Super Smash Bros vs Capcom Adventure Mode

Level 11: Jungle Lojinx

The sky was blocked out by the leaves of the giant palm trees. What light there was came down through the cracks, creating an odd balance of shadow and illumination. All in all, it was kinda serene. Not that anyone cared. Serene appearances aside, it was still a jungle, and it was full of dangerous beasts just hiding within the foliage. Of course, these beasts weren't nearly half as dangerous as the people now trying to navigate the maze of palm trees, vines, and exceptionally large flowers.

Mario, Chun-Li, Chris and Fox were currently stationed under one such palm tree, the remains of a freshly killed, cooked, and eaten jungle beast cooling off to the side. The four of them were currently examining Mario had found.

"I'm not saying the map is false," Chris said, cleaning one of his guns. "I just don't think we should go directly to the enemy's base like this."

Mario gave Chris a concerned look. Where else could they go?

Fox, meanwhile, was checking his own GPS. "We're not too far away from headquarters. Let's stop there for supplies, and maybe see if new intel came in."

Chun-Li nodded. "Good idea. To be honest, we've been running around too much. If we're going to rescue Princess Peach and stop this evil alliance, we need to take some time to plan out our next step."

Mario considered it. It would be a good idea to get ready. Hopefully they would find some decent Power-Ups at this base, too. He folded up the map and stuffed it into his overalls. "Lets'a go!"

Stage 1: Bog-Art

The four trekked on, and as they did, they noticed that the ground was becoming softer and less stable. When Mario's foot actually began to sink into the ground they realized that they had traipsed into a swampier part of the Jungle. After he jumped out, Mario realized that they needed to find a more stable pathway, now. Chun-Li, Chris, and even Fox weren't as experienced with on-foot journeys. If one of them stepped into a sinkhole, they wouldn't be able to get out as easily as Mario. Noticing that the large rocks were bunched together, Mario saw the answer to their dilemma. He quickly jumped onto one, and waved for the others to join him. Once they were up, the four began to leap from one large rock to another.

But just when they were starting to get the hang of things (Especially Chris and Fox, who weren't as good as jumping as Chun-Li and Mario- especially Mario- were), a hand reached out of the water and grabbed Fox's tail! The Star Fox leader yelled horror as he found himself being pulled into the murky muck. He then yelled in pain when Mario and Chun-Li grabbed arms to keep him on the rock. They pulled, causing Fox's eyes to bug out as whatever had his tail wasn't letting go. This game of tug-o-war ended when Chris fired several shells into the water. After pulling the vulpine space pilot to safety, the group saw that there was now a rotted hand gripping Fox's tail.

"Ahh…what the heck!?" Fox cried, stunned.

Mario took out a wrench and cautiously detached the hand. Its fingers twitched as it fell onto their stone platform.

"Looks like there was a zombie in the water," Chris noted, and reloaded his pistol.

"Oh, yeah?" Fox muttered, and pulled out his own gun. Curiously, he fired it several times into the water. Something underneath the murky surface made bubbles, and a very dead body floated up. "Got him."

"There might be more," Chun-Li pointed out, "Let's watch our step from now on."

Mario looked into the swamp. Squinting, he could just barely see several outlines moving underneath the surface.

From that point on, their little journey became a bit more dangerous. A waterlogged zombie would burst from the swamp, trying to climb up on a rock, and did so with untiring aggression. While Chris and Fox's firearms were good for staving off the first few, it wasn't long before the zombies' numbers rose to the point that the only viable defense strategy ceased to be "Stop and shoot" and became "Run and hope you step on their heads". Mario and Chun-Li led the way as they implemented this second method, their legs honed from years of stomping and kicking.

"So," Fox noted casually as Chun-Li swept three zombies into the water at once. "A pudgy guy and a chick are better at hand-to-hand than we are. Feel jealous?"

Chris just as casually shot a zombie in the neck, causing its head to fall off. "Not at all."

Out of the corner of his eye, Mario noticed something surprisingly pink, a deep contrast to the dark grey and green that made up the swamp. Taking a closer look, he saw some sort of pink blob with eyes being manhandled by a pair of zombies. Horrified, Mario quickly broke away from the pack and leapt towards the site of the disturbance. Unfortunately, this path took him across several yards of deep swamp water. Luckily, there were plenty of zombies sticking their heads out of said swamp water, as there usually were when Mario needed to be someplace on the other end of dangerous territory.

After making it across, Mario made short work of the zombies. To his surprise, their would-be victim wasn't Kirby, but a different pink blob. It was the lack of red, boot-like feet that tipped him off.

"Ditto." The creature cooed.

Mario set it down, gave the Pokemon a friendly pat on the head, and jumped back to the rest of his team, using another set of half-submerged zombies as stepping stones. Ditto watched the plumber go, its dot-like eyes shining. It's gel-like body being to shimmer…

Mario returned to the others and they continued on. For a few jumps, the zombie attacks seemed to lessen until none came. Rather than being happy, this made the heroes nervous.

"Do you think they're all gone?" Fox asked, glancing at the water suspiciously. Chris was likewise checking the swamp for potential sneak attacks.

"I'm not sure," Chun-Li said, "You two weren't able to shoot down all of them. But given how slow they were moving in the water, I think we might have outrun them."

SPLOOSH!

Just moments after the words left Chun-Li's mouth, a massive wall burst from the muck. A wall whose parts seemed to be moving. But it wasn't made of stone, or any other sensible building material.

It was made of zombies. Lots of gunk-covered zombies.

"Or they could have gone ahead and done that," Chun-Li amended, her voice faint.

Chris and Fox opened fire on the advancing wall of undead, but their respective arms had little effect. Chun Li began to consider other options. There were no other rocks to leap to, and there was no telling what else was in the swamp water, so going around the zombie wall was out of the question. And even if they managed to punch a hole in that mass of animated flesh, what was to stop it from crumbling down on them? Going back wasn't an option, as the previous rocks still had zombies on them. They were literally between a rock and a hard place.

Or were they? Chun-Li recalled how some Mario took care of certain monsters by doing a spinning jump on their heads. With that in mind, the Chinese Interpol agent made her move. Charging towards the zombies, she jumped up at the undead. "Tenshokyaku!"

Chun-Li delivered several powerful kicks at the zombies, using her strikes and the force of her momentum to carry her up, all the way to the top. Once she was there, she lifted her leg and brought it down onto the zombies in a devastating blow that shook the tower of undead. This was too much for the zombies, and their formation began to collapse. As they fell, Chun-Li took the time to leap over them to the other side of the swamp, landing on solid ground. A tree was nearby, and Chun-Li did another kick and brought it down, creating a makeshift bridge for the men.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this adventuring thing!" She called out as they crossed.

Following the swamp, they came across a flagpole, which Mario took the time to pull down.

Stage 1: Complete

Fox took a look back at the swamp they just passed. "Makes you wonder what else is out here."

"Let's not wait and find out," Chris said, holstering his gun. "We need to get a move on."

The four walked off, unaware that they were being watched.

The Ditto Mario had saved giggled, then morphed into a duplicate of Mario. Taking a moment to examine his new form, Ditto-Mario hopped off for less humid pastures.

ELSEWHERE

Ryu and Kirby were in a fix. Their trip had taken a bizarre turn when Kirby's Warpstar had crashed into the jungle. While this wasn't so much a bad thing in itself, the situation worsened when they found themselves constantly attacked by various monsters. Luckily, these creatures were easily beaten, or, in the case of Kirby, inhaled.

Then the Bison Dolls appeared.

There were at least four of them. Ryu wondered if their appearance was a coincidence…or if Shadowloo was connected with those turtle monsters. He braced himself as they circled around the pair. Kirby, on the other hand, stared at the strange ladies with confused curiosity. Were they nice serious ladies, like Samus, the mean kind of serious ladies?

The pink puffball got his answers when the Dolls sprung into action. Two tried to fell Ryu with kicks from opposite side, which the Street Fighter champion blocked with his arms, while another moved to take his back. After forcing back the first two Bison Dolls, Ryu swung his leg out, kicking the third under the chin. The fourth, meanwhile moved to neutralize Kirby. She scooped the little cream puff up, but Kirby squirmed out of her grasp. Once he did, he opened his mouth...

Ryu and the Dolls he was fighting were distracted from their battle when the sound of rushing air filled their ears. Before they could ponder that between punches, Fighter Kirby delivered a flying kick to the Bison Doll on Ryu's left, allowing him to fight the other Doll directly. She tried to deliver a punch, but Ryu ducked under it.

"Shoryuken!"

Ryu's fist sent the Bison Doll flying into the air. Off to the side, Kirby broke off from his own tussle with the other Bison Doll to stand at Ryu's side. The two Bison Dolls quickly grouped together themselves. They didn't see the third, and lacked the emotional capacity to care beyond 'We no longer outnumber them.' They heard the sound of branch breaking from behind and upon looking saw that it was Meta Knight.

"Thank you for coming, Sir Meta Knight," The Bison Doll on the left said, "We're having trouble capturing Ryu and Kirby."

"I am aware of how much trouble you are in." Meta Knight murmured. He unsheathed his sword Galaxia and became a blur.

The remaining Bison Dolls fell to the ground. Ryu and Kirby blinked, unaware of what to think. From what the Bison Dolls had said, they and the masked warrior were supposed to be allies. But now, Meta Knight had turned on them like it was nothing. He sheathed his sword, and the mysterious soldier pulled a mysterious device out from his cape- the same remote-like thing he used on Dante back in Sim City. First, he used it on the Bison Dolls. Ryu and Kirby were surprised to see that the Dolls' bodies appeared unaffected by the white beam, and even more so when Meta Knight turned his device on them.

"What did you do?" Ryu asked, concerned. While he didn't feel different, he suspected that Meta Knight was not someone who believed in pointless actions.

But instead of answering, Meta Knight turned and walked away. He jumped up into the tree tops, pausing on the second branch to look back at the pair.

"Come," He said, "We have much to discuss."

After a moment, Ryu walked up to the tree and jumped after Meta Knight. Kirby watched them go. He stepped forward, paused, and turned away from the tree. Taking a deep breath, the pink star Warrior SPAT the Bison Doll out. The surprisingly dry upchucked warrior flew magnificently through the air before landing in a bush. with that done, Kirby hopped into the air, took a deep breath, and fluttered after Ryu and Meta Knight. The Bison Doll regained consciousness just in time to see the caped warrior disappear into the foliage. Frowning, she reached for her communicator.

"We have a problem."

Stage 2: Treetop Town

Ryu, Kirby and Meta Knight soon reached what looked like a series of houses and walkways built among the various branches. And it stretched out far as the naked eye could see. But what the naked eye couldn't see was people. As far as the three of them could tell, this village was a ghost town.

Instead of being intimidated by this unsettling apparent absence, Meta Knight moved on. Curious as to what the masked warrior had wanted from them, Ryu and Kirby followed.

"Are you aware that worlds have merged before?" Meta Knight asked Ryu.

"Yes, it's happened to me in my world several times," The martial artist replied, "Usually, with another universe full of costumed vigilantes."

"Yes, I've heard. And when they merge, the result looks as if someone has taken bits and pieces from our worlds to make something new, does it not?" Meta Knight went on, "So, I ask you…what happens to the pieces that aren't taken?"

This caught Ryu's attention. Kirby, meanwhile, was more concerned with a bunch of bananas growing at the end of a tree branch. Opening his mouth, he sucked the bananas in. Chewing for a bit, he then spat out a large beetle that had been inside of the fruit. Yuck!

"There are these Orbs," Meta Knight explained, "And within these Orbs is the essence of the two universe's remnants. Imagine, all of the power, knowledge, and spirit of those worlds and its people…and what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands.

"That is why I have joined the Evil Alliance."

"An Evil Alliance?" Ryu repeated, "What are you talking about?"

They came across a large gap between trees. The three of them leapt it with ease- though only Ryu did the actual leaping. Meta Knight turned his cape into wings and flew across, and Kirby did likewise with his inflated body. Once the three were on the other side, Meta Knight continued his story.

"When the new world was created, all the people in it were disoriented. Torn away from their familiar homes, separated from their friends…" Meta Knight shook his head. "But some adapted quite quickly. Three dangerous men found each other, and began to combine their resources.

"Bowser, the King Koopa.

"M. Bison, master of Shadowloo.

"And Albert Wesker, a scientist from the Tricell Corporation."

Ryu swallowed involuntarily. Bison and Wesker…while he suspected Bison had a hand in what was going on, given their encounter with the Bison Dolls, the knowledge that Wesker was connected was very troubling. He recalled the havoc they caused the last times the worlds merged. He then realized that they were involved with separate incidents. What sort of villainy would they commit together?

But there was part about Meta Knight's dialogue that Ryu was unsure of. "I know of two of them…but who is this Bowser?"

"He is a bully and a thug at heart, but a very dangerous one," Meta Knight explained, "Although mostly unintelligent, he can be surprisingly cunning, and has powerful magic on his side.

"With their joined forces, the Evil Alliance has been searching the merged world for the Orbs. Not only that, but they have been kidnapping people- other warriors, like yourself."

That explained why the Bison Dolls had assaulted him and Kirby. Bison had taken in interest in Ryu in their own universe, and no doubt the desire to have Ryu as a potential body had not abated since the merger. But what of the others who were taken?

"And what happens to the ones captured?" Ryu asked, hopping over a gap in the walkway.

Meta Knight paused before talking. "I am not familiar with the specifics, but I know that some are taken to Wesker's labs and experimented on." Upon seeing Ryu's horrified expression, he added, "Do not worry, they are unharmed…at least, by the experiments," He held up the device he used earlier. "The beam this tool shoots fills its target with positive energy, rendering them immune to any form of tampering, on both the physical and spiritual levels."

"Where did you get such a convenient tool?" Ryu asked, a bit skeptical. If what Meta Knight was saying true, then those struck by the beam would be protected from not just Wesker's experiments, but from Bison's Psycho Power. Who could build a device like that?

"Before being transferred to the kidnapping squad, I was stationed in Bowser's Castle," Meta Knight explained, "I do not know where, but he had already found an Orb…and in the time since I left, he may have found more. With that Orb, I was able to conjure up the positive-energy beam."

"Conjure up?"

"I…do not know how to describe it," Meta Knight, for the first time during the conversation, sounded unsure. "Just by touching the Orb, and thinking about what I wanted, I was able to get it. To call it magic…is an understatement. It was like being part of a greater universe."

"Does that mean Bison and Wesker can create anything they want!?" Ryu exclaimed If those two villains had a power like that at their disposal, there would be no end to the trouble. It troubled him…but at the same time, also intrigued him on a much deeper level. A darker part within his soul hoped to challenge them…

"It is not that simple," Meta Knight said, "Although one can summon what they wish with an Orb, it is…difficult. It felt that if I did not pull hard enough, I would consumed by the Orb's power. I can only surmise that what you can create is limited to your own willpower."

They soon reached a drawbridge of sorts, with the sections raised. Using his cape wings, Meta Knight flew up and cut the lines with his sword. This caused the first half of the draw bridge to fall. Rather than wait for the roly-poly warrior to fly over and cut the further lines, Ryu fired two tiny Hadokens to bring down the second half of the drawbridge. Once the three of them crossed it, the drawbridge fell to pieces, tumbling down into the deeper recesses of the jungle. They stared at where the drawbridge used to be for about five seconds.

"…We should have looked for a switch." Ryu decided. Kirby cooed in agreement.

Deciding to move on both physically and narratively, Meta Knight said, "I have been searching for potential allies, those who can defeat the Evil Alliance and their new powers."

"Is that why you approached us?" Ryu almost stepped in a hole in the walkway, and had to catch himself from falling over. Once he regained his balance, he continued. "You think we can help?"

"I have read the files that Shadowloo and Tricell has on you and your fighting style, the Ansatsuken," Meta Knight answered, "And I know for a fact that however silly he may act, Kirby is a powerful warrior in his own way…as you have no doubt realized."

Ryu glanced over his shoulder and saw that Kirby was no longer behind him. Immediately concerned, he began to look around, hoping that the pink puffball hadn't wandered off too far. Up on a tree branch at 4 o'clock, Kirby was playing with a butterfly.

"…Most of the time, anyway." Meta Knight admitted.

Eventually, they came upon a flagpole. The three walked past it without another word…until Kirby doubled back, flew up, and pulled the flag down.

End Stage

Once Kirby caught back up with Ryu and Meta Knight, the martial artist asked, "So, where do we go from here?"

"The reason I approached you is because the situation has changed," Meta Knight said, "Outside of this jungle is a base. It is being used by a group of mercenaries I am familiar with. We will need their assistance."

The word 'mercenary' brought to Ryu's mind a certain spandex motormouth from the previous world merger he was involved in. The meeting wasn't exactly a pleasant one. He tried to suppress the memory of the headache that merc with a mouth gave him, only to develop an actual headache in doing so. Kirby saw the lines appear on his buddy's forehead along with the frown. Concerned for Ryu, Kirby fluttered up and tried to pull a bunch of yummy bananas from another tree branch. However, the stem this time was firmly attached to the tree, and wasn't coming off easily. Before Kirby could give up, a mustachioed man in a cap appeared and plucked the bananas off. Tipping his hat, the man gave Kirby the bananas, keeping one for himself. He then jumped away.

Kirby watched him go in confusion. Was that Mario?

ELSEWHERE

Some days, it just didn't pay to get out of bed. Dante understood that now more than ever, after everything that had happened to him. Getting beat by that roly-poly knight in Sim City was bad, and while escaping from Wesker's lab helped his ego a bit, there was no comfort for this current situation.

He and his new posse (which consisted of two animals, a blue Astro-Boy wannabe and his robot beagle) had tried to follow Wesker's ship on the dog's bike-mode. Once they entered the jungle, the four of them had to go on foot. The Rush Cycle's wheels couldn't handle the uneven terrain, which suited Dante fine. Due to the lack of a sidecar, They all had to squeeze together on the seat- which meant he spent the entire ride clinging to Donkey Kong's hairy back. However, they only made it three steps in the jungle before the big ape in question suddenly barreled off- before coming back and dragging Dante along with him. Mega Man and Pikachu were quick to follow, curious as to what DK thought was so important.

At the moment, it seemed that what Donkey Kong wanted was to listen to the barely-intelligible ranting of an old, wizened ape with a flowing white beard. The 'geezer-monkey' was sitting in a rocking chair, swinging a cane around as he raved about this and that.

"…And look at how your fur waves in the wind! Waste of processing power, that's what it is!" Cranky Kong sneered, pointing his cane disapprovingly at DK. "Why, back in my day, we were given just one color and liked it!"

"…Wow," Dante deadpanned, "This is just how I wanted to spend my weekend."

Mega Man chuckled mirthlessly. "He, uh, does on, doesn't he?"

Dante rolled his eyes. Turning around, he began to walk off. It was plainly obvious that this senior citizen of simian wasn't going to say anything useful ever. And what was wrong with wavy hair?

"…Wesker has been going to Bowser's Castle, though I doubt you can get in through the front door, better take the back door…" Cranky muttered absent-mindedly.

Dante whirled about. And the glazed looks in the eyes of Mega Man and Donkey Kong instantly became focused. Pikachu woke up from his nap.

"Did you say that Wesker's at a castle?" Mega Man asked, stepping up to the old ape. He had to lean back to avoid being hit by the cane.

"Of course he's going Bowser's Castle! What, can't you hear anything through that dome of yours?" Cranky snapped.

"That's all I needed to hear," Dante declared, and resumed his trek away from Cranky's Cabin. He snapped his fingers in a beckoning gesture. "Let's roll."

Pikachu hopped onto Dante's shoulder. Rather than get annoyed like last time, the demon-hunter just smirked. Donkey Kong knuckled after him while Mega Man followed.

"Fine, leave the old man alone!" Cranky yelled at their retreating backs, "You'll be back to hear my anecdotes…they always come back."

Stage 3: Vine-Nilla

There were no convenient walkways were Dante's crew was. Though some of the giant branches of the trees intersected, most weren't. This meant that there were huge gaps in the canopy. And the ragtag band now found themselves right before one such gap as they left Cranky's Cabin.

"We need to find that castle," Dante decided, "If that's where Wesker going, that's where I'm going," And maybe I might find the little runt who sold me to him. He looked at Mega Man. "I don't suppose you've got a map inside that computer head of yours?"

The Blue Bomber shook said 'computer head'. "No, we hadn't finished mapping out the merged world when I was deployed. It's possible they might have completed it in the time I've been gone."

"So, call them and ask for directions." Dante told him. On his shoulder, Pikachu suddenly tensed.

"I can't get a signal to headquarters here. We're too far from away and these trees create too much interference," Mega Man replied, and pointed. "Let's get out of this jungle first."

Donkey Kong, bored with the exposition, grabbed a vine and swung it across the gap to the next branch. He then swung back, grabbed Rush, held the robot dog in a one-armed hug, and swung towards the next branch again.

"Now there's an idea." Dante muttered, and grabbed a vine of his own. Clearing his throat, he unleashed a mighty yell akin to Tarzen. Pikachu gave the half-demon a look of dry disbelief.

"Okay, let's see you do better." Dante challenged.

Pikachu rolled his eyes, took a deep breath, and cried, "Pika-CHUUU-UUU!"

Dante sighed, unimpressed, and swung after DK and Mega Man, the latter having crossed while Dante and Pikachu argued. The four of them continued across the tree tops in this manner, using conveniently-placed vines to swing and climb across the gaps. For a while, it seemed like their journey from there would only be a matter of traversing the trees.

But as they reached the umpteenth tree, Dante saw something out of the corner of his eye. Unholstering his a gun, the demon hunter fired at something in the trees. This caught the attention of the others, who looked at Dante in shock before following his gaze towards that fresh bullet hole in the leaves.

"What? What is it?" Mega Man asked.

Dante didn't answer, and in a second didn't have to. Out from the thicket some sort of bizarre creature stumbled out. It looked like a frail monkey with sickly green skin and muscles, with tattered clothes and a mask with a Japanese kanji painted on. It was also missing a fair portion of its forearm, which smelled of blood and gunpowder.

Mega Man readied his Mega Buster. "What is that thing?!"

"A demon…" Dante murmured, more to himself. "At least, I think it is. Doesn't look like any demon I've killed before." Reminds me of that wolf-god thing, what was her name? Amita…?

"This thing is a demon?" Mega Man asked taking a cautious step forward.

The creature before him certainly didn't seem normal, that was for sure. It made one last choking noise before slipping off of the branch and plummeting out of sight. The four barely had time to comment when another creature, a yellow version of the previous demon, wielding a drum, came barreling out of the leaves.

POW!

DK's mighty fist slammed into the Yellow Imp, sending it flying. The big ape looked up at Dante and snorted, clearly disdainful of label Dante had given the creature. Demon, indeed!

"Must have been a really minor demon," Dante grumbled, annoyed at Donkey Kong smug expression. "Keep sharp, there might be more- no, scratch, there will be more." He was now sensing multiple demonic energies around them. He checked his gun and reloaded. He had a feeling that their fun little jungle adventure was about to get dangerous.

And it did. More demons, similar in basic composition to the Imps, would come at the group, some flying at them, some waiting on the oversized branches, and other cutting out the middleman and going on the vines themselves. While the ones in the air were easy to get rid of, thanks to Pikachu's lightning attacks and Mega Man's Busterfire (Dante decided to hold off on using his gun if he could), and the ones on the branches were just fodder for DK's fists and Dante's swords, the ones hanging on the vines were more difficult to get rid of. While blasting them off of the flora and down into the darkness would have been easy, doing so would destroy the vine, making the crossing almost impossible. Luckily, Pikachu came up with a solution. He had Donkey Kong throw him onto a demon-infested vine, and a mild shock would cause the demon to fall off, preserving the vine for future use.

As they continued across the vines in this manner, destroying any demon that came their way, Dante could feel it. A dark presence in the jungle, getting worse the further the four of them went on. At first, he assumed that it was just the endless hordes of demons that had nothing better to do than harass them, but soon he began to think otherwise. While there were a lot of demons, they were relatively minor ones, and scattered about. This evil force seemed to be emitting from a singular creature- and a powerful one. Dante unconsciously reached for his sword, but held off- it wasn't time yet.

Eventually the four of them came upon a section of the tree tops where the branches were intertwined. The natural bridge looked long enough to walk for a mile. That is, provided the demons attacking the wood with axes didn't chop the branches to splinters.

"Hey, get away from there!" Dante yelled, and let the demons have it with a few slugs. Donkey Kong followed up and gave the demons a body slam that sent them flying. As he did, the tree began to shake ominously. Mega Man knelt down and inspected the damage.

"I think it'll hold up," He reported, "As long as we step carefully and avoid any weak spots, we can get through this without any incident."

"Ditto!"

Something pudgy, mustachioed, and wearing overalls came crashing down on Mega Man's head, and the force of the impact sent the two of them straight through the woodwork.

BELOW

The two of them, Mega Man and his unexpected assailant, fell down through the woodwork, breaking the smaller, weaker branches with their momentum. Eventually, they hit a makeshift web of vines that slowed their descent just enough that it didn't hurt too much when they landed on the ground. Groaning, Mega Man pulled himself to his feet and did a quick system diagnostic. While he lost a bit of energy taking that fall, his check didn't report any serious damage to his body. He turned his head to get a good look at the being that fell on him. It looked like a somewhat pudgy human in blue overalls and a red shirt, with a matching red cap. He had a big nose that sported a mustache.

"Ditto!" The man yelled, and charged.

Mega Man vs Mario (?)

Mario(?) jumped into the air and dropped down onto Mega Man. This time, the Blue Bomber darted out of the way, leaving Mario(?) to harmlessly land on the ground. Once he had put some distance between himself and the mustachioed attacker, Mega Man armed his Mega Buster and took aim. He fired his Mega Buster, sending several bullets of energy at Mario(?). Mario(?) jumped away, doing impressive flips and somersaults to avoid being shot, though an outsider observer would notice that Mega Man seemed to be purposely missing. He had no intention of hurting what was clearly a misguided and possibly unhinged human, but he needed to get a point across. A warning shot or two might scare him off.

Unfortunately, it didn't. Mario(?) bounced off of a tree and in doing so sent a coconut down. One of the Buster shots struck the coconut, causing the milk to evaporate into a steamy cloud of lactose. This obscured Mega Man's vision just enough to keep him from seeing Mario(?) coming down on him until it was too late. For the second time that day, Mega Man's blue helmet became the landing pad for a very pudgy man- only this time, the overall-clad body was spinning.

The grinding noise echoed throughout the jungle as Mega Man's body shook. Almost instinctively, he punched Mario(?) away. Once he had gotten Mario(?) away, Mega Man summoned a Sigma Shield for extra protection. He was right to do so, as it came in handy blocking another one of Marion(?)'s spinning stomps. After pushing off Mario(?), Mega Man threw the Shield, knocking his hat off. Much to Mega Man's surprise, the hat turned into some sort of pinkish putty. The goo then hopped back onto Mario(?)'s head, and formed a red cap.

Forcing his mouth shut, Mega Man's eyes narrowed. So, whatever this was wasn't human! Good. He was tired of playing nice. Deactivating his Sigma Shield function, The Blue Bomber began to charge up his Mega Buster. As he did, Mario(?) began to run around Mega Man in a circle. Once the Buster cannon was fully charged Mega Man let a ball of energy the size of a beach ball fly. Mario(?) jumped- and received several shots to the stomach once he was at the apex of his leap. Mega Man hadn't charged those; If he had, there would be a large hole in Mario(?)'s torso. While Mega Man was willing to fight an inhuman thing for his own survival, he wasn't about to take a life if he could help it. He was, on the other hand, unafraid to give his assailant a good few knocks as payback. As the plummeting figure was stunned by the projectiles, Mega Man ran and jumped up, delivering a spinning uppercut he had Dr. Light program into his body after witnessing Ryu's fighting style during the first universe merger he had experienced.

"Mega Upper!"

Metal fist struck fleshy jaw. They both went down. Mega Man landed on his feet. Mario(?) fell on his back.

End Battle

Mario(?)'s body became the same gooey pink his hat had. Instead of reforming, the pink thing shrank down in size, looking more like a small pile of putty. With a smiley face. Only now the face wasn't smiling, but frowning. It made adorable sniffling noises as a tear formed at the edge of its beady eyes.

"Ditto…" It whimpered, and then wandered off.

Mega Man stared at the thing wordlessly. He had trouble processing what had happened. He ultimately decided that trying to figure out the Ditto wasn't worth the computational power, and that he needed to focus on getting back to Dante and the others. He sent out a silent beacon. In a second, Rush beamed down to his side. The robotic dog barked happily.

"Are your jets charged, boy?" Mega Man asked. He got a yip in response. "Good. We're flying back up to the gang. Think you can handle it?"

As answer, Rush entered Jet-mode. Once Mega Man was aboard, the two began to fly up towards the upper canopy. As they soared, demons began to either throw themselves at the robots, or stood on branches waiting for Rush to get close enough. Rather than be an open target, Mega Man prepped his Mega Buster and let fly with partially-charged Buster shots, knocking demons out of the sky and the trees. The jungle became darker the further they went, and Mega Man noticed that there seemed to be an increasing number of cobwebs that grew larger by the minute.

"There must be some giant spiders or something in this region," Mega Man thought aloud, and told Rush, "Let's stay away from those webs, boy."

As the robots flew along, Mega Man noticed that the demons they encountered seemed to be getting bigger and more gruesome. Some looked like giant heads with long noses, with wings that held them aloft, and talons in Japanese outfits. Others were more like a breed of ape, much skinnier than Donkey Kong, carrying giant swords on their backs, which they used to attack Mega Man with if Rush took him too close. Using the Sigma Shield and Zero Saber he had obtained at the Tricell offices, Mega Man easily defeated these monsters, but their increased energy and numbers worried the robot. He reviewed what little data he had on demons, and came to the conclusion that he was approaching his source.

"Let's go a little higher, Rush, and see if we can find the others," Mega Man told his dog, "Whatever's in the nest of these monsters, I don't want to face it alone."

Rush gave a bark of affirmative, and tilted his rockets back to go up. The two robots barely went a single meter before a familiar voice reached his ears.

"Hadokan!"

It was faint, but there came a noise like an explosion occurring in the distance. The nanosecond he processed that audio, Mega Man had a new course in mind.

"Change of plans, Rush!" The Blue Bomber ordered, "Fly us to the source of that!"

With an electronic yip, Rush rocketed off, going lower and lower. Mega Man noticed that as they went the cobwebs were becoming even thicker. Oddly enough, there were no more demons to impede their progress.

I don't know what you've gotten into now, but there's no way I'm letting you face it alone…

…Ryu...

End Stage 3

AT THAT PLACE

Ryu, Fighter Kirby, and Meta Knight jumped, ducked, and darted left and right to avoid huge white strands of webbing. The area they were in was a gigantic tree, easily the size of depth of an office building. It was a dead tree, with no leaves or vines whatsoever. Someone, or something, had carved out an impressive series of holes in the trunk. And these holes were so impressive that they were visible from a distance- which led the three to investigating them. Once they were closer, Ryu sensed an abnormal presence, and elected that the trio should take a more detailed inspection.

What they found was a gigantic monster, something that looked like a spider-centaur, with a woman's (If the term could be used so loosely) upper body attached to the bulbous abdomen. The pulsing behind looked more like an over-ripe pear ready to exploded, which did nothing to distract from the massive eight legs that sprouted out from her torso. The monster had not been very happy to see that her hideout had been discovered, and had attacked the three of them the minute she got her bearings. Her assaults were so fast that the trio barely had time to mount a counterattack.

Meta Knight, at one point, slipped on a loose rock and lost his footing. He did not recover in time, and became pinned to the wall by webbing.

"Meta Knight!" Ryu called out in alarm.

Meta Knight tried to assure Ryu that he was unharmed, but the sticky strands had his mask pressed against his face. The best he could say was, "Uh-muh muh, muh!"

The martial artist cupped his hands together and fired a Hadokan at the woman. It was blocked by another blast of webbing. The spider-woman leapt up and at Ryu, who was forced to back away to avoid being crushed under her many legs.

Whatever she is, her reflexes are too good, Ryu thought, Kirby's too inexperienced to get around her…if only we could catch her off-guard!

Just then, a blast of energy flew in through the hole's opening to the outside. it struck the spider-woman in the face, causing her to cry out in pain. Confused, Ryu and Kirby looked to see none other than…

"Mega Man!" Ryu exclaimed. He hadn't seen Mega Man in quite some time, and hadn't expected to see him during this adventure. It brought back good memories of the first few world-merging incidents they had been involved in.

Rush landed in the cave, returning to dog-mode. Mega Man hopped off of his back and ran up to Ryu's side.

"Ryu, are you okay? I heard…" Mega Man stopped, and turned to get a better look at Kirby. "What is that?"

"A friend." Ryu answered, smiling. He then remembered their current situation and grabbed Kirby. The three (Four, if you counted Rush) jumped away to avoid another blast of webbing.

"I don't know what you are, you soulless…thing!" The spider-woman snarled, the burns on her face already healing. "But you will pay for that!"

Mega Man began to re-charge his Mega Buster. "I don't know what you are, but I'll have you know that was a warning shot."

"Warning shots aren't supposed to actually hit!" The spider-woman hissed, and lunged.

The three fighters quickly prepared to retaliate, but before they could, something else came in through the opening. The pudgy figure was about Mega Man's height, clad in red and blue, and was doing an impressive leap through the air.

"Woo-hoo!" Mario whooped as he ground-pounded the spider-woman's back.

"Argh!" The spider woman groaned as she was forced down.

Mario hopped down from the spider and landed next to the others. Kirby popped out of Ryu's arms and waddled up to the plumber, happily shaking his hand and cooing. Mario nodded, and then tipped his hat at Ryu and Mega Man. The two stared at Mario stunned.

It's that thing again! Mega Man thought, Or is it a different one?

Is this guy related to Arthur? Ryu thought.

"GRAAAAH!" The Spider-Queen shrieked, forcing herself up. "I grow tired of these interruptions! No more games!"

A wall of pure red energy appeared, blocking the entrance. The four heroes quickly took prepared themselves. Mega Man cocked his Mega Buster. Ryu resumed the proper Ansatsuken fighting stance. Mario adjusted his hat so it was snug on his head. And Kirby took his Fighter headband off and stuffed it into his mouth.

The Spider-Queen hissed. "Die!"

Boss Battle: Spider-Queen

The Spider-Queen began to shoot larger strands of webbing at the four. When the heroes scattered to avoid it, she spun around, swinging her abdomen in a vain attempt to swat at them. The men were able to dodge it, though, and Mega Man fired several normal shots from his Mega Buster, but they just bounced off of her skin.

"Darn it!" Mega Man cursed, "I'll need to charge up something stronger!"

Mega Man fired again, but Kirby leapt in the way! The pink puffball Inhaled one of Mega Man's buster shots, and became…Laser Kirby! With a new hi-tech visor, Kirby began to fire his own beams of light at the Spider-Queen…also doing no damage.

Meanwhile, Ryu managed to seclude himself in a corner just out of the Spider-Queen's line of sight. Cupping his hands together, he began to focus his ki.

I'll need to increase the power of the Hadokan if we're going to end this battle, He thought, But will that be enough? It seems like that monster is immune to all attacks!

The Spider-Queen swung her body around again, and once she stopped, fired another web blast. Mario jumped at the wall to avoid it, bouncing off with a "Whoopie!" Against common sense, the pudgy plumber spun through the air, landing on the Spider-Queen's head and causing a slight grinding sound as sole met cheek. Hissing furiously, the Spider-Queen swiped at Mario, knocking him away. Mario managed to flip himself in the air in time to block the wall with his feet, and land less painfully on the ground.

Meanwhile, both Mega Man and Kirby ran around, firing semi-charged blasts at the Spider-Queen. Although their aim was for her head, the demon's constant spinning about meant that their shots hit her immense hindquarters, with little effect. Watching, Ryu began to worry if even a fully-charged Hadoken would have any effect.

That's when Meta Knight managed to speak. "The flowers! Use the flowers!"

Only Mario heard that. Confused, the Italian looked around, as he could see no flowers within the…wait. Around cavern's walls were giant, closed blossoms. It was hard to see in the cave's low illumination, but the blossoms were there, high up. And by loking up, Mario saw a Question Mark box!

Adjusting his hat, Mario charged. The Spider-Queen saw him approach and, hissing, spat more webs. Mario just jumped over the strands and bounced off of the demoness' head. Shooting up into the air, Mario struck the bottom of the Question MArk box, causing a bright red flower to pop out.

A Fire Flower! Rather than letting himself fall per the norm, Mario quickly gripped the box by both sides and pulled himself up. It wasn't easy. Mario knew that the Boxes weren't meant to be grabbed, and already felt his fingers slipping. Acting quickly, he reached out and grabbed the Flower.

Instantly, Mario's clothes changed. His overalls became a bright red, his hat and shirt became white as the clouds…and he was falling. As he plummeted, Mario decided to see if Meta Knight's cryptic message meant anything. He threw a fireball at one of the wall-blossoms. It, along with the rest, lit up, filling the cave with light. Unfortunately, this provided a better look at the Spider-Queen, who was even more ugly illuminated than shadowy.

Mario hit the floor, confused at what that had accomplished. But Kirby saw that the Spider-Queen's body had small hooks around the waist. He also saw that there were larger hooks on the stems of the glowing blossoms. An idea came to mind, and Kirby flew off. Grabbing one of the flower-hooks, he was delighted to find that he could pull the off of the wall, while still attached by a vine. Falling to the ground, the little Star Warrior rushed over to the Spider-Queen and connected the two hooks. Now leashed, the demoness fell over.

When he saw what Kirby did, Mega Man decided to try it out for himself.

"Rush! Coil mode!" the Blue Bomber ordered, and jumped onto his dog's back. The spring-loaded seat shot Mega Man into the air and towards a blossom, where he grabbed a floral hook and chain for himself. Within minutes the Spider-Queen was hooked by both sides, and unable to move. Falling over, her abdomen suddenly opened up like a flower in spring, showing another large flower in the very center of the Spider-Queen's body, surrounded by giant eyeballs.

Yuck! The four heroes thought.

But, disgusted or not, they had a job to do. Kirby was the first to act, and began to fire laser beams at the 'Flower' and the eyeballs that surrounded it. Each hit caused the Spider-Queen to writhe and shriek in agony. Catching on, the other three heroes quickly jumped in. Mario's arms became wheels as he began throwing fireball after fireball, while a semi-steady stream of buster shots poured from Mega Man's Mega Buster. Ryu, on the other hand, began to build up ki for a stronger variation of his Hadoken. This fight had been going on for too long.

When their attacks destroyed several of the eyeballs surrounding the Spider-Queen's center flower, the demoness' abdomen promptly closed up as she shook free from her binds. She whirled and gave her opponents a glare that would have melted steel. On reflex, Mega Man tried to shuffle away from her line of sight. Growling menacingly, the Spider-Queen held up her hands and huge blast of crackling energy shot down from the ceiling. The four just barely managed to avoid it…except Kirby. The vile lightning brushed against him, and as a consequence his Laser hat was knocked off.

"Hey! Are you okay, little guy?" Mega Man cried out, worried.

"Po-poyo…" Kirby moaned, rubbing his head. He then ran off to avoid a huge blast of webbing sent his way.

"Everyone!" Ryu yelled, "I think I can end this! Keep her busy and when I say so, pin her down again!"

The other heroes needed no other coaxing. Running around, they did their best to keep the Spider-Queen preoccupied. Mario and Mega Man threw fireballs and shot Mega Buster blasts at the demoness, but only caused minimal damage. Kirby, meanwhile, kept fluttering around, sucking up pieces of debris and spitting them back at the Spider-Queen. At one point, the little Star Warrior inhaled one of Mario's fireballs, and transformed into Fire Kirby. When one of the Spider-Queen's web blasts took Mega MAn by surprise, Kirby was quick to act. Turning into a ball of flames, Kirby dove at the webbed-up robot.

"Ahh!" Mega Man cried in alarm. "Not so close! Not so close!"

Miraculously, Fire Kirby's burning tackle avoided hitting Mega Man's body, instead melting the webs enough for the Blue Bomber to break free. Mega Man was able to get from point A to point B just in time to avoid being trampled by one of the Spider-Queen's legs.

"It's almost time!" Ryu yelled soon after. "Hold her down!"

Nodding at each other, Mario, Mega Man, and Kirby split up and each one grabbed a hook-vine from the large blossoms. Hissing, the Spider-Queen spun around, trying to ward them off. This ploy failed, as when she stopped spinning, Mario slid under her legs and grabbed the first hook on her abdomen. The Spider-Queen tried to jumped away, but this simply caused her to land flat on her face when the vine went taut. Taking advantage of her momentary weakness, Kirby pulled his own vine and hooked onto one of her remaining abdomen hooks. Rather than taking the vine himself, Mega Man, who still felt a bit sticky thanks to the webs, gave his vine to Rush.

"Go get her, boy!" Mega Man commanded.

Yipping as an affirmative, Rush rocketed over to Spider-Queen and connected the hooks. The minute he did, the demoness fell over and her backside opened up to show the giant flower and eye-plants surrounding it.

"Ryu, now!" Mega Man called out.

Ryu nodded, and thrust his joined palms out. "Chou-Hadoken!"

A pillar of blue light shot out of Ryu's hands, easily the size of a car. It enveloped the Spider-Queen, incinerating each of the eye-plant before destroying the larger flower in the center. The Spider-Queen thrashed about, but was unable to move. Once Ryu's attack ended, the demoness slumped down. She tried to push herself up, but could barely muster the strength to do so.

"No…I…Cannot be…" She moaned before her body dissolved away, like ink on a painting when wet.

As her remains melted into the ground, the center began to glow. An Orb, very much like the one Ryu and Kirby found, floated up into the air. Tilting his head thoughtfully, Mario marched up to the Orb and held it up for all to see.

You got an Orb!

"Hey! Mario? Are you up here?"

As Meta Knight pulled himself free from the webs, Chun-Li's voice reached the ears of the assembled heroes. The five of them looked towards the entrance, which was no longer being blocked. The Chinese Interpol Agent pulled herself in from below moments later.

"Mario, could you slow down," Chun-Li said, dusting herself off. "Some of us are new to this running and jumping thing. Chris and Fox are on their way- Ryu? Mega Man?"

"Chun-Li?" Mega Man asked, blinking. Before he could say anything, there came a terrible noise. Donkey Kong punched his way into the through the ceiling, landing on the ground with a mighty slam.

"Mama mia!" Mario cried, jumping from the force.

"The heck!?" Chun-Li took a fighting stance. Before she could take action against the clearly wild animal, Mario ran over and held out his arm. Donkey Kong was a lot of things, but actually harmless…unless sufficiently provoked.

"Yo, monkey-man, you found blue boy, yet?" Dante then poked his head in through the hole. Pikichu was on his shoulder. "Oh, hey Chun-Li. Been wondering when I'd bump into you. Is that Ryu?"

A very awkward silence followed as all sides looked at each other. It was an odd assortment of weirdos and warriors. No one knew how to delicately ask, "What the heck is going on?" It was then broken by Meta Knight clearing his throat.

"I believe," The masked warrior said, pulling some webbing from his mask. "That we have much to discuss."

After Chris and Fox joined the group, the three teams got to business. Introductions were made, and stories were exchanged. Mario showed the other teams the map he had that led to Bowser's castle.

"So, that's why those Shadowloo agents were after that weird ball," Chun-Li said, "The essence of the worlds…no wonder Bison wants them," She looked at Dante. "Did you find any?"

Dante shrugged. "Nope. Been too busy keeping this circus in shape."

Chris asked, "Just how many do they have?"

"I do not know," Meta Knight said, "I was never allowed in certain parts of Bowser's castle. But, that is surely where Wesker is taking Peach."

"You know, I never asked," Dante said, "But why is she so important? Does she know something about these Orbs?"

"Might be, but I doubts that's why they grabbed her," Fox said. He had spent most of the conversation making calls, and this was the first time he spoke to the group. "Bowser's got this thing about kidnapping princesses."

"In any case, we should make saving her, and any other hostages the Evil Alliance has taken our first priority." Chun-Li said.

"So, what exactly is the plan?" Ryu asked.

"First, we're going to get back to our base and restock our supplies," Chris said, "Then, we'll go to Bowser's Castle and launch a rescue mission, hopefully."

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Dante asked, and jerked a thumb at Rush. "Robo-mutt can't carry all of us. He could barely handle me and ape-face."

Donkey Kong's features curled into an expression that promised dire things for the demon hunter if he kept calling names. Before he could act on these dire intentions, a soft roaring caught his ear. Lowering the big fist he had pointed in Dante's direction, DK looked out the tree cave's entrance. When he saw what was coming, the big ape made several excited noises, gesturing for the others to look. When they did, they saw a colossal, grey space cruiser flying towards their location. Emblazoned on its side was the Star Fox team insignia.

"I called for backup," Fox explained, "Luckily, they were already close to our position."

"So, we're going to take that to your base?" Ryu asked. Besides him, Kirby cooed with amazement.

"Not quite," Fox said, "The Great Fox is our base. My team has been going around, picking up anyone who might help us stop the Evil Alliance."

Mario wondered who else they've found, and asked so.

Fox looked away, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "Uh…besides you guys, Mega Man's builder, some guy called Dr. Light…no one," Upon receiving flat looks, he cried, "Hey, it's not like we can put an ad in the paper, or on Craig's List!"

"Yeah, this world has lousy internet." Dante remarked.

Chun-Li rubbed her temples. "Look, let's just get aboard. If we run into some, we can recruit other people on the way to Bowser's Castle.

"It's time we finished this."

Level 11 complete