Ponies and The Protagonists: A Video Game Story

Chapters

Prologue: Stranger-Than-Usual Things are Happening
Chapter 1: Insert Epic Title Here
Chapter 2: Sneak Attack!

Prologue: Stranger-Than-Usual Things are Happening

Ponies and the Protagonists

Prologue

Stranger-Than-Usual Things are Happening

The weather scheduled for that day in Equestria was overcast with a brisk wind, muting the sunlight as ponies trotted briskly along the cobblestone streets of Canterlot. While there was no rain planned for that day, there was a storm planned for the following one, so the citizens were busily trying to run their errands while there was still time. Nopony liked being caught in the rain, especially the socialites of Equestria’s capital.

The gloomy, overcast skies only dampened the demeanor of Princess Celestia, who had looked out the window to find solace from the throne room’s distressful atmosphere.

"Your Highness, we have more news about the events at the Everfree Forest!"

Two members of the Canterlot Royal Guard raced into the grand throne room, gold horseshoes clanging on the pristine marble floor.

"What is it?" Princess Celestia sat atop her ornate throne, head drooping slightly. She hadn't slept ever since the first sightings, and since then, reports had been flooding in. She was utterly confused about what exactly these reports even meant. While the descriptions of the creatures varied, they all told the same story: one of watching and waiting. Even with Luna’s help in poring over books describing all sorts of magical and non-magical creatures, she had found nothing.

Luna. A wave of relief suddenly washed over Celestia. She was so glad that her sister had returned to her, especially now. She wasn't sure what she would do without her by her side.

"Your Highness," the guard’s voice jolted Celestia from her thoughts. One of the unicorns pulled a scroll from his saddlebag, which Celestia quickly took hold of with her magic. Pulling away the ribbon and unrolling the paper, she calmly began to read the letter. As she read, however, shock, confusion, and rage quickly dawned on the alicorns expression.

"Send the Royal Guard to Ponyville at once!" Celestia's voice was hard as she finished the letter and tossed it aside. She rose to her full height, ferocity in her gaze. "We can't let this happen again."

"Right away, your Majesty."

With that, the guards galloped back out of the throne room. Celestia trembled, her legs straining to support her until they finally gave way as the doors closed with a dull boom. However, she then heard was the soft click of hooves on marble. She began to straighten back up again, until she saw who it was.

"I hope the news is not too bad, sister," Princess Luna regarded her sister with a sympathetic gaze. Celestia stood and gave a sigh.

"I wish I could say that, sister," Celestia responded, walking towards her sister. "Mayor Mare says that the strange creatures have finally attacked. There have not been any casualties, but ponies are injured, and some of them are missing."

Luna gazed seemingly calmly out the window, but the trembling of her hooves told another story. "Did she say anything else?"

"Unfortunately, yes. It seems that, somehow, the creatures speak our language. They left us a message."

Luna shivered at Celestia's frightened gaze. "What did it say?"

"Just three words. 'Surrender, or die.’"

“May I see the report?” Luna asked, thoughts already whirling around in her head. Celestia nodded, levitating the scroll from where it had been unceremoniously flung towards her sister. Seizing it with her magic, Luna began to read aloud to herself.

“Few in numbers… strange weapons with magic-like properties… caused severe damage to buildings, yet minimal damage to ponies… this is most strange.”

Luna levitated the scroll back towards her sister. She gazed at the window again, but she wasn't looking out onto the castle grounds. "It seems, dear sister, that we have a war on our hooves. The question is: Are we prepared for it?"

"We can only hope, Luna. We can only hope."

"I hope Princess Twilight and her friends are up to the task,” Luna said.

“They have to; surely there was nothing more terrible facing Equestria than—it,"

Twilight Sparkle stood on the grounds of Sweet Apple Acres, looking out at the sun setting on the poor town she called home. Ponyville had taken a few knocks before, but somehow this damage seemed more… malevolent. Almost all the roofs were blackened where those... things had set fire to them. The newly created castle, which was only about a month old, was visibly chipped and cracked, even from the farm. The Carousel Boutique's windows were shattered, and part of the roof had caved in. Twilight thanked Celestia that nopony had died in the attack, brutal as it was, although there were plenty of injuries that needed attending to. It was good the farm had been ignored, as there was still some shelter left. The alicorn sighed, her gaze becoming unfocused as she lost herself in thought.

"Hey, Twilight." Twilight jumped. As she turned around, she was still amazed that somepony as large as Spike was now could be so silent. And he was large. After she had gotten over the strange dragon-growth magic Zecora had informed her of, she began to really see how big he was. He stood now on all fours, and was good bit taller than Twilight even while doing this. His new purple wings were tucked against his back, but now opened up in a majestic stretch.

"Are you okay?" The dragon frowned as he looked Twilight in the face. He'd spent enough time as her assistant to tell when she was worried.

"I just-I just never expected this. Any of this. It came out of the blue, and so far we have no idea who was behind it. Discord's been reformed, Nightmare Moon is gone, Sombra and Tirek have both been banished, and Queen Chrysalis hasn't been heard of since her failed invasion. Besides, the creatures obviously weren't Changelings. Most of these things looked nothing like ponies."

Twilight had begun to pace nervously as she spoke. Spike laid his long tail in front of her, stopping Twilight in her tracks.

"Twilight, you're going to wear a hole in the ground. Again. Just relax; we'll get through this, you'll see."

The alicorn took a deep breath. "You're right, Spike. C'mon, let's join the others."

Both of them turned and began walking towards the farmhouse Applejack and her family now called home. Pushing through the apple trees, they were greeted with the sight of the Ponyville residents camped out in the field. Near the barn were Applejack, Fluttershy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were helping patch up those who were injured in the attack.

"Yo, Twilight, over here!" Twilight turned to see Rainbow Dash waving at her. Sitting next to her were Rarity and Pinkie Pie, the latter with her small green crocodile, Gummy, latched onto her fluffy, pink tail.

"We've been waiting forever, darling," While addressed to both Twilight and Spike, Rarity's "darling" seemed more directed at the dragon who had now seated himself by her side. Spike's scales briefly flushed red as Rarity smiled at him.

"Aaaaanyways," Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the cheesy scene. "We wanted to talk about those weird bug monsters that attacked last night. You know, the ones whose butts I totally kicked!"

"Ah, hay. You fought two of ‘em, Rainbow. Ah'd like to see you take four ah them things on at once, like Spike here." Applejack and Fluttershy had finished bandaging up the last pony and had come over to join them. Spike had ended up being invaluable during the attack; his size and strength allowed him to quickly fend off the party of raiders.
“And whaddya mean “bug” monsters? The ones Ah saw were weird and piggy-like.”

"Yeah, well Spike's huge! He could probably fight off a Manticore, no sweat!" argued Rainbow Dash, "and at least I was useful and fought the weirdo bug things. How many did you fight? That's right, zero!"
"Ah could'ave beaten twenty ah those things if I hadn't been leading the town to safety!"

Spike’s huge tail smashed down into the ground between the arguing ponies. Glaring, he hissed at the two friends, who stared back in surprise.

“Why are we arguing?” Twilight asked with a hint of panic in her voice. “We need to focus on fighting those strange creatures, whatever they looked like, and not each other. Form a plan an— Pinkie, what are you doing?"

Twilight's speech was interrupted by the sight of Pinkie shaking an empty red-and-white striped popcorn bag.

"Aw, just as it was getting to the good part, too." The pink pony tossed the bag aside.

"Ahem, anyway," Twilight continued, "We need to form a plan. The message the Crusaders found in the fountain made it very clear that this is going to happen again. We have to think of a way to defend ourselves."

"Princess Twilight!"

The alicorn paused. Looking behind her, she saw a Royal Guard unicorn running towards her.

"Your Highness,” the guard snapped a salute, “Princess Celestia has ordered the Royal Guard to set up a military outpost with which to combat the creatures emerging from the Forest. We need someone who knows the area well so we can entrench ourselves to the best of our ability."

Momentarily caught off guard by the abrupt greeting, Twilight shook her head. "Of course. Mayor Mare is very familiar with the surrounding area. She can probably help you, or at least direct you to a map of Ponyville.”

“Right away.” Raising his hoof in another smart salute, the guard member quickly galloped off to find the mayor.

"Um, Twilight, do you really think we'll be okay? I mean, if you don’t mind me asking," Fluttershy quietly asked.

"Yes, I do. But we are going to need some help," Twilight stood, shaking her head. “What we really need though is a miracle.”

"What kinda help? We've saved Equestria countless times," Applejack wondered.

"Actually, it's more like five. See: 1,2,3,4,5!" Pinkie exclaimed as she held five hooves in front of her.

Twilight continued on. She'd learned not to question how Pinkie did the things she did. "I don't know. But one thing's for sure: these monsters aren't from around here. Hopefully somepony out there knows enough about these monsters to fight them."

"Maybe they'll be a hero too, like you guys. Or even a superhero like the Power Ponies," Spike's tail twitched at the prospect.

"Don’t be ridiculous. There aren’t any real superheroes. But it would be nice if these ponies—if they even exist—got here soon."
Twilight glanced up and saw, to her surprise, the moon. She hadn't realized it had gotten so late. She felt Applejack nudge her shoulder.

"We better hit the hay. All y'all wanna join me in the house?"

The five ponies nodded. The ponies trudged towards the house, but Twilight looked back, looking out at the town as the last rays of sunlight disappeared behind the horizon.

"How did we ever get into this mess?" she sighed before turning and shutting the door behind her.

Just as she shut the door, strange lights began to emanate from the Everfree Forest, transforming the night sky into an Aurora Borealis.

Chapter 1: Insert Epic Title Here

Ponies and the Protagonists

Chapter 1

Insert Epic Title Here

In a place far from Equestria, in an isolated forest, moonlight streamed into a clearing where a single figure stood. They turned, walking towards the gunship hovering low in the clearing. The figure leapt onto the ship, crouching on top of the craft with cat-like grace. Moonlight caught the figure, revealing their sleek, red and orange suit of metal. The suit’s right arm, rather than ending with a hand, ended with a green cannon which they held loosely in front of them. The figure removed their helmet and set it beside them. Long, blonde hair tied in a ponytail spilled out from under the helmet, revealing what seemed to be a normal woman.

Of course, she wasn’t exactly what one might call “normal.” She was Samus Aran, one of the most famous bounty hunters to ever travel the galaxy.

Her arm cannon clicked and whirred as she tapped the circular interface built into the weapon, manually calibrating it (unnecessarily, of course, as her suit could automatically calibrate the weapon in seconds). For once in Samus’s crazy life, her surroundings were, to her at least, blissfully quiet. She sighed, scanning the forest for possible threats. Samus was still anticipating some last-second wildlife attack, despite the peaceful atmosphere. Her hunter instincts were hard the quash. She wondered when was the last time she’d spent any part of her life like this: helmet off, relaxing in the peaceful night air, and not shoving her deadly arm cannon down the throats of Space Pirates and watching them go boom.

Whenever it was, it wasn’t recently, Samus thought, and anyways, it won’t be like this for long. I should at least enjoy it while it lasts. Frowning, she looked down, checking her armor for any obvious malfunctions, and then had her suit’s computer run a diagnostics scan. Neither she nor the computer found any problems. Her ship repaired the Power Suit after each mission, and though her last assignment had been several weeks ago, she always made sure to inspect it regularly. It was somewhat of a “nervous” habit of Samus, for lack of a better term, though the Hunter was rarely truly nervous.

And calling the team together usually meant there was a reason to be “nervous.”

A small breeze whipped through the clearing. Samus’s head snapped to the side, but it wasn’t the wind that had caught her attention. Near the edge of the glade, a cartoonishly green pipe emerged from the ground with a blub, blub, blub. From the pipe leapt a blue-and-red figure, who landed on the ground with a soft thud.

“You’re late, Mario.” Samus slid off of the orange ship, peering around the clearing for signs of the others. “I mean, you’re the second one here, but I asked for you to be here half an hour ago.”

“Sorry about that,” he said with just a trace of an Italian accent. The plumber nodded towards the pipe, which was beginning to sink back into the ground. “Peach asked me to help with Conference Day. The line was backed up into the square with Toads yammering about one thing or another. I thought it would never end.”

“You’re lucky you get people who just want to talk. Most everyone I meet just wants to blast me instead,” Samus commented as she placed her helmet back on her head. She tapped a small button located on the side of her helmet, booting up her suit’s Augmented Reality Interface and projecting various blue-tinted windows and screens onto the inside of her suit’s visor. Swiping her index finger in the air (with the aid of SCIENCE, of course), she selected an encrypted message sent by the Galactic Federation Admiral.

“Do you still have that holo-tablet I gave you?” Samus peered at Mario through the translucent communique.

“Yeah, hold on,” Mario dug in the pockets of his overalls and pulled out a strip of metal about a foot long and half a foot wide, with a seam directly in the middle. In a fashion similar to opening a scroll, he pulled the pieces apart. Two blue streaks of energy shot from the lower strip, which then connected the two pieces together. Between the two beams a holograph formed, flashing the words “Hello, Mario.”

“Good. I’ll send you a copy of the message. You can read it while the others arrive.” Samus tapped the holographic “Send” button.

“What message?” Mario questioned. Then the full realization of what she had said hit him. “Wait, others? As in, everyone?”

“Yeah.”

“But, why? We haven’t needed to call everyone together since—”

“I know,” Samus silenced him with a raised finger. “Just read the message.”

Still confused, Mario looked down at his tablet as Samus walked back towards her ship. “The last time everyone was together,” Mario thought, “It was a disaster. It looks like we’re in for a repeat.” After a couple of minutes stumbling through menus (he hadn’t really touched the device since it had been given to him), he found Samus’s communique.

Samus,

The Galactic Federation has recently received several reports of massive Space Pirate activity. As you know, the Pirates have not been as active during the previous months. It seems they have been stockpiling troops and resources at a secret locale, which our scouts have recently discovered. The coordinates are being transmitted along with this message.

Unfortunately, the Space Pirates do not seem to be acting alone. Scouts reported seeing Underworld Army and Dreamland troops, minions of the tyrants Bowser and Ganondorf, and ships belonging to the Venom Fleet.

A large scale attack would be brought to their attention too fast. The combined forces outnumber our own, and the predicted casualties are staggering. So the Federation is hiring you take them down. This will be dangerous, even for a bounty hunter as skilled as you.

We know you are a member of a sort of council of heroes. It may be of value to you to seek their assistance. However, regardless of whether you seek their help or not it is of utmost importance that you destroy that enemy outpost, whatever the cost. The Federation is counting on you.

Admiral Dane

“Why did I have to be right?” Mario wondered.

“Mario! We have company,” Samus yelled from the other side of the clearing, helmet off once again. Turning, he noticed two details: one, an angel in a white tunic flying above the treetops, wings glowing in prismacolors. The figure was focusing on a small, flat object in its hand and was heading rapidly towards him, and two, another tunic-wearing figure, this time green, was riding through the forest towards the clearing on a huge red horse. The horse whinnied and bucked as the figure leaped gracefully from the back of the equine’s back.

The flying figure returned to Earth in a much less elegant manner. The shimmering glow emanating from the angel’s wings began to flicker like a dying light bulb. With a yell (and a lot of arm waving), the angel divebombed into the ground, sliding on his face before coming to a stop at Samus’s feet. Sighing, the bounty hunter yanked him up by the shirt while the young man at the edge of the clearing watched, amused.

“Hey Pit, hey Link,” Mario called to them as he stowed his device.

“Hey, Mario! How’s it going?” Pit smiled, unfazed from his encounter with the ground. Link just waved, most likely realizing he wouldn’t be heard over Pit. Or maybe he just didn’t want to speak. Link’s brain worked at a million miles an hour and he sometimes chose not to talk, especially since he, like Samus, didn’t usually have someone to talk to when he was in action.

Pit also worked at a million miles an hour, but rather than his brain it was his mouth. While it may have seemed annoying, it was actually a blessing from—dare he say— Palutena that the team had someone who wasn’t always so grim and serious, even if he was too talkative at times. Plus, Mario owed him one. If it wasn’t for Pit he would still be stuck as a trophy, forced to watch as… frankly, Mario didn’t want to remember. It was one of the team’s darkest hours.

The Protagonists. That was the name they chose for themselves. A collection of the best heroes the connected universes had to offer. When the villains team up to take over the world, they team up to take them down. Getting all the founding members meant something big was brewing. From what Mario had read, this was going to be huge.

Mario shook his head. He still had a couple hours of peace left. He might as well enjoy them.

“Pretty well. Although it’d be better if an impossible mission weren’t hanging over our heads,” Mario replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Nah, it’s not impossible. We just need a lot of mushrooms, and Drink of the Gods” Pit said counting off the items on his fingers, “ and fairies, and—”

“I think I get it,” Mario said gently. “But, how have you been lately? I’ve heard some crazy stories about carrots,” Mario raised an eyebrow.

“Ooh, hehe, that,” Pit laughed nervously, yanking at the collar of his tunic and glancing at the sky, “ya see, that wasn’t me. That was, uh, someone else.”

“Really? Who?” asked Mario.

“Well, she told me not to say. If I do, she’ll squeeze my head wreath,” Pit said as he gripped the golden laurels on top of his head.

“Soooo, I’m going to guess Palutena?” Mario smiled.

“Ah! H-How did you know?” Pit asked.

“Really? I don’t know of many other divine goddesses in control of your headpiece,” Mario said as he rolled his eyes. Then he realized he’d seen something at the edge of his vision. Looking back up, he did a double take.

“Samus! Link! Look who’s here,” Mario said as he glanced their way. The other two team members, who had been chatting, now looked up.

“Huh... Wonder how he got so close without us noticing?” Samus wondered aloud.

Above them hovered a sleek, blue-and-gray spacecraft. The ship began to descend, a warbling tone filling the air as it did. The ship extended its landing gear before finally touching down with a hiss of pneumatics. The cockpit popped open, revealing a fox sitting in the pilot’s seat. The Lylat System’s very own Fox, to be exact.

“Am I late, or is the party just getting started?” The commando smirked as he lugged a large backpack from a compartment underneath the chair. Jumping from the craft, he hit the ground with a resounding clink.

“Party? We’re not here for a party,” Pit replied with honest confusion.

“I think that was an expression, Pit,” a heavenly voice filled the minds of the assembled heroes.

“Gah! Lady Palutena, I didn’t realize you were listening! I thought you cut off your telepathy when you cut off the Power of Flight,” a flustered Pit exclaimed.

“Well, it’s either this or listen to Centurions complain about their jobs. And you and I know just how whiny they can get,” Palutena explained.

“Good point,” Pit thoughtfully tapped his chin.

“Now we just need Kirby,” Link said, scanning the skies.

“No need. I picked him up on the way here,” Fox gestured back towards his Arwing. “He was floating along pretty slowly, so I figured I’d give him a ride.”

From the space behind the pilot’s seat emerged what looked to be a large, round, pink marshmallow. It popped into the air and began to float gently down, like a balloon. It smiled and yelled, “Hiiiiii!”

It was oddly adorable.

Kirby toddled towards them, a grin plastered on his face. Until a large rock, jutting from the ground, sent him sprawling onto his face. The grin was quickly replaced by a scowl, and Kirby began to concentrate, puffing up his cheeks as he did. The air tingled with energy, and he was suddenly wearing a headband-like cloth—a hachimaki—and holding a wooden mallet that had popped into existence moments ago. Swinging the hammer like a baseball bat, a frowning Kirby sent the offending rock flying at supersonic speeds into the stratosphere.

The sight was a stark reminder to the others just exactly what Kirby was capable of. Kirby, however, was unfazed by the cautious looks and simply smiled again. The hammer and hachimaki morphed into a shining yellow star, which bounced around the clearing before shattering like glass.

Samus did a quick head count. With all 6 members present, they could finally get down to business.

“You and Kirby are up to speed, correct?” Samus asked Fox.

“Yeah. We read the transmission on the way. Or more accurately, I read the message aloud while he listened. The question is, why would they be all be moving there?”

“It certainly is odd,” Samus sounded concerned. “I put those coordinates into the computer, and the location is strange,”

“How so?” Link asked.

“As in there’s nothing of benefit there. No abundance of resources, no strange energy readings, no tactical advantage. In fact, it’s nowhere near anything. And I don’t know about you guys, but the Space Pirates never do anything without a reason.”

“Could they be retreating for some reason?” Pit wondered aloud.

“Now why would they do that?” Palutena wondered.

“I don’t think they would,” Mario said, brow furrowed with concentration.

“Maybe they’re amassing their forces,” Link suggested. “Your message says Space Pirate activity has fallen into a lull? So has the monster activity in Hyrule. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say in your home worlds,” Link pointed at Mario, Pit, Fox and Kirby, “it’s been much calmer lately. It seems they’re planning something big. But, if so, what?”

Mario frowned. Link was right, as usual. But what bothered him was that Link had no energy. He sounded tired and bored, which was rare for the normally alert hero. And were those bags under his eyes? Something was wrong.

“Are… you okay, Link?” Mario asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be fine?” Link responded a little too quickly.

“Well, you do sound a little too tired,” Samus began, “and you keep reaching in your pocket.”

Mario was surprised. Now that Samus mentioned it, Link had been checking his pocket very frequently.

“So what?” Link’s features formed a snarl. “It’s none of your business. Let’s just do the job and go.”

“Then let’s go get ‘em! I’ll show the Underworld troops what’s what!” Pit was, of course, oblivious to the tension. The angel had raised his fists like a boxer and was throwing jabs at the air as if fighting off a battalion of invisible assailants.

“Thank you, Little Mac, but I think you’re going to need something stronger than your fists to destroy evil monsters made of souls,” Fox said, eyeing Link warily.

“Maybe you’re right,” Pit said. “Maybe a metal ring that’ll cut them when I punch? Wait, no rings. Rings are bad,” Pit’s face had suddenly turned pale, and strangely enough, so had Link’s.

“What about rings? Can we just go already? We’ve sat around talking for long enough,” the warrior huffed.

“Alright, already. Don’t get your tunic in a twist,” Samus raised her hands in submission, then keyed in a special calculation in her suit’s GPS. She smiled. “Well, we sure are lucky. It seems that with the weird multiverse crap going on, the base is just a hop, skip and a jump away.”

“Huh. That’s awfully plot convenient,” Pit said.

“What plot, Pit? Really, this isn’t one of your silly stories,” Palutena’s heavenly voice caught the group by surprise. They often forgot the goddess was listening in on the conversation.

“But it—oooooooooooooh, I see. It’s not a story,” Pit said in a knowing voice. Mario turned to Fox, who just shrugged.

It’s just Pit stuff, I guess the pilot mouthed.

“Hey, where did Kirby go?” Samus asked, suddenly realizing the pink puffball was gone.

“Oh great! More delays,” a frustrated Link groaned.

Mario stared at the knight in green. What the heck was wrong with him, he wondered. He’d never known Link to be this touchy, snappy, or cynical. It was totally out of character.

“I guess I’ll go find Kirby,” Mario turned, looking for some sign of the puffball and finding it in a set of footprints leading off into the woods. Following the trail, the plumber pushed his way through the underbrush. Quickly realizing that with the trees blocking the moonlight he could barely see his hand in front of his face, Mario decided to use one of his special talents. Moving his right hand as if holding an invisible ball, he felt the familiar sensation of pins-and-needles in his fingertips. Closing his eyes, he formed an image of a ball in his mind’s eye, then let the tingling in his fingers push out into the air, sparking into a ball of fire which lit up the area with a warm glow.

Now able to see where he was going, Mario began to venture through the trees, looking for signs of Kirby. And after a couple minutes of walking, he did, by tripping over something small on the ground, sprawling face first onto the bed of leaves. Thinking fast, he tossed the fireball into the air and willed it to stay, leaving it hanging in the air like a miniature sun. Looking back, he discovered the mystery object was none other than Kirby himself.

“Hi!” Kirby exclaimed as he waved.

“There you are. We need to get back. Link’s probably hacked down a tree by now, he’s so anxious to leave.”

And then Mario noticed the small box in Kirby’s hands. It was covered in black velvet with a golden clasp on the front. Plucking the box from Kirby’s grasp, who simply stared curiously in response, Mario slowly lifted the clasp and the lid. Inside, sitting on a pillow of silk, was a beautiful ring. The actual band was gold with an inscription in another language written all along the side, and it was topped with brilliant blue sapphire, multifaceted and shaped into a triangle.

“Kirby, where did you find this?” Mario asked, although he had a fairly good idea of exactly who the ring belonged to.

Kirby paused, thinking for a moment, and then began to focus again. This time, the puffball summoned a small sword as well as a very familiar floppy green hat. He took off the hat and pointed to it, as if he wasn’t being obvious enough.

So the ring was in Link’s pocket, Mario thought to himself, and he had been very touchy and tired. He wanted to finish the mission quickly, presumably so he could leave sooner, but why? Mario had a feeling he knew the reason.

“C’mon Kirby, we have a hero to talk to.”

When Mario and Kirby returned to the clearing, they found Link frantically searching every pile of leaves and bush in sight.

“Where is it? Where is it?” the hero muttered as the other three team members watched frustratedly.

“He won’t tell us what he’s looking for, so we can’t help, and apparently we can’t leave until we find it,” an annoyed Fox informed a confused Mario.

“Hey, Link!” Mario called out, hands cupped around his mouth.

“What?”

“Is this what you’re looking for,” the plumber said asked, holding out the box.

Several emotions flitted by on Link’s face: Surprise, anger, fear, before finally settling on calm acceptance. He sighed.

“Guess it’s not much off a secret anymore.”

“What’s not a secret anymore?” Samus asked.

“This. It’s an engagement ring, which I’m guessing is for a certain Princess of Hyrule,” Mario explained.

“Wait, that was a secret?” Pit raised an eyebrow.

“Wow. Am I really that obvious?” Link grinned sheepishly.

“Very. Especially since I’ve gone through exactly what you’re feeling,” Fox smiled.

“I think the reason none of us have told you is because we’ve all been too busy saving the universe,” Samus grinned. “You’ll still be able to get to your lovey-dovey proposal junk after the mission’s over. Zelda isn’t going anywhere.

Link’s smile faded. “I know that, but… I had this terrible feeling when I got that mission call I wasn’t going to be seeing her for a while.”

Grins were wiped from faces. Link’s premonitions had a nasty habit of being true, especially the foreboding ones. Everyone fell silent for a moment.

“Well, what are we waiting for!?” Pit yelled, startling the others out of their stupor, “We’ve got stuff to blow up!”

The angel sprinted towards Samus’s ship, with the bounty hunter following close behind, muttering under her breath.

“I swear if you touch anything…”

Chapter 2: Sneak Attack!

Ponies and the Protagonists

Chapter 2

Sneak Attack!

The journey to the Space Pirate base was, for the most part, uneventful, if not tense. Pit, Mario and Link were flying along with Samus, while Kirby was once again traveling with Fox. The flight was silent. The only interruptions were the occasional navigational chatter or flying creature passing by. Link took the time to stare out the window at the night sky, pondering their current situation. Insurmountable odds? Nothing out of the ordinary. Possible sinister plot playing out in the background? He’d seen it before. The team’s worst enemies banding together?

Now that was something a little out of the ordinary.

Link sighed, leaning back in his chair situated on the deck of the ship. The cockpit’s bridge wasn’t that small, about the size of a living room sans pilot’s seat, but the banks of computers and storage compartments lining the walls gave the space a cramped feeling. Mario was idly playing “Don’t Let the Balloon Touch the Ground,” with a fireball replacing the aforementioned balloon, while Pit was raiding the ship’s supply of rations with a gleeful grin.

“That’s my food, you know. You eat it, you pay for it,” Samus yelled just as Pit was about to take a large bite out of a pile of recently-freeze-dried food, arm cannon raised menacingly. The angel paused, brow furrowed as he glanced between the sandwich and the instrument of death, and gently placed the food back down with a look of longing.

“Probably wouldn’t have even been that good,” he muttered crossly.

“It’s for the best, anyway,” Samus called again, watching the gunship blast shields crawl over the windshield. “You’ll want to activate your restraining band. Blue button on the side of the chair,” Samus began flicking several switches, keying in a few commands before finally placing her hand on the throttle handle. She turned, a wicked smile playing across her features as she jammed the rod forward.

Link and Mario had barely managed to smack the button in time, bands of energy trapping them like lunatics in a hyper-futuristic straitjacket, along with a large headboard to prevent any serious spinal injury. Pit unfortunately, still standing after trying to steal Samus’s lunch, had launched himself face-first into the chair and smashed the button so hard Mario expected it to come out the other side. Pit was now wrapped snug as a bug… facing the wrong direction. When the ship jumped into relative speed, three of the four occupants were praying for mere bumps and bruises. The fourth’s was more along the lines of “serves him right.”

“G-FORCE IN MY FACE AGAIN!” Pit somehow managed to scream despite the face-numbing speeds. His purple wings were splayed outwards and swinging crazily, leaving Mario with several mouthfuls of plum-colored feathers.

Wait, purple? Plum-colored?

Mario rubbed his eyes, before realizing the gesture was futile. They had made the jump into multi-dimensional space. Colors were shifting in a display of rainbow madness, the predominantly gray interior becoming a pastel nightmare of sea greens, dandelion yellows, teal blues and crimson reds. Loose objects around the craft, thrown to the rear with the ship’s rapid acceleration, began to float haphazardly as gravity relinquished its hold.

Mario could now feel that the only thing preventing him from floating away were the restraining bands around his body. On the other side of the ship, Link noticed his arms looked much bigger than normal before they suddenly extended like snakes, writhing around before coiling up on the floor. The ship’s computer became overloaded with information and alarms blared as temperatures changed from searing heat to deathly cold in moments. Motion sensors and sonar detected objects that didn’t exist and communications systems went on the fritz.

And then, just as suddenly as it began, the chaos stopped. Colors returned to normal, gravity stabilized as various objects fell to the floor (a particular sandwich landing on Pit’s face, who by this point had quite lost his appetite) and the computer began to run a diagnostics check on the now normalized systems, slowly realizing the odd experience had no negative effects and returning to standby mode to await any commands.

Samus held in a sigh, inwardly relieved they had made the trip. While none of the group would ever admit it, jumping between dimensions was something no one enjoyed doing. There were too many stories of failed trips resulting in utter destruction of the travelers, and besides that, the experience just felt wrong. Nothing in that space was natural.

Suddenly realizing she hadn’t scanned the area, Samus inwardly cursed herself, hastily punching in commands and lifting the blast shields. The view was a much different one from the one they had just left. The craft had apparently exited the wormhole and directly entered the planet’s lower atmosphere. While it was still nighttime, the first vestiges of dawn were peeking up from the horizon. Bare desert sand shifted about on a stiff breeze, huge mounds of it piled haphazardly around the landscape. But what really caught the eye was couple of miles ahead, where a sudden plateau of sandstone jutted from the ground like a giant’s fist, extending thousands of feet into the sky. The enormous rock had the added prestige of being the only landmark around in what seemed to be a flat, endless desert.

With the only motion on the grid being Fox flying his Arwing alongside them (he had thankfully made the trip as well), the scanners immediately moved into the second phase. The scans reported two details: beneath the piles of sand were a system of catacombs, which Samus dismissed immediately, and that Space Pirate communication signals had been detected, with their origin being the huge plateau. Samus thought that was odd, normally the Space Pirates were much more secretive and a lot less cliche with their base locations, but seeing as they didn’t really expect anyone to disturb them, and probably being the only stable ground for hundreds of thousands of miles, it did make some sense.

Using a zoom function built into the windshield, Samus scanned the top of the plateau. The base itself was a very ominous sight. Lots of black communications arrays, black aircraft hangers and just… black objects. The actual structure was very angular, shielding arrays and life support systems all rising upwards in a jagged clone of the plateau in miniature. Huge bay doors dominated one side of the fortress with smaller doors for personnel placed strategically around the front of the building. Ramparts with futuristic crenulations spiraled around the structure like the threads on a screw. Small towers interjected between walkways for the patrolman’s use.

The impression was a blending of an ancient castle and modern technology, and even if Samus hadn’t known who the occupants were, she would have had a pretty good idea.

“You alright over there?” asked Fox’s voice, startling Samus out of her musings.

Samus depressed a button on the comms. “We’re all clear over here,” she said, twisting to look at her passengers, “Except for Pit. He’ll probably need a moment for the world to stop spinning,”

“So… dizzy.”

“Hey Samus, what’s your call? Try for a stealthier approach, perhaps?” Fox asked, surprising Samus. Fox was a squad leader and someone who wasn’t afraid to charge headfirst into danger, so for him to ask for this kind of advice was definitely out of left field.

“I’ve never been all that stealthy when it comes to fighting the Space Pirates… but it’s always good to keep them on their toes.”

In the Arwing several feet to the left, Fox smiled. “I figured if we’re dealing with a Space Pirate base, I might as well get a second opinion from the mistress of fighting Space Pirates herself.”

Samus grinned at the compliment. “Thank you very much.”

The two pilots dove, speeding low along the ground at half their normal speed to avoid detection. In Samus’s gunship, the occupants were prepping for a fight. Link had his bow out, slinging it over his back and buckling a quiver to his belt alongside a bag of explosives. Mario was packing a small bag with a number of plants and random objects, such as a…penguin suit? Samus shook her head. Mario had an assortment of strange powers, paradoxical when compared to his very basic looking fighting style. Finally, Pit was holding a blue-and-gold metal bow with razor sharp edges, the string a line of energy. Samus watched nonplussed as Pit made a drawing motion, a blue arrow surrounded by two golden rings forming as he did.

“Seems like none of us packed light,” Samus muttered, checking her own weapon’s systems.
[Weapon’s Systems Check Initiated]

[Scanning…]

[Power Beam Online. Wave Beam Online. Ice Beam Online. Plasma Beam Online]

[Missile Launcher Online. Ammunition Stores at 100% Capacity]

[Morph Ball Bomb Online.]

[Power Bomb Online. Ammunition Stores at 100% Capacity]

[All Systems Online]

Good, thought Samus, who briefly considered adding some of her weaponry that was in storage. She hadn’t used her Nova Beam in quite a while. Deciding she had enough destructive power on her person already, Samus closed the menu and peered out the windshield.

Oh crap.

Rising from the sand was a field of turrets, huge anti-aircraft guns swiveling to aim at the two ships approaching the plateau.

“Mario! Pit! Link! Strap in, NOW!” Samus yelled, furiously bringing the ship’s weapons online.

The three did as they were told, though they hadn’t seen what was outside the window. When Samus yelled, people did what she said and got out of her way.

“Why didn’t the scanners pick this up?” Fox yelled over the communication link.

Samus swore. “They did. That system of catacombs must have been an underground defense system.” Samus ground her teeth. Sure enough, when the scan of the catacombs flashed on the screen again the thermal readings were abnormally high and “Rule one, Aran. Never disregard information,” she chastised herself.

After unequipping her arm cannon, which had materialized during her weapons check, Samus grabbed the control wheel in a grip that could have crushed a metal rod. She yanked the wheel to the side as the turrets opened fire, the shots zipping through the air where Samus’s ship was only moments ago. Fox and Samus flew erratically, trying the through off the aim of the gunners below. Fox was performing his trademark Barrel Roll, deflecting walls of enemy fire that would have shredded the craft in an instant. Samus was using her ship’s multi-directional thrusters to zoom straight up, backwards, diagonally and every other direction you could think of to evade the enemy fire. From behind her, Samus could hear the sounds of retching. Apparently Link had had a late lunch.

The blasts were surprisingly easy to dodge, at least for the experienced pilots. The gunners were leading their shots but failed to even attempt predicting their wild movements. Samus was confused, until she noticed a pattern in the attacks.

“Fox! They aren’t trying to kill us!” Samus yelled, straining to be heard over the buzz and hum of enemy fire.

“Really?” came Pit’s yell from the rear, “cause it sure seems like it!”

“The shots aren’t being aimed that well! I think they’re just trying to herd us away from the base.”

“Or to stall us until the cavalry arrives,” Fox’s voice was tinged with a forced calm.

Looking ahead, Samus growled as she saw what looked like a swarm of bees moving in formation, but upon closer inspection was actually a fleet of Venomian and Space Pirate air forces moving in on their position.

“Is it just-ah me, or are the bad-ah guys getting much more-ah clever?” Mario asked, nerves tinging his voice with an Italian accent.

“Seems like it…” If looks could kill, Samus’s glare would have completely and utterly vaporize the approaching ships.

An explosion rocked the ship, cracking the side windows. Pit and Link jumped, the physical, rather than hard-light, straps budging slightly before snapping them back in their seats. Samus, mentally yelling at herself for forgetting the turrets, began evasive maneuvers once again.

“I’m never this forgetful…” Samus muttered.

“Probably just an off day,” Pit called helpfully from the backseat.

“Or maybe it’s because the Space Pirates are never this prepared,” Link wondered, sounding slightly woozy.

“Is there-ah anything we can-ah do to… help,” Mario asked, managing to quash his accent with the final word.

“This is a one-man ship,” Samus said, swerving to the left. “You can’t help aside from shutting up and letting me focus.”

A shot clipped the craft, rocking the ship and causing Samus to unleash a string of curses. Looking out the side window, Mario was alarmed to find the approaching fleet was almost on them. The ships opened fire, sending a pulsating wave of death towards the Arwing and Gunship.

Samus and Fox dove, evading the aforementioned wall of death by mere inches. Then they switched directions, momentum carrying them back upwards straight into the belly of the swarm. The fighters attempted to break away, but before they could, the Protagonists retaliated.

Samus’s ship was equipped with two multi-directional Power Beam turrets, two retractable missile launchers and a rear mounted, retractable Plasma Cannon. Fox’s Arwing was equipped with extremely powerful dual Hyper Laser cannons and Bombs that could destroy entire formations of ships instantaneously. Both craft were capable of defeating more numerous and larger crafts with ease.

So when the two pilots found themselves in such a favorable position, they didn’t think twice about eviscerating the fleet from the inside out. Power Beams were fired with deadly precision, clipping engines, fuel tanks and causing general chaos and lots of explosions. Hyper Lasers flashed, the blue beams cutting through ships like hot knives through a wall of butter. Samus’s computer, always the overachiever, had decoded the Space Pirate comm signals and was now receiving the unintelligible grunts, command giving, and crazed yelling that made up most radio chatter.

The turrets below had ceased their fire, most likely realizing the chances of them hitting what was approximately 5000 friendly ships opposed to the two enemies was too high to risk. That hesitation was all the two pilots needed.

Samus and Fox rocketed forward, using the disoriented enemies as highly effective meat shields before breaking cover and zooming towards the base. The enemy fleet was in no position to pursue after the almost surgical attack by Samus and Fox, and by the time the turrets had swiveled into position, they were too late. If they opened fire now, they would risk the chance of destroying the base, which was definitely not an option. They could only scramble into their transports as the two ships approached the plateau.

Samus sighed, turning to check up on her passengers...

Just in time for a blast of energy, shot by either an extremely accurate or incredibly lucky, to collide with her ship.
The craft lurched forward, thrusters spluttering as it touched down on the sandy ground with a metallic groan. A message appeared on the inside of the windshield, proclaiming that a few non-vital systems and part of the main engine had been damaged. Noticing the blackened hull and the way Fox’s ship listed as he landed, she assumed he had been hit with a similar blast.

Samus turned to check on her passengers—again.

“You guys okay back there?” she asked calmly.

The reply was a chorus of groans. Pit was massaging his forehead with eyes closed, Link was clutching his stomach, and Mario was popping some red-and-blue pills into his mouth. The plumber handed a few to Link, who accepted them gratefully.

“Tell me when the world stops spinning,” Pit said.

“It’s stopped. C’mon, we have to be ready before the party starts,” Samus said, placing her helmet on her head and equipping her arm cannon. The other three team members groaned again but rose from their seats, stretching battered limbs.
Samus opened the cargo bay door, rolling out from behind the cover with her weapon raised. Seeing no enemies—yet—she beckoned for her three passengers to follow, pausing briefly to run her hand across the blackened hull and mutter a curse. A few feet to the left, the Arwing cockpit swung open with a pneumatic hiss. Fox hopped from his seat, wearing a backpack with his blaster drawn. Kirby drifted down slowly, wearing a yellow baseball cap with cartoonish eyes and two small wings on the side. On top of the hat was a blade, almost like a plume on a helmet, curved to fit Kirby’s head. Reaching behind him, Kirby grabbed the back of the blade, plucking it from the hat and holding it menacingly in front of him. The six team members moved slowly towards the base, eyeing the desolate surroundings.

And then suddenly, their surroundings weren’t so desolate anymore.

The main doors of the base opened and out loped six Pirate Troopers, hands raised as they leveled their wrist-mounted cannons with murder in their flaming eyes. A small battalion of Bokoblins, red pig-like beasts wearing primitive skins, dashed around the left side of the fortress, squealing and swinging their thick swords or drawing back composite bows. From the battlements above them appeared several Skuttler troops, huge skulls with one large eye and purple tentacles for limbs. Some leapt down with bone clubs in tentacle, and others hoisted comically-large cannons to their shoulders (if tentacles even have shoulders). Alongside them were Hammer Bros., arms cocked and ready to throw their heavy payload. Purple Dreamland Sword Knights, backed up by red Heavy Knights, marched forward with weapons drawn. Finally, a huge Venomian Desert Rover, a strange tower-like vehicle on tank treads equipped with dual laser cannon, wheeled around the right side of the structure.
It was an impressive show of force. At least, it would have been had their opponents not been the Protagonists.

The six heroes wasted no time in leaping into action. Mario jumped high into the air, hurling fireballs at the Pirate troops below who, unsuccessfully, attempted to blast the plumber. Link dashed forward, shield raised defensively as he clashed swords with the Sword Knights. Kirby, moving with surprising agility, tossed his Cutter blade into the Skuttler ranks, snatching the blade from mid-air as it boomeranged back after slicing one of the skull warriors clean in half. With calm efficiency Fox began to fire at the Hammer Bros., dancing away whenever their deadly tools came too close. Pit charged, yelling as he fired energy arrows at the Bokoblins before splitting the bow in two and fighting hand-to-hand. Samus alone fought the Desert Rover, dodging the explosive rounds in her Morph Ball before discharging a volley of deadly missiles.

That isn’t to say they escaped without a scratch.

“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!” Pit screamed as an explosion knocked him into the abyss, managing to catch an overhang of rock at the last second. He scrambled up the side, only to find himself staring down the barrel of a Space Pirate’s wrist cannon. Pit smiled nervously.

“Oh, hehe, hi there.”

The weapon glowed crimson, and Pit was suddenly regretting his decision to join the mission and was wishing he was back in Skyworld, soaking luxuriously in a hot spring.

Before his untimely demise, however, a metal claw on a chain gripped the Pirate’s arm and flung him away, the soldier screaming as it tumbled through the air and disappeared from view. Pit looked up, breathing a sigh of relief as he noticed Link with clawshots in hand.

“C’mon!” he yelled, snatching a Skuttler and a Bokoblin in each clawshot and whipping his hands together, smashing the two monsters together violently and killing both upon impact. The Skuttler shuddered before disintegrating into nothingness. The Bokoblin collapsed to the ground, blackening before exploding into a cloud of purple smoke, an ominous skull visible within.

Meanwhile, Samus was being forced onto the defensive as the enemy vehicle was joined by a small team of Pirate Grenadiers, who hung on the sides of the craft like ticks and fired grenades at the hunter. Samus rolled around wildly, trying to find a window of attack between the frequent grenades and the Rover’s enormous shots. She eventually did, in the form of an arcing blue sphere thrown over her head and sticking to the vehicle with a thud. A second later the grenade exploded, punching through the metal plating like aluminum foil, disabling the gun and knocking off—in either sense of the phrase—the pirates. Looking behind her, Samus noticed Fox with his arm outstretched, grinning like a baseball player that had tossed a perfect fastball and won their team the World Series… or a fastball that had then exploded and destroyed an enemy tank.

Saluting the commando (and firing off a missile at the useless tank just to be sure), Samus quickly dashed to the other side of the clearing, swapping her Power Beam for her Plasma Beam and firing a Charged shot at a Skuttler Cannoneer who had been just about to shoot a preoccupied Mario, who didn’t even notice the small explosion. The plumber was currently engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a rather large Hammer Bro, who had nearly bashed his head in moments before. Ducking a wide swing he swept out his leg, tripping up the turtle before slamming a fireball into its face. The surprised Koopa flew a couple feet into the air before disappearing with a pop. Looking around quickly, he noticed Kirby fighting off a Sword Knight, a Skuttler and two Space Pirates simultaneously. He made to run forward before remembering: it was Kirby.
The puffball was moving through the air with agility one wouldn’t expect out of something that weighed less than a balloon. After all four assailants had over swung in their anxiety to kill Kirby he moved, slashing the Sword Knight across the chest in a fatal blow, which promptly exploded in a shower of sparks. Without breaking pace he threw the Cutter, which sliced cleanly through the air and instantly took down the Skuttler. Ducking beneath the pirate’s scythes, he discarded his power, before eliminating one pirate in the worst possible way: eating him. The trooper’s screams quickly disappeared as it disappeared down Kirby’s gullet. Gulping down the unfortunate pirate, a pirate scythe, Galvanic Accelerator Cannon and a pirate headpiece suddenly appeared on Kirby. Scowling, Kirby leapt forward and fired his newly acquired weapon at point-blank range, immediately eliminating the final pirate.

Scanning the area, the six realized that they had cleared out the entire guard force (and unbeknownst to them several squads of reinforcements) within minutes. Only craters and Space Pirate bodies remained as a testament to the fighting that had occurred.

Samus ran for the doors, yelling for the others to follow. “You coming, or what?”
The remaining five followed into the dark and metallic depths of the fortress. Well, most of it was metallic. Segments of the walls would suddenly change from metal plates to earthen walls to mosaics of death and torture, giving the entire place a chaotic feel. Foregoing any form of stealth, the group made its way into the heart of the building, dispatching any unfortunate foes who didn’t get the memo that the Protagonists had arrived. They finally reached a large set of doors, guarded by two drowsy Waddle Doos who were silently stuffed into a nearby storage room. Weapons ready, Samus punched a button on a nearby console, causing the doors to open slowly with a crunching of gears.

Pit was the first through the doors, yelling, “Tremble, evildoers, at the supreme power and handsomeness of Pit, servant of the Goddess of Light and... there’s no one here!” Pit suddenly abandoned his heroic stance and let his arms hang swing limply at his side.

Indeed, the room was empty of life or even any major heat signatures. The area was enormous beyond description, the only objects interrupting the grand vastness being rows of computers packed tightly against the walls and, directly in front of them, a ginormous circular machine, hundreds of feet in diameter, was displayed proudly in the center of the room. The device was a sleek and glossy black and flanked by two massive towers ending in ball-tipped gold rods, which were then surrounded by coils of copper wire. The team could see through the center of the machine another set of large doors with a large sign next to it proclaiming “VEHICLE AND PERSONNEL TRANSPORT” in large red letters.

“I know I’m addressing the elephant in the room here, but what is that thing?” Link asked, pointing towards the behemoth machine.

“‘Elephant’ doesn’t begin to describe this thing’s size,” Samus said, “And as for what it is… I have a sneaking suspicion that I know…”

As she spoke Samus switched to her scan visor, sensors invisibly probing the strange machine until finishing the scan with a small beep. Samus tapped a button on her interface, causing the computer to read the scan aloud.
[Device of unknown purpose. Several key components and energy readings similar to ones detected within Luminoth-made Portal Generators found on your mission on Aether. Proceed with caution.]

Samus, satisfied, began to shut off the scan visor, but was interrupted by a rapidly blinking notification.
[Warning! Device’s Core Temperature Increasing! Protective Measures Recommended.]

“We need to get to cov—” Samus began, falling silent as realized what she was seeing. And even then she only half believed herself.
In the center of the machine there was a large blue ball of light, about as big as Kirby, being fed by a current of plasma arcing from the two huge towers. The air fizzed and crackled with energy as the ball expanded exponentially, soon filling the superstructure. As the edges of the ball touched the edges of the machine, the center became suddenly transparent, exposing not the opposite wall, but a void of darkness. The group began to inexplicably slide forward as some sort of pull dragged them slowly, yet steadily forward.

“Ah, look who decided to drop by?” The deep voice echoed around the chamber before being sucked into the hungry void.

The group spun around, attempting to find the source of the voice. Link however froze, eyes slowly narrowing as he recognized the owner of the voice.

“Ganondorf…”

“I sincerely wish I could cross blades with you, ‘hero,’” the King of Evil’s voice boomed from some sort of speaker system, “but, alas, the circumstances prevent it. I presume you are here to attempt to defeat me, yes?”

“You and all your loser friends!” Pit yelled.

“Aw, am I a loser now, Pitty Pat? I’m hurt that you think of me that way,” a different voice now projected from the speakers.

“Hades…” Pit scowled.

“Pit…” Hades growled.

“Hades…”

“Pit…”

“Could you finish this later?!” Mario yelled, scrambling futilely for some handhold to prevent death by interdimensional travel.

“I guess we could… I got the last laugh regardless. Anyway, Pitty Pat, I hope you enjoy the little something we left for you and your friends! Ta ta forever!”

And with that the speakers shut off with a hiss, the crackle to be drowned out by the sound of huge steel barricades cranking down over the walls and doors. From behind them rose a large chrome sphere sitting atop a small pedestal, a large screen visible on the front. With a pneumatic hiss, the sides of the orb projected outwards, revealing a sinister-looking black core crackling with power. The display blinked on, large red numbers counting down.

“It’s a trap!” Pit yelled.

“Gee, how’d you figure it out, genius?” Samus scowled, digging her heels into the floor. Something pink caught her eye, and she noticed Kirby suddenly flying towards the portal. Thinking fast she flashed out her Grapple Beam, the coil of energy snagging the puffball’s leg and stopping his momentum. Next to her Fox had also begun to tumble forward into the void but was snagged by Link at the last moment, who had wisely pulled out his whip for just the event. Mario and Pit, who had avoided the worst of the portal’s gravity, turned to the bomb to see the timer ticking down from three… two… one…and then the world exploded.

A rush of heat and sound knocked the four standing heroes off their feet and launched them into the portal. The six braced themselves, hoping the inter-dimensional warping wouldn’t rearrange their atoms beyond repair or completely incinerate them. However, the catastrophic warping never ended up happening.

Instead the team was suddenly spun through the nebula as if they were caught in a cyclone, dislodging the heroes from each other and sending them flying in completely different directions through the inky blackness.

Author's Note

Hey guys!
Sorry about the hiatus between uploads, I'm kind of a slow writer (and effectively writing two chapters doesn't help in that regard)
Hopefully the gap in between chapters won't be as large.
Also, if anyone reading this has also read my blog about the position of Music Pickerer, you should. Because it's cool. And stuff. Yeah.