*Blows off dust* Kept ya waiting huh... Welp, it appears that during the time old man Light's been out, Ryu and Cloud managed to worm their way into Sm4sh as DLC, Project M got smegcanned and Satoru Iwata passed away... And I left off by Killing a character, Not good. Got to make it up to them with Ven's Arc before he-

Reevee21: *REEVEE21 used FALIL against the wild LIGHT* NNNNEAAAAAAAAAAH! WHY DOES HE NEED TO DIIEEEEEEEE?! *Continues flailing* *continues flailing* *continues flailing*

Battle message: It's not very effective...

Tod: Wow, now that is just sad...

Percy: I know, right?

1: Procrastination - Big O
2: Baron to Tono - noein
3: Ginen - Bokurano
4: Sadness and Sorrow - Naruto (as performed by Taylor Davis)
5: pinky promise - BlazBlue series
6: Doubt - Madoka Magica Rebellion
7: Heavenly Spirit - Fullmetal Alchemist

It was chilly as always in Denver... Four local boys were merely playing some hoops when suddenly...

CRASH!

1

an odd flying vehicle crushed the boy in an orange parka into a bloody, lifeless pulp as out stepped a rightfully grossed out Inspector Gadget, "Oh, My! Messy, Messy, Messy,"

"Oh, My God! He killed Kenny!" cried the kid in the brown coat.

"You Bastards!" roared the kid with the green hat.

"Now, Now, It was just the Autopilot's GPS system that offed him." stammered Gadget,

"Yeah, and I'm the Lion King," snarked the front bumper of the Inspector's vehicle. "I mean, C'mon! Do you even know how to drive?"

"Your banter is unnecessary, Gadgetmobile and it is not helping!" complained the bad driver in question "The point is: I'm not one willing to kill, he was just... kinda in the way..."

"Like hell, it is!" barked the big-boned fat kid of the group, "What the Fack's going on that you feel the need for just pimping in like 'dat!"

"As a matter of fact, the Strategical Homeland Investigation Enforcement and Logistics Division sent me over from San Fransokyo to investigate the whereabouts of the Black Behemoth's Pilots, all that we know is that the results set up is classified information." extrapolated Gadget, "You don't happen to have a giant black robot out here, do ya?"

"Well, judging by the fact that all three of the attacks have been in San Fransokyo's Tri-State Area, It's more likely for them to buy a vowel than have a clue if you catch my drift." Replied the Gadgetmobile.

"Well, I know a potential pilot when I see one and those kids are those pilots!" declared Gadget as sure of himself as he could sound despite being totally wrong, "They might as well be MAD Agents freshly hired to test out new tech from Dr Claw himself!"

"Oh, Brother..."

Dairantou Saint Zearth

Reach into your soul
embrace the power of the stars
pushing onward with your strength
we await our miracles

We must never fail
Lest our home would feel our pain
There's a world far away
'Tis our final destination

Praise the Helix Fantasy
for it shall reach beyond your dreams!
use the wings of your heart
to ascend to the world

Saint Zearth! Even if we're just children...
Saint Zearth! New heroes will come, Oh Yeah!
Saint Zearth! The Dieties shall guide us
Saint Zearth! Keep Going! Go Fly Away!

Episode 8: Weakness

It was the usual afternoon routine dispite plenty tremors as Carl Frederickson cleaned the desk while Ellie cleaned the windows, and who did she spot in the yard but her dear child Ventus.

2

"Why, Ventus! Welcome home!" chimed Ellie as Ventus made his way to the porch. "Did you have fun with your friends?"

"Sure did, Nana Ellie." smiled Ventus as he opened the door and let himself in, eager to see what she made for dinner. Running to the table to find a plate of Spaghetti and Kelbasa, He sits down and calls his foster parents over.

"So, what did you do at School today?" asked Ellie.

"Well, I read a book on Robotics at the library today." Ventus sheepishly spoke. "It was about history, though."

"Oh, chin up, Ventus." smiled Ellie, "There's always an adventure in every book."

"Yeah, but not every one is worth my attention..." moaned Ventus.

"Come on, Ven, you've got a big field trip coming up tomorrow..." smiled Carl. "You better buck up, kid."

"Yeah, but..." Ven started before glancing at his meal, "I'm not too sure if I can make it."

"Oh, Ventus, it's only a day away, my dear."

"But what if I don't have a Day!" Ventus snarled at his foster parents, tears flowing through his cheeks as shades of sadness began to emerge. "What if someone forces me to go somewhere else on that day... Somewhere that can never allow me to see you again!?"

"Then I'd ask him that you want to stay here, at least a bit longer" smiled Ellie. "He'd know better than to just up and tear you away from us."

"So you're saying... that you're there for me..." Ventus asked.

"Of course, dear. We love you, Ven." smiled Ellie, "We would never let go of you."

All Ven could do was smile.

|-DSZ-|

Time passed and Ventus went off to delete his social accounts before he took his usual midnight shower, seeing as how he would no longer need them after his battle. After getting himself dried up, he glared at the mark on his lower back.

3

A javalin with wings.

"So I'm gonna die after defeating the next one of those things?!"

"You and around a dozen others..." Clearly Koyemshi's words couldn't quell Ventus' fear.

"In other words, Anyone of us will be left behind in a ditch six feet under when we head to the new world?" Hikoi exclaimed

"W-we're being punked, right?" panicked Kako.

"I ain't joking, twerps."

"So that's how Sarah died..." sighed Moji in shock, "The fall wasn't the cause so much as the effect..."

"Geez, this is heavy..." Maki sighed before asking the group: "I mean, 'midichlorians'? Come on, really?!"

"Yeah, But they're both dead..." added Chizu, "Sarah, Tomoki, and now Ven."

"WE'RE TOO YOUNG TO DIIIIIIIIIIIE!" cried both Freya and Caitlyn as they hugged one another.

"O-Okay, Okay! You guys are totally not helping!" cowered Ven. "I mean Seriously! I ain't dead yet!"

"Guys, just... calm down, alright?" Nicole pleaded, desperate to avoid seeing her young cousins cry in fear of the possibility of an emminant death.

"So, I could die at any moment just like Tomoki?" muttered a frightened Anko.

"Wuh-What are you talking about? I'm sure we'll be perfectly fine!" smiled Maki "I'm sure we'll work this out somehow."

"Hey, remember when Deus said MZ uses our life forces to function?" proposed Kako, "We'll be fine in the Kyuseiger Suits, we'll just take 'em down outside MZ! And, Ven, this means you don't have to move her a single step!"

"Whoa, Really?" perked Ven.

"Are you nuts! Kodama had a hard time just breaking our fall!" howled Marco, his eyes having a serious 'don't touch my stuff' glare going down, "Do you think the suits can handle this kind of pressure?"

"Probably not..." sighed Moji, "In fact, that 'perfect' plan of yours probably isn't an option."

"Bingo!" piped Koyemshi as he warped in front of the faces of quite a bunch of the Kyuseigers "Run all you like, But no matter how ya little runts slice it, It's always the same. Once the battle starts, you have 48 hours to slag your opponent or POP goes the universe! And I'm pretty sure Deus and his entourage wouldn't like that, now, would they."

"So it's not just earth, but the universe as well..." mused Kodama.

"The tardy one seems to be catching on pretty quick" snarked the floating voice bug.

"Well, someone has to bring logic to the situation this 'Multi-Dimensional Diversity System' roped us into." Kodama snarked back. "By the way, I take they would also level our universe should any of us slip up?"

"Yep! Either you die saving the universe or you take the whole fuckin' thing down with ya!" declared Koyemshi, "One or the other, pick your poison!"

Naturally Komo fainted from the shock, prompting Maki to go and cushion her fall.

"Plenty of your foes could take you over to their turf instead of the pilot's current location." Koyemshi remarked, "Either way, It's best that you slag those beasts as fast as you can."

"You little smeghead!" barked Kako in rage as he lunged forth to the Voice Bug in vain.

"Whoa, there! That's quite a little temper tantrum ya got going down there," sneered Koyemshi, "Why waste it on me when you can use it to control a fancy new toy that allows you to sacrifice yourself for your friends! I think that can make everybody happy, don't you?"

"If that's what saving the earth actually means... Then I guess it's worth a shot..." spoke a quiet voice that had been present since the camping trip.

"Yeah, I don't see the problem, either..." peeped another silent voice, one that was heard loud and clear throughout the first battle.

"Don't go saying things like that, Waku!" cried Kozue

"Takashi, why won't you snap out of it?!" added Aqua

"Yeah, what's up with you siding with the Bug?!" yelled Kako before his attention was reaimed at the first of the quiet ones to speak. This prompted Kako to go over to kick him in the gut, "In fact, why the shell are you agreeing with the bug, Fatso?!"

"Stop it, Kako!" Grace cried out.

"You're saying you actually want to go through with this smeg!?" Kako fumed. "Are you Nuts!?"

"C-cut it out, I'm as scared of dying as you are..." Kirie quietly sobbed.

"Would it kill ya to stop talking about dying!?" roared Kako.

"But there's nothing we can do..." sighed Koraline, "We've all heard of the motto of the Three Musketeers."

"'All for one, and one for all...'" Sora recalled.

"We've all been tasked with this heavy burden," stated Nakama, "...so it's our duty as the Kyuseigers to finish it as soon as possible."

"I guess... There's a meaning to the whole life force thing," Daichi sighed in submission, "In order to prevent the death and destruction of everything in the universe, our family and friends included, we're gonna have to get adjusted to the idea of self sacrifice..."

"Then why don't you step up to bat after Ventus?" spouted Ushiro.

"Hey, Don't you care enough about your family to protect it yourself!?" Ven yelled, "Let alone Kana-!?"

"Easy there, slugger." Kanji sighed. "The guy's mom died giving birth to Kana. It's probably why he's such a grouch all the time..."

"Butt out, Kanji!" Ushiro shouted.

"To be honest with you, It's pretty easy figuring out who he blames for the death..." shrugged Kanji.

All eyes glared to Kana as Ushiro yelled back: "Shut the hell up, This isn't about you!"

4

The thought of seeing his father cry over the dead body of his mother came crawling back and the sheer hatred once more came to a boil, "Why do I have to put up with a life like mine!?"

"I know protecting your family ain't your thing..." sighed Kanji, "Believe me, it wasn't the first thing that crossed my mind. Then again, saving the earth didn't cross my mind when we first started."

They all glared at each other, worried for who might follow in Ven's footsteps.

"Ven... What am I gonna do..." spoke Terra, clearly in shock from the revalation of his friend's imminent death.

Ven could do nothing but shed a tear out of worry for his family as well as his friends.

Especially Terra.

"Well, enjoy your lives to fullest kids, cause for some of you..." Koyemshi sneered, "It's a limited time offer..."

And so, one-by-one, our heroes returned to their lives until Kodama and Waku remained.

Look at him, one look at his father at the office, and I can easily peg him as a life worth throwing away... He probably would've died falling with the corpse of Kamijiha and yet, he survived...

The matter of how is a mystery worth investigating...

Who are you, Waku-kun...

Kodama thought back to Tomoki, and how he looked up to him, just as he looked up to his father. When his older brothers have been chewing him out for shooting at a stray cat with his beebee gun, he was there to dissuade them from bugging him, failing due to the two brother's contempt towards his father. They did not share the same image of the chosen man before them as he, but Tomoki did through him... And that was what chilled him, what haunted him, what would rock him to his core over the course of the adventure.

What are you?

5

Koraline returned to her stately manor where her boyfriend was standing there, eagerly awaiting her to come and see the park today.

"Hey, Kori." greeted Hideki Kojibara, the BF in question. "How was school?"

"...fine, I guess." Koraline spoke, trying her damnedest to hide her duties as a Kyuseiger from Hideki. "Just leave me alone, alright?"

"But Kori, The park's gonna close early since the Staff's volunteered to clean up the mess made from the Giant Robot-" Koraline hadn't the time to hear it as she shut the door before Hideki could finish his sentence. As Koraline marched towards her bedroom, she overheard whispers of a conversation between her father and an unknown stranger. "Can you believe those provisions these guys tried to propose?! I mean, c'mon a death sentence to anyone who creates a link to somthin'? Clearly some kinda April Fools joke, eh?"

Koraline could only stare at the man behind the nearly-sealed door, his shadow large enough to cover both her and her childhood friend. And the man's wealth was proof of this, having grown and gathered his riches from both sides of the gambling scene. Playing slot machines during his early twenties and building slot machines from his late twenties on, This man was one who left luck up to chance and was rewarded for his persistence.

"Ah, if it isn't my little Kori..." smiled the man.

"'Sup, dad." Koraline smiled back. "Just came back from a friend's place."

"Really, Which one?" asked Mr. Imanok, "I can never keep track of your friends."

"Oh, just the one with the, uh... the wild imagination!" with that, Koraline immediately bolted to her room to hide from her father.

"But Hideki's been waiting for you in the yard!"

Koraline closed the door and flopped onto the bed, clutching her Pillow Plushie with every ounce of her strength. She prayed with all of her might that she would survive. She wanted to survive for her family, for Hideki, for herself. She didn't want to be like Ventus, or Tomoki or Sarah...

She did not want to die.

6

Marco opened the door to his bedroom and laid there, obviously troubled by the fact that piloting the Mighty Zearth is a literal lose-lose situation: pilot the mech and die or dont pilot the mech and watch everyone die. Either way, he was scared of the prospect proposed by the contract. He feared what would happen to the Smashers if he was chosen, he shivered at the thought of his family losing him.

"Marco, You seeing this?"

The boy glanced at the News Report, covering the collateral damage of Tomoki's flight, And watching the pre-recorded carnage was Samus and Ness.

"I'll admit, it'd be cool to fight a giant robot like that, y'know?" Samus sighed wistfully. "Just imagine it..."

"You're the first person I met who would ever willingly load himself into a giant metal suit," Ness deadpanned.

Oh, if you only knew, Ness, Marco internally winced.

"...I do it daily," Samus stated.

"Ooooooh," Ness awed, lowering his gaze. He looked back to Marco with a renewed smile and shouted, "Still! Wouldn't that be awesome?!"

"Sure," Marco said passively.

"I mean, shootin' stuff and punchin' stuff-"

"I still do that daily, Ness," Samus spoke up in the background.

"-and taking down bug-things as you try not to murder everyone," Ness continued, pounding his fist into his flat palm, "it would be EPIC!"

"Yea, still do it daily."

"You try not to kill everyone daily?"

"Have you heard yourself sometimes?"

"...no."

"Good," Samus snapped. "We've already got huge mechs on the loose, I dont' want to worry about both suicide attempts and some giant foot about to crush us."

"It won't," Marco dismissed whistfully.

"What?" Samus questioned.

Marco jolted up at the accidental hint. Wasn't he on strict self-orders to not spill any? "Uh, I mean...there are a thousand houses out there. What's the likelihood that it'll crush us?"

"Eh, good point," Ness shrugged.

Samus was not so easily convinced and, from behind his visor, fixed Marco with a hard gaze. "...it has been out of the suburbs, hasn't it?" he said passively. "So at least it's trying to keep people from getting squashed."

Marco was about to say more, but spotted a slight chink in Samus' armored words. "You talk like it has a mind of its own," he spoke up.

"...I hold sympathy for robots," he shrugged. "Maybe it's owner's trying to prevent a mass murder? I mean, even taking on the enemy that started it?"

"What makes you think it has an owner?" Marco asked, innocently enough. Samus was a clever smasher; what was with all the gaps in his argument?

"Every kind of mech does. I should know," Samus stated. "There isn't a single AI out there with movements like that. It hesitates, it holds back, it could be attacking normally one moment and then much more violently the next. Something - or someone - is in that thing."

"Like a giant-sized version of you?" Ness perked.

"No."

"Aw."

"Y-yea, I guess that's a good point," Marco scratched the back of his head nervously. Naturally, a tunnel of bad protests lead to one huge monster of one. "Are you sure it's not just a...glitch?"

"Positive. Robots don't glitch that often, anyway, unless they've got a virus or something," Samus tapped his chin thoughtfully, creating a quiet metallic resonation through he room.

Ness looked between the two of them as they both offered and denied their points, and finally decided to speak up. "...you wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?" he slyly asked, leaning on his baseball bat with a smirk directed at Marco.

He flinched and glanced away. It wasn't right to lie about as something as life-risking as this, but on the other hand, it was entirely right to lie about something as life-risking as this. He didn't need them worrying, counting down his days to death or anything, and they already had issues of their own - suddenly dying once their life forces' lender was sucked dry wasn't one of them.

So he did neither.

"...maybe I don't, and maybe I do," he said loftily, getting up and walking out of the room like he hadn't just implied a major confession.

Samus and Ness watched him leave, turned to each other, and then turned back to the door.

"...he's hiding something. I don't need peacock eye to tell me that," Samus muttered.

"'peacock eye'?" Ness repeated.

"You know, that little mind-bending thing you have," Samus elaborated.

Ness stared at him with a deadpan look. "...you mean PSI."

"Same-difference."

"Anyway, you're right," Ness confirmed. "He's got something up his sleeve...maybe he doesn't want to tell?"

"What makes you think that?"

"Peacock eye - I mean PSI. Just a nack. Maybe we could consult the others about this..."

Today was the day of the field trip to the Technology Institute, Ventus was nervous and yet optimistic. Nervous in that he was going to a fancy technology college, yet optimistic since this trip would provide him with something to do to cap off his life before piloting MZ and ultimately passing on. He sighed to himself before... "Hi There!"

7

This made Ventus jump in shock before turning around to see a girl with a great big grin adorning her face. Her short brown hair as bouncy as she was expressive. "I'm Nanacchi Suzuki, I just transferred her from another world!"

"Uh, hi... Nanacchi." Chuckled Ventus, somewhat estranged towards the girl. Is this what a person from another world looks like? If so, then this proved Andros' point that 'Earth's not the only place humans live'

"Uh, I'm Ventus..." Stammered the pilot-to-be "Call me Ven."

"Okay Ven, I'm gonna be your lab partner from this moment on!" cheered Nanacchi.

"Oh! Uh, Alright..." shrugged Ven, recalling that the tour has paired up the students receiving temporary monthlong passes to the Institute's Campus like an extended Open House. "So, what do you think we should check out first?"

"Oh, there's this bike with wheels that are basically gravity-defying plates! That's so cool! But the laser cutters though, that has got to be sharp, huh?!" rambled Nanacchi. "But I hear there be nanobots there!"

"Whoa, Really?!" jumped Ven in amazement.

"Yeah, This little boy about our age is building them with his older brother!" "The kid graduated high school at just ten years old and he was in your class one year!"

"Whoa, did not know how I missed that." mused Ventus as the Bus driver honked the horn.

"C'mon, We gotta go see!" smiled Nanacchi as she rushed into the bus. Ventus was soon to follow, trying his damnest not to think about his fate as well as thanking his lucky stars from within his head that Koyemshi allowed him this day to spend on the field trip.

Give it up for Reevee who wrote the scene with Marco and the Smashers!

Reevee21: Daaaaaw, you guys are too kind!

Time to award Bonus Nerd Points, So Ree, you can have the honors.

Reevee21: I Totally want to, good sir, thank you. *taps micropohone* Which Pixar film do the Fredericksons hail from? And judging by Ven's destination, which Disney Movie are we going to re-enact in during this and the following episode all the way up to the end of the first act?

Knowing that I mentioned the setting being 'San Fransokyo' It should be obvious...

Reevee21: Yea, really should...DANG IT, Flail is out of PP! I can't use it anymore! ...I need a better moveset if I rely mainly on Flail. Maybe Baby-Doll Eyes...?

That's all for now, hug an eevee, be creative and have fun, Saint Zearth Duo Out!