Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mario was mostly content with life. Especially after trouncing Bowser yet again, whose most recent plan used Princess Peach’s own castle star power against her. After the fight with Bowser. Mario and Peach shared a nice cake; then, with a good evening kiss, Mario bid farewell to his beloved.

If only their stations weren’t so different, Mario would have acted on his feelings; but, despite his many accomplishments, he felt unjustified in asking for her hand. He shook the thought away, before taking a running leap from the castle. There were times to think about this—and it wasn’t now.

Mario quickly arrived at his home, just a stone toss and a warp pipe away from Peach's. Mario found the mailbox open, and a letter sticking out.

“Who just left it open like that…?” The thought ran through his head. “Had to have been Luigi,” he said, shrugging. He then gazed closer at the letter. The seal was like nothing he’d ever seen before. It was an incomplete red circle; two lines split it, not quite down the middle, both vertically and horizontally.

Flicking some flames onto his pointer finger, he unsealed the letter. It’s contents were... well, as expected, a letter. Along with some sort of badge, which had an insignia similar to that of the seal. Mario unfurled the letter and took a good look at it.

“Mario. I have been keeping an eye on your exploits. Your ability to continuously save the Mushroom Kingdom through sheer talent and force of will are nothing short of spectacular. Besting the latest threats of Smithy and the ever-deviant Bowser—your mortal rival—exemplifies that. Your sheer adaptability and excellence at the art of fighting has amazed me.

I hereby invite you to the Iunctarae; a rarity, to be quite frank. It is a meeting place amidst several worlds, acting as a central hub of sorts. We desire fighters such as yourself to compete in a tournament, to see who is the most powerful out of all of whom we choose. If you do accept, you will be battling against opponents who have completely different capabilities than you are used to.

The champion will be granted privileges beyond their wildest dreams. However, do be aware that time passes differently in this place. You will likely be gone for quite some time, or maybe not even much at all; it is dependent upon each individual world. It’s best to prepare for any passage of time you may not be able to account for.

If you accept, do take that badge that comes with this letter and put it on. You have a week in your world's time to decide.

- MH"

Mario glanced over the letter several times. His interest was piqued. Nodding to himself, he picked up the badge. Although he was already determined to put it on, he dared not do so quite yet. He had become certain of that much before even reaching the letter’s final words.

He walked into his comfy abode, placed the badge onto the living room table, and decided to turn in for the night. It had been a rather long day, after all. He fell asleep easily, with the letter still in his hand.

After awaking from a dreamless sleep, Mario was struck by the realization that Luigi hadn’t returned home at any point during the evening. Mario shook the sleep out of his eyes, and chose to take it as a sign that Luigi was probably spending time with Torra the Toad, who was in charge of Princess Peach’s military forces; or, he was hanging out with Daisy in Sarasaland.

He scribbled a small note out for whenever his brother returned, to let his little bro know he was off on another journey. He felt bad leaving Luigi behind yet again, but he had been invited personally, and him alone.

The most difficult part lay ahead. Quickly resolving himself to it, he left for Peach’s castle.

Upon entering, he found Peach discussing repair plans with Toadsworth, who was probably a professional at fixing the castle by this point. He barked orders at various Toads, friendly Koopa Troopas, and a few Bumpty’s of Shiver City fame to fix up any damage they could find, both small and large.

After watching wordlessly until Peach and Toadsworth were finished, Mario handed the princess the letter. She was looking at him with a curious yet dazzling smile. Yes; this was the most difficult part for sure.

He pointed to the conference room, inside of which hung a defining painting of a line of Bob-ombs marching. An ornate table stood in front of it.

Peach had called for tea, and of course Mario’s favorite mushroom wafers. As the servant Toads delivered both, she began scanning over the letter. She let out an “Oh my”, although less out of surprise and more out of simple realization.

“So, you plan on going. Hehe; that's my Mario.” Her bright blue eyes held a sadness that her expression and comment didn’t.

Mario simply nodded, glancing around the room. He couldn't quite making eye contact.

“It’s not like you to feel guilty. Just go; we can handle the Mushroom Kingdom.” Her soft yet regal voice carried a finality that allowed no change of mind.

He simply chowed down on a few wafers and had a sip of tea, before she dropped her own bombshell.

“I’m going to be taking combat lessons from Princess Daisy and her father, the good King Bellis,” She stated plainly. “I can’t just sit and learn management, and not assist Torra on the Koopa front in some way…”

“WHOA” is the only sound that came out of Mario’s mouth—as did some tea, which covered part of the table. He started wiping the spot out of embarrassment.

Peach laughed heartily. “I don’t want to have to be rescued by you all the time. This last incident showed that I need to be prepared for even our own castle to be used against us.”

Mario made some off comment about how she was already battle-ready, considering her assistance with Smithy.

“I was more supportive there. I want to be able to fully fight aright alongside others; and, if needed, fight on my own terms too. But," she said, swatting that topic aside, "this is about you, not about me.”

She turned over the letter, then handed it back to Mario. Her dazzling smile returned.

“Take anything you need from the treasury. We even managed to get some good hammers this time.”

Mario’s eyes glowed with excitement. The conversation continued into the afternoon, before Mario decided to finally go to the treasury.

“Take care my dear Mario… I’ll be thinking of you.”

She held him close, before taking off his hat briefly to kiss him on the forehead. When she handed his hat back, he saw that it held what looked like a fire flower, which pulsated with a power unlike any he had ever seen. It radiated an aura of unstable energy.

“This is the Ignis Flower. It was passed down from my father to me. I want you to have it; hopefully it will bring you luck, and more.” She was taller than him by a significant margin, so he wasn’t prepared for the single tear that dropped into his line of sight as it delicately crashed against the floor. However, when he looked up at her, she appeared perfectly composed. “Hurry on and get geared up, and go out on your new adventure!”

After another brief hug, he left her again. He went to the treasure to gear up with hammers, fire flowers, cape feathers, jamin jelly, some mushrooms, and even a frog suit. He put them into a bag, which was also provided by the Toad running the treasury.

“Good luck Mario!” Said the Toad as Mario headed back up the staircase.

“Okey-dokey!” Mario called out as he gave back with a thumbs up.

A short time after that, he was back home, his bag in hand. He grabbed the badge off the table where he’d left it before, and stuck it onto his overalls with absolutely no hesitation. A whooshing unnatural sensation overwhelmed his senses; it was like being dragged into the deepest darkest cold, or being spun in place and suddenly let go. He collapsed to the ground.

Eventually, his senses returned to him. The floor was unfamiliar, and ethereal; it felt like soft glass to his gloved hand, not unlike the Star Road. He pushed himself to sit up, and opened his eyes. Ahead of him was a group of several figures, and two floating shapes that looked like... hands, or something similar. Everything was still mostly a blur, but one thought was clear through his dazed mind. He was in the Iunctarae now; there was no turning back.

Chapter Text

Evil’s Bane sunk deep into the face of Link's bestial foe. Link pulled the blade back out of the monstrous Ganon. Zelda and the Sages were finishing the spell that would seal the dreaded beast and banish him from the realm of Hyrule, at least for a time. Link had debated against this more temporary solution, but he was overruled.

“C…urse y…ou Li…nk” The beast bellowed with a guttural growl. It raised one of its massive fists, round which a purple mist seemed to swirl. Link brought up his dazzling mirror shield in response, despite his preparation he felt a small hit against his chest. Soon after his eyes were blinded by a searing light.

Ganon was gone. Zelda had finished the seal. She collapsed on her knees in exhaustion.

Link examined himself before slinging the shield across his back .He swung the Master Sword with enough force to instantly cleanse it, then sheathed it with a final flourish. Nothing was wrong with him after the battle, besides sore muscles and bruises; maybe a few cuts, but nothing he couldn’t handle.

“So it’s over then?” The swordsman asked.

She nodded solemnly. Her entire body was shaking with the exertion from earlier. “Oi, Princess! Let me help you.” He strode over to her, his own fatigue ignored while he offered her his arm to pull herself up with and lean against.

“You’re so strong Link… I barely did any…” She started, before Link put his finger to her lips. He noticed some tears forming in her eyes. Knowing what was going to come next, he pulled her closer to his shoulder, to let her cry her seven years worth of tears.

“You’re very strong Zel. You saved Ruto and the Zora people as Sheik, not to mention bailed my hide out of situations like in Kakariko.” Her sobs had already soaked into his quite messy tunic.

“B..but what if the other peoples of Hyrule refuse our requests for rebuilding? I haven’t done anything for the Gorons or the Kokiri’s to have them lend aid.” She sniffled, gradually getting more control over herself.

“You can leave those layabout Kokiri to me!” A wispy voice stated, as Navi the fairy emerged from Link’s hat.

“And I’m a sworn brother to Darunia. They’d think twice before refusing me. Especially with Darunia's son... Link, also with them..” Link grimaced. “I’m never going to get used to that.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure why they’d name a Goron after a lout like you, honestly…” Navi said, then continued. “Anyway, Princess Zelda, Don’t worry about it. You can rely on us!” She boasted with her usual confidence.

“Navi is right! Not so much the lout part though...” Link said, a smile coming to his face. He was pleased that Navi had read the mood so effectively. Then again, she always had that gift.

“A-alright, that’s settled then.” Zelda responded, her voice still a bit shaky, as they began walking through Ganon’s Towers outskirts. Link kept supporting her, while Navi flew a short bit ahead to scout for any stragglers. They eventually headed across the Sage’s bridge, which had been constructed to assist Link in getting into Ganondorf’s tower in the first place. The consistency was like that of glass, but strangely… soft. Whatever it was, it was somehow unsettling to him.

Zelda was getting her composure back with every step; at least, as much as she could gather back. “Link, I'm sorry we couldn’t go with your wishes earlier. We simply don’t have the power to entirely destroy him.”

Link waved her comment off, with his free hand. “Aw come on. It’s nothing personal. I just wished we could have finished him for good.” In his mind, though, he did curse that he wasn’t quite strong enough to destroy that monster. It’d taken so much from both him and Zelda; Including making several of his friends have to give up their mortal lives to become sages.

“Something the matter Link?” Navi asked, looking back. “Nah it’s nothing.” Link gave her a little motion Zelda couldn’t see to drop the topic. Navi was almost TOO perceptive of his moods, especially during times like this.

The rest of the trip to the Temple of Time, where most of this had begun, was uneventful. As they entered the narrow door of the temple, Link couldn’t help but be in awe of the pristine marble, and the holy atmosphere that extruded from the entire place.

“He’s doing it again.” Navi giggled.

“Hey! It's pretty!” He shot back, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Zelda could do nothing but laugh.

“I’ll admit, when I was here waiting for you as Sheik, I couldn’t help but gape either. Although I don’t think I was quite that enraptured”

Link ignored the comments taking off his pack and gear. In a few short minutes he had fully prepared a makeshift camp. The group then huddled down to rest from their fatigue. A few hours steadily passed.

Zelda was already asleep; the day had been rather exhausting after all. She was laying on a spare tunic of Link’s as he covered her with his blue tunic for a blanket. “Not quite a Princess’s bed, but I hope you sleep well.”

Navi was watching the entrance in case anything tried to assault them. Even if Ganondorf was currently gone they couldn’t afford to be stupid. ReDeads might still be lingering in the area.

Finally, Link got around to examining his remaining gear. The battle had done quite a number on his equipment.

His bow was a pile of twigs. During the fight Ganondorf had quite literally jumped at him and chokeslammed him into the wall. His bow had been on his back for easy access to get another light arrow ready. It had fractured, and upon shooting the final light arrow prior to Ganondorf's monstrous transformation, it snapped entirely. It had at least done its job.

He flexed his hands in the golden gauntlets he had gotten, thankful they were still intact. They would be handy if he ever found himself in a hand-to-hand fight like that again. His bombchus were all spent. He had a decent number of standard Goron bombs left.

Glancing over at his old gear he kept from when he was a kid, he saw the Kokiri Sword. He’d need to return that eventually, along with the silver gauntlets to the Gerudo and the megaton hammer to the Gorons.

“The Gerudo…” He murmured to himself while looking at Zelda. She hadn’t said anything about them. But that long-standing hatred that the Gerudo and Hylians had of each other likely wouldn’t heal. She probably found the idea of asking them for help in this situation useless.

A sudden flapping of wings interrupted his thoughts. He quickly picked up the nearest sword to him, the sheathed Biggoron Sword. He took quick strides towards the entrance as Navi flew back to him.

Link began to draw the mighty blade, but before he finished, a familiar figure materialized. It wasn’t a creature of darkness. It was…

“Kaepora Gaebora!” Navi stated excitedly.

“Hey old man I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again.” Link stated, sheathing his sword and putting it against the wall.

Gaebora simply laughed in his strange way. “It’d take more than mere keese to fell me, young one.” His tone quickly became serious however.

“The dangers of the land are receding thanks to thy valiant efforts. And yet it seems that thou work may not be merely finished. I hast been granted a message to deliver to thou that transcends the realm of the goddesses themselves. They tasked me with the delivery of this.” And falling to Link’s feet from the great owl's talons was a letter.

“It… comes from somewhere beyond Hyrule?” Link was absolutely flabbergasted. Navi remained silent.

“It doth. I suggest thou compose a decision on it apace. The future of Hyrule may depend in part on it.” And with that ominous warning, Gaebora flew off just as quickly as he came, not even asking if Link wanted to hear it again.

A brief silence followed that Navi broke. "That… wasn't too unlike how the Deku Tree's last address to me was." Link could see she was shaken.

"No point in worrying about what we don't know." The Hylian responded although he was also unsure how to take Gaebora's manner.

They went back inside. Link deftly placed the Biggoron Sword onto his back and he then examined the letter more closely.

It had a rather bizarre seal. It was dark green with an emblem like a circle that wasn't quite complete. Lines were missing from both horizontal and vertical angles.

He quickly grabbed his old Kokiri sword and sliced the seal and envelope open. Two things were inside; a weird pendant-like object and a note. Link glanced over the page, and thanked Impa in his mind once more, for not only helping him improve as a fighter– but also for teaching him basic letters. The note was written as such.

"O Hero of Time, long have I watched the struggles of you and your ancestors against the forces of darkness. Your continuous bravery, resourcefulness, and undaunted resolve has amazed me to the point of deeming you worthy.

Link, Wielder of Evil's Bane, I invite you to a contest of champions in Iunctarae, a land beyond all worlds-- beyond even the realm of the Sages.

The contest will be a tournament of force, and the champion shall be granted honor immeasurable and strength without peer. It is noteworthy, however, that time shall not pass identically across realms-- even I do not fully grasp the method behind this phenomenon. Hero of the Triforce-- if you desire to attend, set your affairs in order.

I await your response in a week's time. If you wish to accept, please set this pendant upon your neck."

- MH

Link looked it over a few more times. It was rather overwhelming. “You know Navi… I think I'm going to sleep on this.”

“Regardless of what you choose, I will remain by you.” She said, as he prepared to sleep.

Link’s dreams were tainted by a nightmare. He envisioned himself in a dark barely lit field, against a hazy figure in white shining like the moon itself. Link’s hand gripped on the Master Sword as the figure advanced on him from a high leap, but… it rejected his hand and burned it severely.

“Why is the sword rejecting me… as if I’m evil?” He yelled to the heavens in agony. The figure in white closed in dodging back and forth. Link quickly pulled his mirror shield with his free hand… The glowing figure was too fast! All turned into a blur of light.

He awoke with a gasp, covered in sweat. “Link?” He heard an echo from both Zelda and Navi’s voices. He looked around, the natural light from the windows burning into his groggy eyes. Before looking at their worried faces.

“Just a bad dream...” He stated.

Zelda felt his forehead. “Nothing abnormal here. Thank the Goddesses.”

A few minutes passed in silence, before Link slowly got into a sitting position. “So Zel… there's been a possible change in plans.” He started.

“You do intend on answering that summons, then…” Navi returned in a rather neutral voice.

“I read it already. Navi showed it to me when I woke.” Zelda began. “I actually agree with you going to this contest. It could give you great insight. I do need our Hero of Time being even more knowledgeable, after all”

“And the possible time distortion?” Link asked

“We could always try the Inverted Song of Time…” Zelda muttered.

“The what now?” Link was flabbergasted. Here he’d thought he learned the bulk of the useful magical songs of the Hylian royal family.

Zelda continued. “The Inverted Song of Time is performed by playing the Song of Time backwards. The legends state that it slows down the passage of time considerably. If we were to use it…”

“Time might not pass that much while I'm gone.”

“Exactly. I’d play it shortly after you leave. Hopefully if all goes well, you'll be back in a timely manner; not just to help with the rebuilding, but also to return the Master Sword."

Link recoiled at the words. He looked at his left hand. Navi looked in his direction, glowing a little darker blue. A sign of worry.

“I’ll start getting my gear prepared immediately. The sooner I go, the sooner I can return.” He tried to ignore the feeling of foreboding.

Zelda nodded. “Of course. Navi will be going with you, at least.”

The fairy immediately bounced up and down. “I would follow him to the ends of the earth. Even if he trips on every rock in the path trying to find new treasures!”

“That last bit was uncalled for.” Link groaned

After some time, Link finished gathering all his current gear together in a couple of bags. He hopefully wouldn’t need to carry everything on him during the contests.

Since there was no time to get a new bow, he decided to bring along his old boomerang. Along with it, were his blue and red tunics. All three of his swords, two shields, his bombs, his knowledge of his few magic spells; The megaton hammer, the longshot, his gauntlets and several other nicknacks -- along with something unexpected.

“Here, you should take this… Impa would want you to have it.” Zelda stated, Handing a bundle over to Link.

It was a stealth suit of the Sheikah; not too unlike the outfit Zelda herself had worn as Sheik, face mask included. There were also several small knives, and a familiar harp.

“I had hidden them here prior to Ganondorf discovering me.” This, she indicated the harp, “is to remember me by, as I’ll need the Ocarina of Time.” and Link just hugged her in gratitude.

“Thank you Zel… This means so much to me.” Zelda was taken aback by this sudden strong show of emotion which ended shortly after it sprang up.

“Hurry it up you lovebirds.” Navi teased.

Both Link and Zelda looked at her incredulously. “As if!” They said in unison, then they both burst out into laughter.

“Alright Navi. Get into the hat.” Link commanded; and she obeyed after giving a small but long bounce towards Zelda, her version of a curtsy.

“I’ll be back sooner than you know it, Zel. Trust me.” Link smiled confidently. He took his two bags in hand, and put the pendant on. His departure was immediate; a loud whooshing sound and a bright flash were the only signals given. Then Zelda was alone. Some minutes passed in total silence and stillness.

“It’s so quiet already…” The Temple of Time seemed to echo her words. She brought the Ocarina up to her lips and began to play.

Chapter Text

Five thugs surrounded the helmeted bounty hunter in a decrepit building. He thrived in this kind of scenario.

He quickly surmised that there were two with pistols. The remaining three had laser knives. Not bad odds.

"Not like the famous Captain Falcon to be this sloppy." One of them stated. This was their leader, Falcon guessed. He was a rather brash Poripoto, same as Pico; except one way less dangerous. Pico was at least intelligent.

The rest were humans. They looked like members of the Bloody Chain with the distinctive chains around their necks and plain white tank tops. "Michael is ordering hits on superior racers now, is he? What a lowly coward!" Falcon's mannerisms were as exaggerated as his speech, motioning his hands all over.

But this was to hide his true intentions. “Snap” went his fingers, and out of seemingly nowhere the Blue Falcon, his trusting racing machine, had crashed through the eastern wall. It collided into both of the gun-wielding goons, taking them most certainly out of the fight. Falcon then sprung into action himself.

The Poripoto lunged at him with his knife. Falcon waited for his approach and brought his knee up immediately, dislodging the blade from its wielder. Then he pivoted on his still-stationary foot and delivered a powerful elbow smash into its face. The green kappa-like alien fell unconscious in mere moments. Simultaneously, the Blue Falcon finished its run and parked nearby.

“All talk, I see…” The Captain remarked, as the other two laser knife thugs decided to bum rush him. One came from the front, the other from behind.

With lightning speed, Falcon rushed forward. He grabbed one assailant by the hand that held their knife. Then he grasped the other hand and slammed them both together. The impact shocked the knife out of the opponent's grip. Before it could reach the floor, Falcon delivered a devastating flurry of kicks to the attacker's chest, and finished with a sudden kick to the head. The foe crumpled just as the knife finally reached the floor. The remaining thug could only watch in awe. Falcon turned slowly and smiled at them.

“I… I won’t…” was the only thing the lone gang member could mumble before running.

A loud clear voice suddenly erupted in the Captain’s helmet. “Simulation ended… Miss Summer is here to see you sir.”

Suddenly the building dissipated, and rematerialized into a large clear room. Electronic screens and devices decorated the walls. It was one of the many training simulation rooms contained in the deeper parts of the cafe known as the ‘Falcon House.’ He ran this establishment under the guise of Bart Lemmings, a ‘fan’ of the famous Captain Falcon-- on the outer portion of the major trading cities of Port Town. In reality it was also his secret base of operations, both for bounty hunting and racing.

When Captain Falcon walked out of the room, taking off his helmet and usual gear, and donning a barista uniform with his trademark red/black striped tie. He walked out to the café front.

“Bit late for a drink, don’t you think, Jody?” The calm collected voice of ‘Bart’ went out to Jody Summers, who was sitting on a stool in the middle of the bar.

Jody looked at him with a sly smile. “No wine while I'm off duty? Shame.”

“Dignified taste for a dignified lady.” Bart responded.

Jody then got to business. “I’m here to see if you or your ‘pal’ knows anything about Blood Falcon.”

He grimaced. “As far as I know, he’s simply a clone of the Captain. DNA was stolen from him after that big pileup on Big Blue several years back when he was hospitalized.”

She nodded. “That’s most of what I know as well. I also wanted you to let Captain Falcon know something off the record; two rumors specifically. The first is cloning technology seemingly has some basis in Federation science labs. Second, they’re planning on doing something with those so called ‘Metroids’ out in the FS-176 system. At least… Whatever is left of them.”

He had to search his memory. With the return of Zoda, along with the recent threats from Blood Falcon and Black Shadow, the more distant Federation struggles were far from the front of his mind.

“I’ll pass the message along to him. He might find it interesting, although it could lower his opinions of the Galactic Federation even further than they are.” And it had.

The majority of the Federation leaders were inept bureaucrats who, after establishing a power base, had decided to just let bounty hunters do all of their fighting and enforcing aside from the few in the police and military who gave a darn. Was good pay for the bounty hunters, sure, but it allowed villains like Black Shadow to flourish.

It was Jody’s turn to grimace. “Probably… But again, I'm not even sure these are true. I'm planning on doing some digging.”

He smirked. “Not gonna play good little girl anymore?”

“Shove it.” The brunette flexed her powerful arms.

“Hey, hey, I’m just making an observation! Be careful, though, if you do decide to look into it personally.” He warned her.

“And Bart? As a spokesperson, I have to give them good press regardless of some of their more… questionable actions. But I do think we’ve done some good around here too.”

In his mind he begrudgingly agreed. Jody’s detachment of the Federation had done Port Town and the local planets some very good services. They’d helped him run Black Shadow and Blood Falcon into hiding after the dreaded X Cup, which had tested every single racer's skill and endurance. Who builds courses only a day in advance…?

“Have James and the Doc managed to find anything on them?” He asked as his train of thought went that way.

“James called up his old Galaxy Dogs, but all they could do was chase Shadow into a wormhole that he then escaped through. We’re unaware of his whereabouts… you might need to ask him for more details.”

“As for Stewart: He’s been treating those injured at the X Cup who needed some more serious operations. Likely going to not make his next race, but I don’t think he minds as long as he’s helping people.”

Jody sipped at her drink that Bart had supplied during the conversation, absently swirling the remainder while deep in thought.

“I’m honestly just glad we might not have to deal with Black Shadow and Co. for at least a little bit. I’d like my usual customers back at regular hours.” He smiled.

“Always about the Café with you… And I guess being the Captain's informant.” She finished her drink.

“I should probably go. I’ve got a report to file.” She quickly got up and gave a wave, which he returned. The door automatically shut behind her, and Bart flipped the switch under the counter to lock it.

He yawned and leaned back against the wall. Then he deftly took a rag and began to absently clean the glass that Jody had left. There was a lot to think about, although probably …not at--he looked at his watch twenty-three hundred hours. Captain Falcon would be busy tomorrow, that was for sure. He sighed; another day of leaving the Falcon House staffed with robots and recent hires. Thankfully he was good at racing and bounty hunting, or he’d actually have to worry about the bills.

The next morning came too quickly for his liking. After giving his instructions to the early employees and robots, he was in the hidden portion of his home at his comm station.

"Come in McCloud, this is Falcon. Repeat: this is Falcon, come in McCloud."

There was a brief bit of hazy static, and then James McCloud's face became somewhat clearer.

"Captain? What do I owe this unexpected honor?" The professional asked.

"Just some questions regarding Black Shadow. But I feel it's too risky to do this over even this encrypted comm. Where can I meet you?"

"Me, Pico and Goroh are over at Death Wind right now, doing a little patrol before heading back to Port Town for the upcoming race."

"Pico and Goroh? How'd you con them into it?" the Captain asked in a wondering tone.

"They both owe me some favors from saving their hides at a botched job over Lightning." James grinned at the memory. "Goroh also insists I don't tell you more about it." All Falcon could do was smirk in response.

“Alright, I'll meet you over Death Wind. Will probably take me around half a day to get over there in the Falcon Flyer. Falcon out.” Falcon saluted. James returned the gesture.

Soon after, Falcon was gearing up and preparing the Flyer for liftoff. There was a hidden underground runway that launched out of one of the less conspicuous zones of Port Town.

His hangar was mostly used for the Flyer, but occasionally it hosted another ship. He’d docked the Blue Falcon in the Flyer yesterday as well, so his actual preparations were few.

He belted his trusty blaster and a beam saber (you never really knew what you’d encounter). While Falcon loved settling things with words or his fists, sometimes it wasn’t an option.

“Alrighty Rusty, let’s fly out to the planet Death Wind; on the double!” He ordered his pilot robot. It was a lanky blue painted figure, with roller legs and almost lazy-looking eyes.

“Affirmative.” They boarded via the extended ramp. While Rusty was heading over to the bridge, Falcon himself was going to ponder in the lounge.

The Falcon Flyer was rather spacious; it was essentially a personal luxury cruiser that could house a crew of twenty. Although, he usually just manned it with himself and Rusty.

It was equipped with state of the art engines, comm systems, shields, life support, weaponry and comfort, fitting for the class of ship it was. It had taken several years of bounties and races to get his baby this good, but it had been well worth the cost.

Once he arrived at the lounge, he turned one of the TVs onto F-Zero TV News for some background noise. Then he sat himself into the velvet chair at the comm system. He decided to inform Jody that he was heading over to meet up with McCloud, letting her know he was grateful for the info she’d supplied ‘Bart’ the previous night.

Interestingly enough she was unavailable, probably busy with Federation work. Hopefully she’d get back to him so he left it as a message instead.

As he thought about the upcoming meetup, the noise from the TV slithered into his attention. They had been discussing the upcoming race at the new location of Synobazz: (a massive marshland planet that used to house several high society lords and ladies.) But now, they were reporting stories from across the galaxy, and he caught a few of them amidst his other thoughts.

"...Residents of Zou voice their concerns over the recent visit by the power couple of Super Arrow and Mrs. Arrow. Leon, a spokesperson from Zou who has also raced against the Arrows in several cups, has accused the duo of caring more for their image rather than actually helping any of those in need. Join us later to hear directly from..."

"...bounty hunter known as 'Samus Aran' is still reported missing after the recent Metroid incidents. Despite frequent requests for comment, the Galactic Federation, which employed Aran for assistance in this incident, has remained firm in silence. Tomorrow our Federation experts will discuss..."

"...making waves across the galaxy with their expert handling of the terrorized Lylat System. If this is the first you've heard of the crisis, trust me when I say that this is not a sign of slow reporting on our part, but rather a testament to just how quickly they were able to contain and resolve it. We promise to provide an accurate recap to our viewers as soon as..."

"...cries of relief ring out across the galaxy as the notorious taxi driver PJ is finally suspended from Galaxy Cab. Although countless concerned citizens have long petitioned for his removal, rumors state that his suspension was primarily brought on by internal disputes and disagreements. While many praise the choice, due to PJ's reputation for his crazed and unsafe driving, many others have vocalized their disappointment in losing such a reliably swift cabbie..."

Time seemed to speed by from there. Before he knew it, he heard the all too familiar chime, as well as the star lines of hyperspace becoming modeled stars. They’d finally arrived near their destination.

He headed up towards the bridge. Rusty nodded at him as he entered the bridge. The bridge was laid out in a simple manner. His command chair had a master console which could operate all the Flyer’s systems manually. Around it were six other individual stations for flying, and the rest of the functions. Rusty sat at the flight control station. “Sir. we are being hailed by McCloud’s flagship: the Quetzalcoatl.”

The Quetzalcoatl was honestly just a fairly large, though thin, battleship version of his Little Wyvern F-Zero machine, decorated with the Galaxy Dog insignia-- a planet circled by a vortex of lines outlined with “Galaxy Dogs” on it. Another masterwork of Space Dynamics. Their work in battle spacecraft was nearly unmatched in this part of space. Rumor was that they had some heavy investments in the Lylat system that kept their weapons and shields state-of-the-art.

James' voice over the comm broke into his thoughts. “It’s again an honor to speak with you, Captain. Shall we land on Death Wind? I know a fairly private place where we could hold a conversation. Just get that wind resistance shielding set up prior to docking.”

Falcon liked dealing with James, because he was prompt and to the point. “Lead the way.” was his response.

The Flyer followed the Quetzalcoatl into the atmosphere, immediately feeling the pressure from the incredible winds of the planet upon entry. Below was the typical pink sky and vast but short plantlife that seemed to flow perfectly with the constantly galing winds, giving a beauty that wasn’t easily replicated.

Falcon proceeded to bulk up in his more wind-resistant gear he had made specifically for the planet Death Wind. It hadn’t had any F-Zero races in quite some time. Which was a shame, because the challenge of handling your machine with the squalls was a unique experience, and a perfect test of skill.

The docking bay was almost empty, so the two landing pads were easy to find. Shortly after convening they, found themselves in a small Cantina on the outskirts of just the pad, The Hurricane Grove.

They entered and took a small table near the corner of the place, Falcon noticed there were a fair number of locals. He saw Pico among them, who gave the Captain a curt nod as he noticed him. “Alright, we can finally talk openly here.” James said.

“Pico will be making sure no one eavesdrops on us.” James acknowledged. Falcon looked around and saw that a decent chunk of the patrons were wearing Samurai Goroh’s insignia as well.

“So Captain; ask your questions.” The man stated casually as he lounged with both arms behind him, almost like a king.

Falcon didn’t hesitate. “What wormhole?” His hands clenched. “There isn’t one for light years from here!”

“Heh, you don’t waste time.” James leaned forward, his face showing its first signs of seriousness.

“Black Shadow’s got one of the wildest ships I’ve ever seen, it had this… massive cannon. My boys and I were chasing him down, and we barely managed to scratch it. Almost lost five of my men when his ship suddenly turned and fired on them… Thankfully the dogs are skillful enough to evade sudden surprises.” He sighed in relief before continuing.

“After that we actually did significant damage to his shields. And, as a side note, Pico can claim the credit for the hit that pierced his shield. Then Shadow’s ship suddenly fired up massive energy readings; they nearly broke my scanners. All of a sudden, the cannon just… fired a massive purple beam, and caused a wormhole… that’s all we can call it, because he used it to escape from us. His ship flew right in. It’s still floating there, ‘bout three light years from Death Wind. I can send direct coordinates to the Falcon Flyer when we finish this. ”

Falcon thought about this odd development. How could Black Shadow develop such a thing in secret? There must be more to this.With a snap of his fingers he asked the next question.

“Has anyone attempted to follow him in?” He asked curiously

“No, nor do I want to risk any of my men's lives on a gamble.” The professional returned, his casual demeanor coming back.

“You’re an honorable man, although I feel like someone has to take the plunge.” The Captain returned with his heroic tone.

“I only know four people who’d do that without money involved. You, Summer and the Arrows.” He smirked. “The sphere is in your zone, Captain Falcon.”

For a moment, all the Captain could do was stare back. “Perhaps you’re right, McCloud.” He said emotionlessly.

They sat there in silence for a few moments. “Did Black Shadow have anyone with him?” Falcon said, breaking the silence around them.

“I believe he was only accompanied by Blood Falcon.” Seeing the immediate grimace on Falcon’s face, James continued “Sorry we couldn’t stop them, Captain.”

“You did what you could. Never be ashamed of that.” He got up, stretching. “Think I’ll be heading back to the Flyer now. Catch you later, McCloud; give my regards to the Mrs. and the kid.” He got up and traded salutes with James, before heading to the door.

As he passed by Pico, he said “And I’ll see you on the F-Zero tracks.”

“Careful, Falcon; if that head of yours gets too big, I might get a good shot.” His raspy voice shot back.

Falcon merely saluted. Pico just shook his turtle-like head, either in amusement or disgust (the Captain couldn’t tell which).

He quickly got back to the Flyer and lifted off. His mind was swimming with the information James had given him. Suddenly Rusty’s robotic voice cut in. “Data on the wormhole from the Quetzalcoatl has arrived.”

The Captain sat at the command chair and checked the main computer. And there it was; less a wormhole and more a black sphere of pure… darkness? But it wasn’t a black hole– it couldn’t be. The galaxy dogs would have been sucked in.

“Rusty, set a course for this anomaly. Also, set up a comm channel with the Falcon House. I gotta do something as Bart really quick.”

Quickly changing into his usual barista uniform, he called up one of his newest staff members, Ryu Suzaku. Ryu had been cryofrozen for several years before waking up in this time period, the Captain was trying to take him under his wing in both his guises. The kid had some potential as a future racer for sure.

“Yo Ryu, it’s Bart. I’m along with Captain Falcon for a bit of a long trip. He needs his drinks after all. I’m going to leave you in charge; the automated systems should pay you and the other employees in case this takes a bit. Don’t hesitate to call the Doc or Jody for assistance. If things are incredibly desperate, you can call in EAD, or the Arrows.”

“Alright boss! Mind telling me where you two are headed?” He asked eagerly, his fiery spirit burning as ever.

“Sorry, not right now. Just important business. Talk to you later, Ryu.” He smiled and signed off. Then he got back into his Falcon attire and started another call, this time with Jody.

“Summer, this is Falcon. I’m heading to the wormhole that McCloud described, and it’s going to be a bit of a long investigation. Take care of Port Town in case it takes longer than I anticipate. Bart is coming with me, and he’s leaving Ryu in charge. The young kid has spirit, and if you and Stewart could look after him, please do so.” He left this message, as she was still unavailable.

A few hours later.

“So that’s the wormhole, is it?” The readings were off the charts, and it seemed to crackle with lightning as he looked through the screens. He took a deep breath.

“Any danger signs, Rusty?” He asked simply.

“Negative; despite the seeming electrical currents, it seems safe from our scanner readings.”

It looked chaotic enough, though, and McCloud had probably not trusted the seemingly safe readings when he did his own scan. Maybe Black Shadow made it in by luck? No, that couldn’t be it.

“Rusty, set a course directly for the wormhole.” He said with commanding confidence.

“Affirmative, Captain.” The robotic voice answered.

As the Falcon Flyer zoomed towards and into the anomaly, only one of his own sayings was going through his head.

"You don't win by being lucky, you win by being bold!”

Chapter Text

He was awash in a blissful dream, where a vivid mist of green, white, and a spectrum of purple swarmed around him.

Suddenly, a gentle voice broke through the mist. "It's been awhile…" The figure of Gardevoir suddenly materialized from the haze.

"Gardevoir!" the dreamer's voice sounded almost like a whisper in the heavy mist.

"Yes; it is I." The figure of Gardevoir smiled, but the smile slowly faded.

Before she could continue, he heard another voice, very distantly; "Pikachu wake up!"

"I don't have much time…" Pikachu nodded in understanding, the effort making the dreamstate go even more psychedelic. The purples exploded into silvers and red, shimmering around Gardevoir.

“Your next rescue mission will be quite unusual, and it may take you from the comfort of what you’ve now established.” She looked pained. “Everything is hazy regarding this, but I had to warn you. As this will be coming upon you soon…” Gardevoir trailed off

“Hey lazybones! Get up!” The distant voice came again.

“Just be careful. I know you can overcome whatever challenge comes your way.” Gardevoir smiled after this and started fading away.

Pikachu bolted upright in the rescue base. In front of his face was a pink marshmallow with eyes; more accurately, it was Jigglypuff, his team partner.

“Alright, alright… I'm awake…” He said groggily. Looking around, he was indeed in the home base of Team G.B, the team he and Jigglypuff had made several months ago. It already seemed like a lifetime, though.

“It’s about time!” Jigglypuff pouted towards him. Unfortunately for her, her expression when she was frustrated was more comical than actually intimidating. Her trademark blue scarf was already tied around her head like a headband. She held Pikachu’s green scarf in her hand, ready to give to him.

“What’s the rush?” He immediately asked, taking the scarf from her and tying it around his neck, his tail twitching with curiosity.

“This!” She presented him with a letter for a rescue mission.

He looked at it warily. It appeared normal, but after the dream, he couldn’t help but be suspicious.

After a moment of thought longer, he took it, then opened it gingerly. Pikachu deftly took the letter out and began to read the request.

Client: Lucario

Location: Mt. Steel F9

Goal: Meet the client

Reward: I have information on certain aspects of the natural disasters that caused chaos some months back. While the dangers have passed for this world, I fear this isn’t the end. Please come to Mt. Steel as soon as you’re able. I was recommended to you by Alakazam.

“The Lucario?” Jigglypuff’s giant eyes were practically saucers that glowed with pride and excitement. “We’ve really made it haven’t we!?”

Pikachu couldn’t help but smile. “It certainly seems so! We should probably head into town first though, and make sure we have enough for the trip.”

His unspoken thoughts were a bit less excited, and more quizzical. Was this what Gardevoir had been referring to? Why was Lucario contacting them now? Why not team ACT? There wasn’t enough information, and it was driving him mad. His ears twitched.

“Something wrong?” Jigglypuff asked.

Pikachu quickly explained his dream. Her reaction was predictable. “Omygosh I'm so sorry for cutting that short!” She had gone from beaming to being a little downcast, although her excitement for meeting Lucario didn’t fully die down.

He patted her on the back. “It’s not a big deal.” He tried to play it cool; which, to be fair, was one of his greatest strengths.

In a short time, they headed towards the main town square, which was located not far from their own base. Alakazam, Tyranitar and Charizard were there, seemingly waiting for them.

“I see you got the message from Lucario.” Alakazam stated with no preamble. Even without reading minds, he was adept at reading people. “You intend on going immediately, as well.”

“I hope you appreciated the recommendation from us!” Charizard laughed heartily, some fire spitting from the sides of his mouth.

Tyranitar just solemnly nodded.

“I’m just surprised Lucario didn’t ask you, Alakazam,” was the first thing out of Jigglypuff’s mouth.

He shook his head in response. “I have yet to reach that plateau. You two were able to help stop the calamity.”

“But you helped so much!” Jigglypuff protested.

“Strength and intelligence aren’t everything, young one.” He responded. He looked at Charizard, who was ready to throw down all of a sudden.

“Calm yourself, she meant no offense.” Alakazam chimed in after that glance.

“I know! It’s just… frustrating to be in the presence of such modesty!” Charizard responded with a small snort.

Tyranitar spoke suddenly. “We have many qualities of a rescue team; however, we had forgotten the pure soul of the concept. You and Pikachu displayed that more than any of us: that pure desire to do what’s right, regardless of the cost.”

Pikachu and Jigglypuff couldn’t help but blush in response. “You… really didn’t need to go that far.” Pikachu replied. He looked at Charizard, who still appeared a little annoyed, but Pikachu moved on.

“Are you about to give us some cryptic warning as well?” Pikachu asked, tail twitching as it did when curiosity struck him.

“Cryptic? I was merely going to wish you well on seeing Lucario.” Alakazam responded simply. “We won’t hold you up any longer. May you have good travels.”

The three left towards the gate, likely heading out for training, or a mission of their own.

Pikachu and Jigglypuff made a quick job of preparations, buying several berries; especially chesto berries, considering Jigglypuff had the habit of attempting to put everything around her to sleep when in a panic

As they finished shopping for more supplies… “Ohhhh Jiggly-sweetums!” A singsong voice carried over to them.

“D-dad…” Jigglypuff responded, as the Wigglytuff eagerly hugged his daughter.

“I heard you were going to meet Lucario! I’m so proud of you! Make good friends with him, you hear? He’s the aloof type, so don’t annoy him.” He rambled on.

“Yes… I’ll be fine, Pikachu will probably handle the talking anyways.” She responded, trying to get out of the tight hug.

“As per usual, please take care of my reckless daughter.” He said to Pikachu, while letting go of Jigglypuff. Then, he added, “You remember what I said would happen if you didn’t.”

Pikachu felt a little bit of sweat going down the back of his head. “Yes.. I remember very clearly.”

“Good!” He said. He patted Pikachu probably harder than intended on the head. “Take care dearies! Maybe you’ll even get him to settle down for a while.” Though his tone was vague, Pikachu realized this was in regards to Lucario.

Wigglytuff waved goodbye, as he left the two alone in a brief silence. Jigglypuff was the first to finally break it. “I wish Dad would stop being so overprotective… I can handle myself.” She pouted.

“He only does it because he cares.” Pikachu responded absently, knowing all too well how far that caring went.

“Off to Mt. Steel then?” She asked.

“I believe we’re all set for it, so sure. I’m eager to see what Lucario wants anyways.” Pikachu said back.

“I dunno, you don’t seem excited. More anxious, and it makes me nervous when you’re anxious.”

“It’ll be fine, I'm sure…” He said, not entirely truthfully.

They began the trek to Mt. Steel which thankfully wasn’t too far. They had plenty of experience on much longer walks than this, especially when they had been temporarily fugitives.

Unbeknownst to the duo, a distant shadow on the ground slowly followed them, as if it was keeping a close eye on them

Some time later…

The first few floors of Mt. Steel had been rather uneventful; however, that started to change around the 5th floor.

Three Fearows had swiftly ambushed Pikachu around a corner while he was scouting ahead. Thankfully, he avoided them due to some quick footwork and agility. But these Fearow were out for blood. They zipped towards him; but, they hadn’t anticipated Jigglypuff’s ear-splitting hyper voice, which dazed all three. As they tried to shake off the buzzing in their ears…

“Now, Pikachu!” She signaled. He let loose a massive thunderbolt in response which crackled magnificently around the area. The fierce lightshow knocked all the Fearow out on the spot, with several of their feathers scattering from the sheer power of the bolts. Pikachu looked around at his handy work.

“Whew! Thanks Jigglypuff, they almost had me.” They high fived.

“Oh please, you’d have got’em anyways. I just made it easier.” She winked.

They took it a little more cautiously from there on, avoiding a Pinsir with a tactical use of Jigglypuff’s voice; she could throw her voice, as well as use it for singing and hyper amplifications.

However, they weren't so lucky after finding the steps up to the sixth floor. A 'kiai' was their only warning as a Hitmonlee suddenly Blaze kicked at them. The attack was meant for Jigglypuff, but Pikachu jumped into harm's way to intercept the assault himself.

As he flew from the brutally powerful kick, he noticed that his fur was singed, his scarf was partially scorched, and his vision was blurry. “Pikachu!” He heard Jigglypuff cry out while she floated into the air to avoid Hitmonlee's next attack. Pikachu shook himself off.

“Take this, you bully!” Jigglypuff yelled. Pikachu’s sight was becoming less hazy, which let him see the scene more clearly. Jigglypuff was now floating around the stalwart warrior, pelting him with the Gravelerocks they had brought with them. Hitmonlee wasn’t amused, especially after one hit home right in his face. He kicked the next few out of the air; as he did, Pikachu noticed that Hitmonlee was breathing more heavily from the exertion. He then pounced before Hitmonlee could assault Jigglypuff again with its brutal kicks.

Pikachu coated himself in electricity for a devastating wild charge. He only had one shot at this for a clean knock out; any more, and the jolt’s knockback would hurt him. Jigglypuff saw him coming and weaved around the Hitmonlee. She threw out her own small kicks, to keep him in place and on the defensive. The electricity sparked around Pikachu as he dashed around baffling Hitmonlee even further.

His attack hit home, blasting Hitmonlee cleanly into the rock wall. The impact left a small indent in the wall, shaped like the fighter. He was out for the count. Pikachu shook off the crackling aura around him, his ears and fur all staticky from feeling the jolts of his own attack. Then he called out to Jigglypuff. “Are you alright?”

“Yes…” she responded, breathing a little heavily. She let out a long breath of air as she came back to the ground.

“You shouldn’t do that when you don’t need to…” She admonished him.

“I decided it was the best option, nothing more.” He panted, then gave a thumbs up.

She just shook her head in amusement. “You’re always trying to look cool; thankfully, you can pull it off.”

They then decided to eat some sitrus berries and briefly rest. The rest of floor six and floor seven were oddly empty.

Floor eight, they found something unusual: a Blaziken, with a silver sash draped across its chest. He was standing in front of the way up to the peak, and to Lucario, with its arms crossed.

Pikachu and Jigglypuff were preparing for a fight, but the Blaziken simply stood back and gestured with its head up to the peak. The two nodded respectfully to it as they climbed upward.

On the peak, a lone figure sat in meditation, facing away from them. A tattered blue cape hung around it, along with a tattered orange rescue team scarf worn like a sash.

“You’ve arrived.” The figure said simply, as it slowly rose to its feet. It turned around to face the duo, revealing itself to be Lucario. His cape billowed in the mountain air behind him.

“I have called you here to give you a message, along with some information.” His deep and confident voice gave him an air of majesty that awed the two adventurers.

“So we-” Jigglypuff started, but Lucario raised his left palm. A blue auric fire burst forth danced around it. “Do not interrupt me.” Jigglypuff immediately went silent and gulped.

Pikachu stood silently, attentive to Lucario's words, as thoughts of Gardevoir’s vague warning filled his mind.

“The natural disasters were partly an aftershock resulting from the Iunctarae.” Lucario continued.

“Think of it as a realm between realms; Pikachu himself here traveled along it, as did some other humans.” He crossed his arms. “The only reason I know this, is because I received this, in a dream from Celebi itself.” He held aloft a letter.

“To think I’d become a simple messenger and not a chosen warrior… But no matter. This is for you, Pikachu; and you as well, Jigglypuff.”

Pikachu took the letter, thanking Lucario before reading it. Jigglypuff read along over his shoulder.

“To our chosen duo: we ask you to participate in our tournament of champions. Your efforts to save this realm have been of great interest; your growth, spectacular.

Where I reside, where the tournament shall be, and where you shall be transported are one and the same-- the Iunctarae.

The prize, while vague for some, is most clear for you. You shall learn of your past --from before you became what you are now-- and I, your companion, shall want to do nothing more than to assist you. And for your companion in particular, we also offer a chance for ...greater things. Come, for we desire to see your talents in full.

We have entrusted this to one of the more whimsical beings of your current world. But it shall know who to entrust it to, so that it reaches you. If you desire to join us, take these two rings. If both shall come, then each of you shall wear one. If only one shall come, then they shall wear both.

You have a week of your world's time to decide on your course of action. Choose wisely.”

- MH

“This didn’t mention the natural disasters, though…” Pikachu immediately noted.

“No, but Celebi did. The ripple effects in the world can be personally felt by them. It is strongly related to this letter and its sender. Someone or something really desires your talents, be it for this tournament or some ulterior motive.” Lucario explained.

“I will think on this, Lucario, thank you for giving this to us.” Pikachu said.

“You’re a strange creature; most would be afraid of something like this. I myself have doubts. Do not rush into things rashly without caution is my main advice here.”

“Pikachu isn’t-” Jigglypuff came to his defense but was halted once again.

“Do NOT interrupt me again. If you do, I will silence you by force next time.” The auric flames returned to Lucario’s hands.

She backed away, her loyalty to Pikachu still showing strong in a stubborn face, though now also accented with some fear.

“If you do accept this, I’ll make sure any rough jobs are between my team and ACT. Just know that you can do this without worrying about home.” He said, the aura dissipating from his hands. Then he turned back around, and sat down in a meditative state once more.

“Let’s go…” Pikachu said. He touched his Rescue team badge and with a flash of light, he and Jigglypuff teleported to the front of the mountain.

“What a jerk! Why do people respect him so much…” Jigglypuff’s voice was hurt and saddened, like a heroic image had just been shattered entirely.

“I don’t know; he came off aloof, just as your Dad said. But, he seemed to mean well.” He responded.

“But he was so rude!” She shot back, dejected.

“You were the one who interrupted him…” He reminded her.

“I guess I just got too caught up in the moment… And the image I had in my head.” She replied.

They slowly trudged home, failing to notice a figure materialize behind them. It was Gengar who proceeded to go his own way.

Pikachu and Jigglypuff arrived back at the G.B base. It was dusk now; despite starting fairly early in the morning, the whole ordeal had taken them quite some time.

Jigglypuff had checked the mail when they got home. One letter had arrived, which she brought to Pikachu “It’s from Alakazam. He says they're going to be staying in close touch with Lucario for a while, to take on S-level jobs.”

Pikachu nodded his weary head, then finally sat down on the bed. It felt nice to be off his feet; they hurt like blazes, despite this not being anywhere close to the worst job they had done. As his vision swirled in fatigue, he held up the two rings.

“What do you think, Jigglypuff?” He asked, his tail twitching.

“We should do it. You’ve wanted more answers on your past, and I'd be more than willing to assist you.”

“But your Dad…” He replied

“So what about my Dad? I want to help you!” She said, a little more emotionally than she probably intended. The encounter with Lucario was obviously still weighing on her.

After more than a minute of pondering the dilemma he put them down on the table. “We should sleep on this.”

“You’re right.” She sighed. “You usually are, after all.”

An oddly dreamless night awaited Pikachu a few hours later. He was so used to vivid dreams that the lack of one at all was quite jarring to him. Not even Gardevoir could help him reach a proper decision.

He woke up, but didn’t open his eyes fully. It was still late at night; the sound of nincadas were rampant, but it was oddly relaxing. He mulled over the letter and Lucario’s words.

He’d wondered often about who he had been. What had led him to his decision? He knew that his choice to get amnesia was self-given, but why? He had to know why, to satisfy the ever-present curiosity that burned in his chest.

He wondered if he’d been this curious as a human, and if that was part of why he’d done it. Or maybe there was something he was better off forgetting? Regardless, the temptations were great. He and Jigglypuff could probably handle whatever this mysterious MH could throw at them.

Still, he couldn't commit immediately. After a restless sleep, he went alone to see Alakazam.

"What ails you, young one?" The wise one asked, as Pikachu approached.

"I'm unsure of what to do…" Pikachu fully admitted.

"Ah, your meeting with Lucario left doubts in you." Alakazam nodded in understanding

"Yes Alakazam… the journey I've been invited to could be insanely dangerous; not just for me, but for Jigglypuff too." Pikachu responded

"So you're not so much worried for yourself, but for her." Alakazam chuckled softly. A very rare thing.

"Follow this." He stated simply, as he pointed to Pikachu's chest.

"The heart often knows best. Let her decide on her own; she knows the risks just as well as you do." The wise leader then continued.

"As Lucario himself stated, we will all be here in case something happens. You're not the only heroes here, after all." A rare note of pride escaped from him.

"How did you…" Pikachu wondered.

"You forget, I can often read the thoughts of others. Especially when they're so open to me. Now, take one more day then fully decide on your course of action, young one." Alakazam went silent after a tone that marked the end of their conversation.

As Pikachu headed back to the base, he saw Jigglypuff. He could tell she was wondering where he'd been.

"I've been looking all over for you… I thought you might have gone on your own before I noticed the rings still on the table." She said, with a worried note in her voice. Her big expressive eyes were wide with relief.

"I was just talking to Alakazam." He said calmly. There was a brief and uncomfortable silence, before he continued, "Are you sure about this? We might not return."

"Pssh," she made a screaky noise with her mouth. "I've BEEN ready since we got the invitation." She looked closer at him.

"I want to help you find out more about your past. Let's do this!" She eagerly pushed. "I even grabbed supplies for a long journey, just in case. Berries, rocks, orbs… the whole works." Jigglypuff stated puffing herself up proudly.

Pikachu could only smile. Then he raised his hand for a small high five.

"You've always had my back, so let's do it. Break of dawn tomorrow?" He said confidently, his ears twitching.

"Sounds good. Let's give it our all!" She eagerly returned

The duo walked side-by-side together, not realizing that the shadowy Gengar was tailing them once again. And once again, it moved away once it saw them go into their base.

An early sleep with a fresh state of mind did wonders. Early the next day, The two sat in their base. They nodded at each other, and Pikachu handed Jigglypuff one of the rings. They put them on, and were pulled from this world onto their next adventure…

Chapter Text

“Too slow!” A voice bellowed as Luigi struck the floor. He panted, winded from the impact; then, he looked up towards his opponent’s outstretched hand. It belonged to the mighty king of Sarasaland, Bellis, who towered over Luigi; his fiery red hair was tied back in a ponytail, a mane of fire roared in his beard and mustache. All this contrasted with his gentle blue eyes, a trait his daughter had inherited.

“Mama mia…” Luigi let out dejectedly, as he took the king's strong hand, raising him upward.

Bellis laughed heartily, and slapped Luigi on the back. “You did quite well that time! Nearly got me a couple attempts. That last jump in particular was spectacular.”

Luigi shyly smiled back before replying. “Still far off from my brother.”

“Confidence will help you; as will experience, which comes with time” The king advised. Then he waved at his daughter, Princess Daisy, who had been watching on the side of the Sarasaland fighting hall. She waved back eagerly, and winked at Luigi.

Sarasaland had always housed some of the greatest fighters; Bellis himself was a student of Toadshifu, known more commonly as ‘The Master,’ who resided in Toad Town near Princess Peach’s castle.

“You haven’t even decided on a style, have you?” The King asked.

Luigi merely shook his head. No natural power such as Mario’s flames had manifested in him to help him decide, either.
,
Daisy had sprung up and headed over to him while he thought it over. “It’s not important that he does yet anyway, Daddy,” she said to her father. “It’s something he has to feel!” She went on eagerly, putting one of her hands into a fist and pushing it against her own chest to drive the point home.

“Wise as ever, my daughter,” Bellis beamed at her, “but he has to decide if he wishes to make some of his dreams a reality.” The king looked directly at Luigi, though it felt more like through him.

The plumber gulped. A memory came back to him of when he had first shown more romantic interest in Daisy, some time after the Tatanga incident.

-- A few years ago --

“You are a respectable man. However, I can only trust Daisy with someone I know can fight by her side as an equal, AND will protect her better than I can” King Belis stated matter-of-factly. There was no malice, it was a simple point.

Luigi shuddered and stared back at this sudden challenge. But his heart gave him a sudden fire. “I’ll become the absolute best I can be.”

The king laughed heartily, and simply said. “Then show me you can be a good choice.”

Their irregular training had begun some months after. Luigi had been constantly trying to improve, and while his skills certainly had increased, he was lacking the full experience that his brother had. He had gained some from assisting Mario on adventures in the past, but he hadn’t devoted his full time to it.

--Present--

Daisy’s voice brought him back to the present. “Sarasaland to Luigi! Hey, you gonna be in daydream land all day?” The king had apparently left the hall by this point.

Luigi shook his head from his reverie and laughed nervously. “Sorry; I was just lost in your eyes.”

Daisy beamed. “They’re like the vast oceans of the Sea Side!” she quoted. He blushed in response.

“You gotta get more original material.” She wagged her finger, “Then again, I like you just as you are.”

He was incredibly happy that she did, but he still felt like he had a long way to go before he could actually impress her. His smile was wide, but his eyes held his fears and sadness.

“I should probably head back home, or Mario will be worried sick.” He said suddenly.

“I didn’t say nothin’ wrong did I?” Daisy said, her usual fiery attitude calming down a notch.

“No, I'm just exhausted…” He responded, wishing he could be more honest.

She perked back up, and slapped his back hard. He’d have gone face first into the floor if he hadn’t been expecting it. “See you’re already stronger, silly~”

“Thank you Daisy, I’ll see you around,” was all he could say as he walked out of the hall, waving goodbye. His back was still stinging from the slap.

His mind wandered as he headed to the warp pipe near the stunning Sarasa Castle. The structure looked like a gorgeous sunset made of marble, reflecting the sun as it dipped into the distance.

“Hey kid!” He heard a loud voice beckon to him. Looking over, he saw Bellis again.

“I’ll see you home today; how about it?” The eager king's voice boomed eagerly.

Luigi looked back curiously. “Is this for any sort of reason?

The King twirled his beard with a large finger while thinking it over. Luigi could notice some controlled sparks dancing from the fingertip into his fiery beard. “I need to meet with Toadshifu; there is something brewing, but I can’t quite put my finger on it…”

They began their journey, starting with the initial pipe to Toad Town itself. From there, they walked back to the Mario Bro’s. House on foot for a time. They were a rather odd pair that should have gotten the townsfolk’s attention: the king back in his regalia, and the plumber in his usual green overalls.

The various Toads, Troopas and other residents were oddly reserved; they weren’t saying much of anything, and were moving almost robotically. The duo didn't pay this much attention. Of course, this could have been the result of Luigi being lost in thoughts about his training, and of the stunning Princess Daisy.

“Honestly, your improvement has been quite spectacular.” The king's voice broke into Luigi's thoughts as they headed out of Toad Town.

“It’s n-nothing really!” Luigi stated, waving his arms around while attempting to be modest.

“You still have a long road ahead. But my daughter has faith in you, and I’ve been very proud of your dedication. You still seem to be missing something, though.” He looked the plumber up and down as they walked.

Luigi just sighed. “I’ll figure this out. I have to!” He spoke with a feigned confidence that he wished he actually had.

“If you say so.” Bellis looked like he wanted to say more, but he chose not to.

“MAIL CALL!” They heard in the distance. Both exchanged questioning glances before Luigi rushed on ahead to see the mail.

The mail delivery paratroopa Parakarry was flying off just as Luigi broke through the clearing of forest around the Mario house.

Luigi approached the mailbox, with Bellis jogging in behind him. Luigi proceeded to open the mailbox and inside were two letters, both with an odd insignia of a circle cut not quite down the middle both vertically and horizontally. One was addressed to Mario. The other was addressed… to him? He looked up at Bellis, who simply nodded at him. Luigi opened it and began to read the contents, while a badge fell to the floor.

Eternal understudy, master of none: this is a summons meant for you and only you alone. Beyond the walls of this kingdom, beyond the reckoning of even your stars, lays a joining of everything amidst the void.

There you shall find your calling, in a contest of strength and wills. That is why we have invited you. The areas you lack in are not a sign of weakness, but indecisiveness-- something that shall be overcome with testing and honing among the unfamiliar. A single tribulation one has yet to experience is more meaningful than experiencing the same tribulation for the thousandth time.

If you shall choose to come, put on this symbol of ours. You shall be instantly transferred to our realm to take part.

If you shall not, nothing shall change in all your days, and your potential shall rest unfulfilled.

- MH

Sweat broke out on his brow. His heart was beating severely fast. “Who… is MH?” was all that came out of his voice, which cracked awkwardly.

Bellis simply shook his head. “I don’t have the faintest idea, my boy.” He looked worried, more worried than Luigi had ever seen him.

“Something about this isn’t right.” The king continued, pacing back and forth, before he noticed the Mario Bros house door was ajar.

Luigi had noticed it now too, once the initial shock of the letter was forgotten. He had ran towards the door. “MARIO?” He shouted, but his new shock was quickly dispelled by a note left on the table. He snatched it from the table and quickly read through it, finding it was from Mario.

“Bro, Bowser took Peach hostage again. This time he’s using the power stars of her castle against her. There’s only one way into the castle due to this: our secret one way pipe. I'm taking it.

Don’t worry, I'll throttle that Koopa! Might not be back by the time you are, whenever that is. But do know everything is under control.”

- Mario

Luigi, despite the reassurance, made a small prayer to the stars to make sure his brother was alright. “Please oh spirits… Guide my brother in his task of saving our fair princess…”

Bellis simply snorted. “He sure knows how to leave people out of a good time.” He sat in one of the chairs near the table. “No wonder the folks in Toad Town looked so worried.”

Luigi simply nodded before sitting at the table himself, trying to parse these two sudden shocks together. “No wonder indeed…” His mind was racing; this unexpected summons that talked about his ‘potential’ almost felt like how Bellis constantly pushed him to decide on a style. That in itself almost felt like a taunt at his ‘indecisiveness’. Bellis knew him too well to let him just stew in this sudden worry.

“Luigi, tell me the reason you fight.” He stated simply, seated at the table alongside his protege.

Luigi looked at his mentor and responded a little defensively. “To win your favor and earn your daughter's hand.” It came out more robotically than he thought it would.

Bellis snapped his fingers, flames dancing between them with sparks. “That is your problem. Not that you have a goal- no, that is quite admirable, in itself. You lack conviction beyond it.” Snapping his fingers again, he continued.

“This ethereal summons you’ve received might be a blessing; it pains me to say this, but I feel you should accept.” Stroking his beard, he looked intently at his student.

Luigi sat there, his hands templed together. His thoughts raced all over the place; was this the best chance to prove himself, or a risk too great for one of his lacking skills?

The king's voice boomed. “Show me your resolve that was promised all those years ago!”

Luigi needed experience, and this was clearly a call that would allow him some. But he feared his training wouldn’t be enough– it was a hypothetical conundrum that paralyzed him. The letter itself had called him indecisive, and that this would make him realize his potential. Was this true? Or just some pretty words that would lull him into a trap, causing his brother to worry about him even more? Also, was it just him, or was it very hot in here?

Luigi looked up at Bellis. The king was towering above him, a ball of flame present in his hand, giving off radiant heat. The flames were sparkling blue at points from the sheer extreme temperature.

“You are your own worst enemy. Go with what your heart says, boy!” The king once again urged him.

Luigi thought further. It probably would be best to take the risk, even if he didn’t do as well as he hoped. It might show him an answer.

“I’ll do it!” He finally stated, still sweating from the stress. Although, considering the big ball of flame sitting in Bellis’s hand, he was sure that was more to blame.

“Uh… King Bellis?”

“Yes Luigi?”

“Could you put that out please? Luigi insisted. The kings’ fierce expression eased.

“Sure, I-” he put the flame on his coat accidentally, catching it on fire.

“PUT IT OUT,” The King bellowed comedically, losing all sense of dignity, before Luigi quickly doused it with a strategically placed bucket of water. (Mario had done similar things after first gaining his firehand capabilities.)

Bellis shook himself, regaining his noble stature after a small chuckle of embarrassment. “Forgive me; I was just so intent on appealing to you, I lost track…”

“Firehand is quite destructive.” Luigi noted while nodding. “I’ve seen it first hand multiple times.” He’d shaken his head in exasperation at the memories.

The King’s laugh rang through the house. “Your brother is quite a natural at it. His control is very impressive for the relatively short time he’s had it.”

Luigi merely thought back to the amusing and the not-so-amusing times when Mario’s latent capabilities had nearly burnt their entire house down; thankfully, it had only been for a few weeks.

Bellis broke into his thoughts. “You could be a natural, y’know; whenever your calling between the Firehand, Thunderhand or even the rare Icehand comes to you.”

“Yes, but I’m still unsure.” Luigi sighed. “Which is probably another reason to answer this summons.”

“I concur. Now, I’d say to get yourself ready for this. However, since you cannot rely on Peach’s armory, you'll be best off going back to Daisy before you leave.”

Luigi thought of his friend Torra, the head of Peach’s military. But no, she was way too focused on the Koopa frontlines around the Pipe Maze region currently; probably even more so considering the current situation. Even if it resolved itself quickly, there was no telling when the Koopalings might strike out again.

“What about you?” The protege asked.

“I need to see Toadshifu, and also discuss something with Peach after Mario rescues her; I assume it won’t be too much longer.” He said, stopping just as a tone of worry seemed to creep into his voice.

Luigi slapped his own face in resolve. “Lord Bellis, please go one more round with me!” It had just dawned on him that his own brother had received a letter with a similar seal, and he’d need to be even more familiar with the full capabilities of Firehand if he was to stand a chance. The king hadn’t often used it in full for their training, considering its potential danger.

Bellis gave a hearty laugh. “Alright! let's go into the forest clearing, then.” The pair headed out of the house, with Luigi pocketing the odd-looking badge on the way out.

There was a clearing in the nearby Mushroom Way, which laid in between Mario and Luigi’s home and the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom.

“Please go all out. I need to know the powers of Firehand…” Luigi said, both in curiosity and dread.

The King's answer was to toss his royal cloak to the side, revealing his usual battle garb. Flames coursed over his hands, licking hungrily at the air around them.

Both of them stared at each other– the lordly king smiling confidently, the plumber sweating but nonetheless happy to be treated as an equal. A minute of silence passed as they stared.

Luigi instinctively leapt up into the air. He immediately felt heat below him, as a small circle of flame had spawned on the King’s command. His boots briefly felt the licks of flame.

his legs shook through the air as he moved towards his opponent. He pushed himself forward, the momentum sending him towards Bellis.

But the King was prepared, and held one hand out. A large fireball launched out of his hand towards the protege, who barely managed to dodge. “Maybe I’m able to do this after all!?” Was the thought that went through his mind… before a surprise pillar of flame struck him from below.

His overalls immediately blackened as he was sent skyward. Bellis jumped towards him during the flames' eruption. Luigi quickly tried his best to put out whatever leftover flames had hit him; thankfully the fire itself had been more posed for a strike than to stick. He recovered some of his breath and went into a spin, diving downward to avoid his opponent.

Bellis missed with his kick, but launched another burning shot towards Luigi. The plumber had only one option on short notice. He tugged out a spare cape feather he’d kept on him for an emergency. The cape materialized just in time to deflect the flames.

“Clever… But can you handle this?” The Sarasa lord shouted. He let loose a stream of fire behind him, propelling him towards Luigi with his arm out for a shoulder tackle. Luigi’s slowing momentum from the cape prevented any quick movement. The collision rocked the earth around them. He slid backwards from the massive strike, losing his cape from the damage he’d taken.

With heavy breathing, he cursed his own weakness. But he didn’t have time for self criticism– the king was in front of him. He threw fiery punches-- a left strike was countered by a kick of Luigi’s, another was avoided by Luigi’s apt jump timing. He landed a foot on the king's head, which pushed the royal body towards the earth hard. He’d finally landed a hit, and he wasn’t going to let it go to waste. To capitalize on his advantage, Luigi began to spin once more. Bellis quickly collected himself and slid away, letting the spinning plumber land into the earth. The resulting dust cloud concealed him.

At this point, Luigi had a realization: Bellis was going to finally approach him. Luigi hoped his insight would provide an advantage, even as the king's flaming fists swung closer and closer around in the dust.

Luigi in a daring move as the latest punch breached near him, he emerged and grabbed the King by the front, taking advantage of his initiative, he readjusted his grip to be around his target's legs. He yanked the king off of the ground and started spinning in a circle. Unfortunately, he was clocked in the head by a burning kick. Bellis had used his height to his advantage. Luigi flipped from the sheer weight and power of the strike, then finally hit the ground a few feet away.

“That’s game…” The king stated simply. He effortlessly pulled his student up to trembling feet."

Luigi was panting; he’d actually managed to land a decent hit, but this was ultimately just another clue that he still had a ways to go. “I’ll… take this to heart.” He wheezed. He felt like he had been hit by a blue shell to the head. It was going to sting for a bit…

“You better. You’ll need to, especially if you end up facing him.” The king’s stern face broke out into a grin.

“You got me good though- I’m going to be feeling this lump on my head for a while. Now, go see my daughter for your gear. And don’t leave her immediately! Rest and talk with her for a while, and take this” He held out a Pick Me Up mushroom.

Luigi couldn’t help but smile, even if he was still shaky and in pain. “I… I will,” he breathed out quickly, taking the mushroom in relief and downing it. It made a fair bit of the pain more of an achy numbness.

The two went their separate ways. After a parting mutual hop, an odd salute that Mario had made common in both the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland. Evening had fallen by the time Luigi left, but his late trip back to Sarasa was uneventful.

Outside of Sarasa castle, which now looked as bright as the moon it reflected, Princess Daisy sat. She had a small cloth out like a picnic, even with some drinks and snacks.

Daisy was absolutely beaming. Her usual smile was even more dazzling in the moonlight, especially accompanied by her blue eyes. “Somehow figured you’d be back, mister,” she said with a wink.

Luigi simply shook his head in amazement; was there anything that took her off stride? “You should consider a job in fortune telling.”

She waved off the praise “Aw nah, too boring! Merlee is enough… I sure couldn’t do any of those rhymes.”

They sat close to each other, just enjoying each other's presence. Eventually, Daisy broke this comfortable silence. “You’re leavin, ain’t ya; I can tell.”

His response was caked in solemn sadness and resolve. “I am; I was invited to a tournament; I need to see if this training was worth it.”

“Is this how Peachy feels all the time, I wonder…” Daisy said her thoughts out loud, before addressing Luigi suddenly. “Whatever happens out there… Just come back, ya hear?” She swept Luigi up in a surprise embrace.

He just sat there in her arms for a little bit, finally before returning the gesture. He could feel her warmth, and her never-ending support. He had been a fool to doubt it; but again, as Bellis had said, this was only part of his own faults. He had to see even further beyond.

They eventually broke off their hug. He was blushing, and she was grinning like a teen on a prom date.

“Give em Underwhere for me!” She said excitedly.

“You know they could take that the wrong way if terms are dif--”

“Y’know what I meant, silly.” She cut him off. “That’s the important thing.”

“I think I’m the luckiest already in this tournament.” He stated in return.

“Oh? why’s that?”

“I-I have an amazing princess waiting for me.” He stammered out

“Oh youuuu~” she playfully socked him on the shoulder.

They stayed like that in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company. They gazed at the majesty of the stars, both of them wondered what it was like up there in space. Neither of them had been to the proper Star Road; Luigi had merely seen a link to it at Yoshi’s Island.

“Wanna explore once this is over?” They asked simultaneously. Then both broke into laughter.

“Sure!” Both responded again. For the next few hours, they simply enjoyed each other's company. No worries, no sadness; just plans on where to explore when Luigi got back from his journey. They decided on the likes of Jungle Japes, Nimbus Land and a few other locales.

Daisy had one more surprise for him, though. “I got all your gear set up; Sarasalands finest! Even including our unique nicknacks!” Overcome with happiness at such support, Luigi bravely gave her a loving kiss on her forehead. She actually lost her composure for a second, blushing bright red.

“Take care, my daring prince…” She said shortly after. The evening had been a good one; even he had to admit that.

The rest of the evening passed by pretty easily. He was still nervous, but he had the support of Bellis and Daisy. He felt he could do anything as long as he remembered that; however, he had to remember that he needed his own answer, besides winning Daisy’s hand.

When he awoke the next day, he got the pack Daisy had prepped for him, along with a note from her that said to not open until later.

With those in hand and over his shoulder, he took the badge and put it on. He suddenly felt pulled away from everything he knew and loved. All in a quest to better himself and he hoped as the feeling began. That this would lead to his and Daisy’s happiness.

“I’ll find my answers here!” He thought to himself as the mysterious new land opened up in front of him. This is where he’d find his answers for not only Bellis’s expectations; but also his very own. Little did he know what this tournament would entail.

Chapter Text

The vastness of space surrounded the medium-sized orange vessel. It traveled with no real destination in mind. Sitting on its bridge and taking a swig of her favorite morning drink, Black Nebula, was Samus Aran. She was lounging in casual wear while gazing out towards space, lost in thought.

She was accompanied currently by the Dachora she’d saved from Zebes. She absentmindedly stroked its ostrich-like head. The three Etecoons- who she also saved-were in one of the lower decks, fiddling with some of the systems. They seemed unusually adept with them.

It had been a week since the destruction of Zebes. It was all still so vivid; the usually stoic hunter had been shaken to her very core. She’d never show it though, besides some grimaces on her face.

Standing against her mortal foe Ridley hadn’t been what shook her; that long-standing animosity had become more of a cold fury. Their final confrontation in that volcanic chamber finally freed her from that old debt. Although his screeching voice still broke into her thoughts at times; that haunting “I AM NOT THE LAST-” as she’d blasted him into dust with a conclusive super missile.

But Ridley wasn't her mind's main concern right now. It was the sheer callousness of Mother Brain, assaulting the helpless last Metroid who had defended Samus until its last breath, that dominated her thoughts today.

While Samus had been tasked with eliminating the species even prior to Mother Brain’s resurgence, there was a kind of sadness lingering about the whole thing. They were incredibly deadly, but the baby Metroid demonstrated there was potential for good. The last research report she’d gotten from the Federation lab that had been raided and destroyed by Ridley, leaving no survivors, had shown some great promise.

That report detailed how Metroid DNA held miraculous antibodies for a wide variety of diseases, and they had transferred a sample over to the main Federation labs. That was right before Samus had gotten the distress call from the space station.

Since the entire incident, Samus had gone completely on radio silence. She strongly suspected a connection between the DNA and the sudden strike against the lab. She wanted to scope out the Federation a bit more before returning to active bounty hunting. After all, they were her primary employers in that regard.

She’d briefly considered being a gun for hire in the Lylat system, but by the time her tangle with Mother Brain was over, the situation in that sector had apparently become less a power struggle and more a mopping-up exercise. Those new hotshots calling themselves Star Fox certainly were talented, although they still had a bit to go to live up to the original configuration's reputation.

Not that she was hurting for more cash, but it would have allowed her to keep on doing her own private investigations into ancient Chozo related civilizations and artifacts. Of course, investigating the Federation's and surviving Space Pirates' true intentions were her priorities now.

The Dachora nudged into her, and her musing was broken. She smiled at the avian. “Get used to this; I do quite a bit of thinking.” The Dachora just cooed at her in contentment as she kept softly petting its head and neck.

Yes, she did tons of thinking. Possibly too much– this was why she loved being in the thick of a mission, exploration or combat. Her active brain could actually focus on one thing and blitz it. It’s part of why she had complex equations and brain puzzles installed into the recreational computer in her private room of the ship.

She sighed; she could really use something to take off all the steam and extraneous thoughts. At least her parents were now truly avenged, although it had cost lives unrelated to the conflict. She couldn’t help but feel at least a little guilty about that, despite knowing it wasn’t in her control.

The Dachora gave a little screech of warning, before Samus saw that the comm was showing a glowing light.

“Someone found us.” She murmured, more surprised than unhappy– as she’d gone on radio silence. She pulled on her black casual wear to look more presentable, along with taking her helmet and changing the speech setting to be more neutral. Then, looking at the comm board, she tried tracing the calls' origins: it was… vaguely in the direction of the Blue sector of space, near a planet called Death Wind. “Sounds like a good vacation spot.” She snorted, but then gaped upon answering the call. The caller was… some kind of hand?

“This is Samus Aran, bounty hunter.” She said professionally. “Who am I addressing?”

“You may address me simply as MH.” The bizarre hand creature responded, its voice oddly dignified and regal.

“Chosen warrior, hear me and answer my inquiry. I desire those of strength to compete in a contest.”

“A test, essentially,” the hunter stated simply.

“Verily. The stipulation is that you will be in a realm unlike any other. The Iunctarae.” As the hand concluded this statement, understanding flooded into Samus.

“The Iunctarae… The Chozo once mentioned it to me.” It was, according to them, a central existence between all possible worlds; a piece of legend that she had meant to check into.

“There is also your reward for participation. I shall sate your curiosity, in more than just this matter, huntress. You will find answers beyond even your comprehension.”

Her mind raced; could this be a way to discover more about the progenitor Chozo? If so, she could hardly refuse; however, a warning bell went off in her head.

“How do I know this isn’t a trap?” She countered.

“You don’t, but I will not force the point. I give you a week to decide; if you so decide to compete, then fly beyond the black hole near the planet Death Wind. Our uninvited guests are now out of the way, so you will face no obstacle.” The voice answered without pause.

“Wait!” Samus tried to get a word in. The questions burning deep within her threatened to explode, but the hand just continued in his dignified but simple manner.

“The answers to your questions lie beyond. If you do not accept this, you will not figure out what you desire for roughly 30 of your years.” Then the comm went dead, and the main screen went into its space view again.

The Dachora squawked in annoyance. “Yeah, me too.” Samus replied in similar fashion.

Stretching her limbs, she gave an order to her vocally-activated main computer. “Set course for Death Wind; we need to check with the locals before we check out the message itself.”

She also activated her visual distorters that she’d installed into the vessel, giving her ship a disguised color scheme and differing tints so as to be completely unrecognizable- a black hull with a blue front this time. It never hurt to be safe; as she was one of the best, she had to be prepared to be hunted herself.

The trip was rather uneventful; the bounty hunter mostly fiddled with her mental puzzles to pass the time, while the Etecoons continued to learn mastery over the systems. Soon she wouldn’t need the autopilot with how capable they all were.

She knew this was the home of the Poripoto. It was a race she hadn’t had too much experience with, though hopefully that wasn’t going to be an issue.

“Landing pad 75 is open to you, Ms. Harpy.” The voice from Death Wind control came over with a melodic tone.

“Acknowledged control, docking now.” Samus replied in an unassuming casual tone. Her incognito name was Ciel Harpy, an alias she often used when undercover or avoiding attention.

Taking her best wind-resistant coat, a quick green dye to her hair, and a pink jumpsuit, she quickly snatched up her paralyzer pistol and her other tools. The pistol was a rather handy weapon, functioning as a stun gun as well as having an extending neuronic energy whip. After one sting, it’d automatically adjust to inflict the best jolt or pain, depending on the situation and the target.

She much preferred it over the sudden fascination with beam sabers, a weapon she found interesting but oddly romanticized. She would rather keep her distance unless absolutely necessary, and in those situations her kicks could put down even the most sturdy of foes.

She took a deep breath before lowering her ramp onto the Death Wind spaceport floor. The wind immediately caught her coat and blew her ponytail to the side as she descended it.

Samus had decided to go to the Hurricane Grove, which seemed like a good place to gather local intel. Passing by the reptilian bouncers at the overly glitzy entrance, she took a seat at the front of the bar on one of its comfy stools. The bartender, a similarly reptilian Poripoto, greeted her. The gruffness of his voice surprised her a little.

“Ah, welcome Miss, would you like a drink?” He glanced over her, seemingly taking note of the odd hue of her hair.

In a dignified voice she responded promptly. “Yes, your best Chelone brew.” She gave a wink right after.

Chelone was the Death Wind speciality, a Poripoto unique beverage that supposedly gave a good reflection on oneself and their inner thoughts. Although that was probably just marketing phrasing.

The bartender hastily acknowledged her order and began getting the drink together; in the meantime, Samus glanced around the bar. There were tons of Poripoto, but also some humans around as well. Most were in matching uniforms, with a couple in gray flight suits and others in a more ancient garb of a bygone age.

Some of them were looking back at her curiously; clearly they weren’t expecting anyone like her to be around these parts.

Another of them, one of the gray-suited fellows with messy black hair, was approaching her. He was clearly drunk.

“Hello missy… hello,” he addressed her, slurring his words. She gazed at him coldly; she didn’t have time for something like this.

She motioned to him, with a slicing motion across her own neck to indicate she had no patience for this.

“No need… no reason… to be… to be so hostile.” He said, getting more uncomfortably close. His rancid breath permeated the air around him.

She sighed, “I’m warning you.”

“Not doing nothing wr…” he began as his hand moved towards her. In an instant she grabbed it and twisted him around, collapsing him in a heap near the stool. She gave him a strong kick to the head, knocking him out. The other human patrons, to her surprise, didn’t react, besides a few scattered laughs and audible slaps to their faces.

“Your Chelone, madam.” The bartender said, not even glancing at the man on the floor. Apparently this was a normal occurrence around here.

She took the drink and threw some credits down. “Sorry for the mess.”

The barkeep simply shook his head, pocketing the credits. “He causes this kind of scene once a week. McCloud really needs to keep him in check.”

“Fox McCloud?” She asked, “I wasn’t aware he had any human members.”

But before the bartender could answer, Samus felt a presence behind her. She turned around to see a rough but dignified man grabbing his companion off the floor, then leaning him against the bar in a slightly more comfortable position.

“No, James McCloud, leader of the Galaxy Dogs.” The man answered for the bartender.

“My mistake,” she answered a bit flatly, keeping herself collected. “May I assume you’re him?”

“That's right, miss. And you are?” He glanced over her curiously.

“Harpy. Ciel Harpy.” she answered quickly. She noted the rather cool and controlled manner he exhibited.

“Harpy, eh? I can certainly see where you earned that name.” James mused. “What were you planning on doing here?”

He was very astute, Samus thought. “I was just about to gather information, before your friend here decided to accost me.”

“O’Neill’s had a rough few weeks, but,” James glanced at the bartender, “there was no excuse for his behavior. Maybe I can assist you?” The man was clearly sorry for the situation, and he had an earnestness that Samus respected.

“I’ve heard rumors of a black hole in the area, so I intended to check it out. But I was wondering if anyone here knew anything about it first before jumping ahead myself,” she stated.

“Oh, that mess. Someone had gone to check it out, but he’s been gone several days now. Although Falcon is incredibly reliable, so I'd expect him back anytime now.” He couldn’t entirely keep the worry out of his voice.

“Falcon?” She asked innocently, like a naive child.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of Captain Falcon. Everyone knows who he is.” James said skeptically, completely replacing his previous worry.

“I’m afraid I only know slight rumors about him.” This wasn’t exactly true, but she was playing coy to hear specifics.

“One of the best F-Zero racers alive; he tangled with Black Shadow recently, which may have been part of the catalyst to this.” James explained. Before long he’d retold the entire story of how his Galaxy Dogs had chased Black Shadow, who had caused the black hole.

“So Falcon went into it to investigate?” She asked pointedly.

“Yes, and we know that his scanners showed it was safe to at least enter; beyond that, we have no clue.” The worry was back in his voice.

Samus sat there and sipped her drink. It was really refreshing and cleansing.

“Thank you McCloud, that was very enlightening.” She stated. She downed the rest of her drink before sliding her stool back, taking care not to hit O’neil still snoozing near it.

“You’re leaving already? You just got here.”

“I got what I needed to know. I’ll try to meet up with this Captain and explore the secrets of this black hole as well– you can call me something of an archaeologist.”

“Never heard of one for black holes before.” He countered

“I tend to make new professions on the fly, it keeps me busy.” She began heading for the door, her coat gripped around her again.

“Oh, and McCloud?” She said suddenly.

He glanced over to her. “Yes?”

“If you don’t hear anything from this legend of yours in a few days, feel free to chase after us.” She gave a small smile and exited the tavern.

James McCloud was dumbfounded; how could another woman who was as crazy as Mrs Arrow exist? He shook his head, contemplating the fact that now there were two people on his worry-list (even if he hardly knew this Ciel woman). He’d have to consider his next moves very carefully.

Back at Samus’s ship, the liftoff was near instantaneous. The air traffic seemed incredibly light at the moment.

Her companions all greeted her eagerly. She gave them comforting pets and rubs before heading into her changing room to get her hair back in order. She let the Etecoons and the assisted autopilot begin the liftoff sequence.

The trip towards the black hole was uneventful, besides Samus’s thoughts all chasing after each other in a whirlwind: the lingering thoughts of the Space Pirates and the Federation, the mysterious hand she was chasing, this Captain Falcon, his exploits, and his foe Black Shadow.

What tied them all together? If anything actually did, she had to find out. There was only one option– heading straight to the heart of the only clue she had.

Her ship had returned to its orange and green hues, and she’d suited up in her full power armor. It was time to explore and see what was waiting for her.

The black hole itself was beautiful to Samus’s eyes. It was a void with crackles of electricity dancing around little particles of light. Even ignoring her brief scan that just confirmed what McCloud had said, she felt no hesitation in leading her ship into the ominous but beautiful void in space.

What she’d find there would be beyond her imagination.

Chapter Text

A lone small figure stood on one of the many hills of Green Greens. The vast green fields were checkered with these inconsistent mounds, almost as if a painter had tried to create an abstract sketch. As the figure perched in near-total darkness, he looked down at his mighty airship: the Halberd Mark Two, being built by his loyal knights and allies.

This figure was the swordsman known as Meta Knight, and he was contemplating. It was hard to gauge whether his coup had been successful. On the surface, it was a complete failure; his bid for dominion was foiled, leaving him where he stands now, with a reviving airship and a selection of loyal followers remaining. But ruling over Dream land was not his chief motivation. No, that was just a means to an end, a way to cure this land of its lethargic state. He could purge it by force himself, but it would be just as well if he could spur others into action against him. Whether he took control of the land or was defeated by inspired citizens, he could accept it as a victory.

But even by that metric, he was still left unsure. Most of Dream Land’s people were stagnant in the face of his attack. Only a couple of souls attempted to oppose him. The majestic bird Dyna Blade put in some effort, but Meta Knight wondered if she would have bothered if it hadn’t been for the one that recruited her.

Kirby. They first crossed paths during the Nightmare incident, which Meta Knight had taken advantage of to gain intel on King Dedede’s forces. That youthful pink puffball proved to be a surprise force against the king; though his efforts were somewhat misinformed, he somehow managed to uproot the entire catastrophe and defeat Nightmare himself. And yet again, when Meta Knight himself threatened Kirby’s homeland, the youth soared into action and surpassed all expectations. Dream Land as a whole may have remained infected with its laziness, but perhaps this plot gave Meta Knight a new target to keep an eye on. Especially since…

Meta Knight glanced around him, making sure he was alone in the shadows. Then he unstrapped his mask and gently removed it, turning it around to see its front. The polished metal reflected the knight’s face and shining eyes right back at him. Though their complexions were different, the similarities were impossible to hide from. In all his travels, he had never before met another soul with such a striking resemblance. He was used to being the most capable one in any situation, able to keep calm and collected in both the known and the unknown; whether he won or “lost,” he remained on top every time. So being faced with something truly unexpected like this, was… a new feeling for him.

He brushed his mask with his glove. The cloth passed over some fresh wounds that he had yet to fully reconcile. The climax of the recent Nova situation had only emphasized his newfound uncertainty. He had contemplated letting Kirby face the danger to test him further, but the opportunity was too perfect for the knight’s own interests. He had felt fully prepared to face the greatest warrior in the galaxy for the sake of pushing his own training even further, as Nova had the ability to grant any wish. And he was right; the battle was tough, but he was more than physically ready to defeat– and surpass– the great warrior.

What he had not been as prepared for was the identity of that warrior. Even now, all he really learned was its appearance, and its title. He never saw what was beneath its mask, but that familiar physique watered the questions that Kirby had already planted inside of him. He had too many questions, and not enough answers; but if nothing else, it was clear to him that he had to keep an eye on this young child. He must monitor him, to observe and assist the youth’s own growth, as well as to satisfy his own burning questions. He would take this new mission on, alongside his eternal quest for furthering his own power.

The communicator on his mask began to buzz. Meta Knight deftly slipped his mask back on. He cleared his thoughts, bringing his mind back to the present, then accepted the call.

“Hey, hey, Sir! This is Sailor Waddle Dee, reporting! Mace Knight has a report to make; says it’s better to talk to you about it in person. Can we request you to come here?”

Without bothering to respond, Meta Knight unfurled his cape into confident wings. He leapt off his perch, catching the spring breeze to soar straight down to the ship’s construction. Coming into view was the new command deck of his new ship; it was not unlike that of a submarine, but with a ship-like turnwheel for direction. As he started to descend, all he could think was that the breeze felt wonderful.

“Report!” He commanded as he swiftly landed next to the purple-clad knight, whose usual ball and chain was replaced with a chained hammer.

“Sir!” Startled at the sudden command, Mace Knight dropped his instrument while trying to salute. “Apologies, I wasn’t quite expecting you to immediately drop in, as it were.”

Meta Knight was grateful for his mask, because it concealed a rare smile. He flung his cape back around himself, then continued speaking. “At ease, Mace. You had a report?”

“The Halberd Mark 2 has reached sixty percent completion, and we were wondering if you had any further specifications.”

Meta Knight thought for a moment. “Jettison pods, along with emergency boats and fighters, so I don’t have to grab you all in a dangerous situation.”

Mace flinched in shame. “I’m sorry we were unable to stop him, Sir.”

Meta Knight shook his head. ““You were bested. You have nothing to apologize for; just train and be as vigilant as you always have.”

Mace Knight glanced around apprehensively. “Sir, there was one other thing to report; a mysterious letter dropped from the sky, and it was addressed to you.”

“For me? Do you have it?” He asked.
“No Sir! Trident and Blade are both en route with it; however, they ran into a… complication.”

“Kirby?” Meta Knight mused

“Yes, the pink menace himself… he seems to think that, since he saw it first, it belongs to him!”

“Where?”

“Over Orange Ocean Sir!”

A sudden gust of wind nearly blew Mace Knight into the side of the partly constructed bridge as Meta Knight shot into the sky. His cape manifested as bat wings once more, as he sped off like a bullet towards Orange Ocean.

The vast Orange Ocean was glowing from the rising sun as Meta Knight continued towards it. The ocean was basically concentrated orange juice, the purest in the galaxy. No one was sure how it turned out that way. Its consistency was similar to water, not even remotely sticky if you swam in it. As he soared above it, he wondered how Popstar could have possibly gotten this strange ocean. He saw Blade and Trident in the distance attempting to speed away from… a star, with its rider pushing its limit in pursuit.

The Meta-Knights were using one of the smaller manned Halberd fighters, which looked somewhat like a hammerhead shark with a face that matched Meta Knight's mask. This craft was focused on reconnaissance and speed, so its pilots were barely keeping ahead of their pursuer.

The knight burst further towards the chase, praying he’d make it in time. Meta Knight realized with relief that Kirby didn’t have one of his more dangerous copy abilities (then again, all of them were to an extent…). Kirby had a green hat and sword in hand, and was flinging miniature sword beams at the craft. Most were avoided, and others were deflected by the distant deflectors shields. If Kirby got closer, he’d be doing serious harm.

Yet as Meta Knight closed in, he noticed the star change direction towards him. In a single motion the knight called the mighty blade Galaxia to his hand, through the mysterious force that held the two's destiny together.

Meta Knight and Kirby dashed towards one another over the ocean. A single metallic twang could be heard as they jousted, creating a shockwave from their momentum. Then both warriors turned to face each other, while the Halberd fighter slowed down slightly in the distance.

“Kirby! Why are you accosting my men?” The knight asked in his most commanding tone.

His opponent drifted to a stop before replying. “Letter!” his cute but stubborn voice rang out.

“Ah, so you wish to steal my mail?”

“Meta’s… letter?” He asked curiously.

“Yes, it’s addressed to me, or so I was told.”

As Kirby hovered in place, Meta Knight was unsure what the child would do next; he was heroic, but he was also very impulsive and unpredictable.

“Read together?” He finally responded. Meta was unsure if that was really the best idea; however, he had his men’s safety to consider. If he insulted the young warrior, he’d go on a rampage; Dyna Blades' and King Dedede’s experiences proved that much, on top of his own recent skirmish aboard the now-wrecked first Halberd.

“If you promise not to hurt my people; they are doing nothing wrong.”

Kirby simply smiled and said “Okay!”

Meta Knight was amused at how simple this had been to solve; you just had to know how to talk to him, and treat him with the proper respect.

The Halberd fighter hovered over to the pair, and Trident Knight came out with a letter in hand. “Sir,” he stated plainly, presenting it to his lord.

Meta Knight flew over, snatching the letter with a brief “thank you.” He floated towards Kirby, who was still astride his warp star, and they both looked at the curious seal on the letter.

“Not Dede?”

“Definitely not. Not gaudy enough.” Meta Knight found the thought of King Dedede dropping the letter from the sky a tad absurd anyways; the King had managed to imitate Kirby’s odd capability for floating, but he couldn’t make it THAT high.

The seal was as round as he and Kirby were, albeit with two splits– it had to be an insignia of some sort.

“You two: head back to the Halberd Mark Two and assist finishing it.” He addressed his subordinates.

Trident saluted, and Blade gave a muffled “Sir!” from within his armor. Then the two flew off in their craft to rejoin the airship’s construction.

With Kirby looking over his shoulder, the knight opened the letter. The letter inside the envelope was even stranger than the knight could have been prepared for.

“O mighty knight of the stars, heed my summons. Long has your blade hungered for a world ruled and lived in by those who doft complacency. The secret lies within the hallowed sanctum of the Iunctarae, a realm between realms.

In this place you will be able to test yourself against mighty foes who fight in ways unknown to you; they may even push you harder than your most recent skirmishes. You may also find out about the true nature of Nova and certain aspects of your recent duel. If you wish to sate these desires of yours, simply take the badge inside this envelope and place it on your person, and we shall await your answer.”

- MH

He lifted the badge from the envelope. He pondered it for a moment, holding it upward to get a better glance at it; however, this was his greatest mistake.

In one simple motion, Kirby opened his mouth and the badge went flying in. Just as quickly as he inhaled, he vanished, leaving no trace of himself or the gale that he had used to snatch the badge. His warp star stayed floating in mid air briefly, before rocketing off into the distance to be called again later. All that remained was another flashing star, which soon shattered and evaporated into the air. Meta Knight realized that it must have been the lingering sword ability, dropped by Kirby to make room for his steal.

The disgruntled knight smacked his face with his gloved hand. “Curse that boy!” He thought venomously, before calming himself. He’d missed a possible chance of a lifetime, all because he briefly dropped his guard. “Maybe this too was fate…” Meta Knight sighed, staring up at the dawn sky. “Farewell; until we meet again, young one. You’d better hone yourself for your return; I will meet you in battle again for this slight against me!”

He sped off back towards the Halberd Mark Two. Perhaps he’d visit Nova about this situation. One thing was now certain: King Dedede would be laughing about this for years if he ever found out.

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Kirby found himself in a weird spatial void. The last thing he remembered was finding the circular object in Meta’s hand fascinating. Of course, the thought process was much more simple than that; it was something more like, 'Oh, shiny!' The mysterious letter had been incredibly difficult for him to read, even with Meta Knight reading some bits of it out loud.

He twirled in the void, which was almost like a black ocean. Surrounded by sparkly stars, he wondered more where he was, and what possible powers he might find here. He tried to move, but it was impossible. Like sand at the top of an hourglass, he was being pushed downward towards… something, but he still couldn’t make out what it was.

It was essentially a vortex of dark quicksand, and Kirby was being forced to fall into the center. He wondered temporarily if space really was like an ocean, and considered asking Meta about it… if he saw him again.

He lapsed into some sort of half sleep during the drift. Sparkling stars in odd shapes passed by him; one looked like an oversized mushroom with… eyes? Another was like three triangles stacked together. The space became more nebulous, as greens, purples and pinks surrounded him.

Suddenly he plopped face-first onto a floor that felt soft, but also fragile as glass. He twitched a few times, before flipping himself upward. Above was the void he had fallen through. There was a weird hazy screen just beneath the void. It briefly looked like the Orange Ocean he just left, before it faded into nothing.

He was on a singular platform, with seemingly nowhere to go but a door attached to nothing. The surface was see-through, all made up of that odd soft glassy texture; swirling designs seemed to flit between parts of the platform, showing hazy glimpses of other places.

Kirby was absolutely enraptured by the moving pictures. An audible gasp escaped his mouth as he saw what looked like Meta Knight again for a moment, flying through Grape Garden.

He tapped the floor curiously. It didn’t budge. He looked around again. He saw a scene of a fox, somehow standing on his own two legs? He was wearing very funny clothing. Then it faded again into darkness. Through another, he could have sworn he saw someone wearing a very similar green hat to his sword power’s, going across a rainbow bridge towards a tower.

“Ah! You must be… wait a second…” a voice behind the puffball spoke, and he turned towards the voice.

Standing behind him was a very tall woman; he knew she was one of the rare “humons” he’d heard Meta Knight talk briefly about once,

Her long green hair and rich white garments radiated with light, along with her several golden accessories. It all nearly blinded him, so he shut his eyes tight. She must have noticed this, because the light behind her immediately dimmed to a safer level. “Sorry about that! I’m so radiant that I sometimes surprise myself.” She giggled, a laugh that rang around the space.

“You’re Kirby, aren’t you? Not the one called Meta Knight?” She asked simply.

“Poyo!” He said in affirmation.

“Oh, goodness you’re cute!” He smiled at this. “You must have taken the invite in his stead,” she continued, tapping her finger against her chin. “Well, as Pit says: no takebacks! I suppose you’ll be participating in the knight’s place. Our first invite, and it’s a wildcard; how interesting,” she mused.
He looked at her curiously. “Wild..card,” he sounded the word out.

“Yes; unexpected, but not unappreciated,” she beamed. Her green eyes glowed as she spoke. “I think the knight is going to have his hands full soon anyways, without you there.”

Kirby suddenly looked a little worried, to which the woman quickly gestured in reassurance. “Oh, nothing major, and nothing he can’t handle~.”

She brought out a staff out of thin air, not unlike how Galaxia materialized, and then tapped it twice against the floor. “Now, follow me, child. We have to get ready for the other guests to arrive.”

The mystery door then opened, and Kirby saw a garden with a pavilion and several other doors inside. They were all surrounded by trees, fruit, and water that looked like apple juice. Other nearby rivers looked similarly fruity, with one reminding him of the orange ocean of his home.

“Do not be afraid; I will guide you,” the woman stated in a serene voice. “Now, come with me and we can get you relaxed and informed on the situation.”

Kirby followed as the lady entered the garden. He wondered how this day could potentially get any more mysterious. At least one thing was for sure: he wasn’t going to go hungry anytime soon.

Chapter Text

Vast and majestic, the mighty Kongo Jungle was ruled by strength and skill. Well, that’s usually how it worked, anyway; unfortunately for Donkey Kong, his hands were currently full, even without the usual Kremlings encroaching onto DK Island itself. There was a disturbance that had to be dealt with.

The relative peace had been shattered, as mysterious invaders introducing themselves as “The remnants of Smithy” had arrived. The technology-wielding menaces had taken one of the factories on the island; Fear Factory, to be exact. While they weren’t overwhelming the Kongs, the additional opponents weren’t welcome.

The Kongs had been purely on the defensive, until a recent lull in the assaults provided them with some much-needed time to think. That was how DK found himself in his current situation: on a plastic fold-out chair in the banana horde, watching the young Dixie Kong bounce up to a recently built stage. She passed by Funky Kong, who gave her a roaring standing ovation, which DK tried to match up to. The small Kong waited for the noise to die out, then cleared her throat, standing tall to address the crowd.

“Our opponents: what are they?” Dixie paused as if waiting for a response, but continued before an answer could come. “Persistent? Yes. Robotic? Probably. Led by K. Rool? Yet to be determined. But most importantly, these people are villains! They keep pushing us around for who-knows-why, and barely give us time to breathe. The conditions are meaner than anything K. Rool has thrown at us, and to some, it might all just feel hopeless.”

In the chair next to Donkey, his little buddy Diddy gave an emphatic “Boo!” against the concept of hopelessness.

“But we aren’t hopeless!” Dixie’s voice rose with her speech. “And we’re not helpless! We’re Kongs! We won’t give up the fight, and we’ll never give up our island!”

Another powerful round of applause burst from DK and Diddy, who were the only two people in the crowd. Funky Kong whistled and pumped his fist to the side of the stage.

“So!” Dixie smiled at her own speech. “Since these villains have given us some time to think, I say we take charge while they’re letting us.” She gestured to detailed scribbles on the bananaboard behind her. “Here’s the schematics of the factory, where they’re hiding at. Thanks to Funky’s Flying Fotography service, we know that the front entrance is pretty heavily guarded. There’s also this smaller hole up here, which also usually has some guards.”

Dixie pointed towards her two audience members. “That’s what you two will focus on. Bust through that passageway, and you should get to the main room before they know what hit them. There’ll be fewer guards there than normal, because…” She thrust a thumb towards herself.” …of our distraction at the front entrance. Me, Funky, and Kiddy will be drawing them there with our own assault. With my air support, Kiddy’s strength, and Funky’s surf-fu, we’ll lure them in, then take them out and break into the factory ourselves!”

“Yo,” Funky clambered up from the sidelines, “uh, hold the flip-phone, Dixie Dudette. I hate to bring a bummer wave to this surf comp, but Kiddy’s gonna be a no-show. His not-so-excellent mom and pop said there’s no way I can babysit that excellent kid anymore, not after last time.”

“What?!” Dixie gasped. “But our team is relying on him and his humongous body! We’ll need a whole new plan of attack without him!”

“Nah Dix, it’s all tight. I booked up his older brother, so we’ve still got a prime Chunky monkey tripping with us!”

“Ugh…” Dixie slapped her face. “If we can even get that guy to show up without crying, it’ll be a miracle…” She quickly recovered her form, then turned back to the crowd. “But we’ll make it work! We have to, for all of DK Isle! Now, any questions?”

Diddy Kong raised his hand.

“Great plan, Dixie! But, are you sure we can take on these guys? They seem awfully different from the Kremlings we’re used to…”

“I can jump on that!” Funky chimed in before Dixie could speak. “You cheeky chimps might not have the moxie needed to dent these grody gadgets yet. But I’ve got some real gnarly projects sliding through the pipeline back at Funky’s. Hang tight, and I’ll hook you up with some prototypes once we hit the big day!”

Diddy nodded slowly in partial comprehension. Donkey Kong raised his hand next.

“So, when we all get inside factory… What will me and family do next?”

Dixie scratched her finger against a sheepish smile. “Well… I dunno. It’s hard to say what it’s like inside; they remodeled the outside, so they probably did the same inside too. But that means we get to improvise, which is the real fun of adventure!”

“Yeah!” Diddy Kong jumped out of his chair. “We’ll figure it out as we go, beat up the villains, and save the day like we always do!”

Diddy and Dixie cheered and clapped hands with one another. Donkey Kong felt like he should applaud again, so he did. Then the four Kongs cleaned up their makeshift meeting room, leaving for the day in high spirits.

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

The day of the assault arrived, and while Donkey Kong was eager for a good fight, he was worried about his family and friends going into this. Dixie had brushed off his attempts at telling her to stay behind. “After I saved you and Diddy? Psh; I’m possibly more qualified than even you are at this!” It was a tease, but he got the point. The bridge beneath them all creaked, and his mind went back to the present.

“Not so loud, Chunky bro.” Funky reprimanded the biggest of the Kongs. The big guy had finally been convinced to join after Cranky Kong gave him a stern talking-to back home. Something about how “kids these days can’t even beat the simplest of stages!”

DK and Diddy had both been in the factory previously, but it had changed considerably from its murky look; now it had been transformed into a wall of tall swords, axes and spears, with more metal than you could shake a banana at. Despite that, it had kept its very blue and creepy look. All of the blades pointed outward, not unlike a defensive fence. There was only one very small gap, which was the place the two Kongs needed to be launched to.

“Alright dudes and dudette, I have some radical weaponry prototypes to help us get even.” Funky pulled out a few cases from a pack he had brought with him. He pulled out a hollowed log with a handle and handed it to Donkey Kong, who took it while looking at it curiously.

“This is what I like to call the Coconut Gun!” Funky stated, a little dramatically. DK moved it around, but Funky chided him. “Careful where you point that thing, dude; I’ve loaded it with five coconuts, and they pack a massive punch. When you need to use it, pull this little mechanism.” He indicated the trigger.

DK’s big fingers almost squeezed it instinctively, but then hefted it to his arm instead. His only reply was a simple but confident “Yeaaaaaah.” Then he strapped it to a matching belt that Funky also handed him.

“Now for your groove, Dixie-dudette!” Funky turned to Dixie and handed her a crossbow and a filled quiver. She took it curiously as he explained. “This one’s the Feather Crossbow, and it uses these specially sharpened feathers as ammo. Just drop one into this slot,” he pointed to the top, “and pull that trigger, and those babies’ll fly out nearly as fast as one of my rides. I’m working on a build that can auto-sharpen feathers when firing, so it works with any feathers lying around the island; but for now, just stick to what’s in the quiver.”

Dixie tested the weight of the crossbow in her hands. “Pretty cool, but I’m not sure it’s quite my style… Oh! But I bet my little sister would love this! You should pass the finished design onto her!”

“Ten-four, good Kong!” Funky saluted to the plan of giving a small child weaponry. Then he turned to Chunky, who immediately shook his hands to emphatically decline whatever he might be given. Funky laughed. “Hey man, no need to hang ten on a shaky board. I didn’t have time to scope out a build for you, so you’ll be riding light. Those arms should be all the guns we need from you on this one.”

Chunky wiped his forehead in relief. Then, Funky looked at the last remaining Kong and grinned.

“And for you, my chimpy champ Diddy… I’ve hooked you up with two tickets to the Funky Double Special!” He slipped out two weapons that looked like smaller versions of Donkey Kong’s. “I call these the Peanut Popguns, and you can probably guess what they do by now. They’re packed up with peanuts ready to crack and attack; my work will do the cracking, so you just gotta aim and do the attacking!”

Diddy took them in awe. After getting a grip on them, he and Donkey Kong started comparing their gifts, performing some mock attacks while being careful not to trip the triggers. After letting them play briefly, Dixie interjected.

“Alright Kongs, if we’re all practiced and ready to go, then it’s time we start this mission!” She turned sternly to Chunky Kong, who was trying and failing to sneak away. “That includes you, you know.”

Donkey Kong lowered his weapon and tilted his head at Dixie. “Hey, Dixie? How are DK and Diddy getting up to our spot?”

“I’m glad you asked!” She grinned. “I’ll give you a demonstration!”

The eager Kong swiftly scooped up an unprepared Diddy Kong with her ponytail. With a quick fling of the hair, she tossed him into the air, as his screams of confusion and excitement soared with him. His body managed to land right into the small gap that he and DK needed to get to. Dixie let out a cheer and pumped a fist into the air.

“Alright Chunky,” she glared at the quivering Kong, “now it’s your turn! Good luck trying to beat that shot!”

With a whimper, Chunky forced himself to pick up a stunned Donkey Kong, who was still startled by this surprise transport. With effort that seemed equal to discarding a banana peel, Chunky launched Donkey far into the air with incredible force. The wind rushed against DK’s face and fur, and everything around him was a blur. Soaring through the air like this, his instincts with blast barrels quickly kicked in. He curled into an aerodynamic ball as his arc started curving downward. His speed increased, and with a shout, he plunged directly into the gap in the fence. He stuck the landing with only minor stumbling; next to him, Diddy Kong gave a standing ovation for the performance.

“Clear, buddy?” DK asked. He looked around; nearby were some mechanical walking spears, with eyes on their hilts that glared right towards him and Diddy. The Kongs quickly got set to handle the nasty-looking opponents

The room was still decorated with its usual hanging blue chains. The scattered, once rustic machinery had been replaced with production lines that appeared advanced, though they moved slower than it seemed like they should. Drills and clanks filled the room with noise, as the production lines started forming new opponents for the Kongs to inevitably dismantle.

A loud explosion rocked the front of the factory, breaking through the clutter of noise and momentarily distracting the two walking spears.

Donkey Kong bellowed, then ran full tilt towards one of their foes, slipping into a roll mid-run. The walking spear noticed him, but before it could react. DK tripped it and jumped out of his roll. While the foe was airborne, DK delivered a swift but powerful back kick. It went flying a massive distance away, then fell below into the lower parts of the factory. It clanked against multiple floors, until the sound of a spear stuck into the ground echoed its way back up.

DK looked over to his buddy. Diddy was expertly baffling his own opponent with his speed, before finishing it off with a double punch. They watched as that spear soared down several levels, finally meeting the same fate as its partner with a matching echo.

The two Kongs high fived. “Go!” DK commanded as he pointed towards the heart of the factory.

“Right behind ya.” Diddy pulled out his popguns and covered his pal from the back. After moving a short distance in this formation, DK heard peanuts firing; he looked back to see Diddy taking down several… flying barrels with eyes?

One made it past Diddy Kong's barrage of shots. Both he and DK jumped instinctively and managed to land perfectly on it, with Diddy landing in the bigger Kong's arms. They took their new steed on a nice ride as Diddy focused fire at the last few barrels. DK himself was making sure their barrel kept its pace, occasionally giving it a kick to make it hop over small crevasses.

Suddenly, DK noticed they were rolling towards a closing door. He yelled “BUDDY!” and gripped Diddy protectively as they squeezed through the remaining vertical gap. The barrel was caught between the door's closing halves, and the Kongs were flung off of their ride just moments before it exploded from the pressure.

The two quickly flipped into battle-ready positions. There was really only one major set piece in the room: A large cannon, one that seemed quite different from anything the two Kongs had ever seen K.Rool use. It was surrounded by crisscrossing chains that held up a balcony, which had a staircase that led up to it. However, that was blocked off by some sort of barrier.

“Well… Look who decided to drop in, Red.” A cool metallic voice stated.

“Our Kong neighbors finally decided to join the party.” Another voice stated plainly, similarly metallic.

A pair of figures came from behind pillars that supported the balcony above. They were fully robotic, taller than most beings, but very humanoid. One of them was entirely red, while the other was fully black. Both wielded a battle axe that matched their respective color scheme.

DK immediately asked, “Why?”

The red one answered with a snort. “We are the Axem Rangers! We do as we please. Especially in vengeance for Lord Smithy’s demise at the hands of Mario!” He raised his axe high in a salute.

“Mario!” The Kong exclaimed. He immediately recognized the name of his rival and sometimes ally. If he’d fought these beings before, surely they’d put up at least a semblance of a fight.

Diddy had more to say. “So you lost to Mario, and are taking it out on us? Kind of lame if you ask me.” He pulled out his popguns.

“Yo! Shut your trap!” Axem Black said, spinning his axe towards the smaller kong threateningly.

“Make me!” Diddy aimed his rightmost weapon towards the challenge.

“This will be a good test for our newly rebuilt bodies!” Red stated, making full eye contact with Donkey Kong.

“Bring… it” The towering Kong said, extending the hand in challenge while beating his chest with the other. His Coconut gun was still hanging off of his belt.

“I will!” Axem Red shouted. He closed the distance between himself and DK in mere seconds. The sound of Diddy’s popguns filled the air, but DK couldn’t take his eyes off the blindingly fast axe speeding towards him. A horizontal swing grazed part of his fur as he slid underneath it.

“What the…'' was all Red could get out before the sliding Kong’s massive right hook hit him square in the jaw. The Axem's head briefly dislodged from his body, but quickly popped back into place. DK stood up from his slide, then jumped to the nearest pillar and hung there. He pulled his coconut gun from his belt, and launched a powerful projectile straight at Axem Red.

Despite DK’s speed, his foe was ready. An axe swing deftly sliced the projectile in half, as the two sides exploded behind him. “Remarkable… so you have tech after all.”

Red prepared himself to charge again, just as Black's body landed next to him with a thud. Having just punted his own ranger, Diddy launched himself toward Red next. His arms were outstretched, but Red snatched him by the wrists mid-attack. The Axem swung the monkey around and tossed him into the air. Diddy shouted as he spun like a living frisbee, his hat flinging off his head to some distant part of the room.

“Buddy!” DK shouted at the sight of his soaring friend, He deftly slung around his pillar, gaining speed before launching off into a headbutt. The target Axem wasn’t on guard for this and was knocked to the ground hard, his axe flying to the ground beside him. Nearby, both Diddy and Black had recovered and were now locked in a grapple. Diddy seemed to have the advantage, but if Black could properly utilize his longer limbs… the young Kong might get held back. The black axe and popguns were left lying on the floor, all but forgotten in favor of pure hand-to-metal combat.

Diddy briefly looked back at DK and gave a small nod, then loosened his grip. Axem Black immediately struck him with full force. Diddy looked quite a bit worse for wear as he flew back, with small scratches and missing hair. Regardless, his trajectory brought him straight towards DK. The mighty Kong grabbed his buddy and twisted in a gigantic swing, then threw Diddy right back at Black. The Axem had absolutely zero chance to react to the insane speed and power. The small Kong flew like a bullet towards the target with both fists extended. He smashed Black’s robotic head clean off its body, which immediately exploded. The head could only give a big wide eyed stare, gasping “R-red!” before it bounced to the floor near a pillar.

Diddy flipped mid-toss and braced his legs for impact against the rapidly oncoming wall. Despite his attempt, he bounced off painfully and fell into a heap.

“A…all yours,” he panted out before he lost consciousness.

Red was livid, stomping his feet in a small tantrum. “How DARE you dismantle him, Just wait until Yellow, Green and Pink return from your distraction!”

As if on cue, a few explosions sounded outside. A nearby door received an Axem-sized indent, though it otherwise didn’t budge.

“CURSE YOU!” The leader shouted. He charged DK, throwing his axe mid-charge. The mighty Kong backhanded the axe, which fell to the ground with a clatter. However, Red suddenly boosted with jet boosters in his feet. He delivered a surprise roundhouse kick, toppling his foe. But he had merely awoke the beast within.

“Now… angry…” DK stated. The fur near his eyes was singed from the boosted kick, a bruise clearly seen on his left cheek. He sprang up and grabbed Red’s arms, then headbutted him towards the balcony. One arm detached from the ranger’s body as it was flung into the cannon above.

Red yelled in frustration and pain. “I… I’ll have to use this after all…” He got up, then started moving towards the controls. DK began climbing up after him. Suddenly a forcefield materialized itself, shocking his hands. He grunted in pain as he dropped from the balcony.

“F-fool… Now I’ll unleash the Breaker Beam; I'll destroy this entire island!” Red opened the console and pressed a large green button.

“Lord Smithy… Please be proud of us.” He hunched against the controls. But just then, the door exploded off the wall– Dixie, Chunky and Funky had arrived!

“Oh, that’s not cool. Dude, help me out, Chunky!” Funky pointed to the door they’d just blasted down.

“What will this do?” The reluctant Kong asked.

“Just throw it at that contraption!” Dixie all but yelled. “I’d like to have an island to stay on!”

“R-right…” Chunky looked briefly at DK, who was already running over. With Funky’s help, they angled the mighty steel door towards the forcefield.

“Please work…” Dixie whispered.

“You absolute buffoons!” Red jeered. “What can that do?”

With the force of a hurricane, the door was thrown. Red’s jeer was cut short as it completely cut through the forcefield. His eyes widened as the door slammed into the cannon. The impact adjusted its aim skyward instead of aiming towards the ground.

“NO! What have you done!?” He tried to mess with the calibrations, but nothing would work; the cannon seemed to be overloading from the sudden trauma.

The Kongs below whooped in glee. Dixie helped get Diddy up, although he was still out for the count. Without warning, the cannon fired; the whole room glowed with a blackish purple, smearing everything with an unearthly light. The cannon's beam lanced into the sky and seemed to explode like fireworks, before coalescing into a… black hole?

No sound could be heard besides the whirring of the cannon and the massive energy vortex above, which began to pull with a mighty force. Red was caught completely off guard, and was unable to resist being pulled in along with Black’s head. Chunky quickly clung to a pillar, but Funky couldn't quite hang on to anything before the suction got to him. DK instinctively grabbed his friend and chucked the cool Kong to another nearby pillar. Funky was able to latch onto safety, but that half-second toss cost DK any chance at safety for himself.

As he was pulled upward with a gale, he glanced towards Dixie and Diddy. Dixie’s hair was latched around another pillar on the balcony while her arms clung to Diddy for dear life.

“Family, friends… safe.” DK calmly assessed as he was floating into the vortex that had swallowed his recent opponent. He was prepared for the worst; however… what came next was quite a shock.

He was falling through a weird void, which surrounded him in a purple sky. He tumbled helplessly as he moved towards some sort of bird-shaped contraption.

“What…” was all he could think before slamming into the top of whatever it was, swiftly jolting his reverie into a dark abyss as he faded out of consciousness.

Chapter Text

Yoshi was relaxing on the beach of his beloved island, sitting on a recliner, sunglasses resting over his big eyes. Nothing could beat the incredible pure blue water surrounding the island, or the sand covering several miles in either direction, or the dolphin-like Liftons jumping into the sunlight as they glanced at the sunbathing veteran.

This Yoshi's hue was an unusually dark green compared to most of his tribe. Age and more than a few rough situations had caused the once bright green to become more dark olive in complexion. The eyes hidden behind the sunglasses had strikingly bright light blue irises; they usually startled those that he took the sunglasses off for.

In his youth he’d helped out Mario and Luigi when they showed up on this island, saving them from a baby Bowser's whims as well as several other natural dangers. Now, in his ‘middle age,’ he much preferred to just take it easy, rarely competing in the various games native to Yoshi’s Island.

He often thought he had the least imaginative name of the various tribespeople here on the island, but it also bestowed him with the honor of being named after the progenitor of the race.

Yoshi’s musings were interrupted when a Monty Mole popped out of the ground next to him. It was Chiko, wearing a unique blue badge with a mail symbol and criss-crossed mole paws. He wore it everywhere he went, as a symbol of his pride as a messenger. His chattery voice always mildly irked the Yoshi; then again, his patience had been worn very thin after enduring babbling and crying for a very long trek in bygone years.

“Chiko?” Yoshi started, but Chiko immediately burst into speaking without any preamble.

“Thecouncilwouldliketoseeyou!” he blurted out. Then he took a breath and repeated himself. “The council would like to see you, Yoshi; there is a matter of great importance that has arisen.”

The dinosaur sighed melodramatically. “I’ve only been gone an hour, and they need me already… time to teach the young ones once again.”

To his credit, Chiko just took the words at face value, and didn’t press the point. “It was some mystery messenger that had them all flustered. They immediately called upon me to find you.”

“You can take my response that I'm on my way back to the Yorousia.” Yoshi replied. He lifted his sunglasses, getting a proper look at Chiko. The small mole was visibly shaken by the possible news Yoshi was about to go back and see.

“What is it, young one?” Yoshi asked, now a little worried.

“You’llsee!” He caught his breath “You’ll see…” Chiko then went back into the hole he’d created and tunneled back.

The dinosaur simply put his sunglasses back on and grabbed his headband, which was adorned with one of the island's local ‘cape feathers’ (as the young brothers had called them) Then he took off towards the council Yorousia.

The band signified his role as one of the few veteran warrior Yoshis of the tribes; the race was mostly a peaceful one, but even the most peaceful people need to know how to fight. Most in the race were gifted with more cultivative skills, peaceful lifestyles, and an enjoyment of competitive and simple fun. However, Yoshi himself had been a fighter since his youth, and was the first to volunteer for helping the brothers escape the torment of the caretaker of the then-baby Bowser: the witch Kammy Koopa.

The tropical island was bustling with activity as he ran by. There wasn’t much in terms of structures, more just gathering places with good shade. Some folks of various tribes waved to him or gave him a respectful salute, and he returned their gestures in kind. One of the fields he ran past had several younger tribesmen and women participating in the local games; shell volleyball, fruit burst, melon eating contests, tightrope racing, you name it. A smile crossed the hardened warrior's lips. This is what he fought to preserve: peace for all Yoshi, young and old.

The Yorousia was inside a little hill surrounded by trees. The cavern in the hill had been used by Monty Moles long ago, before even the Yoshi inhabited these parts.

The veteran reverently walked in, seeing the full council today, which was a rare sight. The eight tribes each had a single representative, plus a ninth from one of the eight serving as the head of the whole council. This was the closest thing the Yoshi had ever had to leadership; however, there usually wasn't reason for the full council to converge unless it was an emergency. The last time all nine had met (outside of the yearly convening) was when Bowser had attacked.

Marci, a purple Yoshi of the Balaur tribe, was currently the head. These eight tribes had each sent a representative to aid the baby brothers so many years ago, and Marci had been the one chosen by her tribe. The whole set of council members sat in an elevated ring, with Marci’s position being slightly higher than the rest.

“Ah, Yoshi. Take your place in front of the council. We shall begin.” She spoke with an almost regal yet matter-of-fact tone, very unusual for their species in general. Voices also had a bad habit of echoing in a menacing manner here.

He bowed, and proceeded to glance around. He saw confusion and worry on almost everyone's face. Redi almost looked ready to burst from anxiety. Then again, he usually looked like that.

“We have received two very dire messages, almost back-to-back.” Marci spoke earnestly and quickly.

"The first came from DK Island, asking for the assistance of one of our stronger kinsmen to help shift the tide against the remnants of Smithy."

The group immediately shuddered; Yoshi was dumbfounded. "Didn't Mario take care of them? Working alongside even our dreaded enemy Bowser?"

"So we thought; they took the source out, but not everything, it seems."

"Sloppy…" The veteran said wearily. "Remind me to give him a lecture. Maybe I can get old Cranky in on it too; it’ll be one for the ages!"

"I wouldn't speak too soon, for the other message seems to at least partly concern Mario as well." Mari said. "Queri, would you hand him the letter?"

A yellow Yoshi stepped forward. His eyebrows lifted quizzically as he drew close to the veteran. “You still hide your eyes, I see."

The statement was uncalled for, but that was Queri for you, sharing statements or questions that tried to serve some grander purpose.

Yoshi took the letter, lifting his sunglasses slightly to glance at the paper.

"O peace-loving people, I humbly beseech your council to send forth one whom you deem to be ready for a contest of might.

May he or she be warned: individuals that your tribes have both protected and been protected by have already agreed to test themselves.

Long ago, your original Dragon tribe sent a representative. Their secrets are now in part resting here, in a realm in the middle of realms. If you wish to know more, we ask you to send your strongest, most talented to this call.

If you decide to accept this, take this ancient saddle, a signifier of the connection between our groups. Wear it, and you will be taken to where allies and enemies alike dwell.

- MH”

“The Dragon tribe…” Yoshi mumbled after re-reading the letter. The Dragon tribe was the precursor to their entire culture and people, as well as the ethos and origin of their most ancient styles; one that Yoshi himself had painstakingly tried to learn about from what little information was left of them. Legend had it that the tribe even had wings, and not like those of the blue variety of the Gojun tribe; those were temporary, and could only be gained with aid from certain objects, such as blue shells.

Mario had found several coins with the Dragon tribe symbol on them; an ancient currency that now only amounted to mere trinkets, considering the Yoshi people didn’t use money.

“Yoshi!” Mari broke into his thoughts.

“Apologies, I was lost in thought.” He stated. He mentally kicked himself for losing his usual focus and balance.

“It’s fine, old friend. These tidings have shaken us all. ” She hung her head solemnly. “Unfortunately, these letters have left us little time for that. We must make some very important decisions, very swiftly.

“Who do you have in mind for where I do not go?”

She looked at the wise veteran. He could tell she knew he’d dislike the answer.

“Boshi, of the Gojun.” The words hung limply in the air before Yoshi responded.

“Boshi? The young bully? Surely you’re joking, Mari. He picked on the weak all through his training!”

“He has shown great promise since Mario arrived and taught him the error of his ways.”

“I don’t trust him. It’s much too soon to give him such an assignment, even if he has tried to turn over a new fire flower.”

Kloi stepped forward. As representative of the Gojun tribe, her light blue hue and innocent eyes belied a smooth talking demeanor, which came out as she spoke up in Boshi’s defense. “He has shown a remarkable aptitude for the kind of fighting expected on DK Island. He can prove himself, I swear it.”

“Kloi, you cannot be serious!” Yoshi spoke up again. Before he could continue, Mari slapped her tail for order, with the sound reverberating all around them.

“I’m not exactly enthusiastic about this either; but, until the other young ones get back from their fruitful but pointless quest to find the Super Happy Tree, they cannot be contacted.”

The veteran sighed in resignation. “I have to keep an eye on him to make sure…”

“No, you must accept the call for this contest– we need to know the mysteries of the Dragon tribe.” Queri chimed in, “I’m sure you have even more of a stake in this than most of us. You’ve been trying to discover the secrets for years.”

Yoshi hated to admit that Queri was right, but unfortunately he had to concede.

“I know this is frustrating, old friend, but trust Kloi’s– and our– judgment on what you need to do.” She smiled. “Plus, you’re the only one who could match the brothers among our few fighters.”

He shrugged. “I’ve never been able to argue with you successfully, Mari. I'll do it, but allow me to prepare. I’m not going immediately.”

“This meeting is adjourned then; we expect great things from you.”

“When don’t you?” Yoshi thought bitterly. While he didn’t mind the chance to test his techniques in a fight, and the Dragon tribe mystery did interest him greatly, he’d honestly been hoping for a vacation.

But being the wise ‘old Yoshi’ he was, he resigned himself to accept that Mari’s calls were often the best ones.

He stepped out of the hall after taking the saddle. He had to discuss things with Boshi, to truly test him.

He didn't have far to go to find Boshi, as he was racing with a fellow of his tribe. They looked neck and neck, but Yoshi could tell that Boshi was saving his true stamina for the final burst. As they dashed across the field towards the finish line, both stalled for just a moment; then, Boshi exploded into a run, easily overtaking his opponent. He hit the finish line and snatched the victory, while his opponent just collapsed to the ground, still a fair distance from the end. The victorious Gojun bowed, somewhat arrogantly, before noticing that his rival was down. He briefly hesitated, but then dashed over.

"Maybe he has shown some progress after all," Yoshi thought, watching as Boshi lifted his opponent upward. They chatted animatedly; then another Yoshi, this time pink, ran over and took his friend to a small pavilion.

Yoshi clapped once, which got Boshi’s attention. Both of them glanced at each other through their sunglasses. Boshi had a rougher appearance than most, with muscle behind his arms and legs.

"Oh, lookie here! It's old Dragon." Boshi stated. He'd always called the Yoshi 'Dragon' due to his obsession with the tribe of the past. Usually the name irked him, but this wasn't the time to get annoyed.

"I'm impressed; you actually helped your rival there." Yoshi stated. Boshi immediately went on the defensive.

"If he hadn't been so tied up with beating me, he'd have known I'd win! Idiot…" He was attempting to project his old bully aura, but there was a new modesty beneath it.

"He will learn as you're learning: through trials and fire."

"Anyone ever tell ya that you sound like Raphael the Raven?"

"Yes, often. Despite our repeated clashes, we tend to agree on much."

Boshi shook his head in wonder, before Yoshi continued.

"The Kongs are proud; do not belittle them, even the smaller ones."

"Yeah, yeah… we'll see how good they can tussle." Boshi snorted. Yoshi merely glanced back at him, unamused.

"Anything else, old Dragon?"

"Stay sharp. Don't do anything to dishonor your tribe." Yoshi gave a respectful nod and walked away.

Boshi called after him. "Show Mario who's boss for me!"

The old Dragon actually turned back and smiled. Kloi was seemingly right after all.

"I'll do better than that. I'll give him one of your own favorite lectures."

Boshi laughed genuinely and headed off.

After a short walk, Yoshi found himself back at his beach recliner. He sat back down for a brief moment.

Under the recliner was a bag; he opened it to find a few colored Koopa shells still inside. He'd been intending to use them for some nice surfing, but he supposed it'd be better to use them for this contest now.

“No time like the present!" Yoshi exclaimed while he hefted the bag, then slid the saddle onto his back. Immediately, a dizzy spell hit him, and he vanished from the Island without a single trace.

Chapter Text

A knock at the door. Ness got up, stepping onto the floor in the middle of the night. He navigated his way to the door, which was shouting incoherent thuds. He swung open the door to see his neighbor, Porky, with a gleaming grin.

“Hey Ness! Long time no see. I guess you’re a real hotshot now, huh? I bet you don’t even have time to spare for a good friend like me. Wait, we are friends, right? Right, Ness?”

Ness tilted his head. Before he could speak, Porky’s smile melted away.

“What? You don’t think we’re friends? You’re real cold-hearted, you know that? Heh heh heh… that’s fine. ‘Cause guess what?”

Porky slid away into the night. Then, an explosion screamed behind Ness. He turned around. He ducked as a lamp soared straight for his face. In the shadowy corner where the lamp once stood, Porky emerged again, this time dressed in a mechanical arachnid. The glass dome painted Pokey’s smile in lifeless green.

“’Cause I’m only friends with the strong and able! You’re just a kid, fitting into a prophecy by chance! Ha ha hah! Not me, though.” One of Porky’s robotic legs kicked the glass out of a window. “My heart is beating incredibly fast, but I don’t care. I don’t care at all. That’s why I’m brave, and you’re just a loser!”

Ness blinked. Porky scuttled up to Ness’s face in an instant.

“Now, it might look like I’m running away. I just have much better and cooler things to do than to hang out with a loser.” A leg brushed Ness’s cheek. “Alright! I’ll be seeing you, Ness! Come and get me, loser!”

Porky shot into the sky, crashing Ness’s roof. The exhaust entered Ness’s lungs, triggering a cough. The smoke swarmed around him, dancing, shaping. He couldn’t make out the form of the smoke, but it felt familiar, it was familiar. Giygas circled him, enveloping his eyes and mind. Ness wanted to cry.

The phone started ringing. It was Ness’s friends, trying to reach him. But he couldn’t reach them. He tried to reach out and attack the Giygas that stood between them. But he had no weapons. He tried to use his PSI. But no attacks came out; only a bright flash, which fizzled pathetically. Giygas moaned in rhythm with the desperate phone. Ness could not stop crying.

Then his house floated away from his sight. Suddenly he was in an expansive forest. Both scorched and lively trees coexisted, and parts of the field burned openly. A blinding white light enveloped a figure, whose eyes became pupiless as a shadowy figure materialized next to them. A figure cloaked in spectral blue flame stood next to Ness. A sword could be seen, quite different from the Sword of Kings; it wore a sparkling purple handle, and flashed a blade branded with a few triangles and other diverse markings. Suddenly, it flew towards him…!

Ness jolted awake in his bed. He rubbed his eyes. Another bad dream. Those had become pretty common by now. The darkness in his room told him that it was still deep in the middle of night, though he assumed as much anyway.

He pulled off his covers and hopped out of bed. He started pacing around his room, trying to tire himself out. No luck. His mind was jumbled with thoughts of his dream; though he couldn’t make sense of most of it, it had instilled a stronger-than-usual worry for his friends. He wished he could make sure that they were alright. And, he wished could be more capable of protecting them than he felt…

His pacing froze. It was too late in the night to call anyone; he’d risk waking his family. But, that didn’t mean he couldn’t reach out. This could be the perfect chance to put some of his newer PSI practice to use.

Ness shut his eyes and put his fingers to his temples. He concentrated on the tips that Paula had given him on sending messages via telepathy. Trying to trust that he was doing it right, he started composing his message.

“Hey, Paula. Uhhh… this is Ness. Hello! I hope this letter… um, this thought reaches you well. Would you want to hang out and chat tomorrow? I’m okay, so don’t worry about me. I don’t have school, so we could meet up at any time. Oh, but you might have your school. So do whatever you need to first, then call and let me know. Alright, good-bye. Dear, Ness.”

He let out his breath, sending his message out with it. That probably worked, maybe. At least all that concentration tired him out. His feet trudged on the way to his bed, and he passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Ness woke up again at a more reasonable hour. Energized and immediately hungry, he hopped out of bed and ran out of his bedroom, heading straight for the kitchen. After skipping down the steps, he emerged to find his family already awake. Tracy was at the table, chowing down on some eggs. Mom was stationed at the grill, cooking up something that smelled delicious. At Ness’s noisy entrance, she turned to look at him with a sly smile.

“Well good morning, Mr. Casanova. While you were sleeping, little Paula called. You remember your girlfriend, don’t you?”

Ness looked away, blushing. He refused to give in to his mom’s teasing. Undeterred, she continued.

“She’s really a very sweet girl, that Paula. Honestly, I’m not sure how you managed to get her, but I’m not surprised either. Having the courage to ‘save the world’ will really make you popular with the ladies. I’m very proud of you…”

Ness walked slowly and carefully to the kitchen, as if navigating the minefield that his mom’s words felt like. “Um, did she say why she was calling?”

“Oh yes.” Mom turned her attention back to her sizzling grill. “She said she has nothing more important going on today, and that you can come over any time. She seemed surprised that you weren’t already awake. I wonder why?” She looked back at Ness and waved her spatula in mock accusation. “You know, you shouldn’t make people think you’re something you’re not. If she thinks you’re an early riser, you should confess to her right away. Otherwise, it might start a major fight later on, and you’ll regret not admitting to it sooner.”

Ness slid into his chair, making a vague response of understanding. Satisfied, Mom returned to the grill. Across the table, Tracy pointed at him with a hard-boiled egg on her fork.

“Hey Big Bro, do you need to be delivered to Paula? I can totally call one of my new work buddies to pick you up and take you there. You’ll have to pay full price, of course. But our base prices are reasonable already, and it’s way more convenient than walking. Don’t you think?”

Ness fidgeted impatiently in his chair. “Tracy, I keep meaning to ask… aren’t you a little young to be working?”

“Now, Ness,” Mom piped in again, “there’s nothing wrong with having a good work ethic from a young age. You shouldn’t be so judgmental.” She slid two steaming chunks of meat onto two paper plates. She picked up one and walked to the table. “Besides, you’re a young man who ‘saved the world.’ Isn’t it nice that your sister would want to work hard, too?”

“Well, I guess I did, but…” Ness trailed off. It was pointless to bring up the prophecy stuff around Mom. Besides, he was too distracted by the delicious plate of steak that she just placed in front of him.

“Instead of complaining, eat up and enjoy your steak. I thought you might want to enjoy your favorite food before seeing your favorite person. That way, you’ll have a double-favorite day!” She picked up the plate with another steak near the grill, spinning it on her finger and presenting it with an award-winning smile. “And I made you an extra-juicy steak to take with you, to share with Paula. I’ll wrap it up so it stays safe and hot; then you can go and enjoy two of your favorite things at once! Aren’t you a lucky boy?”

Ness was too busy stuffing his face with steak to feel embarrassed. Part of him just wanted to hurry so he could leave and see Paula; another part of him just wanted to devour the steak because it was amazing. Those two parts combined to let him polish off his plate in record time. He then shot out of his chair and rushed to grab the now-wrapped steak.

“Thanks Mom! I’m gonna go to Paula’s house. I don’t need to be delivered, Tracy, but thanks. Good-bye!”

“Wait!”

Ness skidded to a stop just before reaching the door. He turned to look back at his mom.

“It’s great that you’re so excited to see your girlfriend… but don’t you think you should go get dressed, first?”

Ness glanced down. He was still decked out entirely in his pajamas. He delicately placed his to-go meal on the potted plant pot, then ran upstairs to get changed. With his reliable attire now in place, he hurried back down, grabbed his plate, waved goodbye to his family, and stepped out the door.

Onett was packed, as usual. Walking through the blissful town by himself reminded him of the beginning of his journey, except this time everyone was waving and smiling towards him. He blushed as some even said “Ness! Ness! He’s our man!”

As he continued down the familiar street by the Drug Store, he heard a man singing, although he only caught a piece of the lyrics

“Why she had to go? I don't know, she wouldn't say. I said something wrong. Now I long for yesterday.”

The solemn words hit the cheery air like a baseball bat landing that decisive home run hit. The entire mood changed.

Ness’s mind shifted towards his previous adventure, and all its hardships. Even with his newfound confidence and power thanks to the encounters in Magicant, he was still just a thirteen--well, now fourteen--year-old boy.

There had to be something more he could do, but what was it? Maybe Paula could help him understand his swirling feelings, while he tried to not think too much about his mom's teasing.

His growing powers had resulted in some odd additions to other growing pains. His mind would ache in spurts, ever since the defeat of Giygas. He hadn’t mentioned this to anyone, not even Paula.

As he made his way to Twoson, he barely noticed anything besides the path. He briefly thought about how much more passive the animals had been lately, before his mind got back on its track.

He needed guidance. Paula was incredibly intelligent for her age, but he needed a figure who had seen even more than he. Unfortunately, when you’re a ‘hero,’ people would tend to shrug off your need for assistance. His parents understood his need for help, but they didn't understand his powers.

Perhaps the Star Master and Poo could assist? But, no one had seen the enigmatic Star Master since Giygas, and Poo was running a kingdom now. Ness didn’t want to disturb his friend, who was likely already dealing with far greater things.

His feet simply carried him one step after the other, while the sun bore down on his head. Although, his hat kept that from being too much of a problem. His thoughts persisted, ignoring the heat.

“Ness!”

Was that just his imagination? Suddenly he noticed a pair of feet in front of him. He looked up to see Paula standing there, watching him. Her usual polite and serene manner was replaced with one of worry.

“Ness, are you alright? I called your name four times…” Her blue eyes bore into him. She was wearing a sun hat that complimented her blonde hair quite well, as well as her usual pink dress.

“Oh! Hey Paula!” He said, not quite hiding his surprise. “Fancy meeting you here in…” He looked around. “Oh” The realization dawned that he’d made it all the way to the outskirts of Twoson.

“You look like you’ve run a marathon,” she stated, a bit bluntly. Her worried face tried to give a more reassuring expression.

“I’ve just had a bit on my mind,” he stated honestly. There was no reason to hide anything from Paula; besides, he had been the one to call and ask to meet up.

“Why don’t you tell me about it? Then we can deal with it together, like we have since we met.” Her reassuring smile was all he needed at that moment.

He described his dream, especially the part with the most confusing imagery. Paula was an amazing audience, nodding, gasping and interjecting at all the right moments.

When he got to the part with the mystery forest, she snapped her fingers in understanding. “That’s it!” she stated.

“What is?” He asked. The air seemed to be silent around them, aside from some chittering squirrels.

“This might explain a recent dream, or vision, I’ve had as well,” she continued, looking deadly serious.

“You had one as well?” Ness interrupted, a little freaked out.

“Patience; didn’t Magicant teach you that, silly?” She said with mock seriousness

Paula then went into a description of her dream. The clouds above began to move with the summer winds, almost as if to give her a spotlight.

“It began like this…”

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Paula had gone to sleep at her usual early bedtime, something she was glad to be back to. Although she missed some parts of the journey with Ness, Jeff and Poo, the odd sleeping hours certainly weren't missed.

Her fan droned on as she drifted into sleep. However, her awareness in the realm of dreams was far sharper than she’d ever experienced.

All around her were pink fluffy clouds, which almost looked like cotton candy. The sky above was oddly purple with green clouds. The sight baffled her. She was suspended in the air, almost as if in a psychic jump; but, she wasn't using any of her powers here.

A screen opened in the sky, almost like a crystal ball—wait, actually, a television would be a much better comparison. Suddenly a voice called out to her, and the likeness or picture of a floating… hand, came into view.

“Steadfast Believer, I am here for a request. I pray you do not refuse.” The voice had power and dignity, the kind that Paula would imagine of a king.

She simply curtsied—or the closest thing she could do in her weird floating state—to show she was at full attention.

The clouds around her swirled, as if in comfort at her acknowledgement. She still felt a bit helpless, but that lessened the feeling of being overwhelmed. Then, the hand continued.

“I have been watching over your exploits from our realm; a realm between realms not too unlike your own Magicant, that is situated in the middle of all.”

“We are holding a contest of champions. However, there is a fear of something sinister coming. We need someone aware of and able to detect unusual energies to participate, and to make sure no one is caught unawares if unsightly guests were to appear.”

“There has been a premonition that an eventual contest would be invaded. I do not intend to let that happen.”

“Believer, will you aid me? This request is not mandatory; but, you will be required to fight if you are to accept. Be aware of that before you make any sort of decision.”

“Great mysteries may be opened to you as well, if that will sway your thoughts.”

“If you are to accept, you will head to Giant Step, where Ness encountered his first major foe in his quest.”

Paula couldn’t stay quiet any longer. “Mister, while a greater purpose is something even a kid like me strives for, are you sure I'm the best choice?”

“Your belief is what stopped the monster known as Giygas, who eluded us.”

She was struck speechless.

“H-how…” she gasped out, after what felt like several minutes.

He was one who reached us long ago, before escaping to enact vengeance upon a distant universe. The rest, I believe you know well.”

“He was one of two such escaped beings; the other I dare say will be finding a suitable universe to spread their darkness on soon enough…”

“This is why we need you. You can assist us in preventing a similar potential calamity… Choose wisely, young one.”

In a rush she saw a vision of a forest, with two figures covered in blinding light striking against each other. Neither had a defined shape from her distance, but their strikes shook the trees and ground around them.

Suddenly she heard Ness’s soothing voice in her mind. Everything else around her faded away, and all of her senses focused solely on Ness's message until she awoke.

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“I’m really undecided on what to do…” Paula said, kicking her feet outward. She and Ness were sitting now on a small hill.

“Our dreams are connected,” he murmured, “and you don’t like fighting…” He was about to continue when Paula interrupted.

“If you’re about to suggest what I think you’re going to…”

“I should go in your place, Paula,” he finished. She simply looked at him in wonder, hardly able to contain her exasperation.

“It’s true I don’t like fighting, but I was the one who was asked, Ness. Not you.” She covered her head more with her sun hat as she got thoughtful.

“This might be the answer to my questions though, Paula. You know that,” he stated matter-of-factly, like he always did when he was making tough decisions.

She took her hands off her hat and looked at Ness. He just sat there, glancing at her with those big ol’ innocent eyes.

Paula just couldn’t win against him in this regard. He was so determined to make sure she didn’t have to go through hardship. It was part of why she respected him so much, and possibly even loved him; but, she was only twelve, and she felt that was a silly thought for her age.

“I’ll let you in on one condition: I’ll teach you some of my Psychokinesis techniques, so you can dish out more than just your Rockin lightshow.” She giggled at her own joke.

Ness simply stared at her; whether in awe or surprise, she couldn’t tell. “Like Fire and Thunder?”

“Yes! Although, it’s unfortunate Poo isn’t here to teach you Starstorm; then again, that’d probably take a very long time…” She mused.
“That’s okay!” Ness exclaimed. He pumped his fists. “I’d be happy to learn anything you teach me!”

Paula smiled. Ness’s enthusiasm was infectious. She had been worried for his sake since last night, but somehow, he was the one helping her to feel better. After everything he had done, and everything they had been through together, maybe this was the least she could do to pay him back.

“Alright, it’s settled then!” She took his eager hand and led him forward. “Let’s head away from Twoson for this. Learning these techniques might be a little… dangerous.”
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Ness sat eagerly on the edge of a tree stump. Paula stood up straight in front of him, with the forest between Twoson and Onett as her backdrop. She had never tried teaching anyone PSI, but she tried to put faith in her experience—as both a PSI user and a preschool assistant—to guide her impromptu lesson plan.

“Now, to begin.” Paula held up a finger. “When I use PSI, it helps me to picture it as something I know pretty well. That makes it easier, at least for me. Do you do that for your PSI too?”

“To picture…” Ness turned his head to the sky. “Uh… I guess, for me, it’s like I’m giving something to a friend, to help them feel better. It’s sorta like… I’m looking at a restaurant menu in my head, and I order the food they want, then give it to them.” He looked to the side and scratched his neck. “It sounds kinda silly when I say it out loud, though…”

“No, no, that’s perfect!” Paula placed a fist in her palm. “If that’s how you see your PSI, then that’s good. For now, let’s call that your ‘PSI Menu.’ Is that where you see Rockin, too?”

“Hm…” Ness put his fingers to his chin in thought. “No, not really. That one’s more like, I just think a lot about my favorite things. And I get so filled up with excitement, I just gotta let them out and show them to people. I think.”

“I see. Alright. So it’s on its own.” Paula put her index fingers against her temples. “If you can, try picturing your ‘PSI Menu.’ Believe that the ‘menu’ has more than one ‘page,’ and if you turn to the next ‘page,’ there are more items you can order. If other pages are where you can order something to ‘recover’ or ‘assist’ someone, think of this as a page for ‘offense.’ Make that be a shortcut where you can ‘select’ Rockin. And imagine there are a lot of empty spaces on the menu; those are where you can put the techniques I’ll teach you, once you get used to how they work. Does all that make sense, Ness?”

“Okay!” Ness nodded. He put his fingers to his temples and closed his eyes. After a brief moment, his eyes opened, and he gave a thumbs-up and a smile. Paula hadn’t really meant for him to do that right now, but if he got it sorted out already, that was fine too.

“Great! Now that I know how you see things, I think I can teach you how I use my own techniques. Give me just one moment…”

Paula quickly started rearranging the loose nature behind her. She placed several towers of rocks on top of a tree trunk, hoping to avoid starting any unruly forest fires. Once she was satisfied, she stood next to the eagerly seated Ness. She cupped her palms together and prepared her mind.

“Now, for PK Fire… I…”

She faltered. She looked at the rocks, then down at her hands. She didn’t speak. Ness looked up at her, concern clear in his eyes.

“Paula? You okay?”

“Ness…” She sighed. “Are you really sure you want to do this? It feels somewhat wrong to teach you moves meant for offense. You have such a kind, gentle soul; that’s part of what I…” She shook her head. “I’m sure there’s another way I could help with your worries, if we just thought about it…”

“Hey, Paula.” Ness stood up and looked her in the eyes. “It’s okay, y’know? This isn’t just about my problems; I want to help with yours too, and with everyone I care about. I promise, I’ll still be the same ol’ Ness I always was. Only now, one that’s better at kicking butt, like you do.” Ness grinned. “Besides, I already know offense anyway. I can use a bat or a yo-yo if I need to, and Rockin can hurt people too. I guess I can be overbearing with my favorite stuff sometimes.”

Paula couldn’t help but laugh at that. Maybe she was being too stubborn, and too paranoid about change. The possibility of change terrified her, more than she wanted to admit; but, Ness was depending on her here. If he was going to be this brave, then she could be, too. She couldn’t—no, she wouldn’t—let him down.

“I guess you’re right, Ness. I’m just being somewhat silly about things, don’t mind me. I promise, too: I’ll help you all that I can, and I won’t ever doubt you again.”
“Thanks, Paula!” His grin shifted to a warm smile. Without warning, he wrapped his arms around her in a big hug. Unprepared, it took Paula a moment to collect herself, returning the hug while blushing. Ness pulled away after a brief bit, returning to his seat.

“Alright then!” Paula cleared her throat, then cleared her mind, trying to focus back on her teaching.

“For PK Fire, I tend to visualize something like a cozy campfire at night.” She cupped her hands around a ball of air in front of her. “I am the fire, burning bright in the middle of a cool breeze.” Warmth began to fill her. “I’m blazing intensely, but I’m contained, too. And my center is the strongest part of me.” Heat charged within her heart. In front of her core, her hands enveloped that heat. “My flames keep building, my heat grows hotter…” Excitement crackled through her body… “I can barely contain the fire, it just wants to escape and run wild…” Her hands and body raged… when suddenly, “an ember sizzles and escapes!”

Her hand flew out from her fire. Her finger pointed at the lineup of rocks. A flash of fire flashed from her finger. A row of the rocks ignited into a roaring blaze.
Paula quickly smothered the campfire inside of her. Without any explanation or demonstration, she burst out PK Freeze, targeting the rocks just enough to silence their flames as well. Once everything was calm, she let out a breath and wiped her forehead. Then she turned to address Ness with a smile.

“See? Easy enough! Something like that, anyway. Although it’s usually a faster process in practice, of course.”

Ness’s mouth hung open as he kept staring at the rocks. Eventually, he collected himself and stood up.

“Um… okay, I think I get it. Something like that…”

He closed his eyes and positioned his hands like Paula. His face began to scrunch in concentration. His hands started shaking. Then his arms. His whole body was lightly shaking, though it wasn’t exactly clear why. Then, all of a sudden, his eyes opened. His arms flew back behind him. Then they swung right back, with both of his hands pointing straight at the rocks.

“PK Fire!”

He shouted out as a flame shot from his fingers. It missed the rocks, hitting a spot of grass somewhere to their left. A pillar of flame rose up from the spot, blazing nearly as tall as Paula. She quickly whipped out PK Freeze again to contain it, before it could spread anywhere. She looked over and grinned at Ness, who was panting.
“That was great, Ness! Maybe a little uncontrolled… but still, a really cool start!” Paula giggled. “Although… you know you don’t have to call out your move like that, right?”

Ness scratched the back of his neck. “Well, I know that. But it helped me concentrate, and it just felt right, somehow.”

“Mhmm.” Paula put her hands behind her back, still smiling. “Well, if it works for you, then that’s fine. And, I guess it does make you sound more like a super hero.” She had a feeling that was why he had done it; based on his blushing, she decided her teasing was spot-on.

Next, the duo moved on to training in PSI Magnet. Since none of the rocks or trees had psychic points to pull from, Paula stopped by the nearby house to ask for a volunteer. With an Exit Mouse obtained, Ness began his practice. He took to Magnet quickly, thanks to it being closer to the PSI he already used. Afterwards, Paula returned the Exit Mouse to its home, both thanking and apologizing to its mother profusely.

“Alright, Ness,” Paula said after politely leaving the mouse house, “next we can try Thunder. Although if you’re ready to take a break, just tell me, okay?”

“No way, I’m good!” Ness bobbed on his feet in emphasis. “I want to learn everything I can!”

Paula tilted her head. She was somewhat worried about teaching him this much in such a short amount of time; learning PSI techniques could be strenuous, and she had never tried this many new moves at once. But other than some sweat bouncing off of Ness, he seemed fine enough. He could maybe have too much energy, sometimes. Regardless, Paula nodded and started to teach him again.

“I am the rain cloud, drifting calmly…” Energy started generating in her body. “I’m filled with static, impatient and eager…” Power surged through her veins… then, “a burst of thunder crashes out!”

She threw out her arms. Electricity shot from her body, thin and precise. It pierced at a tower of rocks perfectly, jolting them out of formation and onto the ground. Paula turned to Ness.

“Alright, give it a try! Be careful of aiming though, this one can be tricky.”

Ness nodded and began to concentrate. He crouched and bent his elbows, his face intense with focus. Then he rushed his fingers to his forehead and shouted out.
“PK Thunder!”

A surge of energy launched from his body. But, something seemed off. It was more of a ball than a bolt, and instead of going right at the enemy, it… lingered. It flew in the air, light trailing behind it, seeming somewhat lost.

“Ness!” Paula called up to the electricity. “I think you did too well at picturing yourself as thunder! Bring your thoughts back to you!”
If the orb could tilt its head in confusion, then that was what it did. Then it started shakily circling toward Ness.

“Ness, wait!” Paula gripped her hat. “I think you--!”

Before she could say anything more, the thunder rushed into Ness’s back. Ness yelped as his body lurched forward from the shock. No, it was less of a lurch, and more like a pebble launched from a slingshot. His body crashed into the remaining rock targets, then tumbled over onto the grass behind the stump.

Paula ran over to him in a panic. She bent down slightly to look over his body. His head rested gently on the back of the tree stump. He appeared completely uninjured, somehow. His eyes opened, and looked up at Paula.

“Hey, I think I got a new record for hitting the rocks. Right? That’s pretty good, right?”

Paula shook her head in exasperation.

“I think we’re done teaching you PSI.”

“Aww…”

Ness started to pout. Then, apparently forgetting that entirely, he shot to his feet and slung off his backpack. He dug around and pulled out a blackened container of food. He opened it, revealing a juicy, steaming steak on a plate.

“Hey! I think it got warmed up perfectly.” He held out the plate to Paula. “Want some before we go?”

Paula looked over the steak. It really was impressively cooked. Both her mind and stomach realized at the same time just how hungry she was.
“Sure!” She giggled. “If anyone asks, I’ll take the credit for teaching you ‘PK Cooking,’ too.”

The two sat down and ate the steak together, enjoying the refreshing impromptu picnic.

After their picnic, they said their farewells. Ness felt a bit guilty watching Paula run off towards Twoson, as the sun above began to fade into an early dusk. He had no intention of letting her know he was going immediately. She didn’t need to worry about him more than she already did; plus, the sooner he went, the sooner he’d be able to return.

After a bit of time, Ness was on his way back home, running up the now sparser streets of Onett. He felt much better than he had that morning. He had gained a new purpose, and had made new discoveries about PSI. Paula had helped just as he’d hoped, and more.

Before he knew it, he was at his front door. His smile must have caught his mother’s eye as he entered. “Good date today, Ness?” She grinned and pinched his cheek. He blushed, but quickly explained that he had somewhere to be, and wasn’t sure how long it’d take. His mother’s expression didn't betray any worry she might have felt. “They grow up so fast… Especially when they become heroes,'' she said, hugging him tightly.

“I’ll be back! I just have to pack…” He ran up to his room to grab a few things, including one unused bag of Dragonite from the grand journey.

“Maybe this will come in handy.” The bag contained a powder that temporarily transformed the person into a mighty dragon. Obviously in a contest this would be helpful, but if something went wrong… well, even more so.

He tossed everything inside the backpack, then hopped back downstairs. He gave his mother yet another hug. “I’ll try to stay longer next time,” he said, a little pained.

Mom waved it off. “You’re a growing boy, explore and have fun!” While she likely knew it was more complicated than that, she didn’t state it. “I’ll be praying for you, as usual.” With that, she patted his back and let him head out.

His father would be worried sick, but maybe there was a phone in this weird realm. It wasn’t impossible, at least. Regardless, with that thought (and unfortunately not seeing Tracy due to her job), he was off to Giant Step.

On his way to and through the cave, all the creatures scuttled away, still respecting his power after his original visit. The cave was rather small, despite its name. It just had a few 'rooms,' they could be called, decorated with stalagmites, stalactites, and a gray color that would give any low-budget sci-fi show an excellent set.

He found it: the place where he’d gone one-on-one with the Titanic Ant and barely scraped by. Where it once stood, there was now a pillar of light. Ness felt a warmth from it; it was an alien warmth, not too unlike the feeling Giygas’s attacks on his mind had produced. He flinched back from the bad memory.

The light twinkled innocently, daring him to step forward. Thinking of Paula and his family for strength, he stepped forward and was enveloped by brightness. A moment later, he vanished into the Iunctarae.

The only sounds remaining in the cave were a small step retreating, the rustling of a sun hat, and a couple drops of tears hitting the hard floor. Soon the steps broke out into a run.

“You… idiot!” rang through the cave, the stuttering in the words giving them an ethereal echo.

Chapter Text

The Great Fox rode through Sector Y on route to Corneria. Its engines cut through the greenish nebula (‘coincidentally’ shaped in a big y shape) with a fineness that the best starship couldn't even manage on its best day. The massive gray X-shaped vessel was something Fox had inherited from his father James, and he was still paying for the loan.

Besides the vastness of space, the only company the ship had was the occasional fighter patrol. The small but elongated signature fighters of the Cornerian fleet were buzzing around, not unlike hungry gnats looking for Andross remnants’ blood to drain.Their green coats of paint sometimes made them hard to see in this particular region of space.

General Pepper had messaged the Star Fox team some days ago, mentioning a matter of great importance that needed to be discussed. However, he wasn't confident in comm channels, especially with some of Andross's remnants and the elusive Star Wolf team presumably still in Lylat space. Star Wolf hadn't been seen in two entire weeks, despite being on the front lines in almost every engagement prior. This wasn't currently on Fox's mind though.

"You're slippin, Fox!" Falco, his second-in-command and pain-in-his-rear, was swinging one of his mechanical legs up at Fox. The kick launched with inmammal levels of power and speed, thanks to the leg's mechanics.

Fox and Falco were in a sparring match, decked out in black covert-ops combat jumpsuits. Fox raised both of his hands to parry the blow, but was knocked off-balance onto the mat they were sparring on.

“I won this round!” Falco proclaimed. Fox could only sigh. In a proper match he’d be able to just swing his own legs to sweep the arrogant bird from his feet; but, they’d made a game out of this– it was win-by-knockdown, not full combat. Real battles were so common for the two that they started turning matches like this into games of sport, to help them learn for more ‘honorable’ combat, so to speak. Their match was taking place in one of the Great Fox's many rooms dedicated to recreation. This one was for training, featuring a variety of exercise equipment, a full-on pool (Slippy's favorite place to relax when he wasn't in engineering), and of course the sparring area.

Falco offered one of his blue wings to the canine, who gladly took it. “Lost in thought, fearless leader?” The bird smirked.

“Just a bit, but you got me fair and square. Next time, however…”

“Yeah yeah, I've heard that one before.” The avian cut him off.

Fox shot to his feet with a sudden burst from his leg jets. Falco stepped away to grab a nearby towel. “I pay the next tab then, eh Falco?”

“That’s right; I'll also pick the most expensive place I can find. But hey, you’ll get a discount for old Hare at least.” They both laughed at their veteran’s expense; as much as they enjoyed his wisdom, he could be a bit of a busybody at times.

“Speaking of Peppy, is he still on the bridge?” Fox asked, remembering something he needed to discuss.

“Probably; I wouldn't put it past him to just move his quarters up there.” Falco started to walk off to the corridors. “I’ll be in my quarters, picking out the place you’ll be payin for.” He said smugly.

Fox rolled his eyes; leave it to Falco to still gloat about any small victories. Then again, it was partly for competition that he’d even joined the team in the first place. In his search for a fourth member for his team, Fox had challenged the proud avian in a contest of flight, with both of them in rickety old Cornerian gunships for extra spice; Fox came out on top in the end, hitting slightly more targets. Ever since then, they’d competed in everything, and were rivals just as much as comrades.

Fox took his leave of the room, taking his flight jacket off the hanger near the door and putting it on with practiced ease as he walked out. The walkways of the Great Fox were essentially hallways you’d see on a usual military class ship: barren gray paneling, with the only decorations being the personal touches on the sliding doors to their rooms. This was their home, after all.

As he passed by a few rooms, his eyes fell on the turbolift doors that would lift him up or down to the bridge or hanger bay. Accessing the lift, he immediately stated “Bridge” and heard the robotic voice of ROB 64 call back “Affirmative.” The short lift would usually throw people with regular limbs off-balance, but the Star Fox team never felt the awkward jolt from them.

As soon as the lift reached the top, he exited and saw a familiar figure in the command chair. The chair swiveled around and Peppy greeted him. “Ah, Fox! I was hoping you’d come up here. We’ve gotten some interesting readings en route through Sector Y.” The old rabbit looked curious about it.

At the weapons station nearby, ROB 64 simply nodded at Fox, who proceeded to ask, “What kind of readings?”

“Wolfen energy traces, leading outside of the Lylat system.”

Fox did a double take. “Wait; Pep, are you saying that Star Wolf left the Lylat System!?”

“It’s what it looks like so far. Although, we only have three trails flying in formation– there wasn’t a fourth.”

“I wonder who’s missing,” Fox wondered out loud, although he had a suspicion.

“Pigma, most likely.” Peppy’s disgust for his former teammate-gone-traitor was very obvious in his tone.

“Scumbag never stayed with any association for long… besides with James.” He sighed, and briefly continued. “My apologies, Fox. The past is the past.”

“No apologies necessary. I agree with you on this one.” They were a mercenary team, but Fox liked to think they were at least somewhat respectable compared to Star Wolf's more ruthless reputation.

Peppy brought up the data on the main computer screen. “As you can see, the trail skates past Corneria and goes into a region that hasn’t been explored too thoroughly, besides the main travel routes between here and the Blue galaxy.”

“The hub of commerce for the Galactic Federation, and main racing locations of the F-Zero championships?”

“The very same.”

“I’d love to give those hotshot pilots a real lesson in flying at high speeds someday,” Fox said, his competitive spirit getting the better of him.

“Settle down, Falco,” Peppy joked. Fox looked at him with a ‘how dare you say that’ kind of expression on his face.

“Did the Wolfen use any weapons in the area?” Fox asked instead of going for the jibe.

“No, just their engines; they didn’t do any kind of guerilla strikes against the Cornerian army personnel stationed here. Then again, when the Bulldog and Great Dane are the capital ships in the region, even we’d have a tough time.”

Fox whistled. “Jeez, both of them? I could understand having them together to defend Corneria during our strike against Andross, but the General sure isn’t taking any chances.”

Fox had almost served on the Great Dane. His assignment from his high marks at the Cornerian academy would have set him for life. But his fathers sudden death had put him in the role of commander of Star Fox, a duty that he never regretted having to shoulder.

“So what did you actually come up here for, Fox?” Peppy asked knowingly.

Fox looked a little abashed; the old pilot knew him far too well by this point, and his signature twitching of his nose often led to a new discussion.

"Well, I've been thinking… since we're going to be in Corneria for a bit, I could search for some fresh blood for the ranks."

"Ahhh, so you plan on expanding the ranks at last." Peppy nodded. "It would do us some good to have more hands on deck."

Fox's mind flitted to the recent daring campaign he and his team had done. There had been far too many close calls; voices still echoed in his head…

"Get this guy off me Fox!"

"Whoa! Help me!"

"Crud! I may have bitten off more than I can chew!"

Not to mention, they'd nearly lost Slippy in the strike on Andross's base in Sector X, in a bout of rare overconfidence for the frog.

Fox tried to clear the haze, and saw Peppy looking quizzically towards him, a hand on his chin. "Did you have anyone in mind?"

Fox shook his head, "Anyone from the Cornerian academy is pretty much a no go; most of them were straight-laced, like Bill."

"So you're going scouting with no exacts in mind."

"I did have certain skills in mind, just don't have the exact people," Fox corrected.

The current squad of four was awkwardly balanced, after all; heck, he and Falco essentially played a similar role, just tailored more to their individual strengths. Slippy handled pretty much any technical and mechanical issues, while Peppy and himself had enough experience with all systems to function competently-- but not excel --in a given area.

“We need someone who excels in covert ops and scouting, along with a proper medical officer; either one of them also needs to potentially double in technical and mechanical work”

“Along with being able to fly an arwing competently,” Peppy inserted bluntly. “Slip is only decent at best there, and I'm not getting younger.”

Fox nodded reluctantly, not particularly wanting to bad mouth Slippy because he was so vital to the team. His flying had even gotten somewhat better of late, but Peppy was still right. “Tell you what, Pep: when we reach Corneria, I'll give you three shore leave, while I do our scouting and see what the General wants.”

“What if the need is immediate?” The hare asked, his ears twitching.

“Falco takes care of it then. I trust his snap judgments,” Fox said confidently.

Peppy just rolled his eyes and shrugged. “You’re the boss.” He turned back around and started fiddling with the systems again, clearly wanting to check the Wolfen trails one more time. Fox himself wondered if the message and this mystery were related in any way. He left his old friend in worrying about that and headed back down the turbolift. Now he needed to find Slippy, which wouldn’t be hard; there were only three places he usually resided in during long trips like this.

“Hanger,” Fox stated. The lift sent him downward to the nicely sized hanger bay, a sprawling part of the ship which currently hosted the four main Arwings. The Arwing was a magnificent fighter, using the unique and revolutionary G-Diffuser system. The craft was able to perform insanely precise bits of flying thanks to the gravity system, which was able to speed up to mach four point two yet still nearly stop on a credit. It also contained the capability to roll to create a reflective deflector shield, which acted separately from the standard shield it also had. The bird-like fighter could cut through battles like a hawk.

The other crafts in the hanger were the prototype dogfighter/scout ship known as the Light Arwing; the heavy mobile tank Landmaster; and the Blue Marine, a one-man submarine that Slippy had built on the fly for an underwater operation on Aquas. It looked like a miniature Great Fox, if the Great Fox was heavily worn and practically falling apart at the seams.

There Slippy was, tinkering with the newer unfinished Light Arwing. “Did you come up with a better name yet?” Fox said, coming up behind his friend and mechanic.

“Whoa, Fox!” The frog croaked out in his oddly higher-pitched voice. He dropped his spanner in surprise. Fox leaned down, picked it up and handed it back to him. His friend was covered in sweat, but looked pleased with himself.

“Y’know, I was thinking it could be called the Jet Striker,” Slippy said, laughing a little nervously.

Surprised, Fox gave a small whistle of approval. As far as names went, it was better than the usual. “It’s amazing how easily you’re able to modify existing Space Dynamics tech.”

“My Dad is the head engineer, remember?” Slippy said, a little amused.

Slippy’s father, Beltino Toad, had also developed the unique systems for the legs that all four members of the team had. They had undergone a test program that was pushed by Beltino, in fact. They’d lose their physical legs, but be given artificially enhanced ones: they were capable of withstanding the most intensive g-forces while piloting, while also allowing for some intense CQC and covert ops capabilities. Powerful servos and complicated switches dictated by the user’s own customization allowed for mobility and power beyond anyone's normal physical capabilities –besides perhaps the old Chozo tech, which was irregularly found across even the Lylat system. From simply enhancing leg capabilities to allowing minor hovering, they had it all. That is, unless they overheated them via a poorly timed overclock or overuse of the complicated maneuvers.

Beltino hadn’t been the most willing to let his own son take part in this experiment, but allowed it anyway after stiff opposition.

"So what'd you need, Fox?" His nervous tone was back.

"Just letting you know: as soon as we get into Cornerian space, you and the other two bozos are on leave for as long as we stay."

"B..but I need to finish the Jet Striker, and finish a handheld device for.." the Toad started.

"That's an order, Slippy. You've been working yourself ragged; we all have. We need a nice chance to relax, so we can be ready for whatever the galaxy throws our way next," Fox said, with all the authority he could muster.

Slippy shrank under the presence of his leader. "Y-yes boss," he muttered.

Fox eased up and laughed. "Aw come on, no need to get all scared. It's just me, your buddy from the academy. Plus, ROB can run functions to repair the ship. Your pet project will definitely have to wait though." He raised a finger after this statement. “We could hit the arcades for old time's sake." At these words, Slippy’s new arguments died in his throat.

"Really? It's been years since we've gone some rounds there!" Excited croaks escaped to say.

"Yeah! Just, go easy on me, eh Slip?"

“Heh, no promises Fox. I like the chance of actually beating you at something.”

Fox smiled, gave Slippy a small towel, then excused himself from the hanger. Although there wasn't too much longer until they arrived at Corneria, he was amused to see Slippy go immediately back to work as he exited.

Fox found himself wandering back to his quarters. Once he entered, he dropped quickly onto his bed. One advantage to the small group was that their personal space was quite large. Each room had been very personalized by this point, and there were still four empty rooms; although, one was mostly a storage shed, with lots of nicknacks and random experiments of Slippy’s littering inside it.

He looked up at the plain ceiling of his room and briefly glanced at a few wall attachments of his. To his right one was a cut-out from when he was a kid of Cornerian fighter diagnostics; next to that was a photo of him and his father from several years ago, standing side by side as he'd been accepted to the academy. Even back then, James had worn those sunglasses that even Peppy himself described as "trying too hard to look cool."

Glancing left of course was his "SpaceLynx" poster he'd kept of a particularly pretty woman, and further left were clippings of random articles on the G-Diffuser and arcade technology. He slowly started falling into a light doze; it'd been his plan to pass the time anyways.

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Several hours passed, but it felt like only a few moments when Peppy called over the ship communicators.

"Fox, we've arrived at Corneria and are starting our dock preparations at the main space port. We also have clearance for an immediate dock."

Fox wiped the tiredness out of his eyes. "Alright," he started, before letting out a massive yawn. "I'll be there in fifteen. Fox out."

He quickly got up; having slept in his usual jacket, he had no need to even get a change of clothes for the occasion. That said, he did decide a quick shower was at least proper before meeting the general.

Upon getting to the exit ramp, he saw his crewmates were already prepared in casual wear for their leave– except Peppy, who was still in his uniform. Falco had casual green pants and a duster he particularly liked from his bandit days; it was black and rather nondescript besides the frays.

Slippy was in simple clothes with his usual cap; nothing specific, just whatever he found and tossed on. The purple and bright yellow clashed horribly, but he’d never cared about that sort of thing. Fox averted his eyes from that and glanced at Falco, who smirked in a ‘take a look at Slippy’ kind of look.

Fox addressed all three of them. “You are all on leave for whatever amount of time we’re docked at Corneria. If General Pepper needs me to do something immediately, I'll try to make sure you guys get more time before you have to come back on duty.”

“Quite kind of ya,” Falco said, and for once, it was genuine. Fox desperately hoped he didn't have to interrupt his R&R as he told Peppy he might.

“Try not to get into trouble, eh Falco?” Slippy teased, although he immediately regretted it.

“Don’cha worry, I’ll just call Fox in that case; seems to work for you.” There wasn’t any malice behind it, but Slippy always fell short when it came to jibes. This wasn’t any exception as he went bright red.

Peppy simply rolled his eyes before responding. “I have a few things on our recent scan to check, then I'll get the rooms all situated at the Lhasa Apso.”

“Make it quick, Pep. You’re on leave, remember?” Fox reminded him.

“Oh knock it off, it’ll be fine. Falco and Slippy won’t even be using those rooms much I bet, anyways.” He said with a knowing expression in his face. The two shuddered back.

"I won't be at the arcades that long…" Slippy whined. Everyone else just laughed.

"Alright!" Fox started. "As of now, at oh-nine-hundred hours, you're all free to do as you wish! Now go!"

The three all scattered in their respective directions. Falco and Slippy both headed towards Corneria city, (they likely wouldn't be sticking as a pair for long), while Peppy went back to the ship.

Fox had three hours until his proper meeting with General Pepper, and he was intending to use it wisely. Which would involve finding a medical officer at minimum; covert ops would probably have to wait until they went through to Katina or Fortuna.

Fox quickly checked his pockets for his usual gear to make sure he was prepared. No weapons, however; it was a pretty strict law in Corneria that no weapons were to be brought into the major cities. Star Fox had the authority to carry concealed, as an unofficial part of the Cornerian army for the struggle against Andross, but Fox decided not to push it. He knew Falco always carried a small hand blaster no matter the laws, and he was the most likely to get into trouble anyways.

He quickly dismissed the thoughts as unnecessary and headed into the office and medical districts of Corneria city. His various IDs, tags and small nicknacks were all he needed for this trip.

Corneria City was sprawling, which was only natural for the capital of the world. Its military and commerce districts were still undergoing heavy repairs from the attacks by Andross.

The sleek metal and white plating that covered most of the city was flawlessly clean, as the government prided itself on cleanliness and order.

The city was laid out in five distinctive districts, all run by a different governmental branch. The military base, training camps, facilities, barracks, and other such buildings were in the military quarter, which was at the easternmost part of the city. General Pepper was obviously in charge there. It also had the distinguished Academy that used to be Fox and Slippy’s home.

Commerce lay to the west, where banks and several other key institutions went in several random directions.

The entertainment district (where Falco and Slippy had gone) had the typical kinds of hangouts, like arcades, restaurants, and a few of the only seedy bars this side of the planet. The district was almost hilariously split down the middle, with family restaurants and adult bars just a can toss down the street from each other.

The office and medical district held most of the jobs, as well as nearly all of the schools. Several hospitals and medical facilities littered all over, seemingly at random, around the prodigal Medical Academy. It was here Fox wanted to go; however, finding someone who was an accomplished pilot, on top of having medical experience, wasn't going to be easy. It wasn't unheard of, but it wasn't common either

The final district was one Fox had almost never been to: the residential area, which was by far the largest segment and divided the other four into their quadrants. Not having been there would be a lie; more like he'd never explored that segment– merely crossing it to get to one of the others.

He strode purposefully through the cleaner-than-Cornerian-typical medical half of the med-office district. He glanced at the civilians as he passed. Corneria had a healthy variety to its residents; today, he noticed home-bred Cornerian canines, some avians, and even a few humans, among others. He paid little actual heed to some of the attention he was getting. Instead he paid more attention to any potential sudden moves– he was always at battle alert, even here.

"Mom, is that McCloud?" A young pup stated as Fox went by. The woman simply nodded. Fox waved at both, and the boy smiled back.

Others gave him curious looks, but none made any moves towards him as he found himself at the Labrador academy. It was a sprawling five story building, with spotted decorations and a symbol of a medical kit over the usual Cornerian logo (A blue planet surrounded by a blue spiral with three red stars decorating the middle). He planned to ask some of the graduating students (or soon to be) if they'd be interested in a job. This wasn't going to be easy, considering the promising careers they were going to possibly enter into.

He stopped suddenly. He could have sworn he was being followed, but when he glanced around, he couldn’t see anything. His eye-piece didn’t detect any unusual heat signatures or people rushing to hide behind cover, either. He shrugged and moved on.

He entered through the front, giving a confident air as he strode up to the receptionist. “Name, sir?” The fluffy dog at the desk asked. The room was very spacious, showing several rooms behind the desk; along with the walls and tile designs, it looked like both a school and hospital combined into a single building.
“I’d like to see the Admin.” He pulled out his shiny identification card. The receptionist scanned it and showed his current affiliation with both his own organization and Cornerian military.

“Ah, Mr. McCloud!” She stated with recognition. “Thankfully Boris is not in a meeting right now.” She pressed a button and made a quick call on the desk’s communication display. “Admin? Fox McCloud of Star Fox is here to see you.”

“Is that right…? Send him in.” A gruff voice answered back.

“Go right in; take the elevator to the left.” She pointed in its direction. Fox half-jogged to the elevator and stepped inside. Before the door closed, he took note of all the activity behind the desk. He assumed many of them were academy students, rushing to get to their next examination or study. Or, maybe they were among those that kept the main hall positively spotless and sparkly clean. Either way, he quickly realized he was lost in his own thoughts again. Although not for long; the elevator was quite quick, as a small ‘ding' sounded to signify he was on the Admin floor, which was underground in case of a military emergency.

Walking up to the imposing tall steel doors, he rang via a button on the side of the door.

“Enter,” a voice called out.

Walking in, he saw a large imposing canine. Chocolate fur dominated his non uniformed visage like a lab coat. He put out his hand, and Fox shook it, nearly wincing from the strength of it. The gloved hands belied a very strong grip.

“What do I owe this honor, son of James McCloud?” His voice was melodious but gruff.

“Well…” Fox faltered for a moment. Then, shaking his head, his resolve was set. “I would like to see files of your most promising students; the Great Fox is in desperate need of a medical expert.”

Boris looked surprised. “Interesting… And what makes you think I'd allow you to pluck one of my students right from the academy?”

Fox innerly grimaced. “Less plucking, and more… early graduation?” he said a bit lamely.

Boris did not look impressed at all. “Mr. McCloud, I’m sure you’re well aware that we need all the advanced medical students here, to help those who survived the Andross assault, and…”

Fox cut in raising his hands “Spare me sir, I very well understand. I just need one promising student, one. I’m not asking for a whole crew of them.”

“Yes, but we value all of our students quite highly. Especially considering the advanced testing required to even get here.”

“Do you have someone who’d benefit?” Fox asked while putting his legs up on the desk, not in the mood to act polite.

The admin noticed the legs, then froze. “On second thought… Perhaps there is one, who’d benefit.”

Fox’s ears pricked up “I’m listening.”

The admin took out a folder and handed it to Fox. It was titled "Fay Spaniel." A picture of a white-furred female Cornerian was shown as the main image; she had blue eyes, and wore a cute red bow on her head. Fox quickly read through the folder's contents.

Daughter of Gunther Spaniel, a member of one of the few old political families left in Corneria City. Fay Spaniel left her family at a young age to apply to both the Cornerian military and the Medical Academy, and was accepted into the former.

Two years into her service, Fay Spaniel suffered from a serious injury during the initial attacks from Andross. Reports describe Spaniel as having pushed a young girl out of the way of falling debris on the front lines. The civilian was unharmed, while Spaniel was struck critically in her right leg, rendering it unresponsive and unusable. After being released from the military's infirmary, Spaniel received an honorable discharge.

Fay Spaniel is a current student at Cornerian Medical Academy. She received high honors in tests during her military training, and is both intelligent and kind to a fault. When asked for her goals in attending the academy, Spaniel answered "To see if there's a way to help others like myself." Though she is a recent enrollment to the academy, she has displayed immediate proficiency in the medical field, due to self-reported years of personal training as well as first-hand first aid experience during her time in the military.

Fox glanced up. “I see your angle now.”

Boris simply nodded. The meeting didn’t last much longer, with the two going over the operation Fay would undergo if she were to accept. Soon enough, Fox found himself headed towards one of the various classrooms.

Fay was called out of the class. She was in a hover chair, and Fox winced seeing how many wrappings and coverings enveloped her nearly unusable leg. Just another reminder of the damage Andross had done, permanent to even the survivors.

However, she surprised him with a bright smile. “Ah, Mr. McCloud! Sorry for the wait.”

“It’s no trouble,” he said back.

She was looking over him quizzically before he continued. “I’ve been talking with Admin Boris about you, and to be blunt, I would like to ask you to join the Star Fox team.”

Her eyes widened. “That’s a mighty fine offer, but are you sure you want a cripple like myself? I’m more than willing to serve, but I wouldn’t want to hold any of you back.”

Fox took a deep breath. “Well… You see, to join us, you’d have to get leg replacements anyways.” He tapped his metallic legs.

She glanced at them, looking them up and down. “Are… are they suitable for people with conditions like this?”

“Honestly Miss Spaniel, it’d probably be beneficial to you, since you’d be able to move around again.”

She only thought about it for a simple moment. “Done! When do I start?”

Fox stood there gaping. “Just like that?”

Fay gave him a thin smile. “You’re offering to heal me, and to let me help take down the remnants of Andross while keeping you all alive; how could I refuse?”

He smiled. “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected a fight in that case.”

“No you shouldn’t have! I thought you were smarter than that, considering your reputation.” She winked, showing she was playing around. She was going to fit in just fine.

He then told her to meet up with Falco at the Space Dynamics facility, and he'd begin the process to make her a full-fledged member of the team. He’d called Falco and told him the story in brief before heading out; time was short, and he had to see Pepper.

Falco had not been pleased with this. “Hey Fox, wasn’t this supposed to be R&R time…?” But Fox had essentially told him to shove it, and that it wouldn’t take long.

Fay had swiftly made a good impression on him; although, he hoped now that Pepper’s message wasn’t an immediate deployment, or else he might still be missing his med officer.

Suddenly realizing he was fifteen minutes late for Pepper, he dashed off to the military quarter.

His communicator beeped. “Fox, where are you? We were supposed to start already.”

“Sorry General, I'm on my way– I got caught up in something.” He made big strides as he dashed through the roads. He set his enhanced legs nearly to the overclocked setting, which boosted his speed to insane levels as his legs pumped in rhythm. He paid little attention to anything but his destination, just nimbly dodging pedestrians as several papers scattered in his wake.

He slid in front of Pepper’s personal meeting room, nearly falling before presenting his ID at the door. The feeling he was being watched was still present, but it seemed to ease as he entered the building. Militaristic green emblems adorned the outside, and inside was a simple meeting table with holo capabilities. This was used to brief the entire squadron and various commanders, depending on the situation.

“Fox, sit down; this is going to be quick, but you won’t like it one bit,” Pepper stated as Fox entered the door and sat down. They were the only two people in the room, and he heard the locking signal as Pepper pressed a switch on his desk to lock the door behind him.

“Ah, so no preamble?” Fox stated simply, leaning back and putting his legs up.

“Four days ago, we received a rather interesting transmission. I will play it back now,” the general stated without missing a beat.

The lights of the meeting room dimmed, and the image of… a gloved hand, or something looking like a hand without any arm attached, came into focus. Fox immediately sat more at attention, his legs down and arms on the table, as he brought up a holo pen and page to jot any notes down.

“General Pepper of the Cornerian military and government, I desire assistance from the band you call Star Fox.” The voice was… regal, almost like that from a holo-drama of what ye-old-times were like; the time of sovereigns, swords and shields.

“We have been watching them with the utmost interest, and would like to invite their leader, Fox McCloud, to compete in a contest of might.”

“Furthermore, it will prepare him for the times to come, in both your universe and ours–the Iunctarae. A realm that sits between realms; this may be hard for you to believe, but the proof is in your black holes.” Fox noticed Pepper nod at that particular point, as he kept jotting notes down.

“One of these, in fact, has been opened near the world of Death Wind; this is your route. Upon entering, you will find yourself embroiled in things that may enlighten you, on truths you both wanted and didn’t want to know.”

Fox immediately pulled up the route and location of Death Wind, signaling Pepper to pause the recording. “That’s all the way off in the Blue system!”

“Yes; if we’re to get you there efficiently, we’d have to lend you one of our stealth fighters.”

“Wait, you want me to do this alone?”

Pepper didn’t answer and continued the recording.

“He is to come alone, if he arrives at all, so as to not have an unfair advantage. The choice is of course his, but he has only a single week's time before the recent wormhole closes.” The message ended there.

“I don’t know about this, General. It could be a trap,” Fox stated.

“Unfortunately I agree, but the potential stakes if it’s not are not to be ignored. What if this foretells some threat against Corneria? While I do worry for your safety, I do have a whole quadrant to consider as well.”

Fox had to resign himself. “I suppose I can see your reasoning.” His thoughts wandered into how this would work out; he’d have to leave someone in charge of the Great Fox while he checked this out, and he had no idea of how long he'd even be gone

Fay’s operation would take around a month for the grafting, healing and acclimation process. It would be better if his crew could all get some significant rest and keep an eye on her. Would he put Peppy or Falco in charge? Peppy was more experienced, sure, but Falco had shown he was incredibly quick at adapting to new situations, while the former would scope it out more before making a choice.

He mulled it over again and again, while Pepper looked at him a tad impatiently. “Are you going to make the choice today, Fox? Or shall we try to make that trip in one day, instead of the two you have if you go now?” It jolted Fox’s attention.

“Yes general, get that quick stealth fighter prepped for me. Don’t forget a couple survival packs; I have no idea how long I'll be.”

“Of course; just be careful, and good luck. The fighter will be brought nearby to the Great Fox when it’s ready in an hour.”

Fox saluted, then headed back to the Great Fox in somewhat of a daze. He paid no attention to his surroundings as he walked, as the decision between Falco and Peppy weighed heavily on his thoughts. Before he knew it, he had already reached the docking bay, and was gathering equipment for his trek. He made sure to pack his blaster and its holster, a couple grenades, a flare, the communicator, and other various little add-ons.

He noticed a little note left on his desk. It was in Slippy’s handwriting, and it had a small package on top.

“Fox, this is a new experiment I've been working on! I'd love you to test in the near future, and tell me if it works. It’s supposed to simulate the Arwing’s rolling shield into a brief personal electrical field barrier. It’d be great for the rare times we find ourselves strained outside of the ship (if it works). I was actually finishing it up when you interrupted me earlier…”

Fox smiled and pocketed it. Then he made his way to the bridge. “ROB?”

“Yes Fox?” The automaton asked.

“I need to leave a message for the team with you, and for you to contact them after I leave. The fighter General Pepper is preparing for me will be here very soon, and I don’t want to disturb them quite yet.”

“Affirmative.”

“Star Fox team, General Pepper’s message was indeed a new mission. However, it looks like it's a solo mission just for me; that means you'll all be able to get some more rest. Make sure Fay gets all set up to join us as soon as possible, in the best condition possible. I have no clue how long I could possibly be gone; until I get back though, I'm putting Falco in charge. Peppy, I want you to advise him, just like you would me. And Slip... try to actually relax.

“The finances we have should be enough for at least the next several months, but don’t make any crazy expenditures unless you have to. Your pay will also be automatically put into your accounts, as per usual. Keep an eye on the ship; I felt like I was being followed earlier. I hope it was nothing, but just keep your eyes and ears peeled for anything suspicious while you take some much needed relaxation. Fox out.”

After that, all that was left was to see the type of fighter that was now waiting for him. He’d gotten a brief notice from Pepper when it was hauled out there, and he was impressed. It was a Spitz-class fighter, looking almost like a metallic bat with oddly bent wings. It included chameleon-hull plating, impeccable hyperspace capabilities, and the fastest engines in the Lylat system. There were only a few of these fighters in use by the Cornerian army due to their hefty expenditure, so Pepper was really going all out. Its only downside was that it only had a single laser cannon, and no nova bomb capabilities.

He checked the packs, and they had everything he could possibly need; food, water, more flares, a long-range communicator (it probably wouldn’t be very useful) camping gear, and a handful of other things,

He situated himself in the Spitz. The coordinates had even been automatically set, with a hyperspace jump all loaded ahead of time.

It only took a brief two-minute preflight and he was off, perhaps into deadly danger.
“Alright, let's rock and roll!” He only hoped his team wouldn’t be too upset with this sudden departure.

The Spitz cleared the airspace in record time, and fired off into space. It launched itself into hyperspace, and into what Fox could only assume would be a great unknown.