additions to the Galactic Assembly, knowledge on their martial arts is not widespread at the time of writing. As such, while the information here has been researched to the best of my ability, it is not complete, and some parts may be inaccurate.

Note 3: Each member of Timberwolf Squad appears to have had a background in a specific military unit. As little is known about each specific Smasher, my analysis will also cover the unit they correspond to so as to flesh out a profile for them. I apologize for the extra length in advance, as their unconventional methods of combat will require extra explanation.

Act 4: Samus
Chapter 1: Foundation

Samus watched the world pass by outside of her as she sat in the passenger seat of a large van. It was remarkable how peaceful it all was, here on Harmony. Just another highway on another day. Or so everybody thought. Hopefully it was going to stay that way.

Scrapper sat behind the wheel of the van, eyes intently on the road. Their vehicle was disguised as a power company van to avoid attracting attention. It would do no good to cause public panic by revealing that an unknown enemy force had set up a base on one of the safest planets in the galaxy, especially after what had happened yesterday. There had already been enough panic after yesterday’s attack. The news stations had been all over it, and Roy’s press conference had been very highly publicized. There was no need for any extra panic.

Samus sighed. She did not like this situation in the slightest. She was used to going alone or with a small team. All of these civilians and police officers around made her nervous. Everything should be just fine. But there was no guarantee that everything would go just fine. Samus had learned that the hard way before.

As Roy had mentioned, the base absolutely had to be well hidden, otherwise somebody would have picked up on something funny coming from the area. That meant an underground base. Which to be fair, she was very used to, having fought her way through Zebes, SR-388, and various scientific facilities. She’d taken this mission because of that experience. And she’d built her team around that.

Timberwolf Squad was the easy choice to bring with her. Each member of the squad was armed with a variety of weaponry and was familiar with fighting in close quarter environments against many different kinds of enemies. Even if some of their members had an aversion to close quarters combat. She flicked her eyes to Scrapper, who was still driving. He didn’t look too nervous. Scrapper was always more effective with sky access and a lot of space, usually preferring to either rely on his sniper rifle or DMR or provide support from the sky from his dropship. Thankfully, he was an engineer and tinkerer first and a marksman second, so he was still comfortable with using closer range weapons, and his surveillance and intel gathering abilities were bar none except for possibly Indigo amongst the Smashers. This was balanced out by Cordelia, who preferred up close and personal battles with her machine pistols and power suit boosted martial arts, even if she also was generally more effective running and fighting at full speed over rooftops, uneven terrain, and cluttered landscapes where others could not. Packrat was probably the one who on paper was the best for this mission. His sentry guns would obliterate both small and large groups of enemies alike down long but confined corridors. The fact that he loved big weapons with high rates of fire and high ammo capacity didn’t hurt either. Finally, Skylark was a flexible fighter and could chip in for just about any situation, and her medic skills were always handy. While less specialized then the others were combat wise, she always pulled her weight, no matter where she was.   Individually, Timberwolf Squad made a formidable group, but their years of experience working with each other made them exponentially more effective as a team.

Finally, Falcon acted as a much-needed source of extra power and a brute force answer to more conventional problems. It was always best to pair the specialized members of Timberwolf Squad with more conventional Smashers, like herself and Falcon. After all, they were humans, and didn’t have the same strength, speed, durability and other physical attributes like every other species in the galaxy. For instance, humans couldn’t just train a lot and be fast enough to dodge laser fire or lift rocks in excess of 500 pounds. Well, Samus was human too, but her Chozo DNA effectively put her on par with everybody else. But it wasn’t worth pondering things that she already knew at this point. They had their mission. Samus had everything she needed to make this mission a success. All they had to do was carry it out. 

The others were carrying on a conversation behind her.

“So, how’s the F Zero life treating you, Falcon? Saw you won the Aquas Grand Prix a few weeks ago!” said Packrat.

“Yeah, that one was close. I was up against Samurai Goroh. You don’t become my self-proclaimed rival and keep the title without being real good,” said Captain Falcon. “He’s persistent because he’s never beat me, but it keeps me on my toes, that’s for sure!”

“No doubt!” said Packrat.

“Well, if you wanted to stay on your toes, you could have driven us! We would have gotten there already!” said Skylark, poking the back of Scrapper’s chair.

Scrapper did an exaggerated yawn and let his foot off the gas a little.

“Chop chop, slacker! We don’t have all day!”

Scrapper just chuckled and decreased his speed a little more.

Skylark rolled her eyes impatiently.

“Actually, this is our exit, coming up,” said Samus. “The cross streets we’re going to are Sunflower and Highland.”

“They have the exit blocked for us, right?” asked Scrapper.

“That’s correct.”

Scrapper pulled onto the off ramp, slowing as he rolled up to the barricade. Samus stuck her head out of the passenger window and waved. The police officers waved back and moved the barricade so they could get through. They made a left, and in a few minutes of driving through the empty roads, they arrived at a fairly large park. Scrapper pulled over next to the large array of police cars and stopped the car. As the others filed out, Scrapper locked the van and followed the others onto the sidewalk. Immediately upon stepping outside of the van, Samus activated her armor around herself. Packrat, Cordelia, Scrapper and Skylark pulled their various facemasks and eyewear over their faces. Apparently, it was a human convention for soldiers to cover their faces in battle. It was one of the interesting things that Samus had learned about her home species. She’d tried it herself for a little while, but she couldn’t get used to any of masks she’d tried. It wasn’t the end of the world, she was half Chozo as well, after all.

As she warmed up her arm cannon, the holographic outline of various weapons appeared in the hands of Packrat, Cordelia and Skylark as they deployed their weapons from their IDDs. After a few seconds the actual weapon appeared in their hands with a flash of light. Packrat slung his SAW onto his back, while Cordelia and Skylark both fiddled with their Assault Rifles for a moment, before following suit. Scrapper did the same, though instead of an assault rifle, his enhanced ballistic shield and a shotgun with an underbarrel shotgun appeared in his hands. He hoisted the shield onto his arm and slung the shotgun onto his back.

Samus never understood why they didn’t just suit up with their powersuits at the beginning of missions. While not the same as her Chozo Powersuit, the powersuit worn by each member of Timberwolf Squad was a sophisticated piece of technology. Packrat had once tried to explain the powersuit’s system to her. She wasn’t as technically skilled as Packrat and Scrapper, the two inventors of the team, she did understand the gist of how the suit was controlled. Apparently, the helmet housed a modified VR headset of all things. As long as the wearer used clear, focused thoughts, the helmet could read the wearer’s mind and make the suit do things without any other inputs from the user. Or something like that. Practically, it meant that the wearers could control their suit’s functions with only their thoughts. In conjunction with the IDD system and the other abilities of the suits, it exponentially increased the capabilities of the wearer. In some ways, it seemed like an upgrade to her suit, which was controlled by tracking her eye movement on her HUD. Despite this, the Chozo elders seemed unwilling to let her make the upgrade as it was “not harmonious” or something like that. Bunch of stuffy old philosophers.

“Are we ready? Let’s move!” said Samus.

They began walking towards the park. As they did, a policeman came up to them.

“Smashers! Glad you could make it. Chief Wilson is up ahead at the park!”

“Thanks officer. We’ll follow you in,” said Samus.

The Smashers followed the officer across the street and towards a pavilion that had a lot of police personnel milling around. As they came close, a Lylatian looked up.

Samus waved. “Chief Wilson! Good to see you!”

The chief smiled wryly. “It’s good to see you, Samus. Wish it was under better circumstances. Are you ready to investigate the area?”

“That’s right, sir.”

“Good. I have a lot of complaints buzzing in my ear about the disruption this is causing. This had better be something big,” said Chief Wilson.

“We are confident that it is,” said Samus.

Chief Wilson nodded. “All right then. Better let you get to it then. Let one of my officers know if you need anything.”

“Very well. We’ll begin our investigation.”

Samus nodded to the others. Scrapper and Skylark pulled out two scanners and began surveying the area. 

“Go east,” said Skylark after a few moments to inspect her scanner. “The signal’s very strong here.”

“Yeah,” said Scrapper, in agreement. “We’re close, that’s for sure.”

They kept walking, following the signal until they came up to the entrance of a large storm drain in the side of the park’s retention pond.

Samus, followed by the others, followed Skylark up to the grate.

“Signal’s strongest here. Do we want to go in there?” asked Skylark.

“Yeah. Everybody stand back for a second,” said Samus.

Samus fiddled with her arm cannon’s settings for a minute before firing a continuous beam of plasma at a few of the bars, cutting through them and allowing access through.

“All right, let’s get in there.”

Scrapper led the party, ballistic shield and handgun at the ready. Samus followed him, then Packrat, then Cordelia and Skylark, with Falcon leading up the rear. Scrapper stopped in his tracks.

“Look at this. The side’s been caved in and there’s a hatch here.”

“How’s the scanner looking?” asked Samus.

There was a pause, before Skylark said, “The R-47 readings are higher here. That’s enough for me! This has got to be it.”

They gathered around the hatch. It was a small, 1 person wide hatch that appeared to be more for a small secret bunker.

“Are you sure this is it?” asked Captain Falcon.

“I can also see the top floor of a structure under the hatch with my X-Ray visor. It looks like it could be the interior of a base. We should definitely investigate this,” said Samus.

Walking up to the hatch, Samus noted that it was kept shut with a few basic locks. She blasted the locks with her Ice Beam, before punching them, shattering them into pieces. She unlatched the lid, flipped it open, and was about to go down the stairs, when Scrapper stopped her.

“Let me scout out the area. Make sure it’s safe.”

“Right.”

A small square drone about the size of a dinner plate with four rotors and a small gun underneath appeared from Scrapper’s IDD after a few seconds. 

“All right, Firefly! Time to shine!” he muttered.

He crouched and tapped a small screen on his IDD gauntlet. The Firefly drone took off and stabilized itself before vanishing from sight as it moved over the hole. Samus rolled her eyes. Scrapper and his cloaking devices. The smashers waited as Scrapper continued to control drone from his gauntlet.

“So…..you think we’ll run into those guys that Roy and the others fought?” asked Cordelia.

“No idea. I guess we’ll find out when we get down there,” said Samus.

“If we do, I want to face my clone. I want to see how he fights,” said Captain Falcon.

“I don’t blame you. If I had a clone of me, I’d want to fight them too,” said Cordelia.

Falcon nodded, and the group fell into silence again. After another minute, Scrapper looked up and said, “Ok, looks like the base of the ladder is clear. Had to take out a camera, so they might get suspicious if anyone’s watching the security feed.”

Samus nodded and started climbing down the ladder. It was a bit awkward for her, with one of her arms taken up by her arm cannon, but she made it down without incident.

At the bottom of the ladder, she stood guard as the others climbed down the ladder. Next was Scrapper. As he stepped off of the ladder, he pulled his ballistic shield off of his back and crouched squarely in the doorway to the long hallway that stretched before them with his shield at the ready. Samus stood behind him, aiming over his head. As the rest reached the bottom, Scrapper knelt down in a corner, and sent Firefly down the hallway a decent distance.

“Nobody’s there. It seems awful quiet too,” said Scrapper.

“All right, they still don’t see us,” said Samus. “Let’s keep moving.”

They moved down the hallway quickly but quietly. At the end of the hallway, they came to an intersection in the hallway. Scrapper carefully sent his drone down each hallway, while the others stood on guard at the ready. After some time, the drone returned to him.

“All three hallways are clear. The one to the right is the only one that goes somewhere, though. But something’s off. There’s literally nobody here. I haven’t seen a single guard.”

“Have they abandoned this base already? That…..seems off,” said Captain Falcon.

“Maybe the place is trapped?” wondered Scrapper. “Lemme scan the area real quick.”

He tapped the side of his goggles, which lit up as he scanned the area.

“Nothing. No heat signatures, no electronics, no nothing. I’ll keep scanning every now and again.”

Samus stood up. “All right, if this base is abandoned, then we need to confirm that it is. Keep an eye out for ambushes or any presents they left behind.”

“Rodger that!” said Skylark.

The group relaxed slightly, and began moving forward again, still with care. As they moved along, they came across what appeared to be the barracks for the base’s garrison. It was totally empty. Nothing was left, only some garbage on the floor and heavy signs of wear from its occupants. 

“What on earth? They really did a number on this place……” said Cordelia.

Skylark eyed the area critically. “They took everything from here……are they that short on supplies? You don’t usually take every last thing with you if you’re leaving in a hurry……well, unless you’re Packrat.”

“You know me! Waste not, want not!” said Packrat.

“It’s Space Pirate mentality. Never leave anything behind,” said Samus. “That’s how you know the Space Pirates raided something. They take literally everything that’s not bolted down and some of what is, depending on how much time they’ve had.”

“Space Pirates….not the first time I’ve fought them and not gonna be the last time either,” said Falcon grimly.

“That’s a strange mentality to just take every last thing like that,” said Skylark. “Surely you don’t have to take everything with you.”

“Hmm……it’s not the worst mentaltily. If you’re creative enough, it’s surprising what you can make out of stuff you find lying around,” said Scrapper. “Junk can have value, you know.”

“Of course, you’d say that,” said Skylark, rolling her eyes.

Cordelia just shrugged. “What else did you expect him to say?”

“Fair enough.”

The Smashers continued forward, with Scrapper scanning for traps every now and again. They came across several other rooms. One appeared to be a security hub. All of the electronics and computers had been taken. Even the desks and chairs were no longer there. They discovered an area that appeared to resemble a cafeteria. As before, every single table, chair and appliance had been removed. Even the counters hadn’t been left behind. A third area appeared to house a few offices, just beyond what looked to be a firing range.

Samus looked on this with a growing sense of dread. How had they not noticed all of this right underneath their noses? Had it been because they were careless? Had they not been looking hard enough for hidden enemies in a time of peace? But how could they have known? Nobody was looking for Subspace energy in the heart of the known galaxy.

They moved back into the hallway, after clearing what looked to be the former bathrooms. After moving down some distance they came to another room that looked like a meeting room.

“They have a meeting room?” asked Packrat in surprise. “How long were they here? This is the kind of thing they don’t set up unless you’re digging in for a while.”

“Well, they had a firing range, proper barracks, and offices. I’d reckon they were here for at least 6 months, maybe longer,” said Cordelia.

“What were they doing down here, though?” asked Packrat. “Can’t be research and development, and its far too small to support a potential invasion force.”

“A listening outpost?” asked Scrapper. “They could have set up a rig to keep an eye on communications. They would intercept information on what was going on here. It wouldn’t have been that hard.”

“But why reveal themselves now? Everything was going well,” said Packrat.

Samus cleared her throat. “If we keep investigating, maybe we’ll find out.”

“Eh, fair enough. All right, let’s keep going, unless there’s anything to be seen here,” said Skylark.

Scrapper did a quick scan of the room.

“I got nothing. Gonna drone ahead again.”

Scrapper took a knee and reactivated Firefly. Samus stopped near the door and raised her arm cannon in readiness. It was still quiet. However, something seemed different here. Listening intently, Samus thought she heard some very faint noises. Something was moving, but some distance away. Her finger curled around the trigger of her arm cannon in anticipation.

Was it just the Space Pirates? Maybe they were accompanied by an army of Subspace monsters? The Subspace radiation was enough of a giveaway. What if there were more clones? Now that was a scary thought. They’d already seen four clones, who was to say that there weren’t more? Who knew what else lay down the tunnels? More monsters? Hostile combat robots? Perhaps even a Lord of Subspace, like Tabuu?

 Samus hissed under her breath as she quickly stopped her train of thought. She knew better then to do that. It had nearly been the death of her on Zebes and she’d made a point to never do it again. Baseless speculation got her nowhere and just ate at her resolve to complete the mission. She had to return her mind to the facts.

She had a team of powerful and competent Smashers backing her up. They were up against an unknown force that was at least partially comprised of Space Pirates. And since they were on Harmony and could call in a lot of other Smashers very quickly if needed. There was nothing to worry about. Only a mission to complete and bad guys to defeat. 

Scrapper suddenly held up his hand.

“What is it?” whispered Samus.

“I’ve spotted them, up ahead. You were right, we’ve got Space Pirates.”

Samus nodded to Scrapper in acknowledgement. A certain somebody who had a bad habit of coming back seemingly from the dead was pulling his usual tricks again. And she was going to make sure that he wasn’t coming back after this mess was over.

Chapter Text

Captain Douglas J. Falcon

Threat Level: 5               

Captain Falcon is an F -Zero racer with a lot of flashy techniques and a big ego. Don’t let that distract you from the fact that he was a bounty hunter for years and considered to be one of the most powerful Smashers for a reason. His Falcon Powers and martial arts expertise is not to be discounted lightly. His specific martial arts style is unknown in origin, but it appears to be focused exclusively around landing powerful strikes rather than blocking, countering or throwing the opponent. To compliment this, Falcon’s physical stamina is immense, allowing him to use his energy intensive fighting technique for extended periods of time. All of this is boosted by his Falcon Powers. It is believed that Falcon’s abilities are a form of kinetic energy manipulation instead of a form of pyrokinesis. Falcon has been observed using his powers underwater and in low oxygen environments with no issues and they do not seem to be able to catch things on fire. I would also be remiss to fail to mention his two vehicles, the Blue Falcon the Falcon Flyer, a racecar and ship respectively. While he does not call these into battle frequently, he will use them to make fast escapes, and can call them to his location remotely. These vehicles do not appear to be armed and are only extremely fast. On his time as a bounty hunter, few details are available, but considering he was an active bounty hunter for roughly 20 years, its not unreasonable to say that he has a sharp eye, quick reflexes, a lot of experience and a keen understanding of how a target thinks and will fight. Do not underestimate him, even for a moment, because he will likely be able to take advantage of it. In terms of weaponry, Captain Falcon is known to carry a blaster pistol on him. That being said, it’s usually not his first response, he will use only use it when the situation calls for it. Finally, it is worth mentioning the Flaming Falcon, Captain Falcon’s powered up form. This increases the power of all of his attacks. It is easily distinguishable by the intense Blue Falcon Energy aura that cloaks him while in this form. It is strongly advised to avoid combat with Captain Falcon when he is in this form if you do not possess significant power.

To combat Captain Falcon, rough, uneven terrain and long-range weaponry is suggested, as he generally prefers close quarters combat. Try to keep him at a distance, and try to land hits as he rushes in. He may also be at a slight disadvantage in a natural environment, as most of his fighting experience is most likely within Mute City and other urban landscapes. Don’t count too heavily on this one, as one does not remain a successful bounty hunter if one can’t handle a number of environments. As his powers appear to be kinetic energy based, any means of absorbing or reflecting kinetic energy presents itself as a means of defense against such attacks. It may be also possible to disrupt or ignite the energy with another burst of energy, though this has never been attempted on Falcon. It is worth nothing that his suit is very thin, and while it’s likely it is lightly armored, its not going to be turning dedicated strikes. Remember to keep your distance and let him come to you. It won’t be an easy fight, but it is a winnable one.

Packrat

Threat Level: 3

Packrat is an interesting case, as while clearly a Human fighter, he more closely resembles the Pokemon Trainers than anything else. Packrat is known to be a Sentry Guardian. Sentry Guardians originally hail from the planet of Loek III as the security force of the Britech Corperation. After the fall of Loek III and Britech Corperation, they settled the continent of New Michigan on Horizon along with the refugees of the collapse. They are known for their usage of a variety of sentry guns and support gadgets, carried and deployed from specially made heavy duty IDDs. They are known for their tactical maneuvers and for the immovable nature of their combat style, enforced by their overwhelming sentry gun firepower. These tactics were so effective that the Horizon Military designated a Sentry Specialist as a specialization for individual units and additionally created the Sentry Engineer Corps.

During the Horizon Civil War, Sentry Guardians held a defensive line along the Big Sky River against the full wrath of Grey Army forces for several months and repulsed all attempts to break their line with severe casualties. Later in the war, they applied slow but heavy offensive pressure, moving their deadly line of sentry guns forward, mile by mile, slowly boxing in the Grey Army. Sentry Guardians utilize a variety of anti-personnel, anti-tank and anti-aircraft, sentry guns. They are also known to favor small arms with high rates of fire and large magazine sizes.

Packrat is no exception to this rule. He has been observed deploying a variety of sentry guns in combat and seems to possess a personal LMG with an extended magazine. Furthermore, Packrat is also known for favoring the use of explosive traps and mines. Finally, Packrat is also in possession of some sort of reality warping device. It’s large grey box with the Timberwolf Squad logo on each side, and it appears to be a contraption of his own devising. While the designation of Packrat’s device is unknown, it has been observed creating gravity wells, generating EMP pulses and generating fields in which movement is slowed. Any further abilities of this device are unknown.

There are a number of ways to defeat Packrat. The first thing that should be noted is that any sentry gun or gadget that Packrat deploys should be destroyed as soon as it can safely be done. Just be warned, the nickname “Packrat” likely denotes that he’s got plenty of spares. If one should get the opportunity to attack Packrat before he can set up his defenses, it is a worthwhile effort, as Packrat will always be more dangerous the more sentry guns he has on the field. As for his guns, all manner of attacks have been proven effective for destroying them, it’s more of a matter of landing the attack without getting injured. Remember, it’s more of the quantity of sentry guns rather than the quality that seems to be the troublesome factor. As for the man himself, the last one thing that seems to stand out about Packrat is his remarkably stationary fighting style. While this seems strange for a combatant, it makes sense due to the stationary nature of his sentry guns. As such, a fast opponent is best suited to take on Packrat, to destroy his sentry guns quickly and bring him down before he can react. Packrat is only as dangerous as the number of sentry guns he has on the field and when he’s all alone, he’s easy pickings.

Cordelia

Threat Level: 3

Cordelia is a member of the collective known as the Windrunners. The Windrunners are an interesting group, having been created by the fusion of two separate groups, the Runners and Splitgate Tournament teams. Both originally hail from the planet of Cygnus Prime and are associated with a number of cities, most notably the Shard, the City of Glass. The Runners were a group of social outcasts who lived in small groups and were masters of a movement technique called parkour. The Splitgate Tournament was a professional sports league of sorts in which teams utilized stun laser weapons and wrist mounted portal guns to fight each other in an arena similar to the Splatfests seen in Inkopolois. As the Cygnus Prime government grew more restrictive and more corrupt, the two groups combined with others who were dissatisfied by the state of things and formed the Windrunners. The Windrunners attempted to live peacefully off the grid, however, after being antagonized by the government, fighting broke out. After several small conflicts and high tension, the Windrunners escaped the planet on a stolen ship shortly before the planetary government collapsed. They settled in the capitol of Horizon, New Toronto, favoring a cityscape similar to the one they left.

During the Horizon Civil War, the Windrunners formed an underground resistance, helping dissidents escape the clutches of the Grey Army and sabotaging critical military locales. Towards the midpoint of the war, their network was exposed, and they were forced to flee. Joining forces with the Sentry Guardians, they acted as much needed light assault teams, counterbalancing the Sentry Guardian’s immovable combat style.

Cordelia’s combat style revolves around continuous movement, running and climbing around her environment and shooting while she runs. It’s a very hit and run style of combat. She augments her movement capabilities with various equipment such as a wrist mounted grappling hook, jet thrusters on her boots, and a wrist mounted portal gun. Unfortunately, there’s precious little information on the portal gun she uses, but it appears to require a surface with enough flat space for the portal to deploy. For combat itself, Cordelia seems to prefer dual wielding small weapons like pistols and machine pistols, though she is known to use other maneuverable automatic weapons like SMGs and assault rifles. Cordelia is also the only member of Timberwolf Squad to ever be seen engaging an opponent in hand to hand combat. Her style seems to be highly momentum based, and very aggressive, though my lack of familiarity with human martial arts prevents me from saying anything more with certainty.

There are a few strategies that can be used to defeat Cordelia, all of which limit her ability to move. The first is to force her into an enclosed area to limit her movement, like a small room or tight corridor. While she is fast and can augment her speed and movement, parkour users seem to need open areas with a lot of space to be most effective. Another strategy that can be used is to destroy the environment around her. While it won’t slow her down any, it will prevent her from taking routes she previously would have taken and force her to slow down. If you’re lucky, she may twist an ankle or otherwise injure herself. My last recommendation is to try to injure one of her limbs. As parkour requires both legs and both arms to utilize effectively, injuring any of her limbs will force her to slow down significantly. Cordelia is fast, but not so fast that she can outrun defeat.

Act 4: Samus

Chapter 2: Headlong

Scrapper continued to scout ahead with his Firefly drone as the others waited in anticipation. After a minute, the drone returned.

“They’re carrying all sorts of stuff through some sort of portal,” he said. “I saw a bunch of equipment, boxes of supplies, weapons, that kinda thing. They actually seem to be moving in a coordinated fashion for once.”

“Do you see Ridley?” asked Samus.

“No, I don’t see him. I don’t think he’d fit in any of these tunnels either,” replied Scrapper.

“He’s a slippery one. You’d be surprised where I’ve found that lizard slinking around. Contrary to popular belief, he’s not too big for a lot of places,” said Samus.

“All right, we’ll keep an eye out,” said Scrapper.

“How many of them are there? We’re probably going to need to take these guys out,” said Samus.

“Moderate amount. Most of them aren’t on guard,” said Scrapper.

Samus nodded. “Let’s move then.”

The Smashers quickly moved down the tunnel in front of them. It led to a massive, cavernous room, with a few catwalks dangling above. A number of Space Pirates were milling throughout the bottom, moving what looked to be the last pieces of equipment out of the base. Against the wall of the bottom of the cavern, there was a giant swirling portal that the Space Pirates were carrying the equipment through. A large circular stairwell wrapped around the side of the cavern, starting off to the Smasher’s right and ending on the floor of the cavern below. It was a steep drop from the top, several dozen meters down at the minimum. On the catwalks, a few guards patrolled disinterestedly, having had nothing to do for hours but watch their comrades move equipment.

Samus surveyed the operation below her, trying to stay out of sight. “Do you recognize any of that equipment?”

After a minute, Scrapper said, “Looks like mostly cloaking equipment. High end stuff too. Do Space Pirates usually have this kinda stuff?”

“Their leader is Ridley. They have no concept of subtlety. It’s probably a miracle that they even know how any of it works,” said Samus flatly.

“Hey! Scrapper, do you see that?” whispered Packrat suddenly. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“If you’re seeing a mininuke generator, then yeah.”

“A mininuke generator!?” said Cordelia in surprise. “How’d they get one of those?”

“Dunno. Nobody I know would let Space Pirates anywhere one. And that includes good guys and bad guys,” said Packrat.

“Mininuke generator?” asked Samus.

“Human tech. Very expensive but very powerful nuclear fission-powered portable generator, so whatever you do, don’t shoot the thing. I don’t know how they got it, though. Space Pirate raids stopped altogether after what happened at New Toronto, and there’s still a lot of bad blood on our end. They shouldn’t have been able to get one,” said Packrat.

Samus nodded. The raid of New Toronto, the capital of Horizon had been one of the most ambitious raids that the Space Pirates had attempted. It had also been one of their most crushing defeats. Packrat, Cordelia, Scrapper and Skylark had all been present during the raid and had mauled Ridley so badly that the Space Pirate leader had barely escaped with his life and had ordered an immediate retreat. She was the only person who’d ever managed to cause Ridley to do that before. She was so very proud of them. It was also one of the reasons she liked working with them so much.

“Do we jump them?” asked Cordelia. “This area’s better for me.”

Packrat shook his head. “Not with the mininuke generator. That thing has to be dealt with carefully! We’re under a neighborhood – we can’t risk a stray shot hitting it here!”

“Yeah……even Sonic couldn’t outrun the blast from this close,” said Captain Falcon uneasily. “Do you have any other ideas?”

“Blast ‘em from orbit!” joked Scrapper cheerily.

Cordelia sighed. “Do we have any actual other ideas?”

“Can we try to get them to surrender?” asked Skylark.

Samus snorted. “No. That would be like waiting for a purple unicorn to jump out of a portal from the sky.”

Space Pirates were infamous for never surrendering. Ever. Which oftentimes made dealing with them a very dangerous prospect.

“So, we have to fight. But how do we get next to the reactor in time?” asked Packrat. “It’s in the middle of all of that cloaking equipment. Even Cordie will have a hard time getting in close fast enough. And that’s with everybody shooting.”

Suddenly a thought came to Timberwolf Squad, and three heads turned towards Scrapper.

“Ugh, fine. I’ll sneak in and drop a bubble shield.”

Samus rolled her eyes. “You take that whole long distance shooting thing way too seriously.”

“Hey, it’s the safe thing to do!” muttered Scrapper. He hefted his shield off of his arm and onto his back, where it attached to a magnetic plate on the back of his trench coat. Scrapper then deployed a small device with a tripod bottom from his IDD. “All right. Open fire after the dome shield activates. Not before. Got it?”

Samus nodded. “Absolutely. Just make sure the shield doesn’t go down.”

Scrapper nodded back. Moments later, he vanished into thin air. Due to the very expensive and highly regulated nature of cloaking device ownership, Scrapper was the only one of his teammates to own one, but as Samus had seen time and time again, Scrapper made the investment worth every credit.

She glanced to the side. Skylark, Cordelia and Packrat were all readying their weapons.

Packrat took a crouching position, LMG at the ready. “We’ve done this before and we’re going to do it again! This is gonna be easy!”

Samus grimaced under her visor. She hoped Packrat’s optimism wasn’t unfounded. Ridley was known for appearing exactly when he was least wanted.

After a few minutes of waiting, a translucent blue dome suddenly appeared and covered the mininuke generator. The Space Pirates jumped in surprise, as Scrapper suddenly faded back into sight in front of them, inside the dome. They raised their weapons, but Packrat, Cordelia, and Skylark immediately opened fire on them before they could react. A hail of laser fire struck the ground, taking down the guards on the catwalks before turning downwards towards the rest of the Space Pirates. Falcon, having drawn his blaster, took some more precise shots at some of the Space Pirates who were still out in the open. Samus joined them, unleashing a storm of Plasma Beams from her arm cannon, forcing any Space Pirates in her sights to dive for cover.

Packrat jumped back as a missile struck the ceiling above him. “Get down there! We’ll cover you!” he shouted as he resumed his original spot. Cordelia and Captain Falcon bolted down the stairwell. As they ran, Cordelia slung her assault rifle on her back pulled out one of her machine pistols. The two began shooting as they descended. Falcon charged ahead, gaining a lot of speed. He jumped over the railing and plummeted towards a group of Space Pirates on the ground, flames already gathering around his foot.

“Falcon Kick!”

He hit the ground with an impressive explosion, catching some of the nearby equipment in its range. He charged off in one direction, dodging the returning laser fire, as Cordelia flipped over the edge and swung herself onto the stairwell one layer below the one she was on. She landed right in front of a group of Space Pirates. She knocked one down with a well placed kick and decked another one in the face with a pistol whip. She quickly drew her second machine pistol and finished off the group with several bursts.

Seeing another group of Space Pirates coming up the stairs, she holstered her machine pistols and pulled her assault rifle back out. Ducking under a barrage of wild shots, she began unloading her Assault Rifle at the Space Pirates on the stairs. A few of the returning shots struck her, but it only caused her energy shields to flare.

Samus turned to Packrat and Skylark and nodded. The three hustled their way down the stairs, laying down heavy suppressive fire on the Space Pirates on the ground as they went.

“Cover me! Out of ammo!” shouted Skylark suddenly. Packrat stood in front of her, still shooting his LMG. Samus shook her head as she took up her position next to him. She scanned the area in front of her and quickly located a group of Space Pirates taking cover behind some crates. Samus quickly opened suppressive fire, as Packrat kept shooting at a different group lower down the stairs, preventing them from moving forward.

“You good on ammo, Packrat?” yelled Samus above the noise of all of the chaos around them.

“Still good! I’ve got big magazines!” yelled Packrat back.

Samus nodded. Packrat loved talking about the oversized, extended magazines that he used. No wonder he never needed to stop and reload when his weapons had 2500 round clip sizes. Such were laser rifles after all. The only people who needed to reload less than him were Megaman and herself. Arm cannon technology was pretty useful in that regard. Well, modern technology. Human arm cannons were still catching up.

“Ready to go!” shouted Skylark from behind them. She took point as they moved down the stairs.

Lower down, Cordelia vaulted through a portal and landed a flying kick to the back of a surprised Space Pirate before taking out the other two with quick bursts of her machine pistols. With no warning, an firey orange explosion threw another unfortunate Space Pirate into the air, before he plummeted back to the ground. Looked like Falcon was keeping himself busy.

By the time they reached the lower levels of the stairwell, Cordelia had cleared the stairs and had already reached the ground floor, taking cover behind some large boxes as her shields recharged. Most of the remaining Space Pirates had already retreated through a tunnel in the side of the cavern. As they reached the bottom, Samus saw that while there were three doors, two of them had been filled in with rubble, leaving only the one tunnel open. She saw that a few Space Pirates had taken cover behind a very large device that looked like it was made for drilling. Samus rushed towards them, while Skylark, Packrat, Cordelia and Falcon applied heavy pressure on the remaining Space Pirates that were still trying to hold the remaining open hallway.

The Space Pirates behind the driller opened fire on her as she approached.

“IT’S THE HUNTRESS!” one shouted. “KILL HER!”

“We can’t take her!” shouted another. “How many times has she beaten the boss?”

“Coward!” hissed the first one, as the others turned and fled down a small escape hatch cut into the side of the room.

Samus casually shot the rifle out of the Space Pirate’s hand and walked up to him. “You should have run,” she said menacingly.

The Space Pirate jumped and took a wild swing with a Space Pirate style knife. The knife didn’t even scratch Samus’s armor. Samus casually knocked it from his hand, the knife clattering to the floor. The Space Pirate looked at his weapon, panicked.

“Go. I’m not interested in taking prisoners.”

“What?!” asked the Space Pirate confused.

“Do I really need to tell you twice?”

The Space Pirate turned on his heel and fled down the hatch. A few moments later, Samus could hear the sound of several charges of instant concrete expanding. Samus sighed. Though the Space Pirates at large believed in their conquest based society, not all were enthusiastic about being pirates. Some small settlements of peaceful Space Pirates had popped up and had been granted protection and membership among the Galactic Assembly. They had named themselves “The Liberated”, seeing themselves as liberated from the cycle of pillaging and death that their brethren were still trapped in. The Chozo hoped that by letting as many Space Pirates as possible live, some might rethink their lives and possibly join the Liberated.

Samus shrugged. If they didn’t escape, they’d definitely be captured when the police got down there. Couldn’t say that she didn’t give them a chance. The Chozo elders would take that explanation for how she promoted peace, right? No need to get chewed out again……

She turned to see the other Smashers congregating in the middle of the room, as Scrapper deactivated the dome shield.

“All right, what do we have here?” she asked.

Packrat crouched down next to the equipment. “This is a stealth radio transmitter here…….this is an electric field suppressor……oh! Thermal defuser! Nice one too…… Somebody with a lot of money is behind these guys. Unless the Pirates are that rich themselves?”

“Definitely not,” said Samus definitively. “This equipment was either stolen or given to them.”

“Maybe both?” said Captain Falcon. “Criminals ready to turn an easy buck?”

“Maybe,” said Samus. “Do you see anything else other than equipment they used to hide their signature here?”

“Not off the bat,” said Packrat. “Lemme take a look around.”

Falcon joined him and the others as they inspected the other equipment.

“This gear like it’s pretty new. Reminds me of some of Black Shadow’s operations. This equipment makes me think this whole operation was well planned out.”

“Then it wasn’t Ridley in charge,” said Samus. “He’s a fly by the seat of his pants kind of pillager.”

“Is Ridley taking orders from somebody above him then?” asked Falcon. “Does Ridley even respect anybody enough to listen to them?”

“Not often,” said Samus wryly. “But on occasion he’ll take a few pointers from others.”

“What kind of person would Ridley listen to?” asked Packrat.

“Somebody with the ability to help him raid things he usually couldn’t,” said Samus.

“Which gives us something on the person he’s working with,” said Falcon. “Somebody with cunning.”

“I didn’t think of that. You getting anything else from all this?” asked Packrat.

Falcon rubbed his chin. “Probably has to be strong enough to match Ridley, I’m thinking. Could it be possible that Ridley has a new advisor, Samus?”

Samus shook her head. “Ridley is the brains of Space Pirate operations. I’ve seen them plan, its always Ridley in charge, and if you disagree with the guy in charge, you die. Whoever they’re working with is smart, but powerful enough for Ridley to respect him.”

“I’d say Black Shadow, but he’s in jail and I spent too much time dismantling his criminal empire for him to have any resources to work with,” offered Falcon. “Maybe he actually is working with Ganondorf after all?”

“How powerful is Ganondorf when he’s not being boosted by a Subspace Core?” asked Samus.

“Not sure, we’ll have to ask Link. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say he’s probably powerful enough to get Ridley to listen,” said Falcon.

“Oh hey, look at this!” said Scrapper from a different part of the pile. He held up a device.

“This is Chozo tech, right? This looks like a bio scanner?”

“Let me look at this,” said Samus.

She quickly walked over and inspected the device.

“Yeah, that’s Chozo tech all right. Here, cover me, I’m going to see if I can get in with my skeleton key, but I’m going to need to deactivate my suit.”

Samus pressed a button on the back of her arm cannon. Suddenly, her suit began to glow as it dematerialized around her. Packrat, Cordelia and Skylark all took defensive positions around her as Scrapper and Falcon crowded in curiously. Samus turned on the device before pulling a card out of her pocket and swiping it in front of the scanner area.

Immediately the screen changed to an admin screen.  

“And there we are….let’s see……” mumbled Samus.

 There was a moment of silence as Samus fiddled through the various tabs.

“As I figured. They definitely stole this….not much out of the….oh! Look at this!”

“Look at what?” asked Scrapper.

“This is the species list that this biosensor has been set to scan for. There are two that I would expect, those being Space Pirates and Chozo. However, this scanner has also been set to scan for Star Warriors, Hands, Pokeanians, Gaians, Hylians/Gerudo/Kokiri, Beorc, Icari, Mobians, Sindarians, Quenyalans, and Mushroomians.”

“Gaians…from Gaia…that’s Cloud’s, Little Mac’s and Ryu’s home world, right?” asked Skylark.

“And the Icari… that’s Pit and Palutena’s people,” said Cordelia.

Falcon nodded. “That’s right. The Sindarian one is probably for my clone, since I’m the only Smasher from Sindar. With the Icari, Hylian and Chozo ones corresponding to the other clones. I wonder if the Quenyalan is Dr. Wily. He’s the only one on Quenyala that’s powerful enough to be part of this alliance. We’ll have to tell Megaman and the others after we’re done here.”

“Isn’t Ganondorf Gerudo?” asked Scrapper. “So, he’d be a second person for that Hylians/Gerudo/Kokiri category.”

“You’re right, I didn’t think of that,” said Falcon. “I guess that opens the door up for more there being more than one person for each bioscanner type.”

Packrat sighed. “It seems like the Space Pirates have a lot of friends working with them this time.”

“I think you’re being too generous. The Space Pirates have backstabbed a lot of people in their time. A LOT,” said Samus. “The best they’ll have is an uneasy alliance with whoever they’re currently working with.”

“Maybe they’ll all backstab each other, and we won’t have to do too much work!” said Packrat.

Samus barked a laugh. “Yeah, sorry, I’m not that lucky. That being said, their infighting could give us an opportunity to strike or make some of the enemy factions leave the group. I’ve had that happen before when trying to take down the Space Pirates. I’ll take it if we can get a repeat performance, though.”

“I’ll second that!” said Packrat.

There was a pause as Samus reactivated her armor.

“Say, shouldn’t you pick up the Mininuke Generator before somebody accidently shoots it, Packrat?” asked Skylark.

“Right,” said Packrat, rubbing the back of his head. “I’ll get that right now.”

“Make sure you don’t lose it all, again!” said Skylark. “We’re still missing those eight ship engines that you misplaced from that one trip to Hossin!”

“Hey, hey! I’m making a new folder for this!” Packrat complained. “Seriously, I’m never gonna hear the end of that one.”

“No, you’re not,” said Scrapper. “Those were worth 20 grand each!”

“I’ll find them eventually! Just need to take some time to reorganize my IDD storage!” grumbled Packrat as he fiddled with the screen and control panel on his arm for a minute.

He then pointed his IDD glove at the equipment. The Mininuke Generator appeared to be unchanged as blue lasers scanned it from the palm of Packrat’s IDD. Samus didn’t know much about Packrat’s IDD, but she did know that it was a more advanced model than the ones his teammates had, let alone the standard ones that most of the Smashers used. This let him pick up much larger objects and store them on a much larger hard drive. After some time, the Mininuke Generator suddenly turned into a holographic outline, before vanishing into thin air a few minutes later.

 “There,” said Packrat, picking up his LMG. “The cops can pick up the rest of it, none of the rest of this stuff is gonna explode if shot. Ready to go.”

“All right, let’s investigate…….” Samus paused mid-sentence, looking up at the wall. The portal had vanished. She activated the R-47 scanner in her visor. The R-47 hotspot that had been in the area was totally gone. However, something caught her vision on the screen.

“Hey…..I see another R-47 signal, but it’s not quite so strong……let’s go take a look.”

Captain Falcon shrugged. “Sure, why not? We’re already here.”

Samus pointed down the one remaining tunnel.

“That way.”

The Smashers made their way down the hallway, carefully, checking all of the rooms. The rooms down here appeared to be mostly storage rooms. While almost everything had been taken out, as with the other rooms, there were a few things remaining. Samus recognized some as racks for Space Pirate weapons. Rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers, etc. She was all too familiar with them. However, as they went further down, they noticed one room that had been noticeably better kept. She noticed a few translucent spots on the floor and scanned it with her visor.

“Sword polish,” she said after a moment.

“Smells like it,” said Captain Falcon. “Didn’t Roy say that some of those guys he fought yesterday used swords?”

“Yeah, the Pit clone, the Link clone, and the one they called ‘Lucina’,” said Falcon. 

“But not my clone,” said Samus, as she continued to inspect the area. She was wondering how they’d even managed to get her DNA, let alone her suit specs. She was almost always in her suit on missions. Not even her hair should have gotten out. And then there was the suit her clone used. It was possible that they’d gotten their hands on a Chozo style powersuit from an abandoned Chozo settlement somewhere, though. Most likely a lucky find. It needed to be destroyed. She could not let her people’s greatest weapon stay in the hands of those who would cause chaos and destruction.

“Hey, Samus, you still have that Phazite scan function?” asked Scrapper.

“Yeah, why?”

“I’m picking up Phazite radiation. I think somebody was using it here. Haven’t used my Phazite scanner in a while, so I wanna make sure it’s not a bad reading.”

Samus’ eyes narrowed as she switched her scanner to detect Phazite. Sure enough, there were traces of Phazite energy. So, the whole Phazon fiasco was coming back to bite her. Again. Now in its new and “safe” form of Phazite. After the corruptive qualities of Phazon had been made known to the Galactic Assembly, scientists were quickly commissioned to find a solution. While she had been off fighting Phazon meteors and corrupted friends and foes alike, they had come up with a compound that, when exposed to Phazon, reacted the corruptive material and created a new compound, dubbed Phazite. While significantly less corruptive and aggressive as raw Phazon, much debate still raged about how safe Phazite was. Samus already knew what her answer was. Thankfully, because Phazite was made from Phazon, there was a galactic-wide ban on the stuff. And despite this, it was now back, again. Most likely, judging by Roy’s report, it was probably her clone using it too. Sometimes Samus felt like she could never escape her past.

It wasn’t just being from a “dead” species. Who weren’t so dead after all, when a bunch of other humans had popped out of nowhere just over 5 years ago. At least that one had been a good surprise. No, it was the bad things that kept coming back that she hated so much. Like how Ridley had murdered her parents and everybody that she’d ever known at age 5, and now was her nemesis. It felt like she had to fight him at least once every single, stupid year. Well, she did fight Ridley on a near annual basis, the Space Pirate captain hold a bitter grudge against her. And to be perfectly frank, the feeling was mutual.

Sometimes, it felt like it was like it was her fault that the Space Pirates existed or something, because it was always her job to clean up the messes they caused. But it wasn’t just the Space Pirates. The Metroids had this quality too. They seemed to be the favored bio weapon of every single stupid terrorist organization and upstart dictator. Somehow, every last one thought that the species that found a way to escape even the Chozo’s best containment protocols wouldn’t escape containment again, just for them!  And then, the famed Metroid Hunter had to come and stop them, again. Phazon and Phazite just needed to stay gone, just like those stupid X Parasites. At least the X Parasites hadn’t come back for some time, and some experts were even hypothesizing that she had actually hunted them to extinction. Samus doubted that she was that lucky.

Of course, she had known that if anybody was using Phazite, it was likely that it was her clone, but seeing the readings in person through her own visor was….different. More real somehow. And there was going to be a reckoning for whatever stupid moron who had decided pumping her clone full of Phazite was a good idea. A very loud, explosive reckoning.

She knew that this was exactly the time where Grey Voice would tell her to stop and breathe. And he was absolutely right. She just hated when he was right like that. She could practically hear him saying, “Samus! Samus!”

“Samus? Hey Samus?” said Skylark, shaking Samus’ shoulder.

Samus jumped, snapping back into reality.

“You ok?” asked Skylark.

“Yeah, just got lost in my thoughts. Sorry about that.”

“Ok. Just wanted to make sure you’re all right.”

Samus sighed. “Phazite. Can’t ever seem to outrun this crap.”

Skylark nodded. “I’m sorry. We’ll destroy all of it, I promise.”

Samus blinked and refocused her mind. Now was not the time to lose sight of the objective at hand.

“Thanks. And sorry to worry you.”

“No need to be sorry,” said Skylark. “You’ve had a lot of especially bad experiences with Phazon. Its no wonder you dislike it so much.”

Samus just sighed. The mission wasn’t over yet. She still needed to be in the game. Why had she let this get to her? She was better than this. She had to be better than this.

They exited the room and continued moving down the hallway. After turning a few corners, the Smashers found themselves looking at one final door. Samus peeked carefully through it, making sure there were no hostiles or traps near it. Through the door was a long corridor. It was dimly lit and she could just barely see the end of it. It had a downward slope to it, and it appeared less well used then the rest of the base. She turned on her R-47 scanner again. The signature was still in the same direction.

“All right. Signal’s coming from straight ahead of us. Let’s go find out what they got down there.”

Chapter Text

Scrapper

Threat Level: 4

Scrapper is an anomaly amongst his human peers, let alone the rest of the Smashers. This is due to the lack of information and rampant misinformation that has surrounded this Smasher. Even my efforts have uncovered only four verifiable things about Scrapper. These include the following: he is affiliated with the Sky Rangers, he is a specialist in long and extreme range combat, the third is that he is a pilot, and fourth is that he is a master of illusions. Anything beyond this is unverified.

First, let’s talk about the Sky Rangers. The Ranger Corps of Borealis is a group of lawmen who defend the vast, sparsely populated, and largely lawless continent of Borealis. While short on formal training and manpower, they make up for it with experience and heavy armament. The Rangers have participated in a number of conflicts, including the Vanu Incursion, the Fourth Mutagen War, the first and second Cult Wars, and of course, the Horizon Civil War. The Sky Rangers serve as the aerial arm of the Rangers as well as their elite branch. Sky Rangers are no ordinary pilots, as they fly in extreme weather conditions of Borealis, including violent storms with winds exceeding 80 kpm. Sky Rangers serve in a variety of roles, including scouting, transportation, search and rescue, and combat. In battle, the Sky Rangers have always distinguished themselves with their ace piloting skills, exceptional marksmanship, daring assaults, and legendary last stands. As one can imagine, there are a number of unverifiable legends surrounding the Sky Rangers and their feats, many bordering on incredulity.

Now, we will talk about what is known about Scrapper. Scrapper is confirmed to be at least a proficient sniper. Snipers are confirmed to have an effective range of at least 500 meters, though stories tell of master snipers who have hit targets at up to 2.5 kilometers. Exercise extreme caution around open areas if Scrapper is known to be present but has not been seen – snipers are known for hiding themselves while lining up a shot. Scrapper is also a pilot, flying a Sky Ranger “Steel Eagle” dropship. While much slower than the Arwings and Warpstars piloted by other Smashers, it is heavily armored and shielded, can carry passengers in the back, and is heavily armed. Lastly, Scrapper is a master of illusions. It is unknown how he creates and manipulates illusions, but they are often observed being used as distractions. It’s likely they have more uses then just distraction, as illusions are useful things. This is likely the source of the sheer amount of misinformation about Scrapper. If all the rumors were to be believed, then Scrapper would be able to phase through matter, see through walls, perform unassisted levitation, shoot explosive barrages from the sky, and juggle balls of electricity.

Now for counters. To be honest, it’s difficult to recommend anything concrete. While Scrapper has been rumored to wield a number of conventional and unconventional weapons, it is generally agreed upon that he generally avoids close quarters combat. As he generally prefers to fight from a distance, I recommend rushing Scrapper down as quickly as possible should he be spotted. Do not let Scrapper escape and destroy any scoped weapon in his possession to limit his effective range. Just approach with as much caution as can be had when rushing down an opponent– there’s no telling exactly what he has at his disposal.

Skylark

Threat Level: 2

Skylark is the weakest of all of the humans and possesses few special combative skills and weaponries that her teammates don’t have. Despite this, she has proven herself in battle and should not be underestimated if only for this reason. She does stand out as the chief medical specialist of the Smashers and is a highly skilled medical professional. If she is encountered, consider her a priority target for this designation alone.

Skylark is one of the Paladins, an organization of politically unaffiliated combat medics who do their best to bring medical care to dangerous and distant places. They were founded on Auraxis before the planet’s fall as a separate faction from the New Conglomerate, Terran Republic, and Vanu Sovereignty, assisting abandoned and wounded soldiers from all factions, fighting only to defend themselves. After the New Conglomerate and Terran Republic reunited and drove the Vanu Sovereignty off planet, the Paladins were quick to join the coalition, and they proved instrumental in the reunification of Auraxis. Unfortunately for them, shortly thereafter, they made contact with a force comprised of a number of previously unknown sentient life forms, a group known as the Banished. While information on this organization is very scarce, a group of dissidents from the group, comprised of mostly Sangheili (sometimes referred to as Elites) defected and joined the Humans, helping them to repel a full-scale invasion of Auraxis. After the dust settled, they realized that their forces were too few to hold the planet against a second full scale invasion, and Auraxis was evacuated shortly thereafter. Relocating to Horizon, the Paladins quicky scattered across Horizon, operating in many communities and serving alongside the forces defending them. During the Horizon Civil War, many Paladins served alongside the Sentry Guardians and Ranger Corps, while others joined the Alliance Army. While there are no statistics to pull, it is likely that the Paladin’s contributions to the Alliance significantly reduced Alliance casualties. After the war, they dispersed across the planet as they had before. Today, they are still active, though mostly in rural continents. The Horizon Combat Medic Corps is also a direct offshoot of the Paladin’s organization.

Skylark herself is a combat medic just as capable of killing you as saving you, however she lacks the power that her teammates and many other Smashers have. What she does have at her disposal, however, is a versatile kit that is useful in nearly any situation. Skylark generally favors conventional human weaponry, and is mostly seen with a standard assault rifle, though she has been spotted using rocket launchers, LMGs, and PDWs. She has also adopted some Sangheili weaponry, including Plasma Rifles and Carbines. As a defensive measure, Skylark is equipped with a number of hard light shield projection devices that can project hardlight domes and walls. Finally, Skylark appears to wield a support pistol that can fire stasis beams and repulson beams. It’s unknown if it has any additional firing modes.

To defeat Skylark, just follow the general suggestions that I put forth for all of Timberwolf Squad. Of all of her teammates, she’s the one that lines up the most strongly with the average human soldier. She may be particularly vulnerable when attempting to assist a wounded ally, so keep an eye out if you know somebody has been injured. Other than that, Skylark is a fighter that should not be difficult to defeat.

Act 4: Samus

Chapter 3: Lockout

Samus walked forward down the long corridor, arm cannon at the ready, aiming around Scrapper, who was leading the party, ballistic shield at the ready. The others followed behind her, ready to attack at a moment’s notice. They had been going down the long hallway for some time. Her visor told her that they had been on a long, slow descent downwards. Samus wondered why they needed a tunnel this long, and she wondered how long it went for.

Scrapper suddenly held up his hand.

“Down the hall. I see hostiles. Not sure if they see us yet.”

There was the sound of shouting from down the hall, and a few stray shots hit the sides of the hallway. The Smashers instantly snapped into fighting stances. Scrapper pressed a button on the back of his shield, activating a hardlight shield over the ballistic shield. It covered the entirety of the ballistic shield, but also extended below the shield to cover his legs and feet. Hardlight panels also materialized out of the side and top to better protect his head and sides.

“They see us! Behind the shield! Move it people!” shouted Scrapper, as he began to walk quickly towards the Space Pirates at the end of the hallway.

Samus attempted a few shots from around Scrapper, but due to the narrow corridor, it was difficult to aim around him and her shots missed.

“Just wait till we get closer!” Skylark said, jogging to keep up as Scrapper increased his walking speed, noticing that the enemy were starting to retreat.

Scrapper yelled, “They’re going somewhere! We’ll hopefully have more space to fight!”

Packrat, Cordelia and Skylark readied their rifles and Falcon drew his blaster pistol. They quickly made their way down the hallway. It was hard to see the room at the end, but evidently, it was fairly wide, and only one floor in height. It was hard to see much from this point, but it looked like the back of the room there was a large segment of totally flat wall. This segment of the wall had a portal on it. Somewhere around a dozen Space Pirates were moving pieces of equipment through the portal. Suddenly, two different figures stepped into view.

Samus’s breath caught in her throat when she saw one of them. The armor looked the same…ish as hers. The overall shape was right, though it was painted dark grey with bright glowing blue lines of energy running throughout it. It floated a few inches off the ground as it readied its arm cannon to fire. It was her clone. Next to her stood somebody who looked suspiciously like Pit, but with a black toga and black wings. He had an arrow of hardlight drawn in his bow, ready to fire. Samus realized why the others had taken to calling the clones Dark Pit and Dark Samus.

As they did, Dark Pit yelled something to the Space Pirates in the room. A few could be seen running in the background.

Dark Samus fired a barrage of laser shots as Dark Pit fired arrows. Scrapper grunted as the shots began to hit his shield, slowing down a little to be able to continue holding the shield steady. Samus began shooting around Scrapper with Skylark. From her vantage point, Samus frowned as she observed what she could see of the room ahead of her. Ahead of her was the equipment that they had been moving earlier. It lay around the room in large piles. However, there was no time to think. A number of Space Pirate guards joined Dark Samus and Dark Pit, shooting at the Smashers as Scrapper and his shield made their way forward. The projectiles dissipated with a hiss as they hit the hardlight covering Scrapper’s shield and made small explosions when hitting the dirt sides of the tunnel. At this point, Scrapper had slowed down significantly to be able to keep his shield up. Suddenly, the Space Pirates and the clones stopped shooting and dashed off to the left.

“Move it! They’re running away!” shouted Scrapper as he picked up the pace again.

 In short order, they arrived at the entrance of the tunnel. Scrapper pushed into the room slightly, still mostly covering the doorway.

Several Space Pirates rushed out of one of the side rooms, and bolted straight for the portal, diving in as if being chased be a giant monster. As they did, a spray of fire came from the room. The smashers watched in surprise as Ridley crawled out of the room. But something was wrong – since when did his skin have a metallic sheen?

Out of the corner of her eye, Samus saw Dark Pit and Dark Samus disappear into the portal. Nothing she could do about it now, she had to face the threat in front of her.

“Wait……isn’t he kinda small?” asked Cordelia in confusion.

“Yeah….” said Samus. She quickly scanned the creature as it stomped towards him, but she was fairly sure she knew what it was. The scan confirmed her suspicions.

“It’s a machine. It’s a Meta Ridley. Looks like a smaller version of the last model I fought.”

“A robot meant to mimic Ridley…… all right. Let’s get him,” said Packrat.

“Cover me!” shouted Cordelia, from the back of the party.

Samus caught the glow of light next to her. She glanced back to see Cordelia look down at her glove and press a button. She was surrounded by a blue hologram, before a powersuit began to materialize around her. Packrat, Scrapper and Skylark immediately began shooting at the Mecha Ridley. Samus quickly began shooting too, trying to draw its attention. It took almost a minute for the suit to fully deploy from the IDD due to the suit’s complex and technical nature, and Samus didn’t want to leave Cordelia defenseless while she deployed the suit.

The Mecha Ridley roared and began breathing fire. Packrat and Skylark jumped back, out of the flame’s reach, while Scrapper hunkered in behind his shield. Samus began shooting, while Falcon charged fire around his fist.

“Flying Falcon!” he shouted. He threw a punch with his fist coated in a blazing Falcon, its wings spread. As he threw the punch, the falcon took off from his fist and shot out straight at the Mecha Ridley. It impacted the robot with a firey explosion, knocking its fire breath aside.

Mecha Ridley screeched and fired a laser beam out of its mouth at each of the Smashers. Falcon flipped out of the way with ease, while Samus rolled into the Morph Ball, casually avoiding the beam. Packrat and Skylark dove aside quickly, avoiding the laser, but the beam itself struck Scrapper’s shield straight on, sending him flying. He hit the ground with a heavy thud.

Samus, Packrat, Skylark and Falcon quickly raised their firearms and began blasting the Mecha Ridley, who shielded itself with its metal wings. Scrapper scrambled to his feet.

“Gah! That’s got a lot of force behind it!”

“Yeah! Don’t get hit by it!” said Samus.

“Gonna have to tag out to put away the shield!” said Scrapper. “Gonna take too long to pull something else!”

“Do it!” said Cordelia from behind them. “I’m back in!”

“Right, I’m out!” said Scrapper, as Cordelia bounded up to take his place. She was now encased in a heavy set of power armor, equipped with an arm cannon and a jetpack. It had a dull purple and light grey color scheme, and her visor glowed a defiant shade of silver.

It was an interesting set of power armor that all of the members of Timberwolf squad had at their disposal. According to Scrapper, it was based off of a hazardous environment research suit and modified for combat. Each member of the team had a different color scheme. Packrat’s suit had a red and grey color scheme, Skylark’s was a light blue and grey, and Scrapper’s was dark blue and grey. Each one was slightly different, having different functions to match the needs and preferences of its wearer. And of course, all were armed with an arm cannon. The outer shell was based off of Chozo designs discovered on Horizion, but the guts of the cannon were all human tech, swappable with an internally mounted IDD. This meant that the weaponry of the arm cannon was all human in origin, and not Chozo, as the researchers weren’t able to decipher the Chozo language before they had made first contact with said Chozo and been subsequently asked to stop research. Or so Scrapper had told her. Apparently, he was one of the people who had done a lot of work on the protypes of the arm cannon. Not a huge shocker, considering that the design philosophy of the weapon was perfectly in line with that of the infamous inventor.

Samus was just fine with her suit though, as she blasted the Ridley knockoff with a barrage of missiles. Next to her, Cordelia unleashed a torrent of laser fire from her arm cannon, while Packrat and Skylark continued to shoot with their respective rifles. Captain Falcon drew his blaster and joined in the barrage. The robot took several shots but began blocking the shots with its metallic wings.

Samus grunted with frustration and stopped shooting, as did the other Smashers. No need to expend ammo wastefully when it was clearly not doing anything useful. The robotic monstrosity screeched at them, but before it could do anything, a grenade sailed through the air and rolled underneath Mecha Ridley’s feet, before releasing a translucent blue discharge. Mecha Ridley froze in place for a second as another grenade sailed through the air and exploded in his face.

“Got him with the EMP! Light him up!” shouted Scrapper from behind. 

Samus glanced back for a moment to see Scrapper crouched behind them, DMR at the ready. He quickly switched his hand off of the underbarrel grenade launcher mounted on the side of the barrel and placed it on the underbarrel shotgun mounted below the barrel and began shooting again. She whipped her attention back to the Mecha Ridley and fired off a few missiles while the others resumed their fire. Another grenade sailed through the air from behind them, this one impacting Mecha Ridley in the face before exploding.

The robot suddenly powered back on and screeched again. A few ports opened up on Mecha Ridley’s back and fired a barrage of homing missiles out of its back. Samus tried to shoot as many rockets out of the air that she could, but they were moving too quickly, and she was forced to dodge. She heard a series of explosions. The smoke cleared to reveal Cordelia, encased in a glowing hardlight shell, evidently having tanked the explosions with her suit.

“Help me out here! Armor Lock won’t last forever!” she shouted.

Skylark jumped out from where she’d been taking cover and hurled a grenade at the Mecha Ridley before opening fire again upon the Mecha Ridley. Samus quickly joined her, as the others rejoined the fight, allowing Cordelia to disengage the Armor Lock and back off to a safe distance. Mecha Ridley suddenly opened its mouth an unleashed a geyser of flame at Samus. She ducked out of the line of attack and rolled away as Mecha Ridley continued to breathe fire at her. The robot attacked her as she rolled in a circle and the other Smashers fired onto its back.

“Falcon Punch!”

Mecha Ridley staggered forward from the force of the powerful punch, allowing Samus to pull herself out of her morph ball. 

As she picked herself up, she heard the Packrat yell, “Cover me! Deploying a sentry!”

Took him long enough. The heavy guns, precision accuracy and excellent tracking ability of the gun would help a lot, provided Packrat had enough time to deploy it. Skylark quickly pulled a strange looking pistol out of her off hand holster and pointed it at the Mecha Ridley. She fired a whitish beam that engulfed Mecha Ridley and seemed to slow him down.

“Stasis Beam up!” shouted Skylark.

Mecha Ridley began to turn again, but slowly. Samus fired her grapple beam, catching the Mecha Ridley. It slowly turned to look at her, but Captain Falcon wasn’t having it.

“Falcon KICK!”

“Behind you with the Plasma Lance!” called out Cordelia. Falcon leapt aside as she quickly dashed in behind him and threw a punch at the back of the Mecha Ridley. As she did, a spike of plasma the length of a sword shot forth and ripped into the robot’s back, blasting through the steel plating and revealing the electronics underneath.

Mecha Ridley was totally unable to attack, screeching furiously as Packrat’s sentry gun finished deploying. The second it was ready, the gun activated and quickly locked on to Mecha Ridley.

Immediately, it began firing lasers and missiles directly at the robot. Captain Falcon and Cordelia jumped out of the way as Packrat and Skylark resumed their fire, supplementing the sentry gun. The robot screeched as its armor began to cave under the relentless torrent of fire. It suddenly began firing missiles again, homing in on all of the smashers. However, a few of the rockets went straight for the sentry gun. The gun managed to take a few hits before exploding into scrap as the Smashers dodged or shot down the other missiles.

“Sentry down!” growled Packrat.

Suddenly, the Mecha Ridley opened its mouth and fired a laser at Cordelia with no warning, sending her flying.

“Hey! Not cool!” yelled Packrat, quickly returning fire as best he could, but the Mecha Ridley fired a laser out of his mouth, forcing him to dive for cover.

“Hey!” Shouted a new voice.

Samus glanced to the side and did a double take as Mario, Link, Kirby and Shulk suddenly rushed out of the hallway behind them.

“Charge!” shouted Mario as the four of the rushed at the Mecha Ridley.

“Hey! Wait….” started Samus, before the four got blasted by another laser from Mecha Ridley.

The air was suddenly filled with the sound of laughter as Mario, Link, Kirby and Shulk appeared through the smoke, completely unharmed, laughing and pointing at Mecha Ridley.

“Sorry about the lack of warning on the holograms,” said Scrapper. “Wanted to move fast. Calling Firefly back to me.”

Samus shook her head as Mecha Ridley continued to slash and attack the holograms when they suddenly disappeared. The mech looked around confused, and Samus took the opportunity to blast it with a fully charged Charge Shot.

“Cordie, you all right?” asked Skylark as she backed away while still shooting.

“Fine but shaken. Shield ate most of that,” said Cordelia as she slowly pulled herself to her feet.

Samus sighed with relief. She was always worried about her human allies taking hits, they often got injured more easily.

Samus raised her arm cannon to shoot, but suddenly, Mecha Ridley’s tail lunged out at her. Samus tried to dodge and avoided the brunt of the hit, but the metal tail caught the edge of her armor, throwing off her balance. She stumbled forward and stopped herself by running into the wall, but Mecha Ridley was already on top of her. It slashed at her, knocking her down. Her eyes flicked to the corner of her HUD. Suit integrity at 89%. She charged a charge shot while Mecha Ridley screeched at her. A blue blur latched onto the side of Mecha Ridley.

“Falcon Dive!”

There was a fiery explosion as Captain Falcon flipped backwards, landing on his feet with ease.

“YES!”

Cordelia rushed up next to her and bashed the robot’s unprotected flank with the Plasma Lance, landing several hits. She quickly stepped aside as Falcon dashed in again.

“Falcon PUNCH!”

The explosive punch left time for Samus to curl into her morph ball and put some distance between herself and the mech, leaving a few bombs behind her. The explosions threw the mech’s balance but didn’t seem to do any serious damage.

Regaining its balance, Meta Ridley turned and slashed at Cordelia and Falcon with its claws, while the two Smashers dodged. 

Suddenly, Packrat yelled, “GET DOWN!”

Samus curled up into her morph ball as Captain Falcon dashed aside and Cordelia threw herself onto the ground, using the Armor Lock again as she fell. From behind them, three sentry guns, armed with heavier caliber laser cannons and bigger missile launchers then the first, powered up and unleashed a barrage of fire. Mecha Ridley was unable to move in time and was struck with a storm of heavy caliber lasers and missiles. After several seconds of heavy direct fire, Mecha Ridley collapsed to the ground. Its glowing eyes powered down, and smoke began pouring out of its mouth as the sentry guns powered down.

Samus quickly scanned the mechanical monstrosity as it lay defeated.

“Yeah, it’s down,” said Packrat. “That’s what it gets for destroying one of my guns like that! Even Scrapper isn’t gonna be able to salvage much from that.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” said Scrapper. “That’s a pretty strong laser. I wonder if I can….”

However, before he could finish his sentence, Mecha Ridley exploded. All of the Smashers were thrown from their feet. Samus thudded to the ground heavily. Quickly, she scrambled to her feet, her head ringing a little.

“Ugh,” groused Scrapper, climbing to his feet as his energy shields recharged, evidently having absorbed the blast for him. “Fail safes. Gotta hate them. I was hoping to pick apart that laser, you know!”

“I guess all that’s left is to take a look at that portal then,” said Falcon.

“The portal is closed,” said Cordelia.

Samus whipped her head around. Sure enough, the portal was gone, and the Smashers were alone again. She scanned the area again. The R-47 signal had completely disappeared from the area. Samus shook her head. She didn’t like this. First there was a clone of her, then the enemy was working with the Space Pirates, and finally, they got away. Something was wrong. Very wrong. The Space Pirates never ran. They never used sophisticated technology. They never had much strategy. Why were they running now? Who where they working with that would give them this kind of cloaking technology? If it wasn’t Ridley running the show, who was?

“Where did those clones go? Did they get through the portal?” asked Falcon.

“Yeah, I saw them get through the portal earlier, before the fight,” said Samus.

“Why didn’t they fight us?” asked Packrat. “Seems strange compared to what happened with Roy yesterday….”

“Dunno. It seemed like the clones were abandoning the base, just like the Space Pirates were. Do you think they were just covering their retreat?” said Scrapper.

“Maybe. Or they were buying enough time for the Space Pirates to activate the Mecha Ridley. They were prepared for us,” noted Cordelia.

“Either way, they got away and partially accomplished their goal. That’s not good,” said Captain Falcon.

“Not much we can do about it now,” said Samus. “I think this is it. I guess we’d better get back and tell Chief Wilson about the giant evil base beneath his precinct. Might be worth getting some people to pick up all this equipment, this looks like some reasonably valuable stuff.”

Scrapper snorted. “Understatement of the century! If this was a salvage op, this base would be a jackpot! Sure, not everything is top of the line, but there’s enough of it to turn a solid profit margin.”

“Should we take some of it with us? Save the cops some time?” asked Packrat.

Samus shrugged. “Why not.”

The four members of Timberwolf Squad moved over to the piles of supplies and equipment and absorbed as much of it as they could into their IDDs. Several minutes later, with IDDs full, the Smashers turned around and began the trek back to the surface.

After nearly an hour of retracing their steps and getting lost a few times, the Smashers found their way out of the base and into the access ladder in the drain system. Samus blinked as the bright light filtered its way through her visor. The sun was low in the sky, on its way towards the horizon. They had been down in the base for quite some time.

The officers standing at the entrance snapped to attention.

“You’ve been down there a while! Did you find anything?” one asked.

Samus grinned. “Yeah. You could say we found something.”

Chief Wilson came walking up, having seen the commotion.

“So, what’s down there?” he asked.

“A massive base,” replied Samus casually, without missing a beat.

“You’re kidding,” said Chief Wilson.

“I’m not. There’s literally a massive base right under this neighborhood.”

Chief Wilson’s jaw dropped.

“How did they hide there? Was there anyone there?” he asked.

“We found a lot of sophisticated cloaking equipment in the base, that’s how they hid themselves. There were also some bad guys there, but we drove them out. We think it’s tactically secure, but you’d probably want to exercise caution going in there. We managed to secure a mininuke generator and some of their equipment, but a lot of their equipment is still down there. Pretty heavy duty and expensive stuff. Where do you want it?” asked Samus.

Chief Wilson paused for a moment. “I’ll call in some IDD storage boxes now and you can drop them there. We’ll move in to secure the area immediately. Are you sure there are no more enemies in there?”

“Didn’t see any on our way out, so if there were any, they were hiding. Prepare for Space Pirates.”

Chief Wilson nodded. “Very well. Good work, Smashers.”

He turned on his heel and started barking orders. As the Smashers walked back to drop off the secured equipment, they saw several counterterrorism assault teams preparing to insert into the base and properly secure the area.

“You think they’ll be all right?” asked Skylark.

“They should be. We got most of them. If there’s any of them left, they’ll be scared and running. I doubt they’ll even fight,” said Cordelia.

“I sure hope so….” said Skylark.

A short while later, the Smashers arrived back at the mansion. They ran into Fox, who had been on comms duty and had come down to meet them, as they filed back in from the garage.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

“Space Pirates had a base under a residential neighborhood. We drove them out,” said Samus.

“Really now?” said Fox, as he took a sip of his coffee. “Gotta love those sneaky Space Pirates. Did you fight Ridley?”

“Nope. They had a Mecha Ridley, though. Basically, a robot Ridley that’s less smart and not as strong as the original.”

Fox nodded. “So, an easy mission?”

“Yup. Any word from the others?” asked Samus.

“Yeah. Mario called in a little bit ago and had Rosalina send in Megaman, Sonic and Bowser. Apparently, they’re fighting Dr. Wiley. No word from Link or Roy yet.”

Samus nodded. “Sounds good. We’ll head back to the armory for now. Let us know if there’s any word from the other groups.”

“Will do!” said Fox, taking another sip of his thermos.

Samus strolled down to her section of the armory and closed the chain link door behind her. Hers was quite barren, with a bench, a small cabinet with supplies for her Tranquilizer Pistol and a large stasis tube in the back. She pressed a button on her the back of her suit’s gauntlet, and it dematerialized from around her with a flash of light. She placed her hand on a hand scanner of the large stasis tube. Within a few seconds, her suit materialized within the stasis tube. She turned on her heel and slammed the door shut.

Mission complete.

Chapter Text

King Marth of Altea

Threat Level: 3

Marth is a well-balanced individual who is skilled in a number of areas. He is a masterful swordsman, an accomplished diplomat, a skilled strategist and a renowned ruler. I’ll discuss his swordsmanship first. Marth is a master swordsman, specializing in a fast paced, precision style of swordplay. His technique is nothing short of near perfection and he has won many battles and duels alike. Keep in mind, Marth has no powers, his skill in hand to hand combat has never been seen, and he wields no other weapons then his blade. His fighting technique rests exclusively on his swordsmanship alone and the reason he’s so respected and feared is because Marth is just that good. It should also be noted here that his sword is the Haxium blade Falchion that was wielded by his ancestor, the Hero King Anri, during the Second Subspace War. However, Marth is not to be underestimated off of the battlefield as well. Marth is one of the Smasher’s political peacekeeping specialists and has averted a number of crises alongside his fellow Smashers. He’s a skilled diplomat and mediator, speaks at least 12 languages fluently and is a prolific speaker. It should also be mentioned that he’s a skilled tactician and strategist, as shown when he liberated his homeland with a severely undermanned army with minimal losses. All of this speaks to a very talented and dangerous fighter.

Now, for ways to defeat Marth. First things first, Marth has no ranged weaponry and few ranged attacks. This means that any fighter with even a weak projectile has an advantage over Marth, though its very likely that Marth has some sort of answer for projectiles. However, overwhelming him with projectiles may be an option worth considering. Also, as Marth’s sword is his only weapon and he’s never been spotted engaging in hand to hand combat, disarming Marth may be equivalent to defeating him. This may prove to be a very difficult task, but it is worth remembering that Marth without his sword is significantly less dangerous. It should be noted that while Marth is very skilled, he is not in the upper echelons of Smashers in terms of power, and its likely he can be bested by overwhelming power. Another strategy may be to take advantage of his noble nature. If one can lure him into dropping his guard by pretending to surrender or parley, he may be particularly vulnerable to a surprise attack due to his split focus on diplomacy and combat. Remember, Marth is going to provide a stiff fight, do not underestimate him and he can be defeated. 

Lord Chrom of Ylisse

Threat Level: 4

Chrom of Ylisse is an interesting Smasher. While capable in many areas, individually, his skills paint the picture of an average Smasher. However, when put all together, the resulting package is much greater than the sum of its parts. Chrom is older than most of the other Smashers, though not so old that it begun to affect his performance in battle. He is a very balanced swordfighter who has fought in many battles, however, he has been known to wield lances and javelins sometimes and has proven himself quite proficient with them. Notably, he has gone toe to toe with the infamous Black Knight and fought him to a standstill. While unable to defeat the knight due to his Haxium armor and his lack of a Haxium weapon of his own to pierce the armor, the fact that he could stonewall such a formidable opponent is testament to his skill in battle. It should be noted that he comes to battle wielding his family’s heirloom blade, confusingly named the Falchion (similar to Marth’s sword). This weapon is not made of Haxium and does not appear to have any unusual properties other than its tremendous durability. It is also worth diving into Chrom’s history a bit. Chrom was also a close ally and a protégé of the previous Empress of Begnion, Empress Misaha. Empress Misaha was a politically sharp but kindhearted woman, and Chrom picked up much of his political nuance from her, having been a hotheaded brawler in his youth. After the Empress and his older sister Emmeryn were assassinated, Chrom became a mentor to the young new empress, Sanaki. It is his influence that has made Sanaki the leader that she is today. This alone speaks volumes to his political ability. The last thing that should be mentioned about Chrom is his charisma. People like being around Chrom and his mere presence is enough to encourage people to keep on fighting. Should Chrom be among the ranks of your enemies, know that you are in for stiff resistance. 

However, Chrom is not without his weaknesses. The first and most glaring are his psychological sore spots. Chrom is a man who has lost a lot. His wife and children were killed in a fire, his older sister and mentor were assassinated, and he has lost a number of allies over the many battles he has fought. Bringing any of these up should be able to throw him off of his game. Furthermore, as a family man, threatening his sister, brother in law, or nephew is a viable way to manipulate him.  In terms of straight combat, disarming him is a good option, though know that he most likely carries at least a spare lance on him. Due to his strong all-around style, its hard to really offer any real counters other then bringing a dedicated long range projectile to battle, something that can outpace or out range Chrom’s javelins. The only other thing that I can really mention is that Chrom doesn’t have any notable power moves, so overwhelming him with very strong attacks may be an option. Just remember that Chrom has years of experience and is unlikely to be surprised or unprepared for what you do. Stick to range, overwhelming power or psychological attacks and you’ll stand a strong chance of victory. 

Act 5: Marth

Chapter 1: Stormclouds

Marth rubbed his hands in the chilly morning air. The sun had just begun to rise above the skyline, casting its warming rays over the Imperial Capital of Begnion, Sienne. He’d arrived yesterday evening on short notice, having taken an express flight from Altea. Chrom had been kind enough to let him and Ike to stay at his residence in Sienne. It had become quite the popular stop for the Smashers if they had business in Sienne, and the older Smasher had been more then willing to open his home for the Smasher’s use.

Marth cast his gaze out over the horizon, taking in the view of the city as it sprawled out before them. Chrom’s house was built on a hillside overlooking much of the city, and the garden in the back, where they sat, did not disappoint in terms of spectacular views. Marth admired the city from his overlook. Sienne was beautiful, the crown jewel of Begnion. Nobody could argue that.

Marth grabbed his cup of coffee and emptied it, savoring the warmth. They had all woken up before the crack of dawn so as not to waste any time when Roy and the others arrived. Next to him sat Ike and Chrom in silence. Chrom was lying on his back on a bench, knees in the air, cape underneath him. Ike was slouched against a short wall, forgoing the bench and sitting on the ground. Marth settled into his seat a little more – he had been pacing around earlier out of sheer boredom and to shake the chill of the autumn air. What a sorry group of sods they must have looked, just sitting there. But Roy and the others were supposed to arrive soon. So, there they sat, impatiently waiting.

“So, how’ve things been in Altea?” asked Ike, breaking the silence.

“Uneventful. Cadea planted a new kind of flower in the gardens that she was awfully excited about. What was it……uh……oh!  Grustian Snap Leaves. White flowers, long stems, five petals. Supposed to smell like roses but sweeter,” replied Marth.

“Do they?” asked Ike.

“No idea. Caeda says they do. How about you?”

Ike shrugged. “Not much. Just been training. Been taking the odd job every now and again, but we’re set as far as money goes.”

“How about you, Chrom?”

Chrom shrugged as he sat up.

“Not much. Ylisse has been peaceful for years. The bandits avoid us like the plague ever since Fredrick took over training the town militias. When even the average citizens are armed and dangerous, Ylisse suddenly becomes a very unappealing target. Some of the other lords with bandit problems have even been studying our tactics.”

After a pause, Chrom said, “The fire’s anniversary was four days ago.”

Marth and Ike nodded respectfully. It was a very sensitive subject for Chrom. Nearly 12 years ago, when he had been a much younger man, Chrom had been happily married to his tactician, a beautiful woman named Robin. He’d also had two daughters, one had been five while the other was 8 months old. However, one day, his home castle had caught fire while he was out fighting a group of bandits, and his wife and children had been trapped inside. The fire had burned so fiercely that they hadn’t even found their bodies to bury. The event had crushed the man and had made him a far more sober man than he had been in his younger years.

“Owain’s studies and swordsmanship are coming along nicely,” he continued. “He will make a fine successor.”

His sister, Lissa, and her son had been away from the castle during the fire. Owain had been named his successor in the months after the fire, and Chrom had been like a second father to the exuberant young man.

But Marth could tell that he still mourned the loss of his own family. Even though it had happened a decade ago, the pain was still as fresh for his friend as the day it happened. But alas, there were more pressing matters at hand. He ran his hand through his hair in impatience. Where were the other Smashers?

As if on cue, several translucent beams of light appeared from the sky. Suddenly, Roy, followed by Mr. Game and Watch, Pac Man, Red, Green, Blue and Indigo landed in front of him.

“Well, well. Took you long enough,” said Marth with a grin, rising to his feet.

“Yeah, my bad. We got a late start out,” said Roy. “Are you ready to go?”

“We are,” said Marth.

“Are you good before you fly to Hyrule?” asked Chrom to the Pokémon Trainers. “Do you need anything before you go?”

“We’re good to fly, thanks,” said Red. “Sorry we can’t stay to help, Link needs us.”

Chrom smiled politely. “Of course, it’s no problem. Have a safe flight!”

“Will do!” said Red.

Indigo and Blue released a Tropius each and clambered on their backs. Red climbed aboard Blue’s Tropius, while Green climbed up the back of Indigo’s Tropius. With a few flaps of wings and a handful of waves, the Pokémon trainers were off. 

“Well,” said Roy. “I guess it’s just us now. Let’s get moving.”

A few hours later, the Smashers were on their way out of the city, having navigated the winding streets of Sienne and had an audience with the empress to update her on the situation. They had set out westward from the capitol to the Grann Desert, riding with a group of Pegasus Knights. While modernization had reached the planet of Archaenea after its discovery and integration into the rest of the galaxy at large, and efforts to update the planet had taken place to some extent, many aspects of the world, especially those that were far from the major cities, remained very much unchanged. Countries on the planet such as Altea, Hyrule, Begnion, Crimea, Hoshido, Nohr, Faergus and the Lycian Alliance still held to many old customs, such as relying on Pegasi for airborne travel. Of course, some aspects had been blended or replaced with new ideas and technology, some of which Marth was very glad for, such as running water and electricity.

As the wind whipped around him, Marth was jolted back to the present. Riding on the back of a Pegasus reminded him of riding with his wife. Caeda, though a queen now, was a Pegasus knight at heart, and she had taken him on many rides over the Altean skies. He now felt the same wind blowing at his face and tugging at his cape, which he had tucked underneath his seat. However, the knight he was riding with was very different from Caeda. She was far less at ease in the air, and she seemed rather nervous.

Maybe she was just nervous having a Smasher in the saddle next to her? Or perhaps she was a new recruit to this unit? She need not fear. There were far less……savory Smashers to be paired with. Perhaps there was something he’d done wrong? Marth had done his best to cultivate his manners and mannerisms to put people at ease, but perhaps his efforts had fallen short?

He was a diplomat as well as a warrior, and sought to balance the two, but there was always room for improvement. He had a persona to keep. He was always taught to be like the wind. To have as many faces as needed. Gentle as needed, fierce as needed, graceful as needed, powerful as needed. Such was the way of a gentleman. Each face, a facet of a strong gentleman and king. Such was what his father had taught him, ever since he had been a young boy.

“We’re almost here!” shouted the Pegasus Knight captain over the rush of the wind.

Marth surveyed the landscape as they descended. It was a desert, no two ways about it. The rolling hills covered in green grass and dense carpets of trees that had surrounded Sienne had all but disappeared, replaced with gravel, blowing dust, and rocks. An oppressive, dry heat, like that of an oven hit him as they descended towards the desert floor. In front of them sat a tall, arid mountain range. The Pegasus Knights landed and let the Smashers off at the foot of the mountain.

Roy turned to the commander. “We’ll throw a flare when we’re ready for pickup.”

“Of course, sir. We’ll be in the air on lookout. We’ll see you when you’re done,” said the Pegasus Knight captain.

The Pegasus Knights took off, leaving the Smashers alone. Roy pulled out a R-47 scanner and scanned the horizon. After a moment, he said, “All right. We head northeast. Towards the mountain.”

The Smashers made their way through the rocky terrain, making their way around rocks and scrub like bushes. It was uncomfortably hot, and Marth found himself wiping the sweat from his face frequently.

Roy stopped the group and pulled out a pair of binoculars. He scanned the horizon, looking for anything out of place while the others waited.

Ike sighed. “I forgot how hot this place was. It’s no wonder the Laguz Emancipation Army used the area around here. No regular beorc army would be mad enough to willingly march here.”

Chrom nodded. “I remember. That was a miserable march back in the Mad King’s War, wasn’t it?”

The Ylisse province of Begnion was one of the few to resist the spread of Laguz slavery during the height of the corruption in the Begnion Senate, and Chrom had been the only notable champion of the liberation movement beyond the Empress herself. Thankfully as a senior lord, he had some weight to throw around, even if it wasn’t much compared to the heads of corruption in the senate. It was why he’d personally been sent by the Empress to accompany Ike in his investigations into Laguz slavery, and the two had formed quite the friendship over the years as Tellius rebuilt from the Mad King’s War and the Senator’s Rebellion.

Ike grinned. “Yeah, it was. Soren was the most irritated I’ve ever seen him. Then again, he was wearing those long dark robes of his.”

“Hah! Fredrick nearly passed out from dehydration he was sweating so hard under his armor. Remember how we had to drag him off his horse?” chuckled Chrom.

“Yeah. He’s a strong one, even when weakened. You’re a lucky man to have a retainer like that,” said Ike. “How’s he doing by the way?”

“Still training new recruits,” said Chrom.

“Still no complaints with your troop quality?”

“Still no complaints. Fredrick’s pride wouldn’t allow it.”

Ike burst out laughing. Marth smiled. He’d met the man on multiple occasions, and his diligence was bar absolutely none. Actually, there was Corrin’s crazy butler, so maybe he shouldn’t have spoken too soon. But still, that butler was the only person who could come remotely close to giving the knight a run for his money. 

“Anyway, we should get moving,” said Roy. “We don’t have all day.”

“All right, killjoy, try not to have too much fun preventing us from talking,” said Ike good naturedly as they continued their trek towards the mountain.

Marth chuckled under his breath but noted Roy’s impatience. His friend was usually more laid back. Whoever he’d fought had clearly rattled him. Something wasn’t right.

“Yes, let’s get moving. I don’t want to be out here all day!” said Marth. 

“Ever the prim and proper one, aren’t you?” joked Ike. “Did you bring a tea set in case we weren’t done by teatime?”

“Absolutely! Every gentleman knows how to fight elite enemies while carrying fragile porcelain dishes in their backpack! Would you care for Altean, Lycian or Crimean tea with your biscuits?” joked Marth, drawing a laugh from everybody.

“All right,” said Game and Watch with a chuckle. “We’ve had our fun. Let’s keep going and do it quiet.”

Marth nodded graciously. “Of course.”

Ok, that was bad. Game and Watch was rattled too. Marth shook his head. It wasn’t like them to be worried like this. Though now he was wondering if he should be more worried. These tactics weren’t like the Subspace Armies of old, so he’d assumed that they were facing an opponent more like Tabuu than the Lords of Subspace that had initiated the Second Subspace War. But perhaps their enemy was similar to neither? Neither Tabuu or the Lords of Subspace had allies from the known galaxy at large. Either way, it was worth keeping a sharper eye out.

Marth followed Roy as he led the way, scanner in hand as the others followed him in a line, trying to keep a low profile. The flatter ground they had been on gave way to steeper and rockier terrain, littered with larger rocks and more foliage. The brush was scrubby and bristly, though mercifully still somewhat sparse. Despite this, a few small and scrublike trees provided some much-needed shade. As they continued to climb higher into the foothills, the rocks became bigger and the trees became taller and more plentiful. Long grasses started to appear, and thick clusters of trees could be seen surrounding dry washes, where water would flow when it rained.

After nearly two hours of hiking through the rough terrain, Roy stopped underneath a cluster of trees that provided a large area of shade.

“Let’s take another break. We’re getting close to the source of the signal, and it’s not a good idea to be tired if we may run into a fight.”

The others chorused in assent. Marth sat down near the trunk of the tree and made himself as comfortable as he could on the gravelly ground. It was nice to be in the field. The air was a whole lot fresher out here, far from the city. It did his mind good, as well as his lungs. Sure, political maneuvering was his true forte. Working alongside Princess Peach, Prince Corrin and Mayor Vaughn on diplomatic missions as ambassadors, negotiators and diplomats was a true joy. However, Marth enjoyed the occasion to draw his sword every now and again. One needed a change of pace from political intrigue, stubborn officials, egotistical politicians, and overly idealistic young leaders every now and again, even though he wasn’t the strongest fighter. Perhaps this was his lot in life, having spread his studies over a wider range of skillsets.

In a way, he somewhat envied the others. Roy was always involved in nearly everything due to his role as tactician. Ike’s impressive strength made him a good field operative regardless of the situation. Game and Watch, Pac Man and Chrom were also often called upon as team leaders in the field due to their age and experience.

Though that in itself was perhaps a bit worrying. While he, Chrom and Ike had been called in due to their proximity to the target area, Game and Watch and Pac Man had been picked by Roy. To bring this many veteran fighters meant that Roy was very worried. Thankfully, this group would most likely have no issues, even if they encountered the enemy. His teammates were strong, and he was no slouch in combat either.

Marth briefly considered the other teams. Mario had gone in a little short on manpower, but between Mario and DK alone, they posed a significant threat to any opponent, and that was to totally discount Yoshi, Luigi, and K Rool. There were many villains that had underestimated both Yoshi and Luigi and regretted it later, and K Rool had once been a serious obstacle for DK. Link’s team had gone in well equipped. All of the Hylians packed a serious punch, while the Pokémon Trainers lent a wide range of flexibility with their Pokémon. Samus’ team was perhaps the weakest in terms of power, but Samus and Falcon had the reputations that they had earned for good reason and Timberwolf Squad was known for taking seemingly impossible missions and coming out on top. And even if something did go sideways, Fox and the majority of the Smashers, including about a third of the most powerful Smashers, were assembled at the mansion and ready to assist any given team at a moment’s notice. Everything would be fine, right? They’d make it through this, just as they had throughout all of their other adventures.

“Hey, somebody got an extra water bottle?” asked Ike, holding his empty water bottle upside down with a disappointed frown. A lone drop of water dripped from the rim.

“Uh, got one somewhere,” said Pac Man, rummaging through his dimensional pocket.

“Not for now, but maybe save one for me for later? I’ve got more, I’m just going through them faster than I thought I would.”

“Right,” nodded Pac Man. He held up a bottle of sunscreen and a bottle of bug spray. “Anybody need some?”

“I’m good,” said Ike.

“Me too,” said Game and Watch.

“All right, just let me know if you do,” said Pac Man.

Marth smiled. Good old Pac Man. Never unprepared. Even if the world was going to end within the hour, the cheerful yellow sphere was ready for it.

Marth took a better look at his surroundings. They’d stopped about midway up the side of a mountain. Hopefully they weren’t going to have to climb all the way up to the top, it looked much steeper towards the top of the mountain. The terrain on the ridge that they had stopped in was fairly smooth considering what they’d already passed, with a few small boulders lying about and a thin covering of gravel. It would be rough terrain for a potential fight. Ranged weapons and use of the terrain were going to be vital here. Especially with all the loose gravel lying around, moving quickly or quietly looked to be a potential issue for a duel or battle. Thankfully, the gulleys would provide excellent cover due to the thick vegetation, should they need it. Marth grimaced. He for one preferred flatter battlefields. Still, one couldn’t be picky as to where the enemy was going to come from. Hopefully the enemy wasn’t bringing anything capable of flying. That would be quite the disadvantage for their group of mostly swordsmen to overcome out here.

With a sigh, Roy pulled himself to his feet next to Marth and stretched. He quickly downed the rest of his water bottle and checked his watch. He fished his R-47 scanner out of his pocked and oriented himself towards the signal again.

“You all ready to go?” asked Roy.

“Yeah,” said Pac Man.

“Good. Let’s keep going.”

After nearly another hour of following the signal through the rough terrain, the Smashers had reached a small cluster of rocks on top of another ridge and had stopped for another break. As Ike guzzled down another bottle of water, Marth sighed and scanned the horizon. How long was it going to take to find this…whatever it was? They’d only gone about a mile as the terrain had only gotten steeper and harder to move in. Marth stretched, thankful to be out of the direct sunlight. At least it was getting later in the year. They would have had a much more miserable march if it had been in the summer. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Chrom looking at a locket, before slipping it back into his pocket.

He cast his gaze over the horizon again. Suddenly, something caught Marth’s eye. He nudged Roy.

“Over there!” he whispered, pointing. A dark blue fabric could be seen at the top of a nearby ridge.

Roy blinked, and squinted in that direction. He held up the R-47 scanner, before pulling out a pair of binoculars and surveying the area.

Marth looked over to the others.  “Everybody get down!”

The other Smashers quickly put away their water bottles and crouched low.

“Yeah,” Roy whispered. “It looks like a pavilion. The R-47 signal is very strong right now. Let’s check it out. Could be our target.”

 The Smashers quickly got to their feet and begun to make their way towards the pavilion. They took their movement more slowly, crouching and keeping a low profile behind as much vegetation as they could while they approached the area, to preserve the element of surprise. As they moved along, they came to a steep area of hillside underneath the small flat area where the pavilion stood. They stopped in the bush and watched intently for a few minutes. There was no movement save for the flapping of the pavilion’s fabric in the breeze.

Marth pulled out a pair of binoculars and surveyed the area. He didn’t see anyone but saw the top of a swirling portal in the back, sitting on the side of a large rock. He elbowed Roy.

“That’s the right kind of portal, right?” he whispered.

“Yeah, that looks right,” replied Roy quietly. “I don’t see anyone though.”

There was a moment of silence as Roy considered their options.

“Let’s circle around to the left a little. We’ll get on top of that ridge over there, and it should be fairly level ground should we need to fight.”

Marth nodded. “What’s our escape strategy?”

Roy pointed to a particular part of the slope.

“That’s mostly rock. It should be safer to get down there quickly. I’ll leave a handkerchief or something there, so we know where to go if we need to leave in a hurry. Though I don’t see anybody. Either their well-hidden and it’s a trap of some kind or it’s a red herring to throw us off the scent.”

“And if it’s a trap?” asked Chrom.

“They’d need to have enough forces to be visible from here to defeat this many Smashers,” said Roy.

“What if they brought a lot of strong fighters?” asked Ike.

“I have a countermeasure,” said Roy. “Now come on, let’s get going.”

“Hold on a second, what’s that countermeasure?” asked Marth.

“Gentlemen!” shouted a loud, female voice from some distance to the right of the tent. “There’s no need to whisper! Speak up! There’s no one here to judge!”

The Smasher’s heads whipped to the source of the sound.

A lone woman stood at the top of a nearby knoll, her long black coat swaying in the wind. A moment later, she was joined by a young woman with long blue hair. Judging by the look on Roy’s face, this was probably one of the people he’d fought yesterday.

Marth’s hand shot to the hilt of his sword. He glanced to his compatriots. Pac Man and Game and Watch looked like they were readying for a fight, and Ike already had Ragnell drawn and ready.

However, it was Chrom’s utterly shocked expression that really worried Marth. He stared up at the woman, like he’d seen a ghost.

“No…..it….it can’t be……..” gasped Chrom. “Robin? Is that you?

Chapter Text

Act 5: Marth

Chapter 2: Rivals Collide

Marth’s eyes widened as the Smashers and Robin stood off. Who was this woman? Chrom’s face was as white as a sheet, the shock written all over his face. Roy, on the other hand, had a grim look on his face. He quickly put on his sunglasses, and his face turned to a laid back grin.

“Sup!” he called out in a relaxed tone. “How’s it hanging?”

“That’s the one, mother,” said Lucina flatly. “That’s him. The flirty one.”

“Ah, yes, that one’s Roy. By some miracle, their tactician,” shrugged the woman bluntly. “No idea how his love of women doesn’t influence his tactics. Eh, just makes him easier to beat.”

Marth sized her up. Robin was wearing long black trenchcoat, unbuttoned in the front to reveal a rather plain set of shirt and pants. Her hood was thrown back, letting her white, pigtailed hair catch the desert wind. Marth had no idea of how she wasn’t overheating in an outfit like that. She turned to Chrom.

“Why are you so surprised? It was obvious that I wasn’t dead,” said Robin.   

“What…..how?” gasped Chrom.

“You never found a body, did you?” said Robin flatly.

“Well no, they said that…..” started Chrom.

“There would have at least been bones if we’d actually been caught in the fire,” said Robin dismissively. “Surely there was someone competent enough in the homicide department to know that. They probably didn’t tell you because they were trying to ‘not be too hard on you’ or something. You should have them fired for not being truthful. You know how I can’t stand liars.”

“Uh, Chrom, you got something to tell us, buddy?” asked Pac Man.

“That…….that’s my……” started Chrom.

“Ex-wife and former tactician,” said Robin curtly. “Chrom’s a good guy and all, and really hot to boot, I just was presented with a better opportunity then being the wife of a useless noble who can’t do anything against a corrupt Senate.”

“Hey! That Senate is gone! We destroyed all of them! Chrom’s a leading member of the new Senate of Begnion,” said Ike defensively. “You traded down!”

“I was made a better offer. And anyway, you replaced the old, inefficient horrible senate with a new, inefficient still pretty horrible senate. At least you got rid of Valtome, so I’ll give you that. That guy was a total creep. But still, that was a lot of effort for such small returns. You know, if you just executed a bunch of those Anti-Laguz liberation idiots, you’d encounter less resistance with those reforms you’re trying to get passed, right? You could lock them up in jail or even exile them! You live in a monarchy and have the ear of the Empress for crying out loud! You can do that kind of thing!”

“Robin! We can’t just do that!” protested Chrom. He was about to say something else but was cut off by Robin.

“Why not? You know I’m the better strategist and tactician. It’s the best, fastest move! Or do you want Laguz to suffer even longer?”

Chrom’s shoulders slumped in defeat. Marth could see that his friend was totally crushed by the revelation and wasn’t able to argue properly. It was time for him to act.

“Listen, Miss Robin, was it? Might I ask what you’re doing here?”

“I’m leading an army to destroy Begnion,” she said promptly. “Oh, and any Smashers we encounter. I’d suggest you vacate the area quickly if you want to live.”

Marth shook his head. “There’s no need for that. What is it that you need in Begnion? Surely it’s not necessary to invade an entire country?”

“Sorry, it is.  I’m sure you’ll understand that in order to take over the galaxy, we need to take over Begnion too. Gotta start somewhere, right?”

“Perhaps total galactic control isn’t necessary?” proposed Marth. “What is it you seek to change?”

“The galaxy as we know it. I’m sure you’re familiar with the current system. There are tons and tons of uncoordinated and wasteful people running around, each one doing their own thing. So, what we’re going to do is take over the galaxy and put the Boss in charge. We will build one coordinated empire that moves swiftly and efficiently! No pointless Galactic Assembly! No more of having dozens of factions arguing endlessly! Just like the old Begnion Senate, it will all be swept away!”

“Have you considered that this course of action might have unwanted consequences?” asked Marth. “There’s a reason we have the current system. What you propose would take power out of the hands of the people and put it into the hands of one person. We’ve seen time and time again in history that this much power is far too much for anybody to handle. I’ll grant you that the current system isn’t perfect, but you must realize that this cannot be the answer!”

“I’m a tactician. I’ve already predicted all courses of action. This is the best path! This is the one in which any notable progress gets made within the next century, you know.”

Marth decided to switch tactics.

“Perhaps we can reach some sort of compromise? There’s no need to cohort with such villains as Ganondorf. If we could combine forces, your genius could be instrumental in revolutionizing the galaxy!”

“Why do you think I’m here?” asked Robin. “What do you think that I’m doing now?”

There was a tense silence.

“Oh, come on. You think I’d work with the losers that I do for nothing?” said Robin. “They’re all losers, the whole lot of them, all grand speeches and overwhelming power, but not a lick of sense. They don’t even know how to use what they’ve got to even a quarter of its potential. Well, except for the Boss and a few of the others. They’re actually pretty smart. But the rest of these guys are complete idiots.”

“This “Boss”. He’s the one who made you that ‘better offer’ from earlier, right?” asked Marth.

“Of course. I’m not here to see Eggman build a robot that farts fire or to see Ganondorf use his magic to pull a rabbit out of a hat!”

Marth chuckled tensely. That was a good one, even if she was trying to take over the galaxy. And anyway, a little bit of humor was good for dissolving tense situations. Maybe he could use this as an opportunity?

“But you’re Ganondorf’s subordinate, are you not? He is not this ‘Boss?” asked Marth.

“Oh right, I had Lucina tell you that. Not true. I was just trying to get your attention. Total jerk, though. I can see why you all hate his guts. Thankfully, he’s not the Boss. But I’ll be rid of him eventually once you’re all dead,” shrugged Robin. “Well, maybe not Chrom. I’ll keep him. Rest of you, though. I’d get your coffin sizes all figured out.”

“Robin! You can’t do this! This is madness!” shouted Chrom.

“I knew the risks when I took this path,” said Robin. “And anyway, since I have a say in things, it’s not total madness. I’m a tactician after all, remember?”

She turned to Lucina.

“See there? That’s your father. Notice how he hasn’t made a single logical argument this entire conversation?”

“Yes mother.”

“That’s exactly what I mean when I tell you that you need to think. He’s not thinking, probably from the shock of seeing me again.”

Robin turned back to the Smashers. “By the way, have I introduced you to my baby?” she asked.

“Yes, I’ve met your daughter. Quite the duelist I might add.” said Roy.

Robin just laughed. “Well, you’ve met her at least. Unfortunately for you, she’s miles out of your league. For the benefit of everybody else, this is Lucina. She is my biological daughter. I believe at least some of you have met my other adopted children?”

“The Falcon, Link, Pit and Samus clones we fought the other day?” asked Roy.

“That’s them! Though you’d do well to remember that they’re better than you are. They’re my children after all!” said Robin.

“Where is Morgan?” demanded Chrom.

“Goodness, why would I bring her here?” said Robin, looking somewhat shocked and offended. “She’s only 14! Are you really that meat headed?”

“Where is she? Is she safe?” roared the noble. Marth was shocked at the man’s fury. He’d never known the usually levelheaded but heartfelt Chrom to be this aggressive.

“Of course, she is! Come now, you’ve never known me to be reckless with my own family!” snapped Robin.

“Well, where is she?” demanded Chrom. “Where are you hiding her?”

“What, you expect me to tell you?” said Robin. “Where our base is? She’s safe. Don’t worry about her, I would never send her on a mission until she was unquestionably ready.”

“Next to Ganondorf?” said Chrom. “And anyway, what other bad influences are you leaving her around? Dr. Wily? Who else?”

“Morgan will be fine. She’s a smart girl,” said Robin dismissively. “And anyway, if any of them touch her, the Boss will have their head. I made sure of that.”

“How did you know that? I want answers!” bellowed Chrom.

“Why should I tell you?” said Robin.

“Because I care about my daughter!” roared Chrom.

There was a moment of silence.

“I can’t say exactly where,” said Robin after a moment. “But rest assured, Morgan is safe, and if anybody harms her, they will answer dearly.”

Chrom didn’t say anything to that.

Turning her attention to the other Smashers, she said, “Anyway, we’ve wasted enough time on pleasantries. Since you’ve walked into our trap, I think it’s time we deal the finishing blow. Surrender or die.”

“What trap?” asked Roy. “How do you know that you haven’t walked into a trap of ours?”

Robin rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. Over the mountaintops came a massive swarm of purplish bipedal creatures. They encircled the Smasher’s position from all sides. Marth had only seen the creatures in books before, but he knew exactly what they were. Subspace Primids. Her army was made of Primids. They were trapped. By a Subspace army of all things.

“You’re totally surrounded. Surrender and we’ll kill you quickly,” said Robin.

Marth grit his teeth. These weren’t great odds. So, this was why Roy brought the Smashers he did. He looked over to Roy, who looked decidedly less worried. He’d really better not be bluffing. Pac Man and Game and Watch also seemed much less nervous than Ike and Chrom looked. Roy had clearly planned ahead in the event something like this happened. But what exactly had Roy planned to do? Sure, he trusted his friend, but Marth hated being left out of the loop like this.

“I don’t think you quite understand your situation,” said Roy. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a glowing orb. It glowed with a multitude of swirling colors like an ever-shifting watercolor rainbow. On the front, the insignia of the Super Smash Bros was inscribed in pitch black ink. Roy had brought a Smash Ball.

An invention of the Hands from the First Subspace War, Power Spheres were renowned and feared as a universal powerup said to double or even triple the powers of anyone who used it. While it later was discovered that some species couldn’t use Power Spheres, like the Chozo, Cornerians, and Hocotacians, Power Spheres quickly attained legendary status, and for good reason. For those who could use it, Power Spheres were the greatest power booster known to the galaxy, and it had won many wars and great battles through recorded history. Master Hand had modified the formula slightly for the use of the Smashers, increasing the power, but decreasing the length of the power boost, and it had quickly gained the moniker of “Smash Ball”. More practically, for a beorc like Roy or Marth, it was a way to become a one-man or woman army to shift the tide of battle, completely overpower an opponent in a 1v1 duel, or both if necessary. It was little wonder that Roy was feeling so confident.

“Are you sure you want to fight? I suggest you all surrender,” said Roy.

Robin only smirked and pulled out a ball that looked nearly identical. However, instead of swirling with many different colors, it was swirling mix of black, purple and gold.

“I’m afraid that we’ve managed to produce an……answer of sorts,” she smirked.

Marth shifted uneasily. A faux Smash Ball? What the blazes was that even powered by?

He glanced around at the Primids surrounding them, and it hit him. It was powered by Subspace energy. It was a Subspace Smash Ball variant. How on earth had they managed to make one? The manufacture of Power Spheres and Smash Balls was one of the Hand’s most heavily guarded secrets, there was no way they should have gotten anywhere close to the recipe.

There was a moment of silence as Roy and Robin stared each other down.

“So, it would seem that we’re at a stalemate,” said Roy.

“That we are,” replied Robin.

There was another tense silence as the desert winds tugged at the cloaks and hair of the two parties.

Marth grit his teeth but didn’t move. He glanced at their surroundings out of the corners of his eyes. The ground was thankfully flat-ish in their area, and there was a ravine not too far away. This wasn’t the kind of place that they wanted to fight too long in, but at least they wouldn’t get immediately overrun from the slightest opposition.

Still, Robin had set them up, and it far from an ideal location. The best option was definitely to reach the ravine somehow and hopefully be able to use it to lose at least some of their pursuers there. From there, they’d either retreat or find an area better suited for battle. And who knew about getting Roy out if he used the Smash Ball. He would most likely be exhausted from using the Smash Ball on top of any wounds he’d suffer in the fight. They might need to carry him out.

Marth took a deep breath, calming his nerves slightly. There was no need to panic. Panic always resulted in rushing, and rushing led to mistakes. There was no time for that. If need be, these Primids would fall by the hundreds to his blade. They were Smashers. All of them were Smashers. They would not go down so easy.  

It happened in a split second. Roy closed his hand, crushing the Smash Ball and was engulfed with a rainbow aura, and lunged towards Robin. Robin closed her hand, crushing her Subspace Smash Ball in her hand and engulfed herself in a shadowy aura. She drew her sword and waited in a defensive stance.

“Flare Blade!” shouted Roy, vaulting at Robin with a 15 foot blade of flame extending from the end of his sword.

“Subspace Blade!” shouted Robin, a shadowy energy blade extending from the tip of her sword of a similar length.

The two attacks collided and erupted in a multicolor explosion.

Marth stepped back and drew his sword as the others readied for battle. Roy planned to fight then. But the primids didn’t move. The Smashers paused. Marth studied their ranks suspiciously. Slowly, he lowered his sword, keeping it drawn. If they made a false move, he’d be ready to fight. But they weren’t attacking for now, and he’d take that.

He returned his attention to the duel in front of them as Roy and Robin threw and countered powerful sword attacks. The other Smashers also watched grimly, tense and ready to fight but at the same time. Marth stared as fire and shadow clashed in spectacular fashion.

“Grand Fireball!” shouted Roy, as he swung his sword, slinging a number of large fireballs at Robin.

Robin drew a blaster from under her coat and shot one of the incoming fireballs, causing it to prematurely explode, and detonate the surrounding fireballs in an impressive combination explosion. Suddenly, she leaped through the smoke, forcing Roy into a defensive stance.

Marth watched Robin’s movements closely as the fight transitioned into a fast-paced sword duel. She was a definite balance style swordswoman. Versatile, no major strengths, no major weaknesses. But at the same time, he recognized certain moves from other styles. Marth watched her perform a linear flurry of strikes that was taught in his own school of swordplay, followed by another rush of blows that definitely came from a speedy and acrobatic style if ever he’d saw one, even if it lacked the usual flair.

Roy launched a counter attack, and Marth narrowed his eyes as Robin employed a defensive counter, but only partially succeeded in pulling it off and whiffed the follow up strike.

Marth pursed his lips in thought. Robin was a tactician first and a swordswoman second. She was undoubtedly no pushover, as few could stand up to Roy without a Smash Ball boost, let alone beat him. And unless she had something else up her sleeve, Roy might just be able to outright defeat her.

Marth glanced to his fellow Smashers. Pac Man, Ike and Game and Watch all seemed tense, ready to react at a moment’s notice. That was good, if Roy won, he could tag in and take on Lucina while the others got rid of the Primids. And if he lost….well, hopefully they’d be able to rescue Roy before retreating. Of course, he wouldn’t be the only Smasher who might need some help getting out of there.

He glanced over to Chrom. He looked like he was going to be sick. Marth grabbed his arm.

“Calm down. Now’s not the time. We’ll talk it over later,” he said in a low voice. “Buck up, we’ll be back in Begnion soon once Roy’s done here. I can’t imagine he’s going to kill her. Roy wouldn’t kill somebody that important to a fellow Smasher.”

Chrom nodded, a little color returning to his face. Hopefully that had gotten him out of his thoughts for a little and reassured some of his fears. Hopefully. An explosion jolted Marth’s attention back to the battle going on in front of him.

Robin slashed the air in front of her with her sword, creating a purplish wind blade.

“Subspace Wind Blade!”

 Roy swung his sword and created a flaming wind blade.

“Flare Cutter!”

The projectiles collided and caused a large explosion, cancelling both out. Smoke engulfed the area, obscuring Robin, but not Roy from view.

Marth grit his teeth. Where was she? Suddenly, Roy jumped a few feet back, pointed his sword downwards and slammed it into the ground.

“Eruption!”

A massive fiery explosion created a wide blast and tore up the ground in front of him for several meters in front of where he’d stuck his sword. Marth could see Robin begin to exit the smoke, only to stop in her tracks as the attack ended only inches from where she stood. She jumped backwards in surprise, obscured from view again. As the smoke cleared, a few throwing knives, whizzed towards Roy. On instinct, he ducked as Robin came into view again. She pulled her blaster out from underneath her coat and opened fire. Marth hissed under his breath as he and the other Smashers took defensive fighting positions again, as some of the blaster bolts struck the ground a little close for comfort. Roy was doing better, dodging the laser blasts with deft footwork and dissipating the rest of the lasers with his sword.

Robin fired off another purplish wind blade from her sword, slashed horizontally. She aimed low and the wind blade plowed through the ground in front of Roy, making it unsteady and uneven. Roy flared fire underneath his feet and managed to retain his footing. He took a guard stance.

“You seem to have quite the power boost there,” said Roy, adjusting his sunglasses.

“Indeed, I do. I’m also not constrained by the remedial technology of Arachanea either,” she said, twirling her blaster on her finger, before holstering it with a flourish. “Unlike you, master tactician.”

Roy only flashed a winning grin.  “Fear not! I’m no slouch against laser weapons. I’m not a Smasher for nothing! You won’t push me over that easily!”

“Oh good! I was hoping you wouldn’t be a pushover!” said Robin sarcastically. She extended her hand. “Subspace Blast!”

She fired a powerful purplish beam of energy at Roy, who engulfed his sword in flames and sliced the beam in half before firing off another massive flaming slash.

“Flare Cutter!”

Roy followed behind the projectile, closing the distance as Robin dispelled it with a powerful Subspace energy infused strike of her sword. She took a fighting stance as Roy closed in, waiting for the attack.

“Dancing Blade!”

Robin managed to repel the flurry of slashes with swift parries and quick footwork, before kicking Roy in the chest, staggering him back. She slashed at Roy, but he was able to roll to safety. Pulling himself to his feet he saw Robin pull her blaster again. She fired several shots, which Roy managed to dissipate with his sword as he charged in, before he engulfed his sword in fire again.

“Great Flare Blade!”

The massive attack scorched the ground next to Robin as she dodged the flaming explosion.

The two stood in guard stance for a moment, waiting for the other to move. Marth narrowed his eyes. So, she was switching to ranged tactics and better spacing. A smart move, judging by how her swordsmanship stacked up against Roy’s, and by the greater versatility of her arsenal. But Roy had faced worse. What was she going to do next?

Eventually, Robin broke the silence. “You seem to be under the impression that you can beat me.”

“Oh? Why wouldn’t I?” said Roy.

“I’ve analyzed you Smashers for years. I know all of your tricks. I literally wrote a book on how to beat every single one of you!” said Robin. She pulled a small book out of her cloak and chucked it at Roy. “Check it out!”

Marth raised an eyebrow. That was a bold statement. And it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility to be true, Robin was a tactician after all. But it could also be a bluff to get Roy to drop his guard and look at the book. Either way, it looked like she was breaking out some mind games.

“I’m afraid I won’t fall for that one,” said Roy.

Robin sighed. She began charging purplish energy in her hands. It began to spin above her in a large vortex of energy, increasing in size until it was a massive tornado of Subspace energy.

“Subspace Cyclone!” she shouted, before hurling the tornado at Roy. A massive blaze of fire erupted around Roy. He was charging up a powerful attack, that was for certain.

“Blazing Lion Slash!” roared Roy. A massive blaze of flame erupted along the length his sword, and shot out for dozens of feet past the tip. He slammed the fiery blade into the cyclone, matching power for power. The fire blade struggled against the tornado of darkness for several seconds. Marth could see Roy sweating, trying to overpower Robin’s attack. He was really pushing it, the rainbow aura surrounding him was flickering dangerously low. Suddenly, the cyclone and fire blade exploded, and massive clouds of smoke engulfed the area.

Marth and the other Smashers covered their faces as the smoke washed over the entire mountainside.

Suddenly, Roy appeared out of the smoke cloud.

“Retreat!” he said in a loud whisper. “We need to get out of here, now!”

As the smoke cleared, Robin felt the power boost wear off. She certainly hoped that Roy’s Smash Ball had worn off as well. She was feeling rather drained from using that much power. However, as the smoke cleared more, she hissed in frustration. The Smashers were nowhere to be seen, there was a suspicious hole in her ranks of Primids, and the book was still lying on the ground where she’d thrown it. Without a word, she walked to the book, picked it up, and stowed it in her coat.

She turned to Lucina.

“We need to hurry if we’re going to capture them! I want you to take your battalion of primids and hunt them down! Don’t let them escape! I’ll be right behind you with the main force!”

Lucina bowed. “Of course, Mother.”

She raised her sword. “Freedom Battalion! With me!”

As she and her battalion of Primids took off towards the gap in the line, Robin cleared her throat.

“ATTENTION! TAKE SHARK FORMATION AND PREPARE TO MOVE!”

As the primids began to move into formation, Robin sheathed her sword and took a deep breath. Hopefully she’d get a second chance to complete her objective. Not all was lost. Yet.

Chapter Text

Ike of the Greil Mercenaries

Threat Level: 3

Ike Greil is the leader of the Greil Mercenaries and a powerful warrior. He is best known for protecting the then Princess Elincia, leading the Crimean Liberation Army to victory, and uniting the countries of Tellius to overthrow the corrupt Begnion senate. He is also known for besting the Black Knight in single combat and slaying Ashnard the Mad King of Daein in the battle of Melior Castle. Ike is defined by his strength-based sword style. It is by no means slow or clumsy, even with wielding a two-handed sword in one hand, it’s moreso that powerful strength-based strikes define the technique. It’s a balanced, simple style that has been tooled to leverage Ike’s prodigious physical strength and to avoid any major weaknesses. It should be noted that Ike’s sword is Ragnell, one of two Haxium blades wielded by the Beorc hero Altina from the Second Subspace War. Ike also is known to bring a Short Axe to battle, increasing his ranged capabilities and acting as a second weapon. It is also rumored that Ike carries a personal sword as well as his father’s axe with him. If this is true, however, he would have to store them in his IDD, as both are said to be large weapons and Ike only brings Ragnell and his short axe equipped on his person. I would also like to address Ike’s charisma here. Ike is known for his ability to bring people together in spite of critical differences and was one of the primary uniting forces behind the recent rise in Beorc and Laguz cooperation seen in Tellius. This means that it’s possible that Ike acts as the glue between various Smashers who don’t get along, enabling cooperation and teamwork. As such, taking Ike down may prove quite damaging for the Smashers, and as such he should be a priority target.

To counter Ike, one must consider his strength. If one has the strength to block his strikes, then proceed as you please, just know that Ike is a tough and determined opponent and won’t go down without a fight. However, this is not going to be the case for most fighters. For those who do not possess this strength, evasion and speed should be used to mitigate as many of his attacks as possible. While not slow by any stretch, Ike is also not the fastest fighter either, and a quick fighter may be able to dodge most of his attacks. As such, sending a nimble fighter to fight Ike is a good strategy. Another possible way to gain an advantage over Ike is to send a fighter skilled in projectile combat. While Ike does possess a ranged option in his Short Axe and has been known to fire off powerful wind blades, he’s not a ranged specialist by any stretch of the imagination. I say advantage, as while someone with a heavy emphasis on projectiles will have more options over Ike, it’s not a surefire way to beat him. Again, as with the other swordfighters, disarming Ike of his sword and axe will rob him of most of his offensive presence, though remember that Ike is a proficient hand to hand fighter, and also may be carrying backup weaponry.  I would like to mention that it may be possible to outrange Ike in melee combat with a polearm. While a swordsman like Marth or Chrom has the speed to close the distance, Ike is slower than they are and may not be able to do the same. Overall, just remember that Ike plays to his strengths and making sure he’s unable to use them against you is your best option.

Ally Analysis: Robin

Well, it’s a bit awkward trying to analyze myself, but for sake of completeness, I’ll do my best. My greatest strengths are my ability as a tactician and strategist, and while I’m no slouch in combat, I’m not the strongest. I wield a sword primarily, but am armed with blasters, explosives and other strategic gadgets. These are mostly for defending myself in a pinch, though I have taken the fight to my enemies by myself before and could do so again if necessary. I also have a few Pokemon at my disposal (Smeargle, Castform and Luxray), however, their skills are centered more around strategy then power. The major concern here is my overall lack of power. While I could most likely take on a Threat Level 3 Smasher and stand a reasonable chance of winning, I don’t possess the power to realistically win against multiple Smashers or a Threat Level 4 or 5 Smasher by myself. I believe that my strengths are best used in command of large forces and at the planning table. Conversely, my skills are poorly used on individual or covert missions.

To improve my performance, I would like to pick up some means of boosting my own power. While several methods could be pursued, I’ll most likely need some assistance in obtaining whatever I settle on. I’d also like to invest in a personal energy shield generator, similar to the ones worn by Timberwolf Squad. I believe this would increase my individual combat viability significantly by allowing me to absorb more hits. For the moment, though, I’m content to lead from the back or collaborate with stronger allies.

Wow…this is just awkward trying to analyze myself. If anybody has any suggestions for how I can improve, I’d love to hear them.

Act 5: Marth

Chapter 3: Retreat!

Marth held his breath, trying not to cough as the Smashers exited the smoke cloud.

Pac Man motioned towards the wash and they scrambled down the sides as quickly as they could through the vegetation. Marth winced as the brush scraped against his legs and arms as he descended. He came to a running stop in the bottom of the wash. It was covered mostly with gravel, though a number of large boulders and stray logs were strewn across it.   

Now in a somewhat flatter, the Smashers moved down the side of the mountain at much greater speed. They hurried along in silence, moving as fast as the terrain would let them. There was no noise other than the sound of their boots stepping on the gravel and rocks underneath them and Roy’s panting. Marth wasn’t surprised. Roy must have exhausted himself during the fight.

Roy put his hand against a large boulder, coming to a stop.

“I need to stop for a minute. Using the Smash Ball like that always drains me.”

Roy slumped against the rock as the others crouched around him. Marth handed him his backup water bottle, still full and relatively cold. Roy accepted it gratefully and guzzled down the water.

“So, wait,” said Pac Man. “Let me get this straight. That Robin lady is…. your wife?”

“Lady Robin was married to Chrom. Apparently, she faked her death to join this great ‘Boss’,” summarized Ike.

“Which means that whoever we’re up against has been planning this since about 12 years ago,” panted Roy in between sips. “Which explains why this is all so coordinated. This isn’t something that started up a few months ago. This was planned and planned well. I assume that’s at least partially Robin’s doing.”

“My father always spoke well of Lady Robin. He had a great deal of respect for both of you,” said Ike. “I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” said Game and Watch sympathetically. “I couldn’t imagine my missus doing that.”

“She…. she was our tactician. I trusted her with my life. We fought side by side for years……” said Chrom.

“Are you well? We need to get you out of here,” said Marth. It was no time for Chrom to be distraught. They were outnumbered and they needed to move. It was far too risky to stick around for too long, especially if one of their teammates was down like this.

It would have been our 17^th anniversary last week,” muttered Chrom. Marth noticed this with worry as Game and Watch patted his shoulder. He’d never seen the senior lord in such a state in the years that he’d known him. He was probably running off of adrenaline and instinct at the moment.

There was a moment of silence.

“We need to move,” said Roy, having caught his breath. “Let’s go.”

Marth pulled Chrom to his feet as the others rose and walked next to him along the wash as they moved along.

Roy suddenly stopped and held up his hand. Everybody froze.

“Can you hear that?” asked Roy in a whisper.

Marth listened, and heard the sound of large numbers of feet thundering behind them.

“We’ve gotta move faster!” whispered Pac Man. “We’re in a bad spot to fight here!”

Roy surveyed the landscape, as Marth kept an eye behind them. Roy pointed to a fairly steep hill ahead of them.

“There! We climb to the top and hold the summit till the Pegasus Knights get here!” said Roy. The Smashers quickly began to move again, scrambling up the side of the ravine. Marth kept an eye on Chrom as he ducked around a large bush and rushed past a fairly large cactus as they ran across a more level stretch of ground. The ground was less rocky here, but Marth almost tripped over a small rock he didn’t notice. Catching his balance, he kept moving, quickly making his way to the bottom of the hill. He looked up to see Roy already dashing up the side, with Pac Man and Game and Watch in tow.

“You all right?” asked Ike, having paused at the bottom of the hill. Chrom stood next to him, catching his breath.

“I’m fine! Let’s keep going!” said Marth. Ike nodded and the three rushed up the side of the hill. Unfortunately, Marth immediately had to slow down to a stop as the three came up against a very steep part of the hill. Marth paused for a moment, looking at the stretch of hill in front of him, trying to find the easiest part to climb. He hissed under his breath. They should have taken a different part of the hill.

“Hold on a second,” said Ike. “Hang on to my sword.”

Marth quickly grabbed Ragnell as Ike took a step back and took a running leap, managing to scramble up to a rock that was on flatter ground above.

“Hand me Ragnell!” said Ike. “I’ll help you up!”

Marth handed him his sword, before taking his hand and letting Ike hoist him up to the ledge. With a bit of a scramble, Marth was on his feet. Quickly, he turned around, and the two helped Chrom up.  

“C’mon. Easy does it,” said Ike.

Once Chrom had gotten his to his feet, they resumed their ascent up the hill. Movement was rather difficult on such a steep incline, and Marth’s boots kept slipping on the loose gravel. Thankfully, they were nearing the top. Marth grimaced as he narrowly avoided kicking a cactus. He needed to be more careful.

“We’re at the top!” shouted Game and Watch. “We’ll cover you!”

“Good!” shouted Ike. “I don’t fancy getting shot in the back!”

Chrom nearly tripped over a rock.

“Careful!” shouted Pac Man. “Watch your footing!!”

As they reached the top, Pac Man hurled a key past them, and Game and Watch chucked a bomb.

Marth looked back to see Lucina, leading a small hoard of Primids. Both projectiles were thrown true and struck down a few Primids. Lucina slowed down as she approached, realizing how steep the hill was. Her Primids slowed down with her, eventually coming to a complete stop. Marth took the opportunity to survey his allies. Roy was panting heavily again as he pointed the flare gun towards the sky and fired a shot. He was definitely spent after his fight with Robin. Chrom was clearly in no position to fight either. Marth drew his sword. It was going to be down to Ike, Game and Watch, Pac Man, and himself till the Pegasus Knights got there.

Lucina slowly marched up the hill with her Primids and stopped a dozen yards away from the Smashers on the side of the hill.

For a brief moment, nobody said anything. Suddenly, a voice came from behind Marth.

“Lucina…..has your mother been treating you well?” asked Chrom.

Marth jumped in surprise. He was glad that Chrom was looking better, but…. was he emotionally ready to talk to his daughter? Marth had no idea, having no experience in the area. His advisors were still nagging him, wanting to know when he and Caeda planned on producing an heir. As much as he hated to admit it, Marth was powerless to help in this situation. Maybe Game and Watch or Pac Man had something? He sure hoped that they did.

“Mother has taken care of Morgan and I,” she said neutrally. “She taught us how to fight! She gave us a family! She helped us to stand up and fight for justice! Unlike you!”

“Robin took you from me! How was I supposed to help you? If I had known……”

“Excuses! What have you ever done for us?” she demanded.

“The blood of many heroes flows through your veins because of your father,” said Marth calmly.

“And what good does that do me? Your ‘heroes’ have done nothing but oppress people!”

“Oppress? How have we oppressed anyone?” asked Pac Man in surprise. Marth glanced to the side. The others were visibly confused as well.

“Uh…what?” asked Ike.

“That’s news to me,” said Game and Watch. “You mind explaining yourself, young lady?”

“Mother told me all about it!” hissed Lucina. “I can’t believe I’m actually related to somebody as evil as you!”

“What did she tell you?” asked Marth, curious. He had no idea on how somebody could twist the long list of heroic acts that the Smashers had performed into a catalogue of evil deeds.

“She said that you put down people with different ideas then you!” Lucina said.

“Different ideas? Whose different ideas have we put down?” asked Marth, now thoroughly confused.

“Ganondorf, for one! He sought to free his people from the oppressive Hylians, but you accepted the people who put him down into your ranks! Dr. Eggman and Dr. Wily are both geniuses whose brilliance could push the galaxy into a new age with their inventions, but they’ve been both labelled as evil by people who don’t understand how robots can revolutionize the world! How about Ridley? His people have been driven to piracy for so long that their race is simply known as ‘the Space Pirates’ now! All because of people who fight for ‘peace’ and ‘justice’ like you! You make me sick!”

There was a brief pause. Marth blinked in confusion. What? Wait…..so she was trying to tell him that the power hungry warlock Ganondorf was a freedom fighter? Did she realize what atrocities and massacres Ganondorf had committed while on his rampage? And Eggman and Wily were just misunderstood geniuses after their frequent attempts to seize large cities and planets for themselves? She’d also never seen the aftermath of a Space Pirate attack, that was for sure. Though Samus had mentioned that there was a group of Space Pirates that were trying to leave peaceful lives. Had that been twisted too? A question formed on his lips, but Chrom beat him to it. 

“Lucina…… who has told you this?”

“Mother did,” said Lucina promptly.

“Then, your mother has lied to you,” said Chrom slowly.

“Nonsense!” hissed Lucina. “Mother would never lie to me!”

“Then come with me. Let me show you what you’re missing!” pleaded Chrom.

“Oh, are you trying to brainwash me? Mother said that you might try to do that!” snapped Lucina.

“There’s no need for that,” said Marth quickly. “We only mean to talk.”

“Then why are your friends ready to hurt my friends?” she demanded.

“I seem to remember that you and your friends attacked our friends first,” said Marth pointedly, hand on the hilt of his sword. “Let me say again, we don’t want to fight if we can help it. There’s no need to…..”

“Feh. Typical,” muttered Lucina. “You’re trying to stall for time by pretending to be righteous, aren’t you?”

She turned to Chrom. “And you! You may be related to me, but you aren’t my father.”

“No…..NO!” shouted Chrom. “I won’t accept this! Lucina. As your father, I need to show you the truth!”

Lucina glared at him. “Your ‘truth’ pack of lies!”

Chrom was silent for a moment. He reached for the hilt of his sword and drew his blade from its scabbard slowly. “Lucina. You are my daughter. I love you. But I can’t let you do this. I can’t let your mother do this. And I won’t let Morgan walk the same path that you two are.”

“Keep her out of this!” hissed Lucina. “I won’t let you hurt my baby sister!”

“I will save Morgan. I will save you. I will save…..” Chrom choked up for a second.

“We’ll help Robin too,” said Marth, trying to assure his friend.

Chrom nodded. “Yes. Yes, we will.”

Lucina raised her blade and let out a battle cry. The Primids charged up the hill, though slowly, due to the incline. Pac Man pulled his Fire Hydrant out and planted it on the ground, firing blasts of water at the incoming Primids. Game and Watch rolled several bombs down the hill.

Marth noticed that Roy was shuffling toward where the others were holding the line. He grabbed his shoulder.

“Hey! Hold on! What are you doing?”

“Going to fire off the flares. I’m trying to get a little further out from behind the mountain,” said Roy grimly, raising his flare gun.

“You need to stay back,” said Marth firmly. “You just used a Smash Ball. We can’t have you too close to the front lines. See if you can angle it?”

“And if the Pegasus Knights don’t’ see us?” asked Roy.

“My wife is a Pegasus Knight. I know how they operate on missions like this. They’ll see your flares, trust me,” said Marth. “Just get those flares in the air. The knights must have seen the smoke cloud from earlier. They’re likely on high alert and probably have had a sentry on lookout in the air this entire time.  Shoot one now and another one every two minutes till they get here.”

Roy paused for a moment before nodding. “All right.” 

Marth looked back as Roy backed up and shot off the first flare into the sky. Ike and Chrom were fending off the first Primids that had reached them. Some distance back, Lucina had joined them in their climb.

Pac Man and Game and Watch were throwing punches and kicks at the first wave, firmly standing their ground. Ike was cleaving through large swathes of Primids with powerful swings of his sword and Chrom was dispatching their fellows by the dozen. Thankfully, the first wave was unarmed, and fell quickly to the Smashers. However, as the first lines crumpled, the Smashers quickly saw the ranks behind them were armed with beam swords.

“Pac Man! Game and Watch! Watch out!” shouted Marth. He lunged forward and met the Sword Primids with Falchion at the ready, deftly deflecting their clumsy strikes. With a few precise slashes, he cut down several Primids, causing them to dissolve back into Shadow Bugs. He felt a bit of a breeze next to him and saw that Ike had bisected nearly a dozen Primids with a single swing of Ragnell.

Game and Watch jumped out next to him and disarmed a Sword Primid with a large key, before sending it careening back into its fellows with a stiff strike to the torso. Marth caught something in the corner of his eye, and he, along with Ike and Game and Watch, jumped back as Lucina sent out her Pokemon, her Lucario, Greninja and Incineroar ready to fight. Greninja immediately hurled a Water Shuriken at them, but Chrom quickly stepped up and slashed his sword against the air, causing a wind blade that quickly dissipated the attack, before turning and engaging his daughter in a sword fight.

“Your fight is with me!” he shouted.

“Get out of my way!” hissed Lucina.

“We’ll get the Pokemon, you two get the Primids!” shouted Pac Man, as Game and Watch took a swing at Lucina’s Incineroar with his frying pan. Her Lucario suddenly rushed forward, and Pac Man turned to block its strike.

“Go!”

With no further ado, Marth turned his focus back to the advancing Primids.

He sent the blade of one flying with a flick of his wrist and lanced it through the torso, before following it up by neatly slicing off the sword hand of another Primid, and blocking the strike from a third. With one clean motion, he slashed through the two.

“Aether!” shouted Ike from beside him, tossing his sword into the air, and slamming it down onto a group of unfortunate Primids.

Marth readied his sword as more rows of Primids made their way up the hill towards him and Ike.

“Dancing Blade!”

He unleashed a lightning-fast flurry of cuts, striking high and low, quickly slashing at several different enemies.

“Behind them! They have blasters!” shouted Ike.

Marth looked up to see several Scope Primids begin to line up, readying their Super Scopes to fire.

He swung his sword through the air quickly.

“Wind Blade!”

Ike followed suit with a wind blade of his own. Both attacks landed true and struck down several of the Scope Primids, but the few remaining began to shoot at them. Marth flicked his sword through the air, dissipating the balls of energy with little difficulty.

Ike reached for his belt and pulled out a Short Axe. He took a step back, before hurling the weapon with surprising accuracy, striking down a small group of Scope Primids with one fell swoop. As the axe boomeranged back to Ike’s hand, Marth shot off two more wind blades, taking down the last two Scope Primids.

Marth lunged forward again to meet the next line of Primids, his sword flashing with deadly efficiency in a semicircle of death, melting the Primids that attempted to surround him. He was fired up now, and many Primids fell to his sword.

Marth glanced to the side as he finished off the last few Primids in front of him. Ike was wreaking havoc on the remaining few primids, though he could see the sweat rolling off his face, both from the desert heat and his exertion. Pac Man and Game and Watch were still dealing with the Pokemon, but they seemed to be faring relatively well. Chrom was still dueling Lucina. He saw Lucina duck under his sword, and barely have enough time to block the follow up strike. Marth had dueled Chrom before, and he knew that he wasn’t fighting to kill, but the strikes he was throwing still made him nervous. Chrom knew how to wear down an opponent through powerful strikes, and he was employing the strategy now, just in a more controlled fashion then he usually did. Still, anything could happen in the heat of battle, and Marth hoped that Chrom didn’t slip up and hurt Lucina. Chrom would probably never forgive himself if that happened, and Marth didn’t need anything else to go wrong this mission.

Marth paused for a moment. It almost looked like Chrom was fighting a less experienced reflection of himself. Wait a second…..hadn’t Roy mentioned that Lucina’s swordsmanship reminded him of somebody? It had to be Chrom’s style. When compared side by side, they looked nearly identical. With a sudden flourish, Lucina’s sword went flying from her hand. She stumbled backwards and looked around her. Most of her Primids were dead and the remaining ones were too few to accomplish much. She looked over to see Lucario, Greninja and Incineroar jump back, clearly battered from their bout with Game and Watch and Pac Man.

Suddenly, there was a rush of wings behind them.

“The knights are here!” shouted Roy. “Saddle up quick! Before more arrive!”

Chrom extended his hand out to Lucina.

“Please, come with me. Let me dispel the lies your mother has taught you.”

Lucina paused for a second before shaking her head.

“No…..I don’t believe you. I won’t believe you!”

Chrom’s hand fell to his side. “Then so be it. May you stay safe.”

Marth gave Chrom a strange look as the two hustled towards the Pegasus Knights.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” he asked.

“It would be wrong to force her into it,” said Chrom sadly. “As much as I want to take her with us, I cannot force her.”

“That takes integrity,” said Marth.

Chrom gave him a faint smile. “Thank you.”

Quickly, the Smashers jumped into the saddles of the Pegasus Knights.

“Move it! Go, go, GO!” shouted the Pegasus Knight captain and they all took off into the sky.

Lucina watched the Pegasus Knights and Smashers from the ground as they flew away. The weight of failure sunk in her stomach. She went and picked up her sword as her Pokémon gathered around her and the sound of heavy footfalls drew closer.

Robin rushed up to her as the Pegasus Knights flew out of sight.  

“Did you get any of them?” asked Robin.

“No, mother. They all got away,” said Lucina.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Robin. “This doesn’t change the plan at all. It would have been nice to get one or two of them, but it’s no issue in the long run. Good job, Lucina. This is good experience for you!”

“Thank you, mother,” said Lucina. She pulled out her Pokeballs and recalled her Pokémon.

“Please. Come with me. Let me dispel the lies your mother has taught you!”

That’s what that man had said. That’s what her… father had said. What had he meant by that? She had no idea. It wasn’t like he was trustworthy anyway. He’d tried to tell her that Mother had lied to her. That was an immediate clue that he must be trying to trick her. What a horrible person.

Lucina turned on her heel and went to rejoin Robin, who was busy reorganizing the Primid troops for the march back. There was nothing more to be done here.

Marth leapt out of the saddle upon returning to Sienne Castle. He quickly went over to where Chrom was dismounting. He looked awful. The surprises from the last few hours were catching up to him.

“Let’s go give Lady Lissa a call,” said Marth. “It will be good for you to talk to her.”

Chrom nodded and walked off in the direction of the gardens. Marth turned to follow him, but Roy waved him over. 

“Meet me at the castle after you’re done with Chrom,” said Roy. “I need to brief the Empress on the situation, but I’m going to check in with the rest of the Smashers after that. I have a bad feeling that this is a lot bigger than we originally thought. Can you also send a message to Fox to activate the Miis?”

Marth gave him a surprised look, before nodding. The Miis were combat androids built to support the Smashers in combat when the Smashers were going against overwhelming odds. While galactic regulations required Master Hand to keep the numbers of the Miis to 200 fighters or less, they had already proved instrumental in search and rescue operations, saving dozens of lives in the wake of several natural disasters. This would be the first time they’d be deployed in proper combat. Hopefully they’d prove their worth.

“That bad, eh?” said Marth.

“We’re going to need them. We should be able to count on Begnion to defend itself, but I don’t know how quickly the other countries will be able to mobilize to help us,” replied Roy.

“If they’re willing to help. I know the Laguz haven’t forgotten the old senate,” said Marth.

Roy sighed. “That too. Ugh. This whole thing is a mess. No wonder they decided to attack Begnion of all places on this planet.”

Marth asked, “What’s the likelihood of the other countries coming to help us?”

Roy ran his hand through his hair. “Honestly, that’s a question for Chrom or Ike, but from what I know, there’s a pretty decent chance. Especially if Ike’s involved. I’m glad we’ve got him here with us, he somehow got all these people to work together long enough to bring down the Begnion Senate.”

Marth chuckled. “I’m not sure if even I could do that. Maybe he’s secretly the most diplomatic of us all?”

Roy snorted. “Honestly, I’d take it. We’re really undermanned here, and we need all the help we can get. I’m going to be calling in all available Smashers here, hopefully a large task force of Smashers can end this quickly.”

Marth nodded. He glanced over to see Chrom round the corner through the gate into the gardens. It was time to get back to more pressing matters. “So, I’ll see you after you brief the Empress?”

“Yeah,” said Roy. “Don’t be late.”

“Right.”

And with that, Marth turned on his heel and walked off briskly to catch up with Chrom.

On Harmony…..

Fox was sitting in the control room, drinking coffee. Idly, he wondered how the others were doing. Samus’s team seemed to have done fairly well. While he hadn’t heard anything from Link’s team or Roy’s team, they were probably doing ok, as both teams had a lot of strong Smashers present. Hopefully Mario wasn’t up against anything too tough against Wily, but with the arrivals of Bowser, Megaman and Sonic, they’d probably crush the competition without too much effort.

He swirled his thermos, feeling the weight of the remaining coffee. It felt around a quarter full. Fox sighed. He’d probably need to get a refill soon. Idly, he wondered if Falco had made himself a pot of coffee since he was last in the kitchen. If he had, Fox would have some coffee to tide him over while he brewed another pot.

Suddenly, a call appeared on the computer. It was from General Pepper. Fox reached for the comm headset and moved to accept the call, when suddenly two more calls popped up. He glanced at the other two and a chill ran through his spine. This was probably bad, wasn’t it?

He quickly accepted the call from General Pepper.

“This is Fox, what’s going on?”

“Fox? Is that you? Oh, thank goodness…..”

Chapter Text

Act 6: Interlude 1

Chapter 1: Council of Heroes

Marth sat at a computer monitor next to Roy as a connection was established to the Smasher network. He waited tensely as the connection stabilized. Hopefully the other Smashers hadn’t fared as badly as they had.

A moment later, they were in the call. Five screens came up. He saw his face as well as Roy’s appear on the first screen. Another showed Mario, Sonic and Rosalina. A third one displayed Link, Sheik, Young Link, and Red. A few moving legs behind them marked the presence of the other Pokemon Trainers. A fourth one showed Meta Knight, Kirby and King Dedede. The last one was from Smash Masion, showing Fox and Samus, with the feet of several other Smashers visible in the background behind them.

“All right, Roy, what’s this about reactivating the Miis?” asked Fox immediately. 

“Are they reactivated?” asked Roy.

“Yeah, they are. But what for?”

“We’re looking at a full-scale war in Begnion,” said Roy grimly. “I’m going to need all available Smashers here if we’re going to end this quickly. And it gets worse. The enemy tactician is Chrom’s ex-wife Robin, and that masked swordswoman Lucina is his daughter. Both were previously believed to be dead.”

There was a general murmur of surprise.

“Say what?” exclaimed Captain Falcon.

“Is Chrom all right?” asked Meta Knight.

“I think so. It’s mostly the shock that got to him,” said Marth. “We called in his sister since she knows him best. This revelation must be extremely difficult for him.”

“I can only imagine…” said Samus.

“We’re also expecting him to be sitting out the next little bit, but we did promise him to try and capture rather than kill them,” said Roy. “That being said, there are no guarantees here. Robin got the drop on us and all records of her exploits before her supposed death paint a picture of a masterful tactician. It may turn into a very dangerous fight. That’s why I’d like to have all available Smashers come here so we can win this quickly.”

 “Yeah, that’s going to be a problem,” said Fox.

“Why’s that?” asked Roy.

“We’ve had reports of other enemy activity. First of all, Crossing Village has sighted what appear to be Ganondorf’s monsters,” said Fox flatly.

“What?” gasped Link. “How?”

“Crossing Village… that’s Vaughn’s home, right?” asked Mario.

“Yes. We are currently on route to pick up Link and company before heading to Concordia,” said Meta Knight. “Olimar is taking Vaughn and Isabelle there directly.”

“Sounds good. We’ll be ready to fight,” said Link. 

Fox cleared his throat. “There’s more. Corneria City is under attack by Eggman, and Wuhu Island has been experiencing bombings from unknown forces. Most of us are mobilizing to respond to one place or another.”

“Listen…. who is going where?” asked Roy, running his hand through his hair.

“We will go with Link’s group to Crossing Village,” said Meta Knight. “Kirby and King Dedede are with me. Olimar took Villager and Isabelle directly to Concordia. Olimar tells me they just landed about 30 minutes ago and are surveying the situation.”

“General Pepper personally requested that Falco and I assist them. I’m taking Samus’s group and Falco with me,” said Fox. “It sounds like we’ll want gun users for this mission.”

“Actually, I need Timberwolf Squad,” said Roy. “Who specifically do you need?”

“I could use all of them, honestly,” said Fox. 

“Same here. Listen, can you spare me Packrat and Skylark? We’re looking at battles between armies out here. I want Skylark on hand in case anyone gets hurt, and I’m gonna need Packrat for holding the line. From what I’ve seen of the Primids, his sentry guns will shred them.”

“All right. I can manage with Cordelia and Scrapper here,” said Fox.

“Is that all right with you guys?” asked Roy to Timberwolf Squad.

“We’ll be fine. This isn’t the first time we’ve had to split up,” said Cordelia. 

“But if I’m down Packrat and Skylark, I’ll need some extra people,” said Fox. 

“I’ll go!” said Sonic from behind Mario. “Egg Head’s my responsibility!”

“Send Indigo and Blue as well,” said Roy. “I imagine Eggman isn’t going to want to see our resident hacker on the battlefield. Rosalina, can you get them to Fox’s group or Corneria before you bring the other Smashers here?”

“Yes,” said Rosalina. “I’m over Harmony right now to pick up everyone. It will be no problem to rendezvous with Fox and Meta Knight on the way.”

“Are you two all right to go to Corneria with us?” asked Fox.

Blue stepped forward into view of the camera. “No problem! We can go!”

Indigo merely stuck his Snag Machine hand into view of the camera and gave a thumbs up.

Rosalina nodded and asked, “Link, would you like anybody in particular to back you up since we’re moving a few people off your team?”

After a moment of thought, Link said, “I’ll have Sheik, Young Link, Kirby, Meta Knight, Dedede, Olimar, Vaughn, Isabelle, Red, and Green…..you know what, don’t worry about it. I think I’ll be fine,” said Link.

Roy paused for a moment, considering it for a moment. “All right. I’ll trust your judgement.”

Mario cleared his throat. “Since nobody else seems to be going to Wuhu Island, I’ll lead a team there.”

There was some shuffling behind Fox and Murphy and Carrie moved into view.

“We’re going to join you,” said Carrie. “It’s our home after all.”

“Of course,” said Mario. “I’ll also have all available members of the Mushroom Kingdom Defense Force join me. I’m assuming you’d like Peach to back you on the diplomatic end in Begnion, Roy?”

Roy thought for a moment. "That would be great. I'll feel better with the whole Diplomacy Team to smooth things over out here."

Peach poked her head out from behind Fox. "Happy to help!"

Roy paused for a second. "How are you going to get there, though?"

There was a moment of silence, before there was some shuffling behind Fox. This time, Alph stepped forward.

“I’m still not going anywhere at the moment. I can take Mario to Wuhu Island.”

Mario nodded. “Thank you Alph.”

Alph saluted. “Any time!” 

Roy asked, “Can I have everybody else back me up?”

There was a moment of silence before Fox said, “No objections then. I don’t see why not.”

Simon stepped forward. “Thou shall have our aid!”

“We have your back,” said Ryu, stepping partially into frame.

“You can count on us!” said Pit from somewhere in the back.

Roy cracked a grin. “Thanks guys.”

Marth spoke up. “Now that we have all that figured out, has anyone been able to contact Master Hand? Do we know when he will be returning?”

“He set the Final Destination into turbo speed a few hours ago when Meta Knight left. Haven’t heard from him since, so he’s probably still going at maximum speed,” said Fox. 

Marth nodded. Turbo Speed, while the fastest known way to get around the galaxy, meant rerouting power from other parts of a ship, notably the communications array and the onboard gravity system. They’d have to wait till Master Hand dropped out of Turbo Speed.

“He was still pretty far out last we checked, though, right?” asked Mario.

“Yeah. It’s probably gonna take him at least a few days to get back, even with turbo speed,” said Fox. “We’re just going to have to hold out until then.”

“All right. By the way, did you guys pick up any information on the enemy?” asked Roy. “I can tell you a bit about Robin. She appears to be commanding the Subspace Army, or at least a Subspace Army. She said that she only had Lucina say that she served Ganondorf to get our attention, and that a ‘Boss’ was the one in charge.”

“Yeah, that’s what Wily said too,” said Mario. “He also called him the boss.”

“You fought Dr. Wily?” asked Link.

“Yeah, in the shoddiest base I’ve ever seen. 0/10 on the plumbing, that’s for sure,” joked Mario. “He left some robot masters behind to fight us, but according to Mega Man, they were imitation robot masters and not the real ones. The whole thing seemed strange. The base was made like it was meant to be used once, and even the robot masters were throwaways.”

“That’s different then the place we were at,” said Young Link. “We found a secret lab making monsters in the middle of the forest. Oh, speaking of which, Mario, the head doctor in charge of the place was a clone of you!”

“Mama mia! Say what now?” exclaimed Mario in surprise.

“Yeah, he’s a doctor, not a plumber. He claims to be the superior one of you two, so be careful if you run into him,” said Young Link. “The monsters he was making were giant versions of Spotty Bulborbs and Fiery Blowhogs. There were some larger stasis tubes, but apparently whatever was in them got moved beforehand.”

“Say Scrapper, you’ve fought giant monsters before,” said Fox. “You got any tips for us?”

“Well, I’m not sure how these ones stack up against the ones I used to fight. How many of you did it take to bring one down?” asked Scrapper.

“I took one down by myself,” said Red.

“Yeah,” said Green. “They were powerful but not too much to handle. We didn’t seem to have too many issues.”

“All right,” said Scrapper. “The monsters that we used to fight seem to be a bit stronger, I think. We used to have to hunt them in teams of four. For monsters in general, I say always remember to be cautious. Wild animals, especially when hurt, tend to be very unpredictable. Though I will also say that you can afford to throw heavier but slower and more inaccurate attacks against them. Something that big is a large target, so you don’t always have to be pinpoint accurate.”

“You guys who fought the monster Bulborbs are some of the stronger Smashers, though,” said Roy. “So, I would caution everybody to be careful if you spot them and fight them with a partner if need be. Anyway, Samus, who did you encounter?”

“Space Pirates, but not Ridley,” said Samus grimly. “The R-47 signal we tracked turned out to be a big base underneath a residential neighborhood.”

“How big?” asked Meta Knight.

“Ours was a massive underground complex. It’s probably where they launched that attack yesterday,” said Samus. “The strange thing was that the Space Pirates were evacuating the base as we stormed it.”

“Yeah. The Mario doctor clone was also abandoning his laboratory,” said Red. “It was a pretty nice place too. Well, for a researcher at least.”

“But why would they abandon such valuable locations?” asked Marth. “Those are the kind of locations that would normally be considered vital!”

“Dunno, but they’re abandoning them for a reason,” said Captain Falcon.

“They knew we were coming,” said Roy. “We were set up.”

“But what did they gain?” asked Mario. “Sure, they got the jump on us, but they haven’t actually done anything with their advantage.”

There was a silence. All eyes fell to Roy.

“I don’t know. I just don’t know yet.”

“One more thing,” said Marth, breaking the silence. “Robin claimed to have analyzed all of us and our strategies. If this is true, she most likely has spread info to her allies about how to specifically counter to each and every one of us.”

There was an awkward silence.

“And you waited to the END to mention that?!” yelped Fox in surprise. “That wasn’t important for, I don’t know, THE BEGINNING of the conversation?”

“Calm down everyone!” said Marth. “I just wanted to mention it so that everybody knows what we’re up against. I know everybody is stressed, but we can handle this! It’s what we do, isn’t it?”

There was a moment of silence.

Indigo broke it, saying, “Now that you mention it, it seemed like they knew to attack me directly so that I would call Dux back into my Snag Machine. So that he wouldn’t be in their system to jam their doors.”

“This does correlate with the Link, Falcon, Samus and Pit clones having near identical fighting styles to the originals,” said Roy. “They would have needed to observe the original style to be able to replicate them.”

“I also believe that the masked swordswoman, Lucina, draws her style from Chrom. I saw Chrom dueling her earlier, and it almost looked like he was fighting himself, said Marth.

“And they’ve done this all by observing us?” asked Meta Knight.

“I…suppose so?” said Roy. “The majority of us are fairly well known somewhere in the galaxy. And there’s also that one website….Smash Bros Profiles? I know it’s a fan website, but those guys are crazy, they know all of our moves and have analyzed a lot of our fighting styles. They could have easily gotten information from there.”

“Then we must remain vigilant,” said Meta Knight. “And if you have any secret techniques, aces in the hole, or alternate fighting techniques that may have escaped the notice of the public, be prepared to use them. If they don’t know about it, they can’t prepare for it.”

Marth cleared his throat. “Anyway, we don’t know how much they know about all of us, but just keep an eye out, all right? Especially if you’ve been high profile for a while. Looking at you, Mario and Link.”

“Okie dokie,” said Mario with a nod. “We’ll be careful out there.”

“Of course,” said Link.

“Are we ready to act then?” asked Samus.

“One more question. Will anybody be back at the mansion?” asked Mario.

“We’re planning on leaving ROB to hold down the fort,” said Fox.

“Let’s have Megaman stick with him. It will be better to have two at the Mansion then just one. Is that all right, Megaman?”

“Sure thing!” said Megaman.

“One more thing,” said Rosalina quickly. “Meta Knight. Considering the situation, do you think we should activate Workshop Protocol?

Meta Knight paused for a moment. “No. I don’t believe it is necessary to activate Workshop Protocol at the moment. However, it’s quite possible we may have to.”

“Eh? What’s Workshop Protocol?” asked Fox.

“Yeah,” said Roy. “Even I’m not familiar with that one.”

Meta Knight shook his head. “It is…well, was known to only Rosalina, Master Hand, Crazy Hand, myself, and one other. It’s an extreme emergency backup measure. I don’t believe that we will require it at this time.”

Roy nodded. “What would it entail?”

“I would…. rather not say if at all possible. It would increase our fighting strength, but the means would be somewhat risky. If at all possible, we’d prefer not to use it.”

“Would activating protocol this affect our other plans?” asked Mario.

“No, it would not,” said Meta Knight. “All we would need is somebody to transport the… packages… as well as the one other person to the battle. Like I said, this is a protocol for extreme emergencies. I apologize for the secrecy. I would not even mention this without Master Hand’s approval usually, but this situation may end up calling for it.”

There was a pause.

“This increase in fighting strength. Will it be a significant boost?” asked Roy.

“Without question,” said Meta Knight with conviction.

“I see,” said Roy. He paused. “Let us know if we need to activate Workshop Protocol.”

“Understood,” said Meta Knight. “If we do, we’ll need either Rosalina, one of the Hands or myself at the mansion to activate it.”

“Are there any other items to discuss?” asked Mario.

“I would like to mention that it would be a great boon to be able to capture an enemy commander,” said Roy. “While interrogation would likely be difficult, it may prove successful, depending on who is captured.”

“No guarantees but we’ll try,” said Mario.

“That is all we can ask for,” said Rosalina. “Was that the last item of discussion?”

There was a moment of silence.

“Seems like it,” said Mario. “No more time to waste, then. Let’s get moving people!”

There was a chorus of assent, before the various connections disconnected. Marth leaned back in his chair and sighed. He looked over to Roy.

“What’s your take on all this?”

Roy groaned. “Still not a lot of information and now there are proper attacks happening. We need to get out there and stop the attacks, but we also need to figure out what’s actually going on. How’s Chrom doing?”

“Still recovering. He looks better than he did out in the field, but this has got to be hitting him pretty hard. Thank goodness Lady Lissa was able to get here so quickly,” said Marth.

“That’s not good. He’s a better strategist then he gives himself credit for, I could have used another opinion on all of this. And of course, most of the other members of the Strategy Team are going elsewhere. I’m just glad you’re here – at least there’s one other member of the Strategy Team here with me.”

“Do you have anything to attend to soon? Why don’t I take a look at what you’ve got right now?” said Marth.

Roy cracked a grin. “Good old Marth. All right, lemme get my laptop up.” 

Location: ????

Dark Pit walked quickly through the cold corridors of a large space station. Lucina led them through the empty halls. They were on their way to Mother’s office to be debriefed before they returned to their quarters. The air was almost uncomfortably cold. Especially for him, due to his sandals and custom toga that accommodated his wings. Fortunately for him, the door was only just a bit further down the hallway. Lucina walked up to the door and knocked.

“Who is it?” asked Robin’s voice from inside.

“It’s us, Mother,” said Lucina.

“Come in!”

They filed into her office. It was lined with bookshelves holding dozens of books and binders. Mother was very knowledgeable, so it was no wonder that she had so many sources of knowledge near her all the time. A desk and bookshelf unit with a chair sat in the back of the room. At the center of the room sat a kitchen sized table cluttered with dozens of maps and papers.

“How did your missions go?” Robin asked.

“I fought the Smashers again, Mother!” said Blood Falcon, chest puffed out.

“And you escaped with no injuries?” asked Robin. “Who did you fight?”

“I am unharmed! They were unable to defeat me! I fought one of the Smashers you told us about. The coward with the hacking duck! He tried to send his purple dinosaur to fight me, but it was no match for me! Your strategy that you taught us to make him recall his hacking duck worked amazingly! There was also this other guy who could turn into different monsters with masks. He wasn’t powerful enough to defeat Lincoln, though. Unfortunately, we had to flee before we could totally defeat them!”

“Indigo, the Pokémon Trainer and Young Link. Dr. Mario told me about them. He also says that Link, Red and Green were also there. You were lucky that you didn’t fight them, Darrel.”

“I could take them!” said Blood Falcon confidently.

“I know you’re confident honey, but you need to be more careful, even with the less powerful Smashers. Lincoln, are you unharmed as well?”

Dark Link nodded. Robin smiled. “That’s good. I’m just glad to hear you did so well! Kuro, Samantha! How did your mission go?”

Dark Pit stepped up. “Like you said, Mother, the Smashers came to investigate the base. We didn’t make it out with all of the equipment, but we moved a good portion of it. We only fired upon them when they advanced on the second portal, the one that went back here. We activated the Mecha Ridley the Space Pirates had and let it cover our retreat. Bunch of losers didn’t even really fight us - they just followed their shield guy.”

“What did the shield look like?” asked Robin.

“It was a glowing blue shield.”

“Then that was Scrapper. He shouldn’t be much of a threat up close, but it was good that you let the Mecha Ridley cover your retreat. I heard that both Samus and Captain Falcon were there. They’re also very powerful. Do you have anything to add, Samantha?”

“No, mother,” said Dark Samus.

“Then there’s nothing left to talk about. You are all excused. It is time for you to prepare for your next mission.”

“What is our next mission, Mother?” asked Lucina.

“You will all be accompanying me to Tellius. We are leading an assault on Begnion.”

“We’ll be fighting the Smashers again, right?” said Darryl excitedly.

Robin sighed. “Yes, we will be fighting the Smashers. See to it that you are all prepared. You will all certainly fight Smashers again on this mission.”

“Very well, mother. We will be prepared,” said Lucina.

“Very well. Use your time wisely, then.”

The others began to turn, and Kuro caught what looked like a shadow passing across Robin’s face for a split second. She looked…worried? Mother was never worried. She always had a plan. Maybe he’d just imagined it?

“Are you all right, Mother?”

“Don’t worry about me, Kuro. I…uh…must have gotten less sleep than I thought. I’ll make sure to take a nap before we go, ok?”

She gave him a warm smile. Kuro nodded, turned on his heel and followed the others out of the door. Mother had been working very hard recently. She deserved at least a nap.

Lucina turned to the others. “I’m headed to the armory. How about you?”

“I’ll go with you. Gotta make sure my blades don’t go rusty,” said Kuro.

Lincoln nodded in agreement.

“I’ll probably hit the gym,” said Darrel.

“Where do you think I’m going?” said Samantha, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Kuro rolled his eyes. Where else would she go other than her Phazite tank? It had been her favorite place in the galaxy for months now. He had no idea what the neon blue liquid did for her, since Mother told him and the others that they couldn’t go in. Something about it being dangerous for them to even touch it. He remembered that Mother had been in an argument with Dr. Mario and the Leader shortly before the tank had been installed in Samantha’s quarters. Something about amplifying her powers. So, basically useless as far as he was concerned. Its not something that would help her use her Chozo abilities would be helpful for his hardlight manipulation.

Lucina smiled. “All right! Let’s go!”

Kuro followed the others as they made their way through the barren, smooth halls. They passed by several groups of robots, and a few groups of Space Pirates and scientists. He glanced outside of one of the windows. The cosmos spread out before him in a brilliant display of stars. Out of the corner of the windows, the planet that the space station was orbiting could be seen. He forgot what Mother had called it. Bryyo was it? Or was it Norion? Wait, didn’t the name start with a R? Kuro couldn’t remember. They stopped abruptly in front of one of the elevators, and Lucina pressed a few buttons.

“So, you fought the Smashers again?” asked Lucina.

“Didn’t even really fight them. They just hid behind that shield guy and we shot at them until the Space Pirates turned on the Mecha Ridley. It was pretty lame. Sammie was NOT happy that she didn’t get to do more than shoot a few shots at the shield guy.”

“We should have destroyed them!” hissed Samantha. “We had the chance!”

“Mother specifically told us not to engage any Smashers, unless we had to, moron,” said Kuro. “Just the two of us couldn’t take on a dozen Smashers or how many ever they had there! You know that!”

Samatha just growled with dissatisfaction. “We still could have won…” she groused. 

The door to the elevator suddenly opened to reveal Dr. Mario. He smiled politely as he exited the elevator and they entered. Lucina smiled politely in return. Kuro did not. That guy was all about his precious test tubes. He couldn’t fight worth crap. Honestly, he didn’t know why the Boss kept him around. They filed into the elevator, and Lucina selected one of the floors.

“So, I went with Mother, right?” said Lucina.

“Yeah,” said Kuro. “What of it?”

“So, we fought a group of Smashers. She said one of them was my father.”

Kuro raised an eyebrow. “Your…father?”

A strange feeling rose in Kuro’s chest. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it was … painful?

“Yeah. He’s one of the Smashers. I briefly crossed swords with him.”

“Wait. Mother was married to a Smasher once?” asked Kuro.

“I guess so?” said Lucina.

“What was he like?” asked Darrel, curiously.

“He was super emotional. Apparently, Mother faked her death to break up with him?”

“Then he can’t have been that great,” said Darrel dismissively.

“He was probably weak. That’s why Mother left him,” said Samantha.

Lucina shrugged. “I know. It’s just… I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to live with him.”

“To live with him? Probably horrible. Mother left him for a reason, right?” said Kuro.

“Yeah, I guess,” said Lucina. They fell into silence.

The elevator door opened, and they exited the elevator. This was their personal residential wing. It was much warmer here, and the floors were hardwood instead of metal. Mother had apparently modeled it after a “real home” as much as she could. Kuro wasn’t sure what that meant by that. This was a real home already because its where they lived. But all the same, he really appreciated her trying, whatever she had been trying for.

Samantha made a beeline for her quarters immediately. Darrel grinned and waved as he went straight for the gym.

“I’ll see you later!”

“Don’t overwork yourself!” said Lucina cheerfully.

“I won’t!” he said with a giant grin.

Kuro followed Lucina and Lincoln left a few doors down. Lucina pressed a button, and the door opened. The lights were off as they walked into the room.  Lucina fumbled in the dark, looking for the light switch. Dark Pit generated a small ball of hardlight in his hand, and illuminated the room, letting Lucina find the switch.

“Thanks, Kuro.”

He nodded and made his way to one of the benches. He inspected his blade carefully. It looked like it just needed basic maintenance. That was good. He’d have more time to himself.

He pulled out a bottle of cleaner and began to spray his blades with it, before cleaning it off with a towel. He looked up to Lucina, who looked lost in thought. He wondered what had happened on her mission. Nothing bad could have happened. She had been with Mother and she hadn’t been injured. So why was she acting like she’d just failed a training mission? Was it … this ‘father’ person? If he was a threat to Lucina, then he’d personally take care of the scumbag. Nobody did that to his big sister.

 Lucina sighed as she reached for a cleaning cloth. “Sammie’s been so much more aggressive and snappy lately. I don’t know what’s gotten into her?”

“Dunno,” said Kuro. “Maybe she needs to stop eating so much meat.”

Lucina rolled her eyes. “Of course, you would say that.”

Kuro shrugged. “Vegetables are just better. There’s no reason to eat anything else.”

Honestly, Kuro couldn’t imagine anybody who ate nothing but burgers and ice cream. Not that they’d survive impending heart failure long enough to meet him. Seriously, who would eat like that?

Lincoln snorted with a roll of his eyes.

“Hey! Don’t be stupid!” groused Kuro. “Listen to a guy who knows how to do something other than throw apples and bananas into a pot and then burn them beyond recognition!”

Lincoln gave him a look.

“All right, settle down now,” said Lucina.

There were a few minutes of silence as they cleaned their weapons.

“So, are there any Smashers you want to fight?” Lucina asked.

“That Link guy,” said Kuro. “I don’t think he’s actually as strong as everybody makes him out to be. He probably fluked his way into defeating Ganondorf. I’m going to prove everybody wrong once and for all!”

Lucina smiled. “I like it! How about you, Lincoln?”

Lincoln thought for a moment. “Ike. Very strong.”

Kuro nodded. “Yeah, he’d be my second choice. Anybody you want to fight, Lucina?”

Lucina paused. “The so-called Hero-King. Marth. I’d take a lot of pleasure wiping that self-righteous smirk off of his face.”

Kuro barked a laugh. “Now that’s the spirit right there! Who do you think the others would want to fight?”

“Sammy would probably take just about anybody, with how short her temper is nowadays. I think Darrel would prefer to fight one of the fist fighters. Ken, or Ryu or Little Mac. Maybe even Captain Falcon or Mario,” said Lucina.

“That’s a good point. I thought he’d rather take on more of those Pokemon Trainers for being cowards,” said Kuro.

Lucina laughed. “That’s a good point! Though I wonder if….”

“Hey! You’re back!” squeaked a new voice happily from the doorway.

Kuro turned to the door to see a short figure in an oversized black trenchcoat with a small yellow blur attached to the back rush into the room and throw itself at Lucina. Lucina turned and wrapped the figure in a bone crushing hug.

“Morgan! How are you?”

“I just taught Pichu how to use Thunderbolt!” she said excitedly. Pichu climbed out of the back of her hood and on top of her head, squeaking happily and sparking a little electricity out of its cheeks.

“That’s wonderful!” said Lucina.

“How were your missions? Did you fight the Smashers?” asked Morgan excitedly.

“We did! I fought Roy, as well as another one of the swordsmen!”

 Kuro noted that she made no mention of her “Father”. Probably didn’t want to bother Morgan with it.

“Whoa! That’s so cool! Who did you fight, Kuro!?”

Kuro cracked a slight grin. “The Pac Man guy.”

“And who did Lincoln fight?” asked Morgan.

“He fought Game and Watch. The flat one. Do you remember him?”

“Uh huh! Mother made me memorize all of them by heart! Though I don’t know if I’ll ever get to fight them…”

“You’re gonna have to toughen up if you want to fight them like us!” said Kuro.

Morgan pulled herself to her full four feet. “You bet I will!”

Lucina smiled. “It will still be a while before you’re fit to battle the Smashers, Morgan. But I think you’ll still get your chance. The Smashers are tough. They won’t go down easily in a fight!”

“Yeah. Oh right! Pichu wants to show you his new Thunderbolt attack! Isn’t that right, Pichu?”

Pichu nodded vigorously.

“C’mon! Let’s go!” said Morgan, tugging at Lucina’s cape. She ran up to Kuro and tugged on his arm.

“C’mon Kuro! Let’s go!”

Kuro begrudgingly got to his feet. “All right, all right, you don’t need to pull my arm out, you know!”

Lucina sheathed her sword.

“All right, all right. Let’s go see Pichu use his Thunderbolt.”

Pichu jumped up and down squeaking joyously and dashed out of the room towards the training area.

Kuro slung his weapon on his back, and followed the two out of the room, as Lincoln followed suit.

As Morgan chattered with Lucina, Kuro got back to his thoughts. He didn’t know why Lucina felt strange about her “father”. She already had a family. They had Mother, and Lincoln, and Darrell, and Samantha, and Morgan. Who else did they need?

Lucina was family. Not this Smasher guy. He’d better remember that, whoever he was.

Lucina:

Lucina is a strong individual fighter who brings a great deal of versatility to battle. She serves as the leader of her own unit, including Kuro, Samantha, Lincoln and Darryl. In many respects, she is very comparable to the Smasher Chrom. Lucina is similar in her ability in swordsmanship, leadership and charisma. Where she differs is in her lesser experience, superior compliment of gadgets and Pokemon. Her team consists of a Lucario, Greninja and Incineroar. It should be noted that Lucina’s Pokemon combat focused and not support or tactically focused. She has mastered her coordination with them in battle and can battle alongside any combination of them. At her strongest, a fight against Lucina is a fight against four opponents. As for her own capabilities, Lucina’s swordsmanship is her main form of combat, and her style is balance focused, with no major strengths or weaknesses. While she does not bring any additional weapons other than a few throwing knives and a dagger as a backup weapon, Lucina’s compliment of gadgets is the same as mine. I should also mention that her hand-to-hand combat skills are serviceable, but not exceptional.  All around, Lucina is a balanced fighter with strong leadership skills.

To improve on Lucina’s skillsets, I would like the opportunity to teach her more about strategy and tactics. Her mind is sharp, and it would be a shame to waste her potential. I would also like to expand her experience in battle against more kinds of opponents then she has already faced. Her lack of experience is what is largely keeping her and her team back. If possible, it would be preferable to obtain a Haxium sword for her. While I realize such weapons are scarce, it would give her a significant edge in battle. Finally, Lucina could improve by filling out her team of Pokemon. While she works well with her current 3 Pokemon, more Pokemon would increase her power and versatility significantly. In conclusion, Lucina is a diamond in the rough and with requisite experience and resources, can evolve into a potent leader and warrior.

Dark Pit:

Kuro is a member of Lucina’s team, and serves as the team’s aerial combat specialist and marksman. He is a clone of the Icari warrior Pit, and is near identical genetically speaking. Further information on this can be found under the file codenamed Dark Pit. As an Icari, Kuro possesses wings and is capable of flight. Additionally, he possesses hardlight manipulation abilities, though like his genetic “brother”, his capabilities are somewhat handicapped due to a genetic defect. While this was somewhat corrected in the cloning process, he won’t have the same capabilities as more proficient hardlight manipulators such as Palutena. His weapon is a replica of the Palutena Bow model, named after its inventor, Queen Palutena herself. This is also in alignment with his genetic “brother”. His usage of the bow in melee situations is a fast paced style, favoring dual blade combat, an acrobatic and fast paced sword style and the incorporation of physical strikes. What truly sets Kuro apart from Pit is his better fine control of hardlight, and his access to Dark Hardlight. Dark Hardlight nearly identical to regular hardlight, but has the unique property of dealing more damage than regular hardlight due to the high frequency light wavelengths it includes. While similar to Pit in many ways, Kuro distinguishes himself as the stronger of the two.

To improve on Kuro’s fighting ability, I would like to equip and train him in the usage of other Icari weapons, such as Claws, Arms and Blades. Furthermore, I would like to give him training in more severe weather conditions. While the training simulations at Shadow Base have been of great value in training Kuro to fly, I would like to ensure that he is capable in the air under as many weather conditions as possible and gains more experience in the air. Finally, I would like to give Kuro more space to experiment with Dark Hardlight. While it’s known additional properties aren’t the most powerful, it is a variation of hardlight manipulation that has seen little study, and any extra knowledge that can be gained could be useful.

Dark Samus:

Samantha is a member of Lucina’s team, and serves as the team’s heavy assault and heavy weapons specialist. She is a clone of the Chozo-Human warrior Samus Aran, and is near identical genetically speaking. Further information on this can be found under the file codenamed Dark Samus. As a Chozo-Human hybrid, Samantha has the increased capacity for power, speed, etc of the Chozo, but a more standard build, similar to that of a Beorc or Hylian. In battle Samantha pilots modified Chozo battle armor, equipped with a standard Chozo arm cannon. While it may lack the variety of specialized beam types that Samus Aran has, it has all of the commonly used beam types available, as well as bombs, power bombs, missiles and super missiles. Outside of the suit, Samantha is armed with a Cornerian blaster, a reflector and a combat knife. Furthermore, Samantha has been enhanced by the dangerous substance known as Phazite, granting her increased speed, strength and reaction times as the cost of mental stability. This has also turned her hair light blue from repeated exposure. It would seem that this exposure has allowed Samantha limited hovering ability, but the mechanics of this are completely unknown and Samantha has not been able to perform this for long periods of time. While possibly less versatile in her powersuit, Samantha is far more dangerous then Samus outside of her suit.

To increase Samantha’s fighting ability, I first must recommend that she undergo a Phazite decontamination procedure immediately. Phazite is an extremely dangerous substance and while exposing her to it has doubtless been of immense scientific value, the decreased mental stability associated with it may prove disastrous on the field of battle. I would also like to see Samantha gain access to more specialized weaponry for her arm cannon, to increase her flexibility in the field. Finally, I would like for Samantha to improve on her hand-to-hand combat skill. While she is already a formidable combatant, improved hand to hand combat skill will increase her combat potential both in and out of her power suit.

As a final note, during the construction of Samantha’s powersuit, valuable information was gathered about Samus Aran’s powersuit. As such, the Dark Chozo project has proceeded smoothly, and the AI piloting the suits is nearing battle readiness. Due to her familiarity with the suits, I would like to nominate Samantha as the leader of this force.

Chapter Text

Blood Falcon:

Darryl is a member of Lucina’s team, and serves as the team’s hand to hand combat specialist. He’s is a clone of the bounty hunter Captain Falcon, and is near identical on a genetic level. Further information on this can be found under the file codenamed Blood Falcon. As a clone of Captain Falcon, Darryl has access to Falcon powers, and has been able to successfully replicate techniques such as the Falcon Kick, Raptor Boost, and the infamous Falcon Punch. While he carries no weapons of his own, his gloves and boots are made of durable material and are designed to endure many hits. His fighting style is also modelled after that of Captain Falcon. Darryl doesn’t distinguish himself from his genetic template as much as his siblings do, but due to his high level of physical training, Darryl has galaxy-tier strength, stamina, endurance and pain tolerance. Darryl is the kind of fighter that can keep fighting for extended periods of time and can shrug off mild to moderate hits with little difficulty and keep fighting as if nothing happened.

To increase Darryl’s fighting ability, I would like to personally spend more time with him. He has a strong deemphasis on strategic fighting, and while this has fed into his focus on improving his prodigious combat capabilities, he’s also not the hardest to outsmart, and I would like to change that. Additionally, I would like to provide him with a training space with which to train experiment with his Falcon powers. Due to the explosive and volatile nature of Falcon’s powers, it has been very difficult to find such a space. Finally, I would like to look into lightweight armor types for Darryl to boost his already inhuman durability and pain tolerance. Darryl also isn’t the kind to shy away from fights, so any armor that won’t limit his mobility will be strongly welcomed to prevent him from getting hurt unnecessarily.

Dark Link:

Lincoln is a member of Lucina’s team, and serves as the team’s generalist fighter, analogous to the rifleman role of Cornerian and Human military squads. He is a clone of the Hylian Champion Link and is near identical genetically speaking. Further information on this can be found under the file codenamed Dark Link. Lincoln, like his genetic template, wields a sword and shield, and possesses a large compliment of additional weapons. These include a bow, crossbow, boomerang, hookshot, a heavy hammer, and a wide variety of arrows and bombs. Lincoln’s weapons were acquired from the Hylian Royal Guard’s armory and are of the highest quality. He also wears a chainmail shirt underneath his tunic, and his boots are made of durable heavy leather. Like his brother Darryl, Lincoln is a physical heavyweight, though not quite to the same extent. His sword style is based off of Link’s style, and grants him a great deal of versatility in combat against a number of opponents. Finally, Lincoln has received extensive training in hand to hand combat and is most likely a more proficient martial artist then his genetic template. While he prefers the use of his sword, he’s still just as capable of fighting with his bare hands.

To improve Lincoln’s combat prowess, I would like to have him increase the arsenal at his disposal. I would like him to pick up the use of polearms as well as combat knives to give him longer and shorter range melee options then just his sword. Lincoln has also proven himself capable with explosives and I would like him to receive higher level demolitions training. In the same vein, Lincoln should also be equipped with more conventional explosives such as fragmentation, smoke and flashbang grenades as well as C4 and mines. It may also be fitting to arm him with a blaster as well, to have another one handed ranged weapon to pair with either his sword or shield.

Morgan:

Morgan is a young and inexperienced fighter, but in time she will become a force to be reckoned with. Morgan is not assigned to any team and does not participate in field missions at the time of writing. When she comes of age she will most likely fight on Lucina’s team alongside her siblings. Morgan is strongly tactically and strategically minded, and while she isn’t the strongest physical combatant, her quick thinking may prove instrumental to victory in the future as a tactician or strategist. Morgan has three Pokemon at her disposal. Her team consists of a Pichu, Plusle and Minun. It should be noted that Morgan’s Pokemon are more strategically focused then offensively focused. Morgan also wields a short sword, as full-length swords are beyond her ability to wield proficiently at the time of writing. She is also equipped with the same compliment of gadgets that both Lucina and I possess.

I would like to note in the improvement section that Morgan is younger than the rest of her siblings and has not had the same kind of training that they have had. As such, she’ll have much more room for improvement. First of all, I would like Morgan to continue her training in the use of the sword. It will most likely be her primary weapon and I want her to be proficient with it in battle. Secondly, I would like Morgan to fill out her team. While her Pokemon can be potent in the right circumstances, they are all electric types, and furthermore, she lacks a full team. I would like her remaining team slots to be more diversified in their typing and utility. Thirdly, I would like Morgan to increase her physical strength and endurance. While she is likely to take the role of a strategist and tactician more than a battlefield combatant, there are times when a strategist has to roll up her sleeves and get her hands dirty. I would like her to be prepared for that possibility. Finally, I want Morgan to spend more time with me to improve her strategic and tactical skills. She has prodigious talent in this regard, and I want her to have the opportunity to learn from me in real time situations. While Morgan has much to learn, she has immense potential and will become a valuable ally in the years ahead.

Act 6: Interlude 1

Chapter 2: Council of Villains

Robin walked down a long hallway in the base, on her way to a meeting. She twirled one of her ponytails as she walked, a sense of unease looming over her. On the one hand, she wasn’t looking forward to having to interact with her fellow attendees. There were enough of her colleagues who didn’t respect her at all. Sure, she wasn’t a laser shooting space dragon or some master warlock, but she was dangerous in her own right. On the other hand, a critical part of her plan hinged on this meeting going well. No pressure.

Robin came to a large set of double doors and stopped for a moment. She took a deep breath, and squared her shoulders, before walking towards them. It was now or never. They slid open with a hiss as she entered the room. It was a large conference room with a large, circular table in the middle. The carpet was an unobtrusive grey, mottled with muted reds and blues. A few potted plants sat around the sides of the room, breaking up the monotonous grey walls with some much needed color and life. On one wall was a projection system, while another another held a window that overlooked the cosmos in all their beauty.

Robin quickly made her way to her seat, trying to avoid conversation. Dr. Mario was there, poring over some papers he’d brought with him, a half full glass of wine at his elbow. Wily sat a few chairs away from Dr. Mario, with Eggman sitting directly across from him, the farthest point away from his hated rival. The two were glaring at each other in what appeared to Robin as some sort of juvenile contest of ego. It was fascinating how loutish the two could be, considering how incredibly intelligent they both were. Of course, the fascination quicky dissipated when the two started to argue. At that point, they were just noisy irritations.

But neither was quite as irritating as the Gerudo casually leaning back in his chair across the table. Ganondorf, the self-proclaimed “King of Evil” had taken quite the dislike to her, with malicious intent not even topped by Ridley, who had a notorious dislike of anything that didn’t involve destruction, pillaging or some combination of the two. He sat a few chairs away from Ganondorf, flexing his claws impatiently at his seat, itching for something more mentally stimulating. Like destruction or pillaging, probably. Idiot.

Which left the pretty boy armed with the overcompensator sitting in between them in third place. Sephiroth was as arrogant as they came, but at least he had restraint. While details on his past were fairly sparse, Robin did know that he came from a military background, and it showed in his disciplined and brutally effective sword style. For whatever it was worth, Robin respected that, even if she didn’t respect his perpetually insufferable attitude. 

Robin wasn’t quite sure why Ganondorf disliked her so much. He was a competent tactician himself, and he should have recognized her value. Maybe it was his ego and overconfidence in his own abilities? It was a good thing that she had been part of this operation for some time, and before Ganondorf had been recruited, the Leader had been able to acquire her some….secret weapons…. Not that she’d let him know that she had them.

And then there was the odd duo out. They were called Sham and Carl. Sham was a nondescript woman of average height with blonde hair. She was unusually quiet, usually only speaking when addressed or unless she needed something. Carl was a slightly shorter young man with short cropped black hair, who presented himself in a near identical manner. Their garb changed frequently as they tended to favor stealth missions, but today they were both wearing the black body suits that they usually wore around the base. She didn’t know very much about either, but both were strong Pokemon Trainers with level heads, and they got their missions done in exemplary fashion. Still, they gave Robin a bad feeling, though she couldn’t quite place why. What about them was it that bothered her?

“Darling, don’t frown like that! You’re going to get wrinkles too soon!” chided a suave voice from behind her.

“Oh, don’t worry about me, Bayonetta. I’ll be fine,” grumbled Robin.

Bayonetta seated herself next to Robin and reclined against the backrest. “Hopefully these stuffy meetings will be over soon. At least we’ll have something more interesting to talk about this time. No more of those endlessly droll planning meetings!”

“You know those things are important.”

Bayonetta just laughed. “Oh, dear, I forgot how much you love those meetings. Silly tacticians.”

Robin just shrugged. “I suppose it is a tactician thing. Planning is my life after all.”

“Oh, Robin, you need to loosen up a little bit! Let your hair down out of those ridiculous ponytails!”

“Oh shush,” said Robin. “Anyway, looks like the meeting’s about to begin. Try not to look like a buffoon, all right?”

“Me? A buffoon? Please!” snorted Bayonetta as a Star Warrior and an aged Chozo stepped into the room.

The Star Warrior, a knight with a horned mask and a pink body seated himself at the head of the table as his companion seated herself next to him. A silver shield and a pink lance were strapped to his back.

“I’m afraid the Leader is unable to attend this meeting as his extra preparations are taking him more time than was expected. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, Kazuya and the others who went with him are also not present. Instead, I will be in charge of this meeting. Is that to everybody’s satisfaction?”

There was a general chorus of assent. Robin grit her teeth. Something was going on. The Leader had been rather quiet about these extra preparations. And she didn’t like being left out of the know. For… a number of reasons.

“Of course, Sir Galacta!” said Bayonetta. “If the Leader is unable to make it, I’m sure you’ll make a fine substitute.”

“Thank you,” said Galacta Knight. Now, let’s not waste time. Let’s start with a brief report on Phase 1 of the plan. Dr. Wily?”

“Everything went without a hitch,” said Dr. Wily. “I left my budget Robot Masters behind to face the Smashers. I don’t believe they defeated any of the Smashers, but we still completed the overall objective, and I retrieved the data from the fight. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to complete the analysis just yet.”

“Very good. Dr. Mario?”

“Not so smooth. The lab was abandoned and scrapped with no issue, but when the Smashers got there, the one with the Porygon made the escape difficult. With one of Robin’s counters, I managed to get him off my back, and we successfully retreated with no unintended losses.”

“How did your monsters perform?” asked Galacta Knight.

“They filled their purpose splendidly. They held the other Smashers long enough for me to employ the counter strategy and evade my pursuers,” said Dr. Mario. “When deployed in larger numbers, they will be unstoppable!”

“Excellent,” said Galacta Knight. “Ridley, how did the Harmony Base evacuation go?”

“We got out all right, but some of my men were attacked by the Smashers during the final stages of the evacuation and some of the equipment was lost. If we’d had help, we would have been out hours earlier!” Ridley snapped, staring at Eggman.

“Hey! I was needed to make extra preparations for my part of the plan! I had to get my secret weapon prepared! You should have moved more quickly!” snapped Eggman. “If your men weren’t so lazy….”

“Stop!” said Galacta Knight sharply. “We will not have any bickering. Did your forces make it out intact, Ridley?”

“Mostly,” grumbled Ridley. “We had some losses, but we set the decoy on them.”

Galacta Knight nodded. “I am sorry to hear that you lost men. Don’t worry about the equipment, that is replaceable.”

Ridley silently nodded. Robin quietly exhaled in relief. Thankfully, Galacta Knight commanded enough respect to end the fight before it began. She did NOT want to get killed in the crossfire of some stupid spat between two egomaniacs.

“And Robin. How goes your campaign?”

Robin grinned. “Splendidly. Sent the Smashers packing quite handily if I do say so myself. They’re massing their armies as we speak, but as I’ll detail in my Phase 2 plans, they won’t have time to properly react.”

“Excellent. Then all is proceeding according to the plan. You have all done well. Now for the future. How go the preparations for Phase 2? Ganondorf?”

“Everything is moving on schedule,” said Ganondorf confidently. “My preparations are complete, and I’ve ensured that my scouts were seen by the rabble. There will be no mistakes.”

“That is good,” said Galacta Knight. “Dr. Eggman?”

“The cannon has yet to be deployed, but I have discovered how to operate it and have familiarized myself with the controls. It ought to keep the Cornerian Navy at bay at the very least. My robots have already been deployed and are doing battle with Cornerian forces as we speak.”

“Make sure that you understand the cannon well. If there are any other things to learn about it, it may be useful to our cause,” said Galacta Knight.

“Of course,” said Dr. Eggman.

“And Robin. Do you require anything for your continuing campaign?”

Robin gave a smile. Time for her big ask. Hopefully this went through.

“Things are moving smoothly, but I have a request. I would like to request a second portal, as well as the services of all available allies.”

There was a slight pause.

“Excuse me?” sneered Ganondorf. “You want a second portal and the help of our allies? I thought you were supposed to be the tactician! You’re supposed to be good at fighting with large forces! Don’t tell me the Subspace Army isn’t enough for you!”

“Oh no, the army is quite sufficient,” said Robin. “Allow me to explain myself. According to our intel, forces from around Tellius are mobilizing to respond. The increased mobility that a second portal would grant me would allow me to outmaneuver the enemy and defeat them much more quickly. Additionally, the help of other allies would allow us to crush our enemies more decisively. And one last thing, everybody would be back in time for Phase 3 of the plan.”

“That…is a large request,” said Galacta Knight slowly. He turned to the Chozo sitting next to him. “Wind Feather, is this a plausible request in terms of the Subspace Portal?”

Wind Feather scratched her beak. “Hmm…It would be something of a stretch, but it would be well within the realm of possibility. I’m not holding too many portals open right now, so another one wouldn’t be too bad, as long as I didn’t have to hold it stable for too long.”

Galacta Knight nodded and then said, “Bayonetta, Dr. Mario, Ridley, Dr. Wily, Sham, and Carl. Would you have any objections to fighting alongside Robin?”

“None at all,” said Bayonetta with a smile. “I’ve been itching for a bit of action myself. It will be a good warmup for the bigger fights ahead of us.”

Dr. Mario nodded in agreement. “I will be happy to assist Robin. I could use more data on my monster’s performance in battle.”

Dr. Wily shook his head. “I’m afraid I still need to ready my Robot Masters for the Grand Plan. With the data that my fake Robot Masters collected from the Smashers, I’ll be able to upgrade my Robot Masters so that the Smashers won’t be able to stand up to their power!”

Ridley just sneered. “My forces will require rest time. I’m also not going to waste them on pretty girl’s little schemes.”

Sham’s expression remained steady. “If it brings us closer to our goals, my services are available.”

“As are mine,” said Carl.

Robin flashed Sham her most winning smile. “Oh, trust me, this is going to be big. With one fell swoop, we will bring Tellius to its knees. Your power will not be wasted. I guarantee it.”

Galacta Knight considered the proposal in silence for a moment.

“I will be meeting with the Leader later today when he returns. I believe that your plan has merit, but I will defer to his judgement. We will discuss whether we go through with it or not then.”

“Excellent,” grinned Robin. “I’ll see you there.”

Ganondorf shot her a dirty look. Robin smirked back at him. A critical win for her. Her grand plan was coming together.  If she could convince the Leader to follow her plan, all her pieces would be set. And it would be a whole lot easier to convince the Leader that the extra resources were necessary then the council at large.

Robin leaned back in her chair with a sigh of relief as Galacta Knight turned to Sephiroth.

“You have already completed the first stage of your mission, correct Sephiroth?”

“That’s right,” said Sephiroth. “Everything is going according to plan. The rest will start as soon as I get back.”

“Very well. Are there any other concerns?” asked Galacta Knight.

“Other than Robin’s competency as a leader? I do not have any,” said Ganondorf.

Robin clenched her fist under the table. That man was insufferable sometimes. But she’d have the last laugh. She would make sure of that.

“How soon may I return?” said Sephiroth. “I want to begin the next phases as soon as possible.”

“If time is of the essence, then we can adjourn now,” said Galacta Knight.

“Wonderful,” said Sephiroth, standing up. He performed a curt bow, before walking quickly out of the room. The other members of the council stood up from their chairs.

“Robin?”

Robin looked over to Bayonetta.

“I don’t like that look you’ve got,” said Bayonetta.

Robin chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry, Bayo. This is gonna be good. Trust me.”

“For the record, I still don’t like that look.”

Deep Space

Red awoke from his nap with a jump. He looked around blearily. He was still at the landing dock of Rosalina’s Observatory, leaning against the crates. He pulled himself to his feet and looked around. He quickly noted the kids, who were shooting projectiles at a set of targets they’d set up on the large patch of grass in the Observatory.

“PK Thunder!” shouted Ness, shooting off a small ball of electricity. It crackled through the air on a guided trajectory, before crashing into the target.

“PK Fire!” shouted Lucas, hurling a small bolt of fire at a different target. It struck the target head on, but wasn’t quite enough to knock it over off of its metal base. However, before the target could right itself on its base, it was struck by several globs of paint and a few large peanuts, knocking it over.

Lucas turned and gave a thumbs up to Igrene, Diddy and Dixie.

The target to the right was struck with an arrow and a knife at nearly the same moment.

“See? I’m closer to the center!” said Tetra.

“No, I’m closer!” said Toon Link.

A small ball of flame caught Red’s attention from the far right, where Bowser Jr was spitting small fireballs. Not all of them made it to the targets, but the fireballs looked bigger than the last time Red had seen Bowser Jr practicing.

“Hey Red!”

Red’s attention snapped back to see Lucas, who had apparently stopped for a water break and had noticed him.

“Hey! Do you know where the others went?”

“I think they went into the library! They said something about a strategy meeting.”

“Thanks! I guess I’d better get there before I’m too late!”

Red jogged off towards the library, along the gently rolling path. A few Lumas were playing tag near the path. One of them waved, before squeaking and running away from the one that was “it”.

Red opened the door to see all of the other Smashers gathered around.

“Oh Red, good timing!” said Young Link. “We were just going to go over some of the events of the Second Subspace War with Rosalina! You know, tactics and stuff that we might be able to use!”

Red grinned. “You know I’m always ready for some strategy! What do we have?”

Rosalina opened an old map and placed it on the table.

“As you can see here, this is a star map of the galaxy during the Second Subspace War.”

Rosalina pointed to several dozen planets that were farther out, circled in red.

“These are several small Hand, Star Warrior and Chozo colonies. These were the first to get hit at the beginning months of the war. They were sparsely populated and weren’t able to offer much resistance. They fell within hours with few survivors.”

Rosalina then pointed to about a dozen planets circled in yellow. “After several of the distant colonies went silent, we began to mobilize our forces. Unfortunately, the armies of Subspace had already begun to move. The next series of invasions has been categorized as the second stage of the war. Thankfully, these planets had some time to prepare themselves, so the survival rates of these invasions were much higher. These planets were mostly moderately populated Hand, Star Warrior and Chozo colonies, but there are also a number of home planets.”

She pointed to one of them.

“This is Puppetti, the home of the Puppetori. This in particular was one of the longest battles of the war, lasting just over a year. While Subpsace forces took over nearly half the planet in a matter of three weeks, the Puppetori mounted an exemplary defense of their home world and routed Subspace forces on their own in several battles. They were able to hold out until help arrived in the later stages of the war.”

“Three weeks?” asked Green in surprise. “To take half of a homeworld? How did they manage that so quickly?”

“The armies of Subspace are…different than normal armies. They strike in overwhelming numbers and in rapid succession. Small Subspace armies are said to have numbered in the millions. Their ability to overwhelm defenses with sheer numbers is unparalleled.”

Green nodded. Link pointed to another yellow circled planet.

“This is Archeneia, correct?”

“That’s correct. Archeniea was also hit during the second phase of the war. I’m sure you’re quite familiar with the battles fought in Hyrule, Archeneia and Tellius.”

Link nodded, a look of pride on his face. “We did not falter.”

Rosalina smiled. “You most certainly did not.”

Turning her attention back to the map, Rosalina continued.

“Several other planets attacked during this time resisted the Subspace Invasion successfully, including the Lylat System, Hocotate, Koppai, and Tallon IV. However, things were going to get worse before they got better. Now, we move into the third stage of the war. Historians rightly refer to this time period as the darkest hour of the war.”

Rosalina pointed to a handful of planets circled in green.

“All of these planets are either heavily populated inner colonies or homeworlds. Many of the planets that were attacked during this phase of the war took catastrophic casualties as they were already sheltering refugees and many were still mobilizing their defenses. Subspace forces even managed to set foot on Zebes and Harmony. Some of the most legendary battles of the war occurred during this time, including the Battle of Maridia on Zebes and the Battle of Harmony City on Harmony. I was personally at Harmony City with Meta Knight, as well as another one of our allies, Galacta Knight.”

“Harmony City must hold a lot of memories for you,” said Young Link.

Rosalina smiled. “It does. We were fighting Primids on the steps of the Galactic Assembly Building at one point. But most importantly, we emerged victorious. This was our first victory against the forces of Subspace. And just hours after we won our battle, the Chozo drove Subspace Forces out of Maridia.”

“That must have been a great feeling,” said Blue.

Rosalina nodded. “It was. It completely turned the momentum in our favor. And with the arrival of the Star Warrior Armada and the Hand Grand Fleet at long last, we quickly capitalized on it. We had the inner colonies cleared of Subspace influence within a week.”

Green raised an eyebrow. “A week?”

“Yes. The inner colonies had suffered greatly, but their infrastructure was much more developed than the infrastructure of the farther colonies proved to be. Transportation was one of our greatest issues later on in the war.”

Green nodded as Rosalina continued.

“As soon as the inner colonies had been secured, we set about reliving the remaining defenders of those worlds that had been attacked during the second phase of the war and were still under siege. We first turned our attention to Archanea. While Elibe had nearly been lost in the initial invasion and both Hyrule and Archanea were besieged. As such a strike team, including myself, Master Hand, Crazy Hand and Meta Knight, landed in Archaneia and dealt a powerful blow to their forces by destroying their portal. Within a few days, the remaining Subspace forces were annihilated at the battle of Talys Castle.

Shortly after, the combined forces of the Hands, Chozo, and Star Warriors, along with several heroes from other worlds and species arrived on the planet. They were able to free Tellius the help of Soan, Altina and Lehran, and liberated Hyrule with the assistance of the Hero of Subspace, Groose.

Elibe proved to be a tougher battle to fight, but alongside the Seven Heroes, we were eventually able to drive them back and end the Scouring. During the battle, Meta Knight slew one of the Lords of Subspace in single combat, a feat that earned him a place in legend.”

“The Lords of Subspace…. Just how powerful were they?” asked Young Link.

“Tabuu was a Lord of Subspace…and he was quite a tough fight,” said Red. “But he was boosted by several Subspace Cores. I guess that’s why Meta Knight wasn’t able to defeat him in single combat?”

“Yes, that’s right,” said Rosalina. “Tabuu was no ordinary Lord of Subspace as well. An average Lord of Subspace is very powerful, but not on the level of Tabuu. I wouldn’t recommend any Smasher to take on a Lord of Subspace alone, but I would think any of the most powerful Smashers could defeat a Lord of Subspace in single combat. It would be a very close thing though. Even for Master Hand, Crazy Hand, Meta Knight or myself.”

“Wow, he was boosted by several Subspace Cores!?” said a new voice from behind them. “No wonder my PK Rocking couldn’t oneshot him!”

The Smashers turned around to see the Kid Smashers standing at the door, listening in.

“You’re welcome to join us,” said Rosalina with a smile. “You don’t have to hide.”

“What’s a Subspace Core?” asked Igrene. Rosalina smiled at the Inkling.

Rosalina smiled. “A Subspace Core is a concentrated nexus of Subspace Energy, usually contained in a glass sphere. While we don’t know how it is created, shattering the glass and absorbing the energy causes the user to gain a permanent boost in power and the ability to generate and use Subspace power. The more Subspace Cores somebody absorbs, the more powerful their Subspace abilities become, but the more R-47 radiation they emit. It’s quite easy to track them with the right equipment, but they are very difficult to take down.”

“Must be,” said Igrene in awe. “You guys fought Tabuu at full power?”

“Yeah! It was awesome!” said Ness. “Me and Lucas hit him with a Smash Ball boosted PK Starstorm!”

“It was also pretty scary….he nearly killed Mario, Meta Knight and Master Hand….we were really lucky that Miss Rosalina was able to get there in time,” said Lucas.

“But that part when Sonic got shot from Rosalina’s Observatory, and went Super Sonic and broke Tabuu’s wings was really awesome!” said Ness.

“And then me and Nana hit him with the Sub-Zero Destroyer!” said Popo.

“No, it’s called the Permafrost Pummeler!” said Nana. “Get it right!”

“No, you get it right!” said Popo.

“And then Tetra and I threw a bunch of bombs at him!” said Toon Link excitedly.

There was a moment of silence, before all of the other Kid Smashers started laughing.

“Hey!” snapped Tetra. “We threw like 20 barrels worth of bombs at that guy!”

Red just cracked a grin. “Those bombs were pretty helpful. Tabuu could barely see with all the smoke. It made him much easier to hit.”

“See! I told you it was awesome!” said Toon Link, jabbing his finger into Ness’s chest.

“All right, settle down,” said Green. “We’re here to listen to Rosalina tell us about the Second Subspace War, correct?”

Rosalina smiled serenely as the Kid Smashers apologized.

“After Archeneia was retaken, we moved to the assistance of Koppai and Hocotate, as they sit fairly close to Archeneia. It was also during this time that Master Hand’s strike team was made an official group and several other heroes were added to our number.”

“Oh yeah! The Legendary Heroes!” said Ness. “Let’s see….Master Hand, Crazy Hand, Rosalina, Meta Knight, Galacta Knight, Soan, Altina, Roland….uh…who else am I forgetting?”

“Groose for one!” said Toon Link. “Come on, dude!”

“Right! Groose! I knew I forgot somebody important!”

Rosalina cleared her throat. “There was Anri, Marth’s ancestor, as well as a Chozo warrior called Wind Feather, and another Hand called Commander Hand. We were also joined by one of the Puppetori warriors named Geno, as well as two warriors from Ryu and Cloud’s world, a samurai named Takamaru and a swordsman named Zack Faire. And of course, Sam, but he hadn’t joined us at this point.”

“Man, that’s a lot of heroes!” said Popo.

“That must have been so cool to know all those heroes!” said Igrene. “What were they like?”

Rosalina shook her head. “I’m afraid that’s a story for another day.”

“Aww,” said Igrene.

“Don’t worry, I’ll let you know when I tell that story,” said Rosalina.

“Yay!”

Rosalina continued. “We finally moved to assist the Lylat System, who had been doing fairly well on their own. After battles on Corneria, Aquas, Fortuna and Venom, we were able to clear the Lylat System of Subspace Forces. Our strike force was joined by Sam Baker, the ace Cornerian pilot, after Lylat was freed.”

“Is he Fox’s ancestor?” asked Bowser Jr curiously.

“As far as I know, he’s not,” said Rosalina.

“Aww, oh well, was just wondering.”

Rosalina smiled. “Don’t worry, it’s a valid question! I can see why you might think that.”

“Not all of us can be descended from legendary heroes after all,” said Red.

Rosalina continued, “Now, as I was saying, we then returned and launched assaults on the rest of the planets circled in yellow from the forces of Subspace. We fought and slew 3 other lords of Subspace in the ensuing battles. We also finally moved to assist the defenders of Puppetori.”

“Puppetori… the last battle of the war….” said Green.

“That’s right. Puppetori had some of the hardest fighting since Harmony City and Maridia. After several major battles that ended inconclusively and with heavy losses to both sides, a new portal opened on Puppetori. It unleashed the greatest Subspace army we’d ever seen with enemy numbers being estimated in the several hundred trillions. They were also accompanied by the mastermind behind the whole war, Supreme Lord of Subspace Intirdykt. Eventually, our strike team engaged him in battle. We fought him for nearly 10 hours before Master Hand struck him down. We emerged battered but victorious, and thankfully with no losses. Without their leader, the remaining Subspace forces folded quickly or fled to whence they came. The final of the Battle of Puppetori was also the final battle of the war.”

Green gave the paper a hard look. “The leader appeared on Puppetori? How’d he get there? What did his fleet look like? Or did he use a portal like the ones the enemy have been using?”

“He used a portal,” said Rosalina.

“Are there any limitations on where and when these portals can be created?” asked Blue.

“As far as we know, these portals can be placed anywhere there’s enough open space to fit one. How they create these portals is a mystery though. We’ve never gotten to see one being made. It does seem to be fairly taxing to create them though, as destroying them has been proven to stop invasions completely. If they could just create more portals with little effort, we’re certain they would have done it by now.”

Blue nodded. “So, we should focus on destroying portals then?”

“Yes, it’s one of the best strategies to use against Subspace forces,” said Rosalina.

“What else do you recommend we do?” asked Young Link.

“Armies wielding ranged weaponry are preferred,” said Rosalina. “Most types of fighters in the Subspace Army, most notably Primids, are close range fighters and not particularly fast. They are usually used in large charges and for overwhelming the enemy with numbers. Ranged fighters are particularly useful because they can thin out the enemy lines from a safe distance. So, I would strongly recommend stocking up on your ammunition of choice.”

“We need more archers then,” said Link.

“Riflemen too,” said Rosalina. “Cornerian and Chozo forces did particularly well as they were armed with automatic rifles or arm cannon equivalents. Though you’re right, archers did indeed deal heavy casualties to Subspace forces and were instrumental in several victories.”

“How do they use their aerial forces?” asked Red. “If they aren’t that strong, I imagine a group of Pokemon Trainers with flying types could do some damage to a charging Subspace army.”

“Rather well, I’m afraid,” said Rosalina. “Aerial Subspace forces like Spaaks and Floows will be deployed in great numbers for land battles. At the Battle of Phendrana Drifts on Tallon IV, it was said that there were so many, they blocked out the sun. I know that you fought Tabuu, but his strategy was a departure from usual Subspace army tactics.”

“Yeesh. Maybe we’d be better off taking them on from the ground,” said Indigo.

“Perhaps,” said Rosalina. “Subspace ground forces tend to fare very poorly against aerial fighters, but that’s only a viable strategy if you can clear out Subspace aerial forces.”

“Hmm,” said Red. “What about aquatic combat?”

“We found out towards the end of the war that Subspace soldiers and large bodies of water don’t react well. They will be unaffected if splashed with water, but if they try to walk into a lake or river for too long, they’ll disintegrate. Though if you take to the water, they’ll send aerial forces out to fight you. Just know they won’t go underwater themselves.”

“Hmm,” said Red. “So, water types that know Surf and Dive could be a huge bonus then.”

“As will my Zora Mask,” said Young Link. “Maybe we’ll be able to launch an aquatic surprise attack on them at some point.”

“Maybe,” said Rosalina. “It is a worthy tactic that we never had the chance to try our hand at.”

“Are they afraid of snow or ice? That’s water too.” asked Nana.

Rosalina paused. “I’m not sure.” She thought for a moment.

“I don’t believe they are, I’m afraid.”

“Aww,” said Nana. “Just imagine being on top of a snowy mountain and the Subspace guys couldn’t get to you.”

“Couldn’t they just send their flying troops to get you?” asked Igrene.

“I guess,” grumbled Nana.

“It was a good idea,” said Rosalina. “Unfortunately, I think it’s something about the wave motion of large bodies of liquid water that does them in. Does anybody have any other questions?”

Suddenly Red’s Poketch began buzzing. He reached into his pocket and checked the device. “Oh! Looks like Meta Knight, Fox and Alph are here! They’re ready to pick us up!”

The others immediately perked up.

“Let’s not keep them waiting,” said Green. He slung his backpack onto his shoulder and went out the door. Blue and Indigo followed him quickly, as did some of the kid Smashers.

Red was about to follow them when he felt a tug on his hand. He looked down to see Lucas.

“Those Subspace guys are really tough… just like when Tabuu tried to take over the galaxy. Don’t get hurt and be careful out there!”

Red smiled. Good old Lucas. A bit paranoid, sure, but his heart was always in the right place.

“Don’t worry Lucas, I’ll be fine out there! I’ve got Pika, Saur, Poli and all the others watching my back. We’re gonna get them good!”

“I really hope you do…. Good luck!”

“Thanks buddy!” said Red with a thumbs up.

“Red! What’s taking so long?” called Green from outside the library.

“Sorry Lucas, gotta run! Good luck to you too!” said Red.

And with that, Red dashed out of the library door.

Chapter Text

King Dedede

Threat Level: 3

King Dedede is the current monarch of Dreamland. He’s a formidable foe who has fought with and against Kirby on several occasions. The most notable part of Dedede’s combat performance is his large hammer. While some have aptly compared it to a barrel on a stick, do not underestimate the speed at which Dedede can swing it. However, this is no simple hammer, as it is equipped with some sort of jet propulsion, as well as a missile launcher in the head of all things. As you can imagine, it’s very heavy and hits very hard. This speaks to Dedede’s immense strength, making him a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Dedede is also armed with spike balls known as Gordos. He is known for throwing them, but also for sticking them in his mouth and spitting them at high force. More on this later. Dedede is surprisingly capable in the air, somehow capable of inflating his stomach with air and flying, an impressive feat considering his weight, and also frequently employs jumps of impressive height to get around a battlefield. Finally, Dedede is capable of inhaling items in a manner similar to Kirby. While he’s unable to copy abilities like Kirby can, he is known for spitting them back out with impressive speed, and has knocked over many opponents with their own projectiles.

To deal with a powerhouse like Dedede, a few strategies can be employed. First things first, I would like to note that more powerful but inaccurate attacks can be used to better effect on Dedede due to his size. While its likely he’s got some light armor underneath that robe of his, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a big target, even if he’s faster than he looks. Second of all, Dedede isn’t the greatest ranged combatant. While he does have missiles in his hammer and Gordos to throw, a fast projectile user will be able to run circles around him while running little risk of being hit in return. Another way to exploit Dedede’s limitations may be to take advantage of the relatively slow speed of his weapon. While it is highly likely he has some way of compensating for the time it takes to swing his hammer, a fast melee fighter with a short weapon could get inside his range and land a number of hits before he can react with his hammer. Finally, an admittedly gimmicky way to possibly throw him off his game is to trick him into inhaling an explosive. If you can time it so that it explodes in his mouth, it will most likely provide an opening. Whatever you do, make sure you don’t face Dedede in a contest of strength, its likely to go poorly for you. Use your speed, use your projectiles, use your brains, and victory will be yours.

Mayor Vaughn of Crossing Village

Threat Level: 2

Vaughn is the mayor of Crossing Village. While his true specialty lies in diplomacy, he is an unorthodox if somewhat lacking fighter. While he is not likely to be the greatest threat on the battlefield, he’s strong enough that he may be able to surprise an unwitting opponent. Vaughn’s primary weapon is his axe, which appears to be a repurposed woodcutting axe. He is also armed with a shovel, a net, a slingshot, and Lloyd Rockets. While not the most intimidating weapons, they have historically served him well in pinches, and he can dish out fair damage with them. Additionally, his kit is surprisingly balanced between long- and short-range weapons, even if none of them are particularly powerful. This gives Vaughn the ability to contribute to fights in most situations. Furthermore, his short stature makes him something of a difficult target to hit, and despite the fact that he often wears a red shirt, he’s been known to sneak up on opponents due to his unassuming demeanor. He’s also been known to throw punches and kicks, though his martial arts skill is basic and somewhat unrefined. It would be enough to take down a common ruffian or thug, maybe even a few at once, but would be near useless against a higher caliber opponent. Lastly, Vaughn is known to carry a large assortment of odd items with him, which may aid the Smashers in a pinch situation.

There isn’t much that one has to do to counter Vaughn specifically. He’s not much of a threat individually and while one may need to increase their vigilance of their surroundings a bit more if he’s on the battlefield, any strong moves should be able to take him out. Just make sure to watch your surroundings so I don’t have to carve “killed by the mayor of the most boring town in existence” on your tombstone.

Chapter 1: Rat’s Nest

King Dedede gazed out of the hangar of the Halberd. Down below him, past the clouds, spread a vast landscape, covered mostly in forest and grassland. But most important was a small dot of civilization in the midst of that landscape. And more important than that were the monsters that were menacing that dot of civilization. Crossing Village Township was in danger, and the Smashers planned to fix that.

“So that’s where Vaughn lives,” said Kirby. “I’ve never had the chance to visit. It looks like a nice place!”

Dedede glanced down in surprise to see the pink puffball standing next to him. He hadn’t heard him walk up.

“Yeah. Real rustic by the looks of it,” said Dedede.

“Not too much more than most of Dreamland,” said Kirby.

“Yeah, I guess that’s right. I do spend most of my time at the castle. I don’t get to see the countryside most of the time,” said Dedede.

Dedede glanced over to where Link, Shiek, Young Link, Red and Green stood. They seemed to be in conversation, but Dedede was too far away to hear.

“Whatcha think they’re talking about?” he said.

“It’s gotta be about Ganondorf,” said Kirby. “He’s really strong. We fought him a long time ago when he boosted his power with a Subspace Core. That was a tough fight.”

Dedede nodded. “But he don’t have that Subspace Core anymore?”

Kirby shook his head. “Nope! We made sure of that. Still, its Ganondorf, which means Link, Sheik and Young Link are going to be worried.”

“Then he must be a pretty bad dude then. What do you think about Ganondorf?” asked Dedede. “How strong of a fella we looking at?”

“Definitely strong,” said Kirby. “But not unbeatable. With all of us here, I think we can win. Don’t underestimate him though, there’s a reason he’s been able to conquer Hyrule and threaten the galaxy before.”

Dedede nodded. “We’ll give him the clobbering he’s due for. Link’s got nothing to worry about!”

Kirby shifted uneasily. “I’m not so sure. Ganondorf is tricky and strong. We’ll need to be careful.”

“All right, fair enough. But that won’t save him from getting clobbered. Between Link and Meta Knight and me, Ganondorf don’t stand a chance!”

“I sure hope so,” said Kirby. “I do feel better having Meta Knight here. He wasn’t there to help us last time.”

“What happened last time? That was before you invited me to join the Smashers,” said Dedede.

“Didn’t you read the news?” asked Kirby. “That one got a ton of publicity.”

“I mean, I did,” said Dedede. “But maybe you could tell me something that didn’t make it to the news? Maybe like his weaknesses or something he’s good at. Everything’s useful in a situation like this, you know.”

Kirby shrugged. “That’s fair. Well, Ganondorf is a wizard with magic powers. He’s also a strong swordsman and a powerful hand to hand combatant. His strategy is also pretty good. He’s not a master like Roy, but he knows what he’s doing. He had us running in circles before Red and Roy figured out what he was up to. I don’t know if he really has a weakness per say. I would know, I took him on by myself one time.”

“And how’d ya do?” asked Dedede.

“Went about even for a while, but he got the better of me in the long game,” said Kirby. “Link and Samus got there in time to bail me out and forced him to retreat. But I had copied Falcon’s powers at the time. I wouldn’t have lasted as long as I did without them.”

“You’ve gotten stronger since then, haven’t ya? And you’ve been training with Meta Knight with your sword skill. I reckon you’d have a fair shot against him by yourself at this point.”

Kirby grinned. “Thanks, but I’m not so sure myself. He also never transformed against me when we fought, so who knows how I really stack up against him.”

Dedede whistled low. “He really is a tough one, isn’t he?”

Kirby nodded. “Ganondorf is definitely one of those villains that made his name for good reason. But honestly, as long as we have Link with us, we can win.”

Dedede nodded. “Then why’d he come here by himself? He’s gotta know we’d bring Link with us.”

Kirby shrugged. “I mean, a guy doesn’t try to take over the universe without a major ego. He probably thinks he can beat us with some fancy new power or something.”

“And ya ain’t worried about not knowin’ what that is?” asked Dedede.”

Kirby shrugged. “That hasn’t stopped Link before, and the only time it did, it couldn’t stop the Smashers. That being said, we can’t know for sure until he pulls it out against us.”

The doors to the hangar opened, and Kirby and Dedede turned to see Meta Knight stride through.

“I’ve set the Halberd to autopilot, and I’m ready to go. Everybody take a warp star. Let’s get down there as fast as we can.”

Dedede nodded and followed his fellow Smashers to the line of Warp Stars that sat ready to fly in the hangar bay. With practiced ease, Dedede clambered aboard one of them. Firing up the thrusters, he rocketed out of the hangar and out into the open sky.

The air was thin and cold this high in atmosphere, but the temperature warmed as he descended to the surface. Dedede plunged straight through a cloud, gritting his teeth as he was engulfed in cold dampness. But he was through it in a flash and warming up even faster on the other side.

As the ground grew nearer, Dedede surveyed the area, looking for a place to land. He spotted an open area, near what looked like the town square, and descended towards it. He could see a few people walking about in the square. They quickly moved aside as he landed his warp star with practiced ease. His robes blew in the wind as he brought his craft to a stop. He hopped off as the other Smashers landed their Warp Stars. He winced as Young Link and Red came to rougher stops. Not everybody was used to piloting warp stars after all. As the other Smashers disembarked, several of the villagers came running up.

“Oh! We’re so glad you’re here!” said one.

“Let me grab Mayor Vaughn!” said another one, dashing off.

A few moments later, the villager came back with the mayor himself.

“Hey guys,” said Vaughn. His eyes had bags underneath them and he looked sluggish.

“Are you all right? You look exhausted.” asked Red.

“I’m fine… we stayed up all night digging a trench around the village. We got a bit of a barricade up, but it’s not all that great. We’re going to have the civilians evacuate if we’re not surrounded already. Olimar’s had his pikmin patrolling the woods, and they haven’t seen anything yet. Shoot, where’d Isabelle go?”

The anthropomorphic dog in question showed up behind him.

“Mr. Mayor! I brought you more coffee! Brewster’s strongest stuff!”

“Thanks, Isabelle,” said Vaughn. He grabbed the cup and drained half of it in one gulp.

“Ugh, that’s better. Anyway, we’ve gotten at least some of a defense up. You want me to take you around?”

“Vaughn. Go get some sleep,” said Meta Knight. “We will take charge while you rest.”

“No! This is my town! I’m the mayor! I can’t just let these guys take over my town! I can sleep later.”

Kirby stared at him, unconvinced. “Get some sleep. We’ve got this, man!”

“But what if they attack while I’m asleep?” asked Vaughn.

“I can copy your abilities,” said Kirby. “Seriously dude, get some sleep.”

 “I appreciate it Kirby, but I can’t….”

“Saur! Use Sleep Powder!” said Red suddenly.

Saur leapt from his pokeball and blasted Vaughn in the face with a cloud of spores. As soon as the spores touched Vaughn, he fell soundly asleep. Red caught him as he fell. Green gave him a disapproving look. 

“What? It was the fastest way! You saw him, he needs a few hours of shut eye!”

“Isabelle, can you help Red take him home?” asked Meta Knight.

“Of course!” said Isabelle as Red hefted the sleeping Mayor on his shoulder. 

“Before you go, where’s Olimar? And please tell me he got a good night’s sleep,” said Meta Knight.

“Yes, he did! We all took shifts digging the trench last night, but Mayor Vaughn was the only one who stayed up for all three shifts! Captain Olimar is in the town hall. He’s directing his Pikmin from there. They’re watching the barricades.” said Isabelle.

Meta Knight bowed, before heading towards the town hall. Dedede followed behind him with the other Smashers. He took a look around as they walked through the village. He liked the place. A humble, out of the way town to be sure, but it looked peaceful and comfortable. When he got tired of the whole King business, he was retiring to somewhere like this. This was the kind of place where you could enjoy the simple pleasures of life, like not having to worry about collecting taxes, sleeping in till three in the afternoon, and eating cake for breakfast. Ah, that sounded like the life!

A group of children stared at him from the edge of the sidewalk. Dedede smiled and waved. The smallest began crying. The middle child looked frozen in fear, but the oldest managed to wave back with a slightly intimidated expression. Hmm. Looked like he needed to work on his public image some more.

The Town Hall was a modest sized building, though clearly well-loved and maintained. Dedede pushed open the door to see several denizens of the town bustling about with Olimar standing at a command table of sorts. A red pikmin made a beeline through the crowd and tapped Olimar on the leg. The space captain turned to the pikmin and seemed to converse with the creature for a second as the pikmin jumped and gestured in an animated fashion.

“Olimar! How’s it going, buddy?” boomed Dedede, marking the presence of the Smashers known.

Olimar turned around. “Why hello, everyone! I’m quite glad to see that you’re all here!”

“Yeah, little hairy with just the three of you?” said Dedede.

“Indeed,” said Olimar with a sigh of relief. “Vaughn, Isabelle and I would be insufficient for defense had the assault commenced before your arrival. We most certainly would have been forced to flee.”

Dedede grinned. “Well, we’re here now, and ready to fight! And we got Link and Meta Knight too! Ganondorf won’t stand a chance!”

“May I ask what the conditions of the town’s defenses are?” asked Meta Knight.

“Of course,” said Olimar. “Come to this map please.”

The Smashers crowded around a table with a map of the town. The map was marked up in several places with lines and other markings.

“Do you see these lines? This is the barricade we’ve set up. These circles scattered around are tree mounted platforms we’ve built as watch towers. I have Pikmin in all of them on watch for the enemy. The squares correspond to the various buildings.”

The Smashers inspected the map.

“I see,” said Meta Knight after a pause. “How tall is the barricade?”

“About 7 feet. Mostly made out of scrap wood. It is…not the strongest thing in the world, but hopefully it will give us something of an advantage,” said Olimar.

“Does it encircle the entire town?” asked Meta Knight.

“Yes,” said Olimar. “Thankfully, the town grid is quite compact, and we were able to protect all of the buildings with the barricade. There are more residents here than one would think, and their help was instrumental in building the barricade so quickly.”

Green surveyed the map with a critical eye. “That’s still a lot of ground to defend for only 11 people.”

“I agree,” said Link quietly. “Especially if I’m fighting Ganondorf. Fighting Ganondorf tends to create a lot of collateral damage. Especially if he transforms into one of his monster forms. I should be able to take him on single combat, but then that’s one less person to help with his forces. And they’re no stranger to looting and pillaging either.”

“Then we must endeavor to detect his movements early and act decisively,” said Meta Knight. “Also, I remember Vaughn mentioning that he wanted to evacuate the townsfolk. I believe this should be done as soon as possible.”

“I’ll second that,” said Green. “This place is too dangerous right now to have civilians running around.”

Meta Knight turned. “Olimar, do you know what options we have to evacuate everybody?”

“Vaughn was planning on sending them to a neighboring village by train. My pikmin tell me the tracks appear to be undisturbed, and the neighboring village is about 40 kilometers away. He told us that the train should be able to fit all of the villagers with space to spare, and that it would be a few hour trip,” said Olimar.

Meta Knight nodded. “Then we will proceed with that course of action. Do we have any idea of how quickly the train could arrive?”

“Vaughn already called it in,” said Olimar. “They’ll be here later today.”

“Good,” said Meta Knight. “Let’s get ourselves settled before we do anything else. Do we have an area we can set up in?”

Olimar nodded. “They opened up one of the ballrooms for our use. Please follow me.”

Olimar led the Smashers down the hallway and through a set of double doors into a large spacious room. There were a number of folding tables and chairs stacked to the sides of the room. In one area, Olimar had set up his sleeping pod, a specialized spherical room that would mimic his home atmosphere so he could sleep outside of his environment suit. Several chandeliers hung from the ceiling, though they were turned off, highlighting the natural daylight which filtered in through the windows. 

Dedede gave the room a look over. “Nice place! So, we’ll just set up our stuff here?”

“That’s right. There’s a kitchen around the corner should anybody wish to use it, and bathrooms are just down the hall,” said Olimar.

Meta Knight nodded. “Thank you. We’ll get ourselves settled then.”

Suddenly a pikmin came through the open door and made a beeline to Olimar. The creature jumped up and down and gestured wildly.

“What’s he saying?” asked Kirby.

“Oh no. He’s saying the enemy has been spotted,” said Olimar. “We must hurry oppose them.”

He turned to the Pikmin. “Which way were they coming from?”

The Pikmin oriented himself for a second and then pointed in a direction.

“East. They were spotted east,” announced Olimar. “Hurry!”

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard, though some distance away. Dedede grabbed his hammer and barreled for the door at top speed, nearly bowling over a few citizens in the hallway who were not fast enough to get out of the way. Stepping outside the main door, he turned in the direction that Olimar’s pikmin had pointed and took off down the main street. As he got closer, he saw Bokoblins forcing their way through a small breach in the barricade.

Dedede continued his rush as various villagers ran past him, screaming. The Bokoblins had started trickling in, squeezing their way through a hole that was just a little too small for their size, one at a time. The few that had made their way in were just beginning to take interest in their surroundings.

 Dedede wasn’t having it. He jumped high into the air, soared through the air in a magnificent arc and landed with a tremendous thud, shaking the earth near him. The bokoblins jumped at his sudden arrival, but before they could do anything, Dedede barreled into them, hammer swinging. He caught two of them with one swing, then turned and headbutted a third, shattering his shield. The Bokoblin jumped in surprise and tried to flee, but Dedede opened his mouth and sucked him in, before spitting him out at some of the other Bokoblins trying to make it through the barricade. Dedede glanced back at the hole. Thankfully it was still small, though the Bokoblins had tried to widen it with their swords. It was still not much wider than a single person. Dedede knew he wasn’t going to be able to get through that, and even the Bokoblins were only able to slide in one at a time. He reached into his coat and pulled out a Gordo and hurled it at the gap in the barricade, temporarily blocking it.

There was a generally shout of confusion on the other side of the barricade, as the Bokoblins outside the barricade tried to figure out how to remove the spiky ball blocking their entrance. Dedede turned his attention to the remaining Bokoblins who had made it inside and crushed another one to the ground with a decisive swing his hammer. Another couple Bokoblins who had previously been looting rushed up to challenge him. They screeched at him and bared their fangs while brandishing their weapons.

Dedede silently gave them an imposing glare as they finished their display of aggression. That kinda stuff wasn’t going to intimidate the King of Dreamland himself. He hefted his hammer, but suddenly, Meta Knight darted forward and dispatched  four of them with a series of lightning-fast slashes. Dedede began to turn to face the others but caught the glint of the Master Sword as it cleaved through air and Bokoblin alike. Link resumed his guard stance, checking for more enemies. Dedede nodded with approval and returned his gaze to the breach.

Suddenly, an explosion went off at the barricade. Dedede looked up to see a much larger hole in the barricade as Bokoblins began to pour through. He hefted his hammer as arrows flew from behind him and struck down the front runners. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Link slowly backing up to where Young Link was, joining his brother in shooting a lethal storm of arrows.

“Charizard! Use Flamethrower!” shouted Green.

Charizard breathed a large plume of fire in a wide arc, forcing the Bokoblins back.

“Now! Fire Blast!” commanded Green.

Charizard fired off a powerful ball of fire that exploded upon hitting one of the Bokoblins, sending the bokoblin in question and his fellows flying. Charizard threw its head back, roared ferociously, and stomped the ground in a display of aggression before returning his gaze to his opponents.

“Charizard! Use Hyper Beam!” shouted Green. “Sweep it!”

The Bokoblins who were fast enough jumped back, while the slower Bokoblins withered under the fury of the Hyper Beam.

Dedede deployed another Gordo from his IDD and hurled it with sufficient accuracy to rip a shield straight out of one Bokoblin’s arm before impacting a second Bokoblin square in the chest.

A formation of Bokoblins now advanced from the breach, having moved through the wider gap and having had time to assemble in proper formation. They formed a defensive shield formation, with shields covering the front, sides and top of the formation. Dedede glared at them and readied his hammer, staring down the wall of wooden shields moving towards him. There was a slight twinkling in the air, and one of the shield bearers in the front fell.

Dedede glanced sideways as Sheik readied another handful of needles. Another Bokoblin from behind him pushed forward to fill the gap in the line.

“Everybody stand back!” shouted Green. “Charizard! Use Overheat!” Charizard unleashed a large, wide burst of fire at the wooden shield wall. In short order, the shields had caught flame and the formation quickly collapsed as the Bokoblins tried to drop their shields.

A storm of projectiles quickly decimated the lines of Bokoblins, with a few of the lucky stragglers in the back managing to flee. They rushed outside of the barricade with panicked shrieks.

For a few moments, none of the Smashers moved, tensely watching the breach. There was no movement and no noise other than the shrieks of the retreating Bokoblins. Eventually, Dedede quickly moved up to the breach and poked his head out cautiously. There was no sign of the enemy at all.

Suddenly, there was a pounding of hurried footsteps behind him.

“Hey! Hey! What’s going on!?” demanded Vaughn as Red and Isabelle tried to catch up with him.

“Vaughn. You must rest,” protested Meta Knight.

“My HOME is under attack!” yelled Vaughn as he neared the Smashers. Dedede sauntered up as the Smashers relaxed their fighting postures and began to gather around Vaughn.

“I need to be here!” Vaughn looked at his surroundings. “They made it through the barricade already!?”

“I’m afraid that they have,” said Meta Knight calmly. “Now if you will compose yourself….”

“I am composed!” said Vaughn. “Ugh! Now we’re gonna have to build it all over again!”

“There will be no need for that,” said a very different voice from the breach. All the Smashers whirled on their heels to see Ganondorf standing in the breach, arms crossed, cape slightly blowing in the breeze.

All of the Smashers dropped into fighting stances again as Ganondorf took a few steps forward through the breach and into the town perimeter. He took a look around.

“Quaint little place. I guess it has a kind of charm to it. It’s almost a shame I have to raze this place.”

“RAZE IT!?” screeched Vaughn. “No, you’re not! I live here! My friends live here!”

“Oh? Are you going to stop me, little mayor?”

“I’m not a Smasher for nothing, you know,” said Vaughn, brandishing his axe.

“Are you challenging me?” asked Ganondorf with a condescending smirk.

Vaughn suddenly rushed at Ganondorf with a battle cry.

“GET OUT OF MY VILLAGE!” he shouted furiously.

“No! Vaughn!” shouted Meta Knight. Dedede stared for a second in shock as Vaughn tore past him. He wasn’t serious, was he? Well apparently he was, considering how he was running. Dedede lunged out as quickly as he could to try and stop Vaughn, but he was a hair too slow and missed Vaughn’s shoulder by a smidge. Ganondorf merely cackled with mirth. Dark energy charged around his fists.

Dedede began rushing after Vaughn as Ganondorf pulled his dark energy powered fist back.

Suddenly, Meta Knight warped in front of Vaughn and grabbed him. He tried to warp away, but was too slow and got hit in the back. Meta Knight went flying off into the air, crashing into Link and Sheik, but Vaughn was shot straight down and crashed into the ground with a sickening thud.

Ganondorf continued laughing and drew his sword, a massive two handed blade clearly meant for crushing enemies and cleaving them in two. Ganondorf raised it over his head, and with one swift motion, he brought his blade down towards Vaughn. Dedede lunged forward as fast as he could, and caught Ganondorf’s blade with the handle of his hammer. Dedede glared at him, teeth gritted.

“You’re in for a clobbering,” growled Dedede, matching Ganondorf in their contest of strength. Ganondorf broke off and took a step back.

“Hmm. You’re quite strong, aren’t you.”

“Yeah. You aint so weak yourself. But I’m stronger than you, ya hear? Y’all better give up if ya know what’s good for ya.”

“A bold proclamation, King of Dreamland. Are you sure you want to test that?”

Dedede shrugged. “I got Link and Red and Kirby and Meta Knight. You aint a match for all five of us, let alone the rest of us.”

Ganondorf threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh. Suddenly, his hand flashed out and he caught an Ancient Arrow, before deflecting a sword beam with the same hand. His gauntlet smoked slightly from deflecting so much energy before tossing the Ancient Arrow aside. Dedede glanced back to see Link and Meta Knight brandishing their weapons. 

“Ah, it’s been a long time since I heard anything so woefully misguided yet so humorous.  Well, I’m afraid that I won’t be able to prove you wrong right now. I have other business to attend to. A thousand apologies, I merely wished to welcome you to your doom. And what a locale for it too. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be on my way.”

Ganondorf stepped back. With the wave of his hand, a portal, swirling with pink, red and orange malice formed on the ground. He turned his head for a moment and looked straight at Link.

“Oh, and hero? You’re going to have to do better than that if you want to defeat me again.”

And with that he jumped through the portal with another malicious cackle.

Dedede lowered his hammer as the portal vanished. The guy had gotten away. And he’d hurt Meta Knight and Vaughn pretty bad. He heard something akin to a whimper behind him.

“Vaughn? VAUGHN!” he shouted in panic, realizing that he’d totally forgotten that his friend had taken quite the hit a few seconds ago. He ran up to the little mayor, where he lay on the ground in a small crater. Both of his arms were twisted at angles that they definitely weren’t supposed to go, and one of his legs looked rather mangled.

“Hey buddy!” he shouted, waving his hand in front of Vaughn’s slightly unfocused eyes as he moaned in pain. “Vaughn, are you ok? Say something! Go towards the light! Wait! Don’t go towards the light! You know what? Just stand still, we’re coming to you!”

The other Smashers crowded around Vaughn. Isabelle shooed him away, before kneeling down next to Vaughn. She gently put pressure near Vaughn’s neck. When this got no response, she gently put pressure on his sides. However, when she did, he screamed in pain. Isabelle quickly retracted her hands.

“Oh no,” said Isabelle. “I think his neck’s ok, but he’s broken his ribs really badly…”

“Uh, I think he broke more than just his ribs,” said Red. “We’d better get him out of here. There’s still that hole in the barricade right there.”

“Good idea,” said Green. “Do we have a doctor in town, Isabelle?”

Isabelle thought for a moment. “We need to take him to Raddle’s office. Turn right at the intersection behind us and go down the road four houses. Call him here. I’m certified in first aid, but I’m no doctor. I’m not sure it’s safe to move him.”

“Pika!” said Red, tossing a Pokeball. The Pikachu stood up, alert. “You heard Isabelle! Can you go get us the doctor?”

Pika nodded and dashed off in the direction that Isabelle had directed.

Dedede heard Meta Knight clear his throat next to him. Dedede turned to look at him. The Star Warrior looked somewhat beat up but didn’t appear to be in serious pain.

“This way. We must guard the breach while they move Vaughn,” said Meta Knight.

“What about you?” asked Dedede. “You took the brunt of that. You sure you’re all right?”

“I will be fine. I’ve had worse before. Let us move before the enemy regroups and attacks us again.”

Dedede nodded, stood up and turned to the others. “I’ll let you all look after him. Meta and I are going to watch the breach. Kirby, you coming with us?”

Kirby stood up and nodded.

“You can count on me!”

Sheik bent down over Vaughn with a small bottle, lifted his head and poured a small amount of a greenish liquid inside into his mouth.

“Steady. Drink this. It will dull the pain a little.”  She turned to Link. “You go too. I can administer the medicine just fine.”

Link nodded silently and stood up with Kirby.

Dedede approached the breach and stepped outside. He looked around. There was a small clear perimeter around the village in front of thick forest. Dedede continued to scan his surroundings sharply as the others followed him.

“I don’t see nothin. I think we’re clear. Might as well stay here just in case while they get Vaughn out of there, though.”

“All right! That’s a little good news, right?” said Kirby.

“Yes. Yes it is,” said Dedede with a grin. “We don’t let nobody through here!”

Dedede hefted his hammer onto his shoulder and glared into the brush outside the village as the others spread out a little. That Ganondorf fellow…. He was going to pay. And Dedede was gonna make sure that it happened.

Chapter Text

Captain Olimar of Hocotate

Threat Level: 2

Olimar is a former space shipping pilot and a homegrown botanist. One of the first specialist additions to the Super Smash Bros, Olimar is a skilled pilot with a surprisingly sharp mind and a cool head.

In terms of combat, the most important aspect of Olimar’s combat technique revolves around the small sentient plant creatures that he discovered and dubbed Pikmen. While not individually powerful, they are surprisingly dangerous in large numbers. Olimar controls them with whistle commands. While their exact intelligence is unknown, it is known that they are surprisingly resilient, and are fiercely loyal to their captain. While much of Olimar’s research and observations have not been published, he has published four papers on Pikmen, all of which have been attached to this report, though they’re rather droll reading for anyone who isn’t a botanist. In battle, Olimar has been known to use Pikmen as bludgeoning weapons and is known to throw them as projectiles. In addition to this, he’s clearly had some hand to hand combat training, but it’s nothing to write home about. Another important aspect of Olimar’s kit is that he wears an environment suit as he is a Hocotacian and oxygen rich atmospheres are poisonous to him. The suit provides a basic but not particularly durable layer of protection, and keeps him safe from hazards like airborne contagions, spores, fire and smoke, as well as environments like deep oceans and hard vacuum in space. It should be no surprise that Olimar is often seen taking part in hazardous environment missions along the likes of Samus and Timberwolf Squad due to the nature of his suit. Finally, it should be noted that hazardous environment missions tend to require a cool head and nerves of steel, so don’t expect to overcome Olimar with mind games or verbal taunts.

To be completely blunt, Olimar is not the strongest Smasher. While he’s clearly had some combat training, and his pikmen are surprisingly strong, the man himself is a rather squishy target. Olimar is more of an academic then a fighter, and while he will be able to handle lower-level fighters, he should pose little threat to higher tier fighters. It should be noted that, his environment suit is designed to protect him from oxygen rich environments first and act as armor second. As such, its not the most durable thing, and damaging the suit will be catastrophic for Olimar. Oxygen is deathly poisonous to Hocotacians and damaging his suit would render him completely unable to fight back within one minute. In terms of Olimar’s Pikmen, they are individually weak but strong in numbers. You’ll want to use wide sweeping attacks or area of effect attacks to take out large groups of them. Altogether, Olimar is not a Smasher to worry too much about from a combative sense. While he does possess some combative prowess, his lack of power makes him an easy target.

As a final note, Olimar is one of a few Smashers who I believe may be worth attempting to recruit to our cause. He is a very observant and intelligent person, and I think that his botany research could do a lot of good once we secure the galaxy. At the same time, should he choose to go rouge, he does not possess the power to be a credible threat, making him safe to recruit. As a side note, I don’t think he’ll get along well with Dr. Mario, we would have to keep the two of them working separately. If the opportunity to capture him presents itself, take it.

Isabelle of Crossing Village

Threat Level: 2

Isabelle is the secretary to Mayor Vaughn of Crossing Village. Of all people, this person is a Smasher. From a combat perspective, Isabelle being part of the Smashers makes absolutely no sense, but from a logistical perspective, Isabelle makes all the sense in the world. Allow me to explain.

Now this is somewhat speculative on my part, but I believe I have deduced the reason why Isabelle is part of the Smashers. When one observes the numerous heroes who comprise the Smashers, one may notice that these heroes are the kind who can beat villains and take down strong opponents. They are not the kind who do their taxes by themselves and keep large organizations running. Smashers like Mario and Luigi who formerly ran a plumbing business and Fox who ran a mercenary company may be of some assistance here, but when they’re also frontline combatants, leaders, etc, it quickly becomes apparent that they’d only have so much time to balance the books.

This is where Isabelle comes in. While not the strongest fighter in the world, she is something of a capable combatant, which will be delved into later, which qualifies her as a Smasher. Her true job within the Smashers is much more obvious than one might think. If I’m not mistaken, its Isabelle who keeps the Super Smash Bros running from behind the scenes. She’s the one who makes sure the Smashers are supplied with food, ammunition and other supplies, coordinates transportation, helps schedule missions, and makes sure it all gets done under budget. Isabelle keeps the lights on and the water running for the Smashers. While she may be one of the weakest Smashers in terms of combative power, her influence is felt in every single mission the Smashers take. As such, I believe Isabelle is a critical player for the Smashers and should be treated as such.

In terms of combat, Isabelle is nothing to write home about. Her weapon of choice is a small mallet, and she also uses Lloyd Rockets like Vaughn does. She has also been seen using a fishing rod to wrap up targets and impede their movement. Isabelle is much more of a support fighter in the field and has been seen administering first aid, operating various machinery or equipment to assist her allies, and coordinating rescue efforts with local law enforcement. While she has been seen defeating goons and ruffians, I suspect she’s not capable of much more than that.

Which leaves only one question, which is what to do with her. As a Smasher who plays such a critical role, it may be best to eliminate her as quickly as possible to put the Smashers at a logistical disadvantage. However, this may not disadvantage the Smashers as much as one might think, as Smashers like Mario or Fox seem likely to be able to take over for her, at least temporarily, in the event she was eliminated. However, I also think that Isabelle is a strong candidate for recruitment to our cause. Her skills would be invaluable for reconstruction after the Smashers and galactic governments are eliminated, and her low power level means that she would pose little threat if she were to turn on us. As such, I can’t recommend that she be eliminated for this reason, and instead recommend that she is captured her if possible. She could be incredibly valuable if turned to our side.

Act 7 King Dedede

Chapter 2: Blackout

“How bad are his injuries?” asked Meta Knight.

Dedede looked up from the newspaper he was skimming through as Raddle stood in front of the Smashers. It had been nearly an hour since they had gotten Vaughn to Raddle’s office and he’d been taken to the clinic’s equivalent of the ER.  

“Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that he doesn’t have any life-threatening injuries.”

The Smashers breathed a sigh of relief.

“What’s the bad news?” asked Kirby.

“He’s got several fractured ribs, both of his arms are broken and his left leg are is looking pretty bad too. On top of severe abrasions to his back and a concussion. He’s in no condition to go anywhere, let alone fight.”

Meta Knight shook his head. “We must evacuate the village though. We need to get him out of here. It’s simply not safe.”

“We just need to figure out a way to get him on the train, right?” asked Kirby.

“Yes, but getting him there is the problem,” said Raddle. “He needs to be carried as carefully as possible on his cot. May I ask that you carry the mayor to the train?”

Meta Knight nodded. “We can do that.”

“Thank you,” said the doctor. “I understand the evacuation is already underway?”

“Indeed it is,” said Meta Knight. “Isabelle has spread the word to the villagers. They are packing their things. She also contacted the conductor. They will be here within the hour.”

“And what about the train?” asked Raddle. “Will you escort it?”

“We will. Half of us will escort the train to Lakeville while the others stay here in the village. The train will return to Crossing Village with those of us on escort duty as soon as everyone has disembarked and unloaded their things from the train. All of us will defend the town from there.”

“Very well. I’ll make sure that I’ve got all my medical supplies ready, if somebody can take his bedside. Just alert me if he wakes up. Make sure he does not get up or move too much. I don’t want him reopening any of his wounds.”

“You can count on us!” said Kirby cheerfully.

“Very good. I’ll be right back.”

Dedede sat up in the armchair that he had settled in and put the newspaper back into the bin with all of the magazines and other newspapers. Apparently there had been some sort of big disagreement over how fossils should be arranged in the museum, about two months ago. If that was the biggest kind of problem these people were used to, it was a darn good thing that the Smashers were there. Vaughn and Isabelle would have been badly outgunned by themselves.

Now that he thought about it, Vaughn had taken a little catching up to speed on the more combat oriented aspects of the Smashers when he first joined. Sure, his diplomatic skills were up with the likes of Peach and Marth, and his ability to connect with people was bar none, but he’d been lacking in terms of combat. Sure, he could do some serious damage with that axe of his, and his slingshot and Lloyd Rocket aim was very good, but Vaughn had no powerful attacks at all, and it wasn’t like he’d been on any adventures like most of the rest of the Smashers.

Dedede shook his head. Was there more he could have done? He’d tried to grab him, but he’d been a split second too late. Was it his fault? Could he have saved Vaughn from getting smashed into the ground? Sure, he’d never been the fastest fellow, but reflexes were different from movement speed, right? He’d have to ask Skylark next time he saw her. Still, he didn’t like the fact that they’d just landed and were already a man down.

Dedede sighed and picked up a different magazine and flipped through the pages till he found a somewhat interesting article about decorating one of the local ponds. At least this would keep his mind off his worries for the moment.

Meta Knight cleared his throat, causing Dedede to look up.

“I wanted to say before I forgot. I scanned the area with my R-47 scanner to see if I could find Ganondorf’s portal.”

“Did you find it?” asked Kirby.

“Yes and no. It’s a few dozen miles outside of town. I can’t pinpoint an exact location, but I do have a general area.”

“Have you told the others?” asked Kirby.

“I have not. I will inform them as soon as possible,” said Meta Knight.

Dedede nodded. “So, when do we strike?”

“After we evacuate the civilians. At the moment, their safety is paramount.”

“We could attack as soon as tomorrow then?” asked Kirby.

“That’s correct,” said Meta Knight.

Dedede nodded. “Then let’s get ‘er done and then go clobber Ganondorf!”

Kirby grinned. “Sounds like a plan!”

Half an hour later, Dedede stood outside of Raddle’s house with Meta Knight and Kirby. The door opened, and Red and Green carried out the stretcher that Vaughn laid on. The mayor was a sorry sight, covered in bandages. Red’s Poliwrath carried an IV pole next to his trainer, which was attached to Vaughn. Raddle followed them out, with a backpack on his back and a suitcase in hand. He locked the door of his house.

“Well, hopefully my house is still here after his whole mess,” Raddle said mournfully. “Anyway, let’s get going before we miss the train.”

“Your town will still be standing if we have anything to say about it,” said Meta Knight.

“Thank you. It means more then you know,” said Raddle.

Dedede, Kirby and Meta Knight walked alongside the others as they made their way down the train station. The entire town looked eerie. They’d just cut the power so as to limit the risk of electrical fires in the event of a battle taking place, and the long shadows seemed more ominous as the sun set.

All of the houses sat empty, dark and silent. How many would still be standing were they to have to fight during the night? Or during the day? Would the time of day even matter? It sounded like that Ganondorf fellow was packing some serious firepower, and it could end up being a long, grueling fight. That was a thought Dedede did not relish. It was a nice town. The kind of town that definitely didn’t deserve to have some random wizard dude on a power trip come along and explode it to the ground.

On the other hand, that shady Tom Nook fellow Vaughn always complained about was probably ringing his register in anticipation of a good fight. Yeesh, Dedede hated salesmen like that. If nothing else, he had his motivation now. 

In short order, they boarded the train and got Vaughn settled as comfortably as possible on the stretcher in one of the train’s sleeper carriages.

There was a cough from behind them, and Dedede looked behind him to see Isabelle waiting.

“How is Mr. Mayor?” she asked.

“Settled as comfortably as we can get him,” said Dedede.

“Is there anything else I can do? Are we ready to go?” asked Isabelle.

“Yeah, I think so,” said Green. He turned to Red. “Anything you forgot?”

Red shook his head. “No. I’m ready to go.”

“Then I’ll go alert the conductor that everybody is here!” said Isabelle. She dashed off towards the lead car.

“All right,” said Red, turning to the others as they made their way to the exit. “So, just to go over the plan one last time. It will be Kirby, Isabelle, Olimar, Young Link and me escorting the train?”

“That’s right,” said Meta Knight. “The rest of us will watch the town. Be on your guard. I think it is likely that at least one of our groups will be ambushed.”

“Will do,” said Red, stopping at the door, where Kirby, Young Link and Olimar were standing as the others filed out. “I’ll see you when we get back!”

Meta Knight, Green and Dedede turned to exit the train, waving as they went.

“Don’t worry about us! We’ll be fine! If we are ambushed, I’ll do you proud!” said Kirby.

Meta Knight nodded. “I have absolutely no doubt you will, Kirby. May fortune be with all of you.”

Dedede took a deep breath and inhaled the scent of smoke and metal, as the train rattled and the engine slowly roared to life. Dedede waved one more time as the train pulled out of the station. He smiled at Kirby, who was waving with both hands from one of the windows. The young Star Warrior’s enthusiasm was infectious.

They stood there until the train was out of sight.

Dedede sighed and turned his gaze to his fellow smashers.

“So, what grub have we got on the menu tonight?”

The grub ended up being Pokemon Trainer MREs. Not the best, not the worst, in Dedede’s opinion. Sure, the food wasn’t top quality stuff, but every single one had at least some sort of chocolate in it. Which gave it several bonus points in Dedede’s book. And the curry in the one MRE had been pretty good. The one with the vegetable omelet had been pretty crummy though. 

He glanced around the campfire. Meta Knight had finished his meal and was writing in his log book. Link and Sheik were still finishing their MREs, eating at a more relaxed pace. Green had finished some time ago and was feeding his Pokemon. His fire dragon’s tail glowed in the gathering darkness, moving as the Pokémon shifted. In the glow of the fire, Dedede could see Green’s other Pokemon. There was the metal bug, the one with blades for arms, the oversized rock rhino and the one with four arms that apparently knew karate or kung fu something. Maybe both. Dedede wasn’t clear on the details. Not that he cared too much. As long as they hit hard, they were all just fine by him.

“Say, we got anyone keeping an eye out?” asked Dedede.

“Charizard was on sentry duty earlier. Pidgeot is watching now,” said Green, coming up from behind him with a bag of Pokemon food. He absorbed it back into his IDD and sat down at an empty space near the campfire.

“That’s good,” said Dedede. “So, Link, we got a plan or something?”

“Huh?” asked Link. 

“For taking down Ganondorf. You’re the one who’s taken him out a bunch of times. Figured you might have some tips for the rest of us? I talked to Kirby about it earlier, but you’re the guy who really knows him.”

“Ah. I guess I can give you a few pointers,” said Link. “So, first of all, Ganondorf uses a sword and uses magic. So, you need to watch out for both.”

“What magic attacks does he favor?” asked Meta Knight, curiously.

“He’s got quite the arsenal. His most common ones are energy balls and energy beams. I can reflect the energy balls with the Master Sword, so you might be able to reflect them too with Galaxia, Meta Knight. He’s also used elemental magic such as fire, lightning, ice, water, wind, earth and plant magic, but he doesn’t use it frequently.

But worst of all, Ganondorf has discovered a way to use pure dark magic energy in its raw form. It is extremely destructive. He actually created knockoffs of some of Falcon’s attacks with his dark magic energy instead of Falcon energy. Let me tell you, the performance is near identical in terms of power.”

“Is that why Falcon has more beef with Ganondorf then the average Hylian?” asked Dedede.

Link chuckled. “Yeah, that’s why. Lemme tell you, Falcon didn’t appreciate getting shown knockoffs his own moves.”

“Hah! I bet he’d be pretty steamed!” chuckled Dedede.

“Link, can you tell me what Ganondorf’s swordsmanship is like?” asked Meta Knight.

“Of course,” said Link. “Ganondorf’s style is a hybrid style, like yours and mine. His draws primarily from various forms of Gerudo swordplay. The dominant style in his personal form is a strength-based style, but between his skill and the other styles at play, his dexterity and speed do not suffer from it.”

“Hmm…I see,” said Meta Knight. “Then perhaps my usual style will be insufficient to defeat him.”

“I wouldn’t count yourself out so quickly, Meta Knight,” said Link. “Your style’s speed focus will keep Ganondorf’s style on the back foot. You’re a lot faster than Gandondorf is, and you’re also the better swordsman.”

Meta Knight nodded. “Is he known for anything else?”

“He’s a master of hand to hand combat,” said Link. “Also quite handy with a knife. Classic Gerudo styles. He’s also familiar with polearms, but I haven’t seen him use one in years. He tried taking me on with a trident once and that went pear shaped for him in less than a minute.”

Sheik began laughing. “The look on his face was priceless,” she said.

“It definitely was. He thought he had the advantage until the second the fight actually started,” chuckled Link.

“Now hold on just a second,” said Dedede. “Kirby said something about Ganondorf transforming into monsters. Was that just because he had that Subspace thingie?”

Link nodded. “Yes, Kirby is correct, and no, it wasn’t because of the Subspace core. Part of Ganondorf’s dark magic allows him the ability to transform into different monsters. From what I’ve seen, he’s turned himself into a dragon, a giant spider, a giant boar, a giant fish, a bipedal big monster, a giant bipedal big monster, and a…. well its hard to describe. Like it’s got the body of a spider but the torso and head of a monstrous Lynel. And it has a bunch of arms too. That one’s his most powerful form. It’s called Calamity Ganon.”

“How’dja beat him?” asked Dedede curiously.

“Very patiently,” said Link. “I had dodge a lot of attacks and land a lot of hits.”

“So, no weaknesses or nothin’?”

Link shook his head. “You just have to take him head on and win in the long haul.”

Dedede nodded. “A tough cookie then. Well, it’s a good thing there are a bunch of us here. No having to fight him alone!”  

Link nodded. “Exactly.”

“I would still advise caution. Calamity Ganon the physical manifestation of Ganondorf’s greed, hatred, pride and malice,” said Sheik. “There’s a reason it is his most powerful form. The last and only time Link and I fought Calamity Ganon…well…it was a very narrow thing.”

“Very narrow,” agreed Link. “Too narrow. Hyrule was almost lost that day.”

“For whatever it is worth, I am glad that you prevailed that day,” said Meta Knight. “Your heroism and courage is truly inspiring. The Smashers would truly be a lesser force if you two were not present with us.”

Link cracked a smile. “Thank you. It means more then you know.”

Sheik nodded in agreement.

There were a few moments of silence.

“So, to summarize, Ganondorf is a strength-based swordsman with magic, martial arts and powerful transformations,” said Green.

“That’s right,” said Link. “He has a lot of versatility. It’s what makes him so dangerous.”

“I see,” said Dedede. “So, does he have any random weaknesses or anything he’s just bad at?”

Link chuckled. “Not really. He doesn’t have a Haxium weapon, so his weapon is technically breakable. I guess he’s slower in comparison to most Smashers, but he wears armor for a reason though. Oh, and when he turns into giant monsters, he becomes a really big target.”

“Big target? Red and I might come in handy if he does that,” said Green. “It will make some of our harder hitting attacks easier to hit. And we could use our aerial superiority to our advantage as long as he doesn’t turn into a dragon.”

“Exactly,” said Link.

“Would you happen to know how much more powerful Ganondorf was when boosted by the Subspace Core then he is normally?” asked Meta Knight. “Kirby told me about the fight against Ganondorf when his power was boosted, but I don’t have a reference for his power without such a boost.”

Link paused for a moment. “Roughly double, I’d say. But he never used his Calamity Ganon transformation against us. I’m not sure if he couldn’t handle the power of it with the Subspace Core or if there were other things preventing him from using it. But for some reason, he didn’t.”

“I think it’s safe to assume that it was the Subspace Core,” said Green. “Red told me about that battle. It sounded like you barely managed to defeat all of his forms.”

“Yeah,” said Link. “It was a close fight. I usually win off the back of the fact that my stamina is better. We usually go even in sword fighting and hand to hand combat, and I can offset his magic with my arsenal of weapons. The fact that I can fight longer than he can is what tips the scales in my favor. Now imagine that suddenly, I can’t block a single one of his strikes without my shield being knocked out of my hand. And all of his magic and transformations are hitting a whole lot harder than they used to. And he has new powers on top of all of that. That’s what we were up against back then. It would still be a somewhat close thing even now with all of the new Smashers who have joined our ranks. Probably not nearly as close as it was, now that we have Meta Knight and Rosalina. They would probably help us do him in faster.”

There was a moment of silence as Link’s words sunk in.

“So, uh, anything else about Ganondorf?” asked Dedede awkwardly.

“Not really,” said Link. “That’s the general rundown. Oh, one more thing. Whatever you do, be careful. Ganondorf has always been known for his cunning. The way he attacked Vaughn earlier was probably meant as a psychological attack. He’s done it before. He takes out his opponents out one by one with a lot of show and grandstanding, starting with the weaker ones to break the morale of the stronger ones. We need to be careful. Watch your backs.”

“Gotcha,” said Dedede. “Well, there’s a bunch of us here. We shouldn’t have too much trouble kicking his butt, right? Against this many Smashers, and without his Subspace Core he’s got no chance, right?”

“I sure hope so,” said Link, staring into the fire. “I sure hope so.”

Red stared outside the window of the train into the growing darkness. The sun was almost set behind the horizon, though the shapes of the looming mountains in the distance were still visible. He leaned back in his seat. In the seat next to him, Pika perked up.

“Hey buddy! Did you just wake up from your nap?” asked Red.

Pika nodded and clambered onto Red’s shoulder. Red stroked Pika’s fur absent mindedly as the electric rodent made himself comfortable.

He was sitting in the back most car of the train. They had at least one Smasher in each car of the train in case they were attacked. Though they were going to reconvene sometime soon to figure out a plan in case the town they were travelling to was attacked as well. They were planning on spending the night there, before riding the train back to Crossing Village. Thankfully, Isabelle was in charge of the specifics of the meeting, which left Red, as one of the more tactically minded Smashers, in charge of the battle plan.

Red didn’t like his situation. Sure, he was a tactically strong leader, but he didn’t like the cramped quarters of the train. It would be difficult if not impossible to get Saur or Lax or Aero out to battle in most sections of the train. There would be nowhere for a Venusuar or a Snorlax to move, and even less space for an Aerodactyl to spread its wings. Additionally, Poli was likely too big to move quickly in many of the same areas. The Poliwrath would likely be handy if he needed to hold a chokepoint, such as a door in between the cars, but he wouldn’t have enough space to comfortably operate. Which left him with Pika and Vui. Neither the Pikachu or Eevee was weak by any stretch of the imagination, but it still hurt not to have his full team at his disposal. That being said, Green’s smallest Pokemon would have similar problems to Poli, meaning that Red was better for a potential battle on the train. Not that it made him feel any less uneasy.

Red always preferred open spaces. And he loved the rush of the wind as he flew. Maybe it was a Pokemon trainer thing or maybe he was just an outdoors kind of person. After all, most trainers travelled extensively on their Pokemon journey without the help of motor vehicles or public transport. And he trusted his Pokemon far more than Kanto’s chronically late train system. There was a reason he flew everywhere around Kanto-Johto, after all.

Red sighed, casting his view back outside of the train. He’d been there the last time Ganondorf had tried to conquer the galaxy. They had all gotten a call from Master Hand. Apparently, Link had narrowly escaped his mortal enemy with his life after Ganondorf had somehow drastically increased his power. At that point, they were just a group of friends who had stopped Porkey Minch from attacking Eagleland. And Link had called them all in, realizing how out of his depth he was. After launching a failed assault on Ganondorf’s castle, they had retreated, gathering allies along the way. Many friends of the original 12 Smashers, like Falco, Peach, and Sheik joined alongside new allies like Mr. Game and Watch, Marth and Roy. Red had tried to contact his fellow dexholders to ask for aid, but due to the subpar space transport system of Pokeana at the time, they wouldn’t have been able to arrive in time to help, even if his call had gotten through Pokeana’s fledgling and somewhat unreliable intergalactic communication network of the time. It had been something of a miracle that he’d gotten the first call in the first place.

Meanwhile, Ganondorf had managed to create a portal with dark magic to Harmony and had invaded Unity City. With their expanded ranks, the Smashers took on the dark wizard again in a titanic battle. It had been hard fought, but they had won. Narrowly.

Of course, that wasn’t how the public saw it. They were ecstatic that the bad guy had been defeated in such spectacular fashion. They had even requested that the Smashers become an official group of heroes to defend the galaxy. And they had obliged.

But it wasn’t something Red remembered fondly. He hadn’t felt so outmatched since the Elite Four ambushed him on Mt. Moon. And that was with over twenty other Smashers present. Still, Ganondorf didn’t have his Subspace Core, which meant he’d be considerably weaker. It didn’t help to calm Red’s nerves. But the fact that Meta Knight was there did. The old legend from the Second Subspace War would be a powerful asset to their side. And of course, Link wasn’t the current Hero of Hyrule and Hylian Champion because he couldn’t handle Ganondorf. Everything should be just fine. Should.  

“Excuse me sir?”

Red jumped, shaken out of his thoughts. He looked up to see one of the train’s conductors.

“The other smashers are requesting your presence in Business Lounge A. We’ll also serve dinner for you there. Compliments of Sure Track Railways.”

“Oh! Thanks!” said Red. “C’mon, Pika! Let’s go!”

Pika chirruped cheerily and steadied himself on Red’s shoulder as the Pokemon Trainer stood up and followed the conductor.

The two walked through the train cars, past the residents of Crossing Village. Some looked worried, while others fiddled with their hands, and even more stared blankly out of the windows. A few were even sobbing into handkerchiefs. It was otherwise stone silent. Red could hear his shoes padding on the carpet as they passed through. Their faces looked so hopeless, so forlorn.

Red shook his head. Ganondorf was going to pay for this.

After walking down the length of four train cars, the two entered the business coach. It was divided into four long rooms with a long hallway running down the center. The conductor led Red to one of the rooms, where the other Smashers were.

It was surprisingly spacious, considering the room was inside a train car. It contained several large seats with desks, each one with a power outlet and a cup holder. On one side of the car was a table with a water dispenser, coffee maker and small snack bar. The blinds were pulled down and the lamps glowed with a dim but warm light.

“Hey, Red!” said Isabelle cheerfully. “You’re just in time to order!”

She passed Red a menu and he skimmed through the items. It looked like this was quite the luxury train. He quickly scanned the other Smashers. It looked like they had already ordered.

“Umm…can I get the salmon dish?” said Red.

“The honey braised salmon filet with mashed potatoes and steamed seasonal vegetables? Of course!” said the waiter. “Would you like anything to drink with that?”

Red skimmed through the drinks section. “I’ll take an orange juice.”

“Very well,” said the waiter. He turned to the rest of the Smashers. “Your orders will be here shortly. Thank you for riding with us!”

Red found himself a seat and turned to face the others, who were waiting attentively.

“All right, folks. So, our battle plan for tonight. I’m not Roy, so I don’t have anything too fancy. I’m just thinking we take watches. The town we’re going to isn’t super large and Isabelle mentioned that their town hall has a high tower. I’m thinking we split it into 3 watches and have two on watch at a time. We’ll sleep next to our Pokemon and weapons, and be ready to fight should the alarm be raised.”

“So where will everybody else be?” asked Olimar.

“We’ll sleep in the town hall. Everybody else will be right downstairs if the bad guys are spotted,” said Red.

“Sounds like a plan to me!” said Kirby. “Who will be paired together?”

Red said, “Let’s have Kirby and Olimar team up. Young Link, I’ll have you and Isabelle team up.”

“What about you, Red?” asked Isabelle. “Won’t you be all alone?”

“I have my Pokemon. I’ll be all right!” said Red. “I can have several sets of eyes watching at once.”

Olimar nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Did you have anything else?”

Red nodded. “We need a plan in case of Ganondorf. It’s not the minions I’m worried about, we can take them just fine. It’s the guy who almost killed Link that has me worried.”

There was a moment of silence. Link was considered to be one of the most powerful Smashers. Anybody who could match him that effectively was a force to be reckoned with.

Olimar said, “If Ganondorf shows up, I’m not sure I want to be fighting him. I’m a botanist who took up fighting, not a fighter who took up botany.”

“Me neither,” said Isabelle. “I’m not really cut out for big fights like that either.”

Red nodded. “I get you. It was more of what we’ll do to evacuate this town should Ganondorf choose to pursue us. I can fight him alone if need be.”

“If Ganondorf shows up, I’ll be able to help you fight him,” said Young Link. “I’ve fought him with Link before. I can take him on.”

“I can too!” said Kirby. “I’ve beaten more people than just Dedede, you know!”

Red nodded. “Thank you, guys. Gotta say, a fight against Ganondorf isn’t one that I want to take alone. So, if Ganondorf attacks the town, Olimar and Isabelle, you’ll coordinate the evacuation while Kirby, Young Link and I fight him.”

“Of course!” said Olimar. “I wouldn’t dream of failing to assist you in any way I can.”

“Yeah!” said Isabelle. “I’m better cut out for administrative things like that, you know.”

Red just grinned. “All right. We’ll look at a map of the town when we get there and figure out the exact details. For now, just rest up. We might have a long night ahead of us.”

“Or it might go uneventfully!” said Kirby. “I’m personally hoping for that option!”

Red just chuckled. “Me too, Kirby. Me too. Anyway, that’s all I had. Any questions?”

Nobody raised their hand.

“All right, meeting adjourned! Dinner will hopefully be here soon! And after that, we go back to our spots on the train.”

Red leaned back in his chair as the other smashers relaxed. He took a moment to appreciate the quality of the cushions. This had to be the fancy business lounge. One of his Pokeballs rattled. He checked it to see that it was Vui. The Eevee pranced up and down in its ball. Red smiled and let Vui out. Vui sprang into his lap off of the floor. Pika squeaked a greeting, and Vui mewled in reply.

Red absentmindedly stroked Vui’s back, musing on the unfolding events.

Olimar cleared his throat awkwardly. “So, what is the town that we’re going to like?”

“Oh! It’s a lovely place!” said Isabelle. “Lake Town is built on a lake, no surprise there. The views are incredible with the lake and the hills! They have a big dock with all sorts of boats and the restaurants around there are known for their delicious fish. The hills are also great for hiking! Unfortunately, it’s a little late to get any of the good views on the way….”

“Do you know how far away it is from Crossing Village?” asked Red.

“Umm, I believe it’s about 50 miles. Towns are rather isolated here. Why do you ask?”

“Ok,” said Red with relief. “That should be farther than Ganondorf’s forces could march within a night. There really shouldn’t be much to worry about tonight. We’ll still keep watch though. Just in case.”

There was a pause for a moment. Red internally winced. That probably wasn’t the best thing to say.

“Oh, but they have really good clams at the restaurants!” said Isabelle. “There’s this one restaurant where you can get a giant pot of them for just 20 dollars! Mr. Mayor and I ate there when we visited last time! They’re to die for!”

“Do you think we’ll have enough time to swing by one of these places?” asked Kirby hopefully.

“Can’t guarantee it. Sorry, buddy,” said Red apologetically.

“Aww,” grumbled Kirby. “Maybe I’ll have to come back and visit at some point. Do they have anything else interesting there?”

“They have boating and swimming on the lake,” said Isabelle. “I think the lake is what they’re mostly known for. You can rent inflatable stuff from some of the storefronts on the beach or you can just go out for a swim. I rented an inflatable vest last time since I’m not the best swimmer.”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that! And anyway, it sounds like this town is a really nice place!” said Kirby.

“Oh, it is! And the folks living there are just lovely too. They’re so hospitable!”

Suddenly the door slid open, and a waiter walked in with several steaming plates of food.

“Aw yeah!” cheered Kirby as the plates were served. “Thanks! This smells great!”

Red just smiled as they others began to dig into their food. At least there was something good happening tonight. And that salmon was smelling pretty great too.

He felt two sudden weights on his lap.

“Pika! Vui! What did I tell you about eating my food?”

Chapter Text

Sir Meta Knight of Dreamland

Threat Level: 5

Meta Knight is a Star Warrior and is amongst the most powerful of all of the Smashers. As one of the veterans of the Second Subspace War, Meta Knight has a storied career and a number of noteworthy achievements to his name. I’ll cover a brief history of his exploits first. Before Second Subspace War, Meta Knight made his name during the raid on the Great Space Pirate Armada, having destroyed 14 Space Pirate vessels during the battle, including the Space Pirate flagship. While a strong display of bravery and naval battling skill, Meta Knight is best known for his exploits during the Second Subspace War. During the war, Meta Knight was a part of Master Hand’s Strike Force, and participated on the front lines of a number of battles, though he saw action against Subspace forces before joining the Task Force at Halcandra and Neo Star. Meta Knight is best known for his exploits at the Battle of Caelin, where he slew a Subspace Lord in single combat. After the war, Meta Knight played an instrumental role in the reconstruction of Star Warrior forces and trained several young warriors to knighthood. He also played a crucial role in ending the First Dark Star Crisis, as well as the destruction of the malfunctioning weather machine on Aqua Star.

In terms of combat, Meta Knight is primarily a swordsman. His swordsmanship is a hybrid style said to include aspects of 10 different schools of Star Warrior swordsmanship. He’s also considered to be one of the greatest Star Warrior blade masters in history. His style features aspects of strength, balance, defense and dueling styles, though it draws most strongly from fast paced offensive styles. This helps Meta Knight compensate for his comparatively short stature and allows him to function as a deadly close-range combatant. He also wields a number of personal sword techniques including the Mach Tornado, Sword Beam and Shuttle Loop. Meta Knight’s swordsmanship is incredible, but his style would not be as dangerous as it is if it were not augmented by his wings and Dimensional Cape ability, which allows him to fly and teleport around the battlefield respectively. Additionally, the Dimensional Cape appears to have some connection to his wings, though its exact mechanics are unknown. Both of these augments his already lightning-fast movement to superhuman levels and makes him very unpredictable and highly mobile.

Lastly, I would like to briefly touch on his naval battle capabilities. Meta Knight commands the Halberd, a Star Warrior style Destroyer class battleship. It is armed with heavy cannons and shields. Furthermore, it possesses a small hangar from which ships can be landed and launched. While more details are scarce, it should be known that Meta Knight is a skilled captain and has defeated larger vessels with the Halberd on his own. Meta Knight’s naval combat style is similar to his personal fighting style, aggressive, remarkably balanced and very effective. He’s been known to maneuver for up close and personal fights with enemy vessels, even moving in between enemy vessels, and firing salvos before boosting away out of enemy fire, sometimes causing the two enemies to shoot each other. What should be clear is that Meta Knight is a daring and tenacious captain.

It is incredibly difficult to say that anything will concretely work against a legendary warrior of Meta Knight’s caliber. However, a few things may give one some small advantages to leverage. The first thing is Meta Knight’s weight, or lack thereof. While he is a small target, is incredibly fast and is a powerful swordsman, Meta Knight only weighs so much and it will be easier to knock him around. This could be used in conjunction with environmental hazards to deal damage to him. Another advantage to leverage is to wield a long weapon. This can be a full length sword, a polearm, etc. Meta Knight wields a sword that is of full length for a warrior of his stature, however, his short stature means that his sword is much shorter in comparison to many other weapons. A weapon longer than his will give the opponent a reach advantage and may help with staving off his offense. If one wishes to duel Meta Knight, I also recommend utilizing a strength or defensive style of combat. A strength style will allow a user to overpower Meta Knight’s faster strikes and a defensive style will help stonewall Meta Knight’s offensives. Either style should give one a better chance against Meta Knight. I would caution against the usage of projectiles, as Meta Knight has shown on many occasions that he is very capable of closing the distance between himself and a target at range. Lastly, it may be worth attempting to fight Meta Knight in an enclosed area. Meta Knight is known to be a very acrobatic fighter, so limiting his ability to move may be of benefit. That being said, I would caution using this strategy unless absolutely necessary, as Meta Knight is a devastating close quarters combatant. Again, I must stress that Meta Knight is a legendary warrior and one of the most powerful of all the Smashers. Do not willingly engage him in combat unless you have the power and skill to do so. If you do possess the power to survive, approach Meta Knight with caution so that you have a chance at victory.

Kirby of Dreamland

Threat Level: 4

Kirby is a Star Warrior hailing from the planet of Pop Star. It should be noted first that Kirby is an interesting case amongst Star Warriors. It’s unknown how he came to be from Pop Star, as records state that he’s the first permanent Star Warrior presence on the planet. While there are a number of theories floating around, most notably that he was abandoned there or hidden for some reason, the most important ramification from this is that he was not raised as a Star Warrior. As will be discussed here, this makes Kirby a fighter that is unlike any other Star Warrior. This has not stopped him from becoming a great hero, as he has defeated many foes in the defense of Pop Star and Dreamland, including King Dedede, Marx, Nightmare and Malagor. His unique approach to combat makes him even more difficult to deal with, as his self-taught fighting style is completely unique to him and him alone.

In terms of combat, Kirby makes very heavy use of his ability to copy abilities. This is a power that all young Star Warriors possess, though the power copied is not permanent. Young Star Warriors lose this ability around the age of 75, though they retain their most used powers after they lose the ability to copy new ones. In contrast to most young Star Warriors, who usually pick one or two powers and focus on mastering them, Kirby focuses on copying powers for the needs of the moment. He is proficient with a large number of copy abilities, including those from his fellow Smashers, and has been known to sometimes combine them to devastating effect. It is of tremendous interest to the scientific Star Warrior society what abilities Kirby will retain when he reaches the age of 75, as its unheard of for a young Star Warrior to have copied so many different abilities in such a short period of time. Additionally, while Star Warriors train with weapons from a young age, Kirby appears to have never had that opportunity growing up. As such, its little surprise that he focuses very heavily on hand-to-hand combat, and has been seen employing a number of punches, kicks and throws in battle. All this being said, he has been frequently seen wielding a number of traditional and makeshift weapons to surprising success and has clearly received some training in sword play from Meta Knight himself, as he is Meta Knight’s current apprentice. Kirby favors the use of a balance style when wielding a sword and employs it proficiently, though it’s clear that he is not yet mastered it. One final thing to note is Kirby’s unusual ability to puff himself up for unassisted flight, as it gives him surprising mobility in the air and opens up many attack vectors that are much more difficult to execute for a grounded opponent. All in all, Kirby is a versatile and unpredictable if somewhat unspecialized opponent.

To defeat Kirby, one must keep a few things in mind. First of all, if Kirby does not have a copy ability, he’s going to try and get one as soon as possible. Make sure to stay out of his inhale range until he has picked up a copy ability, preferably from somewhere in the environment and not from you. Secondly, everything I just mentioned in terms of reach and weight with Meta Knight applies to Kirby twofold, as Kirby does not come to battle with a weapon in hand and does not wear armor either. If Kirby is armed or armored, it is because he picked up a copy ability or a spare weapon from somewhere. Finally, it should be noted that Kirby isn’t really a specialist in anything. Regardless of the copy power he’s using, Kirby has almost certainly not mastered its use and as such, he may slip up while using it or simply not know any side effects of its use. Effectively, he’s never going to be making the most effective use of any given copy power, and as such, his usage of a power will always be weaker than the user of the power he copied. If he copies your abilities, make sure to use your superior knowledge of your own abilities against him before he figures out how they work.

Act 7: King Dedede

Chapter 3: Isolation

Dedede awoke to a shout from Green and a roar from Charizard. He seized his hammer and leapt to their feet. Meta Knight, Link, and Sheik burst from their respective sleeping bags, weapons in hand. It was still dark, and the fire outside had burned down to embers. Dedede rushed through the halls of the town hall and burst out of the doors. He whipped his head around, looking for movement. He heard the flapping of wings above him. He looked up to see the silhouette of Green and Charizard flying into the sky, the Pokemon’s tail glowing like a searchlight as it streaked off into the night.

Green’s voice crackled over the radio. “Giant bats in the air! Probably enemies on the ground too! I’ll get the bats, you guys figure out what’s going on down there!”

“Copy that,” said Meta Knight calmly. He glared imposingly into the darkness, Galaxia drawn and glimmering in the moonlight.

Dedede gripped his hammer tightly and pulled a Gordo out of his coat. No need to be unprepared.

The radio crackled to life again. “I see shapes on the ground coming from the east. Can’t make them out from too well up here, but I don’t see anything from the other directions,” said Green.

Meta Knight quickly pulled a compass from his pocket, inspected it for a moment, and pointed right.

“That way!”

Meta Knight and Link dashed off ahead, and rounded a corner while Sheik ran off to the side a little, vanishing into the darkness without so much as a sound. Dedede thundered after the swordsmen at a slower pace. Hopefully they’d be able to take whatever the bad guys were bringing till he got there.

As Dedede made his way up to the corner, he heard a shout of surprise from Meta Knight. Immediately after, Link yelled “FOR HYRULE AND THE SEVEN PEOPLES!”

It was followed by the clashing of blades. Dedede grit his teeth and tried to increase his running speed as much as he could. A moment later, and Meta Knight and Link’s backs came into view. In front of them was a large but disorganized gaggle of Moblins. Dedede grinned. It was time to shine. Mustering his strength, he popped his Gordo into his mouth and jumped with all of his might. Soaring into the air, well above even the two-story houses lining the street, he began charging the jet motor of his hammer. For a split second, at the apex of his Dedede jump, he saw a single Moblin in the hoarde look up and shout in terror. But it was too late. Far too late. Dedede plummeted from the sky like a meteor and landed with a tremendous thud, crushing a moblin or two underneath him and sending out an impressive shockwave in a radius around him, throwing several moblins aside. The Moblins still on their feet around him jumped back with shouts of surprise.

Some of their fellows attempted to charge, but Dedede’s hammer was already charged, and he took a mighty swing with his Jet Hammer. Nearly a dozen Moblins went flying, crashing into trees, hedges, houses and their fellow Moblins alike.

Dedede heard something behind him and saw a few moblins trying to sneak up on him. He hefted his hammer and dispatched of them with a single mighty swing. By this time, Link and Meta Knight finished off the first few rows of moblins and moved up to where Dedede was. One moblin raised his weapon and began shouting something to his fellows, but Dedede spat his Gordo straight at him, swiftly taking him out. The other Moblins shrank back. After a few moments, the remaining Moblins turned and fled.

“Did we scare ‘em off for now?” asked Dedede.

Link’s ears perked up. “No. Do you hear that?”

Dedede listened intently for a second. He could hear a clanking in front of him, but the shade of a few large trees cast the entire street in front of them in shadow.

“I don’t see ‘em,” said Dedede. “But I hear ‘em”

“Heavy armor,” said Meta Knight. “Stronger foes?”

“Darknuts,” said Link. “Sounds a lot of them too.”

The clanking grew louder, as group of twelve Darknuts appeared. They were massive, comparable in size to K Rool or DK, clad in heavy armor and wielding large swords and round shields. Link drew his bow, nocked a fire arrow, and aimed carefully. After a moment, he loosed the shot, which landed straight between the visor slots of one of the Darknuts. The Darknut staggered and collapsed. Another Darknut staggered to a stop as a glint almost too fast to see flashed through its visor. Link drew a Bomb Arrow, and shot it straight at the Darknut, who staggered back. Link grimaced as they drew closer.

“That’s probably about the best we can do to soften them up. That armor is pretty tough, and their swordsmanship is at least passable. Try to knock their weapons out of their hands if you can. Sheik will support us from the shadows.”

Meta Knight nodded. “Duly noted.”

Dedede gripped his mallet tightly. “Tough armor, you say? We’ll see how tough it is….”

Link took one look at Dedede’s hammer. “Listen, if you can knock their shields out of their hands, that would really help me, and I’m sure Meta Knight too.”

“Go for the shields? You got it, buddy!” said Dedede. He stepped forward and held up his hand in the stop position.

“STOP!” he boomed. The Darknuts paused, confused. Dedede grinned. “It’s Hammer Time!”

Dedede could practically hear Meta Knight rolling his eyes from behind him, but he didn’t care. It was just part of his charm! The Darknuts just stared at him for a moment, before slowly clanking forward again.

Dedede raised his hammer and swung at the first Darknut, who raised its shield to block. The hammer impacted the shield with tremendous force, knocking it out of the Darknut’s hand. A second strike smashed a second shield into pieces. Dedede reared his hammer back and landed a mighty strike to the helmet of the first Darknut as it attempted to attack, who staggered under the blow before crumpling into purple dust and bits of energy. Dedede charged the jet engine in his hammer for a moment, before slamming it into the shield of a third Darknut. Its shield shattered as it staggered back.

“Go for the weakened ones!” shouted Dedede as he took a swing at another Darknut.

Behind him, he could hear the twanging of Link’s bow and the signature whistle of Galaxia cleaving through air and enemy alike.

Dedede pressed forward, swinging his hammer and smashing shields and armor alike, until he was in the midst of the Darknuts. As they turned to close in on him, he leapt into the air.

“NOW!” he shouted.

“Attack!” shouted Link. He raised his bow, but Meta Knight was faster. He warped in front of the weakened Darknuts with his Dimensional Cape and dispatched them with a flurrly decisive slashes as Link picked off some of the ones further away from Meta Knight. They also collapsed into dust. Link picked off the others with his bow with tremendous precision.

Dedede grinned as he neared the apex of his jump, watching the Darknuts falter and disintegrate. But he was quickly falling again and hit the ground with a heavy thud.  

The Smashers looked around but didn’t see any more foes. They relaxed their fighting stances.

“Hey Link, why do these things just…fall apart like that?” asked Dedede.

“It’s something to do with their connection with Ganondorf, I think. Something about the corruption process,” said Link. His head snapped to attention. “I hear more! Ready yourselves!”

The Smashers drew their weapons, as several more Darknuts clanked up, and formed a circle around them.  

“Corruption?” asked Meta Knight.

“These Darknuts were once warriors. Some formerly knights of Hyrule. Corrupted by Ganondorf’s evil.”

“Is there any way to reverse this process?” asked Meta Knight as he eyed his enemies suspiciously.

“Not that we know of. The best we can to is end their suffering,” said Link.

“I see. Then we shall do so swiftly,” said Meta Knight somberly.

The three warriors stood back to back in fighting stances, as the Darknuts circled around them. Link lunged at one with his sword, but his strike was blocked. Meta Knight zipped forward, and unleashed a series of strikes, but to similar success.

“Dedede! Can you start breaking their shields again?” said Link. “Coming from the front like this is usually no good!”

“On it!” said Dedede.

Suddenly, one of the Darknuts in front of Dedede staggered for a moment. Dedede seized the moment, and slammed his hammer into its shield, crushing it into pieces. His hand slid to the button on the handle of the hammer.

“Jet Hammer!”

The Darknut was sent flying, as Dedede readied his weapon again. He pointed the head of the hammer at some of the other Darknuts and pressed a button on the handle. The top of the hammer flipped off to reveal a rocket launching panel. A moment later, several rockets fired and exploded on the Darknuts in rapid succession. The smoke cleared to reveal several Darknuts staggering back, their shields and armor broken.

“Switch spots with me!” said Dedede. He quickly turned to stare down the Darknuts on the other side of the circle. Link quickly shifted to fill Dedede’s old spot.

“That good?” asked Dedede.

“That works!” shouted Link. “Get them!”

“Mach Tornado!” shouted Meta Knight from behind him, launching himself into the undefended Darknuts.

An explosion went off behind Dedede, followed by a crack of lightning from Urbosa’s Fury. It was followed by a warlike shout and the clanging of metal. Dedede didn’t pay it too much attention, Link was the specialist at fighting these guys, and Meta Knight was just strong. They’d be ok. He trusted them to watch his back.

Dedede could hear explosion from somewhere else in his periphery, but he wasn’t about to take his eyes off the enemies approaching him. Hopefully Sheik’s bomb had landed wherever she had intended to throw it.

Dedede lunged forward and landed a wide strike, breaking a few shields, and knocking the swords out of the hands of two of the Darknuts. They quickly drew their secondary blades, but Meta Knight warped in and quickly dispatched them.

“More coming!” shouted Link from behind Dedede. He turned to see several more Darknuts stomping up the street to challenge them. Dedede rushed at them and blocked the strike of the first one with the handle of his hammer and shunted the blade aside to divert the strike of the other with the head of his hammer. Dedede landed a headbutt to stagger one on his right, before blocking another strike from an enemy to the left. Dedede grit his teeth as he took a defensive stance, blocking several strikes from several Darknuts. He needed to do something, and he had just the idea.

Dedede reared back and shoved the head of his hammer like a spear at one of his opponents, knocking him back into his fellows. Taking the moment of opportunity, he took a deep breath and leapt high into the air. The Darknuts just stared as he soared into the air, charging his Jet Hammer. Dedede guessed that they hadn’t seen what happened to the Moblins before, and that was perfectly fine by him. Dedede slammed into the ground with another shockwave, shaking the ground around him and throwing the Darknuts around him off balance. Several dropped to a knee. Dedede just grinned. He dashed away a dozen meters, before turning on his heel and rushing back. As he did, he activated his Jet Hammer and began spinning as he went.

“WHIRLWIND JET HAMMER!”

The attack sent the group of Darknuts flying down the street, where they collapsed and disintegrated. Dedede turned around to see Meta Knight use his dimensional cape to warp behind one of the Darknuts he was facing.

“Knightly Slash!” said Meta Knight darkly, delivering a single slash to the back of the Darknut. The Darknut suddenly dropped, cut in two at the waist, before disintegrating. Two other Darknuts near Meta Knight attempted to turn and attack the Star Warrior, but he raised his sword again.

“Mach 3 Tornado!” shouted Meta Knight, spinning into a much larger version of the Mach Tornado. The golden whirlwind seemed to push up against the shields and armor of the enemy, grinding against them, before finally shattering them into pieces. Meta Knight swiftly landed several strikes to his now unarmored opponents, vanquishing them quickly. To his left, Link backflipped away from the three Darknuts who were facing him, all of which were missing various pieces of their armor. Suddenly, a small explosion went off in their faces. Link lowered his sword and raised his shield arm, his Sheikah gauntlet beginning to glow with energy as he turned his attention to a nearby dumpster.

“Magnesis!” shouted Link.

The glove connected to the metal dumpster with a translucent metal beam. With a hand gesture, Link lifted the dumpster and slammed it into the Darknuts, knocking them flat to the ground, and giving Link enough time to run up and run one of them through. He quickly turned and struck another one down with a decisive slash as it was getting up. The last one successfully clambered to its feet and hurled its sword at Link, who rolled aside. However, before it could draw its secondary sword, Sheik appeared behind it and drove her blade into its back. The Darknut fell to the ground and disintegrated like its fellows.

“Is that it?” asked Meta Knight.

“Of that group at least,” said Dedede. “I don’t see any more of ‘em.”

Dedede looked up to hear a loud pained screech and a large bat crashed to the ground next to him, still smoldering. Dedede looked up into the air where he saw brilliant plumes of fire erupting from Charizard in the sky, lighting up the sky in short bursts. Somewhere above, he could also hear birdlike caws amongst the screeching of bats.

Dedede snapped back to attention as he hear the wild cries of a large company of moblins rushing at them from down the street. Dedede quickly assumed a fighting position. Meta Knight warped into a fighting stance to his left as Link came to a running stop next to him, bow and arrow already in hand.

Dedede nodded sternly. “All right! Let’s get em!”

In the air….

“Charizard! Use Hyper Beam and sweep it!”

The Pokemon quickly obliged, firing a powerful whitish beam from its mouth. The attack struck down several bats.

“Now dive!” Green grit his teeth as a giant bat swooped over his head a bit too close for comfort. It was pitch black save for Charizard’s flames and it was becoming very hard to tell which of the dark shapes in front of him was Pidgeot. In the melee, he’d completely lost his other Pokemon, even though Charizard was doing a good job on his own of smashing through the cloud of giant bats.

“Charizard, keep fighting!” he ordered, before closing his eyes. Green quickly focused his mind on steadying his breathing. And once his breath was steady, he began to listen. He could hear the steady beat of Charizard’s wings and feel the rise and fall of his back underneath him as he breathed massive plumes of fire, roasting bats midair. Further away, Green could hear the screeches of the bats and their chaotic wingbeats. One of those wingbeats seemed to be getting closer from the right. Without opening his eyes, Green immediately curled his hand into a fist and landed a decisive punch to the nose of one of the bats, right as it swooped at him. It screeched in pain and flapped off into the night.

Rubbing his pained fist, Green continued to listen. He heard an unusual noise, like that of a large Pokemon jumping into the air, but Dedede’s accompanying grunt told him all he needed to know. A small smirk crossed his face as he heard Dedede land with a hefty thud, to the dismayed screeches of the foes on the ground. Green could also hear the clanging of metal on the ground, and the shouts of Link and Meta Knight amid a multitude of screeches and shouts.

Suddenly, off in the distance, he heard an indignant squawk followed immediately by a screech of pain from one of the bats.

 “Charizard, go left. We’re going to meet up with Pidgeot.”

Charizard growled in acknowledgement and veered off sharply. Green hung on tightly to his Pokemon’s back his eyes remained closed, his ears intent on picking up the slightest noise from his Pokemon. A sense of relief washed over him as Pidgeot’s cries became louder. And not a split second later, Pidgeot let out a mighty cry with a mighty woosh of air, just next to him. Hurricane, huh? Not bad for disrupting the bat’s ability to fly. Charizard turned sharply and steadied himself, flying in line next to Pidgeot as Green opened his eyes.

“Good to see you’re doing well,” said Green to Pidgeot. “Stick with Charizard and me, I don’t want any friendly fire going on in the darkness.”

Pidgeot let out a squawk of acknowledgement, maintaining altitude next to Charizard.

Green took a deep breath and looked around. It seemed like the bats had been thinned to a significant extent in the battle so far.

“All right, let’s finish this together!” said Green.

And with a roar and a caw, Charizard and Pidgeot took off together.

Back on the ground…..

Dedede glared imposingly as the remains of the Moblin horde backed off cautiously. Suddenly, a horn was heard, and the Moblins seemed to rally. Out of the shadows quickly formed another large contingent of Moblins. Dedede adjusted his grip on his hammer and prepared to face them, when Link stepped up.

“Hold on a second, let me take these guys. We can’t be too tired if we have to fight Ganondorf.”

Link extended his shield hand, and his Sheikah gauntlet began to charge energy in the palm.

“Guardian Laser!” shouted Link. The ball of energy in his palm fired off in a powerful laser, which ripped through the masses of Moblins and caused a tremendous explosion.

There was a brief moment of silence as Dedede and Link observed the carnage as the smoke cleared. There were no surviving Moblins.

“Wait, why didn’t ya start with that thing?” asked Dedede.

“The Guardian Laser has very limited charges. I didn’t want to use them all too quickly,” said Link.

Dedede nodded. “Fair enough. Say, where did Meta Knight go?”

“Not sure,” said Link, looking around.

“Meta? Where’d ya go?” called Dedede.

Suddenly, Meta Knight warped next to them.

“I apologize for my absence. I merely saw some stragglers trying to flee in the other direction. They have been disposed of.”

Dedede nodded. “No problem! Just was wondering where ya were, that was all.”

Suddenly, an arrow whizzed past them.

“Archers! On the roofs!” shouted Link. “Get to cover!”

Meta Knight used the Dimensional Cape once again and vanished. Link dashed to the cover of one of the houses, only having to worry about one direction. Dedede jumped high into the air in the opposite direction that Link had went, arrows sailing through where he was standing. Sure, his coat had a layer of chain mail, so he’d be fine even if he got hit, but Dedede preferred not to even take the risk. He landed heavily in somebody’s backyard. His foot hit on something that felt strange. After a brief moment of panic, Dedede realized that he’d landed in somebody’s vegetable patch. He shook his head and moved to cover. As he caught his breath, he deployed a few Gordos with is IDD and stashed them in his coat. He crept up under the eaves of the house he was behind. He could hear the twanging of bows. Suddenly, he heard a cry of pain from one of the Moblins on the roof above him. A body tumbled down off the roof, an arrow lodged firmly in the chest. Suddenly, there was a cry of surprise on the roof next to him, and the sound of a blade slashing through several targets was heard. That had to be Meta Knight or Sheik. Where had Sheik been anyway? He could never quite tell where she was when she was sneaking around like that. Though maybe that was the point. Dedede shook his head. It was no time to be pondering stuff like that. 

Dedede quietly crept out from under the porch awning he was under and aimed a Gordo at the back of one of the Moblins. He threw it as hard as he could. It was a direct hit, hitting the archer square in the back, taking him out. His fellows jumped and turned, searching for their assailant. But it was to no use, as a second later, Sheik vaulted onto the rooftop, cutting down the rest.

“I think that’s all of them,” called out Link from somewhere in front of the house Dedede was behind.

Dedede took a deep breath of relief, but thought he heard something behind him. He whipped around in time to block a strike from a rouge Darknut. He shoved the foe back a few feet, but before he could execute the follow up swing, a jet of fire shot out from above, and torched the Darknut in a brilliant ball of flame.

Dedede nodded appreciatively to Green as he swooped by on Charizard’s back. Green probably couldn’t see him very well with it being this dark, but it was definitely the thought that counted.

Dedede thought he heard something else, like the scraping of a sword against the ground, further into the darkness of the village. He squinted but couldn’t see anything. It looked like there was another Darknut out there. Readying his hammer, he stalked off into the darkness in search of the monster.

He walked some distance through the moonlit fields of Crossing Village, scanning the area intently. The light and shadows were playing tricks on his eyes and things had gone remarkably silent. Dedede looked around suspiciously. He didn’t like this.

“Hey fellas! I think I heard something over here! Can ya come over and help me take a look around?” he shouted.

Dedede held his hammer at the ready, continuing to scrutinize his surroundings as closely as he could. This thing wasn’t going to catch him by surprise. Slowly, Dedede moved forward, past some bushes and near some trees, searching for his invisible foe.

Suddenly, Dedede caught a glint out of the corner of his eye and raised his hammer just in time to block a large sword. A wave of shock ran through him as Ganondorf let out a long laugh, and stepped out of the shadows of a nearby apple tree. He had completely missed him in the shadow the tree. But the warlock had just blown his cheap party trick and it wasn’t gonna help him now.

“Y’all got some nerve to attack in the middle of the night, Dorf,” said Dedede.

“Perhaps I do,” said Ganondorf casually. “What are you gonna do about it?”

Dedede grit his teeth and hefted his hammer. He swung it at Ganondorf, who sidestepped the swing with little effort. He cloaked his sword in dark purplish energy and slammed it down towards Dedede.

“Warlock Blade!”

Dedede jumped back, just out of range of the attack, his hammer poised to block a follow up strike. However, The strike never came, as Ganondorf instead chose to charge a ball of energy in his hand.

Dedede glanced to the side and quickly inhaled a nearby lawnchair before spitting it out with great force at Ganondorf. The dark lord quickly cancelled his magical ball attack, before casually bisecting the lawn chair with a clean cut with his sword. Dedede resumed his fighting stance, but Ganondorf relaxed his own stance.

“Well, you’re certainly faster than I gave you credit for. Perhaps you’ll be a challenge after all. But I’m afraid I must leave. I have a wine tasting to attend tomorrow morning, after all.”

Dedede let out a derisive snort. “Sure ya do. Y’all think I was born last night or something?”

“Farewell for now. Sweet dreams,” said Ganondorf with a menacing smile, stepping back into the shadows of the tree. Dedede rushed after him, but only caught the brief sight of a portal closing just behind the tree.

Link, Meta Knight and Sheik ran up as Dedede glared into the darkness.

“Where’d he go? I would know that voice anywhere!” growled Link.

“He’s gone,” said Dedede. “Went through a portal.”

Dedede looked up to see Green, and his Pokemon swoop down out of the sky.

“That seems to be the last of them. Are you all right?”

“We’re fine,” said Dedede. “Ganondorf tried to jump me, but then he turned tail and ran. I thought he was a dangerous fighter?”

“He is,” said Link. “Remember how I said he might try this before? When he shows up at random times and tries to pick off one or two people? That’s exactly what Ganondorf just tried here.”

“Well, he wasn’t sneaky enough for me. What does he take me for, an idiot?” said Dedede.

“With all due respect, your majesty, he probably thought you were the least vigilant of all of us,” said Meta Knight.

“Well, he though wrong!” said Dedede with a grin. “I’m not as stupid as I look you know! Anyway, how are y’all holding up? Your Char…uh…dragon and your bird are looking a little winded there, Green.”

“There were a lot of those big bats up there,” said Green. “Charizard, Pidgeot and I took them out, but it was a stiff fight.”

Link nodded. “Much appreciated. Most of us here don’t excel at air combat.”

Dedede snorted. “What he said. Just because I jump high doesn’t mean I like trying to hit things in the air.” 

Green nodded. “Anytime. I’ll take another loop around the village just to be safe. You think that this attack could also be an attempt to prevent us from sleeping?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” said Sheik quietly from the back. “It’s probably one of the reasons he does this kind of thing at night.”

Meta Knight nodded. “I’ve seen similar situations drain the morale and strength of powerful warriors. It’s a dishonorable strategy, but it’s quite potent. We must keep our guard vigilant.”

There was an eerie silence. Dedede could definitely see why Ganondorf used this tactic. It sowed fear like no other. He already didn’t think he was falling asleep again tonight.

Meta Knight broke the silence.

“He’s trying to tire us out before the actual fight.  I propose we all stay on watch for another hour in case of a second attack and go back to sleep as soon as possible after that. We will need to remain rested if we are going to defeat Ganondorf.”

“When d’ya think that will be?” asked Dedede.

“I don’t know,” said Meta Knight. “Hopefully it’s not later tonight. We don’t want to have to fight him again without Red and the others if we can help it.”

“Agreed,” said Link. “Let’s head back to the fire. Maybe there are still a few coals still alive.”

“What time is it anyway?” wondered Dedede. He glanced down at his phone. “3:30 am? So, they got here at when, 3:00? 3:15? Now that’s just rude!”

“Rude or not, it’s an effective strategy, your majesty,” said Meta Knight.

“No kidding,” said Dedede. The group fell into silence as they made their way back to the camp. 

So, Ganondorf was trying to tire them out and lower their spirits, eh? He wasn’t gonna let that happen. Maybe some humor was in order. Dedede cast a glance over to Link.

“Y’all need to start eatin’ more, string bean,” said Dedede to Link, as he brushed some dirt off of his coat. “I saw you fighting those knight things. You don’t hit hard enough! You’re too skinny!”

“Hey now,” said Link with a grin. “Not all of us can be as well-proportioned as you are!”

“Heh, no kidding I’m well proportioned!” guffawed Dedede. “Anyhoo, nice work everybody! That didn’t take us too long!”

“No, it did not,” said Meta Knight. “Thanks to Green’s early warning, we were able to react swiftly and efficiently.”

“Yeah! You did pretty good too, taking out all those bats!” said Dedede cheerfully.

“Thanks,” said Green stoically as they approached the camp.

Dedede deflated a little internally. These guys had about as much humor as a stick in the mud. If only Red and Kirby were here. They’d be livelier.

The Smashers sat down around the fire, as Link began stoking the coals, kindling some sticks with them. In short order, the fire had been restored to a lively blaze.

Dedede sat down in front of one of the logs situated around the fire and leaned up against it. His fellow Smashers made themselves comfortable as well.

“Say Sheik,” said Link. “Nobody’s going to bed for a little bit. Do you want to play some music?”

“Sure, I’m game,” said Sheik.

Link reached into his Fairy Pouch, and pulled out an old, but clearly well-loved ocarina. Sheik followed suit, but pulled out a small harp instead of an ocarina.

Dedede grinned as Link tapped the ground with his boot a few times to set the tempo and the two began to play. The melody started a little slow, but picked up into a rollicking tune, and Dedede found his foot tapping to the melody. That was a good song. Not a bad note to end the night on. Literally.  

Hopefully it would calm his nerves enough to let him fall back to sleep.

Chapter Text

Act 7: King Dedede

Chapter 4: Standoff

Dedede woke to the chirping of birds. He rolled over in his sleeping bag and stretched. He could see the light outside, filtering through the curtains of the ballroom. They had made it to morning without another attack.

He groaned. He was still feeling a little tired, but at this rate, he wasn’t falling asleep again. He rubbed his head and slowly crawled out of his sleeping bag.

He blearily peered out of the windows. It was a mostly clear day. After getting himself ready, he shuffled outside, where Meta Knight, Link and Green sat around the campfire. Dedede made his way up to them.

“Did you sleep well?” asked Meta Knight.

“Mostly,” grunted Dedede as he sat down. Green passed him an MRE. “As best as can be expected.”

Meta Knight nodded. “That is good. Red and the others should be here very soon.”

“Everything been quiet?” asked Dedede.

“Yeah,” said Green. “Nothing since last night.”

“Well, that’s good, right?” said Dedede.

“Yes and no,” said Meta Knight. “Yes, because Red and the others will be back to help us. No, because we still have no idea what Ganondorf is up to.”

Dedede nodded. “I see.”

He dug into the MRE, and immediately went for the chocolate flavored powerbar. As he munched on it, the sound of a train could be heard. Green stood up.

“That’s the train. I’ll go grab them.”

“Sounds good!” said Dedede as he cracked open one of the larger sealed packets. He took a whiff of the contents and a grin quickly spread across his face. Nothing like chili for breakfast.

A few minutes later, Green returned with Red, Kirby, Olimar, Isabelle and Young Link in tow. Dedede stuffed the last empty packet back into the MRE packet as they did, having scarfed down his breakfast like only a King of Dreamland could.

Kirby waved as he walked up.

“Ganondorf attacked last night?” he asked.

“Yeah,” said Dedede. “Just some minions. Ganondorf tried to jump me, but he wasn’t fast enough and he ended up running away!”

“Yeah! Smashers one, Ganondorf zero!”

 Meta Knight shook his head and said, “We may have repelled his night assault, but it was not the main attack. Though it is nice to have a win, however small.”

“So, what’s the plan?” asked Red.

“We hold the village for the moment,” said Meta Knight. “We will continue to scout the area. If there is no attack within the next few days, we will do more intensive scouting.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Red. “All right everybody! Let’s get set up!”

The newly returned Smashers began to unpack their things. Young Link and Isabelle headed to the town hall to set up their sleeping bags while Olimar returned to the flower beds that he’d set up the day before, inspecting the Pikmen growing there and plucking the fully grown ones from the soil. 

Dedede just sighed and plopped himself back down in front of the smoldering fire. Now, it was time to wait.

The sun had nearly reached its zenith in the sky when Sheik suddenly appeared in front of them.

“I spotted forces to the north. And I spotted Ganondorf amongst them.”

“How far?” asked Meta Knight.

“Just outside the barricade, coming out of several portals.”

The Smashers tensed and immediately reached for their weapons, before dashing off northward.

Dedede grabbed his hammer and barreled off after the others as an explosion shook the small town.

It wasn't long before they made it to the breach. Bokoblins were pouring in by the dozens. A different part of the barricade burst in, to reveal several Darknuts, armed to the teeth. They were surrounded by Moblins and Bokoblins. Just behind the Darknuts stood Ganondorf, carrying his blade on his shoulder. He spied the Smashers and burst out into a hearty laugh.

"Ah, so you're still here! I had feared that you had fled with the other villagers. But my fears were unfounded! Truly, this is a fortuitous moment!"

 "Ganondorf," growled Link, drawing his bow, an ancient arrow nocked and ready to fire.

"Ah, the hero. Do you really think you stand a chance at defeating me again? I haven't forgotten the tricks that you pulled on me in the past. You don't stand a chance."

"He will not be fighting alone," said Meta Knight, Galaxia flashing dangerously in the light.

"You seem so certain that you will be able to assist him," said Ganondorf. He raised his massive sword into the air. All of the Bokoblins, Moblins and Darknuts dropped into fighting stances. As they did, a large swarm of giant bats soared into the air from behind them.

Red chucked a Pokeball. "Aero!" Red's Aerodactyl landed in front of him.

"Charizard!" shouted Green, tossing a Pokeball of his own.

Ganondorf just laughed and slammed his sword point first into the ground. The Moblins and Darknuts raised their weapons and charged straight at the Smashers. Dedede raised his hammer and charged into the fray. He swung his hammer as the front line of Bokoblins approached, sending a few of the Moblins in the front flying. Behind him, Dedede could hear Green and Red taking off into the sky. He hefted his hammer around and knocked several more Bokoblins away. Quickly looking around, he could see several Darknuts rush in and surround surrounding Link, Sheik, and Meta Knight, while a swarm of Moblins and Bokoblins rushed at Young Link, Olimar and Isabelle. He grit his teeth. Young Link was a fighter through and through, but Olimar and Isabelle weren’t quite as combat minded. They’d need help soon. He turned his gaze back and his glare hardened as he saw a lone figure walking towards him through the chaos.

“Well, well. Care to continue that bout of strength from earlier?” asked Ganondorf.

“Heh. You’ve gotta lot of confidence, dontcha?” said Dedede. “Got the chops to prove it?”

“Of course I do,” said Ganondorf, taking an opening stance with his sword. “What, do you think that you can’t beat me?”

Dedede shook his head and readied his hammer. “You’re in for a clobbering, punk!”

Ganondorf just grinned. “Your grave!”

Young Link slapped his Goron Mask on as the Bokoblins and Moblins gathered around him. He glanced behind him for a second. Olimar was smacking around a Bokoblin with a purple Pikmen while Isabelle locked her umbrella against the blade of another Bokoblin. He winced. Those two were only going to do so well against these kind of numbers. He had to get them out of here.  

“Get to one of the roofs!” he shouted. “I’ll cover you!”

And with that, he rushed into the fray. He charged straight at a group of Moblins, as they hastily tried to form a shield wall. Young Link rammed his way through with wall with minimal effort and landed a bone shattering punch to the face of one of the unprepared Moblins behind them. He quickly turned around and sent a few more flying with a powerful backhand swing, before curling into a ball as some of the Moblin’s strikes began to fall on his rocky back. He began rolling, going in circles a few times, before uncurling and putting his feet underneath him. A few crushed Moblins lay on the ground, while the rest had retreated to give him ample room.

As he surveyed the situation, he heard a loud whistle pierce the air. Suddenly, a large swarm of pikmen poured out from behind the house in front of him, and quickly began assaulting the Moblins. 

“Quick!” shouted Olimar from the roof a freestanding garage. “Get up here!”

Next to him, Isabelle lined up a Lloyd Rocket and fired it off. It exploded just to his right. It was all he needed. Young Link rushed towards the house, taking off the mask as he did and transforming back into his Kokiri form. One hand still on the mask, he reached into his Fairy Pouch and yanked out his Hookshot. With one press of the button, the claw went flying. It sunk into the side of the roof, and Young Link was pulled upwards to safety.

Olimar quickly helped him up and over the edge. Beneath them, the Moblins rushed up to the house. They slowed down, now considering the new problem of getting up and onto the roof of the garage. A few pulled out bows, but Olimar and Young Link quickly retreated back behind the peak of the roof, where Isabelle was firing off another Lloyd rocket.

“We can’t stay up here!” shouted Young Link. “They’ll just come around the sides!”

“Where do we go?” asked Olimar.

Young Link looked around. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him.

“Everybody stand back!”

Young Link slapped his Goron Mask back on, jumped into the air and curled into a ball. There was a massive crash as he slammed through the roof, and obliterated something else underneath his weight.

Young Link uncurled himself and surveyed the unfortunate table he’d obliterated underneath him. He called up to the others above him. “C’mon! Get inside!”

Quickly, Isabelle and Olimar scrambled through the hole as arrows whizzed past.

“We’ll be able to hold the garage better than the roof!” said Young Link as he surveyed his surroundings. He dragged a long worktable in front of the garage door, before shoving the riding lawnmower in front of the side door. Young Link took off his Goron Mask and swapped it for a Rito Mask. He also pulled out his bow, and slung his quiver over his shoulder.

He went over to Olimar. “You guys distract them from the inside. I’ll get back on the roof and cause them some trouble!”

“Very well. Isabelle and I will assist as best we can from here,” said Olimar, still breathing heavily.  

Young Link gave him a nod and took off into the air, flying through the hole in the garage roof. He landed on the roof lightly, and swiftly drew an arrow. A moment later, he let it fly, the arrow finding its mark in one of the Mobins. The other Moblins and Bokoblins let out shrieks of rage and continued their efforts to batter down the garage doors or climb onto the roof.

Young Link let several more arrows fly, each finding their mark in one of his foes, but the horde didn’t seem to be getting much thinner. He shook his head, and reached into his Fairy Pouch, fishing out a bomb. He chucked it into the crowd, where it exploded, taking out a group of Moblins. It still wasn’t thinning their numbers all that much. Suddenly, there was a shout of surprise as a few Moblins were suddenly jumped upon by Pikmen, who dragged them to the ground, whaling on them as much as they could.

A few arrows whizzed past Young Link and he ducked low to the roof. He’d have to thin them out some other way.

“Olimar! Get your Pikmen out of there!” shouted Young Link “I’m gonna try something!”

Olimar didn’t reply, but mere moments later, Young Link heard his shrill whistle pierce the air. He reached into his Fairy Pouch and fished out a couple of bombs and bomb arrows. Balancing the bombs against his shoulders so they wouldn’t roll, Young Link stuffed the bomb arrows into his quiver. Shifting his weight, Young Link picked up one of the bombs and pulled the cover off its fuse. It was coated with a special mixture that would immediately combust when exposed to air, as all Hylian bombs were, and it immediately ignited. As the fuse began to slowly burn down towards the bomb itself, Young Link poked his head up, and lined up his throw. He chucked it with just a few centimeters of fuse left.

It exploded mid air, just over head height, taking down a group of Moblins. Young Link pulled the fuse of the second bomb, and just chucked it. It hit the ground as the fuse burned down. The Moblins nearby jumped back as Young Link nocked a bomb arrow and fired. The explosion blasted away another clump of them. Quick as a flash, Young Link fired off his other bomb arrows in rapid succession, blasting away a decent amount of the rest of the crowd.

Quickly, he nocked a regular arrow and surveyed the situation. Now thoroughly thinned out, the other Moblins and Bokoblins were backing up, shields up and standing a decent distance away from each other, now that bombs and bomb arrows were on the table. He fired regular arrow, but it was blocked by a shield. He shook his head.

“Olimar! Isabelle! Can you give me a distraction?”

After a moment, Isabelle shouted back, “Yeah! Give us a moment!”

Young Link pulled a few more bomb arrows out of his Fairy Pouch and stashed them in his quiver, before drawing a regular arrow and firing it at one of the Moblins. It jumped aside, dodging the arrow. Young Link followed it up with a Bomb Arrow. Unfortunately, the Moblin jumped aside again.

Young Link grumbled under his breath as he fired off the other two bomb arrows. The monsters, now expecting exploding arrows, jumped aside and managed to avoid the worst of the blasts.

Suddenly, a swarm of Pikmen rushed out from various small cracks of the garage as a window suddenly flipped open and a few Lloyd rockets shot out at the Moblins. Young Link quickly took off his Rito mask and swapped it for his Sheikah Mask. Using the distraction from the pikmen and rockets, he slunk off of the roof, and dove into a cluster of bushes. He drew his short sword and twirled it into a combat ready reverse grip. Thankfully, his sword transformed with him, a feature courtesy of the Great Fairy herself.

He reached into his Fairy Pouch and fished out a half dozen Deku Nuts and waited as the Pikmen mobbed several of the Moblins and Bokoblins. Olimar’s shrill whistle rang out. Young Link looked to see the remaining Moblins and Bokoblins attempting to stomp and slash at the Pikmen as they hustled back to the safety of the garage.

The remaining monsters began to reform into a small group, of about two dozen. They were keeping their shields up. Young Link let a grin find its way onto his face. They still thought he was on the roof. Young Link quietly crept through the bushes, keeping out of their line of sight. Another Lloyd Rocket shot out from the garage, and the Moblins scattered. Young Link grinned. Time to move.

He quickly leapt from the bushes and hurled one of his Deku Nuts. It hit the ground and exploded with a flash of light next to a group of Bokoblins. With the lightning speed of a Sheikah, Young Link lunged forward and cut them down with a quick series of slashes. The others jumped, surprised, but Young Link was faster. He dashed towards a lone Moblin, rolling under a wild sword swing and landing a decisive blow to the back to finish it off, before chucking his remaining handful of Deku Nuts at the others, who were rushing at him in a loose mob formation. He quickly changed masks while they were blinded, stuffing his Sheikah Mask into his Fairy Pouch and slapping his Goron Mask back on his face. With a powerful bellow, he crashed into the mob, quickly finishing off the rest with ease. He turned and stomped up to the garage.

“Wait here! I’m gonna go check up on the others!” said Young Link.

“Of course!” said Olimar.

“Good luck!” said Isabelle. “Sorry to cause so much trouble!”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Young Link as he turned. “I’ll be right back!”

In the sky….

Red shot off high into the air, securely held in Aero’s talons as a large swarm of giant bats screeched around him. The air temperature dropped as they gained altitude and the wind whistled past his ears. A little way off Green and Charizard swooped through the bats, spurts of fire shooting from Charizard’s mouth.

“Aero! Use Hyper Beam!” shouted Red.

The Aerodactyl fired a large beam of energy from its mouth, sweeping it through the cloud of bats, and striking down several.

Aero swooped through the enemies, firing Hyper Beams as he went. Red surveyed the situation as they flew. They were taking out the bats pretty quickly. Was this it? Something seemed off.

Suddenly, Red heard a deafening screech from the side. His head whipped around to see an absolutely massive bat, much bigger than the others, nearly the size of a two-story house. Red blinked for a moment and grit his teeth. It looked like this was going to be the real problem. The bat screeched and began flying towards him.

“Aero! Dive NOW!”

Aero quickly righted himself and shot downwards. Red grit his teeth and growled under his breath as the they narrowly missed the bat. 

“Charizard! Use Flamethrower!”

Aero swooped back up as Red caught a plume of flame out of the corner of his eye. The bat screeched and unleashed a powerful sonic scream back at Green and Charizard, who ducked out of the way with some effort.

“Red! We need a strategy for this one!” called out Green.

“Got any ideas?” shouted Red.

“We need to get back to the ground! We can’t call out our other Pokemon up here!” yelled Green.

Red thought for a moment.

“Not yet! We need to watch it! See how smart it is! Aero! Use Double Team!”

Aero quickly made several illusions of himself, which surrounded the giant bat. The monster paused, confused by the number of clones. 

“Get to the ground!” shouted Red. “You cover my landing! Get yourself set up!”

“Rodger!” shouted Green, who quickly dove towards the ground with Charizard.

Red returned his attention to the fight at hand as another sonic scream ripped through the air. The bat had destroyed most of the clones and had turned its attention to him.

“Aero! Let’s get out of here!”

Aero took off just in time, with the giant bat in hot pursuit. It opened its maw and screeched again.

“DIVE!” shouted Red. Aero quickly pointed his nose towards the ground and the two hurtled at breakneck speed away from the worst of the sonicboom that tailed them.

“Let’s loop behind him, Aero!” shouted Red. He reached for a pokeball as Aero rocketed upwards.

“Aero! Let Pika on grab onto your back!”

Red triggered the manual release of the pokeball above him, releasing Pika into the air. Aero altered his trajectory to catch the Pikachu on his back, before continuing his upward ascent.

Aero slowed down as they reached the apex of the loop, twisting over as he did, righting himself. They were now above the bat, quickly passing over him. Aero pointed his nose downward and swooped down at high speed.

“Now! Aero, use Hyper Beam! Pika! Use Thunderbolt!”

The two attacks struck the bat in the back as Aero swooped below.

From the ground a large plume of fire shot up off the ground, catching Red’s attention. He looked down to see Green, Scizor and Charizard on the ground. Red glanced up, seeing the bat begin to slow down in the air, searching for them.

“Let’s get his attention!” he said. “Aero, get in his line of sight and let’s lead him down to Green! Pika! Keep up the attacks!”

Aero screeched in acknowledgement and took off out of the bat’s shadow. Red could hear Pika charging electricity above him. A second later, the lightning bolt flew, striking the bat and getting its attention. Immediately, Aero made a beeline for the ground, swooping to a running stop next to where Green and his Pokémon stood.

“Charizard! Use Solar Beam!” said Green calmly. Charizard opened its mouth and fired off a greenish laser beam out of its mouth, striking the giant bat as it swooped down towards them. It hit the wing, causing the monster to crash to the ground, sliding to a stop on the ground. Red quickly glanced around and took a sigh of relief. Green had chosen a spot a little bit outside the walls of the village. They wouldn’t be destroying any houses here.

“Scizor! Use X Scissor!” said Green. Scizor dashed up to the bat, who was still pulling itself to its feet, and landed a vicious X shaped cut to its face.

“Iron Head!” commanded Green.

Red grit his teeth as Scizor landed a powerful headbutt. It was time to rejoin the battle.

“Aero! Use Double Edge! Pika! Use Volt Tackle!”

Aero took off at high speed into the air, while Pika charged electricity around himself and hurled himself at the bat with an electric body slam. Aero struck a moment later, having taken the time to loop into the air and gain more momentum.

“So, how smart is this thing?” asked Green as their Pokemon returned and took fighting positions in front of them.

“It’s basically a wild animal,” said Red. “It’s not all that smart. Wanted to double check since its one of Ganondorf’s monsters.”

“Then that’s to our favor,” said Green. “Charizard! Use Flare Blitz!”

Charizard cloaked itself in fire and dove at the bat, which was just pulling itself to its feet again. The bat staggered back from the force of the hit.

“Now! Dragon Claw!”

“Pika! Use Iron Tail!” shouted Red. Pika’s tail turned metallic as it zipped up to the bat. Its tail struck in tandem with Charizard’s claws, shattering bones and ripping through the bat’s fur respectively.

The bat screeched with pain and recoiled.

Green shook his head. “This is taking too long. Get your Pokemon out of there.”

“Pika!” shouted Red. “Get back here!”

Green pressed a button on a watch-like device on his wrist. The top receded to reveal a red Z crystal. Green held his arm into the air.

“Charizard!”

Charizard looked up and grinned.

“INFERNO OVERDRIVE!”

Red recalled Pika and Aero as Charizard unleashed a massive ball of fire at the bat, engulfing it in a blazing firestorm. There was no question as to the outcome. Z Moves were considered incredibly powerful and dangerous for a reason. It was why there were so few trainers who were entrusted with Z Crystals. It was also what made the deeply secretive and highly illegal underground Z Crystal market so feared.

As the fire died down and the smoke cleared, the two trainers walked up to the charred body of the giant bat. Suddenly, it collapsed in on itself, turning to purple energy before dissipating into thin air.

The two trainers stood in silence for a moment.

“Well, I think that’s it,” said Green, recalling his Pokemon. “We should get back.”

“Yeah,” agreed Red. He reached for another Pokeball. “Saur!”

Green nodded at Scizor, who was still out of its pokeball. Scizor nodded back.

Red nodded at Green. “You ready? Let’s go!”

Back in the village….

Kirby narrowed his eyes at the Darknuts surrounding him as he stood back to back with Link, Sheik and Meta Knight.

Link pulled out his bow, nocking an Ancient Arrow. “After last night’s fight, I put some Ancient Arrows in my quiver, just in case. I’ve got 9 more in my quiver, 10 total. They’ll oneshot these Darknuts. I’m going to shoot them all rapid fire. Sheik and I will clean up the rest on our side and come back to back you guys up.”

Meta Knight nodded. “On your ready.”

Link paused for a moment, as the Darknuts inched closer.

“Now.”

He loosed the arrow, before rapidly shooting off the rest. The barrage nearly annihilated the massed Darknuts in front of Link, leaving only a few behind. Sheik lunged for one of them as Meta Knight dashed forward and used a sweeping slash to slow down the Darknuts in front of him. Kirby glared at the Darknuts in front of him and began to Inhale. One of the Darknuts got pulled into the vortex and Kirby sucked him in. He spat him out at another Darknut as Kirby transformed, bowling over the second one.

Kirby took a moment to inspect himself. He was encased in a shell of thick Darknut style armor and had gained a long sword and a shield. While this was probably going to limit him in the air, he could work with this. The armor was going to help him against the multiple opponents, and Meta Knight hadn’t trained him in swordplay for nothing. It was time to show these guys what he was made of.  

Kirby clanked forward and whipped his sword in front of him in a large, sweeping slash. The Darknuts in front of him raised their shields and blocked the hit. Kirby took a step back, feeling the shock reverberating through the sword and into his hand. He winced. That had been to slow them down, but his hand was paying for it. Nevertheless, Kirby raised his sword above his head and landed a strong vertical strike at one of the Darknuts. It shattered his chestplate, causing him to recoil in shock. Kirby didn’t give the Darknut a moment to react and he plunged his blade into the Darknut’s chest. It disintegrated into dark purplish energy without a sound.

“Mach Tornado!”

Meta Knight slammed into two Darknuts in the shape of a golden tornado, forcing them to block. One of the Darknut’s guard dropped for just a split second. Meta Knight was faster.

“Shuttle Loop!”

The rising sword strike landed a powerful slash to the foe, causing him collapse and disintegrate. 

Meta Knight was doing fine. Of course, the legendary swordsman from the Second Subspace War was doing fine against thoroughly inferior opponents. Kirby just sighed. He had a very long way to go before he got to Meta Knight’s level.

It was a shame he didn’t get to copy one of his ally’s abilities before the fight started. While he was strong enough on his own and getting stronger through rigorous training under Meta Knight, Kirby was always strongest when he’d had the opportunity to copy the ability of another Smasher. Sometimes even just copying a projectile could be useful. He’d inhaled Fox’s Blaster shots, Link’s Arrows and Samus’s charge shots to get less powerful but still useful abilities. Unfortunately, he’d have to settle for the Darknut’s copy ability for now. At least it granted him armor. 

Kirby returned his focus to the Darknuts in front of him. He ducked under one of their strikes and blocked another with his shield. He shoved against the Darknut who was attacking him, knocking its sword aside far enough for him to land a few slashes. He jumped in the air to avoid a low sweep from another and landed a quick slash in the air. The wounded Darknut took a few steps back, shield at the ready.

Suddenly, a small bomb sailed over his head and exploded in the face of the wounded Darknut. Sheik suddenly lunged forward and landed a quick slash to finish off the Darknut before vaulting back over Kirby’s head. Kirby glanced back to see Sheik coming to back him up.

“Looks like there were more on your side,” said Sheik.

“Yeah! Looks like it! You finished off those guys fast!” said Kirby. “Where’d Link go?”

“He’s pulling out more Ancient Arrows,” said Sheik. “He’ll need a minute.”

Kirby nodded, and resumed his fighting stance. The remaining Darknuts, somewhere around a dozen left approached very cautiously.

“Cover your eyes,” said Sheik suddenly, before throwing a Deku Nut. Kirby closed his eyes and heard the explosion of several Deku Nuts in front of him.  He opened his eyes to see the Darknuts in defensive positions, in various stages of blindness from the Deku Nuts. Sheik quickly rushed up to one, shoving aside its shield, and buried her short sword into its chest. The Darknut disintegrated as Sheik leapt backwards.

One of the Darknuts on the side who had avoided most of the Deku Nut’s flash tried to attack her as she did, but Kirby jumped forward and blocked the attack with his shield, before landing a fatal counter in return. Another Darknut attempted to attack Kirby, but Sheik hurled a few needles, striking the Darknut through the visor. It roared in pain, but was quickly silenced as an Ancient Arrow struck it in the chest. Kirby glanced back to see Link quickly fire several Ancient Arrows in rapid succession, striking down most of the rest of the Darknuts, leaving only a few left.

Kirby lunged forward, sword raised.

“Warrior’s Slash!”

He landed a powerful slash at one Darknut, cleaving straight through its shield, revealing the surprised enemy behind. Kirby finished him off swiftly, before parrying a strike from another Darknut. There was a flash of metal as the Master Sword sliced through the Darknut’s arm, causing the sword to fall. The Darknut managed to let out an inhuman groan before Link finished it off with another strike. Kirby looked up to see Sheik jumping back from a disintegrating Darknut and Meta Knight use his dimensional cape to warp behind the last Darknut and deal a decisive blow to its back.

Kirby stood up and looked around. There were no more Darknuts standing.

“Well, I think that’s it!” said Kirby cheerfully.

“Hey, where’d Ganondorf go?” asked Link, glancing around worriedly.

Kirby stared at his surroundings. Where had Ganondorf gone to?

Young Link, Red and Green rushed up. “Hey! There you guys are!”

“Where are Isabelle and Olimar?” asked Meta Knight.

“Taking shelter. They should be safe,” said the Kokiri.

“Then where is his majesty?” asked Meta Knight.

There was a pause.

“He must be fighting Ganondorf. Quick! We must go to his aid!” said Meta Knight.

“Before we go, can I copy somebody?” asked Kirby. “I don’t want to be going into a fight with Ganondorf unprepared.”

Link tossed him an Ancient Arrow. “Will that work?”

Kirby nodded. “Definitely. Thanks!”

Kirby quickly dispelled the Darknut copy ability as the others rushed off in search of Dedede. He quickly inhaled he Ancient Arrow. Kirby felt a surge of energy and inspected himself to see blue lines running across his body. Kirby grinned and quickly dashed off after Meta Knight. Wherever Dedede and Ganondorf were, he was going to find them. Ganondorf was going to be no match for their combined might!

Chapter Text

Ally Analysis: Ganondorf

Ganondorf is one of our most physically imposing and powerful allies. This power is well diversified and is split between Ganondorf’s physical and magical abilities.

I would like to focus on Ganondorf’s physical abilities first. The most prominent part of Ganondorf’s combat style is his swordsmanship. He wields a composite style based off of a number of Gerudo sword techniques but draws mostly from a strength based Gerudo style. Despite his strength-based style, Ganondorf’s alterations have allowed him to maintain a surprising amount of flexibility and speed, making his style a truly frightening prospect to face. This is combined with his sword, a large anti-armor sword. It’s a powerful weapon that compliments his powerful style perfectly. In addition to his swordsmanship, Ganondorf is a highly skilled hand to hand combatant, a master of the Gerudo Sand Fist style, and is not to be taken lightly. I would also like to mention that Ganondorf maintains peak or near peak Gerudo physicality and his physical strength is prodigious.

Secondly, I’ll focus on Ganondorf’s magical abilities. While many of these are poorly understood and the full extent known only to Ganondorf himself, he does make excellent use of dark energy magic, combining it with his sword and martial arts attacks to create devastatingly powerful techniques. He also has been known to hurl balls of dark energy magic at his opponents, as a powerful but a somewhat slow ranged attack. Ganondorf’s most powerful application of his dark magic is his ability to transform into various monsters. He has been seen transforming into various creatures such as a giant spider or giant boar in the past, though his most powerful transformation is an enormous chimera monster called Calamity Ganon. All in all, Ganondorf is a tremendously valuable asset to our side.

It is difficult to say what could be suggested to help Ganondorf improve his combat style without a comprehensive understanding of his magical abilities. As such, I will only make a few recommendations for his physical combat method. First, I will recommend the use of more weapons then just his sword. Even bringing a few knives would grant more diversity and options in combat. Second, I would like to recommend that Ganondorf consider more modern weaponry as an option. While I do not mean to write off his tremendously powerful style by any means, I think that pieces of advanced technology could be tremendously powerful in the hands of a warrior as capable as Ganondorf.

Act 7: King Dedede

Chapter 5: Last Resort

Dedede stared down Ganondorf, hammer at the ready as the other Smashers were caught up in their own battles. He pressed a button on the haft of his hammer and began charging the jet. Ganondorf smirked and lunged for him. Dedede grit his teeth and swung his weapon, narrowly missing Ganondorf as he dove aside. The dark lord quickly regained his footing, taking a guard stance with his sword. Dedede checked the pocket in his coat. He had only 3 Gordos available, and more that he could deploy in his IDD. And considering the opponent he was up against, he probably wasn’t going to have much time to do that.  He'd have to make them count.

Ganondorf quickly went on the offensive, taking several powerful one handed slashes at Dedede, who blocked them with some effort. Ganondorf suddenly raised his sword over his head, both hands on his blade.

“Warlock BLADE!”

Dedede took a quick sidestep as Ganondorf’s sword, now covered in malignant purple energy, slammed into the ground near him. The resulting explosion just barely didn’t reach Dedede, who hefted his hammer and landed a heavy strike square against the dark lord’s chestplate. It sent Ganondorf reeling several steps backward.

“Heh! You aren’t so bad after all! Clearly, I underestimated you! This will be a good fight!” said Ganondorf with a dark grin.

“Of course you did, ya big lug!” grunted Dedede, as he hurled himself forward, hammer at the ready.

He swung his hammer, but Ganondorf sidestepped it easily. Ganondorf prepared to counter, but Dedede grit his teeth and jumped high into the air, using his forward momentum to sail straight over a few houses, before landing in a crater in somebody’s backyard. As Dedede pulled himself to his feet, he discreetly popped one of his Gordos into his mouth. It wasn’t a second too soon, as the nearby fence got blasted into bits as Ganondorf strode through, his fist glowing with purple energy.

“I never would have expected you to be the type to flee,” said Ganondorf, charging an energy ball in his hand. “I suppose we’re all full of surprises. But you can’t outrun me.”

Dedede just glared at him. If he had tried to talk, it would have been a dead giveaway for the Gordo.

“Nothing to say this time, eh? Well, it won’t save you. Warlock Shot!”

Ganondorf hurled the energy ball at Dedede, before rushing at him, his foot glowing with the same purple energy.

“Wizard’s Foot!”

Dedede ducked out of the path of the energy ball, before thrusting the head of his hammer out, forcing Ganondorf to sidestep. He spat the Gordo in his mouth at Ganondorf with immense force, offbalancing him, and causing him to stumble and fall. Dedede slammed his hammer down, but Ganondorf rolled to the side, purple energy already charging in his fist.

“Warlock Punch!”

Dedede grunted as the punch slammed square into his gut. He staggered back, coughing. That hurt. A lot. And clearly that dark magic crap Ganondorf was using made the strike hit harder. But he’d had worse. Ganondorf was gonna have to do better than that if he wanted to win. 

Dedede gave Ganondorf a dirty look as he got to his feet and took a cautious guard stance. Ganondorf adjusted his grip on his blade and paced around Dedede in a circle, like a wolf. Dedede turned as he walked to keep facing his opponent, ready for the slightest sign of an attack.

Dedede glared as his opponent, his gaze never faltering. Ganondorf looked like he was on a stroll in the park. What was this, some sort of mind game? 

Dedede grit his teeth. He had no idea what Ganondorf was up to, but it was taking too long. He suddenly lunged forward, and swung his hammer at Ganondorf with an overhead strike. Ganondorf caught the hammer head with his hands, glowing again with purple energy. He grunted against the strain, but his eyes widened as Dedede’s thumb slid down to the button on the handle.

Quick as a flash, Ganondorf shoved the hammer to the side and jumped the other way as the jet engine in the hammer roared to life. The weapon crashed into the ground, cracking the pavers underneath and forming a small crater. Dedede quickly readied his hammer, as Ganondorf rolled into a crouching position. Suddenly, he hurled his sword at Dedede. There was only one thing to do. Dedede opened his mouth and inhaled the sword, before spitting it back from whence it came. Ganondorf sidestepped the homecoming projectile, where it buried itself deep into the concrete near the edge of somebody’s pool.

Ganondorf raised an eyebrow in shock, before turning back to Dedede. Dedede adjusted his grip on his hammer and awaited his assault.

Ganondorf rushed in and threw a couple of punches, which Dedede blocked, followed by a shove kick. It didn’t move Dedede, but it threw off his balance a little, enough for Ganondorf to turn and dash back to where his sword landed. Dedede narrowed his eyes, and rushed at Ganondorf, Jet Hammer charging as he rushed towards his target. Ganondorf grabbed his sword by the hilt and wrenched it free, bits of concrete flying into the air. Dedede slammed his hammer into the ground as Ganondorf barely jumped out the way, shattering the concrete he’d been standing on just a second ago. Ganondorf cloaked his foot in purple energy and quickly retaliated with a kick.

“Wizard’s Foot!”

The attack struck Dedede in the side forcefully, sending him staggering a few steps. Dedede grunted in pain. That stung, a lot. Yeah, it had to be all that dark magic crockery that was boosting his damage output. He’d have to avoid more hits like that.

Quick as a flash, Dededede struck Ganondorf in the face with the shaft of his hammer, before landing a brutal headbutt. Seeing stars from the attack, Dedede grabbed a Gordo from within his coat and chucked it at Ganondorf. The villain managed to defect it with his sword, but Dedede shook the stars out of his vision and barreled at him. He hefted his hammer around, and brought it down on Ganondorf, who blocked the strike with his sword. The two pushed against each other, matching strength against strength.

Ganondorf shoved the hammer aside, and rushed in for a barrage of sword strikes. Dedede quickly hefted his hammer in a defensive maneuver and blocked the barrage. Ganondorf hefted his sword over his head.

“Doriyah!”

Dedede grunted as the blade struck the handle of his hammer. He shoved the sword aside, and then shoved his mallet’s head square into Ganondorf’s gut, shoving him back. He pointed the top of his mallet at his opponent, pressing a button as he did. The top of the hammer opened up to reveal a number of missiles, which Dedede promptly fired. The rockets combined into a large explosion, sending Ganondorf flying. Dedede quickly hit another button on the handle of his mallet, before pressing a button on the IDD in his glove. He was going to take any opportunity to refill on Gordos, and it would only be helpful to deploy the next set of rockets into his hammer preemptively.

Dedede was stashing his extra Gordo in his coat pocket when he caught a glowing ball of energy out of the corner of his eye. He quickly inhaled the projectile, and returned it to the sender, who was standing on the roof of a nearby building. Ganondorf jumped down, charging another energy ball in his hand. As he did, a dark color began swirling in the energy ball, expanding it to the size of an exercise ball.

“Sphere of Darkness!” yelled Ganondorf, before throwing it. Dedede took a deep breath and began rushing at Ganondorf, jumping high into the air as he did, sailing well over the energy ball. He landed with a massive shockwave, causing Ganondorf to stumble as rushed in, sword swinging. The dark lord rolled to his feet but was forced to roll again as Dedede slammed his hammer down onto the place where he once was. He jumped to his feet, and rushed at Dedede. Instead of attacking him with his sword, Ganondorf feinted with his sword, before grabbing Dedede by the coat and dragging him to the ground. Dedede grunted as he hit the ground heavily, but there was no time to think, there was only time to react.

“DORIYAH!”

Dedede blocked the strike with the haft of his hammer, shoving up with all his might against the massive armor cleaving sword that was just inches away from his chest.

“That’s….it….” grunted Dedede. “Y’all in for it now….”

With a mighty effort, he shoved Ganondorf’s sword back, reached into his coat for his last two Gordos, stuffed one into his mouth and chucked the other. Ganondorf, having recovered his footing, batted away the thrown Gordo with ease. Dedede scrambled to his feet, and barely managed to block Ganondorf’s follow up strike, shunting it aside.

“Wizard’s Foot!”

Dedede spat the second Gordo at Ganondorf, but the spike ball was blasted aside by the attack. Dedede grunted in pain as the kick slammed his side, but he managed to headbutt Ganondorf as he tried to swing his sword again. His finger slipped down to a different button as he hissed in pain. This had gone on for long enough.

“WHIRLWIND HAMMER!” boomed Dedede, as his jet hammer roared to life. He began to spin, holding his hammer out, and whirled towards Ganondorf. The dark lord attempted to block the attack, but his sword was knocked clean out of his hands, and he was sent flying, crashing clean through an unfortunate doghouse, the fence behind it, and the shed behind the fence, before finally being stopped by a large tree. A number of dead leaves and acorns rained down from the leafy canopy.

Ganondorf got to his feet, a little slower than he had before. Dedede stared warily, but quickly felt a spike of panic as Ganondorf’s eyes began glowing.

“Well, you’re certainly more of a thorn then I bargained you being. But there’s still no escape for you! HRRRAAAAAAGHHH!”

Ganondorf began glowing as dark magic energy swirled around him. Dedede, realizing that this would take Ganondorf a moment, began deploying a few extra Gordos. As the glowing reached its peak intensity, his shape began to change and expand. As the glowing died down, Dedede gave the giant bipedal pig monster armed with two swords in front of him a wary glare.

“Pig monster? That all you got?” yelled Dedede defiantly.

“All I’ve got?” boomed Ganondorf, brandishing his twin swords. “You’re going to regret those words! Ganon is not so easily defeated!”

Dedede grabbed one of his Gordos, tossed it into his mouth and spat it as hard as he could. It struck Ganon square in the nose. It hardly seemed to phase him. Dedede grit his teeth. That wasn’t good, was it?

He pointed his hammer at Ganondorf, and fired off another barrage of rockets. They exploded on the monster as it advanced on Dedede. It slowed it down Ganon, but only for a moment.

“HAH! Your pitiful hammer does nothing now!” boomed Ganon.

Dedede glanced down at his hammer and pressed a button.

“WHIRLWIND HAMMER!” he shouted, spinning at Ganon with all his might.

Ganon brought his swords up in a guard position and managed to stop the strike with some effort. Undeterred, Dedede gathered his strength into his legs and jumped into the air, high above Ganon’s head, before plummeting down onto his tail, crushing it. Ganon roared in pain as Dedede capitalized on the opening and landed a solid Jet Hammer to the monster’s back sending him a few steps forward.

Ganondorf turned around, swords swinging, almost as if unharmed. Dedede narrowly jumped out of the sword’s range, but was forced to dodge again as Ganon lunged at him. Dedede ducked under one swing and sidestepped another with just millimeters to spare, before jumping into the air, and landing with a heavy thud some distance away. He was going to need to put some distance between himself and this monster.

Dedede quickly pressed a button on his IDD. It was time to use his emergency measure. Thankfully, what he was deploying wasn’t very technical or complicated in nature. Ganon had already turned and was rushing at him again. It was going to be a close thing.

A sphere like object materialized in his hand. As the light cleared, Dedede crushed it in his hand with no hesitation, and the rainbow aura of the Smash Ball washed over him.

Dedede hefted his hammer, and growled, “Y’all in trouble now!”

He reared his hammer back and swung with all his might. Ganondorf crashed into his hammer, sword first, and stopped cold in his tracks.

“Hah! How d’ya like that!”

Dedede sidestepped the followup strike, before landing a powerful swing to Ganon’s face. Ganon staggered back for a moment, as Dedede landed another strike, followed by another, each hit releasing a small shockwave from the force of the he hits. Dedede grinned as Ganon jumped back, his swords in a guard stance. It was on now. Oh, it was on.  

Ganondorf began charging dark energy in his mouth and fired a laser of dark energy at Dedede, who jumped away as Ganon swept his attack in a wide arc. The villain followed it up by cloaking his entire body in dark energy and rushing at Dedede. Dedede rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack, as Ganon plowed through several fences and sheds like they were matchsticks. He grit his teeth. He was gonna have to avoid that attack. Unless….he could overpower it? He was being boosted by the Smash Ball right now after all. This could work after all….

“Come on, big guy!” shouted Dedede. “That all you got? I thought Link said you were strong!”

Ganon turned and roared menacingly, a few windows in the nearby houses shattering from the terrible, screeching howl.

Dedede pressed several buttons as Ganon rushed at him. It was all or nothing now. The hammer’s jet engine revved to life as Ganon cloaked his swords in dark energy as he got nearer. Whatever that was, it was definitely looking to be a strong attack.

“HURRICANE HAMMER!” boomed Dedede as he began spinning at immense speed. As he did, the jet engine flared to life and powered the strike even more.

“DARKNESS RUSH!” roared Ganon as he gathered dark energy around his body and began to charge at Dedede.

A split second later, Dedede’s hammer and Ganon’s swords collided with immense force. Dedede was thrown to the ground from the force of the attack, his hammer sent flying off several meters. He looked up to see Ganon, still on his feet, but having clearly lost his balance. His swords were both stuck in the ground.

Dedede grinned. Maybe his attack had worked?

Suddenly, Ganon pulled his fist back cloaking it in a dark aura. Dedede’s grin quickly fell. That wasn’t good, was it? He tried to scramble to his feet, but Ganon was already on top of him and his fist crashed into him like a runaway freight train.

Dedede was sent flying through the air. He crashed through somebody’s house, obliterating the outer wall, and several interior walls as he went. Dedede rolled over, groaning. His entire body screamed in pain as he tried to pull himself to his feet. He tried to move his left arm, but warning shots of pain ripped through it as he tried. That had to be broken. He looked up to see Ganon go to retrieve his swords. That wasn’t good. If only he could find his hammer, he might have a chance…

He hefted himself to his feet slowly and grabbed a night stand. Without a second of hesitation, he popped it into his mouth. He checked his pocket as he limped through the holes that he’d made from flying through the walls. One more Gordo. He’d have to make it count.

As he made his way outside the house, he saw Ganon wrench one of his swords out of the ground like it was a knife stuck in a watermelon. Dedede blanched. Could he take this guy on even if he was down a sword? He looked around, hoping to see one of his allies, maybe Red, or Meta Knight or Link. But none of them were in sight. He was going to need some backup, and fast. He looked around and spotted his hammer, lying on the ground in the driveway of the neighbor’s house. He shuffled towards it as quickly as he could, cradling his broken arm.

He heard a whistling through the air, and turned his head just in time to see Ganon’s sword hurtling through the air at him. Dedede quickly spat the nightstand out of his mouth as hard as he could. Thankfully, the projectile managed to stop the sword, burying itself into the blade and offsetting its momentum. The sword fell, crashing to the ground, its blade stuck halfway into the nightstand.

Dedede grunted as Ganon ripped his other sword out of the ground and started making a beeline towards him. He was going to need to move fast. Dedede could hear the thunderous footsteps approaching as he neared his hammer. He picked it up with his good hand, pressed the Jet Hammer button, and took a wild swing as Ganon rushed up to him. He managed to bat the incoming sword strike aside, but was left wide open for the follow up punch to the face.

Again, Dedede was sent flying, his hammer knocked out of his grasp and his injured arm exploding with pain as he tumbled across the ground.

Ganon retrieved his other sword as Dedede curled up on the ground, trying not to scream. It wasn’t just his arm, pain radiated throughout his entire body. A few traitorous tears leaked from his eyes. Dedede looked up to see Ganon advance on him, both swords in hand.

“Well, well, well. You certainly pushed me farther then I was expecting. I’ll give you that. But in the end, you were no match.”

Ganondorf raised his sword, ready to strike.

There was a dark flash with a golden streak in front of him as the sword came down. Dedede blinked his eyes. Was that….

“You will not harm his majesty any further!” commanded a steady voice that Dedede knew well.

“Meta Knight?”

The Star Warrior turned.

“Your majesty. I will end this villain here. You have fought valiantly, but please allow us to vanquish this fiend.”

Turning back to Ganon, Meta Knight brandished Galaxia.

Suddenly, a bluish arrow and a reddish arrow shot through the air, accompanied by a separate twinkle. The projectiles struck Ganon in the chest, one exploding with bluish energy and the other with a fireball. Ganon staggered for a moment.

“Dedede? Dedede? Are you all right?” asked another familiar voice. Dedede looked up to see Kirby, his body covered in blue streaks, as he rushed up to him, concern etched all over his face.

“I’m fine Kirby,” grunted Dedede as he tried to pull himself up. He grimaced as he did, his injured arm protesting even the slightest movement as more pain shot through his sides.

“No, you’re not,” said Kirby. “We need to get you out of here.”

“Grab me my hammer,” said Dedede, making more of an effort to get up.

“No!” said Kirby. “You’re hurt badly! What would Meta Knight say if I let you back in the fight? And anyway, Meta and Link and the others have this, right?”

Dedede looked up to see Meta Knight and Link dancing around Ganon’s powerful strikes, while Sheik hurled needles and Deku nuts from a distance and Young Link, now in his Rito form, rained arrows from the sky. Red, Green, and their Pokemon ran up to them.

“How bad is the damage?” asked Green sharply.

“He’s beaten up pretty bad,” said Kirby immediately, before Dedede could say anything.

Green nodded, and pulled out a Pokeball.

“Machamp! I need you to help me get Dedede out of danger! Scizor! Cover us!”

Red nodded and turned to Kirby. “Come on! Let’s go help the others!”

Suddenly, a loud shout was heard from behind them.

“WATCH OUT!” yelled Young Link.

All heads turned to see Ganon charging at them. Red immediately chucked two Pokeballs, and Lax and Pika landed next to Poli.

“Let’s get him! TRIPLE FINISH!” shouted Red. Immediately, Lax fired a Hyper Beam, Poli unleashed a Hydro Pump and Pika shot a Thunder. The three attacks converged into a powerful whitish blue beam, crackling with electricity.

Kirby cupped his hands and gathered bluish energy in his hands.

“Ancient Laser!”

He fired a large bluish beam from his hands, striking Ganon next to where Red’s Pokemon’s attacks were landing. Green narrowed his eyes as Ganon’s charge began to slow, pushing hard against the powerful attacks.

“Machamp! Cover Dedede! Scizor! Use X Scissor!”

Scizor rushed up to Ganondorf and landed a powerful X shaped slash to his belly, eliciting a howl of pain.

“Now! Use Superpower!”

Scizor followed up his attack with a powerful two handed punch against Ganon’s gut.

From behind, Link had drawn his bow and was shooting arrows alongside Young Link, while Sheik continued to pepper the monster with her needles and Meta Knight fired off several sword beams.

As Red and Kirby’s attacks began to die down, Green shouted, “U Turn! Get out of there!”

Scizor rushed up and landed a slash before turning and zipping back to Green. As it did, Link sprang into action.

“Helm Splitter!”

Link vaulted into the air and landed an overhead strike. Sheik was right behind him, but opted to strike low with a powerful slash of her short sword.

“Edge of Midnight!”

The two jumped back as Ganon turned on his heel. The two pointed their Sheikah gauntleted hands at Ganondorf, pulsing with energy.

“Guardian Beam!” they shouted in unison, as two powerful lasers flashed out and struck Ganon square in the face. Ganon was knocked back a step or two, as Young Link, having switched to his Goron form, rushed at him and landed a powerful body slam. Ganon stumbled back, but managed to recover quickly, and landed a powerful kick to Young Link as he charged again, sending him flying through another house.

However, before he could do anything, Meta Knight warped next to him with the Dimensional Cape and landed a quick flurry of slashes. 

“Knightly Barrage!”

Dedede managed a faint smile, despite the pain he was in as Ganon howled in agony. Next to him, Kirby began shooting a storm of lasers from his hands, each one exploding with deadly force. He reached into his pocket and grabbed his last Gordo. He reeled his arm back and hurled it, somewhat awkwardly. Dedede grinned with satisfaction as it struck Ganon straight in the nose.

Ganon swung his swords viciously as Meta Knight rushed in for an attack. The Star Warrior blocked the attacks, but was thrown off balance, and warped away with his dimensional cape before Ganon could follow up.

Ganon swung his tail at Kirby as he circled away from Dedede, still firing lasers. Kirby created a shield around himself, but the tail strike smashed straight through it, and he was sent flying by the force of the hit.

Dedede paused, and then looked around in some confusion. Where were the others? Ganon lowered his arms from his guard position and snapped his head around. He looked like he caught something out of the corner of his eye, but it was too late, as Sheik, Link and Meta Knight suddenly rushed in and plunged their swords deep into Ganon’s sides. The monster let out a ghastly shriek before collapsing and thrashing wildly. Link, Sheik and Meta Knight quickly jumped back as the massive form of Ganon eventually turned black and faded away, leaving Ganondorf in the middle.

The villain pulled himself to his feet, his original sword still in hand. He took a look around at the Smashers surrounding him. He sheathed his sword and began clapping.

“Bravo, Smashers. It is no easy thing to defeat my Monster Ganon form. However, I’m afraid that I must bid you all farewell for the present.”

“And where will you run?” asked Meta Knight, pointing the gleaming tip of Galaxia at Ganondorf.

Ganondorf gave him a bemused smile and snapped his fingers. Instantly, a portal appeared next to him on the ground. He gave a dangerous smile.

“Farewell, Smashers. We will meet again soon.”

With no further delay, he jumped straight through the portal.

Link rushed up to the portal and dove through, just before it closed.

“Green, you get Dedede to safety, I’ll go back up Link!” said Red. “Sheik! Aero! Let’s go!”

Red released his Aerodactyl, and clambered onto its back. As they took off, Aero grabbed Sheik by the shoulders, before soaring off into the distance. Meta Knight quickly made his way into the rubble to find Young Link and Kirby.

Green turned to Dedede as Red and his Pokemon quickly took off in search of Young Link.

“Are you all right?”

Dedede grit his teeth. “Sort of.”

Suddenly Dedede heard rapid footsteps coming towards him.

“Dedede! All right! Is anything broken? Are you bleeding anywhere?” spouted off Kirby.

“My arm’s not doing so hot,” grumbled Dedede. “I’m beat up but I think the rest of me is ok.”

Or at least hopefully that was true. You couldn’t secretly have a broken rib or something that you wouldn’t feel, right? Dedede really hoped that it wasn’t true, he was already in enough pain as it was.

“Kirby, go help Meta Knight. I can get Dedede back to camp by myself,” said Green.

“Got it!” said Kirby, before running off in the direction Meta Knight had gone.

Green turned to his Machamp, recalling Scizor.

“Machamp! Can you carry him?”

Machamp walked over to Dedede, who held up his good arm. Machamp helped Dedede to his feet. Dedede winced as his broken arm protested any sort of movement but managed to stabilize himself on his feet. Machamp put his arm over its shoulder while wrapping two of its other arms around Dedede to support him. Machamp nodded at Green and gave a thumbs up with its free hand.

“Be careful. Let’s get him back to camp without hurting him anymore. I’ll cover you,” said Green, reaching for another Pokeball. “Kabutops! We’re going to cover Machamp and Dedede. Let’s move!”

Some distance away…..

Link rolled out of the portal and looked around him. Ganondorf was only a few feet away, standing just in front of a much larger, swirling portal. The forest was dense here, with the portal he’d just jumped out of sat up against the trunk of a large tree, with the larger portal sitting up against the side of a cliff.

Link lunged forward, but Ganondorf turned and blocked his strike with his own sword.

“Ah, you’re not so easily disposed of, are you, hero?” said Ganondorf.

“No, I’m not,” said Link.

Link jumped back but maintained his fighting stance.

“Hmph. Its why you’ve always been a thorn in my side,” said Ganondorf.

“I think I’ve been a bit more than just a thorn. I’ve foiled your plans before and I’m going to do it again,” said Link.

“You’re out of your league, hero. Even if you defeat me, there are more powerful fighters then just me.”

“Like Ridley?”

“And more. Even some that could defeat your precious Hands. More powerful than even me. You may have numbers, but you don’t stand a chance.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“We will see. Though don’t think for an instant that I’m not going to get my rematch, hero.”

Link glared impassively, his face resolute. “You think you’re going to win? And anyway, since when were you such a team player?”

Ganondorf merely smirked. “Things have changed. And I will soon have my revenge on you, and I will rule Hyrule. Farewell, hero.”

With a wicked grin, Ganondorf stepped through the portal. A moment later, the portal closed.

Link’s grip on his sword relaxed, though he stood there for a few moments, waiting for something to happen. But nothing came, other than the wind gently blowing through the trees.

Link sheathed his weapon and sat down on a nearby rock. Thank goodness there was no trick to the portal. He pulled out his cellphone and checked his connection. He had one bar of reception. Good enough for him. He activated his distress beacon and sighed. Now to wait until Red or Green came to pick him up.

In Crossing Village….

Dedede grimaced as they slowly entered the town hall.  He caught Kirby out of the corner of his eye as the puffball caught up with him, having discarded his powerup.

“Looks like the area’s clear!” said Kirby cheerily. His optimistic mood fell. “You’re not seriously hurt, are you?”

Dedede shook his head with some effort. “Not too bad, I think. It looks worse than it is!”

“He’s beat up, but I don’t think he has any life threatening injuries,” clarified Green. “How’s Young Link?”

“Shaken but he’s not seriously hurt, just bruised. I guess that Goron form of his is just that tough,” said Kirby.

“That’s good then,” said Green.

Kirby glared at Dedede. “It took 8 of us to beat him the last time he tried to take over the world! What were you doing taking him on by yourself? You could have gotten killed!”

Dedede gave him a look. “He attacked me first! And anyway, I was doing just fine until he knocked my hammer away!”

Kirby just sighed. “Don’t do it again, all right?”

Dedede looked away. It had been a pretty close shave.

“All right.”

Several Hours Later…..

Dedede looked at the new cast on his arm wryly. He looked over to where Raddle was writing a few notes on a clip board.

“All right, you are good to go. I want you taking it very easy until you get your doctor to look at your arm, all right?”

“You got it, doc!” said Dedede.

“All right. Also keep me posted on when and where you’re taking our mayor,” said Raddle.

“Will do!” said Dedede as he slowly pulled himself to his feet.

Dedede walked out of the clinic room, his body still aching, but not as bad as it had earlier. Thankfully, it was only his arm that was injured beyond some bad bruises and scrapes from crashing through the houses. He paused a moment by Vaugn’s bed. He looked a bit better, but his pallid complexion, several casts and heavy bandaging didn’t lie. Dedede put his good hand on the footrest of the bed and shook it a little.

“You’re gonna make it, little buddy. I know ya will,” said Dedede.

He shuffled through the hallway, and into the waiting room, where the other Smashers were sitting. Kirby immediately tossed him an apple. Dedede caught it with a grin and stuffed it in his mouth whole. It must have been locally grown, as Dedede could taste the freshness.

“Are you all right?” asked Meta Knight.

“Doc got my arm casted. I’ll have Skylark look at it next time we see her. I’m supposed to take it easy until then,” said Dedede.

Link nodded. “That was a brave but reckless move there, Dedede,” he said. “There aren’t many people to have taken on Ganondorf in a one-on-one fight and lived to tell about it.”

“Well, thanks to you fellas, I’m one of them!” said Dedede. He paused for a moment. “But in all seriousness, thanks. That was one heck of a fight. I had him matched even until he went into that monster form, and things didn’t go so well after that. You were all right on time.”

“You need to be more careful, your majesty,” said Meta Knight. “Things might not have gone so well if I had been a little further away.”

“I know,” said Dedede. “Like I said, he went for me.”

“You should have called us in, your majesty. While I know Ganondorf likes to single out targets, you should have tried to signal for help in some way,” said Meta Knight.

“The fight went much better when we were all there,” said Link.

Dedede sighed but didn’t say anything. They were probably right.

Kirby pat him on the back. “I’m just glad you made it! You’ll have to tell us about the fight, I wonder if Ganondorf has picked up any new tricks.”

“Sure thing, Kirbs! But over something to eat, though,” said Dedede. “I’m starving!”

He paused for a moment. “By the way, y’all grabbed my hammer before we got on the train?”

Olimar nodded. “Yes, we did. Me and my pikmen personally escorted it aboard.”

Dedede gave him a thumbs up. “Thanks, pal. Also, we checked that Ganondorf had bailed for good, right?”

Link nodded. “Ganondorf closed the portal. I saw him do it. He’s gone.”

“And the R-47 signal disappeared as we closed in on their location,” said Red. “I had to use Link’s emergency beacon to find him.”

Dedede nodded. “Anything else I should know?”

“We’re gonna wait here till we hear from the other teams,” said Red. “Hopefully their missions are going smoothly.”

Dedede nodded. “Sounds good to me!”

He looked around at his fellow Smashers and grinned.

“Now let’s go get that grub, eh?”

Chapter Text

Fox Mc Cloud

Threat Level: 3

Fox Mc Cloud is an ace pilot hailing from Corneria in the Lylat System. Formerly the leader of the currently disbanded but legendary Star Fox team, and son of Star Fox’s original founder, James Mc Cloud, Fox is one of the most dangerous pilots alive, and a formidable ground combatant. We will start with Fox’s spacecraft, a customized Arwing. The Arwing is a very fast fighter that balances dogfighting with moderately heavy firepower on a razor thin edge. The design is highly versatile and customizable, making each Arwing pilot’s dogfighting and flight style unique to them. Fox’s appears to have been fitted with heavy blasters, moderate shielding and Smart Bomb launchers while maintaining a high level of speed. While on the topic of spacecraft, I would also like to mention that Fox also pilots his home ship, the Great Fox. It is a destroyer class spacecraft armed with heavy cannons and at least moderate shielding. It has a hangar bay from which Arwings and other small craft can land, and previously served as the mobile headquarters of Team Star Fox. It can also accommodate a large number of people for transport purposes. While Fox has not been seen frequently piloting the Great Fox in battle, it packs sufficient firepower to be a significant threat should it be brought into play. I would also like to mention Fox’s tank, the Landmaster. It is a fairly standard Cornerian design tank with heavy armor, thrusters for aerial movement, and a heavy cannon, and seems to be deployed from the Great Fox itself. While Fox doesn’t bring his tank out often, it is worth mentioning as its still at his disposal. On the ground, Fox is a prolific hand to hand combatant. He is very quick on his feet and specializes in fast attacks. He is also known for wielding a number of firearms, including blaster pistols, blaster rifles, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, and plasma cannons. He is also armed with grenades and reflectors. Finally, Fox appears to have some limited use of pyrokinesis, as seen in his Fire Fox attack and various variants. The exact nature of the power is not well defined as Fox uses it so rarely, however, it is worth knowing that Fox can and has used it in battle. 

To defeat Fox, one must consider what craft he’s in. Unfortunately, I’m not well versed in dogfighting, so it’s difficult to offer any advice other than to be careful as Fox is one of the most legendary dogfighters of our time. If he’s in his home ship, I recommend pressing him aggressively. The Great Fox was his home for many years, and due to the fact that he doesn’t bring the ship into battle frequently, I would assume that its primary purpose is not combat. Pressing him aggressively may force him to make a mistake, especially as he’s used to piloting the much faster Arwing. As for handling the Landmaster, I would recommend focusing on disabling the treads and thrusters or the cannon to limit either Fox’s mobility or his damage output. Finally, I would like to address Fox by himself on the ground. Fox is a nimble and versatile opponent in this regard, but he lacks anything truly heavyweight in the power department. While his Fire Fox abilities do appear to hit hard, it’s not on the level of other Smashers. I would recommend having a fighter who can take hits but is fast enough to keep up with Fox’s speed. Lastly, I would like to mention that Fox is most dangerous when in the cockpit of his Arwing, and least dangerous when on foot. See if you can clip Fox’s wings first and then defeat him when he’s at his weakest.

Act 8: Fox

Chapter 1: Skyline

Fox took a large gulp of coffee from his gallon sized thermos as the Great Fox entered the orbit of Corneria. Things had sounded bad when General Pepper called, but they’d be on the ground soon.

He scanned the horizon. That was strange. Where was the Cornerian Navy? There was no way that they would be lax in the face of a situation like this.

 A call rang from the Great Fox’s radio. Fox picked up.

“Mc Cloud?”

“General Pepper, we’ve arrived. Where should we land?”

“Corneria City,” General Pepper sighed. “Be careful, this whole thing’s been a disaster!”

“What happened?” asked Fox.

“We’ve lost most of the city,” said General Pepper. “We were fighting Eggman’s robots fairly well, but they pushed with a second wave and totally overran our positions. All that’s left is a safe zone around the downtown district that’s about 2 kilometers in radius.”

“Overrun? I thought you said that they were only at the outskirts!”

“The second wave was massive! We destroyed many of them as we retreated but they just kept coming!”

“Well, what about the navy?” asked Fox.

General Pepper sighed. “We can’t even bring in our ships because of that infernal EMP cannon that took out half of our navy!”

“EMP cannon?” asked Fox.

“Yes! He’s got an EMP cannon on the ground! Eggman somehow deployed one in the city! It took us totally by surprise! Thankfully, the disabled ships have already drifted to the other side of the planet. We’re working on evacuating them, but we haven’t been able to provide any air support. I would recommend leaving your ship in orbit around the moon – it seems to be out of the range of the cannon!”

“Duly noted, General Pepper. Thanks for the heads up!”

“No problem. Some rescue you’d be if you got EMPed as well.”

Fox just chuckled as he began pressing buttons on the control panel of the Great Fox. The thrusters roared to life as the Great Fox prepared to move.

“So, where was Eggman attacking from?” Fox asked as the Great Fox moved out of orbit of the planet.

“They seemed to be coming from the Caves of Refuge!”

“The Caves of Refuge? They came from the Caves of Refuge!?” said Fox in surprise. “Where are the civilians?”

“They’re within the safe zone. Colonel Baker tells me that it’s total chaos! Most of them are in Sunrise Hospital and Starfarer Spaceport. The remaining soldiers and police officers are stationed in defensive positions around the perimeter. They’ve set up a barricade on the ground but they’ve had to leave some entrances open to let in stragglers that got caught behind enemy lines.”

“All right. So, you need us on the ground?”

“Yes, that’s correct. We need you to meet up with Colonel Baker on the ground and help him out! You’ll be able to find him at Corneria General Hospital! First, I need you to help our soldiers to secure the perimeter – they’re setting up a dome shield over the safe zone as we speak. You also need to destroy the EMP cannon and drive Eggman back. The Navy is preparing a counterattack that will launch as soon as that cannon goes down.”

“Solid copy. We’ll be down there in a jiffy!  You know our frequency if you need to get ahold of us. Fox out!”

“Rodger that. General Pepper out!”

The comms cut. Thankfully, they had reached the orbit of the moon by this time. Fox pressed a few buttons, activating the Great Fox’s security measures, before rising from his chair, coffee thermos in hand, and walking swiftly down the hallway.

As he made his way into the hangar, he saw the others waiting for him. Samus stood up from the crate she was sitting on, still in her Zero Suit.

“You heard our conversation?” asked Fox.

“Yeah,” said Samus. “No air support till we take down that cannon.”

“Guess we figured out where that Sky Buster that went missing after the Battle of New Toronto went,” said Cordelia.

“You think so?” asked Scrapper.

“How else would something that big that just disappear from the battlefield? I mean, it’s nearly as tall as a ten-story building,” said Cordelia.

“I mean, I guess that if they put a portal wide enough underneath it, they could have taken it,” said Scrapper. “I guess it makes sense… We weren’t looking for Subspace Portals too… I’m also assuming that’s how Eggman got his robots here.”

“Only way he could attack out of the Caves of Refuge,” said Falco. “There’s only one way in and one way out by design.”

“And all of the security is made to keep things out. If you used a portal to get in, you could take out the security from the inside, and keep everybody away from your portal,” said Fox.  “It’s a nasty trick, the Caves are supposed to be the place where civilians go during times of crisis. But first, we need to get to the ground. Scrapper, you’re not that familiar with Corneria City, right?” said Fox.

Scrapper nodded.  “Yeah. I’ve only been to Corneria City a few times before.”

“All right. You’ll follow Falco and I to the ground. You think you’ll be ok dodging that EMP cannon?”

“Yeah. The Grey Army actually made those EMP cannons to use against us Sky Rangers. My ship has a magnetic field generator as an EMP countermeasure. I’ll be able to eat a few EMP shots, I should be all right,” said Scrapper.

Fox nodded. “Sounds like a plan then. Samus, are you taking your own ship or are you flying with everybody else with Scrapper?”

“I’ll take my own,” said Samus.

“So where are we landing?” asked Scrapper.

“I think we land on the hospital helipads,” said Fox. “We’ll be a cramped for space anywhere else.”

“Who’s going for the EMP cannon?” asked Samus. “We won’t have any backup until that thing goes down.”

“We’ll figure that out after we talk to the colonel. Right now, we just need to get down there and start destroying those Egg Bots for the moment,” said Fox.

“Heh, those Egg Bots won’t stand a chance!” said Falco confidently.

“They got pushed back pretty far,” said Cordelia. “I guess it’s up to us to turn the tides.”

“Yeah! We’re going to destroy Eggman!” said Sonic confidently.

“All right, everybody ready? Falcon? Blue? Indigo?” asked Fox.

“We’re ready,” said Captain Falcon. “Time for them to show us their moves!”

“Get me to something I can hack, and we’ll turn this battle around,” said Indigo.

“Let’s get them!” said Blue.

“All right, Let’s get down there. For Corneria!” shouted Fox, fist raised in the air.

“For Corneria!” shouted the Smashers in unison.

Fox sauntered up to his Arwing, and jumped into the cockpit as the other Smashers went to their respective spacecraft. He put on his headset and turned it on. He turned to see Falco affix his headset and begin warming up his engines.

He turned on the comms. “Testing, 1,2,3.”

“Yeah, yeah, we hear ya,” said Falco.

“You’re clear,” said Samus.

“Come again?” said Blue. “Was that Fox McCloud counting from 1 to 3? I know! I’ll copy this audio file and sell it to F Zero fans on Galaxy Trade! I’ll be rich!”

“Can we get some more quotes, Fox?” said Indigo, “We’d like to build a bigger variety of stock.”

Falco just chuckled.

Fox rolled his eyes. “Anyway, thrusters are live. Let’s go!”

He pulled a lever in his cockpit, and he rocketed out of the hanger. He glanced back to see Falco close behind him on the right and Samus close to his left. He glanced behind him to see Scrapper’s dropship taking off the hangar floor and making its way into space at a much more sluggish speed.

Fox activated his boost thrusters and shot off towards Corneria. Towards the battle. Towards his home.

It was about twenty minutes before they were in atmosphere. Fox, Falco and Samus had to slow their flight speed significantly so that Scrapper’s much slower craft could keep pace. Arwings were fast and made for dogfighting, and Samus’s Chozo ship was no slouch in terms of speed either. In contrast, Scrapper’s Steel Eagle was a hybrid of a bomber, rescue helicopter and transport. Then again, that was right up Sky Ranger ship design doctrine. Heavy shields, heavy guns, lots of versatility. Were Sky Rangers crazy enough to dogfight in those ships? Yes they were, they even outfitted their ships with the right weaponry to do so. Did Fox like the idea of dogfighting in a ship that slow? No, he did not. No sane Cornerian flight instructor would ever recommend dogfighting in a Sky Ranger Steel Eagle, much less arwing ace Fox McCloud. And that was before Falco started throwing his two cents in. Well more like his twenty dollars considering how much he liked to talk.  

As they swooped downward, they were able to see some of the chaos unfolding on the ground. They could see fires around the city, and almost all of the skyscrapers had sustained some visible damage. Cars were visible on the ground, but were most likely abandoned, and in some areas, flashes of laser fire could be seen.

“Looks like the fight’s been going on for a while,” observed Scrapper grimly.

“Watch it! There’s the cannon and it’s pointed at us!” shouted Samus.

Fox slammed on his thrusters, rocketing forward with Samus and Falco.

He glanced to the side to see a massive cannon on the ground, pointing up towards them. A large translucent blue shot was coming at them from the cannon. While Fox, Falco, and Samus cleared the radius of the shot, Scrapper was hit straight on.

“Scrapper, what’s your status?” said Fox.

“Electromagnet at 35% but recharging!” said Scrapper, as his mic crackled. “I’d really rather not have to take another one!”

 “Copy. Let’s go close to the ground, maybe we can get lower than its range,” said Fox.

“Rodger that!”

However, as they began to decrease in altitude, the cannon fired again, catching Scrapper’s ship once again in the radius.

“15%!” shouted Scrapper. “I’m gonna nosedive and fly low, I can’t take another one!”

“Copy that,” said Fox.

“Fox, you think we can just take the cannon out right now?” asked Falco.

“Let’s give it a shot!” said Fox. “Samus, can you cover Scrapper and make sure he gets to the hospital landing pad?”

“Yeah, just take out that cannon!” said Samus.

“Copy that!”

Fox steered his ship to the side, turning to face the cannon head on.

“All right Falco, remember….”

“Yeah, yeah, we can’t get hit, I know! Come on! Start aiming, we’ll be in range soon!”

Fox lined up the targeting reticle on his dashboard and held his thumb over the trigger. Suddenly, he noticed the sides of the cannon glowing.

“IT’S FIRING, ROLL NOW!”

Immediately, he slammed on his control stick, and not a moment too soon as he veered sharply out of the radius of the translucent EMP blast.

“Falco! Status!”

“I’m all right!”

“Good! 10 seconds till we’re in range!”

Fox paused for a moment and took a deep breath before lining up his reticle again. As he did, the cannon turned slightly.

“He’s aiming at me! I’ll draw his attention, blast him in the back when he does!” said Falco.

“Copy,” said Fox.

Falco quickly rocketed upwards as the cannon fired, missing him by a mile. Fox grinned. Time to take this thing down.

His thumb slammed on the trigger, and the laser cannons of his Arwing roared to life. His trigger finger squeezed on another button, shooting off several Smart Bombs. He whizzed past the cannon at top speed.

“Dude! That did nothing!” shouted Falco.

“What!?”

Fox circled around to see that the cannon was covered in a flared energy shield, glowing defiantly at him, before fading, having fully recharged.

“We’re gonna have to blast it together,” said Fox. “I don’t think I have enough firepower by myself to take out that shield.”

“We can try but I don’t think we’re gonna cut it by ourselves,” said Falco.

“We’re already here, let’s give it a shot,” said Fox.

“All right,” said Falco. “Here, I’ll call it. Get yourself turned around.”

Fox looped around and began approaching again. This time the cannon was pointed at him.

“Gotta bail!” shouted Fox.

“Dangit! All right, draw his fire, I’ll blast him,” said Falco.

Fox rocketed down low as the EMP shot went above him, a little close for comfort, the shot warbling as it passed him.

Fox heard explosions and looked over to see the shield flared, but unbroken.

“Yeah, it’s not doing all that much. We’re gonna have to do some fancy flying if we want to attack at the same time,” said Fox.

“Do a barrel roll?” asked Falco.

Fox sighed as Falco chuckled. “Dude, stop giving me Peppy flashbacks.”

“No can do, young whippersnapper!” said Falco, mimicking Peppy’s voice.

Fox rolled his eyes and veered his craft around to face the cannon again. It turned as they did, trying to keep the barrel of the cannon pointed towards them. Falco pulled his arwing up so that he was flying parallel to Fox.

“All right, I go left, you go right when it fires, and then we give it to him,” said Fox.

“Fine by me!” said Falco.

Fox narrowed his eyes as the cannon began to charge.

“ROLL! NOW!”

The two immediately rolled to the side, narrowly missing the blast. Fox steadied his craft, readied his trigger finger and grit his teeth.

“LET ‘EM HAVE IT!”

Both he and Falco unleashed a heavy barrage of lasers and Smart Bombs as the approached the cannon, before whizzing past it.

Fox immediately whipped his head around.

“Oh you gotta be KIDDING me!” groused Falco.

Fox shook his head as he saw the shield flared, glowing brightly from their bombing run, but decidedly unbroken.

“It’s no good! We’re gonna need some heavier firepower!”

“You don’t say, Sherlock! Let’s get out of here!”

“Copy that, let’s go catch up with Samus and Scrapper!”

Fox quickly looped his craft around and took off towards the downtown city.

He checked over his shoulder, and not a moment too soon as the cannon began to fire its shot again. He quickly veered down, avoiding the incoming EMP blast, watching as the shot continued for some distance above the city before disintegrating. Fox shook his head. That was a dangerous cannon.

A few minutes later, Fox and Falco were flying low and out of sight of the cannon over the heart of downtown Corneria City. Fox spotted the hospital as they passed several tall skyscrapers.

“Over there!” he said. 

“I know where the hospital is,” said Falco.

“How would you know? The great Falco Lombardi never gets hurt, right?” joked Fox.

“Hey, sometimes I have to take my friends there, you know, when they get hurt,” said Falco with a grin.

Fox rolled his eyes. “Of course, of course.”

The two swooped over one of the empty landing pads, and landed their Arwings. Scrapper, Samus and the others were standing on the landing pads next to Scrapper’s and Samus’s ships, waiting for them.

Fox leapt out of his cockpit and walked up to his fellow Smashers.

“How’d it go?” asked Scrapper.

“It’s got a shield and a heavy duty one too. We didn’t have the firepower on our Arwings to take it out,” said Fox. “The cannon is still standing.”

“I see,” said Scrapper. “Are we going to attempt an aerial assault again later?”

“Bad idea,” said Falco, walking up behind Fox. “You and Samus are gonna get toasted if we try to attack that thing head on. It’s faster than it looks.”

“We’ll need to do a ground assault then,” said Samus.

“Looks like it,” said Fox. “Anyway, let’s get downstairs. See if we can find the Colonel and figure out what’s going on.”

As they walked towards the access door to the roof, Scrapper tapped the side of his helmet and a large hardlight dome extended to cover his dropship, Samus’s ship and Fox and Falco’s Arwings.

“Security covered,” said Scrapper. “Nobody is stealing our fighters!”

A group of soldiers rushed out of one of the doors at the top of the roof, guns at the ready.

“Whoa, whoa! We’re friendly! Friendly!” shouted Fox, waving his arms.

“Hey! It’s the Smashers! We’re saved!” shouted one of the soldiers.

“The Smashers are here?” shouted another one, from the back of the squad.

“We’re gonna make it!” shouted another.

One of the soldiers walked up to the Smashers. “Glad you’re here, sir. Welcome to Corneria City, for whatever it’s worth.”

Fox grinned. “Thanks. Can I speak with the Colonel?”

“Yes sir! Right this way!” said the trooper.

The Smashers followed the soldiers into the top floor of the hospital and down several flights of stairs. Judging by the smoke coming out of the elevator shaft, it was probably damaged. Which meant they had to take the stairs.

20 flights of stairs later, they made their way down to the ground floor and out into the main atrium.

Falco let out a sigh of relief. “Man, I hate impromptu leg day!”

“I know, right?” said Fox. “Seriously, we should have landed on the ground!”

As the Smashers and soldiers let out a chuckle, Fox scanned their surroundings.

They were in the lobby at the base of the hospital. It was abuzz with activity, as doctors and nurses milled around soldiers and police officers. Everybody was in a hurry, and the general noise echoed off of the domed roof of the lobby, making it seem even louder. The crowd parted near the front door as a small platoon of soldiers came in, carrying three wounded with them. Almost immediately, nurses with stretchers moved to meet them. The wounded soldiers were quickly put onto the stretchers and were rolled off for treatment. Dozens of soldiers and police officers sat at the sides of the atrium, leaning up against the walls and occupying every available chair and bench. Many looked utterly exhausted, some with minor and moderate injuries. Most looked to be laser wounds. 

Fox narrowed his eyes. He didn’t see any civilians around. They must have been moved to a different location, probably the starport. A few nurses rushed in front of them, not even noticing their presence as the soldiers that had met them on the roof scanned the room, looking for the Colonel.

“Oh, there he is!” said one of the soldiers. “He’s at the front desk! Here, follow us!”

The soldiers led Fox and the other Smashers through the crowd. As they walked, the medical, military and law enforcement personnel alike stepped aside to let them through. Fox could feel their stares boring into his back. He’d saved Corneria on multiple occasions before. And now, they were all counting on him to do it again. No pressure.

Eventually, they reached the front desk, where an older soldier stood, as well an important looking police officer.

“Colonel Baker! Chief Packwood! The Smashers have arrived!” said the soldier.

The two turned to Fox.

“Mc Cloud! Glad you finally showed up!” said Colonel Baker.

“Glad that we could make it! What’s our situation?” asked Fox.

“We’re currently holding an area roughly 2 kilometers in radius. We have squads of solders holding the perimeter, as well as our shield base supports. The enemy has made three assaults on our positions, but we’ve been able to repel them so far. Of course, once we’ve secured the area, we’ll have to destroy that blasted EMP cannon so that General Pepper to get reinforcements to us.” said Colonel Baker. “But for now, we need to get the shield up. Can you help us?”

“Of course we can. That’s why we’re here,” said Fox. “Where are the shield bases being set up?”

“We have three gaps in the barricade on major roads. We can’t close them right now for a few reasons. First of all, we still have a few groups of stragglers trying to get in. Secondly, we’re setting up the shield bases just behind the perimeter so we can cover as much ground as possible, and you know how much space those things take up,” said Chief Packwood.

“All right, we’ll reinforce your soldiers at the barricades. Can you show us a map of where they are?” said Fox.

“Yes. Come over here please,” said the colonel.

The Smashers followed Colonel Baker and Chief Packwood to a map on the side of the receptionist desk. They all crowded around to see the map. A large red semicircle was drawn around the area, surrounded by dense city on three sides, and a river bordering the back. All of the streets where the shield bases were being placed were marked with red ink.

“Eggman’s having a hard time getting over the river, eh?” said Falco.

“Yes, it’s the place we’ve been holding most successfully. We have soldiers in some of the skyscrapers to keep them back,” said Chief Packwood. “They’ve been dealing with mostly flying enemies, but Eggman can’t get his ground forces over the river, for the moment.”

Chief Packwood pointed to different points on the map. “We have three entrances marked here in blue, one to the west, one to the south and one to the north.”

“It looks like the north street has more shops and apartments. That means lower buildings. I’ll go there,” said Cordelia, pointing to one of the entrances.

“I’ll go with you. Gonna need somebody to hold the line while you go flipping around,” joked Captain Falcon.

Cordelia rolled her eyes good naturedly. “Oh please. And you do less of that?”

Scrapper shrugged. “Won’t matter, I’ll cover you guys.”

Cordelia gave a thumbs up. “Good old Scrapper.”

Samus looked at the map intently.

“I think I would benefit from the open plaza in front of the south barricade. Would anybody like to go with me?”

“We’ll go!” said Blue.

“Yeah,” said Indigo. “There should be a lot of cameras and stuff there for Dux to hack.”

“Which leaves the west barricade. I guess it’s gonna be Falco, Sonic, and me,” said Fox.

“Fine by me,” said Falco cooly.

“Yeah, no problem, let’s get to the fight already!” said Sonic.

Fox checked his eye piece. “Ok, let’s get moving. I’ve just sent you all what info we have on Eggman’s robots, so use that if you need it.”

Colonel Baker nodded. “Thank you, I’ll let the soldiers there know that you’re coming.  Good luck out there, Smashers.”

A few minutes later….

Cordelia rocketed through the air in her powersuit, propelled by her jetpack over the street as Captain Falcon jogged in between the empty cars left behind from the general evacuation. Scrapper followed them, also flying with his powersuit’s jetpack.

They were almost there, according to the map Fox had sent them, where it sat on the top right of her visor’s HUD. The setting sun glared off to the left, lighting up the mirrors and windows of the cars. It was unsettling. It reminded Cordelia too much of the City of Glass. The government of Cygnus Prime had collapsed shortly after the Windrunners had escaped the planet, and things had devolved into brutal faction vs faction fighting. Not even the crown jewel of the planet, the City of Glass was safe.

When she’d returned on a salvage mission with the rest of Timberwolf Squad after the Horizon Civil War, she’d been irked by the state of the abandoned city. There was nothing left but the wind, whistling through the alleys. Destroyed tanks sat in front of shops that sold articles of high fashion once upon a time, and restaurants that served only the most elite of the elite sat vacant and overgrown, partially reclaimed by nature, the walls riddled with bulletholes. It was unbelievably eerie. She’d once known this city like the back of her hand. Now it seemed alien to her. Something like that couldn’t happen to Corneria City. She wouldn’t let it happen.

“There it is!” said Falcon. Sure enough, there was a cleared-out area with dozens of soldiers manning various spots behind a wall of military vehicles, reinforced with concrete traffic barricades and sandbags.

Cordelia deactivated her jetpack and came to a running stop as some of the soldiers turned around.

“Hey! The Smashers are here!” shouted one of them.

Captain Falcon and Scrapper came to running stops behind her as she looked around.

“What’s the situation?” she asked.

“Get up here!” shouted a sergeant who was manning the barricade. “Another group of those clankers just rounded the corner. We need you right here, right now!”

Cordelia grabbed her assault rifle off of the magnetic plate on her back, and she jogged up to the barricade with Falcon, who had drawn his blaster pistol and taken cover behind one of the vehicles. Scrapper quickly ran up to a spot of the barricade where two concrete barricades had been shoved together and settled his DMR in the divot between the two. Cordelia poked her head out as the Egg Bots rounded the corner. She flicked the safety off and aimed down the sight of her rifle. Time to take those Egg Bots down.

Blue sat behind Samus on Indigo’s Staraptor as the three whizzed through the air. She glanced down at Indigo, who was being carried in the talons of his Pokémon. The wind blew through her hair, her hat stuffed into her bag as it usually was when she was flying. Blue glanced down at her Pokeballs. Blasty nodded back at her, ready to fight. Jiggly also puffed up, a determined look on her face. Nidory shifted with agitation, and Clefy looked like she was stretching, preparing for action. Granbull seemed to be napping, but when the pokemon cracked her eye open, it was clear that she was psyching herself up for a battle. Ditty, who was transformed into a bracelet around her wrist, shifted ever so slightly. Blue smiled at her Ditto. She was going to need all of them the upcoming fight.

“There we are! Up ahead!” shouted Indigo over the wind. “Striker! Land us behind the barricade!”

Striker cawed and began to descend in the air. As they drew closer, Blue narrowed her eyes. It looked like the soldiers were already fighting robots. There were a mix of robots armed with arm blasters and others armed with swords and shields. She glanced at the info that Fox had sent earlier on her Pokedex. It looked like these robots were called Egg Fighters. Real original name.

As they drew closer to the ground, the Egg Fighters started to notice them and began shooting. It looked like this was going to be a hot landing.

“Striker! Use Hyper Beam now!” yelled Indigo. Striker charged a ball of energy in its beak before firing it as a laser to devastating effect on the robots assaulting the barricade.

“Get us to the ground! Quick!”

Striker quickly swooped towards the ground, pulling up just in time to let Indigo get his feet underneath himself and jump out of the way of the large bird’s landing spot.

Blue jumped off of his back with Samus, who was already aiming down her arm cannon and firing at the robots through one of the gaps in the barricade.

“The Smashers are here! The Smashers are here! We’re saved!” shouted one of the soldiers.

Well, Blue wasn’t about to argue with him, that was for sure. Blue grabbed a pokeball as the shots began to whiz past her and scrambled for cover.

“Granbull! Let’s go!”

Fox and Falco moved quickly through the abandoned streets. Sonic had gone up ahead of them, being the speedster he was.

“Never thought I’d see Corneria like this,” said Falco.  “All of those fancy downtown buildings, just trashed. Like look at them!”

“Yeah,” agreed Fox. “Really puts things into perspective.”

“How’s that?” asked Falco.

“Just imagine how much money got put into building all of these skyscrapers.”

Falco’s eyebrows rose. “Gah! Didn’t even think about that. Crud, I don’t want to think about it either! It’s gonna cost these guys a fortune just to replace all the windows on one of these buildings, let alone everything else!”

Fox rolled his eyes. “Insurance companies are gonna be bleeding money from this one for months, that’s for sure.”

“So wait, by stopping Eggman, we’re helping the insurance companies by preventing more damage!?” said Falco, surprised.

“Uh…I think so?” said Fox. “Actually wait, no, we aren’t. I think there’s some sort of catastrophe law thing so that they don’t go under from paying out insane amounts of money. So, I think they’re gonna be fine.”

“Yeesh. Still, we’re helping all the corporate fat cats who own all these buildings. That’s still a really strange thought. I wonder if some of them will have to declare bankruptcy from having to cover all this damage?”

Fox shrugged. “Eh, they’ll probably be fine, right? Maybe? I dunno, I’m no real estate mogul.”

“Yeah, me neither. Still, I think they’ll be forgoing a new yacht or two to cover all this damage, eh?”

“Probably,” said Fox. “Not my problem though.”

Falco just laughed. “Definitely not mine either.”

Suddenly a blue blur whizzed through the cars ahead of them and stopped in front of them, revealing Sonic.

“Hey, what’s taking you guys so long? I just beat an entire battalion of Egg Bots by myself! Chop chop, slackers!”

Falco rolled his eyes. “Listen twinkle toes, we’re getting there as fast as we can! We’re not quite as fast when we’re outside of our Arwings!”

“We’re pretty close, aren’t we?” asked Fox.

“Yeah, the shield base is just around the corner up ahead. But seriously, hurry up! Who knows when Eggman’s gonna try to make another push! Come on!”

And with that, Sonic zipped away.

“Guess we’d better get up there, eh?” said Falco.

“Hold on a sec, need to take a coffee break,” said Fox, taking a gulp of coffee from his thermos as they walked.

Falco rolled his eyes. “Lazy bum.”

Chapter Text

Falco Lombardi

Threat Level: 3

Falco Lombardi is an ace pilot from the Lylat System, and a former member of Star Fox. I’ll be completely honest, Falco is a very similar fighter to Fox, apparently having been a friend of Fox’s since before the reformation of Team Star Fox.

That aside, there are a few notable differences that make Falco a unique fighter of his own. First of all is Falco’s Arwing and his piloting style. While Fox’s arwing is a more well-rounded fighter, Falco’s Arwing appears to be equipped with more movement-based modifications, making Falco a very slippery target in the sky and a frightening dogfighter. As there does not appear to be any visual sacrifices in Falco’s offensive arsenal, which appears to be identical to that of Fox, I can only assume that his Arwing’s mobility comes at the cost of extra shielding. As a pilot, Falco is considered an ace pilot and known to be aggressive in dogfights. In terms of other vehicles, Falco has also been seen piloting Landmasters on the ground, but with less frequency than Fox. On the ground is where the majority of the differences between Fox and Falco lie. While Falco’s loadout is very similar to Fox’s there are two notable differences. The first is small but of somewhat significant importance, that being Falco’s preference for dual wielding pistols instead of wielding just one. The other is that his hand to hand combat style is completely different from Fox’s. Falco appears to have trained in more specialized Cornerian martial arts styles, including Hawk Fist, which is famed for its focus on striking the enemy while the practitioner is jumping in the air. Falco combines this with elements of Cornerian street fighting styles, making him a flashy, but wildly unpredictable and brutally effective hand to hand fighter.

While Falco is indeed a dangerous adversary, he is not unbeatable. First of all, most of what goes for Fox can also be applied to Falco, those being a lack of overall power, and being the least dangerous outside of his vehicles. One thing that is unique to Falco is that he is likely unable to take as many shots while in his Arwing as Fox, which may be a significant factor, assuming that one can land a shot on him. Additionally, I would like to also bring up Falco’s ego. Falco has a long track record of making egotistical comments and generally carries himself with an air of superiority. As such, a cunning opponent should be able to take advantage of this. Whatever you do, try to catch Falco outside of his vehicles, and see if you can take him out before he says anything really stupid.

Act 8: Fox

Chapter 2: Traffic Jam

At the north barricade....

Cordelia slapped a fresh energy cell into her assault rifle, back to the barricade as laser fire whizzed above her head. Thankfully, there were no groups of survivors expected at their location as the evacuation efforts had been successful in their sector. They just needed to hold out until the shield base was fully deployed. Not that the robots were making that easy. Next to her, Captain Falcon ducked under the barricade.

“We’re not making any progress!” he said with frustration. “We need to get out there and actually start fighting them!”

“You got a plan?” asked Cordelia.

“I need a distraction,” said Captain Falcon.

“You’re just gonna charge out there and punch them all in the face?” she asked.

“What, and you’re going to just keep hiding behind the barricade?”

“Hey! If it’s a distraction you need, I can cover you in a minute!” said Scrapper over the radio. “Just gotta warm up the computer on this this thing and then I can get out there and help you!”

Cordelia glanced through a small peek hole in the barricade. She could see another large group of robots behind the group of Egg bots they were fighting. The robots were getting reinforcements. That was just great.

Cordelia turned her attention to the shield base again. Scrapper and a few soldiers were huddled behind whatever cover the base provided. One of the soldiers was shot in the leg and fell to the ground with a cry of pain. One of his fellows dragged him out of the crossfire. Falcon was right. They needed to do something. She looked at the buildings around her, scrutinizing her surroundings.

 “Hold on a sec, I’m going to see if I can flank them. Scrapper, you get in position and line up some holograms for Falcon’s distraction.”

“Rodger that. Standby for my ready,” said Scrapper.

Cordelia absorbed her assault rifle back into her IDD, deployed her machine pistols and holstered them on the magnetic plates on her legs. She then deployed a grenade into her hand.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Scrapper duck out from behind the shield base and sprint across the road. A few shots followed him as he ran, but none of them hit. His jetpack flared to life as he reached the corner of the building. He rocketed to the top and pulled his Sniper Rifle out from the magnetic plate on his back. He quickly deployed a handful of Firefly drones from his IDD and sent them out, activating the drone’s cloaking as they flew off.

After a moment, Scrapper’s voice crackled over the radio. “Drones in position. On your go, Cordie.”

Cordelia turned to one of the soldiers next to her, a grizzled sergeant who was charged with manning the barricade.

“We’re going to try something, heads up. Don’t shoot us in the back.”

“All right, make it quick,” he said.

There was a shout of surprise, turning Cordelia’s attention back to the scene in front of her. A mega gunner Egg Bot had rounded the corner. It lumbered forward, nearly three stories tall. It began charging energy in its cannon.

“Go after them after I move,” said Cordelia over the radio. “This should be your chance, Falcon. Be ready.”

 “Copy that!” said Falcon.

Cordelia aimed the left arm of her powersuit at one of the buildings outside of the barricade and fired a glowing shot from a her forearm mounted portal gun. It hit the pillar of one of the nearby buildings, and opened into a large, glowing oval some distance up off the ground. Cordelia took a deep breath. She’d have to be quick about this. She fired another glowing oval at the ground next to her. The next second, the portal opened, and she dove through.

“GO!”

As she leapt through the portal, there was a deafening crack and a small explosion, as the Giant Egg Gunner stopped in its tracks. She could see the vapor trail from the bullet, as she plummeted from her portal towards the ground.

Before the robots could react, Cordelia landed and chucked the grenade at them, before dashing off towards a bench. She jumped off the back of the bench, jumping into the air to grab onto the side of a low balcony. She activated her jetpack thrusters for just a second to help her pull herself out of immediate danger as the robots began to turn to shoot at her. There was another earsplitting crack and small explosion, causing the Giant Gunner to take a step back. It looked like Scrapper was using explosive bullets. He’d need them too if he wanted to use his sniper rifle. 

Cordelia snapped back to the present, and quickly began to run, leaping to another balcony, using her jetpack to boost the distance of her jump. A shot landed on one of the supports of the balcony, sending Cordelia tumbling to the ground along with the balcony. She managed to right herself in the air and landed on her feet. Her head snapped around, looking for a way out as the robots began to shoot at her, the shots causing her shields to flare.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw several hologram projections of Scrapper leap over the barricade. Many of the robots turned and locked onto them immediately and started shooting at them. But there was no more time. Cordelia lunged for the blown-out window of a clothing store, bowling over a mannequin as laser fire whizzed around her. She dashed through the store at top speed towards the back. Lasers sailed past her, a few striking her power shield and dropping it just past 25%.

She barreled through the back of the store and kicked down the back door. She found herself in a back alleyway. It was totally deserted. Cordelia took a sigh of relief as she took off down the alley, her shields recharging and her boots pounding against the pavement at a somewhat more relaxed rate. Quickly, she exited the alleyway, and found herself on a major street. It was completely empty, at least for the moment, littered with abandoned cars, tanks and military emplacements.

Suddenly, her radio came to life.

“Scrapper! Stop shooting, I’ve got this!” shouted Falcon.

“Copy that!” said Scrapper.

It was followed by a loud explosion, followed by a heavy thud.

“Yeah! Nice one!” said Scrapper.

Cordelia shook her head. Boys. Nevertheless, she quickly ducked low and moved among the cars at a slower pace, keeping a low profile to avoid detection. As she did, she holstered her machine pistols, before activating her arm cannon. As the armor on her arm vanished and was replaced by a hologram of her arm cannon, she glanced behind her. No robots. That was good.

She picked up her pace slightly, as she heard explosions from ahead of her. She sighed quietly. If only her IDD was faster with deploying complex objects. Falcon was probably going to want more distraction as soon as possible.

A few moments later, her arm cannon finished materializing, and Cordelia wrapped her hand the grip inside the cannon, before resting her finger on the triggers. 

In short order, she came to the intersection. Cordelia moved up to the corner, close to the wall of what looked like a bakery. Quickly, she peeked around the corner. Cordelia smiled. She’d totally flanked the enemy, and they had no idea that she was there. Thank goodness for the obliviousness of mass-produced AI. She quickly peeked out again and fired a portal a few floors up from street level on one of the buildings.

Some distance down the street, Cordelia could see Falcon, busy punching unfortunate Egg Bots into oblivion. Individual robots could be seen dropping further away from Falcon, either from Scrapper or the soldiers at the barricade. It looked like most of them were trying to put some distance between themselves and Falcon’s blazing fists but were having difficulty retreating around the fallen chassis of the Giant Egg Gunner, which now sported a large smoking hole in the chassis. Well, at least Falcon was still doing all right, even as he dashed and rolled around to avoiding the robot’s lasers. And anyway, the retreating robots were about to walk straight into her trap.

Cordelia quickly switched her cannon’s firing mode to Grenade Launcher mode and then fired a portal entrance at the side of the wall next to her. She aimed through the portal for a moment, before firing several grenades at the flank of the mass of robots. The grenades exploded on impact and decimated large swathes of robots before they even registered that she was there. Some of the others began to turn around, but Cordelia quickly closed her exit portal, and shot a new one to a large shipping truck other side of the intersection.

She leapt through the portal, closing it behind her, and took cover behind a nearby car. She calmed her breathing and steadied her arm cannon in front of her, switching her firing mode to the LMG.

A few moments later, the robots began coming into view, shooting at somebody in front of them. Cordelia waited as more and more came into view. As what seemed like the bulk of them passed her, she stood up and opened fire.

Taken wholly by surprise, the robots barely had time to turn, as she shredded their ranks with practiced ease. A few around the periphery turned and attempted to shoot her, but she ducked back behind the car as their shots whizzed above her head. She shot an exit portal at the side of a shipping truck next to her before shooting an entrance portal next to her on the ground. She poked her arm cannon through and began shooting again, taking out several more robots before their returning fire forced her to close the portal.

Suddenly, there was an explosion from behind her.

“Falcon Punch!”

Cordelia quickly changed her firing mode to her Plasma Lance and leapt to her feet to see Falcon land a powerful kick to one of the remaining robots. She dashed forward as the other robots turned to target Falcon. The bounty hunter dashed away, leaping and flipping as the shots sailed past him harmlessly. What a showoff.

She quickly ran up behind one of the few remaining robots, and squeezed the trigger, causing a plume of plasma nearly three feet in length to erupt from her arm cannon. It ripped through the robot’s back, destroying it with ease, before Cordelia lunged towards another robot and struck it down in similar fashion.

“Falcon Kick!”

Cordelia turned to see Captain Falcon blast through the remaining three robots with a blazing kick, sending them flying.

“Nice work!” he called as she walked up to him.

“Not so bad yourself!”

“Hey!” shouted Scrapper over the radio. “The soldiers say the base is primed! We just need to hold this line till the others get their bases ready! Get back here before more of them show up!”

Cordelia grinned. “Copy that Scrapper! We’re on our way back!”

At the south barricade.....

Blue narrowed her eyes. The robots had kept up significant pressure with their numbers and were now being backed by flying robots now. As such, she and Blasty were keeping the sky clear with precision Hydro Pumps. Meanwhile, Samus held the opening as best as she could while Indigo and Dux mounted surprise attacks from whatever electronics in the area still worked. Thankfully the Egg Fighters individually weren’t too bad, and Samus had little difficulty defeating the ones armed with blasters. However, the ones armed with swords and shields were being problematic, as it seemed like their shields were made of Archanean Steel, famous for its durability and ability to stop bullets and lasers alike. They needed a different strategy, and Blue had just the one in mind.

She looked over to Indigo, who was administering a Hyper Potion to Dux. He glanced back at her. She pointed to Blasty and pointed to Dux. She then punched her hand. Indigo nodded. All those years of working together never failed to pay off.

“Samus! Give us some space!” Blue shouted.

Samus promptly curled up into a morph ball and rolled out of the way.

“Blasty! Come on!” shouted Blue, as she ran towards the entrance of the barricade. Blasty followed her. Indigo and Dux came up to meet her in the opening.

“NOW!” They both shouted. “STORM SURGE!”

Blasty fired off a Surf, and Dux fired a Thunderbolt at the large wave. The robots attempted to shoot, but their lasers fizzled out upon contact with the wall of water in front of them. The electrified wave washed over the slowly advancing ranks of shield Egg Fighters, the only robots left who had managed to survive Samus and the soldiers. As the water drained down the storm drains, the robots collapsed one by one, their circuits utterly ruined by the attack. A cheer went up from the defenders. Blue high fived Indigo.

“Heh, remember when we invented that attack?” said Blue.

“Yeah. We never got to use it on the Mask of Ice, either” reminisced Indigo. “Probably wouldn’t have worked too well.”

“Yeah. He probably would have frozen it before it got to him,” chuckled Blue.

“All right, Dux, can you go back to watching the traffic cameras?” said Indigo. Dux let out a cry before diving back into Indigo’s Snag Machine.

The two trainers ran back behind cover together. Indigo released Jaws, with Dux back on surveillance. The Arcanine promptly took a crouched stance, ready to fight. Indigo ruffled his fur fondly with his hand.

Suddenly a notification appeared on Indigo’s eyepiece. Blue gave him a curious look.

“Heads up, we’ve got a group of civilians is about to round the corner!” he shouted.

“Look alive men!” barked the sergeant in charge. “Let’s get these people to safety! Who is with me?”

The soldiers cheered, and Blue joined in with them. A squad of soldiers formed around the sergeant, ready to go out to escort the civilians in.

Samus readied her arm cannon, and glanced over to Blue.  

“Coming with?”

“You know it!” said Blue.  

Blasty nodded in agreement, as Indigo gave a thumbs up, and Jaws yipped excitedly.

“Let’s move, people!” shouted Samus. The soldiers cheered and followed her through the entrance of the barricade. Blue, Indigo and their Pokemon covered the rear of the unit.

As the unit moved forward, several soldiers and civilians began rushing around the corner of the intersection.

“A little farther!” shouted Indigo. “Dux says they’re just around the corner ahead of us!”

As they got nearer, they could hear shouting and laser fire from around the corner.

“Oh no…” said Blue. “Blasty! We’re going to help! Indy, how many of them are there?”

“Dux says there’s lots of ‘em, Blue. Storm Surge again?

“How about I use Boom Box? It will reach farther if there’s a lot of them.”

Indigo nodded. “All right, I’ll back you up.”

Blue recalled Blasty and sent out Jiggly as Indigo and Jaws moved ahead and around the corner. Blue and Jiggly quickly followed. There was a large group of civilians and soldiers quickly making their way through the cars. Far behind them, Blue could see some moving glints. The robots were coming after them.

“Jiggly! Use Flash Mob!”

The Jigglypuff let out a cry before using Substitute three times.

“Everyone behind the Jigglypuffs!” yelled Indigo as soldiers and civilians alike rushed through the crowd of illusions. “Samus! Make sure they get to safety, we’ve got this!”

“On it!” shouted Samus, as she and the soldiers who had come with them began leading the group of soldiers and civilians to the barricade and helping along the injured.

Blue glanced up worriedly as the robots drew closer.

Jiggly and each of her substitutes used Double Team, covering the area in Jigglypuff illusions.

Indigo and Jaws stepped out in front of the Jigglypuff illusions, as Jiggly used Double Team again, covering the area with even more Jigglypuff illusions.  

“Jaws!” yelled Indigo, through the wall of Jigglypuffs. “Use Inferno Overdrive!”

Through the crowded space in front of her, Blue saw Indigo pull down his sleeve and hold his Z Crystal holder up high. Jaws stepped forward and unleashed a massive blast of fire, causing a large explosion.

“Jaws! Let’s get out of here!” yelled Indigo. “You’d better be ready, Blue!”

“Ready!” shouted Blue, as Jiggly and her substitutes used their third and final Double Team. Indigo and Jaws rushed up next to her, and ducked behind a car. Both covered their ears.  

“All right, Jiggly!” shouted Blue, as the robots began shooting at the Jigglypuff illusions, before covering her own ears. “Let’s go! BOOM BOX!”

The three Jigglypuff substitutes and the real Jiggly took a deep breath, and each inflated itself up a bit, and let out a mighty scream of “JIGGLOOOOOO!”

A massive sonic wave blasted into the robots, blasting the first ranks backwards with immense force, bowling over many of the Egg Fighters behind them, and completely shattering the glass windows of all of the cars and buildings in the area.

Blue pulled out a pair of binoculars, rubbing her ringing ears as she did, and surveyed the damage.

Some distance away, she could see the remaining robots in the back of the group stop for a moment, confused as to why the first three quarters of their forces had been destroyed without a proper firefight.

“C’mon! Back to the barricade!” said Indigo. “Dux says they’ve made it back! Samus will cover us!”

Blue quickly recalled Jiggly the illusions and substitutes faded.

The two sprinted back towards the barricade with Jaws in tow, as a few stray shots flew above their heads. However, they rounded the corner of the street quickly and were out of sight of the robots as they bolted down to the barricade.

 Samus stood to the side of the entrance, arm cannon at the ready while several of the soldiers stood near her, rifles ready. The last few civilians were rushing through the entrance.

Suddenly, a laser whizzed by Blue’s leg. It struck the barricade near Samus, who opened fire from her arm cannon.

Blue and Indigo jumped to the right to be clear of Samus’ line of fire. More lasers began to fly past them as they dashed through the entrance of the barricade. Samus retreated behind the barricade, firing back as she did.

Blue turned to Indigo as they sat behind cover, panting from their mad dash to safety.

“Just like old times, eh?” said Indigo.

Blue chuckled. “Just like old times. Some things never change.”

Samus shook her head from behind them. “You guys are crazy, you know that?”

“No,” joked Blue. “I have never heard that before. What a curious conclusion.”

A soldier made his way up to them.

“Thanks to you, we got the shield base set up while you were out escorting the civilians. All we need to do is wait for the last shield base to go online.”

Blue gave him a thumbs up. “Sounds good.”

She pulled herself to her feet and grabbed a different Pokeball.

“All right Clefy, it’s your turn! We need to hang in here just a little longer!” 

At the west barricade.....

Fox fired his blaster pistol, striking a damaged Egg Fighter square in the visor. With years of practiced marksmanship, he turned slightly, and shot a shield wielding Egg Fighter in its sword hand, disarming it. The robot stopped moving, staring confused at its empty hand. Next to him, Falco chucked a grenade under its shield, its confusion making it an easy target. The grenade exploded, taking out the Egg Fighter with the shield and a few of its fellow Egg Fighters standing near it. Thankfully, the enemy numbers were thinning.

Suddenly, a blue blur whizzed through the ranks of the robots and through the barricade entrance. Sonic came to a running stop within the entrance with a child in his arms. He passed the child off to a soldier. As he turned around, Fox waved him over. In a flash, Sonic was next to him.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“How many more are there?” asked Fox.

“A lot of them!” said Sonic. “You guys should hurry up and take out these robots, I’ve had to fight off a couple groups already where those civilians are!”

“Yeah,” said Fox. “How far away are they again?”

“Two blocks away. Come on! You gotta hurry up!”

Fox nodded. “We’ll do our best. You keep on doing what you’re doing, all right?”

Sonic grinned “Sounds good to me! Anyway, I don’t want to keep everybody waiting! See you around!”

And with that, Sonic zipped off, tearing through the ranks of the robots, knocking over a few as he went.

“You hear that Falco?”

“I heard it. Blue Blur here needs the great Falco Lombardi to bail his sorry butt out!”

“Yeah, sure. Anyway, let’s try to get rid of these guys so we can get to Sonic faster, whaddya say?”

“Fine by me!”

Fox crouched behind the barricade and activated his IDD, deploying his Rocket Launcher. The holographic outline appeared for almost a minute before the weapon materialized in hands. Hefting it onto his shoulder, Fox flicked the safety off, and glanced down the sight. It showed a “5” on the holographic scope display. He glanced over the barricade but ducked quickly as several shots whizzed past him.

“Falco, can you draw their fire?” shouted Fox.

“Gimme a second, I’m reloading!” replied Falco.

Fox glanced over to see Falco slap new energy cells into his blaster pistols.

“All right, get ready Fox!” said Falco. He activated his reflector and stood up, taking a strong stance as if to push a large object. The robots quickly began shooting at Falco, who braced as dozens of shots struck his reflector, bouncing off into many directions.

“Go!”

Fox popped up, and aimed down the sight of his rocket launcher, shooting his entire clip of rockets at different parts of the line of robots.

The moment he’d finished shooting, he ducked back to cover, as Falco followed suit.

“Yeah! That got a lot of them!” shouted one of the soldiers.

“Cover for me!” shouted Falco, as Fox deployed another clip of rockets, and loaded it into his Rocket Launcher.

“Just a second,” said Fox, as he slung his Rocket Launcher over his shoulder. He activated his reflector and jumped up. The robots quickly turned to Fox and began shooting. Fox grit his teeth as he felt the impact of the blaster shots, doing his best to keep his reflector steady.  Fox opened his mouth to speak but Falco needed no invitation and jumped up, shooting with his dual blasters. A few soldiers near him joined Falco in laying down a withering storm of laser bolts, striking several more robots down.

Fox grit his teeth as he saw his reflector begin to shake.

“Its overloading!” shouted Fox, as he deactivated his reflector and jumped behind cover again.

“Copy!” shouted Falco, as he continued to shoot. A few moments later, the rest of the robots had trained their fire on Falco, and he was forced to jump back to cover.

Suddenly, Sonic whizzed back again, and stopped next to Fox.

“Guys! The group of civilians is being attacked! They need you out there, I’m gonna take you guys out to them, ok?”

“Wait, what?” said Falco. “They’re being attacked?”

“They’re being attacked right now, and we need to help them, they’re being overrun from a bunch of different directions,” said Sonic impatiently. “C’mon! Who’s first?”

Fox looked at his surroundings. He turned to one of the soldiers next to him.

“Are you guys good with taking on the rest of the bots?”

“Yes sir!” said the soldier. “We can handle them!”

Fox nodded. “I’ll go first, then.”

Sonic picked up Fox with a fireman carry. “I’ll be back for you, Lombardi!”

Falco sighed, “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be waiting for ya.”

Sonic zipped off. Fox watched as the world around him flew past him at incredible speed. It was like he was flying in his Arwing, but faster and through the streets of Corneria City at ground level. The world slowed down near a large and fancy bank entrance. Several soldiers were positioned around the pillars outside, firing back at a large crowd of Egg Fighters.

“Wait, Sonic! Put me down behind them?”

“Behind them. Sure!” said Sonic, altering his course. He stopped in a small alleyway, just behind the lines of the robots. He put Fox down.

“Does this place work?”

“Yeah, this will do. Bring Falco to the same spot here, all right?” said Fox.

“Sure, no problem!” said Sonic.

Fox quickly surveyed the situation from around the corner. Sonic hadn’t been kidding, there were an awful lot of them. But Fox got paid the big bucks to deal with problems like this, and he wouldn’t have survived this long if he didn’t have as he had without having a way to deal with it. Fox moved to unholster his rocket launcher but paused as an idea came to him. He quickly turned to his IDD and began flipping through the directory.  It was time to use his secret weapon. Well one of his secret weapons. It paid to have a lot more than just one secret weapon. He grinned as three Smart Bombs deployed into his hands.

Suddenly, Sonic was back with Falco.

“All right, you can put me down now!” said Falco with some irritation.

“No need to get antsy!” said Sonic. He prepared to hurl himself back into the fray, but Fox caught his arm.

“Wait for a second. Don’t need you catching the blast. Falco, you know what the plan is.” Fox held up three Smart Bombs.

Falco whistled low. “And if I knew you had that in your pocket, I wouldn’t have stood next to ya!”

Fox snorted. “Anyway, I’ll throw ‘em on three. I’m going to get into position.”

Fox dashed out from the alleyway and took cover behind an abandoned car. He took one of the Smart Bombs in his hand and stood up. The robots still hadn’t noticed them. Not that they would be ignoring them for much longer.

“Three, two, one, go!”

Fox hurled the first Smart Bomb at the robots. It was a good throw, sailing through the air towards the Egg Bot’s flank. Falco drew his blaster with one clean motion and shot the Smart Bomb midair. It caused a massive explosion, ripping a massive hole in the ranks of the robots. Immediately, the robots began to turn, and Fox ducked back under the car.

“Shoot them a bit!” he shouted.

Fox put the other two Smart Bombs down, and drew his blaster pistol. He popped up quickly and fired off a few shots at the robots, who were advancing on their position, before ducking back behind cover. Falco quickly peeked out of the alleyway and fired a few shots, before ducking back to avoid the returning fire.

“Wait for it, wait for it….” said Fox.

Fox picked up another Smart Bomb and hurled it at the Egg Bots, which were now much closer to their position.

“Now!”

Falco whipped out and landed another midair shot, causing the Smart Bomb to explode in the faces of the advancing robots.

Fox jumped back behind cover, as the remaining robots kept pressing forward and shooting. Falco followed suit while Sonic tensed himself.

“You can throw that last one ANY TIME NOW!” yelled Sonic.

Fox activated the x ray function on his eye piece and watched as the robots marched closer. They were about 30 meters away.

“Wait for it….” yelled Fox back. “Wait for it…”

Fox held his nerve as the Egg bots reached 20 meters, then 15.  

“NOW!”

Fox lobbed the Smart Bomb and Falco jumped out of cover, firing quickly. The shots missed. Fox cursed under his breath as Falco ducked behind a car. He grabbed a grenade out of his pocket and threw it towards the area where the Smart Bomb had landed. Hopefully, it hadn’t rolled too far…

There was a massive explosion. Right on the mark. Or close enough. Quite frankly, he didn’t care right about now.

“SONIC! GO FOR IT!” shouted Fox. Sonic immediately vaulted into action, busting through the remaining robots with his customary blinding speed.

Fox waited for a moment as the robots turned on swivel in an attempt to catch Sonic, before jumping out himself, and blasting them remaining robots with his full clip of rockets. The five rockets combined into a large explosion, as Fox dropped his rocket launcher next to a car, and tensed himself for combat as the smoke cleared.

The moment he could see his opponents, Fox rushed forward and landed a powerful kick to the chassis of the nearest robot, crushing it. Just because he was a pilot didn’t mean he was a weak hand to hand fighter, after all. He rushed to the next one, shooting at a different robot with his blaster pistol, and nearly kicked its blaster arm off. He activated his reflector with his off hand and kicked it into the robot, sending it flying. A sword and shield Egg Fighter approached, but Fox pistol whipped the shield aside, shot the sword out of his hand, and then destroyed the robot with a flurry of kicks. A robot out of the corner of his eye was sent flying from a reflector to the face. The reflector returned to its owner as Falco dashed up next to Fox.

Quickly, they ducked for cover and began shooting at the robots, who had lost track of Sonic.

Fox jumped out from behind a truck, reflector at the ready, drawing fire as Falco hurled a few grenades from behind a different car.

Fox popped his head out, blaster at the ready, but paused as a blue blur smashed its way through the robots near them. He quickly surveyed the area. Looked like that was it near them, even if Sonic had sped off again and was mopping up the last few robots near the civilians.

“Not bad,” said Falco.

“Nice shooting there, ace,” said Fox as he went to go pick up his dropped rocket launcher.

“Hey, now! We all have our off days!” said Falco. “I’d like to see you do better on your off day!”

Fox gave him an amused look. “Anyway, don’t we still need to clear up the rest of those robots in front of the barricade?”

Falco rolled his eyes. “Aw crap, I forgot about that. You think the soldiers have cleaned the up by now? Those robots really aren’t that smart.”

“Eh, let’s have Sonic check. He’s faster after all,” shrugged Fox.

“Sounds like a plan. Less work for me.”

As if on cue, Sonic zipped up to them.

“All right, barrier’s clear, soldiers got ‘em. They even got the base up while we were gone! We just need to get these civilians back to the barricade, and then they said we can activate the shield. You guys wanna cover the flank?”

“Sure,” said Falco casually. “That works!”

Sonic glared at him. “Why do I get the feeling I’m doing all the work?”

Fox just chuckled. “I mean, Eggman’s your nemesis. You’re the expert here, after all.”

“Yeah! Who would we be to get in the way of the expert?” said Falco.

“You guys suck,” groused Sonic. “Some heroes you are!”

“We toast to hard work and valiant efforts!” said Fox, raising his thermos, the faint scent of coffee wafting to his nose.

“I’ll drink to that!” said Falco, reaching for his own thermos.

Sonic rolled his eyes. “You guys are impossible.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Deference for Darkness

Fox swirled the contents of his thermos around. Just a few ounces coffee left. He sighed. He’d need to crack out the instant coffee. That sucked. At least he still had over a dozen meal bars left. Not counting the half-eaten one in his hand. Coffee flavored, of course.

Fox took another bite out of the meal bar and looked out of the window of the conference room he and the other Smashers were occupying and surveyed the rest of the hospital turned command center. The soldiers had been moving out of the hospital to give more space for the injured, but the Smashers had been given a conference room for their purposes for the night. Next to him, Falco munched on a meal bar of his own, along with Samus and Captain Falcon. Fairly standard space marine rations. Sonic was wolfing down nearly a dozen chili cheese dogs next to them. Knowing Sonic’s love of the food, it wasn’t a huge surprise that he’d brought a few with him. Next to him, Cordelia and Scrapper chowed down on more traditional MREs. They were similarly nutritious compared to meal bars but were significantly bulkier and heavier. On the flip side, they came with much more desirable meals compared to standard meal bars. It was down to personal taste and needs, Fox supposed. He glanced down at his meal bar wrapper. Just over three years old. Pretty fresh by his standards.

And then there was Blue and Indigo. Figures that the Pokémon Trainers had a portable kitchen on them at all times.

“Hey, Blue! Dumplings are warmed up!” said Indigo as he crouched over one of the camping stoves, rubbing his hands. He pulled out a paper bowl from somewhere in the enormous supplies backpack he’d deployed earlier and ladled some of the steaming dumplings into the bowl.

Blue stood up from where she’d set out bowls for their Pokémon, filled with heaping portions of Poke Food.

“Yeah, go and eat a fancy dinner while we eat rations,” chuckled Fox good naturedly.

“Did you bring dessert for the rest of us?” asked Falco, somewhat hopefully.

“Uh, I think I have cereal bars?” said Indigo. “I’d have to check. You know, the sugary kind.” He rummaged through his backpack and produced one. He tossed it to Falco.

“Oh yeah,” grinned Falco as he caught it. “Cheers, man!”

Fox pulled himself up from his slouch.

“All right, let’s get to business. Colonel Baker gave us a map of the city and marked where the EMP cannon was set up. We have full operational clearance to take it down, but his forces have a lot of wounded, and they can’t spare anybody to back us up. We’ll be out there by ourselves.”

“Where is the cannon at?” asked Captain Falcon.

“Right outside the Caves of Refuge,” said Fox. “About 5 miles from the edge of the west end of the shield.”

“Eggman’s still trying to overwhelm the shield with his robots, right?” asked Samus.

“How long has he been trying that?” asked Falco.

“Since we got the shield up,” said Fox.

Cordelia nodded. “So, about 4 hours.”

“Thankfully, it doesn’t look like he’s been able to move his EMP cannon low enough to hit the shield,” said Fox. “Now that the shield is up and the area’s safe, our next priority is to take down the EMP cannon.”

“The Sky Buster….never thought I’d be up against something I helped make,” muttered Scrapper. “But you’re right, they aren’t going to get the cannon low enough to hit ground targets. It’s specifically an anti-air gun.”

 “You invented the EMP Cannon?” asked Samus.

“Well, I didn’t technically invent it, it was a bit of tech we took from the Grey Army after we defeated them. But when we went through their files, we saw that they’d gotten their mitts on the blueprints of the man portable rail gun, and I was on the team that made that. So, I’m sort of responsible for this thing’s existence in a roundabout way. They also had me look at the blueprints of those things after the war ended and explain to the top brass what it could and couldn’t do.”

Fox nodded. “So, what are we up against, and how do we bring it down?”

Scrapper shrugged. “Dunno. The Sky Buster is basically an oversized anti air gun meant to cripple anything from individual craft in the air to enemy capital ships in orbit. That thing’s meant to point to the sky at all times. We won’t be fighting the cannon itself as long as we’re on the ground. Any resistance we’ll encounter will be from ground forces or mounted defenses. I know there are some machine gun mounting rails on the base of the cannon, but beyond that, any defenses set up will be down to Eggman.”

“Speaking of which, we received a message from the good doctor,” said Fox.

“Us or Cornerian forces in general?” asked Samus.

“Specifically us,” said Fox. He pulled out a small tablet and pressed a few buttons before turning it around for the rest of the Smashers to see. The video showed Eggman sitting in a fancy chair.

“Hello, Smashers! Don’t pretend like I didn’t see you foiling my plans earlier today! But it’s no matter! For my plans will come to fruition! And you will be HOPELESS to stop them! Especially you, Sonic! I have a secret plan to deal with you that you’ll NEVER be able to escape! You’re all in trouble now! HAHAHAHA!”

Eggman took a moment to compose himself before continuing.

“Well, I suppose I’ll be seeing you all very soon one way or another, since you’ll try to stop me. Good luck, you’ll need it to stop my master plans! Until then, Smashers!”

“Man, the guy just never changes!” remarked Sonic with a bite of his chili cheese dog. “I’m pretty sure he’s given me that speech before – he just changed it a little to talk to all of us Smashers and not just me.”

“Unfortunately, I have a little more bad news,” said Fox. “I received word from General Pepper that Slippy and Peppy have met up with him. They tried to come and back us up but ran into a ton of airborne Egg Bots and had to turn around.”

Falcon nodded. “I see. We really are on our own here, then.”

“Are we gonna have to worry about a ton of airborne robots too?” asked Falco. “It would take a lot of those Egg Bots to turn two Arwing pilots like Peppy and Slippy around. Like sure, they’re not as good as me, but they’re still better than 99% of pilots out there.”

“Doesn’t sound like it,” said Fox. “According to our intel, most of the airborne robots are moving away from the city to stop the Navy from sending us any help. General Pepper said several squadrons were dogfighting the robots earlier today over the ocean.”

“Anyway, back to the elephant in the room. How do we destroy the cannon so General Pepper can get the big ships in?” asked Captain Falcon. “Just blow the thing up?”

“No,” said Scrapper emphatically. “We don’t want anything touching that electromagnet while its powered. That thing fails catastrophically. Fun when you’re at the bomb range in a bunker, not so fun when you’re standing next to it and getting blasted into thin glue. We need to cut the power first, and then we take out the electromagnet. We can do whatever with the rest of the cannon, but as long as the electromagnet is gone, it’s useless.”

“So, we just need to hit a generator somewhere?” asked Falco. “Shouldn’t be too hard.”

“It’s got eight internal generators inside the base. It powers itself as long as you have enough gas to keep the generators going. We’re gonna have to get inside the belly of it to shut it down. I’m gonna do that. I at least sort of know what I’m doing and have the best chance of not levelling an entire city block.”

Fox nodded. “So, we need to get you in there.”

“Yeah. Sonic, you said that Eggman just throws a lot of robots at his problems. How heavily defended is this gonna be?” asked Scrapper.

“Depends on how important it is to Eggman,” said Sonic. “Sounds like this thing’s expensive and important, so he’ll probably have thousands of Egg Bots swarming the area. Either that or if he’s got any elite robots in the back, he’ll sic them on us when we attack instead.”

Fox nodded. “So, it doesn’t matter when we attack?”

Sonic shook his head. “Not really. The only question is if Eggman will be awake when we attack or not. Robots don’t sleep, you know! Though I guess that makes them good guards.”

Fox grinned. “All right. So, I’ve been thinking and here’s the plan. We hit him at 4:00 AM. We’ll have the cover of darkness to get close. We’ll all cover Scrapper so he can get inside and take down the electromagnet. If Eggman shows up, we’ll do our best to capture him, but if he’s not there, we’ll disable the cannon, and then fall back to the safe zone and wait for General Pepper to arrive.”

“Eh? Say what!?” squawked Falco. “4 AM!? That’s awful early.”

“We’ll rudely wake him up if he’s asleep, or else he’ll be tired from staying up all night,” said Fox. “And if the worst comes to the worst, he’s jetlagged and he’ll be tired anyway. I know he’s not the best strategist ever, but I’ll take any advantage I can get.”

“This is the guy who tried powering his robots with animals and aliens on multiple occasions. You really think we need to go this far?” asked Falcon. “I’m thinking we just go in tomorrow morning and just work the rest of the plan. Sure, Eggman will be awake and so will we.”

Fox nodded. “What about a compromise? We hit him just before dawn. The sun rises at around 6:30 this time of year, if we get up at 5:00 we should have enough time to get there and keep our element of surprise, but not be too early.”

Falcon considered it for a moment, and then nodded. “I can live with that.”

“5:00?” said Indigo. “Bit early for my taste, but its workable.”

Blue nodded in agreement with the other Smashers.

“Any other thoughts? Comments, concerns, complaints, gripes, groans?”

“My butt hurts from sitting on the floor,” said Falco.

Fox rolled his eyes good naturedly and continued.

“And it’s about 8:00 PM now,” said Fox. “We should get some sleep while we can. I’ll go inform Colonel Baker of our plan.”

“Sounds good,” said Cordelia. Fox stood up as the others began to fiddle with their IDDs, looking for their sleeping bags.

He needed to talk to Colonel Baker. And then he needed to clear his head.

Blue sighed as she finished her bowl of dumplings and put down her paper bowl and plastic spork. 

“Done already?” asked Indigo from next to her. She looked over to see him leaning up against Jaws, who was sprawled out on the ground, half asleep. She just laughed from where she sat, atop Blasty’s shell. The Blastoise was asleep and had already pulled himself back into his shell for the night. 

“You’re still eating? Greedy,” teased Blue. 

“Oh please, I have a figure to keep!” retorted Indigo.

“What figure?”

“My mighty muscles!”

“Oh please,” scoffed Blue, rolling her eyes. She slid off of Blasty’s back, and landed with practiced grace, before sitting down next to Indigo. Jaws stirred a little as she leaned up against his warm, fluffy fur. She absent mindedly stroked Jaw’s back, as Jaws put his head back down.

“Thank goodness for Fire types, eh?” said Indigo. “Personal space heater, personal fire starter, and industrial grade evidence removal? Fire types are the whole package!”

“Yeah, no kidding,” said Blue. “But you can still manage it with a Pokemon who just knows a fire type move.”

“Only the fire starter and evidence removal parts,” said Indigo. “Not the space heating duties.”

“Hmm…that’s fair,” said Blue. She sighed. “We just keep getting ourselves into trouble, don’t we.”

“Yeah. We do,” said Indigo.

“But I think we turned out all right. We’re official heroes now! Not too bad, wouldn’t you say?”

“Not bad. We could have settled down and become beekeepers. Have a house, kids, a ton of honey hives, a thriving business,” said Indigo with a smile.

“Oh please. You know neither of us could do that. And anyway, why beekeepers?”

“It was the first thing that came to mind! And yeah, I know,” said Indigo with a stretch. “It’s still interesting to think where our lives would be if anything had gone differently.”

“Like if I was never kidnapped by the Masked Man or if you never ended up with Greevil,” said Blue.

“Or if we didn’t meet while trying to interrogate the same informant,” said Indigo.

“Or if one of our missions didn’t go so well,” said Blue, trailing off.

“But it didn’t,” said Indigo. “And here we are.”

The two sat in silence for a moment.

“I still can’t believe that when we first met, I thought you’d be a good meat shield for taking on the Masked Man,” said Blue.

“Hey, you can’t use me as a meat shield! I’m too handsome to be a meat shield!” protested Indigo.

“I know, you are,” said Blue, giving Indigo a peck on the cheek. “Its been a long road from where we came from.”

“Yeah, no kidding. But hey, we ended up as Smashers. I think we did pretty good for ourselves.”

“I think we did,” said Blue. “And the best part is that I met you.”

She reached for Indigo’s free hand and squeezed it. He squeezed back.

“And look where that got us,” said Indigo. “Stuck in the middle of a city that’s being blown to smithereens.”

“Trouble always seems to follow us, doesn’t it?” said Blue.

“I mean, we’re the ones out looking for trouble most of the time,” said Indigo.

“Can’t argue with that,” said Blue. “Like that time you hacked and then live streamed security footage of that one Ciper base to the Police Station’s television?”

“Or the time you impersonated that one Rocket Commander and gave his speech for him before he got there?”

“Yeah. That was back when we thought the Masked Man was a part of Team Rocket. Good times.”

“Good times indeed. Other than the whole two kids with no money and two little siblings trying to scrape enough cash together to keep themselves fed and keep them supplied to take down two major criminal organizations bit. That sucked.”

“Yeah, I’ll give you that.”

The two sat in silence for some time.

“So, you think Scrapper will let my try and hack the cannon with Dux?” asked Indigo.

“Probably not. He seemed pretty insistent on taking out the cannon himself,” said Blue. “I don’t think he wants your virtual duck anywhere near his doom cannon.”

“Oh come on! I can have Dux do plenty of quackery to mess up Eggman’s plans!”

 The two chuckled quietly at that. As they did, Cordelia sauntered in the room, MRE bag in hand.

“Oh, good! Hey Blue, can I use your stove real quick?”

“Sure! Whatcha cooking?” said Blue.

“Ah, warming up my Pumpkin Cobbler from my MRE. I saved it from earlier”

Indigo gave a lazy thumbs up.

“Oh, that sounds delightful!” said Blue.

Cordelia just grinned. “Its good stuff. Tastes like somebody’s grandma made it! It almost makes you forget that it was synthesized in a lab somewhere to have a shelf life of 80 years.”

That drew a laugh from all three.

“Better hurry though. We were going to start packing up soon,” said Indigo.

“All right, I won’t be long. Just a few minutes,” said Cordelia.

As Cordelia busied herself at the stove, Indigo sighed.

“What?” asked Blue.

Indigo whispered into her ear. “You know? We’ve been through a lot together. But looking back on it all, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Let’s get through this whole thing and go on vacation or something afterwards.”

Blue just smiled. “And we’ll write a book about our experiences!”

“And it will sell like hotcakes!” said Indigo.

“And then we’ll be rich!” the two said together loudly.

“Gah! Don’t scare me like that!” exclaimed Cordelia, jumping.

“Sorry Cordelia!” called out Blue. She gave Indigo an impish look. “We’re gonna write that book though.”

“And we are gonna be rich!” said Indigo.

“And then we’re gonna get married and have 10 kids and live happily ever after!” said Blue.

“Hey now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here! I don’t think 10 kids and happily ever go together!” said Indigo.

Blue snorted and leaned her head on Indigo’s shoulder. “We’ll make it work.”

“Just like we always have.”

“Heh. You got that right.”

“Of course, I did.”

“Of course. Of course.”

Captain Falcon stared up at his tablet as he lay in his sleeping bag. It wasn’t the most comfortable arrangement, but it most certainly wasn’t the worst he’d ever had. He skimmed through the article. It looked like they were changing a few rules for the F Zero races. His eyes fell on a paragraph and Falcon smiled. It looked like they’d finally decided to implement that eject button rule he’d been championing for years.

F Zero races were a high speed and high danger affairs, which was why he’d suggested a requirement for all race cars to have an eject button to allow a driver to escape their vehicle in the event an accident was imminent. It would take lightning reflexes, but any F Zero driver worth their salt was that quick. It would certainly save lives.

After skimming through the article, Falcon stowed his tablet in his bag, before lying down and closing his eyes. But sleep evaded him.

This thing, this whole Subspace and a bunch of known villains thing was a mess like no other. Except this time, it was much worse, more so then even Ganondorf and Tabuu had been.

Falcon had been in the bounty hunting business for a while and if he’d learned anything, it was that things like this were often only the tip of the iceberg. Roy still hadn’t figured out what was going on, though in his defense, it had only been a couple days since they’d all been called in. Still, it didn’t ease Falcon’s mind. Who was behind all of this? What did they want and how were they trying to get it?

As a bounty hunter, Falcon would often study the psych profiles of the various criminals he was tasked with bringing in. It provided unparalleled insight into how they thought. From there, it wasn’t hard to figure out how they’d move, where one could expect to find them, and how they’d react to a remarkably good looking and extremely powerful bounty hunter trying to bring them in.

There was no such information here.

Which left Falcon with only his fists, his trusty blaster and his Falcon powers. Because of course Captain Douglas J Falcon was here to save the day. A real hero who would punch injustice and evil in the face and do it with style.

Falcon sighed. Being Captain Falcon sucked sometimes. He glanced over as Scrapper set his backpack down next to his sleeping bag.

“You ready for that raid tomorrow?”

Scrapper shrugged. “More or less. Probably going to suit up before we go in. Who knows what Eggman’s gonna have inside that Sky Buster.”

“You think you’ll be ok if he brings something powerful out?”

“Probably. I’ve got you guys backing me up, don’t I?”

Falcon chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you do. Confidence booster, eh?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Why’s that?”

“You know how I’m a not as fast and strong as the rest of you, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Now go fight asteroid sized monsters without the powersuit.”

Falcon nodded. “Sounds dangerous. When was this?”

“This was way back right after the Great Collapse. And yes, it was very dangerous,” said Scrapper. “We hunted them one at a time in teams of four. Still lost a couple guys. It’s really quite the relief to have all of you up close and personal brawlers around to take all the fire,” said Scrapper.

Falcon chuckled. “All right, I buy that. Still, I have a hard time picturing you of all people brawling with massive monsters. How’d you do it?”

“I didn’t. I’d help track the monsters down with Firefly then take pot shots with my rifle while the others fought the monsters head on. And if the monster decided to attack me, I’d get out of there with my cloaking device.”

“Sounds kinda like the way you fight now.”

“It evolved into my current preferred style of combat, yeah.”

“I mean sure. But it’s got to have evolved a lot since I’ve seen you take close quarters fights too.”

“Yeah, still not a fan of it, but you sometimes can’t do what you need to do if you don’t get in the thick of things. So, I figured out ways to do it.”

“Then why don’t you do it more often?”

Scrapper shrugged. “The thing is with the Smashers, most of you like up close and personal fights. My niche here comes from the fact that I’m most dangerous at a distance. Literally everybody short of the non-combat specialist Smashers are better than me in close range encounters most of the time. So, I try to keep my distance and provide support and long-range firepower to help balance the rest of you out. And anyway, I’m fixing something half the time. People like to forget that I’m an engineer and tinker first and just fixate on the big gun with the fancy scope.”

Falcon chuckled. “That’s a fair point. I guess I never thought of it like that.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t be nearly as effective if it weren’t for all of you. We make a good team. And anyway, it kind of masks the fact that I can still do some serious damage up close in a pinch.”

“Man, you sound just like Snake and Sheik right now. Is that a stealth team thing?”

“I guess. Can’t have all our cards out in the open like you do,” said Scrapper. “Well, at least you claim to. I’m sure you’ve got your own secrets as well.”

Falcon just chuckled. “Ah, you’re right about that. Maybe we’re not so different after all.”

Scrapper nodded. “Perhaps not. Now that’s an interesting thought.”

“It is indeed.”

“Anyway, I gotta load some clips for tomorrow. I’ll go do that in the hallway so I don’t keep you up. See you later!”

“See you!”

About an hour later, Fox found himself sitting outside at a table on one of the hospital balconies. While he could hear the noise of soldiers moving around on the other floors, it was relatively quiet in the hallway outside the conference room.  The Pokémon trainers had already packed up their mobile kitchen and Cordelia and Scrapper had finished their lengthy clip reloading session. Both Sonic and Captain Falcon had turned in for the night some time ago, wanting to preserve their energy for the early morning assault. Falco was off checking something on his Arwing, and Blue and Indigo had just crawled into their sleeping bags a few minutes ago. Which left him to stare out into the blackness of the night, illuminated by the massive shield surrounding their position.

He’d been lucky to snag some hot water off Indigo before he’d started to cook the dumplings. Mechanically, he began to add the instant coffee, and began stirring it. The aroma of the coffee hit his nose. It was thoroughly inferior to his usual array of fine coffees, but it was at least passible, in kind of a sad, mediocre way. Sure, it tasted like disappointment, but at least it wasn’t too disappointing. That was what made it passable by Fox’s standards.

His mind snapped back to the present, and Fox sighed. He really needed to get his mind off of all of this. This was the fourth time Corneria had been hit in the last decade. First during Andross’s invasion, second during the whole Aparoid mess, and third during the Anglar war. Fox hated seeing his home in ruin, and fellow Lylat citizens in danger.

And worst of all, none of this hadn’t happened when his dad was running Star Fox. Nobody had dared trouble the Lylat System when James McCloud was on call to defend it. The last person who had tried was Andross, and after he’d been sent packing to Venom, it had been nearly 20 years before the mad scientist had dared to return.

Fox didn’t like it. He’d fought time and time again, and won time and time again, but was it good enough? His dad’s legend alone had been enough to keep Lylat safe. Fox had fought in more major conflicts then his dad had and was a Smasher to boot and yet it hardly seemed to do anything. If anything it felt like he was inviting more trouble to Corneria. What was he doing wrong?

Fox sighed despondently and took a large gulp of coffee. He exhaled, his breath visible in small clouds of white vapor, almost invisible against the glow of the shield. It was a chilly night, as it was still early spring, but not cold enough that Fox needed to bring his winter coat.

Fox stared out at the shield. That thing had better hold. Thankfully the Cornerian Armed Forces had been pouring trillions into their R&D departments and had been collaborating with the Chozo and Humans to better their defenses. That shield had to be one of the products of their collaboration. And it probably was the first time it had been used in the field too. Hopefully those R&D folks knew what they were doing and it didn’t fail suddenly on them. Fox had seen the estimated casualty lists as it came in, and while the numbers were high, they were still much smaller numbers than the body counts from previous invasions. Corneria had learned.

But had they learned because the Star Fox team defending them wasn’t up to scratch?

It hardly seemed possible. Falco was one of the best pilots alive, Slippy’s mechanical know how gave them a tremendous edge, and Peppy’s experience gave levelled the playing field in a lot of bad situations. And sure, he’d had to learn how to lead on the fly, but his piloting, gunfighting and hand to hand combat skills were unquestionably top notch. There was no way his Star Fox team was incapable. And yet….were they?

Suddenly the door behind him opened, and Fox turned to see Samus walk out onto the balcony.

“Hey. Mind if I sit down?” she asked.

“Go right ahead,” said Fox.

The two sat in silence for some time, staring out over the view in front of them. After some time, Samus broke the silence, breaking Fox out of his thoughts.

“You all right Fox?” she asked.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” asked Fox.

Samus pointed at the city.

“You’re from here, right? Your own city’s being destroyed, and you’re ok with it?”

Fox shrugged. “Of course, I’m not ok with it. Why do you think I’m here?”

“Yeah, but surely, it’s getting to you, isn’t it? Falco, Slippy and Peppy too?”

“No, I’m totally unaffected by my home city burning to the ground because of some megalomaniac with a robot army,” said Fox sarcastically.

“Then why are you so calm?” asked Samus.

Fox snorted. “You’re one to talk. The only person calmer then you is Rosalina.”

“Yeah, but you’re too calm. It’s like you don’t even care about where we are,” said Samus. “This is your hometown. Is something wrong?”

Fox shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Samus nodded. “All right. I just wanted to say that I realize this is probably hard for you and if you need to tap out for a little, just let me know and I’ll take over.”

Fox shook his head and cracked a grin. “Don’t worry about me. We’re on a mission, and I gotta keep my game face on. The chips are down and we gotta perform. I’ve done this before and I can do it again.”

Samus nodded. “I understand. But listen, there’s no shame if you’re feeling down because of what’s going on.”

Fox smiled. “You’re a good friend. Thanks for the offer. But this isn’t my first time with this. I was here the last three times. Not fun. But at least I get to be the one out there blasting the bad guys into oblivion, right?”

Samus shrugged. “I mean, I can’t argue with that. Just know that my offer still stands if you need it.”

Fox just nodded. “Noted.”

There was a pause.

“How much would your Chozo overlords chewed you out if you didn’t offer?” asked Fox.

Samus rolled her eyes. “You have no idea. Bunch of stuffy philosophers, the whole lot of them. Gotta be enlightened and stuff. I’m just a girl with an arm cannon. I offer enlightenment of a different kind.”

“Enlightenment on fire by lasers?” asked Fox

“Huh. You’re better at philosophy then you let on, Mc Cloud,” said Samus.

Fox burst out laughing. “I guess I’m just full of surprises.”

“You should go talk to Grey Voice. I’m sure he’d be overjoyed to hear your wisdom,” chuckled Samus.

“A boot to the face is worth a thousand angry letters,” said Fox with his best impression of a wise sage. “That’s what I always say.”

“Oh, great grand master,” said Samus, jokingly playing along. “What must I do to attain enlightenment?”

“You must fight in a live firefight. Only then, will you understand the true fragility of life,” said Fox in his sage voice.

“Actually, in all seriousness, you’re not half bad,” said Samus.

“Heh. I try,” said Fox.

“You should publish a book.”

“Hmm. I’ll call it ‘Mercenary Philosophy: An Insight Into the Worldview of a Pilot For Hire’. That sound like a good title?”

Samus nodded. “It will catch attention. Got a publishing company in mind?”

“Haven’t gotten that far,” said Fox. “Any suggestions?”

Samus laughed. “Ah, got me there. Still, you could be a published author.”

“I was planning on being an author by publishing my autobiography, but I guess that’ll do,” said Fox. “I’ve got part of it written, gotta beat Falco to the punch.”

Samus rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible, you know that?”

Fox just shrugged. “I try my best.”

“Anyway, I’m gonna get some sleep. Don’t stay up too late, fearless leader!” said Samus.

“All right, all right, I’ll go get some sleep like you decaf drinkers,” joked Fox.

Samus snorted as she stood up.

“Night, Samus.”

“Goodnight, Fox.”

“Oh, and Samus?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for talking with me. I needed that.”

“Anytime.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: The Menagerie

About 6:15 AM, Corneria Standard Time, just before daybreak….

Fox scanned the area in front of him from behind a dumpster in an alley, blaster in hand. There was no movement. Fox glanced behind him, to see Scrapper piloting his Firefly drone, scouting the area ahead. Behind them, the rest of the Smashers waited, keeping a low profile in the shadows of the alley.

They had moved out of the safe zone nearly an hour ago, using the cover of darkness to make their way through the city. Thankfully, the groups of robots that they had encountered had not noticed them.

It was just before dawn, and light had begun to peek over the horizon. It was incredibly eerie with the buildings around them, massive, dark, and silent. Fox had turned his scanner into night vision mode to help him see, and it had helped immensely. Thankfully, he wasn’t the only one with night vision capabilities. Scrapper and Cordelia had already equipped their power armor in anticipation of the coming fight and had night vision visors to use. Samus and Falcon also had proper night vision built into their visors, while Falco and Indigo had night vision capable eye pieces similar to the one he wore. Finally, Blue’s Silph Scope was capable of night vision, despite its bulk and somewhat unwieldy nature. That left only Sonic with no form of night vision. Said hedgehog had been bumbling around, unable to see where he was going. The others had helped him out as best they could, but Fox could tell that it was grating on his nerves.

“Hey, are we there yet?” came Sonic’s irritated whisper for the umpteenth time.

“We’re close,” whispered Fox.

“You said that last time!” whispered Sonic back. “Ugh, this is like that one time that we had to get Snake out of that one Space Pirate compound! So much stealth, not enough butt kicking!”

Fox just sighed. Sonic was NOT anybody’s first pick for stealth, hovering just above the bottom of the stealthy barrel, where large, lumbering noisemakers like Dedede and Bowser resided. Thankfully, he could see that they were getting very close to the massive shadow of the EMP cannon.

“Don’t worry,” said Scrapper. “Once we exit this alley, we’ll be out in open ground. The area around the Sky Buster looks pretty clear other than a few patrols, but let’s keep a low profile just to be safe. We don’t want to go loud until we have to,” whispered Scrapper.

“That’s a lot of distance,” said Cordelia. “How many robots, again?”

“Scanning,” said Scrapper. After a few moments, he said, “Couple patrols, but there’s space for a lot more inside the cannon base.”

“Which ones did you see?” asked Captain Falcon.

“Looks like mostly sword and shield ones. A few gunners and flyers mixed in,” said Scrapper.

“What does the perimeter look like?” asked Cordelia.

“Everything’s been totally levelled in the area,” said Scrapper. “We’ll have mostly flat ground to fight on.” He grabbed his DMR from where it sat on the magnetic plate on the back of his jetpack as Firefly whirred around the corner of the alleyway entrance and landed on Scrapper’s hand, before being absorbed back into the IDD system.  

“Sounds good to me!” said Sonic. “Finally, enough of this sneaking around!”

“Should we take to the skies?” asked Indigo.

“Nah, stay on the ground. You’ll be more visible up there. We’re gonna sneak in if we can,” said Fox. He turned to his IDD and deployed a machine gun.

“All right, Scrapper, you cover us with sniper fire and thin them out as much as you can. Everyone else, we rush the robots and take them down as fast as possible. Let’s get this thing shut down.”

“Rodger that,” said Scrapper. “Go for it. I’ve got your back.”

Fox turned to his allies. “You ready?

Sonic nodded. “Let’s get going already!”

“All right. Let’s move.”

Fox glanced out from behind the corner of the building at the end of the alley. Sure enough, the street that the alley opened into bordered a large flat area, partly covered by a park, partly covered by a parking lot and partly covered by a concrete slab that probably had been a building of some description a few days ago. The massive EMP cannon darkened the night sky in front of them, looming over them like an unstable skyscraper, listing precariously in one direction.

At the base, bright spotlights illuminated the park grounds around the base of the cannon, as a few patrols marched around the perimeter. Fox waved his hand, and the Smashers quietly crept forward across the street. Scrapper stopped and crouched near the perimeter, DMR at the ready. Fox noted this one was different from his usual DMR, equipped with a suppressor and a bipod instead of an under-barrel shotgun and grenade launcher.

Fox patted him on the shoulder and veered off sharply right, to avoid friendly fire. The other Smashers followed him, still keeping a low profile. They moved forward several yards, getting close to the area illuminated by the spotlights.

Scrapper’s voice floated over the radio. “All right, I’m gonna take out a few of them. Stay low.”

Fox and the others dropped the ground and waited. A patrol of three shield robots, one gunner robot and one flying robot were passing by, a few yards to their left. Suddenly, the flying robots in front of them was struck by something and fell out of the sky. The other Egg Fighters turned in surprise, but one of the shield robots was struck in the torso before it could react. It fell to the ground, sparking. The other two quickly raised their shields, as something struck the Egg Fighter gunner, taking it down.

“Hang on a sec,” said Scrapper quietly over the radio. “I see a few more patrols coming. Gonna thin them out too.”

Fox tapped his microphone twice to signal that he’d got the message.

Two more patrols came rushing up, only to lose a few of their shield users, followed shortly by their Egg Fighter Gunners and Aero Chasers.

‘All right, go for it. They should have figured out my position by now,” said Scrapper. “I’ll be behind you in a second.”

Fox took a deep breath, pulled himself to his feet, and lunged into the open. The Egg Fighters turned quickly as Fox shot at their shields with his blaster, causing them to remain behind their shields.

“EMP out!” yelled Cordelia from behind him, and a blue painted grenade rolled under the robot’s feet. It unleashed a small magnetic pulse, stunning the robots. Quickly, Fox finished off the Egg Fighters with his blaster, joined by Falco and Samus.

The others rushed forward, Falcon and Sonic with fists at the ready.

“Jaws!” said Indigo, releasing his Arcanine.

“Blasty!” said Blue, releasing her Blastoise.

Scrapper jogged up to where they were, his ballistic shield on his arm, and his pistol in hand. “Nice work. I think that was all of the patrols.”

“All right, let’s get inside,” said Fox. “Hopefully, resistance is light.”

 However, as they drew close to the base of the cannon, a large door opened in the side of the base. The Smashers all snapped into fighting stances as Dr. Eggman floated out in his Egg Mobile.

Sonic stepped forward. “Well, well, well, look who decided to show his ugly face! I didn’t realize that you played nice with others! Did you make any friends in your little group of villains?”

“Hmph. Typical Sonic. All about friends and magic. You make me sick! The universe is mine to rule and mine alone!” sneered Eggman. 

“You do realize that you probably will have to share with your new friends, right?” asked Sonic. “Don’t worry, it will be a good thing to learn. Remember, sharing is caring!”

Eggman just scoffed.

Fox stepped forward. “Surrender, Eggman! You can’t beat all of us!”

“Hmm….wait, hold on a second,” said Eggman. He snapped his fingers. The doors opened again, and four massive robots levitated out. They had star shaped bodies with one eye in the center, and two arms coming out of their sides. 

“Ah! That’s much better. How about NO!”

Fox rolled his eyes as Eggman continued.

“As you can see, I have not one, not two but FOUR Rotatatrons here. Are you ready to be destroyed?”

“Oh c’mon, Eggman! Since when have you beat me, let alone the rest of us?” said Sonic. “How are a few big robots going to beat us?

Eggman grinned dangerously and snapped his fingers again. Suddenly, around the perimeter of the cannon, an electric fence suddenly rose from the ground, trapping the Smashers inside.

“You’ve got nowhere to run this time, Sonic!” leered Eggman. “This time, I WILL win! I will destroy you and all of your precious friends!”

“None of this ‘Reclaimer’ stuff, then?” asked Fox.

“Hah! Any excuse to take down Sonic is a good one! The Reclaimers are just a means to an end! That being that hedgehog’s demise and my rightful place as ruler of the galaxy!” crowed Eggman.

“Aww, I didn’t realize I meant so much to you! Should I start sending you birthday cards?” snickered Sonic.

“Hah! You won’t live long enough to send one!” said Eggman. “Don’t worry, the rest of your Smasher friends and those idiots that call themselves my ‘allies’ will follow you soon enough. The only one who is fit to rule the universe is me!”

Falco rolled his eyes. “Ego much?”

“I think you mean rightful place, blue chicken! You will never be able to beat my finest creations, Smashers!”

“Blue Chicken!? Oh, it’s on now,” growled Falco.

Fox drew his blaster. “This is your last chance Eggman. Surrender and we can end this peacefully.”

Eggman pressed a button on his Egg Mobile, and a glass shell covered the open cockpit. Two laser cannons extended out of the sides.

“NEVER! PREPARE TO DIE, SMASHERS!”

Fox's eyes widened as Eggman began to fire lasers from the Egg Mobile. With the speed of a master gunslinger, Fox activated his reflector in the nick of time and managed to reflect the lasers back at Eggman. Sonic spun up into a ball and slammed himself into the Egg Mobile, shaking its aim.

"Ready to meet your end, Sonic?" yelled Eggman, as he pressed another button. A large cannon extended itself from the front of the floating saucer and a swinging wrecking ball lowered itself from the bottom. Fox grimaced. Eggman was really going all out this time, wasn't he? Out of the corners of his eyes, he saw the others divide into two groups to take on the Rototatrons.

"Blasty! Hydro Pump!" shouted Blue.

"Jaws! Use Solarbeam!" yelled Indigo.

A greenish blast of energy and a torrent of water crashed into two of the Rotatatrons. Looked like the others had this under control. Fox raised his machine gun as Falco drew two blaster pistols. All they had to do was help Sonic take out Eggman. That shouldn't be too hard, right?

With Indigo…..

Indigo quickly chucked a second Pokeball. “Nido! Let’s go!”

The Nidoking landed with a growl, and joined Jaws in staring down the Rototatron in front of them. The Rototatron let out a screeching roar. Both Jaws and Nido roared back, defiantly. Jaws crouched low to the ground, ready to pounce, typical of Arcanine ready for battle. Nido stomped the ground and took a fighting stance, in an attempt to intimidate his foe. 

Indigo just smirked and extended his Snag Machine arm. His moment had come.

“Dux! You’re up!”

The cry of a Porygon Z was heard, as the virtual Pokemon leapt from the energy projector in the palm of the Snag Machine and rushed towards the machine. The Rototatron’s single eye began to glow and it fired a barrage of red rings of energy out of its eye at Indigo and his team. Indigo, Jaws and Nido jumped aside to avoid the energy rings as Dux jumped at the Rototatron and suddenly disappeared. The Rototatron immediately froze and stopped moving. Indigo grinned and walked up to the Rototatron at a relaxed pace.

“Did you remember to wipe the personality core, Dux?”

The Rototatron turned and gave him a thumbs up.

A series of explosions was heard, as the Rototatron next to them recoiled, having been struck several times in the body. Cordelia and Scrapper both aimed their arm cannons at the mechanical monstrosity, continually firing explosives.

“Get in the base and shut this thing down!” yelled Indigo. “I’ll take this one!”

Dux’s Rototatron gave another thumbs up.

“Copy that,” said Scrapper over the radio. “Cover our exit, will you?”

“You got it!” replied Indigo. “Jaws! Nido! Use Hyper Beam!”

Both Jaws and Nido fired whitish beams from their mouths, striking the enemy robot in the face. It recoiled from the damage, before glaring in their direction. Dux’s Rototatron flexed its arms at the enemy Rototatron with a defiant cry. Out of the corner of his eye, Indigo could see Scrapper and Cordelia making their way towards the side of the base. He returned his focus to the Rototatron in front of him.

“Jaws! Use Flamethrower!” shouted Indigo. Jaws unleashed an impressive torrent of fire, but it did little to the mechanical monster. He was going to need some more punch. Unfortunately, the power herb that Jaws usually held had just been used for a Solarbeam, so he couldn’t safely use the move again. Back in Orre, Solarbeam was a worthwhile move to have on any Pokemon who could learn it due to the intense desert sun. However, not only was Corneria City in a more temperate climate, but the sun was also only barely beginning to peek over the horizon and was nowhere near its full strength. He’d need a different plan.

However, before he could open his mouth, the enemy Rototatron’s eye flicked up began charging up its energy ring attack. 

Nido! Protect!” shouted Indigo. He and Jaws stepped behind Nido, who held up his arms defensively. The Rototatron fired another barrage of energy rings, but Nido’s guard didn’t falter.

“Dux! Now!”

Dux’s Rototatron fired off a barrage of energy rings 

Indigo stood up as the smoke cleared. Time to follow up.

“Nido! Use Hyper Beam!”

Nido fired a whitish beam of energy, as the Rototatron tried to close the distance and throw a punch. The robot’s fist pushed against the beam, but it was pushed back. As the beam died down, Nido roared in defiance.

Indigo quickly surveyed the situation. They needed a different strategy. 

“Jaws! Nido! Dux! Let’s use Y formation!” said Indigo.

Jaws moved to his front left, while Nido moved to his front right and Dux manuvered his Rototatron in front of Indigo. It was one of the standard triple battle formations with the two Pokémon in front and the third in front of the trainer, forming a Y shape. This let him have a good view of the battlefield while keeping his Pokemon in strong and versatile positions to attack and defend from.

The Rototatron turned towards Nido, but Jaws crouched, ready to pounce.

 “Nido! Use Protect again! Jaws! Use Flare Blitz!”

The Rototatron threw a punch at Nido, who blocked the punch with his arms. While the Rototatron was attacking, Jaws cloaked himself with fire and hurled himself at the robot with an explosive crash.

“Now Dux! Use the energy rings!”

Jaws quickly leapt out of the way as Dux fired off energy rings from his Rototatron.

“Now! Throw a few punches at him!”

Dux’s Rototatron floated forward and landed several punches.

“Now Nido! Use Iron Tail!” Nido charged in as Dux backed off and smacked the Rototatron with his tail as it turned metal. Indigo could see the armor beginning to crack. Sparks and smoke began floating out of the cracks. He grinned. Time to finish this.

“Jaws! Use Close Combat on the weakened spot!”

Jaws rushed in and slammed the cracked area of the armor with his paws and head. As Jaws jumped away, Indigo could see the cracked area falling apart even more.

“Nido, now! Use Thunderbolt on the same spot!!”

Nido shot a bolt of lightning at the cracked area in the Rototatron’s armor. The Rototatron immediately stopped moving as it got hit, and began sparking at all of its joints, before deactivating and falling to the ground.

“All right!” said Indigo. “Good job guys!”

Jaws let out a howl in concert with Nido’s roar of victory. Dux, still in the Rototatron, floated over and let out a cry of his own. Indigo looked around.

“Hey, come on! Let’s go help the others take on Eggman!”

With Blue…..

“Blasty! Use Protect!”

Blue ducked behind Blasty’s large shell as the water turtle blocked a barrage of energy rings.

“Now Blasty! Use Flash Cannon!” 

Blasty fired a silver beam out of his cannons, striking the Rototatron square in the eye. The Rototatron recoiled projected an energy shield in front of it as Blasty stood up. The two stared at each other for a moment.

“Now Blasty! Use Ice Beam!” shouted Blue. Blasty fired twin beams of ice from his cannons, creating a frozen layer over the shield. 

The robot dropped the shield, and the icy covering over the shield fell to the ground and shattered.

“Blasty! Withdraw!” shouted Blue as the Rototatron floated up to Blasty and began throwing punches.

Blasty pulled himself into his shell, letting the punches bounce harmlessly off it. Suddenly, the Rototatron looked up, straight at Blue, and began charging his eye ring attack. Blue grit her teeth, and reached for her hat.

“Ditty!”

Her Ditto, disguised as her hat, morphed into an umbrella as the Rototatron began to shoot its energy rings, just in time to block them.

“Blasty! Use Brick Break!” shouted Blue. She gritted her teeth as she kept umbrella Ditty pointed at the Rototatron, doing her best to avoid having the umbrella knocked aside.

Blasty quickly emerged from his shell and smacked the Rototatron in the face with a powerful chop.

“Now! Aqua Jet!” shouted Blue, as the Rototatron turned back to Blasty.

Before the Rototatron could react, Blasty cloaked himself in water and quickly slammed into the Rototatron. It was time to change the pace. Blue pulled out another Pokeball.

“Jiggly!” she shouted, releasing a Jigglypuff.

The Jigglypuff let out a defiant cry, before landing softly on the ground.

“Jiggly! Use Tri Attack!”

Jiggly puffed itself up slightly and generated a red, blue and yellow ball of energy around its head and both feet and fired all three of them off at the Rototatron. The attack didn’t seem to do a ton of damage, but it got the Rototatron’s attention.

“Now Blasty! Use Hydro Pump!” shouted Blue. The Rototatron didn’t have time to react as Blasty drenched it with two heavily pressurized sprays of water.

Blue grinned. Everything was set up.

“Now, Jiggly! Use Thunder!”  shouted Blue. Jiggly gathered a large amount of electricity around itself and fired a large bolt of lightning at the robot. The attack seemed to do significant damage to the robot.

“Yeah!” shouted Blue, positioning umbrella Ditty on her shoulder.

The Rototatron recoiled and roared, before firing off another barrage of energy rings, this one in a wide spread.

“Protect!” shouted Blue, as she swung umbrella Ditty in front of her to block the attacks. As she did, Ditty let out a cry of pain.

“Sorry Ditty, hang in there! Blasty! Use Flash Cannon! Jiggly! Use Hyper Voice!” shouted Blue.

Blasty fired silverish beams as Jiggly let out an earpericing scream that sent visible sound ways at the Rototatron, knocking it back.

“Ditty! Are you all right?” asked Blue.

Ditty partially morphed part of himself into a thumbs up.

“You sure?” asked Blue. “That sounded like it hurt!”

Ditty morphed another part of himself into another thumbs up.

“All right. I want to finish this quick. You ready?”

Ditty let out a cheerful cry.

“Ok, then,” said Blue. “Jiggly!”

Jiggly perked up.

“Use Dazzling Gleam! Blasty! Use Focus Punch! Ditty! It’s hammer time!”

Jiggly unleashed a pinkish blast of several bright diamonds of energy, striking the robot square in the face as Ditty transformed into a large sledgehammer. Blue rushed in, as Blasty began focusing intently, and slammed sledgehammer Ditty into the Rototatron’s eye.

“Blasty! Now!” shouted Blue as she leapt aside.

Blasty lunged forward at a speed that was impressive for a Pokemon of his size and hurled his fist square into the eye of the Rototatron. It smashed the outer glass coating, damaging the optical sensor underneath severely.

As he did, Blue rushed behind Blasty and yelled, “Blasty! Jiggly! Use Storm Surge! Finish this!”

Blasty generated a large wave around him and fired it at the robot. As he did, Jiggly charged electricity around herself and fired the lightning bolt straight at the wave. The electrified wave crashed into the Rototatron. The robot let out a booming screech, before falling to the ground and going still.

Blue and her Pokemon waited for a few moments before carefully going to inspect their fallen enemy.

“Well, I think that’s it! Good work guys!” said Blue cheerily.  She quickly took stock of her surroundings. She noticed Blasty looked like he was getting tired.

“Hey! Come back, Blasty! You did great! Jiggly! Let’s go help Sonic and the others!”

Jiggly let out a cry and punched its fist.

“Oh, and Ditty? You can go back into hat form again.”

Ditty let out a grateful cry and transformed back into a hat.

“All right, Jiggly! Let’s go!”   

With Captain Falcon and Samus…..

Captain Falcon rolled aside to avoid a wide spray of energy rings from the Rototatron that he was fighting. Behind him, Samus fired several missiles at the robot, most of them hitting their mark. Falcon got to his feet and rushed headlong at the Rototatron. It threw a punch, but Falcon dodged, jumping high into the air with a somersault as a maximum power Charge Shot crashed into the body of the Rototatron. Falcon landed behind the robot and charged his Falcon powers around his foot.

“Falcon Kick!”

The Rototatron lurched forward from the force of the strike but caught itself quickly and swung its arm around itself in a circular motion. Falcon vaulted backwards to avoid the swing, as more missiles from Samus hit their mark.

Falcon landed and nodded at Samus. She nodded back. Falcon sprang back into action, as the Rototatron threw a series of punches as him. Falcon dodged with the same speed and agility as he had before. This thing was just too slow. However, as he was landing, Falcon looked up to see the Rototatron charge its energy ring attack again. He grit his teeth as the rings began to fire. He was going to have to be quick about this.

The second his boots touched the ground, he threw his body down, narrowly avoiding the rings of energy as they whizzed above him. The Rototatron raised its fist and slammed it straight down at Falcon.

Falcon rolled to the right as more shots hit the Rototatron’s back. The robot turned around and fired off another barrage of energy rings at Samus, who shot some out of the air, and rolled out of the way of the others.

Falcon scrambled to his feet and tensed his body. Now it was Samus’s turn to dodge and his to take potshots. He flared Falcon energy around his fist and cracked a grin as the explosive and vibrant energy coursed through his body. He loved his Falcon powers. Just using it made him feel alive. He pooled the energy into his fists and leapt into action.

“Raptor Boost!”

The explosive strike crashed into the robot, denting its metal body.

Falcon jumped into the air as the Rototatron tried to turn and slammed his knee into the side of the robot.

“Falcon Knee!”

The Rototatron turned to Falcon as he landed, and he back flipped high into the air to avoid the incoming backhand.

The robot tried to throw another punch with its other hand, but its fist jerked to a stop. It turned to see Samus latched onto its arm with the grapple beam. The robot jerked its arm around, trying to break free, but Samus held firm. Falcon grinned. It was time to finish this. 

“C’MON!” he shouted.

He rushed in, fists blazing. Rototatron saw him and attempted to turn, but it was far too late.

“Raptor Boost!”

His fist still ringing from punching metal armor, Falcon grabbed the Rototatron, and planted his foot against its side.

“Falcon Dive!”

As he vaulted into the air, he did one last flip for show and charged a ball of fire around his fist, forming it into the shape of his namesake bird.

“Falcon PUNCH!”

The legendary punch crashed straight through armor, chassis and computer parts, and the Rototatron fell to the ground, smoldering. Falcon carefully and gingerly pulled his fist from where he’d buried it in the innards of the robot. He flexed his hand and shook it for a moment. Sure, the energy of the falcon part of the Falcon Punch took the brunt of the impact, but his hand was still radiating with an indignant pain. Probably from the number of times he’d just punched metal plating within the last few seconds.

He looked up at Samus, who was walking up to him. He gave her a cheesy grin.

“YESZ!”

“Ever the showman. You really need to invest in a proper gun, Falcon,” said Samus humorously. “How many times are you gonna beat armored robots by punching them?”

“As long as there is breath in my lungs!” proclaimed Falcon. “Captain Falcon never grows weary of defeating those who would do evil!”

Samus just shook her head. “Showoff.”

With Fox, Falco and Sonic….

Sonic grinned as he zipped around Eggman’s mech. Just like old times. And just like old times, Eggman wasn’t getting away.

Some distance away, Fox glared up at Eggman, his Rocket Launcher mounted on his shoulder, and fired another rocket at the Egg Mobile. The explosion rattled the floating saucer a bit.

“Hah! Pathetic!” shouted Eggman. He swung the wrecking ball on the bottom of the Egg Mobile, but Fox fired another missile at the swinging wrecking ball, knocking it back and destabilizing the Egg Mobile.

That was Sonic’s cue, and he rushed in for another flurry of Spin Attacks, rattling the Eggmobile and slowly racking up damage on it. This was just par for the course, this had been his technique for years and it still hadn’t failed him yet. Sonic leapt back from his final Spin Attack and hit the ground with a sliding landing.

Eggman turned towards him, but Falco dashed in from the side and landed a flying kick to the cockpit. The Egg Mobile shuddered and floated back as Falco landed. He chucked a grenade, before shooting it midair, causing it to explode close to where he landed the kick. The Egg Mobile was blasted back a little but didn’t seem to have taken much damage.

Sonic grinned. He was glad to have allies. Things always went better when you came into battle with friends.

Eggman laughed maniacally. “Your attacks are useless!”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s what you always say!” said Sonic. “I always beat you anyway!”

“But not this time, Sonic! I have upgraded my Egg Mobile to the point that you will never be able to beat me!”

“WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP!” snapped Falco, as Eggman began to shoot lasers at him. Sonic quickly curled into another Spin Attack, and crashed into the side of the Eggmobile, taking the free shot. Eggman whipped his mech around, but Sonic zipped out of the way, as Eggman futilely tried to shoot him down.

Several rockets whizzed out of nowhere and crashed into the Eggmobile while Falco kicked his reflector as Eggman attempted to swing the wrecking ball at Sonic. The wrecking ball was knocked back, further destabilizing the flying saucer. Sonic grinned and zipped in as Fox took the opportunity to reload, and landed several spin attacks, leaving dents on the saucer and cracking the glass a little. He landed and began spinning up for a stronger spin attack.

Eggman shouted, “Hah! You think that’s going to work again!?” He aimed the central cannon pointed at Sonic and began to spray fire. Sonic shot off to the side to avoid the fire and began running in circles around Eggman. Eggman began spinning in circles, trying to hit Sonic, continually shooting the flamethrower.

Fox and Falco were doing pretty good, Sonic mused to himself as Eggman screamed obscenities at him. Suddenly, another set of rockets smashed into the side of the Eggmobile. Sonic saw Eggman’s head whip around, and he came to a quick stop.

Eggman yelled “Still shooting rockets now? You’re not the only one who can do that, Tails!”

“It’s Fox! Fox Mc Cloud! You know, the guy who beat Andross!” shouted Fox, as he lined up another shot.

“Never heard of him! What is he, the leader of an army of giant termites or something?”

“You never heard of Andross? Do you live under a rock or something?” shouted Falco.

“Like you’re one to talk, Jeff! Or was it Jass? Eh, I can’t remember. Since when did you dye your feathers and go gunslinger? Where’s that skateboard of yours you love so much?”

“You mean Jet! And Jet’s not a Smasher!” corrected Sonic. “This Falco Lombardi! He doesn’t like being confused with Jet!”

Falco glared at the mad scientist. “You’re really asking for it, buddy….”

“Oh, am I? Then take this!” shouted Eggman. He pressed a button in his cockpit and the wrecking ball underneath his mech began to swing again. Eggman rushed at Falco, who dove out of the way.

Fox fired another rocket and scored another direct hit.

“Gah! You’re a real nuisance with those rockets, Tails!”

Sonic quickly dashed behind Eggman, and jumped onto the back. He quickly climbed over on the glass of Eggman’s cockpit and flashed a winning grin.

“Oh, come on, Egg Head! You know that Tails hates you just as much as I do!”

Fox just sighed and shook his head as Eggman let out a surprised yelp. Sonic jumped off the floating saucer as Eggman activated a set of electrified window wipers.

“Oh, don’t worry, Sonic, I’ve got something special prepared for you!”

“Really? I’m touched! You really didn’t have to!” said Sonic jeeringly.

“Of course! Only the best for my hated rival!” grinned Eggman menacingly.

A wave of unease washed over Sonic. What was Eggman hiding this time?

With Scrapper and Cordelia…..

Scrapper quietly made his way up to the door at the base of the EMP cannon, quickly shooting out the security camera on overwatch over the door. Behind him, Cordelia was watching his back, her arm cannon at the ready.

Scrapper quietly activated the blowtorch function of his arm cannon and scanned the wall with his visor.

“Oh boy, the walls have electrical signals.”

“What does that mean?”

“Not sure, but we’re about to find out.”

“What about the door?” asked Cordelia.

“Door’s fine. Gonna breach there. Standby,” said Scrapper, as he fired up the blowtorch function of his arm cannon. He began torching a large square in the wall, large enough for him to crawl through. A few tense minutes later, Scrapper absorbed his arm cannon back into the suit, replacing it with regular arm armot as the section of the door fell inward with a loud clang. He deployed a Firefly drone in his other hand, and began to deploy his ballistic shield on the magnetic plate on his back. With a few taps of his helmet, the drone buzzed to life as his arm armor and ballistic shield continued to deploy.

“All right, hole is open. Gonna drone it out with Firefly. We clear the room with pistols. That should be our safest bet around the electromagnet. Keep covering me.”

“You got it,” said Cordelia quietly, as she began the process of absorbing her arm cannon back into her suit.

Scrapper tapped the side of his helmet again, which opened a window displaying a feed from his drone’s camera on his visor. Activating the cloaking device on the drone, he guided Firefly through the hole. He flew the drone around the base. The room had three levels, the top two of which were platforms around the central column. The generators were sitting on the bottom floor. There was a ton of open space, probably where Eggman had been storing the giant robots, but there were only a few robots patrolling around. Scrapper made his drone fly up over the balcony of the second floor. Again, there were only a few robots. Scrapper flew the drone up over the third-floor balcony.

There it was. The electromagnet access. Guarded by 5 robots. Scrapper turned the drone around and dropped the drone back down to the first floor. His breath caught in his throat.

The walls were covered with explosives. He clenched his teeth. That many explosives so close in a Sky Hammer? That was insanity. Did Eggman even know what he was dealing with?

“Hey Cordie. Good news and bad news. Good news is that there aren’t that many bots. Bad news is that this whole thing is rigged to blow. Are you sure Eggman hasn’t seen us?”

“As far as I can tell, he hasn’t,” said Cordelia tersely. “What do we do?”

“We gotta shut this thing down before Eggman blows it up. Listen, we stick with the plan, but we EMP the bombs and chuck a bunch of chaff grenades all over the place. If we move quickly, that will be enough time to at least cut the power from the generators. From there, I’ll go upstairs and I’ll disable the electromagnet. I think I’ll just stick a thermite grenade to it and melt it while we leave.”

“What about the bombs?” asked Cordelia.

“The EMP and chaff will keep Eggman from detonating the bombs while their effects are active. We’ll have to be quick about it,” said Scrapper. “It’ll…uh…probably work.”

“Probably?”

“Probably. Pop an over shield before we go in just in case and move as fast as you can. I don’t wanna be in there anymore then you do.”

Cordelia snorted. “Like that’s gonna help. Let’s make this quick.”

With Fox, Falco and Sonic…..

Fox ducked as Eggman swung his wrecking ball at him. He’d just barely had time to reabsorb his rocket launcher into his IDD as the mad doctor had turned up the heat on his offense, charging them with his wrecking ball and firing a number of varied projectiles out of the cannon.

“Die already!” yelled Eggman, turning to Fox and firing a series of lasers. Fox barely had enough time to reach for his reflector. The glowing barrier materialized just in time, bouncing the lasers back at Eggman.

“Gah!” yelled Eggman, as the homecoming lasers rocked his mech. Fox glanced down at his reflector. It was glowing red. He grumbled under his breath. Looked like his reflector was going to need to cool down.

“Enough of this!” shouted Eggman. He righted his craft and floated up in the air a little.

“Giving up so soon?” said Sonic cheerily.

“Not at all, hedgehog!” said Eggman. “I merely mean to activate Plan B! I hope you and your friends are ready to meet their doom!”

“My doom? No! I’m too beautiful to die!” said a voice from the side.

Fox looked over to see Blue with Indigo, Jaws, Nido, Jiggly and a hacked Rototatron in tow.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it before and I’ll hear it again. Surrender, you can’t beat all of us!” said another voice.

Fox whipped his head to see Samus and Captain Falcon coming from the other direction.

“Oh, good! You’re all here! Just in time to be obliterated! Hehehehe!”

“And how are you going to obliterate us? With that Egg Mobile that we’ve been beating the snot out of for the last 10 minutes?” asked Sonic.

“With that!” said Eggman, grandly, pointing to the Sky Cannon. “You see, the entire base of that cannon is rigged with explosives! When I press this button here, the explosives will detonate, destroying the cannon. And before you try any tricks, just know that causing the central electromagnet to explode will amplify the blast radius! You’ll all be dead before you have a chance of moving!”

Fox shifted uneasily. Where were Scrapper and Cordelia? Weren’t they the ones supposed to take the cannon out?

“You’re bluffing!” said Falco. “No idiot would destroy something that valuable.”

“Well, who’s the idiot now Jeff? Hahaha! You’re all doomed!”

“It’s Falco! Falco Lombardi!” snapped Falco. “Get it right!”

Fox glanced around to see that all of the other Smashers had tensed. That was probably a bad sign.

Fox pointed his blaster at Eggman. “You’re bluffing.”

“Hahaha! Your doom then!” With a flourish, Eggman pressed the button. The electric fence surrounding the area suddenly turned off, but nothing else happened. 

“Eh?” said Eggman, pressing the button several more times. “What’s wrong with this thing?”

“Maybe the fact that there aren’t any bombs in the base of the EMP cannon?” said Falco sarcastically.

Fox’s ears pricked up to hear the sound of heavy, hurried footsteps behind him. He glanced behind him to see Scrapper and Cordelia running towards them at top speed.

“RUN!” shouted Cordelia.

Fox whipped his gaze back to Eggman, who was pressing the button repeatedly.

“You heard Cordelia! Go, go, GO!” shouted Fox.

The Smashers turned to run, and made it no more then a dozen paces, when the ground was rocked by a massive explosion. Fox’s footing was shaken and he fell face first onto the ground.

Eggman whizzed past the Smashers as they tried to scramble to their feet, laughing manically. Fox glanced back and watched in horror as the barrel of the cannon began falling towards the Smashers.

“RUN! RUN!”

Chapter Text

Ally Analysis: Dr. Eggman

Dr. Eggman is a genius scientist and a master roboticist. He commands an elite robot army that has been effectively deployed against a number of forces. Dr. Eggman is also a specialist in vehicular combat and fights on the battlefield in person in his array of floating vehicles and has experience in using alternative and unorthodox power sources to power himself and his forces, such as the Master Emerald. However, Dr. Eggman is not much of a combatant himself outside of his vehicles, and while he’s contended with Sonic the Hedgehog for years, there may be ways to improve his power on the battlefield.

The first way that Dr. Eggman may be able to improve his power is to increase the production of his powerful robots. Something along the lines of the original Metal Sonic, but without the control issues. Any robot that is able to contend with Sonic the Hedgehog would be a powerful ally in the fight against the Smashers and would increase his battling capacity significantly. Second would be studying tactics, as the ability to efficiently direct a large army of powerful robots would make the most of the potential of Eggman’s ground forces. This tactical strategy, combined with high quality ground forces and extremely powerful robots would make Eggman an even more powerful ally in the fight against the Smashers. 

Act 8: Fox

Chapter 5: More Than His Share

Fox stopped running as the Sky Cannon crashed behind him with an immense, thunderous noise. As the dust cleared, he looked up. Falco, Falcon and Samus were next to him.

“Hey! Where are the others?” asked Fox.

“Up here!”

Fox looked up to see Indigo and Blue on the back of their Staraptor and Jigglypuff respectively, having flown out of the crash zone. He looked around again.

“Where’s Sonic, Cordelia and Scrapper?”

“Actually,” said Falco, “Where’s Eggman?”

“Eggman ran that way,” said Samus, pointing ahead of them. “Sonic followed.”

The radio crackled to life to the sound of Cordelia panting. “We got caught in some of the falling debris, but we’re ok.”

Fox turned back to the fallen hulk of the Sky Buster, watching Scrapper and Cordelia as they jogged their way out of the smoke towards them. Their shields were still flared and glowing, probably having been pelted with debris from the falling Sky Buster.  

“Say, didn’t Scrapper say this thing was supposed to fail catastrophically?” asked Falco. “How come we’re all still here?”

“Because we cut the power and destroyed the magnet in time,” said Scrapper.

“How’d you jam the signal?” asked Indigo. “I’m assuming that was you, because it wasn’t me.”

“A mix of chaff grenades and a few EMP grenades for good measure did the trick,” said Scrapper.

Fox cleared his throat. There was still a mission at hand. “Looks like everybody’s accounted for. Are we all good? Everybody catch their breath? We need to go back up Sonic.”

There was a chorus of assent.

“All right, we head that way,” said Fox, pointing towards the nearby mountains.

“Why that way?” asked Samus.

“General Pepper said that Eggman came from the Caves of Refuge. That’s the direction the Caves of Refuge are located, so they had to have come from that way.”

“Yeah, that’s gotta be the way,” said Falco.

Falcon shrugged. “You know this city better than me. Lead the way!”

Fox turned to the others. “Let’s go. We need to back up Sonic before he gets too deep. Let’s move it people!” 

He took off at a run in the direction of the mountains. Next to him, Falco, Falcon, and Samus kept pace. After a few moments, Indigo and Blue caught up, flying on the back of Indigo’s Staraptor.

They kept moving in a straight line down the main road, going as fast as they could as the mountains drew nearer.

Suddenly, Fox heard the sound of tires behind him. He turned his head back to see Scrapper driving a military style jeep with a large cargo bed in the back, with Cordelia riding in the passenger seat, her assault rifle in her hands.

Scrapper pulled up alongside them.

“Get in the back! My car’s faster!”

He came to a stop, letting Fox, Falco, Samus and Falcon clamber into the flatbed.

“Where’d you get this?” asked Falco as Scrapper.

“Dropped it from my satellite!” said Scrapper. “You could have waited a minute before taking off running, you know.”

Fox just shook his head. “You guys come prepared!”

“Yes, we do,” said Scrapper with a mock salute. “Now where am I headed?”

“Straight ahead,” said Fox. He tapped his eyepiece. The tracker on Sonic’s Smasher ID card still read due east, straight ahead, though the signal seemed to be all over the place. Probably because Sonic was dashing all over the place at Mach 4 or 5. He also toggled the eye piece a few times, before pressing a few buttons. If Scrapper could call in his satellite to drop in supplies, then he could call the Great Fox into orbit. No need to cheap out on his own firepower.

Fox grabbed his blaster and took a deep breath as the world whizzed past him.

“You doing all right, Fox?” asked Falco.

“Yeah,” said Fox, shifting in his seat uneasily. “The Caves of Refuge are meant to withstand assault. We’re gonna have to hit them fast so he can’t dig in. Hopefully Sonic can delay Eggman before he gets into the caves. If you guys can take care of the robots, I can go straight for Eggman.”

“What about Sonic?” asked Samus.

“He’s probably already fighting Eggman. We’ll take him down together,” said Fox.

“I’ll go with you,” said Falco. “Eggman’s gonna be a tough fight if you’ve only got the porcupine backing you.”

Fox nodded. “Thanks.”

The Smashers sat in silence for some time, as Scrapper continued to drive down the street. He quickly pulled onto the highway, which was mercifully fairly empty. Even under normal, circumstances, this was a less frequented stretch of highway and Scrapper was able to maintain good speed, only having to swerve around potholes, a few abandoned cars and the wrecks of a handful of military vehicles. Fox shook his head, looking at his surroundings. This was why he didn’t live in Corneria City. It always got targeted by whoever fancied the destruction of the Lylat System. But he still couldn’t help feeling bad for all the people who had been displaced. It would probably take months if not years to repair all the damage. Why did people need to do this? What could be so great about being in charge of things that you had to do this to so many people?

The highway began to narrow down to only a couple lanes. Fox took a deep breath and glanced at his map of Corneria City on his eyepiece. They were getting close.

“Robots!” shouted Scrapper suddenly. “Up ahead! Gonna plow through till we hit Eggman! Stay low and don’t get hit!”

Fox pulled his blaster out, as did Falco and Captain Falcon. Samus merely readied her arm cannon. He peeked over the side of the cargo bed as he heard Cordelia start to fire her rifle. The ground was littered with destroyed robots, with a handful of their comrades still standing and attempting to fight. Fox took a few potshots as they passed through, as did the other Smashers.

Just a few minutes later, they whizzed through an intersection, and pulled into a massive parking lot.

Scrapper suddenly shouted, “Contact! Eggman spotted!”

“Where’s Sonic?” asked Fox.

“Looks like he’s fighting Eggman,” said Cordelia.

“Gonna stop here and let you out!” said Scrapper. “Let’s finish this quickly!”

Fox looked around as Scrapper came to a stop. They were in front of the entrance to the Caves of Refuge. It was a massive parking lot in front of a sheer mountain cliff. At the bottom of the cliff was an expansive, flat concrete area, meant to allow for large numbers of people to gather so that they could seek safety in the caves. The actual entrance to the Caves of Refuge was a series of large vault doors, set slightly into the mountain. The parking lot was surrounded by military style watchtowers.

“Samus, Falcon, Cordelia, Scrapper, Blue and Indigo, you guys take out the robots, so they don’t shoot us in the back. Falco, you’re coming with me.”

“Heh. Let’s show that guy what happens to people who attack Corneria, eh?” said Falco.

“We want him alive, you know. Can’t do the usual,” said Fox. 

“Ugh, right. I was gonna give him the old Falco Facebuster!”

“Oh, right, that move. How long were you scrolling through the dictionary to find something cool that started with F?” asked Fox.

“Less time than you,” said Falco.

Fox just rolled his eyes as everybody else enjoyed a chuckle at his expense.

Scrapper began slowing down his jeep and screeched to a stop as a number of robots began to rush towards them. The Smashers leapt out of the truck and began attacking the robots. Fox rushed towards Eggman, blaster in hand, Falco just behind him.

Some distance ahead, Eggman and Sonic were fighting. Eggman fired a powerful laser out of the cannon of his Eggmobile, as Sonic ran circles around him.

“I’ll get you eventually!” shouted Eggman.

Fox and Falco quickly chucked a grenade each at Eggman. The two explosions quickly got his attention.

“Tails and Jeff! You pests are back, I see!”

“Yeah, we are!” said Falco. “Tired of running away?”

“Running away? Hah! I learned a long time ago that running away is futile against Sonic!”

“Hey! You actually learned something along the way! I’m actually touched!” said Sonic cheerily.

“I’m not completely stupid, unlike you, Sonic!” said Eggman. “But as you will see, I have learned much from our many battles! And now you will see what I’ve learned!”

Eggman fired a barrage of rockets out of compartments on the side of his mech, as Sonic spin dashed out of the way. Fox and Falco had to jump back to avoid the blast radius of the explosions. The two began firing with their blaster pistols, but to little avail. Eggman turned and shot another barrage of rockets at the two Cornerians. Fox activated his reflector with lightning reflexes and reflected the first couple rockets back into the rest of the incoming rockets, destroying them in a large, combined explosion. Falco, who had jumped behind Fox, jumped into the air, and kicked his reflector at Eggman’s mech, knocking the Eggmobile back on contact, as Falco chucked another grenade at the Egg Mobile.

“Gah! You pests! This is between Sonic and ME!” snapped Eggman. “I suppose you’ll just have to meet the same fate then!”

He lowered the wrecking ball from underneath his Egg Mobile and begun swinging it around. Sonic vaulted into the air above the flying saucer and landed a diving kick to the back of it, damaging it a little. 

Fox growled under his breath.

“You got a plan for this?” asked Falco.

“Yeah. Time for plan B,” said Fox.

“What’s plan B?”

“We call in the Landmasters.”

“Wait, isn’t the Great Fox in orbit of the moon?”

“Called it in after the EMP cannon went down. The autopilot should have it in orbit by now.”

Falco shook his head. “All right. I guess Eggman’s in trouble.”

Fox grinned, pressing a button on his gauntlet. “Oh yeah. He’s in trouble. We just gotta hang in here until the tanks land.”

“Whatever it is you’re mumbling about, it’s not going to save you!” shouted Eggman. The two Cornerians looked up to see Eggman fire a barrage of plasma shots at them. They both dove aside in different directions. Fox whipped out his blaster and took some potshots at Eggman, as the mad scientist swung the wrecking ball of his mech at him. Fox rolled out of the way of the first swing, and suddenly backflipped to dodge the second swing, changing his direction. Falco was already chucking grenades from behind as Sonic landed a few more spin attacks.

“Get OFF ME!” shouted Eggman, swinging the wrecking ball around in a circle, forcing Sonic to dodge. He fired off a barrage of rockets at Falco, before firing a barrage of lasers at Sonic.

Sonic, as usual, dashed around the lasers, while Falco pulled out his blaster and reflector, shooting some rockets down, and reflecting the rest back at Eggman. While most missed, a few managed to be properly returned to the sender.

“Gah! I won’t stand for this, Jeff, you hear me!?”

Fox discreetly snuck up behind the floating saucer as Eggman fired off more lasers and jumped onto the back. Evidently, Eggman heard him land, as he let out a shout of surprise. Fox clambered over the cockpit and began shooting at it with his blaster. Eggman yelped and fumbled for the controls.

Fox began charging his Fire Fox powers into his fist and began punching the glass.

“Starfox Strike!”

Eggman quickly overcame his surprise and activated his electrified windshield wipers. Fox grunted and quickly clambered to the side of the mech and continued to punch the mech as Sonic began to join in the fray and land Spin Attacks.

With a shout of frustration, Eggman pulled a different lever and began to spin the Eggmobile.

Fox tried to hang on but was thrown off. However, somebody caught him before he hit the ground and whisked him several meters away.

Sonic put him down at a relatively safe distance, having caught him mid fall.

“Hey! Nice idea you had there!”

Fox grinned. “We just gotta hang in a little longer, I’m having the Great Fox drop Falco and I our Landmasters. We’ll fight him on even footing.”

“That sounds great!” said Sonic. “I guess ol’ Egghead isn’t getting away this time!”

“You know it. And thanks for the save.”

“Anytime!” Sonic grinned, before dashing off.

“Need a hand!” shouted Falco as he jumped out of the way of the wrecking ball, only to have to run off sprinting to avoid a barrage of rockets. Sonic was already on top of it, already jumping in the air, and charging a spin attack. Fox reached for another grenade. He wasn’t going to have time to deploy his Rocket Launcher or any other heavy weapons.

He cooked the grenade for a moment, before chucking it as Sonic leapt away and Eggman turned and tried to shoot at him.

“DIE, SONIC!”

Suddenly, Fox caught something out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, two Landmaster Tanks crashed onto the ground, near Falco.

“You’re in trouble now!” shouted Falco, as he lunged for one of them. Fox jumped out of the way as Eggman turned his line of fire towards him and made a mad dash for the other. He barely made it to the hatch and managed to close it before the rain of lasers hit his tank. He slid into the pilot’s seat and fired up the Landmaster’s systems. Hull integrity at 98%. He could deal with that.

“Oh! So, you brought out the tanks! I’m actually honored!” said Eggman. “Let’s see how they stack up to my Eggmobile!”

“Open fire!” shouted Fox. Both he and Falco unleashed a barrage of powerful laser beams at Eggman’s mech. Eggman quickly took to evasive maneuvers while opening a somewhat wild spray of lasers.

Fox gripped the controls tightly and barrel rolled his way out of the line of fire as Falco fired up the thrusters underneath his Landmaster and took off the concrete while shooting at Eggman. Fox knew this strategy. Not many people had the guts to stand their ground against a flying, laser shooting tank piloted by a crazy ace pilot.

Eggman was no exception and quickly backed off as Falco’s tank slammed back into the ground with a resounding crash. Fox winced.

“Yo Falco, take it easy on the tank!”

“Hey! In my defense, that move usually gets the bad guys to surrender!”

Fox shrugged. To be fair, Falco was right – a lot of bad guys had surrendered immediately upon seeing Falco pull of that maneuver. “Just make sure you don’t damage the treads, you’re paying for replacements if we need them!”

“I know, I know! Let’s just beat Eggman first, all right!”

Eggman rushed in again, this time with the wrecking ball swinging. Fox’s grip on the controls tightened as he jetted the Landmaster into the air, before quickly barrel rolling midair. The maneuver had its intended effect, as Eggman quickly moved to avoid the multiple ton spinning metal hunk of death. Falco quickly fired off a few shots, scoring a few direct hits.

“Hah! That’s it? Your firepower is pathetic!” shouted Eggman.

“Uh, Fox? That didn’t seem to do all that much for a tank laser,” said Falco, some concern leaking into his voice over the radio.

“Yeah, I saw that,” said Fox. “We’re gonna have to think outside the box.”

“As in ‘do a barrel roll’ outside the box or ‘happy feet to wombo combo’ outside the box?” asked Falco.

“I mean, I was just gonna keep shooting till his ship gives out,” said Fox. “Doesn’t Sonic usually just land a ton of hits till he damages something vital on that thing?”

“Yeah!” said Sonic on his radio. “That’s usually the plan!”

“Wow, what a brilliant plan,” said Falco sarcastically. “I never could have come up with that on my own.”

“You got anything better?” asked Fox.

“Nope! Let’s give him the works!” said Falco.

Fox shook his head as he resumed fire. “Try hitting some charge shots and use your Smart Bombs. It will hopefully wear down the ship faster.”

Fox started firing his tank’s cannon again at Eggman, who took evasive maneuvers.

“Hah! I hope you’ve got something more powerful than that!” he shouted.

Fox just grit his teeth and kept shooting, moving to avoid Eggman’s barrages of rockets and lasers.

Falco suddenly fired up his engines and rolled his tank straight at Eggman. Eggman didn’t move, probably due to shock in Fox’s opinion, and his mech got slammed by the tank. Falco fired a couple near point blank shots at Eggman, who quickly tried to move away. Falco wasn’t having it, and flared his thrusters to life, boosting himself off the ground, trying to crush the Eggmobile underneath the weight of the Landmaster.

Eggman moved out of the way and shot a barrage of lasers at Falco’s Landmaster, scoring a few direct hits.

“Yo Eggman! Your laser cannon didn’t do anything! Might wanna get some better hardware for next time!” yelled Falco through the speakers of his tank.

“Hmph! I’ll get you eventually, Chicken Little!”

“What was that?” snapped Falco. “I’m a pheasant, not a chicken! Know the difference!”

"What's the difference?” yelled Eggman. “You're blue and annoying, just like Sonic! And he's definitely a chicken! Always running away!"

Falco just sighed. "That’s....not what I meant. You know that, right?"

“Bah, who cares? You’re not going to survive this battle, Jeff! And the same goes for you, Sonic and Tails!”

Fox shook his head as he, Falco and Eggman exchanged fire as Sonic whizzed around them, landing lighting fast Spin Attacks.

“This guy needs glasses,” complained Falco over the radio as the firefight continued. “He’s been sitting in his lab too long, squinting at blueprints or something.”

Fox snickered under his breath at that.

Gradually, the three managed to push Eggman back towards the entrances to the Caves of Refuge with careful maneuvering and precision bursts of tank fire. Fox’s hands were sweaty as he maneuvered the tank, dodging Eggman’s barrages and trying to keep an eye out for Sonic. Sure, he was fast enough to dodge all of the projectiles being thrown around, but it still made Fox nervous to have an ally so close in the line of fire.

As they got close to the doors, Eggman stopped firing. Fox paused, as did Falco.

“You know, you’re pretty good! But I’m not finished yet!” crowed Eggman.

Suddenly, Falcon leapt out of nowhere through the air. Fox watched him out of the corner of his eye as he soared towards Eggman’s mech, his fist glowing with Falcon energy.

“Falcon Punch!”

The Eggmobile creaked and groaned from the hit and floated backward a little. Suddenly, Eggman’s wrecking ball began to swing as Falcon landed. The wrecking ball swung forward, and hit Falcon square in the face, sending him flying.

Fox looked at the monitor near his control panel and cycled through the cameras on the side and back of the cockpit. He could see Blue and Indigo in the back while Cordelia and Samus lined up with Sonic up front, ready to fight.

“We got the other robots,” said Samus over the radio. “Let’s take him down!”

“That’s the spirit!” said Sonic confidently.

“Hah! I’m going to have to really go all out on you!” shouted Eggman.

“You can’t beat all of us!” said Sonic, who launched himself at Eggman again.

Eggman grinned as Sonic drew close. “Checkmate!”

He pressed a button. Suddenly, a slow field engulfed a large area around the Egg Mobile, engulfing all the Smashers. The cockpit rolled back and Eggman was ejected from his cockpit outside of the range of the slow field.

Fox’s eyes widened as the sides of the Egg Mobile began to shake.

“MOVE! ITS GONNA EXPLODE!”

The Pokémon Trainers, who were just inside the radius of the slow field quickly moved out of it and took defensive postures.

“Nido! Use Protect!” shouted Indigo.

“Jiggly! Use Protect!” shouted Blue.

Falcon, who was also close to the edge of the slow field muscled his way out and rushed behind Nido as the two took cover behind the large Pokemon.

Cordelia shouted, “Activating the Overdrive!” She zipped at an accelerated rate through the slow field but was barely shy of edge. As she did, she activated an over shield over herself as Samus activated her suit’s dash thrusters, getting her close to the edge of the slow field as well.

Fox growled as his tank’s controls quickly became sluggish. He glanced over to see Falco having similar issues maneuvering his Landmaster.  He shook his head. He was gonna have to hope that the Landmaster could take the blast.

“I can’t move!” shouted Sonic.

Fox turned around to see Sonic stuck near the center of the field, moving extremely slowly. Was the field stronger at the center? It definitely seemed like it.

“Get behind the Landmaster!” shouted Fox into the radio. He jammed his foot on the gas, trying to get in front of Sonic.

Sonic struggled towards the Landmaster as Fox slowly inched towards him, and just barely made it past the nose of the cannon. But he was too late. The Egg Mobile exploded, with Sonic, Fox and Falco caught in the blast zone. Fox grunted as the explosion hit the front of his tank. He was thrown back in his seat, his ears ringing.

Fox quickly got his bearings about him and glanced down at the tank’s diagnostic system. All systems were green, and the tank integrity was at 54%. Looked like the armor had eaten most of the blast.

“Status! Is everybody ok?” Fox asked as the smoke covered his cockpit window.

“I’m all right,” said Falco. “All systems green.”

“Me and Falcon are all right,” said Indigo.

“I’m ok!” said Blue.

Samus grunted over the radio. “Suit integrity at 34% but I’m alive.”

Cordelia groaned. “Got thrown but my shield ate most of that.”

Fox nodded. “Sonic, you all right? Scrapper, what’s your status?”

Scrapper’s voice suddenly crackled over the radio.

“I’m on overwatch. Fox, you might wanna check on Sonic, he’s down to the left of your tank and isn’t moving.”

Fox looked through the window of his cockpit. He couldn’t see Sonic through all the smoke, so he opened the hatch and climbed out.

“Sonic? Sonic?”

“HAH! I finally got him! Couldn’t outrun that one, eh, Sonic?” gloated Eggman as his personal bubble shield fizzled out. Fox quickly trained his blaster on him.

“Surrender! You have no chance of beating us!” said Fox tersely. He heard a mechanized noise and saw Falco’s Landmaster turret swing towards Eggman.

“Hands up, Egghead,” growled Falco over the tank’s microphone.

“Hah! And what will you do to me? You great and heroic smashers won’t hurt an unarmed man, would you?”

“Oh, you’re playing that game, are you?” growled Falco.

“Yes, as a matter of fact,” said Eggman with a leering grin.

Suddenly something struck Eggman in the neck. It unleashed a small electrical shock, causing Eggman to fall to his knees.

“Ouch! What was that?”

He looked down, and to his horror, he saw a dart.

“Grab him before he gets away! The tranquilizer won’t knock him out for a few minutes!” said Scrapper over the radio.

Fox dove for Eggman, who had turned to run but missed him barely. Samus, Falco and Falcon dashed past at high speed as Fox picked himself off the floor and chased Eggman into the compound.  

Fox heard footsteps behind him and saw Blue, Indigo and Cordelia approaching Sonic as the smoke cleared further.

Blue checked his pulse. “He’s alive.”

Fox breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good.”        

“Hold on a second,” said Cordelia as Indigo moved to pick up Sonic. “Let Scrapper look at him. He’s not Skylark, but he’s got first aid training.”

“Good idea,” said Indigo. He looked at Sonic’s arms, legs and back and shook his head. “That’s some bad road rash.”

Fox looked up to see Scrapper climbing down from one of the watchtowers. After a few minutes, Scrapper reached their position, a dart rifle attached to the magnetic plate on his jetpack.

“All right,” he said, crouching down next to Sonic. “What’s the damage?”

Scrapper tapped the side of his visor and observed Sonic’s injuries for a moment.

“That’s looking pretty bad. We’ve got a broken arm, a broken leg, and I think those are some cracked ribs. Oh, and the road rash and the shrapnel. Thankfully not too much shrapnel, but we’ve got some stuff that we’re gonna need to get out. And yeah, this way above my pay grade, we’re gonna have to call in some proper paramedics, and we’re gonna want to do it fast. Though if we’re looking for a silver lining, at least Sonic is knocked out, he can’t feel his injuries right now. I’m gonna try to do some first aid, but no guarantees, this is worse than anything I’ve treated before.”

Fox nodded. “I’ll call Colonel Baker for medical evac. Gimme a minute….”

As Fox fiddled with his comm device. Samus, Falco and Falcon returned, with Eggman restrained with a pair of handcuffs.

“THIS ISN’T THE LAST OF ME, YOU HEAR?!” screamed Eggman. “I WILL RULE THE WORLD AND NOBODY CAN STOP ME NOW!”

“Quiet!” snapped Samus as she helped Falcon drag Eggman along.

“I KILLED SONIC! HAHAHAHAHA! TAKE THAT YOU STUPID BLUE HEDGEHOG! I’M UNSTOPPIBLE NOW! UNSTOPPIBLE!”

“Come on! Enough with your speeches!” said Falcon sternly.

“Yeah, we heard enough of them before! Can it already!” groused Falco. 

As Samus, Falco and Falcon took Eggman off some distance, Blue turned to the others.

“We’re gonna leave out the part about how he didn’t actually kill Sonic, right?”

Fox nodded. “Yeah. He’s on a need-to-know basis right now and he definitely doesn’t need to know that.”

Cordelia nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll pull out some flares for the evac birds. Blue, Indigo, can you help Scrapper?”

“Sure thing,” said Indigo.

“You can count on us!” said Blue.

Several hours later….

A Cornerian doctor waked into the waiting room where the Smashers were sitting.

“How is Sonic doing?” asked Fox.

“He’s stable,” said the doctor. “We’ve removed the shrapnel and set him in a body cast. He’ll live, but it will take some time to recover. We have our finest doctors and nurses taking care of him now.”

“Thank you for everything,” said Fox.

“No, thank you!” said the doctor. “If it weren’t for you, we’d still be surrounded by Eggman!”

“Anytime,” said Samus. “We’re here to serve. It’s what we do.”

“Well, I’ve got other patients to attend to. If you wish to visit Sonic, please stay quiet, he needs to rest right now. Let me know if you need to have him moved, all right?”

“We’ll keep you up to date. Thank you, doctor,” said Fox.

The doctor nodded before quickly turning and walking back in.

“So,” said Samus. “What do we do now?”

“General Pepper’s forces are already cleaning up the rest of the robots, and it sounds like resistance is minimal,” said Fox. “I already offered our help, but it sounds like they’ve got the situation under control. For now, we wait. We may have to roll out in case anybody needs help. How are you guys doing?”

Samus shrugged. “Little shaken, I’ve had worse. I’ll probably want to put my suit back into its repair station on the Great Fox sooner than later though.”

Falcon nodded. “I’m all right. I’ve had worse than getting hit by that wrecking ball.”

Cordelia nodded. “Same here.”

Fox nodded and turned to Blue and Indigo. “And your Pokemon?”

“Got them healed up,” said Blue. “We’ll want to let Nido and Jiggly rest more if we can, but if need be, the rest of our teams can still fight.”

“Good,” said Fox. “And you, Scrapper?”

“I’m fine. My nerves are still a little shot from disabling a Sky Buster with hundreds of pounds of explosives in the base, but its better than having been blown up, so that’s a positive, I guess.”

“So, what now, intrepid leader?” asked Falco.

Fox shrugged. “We wait to hear back from Meta Knight’s Team, Mario’s Team, and Roy’s Team. Help out General Pepper if he needs it. Unless anybody sends out an SOS.”

“Hopefully they’re doing better than we are,” said Falcon. “Eggman was prepared, especially for Sonic.”

“He was,” said Fox. “That’s the problem right there.”

“Yeah,” said Scrapper in agreement.

“Why’s that?” asked Falco.

“You know how I tinker with stuff. I make them with a purpose in mind, right?” said Scrapper.

“Yeah?” said Falco.

“So, what happens when that purpose is specifically to take down a specific somebody who is a significant thorn in my side? When I’ve studied them and their responses to various situations and their attack patterns and everything. Maybe even come up with a number of strategies of how to defeat them?”

“Like that Robin tactician lady,” said Falcon grimly.

“Exactly,” said Fox. “Eggman was prepared for Sonic. What happens when Ganondorf is prepared for Link, Ridley is prepared for Samus and Mario’s clone is prepared for the Mario Bros?”

There was a pause.

“We don’t have any proof that they have done that beyond Eggman,” said Samus quickly. “Sonic is Eggman’s longtime rival, he may have come up with that on his own. And Ridley isn’t the type to strategize all that much, anyway.”

“You’re right,” said Fox. “Hopefully it was just Eggman who was this prepared for a Smasher. But we can’t guarantee that. We need to have our guards up. We can’t let them down for even a split second.”

“It’s not all lost,” said Cordelia. “There are those of us who don’t have mortal enemies who are with the bad guys.”

“Yeah,” said Blue. “I know they haven’t seen my full bag of tricks yet. I can count on one hand the number of people who have. I know that’s true for Red, Green and Indigo, and that also probably goes for enough of the other Smashers as well. We still have strategies and attacks that they won’t see coming.”

“You’re right,” said Fox. “And thankfully for me and Falco, there’s no sign of Andross, the Aperoids or the Anglar Army. But still, we have to be careful. We can’t have too many strong Smashers at risk like this though. Mario, Samus and Link already have dangerous adversaries with the enemy that seem to know them well. That’s already 3 out of the 10 strongest Smashers. And it’s not like the others are particularly unknown. Master Hand, Crazy Hand, Meta Knight, Palutena, Captain Falcon and Roy have had highly publicized careers and have enemies out there. And that goes for a lot of the other heavy hitters like DK, Bowser, Red and Kirby. The only one of the strongest 10 who doesn’t have any notable enemies and isn’t very well documented is Rosalina. And you all know how often she likes to fight. They know way too much about too many of us,” said Fox.

The conversation went silent. Fox could see the unease on his fellow Smasher’s faces.

“Listen, I’m sorry, I don’t want to paint this too negatively, but this could be a really bad situation here.”

“And that’s why we have all manner of Smashers. They can’t possibly beat all of us. That’s one of the reasons we started that big recruitment effort after the Tabuu incident, remember?” said Samus.

Fox sighed. “You’re right. Maybe I’m just worrying too much about all of this. Just keep an eye out, everybody.”

“Gotcha,” said Falcon with a thumbs up.

Fox gave a forced smile. “Either way, lets pack our stuff up and be ready to go, just in case the others need us. We’re the cavalry now. And the cavalry can’t be late, right?”

“Cavalry’s never late. Especially with the legendary Falco Lombardi around and his trusty sidekick Fox McCloud!” said Falco.

Fox rolled his eyes as the others chuckled. “Oh, please.”

Chapter Text

Murphy and Carrie of Wuhu Island

Threat Level: 3

I have elected to put these two smashers in the same category as their fighting styles are extremely similar. Murphy and Carrie are twins and share similar powers. They also use the same fighting method and seem to apply their combat style in a similar fashion. Lastly, they are armed similarly, but not entirely identically.

First for their fighting method.  They utilize some sort of yoga based martial art. This makes sense as both are yoga instructors, but I have absolutely no idea how it is effective. Nevertheless, it appears that the technique gets the job done on a regular basis. From what I can analyze of the style, it’s very well balanced in terms of power, speed and defense, and it appears that most of its attacks involve strong stances, which may make these two more difficult to knock over while executing these attacks. This yoga based martial art is enhanced by the twin’s powers. They usually refer to these as “Solar Power”, and indeed seems to be light based in some capacity. It is used to enhance the strength of their attacks and is charged into balls of energy known as Sun Salutations. Both of them also are equipped with Wii Fit Boards, a kind of skateboard capable of hovering and flight. These Wii Fit Boards appear to be upgraded versions of the standard version, as their performance seems to be better than the retail version. Lastly, I want to mention something that is exclusive to Murphy. He appears to wield a special kind of bread in battle. He brings buns and baguette style loafs of this bread to battle and uses them as projectiles and as a sword respectively. It appears that this unorthodox weapon is surprisingly durable for a loaf of bread, though its other properties, if any, are unknown. Carrie does not arm herself with this bread. In battle, the two are strong melee combatants, and seem to follow conventional battle strategies. While they have defeated strong opponents, they have not faced opponents as powerful as our allies before, and I suspect that they may not have a lot of experience fighting particularly powerful opponents.

I think that defeating Murphy and Carrie is not a difficult task. While Murphy may be equipped with his bread, it is by no means a proper weapon and Carrie is without anything that could even be misconstrued as a weapon. As such, bringing a weapon against them to provide a reach advantage would be advisable. Additionally, projectile attacks are most likely strong against them as their projectiles are not very strong or fast. Lastly, their defense doesn’t appear to be anything special, so its stands to reason that powerful attacks should be able to power through their guards. That being said, as yoga instructors, it is possible that they have achieved some sort of improved mental state, but this is very difficult to gauge without more information. However, I would recommend caution around these two, what we do see is very unorthodox, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they have something strange up their sleeves.

Act 9: Murphy

Chapter 1: Impact Site

“Murphy, are you ok?”

Murphy looked up to see Yoshi coming up behind him.

“I’m fine. I’m just worried.”

“Yeah, I bet,” said Yoshi. “Wuhu Island is your home after all.”

Murphy nodded but remained silent. He didn’t feel like talking. Instead, he kept his gaze fixed on the view outside the little porthole window he was sitting next to in Alph’s spaceship. It was a brilliant view to be fair. The planet practically glowed in the light of its sun, a brilliant jewel in the inky backdrop of space. 

Murphy clenched his fists and relaxed them, before clenching them again. He and Carrie had literally only left a few days ago, only for the battle to show up on their doorstep. Everything had been ok when they’d left. Who knew what the state of things were now?

Murphy didn’t need this. He already had enough on his plate. Or rather, one thing on his plate that was eating at him relentlessly. Carrie had been unusually distant for the last couple weeks, and Murphy had no idea why. The only thing he could think of was that it maybe it had something to do with Fitness Bread again. Sure, he’d completed his Fitness Bread recipe a few years ago, but he’d started experimenting with it again recently. Though the experiments had been on the combat version of Fitness Bread, Fightness Bread, not the edible kind. So far, his experiments hadn’t gotten him anywhere, but he’d learned that progress was not always a quick thing a long time ago. Nevertheless, Murphy had to wonder if the years of taste testing failure were coming out now.

“Can we contact anybody on the ground? Did you try signaling them again?” asked Mario from the front of the ship.

“I did. There’s still nothing,” said Alph, fiddling with the toggles of his radio. “I can’t seem to pick up anything. There’s no signal from anything on Wuhu Island. If they’ve been attacked, it’s very possible that the power got knocked out. They could still be trying to get their backup generators online. Well, if they have them.”

Mario shook his head and Murphy sighed. That had to be bad. A few seats over he could see Carrie fiddling with her hands as Daisy attempted to talk to her.

Yoshi elbowed him. “Listen, whatever and whoever is down there, we can take them! We have Mario and DK and Bowser! And it’s not like the rest of us are weak! There’s no way they’ll be able to take all of us on!”

Murphy nodded as they zoomed into atmosphere. “I hope you’re right, Yoshi.”

He glanced out the window as they drew closer to their destination. They were soaring over a vast ocean with a large green dot sitting in the middle of it. There it was. There was home.

“It’s beautiful from up here,” said Yoshi.

“Even better when we get to the ground. At least it used to be….” said Murphy. “Who knows what it’s like now.”

“I’m sure things aren’t as bad as you’re thinking they are!” said Yoshi. “It’s no good to be pessimistic!”

“All right everybody!” said Alph over the intercom. “We’re going to be touching down in a few minutes. Everybody strap into your seats please!”

Murphy buckled himself in, as he’d already been sitting down. Yoshi sat down next to him and buckled in as well.

Yoshi smiled. “We’re gonna get whoever is doing this. We’ve got this!”

Murphy nodded, his mouth already going dry. “Yeah. We’ve got this.”

It was a quick descent to the ground, no longer than a few minutes. No sooner had the spacecraft landed then Murphy unbuckled himself and rushed for the door. He couldn’t see much out of the porthole window, but everything looked all right from his limited vision from the porthole in the side of the ship. Hopefully everything else was ok. He grabbed the handle, but it didn’t turn. Murphy sighed. Of course, the door was locked. It was a basic safety protocol of spacefaring vessels to prevent the in-ship atmosphere from being compromised from hard vacuum.

“Excuse me,” said Mario from some distance behind him. He turned to see Carrie, right behind him, followed by Daisy, Yoshi and DK. Further back, Wario, K Rool, Bowser, Daisy and Luigi stepped aside to let Mario and Alph through.

Mario put a hand on Murphy’s and Carrie’s shoulders. “I don’t know what it’s going to look like when we get out there, but just know we’ve got your backs, all right?”

Murphy and Carrie nodded.

“All right. Alph, can you get the door?”

Alph made his way to the front of the line and unlocked the door. Murphy immediately opened the door and rushed outside.  

His breath hitched. The entirety of Wuhu Town was abandoned. The once bustling and lively streets were completely empty. Some of the windows of various buildings were broken, and there were clear signs of fighting, scorch marks from explosions, damaged structures and broken glass and other debris littering the ground.

Murphy took a look at his more immediate surroundings. Alph had landed them in the parking lot of a strip mall, close to the bordering street. He recognized the area. They were in downtown Wuhu Town.

“Where is everybody?” asked Carrie.

“I don’t know… it looks like there was a battle here,” said Murphy.

“But there’s nobody here,” said Yoshi. “Not even any bodies!”

“You’re right,” said Murphy. “Where is the Wuhu Island Defense Force? I can’t imagine they didn’t try to put up some sort of fight.”

“We’re going to have to look around then just one parking lot if we’re gonna get any answers,” said K Rool. “We’re probably gonna have to split up.”

“Wait,” said Carrie. “Should we scout out the town with our Wii Fit Boards? It will be much faster.”

Murphy paused. Taking a quick look around the town with the flying hoverboard would probably save a lot of time. “I don’t think that’s a bad idea.”

“Okie dokie, we’ll wait here. Give us a call if you see anything,” said Mario.

Murphy nodded, and pressed a few buttons on his IDD, before deploying his Wii Fit Board. He waited impatiently as the board slowly materialized in front of him as Carrie followed suit.

A few moments later, and the Wii Fit Boards had deployed. Murphy stepped on his board in step with Carrie and activated his board. The board began hovering off the ground, and Murphy jumped on top of it. 

With practiced ease, he took a crouching stance, and took off from the ground, picking up speed as he gained altitude, until he was several feet above the rooftops of the buildings.

He scanned the area as Carrie caught up to him and maintained altitude next to him.

“You see anything?” she asked.

“No! You?”

“Nothing! Let’s keep looking, maybe we’ll see somebody!”

The two circled over the town for some time, surveying the damage, and searching for any survivors. But there was no one. No friends, no enemies, just Wuhu Town, completely abandoned. Windows were shattered, holes were blown into various buildings.

Murphy swerved around several large trees as he passed over the streets. As he passed over the wrecked town and came up to the central town square, the silence continued. Murphy stopped and hovered midair as he looked around. Again, there was nothing.

Suddenly, with a woosh, Carrie pulled up next to him.  

“Well, that was a whole lot of nothing,” said Murphy. “I didn’t see anybody. No Mii Force, no Primids, nothing. Did you see anybody?”

“Nope. Though honestly, I don’t believe this. What happened? Where is everybody?” asked Carrie.

“I mean they can’t have just vanished into thin air. They must have gone somewhere,” said Murphy.

“Yeah, but where is the question,” said Carrie.

“I mean, they probably would have gone to Summerstone Castle, right?” said Murphy.

“Probably,” said Carrie. “I mean, that is the emergency protocol. Should we go back to the others and let them know?”

“Yeah, we should,” said Murphy. He paused for a moment.

“Do we…. Want to check on the studio before we go? Or home?” asked Murphy.

Carrie paused and thought about it for a moment. “I don’t want to.”

Murphy nodded. “I don’t really want to either. Just wanted to ask though.”

Carrie nodded. “Of course. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

A few minutes later, they returned to the parking lot where the rest of the Smashers were waiting.

“Did you see anything?” asked Mario.

“No,” said Murphy. “There was nobody. We think they evacuated to Summerstone Castle.”

“Where’s that?” asked Yoshi.

“About 8 miles from the edge of town,” said Carrie. “It’s an old castle, but it’s still in remarkably good shape and receives regular maintenance. I can’t imagine they went anywhere else, it’s the location where everybody is supposed to go in case of an emergency.”

“All right, so we check the castle next,” said Mario.

“Is there a road to get there?” asked DK. “Or are we roughing it through the woods?”

“There’s a trail. It’s not paved but it will get us there,” said Carrie.

Mario nodded. “Sounds like a plan then! Let’s get moving people!”

Nearly an hour later, the group was still heading eastward along a well-maintained dirt path. They had passed through the town limits and had made their way to a portion of the path that was surrounded by forest. They had still seen no sign of life since they reached the island, even the birds had all but disappeared.

Murphy craned his head around, staring at the vegetation. It was quiet. Too quiet. And Murphy did not like it. The enemy had to be close. But where were they?

They walked along the path for some time, with no incident. As eerie silence continued, Murphy began to wonder if he was imagining things.

As they walked, DK stopped for a second.

“Everybody stand still,” he said. He looked at the surrounding forest suspiciously. “I thought I heard something.”

The others froze and stared into the woodland as well.

For a moment, nothing moved.

“You sure you heard somethi…..” started Mario, when suddenly there was a loud noise of rustling leaves and crackling branches. Suddenly, dozens of Primids came charging from all directions out of the woods.

All of the Smashers tensed and took fighting stances.

“We need to get out of here! They’re going to encircle us!” shouted Mario. “Go!”

The Smashers rushed forward as the Primids started to gather in front of them. Several massed in an effort to stop them, but DK, Daisy, Wario and Yoshi pushed their way to the front. Yoshi pulled himself into an Egg Roll and smashed his way forward as Wario followed suit with a powerful shoulder bash. DK followed right behind them, slapping away large swathes of Primids with his massive hands as Daisy surged forward, mowing down the remaining Primids with sweeping swings of her golf club. The Mario Bros turned around and began throwing fireballs, covering the other Smasher’s flank. K Rool, Bowser, Alph, Murphy and Carrie ran forward some distance after DK, Yoshi, Daisy, and Wario, before stopping, and turning around to shoot projectiles at their pursuers.

K Rool pulled out his blunderbuss and began shooting cannonballs. Next to him, Alph began hurling Pikmin. Murphy took a deep breath and straightened his posture.

“Sun Salutation!” he shouted in unison with Carrie.

Gathering solar energy in his core, Murphy congealed the energy into a ball and shot it forward.

The ball shot off and blasted a Primid in the face, causing it to collapse. Murphy grinned, but his face dropped when he saw K Rool’s cannonball exploding to take out several Primids. Next to him, Bowser’s fire breath engulfed and consumed Primids by the dozen. 

“Sun Salutation!” shouted Carrie next to him, already firing off another attack. “Come on! Don’t stop!”

Murphy shook his head and reached into his satchel, pulling out a baguette of Fightness Bread about 3 feet in length. Suddenly, the ranks of the Primids split and the Mario Bros came rushing out. As the Mario Bros leapt past them and the Primids began closing in, Murphy took a fighting stance. It was time to put those sword lessons to use.

Murphy lunged forward with a strong swing, decking one of the lead Primids in the head and causing it to collapse into Subspace Particles. He swung his loaf of Fightness Bread as more Primids rushed up, striking them down as cannonballs, fireballs, Pikmin and Sun Salutations whizzed past him.

Suddenly, red and green fireballs joined the mix of projectiles. Murphy glanced back to see Mario and Luigi standing some distance behind them.

“Come on!” shouted Mario.

Murphy turned to run and saw that Carrie, Bowser and K Rool had already started running towards the Mario Bros. He quickly followed them, running at top speed.

As he did, he saw a large log come sailing through the air, over his head. It crashed behind him, though he didn’t look back to see what kind of damage it had done to the enemy. Several eggs and tennis balls came sailing through the air as well.

“Come on!” shouted DK from somewhere behind the Mario Bros.

A stump sailed over his head, clearly recently uprooted, as Mario and Luigi turned and ran with K Rool, Alph, Bowser and Carrie. Murphy grit his teeth and pushed himself to sprint faster as the disorganized clumps of Primids attempted chase them.

Suddenly, the Smashers in front of him veered off to reveal Yoshi hurling eggs, and Daisy swatting tennis balls at the Primids. Nearby, DK and Wario hurled large tree limbs ripped from a tree that had fallen across the path. Murphy bolted past Yoshi, Wario, Daisy and DK and came to a running stop. Catching his breath for just a moment, he turned on his heel, and bolted back to where the others were fighting, Fightness Bread loaf raised for battle.

He jumped in next to DK and Yoshi and landed a powerful overhead blow to a sword Primid just as it rushed up, crushing it underneath his strike. He looked up to see that the majority of the Primids had already been defeated and that the rest were being quickly mopped up. It seemed like the projectiles had been more effective than he’d realized.

In short order the enemy forces were completely destroyed. Murphy stood up straight and stretched his back. He looked around. They were in an open intersection just on the edge of the forest. The path split at an intersection in a grassy field up ahead. Two paths stretched off to the left and the right, as well as a third path that continued straight ahead through the meadow. And more importantly, it looked like nobody was injured. 

“That was a textbook ambush if I’ve ever seen one,” said K Rool. “Whoever is in charge has some idea of what they’re doing. “

“Is there anybody can we rule out?” asked Yoshi.

“Well, it’s not Ganondorf, Eggman or Robin,” said Mario. “We can confirm that they’re elsewhere right now. Considering we’re up against Subspace forces, I think it’s safe to rule Ridley, Wily, and my clone out as well.”

“Isn’t that all of the people we know we’re up against?” asked Bowser.

“Yeah,” said Mario grimly.  “We’re going in dark here.”

Carrie looked around at her surroundings. “The woods seem untouched. Other than the Primids of course. Would that help?”

“It’s not the Shroobs,” offered Mario. “That’s all I can say.”

“Not the Snomads either,” said DK. “They would have frozen the area completely over by now.”

Bowser shrugged. “Doesn’t sound like anybody I know.”

Murphy sighed. “So, we’re still in the dark then.”

“Yeah, I think we are,” said Carrie. “We should keep going. Summerstone Castle is a few more miles from here.”

“All right,” said Murphy. “Let’s go.”

The Smashers pressed on for some time with no further incident. Unease continued to plague Murphy as they walked onward. He really hoped everybody was all right. But that was also the strange thing. Outside of the ambush earlier and the clear signs of battle in Wuhu Town, nothing looked amiss. The forests hadn’t sustained any visible signs of damage and the grassy fields they’d passed had looked just as pristine as Murphy had remembered them being.

The sun was even shining, and a pleasant breeze danced through the grasses next to them. Wasn’t it supposed to be cloudy and stormy or something because there were bad guys here? That was always how it was in the movies. And yet, Murphy couldn’t shake his sense of dread. Maybe it was due to the fact that they still hadn’t seen anyone other than the Primids they fought earlier. Maybe it was due to how quiet everything was. Maybe he was just making things up in his mind. Murphy really didn’t like that thought.

“Hey, we’re almost here,” said Carrie. She pointed to a large hill ahead of them. “When we round that hill, it will be short walk down to the castle.”

“Then let’s get down there as quickly as possible,” said Mario. “Hopefully we’ll have a better idea of the situation when we get there.”

“Finally, we can get some intel on what’s going on,” grunted Bowser.

Mario began walking more quickly, as did Murphy and Carrie. The others quickly increased their speed to match.

Murphy began walking even faster, peering around the tall grasses that crowned the hill. They were practically glowing in the light of the setting sun. Murphy would have stopped and appreciated the view in just about any other situation, but he barely noticed as he pressed forward. Instinctively, he reached for his baguette of Fightness Bread. He craned his neck forward to see better as he moved into a jog.

“Murphy! Carrie! Wait up!” said Mario from behind him, but Murphy paid him no heed. He had to know.

As they rounded the bend, Summerstone Castle came into view. Murphy’s heart skipped a beat. The Wuhu Island flag was still waving at the top of the castle. They’d found them. He came to a stop as relief washed over him.

“We found them guys!” said Carrie. “We found them!”

“We have other problems,” said Mario as he caught up with the Wii Fit Trainers. He pointed down towards the narrow bridge across the moat surrounding the castle. There was a mostly clear ring of grass around the castle moat, dotted with large oak trees. The entrance to the bridge was swarming with Primids and other Subspace creatures, though it looked like they hadn’t crossed the bridge yet.

A lone figure in a black trenchcoat and a massive katana stood in their midst, surveying the bridge. Murphy narrowed his eyes.

“Who’s that guy?” he asked.

Mario pulled out a pair of binoculars and surveyed the area.

“I think that’s Sephiroth,” said Mario.

“Who’s Sephiroth?” asked Daisy.

“An old enemy of Cloud. Military trained, and quite skilled I’m told,” said Mario.

“Hah! We’ll see how he stands up to all of us,” said Bowser.

 “Of all the times to not have Cloud….” muttered Luigi.

“His opinion here would certainly be helpful,” agreed DK. “It would make things easy, like peeling a banana.”

Mario rubbed his chin. “I’m not very familiar with Sephiroth. Can somebody check the villain profiles we’ve got? See if the picture matches up, just to double check. Let’s all move back too, I don’t want to give away our element of surprise.”

The Smashers moved some distance back. As they did, Alph pulled out one of his gadgets and swiped through several screens before coming to a page.

“Does he have long silver hair?”

“Yeah.”

“Is he wearing a black trench coat?”

“Yup.”

“Does he have a 6 foot sword called Masamune?”

“Probably? It’s about as tall as he is,” said Mario.

“Yeah, probably him,” said K Rool, poking his head over Alph’s shoulder.

“Any information about him?” asked Mario.

“Well, he’s got the overcompensator for one and it seems like he knows how to use it. Looks like he’s a good hand to hand combatant too. Uh…. this bit says he’s got an ego that dwarfs solar systems…. say, did Cloud write this?” asked K Rool.

Mario chuckled. “Yeah, I think he did.”

“Huh, not biased at all here. Hmm. Oh, I bet he also wrote this part that says Sephiroth is an insane lunatic too,” snorted K Rool.

“I mean, does he deserve that title?” asked Yoshi.

“It says here that he tried to destroy Cloud’s planet,” said Alph.

“Ah, that explains it,” said DK.

“How was he planning that?” asked Carrie.

“Dunno,” said K Rool. “Some hairbrained plan with meteors and stuff by the looks of it. I only skimmed it though.”

“But he’s powerful?” asked Mario.

“That’s what it says,” said Alph. “Cloud calls him the greatest threat to Gaia of the century.”

K Rool shrugged. “I mean, you’re probably gonna want to watch out for that sword. We’ll see how tough he actually is when we get out there.”

“Yeah,” said Luigi. “I’m gonna pull out my Septic Annihilator right now.”

“Good idea bro. I’ve been meaning to ask you, why didn’t you bring it out against Wily’s Robots?” asked Mario.

“Dunno, just didn’t think of it. My hands are still paying for it,” said Luigi.

“Mamma mia, bro, you gotta take care of yourself,” admonished Mario.

“I know, I know,” grumbled Luigi.

“How are we going to approach them? Carrie and I might be able to fly over them with our Wii Fit Boards, but what about you guys?”

“I mean, we could just rush them,” said DK. “That Sephiroth fellow is most likely strong, but we have a lot of strong fighters here. If we were able to defeat him quickly, we could probably settle this whole thing here and now.”

Mario rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I think there’s something to that. We could use the element of surprise to deal heavy damage to Sephiroth’s forces and try to isolate him. Ok. Can we make this work? Who would-match up well against Sephiroth?”

“I’m game to take him on. He’s not getting through my shell easily,” said Bowser.

“I’ve got armor too,” said K Rool. “I can fight him.”

“And I’ll come with my weapon as well,” said Mario. “Do you think the three of us could take him?”

“You want me to back you up, bro?” asked Luigi.

“I might take you up on that, but we also need enough people to take on the Primids too,” said Mario. “Maybe if we’re struggling, we’ll call you in.”

“I can back you up if you need it as well,” said Murphy. “I’ve got a weapon too.”

“Oh yeah, the bread,” said Bowser. “Did we ever find more ways to destroy that stuff anyway?”

Murphy grinned. “The only way we know so far to destroy Fightness Bread is to use acid, focused fire attacks or plasma weapons.”

“Yeesh. You weren’t kidding when you said that stuff was indestructible,” said Bowser.

“No, I wasn’t,” said Murphy with a grin as Carrie rolled her eyes.

“So, everybody else will take on the Primids?” asked Mario.

“Leave them to us,” said DK. “We can handle them.”

“Good, then let’s move before they figure out we’re here,” said Mario. He cautiously stepped forward and peered down the road.

“They’re still there. It looks like they’re planning something and getting into formation. All right. Bowser, K Rool, you come with me in the center. Luigi, you go to my right, DK, you go to my left. Everybody else, pick a side and help either Luigi or DK. Let’s end this here, people!”

There was a quiet chorus of assent, as the Smashers filed into place. Murphy found himself along with Wario and Carrie on the left side with DK, and noticed Daisy, Alph and Yoshi on the right side with Luigi.

Mario straightened his back and adjusted his hat.

“All right, people. Let’s-a go!”

Chapter Text

Alph of Koppai

Threat Level: 2

Alph is Captain Olimar’s assistant. As such, he also fights with Pikmin. Anything that can be applied to Captain Olimar can be applied to Alph, such as his environment suit, his Pikmin, and his scientific focus. Alph is a biologist by trade but also is a competent pilot and a skilled mechanic.

In terms of Alph’s combat style, there’s very little to add on top of what Olimar does already. However, Alph has been seen in battle less than even Olimar, and it’s extremely unclear how much combat experience he even has. He’s clearly more of a support Smasher rather than a combat Smasher.

It should be very easy to defeat Alph should he be encountered. I do want to mention that Alph is one of the Smashers who could be recruited to our cause. He is clearly quite intelligent and seems capable of becoming a valuable asset on his own, separate from Olimar.

Again, everything I said in the section above about Olimar is 100% applicable to Alph. To avoid repeating myself too much, I’ve tried to avoid regurgitating all of the exact information here. Alph really isn’t a threat at all, the only reason he’s even listed here is because he is a Smasher and may be encountered.

Act 9: Murphy

Chapter 2: Formidable Oak

Murphy glanced at Mario, who was crouched low behind the tall swaying grass of the hillside, trying to avoid being seen. Mario turned his head and nodded. The plumber held up his hand, with three fingers up. A moment later, he closed his hand and held up two fingers, and a moment later, he closed his hand and held up one finger. A moment later, he held up his fist and pumped his arm.

The Smashers rushed out from around the bend, running at full speed. Murphy kept pace with the others as they rushed down the path down to Summerstone Castle. Murphy could hear Bowser, Wario and K Rool thundering behind him as they neared the Primids, who had just noticed them, and were starting to turn around. Their ranks parted to reveal Sephiroth striding out to meet them. Mario lunged at him, Septic Annihilator in hand. The metal toilet plunger was blocked by the villain’s sword. But there was no time for any other reaction as Murphy and the other Smashers plowed into the Primids at maximum velocity.

Murphy crashed into two metal primids with his baguette of Fightness Bread, and smashed them with enough force to send them flying. A split second later, DK came barreling through, plowing through swathes of Primids as he went. Murphy quickly smashed a nearby Primid, before pivoting on his heel and blocking the boomerang of a Boom Primid. With mighty strikes he lunged forward and smacked down several Primids in his vicinity. The Primids around him backed off a little and began to approach more cautiously. Murphy paused for a moment as he was surrounded by a moderately large group of Primids, and took a brief look around. Some distance away to the left, DK landed a powerful Giant Punch to the face of a strange, shaggy sheep looking monster with horns. DK quickly turned around and caught a second one by the horns as it charged at him, while the first disintegrated into Subspace particles. A little bit away from him, Wario rushed around, shoulder bashing his way through a group of Metal Primids with little effort. To his right, Mario, Bowser and K Rool seemed to be holding their own against Sephiroth, while Yoshi, Luigi, Carrie, Alph and Daisy did battle further away.

Murphy quickly sized up the Primids in front of him. He’d needed to do his part too. And he had no intention of shirking his duty.

And with that, Murphy raised his loaf of Fightness Bread and charged back into the fray.

Alph slowed down to a stop as Yoshi, Luigi, Carrie and Daisy crashed into the Primids in front of him. In just a moment they were swallowed in the masses as they pressed forward. Alph swallowed nervously. Captain Olimar had always been the more confident fighter of the two, and even the good captain wasn’t really what one would call a “dedicated fighter”.

His loyal Blue Pikmin, Jake, patted his leg and pointed to the side. Alph looked up to see a small handful of Fire Primids walking at him. Alph clenched his teeth as he resisted his urge to run away and picked up a purple Pikmin.

He chucked it with all his might at one of the Fire Primids. It struck it in the chest, causing it to stagger back, before disintegrating into particles. Jake cheered beside him.

Alph quickly whistled, alerting the rest of the primids, who quickly split into color-coded columns.

Alph whistled once, and the Red Pikmin massed behind him. He then gave a long, drawn-out blast of his whistle. The Red Pikmin let out a cheer and rushed forward to swarm the Fire Primids.

Alph waited in fearful anticipation as the Fire Primids and his Red Pikmin duked it out. What if the Red Pikmin weren’t enough? Sure, he could throw a punch or two, but was that even going to matter? He was a scientist, not a fighter. He should be safe in a lab somewhere, working on paperwork at a desk, not fighting Subspace Armies.

The Red Pikmin returned with a cheer, causing Alph to sigh in relief.

Suddenly, a boomerang whizzed by his head. Alph whipped around to see a boomerang Primid catching its homecoming boomerang.

Suddenly, Carrie came barreling through from the side, and executed a quick Dancer Pose attack, defeating the Primid with a single hit.

“Alph! How are ya doing!?” came Daisy’s voice from behind Alph.

“Oh…. Uh….” stammered Alph as he whipped around to face Daisy.

“Daisy, don’t bug him, he’s more of a support fighter!” said Luigi, as he jumped closer to Daisy. “Alph, we’ll cover you!”

A massive wave of relief washed over Alph, as the stronger Smashers began fighting the advancing Primids.

He was saved. For the moment, anyway.

Murphy began charging his baguette of Fightness Bread with Solar Energy. As the Primids closed in he slammed it into the ground.

“Salutation Slash!”

Upon hitting the ground, the Solar Energy released from the baguette, sending out a powerful pulse of light around him, hurling the Primids back, knocking many over. As they tried to get up, Murphy rushed in and began swatting them with his baguette, defeating them all with a single blow. In short order, the Primids near him and DK had been all defeated.

Murphy glanced down at his baguette with pride. Sure, it had taken him a while, and Fightness Bread was a repurposed failed experiment, but it was something uniquely his. That and he’d eventually cracked the recipe for Fitness Bread that people would actually eat. A win-win in his book.

Murphy heard a strange noise and looked up to see some strange looking creature with a massive black ball for a body, two wheels on the sides and two massive scythes in front of it, connected together with long petal pieces.

Murphy stepped back as the scythe creature rolled towards him. It jumped into the air and began spinning the connected scythes around itself in a circle. Murphy jumped back as it soared towards him, just outside the range of the scythes. Quickly grabbing a bun of Fightness Bread, and quickly charging it with a little Solar Energy, Murphy chucked it at the scythe creature, knocking it back a little but seemingly leaving it unharmed.

Murphy grimaced. He was going to have to do better than that. Murphy quickly began charging Solar Energy in his core as he rolled away from the scythe creature’s swing. As the scythes buried themselves into the ground, Murphy rushed up, channeling the solar energy into his hand until it glowed white. 

“Salutation Warrior!”

Murphy forcefully struck a Warrior pose, slamming his hand into the scythe creature. The creature exploded into Subspace particles, collapsing to the ground.

Murphy stepped back. That was a Subspace creature? He’d have to do some more reading on what Subspace forces actually looked like.

Suddenly, Murphy heard the sound of a blade whistling through the air behind him, and rolled to the side to avoid the strike. He quickly got to his feet and stared at his new opponent. It was some sort of shadow like creature that floated above the ground, with a vaguely humanoid body made of black particles, a red core in its torso area and large metal blades for arms. It was quickly joined by two identical creatures. Murphy narrowed his eyes as he tried to remember what they were called. Those were… Shadiyas, right?

Murphy quickly stood tall and charged a Sun Salutation, before shooting it at the red core of the first Shadiyas. The creature attempted to dodge but was hit in the side. Murphy lunged forward, Fightness Bread poised to strike, but it blocked his swing with one of its blades. It began spinning its blade arms quickly as its fellows began to advance on Murphy one on each side. Murphy jumped back and reached into his satchel, and pulled out a bun of Fightness Bread. He quickly took a deep breath, followed by another, charging solar energy as the creatures continued to close in on him.

Murphy took one final deep breath, and channeled his solar energy through his Fightness Bread bun, before jumping back again and chucking the Fightness Bread bun. The Shadiyas slashed at the bun, and blocked it midair, but the strike caused the energy Murphy had charged the bun with to pulse strongly, pushing the three creatures back.

Murphy lunged forward and smacked one in the middle straight in the core with his loaf of Fightness Bread. The creature recoiled, but did not fall, so Murphy quickly followed up with several more strikes, till the Shadiyas dropped to the ground and disintegrated into Subspace particles.

However, the two Shadiyas were floating back towards Murphy, swinging their blades. Murphy quickly blocked the strike of the one to the left, pushing it back with a forceful shove, before jumping out of the way of the slash of the creature to his right.

He reached into his satchel and hurled another Fightness Bread bun at his opponent. It struck the creature in its core, seemingly stunning it somewhat. Without a second of delay, Murphy rushed forward, charging his loaf of Fightness Bread with Solar Energy.

“Salutation Strike!”

The strike impacted the Shadiyas, knocking it back, and causing it to crumple to the ground and disintegrate.

Murphy turned sharply on his heel and blocked the incoming strike of the last Shadiyas. It swung its blades aggressively at him, as Murphy blocked, being forced back step by step. Suddenly, it began spinning quickly and hurled itself at Murphy. He tried to block, but his Fightness Bread loaf was sent flying out of his hands. However, as the creature stopped spinning and got its bearings, Murphy lunged forward, and landed a powerful Warrior strike to his opponent’s core, causing it to disintegrate into Subspace Particles.

Murphy quickly turned around and scanned the area. There were a dozen remaining Primids off to one side, and Sephiroth fighting Mario, Bowser and K Rool on the other. Murphy looked over to DK, who had just turned around from defeating a small group of Primids.

“Go and help them! I’ve got the Primids!” shouted DK. Murphy gave a thumbs up and turned back to the fight.

“Get back here punk!” yelled Bowser some distance away from him, as he lunged at Sephiroth. The swordsman merely sidestepped him with a half smirk on his face and let him charge past him.

“Bowser! Stop being so reckless! He’s toying with you!” shouted Mario.

“I’ll get him eventually! This pretty boy isn’t any match for us!” shouted Bowser.

Mario shook his head as he simultaneously hurled fireballs and fired lasers from his Septic Annihilator. Next to him, K Rool was shooting cannonballs, aiming down his blunderbuss’s iron sights.

Sephiroth just chuckled as he casually deflected and dissipated the projectiles with his sword.

Suddenly Mario pressed a button on his belt, and FLUDD deployed suddenly on his back. He pressed a button on the handle and water began blasting out of the back at high speed, rocketing him off at Sephiroth.

“Turbo Rush!”

Mario jumped off the ground and swung his Septic Annihilator but Sephiroth quickly moved to block with his sword. The strike landed with tremendous force, causing Sephiroth to take a step back. However, the villain suddenly shifted the angle of his sword, causing Mario to lose his balance and fall forward. However, before Sephiroth could capitalize on the opening, Mario pressed another button on FLUDD’s handle and he rocketed off to safety with another burst from the Turbo Nozzle. Sephiroth quickly scanned the area and locked eyes with K Rool, who holstered his blunderbuss and bared his claws. However, before either could move, a series of large fireballs rolled towards Sephiroth. He turned and dispelled the fireballs with a quick flick of his sword, as Bowser came rushing at him again. However, as Bowser drew nearer, he jumped into the air, and breathed a powerful stream of fire from his mouth. Sephiroth jumped back but had to roll to the side as K Rool lunged for him, narrowly missing the SOLDIER. Bowser grit his teeth and dove for Sephiroth, who was just regaining his balance, and narrowly missed as Sephiroth jumped back.

Bowser got to his feet quickly, and took a guard stance as Sephiroth raised his sword, but a jet of water suddenly slammed into him from out of nowhere and knocked him off balance.

Mario rushed back in, Septic Annihilator at the ready. He lunged for Sephiroth, but his opponent was faster and slashed at him. Mario ducked just in time, rolling past Sephiroth, and was fast enough to block the followup strike. Before Sephiroth could do anything, though, Bowser took a deep breath and blasted a large stream of fire at him. Sephiroth jumped back, but as he landed, Bowser rushed at him again.

“Bowser! Stop!” shouted Mario, but it was too late. Sephiroth took a quick step aside, and let Bowser rush past him, right over the cliff behind him.

Murphy grit his teeth. That wasn’t good. Mario wasted no time and quickly began rushing at Sephiroth again. Murphy quickly grabbed a Fightness Bread bun and another Fightness Bread loaf and began charging it with solar energy as he ran. Mario and Sephiroth traded strikes with their weapons, before Sephiroth kicked Mario in the chest, knocking him back a few steps. However, before he could follow it up with an attack, Murphy chucked his Fightness Bread bun. Sephiroth attempted to swat it away with the back of his hand, but it released the Solar Energy on impact, sending him staggering back. Murphy ran up to him, loaf of Fightness Bread raised.

“Salutation Strike!”

Sephiroth blocked the attack, and Murphy glared at him. Sephiroth glared straight back at him. Murphy attempted to kick Sephiroth in the gut, but the SOLDIER jumped back in time, only to eat a surprise laser to the side, followed by a glowing projection of somebody in a yoga tree pose. Both combatants looked over to see Luigi, with his Septic Annhilator in one hand and his Poltergust in the other. Next to him stood Carrie, in a tree pose.

“Back off!” Luigi shouted, as the Poltergust began to spew fire from the nozzle.

“Salutation Warrior!” shouted Carrie, as she struck a warrior pose. As she did, a projection of herself made of solar energy shot forward from her body forcefully.

Sephiroth quickly jumped out of range as Luigi fired up his flamethrower and dissipated the follow up Salutation Warrior with his sword.

Sephiroth took a look around him as Mario and K Rool, now backed by DK, Wario, Daisy, Yoshi and Alph rushed up to fight. 

“Well, you Smashers certantly live up to the tales I’ve been told. I’m impressed, you actually made me try. But I need to get going. Farewell for now.”

Sephiroth snapped his fingers, and a large Subspace bird swooped past, grabbing him by the hand with its talons and whisking him away.

The Smashers stood in silence for a moment.

“Well, at least he’s gone. I’m sure everybody in the castle has to have seen us by now,” said Carrie.

“Wait, what about Bowser?” asked Mario.

“Still over here!” shouted Bowser from some distance away. “I need hand!”

The Smashers looked over to the cliff and saw Bowser’s hand clamped to the ledge tightly. The Smashers quickly rushed over.  DK and K Rool offered their hands, and together, the two pulled Bowser over the cliffside.

Mario shook his head. “Bowser, you need to be more careful than that! Your recklessness is going to get you killed!”

Bowser grunted as he pulled himself to his feet and looked Mario in the eye. “Red Stache. You’ve thrown me into lava, blown up my airships while I was still aboard, and nearly threw me into a sun. It’s gonna take more than that to kill me.”

“Gotta be careful still. I pull my punches when I can. These guys aren’t, just like Tabuu.”

Bowser just grunted and shook himself off.

“HEY” shouted a voice from across the chasm. The Smashers looked up to see somebody waving from across the narrow bridge. “Hold on a moment! We’ll come out to get you!”

The Smashers quickly walked over to the bridge entrance and waited. 

“Coming to us? What does that mean?” asked Mario.

“You’ll see, it might take them a minute to get it in the air,” said Carrie with a grin.

After a few minutes had passed, a large floating platform levitated out of the middle of the castle’s keep, before floating over the walls and towards the side of the chasm.

As the platform drew closer, several people in combat gear could be seen. They were wearing military gear with pilot like helmets, and were armed with swords and rifles. In the middle of them stood a bald, dark skinned man with an imposing circle beard. He was dressed and armed similarly to his compatriots, but seemed to be wearing the uniform of a higher ranking soldier. He stepped forward as the platform neared where the smashers were standing.

“Hello, Smashers! Welcome to Summerstone Castle! We apologize for the riff raff, they’ve been giving us some problems.”

“Matt! It’s good to see you!” said Carrie.

“It’s good to see you too! Glad you brought some friends!” said Matt.

“Of course we did!” said Carrie as the Smashers stepped onto the platform. “How are things going?”

“Good and bad,” said Matt. “Good in that we spotted them early and were able to evacuate the town quickly. Thankfully, we didn’t take any losses despite the huge numbers disadvantage. The bad part is how quickly we were pushed back into Summerstone Castle. I took on that silver haired guy briefly, he’s no joke.”

“You fought Sephiroth?” asked Mario in surprise.

“Is that his name? Yeah. That sword gives him a lot of reach, and he’s got a lot of skill to back himself. He’s strong.”

“Stronger then even you?” asked Murphy.

“Yeah. Tough as nails and very fast.”

Mario nodded. “We’ll deal with him when the time comes. For now, let’s just regroup and figure out a plan.”

“Sounds good!” said Matt. “Let’s get you all into the castle then!”

It was a short trip over the moat, and Murphy’s heart soared as he looked during their descent into Summerstone Castle’s keep. The castle was packed with large crowds of people milling around. Murphy’s spirits rose as he saw people he knew walking around the crowd. He could spot the old lady who ran the café across the street from the studio. He saw the guy who jogged past the studio at around 9:30 every morning. There was even the lady who ran the shaved ice stand that Murphy passed every day on his way home from work. It seemed like everybody was safe.

He looked over to Carrie. The look of relief on her face was totally worth it.

“Everybody’s here! Oh, I’m so glad!”

Murphy felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to see Yoshi.

“See! Things aren’t so bad after all!”

Murphy grinned.  “I guess they weren’t. Thanks Yoshi.”

Yoshi grinned back at him. “Anytime!”

Chapter Text

Wario of Diamond City

Threat Level: 4

Wario is an old rival of Mario’s and as such should be treated as the kind of opponent that can reasonably go head to head with Mario. While known more for his greed then his heroics, Wario is not to be underestimated.

Wario’s combat style appears to follow no specific form, and is carried by Wario’s inhuman strength, stamina and durability. This makes Wario an unusual opponent, lacking any substantial amount of skill that’s greater than the average street thug in terms of technique, and yet still is able to make up for it through his raw power and tenacity. Wario is also known for using his powerful flatulence to enhance his movement, as well as for offensive purposes. Wario’s wafts appear to possess enough force to send people flying and to propel him through the air in short bursts. The smell is also reported to be nothing short of absolutely putrid. Lastly, it is worth mentioning Wario’s powered up form, Wario Man. Wario is said to achieve this form by consuming an entire clove of garlic (which probably doesn’t make him smell any better). Wario’s strength, speed, durability and of course, wafting power are increased in this form.

I want to cover Wario’s psychology for a moment here. Wario is known for his greed and has a long history of being stingy with his money and performing many schemes to obtain more wealth. Wario was previously known for his treasure hunting endeavors before settling down to start his own gaming company, WarioWare. The games are of surprising quality considering that making the most money possible is Wario’s aim. Still, it may be possible to appeal to Wario’s greed or distract him by threatening WarioWare in some way. Lastly, Wario is known to be one of the most ill tempered of all the Smashers and it may also be possible to use that to one’s advantage by goading him. Use this as you will, but use it carefully. As stated before, Wario is not to be underestimated, and his technique and strategy are so abysmal to begin with that Wario getting angry is nearly a straight power up for him.

To counter Wario, it’s a little difficult to offer suggestions due to his lack of conventional combat ability. I think attacking Wario with a weapon would at least give one a reach advantage since Wario already has to deal with a short stature and does not wield any weapons. Wario also does not use any projectiles and while he is skilled at closing the distance, projectile attacks may be of use. I would advise any fighter that battles Wario to consider beforehand if they have the stamina and durability necessary to fight against Wario, as any fight against him is going to be a protracted slug fest. Make sure to go into the fight well prepared and well rested, and try not to get caught in the wafting.

Act 9: Murphy

Chapter 3: Twilight River

“I’ll see you later, Murphy!”

Murphy just waved with a big grin, and walked a little quickly towards the door that led to the Smasher’s quarters. He quickly opened it and closed it behind him, a little too fast. Murphy took a deep sigh and walked over to a nearby bench to slump down on it. Space was very cramped within Summerstone Castle at the moment, but the Smashers had been assigned to one of the towers to stay in for the moment. He’d already said hello to all of his friends and had to do a lot of reassuring that the Smashers were up to the task.

Murphy stared out of the window at the side of the moat. The castle would keep them safe. But Murphy wasn’t there to stay safe in a castle. He was there to drive the bad guys off his island. And that Sephiroth fellow had taken on 3 of the stronger Smashers, one of which was Mario Mario himself. And sure, Mario hadn’t been going all out, and sure Sephiroth hadn’t won, but the thing was he hadn’t lost either. That wasn’t exactly inspiring for Murphy. And the worst part was that everybody was counting on him and Carrie to save the day.

Sure, people had heard about the exploits of Mario and Luigi. They’d heard of the strength of DK and Bowser, and the fearlessness of K Rool, Daisy and Yoshi. But he was a hometown hero. These were people he personally knew. They were counting on him and Carrie specifically. And Murphy wasn’t sure if he could win against this caliber of opponent. Sure, it was possible that he’d be able to win, but it was a feat itself to take on Mario and not get completely stomped.

Murphy leaned back against the wall, closed his eyes and took a several deep breaths, trying to calm his worried thoughts. It was only partially successful. He could hear the constant noise outside, even through the thick castle walls and doors. It was coming from everywhere. Echoing around, echoing below, echoing above.

And of course, there was still the matter of Carrie. How was he going to figure out what was going on with her?

Murphy stopped himself. He needed to meditate, his mind was wandering all over the place.

Murphy sat down in an attempt to better direct his meditation. However, almost as soon as he’d gotten himself settled, the door to the tower opened and heavy footfalls made their way through. The door slammed with a little more force then necessary. Eyes still closed, Murphy sniffed the air, smelling the scent of smoke.

“Hey Bowser.”

“Oh hey! Didn’t see you there, Murphy.”

Bowser shuffled over some distance, and rummaged through a bag, most likely his own, for a moment.

“What are you looking for?” asked Murphy.

“This!” said Bowser. Murphy opened his eyes to see Bowser holding a large object. It was a photo frame, holding a photo of Bowser with his 8 children. “Gotta remember what you’re fighting for!”

Murphy nodded. “Yeah.”

“See? That’s Junior, I’m sure you remember him. That’s Lemmy, that’s Iggy, that’s Wendy, that’s Morton, that’s Ludwig, that’s Roy, and that’s Larry!” said Bowser, pointing to each Koopaling in the picture.

Murphy forced a smile.

“It’s nice to see your kids, but shouldn’t we be out there, fighting Sephiroth?”

“I mean, that’s why we’re here. We’re gonna fight pretty boy again, right?”

“But I mean, actually fighting the guy. Stopping whatever plan he’s got.”

Bowser shrugged. “Mario’s probably cooking something up some strategy right now. I’ve got some ideas too.”

Murphy gave Bowser a look of surprise.

“Hey, don’t count me out! I’ve made a few bids for galactic domination in my time! I’m no amateur!”

Murphy nodded. That at least stood to reason.

“Anyway, you gotta remember what you’re fighting for! It’s what gives you your fighting spirit!”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Huh? You don’t seem too sure of that! This is ancient Koopa wisdom right here! This is the good stuff!”

Murphy tried to smile. “Yeah, I’m sure it is. Thanks!”

Bowser shook his head. “Something’s eating at you. Listen. I’m not very good at this feelings thing, but however you do it, you gotta get that stuff out of ya. It’s not gonna do you any good to let it sit and mess up your thinking!”

 “I’m feeling the pressure, ok?”

“Since you’re the hero everybody here knows, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Uh huh. Yeah. Gotta get used to that, you know.”

“Wow, thanks a lot.”

“But you gotta do it. Listen. Let’s say you are your sister were the only ones here. Would you still fight?”

“Of course. It’s my home.”

“So, what changed? The pressure didn’t. The stakes didn’t. The only difference that I see between that scenario and what we have here is that you’ve got more backup.”

“You’re saying I need to get my game face on?”

“Yeah, that’s one way of saying it. However you do that, of course. Everybody has their own way. Ludwig starts playing one of his battle songs on his violin. Iggy does a bunch of flips and cartwheels. For a long time, I’d sit down and remember all the times Mario beat me and just imagine how much I wanted to punch him in that stupid ‘stache of his! So, whatever, you gotta do, you’re gonna want to do it now. You got a lotta your friends counting on you. Don’t let ‘em down.”

“Easier said than done. But yeah, you’re right.”

There was a pause. 

“You’re having trouble doing it,” said Bowser.

“Yeah,” said Murphy.

Bowser scratched his chin.

“Hmm. What do you usually do?”

“Sit and meditate. Deep breathing.”

“Yeesh, that’s what you do? No wonder you’re having a hard time, it’s a zoo out there.”

Murphy nodded. “You don’t say.”

Bowser thought for a moment.

“Maybe try something else? There’s more than one way to do stuff, right?”

“I guess?”

“I have an idea! Try my way!”

 “Your way?”

“Yeah! Get yourself amped up!”

“Amped up? Bowser, my style revolves around balance, not anger!”

“No, not anger! Though I suppose I do get mad to get amped up sometimes.”

“Sometimes?”

“Ok, a lot of the time. But hey, that’s not the only way to do it, you know!”

“All right, fine. I’ll bite. What do I do?”

“Sit down and make yourself comfortable. Whatever you do.”

Murphy sat down, cross legged, before settling himself comfortably.

“Ok. Now close your eyes. Think of everybody you’re fighting for right now. Your mom, your dad, your sister, your favorite aunt or uncle, whoever else you’re fighting for. Now picture them. This is what you’re fighting for. None of the other stuff matters. You left the oven on at home, that’s ok. You forgot to repay your friend 5 bucks for coffee last week, that doesn’t matter now. Maybe you forgot to punch a picture of Mario this morning. That’s unfortunate but we can let it slide. All the other crap means nothing. It’s just you, focusing on what matters, and that’s protecting your family, your friends, and everybody and everything you care about.”

Murphy took a deep breath and began to focus. He thought about his mom and dad. They were here at the castle, and they had looked so relieved when they’d seen him and Carrie walking towards them.

He thought about Carrie, and how worried she’d been the entire flight. His mind flitted to trying to figure out what was up with Carrie, and why she wasn’t talking to him so much, but he pushed it out of his mind. That wasn’t going to help him in the upcoming fight. No, he was focusing on what he was defending. And his fighting spirit was starting to rise.

He thought about his home and their yoga studio. He thought about the sword dueling arena and the archery course. He thought about the golf course and the bowling alley and the runway and the harbor.

And his focus hardened. He knew exactly what he was going to do. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

Murphy opened his eyes.

“Yeah? That do it for ya?”

“Sorta, yeah. Wasn’t expecting it to work so well. I probably need to practice more, but that was a pretty good first attempt.”

Bowser cracked a grin. “See, I told ya it would work! Anyway, I’m gonna go see about getting a little grub. Wanna go with me?”

Murphy stood up. “Sure. Let’s do that!”

In the courtyard....

Alph watched in the castle courtyard as the autopilot of his ship guided it carefully over the castle walls and slowly land itself next to the many floating battle platforms that sat arranged in the courtyard.

“You got everything you need, Mr. Smasher?” asked one of the techs.

“I do, thank you!” said Alph, somewhat nervously, before quickly scuttling over to his ship. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, before almost slamming the door shut.

Alph took a deep breath. It was far too noisy out there, there were too many people who thought he was some great warrior and there to save the day. He was no Mario. He wasn’t a DK or Bowser. Crud, he wasn’t even a Yoshi or a Wario. He was Alph. Part scientist, part ship mechanic and part pilot. There was a reason he was almost always doing the behind-the-scenes stuff.

Alph walked over to the passenger seats and slumped down in one of the chairs. He was safe in here, for the moment, within the walls of his spaceship.

This was pathetic. The other mechanically inclined Smashers that Alph tended to work with wouldn’t be feeling like this. Fox and Falco wouldn’t be this scared. Scrapper would be in his element here. Samus and Captain Falcon would probably be looking forward to the next fight. And Captain Olimar, even though he wasn’t a fighter, would not be as scared as Alph was. But here he was by himself. Without any of his usual colleagues here to back him up.

What if he was just cannon fodder here? What if he was holding the other Smashers back just by being here?

Suddenly, there was a loud banging at the hatch.

“Alph? You in there? Open up!”

Alph quickly looked through the hatch’s window. It was K Rool.

Alph scrambled to the hatch and fumbled with the lock. After a moment, he unlocked the hatch, and got the door open. 

“Sorry about the delay,” he mumbled, before stepping aside to let K Rool through.

“It’s fine,” said K Rool. “Just here to get my bag.”

“Your bag?”

“Yeah. I took it out during the flight.”

“Oh, of course.”

K Rool walked over to where he’d been sitting and grabbed a sack.

“So, how’d you do in the fight earlier?” he asked.

Alph froze.

“Not good, eh?”

“I…. fighting isn’t my forte….”

“Yeah. You’re more of a scientist, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Huh. Well I guess you won’t be turning the tide or anything.”

Alph hung his head. K Rool knew he was useless. All of them knew he was useless.

“You got any science stuff to help us?” asked K Rool.

Alph paused.

“What?”

“You’re a scientist. You got any science stuff that can help us here?”

“I… don’t know. Not yet, anyways. We just got here after all,” said Alph quickly.

“Well, let us know if you figure anything out, ok? I think you’re the big brains here for this operation.”

“Erm, yeah!”

K Rool nodded and reached into the sack and pulled out a bag of something.

“What’s that?” asked Alph in surprise.

“Oh, dried squid strips. I brought them as snacks. Why, you want some?”

“Umm… I think I’m all right,” said Alph.

K Rool nodded. “Yeah, it’s not for everyone. I’ll see you around then.”

And with that, K Rool exited the hatch and closed it behind him.

Alph sighed and walked back to the cockpit and slumped back into his chair, before sealing the cockpit door and hitting the atmosphere button, sucking out the air from the room and replacing it with a mimicry of the helium atmosphere of Koppai.

Alph leaned back and turned on his ship’s radio. He flipped through the channels, quickly skimming past a political talk show and the weather channel, before pausing on a channel with cheerful, upbeat music.

He sighed as the stress began to drain out of his mind. He stared at the walls of the castle through the cockpit window. It was a nice castle, made of a lightly colored stone that looked like limestone. Idly, Alph wondered where they’d sourced it from. He’d have to look at Wuhu Island’s geological profile at some point.

Alph felt a hand on his leg. He looked down to see Jeff.

“Hey Jeff,” said Alph, fondly ruffling the Blue Pikmin’s flower.

Jeff peered up at him in concerned fashion.

“I’ll be all right. Probably.”

Jeff jumped up and down and pointed to the console.

“What is it, Jeff?”

Jeff pointed at the console animatedly.

“What about the console?” asked Alph curiously.

Jeff walked up to the console and pretended to be staring at it intently.

Suddenly, what Jeff was pantomiming clicked for Alph.

“You think I should read something? I don’t think that’s going to help that much,” said Alph.

Jeff nodded, before making some slashing movements with his hands.

“You want me to read about Sephiroth?” asked Alph. “You mean from the villain catalogue?”

Jeff nodded vigorously.

Alph paused. That honestly wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe there was something useful in Cloud’s full report on Sephiroth? He’d only read the short version meant for quick overviews in the field.

Suddenly, K Rool’s words rang through his mind. “Well, let us know if you figure anything out, ok? I think you’re the big brains here for this operation.”

That was it. There was something he could do!

“Great idea, Jeff,” said Alph, as he booted the ship’s computer.

He ruffled Jeff’s flower fondly as the system warmed up. Jeff jumped up and down excitedly.

After quickly clicking through the files, Alph pulled up the full file Cloud had written, before pausing and going into a different file path and pulling up some of Captain Olimar’s pikmin battle strategies. It wouldn’t hurt for him to go over that again. If he was gonna have to be out near the fighting again, he needed to do better.

Alph cracked his knuckles. Time for his university perfected speedreading skills to shine.

On the battlements….

Wario grumbled to himself as he watched the horizon. The sun was setting over the horizon and the air had started to cool a little.

He’d barely gotten a crack at that edgelord they’d been fighting earlier. Between the back trenchcoat and his super nerd samurai sword or whatever that was, Wario was certain that he shopped at one of those stores that was fashionable and stuff. Bah, wasn’t his problem.

But the fact that he hadn’t even got to throw a punch at the guy was.

Wario liked to sell the fact that he’d “turned over a new leaf” and was a hero. And maybe, a small, often ignored corner in his heart truly wanted that to be the case. But the real reason Wario was here was what came with being a hero. More specifically, the good publicity. Boy oh boy, was the positive publicity from saving the world a couple times GREAT for sales. Wario Ware profits had nearly tripled after the Tabuu incident and had been slowly but steadily been growing higher. Sure, it didn’t give him the same rush that finding a massive treasure trove did, but the numbers didn’t lie. Consistent income from being Wario Ware’s owner and CEO netted greater long-term profits. 

So here Wario was. Out “saving the world”. Not his favorite activity, but the world had to exist if he wanted to sell people things. And hey, he got to beat the crap out of people with this gig. Just like treasure hunting, minus the treasure. Wario would take it though, he enjoyed a good fight.

“Hey Mr. Smasher!” shouted somebody.

Wario turned to see a couple of Mii Force soldiers standing around an ammo crate on a cart. One of the wheels of the cart had come off its axle.

“Can you help us get this ammo crate to the tower over there?”

Wario looked over at the tower. It was about 40 meters away.

“Sure thing, pal!”

Wario grumbled inwardly as he walked over to the disabled cart. Couldn’t these losers figure out how to change a wheel?

Wario picked up the ammo crate and began carrying it to the tower.

“Thank you, sir!”

“Anytime! Wahaha!”

It wasn’t even that heavy. These were the guys defending this joint? Yeesh, no wonder they’d folded so quickly and scurried off to their castle. Though in a way, Wario should be thanking them. It gave him another positive publicity stunt.

Speaking of publicity stunts, this was his third PPI, or positive publicity interaction for the day. He just needed two more to reach his daily goal.

One of the Mii Force soldiers opened the door for him as he got close.

“Just put it on top of the pile, sir!”

Wario quickly spotted the pile of ammo crates and carefully placed the crate that he was carrying on top of the stack.

He turned and grinned at the soldier. “Ya need help with anything else?”

“Actually, sir, yeah. If you could follow me?”

Wario deflated on the inside as he followed the soldier. The stuff he did to try and earn a buck. He was totally counting this as today’s fourth PPI.

In the keep of the castle….

Carrie walked over to the bed of an injured Mii Force soldier.

“Carrie! About time you showed up!” said the soldier.

“Come on, Marcus. You know I’d come back for this.”

“And you brought Mario too!”

Carrie grinned but deflated on the inside. Sure, Mario was a big name hero, but it wasn’t like the rest of them were helpless or anything.

“We did, yeah.”

“You’re gonna fight off the big sword guy?”

“You bet!” said Carrie.

“That’s great! Sorry that I couldn’t be out there to help you….” he trailed off.

“Don’t worry. The Smashers will handle Sephiroth. You just stay here and get better, all right?”

“Sephiroth… I think I’ve heard that name before. Wasn’t he trying to destroy some other planet or something?”

“Yeah. He’s a bit of a psycho.”

“Hah, I bet you guys are the best to take him on. I mean, me and the boys did what we could….” the soldier trailed off.

“You did your best. And now we’ll do ours, ok?” said Carrie.

“Yeah.”

“Good. I need to get going, but it’s good to see you’re doing all right.”

“You too! Get him good!”

“We will!” said Carrie as she stood up. She walked over to where DK and Yoshi were standing by the door.

“You finish your rounds?” she asked.

“Yeah!” said Yoshi.

“Thank you. I really appreciate the fact that you’re willing to do this.”

“It improves morale! It’s the least we can do. Having low morale is like eating a green banana! It brings your mood down and dampens your fighting spirit!” said DK.

Carrie paused in confusion, but Yoshi just shrugged.

“Anyway, where are we going to next?” asked Yoshi.

“That was the last place I planned on going, so I guess we’re going back to our quarters next,” said Carrie.

“Sounds good to me!” said DK cheerily.

The three made their way through the corridors of the castle. Several people moved out of their way and waved to Carrie as she passed. She smiled and waved back.

Eventually, they came to the door leading up to the tower the Smashers had been assigned. As they closed the door behind them, Carrie took a deep breath.

“You doing all right?” asked Yoshi.

“Just mad. My friends and everybody I know is in the crossfire. This idiot just made it personal, and I’m going to make him pay.”

DK nodded. “That’s the spirit! But don’t be too reckless out there.”

“I’ll be fine. I saw what Sephiroth can do. But this is my island, my home. All of you are Smashers and we’re glad you’re here, but Murphy and I need to do this. We need to be here.”

“I understand the sentiment,” said DK. “Yesterday, the bad guys were in my backyard. We’ll back you as best we can.”

Carrie grinned. “Thanks. We’re gonna need all the help you can give out there.”

A few hours later…..

“All right, everybody,” said Mario. “I called this meeting to put together a plan for how to deal with Sephiroth. Do we have any ideas as to how to proceed?”

Murphy glanced around the room. The Smashers were seated on various benches and chairs in a circle around a table they’d moved into the center of the room.

Alph raised his hand. “I did some research, and I have some things to say that might be helpful.”

Murphy raised an eyebrow. The little pilot wasn’t usually this talkative. Now he was curious.

“Go ahead, Alph,” said Mario.

“Ok. So, I went through Cloud’s entire file on Sephiroth. Not the short one I pulled up in the field, but the complete version.”

“Did ya find anything good?” asked Bowser.

“I think so. First of all, Cloud says that Sephiroth was formerly a SOLDIER, a super solider for the Shinra Corporation. He had a spotless record up until the day he went up against Cloud.”

“Ol’ paddle sword kicked his butt?” asked K Rool.

“Not the first time, but eventually he did. Sephiroth had a very high success rate, but it seems like Cloud was very much his match. He disappeared after AVALANCHE defeated and dismantled Shinra Corp. It’s kinda a long story but that’s the short of it. I didn’t think anything from that part of his story would really help us,” said Alph nervously.

DK nodded and flashed a grin. “We trust your judgement, Alph. I’m sure that you would have noticed if there was something critically important there.”

“Was there anything else that did seem important?” asked Yoshi.

Alph nodded. “There were a few other things. One was the fact that Cloud keeps mentioning how arrogant Sephiroth is,” said Alph. “Though take this with a grain of salt. It seems like there’s a LOT of bad blood between the two. Sephiroth killed one of Cloud’s friends that he was really close to, and Cloud obviously smeared Sephiroth’s otherwise perfect record pretty badly. But from what we saw on the field, I think it’s not too much of stretch to say that he’s got an ego, even if it doesn’t frequently show. Other than that, Sephiroth is consistently known for his professionalism. As best as I can tell from what’s written here, it seems like there’s one exception to his code of conduct, and that’s Cloud. Like I said earlier, those two really have it out for each other.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” snorted Bowser.

“But I think the point is that he’s probably underestimating us. Other then maybe Mario,” said Luigi.

“That’s right. Maybe not Bowser and K Rool either since they fought him earlier with Mario,” said Alph.

Daisy grinned. “His loss, then!”

“I’ll take whatever I can get,” said Yoshi.

“Did you find anything else?” asked Mario.

“I found a section on Sephiroth’s sword style,” said Alph.

“Where’d you find that?” asked Mario.

“After the 3 and half pages of the plan to spike Sephiroth’s shampoo with hair loss chemicals, and before the part about adding sand to his sword polish to screw up his sword,” said Alph. “When I said Cloud was biased, I meant it. Fun fact, Sephiroth apparently uses an entire bottle of shampoo every time he washes his hair.”

Everybody shared a laugh.

Mario chuckled. “Ah, that’s what I get for only skimming the document. That was a very interesting segment, I’ll give you that.”

Alph grinned, and said, “But anyway, Sephiroth is a cautious fighter, but once he figures out his opponent, he switches to a hyper offensive style. This style balances strength and speed, and his sword gives him the ability to outrange a lot of opponents. Though Cloud says that his defense isn’t anything special, and that he’s been able to win by battering his way through his guard. In other words, Sephiroth’s defense is carried by his offense,” said Alph.

DK nodded. “That makes sense. I bet that big sword of his isn’t super maneuverable up close and personal. We just need to get inside his guard. His style is like a durian. Spiky on the outside, but if you can get to the inside, it’s as soft as a banana.”

“And how does this help us, exactly?” asked K Rool.

“Um, just to give an idea of how to defeat Sephiroth, I guess,” said Alph.

Mario nodded. “Which will be a crucial part for taking down the bad guys. I did some scanning with my R-47 scanner. It looks like his Subspace Portal is set up inside the volcano.”

“That makes sense. There’s a large cavern in the volcano. There’s a hiking path that goes through the cavern, but nobody goes up there on a regular basis. It was probably the perfect place for Sephiroth to launch a surprise attack from,” said Carrie.

“What is the area like?” asked Mario.

“The mountain is pretty steep on the outside, but there are paths that go into the heart of the mountain. They’re similar to the ones we took here. Other than the incline, it’s not too bad to get to,” said Murphy.

“I see,” said Mario. “So, the biggest issue is still Sephiroth and his forces. Did you find anything else useful, Alph?”

“Two more things. First, it doesn’t seem like Sephiroth uses much in the way of projectiles, he’s basically just a swordsman. Secondly, it seems like Sephiroth’s SOLDIER training includes hand to hand combat training. So just be careful when you get up close and personal, ok?”

“Sure. But I’m still more worried about that sword for the record,” said K Rool.

Mario rubbed his moustache thoughtfully. “Does anybody have any thoughts as to what we should do?”

Bowser raised his hand. “I say we hit his portal quickly. That portal is where he’s getting his troops from, and its also his escape route. If we attack that, he’ll be forced to come fight us. And since it’s near a volcano, I’ll have an advantage. Lava’s my element, you know!”

Mario nodded. “I agree. I don’t think that there’s much more to do then launch an assault on the portal. And if we can cut off Sephiroth’s portal before he escapes, we stand a much better chance of capturing him. I say we rest for the evening and attack the portal tomorrow morning. We’ve had a long hike and two battles, so I’m pretty sure we’re all tired. What do you all say to that?”

“Sounds like a plan to me!” said DK with a thumbs up.

“I can work with that,” said Carrie.

“Let’s do it!” said Bowser.

Mario nodded. “All right. We rest for tonight and move out tomorrow morning. I think that’s all for now, do what you gotta do to prepare for tomorrow, ok? Meeting dismissed.”

In the dining hall…..

Luigi smiled as the microwave that he was standing in front of let out a cheerful ding. He opened the microwave and let the pleasant smell of his previously frozen dinner waft to his nose. Chicken Parmesan always put a smile on a face. Even if this one was most likely processed to oblivion and back.

With a spring in his step, Luigi sauntered back to the table reserved for the Smashers, where Mario and Daisy sat, eating. Mario appeared to be eating a heated frozen dinner ravioli, while Daisy was eating a pre-packaged curry dish.

Luigi sat down and quickly tucked into his meal along with Mario and Daisy. It wasn’t bad. Could have been better, but it could have been worse too.

“Man, this is gonna be interesting,” said Daisy.

“How so?” asked Mario.

“I get to go with the heroes to save the day this time!”

Luigi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Now that you mention it, yeah, I think this is the first time you’ve gone with us to save the world!”

“Yeah! It’s always you two off on some epic adventure. Sometimes Peach is with you, and other times she’s the one kidnapped, but at least she gets to tag along sometimes! Why do you never invite me?”

“I mean, we’re usually in a rush,” said Luigi. “We’d love to have you backing us more often, but we’d be losing precious time if we waited for you to fly out to us, even if you were ready to go immediately.”

“Ugh, Sarassaland is so boring,” groaned Daisy. “Nothing interesting ever happens. I guess Bowser doesn’t like deserts or something.”

“I mean, isn’t that a good thing?” asked Luigi. “It’s a good thing that Peach is so good with finances, when Bowser used to invade the Mushroom Kingdom on a regular basis, the repair costs were staggering. Half of our heroism was doing pro bono plumbing repairs!”

“Yeah, but things get boring after a while. Why do you think I go to every kart racing and sports event you guys invite me to? A girl’s gotta have some excitement in her life!” said Daisy.

Mario just grinned. “We’re happy to have you, Daisy. It’s-a always nice to have another person from back home backing us.”

“You know it! We’re gonna clobber that Sephiroth guy in no time!” said Daisy.

Luigi scratched the back of his head. “It’s not always that easy Daisy. Like the time we….”

“Don’t-a worry, Luigi! We have more than just the two of us, Bowser and Peach. We’ll be just fine,” said Mario.

“Yeah, I guess I’m too used to only going in with just you,” said Luigi bashfully. “Things always went better when we had more people, like Yoshi, Bowser, Peach or Toad.”

“I mean, we already have Yoshi and Bowser, and we should be ok with those two alone,” said Mario.

Luigi chuckled. “I getcha, bro. It’s just that we used to go in so undermanned all the time, it’s a miracle we accomplished what we did!”

“Maybe it is, but we made it. Mamma mia, remember that time you got trapped in that Ghost Galaxy while we were looking for Rosalina’s power stars?” asked Mario.

“Oh yeah! Man, I wish I’d brought my Poltergust!” said Luigi.

“It would have been handy, that’s for sure!”

“See! This is what I mean! You have all these adventures under your belt and I’ve never done anything!” said Daisy.

Mario nodded, “Well, you’re on one now. You think you can handle it?”

“Of course, I can handle it!” said Daisy. “I wouldn’t be here if I couldn’t!”

Luigi grinned. “That’s the spirit!”

Mario grinned back. “All right. Though that reminded me, I want to go over some thoughts I had about battling Sephiroth again…..”

Chapter Text

Act 9: Murphy

Chapter 4: Forest Navel

Murphy stood tall as most of the Smashers and several Mii Force soldiers waited in the central courtyard. He glanced around. There was one notable absentee. Where was Alph?

Suddenly, the door of Alph’s ship opened, and the Pikmin Captain hopped out with a large squad of Pikmin following behind.

“Sorry for the delay, I wanted to bring some specialty Pikmin with us today,” he said.

Murphy noted several pink Pikmin with wings and rock like Pikmin in the mass of miniature walking plants. It seemed like Alph had been busy.

“That’s all right, Alph, you’re not holding us up. All right, is everybody here? Let’s do a headcount!” said Mario.

“Luigi?”

“Here!”

“Daisy?”

“Ready to rumble!”

“Yoshi?”

“Here!”

“DK?”

“Fresh as a bannana!”

“Bowser?”

Bowser cracked his knuckles loudly.

“K Rool?”

“I’m here.”

“Murphy?”

“Present.”

“Carrie?”

“Here!”

“Alph?”

There was a chorus of Pikmin cheers.

“We’re ready!”

“Then let’s-a go!”

With that, Mario stepped onto one of the many floating platforms that were waiting in front of them. The other Smashers followed suit, and Murphy stepped onboard one of them with a group of Mii Force soldiers. Amongst them were Carrie and Wario.

Murphy gripped the railing tightly as the flying platforms took off. He was glad to be going with Carrie, even if he wasn’t sure what he thought about Wario.

Carrie walked up and stood next to Murphy. The two stood in silence as the group of floating platforms cleared the top of the castle and sailed over the open plains and forests of Wuhu Island.

Murphy swallowed hard. He and Carrie were standing somewhat away from the rest of the soldiers. Should he say something? Should he not?

As he pondered, Bowser’s words came back to him. “All the other crap means nothing. It’s just you, focusing on what matters, and that’s protecting your family, your friends, and everybody and everything you care about.”

Murphy closed his eyes, and began to focus. He began thinking of his family, friends and Wuhu Town, as he felt his determination rise. However, as he continued to focus, Carrie interrupted his thoughts.

“You ready for this?” she asked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” replied Murphy, opening his eyes.

“Fair enough.”

Carrie nodded with a smile. Murphy grinned and nodded back. They’d always have each other’s backs. It’s what they had always done. Hopefully they’d keep doing it after he’d sorted out whatever what going on with Carrie.

They flew towards the mountain in silence for some time.

Suddenly, Yoshi pointed over the edge of his floating platform. “Hey! Aren’t those Subspace Troops over there?”

Murphy looked over to where Yoshi was pointing. Murphy saw a large contingent of Primids marching across a meadow clearing in the middle of the forest below them. In the masses of purple, Murphy could see Sephiroth’s hair blowing in the breeze, a stark contrast to the purplish Primids surrounding him.

“Land us here!” shouted Mario over the wind. “We need to stop Sephiroth before he attacks the castle! Let’s end this here and now!”

Murphy deployed a loaf of Fightness Bread as they descended towards the Subspace Forces. Sephiroth burst out of the front and took a fighting stance. Murphy glanced over to Mario, who was already brandishing his Septic Annihilator.

“Mii Force! Let’s take to the air! Use your Wii Fit Boards!” shouted Matt.

Murphy glanced at the Subspace forces and noticed a lot of airborne enemies. His fellow Smashers would likely have no issues on the ground. He’d be of more use in the air. As the platforms lowered to the ground, the Mii Force soldiers began pulling out their Wii Fit Boards. Murphy quickly deployed his, as Carrie followed suit next to him.

As soon as his board deployed, Murphy turned it on and pulled out a loaf of Fightness Bread. He glanced over at Carrie, who had just hopped onto her board, and rolled her eyes at him.

“What?”

“I’m just glad you’re smacking the bad guys with that stuff instead of trying to feed it to us.”

Murphy winced on the inside and hoped it didn’t show on his face.

Regaining enough composure to fake some bravado, he said, “Hey, I made Fitness Bread taste good!”

“Yeah, but it took you years to get there.”

“….that’s fair.”

“Either way, I’m glad it worked out.”

“Yeah, me too. Let’s make this one work out too, yeah?”

“Let’s do it!”

And with that, Murphy quickly kicked his Wii Fit Board into gear and soared off through the air.

Daisy vaulted over the edge of the platform as it landed, following Mario and Luigi. Both plumbers were already shooting fireballs into the charging ranks of Primids. Daisy grabbed her golf club and rushed up to join them.

Raising her club, she landed a satisfying thwack to the face of one of the Primids, before smashing another over the head. Suddenly a jet of fire shot out nearby. Daisy glanced over to see Bowser stomping up, slashing Primids down with both claws.

“Come and get some!” shouted Bowser.

Daisy caught something bright out of the corner of her eye and turned to block the blade of a Sword Primid.

“Not fast enough!” she said, as she shoved the Primid’s guard aside, and clobbered him over the head.

Suddenly, a dozen green fireballs shot out in front of Daisy. She took a defensive stance as Luigi rushed up next to her.

“So, how’s it going, babe? How’s saving the world with the Mario Bros so far?”

“Just peachy,” said Daisy as she took another swing at an unfortunate Primid.

Luigi just chuckled and drew his Septic Annihilator.

Daisy quickly dealt with another group of Primids with her golf club, before spotting Mario and Bowser fighting several Giant Primids. Daisy quickly holstered her golf club and deployed her tennis racket, along with a few tennis balls. Stashing two into her fanny pack, she tossed the last one into the air, and served it with tremendous force. The ball whizzed through the air and struck one of the Giant Primids in the chest, exploding into greyish goo. The goo quicky expanded over the Giant Primid’s torso and solidified, restricted its movements. The Giant Primid stumbled around, before falling to the ground.  

Daisy grabbed the second and served it at another one of the Giant Primids. It struck the Primid in the leg, and exploded with a sonic pulse, blasting its legs into Subspace particles. As Daisy watched Bowser finish off the Giant Primid he was previously fighting, and rush over to finish off the downed Giant Primid, claws bared, she reached for the last one. She served it straight into the last Primid’s shoulder. The ball exploded into a fiery blast, knocking it a step back. She holstered her tennis racket on her back and drew her golf club, but Luigi beat her to the punch and fired several blasts from his Septic Annihilator, taking it down. She turned to the first Giant Primid, but saw Mario finishing it off with a fiery punch.

Luigi turned to her with a grin. “Hey! Not bad!”

“You know these chumps are no match for me!” said Daisy confidently.

“Luigi! Daisy! We got more of them!” shouted Mario.

Daisy looked up to see a large mass of Primids assembling in front of them. The two rushed up to form a line with Mario and Bowser.

“Hah! More of them?” grinned Bowser.

“Let’s get them!” shouted Mario.

As the others lunged for the Primids, Daisy grinned. Yeah, she should totally have started going on adventures with the Mario Bros a long time ago.

Alph gulped as the other Smashers and Mii Force soldiers charged into the battle. This was it. He’d done his preparations, and he’d read Captain Olimar’s battle notes and strategies. It was now time to put them to use. Alph looked down at his hands. They were shaking. Alph clenched his fists. He couldn’t back down now.

Alph straightened his back, and quickly blew his whistle sharply twice as a number of Primids began shuffling towards him, and the pikmin quickly formed into color coded columns. He then blew his whistle three times, and the column of Blue Pikmin moved to the front while the others moved to the back.

Alph quickly began slinging his pikmin left and right, covering the incoming Primids with angry Blue Pikmin. He quickly noticed a spurt of fire from the side and sharply blew his whistle once, causing his contingent of Red Pikmin to come up front, as the remaining Blue Pikmin returned to the backlines.

He began hurling Red Pikmin at the advancing Fire Primids. The fireproof Pikmin quickly landed and began attacking their opponents. Alph caught a mass of blue out of the corner of his eye as his Blue Pikmin returned, having defeated their opponents.

Suddenly, something shot out of the sky and struck Alph. His muscles seized up painfully for a moment and he collapsed to the ground. His Pikmin quickly swarmed around him defensively as he picked himself up. Alph glared upwards and saw several Spaaks floating towards him. He sharply blew his whistle seven times, and immediately his Flying Pikmen arrayed in formation. Alph blew his whistle for almost a second and pointed at the Spaaks. The Flying Pikmen immediately took to the air and began swarming the Spaaks quickly.

Alph blew his whistle twice, and quickly began hurling the Yellow Pikmin as best he could in the air as they arrayed themselves in formation behind him. His heart soared as some of the Yellow Pikmin hit their mark. The Pikmin quickly overwhelmed the Spaaks, before returning to the rank and file.

He was doing it! He could totally fight just like Captain Olimar!

Suddenly, he heard an odd noise behind him. Alph whipped around, and his heart sank as he saw a handful of Shadyas appear behind them. Could he take these guys? Alph quickly glanced around as he noticed that he was in the back lines of the fighting. He was the only one who would be able to do anything about them. Alph grit his teeth. He’d have to do. He sharply blew his whistle once, and quickly began slinging the Red Pikmin assembled behind him. He managed to hurl several Pikmin at two different Shadyas and was aiming to throw another Pikmin at a third, when the remaining three closed the distance and began slashing at him.

Alph dove aside and hit the toggle for his whistle by accident as he landed. He scrambled to his feet as the attacking Pikmin dropped from the enemy Shadiyas, and rushed back towards him. He’d accidentally commanded them to return.

A cold chill of fear rushed through Alph as the Shadiyas closed in. He looked around. What could he do?

Wait. There was only one thing to do.

Alph quickly stood tall and blew his whistle one more time, a long, shrill blast. It was time for a general charge. 

The Pikmin cheered, and all together rushed forward. They quickly surged past Alph and swarmed all of the Shadiyas with sheer numbers.

Alph stepped back and took a minute to catch his breath. He winced as he saw several Pikmin being slashed to bits by the Shadyas. He had to get back in there. Alph ran forward and picked up one of the straggler Rock Pikmin, and hurled it with all his might at one of the nearby Shadiyas. It nailed it in its glowing core as it was about to swing its blades and shot straight through. The nearby Pikmin cheered as the monster collapsed into Subspace particles. Alph’s heart soared. This was working!

Turning his head, Alph saw a group of Blue, Yellow, and White Pikmin struggling against one of the Shadiyas. He blew his whistle, sharply for nearly a second, and the nearby Pikmin all rallied back into formation.

Alph blew his whistle sharply four times and began throwing Purple Pikmin at the Shadyas. While he missed a couple, most of his throws landed true and in short order, the Shadiya collapsed. He blew his whistle again, and the Pikmin reassembled.

Suddenly, Alph heard a cheer from behind and turned to see his Flying Pikmin floating victoriously over the dissipating Subspace Particles of one of the Shadiyas. He quickly blew his whistle seven times, and pointed at one of the remaining Shadiyas. The Flying Pikmin quickly began swarming the Shadiya, while Alph blew his whistle five times, calling the White Pikmin up front. He hurled them quickly at the last Shadiya, and in short order, the White Pikmin quickly brough their target down.

Alph grinned as all of his Pikmin returned. He’d done it! Now that was a confidence booster right there! An explosion rocked the ground some distance away, and Alph turned to see Mario, Luigi, Daisy and Bowser fighting back to back in a massive swarm of Primids. And with a quick whistle, Alph and his Pikmin rushed off to help them.

Murphy leaned forward on his Wii Fit Board, accelerating out of the way of one of the electric shocks from one of the cloud creatures. A Spaak, if his research was correct. Unfortunately, one had knocked his baguette of Fightness Bread out of his hand earlier, so he was resorting to his Yoga Style for the moment. He turned, and struck a Warrior Pose, ripping his outstretched arm through a Spaak. He glanced up as a shot whizzed near him. Nearby, a Mii Force soldier let out a yell as he fired off a barrage of plasma shots at a group of Spaaks that were ganging up on him, some striking, and others missing. Murphy grit his teeth, and whizzed off to support his ally.

As he got close, Murphy stood tall and began charging his Fitness Energy throughout his body. He struck a Warrior Pose, firing off several projections of his yoga pose. While most of his shots missed, a few hit their mark, taking out a few of the Spaaks.

However, this was enough, as the Spaaks quickly turned to deal with Murphy, leaving them wide open to several powerful laser blasts from the Mii Force soldier.

“Thank you, sir!” said the soldier.

“No problem! Back me up, let’s go help those guys out!” said Murphy, pointing to a group of soldiers surrounded by Spaaks and Armights.

“On your six, sir!” said the soldier.

Murphy and the soldier accelerated forward and whizzed through the air towards the surrounded soldiers. As they drew closer, Murphy began charging his loaf of Fightness Bread with Solar Energy.

“Salutation Strike!”

As Murphy whizzed in, he quickly swung his loaf of Fightness Bread, smacking one of the Spaaks cleanly from behind, cleaving through it, before leaning right, and swinging at several Spaaks as he went. Electric shots whizzed past him, as he plowed straight through the crowd of Armights and smashed a way out to the other side. Murphy quickly turned his Wii Fit Board around to prepare for another rush, and saw the soldier that had been backing him up taking careful, well aimed shots from an elevated position in the air so he could shoot at the enemies from behind, but not put his allies in the line of fire.

The surrounded soldiers seemed to rally, as some of the Spaaks began to turn to face Murphy and the other soldier. Murphy charged in again, and together, the Spaaks and Armights were defeated quickly.

Murphy zoomed up to the other soldiers as they all gathered together in the air.

“We gotta help the guys who were shot down. Looks like some of them took some hard falls. Are you all right going on without us sir?” asked one of the Mii Force Soldiers.

Murphy nodded. “Go and do that, I’ll do my best to cover you.”

“Much appreciated,” said the soldier, as he turned around and began to bark orders.                      

Murphy turned his Wii Fit Board around on a swivel and scanned the sky. He saw a group of Shadiyas approaching them, and drew a loaf of Fightness Bread, before zooming off to fight them.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

“Sun Salutation Barrage!”

Carrie fired a blast of rapid fire Sun Salutations at the Primids in front of her, striking several down. She flared her solar powers again, and struck a Warrior pose.

“Salutation Warrior!”

Solar energy flared from her extended arm, striking down a couple of Primids who were attempting to rush her down.

Carrie took a step back as the Primids around her recoiled. While she’d started the battle off in the air, she’d eventually landed to help DK and K Rool, who seemed to be surrounded by the massive horde of Primids.

She heard a shot go off next to her and glanced to the side to see K Rool standing nearby, firing his blunderbuss with his back turned towards her. She caught a glimpse of a large, hairy hand swinging out of the corner of her eye, and turned the other way to see DK backing up towards her, slapping his hands against the ground, creating massive shockwaves that blasted away any primids that dared to get close.

The three slowly backed up closer and closer to each other until they were fighting back-to-back. The Primids slowed their advance as they all crowded around the Smashers.

“We’re surrounded!” said Carrie.

“Tell me something I don’t know!” growled K Rool.

DK glanced back as his allies. “We’re going to have to act quick. K Rool, you still have that helicopter backpack of yours, right?”  

“Yeah, what about it?” asked K Rool.

“And Carrie, you still have your Wii Fit Board?”

“Right here,” said Carrie.

“Good. I want you two to fly up and hit them from the air.”

K Rool rolled his eyes. “Your hands are gonna be killing you when you’re done with that attack.”

DK grunted. “I know, I know. Just get in the air all right?”

“What’s he going to do?” asked Carrie as she slung her Wii Fit Board off of her back and placed it on the ground, turning it on as she did.

“You’ll see,” said K Rool. “Try not to get too close. It’s like a coconut. Tough on the outside but safe on the inside or something.”

“Perhaps my wisdom is starting to rub off on you, K Rool!” said DK cheerfully.

K Rool snorted. “You wish. Let’s just get into the air.”

Carrie booted up her Wii Fit Board and quickly jetted off, as K Rool deployed a helicopter rotor from his backpack and took off into the air.

On the ground, DK cracked his knuckles and raised his hands.

“KONGO BEAT DOWN!”

DK began slapping the ground with his hands with immense force, causing massive shockwaves around him, blasting the Primids surrounding him away.

“See what I mean?” said K Rool as he reached Carrie’s altitude.

“Yeah,” said Carrie, her eyes open in shock. “So, uh, what is our part of the plan?”

“Drop behind them and try and attack them from behind. Or drop in the middle. Or just attack from the air if you can. Whatever floats your boat.”

“Sure, sounds good. Uh, are DK’s hands gonna be ok?”

K Rool shrugged. “Probably, I think? Hasn’t seemed to stop him in the past. Though for the record, it’s not my fault if he gets arthritis or something from doing that.”

“I… uh… all right. Sure.”

“Yeah. Anyway, I’m gonna get back in it. Do whatever you want, ok?”

And with that, K Rool steered himself over some distance away, before belly flopping into the back of the crowd, crushing several Primids underneath his tremendous girth.

Carrie zoomed some distance away on her Wii Fit Board, charging a Sun Salutation as she went, when suddenly, an electric shot whizzed past her. She whipped her head back to see a large group of Spaaks gathering behind her. Quickly she shot off her Sun Salutation, striking down one of them as the others continued to barrage her with a storm of electric shots. Carrie did her best to dodge, but eventually one of the shots struck her Wii Fit Board and she began plummeting to the ground.

In a moment of panic, Carrie flared her solar energy around her in a makeshift kind of armor, which ate some of the impact when it came a few moments later.

Carrie grit her teeth as her body screamed in pain, and pulled herself to her feet, as a few shots struck the ground near her. She looked up to see the Spaaks drawing closer.

With some effort, Carrie stood tall, charging solar energy in her core as she did.

“Sun Salutation Barrage!”

It was a wilder spray of Sun Salutations then Carrie would have liked, but a fair number of them found their mark, taking out some of the Spaaks attacking her.

Carrie shook her still-ringing head. Just she’d been shot down didn’t mean she was out. She needed to focus.

Carrie took a split second to close her eyes and take a deep breath. She opened her eyes again and began taking stock of her surroundings. There were four Spaaks left in the sky. She’d landed several meters behind the circle of Primids. She could see the shockwaves emanating from DK’s ground slapping above the crowd and saw a group of Primids fly into the air somewhere else in the crowd, most likely K Rool’s doing. A few of the Primids near her were turning around, but they wouldn’t be a problem for the moment. Probably.

Carrie glared up at the few remaining Spaaks and began to gather her solar energy yet again. She struck several yoga poses as she shot out projections of those poses from her body. The larger projectiles had their intended effect, landing the attacks more easily, and taking out the Spaaks.

Carrie glanced around as more Primids began to shuffle towards her. She quickly spotted her Wii Fit Board. It was smoking and sparking. That settled it. No more aerial fights for her today.

Turning back to the oncoming Primids, Carrie stood tall and took another deep breath, before dropping into her opening combat stance. Even if she couldn’t be in the air, she could definitely still make a difference on the ground.

“Salutation Warrior!”

Yoshi grit his teeth and hurled another egg at the primids in front of him, striking yet another down. These things were endless!

Yoshi jumped in the air as several Primids tried to rush him at once and executed a swift Yoshi bomb, sending them flying.

Yoshi glanced to the side to see DK and K Rool fighting some distance away from him, fists and claws swinging. Somewhere behind Yoshi, he heard an enormous fart, and caught a whiff of some atrocious smelling flatulence. He wasn’t much of a health guru, and he certainly wasn’t a doctor, but Yoshi was pretty certain that Wario needed to go on some sort of detox diet and fast. That could NOT be healthy.

Yoshi quickly popped a piece of fruit into his mouth and began spitting juice at high velocity at the Primids, knocking down several of the ones advancing towards him. Suddenly, Yoshi heard a voice from the side.

“Stop! I’ll handle this one.”

Yoshi turned around to see Sephiroth walking towards him, sword drawn as the Primids backed off. A chill ran down his spine and he took a step back.

Quickly, Yoshi began deploying various powerups from his IDD, and backing up slowly. He wasn’t gonna be able to run away in this situation, but maybe he could buy enough time to eat some of his powerups. Sephiroth smirked as he walked forward, twirling his sword casually. Yoshi grit his teeth. What was he, some kind of pushover? He’d been a founding member of the Smashers and he’d been fighting alongside the Mario Bros for even longer than that. No, Yoshi was not going down without a fight. He quickly downed a Bulb Fruit, a Dash Pepper, and a papaya in quick succession as they materialized in his hands.

As Yoshi downed the papaya, he stopped, and clenched his fists. He glared at Sephiroth, eyes blazing with determination.

The two stared at each other in silence for a moment.

“You think I’m some sort of pushover?” demanded Yoshi.

“I have a reach advantage, and I’m stronger than you. Yes, I consider you to be a pushover. For me at any rate. I’m eliminating you now so that you do not interfere when I attack your stronger friends.”

“It’s not going to be that easy,” said Yoshi.

“Then prove it,” said Sephiroth, before taking a guard stance.

Yoshi dropped into a fighting stance, as the powerups took effect and his skin turned an orangish gold color.

“I intend to.”

Yoshi dashed off at tremendous speed towards Sephiroth, and quickly ducked under the wide sweep of his sword, before closing the distance to land a powerful headbutt to the chest. Sephiroth grunted and retaliated with a swift pommel strike to the face.

Yoshi rolled back, his face stinging, and spat a stream of juice at Sephiroth, who merely raised his sword, and held his sword so that it sliced the stream of juice in half, while walking towards Yoshi.

Yoshi quickly stopped spitting juice, and cloaked himself with a hardlight egg, before rushing at Sephiroth.

“Golden Egg Roll!”

Sephiroth blocked the hardlight egg with his sword and the two pushed against each other as hard as they could.

Yoshi grit his teeth as he dug his heels in. He was losing this contest of strength. He’d have to act fast.

Yoshi suddenly dispersed the hardlight egg and hit the deck, just in time for Sephiroth to stumble forward. He caught a nearby rock on the ground with his tongue and spat it straight at Sephiroth’s face, before jumping to his feet and landing a series of rapid fire punches and kicks to his stunned opponent.

Sephiroth eventually managed to catch one of Yoshi’s punches, and shifted his momentum to the side, causing Yoshi to stumble forward in turn. Yoshi quickly pulled himself into an egg and rolled away some distance to avoid the follow up strike.

Yoshi turned quickly and zipped straight back at Sephiroth, and ran circles around him, chucking hardlight eggs at him as he went. Sephiroth slashed the eggs apart, though he maintained a defensive posture, trying to pinpoint Yoshi’s location in the glowing orange blur surrounding him.

Suddenly, Sephiroth lunged with his sword, and Yoshi ducked and pulled himself into a hardlight egg as his momentum carried him forward. He rolled about a dozen meters away, before popping out and turning just in time to see Sephiroth leap at him through the air, sword ready to strike.

A spike of panic rushed through Yoshi, and he quickly covered himself with another hardlight egg. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth, waiting for impact.

Yoshi heard a heavy thud, but his egg didn’t take any damage. He looked up and saw DK land next to him, cracking his knuckles.

“You doing all right there?” he asked.

“More or less. Glad to have some backup though.”

“So, your friends have begun to help you. It’s not going to save any of you though,” said Sephiroth, as he regained his feet some distance away, rubbing his side.

“You’re a tough one,” said DK. “It takes a sturdy opponent to take my Giant Punch straight on and still keep fighting.”

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t strong. Though, it would appear that I underestimated your power. I will not make the same mistake any longer,” intoned Sephiroth.

“And I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t picked up my game either! You think we got here just by sitting on our butts, pretty boy?” snapped K Rool, causing Yoshi to jump. How had K Rool of all people snuck up next to him?

A slight smile appeared on Sephiroth’s face. “Then let us put your confidence to the test, shall we?”

“Oh, it’s on now,” growled K Rool, dropping into a fighting stance, readying his claws.

Yoshi followed suit, as DK said, “They say that any opponent is like a coconut. Enough pressure, and you’ll crack. The only question is how much. I wonder how much it will take to crack you?”

“More than you can muster, ape,” said Sephiroth.

DK just grinned. “Bold words. Let’s see if you can back them.”

“Sun Salutation!”

Sephiroth whirled on his heel to slice the incoming golden orb in half. Behind Sephiroth, Carrie stood tall, charging another Sun Salutation. But before Sephiroth could do anything else, K Rool rushed at Sephiroth, and immediately was forced to jump over Sephiroth’s sword, swinging his claws wildly as he sailed through the air, but only managed to hit hair before coming to a rolling stop.

Yoshi took the opportunity to spit a mighty blast of juice at Sephiroth, staggering the swordsman as DK rushed in and slammed his fist into the swordsman’s jaw. As Sephiroth staggered backwards from the force of the hit, DK continued his assault.

“Spinning Kong!”

As DK began slowing down, Carrie rushed up, her arms already glowing with solar energy.

“Warrior Strike!”

Before Sephiroth could recover from Carrie’s attack, K Rool lunged in with a well-placed shoulder bash, slamming him some distance away from the other Smashers.

Yoshi quickly dashed at Sephiroth, and landed a flying kick to the face, before landing, turning on his heel and launching himself at Sephiroth again.

“Golden Egg Roll!”

Yoshi’s roll was abruptly stopped. He looked up to see Sephiroth stopping his egg with his hand.

“No. Not yet!” growled Sephiroth. “I will not be defeated yet!”

DK and K Rool rushed up to attack, and Carrie shot off a Sun Salutation shot, but Sephiroth swung his sword with his other hand, forcing DK and K Rool to stop abruptly, and dissipating the incoming Sun Salutation.

Yoshi, seeing an opening, dropped his hardlight egg, and cloaked his head in spiky hard light armor.

“SPIKY GOLDEN HEAD SMASH!”

However, before Yoshi could make contact, Sephiroth whipped his sword around to block in the nick of time. The two struggled against each other, before Sephiroth kicked Yoshi in the gut, sending him staggering back.

Yoshi joined his fellow Smashers as they circled around Sephiroth. They could do this. Yoshi glared intently at the villain, as he held his sword in a guard stance, turning to face them as they slowly circled around him.

“Mamma mia, you got started without us!” shouted Mario from behind Yoshi.

Yoshi didn’t dare glance behind him, but his heart soared as Mario, Luigi, Daisy and Bowser entered the periphery of his vision.

“You don’t got anyplace to run now, edgy man!” cackled Wario as he and Alph dashed up near K Rool.

“Surrender! You’re surrounded!” shouted Matt as he and Murphy, accompanied by a number of Mii Force solders ran up, weapons drawn.

Sephiroth looked around himself but said nothing. Suddenly, he stomped on the corner of a nearby Wii Fit Board that was lying on the ground. As the board landed right side up, it reactivated. Sephiroth jumped on it, and quickly zipped off into the sky.

“Hey! Get back here, punk!” bellowed Wario. He reached into his overalls and pulled out a massive clove of garlic, nearly the size of Yoshi’s fist, and chucked it into his mouth, swallowing it after only chewing on it for a split second.

“Hold your noses!” shouted Mario suddenly, as Wario transformed into Wario Man with a sudden pulse of light.

Wario jumped into the air, and let out a powerful waft, rocketing off into the sky with a brownish vapor trail behind him in hot pursuit.

Yoshi winced as he tried to hold his breath for long enough for the brown clouds that surrounded them all to dissipate, but he could only hold his breath for so long, and he was forced to gasp in the fumes. Yoshi sank to his knees, coughing.

Suddenly, somebody whizzed off through the smoke on a Wii Fit Board.

“Who’s that?” asked Yoshi.

“It’s Murphy,” said Carrie. “He’s going after Wario!”

“Can you go back them?” asked Mario.

“I was shot down earlier, my board is fried,” said Carrie.

“Does anybody else have Wii Fit Boards?” asked Mario.

“A lot of ours are fried as well, those Spaaks were shooting a lot of our guys down,” said Matt. “And the ones that are still working are mostly out of charge. We wouldn’t be able to pursue for very far, even if we had the manpower.”

“Then how is Murphy chasing them?”

“Slippy upgraded our Wii Fit Boards,” said Carrie. “One of the upgrades was longer battery life.”

“And yours is fried,” grumbled Mario. “And the big platforms are a lot slower than the Wii Fit Boards, right?”

“That’s correct,” said Matt.

Mario rubbed his moustache in thought. “Luigi and I can’t fly that fast with our Red Star powerups, so I think we’re gonna have to pursue on foot. Can anybody track their Smasher ID cards?”

“Already on it!” said Alph, as he stared intently at a device in his hands. “They’re heading due west!”

“West? Towards the volcano?” asked Carrie.

“That’s right,” said Alph.

“Matt, do you need some of us to stay behind to help you take care of your wounded?” asked Mario.

“No, we’ll be ok. I’ve already radioed for reinforcements. They’ll be here soon.”

Mario nodded and straightened his cap. “All right then! Smashers! We follow Murphy and Wario! Sephiroth isn’t getting away yet!”

Chapter Text

Sephiroth

Sephiroth is a powerful warrior, formerly of Shinra Corporation of Gaia. As a part of Shinra Corporation’s military branch, Sephiroth has high quality training in tactics, strategy, hand to hand combat and firearms. Sephiroth also has a lengthy history as an unparalleled field commander and has defeated several high-profile enemies of Shinra Corp over the course of many battles. However, Sephiroth’s true specialty is swordsmanship, which is reinforced by his Haxium blade, Masamune. Sephiroth has a wide range of experience in a number of combat situations. However, history has shown that Sephiroth is not immune to powerful opposing duelists, most notably, his nemesis Cloud Strife. While it appears that Sephiroth is beatable by skilled weapon specialists, and this is a rather specific group of fighters, there are quite a number of them among the Smashers, and this may pose an issue. In light of all this, it’s clear that Sephiroth is unquestionably a powerful ally who will doubtlessly be a powerful asset to our cause.

In terms of improving Sephiroth’s combat effectiveness, I would encourage Sephiroth to pick up firearms as a long-range weapon option. While it will never be as powerful as his swordsmanship, he has the training, and may be able to put some long-range weapons to good use. Additionally, a shorter blade may be a fantastic pair with Masamune for engagements in closer quarters areas. Some Smashers, like Sheik or Snake may attempt to force a fight in a tight and restricted area, which may prevent Sephiroth from using his weapon to its fullest potential, if at all. I think giving Sephiroth’s arsenal a bit more breadth to utilize his large skillset will give him an extra edge over the types of Smashers that may be able to contend with him and allow us to take out more Smashers more quickly.

Act 9: Murphy

Chapter 5: The Final Trial

Murphy grit his teeth as he zipped through the air as fast as his Wii Fit Board would carry him. In front of him, the brown vapor trail behind Wario. And further ahead, the volcano. Murphy took a deep breath as he follows the trail but took care not to fly through it. He had to do this. He’d been separated from Carrie in the melee and had seen her get shot down. There was nothing he could do to help her, he was in a fight of his own and far too distant to offer any kind of assistance. And he still needed to make up the Fitness Bread testing to her. But he was going to make it up to her. And Murphy was going to do that by making sure that Sephiroth didn’t escape.

This was it. He just had to hold out till the rest of the Smashers made it. Which could admittedly be some time, but it wasn’t like he was fighting alone. And as much as he wasn’t excited to be fighting alongside Wario, the smelly man did pack a punch, and it was far better than going in alone.

As Murphy approached the mountain, he could see Wario’s vapor trail leading into the cave that ran through the heart of the volcano. Murphy gripped his loaf of Fightness Bread tightly and prepared his mind for the upcoming fight.

Murphy began descending as he neared the cave entrance. As he landed, he could hear Wario and Sephiroth talking.

“You’re not even armed, you purple buffoon! You seriously mean to challenge me alone?”

“Bah, quit blowing hot air up your own butt! The great Wario Man does not give up in the face of danger!”

“Does the ‘great Wario Man’ wisely back off in the face of certain death?”

“The great Wario Man does not recognize ‘certain death’ as a real hazard!”

Murphy rolled his eyes. Well, at least one of them felt confident about the upcoming battle.

“Then I suppose ‘certain death’ will have meaning to you after this battle concludes.”

Wario cackled at Sephiroth. “Good luck trying, buckarooski! Have a rotten day!”

And with an audible waft, the battle begun. Murphy moved to go in to support Wario, but took one whiff of the waft, and paused. He quickly opened his IDD and fiddled through his library of equipment, before quickly deploying a gas mask. While the volcano’s cavern was large, it was still an enclosed space, and that smell wasn’t gonna clear for some time. Murphy was NOT going to be inhaling that for the rest of the fight. 

After what sounded like an exchange of blows, Murphy heard Sephiroth start coughing, before saying, “Do you eat dead rats or something? How is your stomach not trying to kill you right now?”

Wario just cackled. “I have cultivated the perfect gut flora over many years for maximum waft stench and power! Ever since I learned the power of the waft as a boy, I have been shaping my gut flora, crafting it to be the ultimate weapon! Do you understand now, pretty boy? Do you now understand the power you now face?”

“I’ve dealt with worse than foul stench, idiot. Your wafts do not make Masamune any less sharp.”

Wario just let out a maniacal cackle of derision, before wafting again.

Murphy looked down to see that his gas mask was fully deployed, and quickly put it on. Sure, he’d given Mario a strange look when he’d recommended bringing one, but boy was he glad he listened now. He was outside of the cavern and the smell was already dreadful as it was. There was absolutely zero chance that it was any better inside. Negative zero chance if that was a thing.

Murphy attached the last strap and took a deep breath. It didn’t quite clear all of the stench, but it was a serious improvement upon not wearing the mask. Murphy grabbed his loaf of Fightness Bread and glanced around the corner, finally catching his first look at the battle ahead. Wario was jumping around, propelling himself with his wafts, and throwing punches as he zoomed around. Sephiroth was taking a more stationary approach, pivoting on his heel to narrowly avoid Wario’s blows. The two were fighting on the outer ring of an outcropping of rock. It was wide enough to be used as a several lane running track, with a pit leading all the way down to active magma in the center. A rope and ladder bridge led all the way across the magma pit, straight across the cavern, leading to the entrance on the other side.

“Come on, ya coward! Stop dodging and FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!” growled Wario as he paused his assault for a moment. 

“And why would I do that? Do you really expect me to just stand there and take punches like a sandbag?”

Wario just grunted in dissatisfaction, as Murphy quietly pulled a bun of Fightness Bread out of his satchel, and began charging it with solar energy. Sephiroth wasn’t looking at him, maybe he could get the drop on him?

Murphy quietly began making his way down the corridor, loaf of Fightness Bread in one hand, bun in the other, both glowing with Solar energy. If Wario saw him, he didn’t react. Mercifully, Wario kept talking.

“Yes I do! You call yourself a real man, you gotta take real man hits! What kinda weak pretty boy nonsense is that?”

“The kind that keeps one alive,” growled Sephiroth, as Murphy crept nearer. “If you’re going to keep spouting nonsense like this, I’m just going to leave. There’s no point in even considering you as anything more than an incompetent fool!”

“Wah! Don’t you call me stupid! Do I look stupid to you!?” demanded Wario.

“Yes. You look very stupid,” deadpanned Sephiroth.

“Well, you’re wrong! You know why?” crowed Wario.

“Why?”

“Because my buddy’s sneaking up on ya, right now!”

Murphy froze, about 5 meters away from Sephiroth’s back. No way. What was Wario thinking!?

Sephiroth scoffed. “You’re bluffing. You’re exactly the type to try and pull that trick.”

Murphy’s panic vanished. Either he’d been giving Wario too little credit, or Sephiroth was just that arrogant. Either way, he’d take it.

“Ok buddy, your loss!”

Murphy quickly stood up to his full height, raised his loaf of Fightness Bread, and smacked Sephiroth as hard as he could with a Fitness Strike.

The impact sent Sephiroth flying several meters, over Wario’s head and sprawling to the cavern floor.

Wario doubled over, cackling hysterically.

“WAHAHAHA! I TOLD YOU! AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN LISTEN! HAHAHAHAHA! WHO’S THE IDIOT NOW, BOZO!?”

Sephiroth got to his feet, slowly, holding his sword out in front of him in a defensive posture.

“You will stop laughing, now,” he hissed.

“BAHAHAHAHA! LOOKIT THIS JOKER! HE THINKS HE CAN TELL ME TO STOP LAUGHING! HAHAHAHA! WHACHA GONNA DO ABOUT IT, HUH?”

“Wario, I don’t think it’s a good idea to antagonize him, he’s gonna….”

“Your friend is right,” intoned Sephiroth, raising his sword. “You should have listened to him.”

Sephiroth lunged forward, sword ready to swing, and Murphy tried to jump in front of Wario, but the biker reacted faster and jumped ahead, meeting the sword swing face first. Murphy paused in shock, but was even more surprised when the sword stopped mid swing near Wario’s head.

“You cannot be serious!” gaped Sephiroth.

“Ahm turterry surius!” growled Wario. “Wut khinda lursr can’t cech a surd in hirrs teurth?

Murphy’s jaw dropped as Wario’s vice like jaw strength strained against Sephiroth’s attempts to wrench his blade free.

“Let go! This sword was made during the Second Subspace War, and I will NOT have my Haxium blade marred by your slobbering teeth!”

“Hurgh! I thurght urt tursted furnny!” said Wario. “Suur thurt’s whurt hurxium tursts lurk!

Murphy finally managed to shake himself from his stupor, and charged his Fightness Bread bun with energy, before hurling it straight at Sephiroth. It impacted with a powerful pulse, loosing Sephiroth’s grip on his sword, and sending him flying back yet again.

Wario dropped the sword out of his mouth. “Wah! Murphy! Ya gotta move faster than that! I can only keep the pretty boy talking for so long! That’s Haxium! I could have damaged my teeth, you know! I’d be sending the dental bill straight to you!”

“Yeah sorry, it’s not every day you see somebody catch and 8 foot sword in their teeth!” retorted Murphy.

“Ah, get used to it, you see something new every day, right? Anyway, come on! Let’s beat the crap out of this joker!”

“That’s not…. the saying…..” trailed off Murphy, as Wario began charging at Sephiroth again.

Murphy sighed and jogged off after Wario. I mean, he was bringing inedible bread to a sword fight. Was he really one to talk here?

Murphy ran up as Wario jumped out of the way of Sephiroth’s swing. Sephiroth quickly moved to follow up his strike, but Murphy took a defensive stance and blocked the strike. He grit his teeth as he pushed back against the massive katana. It was a powerful, heavy blade, Murphy knew that much just from this one strike.

Wario jumped forward for a shoulder bash, but Sephiroth quickly kicked him in the face, before shifting his guard. Murphy caught himself before he lost his balance and charged his loaf of Fightness Bread with solar energy before taking an awkward swing at Sephiroth, forcing him to step back.

The two quickly assumed guard stances and circled each other carefully.

“You are an interesting one, yoga trainer,” said Sephiroth.

“I’d like to think that I’m not quite conventional,” said Murphy.

“Hmph. Maybe you’ll pose something of a challenge then,” said Sephiroth.

Suddenly, Murphy heard a loud waft, and hurled himself to the ground as Wario came careening through the air and crashed into Sephiroth’s back.

As Sephiroth crashed headlong into the wall, Murphy and Wario picked themselves up off the ground.

“Hah! How do ya like that, pretty boy?” crowed Wario.

“Dude, you gotta watch out for me,” grumbled Murphy as he clambered back to his feet.

“Sorry citizen! Wario-man is here to save the day! I can only do so much on my own, you know! Ya gotta be careful!”

“You gotta be kidding me,” growled Murphy under his breath. Why couldn’t this guy perform the most basic level of cooperation?

“Eh? Did you say something?” asked Wario.

“Forget about it, he’s getting back up,” said Murphy warily, raising his loaf of Fightness Bread.

“I’ve just about had it with you, fart man. You’re about to die,” intoned Sephiroth. “Scream if you must.”

“The great Wario-man does not acknowledge your attempts to threaten him! Try again!” cackled Wario gleefully as Sephiroth began charging at him.

Wario jumped in the air at Sephiroth, who stopped and swung his sword, directly at Wario. The biker quickly righted himself in the air and quickly wafted, jetting himself sharply away from Sephiroth’s sword.

Murphy quickly lunged with his baguette of Fightness Bread while charging solar energy in his core, and slammed the loaf into Sephiroth’s guard, whaling with all his might with several strikes.

Sephiroth suddenly dropped his guard and stepped aside, causing Murphy to throw his balance with his missed swing. Murphy glanced upward as he caught his balance, as Sephiroth raised his sword, and immediately whirled to take a defensive guard stance. He barely blocked the strike in time, gritting his teeth as he strained against the powerful strike.

Sephiroth suddenly shifted his weight, and quickly shot his leg out, kicking Murphy in the knee, and knocking his leg out from underneath him. Murphy rolled to the side as he fell and unleashed the Solar energy that he’d been holding in the shape of a beam from his chest. Sephiroth jerked back to dodge as the laser hit the top of the cavern and caused some debris to fall from the ceiling. Murphy crawled back to his feet, as Sephiroth took a few steps back in surprise.

The villain smirked.

“Well. You singed my hair. Congratulations, you’ve exceeded my expectations. But this is as far as you go!”

“You’re forgetting somebody!”

Sephiroth grit his teeth and whipped around, but Wario had already spun on his heel, his butt aimed and ready. With no further ado, Wario ripped a mighty waft, blasting Sephiroth in the face with tremendous force, knocking him clean off his feet and sending him sprawling across the floor several meters.

Murphy slowly climbed back to his feet, as Wario began running towards Sephiroth, who was also climbing back to his feet.

“Shoulder Bash!”

Wario rushed at Sephiroth, but the SOLDIER caught Wario’s forward rush, and managed to redirect his momentum to the side. Wario stumbled forward, but jumped into the air, and wafted quickly to propel himself to safety as Sephiroth took a swing at him. While Sephiroth’s hair and trenchcoat were blown back, the SOLDIER was not blown around at all.

“Interesting, I can cut through your farting. Well, that’s certainly an advantage for me!”

“Not a big enough one to win!” snapped Wario. “And anyway, you gotta at least have a headache by now!”

Sephiroth merely grit his teeth and glared at Wario. The biker grinned menacingly.

“Ah, took it long enough. You must be pretty strong to resist the smell for this long! But you see, pretty boy, I play the long game! The longer you fight me, the higher and higher my chances of winning are!”

“And the more your allies don’t wanna be around you,” muttered Murphy under his breath.

“Take a deep breath! It’s gonna be your last breath of free air for a long time! You can’t escape now!”

“You can’t possibly prevent me from escaping. I’ve got you and your friend figured out now,” hissed Sephiroth. 

“Hah! I’d like to see you try!”

“You will. I’ll admit, it took me longer than I’d usually expect to figure you two out. I suppose that comes in the territory of fighting Smashers. Or maybe it’s because you two use very odd fighting styles, I’m not quite sure. But either way, I’ve figured out your every move from this moment forward. You will not succeed. Let me go or die trying to stop me.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” said Murphy.

“Yeah! What he said!” said Wario.

Sephiroth just smirked and raised his blade. “Your grave then.”

Murphy swallowed hard and took a defensive stance. How had Sephiroth managed to read him this quickly? Two could play at that game. What had Sephiroth been doing?

Murphy grit his teeth and tried to remember as hard as he could. Sephiroth had been mostly playing the defensive, right? Mostly block and counter. Probably his preferred method of gauging his opponents. No, that wasn’t going to do him any good. He’d been watching the two of them while they’d completely played their hands. Which meant he needed to change the pace. Ok, that was something he could do. And anyway, he still had one last ace up his sleeve. He just needed a moment to activate it.

But there was no time. Wario wafted next to Murphy and rocketed off at Sephiroth. The swordsman dodged and rushed at Murphy. Murphy narrowed his eyes and blocked the strike, gritting his teeth as the force of the strike nearly knocked his loaf of Fightness Bread out of his hand.

Sephiroth suddenly kicked him in the gut, and quickly performed a spinning roundhouse kick to knock his loaf of Fightness Bread well out of his still ringing hands.

Murphy’s hand shot into his satchel, and he chucked a bun of Fightness Bread at Sephiroth haphazardly, before diving to the side as Sephiroth swung his sword at him, easily knocking the bun of Fightness Bread aside.

Murphy landed on his feet, as Wario rushed up behind Sephiroth, ducking as the swordsman whipped his sword around. Wario lunged forward and caught Masumune by the hilt and struggled back and forth with Sephiroth for control of the blade.

“Gimme!” grunted Wario through his teeth.

“Let….. go…. idiot….” growled Sephiroth.

It was time. Murphy took a deep breath and felt his stress melt away. He took another breath, and began charging solar energy in his core, faster, more powerfully. He could hear Sephiroth and Wario still struggling for control of the sword vaguely, but he blocked it out. It wasn’t a perpetual cacophony of noise like in the castle, it was from only two sources in one direction. He could do this.

Murphy took another deep breath, as he charged even more energy. He had enough. Taking one last deep breath, Murphy exhaled and moved the solar energy outward, surrounding his body.

“Solar Body!” Murphy muttered as he opened his eyes. His body was now glowing with golden Solar Energy. Oh, it had taken him and Carrie blood, sweat, tears and the better part of two years to develop this, but it was paying off right now. Murphy quickly activated his IDD and deployed a Smash Ball. Without a second thought, he crushed it, and took a deep breath as the power washed over him. Even with the Smash Ball, he wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long, but hopefully it would be all that he needed for this fight.

Speaking of the fight, Wario and Sephiroth were still fighting over the sword, exchanging headbutts, kicks and sideways punches, trying to get the other to lose their grip.

Murphy reached into his satchel, pulled out a bun of Fightness Bread, and hurled it at Sephiroth.

The bun struck true and smacked Sephiroth in the jaw with enough force to stagger the swordsman, allowing Wario to wrench his sword free.

“Hah! Take that pretty boy!” crowed Wario. However, before he could do anything, Sephiroth shoved his boot into his face, sending him careening into the wall.

“Keep your filthy hands off of my sword, miscreant,” growled Sephiroth as he picked his blade back up.

Murphy stood tall and began charging a ball of solar energy in front of him.

“Sun Salutation!”

The shot fired off, much larger and faster than it had before, and while Sephiroth ducked out of the way quickly, his look of surprise was definitely worth it.  

“Well, this wasn’t in the counter handbook. Surprising, but it still won’t change the outcome.”

“You sure about that?” asked Murphy.

Sephiroth smirked. “You’re well beneath my caliber. Both of you are.”

Murphy raised an eyebrow. “Then how come you haven’t defeated us yet?”

“I was being thorough! It never hurts to proceed carefully, even against weaker opponents!” snapped Sephiroth defensively.

Murphy shrugged. “Just asking. No need to get defensi….”

Murphy was cut off as Sephiroth rushed at him. He rolled under the first strike and narrowly dodged the second by jumping back.

“Solar Warrior Strike!” he shouted, striking a Warrior Pose. Solar energy flared powerfully forward in a spear of light that extended several meters beyond the length of his arm.

Sephiroth sidestepped awkwardly, as Murphy dashed in, and struck a Dancer yoga pose.

“Solar Dancer Strike!”

As Sephiroth took a step back from the hit, Murphy dropped into a Gate yoga pose.

“Solar Gate Strike!”

This hit sent Sephiroth stumbling back even further, and he quickly assumed a guard stance.

Suddenly, the two heard a waft and Wario came rocketing in, fists extended.

“Super Flying Wario Punch!”

Sephiroth took a step back in the nick of time, as Wario went careening past him. The biker crashed onto the ground, but before he could stop, he rolled off the edge of the platform and fell into the lava pit.

“Wario!” shouted Murphy in alarm.

A waft was heard, and Murphy saw Wario’s hand grip onto the side of the chasm. Suddenly Wario’s hand began flashing.

“Oh, come on! I’m out of Wario-Man time already? Murphy, I’ll be back in a second! Don’t get killed, all right?” shouted Wario.

“Uh yeah. Sure,” muttered Murphy.

Murphy glanced back to Sephiroth and threw himself to the ground as Sephiroth rushed at him with a wide slash, trying to take advantage of his distraction.

Murphy quickly assumed a push up stance and extended his arm with a lance of Solar Energy.

“Solar Arm Lift!”

The attack knocked Sephiroth’s feet out from underneath him, and the swordsman cursed as he fell unceremoniously to the ground.

Sephiroth took a swing with his sword as he lay on the ground as Murphy scrambled to his feet, forcing Murphy to jump. As he sailed over Sephiroth, he directed his Solar Energy to his feet, and took a Chair position.

“Solar Chair Stomp!”

Sephiroth rolled away to avoid the spikes of Solar Energy that erupted from Murphy’s feet.

Murphy landed with a roll of his own and whipped around to see Sephiroth clamber to his feet with murder in his eyes.

Murphy tensed as Sephiroth rushed at him.

“Solar Warrior!”

Sephiroth sidestepped the spear of light from the attack, and attempted to slash low at Murphy’s legs, but the yoga trainer quickly jumped. Murphy quickly landed and pivoted on his heel.

“Solar Gate Shot!”

Sephiroth quickly recovered and whipped around to slash the Solar Energy projection in half.

“Not so smart now, are you now?” snapped Sephiroth. “This ends here!”

Murphy quickly pulled another loaf of Fightness Bread out of his satchel and blocked the incoming strike, but it was so powerful that it was knocked clean out of his hands.

Murphy quickly sidestepped the follow up strike and managed to back up far enough to fire off a small Sun Salutation. Sephiroth quickly dispelled it with his sword and followed it up with a lunge. Murphy attempted to sidestep but stumbled over a pothole in the cave floor that he didn’t see. As Murphy scrambled back to his feet, the villain then took a different stance. And Murphy certainly didn’t like the look that Sephiroth was giving him, his face contorted into a vicious scowl.

“Now you die! OCTOSLASH!” growled Sephiroth.

There was no time. There was only one thing to do.

“Solar Tree Guard!” shouted Murphy, striking a Tree Pose and flaring his Solar Energy as much as he could. And with that Murphy closed his eyes and grit his teeth.

The impact was like getting hit with several rockets in rapid succession. Murphy was thrown several steps back before he caught his balance.

Murphy quickly drew a loaf of Fightness Bread, only to feel a massive wave of fatigue. He glanced down at his hand, to see that his Solar Body had worn off. Had that attack really taken that much to block?

That was bad, but he’d manage. Murphy looked up to glare at Sephiroth, but the swordsman was staring at him in amazement.

“You blocked my Octoslash….” he gasped.

“Yeah? And?” asked Murphy quizzically.

“That should have killed you.”

“Well, I mean, it didn’t. So, maybe you need to work on it?”

“That SHOULD have KILLED you. You’re SUPPOSED to be DEAD.”

"Oh. Uh…. um…. well. That's… uh…. kinda awkward. You uh…. you want a yoga session voucher? I think I've got a few…."

“No, I want you DEAD!”

Murphy quickly raised his loaf of Fightness Bread to block Sephiroth’s sword as the swordsman launched himself at him.

“I. WILL. NOT. BE. DEFEATED. BY. A. YOGA. HIPPIE. AND. SOME. FARTING. IDIOT!” roared Sephiroth as he rained heavy blows down on Murphy, as the yoga trainer did his best to block the onslaught. As Sephiroth landed the last strike, he shoved down on Murphy’s guard, trying to muscle his way through.

Murphy grit his teeth as he tried to maintain his guard. Also, where was Wario? Hadn’t he gotten back up from the ledge by now?

Suddenly, Sephiroth shunted his loaf of Fightness Bread to the side, and landed a swift kick to Murphy’s ribs. Murphy grunted and tried to block the followup strike, but instead has his loaf of Fightness Bread sent flying out of his hands as he was knocked to the ground. He quickly reached for his satchel, but found it empty, as a menacing smile slowly spread across Sephiroth’s face.

Suddenly Sephiroth’s hand shot out and caught Wario’s fist as he came careening in from the side.

“Wah! Hey! No cheating!” growled Wario as he attempted to wrench his hand free. Sephiroth twisted his wrist painfully, before throwing him to the ground next to Murphy.

Suddenly, the three heard shouts from the cave entrance.

“Mamma-mia! Well, we’re definitely in the right place! Gas masks everybody, it’s the only way it’s gonna be bearable in there!” shouted Mario from outside the cave.

“Well, well, this has been nice and all, but I really must be going. I have another meeting to attend. And hair to wash. I’m afraid that being caught is not part of the plan. Congratulations, you get to live for today. Farewell for now, Smashers. And know that next time, I will not go so easy on you.”

“The great Wario….” began Wario, but Murphy cut him off.

“There goes another bottle of shampoo,” said Murphy.

Sephiroth’s head whipped around and his gaze fixed on Murphy. “What!? Who told you?”

“Cloud,” said Murphy.

“Where is he?” demanded Sephiroth, looking around. “Where is that filthy miscreant!? I must kill him NOW!”

“There he is! Get him!” shouted Mario, as he and the other Smashers rushed in. 

Sephiroth scanned the group of Smashers for a moment, before quickly turning on his heel and rushing for a corner in the back of the cave. He opened a trap door that had been hidden in the dim light of the cavern and jumped in.

“Get back her…aaaugh!” shouted Wario, as he attempted to waft, but instead of a powerful blast of air, it cut off mid way. Wario let out a cry of pain and fell to his knees, clutching at his gut.

“Wario!” shouted Murphy, as he ran up to the fallen Smasher.

“Get… him….” growled Wario.

Carrie, Yoshi, DK, K Rool, Luigi and Daisy rushed for the trap door, as Mario and Alph stopped by Wario.

“I think Wario overexerted his stomach,” said Mario. “He’s been wafting a lot, right?”

“Yeah,” said Murphy.

“Yeah, that probably did it. He has to waft continuously to fly and probably strained his stomach from wafting a bunch in the fight. Wario tends to do a lot of wafting to increase his movement speed when he’s got a reach disadvantage.”

“Quit patronizing me!” snapped Wario. “Go catch the pretty boy already!”

Some distance away, Luigi pushed the trap door up, and clambered out.

“Did you get him?” asked Murphy.

 Luigi shook his head as Daisy climbed out of the trap door behind him.

“He got away. Through another portal.”

“Oh, come on, Green Stache! You had one job!” yelled Wario, before grunting in pain again.

“Come on, let’s get Wario out of here,” said Mario. “It’s not your fault, L. He had an escape plan.”

“Yes it is! You let him get away! Urggg…..” snapped Wario.

“He’s in a bad mood because his stomach hurts. The first time this happened was the first time Wario ever had a stomachache,” explained Mario.

Murphy nodded and sighed in exhaustion. That Solar Body had really taken the energy out of him.

Suddenly, the ground came up to meet him, and he was caught mid fall by Luigi and Daisy.

“Murphy, are you all right!?” asked Carrie as she ran up to them. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” said Murphy as he struggled to regain his balance. “I used the Solar Body with a Smash Ball. I think it took a lot out of me.”

Carrie paused in surprise. “You used the Solar Body!? How did it work?”

“It blocked an attack that Sephiroth thought I wouldn’t be able to, so that went pretty well. I was able to get a few hits in on him too,” said Murphy. “Wasn’t thinking about being exhausted afterwards when I used it.”

“That’s all right,” said Carrie. “Just rest now, I can take over from here.”

Murphy nodded.

“Sounds good. I think I’m gonna….take….a…. nap…….” Murphy muttered as his eyes closed.

Some hours later….

Murphy woke up with a start. He was in his sleeping bag back at Summerstone Castle.

“Hey sleepyhead,” said Carrie playfully.

Murphy turned his head to see Carrie cross legged on the ground next to him.

“Hey sis,” grumbled Murphy as he tried to sit up, but a massive wave of exhaustion washed over him.

“You used the Solar Body, remember?”

“Right. Ugh man. That is exhausting to use.”

“Yeah. You were out for 5 hours.”

“5 hours?!”

“Uh huh. And you can tack on travel time from the volcano back to Summerstone to that. Anyway, we’re starting to get stuff cleaned up. Mario’s put you on the injured list since we don’t know how long you’ll be exhausted like this for.”

“I mean, it took like a day for me to recover when we were testing the Solar Body,” said Murphy.

“Yeah, but we never tested it with the Smash Ball. It’s probably worth taking it easy, you don’t want to overstress your body.”

“Ugh, you’re right. Of all the times….”

“Hey, it worked, right? It did what we set out to do. I’d say that’s a pretty successful live run!” said Carrie.

“And who knows how long its gonna take for me to get back on my feet?” grumbled Murphy.

“It’s ok. Your sis has got your back. We’ll be ok until you’re back, all right?”

Murphy nodded. “Ok.”

Carrie paused. “Murphy….. about the battle earlier. Why didn’t you wait for the rest of us?”

Murphy sighed and looked away.

“Come on, Murphy, don’t do that.”

“Ugh, all right. You’ve been awful distant lately. Ever since I finished the Fitness Bread recipe. And I didn’t know if you were still mad after….you know…. The taste testing phase. So, I was trying to make it up to you by making sure Sephiroth didn’t get away.”

“Murphy, that’s not it at all….”

“What?” asked Murphy.

“Wait…. Is that why you’ve been acting weird recently?” asked Carrie.

“Weird? You’re the one that’s been acting weird!” said Murphy.

“No, I saw you make that ridiculous bread of yours finally work and got thinking about what I could do to make some of my ideas work! And then for the last couple weeks, you started acting weird! And anyway, it’s been almost a year since you finished your Fitness Bread recipe! Why would I be mad about that now all of a sudden?”

“Because the taste testing phase was about as rough as it got! How was I supposed to know that you’d get inspired by Fitness Bread?”

Suddenly Murphy paused.

“Wait. You got inspired…. By FITNESS BREAD!?”

“Well yeah! I mean how long were you working on that? Like how many years? At least 4 or 5, right? And you finally got it to work! That’s inspiring stuff, you know? Even if your taste testing methods are questionable, you still succeeded!”

“Wait… was that how you came up with the Solar Body concept in the first place? That was your idea, after all.”

“Well, I mean yeah! I can’t let you completely leave me in the dust with good ideas! And after we completed the technique, it was off to the next thing! I’ve been trying to come up with something that’s unique to me!”

Murphy paused. “So, I completely misinterpreted that?”

“Completely! Fitness Bread is old news you know! If I was mad about that, you would have known about it a LONG time ago!”

Murphy nodded. “Ok, that makes sense. So, everything’s good?”

Carrie nodded. “Everything’s good.”

The door opened behind Carrie, and Mario, Luigi, Daisy and Alph walked through.

“Well, glad to see that you’re in better spirits then Wario,” said Mario with a tired sigh.

“How is he?” asked Murphy.

“His gut’s still hurting him pretty badly. He can’t keep anything down for the moment, and he’s rather unhappy about that,” said Mario. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re gonna have to put him on the injured list with you.”

Alph nodded. “I’ll be flying you two back to Smash Mansion at our earliest convenience to have Skylark take a look at you. Though I do apologize in advance if there’s any smell from Wario, my helium respiration system is airtight so you’ll have to tell me if I need to turn the ventilation system on high filter.”

Daisy rolled her eyes. “Lucky….”

Murphy shrugged. “He can’t waft right now, so I think we’ll be all right.”

Luigi nodded. “That’s a good point!”

Mario snorted. “Just don’t talk to him too much, he’s still pretty mad that Sephiroth got away.”

“Since when did Wario care about Sephiroth?” asked Carrie.

“Since he saw defeating Sephiroth as a good way to make himself look good and boost his business sales,” said Mario. “We keep him around because he’s pretty powerful. He doesn’t like me and I don’t like him, but we tolerate each other since it’s beneficial for both of us.”

Murphy nodded.

“Anyway, I’m not here to complain about Wario, to you so why don’t you get some rest? The sooner you’re back on your feet, the better, all right?”

“Sounds good,” said Murphy with a thumbs up.

As Mario and friends exited the room, Murphy looked over to Carrie.

“Are you gonna be all right out there without me?” he asked.

“I’ll be fine. I’m around some of the strongest Smashers we have. There’s nothing to worry about!”

Murphy grunted in dissatisfaction. “Just be careful out there, all right?”

“I will. Like I always do,” said Carrie.

Murphy nodded. “You’re my favorite sister. I’d be really torn up if something happened to you.”

“I’m your only sister,” said Carrie.

“Yeah. But I’m kinda attached to you being my twin and all. We’ve spent all our lives having each other’s back. Stay safe out there, ok?” said Murphy.

“All right. Sounds like a plan.”

Chapter Text

Solid Snake

Threat Level: 3

Solid Snake, formerly of Outer Heaven, is a cunning warrior shrouded in mystery. Known as a legendary soldier, Snake there are many legends surrounding the man. However, I have done my best to separate fact from fiction.

Snake is a highly trained operative, trained personally by his father, the legendary Big Boss. This means that Snake has likely been trained with a number of firearms, explosives, and is a practitioner of CQC, the legendary hand to hand fighting style of Big Boss that incorporates martial arts, knife fighting and close quarters pistol fighting techniques. This makes Snake a very dangerous opponent at both long and close range. This is backed up by the fact that Snake has been seen armed with a firearms and explosives on a consistent basis. Lastly in terms of armament, it appears that Snake’s signature body suit doubles as at least a moderate degree of armor and provides him with excellent protection from the elements and other environmental hazards.

As well equipped as Snake is, it’s his skillset that truly sets him apart. As a stealth expert, Snake is a master infiltrator. While the exact nature of many of his missions is not publicly known, his involvement in the Big Shell and Shadow Moses Island incidents is confirmed, and many reports place him as active in Outer Heaven during its fall. In all of these instances, Snake is said to have gone in on his mission alone. While this makes sense for a stealth expert, and any support over radio he may have received is unknown, these are still a very impressive feats if true. What can be concluded here is that Snake is a highly determined and highly capable individual.

Now I want to address the only legends about Snake that seems to hold any merit. It’s said that Snake has fought and defeated nanomachine enhanced individuals, telepaths, as well as multiple “Cyborg Ninjas”, cybernetically enhanced individuals who are also stealth experts and traditionally wield swords. While its unknown whether these tales are true, it is known that the CQC style is a very powerful technique, and other practitioners of the style have defeated melee weapon wielding opponents. Its not outside the realm of possibility but it does toe the line of believability. The other legend is that Snake is behind the destruction of the Metal Gear army originally developed and used by Outer Heaven. While the disappearance of Metal Gears is an undeniable fact, it’s unknown whether Snake actually did battle against pilots operating a Metal Gear or whether he or somebody else blew it up while it was sitting in storage. The latter seems more likely.

Its difficult to discuss how to defeat Solid Snake without a better idea of his exact fighting style, as Snake is not often seen in combat, and most of the information about him comes from second or third hand sources. It seems foolhardy to suggest using hand to hand combat against Snake due to his usage of CQC with the exception of a martial artist of extraordinary caliber. Melee weapons may not help against Snake’s CQC, and his possession of firearms also makes them difficult to bring anyway. Ranged weapons give Snake an even greater advantage, as he’s been trained for fighting with firearms and will likely be no easier to defeat in such a battle. This is only further augmented by Snake’s stealth abilities, making close range combat paradoxically preferred against Snake, as at least one will know where he is. The only thing that I could suggest is the use of overwhelming power. Snake does not have any power moves of his own, and while his explosives may present a hazard, Snake is a stealth fighter, not a power fighter, and it seems reasonable that he could be overwhelmed with sufficient force if caught out in the open. Approach Snake with caution, he’s a mixture of skill and unknowns, which makes him a recipe for disaster for the unprepared.

Queen Palutena of Skyworld

Threat Level: 5

Palutena is the Queen of Skyworld, home of the Icari, and one of the most powerful Smashers. The Icari are a people who look quite similar to many others, such as the Beorc of Archanea or the Homs of Pangea. They are distinguished by their wings, which give them an appearance similar to a classical angel, have light manipulation abilities, and have a lengthy lifespan when compared to most other contemporary species in the galaxy, ranging from about 500-550 years in lifespan. They have historically been a warlike society, famous for their aerial raids and assaults, which has been propagated by their oldest tradition - the King or Queen of the Icari can be challenged at any time by anyone for a duel to become the next King or Queen, with the winner either becoming or remaining the monarch.

I say this all as setup so as to give context for Palutena. This is a woman who has been Queen for the last 250 years and has personally defeated all comers for her throne in those two and a half centuries. This has been done through her mastery of powerful light techniques, wielding both a near impenetrable hardlight defense and a destructive beam and hardlight weapon centric offense with masterful precision. Palutena is also notable as one of a very few peaceful rules of Skyworld. As mentioned previously, the Icari were traditionally a warlike culture that often raided surrounding peoples with their aerial superiority and light manipulation powers. It’s unclear as to why Palutena chose a more peaceful path, but the results are indisputable. Over her reign, Skyworld has transformed itself from a dangerous neighbor into a notable exporter of textiles and agricultural products, as well as home to many popular musicians. All of this was done under Palutena’s regime, and it is undoubtedly clear that it can be assumed that she has all of the qualities of a successful leader. It should be noted that Palutena is known for talking first and fighting second and has a record of being able to singlehandedly defend herself and her personnel in the case of negotiations going south.

In terms of combat, its difficult to gauge the upper limit of Palutena’s power, as she rarely requires the full extent of it to be successful. However, what can be said is that Palutena relies very heavily on her light manipulation powers as her primary and almost only form of combat, and that she’s ranked among the 10 most powerful Smashers for a reason. I do want to note that Palutena comes into battle wearing her traditional robes without any description of armor, and while she has been seen clobbering opponents with her staff, she’s never been seen using it for anything other then directing her light manipulation in serious battles.

In terms of countering Palutena, there isn’t much that can be said due to the versatile and powerful nature of her hardlight manipulation. One of the few things that I can mention that is a positive is that Palutena is about 50 years too young to have participated in the Second Subspace War, and as such, played no part in that conflict. As such, she doesn’t have the battlefield experience of Smashers such as Master Hand or Meta Knight. Second of all, it should be noted that Palutena was defeated twice outside of proper battle through surprise, first by Medusa, her most notable and longstanding rival, and by the spacefaring entity known as the Chaos Kin. In both of these instances, fellow Smasher and Icari Pit was able to defeat them, but it does point to the fact that Palutena can be vulnerable to surprise. Beyond this, there’s little else to say other then dodge her attacks and muscle through her shields, there isn’t much else that can be done. While some of her rivals have attempted to rush her down or blitz her with raw speed, Palutena has proven to have fast reflexes and has consistently defended herself from such attacks. That being said, if one is able to get past her shields and land a hit, I’d imagine that it would do much more to Palutena then somebody like Mario or Captain Falcon, as she’s clearly not used to taking hits in return. All in all, Palutena is a Smasher that must be approached with caution, and should never be underestimated. Any fight with her is likely to turn into a protracted slugging fest, so make sure you have that power and endurance to match before attempting to fight her.

Captain Pit of Skyworld

Threat Level: 3

Pit is the Icari Captain of Palutena’s guard and a skilled swordsman and marksman. Pit first made his name during Medusa’s coup, defeating her armies singlehandedly. Later, Pit defeated Medusa a second time, ended the schemes of Eco Terrorist Viridi, and stopped the plans of Hades.

By Icari standards, Pit is an interesting case, as he’s considered disabled. Pit’s disability limits his ability to use light manipulation severely. It should also be noted that this disability also caused Pit to have immense difficulty learning how to fly, to the point that he defeated Medusa the first time without being able to fly at all or being able to use much light manipulation past the ability to shoot hardlight arrows. It appears that after defeating Medusa and being promoted to Captain of the Guard, Palutena began tutoring Pit in both light manipulation and how to fly, allowing him to use those skills at higher levels in his later adventures.

Due to being unable to use standard Icari battle techniques for most of his life, Pit specialized in the usage of weapons, and also became very fast on his feet and uses an unusual amount of hand-to-hand techniques for an Icari, even if it isn’t his specialty. In terms of weaponry, Pit’s main weapon is an Icari bow. It’s a specialized weapon that can be combined with light manipulation to shoot arrows and can be separated in the middle to be split into double blades. Pit has been proven to be a very dangerous opponent with this weapon alone, preferring a highly mobile and highly aggressive fighting style when fighting in close quarters. It should be noted that this style is only loosely based on standard Icari swordsmanship form, as Pit had to retool the style to accommodate his lack of flight. Pit is also armed with claws, guardian orbitars, staffs, cannons, clubs, and arms, though he generally prefers the use of his bow. I do want to mention that though Pit learned how to fight on the ground, Pit has learned how to fight in the air, and is a potent opponent in both. Lastly it should be noted that Pit wears a standard battle toga, which covers light Icari battle armor, meant to provide a degree of protection while not weighing down the wearer in the air.

Lastly, I want to address Pit’s intelligence. Pit is undoubtedly a dangerous warrior, his intelligence has been questioned on a number of occasions. Pit has been painted as dimwitted with oddly specific examples, such as being unable to read, eating ice cream and other foodstuffs off the floor, and being easily confused by basic things. While these have caught on in popular culture, there has been nothing to say whether these have any merit or not. What can be observed is that Pit defeated Medusa’s army as well as Medusa herself all by himself, which points to the fact that Pit is not stupid, and has at least a moderate degree of self-confidence. Additionally, it should be noted that while Pit is officially the Captain of Palutena’s guard, his greatest feats have been completed solo, and not while commanding Palutena’s forces, indicating that his leadership skills may not be all that they’re cracked up to be. My best analysis would be that the idea that Pit is dimwitted is anti-Palutena propaganda by her rivals (most likely Viridi or Hades, though the exact origin is unclear). Pit is clearly not as stupid as he’s made out to be, but at the same time, does not appear to be a prolific leader either.  

Now for countering Pit. Pit first of all should be fought in confined spaces, as it will limit both his ability to fly as well as his high speed fighting style. Secondly, Pit’s reliance on metal weapons and ability to fly means that electric attacks may be of particular use against him. Additionally, due to Pit’s preferred fighting style and overall lesser reliance on light manipulation, taking on Pit while submerged in an aquatic environment may give one an advantage, as Icari are known to struggle against submerged opponents as their wings make it more difficult for them to swim then most. That all being said, Pit is consistently a warrior that has defied expectations, so be prepared for anything when engaging him.

Act 10: Snake

Chapter 1: Dust Line

Snake scanned the horizon, assault rifle at the ready, watching for the slightest movement on the road in front of him. They weren’t expecting the enemy this soon, but it never hurt to be careful. Either way, he’d already set up two lines of claymores, one that sat right in front of him and one that sat several dozen yards ahead of him. Behind the the two lines of traps stood the reason that he was standing watch.

“Oh, c’mon!” grumbled Packrat, as one of his sentry guns almost fell over. “Don’t do this to me!”

Once all of the Smashers had arrived in Begnion, Roy had quickly led most of them to Windy Pass, a narrow trail that passed through the mountains that surrounded the Grann Desert. Massive armies of Primids had been spotted moving towards this area through the desert, eastward towards central Begnion, causing the dukedoms of Tanas, Seliora, Gaddos and Salmo to be evacuated and for the other dukedoms of the empire to be put on high alert. Barring a long road out of the desert, through the mountains, and around through one or more dukedoms, Cloudbreak Pass the only viable means of quickly moving out of the desert, and the heartland of Begnion. Named for the high peaks that often surmounted the clouds that frequently blew through the area, Snake had little wonder as to how the place was named.

Either way, that didn’t change his current situation. Snake glanced over the horizon again. Still nothing. That was good, since Packrat was still setting up setting up the last few sentry guns of his line.

Roy and Packrat had chosen to defend this part of the pass as it was one of the narrowest sections of the pass before Cloudbreak Fort. The sentry guns were deployed in five lines, with the first two consisting of machine gun sentry guns, the third and fourth with rocket launcher sentry guns, and the last line consisting of tall, long range laser cannons. Honestly, Snake wasn’t sure how the enemy was going to push past this line between the narrow road, the high cliffs to the right and the steep drop off to the left. All the same, Roy seemed worried. And Snake trusted Roy’s opinion. 

The air was dry, and the wind was cold and biting with little mercy. He glanced over enviously at Skylark, whose power armor covered her entire body. Unfortunately, his sneaking suit, while well insulated, didn’t cover his head, and his bandanna only did so much to keep his head warm.

“Ok!” called Packrat. “I’m done setting up!

Snake nodded, and looked to his side, where Skylark, Roy, Corrinne, Captain N, Duke and Hunt, Palutena, and Pit stood on watch with him. Packrat retreated to where the others were standing, and said, “All right, I’ll get myself settled here. If they get this far, they’ll have their work cut out for them.”

“Sounds good,” said Roy, as he turned to his communicator and started punching something in.

Snake watched as Packrat turned around and deployed a recliner with his IDD. It looked relatively new, covered in bright red leather and featured a small cooler attached to the side. Packrat sat down, pulled a lever and the legs of the recliner extended. He popped the lid of the cooler and pulled out a glass bottle. Seeing Snake, looking curiously at him, Packrat  offered the bottle to Snake.

“Want some soda?”

Snake shrugged and grabbed the bottle. “Sure, why not? Thanks!”

Roy turned back to them, and said, “All right, Corrinne and I are falling back. You guys let us know when they get here.

“Can do!” said Packrat, raising a second bottle of his own. He cracked the cap off and chugged half of the bottle in one gulp.

Snake snorted under his breath. Kids these days.

Skylark walked some distance away and suddenly began deploying something large. After several minutes, a shipping container with a door in the side materialized. Snake just shook his head.

Skylark opened the door and waved everyone in. Snake walked through the door to find himself in a well-furnished and well insulated waiting room. There were couches arranged about, with a few bunk beds on one of the walls. Maybe this was what Timberwolf Squad called camping? Skylark walked over to the thermostat and turned up the heat.

Snake cracked open the lid of the bottle that Packrat had given him and took a sip. A strong, brightly flavored and extremely sugary drink met his taste buds. He nearly spat it out.

“Gah! What is this crap?”

“Hey!” crackled Packrat’s voice over the comms. “No dissing Dr. Cantaloupe’s Orange Soda! That’s stuff is the best!”

“This stuff is actual diabetes in a bottle – how do you drink that?”

“Like I drink everything! C’mon, it’s not that sweet!”

“Yes, it is,” said Snake with finality. “You guys got any coffee in this thing?”

Skylark nodded. “We’ve got instant coffee and hot water dispenser on the counter. If you look in the fridge, there’s cold brew coffee there too.”

Snake rolled his eyes went to fill up a cup with hot water, before adding some instant coffee to it. He took a sip. Not bad. Snake sat down on the couch as the others made themselves comfortable and took a look around. Not what he was used to, but there were certainly worse shelters to hang around in while waiting for the enemy to show up on an exposed mountainside pass.

Further up the path…..

Roy strode through the ranks of the Miis, who were standing in formation. Thank goodness for android fighters. The Miis were helpful in the way that they weren’t affected by weather, hunger, thirst, breathable air, or injury, at the cost of being more analogous to elite special forces then top level fighters like the Smashers. Even the kid Smashers were individually stronger than the Miis, a fact that Ness in particular loved to talk about. That being said, they had performed admirably on smaller missions and Roy expected them to perform just as well now that the chips were down.

For this mission, Roy had brought mostly Mii Gunners with a few groups of Mii Swordfighters to protect the Gunners. He’d left the contingents of Mii Brawlers and the rest of the Mii Swordfighters in Sienne, where they would be much more effective in the event of a close quarters battle in the streets. Marth and the others would not be totally stranded should the enemy manage to circumvent him.

The other smashers present had gathered themselves around a fire while they waited. Simon waved as Roy made his way up.

“Ah, Roy! How goes the preparations?”

“Packrat’s all set up. We’re ready for them,” said Roy.

“Excellent! Those rapscallions shall have a trek they shall soon not forget!” said Simon heartily.

“Yeah, I’m just hoping they aren’t able to get past Packrat and the others,” said Roy. This enemy tactician is a crafty one.”

“Fear not my friend! Even should they vanquish our comrade’s defenses, we are ready to do battle! We shall not let them pass!” said Simon.

Roy just nodded and looked around the circle. He pulled out his map again and reviewed the plan with nervous energy. He’d set up the two lines of defense on the path up to the fort with specific purposes. Packrat, supported by Skylark, Snake, Pit, and Palutena would hold a line of sentry guns on a narrow stretch of straight path that was about a couple hundred meters in length, perfect terrain for sentry guns. A few hundred feet behind them and around a bend in the mountain, Roy had positioned half of his Miis, one of the two battalions that had gone with the Smashers in standard battle formation, Swordfighters in the front and Gunners in rows in the back. They would be supported by Shulk, Cloud, Ryu, Ken, Captain N, Simon and Richter and himself.

At the fort, he’d left the other half of the Miis, along with Ike, Game and Watch and Pac Man. If the worst came to the worst – which it very well could, due to the skill of their adversary, they’d be the ones covering their retreat up the mountain, back to the fort. Meanwhile, Marth, Corrin, and Peach were smoothing things over in Sienne, with the second battalion of Miis as their security detail. Chrom was with them….still recovering. That being said, his personal squad of soldiers, the Shepherds, were on their way to support their leader. Ike had also called in the Greil Mercenaries to back them up as well. That left a total of 3 available Smashers in Sienne supported by two elite squads of soldiers, the Imperial Guard, several battalions of the Imperial army, and the Mii Android Fighters should they be flanked. And that was to discount the rest of Begnion’s considerable military might. Roy took a deep breath. Hopefully this would work. Everything should work. And if it didn’t, hopefully the plan would minimize or prevent injuries or casualties. He did NOT need any of those.

At the Sentry Gun lines….

A few hours later, Snake’s radio crackled to life.

“Drone’s picking up movement,” said Packrat over the radio.

“Don’t tell me it’s a squirrel or deer again,” said Skylark.

“I’ll double check,” said Packrat. “Scanning with the drone.”

A humming noise was heard as the drone began scanning.

“We’ve got contacts and lots of them!” said Packrat loudly. “Move it, move it, move it!”

Snake grabbed his rifle from where he’d left it leaning next to the couch and rushed out of the door. Skylark was right behind him, her own rifle at the ready. Palutena and Pit followed suit.

The sky had changed from fairly clear to heavily overcast, though the ever-present wind still tugged at Snake’s bandanna. 

“Did you hear that, Roy?” asked Packrat into the radio.

“Yup,” said Roy grimly. “Hold them as long as you can but remember that you can fall back if you get overrun.”

“Rodger that!” said Packrat, already having absorbed his recliner, machine gun at the ready. He quickly began deploying several large boulders as cover, one for each Smasher.

Snake took cover behind one of them. Honestly, he had no idea how Packrat had enough space in his IDD for all of this stuff, but he wasn’t about to complain right now. And at any rate, it seemed like the callsign was well earned.

He glared down the iron sights of his rifle as a mass of purplish Primid heads appeared and made their way up the road.

As the primids drew closer, the forward most sentry guns came to life and unloaded a heavy barrage of laser fire, obliterating the front lines of the primids. Snake relaxed slightly. This wasn’t so bad. Yet.

“Why are the primids just walking into the range of the sentry guns? They aren’t even armed with anything!” asked Pit with confusion.

Snake shrugged. “No idea. Maybe the enemy commander isn’t that tactician Roy was talking about?”

“Maybe. Whoever it is, they’re literally sending their soldiers on a suicide mission,” said Palutena.

“Maybe they’re trying to overwhelm the sentry guns with sheer numbers? Or make them run out of ammo?” said Snake.

“If they’re trying to do that, they’re out of luck,” said Packrat. “Every sentry gun is equipped with at least twenty reloads and they’re able to switch out energy cells within five seconds. They’re gonna need a lot more Primids than that.”

“Either way, I’m not complaining,” said Snake.

“Me neither! I’m just confused….” said Pit.

Snake just shrugged as more primids marched into the sentry gun’s range of fire and were immediately disintegrated back into the Subspace particles. This continued for several minutes, as the masses of purple primids hurled themselves against the sentry gun’s fire to no avail. 

Suddenly, the remaining Primids stopped, turned around, and began marching away, out of sight.

“Well, I guess that was the first battle? Not so bad?” said Pit.

“That wasn’t a battle, that was a slaughter,” said Snake.

“Hey, we take what we can get, right?” said Packrat.

“Yeah,” agreed Skylark. “Though they’re going to come back with a different plan. We need to be prepared. Packrat, have you….”

“Already reloading,” said Packrat. Snake heard a mass of whirring noises coming from the sentry guns, which all suddenly stopped at the same time.

“Ok, we’re good,” said Packrat. “I guess we’re back to waiting again. Let’s be vigilant, though. No telling when they’ll be back.”

It was nearly a half an hour before the Primids returned. Cordelia had absorbed the storage container as quickly as she could in expectation of another assault, but as it had turned out she had plenty of time.

Snake watched the Primids warily as they marched into view. Something was different though. Snake peered through his binoculars.

“I think they’ve got shields,” said Snake. Packrat tapped the side of his helmet to activate the zoom function of his visor.

“And gunners with laser rifles behind the shield guys,” said Packrat after some inspection. He thought for a minute. “Let’s start shooting. Aim for the legs. The more holes we punch in their line of shield guys, the more gunners the sentries will target.”

“You got it!” said Pit, already drawing his bow, a hardlight arrow already nocked, ready to be shot.

Snake glared down the iron sights of assault rifle and opened fire around the sentry guns at the Primids. It was a bit of a longshot for him with his iron sights, but he managed to land some of his shots, causing one of the shield bearers to stumble and fall. The sentry guns immediately locked onto the Primid gunners behind and blew them away.

The other shield primids had slowed down, now within the range of the guns and under a tremendous barrage of fire from the first two lines of sentry guns. Every now and again, a shot from one of the Smashers landed, causing one shield bearer to fall and exposing the primids behind them to the full wrath of the sentry guns.

Snake’s weapon clicked. He pivoted back to cover and quickly loaded a fresh clip into his assault rifle. As he did, he glanced around him. On his left, Packrat and Cordelia were peering down their scopes, laying down somewhat more precise fire. A little further away, Pit was arcing arrows of light to strike the Primids, while Palutena stood out in the open, firing explosive shots of light. Some distance away, Duke and Hunt crouched behind their boulder while Captain N fired his dual pistols downrange.

He turned back to the enemy and raised an eyebrow. Something looked different. He pulled out his binoculars again.

“More shield primids! Coming down the middle!” shouted Snake.

Packrat hissed under his breath and muttered something with frustration. He slapped his LMG on the magnetic plate on the back of his jetpack and stepped into the open. He stared intently at the Primids, tapping the side of his helmet. Suddenly, the third, fourth and fifth lines of sentry guns came alive firing and all pointed toward an invisible target. A second later, they all fired upon one of the shield welding Primids. Under a tremendous concentration of fire, the shields were quickly knocked aside under the barrage of explosives and lasers. The massive explosion decimated the primids next to the original target and opened a hole in the line. The front lines of sentry guns continued their withering storm of lasers, widening the hole in the line of shield users by taking out the shield users that had not quite recovered from Packrat’s targeted attack. The first two lines of sentry guns made quick work of the now exposed gunners. Some managed to fire off a few shots before being taken out, while others shuffled behind the remaining shield bearers as best as they could.

Snake slung his assault rifle over his shoulder, and shouldered his Nikita Launcher, which he’d deployed in the lull between attacks. With no delay, he fired off a rocket, and guided it through the sentry guns, before directing it straight into the exposed line of gunners in the back, obliterating a group of them.

Packrat, still in manual control of the sentry guns fired off more explosive rounds, blowing away more of the shield primids. Snake fired off another Nikita rocket. Through the control panel, he could see the gunner primids fall as the others continued their ranged attacks. He saw one gunner Primid protected by a shield primid who was charging his Super Scope, and slammed the rocket straight into it before it could fire its shot off, taking out both in the ensuing explosion.

Snake was in the middle of loading another Nikita Rocket when Packrat suddenly said, “Hey, they’re falling back!”

Snake pulled out his binoculars. Sure enough, the primids were retreating. He breathed a sigh of relief and pocketed his binoculars. Another wave repelled.

Nearly two hours later, Packrat’s drones picked up movement again. Snake began scanning the horizon again with his binoculars. The weather had changed. Low hanging clouds had rolled in over the pass, making visibility low and everything else damp and wet. Snake could barely make out anything in front of the farthest line of sentry guns, and his lines of claymores were completely invisible in the fog.

“I don’t see anything,” said Snake as he pulled out his binoculars. He switched to the thermal function of his binoculars, but still saw nothing. “Too much water vapor, the thermal’s being blocked.”

“You sure the drones picked movement?” asked Skylark, scanning the horizon as best she could with the optic of her rifle.

“Yeah, they picked up movement all right. A bunch of big things too. Whatever’s triggering the sensors, anyway. Anyone know of anything big in Subspace forces in the past?” asked Packrat.

“Maybe Giant Primids?” said Roy over the radio. “I’ll alert everybody here. We’ll be ready if they overrun you.”

“Copy that. We’ll keep you posted,” said Packrat.

The Smashers fell into silence as they waited. Even the wind had died down. It was still and quiet. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t hear the birds or insects that were usually making noise. Whatever the fog was masking, it must be close.

“You hear that?” asked Pit.

“Hear what?” asked Captain N.

“Those footsteps,” said Pit.

Snake listened intently, and sure enough he heard heavy footsteps approaching. There were a lot of them. He grit his teeth as the footsteps slowly got closer. Snake quickly looked down the sights of his binoculars. Still nothing.

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard in front of them, in the mist, like a boulder falling off the side of the pass. It was followed by a loud roar.

Packrat began another scan with the drone, when suddenly, the first line of sentry guns began opening fire. Packrat jumped, stopping the scan. There were more roaring and screeching noises. Snake was already aiming his rifle at the mist. He could just barely see the front line of sentry guns, as they fired at invisible targets. Suddenly, there was a thunderous noise of several mines and claymores going off at once, followed by a more ear piercing roars and screeches and a few heavy thumps. That was the first line of traps. Whatever it was had definitely felt it, but the sentry guns were still firing. There were more of them.

The second line of sentry guns began to fire, followed by the third, fourth and fifth lines. Suddenly, the second line of claymores went off with another massive explosion.

“Those aren’t Giant Primids, aren’t they?” asked Pit, sounding a bit nervous.

“I don’t think so, but whatever it is, it’s coming for us,” said Packrat grimly.

Palutena moved out from behind the rock she’d been sitting behind and stood out in the open. She charged light energy in her hand for a moment before firing a large beam of light past the sentry guns blindly into the fog. Somewhere out there, something roared loudly in pain.

Suddenly a plume of fire rushed out of the mist and engulfed one of the sentry guns. After a few seconds of this, it stopped firing, the fire having damaged its internal circuits.

“Hey!” growled Packrat. “No destroying the sentry guns!” He slapped his LMG on his back and deployed a rocket launcher.

“Come and get some!” he roared as he opened fire blindly into the mist.

Snake grit his teeth and scanned the edge of the mist with his binoculars yet again, hoping to catch something. He switched to his thermal scope again. Nothing.

Suddenly, several large heat signatures appeared. Packrat and Pit suddenly yelled out in surprise. Snake lowered his binoculars. His pulse immediately quickened as he saw several large quadrupedal monsters make their way out of the clouds and they began to attack the first two lines of sentry guns. They looked strange, with large bulbous bodies, long legs and big, bulging eyes.

“Spotty Bulborbs! And massive ones too!” shouted Skylark above the roar of the sentry guns.

“Those are bigger than the usual ones right?” said Pit. “There are dozens of them!”

“A lot bigger,” said Palutena.

“Who cares? Take them out before they destroy any more guns! They’re bullet sponges!” yelled Packrat in alarm. “Shoot! SHOOT!”

Snake raised his rifle and began shooting at the monsters. It hardly seemed to do anything. The sentry guns continued to fire as one after another, several massive Spotty Bulborbs made their way out of the fog and began attacking the first few rows of sentry guns.

“What’s going on?” came Roy’s voice over the radio.

“Oversized Spotty Bulborbs!” said Snake as the others redoubled their efforts. “Giant monster things! They’re breaking the first line of sentry guns!”

“Oversized Spotty Bulborbs?” said Roy with alarm. “Like the ones Link was talking about? Gah, it’s gotta be that Dr. Mario guy. How big are they?”

Snake sized up the competition for a moment.

“2-3 stories tall? Give or take half a story?”

“Story? As in building story?”

“Yeah.”

Roy hissed in frustration. “We can’t fight those monsters here! Not on this kind of ground! We don’t have room to maneuver!”

There was a pause for a tense split second.

“Fall back to the fort,” said Roy. “I’m going to pull back as well. This isn’t the place to fight, the path is too narrow and the weather is bad. We’ll hold the monsters at the fort, with Ike and the others. Get out of there! Fast!”

“Copy,” said Snake. He turned to his teammates. “You heard him! We gotta move out of here!

“We can take them!” shouted Packrat, putting the final line of laser cannon sentry guns under his manual control. All of them fired in unison at one of the Bulborbs. Fifteen lasers struck one of the monsters in unison. It staggered back and collapsed to the ground.

“Luminance Desolation!” shouted Palutena, casting a massive beam of light at another one of the monsters.

The Bulborb took the beam straight to the face. It roared in pain as a few rockets from the sentry guns struck it afterwards. It staggered backwards a step too far and plummeted off the side of the pass.

“Luminance Desolation!” shouted Palutena again, firing the same massive beam of light at another Bulborb. It too staggered back, but it recovered and kept moving upwards.

“That wasn’t enough?” asked Palutena, surprised. “It worked on the other one!”

“These things are tough!” said Skylark, as Packrat fired another barrage of lasers another one, bringing it down. “It takes far too many lasers to take these things out!”

“I don’t like this,” said Pit. “We need to get out of here!”

“That’s what Roy said! C’mon! Those sentry guns won’t hold forever!” urged Snake as the monsters pushed forward, smashing through the second line of sentry guns, and starting to encroach on the third Sure, there were a whole lot less of them at this point, with at least a dozen bodies that Snake could see, but there was no way that they’d be able to fight a properly in such a narrow strip of flat ground.

“The line won’t fall!” roared Packrat as the monsters pushed forward to the fourth line. “We can still do this!”

Skylark put her hand on Packrat’s shoulder. “Packrat. The only thing this says about your sentry guns is that they needed a ton oversized super mutant monsters to break through a line of them. That’s better than pretty much every other Smasher could do in this situation! There’s no point in risking your life in a pointless endeavor to show that your sentry guns get the job done!”

Packrat paused for a moment, amid the explosions and roars.

“A..all right. Let’s move,” he said quietly.

Snake nodded. A platform of light suddenly materialized next to him. Palutena stepped onto it.

“Fastest way out with all of us together! Everybody get on!” 

Snake didn’t need to be told twice. The Bulborbs were already moving onto the final line of sentry guns, having already destroyed most of the fourth lines, and he could already see Primids marching at the edge of the mist.

He clambered onto the platform as Pit, Captain N, Duke and Hunt jumped aboard. The two turned and started shooting at the Bulborbs as Packrat and Skylark made their way onto the platform. With a flick of Palutena’s hand, side rails appeared on the platform, causing Snake and Pit to step back a little. With another flick of the hand, the hardlight platform levitated into the sky and towards the base.

Snake looked back as Packrat tapped a button on the side of his helmet.

“You did good out there,” he muttered, before all of the sentry guns exploded in a massive combined explosion.

Snake rubbed his ringing ears disapprovingly as the smoke began to clear.

“Fail safe?”

“Yeah. Can’t let them have my designs. Standard protocol.”

“Give us a heads up next time before you do that again, yeah?”

“Fair enough.”

Snake nodded as he watched the remaining Bulborbs begin to chase them, roaring as they did.

“Those Bulborbs are awfully coordinated,” said Skylark, after a moment of observation. “I thought they were solitary predators.”

“More genetic modifications from that Doctor Mario guy?” asked Snake.

“Probably,” said Packrat. “I’ve seen Olimar’s logs on these guys. They don’t usually play nice.”

“And now they’re working together,” said Skylark quietly.

Packrat sighed. “Now that’s a scary thought. Wish we had Scrapper and Cordelia. Scrapper’s the one who’s hunted monsters before, and Cordelia’s fast enough to outpace them up close.”

Palutena smiled. “Don’t worry. We have lots of Smashers here, including Roy and myself. We’ll be able to defeat them.”

Snake shook his head. “Not if they have a lot more of them, you aren’t. The rest of us will have to figure out some way of taking them down.” 

“We can do it! I know we can!” said Pit enthusiastically.

“We’d better,” said Snake, eyeing the monsters on the ground, still in pursuit of their floating platform. “Otherwise, we’re in for a load of trouble.”

A few minutes later, and Palutena landed the platform in front of the fort. The gates were held open, and Roy rushed out to meet them with Corrinne, Mr. Game and Watch and Pac Man following behind him.

“Get in!” shouted Roy. “How far behind are they?”

“Right behind!” said Snake as he passed Roy. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re gonna try and defeat them before they can do too much to the fort. Palutena, you’re with me. Everybody else, get inside! Did anybody see any Primids behind them?”

“Yeah,” said Snake.

Roy groaned. “All right. We’ll just have to beat them quick. Get on the battlements! Everybody else and the gunners are stationed up there. Hit as many shots as you can, but DON’T shoot too close to us!”

“Got it!” nodded Snake.

He rushed into the fort, as Pit flew up to the battlements. Packrat and Skylark followed him, their jetpacks flaring to life.

Snake made his way inside the gate, followed by Captain N, Duke and Hunt. He noticed a door at the base of one of the parapets. He opened the door and rushed up the circular stairs to the top. As Snake reached the battlements, he looked around. The parapets were crowded with Smashers and Mii Gunners. Snake quicky made his way to the front of the battlements, where he could see the massive Bulborbs stomp into view.

“Fear not, my comrades!” boomed Simon. “These beasts are just that! Beasts! They can and will be defeated! Take heart and let us strike these vermin down!”

A hearty cheer went up from the Smashers. On the ground, Ike, Corrinne, Mr. Game and Watch, Pac Man, and Roy all formed into a line. Each one pulled a Smash Ball out as the monsters approached. One by one, each one activated the Smash Ball.

“My friends!” shouted Simon. “Open fire!”

Snake pulled out his Nikita again, and fired off a missle. Though the camera on the missile, Snake slammed the rocket into one of the Bulborbs. He could hear various shouts from the other Smashers.

“Hadouken!”

“Blade Beam!”

Through the camera, Snake could see lasers and arrows of light being shot, along with thrown axes from Simon and Richter, blaster shots from Captain N, and kinetic energy projectiles from Shulk’s laser sword thing, amid other projectiles. A little further off, Snake could hear the telltale rattle of Packrat and Skylark’s weapons.

Suddenly, Snake heard the noise of running water. He looked down to see Corinne standing with her hands above her head. The clouds were being pulled into an ever growing, massive ball of water above her head.

“Giga Kraken!” shouted Game and Watch as he transformed into a massive 2d octopus.

“Giga Chomper!” shouted Pac Man.

The monsters lumbered forward.

“Cease fire!” shouted Simon. “Our friends will do the rest!”

Game and Watch floated forward and seized four of the Bulborbs in his tentacles.

“Kraken Wring Out!” roared Game and Watch, picking them up, and slamming the monsters onto the ground multiple times before blasting them both over the edge with a powerful spray of ink.  

“Chomper Crusher!” shouted Pac Man, jumping up into the air and landing on a group of the Bulborbs with a massive slam.

“Spears of Light!” shouted Palutena, creating several massive spikes of light in the air, before shooting it at several of the Bulborbs. The spears whizzed through the air and impaled the unfortunate Bulborbs several times through their bodies.

“Grand Cascade!” screamed Corrinne, unleashing the massive ball of water she was manipulating in a massive surge of water. The torrent slammed into another group of the Bulborbs, washing them over the edge of the pathway, and down the steep cliffs surrounding the fort.

“Blazing Lion!” shouted Roy, shooting a massive fireball out of his sword. The fireball transformed into the shape of a lion before crashing into one of the Bulborbs with a tremendous explosion. The last Bulborb let out a roar before falling over to its side.

The smoke cleared to reveal the Smashers standing victorious over all of the Bulborbs.

A cheer went up from the wall as the transformed Smashers returned to their usual forms. Snake did not share in their mirth. It looked effortless, but those were some of their most powerful attacks boosted by Smash Balls. The others had to defeat the Bulborbs with one attack and they’d all probably be bushed for a half hour at least. Snake pulled out his binoculars and scanned the horizon again. He grit his teeth and activated his radio.

“Roy, I see Primids already, better get back in the gate,” he said.

“Copy that,” said Roy over the radio. Raising his voice, Roy shouted, “Everyone back inside! Primids are already on the way!”

The Smashers outside the walls rushed back through the gate. The Miis quickly slammed the gates shut behind them.

Snake made his way through the crowd and eventually met up with Roy on the ground.

“Thanks for keeping an eye out,” said Roy as he came up.

“Yeah, no problem,” said Snake. “What’s our next move?”

Roy sighed. “Now? Now, we have to wait them out.”

Snake sighed. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

Chapter Text

Princess Corrinne of Nohr

Threat Level: 3

Princess Corrinne of Nohr is a surprisingly camera-shy royal, especially considering her outgoing media darling twin brother, Prince Corrin of Hoshido. Out of all of the Nohrian and Hoshidan royal siblings, Corrinne has given the least speeches, and has made the least number of public appearances. Because of this there’s only so much information to go on. Thankfully her exploits during the most recent Hoshidan-Nohrian war shed some light on her.

Based on the records that are publicly available, Corrinne stayed with her brother Corrin in a castle in Nohr for her early life, only leaving as a young adult to join former King Garon’s court with her brother. The following events are not entirely well understood, but it seems as though Corrin and Corrinne somehow ended up at the Hoshidan court. There was some sort of falling out in which Queen Mikoto was killed and because of this, Corrin sided with Hoshido while Corinne returned to Nohr. What could have split the twins is unknown, but it must have been something very significant.

Upon returning to Nohr, Corrinne sided with her siblings and her brother Xander in a coup against the horrifically oppressive King Garon, though she disappeared from the main stage early in the war after her army was ambushed by Garon’s forces near Ice Tribe territory. Public records state that Corrinne carried out a campaign of sabotage from behind enemy lines with a small group of soldiers who had escaped the ambush. Regardless of the truth of this, it is known that Corrinne emerged later in the war, having rescued the kidnapped Princess Sakura of Hoshido, who had been kidnapped by the rebellious Hoshidan nobles from Fort Jinya. After returning her to Hoshido, this act of good will helped broker an unprecedented alliance between future kings Xander and Ryoma, most likely assisted by the ever-present diplomat Corrin. From there, Corrinne served as the commander of an elite unit of soldiers alongside her brother Corrin, leading high risk assaults against key locations and targets, including the final assault on Windmire, the capitol of Nohr. After the end of the war, Corrinne quickly vanished again from the public eye, though she presumably returned to working from behind the scenes as she had during the war.

In terms of combat, Corrinne wears a suit of armor that seems to be well balanced in terms of defensive strength, agility and weight, though this is usually concealed underneath her long cloak. While her usual weapon of choice is the sword, Corrinne also wields a bow and has been seen using throwing weapons. In terms of swordplay, Corrinne uses a balanced, but remarkably unrefined style for a member of nobility. That being said, her swordplay has never been ineffective, it merely lacks the graceful poise that most nobles tend to favor. Corrinne, like her brother Corrin, wields hydrokinetic powers, able to manipulate water and freeze or vaporize it as needed. It is unknown to what extent that Corrinne and Corrin can influence substances that are mostly water but not pure water, but it does appear that blood and seawater is beyond their ability.

Due to Corrinne’s tendency to avoid the spotlight, its not exactly easy to recommend what to do against her. However, some things can be recommended based off what we do know. The first is to fight Corrinne in a dry area during a preferably sunny day. This is to limit the amount of water that Corrinne can draw upon. While Corrinne carries bottles of water on her person, limiting the amount of water that she can draw from her environment is an important thing to consider. Though, if a fight in a water heavy area is unavoidable, using the water against her with electric attacks may be advisable, especially due to her obviously metal armor. While it seems that Corrinne can draw water from water vapor in the air and from ice and snow around her, it may be of use to employ heat or cold based attacks to freeze or evaporate her water on her to throw off the rhythm of her attacks. Lastly, Corrinne’s swordplay, while effective, is only that. Judging by her style, I’d judge that a true master of the blade or any other melee weapon could most likely break through her guard eventually with superior skill and mastery with their weapon. Other then that, its tough to say what exactly to do. Be on your guard for surprises, try to avoid wet areas, and beyond that, play it by ear. 

Simon Belmont

Threat Level: 3

Simon Belmont is a senior member of the Belmont Clan, a family of Vampire Hunters from the Transylvania region. House Belmont has protected this region from a number of vampires over the ages, including the infamous Count Dracula.

Belmont vampire hunters are armed with the Vampire Killer model of whip, a bladed whip that has been used by generations of Belmonts as their primary weapon. Belmonts also tend to carry a number of ranged weapons, most notably throwing axes and firebombs. Simon uses all of these weapons and is skilled with using all of them. In addition to this, Simon wields a mace as a secondary weapon to his whip. Simon is also a proficient hand to hand combatant. While its clear that he’s only had limited training in some variant of boxing, its also clear that he's been in a number of fist fights himself, and can handle himself against most opponents in a battle of fisticuffs.

What Simon and in general his Belmont brethren lack in raw firepower, they make up with in their cunning. While tales of the House Belmont of old paint tales of brave knights and honorable warriors, things took a turn after House Belmont was almost hunted to extinction by an alliance of vampires. The sole surviving member of House Belmont, Trevor Belmont was not of the same noble and high minded disposition as his forbears, and upon defeating Count Dracula again, and driving back the other vampires, Trevor took a more practical and strategic approach in training his heirs. Fast forward four generations to Simon, we end up with a forceful yet prudent and calculating warrior with a couple decades of experience and many victories under his belt. The most notable of those victories was a daring solo assault on Dracula’s Castle when all of the other Belmonts were otherwise injured or occupied elsewhere. This assault resulted in a severely wounded Dracula and heavy losses to his monstrous forces. This all speaks to a highly capable warrior who knows how to tip the odds in his favor against large numbers of enemy forces. 

Personality wise, Simon is not much to write home about. If anything, he’s the embodiment of the more modern House Belmont, heroic but not naive, strong but not reckless, capable but humble in his ability. Simon is by all accounts, a serious fellow, and does not present any obvious psychological weaknesses. 

Simon is a bit different to most of the other Smashers in that his kit is quite well rounded but not necessarily the most powerful, in the same vein as Link. I think the best way to engage Simon is to take him on in close quarters combat. Disarming Simon of his whip is a good strategy, as the weapon gives him excellent range, and forces him to rely on the use of a secondary weapon, his mace. While Simon is undoubtedly still a threatening opponent with only his mace, its his whip that he really specializes with, and getting that out of his hands is going to prevent him from exerting the offensive power that he usually does. Additionally, a close quarters strategy prevents Simon from making effective, if any use at all of his throwing axes and firebombs, and Simon’s hand to hand combat is nothing particularly special either. It may be of use to use electric attacks to help close the distance, as Simon’s whip is a long weapon and presents a larger target for an electric shock then a weapon like a sword. Lastly, while Simon is no idiot, it may be possible to lure him out into the open, and then defeat him in an ensuing contest of skill. While the Belmont style has taken a more practical approach in more recent years, they appear to have lost some of the high degree of weapon mastery spoken of in the legends of the older Belmonts. As such, if Simon can be forced into a fight in which he doesn’t have time to think, you may be able to disarm the man of his most powerful weapon, his cunning. Don’t underestimate Simon, but also don’t overestimate him either, the man has his limits, and while Simon likely knows that there’s not many ways to think around being overwhelmed by force or skill.

Richter Belmont

Threat Level: 3

Richter Belmont is an interesting one. I’ll save time and space here by mentioning that in terms of training and ability, Richter is roughly on par with his uncle and mentor, Simon Belmont. Having trained under his uncle for years, Richter’s skillset is quite similar. As such, just about anything that works against Simon should work against Richter. What I want to discuss here are the things that set Richter apart from his more serious uncle.

The first thing to note is Richter’s disposition. While Simon is more of a traditional Belmont, Richter represents the mixture of the traditional and the new, as Transylvania is a newcomer to the galactic stage. Richter has taken to new technology and mindsets much more quickly then his uncle, and as such incorporates new techniques and skills into his traditional combat style. First of all, it appears that Richter is a proficient parkour runner, and as such, is significantly more agile than his uncle. In addition to this, Richter seems to have learned some whip tricks not seen in the traditional Belmont whip style, which mostly seem to come from the Windiana Bones movie series. While the effectiveness of these tricks is questionable, the surprise and intimidation factor isn’t. I also want to mention that Richter utilizes two short swords as his backup weapons over a mace, and he appears to be a competent user of his blades. Not a master, as his mastery lies with the whip and not with the swords, but his secondary weapons are decidedly not to be disregarded.

In alignment with his focus on melding the old with the new, Richter appears to have spent a lot of time on the internet, and has adopted many internet terms, leading to a unique pattern of speech. If you don’t quite understand what he’s saying, that’s ok, many other people don’t either. As a final note, I also want to mention that Richter has more of an ego than Simon and has a propensity for showing off and being flashy. Its not to say that Richter does not have experience of his own – he’s successfully assaulted Dracula’s castle on his own as well. All I want to point out here is that age has not yet tempered his youthful spirit.

Like I stated earlier, anything that works against Simon should work against Richter. When compared to Simon, Richter will likely do better if disarmed of his whip, and his specialty in parkour helps level the disadvantage of fighting in a cluttered environment where his whip will not be so effective. That being said, he will likely be more vulnerable to taunting and may not have seen all of the tricks in the book. Treat Richter similarly to Simon and you’ll be fine, just realize that they are two different people and that they do have some small but distinct differences.

Act 10: Snake

Chapter 2: Wind Bastion

Snake woke up with a start. Blearily, he took stock of his surroundings. Still stuck in the small mess hall of Cloudbreak Fort. It looked like most of the Smashers were still in the mess hall, but some had gone elsewhere. Snake checked his watch. It was late in the afternoon. Looked like he’d managed to get about three hours of shuteye. Which was good, considering he’d be taking one of the night watches. He pulled himself to his feet and sauntered over to a table where Ken, Ryu, Shulk, Captain N, and Little Mac were sitting.

Cloud walked up to the table with two large mugs full of steaming liquid. He passed one to Snake as he approached.

“Thanks. You sure this wasn’t for you?” said Snake.

“I’m grabbing some for everybody, I’ve got at least one more trip anyways,” said Cloud. He set the other mug in front of Shulk, before turning around and setting off towards the counter. Snake looked over to see Simon standing over a pot, warming something up. Snake sniffed the steam. It was low quality tea, most likely for use by the soldiers in the fort. Still, it was better than nothing. He took a swig and sat down at the table, next to Ken.

“Hey! How are you feeling after that nap?” asked Shulk, taking a draught of his tea.  

Snake shrugged. “Been worse. What have you been up to?”

“We’re trying to predict when they’re going to attack us,” said Ken.

Cloud returned with a two more mugs of tea, and passed the last one to Ryu, before sitting down with the other mug. 

Shulk turned to him and asked. “When do you think they’re gonna attack next, Cloud? Ryu’s thinking it’s going to be midnight, Ken says 9:00 pm, N thinks it’s going to be sunrise and I think it’s going to be around 3:00 am!”

Cloud promptly said, “9:00 pm. After that’s too late.”

“That’s what I was thinking!” said Ken. “And anyway, that’s when people start getting tired.”

“But their soldiers are primids,” said Ryu. “They do not function on our sleep schedules.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” said Captain N. “But I say sunrise because then they’ll be able to see. It’s way too dark out there!”

“A true warrior does not fear the uncertainty of darkness,” said Ryu. “If their leader is a warrior, they will attack during the night.”

“Yeah, but midnight is too early!” said Shulk. “Most people aren’t awake at 3:00 in the morning! That would be the best time to strike! And it’ll be time for me to shine!”

“Yeah, you tend to be up at odd hours anyway, don’t you, Shulk?” said Captain N.

“Ah, I do sometimes,” said Shulk, abashedly.

“But their leader is a person too, right?” said Ken. “Not everybody wants to stay up as late as Shulk does!”

“Yeah,” said Cloud. “You wouldn’t believe the wind out there. Nobody would want to attack when its dark out. It would be miserable. I wouldn’t consider attacking unless the sun was up.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame you,” said Shulk. “It’s gonna be easier to fight without having to wear a parka out there!”

The others laughed. Snake chuckled quietly.

Ken’s stomach grumbled. “Well, I’m gonna go eat lunch. Anybody else hungry?”

“Can you grab one for me? Chicken Fajita, please,” said Little Mac.

“Sure thing. Anybody else?”

“I think we’re good, mate,” said Shulk.

“All righty,” said Ken, before getting up and heading towards the front of the mess hall.

“Say Snake, what time do you think you’ll attack?” asked Shulk.

Snake rubbed his chin in thought. “Could be any time honestly. A leader like that will know to mix up their attacking schedule to be less predictable.”

“Ah, that’s a good point,” said Ryu. “I had not considered that.”

“Well, they attacked twice this morning,” said Shulk. “So, you don’t think they’d attack next morning, for example?”

Snake shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. You can never quite tell sometimes.”

“Hey! Snake!” yelled Roy across the room.

“Yeah?” yelled Snake back.

“Get over here and take a look at this!” yelled Roy.

Snake downed the rest of his tea and pulled himself to his feet. “Duty calls.”

The other Smashers waved as Snake walked off to the corner Roy had set up in.

“Actually, before you begin,” said Roy. “Remember those monsters from earlier?”

“Yeah,” said Snake. 

“I’ve had Packrat on surveillance with his drones. He hasn’t seen any more coming up the mountainside at all, not even in reserve in the attacks earlier today.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“How can he tell?”

“The size of the heat signature. Nothing else is that big.”

Snake raised an eyebrow. “Primids have heat signatures?”

Roy nodded. “Yeah. Not much warmer than the surrounding environment but enough that it’s noticeable. Why?”

“Thermal binoculars. It will be useful to spot them.”

“Ah, that makes sense. Hmm…. OK, I can strategize later. Let’s get to business.”

“Yeah. What did you need me for?”

“I need you and Corrinne to do some scouting for me. Packrat’s drones can detect groups of enemies coming but I need more intel than just the composition and size of the forces attacking us. We don’t know how big of a force have they have at the bottom of the mountain, and Packrat says it’s not a good idea to send his drone out that far. Apparently, his drone has a limited communication range.”

“Why not send Pit or Palutena? They’d be faster,” said Snake.

“The winds are too high for Pit and Palutena to fly very well right now, and Palutena’s light constructs are too visible.”

“All right, fair enough. How soon do you need us out there?”

“As soon as possible, but Corrinne wanted to wait till night fell to decrease your visibility.”

“I’ll second that,” said Snake. “All right. Somebody else will take my watch then?”

“Of course. By the way, can I get you to take a look at this map? It…” started Roy, but he was cut off by a sudden crackling of the radio.

“CONTACTS!” yelled Packrat through the radio. “BATTLEMENTS, NOW!”

It was followed a few moments later by a loud explosion near the wall.

“GET OFF MAH WALL!” roared Packrat amidst the telltale sounds of sentry gun and assault rifle fire before the connection cut.

“C’mon! Let’s go!” shouted Roy, drawing his sword.

Snake drew his pistol and rushed out the door with Roy. As they did, Simon, Richter, Palutena, and Skylark burst out of the barrack doors, with Pac Man, Game and Watch, Cloud, Ryu, Ken, Shulk, Little Mac, and Captain N following from behind.

Snake rushed up the stairs, already hearing Pit’s war cries, Packrat’s shouts, and the high pitched report of the Mii Gunner’s arm cannons. Another explosion hit the wall and shook the stairwell.

Roy kicked the door open and immediately charged fire around his sword.

“Fireball Barrage!”

Snake drew his pistol and saw several Bulborbs attacking the wall. A couple lay dead on the path as Packrat vented the heat out of his LMG while his sentry guns continued to fire.

“Begone fiends! Thou shall not pass!” bellowed Simon, reaching for one of his axes.

“Prepare to get rekt, foul noobs! I shall yeet thee back to the abyss from whence you came! Cowabunga!” yelled Richter, hurling an axe of his own at the Bulborbs.

The other Smashers rushed out onto the battlements behind them with the other Miis milling into formation behind them.  

A round of lasers struck the wall, causing it to shake from the resulting explosions.

“They’ve got laser cannons down there behind the monsters!” shouted Pit, as he nocked another arrow. “I’m going to need some help destroying them!”

Roy grabbed Snake by the shoulder.

“I need you to help Pit take out the cannons. Don’t worry about the Bulborbs, the rest of us can take them,” said Roy.

Snake nodded. “I’ll need some cover.”

Roy reached out again, grabbing somebody else. “N!”

“Gah! Don’t jump a guy like that!” shouted Captain N in surprise, stopping in his tracks.

“N, I need you to cover Snake for me. I’m gonna have him take down some of the cannons.”

“Right! You can count on me!” said Captain N with a mock salute.

Roy nodded and rushed back to the parapets. Snake pulled out his Nikita and fired a missile. He guided the missile over the battlements and moved it forward into the fray, quickly locating his targets. The cannons were fairly small pieces, but still capable of firing destructive payloads. With no further delay, Snake guided the rocket straight into one of the cannons, blowing it to smithereens as it charged another shot. He slapped a new rocket into the chamber and fired it out, watching Arrows of Light from Pit being shot at another one of the cannons through the periphery of his Nikita camera. He slammed the second rocket into another cannon, destroying it.

Suddenly, Snake heard a shout from Captain N. He glanced up to see Captain N shooting at one of the Bulborbs, which had decided to attack the wall right in front of them.

“Need a hand!” shouted Captain N. Snake whipped out his pistol and fired a few shots at the Bulborb, but to no avail. Snake holstered his pistol and opened one of the pouches on his sneaking suit and produced a C4 brick. Grabbing his detonator, he pitched the C4 at the Bulborb.

“Now!” muttered Snake as he detonated the C4 midair in the Bulborb’s face. The monster staggered back with a roar.

“Keep covering me!” said Snake as he grabbed a grenade.

“You got it!” shouted Captain N as he stopped firing his pistols for a moment.

Snake pulled the pin and cooked the grenade for a moment before hurling it. It sailed through the air, before detonating near the monster’s leg. The monster stumbled, roaring in pain, its leg seriously injured.

As Snake went for another grenade, Palutena rushed up.

“I’ll take it from here!” she shouted. With a snap of the fingers, Palutena generated a number of spikes of light around her, and began shooting them, as Snake pulled out his Nikita again. “Spikes of Light!”

Snake loaded another rocket into his Nikita and fired it off over the walls. It looked like Pit had gotten most of the rest of the cannons. Locating the last remaining one, Snake quickly guided the rocket straight into it, destroying it.

As Snake began to load the next rocket, he heard a loud roar accompanied by a cheer.

“I think that’s it!” said Roy.

Snake cracked a grin as the other Smashers began to relax.

As he began to head for the door that led down to the rest of the fort, Snake felt a hand grab his shoulder. It was Corrinne.

“Hey, has Roy talked to you yet?”

“He has, yeah.”

“Do we want to cook up a plan before we go?”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

After nightfall…..

Snake hit the ground outside the walls of the fort. He looked up to see Corrinne sliding down the rope behind him.

Snake glanced behind him. The weather was clear for the moment, and a near full moon shone down on the mountain landscape. The wind had calmed a little and while the breeze was still lively, it was not gusting as strongly as it was earlier in the day.

Corrinne hit the ground next to Snake. She turned up and waved to Roy, who was standing at the parapet. He waved back, before disappearing from view.

“All right. Let’s move.”

The two quickly made their way down the path. As the path turned to follow the side of the mountain, Snake and Corrinne continued in a straight line, clambering off of the path, and moved quickly down into the brush lined slope of the mountain.

A feeling of relief hit Snake as they began to carefully make their way downward and the path became more and more obscured by the foliage. Being in the open like that was a great way to get spotted.

The mountainside slope started off very steep, and the two lost their footing on the loose gravel more than once, wincing at the noise it caused. As they continued to carefully shimmy their way down, Snake glanced behind him at the steep slope. They should be far enough off of the path that any anybody or anything that happened to be there couldn’t see them, but you could never quite tell sometimes. Also, it didn’t account for smell, but honestly it would be very dangerous for any sort of fighting or running to be happening on a slope this steep, so either the enemy would have to wait until they hit the gully or face the consequences of tumbling down the mountainside before any actual fighting occurred.

However, Snake’s fears were unfounded, as in short order, they had reached the bottom of the gully and were making rapid pace down the mountainside with no disturbances. The moon had risen high in the sky even though it was shortly after nightfall, and Snake was thankful that he’d taken a second nap earlier, knowing he’d most likely be on his feet all night.

Eventually, the gully opened into a large dry riverbed, with boulders, large bushes, and short trees clustered around the sides. While the riverbed itself was covered in a thick layer of gravel, the two began to make much faster progress. As they moved farther down, the air grew warmer, and the wind was not quite as bitingly cold, though it remained dry as a bone and cutting as a knife. As they walked, Snake began to hear various bugs buzzing and animals howling in the distance. The stars glimmered like miniature jewels in the sky, forming unfamiliar constellations to Snake’s untrained eye. It was still a sight to behold. As long as you didn’t twist your ankle on a rock, Snake supposed.

After what felt like hours, the incline of the mountainside levelled out, and Corrinne stopped to check her map.

Snake quickly checked his watch. It had been about two hours since they’d left.  

“Ok. We go another mile down this riverbed and then the camp should be to the right side of the riverbank. That’s where Roy said that Packrat detected the strongest Subspace radiation,” said Corrinne.

Snake nodded. “Let’s go in stealthy from here. I don’t think they’d have any sentries this far out, but I’d rather not take the risk.”

“Yeah, me neither,” said Corrinne. “C’mon. Let’s keep going.”

The two resumed their course, now much more slowly and quietly, keeping a lower profile and sticking to the shadow of the trees that dotted the riverside. The leaves of the trees rustled as the wind blew above them, masking any noise their footsteps made. It was reasonable cover, and Snake certainly wasn’t complaining.

It took them nearly twenty minutes before they spotted bright light, illuminating the tops of the trees. Corrinne stopped and checked her map. She nodded, and the two continued to move forward, now exercising even more caution. Eventually, they spotted a sandbag wall, close to the edge of the riverbank. Corrinne pulled out her bow, and tapped Snake’s shoulder, before pointing to the riverbank. Snake quickly pulled his pair of binoculars out of its pocket, and quietly crouch walked his way to the ridge of the riverbed. As he got closer, Snake dropped down on his stomach and began crawling forward, keeping his profile low and movements slow to avoid attracting attention. Crawling up diagonally towards a gap in the sandbags, Snake sidled up to the wall, before leaning his head out into the gap far enough to see. The first thing that hit him was the light. Snake blinked and squinted, grimacing as harsh light seared his eyes. After taking some time to allow his eyes to adjust, Snake opened his binoculars, set them to bright light mode, and began to survey the area.  

Well, the intel was good, that was for sure. It looked like the camp had been very quickly made, but it was a camp none the less. The perimeter was surrounded by sandbags with small platforms with spotlights mounted on them, pointing outward. A few patrols of Primids marched around behind the sandbags. The campsite was also littered with a large number of large bushes, scrubby trees, and larger trees behind them that almost seemed to blend together within the perimeter, obscuring anything else from view with copious amounts of leafy foliage. Not a bad choice of campsite. And thankfully, one that favored his style of infiltration as well.  

Snake toggled his binoculars to thermal vision but wasn’t able to see anything else of note. Shifting his weight, he rolled back behind the sandbags and quietly crawled backwards to the riverbank.  

“What did you see?” whispered Corrinne.

“Not much. They’ve got spotlights and sandbags around the perimeter, and a couple patrols. There’s a lot of bushes and shrubs on the inside, so I can’t see anything else. Should I deploy the Cipher and take a look around or should we go straight in?”

Corrinne considered it for a moment. “No need to take any risks just yet. Cipher around, and if you still can’t see anything, let’s go in. I’ll watch your back.”

Snake nodded, and quietly made his way a short distance away from the camp, before finding a leafy bush that would hide the light of his IDD. Corrinne took a knee and watched their surroundings as Snake deployed his Cipher as discreetly as he could. Pulling out a controller, Snake activated the drone, and flew it into the sky. As he gained altitude, Snake flipped through the various camera modes, before settling on the x ray mode. Scanning the area, Snake grumbled under his breath. The heavy leaf cover was still blocking line of sight, obstructing his view of anything on the ground. Snake switched to thermal vision and grumbled under his breath again. That heavy leaf cover was a nasty effective screen for observation tools. They were going to physically need to get closer if they were going to get any more information. Which meant it was time to change what he was looking for.

Snake flew his Cipher up higher and switched to night vision mode, beginning to scan the area around the encampment. It appeared that that the camp backed up against a steep mountainside, and was defended on the other three sides by the sandbag walls. A few sentries patrolled the perimeter from what little he could see, but otherwise, there was no movement. It was a large plot of land that the enemy had taken as their camp, and it seemed like there was something under the trees made of glass, but Snake couldn’t really tell any more from that far away. Lastly, the riverbed seemed to go on for quite some distance in both directions. All the information that he needed.

With that, Snake flew his Cipher back and absorbed it with his IDD.

“What did you see?” asked Corrinne.

“Not much,” said Snake. “Too much tree cover, and the Cipher would get spotted if I tried to get in close. We’re going in. I think if we get on the side of the riverbed and come into the camp from the side, we’ll have a better chance.”

Corrinne nodded, and the two quietly made their way across the riverbed bank, going around shrubs, dead plants and several cacti that Snake was very glad to not have stepped on.

As they made their way closer and closer to the edge of the camp, Snake drew his pistol, before identifying a bush that looked like it would make for good cover. Snake crept up behind the bush, before putting his back to it and poking his head out, so as to minimize his visible profile.

Snake watched for a few minutes, observing the patterns of the Primid guards. Eventually, he narrowed his eyes. He’d found an opening.

“There’s a gap in 30 seconds,” he said to Corrinne. “That’s our chance. We aim for that clump of bushes over there, there should be enough cover for both of us. We have about 10 seconds until the next patrol rounds the bend.”

Corrinne nodded, slung her bow over her shoulder, grabbed something from under her cloak, probably her knife, and took a ready stance.

The two waited tensely as the Primid patrol slowly marched past their hiding spot. Eventually, they were far enough away that Snake didn’t think they’d hear them. Snake turned to Corrinne.

“Now!”

The two quickly made their way out of the underbrush, as quietly as possible, before dashing across the open ground, vaulting over the sandbags, sprinting across the cleared area inside the camp, and crawling under the bushes.

Snake and Corrinne crouched low, quietly catching their breaths as they did their best to remain completely still in the small gap in the middle of the cluster of bushes.

There were no shouts, no alarms rung, nothing. There was only the steady shuffle of the next patrol of Primids as they marched past. At least they hadn’t been seen. Some stealth team they’d be if they’d gotten caught by the first patrol.  

Snake looked around as best he could through the leaves of the bush. The view wasn’t great, but it was good enough for reconnaissance purposes.

Through the tangle of leaves and branches, Snake could see the back of a number of large tanks that appeared to be hooked up to several generators, all of it set up under a cluster of tall, leafy trees. Stasis tubes by the look of it, probably what they were storing the monsters in when they weren’t attacking the fort. Through the foliage, Snake could make out some bits of purple. Was that the Subspace Portal?

On the bright side, there were plenty of trees and bushes in the camp to provide cover and beyond the Primids patrolling the perimeter, there didn’t seem to be anything or anyone else out and about the camp. Though there could be cameras around. But that was what chaff grenades were for.

Corrinne tapped his shoulder, and she pointed off to the side. Snake squinted through the underbrush and noticed a small cluster of tents off to the side. Snake nodded and pointed towards the stasis tubes, before signing with his hand to move for the tent. They could look at what else the enemy was packing later.

Keeping a low profile, Snake quietly made his way out of the cluster of bushes, pistol in hand, and quickly ran up to the side of one of the trees. A quick glance around confirmed that the coast was clear. He motioned to Corrinne, and she followed suit quickly.

The two quietly made their way through the campground towards the tents. It was still empty, with no sight of any people, Primids or monsters, other than the Primid sentries marching around the perimeter. This was supposed to be the camp their enemy’s most brilliant tactician? Something wasn’t right.

As they approached, they found a cluster of four tents. Snake quietly snuck up to one of the tents. Crouching next to the tent, Snake held completely still and listened, but only heard the sound of snoring. Snake looked over to see Corrinne crouched next to a different tent. He shook his head, and she shook hers. It seemed like both tents were occupied.

Snake crept up to the next tent and listened intently. While much quieter then the snorer in the last tent, he could hear rhythmic breathing. Glancing over to Corrinne, he shook his head. She made a motion towards the tent. Snake crept quietly across the way, and drew his pistol, and readied himself near the entrance to the tent. Corrinne readied her knife and nodded. The two threw open the entrance flaps of the tent, ready to fight. However, the tent was empty. Quickly, the two entered the tent and closed the flaps behind them.

Snake quickly activated his night vision goggles as Corrinne turned to stand guard.

This tent had several tables in it, littered with papers and files. In the center stood a computer with two monitors next to several empty disposable cups. On the right were some racks of what looked like test tubes and on the left was a coffeemaker, all surrounded by office clutter. Jackpot.

Snake rifled through the papers, doing his best to look for anything that seemed important. There seemed to be a lot of scientific papers on cloning that Snake briefly skimmed over. They’d probably be useful for somebody who knew what they’d be talking about. Snake quickly gathered all of the scientific papers he could see and quickly stuffed them under his bulletproof vest. His IDD would create too much light for the situation, and thankfully they were in a bone-dry desert, so water damage to the paper would be unlikely at best. Snake rifled through the other items on the desk, passing by more empty disposable cups, a few pens and pencils, and other assorted office supplies. In addition, there were several racks, containing multiple vials of unknown fluid that Snake avoided touching, just in case. Snake grumbled under his breath as he rounded back to the PC. It was far too dark to turn it on and remain stealthy, meaning their best bet was to just sabotage it. However, something caught Snake’s eye. 

An external hard drive. Nice. Quickly, Snake unplugged the external hard drive, and crammed it into one of his pockets.

Snake glanced over the rest of the tables, and turned, satisfied that he’d searched the area thoroughly. Quickly turning, he tapped Corrinne on the shoulder and whispered in her ear.

“Computer, straight behind you. Probably worth frying it.”

Snake readied his pistol and knife, and turned to stand guard as Corrinne turned her attention to the computer. Peering out of the crack in the tent’s opening, Snake looked around. It was still quiet.

There was a quiet splashing sound behind him. In a few seconds, Corrinne returned, recorking a water bottle.

“Computer bath done. Let’s move. Stasis tubes next.”

Quickly the two issued from the tent, weapons ready, but thankfully not needed. The area was a quite and peaceful as it had been before they’d entered the tent. Quickly, the two made their way back into the vegetation, and made a beeline towards the stasis tubes, keeping a low profile, and keeping their footfalls quiet.

It was quite some distance across the campground, but due to the lack of enemy presence, and Snake and Corrinne were able to cross the campground fairly quickly.

Eventually, they got closer to the area where the stasis tubes were. Snake quietly slunk up to a cluster of scrubby trees and peered through the branches at the area in front of them. There were dozens of stasis tubes, all in rows, and more then he’d originally seen. All of them housed a single monster. Some were holding Giant Spotty Bulborbs, while others contained Giant Fiery Blowhogs. A few patrols of Primids marched around the stasis tubes. To the right of the test tubes was a desk with some sort of control panel, next to a large canvas that was stretched tightly with four ropes tied to the nearby trees. On the canvas sat a large, swirling portal.

“I count 12 rows,” whispered Corrinne. “And 10 tubes per row. They all look full to me.”

“That’s a lot of monsters,” whispered Snake uneasily. “How are they even getting them here?”

“Probably through the portal,” whispered Corrinne.

“No, I mean that those are huge test tubes. Even DK or Bowser would have a hard time carrying those around, let alone with monsters in them,” whispered Snake.

Corrinne shrugged. “Telekinesis?”

“That’s a strong telekinetic,” whispered Snake as he pulled out his camera and began to take pictures of the array of stasis tubes. “I’ve fought one before. You don’t take those guys lightly. They can usually read your mind. And anyway, none of the enemy have any of those kinds of powers that we know of. Maybe they’ve got an ally that’s giant or super strong?”

“Maybe. Hard to say without actually seeing them in action,” whispered Corrinne, as Snake continued to take pictures.  

“Say,” whispered Corrinne suddenly. “You see those flashing things on the monsters?”

“Where?” whispered Snake.

“Under the neck.”

Snake zoomed in with his camera on one of the Spotty Bulborbs. Sure enough, there was a small chip, blinking with red and green lights.

“Huh. I guess that’s how they’re controlling the monsters,” said Snake as he zoomed in and snapped a few pictures of the chip.

“I guess. You want me to try and turn one of the monsters around? See if there’s anything else on them? I think that solution is like 99% water.”

Snake paused. “Dunno. Let’s snoop around a bit first. See if there’s anything else before we run the risk of waking one of these things up.”

Corrinne nodded. “And also the portal.”

“Yeah. See if there’s anything to learn up close.”

“You think we can get any closer to the stasis tubes?” whispered Corrinne.

“Might be hard with the patrols,” whispered Snake. “There’s not much cover out there. We’d get spotted pretty quickly.”

“I could create a distraction?” whispered Corrinne. 

“Maybe, but that doesn’t fix the lack of cover.”

“We could take out the Primids?”

“Not worth it,” said Snake, after a moment of consideration. “I don’t see any way we can take them all out quickly enough without being spotted. And anyway, I have a clear line of sight of the control panels. That should be enough, I’d think. The gearheads can probably figure out what they do pretty quickly.”

“Then there’s just the portal,” whispered Corrinne.

“Yeah.”

Snake scanned the area and saw a cluster of bushes some distance away.

“You think we could get to those bushes over there without being seen?” asked Snake. “We’d get a better view of it. Maybe there’s some intel to gather at those tables too?”

“Probably. And anyway, security has been pretty light. We can fight our way out if we get spotted,” said Corrinne.

“That’s what I don’t like actually. Security’s too light. Where are all the enemies we were fighting earlier?” asked Snake.

Corrinne shrugged. “I don’t know. But I do know that I can make an ice platform, fly us out of here and get us about 2 miles away before my concentration breaks. As long as we’re not separated, we’re fine. Just like what happened in Zanzibar Land.”

“Zanzibar land was a disaster,” whispered Snake dryly.

Suddenly, Snake caught something out of the corner of his eye, coming from behind.

“Movement!” he hissed, as he dropped to the ground in the long shadow the trees. Corrinne followed suit immediately, and the two craned their necks to see what was going on.

What they saw made Snake clench his hand on his pistol tightly. Because three silhouettes were walking straight at them.

Chapter Text

Act 10: Snake

Chapter 3: White Noise

Snake froze, his entire body tensed, as the three silhouettes walked in their direction. He glanced around without moving his head, trying to find an exit. They’d have to make a break for it, most likely. Though if they got the monsters out of their stasis tubes fast enough, they’d almost certainly have to use Corrinne’s ice platform to get out of there. Though even that wasn’t a guarantee, those monsters were fast when they got moving. Even if they were able to make two miles on the monsters, the question still remained if they could stay ahead of them.

And the worst part was that Roy would probably not be able to get to them very quickly even if they called for help. Even if Palutena used a light platform to ferry all the Smashers, they would still have to find them in the pitch black with a bright light platform beneath their feet. They’d need a flare, as well as to turn their comms back on, so Roy could track them. They’d also need…..

Suddenly, Snake was shaken out of his thoughts with a single noise.

A loud, lengthy yawn.

Snake’s eyes snapped back to the silhouettes, now close enough to see their faces. It was Dr. Mario, Mr. L and Nurse Peach. With Dr. Mario in the middle of a massive yawn. They weren’t even looking at them, they were just walking towards the stasis tubes.

They hadn’t been spotted.

As they got closer, they could hear Dr. Mario talking.

“Peach, dear, could you get some coffee going?”

“Of course, doctor!” said Nurse Peach cheerily.

“Thank you. These late-night reinforcements are just the worst,” said Dr. Mario. “And Mr. L, I need you with me at the portal.”

“Yes, sir,” said Mr. L.

Snake held stock still as Dr. Mario and company walked straight past them, no more than an arm’s length in front of them.

But in a moment, they were walking past and had their backs turned to them.

As the party moved further off, Snake finally relaxed.

“Well, that was closer than I would have liked,” whispered Corrinne, breaking the silence after Dr. Mario had gone some distance away.

“Tell me about it,” grumbled Snake under his breath.

“Y’know, there’s three of them, and there were three occupied tents earlier, right?” said Corrinne. “You think that Robin isn’t here with them?”

Snake paused. “Seems that way, yeah. Those papers I grabbed were scientific, not strategic from what I saw. But either way, we should move, they’re going around to the portal. Let’s see what they’re up to. Let’s go to that group of bushes over there.”

“Sounds good!”

“All right. On my mark.”

Snake watched intently as one of the Primid patrols passed their position.

“Now!”

Quickly the two leapt from the shadows and dashed as quietly as they could from cover to cover until they were at a cluster of trees close to the portal.

Snake put his back to the trunk of a tree and poked his head out.

Dr. Mario and Mr. L were standing near the portal, as Dr. Mario seemed to be engrossed with something on a tablet.

Dr. Mario looked up and said something that Snake couldn’t hear to Mr. L, before turning to Nurse Peach, who had come up from behind him with two steaming cups of coffee. Handing one to Dr. Mario, Nurse Peach spared no time taking a sip from the other cup.

Suddenly, Dr. Mario motioned to Mr. L and they walked away from the portal in the same direction that Nurse Peach had walked from, disappearing from sight behind the stasis tubes.

A few moments later, rows of Primids came marching out of the portal. Snake quickly pulled out his camera and took some more pictures. So, this was how they moved their forces.

Snake heard Corrinne shift from behind him and saw her stand up and nock and arrow to her bow.

“What are you doing?” asked Snake in a whisper.

“I just realized, the portal has to be on a flat surface,” whispered Corrinne. “Remember the reports from the others? Everybody mentioned that the portal was on a flat surface. Roy said the portal was on a concrete wall in the basement of one of the capital buildings, Mario’s team found the portal in Wily’s base, Link’s found their portal in Dr. Mario’s base, and Samus’s team found their portal in an underground base. What do all of those have in common?”

“Flat walls,” said Snake.

“Exactly. That’s why they have the canvas there, it’s their flat surface. If I shoot the ropes holding the canvas, they won’t have a flat surface anymore. Maybe we can disrupt the portal and cut off their reinforcements?”

“That’s probably not gonna stop them for long,” said Snake. “It won’t be hard to put the canvas back up. And I’m sure they won’t have too many issues getting another portal out here, however they’re doing it.”

“I mean, yeah,” said Corrinne. “But it will definitely set them back and buy us more time. It’s not like there’s much more for us to see here. We’ve already cased out the place, we’ve already captured papers and a hard drive from that workstation earlier, we don’t have to stick around. Let’s sabotage their portal and get out of here!”

Snake grumbled under his breath. Corrinne had always favored ambushes and sabotage, even if it meant blowing their cover. According to Corrin, it was something she’d done regularly during the Nohrian Civil War. That being said, there was a very valid reason that she’d been so feared among Garon’s forces.

Snake nodded. “All right, fair enough. Though if we do that, we’re gonna have to get out of here quickly. No way to hide the portal going down with Primids literally walking through it.”

“I can take out the Primids with my water, you can shoot down the canvas, and then from there, it’s just the three of them. The odds aren’t that bad, especially if I freeze one of them in a block of ice while I have my water out. We have the element of surprise.”

“What about the monsters?” whispered Snake. “If they notice that, they’re not just gonna sit there. They’re gonna sic those monsters on us and then it’s gonna be 100 to 1 odds”

Corrinne paused. “Ok, good point. What about this, we shoot down the canvas and then I bail us out of here on an ice platform. I’ll get us as far as I can, and then we leg it from there. Even over the riverbed, it’s gonna be hard catching up with that kind of incline,” whispered Corrinne. “And anyway, If I go high up, they’re not gonna see us, especially with all those bright lights. I’ll have to drop us off a bit closer on the riverbed if I go up super high, but it will be very hard for them to track us down.”

Snake considered it for a moment. “All right, that seems feasible. Wait a minute. What if we used the monsters against them?”

“How are you gonna do that?” asked Corrinne.

“Those control chips. They probably run off of a wireless signal.”

“Yeah?”

“I have chaff grenades. I can temporarily cut their connection.”

Corrin chuckled darkly. “Ohohoho, now this is a plan!”

“Here’s the idea. First, I shoot the canvas down. We cut their reinforcements and their connection to wherever that portal leads. Next, I shoot the glass of the closest stasis tube. Meanwhile, you get your ice platform ready. The stasis tube is close enough that I should be able to throw a chaff grenade close enough to affect it and maybe a few tubes around it. Then, they’ll have to deal with a monster on the loose and a downed portal, while we’ll be off into the night sky before they know what hit them.”

“Oh, I like this plan,” said Corrinne.

Snake chuckled. “I figured you would. Get that ice platform ready, yeah?”

“All right. Gimme a second.”

Quickly, Snake stowed his camera and secured it tightly in his pocket, before drawing his pistol, and swiping a chaff grenade off of his belt.

“Ready?”

Corrinne reached for her water bottle. “You betcha! Let’s cause some chaos!”

Snake aimed down the sights of his pistol and assessed his surroundings. No wind, no noise, no complications. Just a few shots and then they’d be out of there. Nice and simple.

Snake heard the sound of water rapidly freezing behind him and glanced back to see Corrinne crouching next to a small platform with a solid base, about 5 inches thick. With a flick of her wrist, she manipulated water from another water bottle and shaped it into the shape of a guardrail around the base, before freezing it. Quickly, she slid underneath the guardrail, and flashed a thumbs up.

Snake returned his attention to the portal and levelled his pistol.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. No need to rush. No need to mess up. Nice and easy.

And with that, he pulled the trigger.

The shot landed true, severing the top right rope that was formerly securing the canvas with one clean shot. With lightning reflexes, Snake lowered his weapon and fired off three shots in rapid succession at the rope below it. If he didn’t have time to line up a shot, he’d just make it up with quantity over quality. The first shot missed, but the second nicked the side, and the third hit the rope square on.

The rope began to unravel, further causing the canvas to sag. The portal flickered for a moment, as the canvas continued to sag to the ground, before dissipating.

There was a shout of surprise from Dr. Mario and Mr. L and a shriek from Nurse Peach. Immediately, they jumped and started looking around. The Primids looked around, confused.

No time to waste. Turning his aim, Snake dumped the rest of his magazine into the nearest stasis tube, fracturing the glass with several holes, causing the fluid to drain. To Snake’s satisfaction, the Spotty Bulborb inside appeared to wake up.

Yanking the pin of the chaff grenade with his thumb, Snake lobbed it at the stasis tank.

“Over there!” shouted Dr. Mario, pointing in their direction, and drawing a bonesaw. “Peachy, with me! Mr. L, Primids! Get the monster!”

The next moment, the chaff grenade went off. It was followed with a massive roar from the monster as it shattered the glass of the tank, crashing out and getting its bearings, simultaneously bowling over some of the Primids as it lumbered about.

“Peach, go help Mr. L!” shouted Dr. Mario. “Don’t let that thing smash any of the other tanks!”

“Yes doctor!” shouted Nurse Peach over the enraged roars of the monster.

It was to no avail, as the Spotty Bulborb was busy ignoring Mr. L and the controller that he was frantically fiddling with, and immediately crashed into another one of the stasis tanks, smashing through the glass, and waking up the Firey Blowhog inside.

But Snake didn’t watch any more, as he noticed Dr. Mario rushing towards their position.

Without a moment of delay, Snake turned and vaulted over the railing of Corrinne’s ice platform, and took a knee with his pistol still at the ready.

“Go!” he whispered.

Corrinne quickly gestured upward with her hands, and the platform whizzed upward. Snake winced as they soared into the sky, his stomach churning as they whizzed into the chilly night air at high speeds. It felt like riding a roller coaster. And Snake didn’t like roller coasters. But if a getting out safely involved roller coasters or something like it, Snake could stomach it.

As they flew away, Snake caught a glimpse of Dr. Mario searching around angrily, while his compatriots desperately tried to contain the now two rampaging monsters but was cut off by the trees before he could see anything more.

The two stood in silence, as Corrinne guided the ice platform towards the riverbed, some distance away from the bright lights of the camp and the roars of the monsters. The wind wasn’t much warmer the ice beneath his feet, but Snake ignored his stinging ears in favor of watching the enemy camp.

Corrinne continued to fly the ice platform in a straight line for some time. The ground came up to meet them as they moved towards the ascending side of the mountain. Eventually, the platform was only about a few meters off the ground. Corrinne slowed down the platform’s speed, until it touched down gently on the ground.

As the platform landed, Snake took a moment and reloaded his pistol. They were most likely safe, but it didn’t hurt to have a full magazine when there were potentially house sized monsters running around.

“Well, that didn’t go too badly!” said Corrinne. She flicked her hand, and the entire ice platform turned back into water, and collapsed into the gravel. “I hope they liked that little surprise we left for them!”

Snake rolled his eyes. “We got out safely, captured some intel, and sabotaged their efforts. Not bad in my book. That Dr. Mario isn’t much of a field commander, is he?”

“Nope. Though that begs the question, where is Robin?”

“That’s the part I don’t like. Come on. Let’s get back to Roy and let him know what’s going on. Give him a heads up that we aren’t going up against Robin.”

“Sounds good to me!”

Some time later….

Snake hauled himself back onto the path with a grumble. They’d followed the riverbed back, which was a good guide as the moon had set and they’d had nothing but starlight to guide them back. Thankfully the riverbed had been easy to follow in the low light situation. However, they hadn’t been able to figure out how they’d gotten down the steep side of the path, so they’d had to scramble up over the rocks and shrubs in the dark. It had gone about as well as one would expect in the near pitch-black hours before dawn.

As the two made their way up the road towards the gate, the sun began peeking over the horizon, illuminating the world with pale sunlight. It made Snake blink, but the light was good. Corrinne had been dragging for the last mile or so, and Snake could feel the fatigue setting in as well. It had been a fairly long night. Anything to wake them up for the last leg of their trek was a good thing in Snake’s book.

The sunlight lit up the walls of Cloudbreak Fort as they rounded the bend in the mountain path, making the stone walls almost glow from the morning rays as they approached.

 As they drew closer, the gate creaked open, and Ike, Ken and Simon stepped out to meet them.

“Welcome back my friends!” said Simon. “I hope your mission was fruitful!”

“It went well,” said Snake. “Is Roy awake? We have some stuff to report.”

“He woke us all up,” said Ken. “Packrat’s drones picked you up about 10 minutes ago. Roy wanted you to brief us all with what you found.”

Snake grumbled under his breath as Corrinne sighed. “Of course, he did. All right, let’s get this over with.”

“Yeah, sorry. Roy’s call not ours,” said Ike.

Snake shrugged. “It is what it is. We’ll keep it brief.”

“That would be appreciated,” said Ken. “Follow me, Roy’s having us meet in the dining hall.”

Snake and Corrinne followed Ken into the mess room as Simon and Ike closed the gate and barred it behind them.

The other Smashers were gathered around, drinking what smelled like tea. Roy stood up, and handed the two cups of tea as they walked in.

“Sorry to impose on you so quickly after you got back, but I figured we could figure out what to do while you guys get some sleep,” said Roy.

“It’s fine. Everybody gather around, we’re only going over this once,” said Snake.

“I’ll second that,” muttered Corrinne as she took a sip of her tea.

Snake took a quick gulp of his tea, and winced, before swallowing hard. It was hotter than he would have preferred.

Roy gave him an apologetic look as Simon and Ike walked into the mess hall.

“Sorry, we just finished brewing it. On the flip side, its fresh and hot.”

Snake shrugged. “Good enough for me. I can wait a few minutes. By the way, pull out your laptop, I got some pictures for you.”

“Awesome,” said Roy, as he rushed over to where his laptop was setup and fished a connection cord out of his bag. Snake produced his camera, and handed it to Roy, who attached the cord to the camera and began transferring the files.

“Oh, by the way. These are also for you,” Snake said, producing the papers and the external drive. “Didn’t get to see much of them in the dark, but I’d guess there’s something important in that mess. Don’t worry about the computer it was attached to, Corrinne already fried it.”

Roy raised an eyebrow. “You got into their camp?”

“Oh yeah,” said Corrinne. “We went through the whole place. Also disabled their portal, and sicced some of their own monsters on them. It was a good night.”

“You got their portal!?” said Roy in surprise, garnering the attention of the other Smashers.

“Yeah,” said Snake. “We’ll get there when we get there. We’ll start from the beginning.”

“Fair enough,” said Roy. Raising his voice, he said, “All right, is everybody here?”

There was a chorus of assent as Snake gulped down his now sufficiently cooled tea.

Roy turned towards them. “All right. The floor is yours.”

Snake nodded. “So, we get down the mountainside, and near their camp, and we scope the place out. Their camp isn’t looking too fancy, but there’s a lot of tree cover and I can’t see much off of my Cipher, so we decide to get in there and figure out what’s going on….”

A little later….

“So, we’re up against Dr. Mario,” said Roy, his brows furrowed deep in thought.

“I thought we were fighting Robin,” said Ike.

“We did too, but it’s Dr. Mario and his two lackeys commanding the forces at the bottom of the mountain,” said Snake.

“Yeah. There was no sign of Robin at all,” said Corrinne. “Which begs the question, where is she?”

“But regardless of where she is, she’ll have a hard time getting back to Dr. Mario, right?” asked Shulk. “Since you took out their portal?”

“I’d think so,” said Snake. “Or at least delay her travel plans somewhat.”

“Speaking of that,” said Roy. “You said you shot the ropes of the canvas that the Subspace Portal was on, and it faded?”

“That’s right,” said Corrinne. “It just kind of fizzled out.”

“And how tightly was the canvas pulled?” asked Roy.

“It was pulled taut. As tightly as they could get it without ripping it in half by the looks of it,” said Snake.

“Hmm. The portal we saw in Unity City was on a wall in the basement, and we never saw the portal that Robin had from our earlier mission. Though based on what you were able to do, I think it’s safe to say that Subspace Portals require a flat surface, otherwise the portal collapses on itself.”

“That’s what we were thinking,” said Corrinne.

“Well, I’m glad your hunch was correct, that’s got to have thrown a wrench into whatever plans they had,” said Roy.

“I mean, I’m glad it worked here, but that’s not always gonna work. Weren’t a few of the other Subspace Portals on concrete walls?” asked Shulk.

“I mean, that’s not a problem for somebody with explosives,” said Captain N.

“Explosives may not even be necessary,” said Ryu.

“Only if you’re willing to risk your knuckles by punching concrete,” said Little Mac. “Which for the record is not me.”

That drew a collective laugh from all of the gathered Smashers.

“Explosives are preferable,” said Roy, after he’d finished laughing. “Or even more preferably, we drive them back and force them to close the portal themselves, just like we did on the other missions.”

“I like that one better!” said Cloud. “Beat the bad guys and don’t punch concrete! Win – win if you ask me!”

That drew another round of laughter.

“All right, all right,” said Roy. “You got anything else?”

“Nope,” said Snake promptly.

“Hear, hear,” muttered Corrinne tiredly.

“All right then. Good work you two. Go get some sleep. I’m gonna go through these papers and the hard drive you got and see what I dig up. Maybe I can figure out where Robin is.”

“Sounds good, boss,” grunted Snake as he stood up and the other Smashers began to disperse and talk amongst themselves. Without any further delay, Snake began walking towards the barracks. It was time for a well-deserved nap.

A few hours later, at Sienne, the Capital of Begnion….

Robin walked down the major road to Sienne, a spring in her step as the fresh morning breeze tousled her pigtails. She whistled a little to the march of her contingent of Primids. It had taken some convincing to get a second portal for her little plan to work, but boy oh boy was it about to be worth it. This was going to be fun. Time to make all those stuffy Senate nobles sweat bullets.

With Dr. Mario in charge of the main force in the Grann Desert west of Sienne, Robin had used her second portal to put herself in the river valley east of Sienne. Honestly, she didn’t have enough troops massed there at the moment to launch a proper assault on Sienne, since she’d only gotten to her current camp site early on the previous evening, but any sort of attack on the capitol would cause the stuffy rich folks to panic and make the Smashers return to guard the city. That would mess up any strategy the Smashers had and keep them guessing. From there, it would be easier to break through the pass, if it was even still defended, and get the main bulk of her forces on the way.

Even Dr. Mario’s bungle last night wasn’t enough to dampen her spirits. It was unfortunate, but the loss of papers and data still played into her plans just fine. And while the loss of the portal was a heavier blow, it wasn’t the end of the world. They’d already contacted Wind Feather and the portal was being set up again even as they marched. There was still something to work with out of that situation, and Robin most certainly intended to make the most of it, but that was a problem that she could deal with in about an hour from now.

She grinned as the road bended. All of the travelers they’d scared off had to have reached the gate by now. She turned to Lucina, Dark Pit, Dark Samus, Dark Link and Blood Falcon, who were walking behind her.

“We need to pick up the pace now. Let’s go!”

Robin began running down the road. Her children quickly followed suit. The Primids, after a moment, picked up the pace, thundering behind Robin.

In an instant they were around the bend and approaching the gates. Robin could even see the drawbridge across the moat, with a few soldiers scrambling inside the gate. Robin grinned. Even if they got that drawbridge up before they got there, her mission would be successful.

However, the drawbridge didn’t move. Instead, as she neared the draw bridge, the soldiers disappeared, and a lone figure stepped out from behind the gate, sword drawn. Robin allowed herself a small smile as the figure strode confidently out onto the drawbridge, alone. He looked really good in that cape. She slowed down to a stop at the front of the drawbridge. Her forces followed suit.

“Mother?” asked Lucina. “Why are we stopping?”

“This is turning into an interesting situation,” she said. “Let’s see how this plays out. Follow my lead.”

Raising her voice, Robin shouted, “Everybody halt!”

As they came to a running stop, Robin clutched at the handle of her sword. Hopefully, she wasn’t going to need it.

With a deep breath, Robin took a few steps out onto the drawbridge in front of her troops.

As she did, the man took a horn that was slung to his side and blew it loudly. After a moment, he returned the horn to his side.

“Hello, Robin,” said Chrom. “I’ve been expecting you.”

Chapter Text

Smash Biker Squad

Amongst the Smashers, there is a very unusual group of warriors. This group doesn’t have an official name but considering they mostly ride motorcycles as transportation, I’m going to call them the Smash Biker Squad. This group of Smashers operates primarily on their home world of Pangea and for the most part ride motorcycles. This group consists of Ryu, Ken Masters, Cloud Strife, Little Mac, Shulk, Captain N, Terry Bogard, and Sora. The exceptions to riding motorcycles are Shulk, who is said to drive a modified RV, and Sora, who is unable to drive due to his age and rides along with the other Smashers.

This group of Smashers are a regular attendee of most fighting tournaments on their home world of Gaia, notably having never attended the Tekken tournaments set up by the Mishima family. Despite this, for the tournaments that they do attend, they have a stellar track record, as at least one member has made it to the top three of every single tournament they’ve attended, and some top threes have been completely swept by this group of fighters. It’s unknown how the group formed or how each member joined, but I doubt it’s anything more than a group of kindred spirits finding more kindred spirits to go to fighting tournaments with.

They are also known for their heroics, having ridden to aid disaster-stricken areas, and having soundly defeated countless ruffians who were hassling an unfortunate soul near them. Most of the members have individual feats of their own, but I’ll address those in their individual bios.

I also want to mention that various members of the group have mentioned training with other members of the group on a regular basis. This means that all of the members of this group have likely extensive experience battling skilled hand to hand combatants and swordsmen, just from training amongst other members of the group.

As a whole, while information is somewhat sparse and mostly second hand about their heroics, these are warriors who stand up for the little guy and enjoy a good fight. Because of this they’re quite sturdy and skilled fighters. However, due to the circumstances that they generall fight under, it may be possible to defeat them with opponents and combat styles that are unconventional to them.

Cloud Strife of Midgar

Threat Level: 4

Cloud Strife of Midgar is a powerful swordsman affiliated with AVALANCHE, the group responsible for overthrowing the powerful Shinra Corp. Cloud was formerly a SOLDIER, an elite soldier of Shinra Corperation, but defected at some point for unknown reasons and became a mercenary. Some time later he was recruited into AVALANCHE and played a critical role in many of their exploits. However, Cloud’s biggest claim to fame are his fights against Sephiroth, the poster child of the SOLDIER program, who had a flawless mission record previous to his fights with Cloud. Judging by descriptions of their fights, it’s clear that Cloud moreso survived Sephiroth long enough to prevent Sephiroth from completing his mission goals in their earlier battles. However, as time went on, Cloud went on to increase his strength and power in between their subsequent rematches until he could take on Sephiroth on an at least even playing field. Cloud employs a strength-based style that makes excellent use of his sword, the Haxium Buster Blade, which appears to give him a significant advantage over Sephiroth’s style. What I mean to say by this is that Sephiroth is the stronger of the two, but Cloud’s specific style and weapon tilt the odds in his favor in their matchup. While Cloud is no weakling, I don’t think he’d do so well against a speed focused or defense focused sword user. While Cloud is primarily a swordsman, he’s also a competent hand to hand combatant, and appears to be trained at least in the usage of firearms and has been seen with a standard Shinra rifle in the past, though he seems to strongly prefer the use of his sword. Lastly, I want to mention that Cloud has fought Sephiroth for lengthy periods of time on multiple occasions, displaying remarkable stamina.

However, Cloud isn’t without his weaknesses. Like all swordsmen, he’s at a strong disadvantage without his sword, and Cloud is rarely seen armed with any weapon other than the Buster Sword. Additionally, it’s also not unreasonable to assume that the weight of the Buster Sword would tire Cloud out after a protracted duel, making his stamina impressive, but all the more necessary to keep on fighting in a protracted engagement. Obviously, this is only an advantage for an opponent capable of outlasting Cloud, which is probably done better by evading his strikes more than trying to stonewall him with defensive swordplay. Lastly, it appears that Cloud’s ranged arsenal is limited due to the fact that he heavily prefers using the Buster Sword, and thus is limited to mostly wind blades for ranged offense. Cloud has failed to pull his assault rifle in many instances in which it would be superior to his wind blades, and yet he continues to rely on them. Cloud is strong, capable of taking on Sephiroth, but he has weaknesses, and exploitable ones at that.

Little Mac of New Rourke City

Threat Level: 3

Little Mac of New Rourke City is a former professional boxer, and former heavyweight champion of the World Boxing Association of Gaia. As somebody who by all rights, should be in the lightweight division of the boxing association, this is an extremely impressive feat, speaking to a fighter who is very skilled in one-on-one confrontations. As his title would suggest, Little Mac is a skilled boxer, trained and coached by the boxing legend Doc Louis himself. In the ring, Little Mac has defeated many powerful heavyweight boxers such as King Hippo and Mr. Sandman on his way to his championship belt and in defense of his championship, holding off all comers until his retirement from regular competitions. Little Mac accomplishes all this through superior physicality and being able to read his opponents. In terms of physicality, Little Mac has near inhuman stamina, strength, speed and durability, which has allowed him to go the distance against many of his opponents by enduring and dodging their powerful hits for long enough for him to strike back with a lightning fast knockout punch. While I’m not an expert on boxing forms or styles, it’s abundantly clear that Little Mac’s form is well practiced. Based on his tournament showings, it’s clear that while Little Mac does not enjoy fighting against weapon users and other martial artists, he appears to have the tools and experience to level the playing field. One thing to note is that Little Mac does give grapplers a very wide berth, as seen during his battle against Zangief in the Street Fighter Tournament. I do want to mention that it seems that Little Mac has quite a bit of experience reading his opponents and getting into their head. This strategy has been observed through many of his championship defense matches, and his mentor Doc Louis is also known for specializing in this. Doubtless, he was taught by Doc Louis to do this, making Little Mac a very dangerous opponent in a one on one fight.

Little Mac, however, is quite overspecialized. Mac has never been seen fighting more than one opponent at once, and while he’s very fast, he lacks any ranged attacks at all in any capacity, his range is limited to the length of his arms. It is also not unreasonable to think that Little Mac would suffer more than others on uneven ground, as he’s used to fighting in a ring with no enviromental obstacles to overcome. Make sure to use his lack of range and lack of experience fighting in different environments against him, and he won’t be too difficult to handle.

Shulk of Bionis

Threat Level: 3

Shulk of Bionis is an unusual warrior with a penchant for mechanical tinkering. Shulk is a central figure in the events leading to the current peace that exists between the continents of Bionis and Mechonis which were previously at war, though the exact events were never well publicized. Despite this, one thing is clear, and that’s that Shulk and small unit were able to defeat several bad actors that were trying to continue the conflict and restore peace to both continents.

What makes Shulk so interesting is his personal weapon, a blade known as the “Monado”. The significance of such an unusual name is unknown but what is known is that Shulk built it himself, and the weapon emits a plasma blade that appears to have multiple modes, though very little is known about the specifics of what each mode does. The physical part of the blade acts as a proficient bludgeoning weapon in its own right, and it allows Shulk to very precisely decide whether to use lethal or nonlethal force with presumably the flick of a switch or press of a button on his weapon. In terms of style, Shulk is a balance style swordfighter, and while he clearly has experience, his pure technique doesn’t appear to be the most refined. This is offset by his weapon’s unique functions, and his hand to hand combat skills. While Shulk clearly prefers the use of a blade, he’s also a proficient hand to hand combatant, most likely learned from his martial arts focused compatriots. In terms of vehicles, Shulk is the only member of the Biker Squad to drive a vehicle but not ride a motorcycle. Instead, he drives a modified RV. Its modifications are unknown, but it has been recorded by multiple eyewitness accounts to be able to block standard bullets and lasers with no difficulty. When on dangerous missions, Shulk drives his entire group around in the RV so as to not endanger their much more fragile motorcycles. It’s never been spotted with any mounted weaponry, but it apparently has no issues off-roading and can rival sports cars with its speed on well paved roads. It’s also been noted that Shulk has a mechanical aptitude and is quite the creative thinker. While this is most likely not the most applicable in battle, it may allow him to set up in an urban environment and shape the battlefield to his advantage if given time.

To counter Shulk, I think that the most important thing to do is to try and disarm him. Shulk is a warrior that seems very dependent on his weapon, at least in comparison to most of the other Smashers. While his hand-to-hand combat skill isn’t to be completely discounted, it’s very clearly not his strong suit, and he’s not known to carry any other weapons on him. It may also be possible to provoke him by endangering or damaging his RV, as Shulk is said to be very protective of it. While Shulk’s weapon may prove to be a very flexible weapon, it’s not known for transforming or having any unusual powers beyond the plasma blade, so I’d imagine that it shouldn’t pose too much of a threat to a powerful fighter. Just approach with caution and Shulk shouldn’t be too bad of a Smasher to take out.

Act 10: Snake

Chapter 4: Shifting Tides

Sienne, Inside the Imperial Palace….

Peach sat at a table in a royally decorated meeting room in the Imperial Palace, sipping a cup of tea. Next to her, sat Corrin in his proud samurai armor and Marth, in his customary armor and cape.

Across from her sat Empress Sanaki and a handful of her advisors. Next to them stood Sigrun, Tanith and a few other members of the Imperial Guard.

The room was decorated to the smallest detail, the floors were covered with elaborate carpets, ornate paintings hung on the walls, and luxurious armchairs and couches sat around the room. A large table sat in the middle, covered with intricate carvings.

Thankfully the chairs were quite comfortable, as the meeting had been going for a few hours already, discussing possible battle plans and safety risks.

“We appreciate all of your assistance,” said Empress Sanaki.

“Oh, it’s no trouble. It’s what we Smashers do!” said Peach with a smile.

“Were there any other matters you wished to discuss, your majesty?” asked Corrin.

“No, I believe that the matters we discussed were all that was on the table,” said the Empress. “Thank you so much for your time.”

“It is our honor to defend Begnion. We will not fail,” said Marth with a determined smile.

The sound of a horn being blown was heard. Everyone jumped to their feet.

“What was that!?” demanded Sigrun.

“That’s Chrom’s horn, isn’t it?” asked Corrin.

“I think so,” said Marth with alarm.

Peach pulled out a small PDA and did a quick search.

“He’s at the eastern gate! We need to find out what’s happening!” said Peach. “Hurry!”

At the Eastern Gate……

“Oh, you’ve been expecting me?” said Robin.

“Yes. Yes, I have. You can’t fool me,” said Chrom evenly.

“Oh? I can’t?” asked Robin. “Then tell me. Why didn’t I attack the western, northern or southern gates?”

“Because the sun is rising behind you. That would make the defenders look into the sun and be at a disadvantage. I was waiting by the western gate yesterday evening,” said Chrom.

“Oh, you were waiting for me? Aww, that’s so sweet!” said Robin. Her friendly tone of voice darkened slightly. “Why did I not attack with monsters?”

Chrom scoffed. “You don’t control them. They’re under the control of that Dr. Mario guy, right? You never trust any forces but your own. You’ve always been suspicious of mercenaries.”

“And why didn’t I just have my portal made closer than Begnion? Why am I still using my portal in the Grann Desert?” asked Robin.

Chrom said, “You’re creating a diversion. With our forces defending Cloudbreak Pass, we are split into two groups. You mean to force us to retreat from Cloudbreak Pass by causing trouble at the capitol. This lets you get your troops through Cloudbreak Pass, dislodges our forward group from a strong defensible position, and allows for a possible ambush on the way back to Sienne. As for the portal, I’d imagine that portal in the Grann Desert is a lot easier to defend since we’d have to extend so far to reach it. The place that Roy ran into you wasn’t where the real portal is, isn’t it?”

Robin chuckled wryly. “Oh, goodness, you do know me too well. I’ll give you this, you’re right about the portal, I had a small diversionary one made for my confrontation with Roy. The real one is…. elsewhere and better hidden, shall we say. Just curious, how did you know about the monsters?”

“I’ve also been listening on Roy. I’ve heard all about Dr. Mario’s usage of monsters in the battle at Cloudbreak Pass.”

“Oh, you have? Ah, yes, they’ve been quite useful.”

“I suppose they have.  However, you might have fooled the others, but you have not fooled me,” said Chrom. “You should take this opportunity to surrender. I’ve got you figured out, even if Roy hasn’t.”

“Wow. That’s pretty calculated for you,” said Robin. “Then I assume that you have a plan of your own then? Some sort of counter strategy to my grand plan?”

Chrom cracked a slight grin. “You could say that I do.”

“And what might that be?” asked Robin.

As if on cue, there was a loud thunder of feet behind Chrom.

“Chrom! What’s going on?” shouted Marth in something of a panic as he rushed through the gatehouse and onto the drawbridge. He had Falchion drawn in hand, and he stopped next to Chrom and took a fighting stance. Peach stepped confidently and stopped next to Marth, parasol in hand. Corrin calmly strode to Chrom’s other side. He placed his hands on the hilts of the two katanas at his side and drew both with one swift flourish. Fredrick rushed up to Chrom, axe in hand.

“Milord! We’re here and ready to fight!”

Stahl, Sully and Cordelia followed behind, lances at the ready, while Vaike and Gaius flanked them, axe brandished and knife at the ready respectively.

Fredrick slowed down when he saw Robin. “M..milady?”

“Aww, Fredrick! It’s so good to see you again!” said Robin. “How are those plum trees that I planted all those years ago?”

“They…are well,” said Fredrick curtly. “I have personally looked after them in your memory. I….do not believe that I will do so anymore.”

Robin’s smile fell slightly. “Thank you, Fredrick. I am truly grateful.”

“Fredrick, did you enact the plan?” asked Chrom.

“Yes, milord. The other gates are being guarded by the rest of the Shepherds,” said Fredrick.

“Robin,” said Chrom. “You can’t win. Surrender now.” 

“Why would I surrender? I’ve already made it so far, why turn back now?” asked Robin. “I’m literally at the gates of the capitol itself!”

“Because you know storming the city is impossible with the troops you’ve brought. You aren’t planning on attacking at all,” said Chrom. “You’re just trying to ruffle some feathers and pull Smashers away from the pass. Like I said before, you plan to divide and conquer.”

“Really now?” asked Robin. “I could have hundreds of thousands of primids over that hill behind me.”

“You wouldn’t be attacking the pass if you could get all of your primids here with those subspace portals,” said Chrom.

Robin just chuckled and raised her hand. “Well, I guess the game’s up. See you later, honey. CHARGE!”

The primids immediately began rushing towards the defenders.

Chrom roared, “For Begnion!” and rushed towards the primids. The other Smashers followed his lead and crashed into the line of Primids.

Chrom slashed through the enemies with fury. His strikes fell swift and heavy, hacking and slashing through dozens of primids. To his side, Corrin was destroying primids with an acrobatic, aggressive and flamboyant style, cleaving his way through the purplish masses with his twin katanas. On his right, Marth was employing a much more precise style, landing deadly thrusts and quick cuts, dancing his way through the enemy. Peach had her parasol extended in front of her, blasting the Primids with the blaster hidden in the tip of the umbrella. A few attempted to rip through her parsol, but quickly discovered that the parasol’s durable material was not so easily broken through. Peach swung her parasol back and knocked down another primid in front of her, before finishing it off with another shot. The Shepherds were also holding their own well, assisting the guards with cleaning up the primids that had managed to avoid the Smashers’s wrath.

As they made their way through the contingent of Primids, Chrom looked around quickly. Robin and her allies were nowhere in sight. He sighed. She’d probably brought those primids to cover her escape. As the last Primids fell, he sheathed his sword, and surveyed the situation. Chrom’s eyes fell on a book that was on the ground near the end of the drawbridge. He picked it up and rifled through it. A piece of paper folded neatly in half nearly fell out, but Chrom caught it. His eyes scanned over the contents of the slip of paper once, then twice. He sighed deeply, and shook his head, before flipping through the book and looking at a few pages. After a moment, Chrom pocketed the piece of paper and the book, before returning to where the other Smashers were.

“Let’s get back on the radio. I need to speak with Roy.”

At Cloudbreak Fort….

Ike raised an eyebrow as Roy violently spat out his coffee, misting his papers with a brownish drizzle of caffeine.

“She did WHAT now!?”

“Huh? What’s he on about?” asked Shulk.

“Dunno, but I don’t think I’m gonna like the answer,” said Ike.

“And she just ran?!” exclaimed Roy, running a hand though his hair.

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” asked Shulk.

“Maybe?” said Ike. “We’ll see.”

“No, you hang on to the book,” said Roy. “Yeah, I’ll give it a look when I get back. Tell them I have actionable intel and I’ll be sending a support force AFTER I strike the enemy, all right?”

“Sounds like some of us get to sleep in decent beds soon,” said Ike. “Nice.”

Shulk rolled his eyes. “Speak for yourself! I’ve got a good bed wherever I go!”

Ike rolled his eyes. “That RV of yours is ridiculous.”

“Huh, that’s a funny way of saying ‘engineering marvel’,” grinned Shulk.

“Seriously, who looks at an RV and decides that it’s a great base for a combat vehicle?”

“I do!”

Ike just rolled his eyes and returned his attention to Roy.

“All right. Thank you. Do that, by the way. We can use all the reinforcements we can get. All right, you keep a sharp eye out, all right? Will do. Roy out.”

“So, what’s the news?” asked Ike.

“Robin launched a surprise attack on Sienne and a lot of people are freaking out. They’re demanding that we all retreat to Sienne to protect the city,” said Roy. “I’m trying to get them to hold off for long enough that we attack Dr. Mario’s camp. Chrom’s doing what he can to keep them calm, and he’s gonna call in some backup.”

“Backup?” asked Shulk. “Who does he have to call?”

“A friend of his in HIA. A skilled tactician with an elite team, and he’s familiar with Robin.”

“So, he can just call in a Harmony Intelligence Agency team? Nice,” commented Ike.

“Well, apparently Chrom and the HIA guy go way back. But anyway, as for us, we’re gonna launch a strike on Dr. Mario’s camp and see if we can do some damage before we all fall back to Sienne. Chrom has a better defensive strategy closer to Sienne. And since we’ve bought enough time for the nearby provinces to evacuate, we don’t have to worry about civilian casualties.”

“All right, so we’ve got something going in our favor!” said Shulk. “When are we launching our attack?”

“As soon as we can,” said Roy with a sigh. “We’re already under a time crunch. Call the others, we’re gonna have to move, and quickly.”

Back in Sienne….

Chrom strode back into the meeting room of his villa, throwing the doors open with both hands. The other Smashers all looked up as he entered.

“So, what did Roy say?” asked Peach.

“It seems like he’s been fighting Dr. Mario all along. He had Snake and Corrinne do a reconnaissance of his camp last night, and they were able to disable his portal and grab some intel. Roy is going to launch an attack on his camp today and then fall back to Sienne before he gets flanked by Robin.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” said Corrin. “So, we need to hold out for just a little while longer then.”

“That’s correct,” said Chrom. “The entirety of the city is in a panic from Robin’s stunt, and it’s going to be down to us to help quell their fears. It’s a big city, so we’re going to be spread thin, but we wouldn’t be the Smashers if we weren’t up to the task.”

“Of course,” said Marth. “What do you have in mind?”

“Well, I’ve spoken with the city guard, and they’ve been put on high alert. They’re manning the walls as we speak. They’re more confident that they can hold the walls, but considering the number of people that are coming into the city for refuge, they’re really concerned about the gates. That’s where we come in,” said Chrom.

“Is this going to be something we’re doing for the rest of the time we’re here?” asked Peach.

“Well, hopefully not. I think we’ll mostly be needed to help out while large amounts of people are coming into the city. Once most of them get in the city and the rush starts tapering off, our presence won’t be needed so much. Also, when the other Smashers get here, we can guard the gates in shifts.”

“I see. So, how are we going to split ourselves up then?” asked Corrin.

“Sienne has four gates, one for each cardinal direction. I’m going to split the Shepherds into four groups, and each of us will go with one of the groups to each gate,” said Chrom. “We’ll have to relieve you when Roy gets back later today. Unfortunately for now, it’s just going to be us.”

Peach nodded. “We’ll just have to make do then. Have you assigned us to teams yet?”

“Theoretically, any of you should be able to go with any group of them,” said Chrom. “That being said, I did come up with some preliminary team pairings, but don’t feel like we have to go with them specifically.”

“I mean, we’re all right with whoever you send us with,” said Marth. “If anybody knows which Smashers would pair well with which Shepherds, it would be you.”

Suddenly, there was a smart knock at the door.

“Come in!” said Chrom.

Fredrick entered the room.

“Milord, a messenger from the Empress has delivered a message for you. You are to meet with her at the top of the hour for tea.”

“Thank you, Fredrick,” said Chrom. “Stay here for a minute, will you? We’re just wrapping up the planning.”

“Of course,” said Fredrick.

“All right, so I’m gonna have Peach go with Lissa’s team, Marth go with Gregor’s team, and Corrin go with Lon’qu’s team. They’re waiting in the courtyard while I brief you. Fredrick, I’m going to need you to fill in for me on our team while I’m meeting with the Empress.”

“Of course, milord. Shall I bring the Smashers to the courtyard, then?”

“Yeah, let’s do that. The faster we move, the faster people start to calm down.”

“Then follow me, please,” said Fredrick.

As Corrin and Peach followed Fredrick out of the room, Marth paused for a moment.

“What’s up?” asked Chrom.

“I wanted to make sure that you were doing all right,” said Marth. “You certainly look better then you did a few days ago,” remarked Marth. “But are you sure that you’re up to return to field duty?”

“Positive,” said Chrom.

“You seem to have turned around awfully quickly,” said Marth. “Are you sure that you’re all right? If you’re putting up a brave face….”

“Marth, you know I can handle this….” started Chrom.

“Can you?” asked Marth. “The lives of the people of Sienne are in your hands right now. Forgive me if this is insubordination, but are you in a mindset to lead?”

Chrom sighed. “You’re fine. And to answer your question, I’m in a mindset to lead. I know the risks, I know what this requires of me, and I know what could happen. My reason, my cause has not been shaken yet.”

“What is that, if you don’t mind me asking?” asked Marth.

“Would it put your mind at ease?” asked Chrom.

“It would put my mind at ease, yes,” said Marth.

“My nephew, Owain. He just turned 18 a few months ago and was named my heir. Of course, that’s without all of the recent developments, but even with Robin back in play, it still seems best to me to keep Owain as heir regardless of what happens. He’s a bright young man, a little strange in his mannerisms, but still, he has the makings of a worthy leader. What kind of noble would I be if I did not do everything that I could to forge a future full of hope and prosperity for my successors? Even if I must fight against my own wife, it is my responsibility and duty to fight for the safety, the wellbeing, and the future of the realm. To keep pushing forward, no matter the personal cost.”

Marth nodded. “I see. The strength of your convictions is impressive. But if you feel that the pressures are becoming too much, let me know. I already talked it over with Ike earlier, and either of us can step in for you if you need it.”

“I don’t think it will come to that, but all the same, thank you. But for now, I really need to get going.”

“Yes, of course. Good luck with your meeting.”

“Thanks.”

Shortly afterwards…..

Chrom stood in the waiting room to the Empress’s tearoom. She’d undoubtedly had a rough past few days and he wondered what exactly she had called him for. It was no doubt for advice on one of the many tough decisions she was facing, he’d served as her chief advisor after the Senator’s attempted coup all those years ago. The real question was what specifically she wanted advice about. Probably something to do with Robin’s little raid from earlier, but any other topics were a mystery to Chrom.

As the most senior lord remaining after the Senate Coup, Chrom had been an easy pick to help fill the gaping advisory holes that the traitorous senators had left behind. It had been nearly six months before he’d even been able to go home for a few days, and it had taken almost two years before he’d been relieved of his advisory post and his duties returned to what they were before. It had taken them quite some time to find trustworthy and loyal replacements, as the corruption that plagued the higher echelons of the government had been far wider spread then had been previously thought. It had taken quite the extensive purge to set things right. Well mostly right. It had still taken another three years after that to track down all of the known offenders and bring them to justice.

What a mess that had been. Though it comforted Chrom that he’d be remembered on the right side of history. It also comforted him that he’d been able to guide Sanaki on the path to become the Empress he knew she always could be. Sanaki had become like a daughter to him, and he was determined to see her succeed.

An attendant came to the door.

“Her majesty will see you now.”

Chrom followed the attendant into the room. In front of him sat Empress Sanaki at a tea table, a pot of tea already steaming behind a well-stocked plate of various teatime snacks. It was a small room, but well decorated with carpets, couches, potted plants and paintings on the walls, with a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling, casting warm light into the entire room.

He bowed as he entered the room.

“Your majesty,” he said respectfully.

“Lord Chrom. Please, have a seat.”

Chrom sat down at the table, as a maid poured him a cup of tea. He thanked her before adding a half teaspoon of sugar to it and mixing it in. As the maids walked out of the room, he looked over the empress.

“I apologize for the suddenness of this meeting,” said Sanaki.

“It’s no trouble at all. These are doubtlessly trying times,” said Chrom with a wry smile.

“I suppose they are. I hope you’re feeling better. That…. business…. with Lady Robin must have been quite the shock.”

“It was,” said Chrom. “It really does hit harder when it’s your own spouse.”

“I can only imagine that it does,” said Sanaki. “You have my sincerest condolences. I…know I never had the chance to interact with her much, but I have only heard good things about her in the past.”

“Thank you,” said Chrom.

There was a moment of silence as both sipped at their tea.

“Now let me cut straight to the point,” said Sanaki. “How well would you say the are the Smashers handling this?”

“As best as can be expected. Roy is acting on intel the Stealth Team was able to obtain last night as we speak and will hopefully be able to deal a severe blow to the enemies forces. Robin showing up at our front gates was not entirely unexpected on my part, but it unfortunately still had the desired effect.”

“You knew she was going to do that?” asked Sanaki.

Chrom chuckled. “I had a feeling. It’s a very Robin-esqe strategy. She knows how to hit where it hurts. In this case, Begnion’s sense of security.”

“It sounds as though this hasn’t affected you,” said Sanaki. “I was last told that you’d reacted quite poorly to Robin’s appearance earlier.”

Chrom took a deep breath. “It was the surprise and the shock, and all of the memories that it brought up. But after having some time to process it, I’m ready to return. I have a duty to both my Empress and the Smashers, and I intend to fill it. I also do know Robin better than most, which may allow me some insight into what she’s thinking. Which was why I was prepared for her little surprise this morning.”

“How do you assess our situation, then?” asked Sanaki.

“Not great, but it could be worse,” said Chrom. “We have a strong team of Smashers and several battalions of Miis. We also have the services of the Shepherds, and the Greil Mercenaries, who should arrive within an hour or two. We’ve got no shortage of strong fighters. This is, of course, on top of the military forces in the city. The issue is that we don’t know where Robin is going to turn up next.”

Sanaki nodded. “Ok. Then what? What are you going to do?”

“Roy is going to launch his strike, and then pull back to Sienne. With Robin showing up at our front gate, there’s no need for him to stay in Cloudbreak Fort, and risk the possibility of being flanked and besieged. The strike should be able to thin their forces. He’ll have to dodge the enemy on the way back, but Roy is a cunning commander. This won’t be a problem for him. Meanwhile, Corrin, Peach, Marth and I will remain on standby until Roy and his group return. We’ll plan from there.”

Sanaki nodded again. “But if the tales are correct, the forces of Subspace could number in the billions or trillions. We might be horribly outmatched by sheer numbers.”

“Which is why I’m calling in reinforcements. I’m going to call in an old friend of mine, who should be able to respond nearly immediately. Please also recall that our group of Smashers is not the only group out there. If things get bad, we can hole up for a siege, and wait them out until the rest of the Smashers can come to our aid. Additionally, we can call upon our allies in Crimea, Daein, Phonecis, and Gallia to help us. They have as much at stake as we do, and they will likely be able to aid us within a week at the latest in case of an emergency. I assume you’ve already contacted them and informed them of the situation?”

Sanaki smiled. “You know me too well. The Crimeans and Gallians are already mobilizing forces in case of the worst, and I’ve already cleared Bird Tribe scouts to patrol Begnion for Subspace Forces. The Daein forces are mobilizing, but they’ve been suffering from heavy rains, which has slowed their mobilization time.”

Chrom breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, that’s good to hear.”

“And what about you? Are you able to fight? Would you be able to face Lady Robin in combat?” asked Sanaki.

Chrom’s gaze steeled. “I will do what I must. For Begnion. For Tellius.”

“Like you said, it’s harder when it’s your own spouse,” said Sanaki.

“I will have the resolve to defeat her,” said Chrom resolutely. “Fear not, empress. And don’t forget that the old memories are a two-way street.”

Sanaki nodded. “I will trust your judgement then. If I may, can I ask you to tell me what you think of her strategy so far?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” said Chrom. “The attack earlier today, if it can even be called that, is a strategy she’s used before. It’s more of an attack on the enemy’s morale then the enemy themselves.”

Sanaki nodded as she took another sip of her tea. “I’ve had eight separate guildmasters bring their concerns to be as well as four constables, two delegations of townsfolk and the captain of the wall guard. All of this has happened within the last two hours.”

Chrom flashed a wry smile as Sanaki sighed.

“The only silver lining about all this was your gallant display of bravery defending the gate. I am tremendously indebted to you, it was the one thing that I was able to refer to that seemed to ally their fears.”

Chrom smiled. “The pleasure is all mine, your highness. Also, you should have seen the look on Roy’s face when I told him that I’d successfully predicted and intercepted one of Robin’s plans. If you didn’t know any better, you might have thought that he’d just heard that we’d destroyed three Subspace armies.”

Sanaki burst out into giggles as Chrom chuckled quietly with her. He reached for a biscuit and took a bite of it as Sanaki continued to giggle.

“Goodness, I needed that,” said Sanaki. There was a brief pause as she reached for a biscuit of her own. 

“How…how do you think I’ve been leading during these times?”

Chrom smiled. “You’ve been doing wonderful, my lady. Marth, Peach and Corrin all spoke highly of your composure and attention.”

Sanaki just sighed. “Thank you. It’s just….this is just like when Sir Ike helped us bring down the old Senate. All the uncertainty, all of the potential for bloodshed. It is truly a horrible thing.”

“It is. But trying times are what define a leader,” said Chrom. “And you have been nothing short of splendid.”

Sanaki shook her head. “I don’t feel very splendid.”

“As your mentor, I couldn’t be prouder of you,” said Chrom, with a genuine smile.

“Thank you,” said Sanaki.

There was a moment of silence, as Sanaki looked like she was working herself up to say something.

“What is it you want to ask me?”

“May I ask you to take command the Begnion army for the battles to come?” asked Sanaki.

Chrom paused.

“Are you sure you want me leading the army, your highness?”

“Absolutely. Sigrun and Tanith were in agreement with me. You’re a splendid general and you’re the best military officer available on such short notice. On top of that, you’ll also be able to coordinate with the Smashers far more effectively than other generals.”

“What about Ike?” asked Chrom.

“We thought it would be best to leave him free to help coordinate with our allies. Ike has more experience working with the Crimeans and Gallians then the rest of us combined.”

Chrom nodded. “I’ll take charge then. Do you have any other orders?”

“Win this war for Bengion and your empress,” said Sanaki.

Chrom bowed his head. “Then I will do what I must. And I will not fail. For Begnion!”

Sanaki smiled. “For Begnion.”

A few hours later….