The Subspace Emissary's Worlds Conquest (Megaman Legends Arc)

[DededeCloneChris]

"Y-you're saying that because you're the one who wants to go IN there," Chris pointed out. "I-I don't know you, but I think this is a very bad idea... I can barely stand watching Sonic turn into a werehog..."

"And I can barely stand myself from scratching my neck with my foot, and that isn't a very pretty sight, y'know," Sonic said annoyed.

"T-too much information..." muttered Kirby in disgust.

Master Hand sighed. "If you guys hate Sonic's transformation so much, you either can go and challenge the boss in there or nuke Sonic to his oblivion instead."

Chris frowned. "I...guess the fight would be better..."

Wolf grinned a bit at this. "Good enough for me."

Chris turned to the sign to see the allowed characters. "...For this battle, Wolf, Popo, Nana, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Toon Link, Yoshi, Sonic, and I are going to be let in..."

"Me too!" Chip yelled.

"And...you too, Chip..."

"Hurray!"

Persona 4 - Backside of the TV

The Smashers began to talk with each other before Sonic noticed something he ignored a moment ago. "Wait, nuke me to my oblivion?" he asked to himself.

Chip floated to him. "Let's call an exorcist so we don't have to nuke you to your oblivion, Sonic!"

Sonic stared annoyed at Chip. "You're not going to nuke me, right?"

"Depends of what everyone says."

"Chip, you're just...ugh... Forget it..." Sonic muttered in shame.

Chip looked a bit pleased at this while Chris seemed to be talking with Wolf from behind their backs.

"Okay, kid," Wolf began with crossed arms, "I'll let you handle what we should need to have for that fight. Once we go through that door, I'll be the one in charge."

The World Traveler looked unsure. "Well, it concerns you in some way or another... I'm fine with what you want to do as long as you think about us as well."

Wolf nodded. "It's obvious that the boss is going to be allied with more of those worthless monsters. If they happen to gang up on me, I'll need as much as help as possible."

"...You're...actually thinking about relying on us?"

"Selfishness is going to be my death one of these days," Wolf said. "If I am selfish, I wouldn't change like a certain someone told me I would do."

"..." Chris shrugged at the memory. "P-point taken..."

Wolf nodded. "However, don't think I'm going to be friendlier than before. I'll just help out during the battle, not foster other things."

"I-I know..." Chris muttered.

Wolf looked up at the ceiling. "If it comes down to it, I'll use my new power that the pesky girl with the horn we met some months ago gave me."

Chris blinked a bit. "You mean Phoenix?"

Wolf looked back at him. "Yeah, I'm talking about the fire bird. She said not only it attacks all enemies, but it also heals fallen fighters." He shook his head. "But it's enough about all that. Go with the hands to get stuff necessary for the battle. You're in charge of the inventory."

"W-why?"

"I hate to admit this, but I barely know a thing about items," Wolf admitted. "You're much of a know-it-all in that area. Whatever you think is good for us, we'll use it."

"..." Chris nodded with a sigh before turning around to walk towards Crazy Hand's counter.

"Ooh boy, hi," Crazy Hand said.

"Hello," Chris said. "Crazy Hand, whatever did you do with the recipe I gave you?"

Crazy Hand moved his fingers a bit. "Well, thanks to that piece of paper, there's a new selection of items at this shop. Now you can buy Mega Mushrooms!"

Chris smiled a bit. "T-that's actually good to hear."

"You can buy one for 5000 Smash Coins!"

"...Now it suddenly turned bad..."

Crazy Hand grumbled. "Hey, this item makes you grow 3 times instead of 2 times like the Super Mushroom does," he explained. "Battles would be really easier if you bought this one. However, it takes some of the fun away, so that's why its price is high."

The World Traveler looked a bit miffed at this. "Okay, I'll have to agree with you."

"So, my boy, what are you going to buy from little good ol' me?"

Jobs (None) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities - Items (New)

Smash Coins in hand: 19101

Chris thought for a moment. "First, I'd like to store some items."

"Okay, what are those items?" Crazy Hand asked.

The swordsman put the Block Meal and the Superspicy Curry on the counter. "These ones," he said.

Crazy Hand nodded and took the Block Meal and the Superspicy Curry behind the counter on the floor. "Okay, it was stored. What are you going to buy?"

"Hmm, I would like to see items first, please."

"'Kay," Crazy Hand said.

-Items

Assist Trophy - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Beam Sword - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Bob-omb - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Bumper - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Cracker Launcher - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Deku Nut - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Fan - 100 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Fire Flower - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) - 400 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Franklin Badge - 400 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Freezie - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Golden Hammer - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Gooey Bomb - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Green Shell - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hammer - 700 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Heart Container - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Home-Run Bat - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hothead - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Lightning - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Lip's Stick - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Maxim Tomato - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Metal Box - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb - 100 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Mr. Saturn - 100 Smash Coins - 100 copies
Pitfall - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Poison Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Poke Ball - 800 Smash Coins - 6 copies
Ray Gun - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Screw Attack - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Smart Bomb - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Smash Ball - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Smoke Ball - 100 Smash Coins - 5 copies
Soccer Ball - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Spring - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Starman - 800 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Star Rod - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Scope - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Superspicy Curry - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Team Healer - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Timer - 500 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Unira - 200 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Warp Star - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies

Mega Mushroom - 5000 Smash Coins - 1 copy

Items in hand:
Green Shell
Poison Mushroom

Stored items:
Superspicy Curry
Block Meal

Chris pressed his brow a bit with two fingers of his right hand. Thinking hard enough, he managed to think what he wanted to buy. "I have a lot of money this time around, so I'm going to buy...hmm...a Timer, an Assist Trophy, a Deku Nut, a Smash Ball, a Motion Sensor Bomb, and a Warp Star."

Crazy Hand chuckled deeply. "Dude, you're going on a shopping spree with me now! I'm flattered and impressed."

Chris nervously chuckled a bit at this. "W-well, I want to be prepared for anything in that boss battle so experimenting a bit wouldn't hurt, right?"

"Yeah," Crazy Hand said. "Okay, adding all that up, you'd spend...2900 Smash Coins in total."

The World Traveler nodded at this and gave the insane hand the amount of coins. Upon receiving the coins, Crazy Hand snapped his fingers to produce the six requested items that Chris took with him, the money count dropping to 16201 Smash Coins.

"Oh yeah, that was good, alright," Crazy Hand said. "Anything else you want to see?"

Chris thought for a moment. "Let's see... Most of the Smashers who are going to come with us have some good extras...but..." he looked up at him, "I'd like to see the specific abilities for...hmm...Wolf, Yoshi, Squirtle, and Ivysaur, please."

"Nice," Crazy Hand said before showing Chris a list. "Here you can see the abilities for 'em."

The World Traveler took the paper and looked through the list for the specific abilities.

-Smashers' Abilities

-Wolf

Wolf Flash EX - 1000 Smash Coins

Instead of performing a diagonal attack, Wolf can perform the attack at any direction. The Meteor Smash will remain.

Charger - 2000 Smash Coins

Gives a new function to Wolf's Blaster. Wolf can charge his next shot to make it bigger, faster, with a much longer paralyzing effect. The charged shot will remain unless fired.

Fire Wolf EX - 3000 Smash Coins

Once executing the last kick, Wolf will start a series of close combat attacks (claw, knees, kick attacks) in midair before using a strong Meteor Smash on the target, delivering great damage to a single enemy.

Poison Inflicter - 4000 Smash Coins

All physical attacks will have an average chance of inflicting Poison or Deadly Poison.

Resist lvl. 1: Dark/Shadow - 1000 Smash Coins

Wolf will reduce any received dark/shadow based attacka by a third (1/3).

Chris thought for a moment. "...Maybe I should buy him 2 so he becomes a bit stronger..." He nodded to himself and looked at Master Hand. "I'd like to buy for him (balance between strength and defense), Wolf Flash EX, and the resistance." He gave Crazy Hand 2000 Smash Coins, reducing the amount to 14201 Smash Coins.

"Nice, kid."

Chris nearly got a bit of a heart attack before turning around to look at Wolf. "D-don't appear out of nowhere like that, it's creepy!" Chris complained.

Wolf rolled his eye. "What, I can't thank you for buying me 2 new things?" he asked.

"W-well..."

"Heh, I just enjoy seeing people realizing what they forget because I point it out for them, and you're not an exception, kid," Wolf teased a bit. "...But anyway, thanks for giving me those abilities, I guess."

"...O...kay..." Chris said a bit freaked out. "(I shouldn't have bought those abilities if this was going to happen...) You're...not upset because I didn't want to buy the rest?"

Wolf shook his head. "If you did that, I'd look selfish to others. I don't want you to make me look like a jerk, kid."

The World Traveler stared at Wolf for a bit. "...R-right, sir..." Chris nodded.

Wolf grinned a bit. "Make up your mind and get things ready. I'll wait for everyone close to the door," he said before he turned around and walked to the door.

Chris shrugged at this and looked back at the list.

-Yoshi

Egg Ammo - 1000 Smash Coins

Yoshi will be able to swallow 7 things/enemies to turn them into eggs for him to have as ammunition. These 7 can be fired at a quick pace to deal great damage to one or several enemies.

Color Change - 2000 Smash Coins

Sometimes, Yoshi will change colors right after using Egg Roll. Anything he swallows will give him a different ability depending of the color (blue for wings, red for fireballs, pink for charm, white for invisible defense, and black for heavy hits).

Ground Pound Stomp - 3000 Smash Coins

Yoshi will use Ground Pound on an enemy, but, depending of how much energy he has left (preferably high), he will pound the enemy 5 times maximum.

Resist lvl. 1: Water - 1000 Smash Coins

Yoshi will reduce any received water based attacks by a third (1/3).

Resist lvl. 1: Fire - 1000 Smash Coins

Yoshi will reduce any received fire-based attacks by a third (1/3).

"Hmm, Color Change..." Chris mused. "I want the Color Change ability, please."

"Money talks even more than your own words, if you know what I mean," Crazy Hand said before Chris gave him 2000 Smash Coins, reducing the amount to 12201 Smash Coins.

Yoshi walked to Chris and shrugged a bit. "I-I don't want to see more of those...monsters anymore... I hated to fight Sonic's transformation back then..."

Chris sighed. "I'm as scared as you, Yoshi... But this is a favor I have to do for Wolf."

"W-well, make sure that favor doesn't end up making all of us have nightmares with werehogs because I'm a bit fragile with nightmares."

"I-I'll see..." Chris muttered before Yoshi shrugged more and walked away from him. The swordsman looked back at the list once more.

-Squirtle

Aqua Ring - 1000 Smash Coins

Squirtle will cast rings of water around him. He will recover energy overtime (in small amounts). This special attack ignores the 4-move limit that all Pokémon have.

Ice Beam - 2000 Smash Coins

Squirtle will shoot a frigid shot of ice to the enemy, having small chances of freezing the enemy. This special attack ignores the 4-move limit that all Pokémon have.

Brine - 3000 Smash Coins

Once a foe's health has been reduced to a half, this weak attack will grow to a much stronger level to cause even more damage. This special attack ignores the 4-move limit that all Pokémon have.

Resist lvl. 1: Water - 1000 Smash Coins

Squirtle will reduce any received water-based attacks by two thirds (2/3).

Resist lvl. 1: Electric - 1000 Smash Coins

Squirtle will reduce any received electric-based attacks by a third (1/3).

-Ivysaur

Growth - 1000 Smash Coins

Ivysaur will gather energies to grow (even if the attack states he will grow, he won't grow at all) to increase his Grass type attacks by 10 percent. It can be used up to 6 times.  This special attack ignores the 4-move limit that all Pokémon have.

Spore - 2000 Smash Coins

Ivysaur will release spores to make all enemies fall asleep always (except the effect is halved by the same type). This special attack ignores the 4-move limit that all Pokémon have.

Sunny Day - 3000 Smash Coins

Ivysaur will release a bright sphere to represent the sun. This attack allows Solarbeam to be ready at any moment, reduce Water type attack by a quarter, and make Fire type attacks much stronger (but this also affects everyone in battle).

Resist lvl. 1: Grass - 1000 Smash Coins

Ivysaur will reduce any received grass-based attacks by two thirds (2/3).

Resist lvl. 1: Fire - 1000 Smash Coins

Ivysaur will reduce any received water-based attacks by a third (1/3).

"(More abilities for each one of them,)" Chris thought. "I'll buy...um...Aqua Ring for Squirtle, and Spore for Ivysaur."

Crazy Hand nodded at this as Chris gave him 3000 Smash Coins, reducing the amount to 9201 Smash Coins. The World Traveler felt that the mentioned characters would show up in a few seconds, so he turned around to see Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur.

"This is giving me the creeps," Red admitted. "I-I wouldn't want to see more monsters like Sonic is when he's that werehog thing."

"Hey, at least you're not FIGHTING them head-on," Squirtle said. "We have to be the ones FIGHTING head-on while you sit back and relax and...stuff."

Red blushed a bit at this. "I-I'm seriously not trying to save myself first while you 2 are battling, I swear!"

Ivysaur looked bored. "Pfft, we know how this works by now. It's always going to be the same for us 3, anyway. No need to say sorry."

Red sighed. "Oh well...but I'm going to issue the best orders I can give to you 2."

"I suppose that's how we work and do things our way," Squirtle said.

"You 3 are scared like me, right?" Chris asked.

"Let me see now..." Ivysaur wondered, "we're going to fight more than one beast with claws and fangs, night is surely going to be involved, considering how things went with our battle with that spirit inside Sonic..." he smiled, "yeah, I'm pretty darn sure we're scared."

"..."

Ivysaur glared at Chris. "Of course we're scared, dangit! Are you blind or what?"

Red gulped. "No need to be scared for this, you guys... If we pull through this, then everything will end sooner than we expect."

Squirtle shrugged a bit. "I hope we can have the same confidence you have, Red..."

Red chuckled nervously. "Y-yeah, follow my lead, you 2..."

Squirtle narrowed his eyes at Ivysaur. "We're definitely screwed, right?"

"Yeah," Ivysaur muttered back.

Chris sweat dropped at this before the trio walked away, wondering how things would turn out to be on the other side of the mysterious door. Turning around to look at Crazy Hand, Chris exhaled. "Finished..." Chris said with a sigh. "...Oh my god, I spent almost everything..."

Crazy Hand giggled. "Money comes to you, money goes to me," he said. "Every single coin in your wallet is destined to go with me someday."

The World Traveler looked a bit defeated. "Please, don't say that..." He blinked a few times. "Wait a minute, I think there's somebody else I can buy things from..."

Crazy Hand watched as Chris took out a small bell with a red pom-pom as a handle. After taking it out, the hand tilted himself to a half circle. "What's that little thingy?"

"This is the Stiltzkin Bell," Chris said. "Supposedly, if I ring it, Stiltzkin will come so I can buy stuff from him..."

Crazy Hand grumbled. "Hey, you're supporting my rivals in business? Not cool, man, not cool!" he said angrily. "I'm supposed to be your #1 main source of goods here, not some guy you just met a day where I wasn't there to see you meet the guy!"

Chris stared at him before he rang the bell a few times, the sounds of the little instrument ringing hard in the floor (although it wasn't loud enough to interrupt the others talking to each other). "Well...let's see if he does appear," Chris said.

Master Hand went to Chris. "Oh, sorry, Chris, but nobody's allowed to play instruments outside the music room."

The World Traveler looked annoyed at him. "You just made that rule right now!" Chris yelled.

"Well, I'm the boss, so your logic fails, ha-ha," Master Hand said.

Chip suddenly floated close and showed them his hat. "You guys wanna give me some refunds for my next exploration after this fight? I'm short of money right now..."

Master Hand frowned. "Chip, drop that weird persona from you. It's making you look...wackier than usual."

Chip pouted a bit. "Hey, don't you dare say that to Indiana Chip again!"

As the imp looked angrily, Chris looked around the floor for any signs of Stiltzkin. "...Where is he? I thought he was going to appear..." he muttered.

Chip looked at his hat on his hands. "I need money so I can buy myself a compass. You need one when you're lost inside a cave filled with traps, arrows, pits, monsters, some boulders, more arrows, puzzles, some more pits, bigger boulders, vines that hide passages, more arrows, more tra-"

And suddenly, from Chip's hat under side, Stiltzkin appeared by falling down from the hat. Chris, Chip, Crazy Hand, and Master Hand turned to look at the little traveler 'businessmoogle' with some shocked looks. "Greetings," Stiltzkin said. "Did I hear a bell ringing here or what?"

Master Hand 'seemed' confused as to why the little shopkeeper appeared from within an unlikeable area like Chip's hat. He was a bit freaked out that someone like Stiltzkin could actually appear from a hat. "W-what the... Who are you and what were you doing in there?"

Stiltzkin hopped a bit on each foot. "My name is Stiltzkin. I just happened to come out from the guy's hat, Mr. Hand."

"Yes, I SERIOUSLY believe that you just happened to come out from that little hat," Master Hand joked. "Really, how did you get there?"

"I have my ways," Stiltzkin said. "Many, many ways," he added.

Chip looked at his hat in curiosity. "Hmm, he appeared from my little hat... Well, at least he didn't appear from my Crystal Skull."

The Hand of Creation ignored Chip's comment before focusing back on the moogle. "...Nothing else to say besides that?" Master Hand asked. "You just appeared from his hat?"

"Hmm, not much," Stiltzkin admitted. "There's not much to it."

"..."

Stiltzkin looked at Chris. "Oh, if it isn't my friend with the hobby to change between extravagant-looking clothes to old-style clothes. Well, did you want me to buy something from my wares?"

Chris nervously chuckled a bit before Crazy Hand 'glared' at the shopkeeper/traveler. "Me don't likes competency..." Crazy Hand muttered, the moogle ignoring him totally.

"A-ah, well, I wanted to see what else I could buy from you," Chris said to Stiltzkin while Crazy Hand grumbled angrily to himself. "Do you have new stuff or do you still have the same?"

Stiltzkin tilted his head to the right. "Hmm, I have the same stuff, sadly," he admitted. "However, you have some kind of a keen eye for buying what you need the most. I'll be glad to sell you anything as long as you have money."

Master Hand shook himself. "Wait, are you supposed to appear whenever someone rings that little bell?"

"That's how I and the bell work," Stiltzkin said. "I have my ways to get to my customers, which happens only to be the whole bunch of you."

"But...you can get here from anywhere?"

"Like I said, I have my ways," Stiltzkin said. "Anyhow, what would you like to buy from me?" he asked to Chris.

Stiltzkin Wares

Smash Coins in hand: 9201 Smash Coins

Counter – 4000 Smash Coins

Fury – 4000 Smash Coins

Bad Breath – 9000 Smash Coins

Life – 5000 Smash Coins

Null-Physical – 7000 Smash Coins

Death – 3000 Smash Coins

The World Traveler couldn't think of a good ability to buy from Stiltzkin. Chris began to knock himself on the forehead a few times as he tried to get something from the moogle. "(Oh, please, these abilities are very different than Crazy Hand's abilities... I need to decide...but...for which one?)"

Out of nowhere, Popo came in and pouted at Chris.

Chris looked at Popo. "U-um...is something wrong? Why are you looking very upset at me?"

"I'm mad," Popo said. "VERY mad right now," he added.

"But...why are you mad?"

A bored Nana appeared from behind Popo and sighed after. "It's my fault, Chris. I accidentally said a banned word I shouldn't have said when Popo's close."

Chris looked back at Popo's pouting face before shifting back to Nana. "What word?"

"Well, I was wondering if there was going to be a nocturnal snowstorm very soon this month, and that's when Popo's Wacky Mode turned itself on."

"Yeah, and I'm PISSED off!" Popo said pouting. "I just remembered I had some business to settle with some furred beasts who happened to be such a bunch of immature jerks to me when I went to look for a close bathroom!" he yelled angrily. "Remember that time where I was trying to fine some super cool bathroom through the door? Well, I met these guys who ticked me off: TICKED me off badly."

"...What?" Chris muttered.

Popo crossed his arms. "That door over there has probably the wierdest of weirdoes I've ever met before! Not only they smelled weird, they looked like poor imitations of wolves, I swear! Wolf-looking weirdos with fur and stuff..." Popo thought for a moment. "No, wait, they were werehog weirdos just like Sonic...except even weirder and creepier."

Chris shook his head at this. "W-wait, hold on there... You went into that door?"

Popo nodded.  "Yeah, they were all hairy, had these big huge fangs, and liked to howl almost every single minute I could count with 2s and 5s." He pointed at Nana.  "You DO remember, right? I told you about them once during my 'wonderful voyage' to get to a nice bathroom."

Nana rolled her eyes a this. "I UNFORTUNATELY remember, Popo... But I do know for sure you're just making up those weird facts just so you can get attention, which you're doing nicely because it sounds very weird!"

"Cool, but enough about that. Those guys were cuckoo cuckoo ala Kakariko Village for sure!" Popo took out his hammer.  "They broke my hammer, and I had to get a new one. Not to mention the fact that, while they had a nice bathroom, they were all total jerks to the extreme. I mean, Were-Falco and Were-Snake kept swearing, Were-Link kept asking me a bunch of dumb questions which I didn't get at all, Were-Olimar made up a bunch of weird words, and, oh, Were-Zelda was just so lesbian and emo that she looked so lesbemo! She was moaning about losing "Zesu" or something, and I was like "who is that" an-"

"Popo, shut up!" Nana yelled and raised a finger. "Look, I don't know what you saw in there, but I know you didn't see all of us as werehogs. I mean, puh-lease, Popo!" She looked at the others. "Do you really think we're going to believe any of that bull?"

"Yeah, like I so did that! ...Well, I didn't see us as werehogs, though. They said I was dead and you had gone super crazy but like all of rest of them were werehogs an-"

Nana grunted again and slapped Popo hard enough to make him fall on his back. "Shut up, shut up, shut up already, Popo!" She turned to the others and sighed angrily. "Don't believe in anything he's saying at all! When Popo is like this, it's so hard to understand what his mind is trying to say!"

Master Hand stared at the fuming Nana for a bit. "...Alright...we'll have that in mind for sure..."

Nana sighed. "Thank you, really, thank you," she muttered a bit pleased.

Popo sat up and raised his hand. "I want the Fury ability!" he demanded. "I'm furious with those guys, so I'm going to use that sticker to get back at 'em!"

Nana slapped her forehead. "...Chris...would you please buy what he wants so he stops being this...irrational?"

The World Traveler stared at Popo's pouting look. Shrugging at this, the World Traveler showed Stiltzkin 4000 Smash Coins, reducing the amount to 5201 Smash Coins. Stiltzkin nodded at this. "I don't have a clue about what the seemingly absentminded guy said, but if you want to buy anything, then I'll have to comply," he said as he took the coins and dug out from his pouch a small-sized sticker that read 'Fury' in red letters.

Before Chris could take the sticker, Popo suddenly got up and grabbed it, placing it quickly on his stand. "There, now I feel the boost," he said pouting.

"That's not how it works," Stiltzkin said. "Your power will be doubled once you see a party member fall down."

"Bummer!" Popo groaned. "Fine, I'll go get myself ready with other stuff!"

"Popo, what do you mean by that?" Nana asked bored. "(I'm going to hit myself for asking him while he's like this...)"

Popo pumped up a right fist. "You'll see once I get back!" he proclaimed before turning around to the stairs where he walked down through them.

Nana rolled her eyes. "Sometimes, I think he's just doing this so he can have fun..." she muttered before moving up and down her right hand to the others. "You ignore him, okay? I can't do anything for the moment... I'll wait until we're ready..." She turned around and walked away from them.

Master Hand frowned. "How wonderful is the group of fighters, huh... You'll see pretty much a lot from each one of them..."

"You're feeling kind of guilty for this because you gathered them?" Chris asked.

"Meh, not really," Master Hand said with a chuckle. "It adds for the craziness, and I like to see some of it a lot."

Chris frowned at this with a sigh before looking back at Stiltzkin. "Well, that's going to be everything," he said.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Stiltzkin said. "I wish you luck with whatever you're going to do in this eerie floor. I'm getting the creeps by just staring at the torches around here..." He hopped a bit on each feet. "Okay, I'm off. There are many places where I'm required to know more about."

Master Hand sighed. "Well, you can use the stairs and go directly to the lobby where yo-"

Stiltzkin didn't listen to Master Hand. Instead of going through the stairs, the moogle traveler looked up at Chip (still staring at his hat) before Stiltzkin flew over to the underneath of the hat where he nicely entered through it and disappeared, the imp blinking surprised at this.

"Wow," Chip said, "this hat must have been created for the only purpose to use it for magic."

"Burn it," Crazy Hand muttered. "Stop that guy from ever appearing here."

Chip looked worried. "But I like my hat! It's like getting a hat at the circus except I got this from Peach and not from a circus where it should have been more entertaining to do."

Master Hand ignored Chip once more and looked at Chris. "Incredible how you get to meet weird people like Stiltzkin, huh?"

The World Traveler looked at the hand. "...Just...well... How does Stiltzkin appear like that?"

"Beats me," Master Hand said. "As far as I know, there are many peculiar people out there."

Crazy Hand grunted at this. "If I ever see that little client-thief furry guy again, I'll smash him down...twice...followed up with FOUR more smacking...then twice again!"

Master Hand turned to his brother. "Oh, Crazy, please don't start another riot with other sellers. I know you think they're trying to take clients (AKA. Chris) away from you, but you're just exaggerating."

"I didn't wreck that raccoon's shop for nothing!" Crazy Hand said annoyed. "I was very pleased with myself!"

"And thanks to that, now I know I can foresee a bill from Tom Nook in a near future!" Master Hand complained. "Besides, neither Chris nor anyone else buys from him at all!"

Crazy Hand moved his thumb and pinky finger up a bit. "You never know if they'll buy from 'em very soon. Gotta destroy the competency before it's too late."

"Not destroy their stores literally, you dumb idiot!" Master Hand yelled. "Ugh, you're a big lost case, sincerely..."

"Thanks."

Master Hand grunted and turned to Chris. "Anyway, you get the guys ready for the next grueling battle. Everyone seems eager to watch this now."

Chris shrugged. "I-I'd prefer if we didn't fight again..." He turned around and walked to the front of the door where Wolf waited patiently for Chris. Soon enough, Toon Link, Yoshi, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Sonic, Chip, and Nana walked to them to join the group. "Ready."

Wolf nodded. "Alright," he said.

Nana looked around and grunted. "Where the hell is Popo now? We're going in without him if he doesn't show up in time!"

At that moment, Popo appeared behind her. However, the blue Ice Climber was wearing what appeared to be silver crosses around his neck, a silver crown spoon around his head, silver wrappers around his gloved hands, and even silver glasses. "Okay, my anti-werewolf armor is ready," he said.

Everyone looked at his weird attire before Nana grunted. "Popo, why did you go ahead to wear that ridiculous attire made out of silver."

"Hey, Jiggs here said that silver stuff worked with werehogs (Jigglypuff: Did not!)," Popo said. "I'm being smart here so I outsmart those guys out their fur suits."

Wolf stared at Popo's attire. "So far, you've managed to make it clear for me that you're a big retard."

"Geez, you just noticed?" Nana asked annoyed before looking back at Popo. "Popo, take those off, now."

Popo shook his head. "Oh no, I'm not going to get naked just because you hate silver!"

"You're wearing freaking silver glasses! What are they going to do?"

"They give me silver vision."

Nana grunted and began to take off every single silver material from Popo until everything was scrapped off from him. "There, you don't need any of those things for this battle."

Popo sighed. "You want me to die so badly, right?"

"For the last time, you won't die in these battles!" Master Hand reminded them.

"You got your answer now!" Nana yelled at Popo as she tossed the silver stuff away. She turned to Chris. "Let's begin this encounter before the day ends! The sooner we get this done, the smarter Popo will become!"

"But you just made me get naked!"

Wolf had enough of the whole argument that he decided to open the door, revealing a blue vortex that leaded somewhere. "If you had enough of that, let's all go in."

The selected group looked at the swirling vortex with some worry. Many of them gulped at the sight of the vortex before Chris turned around and looked at some of the other Smashers. "S-somebody please wish us good luck..."

"Good luck," DK said with a thumb up.

"B-be very careful, okay?" Olimar said.

Lucario stared at Chris. "Please, don't let anything or anyone hurt you badly."

"I won't so don't worry... I-I'll worry about it, though," Chris admitted.

Toon Link made a serious look. "Let's skin them alive!"

"Y-you do that part..." Yoshi muttered.

Wolf sighed at this before he grabbed Chris's right shoulder and entered through the portal. Toon Link, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Yoshi, Popo, and Nana looked at each other worried before they all went through the vortex. Once they crossed, Kirby walked to the door and silently closed it, creating a bit of a crackling sound.

Master Hand looked at the Smashers. "Well, the next match will start in a few. We should better watch it from the screen over there."

"Can we still talk to them?" Luigi asked.

"Sure, we'll use Chris's DS to cheer from here. The screen will show how the battle goes," Master Hand explained. "Okay, let's go now. Let's give them good morale, unlike how it went with the previous battle."

Roy groaned. "Would you knock it off already?"

"Okay, okay..."

The Smashers began to walk back to the screen where they all stared at the blurry screen before it got clearer, showing a different setting for the next match...

TO BE CONTINUED...

----------------------------------------------------

"Night of the Were-Wolf... U-um...didn't we already have Night of the Werehog?" Chris asked.

Silence...

"...H-hello?"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

[DededeCloneChris]

Chapter 165: New Year's Resolution

-Smash Mansion-
Main Lobby

December 23 - Tuesday - Morning

In the lobby of the mansion, there was Pikachu putting a present under the rows of presents of the tree. He sighed a bit after doing what he wanted. "Just in time..." he muttered. "This is what happens when Lucario has to evolve. I have to get him a new gift because the previous one would look childish for his age...or how old he appears to be, anyway..."

At that moment, Chip appeared from behind the tree and looked at Pikachu. "Hey!" he greeted cheerfully. "How's it going?"

Pikachu looked at him. "Oh, Chip, hi," he greeted. "What are you doing here? I thought you were out doing some sightseeing."

"Yeah...I don't feel like doing it today," Chip admitted. "I feel like staying here all day for the time being."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Pretty much," Chip said before he looked at the presents. "...Hey, there's a gift for me here."

Pikachu looked to his right where a mauve gift (a bit bigger than Chip) had a tag with his name on it. "I guess somebody wanted to give you one. Actually, the tag reads it's from...Sonic."

Chip looked pleased at this. "Aww, I'm officially part of the gang of the house."

Pikachu looked bored. "Yeah, you are because you barged in here..."

"Anyhow," Chip began, "I haven't heard of Tails and the others yet..."

"You know...that's true," Pikachu said before crossing his arms. "It's been a long while after they last were here. To be honest, their search for the Temple Guardians hasn't come along very well..."

Chip rubbed his chin a bit. "I wonder why this is happening..."

"What, you have some kind of a wild guess?"

"No, but...it should have been over sooner," Chip said. "I mean, I know they all have to fly around the world and get to their destinations, and I know it takes days to go from here to there, but...I feel like something is awfully wrong..."

Pikachu raised a finger. "Chip, there's the biggest spawn of the demon waiting to sprout out from Sonic's world and devour us. OF COURSE there's something awfully wrong."

"I-I know..." Chip said. "...But...that's not it..."

"Then what is it?"

"It's just...well...it's about the Temple Guardians..."

"You mean the same guys of the cult who don't want to say, "Hey, look at me, I'm a Temple Guardian but I'm not telling you that even if you asked me many times" or someone else?"

"No, those guys," Chip said. "I have this weird feeling that...they're not safe."

"NOBODY's safe, Chip," Pikachu said. "Remember Mr. Dark Gaia? He would like to cause darnation and the like very soon to anyone but himself."

"N-no...it's just that..." Chip trailed off, "...I think that...they're in danger..."

"Everyone's in danger, Chip," Pikachu said. "You, me, that sofa over there, the mansion, and everything else are in danger. Be a little bit more specific."

Chip grabbed his head. "...The Temple Guardians...they're not safe right now..."

Pikachu looked miffed at him. "Okay...what else?"

"..." Chip looked down. "...I can't shake off this feeling...but...maybe I feel it because I'm Light Gaia...but...if I'm right...the Temple Guardians were all...um...well...you see...er..."

Pikachu watched as Chip floated around for a bit as if he had a sudden headache.

"..." Chip stopped flying and shook his head. "...I...can't tell..."

"...Look, Mr. Clairvoyance," Pikachu began, "you're probably just so worried about what is going to happen. You need to chill down and relax."

The imp sighed. "Well, I guess you're right... I shouldn't look down right now," he said. "I need to stay with high spirits as much as I can."

"Just stay away from eating too much sugar and you'll be...probably fine," Pikachu said.

Chip looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, I'll do that," he said. "Or my name isn't Chip Norris."

Pikachu tilted his head confused at him. "...Weren't you Indiana Chip yesterday?"

Chip shook his head. "Indiana Chip died in an incident. He got his hand bitten by a snake during an expedition to get the infamous Peridot Jewel. However, Chip Norris was born thereafter." He put his hands on his hips. "Besides, if Chip Norris gets wet, the water gets Chip Norris instead."

Pikachu rolled his eyes at this. "You and your constant name changes..."

Chip pointed at him. "You shall respect Chip Norris. You don't want to make him angry."

"Depends on how threatening Chip Norris is."

"I can do a lot of stuff," Chip said.

Pikachu frowned. "Look, just don't do something stupid and you won't be in danger or something."

"Chip Norris doesn't fear danger because danger fears Chip Norris."

Having enough of the imp, Pikachu turned around and walked away to the hallway of the first floor.

Chip crossed his arms proudly. "Time for me do to some little roundhouse kicks around the front yard," he said chuckling before he flew away outside.

-Real World-
Chris's Room

As the morning light shone into the room of the World Traveler, a sleepy Lucario grumbled a bit before he yawned out loud, opening his mouth fully to reveal his sharp fangs before closing it. The Aura Pokémon looked around a bit before looking down at his sleepy trainer close to him. He smiled a bit after seeing the happy expression on Chris's face. "(He seems so happy after I evolved back...)" Lucario thought.

Since Chris had told Lucario that he didn't like to oversleep, the Aura Pokémon decided to shake his trainer a bit to the sides.

"F-five more seconds..." Chris muttered as he was asleep. "J-just let me get that darn high score... Oh my god, I got hit..."

Lucario blinked at this. "...Well...since you're not going to wake up that easily...that means I can do this instead."

"..." Chris was slowly pulled to Lucario where the Aura Pokémon began to lick slowly his cheek. "...H-heheh, heheheh, hahahaha, hahahahaha!" Chris began to laugh while Lucario looked happy. "P-please, stop, I beg you, Lucario! I-I'm awake now, please!"

Lucario stopped and looked at Chris. "Good morning, Chris."

Chris wiped some tears away. "G-good morning, Lucario... I-I knew I should've said something else for you to wake me up. You'd resort to other things..."

"I thought shaking you wasn't enough so I...did that instead."

The World Traveler smiled a bit. "Oh well, I like whatever way you want to wake me as long as it doesn't resort to some little violence."

Lucario shook his head. "I wouldn't do such a thing."

"I know that," Chris said before he yawned loudly. "Aaaaaaaah, I feel so excited today..."

"Why is that?"

"We haven't had any missions to other worlds for a long time," Chris said. "We've been resting all these days without having to do extreme fights of the sorts, and I'm glad I can socialize with others like this."

Lucario nodded. "I wonder how long this break will last, though..." he said. "The Subspace Army may be planning something in hands..."

Chris looked away. "I...think so," he said. "They wouldn't do this, but maybe there's something that it's making them not attack a world..."

Lucario sat up. "Let's not think about that. I don't want to talk about them right now."

"Right," Chris said. "Christmas is almost here. I can't wait to see what I'm going to get from my parents and the guys at the mansion. Are you excited or what?"

Lucario blushed. "W-well, I did see some people's gifts are directed to me..."

His trainer smiled a bit. "That's very good. Now you're going to be the only Lucario of the whole world to not be a lone wolf as many think you are."

"Do you think I'm a lone wolf?"

Chris shook his head. "You were one when we first got to the mansion, but ever since that, you've changed a lot, and I'm glad you did."

Lucario smiled a bit. "Thank you."

"Thank everyone else as well," Chris said before sitting up. "Let's take a bath and go to the mansion today. We finally set the Christmas tree in our house."

"And why didn't you want to set it up before?"

Chris blushed a bit. "I-I forgot about it because I was busy in the other world... At least you evolved in time to help me with the tree." He sighed depressed. "It would have been fun if you helped me when you were a Riolu."

"It's okay," Lucario said. "I like to be a Lucario more than being a Riolu. I don't want anything bad happen to you."

The World Traveler made a happy expression. "Thank you so much, Lucario."

"Guuuuuuooooorrrrrgghh..." Lucario growled happily.

Smash Mansion
Main Lobby

Back at the mansion, Lucario and Chris (in his Black Mage job, except without wearing the magic hat) reached the lobby where they found a skeptical Sonic staring at the double door, tapping his right foot on the floor in impatience. "Hmmmmm..." Sonic grunted and crossed his arms. "Just when are they gonna get here?"

"Um, Sonic?" Chris spoke from behind.

The hedgehog's ears perked up and he turned around to look at them. "Oh, it's you," Sonic said. "What's up?"

"I...could ask you the same thing," Chris said unsure. "You seemed like you were thinking about something..."

"Hey, it's rude to find out what a person is thinking," Sonic said.

"W-well..."

Sonic shook his head. "Nah, it doesn't hurt if I tell you, anyway," he said before crossing his arms. "If you're wondering what I'm wondering, it's about Tails and the others."

"What is it about them?" Lucario asked.

"Thing is, I think it's been enough time after they last were here," Sonic said. "I'm starting to wonder what's going on over their side."

Chris rubbed his chin. "Now that you mention it, I think it's been enough searching for the Temple Guardians..."

Lucario crossed his arms. "I thought it was enough as well."

Sonic grumbled a bit. "C'mon, they had to find them by now..." He stared at them. "Normally, we'd have things done very fast, but they're taking way too long...and it doesn't give me a good feeling, y'know."

Chris sighed. "That is something I can agree with you," he commented. "This doesn't make me feel just fine at all."

"See? I've made my point," Sonic said. "So then, if I'm right, there's gotta be something or someone doing something weird somewhere so this someone makes something bad and does something really bad to somebody like us, so this somebody has to do something very bad to stop us from doing something about the Temple Guardians."

The two looked at him with confused looks.

"...Hey, understand me!" Sonic said annoyed. "I'm trying my hardest to sound intelligent. T-that's not my strongest area, b-but still it didn't hurt trying!"

"I'm...just so confused..." Chris admitted in embarrassment. "T-to be honest, you didn't sound intelligent but confused at what you even told us..."

Sonic blinked a few times before he looked down. "Hmmmm, I screwed it up, didn't I?"

The World Traveler smiled nervously. "N-no, you didn't screw anything. Y-you're trying hard to come up with a logical explanation, so I guess it's a first for you to think like that."

"I dunno if I should be happy or sad..." Sonic frowned and looked up at them. "Well, doesn't matter now. I tried my hardest, right?"

"That...is right," Lucario said. "(I doubt he's going to try it again, though...)"

Sonic grinned. "Oh, then I was about to get into something important." He closed his eyes while growing his grin a bit wider. "Soon enough, I won't need Tails to think about everything we need to do."

The two sweat dropped at this. "...Don't you think that sounds a little bit...offensive to Tails?" Chris asked.

Sonic thought for a moment. "...Whoops, I think it was."

"It IS," Lucario corrected.

Sonic chuckled. "Oh well, that was a bit interesting to do, don't you think?"

The World Traveler put a hand on his forehead. "Sonic, I can't just tell if you were really trying to get to something now..."

"You're making everything look even weirder than before. Your looks make me think you're doing it just for fun," Lucario said.

Sonic sweat dropped. "U-um, maybe you're just jumping to conclusions too fast..."

"You are," Chris pointed out.

Sonic looked bored. "Alrighty, then..." He folded his arms behind his head. "So, what are you gonna do today? I was going to head down to the Mazuri Temple in a bit, but...you know what I was doing, so..."

Chris thought for a moment. "What we were going to do?"

Lucario looked up. "Haven't you gotten the presents for the people you want to give gifts, Chris?"

His trainer looked at him. "O-oh, yes, I need to get some presents... Where do I get those? I need to think what would be nice to give..."

Lucario looked at him. "Do you have a present for me?"

Chris looked away. "U-um, yes, I have yours ready..."

Lucario looked down. "Oh, I see... I should see where I can you a nice gift you like..." He thought for a moment. "(Just what can I give Chris? I don't think I can find something I can buy for him. Now that I can go anywhere, maybe I can find the right gift... Hmm...maybe I can... Actually...) Do you mind if I leave? I need to go somewhere else to get you a gift."

"Where?"

"I...can't tell you, sorry... It's going to be a surprise for you," Lucario said. "Please, let me go for a little while."

Chris looked a bit unsure. "Okay...I'll let you go..."

Lucario nodded. "Thank you. You won't regret this, Chris."

Chris watched as Lucario turned around and walked up to the stairs where he walked away from sight. The World Traveler kept staring at the same direction before he turned around and found Sonic looking amused and deviously at him. "S-Sonic, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Don't lie to me, Chris," Sonic said deviously with a grin. "You don't even have a gift for him, do ya?"

Chris blushed. "Y-you little... I-I admit I don't have one, b-but I didn't want to hurt him, that's all there is to it!"

Sonic crossed his arms. "Oh, you're planning to get one for him soon, then?"

"O-of course I'm going to!" Chris said. "I still have 2 days before the date comes. It's enough for me to look for a gift for Lucario!"

Sonic lifted his shoulders and closed his eyes. "Good luck, dude. You're gonna need luck to get a gift for him. I hope you don't end up giving him some clothes because that's the lowest stuff you can get to someone."

Chris looked annoyed. "I-I gave him a scarf last Christmas..."

Sonic opened a bit his amused eyes. "Told ya."

"B-but this year is going to be different," Chris said. "I'm going to look around for the best gift there is for him!"

"How are you going to do that?" Sonic asked. "You know a place?"

Chris thought hard. "U-umm...I-I don't know...b-but that won't stop me, either..."

"Weak idea."

"Y-you stop discouraging me!" Chris yelled. "Y-you'll see the gift very soon. In fact, I'm going out to see where I can get a nice one right now!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "It's not like you'll find it doing something like those jobs you've been taking at that post office."

Idea.

Nintendo Village: Morning of New Beginnings
Wings Post Office

As the last time, Quill was in charge of taking care of the office while Quill and Postman were doing their errands around the village. The Rito crossed his arms and looked at the group (which were Sonic, Chip, Chris, Pichu, Ike, and Diddy). "Have you decided which request you want to take?" Quill asked.

Chris stared at the billboard. "Well...how about if we take Gnome's job? I think it sounds a bit more intriguing."

"I guess," Ike said. "I don't think the others sound good enough to me. The other 2 involve looking around for lost people while this one has specific places."

"Chip Norris says it's a good idea," Chip said.

Chris stared at Chip before he shrugged and turned back to Quill. "W-we're accepting Gnome's request."

Quill nodded and gave the group the wing stamp. "Here you go. You need to present to the requester at the eastern mountain range, deep inside the cliffs... What an unlikely place to meet up, don't you think?"

"It is..." Pichu muttered before shrugging.

"...Oh, that's right," Quill said. "By the way, I have some important news to tell all of you."

"What are those news?" Diddy asked.

"Well, it's about some strange events that happen during the night," Quill said. "I haven't seen nor heard much, but there are some reports that there are some roaming creatures that appear during the night when there's no one outside."

"What?" Ike asked. "Roaming creatures that appear during the night?"

Quill nodded. "It's just a thought, but I think these creatures are the same ones I've been hearing about from Parakarry... However, I just don't know. The rumors are just a few, but there are some people who claim they've seen them."

Sonic rubbed his chin. "Nocturnal monsters..."

Chris frowned. "N-no, you don't mean those dreadful monsters called Nightmares..."

Quill blinked. "You know those creatures?"

"I-I do, but...I didn't know they could roam freely anywhere..."

"They don't do it here," Quill said. "The people who said this added that the monsters only appear only if a wide area doesn't have people. Unfortunately, these people were only a few, so it's a bit hard to believe that this is true or not."

Ike crossed his arms. "It might be true, but it's not certain yet."

"I'll tell you more if I can get more information about it," Quill said. "Right now, do whatever you want to do. Besides, Christmas is going to come soon. It's the time of the year where you need to be cheerful and get gifts."

Chris blushed a bit. "I-I hope Gnome has some kind of a nice prize for us..."

Quill nodded. "Go meet him."

-Eastern Mountain Range-
Gnome's Altar

"So I take from you that you didn't bring that dog here to push me off again, right?"

"F-for the last time, Lucario is NOT here!" Chris yelled at Gnome.

The group had walked all the way to Gnome's domain. And as the last time, the Summon Spirit of Earth was found wearing sunglasses. The big mole was sitting down on the pedestal as he looked at the group in front of him.

"Goodness..." muttered Ike. "He looks...fluffy, as they say?"

"Hmm," Gnome mumbled a bit. "Well, what brings you here, anyway? I was relaxing very nicely without people pushing me off down the abysses."

Chris grunted. "I-it was just one time, and you're starting to think we're going to do such a thing to you!" he argued. "Besides, none of us can push you down! You're so big and heavy!"

"Who knows," Gnome said. "You guys could be the same as the dog guy."

"Ugh, you're just unbelievable..." Chris muttered. "A-anyway, here," he said as he showed Gnome the wing stamp.

Gnome stared at the small stamp. "Oh! You took my request? Aww, man, I didn't want the dog's team to be the ones t-"

"Drop the whole thing already!" Chris yelled annoyed. "None of us is going to push you off the cliff!"

"Really?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Really..."

"...Oh, why didn't you say so?" Gnome asked. "For a second there, I thought you were going to."

Chris narrowed his eyes. "ANYWAY...what's your request?"

Gnome rubbed his chin. "Well, you see, there's one bad neighbor close to my place, and I can't to stop him or her from doing something so annoying..." He grumbled a bit. "It's been some time after he or she last arrived here, and he or she does a lot of stuff up there that can't make me feel at home at all! I'm so sick of it!" he complained.

"...One bad neighbor?" Pichu said confused.

"At least I think it's a neighbor 'cuz he or she hasn't left yet," Gnome said. "...Really, need some help here with the neighbor! You guys are brave enough to do it, right? Please, say so!"

"Why can't you do it yourself?" Chip asked.

Suddenly, they all covered their ears after a menacing, long roar echoed within the cliffs that reached all the way into the caves. The roar was strong enough to cause several huge rocks from fall down into the abysses of the caves. After five seconds, the roar calmed down, and the group saw that Gnome cowered in fear with his hands on his head.

Gnome looked up at them. "W-well, that's the something I was tellin' you guys about," he explained. "T-that something is always that roar that makes my fur point out to all directions!"

"T-that was certainly some roar..." Pichu muttered in fear.

Gnome cried toon tears. "I know," he said. "Those roars are keeping me from meeting this bad neighbor because I think that I could get chewed to death if I said stop..."

"Haven't you thought that it could be just a possibility?" Ike asked.

"...I did that 50 times," Gnome said. "I even have the count in mind."

Chris frowned. "Okay, it looks like you'll never see the person behind these roars unless we go, right?"

"That's the plan," Gnome said. "You guys need to reach the guy and tell him or her to stop roaring. I have had NASTY insomnia problems the last days 'cuz of those roars, y'know! My vacation spot is gettin' torn down to pieces as well!"

Diddy looked up. "Strange...that roar did seem familiar to me for some reason..." he muttered.

"A-anyhow, can you go up this mountain?" Gnome asked. "You can reach the top if you go through back here," he said.

The Smashers saw Gnome pointing to his right where a small entrance rested on the wall. It was dark, but there was some light shining through some small cracks that made it possible to enlighten some stairs that went up.

"I'm pretty sure the monster's up here," Gnome said. "See if you can knock some sense to the guy, will ya?"

Pichu gulped. "I-is this going to be a nice thing to do?"

"Duh! You'll make the guy leave! Your task is to tell him or her to stop roaring. If he or she doesn't want to, then use force! He or she deserves some punches for getting into my domain without my permission!" Gnome said with hands on hips. "Ya're gonna be the voice of reason!"

Ike looked at the small entrance. "Let's see if we can do that first..." he muttered. "Let's go."

The group nodded before they all walked to the right around the pedestal before entering the small entrance, one by one. Once they all were gone, Gnome nodded to himself and fell on his back to lie down. "Aww, man, I'm exhausted..." he muttered. "...Hope none of the Summon Spirits know about this... Celsius gets so angry if I slack off even a bit..."

Peaks

After walking around the mountain's inner stairs, the group emerged from a hole on the top of the mountain. Once they all came out, they found out that the top of the mountain had a long ground floor; long enough to set up a camp. They all looked around the highest elevation to overlook the different chains of mountain around it.

Chris looked worried once he saw that there were huge piles of rocks between some of the mountains. He thought that they could have been taken down by Lucario's blind state of rage.

The World Traveler shook his head and looked around. "So...Gnome said the monster was around here..."

"I don't see any monster," Sonic said before yawning a bit. "If there's no monster, I'm getting outta here."

"Patience," Ike muttered as he looked around. "That monster should be around here. We need to be patient here, Sonic."

"Um, sorry, but the hedgehog doesn't know the word patience," Sonic said with a grin. "In fact, if he doesn't know the word, he'll be pretty darn fine."

"Sonic, can you please lower down that ego of yours?" Chris asked bored. "I'm starting to think you're not going to change your ways."

"I-I was just saying...I swear..." Sonic muttered embarrassed.

Chip flew around the place. "Hey, Mr. Roaring Monster, come on out! We have some stuff to tell you!" he announced. "There's this guy down here who wants you away from his vacation home. Can you listen to us for a few minutes, pretty please?"

Diddy looked at Chip. "I think that's going to make the monster irritated..."

"Oh well," Chip said. "That guy's gonna show up faster, then."

Pichu gulped. "I-I don't want to look or even meet the monster in person. I-I want to finish this without having to fight!"

"Unfortunately, judging by the silent atmosphere around here, I can easily tell we're going to end up fighting..." Ike commented, his right hand resting on Ragnell's hilt. "I suggest we should be prepared for the worst."

"Ike, tell your fight sense to turn itself off," Chris said frightened. "I-I didn't like how it sounded just now..."

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!"

The group gasped at the sudden roar that came out of nowhere. They all looked around the mountain range to see where it came from, but it was hard to tell the exact location of the loud shout.

"W-where did that come from?" Pichu asked.

"It's hard to tell..." Ike muttered. "I didn't listen to it long enough to see where it came from."

"W-well, it could've appeared from around the mountains, right?" Chris asked.

Sonic looked serious as he looked around. "I didn't like how it sounded either. Better be prepared to do some fighting because that monster's gonna show its face around in a few seconds."

Diddy looked worried, his legs shaking crazily at the sides. "W-why am I thinking that roar was so familiar? I-it's making me feel so heavy a-and stuff..."

Chris looked at Diddy. "What do you mean by that?"

Diddy gulped. "I-if my assumptions are right... I-I think I-I already saw that monster before..."

"...Diddy, please tell me it was a big gerbil..."

"Y-you mean Gnome?"

"N-no, the other huge gerbils you and DK fought before..."

"T-those gerbils DIDN'T roar like that!" Diddy said. "I-in fact, the only scary roar I can think of, after hearing that same roar, is probably about that big snake thing..."

"Big snake thing?" Ike said confused. "What kind of...big snake thing are you talking about exactly?"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!"

Chip gasped and looked up to the sky. "U-up there, in the sky, there it is!"

The group quickly looked up to the sky where they saw a spiraling figure going down to their area. They all gasped and quickly back stepped away to leave space for the figure to land. From what they could tell from their perspective, the figure itself was a large, green, flying snake-like creature with rudder-like wings. There were some yellow rings that ran across the length of the creature's body, and it had an additional yellow ring on top of its head. The figure also had two limbs with three-clawed carpals, and two long, flat, horn-like structures on its head, with two smaller horns below them. Its eyes were dark, but its pupils were yellow.

"..." Chris's eyes widened. "W-what the hell is Rayquaza doing here?!"

The name of the monster was thus given away. It was the Sky High Pokémon, Rayquaza. The big Dragon/Flying Pokémon descended from the sky and, instead of doing an attack, landed gracefully in front of all them in its usual stance, locking its yellow eyes on all of them. "ROOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" it roared furiously.

"R-Rayquaza is the neighbor Gnome was talking about?!" Pichu asked frightened.

Sonic smirked and smacked his fists together. "Alright, I thought the monster looked lame, but this one isn't lame at al-"

"W-wait a minute!" Chris interrupted Sonic. "I-instead of fighting, w-why don't we try to talk with Rayquaza instead?"

Ike glared up at the wary  Pokémon. "I don't think words will suffice its anger."

"I-it's angry?"

"Well...I don't know. It has that glare on us..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared loudly, creating a long piercing sound that echoed all over the mountain range.

Chip covered his ears. "C-Chip Norris doesn't like dragons because dragons kill themselves when they know they can't beat Chip Norris!"

"Chip, shut up for a sec..." Sonic muttered.

The World Traveler, hands on ears, looked up at Rayquaza. "P-please, there's no need to fight o-or eat anybody here!" he yelled. "W-we didn't come here to bother you, we swear it!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

Chris twitched a bit. "W-we're serious about it! We don't want to bother you!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRR!!!"

Ike looked confused. "I don't understand this... That monster seems to be angry at something..."

Sonic looked at Ike. "What, we came here uninvited to its home or something?"

"That would be one reason...but I think there's something else; a main factor of the sorts..." Ike said. "But what could it be?"

Pichu gulped. "I-I hope it's not hunger to eat us!" He looked at Diddy. "D-Diddy, why haven't you said som-"

Once Pichu turned to see Diddy, the spider monkey's legs were shaking, and he had a very frightened look since his eyes were staring in fear and shock combined at Rayquaza, who in turn glared down menacingly at Diddy. Pichu blinked confused at this before he looked back and forth between the Kong and the Sky High Pokémon.

"U-um, Diddy...what is wrong with you?" Pichu asked.

Diddy only responded with a gulp.

Chris noticed this odd behavior from his spot. "(Wait a minute... If I recall, the Subspace Emissary had Diddy being attacked by Rayquaza... He looks like he's the most frightened person out of all of us... Well, Pichu could be more scared, but still... Yes, it makes sense...)" he thought. "Diddy...do you and Rayquaza have something to say?"

Diddy shook his head and looked at Chris. "U-um, k-kind of..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRR!!!" Rayquaza roared in disagreement.

Sonic cleaned his right ear with his finger. "Man, somebody gotta shut its mouth or else my ears will bleed."

Ike crossed his arms. "So Diddy and Rayquaza have something to say? What is that?"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"I-I'm afraid we can't understand what you're saying..." Chris said. "We're not Pokémon like you... If we were, then we could be able to unders-" He shook his head and looked at the frightened Pichu. "T-that's it! Pichu, you're a Pokémon!"

Pichu looked at him. "S-so?"

"So speak to Rayquaza!" Chris suggested. "You can probably tell what it's trying to say to us, can't you?"

Pichu looked down. "W-well, I can understand Rayquaza very well..." He gulped a bit at the thought. "O-okay...I-I'll talk to Rayquaza..."

Diddy gulped. "I-if you can do that, can you tell him to stop looking at me with those eyes?"

"I-I'll try..." Pichu muttered before he took some steps forward to get the attention of the Legendary Pokémon. "H-hi, Rayquaza...sir... H-how are you doing today?"

Chip nodded. "Oh yeah, we must be formal to the snake-thing."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared angrily.

Pichu shook in fear and looked at Chip. "H-he just said he wanted you to shut up..."

"...Oh, I see," Chip said. "Sorry, snake-thing."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu rubbed his chin. "H-he said he doesn't want to listen to you any longer..."

"Oh well," Chip said.

Pichu looked up at Rayquaza. "W-what should I ask him now?"

Ike thought for a moment. "Ask why he's angry."

"Oh, and tell us word by word," Chip suggested.

"O-okay..." Pichu nodded and looked up at Rayquaza. "U-um, why are you so angry?"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu rubbed a bit his chin. "My rage is very upset because of an intruder who got into my domain of the skies some time ago. I have been looking for this imbecile who dared enter my skies while I was making sure the peace around the skies was right," he translated.

"An intruder into his domain of the skies?" Sonic said.

"I-I don't know what he means by that..." Pichu said unsure. "M-maybe I'll ask him more... U-um, Rayquaza, who is the intruder who got into your domain?" he asked.

"ROOOOOAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared at the frightened Diddy.

"This very same person was the one who wandered in my skies," Pichu translated. "...Diddy is the intruder?"

Diddy shook his head in fear. "I-It wasn't me, I swear! I-I don't know what you're talking about at all!" he said scared.

"ROOOOOOAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared again.

"Liar, I saw your presence with my very own eyes," Pichu translated. "I do not forget a face when I see it. You have no rights to wander into my domain and cause chaos."

Diddy shook his head. "I-I wasn't even in the sky. I-I was on the ground this whole time!"

"ROOOOOOOOOAARR!!!" Rayquaza roared angrily.

"How can you prove what you have not done?" Pichu translated. "You have caused chaos in my skies. I can tell that it was you who did all the commotion."

Diddy gulped. "B-but it wasn't me!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"You still claim that you are not the culprit?" Pichu translated. "You are but a big fool. I am having enough of your useless claims that will not prove that you were not the intruder."

Chris was a bit frightened at the whole situation. He thought that Diddy was going to be Rayquaza's meal if they didn't do something to stop him. "W-wait, Rayquaza, please, listen to us!"

Rayquaza turned its head to him.

The World Traveler gulped. "A-are you really sure Diddy was the one who caused chaos in the sky where you were?"

"ROOOOOARR!!! ROOAAAARR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"It seems you are an acquaintance of this imbecile," Pichu translated. "However, you do not have proof that he was not the intruder. I saw this intruder getting into my domain. He has no right to do such a thing, for I am the lord of the skies who has the task to calm down the weather abnormalities that Groudon and Kyogre cause," he translated more. "I do not like it when chaos is created in the skies. Therefore, I have a mission to accomplish: punish those infidels who dare destroy the peace where I am."

Sonic blinked. "Did he really say all that just with 2 roars?"

"ROOOOOAARR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"You are but an ignorant," Pichu translated.

Sonic grumbled at this that he crossed his arms.

Diddy gulped. "C-can you tell him I didn't do any of that?"

Pichu nodded. "R-Rayquaza, Diddy wasn't the one wh-"

"ROOOOOOOOOAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared angrily.

Diddy looked very frightened. "I-I didn't like how that roar sounded just now... W-what did he say?"

Pichu gulped. "I have had enough already. All I have heard from the animal is that he was not the one to cause the chaos in the skies. I am getting very sick of his worthless claims. Unless he has something valid to say, I will punish him for his deeds today."

Diddy thought for a moment. "W-well, it's hard to say how I can prove my innocence..."

Ike stared at Rayquaza. "Maybe...there was someone who was the real culprit behind the chaos in the skies..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu's ears twitched a bit. "W-what did you say?"

"ROOOOOOOAAARR!!!"

Pichu looked confused before looking at the others. "H-he just said this..." he trailed off. "I remember the event very well. It was the day where the land was being overrun by malevolent creatures who decided to take everything for them through the strange method of using hazardous technology that took great masses of land to nothingness itself. Not only was it attacking the land, but it was also attacking the skies with an enormous metal monstrosity."

"Enormous metal monstrosity..." Chris trailed off. "...You don't mean...the Halberd?"

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu twitched a bit. "I do not know the name of the metal monstrosity, but it was one of the many intruders who dared start the chaos in the skies," he translated. "However, there were more than the metal monster."

"There...was more?" Diddy asked.

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" the Sky High Pokémon roared.

Pichu looked confused, but he later shook his head to regain his composure. "Among the metal monstrosity, there was this unknown vessel of metal. It was swift, but it got taken down after fighting the metal monster you call the Halberd."

Chris thought. "An unknown vessel that was taken down by the Halberd..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"I still remember the vessel's appearance. It was rather small, but it boasted speed and aerial prowess much better than the Halberd did. However, what it lacked was power; something that brought it to its demise...apparently," Pichu translated. "That cursed vessel caused a big riot, and it plummeted down to the ground where it crashed, close to where I was watching the event unfold. After it crashed into the lake's shore, I came out and found this imbecile before me."

Diddy gulped. "T-that wasn't me!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared furiously.

"You were close to it. I did not see anybody else besides you," Pichu translated. "I watched carefully from the lake's water. There was chaos across the land, and it also involved the very same skies I was guarding. I did not want to go after the metal monster because there was an ominous energy radiating from it that it made me feel unsure. However, the small vessel did not have that, and it was one of the intruders."

"ROOOOARRR!!! ROAR!!! ROAR!!! ROAAAAARRR!!!"

"It was because of you that this whole war in the skies broke out," Pichu translated. "What is making you think that you were not the one behind the attacks in the skies? You are only trying to fool me so you can be excused from the matter."

Diddy shook his head. "I-I wasn't the one who flew that vessel!"

Chris suddenly got the answer to the whole argument. "W-wait a minute, Diddy wasn't really the one behind that!"

Rayquaza looked at Chris and grunted loudly. "ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!!!"

"Why are you trying to fool me?" Pichu translated. "Do you have proof?"

Chris nodded. "O-of course I do!"

"ROOOOOOOAR!!!" the Sky High Pokémon roared.

"Then, please do show me the proof you are trying to make up," Pichu translated before gulping. "S-so, who was the one, then?"

Chris thought for a moment. "There's only one cocky idiot who did the hugest racket in the skies while the Halberd was doing its task to spread the Subspace Bombs...and there's only 2 people who know how to handle those vessels. However, since Rayquaza claims that this vessel crashed close to the lake where it was watching... Then...the culprit behind all that wasn't Diddy, but..."

The World Traveler gulped at the menacing glare of the Dragon/Flying type Pokémon.

"D-don't you remember that there was someone else with Diddy?"

"DK?" Diddy said.

"N-no, there was another person after DK who partnered with Diddy!" Chris said before pointing at Rayquaza. "Did that person look rather shady?"

Rayquaza remained silent for a moment. "...ROOOOOOOOARR!!!"

Pichu blinked surprised. "Now that you mention it, there was this cocky-looking character who intervened me from finishing off the imbecile... That very same fool attacked me as well."

Chris looked unsure. "Then...that person was the real one who fought the Halberd..."

"ROAAARR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"He was an accomplice of the imbecile. I did not think he was important because I did not see where he came from. Are you claiming that this character was the one who caused the riot in the skies and not your friend?" Pichu translated.

Chris nodded. "Yes... In fact, I can bring him here to confess."

"You can?" Sonic asked. "Who's the guy?"

Chris walked to Sonic and whispered something in his right ear.

The hedgehog grinned at Chris. "Oh, you want me to bring him here?"

Chris nodded. "Can you do it quickly?"

Sonic chuckled and frowned. "Chris, haven't you learned yet? I'm the world's fastest hedgeh-"

"Just go back to the mansion and bring him here quickly!" Chris interrupted.

Sonic looked bored and annoyed at him. "Fine, party pooper..." he muttered before he disappeared in a blue flash into the hole of the mountain.

As Rayquaza stared angrily at them, the Smashers turned to the west where they saw Sonic's blue bur running into the eastern forest where he crossed it quickly and reached the mansion's doors. Once Sonic made his way inside, some three seconds passed before he came out from the mansion and ran all the way back into the eastern range of mountains. As soon as he entered the mountain range, Sonic appeared right in front of them, carrying someone above him, struggling to get off from Sonic's hands.

"L-let me go!" Fox complained to Sonic. "What the hell is wrong with you today? I said let me go now!"

Sonic looked shocked. "Person...too...heavy...oof..." he muttered before he fell on his back, Fox landing on his stomach.

Fox looked over his right shoulder at Sonic. "You better have a good darn explanation to wake me up while I was resting in my room because if you don't have one, I'm going to make you regret i-"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!"

Fox's ears perked up at the loud roar before he looked forward and up to the Sky High Pokémon. "W-what the... It's you again!" Fox yelled with a glare.

[DededeCloneChris]

Ike looked at Fox. "Oh, right... Fox was the one who caused the whole aerial battle..."

Fox looked confused before he looked at Ike. "What aerial battle?"

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!!!"

Fox grunted and stared back at Rayquaza. "What, you want to get more revenge on me or what?" he asked aggravated.

"ROOOOOARRR!!!"

"I don't speak your stupid language of roars!"

Pichu walked to Fox. "I-I'm going to translate to you what he's saying," he said before clearing his throat. "So you claim to be the one who fought the Halberd in my domain?"

Fox looked back at Rayquaza. "What domain are you talking about?"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"You are such a big ignorant. Have you forgotten the fact that you became an intruder when you fought that metal monster in the skies where I was?"

"An intruder in the skies?" Fox asked confused. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Chris looked scared. "W-well, Rayquaza is the lord of the skies, Fox... You happened to invade his domain, the skies, when you were fighting the Halberd during the war against the Subspace Army..."

Fox thought for a moment. "I...did what?" he muttered before glaring up at Rayquaza. "Hey, what makes you think you own the WHOLE sky? So what if I invaded your precious domain? I was doing it for a good reason, you know!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAARRRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu gulped. "That does not change the fact that these people claim that you created the biggest riot. They even said you were in charge of the aerial battle against the battle. In a few words, you were the one who did the first shot that triggered the aerial war in my skies."

Fox glared at the others, who in turn looked away nervously (with Chip whistling innocently). "Thank you so much, you guys..." Fox muttered through gritted fangs.

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAARRRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"You are the one, then?" Pichu translated.

Fox pushed himself off from an asphyxiated Sonic (Sonic: My...spleen...) and stood up with crossed arms. "Okay, I admit I did the assault on the Halberd because I was the only one who had the resources to do so, but what of it? I was doing it for a good cause."

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"Why did you not choose another less threatening method? Thanks to you, the aerial war triggered, and you made me upset about the welfare of the skies."

Fox rolled his eyes. "I'm not a freaking pacifist who uses words to calm down issues, and neither are you."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!"

Chris looked unsure. "U-um, Fox, Rayquaza...is a pacifist; a mediator of the sorts..."

Fox sighed and looked at Chris. "You're trying to say this monster is a pacifist?"

Pichu coughed a bit to get Fox's attention. "I-I'll tell you what Rayquaza said," he said. "Fool, I am the only one who can calm down the wrath of Kyogre and Groudon. I do not use my power to cause destruction upon their domains because I do not want the skies to be involved, but I rather use my presence itself, which is enough for me for to nullify their weather catastrophes."

"...So you claim you have the power to make weather normal?"

"Rayquaza knows Air Lock," Chris explained. "Rayquaza is the only Pokémon who knows that ability. The ability makes all weather changes null if Rayquaza is nearby, thus is why he...it...um...Rayquaza can calm down both Kyogre and Groudon."

Fox frowned and looked up at Rayquaza. "What do you want from me, then? You're so angry at nothing?"

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"You deserve to be punished instead of the false imbecile (Diddy: Phew...)," Pichu translated. "You are the one who made the whole issue worse. You shall not escape the punishment you rightfully deserve from me."

Fox looked nastily at Rayquaza. "Bull-crap," he muttered. "One, you're not the darn lord of the skies. Two, you can't say who can go into your domain and who can't. Three, you're the one who's being unfair. And four, you're the one who should be punished because you're claiming I was the culprit when the Subspace Army was the REAL culprit here."

There was a dead silence around the mountains after Fox told his mind to Rayquaza. None said anything at all, but they all stared at Fox with some disbelief.

Feeling odd at the event, the vulpine looked at his group. "What's the matter now? Why's everyone so silent?"

Pichu looked frightened. "P-please, tell me you just did NOT talked back at Rayquaza with those words..."

Fox looked angrily at Pichu. "What the hell? I did so, so what?"

Rayquaza began fuming at the sight of the fox. The Sky High Pokémon narrowed its eyes at the vulpine.

"F-Fox...did you ever fight Rayquaza?"

Fox shook his head. "No, I didn't."

Chris looked confused. "You didn't fight Rayquaza with Diddy? I-I thought you two fought it and won..."

"What makes you think that?" Fox asked annoyed. "None of us never took this idiot down."

The World Traveler looked at Diddy. "Diddy, you and Fox never fought Rayquaza?"

Diddy looked confused. "We did? Er, no, we didn't... Last time I remember, that's not how things went..."

Fox looked shocked before glaring at Diddy. "W-wait a minute, don't say i-"

"Right after Fox reflected back Rayquaza's shot, Fox told me to help him out...but when he was looking at me, Rayquaza came out from the shore, swallowed Fox, and went back into the water again."

The Smashers looked blankly at the annoyed vulpine.

"When that happened, I...was wondering if I could go into the water and rescue Fox...but...I was in a hurry to look for help to rescue DK so we could all meet up at some point..." Diddy admitted in embarrassment. "T-then I just ran off..."

Fox slapped his forehead. "Why did you have to go and say it?"

Diddy chuckled nervously. "I-I just wanted them to know..."

Sonic chuckled. "S-so this guy swallowed you as a whole?"

"So what?" Fox asked annoyed. "I was swallowed, but I DID come back out."

Diddy rubbed his chin. "When I was running to the swamp, I met up with Toon Link...I mean, Link on a shore where he was using a small boat to go around the water. I told him what happened, and we both went to the swamp. Bowser attacked us on the way there, and I was so angry at him, but Link grabbed me by the hand and dragged me away into the forest before we could get turned into trophies."

Rayquaza kept listening to the spider monkey.

"A-and after much running, while I was talking with Link, I was shot by those big guns and turned into a trophy. Link told me that Bowser came out again, and he tried to finish him before Falco appeared and destroyed the gun by himself."

Chris thought for a moment. "But then whatever happened to Fox?"

"W-well..." Diddy looked at the annoyed Fox. "Right after Falco destroyed the gun, Rayquaza appeared from the deep waters of the cliffs. As usual, he roared at us, but then he spat Fox out...on Falco before Rayquaza went back into the water..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu looked at Rayquaza. "I still remember that event very well. After I gave halted the animal, I kept watching the events from the waters to see what was happening. In truth, I was chasing after the false imbecile (Diddy: It's Diddy!), but when I investigated the war again, there was no hope for me to intervene. I did not completely digested the animal because he struggled to keep himself alive. I grew upset with this, and I appeared before them to give them back their ally."

Fox grunted. "And I was covered by your smelly saliva everywhere... Bleh..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"After I gave their imbecile back, I retreated into the water to make sure I was safe from the war. I knew I could stop it, but the ominous air that those dark spheres emanated made me feel unsure of what to do..." Pichu translated. "An immense concentration was radiating from every single sphere of darkness. Its energy was malevolent and very dangerous to stop. As the lord of the skies, I know what I did... However, it seemed that the war had taken over beyond the skies I guarded."

Ike looked surprised. "You know what happened after?"

"ROOOOOOOOAAARR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"Of course I do," Pichu translated. "I watched how the hugest of the spheres of darkness slowly disappeared over the ocean..." Pichu shook his head. "W-wait, w-what did you see?"

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!!!"

"It is not important to address that meaningless event now," Pichu translated. "I care about to teach the intruders of the skies to not invade my domain ever again. Thanks to them, you endangered many living species. You shall not escape punishment now."

Fox looked mad at this. "Wait a minute ther-"

"ROOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"You shall not excuse the inexcusable," Pichu translated. "Those who go unpunished will then repeat the same event very soon in my skies. I will not allow such a thing happen ever again. And for that, you are all to be punished..." Pichu looked shocked. "A-all of us?"

The Smashers gasped at this statement that some of them took a step back. "W-wait, what did he say?" Diddy asked. "A-all of us has to be punished for this?

"ROOOOOOOOAAARR!!! ROOOOAAAARRR!!! ROOOOAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared continuously.

Pichu shook in fear, but he kept translating the roars. "You are clearly accomplices of this threat to the skies. Anyone who is an ally of this sick bastard is clearly the same as he is."

Sonic shook his head. "We don't know the guy. In fact, we just met him. I don't think we have to be in this. He should be punished alone."

Fox gave a nasty glare to Sonic.

"ROOOOOOOAAAARR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"There is no fooling me around," Pichu translated. "You all need to be punished, regardless of your lies. You have threatened the skies, and therefore you must be taught not to do fighting."

Fox grunted. "If you want to punish people, then you should better punish the Subspace Army because they're the ones who started the whole thing."

"ROOOAARR!!! ROOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"I do not know where that force went, but I did find you," Pichu translated. "You were involved, and thus you must suffer the pain you have inflicted on the skies. Prepare yourselves to stop dwelling my skies to pester them...forever..."

The Smashers gasped at this. "H-hey, he's gonna kill us?" Sonic asked.

"ROOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"It is another way to put it," Pichu translated. "Once I am done with you, I will try to find the other intruders who started the war. After I punish all of them, then there will be no more chaos."

Diddy gulped. "O-oh, great, now we're all gonna die because Fox had to go nuts in the air against the Halberd..."

Fox stomped his right foot on the ground and pointed at Rayquaza. "You're just being an idiot here! We were ALL fighting the army so they wouldn't attack any other place in your precious skies!"

"ROOOOOOOOAAARRR!!! ROOOOAAAARRR!!! ROOOOAAAARRR!!! ROOOOAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared furiously.

"As I have explained before, that does not excuse you that you harmed the skies with those dangerous weapons," Pichu translated. "You have all sinned against your own wills. Now, I shall commence the punishment for you. Prepare yourselves for threatening the peaceful skies I try to guard!"

Pokémon Colosseum/XD: Gale of Darkness - VS Battle 2 (Hoenn Gym Leader Battle Theme Remix)

Fox grunted and made fists on his sides. "Okay, you're going down now!" he yelled.

Pichu shook his head. "N-no, we have to escape! Nobody can defeat Rayquaza in battle!"

Fox looked down at him. "What the hell does that mean?"

"L-look, I know you're a legendary pilot and all that, but it's technically very hard to bring a Legendary Pokémon like Rayquaza down with a battle!" Pichu yelled. "Even if we're so many, it's going to be really hard to defeat him in battle!"

"We'll have to try, then."

"Y-you're being very stubborn, Fox!" Pichu yelled. "I-I know you're against Rayquaza, b-but you and the others are no match for him! I-it would have been a huge feat if you DID beat Rayquaza...but you didn't, so..."

Fox took out his Blaster. "I don't care if this is a Legendary Pokémon or not. It's going down for being unfair to me!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"What's he saying now?"

Pichu gulped. "You shall suffer the wrath of the skies for endangering the very same earth you walk!" he translated. "T-this is bad... T-this is soooooo bad now!"

Ike took out Ragnell. "Damn, we'll have to fight Rayquaza to stop him from killing us!"

Chris looked frightened. "W-we're actually going to fight Rayquaza by force?"

Diddy shook his head. "T-this is all very unneeded! R-Rayquaza, please, don't do this!"

"It's useless now," Ike said as he stared at Rayquaza's angry look staring at them. "Rayquaza has lost it. He won't listen to reason anymore because he thinks we don't have anything else to say."

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"What did he say this time?"

Pichu shook his head. "T-that was actually a normal roar..."

Sonic looked bored. "How can you even tell he's talking anymore again?"

The group watched as Rayquaza took off to the air around them. The Sky High Pokémon began circulating before he went down to hide around the cliffs.

"This isn't good," Ike said. "He'll try a surprise attack from anywhere for sure..."

Fox grunted and shifted his eyes around with his Blaster pointing up to prepare a shot. "Everyone, be on your guard!" he yelled. "This bastard will try to swallow anyone like he did before!"

"H-how do you know he's going to do that?" Chris asked as he held a tight grip on his staff. "H-he could have different attacks this time around!"

Sonic smirked. "Alright, now there's a good fight here."

"Y-you're not helping!"

The group suddenly heard a roar before they all turned to the right and were quickly tackled across all sides by Rayquaza's swift appearance. The Sky High Pokémon roared loudly while everyone yelled in pain on the ground before he went back into hiding between the cliffs.

Sonic grunted on the floor and pushed his feet back up. "D-darn, I didn't see him at all!"

Chris moaned in pain before he sat up. "I-I think Rayquaza used ExtremeSpeed... T-that would explain why he moved so fast..."

Chip, who had been hiding inside the hole into the mountain, came out and punched the air a few times. "C'mon, guys. C-Chip Norris knows that we're gonna win, and that's because Chip Norris knows the outcome very well!" he cheered before he gulped and went back into the hole. "C-Chip Norris knows he can't fight this one, though!" he yelled.

Everyone ignored the comment of the imp as they looked at all directions to spot the Sky High Pokémon. Chris, Diddy, and Pichu were all looking scared while Fox, Ike, and Sonic were the ones who looked serious at the whole event. "Come on out now..." Fox muttered. "I'm prepared to take you down this time for sure..."

Diddy gulped. "W-why couldn't we just let the Halberd go alone before? T-this fight wouldn't have happened if we didn't stop the Halberd back then!"

Fox glared at Diddy. "If we let the Halberd go away, we could have died. However, since this idiot wants to kill us for no good reason, then we'll have to teach him that we were right in attacking the Halberd."

"We?" Ike said confused. "I'm sorry to say this, but you were the one who did the most fighting in the skies."

"Now you're agreeing with him?"

"Hey, I'm just using common sense here," Ike said. "What if Rayquaza had a right to punish us for endangering the skies?"

Fox looked mad. "Look, I don't know you, but if we let the army do whatever it pleased, Rayquaza could have been killed, or worse, taken away by them. He didn't have any kind of connection with them as well, so that would explain why he wasn't with them."

Diddy thought for a moment. "W-well, he didn't look like he was being controlled..."

The group heard the same loud roar before they were all quickly tackled away by the swift Rayquaza. Even Sonic couldn't react in time to evade the attack, which frustrated him a lot. "Less talk and more fight!" Sonic yelled as he pushed himself back on his feet. "Crazy guys like him need to be smacked hard so they listen!"

"Eggman was smacked many times before and he didn't listen..." Chris muttered.

"Y-you get what I mean, anyway!"

Ike looked around. "If this keeps up like this, we'll never land a hit..." he muttered.

Sonic grinned. "Leave that part to me. I'll kick it hard on its face once it appears."

"(Would that be enough?)" Pichu thought worried.

They all heard the roar coming from the south. They all turned around and saw Rayquaza coming out from the cliff where he charged swiftly at them. This time, Sonic had the right momentum to jump at the dragon and deliver a hard kick on its face. However, once Sonic kicked Rayquaza, he felt that his foot felt as if it had kicked a hard wall. The hedgehog twitched a bit in pain before Rayquaza stopped his attack and chomped him hard in its mouth. "AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Sonic yelled in pain as Rayquaza began to shake him to the sides.

Diddy gasped. "H-he's trying to chew Sonic to death!"

"Not today, you!" Fox yelled as he jumped twice to reach Rayquaza's height. The Star Fox leader then aimed for the mouth and used Fox Illusion to slash it hard. Unfortunately, even the attack wasn't enough to make Rayquaza flinch. "What the..." Fox muttered in shock before he landed back on the ground and looked up at Rayquaza. "That didn't work?"

"I-I told you that it's hard to fight Rayquaza!" Pichu yelled.

Fox grunted. "Then how the hell do we save Sonic?"

"I'll do it," Ike said before he ran towards Rayquaza. "Taste this!" he yelled, slamming hard Ragnell on Rayquaza's body.

Fortunately, the hit seemed to make Rayquaza flinch a bit. It was enough to make Rayquaza release a weak Sonic to the ground before it roared angrily and stared down at them.

"S-Sonic, are you okay?" Chris asked.

Sonic grunted and slowly got up from the ground. "I-I'm fine... J-just a scratch here and there...and some icky stuff everywhere..."

"Don't act so tough now," Chris said. "(Rayquaza has a very thick skin so most attacks don't seem to work. But Ike's Ragnell was strong enough to make it flinch... I'll have that in mind...)" he thought.

Rayquaza roared angrily at the group before it flew up and began spinning in a tight circle. The group watched as Rayquaza's body began to radiate electricity before bolts of lightning hit the entire group at the same time, making them all scream in pain before Rayquaza returned to its position and grunted at the group.

"W-what was that attack just now?" Ike asked.

Chris shook his head. "I-I don't know what it was....but...maybe it was...Thunderbolt..." He looked confused. "B-but if that's true...why did it end up hitting everyone?"

"Legendary Pokémon are known for having very strong attacks..." Pichu muttered. "They differ greatly from the common Pokémon so that would explain why Rayquaza hit all of us..."

Diddy gulped and took out his Peanut Popgun. "O-okay, let' focus back into the fight!" he said unsure. "I-if Rayquaza wants to kill us...t-then we'll have t-"

"ROOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza interrupted as it pulled back its tail. It then swiped a big area of the ground with a hard spin, reaching Diddy and Fox to push them back.

"T-that was Iron Tail..." Pichu muttered. "A-are you okay?"

Diddy twitched in pain. "P-please, tell me we're going to live after this!" he pleaded on the ground.

Fox grunted and got up quickly. "We're going to live after this," he said before he pulled his fists back and began to be engulfed with flames. Fox then shot himself in flames towards Rayquaza's body.

However, Rayquaza merely floated there before its eyes shone a bit. In the next second, before Fox could even land a hit, he was stopped by a harsh explosion of flames that pushed him back to the ground where he grunted in pain and gritted his fangs.

"What was that attack just now?" Chris asked.

Pichu rubbed his chin. "It could have been Secret Power or Hidden Power... I don't know for sure..."

Fox grunted and looked up at Rayquaza. "What the hell is your problem, anyway?!"

Rayquaza only responded by taking off to the skies. Fox grunted more at this and got up from the ground where he looked at the Sky High Pokémon soar the sky.

"Damn that idiot..." Fox muttered.

Chris tried to think. "(We're not ready to fight Rayquaza head-on yet... We have to do something...)" He looked at Fox. "(...Wait, maybe I can tell him he can get stronger with the stickers we have...) Fox!"

Fox turned to him. "What is it now?"

Chris ran to Fox and showed him the Boots of Prowess sticker. "Here, use this."

Fox stared at the sticker. "Hey, that's one of the stickers Peppita made for us..."

"This one doesn't work for anybody else but you," Chris said. "If you put it on, you'll receive a 30 percent power and defense boost... Maybe it'll help a lot..."

Fox blinked at the sticker before he glared up at the flying dragon. He grunted and looked back at the sticker before he took it and put it on his Trophy Stand. In an instant, he felt that his body swelled just a bit. Fox grinned at this and kept his stand in his pocket. "Okay, now it's all better," he said.

"Hmm..." Chris took out the Fayt sticker. "Why don't you put this one on as well? It has Side Kick and Shotgun Blast, 2 for 1."

Fox smiled a bit and took the sticker. "Well, much, much better, then," he said before he took the sticker and put it on the Trophy Stand, instantly gaining the ability to use Side Kick and Shotgun Blast. Fox smacked his fists together and looked up at Rayquaza. "Come and get us now!"

Chris gasped. "W-wait, don't get so confident either! W-we have yet to see if it really makes a chang-"

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared angrily before it began to descend to the group.

"Everyone, prepare to attack!" Ike yelled. "We have to force him to stop before we land attacks!"

Sonic grumbled. "That monster's gonna go down this time..."

Chris gulped. "L-let's see...since Rayquaza is a double type that is weak against ice... I should rely on ice magic to deal massive damage..." He cleared his throat before his staff glowed in a blue mist. "Freeze to greater cold..."

Pichu gasped after he saw that Rayquaza decided to go after Chris. Since Chris was busy chanting, the Electric Mouse Pokémon ran after him. "C-Chris, look out!"

"W-what?" Chris stopped chanting before he looked up and screamed at Rayquaza. Pichu closed his eyes and used Agility to push the Black Mage away before Rayquaza could take him down the earth where it burrowed into the ground and disappeared from sight. Both Chris and Pichu were rolling on the floor before they stopped. "U-ugh, thanks, Pichu..." Chris muttered.

"N-no problem..." Pichu muttered as they got up from the ground.

Diddy looked frightened to the ground. "H-he just went underground..."

"That means he could perform a surprise attack again..." Ike muttered. "Let's be careful now!"

"Weren't we careful before?" Sonic asked.

And the earth started shaking before Rayquaza appeared right under Diddy, which meant that the Sky High Pokémon finally was able to swallow Diddy as a whole like it planned to do before. The Smashers gasped after Rayquaza merely floated in the air before releasing a loud roar.

"H-he just swallowed Diddy!" Pichu said.

"Oh no, this is so bad now..." Chris muttered. "W-what do we do?"

"Get him out, of course," Ike said. "But if we damage Rayquaza, we could end up damaging Diddy as well..."

Fox grunted at this. "Damn, we have to think of something or else Diddy is going to get digested for real this time!"

"Pichu, try to convince Rayquaza to stop all this!"

Pichu looked worried. "H-how do you know it'll work?"

"We don't have anything else to think about. We have to bring Rayquaza to reason. Hurry before Diddy dies!"

Pichu gulped frightened before he ran to Rayquaza and looked up at him. "R-Rayquaza, please, you have to stop all this! P-please let Diddy go!"

"ROOOOOOOAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"W-what do you mean this should be this way? I-it's doesn't have to!"

"ROOOARR!!! ROAAARRR!!!"

"N-no, you shouldn't kill anyone! P-please, listen to us!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!"

"W-we know we shouldn't cause trouble in the skies. We learned our lesson, we swear of it!"

"ROOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared one last time before he spat Diddy out to the ground. The Sky High Pokémon then proceeded to shoot an energized sphere on both Pichu and Diddy to create an explosion that pushed them away from it. Rayquaza roared furiously before it took off again.

"D-Diddy!" Chris yelled before he ran to Diddy and Pichu's side. "A-are you sure you're okay?"

Diddy sniffed a bit. "W-when is this going to end without anyone having to die, Chris? I-I'm so scared now!"

Sonic looked up. "It's either escape and let the flying snake ambush us anytime or finish this right now before it gets even worse..."

Chris clenched his hands on his staff before he turned around and resumed his spell. "Freeze to greater cold..."

"He's coming back down!"

Chris stopped his spell in annoyance. "Oh, for the love o-" He was quickly shut up by a swift downward Iron Tail attack from the Sky High Pokémon, prompting Chris to roll recklessly away before stopping. "O-oww..." Chris moaned in pain.

Diddy looked scared before he shook his head and looked serious at Rayquaza. "W-well, I-I'm sick of getting this frightened by you... I-I'm gonna shut you up this time!" he yelled.

Rayquaza turned to Diddy. "ROOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!"

Diddy's legs suddenly shook in fear, and his lips started to tremble likes waves, but his look kept the serious face intact. "N-no backing away now..." Diddy muttered. "T-this has gone long enough! YIAAAAAAAH!!!" he screamed loudly as he rushed towards Rayquaza.

Chip took a peek from the hole and pumped up a fist. "Go, you brave but stupid monkey, go!" he cheered before retreating back into the hole.

The Smashers watched as Diddy used Monkey Flip to latch himself on Rayquaza's body. The Sky High Pokémon roared furiously before Diddy began to smack as many times as he could to it. "D-Diddy, no!" Pichu yelled.

Chris grunted and focused his magic. "I won't fail this time for sure... Freeze to greater cold..."

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAARRRR!!!" Rayquaza roared furiously as it prepared to use another energized sphere on Diddy.

However, before Rayquaza could release its attack, Ike came out from nowhere with a fully charged Quick Draw, delivering a harsh blow on Rayquaza. The Sky High Pokémon roared in pain and lost focus to charge the sphere that it slowly vanished. Rayquaza grunted at this before glaring down at its opponents.

Once looking down, Rayquaza's eyes widened after seeing Fox about to deliver a kick attack. Rayquaza acted quickly and shook Diddy off from its body in time to prepare a sweeping Iron Tail attack. As soon as the Sky High Pokémon turned around, Fox had already used a new learned attack. Rayquaza quickly swept the ground, but before it could hit the vulpine, Fox used a side-way jump over the tail to evade a hit, and he quickly turned around and jumped straight to Rayquaza to deliver an energized kick to its thick skin. "Side Kick!" Fox yelled.

"ROOOOOOOOAARR!!!" Rayquaza roared in pain as it received the full attack. The Sky High Pokémon then shook its head and took off to the skies.

Fox grinned. "What, can't you resist a kick or what?"

"Fox, I'd shut up if I were you," Ike muttered. "You don't want to make Rayquaza angrier than he is."

"Cocky person is cocky," Chip commented from the hole.

Fox looked annoyed. "Okay, I admit I got too cocky..."

Just then, Chris had finished his chant with the spell as he pointed his staff to the sky. "Blizzara!" he yelled.

Rayquaza's roar of pain in the sky meant that the freezing attack successfully hit without problems. The Sky High Pokémon suffered from being trapped in a big concentration of ice before it shattered into pieces, dealing a great amount of damage on it.

"Effective!" Chris rejoiced.

However, not only the spell inflicted a big pain on Rayquaza, but it also made it angrier than before. The Sky High Pokémon flew around the skies before locking eyes on Chris, then it began to descend into an area where there wasn't anyone around to burrow itself into the ground. The Smashers quickly looked at all directions before Rayquaza sprouted out from underneath Chris and trapped him in its mouth.

"HEEEEEEEEELP!!!" Chris pleaded for help as Rayquaza took him into the skies in order to stay away.

"No!" Fox yelled as they looked up at the circling Rayquaza. "Dammit, let him go right now, you bastard!"

Rayquaza, obviously, didn't listen to anyone or anything. Instead of that, it tossed Chris higher up. The Black Mage still felt agonizing pain on his left arm as he tried to move. Unfortunately, Rayquaza quickly rose up under him and rammed its head against Chris. The World Traveler yelled in pain as he spun crazily on the air. Rayquaza then shot an energized sphere to Chris to further deal even more damage while the Black Mage was unable to move. Once the sphere created an explosion, Rayquaza passed the immobile Chris before it used a downward Iron Tail to make Chris descend quickly into the ground.

"Somebody get him before he dies!" Pichu yelled.

"On the job!" Sonic yelled as he quickly rushed under Chris and pulled out a spring to use it as a means to jump high towards the Black Mage. The hedgehog went directly at the unconscious Chris to catch him on his arms. Sonic sighed in relief before he landed back on the ground and looked down at Chris. "Chris, Chris, c'mon, respond!" Sonic said as he shook Chris.

The hedgehog watched as a divine light shone on Chris, allowing some light wings to spread on his back before disappearing. The Black Mage slowly opened his eyes and gasped. "O-oh no, Rayquaza was about to kill me off..." Chris muttered before Sonic put him back to his feet. Chris sighed in relief. "I-I can still fight back, though..."

"Phew, that was a close call," Sonic said.

The Smashers looked up into the sky to see Rayquaza. The Sky High Pokémon roared loudly before it dove down between the cliffs to use another surprise attack.

Ike narrowed his eyes. "He's going to attack us from anywhere again," he said.

Chris gulped. "I-I think chanting magic will only leave me very vulnerable..." he muttered before he changed to his Ranger job. "L-let's see how I do it with this job instead..."

Ike looked at him. "Oh, I forgot you had that job. Now you look as if you were...my fan, as they say?"

"...I-I'm not your fan or something like that!" Chris said embarrassed. "At least be a bit flattered that I'm kind of following your example as a Ranger!"

"Oh, sorry, my bad," Ike said. "I didn't mean to say it that way."

"(Good, I hope you're telling the truth,)" Chris said. "(Now please don't get too excited or something. The least I want to do is you becoming a role model or something like that.)"

"(I'll make sure I don't get you to do that... I could get embarrassed...)"

"(...Wait a minute. Are you trying to say something else with that? It sounds a bit offensive to me.)"

"(N-no, you've got it all wrong,)" Ike said. "(Really, I'm not trying to make you feel miserable or me...)"

"(Good... Now for the actual fight...)" Chris noticed that everything and everyone had stopped moving. "(...Ike...)"

"(We've discovered our CFS for me, right?)"

"(Can I infer that somebody told you how this works?)"

"(Marth.)"

"(I expected as much...)" Chris muttered.

"(...So, is there something I'd need to know in order to do one attack?)"

"(Not much... The attack comes right after we go through this.)"

"(Oh, I see,)" Ike said. "(Do we have to think of one?)"

"(I-I don't know, but it should be appear right...now...)"

"(...)"

"(...)"

"(...)"

"(...)"

"(...)" Ike tried to look surprised (due to the fact time had stopped for them to realize their attack). "(...Oh, there it is.)"

"(Bizarre...)" Chris muttered. "(This way to get abilities is just bizarre, I swear...)"

"(I've had weirdest moments before,)" Ike said. "(This isn't the weirdest one yet.)"

"(Is that really true?)"

"(Depends... I mean, I have these weird visions sometimes at nights. They are very odd and strange. It's not like you've seen before.)"

"(...Ike, those are called nightmares... I can't believe you're that tense...)"

"(...)" Ike mumbled. "(What is wrong with me today?)"

"(We can keep talking between each other or stop Rayquaza from killing us by being digested. Which one will you choose?)"

"(Can I choose both? We can take advantage of the sudden stop of time, can't we?)"

"(...Ike...)"

"(...Fine...)"

Time itself began to continue its path, and Chris looked serious at his surroundings with Ike. "Are you ready?" Ike asked.

Chris stepped in front of Ike. "Ready when you are," Chris muttered. "Start charging a Quick Draw attack!"

"Right," Ike said with a nod before he crossed his arms in front of him while holding Ragnell with a tight grip. Chris merely used his sword as a shield as if he wanted to use Counter.

Suddenly, the Smashers heard another roar. They all turned north where Rayquaza came from the cliffs while using ExtremeSpeed to hit every single one of them. However, something happened, and none were rammed to the sides once Rayquaza made contact with Chris's sword.

Time itself stopped, and Chris and Ike were the only ones able to move. Chris turned to Ike. "It's all yours," Chris said, giving his copy of Ragnell to Ike's left hand before stepping out of the way to let him face the immobile Rayquaza.

"COUNTER DRAW!" Ike yelled, instantly reaching Rayquaza's head with a serious cross slash with both swords. Once he inflicted damage, time began to move again, and Rayquaza roared in pained as it was obliged to fall down on the ground where it grunted in pain.

New Ability Learned! Counter Draw!

Two users wait for an enemy to attack. The first user will use Counter, and the second user will use Quick Draw. Once being touched while using Counter, time will stop and the first user will give a sword to the second user, who will then reach out the enemy whenever it is to deal a harsh cross slash. Deals great damage to a single enemy.

Pichu stared at Rayquaza. "Rayquaza is down!"

"D-did we stop him?" Diddy asked.

Rayquaza twitched in pain before it slowly got up and floated on the ground. The Sky High Pokémon roared furiously.

Ike gave Chris back his sword and looked at Rayquaza. "Did that do it?" Ike asked.

Something looked wrong the moment they saw Rayquaza trembling randomly. The Sky High Pokémon retained its angry look, but his body seemed to be acting in a strange manner. Soon enough, they noticed that Rayquaza's body began to produce some steam.

Chris looked shocked. "W-what is going on with Rayquaza now?"

Pichu thought for a moment. "W-well, if I'm correct, I could say he's about to use..."

"ROOOOAAARRR!!! ROAAARRR!!! ROAAARRR!!! ROARRR!!! ROOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared continuously in fury before it turned red in rage and started to slam down its long tail against the ground, creating huge cracks that almost covered the whole portion of the floor.

"O-Outrage!" Pichu yelled. "H-he's using Outrage!"

The Smashers gasped as Rayquaza started to move around in a violent manner. Rayquaza didn't know where it was going, but it didn't stop it from going around to land a hit of its blind state of rage.

"Move!" Fox yelled. "Stay away from him!"

"O-one of those attacks could take us out very easily!" Pichu yelled. "S-spread out or avoid him!"

The Smashers scrambled around to stay away from Rayquaza. Unfortunately, for some of them, Rayquaza managed to reach them out. The one that got the baddest of luck was Chris, who was slammed down hard on the ground before the Sky High Pokémon began a series of powerful slamming attacks with its tail. The World Traveler, under the cloud of dust that Rayquaza created, yelled in extreme pain before he was pushed away from Rayquaza's sight as it then went to another way, leaving Chris knocked out.

"Chris!" Ike yelled to the unconscious ranger. "Chris, can you get up? Chris!"

There was no response from Chris.

"Dammit..." Ike muttered. "He was taken out for real this time..."

"IKE, BEHIND YOU!" Pichu yelled.

Ike turned around in time to receive a harsh tail attack. The range was later submitted to a series of mad slam attacks from the Sky High Pokémon, continuously screaming in pain before Rayquaza performed a sweeping attack and pushed Ike away, instantly knocking him out.

A light shone on Ike, calling forth some lights wings that later disappeared. The ranger grunted in pain and slowly got back up. "This is just insane..." Ike muttered under his breath.

Ike watched as Rayquaza wildly slammed its tail around the terrain. The rest of the Smashers were trying to stay away from the mad rampage or else they would be instantly taken out. A slight mistake and it would be over.

"Hey, can't we like stop him from moving around?" Sonic asked.

"I-I don't know, but it's dangerous to do so!" Pichu said. "Outrage is a very strong Dragon type move..."

Fox back flipped away from a sweep tail attack before he landed on his feet and grunted at the rampaging Rayquaza. "There should be some way to stop him from going nuts..." he muttered. "But what?"

"ROOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared loudly before it slowed down its pace. Eventually, the Sky High Pokémon's mad rush stopped, and the Smashers stared at it remaining on the same spot.

Diddy, hiding behind a rock, took a peek of Rayquaza. The spider monkey blinked confused and looked at the Dragon/Flying type's head slowly circling around. Upon closer inspection, Diddy saw that Rayquaza's eyes were spinning a bit as it seemed to moan. "What is wrong with him?" Diddy asked. "He...looks like he's dazzled..."

Pichu gasped. "Of course... Outrage is a very strong move, but it leaves the user confused after a while..."

Sonic looked at Pichu. "Does that mean it has a prize?"

"W-well, in a way," Pichu said. "Rayquaza is now confused..."

Sonic looked back at the dazzled Rayquaza before he grinned. "Heh, looks like you didn't think what to do, snake," he taunted.

Ike glanced over to the fainted Chris. "Oh no, we don't have any food items or healing magic to heal ourselves..."

Pichu looked serious at Rayquaza. "We have to attack now that Rayquaza is confused!" he proposed. "Quick, before he regains his composure!"

"Charge, then, charge!" Fox issued the order as everyone but Ike (who decided to check on Chris) ran after the confused Rayquaza.

Rayquaza circled its head around before it roared suddenly and started to use Iron Tail around itself to try to make everyone stay away. The Smashers gasped and quickly turned back to evade the wild sweeping to stay cautious. "Oh, great, now we can't even reach him out!" Sonic complained.

"It's risky to use midair attacks as well..." Pichu muttered. "He's swinging his tail to all directions..."

"ROOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared in pain.

The Smashers looked surprised after Rayquaza accidentally smacked itself hard with its own tail. The Sky High Pokémon, after receiving the smack, got even more dazzled than before.

Fox chuckled. "Well, that's what I call luck," he said. "Now, charge forward!"

Sonic instantly appeared in front of the dazzled Rayquaza before he performed two upward kicks. The hedgehog then curled himself down to use a Spin Dash, ramming himself hard on Rayquaza. Pichu gathered his courage and ran close to Rayquaza to call forth a thunder to hit himself, but deal a strong hit to Rayquaza. After that, Diddy charged his Rocketbarrel Blast to blast himself onto Rayquaza's dazzled head.

Once the attack connected, Diddy was pushed away by the impact. Unfortunately, Rayquaza's confusion seemed to have been worn off after it shook its head and looked down at them. "ROOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

Fox managed to get closer to the Sky High Pokémon and use a new attack. The Star Fox leader moved up his right hand before swinging it down in front of Rayquaza, creating a downward wave of mini explosions that burst on Rayquaza. "Shotgun Blast!" Fox yelled.

"ROOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared angrily before it quickly used Iron Tail to push Fox away.

Fox fell on his back before he grunted and got back up. "How long is this fight going to take?"

"A-a lot," Pichu said. "That attack you just did wasn't effective... Fire attacks aren't strong enough against Dragon types."

"Now you're telling me..." Fox muttered under his breath.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

Fox narrowed his eyes. "Here he comes for mor-"

"W-wait!" Pichu yelled. "T-the battle ended now!"

Music stops

The whole group (including Chip) stared at Pichu from their scattered spots across the terrain of the peak. "...What did you say just now?" Sonic asked.

Pichu nodded. "Rayquaza just said that the battle was over..." he said. "I-I heard him say that..."

Fox glared at Rayquaza. "Hey, what's the big deal now? Are you surrendering?"

"ROOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu blinked a few times before he decided to translate Rayquaza's words. "Yes, the battle has ended. I have decided that this battle has no real purpose to solve the conflict I have with you."

Ike walked to them as he carried the unconscious Chris on his back. "Wait, what?" he asked.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"It is as you have heard," Pichu translated. "I do not see the reason to further prolong this fight. I should not have made this violent decision before."

Fox crossed his arms. "But you were the one who said we should be punished through this way: by battling!"

"ROOOAARRR!!! ROOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"I acknowledge that I did say that, but after fighting against all of you, I have realized that I was going against my principles," Pichu translated. "I mentioned to you that you did not find another way to solve the problems you faced that time long ago. And once I compared that event to this one, I found out that this one can be talked through with words and not attacks. After all, I am in favor of pacifism."

"Tsk," Fox muttered before he frowned. "Now you're trying to find an excuse t-"

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"I believe you wanted me to listen to you, so I am going to do that," Pichu translated. "I do not need to listen twice, though. I have understood everything now."

Fox looked skeptical. "So what have you understood from all this?"

"ROOOOOOAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"I have understood that everyone but you are not deemed to punishment," Pichu translated. "I should not have attacked everyone. You all have my apologies for resorting to violence. Phew..."

Chip sighed in relief. "Well, he understood this so it's just fine... I guess..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared to Fox.

Fox looked confused. "What is it?"

"Please do not move. Your punishment shall now begin," Pichu translated.

Fox stared at Rayquaza. "Oh, I see..."

It took about three seconds for Fox's mind to realize what he just heard from Rayquaza.

"...What? I thought you already did it with the fight!" Fox argued to the Legendary Pokémon.

"ROOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"I know that, but you still need to be further taught about your wrongdoing," Pichu translated worried. "You have caused the deepest damage in the skies. In order to make myself sure that you will not repeat the same mistake, I shall punish you right now."

Fox glared nastily at Rayquaza. "You're just being unfair to me and no one else!" He pointed at Rayquaza. "You're but a big imbecile!"

Rayquaza shook its head before it moved it up to start charging a Hyper Beam attack. Fox saw the concentration of energy building up slowly on top of Rayquaza's mouth that he looked shocked at it while the others silently backed away from the spot.

However, Fox recalled that he had reflected a shot from Rayquaza a long time ago. The vulpine blinked at this before he grinned and slowly reached for his Reflector. "Heh, now you're just going to make a big mistake," Fox said grinning as he touched his empty belt's left side. "Once you shoot that beam on me, I'll just reflect it back to make it even stronger so you end up being..."

Perhaps what was able to make Fox's grin fade away was the fact that his Reflector had gone missing from his belt. The vulpine's grin faded away before he looked down at his belt where the empty spot of his Reflector was found.

"...H-hey, where did my Reflector go?" Fox asked confused before he looked up and saw that said device was hanging on the horns of the Sky High Pokémon. Fox's jaw opened in shock at this. "H-how did you... Wait, did you take that away from me when you attacked us after you were going around the cli-"

And the vulpine was shut up when Rayquaza instantly used Hyper Beam at full potency on him. The extreme beam of energy made everyone gasp as it later created a big explosion of fire, seeing a black blur bouncing out from the cloud of smoke. They looked up to see what looked to be Fox spinning madly in the air before he stopped ascending into the air to begin his descend into the ground where he accidentally hit his head hard on the ground. The group watched as Fox made a shocked expression while his feet moved forward, making him look like as if he was going to roll, but looked like he leaned to a wall that stopped him from rolling.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared before he gave the Reflector back to Fox, nicely landing on his butt (Sonic silently chuckled at this).

"Punishment given," Pichu translated. "You have been pardoned, ruthless inferior being."

The group looked back at Fox's ridiculous black look and position on the ground. "..." Fox could only look away forward in an upside down fashion.

Diddy stared at Fox in pure disbelief. "...And...he's still alive after all that?"

At that moment, Chris regained consciousness and looked around over Ike's back. "W-what happened? ...W-why's everyone so silent? ...Why isn't Rayquaza attacking us anymore? ...Why is Fox covered in soot while he's rolled back like that?"

"..." Fox blinked. "...I...hate...dragons so much now..." he muttered.

Ike looked at Chris. "Oh, you're fine," he said. "Rayquaza wanted to stop the fight, and then he punished Fox by using a beam attack.

"..." Chris looked confused. "Was it...really necessary to cause all that to him?"

Pichu nodded. "Legendary Pokémon know what they're doing... You shouldn't talk back to them when you can do it..."

Ike rubbed his chin. "I don't know if this situation was excepted or not, though..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"It was not excepted," Pichu translated. "It was necessary for him to understand not to start a war in the skies. I am honest when I said I could have used another less painful method, but he would surely not listen to me..."

"Yeah...right..." Fox muttered in annoyance.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu's ears twitched a bit. "I have finished my task. I shall now wander the skies to make sure they are protected from more intruders," Pichu translated.

Diddy sighed in relief. "Phew, this is over now..."

Sonic grumbled a bit. "Bummer. I wanted to kick 'im hard."

Ike looked away. "Wait a minute... There was something that Rayquaza told us about... What was that, though? I forgot..."

Chris gasped before he hopped off from Ike's back and ran to Fox's side (although it could be said he ignored Fox altogether). "W-wait, Rayquaza! T-there's something we want to ask you!"

Rayquaza looked down at Chris.

"Can you listen to us?"

"...ROOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"What is it?" Pichu translated. "What are your minds wanting to know from me? I hope it is not regarding some kind of fight in the skies."

Chris shook his head and looked down. "W-well...it's about the Subspace Army..." He looked up. "You mentioned that you saw the sphere disappearing over the ocean, right?"

Rayquaza nodded its head.

"Did you happen to...oversee what happened after?"

Diddy blinked and rubbed his chin. "Wait, that's right... Rayquaza said he was watching the whole event from the waters..."

Ike snapped his fingers. "He could have some information about the army."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"Why do you want to know?" Pichu translated. "Why is it important for you to pursue this?"

Ike took a step forward. "We're still fighting against the army so they don't have to threaten another place like your skies," he explained. "We don't remember what happened after we couldn't win against their leader. But since you know what happened after..."

Rayquaza kept staring at them. "ROOOOOOOOAARRR!!! ROOOOAAAARRR!!!"

Pichu looked confused. "I am sorry to say this, but I do not know much more than the fact that the sphere of darkness disappeared in the horizon as if nothing had happened at all," he translated. "After that, I lost sight of it."

The Smashers looked a bit helpless at this information. They thought that they had found some vital information, but it was just a false alarm.

Sonic thought for a moment. "...So...um...have you looked around for 'em? You did say you were going to punish the intruders who got into your domain, right?"

[DededeCloneChris]

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"I am honest when I say that I have been looking for either one of the intruders this whole time," Pichu translated. "I have not had luck in finding the one who began deploying those dreadful creatures. It is just as if their existence had vanished entirely from the skies."

Diddy knocked his head a few times. "So you just saw the Subspace vanishing in thin air?"

Rayquaza nodded. "ROOOOOOOOAARRR!!!"

"At that time, I was away," Pichu translated. "The sphere, along with the rest of the spheres outside, disappeared and took big portions of land with it. Thanks to that, only the ocean's water had covered the craters left behind."

The group looked confused at this added information. Ike thought for a moment before speaking. "...Excuse me, but what do you mean by "along with the rest of spheres outside" exactly?"

Diddy crossed his arms. "I-I don't remember any more Subspace spheres being deployed..."

"ROOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

"You do not know?" Pichu translated. "I watched how the entire group of yours went into the biggest sphere of what you call the Subspace. Once you went inside, you surely did not see that portals began to appear out of nowhere from the spots where those creatures had deployed those bombs. From inside those portals, those dreaded machines were taken out and they all burst instantly, sacrificing those other machines that were carrying the bombs."

The Smashers (except for Chris) stared at each other, giving odd looks while thinking what had happened outside the Subspace. Diddy rubbed his head a bit before looking up at Rayquaza. "U-um...but..."

"...No, Diddy," Ike suddenly said. "I don't think Rayquaza knows how those Subspace Bombs and the portals were able to appear while we were all going after Tabuu."

Diddy looked down in shame.

Chris put a hand on his cheek and looked down at the ground. "(Just...what exactly happened?)" he thought in confusion. "(Are there more events that took place when they were all fighting the army? Or is Rayquaza having trouble recalling what he saw?)"

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!!!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu looked at the group. "Do you have anything else to ask me?"

"..." Chris shook his head. "U-um, Rayquaza, there was something else we needed to ask you... It's about an ancient spirit who resides in these mountains. The...spirit became so restless because you have been roaring many times, many days ago, and that spirit asked us to tell you that you should stop because the spirit can't tolerate any more roars..."

Rayquaza stared at them. "...ROOOOOOAARRR!!!"

Pichu's ears perked up. "I admit that it was a mistake of my part to be so rude. I became frustrated that I could not find any of the intruders that my rage took over me in this very same place," Pichu translated. "Rage tends to make any individual blind and unethical. Only a fool would fall so low, and I have fell into it, and I am sorry for that mistake."

Chris sighed. "Phew..."

"(Actually, all Legendary Pokémon have really short-temper issues, and they get very wild...and that's why nobody makes them angry...)" Pichu thought with a gulp.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!"

Pichu looked up. "But before I go, I have a request to ask you."

Sonic crossed his arms. "What's that?"

"ROOAARRR!!!"

"Since you all are looking for the Subspace...I want you to stop them," Pichu translated. "I cannot afford to see the skies being plagued by their presence any longer. I can still feel the intolerant odor of that atmosphere of darkness, but I cannot seem to find it anywhere I go..."

Ike nodded. "We'll make sure that we meet your expectations, as long as you don't blame us for starting an aerial fight."

Rayquaza looked back at the paralyzed Fox before roaring to them. "ROOOOOOOAAARRR!!!"

"I will judge your actions to see if you need to be punished," Pichu translated. "For now, I will resume my search for that realm of darkness for the time being. I shall not allow it to further endanger the skies anymore. With that, I shall take my leave."

"ROOOOOOAARRR!!! ROOOOOOAAARRR!!!"

"May the skies aid you all in your battles," Pichu translated.

The Smashers watched as Rayquaza began to circle around its spot before it started to ascend slowly into the sky, his long body trailing in a perfect and accurate manner along the air. With a mighty roar, the Sky High Pokémon's silhouette disappeared into the horizon of the east.

Everyone sighed loudly in relief, and most of them fell down on his rears and sat down. "Man, that's over..." muttered Sonic before yawning.

Chip flew out from the hole and looked happy. "Told you everything was gonna be fine," he said. "You showed 'im who the boss is."

Pichu shook his head. "I-I don't think we caused a lot of damage on Rayquaza..."

Everyone looked at the Electric Mouse Pokémon.

Pichu looked at everyone before he shrugged. "L-Legendary Pokémon are extremely tough to beat, you know... I-I admit we did well, but it wasn't enough to defeat Rayquaza. It'd be hard to believe than a normal person can take down Rayquaza by their bare hands as well. And...it doesn't matter that we're Smashers. We still didn't have any chances in defeating Rayquaza..."

Diddy mumbled. "So all that we did was for nothing?"

"I-I'm sorry to say this, but it looks that way..." Pichu admitted. "...Even so, we managed to survive before Rayquaza said he didn't want to fight anymore...so that's a plus."

Diddy looked defeated. "W-well, that's good... Besides, if I did beat Rayquaza, that would seriously look a bit out of place..."

Chris looked away. "(You have to thank Brawl for being a bit illogical at some fights...)"

Ike chuckled nervously. "A-anyway, not only did we complete the task, but we also got valuable information about the Subspace...and..."

Pichu blinked a few times. "W-we forgot to ask what Rayquaza meant by craters!"

"No, wait, it's okay," Ike interrupted Pichu's panic. "We can assume it took place in the areas where we fought the army."

Chris looked back at them. "Wait, that reminds me... Is this universe supposed to have the place where you all fought the Subspace Army?"

Ike looked at him and nodded. "It is," he responded. "The areas where the fight took place are far away from here, up north the mansion's grounds," he said as he pointed to the north. "It's quite a long way to get there, though."

Chris stared to the north where the naked eye couldn't see clearly. All Chris was able to look were some rows of peaks that extended all the way north.

Pichu moaned before he sneezed. "C-can we leave this place and report to Gnome? I-I'm starting get a small cold by the winds..."

"That'd be nice to do right now... We could discuss this with the others at a later time as well," Ike muttered. "Well, let's go back to Gnome."

Chris looked at them and nodded. "Yes. I also want to see if Gnome can try to give me a present for Lucario in Christmas."

The Smashers decided to leave the peaks through the hole in the ground. Once they left, a peaceful windswept the dust of the terrain away...

Then, Ike came out from the hole and went to pick up the downed Fox on his back, carefully placing the Reflector back on Fox's belt. The Crimea soldier stood up with the shocked Fox on his back, hanging to his neck from before they both left the peaks by going down the hole.

Now all that mattered was to get Gnome's reward...

Gnome's Altar

"Are you out of your box or what?" Gnome asked annoyed.

"I-it's just a small present for me to give to Lucario. That's all I'm asking for!" Chris demanded.

Gnome removed his sunglasses and looked annoyed. "Look, I'm not gonna get the dog a present. I still remember the painful moment where I was brutally pushed down the abyss..."

Chris grunted. "He's awfully sorry for doing that to you!" he argued. "H-heck, he's really, REALLY sorry, I swear!"

"Pfft, I don't buy that," Gnome said bored. "They say they're very sorry, and when you least expect it, you wake up in the depths on an abyss because SOMEBODY wants you out of their sight."

"F-for the last time, he won't do that again to you!"

Ike sighed and took a step forward. "Please, listen to him, Gnome... We went through a lot to get rid of Rayquaza..."

"Even so, my nightmares with bratty dogs persist," Gnome said before crossing his arms. "For telling the guy up there to scram, I'm gonna give you guys...this little freebie." He took out from behind a small red gem. "Here ya go, a Ruby."

Sonic looked annoyed. "That's it? You're giving us just a jewel for having to fight that snake?"

"Rayquaza," Pichu corrected.

"Hey, watch your mouth, bluish porcupine!" Gnome said annoyed. "Fine, fine, I'll give ya something else since I think having to suffer those roars at midnight was a pain in the butt for sure..." He took out from behind a red cape (the upper part having normal red color while the bottom part had the image of flames). "Oh, here," he said. "Take this Flare Cape with ya as well."

Diddy walked to Gnome and grabbed both items from him.

"The Ruby gives earth resistance and also gives the earth power to your physical attacks," Gnome explained. "And the Flare Cape gives a small boost for defense and your evasiveness actions, altogether with resistance to fire and earth attacks." He made a happy expression. "That's very useful, huh?"

"I guess," Ike said. "Thanks."

"No problemo, you guys," Gnome said.

"Vanquish the Monster Threat" Side-quest completed!

Obtained Ruby, and Flare Cape!

Chris looked a bit relieved. "Oh well, I'll look around for a gift..."

Gnome closed his eyes and took out another item from behind. "Okay, ya wanna have something to give to that dog? Well, here ya go. Catch it."

Chris looked back at Gnome before the Summon Spirit of Earth tossed at him a small item. The World Traveler gasped and managed to catch the item before he looked down at it and... "..." Chris held a small key-chain with a mini-figurine of Gnome hanging from a small chain. "...What is this, exactly?"

"One of my creations," Gnome said proudly. "I make key-chains. That's a personal hobby of mine."

Pichu stared at the key-chain. "...I don't think that's going to be a nice gift..."

Gnome opened his annoyed eyes. "Hey, that's Summon Spirit Craft-made. You can't find it anywhere else!" he complained before nodding with crossed arms. "It's a Must-Have key-chain."

The World Traveler looked annoyed at the key-chain. However, Chris had to admit that the mini-Gnome looked peculiar to him. It was nicely crafted to the perfection and... Chris shook the thought away and stuffed it into his pocket. "I doubt this will make the cut for a gift...but it won't hurt to try..."

Obtained Gnome Key-chain!

It's an adorable key-chain with a perfect mini-Gnome figurine hanging to it. What else do you want for some cuteness?

Gnome looked happy. "Maybe that'll remind the guy to avoid pushing m-"

"Did you just give me this for that purpose?" Chris interrupted annoyed.

Gnome shifted his eyes around. "...Maybe."

While Chris stared bored at Gnome, Fox (now back to normal, except for the fact that he was mostly covered with soot) grumbled. "Can we go back to the mansion now? I really need to take a shower now."

The group looked at him. "Oh, are you still mad for what happened up there?" Ike asked.

Fox grunted. "After I was attacked by a beam out of unfairness from a big snake-dragon thing...how do you think I feel?"

Chris looked at Pichu. "Wait, Hyper Beam, Secret Power, Iron Tail, ExtremeSpeed, Thunderbolt...that's 5 moves..."

Pichu shrugged. "I-I don't even know if Rayquaza can make his own attacks because it's unclear to me if he knows Secret Power... He's a big mystery...isn't he?"

Chris frowned at this. "I'd like to see what those energy spheres were, then..."

Fox frowned. "I feel really mad now. I was taken here while I was resting, then I got attacked by that thing. OF COURSE I'd feel very mad."

Sonic chuckled nervously. "Chill down, man. At least this conflict got over with."

"Yeah," Chip said. "Chip Norris knew good things were going to come from a mile...no, TWO miles away."

Fox fumed a bit. "Yeah, it got over by me getting almost killed by a beam," he recalled them. "If you'll excuse me, I'd like to have some time alone in my room to relieve my stress."

Pichu looked worried. "But Rayquaza had a point..."

Fox closed his eyes. "I don't care anymore. I don't give a darn about Rayquaza."

Chris did think that Fox would take this very seriously. The World Traveler got a little bit worried at Fox's angered attitude that he wanted to do something to make Fox relieve his stress without having to think more about it. Then, the thought suddenly gave Chris an idea.

The Smashers looked at each other before they turned to Gnome. "We hope we did our best to help you out," Ike said.

Gnome nodded. "Aww, I'm gonna enjoy my beauty sleep again. Thanks a bunch," he said happily.

The Smashers turned around and began their way back to the mansion. As they were walking, Chris tapped Fox's right shoulder. "What is it," Fox asked without turning to Chris.

"U-um, Fox, I know you're still angry at the whole event...but...I...was thinking if you..." Chris thought things over for a bit, "...would like to play...Star Ocean?"

Fox stopped on his trails and looked at Chris. "What?"

Chris looked away. "W-well, I have the game with me so I thought it'd be a nice thing if you played it so you could relieve your stress..."

The vulpine thought for a moment while he tapped his head a bit. "Hmm, it wouldn't be so bad to play a little game now..." He smiled a bit a Chris. "Alright, I'll play it."

Chris smiled a bit. He didn't think Fox would agree. "T-then let's go. You'll surely like the game very much."

Fox nodded and grinned before the two continued their way with the others to the mansion. "Show me the hardest difficulty."

"...What?"

"What you heard, Chris," Fox said.

"...O-okay, but I doubt you'll pass the first storyline fight... It took me a time to get pass that fight in the hardest difficulty..."

"I'll see by myself," Fox said confidently.

If only Chris had questioned Fox about his decision... It would have been a bad idea to question Fox since he was still mad. Chris decided to forget the thought before they all left the area.

Gnome sighed loudly before falling on his back to lay down on the altar. "Man, now I can dream some good ol' dreams without listening to roars..." He curled himself. "And a good morning sleep wouldn't hurt..." he trailed off before he fell asleep and began to snore loudly, creating some echoes in the cave.

-Smash Mansion-
Lobby

December 24 - Wednesday - Evening - Christmas's Eve

The night of Christmas's Eve was a bit lively one since people were putting even more gifts under the tree. One such person of the group of people was Chris (in his ISOKFMG) who placed down a light blue present between the other rows of presents that had Lucario's name on the tag. The World Traveler looked worried. "I hope this is enough... It was hard to look around for an appropriate gift..." he muttered.

"Make way. There's another gift coming in."

Chris turned around and looked down at Ness (wearing a red scarf around his neck), carrying a red present with Lucas's name on the tag. "O-oh, sorry," Chris said as he stepped away from the rows of presents. Ness ignored him and went over to drop the gift to the rows.

"There," Ness said. "I hate to do last minute searches..."

Chris chuckled nervously. "H-how convenient, we think the same things..."

Ness looked up at Chris. "So, you found a gift for Mr. Aura Master?"

Chris folded his arms behind his back and looked away. "T-that...yes... Going around the village and my world's home to get a better gift from last year's was kind of tedious, but then I found one...or some..."

"Hard to think of a gift for a guy who barely likes anything, huh?" Ness asked amused. "I know that very well. Last year's Christmas was a hard one because I barely found a gift for Mewtwo."

Chris looked back at Ness. "You gave Mewtwo a gift?"

Ness looked away. "A Twistedspoon item I found in his world," he said. "It looks ridiculous, but he said he liked the gift because it would help him to meditate better... Those psychic guys are psychos sometimes."

"You are a psychic kid," Chris pointed out.

Ness looked at Chris. "Yeah, but I'm not that into my abilities, you know. You know how Mewtwo is too smart and stuff? I don't want to turn into some sage. Well, I balance what I do between a kid and a psychic guy. After all, I'm still young."

"...Wait a minute..."

"Yes?"

"Do you age?"

Ness thought for a moment. "Well, for that, I do age, but there's something you should know..."

"What?"

"The universes that we all come from have their own fabrics of time," Ness said. "We all have different paces of time that greatly differ from each other. Thanks to that, the next Smash tournament is always going to be the next month every time I go back to my world."

Chris looked in disbelief at this.

"I know," Ness said. "Thing is, Master Hand doesn't want me to age because that would "take the charm" away from the tourney since he likes how peculiar it looks like with all the different people he requested to come here..."

"...Then...what about the others? Do they age?"

"As long as we're all here, we don't age a day," Ness explained. "Actually, whenever we come here, Master Hand uses his weird magic to stop the aging time of all worlds so he doesn't interfere with some "important time-line events" he doesn't want to deal with."

For Chris, it was easy to understand that Master Hand didn't want to mess up the actual time-line events that occurred in the games.

"I find this really good, though," Ness said. "We can stay here all days without aging."

"...That's messed up..." Chris admitted.

"Too bad you can't take advantage of it," Ness said. "You have to age because your world is original. Though it's a bit depressing that we don't celebrate others' birthdays."

"I see..."

Ness nodded. "Enough about that," Ness said. "You ready for tomorrow's Christmas?"

Chris gasped a bit before looking back at the rows of presents. "I-I think so," he said. "But Lucario hasn't come here ever since yesterday's morning..."

"He's right behind you, you know."

Chris hopped a bit on his spot and turned around to see Lucario holding a blue present under his left arm. "L-Lucario, you're home!" Chris said nervously. "I-I was a little bit worried that you were gone..."

Lucario shook his head. "I wouldn't be gone enough to miss Christmas," he said. "Besides, I found you a nice present that...I hope you'll like..."

Chris looked at the present. "O-oh, I see..."

Lucario silently put down the gift with the rows of presents before standing back up. "It was hard for me to find one."

"Same here," Chris said. "Where'd you go, anyway?"

"I went to different worlds to find you gift."

"...What?"

Lucario nodded. "I thought that I could find you a gift somewhere in the other worlds we had visited. Not only did I find the gift, but I also got the chance to travel for a little while, and it was very enjoyable." He closed his eyes and smiled a bit. "It feels so nice to leap from cliff to cliff when you have the chance to do it."

Ness and Chris exchanged glances before looking back at Lucario. "Um, that's nice to hear..." Chris muttered.

Lucario opened his eyes in shock. "B-but it's boring if you're not around, Chris. In fact, it was so boring to do it without you."

Ness looked bored. "Liar, liar, super strange thighs on fire."

Lucario glared down at Ness before looking back at Chris. "S-so yes, that's what happened while I was away," he said. "I even met up with Zidane and Colette (and she hugged me very tightly...)"

"..." Chris looked away. He had to admit that Lucario had a good idea to look for a gift. It would have been easier for Chris to find one if he took Lucario's idea before. "(Dammit, outsmarted by my own Pokémon... I don't know if I should feel proud or embarrassed...)"

"...So..." Lucario began, "...are you ready for tomorrow?"

Chris looked at Lucario. "O-oh, yes, I'm ready and all set," he said. "Let's hope everything goes well."

While the duo started to talk with each other, Ness looked away to think about something. "(I'm starting to think that this long break is going end soon... Actually, I don't think so, but... Nah, I'm just imagining things. But then, how are the others doing in finding the Temple Guardians?)"

Ness kept pondering this question for the remainder of the night as it went on...

December 25 - Thursday - Morning - Christmas

And once the night hit 12 PM, Christmas arrived at the Smash Mansion.

Unlike any other idea, it was expected to see many of them gathered in small crowds with presents on the floor. Even though the event would also involve the coldest ones, they were alone by themselves, usually somewhere a bit far away from the other crowds like the area where there were sofas.

Snake, for example, was sitting down on a sofa with crossed arms. Like he expected, nobody went to get a present for him. However, that thought was dropped once Meta Knight walked to him and showed him a black gift. "Here," Meta Knight said.

Snake looked at Meta Knight. "So, you thought you could get me a gift?" Snake asked.

"Aww, that's very thoughtful of you, Meta Knight," Mei-Ling said over the codec. "There's a soul out there who cares for Snake besides us."

"Yeah," Otacon said. "By the way, where's my gift, Mei?"

"Oh, that. Hold on, let me go for it."

Snake ignored the conversation. "What made you decide to give me a gift?" he asked to Meta Knight. "I don't think that whatever is inside this box is going to appeal me."

"Maybe," Meta Knight said. "Unless you open it, you will never know what's inside."

Snake raised an eyebrow. "Acting smart, huh?"

"No, I'm just giving you a feeling of suspense that will ultimately make you open the gift."

Snake stared at the present.

"And it seems it's working," Meta Knight said. "Merry Christmas, Snake," he said before walking away.

Snake narrowed his eyes at Meta Knight's back before he stared down at the gift on his lap. The mercenary's hands slowly opened the present before he eventually saw what it was inside. Snake could only nod as if he said that the gift did appeal to him. "Hmm, what do you know? He found a suitable gift..."

Suddenly, a pink gift appeared right besides his right side on the sofa. Snake shifted his look at it before looking up at Peach. "Merry Christmas, Snake," Peach said warmly.

Snake blinked a bit. "Odd to see you giving me a gift today."

Peach chuckled. "Oh, it's not only you," she said. "I gave a present to everyone."

"What, you didn't find the 5 adequate people for you?"

"Um, no, it's just that I like to do this every year," Peach said. "Being the princess of a kingdom has its advantages. I use those advantages for good."

The mercenary expected such a response from the princess. "Yeah, I'd figured you'd say something like that."

Peach chuckled heartily. "Well, I hope my gift is of your liking, Snake."

"Well, I'll see that by myself. Unfortunately, I didn't get one for you."

"That's not a problem," Peach said. "I know you haven't spent enough time with us. I understand that pretty well."

Snake looked at the pink gift. "Thanks, though."

"You're always welcome," Peach said before walking away to another direction.

As Snake was about to open the pink present, Yoshi passed from behind the sofa and went to Olimar. The Yoshi took out from behind a red gift. "Hmm, here," Yoshi said. "Merry Christmas."

Olimar gasped. "Oh god, what is inside?"

"Open it, then... It was hard to find a present for you."

Olimar took the red gift from Yoshi's hands and began to open the present. Once Olimar tossed the wrapper away, he opened the box and found a long pot with fertile ground in it. "G-goodness, a pot for my Pikmins to sleep!" Olimar said.

Yoshi sweat dropped. "D-do they burrow themselves into the earth to sleep?"

Olimar nodded. "Yes, I was thinking of buying one for them...but now I don't have to do it... How did you know I wanted this?"

"...I didn't know..."

"..."

Yoshi looked away. "I was running out of ideas, and since you looked like you'd like something related to gardens...I bought that for you."

Olimar stared at Yoshi for a few seconds. "...Oh..." Olimar muttered. "...Thanks, Yoshi..."

Yoshi looked back at Olimar. "...You're welcome..."

The two remained silent while Pikachu carried a big green gift on his head to an excited Pichu. The older Electric type set the gift down and smiled a bit at Pichu. "Go ahead and open it," Pikachu said proudly.

Pichu didn't waste any more second to pass as he leaped on top of the gift and frantically tore open the wrapper. The young Electric type opened the box, gasped, yelled in glee, and dove into it. Once Pichu dove in, a big spongy cushion pushed out the box's sides. Pichu's head popped out from the top and looked at Pikachu. "Yes, a super soft cushion!" Pichu said happily.

Pikachu nodded. "I knew you still liked very soft stuff so I got you that."

Pichu looked happy before he dove deeper into the cushion. "Oooooh, just you wait until I sleep in here. It's all soft and...so fun to swim!"

"(The more childish the mind, the easier is to find a gift)," Pikachu thought. "Don't cut it or something, okay? It was one of the last ones at the shop."

"You bet!" Pichu yelled before he kept swimming inside the cushion.

As Pikachu kept watching Pichu shaking the cushion, an enthusiastic Lanky juggled a big yellow gift in the air as he walked towards the group of Kongs, specifically DK. The Kong Smasher grinned at the juggling gift before it fell down in front of him. "There you go," Lanky said. "It was hard to look for the best one, but I got it!"

DK quickly grabbed the gift and tore it apart with both hands to reveal a set of fresh-looking bananas. The Smasher gasped in excitement. "B-Bananas from the Banana Fairy Island!" he said as the others looked at the fruit. "M-man, these are the hardest to find out there!"

Lanky sighed. "You know how hard it is to find the freshest ones? It is almost impossible," he explained. "You can't tell which one is the good one until you taste one. I had to compare every single one until I found the right one."

Tiny looked disgusted. "D-don't tell me you were filled with gases while you did all that."

Lanky smiled a bit. "What do you think?"

Diddy shrugged. "T-too much innuendo..."

"Agreed..." Chunky muttered.

DK made a happy expression before he began to ate the banana he received. Since there were many bananas, he offered the others to eat along with him.

Several feet away from all of them, Chris (in his Chozo Arts job) ducked under the Christmas tree to take out the gift that Lucario had brought before. The World Traveler stared at it before he looked to his left where Lucario ducked to get the gift Chris brought for him. The Aura Pokémon looked at Chris. "Please, open it," Lucario said.

Chris looked a bit embarrassed because of the gift Lucario was grabbing. "O-okay," Chris said. "I wonder what you got me..."

"I'm sure you'll like it...that's what I think."

The World Traveler began to slowly tear open the wrapper of the box. Chris then opened the box and looked what was inside.

Chris's eyes widened as he took out from the box a perfectly well-made Wii statue made out of pure minerals and glittering gems. The World Traveler's jaw opened a bit in awe at the sight of his reflection on the light blue surface of the statue. Every single detail that someone would find in a normal Wii was there. What's more, it was nicely sculptured to the smallest of details that it almost looked as if a Wii was turned into pure ore. "L-Lucario...this...this is so amazing..."

Lucario looked a bit proud with the small smile he had on his face. "I'm so glad you liked it, Chris."

Chris looked at Lucario. "How did get this?"

"Simple," Lucario said. "I went to Zidane's world."

"You...went there?"

Lucario nodded. "I arrived at the dwarf settlement of Conde Petie and there was Zidane taking a small vacation. When Zidane saw me, we started a conversation with each other and I explained the purpose why I was there. Once I told him that, he offered me a big amount of Ore that he had with him. At first, I said no, but he insisted me to take it."

"And...what happened after that?"

"Well, I was honest when I told him that the Ore wouldn't be enough because it looked like it to me, so then he said the Ore could be used for making sculptures. That's when I got the idea to use my spikes and make you a sculpture...of a Wii."

Chris looked back at the sculpture.

"I was having trouble, so I asked Zidane for help. He helped to make the sculpture's sides perfectly vertical, and I used my spikes to make the small details. I stayed there for a whole day until I was done by night, and that's when I said good bye to him and got back yesterday during the night."

The World Traveler was thrilled by Lucario's effort. However, it made Chris's gift look pathetic. Chris thought that Lucario did a lot more effort than he did. Heck, his Pokémon made a gift out of pure minerals while Chris used the old-fashioned way to go to shops and buy something good enough for him. Chris's smile suddenly faded.

Lucario noticed the somewhat depressed look of his trainer. "Is something the matter, Chris? You don't like my gift?"

Chris gasped and looked nervously at Lucario. "N-no, it's just that I was hoping you'd like my gift..."

Lucario chuckled and started to open Chris's gift, much for the dismay of the owner. "Well, that's what I'm holding it. I'm sure you got one for me after all."

Chris looked in disbelief as Lucario opened the gift. Once Lucario did so, he opened the box and looked inside. As Chris had expected, Lucario stared confused at what he found inside. "..." Chris gulped.

"..." Lucario looked back at Chris. "U-um..."

Chris's lips trembled like a wave before he groaned aloud. "L-Lucario, I'm so sorry! It was so hard for me to find a gift for you, I'm so sorry!"

Most of the people who were opening their gifts looked at their direction.

Lucario looked inside the box and began to take out what was inside.

Apparently, Chris had gotten many different items. Lucario took out some sunglasses, a DS protector case (because he had a black DS Lite), some black earphones, a dark blue iPod (shockers), and a gold watch. "...I..." Lucario trailed off.

Chris looked defeated and bowed down to Lucario. "I-I'm really sorry, seriously... I was running out of ideas..."

Lucario's mouth opened a bit. "W-well..." He looked inside the box, and Lucario didn't want to ask why there was a small key-chain with a figurine of Gnome inside. He took it out and stared at it in confusion (especially the little Gnome figurine at the end of the little chain). "...Where'd you get this?"

Chris looked up. "T-that's one of the things I got just for you... I got that for having to put my life in danger by fighting none other than FREAKING Rayquaza 2 days ago..."

Lucario looked shocked. "W-what? You fought Rayquaza over this?"

"I-it was hell!" Chris yelled before he started to talk fast, "I-I thought I could find a gift by doing a side-quest so I went to Gnome to help him out but then I found out Rayquaza was the one making all those roars over his home and I had to fight him to make him go away but then the battle was so hard that we're almost going to die then Rayquaza called quits and he left and we want to Gnome and he still had a grudge on you but he said whatever and gave me that key-chain so I could give it to you as a gift but I was worried and stuff and more stuff a-"

Lucario covered Chris's mouth. "P-please, don't talk too fast. I can barely understand what you're saying..."

Chris moved Lucario's hand away. "I fought Rayquaza but then I got that key-chain from Gnome..." he summarized.

Lucario looked at the little key-chain. "...But...you got this because you fought a Legendary Pokémon?"

Chris sniffed a bit. "I-I almost died..."

"...I can't believe you did so much for me, Chris."

"I-I know, but it was so scary. Rayquaza was SO mad that he wanted t-" Chris did a double take and looked shocked at Lucario. "You say what now?"

Lucario looked a bit worried. "I mean to say that it was so amazing of you for having to fight none other than Rayquaza to get a gift for me..." He shook his head. "It was...so admirable of you."

Chris blinked shocked at this. "W-well, I fought in a group..."

Lucario shook his head. "Even so, you fought Rayquaza. It makes my gift look so pathetic, I swear..." Lucario muttered. "I made one for you, but you fought a big entity for my gift... Why didn't I think of doing something like that before?"

Chris's jaw opened.

"I feel so ashamed now..."

The World Traveler looked in pure disbelief at Lucario. What did just happen? That was the only question that was puzzling Chris so much. He never thought Lucario would react the way he did. In fact, it looked so ironic that what Chris feared what was Lucario feared the most. If there was a lady of irony, Chris would have mauled her to death by now.

Unfortunately, there wasn't such a lady.

"..." Chris sighed loudly. "Oh my god... T-then I'm glad you liked my gift..."

"I'd have liked if you didn't have to risk your life, though," Lucario said. "I'd have liked some clothes instead."

Chris looked at Lucario. "I would've gone for clothes but SOME HEDGEHOG told me it was pathetic to give to you."

Lucario instantly glared sideways at Sonic, who at that point was innocently whistling to himself while looking away embarrassed. "I should have known before," Lucario muttered.

Chris looked worried. "But still...do you like my gifts?"

Lucario looked back at Chris and nodded. "I'm very happy. You gave me some random things, but it's the way you got them that matters to me."

Chris smiled a bit at this.

Lucario made a happy expression. "Only you would go to such great lengths for me, right?"

"Honestly speaking...no."

"...At least you did it," Lucario said. "Thank you so much, Chris, and merry Christmas."

Chris hugged sideways his Lucario and chuckled heartily. "Merry Christmas, Lucario," Chris said happily before Lucario growled and hugged him back.

As the two kept hugging each other, an annoyed DK looked away and mumbled to himself, "But I wanted my own iPod..."

And so, Christmas went by very nicely. The celebration ended with a dinner during the night where everyone enjoyed the food and talked. However, as the celebration kept going, some of them wondered what happened to Tails and the others back at Sonic's world. The fact that they haven't reported back yet made most of them get worried. The only option for them to take, for now, was to wait and see what happened...

December 30 - Tuesday - Afternoon – New Year's Eve

The wait had prolonged for a long time. It was New Year's Eve, and there wasn't any news about Tails's team yet. A restless hedgehog sat down on the sofa of the mansion with folded arms behind his back while Master Hand and Peach were removing the Christmas furniture from everywhere.

Sonic sighed loudly. "MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN, when are they gonna drop by?"  he asked to himself. "It's almost new year and they even skipped Christmas... That's weird because Amy would usually freak out and go around to look for a gift to me..."

"Well, you gotta be patient," Chip said as he appeared from behind Sonic and flew over the sofa. "Chip Norris says patient is a good option."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Chip, you're not helping."

"Chip might not be helping, but Chip Norris is."

Sonic slapped his forehead. "Ugh, now you're getting me confused to who you are..."

"Chip Norris is the name."

Sonic grunted. "Whatever, Chip...Norris..."

"Hurray, you got my name, Sonic!" Chip cheered. "Now you'll see what Chip Norris is capable of..." He looked around and stared at the double doors of the mansion. "Oh, right there! I'm gonna use my super powerful roundhouse kicks on those doors to break 'em."

Sonic frowned. "Chip, I'm not in the mood t-"

"BANZAI!" Chip interrupted as he went towards the doors with a flying kick ready.

However, just as Chip was about to make contact with the double doors, said double doors suddenly slammed opened (crushing Chip behind one) and a desperate Parakarry came in. "G-guys, guys, guys, where are you?! Guys!" he said in panic.

Sonic looked confused to this unexpected visit. One, he wanted to know why Parakarry was so tense. Two, he wanted to see if Chip (Norris) was fine. Sonic chose the first over the second. "Hey, calm down, you," Sonic said. "What's the hurry?"

Parakarry stopped panting heavily. "S-something so bad happened at the village today..."

"It didn't get destroyed by another sword, right?"

"N-no, that's a thing of the past!" Parakarry said. "T-the village...the whole village is...is under martial law!"

"Under what?" Sonic asked confused.

"Y-yeah, just as you heard. The whole village is under martial law by..."

Outside

Outside of the mansion, to the left wall, there was a training session going on. A preoccupied moogle of the name Chris (obviously in his Moogle Knight job) shyly held a sword with both hands as he stared forward at a serious Meta Knight. It happened that Meta Knight had asked Chris to start some training lessons of swordsmanship whenever Chris was ready for the task. The World Traveler was unsure at first, but he ultimately agreed to partake the training.

"W-why did I agree again, kupo?" Chris asked.

Meta Knight unsheathed his sword. "You wanted to make yourself better in swordsmanship. I offered you my help, and so you said yes," he said. "I was looking for a sparring helper as well. You will serve me very well, and I'll do the same for you."

Chris gulped. "J-just don't kill me, kupo..."

"If I did, I would have a grudge by someone close to you," Meta Knight said as he glanced sideways to the left. "Isn't that right, Lucario?"

Chris looked to the right where Lucario meditated in peace below a tree's branches. The Aura Pokémon had his eyes closed, but he was still watching the whole training. "You're absolutely right," Lucario replied. "Don't end up hurting Chris, you heard me?"

Suddenly, Falco (wearing a grey coat) appeared from behind the same tree and chuckled at the scene. "I predict a pretty bad bloodshed very soon today," he joked. "No poking the little guy with the tip of your sword, you got it?"

Chris pouted annoyed. "Y-you come over here and use a sword to spar with us, kupo!"

Falco shrugged as he stared at Meta Knight. "N-no, thanks. I'll rather use fists than a sharp knife..."

Several feet away from Falco was Zelda sitting on a table while drinking hot tea. She was there to see the training session. "I wouldn't mind if the training started," she said interested. "Maybe I could get inspired to get a new training regiment for the soldiers of Hyrule out of this. They need to have that courage because they seem to be lacking a lot of it."

"You're just here to enjoy yourself..." Falco muttered. "After all, you're a princess. The loyalty always expects something amusing like fights."

Zelda looked annoyed. "Oh, I'm not in favor of bloodsheds if that is what you mean. I don't like to see such events at all."

"Enough," Meta Knight interrupted as he stared at Chris, Lucario opening his eyes. "Let us commence the session. Are you ready or not?"

Chris gulped and slowly pointed with a hand his little sword at Meta Knight. "I-I'm ready for anything, kupo..." he replied.

"Good," Meta Knight said before he tossed his cape away and extended his bat wings. "En garde."

Chris's eyes widened as he saw Meta Knight taking off from the ground to hover all the way to him. The Moogle Knight yelled in fear before he crossed his sword in front of him before Meta Knight reached him out and started a series of fast slashes that scratched the sword of the moogle. "K-kupo!" Chris yelped in fear as he was constantly forced to step back.

"You should find a way to retaliate," Meta Knight between the swift attacks. "Don't just defend. Retaliate to stop your opponent from attacking many more times like I'm doing."

"(T-this guy is talking so seriously...)" Chris thought worried as he was forced to back away to the wall of the mansion. "(H-how am I supposed to attack back with all those swift attacks, kupo? O-one second without guarding and I'll be severely cut to death, kupo!) A-aah!"

Chris lost the grip of his sword by a strong leftward slash from Meta Knight, who decided to stop the mad assault right now.

As for Chris's sword, it went slicing the air in circles right towards Falco's face. "HOLY CRAP!" Falco yelled as his eyes widened in shock before he ducked in time for the sword to get stuck on the tree's bark, right on top of his head, cutting off some feathers in the process. Falco looked up at the dangerously close weapon and rubbed his head a bit to take some feathers. He stared at them and got instantly mad. "Hey, watch where you toss that sword! It cost me some feathers of my head!" Falco complained.

Back at the actual fight, a panting Chris was forcing himself up from the ground at the mercy of Meta Knight's Galaxia right an inch away from his nose. The moogle panted heavily in fear as Meta Knight stared down at him. "Now how are you going to fight back without a weapon?" Meta Knight asked.

"I-I don't know, kupo!" Chris yelled. "I-I'm out of ideas, kupo!"

"Hmph, as I expected," Meta Knight said. "You rely solely on your sword than any other way to attack. Continuing to use that tactic is ultimately going to take you to defeat."

"B-but what am I to do in a situation like this, kupo?"

"That is for you to find out," Meta Knight said before he pulled back his sword from Chris. "The training is over."

Chris kept panting before he stopped and sighed loudly in relief. Zelda looked a bit shocked, but he she was more disappointed. "Aww, it already ended?" she asked. "That ended so fast..."

"A-at least I survived, kupo!" Chris yelled.

"I didn't plan in hurting you at all," Meta Knight stated. "I said that before."

Chris looked back at Meta Knight. "Y-you looked so serious, though..." He gulped. "M-maybe if I had used some stickers..."

"Do you honestly think that you should rely on those?"

"What?"

Meta Knight shook his head. "If you keep relying on those enhancing equipment items, your skill with your abilities will start to become so sloppy and reckless that you won't be able to execute them properly as you do right now," he explained. "Those only help you to become stronger, but what about your natural abilities? They can be further enhanced without relying on equipment if you train by yourself."

Chris blinked at this. "W-well..."

"Train yourself," Meta Knight said. "When you do that, you'll find out your true potential in your skills that the stickers won't grant you. I know that everyone here got those attacks just because Master Hand intervened, but that's not enough," he said. "Master all your abilities before you make yourself stronger."

The Moogle Knight kept staring at the Star Warrior. "H-have you become this strong like that?"

"Yes," Meta Knight said. "Thanks to that, I can easily stop any ridiculously fast opponent from landing a hit on me. It doesn't matter how fast my opponent is, I can find the exact momentum to execute an attack and retaliate back."

Chris recalled that Meta Knight did stop Sonic one time long ago. Meta Knight even pinned the hedgehog down, even if the knight was looking away. "I-I think I remember you doing something like that..."

"I could do that because of training," Meta Knight said. "From now on, be sure you train your abilities. You might get better with time, who knows."

Chris nodded at this before he stood up. "I-I'll have that in mind, Meta Knight..." He bowed to the knight. "Thank you so much for today's training."

Zelda looked a bit pleased at this. "Hmm, this was interesting despite being so short... I enjoyed it."

Falco grunted as held his cut feathers. "You weren't the target of the flying sword of death, THAT'S why you enjoyed all this."

The princess shook her head. "No! I was talking about Meta Knight's lecture, not the fight!"

Lucario looked a bit worried at the training session. "(Be less serious on Chris because you're going to put him in a trauma soon, please...)"

Suddenly, the five overheard the double doors of the mansion slamming open by a blue blur that went directly to the direction of the village. They turned their gazes to the south where a panting Parakarry came around and landed weakly on the ground. "Y-you guys..." he muttered. "I-I... N-no... W-we need some help...please..."

Zelda pushed herself from her chair and walked all the way to the tired Paratroopa. "Please, hold your breath for a moment."

"HIIIIIIIUUUUUUUUU...." Parakarry inhaled air before he exhaled and sighed loudly. "Phew...that feel much better..." He looked up at Zelda. "I-I need you all to come to the village. It's in danger right now!"

"In danger, you say?" Meta Knight asked.

"Y-yeah, danger as in DANGER," Parakarry said alarmed. "Y-you see...the whole village fell under martial law!"

"Under martial law?" Zelda said confused. "What do you mean by that? Is there an army taking over the city for security measurements?"

Parakarry frantically shook his head. "Not that kind of martial law! I mean a much bad one!" he said as the others walked to them. "I-in fact, as we speak, there are some weird robots holding civilians at gunpoint!"

"The hell?" Falco said skeptical. "What kind of army is that, anyway?"

"I-I dunno, but the army is a whole army of robots in egg-shaped bodies. T-they said that the civilians shouldn't move or else they'll destroy the village! I-I managed to sneak away from over the roofs, b-but they're even threatening Quill and Postman as well... Y-you've got to help the village before it's destroyed!"

"Egg-shaped robots, kupo?" Chris asked confused before he rubbed his chin. "Hmm, why do I think I remember those robots, kupo..."

Parakarry looked serious. "L-look, you can ponder while you head down to the city. I already told Sonic to go and he said he knew what was happening. I don't know what he was talking about, but he should need your help! The more, the better!"

Meta Knight looked at the direction of the village. "Then we should better be on our way."

"I wonder who that army is..." Falco muttered.

Chris gulped. "T-this will probably serve me as training with my sword, kupo..."

Falco grumbled and handed Chris his sword. "And make sure it stays in your hands, got it?" Falco asked annoyed.

"O-okay, kupo..."

Lucario glared at the south. "Let's go."

The six then began their way to the village as fast as they could.

-Nintendo Village: Morning of New Beginnings-
Sidewalks

Meanwhile, in the village, there was a gun aimed directly at the forehead of a young girl. Said girl happened to be a shocked Ai who had recently come out from a clothes' shop with a bag with dresses. The Animal Village resident's eyes shook in fear as she eyed the big robot in front of her. "W-what is happening?" Ai asked in fear. "W-why are you aiming that weapon at me?"

The robot itself had an egg-shaped body. It stood around 6-feet, had blue, white, and green steel markings around its body, and it had a machine gun attached to its left hand. "Civilians are not to cause any trouble," the robot said. "Any kind of misbehavior shall be punished severely."

"W-what?" Ai asked. "B-but I wasn't doing anything wrong!" she argued before the robot moved the gun closer to her forehead. "P-please, don't scare me like that!"

The Animal Village resident moved her eyes around to see what was happening. Not only she was being threatened, but there were many other residents standing still on place as many other robots surrounded them. Families, children, and lone civilians remained still in order to avoid getting shot.

Ai gulped at this and looked back at the robot. "I-I don't understand any of this," she said. "Why are all these robots doing this to everyone? It wasn't like that yesterday!"

"Silence," the robot replied. "You shall not question our authority."

Ai forced a glare. "B-but it's so unfair!" she yelled. "I don't see why you have to do this!"

"That is enough," the robot said. "Prepare to suffer, insolent girl."

Ai gasped and took a step back from the robot before she ducked and screamed loudly for help. "HELP, SOMEBODY!" she yelled loudly.

The robot took a step forward and aimed down its gun at Ai's head. The crowd looked at their direction, and this little action made all the robots charge forward every single one of them, creating panic as everyone screamed for help.

And said help was responded as the form of a blue blur swiftly slamming into every single robot in the vicinity of the village. Metal exploded into bits, machine guns were scrapped, and each robot exploded. The public still screamed before they all saw that all the robots were destroyed, leaving wires and metal all over the streets.

Ai kept ducking in fear before she noticed that nothing was happening anymore. The Animal Village resident opened her eyes and lifted up her head to look around in confusion. Her eyes instantly looked to a machine gun in front of her, causing Ai to jump from the floor in fear. "K-kyah!" she yelped before looking around to find the robots all gone. "W-what just happened here now?"

"Oh, it was nothing. I was just taking a stroll around and I saw these robots messing so I beat them, no big deal."

Ai blinked confused at the voice before she turned around and gasped at the blue hedgehog in front of her. "O-oh, w-who are you?" Ai asked.

Sonic grinned and gave her a thumb up. "The name's Sonic the Hedgehog," he said with a wink.

Ai stared at Sonic. "W-what..." She looked around to see the people looking in confusion at the scraps of metal scattered all over the place. "I mean, you destroyed all the robots?"

"Yeah," Sonic said simply. "They were about a hundred, but they were nothing. They're all gone like the wind."

Ai looked a bit surprised at this claim. She looked around once more, and sure enough, there wasn't any other robot menacing a person. The Animal Village resident blinked confused before looking up at Sonic. "And...you said you destroyed them by yourself?"

Sonic looked worried. "What the heck? Didn't anybody see me at all?"

"...I...was ducking down..." Ai responded.

The hedgehog looked at the people, and none of them were paying any attention to him. "...Noooo!" Sonic groaned before slapping his face. "I knew I was doing it so darn fast and nobody noticed I took all those robots down!"

"So I take that you just were going to save people only to get famous?"

Sonic gasped when he saw that Chris, Lucario, Zelda, Meta Knight, Falco, and Parakarry appeared behind Ai, the latter turning around to look at them. "N-no, it wasn't what you think it was...I-I swear of it!" Sonic said in his defense.

Zelda looked annoyed. "I wouldn't be surprised if you did as I've thought."

Sonic groaned once more. "You guys, I saved these people because I HAD to do it, okay?"

Chris grumbled. "Well, at least show some dignity and respect next time you talk with a girl, kupo."

Meta Knight looked around the streets. "At least Sonic took these robots out. That's all that matters to me."

Sonic grinned and chuckled. "Heh, told you I was doing my job."

Chris looked at the Star Warrior. "You're just going to say that, kupo?"

Meta Knight nodded. "I don't see why we should care about Sonic's intentions as long as he saves people."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, you shouldn't care about me."

Falco chuckled. "That means we should ignore you altogether."

"Of course I know... Hey, wait a minute now!" Sonic demanded.

Parakarry looked happy. "Well, it was a good idea to call you all here after all! The village is saved, so all is good once again. Thanks a lot, everyone!"

Lucario looked a bit skeptical. "But where did these robots come from?"

Zelda rubbed her chin. "Actually, that was bothering me just now..." she muttered. "Parakarry, did these robots just appear out of nowhere?"

Parakarry thought for a moment. "Well, last time I recall, these robots suddenly appeared from all sides of the village...but...I think there was more to that..."

"What do you mean?" Meta Knight asked as Chris inspected a dropped machine gun.

"I think I recall seeing a maniac in some kind of hover machine with the robots..." Parakarry recalled. "The guy looked insane, I swear. He laughed like if it was so funny to destroy a village, and he was the one who told the robots to keep all citizens in here..."

Sonic knocked his head a few times. "Did he...look like an egg?"

"...Not literally, but he had an egg-shaped body for sure," Parakarry said before he shrugged. "He looked like a maniac..."

Sonic gasped. "Eggman!" he said. "Oh, so that's why this looked so familiar with all these robots doing this... Eggman is here!"

"You mean that guy with the fat stomach?" Falco asked.

"There wouldn't be someone else like him," Sonic said. "So where is Eggman?"

Parakarry rubbed his helmet. "Geez, I forgot where he went... Wait a minute," he began, "last time I recall, that "Eggman" guy headed to the south, saying something like staying away from some temple..."

"The temple..." Meta Knight trailed off. "...Yes, I heard there was some kind of temple nearby."

Chris blinked. "Oh, he means the Mazuri Temple where some of us took refuge from the rain that time, kupo..."

"And aren't we supposed to protect the temples?" Zelda asked.

The group looked to the south...where a long wall blocked their sight. "Er...was that wall over there before, kupo?" Chris asked.

"Heheh, apparently, the Hammer Bros. put that wall there," Parakarry explained. "They said that the sight of temple in the distance looked out of place for a little village like this so they built that wall to prevent anyone from seeing it. They also said that "mystical places are ALWAYS bound to be attacked, and that will SURELY include the closest place like a village, town, or city no matter what happens" or something like that..."

The Smashers looked bored at the wall. "...Dude, that sounded incredibly ironic just now," Falco commented.

"..." Parakarry slapped his helmet. "See? They were right all along! Putting that wall over there was useless! They should've destroyed the temple so this wouldn't have happened!"

"A-actually, we need the temple to be perfectly intact," Zelda said. "So please...don't destroy it... It's very valuable for us..."

Parakarry looked bored. "Geez, I knew it was a place of importance all along..."

Sonic took a step forward. "No time to waste. We gotta get to the temple and stop Eggman!" he yelled before he disappeared from sight.

Lucario sighed. "There he goes again, alone by himself..." he muttered.

Meta Knight frowned. "One day of these, Sonic will understand the meaning to be patient."

"Unfortunately, I'll have to agree that we have to hurry this time," Falco said.

"Then let's go," Zelda suggested.

[Chris8492]

Is this the next chapter (164) thats coming out? Looks great. ;0

[DededeCloneChris]

Is this the next chapter (164) thats coming out? Looks great. ;0

And...who are you?

[Chris8492]

It's ChrisCLX898 on Fanfic.

[DededeCloneChris]

It's ChrisCLX898 on Fanfic.

Oh...

Then please be aware that you're technically spoiling yourself by being here. Also, be aware that this might not be the final product because there are some changes that tend to happen while putting all this into actual chapters at the site. I'd suggest that you should wait unless you want to see how the work goes.

Take in mind that coming here won't mean that you won't review the chapter in the actual site as well. Some people say that they don't need to review anymore if they talk to me, but that's practically cheating a bit.

I hope you enjoy the chapters. This is chapter 165.

[Chris8492]

O_O sorry... forgiven? I was never going to stop reviewing.

[DededeCloneChris]

The group nodded in unison before they all ran to the south before turning to the right to cross the wall around it. Parakarry kept staring to the south before he sighed and looked back at the people cleaning the streets from the scraps of metal. "Well, it's going to be New Year tonight. We should be getting ready for the celebration and make sure there isn't any alcohol being sold..."

The Paratroopa looked down to see that Ai was still there, completely being ignored by the Smashers.

"...Oh..." Parakarry muttered. "...Sorry, I didn't see you were here..."

Ai kept staring at Parakarry without looking at any other way.

"..." Parakarry shifted his eyes around before he chuckled nervously. "I-I've gotta go for now... See you!" he said before he turned around and flew away to the direction of the office.

Ai stared at Parakarry's direction before she put a hand under her left cheek and looked at no one in particular. "What did just happen now?" she asked confused. "Why do I think I shouldn't have heard anything those people said?"

The Animal Village resident shrugged at the thought before she picked up her bag and walked away to the north before turning to left corner of the sidewalk, still wondering what happened a few seconds ago.

-Mazuri Temple-
Entrance

Meanwhile, in front of big grass fields, there stood the Mazrui Temple. The temple itself wasn't affected by the renovation of the village that it remained the same, except for the fact that now a long field was situated between the temple and the village. The temple had served as some sort of historical monument where almost nobody ever went.

However, today was much different than that.

In front of the temple, there were two figures. One was Dr. Eggman in his hover machine, and the other one was another different person. This white-bearded, short old man looked like a chief from a tribe since he wore red garments, wore a golden necklace around his bald head, wore yellow rings hanging on his long ears, and he carried a wooden staff with his left hand.

Dr. Eggman grunted at the old man. "You don't want to open the Gaia Gate, then?"

The old man shook his head. "I am sorry, but I'm not obliged to do such a thing at this time," he said with a frown. "I'm not required to open the Gaia Gate right now."

"Why is it that you're being so stubborn in that?" Dr. Eggman asked. "You should know better that opening the gate will grant me a better way to resolve this problem."

The old man shook his head. "Even I know you have malicious intentions with the Gaia Gate," he said. "I only grant permission for outsiders to enter the temple when they have good intentions for it. Unfortunately, I haven't found such people because they tend to appear and ask for admission to the temple, and it is risky to do it without being careful about them."

"Grrrrr, just open the gate for me now!" Dr. Eggman demanded.

"No," the old man said. "Taking me here by force and then request me to do that isn't going to help you."

"Look," Dr. Eggman began irritated, "or you go in there and open the Gaia Gate, or I'll eliminate you right now!"

"If you do eliminate me, then how are you going to open the Gaia Gate?" the old man asked. "I'm the only one who can do that."

Dr. Eggman grunted before he grinned and chuckled. "Well, smart old man, since you're saying that...you wouldn't mind if I cause some havoc at your village, right?"

The old man narrowed his eyes. "Threatening to endanger the lives of my people... You're clearly not worthy to go into the temple."

"So, how will it be?" Dr. Eggman asked. "You have the decision to save the trouble...or have the trouble on your humble home."

The old man thought for a moment. "Hmm..."

"Eggman!"

Dr. Eggman and the old man turned to the north where they saw a cocky blue hedgehog looking at them with a grin and crossed arms. Dr. Eggman grunted at the sight of the hedgehog. "Sonic!" Dr. Eggman yelled. "I knew you were going to show up here very soon..."

Sonic chuckled. "Nice to see ya around these parts again," he said, wiping his nose with his thumb. "You know, thanks for trying to attack the people in the village back there. You gave me good nostalgia by eliminating all your robots at top speed."

Dr. Eggman slapped his forehead. "Every single robot is someday destined to turn into scrapped metal..." he muttered before he glared at Sonic. "Sorry, Sonic, but I don't have time for you."

"Oh, but I have time for you," Sonic said. "Why is it that you and that army weren't doing their evil plans? It's been a pretty long time and I got bored."

The scientist chuckled. "Sorry for making you wait. I forgot you hated to wait because you're so impatient."

The hedgehog narrowed his eyes at this.

"You see, we had some technical issues," Dr. Eggman explained. "We couldn't resume any of our plans because we didn't have the necessary ideas to use. We took a long time, but it's finally over," he said. "Now, it's time for us to get a move on and resume our main mission again."

"And what are those plans?" Sonic asked with a glare.

"Pfft, it should be pretty obvious for you, hedgehog," Dr. Eggman said. "I don't want to waste any more words with you today. Now be a good guy and leave us."

Sonic smirked. "Since I'm a good guy, I'm gonna have to kick you outta here before I leave."

"Persistent, aren't we?" Dr. Eggman asked. "Well, since you're being such a pest today, I'll have to take care of you."

The old man looked at Sonic. "Now what is going on here?" he asked. "Besides being taken here by force from Mazuri, I have to witness a feud?"

Sonic looked confused at the old man. "Er...who are you?"

"Pardon me for not introducing myself," the old man said. "I am Gwek, the village chief of Mazuri," he introduced himself. "And you are Sonic, right?"

"Well, yeah, you heard that from human egg here."

Dr. Eggman grunted. "Like I said before, I don't have time to waste for you or more conversations." He pointed down at the old man. "You, start opening the Gaia Gate!"

The village chief of Mazuri shook his head. "I have said and will keep saying no," he said. "I won't allow you to open the Gaia Gate. I don't like people like you to go inside."

The scientist looked at Sonic. "Not only I have to deal with this pathetic fool, but also I have to deal with you, Sonic," Dr. Eggman said aggravated. "This couldn't have turned out like this. I expected to finish things up right after I came here."

"Guess your way isn't just going to happen," Sonic said grinning.

At that moment, the Smashers caught up with the hedgehog from behind and looked at Dr. Eggman. "Oh no, he's here, kupo..." Chris muttered.

Dr. Eggman rolled his eyes. "And I was also foreseeing all of you here as well. The logical thing would be that because Sonic's got a collar and you're his owner. He's been such a bad "dog" for sure, hasn't he?"

Sonic looked at the collar of his neck. "Well, of course I have to be wear this crap daily!" he complained. "Thanks to you, I have to deal with a wolf transformation that looks so cliche, and a psycho guy in me trying to take over my body!"

Dr. Eggman chuckled. "What, you don't like that surge of power, Sonic? I thought you were into physical stuff. I also let that friend in you to become acquainted with you."

Sonic grunted. "You'll pay for letting that guy go nuts on me!"

"Sonic, calm down," Meta Knight cut in. "I presume you were already taunting Dr. Eggman before we came here."

"That is exactly what happened," Gwek suddenly said.

The hedgehog shook his head. "What side are you guys with again?"

"Obvious," Zelda said before glaring at the scientist. "We're not surely on his side."

"And I'm glad that it's that way, milady," Dr. Eggman said cordially. "But enough chit-chat, you all better be gone from my sight before you suffer the consequences of meddling with me." He turned to Gwek. "You shall open the Gaia Gate or else your village will burn down to the ground!"

Gwek tapped his staff on the ground. "I'm not willing to help you," he said. "I trust that you will never attack my village."

"Grrrrr!" Dr. Eggman grunted. "That's it, now I'm getting mad at this whole nonsense," he said while gritting his teeth. "Since I need to finish my task as soon as possible here, I'll let everyone here be friends with my little new friend here..." he said as he took out a button from behind his back and pressed it with his thumb.

Suddenly, the Smashers looked up to see a huge bug-like robot flying over the temple of Mazuri. Most of them gasped before they ran back to avoid being crushed by the robot's immense size. Gwek backed away to the wall while Dr. Eggman snickered and flew over the big robot's head where he attached his hover machine into its head and laughed maniacally at the Smashers. "This, my friends, is Egg Beetle!" he yelled. "Behold this powerful creation of my genius!"

The robot in question looked like an oversized beetle. It was purple, big, and had long pincers with glowing pink lights. It had a green barrier that protected Dr. Eggman from being harmed.

The Smashers took their positions as they faced the robot. "Is this going to take too long?" Falco asked.

"I don't think it will," Lucario said. "It's not a strong robot."

Dr. Eggman snickered. "Well, since you're all so confident about destroying one of my ultimate creations (Sonic: He always says that. Ignore him.), let's see if you can make a scratch on it!"

The robot closed quickly its pincers several times in front of the Smashers.

Sonic Unleashed - Boss Stage - vs. Boss - Day

Chris gulped and crossed his sword in front of him. "Will we be able to defeat him on that thing, kupo?"

"Why don't we see how much it lasts?" Meta Knight asked as he unsheathed Galaxia. "This will be a fair battle."

"Heh, bring it on," Falco said as he brandished his Blaster. "Let's start by SHOOTING it down!"

"Then let's all use projectiles," Zelda said.

Lucario moved back his left foot and began charging an Aura Sphere. "Let's do this," he muttered.

"Now!" Sonic yelled.

The group began a full assault against the Egg Beetle by using different projectile attacks: Chris used Mog Lance to send forth slicing shockwaves, Zelda used Din's Fire to direct them all the way to the robot, Falco began shooting the robot at will, and Lucario fired fully Aura Spheres. As for the only close combat attackers, Sonic used charged Spin Dashes while Meta Knight rushed forward and used Drill Rush on a pincer.

The Egg Beetle backed away from the group. Dr. Eggman grunted angrily at this while they all kept attacking. "Ugh, you seem to become stronger during all this time..." he muttered. "Well, how about this, then?!"

The Egg Beetle began to throw some purple boxes from behind its back towards the Smashers. Lucario looked up and grunted. "Destroy those boxes!" he yelled.

"Aim up at 'em!" Falco yelled.

The four long-range attackers directed their attacks at the falling boxes, successfully destroying every single box on midair before they could make contact with any of them.

As Dr. Eggman cursed at this, both Sonic and Meta Knight used their same tactics and rammed themselves against the robot's pincers. The Egg Beetle began to shoot out smoke from some small openings around its pincers that made the scientist alarmed. "N-no!" Dr. Eggman gasped. "T-this can't be happening! I thought this machine was going to be enough to crush you all!"

"Over Limit ready!" Kawashima announced. "It's ready for anyone to use!"

Meta Knight took this opportunity to use the Over Limit by pushing back his cape, sending out a force that pushed back the robot to the temple's direction. Dr. Eggman grunted angrily at this before he looked forward and saw Meta Knight flying directly to the green shield in front of him. With a swift movement, Meta Knight swept the shield with his cape, causing darkness to engulf the whole area with everyone in it.

...

And suddenly, a swift and deadly slash cut both of the Egg Beetle's pincers in half, making them blow up into pieces of metal. Not only the pincers were cut in half, but the whole robot was cut in half as well. Dr. Eggman looked around in panic before he started to type fastly on the control panel of the machine to do something. "I-it's falling apart!" Dr. Eggman yelled. "T-this is extremely ridiculous!"

Meta Knight, standing just in front of the shield, frowned at Dr. Eggman and jumped back to the group, who at that time had stopped their attacks.

Music stops

As Sonic rolled back to the Smashers, they all watched as the robot began to shoot smoke everywhere. Dr. Eggman typed frantically on the control panel before the robot blew up completely, creating a big explosion that made all of them cover their faces with their arms. Now there was a smoke cloud in front of them, and Dr. Eggman flew out from the top and raised a right arm covered in soot at them. "Y-you!" he yelled. "T-this isn't going to end right here, you heard me?!"

Zelda looked a bit surprised at this. "Wait...we beat him already?"

"Hmph," Meta Knight muttered as he sheathed Galaxia. "It seems we have to thank the badge Chris mentioned before."

Chris gasped and took out said badge from behind. The Moogle Knight stared at it in surprised with Falco, Sonic, and Lucario. "...Thanks, the Master..." Chris muttered with a pleased smile.

"Grrrrr!!!" Dr. Eggman grunted loudly through gritted teeth. "You'll pay for destroying one of my robots!" He sat back into his hover machine. "Just you wait until we resume our plans. It'll be all over soon, that I assure you!"

"Shut up," Sonic said grinning. "You'd rather leave now before you stay here more."

"Good idea," Dr. Eggman said as a dark portal appeared in midair. The doctor looked over to the temple where Gwek stared up at him. "Your village will pay for this..."

Gwek shook his head. "I'm aware of that," he said. "My village won't fall down because of you since it will be just fine. I know that the dreadful event you're planning to do with Dark Gaia isn't going to see the light of day."

"Literally," Dr. Eggman added. "I need the night than the day." He looked down at the Smashers and pointed a finger at them. "I hope you're all ready for what's to come... You haven't seen the last of me yet," he muttered before he directed his hover machine into the portal before it disappeared.

Falco kept glaring at the spot where the dark portal disappeared before he spun his weapon on a finger and kept it in its holster. "He's gone now," he said. "So much for a day without battling."

Sonic narrowed his eyes. "Eggman...you're gonna pay for doing this to me..."

Chris looked worried to Sonic before he flew over to him and placed a hand on his right shoulder. Sonic turned to him, and Chris smiled a bit. "Sonic...I know you're still angry at him for doing this to you, kupo."

Sonic looked away. "Even if I keep taunting him..."

"It's alright," Chris said. "You'll see that I'm going to do something about all this..." he turned to look at the others, "and that also goes for everyone here."

Zelda nodded. "We don't want to see you in that hideous look again."

Lucario nodded in agreement. "It's better when you're are the normal you."

Meta Knight nodded as well. "Until that day comes, keep relying on our help, Sonic."

Falco grinned and crossed his arms. "Yeah, you'll get rid of that transformation before you get really sick of it."

Sonic stared at the group before he smiled a bit and nodded. "Thanks, you guys..." he muttered.

"Ahem."

The six Smashers looked forward to the temple where the old man Gwek was smiling at them. "O-oh, we forgot you were here," Zelda said embarrassed.

"It's not necessary to say that," Gwek said. "But what I want to say to all you is this: thank you for saving me from that person a moment ago."

"It was what we had to do," Meta Knight said. "It was clear to see that Dr. Eggman was about to force you to do something against your will, am I right?"

Gwek nodded. "In fact, this Dr. Eggman wanted me to open the Gaia Gate for him," he explained. "He found out I was one of the Temple Guardians..."

Sonic nodded at this. "Yeah, I see... Wait..."

Zelda looked confused at this. "Wait...you mean to say you're a Temple Guardian?"

"Yes, I am," Gwek said. "I'm not only the village elder of Mazuri, but I'm also a Temple Guardian."

Lucario tilted his head bit. "But...I thought you were supposed to be hiding from anyone else from knowing you were a Temple Guardian..."

Gwek rubbed his chin and looked up at the sky. "I was supposed to do that," he said. "Lately, people have been asking about the people who are the Temple Guardians right after the planet was split into pieces," he said. "It looked so strange to me that people started to do that, so I had to keep my status in secret for security reasons."

Sonic grumbled. "I have a questione for you, old man."

Chris looked annoyed at Sonic. "S-Sonic, you should call him by his name, you idiot, kupo!" he said through gritted teeth.

The hedgehog ignored Chris altogether, much for the dismay of the moogle.

"Did one of those people happen to look like a fox with two tails?" Sonic asked.

"Hmm..." Gwek thought for a moment. "...Yes, there was such a fellow coming into the village with some other people some time ago... They were looking for the Temple Guardian, me, in my village. However...I distrusted them to stay cautious, so I lied about the fact that I was a Temple Guardian myself."

Sonic groaned a bit. "B-but they're good guys! They're my friends, you know!"

"So?"

"So?!"

Zelda blocked Sonic's face and she nervously chuckled a bit. "P-please, forgive our friend here," she said embarrassed. "He's a little bit tense today..."

"Oh, I see," Gwek said as he looked back at them. "Well, as I was saying before, I hid my status as Temple Guardian in order to keep malicious people like the Dr. Eggman from getting inside the temple; the same one you see behind me," he explained.

Sonic pushed Zelda's hand away. "The people who came to your village were trying to find you to stop Dark Gaia from destroying the world!" Sonic argued.

Gwek kept staring at Sonic. "Unfortunately, it was hard for me to tell who was good and who was bad...and I guess I was too late to guess," he said ashamed as he frowned. "Thanks to this, all the Temple Guardians had been kidnapped by that same man..."

Lucario blinked a bit. "...Pardon me? Did you say Dr. Eggman kidnapped..."

Gwen nodded. "Yes, this Dr. Eggman kidnapped every single Temple Guardian from their respective places around the world," he explained. "What is more is that he is holding them captive somewhere in a place I couldn't know its location..."

Falco narrowed his eyes. "That bastard is holding them all in the army's HQ, no doubt about it."

"Well, if you know such a place, please do something," Gwek requested.

Chris looked worried. "But...what happened exactly, kupo?"

Gwek sighed. "It happened not too long ago..." he trailed off. "As the continents were still drifiting in the skies, Dr. Eggman suddenly began to attack every important place where the Gaia Temple were located. He threatened to destroy the cities, towns, and villages if the Temple Guardians didn't show up. It all happened so fast that it didn't seem it took place... Mazuri was put in a state of panic very quickly as soon as he stated his plan. I couldn't see my people in such an event that I couldn't stand watching anymore. Then, having no choice, I revealed my status...and thus got kidnapped..."

Meta Knight nodded. "I understand the pain of seeing your own village in a dangerous situation."

Gwek nodded. "After Dr. Eggman took me into the unknown place through the very same dark portal he used a moment ago to go away, I was shocked to see that the rest of the Temple Guardians of the rest of the world were being held in steel cages. Most of them were trying to stay calm at the situation, but some were a bit desperate... Then, Dr. Eggman came to us and told me to follow him to this very same place..."

The Smashers kept staring at the village chief, each one of them thinking about the problem Gwek was facing.

"..." Gwek looked down and frowned. "I feel sorry for them now. They have to be close to Dr. Eggman before they're called to the temples to open the Gaia Gates."

Sonic grunted and made a fist on his right side. "That Eggman now crossed the line..."

"However, I don't see why he needs to go through all that trouble if I can't even open the Sun and Moon Doors alone."

The Smashers looked confused at him. "What do you mean?" Zelda asked.

"Well, you see, you need to have something else to open those doors," Gwek said before he took out from behind the Sun and Moon Tablets of the temple. "Typically, you would need to insert these into the slots of the doors. However, that will only activate the second lock of those doors."

"A second lock?" Meta Knight asked.

Gwek looked back at the temple. "I myself don't know the second key to those doors, though," he said. "My job as a Temple Guardian is to keep the temple safe from bad hands while keeping myself informed of how to piece back the special Planet Tablet of this temple. Unfortunately, I don't know much more than that nor the second key to those locks."

Sonic thought hard for a moment. "Second lock..." he muttered before knocking his forehead a bit. "Let's see... One time, we were at a temple, and we opened those doors before..."

"Hmm?" Gwek looked at Sonic. "You're saying that you opened those doors before? But that's impossible."

Sonic's eyes widened. "Wait a minute, now I remember!" he said shocked before he turned around and dashed away to the north.

"S-Sonic!" Chris yelled. "Where are you going now, kupo?!"

Chris's words fell to deaf ears as they all watched Sonic jumping over the wall of the village where he ran quickly all the way across the big hill to the mansion's area. Soon enough, the hedgehog's blue blur raced back to their spot, and Sonic appeared in front of them, holding a knocked out Chip (upside down) between his hands. "This...is the key," he said. "And I'm sorry he looks like this, but he was crushed by the door."

They all stared at Chip's dazzled eyes. "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey..." Chip began as he saluted them, his tongue sticking out a bit. "Is for today's chocolate what huh?" he asked in broken words.

"..." Gwek rubbed his chin. "Who is this little fellow you've brought here?"

Sonic looked annoyed at Chip before he shook the imp a few times. The imp shook his head and regained his composure before he smiled at the Smashers. "Hey, guys!" he said cheerfully. "Wow, why's everything upside down today? Has gravity finally rebelled against all of us? It seems so."

Falco rolled his eyes. "Hey, dude, you're the one upside down."

Chip looked down (or to the sky) before he got off from Sonic's hands and flipped himself to regain his stance. "Oh, that would explain everything," he said. "Chip Norris knew the answer all along because the answer itself comes to him."

Meta Knight stared at Chip. "Can you open those doors of the temple?"

Chip looked at the temple. "Oooooh, you mean those doors that can open only if I touch them?"

Gwek stared at Chip. "How is this this little fellow able to open those doors?" he asked. "Do you have some kind of proof that he can do such a thing? More so, who are you?"

Chip looked at Gwek. "I'm Chip Norris."

"AHEM," Chris coughed loudly in annoyance.

Chip rolled his eyes. "I'm Chip Norris, but I'm known in other parts as Light Gaia."

Gwek looked interested at this. "Light Gaia... Hmm... That name sounds familiar..."

Chip stared at Gwek in disbelief before looking down. "I told you guys," he muttered. "Nobody even knows I exist..."

Gwek tapped his staff on the ground. "Since you are this supposed Light Gaia, wouldn't that mean you're the counterpart of Dark Gaia?"

The imp nodded and looked back at Gwek. "That's how it is."

"Then...follow me," Gwek said as he turned around to the temple. "We should do this quick before we lose more time."

"Do what?" Falco asked.

Gwek looked at them. "We will open the Gaia Gate to restore Mazuri to its former state in the world."

Gaia Gate

The group had gone inside where the layout of the Mazuri Temple was different. It was gloomy-looking with all the torches that ignited some light around the room. The group walked all the way to the three doors in front of them.

Gwek had placed the Sun and Moon Tablets in their respective slots, triggering the doors' glowing light to shine brightly. "There," Gwek said as he looked at the Sun Door. "Now I need to see if Chip can really open these doors."

Chip looked serious as he flew to the Sun Door. The necklace on his neck started to glow brightly as he approached his right hand on the door. Suddenly, the door shone brighter, and it slid upwards, revealing a small passage to one of the Planet Tablet's fragment. The Smashers took closer looks at the short corridor with the village chief on the front. "Aah," Gwek said. "Interesting..."

Chip nodded. "I told you that I was Light Gaia."

"Well, this is surely a surprise," Gwek remarked. "Let us get the fragments of the Planet Tablet at once."

A time passed, and Chip had opened the Moon Door to get another fragment of the Planet Tablet. They all gathered in front of the middle door (Planet Door) as Chip gave the right tablet fragment to Gwek. "Here," Chip said. "They're kind of broken right now..."

"That is because they both have to be in pieces," Gwek explained. "Having the full product would be dangerous for those malicious people who want to go into the temple. However, I doubt they can piece the fragments back together."

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked.

Gwek began to twist some small bits of both fragments. "Temple Guardians possess the required knowledge to piece back the Planet Tablet," he explained. "Only us can do this as means of protection of the temples."

"In other words, the temples have many locks," Meta Knight said. "They have the Temple Guardians, the tablets, and Chip."

"It looks that way," Gwek said. "Press...push...twist..."

The Smashers saw as the Planet Tablets pieced back together to form one single tablet. Chip looked surprised at this.

Gwek chuckled. "The product is complete," he said pleased. "It came out quite well, wouldn't you say?"

"It's the first time we see this so I guess, kupo..." Chris muttered.

Gwek turned to the Planet Door. "Well then, let's go further into the temple," he said as he placed the Planet Tablet on the slot of the door, triggering the door's shiny form.

Chip acted quickly and touched the shining door to make it open. It shook a few times before it slid up, revealing a long corridor to the deepest part of the temple. Chip stared at the corridor before turning to the others. "W-we did it!" he said.

Gwek shook his head. "Not quite yet," he said as he began his way into the corridor. "Once we restore the continent, then it'll be done."

Lucario began to walk forward into the corridor. "Let's go," he told the others.

The Smashers decided to walk through the corridor. After walking for a small time, the group finally reached the other side of the passage, stepping inside a spacious area where torches with green fire illuminated the place with pillars. The room looked exactly the same as the last time Chris got in, except for the fact that it had a lock before. They were all focusing their attention to the altar at the far end where Gwek walked to it.

"Hmm," Gwek wondered as they all surrounded the altar. "This must be the place..." he muttered as he stared at a hole in the middle of the pedestal. "Then..." he looked at Chip," would you please touch the hole?"

"U-um, okay..." Chip said unsure. The imp flew on the altar to touch the little hole.

Suddenly, a small pedestal came out from the hole. The Smashers took a closer look at it to see that the pedestal had a empty slot on its top that had a shape. "..." Gwek shook his head. "I'm afraid to say I don't know what to do next..."

However, Chris knew better than the village chief. The moogle tapped Sonic's left shoulder to get his attention. "Pss, Sonic, place a Chaos Emerald on it, kupo"

"What?" Sonic asked.

"Just do it, kupo!"

Sonic looked confused at this direction before he took out from behind the pale green Chaos Emerald. The hedgehog then placed the emerald on the pedestal, and it actually fit nicely in it. Sonic looked a bit surprised at this, as well the others, before said emerald began to glow. "W-what the..." Sonic trailed off.

Gwek watched carefully the glow of the emerald. "Now what will happen now?" he wondered.

Suddenly, the emerald shone so brightly that they all had to cover their eyes. The emerald then sent green lights all over the temple, provoking some kind of tremor that shook the area around it. Some of them looked around to see the cracks of the floor and walls being filled with the emerald's light.

"W-what is happening?" Zelda asked.

"I don't think it's something bad," Meta Knight said.

Out of a cue, the tremor stopped, and the lights dimmed down until they vanished completely. The group uncovered their eyes to look back at the emerald on the pedestal.

For their surprise, the green Chaos Emerald had returned to normal since its shiny glow was there again. Sonic stared in awe at the glow of the emerald before he slowly reached it and took it out from the pedestal. The hedgehog pulled closer the emerald to inspect it. "...The Chaos Emerald..." Sonic muttered. "...I can feel its power again..."

Chris took a closer look at the gem. "Hmm, so it got its power back, kupo?"

Sonic grinned and raised the emerald in the air. "Yeah, the green Chaos Emerald's power is back!"

Lucario looked a bit skeptical. "It...looked weird that there was a pedestal like this for the Chaos Emerald..."

Falco crossed his arms and grumbled. "I'd say it looked SO convenient for some reason."

Gwek stared at the Chaos Emerald. "That item certainly gave back the power to the Mazuri continent."

The Smashers looked at him. "The continent has been restored?" Zelda asked.

"Well, if you look around..." they looked around the temple, "the temple's energy should be back now. I can sense its force emanating from every single part of this sacred shrine." He smiled a bit. "Now the Mazuri continent should be piecing itself back to its place on the planet."

Chip pumped up a fist. "And so, Chip Norris has completed one of his goals in life, my friends!"

Chris looked bored at the cheerful imp. "Do you have to talk in third person every now and then? It kind of takes off the mood of your job, kupo..."

Chip shook his head. "Chip Norris knows the future well, and the future is Chip Norris's pet and slave."

Gwek stared at Chip for a moment. "(It is hard for me to believe that he is the supposed Light Gaia...)" he thought before speaking. "It seems my judgment of you was right. You are people without bad intentions."

"We never intended to be," Zelda said. "We're trying to save Sonic's world from staying like that."

Gwek looked down. "If that's like that, then I know that I'm speaking for all the Temple Guardians that we're sorry for having to hide from you," he said. "We had to hide, unfortunately."

Sonic scratched his right ear. "Well, you had a reason so..."

"Wait," Meta Knight interrupted. "Since the continent of Mazuri was restored, wouldn't that mean that the others should notice by now?"

"I'm certain a tremor also took place there so there's a possibility most people noticed," Gwek said. "Mazuri should be on its place."

Chris looked at Sonic. "That means we're done with 1 of the 7 temples, kupo"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah," he said before looking at the green Chaos Emerald. "And now this little baby has its energy back."

Gwek coughed a bit. "I'm glad Mazuri got back to its rightful place," he said. "But for now, I'm afraid of what the people of my village are doing with this sudden change, and I don't know my way back there."

"I can take you there," Chris said. "We can travel between worlds, and going there isn't going to be such a problem, kupo."

Gwek rubbed his chin. "Perhaps you can save the rest of the continents as well..." he wondered. "...Are you sure you want to take on this task?"

"We're already tied to this," Falco said. "And there's no turning back now, sadly."

"In that case...please do save the planet," Gwek said. "You have to save the other Temple Guardians as well. Besides being guardians, they're all human beings. They should come on out once when Dr. Eggman needs to take them to their respective temples. You must interfere with Dr. Eggman's plans before it's too late for the world to stay away from Dark Gaia's presence..." He nodded. "I'm sorry to be putting a lot of trust in you, but I've no other choice left."

Sonic grinned and wiped his nose with his thumb. "Just leave it to us. Eggman isn't going to have what he wants as long as we beat him to the temples."

"I admire your determination," Gwek said before turning to Chip. "And you, Light Gaia, must open the doors in order to unlock the path to the deepest parts of the temples."

Chip saluted him. "Chip Norris's hands are in good hands because they're on their own hands."

Chris looked confused at this claim. "...Chip...stop doing that, kupo..."

Gwek chuckled. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to go back to my village now. I have to make sure Dr. Eggman doesn't attack my people."

The moogle looked at Gwek and nodded. "Okay, then, follow us."

The group decided to leave the sacred temple behind for the time being. Chip stopped flying to look back at the pedestal and the antique carvings around the room before he sighed and flew away from there.

-Smash Mansion-
Command Room

Once they returned to the mansion, Zelda had called Master Hand to advice the others about what happened earlier. The hand agreed to call everyone to the command room in order to know more about what was going on. Thanks to Gwek, they all knew exactly what had been happening the whole time.

After the explanation was over, a portal was opened to the way to Sonic's world thanks to Chris, who was standing besides it. "The portal is directly connected to the outskirts of Mazuri, kupo," Chris said. "It was hard to set the portal's location, but Master Hand helped a lot with that, kupo."

Gwek walked towards it and turned around to look at the multitude of Smashers before him. "Please, save the planet," he reminded them. "Save the Temple Guardians' lives as well."

Sonic nodded. "You betcha."

"Then, I'll be on my way," Gwek said as he turned to the portal. "Good luck, everyone. You're probably the last hope we have for the planet to go back to the way it was."

The village chief then stepped into the portal before he and it disappeared from sight.

Chris sighed and frowned. "Oh no, things are just starting to get even worse, kupo..."

"You tell me," Master Hand said. "I saw this coming from a mile away, anyway. Our break wasn't going to last forever as well... But enough about that!" he said. "I was getting bored of not doing anything these past days."

"I was relaxed doing that," Roy said.

Master Hand shook himself. "As long as Tabuu is around, we're all bound to stop him with whatever plan he comes up with," he explained. "And when he's getting others to do his job, it's even worse."

"Now, back on the topic," Mewtwo said. "For now, we know that Tabuu is about to do one of his moves very soon. That would mean the time for our break is going to be over very soon."

"I presume it'll be in a few days," Master Hand said. "Also, this means Tails's group will come back here before we get back to our usual schedule with the army... In fact," he began as he looked to his left to see a portal opening up, "there they are."

However, the portal only took out Knuckles with Cream and Cheese. The portal then closed down, and the echidna looked alarmed at the Smashers. "E-everyone..." Knuckles muttered.

"We know, Knucklehead," Sonic said. "The Temple Guardians were all kidnapped, and the Mazuri continent returned to its place on the earth."

Cream cleared her throat a bit. "Y-you mean you all know now?"

"Yes," Zelda said. "We can explain it to you how."

After the echidna and the rabbit were told about what had happened, Knuckles understood everything.

"Okay, now you know," Knuckles said. "A lot of crazy stuff has been happening around the world... I told you that something bad was going to happen, didn't I?!" he asked annoyed.

"CHILL DOWN," Sonic said with emphasis.

Knuckles grunted at this and looked away with a grimace.

Cream looked worried at the Smashes. "About what Mr. Knuckles was talking about, that mainly involves the Temple Guardians," Cream said. "T-they...were all kidnapped by Dr. Eggman..."

Knuckles looked back at the group. "We know that because news came out from every single continent about Dr. Eggman threatening the cities to look for the guardians. We gathered some information about what happened, and then it was clear they were all gone because they were kidnapped."

Cream hugged Cheese. "And there were some sad moments where the family of Marketa from Holoska was all kidnapped but her..." She looked depressed. "She was so sad, and she was crying out for them..."

Chip looked at the two. "Um, where are Tails and Amy?"

"They're at Holoska with the Marketa girl," Knuckles said. "Well, Amy wanted to stay with her, and Tails was going to do some patrol around the world to make sure everything was fine. As for the 2 of us, we wanted to come here."

Sonic crossed his arms. "It's not like Amy to miss the opportunity to lose both Christmas and New Year."

Cream looked at Sonic. "We celebrated Christmas at my house, Mr. Sonic," she said, forcing a smile. "But it's going to be lonesome without Tails and Amy...but this is for our world."

"Besides, Amy didn't want to leave the girl alone at Holoska," Knuckles said. "You wouldn't surely do that, but it had to be done." He shook his head. "Too bad we're not going to count on their help for the time being, though."

Cream smiled happily. "But thankfully, we found a replacement."

Knuckles grumbled. "Cream...I didn't want you to bring him up now."

Lucas tilted his head. "Um, who are you talking about?"

The echidna frowned and closed his eyes. "Well, you see, when we were at Shamar, we met an old friend again...and he pleaded and pleaded us to let him come with us. He just COULDN'T stop pleading and he got on my nerves. Whatever we tried to tell him, it wasn't enough AT ALL. I was going to snap out and beat the living sh-"

"So we let him come," Cream cut in. "A-and we're doing this so he doesn't have to fret over his lost friend."

"A lost friend?" Mario said confused. "Who is this lost friend?"

"A darn frog," Knuckles muttered annoyed.

Chris rubbed his chin. "Let's see... This said guy wanted to find his lost friend who is a frog, kupo..." He thought for a moment with closed eyes. "...Who has a frog as a best friend, kupo?"

Chris carefully tried to use logic. Since this said character was from Sonic's world, and the fact that he had a frog as a best friend, it made the connection apparent for the World Traveler.

Knuckles took out a Wiimote from his back and opened the portal to his world. "Well, you there! Stop crying and come over here so we get done with this!" he yelled angrily.

And from the said portal, a big figure came out sobbing loudly. Cream joined her hands and looked up at the sobbing figure before the portal could close down. Some of the Smashers recognized the familiar face of the big figure before them.

And that mentioned figure and friend was none other than...

"Please, Mr. Big, you have to be strong," Cream encouraged the sobbing huge, purple cat. "Froggy is alright, I know that."

"Froooooooggyyyyyyy!!!" Big cried out as he rubbed his eyes with his right arm. "Where are yooooooouuu?! Froooggyyyyyyyyy!!!"

Some of the Smashers twitched a bit at the loud cry while some of them stared confused at the crying cat. Chris blinked in shock as he looked up at the huge cat before him before he shook his head and moved his hands up. "P-please, don't cry anymore, kupo!" Chris said. "F-Froggy is going to be alright, wherever he is right now!"

Big sniffed at this and looked at the Smashers with teary eyes. "I want Froggy back..." he sobbed before he took out a napkin from behind and blew his nose on it. "This is the second time Froggy is taken away..."

Mewtwo frowned and placed a hand on his face. "Why do we have to become helpers for any person out there again?" he asked.

Master Hand sighed. "Oh goodness, this...wasn't expected to happen," he said.

Sonic took a step back from the sobbing cat before looking behind at Knuckles. "Couldn't you just run away from him?" he asked by whispering.

"I wanted to do that, you know," Knuckles muttered back through gritted fangs. "But Cream got all sad with him, and they both asked me to take the guy with us. What the hell was I supposed to do when Cream wants to get her way? I can't stand TWO people crying on me!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Well, she pretty much had you where she wanted you to be..."

Knuckles grunted. "Next time, I don't want to be with her anymore, got that?"

"Froggy..." Big muttered sadly. "W-what am I to do now?"

Chris floated in front of Big. "Y-you have to calm down, kupo," he said. "S-since you're that worried about Froggy, I-I think it's going to be fine for you to stay with us, kupo..."

"CHRIS," Master Hand suddenly spoke up.

The moogle looked at the hand. "Look, we're pretty much going to help Big out, kupo," he said. "Besides, it's not going to do any harm to take Big alongside...right?"

Master Hand sighed. "I know he got in this because his friend was kidnapped..."

Big sniffed and looked at the hand. "I...I saw how Froggy was taken..."

The hand stared at the huge cat. "You did?"

Big nodded. "Y-yeah, Froggy and I were at Shamar," he explained. "We met a nice girl who gave Froggy some good frog food that he liked a lot. The girl was pretty and nice. She was dressed like everyone else in there... But...then...s-something awful happened..." His eyes became teary. "O-out of nowhere, Dr. Eggman came with his army of robots to hurt the people in there. He demanded to see this Temple Guardian, and that's when I found out that the girl, Lyla, was the Temple Guardian he was looking for. She grew upset with him, and so she confronted Dr. Eggman...b-but then he caught her in a cage thanks to some of his robots, and I noticed she was holding Froggy...and he was in the cage as well..."

The Smashers kept listening to the huge cat.

"A-and then, an old man came sneezing, and he revealed to be another Temple Guardian. Dr. Eggman then caught him as well, as he left the city with the robots, the girl, the old man, and Froggy..." Big broke into tears. "F-Froggy was taken away from me ever since!" he cried out. "FROOOOGGYYYY!!!"

Many of them had to cover their ears from the loud cries of the cat. Cream twitched a bit at this and looked up worried at Big. "M-Mr. Big, everything will be just fine!" she yelled preoccupied. "Y-you don't have to cry because we're going to find Froggy with you!"

Big stopped crying and he sniffed a bit. "W-will you help me, then?"

Knuckles frowned and sighed. "That's the reason you're here...crybaby..." he muttered the last part in annoyance.

Big sniffed more before he made a happy expression. "T-thank you so much for helping me out to get Froggy back," he said. "I-I could've been stuck in panic if it wasn't for all of you..."

Peach smiled a bit and interlaced her fingers. "You don't worry. Everything will be just fine with us to help you."

Pikachu looked bored and sideways at Ness. "Why am I thinking Peach doesn't understand the fact Big is...a bit..."

Ness closed his eyes and shook his head. "Let her be. You can't change her super nice nature at all."

"True enough..."

As Big cleared his tears again, Master Hand decided to speak up. "Besides the fact we've got ourselves a temporal member, there isn't anything else to talk about by the moment. However, since we shouldn't think about bad things at all, I'd like to remind you that today is New Year's Eve," he said. "Today's the day where you get to make up your resolutions for the next year. I'd like some of you to do a resolution to stop Tabuu's army soon."

"That's going to be a little meaningless," Snake commented from the far end of the room.

"It might be, but it's not bad to do it," Master Hand said. "Expect a party by 9 PM, everyone. Musicians are also included." The hand snapped his fingers and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Chris tried to cheer up the purple cat. "Cheer up, Big. Froggy will return to you very soon. For now, act optimistic, kupo."

Big sniffed and nodded. "Thank you, little furred guy..."

"Chris."

"Chris, yes..." Big said before he shook his head and put up a simple blank stare. "I've gotta think optimistic for Froggy... Maybe I should just walk around for a bit."

Unfortunately, Big's first step to optimism was a reckless one. The purple cat took a step forward, and he accidentally slipped back his right foot. Big got alarmed as he tried to balance himself, but it was useless since he went forward and fell down on the floor, causing a small tremor around him.

"...Oww..." Big muttered on the floor.

"..." Cream tilted her head. "...Wasn't Chris just in front of Mr. Big?"

The Smashers looked down at the floor where a red pom-pom was sticking out from Big's belly. Some of them got shocked as it twitched a bit at the sides. "...Just be glad you're helpless right now, Big, kupo..." Chris muttered under Big.

"Sorry..." Big trailed off as he pushed himself off the floor, revealing Chris to be stuck in a small crack that had his shape on the floor.

Chris pushed himself up and stared up at Big. "I should've changed jobs before..." he said dazzled.

Lucario sighed at this with some depression while Big merely rubbed his head a bit. "(Whatever is ahead of us, it's going to be rather amusing with Big...)" he thought. "(...I'll keep Chris away from him.)"

Main Lobby

Kingdom Hearts II – The Afternoon Streets

The day went on with Cream trying to cheer up Big as she explained everything to him, but he just cared about getting Froggy back, much for her dismay. The purple cat only seemed to be mainly focused on his lost friend. However, Cream managed to pull Big back to optimism, just in time for the celebration during midnight.

"Froggy and I liked to sit and watch the stars during this time of the year," Big recalled as he was sitting down the sofa with Cream and Cheese.

Cream forced a smile, this fact being the twentieth one she heard from Big. "T-that's nice, Mr. Big, but I think you should stop thinking about Froggy for a little while... It wouldn't hurt..."

Big looked up at the ceiling. "But I don't wanna forget Froggy..."

"T-that's not what I meant," Cream said with a sigh.

Aside from the fact Cream was trying her best to calm Big, there was a bigger celebration in the mansion. All the people made up the Smashers, the musicians, and even the trainers, all of them having a nice time between friends.

It was about to be first of January in a few minutes, and Chris (in his Hacker job) was staring outside from the window with some solitude. At that moment, Mario walked to the World Traveler. "Chris," Mario said.

Chris turned around and looked at Mario. "Yes?" he asked.

"I was wondering what you were doing here alone," Mario said. "Where's Lucario?"

"He went to get me a glass with juice from the kitchen," Chris said. "As for me, I was...just trying to recall everything I've been doing to this moment."

"Ah, I see," Mario said. "You're the only representative from the real world, after all. I've figured you'd remind some events. You're the kind of person to do that, right?"

Chris looked away and smiled a bit. "I-it's just that this whole experience has been really enjoyable to me... I got to meet my favorite characters while facing a threat to my world..." He looked embarrassed. "I-I think it's a little cliché that this is happening to me, but..."

Mario shook his head. "Cliché or not, it's happening," he said. "You were probably the only one who was up to the job."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you had what it takes to be here," Mario explained. "If there was another person instead of you, who is not surely going to be here, what would you think?"

Chris thought for a moment. "I think that person would have been chosen over me for some differences...I don't know..." He looked at Mario. "But, when I think about it, I think it was weird..." He frowned. "Just...what was the fact that called me here to help out?"

"It was probably Master Hand."

"No, I don't think that was," Chris said. "I mean, this place really exists, and it wasn't supposed to be... Sometimes I wonder what made this place real and what made me come here to help out..." He looked worried. "Sometimes I even think this is just a dream..."

Mario stared at Chris before he walked to him and knocked his forehead a few times.

"U-um, Mario, what are you doing?" Chris asked.

Mario stopped knocking on his forehead. "Did you feel that, Chris?"

"I-I surely did, but why was that for?"

Mario smiled a bit. "That means you're not in a dream. Everything around you is really happening."

Chris scratched his right arm. "B-but...even so...I still wonder what took me here..."

Mario closed his eyes. "Maybe it was the fact your belief in fantasy was very strong..."

"N-no, that shouldn't have been..." Chris said embarrassed.

"Or...maybe..." Mario opened his eyes and shook his head. "...No, I can't think of an answer..."

Chris looked down and sighed. "It's no use, is it?"

"Relax," Mario suggested. "I'm sure there's a logical answer for your question, and maybe someday it will come."

"...Yes," Chris muttered. "I've got to enjoy everything while I can..." He looked at Mario and smiled. "Thank you, Mario."

Mario chuckled. "Until then, let's stay together. You have a reputation as the 40th Smasher."

Chris blinked at this. "The fortieth...Smasher?"

Mario nodded. "You're the 40th Smasher in the entry of the group," he said. "Since Mewtwo, Roy, and Pichu are here, they add up to 38 people in the roster. And if that's true, that means my alter-ego as Dr. Mario counts as well, adding up to 39 people."

"Alter-ego as Dr. Mario?"

Mario nodded. "What, did you think there was another Mario running around here?" he asked before chuckling. "Master Hand said himself it was pointless and confusing to do that. He could do it, but he said he didn't want to. He wanted me to change to my other attire whenever it was needed. In times where I had to face my alter-ego, he merely used a clone of me and made it fight against me. I have to say that the clone acted pretty much like I do."

"I...see..." Chris trailed off. "...Can you still change to Dr. Mario, then?"

Mario thought for a moment and rubbed his chin. "I haven't thought of that before, but I think I can," he said. "But I don't think that other me is necessary right now. I like to be me as the real Mario, not the real Dr. Mario."

The World Traveler had found out an interesting fact that he would remember from the red plumber.

"Back on the matter, you're the 40th Smasher, Chris," Mario said. "I have to say that the number 35 was a bit unpropotional, and the number 39 looked a bit random. Thanks to you, though, we reach 40 Smashers." He smiled a bit. "You have the honor to be the last Smasher of the group."

Chris blushed a bit. "I-I don't know what to say or how to feel right now," he said. "I-I should be embarrassed, and I'm at the same time honored, but I can't decide which one is bigger than the other."

"I'd say you should be happy instead," Mario said. "To me, everyone is special in their own way. You're different than others, and that makes you unique. You could say each Smasher is unique as well."

Chris smiled a bit at Mario. "W-well, I personally think it's such a honor to receive a talk from the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom himself. Besides, you're the first Smasher, right?"

Mario nodded. "Yes, I'm the first, then DK is the second one, then Link is the third one, then Samus is the fourth one, then Yoshi, then Kirby... I could go on all day, but you get the idea."

Chris nodded, but he hid an annoyed look in his mind. "(Oooh, Mario, I wanted to know which ranked numbers were the others!)" he thought with dismay. "I see," he simply said.

"So then," Mario began, "be glad you're here with all of us. Otherwise, we wouldn't be experiencing our reality as video game characters. You've done so much for us already, and we're all grateful you're here."

The World Traveler made a happy expression and bowed to Mario. "Thank you for making me feel so happy for being with such a group as this one, Mario."

"Just try to stay like that and we're surely bound to get over our problems," Mario encouraged.

[DededeCloneChris]

Chris nodded at this. However, once he stayed silent, he then remembered something when he recalled about the amount of Smashers. "...Mario..."

"Yes?"

"Now that I think about it...most of us aren't here because they're with the Subspace Army."

"Well, yes, Bowser and the other villains are there."

"But...then there's the only person I haven't thought about this time at all..." Chris muttered. "..." He shook his head and looked serious at Mario. "I was thinking about Mr. Game & Watch."

Mario blinked at this before he looked away. "Now that you mention it, I haven't worried about him at all as well..." he muttered. "Mr. Game & Watch must be with them against his own will..."

"He...was taken away by force, right?"

Mario nodded and looked back at Chris. "Mr. Game & Watch was a likable person. Even if he looked weird, he was a very nice guy. I haven't seen him ever since the Melee tourney ended, and so he somehow wound up being taken by Tabuu... I, for one, think Mr. Game & Watch didn't say yes to Tabuu. I never thought he had those Shadow Bugs as well...and probably he never knew as well."

Chris looked worried. "So...right as we speak...Mr. Game & Watch could be suffering?"

"...That's very possible," Mario said. "He's an unlimited source of Shadow Bugs. They would exploit him until he...dies...but he can tolerate the pain..." He looked down and frowned. "But...he surely wants to escape from there as soon as possible..."

The World Traveler felt guilty that he never asked about the flat character at all. Worst yet, Chris never knew the personality Mr. Game & Watch had. Mario gave out that the Flat Zone character was a nice person, but that was it. Chris bit his lip a bit before Mario placed a hand on his right shoulder.

"For now, don't think about those things," Mario suggested. "If you really want to save him, then say so or do it. After all, he's like all of us."

"...Yes," Chris said with determination. "If I ever get the chance to see him...I'll make sure he comes back here."

"That's the spirit you need to have," Mario said with a chuckle.

At that moment, Lucario came in holding a glass with fresh orange juice. He saw that Chris and Mario were talking to each other. "Chris, here," Lucario said.

Chris turned to Lucario and smiled a bit. "Oh, thanks, Lucario," Chris said as he grabbed the glass with juice. "I was just talking with Mario about some things."

"I see," Lucario said. "Well, New Year is going to come in 5 minutes. Have you made your resolutions yet?"

Chris looked up and touched his chin with a finger. "Let's see... My resolutions for this year would be to visiting new worlds, get more video games, stop the Subspace Army, rescue Mr. Game & Watch from them, have some relaxation now and then, and...of course..." he smiled and looked at them, "I want to keep staying here with everyone, and also go to new worlds together." He looked at Lucario. "I want you to be there as well."

Lucario smiled a bit and nodded. "My only resolutions are to make sure you're happy and safe from anyone who wants to hurt you, and I want to..." he trailed off in thought before he blushed and looked away. "I-I'd rather keep them as secrets for now..."

Chris and Mario looked at each other.

"(I didn't want to say I wanted to make him proud of me. That was a little bit too much to say after the first resolution...)" Lucario thought in embarrassment. "...B-but I want to keep traveling to worlds with everyone as well, and I wanted to become more acquainted."

"Oh," Chris said. "I'm glad you're ready."

Suddenly, a little but loud tingling sound came from the center of the lobby. The whole people turned to the said direction where Master Hand set down his own martini (puzzling some to believe he actually drank something from somewhere) on a table and chuckled a bit. "Well, New Year is going to come in about 4 minutes, everyone," he said. "Now that we're all here reunited as a big group, thanks to the fact we have the presence of our beloved musicians and the Smashers, I'd like to thank all of you for being here," he thanked. "Before we reach the new year, anybody wants to say some kind of speech to welcome the next day?"

"I do!"

The whole crowd turned to the left side of the lobby where Barry was standing on top of a chair. The blond trainer took out from behind a long scroll that fell down and rolled all the way between the people.

"I'd like to say lots of things, firstly," Barry said as his eyes began to move from side to side to read the ridiculous long scroll. "I'd like to say that the service of this mansion could be more refined than it is now. Also, if I could be allowed to capture these cool Pokémon, that wouldn't so bad at all! For my next thing to talk about is about having the necessity to interact with some of the girls in here for at least 7 hours straight a day so I can make some moves on the-AAAAA-OWW!"

The chair where Barry was standing was removed by an embarrassed Dawn while Lucas (the trainer) stood several feet away from them with a nervous look on his face. The Twinleaf girl trainer grunted, then forced a smile at the crowd of people. "H-he's technically saying he's so glad to be here as all of us!" Dawn faked a summarization.

Barry raised a finger from the floor. "Nah, you got it wrong, Dawn. That was actually reason number 124 on the lis-OWW!"

Dawk kicked Barry's side while looking at all the eyes on them. "H-he wants to say he's grateful to be here as well!" she said, faking a laugh.

Penny looked bored at Mike. "It's obvious to know we shouldn't see what he wanted to say..."

"Affirmative, Penny," Mike responded in confusion. "I completely agree..."

"..." Master Hand shook himself and looked at the clock hanging on top of the second floor. "Oh, look at that, New Year is 30 seconds away now!" He looked at the some of the eager people. "Let's all begin a countdown at 10!"

The people waited for the clock to have ten seconds until 12:00 PM. Once it did, they all started a countdown, some of them not wanting to participate in it. The rest then began a countdown by saying it aloud. "Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

And then the clock hit 12:00 PM.

"Happy New Y-"

"BUNCH OF LITTLE MOTHERF(BEEP)RS SONS OF B(BEEP)S!!!"

Music stops

Most of the people gasped at the sudden yell of rage coming from the right side of the lobby. They all found out that, on top of a mad werehog's back, a dark spirit came out and crackled evilly to the ceiling with extended arms to the sides. The spirit made fists and looked at everyone before him.

"Oh, for the love of Arceus, that guy just won't stop coming in every night..." muttered a frustrated Ivysaur.

Chunky covered his face and ducked down in fear. "W-who's that guy?" he whimpered.

Dark Super Sonic pointed a finger at everyone. "You're gonna be sorry very soon, bunch of b(beep)bs. You're gonna feel the awesome power of my awesome self that you'll beg for you lives to be spared, and I'm not even gonna do something to f(beep)ng sappy like that!" he proclaimed with crazy laughs. "Oh f(beep)ng yeah, my resolution for this year will be making you b(beep)s turn into big piles of s(beep)t under my foot! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Big tilted his head at the sight of the malevolent spirit. "Ooh, look. That ghost guy who looks like Sonic is trying to hurt us. I hope he doesn't call me with those bad words again because they sounded so offensive."

Sonic made a wild look. "Can somebody in the crowd PLEASE shut this guy?" he asked in anger.

Dark Super Sonic pointed down at Sonic. "SILENCE!" he demanded. "You're gonna be the first b(beep)h to kneel down before your maker, motherf(beep)r! Then, after you, everyone else in this poor excuse of a sh(beepy) party wil-AAAH!!!"

Sonic was suddenly whipped hard on the head by Chris in his Beastmaster job, who looked very annoyed at the interruption. The spirit's eyes widened before he was forced to go back into hiding, leaving a silent crowd staring at the sighing Sonic.

Chris turned at them and looked bored. "...Now that he's gone from here..." he trailed off.

Kirby smiled happily and jumped high. "Happy New Year!" he yelled.

Everyone else returned to their enthusiastic looks before they all yelled in unison "Happy New Year!" before most broke into cheers and hugs.

The party resumed with everyone wishing a happy new year to each one. Most of them did this while some of the loners merely talked and didn't do any other action.

Outside

Not only the mansion was the only lively place, but the village was also very lively. Many cheers echoed through the land around the places, counting the several villages located in the west with the small places like Agitha's Castle and the Dojo as well. Even in the most desolated of places there were some people cheering like Gnome.

Overall, the new year was well received by everyone, and it meant that the break of the Smashers from the Subspace Army...was finally over with.

TO BE CONTINUED...

----------------------------------------------

"And the next chapter will be "Yuffie", then?" asked Pikachu.

"It seems like it," Samus said.

"Pfft, wasn't there a simpler title?"

"No."

"Well, screw it, then."

----------------------------------------------

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

[DededeCloneChris]

Chapter 166: Yuffie

-Subspace-
Deep Inside the Great Maze

January 1- Wednesday - Morning

In the dark realm of emptiness, there floated Tabuu in midair (with the Ancient Minister) as he looked down at Ganondorf, Bowser, Wario, Charizard, King Dedede, and Dr. Eggman. The leader of the Subspace crossed his arms and grunted a bit. "I hope that we are ready to move on with our carried duties," Tabuu said. "It has been a long time after we last did a new plan."

Dr. Eggman folded his arms behind his back. "I'm assure you that everything is ready," he said. "I've successfully kidnapped all the Temple Guardians to keep those pests from getting their hands on the tablets. It was better to kidnap them because they have more secrets that they seem to have. We can use all the time we want to do anything."

The Ancient Minister looked at Tabuu. "Lord Tabuu, I have finished my requests as of now," he said. "However, there are some issues with the Shadow Bug retrieval chambers, and as such, extracting Shadow Bugs takes a while to do."

Tabuu frowned. "Have you found the perpetrator?"

"Not yet," the Ancient Minister said. "We have yet to find a clue about the whereabouts of the culprit. I will do anything in my power to stop the imbecile from further hindering your plans."

"I will leave that in your hands."

"(I'll make sure this lasts even longer, though,)" the Ancient Minister thought. "(The extraction of Shadow Bugs has been slowed to the point you'll need to wait quite a time to get enough to produce those Shadow Nightmares.)"

Bowser glared up annoyed at Tabuu. "Can I PLEASE have the pleasure to do a mission this time? I think it's my turn to do SOMETHING for a change after I was put in that chamber of torture for a whole month!"

Wario grumbled at the thought. "I didn't like to laugh with that tickling machine for a straight month either! I didn't even know you had such a stupidity like that here!"

"Actually, that credit goes for me," the Ancient Minister said. "I was the one who came up with the idea of the torture chamber as well."

"That would explain why Tabuu wasn't the one, then," Bowser said annoyed. "Anyhow, I demand my turn to go on a mission. I don't want people to think I'm lazy."

"What kind of people are they?" Charizard asked.

"Why, the people who...hmm...um...look and watch every single move we make...from...somewhere..."

Everyone in the space of darkness stared at him.

"...Ignore me on that one!" Bowser demanded before he stomped the floor. "What I want to do right now is to go on a mission this time!"

Ganondorf chuckled at this and looked sideways at Bowser. "So the turtle buffoon will go out and fetch a temple for us? That is something new for an old guy like you."

Bowser glared at Ganondorf. "Says a guy who keeps reincarnating to conquer a kingdom he will never take over!"

"Then how ironic you say that, Bowser," Ganondorf said amused.

The Koopa King made fists before he crossed his arms and looked away in annoyance.

King Dedede smiled happily at this. "At least ya guys don't own a kingdom like I do."

Charizard looked at Dedede. "Do your people even listen to you?"

Dedede rubbed his chin. "Hmm, good question..." He shook his head and looked annoyed at Charizard. "I-I mean, course they do!"

While the presumed kings argued against each other, Tabuu looked at Dr. Eggman. "Has there been any signals for a temple?"

Dr. Eggman nodded. "I've getting energy readings for the Adabat Temple in another world," he confirmed. "You should send the turtle guy in there so he stops complaining about not doing anything."

Bowser stopped arguing to Ganondorf before he looked at Tabuu and smirked. "Oh yeah, now we're talking."

Tabuu looked at Wario (who at the time was "digging for treasure" in his nose). "And to be safe, Wario will accompany you in this task so he does not look as if he does not do anything."

"Eh?" Wario suddenly said before (censored grossness) from his nose. "But I don't wanna do anything," he said. "Heck, I don't even want to be here."

"Then I will make your last wish comes true by sending you with Bowser."

"Then can I do nothing while I'm with him?"

"That will not do," Tabuu said. "If you dare do nothing, you shall be severely punished by your actions, or should I say laziness?"

Wario sighed. "Fine, fine, I'll do whatever you want me to do... But don't expect some "nice things" like being grateful."

"I shall give you as many riches as you want after I take total control over everything."

"Definitely nothing wi-" Wario did a double take. "Say how much money again?"

The other villains looked bored at each other.

"I will tell you once you do what I want you to do," Tabuu said. "You will have to earn what you want through work."

Wario grumbled. "You've got a deal, as long as you KEEP it in mind. I don't want any tricks or else you'll get it, got that?"

"I will remind myself of that," Tabuu said. "Now, Dr. Eggman, tell them where they have to go. Is the next Shadow Nightmare ready to be deployed?"

Dr. Eggman shook his head. "It's about to be finished, but I need some more Shadow Bugs before it's completed. I blame the fact the process of extraction for Shadow Bugs has been severely slowed down. However, the next one should be ready soon."

The Ancient Minister nodded. "You will have to stay behind to see the completion of the Shadow Nightmare. We shall leave everything to Bowser and Wario to find the Adabat Temple."

"That sounds like a plan to me," Dr. Eggman said. "Once they find the temple, I'll send them the Temple Guardian of Adabat...or should I say Temple Guardians?" he asked with a small chuckle. "Either way, I'll resume my work here."

The scientist chuckled more to himself before he walked away and disappeared in the darkness.

Bowser chuckled evilly and smacked his fists together. "Well then, I'll go get myself ready for some action, if you don't mind," he said before walking away into the darkness.

Wario narrowed his eyes at Tabuu. "You better give me some gold outta this," he muttered before he grunted and walked away from them.

After both assigned villains were away, Ganondorf grinned. "The plan to get Dark Gaia is coming together, right?"

The Ancient Minister looked at Ganondorf. "I'll be ready soon, but we'll have to make sure everything goes according to the schedule."

Tabuu nodded. "Speaking about schedules, are you still working on the tasks I gave you?"

"For that...I still need more time," the Ancient Minister admitted. "It's such a difficult process to do, but I'll eventually have it done soon, Lord Tabuu."

"I hope you do as you say, Ancient Minister," Tabuu said before looking at the rest of villains. "As for you, I want you to look for this perpetrator. We need to stop him from further halting our manufacture of the machines in the factory."

Charizard nodded. "If I can burn that bastard to a crisp, then I'll look for him or her."

"You are allowed to resort to violence," Tabuu said. "It is better to get rid of the intruder through drastic means. This imbecile shall face the consequences of meddling with the Subspace Army."

The Ancient Minister looked away as the villains walked away into the darkness. "(It gets much more dangerous for me to keep going, but it has to be done so I can outline my own plans...)" he thought.

Tabuu looked at the Ancient Minister. "Is something bothering your mind, Ancient Minister?"

"(The main problem that's bothering my mind is your filthy and disgusting presence being so darn close to me...)" the Ancient Minister thought with disgust. "Nothing is bothering me, Lord Tabuu. I was merely thinking about the next steps of the schedule you gave me."

"I see," Tabuu said. "I need to stay in solitude for the time being. Do not forget your duties while I am gone."

"I won't."

The leader of the Subspace nodded at this before he warped away from the place. The Ancient Minister looked forward where he floated away from the Subspace, cursing mentally about the schedule Tabuu had given him.

-Smash Mansion-
Chris's Room

In the peaceful morning, Lucario rested in a meditating position on the bed as he waited for Chris to come out from the shower of the room. The Aura Pokémon was waiting for his turn to take a bath. He waited patiently with closed eyes for his trainer to come out while some steam flew out from the small space under the door of the bathroom.

Perhaps what was a little bit entertaining to do for Lucario was to listen to Chris singing in the bath.

"Grab the key let's go out and have-some-fun. Have you ever seen such a-perfect-day? What's in your mind? Let's do it one-by-one. Have you ever though such a day-would-come? Time's up! Forget the theoryyy. Staaart up the brand new storyyy, Straaaight up and put-it-shortlyyy. This-is-the way my-life-goes!" Chris sang from the shower.

Lucario looked a bit embarrassed at this. "What is it that makes him sing, even though there's no music playing anywhere?" he asked to himself. "He should be embarrassed for having to sing while taking a shower..."

At that moment, Snake walked pass the front door. The mercenary stopped walking once he overheard Chris singing freely in the shower. "Wait a minute; it's all been done before. How long it takes to do it all over again? What's in your hand? Now drop them one-by-one. Have you ever thought such a day-would-come? Shut up! You're-so-wordyyy. Forget about all-those-worriiies. Show me your smile, how-charmiiing. Go home and kiss-your-mommyyy!" Chris sang loudly.

Snake frowned at this and looked at Lucario. "Tell the kid he's going to hit stardom very soon."

"Very funny, Snake," Lucario said sarcastically. "I don't see why he can't sing what he wants to sing."

"I'm just saying that's a little bit random of his part," Snake said.

"He's just trying to have some excitement, that's all," Lucario said. "You maybe do something embarrassing as well."

"Maybe, but not as embarrassing as the kid's singing," Snake commented.

Lucario rolled his eyes. "I think I know what: your necessity to use cardboard boxes to do your undercover missions."

"Oh, please, I use those because they're the perfect stuff to hide and cover from unsuspecting enemies," Snake said. "I don't see what's wrong with them."

"Funny you say that," Lucario said. "Chris would pretty much say the same thing as well."

Snake looked back at the door of the shower.

"Somehow I hate to see you liiieee-and-lie. I knooow how dumb I am but sooooo are yooou! Sometimes I want to laugh and cryyyyyy-at-once. Eeexplain...to me what is justice, whaaaat is riiiiiight?!" Chris sang loudly.

Snake chuckled a bit. "I can infer he likes to be a drama queen, huh?"

Lucario glared at Snake. "Just stop making fun of him, Snake. Let him be."

"Fine, I'll let the singer be himself," Snake said. "I need to have some relaxation in the lobby in the meantime. If you'll excuse me..."

The mercenary walked away to the first floor while Lucario kept glaring at the spot where Snake stood on. The Aura Pokémon then sighed a bit at Snake's comments before Chris stopped singing in the bathroom, the water's sound coming to a sudden halt.

"...Should I tell Chris that Snake heard him sing?" Lucario asked to no one in particular.

Command Room

Everyone were called in to the command room. A flushing Chris (in his Dragoon job) stared forward in complete embarrassment after Lucario told him that Snake heard the World Traveler singing merrily in the shower. The World Traveler blinked a bit and kept staring forward. "L-Lucario..." Chris began, "...p-please stop me from singing so loudly next time..."

Lucario sighed. "It was fine for me to see you in high spirits, but if that's what you wish..."

"Y-yes, I'm pretty sure this is the best decision," Chris said embarrassed. "At least Snake didn't tell anybody else that I sang in the shower..."

"That's relieving to hear..."

"May I get your attention, please?"

Everyone turned to the front of the room where Master Hand was looking at them.

"As you might know by now, a new temple has been discovered, just as I've had expected. Our break from the army has finalized, and now we're back on the schedule," Master Hand said before looking over to the computer where Tails had installed the radar. "Little Cream, what's the reading of the radar?"

Apparently, Cream turned out to be one very good computer user (or at least at how the radar worked). Knuckles had tried to make the darn thing work, but he grew frustrated that he ended up playing Solitaire for some reason (and lost). Cream, on the other hand, knew very well how to get around a computer, putting Knuckles in dismay.

Cream raised a hand. "The reading says the next temple to go to is the Adabat Temple," she said. "It's located around some continent in another world."

Knuckles looked away in annoyance. "(Outsmarted by a little girl who can barely put up a good fight... Dammit, I've never felt so embarrassed...)"

The rabbit smiled. "Hmm, let's see, where I can put the image on the main screen?" she asked as she examined the menu of the radar. "...Oh, here it is."

The main screen to the front of the room then blinked a few times before it displayed the image of a world map. The map depicted two large continents on the west and east with a thin, long continent located to the west of the western continent, and a continent of snow located to the north. An orange square then closed in to the landmass to the west of the western continent, specifically to the northern end of the landmass.

Master Hand looked up at the screen. "The temple should be located around that area, then?"

"It appears so," Cream said. "There's energy radiating from there."

"Okay," the hand said before he went over to get a paper from Cream about the status of the world. "And now, our next destination is...this one. I'll read it aloud."

Final Fantasy VII
Current Status: Unknown
Race: Anyone
Number of protagonists: 9
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Anything

Chris accidentally gasped loudly enough for everyone to hear and look at him. The World Traveler then blushed embarrassed at the sight of around sixty eyes focusing on him. "T-that's a world I know very well..." he said. "T-that's the world where Cloud Strife lives..."

"Cloud..." Samus trailed off. "Wouldn't he be the same one you met when you were...you-know-what?"

Chris nodded. "I-I'm pretty sure I'm not mistaking this," he said. "That's the world where he lives."

"Oh, I see," Master Hand said. "Well, this is sure a small advantage now. Since Chris knows this Cloud, then maybe you can find t-"

"A-actually, Jaydes told me that Cloud forgot everything that took place in the Underwhere, and he surely doesn't know me anymore..." Chris interrupted with a small chuckle.

"..." Master Hand shook himself. "I take that back. We don't have any advantage in this world. We're as clueless and wild as Sonic's werehog look."

Sonic looked annoyed. "Hey, I heard that, you know!" he yelled.

Master Hand ignored the hedgehog. "Well, in any case, since the next mission involves going to this world, I'd like all of you to be prepared for what's to come in there," he said. "Chris, since you're the biggest otaku guy of this kind of world, you'll be the guide to go around this world."

Chris looked upset. "W-would you please not call me an otaku again?"

"You're going to be an otaku, and you will like to be called like that," Master Hand said. "Okay, people, prepare!" he said with some enthusiasm. "I'm up to see good and nice results from this mission this time around! I expect you to do as you always do, so be on the lookout for anything dangerous."

Final Fantasy VIII - The Timber Owls

The Smashers began talking with each other while Chris grumbled to himself and crossed his arms. "By no means, I shall be called an otaku..." he muttered. "I'm just a normal fanatic of the series. I hate when people give me those nicknames..."

The World Traveler sighed to himself and went over to Crazy Hand's counter where said shop owner looked away in annoyance. Chris noticed this odd behavior, and he tilted his head to the right.

"Um, Crazy Hand, I'd like to buy some stuff from you today," Chris said.

"Oh, hell no," Crazy Hand said. "Why don't you buy some better stuff from Mr. Plushie?"

The World Traveler blinked confused at this. "W-what? W-who is this Mr. Plushie you're talking about?"

Crazy Hand grunted and turned to Chris. "That Mr. I-Can-Appear-From-Pretty-Much-Anywhere guy, that's who!" he explained. "You looked SO happy when you bought his stuff that time. Well, that's insulting for a guy who doesn't have a visible part for a heart, you know! Do you know how hard it is for me to see where my heart beats, even if I don't know if I have such a thing in me?"

"..." Chris knew that Crazy Hand's heart didn't have much relevance in the matter. "...You mean Stiltzkin?"

"Yeah, Stealclientzkin!" Crazy Hand said. "That guy who barged in here and wanted to make his business territory where I was the owner!"

Chris groaned a bit. "Oh, for the love of god, he sells different stuff than you! Besides, your stuff benefits the same as his stuff does!"

"How much better is my stuff than his?"

"W-well, for one, your stuff gives all of us new abilities..." Chris had to resort to uber flattery to appeal the insane hand. "...New oh so cool stuff..."

"..." Crazy Hand kept staring at Chris.

"...I-it's so cool that my wallet wishes to have a lot of sweet money to buy as many cool stuff from an awesome hand like you," Chris said, trying his best to sound as convincing and appealing as possible. "Hell, I'm always thinking every single second of my life about what new stuff you'll sell me the next minute!" he said, faking a wide smile. "I JUST CAN'T hardly wait to see what else I can buy from the greatest of shop owners like you!"

An eerie silence took place in the atmosphere between the insane hand and the World Traveler. Chris kept smiling wide to Crazy Hand while the silence remained between the two. The insane hand didn't even move or budge any body part as he kept staring at the sweating dragoon.

"...You should really become a professional actor one of these days," Crazy Hand muttered.

Chris blinked in shock but kept smiling. "(O-oh my god, he found out?)"

"...But I should be hyper to say that because you sounded pretty convincing enough to me!" Crazy Hand said with a lot of enthusiasm. "Damn, I didn't know my stuff was THAT super seriously important to you! I'm mega flattered that I'm a prodigy shop owner!"

Chris wanted to smack himself hard on the head for saying all those flattering things to the clueless hand.

"Okay, apology accepted!" said the hyper hand. "Whatcha wanna buy from awesome biggie me?"

"..." The World Traveler sighed to himself. "Let me see what you have, then..."

Jobs (None) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities - Items

Smash Coins in hands: 5201

"What do you want to see in my list with kewl stuff?" Crazy Hand asked.

Poor hand was thinking he was the best guy in the world Chris had ever met.

Chris thought for a moment. "Hmm... I'd like to see some of the specific abilities for some Smashers... Wait a minute..." He crossed his arms. "If I'm going to look for specific abilities, I should first go get the people I'm going to take with me to the next world..."

"Hmm," Crazy Hand grumbled. "Let Lady Luck give you a chance to get something from me."

"Oh no, I'm not taking any chances," Chris said. "I'd better have the people before buying something for someone else I'm not going with."

Crazy Hand grumbled more. "C'mon?"

"N-no!" Chris yelled. "If you keep insisting, I won't buy from you today!"

"Okay, fine, dude," Crazy Hand said in annoyance. "You'll miss the 10 percent sale deal, though."

Chris looked angry at him. "You never said that before!"

"Well, I'm saying it now."

"Ugh, I'll come back in a few," Chris muttered before he turned around and walked away from the hand.

Crazy Hand pumped himself up in a fist. "Mark my words, World Traveler, that you WILL come back here in 5 minutes!" he proclaimed loudly, the World Traveler ignoring his claim altogether.

Once Chris was some feet away from the crazy shop owner, he grunted and sighed in relief. "...Okay..." he began by muttering, "it's time to get the team ready for the next mission." He closed his eyes with some worry. "I really didn't want to go out and risk my life for the sake of the universes, but...that's my job, sadly..."

"That's everyone's job here, so don't put yourself alone in this."

Chris opened his eyes and looked to his right where Marth was staring at him. "O-oh, right, I'm not alone in this."

Marth nodded. "Besides, if you were alone, you'd probably be dead by now."

The World Traveler looked a bit frightened at the frank statement. "O-okay, I seriously think I could've been dead by now, b-but why state it like that?"

"That's the most logical thing to think about," Marth said. "Don't think it's just you, though. Pretty much anyone here would be dead if we were alone by ourselves. Even I could die."

"T-that's enough, Marth," Chris said scared. "Stop talking about that, please..."

"Oh, sorry, my bad," Marth said. "The good thing is that we're all together in this, and the fact that we never fight alone." He frowned a bit. "While I think fighting alone is a courageous thing to do, it's a bit risky, don't you think?"

Chris calmed down his shaking and rubbed his chin. "Well, fighting together in a battle feels safer than fighting all alone..." He shrugged a bit at the thought. "I think it's really stupid to fight all alone. I really hate to be alone..."

"If that's so, be sure to stay together with the group," Marth said. "We all are going to watch our backs for anything dangerous out there."

"Phew, that's good to hear," Chris said with a sigh. "Anyway... Marth, can you come?"

"Are you asking me that just because I gave you some advice?"

"I-I'm going to honest in this. Yes," Chris responded. "But even so, do you want to come?"

"Yes, I guess," Marth said. "I'm intrigued to meet this Cloud person you met."

"Just hope that he doesn't shrug us off... He was a bit serious when I met him."

"I'm pretty sure he'll understand our motives," Marth said. "Okay, tell me when we're ready to go."

Chris nodded to Marth before he walked from the Altean prince. The World Traveler looked around to the other talking Smashers. "Let's see now... Since this world allows anyone to go there, I can take with me practically anyone..." He looked to his left where he saw Sonic, Knuckles, Chip, Cream, and Cheese talking to each other. "And since this involves their world..." he trailed off and walked to them.

Knuckles noticed Chris. The echidna crossed his arms. "Take me with the group this time around," he said.

"(Wow, that was fast,)" Chris thought. "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Knuckles asked. "Amy went with you, and Tails did the same as well. I think it should be right for all us to have a chance to go do some missions. That way, I'm not going to think I'm lazy for having to sit back and see how everyone does something," he explained. "Besides, unlike Sonic, I DO focus on the main task."

Sonic grinned at Knuckles. "Oh, so Knuckles is gonna be a babysitter and tell me where I should paint?"

Knuckles glared at Sonic. "I'm not going to be your babysitter!" he said annoyed before crossing his arms. "I'm just going to head down to that world and find that temple. Who knows, maybe I can end up being more reliable than you are."

"You'll end up getting lost in a forest," Sonic taunted. "You're good at looking for Master Emerald shards, but in anything else, you're stick in the deep mud."

Knuckles grunted angrily at Sonic before Cream shyly made a nervous, happy expression. "U-um, would you 2 get along a bit more today?" she asked innocently. "We should focus this time now that we found the temple..."

Sonic chuckled a bit. "Oh, don't you worry, Cream. Knuckles here is just pretty mad that he's not guarding the precious Master Emerald."

"WHAT?!" Knuckles asked angrily, his fangs gritting each other hard.

The hedgehog raised his shoulders and open hands a bit. "Staying away from the Master Emerald makes you really angry, Knucklehead. Why, the emerald could be as well your stress-reliever. No wonder why you need to have it close to you so you can have some relaxati-OWW!"

An annoyed Chris hand-chopped Sonic's forehead, interrupting the hedgehog's taunt. "Sonic, I even know you were acting like a big jerk to Knuckles right now," Chris said annoyed. "And you said you were going to change, so I'm reminding you now about that."

Knuckles grinned pleased, stopping his grunts. "Oh, thanks, Chris. He was getting on my nerves just now."

Sonic rubbed the spot where he got a hand chop while he grunted a bit and looked annoyed at Chris. "You should be thankful, Knuckles. Chris is pretty much on favor with anyone here. He's not the Chris I used to be with."

Chris's pupils shrunk in annoyance. "You mean the same Chris whom you always ran away from most of the time?"

Sonic looked away. "I-I didn't run away from him... It was the other way around..."

As some of them looked bored at Sonic, Chip made a happy expression and folded his arms behind his back. "~Liar, liar, legs on fire,~" he sang merrily.

Cheese looked happy. "~Chao, Chao, Chao-Chao-Chao,~" he sang happily.

The hedgehog scoffed a bit at this. "Oh, what do you 2 know, anyway..." he trailed off in boredom.

Chris blinked a bit for his pupils to turn back to normal. "With that out of the way... Knuckles, I want you to come with us."

Knuckles nodded. "Nice."

"And then, I'll have to take both Sonic and Chip since they need to come."

"Bad," Knuckles commented. "Leave Sonic behind and just bring Chip. Sonic is bound to run somewhere and leave us alone until something attacks us... Then, you can think he likes (or loves) to be stalking people just to come to the right moment and show off by saving us."

Sonic looked up at the ceiling. "That wouldn't be a bad a thing to do, now that you say it..." he said.

Chip looked proud. "Fear not, Mr. Knuckles," he said. "I, Chip Norris, shall tell his dog how to sit down and bark when needed." He looked at Sonic. "Sonic, sit down."

Sonic looked bored before his feet moved forward and let him fall on the floor. "O-oww!" Sonic moaned a bit in pain.

Chip chuckled. "Now, Sonic, bark for us."

Sonic looked up annoyed at Chip. "You and your stupid collar-controlling powe-woof! Woof! Woof!" Sonic barked suddenly.

Chris, Knuckles, Cream, and Cheese exchanged glances before they all began to chuckle silently at the orders Sonic was forced to do thanks to the collar on his neck.

The hedgehog stopped barking, and he glared at Chip. "Chip, one more stupid order an-"

"Now, now, Sonic," Chip interrupted. "You're being a bad doggy. For that, you shall sleep as your punishment!"

"I'm not going to sleep just because you're telling me to d-" Sonic suddenly yawned a bit and lied down on the floor, curling before he began snoring a bit.

The group stifled some chuckles on their hands as Chip looked happily at the snoring Sonic. "O-okay, no more, please," Chris said, stifling a chuckle. "I think Chip will serve very well in that world. Chip, you're coming."

"You need help disciplining Chip Norris's dog?" Chip asked.

Chris chuckled. "S-something like that..."

Knuckles nodded at Chris. "Call us when everything's ready."

"I will," Chris said. "...Hmm, that's strange..." he trailed off as he looked at the group. "I thought Big was going to be with you..."

Cream made a happy expression. "Mr. Big was still fretting over losing Froggy again, but fortunately, he's calming down right now."

"He is?" Chris asked. "But where is he?"

Cream pointed behind Chris where the World Traveler turned around and found said purple cat sitting on a chair. Big was busily taking tea with both Peach and Zelda while all of them were talking to each other. Curiously, Big looked refined with the little cup of tea he was drinking.

"Thank you for helping me during this time," Big said to Peach and Zelda. "Tea time makes me feel much better."

Zelda nervously smiled a bit. "You don't worry, Big."

"Yes," Peach said without having to smile nervously. "We're here to make you feel better about Froggy."

Big sniffed a bit. "I-I hope we can get Froggy back from Dr. Eggman... Froggy said he didn't like to be with him because it was scary and dangerous..."

Peach and Zelda exchanged glances to each other before they looked confused at Big. "Um... You can understand Froggy?" Peach asked.

"N-no, wait, can he even talk?" Zelda asked.

Big looked up at the ceiling. "Froggy can talk," he said. "I don't see why people can't understand him." He looked back at them. "Can you understand Froggy?"

Zelda remained silent with Peach. "...O-of course we can," she said.

Big looked happy. "Oh, I thought I was the only one who understood Froggy. I'm glad to hear you 2 can understand him as well."

Zelda and Peach nervously chuckled a bit, wishing to see that Froggy could really talk.

Chris sweat dropped at this scene before turning to Cream. "Well, at least he's having a nice time."

"That's all that matters," Cream said. "It's a good thing he hasn't thought about going to a world..."

"It's not going to be long before he actually asks..." Chris said. "...I'll see you later."

Cream nodded to Chris before the World Traveler walked away from the group, leaving Knuckles to wonder what he could ask Chip for Sonic to do. It was a big advantage that Chip was so dense at times for the echidna.

The World Traveler stopped walking and thought more. "I have 3 people ready... I need 5 more, then," he said. "Let's see, since I'm going to a world where someone I know happens to be a big fanatic of a certain protagonist, it should be obvious that he wants to come..." Chuckling, Chris walked close to the exit of the room where Lucario was leaning against the wall. "Don't you hide it anymore, Lucario," Chris said. "You REALLY want to come with us."

Lucario looked at Chris before he looked away and blushed a bit. "H-how did you know?" Lucario asked.

"One name: Cloud," Chris said. "You're a big fanatic of Cloud. You have a chance to meet him in person, and you REALLY want to do it because I met him while I was...you-know-what."

Lucario looked back at his trainer. "T-that might be true...but..."

"For the gods! You're bad at hiding stuff like that from me, Lucario!" Chris said. "No matter how much you hide it, I always know what you want to do. It's the same with you to me, but this time is from me to you."

Lucario sighed. "Fine, it was pathetic..." he trailed off. "...I want to go with you and meet Cloud in person."

Chris smiled a bit. "Was it so hard to say?"

"A-a bit..." Lucario said. "...I only do this because I don't want to look so weird."

"Why'd you look weird?" Chris asked. "You just need to act coolly so you don't look weird. I know Lucarios are Pokémon with pride, but I know you can keep your attitude intact."

Lucario looked down. "...Am I weird?"

"..." Chris shook his head and chuckled. "You're like any other Lucario, except for the fact that you're more special than any other out there." He crossed his arms. "Really, you're a LEGENDARY Lucario. That makes you much more important than your everyday Lucario we've met out there."

Lucario looked back at Chris, blinked a bit at this, and smiled a bit. "I'm...not only special because I'm a legendary, but it's also because I have my trainer who fights alongside me, and trainers don't usually fight with the Pokémon in a battle. They just give orders."

Chris chuckled. "So anyway, you're weird at all, Lucario," he said. "Today, I'll make sure you meet Cloud."

Lucario nodded. "I hope he doesn't attack me because of how I look."

"(Chances are he'll have a hand on the grip of his huge sword ready...)" Chris thought. "Okay, wait until I call everyone, okay?"

Lucario nodded once more before his trainer walked away from him.

"Now I have 4 people," Chris muttered. "4 more to go..." He thought more for a moment. "Maybe... Hmm... Actually...that isn't a bad idea," he mused to himself. The World Traveler looked around before he found Mario sitting on a chair to the left side of the room. Chris smiled a bit and walked to the red plumber.

"Hmm?" Mario looked up at Chris. "Oh, you want me to come with you?"

Chris nodded. "I thought it would be kind of amazing to see Nintendo's mascot meet up with Cloud," he explained. "I mean, Cloud is regarded as one of the best protagonists from the Final Fantasy series."

"When...you put it that way, it sounds a bit...off?" Mario said confused. "I know I'm a mascot for the company that created all of us, but saying a thing like that..."

"...O-oh, sorry!" Chris said embarrassed. "I-I swear my mind sometimes makes me say things I don't wish to say!"

"That's fine," Mario said. "Maybe you're just excited for the idea that you didn't give it second thoughts. That sometimes can make some more problems to you."

The World Traveler looked away. "D-did I make some now?"

"Not really," Mario admitted. "I was thinking about meeting Cloud as well, so it's all good, don't worry."

Chris sighed. "I thought I screwed it up just now..."

Mario chuckled a bit. "Well, let's make sure everything goes well," he said. "We need to give Cloud a good impression. People often judge others by the first impression so we have to make sure our first impression goes like we want it to go."

"Knowing Cloud, he'd probably label us as quite the unusual group..." Chris shook his head. "I need to be optimistic right now. I don't need to think about the bad stuff."

The red plumber nodded. "Okay, I'll be ready to go anytime."

The World Traveler nodded to Mario before he walked away from him to seek out more people.

Chris could choose three more people. Since the world admitted anyone, anyone would be good. The World Traveler knew that some should go so they would go nicely with the world. Thinking hard, he got another person in mind; one that could go along with the world.

"And why I can go in the first place?" Fox asked with crossed legs while he was sitting down on a chair. "Do you have a reason for this?"

Chris looked away. "Maybe because there was some guy who didn't stop playing a certain game at the hardest difficulty these last days...in my room," he muttered.

Fox blinked a bit shocked at this.

"And that guy didn't even leave my room until it was around midnight, and he didn't even move forward from the 2 obliged battles; the second one where he died exactly 79 times," Chris said bored. "I recall that the unlucky gamer has been so addicted to the game as well, and he decided to listen to me to choose the normal difficulty, but he still looked pretty mad that he had to take the basics before he could catch on..."

The vulpine looked away.

"And I'm doing this so his newly obtained gamer sense shuts off for a moment," Chris explained more. "I REALLY think he needs to release some stress by breathing fresh air."

Fox grumbled at this and looked back at Chris. "Okay, so yeah, I need to vent off some stress," he said.

"I know it's courageous of you to take on the hardest difficulty, but it's also very stupid to attempt to d-"

"I KNOW," Fox interrupted. "Since I'm very stressed right now, I should really get going to that world. Can you hurry it up a bit?"

Chris shifted his eyes. "Okay... Wait here until I call you."

"Thanks," Fox said nodding.

Shrugging, Chris walked away from the stressed vulpine. "It was fast," Chris muttered to himself as he looked around to get another person. "Hmm, I think I should add a girl to the group because I don't want to think there's so much testosterone in the team..."

The World Traveler went over to the bounty hunter.

"So, you want me to go, I assume?" Samus asked.

"Yes," Chris said. "I-it's for the sake to have a differentiation in genders..."

Samus crossed her arms. "Oh, the testosterone matter," she said, surprising Chris a bit. "Yes, I do think it'd look odd to have a group of men for a mission. It's not bad to include a woman in there."

Chris shrugged. "I-I know there are a small number of female characters in this tournament..."

"I know that very well," Samus said. "There isn't a big amount of female fighters out there, so I guess it's understandable."

"I could name a few, but I don't want to do that around Master Hand."

"Nice move," Samus said. "He's the one who made this entire tourney, anyway. You wouldn't want him upset when these things are brought up."

"Because he'll probably avoid talking about it, or because he'll probably have a poor excuse?"

"Mainly because he hates to admit he did a lazy work at certain tasks."

"HEY, I heard that, you know!" Master Hand called from several feet away from them.

Samus sighed. "See what I mean? It's better to not argue about that to him."

"I think I understand..." Chris trailed off. "...Well, I want you to come with us, Samus."

Samus nodded. "Okay, I'll be ready by the time you call me."

The World Traveler nodded and walked away from the bounty hunter, ignoring some calls from an excited C. Falcon (who still had a paper sticking out from a nostril, for some kind of reason). Chris stopped to think about the last person to take. "Just one more and it's done..." he trailed off. "It's going to be hard to think for a last person..."

As Chris kept pondering who, he noticed that Snake was all alone by himself on the right corner of the command room. The World Traveler began to think that he had to do whatever thing possible to get to know Snake better. Thankfully, Chris had played his series, but unfortunately, Snake was one harsh person to talk to.

Nevertheless, the teen knew there were ways to know Snake.

Chris gulped in fear at the thought before he went all the way to the corner to speak to the former FOXHOUND operative. "Snake..." Chris trailed off.

The mercenary looked at him. "What is it this time, kid? You are calling me to do a mission with the group?"

"T-that's what I thinking," Chris said. "I think you want to do something this time, am I right?"

"Tsk, you may be right on that," Snake said. "I'm not some kind of lazy bum. I'm the type of man that likes to take some "retirement" times, but when my help is needed... You get the drill."

The World Traveler nodded. "So...would you rather be in retirement right now?"

"I'd like to do so," Snake said. "But after I was dragged into this whole mess about fantasy, anthros, really wacky worlds, it's hard to ignore such things, or even forget about them," he explained. "Do you really think I'd forget I met Mario?"

"Oh, of course you wouldn't forget about Mario," Otacon said over the codec. "I mean, I have some figurines here with me. I even have one of Yoshi."

"Otacon, that was unnecessary to say right now," Snake said.

"Hey, I'm just saying..." Otacon trailed off.

"Sure you were," Snake said. "In any case, kid, I'd like to see what else is in this whole matter about the Subspace and what not. The fact that they can target any world makes me feel uneasy."

"Why?" Chris asked.

"I come from a world where you have to deal with Metal Gears," Snake said. "Do you know what they are?"

Chris thought for a moment. "Let's see... I've played the game a long time ago, but what I can recall about Metal Gears are that they...um...hmm...um..."

"Metal Gears are armed bipedal tanks with nuclear weapons, kid," Snake said. "Hearing the name makes me upset. Those weapons are probably the deadliest things you'll ever see in your life," he said.

"N-nuclear weapons?" Chris asked with some fear.

"Yes," Snake responded. "Facing one is just crazy, but you might find a way to stop them from obliterating you...or any country of the world to bits. Anyway, I don't know if Metal Gears could be disabled by all of us, but I honestly think we could be in for hell if the army were to get on their hands that dangerous technology."

Chris looked away, worried about the thought.

"Do you see why I need to be here?" Snake asked. "They get their hands on a Metal Gear and we're all pretty much screwed. They don't have the same level of competence as the people I've faced before, and that's why letting them have one of those infernal machines is just crazy and stupid."

The World Traveler looked back at Snake. "So that's your reason to be here?"

"Yeah."

Chris bit his lip a bit. "Well...I always thought you were here just because of Samus..."

"About that..." Snake shook his head. "No, of course it wasn't because of her..."

In the codec, Mei-Ling chuckled a bit. "Snake sometimes hides his true feelings towards women. Samus isn't the first woman Snake has been infatuated with."

"Mei-Ling, I never implied some romance," Snake said.

"It's obvious you attract most women. Too bad you can't attract Samus, though. You 2 would make a nice pair if you were to ge-"

"Kid, just tell me when we're ready," Snake interrupted hastily. "You don't want to know more about this whole thing, right?"

Chris thought for a moment. "But I was actually wishing t-"

"Not in this life, kid."

Chris sighed in depression. "Oh well, that's okay. Since you're the last person, we're ready to go."

Snake nodded. "I hope you don't bring up more stuff about romance while we're on the mission."

"Can I do it, though?" Mei-Lin asked.

"Not even you, Mei-Ling. You like to do this a lot, so I'm going to have to ask you to avoid doing that as well."

"You're no fun sometimes, Snake."

"That's how I am."

The World Traveler walked away from the mercenary. Chris walked back to Crazy Hand, who at the time was still waiting for him to get done. "Done?" Crazy Hand asked. "There are some items that would REALLY like to hang out with you for a very long time."

Chris rolled his eyes. "I know what to ask for. I have the team assembled already."

"Aww, no fun," Crazy Hand said. "I hoped you'd go for random..."

"Just...show me the list, please..."

"Fine, party pooper," Crazy Hand said, muttering the last part.

Jobs (None) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities - Items

Smash Coins in hands: 5201

"So, what will it be this time?" Crazy Hand asked. "What do you want to see?"

"I'd like to see specific abilities for a single character."

"Okay, which character do you want to see first?"

The World Traveler thought for a moment. "Hmm... I'd like to see what...um..." He scratched his head a bit. "I-it's a bit hard to think which one I want to see first..."

"Take your time."

"...I know," Chris said. "I want to see Samus's abilities."

"Oh, nice," Crazy Hand said. "Okay, here it is."

-Smashers Abilities

-Samus

Screw Attack EX – 1000 Smash Coins

Gives Samus's Screw Attack its true nature. Samus can cross over long gaps by jumping 5 times. This move can constantly damage enemies on the way she goes.

Ice Missiles – 2000 Smash Coins

Samus will be able to launch ice missiles. These missiles are guaranteed to freeze an enemy for a short period of time.

Morph Ball – 3000 Smash Coins

Allows Samus to use the Morph Ball. Along with using this to cross through small spaces, Samus will be able to use Bomb (module), Boost Ball, Power Bomb, and Spider Ball (for climbing magnetic surfaces).

Annihilator Beam – 4000 Smash Coins

Gives Samus's Arm Cannon the potent Annihilator Beam; a beam infused with light and dark energy that gives a lot of damage to enemies weak to light and dark attacks alike. Charging this attack will create the Sonic Boom, creating a rift in space to deal damage to all enemies.

Resist: Status Ailments - 8000 Smash Coins

Gives Samus full immunity to any kind of status ailment as long as she remains using the Varia Suit.

The World Traveler stared at the list. "My god, all these abilities sound very useful..." He shook his head. "I don't think I should be the one choosing, though. They're their abilities, not mine..."

Crazy Hand groaned. "Oh, please, don't tell me you're going to call them here before you get to buy something from me!"

Chris looked annoyed at Crazy Hand. "Hey, last time I bought abilities was because I was the one who did all that. I want the others to see by themselves what they want...because the money we get is supposed to be shared by everyone!"

Music stops

The World Traveler heard many people turning to look at him from their spots. Chris shook his head in surprise at the sudden response from almost every Smasher. Somehow, an unneeded feeling of tension began to rise in Chris. His mind told him that, if everyone was to use the money freely...would there be a control in what they wanted to buy?

"...I-I meant to say I-I'm...u-um..." Chris trailed off, "I-I'm in charge of the money here so there's no pointless spent stuff for a single person! T-there should be someone here who thinks equally for every single character in this room!"

The Smashers kept staring at the World Traveler before most of them frowned and returned to talk to each other, giving Chris a sense of tranquility and peace.

Final Fantasy VIII - The Timber Owls

Crazy Hand chuckled a bit at this. "Bummer," he said. "And here I was thinking you were going to promote randomness; my favorite hobby in the whole world."

Chris turned to the hand and looked angrily. "You're enjoying all this, aren't you?" he asked.

"160 percent I am," Crazy Hand said.

Chris grunted annoyed.

Several minutes later, Chris had called Samus to see the abilities that she could get. Of course, she took in mind the current amount of money they had. "Hmm, all of these abilities give me some good memories about my past missions," Samus remarked. "I wish I could use all of them, but maybe I should just get one for the time being."

Crazy Hand nodded. "There will be a time where all my stuff will be bought," he said. "If only Chris would rob a bank..."

"I-I'm not going to do that sort of thing!" Chris yelled in annoyance. "I-I'm a very good guy!"

"Aww, c'mon, you wanna do it sometime in your life," Crazy Hand said. "Everyone has some dark thoughts that they wish to do, and there are darker thoughts...and then there are more besides those...and the ones besides the ones besides the darker thoughts..." 

Samus frowned. "I know for one thing that Chris won't fall that low, ever," she commented, making Chris sigh in relief. "Back on the stuff...I'd wish to have Ice Missiles again."

"Ice Missiles?" Chris said in curiosity.

Samus nodded at Chris. "Believe me when I'm saying that ice helped me to stop those vicious Metroids from sucking my life force," she said. "They work with other enemies as well. I'm thinking about building a strategy that revolves freezing enemies so I can charge my shots."

The World Traveler nodded. "Okay, Ice Missiles, then," he said.

[DededeCloneChris]

Crazy Hand nodded himself as Chris gave him 2000 Smash Coins, reducing the amount to 3201 Smash Coins. Once the money was given, the insane hand snapped his fingers. "Alrighty, Samus can now use Ice Missiles, and I took a step closer to achieve my dream to get a bank in the future," he said.

Samus looked at her Arm Cannon. She saw as some icy mist leaked out from some of the small openings of the weapon. She nodded at her weapon before looking back at Chris. "This is going to become very useful to me now," she said. "Thanks."

"You deserved it," Chris said.

"Oh," Crazy Hand began, "since Samus has 2 forms, she has another assortment of abilities as Zero Suit Samus," he explained. "However, take in mind she can't use both areas in the same form, though. You wanna use the other assortment? Give up the form you're using, then."

Samus thought for a moment. "...That helps me more," she said.

"That same goes for Zelda and Red," the hand said. " Anyhow, what else would you like to buy? You could buy some stickers that increase defense. I think you have one or two items stored here as well. What will you do?"

The World Traveler thought for a moment. "Hmm, there are a few people in the group who don't have any points in defense..."

"If you give them some defense, they could withstand some attacks to keep fighting," Crazy Hand said. "You'd rather have dead bodies around you?"

"O-of course not," Chris said, shrugging at the thought. "Well, I think I'll buy some defense stickers to Marth and Samus for the time being."

"High boosters, medium boosters, or small boosters?" Crazy Hand asked. "High boosters are 2000, medium are 1000, and small are 500."

Chris thought more. "Medium boosters are affordable... I'd like to buy 2 medium defense boosters, please."

"Right-o," Crazy Hand said before he ducked behind the counter to get the requested stickers. "Here you go, 2 medium-sized defense boosters: a Dark Samus sticker, which boosts defense, or battering resistance, plus 11, and a Rutoga sticker, which boosts defense, or slash resistance, plus 18." Crazy Hand twirled a finger. "It doesn't really matter which resistance is for which kind. All counts as defense...but the specific attributes that boost certain kinds of attacks could end up having more boost in their respective areas..."

"So...even if we raise a certain kind of defense, it still counts as defense for everything else?" Chris asked.

"In a way, yes. BUT! Elemental resistances won't give that benefit because those vary a lot from slashing or battering."

Samus's look became a bit stern at the Dark Samus sticker. "Ugh, isn't there any other sticker besides that?"

"But it's made specifically for you," Crazy Hand said. "Just ignore the sticker and mind the boost, okay?"

"...I...suppose so..."

Chris nodded at this. He took the stickers and gave Crazy Hand 2000 Smash Coins, reducing the amount to 1201 Smash Coins. The World Traveler gave the stickers to Samus. "Put this one on your stand, and go give Marth the other one, okay?"

"Yes," Samus said before she turned around and walked away to the Altean prince.

"Any items you'd like to withdraw?" Crazy Hand asked. "Currently, you have this."

Stored Items:
Superspicy Curry
Block Meal

"All of them, I guess," Chris said. "I don't have any item right now. I should better take everything just in case."

Crazy Hand nodded and took out from under the counter the mentioned items. The World Traveler took the items with him to the inventory and sighed. "Well, that's that..." he trailed off. "It's time to go now. Wish me luck, okay?"

"I'll wish you luck if you get money."

Chris rolled his eyes. "You really like this job, don't you?"

"I like it even more than I like myself."

The World Traveler got a bit freaked out by this statement (or fact) before he slowly walked away from the seemingly calm hand.

A time later passed, and Chris had called everyone to prepare to go to the next world. Master Hand floated close to the group to talk to remind them about their mission. "Remember that your mission is to find the Adabat Temple," he said. "Also, be on the lookout for the Subspace Army's henchmen. They're surely going to be there around the area. You either can avoid them, or fight them. It's your choice, but I'd prefer you avoid them so they don't slow us down."

"I'll fight them if necessary," Marth said.

Samus crossed her arms. "Most of them are not really that intimidating. Ganondorf is the only one with the brains to think about the most malicious of plans."

Mario nodded. "We don't know if Ganondorf is even going to show up, though. I get the feeling that the others will appear."

"Let's just focus in finding the temple," Knuckles said. "I hope we don't have to get involved in something to distract us from this..." He pointed at Sonic. "And you better stick with us, or I'll tell Chip here to make you sit down like the dog you are!"

As Chip made a happy expression, Sonic rolled his eyes. "You know, I'm having second thoughts about removing this idiotic collar from my neck now..."

Chris shook his head many times. "And let that spawn of the demon's butt menace us with his sadistic comments? H-hell no, Sonic! Hell no!"

Sonic sighed and looked away. "And that guy's the reason why I have to be wearing this..."

"I completely agree with Chris," Fox said.

Sonic looked up in annoyance. "I know for sure that EVERYONE agrees about this..."

"(I hope I get to meet Cloud properly...)" Lucario thought. "(I need to make sure he doesn't see me as a monster...)"

The World Traveler stared at the Aura Pokémon in deep thought. Chris smiled a bit, thinking that Lucario was thinking solely about the enigmatic character.

Snake grunted a bit. "If everyone's ready, let's just go." He looked at Chris. "Open the portal."

"O-okay..." Chris trailed off as he pointed forward the group and made the portal appear.

The group then proceeded into the portal, leaving behind the command room before the vortex shrunk in place and disappeared in a small blink of light. Master Hand sighed and turned to the others. "I personally liked when we had that unexpected break," he said. "Maybe we can get another one when we least think about it."

Ike scratched his head a bit. "Well, it wasn't like we expected one."

"I know, but I wouldn't mind have another one... I guess you can't get everything in life," the hand said. "For now, let's all work so this ends someday."

Big raised his right hand. "Can we have Froggy before someday comes?"

"...Of course, we will have the toad with us before then..."

"But Froggy is a frog..."

"I KNOW," Master Hand said. "(Geez, why are Sonic characters...so annoying?)"

As the hand pondered this, the mission was starting to develop its plot...

Music stops

-Final Fantasy VII-

-The Planet-
Western Continent – Wutai Province

Final Fantasy VII – Main Theme

While the location of the Smashers was still unknown by the time, meanwhile, in a mountainous region with long, wide forests, there was a person merrily humming to herself as she walked across the forest to the north, carrying a bag with glowing, sparkling spheres behind her back.

The black-haired short girl in question was 16 years old. Unlike any other person in the world, she wore many different kinds of stuff. She wore a white headband with a green, sleeveless turtleneck jumper that bared her stomach and unbuttoned tan shorts. Over her left arm, she wore some kind of a protective gauntlet that originated from a single pauldron over her shoulder (possibly to act as a shield). She also wore typical ninja-mail mesh covering part of her right arm and left leg as well, as an additional piece of armor which covered the rest of the thigh of the leg. Not only she wore all this, but she also wore a smaller wrist-covering gauntlet on her right arm, both hands being covered with fingerless gloves while she wore brown sneakers with white leg warmers.

The girl, despite of her looks of a thief, was in fact a ninja.

The girl stopped humming to herself with a heartily chuckle. She then proceeded to sigh loudly in a cheerful manner. "Aww, man, this is great!" she said to herself. "I knew I was going to steal these precious babies from that clueless Cloud. Teehee, he didn't see this coming from a mile away now, did he?" she asked with another chuckle.

The ninja kept walking to the north where she walked to the left side of a long row of bushes. She was just walking besides a wide area where a cliff was situated on the far right side, overlooking the long sea of the west.

"I was lucky, though..." she muttered. "I was lucky that those Shinra soldiers appeared out of nowhere. Hmm, maybe they're here as well? Well, who knows." She smiled happily. "What matters now is that I've got in my hands these precious Materia I've been wanting to have for a long time now!"

Materia is an artificial gem created from Mako (the liquid that the Planet has in the Lifestream, a stream of spiritual energy where all living things end up after dying, namely being the blood of the planet), and presumably a natural-created item as well. The Materia, since it's born directly from a potent source of energy, often have a wide assortment of abilities for those who know how to handle them with the knowledge of a forgotten race. Materia is a very valuable item across the Planet that many people seek out to discover about more powerful Materia.

The ninja showed her teeth with a smile. "I can see how all this will help me out in mission," she said. "If my father isn't going to do a thing to renovate the country, well, I should do it with the Materia instead," she said before her look became stern. "...This is for the good of the country..."

The girl remained thinking before he shook her head and looked happily to the north.

"Who really cares about my old man?" the girl asked with a chuckle. "He's so gonna be jealous once I become a heroine for the village."

She stopped walking on her tracks to the north by sighing loudly. She closed her eyes, dropped the bag to the ground, and sat down.

"Man, I'm tired..." she muttered. "It was not an easy task to run ahead to stay away from all of them..." She looked away. "Cloud is ought to get me now. He's so stubborn, I know that very well..." She embraced her legs and looked up at the sky. "Hmm, wonder if they're coming for me... Of course they're coming for me. I stole their Materia before they were about to fight. Good think those good-for-nothing Shinra soldiers helped to slow them down..."

The girl remained silent as she heard the several birds chirping in the trees. She blinked a few times at the sky before she looked forward. It was not long before her stomach grumbled a bit.

The ninja blushed. "I can steal when I have a full stomach, but I can't go on if my stomach gets empty... Oh, hell no! I need to get to my hometown before Cloud and the others catch up with me!" she said before standing up. "No use resting in the middle of nowhere. I've gotta get going before something else happens!"

Out of a cue, the girl looked to her right to the wide area where, in plain midair, a mysterious vortex appeared.

"..." The ninja's mouth opened, and she took a step back away. "W-what the heck?" she asked to herself before she ducked down and took a peek of the weird portal from behind the bushes. "W-where did that thing come from?"

As the girl kept staring at the portal in curiosity, out of it, people began to come on out. The ninja got a shocked look after he saw the strangers plainly walking out of the portal, which vanished after it took out ten people from it.

At first, it looked strange, but later, it looked really and very strange. The ninja examined the looks of the people. From what she could tell, there were an old man in soldier uniform, a guy who dressed as a prince, a teen who dressed as a dragoon, some kind of mutated, humanoid dog with strange thighs, a robot with ridiculous wide shoulders, some kind of a humanoid red dog, a humanoid blue hedgehog with joined eyes, a seemingly short guy in blue overalls, some kind of a flying dog, and some kind of a humanoid mutt with a menacing glare.

"(W-what in the world?)" the girl asked mentally to herself. "(J-just...j-just, what just happened here? W-who are those people? W-what was that portal? ...Why do I have to see all this by myself?!)"

"So..."

The girl gasped mentally after she saw the old man talking while glancing around.

"We're here," Snake said, taking a look around the vicinity. "Kind of straight-forward, if you ask me."

"I'd say it's nice," Marth commented. "So far, it's just a normal panorama."

Chris breathed in the air. "And the air is nice as well," he added. "For once, I like to be out in the field." He looked to the right where he saw the long ocean. "We're close to the ocean. That should explain why it feels a bit warm around here."

"Hey, we shouldn't get distracted by all this," Knuckles said. "Weren't we supposed to look for the Adabat Temple?"

"Killjoy," muttered Sonic. "I knew you were gonna wreck this moment, Knucklehead."

Knuckles glared at Sonic. "Will you just shut up!" he yelled. "I'm just trying to remind everyone here our main mission, that's all!"

Mario forced a happy expression with some hint of nervousness. "Knuckles, I think you shouldn't listen to Sonic if he says something offensive to you. If there isn't any reason to listen him, then don't fall for his tricks."

"...Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Sonic asked annoyed.

"I-I'm sorry to say this, but you should mind what you say, Sonic," Mario said. "You don't want people to hate you, do you?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "The guy can't just stop being himself, you know. He's going to stay like that forever." He crossed his arms and frowned. "You know Sonic very well if you spend enough time with him..."

"I think I'm going to have to say that I agree with Knuckles...about looking for the Adabat Temple, that is," Samus said. "So then, why don't we get started?"

"That was what I was thinking about just now," Fox said. "The faster we find the temple, the more advantages we'll have over the Subspace Army, don't you think?"

Chip nodded and joined his hands. "Yep, that's how it is," he said. "Once Chip Norris beat the army in finding the temple, then I'll be able to make more of this awesome facts about myself."

Chris stared at Chip before he sighed. "Anyway...we should be on our way..."

"And maybe we can meet Cloud," Lucario said.

Marth looked a bit skeptical. "But is he really going to help us out? I wonder if he's going to turn us down."

Snake crossed his arms. "Judging by the fact we're an odd bunch, thanks to a certain people we have with us, chances are he'll shrug us off right from the start," he said. "Even if we told him about our motives, will that be enough?"

Fox glared at Snake. "Oh, please, just because some of us look out of plac-"

"Unfortunately, Snake has a point," Mario interrupted. "We have to face that we're going to stand out from a big crowd."

The vulpine grunted and looked away. "I hate when people have to judge us by our looks... I hate discrimination to an extent..."

Chris looked serious at this. "P-please, let's not think about that right now," he said. "Let's hope everything turns out fine. We won't know what will happen unless we try."

"That's right," Marth said. "Let's be optimistic and think about how we'll do here."

"That's the spirit," Chip said. "Chip Norris says so."

Samus sighed at this before she looked around. "If we're all ready to go, we should start searching around the area for the Adabat Temple."

"I suggest some order here first, though," Snake said. "We're a bit unfamiliar with this world."

"With that thought in mind...let's think about what we can do first," Mario offered.

The group began to talk with each other to discuss about their moves. While they were all talking, the ninja behind the bushes looked a bit confused at what she heard from all of them. Her eyes began to shift around. "(Wait just a minute here...)" she trailed off in thought. "(...Just...who are they exactly? Were they just talking about...Cloud? But how?)" she asked to herself. "(How do they know who Cloud is? I don't remember them ever meeting him at all...)"

The girl put her hands on her head before she started rubbing her hair.

"(But...they said they hoped they'd meet him in person... So...how does this work?)" she pondered. "(Maybe they heard about him somewhere, but then again, maybe Shinra spread the word about Cloud...or... Ugh, it's not my thing to think so hard about this! This is regularly Cloud's area of expertise, not mine!)" she yelled mentally. "(...Okay, I've gotta stay calm... Hmm... Wait a minute...)"

The ninja had realized something very important about the whole event across the bushes.

"(...This doesn't have anything to do with me at all!)" she realized before sighing mentally. "(Oh god, I don't have a reason to be spying these bunch of guys...animal...robot...whatever...)" She looked happy. "(Well, since I'm not required here, I'll just sneak away from them and go back to my hometown.)"

With a silent chuckle, the ninja looked away...

Final Fantasy VII - Stolen Materia

However, a tempting thought stroke her mind once she reminded herself about how the group looked like. The girl's eyes turned bored before she looked back to the group conversing.

"I propose that we should separate in groups," Marth said. "That way, we could cover more area."

Samus shook her head. "I'm a bit worried myself, though," she said. "What if there are strong monsters around? What if a group gets ambushed?"

"No worries," Chris said before looking at Lucario. "Lucario can alert anybody. He could use ExtremeSpeed to get anyone anywhere, right?"

"I think I can do that without troubles," Lucario said. "My aura should reach out anybody. It covers a long area to detect anyone's aura."

"Even so...it stills makes me worried," Mario said. "I know we have 2 speedsters in the group, but, will they be enough?"

Sonic grinned and chuckled. "Are you doubting the world's fastest hedgehog now?"

"No, we're doubting the world's most annoying hedgehog ever," Knuckles said.

"Will you 2 just drop it already?" Fox asked. "None of you are even giving us a hand."

"I don't see you giving one," Sonic said.

Snake sighed as Fox glared at Sonic. "This is why we're never going to get moving from this stupid spot..." he muttered.

Back at the bushes, the ninja's lips took a shape of that of a cat as she wondered something in her mind. "(I know I don't have any business with them...but...)" Her eyes focused on the Smashers.

However, her eyes weren't exactly focusing on the Smashers themselves. Her eyes were actually eying what they were all carrying with them.

"(Now that I think about it...they sure have really interesting stuff carrying with them...)" she thought, raising an eyebrow. "(I mean, the old man carries a lot of stuff...and the short guy with the red hat looks really peculiar, particularly his red hat with the little "M" in the front...)" She chuckled mentally to herself. "(Wait, didn't they come out from a portal? ...Wouldn't that mean their stuff are from... Ooooooohh, they're from another dimension...arent they? ...Yeah, I guess that's very logical...)" she thought. "(If I think right here, their stuff could end up being really good to have in here. If I were to get my hands on their stuff...what good would it make? On what could I use their stuff?)"

The girl looked back at the bag with Materia.

"(Of course!)" she thought. "(I could grab their stuff and sell them for big prices to collectors! And if I could do that, I could use the money to buy even more Materia from other people!)" she thought before chuckling mentally. "(Oh yeah, that's a very nice idea now! I'll end getting even more Materia for my plans to get done sooner!)"

The girl looked back at the group with a hint of seriousness in her look.

"(First things first, though,)" she thought seriously. "(What could I do to steal their stuff? They're so many, and what they said about the dog and the porcupine could mean they're fast in running around... Well...that's what I think. You don't see people coming from a portal everyday, anyway...)" She shook her head. "(So then, I should take those 2 out with...hmm...what? ...Oh right...)"

The girl took out from behind a pipe with some darts charged with sleeping shots in them.

"(Teehee, I was gonna use these on Cloud and the others, but thank goodness those Shinra soldiers were close. I didn't have to use these at all! Now that's luck!)" she thought with a small giggle before looking back at the group. "(Okay, who's going down first?)"

Back with the group, Lucario crossed his arms and looked a bit upset. "I can alert anyone about anything happening anywhere."

"And I can do that," Sonic said.

"I think Lucario is more reliable than you, Sonic," Marth said.

Sonic looked away and faked a sniff. "You guys hurt me emotionally so much..."

Knuckles stared angrily at the hedgehog. "You and your stupid crocodile tears aren't going to work this time!"

The girl focused on the Aura Pokémon. "(Since he's more reliable as they say, he's gonna go down first... Now, where should I shoot him?)" she wondered. "(Hmm, the back of his head sounds like an easy spot, but it's a little bit cliche to strike the back... So...I'm going to be original and strike his...)"

Her eyes looked down where she found two pink spots, each one of them on the back of Lucario's legs.

"(...Paw pads!)" she thought with glee. "(And they're surely spongy! ...W-wait, I shouldn't distract myself with those paw pads right now!)" She thought a bit more before she got an idea. "(...Instead, I'll shoot one of them!)" She aimed for the right paw pad. "(Aim...)"

Lucario grumbled a bit before he sighed and looked at Chris. "Can we just decide? I think we're losing more time talking than moving..."

"That was what I was thinking about just now..." Chris said embarrassed. "Don't worry, Lucario. We're going to get moving in a bit so you meet Cloud. I'll think about a good outcome, okay?"

Chris stared at the straight look Lucario was giving him. Oddly enough, there wasn't any other response like a little bit of blushing, some stutter, or even a blink of eyes.

"...Lucario..." Chris began in confusion. "Why aren't you saying anything? I-I thought you were going to say something like not wanting to really meet Cloud while it's clear you really want to meet him..."

Again, there wasn't any more replies from the Aura Pokémon.

"...Lucario?"

Before Chris's eyes, he saw that Lucario's eyes, for some reason, rolled back into his head. The World Traveler gasped loudly at this, enough to make the others look back at Lucario. They all saw as the Aura Pokémon closed his eyes and fell back on the ground, where he remained still, not moving any muscle of his body.

"L-Lucario!" Chris yelled before he knelt down. "O-oh my god, what just happened?"

The others walked closer to check on their fallen teammate. Snake rubbed his chin. "Ever heard of fans dying to meet their heroes?" he asked. "Well, we just saw that it's true."

Chris looked up annoyed at Snake. "T-this is not the time to be cracking jokes!" he said. "L-Lucario just fainted for some kind of random reason!"

Snake took out a cigarette that he began to smoke it. "I told you why, kid."

"Um, Snake, I think you should stop here," Otacon said over the codec.

Sonic chuckled a bit. "I'm with the guy's suggestion here..." He looked over to Lucario's feet where he spotted a small dart stuck on the right paw pad. "Huh? Hey, lookie here. There's some kind of needle stuck on his paw pad."

"W-what?" Chris asked confused. The others fixed their gazes at the dart. "H-how did this..."

Back at the bushes, the ninja pumped down a fist. "(Bull's eye!)" she thought in victory. "(Okay, I'll load the next one for the hedgehog... But...)" She saw that Chris was wondering about the dart. "(...Oh no, I won't let the people who wonder hard about this keep going...)" She carefully aimed at Chris's throat.

"Hmm..." Chris looked worried at the dart before he took it off from the paw pad. "It's...a smart move to strike his paw pad..."

Chip flew down to look at him. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Lucario's body is strong enough to withstand bullets," Chris said. "It's hard like pure steel, but I'm impressed his hands are a bit soft. However...his paw pads...well...I don't think they share the same defense..."

Samus thought for a moment. "Oh, you mean to say that because his paw pads are very soft?"

"..."

"...O-oh, I'm sorry. I-I didn't want to say that, but I'm a girl, so I think I..."

"..."

"..." Fox tilted his head as he looked down at Chris. "...Chris?"

"..."

Suddenly, they all watched as Chris fell on top of Lucario's back without moving to avoid falling down. The look on his face indicated he had fainted. Most of them gasped at this sudden action before noticing that there was a dart stuck on Chris's throat.

"W-what the heck is happening here now?" Knuckles asked as he knelt down and inspected Chris. "There's someone here who's doing this, or what?" He looked at Sonic. "Hey, now's the time for you to do something here! You're the fastest to catch anyone on foot!"

Marth crossed his arms. "I think you're right. If there's someone around here who is doing all this..." He looked at Sonic. "Sonic, you should see who it is."

Unfortunately for them, they watched as Sonic dropped to his knees before falling to his right side. Again, most of them gasped after seeing Sonic's face intact with a fainted look. There wasn't any more responses or movements from the hedgehog anymore.

"A-again?" Chip asked. "W-what is going on here?"

Mario took a closer look at Sonic's back. "He was taken down like Chris and Lucario, right? If that's so, where is the dart?"

They all inspected the hedgehog's back until they found the dart logged on Sonic's...

Back at the bushes, the ninja blushed a bit. "(W-whoops, I wanted to strike his back, not his butt... Oh well, accidents tend to happen...at least that's what I think...)"

Snake rubbed his chin. "What an unusual turn of events, don't you think?" he asked. "All of them were put to sleep by those darts."

Fox grabbed the dart on Chris's throat and looked at its needle. He found some liquid spilling over the very tip. "...These darts have sleep-inducing liquid," he said. "They're sleeping darts."

Once more, back at the bushes, the ninja gasped mentally. "(O-okay, this is getting a bit worse for me now,)" she thought as she lowered down her pipe. "(I just can't keep repeating the same thing over and over again. They'll spot me from here, anyway! It's going to be curtains for me if I don't think of another strategy to cover myself!)" she thought in panic. "(There's no turning back now for me... I have to keep going with another idea...but...what? Pretend I just came here and find them all like this...)"

She blinked in surprise and looked to her right where a tree stood.

"(...I could...maybe...)"

Samus checked Sonic's chest. "...Yes, he's sleeping," she said. "His heart is beating."

"Well, that saves them from a funeral," Snake said before he rubbed his chin a bit. "But still, it strikes me odd that we were quickly ambushed by this..."

Mario looked worried. "Hmm, if you think about it, maybe we can say these darts didn't come from the sea's direction," he said. "Sonic, Chris, and Lucario were all struck from behind."

Marth nodded. "Of course," he said. "If that's true, that means the darts came from..."

"Oh my!"

The remaining seven turned their looks to the west where they saw a girl (the same one) appearing running from behind some bushes and trees. The girl blinked in shock as she looked at the fainted Smashers. "And who are you?" Samus asked.

The girl looked worried as she looked at the odd group. "I-I'm sorry to appear out of nowhere, but I-I heard some yells coming from here..." she said before focusing on the people on the ground. "I-I knew it!" she said. "They were assaulted like everyone else as well!"

"What?" Marth said confused. "What do you mean?"

The girl crossed over the bushes and went to get closer to them. "I-I mean to say they were assaulted by some lousy criminals around this area..." she said. "And it looks like you didn't know there were criminals here, right?"

"No, we didn't," Mario said. "Are you from around these parts?"

"Y-yeah," the girl said. "I live very close to this place...and I was taking a stroll..."

Snake noticed the protective gauntlet covering the girl's left arm. "You sure are one who wants to be protected, huh?"

"Huh?" the girl said before she looked at Snake. She then looked at her piece of armor. "Oh, you mean my gauntlet? Well, yeah. Sometimes I get attacked by monsters that I need to have some armor with me."

"And you still take a stroll around these parts, knowing that there are monsters around here?" Marth asked.

"...I like danger," she said with a smile. "What can I say? I like to have some action. It seems you guys like danger because you're in the plain field as well."

"Maybe," Knuckles said. "We don't like to do that, though."

However, questions arose in Snake's mind as he stared at the ninja. One, the girl who they just met looked a bit out of place. Secondly, the same girl's happy nature wasn't giving Snake some nice impressions. In fact, Snake considered the girl to be a bit strange. He knew he wanted to know more about her.

"Pardon to ask you this," Snake began, "but can you tell us your name first?"

The girl blinked before she chuckled and closed her eyes. "Oh! Right! I didn't get to introduce myself, did I? Silly me, I was caught up in the moment," she said before giving them a peace sign. "Nice to meet all of you. My name is Yuffie; Yuffie Kisaragi!"

Yuffie Kisaragi is a very clever, cunning, rebellious, and cocky tomboy who wants to return the glory of her nation to what it was before. Due to the fact Shinra had banned the use of Materia in her country, she has an ambition to go out and steal Materia from any traveler she finds (and it's possibly that she has a really big obsession with Materia, even though it's needed), even though her father doesn't want her to do that (thus explaining why she's rebellious). She originally traveled with Cloud's party, but she did this only to get a chance to get a hold of all their Materia when they least expected it (which just happened). A little side note is that Yuffie suffers from motion sickness, whether she is on an airship or a boat.

"Okay...Yuffie," Snake said. "Do you have any more information about these criminals?"

Yuffie nodded. "Like hell I do!" she said. "They like to play pranks on people who have valuable stuff with them."

Fox put a hand on the right side of his face. "So they're after our stuff?"

Yuffie looked at Fox and nodded. "(My god, he looks way shady with that face.) Yep, that's it," she said. "You guys surely have really valuable stuff that they want to get their hands on them."

Samus thought a bit about the matter. "Hmm, well, I could say we have stuff that could be considered valuable..."

"I knew you had valuable stuff," Yuffie said. "So then, I'll advice you guys to stay careful because you're bound to get shot down. Luckily, you're many and you're taking care of each other. Those criminals wouldn't want to have at least one of you standing."

Chip blinked. "Wow, you're so smart!"

"Heheh, I know my thing, alright," she said. "You're lucky I was around to warn you about 'em."

Snake kept staring at the girl. "Yeah, thank you so much to coming out from your hiding spot. You saved us a lot of work "

Yuffie looked at Snake and nodded. "Aww, it was nothing. I thought you weren't going to find out it was me who shot down you-" She shook her head. "W-wait just a minute!" she said. "W-why are you suddenly thinking I had to do with this?"

Snake frowned at this. "Please, wasn't it more obvious?"

"W-what was obvious?" she asked before she looked up and rubbed the side of her face. "I don't get what you mean..."

Snake pointed at the bushes. "I saw you were there all this time."

The Smashers looked at Snake. "What? You saw her behind those bushes?" Marth asked.

"Well, technically, I found her after the second dart was shot," Snake explained. "Since all shots came from the west, there should have been somebody hiding close to this place. Then, I saw the third shot coming out directly from the bushes, and I caught a glimpse of the girl's gauntlet."

Yuffie looked at her gauntlet. "W-what?"

Snake nodded. "You were about to hide behind the tree and pretend you came running here. However, you gauntlet was a bit big. I saw it before you hid behind the tree. If you didn't wear it, I would have been forced to listen to you lies about the criminals you were talking about... Well, guess what, I found the criminals, and they're all a single person, namely some girl who wants to do something to us: steal our stuff."

Yuffie began to sweat bullets. "B-but why would I do such a thing like this?" she asked. "I-I just came in here..."

Mario thought for a moment. "I think I believe in Snake."

The ninja gasped a bit. "U-um, w-well, I-I..."

"It's over for you," Snake said. "You're even holding a pipe with a dart sticking out from its hole just behind your back."

Yuffie gasped at this before she looked behind her back and saw said pipe sticking out from her shorts' pocket. The ninja looked back at the group, many of them looking at them with suspicious looks. "..."

And the point where she sighed depressed gave away that she wasn't going to lie more.

"Okay, you guys found me out..." she trailed off, giving them a worried look. "I was the one who shot those sleeping darts..."

Marth crossed his arms. "But why would you do that to us?" he asked.

Yuffie began bumping her fingers a bit with each other. "Y-you see, you were carrying lots of really neat stuff that...I wanted to have to...sell them for money..."

"...You what?" Samus said confused.

Knuckles glared at her. "You wanted to steal our stuff? What the heck is wrong with you?"

Yuffie smacked her palms together and bowed down several times at them. "I-I wanted to have your stuff to sell them to get money to buy Materia," she said. "I-I'm really sorry for doing this to you, b-but I need Materia for my home!"

"Wait, wait, wait," Mario said. "You need calm down. We're not going to hurt you or something."

The ninja stopped bowing before she sighed. "Phew, I thought you guys were gonna throw me down the cliff..."

"...That wasn't a bad idea," Snake commented.

"Snake!" Marth said.

"Seriously, I don't know you, but this girl is still acting fishy to me," Snake said. "Why, she has this air I can't just shrug off."

"Yeah, I agree with the guy," Knuckles said. "This girl isn't making me feel good at all. Just a look at her gives me this air of suspicion."

Yuffie shook her head. "I-I know I look fishy, but I'm sorry, really!" she said. "I-I'm trying to do this to save my country's honor!"

"You're trying to save your country's honor?" Chip asked. "What country is that?"

Yuffie looked at the imp. "That's Wutai for you," she said. "That's the name of my home and country." She pointed to the north. "The village is just some miles to the north of this place...but that's not important right now," she said before sighing. "I-I know it was for me to do this to helpless travelers like you...but I had my reasons..."

Fox crossed his arms. "What are those reasons?"

"You see, Wutai...is not what it used to be," Yuffie said. "In fact, Wutai has forgotten its independence because of a malevolent company...Shinra..."

"Shinra?" Snake repeated. "Hmm, that name sounds a bit weird to me..."

"(How is it weird to you?)" Yuffie thought. "(I mean, if you know Cloud, then you should've heard about Shinra... I'll just play along...) Well, you see, Wutai was once a proud nation before Shinra came in and started the Wutai War..." She shook her head. "Do you want to listen to this, though?"

Samus nodded. "If it will give us a reason to not punish you, then continue."

"Okay..." Yuffie cleared her throat. "Long ago, when I was younger, Wutai was the last nation that had independence in the Planet from Shinra. Shinra is a bad company that wants to have total domination over the whole world with Materia. Thanks to them, many people are suffering because they enforce their power on everyone. Anyway, when they came to Wutai, a war erupted, and we lost. The leader of Wutai then signed a treaty that said Wutai wasn't allowed to use Materia...and then...it...became..."

"What did it become?" Knuckles asked with a stern look.

Yuffie struggled to say whatever she wanted to say. Her lips twitched a bit, but she managed to say her words. "...Wutai...turned into a tourist resort..."

"..." Marth blinked a bit. "...It became a tourist resort?"

"Yeah!" Yuffie said with an angry look. "Thanks to those Shinra scum, Wutai forgot its proud dynasty! The stupid weakness of the leader caused Wutai's downfall by being under Shinra's monopolizing actions!" She shook her head and looked away. "I hate how my home became like this... I hate it to the very end!"

Mario looked away. "It must have been really painful for you. You seem to care about your home a lot."

Yuffie nodded and looked back at them. "That's right... Since we're not allowed to use Materia, I decided to go around and steal Materia from the people to get as much as I could to restore Wutai's to its glory... I know that if I gather enough Materia, the people of Wutai would stand up against Shinra and recover its freedom... I'm surely sure, though..." She looked worried. "A-and that's how I ended up trying to steal other people's Materia..."

"And you wanted to steal our stuff so you could buy more of that Materia," Snake said.

"(Geez, these guys don't know what Materia is, either?)" she asked mentally. "So that's my reason...and I hope you guys can forgive me..." She looked at the fainted Smashers. "And I'm sorry for doing this to them as well..."

Marth sighed. "Well, you had a reason, but you shouldn't have thought about stealing our stuff."

"I know...so that's why I'd like to say I'm sorry..." she said. "If you can forgive me, I won't do this..."

"So if we don't forgive you, you'll do it?" Snake asked.

"I-I mean, I won't do it either way!" Yuffie said in a bit of panic. "C-can you forgive me? I-I had a good reason; an honest one..."

Mario looked worried before he smiled a bit. "Don't worry, we'll forgive you."

Yuffie gasped and put a hand close to her mouth. "Y-you mean it?" she asked.

Fox nodded. "Yeah, you just were doing a good deed for your country. I think it's a reason enough for us to forgive you."

"I agree," Marth said. "You're not a bad person for doing that."

Knuckles frowned. "You guys are always letting people go that easily, huh?"

Chip looked angry at the echidna. "Hey, you be a good mutt and forgive her! If you don't say that, Chip Norris will give you a nice roundhouse kick!"

"If you call me a mutt one more time..." Knuckles muttered through gritted fangs.

Samus frowned at this. "Please, ignore him. He gets angry really easily."

"Hey!"

Yuffie chuckled and folded her arms behind her back. "Heheh, I see," she said confidently. "Thank you so much for forgiving me, you guys! I thought I wasn't going to convince you... I guess I was wrong." She extended her left hand at Samus. "So, in order to make this official, I'd like to do a little handshake as a sign that we're friends."

"Tsk," Snake muttered. "Don't think you convinced me, though."

Yuffie ignored the mercenary. "I'm sure we're going to be very good acquaintances," she said. "So please, Ms. Robot, let's be friends."

"...Um..." Samus shifted her eyes a bit. "This isn't a robot... I'm a woman inside a suit..."

Yuffie got a curious look. "Really? Wow, I thought you were a robot... (So she's wearing a suit... Hmm... Maybe I could...) Okay, give me a little handshake," she said as she moved her hand behind her back before extending it to Samus.

The bounty hunter stared at Yuffie's hand. "Why did you do that just now?"

"I had some dirt on my fingers," Yuffie said. "I shook them off behind me."

"But why behind you?" Marth asked.

"I had some stupid habits," Yuffie said. "C'mon! Gimme a handshake!"

Samus looked a bit confused at this. "Okay, but don't act so weird about it..." she muttered as she extended her left hand and shook hands with Yuffie.

Snake stared at the hands from both girls before he noticed something stuck between Yuffie's fingers. "Samus, stop handshaking that girl's hand, now!" he yelled.

"What?" Samus asked.

Yuffie suddenly took an amused look. "Too late..." she muttered.

Before their eyes, Samus's left hand moved down along with her owner. They all watched as Samus dropped forward on the ground, suddenly turning unconscious for some reason. Most of them knelt down to see what had happened to the bounty hunter before Snake narrowed his eyes at Yuffie. "You little brat..." Snake muttered.

[DededeCloneChris]

Yuffie giggled a bit. "What? I just knocked her out unconscious with a sleeping dart," she explained as she showed them a dart's needle sticking out from between her left hand's fingers. "What's so bad about this accident?"

"Accident? You weren't holding that dart before!" Knuckles yelled. "In fact, you never did that!"

Yuffie looked away. "Hmm, maybe it got stuck the moment I pulled my hand behind me? Who knows, exactly..."

"Stop lying," Snake said. "You were planning the whole thing from the very beginning, you cunning little bastard. Besides, how the hell did you even pinch Samus if she's wearing a suit of armor?"

"Since it was kinda hard to pinch her with all that armor she had on, I aimed for the small opening she had around her hand," she explained. "I used a needle charged with sleeping liquid to pinch her with the handshake I wanted her to do with me, and that's how she fainted. It was a bit hard, but I did it, so it was a success."

Knuckles turned his hands int fists. "You little bastard! You're still thinking about stealing our stuff?!"

Yuffie looked mildly annoyed at the echidna. "So what if it was my real intention?"

Fox glared at her. "What are you talking about? I thought you wanted to become acquainted with us."

"Pfft, I don't need any of you," Yuffie stated as she waved a bored hand back and forth. "In fact, I just need to pilfer you from your stuff, and I'll be just fine on my own to get more Materia! It's quite simple, don't you think?"

"But I thought you wouldn't mind us helping you about the problem with your nation..." Marth trailed off.

"..." Yuffie looked away and folded her arms behind her back. "...You don't really understand anything, still..."

Mario looked confused. "What is it that we don't understand? Was there something else you wanted to say or talk about?"

Yuffie's eyes opened up a bit and looked back at them. "...Well, the thing is..."

Snake glared at Yuffie. "Don't you even try to pull out another trick on us."

Yuffie raised her shoulders a bit. "Oh well, it's not going to be a trick if I tell you that I'm going to use a smoke ball to escape from all of you."

Chip tilted his head. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean..." she took out from behind a black smoke ball that she slammed down on the ground, "this!"

The area was quickly covered in a smokescreen. The Smashers gasped before they all began to cough loudly. They all quickly lost sight of Yuffie and from each other. The smoke spread out to all directions, despite the fact the ball was very small.

Knuckles coughed. "W-where the hell did she go now?!"

"I-I don't know..." Mario said as he coughed. "I-I think she ran away as she said..."

"W-well, the hell with this! Once I see her again, I'm going to give her a good and nice talk about..."

"...Knuckles?" Mario asked before he heard a sound of something hitting the ground. "Knuckles, why did you stop?"

"W-what's wrong?" Fox asked.

"K-Knuckles just stopped talking out of a sudden..."

"B-but this isn't sleeping gas," Fox coughed out. "A-are you sure he didn't..."

Another sound of something hitting the ground was heard.

"...Hey, Mario, did you hear that?"

There wasn't any more responses from the red plumber.

"...Mario!" Fox yelled. "Dammit, Mario, talk to me!"

"I think you shouldn't waste more words..." Marth said before coughing. "H-he surely was..."

Marth heard another sound of something falling on the ground.

"A-and there is another sound..." Marth trailed off. "Fox, you heard that, right?"

Oddly enough, Fox didn't reply back. Marth waited for a few second for any other reply, but he just received silence.

"...Fox?"

Marth suddenly saw Chip flying in front of him. The imp coughed and looked worried at Marth. "H-hey, what's happening here?" he asked worried. "I-I can't find anybody in this smoke!"

"N-neither can I..." Marth muttered. "But...what's happening, exactly?"

Marth saw that Chip suddenly looked shocked at him.

"...Chip?"

Suddenly, the imp's wings stopped fluttering before he fell and dropped unconscious in front of his feet. The Altean prince looked down in shock.

"C-Chip!" Marth yelled. "W-what did just...u-ugh..."

Marth felt that something was pinched on the back of his throat. Unfortunately, the Altean's eyes slowly closed before he fell to his knees and fell on the ground, fortunately for him, he avoided crushing Chip with his body.

The smoke suddenly cleared out, and most of them had fallen down unconscious on the ground. However, the reason behind all this was just standing behind Marth's feet. Behind the Altean, there was Yuffie holding a dart on her right hand just above her shoulder. The ninja looked down at them before she looked happy. "Heheheheheh," she chuckled. "Guess my plan worked out after all," she said to herself. "Now I'll just have to be quick on this matter and take everything off from you...except your clothes, of course."

The ninja stared forward with a small hum. However, she suddenly noticed that Snake was standing a few feet away from her.

"W-what the..." Yuffie blinked in shock. "I-I thought..."

Snake frowned. "You just forgot about me, huh? Not so smart for a cunning thief like you."

Yuffie looked angry at this. "B-but I... Dammit!" she cursed. "I thought I had everyone!I completely forgot about you for a split second!"

"Or I just ducked down," Snake said. "You knew where we were standing, but you didn't see who moved and who didn't. I turned out to be the only one moving down, and you passed right next to me, wondering where I went, right?"

Yuffie thought for a moment. "Actually, that was... Yeah, that was it... But still! I need you knocked out right now!"

Snake cracked his fists. "That isn't going to happen unless I say so," he said. "You're some kind of enemy, and you need to be taught a lesson about not meddling with me."

The ninja gritted her teeth a bit and took a step back. "N-no! I-I came all this way to get what I want from all of you!" she yelled before she pulled back the dart, preparing to toss it at Snake. "You stay there and don't move!"

"Please, do you really think I'm going to stand stil-"

"YEAH!" Yuffie suddenly yelled as she tossed the dart as fast as she could at Snake's neck. The mercenary quickly rolled at her, evading the flying dart that fell far away on the ground. Yuffie gasped as Snake rolled around her feet and quickly stood up behind her back. The man then quickly applied a grab on Yuffie's neck, preventing her from escaping. "N-no!" she said in disbelief.

"Guess you weren't that dangerous," Snake said behind her head, holding her a bit above the ground. "Now, you bette-"

Yuffie struggled a bit to survive the grab. Suddenly, she noticed that her feet were touching the ground again. The ninja blinked surprised at this before she looked back at the arms around her neck and gasped loudly. She pushed the arms away and looked behind her where Snake stared forward, frozen in place. "...What happened?" she asked.

"...Damn you..." Snake muttered.

"Huh?"

Yuffie saw as Snake's body slowly tilted back before he made full contact with the ground. The ninja shook her head in complete disbelief. The mercenary that got a hold of her suddenly fell down unconscious for some strange reason. Yuffie was completely puzzled as to why that happened out of the blue.

"...B-but...what did just happen here?" Yuffie asked to herself. "I thought I didn't pinch him with a dart...or..." She looked behind her back. "...What the..."

Yuffie herself didn't find out the fact that her pipe was still sticking out from her pocket of her shorts. Her eyes quickly focused on a dart that was sticking out from said pipe on the tip of the hole. She then recalled that Snake had pointed it out for her.

"Oh, yeah, the old man said there was this dart sticking out... It surely pinched the guy's belly when he pulled me into that grab..." Yuffie muttered before she got a cocky smile. "Hah! What do you know? Luck's smiling on me today, baby!" she said in complete excitement before looking forward. "Take that, idiots! I'm gonna get myself a big loot of Materia very soon thanks to your cooperation for appearing out of a freaking portal!"

...

"...Wait..." Yuffie got a confused look. "Just how did they know about Cloud, and why did they come out from a portal?"

She wondered this for a little bit. The question made her think so many things that she wanted to ask them, but seeing how confusing and twisted the situation looked, Yuffie thought it was impossible to get more information out of the Smashers.

Chrono Cross - Optimism

"...Nah, who cares. What matters now is that I'm gonna get more Materia out of their stuff!" she said happily before looking down at the unconscious Samus. "How am I going to get that suit? Maybe I should find something to tore it open..." She looked around and found a rock sitting down on the ground close to her. It was about a feet tall. "Hmm, let's do this the old way: bang it till it opens up! After that, it'll be the time to get everyone else's belongings!" She made a fist. "Oh yeah, it's Yuffie's time!"

The ninja merrily picked the rock from the ground and went over to Samus. Time passed, and Yuffie went on everyone to get as much stuff as she could get from all them. Her only thoughts were about getting more Materia, and get back to her hometown close to her current position...

An hour later...

"...G-grrrrrrrr..."

A sudden deep growl sounded from Lucario's mouth. The Aura Pokémon slowly opened his eyes where he found out that he was dropped on the ground. "...Damn..." Lucario muttered before he slowly pushed himself from the ground. "W-what the hell did just happen to me? Why did I just fell asleep?"

Lucario felt that there was a body on his back. He turned his head around to see his trainer fainted on his back.

"Chris!" Lucario yelled before he quickly turned his body around and grabbed Chris on his arms. "Oh no, Chris, wake up!"

"..." Chris slowly opened his eyes. "Did I...win against that darned Iron Giant in Final Fantasy III?" he asked groggily. "B-because if I did, that would explain I ran into the wall in excitement..."

Lucario blinked a couple of times before he shifted his eyes around. "Um...you didn't...yet..."

"...Dammit!" Chris cursed loudly as he fully opened his eyes. "I thought that was it because..." He shook his head before he realized what had happened. "W-wait, that didn't happen at all... I-I was stuck down on the throat with something, and I fell down on the ground!" he said before looking at Lucario. "I-I remember you did the same!"

Lucario nodded before looking worried. "B-but I don't know what happened... I felt that something pinched me somewhere on my leg..."

Perhaps, if somebody pointed out that he was struck on his paw pad, it was going to be embarrassing.

"You were struck with a dart on your right paw pad," Chris pointed out.

Forget the previous statement...

Lucario looked annoyed, but he also blushed embarrassed. "I-it was clever for somebody to pinch me where I don't have much protection for sharp things like darts..." he admitted. "B-but other than that..."

The two looked forward where they saw everyone else dropped on the ground.

"...Were they all..." Chris trailed off.

"...I...assume so..." Lucario trailed off.

The duo quickly stood up and went over to check on everyone. Chris knelt down to shake Mario by the arm. "Mario, wake up! Wake up, please, Mario!"

It was not long before every single one of the Smashers began to wake up with some grumbles. They all slowly sat up from the ground and looked around their surroundings. "W-whew..." Chip yawned as he extended his arms to opposite sides. "Hmm, I was dreaming I was drowning in a sea of chocolate...and I actually died a happy death in what I love to eat the most...but before I died, I sang under the chocolate sea, and there were chocolate sea horses that I chomped down, and they didn't mind being eaten by me."

Chris closed his eyes helplessly. "Chip, at least think about what happened BEFORE you had that weird dream..."

Chip pinched his chin and looked up. "Oh yeah, I remember I was struck by a needle between my wings."

The Altean looked at the imp. "You...too?" Marth asked. "I was struck by a needle as well..."

"So do I..." Fox trailed off.

Knuckles grunted. "And I was pinched as well... It got to be that pesky girl we met!"

Mario crossed his legs and arms. "Hmm, it was her, alright..."

The World Traveler looked confused. "A girl did all this?" he asked.

Snake nodded as he stood up. "There was this girl with the oversized gauntlet who came out from the bushes and tried to lie to us about being friends. However, it was all a trick to make us all fall asleep with some sleeping darts she had with her."

Chris looked worried before looking down. "Girl with the oversized gauntlet..." He gasped and quickly stood up. "Y-you don't mean that girl was named Yuffie, right?"

"Actually, that was her name," Samus said before everyone looked at her. "It was Yuffie Kisaragi who did all this to us. I think she mentioned something about stealing our stuff to sell them all for money to get this Materia thing she was talking about..."

"...Yuffie!" Chris said. "I-I know her. She's one girl who likes to steal stuff from people!"

"Sorry to tell you this, but that's what happened,"

"Then...that means she wanted to steal something from us?"

"Yes."

Sonic raised an eyebrow at Samus. "So...that happened?" he asked.

"Yes, that's what happened when she appeared," Samus said.

"And...why did you change forms?"

"What?" Samus asked. "Why are you asking that so suddenly?"

Lucario looked confused. "He means that because of the fact you're not wearing your suit anymore..."

Samus blinked confused before she looked down and found herself in her Zero Suit. The bounty hunter gasped as she looked at her hands. "W-what? How did I end up changing to this? Where is my Varia Suit?" She looked around. "Where is it? It's impossible to take if off from me...unless it was damaged to the point it broke into pieces..."

Snake grumbled. "If I use some logic, I'd say that girl had to do with this," he said. "She took Samus's clothes off."

Samus glared at Snake. "They're NOT clothes, you know."

"Oh, my bad," Snake apologized.

"Since you're having a bit of an amusing time with this, I should point out you had your stuff stolen as well."

Snake looked to his body to see that his equipment was all gone. "...Crud," he muttered. "She took it all off from me as well..."

"Luckily, codec calls weren't taken off," Mei Ling said over the codec. "You were lucky that she didn't interfere with codec calls, Snake."

"Oh, you're there," Snake said. "Mei Ling, did you see what happened when everyone fell asleep?"

"Well, all I could tell was that she was going on every single one of you to steal your things," Mei Ling explained. "Namely, Snake, you were the only one who "suffered" the most since she stole every single little weapon you had. That means she took away your grenades, remote controlled missiles, cypher, landmines, mortar, C4s, and RPG-7...and she even took your..."

"Utility belt," Otacon added suddenly, "meaning she pretty much scrapped everything from you, Snake."

Snake looked away. "...That little b(beep) is gonna pay me if she breaks all those weapons..." He lifted his head up. "Wait, did you try to stop her?"

"About that..." Otacon trailed off, "we tried to stop her by making the codec reach her out by shouting, but...thing is...she stopped for a moment, but then she resumed what she was doing, thinking that her mind was playing tricks on her."

Mei Ling chuckled. "It was kind of funny, though. She thought she was seeing ghosts in plain light of day."

Snake grunted at this. "Mei Ling, this isn't the time be cracking jokes."

"Oh, heheheh, my bad."

Chris looked at Lucario. "I don't understand..."

"I know what you mean..." Lucario trailed off.

"N-no, it wasn't about Yuffie..." Chris trailed off. "...How the heck did Mei Ling and Otacon see all this if there aren't any cameras around here?"

"...I have no idea..." Lucario admitted.

Marth sighed. "I wonder what else she took..." He looked at his belt. "...For the love of Altea, what did she do to me?!" he asked in a panic.

They all looked at Marth's belt where the sheath of Falchion was completely empty. The Altean Prince looked a bit horrified at his empty sheath. "Oh no, they took his main and only way to fight..." Chris muttered.

Marth looked upset. "O-okay, I'm a bit mad at this now," he said. "Stealing stuff like Snake's is a bit common, but stealing a sword as my father's Falchion? T-that's preposterous and inhuman!"

"C-calm down, Marth," Chris said worried. "I-I'm sure Falchion is alright..."

"Oh, that's what you think," Marth said. "I can't let this go on like this...not on my watch!"

Sonic chuckled. "Chill out, at least we know you don't have trouble with your gender anymore."

Marth glared at the hedgehog. "Why bring up that unrelated and annoying matter? I think you all know better than I'm 100 percent a man."

"Good to hear that," Sonic said. "So that's why you removed the ridiculous tiara on your head, Martha."

"...Sonic...what do you mean by that exactly? Y-you don't mean..."

Sonic merely pointed at Marth's head.

Marth's eyes widened a bit before he touched his hair and found nothing sitting on top of it at all. The tiara that was given to him by his sister Elice was completely gone from his head. "...AAAAAAAAHHH!!! N-not the tiara, dangit!" he cursed. "N-not my sister's tiara of all things!"

The World Traveler looked surprised at Marth's sudden change of moods. Chris never had seen Marth being so shocked over the loss of his items before. In fact, he thought Marth was very sophisticated, and that thought was forever lost after seeing the Altean's calm demeanor crushed by a panicked one. "M-Marth, calm down, please..."

"Calm down... Calm down?!" Marth asked in panic. "I let that stupid girl take my father's sword and my sister's tiara away from me! Those are the most important things of my life, I'll have you know! I bowed to my sister that I'd never lose the tiara as well, and look what happened!" he said as he as stood up. "I lost both of them from coming to this stupid world with uncivilized people!"

"..." Samus frowned. "Marth...calm down...now..."

"..." Marth sighed and looked down. "...Sorry...i-it's just that..."

"We understand to the full extent of the matter, don't worry..."

Marth clenched his hands into fists. "...I...I...I won't forgive this...but...why my tiara of all things?"

"Dude, she's a girl," Sonic said. "It was obvious she was aiming for girly stuff like that tiara. You sure the tiara didn't have gold or something?"

"No..."

Mario looked around. "Well, she certainly ran away from here when she had the chance," he said. "And...why does it feel a bit cold?"

Chip looked at Mario. "Oh, so you finally removed your hat, Mario!"

It was easy to tell that Mario had his signature red hat stolen by Yuffie. The red plumber touched his head and found nothing on top of it.

Mario sighed depressed. "Well, she surely took my hat because she thought it looked peculiar..."

"At least I think you were the least affected," Snake said. "The fox here looks awfully different for some reason."

They all looked at Fox. The vulpine looked at them in confusion. "Um, what?" he asked. "Is there something wrong with me?"

Chris crossed his arms. "W-well...I don't know why, but you look really different now..."

"Could you please just get to the point?" Fox asked annoyed.

"But that just ruins the..." Chris noticed Fox's glare. "...She stole your headgear, Reflector, and Blaster."

Fox gasped before he began to touch the areas where he held his weapon, headgear, and Reflector. "D-darn!" he cursed, making a fist to his right side.

Snake rubbed his chin a bit. "I have to admit that, without the headgear, you look so straightforward."

Fox grunted at Snake. "Look, I'm mad right now because I'm always the victim to have my stuff either broken or stolen. This happened before, and I don't want to revive those moments right now."

Chris stared at Fox. "W-well, I hope you get used to walk in socks..."

"...What do you mean?" Fox asked as he looked at Chris.

The World Traveler pointed at Fox's feet. The vulpine looked at his feet to find out that his tanker boots were gone, only leaving the white socks he was wearing. Fox's jaw dropped a bit at this in a bit of shock.

Chip looked up and thought for a moment. "Hmm, maybe she stole your boots because she thought they looked kinda funny."

Fox glared at the imp. "Kinda funny?"

"Yeah, I mean, I haven't seen boots before, but I think yours had really big ends for your toes..."

"Big ends..." Fox crossed his arms in annoyance. "Well, those are like that to give my kicks some extra power."

Samus looked bored at this fact. "Personally...I think it looks stupid."

"Are we here to discuss my boots' look, or are we here to discuss about that thief girl?" Fox asked aggravated,

Chris sighed. "We're here to discuss about Yuffie..." he trailed off. "...Since she went on everyone to steal stuff...wouldn't that mean I was also..." He slowly touched his pockets. The rectangular-shaped object that was once in his right pocket was gone. "...M-my DS...i-it got stolen!" he yelled before he frantically looked for his DS around himself. "N-no! N-not my DS, please! I-I had my copy of Final Fantasy III just close to that stupid Iron Giant, a-and I had my party at pretty high levels! I was so close to get to lvl. 99 too!"

Mario ignored the fact about what Chris was panicking about. "Wouldn't that mean Kawashima got sort of...kidnapped?"

"N-no!" Chris said. "N-not him too!" He looked around more. "...Oh no, not my Wiimote! Not that one as well!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Relax, I still have one of those weird remotes that the hand gave to me to come back from the searches I was doing with the others," he said as he reached his back. "...OH, DAMMIT!" he yelled loudly. "She stole mine!"

"Doesn't that mean we're stuck in here?" Lucario asked.

The World Traveler froze into place, his eyes staring out to the ocean. "...W-we're...w-we're..."

"Wait, hold on, Chris," Mario interrupted. "Master Hand and the others are watching our movements, probably. He can make a portal to rescue us, don't you think?"

Sonic nodded. "Of course he can do that," he said. "Man, I was worried there. I didn't want to get stuck in here with all this water close to me..."

Snake frowned. "The hand wouldn't leave us in the middle nowhere. After all, we're kind of his employees, if you know what I mean."

"I...hate to admit it, but it's true," Samus said. "Master Hand surely knows what's been happening here."

-Smash Mansion-
Command Room

Unfortunately, the group that had went to the world was unaware of the fact that an accident had occurred in the command room right after they left. For some reason, the main screen was having technical difficulties as it buzzed loudly, its image showing lines and dots scrambling around.

"I-I'm so very sorry!" Cream apologized as she and Cheese were bowing down to a depressed Master Hand. "C-Cheese didn't mean to do any of this. I-it was just an accident!"

Master Hand looked back at a computer where sparks and smoke constantly came out from the CPU, PC, and keyboard. There was a relatively big area covered in orange juice, somehow potent enough to make all computers, along with the main screen, to go offline. A big glass with some drops of juice was leaning against the top of the computer where a trail of juice was spilled over all the previously mentioned machines.

Cream looked at Cheese. "Cheese is sorry for dropping his juice while he was flying over the computers. H-he didn't mean to let go of his glass at all!"

"C-chao, chao..." Cheese sniffed sadly.

Master Hand sighed. "Why the heck did I make all computers in this room be connected to the same main server? If just one has a malfunction, the system goes down with it..."

Jigglypuff looked confused. "If that's true, then why that didn't happen when Ike destroyed some?"

Ike looked away. "T-that was an accident, okay?"

"Well, Ike just ended up destroying one completely," Master Hand explained. "If you recall, static didn't come out from it. However, since liquids were spilled over one, it released a lot of static; static enough to make it to the system and...blow it offline..."

Cream sniffed. "C-Cheese is so sorry, Mr. Master Hand..."

Master Hand could only repeat one action: sigh to himself. "Don't worry, Cream... I'll make sure I can bring the system back up right now... It might take a long time, though...maybe a few days..."

"Way to screw it up with a single shot," Falco muttered before rolling his eyes. "And here I thought this place had top-notch technology."

Roy chuckled nervously. "W-well, pray we didn't miss anything that important from them. I'm sure the guys are doing just fine in their mission..."

-Final Fantasy VII-

-The Planet-
Western Continent - Wutai Province

Back with the group stuck in the world...

"We're not stuck, okay?" Samus reassured the group.

"I hope that's true..." Mario muttered.

Chip was holding a notepad with a pen as he stared at the little notebook with some glasses he was wearing. "Let's see, so that Yuffie girl ended up stealing Snake's weapons, Samus's suit, Fox's weapons, Chris's stuff, Knuckles's remote, Marth's sword and girly tiara (Marth: Hey!), and Mario's pretty awesome hat," he summarized.

Mario tilted his head at Chip's interest on his hat. "(Hmm, maybe my hat is very popular...)" he thought. "(Or maybe it just looks peculiar...)"

"Ouch..." Sonic muttered. "She took everything from us..."

Lucario looked at Sonic. "Actually, there were 2 things she wasn't able to take from us."

Sonic raised an eyebrow before Lucario pointed at his neck. The hedgehog blinked a couple of times before he groaned and looked down at his neck to find the same collar he was forced to wear. "Not cool, man!" he cursed. "Dammit, this collar can only be taken off by Chris or Chip!"

Chip looked at his wrist to see the little wrist collar. "Oh, I guess she couldn't take mine off as well. You have to thank this weird magic for "locking" this to us, right, Sonic?"

Sonic grunted before looking away mad. "Chip, don't make me strangle you to death..."

"Bad Sonic!" Chip said angrily. "Slam your face on the floor, boy! You shall listen to Chip Norris!" he ordered.

And the hedgehog's face crashed hard on the ground, making Sonic grunt loudly on the hole his face made before he pushed his face off from the hole.

Chris sighed. "I hate to add this to the list, but she also stole all our items..." he trailed off.

Chip nodded and wrote it down on the notepad. "Okay, what else?"

Fox took out from behind his Trophy Stand. He sighed in relief at the sight of his little way to equip stuff. "Thank god she didn't take our stands..."

"Well, Master Hand said nobody else except us could take the stands out," Mario said. "That's very clever of him to do."

"And it wasn't clever for us to let HER steal our other stuff; the most valuable stuff!" Marth argued. "I don't know you, but I'm going to make a full search to find her and get my belongings back!"

Snake stiffled a chuckle. "Is the prince mad today? I haven't seen you this angry before."

Marth glared at Snake. "If I recall, you got everything stolen from you as well."

"..." Snake grumbled a bit. "Well, I guess you got me there..." He shook his head before looking at everyone. "Anyway, I know I speak for everybody here that we have another task to do here."

Samus narrowed her eyes. "Get my Varia Suit back."

Marth glared forward. "Take Falchion and my sister's tiara back to me."

Fox got a very stern look. "Recover my weapons and my boots."

Knuckles smacked his fists together. "Teach that little brat a lesson."

Chris looked helpless. "G-get my hard-progressed saved file back as soon as I can before I buy a new copy..."

"And let's not forget the controls; our only ways to go and leave worlds," Lucario added.

"T-those too..." Chris muttered.

Snake thought a bit. "We could simply put them all together and say something like getting everything back..." He shook his head. "Finding our weapons is our top priority here. Without them, we might not stand much of a chance against any enemies we stumble upon."

Music stops

Lucario looked around. "Well, if we want to get our stuff back, we should get going."

Fox stood up. "Where, though?" he asked. "Where should we go to find her?"

Marth rubbed his chin. "It's true... I don't know where we are, and she didn't say where she was heading to." He looked at Chris. "Do you know anything?"

Chris shook his head. "I'm so sorry, but it's been a long time since I last played the game, and I just remember the characters and not much of the plot..."

Samus furrowed her brow a bit. "Let's see, I think I recall something she told us about..."

The group that had met Yuffie thought hard about the conversation they had with her while Chris, Lucario, and Sonic were left out from thinking together. The trio felt a little embarrassed that they were useless to help in this situation.

"...Right!" Knuckles suddenly said. "She said something about a village called Wutai close to this place!"

Snake nodded. "And she said that village was supposed to be located up north here."

The Smashers fixed their glances towards the north where they saw that the cliffs slowly went down a slope, reaching down a long beach along the coast. Taking a closer look, Chip looked further ahead where he noticed something. "I think...I can see some weird-looking houses far away from here..." he said.

"That must be Wutai," Mario said. "But...is she there?"

Chris thought for a moment. "Hmm, maybe she isn't there...but...we don't have anything to lose... I have a hunch that we're supposed to go there..."

"Of course we don't have anything else to lose by pilfering," Marth said annoyed.

The World Traveler sweat dropped. "(I think Marth is scary when he gets this angry... I should never think about losing his sword if it's me...)"

"If everyone's done talking, let's get moving," Snake said. "Oh, by the way, the hedgehog needs to stay with us."

Sonic groaned. "Fine, old man..."

And the group began their way to the far away village, hoping that they could find Yuffie and try to get the stolen items from her. As they all walked down the long slope (with Fox twitching in pain for the fact that he was only wearing socks and stepped on some pebbles), Chris looked at Snake. "...Snake...can I ask you something?"

Snake looked away. "Whatever it is, let it be quick."

Chris nodded. "Well...I was thinking something just now..." he trailed off. "...Do you think you're starting to...um...open up to people?"

Snake shook his head. "Sorry, kid, but you're not going to pull me into this group," he said. "I don't trust people that much."

"What?" Chris asked. "Why do you mean by that? Nobody here is bad..."

"You don't know what I've been through, kid," Snake said. "When you trust so many people, you tend to get betrayed when you least expect it."

"B-but..."

"When you work together with another person, there's going to be a point where he or she will turn their back on you and drop you down to your death," Snake explained. "I've faced that so many times in the past, and I'm not planning to commit the same mistake."

Chris thought that Snake's reasoning was a bit off. The World Traveler kept walking as he pondered more about the mercenary's intentions with people. "...But I can assure you that I won't betray you, Snake."

"Maybe," Snake said.

"I-I'm sure I won't betray you, Snake!"

Snake gave Chris a serious look. "Kid, stop it, now," he said. "I want you to know that I don't care much about other people surrounding me, let alone this weird group I had to join against my will."

"Against your will?"

Snake nodded. "The hand had called me a long time ago. He asked me about joining this tourney thing, but then the Colonel gave me the order to..." He shook his head. "Sorry, but I won't explain anything else with you."

Chris sighed depressed and looked away. "...I-it's just that...you seem..."

Snake kept walking ahead at a slightly faster pace.

"...You seem to give up on people so easily..."

Unaware of this, Chris didn't notice that his words had triggered something in Snake's mind. The mercenary kept walking, but there were some words that echoed in his mind. Those very same words had some coughs of pain from a mysterious woman that Snake knew. The mercenary narrowed his eyes as his mind recalled a sentence.

"Go on living and don't give up on people!"

"..." Snake shook his head.

The group continued their way to the village they had seen over the horizon of the cliffs, the mercenary trying to shake off the thought he got.

[DededeCloneChris]

After walking about three miles or four, the group eventually reached the village's gates.

-Wutai Village-
Residential Area

Final Fantasy VII – Wutai

And what they found...surprised them at most.

For some reason, the village, at first, looked common. There were several pagodas located across the village, a largest one over the west that seemed to overlook the whole village. There were small red bridges over running waters that ran across the whole village's terrains. All the buildings had red wood as their walls, adorned together with Japanese letters on boards and flags. However, there were some flags that depicted some kind of serpent that looked mythical. Overlooking the village, a mountain was located right in front of the village that depicted several deities carved perfectly in stone.

Although all this was what someone would expect to find in a Japanese village, there was something very out of place. This was actually the fact that surprised them the most.

"Tourists..." Mario muttered.

"Lots of 'em..." Sonic muttered.

"With cameras..." Marth muttered.

They expected people wearing Japanese-looking clothes like furisodes, hakamas, happis, yukatas, kimonos, zoris, or getas. They did spot some people, but it looked very pathetic in terms of numbers. That was because of the fact that the tourists easily overgrown the native people of Wutai. It was easy to tell they were tourists since they were wearing typical things such as shorts, t-shirts, hats, sandals, and travel guides. Perhaps the most noticeable fact was their cameras hanging from their necks.

"..." Chris's right eye twitched. "...This...is a tourist resort..."

"Okay, now I believe what she said about her village turning into this..." Samus said as she spotted several children running around (tourist children). "This is...kind of sad, really..."

"I know what you mean," Snake said. "The culture of this place isn't surely blooming all that well with all these people running around and taking photos of what they find..."

They all then met a bright flash coming from their right side. Everyone looked to their right where a little kid was holding a camera. "Cool!" he exclaimed before running away. "Mom! I just took a picture of some cool-looking Japanese heroes! They're surely from an anime!"

Knuckles closed his eyes and smacked his forehead. "Please, tell me we didn't just become part of this place's attractions..."

Sonic grinned and crossed his arms. "Alright, we became famous the first time we stepped in here."

Mario sighed. "Sonic, that's the least of things I want to know by now..."

Chris looked at Lucario. "And do I look like I come from an anime?" Chris asked confused.

Lucario shrugged at the question. "I don't know... Maybe you do with those dragoon clothes..."

"I don't want to know that," Marth said. "What I want to know now is that girl's whereabouts."

"I'm pretty darn sure that's what everyone wants to know," Fox said annoyed. "Once I find her, I'm going to reclaim her for forcing me to walk on socks all the way along the road." He looked down at his socks. "How am I going to resist all the pain for having to walk on pebbles if we go around this place?"

Out of pure coincidence, Chip looked down to his right and found a box where a geta was abandoned. The imp went over to pick the box to see the wooden shoes. "Hmm, somebody threw this," he said before he looked forward to see some boxes dropped and scattered behind a building. "I guess people trash away their stuff. Chip Norris says they should take care about their stuff before he comes around and finds golden treasure."

Fox looked at the box that Chip was holding before he grabbed it from him. The vulpine stared at the geta before he shrugged his shoulders and ducked down to put them on. Fox stood up and looked down at his newly obtained replacement for his boots. "...I look ridiculous with these on," he said annoyed.

Chris chuckled a bit and looked at the geta. "See the bright side; they make you look taller...than me." The World Traveler noticed the fact that Fox now passed him in height by some inches.

Fox grumbled. "Chris, don't make me feel better now..."

"That aside," Snake interrupted, "we need to see where that girl went."

Mario looked back at the village. "Is she going to be around here, though? There are a lot of people walking around, and she could be everywhere..."

Samus sighed. "I guess we might as well stick together. We could end up getting lost between all this public if we separate to different ways, and we also don't know how long this place is."

"If we were to get lost, I'll track everyone down using my aura," Lucario said. "I admit there are a lot of people, but your auras are very recognizable."

"I don't want to take any chances," Knuckle said. "Besides, we need to keep an eye on Sonic."

Chip chuckled. "Sonic can't go. He's under my hands."

Sonic looked annoyed. "Can we please just look for that girl?"

"I'm going ahead," Marth stated bluntly before he went into the crowd.

Sonic grinned at this. "Losing his stuff made him so angry, huh?"

Most of them sighed in depression before they all decided to follow the angry Altean into the crowd.

And that little action was the biggest mistake they did in the village.

Upon mixing up with the tourists, the group ended up getting in many different situations. They all accidentally pushed some people away, and some of those people pushed them away out of anger. There were times where some of them pushed some kids to the ground, and unfortunately, most of them cried loudly enough for their parents to scold the Smashers (Chris wasn't too good at apologizing, resulting in him getting slapped and Lucario growling at the tourists).

Pub "Turtle's Paradise"

Forcibly, the Smashers were pushed into the most popular Japanese restaurant of village. Most of them looked awfully tired after having to go through the whole ordeal of "swimming" through the crowd.

A Chris with slap marks on his face sniffed sadly. "S-status report..." he requested.

"I was punched in the stomach by a girl," Knuckles said annoyed. "What's more, it actually hurt."

"A woman began ranting me about being very rude for pushing her accidentally," Marth said annoyed. "She then slapped me hard."

"I tried to calm down a crying kid, but then he spat me on my face and ran away to get the police," Samus said annoyed.

"Two snotty kids stomped my feet," Fox said annoyed. "These stupid geta don't have anything to shield you from stomps, unfortunately."

"A girl hugged and cuddled me to the point I was about to lose my breath," Chip said. "Chip Norris can resist death hugs, though."

"Some kids pulled my tail because it looked funny," Sonic said annoyed before he twitched.

"A girl begged her father to let me carry her on my shoulders," Lucario said annoyed. "Chris told me to do it, and the girl put her fingers in my ears."

"A man got angry at me for bumping into him, but then I grabbed him by the the throat and threatened him to warn him about not pissing me off," Snake said annoyed.

Sonic looked bored. "Let me guess. Self-defense?"

"Pretty much."

"Hmm..."

Knuckles looked at Mario. "How about you? What did you have to go through?"

Mario looked up. "Hmm, I took some photos with some families, and I had some nice talks with some children and their parents."

Everyone (but Chip) looked annoyed at the red plumber.

"How the hell were you the only one who didn't have to get something bad out of this like everyone else?" Knuckles asked angrily.

Mario lifted his shoulders a bit. "I guess I was polite enough to the tourists."

Chris dropped to his knees and fell on the floor. "I-I don't understand why Mario went just fine while I was slapped until I began to cry silently..."

Mario smiled nervously. "Maybe I just happen to be very nice..."

Fox rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, that would explain all the handshakes you gave to pretty much everyone you met even though nobody here knows a thing about you."

"You're just jealous of him, aren't you?" Sonic teased Fox.

Fox looked away. "Shut up, you..."

Snake sighed at this before he looked forward. "...Strange..."

"What is it?" Samus asked.

Snake merely pointed forward.

The group looked forward to see where they arrived. They got surprised looks once they saw that the pub they forcibly got in was...deserted. In fact, there weren't any people in there. A lone owner paced about behind the counter to their left, minding his own business with the kitchen across a door. The restaurant was ornamented with Japanese letters displayed on all the tables, lights inside papers, and red tables with red chairs. Several bonsais were displayed along the front wall of the counter, along with a stone monument covered in vines sitting on the upper left corner.

"...No way," Marth muttered. "There's actually a place where angry women don't dwell?"

Mario frowned at this. "Marth, I think you really need to calm down before you get a bit poetic...no offense."

The owner of the bar stopped pacing around before he noticed the Smashers standing in the entrance. "Oh, hello there," he said. "It's about time the Turtle's Paradise got some clients."

Marth and the others looked at the owner. "Um, we came here because...we wanted a place to have some space... You know what I mean, right?"

The owner looked up to the ceiling. "Hmm, maybe I can tell why," he said before looking back at them. "Anyway, are you interested in some promotion for a campaign? The Turtle's Paradise is holding a publicity flier campaign right now. If you'd like to participate, all you need to do is find the 6 fliers that read the bar's title. If you gather all, you win a prize!"

Snake shook his head. "We're not interested in a campaign like that. We have other better things to do."

"Oh, I see..." the owner said with some depression. "Well, do enjoy our service at the Turtle's Paradise, please. We haven't had any customers as of late."

The Smashers looked at each other before they all went over the counter to talk to the owner for information. "What do you mean?" Knuckles asked before pointing outside. "There's a river full of tourists out there, you know!"

The owner nodded. "I know the village has had a lot of tourists lately, but this place could as well be filled to the top any day."

Chip sat down on spinning chair. "So then, why isn't anybody here?"

The owner tilted his head once he took a closer look at some of them. In order to stay quiet, he shrugged the thought away. "Well, my weird-looking friend, that is because..." the owner trailed off in thought as he slowly looked behind the Smashers for a moment. "...Sorry, but I can't tell you right now."

Mario looked confused at this. "Why is that?"

The owner shifted his eyes a bit before he rested his elbows on the counter to whisper something to them. "It's because of the people sitting on that table just behind all of you..." he whispered. "They're the reason why nobody comes in here, and they've been here ever since 2 hours..."

The Smashers looked behind them.

Final Fantasy VII - Turks' Theme

Behind the group, there were three people sitting around a table as they peacefully and silently ate their food and drank wine. Unlike any other person out in the streets, the people around the table all wore blue business suits with black ties.

The first person of the three looked serious. He had short, spiky red hair with a small ponytail that ran to the back of his shoulders, had a small red tattoo over his left cheek, wore some goggles over his forehead, had his suit unbuttoned, untucked dress shirt, and he carried a small baton attached to his belt. The red-haired person turned his eyes at the group, but he shrugged them off with a "Tsk" sound before returning to drink his small glass with wine.

The second person was a big bald man who wore sunglasses, and he had a little goatee. The most noticeable fact about him was the fact that he was spinning his head around his shoulders because he had drank a few too many drinks. He ignored everything and everyone for now.

And the last person was a young blond woman with short hair...and she was directly looking at them with curiosity.

"!" the woman gasped before she quickly turned back to eat in silence, hastily trying to eat her rice in some sort of panic. The red-haired guy frowned at this as he continued to drink his wine.

The Smashers exchanged glances before turning back to the owner, ignoring that the woman in formal clothes slowly turned her gaze at them. "You saw them, didn't you?" he muttered. "They're with Shinra..."

"Shinra..." Fox muttered. "...I heard that from that girl before..."

The owner sighed. "The people you just looked at are...dangerous," he whispered. "They're Shinra's main elite; the Turks."

"The Turks?" Samus muttered. "Who are these Turks?"

The owner looked awfully shocked. "You don't know who they are?" he asked. "I'm impressed you don't know about them... You should be informed, though," he said. "Care to know more about them?"

Behind them, the woman narrowed her brown eyes at the group.

"It wouldn't hurt..." Marth muttered.

The owner nodded. "Well, for starters, they're part of Shinra. They're the ones who perform black ops on behalf of the corporation."

"Black ops..." Snake trailed off. "You mean they do kidnappings and assassinations?"

"Yes, they do that just because they're told to do it," the owner muttered. "Not only that, but they also go around asking people to join the SOLDIER elite fighting force..." He shrugged a bit. "You know SOLDIER, right?"

Most of the Smashers shook their heads at this. The owner got a little bit perturbed at their accidental ignorance about the whole matter.

"Well...SOLDIER is...well...a very bad unit..." he muttered. "The unit consists of altered humans who have many different abilities...or so I heard about the rumors," he said. "The Wutai War that occurred here years ago came to its end once Shinra employed those SOLDIERs." He shook his head in shame. "If they didn't bring those people...Wutai could've been spared from becoming what it is today..."

Chris looked away. "That must've been sad..."

"Don't take it that badly, though," the owner said. "Wutai has become a very popular place. Thanks to that, people around the world get to know more about our culture... However," he began, "if it keeps like this, tourism could ruin the honor and glory of the nation, but that's in the hands of the leader of Wutai to decide. If we were to say no to Shinra, another war could erupt, and we might lose..."

Sonic rubbed his chin. "Ouch, you got really owned, right?"

"S-Sonic!" Knuckles muttered angrily.

"That's another way to put it, sadly," the owner said. "But we may as well embrace this. We don't have anything else to do about the whole matter."

Snake looked away. "(These people don't have courage at all...)"

The owner chuckled and smiled. "For now, we'll be true to our nation by showing people our culture that we hope doesn't fade someday."

"Thank you for telling us," Fox said. "...Oh yeah, there was something I wanted to ask."

"Hmm? Well, ask away."

Fox crossed his arms. "Do you know any Yuffie Kisaragi?"

The woman behind them suddenly gasped loudly after hearing the name. They all turned around to see that the woman was eavesdropping on all them. In a hurry, she clumsily turned around and pretended she didn't hear anything that they talked about. Unsure about the sudden silence she made, she slowly looked back over her shoulder to see that they were still staring at her.

"...U-um...y-you got a problem or what?" the woman asked. "I-if not, then don't bother me!" she yelled.

Most of them exchanged glances before Snake spoke up. "Oh no, we don't have a problem with you...but it's you who has a problem with us instead."

The woman gasped silently at this. She completely ignored her red-haired companion shaking his head slightly to prevent her from talking further to them. Unfortunately, for his dismay, the woman decided to take action by slowly turning around to face the Smashers. "S-so what if I have a problem?" she asked before standing up, making her companions sigh in boredom. "You're just coming in here asking about what you should know!" She crossed her arms. "Besides, what are you, anyway?" she asked as she glanced at the Smashers who weren't even human for the most part. "I haven't seen any mutants around these parts, except for some monsters!"

Fox glared at her. "You just did not call me a monster, did you?"

"Pfft, of course I meant that," the woman said. "Why, you stick out from the whole crowds of tourists out there. One would be blind if they didn't spot you right from the start."

Lucario grunted at her. "So what is your problem with us?"

"My problem?" she asked. "My problem is that there is a weird and shady group of people coming in here to ask about something that was established a long time ago, that's my problem," she explained. "You're surely such ignorant to ignore what Shinra really is."

The owner, worried about what he told, slowly walked away from the scene.

The woman crossed her arms. "Now, I ask you, where were you this whole time?"

The group suddenly saw the red-haired man grunt annoyed at his partner's interrogation. He turned his gaze at her with a glare. "Elena, knock it off now."

The woman named Elena gasped and turned to the red-haired man. "W-what are you saying?" she asked confused.

Elena is a junior member of the Turks who recently was admitted after an small incident happened to another member. Unlike her other fellow Turk comrades, Elena takes her job as one very seriously to the point she tries to sound as intimidating as possible. Unfortunately, for her, she has a rather clumsy nature (such as spilling information she wasn't meant to say, much for the annoyance of the other Turks).

The red-haired man grunted once more. "Have you forgotten why we're all the way here in the middle of nowhere?"

Elena shifted her eyes a bit. "W-we're taking a vacation from work..."

"Exactly," he said bluntly. "And what are we supposed to do in vacations?"

Elena gulped. "T-that's easy...we need to rest and relax before we can work again..."

"Correct," he said. "Now sit down and relax."

"Okay..." she trailed off. Once she was about to take her seat, she quickly shook her head and took a step back. "W-wait a minute! This is all wrong!"

"You know what is really wrong?"

"What?"

"You."

Elena bit her lip so hard that she ended up hurting herself a bit.

The red-haired man sighed with a frown. "Now our vacation is ruined thanks to you, Elena."

The bald man across the table frowned. "Even the booze tastes bad..." he said drunkenly.

"B-but..." Elena staggered a bit at this. "B-but what about these people? T-they should know who the Shinra AND the Turks are! D-don't you find that really fishy?!"

The red-haired man thought for a moment. "...I would mind it...but right now, I can't mind it since we're takin' a vacation; a ruined vacation you just cracked."

Elena blinked shocked. "T-this is just unfair, Reno!" she complained. "I-I can't stand any of this foolish ignorance at all! I can't believe you're just going to shrug it off as if it was nothing!"

The red-haired man named Reno returned to drink his wine. "Elena...for the last time, ignore them and relax, please."

Reno is a prominent member of the Turks who usually is the second in command, taking his job with pride. He had an accident during a mission, and after that, Elena was signed in for the Turks. He is a cocky, cynical, and somewhat lazy. Despite these traits, he does his job accordingly without hesitation, dedicating his life to Shinra. He also possesses a rebellious attitude temperament with sadistic actions, which could be contradictory for his laid-back personality.

The Smashers kept staring at the whole scene without interrupting. "I don't know you, Reno, but I have very big issues with these people," Elena said. "I'm not going to let them go like this, not on my watch!"

Reno rolled his eyes and looked away. "Too bad, you'll have to let them go for this time."

"N-no, I won't!" Elena yelled back before turning to the Smashers. "Now you listen to me wel-"

"Shut up," Snake simply said.

"I won't shut up!" Elena yelled. "You're by far the weirdest bunch I've ever met around these parts. For that, I'm going to have to ask you some questions about what you know, what you don't know, and what you don't really know that you should know."

Sonic circled his head a bit. "I think I got lost somewhere with what you said..."

"Shut up, porcupine," Elena sneered. "Now that I have your attentio-"

Elena stopped talking once the Smashers turned around to ignore her.

"H-hey, what do you think you're doing now?" Elena asked. "I'm asking you a question. Answer it!"

Mario looked at her. "I'm sorry, but we're kind of a hurry to find someone," he said before turning around.

Reno sighed. "Elena, would you PLEASE leave them alone before you end up spoiling what we have left of our vacation?"

Elena grunted at this. "Reno!" she groaned.

As the blond Turk kept ranting to the seemingly uninterested red-haired Turk, the Smashers stared forward to the wall in complete boredom while the owner tried his best to ignore what was going on in his establishment. "...We're in quite  fit, aren't we?" Knuckles asked.

Marth sighed. "I hate to say it but you're right," he said.

Lucario looked to the entrance and frowned at the whole event. His eyes drifted off where he found that there were three people standing in the entrance, staring at the scene in silence. The Aura Pokémon suddenly widened his eyes after he looked at the blond man in the middle of the other two.

Chris, bored, looked at Lucario's shocked expression. "Lucario, is something bothering you besides all the ranting she's making?" he asked.

"...C-C-C-C-C-C..." Lucario stuttered as he kept staring to the entrance.

Chris looked confused. "Um...would you stop stuttering like that?" he asked. "You're acting weird today. I don't want to deal with another issue right now."

Lucario gulped a bit and tried his best to remain calm. Once he managed to get into a calmer and collected state, he slowly pointed at the entrance.

Chris followed Lucario's gaze before his jaw opened a bit. The World Traveler quickly began tapping the others' shoulders to direct their sights at the entrance to see the people looking in confusion at what was happening in the pub.

"...T-there he is..." Chris muttered.

The Smashers (and Elena) turned to the entrance to see the three people. One of them was a blond adult with a cigarette hanging on his lips. He wore a navy blue jacket over a dark shirt with dark green pants, wore a white pilot's scarf that covered most of his shirt, wore a pair of goggles with a packet of cigarettes strapped underneath the band, and also wore leather gloves and boots. There was also a very closely cropped beard. The man narrowed his eyes at the Turks, muttering some harsh curses under his breath as he exhaled some smoke out from his mouth.

The second person, unlike the serious-looking old man, was a brown-haired lady in his late teens. The long-haired lady wore  shin-length pink dress with a slit up the front that buttoned up. She also wore a red bolero jacket over it with metal bracers, along with brown boots. Her hair was drawn back in a thick plait with a large pink ribbon tied around it. Her bangs were segmented and framed her face on the sides, and she had clean, emerald green eyes.

And in the middle of them, there was the supposed leader. The leader was an older blond teen with spiked hair. He wore simple pants with a no-sleeved shirt, which were indigo in color, and a simple belt. The teen also wore brown boots and gauntlets with a single pauldron over his left shoulder, and a big sword of about four or five feet (called a broadsword). If anyone could see his blue eyes, anyone could spot a small and strange glow in them. These very same eyes were were staring blankly at the whole scene.

It was, without a doubt, Cloud Strife, the man whom Chris had met before.

"..." Sonic shook his head. "What? Why did we stop talking just because these people came out of nowhere?"

His question made the three newcomers look at their direction.

"Great, you idiot," Knuckles muttered through gritted fangs. "Now they're going to start thinking things about us!"

Instead of any words from the three, the teen just stared at them for a moment while the lady tilted her head in curiosity as if she had never seen any people like the Smashers.

However, silence broke once the older man of the three fixed his eyes on the Turks. He spat smoke out from his smoke before yelling aloud "F($#&%($#&^%(#&(^%$&^%($#%$(#&^(#&(&(!!!"

Some of the Smashers gasped at the sudden breaking of the silence from the older man. His two allies looked at him before he stomped his way to the table where the Turks were sitting. Elena gasped and quickly sat down in fear, thinking the old man was very dangerous and menacing-looking.

"You biggest pieces of s^%#!" the old man cursed loudly, pointing an accusing finger at them. "Thanks to you, dips*%&@, I won't be seeing what else is beyond the skies! You b^*&$% destroyed my dreams!"

Reno and the bald man merely kept drinking their wine, ignoring the ramblings of the old man while Elena was the only one paying attention (with a terrified look on her face).

"Are you motherf*$^&#$ listening to me?!" he demanded. "I'm standin' right here!"

Elena gulped. "C-calm down, please," she pleaded a bit. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

The old man glared menacingly at the junior Turk, making her move back a bit. "You...you...YOU...YOU...YOU!!!"

Reno turned to the old man. "I'm very sorry, old man, but we're takin' a vacation right now," he said bluntly. "Right now, we can't attend to any of your rants. Please come back once we're back from our break."

"WHAT?!" the old man asked furiously. "What the f%*^ does that mean?!"

The Smashers looked back at Cloud sighing in annoyance before he walked behind the old man and put a hand on his right shoulder. "Cid, leave them alone for now," he said. "I don't see why they need to have a vacation right now, but it'd be best if we don't bother them for the time being."

The man named Cid grunted and closed his eyes. "Fine! I don't care about these f&*^%$, anyway!" he said as he did a sharp turn and crossed his arms, cursing harsher words under his breath.

Cid Highwind is a foul-mouthed man who lost his dreams of becoming the first man in space. An incident that occurred years ago prevented him from releasing the first flight, and Shinra was supporting the cause before the discovery of Mako changed their minds, ultimately dropping the project altogether, much for the dismay of Cid. Because of this, Cid has a grudge against a person he knows that stopped him from doing the launch, and Shinra because they lost interest to further give funds to the project. He joined the group to get revenge of Shinra for destroying his dreams.

The teen nodded at this before he gave Reno a stern look. "Is this true about the Turks getting a vacation so suddenly?"

"So what?" Reno asked uninterested. "We're people, y'know. Even we can have vacations from work."

"I find it fishy, though," Cloud said. "It's fishy to find the Turks in the middle of nowhere without raising arms against us."

Elena grunted. "I-I'm raising my weapons, though!"

Reno slammed his right fist on the table, instantly shutting Elena up. "If you don't have anything else to say, please, leave," he said. "Elena gets easily agitated."

The blond girl blinked shocked before she crossed her arms and grunted even more.

Cloud narrowed his eyes at Reno before shaking his head. "Whatever," he said. "The less we see each other, the better."

"Likewise," Reno said before taking another drink.

The Smashers watched silently at the event in front of them. It looked as if everyone of the native world was ignoring them completely. Some of them felt a bit offended at this at first, but most of them didn't want to get involved in so much trouble. "...We turned invisible or something?" Sonic asked. "They're not looking at us anymore."

Snake frowned and sat down on a chair. "It's not our place to get involved in others' affairs," he said.

Chris looked at Lucario. "...Do you want to meet Cloud?" he asked.

Lucario looked away. "W-well...i-if it's okay for him..."

The World Traveler looked back at the teen. Somehow, it looked like Cloud wasn't in the mood to meet anyone for the moment. "(...Hmm... Wait, I'm starting to recall some events of the game now...)" he thought. "(If I recall correctly, this is the part where Yuffie stole Cloud's Materia, and the group were doubting her for a long time now... I guess that'd explain why Cloud looks a bit mad...)" He looked to his right where the lady was rubbing Chip's head. "I don't know what to do now, sadly," he told Lucario.

Lucario sighed. "I don't want to make a bad impression to him..."

"Don't worry, I'll see if I can get him to..."

And Chris recalled that Chip was being cuddled by the lady.

"W-wait a second," Chris muttered as he looked back to the lady and Chip. "L-look!"

Final Fantasy VII - Flowers Blooming in the Church

The Smashers looked to their to see that the lady rubbed Chip's head with care. She laughed for a bit as Chip sighed loudly in pleasure. "How cute," she said. "I haven't seen a person like you around here."

Chip looked seductively at her. "I wouldn't mind if I was your tiger for a pretty long time," he said. "Chip Norris makes girls get attracted to him very easily, grrrrrrr..."

"Heheheh," the lady chuckled a bit at this before she stopped rubbing Chip's head (much for his dismay) and folded her arms behind her back. "Oh, so your name is Chip Norris?"

Chris wanted to slam his head on the counter for hearing that nickname being said from the lady.

"Excuse me..." Mario trailed off.

The lady turned to them. "...Oh, sorry!" she said embarrassed. "I forgot that you were all here... My apologies, but I was a little bit distracted by your little friend here."

Chip floated besides her. "Aww, come on, baby, tell them I'm your so special gu-" Chip received a hit by a fortune cookie straight on the face by an annoyed Sonic.

The lady looked as Chip fell down on the floor. Sonic got surprised once she ducked down and picked the downed imp (who was at the time very dazzled at the hit). She stood up and looked at them while she held the dazzled Chip on her arms. "I don't think that was a nice way to interrupt him," she said.

Sonic looked away. "I-I, er, ah..." He sighed and looked down. "I'm sorry..."

The lady chuckled heartily. "At least I can tell you're sorry for hitting your friend with a cookie," she said.

Sonic chuckled nervously, hiding some traces of blushes from the others.

Through the Smashers' eyes, they saw that the lady was a very warm and nice person. She would surely be one of the fewest kinds of girls that would take and carry around an atmosphere of pure tranquility...

...However, through Chris and Lucario's eyes, they saw one heck of a dead innocent girl. A very, very dead girl who would be brutally killed by a long sword going through her chest. The two shook the gruesome thought away before looking back at her. Chris shed a small tear that he wiped away quickly.

The lady nodded a bit. "I'm sorry for not introdrucing myself yet,"  she said. "My name is..."

Chris was pleading many times in his mind something. "(Please don't say Aeris, please don't say Aeris, please don't say Aeris, please don't say Aeris!)"

"Aerith," the lady introduced herself. "Aerith Gainsborough."

Aerith Gainsborough is a highly upbeat and cheerful person who during several times cheers up the others when they're having problems. During her early childhood, she and her biological mother were running away from Shinra. Her mother, weakened after being wounded, became weak and was about to die but was able to give Aerith to her adoptive mother, who gave Aerith her last name. Years later, she began selling flowers, known as the "flower girl" by some people. Cloud rescued Aerith after she was about to be captured by Shinra, who still are keeping tabs on her, seeing that there's a lot of potential for her to become part of SOLDIER. She decided to leave her home and travel around the world with Cloud and company to find out more about who she really is and what she has to do.

Chris looked shocked at this before he began thanking in his mind about hearing the correct name.

The lady named Aerith smiled warmly at them. "Nice to meet you, everyone," she said. "Normally, I don't get to see such..." she looked at the non-humans, "...unique people..."

Sonic looked bored at Chip on Aerith's arms. The imp's dazzled stated lifted off, but he took advantage of the girl by pretending he was still dazzled.

"Why are you talking to us?" Snake asked.

Aerith tilted her head. "Huh? Well, I wanted to meet some people of these parts," she said. "And, you know, you look like travelers to me."

Fox looked bored. "(Just get on with it and say we don't fit here.)"

Aerith chuckled. "I don't see what's wrong with it," she said. "We're travelers as well. We're currently chasing a-"

"Aerith," Cloud interrupted.

The girl turned to Cloud. "Yes? What is it?"

Cloud took a glance of the group before looking back at her. "It's time for us to go."

"Already?" Aerith asked with some disappointment. "Oh well, it can't be helped, I guess..." She looked back at the group and bowed a bit to them. "Sorry, but I think we have to go for now."

Lucario looked at Chris. "They're going, Chris..."

Chris sighed. "Okay, I'll do something to stop them, but I don't think Cloud will like me to... Wait a minute," he began, "now that I remember, Cloud told that if he didn't know me, I should yell at his face..."

"Do it."

The World Traveler got annoyed. "Oh, just because Cloud is telling me to do it I should definitely do it? If he told me to get stabbed in the heart by a knife, should I do it?"

Lucario shook his head quickly. "N-no, I didn't mean that sort of thing..."

Chris grumbled a bit. "Okay...here I go..." he muttered as he made his way to the blond mercenary.

Cloud kept staring at Aerith before Chris showed up. The blond turned to look at him. "Yeah?" he asked.

The World Traveler gulped. "U-um...C-Cloud..." Chris stared at the small glow that Cloud's eyes had. It looked very ominous to him. "...D-do you know who am I?"

"..." Cloud shook his head. "I've never met a person like you before."

"...Okay..." Chris muttered before he thought about what Cloud told him to tell him Taking a deep breath, the World Traveler decided to yell at him. "CLOUD, IT'S ME, CHRI-"

And Cloud instantly punched Chris right on his left eye. The World Traveler's look turned dumbfounded as he fell on the floor, getting a knocked out expression afterward. Some of the Smashers (and Aerith) gasped at this as they looked down on Chris.

"...Bad...idea..." Chris muttered on the floor, his left eye darkening a bit. "Very...very bad...idea..."

"Ouch..." Samus muttered.

Snake looked away. "Priceless, should I say," he commented.

Cloud looked down on Chris before a worried Aerith walked close to him. "Cloud...was that really necessary?" she asked with a stern look.

Cloud looked away. "I guess."

"You guess? You just punched him and knocked him out of cold!" she complained.

"Hey, he was yellin' at me straight on the face by no reason," Cloud said in his defense. "What else could I do?"

Mario, Lucario, and Knuckles went over to see if Chris was fine while Aerith blinked at Cloud. "Well, you could just hear him out."

"I don't even know him (Chris: T-that's cold...), y'know," Cloud said. "Hell, I don't even have a business with him at all."

Aerith sighed before she playfully put a finger on Cloud's nose. The mercenary looked a bit shocked at this before the flower girl approached her face at him. "Do you promise not to this again?

"I...well..." Cloud trailed off.

"Do you?"

"..." Cloud silently nodded.

Aerith chuckled. "I hope you keep your word, or else there will be more people knocked out on the floor."

"Why do I think...that didn't sound too funny to me...huh?" Chris asked.

Aerith kept rubbing (the growling) Chip. "Now, Cloud, please apologize."

"...Okay," Cloud muttered. "I'm sorry."

Aerith shook her head. "Not to me, Cloud. Him."

Cloud sighed and turned around to look down on Chris. "Hey, you, sorry for the punch."

"..." Chris raised a hand. "A-apology accepted..."

"There," Cloud said.

Aerith chuckled a bit at this. "I saw your eye twitch a bit. Was it hard to say?"

Cloud closes his eyes annoyed. "Hey, it wasn't that hard to say!" he complained. "And please, stop teasing me with this!"

"Okay, I won't tease you any longer," Aerith said.

Chris slowly got up from the floor and looked a bit frightened at Cloud. "I-I'm sorry for yelling at you a moment ago, b-but I was just trying to..."

Cloud shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

"(Phew! I didn't have anything good to explain myself!)" Chris thought in relief. "O-okay, whatever you say..."

Cloud looked at Aerith. "I think Cid wants to leave this place right now," he said. "Let's go outside and look for Yuffie."

The sound of name made most of the Smashers grunt in annoyance. Recalling the cocky smile of the ninja girl. "Wait," Marth interrupted, "you know who Yuffie is?"

Cloud and Aerith turned to them. "You know Yuffie?" Aerith asked.