Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The days preceding the third Smash tournament were ones Pikachu wouldn’t soon forget.

It was the first newcomer orientation, tucked away in their decrepit yet sturdy little training dojo, and Mario was in the middle of a demo.

“... And now, Bowser will be showin’ off how to properly grab an’ throw your opponent,” Mario said reluctantly, standing in between the newcomers sitting on the rows of bleachers in their dojo, and Bowser and Pikachu on stage.

Pikachu had been dreading that day for the longest time. Bowser was one of the most violent and nasty guys on the whole entire tournament roster. Though he had only appeared last tourney season, he was already known as one of the strongest and most aggressive fighters on the roster. In that short time, he had traumatized Link so badly they needed to find a different one, land Mewtwo in a Pokemon Center, and smashed apart Samus’ power suit with his signature ‘Bowser Bomb’ as he calls it. She was still fixing it, taking all of her free, pre-tournament training time just to fix the dang thing. The Koopa was a brute. A monster in every sense of the word.

And as the designated training dummy, Pikachu was at said monster’s mercy. Mario knew it too, but there was nothing he could do to get someone else once Master Hand made up his mind. It was with an apologetic look to the mouse Pokemon that the demo began.

Bowser immediately scooped Pikachu up in his claws, grinning wildly. “Now’s about time I make ya pay for that last battle of ours... You know, the one where you zapped me so bad I got sent to the infirmary?”

Pikachu growled, feeling defiant despite the circumstances. ‘You deserve it for what you did to Jigglypuff!’ Pikachu shuddered at the memories of a deflated Jigglypuff sitting alone and wailing painfully in the infirmary while Dr. Mario tried his best to treat her.

“We’ll see if you still think that after I’m done with you, runt!” Wasting no more time, Bowser ‘demonstrated’ what it was like to perform a throw, hopping on and crushing Pikachu without warning.

“Hey, get off of him! you’re gonna crush the little guy to death!” one of the newcomers, Pit, said in an outrage. Everyone in the bleachers was getting fired up and even Mario could barely contain his anger. The plumber sadly couldn’t do anything. Fighting outside of a real battle was prohibited.

“’s ALL part of the show, folks. No need ta get your panties in a bunch.” Getting up, Bowser snatched Pikachu again and bashed him upwards with his horns, sending the Pokemon into the ceiling of the dojo before crashing onto the floor.

‘Ow…’ Pikachu whined, hardly finding the strength to stand back up.

“Knock it off!” another newcomer, Diddy Kong, said as he started aggressively tossing banana peels at the large Koopa. Olimar, the one sitting next to him, joined in by tossing Pikmin. Bowser simply slashed them away, destroying the peels and killing the Pikmin to Olimar’s dismay.

“As long as this goes on, I can do whatever the heck I want. So why don’t all of you just sit pretty while I finish beating the snot out of this little--”

Bowser never got to finish his tirade, for suddenly a spiky blue ball launched itself at his face, sending the Koopa back into a nearby wall. It was from Sonic, one of the newcomers from a real far away land.

“C’mon, Bowz. Isn’t kicking someone when they’re already down a little pathetic? Even for you?” Sonic spat with clenched fists, standing protectively in front of the shaking Pikachu.

Bowser slowly got up from his fallen position, ripping out a few loose quills that had been inserted into his face. “I’d give you the same advice, rat.” Bowser spat fire as a warning, but Sonic’s glare only deepened, as did everyone else's. No one was afraid to take him down if they had to, even with punishment hanging over their heads. Even King Dedede, probably as much of a jack-ass as the Koopa, was astonished with Bowser’s actions. Seeing no other option but an all-out brawl, Bowser backed down for now.

He raised his hands in peace. “Alright, ALRIGHT, chill out. I give. Taking all of you on at once would just be a waste of my time. I’ll leave the pipsqueak alone.” He made his way slowly to the exit, eyeing Sonic as he did. “Watch your back, runt...” Without another word, he slammed the door shut.

“What a blowhard…” Pikachu heard the hedgehog mutter before he turned to him. “You alright?”

Pikachu nodded enthusiastically, glad the danger had passed. ‘Yeah… Just a scratch.’ Sonic helped him up, and Pikachu looked at his little audience with a wide grin. ‘Thank you, everybody!’

Mario sighed in relief and addressed the group “Session’s over. We can pick things up tomorrow. With a different co-teacher. You’re all-a free ta go.”

Pikachu looked on fondly as the group filed out of the dojo, onto their own lives until the tournament began. He never had an entire room full of fighters stick up for him like that. Granted, he never needed it before, but it was nice to know the people here cared about more than just beating each other up. After picking him out from the crowd Pikachu caught up with Sonic, seeing the hedgehog walking by himself.

‘Wait up!’ Sonic turned around to find Pikachu right at his heels. He crouched to the Pokemon’s level.

“What’s up, dude? Need something?”

‘That was so cool how you hurled yourself into Bowser’s face! How’d you do that?!’ Pikachu liked learning about natural abilities that his fellow fighters had. Not for an advantage; he was just a very curious Pokemon.

“Well, I’m a hedgehog; curling into balls is what we do. Dunno where I picked it up. Tons of people back home just… can, I guess.”

Pikachu tilted his head. ‘Really?’

“Pretty much.” He got just the smuggest smile on his face. “No one’s better at it than me, though. I can easily cut through metal with these babies,” Sonic said, pointing to his quills and feeling happy to brag about how strong they were since Pikachu insisted.

Pikachu chirped. ’Seriously? Nah, you’re bluffing... I’ve heard of being able to melt it, but you’d have to be as strong as a Blastoise’s back cannons to cut through metal.’

“Oh, you a non-believer? Here, let me show ya,” Sonic said, seeing a discarded R.O.B. off to the side of the two. “R.O.B.s have to be pretty bulky if they’re getting sent here for combat, right?” Getting a nod from Pikachu, he continued. “So, this’ll be perfect to show off my skills, then!” Backing up a few feet, the hedgehog took off like a rocket, with Pikachu barely able to see him curl into a ball in midair and cut the fallen robot in half.

‘AWESOME!’

“Told ya I wasn’t bluffing.” Rubbing his nose, Sonic admired his handiwork, and how clean of a cut it turned out to be. He hadn’t made one that good in a long while.

‘My tail can cut through stuff too, but it’s not as strong as your quills. Wanna see?’

“Sure, why not?”

Dashing over to a nearby rock, Pikachu jumped and tensed his tail to make it as strong as iron. With one swift chop, Pikachu soundly cut it in two. Sonic gave a whistle, noting how impressed he was.

It was with this brief back and forth that the two became fast friends.

After Mario had finished teaching the newcomers for the day, Pikachu and Sonic would immediately move over to the nearby field, whether to show off skills or hone new techniques. By the time the training period was over Pikachu could use his Quick Attack to move at faster speeds than ever before, and Sonic had a good grasp on how to make use of static electricity.

When they grew tired from pushing themselves, they would spend the rest of the day chatting under the tree on top of a nearby hill, telling each other stories from their respective worlds. Pikachu made Sonic feel welcome in a world that was foreign to him, and Sonic helped Pikachu find the fire needed to stand up to bullies like Bowser.

Nothing good lasts forever, though, as the boys soon learned...

Chapter Text

The day started out peacefully, a few weeks after training was over and battles had officially begun.

‘ Hey, buddy, you ready to get this party started?! ’

Pikachu stood under the base of the large tree, waiting for Sonic to hop down so they could head out for another day of good-natured fights. The sun was just coming over the horizon, marking the early morning, and the Pokemon’s friend was still fast asleep when he got there.

Sonic jumped, struggling to keep from falling on his face onto the ground as he suddenly tipped off. Once stabilized, he safely hopped down onto his feet.

“I’m surprised the birds around here haven’t already packed their nests up and moved to another forest,” Sonic said as he dusted himself off and combed his fingers through his fur like a brush. “You’ve got a voice like a megaphone, P.”

‘ You sound like my little sister, ’ said Pikachu with a grin as he rolled his eyes. He immediately thought back to the time last tournament Pichu requested a different room when she found out she would have to share a room with her ‘obnoxious, snoring big brother’. The two started walking to the coliseum once Sonic had cleaned himself up. ‘ Are you excited? You’re supposed to finally be fighting Mario today. ’

“Heck yeah, I’m excited!” Sonic said, pumping his fist with a cocky smile. “I’ve had to listen to the guy trash talk about how he’s a better fighter than me for the past two weeks and now I get to put him in his place. ‘Speed issa ta only thin’ you’re-a good atta, Sonic-a’. I could say the same thing about him and jumping.”

Pikachu chuckled while Sonic continued to rant, amused at the two’s heavy rivalry. Apparently, something happened not too long ago in another dimension with a water hose and pole vaulting and the two had been severely competitive with one another ever since.

‘ Well, whatever happens, just know I’ll be cheering you on from the sidelines, Blue, ’ Pikachu said, ending Sonic’s ranting. The hedgehog sighed, and ruffled Pikachu’s fur with his hand.

A loud boom caused them to stop in their tracks, their ears flicking from the sudden sound.

‘ What was that?! ’ Pikachu cried, startled.

“That came from up ahead. Towards the coliseum…” Sonic said, horror dawning on his face as his ears eventually started flicking consistently in the arena’s direction.

‘ C’mon! ’ Pikachu took off running, Sonic soon following suit at top speed. What was supposed to be a slower, scenic walk took a few minutes, and the two were met with chaos outside of the large building.

Luigi was the first they saw, taking off in the other direction as fast as he could, tears streaming out of his face and fear plain as day etched onto his features.

“Luigi, what’s the matter?!” Sonic said, getting the plumber to stop and explain. Sort of.

“M-M-Monsters! Monsters everywhere! We’re all-a gonna die!!!!” Luigi got out of Sonic’s grip and continued running, and without feeling much more hopeful about the situation, the two continued until they were at the main gates of the arena. Yoshi was pacing back and forth, Meta Knight was flying high above the structure to get a better view, and Peach was treating an unconscious Link’s injuries.

“Peach, what the heck happened?! Where’s everyone else?!” Sonic demanded.

“They’re all trapped inside! These big creatures came out of nowhere and took us all by surprise. We’re the only ones who managed to make it out in time.

‘ Is he okay?... ’ Pikachu poked at Link’s shoulder, making the swordsman flinch in his sleep.

Peach shook her head. “Easy, Pikachu. A giant sumo-wrestler creature hurt him pretty badly. It punched him in the back of the head, and he’s been out like a light ever since.”

“Sumo wrestler?” Sonic asked.

“That and many more kinds,” Peach said gravely, looking off towards the building when she heard someone scream. Meta Knight came fluttering down a moment later.

“How’re things looking in there, Meta Knight?” Yoshi piped up, looking even more anxious than before.

“Not good. People are starting to disappear. A sizable group of our fellow fighters who are left is being chased. At the speed the monsters are going, they’ll never outrun them.”

“We need to go back in there and help get them out!” Yoshi said, already heading towards the front gates. Meta Knight flew in front of his path.

“Do not be rash. Going back in there would be foolish. You wouldn’t be able to both save the others and get back out.”

“Well, we can’t just sit here and do nothing!”

As the two argued, Pikachu noticed that Sonic was nowhere to be found.

‘ What? Sonic? Where’d you go? ’ Pikachu whipped his head in every direction, but couldn’t find any trace of the hedgehog. It was only when he saw that a Sonic-sized hole had been busted into the wall that he got the hint.

‘ No way… ’ Without thinking, Pikachu ran after him, knowing the hedgehog was more than likely about to do something stupid. He ignored the others’ cries for him to come back to them and jumped into the hole.

He ran right past Kirby and Diddy Kong, who jumped out of the hole the moment they noticed it there. As they were small enough to fit, they had no problems getting to safety. He ran past Marth, struggling to hold his own against two floating monsters with lances for hands. He would have helped the prince out, but it was already too late to save him as Marth was grabbed from behind. He ran past a group of monsters trying to hijack R.O.B. It wasn’t until he saw a flash of blue cut through some monsters holding Samus and Falco down that Pikachu stopped running around. The two ran away for safety after giving thanks and Sonic took off before Pikachu could stop him.

‘ Sonic, c’mon, we gotta bail while we still can!'

The hedgehog didn’t seem to have heard him in his rush. Sonic bashed into a group of green dolls holding Mario down. The two shared a look before Mario silently nodded and ran off. The hedgehog looked around, trying to spot anyone else who was left, but by that point, only he and Pikachu were left in the arena.

‘ Sonic, let’s GO! ’ Pikachu cried, before suddenly being grabbed from behind. He screamed, finally getting Sonic’s attention.

“Pikachu?!” Sonic gunned for the monster holding onto his friend, a large clawed tank. The claw gripped his little body tightly, slowly cutting off his circulation. Pikachu tried using Thunder, but the tank brushed it off, and it only made it squeeze harder.

“Hold on, bud!” In a flash, Sonic cut through the claw’s long pipe, severing it from the main body and freeing the tiny Pokemon. Sighing in relief, Pikachu quickly crawled away and was about to join Sonic when the hedgehog was slashed in the back by a new assailant. He cried out, falling to his knees. Pikachu could do nothing to help him as he was knocked aside by yet another creature, and right before his eyes Sonic and everyone else left simply… disappeared.

“Pikachu, quit daydreaming over there and come help me out!”

Pikachu was roused out of his reverie by the sound of Falco’s voice reverberating through the surrounding trees. The river the young Pokemon sat by stilled as if it was also startled out of some memory.

‘Coming!’ With a small hop, Pikachu got on his feet, slowly making his way back to the renovated cave he and the others called home.

The cave was a relatively small area, a place that Mario picked on the fly the moment he saw it. It was far away from the coliseum, thus potentially far away from those monsters. There were three main passageways; it was believed a Pokemon made their home in it previously and already did the work of making rooms for them.

Looking around, everyone seemed to be busy as usual.

Peach and Kirby were in the middle of cooking dinner, and from the smells wafting into the main area, they were making something tasty. As per usual, Kirby seemed to have taken the entire kitchen over while Peach sat back and watched. And as per usual, she didn't exactly look happy about it.

Link was in the process of systematically slashing apart an innocent training dummy. Mario learned early on to have a stockpile of at least 10 of them ready to go, since the rancher always seemed to go through them like a hot knife to butter.

Yoshi was outside in the garden getting produce for Kirby. The job assignment was a really good choice for the dinosaur and it seemed to help him relax quickly.

Diddy Kong was perched on top of a tree, surveying the land and checking the weather. He used to be quite the talker, but as the days dragged on, with his beloved uncle among others still missing, he was practically mute unless it was to alert every one of peril.

Luigi was doing the laundry by the river, jumpy as ever.

Samus was trying to tear Link away from previously mentioned training dummy, which was already so destroyed by the time Pikachu met up with Falco that not even duct tape could get it back into a usable state.

Meta Knight was furiously typing away at his little laptop that he procured. He insisted he be the one to lead the effort to try to track down their missing fellow fighters, and though he’s trying his best, there hadn’t been a single good lead in the three months everyone had been gone.

And Falco, as he often did, stood against the wall near the carved hole they all called a bedroom.

“It’s about time,” the pilot told Pikachu huffily. Pikachu quickly grew sheepish; he hadn’t meant to keep his chore partner waiting for so long.

‘Sorry, Falco…’ Pikachu said, rubbing his right hind paw into the dirt bashfully. Falco simply waved him off with a shrug, dismissing his lateness.

“Let’s just get to work already. We still need to clean up the mess Luigi made last night and the sooner we finish the better.” The ‘mess’ in question was the result one of the worst night terror attacks anyone in the group had ever seen; according to Mario, his brother had never freaked out as he did before.

“That guy needs professional help…” Falco said. He shook his head and picked up a broom alongside Pikachu, and the two were able to get in about three minutes worth of progress before having to dodge a pot flung near them.

“I can’t stand sitting around any longer!” Link suddenly shouted from the main room, having been the one who flung the poor plant. Pikachu felt the guy’s pain in a way; Link wasn’t taking not being able to save anyone that day, Zelda especially, before getting his lights knocked out very well and everyone could see it. It was like how Pikachu was upset about not being able to do anything to help Sonic. But while the Pokemon bottled himself up and often hung out alone by the river...

... Well, there was a reason Link went through so many training dummies.

“We need to get out there and start looking for the others. Who knows what’s been done to them in the three months we’ve been twiddling our thumbs!”

“Meta Knight’s trying the best he can,” said Peach, speaking up. What were meant to be words of reassurance only seemed to anger the rancher further. Meta Knight, for his part looked more distracted than ever, not giving the altercation even a passing glance. “You just need to be patient.”

“Patience is something we can’t afford to have any more, Peach!” Link shot back. “Any number of horrific things could be happening to them all. You all saw those creatures in action!” He then started to pace across the living room in order to get himself to calm down.

“I agree with Link,” said Samus, having long since moved on to checking her weapons. “If we want any real progress on the search, we’ll have to go out and look ourselves and not rely on a computer to do it for us.”

“That’d be suicide!” Diddy Kong said as he stormed inside. It was the first time he had spoken up in a few days. “What if the monsters are still out there lookin’ for any Smashers they might have missed? Y’know, us? We don’t know what they’re doin’ like Link said and we’re not gonna be any help if we just wander in by mistake and get out butts caught.”

It’d be better than doing nothing at all. If Sonic were here, he would have already left to go find everyone himself… Pikachu thought. He didn’t want to be a part of the argument and went back to cleaning. Meta Knight meant well, but he really wasn’t a tech-guy. Falco soon joined him and the two worked on fixing Luigi’s broken cot together.

Pikachu wondered how everyone was holding up as they did. What little Meta Knight was able to dig up about the monsters always left him worried.

The monsters were from an entire other dimension outside of the Smash universe known simply as ‘Subspace’. It is said that both Master Hand and Crazy Hand, both having been MIA ever since that first attack, originate from there, explaining some of their mysterious nature. Outside of this, no one had ever even heard of it before. Subspace is shrouded in a dark veil, where sunlight never shines. Many parts of the dimension are uninhabitable to outsiders, filled with toxic gas or naturally explosive debris. All creatures originating from there are made up of morphable purple insects, connected by a hive mind mentality.

They can’t survive for long out of Subspace. That’s why nothing has popped up nearby since.

“I have found it!” Meta Knight shouted, startling the entire group and stopping the heated argument then and there. Good timing; it had started to get physical. “Everyone get in here now!”

“He said that the last time, and we almost ended up walkin’ off a cliff…” Falco muttered under his breath. Nonetheless, he went outside to the main room, Pikachu close behind him.

Mario had popped back inside from whatever he was doing and ran right next to the space warrior to get a look for himself. “Ya found somethin’?”

“Yes. I am positive I have got their location this time.” Meta Knight nodded and turned back to his computer. With a clack of his laptop’s keys, he pulled up a small map of Onett. The group crowded around as he did so.

“Do you all see this small warehouse in the corner road here?” Meta Knight said, pointing with a pencil towards the building in question.

“What about it? Looks like a regular building to me, Met,” said Kirby. His face was covered in gravy and he still had his chef’s hat on.

“Regular buildings do not have purple auras surrounding them, Kirby.” He zoomed in to give everyone a closer look. Sure enough, a subtle aura was visible around the building. “Locations from Ness’ world are strange, but not like this. It is too much a coincidence for the aura to be this blackish-purple to not investigate it.”

“Then that’s what we’re-a gonna do.” Mario pumped his fist and turned to face everyone. His expression was more determined than ever. “We got a good lead an’ we’re-a gonna follow it.”

“But what if it’s just another dead end?” Yoshi said, skeptical.

“Then it’s another dead end. But we can’t-a know if we don’t-a check it out. And if we find everyone, we’re-a gettin’ them all outta there.” Luigi gulped in the back of the crowd but managed to keep up a hardy expression.

“Let’s come up with a plan,” Samus said. “That way we’re as prepared as possible.” They all agreed and settled into a circle around the living room. Pikachu just hoped they would all finally get the rest of the Smashers to safety...

Chapter Text

Sonic blinked open his eyes, groaning as something resembling consciousness returned to him. His body felt light and heavy at once, colors blending together into thick blobs. For a brief moment, the world tilted, even as he lie down, and he would have rolled off of the table he was attached to had the cuffs over his arms, legs, and throat not been so firm. A lingering pain, like repeatedly getting stung by bees, bit at his torso.

A movement off to the side made him jerk, and his eyes darted in its direction.

“I see you are finally awake. I’m hopeful the Primids didn’t harm you too much when they were transporting you to the room; then I wouldn’t have anything left for myself.”

Sonic’s senses straightened themselves out much more quickly at that, and suddenly he knew exactly where he was. The hedgehog groaned again, tried to put on a confident facade in the face of his torturer.

“Y’know, G,” Sonic said, words painted with a slight slur, “having to drug me every time you make your cronies throw me in here has got to tell you something. You aren’t having any effect on me with any of this crap so you might as well just give up and let me go.”

Despite being only half-awake and his vision not returning to 100% quite yet, Sonic glared hatefully at Ganondorf standing on the other side of the room, a glare he typically reserved for people even worse than his own Dr. Eggman. With his body strapped down tight and refusing to move much from the lingering effects of sedation, it was the only thing he could do.

“Funny,” started Ganondorf, a rumbling, low chuckle vibrating from his throat as he slowly walked towards the strapped down teenager, “If I remember correctly, your last session mere days ago ended with you begging for mercy, hedgehog. And if there’s one thing I tend to remember well, it’s someone begging for mercy.”

The worst part was that he was right. Internally, Sonic was terrified, unprepared to face yet another one of these special sessions. It was the twelfth time he had been dragged into that tiny, blank-walled room, most of the time kicking and screaming -hence the recent addition of sedation- and it was tearing him apart inside.

Still, Sonic kept glaring, making himself look as defiant as possible; he wouldn’t allow this asshole the satisfaction of seeing him afraid. His ears folded and his lips curled into a snarl as Ganondorf began to laugh even harder at his display. He never realized he started trembling.

What was to be done to him? Another ice cold water ‘bath’? Glunder-induced electrocution? Getting lasered in half?

His answer came in the form of the Primid next to Ganondorf exploding into bugs, all of it getting collected into a hypodermic needle. The needle was also full of a liquid tinted green, which smelled fairly acidic, before converting into an even more toxic looking violet. The King of Evil smiled cruelly, stopping his slow stride right next to the now-violently shaking cot.

“Consider yourself lucky. You get to be the first to test our latest method of assimilation,” Ganondorf said. Sonic wasn’t listening to him at first, staring wide-eyed at the needle and letting the mask of confidence slip. There was no way he was going to inject that into him, right?!

“If all goes well, the Shadow Bugs will eventually flow into your brain and override your thought processes, once and for all removing your insufferable free will. Though gone will be the days of slowly breaking each and every one of you until you tremble at my feet-” Sonic gulped audibly, “-it will indeed be a more effective method for… stragglers, such as yourself.”

Oh, yeah, he had every intention of injecting that stuff into him.

“And it if doesn’t go as planned, you’ll simply die of poisoning. Either way, you’ll have your ‘freedom’ soon enough.”

Sonic squirmed as Ganondorf purposefully lowered the needle towards his injured side. A simple tap on the tender flesh forced a pained hiss from his lips.

“C-Can’t you do something else…?” Sonic said, voice now shaking uncontrollably. Internally he cursed himself for his time in this hellhole of a prison, however long it’s been, softening him up so much. “I-I d-d-don’t think that D-Darkrai f-from the other d-day was done with m-me…”

Ganondorf said no more. The last thing Sonic felt before blacking out was a mind-numbing, blinding pain shooting up his side directly into his head.

“So… this is the place?”

It was the next night, and their plan of attack was already underway. In a matter of hours, they reached the outskirts of Onett, following Meta Knight and his little tracker he had jury-rigged from a calculator, a small computer chip, and some super glue.

No one bothered to ask the warrior how he did this; they simply rolled with it.

The group Mario had chosen was a small, but effective one. As they were walking towards the location, he was at the head, traveling close to Meta Knight as the rounded warrior flew overhead. Pikachu hung towards the back, using his ears to check for unexpected danger from behind along with Samus, well fortified from within her Power Suit and weapons at the ready. Diddy Kong hopped along the trees to get a bird’s eye view of the land’s layout, and Link counted and recounted his bombs and oiled his Clawshot in the center. Luigi came along at Mario’s insistence, sticking close to his brother. Falco was already in Onett, getting the Landmaster prepped to carry multiple people back to their cave.

Peach and Yoshi were preparing for any first aid, and Kirby was readying a large, warm meal for their return, whatever the results of their latest search would be.

A layer of skepticism hung over the active group when they saw the warehouse was smaller than it looked in the image.

“I don’t know MK. Doesn’t look like it could fit everyone in there,” Diddy Kong said, scratching his head.

“Trust me. This warehouse is most likely a place to conceal a portal to Subspace.” After quickly flying around the building, Meta Knight called to them, showing them a crack in the building. “Link, if you will…”

The rancher nodded. “Stand a good ten feet back,” he instructed, immediately taking out a live bomb and tossing it in front of the crack. Pikachu was the first to get ready to dash inside of the building to whatever portal may await, cheeks already sparking in anticipation. The others followed suit, tensing for whatever awaited on the other side. With nothing there to jump out at them, they ran inside through the destroyed wall.

‘Wha? There’s nothing in here!’ Pikachu swiveled his head all around looking for a sign of anything otherworldly. They all did, a secret entrance to Subspace not apparent.

“There’s nothin’ here,” said Diddy, crossing this arms in a huff.

“Keep looking. With such an aura being emitted, there has to be some way to Subspa--” Suddenly Meta Knight ceased moving, becoming paralyzed where he stands. His eyes widened and darted around the room wildly.

“...Meta Knight? Are you alright?” Luigi asked, turning his way when he too became stiff as a board, shaking and whimpering in fear. Pikachu felt it too, his mind beginning to lock up from an overwhelming sense of fear assaulting it. He could see Diddy Kong and Link brandishing their weapons at unseen phantoms, succumbing to whatever was afflicting them as well.

“The aura issa some kinda fear inducer!” Pikachu heard Mario call from the front, voice wavering and sounding distant. The rapid popping of Diddy’s firing popguns seemed to set them off, and soon the group ran towards the closed metal door, pawing at it blindly. The objective seemed to have been forgotten, replaced only with panic.

Pikachu’s brain was stuck on fight or flight mode. Everything was out to get him. Everything was something that could cause him pain. In his current state, even the sheets in the back of the warehouse were a threat to his life.

‘Danger! Danger! Pain! Escape! RUN RUN RUN!’ his mind screamed at him, and soon he found himself trying to electrocute anything that moved, only further frightening his team in the process. In some hazy part of his mind, he registered someone moving close to him, trying to calm him down, but it did nothing to make him see reason.

The others weren’t faring much better. “LET US OUTTA HERE!!” cried Luigi, pounding as hard as possible and leaving large dents in the door, Mario right there next to him. Someone broke a window in no time at all; Pikachu couldn’t tell who did it but vaguely he could notice a few of the splinters of Link’s arrows scattered about the resulting hole. Regardless, Pikachu locked onto it immediately.

‘Window! Open! Escape! RUN RUN RUN!’

The others saw the window too, and it became a fight to try and use it as a way out of the warehouse. It was all for naught; Link made it to the hole first and got himself stuck by throwing himself onto the hole, the glass catching him. Still, that didn’t stop the others from trying to push him anyways.

A small explosion caught their attention just as Mario was about to toss a table at the poor ranch hand in an attempt to free him. Pikachu whipped his head towards Samus, who had her arm cannon pointed towards a sizzling spot on the wall. As quickly as it began, the panic ceased, and the group fell silent.

“Everyone alright now?” She asked, her helmet removed now that it was safe. A beat passed before Diddy Kong looked furious.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU DO THAT SOONER?!” the spider monkey screamed, hopping up and down in a rage.

“I had to actually find the thing before I could destroy it, Diddy,” Samus said, annoyed. Diddy looked at her sheepishly and uttered a quiet apology.

“Y’know, that’s all well n’ good, but can one of you help GET ME OUT OF THIS HYLIA DAMNED HOLE BEFORE I GET IMPALED BY GLASS?!” cried Link, kicking and squirming around and generally getting himself more stuck. Wordlessly, Meta Knight cut him out with Galaxia, resulting in Link have a small glass tutu before he smashed the rest off with his shield. Shockingly he was no worse for wear, only a few small cuts on his face.

“Thank you.”

“The aura emitter was their version of a security system,” Meta Knight explained. “It is obviously powerful enough to warrant having no other security measures. From what we have just experienced, it can affect anyone without proper protection; if Samus was in her Zero Suit, we would not have stood a chance and would most definitely be a few miles away from here by now in our rush.”

‘And we just got rid of it. So then we’re golden!’ Pikachu said, mostly to himself, and he did a little preemptive celebration before Meta Knight continued.

“However, though this means we just took out their first line of defenses...” he continued, looking grave as he turned his back towards them, “... I can only assume they have someone monitoring the emitter remotely to check its status, to make sure it doesn’t break down.”

“S-So... “ said Luigi, reading the group’s minds, “what you’re-a sayin’ is…”

“Yes. We may have just alerted them to our presence.”

Chapter Text

It was even colder today than it was yesterday. Or the day before that. Or the day before that .

As a reptilian being, Bowser hated being cold. It was why his castle was in an active volcano, just so he’d never have to be cold a single day in his life. And going so long with being away from his warm cushy throne and having to listen to people scream like little girls on the daily was starting to drive him nuts.

A Fire Primid walked near his cell, making the Koopa enraged at the sight of it. Throwing himself from his sitting position on the floor, he stomped in front of his bars and violently shook them.

“Hey! Where’s that warm, fluffy blanket and the bowl of tomato soup and grilled cheese Ganon said I was getting?! I’ve been waitin’ for hours!” Bowser screamed at the top of his lungs.

His throat flared in pain from yelling again. Now he really wanted his soup.

The Primid wordlessly blinked at him before continuing on its merry way, not paying Bowser any more mind.

“Where are you going?! I’m talkin’ to you, buddy!” The Primid continued to ignore him, making Bowser madder. He coughed hard before continuing. “Next time you come back this way it better be with my stuff or you’re gonna regret it!”

“He probably ain’t comin’ back, Bowser…” said Donkey Kong a cell away, irritated the Koopa was throwing another one of his fits. It was bad enough he hasn’t had a single fix of his precious potassium filled bananas in ages, but to top it off he had to listen to his neighbor constantly complain. And it was always about something stupid like this.

“Whadda you know, ya stupid ape?!”

“Please keep your voices down, both of you,” called Zelda, roomed across the way from them with Pit. “I just got Pit to fall asleep. He doesn’t need to be roused by another one of your senseless arguments.” Lying in her lap was said angel, panting hard in his sleep. His face flushed with fever and his body shook as he sputtered gibberish calls to his Goddess Palutena.

“Gee, poor kid’s still sick?” Donkey Kong inquired, sitting up to get a better look. Zelda simply nodded, placing a cool rag she had smuggled onto Pit’s forehead to cool him off a bit. Ganon had done… something to him and it left him sicker and loopier than a dog for the past few days. Or was it weeks?

“Can angels even get sick?” he wondered aloud.

“Who cares? It’s better than him bein’ awake. ‘Ooh, Lady Palutena! Save me! Save me!’ Why are all delirious people so annoyin’ to listen to?” Bowser commented, rather callously, and he moved to sit back down onto the floor. Zelda scoffed, but made no comment.

“Not cool man,” Donkey Kong said, disgusted. “No one complained when Ganondorf shot ya up with Poison Mushroom extract and ya thought your skin was melting off for days.”

“It’s not as annoying when I do it!”

“Right…” The gorilla wasn’t in the mood to humor the Koopa any longer. He was tired so it had to be night time, right? He might as well try and get some sleep just like Angel Cakes. But just as he was about to lie down, a certain slimy, punchable voice sounded throughout the intercom.

“Attention all Primids,” Ganondorf said over the loudspeaker.

“Hey! General Pigman the Desert Jockey!” Bowser was now high up on his feet, pointing a furious, sharp claw to the speaker. “Where’s my tomato soup, you lying son of a--”

“Bowser, please, silence yourself,” said Zelda, making the angry Koopa cross his arms and scowl. Pit muttered unintelligibly before silencing.

“An emitter has just now stopped working in the outside world. We may have a potential security breach in portal sector fi--”

“ OH, CHAOS, MAKE IT STOP!”

“Is that the blue runt?” Bowser said, already moving to cover his ears. He really wasn’t in the mood to hear someone screaming at the hands of Tall, Dark, and Butt Ugly again. Zelda gave the speaker one of the deadliest looking glares he had ever seen someone give. He was shocked she didn’t shoot lasers from her eyes or something.

“He brought that on himself, you gotta admit, Zel. Sonic’s the only one here with enough of a lack a’ common sense to mouth off to Ganon,” Donkey Kong told the fuming princess.

“Still, he’s only a child. Many of those who’s suffered here were just children, whether they were young or about to become adults, and all the same Ganondorf takes such… disgusting pleasure in making them cry out in anguish. Most of it surely isn’t for the purpose of ‘furthering his superior’s agenda’, either.” Donkey Kong had no other words for her, only nodding solemnly. He couldn’t argue with that; it made the gorilla sick to his stomach too.

“Look on the bright side: Sonic ain’t another Toon Link,” Bowser chimed in.

The three of them shuddered when remembering Ganon’s time with the poor boy.

The screaming was audible for a good minute or so, to the point where even Bowser was cringing in sympathy by the time Ganondorf had had his fun.

“We may have a potential security breach in sector 5-A. I want all of Boom Squadron to investigate and all others to be on maximum alert. I’ll have no one breaking into this facility or else each and every one of you miserable Shadow creatures will be placed on the reassembly line. And the process of reassembling your base forms will be made much more painful than you can hope to imagine. Ganondorf out, and do not fail.” With a staticy click, the com cut off, and a swarm of trilling Boom Primids filed past the quartet’s cells down the hall.

“A security breach, huh?” Bowser said, curiosity piqued. He watched the creatures go, mind wandering with all sorts of potential scenarios.

“Ooh! Ooh! Maybe someone’s finally come to rescue us!” Donkey Kong was on his feet, suddenly more excited than he’s been in a while. Bowser shrugged that possibility off.

“You kiddin’? Nah, it’s more likely just a bunch of stupid little kids messing around with the place. Or maybe a raccoon. I dunno where ‘sector 5-A’ is.”

“No… no, it has to be our salvation,” Zelda chimed in, eyes sparkling with hope.

“Oh? And how are you so sure of that, princess?” Bowser asked in a snide tone. Zelda paused, staring at Pit’s now still face with a look of determination. Though her piece of the Triforce had been taken ages ago, she still had a sort of sixth sense, and it was screaming at her that something good was about to happen.

“I just have a gut feeling, is all.”

The sudden appearance of a purple-black vortex made Pikachu and the gang jump.

“They are here!” Meta Knight called, brandishing his sword and pointing to the vortex. The sense of overwhelming anxiousness hit them hard in waves but they were able to keep themselves together with sheer adrenaline.

“Hide!” Mario commanded, abruptly grabbing his brother and hopping into a potted plant. Pikachu dashed onto the walls to the ceiling above, thankful his pre-tourney training had made him so fast on his feet. Diddy Kong and Link climbed onto the ceiling as well, the latter aided by his Clawshot. Samus simply converted into her Morph Ball state and rolled under a table, Meta Knight crawling next to her.

One by one, creatures flowed from the vortex that appeared, the break in the wall acting as its spawn point. They were all armed with boomerangs and Pikachu saw a look a recognition in Mario’s eyes. These must have been the type of monster that was attacking him.

They look much smaller than they did before, Pikachu said to himself, recognizing these monsters as similar to the type that had jumped Marth. Those ones had big swords instead though; perhaps these were a different faction or species then.

Seeing them up close made him realize how stupid looking they all were, too, but that's besides the point.

This might be our only shot… Pikachu thought. From the lack of previous entry point, it looked like only creatures from Subspace could make portals going in and out; they had to bash their way in or they wouldn’t have another chance to get in on their own terms.

Pikachu glanced at Mario, who was visible from the Pokemon’s position, and saw the gears turning just by looking into his eyes; he must have been thinking the same thing.

“NOW!” Mario cried once the monsters stopped coming, and an all-out assault began. Pikachu leaped from the ceiling head first, smashing the first monster he saw with an electrically charged headbutt and making it explode in an eruption of bugs. Any nearby baddies tried converging onto him, but Pikachu was ready.

“PiiiiKA…” Sparks erupted from Pikachu’s cheeks before shrouding his body, and seconds later, he performed probably the most powerful Thunderbolt he had ever done, “CHUUUUUU!!!!”

None of the monsters who dared remain near him were still standing, their shells sparking violently.

“Push yourselves-a through! Get to the portal quickly!” Mario commanded, lighting a few monsters on fire with his Fire Balls. Luigi was supporting him from behind and watching his back, a nice display of brotherly love. Diddy Kong could be heard from up above, sniping anything that got set in his sights with deadly accuracy. In the monkey’s wake, a large pile of the doll creatures were left without heads before slowly fading into nothing. Pikachu felt one go down from behind him because of it, and for that, he felt grateful.

Samus, Link, and Meta Knight, meanwhile, were focused on opening a path to the portal.

“Cover my sides, you two!” Meta Knight called, going into a Mach Tornado and shredding through a large pile of creatures.

“You don’t gotta tell me twice, Met!” Link whooped, leaping into the air and plunging the Master Sword into two creatures at once.

“Just focus on clearing the way,” Samus said to the round warrior, firing missiles at will to the monsters at her sides. She turned back to her partner when she noticed a bunch of dismembered parts flying around next to her like confetti. “Save your energy for the one responsible, Link. It wouldn’t do any good to waste it all on a bunch of foot soldiers.”

Link scoffed and waved her off. “I’ve been waiting three months for this moment,” he said to her, lobbing off the heads of three monsters behind him. “I could keep this up for days!”

“Alright, well don’t come crying to me when you wear yourself out and need someone to carry you. Again.”

“It was one time, Samus!” He glared at the amused grin the bounty hunter flashed him before putting her helmet back on. He knew she was still smiling at him from underneath, but a thwack to his head from a boomerang made him drop it for now.

“Keep it up! Their number’s-a gonna dwindle any time!” Mario called from the back, noticing that his workload was getting smaller and smaller. Luigi panted next to him, sweat pouring down his face. A monster made him jump, prompting him to punch it into the ceiling out of sheer fright.

“Nice job-a, bro. Ya blew the thing up-a real good!” Mario told his twin, giving him a pat on the back. Luigi laughed nervously, giving his brother a shy smile.

“Thanks bro…” Luigi said to him.

“Now’s our chance!” Meta Knight called from the front. The area was finally clear enough for them to push through. “Hurry, all of you!”  he commanded, hopping into the vortex soon after. Link and Samus were right behind him.

“Stay here, alright?” Mario told Luigi. “We need-a someone ta stay behind in case somethin’ goes wrong. You-a gonna be okay by yourself?”

Reluctantly, but with a determined expression, Luigi nodded. “Y-You can count on me, Mario.” He saluted him and the others as they made a break for the vortex. “Be careful!”

“You got it!” With a running leap, Mario hopped after Meta Knight. Diddy Kong swung in through his spot on the rafters, with Pikachu following behind. He was about to go in, but Luigi interrupted him.

“Hey! Go an’-a get your buddy back, Pikachu!” Luigi said with a gentle wave.

With a firm nod and small grin, Pikachu hopped through the portal after the others, ready to get everyone out of there and to reunite with Sonic.

No one could have predicted that there was barely anyone left to save.

Chapter Text

Pikachu’s ears twitched as the pitter patter of his own paws against the metallic floor hit them. It bounced slightly off the walls, echoing across the rows of empty cages that greeted them all upon their arrival.

The corridor they had found themselves in was huge , to say the least. Pikachu felt his head begin to spin as he gazed up towards the ceiling. It had to be at least a good few stories tall, with freezing cold stone surrounding the structure. It was probably the coldest he had ever been, and he had taken a few Ice Beams and Blizzards to the face in his lifetime. The cage he was next to smelled strongly of garlic and body odor, and Pikachu knew exactly who had been its previous occupant because only one Smasher reeked like that.

That Wario guy was here. Pikachu concluded with a look of disgust, furiously wiping at his nose to try to get the odor out. To his dismay, it didn’t help at all. At least we’re in the right place...

“Did everyone make it?” Meta Knight asked the group when the portal closed behind Pikachu. The group did a small roll call before the round knight was satisfied enough to continue.

“Welcome to enemy territory,” he said, gesturing all around the corridor. “You all know what we need to do: we split up, find anyone that you can…” he looked pointedly at the rows upon rows of empty cages, a slight edge of disappointment to his voice as they weren’t lined with people to save, “...and meet at this checkpoint here.” Meta Knight used his jury-rigged computer and pointed to a small area in the base, a portal spawning point.

“... How’d you get that map in the two minutes we’ve been in here?” Link asked, furrowing his brow as his poor technologically-inept brain tried processing what he was seeing. Pikachu felt a similar way -it was bad enough the ‘computer’ even managed to work in the first place- and from the looks that everyone, including Samus mind you, were giving him, they were all on the same page.

“That is for me to know and for you to never question,” Meta Knight interjected quickly, rather aggressively.

“Now then…” the space warrior cleared his throat and continued to detail their plan. “We shall split into three teams of two in order to cover more ground. I shall be traveling with Diddy Kong.”

“Oh, great… a field trip with the boring bouncy ball…” Diddy Kong said out of Meta Knight’s range of hearing, arms crossed. Pikachu snickered under his breath; Meta Knight wasn’t exactly the most fun person to travel with.

“We will be taking the path towards the north, into the commons area right here. This way, we shall be eliminating a good chunk of our potential opposition while searching for our fellow Smashers,” Meta Knight explained to them, drawing lines on the map with his finger. “Mario will be traveling with Link into the right wing of cells.” The two nodded at each other and paired up. Mario always seemed to be at his best when joined with someone blanketed in green, so Pikachu thought it was a good choice on the knight’s part. “Samus, Pikachu, you shall travel along the left wing. Be careful as this will lead you into the labs. There is no telling what is awaiting you there.”

Samus, huh? Pikachu quietly turned to his partner, who was downloading a map from Met’s computer. In all honesty, he had never really teamed up with her for more than a couple of battles in the past. It’d be interesting for him to see how they worked together.

“Are we all clear on the plan?”

“Yes!” The others said with an affirmative puff of their chests.

“Pika!” ‘ You bet!’ Pikachu gave Meta Knight a salute to show him he was ready.

“Then get to it.” And with that, the three teams went their separate ways.

‘Samus? Can I ask you a question?’

It had been ten minutes since the group split up, with Samus and Pikachu not making much good progress on finding any stragglers. Empty cage after empty cage was what met them instead. Pikachu thought now would be a good opportunity to pass the time with light conversation.

“What is it?” Samus asked him, not unkindly. Her careful gaze focused on the task ahead while she kept one ear on Pikachu’s chirping. She could understand him perfect for some reason. So could Link. The yellow Pokemon wished they would tell him why.

‘Just wondering if you had anyone you were looking for. You seem to be the only one here without someone to save.’

Immediately, she started blushing, letting her gaze waver on the cages just a tad as she tried hiding her embarrassment. Seeing as though Pikachu was perched right on her shoulder, that was impossible.

“It’s none of your business…”

‘Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo… you like someone, don’t you? C’mon, who is it?! I promise I won’t tell anybody!’ The little Pokemon started gently hopping on her shoulder in anticipation, trying to get her to spill the beans.

Samus sighed. She supposed she couldn’t hide it any longer. At least Pikachu would probably make good on that promise.

“... I’m looking out for Snake, alright?” she said hesitantly, huffing slightly. Pikachu stopped bouncing, picturing Snake in his mind. From the little he remembered, he could see why she was into him.

‘A bounty hunter and a super spy guy, huh? Sounds like you two would go great together. I thought you were with Captain Falcon, though.’ Pikachu tilted his head, curious at the live soap opera that was Samus’ love life. She’d been quite popular with the guys throughout the tourneys since she had revealed to the group she was a girl, but she was well-known for ‘being a hard catch’ as Mario had once put it.

Samus shook her head. “It didn’t work out,” she simply said. Her tone told Pikachu to drop the subject, which he did easily. That was all he cared to know if that was going to be her reaction.

After a bit, a small smile graced her lips as she glanced back to him. “And I don’t think I have to ask who you’re looking for.”

Pikachu grinned back, although not with much enthusiasm. ‘I just hope he’s okay. Even before he got caught, he got slashed in the back pretty badly.’

“I wouldn’t worry about him too much, Pikachu. Sonic is a smart kid. I’m sure wherever he is, he’s just fine.” Samus snaked her arm around the Pokemon and gave him a small but affectionate pet of reassurance. The small mouse leaned into her touch, welcoming it.

After a short pause, Pikachu giggled a bit at her choice of words. Moments of the time they had spent together flowed through his mind, lightening the heaviness that had begun to befall him. ‘Smart, huh? That’s not the impression I got when he chased around that Sharpedo.’

Samus hummed in questioning, prompting him to continue. Though everyone knew the Pokemon and hedgehog were friends, they had never really gotten a chance to know what they spent all that time doing when they weren’t training. Pikachu perked, smiling mischievously.

‘It was one of the funniest things I had ever seen, and my trainer’s done some real funny stuff too. I remember it was about a week after we met, and Sonic wanted some fish. The problem was he’s one of the worst fishermen I’ve ever seen, and since my trainer always did a bunch of fishing, I figured I could teach him…’

‘... And then you just attach the hook like this and bingo! All set!’

Pikachu watched patiently as Sonic tried to imitate him, the hedgehog’s brow scrunched in concentration. He was a little slow on the intake and his eyes were still blearily trying to adjust to the lower light- it was about three hours earlier than when he usually woke up so that they could beat the Smashville crowds - but after a few tries, he managed to successfully set up his fishing pole.

“Like this?” Sonic asked with a grin, showing off his work. The tie was a bit loose, but with a good tug, Pikachu fixed it right up for him.

‘Yep. You should be all good now!’ He gave the hedgehog a thumbs up, and together, they both walked down closer to the water. Sonic’s smile only grew bigger the closer they got; he seemed genuinely excited to get started.

Or maybe it was the prospect of catching some of Smashville’s famous red snapper and roasting them on an open flame later. Sonic did drool a lot at the mention of it. Hunger seemed to be a good motivator for any occasion.

“You think I’ll catch a big one, little buddy?” Sonic asked Pikachu, getting in position along the water’s edge. Pikachu stood directly behind him, waiting for him to cast his line in nervous anticipation. He hoped the hedgehog didn’t end up losing the pole. It was a pretty expensive rental.

‘I’m sure you will pal! Just promise to save me the eyes when you’re eating the fish, alright?’

Sonic cast his line without fully comprehending what Pikachu said, only blinking in surprise and turning to him seconds later.

“... You like fish eyes?”

“Yeah!” Pikachu said, rubbing his tiny stomach in anticipation. Neither of them noticed the bubbling that suddenly appeared near the pole’s bobber. “They taste a lot like Tamato Berries, actually! Those are my favorite kind of Berries in the entire world…” he licked his lips, imagining being served a large bowl of mashed Tamato, one of his favorite meals.

“O… kaaay…” Sonic drawled out, trying his best to not find his new friend's taste in  food weird. People back home called him weird for liking durians all the time back home, after all. They could all bite him, those babies were the Kings of Fruits!

It was then that Sonic quickly noticed he was suddenly down one fishing pole.

“Wh-What?! I just had it! Where the heck did it--?”

“SHAR!”

The two heads whipped up towards the ocean, where a Sharpedo had Sonic’s fishing pole in its jaws. It flashed them a toothy smile as a snap of its teeth shattered the pole.

Steam nearly billowed from the hedgehog’s ears as he glared at the shark Pokemon. “ Hey! I paid a lot of money for that, jerk!”

The Sharpedo then used Hydro Pump on the poor hedgehog, effectively kicking him while he was down.

The chase that ensued, and subsequent near-drowning that Pikachu witnessed, was glorious.

“...You like fish eyes?”

‘Really?! That’s your take away from all that?!’ Pikachu huffed as Samus grinned slightly at him, and he let his entire body spread along her shoulder. He winced as his voice echoed slightly. Quieter, he added, ‘No one complains about you eating bird seed when you think no one’s looking…’

“... We’re done talking about this.”

‘Agreed.’

It was the first time in a while Ganondorf had felt a genuine, hardy laugh bubble up inside of his throat. And so laugh he did, for a solid minute as he watched Mario’s ragtag group of resistance members wander the halls of the containment area through the lab’s camera.

It was pathetic, watching them wander around in pairs. Whatever hole they had crawled out of did not treat them kindly, what with the dirt-smudged clothing and unkempt hair. The tiny yellow rat, small, rounded, bat-winged soldier, and idiotic chimp were no match for Ganon’s might or the might of his upper-level Shadow Creatures. Locking them in a room full of Bytans until they were packed in to the point of suffocation would be enough to dispose of them.

It was Mario, the green wearing piece of trash who he refused to name, and the bounty hunter who would be more difficult to pick off, being both of normal size and of adequate combat ability. Ganondorf hated to admit it but the sword-wielding pile of Bokoblin vomit alone could probably level the place if given the opportunity. He couldn’t let him have that opportunity.

Ganon turned back to the cot the spiked rat lie on, grinning as he had long since gone dead silent.

“That was fast …” he mocked, walking towards the cot with a satisfied sneer on his face. The rat did not move, even as Ganondorf stopped right next to him. Dazed and unconscious of his surroundings, the rat leveled an unwavering stare towards the ceiling.

With a push of a button, the restraints were removed, and he made no move to get up.

“See, isn’t this better? Now you don’t have to worry about anything anymore. You’re free …”

Ganon let his hand hover over the rat’s body, flexing his fingers in preparation.

“... But that just means what you left behind, your body, belongs to us now. Now, listen very carefully.”

Grabbing at loose skin around the neck with one hand, Ganon hoisted the rat up, bringing him to eye level. The heartbeat was sluggish. Faint. Practically undetectable were it not for Ganon directly touching him, but he was still alive. Pitiful thing was a limp as a Chu, and luckily, with the Shadow Bugs now occupying his brain, just as malleable.

“You are now nothing but a tool for myself and the Subspace Army. Anything that opposes us is marked for death, and you have been enlisted for the job of garbage boy. Don’t you feel lucky, hedgehog?”

The hedgehog blinked, easily mistaken for a lack of comprehension were it not for the subtle twitch of his now purple-tinted eyes. The Shadow Bugs were slowly turning the gears of his brain as Ganondorf’s words sunk in.

“Dispose of anyone who tries to get in our way. Use any means necessary, and absolutely make use of lethal force.”

Like a throwing a ball to a batter, the King of Evil chucked the hedgehog into the wall, making a satisfying banging sound. The pitiful rat slumped against the wall, still just as listless as before.

Nearby voices flitted through the partially opened door, and as if a switch was flipped, the hedgehog immediately lifted his head with a trill bubbling in his throat and a dark, blank look lining his features. The trill was the familiar battle cry of a lowly Primid, now augmented and given the tools to kill.

“They are intruders,” said Ganondorf, pleased with himself as he watched the results of their work come to fruition. “Feel free to leave their bodies behind; they’d make perfect decorations.”

Without further delay, the rat burst through the door, leaving a gaping hole in his wake. Ganon gave the little rescue party another hour max before they were all ripped to shreds by his sharp quills. Perhaps he could use their corpses as throw rugs for the main halls.

He had all the time in the world now. He might as well go and pay the other broken worms a visit.