Chapter Five

Fateful Encounters

Over half of the once, lusciously green Emerald Forest had now been reduced to ashes, the ground scarred and blackened. As the flames started to subside, many black clumps could be found, strewn about the forest...

The bodies of Pokemon, once living peacefully in their home.

Pokemon Trainer tightened the grip on the Master Ball in his right hand as he gazed down from atop the cliff at the three fighters who had eluded him, resting far below. Tears began to well up in his eyes, streaming down his cheeks.

Was it all worth it? He thought.

He reached down with his free hand, grasping Charizard's Pokeball at his side... It was warm to the touch.

Can I ever face my Pokemon again?

Solemnly, Pokemon Trainer put the Master Ball way, and then pulled out Rayquaza's Pokeball, holding it forward.

At least you won't judge me...

Suddenly, a noise made Pokemon Trainer look to his right. There, a mysterious, black, disk-shaped object was flying straight towards their location. Unsure of what it was, Pokemon Trainer quickly put Rayquaza's Pokeball away and ran into the burnt woods to hide...

"Alright, the Mid-Air Stadium it is," Little Mac stated, reaffirming their plan of action. He rubbed his chin for a moment, a thought coming to his mind. "Though, I'm really not sure what we'll find there..."

"We'll never know unless we go," Lucas said.

"True enough." Little Mac shrugged and turned towards Jigglypuff, who was gazing off in the distance. "Hey, what's up?" He and Lucas followed her gaze...

Sure enough, a black disk could be seen coming their way.

"A UFO?!" Little Mac took a step back. "Is it too late to say that I hate the thought of aliens?"

"I-It's getting closer, fast," Lucas stated. "We should run."

"Just wait til it gets closer... We don't know what it is yet," Little Mac said, getting into a battle-ready position.

"Are you going to try and punch it?"

"Of course! I'm always willing to test my strength."

Lucas chuckled nervously. "...This is a little extreme though."

Jigglypuff tapped Lucas' shoulder, and pointed over towards a nearby rock formation. He nodded, and the two ran off towards it, taking cover behind it, just peeking out a bit to watch what was happening.

"Alright, come on..." Little Mac cracked his neck. Sweat began to form at his brow, watching as the mysterious object grew closer...

However, as the ship grew close, it suddenly began to pull up, flying straight over them. As it passed over them, four figures jumped down from it, taking Little Mac by surprise. They quickly descended to the ground, landing on different sides of the boxer, surrounding him, kicking up dust from their fall.

"Now this is more of a challenge!" Little Mac hit his gloves together in anticipation... But, as the dust began to clear he could make out one of the newcomers in front of him. "...Hey, are you Donkey-"

Before Little Mac could finish, none-other than Donkey Kong jumped forward, punching at him with his right arm. The boxer was able to weave to the side to avoid it, and then bring his left glove forward for a quick jab... But DK responded quickly by spinning to the right, his punching hand slamming into the side of Little Mac's glove and parrying the strike. Little Mac, defenseless and off-balance, could only watch as Donkey Kong's left fist soared towards him...

Luckily, Lucas suddenly leaped onto the scene, appearing between Little Mac and DK in a flash, taking advantage of his small structure. He pointed his finger down at DK's feet, and it began to glow. From it, he fired several bursts of PSI Energy, which exploded upwards, shooting the ape into the air.

DK recovered quickly, landing back onto the ground, and took a step forward, ready to fight some more- However, the other three arrivals leaped in front of him to stop him, facing towards Little Mac and Lucas.

"Whoa... It can't be," Lucas said in disbelief.

Little Mac, equally surprised, pointed his glove at the three. "Y-You're-"

"Mega Man... Sonic... Pac-Man," Lucas finished for him, looking over the blue-armored robot, the yellow-ball of a man, and the famous blue hedgehog himself.

"Sorry for being slow to the party," Sonic said with a cheeky smirk.

"He already broke out the speed joke," Little Mac muttered, face-palming with his glove.

DK scratched his head, looking at Little Mac. He then looked at the other three in front of him and shrugged, moving his head to the side, a signature questioning move of his.

"Oh, right- I'm new here... I'm-" Before Little Mac could finish, Mega Man interrupted him.

"We know who you are," Mega Man stated. "We've been collecting information, so that we can save everyone from this attack."

"Really? I'm so glad..." Lucas let out a sigh of relief. "This makes things a lot easier."

"What is happening? So far, it's been a giant cluster of information that I just can't wrap my head around," Little Mac said, rubbing the back of his head, reflecting on the events that happened before.

"It's tough to explain... You should come with us," Mega Man said, looking over at Pac-Man and Sonic for confirmation, who both nodded. He then looked back at DK, who seemed to be distracted by something.

DK was looking over to their left, noticing the pink puffball that is Jigglypuff slowly making her way over to them. He let out an apish grunt and quickly ran over to her, scooping her up into his arms, giving her a large bear(/monkey) hug.

"J-Jiggly..." It was hard for the Pokemon to breathe in the embrace.

"What's up with him?" Little Mac motioned towards DK.

"Well, they are one of the original twelve," Sonic pointed out. "All of us are pretty new ya' know."

DK let go of Jigglypuff, who was a bit deflated for a moment before puffing back up, letting out a sigh of relief and smiling up at the ape. She then turned towards the rest of the group, looking over at Little Mac and Lucas, confused.

"It's alright... They're here to help," Lucas said, nodding to the three, who returned the gesture.

Mega Man raised his right arm, which was befitted with his famous Mega Buster, and fired off a blue tube-like missile into the air. After traveling above the valley, it erupted into bright, colorful lights of various colors. Seeing this, their disc-shaped ship suddenly flew into view, approaching them slowly, floating down towards them, stopping and floating in the middle of the valley.

"We'll take you to where you need to be, then we'll part ways," Mega Man stated, turning towards the ship as a door opened up on its side.

"B-But, can't we help?" Lucas looked up at Little Mac, who shrugged.

"As long as we get back to the Midair Stadium fast, I see nothin' wrong with it," the boxer said. He playfully tapped Lucas on the head with his glove. "It'll be fine, I'm sure."

Lucas nodded, following Little Mac towards the ship. Mega Man leaped up into the open doorway. DK motioned towards his back to Jigglypuff, who hopped onto it. He then jumped upwards, grabbing onto the open doorway, clambering inside.

"Go ahead," Sonic said, motioning for Little Mac and Lucas to step up.

"I'm not so sure about this... The air game's not my thing," Little Mac said with a nervous chuckle

"Well, the ship can't get any lower with these rocks around us," Sonic said. "Here." From seemingly out of nowhere, the blue hedgehog produced a red spring of sorts. He then saluted to Little Mac. "Try and keep up!" With that, he, followed by Pac-Man, hopped on the spring and shot up towards the open doorway of the ship.

"I swear, those speed jokes," Little Mac said, shaking his head.

Lucas hopped on the spring, laughing happily as he reached the doorway. He turned and looked down at Little Mac. "Come on!"

"Alright, alright," the boxer said, bracing himself before running forward and stepping on the spring-

But, as soon as he did, it vanished, despawning, and he fell face-first onto the ground.

"Don't mention this, ever," Little Mac muttered.

The wreckage of the Midair Stadium was a chaotic scene. Wire-Frame clones and debris were tossed about by explosions and clashes of powers.

Captain Falcon side-stepped a clone that was sent flying his way, grinning over at Lady Palutena as she raised her staff into the air, creating pillars of light that sent several of the Wire-Frames flying. Pit was facing away from her, firing his bow at more of the oncoming opponents, while Lucina and Roy were taking turns tossing Roy's blade to each other as they sliced through many of the Wire-Frames.

Taking advantage of the moment, the Captain rushed in, his blazing right fist reared back and ready to strike Lady Palutena.

Pit noticed this and turned, but he wasn't quick enough as Captain Falcon brought his fist upward towards Palutena. Suddenly, the goddess vanished, warping over to where Captain Falcon had been before. Pit let out a sigh of relief, but was greeted instantly by a kick by the Captain, sending him flying off into a crowd of clones.

Palutena pulled Lucina's blade out from the ground and pointed it towards Captain Falcon, who was approaching the two sword-fighters from behind.

"Auto-Reticle," the goddess whispered. A mysterious, green targeting marker appeared from above Captain Falcon and floated down to his back. The veteran fighter, sensing this, quickly turned... But it was too late, as the blade flew from Palutena's hand, a heavenly aura guiding it, striking the Captain in the chest, creating a large spark of power as it sent him soaring up into the sky, disappearing in a bright star pattern.

Lucina and Roy looked up in awe. The blade sailed through the air a ways, and Lucina quickly leaped up, grabbing it, then slammed down onto a few of the Wire-Frames.

"...That's better," she said, giving her blade a few swings.

Palutena looked around the battlefield, eventually spotting Pit in a crowd of Wire-Frames...

But he was a trophy.

Roy and Lucina moved over to Palutena's side. "Oh no... We have to go get him!" Roy took a step forward, but Palutena extended her staff, stopping him.

"It's no use. They can stop us from turning back," the goddess stated. The three started to walk backwards as the Wire-Frames seemed to multiply before their eyes, amassing into an ever-growing group of Pit, Roy, Luigi, Mario, Marth, and Ike clones.

"Then what do we do?!"

"Fight," Lucina stated, pointing her blade towards their foes and rearing it back. "It's all we can do!"

Suddenly, a shadow cast over them. The three looked up to see a large, disc-shaped object floating above them.

"What's this now?!" Roy let out a groan.

A door opened up on the side of the ship. There, two figures stood, prominent. All was silent for a moment.

"Is that-" Before Roy could finish, one of the figures lifted their hand in the air, and a variety of 8-pit fruit began to appear, changing until it finally settled upon an Apple. "Pac-Man?!"

Pac-Man winked, and, suddenly, everyone realized that the person who was beside him was missing, slipping away while they were distracted.

A streak of blue ran through the Wire-Frame clones, sending many of them flying. The three fighters turned to see none-other than Sonic the Hedgehog sliding to a halt nearby.

"Great distraction, they didn't see it coming," Sonic said smugly.

However, some of the Wire-Frames nearby stood back up, and began to change, reforming into Sonic clones. "GOTTA GO FAST," they spoke in unison, their legs moving at incredible speeds as they prepared to rush at him.

"Uh oh. I'll be back in a flash!" Sonic nodded to the three before turning and running off, followed quickly by the Sonic clones.

"Well...That just happened," Roy said.

Pac-Man jumped down beside them, tossing the 8-bit apple into his mouth, devouring it in a second. He then motioned up towards the ship.

"Right! Lets-" Roy stopped as Palutena suddenly grabbed hold of him and Lucina, one under each arm, and ascended up into the air, her wings of light appearing on her back. "T-Thanks," Roy said as she set them down in the ship.

Palutena didn't respond. She turned around to look below, gazing over at Pit in his trophy form.

Pac-Man, seeing her gaze, gave her a thumbs-up and rushed over to where the trophy was... However, several dark orbs of energy began to rush past him, making him come to a halt. The dark-purple orbs overcame Pit's statue, enveloping it.

"Shadow bugs?!" Roy was shocked by this. Lucina was confused. "It can only mean-"

"Tabuu," Palutena said solemnly. "So he has returned..."

Pac-Man got into a battle-ready position. Sonic suddenly ran onto the scene, joining him, just in time to watch as Pit seemed to emerge from the shadow bugs...

Except he was different now. His hair, outfit, and wings were black, his eyes became a dull red.

"Dark Pit?... No, he seems way more powerful than before," Palutena stated. "Quick. We must leave!" Palutena tapped her staff against the floor of the ship to catch the attention of the two fighters below.

Sonic and Pac-Man exchanged glances. "Well, we did what we had to do," Sonic stated. Pac-Man nodded and leaped up towards the ship entrance. Sonic followed suit, springing up to it.

"There's no escaping," Dark Pit growled, raising his Silver Bow, drawing a dark-red arrow, glowing with an intense aura of energy.

Everyone moved away from the door, and the ship began to take off. Palutena watched Dark Pit closely as his arrow grew bigger and more powerful.

"Lady Palutena!" Lucina took a step towards her. "You should move away."

"Please," Palutena stated, looking over her shoulder and smiling. "Just call me 'Palutena'."

In that moment, Dark Pit unleashed his powerful arrow, which roared through the sky, faster than the ship could move, catching up in an instant. Palutena held her staff forward, creating an amber-colored barrier in front of the ship. The arrow hit, and Palutena struggled, holding up the barrier.

"We're taking off! Hold on," Mega Man exclaimed from the controls, flipping some switches, then pushing forward on the throttle. The ship's thrusters shot out an intense amount of energy, flying off through the sky, leaving a sonic boom in its wake.

Palutena was shaken by the thrust, starting to fall through the doorway. Luckily, Lucina grabbed hold of her and pulled her away. Pac-Man pressed the button to close the door. Palutena landed on top of Lucina, who grunted in pain.

"Oh my, buy me a drink first," Palutena said, winking down at Lucina. She got off of the sword-fighter and turned towards a few others who were also in the ship: Little Mac, Lucas, Jigglypuff, and Donkey Kong. "I see a lot of you have gathered here..."

"L-Lady Palutena? I've heard a lot about you," Lucas said, dipping his head to her. Jigglypuff followed suit. Little Mac, not catching on, stepped forward, extending a hand. Lucas and Jiggs became flustered. "H-Hey, don't-"

But Palutena smiled and shook his gloved hand. "You must be this Little Mac I've heard about."

"Really? I must be getting pretty famous," Little Mac said cheekily.

"Well, I have been watching all of you for a very long time. I can see everything from Sky World," Palutena stated, looking around. "I just couldn't stop myself from coming down to help."

"We're lucky that you came when you did," Lucina said to her, giving a polite bow. "But for your follower..."

"Pit will be fine," Palutena stated, closing her eyes. "...He's been through worse."

"What's the plan now?" Little Mac shot a glance over to DK, who just shrugged and grunted.

"We're taking you guys somewhere safe, then we're heading off to see what we can do," Mega Man stated from the pilot's seat. "This Strike Team was made to counter-act any threats to our world, ever since the first Subspace invasion."

Little Mac sighed. "You still won't let us help?"

"It'll be better for all of you if you get to safety, and find others to join you," Mega Man said. "We're nearing the Gaurr Plains now..."

"What will you do, Lady- Er, Palutena?" Roy joined the group. "We could use your intel from above."

Palutena set a hand on her chin in thought. "While that would be quite helpful... I think I'm best staying where I am. Especially with Dark Pit running around."

"Sounds good to me," Little Mac said, starting to do some stretches.

"Heads up guys! Looks like there's a lot of those clones waiting in the Gaur Plains already," Sonic told them, pointing at the blipping radar in front of him.

"Great, more practice," the boxer said, throwing a few jabs through the air. "Let's do it!"

The door opened, and Little Mac, Palutena, Lucina, Roy, Jigglypuff, and Lucas all turned towards it, getting ready.

"Good luck," Mega Man told them.

"You'll need it more than us," Palutena retorted, taking the lead by soaring out of the open ship door. She was followed by Lucina and Roy, then Jigglypuff and Little Mac.

Before Lucas followed suit, DK approached him. The ape pointed towards the door, and made some noises.

Lucas looked towards the door, then back at DK. "Jigglypuff? Got it," Lucas said, nodding in understanding before running and leaping out of the ship to join his fellow fighters...

To be continued...

Next Chapter: First Strike – Pt. I