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

[DededeCloneChris]

Fox crossed his arms and glared at Shadow Fox. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm telling you that you're not a gentleman," Shadow Fox said with a grin. "You never were one to begin with. I find that amusing since you chose to be very insensitive to others." Shadow Fox pointed at Peppita. "Especially that girl over there, for example. She's a clear example of your unnecessary cruelty towards her."

Peppita looked worried. She didn't know what to say nor she didn't understand anything that was happening. The Velbaysian was very confused at this event. "F-Fox, why does that shadow look a lot like you?"

Fox kept staring at Shadow Fox. "It looks just like me because it's here just to piss me off..."
Peppita knew well that Fox was stressed. The Velbaysian wanted to see Fox at least smile for a bit, but she had seen Fox's angered expression for a long time now.

Shadow Fox frowned. "I'm not here to piss you off, me," he said. "I'm here to speak the truth aloud so you feel good with yourself. Actually, you have a lot of truths to say."

Fox gritted his fangs. "You have NO right to go say things about me to anyone."

"Oh, yeah," Shadow Fox said. "If I do that you're probably going to break my heart with heave cruelty," the shadow said as he faked a sniff. "You break my heart, me..."

"Stop it..." Fox muttered as he tightened his right fist.

Shadow Fox put his hands on his chest. "Please, don't yell at me. I'm gonna cry and run away so you don't see me anymore. Boo-hoo..."

"I told you to stop..." Fox muttered as his anger grew bigger.

"F-Fox..." Peppita muttered worried. "(I-I want to tell him to calm down...but...what if he yells at me again? H-he looks so angry... I-I'm so scared...)" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "(I-I dunno what to do anymore...)"

"Are you gonna yell at me?" Shadow Fox taunted. "C'mon, you know you wanna. After all, we're meanies."

"Shut it!" Fox snapped out. "Stop pissing me off more before I kick you out from here!"

"Geez, no need to lose your cool either," Shadow Fox said with a chuckle. "It's your task not to lose your cool, right?"

"You...get away from here..." Fox said through gritted fangs.

"My, you look SO mad," Shadow Fox said with a snicker. "What happened? Did somebody go about telling everyone about our past?"

Peppita gasped at this and looked away. She slowly started to grasp what was going on in the scene.

"And did you grow so angry that you didn't care what the person you yelled at would do next?" Shadow Fox asked in a mocking tone. "Who cares about her, anyway?"

"W-what?" Peppita asked. "H-how do you know I..."

Shadow Fox looked at her. "If isn't the little b(beep) Peppita..."

Peppita gasped at the cursing word. "W-what? I-I'm not such a person like that!"

"Sure you are," Shadow Fox said before glaring at her. "Thanks to you, I'm going to suffer humiliation by people I barely just met some days ago." He closed his eyes and frowned. "I wanted so badly to enjoy this world so much that I HAD to find such a bastard like you," he said before glaring at her. "Why did you decide to RUIN MY FUN?!"

Peppita backed away a bit. "I-I didn't...I-I mean..." She glared at the shadow. "I never told you anything like that!"

"Pitiful girl," Shadow Fox said. "You did tell me that."

Fox grunted. "She didn't tell you that!" he yelled.

"Oh, sure she did," Shadow Fox said amused. "The infatuated girl couldn't stop her own feelings to ruin my fun time," he said before moving up his face, his eyes still staring down at her. "Those feelings turned out to be a real nuisance to me."

"S-shut up!" Peppita yelled. "I-I never met you before in my life!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Shadow Fox said as he frowned in disappointment. "Peppita...we met some days ago...don't you remember?" he asked. "You came to the guild building where you stared at me and my physique." He chuckled before he flexed his right arm. "I'm quite the handsome muscular guy of your dreams, huh?"

Peppita blushed embarrassed, but she kept glaring at the shadow. "N-no, I didn't do that to you! W-why can't you understand that?"

"Silly, immature Peppita..." Shadow Fox muttered as he looked at her with a devious face, raising his eyebrows a bit. "You still think I'm the man of your dreams, huh? C'mon, you can say it to me. I won't yell at you, I promise."

Peppita folded her arms behind her back. "Ooooooooh, just shut up, you!" she yelled angrily. "I'll keep saying the same to you: I never met you before in my life!"

"Oh my god, you're not only immature but stubborn as well?" Shadow Fox asked. "And here I thought you wouldn't turn out much WORSE," he said in shame. "Peppita, you're one bad little girl," he said amused. "I like bad girls."

"I-I'm a good girl!" Peppita contradicted quickly.

"Oh, then can you define everything you did to me as good?"

Peppita took a step back and looked a bit shocked. "W-well..." she trailed off. "I-I..." She shook her head. "U-um..."

"There's the truth I wanted to hear," Shadow Fox said pleased. "Nice to see you're a little bit good...but not enough," he said before glaring at her. "Thanks to you, my life has been taken down through the toilet. You've been a real imbecile who just acted all infatuated and stuff. You don't know how much mad I am now, Peppita." He looked at Fox. "Isn't that true, me?"

Fox was at a loss. He didn't know what to do besides glaring at his own shadow. The leader of Star Fox's anger kept him silent as he tried to calm himself down. He never felt so furious before in his life. "...T-that's not true..." Fox said. "...I didn't want to hurt her feelings."

"Did you now?" Shadow Fox asked. "I can say otherwise, though." He raised a finger and waved it in front of Fox's face. "I know much better than you here. I'm warning you: this could be very satisfying for you...but heartbreaking to her."

"Don't you DARE say anything else to her," Fox threatened the shadow. "Or else I-"
"Hey, Peppita," Shadow Fox began. "Did I tell you how much I wanted to say to you that you suck?"

Peppita gasped. "W-what?"

Shadow Fox turned to Peppita. "That's what we thought together," he explained. "I SO wanted to tell you how much I hated you after you broke that promise you made with me when you stopped stalking me immaturely."

Peppita shook her head. "N-no..."

Dr. Eggman, watching the scene silently from behind, coughed a bit to get their attention. "Little girl, in order to get you out from your shell of confusion, I'm going to tell you that the shadow in front of you is the real embodiment of the furry's truths."

"W-what?"

Dr. Eggman nodded. "Basically, the shadow you're seeing is telling you ALL the honest truth that the idiot didn't want to say to you because he was tolerating you by the looks of it," he explained. "Whatever the shadow says, it's the whole truth."

"...N-no, of course not..." Peppita muttered before looking at Fox. "...You wouldn't think those awful things of me...right?"

"Ugh..." Fox looked away and frowned.

"...Right?" Peppita asked worried. "...Is that right, Fox?"

"Geez, you're so darn clueless, aren't you?" Shadow Fox asked. "Guess what: this is what he was thinking after you asked him."

Peppita looked shocked. "H-how can I believe you? Y-you don't know anything!"

"Again, you're wrong," Shadow Fox said. "I'm the real Fox here," he said before pointing at Fox. "This one over here is just a poor imitation of the true one."

Fox pointed at him. "You're the poor imitation here."

"Am I?" Shadow Fox asked amused. "I'm starting to get sick of you 2," he said before glaring at Peppita. "It's time to shut the little b(beep)...forever..."

The Velbaysian took a step back. "W-what are you gonna do to me?"

"Oh, don't worry, Peppita," Shadow Fox said. "I'm just going to take you to your mother. She's dead, right? Well, I'm gonna do a good deed tonight and take you with her so you STAY there and don't piss me off anymore. Isn't that gentle of me or what?"

Peppita looked confused at him. "H-how do you know that my mom..."

"Sophia told me after you ran off crying," Shadow Fox said. "She wanted to make me apologize to you after I yelled at you. Good thing she told me that so I could seek you out and tell you how sorry I am..." He raised a finger and smiled evilly. "Then, I got an idea: why not take you to your mother as a form of an apology? You miss her, right? You want her to be with you again, right? Well, don't you worry, Peppita, I'll make you sure to reunite with her. That way, you're not going to be around anymore so you drool all over me."

Peppita looked at Fox. "F-Fox...i-is that true?" she asked as some tears strolled down her cheeks. "D-did Sophia tell you that?"

"..." Fox closed his eyes and turned to her. "...Yeah..."

"..." Peppita shook her head. "I-I'm not mad because now you know what happened to my dad and mom...but...if that's true...d-does that mean you really want to kill me off?"

Fox opened his eyes shocked and looked at Peppita. "No! I don't want to do such a thing to you!"

"I gotta admit he doesn't want to kill you off," Shadow Fox said. "I want, though. If I get rid of you, surely my stress will lift over." He made a happy expression. "It'll be so relieving to watch you squirm on the floor, begging for my help... I can totally help you by crushing your head with my foot."

Peppita shook her head quickly. "Y-you're lying! W-why do you want to kill me without having a good reason?"

Shadow Fox's happy expression turned into a demonic look. "Toying around with my past was your biggest mistake. I get so sick that people barge in my privacy and divulge whatever I talk to myself alone. The first I time I saw you, I knew right away you were going to follow me." He slowly raised his right fist. "I think it was your fault for meddling in where you weren't wanted. Right now, you're gonna face the consequence," he said before smiling honestly as his fist stopped under his right arm. "But think about this: I'll make sure your mother sees you again, and you'll get to stay with her forever! Now that's a perfect excuse for killing you. It'll benefit everyone in some way or another. Don't you agree, Peppita? The man of your dreams will help you to see your mother."

"...I-I..." Peppita shook scared as she slowly covered her face. "I-I don't wanna die... I-I don't wanna die..." She started to sob, making Fox feel neglected. "I-I don't wanna see my mom... I-I don't wanna die because I was so happy..." She started to cry silently. "I-I just don't wanna get hurt..."

"(Peppita...)" Fox thought in shame as Peppita started to rub her eyes without stopping.

Dr. Eggman snickered and turned to the right. "Well, you 3 seem to be having a good conversation without me. I'll leave you so you become acquainted," he said before he flew off the floor and went down to the temple.

The vulpine glared at the direction the scientist went off. "Get back here!" Fox yelled.

"No can do," Shadow Fox said as he stared at the crying Peppita. "Now, be a peach and let my fist stick out from your flat chest."

"S-stop it..." Peppita sobbed. "P-please, stop it..."

Shadow Fox chuckled. "I'll stop this once you die, Peppita. Why don't you stay there and let me kill you?" The shadow flexed his right hand's fingers at the level of his shoulder. "I'm getting warmed up here. It will be all over soon, don't worry..."

Fox had had enough of this. Turning around, he instantly tightened his fists more and glared at his shadow. "Don't you dare get closer to her..."

Shadow Fox looked at him. "What will you do if I do get close to her?"

Fox moved his left foot behind and narrowed his glare. "I'm going to stop you from killing her unfairly...that's what I'm going to do."

Shadow Fox put a hand on his forehead. "Aww, you love her, huh?"

"...No, I don't love her," Fox said.

"Then what is she to us?" Shadow Fox asked as Peppita kept sobbing. "Is she a little brat that can't listen to adults?"

"...She isn't like that," Fox said, closing his eyes.

"Oh, wait, I know," Shadow Fox said. "She's a little filthy b(beep), then."

"Stop calling her that!" Fox yelled, opening his angered eyes.

Shadow Fox sighed. "You know, this is starting to get so boring to me. I'll just start right now." He imitated Fox's stance. "Are you ready to face yourself?"

Fox gritted his fangs. "...There's no darn way I'm you... You're not me!" he yelled loudly. "You're just an a(beep)e! You're not me, dangit!" Fox closed his eyes and gritted his fangs even more than before, inhaling air so his anger would wear out. YOU'RE NOT ME, YOU SON OF A B(EEEP)!!!"

"..." Shadow Fox stared blankly at him. "...So...I'm not you, huh..."

Fox panted heavily and furiously at the Shadow Nightmare. "...Pretty much..." he muttered between pants. "...You're...not...me..."

"..." Shadow Fox chuckled silently. "...Heheheh..." His chuckles slowly got louder. "Heheheheh... Heheheheheh... Heheheheheh..." He slowly opened his hands at the sides. "Hahahahaha... Hahahahaha, hahahahahaha, hahahahahahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" he laughed maniacally. "HAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Fox watched in shock as the Shadow Nightmare's aura glowed even darker than before, creating a malicious wind that made the several plants move back. Shadow Fox crackled evilly to the ceiling high above the garden as he relished his newfound darker appearance. "Ugh, no..." Fox muttered as he continued to grit his fangs, Peppita stopping crying after feeling the wind pushing her bangles back.

"W-what's happening now?" Peppita asked as she rubbed her eyes a bit. "W-what is going on?"

Fox looked at her over his left shoulder, a serious look that frightened her. "Run!" he yelled. "Get away from here, quick!"

Peppita looked back and forth between the 2 foxes. "B-but what's gonna happen to you?"

"Don't care about me and run away from here!" Fox yelled at her. "Do you want to die or what? Get away from here and leave!"

Peppita was utterly confused. She didn't know if Fox was telling her to get safe from the Shadow Nightmare or if he was telling her to stay away from him. Her feelings were so damaged that she couldn't tell if this was good or not anymore. Peppita grabbed her head and slowly shook in fear.

"Peppita!" Fox yelled. "Run away from here!"

"N-no..." Peppita sobbed.

"What?"

"I-I don't want to leave you alone..." Peppita muttered as she sniffed, rubbing her eyes once more. "I-I don't want to...leave..."

Fox cursed under his breath. "Dammit, this is for your welfare, don't you understand?!"

Peppita embraced herself and looked at Fox as her eyes let out tears. "I-I'm so confused!" she cried out emotionally in pain. "W-what should I do?!"

"I'm caring about you!" Fox yelled. "Listen to what I say and run away from here!"

"Oh, there's no need for such foolish idea to get safe from the truth anymore..."

The vulpine's eyes shook in shock before he turned around to see a confident Shadow Fox with crossed arms looking at him, his dark aura glowing dangerously black.

Shadow Fox chuckled and flexed his right arm. "Ah, the surge of power from the lies..." he muttered with a snicker. "Just see what I can do thanks to your constant lies..."

Fox grunted and regained his fighting stance. "What do you know about me? I haven't been lying!" he yelled angrily.

Shadow Fox looked amused. "You mean to tell me you don't really miss your father?"

Fox gasped a bit. "I don't miss him anymore... He's dead..."

"Wow, you're such a heartless guy," Shadow Fox said disappointed. "You miss him a lot, I know that very well because I came out of you, Foxy," he taunted. "Also..." Shadow Fox narrowed his eyes. "Last time I recall...you're the one who encouraged him to go right to his death..."

Fox's jaw opened a bit in shock. Peppita slowly looked at Shadow Fox. "...What?" Peppita muttered. "...What was that?"

Shadow Fox nodded. "What, he didn't tell you?" he asked confused. "Oh wait, he didn't. Well, I may as well tell you, right? I'm really honest, Peppita... Besides, if I tell you now, you won't tell anybody else because you won't be around anymore to gossip this."

Peppita looked scared at Shadow Fox's devious look.

Fox wasn't going to stay quiet about it.

"Shut up," Fox said through gritted fangs. "You have NO right to do that."

"I don't have the right to say it like Peppita did?" Shadow Fox asked. "What, do you want me to go away and cry?"

"Who's telling you to do that?"

"You're a meanie, Fox," Shadow Fox said. "Meanies don't have a place to be around with you. You think you have the best choices just because you're a great leader? Tsk, you're just fantasying way too much."

Fox narrowed his eyes. "I'm a great leader... I know for sure I'm a great leader based on everyone's opinions. I'm not showing off, but everyone I know thinks I'm a great leader with the best choices there is..."

"...And...hmm..." Shadow Fox rubbed his chin. "...Are you good at choosing the right decisions so you don't hurt others emotionally?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Shadow Fox chuckled. "I remember this guy who didn't believe that his girlfriend was ready for the Anglars that he told her to leave the team, not caring how she cried and ran away..." Shadow Fox got in a thinking position. "...Don't you think you did sort of the same with Peppita?"

The leader of Star Fox looked shocked at him. "N-no...t-this is just different..."

"Is it?" Shadow Fox asked. "Apparently, I've been known to be such a dip(beep)t to just a single person," he said. "I care about their welfare, but I don't care what they say to me if they contradict my facts."

Fox slowly started to get bothered by the Shadow Nightmare as his fists slowly turned back to hands.

"Pfft, what do they know, anyway?" Shadow Fox asked annoyed. "They think they're all better than me. Hello, I'm the legendary leader of Star Fox. Whatever I say, it goes, period."

"T-that's not true..." Fox muttered as he started to look a little bit tense.

"Oh, it's so true, alright," Shadow Fox said amused. "I ALWAYS have the right choices. I like to order people the way I want them to do. I'm the strongest, smartest, most clever leader that the universes had ever seen before." He crossed his arms and smirked at Fox. "I hate all the people who dare not listen to my choices. Heck, I hate Falco for that matter. He thinks he's so cool and stuff that he can decide anything his little head (real size) wants to do."

"D-don't mock Falco..." Fox muttered with some anger.

"Slippy, oh, little weakling Slippy," Shadow Fox chuckled a bit. "He's not good riding an Arwing. Even if he's useful to make really good machines, I'm always have to chase the enemies that get his tail because he didn't listen to my orders. My god, what a big dumb(beep)s deaf toad..."

"Don't talk about Slippy like that either..." Fox muttered.

"Peppy's just an oldie," Shadow Fox said. "I have to remark it was so surprising that he came alive from Venom without my father. Really, when you think about it, it makes you think Peppy was a chicken who let my father do all the dirty work in there. Thus, my father possibly died because of Peppy's recklessness," he said with some anger. "I hope that old man is ready to die when I finish you off."

"Peppy isn't an idiot..." Fox muttered as he looked mad at Shadow Fox.

"And Krystal..." Shadow Fox chuckled. "...Do I care what she says? It was her fault that I ultimately judged her an inexperienced pilot of my team. She was lazy, so darn infatuated by my looks that she was fired... Like I care what the b(beep)h says to me, anyway."

"Stop talking about Krystal like that..." Fox muttered as he fully showed his fangs.

"I could go on all night saying stuff about everyone you know," Shadow Fox said. "I think I should stop here before I get to the best part...about what I really thought my father was..."

Fox's hands quickly turned into fists as Peppita watched scared from behind. "...Shut up..." he muttered as his eyes dilated in anger. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!!!"

Shadow Fox watched as Fox started to dash towards him with his menacing glare. His fists trailed behind his back, ready to deliver a hard punch at the shadow's face. However, the Shadow Nightmare looked amused at this and moved his face up before sighing, smiling wickedly. "...Pitiful Foxy..."

"UGH!!!"

"Always letting a small angering fact grow into a big stress for you... Thanks to that, you shall forever be defined as the worst insensitive leader in history..."

Peppita gasped loudly as she took a step back in shock.

Fox didn't know why, but Shadow Fox wasn't in front of him anymore. His vision turned blurry before his eyes rolled back into his head as he fell to his knees and fainted on the floor, his hands sliding forward from each side of his head as he lost consciousness.

The Velbaysian looked horrified as she saw where Shadow Fox was now. Peppita couldn't believe that the Shadow Nightmare appeared behind Fox right after she blinked one time.

The Shadow Nightmare had his left elbow behind his back in the same spot where Fox's throat once was. Peppita looked frightened as the Shadow Nightmare looked at her amused, not looking back at the knocked out Fox.

"...Excellent," Shadow Fox said as he looked at his feet. "I've achieved not only brute force, but I also got insane speed..." He smiled at Peppita. "Am I the coolest as you think or what?"

Peppita started to shake in fear as she recalled she was left behind with a dark monster that easily took out the one who could have potentially saved her. The Velbaysian looked helpless as she looked around to find a way to get away, now cursing in her mind after not listening to Fox before. Closing her eyes, Peppita closed her eyes and quickly ran to the right in order to run away.

However, for some reason, she felt like she just ran into a hard wall that made her lose her footing as she stumbled back a bit. The Velbaysian opened her eyes and gasped once she saw Shadow Fox standing in front of her with fists on his hips, looking down at her confused. "What are you doing?" Shadow Fox asked. "Why are you crashing onto my chest?"

"U-uh..." Peppita looked frightened as she backed away. Looking to the right, she thought she had another chance to run away. Once her feet began to run to the right to move around the Shadow Nightmare, she closed her eyes, not wanting to see another abomination.

Unfortunately, she once again ran into the same kind of wall before she stumbled back a bit. Peppita opened her eyes and looked even more frightened as she found Shadow Fox standing in front of her, keeping his "heroic" pose as he looked down at her. He deviously grinned a bit. "What do you know, you still DO like me. I mean, you want a hug from me?"

"N-no!" Peppita yelled loudly as she turned back to the left where she instantly stopped right after she found out that she was standing right in front of Shadow Fox again. "S-stop it!" she demanded as she turned to the right, only to find Shadow Fox there as well. "S-seriously, stop it!" she demanded louder as she turned around, finding herself looking at Shadow Fox's chest before looking up at his grinning expression. "W-what's so funny now? L-leave me alone!"

The Velbaysian started to look freaked out at the Shadow Nightmare. It was so unbelievable to think there was someone so insanely fast that she couldn't see with the naked eye. Peppita started to get even more desperate as she looked around to find a way out, but she always found herself looking at Shadow Fox.

This constant display of speed kept going for a minute as Shadow Fox enjoyed scaring the young girl. Once he stopped appearing in front of the lone pedestal of the floor, the Velbaysian shook in fear, her eyes looking exhausted for so much looking around.

"W-why are you doing this?" Peppita asked as she slowly backed away to the staircase the leaded to the lower floor behind her. "W-why are you playing around with me?"

"I like to play around with children," Shadow Fox said as he crossed his arms, smiling at her. "I like to do it a lot."

Peppita thought that she could distract the Shadow Nightmare by asking him questions. It seemed like Shadow Fox didn't plan to appear just behind her. The Velbaysian kept staring at him, not wanting to look at the fainted Fox on the floor. She thought that the Shadow Nightmare would vanish and appear right behind her if she looked away for a second. "D-don't you think you're going too far on a person like me?"

"You went too far on me," Shadow Fox recalled. "Or what I used to be me... Even so, you kind of went too far on me," he stated. "Shouldn't we be fine after I go too far on you?"

"N-no..." Peppita said gulping. "I-I don't think that's fair, actually..."

Shadow Fox tilted his head. "...Really? That's sad..." he trailed off. "But...you know why this is good?"

"N-no, I don't know why this is good..." Peppita responded, knowing by memory that the staircase was getting closer to her.

Shadow Fox chuckled. "This is good because...well..." He looked away amused before looking at her from the corner of his yellow eyes. "...I'm the one who made that choice..."

Peppita tried her best not to cry as she continued to back away. "A-and?"

"And...well..." Shadow Fox scratched the back of his head. "...Whatever I decide to do..."

Peppita's eyes widened as she quickly found herself being pulled against Shadow Fox's chest by his right arm pressing her shoulders. She couldn't believe that the Shadow Nightmare would instantly react and prevent her from getting away.

"...It's the right choice to do..." Shadow Fox chuckled deviously.

Peppita panicked out of fear and tried her best to push Shadow Fox's arm away from her by slipping her hands behind it. Unfortunately, for her dismay, she could barely move the arm away with her hands as it budged a little bit. "L-let me go, please, let me go!" she pleaded for mercy as she used all her forces to push the arm away from her shoulders. "Y-you're insane, you're a monster, and you're a maniac!"

"Wow, wow, wow," Shadow Fox said as he looked down at her. "Why are you treating me like trash now? Didn't you want this to happen?" he asking before chuckling deeply. "You always wanted to be this close to me... Don't be scared, Peppita, admit your love to me..."

Peppita looked extremely panicked as she struggled to get off from his arm. She didn't think this would happen to her just because she ran away. "LET ME GO!" she cried out as tears began to stroll down her cheeks. "I-I don't love a monster like you, and I won't love you at all!"

"...Peppita, you're hurting my feelings..."

The Velbaysian suddenly felt that the arm slowly applied more force against her. Peppita felt pain and she tried to get off as soon as she could, but her hands weren't strong enough to push them away. She later found herself gasping for breath as Shadow Fox looked amused at her.

"Why do you want to deny what you really want to have from me?" Shadow Fox asked as he later looked blankly at her, not caring the fact he was asphyxiating her. "C'mon, you want me to love you back, right?"

Peppita slowly closed her eyes as the arm pressed her hard against his chest. "I-I..." she trailed off weakly. "...I-I don't love you..."

"Why's that?" Shadow Fox asked. "Do you love the lying bastard over there?" he asked as he looked at the fainted Fox. "That's bad, though. He didn't care about your feelings at the very least. I, however, care for you..."

Peppita felt that she was slowly fainting. She tried her best to stay awake and resist the brute force of the Shadow Nightmare. "I-if...i-if...i-if...you care...a-about me..." She slowly opened her eyes as she found herself looking up at him. "...W-why...w-why...a-are you...t-trying...t-to...k-kill me..."

"...Didn't I tell you?" Shadow Fox asked. "I said I was going to take you to your mother."
Peppita gasped weakly.

"And that will surely be a perfect example of true love," Shadow Fox said as he grinned at her. "You'll die on my arms, Peppita. That's going to be the best romantic scene ever..." He smirked wickedly. "Now be a good girl and shut up so I can get rid of you."

Peppita suddenly started crying silently. "(N-no!)" she thought in panic. "(S-somebody, please, s-save me from this monster, I beg of you! I-I'm so powerless to do anything now! P-please, somebody...help me...I-I need your help...)" She clutched her eyelids as more tears strolled down her cheeks. With the strength she had left, she decided to shout loudly under Shadow Fox's snout, "PLEASE, ANYONE!!!"

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Oh, that's cute," he remarked at Peppita's crying expression. "You think someone going's to come right now and stop me from taking you to your mom..."

Suddenly, his ears twitched a bit.

"It's amusing to come right before you have a chance to kill her after she wanted help," said a voice from behind the Shadow Nightmare.

The Shadow Nightmare stared forward and looked bored. "..." He remained silent.

"Flying Guillotine!"

Shadow Fox pushed the gagging Peppita to the floor as he quickly ran all the way to the lone pedestal, avoiding some dark energy waves that sliced the air apart before moving back to the staircase. The Shadow Nightmare watched as seven figures came running from the staircase, instantly looking around as the person in the center of the group, the one that executed the attack, put hands on hips.

"Looks like we arrived here in time..."

"..." Shadow Fox glared at the group.

The Shadow Nightmare looked at the group that came from the staircase. The group that just arrived was composed of Maria, Sophia, Wolf, Chris, Sonic (as a werehog), Chip, and Nel who had been the one to execute the attack to save Peppita.

"N-no!" Chris gasped as he looked at the downed Fox before looking back at Shadow Fox. "S-somebody brought a Shadow Nightmare here!"

"A Shadow Nightmare?" Maria asked. "What is a Shadow Nightmare?"

Wolf glared at Shadow Fox. "Basically, a monster that turns itself to look like its target... However, this copy is entirely made out of sick and twisted thoughts from the victim, boosting its power with how many lies the victim had been hiding from others so it unleashes enhanced attacks. In a few words, the lies that the victim tries to hide make the shadow even stronger... Well, that's just what I think it is."

Sonic looked surprised at him. "Wow, how do you know all that?"

"Hedgehog, I DO study battles," Wolf said as he kept looking at Shadow Fox. "I knew I was gonna fight a scum like this very soon. I could tell that very well."

Sonic growled a bit before looking away. "W-well, I study battles too..."

Maria rubbed her chin. "Let me get this straight... A Shadow Nightmare copies its victim's appearance and boosts its power by how many lies the victim has... Sounds farfetched to me, but I want to see more about this phenomenon."

"P-Peppita!" Sophia yelled as she saw the struggling Peppita on the floor. The teen ran and knelt down to see her. "Peppita, are you okay? Did he do something to you?"

"S-Sophia..." Peppita muttered weakly as she turned herself around to lay her back against the floor, her expression looking happy and relieved at them. "Y-you came to save me...Sophia..."

Sophia nodded. "Yeah, we all came for you, Peppita..."

Peppita looked at the group. "W-where's...Fayt and the others?"

"We separated intro groups after knowing that Fox went to find you," Nel explained.
Peppita smiled weakly before she moaned a bit in pain and fainted.

"Peppita!" Sophia yelled. "Hang in there, Peppita, please..." she said as she tried to heal her.

"Since we already found you..." Nel looked at Maria. "Think you can give them a shout to alert them?"

Maria nodded and took out a communicator that looked like a cell phone that she held on her right. "Of course," Maria said. "I just need to press this button an-"

In a slow motion, Maria watched as a blue shot destroyed the communicator completely as its pieces fell on the floor. The leader of Quark blinked a little bit surprised at the crumbles of the communicator before she looked all the way back to the lone staircase where the Shadow Nightmare had a dark phase gun aiming at her.

Shadow Fox chuckled as he spun the phase gun on his right finger. "Oh, sorry, I failed that shot," he said chuckling. "I meant to shot you head down, but I accidentally missed and destroyed your communicator apparatus."

"..." Maria didn't look surprised anymore. "Don't lie to me now. I know you reacted quickly and shot my communicator so I couldn't call reinforcements here."

"Bravo," Shadow Fox said as he put the phase gun in his holster. "You're very clever, Maria Traydor, but not so smart."

"I'm not going to instantly know about you," Maria said. "I just met you, after all. If I DID know about you, then I'd surely be some sort of stalker who doesn't have anything better to do than...stalk people...and I'm not like that."

"...Maybe," Shadow Fox said before shaking his head. "Anyhow, I stopped you from calling reinforcements here," he said before chuckling. "I know for sure you think I'm your enemy, right?"

Chris glared at him. "O-of course you're our enemy!"

"But I'm not your enemy," Shadow Fox said as he opened his arms wide. "I'm the real Fox, the one that will try and help you all defeat the Subspace Army."

"Not this crap again..." Sonic muttered with a frown.

Wolf frowned. "Oh please, don't talk about this "I'm the real one here" stuff now," he said a little bit disgusted at the Shadow Nightmare. "What you have to do now is scram or die."

Shadow Fox glared at them as Sophia tried to heal Peppita through Symbology. "What if I tell you to choose one of those options instead?" he asked. "I know what I'm doing here. I'm always right with what I decide to do for everyone to stay...alive..."

"...What?" Wolf asked. "What does that suppose to mean?" He thought for a moment. "You mean to say you know what's best to do?"

"And that I'm always right," Shadow Fox said. "I mean, I have always the right choice in mind."

The World Traveler knew that the shadow was probably telling what Fox thought in reality. If that were true, Chris would look at Fox with a different point of view. However, it was impossible to tell if the shadow was thinking by his accord. "Is that what Fox really thinks of himself?"

"...Duh."

"...B-but...that's not really true..." Chris said before he looked at Peppita. "I don't think it was right of him to yell at Peppita like that and..." The World Traveler looked at the fainted Fox. "Fox!"

As soon as Chris took a step forward, Fox instantly disappeared in a blink of an eye. The World Traveler looked shocked as the Shadow Nightmare held Fox by the collar on the floor.

"What the..." Sonic looked shocked. "I-I didn't see him picking him up..."

Chip shook. "W-what was going on here?"

Shadow Fox chuckled and let Fox fall down on the floor, close to the lone pedestal. "Oh, sorry, but I can't let you lay a finger on him," he said before he was shown holding the fainted Peppita by holding one of her bangles high up on his left side before letting her fall down. "Also, I can't let you either lay another finger on her."

Sophia gasped once she saw that Peppita was gone from under her hand. "N-no!" she gasped as she got up. "Y-you, bring her back to me!"

Shadow Fox shook his head. "Sorry, but I have to take her to her mother soon. She wants so badly to reunite with her."

"...What?" Sophia asked. "...Y-you surely don't mean kill Peppita..."

"That's...another way to put it," Shadow Fox admitted. "If I do that, then Peppita will meet her mother again, right? This is going to be my apology for yelling at her." He smiled honestly. "Peppita wants to see her mother again, so why don't give her what she wants to see?"

Sophia stared at him before shaking her head. "I bet Peppita didn't want to meet her like that..." The teen glared at the shadow. "Peppita wouldn't try to do that at all."

"She wanted to, so I'm gonna give her that," Shadow Fox said. "After I'm done with her, let's all go back to Peterny and sleep for the night." He made a happy expression. "Leave me alone with these 2, please."

Shadow Fox noticed that the seven characters were looking at them with glares.

"..." Shadow Fox frowned. "...I take that you're not going to leave..."

"Exactly," Wolf said as he crossed his arms. "I don't take orders from an abomination like you."

Apparently, this fact made Shadow Fox feel a little bit tense as he stared blankly at Wolf.

"...You...are not taking orders from me..." Shadow Fox muttered before he started to pant heavily. "...You're not listening, then..." He closed his eyes. "Seriously...I really hate people who dare not to listen to what is best for them...I know what's best, after all..." He tightened his fists. "Don't worry about this, though..." He grinned evilly and chuckled. "It'll be all over for you, fools..." He opened his glaring eyes as he smiled at them wickedly. "You're gonna go down by being such bastards..."

The seven (including Chip) took fighting stances as Maria walked forward. "Okay guys, let's do it."

Shadow Fox cracked his fists as the two fainted characters weren't moving at his sides. "Be my guests."

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – The Divine Spirit of Language

"I am the shadow...the true self..." Shadow Fox stated as he crossed his arms. "You don't know what to do when you feel that the situation is getting worse, huh? Well, I'll gladly be your leader of the pack. Now, my first order of tonight for you...is telling you to die."

Maria frowned and took out her phase gun. "If you put it that way, then we don't have any choice but to die either way. If we follow it we'll die, and if we don't you'll kill us."

Shadow Fox chuckled amused. "That's the whole meaning behind it."

Nel took a step back as she brandished her daggers. "Sorry, but I don't follow your orders."

"That's sad," Shadow Fox said. "You could have done that."

Sonic growled angrily. "Please, I'm not gonna be ordered by you to do whatever you want me to be doing."

"Really? You need some discipline, you know."

"A-and I think you need some discipline..." Chip said as he shyly punched the air. "T-these guys will teach you, though..." He quickly hid behind Chris. "G-go get 'im, guys!"

Chris frowned. "I knew you were going to do that..."

Shadow Fox put his fists down by the sides of his belt. "Well then, shall you begin to follow my order?"

Sophia took out her staff that she put crossed in front of her. "I'm scared...but I'll give it my best shot."

"Let's cut down the talk and get to the fight," Wolf said as he fully opened his claws. "You better be ready for the worst...all of you."

"Yeah, we know," Maria said.

Shadow Fox opened his arms. "Let's begin the show."

And he instantly disappeared right after they all blinked.

"H-he just disappeared!" Chip yelled before he decided to hide behind the arch's blue gem of the staircase. "B-be careful!"

Maria sighed. "He's probably still in this floor. If that's true, he's waiting for us to take a step forward so he kicks us away..."

Sonic looked at her. "Then what do we do to stop him from goin' around?"

"Very simple," Maria said as she aimed her phase gun at the floor. "Hey, shadow freak, try dodging THIS! Magnetic Field!"

The phase gun of Maria shot down a beam that created a big field of blue magnetism that covered an eight of the long floor. The attack didn't affect any of the members of the group, but it did affect someone.

Maria looked pleased after she saw some dark tanker boots being stuck on a corner of the circle of magnetism. She looked forward where Shadow Fox grunted angrily as some electricity ran through his body.

"D-dangit!" Shadow Fox yelled as he struggled to move his feet. "I'm starting and now I'm getting stopped that fast?"

"Shut up," Maria said while she pulled back her phase gun that the magnetic field kept doing its effect. The leader of Quark ran to the shadow vulpine to initiate another attack. "Crescent Locus!" she yelled, kicking the air upward to send a shockwave that obliged Shadow Fox to be pushed up to the air. "No-one can escape gravity! Gravity Bullet!" Maria yelled as she shot out from her phase gun a gravitation sphere that pulled Shadow Fox into it, dealing several hits that made him grunt in pain.

"Let's not stay standing here and do something as well," Nel told the others. "We know his speed is insane, but we must try to hit him once he gets staggered."

"Oh ho ho ho, I know what you mean by that," Sonic said with a smirk before he glared at the shadow and extended his claws to the sphere of gravitation.

"Ugh!" Shadow Fox grunted as Sonic's claws grabbed him by the sides. "Idiot..." Shadow Fox muttered before he easily pushed the claws away with his hands, landing back on the floor where he shook his head and smirked at the group.

"Aw, dangit! What a way to screw up by attack!" Sonic cursed as he pulled back his claws.

"Disperse!" Maria yelled. "We shouldn't be standing close to each other!"

"I think that's a good idea," Wolf said. "Let's do it."

All the characters decided to disperse across the long floor as Chris tried to see where he could be. Chris gasped once he lost sight of Shadow Fox. "W-where did he go now?" He felt something leaning behind his back. "...T-tell me he just didn't appear behind me..."

Chip slowly peer from the arch to see that Shadow Fox was leaning his back against Chris's back, the Shadow Nightmare crossing his arms. "H-he just did..."

"Dammit, I told you not to tell me that!" Chris yelled angrily as he turned around. However, once he turned around, the Shadow Nightmare was gone, and now he was leaning behind his back once again. "S-stop that!" Chris yelled as he turned around to see the shadow, but he was once again leaning behind his back. "R-really, stop it now!"

"Hey, I'm acting cool," Shadow Fox said amused. "I thought you though I was cool."

"L-leaning behind me isn't exactly being cool... It's being annoying..."

"..Oh well," Shadow Fox said before he slammed the back of his right hand against Chris by lifting up his arm. The World Traveler yelled in pain as he was sent stumbling across the long floor to where he stopped rolling right in front of the small stairs that led to the lone pedestal. "If you don't like it, then don't say it to me again. You don't want to piss me off, right?"

"O-oww!" Chris moaned in pain as he got up and rubbed the back of his head. "T-that hit was...just too...oww..."

Nel, who was located to the west of the floor, narrowed her eyes once she saw the World Traveler shaking his head. "Not only this doppelganger is fast, but his strength is brutal..."
"Damn straight," Shadow Fox said behind her. The Elicoorian turned around to glare at him. "You're quite clever when just finding out how strong I am. By the way, you were late in that, though."

"Shut up," Nel said as she did a hand sign. "Now stay there and don't move."

"I don't receive orders from the likes of you," Shadow Fox said as he began to hop on his spot, imitating Fox's signature fighting stance. "Let's have some fun."

"Did I tell you that I can tolerate flirting guys a bit?"

"I wasn't flirting."

"Good," Nel said. "Whirlwind!"

Shadow Fox backed away once winds began to circle around the Elicoorian. Nel stood between torrents of slicing winds that protected her from the Shadow Nightmare. The spy then ran at the shadow where the winds sliced his vest a bit. "Ugh..." Shadow Fox quickly side flipped to escape from the winds.

[DededeCloneChris]

"What's the matter? Can't get close to me?" Nel asked.

Shadow Fox chuckled as he took out his phase gun. "No, but this can do the job."

Nel's eyes widened as she saw the phase gun shooting out a flurry of blue shots that obliged her to flip into the air to evade them all. For her dismay, the whirlwind soon vanished, its effect not exactly lasting a lot of time. "Darn it..." Nel muttered as she landed back on the floor. "That's my only attack to keep him away from getting too close to me..."

"Actually, I'm close to you now."

Nel gasped as she turned around for her to receive a harsh blow by a fast kick on her face that sent her rolling a long distance to the north wall. The spy grunted and quickly stopped by stabbing the floor with a dagger to stop herself from rolling, her right hand putting a tight grip on the dagger's hilt. "His strength...is just unbelievable..." she muttered. "I...don't feel so good anymore..."

The Crimson Blade made suddenly was pulled back by the scarf she was wearing. Nel gasped for air as Shadow Fox was seen pulling her by the two ends of the long scarf that she wore.

A sadistic smile was on the Shadow Nightmare as he snickered a bit. "This is why I have my red scarf's ends tucked in," he said as he grabbed both ends with each hand to asphyxiate Nel's throat. "It's dangerous to wear clothes sometimes, you know."

Nel began to cough weakly. "Y-you...insolent...fool..."

Shadow Fox applied even more force. "Shut up, you b(beep)," he said mad. "You don't listen to me; you die, simple as that."

"S-somebody...lend a hand..." Nel gasped for air.

Behind one of the pillars of the floor, a Blaster shot a shot at Shadow Fox's head. The Shadow Nightmare was too busy torturing Nel before the shot impacted his head. Shadow Fox stopped grabbing Nel's scarf before he looked back angrily. "Okay, who did that just now?"

The Blaster with the knife pulled back before Wolf appeared from behind the pillar. "Got a problem that I stopped your play time?" he asked as he put his Blaster back in its holster.

"I have problem," Shadow Fox said. "And I want to terminate that problem."

"Bring it on, then," Wolf taunted the Shadow Nightmare.

Shadow Fox smirked. "With pleasure..." He instantly disappeared.

At this sudden action, Wolf snapped his fingers. "Now."

"Magnetic Field!"

The same field of magnetism suddenly came from behind the same pillar Wolf was hiding. Once Wolf turned around, he found the struggling Shadow Fox trying to move his stuck feet. "N-not this again!" Shadow Fox yelled.

Wolf crossed his arms in front of his face as his claws glowed dark. "Time to rip that face of yours," he said before he leaped at Shadow Fox and began slashing his face 5 times before dealing a harsh blow that sent him falling down on the floor, grunting a bit in pain as some sparks flew out from him.

Maria sidestepped from the pillar, her phase gun pointing down. "You know, it's surprising what strategies can do when you work together to take down a guy like you."

Shadow Fox grunted and quickly got back up by pushing his feet up. "I don't need teamwork," he said as he cracked his fists. "You 2 are going to be the first ones t-"The Shadow Nightmare stopped talking once a sphere of electricity appeared, trapping him inside where he grunted several times. "W-why did this come out of nowhere?!"

Several feet away, there was Sophia holding out her open right hand as her staff was behind her. "Stop right there, filthy monster!"

"Ugh!" Shadow Fox grunted once more after the sphere disappeared by delivering a strong blow of sparks into him. "So I guess everyone's ganging up on me..."

"We are!"

Shadow Fox's ears perked up before he sidestepped from a lance crashing down the floor. The wielder of the spear, Chris, cursed after he was seen holding the spear down.

"Aww, please!" Chris cursed. "I wanted this attack to land the hit!"

Maria frowned. "You should have stayed quiet if you didn't want him to dodge it."

Chris looked helpless. "You're right..."

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Man, what a way to screw up, Chris," he taunted. "Then again, you screw up a lot."

The World Traveler gasped once he felt that he was lifted up by a fist by grabbing his jacket's neck. Chris gasped for breath as he looked down to see the smirking Shadow Nightmare looking up at him. "L-let me go..."

"Tsk," Shadow Fox snickered a bit. "Like I'm going to let you go that easily, Chris."
Shadow Fox watched as Chris removed his jacket to fall back on the floor on his feet.

"...I have to admit that was clever..." Shadow Fox said as he tossed the jacket away, looking forward at Chris. "But it won't help you from this."

"UGH!" Chris was quickly punched in his stomach by a hard fist from the Shadow Nightmare. The World Traveler's vision looked blurry for a moment as he looked at Shadow Fox in front of him.

Shadow Fox chuckled. "What's the matter? Can't you resist a simple fist attack?"

"U-ugh..." Chris coughed some blood as Shadow Fox pulled back his fist and prepared to deal another blow. However, magnetism quickly stopped him from moving again as electricity ran into his body. Chris took this opportunity to run away from the corrupt shadow.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Shadow Fox yelled angrily as the magnetism stopped, his back behind furiously slashed by Wolf's Hand of Doom that made him stumble forward. "Can't you use another attack than that?!"

Maria closed her eyes. "(It's the only attack that can stop him from running and probably warping all over the place so he doesn't deliver those fatal blows to any of us...)"

"Well, it's not like your attacks are that severe," Shadow Fox said as he quickly disappeared from sight.

Wolf grunted. "Use that magnetic attack again to stop him fr-"A harsh fist smacked the left side of his head as he was sent crashing against a pillar that got destroyed and fell back. The lupine gritted his fangs as he was forced to lean against the remains of the pillar. "D-darn you..." Wolf muttered before he slowly got up only to be met by another fist that sent him crashing on the western wall of the floor, leaving a big crack on it as he panted heavily.

Shadow Fox smirked and flexed his right arm in front of him. "Looks like I'm starting to gain the upper hand here."

"H-how dare you..." Sophia muttered somewhat scared, calling Shadow Fox's attention as she prepared another Symbology attack by grabbing the tip and the lower part of her staff, a blue sphere slowly appearing in front of her.

"Sorry, but I just can't let you do that," Shadow Fox said before he disappeared in a blink of an eye and appeared right in front of Sophia. The teen gasped as the shadow grabbed the staff and broke it apart by crushing it with a hand. Sophia quickly backed away as her spell was interrupted, the shadow letting the two parts of the broken staff fall down as he stomped on one and crushed it. "Without your little staff, you won't try to cast another Symbology spell, huh?"

Sophia looked shocked as she found herself unequipped with a weapon. The staff that she was using supported greatly her Symbology spells since it was specially synthesized for magic, but once it broke, her Symbology power diminished greatly.

"H-help, you guys!" Sophia yelled as she found herself helpless.

Shadow Fox moved his right fist back. "Stay there and don't move."

"Can I say that to you as well?"

Shadow Fox was quickly grabbed by two stretching claws that appeared from behind a pillar. The Shadow Nightmare looked angrily at this before he raised his fists in the claws as he began to be covered by incinerating flames that made the claws return to the werehog. Sonic sidestepped from the pillar where he blew air at his burned claws.

"Hot, hot, hot..." Sonic said between exhales.

Shadow Fox landed back on the floor, quickly avoiding another magnetic trap from Maria as he speeded back to the staircase of the south. Chip gasped and quickly flew over the arch so the monster wouldn't see him. "Alright, I'm getting back to my usual battle performance," he said pleased as he made fists by his sides, Sophia running away to help Nel to left side of the floor.

"Ugh, his speed is unbelievable..." Maria muttered.

"I could keep up with his pace but nooooooooo I had to be a darned werehog," Sonic said annoyed. "Do you think I enjoy all this power in me or what? I hate strength when it makes my speed so darn low..."

"Jealous much?" Shadow Fox taunted him. "I have both speed and power by my side, not to mention my mind."

"What does your mind have to do with anything?"

"Well, for example, I can think of taking out first the people that present some kind of threat to me," he stated as he quickly vanished in front of them. "If my guess is correct, the most dangerous person around here is...the blunt girl Maria."

"Magnetic Field!" Maria yelled without interruptions in order to stop the Shadow Nightmare from delivering a blow to her. "(Wait a minute, this seems rather odd to do...)" She noticed that the floor was illuminated a bit with a shade of red. "What the..."

"A-above you!" Chris yelled as he pointed up at a burning meteor that quickly went down on the leader of Quark. Maria gasped and quickly ran away before the meteor crashed on the floor, creating a big explosion that sent Maria away as a big crack spread covered at least a fourth of the floor.

The meteor itself turned out to be Shadow Fox as he was standing in a big crack that he made by the attack. He had his fists on the sides of his belt as he grinned at them. "Do you like my Meteor Fox?"

"Meteor Fox?" Chris repeated. "...Is that some kind of upgrade from Fire Fox?"

"Yeah, that's how awesome the honest people like me are," Shadow Fox stated as he pointed at himself with his thumb. "I have lots of powerful attacks at my disposal."

Maria slowly got up from the floor as she stood up. "That explosion was rather dangerous..."

"Rather dangerous?" Shadow Fox repeated as he turned around to see her. "Idiot, don't you dare address my attack as rather dangerous..."

"Enough of your mocking talk, scum," Wolf said as his claws glowed dark. "Let's continue with this so you go away."

"Why don't you go away?" Shadow Fox asked with a snicker before he vanished once again.

The World Traveler looked around the floor. "T-that monster is surely running all over the place to make a surprise attack again..." He held his spear tightly with both of his hands. "W-what should we do?"

"(At this rate, he could take us all out...)" Sonic thought as he growled angrily and looked around. "(I want to have my speed back. That way, I could probably stop him from running all over here...)" He closed his eyes to concentrate his hearing. "(Yeah, there's definitely someone stepping all over this wide area... Ah, god, I'm relying on my werehog senses. I don't want to be using this kind of method forever...)"

Suddenly, all the pillars that were standing idly soon began to collapse all over the floor. The group watched as the pillars broke apart into crumbles that filled the whole place with some dust. Soon, there was nothing left on the floor to hide.

Wolf grunted. "He's cleaning out the whole place so we don't hide again..."

"I-it's futile to hide now, right?" Chris asked scared.

"Looks like it..." Sonic muttered before slamming a fist on the floor (making a crack as well). "Somebody think of something!"

To the left area of the floor, Sophia tried her best to heal Nel's injuries by using some Symbology magic she had left. The Crimson Blade member was lying down on the floor as she looked weakly at Sophia. "Hang in there, Nel..."

Nel coughed a bit. "That bastard..." she muttered. "Using what I'm wearing to take me out..."

"I know..." Sophia muttered as she held a blue sphere in front of her right hand on Nel. "O-oh no, it's harder to concentrate without my staff..."

"You can do it..." Nel coughed a bit. "The staff only affects your offensive Symbology, but not you healing Symbology..."

Sophia smiled a bit and nodded. "Yeah, you're right... Just give me more time and I-UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

Nel's eyes widened in horror as Sophia let out a fierce cry of pain before she was kicked away hard by a strong kick on her right side. The Crimson Blade member gasped once she found Shadow Fox standing beside her with a right fist down where Sophia's back used to be. The Shadow Nightmare chuckled darkly as he crossed his arms and looked down at Nel. "Hey there, hottie. How's the cold floor down there?"

Nel glared at him. "Y-you can't possibly expect forgiveness now!" she yelled angrily as she managed to roll away where she stood up, her injuries making her grunt in pain. The red-haired woman looked to the right to see that Sophia was taken out as she was fainted on the floor, clutching her stomach with her arms. "Sophia..." She turned back to the enemy with a glare. "I hope you're prepared now..."

Shadow Fox opened his arms and raised his eyebrows a few times. "I was born prepared. Bring it on."

Nel crossed her arms in front of her as she opened them to shoot several ice knives that went after Fox. "Ice Daggers!" she yelled.

Shadow Fox chuckled at this as he pulled his fists back and called forth flames that covered him, melting the daggers instantly to water.

Nel grunted as the Shadow Nightmare kept burning. However, once she noticed, the flames, with the devilish shadow in it, quickly rammed against her before she cried out in pain. Nel's pupils shrunk in pure pain as the flames burned her and ultimately pushed her back to the wall where she managed to stop herself by putting her feet against the wall. She started to gasp for breath as Shadow Fox's fire vanished while he landed down, a hand on the floor as he smirked at her.

"I-I have to admit...you're a worthy opponent..." Nel muttered as she put an arm around her waist. "B-but...I won't be taken down..." She pulled back her right hand to cast Symbology. "(I need to heal my injuries with this spell...then I can strike back in time...)"

Shadow Fox frowned. "Here's an important rule for all of you," he began as he raised a finger, hearing the footsteps of Wolf, Maria, and Sonic from behind her. "No Symbology is allowed in the field as long as I'm the one being the target, okay?"

"You're not the target of my spell..." Nel pointed. "...I'm the target..."

"Oh snap, then I should stop you at once before you heal your injuries," Shadow Fox said surprised. "Okay, don't move, I'll be right there in a minute."

"UGH!!!" Nel received a severe uppercut under her chin as she was sent to the air before Shadow Fox quickly appeared above her and slammed down his joined fists together on her. Nel yelled loudly in pain as she crashed down on the floor on her back. "Nooooooooooo!!!" she yelled loudly before she passed out, a small line of blood coming from her lips.

Shadow Fox landed close to her and dusted off his hands. "2 out, 4 more to go..."

"7!" Chip yelled from the arch.

"Oh right, 7."

"...Darn it!" Chip cursed.

As Wolf, Maria, and Sonic rushed to the Shadow Nightmare, Chris panicked as tried to come up with an attack close to the staircase. "Oh please, oh please, oh please," he muttered as he thought hard. "I-I need some sort of new attack to stop Shadow Fox..."

"Well..." Kawashima began from Chris's pocket. "You need to deal some hits so you learn your next new skill for this job..."

Chris sighed in relief. "Okay...thanks for the info...but how am I going to land some hits on him?" he asked. "...Unless I use Jump again..." He frowned. "...I'll have to..." he said disappointed before he disappeared by jumping high up into the air.

Shadow Fox turned around to see the three characters stopping running to him. "You 3 are next," he said as flexed his fingers. "You shall suffer the consequences for not listening to my orders."

"For the last time, we don't have much of a choice but to die for you," Maria reminded him. "We're not gonna comply with that."

Shadow Fox sighed disappointed. "It's people like you that makes my blood boil so much," he said before grinning evilly at them. "Some violence can fix that. Don't try to use that magnetic attack again or else you're gonna get a déjà vu moment."

Maria pointed her gun down at the floor as Wolf and Sonic stood by each side of her. "Magnetic Field!"

The Shadow Nightmare vanished from sight once again, expecting the field of magnetism to engulf part of the field. However, this was all a plan Maria was thinking of as she smiled a bit, not pressing the trigger to use the shouted attack.

"(Just as I thought...)" Maria thought before looking up to see a flaming star going down on them. "Right there!" she yelled as she shot out from her phase gun a gravitational sphere that went up in hopes of stopping the burning dark vulpine.

"Will that do it?" Sonic asked as the three looked up to see both attacks clashing against each other.

"...Get away!" Wolf yelled as he saw the fire overwhelming the gravity sphere as he easily broke the sphere apart. "The sphere was too weak to stop him!"

"Quick!" Maria yelled as the three dispersed to different parts to avoid the meteor that crashed on the floor to create a big explosion of fire.

Once the flames disappeared, Shadow Fox was shown touching the floor with a hand before stood up and grinned. "Ah, the power of the lies..." he muttered in pleasure. "They make me so darn strong and powerful..."

Sonic stopped running as he turned around to glare at the Shadow Nightmare. "Yuck, this guy is just thirsty for power, isn't he?"

Maria stopped running to make the same action as the werehog. "This time is for real..." she muttered. "We have to keep on attacking."

"I agree," Wolf said as he stopped running to turn around and brandish his Hand of Doom attack with his claws. "Let's use a frontal attack to see what happens."

"Wait, it's too soon to rely on those attacks!" Maria yelled as Wolf shouted loudly while charging to Shadow Fox. "Dammit, I'll have to think by myself..."

"Hey, don't leave out from the fun," Sonic grinned as he started to rush towards the Shadow Nightmare. "I wanna whack this guy down."

Shadow Fox looked amused. "How about if I whack you guys down instead?" Once again, he vanished from sight.

Wolf and Sonic stopped running to look around the area. "Now where'd he go?" Sonic asked as he snarled angrily.

"He could be anywhere..." Wolf muttered as his claws kept glowing dark. "As far I know, his speed could allow him to do 20 laps around the whole garden without sweating..."

"Pfft, I could do that as well," Sonic said as the two stood back by back. "Any ideas of where he could be?"

Wolf scanned the area as Maria remained in her place as well. Not long after he started looking around, an impact from a spear made someone grunt in pain on the southeast corner of the floor. They all looked behind where Chris flipped back in the air and landed some feet away from the downed Shadow Fox on the floor.

The World Traveler adjusted his hat a bit and smiled. "I-I did it, I hit him even though he was moving all over the place!"

"You insolent kid..." Shadow Fox muttered before he pushed his feet to the air to stand up. "You're gonna be sorry for stopping me."

Chris quickly looked frightened as the shadow began to walk towards him while Shadow Fox cracked his fists. "U-um..." He quickly looked back to the others. "HELP!!!"

Wolf grunted and started to charge, along with Sonic, to the shadow as Maria took the distraction to go over to heal both Sophia and Nel. "(I need to do this as soon as I can before he notices me...)" Maria thought as she grunted a bit. "(This enemy is far more dangerous than I expected him to be as well...)"

For Maria's dismay, she gasped after she found the Shadow Nightmare standing between her and the fainted Nel and Sophia. "Going somewhere?" Shadow Fox asked with crossed arms.

"Dammit," Maria muttered as she stopped running. She quickly knelt down to aim at Shadow Fox's head. "I won't miss! Aiming Device!" As soon as she shot, Shadow Fox quickly disappeared from sight as the shot flew away of the floor. "Oh no..." Maria muttered before standing up. "Now what? I need to think fast before he attacks..." She aimed her gun down at the floor. "Try dodging THIS!"

"No, why don't you try dodging this instead?"

Maria knew Shadow Fox had appeared behind her in the air to kick her to Sophia and Nel. The leader of Quark ducked to evade a quintuple kick attack in time to roll away where she quickly stood on her right knee to shoot a shot from her phase gun, the attack actually hitting the shadow on his chest.

"Ouch..." Shadow Fox muttered as he landed on the floor. "Wow, not bad. You're very skilled yourself."

Maria stood up and quickly rushed at Shadow Fox. "Crescent Locus!" she yelled as she kicked the air upward to push the shadow away. For her dismay, Shadow Fox sidestepped from the shockwave swiftly with a move that Maria recognized. "Wait a minute...Fayt's Side Kick?"

"Side Kick!" Shadow Fox yelled as his right foot caught energy, approaching closer to Maria.

Maria grunted and tried to dodge the blow by back-stepping. Shadow Fox, however, proved to be much faster as her as he brutally delivered a strong blow at Maria's waist. The leader of Quark coughed after the kick slammed right into her, prompting her to back away as she embraced the hurt area with her left arm. "This isn't funny..." she said.

Shadow Fox landed back on the floor. "It's funny to me."

"S-stop that!" Maria yelled as she was forced to attack back. "Dust to dust! Scatter Beam!" she yelled loudly as she shot 10 shots at him.

Shadow Fox merely chuckled as he called forth his Reflector. Something different about this was the fact that, as well as reflecting all of Maria's shots back, it emitted a magnetic effect that pulled Maria closer to him. Not only this was the effect, but also it turned Maria's shots into reflected homing shots that dove down on her.

"What the..." Maria gasped as all the shots went after her. The leader of Quark quickly stood up, but since the shadow was still using his Reflector, she found herself unable to run even a foot away before the 10 shots connected to her back. She yelled loudly in pain before the shadow quickly appeared behind her and thrust his right foot hard on her back to add up with the damage, making Maria roll recklessly to the south of the floor before she stopped rolling as pain went all over her from her back. "I need medicine..." she muttered in pain. "...Somebody!"

The leader of Quark gasped once she saw the shadow looking down at her on her left side. Maria's eyes dilated once the shadow lifted up his right foot over her stomach. "Now..." the shadow began as he grinned at her. "Let's end this."

Shadow Fox was quickly stopped as 2 claws quickly reached for him and slammed him down away from Maria. The shadow grunted in pain before he stood up and disappeared once again.

"Grr," Sonic grunted angrily. "There he goes again!"

"M-Maria!" Chris yelled as he went over to see her. "Oh my god, are you okay?"
Maria coughed. "I-I'm fine...don't worry about me..."

Chris shook his head. "If there was just a way to stop that monster from moving around so quickly..." He moved his spear to his right. "I'd thought about something good t-" The dragoon stopped talking as he felt that someone had passed over his spear before the sounds of someone grunting was heard. The dragoon looked to his left where he saw Shadow Fox rolling all the way to the wall where he crashed his back on it, glaring angrily at him. "...Whoops," Chris said embarrassed as he pulled his spear behind him and stood up. "I-I'm sorry if I made you trip, b-but you just appeared in there..."

The dragoon didn't like the fierce glare of the shadow.

"...U-um...Wolf...Sonic...could you..."

Once the Shadow Nightmare got back to his feet, he quickly disappeared from sight before he was shown grabbing Chris from behind his back. Shadow Fox pulled the World Traveler down with his left arm as he put his phase gun at the right side of Chris's head. Wolf and Sonic were about to attack before they saw the dragoon struggling to get off.

"Stay back," Shadow Fox demanded as he held Chris at gunpoint. "Stay back or the kid gets it."

"F-for the last time, I'm not a-" Chris stopped talking once the phase gun pushed his head a bit.

Wolf snarled a bit at this. "Having someone at gunpoint... What a coward you are..."

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Thanks, I like to do things my way. I mean, don't you like to do things your way as well?" He put a stronger grip on Chris's throat. "Wait, you want to save him? Wolf, what happened to you? What happened to the heartless bastard I knew you were?"

Wolf glared at him. "There's a whole lot of things you don't know about me, idiot. I don't plan in telling them to you."

"Like I give a darn about you, Wolf," Shadow Fox as Chris looked panicked. "As for you..." he began as he smiled amused at Chris. "Allow me to finish you off..."

"Aiming Device!"

Shadow Fox was shot on the back of his head, forcing himself to grunt in pain as he let go of Chris for a moment enough for the dragoon to escape from his grip. The World Traveler tried to reunite with Wolf and Sonic, but the shadow regained his composure too soon and grabbed Chris by his left shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked mad.

"S-stay away from me!" Chris yelled. "Lancer!" he shouted as mist dragons came from behind him as he stabbed the shadow hard with his spear, dealing damage both physical and magical to the shadow. "Lancet!"

"Another attack?" Shadow Fox wondered before the World Traveler did a hand sign and absorbed energy from the shadow. The dragoon then flipped back to Wolf and Sonic, all glaring to the shadow that was shaking his head to regain his composure once again.

"Ugh," Shadow Fox grunted as he put a hand on his chest. "You're gonna pay for stabbing and draining my energy away..."

"I'm confused..." Sonic said as he looked at Sonic. "What's the difference between Lancet and Lancer?"

Chris raised a finger. "Lancer allows me to deal normal damage to the enemy as well as reducing the energy left to cast magic, while Lancet allows me to absorb health and energy as long as I can see the enemy."

"Damn you..." Shadow Fox grunted before he looked back at Maria. "You insolent bastard... You were the one that show me, right?"

Maria glared at him weakly. "W-what if I did?"

Suddenly, Shadow Fox vanished and then forced Maria to be sent to the air where she gasped before the shadow appeared on her and delivered a downward kick on her stomach. The leader of Quark coughed out blood before the shadow performed a powerful drill kick on the same spot he had struck before finally diving down enough to kick Maria hard on the side. Needless to say, this attack was just too much for Maria to keep resisting as she was sent spiraling down to the area where Fox and Peppita were.

"NO!" Sonic yelled as he quickly extended his claws to catch the blunt leader. Once he managed to reach out for her, the werehog pulled her back to the 3 where he gently put her down the floor. "Maria, you okay?"

Maria coughed weakly as she slowly drifted off unconscious. The werehog looked down sadly at her as she put her hands over her waist where some blood patches started to come out, making Chris gasp in horror while Wolf looked away and frowned. "...Never thought it would...come to this..." Maria muttered as she coughed more.

Sonic grabbed Maria's hands with his claws. "No, Maria, hang in there..."

"...Please..." Maria coughed more. "You guys...need to save Peppita and...Fox..." she muttered. "Y-you're the only ones that can do it..."

"Maria..." Sonic muttered.

"...I'll be just fine..." Maria muttered as she smiled weakly. "...Please...save them both from that...monster..."

Once the dragoon looked at the sad expression on Sonic, for some reason, Chris couldn't tell why he saw Shadow holding Maria's hands with a painful look on his face. The sudden mirage made Chris look shocked. "W-what the..." The dragoon shook his head. Once he looked back at them, Sonic was standing there and Shadow was gone. "W-what was that just now?"

"Kid," Wolf began. "We have a problem here."

The dragoon looked back where the fainted bodies of Fox and Peppita were to see Sophia and Nel close to them. "H-hey, they weren't there a second ago!"

Sonic looked sadly at Maria as she fainted. "...Maria..." Sonic muttered. "Maria, are you there? Maria?"

Wolf's ears perked up as he heard footsteps going all over the place. The lupine snarled at this as his claws glowed dark. "You 2, stay alert! That bastard's running all over the whole floor again!"

Sonic growled angrily as he made fists and looked around. "Where is he? Tell me! I have something to tell to him!"

Chris gulped as he held a tight grip on his spear. "H-how are we going to stop him from moving like that?"

The werehog looked at the fainted Maria over his right shoulder. "(Don't worry, Maria...) UGH!" Sonic suddenly was attacked harshly on his gut with a dark fist that forced him to roll all the way back to the staircase.

Wolf and Chris gasped once they found Shadow Fox extending his right fist where Sonic used to be. The shadow looked at both of them before he fastly vanished so he could deliver the same attacks on the same spots on both of them. Chris clutched his stomach with both hands and Wolf crossed his arms in time to resist the attack as both were slidding back to Sonic. The three panted heavily as they saw Maria disappearing from her spot as she later appeared back with Fox, Sophia, Nel, and Peppita, the shadow appearing in front of them with crossed arms as he stared at the Smashers from the long distance.

"Hoo boy," Shadow Fox said as he grinned at them and crossed his arms. "It's way too easy to take you guys out. Can't you resist my feeble punches? They're not that deadly, you know."

The three Smashers glared at the monster. "Does that mean you have been playing with us all this time?" Wolf asked as he put his dark claws in front and behind him.

"Wait, what?" Chris asked. "H-he's been playing?"

Sonic showed his fangs angrily as a wild look took over his eyes. "Don't you dare mock me anymore!" he yelled angrily.

"I'll mock you all as much as I want," Shadow Fox said chuckling. "Also, I barely showed all my moves to you. Dealing with all of you will be the easiest thing ever."

Wolf narrowed his glare. "Kid, hedgehog, we must think our strategies throughoutly if we want to have a chance to eliminate him..."

Sonic nodded. "I agree," he said as he cracked his fists. "We have to work together in order to bring that guy down."

The World Traveler looked worried before he looked serious and nodded. "R-right," he said as he spun his spear to his left side before stabbing the floor down to stop it. "I don't plan to let him kill us."

Chip nodded and flew over the gem a bit. "Give 'im a good one, guys! C'mon, bring him down!" he said before he quickly hid behind the gem. "I-I'll support you from here!"

Sonic sighed. "Chip, just stay away from trouble and leave this to us."

"That's basically what he wants us to do for him, idiot..." Wolf muttered with a frown.

"Honestly, you guys really need backup," said Roger as he stood close to Sonic before looking at Shadow Fox. "Who's that dark guy, anyway?"

Chris looked at Roger. "Well, you see, that shadow that looks like Fox is..."

"..." Wolf and Sonic turned to look at the Menodix.

Roger grinned and wiped his nose a bit with a finger. "Hey there, you guys. The macho man is here to give yah a hand."

"Roger?" Chris said confused. "How did you get here?"

Roger crossed his arms proudly. "My instincts told me you were down here. You see, this is close to my city, yah know. This is not the Aquatic Garden of Surferio for nothin'." He closed his eyes. "You're absolutely helpless without me who has been undertaking Real Man Contests."

Wolf frowned. "Just tell us you ran all the way here from the group you're with, kid..."

Roger looked angrily and pointed at Wolf. "Hey! Mind you words, lummox! The Great Roger S. Huxley couldn't leave an important fight like this to you! You're lucky I'm here!"

The lupine looked back to the staircase where Cliff, Mirage, C. Falcon, and Samus came running to them. The four quickly joined up with the first group.

"Hey, sorry for coming here so late," Cliff said. "Did little guy here come running to you?"

"Pretty much..." Sonic said bored as Roger pouted a bit.

"S-so what if I did come here first?" Roger asked as he looked away bored. "Y-you guys are so mean..." he sobbed a bit.

Mirage chuckled. "Crocodile tears, Roger?"

"N-not!" Roger yelled angrily.

C. Falcon chuckled, looked at Mirage, and pointed down at Roger. "Isn't he a funny dude to have around?"

And an axe's back struck his left knee hard.

"O-oww!" C. Falcon grabbed his knee as Roger looked angrily at him. "Y-you little piece of..."

Roger stuck his tongue out at him as he had his axe pointing down at the floor. "That's what you get for being a big lummox...lummox."

"Ahem..."

The nine characters turned back to Shadow Fox, C. Falcon stopping rubbing his left knee (C. Falcon: A-and this knee is the good one to attack...).

The Shadow Nightmare looked bored at them. "...I hate when people don't listen to me," he stated before glaring at them. "And I hate it even more when more people show up and ignore me."

Samus readied her arm cannon. "Let me guess: Fox became victim of a Shadow Nightmare."

"Yes," Chris said as they all stared at Shadow Fox.

"Shadow what now?" Cliff asked confused.

Wolf raised some fingers. "Evil doppelganger, dark body, enhanced powers, maniac personality, sadistic bastard, annoying bug, all that," he summarized.

"...Oh," Cliff said nodding. "Guess I understand."

Mirage took a fighting stance. "So, is anything goes, doesn't it?"

Cliff whistled a bit pleased. "Good ol' Mirage," he said before he took a fighting stance and looked serious at the shadow. "You're always ready for the worst."

C. Falcon gasped a bit and made a pose by holding his hand out in front of him. "Hey, I'm ready too."

Samus frowned at this before looking back at the shadow. "Please, don't get distracted too much during this battle, C. Falcon."

"E-er, I won't do that," C. Falcon said. "Seriously, I'm ready."

Roger frowned and slowly spun his axe behind him as he hopped on the ground and glared at Shadow Fox. "Hey, moron! You're gonna get your butt handed over to us!"

Chris looked unsure. "R-Roger, I don't think you should try his temper..."

Cliff narrowed his eyes as he spotted Fox, Maria, Nel, and Sophia behind the Shadow Nightmare. "Hey, wait a sec, did that guy take out all of them?"

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Well, I did all that. Boy, these girls aren't that tough." He closed his eyes and snickered a bit. "If you ask me, they should better be cooking and cleaning the house while real men fight against each other."

Samus looked at Roger. "Don't you dare agree with him."

Roger gulped a bit. "Yes, ma'am, I-I didn't want to agree with him in the first place..."

Shadow Fox stomped the floor hard, creating a big crack that extended almost half of it. The nine characters took this as a sign of warning before they all prepared to fight the Shadow Nightmare.

"Listen to me now," Wolf began. "That guy is a real pain in the a(beep). You gotta be careful if you want to land a blow on him. His speed is insane, and his strength shouldn't be taken lightly either."

Cliff smacked his fists together. "Gotcha."

"Alright," Mirage said. "Let's give it our best."

Shadow Fox snickered at this as the nine fighters glared at him from the staircase, a serious Chip peering from behind the gem to join the group with the stares. "You guys are so darn stupid..." Shadow Fox said with a frown before he cracked his fists. "Okay, you don't mind if I tell you not to move so I finish you, right?"

"Like hell we're going to do that," Samus said. "I take that the shadow is being honest with everything Fox has been hiding, right?"

Chris looked away and shook his head. "It's...hard to tell if Fox was like this..."

"He was just like this," Shadow Fox said before crossing his arms. "Well then, shall we begin the mission?"

"What kinda mission is that?" Roger asked.

Shadow Fox began to imitate Fox's fighting stance. The shadow chuckled evilly as he smirked maniacally at them. "The mission..." the shadow began, "...to lay down...and DIE already!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

....................................................................................

"Star Ocean Forever. Hey, we're getting a fifth chapter?" Roger asked.

"I wonder why..." Sophia wondered.

"Heheh, cool."

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Aquatic Garden, Surferio
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, Tails, Chip, Fayt, Sophia, Maria, Cliff, Mirage, Nel, Albel, Peppita, Roger, Adray

[DededeCloneChris]

Chapter 158: Star Ocean Forever

Aquatic Garden, Surferio

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - The Divine Spirit of Language

The shadow chuckled evilly as he smirked maniacally at them. "The mission..." the shadow began, "...to lay down...and DIE already!" he shouted with wicked pleasure before he vanished in front of their eyes.

"What the..." C. Falcon looked around. "Where'd he go?"

"I told you already," Wolf said. "This creep has insane speed."

"The same insane speed Sonic usually has?"

Sonic grunted. "Look, let's just finish the guy off before he does it with us." He looked around. "He must be running here still."

"So you're saying the shadow doesn't leave this place, only runs all over it at insane speeds that are impossible for anyone to see easily?" Mirage asked.

"Yes..."

Cliff rubbed his chin. "Hey, Mirage, think we can do that?"

Mirage thought for a moment. "I guess we could, Cliff."

The male Klausian chuckled. "You guys, you better be prepared to pull out one heck of a good combo 'cuz we're gonna smack down the ground hard."

"A good combo?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, you know, prevent the enemy from retaliating as you keep attacking him between everyone?" Cliff asked. "Okay, Mirage. Let's do this thing!"

"Right," Mirage said as a both Klausians ran forward, the others looking at each other.

"At the count of 3, Mirage," Cliff said as both he and Mirage ran forward. "...1, 2, 3!"

The 2 Klausians jumped to the air where they pulled their fists back behind, creating a yellow but invisible concentrated ball of energy between their hands before they both slammed the energy down, creating a big shockwave that covered a third of the whole floor. "Hammer of Might!" they both yelled.

"U-uah!"

Cliff watched as a shadow figure tripped over the air. The Klausian chuckled as he watched Shadow Fox falling hard onto the ground while Cliff and Mirage landed back on the floor. "Okay, there he is!"

"Right," Mirage said as she rushed forward.

Seeing this, Cliff smiled a bit. "Hey, Mirage, are you having fun with this fight or what? We're barely beginning, y'know."

"Yeah, but I can't help think that this will prove to be a hard fought battle," Mirage said.

"Okay, I agree," Cliff said as he decided to join Mirage. "Let's pull out a combo, then!"

Shadow Fox grunted as he pushed his feet to the air to stand back up. The shadow grunted angrily. "Geez, I shouldn't have underestimated yo-"

"Fists of Fury!"

Shadow Fox was about to run away before Cliff began a furious assault of fists that collided against the shadow's face. As Cliff kept the shadow staggering, Mirage ran to the shadow's right side to initiate her own attack. "Get ready!" she yelled at the shadow before she kicked him two times to pull high into the air. The female Klausian followed with a big jump as she started a long attack with fierce kicks. "Acrobat Locus!" Mirage yelled between kicks as Shadow Fox tried to get away. He was able to run away only after Mirage dealt a downward kick on his stomach to make crash on the floor. The attack didn't end until Mirage struck her right foot down, creating big blue aura energy that pushed the shadow further away.

Sonic looked astonished. "Ouch..." He grinned chuckling. "They know how to fight."

Roger chuckled. "They're not half-bad."

Wolf smirked a bit. "Well, let's not stay behind and let them have all the fight for themselves."

"I agree," Samus said. "Let's disperse so we don't get in each other's way."

The Smashers (and Roger) nodded before they all dispersed across the floor. As Roger ran to the right, he noticed the fainted people to the north. "(Hey, maybe I should try to revive them all with Fresh Sages...)" he thought as he took out some plants from his back. "(These can help faint people to come back...)" He looked serious at them. "(Okay, time for a man to do it for the team.)"

The Menodix began his way to the four characters that were previously guarded by the shadow vulpine. Roger looked around as he ran to them so there were no interruptions. However, once getting closer, the Menodix got punched hard on his right cheek that made him roll painfully to the left on the floor. Roger grunted a bit at this and quickly got up.

"Hey, that was a dirty trick!" Roger yelled at Shadow Fox. "I thought you were being taken on by lummox and Mirage!"

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Yeah, I was...past tense," he said. "You're not allowed to get closer to those carcasses over there. If someone gets close to them, my troubles will grow more problematic."

Roger began to hop on his spot. "Okay, big dude, bring it on! I'll take yah on by myself!" He chuckled a bit. "This is gonna be one heck of a Real Man Contest..."

The shadow tilted his head. "Oh, wait; I have a better idea for your ridiculous contest for men."

"What'd that be?" Roger asked seriously. The Menodix watched as Shadow Fox vanished in front of him before Roger received a harsh punch on his gut by the shadow who ducked to reach him down. "U-uah!" Roger coughed weakly as he backed away and panted heavily. "T-the...pain..."

"You're not a real man," Shadow Fox said disappointed as he stood up. "You're just a little midget who can't shut up his mouth."

Roger coughed more before glaring up at Shadow Fox. "Y-you try say that again...I dare you..."

"Can I say it again to you with an attack?"

Roger grunted angrily before he charged forward to the shadow. "Whirling Heat!" he yelled, taking out a long yellow whip that he wrapped all over the Shadow Nightmare. Shadow Fox gasped before Roger pulled the whip hard, making the shadow spin quickly on his spot before tumbling at the sides dazzled. The Menodix took advantage of this and used another attack. "Raging Helmet!" he yelled, tossing his spinning helmet high up.

Shadow Fox stopped spinning before seeing Roger shooting a beam from his axe to the spinning helmet. As the beam hit, the helmet created many lights that rained down all around it. The Shadow Nightmare grunted in pain as the lights slammed down on him. Thanks to this attack, a grappling beam was wrapped on his waist before he got pulled back all the way to Samus.

Once Samus pulled Shadow Fox to her, the bounty hunter slammed him down against the floor with the Grapple Beam, kicking the shadow by spinning on her place before she created a fire burst on him. Shadow Fox grunted even more in pain before he got up and grabbed Samus.

"You wouldn't like me when I'm mad," Shadow Fox said as he shoved Samus's helmet down to him. "Really, you wouldn't."

"Maybe," Samus said before she slammed down her arm cannon on his head. Samus took advantage of this little staggering effect to allow her to shoot an already fully charged Charge Shot directly to him. The Shadow Nightmare tumbled back, gritting his fangs in pain before C. Falcon came from behind him and used Raptor Boost to deal fire uppercut that sent the shadow to the air.

"Ho-ho, yeah," C. Falcon said as he held his fist up. "We're working well together now." He saw Shadow Fox disappearing in the air. "...And he just went away."

Samus wondered something. "...C. Falcon."

The racer instantly looked at her. "Yes?" he asked grinning.

"I have a nice combo I wanted to try out with you," she said. "You'll be the main offensive force of it, though."

"Weeeeeeeeeell, I don't mind," C. Falcon said.

"(Thank you for being my human shield should this go wrong,)" Samus thought, "(and sorry for using you as well.)"

Shadow Fox appeared in a blink of an eye behind Samus. "Here I am," he said.

"Now!" Samus yelled as she turned around and quickly lashed her Grapple Beam on the shadow. "Prepare your fist!"

C. Falcon gasped a bit before understanding the message. The captain pulled back his fist as it began to catch fire.

"Ugh, what are you trying to do me?!" Shadow Fox asked.

"This," Samus said before tossing the shadow at C. Falcon. Once the shadow was sent to him, the racer used Falcon Punch at full force, delivering a strong blow on the shadow's face. Shadow Fox grunted more in pain as he tumbled a bit behind before gaining his composure. "Alright, now we're talking," C. Falcon said grinning.

In a flash, C. Falcon noticed that the shadow grabbed his right fist. "And now I'm the one talking here," the shadow said before turning around to pull the racer above him to slam him down hard on the floor. The racer yelled in pain while the shadow snickered. However, the shadow was distracted long enough for Wolf to leap from behind him and use Hand Doom and deliver six slashes to push him away, allowing C. Falcon to stand up and escape.

"Heh, weakling," Wolf said as stopped, glaring at Shadow Fox.

The shadow turned to him and rubbed his snout with an arm. "Not bad for a surprise attack, Wolf. You were always like this, anyway..."

Wolf grunted a bit. "So, got a problem with that?"

"Not really," Shadow Fox said. "After all, I ALWAYS knew I was gonna be the winner of every single feud we had. Doesn't that make you...very angry?"

"..." Wolf closed his eye and shook his head. "...Not anymore."

"...Yeah, right," Shadow Fox said sarcastically. "Admit it; you're just an idiot who doesn't know what he's doing."

"I may be an idiot..." Wolf trailed off. "...But I know you're the bigger idiot here. You know why?"

Shadow Fox glared at him.

"You're the bigger idiot because you're not the real Fox," Wolf said. "At least I know from experience that the real Fox is a little bit more considerate. So what if he didn't want to tell me what you told me? He knows what not to say unlike your big dark mouth."

Shadow Fox gritted his fangs before disappearing.

Wolf frowned. "(Better finish this as soon as we can...)"

Chris looked a little bit annoyed at this from another side of the floor. "This whole deal about running so fast around is pissing me off now," he said before he changed to his Monk job. "...A-and I don't know what to do to stop it..." He started to think about a good job to fight back. "C-close range ones aren't exactly thing even if I need to make them better..."

"If you ask me, would you just let me exterminate you?"

The World Traveler remained still as he felt that a phase gun was aiming at the back of his head by Shadow Fox.

"I-I thought you were going to go after Samus!" Chris yelled.

Shadow Fox smirked. "Oh no, she's not dangerous," he said as he slowly prepared his finger to push the trigger. "You have a whole lot of powers, so I need you shut up and die."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" In a quick reaction, the World Traveler hastily grabbed Shadow Fox's wrist with his hands before he turned around and actually managed to lift up the shadow vulpine over him to slam him down harshly on the floor. The Shadow Nightmare grunted angrily at this before the World Traveler turned around to bring him over him and slam Shadow Fox down once again.

"Okay, you're starting to become a nuisance now," Shadow Fox said mad as he grabbed Chris's hands and slammed him down beneath him. The World Traveler yelled in pain as the shadow let go of his hands to stand up quickly.

"..." Chris couldn't believe he was reaching his limit as he struggled to move on the floor. "(N-no... I-I just received a few attacks and now I'm in trouble... T-this shadow is just too strong...)"

Shadow Fox prepared to split his legs to push the monk further away before a small bomb exploded on his face. The shadow stumbled back a bit before looking up to see Samus dropping small bombs by using her Morph Ball. "Ooh, look at that, a soccer ball," Shadow Fox said somewhat excited before he quickly jumped high to slam down the Morph Ball hard on the ground with a powerful back-flip kick. The Morph Ball itself created a big crack on the floor.

Samus turned back to her usual form, pants filling the air inside her helmet. "(I'm underestimating this monster...)" she thought as she rolled to the right to evade a downward kick by the shadow, letting his foot crash and push crumbles to the air. "(C. Falcon, I need your assistance...)"

"Hey!" C. Falcon yelled at the shadow, Shadow Fox looking to the south at him with grin. "You better stop moving around like that or I'll smack you one!"

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Moving around like this, you mean?"

C. Falcon gasped once the shadow vanished in front of him. The racer looked around for any traces of the monster. However, Samus scanned the area with her visors to detect the shadow. "(Let's see...)" Samus thought as he looked around to find images of the shadow slowly vanishing in the air. Her visor allowed her to see many different images that appeared out of nowhere suddenly as old ones vanished. "(He's definitely running all over here. If he's not doing anything, then that could mean he's thinking about a surprise attack... He's probably toying around with us... So, in order to make him stop, I need some sort of huge attack that could reach him...) Cliff, Mirage, think you can do that Hammer of Might again?" she asked as she looked north of the floor, finding the 2 Klausians back-to-back as they looked around.

"That attack proved to be effective," Mirage said. "Cliff, may I ask to do the same tactic?"

"We don't have any more ideas," Cliff said before nodding. "Alright, let's do it."

The 2 Klausians jumped high and looked down at the center of the floor. Pulling back their hands as they held energy balls, the 2 slammed them down hard on the floor to create a big wave of energy that affected a third of the whole floor. Fortunately, the shadow was seen pushed to the air as he looked shocked. "There he is!" Mirage yelled. "He's all yours!"

"Alright!"

Mirage looked over her where Sonic leaped high up with his fists behind his head. As Sonic descended, he was able to reach down the shadow to slam his fists down on his body, making an impact directly on the floor. Shadow Fox grunted in pain before Sonic began to slam down his fists furiously at him, constantly pounding every single part Sonic could hit.

"Get off me!" Shadow Fox yelled as he got himself covered in searing flames that made Sonic back away to prevent burns. The shadow pushed his feet up to stand back up, a hint of anger in his face before he disappeared.

"Ugh!" Sonic received a harsh uppercut on his chin that forced him to be sent to the air. As he clutched his eyelids, Sonic managed to see a dark blur above him before a downward kick hit his face severely. The werehog howled in pain as he was about to crash on the floor below before Shadow Fox disappeared in the air, appeared back on the floor, and did a frontal spinning kick that sent the werehog rolling to the east of the floor, some deep growls coming from Sonic's fangs.

"It's time for me to get even more serious than before, it seems..." Shadow Fox muttered before chuckling. "You're starting to get a little bit more annoying than before." The shadow suddenly found a dark claw coming from behind his throat. The Shadow Nightmare glared at the claw before looking back at the glaring lupine.

"One move and I'll cut your throat," Wolf warned the shadow.

Shadow Fox smirked. "Just try it."

"Oh, okay."

"UGH!" Shadow Fox received a severe cut on his throat before he could even escape. This later was followed by 4 slashes on his back before a stronger one made him tumble forward. Wolf took advantage of the staggering time that he quickly thrust his claw on the shadow's back. Grunting in annoyance, Shadow Fox disappeared in a blink of an eye and later used a quick right kick from behind Wolf to make him fall down on the floor.

"Not yet..." Wolf muttered as he quickly used his right foot to spin it around him and make the shadow stumble. Unfortunately, when his kick connected with Shadow Fox's left foot, it just crashed right into it without making the shadow fall down. "Dammit..."

Shadow Fox looked amused. "My feet are strong, idiot," he said before he used a split kick attack to push Wolf away to the west. The lupine gritted his fangs in pain as he rolled many feet away, leaving a trail of dust behind. "I'm a strong kicker for that matter," the shadow stated with a snicker.

"Don't block! Piercing Claw!"

Shadow Fox was attacked harshly on the back by a spinning claw from Roger. The claw made the shadow yell in pain as it damaged his energy three times. Roger then proceeded to use Charge; a simple ramming attack that pushed the shadow further to the front. The Menodix knew he had the shadow where he wanted. "Ahahahaha!" Roger laughed as he pointed at Shadow Fox. "What do you think of that now, lummox?"

"You insolent pest..." Shadow Fox grunted before looking over the fainted people to the north staircase. The shadow found Chris slowly sneaking to them. Seeing this, the shadow quickly vanished and then appeared right in front of the monk. "Going somewhere?"

"Oh my god!" Chris yelped as Shadow Fox pulled back his fist to send a severe blow to Chris's face. The World Traveler, however, used Counter to grab the fist and pull the shadow behind him. Shadow Fox looked a bit shocked as the monk let go of his hand and made him fall down on the floor. Knowing that the shadow would get violent, Chris looked back at the fainted characters. "O-okay, now I need t-" He was quickly interrupted as the shadow did a fast spin on the floor with his kick to make Chris fall down. "O-oww!"

"Sorry," Shadow Fox said sarcastically as he grabbed Chris's right arm. "You're gonna head down to the precipice!" he yelled as he quickly turned to the east and tossed the World Traveler.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!" Chris yelled loudly as he crossed the floor and reached over the abyss down below. As the monk screamed for dear life, two claws quickly extended right beneath him and captured him. The monk stopped screaming as he was pulled back to the floor by the werehog.

"Phew..." Sonic sighed as he grinned at Chris on his claws. "You okay?"

Chris smiled a bit in relief. "O-oh, thank you so much, Sonic, really..."

The werehog winked at Chris before he safely put him back on the floor. The World Traveler, looking to the north where the other characters were lying down unconscious, grew worried. Sonic noticed the expression on Chris's face as Wolf was met by Shadow Fox close to the same mentioned area, blocking fists that hurt his wrists, but stayed blocking them as the shadow grinned evilly at him. "I know what you're thinking," Sonic said. "You wanna save the others, right?"

"Y-yes, but every time someone gets too close to them, the shadow just comes out of nowhere and keeps us out from reaching the place..." Chris said. "There should be some sort of way to get there...but his speed and strength are way too high..."

"Ahem," Kawashima was heard coughing. "If I may interrupt, why don't you use your items?"

"Our items?" Chris asked.

"The Over Limit gauge is filled, and now you may be able to use a Final Smash," Kawashima said. "I have some good advice for you to do with this chance. Want to hear?"

"E-everything would be fine," Chris said as Wolf started to lower his guard, tiring himself from blocking many fists as Cliff, Roger, and Mirage went after the shadow.

"Okay," Kawashima said. "Chris, change to your Scholar job."

The World Traveler looked confused before he changed to mentioned job in a small flash of light. "Now what?" Chris asked.

"Can you use Item Lore on the Super Mushroom?"

"L-let me take a look at my book..." Chris said as he flipped through the pages of his book. "...Oh no."

"What?" Sonic asked.

"I lack the sufficient experience to double the effects of the Super Mushroom..." Chris said disappointed. "I can still double the effects...but there could be fatal secondary effects."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Please, what kind of fatal effects are those, anyway?"

"Well...the target may lose fur, clothes would not grow along with the size, voice could end up being stupidly deep or high, gastric problems, eye blindness, confusion, several body parts would grow but others would not..."

The werehog looked disgusted at the secondary effects. The worst one for him was the fur effect. "...Okay, those may be really problematic...not to mention humiliating..."

Kawashima began to speak. "Use your Final Smash, Chris."

"My Final Smash?" Chris asked. "What would it do?"

"It's basically like Item Lore, only that it triplicates the effects of an item," Kawashima explained. "Also, it ignores the fact that you haven't mastered how to duplicate an item's effects. I'd suggest using it on the Super Mushroom in order to change the tide of the battle...a bit, though. I don't know how much you will last, but you should use the mushroom on Sonic. It's called Inventory Lore."

Inventory Lore

Triplicate the effects of any item. It doesn't matter if the user hasn't mastered how to duplicate an item's effect prior to using this Final Smash.

The World Traveler looked at Sonic. The werehog thought for a moment. "The mushroom makes someone grow, right? Hmm..." A small grin slowly grew bigger on his lips as he looked up from the corner of his eyes. "...Heheheheheh..."

Chris didn't like the look on Sonic's eyes a bit. That and the fact Sonic looked like a demon when he was a werehog. "O-okay, I will take that creepy crackle as a yes..." The scholar gulped before looking serious to call forth the Over Limit. "Dexterity, please, heed my call!" he proclaimed, a rainbow aura appearing on him as a force came out, pushing the air away a bit.

Sonic rubbed his claws' palms as he grinned at the scholar.

The scholar took out the Super Mushroom and concentrated his magic on it. "Let us hope this works..." Chris muttered, Sonic's eyes fixated on the mushroom.

Back with the fight, Shadow Fox was surrounded by Wolf, C. Falcon, Samus, Cliff, Mirage, and Roger. The shadow merely crossed his arms and motioned his hand at him. "Come and get me...if you can," he said chuckling. "It'll be futile for you to land a hit on me."

"We shall see," Mirage said.

"Bring it on."

"GEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

The seven characters suddenly heard a mighty howl coming from the south of the floor. They all looked to the mentioned direction and gasped after seeing a huge werehog of 30 feet pounding his chest with gigantic fists as he let out a howl to the ceiling that shook the floor's crumbles. The enormous werehog slowly grinned while showing his dirty fangs as he slowly lowered his face to look down upon his enemy, the other six looking a bit shocked at his sudden grow.

"M-M-MONSTER!!!" Roger yelled loudly.

"Holy cow, look at that size!" Cliff said shocked.

"Hmm..." Wolf looked a bit amused. "Now that's something we could rely on..."

As the werehog, for his enormous size, chuckled deeply (and probably evilly) at the people, the scholar peer from behind Sonic's left leg. "Why did you decide to pound your chest and howl so loud? My glasses were going to break apart if you continued to do that..."

Sonic looked down at the minuscule World Traveler. "HEY, I WANTED TO RELISH MY NEWFOUND SIZE," Sonic called out in an extremely deep voice that made him talk like some sort of high entity. "CAN'T I DO THAT AT LEAST?"

Chris's glasses broke apart after the deep voice made them shook. He looked bored at the huge beast. "Ugh, fine, do that if you really want to lose time. I do not care either way..." He changed his glasses for a new pair. "Now, go forth and crush that monster!"

Sonic chuckled deeply as he gave Chris a thumb up. "ROGER, BOSS," he said before growling deeply at the Shadow Nightmare, not noticing that he broke Chris's new pair apart.

Roger shook in fear at the fierce glare of the huge werehog. "G-guys, I think we should back away if we don't WANNA GET CRUSHED!!!" he screamed loudly before turning around to run away.

"Everyone, fall back!" Cliff yelled, the others promptly running to different directions as the shadow looked up at the monster and glared at him.

"Big deal," Shadow Fox said before smirking. "Let's see what you can do by being a hugea(beep) monster."

Sonic let out a very deep growl before he leaped quickly at the shadow. Shadow Fox chuckled and quickly disappeared in a blink of an eye as the huge werehog landed on the floor, creating a big earthquake before growling in fury, looking down around to find the Shadow Nightmare. "WHERE IS HE?!" Sonic demanded while he growled deeply, tightening his huge claws. "STUPID COCKROACH, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Over here," Shadow Fox called as he was seen above the huge monster's head with crossed arms. The werehog grunted deeply as he glared up at him. "What? I can't stay on top of here? You can pretty much have a nice view of this whole empty plac-"

"Thunder!"

"Ugh!" Shadow Fox was struck by a small thunder that fell from above him, the magic being cast by Chris from the arch. The shadow didn't exactly receive a lot of damage, but the attack made him stagger a bit, allowing the huge werehog to grab him with his right claw. "A-ah!" Shadow Fox grunted in pain as the claw put a very strong grip on him while it was pulled all the way to the front of Sonic's glaring face. For Sonic's surprise, he felt that his claw was slowly being pushed away by the shadow.

"OH NO, YOU DON'T!!!" Sonic demanded loudly with a growl before he slammed down the enemy, creating a huge crack on the floor. Shadow Fox grunted in more pain as he slowly got up, only to be met by several gigantic fists that continuously pounded him down by the furious werehog. "GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!"

The others watched as the enormous werehog growled deeply while he continuously pounded the floor in a blind rage. Screams of pain came from under the frenzy of fists by the Shadow Nightmare as he tried his best to escape, but the fists kept him down, receiving all the attacks.

Cliff smiled a bit at this. "Hey, we may have chance of winning this if he keeps it up like that."

Wolf rubbed his chin. "This could be too easy, though... Considering how much the shadow has resisted, I wouldn't be betting on gaining the victory too soon."

"Yeah," Samus said. "We have to prepare ourselves for the worst."

Roger looked to the north area of the floor. "Hey, yeah! We should help those 5 to come back and give us a hand!"

C. Falcon looked at his direction. "I think we should do that first. The more, the better, don't you think?"

"For once, you're right," Samus said, C. Falcon grinning to himself. "We must get there and save them."

"I'll go," Mirage offered as she ran to the north while the huge beast kept the shadow from escaping his flurry of fists.

The scholar, from behind the enormous beast, thought for a moment. "(I also tripled the effect's duration...)" he thought. "(Sonic should keep the monster unable to move in order to think of a good plan. It would be too easy to win this way... I doubt the shadow is even ready to be defeated as well...) We have to do think of something if we want to keep this pace," he said to himself.

On the other side of the gigantic werehog, Mirage managed to reach the five fainted people. Taking some Fresh Sages from her pocket, she looked back to all of them. "Let's give them these medicines..." she muttered as she carefully put every tip from the five roots in everyone's lips."Please, eat them up."

Mirage watched as many of them slowly moved their lips a bit before they began to bite the roots. Slowly, one by one, they all began to eat the whole plant before slowly waking up. "U-ugh...my head..." Maria muttered weakly as she slowly got up and looked the huge werehog pounding the floor furiously. "W-what the..."

"Please, don't overexert yourself," Mirage said as she put a hand on Maria's shoulder. "It's good to have you back, leader."

"Y-yeah..." Maria said nodding as she was helped by Mirage to stand up. "W-what has been happening here?"

The Klausian watched as Nel, Sophia, and Peppita came back to their senses and woke up. "O-owie..." Peppita muttered as she pushed herself up, tumbling a little bit to the sides before looking at the big werehog. "W-what's happening?!" she asked shocked.

"My goodness..." Nel said surprised as she stared at the beast. "That's one big monster."

"F-Fox!" Peppita yelled as she looked back at Fox. "Fox, wake up, please! Fox!"

The five women looked back at Fox. For some reason, he was the only one who seemed not to be eating the Fresh Sage on his lips. A painful expression was plastered on his face, worrying Peppita even more as she ducked to grab the plant and force it to enter his mouth.

"P-please, eat it up, Fox! Please!" Peppita said panicked as she tried to make the fainted vulpine eat the Fresh Sage. "Fox!"

Sophia looked confused at the whole event before focusing on Fox. "That's weird..." she said, rubbing her chin a bit."I thought the Fresh Sage would have made him eat it instantly... Why isn't he eating it?"

Nel crossed her arms. "Well, this is sure surprising," she said. "Fresh Sages normally make someone come back to their senses. How come is not working with him, though?"

"T-that's what I'm wondering..." Sophia said. "T-this is so unusual..."

Mirage looked confused. "It is, indeed."

"...Maybe it could have something to do with the shadow that looks like him..."

Maria turned back at the huge werehog pounding the floor. "I guess he's taking care of the shadow guy, huh?"

Sophia listened to the painful screams from the shadow. "I-I think so. Don't you hear those screams?"

Suddenly, Sonic felt something weird within him before he stopped and shrunk back to his size, frowning in disappointment after losing his extreme size. They all looked back at the huge crack on the floor where the Shadow Nightmare remained, lying down with open arms as he fully showed his fangs, his eyes tightly shut.

Cliff looked to the north to see all the female party awake. "Maria! Sophia! Nel! Peppita!"

C. Falcon looked to his direction and chuckled pleased. "(And a whole lot of women...)" He made a mental wolf whistle.

Seeing this, Samus decided to shout at them. "Get out of there, quick! We don't think this battle is over yet!"

Sophia looked alarmed as she looked at the shadow. "O-oh no, I don't think this is over yet as well..."

"We have to move out from here, quick!" Maria yelled before putting an arm around her waist where the patches of blood were. "Ugh, reviving us with Fresh Sages don't necessarily heal our injuries completely..."

"Let's get out from here for now," Nel said before looking back at the worried Peppita who tried to make Fox eat the Fresh Sage without success. "We also need to take him away from his shadow's reach."

Mirage knelt down to grab the fainted leader of Star Fox on her arms. Peppita held the Fresh Sage sadly as she stood up, looking worried at Fox. "Don't worry," Mirage said to Peppita. "Everything will be just fine, Peppita."

"..." Peppita looked down. "I hope so..."

The five women looked at each other and nodded before running to different directions, scattering all across the floor as they watched the Shadow Nightmare slowly getting up back to his feet. Sonic gasped and backed away from the mad shadow as everyone gasped in shock. "Oh, come ON!" Sonic groaned. "I gave him a hell of a punishment and he's not down yet?"

"...I-I'm...not going to be taken down so easily yet..." Shadow Fox muttered in pain as he pulled his right hand behind him, glaring at everyone that surrounded him. "Hmph, I see you revived the people I tried to keep you away from...very nice," he said frowning. "You're just starting to beg to show you all my true power..."

"It's cliché that the enemy will always say that he or she hasn't been giving it all in battle," Cliff said annoyed. "Seriously, how many smart guys think they can go around and say that? It's getting so annoying and stale."

"As long as there are malicious minds..." Chris commented close from the arch. "We are going to meet such people all the time..."

Shadow Fox looked to his left where Mirage and Peppita were guarding the downed Fox that the Klausian put against the wall on the floor. "You little b(beep)..." he muttered as he glared at Peppita. "You just DON'T know when to stop it, right?"

Peppita looked frightened, but Mirage put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. Peppita seemed a little bit worried before looking serious at Mirage. The Velbaysian turned back to the shadow and shook her head. "...So what if I don't know when to stop it, huh?"

"You dare yell back at me?" Shadow Fox asked, narrowing his eyes. "Peppita, you don't really want to have me close to you now..."

"L-like I care!" Peppita yelled back before pointing angrily at him. "Y-you're not the real Fox to me or us! Y-you're just an evil monster who wants to kill us all!"

"...Yeah, so?" Shadow Fox asked as they watched his right hand creating a familiar blue sphere on it. "You shouldn't have heard about my past..." he muttered angrily as most of them gasped at the sphere."...And for that, there's no forgiveness for you, cretins..."

Sophia covered her mouth and shook her head. "S-somebody, stop him! H-he's trying to use Healing!"

"What?" Cliff asked. "When in the heck did he learn to use that?"

Maria thought for a moment. "Since he came out of Fox..." She frowned. "...No...he knows how to use Symbology because we gave Fox the Decrepit Tome yesterday when we came to look for the temple in the garden..."

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Fools, standing there doing nothing will make you all pay a big price..."

Chris took a step forward. "S-Sonic, stop him, now! You're the closest one to him!"

Sonic snapped out from his shocked look before he began to rush at the shadow.

"TOO LATE!" Shadow Fox yelled loudly as he quickly moved his hand forward, the blue sphere shattering into pieces. "HEALING!!!"

They all watched shocked as all the injuries inflicted on the Shadow Nightmare disappeared in a swirl of green pyre flies that circled around him. Sonic growled furiously at this before he leaped quickly at him. The shadow quickly turned around and delivered a fast punch on Sonic's face that made him yell in pain as he was sent back to the shocked scholar.

After watching the shadow making an overconfident chuckle, Roger's lips trembled a bit before he sobbed silently to himself. "C-cheeeeeeeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeeeeeeeeee-eeeeaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaap!!!" he yelled loudly as he rubbed his eyes. "T-that guy is so cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeap!!!" he cried.

"Heheheheheheh..." Shadow Fox chuckled deeply as he flexed his fingers of his right hand in front of him. "Symbology..." he muttered pleased before making a fist, looking around to see everyone glaring at him."Yeah, what a nice backup to keep on going..."

"Dammit..." Nel muttered as she took out her daggers. "We were just about to finish him off..."

Peppita gulped. "P-please, tell me we still have a chance to win this fight..."

Sophia shook her head. "T-that recovery move must have healed at least 60 percent of his whole health... He looks pretty well for that matter..."

"Not well...but excellent," Shadow Fox stated pleased. "I thank you all for being so considerate to me and let me learn healing abilities..." He grinned evilly. "Yes, yes, yes, this power...it makes me feel so good...along with my strength and speed...this is really good..."

C. Falcon looked a little bit disgusted. "Eww, the guy's pleasing himself..."

"How ironic you say that..." Samus muttered before looking back at the shadow. "Well, we're more people now, aren't we? I think we have more chances to bring him down."

Shadow Fox waved a finger at them. "There are no chances for you to return all the pain done to me," he said. "If you did, I'd heal myself to the maximum again." He smirked at them. "It's futile for you to keep attacking me when I can heal myself as many times as I want."

Maria readied her phase gun. "I've had enough of that mouth of yours already."

"I've had enough of beating the same people to a bloody pulp," Shadow Fox said mad as he adjusted his gloves. "Now, for all of you, the gloves are coming off..."

"Literally or metaphorically?" Chris asked.

"Metaphorically," Shadow Fox said. "Any last words before I start to give it all to finish you all of in a matter of minutes?"

"Yeah," Wolf said as he took a fighting stance. "Say your prayers, scum."

"Scum..." Shadow Fox chuckled. "We shall see who ends up being the scum here...for now..."

Music Stops

Chip, who had been watching the whole feud from behind the gem of the arch, looked behind him where he heard some screams and feet quickly coming from some floors away from them. "Huh?" he tilted his head confused as he saw 2 figures screaming for dear life. "Who are they?"

The screams got louder overtime before they managed to reach the floor where everyone were. All the Smashers, the others, including Shadow Fox, looked back to the staircase where Chris and Sonic turned around and looked at two Smashers running and screaming. The scholar's glasses lowered a bit as Chris looked confused. "...What the..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Chris didn't know why, but for some reason or another, he watched as Roy and Pit came running from the staircase, passing the scholar by the sides as both didn't notice that they were running straight towards Shadow Fox.

"Roy?" Samus said confused.

"Pit?" Chris said confused.

"Why are they...screaming like maniacs?" Sonic asked.

The Shadow Nightmare smirked and cracked his fingers. "Alright, more people t-" He stopped talking as the two screaming Smashers ignored and pushed him aside to the floor. The shadow didn't believe that they actually pushed him before he could even punch them hard. Grunting as he clenched his fists, Shadow Fox got back up and turned around to see Roy and Pit leaning against the wall of the north, panting heavily. "Hey, you 2, why did you ignore me?" he asked with a glare.

"L-look," Roy said as he panted heavily. "W-we don't care if you look a lot like Fox...b-but we DO care about someone else!"

"H-honest!" Pit agreed with Roy as he sweated. "T-there are more dangerous people out there who are just...dangerous!"

"...What the f(beep) are you talking about?" Shadow Fox asked as he lifted his shoulders. "How can you define me as being less important than someone else?"

Pit shook his head. "S-seriously, you wouldn't want to stay close to him any longer when no one is looking your way! V-very nasty things happen if that DOES happen!"

Everyone looked at each other confused as the Shadow Nightmare grew angrier than before. "You're being so retarded," Shadow Fox said mad. "Okay, since you're being annoying bugs as pretty much everyone else here, I'm gonna have to exterminate the 2 of you so I can go on with my life an-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" many of them screamed loudly after looking back at the staircase.

Shadow Fox turned around and looked up shocked to see a big shark made up of water that somehow appeared in thin air. The shadow looked around for a way to escape, but there wasn't a place for his dismay. "...Oh, f-" Shadow Fox grunted in annoyance before the huge shark crashed down upon the floor, creating a big splash that sprayed water all over everyone, causing some to be pushed against the walls or slid down on the floor while the cracks were filled with water.

This sudden attack also made Shadow Fox lose some energy for some reason.

As most of them lied down on the floor while others were forcefully leaning against the wall, a familiar figure came from the staircase, rubbing his chin in amusement as he placed a hand on the hilt of his katana in its sheath. "Heheheheh," the person chuckled amused. "Guess I got here in time for the big battle, huh?"

Nel, one of the people who were forced to lean against the wall of the east, looked at the person. A bored expression soon came to her. "...I knew that was Sea Gate..." she muttered with some annoyance. "...And Sea Gate is supposed to be your own move...Adray..."

Adray looked a little bit pleased as he looked around. "Whoops, I didn't think my Symbology would affect everything in here... My apologies..."

Cliff, leaning against the west wall, looked up from the corner of his eyes and frowned. "Geez, old man, remind yourself there ARE people in here..."

"Is that so?" Adray asked.

Nel sighed. "You were surely doing something to Pit and Roy when Fayt or Albel weren't looking...right?"

Adray scratched his head. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeer....n-"

"YES, YOU WERE!" Pit and Roy yelled from the floor, their bodies all washed up.

"...Youngsters these days like to joke a lot, don't you think?" Adray asked amused.

"...Adray..." Nel looked serious.

"..." Adray looked worried. "But I just asked them if they reconsidered the proposal I told them to take..."

Roy quickly stood up and shook his head. "Oh, and did you forget to say the fact you were about to rip Pit's right wing off?" he asked annoyed. "Let's not forget you were asking it at the SAME time you wanted to do that to him?"

Pit gulped. "P-Palutena would punish me for losing a wing in such a barbaric and inhuman way! ...Not to mention it'd be really painful to me..."

Nel rolled her eyes. "Well, as how pointless and stupid this situation seems to be, I have a better question."

"Why Adray isn't dead yet?" Roy asked.

"Why do we have to suffer his senseless wrath?" Pit asked.

"Why nobody wants to marry my Clair?" Adray asked.

"...None of those," Nel said frowning. "...Where are Fayt and Albel? I supposed they were chasing you 3 all the way here, right? And for that matter, wasn't the 2-tailed fox kid with you as well?"

Ironically enough, Fayt came from the staircase, panting heavily and putting his right hand on the left side as he stopped running to catch his breath for a brief moment. "G-geez, no wonder why I didn't notice Pit, Roy, OR Adray anymore..."

All the people that were leaning against the walls looked at him.

"If Adray was gone...I KNEW right away it had to be him...again..." Fayt said before sighed in relief.

Tails then came from the air and landed on the floor. "Why do we have to care about Adray?" he asked. "Apparently, reasoning with him doesn't work with him very well...and..." He looked at everyone. "...W-what has been happening here?"

A bored Albel came from behind and looked around. "...So, did you maggots have some fun or what?"

Everyone remained silent as most of them got up from the wet floor.

"...I'll take that as a maybe," Albel said.

Adray smiled a bit. "Are we having another fight for justice here?"

Roy and Pit looked shocked at the old man. However, and finally, they decided to think about something else so Adray would leave them alone. "You know what? Screw this!" Roy yelled as he unsheathed the Sword of Seals. "I'm going to give Adray a piece of my mind right here and now! Pit, are you with me?"

Pit looked worried at him. "I-I don't think violence i-"

"No then," Roy said before he charged at Adray. "YIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

Adray's eyes widened as he back stepped to evade a slash from the red-haired swordsman. Albeit to say this was surely going to end up in his death, Adray chuckled amused. "Wow, now the boy's fired up to have a fight with me," he said as he rubbed his chin, Roy clenching his teeth in front of him. "I have an idea. If you defeat me, I'll drop the idea of marriage with Clair. But if I do win, you'll marry Clair."

Roy nodded, making most of them gasp.

"Hahahahahaha! This shall be fun!" Adray exclaimed in pleasure. "C'mon, boy, give me your best shot!"

For Adray's dismay, a big tremble shook the whole floor they were all on. They all looked back to the center of the floor where a mad Shadow Nightmare glared menacingly at all of them, his right foot over the same huge crack that the previously giant werehog left.

"Hey, the floor's all damaged and it hasn't fallen down yet?" Roger asked as he looked at the damaged floor under his feet.

"Shh..." Sophia muttered. "Don't give him any ideas..."

"...You guys...are being like cockroaches..." Shadow Fox muttered in anger. "No matter how many times I crush you...you will keep coming back so I can crush you again...repeating the whole cycle..."

Chris looked a bit worried as he adjusted his glasses. "T-technically speaking, cockroaches do not come back to life when you crush them...it is just that they are way too many to think you did not really crush any of them..."

"Shut up...nerd..." Shadow Fox muttered as everyone glared at him. "...This time...I'm going to be really serious about the mission I gave you all to do."

Tails blinked confused at the shadow that looked like Fox. "W-wait, isn't that one of the Shadow Nightmares? A-and if he looks like Fox...that means..."

Albel rolled his eyes. "Can somebody please tell me what the hell this maggot is?"

Sonic raised some fingers. "A shadow monster got on the fox guy, it copied everything the fox guy knew, it's more powerful than the fox guy, it's way more annoying than the fox guy was..."

"...That is understandable," Albel said as he slowly unsheathed his katana. "Normally I wouldn't bother, but you've irked me."

Shadow Fox looked to the downed Fox on the west wall. The shadow instantly disappeared, the fainted body also vanishing as well. Peppita and Mirage gasped as they looked around to see where the shadow headed to.

Albel and Tails felt a fast wind coming from behind them before the Shadow Nightmare appeared back on the center of the floor. "Well, that takes care of him," Shadow Fox said pleased.

"W-what did you do to Fox?" Peppita asked.

Shadow Fox put a hand on his hip and chuckled. "I took him out for a walk," he said. "Right now, he's somewhere all alone by himself so you imbeciles don't try to do anything funny to him. With that distraction gone, I guess we can resume the mission together as a team."

"W-where did you take him exactly?" Roger asked.

"Hmm...I forgot," Shadow Fox said snickering. "I could have put him around this dirty place...or maybe I tossed him down to the ruins below..."

Tails looked back and forth between him and the south. "Y-you guys fight him by yourselves! I-I'm going to go find the-"

"If you even dare leave this place," Shadow Fox began as he tightened a fist, "I'm going to kill you, Tails."

Tails abruptly stopped on his trail, looking shocked at the statement of the shadow. However, the 2-tailed fox grunted a bit and decided to run away.

Sonic glared at the shadow before he vanished and appeared in front of Tails, looking down at him amused. "Tails, quick, get away from him!"

"U-uah!" Tails looked frightened at the shadow before making a sharp turn, only to bump right into Shadow Fox. The shadow grinned a bit picked Tails by his head. "S-Sonic!"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Sonic growled menacingly before Shadow Fox hit Tails's throat with a soft chop. Even though the chop was soft, it was strong enough (due to the shadow's power) to make Tails lose consciousness. As Sonic tried to reach both of them, Shadow Fox disappeared from sight and later reappeared back on the center of the floor, chuckling. Sonic stopped to turn around and growl angrily at him. "What the hell did you do to Tails, bastard?!"

"The same as I did with the other liar," Shadow Fox explained. "That's all I'm going to say about it, though."

Peppita gasped and quickly jumped on the west wall to look down to the abyss. For her dismay, since it was night, nothing else could be seen easily. The Velbaysian also remembered that the scientists had gone down to investigate the Spagonia Temple as well. Grunting with some tears, she hopped down the wall and took a fighting stance. "I-I'm gonna stop you, you evil...monster..."

Shadow Fox watched as everyone prepared to continue fighting. The shadow chuckled at this but looked back at Peppita. "Peppita...this wouldn't have happened if you didn't stick your nose where it didn't belong..." The shadow cracked his fists. "Since you're a disobedient little b(beep), as an adult, I'm going to teach you to shut up."

"..." Peppita gulped, but she kept glaring at the shadow. "I-I'll teach you to...teach you to...teach you to..."

"Aww, the little b(beep) is holding back her tears," Shadow Fox teased.

Peppita sniffed a bit. Her determination to defeat the shadow was slowly being crushed by the monster's speeches. The Velbaysian thought a lot about Fox, and she wanted to finish the fight for the night so everything would be back to normal. Rubbing her eyes, Peppita finally decided to glare back at Shadow Fox. "I'd rather not be here....but looks like I have no choice but to fight you..." She shook her head, still looking determined as she looked at everyone. "Okay guys, let's give it our all on him!"

Cliff nodded and smacked his fists together. "Finally, we're ending this by beating the heck outta the guy's head."

Fayt managed to regain his breath as he unsheathed his sword from behind his back. "O-okay, I'm all better now. I think I understand what's been happening here all along."

Wolf crossed his arms. "We'd better work perfectly. Since this guy is too darn fast, we'll have to do everything to perform our attacks."

"Agreed," Maria said. "We'll attack with everything we can do."

"Don't let him escape as well," Samus said. "If he escapes, this will fail."

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Me, escaping from scum like you? ...Are you crazy? Why would I escape? If I let you guys live, you'll eventually become a big pest to my own plans," he explained as he began to hop on his spot, mimicking Fox's fighting stance. "I want to wrap up everything in a single fight."

"Good," Pit said as he took out his dual blades. "We want to "wrap up" everything in a single fight as well."

Adray rubbed his chin. "A battle would not BE a battle without SOME tension..." He looked at the angry Roy. "Let us work together in this fight."

Roy stared at him blankly.

"...And I'll think about not asking you the same thing."

"Think about?" Roy asked bored.

"...Kid, we should put our differences aside and fight as real men (Roger: Damn straight!) in order to bring this coward to justice," Adray explained before smiling a bit at Roy. "(Perfect, this should draw him away from my favor). So, what do you say?"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, wait a second," Shadow Fox began. "Are you calling me a coward, old man?"

Adray looked at him. "Only a coward refuses to mount a frontal assault. By the looks of the situation, I could infer you've been doing ambushes and surprise attacks on everyone here, right? I thought as much."

"..." Shadow Fox smirked evilly. "Now I know who I'm going to kill first..."

Chris, after finding out he and Sonic were close to Roy and Adray, gulped and looked worried at the shadow's sadistic smirk. "S-somehow, I should step aside before I regret it..."

"Why are you saying that?" Adray asked before the World Traveler ran away with Sonic.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Bitter Dance

Shadow Fox instantly disappeared from sight, making most of them gasp.

Maria held out her open right hand. "Everyone, we must organize ourselves as the battle goes! Symbologists need to support and heal close combat attackers, try to chain combos together in order to leave our enemy unable to retaliate, and please be careful of any sudden attack!"

"That strategy sounds useful enough to me," Wolf said. "Let's do it."

Adray looked serious. "He's going to attack me for sure."

Roy rolled his eyes. "Oh, I wonder why?"

Just as Adray had predicted, Shadow Fox appeared just in front of him and used a frontal kick on his waist. Adray grunted a bit in pain as he was forced to fall back on the floor. Roy gasped and quickly tried to attack the shadow. Unfortunately, as he brought down the tip of his sword on the shadow, Shadow Fox swiftly evaded the attack by jumping to his right, his right foot covering itself with energy before the shadow slammed it behind Roy's back. The red-haired swordsman yelled loudly in pain as he was pushed to the east, sliding on the floor forcefully.

"Quick, we must provide healing magic!" Nel yelled as she reunited with Sophia on the east side, many of the close combat attackers rushing after the shadow.

"Right!" Sophia nodded as both Symbologists prepared healing spells.

However, they gasped after the shadow quickly appeared in front of them and delivered two punches that were strong enough to push them back against the wall. The two Symbologists felt pain running across their backs before Nel opened her eyes to see the shadow about to ram his right kick on her. Nel quickly took a quick sidestep to the right to evade the kick which made a big crack on the wall. Sophia gasped and turned around to run away from the shadow.

"Where do you think you're going?" Shadow Fox asked as he appeared right in front of Sophia's path. The teen gasped and took some steps back. Shadow Fox pulled back his right fist and smiled at her. "I need to take you down before you heal somebody."

"F-FAYT, EVERYONE!" Sophia yelled loudly, reminding herself that she didn't have her staff.

"Your little prince isn't going to come here to save you," Shadow Fox pointed out as he looked behind to see all the physical combatants rushing after him. The shadow turned to Sophia. "You'll finish the mission earlier than anybody else here, though."

Out of nowhere, Shadow Fox watched as Fayt appeared from a veil of darkness to slash the shadow hardly with a black spore that covered his sword. Shadow Fox felt a lot of pain on his back before he backed away from the blue-haired teen, Sophia running behind Fayt. "You're not gonna hurt her again," Fayt said serious.

"How the heck did you appear like that?" Shadow Fox demanded.

"Dimension Door allows me to stun my enemies and slash them from behind their back regardless the distance," Fayt explained. "And that's exactly what I'm going to use to stop you from running so fast. Dimension Door!"

Shadow Fox watched as Fayt called forth a black atmosphere that covered the floor as he and Sophia were protected by several shockwaves that floated around them. The Shadow Nightmare found himself unable to move after the atmosphere reached his feet. Shadow Fox stared to feel pain taking his health and energy away before Fayt disappeared in front of him and re-appeared behind, performing a severe slash of darkness on the shadow's back.

"Dammit!" Shadow Fox grunted before he disappeared from sight.

"T-thank you for saving me, Fayt..." Sophia said in relief.

"Yeah, but we're not done yet," Fayt said as he looked around the big floor. "We need to celebrate only after we defeat that guy."

"Agreed," Nel said as she formed a blue sphere behind her back on her hand. "Let's try to end this as soon as we ca-" She felt a hand grabbing her own hand with the sphere, abruptly stopping her spell. Nel knew very well the shadow had appeared behind her before she looked behind to find Shadow Fox. "Y-you..."

"Sorry, hottie, but not healing allowed as I've said before," Shadow Fox reminded her.

Nel didn't attack back, but rather did a hand sign. "Whirlwind!" she yelled, casting several slicing winds around her to push the shadow back. Since Shadow Fox staggered a bit, Nel decided to attack even more. "Ice Daggers!" she shouted, tossing three frozen knives at the shadow. Shadow Fox couldn't use his Reflector in time to reflect the weapons back as he was stabbed by the attack. Nel flipped back to land some feet away.

"Not bad..." Shadow Fox said grinning.

Back to the area close to staircase, Roy watched as Adray came back. "Well, shall we join forces and attack, young swordsman?"

"Oh no," Roy shook his head. "I'm NOT falling for that trick."

[DededeCloneChris]

"Oh please," Adray said chuckling. "We have exchanged words, but not fight strategies yet. Why judge my battle skills when you haven't seen me fight?"

Roy looked unsure. "N-not to be rude, but I think you're a little bit crazy yourself..." Roy covered himself with his arms and one leg, scared.

Adray raised an eyebrow. "You have to understand I look so hard for the ideal man for my Clair," he explained. "She needs to have a man to look after her. It makes me hurt to know she hasn't decided who to be his man who would take her of her instead of me. I only worry about her happiness and welfare as my only daughter."

"B-but I don't want to marry her..." Roy said. "...I-I'm already engaged to another girl...anyway..."

"..." Adray stared at him blankly.

Roy backed away from Adray's serious look. "(O-oh no, now I've done it...)"

"...Oh, then why didn't you say that from the very beginning?" Adray asked. "Now I feel guilty for forcing an already engaged young man like you to marry my daughter."

"...What?" Roy lowered his arms and leg.

Adray chuckled. "I respect others when I have to," he said. "You can't back up from your word to that fortunate lady, right? If you did marry my daughter, you would break your fiancée's heart, right?"

"W-well, yeah..." Roy said unsure with a gulp. "...Hey, you didn't stop asking me the same thing even when we first met."

Adray rubbed his chin a bit and looked up. "...Did I?"

Roy grunted annoyed. "Forget it..."

"Hahahahahaha!" Adray laughed loudly. "Well then, shall we join the fight as I've said before?"

"...O-only if you stop nagging me about marrying your daughter..." Roy said as he raised a finger. "Only that way I'm going to feel fine."

"Okay, honest," Adray said nodding. "Go for your girl, young warrior."

Roy chuckled nervously. "Y-yeah, I'll do that..."

"..." Adray stared at him.

"...Do you...have something else to ask me?" Roy asked.

Adray narrowed his eyes at Roy. "...Your friend...the angel Pit..."

"...Y-yes, he's engaged to another girl as well..." Roy knew Adray was going to ask him about Pit. Lying was the only option to make Adray stop talking about marriage. "(That should really put Pit out of trouble now...)"

"What's her name?" Adray asked.

"(Stupid, stupid, stupid!)" Roy cursed several times mentally as he stared blankly at the old man. "...Her name...is...um..."

Adray narrowed his eyes even more.

"...Nana..." Roy muttered.

Somewhere, in a familiar mansion, a girl twin cursed.

"...My best wishes to both of you," Adray said with a bow.

"...Yeeeeeeeeeaaah..." Roy said as he shifted his eyes.

"Me too!" Chip yelled from behind the arch's gem. "Go get 'em, tiger! Grrrrrrrrr!"

Roy blushed a bit and looked at the arch where Chip was hiding. "H-hey, who asked you? I-I don't even know if love is going to be that easy or something!"

"Yeah, man," Shadow Fox said as he patted Roy's shoulder. "You'll see how love is so problematic and bothersome."

Roy looked at him. "Well, maybe so, but still I'm going t-GET AWAY FROM ME!" he yelled as he slapped Shadow Fox's hand away. "D-dangit, how did yo-"

"I'm way too fast," Shadow Fox said as he pointed at himself with a grin. "Nobody can catch me for that matter." His ears twitched a bit. "Be ready back, need to stop some fools who think they can heal without my permission. Did I give them an order to do that? No. They must suffer the consequences."

Roy watched as Shadow Fox disappeared in front of him. The red-haired swordsman and the old man looked back to the east side of the floor where Shadow Fox appeared in front of Sophia and kicked her hard by her left side. Sophia yelled in pain as many of the fighters rushed after her. Seeing that Shadow Fox was surrounded, her grabbed Sophia by her hand and vanished along with her, appearing on the left side where nobody was.

"U-ugh!" Sophia staggered as Shadow Fox grabbed her neck and shoved her to his mad face.

"You'll have to learn the painful way not to disobey my orders..." Shadow Fox muttered with anger.

"L-let me go!" Sophia yelled.

"WITH PLEASURE!" Shadow Fox yelled as he turned around and slammed down Sophia with all his forces. Sophia screamed loudly in pain as she flopped and hopped on the floor before the shadow did a back flip kick that made her bounce high up to the air. "Too slow!" the shadow yelled as he evaded Fayt's dark blade attack by jumping high up to the damaged Sophia.

"Sophia!" Fayt yelled as he looked up.

"F-Fayt..." Sophia muttered weakly as she found herself unable to move in the air. Apparently, Shadow Fox had been using a little bit of his real strength to play around with everyone. However, it seemed that he was saying the truth. Sophia gasped after the shadow appeared above her to impact a downward kick hard on her face. Needless to say, the attack was so brutal that it sent Sophia all the way down where she crashed and screamed loudly in pain. "...I'm sorry...everyone..." she muttered before she passed out.

Fayt looked horrified as Sophia lost consciousness. "Sophia?! Sophia!" he yelled as the shadow landed back on the floor, smirking. "You'll pay for that!" Fayt yelled enraged as he rushed to the shadow.

However, the blue-haired teen was suddenly punched away by a harsh blow on his stomach that made him get pushed many feet away to the south. The shadow, looking down at Sophia, grinned and instantly vanished along with her.

Adray felt a fast wind blowing from the north to the south. The old man then felt the same wind passing right from the south to the north, the Shadow Nightmare appearing back in the middle of the field with crossed arms.

Fayt, clenching his teeth in pain after receiving the blow, looked at the shadow. "W-what have you done with Sophia?"

"I took her for a walk as well," the shadow said smirking. "I just can't let her dead carcass lay around the floor and be an obstacle now, can I? I don't want someone to heal her as well. Goodness, wasn't she very annoying..."

"You bastard...you won't get away with this!"

Shadow Fox rolled his eyes. "Go cry me a river, kid."

"AaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Fayt yelled as he rushed at the shadow, his sword trailing off behind his back with both hands grabbing the hilt tightly.

Shadow Fox cleaned his right ear a bit with a finger. "Geez, that scream of yours is just so irritating for my tastes... I'd rather have you speak soft and nicely... Speaking of that, can you mutter your last words?"

"Piercing Cl-"

The shadow quickly turned around by doing a spin and grabbed the Menodix by his right hand. Roger got shocked after Shadow Fox pressed him against his chest with his left arm as he held the Menodix at gunpoint with the phase gun. "Ah, ah, ah, no can do, little snobbish kid."

Roger yelped a bit after looking at the phase gun. "H-how did you, lummox, know I was behind yah?"

"Here's a hint," Shadow Fox said. "If you plan to do a surprise attack, don't be stupid and go yelling behind someone like me, understand?" he asked before he tossed the Menodix high up above him. "Also, you failed the Real Man Contest! Take this as a runner up, though!" the shadow laughed as he shot upwards a barrage of shots from his phase gun.

The flurry of shots was an insane one due to the fact that at least a hundred of shots hit every single part of Roger. The Menodix couldn't just take the whole flurry alone as he descended, spinning madly by the shots pushing his arms back. "UAAAAaaaaahhh!!!" Roger yelled loudly as Shadow Fox stopped firing, catching the fainted Roger on his arms.

"Aww, look at the baby," Shadow Fox teased as he looked down at Roger's painful expression. "Come to think of it, his scream sounded girly a bit."

"Put him down, now!" Fayt yelled as he reached the shadow, his blade glowing blue. "Blade of Fury!"

"F(beep) off," Shadow Fox said simply as he used the fainted Roger as some sort of fan and slapped Fayt away harshly before his glowing sword could land a slash on the shadow. Fayt grunted in pain before the shadow disappeared from sight.

"W-where did he go?"

Samus looked around. "He didn't just take Roger away as he did with Sophia, right?"

Maria looked around. "Wait a minute, I can't find Nel..."

"Where is she?" Chris asked.

From the northeast corner of the whole floor, behind the walls that had a very small platform to keep someone from falling down below, there was Nel muttering chants to herself in order to cast a healing spell that would heal everyone. "(Now, I need to keep myself concealed from that monster. After he took Sophia away, I'm the only one besides Adray to possess healing Symbology...)" Nel thought to herself as she looked down at her blue sphere. "(Just a little bit more and...)"

"There you are..."

Nel's eyes widened as she looked up to see the shadow vulpine grinning down at her with crossed arms, the fainted Roger lying down on the plants that adorned the edges. "I knew you'd hide here by yourself."

"How did you know I was here? Tell me the truth and don't show off something that you didn't even predict in the first place," Nel said with a glare.

Shadow Fox pointed at his ears which moved a bit to the sides. "I have pretty strong ears," he explained. "My senses became much more wary. Besides," he continued as he smiled a bit, his ears still moving a bit, "don't you think my ears look cuddly?"

"..." Nel blushed a bit.

"..." Shadow Fox blinked a bit. "...Wow, I didn't know you..."

Nel shook her head. "D-don't distract me with such stupid distraction like your cuddly..." She blushed more. "...S-shut up..."

"..." Shadow Fox glared down at her. "No, YOU shut up instead." He raised his hands and moved his fingers. "Let me remind you how I put you where I wanted you to..." The shadow looked at Nel. "...Wait, something's wrong here..."

Nel stopped her Symbology and smiled a bit at the shadow. The scarf that usually hung on her neck was gone. "Oh, my scarf? I took it off," Nel explained. "You want to see where I put it?"

"Do I care about clothing?" Shadow Fox asked.

Nel chuckled and took out from her back her scarf. However, the scarf now had an end with a tight knot that looked like some sort of ball. "By the way, thanks for giving me an idea to attack you from a long range by using my clothing."

Shadow Fox rolled his eyes. "Pfft, big deal, you made a knot on an end of your scarf. So what, are you gonna hit me with it?"

"That doesn't sound too bad," Nel said, actually agreeing with the shadow vulpine. The Elicoorian spun her scarf in front of her before she moved it up to slam the knot against Shadow Fox's face.

"UGH!!!" Shadow Fox pushed the knot away as he felt that something stabbed his forehead. The shadow put a hand on the damaged spot before gritting his fangs angrily at Nel.

Nel stopped spinning the knot before she pointed at it where Shadow Fox found a small dagger's knife sticking out. "Of course, making a tight knot wouldn't be strong enough," Nel explained. "So then, I decided to tie a dagger into it to make it even more useful."

"Ugh, you b(beep)..." Shadow Fox grunted as he removed his hand from his forehead. "Prepare to fall to the abyss down below. Hiding behind the walls wasn't such a good idea for you after all."

"True," Nel said. "But, did you consider the idea that you're pretty much visible from up there? Someone could pull back to the floor." She closed her eyes. "And I know just the person who would do that kind of thing..."

Shadow Fox looked confused before he turned around and met a big sphere that somehow wrapped around his head. The shadow grunted before he was forced back onto the floor by none other than Peppita. It should be noted that the shadow left the knocked out Roger on the plants where Nel jumped back to examine him.

Peppita revealed the shadow's head hardly by pulling her right bangle at her. Shadow Fox spun a bit on his feet before stomping the floor to stop his spin, glaring down at Peppita. "T-that's what you get for messing up with Fox!" Peppita yelled.

Shadow Fox crossed his arms. "Geez, I don't want to deal with a girl like you now... You're not that dangerous to me..."

Peppita pouted a bit. "I-I can be dangerous in my own accord, okay?" She was quickly grabbed by the neck by the shadow. "N-not this again!" she yelled.

The shadow pulled back his fist. "Prepare to get yourself hurt by your actions," he said. Shadow Fox suddenly noticed Peppita's hand in front of his face. "What now?"

"Instanto Blast!" Peppita yelled, her hand sending an invisible blast to the shadow's face. Shadow Fox grunted and let go of the Velbaysian before she ran close to him to initiate another attack. "Kaboom!" she shouted, spinning on her spot to call forth a rotating star that circled around her and damaged the shadow several times before pushing him away.

"Damn, I underestimated you..." Shadow Fox grunted as he stopped backing away. "That was just a small attack, though," he said before vanishing.

Peppita held out her hand. "Instanto Blast!"

On the southwest corner of the floor, Shadow Fox stopped running as the same invisible blast collided against his face, making him stumble back a bit. "W-what the..." He shook his head. "How the hell did that attack manage to hit me?"

"My Instanto Blast attack can hit you no matter where you are!" Peppita yelled from the center of the floor. "Try running again and I'll hit you but good!"

"Grr, don't try my patience..." Shadow Fox said through gritted fangs as he vanished from the spot.

"Instanto Blast!"

"Ugh!" Shadow Fox appeared right in front of Peppita.

"Now or never!" Peppita yelled as she used Kaboom once again, this time making laughter as the star circled around her and landed several hits on the shadow. Shadow Fox grunted even more pain as he stumbled back before quickly delivering a frontal right kick at Peppita. The Velbaysian yelled in pain as she was pushed all the way to the north wall where she crashed. "S-someone help!" she yelled as she saw Shadow Fox vanishing. "U-ugh...m-my hand is hurt...I-I can't use Instanto Blast again..."

Alone by himself on the southeast corner of the floor, Wolf crossed his arms and took out one of Puffy's Grabbag Stun Bomb R-2 while nobody was looking at his direction. "(She said it reduces defense by 30 percent and also stuns enemies in a wide area...)" he thought before looking back at the fight where Cliff blocked Shadow Fox's kicks. "(However, just throwing it won't be enough... I need to toss this thing once I find the right time. If it does work, I need to come up with a good tactic...)" He clutched the bag in his right claw and looked back at the fight.

"D-darn, you kick too good..." Cliff muttered behind his arms.

"And I'm just getting to the best part," Shadow Fox said before he appeared right behind Cliff. Suddenly, his ears twitched a bit. "Oh wait, I need to do something else first."

The Klausian turned around in time to see the shadow disappearing. Cliff looked around before he saw Nel being launched back to the floor where she recklessly hopped all the way to the west wall, then he heard Adray being slammed down on the floor by the shadow. Cliff didn't understand why the shadow decided to change targets before mentioned enemy appeared right in front of Cliff.

"Done," Shadow Fox said grinning.

"What the heck did you do?" Cliff asked glaring.

"I heard some small chants that SURELY involved healing," Shadow Fox explained. "So I went ahead and shut those annoying bastards up. Also, I hope you don't mind, but I took the raccoon kid away from here so nobody would heal him."

Cliff looked a bit mad. "Oh well, then I should shut you up myself."

"Try," Shadow Fox said as he appeared right behind Cliff and used a harsh spinning kick, sending Cliff several feet away as the shadow vulpine landed his feet on the ground and back stepped. "Hmph, big guy's harder to push around... Well, it doesn't matter your size or anything, anyway."

"Ugh, this guy's just so strong..." Cliff muttered as he felt pain running through his back.

"And it's not over yet!" Shadow Fox yelled as he appeared in front of Cliff, somehow doing Fox Illusion without even slashing the Klausian. He simply turned around and smirked.

"What's so funny now?" Cliff asked.

Suddenly, he saw the floor burning red before pillars of fire came out. The scorching flames pushed Cliff upwards where Shadow Fox seemed to warp above him to deliver a downward kick on his chest. Cliff grunted in pain before he noticed that the eruption of fire was still down, and once he was sent back to the flames, screams of pain were heard before they vanished, showing Cliff struggling to get up before he fell down. "No...not like...this..." Cliff muttered before he passed out of cold, Shadow Fox landing close to him.

Adray seeing that the only way out to leave the floor was the south staircase, stood below the arch. Chip, noticing the old man standing down, peer his head upside-down. "H-hey, mister, what are you doing? Aren't you gonna help them?"

Adray looked up. "Nah, I will be the guard of this exit," he said. "That shadow monster seems to leave through here. If I can stop him in time, then he is not going to take away our comrades."

Chip nodded. "Oooooooooh, now I get it..."

"Hey, young warrior, come over here and lend me a hand!"

Roy stopped running towards Shadow Fox and turned around to look at Adray. "What is it now?"

"I need your assistance immediately before we regret it!" Adray yelled. "Let us stop that monster from kidnapping our comrades, together!"

"W-well..." Roy looked back at the shadow before looking back at Adray. "O-okay..." he muttered before rushing at Adray. Once the swordsman reached the old man, they both stood from side-by-side. "So, what's the plan? I hope you have a plan."

"Simple," Adray said as he pulled his right hand behind, calling forth a blue sphere of Symbology.

Back at the spot where the shadow was, he grinned down at the fainted Klausian, thinking about taking him away as the leader of Quark reacted to this by yelling "You're in for it now!" as she rushed at him from the east.

"Away," Shadow Fox said annoyed before vanishing along with Cliff.

"Now!" Adray yelled as he shoved the blue sphere forward, water gathering in front of his feet. "Seeeeeea Gate!"

A huge water shark jumped out from the water. Somehow, it managed to stop the swift Shadow Fox as he was pushed him up into the air where the shark bit him hard and took him down on the floor, splashing the whole ground covered in crumbles. Shadow Fox grunted in pain after he was slammed down hard onto the floor, Cliff's fainted self crashing down some feet away.

"(Now's my chance,)" Wolf thought as he dashed from the east. The lupine pulled his right claw behind him to toss the bag at full speed to the downed dark vulpine.

And then, a big explosion of sparks burst on the shadow as it covered a wide area with a big cloud. "G-GIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Everyone watched as the cloud of yellow sparks covered the area where Shadow Fox was. Even if the cloud of horrible smell reached Adray and Roy, it didn't affect them due to the fact Puffy had surely designed it to work on enemies only (this surely meant she had a lot of time on her hands to make an item like that).

"Eah, y-yuck, ahem, y-yuck!" and more gags and coughs were heard. When the cloud cleared out, they watched as Shadow Fox rolled a little bit to the sides while he clutched his hands to his throat, his yellow eyes dilating by the horrendous smell of the clouds. "W-what the f(beep) is this stuff?! M-my body...u-ugh...d-darn!" he cursed as he continued gagging on the floor. "W-what kind of corrosive thing was that?! GIAH, IT STINKS!!!"

"Wait, I know that item..." Fayt said. "That's one of Puffy's bombs."

"We should have brought one of those with us," Mirage said before looking at Cliff. "Now's my chance to give him a hand," she said as she rushed towards Cliff as she held a Fresh Sage in her right hand.

Wolf grinned and chuckled as he looked down at the shadow. "What do you know, the item really worked... Turns out the girl wasn't lying after all."

"OF COURSE NOT!" yelled Puffy from Peterny.

Gritting his fangs like before, the shadow glared menacingly at Wolf with his eyes dilated. "Y-YOU BASTARD! Y-yuck!" Shadow Fox spat.

The lupine raised his right claw before it turned pitch black. "Okay, now that we have him down, we have to give him all."

"Right," Maria said. "That bomb surely did lower his defense."

Shadow Fox was suddenly grabbed harshly by Sonic's claws. "Allow me to begin, then! HYAH!" the werehog yelled as he tossed the shadow high up into the air. Shadow Fox found himself unable to move as his body let out sparks that would last for a small time. Sonic stuck his tongue a bit as he put his fists close to his face before stretching them all the way to him.

Shadow Fox received the hits, making him spin madly in the air. "Right there!" Maria yelled as she followed the assault by shooting three shots to the air. "Pulse Blast!" she yelled, firing five spheres of energy that kept Shadow Fox from falling down as he was forced to bump along in the air.

"Please, do not leave me behind this," Chris said as he adjusted his glasses and prepared a spell. "(I better keep him in the air...it is better to execute consecutive combos that way.) Rise, o violent winds... Aero!" he shouted, holding his hand as winds gathered around Shadow Fox and kept him in the air while they slashed him a bit.

Pit aimed his bow upwards at the shadow as he ran beneath him. "Go!" he yelled, shooting the arrow high up to strike Shadow Fox. The shadow grunted in pain as he descended where Pit spun his dual blades a bit before slashing the air above him consecutively, the shadow falling down on the attack where Pit quickly stabbed the floor with both blades to kick the shadow upwards. The angel quickly joined his blades and shot a fast arrow once again to the shadow.

"Hey, kid," Wolf said as he dashed to Pit. "Let me do it now."

"O-okay," Pit said as he back stepped.

Wolf ran under the shadow and looked up at him. "Time for me to do what I want to do," he muttered as he raised his claw up before using Fire Wolf. The lupine reached the spinning shadow vulpine and delivered an upward kick to his back. Shadow Fox grunted in pain as Wolf was able to grab his right arm to pull himself up where he crossed his dark claws in front of him. "Hand of Doom," he muttered darkly as he slashed the shadow across his body, leaving trails of energy behind before he slammed his claws down, forcing Shadow Fox to plummet all the way down to the floor.

C. Falcon came rushing from the north, pulling his right fist back where he, once reaching the shadow before he could collide, used a fire uppercut while using Raptor Boost. The captain delivered the uppercut right on Shadow Fox's chin. "Feel the burn, jackass," C. Falcon muttered as the shadow was forced up again.

"Why can't this be the coup de grace for a chance?" Wolf asked to himself as he fell down from above Shadow Fox and slammed down his claws on his chest. Shadow Fox gritted his fangs even more to the point he showed them fully. Due to the fact of Wolf's attack being a Meteor Smash, the shadow was once again forced to go down where a Grapple Beam caught him and pulled it back to Samus.

Shadow Fox's face was shoved to Samus's helmet. The shadow tried to attack and get off, but his body was still stunned. "Y-you, filthy woman, won't get away with this..." Shadow Fox said through gritted fangs.

"Oh no, look how I'm scared, idiot," Samus said sarcastically before she pulled Shadow Fox behind her by using her Grapple Beam before tossing him back to the air. "And please, taste this," she muttered as she shot a fully charged Charge Shot to the shadow. Once the shot collided, it sent electric waves into Shadow Fox's body that made him grunt even more in pain (with annoyance as well).

Fayt came rushing from the west as he looked up at shadow coming down. "Now, this is for Sophia..." he muttered as he stopped running right underneath Shadow Fox. Fayt raised his hand and moved it down to his ankles' level, calling forth a downward wave of fire. "Shotgun Blast!" he yelled, Shadow Fox falling on the wave where he grunted.

Suddenly, the shadow found himself able to move back again. Glaring at Fayt for the last attack, the shadow rushed at him to use a spinning kick on his face.

Fayt quickly reacted, jumped to the right, and hit Shadow Fox's back with his right energized kick. "Side Kick!"

"UGH!!!" Shadow Fox gritted his fangs in pain as he stumbled forward. "Y-you darn skill thief..."

"Hate to point out this, but that's originally my move," Fayt said. "...Which reminds me, how did you learn that as well?"

"SHUT UP!" Shadow Fox yelled as he used Fox Illusion to cross the blue-haired teen, leaving a burning trail of red on the floor before it erupted into pillars of fire. However, the shadow didn't expect Fayt to sidestep in time from the attack as he used another Side Kick on Shadow Fox's right side. "Dammit!" he yelled loudly as he was pushed back to the floor. Quickly getting up, he began to pant heavily. "It's no use to keep attacking...if I'm starting to feel weaker... I must heal myself before I-"

"Shockwave!"

"What th-" Shadow Fox stumbled forward after a wave of energy crashed against his feet. Behind him, Nel held her daggers tight in her hands.

"Shadow Wave!" Nel yelled, sending some aerial shockwaves in front of her that slashed the shadow from behind his back. The Elicoorian crossed her daggers in front of her to call forth another attack. "To the netherworld with you. Poison Cloud!" she shouted, releasing a putrid cloud of poison that quickly reached the shadow's nostrils.

"Y-yuck..." Shadow Fox began to gag some more. "W-why is it that everyone is releasing gases on me?!"

"To point out something for you, it's been only 2 times," Nel said as she crossed her arms with her dangers while crouching down. "Slashing blades! Ice Daggers!" she shouted, firing three frozen knives at the shadow's back.

"S-stop it!" Shadow Fox cursed loudly before he began to pant heavily, Nel backing away from him in order to keep herself safe from a quick close attack. "H-healing..." the shadow muttered he pulled his right hand behind him. "I-I need...heali-"

"Oh, sorry, but I just can't let you, worm, do that... Aura Wall!"

Shadow Fox's eyes widened as he turned around to see a metal claw opening its palm, calling forth what looked to be a small wall of malevolent spirits that pulled him into it and attacked his energy. Somehow, the wall of spirits ended up hitting Shadow Fox many times, stopping him from escaping as he constantly tumbled on his spot.

Albel narrowed his already narrow eyes as he pulled back his metal arm. He then raised it above him to call forth a dark atmosphere that covered Shadow Fox's feet. "Your life is mine now, maggot... Vampiric Flash!"

The atmospheres, combined with Albel's Aura Wall, made Shadow Fox suffer a great deal of pain. He found himself unable to move thanks to the Aura Wall that drained his energy away along with Albel's Vampiric Flash.

Having sucked Shadow Fox's energy a bit, Albel pulled back his metal claw and shot a green blast from it as the Aura Wall vanished. "Palm of Destruction!" Albel yelled, hitting Shadow Fox's chest right in the middle of it.

"U-ugh, what the..." Shadow Fox panted heavily. He knew he had a lot of health left, but for some reason, his energy didn't feel as strong as he thought it would be. "I-I have to he-"

"Stupid maggot, just go down and die already," Albel muttered under his breath as he managed to caught Shadow Fox off-guard. The Black Brigade captain's katana was shrouded with energy as he yelled "Double Slash!" while doing an upward-downward strike. The two slashes were long enough to push Shadow Fox to the air and then slam him down hard to the ground.

Shadow Fox started to get even more mad. Pushing his feet back up, he stood up and quickly vanished before Albel could slash his face across with his katana.

Albel grunted a bit and stood up, looking around the floor. "Keep your distance, your stupidity is contagious..." he muttered bored.

Shadow Fox appeared standing on the north wall, looking down mad at the whole group of characters glaring at him. "Y-you guys are GETTING so DAMN ANNOYING I swear..." he muttered under his breath as he pulled back his right hand, calling forth a blue sphere.

Peppita gasped. 'H-he's gonna heal himself again!"

Mirage, giving Cliff the Fresh Sage, looked down at him where he started to eat it before he slowly opened his eyes and got up. "Phew...thanks, Mirage."

Mirage smiled a bit and stood up. "Always ready, Cliff."

Cliff looked at the shadow. "Damn, he's healing himself again!"

"T-that's what I said..." Peppita muttered with a frown. "...Wait a minute, maybe I can stop him..." She looked at her right bangle before she began to spin it around her side. "Magic Hook!" she yelled, her bangle extending all the way to Shadow Fox.

Unfortunately...

"HEALING!!!" Shadow Fox yelled loudly before green pyre flies circled around him, healing his health for 60 percent. The hook then slammed right into his chest, but oddly enough, the shadow grabbed the sphere with his right hand and pulled it behind him.

"A-aaah!" Peppita found herself unable to match up against Shadow Fox's strength as she was pulled all the way to the shadow. Everyone gasped once after the shadow put a strong grip on throat with his arm, slowly crushing her against his chest.

Maria grunted a bit. "You've gone too far now... Let her go!"

"Oh, hell no," Shadow Fox said as he smirked at them. "I had this mission prior meeting all of you, and I have to finish it all alone by myself."

"Y-you...s-stupid..." Peppita muttered in pain. "...Coward..."

The pressure got even harder on her. Shadow Fox panted heavily above Peppita. "Coward? Now that's very mean for you to say, Peppita..."

"We're not fooling around here," Cliff said before smacking his fists together. "Let her go now before we smack you one!"

Shadow Fox snickered. "Sorry, but you can't give order to the leader of the pack," he explained, Peppita gasping for breath. "Stay there and don't move. If you do otherwise, she'll die."

Samus grunted a bit. "What is the point of standing here doing nothing if you're going to keep torturing her like that?"

"Yeah, what's the point of that?" C. Falcon asked, receiving a bored look from the bounty hunter.

"The point is..." Shadow Fox trailed off as he grinned darkly, "...she doesn't have any other way..."

Chris grunted and shook his head. "S-she does not deserve this unfair punishment!"

"Oh, she does, alright," Shadow Fox said. "No one is allowed to stalk me unless I say so. Oh, that's right, you CAN'T stalk me like a creepy bad girl like Peppita..."

Peppita began to son as the shadow lowered his face at her right ear's level.

"Like some people say, Peppita..." Shadow Fox smiled deviously at her. "...Game Over..."

"N-no..." Peppita coughed. "N-n-no...p-p-please...y-y-you should have some...remorse left in you..."

Shadow Fox looked down amused at her. "Peppita...for the last time...I am NOT that liar, son of a dead b(beep)..."

Everyone could only stand and watch as Peppita suffered a demise she was forced to receive. If they dared move, Peppita would instantly die by crushing her throat. They all tried to think of a way to save her, but it looked very futile to do anything. Shadow Fox had Peppita as his hostage.

Shadow Fox chuckled deviously. "Checkmate, don't you think? I ended up accomplishing my mission after all..."

Chip flew over the arch's gem to shout loudly "S-somebody do something!" as he put his hands close to his mouth.

"Ah, ah, ah," Shadow Fox shook his head. "Bad children need to be taught a lesson the bad way. Peppita's been doing very bad things to me all this me, and now she needs to pay the price."

Suddenly, his ears twitched a bit.

"..." Shadow Fox looked at everyone on the floor. "...None of you is using Symbology...then..." He shifted his eyes around. "...Why am I hearing something close to me, then? It doesn't make sense for someone to sneak up behind me and..." He turned around and looked down at the edge of the floor. "Okay, I know someone's hiding there. Reveal yourself before I take drastic measures."

There was no response to where he yelled at.

"...The silent type, huh?" Shadow Fox asked with a glare. "...I DEFINITELY know you're there...whoever you are..."

The others, back at the floor, noticed that the shadow wasn't paying any attention to them. Without speaking, Maria signaled at the long-range attackers to strike the shadow's back. The fact that Shadow Fox had Peppita as a hostage was a fact they made them unable to hit, but Maria persisted by pointing many times at the shadow. Shrugging a bit, Pit slowly raised his bow with an arrow ready, Samus aimed her arm cannon, Maria aimed her phase gun at the shadow's head, and Sonic narrowed his eyes and raised his fists at his face's level.

"(This is very risky...)" Maria thought. "(A wrong move, and Peppita could receive all the blows...)" She closed her eyes. "(Since he has a pretty good hearing, we should attack as silent as possible...but...I wonder...)" She opened her eyes. "(What is making him turn around?)"

"..." Shadow Fox gritted his fangs, not noticing that the force he used on Peppita with his right arm was losing its grip. "I gave you an order to come on out. If you don't come on out, I'll go get you where you're hiding..."

The shadow kept staring down at the edge. Some grass patches were sticking out from the edge as some windswept them by a bit. However, Shadow Fox noticed that a patch of grass was, in truth, hiding something that was aimed directly at his head.

"What the..." Shadow Fox muttered. "...A Blaster?"

"Ooh, congratulations, you get a prize for guessing the name of my weapon," said a voice that resulted very familiar to the shadow.

Shadow Fox narrowed his eyes as Peppita managed to look down at the gun. "Wait a minute, that stupid voice and funny accent..."

The voice grunted. "Okay, now you're being just annoying. Wanna know your prize?"

Shadow Fox didn't have a second to reply as the Blaster shot his face. The shadow yelled a bit in pain as he let go of Peppita, the Velbaysian falling down on the little space of grass floor where she panted heavily for breath.

"NOW!" Maria yelled.

The shadow turned his back only to find a Super Missile, a hard blue shot, an arrow, and big fist colliding all against him. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Shadow Fox screamed loudly as he was pushed out from the platform where he frantically moved his hands while he fell down to the abyss, his dark image slowly shrinking until he eventually disappeared from sight.

Music stops

"U-ugh..." Peppita coughed weakly as she pushed herself up with her hands, a hand rubbing her neck as she closed her right eye and looked around. "W-what...did just...happen...?"

The entire group could hardly believe that the shadow was taken down to the abyss. After seeing only Peppita standing up and struggling to get back some breath, they all sighed in relief. "It's...over..." Maria said as she rubbed her forehead a bit with her arm. "...That was tougher than it needed to be..."

C. Falcon sighed and looked down. "Whew, that was...so annoying...but it's over..."

Wolf grunted a bit at this while Fayt and Nel went to check on Peppita. Noticing the annoyed grunt from the lupine, Pit turned around and looked at him. "Um, is something bothering you?" Pit asked as he saw Wolf closing his eye and crossing his arms. "You look like you're not happy that we defeated that evil doppelganger..."

"..." Wolf frowned and grunted annoyed.

"...Seriously, what is bothering you?" Pit asked with more curiosity.

The lupine remained silent, making Pit look a bit worried. Something was greatly bothering him about the shadow...

Peppita slowly turned around to see Fayt and Nel climbing the wall where they reached her. Concerned, Fayt knelt down and looked at her. "Peppita, are you alright?"

The Velbaysian coughed a bit. "Y-yeah, I guess I'm still OK, Fayt..."

"Hang on," Nel said as she formed a blue sphere in front of her right palm. "I'm going to heal the injuries that guy dealt to you."

"P-please do..." Peppita muttered weakly as she smiled a bit and shed a tear. "W-we showed him...right, Fayt?"

Fayt chuckled and nodded. "Of course we did, Peppita," he said, reassuring Peppita's feelings. "It's all good now."

"B-but..." Peppita looked back at the gun behind the patch. "...F-from who is that from?"

Fayt and Nel looked down at the gun. "Come to think of it, I only saw that weapon with Fox's holster...."

Peppita gasped and smiled a bit. "F-Fox, is that you? D-did you come here to rescue me as you wanted to do it before? T-that's so cool of you! I knew you were going to make a comeback!"

The gun suddenly pulled back down. "Oh, sorry, but you got the wrong person," the voice said as his owner moved his head up, Peppita's happy expression turning one confused, the three finding a hand hiding behind another patch of grass. The person grinned up at them. "I could say you were pretty darn close, though."

"..." Fayt tilted his head confused. "And...you are..."

"Oops, guess I haven't introduced myself," the person said before he pushed himself back to the air, flipping one time before landing on his feet to their left.

Chris looked back at the three and gasped once he looked up at the other person. "W-what in the world?" the scholar muttered before running up all the way to them. Once he reached the north wall, he looked up at the person. "What are you doing here?"

The person turned out to be none other than Falco. The ace pilot looked down at Chris and waved a hand. "Hey there," he said grinning. "Sorry for coming here so late, but I needed some special requirements to give you guys a hand with that son of a b(beep) you were fighting a moment ago."

Fayt, Nel, and Peppita looked back and forth between the two. "What? You know each other?" Fayt asked.

Falco looked at him. "Know each other? We practically know a lot of each other because we live under the same roof."

Chris smiled a bit at this.

"But anyhow, sorry for not introducing myself," Falco said. "The name's Falco Lombardi, ace pilot from Star Fox. Nice to meet you all."

"...From Star Fox?" Peppita repeated. "Are you one of Fox's team members?"

Falco scratched his head a bit. "Well, I get a little bit bothered that he's my boss...but yeah, I'm his "lackey" of the sorts." He put his right hand on his right hip. "So, did my distraction help at all or what? Looks like you guys took him down literally."

"B-but I do not understand..." Chris said confused. "How did you get here?"

Falco grinned at Chris. "Well, you know that rule about the team here being in danger? Master Hand said the situation looked pretty bad, and he let me come here after watching you guys having a hard time to shut that monster up."

Chris got in a thinking position. "Oh yes, I recall that emergency rule..."

"When you were cornered by 3 VS. 1, I was about to come in here and lend a hand. But just before I could step in, reinforcements came, and I decided to pull back," Falco explained. "However, when I saw that the situation was turning for the worst, I came here by having a plan to make a surprise attack by appearing right behind the edges of this frickin' floor hanging on top of this big abyss down below to attack him." He chuckled a bit. "Needless to say, that plan wasn't that bad, right?"

"I guess..." Chris said. "...Really, thank you for your assistance, Falco."

"Meh, don't sweat it," Falco said before looking around. "You guys received some serious beating, huh..."

"Don't remind us, please..." Nel said before looking back at Peppita. "Hang in there a little bit longer. I'm a bit tired so that's why the spell isn't fully complete yet."

Peppita nodded. "I-I understand, but hurry up because I'm feeling woozy..."

Back with the others, Maria looked at the newcomer talking to them. She turned around and chuckled a bit at Mirage. "Phew, I'm glad they have more people with them to come and aid us in our time of need..."

"I think so too," Mirage said. "You have to give them that they're somewhat unique, right?"

"I guess so..." Maria said. "For now, though, let's find Sophia, Roger, Tails, and Fox. They must be nearby here somewhere."

Mirage nodded. "Right away,lLet me go find them."

"Maybe you should take some people with you as well," Maria said before turning to Cliff. "Cliff, can you assist Mirage in finding the others?"

Cliff nodded. "Oh well, we may as well find them before something else happens."

"H-hey, let me come as well," C. Falcon offered.

"Oh no," Samus said as she walked to them. "Let me go in your place, please."

"What?" C. Falcon asked. "Oh no, no, no, let me go in your place, please."

"I think 3 are enough to look for them," Maria said. "Okay, Samus, please go with Cliff and Mirage."

"Thanks," Samus said.

C. Falcon looked a bit bewildered as the three ran their way back to the south staircase. Groaning a bit, he looked at Maria. "Wh-"

"Look," Maria began, interrupting the racer from talking. "I know pretty much well enough that you want to go with them just because of Mirage and Samus."

The racer looked a bit shocked. "I-ah, no..."

"Sure," Maria said as she looked bored at him. "I can tell that much by simply looking to you. I thought adults were supposed to show some maturity, but I guess there are a few exceptions out there."

C. Falcon looked a bit angry at her. "H-hey, I'm not like that!"

"Sure you are," Maria said bluntly as she ran hand through her hair. "Why can't you be more sophisticated to others? If you were like that, you could achieve what you want to do with...women, I think...considering whatever you're thinking is even half-appropriate..."

"I-it is..."

"Hmph, we'll see."

C. Falcon rolled his eyes and looked away.

The four characters on the wall jumped down to regroup with everyone else. Falco looked at everyone. "Geez, you do look pretty beat up yourselves."

"It's good to see you here to give us a hand," Pit said.

"Yeah, I know," Falco said. "I just couldn't sit and watch, right?"

Chris adjusted his glasses. "Please, stop showing off, Falco. We KNOW it is good for you to help us, but please do mind your words."

Falco rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, geez..."

Albel looked away. "Another maggot joins the fray, I see..."

Falco, hearing this, looked annoyed at Albel. "Oh, you shut up," he said annoyed as he pointed behind his left shoulder with a thumb. "At least be grateful I saved your a(beep) from flying fire guy back there in the air."

Fayt sighed in relief. "Well guys, I think we need to go back and rest for the night. We had a pretty rough night."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, and I need to see if Tails is fine."

Peppita smiled a bit. "I-I'm glad this is all going to be over..." She looked at Nel. "C-can you heal me now?"

"...Ugh," Nel grunted as the blue sphere disappeared. "Not good...my energy is so low..."

The Velbaysian looked down depressed.

"Sorry, my bad..." Nel apologized. "If I continue to overexert my Symbology, I could eventually suffer a mental death..."

"Yeah, I know..."

Pit looked at her. "Mental death? What is that?"

Nel coughed a bit. "It's technically the phenomenon for users that can execute runology and Symbology alike. According to what I know, if you keep wasting the energy you have to use runology or Symbology; your mind will become so exhausted that it will have a mental breakdown, forcing you to faint..." She put a hand on her forehead. "Only the people that know how to use both of those teachings are put at risk to suffer that kind of effect..."

"I see..." Pit said nodding. "It's basically like a second way to faint?"

"You could put it that way..." Nel coughed.

"I'm glad we were able to keep our energies from depleting," Maria said. "But for now, let's go back to Peterny and rest for the night."

The group nodded to each other before they started their way back. However, there was something that bothered Maria as she recalled Falco's words. The leader of Quark stopped walking and stopped Falco by grabbing his right shoulder. Turning his head to the right, Falco looked at her. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry, but there was something that bothered me when you spoke about some flying fire guy..." Maria trailed off.

"...Oh, that?" Falco asked before his eyes widened. "Er, wait a minute...why did I even say that?"

The two looked behind Maria where they found Wolf glaring up to the north with crossed arms, a hint of anger in his face. "I knew it..." Wolf muttered. "...This was way too easy..."

"..." Falco shook his head. "Oh no, don't tell me that he..."

Maria looked at Wolf's direction and moved her right foot back. "E-everyone, come back now! We still have trouble!"

Everyone else overheard what Maria said and turned around to look at their direction. The group gasped after finding a familiar figure floating above the abyss where Shadow Fox fell down.

For their dismay, they saw none other than the mentioned enemy in the air. However, this time, Shadow Fox looked extremely mad as he had fists on the sides of his hips, fire coming under him. It was just as if he was using Fire Fox to remain suspended in the air.

"I-impossible!" Pit yelled. "T-this is not done yet?!"

[DededeCloneChris]

Shadow Fox slowly panted heavily as he stared down at all of them, fire still coming from under his feet. "This...has gone long enough now..." he muttered through gritted fangs."...You're starting to be the most bothersome guys I've ever fought..."

Falco grunted and took out his Blaster. "Damn, this guy just DOESN'T give up, does he?"

"Falco..." Shadow Fox muttered in anger. "...You're the main reason why I was pushed off from this filthy floor..." He raised his fists even more. "For that...you shall be expelled from Star Fox..."

Falco rolled his eyes. "I'm not really sorry to say this to you, but you're not the Fox I know who can really tell me to drop off from the team."

"Oh, is that so?" Shadow Fox asked.

"Yeah," Falco said. "You're gonna get surprised, but I thought you said you weren't him again."

Shadow Fox narrowed his eyes.

"What was all that about you being you, then?" Falco chuckled. "Are you the one lying now?"

Shadow Fox swung his right arm to the side in front of him to his back. "I have to remind you that I'm the honest Fox here. The other one was an idiot who couldn't express what he really felt about you."

"I couldn't care less."

"What?"

Falco looked down. "...I admit I'm some kind of a jerk for disobeying him sometimes, so what of it?" he asked. "He knows pretty much that I'll be there to give him a hand whenever he needs my help."

"Ain't that cute..." Shadow Fox said sarcastically.

"For now, though," Falco began as he aimed his Blaster at Shadow Fox. "You're gonna have to go down to the same way you took."

"Like I'm going to listen to you, bird brain."

Falco looked annoyed. "That's supposed to be Wolf's saying, not yours."

"U-um..." Chris gulped a bit. "Did you forget the fact that now we know that Shadow Fox can...fly?"

Shadow Fox crossed his arms and chuckled. "Like I said before, I didn't show you all my true powers," he said snickering. "This time is for real now..." He took a fighting pose. "I hope you're ready to lay down and DIE as I've told you to do before!"

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - The Divine Spirit of Language

"Tsk," Albel muttered before unsheathing his katana. "I wouldn't mind beating the same worm again. Bring it on, maggot."

Chris gulped. "D-do we really have to try his patience? H-he looks pretty mad if you ask me..."

Wolf grunted a bit. "Kid, this is why I thought we ended the battle so easy." He took a fighting stance. "People like that doppelganger ALWAYS come back for more until they finally fall down."

"Agreed," Maria said. "Let's get over this quickly."

Fayt put a tight grip on his sword. "Let's give him our best shot, then."

"W-wait, I do not think this is going to end up very good!" Chris said as the shadow was engulfed in scorching flames. "I-I have a very bad feeling about this!"

"Chris, everything's just fine," Sonic said as he cracked his fists. "Let's just finish him off for real this time."

"I hate to agree with this, but we don't have much of a choice..." Nel said. "We're still injured, but we must fight with everything we've got this time."

"Hahahahaha!" Adray laughed loudly. "Bring the tension to me! This shall be a battle to remember for sure!"

Roy looked bored at him. "Geez, you're forgetting the fact that we might DIE this time for sure, right?"

"Roy, it's useless," Pit said with a sigh. "You can't just change his mind that easily."

C. Falcon took a fighting stance. "Um, you guys, we have Super Shadow Fox in the air, and he doesn't look that happy to see us again..."

At that moment, Shadow Fox vanished in the air.

Maria grunted. "Now that we know he can fly, we have to be even more careful than before. I shouldn't have told Mirage and the others to leave if I knew this was going to happen."

Sonic looked around, his fists prepared to hit anything. "So, where'd he go to?"

Peppita shook in fear. After watching that the enemy proved to be so persistent, her feeling of calmness was broken apart. However, she had enough of fighting the doppelganger for so long that she eventually resolved herself to stand up. "Guys, I'm gonna heal everyone here," she said, getting the attention of everyone. "Please, do everything you can to prevent him from getting close to me!"

"What are you saying?" Fayt asked.

"Just fight and watch!" Peppita said before she began to dance slowly on her spot, calling forth a glyph of light that reached everyone. As she moved her legs and hands around her by taking small steps forward and back, she chanted. "Iridescent spirits, forest dwellers... Rain down your dew of life!"

Most of them began to feel that their injuries were slowly being healed overtime as Peppita kept dancing. "Good..." Nel muttered. "But still, we have to find him..."

Albel noticed that the floor suddenly turned a little bit of a red shade. "..." He looked up and took a step back. "You better resist the incoming attack, worms. He's coming right on us!"

Everyone looked up to see a huge flaring star coming down upon them. Most of them gasped at the size of the star. It could easily outgrow the floor they were standing on, and it was probably hard to evade such an attack.

"W-what do we do now?!" Chris asked. "T-the size of that meteor is just too big!"

Wolf gritted his fangs. "It must be that imbecile's doing," he said. "And judging by the size of that thing, it's surely his ultimate attack."

"...You gotta know when to run..." Maria muttered. "We're outta here, guys!"

Adray rubbed his chin. "We must flee, then. Follow me!"

"H-hate to say this, but I have to agree with him for once," Pit said gulping.

"Grr, dangit, what are we doing standing here doing nothing?" Falco asked. "Go!"

Roy looked at Peppita dancing. "You need to stop for now! We have to get out of here!"

Chris then took out the Heart Container that he kept. "T-this...I need to use this before..."

Unfortunately, the meteor wasn't really going down upon them. It was stopped in midair, and it suddenly came crashing down on the whole floor. Flames quickly spread all over it, and everyone was forced into high up in the air. A furious war cry blared out from the center of the floor where the Shadow Nightmare's image yelled to the sky as he burned with intense fire. In a flash, he quickly vanished from sight.

Falco grunted as he found himself unable to move. "D-darn, he's so darn fast enough t-"

"DIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!"

Falco gasped after he saw the burning appearance of Shadow Fox in the air. His fire intensified even more before he disappeared and began to fly around, slamming himself at everyone at a very insane speed. Everyone screamed loudly in pain as the shadow could attack everyone in a matter of a second, kicking them, punching them, burning them, and kneeing them hard. Chip, who was the only one unaffected, watched shocked as he saw everyone bouncing all over the air, seeing the image of Shadow Fox all over the air where he punished everyone by quickly everywhere they were sent to.

"E-everyone!" Chip yelled.

Suddenly, he watched as the crazy frenzy of attacks stopped while everyone was sent down on the floor where they crashed on different areas. Most of them were severely burned, some were not moving anymore, and some were barely able to push themselves up. "...N-no..." Roy coughed as he thrust his sword down on the floor to force himself up. "T-this...can't...be happening..." He looked around. "...E-everyone..."

Fayt struggled to grab the hilt of his sword in front of him as he was on the northwest corner of the floor. As Fayt was about to reach his sword, his energies depleted. "No...nooooooo!" he yelled before passing out.

Roy looked behind him where Sonic laid down on the floor on his back, a painful expression on his face as he grunted. "You gotta...be kidding me...darn you..." he muttered before his head tilted to the right, indicating he fainted.

Maria, lying down on the southeast corner, twitched in pain. "This has become...so annoying..." She struggled to get up. "But...we must continue..."

Wolf coughed some blood as he managed to stand up, a claw clutching to his chest. "T-that darn imitation of Fox is getting on my nerves now..." He looked behind him where Chris struggled to grab his book in front of him. "Kid...you okay?"

Chris twitched in pain as he managed to grab his book in time. "I-it appears so..." Chris muttered. "B-but...I am concerned...about Shadow Fox's whereabouts..."

The lupine quickly looked back to the air. "Dammit, you're right... Where did he go this time?"

"..." The World Traveler recalled that he had a Heart Container with him. "...The Heart...Container..." he muttered as he slowly reached for his back. "...Wait...just a second..." He got a little bit panicked and slowly stood up. Moving his hands as fast as his energies could let him, Chris couldn't find the Heart Container with him. "W-what in the world..."

It seemed that Chris had lost the recovery item.

"N-no!" Chris gasped as he frantically looked around through the pockets of his scholar robe. "W-where did I leave it? I-I am sure I had it with me a moment ago!"

"Kid...why are you so shocked?" Wolf asked.

"I-I had a Heart Container that could replenish all my health in a second...b-but I lost it!"

Wolf grunted annoyed. "Way to go...kid...that could've saved someone from dying here..."

"W-why do you think we are going to die?"

"..." Wolf frowned. "...We don't stand a chance upon that monster..."

The scholar looked at Wolf in pure disbelief. "W-we must escape, then!"

"Kid...it's futile now..." Wolf said. "That shadow of Fox just keeps coming back...if I could speak to him one more time...I could say he's the real cockroach here..."

"N-no...do not talk like that..."

"I..." C. Falcon, who seemed to be close to them, struggled to stand up. "...I have to...agree there..."

Chris shook his head. "N-no, I still think we have a chance...j-just...let me cure you a bit..." The World Traveler concentrated his magic, but as soon as he started, he stopped. "...M-my energies...they are so low..."

C. Falcon kicked a crumble away. "Damn..."

Adray, located to the northeast corner, slowly stood up and saw Pit trying to get up by himself. "Let me...give you a hand..." Adray offered as he stretched his hand at Pit.

Pit took it and he was pulled back to his feet. "Are you...still okay?"

Adray chuckled. "I may be old, young one...but I can still put up a good fight..."

"You're just being...so persistent..."

"True...but I cannot let this go like this, right?"

"I suppose...so..." Pit said.

The eerie silence of the scenery made them feel very uncomfortable. Looking around, Pit tried to find the shadow. "...Now...where is he?"

Adray looked up. Some seconds passed before he frowned. "We may as well...be dead..."

"Why...please, don't tell me..."

The characters that looked up shook their head in disbelief as they found Shadow Fox's burning body increasing in size. They watched as the shadow opened his arms, releasing what appeared to be ten scorching illusions of himself that made a big circle around him. The shadow, holding out his stretched arm and hand upon them, began to yell something. "I shall incinerate you to ashes... HELLION STAR!!!"

Hellion Star

Slams down a wide area with flames, then uses insane speed to attack all foes, followed up by illusions of fire to explode all over the field, creating bursts of fire. Deals massive fire damage upon all enemies.

Albel, standing up by forcing himself on his katana, grunted at this. "Fire, fire, fire...it's always darn fire, isn't it?" he asked annoyed before he thought about something. "Wait, fire..." The Black Brigade captain looked around to find a struggling Peppita getting up from the floor. "Hey you, yes, you..."

Peppita looked very shocked, but she looked at Albel. "Y-yes?"

Albel recalled something important, "We need...Flare Rings..."

The Velbaysian looked up and gasped at the illusions. "F-Flare Rings?"

"Yes, I believe you made them...right?"

"A-as a matter of fact..." Peppita took out some rings with red gems on them. They were about seven of them. "H-here are they..."

Albel held out his hand at her. "Quick, give me one! Those fire puppets he called forth will surely attack us, and those rings can help us to resist them..."

"O-oh, right," Peppita said as she put a ring on her index finger.

"QUICK!"

Peppita looked around to all the people who were still standing up. She found Wolf, Chris, Roy, Pit, Adray, and C. Falcon standing up. "Y-you guys, here, quick!" She tossed the rings to their feet. "P-put them on!"

The Velbaysian suddenly found something weird close to her. Peppita didn't know why, but she found what looked to be a crystal shaped like a heart that spun a bit on its place.

"W-what?" Peppita looked confused at the heart. "W-what is this?"

"GO DOWN AND FINISH THEM OFF!!!" Shadow Fox called out from the sky before all the illusions of fire began to shoot themselves down, exploding all over the floor. "Die, die, die, DIE, DIE, DIE!!!" Shadow Fox shouted loudly as he saw explosions of fire blowing up everywhere under his feet.

Screams of agony, yells of pain, and people forced into the air occurred all over the already scorched floor. The shadow laughed maniacally as the explosions of fire illuminated a great portion of the underground garden while the plants that adorned the edges of the floor were burned into ashes that remained on the ground. Shadow Fox laughed as crazily as he could before he began to descend down, fire covering almost every inch of the floor. The fire that shrouded him slowly vanished overtime, his fists lowering down.

Chip watched in horror as the shadow panted heavily in extreme exhaustion. The imp didn't want to come out and let the shadow know he was there. Instead, Chip remained behind the gem.

Shadow Fox chuckled deeply as he looked at some of them lying down on the floor, the fire leaving burn scars on their clothes. "Heheheheh..." Shadow Fox chuckled as he saw the fainted Falco close to him. "...Looks like you were destined to end up in defeat...fools..." he said as he panted heavily. "Damn...I'm still so...exhausted..."

Suddenly, Shadow Fox's ears twitched. The shadow gritted his fangs and turned around to find none other than Peppita, still struggling to stand up as she had her hands on her knees. Closing an eye in pain, the Velbaysian glared at Shadow Fox. "You won't just...get away with this...I-I told you so..."

Shadow Fox tightened his fists. "You're still standing after all the beating I've done on you?"

"D-don't underestimate...the Fairy of Illusions...dork..." Peppita coughed a bit.

"I just don't understand why you're still standing, though..."

Peppita was able to stand up completely. "W-when you were just about to send those explosions on us...I found this odd heart close to me...and...when I touched it...the heart vanished and it somehow healed all my injuries..." she explained. "B-but then your explosions came in, and I was back at the same state...h-however..." She showed him the Flare Ring. "T-this little crafting creation...halved your fire attacks...and it saved me from dying..." She shook her head. "But...I know you haven't killed anyone yet...because you're such a...such a..."

Shadow Fox narrowed his eyes.

"...You're such a...such a...such a big dummy!" Peppita yelled as she crossed her left arm in front of her, a fist pumping up. "Now...now...now...now I'm really MAD!!!" she shouted before she started crying, still glaring at Fox fiercely. "I-I'm gonna shut you down for real this time!"

Shadow Fox rolled his eyes. "Whatever..." He started to pant heavily. "I still have enough energy to take you down for once..."

Peppita's lips shook before she began to dash at the shadow. Shadow Fox frowned in shame before he vanished from sight once again. "Kaboom!" Peppita yelled, gracefully spinning in the air as a circling star moved around her.

"U-ugh!" Shadow Fox grunted after he was about to kick Peppita harshly. The star then pushed him away where he rolled on the floor before standing up with a roll. Peppita acted quickly and ran at him. "You snobbish little girl...you're starting to get on my nerves now!"

"I don't care about a monster like you! Be gone!" Peppita yelled as she spun her right bangle at her side. "Magic Hook!"

Shadow Fox crossed his arms in front of his face. However, instead of the bangle going straight to him, the bangle, along with the sphere on its end, went above him. "W-what?"

"Hiiiiiiii-yah!" Peppita pulled down the bangle, the cloth falling on Shadow Fox before she pulled it with all her forces to make the sphere collide hard behind Shadow Fox's head. The shadow grunted in pain as he stumbled forward, the Velbaysian quickly dashing to him. "It's the...grand finale..." Peppita muttered as she stared at the dazzled shadow. "It's my biggest debut...not on the stage..."

Shadow Fox quickly vanished from sight. Peppita stopped running and quickly looked around, ignoring the fainted people around her.

"The Fairy of Illusions...must let the show go on..." she muttered."She has...to beat the evil shadow...that swallowed dreams through scorching flames of hell..."

Shadow Fox appeared over her and prepared a downward kick.

Peppita quickly flipped back constantly to stop all the way to the west wall to evade the crushing kick of the shadow that crashed upon the floor. Once her feet touched the ground, just in front of the western wall, she quickly stood in her usual fighting stance as she glared at the shadow. "The monster needs to go away...and let nightmares leave people's dreams..." she muttered.

"AaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Shadow Fox pulled his fists back as he got engulfed in flames that greatly surpassed the usual Fire Fox attack. The shadow was at a complete rage, his target of his anger being Peppita.

However, the Fairy of Illusions remained on her spot as she moved her hands in front of her face, making her index fingers and thumbs touch each other as she stared at the shadow between them. "I must...end the nightmare that enjoys pleasure through agony..."

"DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Shadow Fox yelled as he quickly shot himself towards Peppita at full speed.

The Velbaysian gulped and closed her eyes tightly. "And...and...and...she needs the help of friend of the fairies!" she shouted as a hole appeared in front of her feet. "Fairy Friend, come and help us all!!!"

Suddenly, some kind of large stuffed animal jumped out from the hole. The large stuffed animal stood seven feet, and it looked like some kind of monster that greatly resembled a moogle. The large stuffed animal looked forward at the meteor that aimed for Peppita.

Pulling back her fist along with the big plush doll, Peppita gulped with some preoccupation, but she nevertheless dared stop her attack. "And please...please, friend of the fairies..." she muttered before glaring forward. "...SAVE US FROM THE ETERNAL NIGHTMARE!!! HaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

The large stuffed animal's right fist moved forward as it created a big shockwave of air that went after Shadow Fox's Meteor Fox. The wind was strong enough to slice the floor and blow away the flames that covered the area around it. Shadow Fox narrowed his yellow eyes as he watched the tornado of air about to crash on him. "IDIOT!" he yelled as he accelerated and clashed against the tornado. Peppita's attack ended up halting the shadow's fire as he slowly used all his energies to crash on her by trying to break through the tornado. "This is going to be the last time you'll see me!"

"I don't think so!" Peppita yelled loudly as she ordered the large stuffed animal to pull back its fist and send another wave of air that clashed against the shadow's scorching fire. "You have to go away!"

The shadow grunted loudly in rage as the next tornado joined up with the previous one, making the force even stronger against Shadow Fox's Meteor Fox.

Peppita pulled back her fist to make the large stuffed animal do the same and sent another wave of air forward to stop the shadow from hurting her. With each sentence Peppita yelled out, she tossed another fist of air through the big puppet. "This is for trying to make Fox feel bad!"

Shadow Fox grunted as the next wave of air started to halt his progress.

"This is for being a bastard to everyone!"

The shadow's Meteor Fox suddenly began to feel weaker.

"This is for troubling me this whole time..."

Shadow Fox's eyes widened as his fire began to lose power.

"This is for being such an annoying mean person..."

Shadow Fox's Meteor Fox suddenly demised as it only managed to cover a small portion of himself. Suddenly, the huge tornado that clashed against him trapped him inside of it.

"And finally..." Peppita muttered with some tears as she pulled back her fist with the big puppet. "...This is...this is..." She sniffed a bit, hoping that her attack would end the fight. "...This is for...this is for..." She glared fiercely at the shadow. "...THIS IS FOR TRYING TO KILL US ALL JUST BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO!!! HaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Shadow Fox watched shocked as a stronger wave of air joined up with the tornado that had him in it. The tornado blast pushed the shadow all the way across the burning floor, blowing out all the flames that burned most of the fainted people around the crumbles. Shadow Fox spiraled crazily in the blast before he finally collided against the eastern wall where a explosion of winds slices him completely. Once the attack sliced him completely he fell down on the floor, the large stuffed animal and Peppita staring at him before the big doll looked at Peppita, waved a hand, and jumped back into the hole before it disappeared.

...But for her dismay, the shadow quickly pushed his feet up and chuckled loudly. Peppita shook her head in pure disbelief. "N-no!" Peppita yelled. "B-but I thought..."

"Enough of this bulls(beep), Peppita..." Shadow Fox said as he pulled back his right hand behind him, calling forth a blue sphere that the Velbaysian recognized as Symbology. "Now...I just need to heal myself again...hit you hard on the face...and then...I'll win...after all this hell..."

"...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Peppita shouted loudly as she began her way to interrupt the shadow from healing himself. It was a long distance, but the Velbaysian ran as fast as she could to stop him.

Chip, after watching the whole struggled, decided to finally join up to the fight as he flew as a fast as he could to the shadow. "Y-you, stop there!"

Shadow Fox glared at Chip, but the shadow knew that he could heal himself in time to exterminate his two enemies. "...This ends here...you 2..." he muttered with a snicker as he swung his right arm and hand forward, calling forth pyre flies that healed his injuries. "HEALING!!!" he yelled loudly.

Peppita and Chip suddenly stopped running in horror as they watched the shadow healing his injuries. Once he was done, Shadow Fox laughed maniacally at the sky before looking at them with a devilish grin, his fists tightening on the sides of his hips.

"Well, well, well..." Shadow Fox said snickering. "It seems I, once again, have the upper hand..."

Peppita sniffed sadly as she shook her head continuously. As for Chip, the imp was ready to fly away as fast as he could from the scene. His life was now at risk.

Shadow Fox took a step forward, making both of them gasp. "It's time to complete the mission. Geez, I had so much with all of you, but darn, I'm so strong to stand up after all those attacks done on me... And now..." the shadow began as he cracked his fists, showing his fangs a bit with a wicked grin. "I just need to deliver a single hit on you...and..."

"...Huh?" Peppita and Chip said in unison as they watched the shadow stopping on his trails.

Shadow Fox looked confused. "...And...why am I feeling...so...dazzled?" he asked before he fell on his knees. "...H-hey...w-what's...happening?"

Music stops

Peppita and Chip looked confused as the shadow suddenly fell down on his face.

"..." Shadow Fox felt extremely weak. "...H-hey...h-hey..." He started to get panicked. As he looked to the right, his yellow eyes quickly darted everywhere. "...W-what...w-what did just happen?!" he asked as he fully showed his fangs. Shadow Fox tried to move on the crumbles, but he found himself unable to move his body for a bit. "DAMMIT, WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"

The Velbaysian and the imp stared at each other confused as the shadow cursed loudly.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING, I ASKED?!" Shadow Fox demanded. "Y-you...darn little...B(BEEP)H!!!"

"W-what?" Peppita asked.

"Y-you were the one who made this to me, weren't you?!" Shadow Fox asked as he tried to move. "NOT ONLY YOU HURT MY FEELINGS, BUT YOU ALSO HURT ME PHYSICALLY?!"

The Velbaysian, after recalling that the shadow couldn't move from the floor, slowly walked to him. Chip gasped and decided to stay close to the Fairy of Illusions to protect her (even if Chip knew he was pretty much dead). "...You...can't move, then?"

"EXACTLY!!!" Shadow Fox yelled as he pathetically tried to clench his stunned fists. "I'm still good to smack you down, but my body isn't responding to me at all!"

"...Is...that so?"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Shadow Fox grunted in anger as he glared up at Peppita and Chip.

Chip tilted his head confused and looked at Peppita. "Um...did you do this to him?"

Peppita looked at him and shook her head. "N-no, I don't believe I have the power to stun people like this..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Shadow Fox screamed loudly. "Why, why, why, why, WHY?!" he asked in a blind rage. "Why the hell can't I move?! WHY?! You must know why, YOU MUST!!!"

Peppita looked a bit frightened at the display of anger from the shadow that she backed away a bit from him. However, as Peppita and Chip stared down at the angry complaints of the shadow, surprisingly...

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Misted Moon

...The Shadow Nightmare began to sob and sniff on the floor...

The Velbaysian and the imp got shocked after the shadow began to cry silently to himself. His eyes closed tightly, and his fangs were soon covered by his dark black lips. "N-no..." Shadow Fox sobbed. "N-no...n-no...n-no..." he sobbed more. "...T-this...is just...so cruel to a guy like me..." He began to cry a little bit louder.

Peppita blinked confused at this sudden change of attitudes. Knowing that the shadow couldn't move, she could tell he was really crying true tears. Gulping a bit, Peppita sat down on her feet to take a closer look to the shadow's face, Chip gasping at this. "...Are you...sad?"

"...Y-you don't know all the pain I went through..." Shadow Fox sobbed. "...T-this has been so darn unfair...to me..." Shadow Fox cried silently. "...Y-you don't understand anything..."

Chip looked worried. "W-watch out, he could be lying!" he warned Peppita as he looked around to see everyone else on the floor. "H-he could stand up and hit us!"

"W-why...would I do such a thing again...anyway..." Shadow Fox asked as he sobbed. "...I...I can't move anymore... I'm forever destined...to be like this...and die on this cold floor..." He closed his crying eyes. "I-I'm pretty much...done for..."

"W-well, you heat it up, though..."

Peppita looked at Chip and shook her head.

Chip blinked surprised. "W-what?"

"..." Peppita remained silent before looking back at the shadow. "...Why are you so sad so suddenly?"

Shadow Fox glared at her. "...G-go away...stupid girl..." he told her before sobbing. "I-it's because of you...that...I'll die...all alone..."

"...What?"

Shadow Fox's lips twitched in sadness. "I-I'm gonna die...am I not?" he asked, more tears coming out from his yellow eyes. "I-I'm gonna die and...join up with that bastard I call my father...right?"

Peppita looked surprised. "...Y-you mean your dad?"

"IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT I'M GONNA DIE, IDIOT!!!" Shadow Fox yelled loudly at Peppita before he grunted and continued sobbing. "S-so unfair...s-so uncool...s-so...unneeded..." he cried. "I call still pretty much attack...but...why can't I even move a finger anymore?" Shadow Fox tried to frown. "I...can't understand...why I have to go through this unfair treatment..."

Peppita blinked a few times before she glared at him. "Why can't you understand it...WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND IT?!"

Shadow Fox looked a bit scared at Peppita as she raised her voice.

Peppita closed her eyes and shook her head as she sniffed herself. "Y-you're like this because you deserved it from the very beginning you appeared!" she cried loudly, Chip quickly flying behind her where he patted her back. "B-because of you, many us nearly died!"

"B-but..." Shadow Fox sobbed a bit. "I-I had to live...and enjoy my own life..."

Peppita tightened her fists on the ground as she sobbed. "You're just a heartless guy who wants to kill anyone without feeling remorse... What kind of a person are you?!"

"...Someone..." Shadow Fox looked away sadly. "...Someone...who already went through enough emotional pain in life...and wanted to let everyone know how it feels to be like this..."

The Velbaysian rubbed her eyes continuously as Chip rubbed her back a bit. The imp looked back and forth between the two sobbing characters. Nobody dared speak a word as Chip tried to say something. "...You guys..." Chip trailed off. "...Please, stop sobbing like that..."

Shadow Fox looked up at him. "How can you understand the pain I went through all my life?" he asked. "...No one knows how I feel..."

Chip stared at him before frowning in shame.

None of the three were aware of the fact that someone slowly walked to them, dragging a right foot along the crumbles before stopping in front of the sobbing shadow.

"...So...I guess they stopped you from doing whatever you wanted...huh..."

Shadow Fox looked shocked before looking up at the person in front of him and Peppita. "...Y-you?!"

Chip turned around and looked up at the figure. "...H-how?!"

Peppita continued sobbing before a hand touched her right shoulder. The Velbaysian rubbed her eyes one more time before she slowly turned her face around to look up at the figure behind her. Her eyes quickly dilated in surprise as they reflected the image of the hurt person. "...Is...is that really you?"

The person nodded before he struggled to kneel down besides them, the shadow looking shocked at him.

Peppita looked in pure disbelief as she saw that Fox, the real one, had appeared out from nowhere. Apparently, Fox looked weak since he was grabbing his left arm with his right hand. The leader of Star Fox glanced around the area to see the others knocked out on the crumbles. "...Looks like everyone here fought hard..." Fox muttered. "...You fought ike that all because of me..."

"...F-Fox..." Peppita trailed off. "H-how did you..."

Fox slowly pointed back to the staircase.

Peppita and Chip turned to the direction of his finger where they watched as Cliff, Mirage, Samus, and surprisingly, a recovered Roger, a cured Tails, and a healed Sophia came all from the south. Upon looking around, Sophia gasped. "O-oh no, everyone!" she gasped.

"This is bad," Samus said. "They surely fought that shadow when we went to look for you."

"S-Sonic!" Tails yelled as he found the unconscious werehog close to them.

"Quick, we must give them some medicine before this turns out even worse," Cliff ordered. "Mirage, do we still have some Fresh Sages left?"

Mirage took out some plants from her pocket. "Yes, it appears we have enough for everyone."

"Alright, let's give them all one so they recover," Cliff said.

As Peppita and Chip watched everyone spreading around the whole area to heal the others on the floor, Fox coughed a bit. "T-they found us some floors away from here..." he explained. "T-this bastard hid us behind some bushes...but...they found us..."

Chip looked at him. "B-but I don't understand something... The guys that he took away look healthier than you are..."

"...T-that's because...I woke up by myself..." Fox coughed a bit. "A-and when I did...that's when they found us...but...I wanted to come here as soon as I could...not wanting to stay behind to let them heal me..." He looked at Peppita. "...Also...I was worried because you were left alone with him...and I just couldn't let him hurt you any further..."

"..." Peppita sniffed. "F-Fox..."

"D-darn you..." Shadow Fox suddenly said. "...Why are you here again? Are you here to...finish me off?"

Fox glared at the shadow and shook his head. "N-no..."

"...Then...WHY?!" Shadow Fox asked enraged. "I don't understand any of this blasphemy!"

Fox ignored him for a bit as he looked around to see the others healing everyone by giving those Fresh Sages to Maria, Nel, Chris, Wolf, Sonic, Adray, Falco, Pit, Roy, Albel, Fayt, and C. Falcon so they could come back to their senses. Once they all managed to stand up in some pain, they all looked back at the shadow on the floor, but most of them were surprised to see Fox back.

"F-Fox?" Falco asked as he grabbed his right arm.

Fox looked a bit surprised at him before smiling a bit. "...Hey...Falco... You came here to help...right?"

"...Damn straight..." Falco said. "...The situation..looked so bad so Master Hand let me come here to help..."

"Good..." Fox nodded to him.

The trio watched as everyone began to walk to them, forming a big arch on the eastern wall as they all looked at the stunned shadow on the floor.

Shadow Fox grunted annoyed. "W-why can't I move anymore?! T-tell me already! I-I'm sick of being here!"

Maria blinked confused. "You mean to say...you can't move anymore?"

"WHAT THE HELL DID I SAY?!" Shadow Fox asked enraged. "I have enough force to take you all on...b-but my body doesn't respond to me anymore! WHY IS THAT?! WHY?!"

"...I could be wrong...but..." Nel looked at Peppita. "You were the only one left who took care of him, right?"

Peppita looked a bit concerned. "Y-yeah, but I dunno why he fell down, though..." She rubbed her chin. "...I gave him everything I've got...but then he managed to stand up and heal himself from all the injuries again...and then...he just fell down right here..."

Nel closed her eyes. "...He healed himself and fell down exhausted, huh..."

Albel looked up to the far away ceiling. "...Symbology to heal himself, huh... That means only one thing..."

Roger got in a thinking position. "...Oh, I see now," he said as he raised a finger. "This guy's energy to cast Symbology completely depleted right after he healed himself!"

"...What?" Shadow Fox asked in disbelief. "B-but...I still have some force left with me!"

"Yeah, but..." Sophia thought for a moment. "...Since Fox and you know how to use Symbology, you're wide exposed to the deadly effect of the mental death..."

Fox looked at her. "Say what?"

Maria nodded. "It seems we forgot to explain to you the dangers of Symbology," she said before raising a finger. "The users of Symbology need to be very careful while using that magic. If someone overuses Symbology over and over again, the mind will soon start to feel tired after so much used concentration on Symbology that it will eventually have a mental breakdown, or as we like to call it better, a mental death."

"Mental...death?" Shadow Fox asked. "...You mean to say my energies soon hit zero when I healed myself...and if I didn't cure myself...I could have lasted for even longer to kill Peppita?"

"...In a few words...you screwed up yourself," Maria said before shaking her head. "And here I thought you were flawless."

"Tsk," Albel muttered. "If you forgot, many of our attacks attack the mind directly."

"Oh, right," Mirage said nodding. "Now that I recall, most of our attacks affect the opponent's mind. When we were hurting him, most of the time, part of the damage went to his mind as well. Ironically enough, I think Albel was the one who inflicted the most because of his Aura Wall attack and Vampiric Flash. That and also because of Fayt's Dimension Door."

"...Yeah," Fayt said. "Now I remember that Dimension Door deals massive damage to the mind and body."

Sonic grumbled. "...Then that means most of our attacks weren't doing a thing?"

"Not really," Adray said. "We always put the shadow to his limit until he healed himself. I have to remark that he needs to take many beatings before resorting to Symbology."

'B-but...I have a lot of health myself..." Shadow Fox said in disbelief. "...But...my mind doesn't?"

Chris thought for a moment. "...If you are a shadow that came from Fox...that means you are a novice at Symbology..." he theorized. "If that is true...then that means you were not an expert at using magic since Fox himself is not one yet."

Fox looked away in shame.

"As soon as Fox learned Symbology, he was quickly exposed to the dangers of a mental death," Chris explained. "And due to the fact he could not cast Symbology, Fox was ready to faint by a direct attack to his mind... Since Shadow Nightmares amplify the victim's powers, I could say you were able to raise the rate of success to use Symbology; healing Symbology to be precise, and use it as you pleased to do..." He looked at Fox. "...However, you did not know about the secondary effect at all because Maria forgot to explain it to Fox prior the fight."

Maria looked away embarrassed. "Y-yeah, blame it all on me, but at least that helped, didn't it?"

"And since it had to mean that you should have fainted," Chris continued, "the reason why you are still awake probably is because Fox had realized something now...a lie that he has accepted to admit..."

"...Damn you all..." Shadow Fox sobbed. "...I used knowledge by my side...but I was defeated because I didn't know what I was getting myself into..." He cried silently. "...I'm...gonna die...either way..."

Fox closed his eyes and shook his head. "...No...nobody is going to die..."

"...Huh?" Shadow Fox looked at him. "...Why are you saying that?" he asked. "It's been hell, I remind you! Did you forget that we still have yet to beat our own father to a fight with Arwings or what?! Thanks to him disappearing, we haven't had the chance to fulfill our goal in life yet!"

Falco blinked surprised. "...Wait, did I hear right?" He looked at Fox. "...You want to fight your father?"

"I-I..." Fox looked away. "...I-I..." He frowned. "...I have to say it now before you suffer..." he muttered before looking back at the shadow. Sighing, Fox began to talk again. "...It's all over..."

Shadow Fox sniffed as everyone kept staring at them. "...Is...it...really over?"

"...Yeah..." Fox muttered. "...It's been hell for you...even worse than me... No..." He glared to himself and shook his head. "It was hell for the 2 of us..."

"...W-wait, I don't understand," C. Falcon said. "What is happening?"

Fox looked at everyone as he stood up, Peppita promptly following by standing up as well. "...The truth is...I...I...I..." Fox frowned. "...I hate my father..."

"What?" Falco asked. "You hate your own father?"

Wolf grunted a bit and crossed his arms. "Fox, what the hell are you saying now? Last time I checked, you looked up at James ever since I met face-to-face with you. Now you come here and say you hate your father?"

"...Yeah..." Fox said.

"...Then what is it?" Wolf asked.

"...I hate him..." Fox admitted. "...I hate my father...so much..."

Most of the people looked a bit surprised at the ashamed vulpine as he slowly looked down, Peppita being the one who looked the most worried.

"...You all know what happened to me during my past..." Fox said. "...So...it's time to finish up the story..."

Peppita looked away in shame.

"...Please...listen well...because I'm not planning in repeating myself..." Fox trailed off.

Chris looked worried at Fox's shameful expression. "(Fox...)"

Fox looked at them before he made a serious expression. "So now...let's me wrap this up..." he said. "I hated my father because of..."

Flashback

Corneria
Great Fox - Bridge

In the eerie silence of the bridge, there sat an ashamed Peppy on the main seat of the ship as he stared forward at the frontal window of the Great Fox's head. Joining his fingers together, he waited for the automatic door to open wide for the person he was waiting for. The hare, this time, was all alone by himself after he came back from a mission to Venom with Pigma and James who, for some reason, weren't around with him.

As Peppy expected, the door opened wide, and a grinning 15 years old Fox McCloud walked in. The young Fox wore almost the same uniform as James did (as a birthday present for Fox reaching 13 years), the only differences being that Fox wore a red scarf and didn't wear sunglasses like James. "Hey, Peppy," Fox began. "How's it going with the team?"

"Oh...you're here," Peppy muttered as he put his fingers apart from each other while he turned the chair to look at Fox. For a moment, he could have sworn that James was standing in front of him where Fox was, but he shook his head in shame. "I'm glad to see you here, Fox..."

Fox crossed his arms and nodded. "Well, yeah, you called me here, right?" He looked around. "Where's my father, though? I thought he was here with you."

Peppy looked preoccupied as he looked at Fox. The hare knew what had happened in Venom some days ago, but Peppy didn't know it if was right for him to tell Fox the news. "About that..."

Fox raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"..." Peppy looked away. "...He...your father..."

In order to buy time, Peppy decided to make Fox feel as comfortable as he could.

"...Let me ask you something first, Fox."

Fox tilted his head. "What is it?"

Peppy thought for a moment. "What did you...I mean...er...what did you tell James when we were about to leave for Venom?"

Fox grinned. "What did I tell my father before you left? Well, when he told me he was going to come home soon-" Peppy's face looked a bit pale at the 'come home soon' part. "-from Venom, I told him to give Andross hell for whatever he's doing...making sure if he was around, though."

"I see..." Peppy closed his eyes and frowned.

"I knew what happened to my father..." Fox narrated. "...It was easy to tell that Peppy was thinking about him..."

"..." Peppy seemed to take a moment of silence as he recalled some words from James that Fox couldn't hear or listen to. Deciding to break the silence, Peppy coughed a bit. "...I see, Fox..."

Fox chuckled. "I'm sure he gave Andross hell."

Peppy grunted a bit and looked away, recalling some words in his mind when he was at Venom. His memory was still hazy, and he barely remember what was going on as he tried to recall the event after Pigma betrayed the team, right before Andross showed up in his big mutant form.

"What are you doing, James?! Turn back!"

"Sorry..." James's voice echoed in Peppy's mind, the sounds of shots scratching the metal of Arwings. "...I gotta give Andross hell."

"What?"

"See you later," James said with a grin. "Don't worry about me, I'll be just fine by myself."

"Are you nuts or what?!" Peppy's voice yelled. "Andross has the advantage to take us both down!"

"Maybe he has it, but can he keep up with only one of us?" James asked confidently. "I'll give you time for you to escape. Andross is my target."

"We're pretty much in risk here," Peppy explained. "That bastard of Pigma shouldn't have escaped when Andross appeared. Now you're thinking you can handle Andross alone?!"

"...Yeah."

Peppy could recall roars from the mad scientist behind them as James turned his Arwing around to go after Andross.

"Why are you doing this idiocy?!" Peppy asked. "It's not like you to do this, James! Come back!"

"...It's something my son told me to do..." James said. "...I can't let him down...can I?"

"JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!

"Hey, Peppy."

Peppy suddenly looked at Fox.

"Are you okay?" Fox asked confused. "You looked a little bit worried about something. Is something bothering you?"

"..." Peppy sighed. "Fox..."

"Yes?"

"...Are you ready to hear something that could possibly...hurt you for all your life?"

Fox stared at him odd before he let out a small laugh. "Peppy, what are you saying? Why are you sounding like some sort of sage?"

Peppy frowned. "Fox...I'm serious. You're old enough to handle this kind of news..."

Fox rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Peppy. Just tell me already," he said grinning. "I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the favor I told my father to do."

"...What favor?"

"Well, he told me he was going to take my application to become part of Star Fox into matter once he came back from Venom with you and Pigma."

Peppy gasped mentally.

"Speaking of them...where are they?" Fox asked before looking around. "Are they somewhere in the Great Fox or are they doing something else?"

"...Oh god..." Peppy sighed depressed. "...Fox...please, don't interrupt me even more before I regret it..."

"...So...what is it?" Fox asked.

"...Why was I thinking when I talked to Peppy like that..." Fox narrated. "...I was all so confident to see my father...but then...when Peppy told me what had happened...I suddenly felt very heavy..."

After the hare explained everything to the young vulpine, Peppy stared at Fox. "...I'm sorry for you to hear about that...Fox..."

Fox stared at him.

"...But...that was what happened when we went to Venom..." Peppy said ashamed. "...Please...don't feel bad about it..."

Fox looked away and shook his head.

"...Fox?"

"...Heheheheh..." Fox chuckled nervously. "Y-you're lying, right?"

"...No, I'm not lying, Fox..." Peppy said. "...I only speak the truth when I have to...and that's always..."

"Heheheheh...heheheh...heheheheh..." Fox chuckled to himself before looking nervously at Peppy. "Peppy, seriously, you're being really funny today. Just tell me where my father is now."

"Fox, I know it's hard for you to believe, but that was what happened..." Peppy said as he looked down. "Pigma betrayed us right after we stayed at Venom for a while...and then we found Andross deep in the planet...and then...your father...sacrificed himself to let me live..."

"...My father sacrificing himself..." Fox repeated before chuckling. "Peppy, stop being so funny now... Everyone knows my father knows how to deal with people, and Andross is not an exception..."

"...Unfortunately..." Peppy trailed off. "...Unfortunately, I think Andross managed to be the exception this time..."

Fox's eyes dilated.

"...After I escaped from there..." Peppy looked up at Fox, "...James's Arwing signal was out of range...and he never came back as I made my way alone to Corneria..." He sighed silently. "...I think Andross got James off-guard..."

Fox shook his head as he kept grinning nervously.

"...And James surely..." Peppy trailed off, not wanting to say the 'D' word to Fox. "...Sorry..."

"..." Fox's grin suddenly vanished. "...Peppy..."

The tone of Fox's voice made Peppy feel guilty.

"...My father..." Fox trailed off. "...He...didn't..."

[DededeCloneChris]

"He did, Fox..." Peppy said. "...But...I know what I'm saying when he did it with honor...for everyone he knew..."

"..." Fox shook his head. "Yeah, and you assume he knew he was going to die with honor in such a small span of time."

Peppy knew Fox was going to get angry. "Fox, wait," Peppy began as he stood up. "Please, calm down a bit, will you? I know this is hard for you to understand as much as I do bu-"

"Peppy, shut up."

Peppy gasped as Fox tightened his fists at the sides of his belt.

"It's clear here that my father's still at Venom, fighting all by himself."

"W-what?"

Fox pointed at Peppy. "Peppy, take me to Venom so we can rescue him."

"F-Fox, wait, you don't know what you're saying!"

Fox glared at Peppy. "I said take me to Venom. We have to rescue my father before he REALLY dies."

"Fox, seriously, calm down," Peppy said with some desperation. "I-I'm so sure that James is stil-"

"Dammit, Peppy, why are you putting me down?!" Fox yelled angrily at him. "Why aren't you being optimistic?!"

Peppy put a hand over Fox's right shoulder. "Fox, listen to me, please!"

Fox slapped Peppy's hand away and frowned. "Peppy, didn't you hear me? Let's go to Venom and help my father!" he yelled. "If you said you lost communication with him, that'd be probably because you got away too far, and that also could mean he's still alive in there."

"F-Fox, I can't take you there!" Peppy yelled. "You're still inexperienced to go to fights across the galaxy an-"

"I know how to handle a stupid Arwing, Peppy!" Fox yelled as he raised his fists a bit. "My father has told me I'm becoming a pro very fast!"

"Y-you're being overconfident, Fox!" Peppy yelled. "I can't just let yo-"

"You know what, Peppy?" Fox asked as he went to the main control panel of the ship. "I'm not going to let you waste my time while we could be on our way there and give my father a hand!"

"F-Fox, what are you doing?!"

Fox raised his fingers on top of the main control panel. "What else? I'm telling the ship to take to Venom."

"W-wait, Fox!" Peppy ran to the stubborn Fox. "Y-you can't just..." For some reason, Peppy saw that Fox remained his fingers still on top of the panel. "...Fox?"

"..." Fox turned to him with a glare. "...How the heck do you operate this thing, anyway?"

"..." Peppy stared at Fox.

"...Tell me."

"..." Peppy looked away, knowing that he had Fox where he wanted him to be. "...No."

"Tell me now."

"No."

"Peppy..."

"No."

"Tell me now before I-"

"No."

"How do I take the shi-"

"No."

"Peppy, I'm seriou-"

"No."

"Pep-"

"No.

"Bu-"

"No."

"P-"

"No."

"Shi-"

"No, Fox, I won't tell you," Peppy said. "If that will keep you away from reaching Venom, then I won't tell you."

Fox grunted. "Peppy!"

"Fox...please, calm down..."

Fox shook his head as some tears began to stroll down around his snout. "P-Peppy, we need to go now!"

"Fox...please..."

"P-please, Peppy..."

Peppy watched as Fox held back his tears as he clenched his fists behind his belt. Sighing in shame, the hare walked to the young vulpine and put a hand on his right shoulder again. "Fox..."

"H-he didn't...no...h-he didn't..."

"I'm afraid he did, Fox..."

"N-no!" Fox shook his head. "Just because I told him to give Andross hell made him die?! Tell me it wasn't because of that!"

"Fox, it wasn't because you told James those words..."

"THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU TELL ME WHAT HE TOLD YOU BEFORE COMMITTING SUICIDE?!"

"He knew I couldn't fight Andross long enough for him to escape so he used himself instead so I could live, don't you understand?!"

"Why didn't you die instead of him, then?!"

Peppy gasped.

Fox opened his eyes and looked shocked. The young vulpine sniffed silently to himself before looking at Peppy. "...P-Peppy...I-I'm sorry..."

"...No..." Peppy shook his head. "It's okay, Fox... I knew you were very attached to James...so I understand why you'd put him first than me..."

Fox looked down and tried his best not to cry. "N-no, don't cry...I-I'm a grown man...I-I can't just cry like this...no..."

"Yeah, don't cry like that if you think you're real man," Roger said.

"Shh..." Chris whispered.

Peppy looked ashamed at Fox. "Please, look at me, Fox..."

Fox slowly looked up at Peppy.

"...You're still not ready to take on Andross by yourself..."

Fox sniffed a bit. "...I thought...I was ready..."

Peppy shook his head. "No, you're not, Fox. You need to undergo a special training if you want to face Andross."

"What kind of special training is that?" Fox asked with a glare. "Isn't the Cornerian Flight Academy good enough for me or what?! My father told me that it was the best place for me t-"

"Fox, calm down," Peppy said. "...You'll have to drop the academy..."

"...Say what?" Fox asked confused. "...W-what do you mean by that? I can't just drop out...I mean, I need to shape up my grades before I even drop out the academy..."

"Grades aren't that important now," Peppy said. "...Well, they are, but thing is...if you want to go to Venom very soon..."

Fox stared at him.

"...You're going to have to take your father's place as the new leader of Star Fox..."

"..." Fox looked at him in surprise. "...Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait..." Fox shook his head before pointing at himself. "...Me, the new leader of Star Fox?"

Peppy nodded. "That is right...seeing that you're James's only son, and the fact that he has told me from time to time that you have a lot of potential to become Star Fox's next leader...I decided, as the last remaining member of Star Fox, to make you the next leader in command."

"...I..."

"...Of course..." Peppy looked around. "...We have to...make this place more lively, though..." He looked back at Fox. "I mean, I know you're the only one who wants to join Star Fox, but...the 2 of us alone doesn't make me feel that good..."

"...Peppy..." Fox looked worried. "...Are you sure I'm ready to be the next leader? Why don't you make yourself the leader instead?"

Peppy closed his eyes and shook his head. "I just don't have what it takes to be the leader, Fox," he explained. "The leader of the team must look tough...well, that's according to your father..."

"...Father..." Fox looked away. "...He told you that?"

"To be honest, I find his words very ridiculous," Peppy admitted. "However, I'm pretty sure I'm not like him at all. I don't have the same abilities with the Arwing as he does, but you, Fox, you...you have what it takes to be the leader..."

"...I'm not so sure, though..." Fox said before looking back at him. "I mean, everything's just happening so suddenly..."

Peppy chuckled. "Well, I know for a fact you were going to say that," he said. "You were confident to join the team, but you don't know if you should become the leader right away."

"...Yeah..."

"That's why I'm putting you under my wing to train to become the next leader of Star Fox," Peppy said. "I promise you're going to become one very soon."

"By soon, he meant 3 years..." Fox said annoyed.

"...But...you, training me?" Fox asked.

"...Hey, you don't think I'm good enough to teach you or what?" Peppy asked. "Fox, I know what I'm doing here. I know you'd have wanted James to be the one training you, but you know what happened to..."

Fox frowned. "...Yeah, I know...don't remind me..."

"...So..." Peppy coughed a bit. "...Are you sure you feel fine after hearing what I told you about..."

"..." Fox thought for a moment. "...Knowing that my father just...sacrificed himself so you could live...it will surely haunt me all my life..."

"I know, Fox," Peppy said. "But if I were to fight Andross to let James escape...I wouldn't have make it, and Andross could have taken down James next before he could even get away. I could be shot down in an instant, and my life would be wasted... James knew what to do because he was the leader, but not me nor that traitor of Pigma..."

Fox stared at Peppy. Shedding a tear, Fox wiped it away. "...My father was the best there was, right?"

"...Yeah...he was the best there was..."

"..." Fox looked at his right hand. "...Can I be the next one?"

"...Time will tell, Fox," Peppy said as he folded his arms. "For now, are you sure that it's okay for you to drop the academy and train under my guardianship?"

"...I'm scared..." Fox muttered.

"Don't be," Peppy said. "If you think you're up for it, say the word, and I'll make the right arrangements."

Fox thought for a moment. "...Now."

"...What?"

Fox nodded and looked at him. "I want to start right now."

"Have you decided, then?"

Fox closed his eyes. "This is what I have to do as soon as possible..." he muttered. "Star Fox's reputation is very recognized across the entire Lylat System, isn't it?"

"Well..." Peppy flushed a bit. "I-I don't want to show off, but I've heard from the newspapers that it is..."

"And they know anyone can count on Star Fox to make the job done, right?"

"Yes..."

Fox remained silent as he thought something. After the small silence, he chuckled, grinned, and opened his serious eyes. "...I gotta do it..." he said. "I have to make Star Fox's reputation live up to everyone's expectations before it dies and gets forgotten..."

Peppy stared at Fox as the young vulpine put his right fist in front of him.

"This is what my father would have wanted me to do if he knew he was going..." Fox trailed off, thinking about James again. However, he decided to go on with his speech. "...So...I'll do it...for you...for Corneria...for the Lylat System...and lastly and most importantly...my father..."

"...You're not going to back down on your word, right?" Peppy asked. "I expect you to grow into a fine young man and leader of Star Fox after you said that oath, Fox..."

"...Oh yeah," Fox said grinning. "I'm sure what I'm doing, Peppy. I'm sure as hell what I'm doing here."

Peppy stared at Fox's determined expression for a while. As the silence kept going, Fox didn't even dare stop his determinate look. After staring at Fox for a while, Peppy chuckled heartily "...In that case..." he began, "...Fox..."

Fox stared at him, his fist still raised.

"...You really do have what it takes to be the next leader..."

Fox's grin turned into a wide smile. "...Then..."

"...Yes," Peppy said smiling a bit.

Fox tried his best to contain his excitement in him as it grew bigger overtime. "...Alright," Fox said. "From now o-"

"You'll be my trainee," Peppy interrupted.

Fox's determinate look suddenly faded into a confused one. "What?"

"Fox, I told you that you were going to be my trainee," Peppy said chuckling. "What, did you forget or what?"

"I...didn't..." Fox looked depressed, his fist slowly going back to the right side of his belt. "..." He looked down embarrassed. "...Damn, did I just oath to be someone's trainee?"

Peppy laughed a bit. "It appears so, Fox, it appears so."

Fox looked annoyed at him. "H-hey, stop chuckling like that, Peppy... I'm being serious about this!"

"Serious about becoming a trainee?" Peppy chuckled.

"I-I said stop it already!" Fox blushed embarrassed. "O-once I become Star Fox's leader, my first order will be kicking you out from the team!"

"Well, just try," Peppy said amused. "If you're thinking that, I'm not training you to become the next leader."

Fox gasped. "I-I mean, I-I'm going to let you live..."

Peppy raised an eyebrow. "Were you going to kill me instead, then?"

Fox showed his fangs at him. "P-Peppy, stop making me say things I don't mean to say already!" Fox yelled annoyed before Peppy broke out laughing. "Ugh, you're just unbelievable!"

Peppy stopped laughing and looked at Fox. "Well, well, looks like I'm the James of the team for now. He used to do this a lot with me and Pigma."

"My...father..."

Peppy noticed the depressed look on Fox's face. Putting a hand on his right shoulder again, Fox looked at Peppy. "...Don't fret about it again, you promise?"

"..." Fox looked at Peppy's hand. "...I'll try...I'll try to do that...or else I'll never be the next leader..."

Peppy chuckled heartily. "Well then...when do you want to start?"

Fox looked at him and smiled a bit. "As soon as you're ready to go, we'll start."

"Good," Peppy said. "That'd mean once we get more members for the team. Until then, wait."

Fox chuckled to himself. "Funny, I have 2 friends in mind already."

"Really now?" Peppy asked. "Do you think you're right with that?"

"Damn right I am," Fox said grinning. "One of them is an expert on flying machines, and the other one is an ace pilot with air fighters like Arwings."

"Better than you?"

"Er...maybe?"

"Can somebody here try to say Falco?" Falco asked.

"Can somebody here try to say bird brain?" Wolf asked.

"Can somebody here try toss the mutt down the abyss for me?" Falco asked annoyed.

"Well..." Peppy chuckled. "You better give them both a call before we start. I'd like all of you to start your training at the same time in a week," Peppy said.

Fox nodded and gave him a thumb up. "Yeah, and you'll see how they work."

"I'm sure this will be a team that won't go down that easily, then?"

Fox nodded again. "Yep...Star Fox will never fall down by someone else...ever..."

Peppy chuckled, but then, he stared at Fox. "...But...are you sure the death of your father won't make you..."

"I-I'm sure of that..." Fox said.

"...Are you really sure, Fox?" Peppy asked. "You need to keep your cool and don't think about saddening events anymore if you don't want anything to pull you down."

Fox thought for a moment. "...I'm sure, Peppy, I do..."

"Well...you better, because if you don't..."

"I know," Fox spoke in a serious tone. "I can do this..."

"Really?"

"Peppy, stop asking me before I think about going back to my word..."

Peppy nodded. "...Alright, but if you feel down, come to me so you don't feel that bad again."

Fox looked away worried. "...Yeah, I'll do that, don't worry..."

"I should have hit myself on the head when I said that..." Fox said. "...I sure as hell didn't feel okay in the ensuing years because I constantly remembered my father..."

Aquatic Garden, Surferio

End of flashback

"And for that point..." Fox trailed off, "team Star Fox was reborn..."

"But..." Samus thought something. "...What you said about your father before..."

Fox frowned. "...I lied to myself ever since..." he said ashamed as he looked down at his shadow."All these years...all these months, days, hours, and even minutes...I've been trying to suppress that sad fact by ignoring it," he explained. "...But, now after it grew so big that it eventually created this spawn of the devil...I feel that I need to be frank and honest to my shadow..."

Shadow Fox sobbed. "...When I wanted to be bigger...I wanted to face my father..."

"...Yeah..." Fox admitted. "Don't get me wrong, but I really did like my father, guys... But, when I was at that age, I had the annoying thought about facing my father to a fight with Arwings...and even to these days...I want to do it still..."

"Fox..." Chris trailed off.

"...I know I've been a bastard all this time for thinking that...but I'm not scared of saying it," he said. "...I want to face my father to a fight, and prove to him that I'm the best at maneuvering an Arwing better than him...that's what you wanted to hear, right?" he asked to his shadow.

Shadow Fox looked away worried. "...Yeah...I wanted to hear that from you all this time along..."

"...So...go away now..." Fox said. "I told you the last lie you wanted me to say..."

"...I just can't do that..."

"...What?"

Shadow Fox looked up at him. "You still have...many things to confess...if you do really want me to go away..." He looked away again. "...After all...you don't like me...your real self..."

Fox looked at him a little bit shocked. "But...what else is there?"

"I...don't know..." Shadow Fox sniffed. "...Don't you think you still have some other things to confess before this ends?"

"What else is there?"

Peppita looked worried at Fox. "I dunno..."

Fox looked down at Peppita. "...Wait..." He stared at her. "...You mean to say..."

Shadow Fox looked at him. "...I guess..." he muttered. "...If I recall, you haven't told her how you really feel about her..."

Fox looked ashamed. "But I did it today...and she didn't take it very nicely...because, after all, it was supposed to make her go away from me..."

Roy glared at Fox. "Fox, I can't believe you're such a heartless guy to her."

"I-I'm not, really..." Fox said as the Velbaysian looked away.

Shadow Fox coughed. "...But...what about now?"

"What?"

"How do you feel about her, I ask you?" Shadow Fox asked. "After she showed me that I was wrong about what I thought...now, what do you think of her after everything occurred?"

Peppita folded her arms and looked down. "...Does it really matter now?" she asked. "...Fox hates me with a passion..."

The vulpine looked down at her. The leader of Star Fox looked at everyone that stared at him. Even if they were staring blankly at him, Fox felt very guilty. He recalled the words that he yelled at Peppita in his mind. Clenching his left fist, he began to speak to Peppita. "...Peppita..."

"...What..." Peppita asked without looking up at him. "...What do you want?" She turned around. "...You're here to tell me to die?"

"W-what? N-no..." Fox said. "I-I'm here to tell you...that..."

"...Don't say anything..." Peppita muttered with a sniff. "...It's clear you hate me so much...besides, you didn't say sorry when you came here after that scientist held me as a hostage..."

Tails blinked. "Wait, what scientist are you talking about?"

Fox looked around. "Wait a minute...I forgot that the guy with met yesterday came here and toss the Shadow Nightmare on me before he went down to the temple..."

"W-what?" Tails asked shocked. "The Spagonia Temple is just down below the abyss?"

Sonic grunted. "That bastard of Eggman came here after all, then?"

Without hesitation (or maybe with it), Tails ran to the north wall where he jumped and began to spin his tails together. "I've got to go down and get to the temple!"

"Wait!" Sonic yelled, but Tails had already dived down to the abyss. Recalling that he had stretchable arms, the werehog extended his claws to some pillars on the walls before he leaped down where Tails headed.

Seeing this, Roger tilted his head. "Um...are they gonna be okay? I mean, the way down is very long..."

Chip blinked. "I-I'll go with them, then," he said, pulling his hands back before flying over the walls to go down and follow the two.

Pit looked at Roy and nodded. "I'll go with them as well. After all, I can fly down and land without problems," he said before he ran all the way to the north wall where he jumped over it and flew down.

"..." Fox didn't care about the scientist. For now, he looked at the sad Velbaysian, moving the tip of her right foot to distract herself. "Peppita...look...I'm really sorry for what happened today..."

Peppita sniffed. "B-but...Fox...y-you looked so angry at me..." She rubbed her eyes. "I-I thought you weren't going to snap out like that to me...I-I just wanted you to like me..." She sobbed a bit before turning around to look up at him. "Was it wrong for me to do all that?"

"...Well...I hate to say this...but..." Fox took a small moment of silence. "...You were really getting out of control, Peppita..."

The Velbaysian looked away and sobbed.

"...And...after thinking everything again, thanks to Sophia..." Fox continued. "...I've got to admit I didn't have to be so harsh on you..."

Peppita rubbed her eyes a bit and looked at him. "B-but...are you still angry at me?" she asked. "W-what if you're just lying now?"

Fox closed his eyes and frowned. "...I'm not lying this time..." he said."...Those lies are over with," he said determined. "I won't lie about the fact that I hated my father as much as I liked him..."

"..." Peppita sniffed. "...And...do you think that whatever you do is the right to do?"

"What?"

"It's true," Fayt said. "Your shadow kept saying that everything he did was the best choice...but most of it was only very insane stuff that involved violence and his welfare."

"And by his welfare, it means also you," Maria said. "That shadow is supposed to say aloud your truths, right? Well, maybe we're wrong, but do you really think that you have always the best choices, and that everyone should follow you?"

Fox looked at them at disbelief. "I...I don't...I mean...I...I don't..."

Chris looked worried. "...It is okay, Fox...just say it so you get over it once and for all..."

"..." Fox sighed depressed. "In truth...I thought the same things that my shadow said to you..."

Some of them gasped a bit.

"...Do you understand that it makes you look like some sort of stupid bastard?" Chris asked. "What is wrong with you, Fox?"

Fox looked away ashamed.

"Just because you are the leader of Star Fox does not make you the best leader there is," he said. "Even I admit I am not ready to be one despite all this time. I have screwed up many times in the past, but that does not make me the perfect leader at all. Maybe I am wrong, but do you think you can handle all the burden of commanding a whole group of people like all of us under your hand?"

Falco shook his head. "He can barely handle Krystal alone."

"True fact," Wolf added. "Let's not forget that Fox was the one who made her drop out from the team."

Fox looked even guiltier.

Maria decided to talk by taking a step forward to Fox. "I know for experience that I'm not the best leader that Quark has ever had," she said, "but that doesn't make me a heartless person... I know I've been very blunt all this time, until I finally realized what it meant to have people who care about you not because you're a high authority..." She closed her eyes and frowned. "Please, Fox, you need to understand that, if you're planning to be a leader, you must carry the burden of everyone and sort it all out to do your best."

"...I know..." Fox said.

"If someone dies because of an order you told them to do that you thought was the best choice, what is that going to do to you?"

"...That's going to tell me my choice was wrong...and I'd feel very bad..."

"Exactly," Maria said. "Choices have all kinds of consequences, and those are always going to be there. That is something that you always have to look for. After fighting your shadow, you pretty much gave me an idea that you're not good enough to be a perfect leader."

Fox grunted. "...I know, really, I know..."

"Now, I ask you something..." Maria trailed off. "...Do you care for the people you talk to?"

"..." Fox nodded silently.

"If you do..." Maria looked at Peppita, "...you can always say sorry and forgive them before it is too late."

Falco crossed his arms. "Or do you wanna repeat the same incident you had with Krystal on the girl?"

"..." Fox looked guilty at the sobbing Velbaysian. "...Peppita...I'm really sorry for everything I've done to you without even thinking about your opinions..."

Peppita sniffed a bit. "B-but..."

"I'm not angry with you anymore..." Fox looked down at his stunned shadow. "You did manage to set this guy straight, and it you didn't fight him...I wouldn't have realized how stupid I am..." He closed his eyes, some tears filling his eyelids. "I'm the best leader...I don't care whatever other people have to say to my orders...and most important of all..." He opened his eyes a bit...and sniffed a bit himself. "...All of these are just lies in the past...because now I know I've been living doing everything wrong, regardless of victories..."

Peppita looked up at him. "..Are you...crying?"

"(...Say it...you can do it...)" Fox thought. "...Yeah...I'm crying now..."

"..." Peppita sniffed a bit. "...Fox...what do you think now?" she asked sniffing. "...What do you think of yourself?"

"...I think there's always time to forgive..." Fox said. "...Also...there's always time to improve and foster relationships with others..." He looked at Falco. "...Sorry, but I think a lot of stuff about you that I really want to say...but I just can't..."

Falco rolled his eyes. "Don't waste your breath with that. The shadow already said all the things he thought about me and the whole team."

Fox looked even more ashamed. "...I'm sorry, then..."

Falco lifted his shoulders a bit. "Meh, it's fine, I guess."

"What?"

Falco grinned at Fox. "I know for one thing that you wouldn't dare say those things so harshly to us, right? I know you Fox. I know you won't yell at us for being lazy people, or inexperienced people, or freelancer-"

"Or idiots," Wolf interrupted.

Falco grunted. "Yeah, hate to admit, but that as well."

"..." Fox looked back at Peppita. "...But I did yell out those things to you so harshly...and...I want you to forgive me..." Fox said. "I was very stressed that time, Peppita. I was feeling a bit mad about the fact that the book I read made me remember about how my father was before he died..."

"Y-yeah..." Peppita said. "...And...I'm so sorry for bothering and annoying you all this time, Fox...please, forgive me instead..."

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - THE LITTLE BIRD (Instrumental Ver.)

"..." Fox thought for a moment and shook his head. "...No, it's me who needs you to forgive me..." His eyes filled a bit more with tears. "What the hell was I thinking all along this time and release all my anger on someone like you?"

"F-Fox..." Peppita sobbed a bit.

Fox rubbed his eyes with his right arm before pulling it down. "...After Sophia told me that, when you were younger, your mother died and your father abandoned you..."

"...My father didn't exactly abandon me..." Peppita said.

"What?"

Peppita smiled at Fox. "My dad's a soldier in the Pangalactic Federation... That's what my mom told me, before she died..." She looked away before looking back at him. "He's a brave, brave soldier...and he's worked his whole life to protect people..." She closed her eyes and frowned. "My mom always said I take after him..."

"But..." Fox thought a bit. "...If you know he's a soldier...does he know that you're here?"

"...No," Peppita admitted. "My dad is always very busy with his work for sure...and I don't exactly know his full name to ask where he works either..." She looked down. "...I'm pathetic, am I not?"

"...No, you're not," Fox said.

"...Heheheh..." Peppita chuckled and smiled a bit at Fox. "...Maybe you're gonna get mad if I tell you this...but...honestly thinking..." She closed her eyes. "...I think we're in the same boat, huh?"

There was a silence that the Velbaysian didn't want to be in. Peppita opened her eyes and stared up at Fox who stared blankly at her. Peppita suddenly grew worried, thinking that Fox would snap out and yell at her again.

"..." Fox seemed to be smiling a bit at her. "...I like to think that way as well, Peppita."

Peppita gasped. "W-w-w-w-what?" she asked in disbelief. "Y-you're not mad at me anymore, then?"

"Why would I get mad over something so stupid, anyway?" Fox asked with a chuckle. "It's just a past, nothing more."

"W-well..." Peppita played with her fingers a bit. "...I-I supposed I could agree with you...but...aren't you putting yourself down a bit?"

"...Nah," Fox said as he shook his head. "It's very fine, to be honest. Heck..." He grinned at her. "...I feel even better with myself now..."

"...Really?"

Fox nodded. "Yeah...you don't know how much better I am, Peppita." The vulpine rubbed his arm one last time against his eyes before looking back at Peppita. "Actually...I think I feel even better...because you were there to make me understand what I've been doing wrong all this time."

"..." Peppita couldn't help but smile wide, a tear shedding itself from her right eye. "T-then..."

Shadow Fox grunted a bit, but he chuckled as well. "What do you know...you finally let it all out..." He smiled happily and sniffed a bit. "...At last...I can leave in peace and enjoy my life...no... Our life together as one single person..."

Fox looked down at him. "So then..."

"...Can...somebody help me to get up?" Shadow Fox asked. "...I really need to stand up before I go away..."

Cliff narrowed his eyes at the shadow. "How do we know you're gonna do something bad?"

Fox looked at him and shook his head. "I trust him," he said before kneeling down, grabbing the shadow's right hand, "and as for you...please, forgive me as well..."

The Shadow Nightmare looked shocked at Fox's hand grabbing his own dark hand. Shadow Fox suddenly chuckled silently before crying some tears. "...Finally...finally...finally!" Shadow Fox exclaimed happily as he managed to look at Fox. "I can finally live without worries at last! I-I don't believe it, but everything feels so darn good all of a sudden!" He made a happy expression.

Roger took a step back. "W-wow, he just became all so happy..."

Shadow Fox looked at everyone and laughed a bit to himself. "Thank you, thank you so much, really! I just can't wait to live normally with everyone I like to hang out with!"

Fox chuckled and smiled. "Hey, you don't have to say aloud what I'm thinking now."

Shadow Fox chuckled and looked back at him. "Please, you really wanted to say it aloud, anyway."

"...Hahahahaha..." Fox nodded. "...So true...so true..."

Shadow Fox chuckled one last time before the darkness that covered him soon began to dissipate in the air with a bright light. For a moment, everyone could see the right image of Fox where the shadow was before he vanished into spores of light that went to Fox through his hand. The vulpine closed his eyes as the spores retreated to his body, and after a while, the light faded, and Fox grunted a bit in pain.

"Fox!" Falco ran and knelt down to see Fox. "Hey, are you okay?"

"...Heheheh..." Fox chuckled. "Okay...are you kidding me, Falco?"

Falco raised an eyebrow as Fox slowly stood up.

"I never felt this good before..." Fox looked at everyone. "And I'm not talking about power or something, but emotionally better..."

Most of them chuckled while others turned away. However, the one that was happier than anybody else was Peppita who leaped to Fox and hugged him tightly, her head leaning to his chest. "Fox, I'm so happy you're the same person I thought you were before!"

"P-Peppita..." Fox blushed a bit as he looked down at her. "P-please, not in front of everyone..."

Mirage chuckled. "You can't hug her back, then?"

"W-what?" Fox asked.

"Hahahahahaha!" Adray laughed loudly. "Oh please, surely you don't want to make her feel sad now, right, young man?"

Roger crossed his arms and nodded. "A real man gotta appease the ladies, after all."

"W-what are you saying now?" Fox asked annoyed.

Wolf grinned at Fox. "C'mon, you know you want do. Make up your mind before it's too late, Fox."

"...You..." Fox grunted a bit before looking down at Peppita. "...Okay..." he muttered before he hugged Peppita back."Sorry for everything, Peppita...please, forgive me."

Peppita smiled and chuckled happily. "Teeheehee, you don't worry, Fox. A hug's the only thing I want from you now. I'll always forgive you for screwing up so badly as well."

Fox glared at her. "I don't screw u-"

"Ahem..." Nel coughed a bit.

"...I-I mean...sure..." Fox said embarrassed. "Geez, you guys put many words in my mouth, I swear..."

The silence of the garden suddenly became defeated by some laughs that came from almost everyone around the 'couple' in the middle of them. Even if Fox felt embarrassed, he nevertheless smiled and chuckled along with Peppita. The Velbaysian never felt so happy before, and the moment surely made up after the whole ordeal they all went through.

"Well," Fayt began, "I guess we can go back and rest for the night. We're surely worn out."

Roger sighed and fell back. "Fayt, don't remind me..."

"Actually..." Wolf trailed off. "There's one last thing to do."

Roy looked at him. "The Spagonia Temple?"

Wolf shook his head. "No, it has to do with Fox and the girl."

Fox and Peppita looked at him. "What do you mean by that now, Wolf?" Fox asked.

Wolf chuckled and crossed his arms. "If you ask me, you should do something else for the girl if you really wanna feel good with yourself to the 100 percent. Considering the fact you thought before that everything you do is the right choice to do...I guess I can do the same to you because I know the girl will like what I have in mind."

"What makes you think I'm going to listen to you?" Fox asked with a glare.

Wolf looked at Peppita. "Once I say the words, there's no turning back for her."

The vulpine and the Velbaysian looked confused at each other.

Trading Town of Peterny
Central Peterny

"...It's sure is a pretty night, right?"

"I guess..."

"Teeheehee, the stars look so bright tonight for some reason, don't you think?"

"I guess..."

"I'm so happy that you decided to come here with me alone..."

"I...guess?"

"Can't you say something else than that?"

"I...don't know..."

Peppita sighed.

It had been a long while after the whole group decided to come back to Peterny and rest for the night. As for Tails and the others, the young fox had investigated the Spagonia Temple and said that Dr. Eggman was nowhere to be found, but unfortunately, Fox couldn't remember much due to the fact he was doing something else that he had to consider important.

And that was having a date with Peppita.

This wasn't exactly the vulpine's idea, but rather Wolf's idea. The lupine had told Fox and Peppita to go a date alone, and Peppita instantly looked so excited at the idea except for Fox. The leader of Star Fox couldn't just say no after the Velbaysian looked very cheerfully. That and the fact almost everyone looked at him smiling to make feel guilty about what he was going to say originally.

Thus, Fox said yes.

The leader of Star Fox and the Velbaysian were sitting down alone on the steps of the silent central square of the town, just in front of the church. Peppita was sitting to the left of Fox as both looked up to the stars.

Peppita chuckled and leaned her head to Fox's right arm. Startled a bit, Fox looked at her. "W-what are you doing?"

"Well, your friends told me you were gonna leave tomorrow, right?"

"Yes..."

"So...I wanna enjoy the time we have left before you leave," Peppita said chuckling. "Don't worry, I don't love you anymore, Fox."

"But..."

"...But I do like you very much instead," Peppita giggled happily. "I'm so happy that you decided to take me on a date. That's so nice of you."

Fox wanted to kill Wolf now.

However, Fox's thought was interrupted as he could have sworn hearing a sniff from Peppita.

"Peppita?" Fox began. "Are you sniffing?"

Peppita sniffed silently. "I-I am..." she said sadly. "T-to think you're going to leave tomorrow...makes me so sad..." She looked at him. "C-can't you come back? I know you have to fight the Subspace Army so they don't mess up the other worlds out there, but..."

"Sorry..." Fox looked away. "I need to do that or else nobody's going to do it."

"What about the other 10 people with you?"

The vulpine felt a bit cornered at the question. "...They need my help," Fox said as he grunted mentally. "I need to give me some aid, you know..."

Peppita looked down and rubbed her right eye a bit. "B-but...I want you come back and visit me again, Fox..." She sobbed a bit. "I really want you to do that for me...pretty please?"

Fox looked at her. "I-I just don't know, Pepp-"

"Oh, wait, I know!" Peppita suddenly said as she quickly stood up and looked down at him. "I have just the thing that will make you come back to visit me!"

Fox raised an eyebrow. "And...what would that be?"

Peppita dug her right hand in her pocket as she stuck out her tongue a bit to the side. "Oooooohh...where is it now? I'm pretty sure I had another left here..." She blinked surprised as she felt something thin. "Oh, here it is!" She giggled happily as she took out her hand and showed something to Fox. "Here, take it."

"...A..." Fox stared at a ticket in front of him. "...Ticket?"

Peppita nodded several times. "Yep, a free pass ticket to watch the Rossetti Troupe perform at Moonbase very soon."

Fox looked confused at her. "Where's Moonbase?"

Peppita pointed at the stars. "It's close to Earth, around the satellite Luna. There's where my family is at right now."

"..."

"...I'll show where it is with your own eyes," Peppita said as she gave the ticket to Fox. "For now, please, have that ticket with you and protect with all your life."

Fox stared at the ticket. "...What?"

"Silly, that's my last free pass ticket," Peppita said. "That's the only reason that will make you decide to come back and watch the Fairy of Illusions perform in her debut on stage." She giggled happily as she slowly danced a bit. "~And then the warrior, exhausted, shall pay a visit to the Fairy of Illusions to recover his forces and keep fighting for the future,~" she sang happily before stopping dancing. "You might want to hold on to that for now on. Will you promise me that?"

"..." Fox thought as he stared at the ticket. "(Make her happy after all you've done on her...)" he thought before smiling a bit at Peppita. "You've got a deal, then."

"Not a deal, but a promise..." Peppita trailed off. "...Um...nah, a promise is too much for you." She giggled. "Take it as a reminder instead."

"Yeah, I guess," Fox said as he put the ticket inside his jacket's pocket. "There, safe and sound."

Peppita waved a finger in front of him. "No getting it dirty of ripped now, okay? Take care of it."

Fox nodded. "You don't worry about it."

The Velbaysian smiled happily. "Thank you so much, Fox..." She happily took out a black scoreboard from her back. "And now, I'm gonna give you my autograph."

"...What?" Fox stared at the black scoreboard. "What are you going to do with that?"

"Stand still and let me give you my autograph, okay?"

"O...kay?" Fox said confused before Peppita walked behind him where she knelt down and...scribbled on the back of his jacket. "P-Peppita?"

Peppita stuck out her tongue a bit. "To...my...beloved...Fox..." she muttered. "From...the Fairy of Illusions...Peppita Rossetti..." She put her black scoreboard away. "...All done!"

"W-what the..." Fox turned his head over his left shoulder to look whatever Peppita wrote on his jacket...

Even though he couldn't see much from his shoulder, there was some sort of happy face that surely looked like Peppita since it had her pigtails on the head. Also, below it, there was Peppita's name that spread from each side of the vulpine's back...and it barely even said 'Peppita' due to the fact it was hard for her to write her whole name. Peppita didn't want to admit she did it wrong as well.

Worse yet, the black scoreboard's paint was permanent.

"H-hey!" Fox looked at her shocked. "Y-you just can't draw on somebody's jacket like that!"

"Huh?" Peppita tilted her head. "B-but I thought you'd like to have an autograph..."

Fox sighed in depression. "Peppita, I didn't ask you for your autograph, but..."

Peppita looked down and sniffed.

"(Oh man, not this again, please...)" Fox thought ashamed. "...Okay, okay, I'll keep your autograph if you stop looking so sad now..."

"...Seriously?" Peppita suddenly looked excited. "T-thank you, Fox! You're the best guy I've ever met before!"

Fox smiled nervously at her. "Y-yeah, I am, right? (My jacket...)"

"After I do my debut, in six months, that jacket will be so valuable," she said. "Why, you could buy an entire planet with it."

"An...entire planet with my jacket..." Fox trailed off bored.

"...You don't believe?"

Fox gasped mentally after Peppita looked sad. "N-no, I believe you...I-I'm sure you'll do it just fine on the stage. I can't hardly wait to buy a planet with my jacket...as well..." he muttered the last part.

Peppita joined her hands and giggled. "Heeheehee, thanks, Fox," she said before blushing as she knelt down and hugged him tightly. "Really, many thanks, Fox..." She moved up her eyes at him. "And please...fight for me, okay?"

"Fight for you?"

"Yeah, I mean, you're fighting to keep peace, right?"

"Yes, I do..."

"And you fight to protect your beloved ones, right?"

"Yes..."

Peppita hugged him tightly. "Please, when you fight something or someone, think about me, okay?"

Fox tilted his head. "Hey, I fight for everyone, not just you."

"...Can I be a special one, though?"

Fox thought for a moment. "(...Make her happy... Well...screw it, just tell her)." The vulpine chuckled and hugged Peppita. "Of course, I will fight for everyone...and you, Peppita..."

The Velbaysian remained silent before she closed her eyes and chuckled. "Thank you so much, Fox..." She shed a tear. "...I'm really going to miss you after you leave, Fox...really, I will..."

Fox closed his eyes. "I will as well, Peppita..." He looked up to the sky. "...I will as well..."

"I'll promise you that I'll become the greatest dancer..." Peppita muttered. "I'm gonna hit the stardom to make the Rossetti Troupe the biggest attraction in the whole universe...and become a great dancer like my mom was..." She remained silent. "...Will you cheer on me on the stage?"

"You can say that again, and I'll say of course."

"T-thank you so much, Fox! Really!"

Peppita and Fox chuckled together for a little while before they both remained silent once again.

"(Teehee...)" Peppita giggled mentally. "(He smells so sweet when you're close enough to him...I wonder why, though...)" She moved her eyes down to find a familiar brown patch on Fox's vest. "(...Oh, right, the curry...)" she thought embarrassed. "(...Don't remind him about that...)"

Fox suddenly yawned a bit. "Well...I don't know you, but I really have to sleep for now..."

Peppita stopped hugging and looked determined at him. "And I gotta finish up some works I have pending at the workshop."

"What?" Fox asked. "I thought the workshop was closed for the night."

Peppita took out a key. "It was...past tense," she said chuckling. "When Fayt wasn't looking, I stole this from him." She looked to the west of the square. "You can go back to sleep now, Fox. Really, thanks for taking me to a date with you. I really enjoyed it."

"(I'm just glad there weren't any kisses,)" Fox thought. "And I'm glad we're back to our normal selves...mainly because of you."

Peppita blushed. "O-oh, please, you're making me blush...but seriously, I hafta go and work extra hard before you leav-I mean, before Fayt files the patents tomorrow." She turned around and ran away to the west. "Until then, good night, Fox! Thank you so much for tonight!"

"Wait."

Peppita stopped running and looked at him. "Yes?"

"Let me ask you one last thing," Fox began, "why did you fall in love with me again? You're a human and I'm a humanoid fox."

"..." Peppita thought for a moment. "...I guess you could say you're attractive yourself."

Fox stared blankly at Peppita.

The Velbaysian chuckled. "Well...I haven't experienced love before...but that's the whole truth." She nodded at Fox. "Do you have a girlfriend? I'm pretty sure you have someone you really love."

"..." The image of Krystal passed through Fox's mind. "...Sort of."

"...Sort of?"

Fox nodded. "Love...is a very complicated matter, Peppita... Don't worry, you'll see by yourself when you get older."

"...Okay," Peppita said chuckling. "Well, I wish the best of wishes to you 2. For now, I have to go and do something special." She turned around and continued her way. "Thanks again, Fox! You're...you're the best person I've ever met!"

The leader of Star Fox watched as the Velbaysian ran away to the west. Smiling a bit to himself, Fox got up from the floor and looked around until he looked to a small stand to his left. "You can come on out now."

"!" A figure gasped behind the stand. A familiar scholar stood up and looked nervously at the grinning vulpine. He then looked around. "E-er...would you like to buy something tonight, young sir?"

Fox looked amused as he put his hands on his hips. "Well, I don't see you have anything to sell tonight, Chris..."

Chris looked at the empty bosses that were leaning against the stand. "...They are invisible fruits and vegetables...a new kind of...food..."

"..."

"...Sorry," Chris said in defeat. "I was worried about what you would do alone with Peppita..."

Fox rolled his eyes. "I wasn't going to yell at her. Are you that worried?"

"...To be honest...yes..."

Fox chuckled. "Well, you saw what happened now. You can stop worrying about me now." He looked serious. "But seriously, I'm not a kid anymore."

Chris shyly walked out from the stand and walked to Fox. "W-well...sorry..."

"..." Fox smiled a bit at him. "Meh, it's okay, Chris. I think it's nice of you to worry about me."

The scholar looked away for a bit before he looked back at Fox. "I-it is, right? I am sorry for stalking you."

"It's justified," Fox said. "After all I did...I guess you had the right to check on me."

The scholar wiped the sweat off from his forehead and sighed. "I have to admit it was very nice (and cute) of you to go on a date with Peppita. At least it was a fake one."

Fox nodded. "Heheheh, yeah, good thing it was a fake one. She got happy, though. That's what I wanted to do for he-"

"After Wolf told you that."

"...Yes," Fox said annoyed. "But in all truth...it was the right to do like said...come to think of it, it was mysteriously nice of him..." He rubbed his chin and looked even more serious. "It's like he's trying to give me a hand while I think he wants to annoy me to no end..."

Chris chuckled, recalling Wolf's private conversation. "Yes...I think it was just like you thought. We are sure you picked the best choice that did not involve sadness or something of the sort."

"..." Fox looked down. "...Thank you, Chris."

The scholar tilted his head confused. "What? Why are you being thankful to me so suddenly?"

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have known that this place existed," Fox said as he clenched his fists a bit. "And I wouldn't have gotten over the death of my father either... I think he really is dead..."

"Sorry..." Chris looked apologetic. "It is hard for you...right?"

"...Yes, it is very hard for me to get over it," Fox said before he looked at him and smiled, shedding a small tear. "But I'm glad it's over at last..." He closed his eyes. "Now, I can live without worries. If I see my father again, for some other reason, I'm going to ignore him and curse out my mind for playing tricks on me."

The scholar smiled a bit, his half-closed eyes staring at Fox with some relief. "Then...I am glad I helped you, Fox..." He looked away and blushed. "...And I am glad you are back to your cool self..."

"...My cool self?" Fox repeated. "...Oooooh, so you think I'm cool," he chuckled before crossing his arms, grinning at Chris. "Really, am I cool to you or what?"

Chris looked at Fox's pose. "(O-okay, do not say lies now...) T-to be frank...you are the coolest, Fox..."

Fox looked a bit surprised.

The scholar chuckled. "Why, I think you are the coolest character I have ever met in person before," he admitted, smiling happily. "Maybe you could be the perfect role model I have been looking for!"

"Wait, wait, your role model?" Fox asked. "What about your dad? Because I had my father as my role model, but now you're saying I'm your role model?"

"What is wrong about that?" Chris asked. "You are so cool...that...I wish I could be just like you when I grow up..."

Fox uncrossed his arms and shook his head.

"...What?"

"If you ask me, you're cool in your own way," Fox said. "You're not thinking about being just like me, right?"

"A-a little bit..."

"...Well, that's good, I guess," Fox said grinning. "Okay, Chris. Since you helped me to come here and overcome my internal problems..." He saluted to him by putting his fingers on his forehead. "I'm going to do my best to live up to your expectations. That way, I'll know I'm doing the right thing...for sure this time."

"...(H-he is so cool...)" Chris thought embarrassed. "T-thank you, Fox. Really, it makes me so happy to think you will continue like this. If you ask me, it is the best choice you have chosen this time."

"...Thanks..."

"...From all the other choices that affected the storyline of your game...it is surely the best one."

"What?" Fox asked as he lowered his hand.

"It is true," Chris said as he looked worried. "Your latest game revolved about decisions and decisions and decisions with even more decisions. One decision leaded to another decision, and so on until you reached 9 different endings that...some were weird."

"...Really?"

Chris nodded. "There was this ending where Falco decided to make Star Falco with Kat and Dash as his members..."

Fox stared blankly at Chris.

"...And there was this other ending where Krystal becomes Kursed because everyone treated her as a traitor after rejoining you, and you and her met sometime in the future. When you did, you did not recognize her again.

Fox stared blankly at him.

"And there was this other ending where Dash tries to make Venom habitable for people...until he became corrupted with power and turned out like Andross..."

Fox's jaw opened a bit.

"...And do not get me started with the ending where you and Falco become racers in G-Zero races to forget everything about your past lives after Star Wolf defeated the Anglar by themselves..." He took a moment of silence. "...Like Captain Falcon, no less..."

The vulpine stared at the scholar in some disbelief after hearing some of the endings to his last game. Closing his eyes, Fox grunted a bit and started to say something. It seemed that what he heard made him get a little bit angry... "...What the f(beep) did those programmers do to my storyline?"

Chris bowed to Fox. "Please, do not think badly of us...but that is how everything turned out..." He pulled back himself and looked back at Fox. "At least Master Hand made out a new ending where you and everyone rejoined Star Fox..."

"..." Fox sighed. "You know what...screw it, Chris."

"Hmm?"

"I'm happy to know that AT LEAST Master Hand let me do my things right..." Fox rolled his eyes. "Please, become racers like C. Falcon...Krystal leaving to change her name and identity...Falco making his own team...Dash becoming a madman like Andross..."

The scholar sweat dropped at this."(At least I did not tell him about the Marcus ending... I do not want Fox to get worked up by hearing more, anyway...)"

Fox chuckled and waved a bored hand at him. "Okay..." He yawned a bit. "If you'd excuse me...I have to rest and meet the pillow..."

The scholar stared blankly at him before nodding. "...All right, then... Go ahead and forget what I said about the endings."

"Please do."

"...Oh yes, it was a very rough night for everyone. It would make sense you were exhausted."

"Yeah..." Fox muttered before he started his way to the west. "Time to go back to the inn, Chris..."

"Y-yes...about that..." Chris shifted his eyes. "...I am going to stay here for a little bit more and take some fresh air, okay?"

Fox raised his shoulders a bit as he continued walking. "Whatever rolls your way...good night..."

[DededeCloneChris]

Music stops

As the scholar watched the tired vulpine walking many feet away where he opened a door to the inn and closed it, Chris looked to the south where he watched as, from the darkness of an alley, Wolf walked out with crossed arms. The lupine looked around and found the scholar. "So, you're here."

Chris nodded and walked to him. "Yes, I am here," he said. "Why did you want me to come here after we exited the garden?"

Wolf looked serious at him. "Because I want you to meet someone in person that I've been wanting to see him again for all this time."

"...Whatever are you talking about?"

"Let's cut the talk and get to the point," Wolf said as he looked mad to the east. "I know you're hiding there, idiot. Come on out and face me."

The scholar looked confused as he looked to Wolf's direction. His half-closed eyes suddenly opened fully as a figure walked to them with hands in green pockets. The figure was the same height as Wolf, and he looked strongly familiar like someone Chris and Wolf knew except for the fact that the mysterious man wore an orange scarf and orange-and-black tankers boots, along with some sunglasses that covered his eyes.

"My god," the man said as he stopped walking in front of them, chuckling amused to himself. "Have your ears gotten that better during all these years of abscence?"

Wolf grunted a bit and put his hands at the sides. "Shut up, you. It's been hell to be taking care of your son."

"...W-what the..." Chris shook his head.

Before the scholar, he just couldn't believe that the person that looked strongly the same as Fox was standing in front of them. The only person that could easily push theories that involved around him was Star Fox's previous leader, James McCloud, the same hero that did many deeds to Corneria in the past.

James, grinning, looked at Wolf and Chris. "So, how's it going, Wolf?"

Wolf rolled his eye. "Very dandy, if you'd ask me again," he said sarcastically. "Seriously, cut the crap already, James."

James still looked amused. "What crap would that be? I just came here, and now you're going back to your stubborn self?"

"No, like I'm going back to be the same guy I was before," Wolf said annoyed. "I knew you were going to come and stalk on Fox and me the moment that girl told me that she met you."

"...Oh, so I guess the girl that was with my son told you, huh?"

Chris looked shocked at James, but then he turned his head to look at Wolf. Noticing this action, Wolf frowned. "I know what you're going to ask now, kid. When we were coming back here, the little girl told me that she saw someone that looked just like Fox today. I don't know why she told me that, but I guess she said that to me as some kind of gift for giving her the idea to go on a date with Fox." He glared at James. "Then, I used logic, and I came to the conclusion that YOU were here."

"..." James chuckled a bit. "Seems you have grown after all, Wolf."

"Oh, yes, I did," Wolf said grinning. "It appears that my 'friend' suggested me to take care of his son for him so I could become the feared leader of Star Wolf across the Lylat System." He frowned. "James, James, James...what were you thinking when you decided to give me a hand?"

James raised his shoulders a bit. "I knew you could be a worthy rival in the future so I asked to myself why not."

"...Seriously, tell me now," Wolf said. "Tell me why you've been hiding all these years from Fox and everyone. I knew you weren't going to necessarily die in that battle with Andross."

James looked away. "...Would you believe that I did all that just to let my son take over Star Fox for me earlier?"

"What?" Wolf asked. "You decided to stay low and let Fox take over your team? I don't see why you did all that bravado just to let Fox be the leader of your team."

James looked at him. "I did that so he could grow faster by himself, Wolf," he explained. "To be honest, I knew he was doing just fine, but, would he accept the idea to become the leader earlier if I told him directly? He would say no and be just a regular member, and I didn't want that. I wanted him to reach his goals faster because my own goals were done for the moment I worked with the team for years. The kid looked up to me so much, Wolf. I myself was restraining him from becoming so good by himself. I didn't want him to become a splitting image of my own self."

"Tsk, he DID get good enough to take me down," Wolf said annoyed. "You're putting a lot of work on him, you know that?"

"So what?" James asked amused. "Fox worked his way around everything as I've had predicted. Just look at him, Wolf," he said. "Fox has become the man I wanted him to become without EXACTLY being like me. He would have become just like me if I was around."

Wolf looked away and snarled a bit. "I JUST don't understand your motives...seriously..."

"Well, you don't have a son yourself so you don't know very well," James said before looking at Chris. "As for you...Chris, right?"

"That's his name," Wolf said as he turned around to see them. "This kid gave us a hand during the whole thing."

James grinned at Chris. "Well, thanks, Chris," he said as put a hand on the shocked scholar. "Thanks to you, my son accepted what he had to accept to fully become probably the best leader of Star Fox. You really pulled him back to his feet, man."

The scholar merely remained silent as his eyes stared at James.

"...You're at a loss of words, huh?" James asked amused before he pulled his hand back. "Okay, I understand."

Wolf grunted a bit. "How did you even get here, anyway? We came here through a portal, but what about your case?"

James looked at him. "...You wouldn't know how messed up a black hole is around the galaxy..." he said shrugging. "Really, you get in one, you don't know what will happen next."

"...The hell were you doing around a black hole?" Wolf asked.

"...It was very black," James said. "...How can you tell where it is? The outer space HAD to be black to fool your eyes. I'm an idiot to run into one as I soared the space some days ago, minding my own business."

Wolf chuckled. "Yeah, I'd blame the sunglasses you always wear. Those kill your vision if you wear them for that long, you know."

James chuckled. "Maybe they do, but hey, at least I got to where Fox was. Now THAT'S what I call luck, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, I guess. You had the luck of a bastard."

"Exactly what I was thinking," James said. "Oh, and by the way, I wouldn't mind if I came back home and give you the so-deserved match you wanted to have with me, provided you're not going to kill me..."

Wolf smirked. "Well, shall we see what could happen?"

"...I like your demeanor," James said chuckling. "If that's the case, I won't let you take me down and end my play time, Wolf."

The lupine nodded. "Okay, now we have a compromise..."

"But don't tell this to Fox, okay?"

"What, are you going to be hiding a little bit more?"

"Well, I want to see what the new Fox can do before I make a return," James said. "Or...I could appear once he marries Krystal."

"You know about her?"

"I know EVERYTHING about Fox," James said. "Hell, I've been there in all those important battles where his life was at danger."

"...Then...he wasn't kidding when Krystal told me that he saw you close?"

James raised an eyebrow. "He wasn't kidding, but he doesn't know ironically... Does everyone really think I'm some sort of ghost? Cool, I didn't think my disappearance would put me at the ranks of the undead."

"Stop it already and go away," Wolf said. "I want to have that match with you."

"Will you promise you won't tell this to Fox, though?"

"Yeah, whatever," Wolf said. "The kid here won't say it as well. If he does, he'll have a nice talk with my Wolfen."

The scholar still looked shocked.

James chuckled at this. "Wolf, always being a little bit violent..."

"What can I say, I've changed after all this time...thanks to you," Wolf said chuckling. "Now get out of my sight and go back to Corneria. Tell me the time, place, and rules."

"I'll send you a message, but you have to make sure Fox doesn't know or anyone else, okay?"

"Got it."

James saluted Wolf one time before he turned around. Raising a hand as he walked away to the east gate, he said to them "And please, do take care of Fox. After all, he has to fight the Subspace Army."

"Do you know the way back home, though?" Wolf suddenly asked. "Do you want to risk your luck with Mr. Black Hole?"

James stopped walking. "...I...ah...well...you see..."

"...Owned at last," Wolf said pleased before he took Chris's Wiimote from his pocket. "I can give you a hand. I know how to use this machine."

James looked back at Wolf. "You're not tricking me, right?"

Wolf grinned and walked to him. "Why would I trick you now? I wanna have that fight as soon as possible. Don't worry; I'll open a portal big enough for your Arwing to get in."

James chuckled pleased as he walked alongside Wolf. "...So, you made yourself a team."

"Yeah, but I'm not that proud of it," Wolf said as they both walked to the east gate of the city. "Leon is just a stupid psychopath and Panther is an annoying womanizer."

"Tsk, you recruited the weirdest people, then."

"If I recall, you were the first one to have Pigma with you."

"...Touche," James said chuckling with Wolf.

It almost looked like the two formed some kind of a strange relationship. It even looked like Wolf didn't hate James anymore by how each other talked and chuckled at each other's achievements in life. These facts were made clearer as James hung his right arm on Wolf's shoulders, the lupine not minding to push it away before they both disappeared from sight...

...And back with the scholar...

"..." Chris shook his head before he started to chuckle nervously. "Heheheh...heheheh...heheheh..." He embraced himself. "I-I-I did not just see a ghost now, d-d-d-d-d-d-did I?"

It looked just as if Chris was getting insane by the crazy look behind his glasses.

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I surely did not see James in front of me...right?" He looked around as he chuckled nervously. "I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I am crazy...that is it...I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I am crazy just like Fox and Wolf...y-yes, that must be it...heheheheheh, heheheheheh, heheheheheh..."

Chris slowly turned around to the west as he clutched his arms to his body.

"T-T-T-T-T-T-T-That must be the most logical reason...y-y-y-yes, it must be it...I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I am as crazy as Fox and Wolf are...J-J-J-J-J-J-James is not alive but dead...and the one that was in front of me was not him but...m-m-m-m-my mind playing tricks on me...like Fox and Wolf's minds...hahahahahaha..."

The scholar walked all the way back to the inn, ignoring an Arwing that flew into a portal from his Wiimote on the horizon of the sky.

"I am so crazy...I am so...stupidly crazy...oh yes... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Chris crackled loudly before he entered the inn, slamming the door behind him.

Dream

For Fox, there was one last thing he wanted to be done with as the scene where the young Fox and the young Chris were hiding under the same slide. Fox glared up at the monster in front of them while Chris didn't want to stop embracing his legs in fear.

"...Stop it..." the young Fox muttered. "...Stop it!" he demanded to the shadow. "...This is over, you hear me?!"

The shadow seemed to back away scared as the young vulpine raised his fists and closed his eyes with anger. The crying Chris slowly looked up and gasped.

"I know why you're here!" the young Fox yelled. "You're here because you think my father is out there, right? Well, let me tell you something: James McCloud is dead, and he will never come to get me!"

The young vulpine didn't notice the fact that his voice was somehow becoming like that of a young man.

"I was stupid to think he would come back because he is not alive!" Fox yelled. "That's what you wanted to hear, right? Well, there you have it! Do me a favor and leave us both alon-oww! My head!" Fox gritted his fangs as he felt something hitting his head. "Damn...what was that just now?"

The young vulpine slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring at the shadow. For some odd reason, the Nightmare looked smaller than before. Then, looking to himself, the young vulpine found out that he wasn't a kid anymore, but was his current older self as an adult, his usual attire and Blaster in his holster. Fox looked surprised before he looked down at the shocked Chris.

"Y-you...grew up so suddenly..." the young Chris said as he looked up at him. "...H-how did you do that?"

Fox looked at his hands. "...I don't know..." he said. "But...maybe this happened because..." He slowly grinned as his hands turned into fists. "...This happened because I realized what I had to say aloud...and make the lies go away by saying the truth..." He smirked at the Nightmare. "Now, guess what I'm going to do now with you?"

The Nightmare looked a bit frightened before Fox quickly dashed at it and delivered a quick right kick to its head. The Nightmare shrieked in pain before the vulpine got closer again and used a back-flip kick to hit its chin hard enough to push it high up into the raining air. The leader of Star Fox then jumped twice to reach high enough and use a quintuple kick, kicking the shadow hard in the head before Fox turned around and used a strong back kick to push the shadow away.

The young Chris watched in surprise as Fox landed back quickly and ran after the Nightmare. The monster didn't have any force left to attack back nor turn back and disappear. It painfully managed to stand up for Fox to grab it by the neck, putting a tight grip that made the Nightmare scream.

Fox grinned at the monster. "Guess what: I'm not scared anymore," he said. "It's time for you yo pack your things and go away."

The Nightmare shrieked as Fox pulled him up above himself and slammed it down hard on the floor, the vulpine jumping to the air at the same time to send a flurry of shots from his Blaster to obliterate the shadow. The Nightmare, as it received the shots, couldn't take it anymore and it suddenly vanished in dark spores that spread as Fox landed back crouching, confidently spinning his Blaster's trigger with a finger before putting it back to its holster, the vulpine chuckling.

Fox stood up and looked around. "Finally, now everything's back to normal..." He looked back to the slide where the young Chris was. "...Or...maybe not..."

"..." The young Chris didn't say a word as he saw the adult walking to him. Once Fox reached him, he looked down at him and knelt down. "...U-um..."

"What?" Fox asked. "I just saved you from that monster. You're not going to run away, right?"

"N-no..." Chris gulped before he sniffed. "I-it was so nice of you in getting rid of the monster...but...I-I don't know my way home..." He began to sob. "I-I want to go home...I don't want to stay here anymore..."

The vulpine rubbed his chin. "Yeah, I forgot about that..." He thought for a moment. "...Wait, I know where your home is."

"...Really?" Chris asked in surprise. "H-how do you know?"

Fox looked at him and chuckled. "I know that because I know you, Chris." He stood up and crossed his arms. "You want to get home as soon as possible, right? Well, I know the way."

"...D-do you really know the way?"

Fox grinned confidently. "Just leave it to me, Chris." He stretched his right hand to him. "C'mon now, we have to get you home before night gets here."

"...I-I..." the young Chris stuttered a bit before he, surprisingly, ignored Fox's hand and went straight to hug his legs tightly. "T-thank you so much, Fox!"

Fox got startled as the young boy put a tight grip on his legs. "Chris?"

The young Chris chuckled and looked up at him. "Y-you're...you're so nice...and so cool, Fox..." he said happily. "The way you showed that monster who the boss was here...it looked so cool how you kicked it like that just because you wanted to save me!"

"...Well, what can I say?" Fox grinned again and rubbed Chris's hair a bit with his right hand. "You're important to me. I just couldn't watch it hit you. I'd get so angry if that happened."

The young Chris made a happy expression before leaning to Fox closer. "You're so cool...there's no doubt about it..."

Fox could only stare and laugh for a bit before he knelt down to the boy. Resting his right arm on his right knee, the vulpine smiled a bit at Chris. "So, shall I let you follow me to your home?"

The young boy blushed a bit. "...P-please..." He shivered a bit and snizzed. "I-I don't want to get a cold..."

"Hmmm..." Fox grunted at this and took out his jacket that he put on Chris. "Here, use my jacket. It'll keep you warm."

"R-really?" Chris asked.

"You're using it now," Fox said annoyed. "You're even clutching your hands to it."

"...Heheheh," the young Chris chuckled embarrassed. "T-thanks again..."

Fox gave him a thumbs up before standing up. Standing by the side, the leader of Star Fox stretched his left hand to Chris. Covering himself with his left hand grabbing the middle of the jacket, the young boy grabbed the vulpine's hand with his free hand. Fox smiled a bit and nodded to him before he began to walk away along with Chris.

"Are you sure this is the way?" Chris asked.

"...I'm pretty darn sure," Fox muttered with a chuckle as both disappeared into the mist. "Don't be scared...because I'm going to stay with you all the time. If something gets to you, tell me so I can protect you, okay?"

"...You're the coolest..." Chris commented. "...You're so, but so cool."

"...Thanks..."

And everything became so hazy...as both the adult and the boy chuckled happily with other within the mist of the rainy night...

Aquios Territory
Irisa Fields

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Air Harmony

The next morning...

"So...I guess it's good bye now," Nel said.

It was a bright morning as both groups were out from the city. The Smashers were standing in front of Fayt's group on top of a hill. For some reason, Peppita was nowhere to be found as only Fayt, Sophia, Maria, Cliff, Mirage, Nel, Albel, Roger, and Adray were there.

"Yeah, we have to leave now," C. Falcon said. "We're done with this place, right?"

Tails nodded as he took out what looked to be two pieces of a tablet that depicted a star. "Yes, we're done," he said. "But I don't understand one thing...you said Dr. Eggman had gone to the temple, but we didn't find him around."

Fox nodded. "That's how I recalled the event," he said. "I'm pretty sure he went down."

"Hmm..." Tails thought for a moment. "...Even so, we managed to use the Sun and Moon Tablets to get to these other pieces..." He looked at the pieces. "...There must be something I overlooked, though..."

"Well, we can't help you more with that," Cliff said. "I guess you're all on your own, huh?"

"True," Samus said. "This is a mystery we have to resolve by ourselves."

"Pitiful knowledge, I'd say," Albel commented. "Whoever is the maggot that is causing all those commotions to you, do us a favor and kill him off." He looked serious. "I don't mind taking on the worm you're looking for, but now..."

"We have our own matters to resolve by ourselves," Nel continued. "It's pretty much like yours. A group goes their own way."

"Yeah," Pit said. "Thank you so much for giving us a hand. If it weren't for all of you, we wouldn't have survived in this place."

"Don't sweat it," Roger said. "You DID give us back our equipment, right?"

"Yes, we did."

"Hmm, that's okay, then," the Menodix said before looking up at them. "Yah guys have to get stronger by your own means and show that doctor who's the man here, got that?"

"U-um...Roger..." Chris looked at Roger. "...Did you...reconsider?"

"Reconsider what?"

"The bugs...the bugs that you have with you... I really need to have those bugs with me..." The scholar looked a bit worried. "...Can I have them, please? They are going to help us a lot if you give them to me..."

The Menodix slowly took off his helmet and let the two lady bugs fly around his head. "Well..." He lifted his shoulders. "Oh, whatever," he said before looking at the bugs. "Lucifer, Thanatos, go with him."

"...Lucifer and Thanatos?" Sophia repeated confused as the golden bugs listened to Roger and went to a shocked Chris. "Roger, why did you give those bugs...those names?"

"What? I can't give 'em those names?" Roger asked. "I thought they sounded cool."

"N-no, it is just that those names are...a bit scary..." Chris admitted. "...Those names are of demons, you know that?"

"...Really?" Roger asked. "...Awesome," he chuckled a bit. "I knew lil' Thany was special. She's a girl, but man, she's very special."

Everyone just looked at him shocked as the bugs flew around Chris. The scholar snapped out from the silence and gently grabbed the bugs and put them in his pcokets.

"...That aside..." Maria looked at them and smiled a bit. "Thanks for coming here. It was nice to have such an interesting group of people among us."

"Aw, please, don't say that. You're as interesting as we are," Roy said. "Heck, you're even stronger than us. It was because of you that we were able to fight the enemies in this place."

Adray nodded and rubbed his chin a bit. "You always have a home here. But...if you reconsider..."

'We're NOT marrying Clair," Roy and Pit interrupted the old man.

"...No, I was going to say that you can come back and join us in our quest to save the universe beyond the sky."

"...Are you sure?" Roy asked.

"Very sure."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm so sure."

"VERY SURE?"

"I'm so very sure."

"ARE YOU REALLY, VERY SURE?"

"...I forgot now," Adray said ashamed. "I knew I was saying the truth, honest."

Roy sighed and frowned. "Oh man..."

Adray laughed a bit. "But please, do come back here and drop by in any workshop! I'll be glad to have your presences aroun-"

"And I'll make sure he doesn't do something weird," Nel interrupted.

Adray sighed. "Teenagers these days take care of everything...it wasn't like this a few years back."

Roy, without making any sounds, opened and closed his mouth to Nel to say "Thank you, Nel" in order for Adray to not hear him. Nel chuckled and merely nodded at him.

Mirage looked around. "That's weird. Where is Peppita?"

Fayt and the others looked around the field. "Yeah, I thought she was going to be here and say farewell to you guys."

Sophia put a finger on her chin and wondered something. "Last time I recalled she wasn't at the inn... I wonder where she went to..."

Sonic tilted his head before he looked at a figure coming from the gates of Peterny. "Hey, I think she's coming here."

Everyone turned around to the south where the Velbaysian came running to them. Peppita seemed to be carrying a bag with something inside in her right hand. Halting to catch her breath, the Velbaysian panted a bit before looking up cheerfully. "H-hey, everyone..." she muttered. "Sorry to be late...but I had to finish up some arrangements during the whole night at the workshop..."

"You what?" Cliff asked. "You stayed all night working in the workshop all alone by yourself?"

"Peppita!" Fayt said. "You were the one who took away the key, then?"

"L-look, I'm so sorry for doing that, but I had to do it to do something special for..." She blushed a bit as she looked at Fox. "...Fox..."

The vulpine raised an eyebrow as the Velbaysian walked to him and showed him the bag.

"...Since you're going away..." Peppita began, "...you may as well leave prepared." She chuckled happily. "I worked so hard all night long, thinking about you all the time."

Fox looked away and blushed.

"...So then..." She dropped the bag on his right hand. "I want you and everyone to have this..." Peppita looked confused. "I-I dunno what happened when I crafted those items...but...they came out like...well...um..." She looked embarrassed. "...Please, take a look..."

The leader of Star Fox looked at the bag on his hand. Curious, he grabbed the ends of the bag to open it wide and see what was inside. "...Hey, these are..."

"...Stickers..." Peppita muttered. "...Oooooooooh, I'm so sorry, Fox!" she apologized. "When I noticed, all my creations came out as stickers for some random reason! T-that's how complicated the world of Item Creation is for the inventors!"

Some of the Smashers took a peek of the bag in front of Fox. From what they could see, there were big and small stickers that had, for some reason, the images of Fayt, Sophia, Maria, Cliff, Mirage, Nel, Albel, Roger, Adray, and even Peppita herself were the very same stickers, along with a big one that depicted a pair of red boots.

"...Stickers..." Wolf muttered amused. "...You don't think these stickers have special effects, right?"

"...They do..." Fox muttered as he smiled a bit at them. "They must have special effects added to them..."

Peppita looked surprised. "What?"

"Well..." Fox took out the sticker with boots. "What's this one, though?"

"Oh, that? It's the very same pair of Boots of Prowess I've been working on," Peppita explained. "I struggled so much to refine it to its maximum all night, and...it came out like a sticker...together with the other rings and amulets I've made specifically for you all...that also turned into stickers..." She looked down. "They're useless, right?"

"N-not at all..." Roy said. "I know you're not going to believe us, but, we know how to handle these stickers very well."

Albel stared at them. "...Maggots, you're the weirdest bunch of people I've ever seen... Stickers having special properties, please..."

Chris chuckled embarrassed. "R-really, we know what we are doing with these..."

"...Okay, then!" Peppita said cheerfully. "Then it was nice of me to work all night and create you guys those stickers, right?"

Fox nodded as he kept the bag at his right side. "Yeah, they're going to help us a lot, Peppita. Thank you very much for bothering."

Cliff tapped Adray's shoulder to whisper him something. "No doubt these guys are insane with those stickers."

"Yes," Adray whispered. "What was I thinking when I asked the young warriors to marry my Clair?"

"Teeheehee..." Peppita blushed happily. "W-well...can I...ask you another favor?"

"Oh, sure, I don't mind," Fox said.

"...Sure?"

"Sure," Fox grinned at her. "Whatever it is before we go, it's fine with me."

"Kiss me."

Most of the people in there quickly stared at Peppita.

"..." Fox remained silent and looked at everyone. "...Er...say what again?"

"Kiss me," Peppita said simply. "Please? You're going away so why not?"

Fox shook his head. "E-er, sorry, Peppita, but that's a little bit too much to ask..."

Peppita looked worried. "What? But..."

Wolf chuckled. "Fox, just give her what she wants from you. Surely, it won't hurt anybody's self-esteem, right?"

Fox snarled a bit at Wolf. "You're enjoying this, aren't you..."

"Enjoy this? Are you serious?" Wolf asked amused as he crossed his arms. "Why would I lie in a moment like this? If I were you, I'd give her what she wants so she doesn't bother me anymore."

Everyone looked at Wolf.

"...It's just a kiss," he said. "What's wrong with it?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with it?" Peppita asked with a giggle. "Can't you just give me a little kiss on the cheek?"

"OH, THE CHEEK," Fox said relieved as his eyes widened. "Geez, you made me look worried, Peppita... Don't do that again, please..."

Peppita chuckled happily at this as she folded her arms behind her back. "So, can you give it to me?"

Fox noticed that most of the people there were smiling at him. "...You're going to tease me for this during your whole lives, right?"

"Why would we?" Fayt asked smiling. "It's something that won't hurt you or Peppita. Besides, it's the last thing she'll ask to you."

"Think of this as a good bye kiss," Sophia said a little bit excited. "Do it, Fox. For Peppita."

"..." Fox looked at Peppita as she looked at him by the side. She was surely lifting a side of her head so Fox could kiss her right cheek. "...Okay," he said chuckling. "...There are no tricks, right?"

"Nope," Peppita simply said.

Fox gulped a bit before he lowered down his legs to reach Peppita's level. Gulping one more time, he slowly moved towards her as his black lips approached her cheek. He wanted to be careful since there was something that he expected that Peppita would do out a sudden since she giggled, turned around, and kissed him right on the lips in a quick move...and...

Oh wait, she did all that already.

"Buah!" Fox fell back as Peppita smiled very happily. "P-Peppita!"

"Yes, I did it!" Peppita said cheerfully (as some of them clapped in amusement) as she raised a triumphant fist in the air. "Fox kissed me on the lips! I didn't know I could do it, but I did it at last!"

"What?!" Fox asked shocked. "Y-you little girl..." He quickly got up and restrained himself from yelling at her. "After all this time..." he said quickly. "You just wanted a kiss...on the lips?!"

Peppita looked at him innocently. "What's so bad about a quick kiss? It's not like you should do a big deal about it..."

"Well...I...um...you...well..." Fox looked at everyone. It seemed that they weren't against her small wish at all since they were smiling at Fox. "...You guys are so unbelievable, I swear..."

Albel chuckled. "Ha, there was something to enjoy from the girl after all."

"Oh, quiet, you..." Fox muttered in annoyance.

Peppita giggled and hugged Fox one more time. "Okay, you can go now, Fox," she said as everyone looked at her. "Please, fight for all of us as you said before, okay?" she asked. "...And fight for me too..." she muttered.

The vulpine sighed before he gave up and hugged her. "Fine, Peppita... You know how to get what you want from people, huh?"

"Nope," Peppita said. "I know what to get from you and only you."

Fox glared at the people who chuckled at this before Peppita stopped hugging him. The Velbaysian took a few steps back to rejoin her group. "Okay, we're done now," Fox said as he turned around. "Anybody else wants to say something else before we go back to the mansion?"

"Yes," C. Falcon said. "Nice jacket design you have on your back."

Fox's jaw dropped a bit before he remembered that Peppita had drawn her 'autograph' on his jacket. Ignoring the small laughs behind him, he pointed a finger at Chris. "Chris, just open up the portal already," he said annoyed.

Chris chuckled and covered his mouth. "S-sure..." He noticed that Wolf gave him the Wiimote. The scholar recalled the little event of tonight and quickly became as silent as the bugs he had in his pockets. The newly silenced scholar opened the portal to the mansion behind them where Fox walked to it without looking back.

"I hope Falco told everyone not to look at the date I had with Peppita..." Fox muttered. "He left so he could do me that favor..."

"Foooooooooooox!" Peppita called out.

When Fox was about to enter in the portal, he turned around to see the Star Ocean gang waving their hands at him, especially Peppita, who was in front of them as she waved her right hand high up in the air.

"Take care, please!" Peppita called out. "...You can do it, I know you can!"

"..." Fox couldn't help but receive their farewell as a sign for him to smile and salute them. "Good bye..." he said grinning, "...Peppita..."

The Velbaysian stared at the leader of Star Fox entering the portal as he put a hand on the side of his belt, the bag he received from Peppita tightly hanging on his other hand before he disappeared into it.

C. Falcon stepped in front of the portal and looked at Samus. "Allow me," he said.

Samus frowned and walked into the portal, muttering "Womanizer..."

The racer chuckled to himself before he walked in. Soon, Wolf had to grab Chris by the shoulder and drag him all the way into the portal. Fortunately, the scholar managed to walk instead of being dragged on the grass.

Pit looked at Roy. "Let's go before Adray goes nuts."

"Agreed," Roy said. "I hope he learns the lesson. He didn't get his kilt charred for nothing when we left the garden."

The angel looked at Adray's kilt slightly charred. The old man, however, smiled a bit at them. "U-ugh..." Pit shuddered before he ran into the portal, waving a hand at them before Roy soon followed, doing the same action.

Chip flew close to the portal and pointed at it. "Our way home is open," he said before hmm'ing. "I wanna have a taste of Peach's chocolate cake," he said excited before going in.

Maria looked at Sonic. "...By the way, I never asked you why you're wearing that ridiculous dog collar on your neck."

Sonic's eyes widened before he quickly ran into the portal, leaving a trail of dust behind.

"Hey, that was a little bit rude of your friend to do," Maria said to Tails.

"Heheheh...heheheh..." Tails shifted his eyes as he kept the pieces of the tablet behind him. "...See ya!" he said, waving a hand at them before he ran back inside into the portal.

As the portal remained open, Peppita turned around and looked at everyone. "I'm so happy, you guys..."

"Geez, I wonder why," Sophia said chuckling.

"You really enjoyed their visit, right?" Mirage asked.

Peppita nodded. "I'm sure I did..." She closed her eyes. "...I'm sure I did..."

Albel looked back at the portal. "...Hmm..." He wondered something. "It hasn't closed yet."

Suddenly, the group began to hear hysterical laughter that blared out from the portal. From what they could tell, the laughs were growing in size as they heard some kid in a blue parka saying aloud "Hey everybody, Fox's sporting new clothes!"

Roger looked a bit confused at this. "Um..."

"...I'm starting to think that giving him the same autograph you gave me before wasn't such a good idea, Peppita..." Fayt muttered.

Peppita shook her head. "My autographs will make you and Fox buy any planet in six months, Fayt. Don't be silly, okay?"

"...Okay..." Fayt sighed and frowned. "(And I still have it under the armor...)"

"And that's not all," Popo's voice continued. "Look at the sweet curry patch on his vest!"

Apparently, someone grunted aloud and some fists and kicks of anger flew before the portal could close down by itself. The group of ten people stared blankly at the air where the portal once stood.

The Smashers have left Fayt's group.

"...Let's go back to Peterny for now," Nel said as she turned around. "..."

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Cutting Edge of Notion

Mirage turned around and instantly took a fighting stance. "An ambush?"

Everyone else turned around to find at least eight Proclaimers that flew towards them. Grunting, Adray turned around and yelled "What a dirty trick!"

Cliff sighed and frowned. "Okay, bad situation..."

"I couldn't agree more with you there," Roger said before he began to hop on his spot. "What a bunch of pushovers..."

"Okay, people," Fayt began as he unsheathed his sword. "Let's give them our best shot!"

Sophia took out her brand new staff. "Even I can handle this now."

"Worms..." Albel muttered. "Normally I don't waste my time on weaklings..."

"Let's have a good fight, then," Nel said before taking out her daggers.

"Let's get over with this quickly," Maria said as she took out her phase gun before sighing annoyed. "What a pain..."

Peppita, now enthusiastic as she was before, chuckled and stood in a fighting stance. "Okay guys, let's give it our all!"

And thus, the Star Ocean gang began the fight...

Music stops

Village of Black Mages
Black Mage Shop

"Wow, it is a surprise to see you here, Black Mage Reject."

Fox glared at Kief and crossed his arms. "Sorry if I sound so confident," he said before grinning, "but I found out I can use Black Magic."

After a brutal scene at the Smash Mansion, Fox, along with Falco, decided to go to the village of the mages to have a nice talk with Kief. The leader of Star Fox looked like he had something in his sleeve for Kief to know.

"Is that so?" Kief asked before looking at the silent Falco. "Oh, your friend there, he can use Black Magic. Unlike you, he believes it in a bi-" He stopped talking once he saw Fox pulling back his hand. "...What are you doing now?"

A red light shone under Fox as the vulpine grinned and shoved his glowing red hand at Kief. "Fire!"

Kief watched as a burst of flames appeared right in front of his face. The mage, however, didn't look frightened or scared at this sudden demonstration of Black Magic. Once the flames vanished in thin air, he saw that Fox was glaring with him along with Falco.

"...Oh..." Kief nodded.

"...So?" Fox asked.

Kief lifted his shoulders a bit. "I guess you were compatible with Black Magic from the very beginning."

Fox blinked surprised. "What did you just say?"

"Here," Kief began as he put a sticker that depicted a big flame of medium size, "as I've promised, here's your Fira sticker. You're lucky that the order came right before you and your friend came in here. My regards go to the Chocobo mailman for that matter."

"Hey, stop," Fox said as he glared at Kief again. "Stop ignoring me now."

Kief frowned. "Okay, what do you want me to answer you?"

"When I used Fire on Popo (which he kind of deserved it because he laughed at me the most), I found out I could use Fire out of a sudden," Fox said. "Was there a reason behind it?"

"Did your mind clear itself, then?"

"What?"

Kief nodded. "In all honesty, you had the power to use Black Magic from the very beginning," he admitted. "There was something that was troubling your mind, though. That problem was hindering you from use Black Magic."

"What?"

"There's this leftover of sacred spirits within you," Kief said. "Were you...possessed by spirits before?"

"...The Krazoa Spirits..." Fox muttered.

"...As I thought," Kief began, "you are compatible with magic." He put his hands on the counter. "I forgot to tell you this, but in truth, the mind has to be clear enough for the power of magic of the Black Mages to fully develop correctly. Was something there that trouble you a lot that you just couldn't admit to say?"

"..." Fox looked away. "...How I really felt about my father James..."

"...Parents, huh?" Kief asked. "Well, by the looks of it, you finally resolved that chapter in your life. The mind of a Black Mage has to be empty and clear with pure thoughts that don't disrupt the user's mind. Due to the fact you had that mental problem, it stopped you from using Black Magic." Kief looked happy. "If you ask me, you're better this way."

"...But...I don't understand something..." Fox trailed off and looked back at him.

"What would that be?"

"You said you knew I had that problem a long time ago, right?"

"Correct."

"And you also said I was compatible with magic as well, right?"

"Double correct."

"If that's true...wasn't I having those problems the very same day I came here with everyone?"

"Well, yes."

Fox blinked a few times and narrowed his eyes at Kief. "If so...then...why didn't you tell me I had to get over them so I could learn Black Magic before going through a whole odyssey?"

"..." Kief pulled his hands back. "...Simply because I don't like your face."

Fox and Falco's jaws opened a bit. "...What?"

Kief nodded. "I don't like you. Don't you get it? I don't like you."

"...You don't like me because of nothing?"

Kief nodded. "That's right, I don't like you because I just don't like you."

"You don't have a reason for that?" Falco asked.

"...No."

"Not even a small bit?"

"No."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"But why?"

"I don't like him," Kief continued, "and never will like him."

"..." Fox looked bored at Kief before he looked at Falco and nodded to him. The ace pilot nodded to him and walked out from the shop. Panting a bit, Fox looked back at Kief...and cracked his fists.

"Hmm?" Kief looked confused. "What are you going to do now?"

Fox took the Fira sticker from Kief and glared at him. "Something I should've done the first moment I saw your annoying face covered in darkness..."

"..." Kief blinked innocently. "That surely doesn't involve violence in any way, right?"

Fox smirked. "Shall we see?"

The Black Mage, silently, pulled his hands behind his back where he chanted a spell in his mind.

"This has gone long far enough," Fox said mad. "Now I know I can pretty much beat you down with a good reason for NOT having a good reason to help me out," he explained before grinning at him. "Do you have something else to say before I take you down as the stupid bastard you have been to me?"

"...Firaga."

"What?"

Streets

Falco looked bored into the sky as he leaned on a small hut close to the shop where a explosion of fire came out. The avian, however, frowned at this before he began to hear screams, followed up by howls of battle. Sighing, he frowned to himself. "Geez, calm down, Fox..." he muttered as he could have sworn hearing somebody pinning down someone else before another explosion of fire came out.

Fortunately, the shop was all alone except for the leader of Star Fox and the vulpine-hater Black Mage.

"...At least I don't get that angry..." Falco muttered before he saw a small pendant coming out from the shop that hit his forehead. "...Nope, not angry." He closed his eyes and sighed.

A small potion crashed into his head.

"Is that your best shot?" Falco taunted nobody, his eyes still closed.

Then, another bigger potion crashed and broke apart on his forehead, spilling liquids all over him.

"..." Falco opened his eyes. "..."

And finally, an amulet hit his beak.

His beak trying to break apart by clenching it hardly, Falco's attitude suddenly had enough. "...THAT'S IT!" Falco said annoyed before he ran into the shop to join the fray, just in time for him and Fox to receive an attack from Firaga. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

Corneria
Great Fox – Bridge

Back on the peaceful fourth planet of the Lylat System, the Great Fox peacefully soared the skies in a region where no one lived; above a long expanse of trees and rivers. In the main room of the ship, Slippy, along with his fiancee Amanda, busily clicked on the control panels.

Suddenly, a small alarm blared out. The two toads looked up from their positions to see that the main screen showed them a mail icon.

"We've got mail," Amanda said.

"Looks like it," Slippy said as he moved the pointer at it to open a small window that showed the letter's info. "It says here is from...anonymous."

Amanda looked worried. "You don't think it's someone trying to warn us from an attack, right?"

Slippy looked serious. "I don't think so," he said. "I need to call Krystal and Dash here for them to see this." He clicked on a button to call the two mentioned characters. "Krystal, Dash, I need you to come in here and see what we've got in our hands! Come here, quickly!"

It had seemed that Fox had decided to let Dash join the team due to the fact Fox and Falco left for a time to join the Smashers and fight the Subspace Army. For Dash, this was something that he really wanted to do. The previous Cornerian Soldier reluctantly accepted to join the team in their absence. After all, it was his dream to become part of Star Fox.

Out of a cue, both Krystal and Dash came from the automatic door and reached the two frogs. "Slippy, I heard we got something here," Dash said. "What is it?"

Krystal looked at the main screen. "A...letter?"

"Yep," Amanda nodded. "It seems it's from a anonymous source, though. However, I ran a scan on it and it doesn't contain any viruses in it."

"Really?" Dash looked confused. "I wonder from who that is..."

"Okay, let's take a look..." Slippy said as he opened the contents of the letter... "..."

"..." Amanda looked shocked.

Dash's mouth opened a bit.

And for Krystal...her eyes widened.

They didn't know why, but from what they could see, they saw as photos came out from the mail where Fox himself was with a seemingly younger girl. The photos themselves depicted Fox being hugged by behind by the girl, the two sitting down on the steps of the church during the night, another one where Fox was hugging the girl tightly (to his chest) where they could see some people standing around them.

And finally, the most shocking one: Fox kissing the girl...right on the lips.

Slippy, Amanda, and Dash could hardly believe their eyes. Krystal, however, kept staring at the photos of his soon-to-be boyfriend.

However, they wondered who sent them those photos. Surely, it was someone who watched Fox and the girl together all the time. But, who could have been the one?

That person was surely Wolf. The lupine didn't waste time to tease Fox one last time by taking photos from his cyber-patch of his left eye. It turned out that piece of eye-patch wasn't just for show. It had, in fact, its own applications that anybody else didn't know.

"...Er..." Dash trailed off. "...Why is Fox kissing that girl..."

"On the lips?" Amanda added.

"I...dunno..." Slippy admitted.

The three members of Star Fox knew that this was going to affect Krystal in some way o another as she was the only one who kept staring at the screen and to the photo where Fox was kissing the girl. The three members exchanged glances with each other before Amanda broke the silence by asking "Krystal...are you feeling okay?"

"..." Krystal kept staring at the screen.

"...Are you sure this is...er...okay with you to see?" Dash asked.

Slippy frowned and sobbed a bit. "Please, Krystal, there must have been a good reason behind all this..."

"..." Krystal's blank stare changed to an amused look before she began to walk again, chuckling. The three members looked a bit surprised at this sudden reaction. "...Fox wouldn't do that, we know very well, right?" she asked as she walked away.

"I guess..." Dash said. "Fox is loyal, you know."

"Besides," Krystal continued, "those photos were surely photoshopped."

"..." Slippy, Amanda, and Dash looked at each other in pure disbelief as the vixen walked away from the bridge, muttering something about having a talk with the leader of Star Fox soon.

"...Sooooooooo..." Dash shifted his eyes. "Do you think this is going to end well, Slippy?"

Slippy grunted annoyed and covered his eyes. "Guys, prepare to see another bickering between those 2 very soon again..."

Amanda sighed. "Why can't they just admit their love to each other? They love each other so much, but they argue with each other so much as well..."

"That's how love is complicated for you..." Slippy said.

And thus the three did a group sigh, thinking what to do with the situation that was in hands...

WORLD COMPLETED!

You have gained 2100 Smash Coins!

All Abilities Learned Have Been Forgotten.

TO BE CONTINUED...

.......................................................

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 159: The Subspace/Smashers Agenda

Subspace
Deep Inside the Great Maze

In the infinite darkness of the brewing world of no shape, Dr. Eggman stood, with folded arms behind his back, in front of a skeptical Tabuu. Apparently, something bothered Tabuu about Dr. Eggman's last mission.

"I do not understand any of this," Tabuu began. "I thought our mission was to destroy the Gaia Temples. Why did not you accomplish the task at hands?"

Dr. Eggman shook his head. "After I went to see a temple myself, I've found out that destroying them isn't going to be the most reliable method to do," he explained. "You see...there were some interesting findings in the Spagonia Temple that enlightened me with a new change of plans..."

"...Please, be more specific about that vague detail..."

"Allow me," the scientist said. "After I tossed another Shadow Nightmare out, I took the advantage of the commotion and went to see the temple. Once I got there, I found out that there were these special doors that leaded further inside the temple, to the inner sanctum, where the only way to restore the planet's continents lies there..."

"Have not you tried to get in there by force?" Tabuu asked.

"It's a very hard thing to do," Dr. Eggman explained as he looked worried. "Those temples were built with some kind of protective magic that can't be easily pierced through. I tried to go in with lasers and missiles, but they just exploded and nothing else came out as a result. Then, when I examined the temple, the 3 doors that were there surely could lead someone further inside...however...those same doors turn out to be closed because they require tablets to open..."

"Tablets?"

"Indeed, tablets," the scientist said. "Those tablets happen to be the keys to open those doors. However, the very same tablets are the only things we need to go inside and do whatever we can do to stop anyone from interfering... Unfortunately, we lack the information about the tablets' whereabouts at the moment..."

Tabuu grunted a bit as he turned around to look into the Subspace. "Do you have a plan to resolve this dilemma?"

"..." The scientist thought for a moment. "I have heard from my sources that the temples...are guarded by people who happen to hold the tablets to enter. Those people are better known as Gaia Guardians, the ones who maintain the security of the temples at peace."

Tabuu lifted up his head a bit before turning around to look down to Dr. Eggman. "So, the most obvious reason to do here is to find those Gaia Guardians and take the tablets away from them."

"That would be the case here."

"And do you know where they are?"

"Well, it's obvious they are living as normal people in my world," Dr. Eggman said. "They prefer to be secluded when talking about the Gaia Temples so nobody would get their hands on the tablets."

"That is something clever of them to do, I admit," Tabuu said. "However, we must not allow this to go the same way it has been going. Dr. Eggman, I want you to resolve this problem as soon as possible."

Dr. Eggman rubbed his chin. "I'll do everything I can to find those guardians. It's going to be very tedious, but we don't have any other choice but to seek them all out and take the tablets away from their hands."

At that moment, the Ancient Minister came from behind Dr. Eggman and looked up at Tabuu. "Lord Tabuu, I'm afraid to say that we have alarming news."

Tabuu frowned. "What is it now?"

"The Shadow Bugs retrieval chambers have stopped from sucking out the Shadow Bugs from our main source," the Ancient Minister explained. "It seems the perpetrator hasn't been found yet, and this annoying person got back to the chamber and completely halted the process..."

"...Why..." Tabuu muttered as he frowned. "Why do we have to keep suffering at the hands of this infidel individual?"

"I have the same thoughts as you," the Ancient Minister said. "To make matters worse, it's harder to decode the program that this perpetrator input to the main computer of the chamber. It is so hard for me to decode completely due to the fact that he or she was already prepared..."

Dr. Eggman grumbled at this. "Well, this now is alarming for my Shadow Nightmare procedure..."

"I assure you, Lord Tabuu, that we are doing everything we can to find the culprit of this whole mess. For that, the factory has closed its doors in order to find this annoying problem. However, the production of Subspace Bombs is still going...but unfortunately..."

"Here comes another problem..." Dr. Eggman muttered.

"Not only this culprit was able to halt the Shadow Bug procedure, but it is certain that the same person is doing all sort of unneeded actions across the factory, this includes halting the whole production of Subspace Bombs by hacking the system to make the machines act at a very erratic way, the illumination sometimes goes off, and the machines that we have stored in the Halberd have also been affected. Currently, all the R.O.B.s are doing their best to clean the mess."

Tabuu sighed and turned back to stare at the Subspace. "Why is it that we have to deal with that culprit in times like this? I will not stand idly for this..."

The Ancient Minister lowered his head. "Again, I'm sorry to report all this to you... We are doing everything we can to stop this trouble from getting even worse..."

Tabuu grumbled a bit at this. "As long as this problem disappears soon..."

The Ancient Minister looked away and shook his head. "...I have very bad news regarding the Shadow Bug chambers and the manufacture of Subspace Bombs..."

Dr. Eggman raised an eyebrow at this and stared at the minister.

"When I found out that the system was hacked, the code that was put into it turned out to be even more complicated than I expected it to be. As such, the system is down, and the chamber, along with the manufacture, has been completely disabled for that matter..."

"And...this means..." Dr. Eggman trailed off.

The Ancient Minister looked away for a moment before deciding to turn at the one in charge of the Subspace. "...This means that this problem will stay here for a long time..."

Tabuu kept staring down upon the minister. Thinking about the consequences, the floating man decided to get more specifications. "For how long will this problem be here?"

"I'm not sure myself..." the Ancient Minister muttered. "The complications done to the system are almost impossible to decode apart and fix it as a whole. It could take me a lot of time."

"How long?" Tabuu asked with some hint of anger.

"I'm not very certain...but this could last days..." the minister said. "...Or...this could last even months..."

Dr. Eggman nodded. "This is quite sudden, if you'd ask me."

"I know," the Ancient Minister said. "It's almost like this culprit is working by himself or herself to slowly bring down the Subspace Bomb Factory in order to terminate it...but...I won't allow such a preposterous plan to get done and stop your orders, Lord Tabuu. The whole factory needs to be running all the time in order to stay with the program you have set up."

Tabuu looked away. "First, the production of Subspace Bombs stops, then the extraction of Shadow Bugs slows, now both have stopped completely..."

"This is truly unfortunate," the Ancient Minister said. "I have made up my mind and will start the recovery process. I am going to stay all days occupied to fix those problems...but in the meantime, I am going to tighten security and find the imbecile behind all this."

Tabuu nodded. "I knew you could have a solution for this dilemma. Since I am confined to forever roam the Subspace, I cannot go out and look for the idiot myself."

"(You just don't know how useful this is for my own plans,)" the Ancient Minister thought. "(No matter what you can do, you can't get out from this cursed space of darkness and see who the real culprit is...not me, but you who caused me to do all this...) Thanks for acknowledging my solution."

Dr. Eggman thought for a moment and looked up. "Well, this certainly puts me out to create more Shadow Nightmares...which means I have all the time I want to have to look for the Gaia Guardians."

The Ancient Minister looked at him. "Was there something I should know?"

The scientist explained everything to the minister.

"I see..."

Dr. Eggman turned to Tabuu. "I shall take my leave now," he said before turning around to the darkness of the atmosphere, stepping on ominous flat, rocky floor before disappearing.

Tabuu looked down at the minister. "Can I bother you for a little longer?"

The Ancient Minister looked up at him. "I don't mind. Do you have some sort of plan that you want me to do?"

"You have a good guess," Tabuu remarked. "Ancient Minister, I have some important tasks for you that I want to see fulfilled very soon. If you are still working with the recovery process, please do not do this yet."

The Ancient Minister stared at the leader of the Subspace. "What would those tasks be, I ask?"

A time later...

The minister looked down and nodded. "I have to say that those plans of yours are original..."

Tabuu nodded. "Can you do this accordingly?"

"...It will be hard...but it is easy to do," the Ancient Minister said as he lifted up his look at Tabuu. "Very well, I shall commence my tasks as you wish, Lord Tabuu. However, I'm going to save the second task for last."

Tabuu shook his head. "That one is the most important to do first. Why would you decide to delay that plan?"

"It could put me a lot of stress, truthfully," the minister admitted. "Since it is the most important, I'm going to have to ask you to put that one for last should the other tasks fail."

"...I will only allow you to do that provided that you do them. The chances of getting failure are slim."

The Ancient Minister nodded. "Everything will be just fine this way, I assure you."

"It will go just fine," the Ancient Minister said nodding. "If you would excuse me, I need to get started..."

Tabuu watched as the minister turned around and went away into the darkness. The leader of the infinite space of darkness grunted a bit to himself before he disappeared.
However, the minister was thinking about something so hard that he pondered about it all the time after he left the Subspace.

"(These tasks themselves sound very atrocious,)" the Ancient Minister thought. "(Does he expect me to do such plans? It is better if I follow the flow for the time being...but...can I do the last task he instructed me to do? Thanks to Master Hand, I just can't complete that last task...though...I want to talk to that person and know his motives more personally... I should stay low and continue with my own plans before I can make an escape from this hellish atmosphere of darkness...)"

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"It's getting late now..." Master Hand trailed off. "This better be good, you little fox kid."

Tails looked up at him and grunted a bit. "Please, I really need everyone's attention before I do my speech..."

"Well, hurry up," the hand muttered. "They can get very aggravated when they don't sleep."

"They're not animals!"

"Half of them are half-animals, though..." Master Hand shook himself. "Enough of this, though. Go ahead and start before they go away."

"Certainly..." Tails muttered annoyed.

It had been a time after the group came back from the previous world. Many of the Smashers were busily talking to each other since the group returned. It was all chatters about different topics: the temple, the Shadow Nightmares, Dr. Eggman, and how ridiculous Fox's jacket looked like now (courtesy of Popo).

"You think Fox's an accidental pedophile?" Popo muttered to the young Smashers.

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "Nah, I'd say he's just unlucky to attract younger girls."

"True," Ness commented. "And they said adults normally don't screw up that bad."

"Everyone?!" Tails suddenly shouted in front of the whole group of people. The Smashers continued talking. "Everyone, may I please have your attention?!"

The chatters suddenly came to a halt as they all slowly were silenced and looked at Tails.

"Phew..." Tails sighed. "I thought I wasn't going to pull this out...but...anyway..." He looked at them. "You may know what has been happening currently, right?"

"Yes," Zelda began, "the sudden apparition of Sonic's nemesis Dr. Eggman."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "He's not my nemesis, but just a dude who doesn't have anything better to do than annoying me."

"If I recall," Knuckles began, "you went to him first, and then he began chasing you around."

"Shut up, you," Sonic muttered annoyed.

Tails clapped his hands. "Okay, okay, order, please, we have to discuss this throughout as a team, okay?"

"If that won't include cheesy things, then I don't mind," Snake commented close to the hallway.

Tails remained silent for a bit. "...Okay..." he said. "...Anyway, we have some important matters to discuss before we go to sleep and call it a day." He showed the 2 pieces of the tablet. "As you can see here, we've got these from the Spagonia Temple that was hiding in the depths of the garden we went to."

"Care to remind us what happened there?" Olimar asked. "I-I'm afraid I forgot how everything went..."

Tails sighed. "Okay, I guess it doesn't hurt if I explain it to you..." He nodded. "Well, let's see how things went."

Chip raised a finger. "Activate flashback waves!"

Flashback

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

Aquios Territory
Aquatic Garden, Surferio - Spagonia Temple - Entrance

In the flashback, the depths of the garden were shown as an eerie silence surrounded everything down below. There was a huge sanctum made up of orange bricks that easily stuck out from the white ruins around it. For some, it looked like just a wall since it didn't look like a building, but for others, it was the Spagonia Temple.

From the air, Tails arrived and landed in front of the huge pillar. The 2-tailed fox rubbed his chin and took a closer look to it. "It's definitely the Spagonia Temple..." he muttered.

"If I recall from what Professor Pickle told me, the entrance to the temple should be...there."

A small opening that lead into the pillar was found in the center. It almost looked like it was just a normal hole, but it was, in reality, the entrance to the temple.

Tails looked around. "Fox told me Dr. Eggman came down here...but I don't see him..." His ears perked up a bit. "Maybe he's inside!" he gasped. "If that's true, I better be careful and enter the temple...I just hope I could have some backup."

At that moment, a heavy object fell from the sky and crashed right besides the young fox. Tails backed away from the object before he started to hear some grunts and snarls from within the small cloud of dust that the object had formed by accident. "Oooooooww..."

"...Sonic?" Tails asked confused as he saw the werehog in the dust. "Sonic, what did you just do?"

Sonic rubbed his head as he found himself sitting on the hole. "I thought I could stretch my hands to grab onto something...but then I found out there wasn't nothing so...I fell."

"...And you survived the long way down here?"

Sonic pushed himself up and looked at Tails. "...Yep."

"...I shall question that troubling fact later..." Tails muttered before he shook his head.
"A-anyhow, thanks for coming with me, Sonic. With Dr. Eggman around, I wouldn't know what to do."

Sonic grinned and smacked his fists together. "Just let me give him a good one for turning me into this demon of the night. You don't know how good it feels to be running during the night...unlikely this."

"I...guess I could understand that..." Tails muttered before he looked up. "Hey, there's someone coming."

Sonic looked up and saw the angel of Skyland coming down from the floor high above. The angel descended slowly before he touched the ground without problems. "You know, I think it was fun to go down so slow," Pit commented with a chuckle. "It makes me remember of home."

Chip then appeared in front of him, upside-down. "Yeah, it reminds me of home too."

Pit looked confused. "You...remember your home?"

"..." Chip looked ashamed and shook his head.

Tails looked at all of them. "I-I'm sorry to be interrupting, but we have to get into the temple and use these," he said before he took out the Sun and Moon Tablets from behind his back. "Dr. Eggman could do something very bad in there as well."

"Let's get going!" Sonic yelled before he ran to the door...stumbling to the sides. "I'm SERIOUSLY going to kill him off now..."

Sonic watched as Pit, Tails, and Chip passed right next to him and entered the temple.

"...Noooooooo!" Sonic moaned in emotional pain. "Everyone's faster than me now! I used to be the fastest, but Tails's the fastest now! What has the world come into?!"

Tails stuck out his head from the entrance. "Sonic, please, stop losing time and hurry up," he said before going back in.

Sonic looked at no one in particular and shed a tear. "Now Tails's telling me to hurry up and catch up with them!" He frowned ashamed as he entered the temple. "This is just getting even worse with every day!"

Spagonia Temple - Gaia Gate

The temple, unlike the Apotos Temple, looked different. In fact, the Apotos Temple was the only temple that had light. The other temples, however, were almost shrouded in normal darkness.

The Spagonia Temple had some torches that were always burning. A long path leaded to three doors that looked the same as the ones found in the Apotos Temple. At the sides of the long path, there were some doors that didn't have anything to do with anything, meaning they were just...for something else.

Tails, Pit, and Chip slowly came in from the entrance. They all looked around the seemingly quiet temple. The trio looked at each other before Sonic came from behind them before sighing. "My speed...why..." he muttered in shame.

Pit ignored him and looked around. "...I don't see Dr. Eggman anywhere..."

Sonic's ears perked up, and he walked in. The werehog looked around the temple but didn't find the scientist anywhere. "Hey, what's the big deal here? Eggman's not here, that's the big deal!"

Tails, Pit, and Chip walked inside and slowly looked around even more. "Hmm..." Tails wondered for a moment. "I believed Fox told me Dr. Eggman came down here..."

"Maybe he was blind?" Chip asked. "Sometimes I confuse people for food-items. I confused DK for a big coconut one time."

"That's...very impossible..." Tails looked confused. "...Back on topic, Dr. Eggman was supposed be down here, but he's not here at all."

Pit took some steps forward. "I doubt he's even here anymore. The temple is not too big enough to hide people."

Sonic sniffed the air. "(I hate this darn super smell sense...) I can't sniff him out. He's not here, alright."

Tails looked a bit grossed out and silently backed away from Sonic. "Okay... With that, we can infer he already went away from here...but why?"

Chip rubbed his stomach. "He went away because he had to finish up his dinner. It's getting so late so I'd guess he went for a midnight snack."

"Chip, can you, um, please...focus?" Tails asked.

Chip stared at him blankly. "...I dunno what focus means."

Now Tails felt sorry for the imp.

"..." Tails turned his head to look forward at the three doors. "L-look, the doors," he said to make them all look at his direction. "We have to see if the tablets work on them."

Chip looked a bit annoyed as he grumbled a bit. "Y'know, something's telling me that you're trying to avoid me, Tails."

By the time Chip noticed, Tails, Pit, and Sonic were already standing in front of the three doors.

"..." Chip narrowed his eyes. "I smell a conspiracy here."

As the mauve imp flew to rejoin the group, Tails examined the Sun and Moon Doors on each side of the Planet Door. Looking at both of his tablets, he gave the Moon Tablet to Pit. "Here, can you use this to open that door, please?"

"Certainly," Pit agreed.

Tails nodded to him and walked to the Sun Door. Once he took a closer look at the small slot at the side of the door, Tails looked at the tablet in his hand before he carefully inserted it into it, Pit doing the same with the Moon Door.

The two backed away from the doors. It looked like the tablets fit just fine into them since the Sun and Moon Doors themselves suddenly turned brighter with red and blue colors respectively. However...

"...They're...not opening..." Sonic commented, the doors not doing anything else that shine a bit. "Are they busted or something?"

"What?" Tails looked confused. "But, the tablets fit into the slots. I thought the doors were going to open up..."

Pit thought for a moment. "We're not forgetting something else, right?"

"N-no..." Tails shook his head. "Professor Pickle told me that the doors would open if we found the tablets for them. I don't understand any of this at all!"

Chip chuckled and went to the Sun Door. "Tails, you should know that doors, nowadays, have doorknobs on 'em."

Tails frowned. "Chip, if you turn around and see the door, you're not going to find a doorknob... What you're saying isn't helping much."

Chip pouted a bit at this. "Well! I'm gonna see if it is an invisible doorknob, then!"

Sonic leaned closer to Tails as the 2-tailed fox put a hand on his forehead and frowned ashamed. "Just to make things clear here: I dunno him."

"Now you're telling me..." Tails muttered.

Pit watched as Chip got closer to the Sun Door. Upon getting closer, the angel saw that Chip's necklace glowed brightly in a green light. The imp looked down at it in curiosity and blinked a couple of times. "Hey, check it out; my necklace's jewel has an automatic light!" Chip said surprised. "Now I won't need to have a lantern to go into the darkness!"

"Er..." Pit tilted his head confused. "...Why is your necklace glowing like that?"

Chip looked at him. "It IS a special necklace, I remind you."

Pit looked bored. "You just found out that it had that with it!"

Tails and Sonic looked at the imp's glowing necklace. "Hey, what's happening now?" Sonic asked.

Chip chuckled and put his right hand against the Sun Door, not noticing that he triggered something as the door shone brighter than usual. "I'll tell you what's happening here, Sonic. I, Chip Baron McChip, have discovered the ancient secret and meaning of these doors."

And suddenly the door moved up, making the other three gasp.

Chip pointed at himself. "I turn out to be the best door opener that you have ever known," he said proud of himself. "No matter what door there is, it'll open up as soon as I say the word. With my necklace and my wits of an adventurer, Indiana Chip shall soon discover the hidden secrets that this temple holds."

Tails stared shocked at this. "...But...how?"

Chip rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I changed Chip Baron McChip for Indiana Chip 'cuz it has a nice ring into it."

"T-that's not what I meant!" Tails yelled as he pointed at the Sun Door. "The door opened up after you touched it!"

The mauve imp turned around and found that his hand was touching the air in front of him. Chip looked up and down for any signs of the door. "...What do you know, what I said before was the whole truth!" He punched the air a few times. "Ha-ha! Take that, Sunny Door!"

Sonic looked shocked. "H-hey, how did he open the door?"

"I-I'm pretty sure I touched the door after I inserted the tablet into the slot, but that didn't happen..." Tails trailed off. "Why Chip was able to open it, though?"

Chip turned around and crossed his arms. "It is because I AM THE KEY TO THE SECRETS OF THIS SACRED TEMPLE! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

The three stared at the seemingly evil imp who opened his arms to the ceiling and laughed maniacally to the point his mouth began to foam somehow.

"C-Chip, stop it!" Tails yelled.

The imp shut up and looked at Tails. "I was enjoying the moment," he said chuckling. "You guys need to enjoy it as well. It feels so good to become a maniac sometimes."

Tails grunted and frowned. "Chip, please, focus for once! We're trying to find out why you were able open the door and not someone else!"

Pit sighed and looked into the place where the door was before. "Can we try to ponder this at a later time? We need to get done here before the others up there leave."

Sonic grunted. "Fine, let's get this over with before I get headache by Chip."

Chip pointed angrily at Sonic. "You shall not defy the human key to the secrets of this temple, fool!"

Sonic, as he walked to the Sun Door's place, grabbed Chip with his right claw and put him under a grip. "Chip, you're starting to become annoying now. Shut up before I shut you up myself, 'kay?"

Chip blinked, his mouth being covered by one of Sonic's finger. The imp nodded and saluted him.

"Anyway..." Tails sighed as he walked into the opening. "Let's see what's in here..."

The four looked into the small corridor that leaded to a small pedestal that was attached against the wall. On the top of the pedestal, there were two burning torches that remained at the sides of another tablet. However, this tablet in particular looked liked it was a piece of a whole tablet, and it was adorned with a red jewel on the lower end of it. The four walked to it and looked at the piece.

"...That's it?" Sonic asked as he released Chip. "Behind door number 1 is another tablet?"

Tails took a closer look to the piece. "That's weird...but...I guess this fragment is just a half of the real tablet."

Pit took the tablet and stared at it. "What could this mean?"

"It means that the other door could probably have the other half," Tails said. "It's just a guess, but it's probably it."

"Let's see what's behind door number 2!" Chip said excited. "Let my palm do the trick again." The imp pulled back his hands before he flew away to the Moon Door on the right side of the Planet Door. The other three looked at each other before they followed the imp.

Upon arriving to the right door, Chip approached it, and his necklace began to glow in a green light that intervened with the Moon Door. The door with the moon carving glowed blue before it shook and slowly opened by sliding up into the wall.

Sonic tilted his head. "How does that happen? Why does Chip need to be close to them so the doors open up?"

Tails rubbed his head. "I-I just don't understand it either..." he muttered. "It's just as if Chip himself was like a second key of the sort..."

Chip looked happily at them. "Maybe I was destined to open these doors."

Sonic chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I bet it's just a coincidence."

"Or maybe..." Chip looked at his necklace. "Or maybe...this could mean I'm somehow related to these temples, don't you think?"

Pit remained silent. "...Shall we see the other tablet?" He looked behind Chip. "I can see that there's the other half of it."

Tails promptly entered through the small corridor and went to see the other half of the tablet. The trio remained behind before the 2-tailed fox came out, holding two pieces of the broken tablet as the other piece was adorned with a blue jewel on its lower end. "Well, we were right," Tails said as he looked at the tablets. "These tablets are broken from each other."

"But why were they broken in the first place?" Pit asked.

Tails looked at the Sun and Moon Doors' places. "I think they were split apart because of security. If we only had the Sun Tablet, we could have opened a door, but not the other one that has the other half of the tablet of the middle door," he theorized. "You know, protect the temple from intruders."

"Good thing we're not intruders," Sonic said. "This is to save our world."

Tails nodded and stared at the pieces. "And if I'm right, these 2 should fit with each other perfectly. Now, if I just do a little push here and..."

The group watched as the 2-tailed fox tried to piece back together the halves of the tablet of the Planet Door. However, for some reason, they just didn't fit. Tails got confused at this before he tried to force them to fit with each other, grunting a bit as he tried to complete the tablet.

"Ugh! This is impossible, but they don't want to get completed..." Tails gave up and set each piece apart from each other. "What now? They don't want to fit with each other..."

"You sure those are the right pieces?" Sonic asked.

"It wouldn't make sense to have a fake or another piece in here..." Tails trailed off. "I'm pretty sure these are the correct pieces. Why would they be behind guarded doors then?"

Pit thought for a moment. "Dr. Eggman didn't have anything to do with this, right?"

"No..." Tails shook his head. "He would have gotten these, but he didn't possess the tablets that we had."

Sonic snarled a bit and slammed a fist on the floor, making a crack on it in the process. "Dammit, we came all this way for nothing..."

"D-don't say that," Tails said. "I'm sure that these pieces have to complete the tablet of this place...but...I don't know what to do now..."

Chip yawned a bit. "Guys, I'm tired... Let's go back with the others..."

"I hate to say this, but we have no choice but to leave this place," Pit said. "If we can't think of anything, we might as well stop."

Tails sighed and frowned in shame. "And here I thought we were getting to something..."

"Don't sweat it," Sonic said. "Let's go back for now. Maybe we can discuss this with the others."

"I guess that's the best choice for now..." Tails nodded. "Fine, let's go back."

The four nodded before they began to walk down the long path to the exit of the temple. As they were walking down, Sonic noticed that there was a room to his right that had several pedestals. One of them seemed to be glowing with blue light.

"Hmm?" Sonic raised an eyebrow as the others left. "What's that?"

The werehog blinked confused at the glowing pedestal, but a yawn made him forget about it. Sonic decided to leave the temple behind, where the torches silently illuminated the inner area...

Smash Mansion
Command Room

End of flashback

"After we managed to find a way up by climbing some ruins," Tails continued, "we ultimately decided to discuss this with everyone here."

Marth crossed his arms. "In other words, we found yet another blockade to get further inside that temple."

Tails looked down. "It seems that way...sadly..."

Master Hand looked at everyone. "This seems to be really alarming, don't you think?" he asked. "Since we don't have any ways to resolve this..."

Knuckles stepped forward. "Hey, wait just a minute there." He thought about something. "Tails, didn't you say before that there were these Gaia Guardians that we couldn't find before?"

Tails got in a thinking position. "Now that you mention it... I got these tablets from Otto and Lucia. I'm still wondering why they had these with them..."

Amy crossed her arms. "It sounds very fishy if you ask me," she said before holding out her hand, moving it up and down a bit. "I think they're hiding something from us that we don't know."

"They could be those Gaia Guardians," Cream commented. "Why else would they say that it was right for us to take the tablets from them?"

The 2-tailed fox thought for a bit. "...It's all clear what we have to do here."

"Can you please let us know what you're talking about?" Diddy asked. "I'm starting to think we're invisible for you."

"O-oh, sorry about that... Ahem..." Tails cleared his throat. "If my assumptions are correct, Otto and Lucia may be the Gaia Guardians that we accidentally ignored."

"Just who are these Gaia Guardians?" Mario asked.

"Well, the Gaia Guardians are the people that are charged in protecting the Gaia Gates in each continent," Tails explained. "They all try to hide by not giving away their status as the guardians so malicious people wouldn't perturb the temples and steal whatever it is inside all of them. This is everything that Professor Pickle told me, though. He doesn't know who the current Gaia Guardians are."

Knuckles looked at them. "They could be anyone. We've looked around to find them before, but we didn't have much luck. Those guardians surely are tightening their privacy after the world split apart."

"And because of that, they won't give away their jobs that easily to anyone," Tails said. "If Dr. Eggman were to find them, he would probably kidnap them. But, since he doesn't know who they are, the guardians are peacefully remaining silent as of now so nobody tries to do something bad with the temples."

Mewtwo closed his eyes. "In other words, we need to find the Gaia Guardians before it's too late."

"Yeah..." Tails said depressed. "But...we don't know who they are...and we could waste a lot of time if we were to look for them again..."

Sonic (in his werehog form due to the fact it was night already) smacked his fists together. "Hey, did you forget we have a bunch of people here?"

"I know that..." Tails trailed off. "But even if we're so many, it could take us a lot of time before we even find all the guardians." He rubbed his head with both hands. "Thinking so much is starting to give me a headache as well..."

Cream hopped off her seat and looked at Tails. "If Otto and Lucia were the ones who had the tablets...wouldn't it be easier if we asked them about the other guardians and about what we're doing?"

Tails looked up and looked at Cream. "Cream, I think you just gave out a good idea."

Cream chuckled. "I do think, Tails. I'm worried about our world. Cheese here is as well, right?"

Cheese flailed his arms a bit. "Chao chao chao!"

Knuckles nodded. "So, we're off to Spagonia. That's the place where the old man Otto and the girl Lucia are, right?"

"H-hold on, Knuckles," Tails said. "We still have to think about taking some of the people here..." He turned around to look at Master Hand. "If it wouldn't bother..."

Master Hand looked at the Smashers. "We already did a compromise with them. Also, since Dr. Eggman appeared in the previous world, we may as well be involved in this because it's obvious that he's in league with Tabuu and the others."

"The fact that Ganondorf called forth a Shadow Nightmare..." Nana trailed off.

"The fact that Charizard brought a Shadow Nightmare..." Pichu trailed off worried.

"And the fact that Dr. Eggman took a Shadow Nightmare as well..." Roy trailed off.

Ike looked at Master Hand. "This obviously mean they're all together."

"They are," Master Hand said. "Ugh, I swear Tabuu's going too far with recruiting people...but then again, he'd do this kind of thing. Tabuu would be bored if he tried to do the same strategy to take over the worlds with Subspace Bombs over and over again."

"At least I give him that he's not being stale with his plans," Pit said. "However, this only opens up more ways to take us all down..."

"Please, don't say that," Samus said. "Those Shadow Nightmares are a pain to deal with. I don't need to get a reminder about them again."

Tails nodded. "This is getting even more dangerous with every move they make. We have to stay ahead of them or else our world could be eventually destroyed."

Knuckled grunted at this and kicked the floor one time. "Damn those Gaia Guardians. The moment we need them more is the same moment they have to go hiding around all over the continents as normal people."

"That's why we have to get a move on," Tails said. "Guys, I'm sorry to be asking much, but we have to use all the help possible to find them all before the army attacks."

Master Hand grunted a bit and began pacing around while floating. "Okay, things here are a bit complicated... There's the fact that Tabuu could attack another world anytime, and the fact that I just can't slow down the time for you to do everything you can."

"Wait, what's that about slowing down the time?" Amy asked.

Master Hand stopped floating and looked at them. "Well, you see, when a group goes to a world, I normally use my powers to slow down the time in this universe so when you are there the days don't pass by here. When I mean I slow down the time in this universe, I mean that I affect only time in this mansion. Thanks to this, I can let you stay in a world for as long as you want, providing you don't take too much time in there, though."

Luigi shrugged at this. "F-for that, I eat 7 times in a day here..."

Kirby looked pleased at this.

"Yeah, I know I mess up with the very fabric of time, but hey, it helps us to do a lot in a single day."

Tails wanted to know more about the hand, but then again, the topic about his world was more important to him. "If you can do that, can you slow down the time here so we have enough time to complete our tasks?"

"That...I'm not sure," Master Hand said. "I mean, didn't you say that your whole world was split apart?"

"Yes."

"Isn't that putting all of us to explore every single corner of the continents to find the guardians?"

Tails remained silent. "...Yeah..."

Master Hand sighed. "There's our problem. Even though the temples were warped away from their original places, we don't know for sure if their guardians are around those locations."

Tails looked up at him. "Still, we have to give it a try. The time's running out as we speak as well!"

"If you forgot, I don't stay up all night to slow down the time here without taking a break," Master Hand pointed out. "I'm an individual who needs his break time and sleep, you know. If I don't get my sleep, my powers could get screwed up, and I could 'crash' down and become useless."

Knuckles frowned at this. "So much for the Hand of Creation..."

The hand grunted a bit at this. "Anyhow, we need ideas from everyone to get over this problem. Any ideas from our diverse team of humans, anthros, and whatever you are?"

The only response the hand got was silence from everyone.

"...Come ON Mewtwo, your super intelligent brain should've gotten an idea by now. Please, give me a hand, will you?"

Mewtwo noticed that everyone was looking at him. The Psychic Pokemon sighed. "Since you're asking to me, I think that we should make groups like we have done before in the past. You remember, right? We used to make teams when the army targeted 2 or 3 worlds at the same time."

Roy slapped his forehead. "Oh god, that was so obvious to think of, and we didn't even thinkt about it."

Mewtwo looked away. "It seems this is the best alternative..."

The hand nodded. "I feel so stupid for not thinking about that plan before. Alright then, we're going to exploit that idea to resolve this nicely, okay?"

"Alrighty," Amy said. "Sounds very good to me."

Tails sighed in relief. "Okay, now we have to decide who to take with us. Sonic, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Knuckles will have to come because they know our world." He put a finger on his forehead. "Since it's very late, I guess it'd be better if we started this tomorrow morning for the reasons we just discussed."

Master Hand nodded. "That's the best thing to do for now," he said before looking at the Smashers. "We have to rest for the night and wait what'll happen tomorrow. If Tabuu targets the world, we're going to be doing our thing as always, okay?"

"I guess that's right..." Peach said worried.

The hand nodded again. "Well then, everyone, rest for the night and be prepared for tomorrow. We need to have Smashers ready to go with this group to hasten this plan. I HOPE to see some of you going."

Crazy Hand, behind the counter, banged hard a hammer on the counter and eventually destroyed it. "Court adjourned!" he yelled.

"And please, ignore him if you can..." Master Hand sighed and snapped his fingers to repair the counter through magic. "Hmm-hm, hand magic is that useful."

Everyone soon started to get off their seats or stretch their arms up with some yawns before they all began to leave the command room. Tails, Cream, Cheese, Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles were walking close to each other to the hallway.

"We're gonna hit our world tomorrow, then?" Sonic asked.

Knuckles nodded. "Since we come from there, we know very much about the continents and the cities."

"I think that's a very good idea," Cream said smiling a bit. "We can be everyone's guide to know about the different cities in our world."

Amy looked up. "That reminds me, don't we have some of our friends looking into the matter in our world as well? You know, like Team Chaotix."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "The last thing I expect them to do right is opening their door out of their office," he joked. "If they can get that far enough, I'll tell them they're helpful."

Tails looked away. "Maybe I should try to ask them all to tell us about what they found..." he muttered.

Chip flew to Sonic and shook his furred left shoulder. "Hey, Sonic, do you think the temples are linked with me?"

Sonic let out a long yawn as they all left the room. "Look, Chip, we'll see about that at a later time. For now, I wanna faint on a bed and sleep for the night."

Chip looked at Sonic's back. "Wait for it..."

"What is that?"

Out of a cue, Dark Super Sonic's spirit sprouted out from Sonic's back and laughed maniacally, opening his arms to the ceiling. "YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!!! ANOTHER NIGHT, ANOTHER CHANCE TO OWN YOU UP TO THE A(BEEP), MOTHERF(BEEP)!"

Everyone stopped walking and looked at the maleficent cursed spirit. "That guy again..." Knuckles muttered with a sigh. "Sonic, can't you do something to him so he doesn't curse out in front of little girls like Cream?"

Cream looked at Knuckles. "I know what those bad words are, but I am never going to say them because they're so foul and bad."

Sonic grumbled and turned around, recalling that Chris didn't leave the command room. "You guys go ahead to your rooms. I'm going to ask Chris to do me a favor and shut this bastard up before I stay with any longer. You DON'T know how bothersome this guy is..."

Knuckles saw that the spirit pointed at him. "Heheheheheheh, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! IT'S THE KNUCKLEHEAD! I'M SO GONNA F(BEEP) HIM DOWN BUT SO F(BEEP)NG GOOD, MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

The echidna rolled his eyes and walked away. "Oh, please do get rid of him before I become an exorcist..." He grunted very annoyed.

Amy patted Cream's shoulder to get her attention. "Just leave him along, okay, Cream? Let's go to sleep."

Cream smiled a bit as Cheese rested on her head. "Yes, thanks, Amy."

"FOOLS, DON'T THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY FROM ME THAT EASILY!" DSS proclaimed. "BE PEACHES AND LET ME RIP YOUR HEADS OFF SO I CAN BATHE IN YOUR SUCCULENT BLOOD!!!"

Amy looked bored. "Yes, I dare you to do that," she said sarcastically before she, Cream, and Cheese walked away to the left where they all left.

Sonic looked up at Chip. "Let's go to Chris."

The imp nodded before they both turned back to the command room. Once Sonic and Chip came into the room, they found Chris and Lucario to the left side. "Hey, there he is," Chip said. "Chris!"

Sonic tilted his head confused. "...Something's wrong with him..." he muttered.

The imp and the werehog found out that the World Traveler wasn't moving at all. In fact, it looked like Chris was totally paralyzed by something that happened before. Lucario looked worried as he waved his left hand in front of the shocked scholar. "Chris?" Lucario said worried. "Chris, are you feeling fine?"

"..." No response came from Chris.

"Chris?" Lucario repeated. "Please, say something to me. You're starting to make me worried."

"..."

Sonic and Chip walked to the duo, and the werehog pointed a finger at Chris. "Hey, Chris, guess who's on my back tonight?"

"THE LORD OF ALL THAT IS AWESOME!!!" DSS responded for the silent scholar.

Sonic snarled at the spirit. "So yeah, you know the roll."

"..." Chris only kept staring forward without responding.

Chip moved to the front of Chris's face and waved his hands in front of him. "Chris, hey, can you see me?" He began to spin clockwise in the air. "Heheheh, look, I'm defying gravity and spinning at the same time. How cool is this to you?"

"..."

Chip stopped and looked at the scholar upside-down. "Chris?"

At that moment, Master Hand came to them and looked at the scholar. "What is it now? Why is Chris the new kind of Smasher that likes to be a statue?"

Lucario glared at the hand. "Please, don't say that to him. I can't understand why he's like this at all. I tried to read his mind, but it's entirely blank..." He looked worried at his trainer. "I'm really worried about his state."

Master Hand thought for a moment before tapping Chris's head. The Aura Pokémon growled a bit at him. "Geez, don't look at me like that," Master Hand said. "You have to agree that he looks out of it now."

Lucario grunted and shook Chris a bit by his left shoulder. "Chris, please, come back to your senses now."

[DededeCloneChris]

The scholar suddenly blinked and looked around. Chris gulped a bit and looked at them. "I-I am not crazy, right?" he asked. "I-I mean, I did not see ghosts, right?"

Master Hand looked at everyone. "Are you kidding me? You were like this just because you thought you saw a ghost?"

Chris nodded. "Y-yes...you did see what happened the night we were in Peterny, right?"

"I'm afraid to tell you this...wait, I'm not actually afraid, but we didn't see anything," Master Hand pointed out. "Last time I remember, Falco came back earlier than you and said that he didn't want anyone to look at you from here because Fox himself said so. So, I listened and did his favor."

"...Nobody saw what I saw there?" Chris asked.

"...No..."

The scholar frowned. "Oh well... I may be crazy about what I saw... (Actually...Wolf told me not to tell anybody this or else he would kill me... I better stay silent about that...)"

"AHEM," Sonic coughed annoyed. "Chris, I'm REALLY sorry to be interrupting this sweet conversation, but I need you to teach Mr. Shadow A(beep) a lesson and leave me alone."

Chris looked at the shadow. It looked like DSS cracked his intangible fists. "MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, NOW YOU ARE MINE, LITTLE NERDY BRAT!!!"

"..." Chris looked bored. "You know, I am quite glad that I am back to my old self because of you..." He changed to his Beastmaster job and prepared his whip. "However, I get so sick when I see your stupid face. So, go away now."

"NEVER!"

"Say it to my whip and see if it listens to you. Oh, that's right; my whip doesn't have a life." The beastmaster swiftly whipped Sonic's forehead, and the shadow began to feel that he was being pulled back into the werehog.

"DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!" DSS yelled before he soon disappeared by retreating back into the werehog's back.

Chris grunted as he tied his whip back to his belt. "I swear that the spirit is making me sick already..."

"I wanna get him off my mind," Sonic said. "I want to make him go away as well as the darn werehog transformation."

"What can we do with that, though..." Master Hand trailed off. "Okay, Chris seems fine now. If you'd excuse m-"

"W-wait!" Chris suddenly yelled before the hand could teleport away. "I-I have to ask you a very, but very important favor first!"

Master Hand looked at him. "What would that be?"

"W-well..." Chris looked away. "...Thing is...my parents are coming home...and I haven't gotten back to my home..." He folded his arms behind his back. "I was wondering if I could go back and wait for them because they're going to arrive the next day after my birthday..."

The hand looked away. "Chris, why are you asking that now that we're having issues here?"

Chris bowed to him. "I-I'm so sorry to be asking this all of a sudden, but Fox reminded me that I was waiting for them before all of this happened..." He looked down a bit. "...And...I really want to see my parents again... I want to go back and see them as soon as possible..."

Master Hand turned to him. "Well...I don't know if I should let you go. We have very important tasks to do tomorrow."

"Please, I want to back home for just a day," Chris said. "Can you slow down the time here so I can have a few more days with them, please?"

"You're asking too much."

Lucario grunted. "He hasn't seen his parents in a long time. Why can't you understand that? Chris wishes to see them as soon as he can."

"Stop, Lucario..." Chris trailed off. "I can handle this pretty well... I've been living most of my life waiting for them to come and see me, anyway..."

The Hand of Creation thought for a moment. "I can't just have you mope around like this... Ugh, fine, I'm letting you go."

Chris looked up worried. "But what about the tasks we have to do here?"

"It's just a few days," Master Hand said. "It's not going to be that hard to slow down the time here so you can enjoy the time with your parents."

The beastmaster looked away. "Are you sure?"

"Look, I'm trying to keep the morale of the Smashers as high as possible here," Master Hand explained. "If I let someone be like you are now, it's going to make me feel guilty. I hate to see certain people down...scratch 'certain' and put 'everyone' there."

"..." Chris smiled a bit. "Thank you so much...really..."

"Aah, what can I say? If I want to look benevolent, I need to give the best of the best to my fellow people of the mansion. That way, I look less of a jerk."

Lucario nodded. "Thanks for granting Chris what he wants."

Master Hand snapped his fingers and opened the portal to Chris's world. "Okay, you can go in there and come back once you're done with your family reunion. I'm going to give you a deadline of 3 days until then. Try to send me some sort of message telling that you're coming back."

"I'll try to," Chris said a little bit excited. "I can't hardly wait to see my parents again..."

"Hey, wait," Sonic interrupted. "What are your parents' names, Chris?"

Chris looked at him. "My father's name is Alfonse, and my mother's name is Elena."

"Alfonse and Elena, huh?"

"Yes, those are their names," Chris said before chuckling. "Well, I have to go now. Bye!" The beastmaster promptly ran into the portal.

Lucario looked at Master Hand. "If you'd excuse me, I have to go as well."

"Why you?" Chip asked.

Lucario looked at Chip. "I haven't seen Chris's parents in person, but since they don't know anything about me, I'll have to hide and see them from a safe spot." He closed his eyes. "I want to see how excited Chris gets when they come home..."

"Go on, then," Master Hand said. "And please, don't let them spot you. The last thing we need is his parents knowing about what Chris has done in secret all this time."

"They won't see me," Lucario reassured him. "If they manage to see me, I'll use Extremespeed to get away." He looked at the portal. "I have to go. Until then, see you later."

The trio watched as the Aura Pokémon ran into the portal before it could disappear. Once the portal disappeared, the hand looked at Sonic and Chip. "Time to rest, you 2."

Chip nodded. "Before I do that, I'm gonna get a midnight snack in the fridge," he said sticking out his tongue before he flew away to the kitchen.

Sonic looked at the hand. "You know, something about Chip seems weird..."

"I know," Master Hand said. "That little imp is just too mysterious..."

"Yeah, I mean, he managed to open those doors at the temple an-"

"You know what? I need to sleep now. I seriously need to lie down and sleep," Master Hand interrupted with a yawn. "Sorry if you wanted to talk about something."

"Meh, it's okay," Sonic said as he lifted his shoulders a bit. "I want to sleep and wait for my old self to come back tomorrow..." The werehog began to walk away to the hallway with Chip tagging along.

Once they both stepped in the hallway, they were ignored by Fox and Falco. For some odd reason, both of them had charred spots all over their clothes, and there were several burn marks all over their faces.

Sonic and Chip looked at each other and blinked confused before they walked to Sonic's room, not wanting to talk to the seemingly angry Star Fox members.

And with that, everyone went to their rooms...

Real World
Chris's Room

October 4 - Morning - Saturday

Four days had passed ever since Chris and Lucario returned to the real world. The teenager was sleeping calmly during the bright morning of Saturday. When it was Wednesday, Chris was absolutely delighted once his parents were waiting for them at home after he had come from school. Lucario had hide away in some trees of the backyard of the house once he had sensed the auras of Chris's parents. Right now, the Aura Pokémon was hiding inside the closer, under some clothes to prevent Chris's parents from finding him.

Lucario looked between the small openings of the closet to his sleeping trainer. It was 7:30 AM in the morning. Lucario had woken up after he saw the door to the room opening to see Chris's parents coming in. The Aura Pokémon narrowed his eyes and listened to the adults. They looked like they were about to leave.

"Chris..." Elena's voice softly called. Lucario could barely see the faces of the adults from where he was kneeling down. "Chris, wake up."

The teenager yawned a bit before he slowly turned his head to the right to smile at his parents. "Dad...mom...good morning..."

If only Lucario could stand up, he would have gotten a better perspective. He was only able to see the black jackets that Chris's parents wore. Also, Lucario was able to see Alfonse's black hair and Elena's long blond hair.

"Chris, we have to leave early now," Alfonse's voice said. "You remember what we told you a few days ago, right?"

"Yes..." Chris muttered. "You needed to go soon this morning..."

"We're sorry if we have to leave right now, but it's our job to work around the country," Elena said. "Besides, they need us to finish the project to restore the previous business plan that they need to develop."

"Don't worry..." Chris said yawning. "I'm going to be just fine..."

Lucario saw as Alfonse patted Chris's right shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll come here more often. Elena and I found the most suitable time to come here. We tried so hard, but we could only compress all the time enough to make 20 visits here during each year."

Chris smiled and chuckled. "That's very good, though. I wouldn't want to make you drop out from your jobs..."

Elena chuckled heartily and rubbed Chris's messy hair a bit. "Well then, we have to leave now. The next flight to Minnesota is going to miss us if we don't hurry. We have 30 minutes to arrive at the airport."

Lucario's eyes widened after he heard the teen sniffing a bit.

"Thanks for coming here..." Chris muttered.

Alfonse rubbed Chris's shoulder a bit. "We'll always call you when you want to, Chris. If there's something that you need..."

"No, it's okay..." Chris sniffed. "Everything's just fine..."

"You sure?"

"Pretty sure..." Chris chuckled. "It's alright, believe me."

Lucario watched as Elena bent down to kiss his son on his right cheek. She rubbed his forehead a bit. "Just don't make us feel worried about you, okay?"

Chris looked happy. "Okay, I understand..." He rubbed his left eye a bit. "Please, just go. I'll be just fine here by myself. My aunt still drops by to make food for me, and she takes care of me a little bit less now that I'm becoming mature."

"That's right," Alfonse said with a chuckle. "We're glad you grew up to be such a fine young man."

Chris blushed. 'D-dad, don't say that, please..."

Alfonse and Elena chuckled to each other, Lucario making a happy expression. "Well, time's running out. We have to leave as soon as we can," Alfonse said. "You're going to be fine by yourself, right?"

"(You could say I have a lot of people who look after me...)" Chris thought chuckling. "Of course I'll be fine. Don't worry too much."

Elena looked at Alfonse. "He seems very sure of himself."

"Yes, he looks like that," Alfonse said. "You know, I've been noticing that you've changed a lot during these years, Chris."

Chris blushed and looked away. "Y-you could say I'm starting to be mature enough..."

"Hahahaha, I think you're right," Alfonse said. "We're proud to see you've been growing up just fine."

The teenager chuckled. "You could say I learn to be like this from other people I know."

"Maybe," Elena said before she looked at the clock. "Alfonse, it's getting a bit late now."

Alfonse looked at the clock on the left wall of the room. "Oh no, you're right," he said before they both looked back at Chris. "Well, we have to get going on or else we'll be stuck here until the next flight arrives."

Chris nodded a few times. "Okay, get going now."

Alfonse patted Chris's right shoulder a bit. "Well, good bye for now."

"We'll call you once we arrive at Minnesota, okay?"

Chris chuckled. "Okay, I'll be waiting... Good bye...dad...mom..."

Lucario watched as Chris's parents said their good byes to him before they left and closed the door behind them. The Aura Pokémon used his aura to make sure that Chris's parents were leaving through the main door. Once he heard the door closing with a lock from outside, Lucario stood up and opened the door of the closet, just in time to see Chris shedding some tears. "Chris?" Lucario asked worried before he knelt down close to his trainer.

"I-I'm fine..." Chris sniffed a bit. "I-I'm just so happy to have spent all these few days with my parents, Lucario..."

Lucario smiled a bit at this and approached his face closer to Chris to lick his tears. The World Traveler chuckled heartily as his Aura Pokémon began to move down to lick his right cheek.

"L-Lucario, you're taking advantage of this!" Chris said between chuckles. "S-stop it!"

Lucario pulled his head back and lied it down close to Chris. The Aura Pokémon made a happy expression and growled happily.

Chris looked at Lucario and scratched his head between his ears. "T-thank you, Lucario... I just couldn't be happier with you..."

"Guuuuuuuoooooooorrrrrrrrgggh..." Lucario growled happily before Chris stopped scratching his head.

The World Traveler slowly got off from his bed and sat down while Lucario stood up. Chris joined his hands on his legs and looked down. "...You know, Lucario..."

"Yes?" Lucario began.

"After I spent these days with my parents..." Chris looked up at Lucario. "...They're giving me more of a reason to protect this world..."

"Protect this world from the Subspace Army?"

Chris nodded. "Yes...Tabuu's goal is to get here, right? I just can't let him invade my world and cause chaos as he pleases... My world is pretty much at total peace, and I wouldn't want to let the army come here at all..." He looked serious. "My world is unaware of my actions and from you."

Lucario thought for a moment. "Then...what do you want to do?"

Chris looked outside through the right window. "I want to protect this world even more than before...for the sake of my parents..." He looked embarrassed. "Even though they don't know of you or what I've been doing all this time, it's the best thing I can do for the time being. If I were to tell them, they'd get very worried and...I don't know what could happen..."

"It'd be very bad..." Lucario said. "Your parents are a total different story..."

"...But...let's not think about that, okay?" Chris asked before he smiled a bit. "I've been so happy for these few days, Lucario. Are you sure that you're feeling fine after hiding so many times?"

Lucario blushed a bit and looked away. "Well, you forgot to give me something to eat when I was left outside... I didn't eat for a whole day because your parents were walking in the house."

Chris chuckled embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry, but I was so distracted by them...not to mention school is still being a pain to balance everything I have to do."

"No, it's okay," Lucario said. "I was so glad when I saw you laughing with your parents. That made it all up for me."

The World Traveler stared at Lucario. "You know, that was a little bit..."

Lucario shook his head. "Chris, my task in life is to make you happy," he said, Chris opening his mouth a bit. "I always try to see you laugh when I can..."

Chris blushed a bit. "O-oh, Lucario, when you say that, I know for sure you're being serious about it..."

"I ask you, is it bad?" Lucario asked. "Is it bad for you to be happy all the time?"

"...No, it isn't..."

Lucario knelt down and looked up directly at Chris. "Also, I try my best to make you feel proud of me," he said. "I want to be the strongest Pokémon of your team and probably become the strongest in history."

"B-but my team will always be made up by you..." Chris said.

"That's why all the effort is directed to me," Lucario said before he glowed with aura, his eyes turning a shade of yellow. "With the bloodline of my family, my power could be unlimited." He stood up and looked down at Chris. "I shall be forever your guardian, Chris. I'll use my power to protect you, and make you proud of me."

The World Traveler watched as the Aura Pokémon kept burning intensely with his aura. The appendages behind Lucario's head floated slowly while Lucario rested his fists on his hips. Chris thought that Lucario was trying to look tough for him. The World Traveler blinked a few times and smiled a bit at Lucario. "...Thank you very much, Lucario..." He stood up and hugged his Pokémon by his left side, Lucario looking down at him. "I'm glad to have a very special Pokémon like you."

Lucario growled deeply as he put his left arm around Chris's back, his aura covering Chris.

Chris chuckled and closed his eyes. "I'm so lucky to have the biggest, strongest Lucario in history..."

"Biggest?" Lucario repeated.

Chris looked up at him. "Normally, all Lucarios reach 4 feet, but when comparing to them, you're a giant. I mean, you surpass 6 feet, and even you surpass me that I can only reach your snout."

"..." Lucario closed his eyes and growled happily.

The World Traveler leaned his face against Lucario's face. "Thanks a lot for making me be so proud of you, Lucario..." He looked up at him from the corner of his eyes. "I have the strongest Lucario the world has even seen for that matter..."

"Guuuuuuuuuuuuuoooooooooooorgh..."

"Nobody can beat you in the strength area," Chris said. "Your brute force tears up the ground, and you can even cause an earthquake when you want to. Better yet, you're very different than other Lucarios, and that makes you the best one out there."

"...Thank you..." Lucario muttered.

Chris chuckled heartily before they both stopped hugging each other, Lucario's aura slowly vanishing. "Well, it's weekend, and I need to take a bath."

"Me too."

"..." Chris thought for a moment. "...W-wait, didn't we forget something?"

"What?"

"..." Chris's eyes widened. "I-it's been 4 days since we left the mansion! We didn't report back to Master Hand!"

Lucario looked at the Wii behind him. "You're right..."

"O-oh no, we're so screwed now," Chris said gulping. "W-we have to go back now!"

"What about the bath?"

"W-well, let's each take a bath but quick!" Chris said before he ran out from the room.

Lucario looked around the empty room before he looked at himself with a mirror that was leaning against the south wall. His gaze was directed at his arms and body. "...Now that I think about it, I look very skinny... My chest and my shoulders look bulky enough, but everything else is under my expectations..." he muttered. "I don't even look like I possess brute force..." Lucario crossed his arms. "Maybe I should workout harder to get more muscle mass? I think I can pull it off in a span of 2 months, and I bet Chris would be fairly impressed if I had a-"

"You're not turning into a bodybuilder, Lucario!" Chris yelled from the hallway.

Lucario blinked a few times. "B-but if I-"

"I know you'll get what you want to have in a few days, but you're surely going to go over the top with your workout that you'll become a huge Lucario, and I don't want to have a 10 feet tall Lucario!"

"T-that would make our fight with the army easier..."

"Even so, you'll use stickers to get stronger! We're sticking to them!"

Lucario grunted silently at this before he heard the shower turning on, followed up by a door closing.

"Sticking to the stickers..." Chris muttered with a chuckle.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

Soon, a portal opened up, and Chris (in his Beastmaster job that was triggered automatically) and Lucario came running out from it before it disappeared in thin air. "W-we're here, sorry to be so late! W-we didn't want to come at a time like this but my parents kept distracting me s-"

"Chris, there's no one here."

The World Traveler looked around. There were no souls, or people, found in the silence of the room. Chris looked behind him, and Crazy Hand wasn't behind the counter. "I-I thought everyone was here..." he muttered. "...Where'd everyone go?"

Lucario looked at the hallway where Mario walked nearby. The plumber, upon turning to look at them, walked into the command room. "Oh, it's you," Mario said. "Are you done in your world, Chris?"

"U-um, yes..." Chris said confused. "W-where's everyone? I thought they were going to be here..."

"You 2 came very late," Mario pointed out. "Tails and the others are already gone. They left the mansion just yesterday."

"...They did?"

"Yes."

Lucario looked confused. "But, wait, nothing happened with Tabuu?"

Mario raised an eyebrow and looked confused. "It's weird, but Tabuu didn't do any move yesterday. It was pretty much so calm...that it felt so odd as well."

Chris blinked confused at this fact. "You're not lying, right?"

Mario shook his head. "I wouldn't lie about that."

Chris looked around. "So...Tails left...with who?"

Mario raised some fingers. "Well, Tails left with Amy, Cream, Cheese, Sonic, Chip, Yoshi, Marth, Ike, Mewtwo, DK, and Diddy," he explained as he closed his hands to raise one more finger for Diddy. "After they all left, we all waited for Tabuu to make a move...but...we just wasted time and remained here until afternoon..."

"..."

"...I know, it's very odd, but that's what happened," Mario said. "Master Hand then said that Tabuu surely is plotting something. However, some of us decided to suggest to rest for the time being. We all agreed to make everything easier by having to rest until Tabuu made an attack."

"Everyone is resting and having a normal day?" Lucario asked.

"Yes," Mario said. "Master Hand is not even using his hand magic to slow down the time anymore. He said he'd rather prefer to have a break to recover his energies. Also, since we haven't had any alarms, everyone has been very pleased with that fact that it looks like the mansion returned to its usual lifestyle during the Melee Tournament." He smiled a bit. "In a few words, everything's very peaceful and enjoyable. Peach took her time to go to the garden in the back of the mansion to relax with Zelda."

"..." Chris closed his eyes.

"Is something wrong?"

"..." Chris smiled relieved. "This is...just like a dream coming true..."

Mario tilted his head. "When you put it that way, I think so too. Personally, I like to see everyone having a good time instead of fighting all the time...even though they can still issue matches against each other. Other than that, I can live up with this just fine."

"So we can do anything we want to do?" Lucario asked.

Mario nodded. "Yes, you're free to do whatever you want to do. Actually, would you mind if you tag along with me to visit the post office of Parakarry? He came early today saying that he wanted to show me something very important that he made up."

Chris hummed happily. "You mean going with you? I wouldn't mind."

"Then I'm coming as well," Lucario said.

Mario nodded. "Good, I'm also asking some people to tag along as well. I want to be sure about going outside," he said. "Parakarry told me that monsters roam the area sometimes."

"We're going to be fine," Chris said. "Okay, let's start this."

"Oh, wait," Mario began, "There's a message Sonic wanted me to tell you."

"What message is that?"

The plumber looked away embarrassed. "You know how to stop that spirit from coming from Sonic's back, right? You see, Sonic came back during the night as a werehog and..."

"...Oh no..."

Mario looked at him and nodded. "Yes...Sonic looked so angry when he found out you didn't return." He pointed down at some big cracks under their feet. "When Sonic found out you weren't here, he got in a fit of rage and started to pound the floor madly before Master Hand grabbed him and tossed him back to his world."

Chris looked ashamed. "I hope he's not angry anymore..."

"Sonic'll come around that, and he will understand," Mario reassured Chris. "Let's forget about that and go to Parakarry, okay?"

"...Oh well," Chris said. "Please lead the way."

Outside

"At first, I thought the group was fine, but then..." Chris looked to a person as the group walked towards the south. "Why did you want to come?"

Wolf rolled his eye. "I have nothing better to do in the mansion."

"Are you really sure of that?"

"Maybe."

Chris shrugged.

The group that Mario made up after Chris and Lucario were Luigi, Link, Toon Link (who wanted to take a break from his bow training), Olimar, Kirby, Meta Knight, and Wolf. The Smashers were all walking towards the south. As they walked to the post office across the other side of the big hill, they saw the clouds that were supposed to be on the ruins of Nintendo City.

Olimar frowned. "The city...it's still in ruins, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Link said. "It's strange, you know. Those clouds have been there for a long time now."

"They have been there this whole time, then?" Toon Link asked.

"Yes," Mario responded. "It's just as if the city will forever look grim. I don't know, but I think it's just a mere coincidence that it stays like that."

"What happened in there is forever going to perturb me..." Meta Knight muttered. "It's proof that we were powerless to stop the unavoidable destruction of the city."

"That's a sad thing to say..." Chris muttered.

"It's reality," Meta Knight said. "If you lived what I've been living, you'd get an idea of what I went through some years ago."

Kirby looked down. "I miss the restaurants..."

Meta Knight looked away. "Kirby..." he muttered with a sigh.

"Who cares about some ruins?" Wolf asked. "Care about when somebody bothers to rebuild the entire city."

"That's not a bad idea," Mario commented as they began to go up on the slope of the hill. "Maybe I could contact some friends and ask them to repair the city?"

"I doubt they can repair a city like the one we're talking about," Link said. "It'd take an eternity to do that..."

Chris looked away. "That's a really sad fact..."

At that moment, winds from the west swept the grass in silence as they walked up the slope. Suddenly, a red ribbon came from the air and got stuck itself on Wolf's right shoulder spiked pad. The lupine looked at the ribbon and raised an eyebrow. The red ribbon didn't look normal since it had some spores on the ends of it. "Who's letting go of this?" he muttered annoyed before he tossed it aside.

Kirby saw the ribbon and jumped to catch it. The Star Warrior held it in front of him before he put it under his mouth, humming happily.

The group managed to cross over the hill before they walked down to it, finding the post office some feet away from the hill. The group eventually reached the counter of the establishment where Parakarry stood up from behind it. "Oh, hi there, everyone!" he greeted enthusiastically. "How've you been? I hope you've stopped the Subspace Army from doing whatever they do."

Mario nodded. "It's been okay lately."

"Glad to hear that," Parakarry said happily.

Toon Link took a peek inside the office. "Hey, where's Quil?"

"Quil is on an errand to deliver some mail," Parakarry explained. "Postman is doing the same thing. I was left behind to make sure the post office would be fine." He made a happy expression. "And when I resumed what I had planned, I finally came up to do it!"

"You look very enthusiastic today. Did something happen?" Mario asked.

Parakarry nodded. "As a matter of fact, something I recently made up a few days ago made me get all fired up," he explained. "You see...surprisingly, there have been people around these parts."

"Really?" Olimar asked. "I thought there was nobody around..."

"Thing is, they come from all directions," Parakarry explained. "For example, they come out from the forest."

"And what does this have to do with the random people?" Link asked.

Parakarry chuckled. "Well, I've noticed that many of them want to do something that they wish to do but can't find the solution easily..." He looked worried. "I hate to see people with problems that I want to give them a hand, you know? But then, I recalled that I have a job to deliver mail to the nearby villages and towns around the area." He looked happy. "So then, I came up with this original idea!"

The Smashers watched as the Paratroopa ducked to grab some nuts and a hammer, together with a big billboard that he took out to the front side of the post office. Parakarry, at an insane speed, began to set the billboard by banging nuts all over it. This fast action started to make a lot of dust before everyone was covered by it. The Smashers coughed a couple of times before the dust cleared out, looking at what Parakarry had done.

Before them, Parakarry floated, looking please with crossed arms, in front of the billboard that had a big title in white and green letters on the top of it with several papers that had different purposes. The Paratroopa held out his left hand at the billboard. "I'd like you to receive the opening inauguration of the 'Aid People and Give Them a Hand Center' of the Wings Post Office!"

"...Seriously?" Link asked.

Parakarry raised an eyebrow. "What is seriously?"

"You made the name yourself?"

"Well, yeah, I did," Parakarry said embarrassed. "At first, I thought about an almighty name, but then I decided to use this one." He chuckled a bit. "Sounds good, doesn't it?"

"...Not really," Toon Link commented.

Pakararry looked bored. "Oh, what do you know," he muttered. "Anyhow, I'd like you guys to make good use of the APGTHC."

"...Wait, us?" Link asked.

"That's right," Parakarry said. "You see, remember I said I have my hands full with my job? Well, I thought that you guys would like help other people out in their problems."

Wolf crossed his arms. "You basically made this so we could do the job for you?"

"Um, well, yeah...but maybe other people could be willing to help others." Parakarry shook his head. "However, I'm telling you that this will prove very useful if you know what to do." He turned around and pointed at a paper. "See all these documents stamped against the billboard? These are all requests that people put up. C'mon, take a closer look to this one I'm pointing at."

The Smashers looked at each other before they walked closer to see the billboard. Upon taking a closer look, they stared at the request that the Paratroopa pointed at.

Find My Friend's Memento

The memento of my late friend flew away from my hands! I don't know what to do to find it. It's a very important memento I need to have every single minute of my life, but what's the point of that since I lost it? Please, anyone, I need to find it! I'll give a reward or 2 to the guy or girl who finds it! As soon as I can, I'll come right here to meet my lifesavers!

From the Maiden of Madain Sari.

"See?" Parakarry asked. "The girl that came here a few days ago looked so worried. When I told her that she could put up a request, she didn't reply and wrote the request in 3 seconds before she ran off into the forest to the east, just behind the post office." He shook his head. "Enough about the girl, though. Did you see how desperate this request sounds?"

Mario rubbed his chin a bit. "It sounds desperate..."

"Also," Parakarry continued as he pointed at another request, "here's another one from another girl that...sort of scared me when she came a few days ago as well..."

Investigate The Mysterious Cliff Of The East

I've found myself standing in a very different area that I didn't know it existed. However, when I walked around, I found a mysterious place where I sensed mana flowing out. I'm sure I can go in there by myself, but I'm afraid of going alone unprepared due to the fact I don't know the area very much. I would like to have some people, preferably fighters or adventurers, to join me and investigate the source of mana from the cliff. If you accept my request, please come prepared to the eastern expanse of mountains.

I'd really appreciate anyone's help.

From the Little Girl of Ozette

Olimar tilted his head. "Why is it that the people that request help like to write titles like those?"

"Well, it keeps them safe from others to know who they are," Parakarry said. "This is a Safe-and-Hide system that helps them to be found by, for example, bad people. If you guys want to accept the request, you should try to meet up with the person in need where they want you to go." He showed them a wing stamp. "If you DO accept the request, take this to the person in need to indicate that you're the ones who want to help them out."

"Is there something good for us if we help them?" Luigi asked.

"Of course," Parakarry said. "They'll give you rewards for helping them as long as you do a good job." He looked happy. "Maybe this will even let you guys get good freebies that you can't find anywhere else."

Chris thought for a moment. "Help others to get freebies..."

"It doesn't sound so bad," Mario commented. "Who knows, maybe this can help us in some way or another."

"I don't like to do this kind of job, but maybe it could have challenges," Meta Knight commented. "I wouldn't mind exploring the surroundings either."

"It gives you the feeling of a mercenary," Lucario said.

Parakarry silently flew behind the counter and joined his hands on the table. "So, you guys want to help others in need? It could give you good propaganda for the mansion and its people."

"Master Hand surely would like that," Mario said. "Besides, it gives us a chance to explore this universe."

"I don't know what you're talking about universes but whatever," Parakarry said before smiling. "So then, try to give a hand or ten to these unfortunate people."

Link looked at everyone. "Why don't we go ahead? While I tried to save Hyrule from Ganondorf, I used to help other people with their problems, and they always had very good rewards."

Chris felt that his DS was shaking a bit. The World Traveler took it out to see Kawashima. "Yes?" Chris asked.

"This is a very good opportunity to gather sidequests," Kawashima said. "If you can, try to help everyone who puts requests in the billboard."

"Does this have to be something mandatory?"

"You want to make future battles easier or not? I bet the troubled people have very special items that you could use with everyone."

Chris thought for a moment. "...Okay, I'll accept to do them."

Kawashima chuckled. "Since we're doing sidequests now, do you want to see the sidequest you have yet to complete?"

"I have some left? Oh well, show me."

"Right away..." Kawashima disappeared from the upper screen before he appeared on the lower screen, taking out a list of sidequests on a virtual page. "Done. Here's the list of all the sidequests you've finished, along with the ones you have yet to clear."

-Seekers of the Truth of the Subspace - In-Progress.

-Wanted: Musicians - Pending.

-Wanted: Laharl - Cleared!

-Wanted: Repede - Cleared!

-The Dojo - Pending.

-Sonic, Chris's real pain? - In-Progress.

"You have a lot of work ahead of you," Kawashima said chuckling. "Give it your best, okay?"

"Yes, thanks for reminding me about what I have to do," Chris said.

Toon Link got closer to the billboard and narrowed his eyes at the first request. "...This one seems easy enough," he said as he pointed at the request from the maiden of Madain Sari.

"Oh well," Mario said as he lifted his shoulders a bit. "It's easy to find a lost item with how many of us are now."

Wolf rolled his eye. "It's always a pathetic job to start with...but I don't mind either way."

Link turned to Parakarry. "We'd like to accept the first request."

Parakarry nodded and held out a wing sticker. "Okay, you guys need to rendezvous with the little girl and show her the wing sticker to confirm you want to help her."

"A little girl..." Olimar muttered. "How does she look like?"

Parakarry looked up to the sky. "Well, this little girl looked cute to me. She had blue hair, wore a pale yellow ribbon on her head, and she also wore 3 different clothes garments. In other words, she could stick out as a sore thumb in a crowd because of the fact she...has a small horn on her forehead."

"A small horn on...her forehead?" Luigi gulped. "S-she's not a demon, right?"

"Oh no, she's good." Parakarry nodded. "Hope you guys do a good work! Effort pays off if you work accordingly, as they say."

[DededeCloneChris]

Meta Knight looked around. "...You said she was going to come here, right?"

Parakarry looked embarrassed from the counter at the billboard. "Whoops, it seems she forgot to write the place to meet you..." He raised his hands a bit and frowned. "You'll have to wait until she comes back."

Luigi noticed that Parakarry was shifting his eyes many times. The green plumber raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

Parakarry blushed. "O-oh, nothing wrong..." He looked at the ruins of the city many feet away from the post office. "It's just that I met a pretty gal today...and she went to see the city by herself a few minutes ago."

"A pretty gal?" Olimar asked.

Parakarry nodded many times. "Yep, she's one heck of a pretty Koopa Troopa I've ever seen before! And man, does she have an explosive personality that makes me flip in the air like crazy!"

Mario smiled a bit confused. "Did you ask her for her name?"

"What I did now? Oh, right, I asked what was her name." Parakarry thought for a moment. "...Oh yeah, her name was Kylie Koopa."

"...Kylie Koopa?" Luigi repeated confused before he looked up and crossed his arms. "Why do I think I heard that name before?"

Parakarry blinked shocked. "Y-you guys know her?"

"Yes, I remember now," Mario said. "We met that reporter of the Koopa Kronicle a long time ago."

Wolf frowned. "Is it the same scatterbrained turtle girl?"

"Yes..." Luigi trailed off. "I'm surprised she's still around."

And out of a cue, the group looked back to the city in ruins before a pink shell came spinning to them. Some of them took a step back as the shell spun in front of them before it stopped spinning. It suddenly stood up by itself before jumping 4 feet as somebody sprouted out from it and quickly...took photos of the group.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - Tutorial

Some of the Smashers blocked their faces with their hands as photos were being taken. Once the flashes died down, they looked forward to find the ever-enthusiastic Kylie Koopa. "Ha! Those pictures are sure to be best used in an album than a newspaper!" she said chuckling. "Anyhoo, nice to see you hooplas again! That's right," she continued as she spun on her feet before stopping to wink at them while she crossed her right arm under he face, giving them a thumb up (her trademark pose), "Kylie Koopa's got your number!"

Parakarry looked at her with hearts as eyes. "Woohoohoo," he muttered pleased, the reporter not even paying attention to him.

Kylie hopped on her spot a bit. "Well, well, if isn't the lovely group who kicked the Shroobs outta the Mushroom Kingdom!" she said as she looked at Mario and Luigi. "Boy, remember that event? It made me reach the stardom of the Koopa Kronicle! Thanks to you, my scoop was the biggest scoop ever!"

"Kylie," Mario began, "it's good to see you're doing fine. You even look like you haven't changed much."

Kylie giggled a bit. "Well, duh! I gotta keep my streak of cheerfulness to reach the stars beyong the sky...through the newspaper building, of course!" She took a few more photos of the group. "So, you live around these parts? You ain't surely living in what used to be a city behind my shell, right?" She turned around to see the ruined city, just in time to see a building collapsing under the rain. "...I swear, drops of rain are gettin' heavier each day. Before you'll know it, they'll crush you to bits, no less."

"Er...no, we live in a mansion across this big hill," Luigi said as he pointed at the hill behind them."

Kylie turned around. "Oh, makes much more sense to me," she said nodding. "Well, throw me a newspaper to look for a good place to expand the Koopa Kronicle newspaper 'cuz I ain't gonna expand it in a city like the one BEHIND me, pals!" She looked down in shame. "I've got the word that the city of this place was so huge that it NEEDED a competent newspaper. What a shock I got after I went in there, fellas. Do you expect me to be working in a place where it looks like it's never gonna prosper at all? I'll tell you my answer right now: never! I'm not standing up for this!"

Wolf cleaned his right ear a bit. "Geez, slow down, I can barely make out what you're saying..." he muttered.

Kylie didn't seem to be listening to Wolf as she crossed her arms and looked up to them. "How am I gonna do my job if the place where I wanted to work at is only reaching my ankles? I'm serious about this, hooplas. I wanna see the place I've heard so much about from other people right now!"

Link looked away and scratched his head a bit. "We don't know how we're going to repair the damages done to the city..."

Kylie pouted a bit. "Ain't that bad now?" She turned around and hopped on her spot a bit as she looked at the ruined city. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, and when I say that, I mean I'm gonna have to call my special connections!" she demanded loudly before she took out a pink cell phone. "Oh no, Kylie ain't gonna sit and let ants climb up on me to make a home in my shell! I'm calling the dibs of this!"

"Um..." Chris muttered as Kylie typed out some numbers. "I heard you were going to come here because you sent me a letter some time ago..."

Kylie ignored the World Traveler as she lifted up her cell phone to the right side of her head. "Hello? Anyone there? Oh, good, there you are. Good, good. Okay, listen me loud and clear, got that? Okay, here's the deal, pal. You see, there's this big desert that used to be called a 'ci-tah'. What' 'ci-tah' is that, you ask? Well, how am I gonna know, anyway? I barely came here from scratch! Listen to me now! I need you and your squad to do something about this dillemma before I DO something myself, got that clear? Sweet. I wanna have your guys come here and give this ci-tah a nice clean up round before it grows back to it's usual majestic glory that, you know, I heard so much about. What's that? You need refunds to get what your guys need? Oh, don't be that silly, pal! We can get around it just fine once you get here by, hmm, when's good for you? In a week?! Are you kiddin' me?!"

The Smashers idly watched as the energetic reporter kept arguing with the phone for a long while. Kylie seemed to be trying to come up with a deal with whoever she was talking to. "..." Kirby looked up at Chris. "How do I look with this ribbon on?"

The beastmaster looked down at Kirby and blushed a bit. "Y-you look very good with it..." Chris commented.

Kylie nodded several times. "Goodie, that sounds very nice to me then! Okay, you get your guys here in 2 weeks, and we'll do business, 'kay? You're such a sweetie pie, pal. Thanks a lot!" she said chuckling before she ended the phone call. Kylie turned around to look at the Smashers. "There! I've got a nice deal with my pals!"

"What?" Mario asked. "You're calling masons to repair the city?"

"Yep," Kylie said. "I always dreamed to make the Koopa Kronicle the best in a big city. How do you think I feel after my dream went down the sewers once I took a peek at the city? Pissed, hooligan, mad, I tell you!"

Toon Link looked bored. "If they're really going to come to repair the city... If you ask me, a week sounded better than 2 weeks..."

"..." Kylie closed her eyes. "That little... I knew all that smooth-talking wasn't for show..." She giggled. "But anyway! The guys are gonna come and pimp this city up!"

"What guys?" Mario asked.

"1...thousand Hammer Bros.," Kiley said chuckling. "They'll come here in 2 weeks from now on."

"...1000 Hammer Bros?" Luigi asked shocked. "T-that many of them? A-are they good?"

Kylie looked at him. "You're asking if they're good people? Of course they are! They're a smart bunch, I'm telling you."

Mario blinked a couple of times. "Oh, then you know them as well."

Kylie turned to Mario. "You know my fellas?"

Mario nodded. "I was just going to call them later today, but after you called them..."

"Wait, wait, wait," Link interrupted. "Mario, how do you know 1000 guys, anyway?"

Mario looked at Link. "They're Hammer Bros. who decided to drop out of Bowser's army because they thought he wasn't that good of a smart leader. The funny thing is that Bowser didn't even see them dropping out because of the fact he has many subordinates under his command that he can barely tell who's who or even count them all."

"...And if he does have many subordinates..." Chris trailed off thinking, "...how come he never gets to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom with all of them?"

"Um, Chris, Mario just said Bowser isn't smart..." Lucario pointed out.

"...Oh, I see," Chris said embarrassed.

"A-and don't give Bowser ideas..." Luigi looked around. "H-he could be close..."

Kylie ignored the green plumber. "Well! Sorry for being rude, but I'm just that excited to see this city back to its clean image." She took more photos of them. "I can see the heading of the first page in my mind, fellas! 'Rainy City Receives Special Edition of Pimp My Downtown', and the second heading would be 'Ace Reporter Gets Lost in Previous Ruins. Author Utterly Shocked!'"

Parakarry looked happy. "Didn't I tell you she was dynamite?"

Kylie turned to Parakarry and took several photos of him. The Paratroopa's eyes turned into swirls before he fell down behind the counter. "Sweet scoop! I have witnesses in these golden pictures!"

"U-um, excuse me..." Olimar tried to get the attention from the female Koopa Troopa.

Kylie turned to them. "Oh right, I remember I sent you a letter," she said as she looked at Chris. "Didn't think I'd actually get here, huh? Dude, this city's my only lead to make the Koopa Kronicle the best one there is!" She hopped on her spot. "But NO! City's busted as a cracked cookie! Scoops don't live up with this unless I take photos for the right section! But forget about the tempting section I want to take photos for. How've you been?"

Meta Knight frowned and put a hand on his forehead. "It takes her 10 minutes to ask about personal matters..." he muttered.

"W-we've been doing good," Chris said. "I guess it's not necessary to talk how you've been, right?"

"Better than a Goomba who got its wings, I'd say!" Kylie said happily.

A dead silence soon followed...

"...Er..." Kylie shifted her eyes. "...Soooooooooooooooo, seen any good newspapers?"

Wolf grunted a bit. "Just as I expected her to talk about..."

"..." Kylie shifted her eyes more. "...Wouldn't mind if I got a place to stay and wait for my guys to come here and pimp the city? I'd suggest them to make a 3-stars hotel."

Parakarry suddenly flew up behind the counter and looked shocked at her. "H-hey, this post office doesn't have that many commodities, but it does have some beds!"

Kylie looked at him. "Not exactly what I expected, but meh, it'll do nicely, I guess."

"Inviting her to the mansion would get Master Hand angry..." Toon Link whispered to Kirby.

Parakarry joined his hands and closed his eyes to the sky. "Thank you, darn you, thank you..." he muttered in excitement.

Kylie giggled a bit and looked at the Smashers. "Well fellas, I ain't got a thing to talk with you unless you're into paper with ink..." She quickly jumped over the counter where she went for a chair inside and dragged it to sit on it and reach the counter to look at the Smashers. "Till then, I'll be here for 2 looooooooooooooong weeks." She looked at Parakarry. "So, you like the Koopa Kronicle?"

Parakarry sighed pleased. "Oh yeah," he said nodding.

The Smashers watched as the two Koopas began to talk with each other, the postman always looking happy while the reporter merely talked and talked to no end. By a few seconds, the two were ignoring the Smashers completely.

"...I think they don't want us to disturb them," Luigi commented.

"Actually, I think that's Parakarry and not Kylie," Link said.

Chris shrugged. "It's pretty obvious that Parakarry has...you know what for her." He looked at Meta Knight. "By the way, have you ever fell in love with someone?"

Meta Knight stared at him for a moment. "Well, I haven't fell in love with someone before, but I think my soulmate is somewhere out there. I like to think that there is such a person for me." He looked away and frowned. "However, that's all I'm going to say."

"Is it Jigglypuff?" Kirby asked suddenly.

"...No, Kirby," Meta Knight said in a bored tone.

Olimar looked at the ruins of the city. "...Do you think the city will be really repaired?"

"I doubt it..." Chris said unsure. "Isn't the city...500km long?"

"Actually, it's 10km long," Mario pointed out.

"What? But I heard from Master Hand that this city was..."

"He forgot."

"What?"

"Master Hand and everyone forgot how long the city actually is," Mario said. "Somebody would waste their entire time in their lives to build a 500km long city." He looked up confused. "But I'm confused as to why Master Hand said 500 instead of 10..."

Lucario narrowed his eyes. "He was surely trying to make Chris desperate to save the city. Since Chris doesn't know about this world, Master Hand took advantage of him."

"And we followed the flow..." Toon Link sighed. "That hand is surely an odd guy, I swear..."

The Star Warrior looked miffed for a bit before he saw that a girl walked in front of him. The girl in question had come out from the western forest, but once she turned to look at him, she instantly gasped and pulled her pink sleeve-covered hands back. "N-no way!" she said in disbelief. "T-the ribbon you're wearing...t-that's..."

Kirby looked confused at her. "Um...who are you?" he asked.

The girl clutched her fists on her neck before she took some long steps towards Kirby. By this time, the group had already noticed her. "That's the ribbon I lost!" she demanded as she pointed at Kirby. "I need it back to me!"

Kirby looked a bit worried. "W-well..."

Link stared down at the girl. The Hylian studied her appearance a little bit before he noticed that the girl fit perfectly the description that Parakarry told the group. However, apart from the fact that the blue-haired girl wore garments and had the small horn on her forehead, she also had some small wings on her back. "Er..." Link looked at her. "Hey...who are you?"

The girl looked up at Link. "Wow, that's a very wrong way to address a young lady like me, you know!" She pointed at Link. "Give me some respect here, will you?"

"I was just asking for your name," Link said. "So, what is it?"

"Hush!" the girl said with a frown. "I'm not gonna tell you!" she yelled before turning to Kirby. "You pink puffball gimme my ribbon back!"

Kirby looked at his ribbon and took it off. "Is this yours?"

"Why, yes, it is!" the girl said angry. "That's the memento of my late friend you're holding with your fingers! Even though you don't have fingers, I can pretty much say you are doing that!"

Chris studied the little girl a bit. "(Wait, I know who she is...)"

The girl quickly put her hands on her hips. "You don't know, but you're talking to Ms. Eiko Carol here!" she said as she looked at the group. "When I wanna get my belongings back, usually people do as I say!"

Eiko Carol is a little girl that comes from the destroyed tribe of Madain Sari that is located to the north of the Mist Continent. Eiko was met by Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi when she was stealing food in a nearby town of dwarves. Once they met her, she decided to let them come to her village. From that point on, she has been traveling with Zidane's group. (It should be noted that Eiko was told by her deceased grandpa to leave Madain Sari when she reached 16 years, but after she met Zidane, right at the time she was (and is still) 6, she left the village anyway). Eiko is known to be a spunky and snobbish girl, and she will do anything to get what she wants (.

Final Fantasy IX - Eiko's Theme

"Next time, introduce yourself when addressing a lady, okay?" Eiko asked with a pout.

"You introduced yourself first," Meta Knight pointed out.

"...Got a problem with that or what?" Eiko asked before grunting. "Ugh, why am I losing the time with you, anyway? I came here to reclaim what's rightfully me to have!"

Kirby looked at the ribbon before he started to walk to her. However, Link grabbed Kirby's free hand. "Wait a bit," Link told Kirby before looking at Eiko. "Are you by any chances...the maiden of Madain Sari?"

"Yep," Eiko said nodding. "I'm also known as Eiko Carol Fabool, princess of Lindblum," she said proudly, a sly smile almost reaching her nose. "You didn't think you were gonna meet a princess, huh?"

"You don't look like a princess but rather a spoiled girl to me," Wolf commented bored.

Eiko looked at him. "Spoiled girl?" She walked to him, not minding the fact she just barely passed his knees' level. The girl of Madain Sari put her sleeve-covered hands on her hips. "You don't know anything about loyalty at all, huh?"

Wolf rolled his eye and bent down to pick up the girl from her back. The lupine put her in front of his face as she stared at him annoyed. "Not at all," Wolf said," and I don't care either."

Eiko grunted before she began to flail her arms. "Why am I always being picked up by everyone like this?! Be glad you're not a dammed branch because if you were I'd break you in 2!"

"Wolf, I think you should let her go," Mario commented. "You don't want to have a problem with her, right?"

Wolf sighed and dropped Eiko back on the ground. "I guess," he said bored.

Eiko pushed herself up quickly and pouted at Wolf. "Why you..." She stared blankly at him. "Wait..." She tilted her head a bit. "...You fit the description Zidane told me about..."

"Zidane?" Link repeated. "Wait, you know Zidane?"

Eiko looked at Link. "Come to think of it, I think Zidane mentioned about you..." She turned to Chris. "You." She turned to Lucario. "You." She turned to Toon Link. "And you..." She looked at Link. "And yeah, Zidane's my ex."

"Zidane...is your ex-boyfriend?"

Eiko looked amused. "The guy was almost mine to have, but Dagger was around more with him, and then I saw that Zidane loved her more than me," she chuckled. "Needless to say, the guy's a little bit hopeless, but meh, what can you do with him?"

"I don't even think he ever fell in love with you..." Wolf muttered.

"Nobody ASKED you," Eiko said annoyed. "Sheesh, Zidane was right about you. He told me you were much of a lone wolf (which ironically you are) and somewhat rude. He surely made friends with you, though."

The lupine looked away. "Well, I could say I'm sort of a friend for him..."

"Ha! You're not that lonely then!" Eiko said before looking at the others. "So I take that you travelled with Zidane, right?"

"It was just for a small while," Lucario said.

"Yeah, he definitely said you guys left him when you arrived at Lindblum," Eiko said. "Soooooooo, do you know any personal secrets about Zidane? I wouldn't mind listening to some of them," she said amused. "I can ALWAYS go back to my words and do something more productive that benefits me..."

"We don't know," Toon Link said.

Eiko sighed. "Oh well, at least I tried..." she muttered before she turned to Kirby. "Okay, you're gonna give me back my ribbon or what?"

Link showed her the wing stamp. "Actually, we accepted the request to find your friend's memento."

Eiko gasped and took the stamp from Link's hand. "What? No way! Somebody DID accept my request?" She looked at Kirby. "A-ha, you were the one who found my Ribbon, right?"

Kirby shook his head. "No..."

"But you're holding on it," Eiko pointed out. "Why is it that you're holding it?"

Kirby simply pointed up at Wolf. "He found it, but he wanted to toss it away, and I caught it so I could wear it."

"...Whatwhatwhatwhat?!" Eiko asked shocked before glaring at Wolf. "Why the hell did you find my Ribbon?"

Wolf looked at her. "Hey, that thing of yours came out from nowhere, and it got stuck on my shoulder's spike," he pointed out. "It went to me, but I didn't find it."

The girl of Madain Sari walked to Kirby and took the ribbon back to her. Eiko stared at the ribbon on her sleeves before she rubbed her left cheek with it. "My Ribbon..." she muttered with a sniff. "It's good to have you back..."

"What's up with you now?" Wolf asked confused.

Eiko looked back at him. "You see...this is a memento of a very special friend of mine," she explained. "It's a very important ribbon that Mog, my late moogle friend, left behind when she sacrificed her life to save me from getting killed by 2 evil-looking clowns..." She looked at the ribbon. "This was left behind by her before she turned out to be an Eidolon, a special entity with amazing powers, who saved me from dying..." She looked up at Wolf. "Well, I wouldn't be a lady if I didn't thank you for finding this for me. Even if you don't understand how much this is for me, I really am glad to have this back with me... Funny, I think I know Zidane befriended you."

Wolf rolled his eye.

"So!" Eiko spoke up, "Your guys (Wolf: My guys?) didn't find this but you. Well, that works out fine with me to give you your rewards!" she said happily as she kept the ribbon with her. The Madain Sari girl stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Now, where did I put them again? Lemme see, hmm..."

"Just what are you going to give him?" Mario asked.

"Oh, here they are!" Eiko said happily before she took out her hands and showed three different objects at Wolf. "Here, you deserve these for finding my most precious memento from Mog." She chuckled. "C'mon, don't just stare them down like that! You won't regret to have these with you!"

"...You're giving me jewelry...and a feather?" Wolf asked bored.

On Eiko's hands, there were two different gems: a sapphire, and a ruby. Next to the two gems there was a bright feather that shone a bit with the light of the sun. The lupine thought that the rewards looked a bit worthless, but then again he could sell the gems...and probably the feather as well.

"Jewelry? Oh no," Eiko said as she shook her head. "You don't believe this, but these 3 items are quite powerful if you happen to know what summoning magic is... As a matter of fact, can you summon Eidolons?"

"I don't know what the heck they are nor I don't know how to call forth those creatures," Wolf responded.

"Oh well," Eiko said miffed. "Go ahead and take these with you, please."

"Whatever..." Wolf said as he took the three objects with him. "Hurray, we finished this," he said sarcastically as he stuffed the items in his pockets. "We got 2 gems and a feather. This is like the best day ever."

Eiko pouted a bit. "Hey, for the last time, those items are powerful!" she yelled angrily. "Why can't you believe me? Do you want me to show you their true power to you?"

Wolf rolled his eye. "I'm sure it's going to be useless in some way..."

Eiko grunted as she began to stomp the ground by jumping several times. "Grr! Fine, I'm showing you their true power myself!" she proclaimed as she took out a small flute from her back. "Once you see their true power, you're going to make up a smirk and say thanks to me. Zidane told me you wouldn't being stronger."

"Pfft, he doesn't know that much about me," Wolf said.

"W-wait, what are you going to do?" Luigi asked.

Eiko looked proud. "Simple: I'm gonna show you guys the power of the Eidolons so this mutt of a friend you have learns about them," she said as she looked around. "Now, I need an open field to showcast them all..." The girl from Madain Sari looked behind the billboard. There was a big open field behind it that she thought was perfect. "Perfect!" she exclaimed before motioning at the group. "You're gonna need to come here and see this!"

The Smashers looked at each other before they all walked behind the billboard, ignoring the seemingly busy Koopas on the counter that, by this point, have been ignoring them for a long while.

Once the group walked behind the billboard, they looked at Eiko as she held her flute with boths hands behind her back, constantly moving it at the sides as she faced the open field. "Alright," she muttered before grinning, "time to call forth my Eidolons!"

Final Fantasy IX - Battle 1

Eiko gracefully spun her flute all the way to her mouth before closing her eyes to play a tune. The Smashers watched as several green spheres with mystic flames appeared around her and spun in the air.

Wolf narrowed his eye at this.

"O beast that leaps from cliffs to mountain peaks, come to me now and let out a roaring howl to call forth the ruler of mighty earth..." Eiko chanted softly before she opened her determined eyes. "Come right here...Fenrir!"

The Smashers noticed that the atmosphered darknened a bit before they heard an ear-splitting howl from somewhere. They all staggered for a bit at this sudden howl before they watched, from far away on the mountains, a big sacred wolf that leaped all the way to the open field, just landing close to Eiko. The beast itself had long white and purple fur, as well as some yellow fur around its head, with two long horns that pointed back. The wolf stared at Eiko for a bit as she stopped playing her flute.

Some of the Smashers hid behind the billboard in fear of the big wolf.

Eiko held out her right hand at Fenrir. "Now, Ferrir, use Terrestial Rage upon the field!"

Fenrir nodded its head before he let out a mighty howl to the sky. The earth beneath it began to shake uncontrollably before a big mountain began to rise up high enough to 80 feet. The Smashers backed away as they found out that the very same mountain had a face with green glowing eyes. Some of them gasped as Fenrir let out another howl.

"W-what is that?" Link asked shocked as he stared up at the mountain with the face. "I-is that some kind of living mountain?"

Eiko turned to him. "That big mountain is the Eidolon Titan," she explained. "Fenrir itself doesn't attack directly, but it can call Titan instead to deal high earth damage on all enemies." She raised a finger. "And guess what; the attack never fails to hit the enemies since it seeks the enemies out!"

"D-don't tell it to attack us!" Olimar yelled form behind the billboard.

"Nah, I won't tell them that," Eiko said before she turned around to point up at Fenrir and Titan. "Fenrir, tell Titan to use Terrestrial Rage on the earth already!"

Fenrir let out a mighty howl. Titan's eyes shone brightly before the Smashers saw that a big portion of the earth in front of it began to rise up. Suddenly, a huge fist of earth dealt a long uppercut that reached 100 feet in the air, punching a big chunk of earth away into the sky.

As they all watched surprised, Fenrir let out a loud howl before leaping away into the mountains to the west. Titan itself, along with the fist of earth, began to retreat back into the earth. The group watched as the earth itself began to fill the cracks that were left by Titan's appearance just as if it had a recovery effect.

And then, the big chunk of earth began to fall down from high above the air, spinning madly in its place before it crashed down, creating a big cloud of dust that flew everywhere. While some of the Smashers looked shocked, Eiko merely chuckled.

The summoner turned to Wolf. "Well, what do you think now? Do they look any worthless?"

The lupine stared at the space where Titan once was. Eiko blinked a few times as the leader of Star Wolf remained silent. Suddenly, Wolf slowly looked down at her and nodded. "Show me the other 2."

"...Alrighty..." Eiko said confused before she brought her flute to her mouth to play another tune, green spheres starting to spin around her. "O creature that lives only to serve and protect, shine your ancestral jewel on us to reach salvation..." She looked serious. "Come forth, Carbuncle!"

Instead of an environmental event, the air in front of Eiko shone brightly as a small creature appeared spinning. The creature then stopped spinning in the air, revealing to be some sort of green monster with a red jewel in its forehead. The Eidolon name's was Carbuncle.

"Use Ruby Light on me!" Eiko asked Carbuncle.

The creature nodded its head before the gem in its forehead began to shine brightly in a red light. The Smashers watched as the Eidolon's gem started to grow a horn before it grew out quickly, shining a red light that shot a red ray above Eiko. The red ray then stopped, creating a blast of red glimmering lights that dropped around Eiko, creating some sort of red barrier in front of her.

Meta Knight saw that Carbuncle, its ruby horn turning back into a normal ruby, nodded its head to Eiko before it disappeared in a green light that quickly vanished.

"How was it?" Eiko asked to Wolf. "Carbuncle showers the whole team of yours with Ruby Light to cast Reflect; a protective shell that, obviously, reflects magic back to the enemy. If you ever use its help, take in mind that healing spells will bounce off and heal the enemy instead."

Wolf shook his head. "That one looked a bit worthless..."

"...Well, even so, use it when you find an enemy that likes to use magic a lot...if you can even summon, that is," Eiko said. "One left! Do you want to see the last one?"

"Isn't that the whole point of the demonstration?" Toon Link asked.

Eiko chuckled. 'Yep, that's the point here." She turned around and spun her flute one more time before she put the pipe in her mouth and began to play another tune with the same spheres appearing around her. "O sacred bird whose feathers burn with intensity and retrieve unfortunate souls with them, I call upon you to burn my enemies to the ground and get back the souls of my allies..." She looked serious. "Come on, Phoenix, appear before me!"

Suddenly, a shower of red glimmers rained down upon the field. In a quick moment, the lights shone intensily as they all burst in searing flames that created a big inferno. The Smashers backed away once the flames reached them, but then they did, they didn't seem to be burning all of them. Link looked forward where he saw that the flames circled in the air to make a sphere.

The sphere of fire suddenly burst apart, revealing a big mythical bird of sacred fire that let out a cry of power. The big bird itself had a wide arrangement of multi-colored feathers, along with a long tail of feathers, red feathers sticking out the most between all the feathers together. The Eidolon Phoenix let out another cry as it began to flap its wings slowly while it began to rise up into the sky, releasing a bunch of sparkling lights that doused the flames and touched everything around them, shining brighter as they all slowly vanished.

As some of the Smashers watched stunned, Eiko turned to Wolf and nodded. "That's Phoenix for you. This one is surely helpful because not only it burns enemies, but it also revives downed members of you group," she explained. "What's more, if every single one of you gets knocked out, there's a small chance that Phoenix will appear and revive you to keep fighting."

"Hmm..." Wolf rubbed his chin. "How much is the probability of that bird appearing to revive us all?"

"It depends on the number of Phoenix Pinions, the same kind of feather I gave you some minutes ago, that then you need to divide by 256."

Wolf looked down at her. "So, in other words, a feather won't make much of difference for that small odd."

"I guess...but hey, luck's sometimes is useful," Eiko said. "You gotta wish for Phoenix to come back and heal you."

Final Fantasy IX - Eiko's Theme

"Aaaaaaaaaaaand that's my demonstration," Eiko said chuckling as she kept the flute behind her back. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"I have to say..." Link trailed off. "I have to say that looked cool. But, we just saw the whole field getting ruptured and burned..."

"And even so..." Toon Link blinked at the seemingly calm grass in the open field, "the field looks the way it was before the demonstration...why's that?"

Eiko turned to see the big field in front of her. There weren't any signs of destrution after the Eidolons had appeared. The Madain Sari girl turned back to them. "Oh, that? Eidolons are good entities that coexist with nature," she explained. "Summoners only use Eidolons for protective means. In my case, I use them to aid me in ordeals. Eidolons themselves would hate that their power would destroy nature so they use their powers to keep it like it should be. However..."

"H-however?" Luigi asked as he slowly came back from behind the billboard.

"...There are people who'd like to cause destruction with them. An Eidolon's ultimate decision lies in the summoner that called it forth. It's the summoner's bidding that gives the Eidolon the necessary power to cause destruction that won't be repaired. Since I'm a good girl, my Eidolons won't try to harm nature," Eiko explained. "That's the reason why they don't leave destruction behind their path."

"I see..." Meta Knight said. "It is quite interesting to see entities with such powers to respect what they do."

'It's all in the summoner's will, though," Eiko said. "The summoner is the one who decides what the Eidolon will do. Fortunately, those bad people seized to have the affinity to obtain them all." She looked at Wolf. "I hope YOU don't turn out to be a bad guy. If you even dare to cause destruction, the Eidolons could turn and kill you off if they can."

"Thanks for the little warning," Wolf said. "The last thing I wish to do is taking over the world..." He frowned.

Eiko looked bored. "Geez, only an dummy would think something THAT stupid. Unfortunately, I know someone who would do such a thing...and that person died..." she said. "You're not going to missuse their power, right?"

Wolf shook his head. "I'll use them if I find myself in trouble."

"Good!" Eiko exclaimed satisfied. "I'm not so sure, but I think I can trust you with the 3 Eidolons, provided you know how to summon them." She smiled happily as she took out her Ribbon. "I can't just lose this that easily again! I'll be very careful this time around."

Link looked at Wolf. The lupine was staring down at the three items on his right hand. "...Wait a minute," Link began before looking down at Eiko, "don't you think you're being a little bit too nice by giving him 3 powerful entities?"

Wolf looked a bit amused at Link before Eiko held out the ribbon to Link. "Um, hello? This memento is from my bestest friend in the whole world who saved me from dying!" she yelled. "I'm feeling very generous today as well, but it mainly has to do with my friend's memento! If I just gave out the Sapphire, that would be a jerk thing to do!"

Wolf grinned at Link. "Jealous because you won't get these items, perhaps?"

Link looked away annoyed. "No..." he muttered.

"Anyway!" Eiko spoke up, "do me a favor and don't go losing those items, okay? If you lose them, you won't be able to call forth the Eidolons to help you out. Unless of course you want somebody to take them off from your...claws. Since you, by some odd reason, made me think you're not that bad (which I'll regret at some point) and you lose those items, just come to me, and I'll give you more of them, okay?"

Wolf stuffed the items back into his pocket and nodded. "Thanks, I'll make good use of them."

Chris closed his eyes. "No burning Fox with Phoenix, okay?"

"No, that'd be too easy, then."

Eiko sweat dropped. "...And don't use them for revenge or something like that," she said.

"Oh, one last thing I wanted to ask you about," Wolf began, "...do I really have to say out loud those chants you just said?"

"The chants? Oh, those aren't really necessary," she said chuckling. "Those were just for show. The spell is actually much longer, but the Eidolons asked me to hurry up the pace."

Wolf stared blankly at her. "...They asked you?"

Eiko nodded and pointed at the little horn on her head. "See this horn? I need to focus my thoughts into the horn in order to talk directly with the Eidolons. Since you don't have this, you won't have the chance to talk to them. It's only an ability we summoners have." She looked proud as she quickly put her hands on her hips. "Ha-ha, we're something, aren't we?"

"I think so," Mario commented. "You're a very impressive girl."

"Teeheehee, I like to receive compliments, thank you very much," Eiko said with a bow to Mario before turning to the others. "So, I guess that's all you need to know about the Eidolons."

Wolf nodded, but then he felt that something was shrinking in the pocket where he had left the items. The lupine dug his right hand into his pocket to grab three stickers that weren't there before. "What the..."

Eiko chuckled as she looked at the others. "Thank you so much for finding my friend's memento!" she said happily. "This little accident will surely teach me to be more responsible. I have to show some manners since I AM Lindblum's mistress." She turned around to look at the expanse of forest behind her. Eiko remained silent as she stared at the trees for some seconds before she scratched her head a bit. "Now...where was the way home again?"

Most of the Smashers frowned at this. Chris kept frowning as he thought "(Is the way to get to this universe by accident that messed up? I'm going to have to ask Master Hand more behind this...)"

"...Oh well," Eiko said before she turned to them. "I can fend off by myself pretty well. Even if I get lost, I'll be just fine." She thought for a moment, hitting the side of her head a bit. "I'm not sure about where the way back home was, though..." she muttered embarrassed. "...I'll find it if I keep going to the same way I went," she said. "...Then again, from where did I come from exactly? I was looking frantically around for my ribbon all this time that I lost the way..."

"Do...you need any help?" Kirby asked.

"Oh, don't bother," Eiko said. "I'm a pretty strong girl, I'll have you know. If a monster sees me, it'll run away right in an instant." She smiled. "Okay then, see you around!"

Meta Knight cleared his throat. "What would you do if you get lost again?"

Eiko took a moment of silence as she stared at the masked knight for some seconds. "...Give me a hand until then, okay?" she responded before turning around to walk to the western forest. "I'll be fine, trust me!" Eiko turned her head to look and wave a hand at them. "Thank you very much for finding my ribbon again! Make good use of the Eidolons, and don't let anyone have them, you got that? Bye!"

The Smashers watched as the princess of Lindblum disappeared from sight once she entered the woods. Coughing to get Chris's attention, from his pocket, Kawashima said "'Find My Friend's Memento' sidequest complete in record time!"

"Find My Friend's Memento" Sidequest Completed!

Sapphire, Ruby, and Phoenix Pinion Obtained!

"Wow, that's surely a new record," Kawashima said. "Keep up the good work, okay?"

Mario smiled a bit at them. "It's good to see we were able to help her, don't you think?"

Wolf showed them the stickers that he held with his right hand. The Smashers stared at the stickers and looked confused after doing so. The three stickers that Wolf held were medium-size stickers that had the images of the Sapphire, the Ruby, and the Phoenix Pinion.

"Er...why are those stickers with you?"

"Who knows," Wolf said. "The items the girl gave me shrunk in my pocket, and these stickers replaced their places."

"Why is that?" Olimar asked. "Is it some kind of freaky spell?"

"Again, who knows," Wolf responded again. "Either way, I don't care as long as I can use them."

Lucario thought for a moment. "...Maybe any equipment that we receive will automatically turn into stickers..."

"That's...bizarre..." Luigi commented. "Why'd you think that?"

"That's just a theory I made up now," Lucario said. "I could be wrong..."

"Considering the fact that we're the only people who uses Trophy Stands and the stickers to enhance our powers, and the fact that Master Hand is the one who invented these items," Meta Knight began, "I wouldn't be surprised if he put on us a spell like the one Lucario mentioned."

"I think you're right," Link said. "Master Hand has his ways to mess up with anything..."

"Be glad he 'messes up' with anything and not anyone," Meta Knight said. "Everything is barely normal as it is, but surely you wouldn't want him to do...oddities with people, right? It's a mystery what he really has with his magic and what he does with it."

"...So true..." Toon Link muttered.

Wolf chuckled and stuffed back the stickers with his hands in his pockets. "Well, I must say that this walk had benefits," he said amused as he turned around to the direction of the mansion. "If you will excuse me, I have to go back and relax for the rest of the day."

Link narrowed his eyes at him. "You're not going to do something funny with those Eidolons, right?"

"None of your business, elf," Wolf said as he began to walk to the north. "I really want to relax for the rest of the day. Also, since the girl gave me these stickers, they're mine to use and not anyone else's use, okay?"

"As long as you follow her warning..."

"Yeah, I'll do that," Wolf said. "I don't want problems with anybody, anyway."

They all watched as Wolf walked up to the top of the hill. Feeling unsure, Link turned to them. "I think I'm going to go with him to see if he doesn't do something weird with those Eidolons."

"Fine, but please keep your jealousy under control," Meta Knight pointed out.

'I-I'm not jealous," Link said annoyed before he turned around and began to run up to the hill. "See you later, okay?"

Kirby sighed depressed and began to walk up the hill as well. "I'm hungry..." he muttered softly.

Meta Knight sighed with a frown and looked at the others. "I'd have liked to stay here a little bit more, but if I were to leave Kirby alone in the mansion, specifically in the kitchen while he's hungry...we would starve to death in a span of 3 days."

Luigi looked shocked. 'O-oh, please, don't let him get close to my flan! I-I haven't finished that yet!"

"...I'll do what I can."

"Thanks..." Luigi muttered as Meta Knight pushed back his cape and began to walk up the hill with the others. Soon, the four Smashers reached the top and walked down to the other side. The green plumber sniffed a bit at this.

Chris looked a bit amused. "Don't you think Meta Knight is starting to open more to some people? When he first came here, he was very rude about getting the Halberd..."

"People change overtime, Chris," Mario said. "It's other people that help others to change. It's their influence that does all the work on others. If you were to hang out with the wrong crowd, would you change?"

"No..." Chris said. "If I did that, I'd be someone worse..."

"Maybe," Mario said. "Just stay with us and you'll be fine."

The World Traveler chuckled. "Thanks, Mario."

Mario looked at Luigi, Olimar, Toon Link, Chris, and Lucario. "Well, a smaller group has a lot more of control, right? Why don't we accept the second request to see who wants to get help?"

"Let's do that," Toon Link said a little bit excited. "I'm up for some exploring."

The others nodded at Mario. The red plumber smiled a bit and walked around the billboard together with everyone to get to the infatuated Parakarry and the talkative Kylie Koopa. Seeing that Parakarry wasn't even paying attention to Kylie due to the fact he looked up with hearts as eyes, Mario knocked the counter a bit. "Parakarry, we would like to accept the second request. Can you give us the wing stamp to show it to the other girl the request mentioned?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Parakarry didn't seem to look at Mario as he merely ducked to grab a wing stamp that he tossed at Mario's hat. "Leave me and the gal alone now, okay?"

Mario grabbed the stamp and looked at the infatuated Parakarry, Kylie still talking like there was no end about how amazing the Koopa Kronicle was. "And then, when I took a step forward to get the silver picture of the third page on my secret target, my curiosity grew wide enough to re-think my thoughts after I found out my target was wearing an alien costume during July...and the costume was 0 percent costume but a real alien!" Kylie narrated. "The darn hoopla ran away, though..."

"...The request said that the girl was waiting in the mountains of the east, right?" Chris asked as Kylie went on.

"Yes..." Mario muttered.

"And BAM!" Kylie said shocked. "I found the hoopla running right into a wall, and he turned out to be a scam. His mask fell off, and he was just a Goomba. Silly me..."

The Smashers looked confused at this conversation before they slowly walked away around the post office to head into the eastern forest to get to the eastern expanse of mountains across it.

Eastern Mountain Range

The group had walked out the forest to find a long expanse of mountains and cliffs that extended to the east. The land under them was arid with winds that usually swept some ground on their feet. Before them, across a long region of bare ground, there was a mountain that had a path between cliffs.

"Look at this..." Toon Link said as he admired the scenery while everyone walked towards the mountain. "It's always green around the mansion, but here it's all dry."

"It makes you want to explore this unknown universe more, don't you think?" Lucario asked.

"What, you want to do that someday?" Chris asked.

"I wouldn't mind," Lucario said. "I'd like to go on a journey and see new places in this world. Like a journey of discovery."

Mario thought for a moment. "I have to say this universe that Master Hand created is very intriguing."

"W-wait, Master Hand created this universe?" Olimar asked.

"Yes, Master Hand was the one who created this universe," Mario said. "I remember him saying that it took an awful lot of time for him to make this universe all by himself. Crazy Hand was there with him, but he made his work harder because he used to destroy many things...because it was fun. But anyway, the only think I feel a little bit that makes me feel sympathy towards Master Hand is...that he forgot what he created here."

"You mean to say he forgot what he created?" Lucario asked.

"...Pretty much..." Mario trailed off. "It's been, according to him, thousands of years ever since he created this universe." He thought for a moment. "Actually, this kind of makes you think why Tabuu wants to have Master Hand so badly, don't you think?"

Luigi looked up. "Tabuu wants Master Hand's power then?"

"That could be a big reason..." Mario trailed off. "...But let's leave that for another time, okay? For now let's focus in the request of the girl of Ozette..." He looked confused. "Ozette is a town, right?"

"Ozette..." Chris repeated. "I'm sure I heard that name before..."

"Me too..." Lucario said before he closed an eye and tried to think. "Ugh, I know I saw that place before... How could I forget that?"

As some of them pondered about the name, they eventually reached the mountain with the path that spread between cliffs. The Smashers looked around to see if there were any signs of the girl of Ozette. However, they didn't see her anywhere.

"Where is that girl?" Olimar asked. "Wasn't she supposed to be here waiting?"

"She could get bored by waiting for so long," Mario suggested. "Maybe we should wait for her to come here?"

At that moment, Lucario's ears twitched a bit. The Aura Pokémon turned around to find someone looking at them. "...Everyone, she's here."

The other five Smashers turned around to look at their client who requested the sidequest. The girl looked at Chris and Lucario the most before she warmly smiled at them a bit.

"If isn't you guys..." the girl said.

"...Wait, I know you," Chris said. "You're...Presea..."

The requester turned out to be Presea, the girl that Chris and Lucario had met a long time ago. The girl of Ozette looked a bit cheerful after she saw the two, even if her tone of voice didn't exactly express the facial expression she gave them.

"It's good to see 2 again," Presea said as she walked to them. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

TO BE CONTINUED...

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

Smash Channel

The forum was once again shown while Chris (in his Beastmaster job) stood in the middle and behind of the counter in front of a crowd sat on rows of chairs. Hearing some claps from the multitude of Toads, Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Shy Guys, Waddle Dees, Waddle Doos, some Pokémon of many different types, humans, and even many of the Smashers who were spread across all the crowd, the World Traveler joined his hands together on the counter and smiled nervously.

"Well, it's time for the section of Smash Channel to make another appearance again!" he said chuckling. "We're awfully sorry that this section hasn't showed up ever since chapter 134..." He looked away. "We could say the forum was destroyed after Ms. Rita Mordio was here..."

"Ahem..."

"Oh, right, sorry," Chris muttered embarrassed. "Well, today we have a special guest as always. This guest isn't featured in SSBB, but as you know by now, this section's purpose is to give them a special highlight so they speak aloud their thoughts about the Smashers." He raised his right arm. "Today, please give a warm welcome to the girl of Madain Sari, princess of Lindblum, and above else the..." He took out a note from under the counter that he started to read. "The Queen of Moogles since I was raised by at least 30 of them..." he read before tossing the note away. "Give a warm welcome to Eiko Carol!"

"Eiko Carol Fabool!" the mentioned character yelled as she sat next to Chris, the crowd starting to applaud her. "I'm the adopted daughter of a king and queen, you know!" She pouted a bit. "For that matter, I have another last name!"

"O-oh, my bad..." Chris said before Eiko waved a hand at the audience. "S-so, okay, you're here now, Eiko. What are your thoughts of being the only Final Fantasy IX character to be here?"

Eiko smiled pleased. "If you have any of Zidane's gang in here, you MUST have me here as well, don't you think? They already came here once, right?"

"W-well, yes, but is this a rule you just made up?"

"Does my rank as a princess let me make rules?"

"...I...don't think so..."

"Then yes, I can," Eiko said. "Okay, beastmaster, throw me the question of the day. I wanna give some insight to anything or anyone my beloved crowd wants me to do. Isn't that right, people?"

Some people of the crowd began to cheer a bit.

"Seeing some enthusiasm here, let's begin," Chris said as he took out a paper. "Okay, Eiko, the topic of today is..."

What does Eiko Carol (Fabool) thinks of a character she would like to talk about?

The crowd began to clap at the topic. The World Traveler smiled a bit. "Seems like the people like the idea very well," he commented. "Okay, Eiko, give us your insight of a certain Smasher you would like t-"

"Wolf O'Donnell!" Eiko interrupted as she raised her sleeve-covered hands.

As the crowd cheered loudly, the World Traveler looked away and frowned. "Seriously, what's up with all the attention given to the Star Fox reps...and Star Wolf rep?" he asked before looking annoyed at the crowd while opening his arms wide. "We'd like to give more attention to Olimar here. Isn't that right, people?"

"Y-yes, please do that!" Olimar yelled from within the cheering crowd.

Eiko smiled slyly. "Well, I touched a good one, huh?"

"As long as you tell us your insight..." Chris said.

"Hmm-hm, I'd like so," Eiko said proudly. "Well, let me see what I can talk about him..." She took out a scroll from behind her back.

"Er, Eiko..." Chris looked unsure at how big the scroll actually looked like.

The Madain Sari girl unrolled the scroll that went rolling all the way across the right side of the table before it fell down on the floor. Chris, along with the crowd, looked at how long the scroll of 100 feet was. Being curious, Chris looked at the scroll's contents, finding many questions that mentioned Wolf.

"Let's see..." Eiko held the top of the scroll as she looked the questions she had. "What's the better way of knowing about someone? Asking, that's it!" she said. "Okay, here's a question that's been bugging me. Does Wolf want to have children sometime?"

"H-how am I supposed to know that?" Chris muttered through gritted teeth as the crowd looked interested. "That's a little bit personal."

"Nah-ah," Eiko said as she looked at him. "Everyone's starting to say that they're gonna have children. We all know the red fox is gonna have a child very soon, but that's just a misleading information that's better be a secret since he doesn't know himself." She muttered a small laugh. "That's like funny."

"What red fox is that? I don't know any red fox..."

"Mr. Best Leader," Eiko said chuckling. "Better known, ironically, as the red fox Fox."

"That was over with already!" Fox yelled from the laughing crowd.

"Anyway, I wanna know if he's gonna have children," Eiko said. "For a guy in his 50s, I'd suggest him to get a wife before it's too late. He has a team so why can't he get the girl of his dreams in order to keep the legacy living with a generation?"

Chris blushed a bit while the crowd cheered. "I-I still don't know that! Heck, nobody knows that!"

"I do," said Crazy Hand from the back row.

"Y-you don't," Chris said. "You're crazy..." He shook his head. "E-Eiko, can you ask another question?"

Eiko rolled her eyes, the crowd getting depressed. "Fine, let me take a look here..." She stuck out her tongue a bit as she looked at the scroll. "Ooh, ooh, I have one here. Does Wolf love someone?"

"Eiko, that's almost exactly the same question you asked before..."

"Nah-ah!" Eiko said moving her head at the sides. "If it's almost, it's another question. You answer me that question now before I call the guards to take you away!"

"..." Chris looked blankly. "...I-I don't know who he loves... Why are you asking things related to love, anyway?"

Eiko rested her chin on her arms on the counter as she looked away amused. "Well, what can I say? I like to gossip with romance..."

"You're playing with that, though."

"That's the point."

"What?"

"Answer the question!" Eiko said as she quickly pushed her chin up.

"Well...Wolf doesn't love anyone..."

"..." Eiko blinked, her sly smile still intact. "You kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not..."

"..." Eiko sighed and tossed the whole scroll away. "What point is there to keep asking if my questions revolve around romance?"

[DededeCloneChris]

"What? Every single question you had there was about Wolf getting a wife?"

"Duh!" Eiko said annoyed. "The guy needs love or else he'll die as a lone wolf, which is a very ironic thing to point out!"

Chris grunted. "Eiko, I'm afraid the section's time is over. You lost your chance to ask a more important question."

Eiko took out her flute. "If you end this, I'm calling Madeen on you!"

"Wasn't the original name for that powerful Eidolon Maduin?"

"Blame my translators for messing up that one then! It's Madeen in my universe, and it will pummel you down the ground with this place you call forum!"

Chris looked annoyed. "Oh no, we're not repeating another Rita accident here again!" He took out a whistle that he blew on it. "Security!"

Eiko turned around to see Sonic (as a werehog) and Chip coming from the left. They both were wearing police hat on their heads, and the werehog looked annoyed at the chuckling crowd. "Why the hell am I wearing this ridiculous hat?" Sonic asked bored.

"Hey, it looks good," Chip commented. "Besides, we get paid."

Eiko grunted at Chris. "You're not going to toss me out of here, right?" She pointed her flute at him. "I'm a princess, you know!"

Chris took out a paper. "Sorry, but according to an anonymous source, she said that girls getting angry to have an excuse to beat on guys is so overused these days that she wishes it to end forever. As a favor, I'm actually going to listen to her...once."

"What? That's bias!" Eiko yelled. "That happens a lot because people don't know who they're messing with! Besides, if the person is even anonymous, why did you decide to say that the person was a gir-"

"SONIC, TOSS HER OUT!"

The werehog rolled his eyes and streched his claws at Eiko. Soon, the princess of Madain Sari was flung all the way behind the werehog as she crashed right into a garbage can that rolled over and away through a door. "I'M SO SUING YOU ALL FOR THIS, YOU HEAR ME?!" Eiko yelled loudly.

The werehog looked bored at Chris. "This is the last time you'll have me randomly wearing a police hat..." he muttered annoyed before he walked away.

Chip saluted to Chris before he flew away with Sonic, the crowd cheering a bit as the Beastmaster looked nervous. He knew well that Eiko would surely come back. "W-well, the time for this section has come to an end! We're happy to return here again. Please, don't forget that the Smash Channel will be constantly featured during the remainder of the Sidequest Arc." He shifted his eyes. "W-with that in mind, thank you all for assisting to the show... See you!"

The curtains quickly fell down.

"Phew, the show's over, and there were no damages done on the stage..."

It was not long before Chris heard footsteps from the left side of the stage.

"O creature of holy might, trap your enemies within sparkling and divine rays of judgment to mesmerize and annihilate them wi-ah screw it! Madeen, own that guy down!"

Explosions of light, along with a mighty roar of a beast, echoed behind the curtains as the beastmaster ran away for his dear life from a huge lion-like beast that chased after him.

"Send him to hell!" Eiko yelled loudly. "Nobody messes with Eiko Carol Fabool, nobody!"

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

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Eastern Mountain Range
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 160: Achieving What One Takes to Strive For

Eastern Mountain Range

Tales of Symphonia - Water Symphony

"Presea..." Chris trailed off as he looked down at the young-looking girl. "Is that you?"

"I assure you it's me," Presea said. "Why, I still remember the day we met each other. How could I forget a face like yours? I always remember those who are my friends."

"Oh...thanks," Chris said as he blushed a bit.

Presea smiled warmly at them. "May I ask you what are you doing here of all places?"

"We could ask you the same thing," Lucario said.

"Lucario!" Chris yelled.

"Oh, s-sorry," Lucario apologized. "We just happen to live close to this mountain range..."

"Oh, really?" Presea asked. "You live nearby?"

"Yes, we live in the mansion across the woods from the west," Mario explained. "By the way, hi, my name is Mario." He held out his left hand at the others. "This here is Luigi, the one with the green hat is Toon Link, and the one with the helmet is Olimar."

Presea looked at the other three characters. After seeing how different they each looked like, she tilted her head. "As a whole, you don't look like you came from the same place..." She looked back at Chris and Lucario. "These are your friends, right?"

"Oh yes," Chris said. "This is part of the group we told you before. There's a whole lot of them in the mansion, but we came here as a smaller group."

"Then does that mean Marth, Roy, Pit, Ness, Lucas, Fox, and Falco are there as well?"

"Yes..." Chris said. "You weren't lying about remembering us..."

Presea chuckled a bit. "Like I said before, I wouldn't do such a thing. So, what are you doing here?" She looked confused by the expression of her face. "Did you come here for a walk? That'd be a very unlikely thing to do because this place seems to be inhabited by monsters."

"M-m-m-monsters?" Luigi and Olimar repeated in fear.

"Yes," Presea said simply before she pointed at the path along the mountains. "I began to hear some moans and howls from this direction. When I first came here, I started to sense some powerful mana that radiated from these mountains..." She looked up. "This is very odd, but I think I felt this mana before..."

"What is...mana, exactly?" Toon Link asked.

Presea looked at him. "It's the only force that can give life to nature," she explained. "It flows everywhere in the world of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. Only a handful of people can feel the power that mana radiates out from itself. If a world runs out of mana, it will wither itself and die...but thankfully, it will never deplete itself." She looked back at the mountains. "I'm very intrigued as to why this place exudes such a big amount of mana that I wanted to investigate but..."

"You don't know if you can make it alone by yourself," Mario finished.

Presea blinked surprised before she looked at him. "Weird, that's what I was going to say..."

Mario showed her the wing stamp.

"...You were the ones who accepted my request at the post office of that flying turtle?" Presea asked, the Smashers nodding afterwards. "Oh, then I think I feel more relieved after you were the ones who accepted my request." She made a happy expression. "What's more better than traveling with the people I know?"

"I-I don't know you..." Luigi muttered.

Presea looked at him. "That doesn't matter. You look like you're a nice person yourself who could easily like anybody."

Luigi blushed a bit and scratched his hat a bit. "T-thanks..."

"You're welcome," Presea said smiling warmly. "By how you look like, I can infer you're Mario's...older brother or friend?"

"N-no, he's the older brother," Luigi said. "I'm the younger one."

"I see..." Presea said as she looked at Mario. "(These people look different. They either have big noses or big eyes...but it's not my place to judge their looks...) In any case, you decided to help me with my request, right?"

"Yes," Mario said. "Is it okay if we go with you?"

"I don't have any objections with you," Presea said. "I'm sure I'm going to enjoy having the friends of Chris and Lucario, at least I can trust you all well."

Chris blushed a bit. "Oh, Presea..."

"Just..." Presea turned around where she began to walk behind a small rock formation, "let me make sure my charm is safe..."

"Charm?" Toon Link repeated.

Presea stopped walking and turned to them. "I'm a person who likes to make lucky charms and brooches," she said. "For that matter, you can say I have a knack to be a crafter besides the fact I'm a lumberjack."

As Presea walked behind the rock formation, Luigi, Toon Link, and Olimar looked at each other confused. "Lumberjack?" they all repeated.

"Yes, a lumberjack," Presea said from behind the rock formation as she dragged some kind of tall coffin with the image of a skeleton that had its arms crossed on the top of the coffin. "I wanted to be a lumberjack to take on the role of my dead father. I needed to have the necessary strength to be a lumberjack so I submitted myself to an Exsphere research." She stopped dragging the coffin-like charm as it stood calmly behind her. The lumberjack girl showed them a blue crystal that was embedded to her skin in her neck. The gem had some sort of yellow crest around it. "See this?"

"I-is that a jewel attached to your neck?" Toon Link asked shocked.

"Yes, this is an Exsphere," Presea explained. "Can you see the crest around it? That's a Key Crest, a special artifact that allows me to suppress the malicious effects of the Exsphere so I can use its power."

"Wait, I don't understand any of this," Mario said. "Can you explain more?"

"Of course," Presea said. "You don't seem to know what Exspheres are so... Exspheres are special gems that allow the user to develop special abilities such as increasing the strength or even allow someone to cast magic. Mine gives me the strength I need to carry heavy objects that nobody else can." She looked a bit depressed. "However, I blame myself for using the Exsphere because its malicious effects are very harmful..."

"Why?" Toon Link asked.

"Thanks to the Exsphere, I lost 16 years of my life due to the fact I didn't have a Key Crest when I was 12 years old."

"...You lost 16 years of your life?" Luigi asked confused. "But...you look very young..."

"That's the reason why I look like a young girl of 14 years," Presea explained. "While people see me as a young girl, I should be actually 30 years old."

"...T-thirty years old?" Olimar repeated in shock as he opened his eyes.

"Yes, I'm actually 30 years old," Presea said in shame. "Thanks to the Key Crest, I was able to age again. When I was under the effects of the Exsphere, I was an empty shell without emotions that couldn't even remember what had happened. I lived 16 painful years without knowing about what I had done... I was like a robot," she explained. "During that time, my father...he died on his bed...and I just kept working like there was no end...and my father's corpse...it was...still on the same bed where he died of a sickness..." She shed a tear and rubbed her eye a bit. "I was so ashamed that I didn't try to feel anything about my father...but I just kept working without taking him to his grave..."

Lucario looked a bit worried about Presea's past. The Aura Pokémon somehow felt that he understood Presea better than anyone in there. "(...She lost the time to enjoy her childhood and was turned into some sort of emotionless robot...)" He looked down. "(...Why am I feeling this bad, though? There's something that bugs me...)"

"P-Presea, wait, you're getting a bit overboard," Chris said worried. "You don't need to explain all that much, please..."

"...Thanks," Presea said as she smiled weakly. "I don't want to think about all those years again...but it's something that will keep haunting me forever because I won't able to recover all those years back...but..." she looked relieved, "nobody said I can't enjoy the life I have ahead of me...that's what makes me happy."

"Please, don't try to remember awful memories again," Mario said. "We just wanted to know what the Exsphere was."

"Sorry," Presea said. "Like I was saying before, my Exsphere allows me to carry bix axes that people wouldn't normally carry." She took out a big axe that was roughly the same height as her (as she was 4'11"). "Don't look freaked out, though."

"W-we are..." Luigi and Olimar said as they saw their reflections on the ax's blade.

"I have to thank Lloyd and his group for giving me the Key Crest in time," Presea said. "The Key Crest is what lets me be a normal girl again. Thanks to this, I've recovered my humanity as the girl I needed to be." She smiled a bit. "I hope that explains it all for you."

"It was...good knowledge, I guess..." Toon Link said a bit surprised.

Presea kept her big ax and looked at her coffin. "Well, it's time to hide this charm somewhere safe before we proceed."

Luigi looked freaked out at the skeleton with crossed arms on the top of the coffin. "W-what is that...charm?" he asked as he hid behind Mario (along with Olimar).

"This is a good luck charm from Lezareno Mystic Supply, a subsidiary of the Lezareno Company. Most of you don't know Regal, right? He's a friend of mine," Presea explained. "He's the president of the multi-famous Lezareno Company in Altamira." She looked back at the coffin. "This here is an iron maiden that the Lezareno Mystic Supply sent me since they wanted to collaborate with me. They sent me this as a sample for a product they wanted me to judge," she explained more. "Don't look scared, please. It's not really that scary."

"W-why?" Olimar asked.

"Well, the reason why you don't need to be scared by this is that they say that, if you put a hair from someone you love inside here, 765 days later, you'll find happiness together."

Chris looked a bit surprised at the ominous-looking 'charm' that Presea had. "...Is that right?"

"Of course it is," Presea said. "This product is becoming popular across Meltokio that 350,000 had been shipped. The Lezareno Mystic Supply said that, if the sales keep up good, they will soon ship this to other towns and cities. In other words, this product is becoming a big seller."

"...I can hardly believe that..." Lucario said.

Mario looked at the Iron Maiden. "If it does bring happiness to someone...do you have someone in mind?"

Presea blushed and looked away. "That is a secret..."

"Oh."

She looked back at them. "Well, I need to put this somewhere safe."

Luigi (surprisingly) approached the Iron Maiden and found out that it had two small doorknobs on the lids. "C-can I see what's inside?"

"You'll be cursed."

Music stops

An eerie wind passed around their feet as the others looked shocked at Presea's simple tone of voice. Luigi, his hands grabbing the doorknobs, stared blankly at the black paint of the iron maiden.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Off-Key

"...Excuse me?" Olimar asked. "Y-you can get cursed if you open that?"

"Yes," Presea said without even looking shocked. "Since the iron maiden has a hair of someone, and the fact 765 days haven't passed yet, the wish will be broken, and then a terrible curse will befall anyone who opens the iron maiden."

Luigi just kept staring at the lid of the 'charm' in front of him.

"...What kind of terrible curse is that?" Lucario asked.

Presea looked at him and raised a finger. "Once you open the lid while the wish hasn't been granted, first, you'll experience stomach-churning sickness and diarrhea for 77 straight hours."

Most of them widened their eyes at the utterly disgusting curse.

"F-for 77 straight hours?" Olimar repeated in shock.

"It's a very risky curse," Presea said. "But that's not all. There's something even worse than the stomach-churning sickness."

"(If you ask me, having diarrhea is worse than that...)" Chris thought disgusted.

"Anyway," Presea continued, "for the following seven hundred seventy-seven days, when you least expect, the king of demons will appear and stick his finger up your nose," she explained as she had some sort of poker face that didn't reflect any emotions or reactions whatsoever. "Every. Single. Day," she added.

Mario looked shocked, Olimar's eyes widened as he pulled his hands inside his helmet and covered his nose, Chris looked disgusted, Toon Link covered his nose with his arms, and Lucario just stared shocked at the good luck charm he considered it to be more like a misfortune artifact.

And Luigi just kept staring blankly at the lid.

"...Has anyone opened that before?" Mario asked. "I mean, does the...king of demons really appear to...stick up his finger up someone's nose?"

"Yes," Presea said as she looked completely normal. "I heard that 100 people had opened the lid, and they all could have sworn that someone got inside their rooms and stuck a finger up their noses," she explained. "10 of those people died between the 40th and 100th days."

"Oh my god..." Chris muttered disgusted.

Toon Link stuck his tongue out. "A-and does the king of demons stop doing that gross thing to them?"

"Of course..." Presea trailed off, "...not," she added. "There have been reports of people seeing a figure going into the graveyards at nights. It could be implied that the figure was the king of demons who dug out the corpses of the cursed people just to stick up his finger up their noses. So far, since the product barely came 500 days ago, the figure always is seen going into the graveyards when it's at its calmest atmosphere..."

The group remained silent.

"By the way, did I mention the last person who died by the king of demons was a child?"

They looked even more shocked than before.

Presea stared at them before she looked at Luigi. "But if you're all right with this information, go ahead and open it and be cursed."

The Smashers watched as Luigi kept staring blankly at the lid. It was not long before the green plumber's skin turned pale in a white color before he fell down on his back, Presea looking down at him.

"I guess that is a no," Presea said simply.

"Luigi!" Chris said worried as the others ran to check on the knocked Luigi. "Luigi, are you okay?"

Toon Link looked down at Luigi. "Oh boy, he didn't take it so well..." He blinked shocked. "D-did his eyes just roll back into his head?"

"T-they did!" Olimar yelled scared.

"Luigi!" Mario yelled as he ducked to shake his brother's head. "Luigi, wake up! You didn't open the lid-"

"Yet," Presea added to interrupt.

"Luigi!" Mario yelled as he continued to shake his brother's head on the ground.

"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhh..." Luigi managed to say as he continued to look knocked out, his skin still white.

Chris looked shocked at Presea. "H-how can they even sell this product to the public if it really does call the king of demons to do...you-know-what?"

"Hmm, you have a good question," Presea remarked. "Well, my guess is that there aren't many reckless people out there that the group thinks is safe. Those who happen to open the lid before the wish is granted are unlucky enough to get the curse."

"..." Chris looked down at the pale Luigi.

Presea blinked a few times before she closed her eyes. "If you feel so unsure, keep your brother away from the iron maiden's lid. Do you want the king of demons to drop by?"

"Presea, I think you're not helping with this..." Lucario said as Mario kept moving Luigi a bit.

"My bad then."

Lucario sighed.

Presea temporarily joined your team!

A while later...

Tales of Symphonia - Search a Seal ~Tethe'alla~

As Mario grabbed his dazzled brother's right hand, the group looked up to the mountains, some of them staring at the path went between cliffs. Presea had hid the iron maiden in a small opening of a crack where it could barely fit. The ax-wielder walked to the group and nodded. "Let's go," Presea said as she turned to the path. "We must see the source of the mana."

"Why are you so intrigued about this mana flow?" Toon Link asked.

"It feels familiar," Presea said. "I want to see what it is before I go away from here."

"That's right," Mario began as Luigi twirled his head a bit on his shoulders, "how did you come here?"

"To be honest, this land is entirely unknown to me," Presea explained. "I was just taking a walk in the forest of Ozette before I noticed that I came out from it, finding this expanse of mountains I never have seen before around the areas of Ozette." She looked confused. "How did I end up here in the land where you all live?"

Chris shifted his eyes a bit. "Because...you haven't looked well enough?"

"That's very unlikely since I've explored the areas around Ozette to hunt down materials for my charms," Presea explained. "But...maybe you're right. I haven't been in some areas for quite some time..."

Chris sighed in relief.

"...Let's proceed," Presea said as she began to walk towards the path. "Be careful, I listened to some faint howls that came from further into the cliffs."

Olimar gulped. "Oh my..."

The Smashers finally decided to follow the seemingly young-looking girl, carefully looking where they were stepping on. Soon, as they all walked forward, they found out that the path wasn't necessarily attached against the rocky walls on the cliffs, but they were also dangerously forming a thin path between precipices. Some of them got scared after they glanced down to see pure darkness. Worse yet, the path divided into several paths that went to different caves across the cliffs.

"Strange," Presea commented. "The paths here remind me of the Temple of Earth."

"W-where's that?" Olimar asked as he peeked down the precipice.

"It's a mystical temple located north of Meltokio," Presea explained. "In there, the Summon Spirit Gnome lives to nurture the land's mana with his power of earth."

"Gnome?" Mario asked.

Presea smiled a bit. "Yes, he's the Summon Spirit of Earth. Unlike the other Summon Spirits, I should say that Gnome is...quite different."

"Why is he different?" Toon Link asked.

Presea pointed down at the narrow path that went all the way down to an entrance to a cave. The group calmly followed down the path as they talked with her. "Well, Gnome's appearance is that of a big mole who carries a shovel and wears a red bow on his head."

The only one that remembered how the Summon Spirit of Earth looked like and blushed at the thought was Chris.

Presea's chuckle echoed a bit even though it was very faint. "The best part is that Gnome has big paw pads."

The group suddenly stopped at the awkward information that the girl had given to them. Presea turned around and looked at them.

"Is something wrong?" Presea asked.

Toon Link looked confused. "Pardon me if I'm sounding a bit rude but...why is the best part of Gnome about his...paw pads?"

"Oh, that?" Presea said as she tilted her head to the left a bit. "I just like paw pads. They're so soft and spongy when you touch them..." She blushed a bit at thought of touching Gnome's paw pads. "I just seem to like paw pads, which reminds me..." She looked at Lucario. "Do you...have any paw pads?"

"W-what?" Lucario asked embarrassed.

"He does..." Chris said.

"C-Chris!" Lucario yelled.

Presea looked a bit interested at this. "Since you look like a dog to me, I thought you'd have some... Can I see them for a bit?"

"What?" Lucario asked again.

"Don't worry; it'll be quick."

Lucario shook his head. "S-sorry, but that request sounds very embarrassing to me..."

Presea looked depressed. "I see..."

Mario looked a bit worried and he turned to Lucario. "Let her do it."

"What are you saying now?" Lucario asked. "Why do you want me to..." Lucario saw that Mario was pointing at his head. "What?"

Mario motioned a bit at the depressed Presea. Lucario didn't get what Mario tried to say, so he used his telepathy to talk with him.

"(What are you trying to say, Mario?)"

"(Oh, good, you understood my message to talk to me through telepathy instead of muttering,)" Mario said.

"(...Mario, what are you trying to tell me? I'm confused...)"

"(Lucario, you should let Presea see your paw pads.)"

"(I...don't see the reason...)"

"(Wasn't she depressed when she talked about that Exsphere of hers? She got a little bit too far with it by accident.)"

"(And?)"

"(Why don't you cheer her up by letting her see your paw pads? You surely don't want to see her looking down the whole day, right? She's a friend of yours, right?)"

"(Mario...)"

"(What would you prefer to do for her?)"

Lucario sighed. "(Fine, I'll let her...do that...)"

"(Believe me, I just want to see her happy with herself. I don't want to see her like this again.)"

"(I suppose I should do the same... Well, here I go...)"

"Excuse me?" Presea interrupted as she stared at Mario and Lucario. "You 2 are staring at each other for too long now."

Lucario turned and Presea as he looked worried. "Presea..."

"Yes?"

"You...can see my...paw pads..." Lucario wanted to hit himself for saying the two words, "...if you want..." he finished.

This sudden response made the others look at Lucario surprised. Presea, however, blinked a few times at this. "...I can do it?"

"Yes..." Lucario nodded as he blushed a bit. "G-go right ahead..."

"..." Presea smiled a bit. "Thank you, Lucario. Do you have paw pads on your paws?"

"My paws?"

"Oh, sorry, I meant your hands... (He musn't like his hands to be called paws...well, I think I understand because it does sound offensive to him...)"

Lucario showed her his hands. "I don't have any on them," he said.

"I recall seeing some behind your legs..." Toon Link muttered, taking a step back after Lucario gave him a death glare.

"You have them behind your legs?" Presea asked rhetorically as she walked around Lucario. The Aura Pokémon gasped and looked over his right shoulder to see the girl ducking to check the pink paw pads behind his legs. "Oh, here they are..."

Lucario's jaw dropped a bit after Presea...began poking his paw pads.

Presea chuckled as she touched the left leg's paw pad with a finger. "Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke," she kept saying, "poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke..."

Lucario closed his mouth as he tried to prevent laughs from coming out. "(S-stop it, please, stop it...)" Lucario thought as he twitched a bit, the others watching a bit amused at Presea and himself.

"Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke," Presea said faster as she poked the paw pad faster,  making Lucario's tail twitch to the sides. "Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke..."

The Smashers' lips began to twitch uncontrollably before they all broke out laughing loudly, every single one of them dropping on the ground to roll a bit at the sides, holding their stomachs in pain as their laughter echoed in the cliffs and precipices. Lucario couldn't hold on much longer before he broke out laughing by the ticklish sensation that Presea's fingers put on his paw pads. Even though Lucario felt embarrassed by Presea's constant pokes to his paw pads, the Aura Pokémon felt a little bit happy with himself as he managed to look down where Chris was laughing.

Unfortunately, not even Chris's laughs made Lucario feel any better...

"Poke, poke, poke..." Presea continued.

"PLEASE, STOP IT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Lucario laughed in panic.

"Poke, poke, poke..." Presea continued.

"T-THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS NOW! S-STOP IT, HAHAHAHAHA, STOP IT!" Lucario pleaded, his right leg trying its best not to kick Presea away.

"Poke, poke, poke..."

"STOP IT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

A time later...

Lucario panted heavily after he laughed like never before in his life. A very pleased Presea smiled up and rubbed his chest, the Aura Pokémon blushing a bit. "Thank you, Lucario," Presea said without expressing the tone of voice of how happy she was. "You have very soft and spongy paw pads. I'm surprised that such a strong person like you have them."

Lucario looked away embarrassed. "P-please, stop rubbing my chest..."

"Oh, sorry," Presea said as she stopped. "Truthfully, I wanted to rub your head, but you're taller than me so..."

Lucario blushed even more, ignoring some chuckles from the other five Smashers. "C-can we just continue?" he asked annoyed.

Presea smiled happily. "Of course," she said.

Lucario looked at Chris who got closer to whisper him something. "Thanks for making Presea happy. That was very nice of you."

Suddenly, the embarrassing moment from before proved to be worthwhile for the Aura Pokémon.

"I-I wanted to make her feel happy..." Lucario whispered back.

Chris chuckled. "Thanks again."

Soon, the group continued their way down the thin path that leaded to the entrance of a cave inside a mountain. When they passed through the opening, they found themselves standing inside a cave where rocky cliffs made up the walls around. Light was able to come down between the small cracks of the walls that were enough to illuminate the inner room of the mountain.

As they all walked down a path, Presea, wanting to end the eerie silence from the cliffs, decided to talk more with the group. "What have you been doing ever since you left our group?"

"We've been fighting the Subspace Army," Chris said. "They're still at it..."

"I see..." Presea said. "It's the same group of people who ambushed us at the Temple of Darkness, right? Have you made any progress in halting their moves?"

"I could say we haven't..." Lucario commented. "The army changes every tactic they do in order to conquer their desired worlds..."

"...Worlds?" Presea repeated. "What do you mean by worlds?"

The Smashers suddenly stopped walking, Presea stopping on her tracks.

"Wait, are they wanting to conquer Sylvarant and Tethe'alla again?"

Toon Link slapped his forehead. "Lucario, I know it's safe to say to you that you're an IDIOT..."

Presea tilted her head. "Is...there something you didn't tell me before when we traveled together, Chris?"

Chris hopped a bit on his spot. "O-oh, well..."

"If there's some kind of secret that you don't wish anybody else to know, I'll keep as a secret to me," Presea said. "I wouldn't want to divulge personal secrets to anyone. I could end up breaking a promise."

Mario looked at her. "Are you sure you can keep this as a secret?"

"Well...I suppose so," Presea said. "If it's alright, I could tell this to Colette and the others when I go back to Ozette provided I can find them because we parted to different ways...but that's another story."

"Y-you won't tell this to everyone?" Luigi asked.

"You have my word."

The Smashers looked at each other and nodded before looking at Presea. Sighing, Chris began to say something. "...Mario, you tell her. You're in charge of the group since you were the one who called us here."

"Me? Oh well," Mario said before clearing his throat. "Presea, w-"

An hour later...

"And then we're currently taking a rest for the long work to stop Tabuu," Mario finished explaining, not telling Presea about the fact of 'video games' that Chris had explained before.

"...That's very incredible to believe," Presea remarked. "Now I see why most of you don't look alike."

Olimar looked down. "Is it because of my big nose?"

"Or my eyes?" Toon Link asked.

"...Sorry...but...yes..." Presea said worried.

"...Oh well..." Olimar and Toon Link said.

"In any case," Presea continued, "you have probably the most important job that others couldn't do right. I'm amazed to meet people like you." She looked up to the rocks that composed the rocky wall of the inner withins of the cave they entered. "To think you work every day to protect all the worlds apart from my world..." She looked back at them. "I take that I'm not in Ozette's region as well, right?"

Chris looked surprised. "So...you didn't believe me?"

"Sorry, but I have to say no," Presea said. "This whole land's look doesn't have the same look around Ozette's land. I figured out that I found myself walking in another place I didn't know before."

"...She's very clever..." Lucario remarked.

"How did I end up here?" Presea asked.

"Oh no, that's something we don't know either..." Chris said in defeat.

"I see..." Presea said before looking worried. "I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of force at work for my appearance in this universe...but...you're here so everything should be just fine, right?"

"Of course," Mario said. "Everything's safe here. You don't have to worry about that."

"Oh, then it's just fine," Presea said relieved. "I just need to go back from where I came from, and then I could get back to Ozette, right?"

"That's...possible..." Toon Link said. "Many people wind up in this universe by accident when they get lost..."

"..." Presea nodded. "Then let's forget about that. There's no point talking about it if you don't even know." She smiled a bit. "I'm glad to see you again, though. I'm lucky to see my friends again."

"Presea..." Chris smiled a bit.

The pink-haired girl chuckled. "With that away, let's proceed." She turned around to look at a path that turned around to the left towards the west wall of the cave. "Hmm..." She looked confused as she looked around the path they were going. "I can't help but think that this place looks like the Temple of Earth..."

"What is that?" Toon Link asked.

"The Temple of Earth is the same one I talked you about before," Presea said as they continued their way down where they reached the turning point to the left. "The mana that I feel in this cave is very strong...and so familiar to that of the temple..." she trailed off as they stopped in front of a small bridge over a deep precipice. To the other side of the cliff, there was a wide area where some steps leaded to some kind of altar.

"Look at that..." Luigi said as they all looked to the other side of the small bridge. "What is that?"

"...I can't believe it," Presea muttered before she ran across the bridge to cross to the other side. The others looked at each other before they all ran forward to catch up with her. Once Presea stopped running before she could pass a step to the altar, she looked around. "This is...the same thing..."

The Smashers found some kind of big mechanical-like formation that spread in front of the big rocky wall before them. The big pedestal that resembled some sort of machine was a pale purple with a glyph in its circle. They didn't want to approach the weird-looking mechanism as they stood forty feet away from it and its steps. Presea, however, took a step forward to take a closer look.

"...It's another place...but it contains the same mana of earth..." Presea muttered as she looked at the pedestal.

"What does that mean?" Olimar asked.

"It means that this place..." Presea trailed off before they watched as the pedestal glowed a bit, "...is a perfect replica of the Temple of Earth...no doubt about it," she finished.

[DededeCloneChris]

The Smashers watched as the pedestal glowed brighter than usual. Soon, they all took steps back as the earth started to shake violently. Lucario narrowed his eyes, feeling an extremely amount of energy that radiated from the pedestal. Luigi and Olimar tumbled before they fell on their rears, looking shocked as the earthquake kept shaking the ground.

Music stops

"Everyone, be careful," Presea warned them. "If my assumptions are correct, we're probably going to meet someone..."

"W-who's that?" Toon Link asked as he tumbled to the sides.

Suddenly, from around the pedestal, stalagmites quickly sprouted out from the ground as they all pointed at all directions. The Smashers looked a bit shocked as more stalagmites came from the ground, completely covering the pedestal that they could see before. A big stalagmite took the place where the glyph once was, pointing all the way to the top of the cave's ceiling.

And then, the earthquake subsided, returning the silence of the cave.

"..." Mario looked around the pedestal. The stalagmites that sprouted out were still intact on their places. "...What was all that?"

Luigi gulped as he got up. "T-that was called 'How to Scare Luigi so Easily'..."

Presea shook her head. "Don't think it ends here either. Last time me and the others came here, he did the same thing before he finally showed up."

"Who is this guy?" Toon Link asked.

Suddenly, the earthquake came back with much more force than before, all the stalagmites shattering into crumbles of rocks that were pushed away as a big figure jumped out from within the big stalagmite that shattered into dust. The Smashers and Presea covered their faces to avoid coughing by the amount of dust. They all looked up to see the figure spinning a bit before it landed on the pedestal without actually touching the ground but instead floating over it.

However, after the Smashers looked at the figure, they all made very confused looks. Presea herself looked so confused to see that the figure looked a bit different...

...due to the fact the figure was wearing sunglasses. (It should be said Chris blushed and thought that the figure looked cute).

"...Gnome?" Presea finally spoke.

The figure before them was none other than the Summon Spirit of Earth called Gnome. The Summon Spirit of Earth looked like a big mole or some sort of big gerbil that stood roughly about 6'7" in height. He wore a big red bow on his head, his fur was brown with some pale brown horizontal stripes that ran on his wrists and back, and he was holding a small shovel in his right hand. However, the feature that made them all look weird at him was the fact that he was wearing big sunglasses that covered his dotted eyes.

"..." Gnome raised an eyebrow at them. "Hmm..." He took off his sunglasses with his free hand. "Who dares disturb my vacation...I mean...resting place?" he asked, his voice echoing across the whole cave.

"...Vacation?" everyone repeated confused.

"Er..." Gnome shifted his dotted eyes a bit before he tossed the sunglasses away. "I-I mean...er...um..." He cried toon tears. "Oh no, now I've done it this time..." he said ashamed. "The other Summon Spirits are so gonna kick me out for this..."

"...Gnome," Presea said again. "Is that really you?"

Gnome blinked a few times to the ground before he looked at the group. "...Hey, wait a minute," he began as he narrowed his eyes at Presea. "...I know you. You're that little girl Presea, the friend of Sheena the Summoner, right?"

Presea smiled a bit. "It seems you didn't forget me, Gnome."

Gnome blushed a little. "How could I forget the girl with the inhuman strength who almost pushed be down the precipice?"

"I believe that was just a small mistake of my part," Presea said. "I didn't want to push you off the edge. I didn't see where you were standing."

Gnome sweat dropped. "...Okay..." he said a little bit scared. "...Anyhow, hi!" he said happy. "What are you doing here, Presea?" He looked at the Smashers. "For that matter, who are those guys with you?"

Presea held out her left hand at the Smashers. "This people are my friends. They happened to be nearby the area before I went to see what was in here," she explained. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Gnome, the Summon Spirit of Earth."

"N-nice to meet you..." Luigi said a bit scared.

"S-same here..." Olimar said with a gulp.

"(S-so cute in person...)" Chris thought as he smiled a bit at the Summon Spirit.

Gnome smiled happily. "Hey you guys, nice to meetcha," he said as he waved a hand at them.

"The mana that flew out from here was so familiar that I could've sworn feeling it before. I take that the mana is here because of you, right?" Presea asked.

"Yep," Gnome said before he chuckled nervously. "This is a little secret between you and me but...right now, I'm taking a vacation..."

"...You're taking a vacation?" Toon Link asked.

Gnome sighed. "You dunno how a Summon Spirit has to be constantly watching the new world that was born from the union of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla," he explained. "Even if we're making sure everything goes well, well, I just...need a break, seriously..."

"...I didn't know Summon Spirits could take breaks..." Presea trailed off.

"They don't, but I decided to be the first one to do it," Gnome said. "And look, you found me here! I'm seriously gonna get busted when you go to them to tell them I'm here. They're gonna say things like 'Gnome, is your responsibility to watch over the earth' or 'Gnome, how dare you defy the rules of the Summon Spirits?!' or ' Gnome, you lazy bastard, go away from here!' or 'Gnome, you're so going to die now' o-"

"W-we understand already," Mario interrupted.

Gnome looked hopeless before sniffing. "I-I don't wanna get busted!" he cried loudly before he fell forward and began to flail his hands a bit. 'I-I just don't wanna get busted! I wanna have my vacation and rest peacefully for a small time! Is that so much to ask for?! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!" he cried loudly to the point the whole earth began to shake uncontrollably.

The Smashers and Presea covered their ears as some stalactites began to fall down the abyss. Having enough of Gnome's agonizing cries, Toon Link gritted his teeth. "C-calm down, we're not gonna tell those Summon Spirits about you being here!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-really?" Gnome asked as he suddenly stopped crying, looking up to them as he blinked tears away.

Everyone in there sweat dropped at the sudden change of moods of the big gerbil.

"A-are you really gonna keep this is as a secret? Seriously?" Gnome asked as his dotted eyes turned wide, revealing they were all very teary. "Y-you promise?"

"Y-yes?" Olimar said.

Gnome sniffed a bit before he pushed himself back up his feet. "A-are you sure you're not gonna tell on me?"

Presea shook her head. "As long as they don't find out you're...skipping your work to take a vacation to rest...I guess we can make an exception this time..."

Gnome smiled happily at this. "Oh, oh, oh, thanks a lot, you guys!" he said pleased to the point he cried tears of happiness.

Some of them smiled confused as the big mole (or gerbil) rubbed his eyes with an arm.

"O-okay, I'm back to my cool," Gnome said. "Thanks, really. The others would surely maul me alive if they found out I'm skipping my work as a Summon Spirit..."

"It's all fine," Presea reassured him. "You don't have to be so scared."

"Thanks, girl..." Gnome said. "...Well...since you're here...what are you doing?"

"Investigating this place?" Mario said.

"...Oh, right, Presea did say that she was curious to come here..." Gnome said. "...Heheheheh," he chuckled suddenly.

The Smashers looked confused at Gnome's chuckles. "What is so funny now?" Lucario asked.

"Well, now that you're here...why don't we do something very...special?" Gnome asked before he winked at them.

"What is that, exactly?" Presea asked.

"Well..." Gnome spun his little shovel a bit. "You guys found me here so...why don't we have...a fight?"

Luigi gulped. "H-have a fight against you?"

"Yeah!" Gnome said enthusiastically as he made a happy expression. "C'mon, why don't ya fight against me for fun? It'll be fun!"

"But...I don't see why..." Chris said.

Gnome looked bored at them. "Hmm, you're the kind of guys who would like to do something as long as you get something out from it, huh? Hmm-hm, you're sharp, I give you that..." He looked amused. "...Okay, you want something out from me?"

"Well...not exactly..." Mario trailed off.

"Pfft, I insist!" Gnome said. "C'mon, it's gonna be so good for you."

Lucario sighed. "Just get to the point to see what you're trying to say..."

"Okay, dog guy (Lucario: Dog guy?), here's the deal," Gnome began, "We're gonna have a fight here, me against you seven, to see who can win. Don't worry; I won't kill you or anything. I'll just whack you hard enough to make you faint."

Olimar and Luigi looked at each other before gulping.

Mario looked a bit unsure. "...Continue..."

Gnome nodded. "You guys will fight me, and I'll fight you back. The winner of this single round will get the chance to use a very special ability that only some can use..." He closed his eyes. "I feel some kind of energy in all of you, except for Presea, which allows you to do a lot of stuff. Between all that stuff, you can try to use the power to call forth entities...like me," he explained.

"...You mean to say..." Chris trailed off.

Gnome chuckled before opening his eyes. "Yep, if you manage to win against me, I'm gonna give some of you guys the power to call me forth during battles!" he said. "You seem to have the power to use very special abilities in yourselves. So, if you defeat me, I'll become one of those abilities for you to use as much as you can...probably."

"Strange," Presea commented. "Don't you need a summoner to call upon you to fight? Sheena is a summoner, but none of us are one."

"Yep, I need a summoner, but I've spent these last years doing...things, should I say," Gnome said chuckling. "I've developed a safe way to make someone learn summoning magic. Just don't laugh at my method because...it took a lot of time... Heck, I'm a bit different for that matter."

Mario rubbed his chin. "...Well...coming all the way here just to meet you would feel kind of simple...so...why not?"

"W-what?" Chris asked.

"We should do it," Mario said. "After all, it's just a friendly battle. Nobody's going to really die or anything."

"That's right," Gnome said as he folded his arms. "It's just a friendly round of smackin' around."

Toon Link looked a bit unsure. "I-is it okay?"

"I guess..." Presea said. "Why don't we do it?"

"..." Lucario looked serious before his hands flared with aura. "I wouldn't mind fighting the Summon Spirit of Earth myself."

Chris looked a bit helpless after he saw Lucario's determined look. The World Traveler sighed and frowned. "Okay, okay, we'll fight..."

"Oh well," Toon Link said as he raised his shoulders a bit before taking out his sword and shield. "I'm ready for some fight against...a Summon Spirit..."

Presea nodded at them before she took out her big ax that she slammed down on the ground. She looked at Gnome with everyone else. "Everyone's alright with the decision."

"W-we don't!" Luigi and Olimar yelled.

"The majority has spoken, though," Presea said without looking at them. "Gnome, please, let us fight against you."

"N-no!" Luigi and Olimar yelled.

Gnome grinned under his cheeks. "Heheheheh, I like how that sounds," he said. "Okay, let's start the fight! I'm so fired up after you barged in here without my permission!"

"If I recall, this place's entrance didn't have any sort of gates," Presea pointed out.

"..." Gnome looked miffed. "You get what I mean, though."

Tales of Symphonia - Fighting of the Spirit

The Smashers watched as Gnome jumped forward to flip in the air several times before he landed on the ground, making a big crack that spread around as he twirled one time, his small shovel gracefully twirling alongside him before he stopped spinning to look serious at them. "It's time to taste dirt!" he said.

"H-he's huge!" Olimar panicked.

"H-he's fluffy..." Chris muttered.

"He's strong, I can sense a big power from him," Lucario said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Big..." Presea commented.

Everyone looked at each other before five of the seven actually went after Gnome. Obviously, the two that remained behind were both Luigi and Olimar.

As Gnome watched the five fighters going after him, he chuckled. "Heheh, gang up on me, will ya?" he asked amused before he grabbed both ends of his shovel, calling forth a brown glyph that glowed under him to cast a spell. It roughly took him two seconds to cast a quick spell. "Stalagmite!" he yelled, raising his shovel.

The fighters noticed that the ground glowed with earthly light before a stalagmite sprouted out, gradually increasing in size to deliver earth damage. Lucario and Presea were swift enough to evade the attack, but Mario, Chris, and Toon Link didn't have the same luck as they grunted in pain while being to the air.

"Chris!" Lucario yelled before he jumped to catch his trainer. The Aura Pokémon did a high jump to catch Chris on his arms, crossing over the stalagmite that began to retreat into the earth. Once he landed, Lucario looked at Chris. "Are you feeling all right?"

Chris twitched in pain. "I-I'm just fine, he just took me by surprise..."

Lucario put Chris's feet down. "Please, be careful."

"I-I will..." Chris said before he took out his whip. "However, that guy is an animal so my attacks will be doubled with thi-"

"Here we go!"

It was not long before both Chris and Lucario were crushed by the Summon Spirit of Earth as Gnome bounced his big body on the ground to land in front of them. Looking down, Toon Link opened his jaw a bit. "Y-you guys!"

"...Seriously..." Chris muttered as his face was buried in the ground with Lucario. "Gnome is...so darn heavy... It looks more painful than it does..."

"Sorry..." Lucario muttered. "He caught me off guard..."

Gnome chuckled pleased. "C'mon, you're not gonna surrender now, right?"

The two companions quickly pushed themselves up to back away from the big mole.

Gnome crossed his shovel in front of him to use another spell. "Read-uah! Uah! Uah!" he staggered multiple times as Presea began to slice his back hard with her ax.

"Infliction!" Presea yelled as she raised her ax upwards, forming a crescent moon that damaged Gnome. "Dual Punishment," she said before she spun on her spot two times to slice Gnome with the ax. "Beast!" she said to stop before she did a sharp spin, sending a roaring lion's face to collide hard on Gnome's back.

"UAH!" Gnome yelped in pain as he accidentally tumbled over. The big mole then flipped to stand up. "Ohohohohoho, Presea, your attacks keep their usual level of danger."

"Attack him, now!" Presea yelled at the others.

Gnome got an interrogation mark on his head before he received several arrows on his back. As the big mole grunted a bit in pain, someone spun behind his back to deliver several punches before one hit him hard. The one behind was Mario who used (the forgotten) Mario Tornado. The red plumber then pulled his cape out to make Gnome turn around.

"Hey, how'd you do that?" Gnome asked surprised. "You just needed to hit me with that?"

"And this," Mario said before he used a Super Jump Punch uppercut on Gnome's chin. However, the heavy mole wasn't pulled up as he merely received a hit.

"Owie!" Gnome moaned a bit in pain before he sneezed. "Ugh, that attack hit my nose. Now it's on!" he yelled. "Taste steel!" he yelled before he used his shovel to smack Mario on his head. "Yah!"

Even thought smacking someone with a shovel sounded a bit weak, Gnome's shovel, although small, dealt a fairly good amount of damage. Mario backed away from the attack before he shook his head. "That shovel felt like a brick..." he muttered.

"Here we go!" Gnome said as he leaped high up on Mario to crush him. The red plumber gasped and rolled away before Toon Link rushed under the big mole.

"Okay," Toon Link said with a grin before he aimed his bow at Gnome. "Here I-"

And thus Toon Link was crushed under the 250 pounds Summon Spirit of Earth before Gnome bounced on him and landed on the floor. Toon Link had his arms and legs stretched as he was lying down on the big crack Gnome had made.

"...Too...confident..." Toon Link muttered. "...Oww..."

"Hmm..." Gnome prepared another spell to use on the downed Toon Link. "Ready?" he asked before raising his shovel. "Stone Blast!"

Several rocks were raised beneath Toon Link, prompting him to be sent to the air before he crashed on the ground. "Oww..." Toon Link moaned in pain.

"Ha-ha, I'm getting so warmed up now!" Gnome said as he began to hop on his spot. "Bring it on!"

"Well, since you said that..."

Gnome looked confused before a harsh blow made him tumble forward four times enough to make him fall. The Summon Spirit of Earth looked around confused before he felt that someone was grabbing him from his stomach. Gnome looked shocked as he was being carried over Lucario; the Aura Pokémon struggle a bit to keep Gnome on his hands.

"W-wow, n-no way!" Gnome said surprised as Lucario grunted under his body. "Nobody has ever carried me! You have a lot of strength to carry the heaviest Summon Spirit, dude!"

"GUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGHH!!!" Lucario replied with a loud roar as he pushed Gnome to the air. The big mole then crashed harshly on the ground, making a big crack in the process. Lucario then proceeded to leap high up to deliver a harsh blow with Force Palm on the big mole. Gnome, after receiving the blow to his stomach, coughed a bit in pain as he managed to use his shovel to smack Lucario away from his body.

Gnome slowly got up and looked pleased. "Oh man, you're pretty much like Presea," he said to the grunting Lucario. "Hm-hmm, I sense a huge force in you. Why, maybe you could tear up the whole mountain expanse of this area with a single fist of yours!"

"I don't know if I can do that," Lucario said, "but don't distract me with that."

Gnome looked serious. "Oh, right, you're fightin' me," he said. "C'mon, doggy, show me your power!"

"How about if I do that instead?"

Gnome turned around in time to dodge a whip attack from the World Traveler. "Haha, missed!" Gnome taunted.

Chris blinked surprised before he grunted a bit while pulling his whip back. "Dammit!" he cursed before he went after the big mole.

"Ooh, determination, gimme more of that!" Gnome said playfully as Chris reached him. The big gerbil used his little shovel to guard himself from the whip attacks of the beastmaster. Soon, the beastmaster didn't know that Gnome was guarding against all his attacks.

"Dammit, stop guarding yourself!" Chris yelled.

"No can do," Gnome said chuckling. "You gotta give me your best, pa-" He abruptly stopped talking after an ax sliced his back. "Ouch!" he yelped as he accidentally lowered his guard, allowing Chris to whip his face several times. "Oww, oww, oww! Stop it!" Gnome demanded before he rushed at Chris and pushed him away, Lucario promptly stopping his trainer from falling back.

Gnome turned around to find Presea. "Remember that we're fighting against you. We can help each other if it's needed," she explained.

"Meh, I don't have any complaints with that," Gnome said before he leaped high up to crush Presea.

The pink-haired girl sidestepped away from the crushing attack. However, as Gnome was about to bounce off the ground, Presea yelled "Beast!" to swing her ax hardly in front of her to send a roaring lion's face to Gnome. The Summon Spirit of Earth yelped in pain as he rolled to the left.

Gnome blinked a bit before he rolled further to the right to avoid a slamming attack by Presea's ax. The Summon Spirit then got up from the ground and spun his little shovel a bit by his right side. "Oh yeah, now we're talking!" he said pleased. "Let's keep this fight going!"

Toon Link, still stuck in the crack, managed to push himself up. The Wind Waker hero shook his head before he looked a bit mad. "So he wants to keeps this fight going, huh?" he asked angry before he raised his sword, a familiar rainbow aura covering his self as a force pushed the air away.

"What?" Chris asked as he looked at the glowing Toon Link. "The Over Limit gauge was ready?"

Kawashima looked ashamed as well. "Really, REALLY sorry for not saying it... It was my responsibility to tell you after you used the last one in the fight against Shadow Fox..."

Gnome turned around to look at Toon Link. Judging the rainbow aura, the big mole looked serious. "Well, ain't this interestin' now? What are you gonna d-" Gnome's eyes looked shocked after he felt that something got into them after staring at Toon Link's glowing Triforce of Courage symbol on the back of his left hand. "H-hey, what the..."

It was not long before Toon Link trapped the Summon Spirit of Earth within a symbol of the three Triforces. Gnome began to spin in the symbol as Toon Link slashed it continuously, sending golden bits of the symbol to all directions.

Presea blinked surprised at this. "Amazing..." she muttered.

"Uah! Uah! Uah! Uah! Uah! YIAH! Uah!" Gnome yelped continuously as he spun in thr symbol without having any control. Once Toon Link stopped slashing him madly, the Outsetian stabbed the big mole hardly on his stomach as Toon Link let out a loud yell. "YIAH!" Gnome was pushed away to the pedestal's steps. The Summon Spirit of Earth crashed on a step as Toon Link held his stabbing position before he landed on the floor.

Toon Link blinked surprised before the aura vanished. "...Cool..." he muttered pleased.

Gnome pushed himself up and grunted. "Like I said before...good move," he remarked before chuckling. "It's gonna take a lot more to take me out, though!" he warned them as he prepared another spell. "Ready?"

Chris gasped and quickly changed to his Black Mage job. The magician concentrated magic into his staff. "Burn to greater ashes..."

"Stalagmite!"

"U-uah!" Chris was quickly grabbed and taken away to the right by Lucario before the stalagmite could sprout down his feet. "L-Lucario, thank you..."

"Always there to help you," Lucario said.

Gnome grumbled. "I hate when people avoid my magic..." He noticed that Luigi and Olimar weren't fighting, but rather shaking in fear close to the bridge to the area. "Hey! You guys are gonna fight or what?"

"N-no!" Luigi and Olimar yelled.

Gnome rolled his eyes and prepared another spell by crossing his shovel in front of him. "Well, take this!" he yelled before raising his shovel. "Stone Blast!"

Luigi and Olimar looked down their feet before rocks slammed up to them, the two yelped in pain as the rocks forced them to come closer to the field of battle.

Gnome gasped and quickly blocked Presea's ax attacks. Soon, she was aided by Mario who began punching and kicking the shovel. Not sooner Mario joined up, Toon Link came rushing to them to start slashing the big mole. "T-too many people!" Gnome said alarmed before his guard got broken. "Oh no!" he yelped before he began to receive all the attacks from the two close combat fighters.

Chris looked at Lucario. "Go help them!" Chris yelled as he prepared another spell. 'I'll be the magic caster here!"

"Be careful then," Lucario said nodding to him before he dashed towards the Summon Spirit of Earth.

Suddenly, as Chris wanted to use Fira, the Black Mage glowed for a bit. "A new spell?" he asked surprised before he automatically focused his power into the staff. "Bacteria that reside in every single inch of land, multiply in size and burst your illnesses out... Bio!"

The close combat fighters stopped attacking as they saw that several green bubbles began to grow in size all over Gnome. Once they reached a big size, they all burst in a chain reaction, causing great non-elemental damage to the big mole. "Y-yuck!" Gnome said disgusted as he stuck his tongue out. "W-who would have thought bacteria could be so harmful? Bleh!"

Bio

Hidden bacteria start to grow in size before exploding, causing great non-elemental damage to all enemies. It may also inflict the Poison status.

As Gnome looked disgusted, he was quickly attacked by the fighters before Lucario joined up. Not being able to hold anymore, Gnome managed to slap them all away by swinging his shovel. "Now you're gettin' harder!" Gnome said. "Alright, gotta give it all!" He rushed at them.

"Danger," Presea commented. "Gnome is going to use other attacks now."

"What attacks are those?" Toon Link asked.

The four quickly back stepped in time before Gnome could even start his attack. Looking a bit unpleased at this, the big mole crossed his shovel in front of him to start another attack. "Ground Dasher!"

"Uh-oh..." Toon Link muttered before he looked down on his feet. A huge crack appeared all under him before it glowed brightly, releasing earthly energy out as it created a tremble around the area. Unlike Stone Blast and Stalagmite, this attack was Gnome's best spell as it deals great earth damage to anyone under the cracks. "YIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Toon Link yelled in pain as he was slowly but painfully being pushed into the air. "Uaaaaaah..." The attack seemed to be too much for him as he lost consciousness. The Outsetian fainted in the air before the crack disappeared to let him fall down.

"L-Link!" Chris yelled before glaring at Gnome. "Okay, I'm not letting you get away with this..." He focused his magic into his staff. "Rise, o violent winds... Aero!"

Gnome was sliced a bit by some winds that circled around him. Angry by this response, a vein popped out from his forehead before he prepared another spell. "Ground Dasher!"

"O-oh my god!" Chris yelped in horror before Lucario quickly came to his aid by taking him away from the glowing crack that released earth energy out. Soon, the crack itself vanished as Lucario growled angrily at Gnome. "Lucario...thanks again..."

"He's going to pay for trying to hurt you..." Lucario said through gritted fangs before he quickly vanished from sight.

"UAH!" Gnome coughed weakly after Lucario appeared right in front of him, his glowing fist of aura severely uppercutting his stomach. "O-oww, you're so fast and strong..." The Summon Spirit of Earth gagged a bit at the harsh blow before Lucario grabbed him by the face and actually managed to carry Gnome over him to slam him down behind his back. "O-ouch!" Gnome yelped in pain before Lucario pulled back his hands to send a great blast of aura to the big mole. The Summon Spirit of Earth screamed as his body was burned with blue aura while he rolled away from the furious Lucario.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted as he fully showed his fangs at the big mole, his aura flaring up intensely in his hands before it slowly covered his arms.

Presea was about to run at Gnome before she noticed the aura that covered Lucario. Due to her Exsphere, she managed to feel the power that radiated from the Aura Pokémon. "(That power...)" she thought as she blinked at Lucario. "(I can feel its an immense force...but...his strength is somewhat...alarming...)"

Gnome coughed a bit before he pushed himself back up. Shaking his head, the Summon Spirit of Earth looked at the only two fighters who weren't fighting at all. "You 2, fight me!" he demanded at Luigi and Olimar.

By the time Gnome had noticed, the two scared Smashers were standing very close to his altar as they both were hugging each other in fear to get dragged into the fight.

"Hmm, I don't like scaredy cats!" Gnome complained before he used a quick spell. "Stone Blast!"

"U-UAH!" Luigi and Olimar were once again pushed back to the battlefield by the rocks that were shot off from their feet. The two Smashers recklessly rolled all the way to the middle of the field.

"I-I don't want to fight!" Luigi complained as he sat up with Olimar.

"Here we go!"

Both gulped as they saw a shadow on them. The two looked up to see the leaping Gnome about to crush them with his weight. Luigi and Olimar embraced each other before yelling loudly for help. Their plea, fortunately, was answered by Mario who jumped to Gnome to use his cape to hit it with the big mole, forcing Gnome to turn around and crash down close to the panicked Smashers before Mario came down to the ground. "Are you okay?" Mario asked.

"Y-yes..." Luigi gulped before he and Olimar stood up.

"Luigi, you need to fight," Mario said worried. "Otherwise, Gnome will focus all your attacks on you."

"B-but isn't the same thing if we fight him head on?" Olimar asked.

"Well...yes," Mario admitted. "You have to help us, though. We need to defeat him as soon as we can."

Luigi and Olimar looked at each other worried.

"...Oww!" Mario yelped after he received a smacking attack from Gnome's shovel on his head.

"Nobody turns me back with a cheap move like that!" Gnome complained to Mario. The red plumber gasped as Gnome (on purpose) tumbled over to make his head touch the ground. However, this was all just a part of Gnome's attack as...incredibly as it sounds...the bow on the top of his head began to spin while Gnome was aiming his head down on the ground to move towards Mario. The spinning ribbon actually managed to tear the ground apart as it constantly hit Mario. The red plumber grunted in pain as Gnome's spinning ribbon kept hitting him with its two big ends, afterwards pushing Mario away.

"T-that was unexpected..." Mario muttered in pain.

Gnome pushed himself up and looked happy. "Yep, that's an attack I like to use oh so much. I just LOVE to hit my opponents with my bow."

Mario looked a bit confused at this. "...Okay..."

Gnome's ears twitched before he sidestepped away from an ax slam attack by Presea from behind. The Summon Spirit of Earth chuckled heartily at the pink-haired girl. "You missed, sorry!"

"Ugh..." Presea grunted very silently at this before she tried to slam down her ax on the big gerbil again, missing the big target once again. "Ineffective..." she muttered.

Gnome looked playful as he moved his hips to the sides. "You guys are going to stop playin' around or what? I can still go on!"

"W-well," Chris began as he prepared another spell, "y-you seem to be the one playing around here!"

"...Maybe," Gnome responded miffed.

"Grr..." Chris grunted at this response.

However, as soon as Chris was about to chant a spell, he felt the same sensation he always felt when he and another Smasher discovered a CFS. The Black Mage's surroundings suddenly froze as well as everyone in the battle.

"(T-that sensation again!)" Chris said as his voice echoed. "(W-who is the next one to learn a new CFS?)"

"(Does that have to do with mean now?)"

"(...Mario?)"

"(It seems so...)" Mario called over. "(So is this the feeling Peach told me about?)"

"(If you're referring to the CFS...well, yes.)"

"(Hmm, I see...and feel it as well...)"

"(But if I was able to find out your CFS while I'm using the Black Mage job...that means the Black Mage job is compatible with you...)"

"(I guess,)" Mario said. "(I studied a bit about this phenomenon after many of the others had to go through this.)"

"(Wow, really?)"

"(I like to be prepared for anything, Chris,)" Mario said. "(This isn't an exception. To be honest, I was looking forward to find out my CFS with you.)"

"(Oh...well...when you say it like that, you make me feel embarrassed...)"

Mario chuckled. "(No, I don't mean it to make you feel like that. It's all good.)"

"(Thanks, Mario...)"

"(If we can do this together...)" Mario trailed off thinking. "(Maybe...this could mean Luigi is compatible with this job as well...)"

"(Why are you saying that?)"

"(Well, I was just wondering if you could do it with Luigi because we're brothers,)" Mario said. "(Since you can do CFSs with Ness and Lucas with a single job, then I guess you can do the same with this one.)"

"(I think that's true...)" Chris said. "(...Mario, when I'm not looking at you, you prove to be a very insightful person about the situations.)"

"(Mewtwo is more of an insightful person that me...but I don't mind if you call me like that.)"

Chris chuckled heartily. "(Okay, then, shall we do this?)"

"(Please do.)"

Chris looked serious as the time began to continue its way. "Okay, Mario, let's do this!"

"Hmm-hm," Mario muttered with a nod as they both looked serious at Gnome.

The Summon Spirit of Earth blinked a bit as Mario began to rush forward at him. "Okay, the guy with the funny accent wants some piece of me again," Gnome said as his bow spun a bit on his head. "Lemme give you some!"

"Oh no, you don't!" Chris yelled from afar as his staff glowed with fire magic. "Harmless fire, make a human tornado of fire..." The World Traveler pointed his glowing staff to Mario. "Fire Mario Tornado!"

As the red plumber rushed towards Gnome, Mario's fists glowed with fire as he slowly began to use Mario Tornado. However, his fists with fire began to release fire as Mario spun towards Gnome. The Summon Spirit of Earth gasped as Mario turned himself into a human tornado of fire that swiftly reached him. Gnome then found himself trapped inside the human tornado of fire that burned him greatly. The others watched a bit surprised as the fire tornado spun quickly on his spot before it ended with Mario extending his fists inside to stop the whirlwind of fire that pushed Gnome upwards and away to the west.

"O-o-oww!" Gnome moaned in pain as some flames burned him around his body before he crashed on the floor. "Ouch!" he yelped after he crashed.

Mario looked at his hands. "...It was a nice move," he commented as he smiled a little at Chris. Although the World Traveler's face was covered in thick dark fog, his yellow eyes made a happy expression to Mario.

New ability learned! Fire Mario Tornado!

Gives Mario the power of fire in his fists to use an upgraded version of Mario Tornado on a single opponent, dealing great fire damage.

"Ugh..." Gnome shook his head as he got up. "Man, you guys have some tricks under your sleeves that...well, I gotta keep fighting!"

After seeing his brother doing a strong fire attack, Luigi blinked a few times before he adjusted his hat and looked serious at Gnome. "I-I'm going to fight, Olimar," he said determined. "I-if Mario can do it, I-I surely can as well!"

"..." Olimar frowned worried. "Is it...okay?"

"...I don't know..." Luigi said with a gulp.

"..." Olimar clutched his fists to himself before he plucked out from the ground two Blue Pikmins, one Red Pikmin, two Yellow Pikmins, and one White Pikmin. "W-we can fight...we can do it..." he tried to cheer himself as his Pikmins raised their hands in approval.

"Y-yes, we can!" Luigi said as he looked more relieved. "H-hey, you big gerbil! We want to fight you!"

"Hmm?" Gnome turned to see the two Smashers rushing after him. "Oh, glad to see more people thrown into the mix." He smacked his shovel a bit on his left hand. "I'll smack you a hard one, though. No mercy from the Summon Spirit of Earth!"

As Chris prepared another spell, he noticed that Toon Link was still fainted some feet away from the fight. "Oh no, I forgot about him..." Chris muttered before he changed to his Fonic Hymn User job. The World Traveler crossed his rod in front of him to recite a spell. "Return this soul from the abyss of death... Resurrection!"

A light shone from above that touched Toon Link's fainted body. Soon, his body glowed with sacred light before he grumbled a bit and slowly got up, the light disappearing after a while. "Ugh...I'm back..." Toon Link grumbled before he blinked shocked. "O-oh, right, the fight!" he said alarmed as he prepared his shield and sword. "Tell me where the mole guy is!" he demanded.

Gnome looked around to see that the seven fighters were locking their eyes on him. "...Somehow, I don't think I feel safe anymore..." Gnome muttered under his breath before all of them rushed after him.

"H-here we gooooooooooo!" Luigi yelled as he rushed after Gnome.

Gnome blocked the flurry of swinging arms by Luigi with the shovel. The Summon Spirit of Earth grumbled at this and smacked Luigi hard with his shovel. "C'mon, that's your best attack? That's rather desperate if you ask m-" Gnome stopped talking after he saw that six Pikmins were latching on his face. "What are these bug-"

It was not long before the Pikmins began to smack the big mole hard on the face.

"O-oww! T-these little guys pack a punch!" Gnome complained as he felt some fire burning him. "A-and they hit you with elements as well!"

"G-go!" Olimar cheered. "S-smack him some more!"

Gnome shook himself to push the Pikmins back off. The Summon Spirit of Earth then turned around to see that Presea was looking at him with some fierce eyes. However, something seemed wrong as Gnome found his body unable to move. "H-hey, what's the big idea? I-I can't move!"

"This..." Presea began as her ax was behind her on the floor, "is the end," she finished.

"(W-wait a sec, she's in Over Limit?)" Gnome thought. "(O-oh nuts, she's coming!)"

Even though Presea ran slowly to the Summon Spirit of Earth, Gnome could tell that there was energy building up in her as she leaped high in the air, raising her ax behind her by using both of her hands on the hilt. The Smashers watched as the ax wielder brought down her ax hard on the big mole while yelling "Massive Devastation!"

Once the ax slammed hard on Gnome's feet, a long crack of energy opened up that ran all the way across the floor to the precipice of the left where the darkness didn't let them see how long it went down as it let out energy that dealt massive damage to the big mole who got pushed to the air and crashed on the ground, moaning in pain. The Smashers looked shocked at the length of the long crack as Presea pulled back her ax.

The pink-haired girl put her left hand on her chest and closed her eyes. "There's no way to turn back time..." she muttered. "You can't go back to correct your past mistakes like I did..."

Some of them looked a bit worried at Presea's sudden sad reaction. However, Lucario was the one who looked the most worried. Something about what Presea said made him think about something that troubled him...

The Summon Spirit of Earth slowly pushed himself up and shook his head. "Okay..." he said panting before he looked a bit miffed at this as he crossed his hands. "...Okay, time's up! I give up!" he called over.

"What?!" Toon Link, Chris, Luigi, and Olimar asked shocked.

Music stops

Everyone stopped rushing after him after Gnome had declared his renunciation. The seven fighters looked confused at this sudden decision that the big mole had taken. "Okay, okay, it seems very clear I just can't win against all of you..." Gnome admitted.

"What?" Presea asked surprised. "Why is that?"

"Well..." Gnome blushed a bit. "Let's just say...I'm not in the mood to be fighting..."

"...B-but you said that you wanted to fight!" Toon Link pointed out by yelling.

"I know, but you gotta admit when you have to give up before you regret it," Gnome said. "Besides, I wasn't even feeling so good. My battle style was SO messed up, I swear..."

"I think you just fought well, though..." Mario said.

"...Sorry, you guys," Gnome said. "...You gotta admit you all fight DIRTY."

"What?" Olimar asked. "W-why do we fight dirty?"

"...What the heck is up with the 7-on-1 garbage you're pulling on poor me?" Gnome asked worried before he closed his eyes and cried toon tears. "I'm just a little Summon Spirit who wants to relax in his vacation, and you guys come in here to make me feel so pumped up to fight you! If you ask me, that's very offensive!"

"Well..." Presea looked away. "You said something like that a long time ago..."

"Yeah, you know?" Gnome said as he looked happy. "Gotta surrender when you have to!"

"...Grrrrrrrrr..." Lucario slowly showed his fangs at Gnome.

The big mole sweat dropped while everyone stared at him in an eerie silence. "(Please, let them go away so I can relax in this nice little cave... I don't want to tell them I was chickening out because of the dog that carried me...)"

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGH!!!"

"L-Lucario!" Chris yelled.

Gnome's eyes widened before he received a super hit of aura on his right eye by the furious Aura Pokémon's right fist of intense aura. Unlike the last hits he received, Gnome was actually sent flying across the precipice of the right side where he crashed right into the wall. The Smashers looked shocked after they looked at the furious Lucario.

"...Oh boy..." Olimar muttered in fear as his Pikmins hugged him in fear of the person they thought was a big monster.

"..." Chris looked at the panting Lucario. "...Lucario...why did you go ahead and do that to Gnome without reason?"

"...Hmph," Lucario grunted a bit as he crossed his arms and frowned. "It was his fault to forfeit the match when it was getting good to me."

"..." The Fonic Hymn User narrowed his eyes and walked towards Lucario.

The moment Lucario saw Chris's bored eyes was a signal that he was going to pull his appendages very hard behind his head. The Aura Pokémon gulped at this and took a step back. "I-I'm sorry, Chris," Lucario pleaded a bit. "I-it was an accident my blind state of rage made me do..."

"Oh, really?" Chris asked without showing any emotions.

Presea looked confused as the World Traveler stood in front of his Aura Pokémon. The ax wielder tilted her head. "(His...blind state of rage?)" she asked to herself. "(I did see him getting into a small fit of rage just around the same time he got that power boost...)" She rubbed her chin a bit as Chris argued to the worried Lucario. "(...It makes me think Lucario doesn't know how to control that unfair power boost...hmm...)"

Toon Link looked a bit freaked out by Lucario's force before he looked over to see that Gnome got stuck on the wall across the precipice to the right. "H-hey, are you okay?"

"M-my goodness..." Gnome said as he tried to get off from the wall. "T-this guy has a lot of strength to send me flying across this big hole... I-I blame myself for not using all my energies..."

"What?" Mario asked. "You weren't using all your energies?"

"N-no..." Gnome said embarrassed. "I was in the middle of a break before you guys came in here..."

"...Well, no wonder it was a little bit easy to fight you," Presea commented.

"(I just hope they don't find out I didn't give it all like I did some years ago... I got so rusty over the years that my strength was reduced... Why, oh, why did I have to start eating rocks even more than usual? I'm getting so fat...) U-uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh!" Gnome tried to move off the wall before a popping sound was heard from his back as he finally stepped in midair. "Phew, there..."

The group watched as the Summon Spirit of Earth began to fall down the huge precipice. Screams of pain and yelps of agony echoed across the cave as Gnome hit many pointy cliffs in the darkness of the precipice. The group's only action was to sweat drop, Lucario looking guilty.

30 minutes later...

The whole group bowed down before the Summon Spirit of Earth who was on the pedestal. Gnome, after he returned from the abyss he swore was way too deep that he expected it to be, looked a bit mad at them.

Gnome had a very black eye. Along with his black eye, Gnome was using his little shovel as some sort of crutch. His left arm was cast in bandages, and there was a long bandage that covered the top of his head. The Summon Spirit of Earth also had some over sized band aids plastered in almost every region of his body.

Worse yet, Gnome looked very mad at Lucario.

"We're really sorry for causing you this..." Presea said before the group pulled their heads back up. "It wasn't Lucario's real intention to push you down the abyss. He's very sorry for hitting you in the eye."

Lucario knelt down on the ground and placed his right hand in front of his right foot. "You have my condolences for doing this to you... I'm sorry."

"...You just be glad you're Presea's friend," grumbled Gnome with some irritation. "Otherwise you'd be stabbed right through your chest by my Grave attack."

"(I doubt that can even pierce my steel chest...)" Lucario thought.

Gnome's bored eyes looked at the others. "As for you..." he trailed off, "...you won the fight because I gave up... HOWEVER, I didn't see why it was necessary to PUSH ME OFF the FREAKIN' floor so I could fall down the precipice. Geez, now I regret making the precipices around here way too deep..."

"I-I'm so sorry..." Lucario muttered as he closed his left eye and used the other to look up at Gnome.

"You BETTER be," Gnome said in a threatening tone. "...Oh well, you guys won. As I've promised before, here are your spoils." The bored eyes of the big mole looked to his right where two floating papers appeared and went all the way to the Smashers.

Once Mario looked at the pieces of paper, he recognized them as two stickers that had images of Gnome as he was shown holding his shovel in some kind of a panicked pose. "...Stickers?" Mario asked.

Gnome wanted to nod, but his neck felt horribly sore after it hit a cliff by itself. "Yeah, those were the things I mentioned as the method I was telling you about," Gnome said bored. "I'm telling you that the method sucks hard, though. It was something I did during my free time just to lose the time a bit... You're probably not gonna find something useful." He sighed depressed. "And here I thought I made a worthwhile job..."

"Actually, we happen to know how to use stickers..." Luigi admitted before Presea gave them a confused look.

"..." Gnome raised his shoulders a bit (that made him twitch in pain) and looked a bit normal. "Oh, is that so? Well, I did something good." He managed to smile a bit through the pain. "If you guys can equip those, you'll be able to call strong me onto the battlefield."

"Really?" Toon Link asked.

Gnome nodded. "Yep, you need to use the Over Limit I saw you using in that battle that I DO NOT WISH TO RECALL WHATSOEVER," he said annoyed as he looked at Lucario before looking at Toon Link. "You kid used it to use a special attack, right? Well, if you equip one of those, you can sacrifice the Over Limit to call me and crush your enemies."

"S-sacrifice it?" Toon Link said unsure.

"Yeah, as in use something to help you," Gnome explained. "You can't ignore callin' me altogether, but I'm gonna feel alone if you don't call me..." He shed a tear. "Please, please, please, please, if you do equip one of them, call me and I'll be right there to CRUSH your opponents."

"You appear to crush people?" Mario asked.

"That's how I roll," Gnome said pleased.

"...But wait," Toon Link continued, "what if I call you but you end up not hitting the enemy?"

"Are you kiddin' me?" Gnome asked a bit mad. "Do YOU know why it takes an Over Limit to call pretty good me? Once you call me, a glyph will instantly appear under your enemy that will stop him or her or it from escaping. Once your opponent is trapped, I'll appear with a flip over them to crush them down with my weight. Not only that, but I'll also cause a shockwave of stalagmites to go 4 different ways to damage others enemies." He winked at them with his other free eye. "Also, if you happen to be close to the glyph, instead of stopping you, my earth power will give you defense of 20 percent so you resist attacks."

"..." Toon Link quickly grabbed a sticker and swiftly put it on his Trophy Stand. "Yeah, besides learning how to use my bow more efficiently, I can summon big...gerbils..."

Gnome chuckled. "I dunno why you did that but...whatever rolls your way," he said. "Just gimme a call and I'll drop by. Heheh, get it? Drop by?"

[DededeCloneChris]

"...Yes, I do," Toon Link said.

Luigi looked a bit confused as to why they got two stickers and not one. "H-hey, why did you give us 2 stickers, though?"

Gnome looked miffed. "I gave you 2 instead of 1 if you promise you're not gonna bring dogs to me ever again," he said as he looked a bit mad at Lucario. "That stupid saying is just a lie. When dogs bark, they not only bite you but they give you an uppercut up to the chin!" He cried toon tears. "...And also because I wanna make sure you guys don't tell the other Summon Spirits about this..."

Chris sighed annoyed, making Lucario close his eyes in shame.

"...'K," Gnome said before waving at them. "If you happen to lose those stickers, come and see me so I think about giving you more to re-stock 'em. I'll give you more ONLY if you lose those stickers. For now, I wanna relax for the time being and heal as well... So...later!"

"Wait..." Luigi trailed off.

"Hmm?" Gnome looked curious. "What is it?"

"Y-you're floating now, right? You're floating on the pedestal, right?"

"Yeah, what about it? Summon Spirits can float because of the mana we have in our bodies."

"I-I see but..." Luigi thought for a moment. "...If you can float in the air...doesn't that mean you could have floated before you could fall down the abyss?"

"..." Gnome shifted his eyes a bit. "(...Crap...) Er...well...um..." He made a happy expression to hide his embarrassment. "Kthnxbai!" Gnome said quickly.

With a bright brown flash, the Summon Spirit vanished on the pedestal.

"H-hey, you could do it!" Luigi yelled. "D-don't run away like that!"

"Leave me alone and let me relax!" Gnome's voice echoed in the cave. "For that matter, take your dangerous dog away!"

"I already said I was sorry..." Lucario muttered with a sigh.

Presea sighed. "...Well, I guess that's over with," she said as she looked at the group. "Thank you for helping to investigate this place. It turned out this place wasn't dangerous or mysterious. It just happened to be Gnome's second home."

Luigi moved his arms down in depression. "D-didn't you say there were monsters?" Luigi asked.

"Well, I did say that, but we didn't see any of them..." Presea trailed off as she looked around. "Maybe those monsters are deep down the precipices that surround the area. We're lucky we didn't have to deal with any of them."

Toon Link sighed and sat down. "Can we leave now? Gnome was sure strong with those spells of his..."

"Yes, let us go back..." Presea trailed off. "...However, there's something I wanted to discuss with you after Lucario's strength got a power boost out of the blue."

"What?" Lucario asked.

Presea looked at Lucario. "Your strength greatly improved when you started to feel rage within you. After seeing how powerful it grew, I got a little bit of insight information I want to share with you and the others. Pushing Gnome to the other side across the precipice was a big feat if you ask me."

"Yeah..." Toon Link moaned a bit in pain. "When he crushed me, I fell like 20 anvils fell down on me... My back's aching..."

Presea closed her eyes and nodded. "Then...if I recall from your talk some minutes ago, you said that you needed to get stronger to fight off the army, right?"

"Yes," Mario said.

Presea looked at Lucario. "Let me ask you this: do you feel good when you get that power boost?"

"Honestly...yes..." Lucario said.

"But can you control it?"

"Control it?"

Presea nodded. "It seems you don't understand... Well then..." Presea turned around to walk back to the bridge. "Follow me. You have to listen to what I have to say about power."

"What?" Toon Link asked. "What's that about power?"

Presea stopped walking and turned to look at them. "You have to understand the burden that power has..."

The Smashers looked confused at each other before they decided to follow Presea. As they walked, there was something that Lucario pondered to himself. It was something that Presea had said when she did that ultimate attack of hers against Gnome.

"There's no way to turn back time..." Lucario muttered. "(She lost many years of her childhood because she had an accident... It's just like as if she didn't enjoy the childhood she could have had...but...what about me?)" he asked to himself. "(I don't remember much of my childhood since I came from a game...)" He looked a bit depressed. "(...I want to have a childhood to remember and enjoy...a childhood I should have had...)"

"Lucario?" Chris snapped Lucario out from his state of thought. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yes..." Lucario said. "Everything is just fine, Chris..."

Chris looked a bit worried. "Well...if there's something that's bothering you...talk to me about it, okay?"

"...Yes..." Lucario said. "(...A childhood...with Chris...)"

The World Traveler smiled worried as the Smashers followed Presea, Lucario looking away to think about what Presea had said about her own tragedies in the past that made him think about a past he barely remembered.

Peaks

Tales of Symphonia - Dry Trail

It turned out that Presea took them all to climb up a long path to a peak. After they left the cave of Gnome, the group had taken a different route that went all the way up to the peak of a mountain that Presea knew was a path to the highest point of a mountain. Once they reached the peak, the party found itself looking at the large expanse of land that lied on the west.

"Look at that..." Olimar muttered amazed.

"I never saw so much land on the top of a mountain before..." Toon Link muttered.

Before them was the long expanse of land to the west. The Smashers and Presea could spot many different locations. They all could see the forest that surrounded the long path between the mansion and the ruins of the city. Apart from that, they also found the Dojo's place, the Wings Post Office's small hut, the village of the Black Mages across the western forest, and some house that was located on the eastern forest (that was surely Agitha's castle).

Presea smiled a bit at the scenery. "Well, here we are; one of the peaks of these mountains. I wanted to take you all up here to see the whole mass of land you see before your eyes." She looked at them. "Tell me something, though. What do you see before you?"

Mario looked confused. "Do we have to respond by being specific?"

"Yes."

"Well...we see a whole land with villages, houses, forests, mountains, and...what else?"

"Is the sky peaceful?" Presea asked. "Is it calm enough for birds to fly into the horizon?"

"Oh yes, the sky looks fine, I guess," Mario said.

Presea nodded. "Right, now tell me what you can relate all of this to power."

"What?" Chris asked. "Relate all this land with power?"

"Yes, that's what I mean," Presea said. "What does power have to do with all the land?"

"Hmm..." Chris got confused. "I-I don't see what..."

Presea looked at the others. "You don't know either?"

Toon Link crossed his arms and thought. "Ugh, I can't find an answer to that..."

"I-I don't know either..." Olimar muttered as his Pikmins sat down on the ground.

"...I see..." Presea said. "I'm afraid to say this, but you all don't understand how great the power is..."

"Okay, we give up," Toon Link said. "What are you trying to say with all this?"

Presea looked worried. "I hoped for one of you to understand...but it's a little bit hard for you." She ax wielder coughed a bit to clear her throat before she turned to see the western land they were all looking at. "Tell me something about the fight against the Subspace Army..." She looked up to the sky. "...Do you fight because you wish to protect the different worlds out there?"

"Well...yes..." Chris trailed off. "It's our job to stop the army from conquering them..."

"Yes, I know, but..." Presea looked at them. "You want to grow strong very quickly in order to stop this meaningless fight, right?"

"I suppose so..." Mario trailed off.

"Have you ever fought enemies that are almost impossible to defeat, even with all of you together?"

The World Traveler, the Aura Pokémon, and the red plumber remember the only enemy that they couldn't defeat a long time ago when they tried to save the city from being obliterated: Culex and his crystals.

"...Yes..." Lucario muttered.

"And...did you wish to be strong enough to fight that enemy?" Presea asked. "Did you have the urge to think about getting so strong enough to defeat your enemy? Did it defeat most of you without any effort?"

"...That's all true..." Lucario said.

Presea frowned and closed her eyes. "As I expected..." she muttered, "you don't know what you're getting into if you seek greater power in a small span of time..."

"W-what?" Luigi asked.

Presea opened her eyes. "People would like to obtain the greatest power, right? Every single one of you wants to be stronger very soon, right?"

"Y-yes..." Luigi muttered.

"...I'm going to be blunt with you," Presea began, "whatever you're thinking about doing such actions...don't do it very quickly or else you'll regret what you've done to yourself..."

"Why?" Chris asked. "Why is it bad to get so strong in a small span of time?"

"Would you get used to the biggest amount of power you got?" Presea asked. "Would you carry the burden of holding all that power?"

"W-what do you mean by that?"

"Think about this," Presea began, "...imagine that you're walking along a straight path, carrying a box on your arms. You represent yourself and your will, and the box represents your power. Now, continue imagining that you're walking along the road with the box you have on your arms. Would you keep walking all the way like that?"

"W-well, if the box is small, I think so..." Olimar muttered.

Presea nodded. "Well...what would happen if you suddenly got another box?" she asked. "What would happen?"

Mario rubbed his chin. "Since you said the box represents our power...that'd mean we'd be stronger 2 boxes, right?"

"That is correct," Presea said. "As you carry 2 boxes, you then find yourself with a heavy box of metal in your path that you wish to carry as well," she explained. "However, that heavy box is so heavy that carrying all boxes together would represent a problem. The will you have will surely tell you that you can carry all of them together. So then, you carry 2 boxes and one metal box...but you don't stop walking. In fact, you can carry the 3 boxes just fine."

"And..." Toon Link trailed off.

"...And then, out of the blue, you find another person," Presea said. "That person wasn't doing something else, but that person was carrying 20 heavy boxes without even feeling the struggle to carry all of them. You can just stop and watch amazed as the person merely walks by and chuckles at you. Feeling a little bit discouraged, you look worried at the boxes you're carrying..." She closed her eyes. "You then wish to be as strong as the person that walked by. Your mind is set to get as strong as possible because you don't know where you walked into," she explained. "Assume that, as you walked the straight path, you found yourself in a place where everyone else is much stronger than you, not knowing that everyone there...was corrupted..."

"Corrupted?" Lucario asked.

"Yes," Presea said. "The very same person that walked by turned out to be a malicious person who could have easily punched you hard enough to kill you off. Wanting to be prepared, you panic a bit and look around. Then, out of the blue, you get attacked by a person a whole lot stronger than you are... You are quickly taken out in 10 seconds, much for your frustration. The enemy that fought you decides not to waste time with a weakling like you and walks off. You get frustrated by the fact you lost, thinking you could win that you set your mind to become as strong as possible..."

"W-what happens next?" Olimar asked.

"You find many heavy boxes in the path you chose. Thinking how powerful you will become, you carry all of them, and then you find out you can actually carry 20 heavy boxes like the person you saw earlier. You look happy as you look up at the tower of boxes you're carrying, meaning that you got very strong in such a small span of time. Happy with yourself, you then resume the path you were walking on, feeling very proud."

"...But...I don't see what's wrong with that..." Chris trailed off.

"There's more."

"What?"

Presea nodded. "As you're walking without being bothered, your will to carry all the power in the boxes starts to feel weird. You panic a bit after you see that the tower of boxes of power start to tilt at the sides. You know very well that your power is enough to carry them all together...but your will just can't control it all because it didn't get used to have such a big amount in a very small time. In fact, your will needed to get used to get power little by little, not a lot by a lot. Your will is directly related to your mind, and your mind can't just keep up. Soon enough, the tower of boxes began to move on you. You yell loudly as all the boxes fall on you, burying you under all of them..." She closed her eyes. "...Then...everything starts to get even worse..."

"Y-you die?"

"Worse yet..." Presea continued, "...you later find out that you're alive, and you easily push the boxes away...but...everything you once controlled doesn't seem as pleasant anymore..." She looked worried. "Due to the fact you power crushed you, it also crushed the good self you had with you. The power that you got very quickly happened to destroy the strong will you had in you...and...you get corrupted by the power..." She frowned. "You don't look the same anymore. The power that you obtained changed your personality to that of a heartless person who won't care about anyone. You start to develop a twisted personality where you want to get more and more power. Soon, you're not a good guy anymore...you're a person who wants to fight without feeling anything good."

Mario looked away. "So, in other words..."

"You become corrupted by the huge power you obtained very quickly," Presea said. "Even if you have a strong will, it won't keep up for much longer maintaining the power you have in you. Anyone doesn't have what it takes to control all the power... Anyone is wide open to succumb to power..." She looked back at the land. "Now...imagine all of this in real life...and...imagine that everyone you know followed the same path as yours..."

The Smashers looked at the peaceful land.

"Would you like to see this whole land destroyed?" Presea asked. "You wouldn't like the army to destroy everything, right? However...what would happen if you were the one who destroyed all of this?"

"..." Chris looked a bit worried.

"You gained a whole lot of power that is enough to destroy big portions of nature," Presea said. "You meet up with someone of your same level, and you 2 start to fight, destroying everything that you see just to see your opponent dead on the ground. Trees are burned, ground is destroyed to dust, the animals that you don't see hiding in the trees die because of your reckless behavior due to your power, and you endanger whoever gets in the way."

"Wait right there," Lucario interrupted. "I'm pretty sure I can handle a whole lot of power lik-"

"You can't," Presea said. "Nobody can do that. There are no exceptions out there, Lucario. Let me ask you something: did you control the power you got through your blind state of rage? All I saw was you mindlessly punching Gnome away to the wall."

Lucario gasped a bit. "W-well..."

"You see now?" Presea asked. "If I can infer, you surely get those moments where your power is massively increased to a whole new feat nobody else can reach. However, since you obtained all that power in such a small amount of time...were you able to feel it without causing destruction?"

"..." Lucario looked away.

"Just as I expected," Presea said. "You get obviously corrupted by all that power that your will is crushed..."

"That's...true..." Chris said. "Remember when you killed that thief who tried to kill me? You got so furious that you..."

"...I killed him..." Lucario said. "...And you hate to see me killing someone..."

"Yes..." Chris said. "Even I told you before that your power was so powerful enough to destroy a whole house," he explained. "You agreed not to use it to kill somebody...but...later..."

"I...see..." Lucario said ashamed.

"...I'm surprised, though," Presea said as she looked at Lucario. "Fortunately, those states of huge power are just temporal. If it was permanent, you would be turned into a fighting machine..."

Lucario grunted and looked to the land before them.

"Right now, you can control the power you always have with you. Your will can keep up with that, right?"

"Yes..." Lucario muttered.

"That goes for everyone else as well," Presea said before she looked at the others. "Lucario is the only one that is easily driven off to madness with his power of his aura. However, you can be subdued to that same state if you're not careful..." She looked worried. "The first thing you're going to feel like when you get that amount of power is that you feel very good. After that...everything just turns out worse... Your will can carry the burden, but it's slowly crushed every second you're using that power...and then..." Presea turned to see the land, "...you lost common sense...and you start to kill people..."

Some of them looked shocked as they imagined catastrophic visions about the whole land before them. Some of them thought about the forest being set of fire while cries and yells echoed through every direction, some of them thought about seeing their beloved ones dying, some of them thought about all the environment being torn apart by monsters who would destroy everything out of pleasure, and some of them thought about a whole desert where skeletons were scattered around withered plants.

Presea blinked worried as the wind peacefully brushed her hair. "Power...affects anything...and it's not safe to use it..." she trailed off. "It's power that makes wars happen, it's power that makes people die, it's power that makes a person feel hungry for more power, it's power that will slowly give pleasure to a person before it stabs the person on the back to take full control of his or her will to become corrupted, it's power that causes sadness and despair, it's power that drives someone to total madness, and it's power...that everyone wishes to have deep within themselves...even if it's a small bit..."

"...Oh my god..." Toon Link muttered.

Chris embraced himself. "T-that's a very scary thought now..."

Presea closed her eyes. "And if you don't believe me, trust me," she said. "You'd be surprised at all the events I went through just because of corrupted people who seek power to control everything. Power affects people in different ways, and it's even worse if the power manages to control the mind. People who are corrupted with power and have a very smart mind will only become in corrupt villains who think about either destroying or conquering the world..." She opened her eyes. "Now, I ask you, do you want that? Do you want to become so powerful in a very small span of time? Your will to control yourself won't keep up..."

"..." The Smashers remained silent.

The pink-haired girl watched as everyone began to shake their heads as negative responses as they continued to stare at the land.

"...Thanks for understanding," Presea said. "The last thing I'd wish to do is fight any of you."

"Don't say that..." Mario said worried.

"But it's sadly true," Presea said. "Mario, I know you have a very strong will to help others. You're so nice and all, but sadly, power can easily corrupt you. If you try to use that power for good, you'll soon find yourself destroying anything in your path, even your beloved ones..." She frowned. "Absolutely nobody is safe from that...that's reality..."

Lucario's eyes looked worried. "...You know a lot about this, Presea..."

"It's because of my Exsphere that made me realize this," Presea said. "I heard countless of stories about past wars between Sylvarant and Tethe'alla that involved a mastermind in each side to control the land. As a result of their hunger for power, wars broke out, and many innocent people are caught in the crossfire..." She looked around the land. "Fortunately, it seems this place doesn't have people besides you. It'd be quite impossible to imagine a war here."

Mario looked away. "(You could say a 'war' against the Subspace Army took place far away from here, though...)"

"...So..." Presea began as she looked at them, "if you ever get the chance to find an enemy that is super powerful who wishes to destroy you...what are you going to do? Are you going to fight it and get defeated so you find some way to get very strong, or are you going to think wisely and run away?"

"That's a very hard question..." Luigi muttered. "That enemy is super strong, right? If we run away...he or she could destroy anything while we get away..."

"..." Presea frowned. "...Unfortunately, that's for you to decide...but personally, I'd run away; I'd run away so I don't get corrupted with power. I'd hate to destroy anything and anyone... Besides, you're fighting to protect your home. Isn't it the same thing if you include the land you live on? What's the point in protecting the land you wish to protect if you tear it up yourself during the fights? You lose the whole purpose to why you wanted to get strong to protect your home; your world..."

The Smashers looked down in shame.

"It seems you understand..." Presea smiled a bit at them. "After telling you all this, I'm sure that the land you live will stay the same as it is now."

"...Thanks, Presea..." Chris muttered. "You made me think about protecting everything..."

"Y-yes..." Olimar sniffed. "I-I don't want to get corrupted with power..."

Luigi wiped out a tear. "I-I'm always going to remember this whenever I get the chance to get strong..."

Toon Link smiled a bit. "If we want to get so strong, we have to do it with effort, right?"

Presea chuckled and nodded. "Effort is the only way that keeps you away from getting corrupted with power. Small steps will make your path easier. Soon enough, you shall see that the power won't control you, but your will is going to be so used that it won't subdue to the power you have. You'll have the strength where you want it to be: under your own hard-earned effort."

Lucario smiled a bit and looked at Chris. "Chris, did you reconsider about my idea to get mus-"

"What, are you crazy?" Chris asked.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Off-Key

"W-what?" Lucario responded in confusion.

"I told you before that we're using the stickers to get stronger. I'm NOT letting you turn into a bodybuilder so you get muscles and grow to a 9 feet tall person."

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Presea interrupted, "but I doubt Lucario can even grow to 9 feet because of muscle mass."

Lucario nodded. "I won't grow..."

"...He's going to reach 7 feet, though."

"What?"

"I personally object that you workout to get powerful, Lucario."

"W-what are you saying? W-why is it that you and Chris don't like my idea?"

"You're very dedicated in what you want to do. You're surely going to be so muscular in a small span of time, and then you'll be corrupted with strength," Presea explained. "And also, do you know how bad it'd be to see your legs getting so hard and bulky?"

"...I don't see why it's bad..." Lucario admitted.

"Your paw pads would become so hard, and their softness and sponginess would disappear," Presea said worried. "I don't want to see such a horrible thought happen to you."

Mario, Luigi, Olimar, Toon Link, Chris, and even the Pikmins started to chuckle silently at the mention of Lucario's paw pads.

Lucario groaned. "Presea, you don't want me to do workout just because of my paw pads getting hard?"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" The Smashers broke into laughter after the Aura Pokémon said paw pads. They all dropped the floor and embraced their stomachs in pain while they continued laughing.

Presea, ignoring Lucario's gritted fangs, shook her head. "No, I don't want to see that." She walked around Lucario and ducked to poke his paw pad on the back of his right leg. "Your paw pads are the softest paw pads I've ever poked..."

"Presea!" Lucario yelled before he began to feel a tickling sensation. "S-stop, please, stop!"

"Poke, poke, poke, poke..." Presea said as she smiled a bit and poked Lucario's paw pad with a finger. "Poke, poke, poke..."

'N-NOT AGAIN!" Lucario groaned loudly before he began to laugh. The sound of his laugh was loud enough to make a long echo that went across the whole expanse of mountains. This, combined with the laughter of the others, lasted for a long time as Lucario tried his best not to kick Presea away.

Presea suddenly stopped and looked at the others. "By the way, would you be interested to join a group of the Lezareno Group?" she asked as she showed them a card. "It's called the 'Paw Pad Playmate Society', a group sponsored by the Lezareno Company."

"W-what?" Lucario asked in pure disbelief.

Presea smiled a bit at him. "It's one of the famous groups that the Lezareno Company sponsors. Do you want to join us? A person like you would fit very well."

"I-I refuse to do such a thing..." Lucario said embarrassed. "N-no, thanks..."

"That's...a shame," Presea said a bit depressed. "I was hoping some of you would join..."

"Sign me in!" Chris said as he raised a hand.

"Me too!" Toon Link said.

"M-me three!" Luigi said.

"C-can I join too?" Olimar asked.

"Hmm, I think I'll join..." Mario muttered.

Lucario's jaw opened overwhelmed as Presea gave them all some cards to approve they were all members of the Paw Pad Playmate Society. "W-what the heck are you doing now?" Lucario asked as he shook his head.

"Hey, Presea convinced us," Toon Link said as he showed Lucario the card. "It'd be fun to be part of this group."

Presea chuckled. "I'd love you have all of you as honorary members. Welcome to the Paw Pad Playmate Society."

"U-ugh..." Lucario groaned and grunted. "(What kind of group is that Lezareno Company, anyway?)" he asked mentally in disbelief. "(...Please, tell me they didn't join just to make fun of me...)"

Entrance

"And remember," Presea said as the group walked back to the entrance, "we hold meetings almost all the time. We'd like you to come Sunday during 11:00 AM."

"Can we please stop talking about that society?" Lucario asked irritated.

"Just join the group, Lucario," Toon Link said.

"I'd rather not..."

"Party pooper..."

After the group got a second dose of laughter, a happy Presea and a blushing Lucario walked close to each other as they all returned to the entrance of the path to the inner areas of the mountains. Once they reached the entrance, they found C. Falcon and Kirby waiting for them. "Hey, you guys," C. Falcon called out with a salute. "I knew you were here."

"C. Falcon?" Mario said confused. "Kirby? What are you 2 doing here?"

"Just wanted to what you were doing all the way here," C. Falcon said. "Kirby here wanted to come as well. He said it wasn't just the same to be in the kitchen with Meta Knight around... I think Meta Knight told me to take Kirby away, though," he whispered the last part.

Chris smiled a bit. "I think it's nice of you to have Kirby around, C. Falcon."

"Really? I didn't think that," C. Falcon said before looking at Presea. "Oh, you're with that little girl?"

"Nice to meet you 2," Presea said as she smiled warmly at them. "Your name is C. Falcon, and the little guy's name is Kirby, right?"

"Heheh, seems you memorize the names right after listening to them. I like that."

"It's good to meet the friends of my friends. My name is Presea Combatir and..." Presea trailed off as she looked at a familiar iron maiden next to Kirby. For her dismay, the lid was wide open, revealing the red soft walls of the iron maiden. "...Who opened that?"

Chris gasped as he saw that Kirby was the closest person to the iron maiden. If Chris recalled the curse, Kirby would surely receive a very spooky visit of the king of demons. Worried by this, the Fonic Hymn User ran to Kirby. "K-Kirby, tell me you didn't just open the iron maiden!"

Kirby blinked confused. "I...didn't open that..." He pointed at C. Falcon. "When we came here, C. Falcon found it and he opened it to see what it had inside...but we didn't find anything..."

The rest of the Smashers looked shocked at the racer. C. Falcon stared at them and looked confused. "...What?" he asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"(At least they don't know that the hair is hidden behind a veil in the iron maiden...)" Presea thought with a mental sigh. "...I'm sorry, everyone, but I have to leave for the time being."

"What? Why?" Toon Link asked.

Presea merely walked to the iron maiden and closed its lid. Glancing one last time to the racer, Presea felt ashamed before she began to walk away to the forest while she dragged the iron maiden behind her. "I need to return this sample to the Lezareno Mystic Supply to see if they didn't do something wrong with this..." As she walked away, she turned her head to look at smile at them. "Until then, please remember the talk we had about power. Effort is everything you need to control power itself."

"...W-wait!" Chris interrupted as he ran all the way to Presea. "I-I'm sorry to ask this, but weren't you going to give us a reward for helping you?"

Presea stopped walking and looked at Chris. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. After all, I was the one who put up the request," she said before she dug her right hand on the pocket of her skirt to hand something over to Chris. "Here, take this with you."

Chris looked down to see that Presea gave him a small blue statue with the image of a goddess embracing herself. "What's this?"

"It's a Blue Sephira," Presea said. "If you have this with you, you'll double the amount of money you get from the fights you take part of. As long as you have that, you'll receive more money."

"...Oh, thanks," Chris said. "It's going to be very handy."

Presea chuckled. "Well then, I'll be on my way back to Ozette. If I go to the way I came from, I could surely be taken back to Ozette. Remember that you can call me to help you guys out in your battles."

Chris smiled a bit. "Thank you, Presea."

"You're welcome, Chris," Presea said as she continued her way back to the forest. "Until then...good luck, okay? Effort is the only thing you need to handle power...and please do keep Lucario away from doing workout."

The World Traveler sweat dropped at this as he chuckled nervously, waving a hand to Presea as she went back into the forest where she disappeared after they lost sight of her.

"Investigate the Mysterious Cliff of the East" Side-quest completed!

Obtained Blue Sephira, Gnome Stickers X2!

The World Traveler looked at the statue on his hand before it glowed a bit and turned into a medium-size sticker. Chris looked a bit surprised at this, but once he remembered that the item doubled the received money from battles, that could only mean that they would get a lot more of money if he equipped it. However, he decided to stuff it in his pocket. "I'll equip it when the time is right..." he muttered before he saw that the group walked to him.

"Wow, that girl has a lot of strength," C. Falcon remarked. "That coffin thing was way too heavy for me to drag it out from the crack, and she barely even struggled to drag it behind her..."

"Er..." Luigi looked worried at C. Falcon. "You...don't feel like going to the bathroom now, right?"

"Huh? No..." C. Falcon said. "Why'd you ask that?"

"F-forget what I said..." Luigi muttered, C. Falcon looking confused at this question.

"Weirdo..." C. Falcon muttered before shrugging. "Okay, you guys wanna head back to the mansion?"

Olimar sighed. "I want to rest for the whole day..."

"Me too..." Toon Link said. "(...Oh yeah, I should continue with my bow training some more...)"

As Kirby smiled and hopped to Chris's arms, the Smashers decided to go back to the mansion, leaving the expanse of mountains behind them...

Agitha's Castle - Garden

TLoZ: Twilight Princess - Agitha's Castle

October 21 - Morning - Tuesday

"Did you guys hear about C. Falcon?" Link asked.

"Er..." Chris looked away.

"Marth told me that C. Falcon had been suffering from stomach-churning sickness and...something else for 77 straight hours during 3 days..."

Chris looked disgusted as he closed his eyes.

"Ever weirder than that," Link continued, "he stopped having those sicknesses, but he told me that his nose has been feeling so sore after his sicknesses were healed..."

"...Um...can we just focus in what we came here to do?" Lucario asked disgusted.

"...Oh well..." Link shrugged. "I don't want to think about that again..."

Two weeks had passed ever since the group met Presea. Sonic's group had been coming in and out from their world to rotate Smashers to check on the different continents of Mazuri, Holoska, Apotos, Adabat, and Shamar. In truth, the group had the most unfortunate of luck since they didn't find any of the Gaia Guardians. It was a very frustrating thought to Knuckles, but the echidna had to keep working with the others to find the tablets.

As for Chris, the school's homework in his world kept him from doing something productive with the Smashers. It was only during a Wednesday, where he got a day off from school, which he decided to come and visit Agitha's castle with Link, Lucario, and Kirby tagging along in order to give her the bugs he received from Roger. Thankfully, Chris remembered where he saw the location to Agitha's castle thanks to the time where Presea took him to see everything to the west. The small group of Smashers only had to travel east in the forest.

"And here it is..." Link muttered.

The Smashers traveled a bit within the forest to find Agitha's castle located on the top of a small hill. The 'castle' itself wasn't exactly a castle but a big house with two floors that had several roots and plants covering most of its walls. A beautiful garden with white, yellow, and pink flowers surrounded the brick path to the door of the castle where some bugs flew over it to make it to the long patch of flowers, making small sounds that seemed to echo in the air.

"So this is her castle?" Lucario asked. "It looks like a normal house to me."

"That's Agitha for you," Link said. "She's as weird as usual...but hey, she gives you a lot of money to find bugs."

Kirby looked miffed as he was sitting on Chris's hands. "I want to see how the inside looks like," he said.

"Well, let's go right ahead," Chris (in his Swordsman job) said. "I bet she's going to be happy to see that we found some bugs."

"Let's do that," Link said. "Let's just calmly open the door and get in..."

The other three Smashers stared at him.

"...What? It always works for me," Link said. "I can barge in any house, and the people who live in there won't say anything. Weird, huh?"

"...Knock on the door," Lucario said simply.

"Okay..." Link shrugged.

[DededeCloneChris]

Agitha's Castle - House

And then the small group opened the door.

"Link!" Chris yelled, Link being the one who opened the door.

"Oh, sorry..." Link said embarrassed. "It's just that...it's a bad habit I have, okay?"

"Make sure you stop that bad habit soon..." Lucario muttered bored.

Once the group looked inside...they found out the house's interior looked exactly the same as the other 'castle' that Agitha had back in Hyrule.

"Wow," Link said as they all began to enter. "She made this place look exactly like her other home..." He looked at a big tree in the middle of the interior which touched the ceiling high above on the second floor. "Yes, this place looks the same..."

"Grasshopper! Stag Beetle! Doggy! And...um...Pink Pill Bug!" called a somewhat high-pitched voice from upstairs.

The Smashers looked up to see an eager Agitha looking down to them from the second floor. The princess of the bug kingdom giggled happily as she carefully used the ladder to go down and welcome them.

"Welcome to the bug kingdom," Agitha greeted by bowing politely at them. "How's your day today?" she asked pleased. "I haven't received many visits from others lately. The bugs outside are the only ones who come here and have a nice tea time with me."

"Okay..." Link said before he looked at Chris and nodded. "Agitha, we brought you some bugs as we promised."

Agitha blinked surprised. "You actually went bug hunting for me? Honestly, I doubted you would... I hope this doesn't make you think I'm a poor-mannered princess..." she trailed off before giggling. "Well, may I see my friends?"

"C-certainly..." Chris said as he walked to her and showed her the two lady bugs that he received from Roger. "Here, 2 lady bugs: a male and a female."

Agitha looked down at the glowing bugs before she giggled happily. "~Li'l ladybugs, li'l ladybugs, if I was smaller, I would get on your backs and we'd fly around...~" she sang happily. "Who would have thought that you would find a pair of them? You're hard workers, I'm glad for that!" she said pleased.

"Is this okay?" Kirby asked.

"Oh yes, it is!" Agitha said very pleased before the two glowing lady bugs began to fly to the tree where they both began to crawl slowly all over it. "Heheheheh, just look at them," Agitha said as the lady bugs crawled over the tree's bark. "They're happy to be back to hold another ball..." She looked at them. "And you brought a whole pair! This will surely make them feel happier together. Now they will love each other very much, that's for sure!" she said excited. "Oh, that's right...I said I was going to share my happiness with you..."

The Smashers watched as Agitha dug a hand on her pocket. Once she touched something, Agitha giggled and showed them a big wallet.

"As I've promised, here's the bag where you will keep your happiness," Agitha said as she gave Chris the big wallet. "Now you can hold up to 20000 coins in there. Isn't that good or what?"

"Yes, it is..." Chris smiled a bit.

"Also, as a little bonus, there's an extra 5000 coins in there."

The others walked closer to see the swordsman opening the wallet to find 5000 Smash Coins in there. "Oh god...this is so good..." Chris muttered as he took out his wallet and poured the 3601 Smash Coins in there, reaching a sum of 8601 Smash Coins. The World Traveler tossed the old wallet away and stuffed his new one in his pocket.

Agitha giggled and joined her hands together. "And look! You reunited a pair of bugs!" she said. "For this, I'm going to share with you even more happiness!" She showed them a bag that contained 'at least' 10000 Smash Coins.

The Smashers' eyes widened a bit as Chris slowly took the bag from Agitha.

"Goodness gracious..." Link muttered as the World Traveler took out his wallet and poured the 10000 Smash Coins in there, reaching a bigger sum of 18601 Smash Coins.

Agitha giggled happily. "If you bring me a bug, I'll give you 5000 coins. If you join a pair, I'll give you 10000 coins instead." She looked at the two lady bugs. "As of now, I have 2 bugs with me, and there are 22 more to go..." She looked happy and looked at them. "I hope that you'll keep bringing them here! You will, right?

"(Bug hunting beats all the odysseys we go through every world we save...)" Chris thought. "O-of course we will."

"Really? Thank you very much!" Agitha said giggling. "I'm so sure that you'll reunite all the bugs in no time! Until then, please come back to call them all back here, okay?"

Link looked at Chris. "I guess this is a very worthwhile job, huh?"

"Of course," Chris said as he made a happy expression. "With this money, we're going to be able to buy very expensive abilities..."

"And we'll become stronger very soon," Lucario said.

"...Wait...become stronger very soon?" Chris repeated confused. "B-but..."

"Please remember the talk we had about power. Effort is everything you need to control power itself..." Presea's words rang inside Chris's mind.

The World Traveler looked down and frowned. "...We have to be careful or else we could become corrupted with power..."

"...Oh, right..." Lucario muttered. "That's what Presea told us... (...And that thought about not turning back the time to enjoy what you couldn't enjoy...ugh...)"

"Huh?" Link looked confused. "Presea?"

"Didn't we tell you? We met here some weeks ago," Chris said. "She told us that we had to be careful with gaining a lot of power in a small amount of time. We could become corrupted with so much of it that we could...possibly end up doing brutal things..."

"...Oh..." Link nodded. "I see what you mean..." He crossed his arms. "To tell you the truth, that's how Ganondorf became corrupted with his own greed of power. Once he got the Triforce of Power, he gained what he sought to get...and he became an evil madman..."

"...It's good to see you understand," Chris said. "You're something, Link."

"Hey, I know a lot about this," Link said. "If you have any doubts, you can come and talk about them to me."

Kirby smiled happily. However, he blinked a bit confused after he looked back to the tree. Behind the tree, he could see that someone was doing something on the other side. "Huh? Who's there?" Kirby asked as he pointed behind the tree.

Agitha blinked a bit before she looked at the tree. She later smiled a bit and giggled. "Oh, I didn't show you my special guest to the bug kingdom, did I, Pink Pill Bug?" she asked.

"Who?" Link said confused as everyone looked at the tree.

The group saw that someone took a peek of them from behind the tree. The figure then walked around to make them see the person. The four Smashers looked a bit confused at the person that stepped out from behind the tree.

"Um..." the person muttered as he walked closer to them.

From what they could tell, the figure was a young teen that was around Chris's height. The boy had light-blue hair; he wore a long white-and-blue sleeved shirt with dark blue pants and blue shoes. The boy also had a bag with a wing symbol hanging around his belt in front of him. The features that the Smashers noticed about the boy that were the most surprising were the fact that the boy's left hand was a large red claw, and the left red eye he had with the right blue eye. The boy himself looked like he was bored, but through the false face of depression, he blinked a few times and smiled a bit at the group. "Hi," he greeted without showing any emotions despite the small smile he gave them.

"H-hi..." Kirby said as he smiled nervously.

Agitha giggled and held out a hand to the young boy. "Allow me to introduce you to Sig," she presented the boy named as Sig. "He's a fellow bug fanatic who wanted to drop by and see the bugs who gather in here."

Sig looked at them and nodded. "It's good to meet you, I guess," he said.

Sig is a spacey boy. The red eye and the large red claw he has are directly derived from neutral parts of a real demon that he got. However, one thing for sure is that Sig...doesn't really care about the fact he has body parts of a demon and is ignorant of the origins of them or where he got them in the first place. Very little is known about Sig other than the fact that he was born in June 16th. Even if he doesn't look like it, Sig is able to use magic that derives from Blue Magic (the magic that is supposedly learned from the attacks that monsters use). Sig is very oblivious about everything that happens around him except for insects. In fact, Sig has a deep interest or even obsession in collecting bugs and makes a hobby of it all the time. Whenever he hears about bugs, Sig's interest will soon become obvious after he asks more about them. It should be noted that Sig shows little emotion to everyone. Even if he does smile, he lacks emotion in what he says, and acts passively towards things and people alike.

Agitha giggled. "I'm lucky to meet Sig. He was outside this morning looking at the bugs with so much interested. I got a little bit captivated when he told me that he likes bugs a lot so I told him he could come in here to the bug kingdom. Sig, I'd like you to meet Grasshopper, Stag Beetle, Doggy, and Pink Pill Bug. They're the people who are looking for the bugs I told you about. Please say hi, Sig."

Sig smiled a bit. "Hi," he greeted them. "Do you like bugs?"

"I...guess so..." Chris said.

"(Wait, Agitha calls us with nicknames but she doesn't give him any nickname?)" Link thought bored.

"It's good to meet new people, I guess," Sig said. "Have you...seen a dragonfly around here?"

"A dragonfly?" Link asked.

Sig nodded. "It was a dragonfly I was following when I was on my way to Primp Town's magic school," he explained.

"Primp Town?" Kirby repeated.

"Don't you know Primp Town?" Sig asked. "It's a special place where people learn how to use Puyos."

Primp Town is a colorful town where the people who live there know how to use the magical properties that Puyos possess. It has had many different travelers that it's population grows a bit every day. People who wish to learn how to use the magic of the Puyos should enroll as students in the magic school of the town.

"Puyos?" Link repeated.

Sig nodded and took out from his bag some kind of red slime with big eyes. The Smashers looked a bit shocked after the slime itself blinked curiously at them. "This is a Puyo," Sig said. "Cute, isn't?"

"C-can you even call that cute?" Link asked a bit grossed out.

However, out of the four Smashers, Kirby seemed to smile happily at the Puyo. "A Puyo!" he said happily. "I haven't seen a Puyo in a long time!"

Sig smiled down at Kirby. "You know what a Puyo is?"

"Yes, a Puyo lets you use magic attacks, right?"

"Yes," Sig said. "Do you come from Primp Town?"

Kirby shook his head. "No, but I used to play with Puyos," he explained. "It's good to see a Puyo again."

Sig smiled a bit and kept the red slime in his bag. "Anyway...back with the dragonfly I was telling you about..." He looked outside. "Can you hear me out?"

"Well...go ahead," Link said.

"Thanks," Sig said. "You see, when I was heading to Primp Town's magic school, on my way there I found this glowing dragonfly. Smiling at the thought to see it closer, I decided to follow it where it headed...until I found myself in this place. When I noticed, I lost track of the dragonfly I was following. I got a little concerned as to how I got here...until I saw the garden with many bugs outside. I forgot the concern I had in me and went to see the bugs. Then, Princess Agitha spotted me and I talked a bit with her about bugs."

"Then I let him stay here," Agitha added with a giggle. "Sig knows so much about bugs that he's an honorable special guest to the bug kingdom."

"But...the dragonfly..." Sig trailed off, his tone of voice not showing any signs of depression. "I want to see it again..." He looked at Kirby. "Your name is Pink Pill Bug, right?"

"...It's Kirby..." Kirby said.

"...Oh," Sig said as he scratched his head with his large red claw. "Kirby...can you find that dragonfly? I think it's supposed to be around these parts but...I just don't know where to look..."

"Er, don't worry," Link said. "We'll look around for the dragonfly."

"Really?" Sig said as he smiled a bit. "Yay," he said without showing any enthusiastic tone. "Thanks a lot," he added.

An eerie silence soon followed after Sig spoke to the Smashers. Everyone in the house blinked a bit confused before Agitha decided to break the silence.

"Well, I'm sure Grasshopper and his friends will find the dragonfly, Sig," Agitha said. "Until then, stay here in the bug kingdom. We have lady bugs with us now."

Sig turned to the tree to see the mentioned bugs crawling slowly. "Oh, lady bugs," he said a bit interested as he walked closer to the tree to look at them. "They glow so bright..." he muttered with some fascination.

The Smashers looked at each other with odd looks before they looked back at Agitha. "N-now that we delivered you the bugs...we have to leave," Link said.

"Oh, wait," Sig began as he turned to them and walked to Kirby (who was still sitting on Chris's arms). "Take this with you," he said as he took out the red Puyo to Kirby.

The pink puffball blinked at the blinking Puyo. "I...can have this?" Kirby asked.

Sig nodded. "You said you used to play with Puyos before, right? Why don't you go ahead and take this one with you so you can remember how you played? I still have lots of them with me so I don't mind."

"Well..." Kirby smiled a bit at the red Puyo before he took it and wore it on his head. The red Puyo then looked up to the confused Chris while Kirby smiled happily at Sig. "Thanks, Sig," he said.

"You're welcome," Sig said as he smiled a bit at Kirby. "Come to me if you want to have another one."

"I'll put this in my room...or I'll wear it all the time," Kirby said excited as he looked up at the red Puyo.

"Just...please find that dragonfly," Sig said. "I wanna see it again."

Kirby chuckled heartily and nodded. While the two shared smiles, Chris noticed that the odd red Puyo was looking up at him. "...Er...hi?" Chris said confused at the blob of slime.

Agitha smiled happily. "If you happen to find a bug, come here again, okay? Sig here is eager to participate in the ball with us."

The Smashers took a glance at the boy with colored eyes. The only action Sig made was waving his large red claw at them with subtle smile. "...Can we leave now?" Lucario asked as he examined Sig a bit. "(There's something about this kid that doesn't make me feel comfortable...maybe it's the claw he has... Weird, the claw has an aura of its own... What? The aura of his claw is...a bit malicious...but...everything else dominates the malicious aura that his claw emanates...)"

"Oh, please find the bugs," Sig said. "Kirby, I'm counting on you."

Kirby raised a hand. "You got it," he said happily.

Then, the group decided to leave the castle, leaving Agitha and Sig alone before they began to talk about bugs. Lucario took one last glance to the bug boy before he walked away and closed the door behind him.

Agitha's Castle – Entrance

As the four left the area, Link couldn't help but cross his arms confused after they met Sig. "Just who was this Sig guy exactly?" Link asked to the others. "Did you see that claw of his?"

"Y-yes..." Chris said. "He looked like he didn't care about having that...I mean, did you see how he used it to scratch his head?"

"What about the red eye he has?" Link asked. "Wasn't it weird that he had 2 eyes with different colors?"

"Actually," Lucario began, "there was this malicious aura that came out from that red claw he had..."

"What?" Link asked. "That claw has its own aura?"

"Yes....but there was something very strange with Sig's aura," Lucario said. "When I looked at his aura, it looked like it was repelling the claw's aura. I can tell easily that, while the aura of the claw is perturbing, Sig doesn't seem fully...possesses by it. In fact, his aura makes the other aura stay away..."

"You saw all that?" Chris asked.

"I inspect people's auras when it doesn't look like it, Chris," Lucario said. "I don't want to glow while I do that so they can't tell apart if I'm looking into their auras or not. I do this to see if we can trust the people we meet..."

"Oh...that's like a security process?" Kirby asked as the red Puyo looked up at Lucario.

"You could say that..." Lucario looked a bit curious at the red Puyo. "...And...what are you going to do with that...Puyo?"

Kirby looked up happily at his Puyo. "I'm going to use it as a hat...use it as a pet...or maybe even use it as a decoration item..." He chuckled. "Just thinking about using this gives me good memories!"

"What good memories? What do you know about...Puyos?" Link asked.

"Well, a long time ago, there was this tourney that King Dedede made," Kirby said. "It was a tourney to find out who was the best at the Avalanche Competition. When I entered, I learned about Puyos because they were the things that help you play against each other," he explained. "I got surprised that Puyos let you use magic!"

"They let you use magic?"

"Yes...but..." Kirby looked miffed, "...I think I forgot how to use one..."

Chris closed his eyes bored. "Kirby...then what you said to Sig..."

"D-don't take me wrong, but I just wanted to remember those memories," Kirby said. "Besides, I think I can remember what I used to do with Puyos."

"Well...just don't do something weird with...this Puyo..." Chris said as he stared down at the blinking red Puyo.

Kirby chuckled heartily. "Heheh, I'll see what I can do."

After the small talk, the four Smashers decided to leave for the mansion...

"(There's no way to turn back time...)" Lucario thought. "(But...I wish I could do that...)"

Outside

October 24 - Afternoon – Friday

"So, this is the billboard where people put up requests..." Pikachu said.

"Yes, this is it," Chris said.

It had passed three days after the visit with Agitha and Sig. Pikachu, bored, wanted to have some of the young Smashers to come with him and see what else they could do. Pikachu ended up taking Pichu, Diddy, Kirby (and his Puyo hat), Ness, Popo, Nana, and Chris outside. It was Chris who suggested to see if somebody came to the Wings Post Office and put up a request.

"Where's Lucario?" Diddy asked as he looked to Chris. "I thought he was going to come with you."

"Well...I don't know where he went..." Chris admitted. "I didn't see him this morning... When I came from school, I didn't find Lucario anywhere. And when I came here, he wasn't around either. I asked Mewtwo if he saw Lucario but he said he didn't..."

"Oh well," Pikachu said. "Lucario's losing time without us. Let's see what requests are here in the billboard. We don't have anything better to do than watch the cancelled channels in the TV."

"Let's see..." Ness narrowed his eyes. "...Looks like there are 2 requests now..."

The Smashers looked at the billboard...

Wanted: Butlers

The opening inauguration of the Wonder Restaurant will take place in 3 weeks. However, we're short on staff with the butlers! I know this is kind of rushed out, but I need anybody to work as a butler! I don't care if you want to work here forever, but I care to have at least 1 butler before the restaurant even opens!

From Toad gal of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Diddy blinked a bit. "This sounds more like an application than a request..."

"A butler?" Chris asked interested. "Oh, it'd feel like having a part-time job." He looked a bit pleased. "Maybe I should take the request."

"Oh no," Pikachu began as he jumped to Chris's right shoulder, "we're taking the request together. Why send one butler when you can have more?"

"Do you...want to apply?" Nana asked.

Pikachu crossed his arms. "Hey, why not? Besides, the more people who works there, the bigger the reward will be, right?"

"I guess..." Pichu trailed off.

"Hmm, maybe I should take it..." Ness wondered.

"You know what? The people who want to apply for this should be here in 3 weeks," Pikachu said. "For now, let's see what the other request is, okay?"

"The other request?" Diddy said confused before he looked at another request on the billboard. "Hey, this one...um..."

"What's wrong?" Nana asked.

"...Take a look at this..." Diddy muttered as everyone took a closer look at the billboard's second request.

Inner Training of Discovery

I am a master in the ways of the aura. Unfortunately, I have not found people who would wish to take the request to help me to train my inner self so I can use my power to my full potential. If I could manage to tap into my hidden powers...I could become much stronger for a person I want to protect with my life... Please, anyone who is interested in my request should meet me at the wasteland in front of the eastern mountain range. I will be waiting for anybody.

From the Aura Master.

"..." The Smashers remained silent at the request's note.

"The Aura Master?" Popo said confused.

"Who's this guy?" Diddy asked.

"Well, I haven't heard of any Aura Master...but isn't Lucario one?" Jigglypuff asked.

"I think so..." Pikachu said. "You don't think this Aura Master is another Lucario, right? Maybe it could be a totally different person..."

"Maybe it's another Lucario," Popo said.

It was not long before mostly everyone looked at him.

"...Something on my face?"

"Weird, Popo's acting...just fine," Pichu said. "Why's that?"

Nana grunted and looked at Popo. "Popo, please turn around and don't see this."

"O...kay?" Popo said confused before he turned around.

Nana sighed in relief and showed the others a piece of paper that had something written on it. "Okay you guys, I'm going to be quick about this," she said. "This paper you see here contains the words that you SHOULDN'T say around Popo or else he'll become that stupid state again..."

"What?" Ness asked.

"Just take a look at this list and don't even think about saying it aloud," Nana said irritated. "I want to keep Popo in this perfect and smart state. Can you please understand the pain I'm going through?"

The other Smashers looked at each other before they stared at the paper. Reading it inside their minds, their eyes were dragged word by word in the paper...

Banned Words that you shouldn't say around Popo.

-Parent
-Father
-Mother
-Dad
-Mom
-Past
-Nocturnal Snowstorm
-Adoption (or any other tense)
-Dead Parents
-Grave
-Tombstone
-Abysses without floor
-Orphan
-Baby orphan
-(At this point, list will be gradually updated)

Most of them looked confused after staring at the paper that Nana later pulled back behind her. "Don't you DARE say those words or else my hammer will have a nice chat with you...if you know what I mean..."

"Okay, okay," Ness said. "We understand, happy?"

"Very much, you don't know how much," Nana said a bit pleased as she turned Popo around. "Okay, where were we? Oh yes, Aura Master..."

"Actually, why don't we ask Parakarry?" Nana suggested. "He's been here all day again. Maybe he saw how the guy looked like."

"He's our best source now," Ness said as they turned around to see an infatuated Parakarry watching as Kylie was arguing with somebody in her cell phone.

"What do you mean your guys need more time?!" Kylie argued to the cell phone. "I swear you hoopla said in 2 weeks! Now you're askin' for 2 more weeks?! Are you takin' my leg, seriously?!"

"...Looks like they're both in their own little worlds..." Nana muttered as she looked at Parakarry. The Paratroopa was resting his chin on his right hand as he stared up to the sky. Sighing loudly, Parakarry made a happy expression, ignoring all the rambles Kylie tossed to the phone. "Hey, did you see the guy who put the request to train?"

"What? No..." Parakarry responded without looking at them.

"Something is telling me he's been like that for all these days..." Kirby muttered.

"...Um...we're accepting the second request..." Chris said. "Can you give us the wing stamp?"

Parakarry's left hand went under the counter before he took out a wing stamp that he handed over to Pichu. "Leave me alone, you guys..." Parakarry muttered with a sigh. "I'm in my best dream ever now..."

The Smashers blinked at him before they turned to Kylie.

"I'm SO GONNA call the dibs on you now!" Kylie yelled at the cell phone. "You hear me, pal?! You better get here as soon as you can or else I'm SO calling the dibs on you!"

Diddy coughed. "Guys, let's ignore them and go to the east..." he muttered.

"Agreed..." the other Smashers muttered before they all slowly walked around the post office and left to the eastern forest.

Eastern Mountain Range - Wasteland

Once the Smashers made it to the wasteland in front of the eastern mountains that Chris had gone to before, they looked around to see if the requester was around. However, they didn't find anyone from where they were.

"Where is that guy?" Ness asked. "I thought he said he was going to be here."

"You don't think this was a joke or something like that, right?" Chris said.

"I doubt it...but then again, Parakarry was busily staring up to the sky," Pikachu said bored before sighing. "Okay, let's all head back to the mansion..."

As soon as Pikachu said that, the Smashers were quickly covered by a big cloud of dust that made them all cough continuously. As they all coughed, they found out that a dark figure in the cloud of dust was standing in front of them while the figure looked to the mountains in front of them.

"Welcome..." the figure said as the dust cleared out. "Thank you for accepting my request..."

"Yuck..." Nana gagged a bit. "W-who's the guy who did this?"

Once the cloud of dust cleared out, the Smashers shook their heads and looked forward to see the person. However, something about the person made them gasp a bit.

"...You know," Diddy began, "the guy looks just like the Lucario we live with..."

"Diddy, he's really the Lucario we know," Chris pointed out.

"...Oh."

Before the Smashers, there was Lucario who looked at them over his right shoulder. The Aura Pokémon turned around to look at them. "Thank you for coming here," Lucario said.

"Wait, you put that request?" Pikachu asked. "Why did you want to do that?"

"I wanted to do that because you would surely accept it," Lucario said. "I was...thinking some days ago to train myself...and then I recalled we were doing these requests so..."

"If you ask me," Nana began as she looked bored, "you could have just told Chris about this before doing that..."

"...I...kind of wanted to make more of you come as well," Lucario admitted. "...So...can you help me out?"

"A-are you crazy?" Pichu asked with a gulp. "We'll die in this training! You have that brute force of yours while we have our underdeveloped skeletons!"

Everyone stared at Pichu.

"...Well, I have fragile bones..." Pichu admitted embarrassed.

"...Anyway..." Lucario trailed off. "...I need your help to tamper with the highest level of aura I can achieve..."

"Say what?" Diddy asked.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Pikachu said as he jumped down to the ground, moving his hands forward. "You want to do what?"

"It's just like you heard," Lucario said. "Pikachu, Pichu, you 2 were there when Chris narrated the time where I...killed somebody out of rage...right?"

"Y-yes..." Pichu gulped as he stood close to Chris.

"...Well...I was able to recall that event..." Lucario said. "And honestly speaking...I could feel that my power, during that occasion...was very high..."

The World Traveler blinked worried at this.

"...And well..." Lucario trailed off unsure, "...please, I need your help so I can reach that level of power again..."

"..." Pikachu shook his head.

"What?"

"Lucario, sorry to telling you this, but you're stupidly crazy," Pikachu said as many of them nodded. "We've seen how crazy you get when you get utterly mad."

Jigglypuff held out her hands to the sky. "~As the Aura Pokémon roars out loud, the land under his feet will disappear in a void,~" she sang. "~When the land disappears with brutal power, the people will die and climb the path to heaven we call an endless tower.~"

"...What does that mean?" Lucario asked.

Jigglypuff grunted a pouted a bit. "It means we'll die if you get in that state!" she yelled.

"But...I'm sure I can get a hold of it if I concentrate hard enough..." Lucario trailed off.

"The first thing you're going to feel like when you get that amount of power is that you feel very good. After that...everything just turns out worse... Your will can carry the burden, but it's slowly crushed every second you're using that power...and then...you lost common sense...and you start to kill people..."

The words of Presea rang inside Chris's mind.

"Even if you have a strong will, it won't keep up for much longer maintaining the power you have in you. Anyone doesn't have what it takes to control all the power... Anyone is wide open to succumb to power..."

"...Lucario, don't do this," Chris said worried. "Remember what Presea told us? What if you become corrupted with power?"

"It's just going to be temporal, Chris," Lucario said. "If I do get out of control...just call me back to my Poké Ball and everything will be just fine... Trust me; I know what I'm doing."

"I-I refuse!" Chris yelled. "You remember how bloodthirsty you got when you killed that thief?!"

"Y-yes...but...please..."

"It's like you're asking us to die!" Diddy said worried. "What if you can't control it? What will happen, huh?"

Lucario closed his eyes and tightened his fists on his hips. "Please, everyone, help me... If I can control that power, the fight against the army will be much easier..."

Nana shook her head. "Sorry, but we know what we're saying when we're saying no!"

"This will be one time only, I swear," Lucario said as he tried to convince the younger Smashers. "I won't even let that state kill any of you."

"Lucario..." Popo muttered.

Lucario knelt down to them. "Please, help me...I want to reach that state...and see if I can manipulate it..."

"Your will is going to be crushed, don't you get that?!" Chris yelled. "Presea said nobody can control a huge amount of power! Even if you do manage to do such a thing, it will slowly turn you int-"

"It's just temporal!" Lucario yelled loudly. "For that matter, it's not permanent! I won't be corrupted by power!"

"Ugh!" Ness threw his hands up. "You know what, I don't care! Let's give him what he wants!"

"W-what?" Pichu asked shocked.

"Yeah, let's do this!" Pikachu yelled annoyed. "Lucario is as stubborn as an idiot. He won't drop off the idea that easily, anyway!"

"Pikachu..." Lucario muttered.

Chris shook his head. "B-but...this is going to be dangerous..."

Nana pressed two fingers in the middle of her eyes. "Oh god...well, let's do the request..."

"What?"

Nana looked serious at Chris. "Look, if Lucario says that he can handle it, we may as well follow the flow and see what happens. If he can't handle it, then he's going to learn a very important lesson out of this. You rather have him look depressed all day?"

"W-well..." Chris looked down.

"...It's going to be just fine, Chris..." Lucario muttered as he stood up. "Trust me, please..."

The World Traveler thought hard about Lucario's request. Chris didn't want to see his Aura Pokémon getting into a huge fit of rage again, not after what he had remembered just now. Chris knew that Lucario would be very dedicated in what he wanted to do, but would he be able to achieve what he wanted? This question made Chris feel so unsure, but he had to decide now...

"...Fine..." Chris said before he pointed a finger at him. "One wrong move and you're going to get punished, okay?"

Lucario looked serious and nodded. "I'll be just fine, Chris. You're the main reason why I'm doing this. This is for your protection."

Chris closed his eyes annoyed. "Stop trying to encourage me and let's get this over with," he said a bit angry.

"..." Lucario looked worried. "...Just trust me..."

"..." Chris opened his worried eyes. "...Okay..."

Pikachu clapped his hands to get their attention. "Okay, I didn't think we would do such a thing in a beautiful day like this, but seeing that our client wants to do this so badly...group, form a circle and listen to what I have to say!" he ordered. "Everyone make a circle around me, kneel down, and keep Lucario from hearing us!" He pointed at Lucario. "You better not come any closer or hear the idea I just got..."

"I...won't listen..." Lucario said.

"Circle formation...HOOTHOOT!" Pikachu yelled before everyone except Lucario scrambled a bit around before they ducked to form a circle of themselves around the electric type, listening to Pikachu wanted to suggest as a plan to help Lucario.

The Aura Pokémon tilted his head confused as he saw that the group shook and nodded their heads. Lucario couldn't focus his hearing because of the fact they were all arguing with each other. Remembering what Pikachu told him not to do, the Aura Pokémon turned around.

"Okay!" Pikachu said as he stood straight. "Lucario, keep looking away! We need to get prepared to do this if you wish to get that huge power boost!"

"Fine," Lucario responded without looking at them.

Several claps from Pikachu's hands were a sign for the other Smashers to scramble around as they made lots of noises to confuse Lucario's ears (since they didn't exactly trust Lucario about not hearing them). The Aura Pokémon looked a bit worried as he stared at the mountains across the wasteland. Soon, Pikachu clapped his hands again. "Okay, turn around."

Lucario turned around and found Pikachu standing in front of him. The others had disappeared by the time Lucario looked around. "Where did everyone go?"

"Listen to me," Pikachu began as he pointed up at Lucario. "By no reason, you're not going to use your aura to detect ANY of them, okay?"

"Okay?"

"If you're asking why, that's because the others are just behind me."

Lucario blinked a bit before he looked behind Pikachu to the forest. The Aura Pokémon found Ness, Diddy, Pichu, Popo, Nana, and Kirby (holding a hammer) standing around a tree that they looked with worried looks.

"Why are them...there?" Lucario asked.

"Simple," Pikachu said. "At the count of 3, the guys back there are going to start the plan and attack the tree."

"But...where is Chris?"

"Don't move from your spot...but...Chris is behind the tree they're surrounding... The reason why they look worried is because they're going to start attacking Chris..."

Lucario's eyes widened. "Chris!"

"STAY THERE!" Pikachu yelled loudly, stopping Lucario from taking a step forward. "Lucario, by no reasons you're not allowed to go there and save Chris from getting hurt, you got that?"

"What? Are you crazy?" Lucario asked with a glare.

"I'm not crazy," Pikachu said in a serious tone. "I figured out that you reach those states where you get super powerful when you see Chris getting hurt. So then, I thought about hurting Chris in front of your eyes to help you reach that state."

"Grrrrrrrrr..." Lucario grunted as he slowly showed his fangs at Pikachu.

"See that? That's the look I wanted to get from you," Pikachu said before he raised a hand. "Okay guys, I'll start the countdown!"

"Chris!" Lucario yelled.

"I-it's okay!" Chris yelled from behind the tree as the Smashers looked up worried at him. "Lucario, trust me, I'll be just fine!"

"B-but they're going to attack you! I'm not going to be able to hold for much longer!"

"Trust me!" Chris yelled. "Ignore the pain I get and stay right there on your spot!"

Pichu gulped. "I-I don't want to do this..." his body started to release some sparks, "b-but we're going to help Lucario this way..."

Kirby looked worried. "Chris...I'm sorry..."

"It's okay..." Chris muttered. "You just go ahead and start attacking me!"

"No!" Lucario yelled. "I know you're not going to attack him!"

Final Fantasy IX - Battle 2

"Want to see for yourself?" Pikachu asked before he snapped his fingers. "Forget the countdown and start attacking Chris at will!"

Lucario's eyes widened after he saw the group gulping in unison before they started to attack the tree with all sorts of attacks. The Aura Pokémon's pupils shrunk in horror as he heard the agonizing screams of pain from the World Traveler behind the tree.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Chris screamed in pain as he was smacked hard with hammers, fire, blizzards, and even a barrage of peanuts by Diddy's Peanut Popguns.

"Stay right there!" Pikachu yelled at Lucario. "If you dare move, this is going to fail!"

"B-but..." Lucario shook his head as he heard the World Traveler screaming loudly in pain. "C-Chris!"

"LUCARIO, HELP ME!!!" Chris yelled loudly as the young Smashers kept attacking him.

"CHRIS!!!" Lucario yelled loudly as he took a step forward. However, as soon as Lucario moved his foot, Pikachu send a bouncing Thunder Jolt that collided against Lucario's foot. The Aura Pokémon gasped and pulled back his foot, Pikachu standing in a fighting stance while gathering sparks in his cheeks. "Pikachu!"

"I told you NOT to move!" Pikachu yelled as he glared up at Lucario. "Stay there and listen to Chris's screams!"

"What?"

"Whatever he asks you to do for him, don't do it!" Pikachu yelled through Chris's screams of pain. "Try to resist listening to all his cries of pain!"

"I-I won't resist this blasphemy!" Lucario yelled loudly at Pikachu as he looked both worried and furious at the younger Smashers. 'Dammit, they won't stop!"

"STAY THERE!" Pikachu demanded. "Hold your position!"

"B-but!"

"HOLD YOUR POSITION!!!"

"U-ugh!" Lucario's feet twitched in horror as he remained in front of Pikachu, listening and watching how Chris screamed loudly in pain and the Smashers attacking him at will respectively. "G-g-g-grrrrrrrrrrrr..." Lucario started to pant heavily, his eyes reflecting the glittering lights from the attacks that collided against the back of the tree where he could imagine his poor trainer getting assaulted by.

"(C'mon...)" Pikachu thought as he gritted his small fangs a bit. "(Lucario, try to build up your rage so you get that power...)"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Chris screamed loudly in pain. "LUCARIO, HELP ME, PLEASE!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"G-g-grrrrrrr...grrrrrrrrrrrr...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...grrrrrrrrrrrrrr..." Lucario panted heavily as he slowly showed his fangs at the horrible event before him. His fists tightened so hard in each other that Pikachu was able to hear a cracking sound from both of them. The Aura Pokémon's fists then slowly started to flare up with his aura.

"(Yes...)" Pikachu thought. "(It's working...) Lucario, whatever you do, don't hurt anybody once you reach that power, okay?"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRR..." Lucario grunted silently as the aura of his fists began to cover his arms. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..."

Pikachu gulped for a bit but kept his serious look at Lucario. "(He looks like he's about to explode...but...we have to keep going...)"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..." Lucario began to pant heavily. His chest began to grow and shrink with the air he inhaled. His eyes were focused on the young Smashers that kept attacking without even thinking at the back of the tree where Chris was suffering the unfair treatment. Soon, Lucario's body flared up with aura, his feet were covered, his arms were coated, his head got engulfed, and his eyes began to shine brightly in a yellow light in the intense aura that covered him completely. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" Lucario grunted loudly as he fully showed his bare, gritted fangs. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"

Pikachu grinned a bit at this and nodded. "(Alright, he's almost there...)" He looked down at Lucario's feet. "(...Um...wait...there's something wrong here...)"

The Electric type watched as the earth around Lucario began to shake uncontrollably. For Pikachu's surprise, the intense aura that covered Lucario pushed out some kind of force that made Pikachu get pushed back as he rolled all the way to the forest area. Once Pikachu crashed his back on a tree, he watched shocked as the area around Lucario began to get cracked up with some small fissures that slowly stretched across the spot he was standing on.

The Aura Pokémon grunted in rage as he flexed down his arms. It was not late before Lucario's grunts began to echo all over the air. The fissures that appeared on the ground began to expand quickly at every single direction that they even reached the forest area around Pikachu.

"Oh my god..." Pikachu shook his head as he sat down. "Lucario's getting out of control that fast?!"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario's mighty growl made the very earth beneath his feet shook with intensity.

The Electric type's eyes widened in shock as the area around Lucario began to shake uncontrollably. The trees behind Pikachu's back began to shake their leaves and branches slowly before they started to move around crazily. Shaking his head in pure disbelief as he saw Lucario's aura starting to grow bigger and bigger overtime, Pikachu closed his eyes and yelled between the screams of agony from the World Traveler, "GUYS, STOP IT! LUCARIO'S OUT OF IT NOW!!!"

"W-what?!" the Smashers said in shock as they noticed that the ground began to shake crazily while cracks and fissures began to reach their feet. The young Smashers panicked a bit as they all returned to where Pikachu was standing.

"O-oh my goodness," Nana said shocked as they all looked at the enraged Aura Pokémon. "L-look at his growing aura!"

"Holy..." Diddy muttered as some of them hugged each other in fear.

The young Smashers watched as the aura of Lucario began to expand in a great flaring flame that greatly covered 50 feet. The radiation that his aura emitted was the force that ripped the ground apart around him as cracks and fissures began to open all around. For their surprise, they saw the fissures covering great distances that went all the way to the eastern mountains behind the furious Aura Pokémon. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" the furious grunt echoed all around the atmosphere of the air.

"G-guys," Jigglypuff began as she cracks extending under their feet, "I-I don't think this was such a good idea anymore..."

The earthquake that Lucario caused began to increase in magnitude as the Aura Pokémon let out a howl to the sky, his aura expanding even more that it almost managed to engulf the others within it. "GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Lucario's almighty roar echoed.

This roar, however, turned out to be very destructive. The young Smashers were all pushed away at least 50 feet away, crashing all on trees that stopped their forceful push. They all moaned in pain and looked back to the field where they gasped as they saw the ground around Lucario breaking into stalagmites that rose up all around him. The very same stalagmites rose about 10 feet each as they expanded over the fissures.

"EVERYONE, TAKE COVER!" Diddy yelled to make everyone climb to the nearest tree.

All the young Smashers climbed up to the trees behind them to evade the dangerous stalagmites that reached the forest and began push trees away from the ground. The young Smashers watched in horror as the roar echoed a very loud sound that caused the very dust to get pushed away as a growing ring of ground.

Pure destruction reigned over the land. Stalagmites rose up, trees were stabbed through or pushed away with force, dust flew everywhere as the aura reached a big territory, and some of the  Pokémon that were hiding in some trees ran away in fear of the seemingly- looking catastrophe.

Having enough of so much destruction, Pikachu looked around. "CHRIS, COME ON OUT NOW!!!"

"I-I'm already out!" Chris yelled as he stood up from behind some bushes.

It turned out that the Smashers had tricked Lucario into believing they were attacking Chris while, in fact, the World Traveler was hiding behind some nearby pushes faking screams of pain and yells of agony.

"L-Lucario!" Chris yelled as he looked around to see the chains of stalagmites extending deep into the forest. "Lucario!" Chris yelled loudly as he spotted the big mass of aura glowing in the wasteland. "Oh no...t-this is worse than I imagined..."

"Hey!" Ness yelled from a tree. "We have to get to Lucario!"

"Are you insane?!" Pichu asked from another tree as the Aura  Pokémon roared with all his might. "W-what if he attacks us?!"

"We're already in danger of being attacked!" Pikachu yelled. "If he combines this power with ExtremeSpeed, we're all screwed!"

Popo gulped and looked back at the mass of aura between the stalagmites. "W-we don't have any other choice, do we?!"

"NO!" Chris yelled. "E-e-everyone, let's just go and stop Lucario!"

The Smashers looked worried before they all jumped down the trees and began to navigate through the chains of stalagmites as fast as they could to get to the destructive Lucario. For their dismay, the Aura Pokémon seemed to be 180 feet away from them, but they pressed on forward to get closer and stop him.

Eventually, they managed to reach the point where Lucario's aura was. The trip was very short due to the fact Lucario's aura covered 120 feet of the whole terrain. "Lucario!" Chris yelled as the strong gust came from the aura's force. "Lucario, calm down! I'm fine! They didn't hit me!"

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!" Lucario responded.

"L-look out!" Nana yelled loudly.

The chains of stalagmites were soon blown apart by big beams of aura that came from the Aura Pokémon's hands. What scared them a lot was the fact the beams of around 40 feet of height rose their bodies for mere centimeters. This caused everyone to look extremely frightened at the thought of dying instantly by someone of their side.

"...I-I saw my whole life flashing in front of me..." Jigglypuff muttered with a gulp.

Chris looked back at the forest. He knew that those beams were Lucario's Aura Storm that reached a whole new level of power. Once Chris looked back, he looked confused to see that the forest was torn apart by the beams that barely scratched their bodies. "O-oh my god..." Chris muttered as he shook his head, the wind produced by Lucario's aura blowing behind him. "T-this is...just so wrong..." he muttered before he turned around to face his Aura Pokémon. "Lucario, stop it! I'm fine!"

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!" Lucario let out a powerful roar that pushed all of them away for 60 feet, many of them spreading on the fissures of the wasteland while others crashed right on the trees.

"Ugh!" Kirby moaned in pain as he bumped and bounced off a tree, his Puyo hat still on his head. "L-Lucario!" Kirby yelled worried.

"T-this is not good at all..." Pikachu muttered as he peered out his head out from a fissure. "At this rate, Lucario will as well destroy everything in sight!"

"See? I told you this wasn't such a good idea!" Pichu cried from behind his back as dust flew everywhere.

"B-but I don't understand!" Nana yelled from the other side of the field. "Lucario should have calmed himself down after he saw that Chris is fine! W-why is Lucario still so angry?!"

Pikachu gritted his small fangs and tried to think. "...Oh no, Lucario's mad because we tricked him!"

"T-that should be it..." Diddy muttered as he was sitting down against a tree. "W-we have to stop Lucario!"

Chris closed his eyes and decided to press on to his enraged Aura Pokémon. The others watched as the World Traveler covered his face with his arms to get through the force field of aura that covered Lucario. From what they could tell, inside the big mass of aura, Lucario's shadow looked like he was some sort of dreaded demon with yellow eyes that glowed ominously within the aura.

"L-Lucario!" Chris yelled as he walked inside the force field of aura. "P-please, calm down! I-I'm fine, Lucario!"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted loudly as he pulled his right intensified fist of aura behind him.

Chris slowly uncovered his arms to look at Lucario. "S-stop, stop what you're going to do!"

"Oh my god, this isn't good!" Pikachu said as everyone watched the Aura Pokémon about to bring down his fist down the fissures he had created with his aura. "His power left this place so screwed up...and if he decides to use it on someone or...this place... LUCARIO, NO!"

"LUCARIO!!!" the others yelled loudly as they quickly stood up and ran to get to the Aura Pokémon and the struggling Chris.

"U-ugh..." Chris began to feel some sort of intense force as he spent more time within the aura field. "I-I...can feel it..." he muttered as he dropped to his knees. "T-this is...Lucario's...true power..."

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted loudly. "GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Everyone froze on their spots as Lucario brought down his fist upon the earth, just in front of the World Traveler. Everyone watched as the fissures began to fill with Lucario's extreme aura that later began to spread out wide around everywhere. Pikachu and Pichu looked around to see that Lucario's aura had made everything much worse than before because his aura had made the fissures go all the way across the land, spreading even all over the eastern expanse of mountains. If they were right, the aura surely reached even further than the expanse of mountains, and maybe even the land where the Smash Mansion was.

"E-everyone..." Ness looked frightened as he embraced himself. "I-I...I-I can feel Lucario's power...g-going so far away..."

"W-what? You're using your power now?" Popo asked as he and Nana looked shocked at Ness. "H-how do you know that?"

"I-I haven't trained my mind to sense this power...b-but..." Ness shook his head, "...m-my PSI energy can't...it can't just follow the entire aura Lucario sent out..."

"...N-Ness, you're scaring me..." Nana gulped, "d-don't tell me that his aura reached out everywhere..."

"...I...I can assure you...I can assure you that...it did..." Ness said frightened. "A-and that's not the worst part yet..."

"T-there's more?" Kirby asked as he ran to Ness while Diddy, Pikachu, Pichu, and a frightened Chris went to him.

"T-that's not all..." Ness said as he shook his head. "H-his aura is building up massive energy in all those fissures he made...a-and if I'm correct..."

The others saw that Ness shook his head.

"...T-the aura building up all over the region...will blow up..." Ness said. "...A-and once it blows up, everything and everyone in the range of the attack will...be destroyed and annihilated..."

"...Oh my god...no..." Chris muttered as everyone looked down and everywhere where the fissures of aura were spreading. If what Ness said was true, then that would mean that a whole catastrophic event would occur just because Lucario wanted to see what level of power he could reach. The World Traveler felt not only scared but terrified as he turned to Lucario. "NO, LUCARIO, TRY NOT TO DESTROY ANYTHING, PLEASE! LUCARIO!!!"

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

It was too late. Lucario exerted a huge amount of aura through his fist into the ground that made all the fissures glow brightly that blinded all of them. Everyone covered their faces and screamed loudly as a massive explosion of aura managed to cover further than probably 30 miles of land that surely took everything and everyone standing around the whole immense land...

TO BE CONTINUED...

...