Match #138

~~~

With the Super Smash Stadium completely vanished, GG stood in the surrounding field after teleporting away from the ambush. He found it hard yet easy to believe that the beloved colliseum was under attack...again. Hard to believe that it took such a short time for such an attack, but easy to believe because it had happened so many times before by villains who wanted to crash the competitive spirit the Stadium held.

"I need to get to the others," he said before he teleported again in search of his fellow Superpowers. "Metal and Digi were planning on their meeting and Saiyaman said he wanted to take Amber out to the new restaurant for a romantic lunch...let's just hope they stuck to their plans."

~~~

"Metal, why? That just another version of the Smoke Bomb, except more lame, less colorful, and yeah...you've been listening to too much Village People lately. Get a hold of some different music some day." Metal Man and Digifanatic were in the middle of a one-on-one discussion at a park regarding future ideas at SSS, which included the former's umpteenth proposal to put in disco balls as a legitimate item.

"Fine, but maybe we should try giving Toad a chance next season, then," was Metal's response, trying to come up with a compromise. "Maybe Knuckles, too. He's ticked off about Shadow getting the Assist spot for nothing more than Chaos Control...I can understand."

"Well, make sure to tell GG--" As if on cue, the Stadium's president showed up to deliver the news. He didn't look very interested in any developments his two fellow Superpowers were trying to make.

"Digi, Metal, I don't want to hear anything. The Stadium is gone," was GG's stern introduction.

"Gone like the wind?" was Metal's response.

"No time to be wisecracking. I mean, the Stadium completely vanished. It's the work of some strange being who calls himself the Ancient Minister. He's sent out this odd infantry of Primids, who, to be honest, look like Heartless ripoffs..."

"Did Patrick leave Billy with us?" Digi chimed.

"He's got an army of robots and bombs that just make whole regions completely vanish off the planet and you think a fish can defeat him?"

"I was being optimistic, and Metal, stop juggling those disco balls!"

"Sorry," was all Metal said as he set down the pair of disco balls at the picnic table he was sitting at.

"Let's just get a move on, okay? I need to find Saiya so we can discuss what we should do. We've never had someone attack SSS with such wild ambitions like these!"

"Right," replied the other two with impeccable timing.

~~~

"Aww, you are so sweet for doing this, Gohan..." Amber remarked with a giggle. They were two of the first in line at the grand opening to a new riverfront cafe in the Mushroom Kingdom. Considered one of the new secrets of the land, the two had placed their lunch reservation several weeks in advance.

"Yeah. Problem is, the chef says it's going to take a while to get our meals...too many parties coming in to explore the place," Saiyaman responded.

"But we got one of the few outdoor tables! It feels so nice to be away from the Stadium, doesn't it? It's so noisy and crowded and this is...so quiet!"

"It is. So like I was saying, it's going to take a while..." Saiya repeated. "I know how we can pass the time."

"Here?"

"You said we were isolated, so let's use that to our advantage!" was Saiya's devilous excuse. Amber had the same mischievous grin on her face as the two leaned in close to each other. And then reality struck. The other SPs popped in right behind the two while they prepared to lock lips.

"Every single time..." Digi muttered to himself, trying to contain his laughter as Amber and Saiya began exchanging kisses.

"Watch this, Amber's gonna see us and think we planted the joke on her..." Metal snidely remarked.

It was GG that broke the suspense first. "Saiyaman, I know you don't mind flaunting your relationship, but we've got what you would call a crisis here?"

Amber shrieked. "Guru! What are you doing here, trying to interrupt our privacy? I knew one of you folks would do it!"

"Dang, you're good!" Digi whispered to Metal.

"How about trying to tell one of our fellow Superpowers that the Stadium is gone and there's some wacko who calls himself an Ancient Minister trying to wipe out the entire planet?"

Saiya tried to handle the situation with as much dignity as he could. "Sorry, sweetie, but that is definitely a crisis. It looks like I've got some business to handle with my co-workers."

Amber sighed. "Okay, honey...good luck." Her eyes beamed but she was still concerned towards what happened. She thought that even though she wouldn't put up with the noise of the Stadium for a short while, the obvious situation of leaving her husband was nerving...and serious business. Saiya stood up and sighed as the two held hands.

"I've done this before. Hopefully, it'll end the same like all the other times. And then the SPs and I will party and, you're invited, and yeah..." He bent down one last time to smooch her again before changing into his superhero outfit and leaving with the other SPs. "GG, how are we going to figure this out? All the Smashers are either captured or elsewhere...where do we go?"

However, it didn't take long for the Superpowers to answer a distress call.

"Alvis? Are you there?" rung a voice familiar to GG.

GG replied with intrigue, "Kevin? Captain N? Is that you?"

"Ohhh yeah. We've got a big problem here, and I hope you and your friends get here fast. Princess Lana and I will need it."

"We'll try. See you there."

"Okay...guys, we've got to help Captain N. There are some problems out in Videoland. This has become very interesting..."

~~~

In the heavens of Skyworld, two faces were affixed on the chaos that took place at the Super Smash Stadium. One was the goddess Palutena, and the other was her young warrior, Pit. Pit was spending some much-needed rest in Skyworld before a planned return from the Stadium when the Halberd invaded. As soon as the Stadium was engulfed in the purplish-black shadow orb, Palutena knew that Pit's experience as an SSS fighter would be invaluable in case Skyworld would be subject to the plans of the Ancient Minister. Palutena told her warrior to stop watching the melancholy and make eye contact with her.

"Pit, you are well acquainted with this Stadium," she began. "Have you ever faced a crisis like that before?"

The young angel spoke back, "I have seen dangerous foes before, but I have never seen anyone or any group literally erase the Stadium like that. It looks like Princess Peach and Kirby are okay, but I'm concerned about Mario and Princess Zelda."

"Peach and Kirby are the two that flew away on that star, correct?"

"Yes."

Palutena sighed and kept silent for a couple of moments. She then laid out a bow in her hands, giving it to Pit. "Warrior, you need to head out of this palace and make sure that army never seals away Skyworld. Hopefully, you will be able to find the others."

Pit calmly nodded as he took the bow into his hands. "Goddess Palutena, you have my honor." Closing his eyes as he stopped talking, he fell backwards and descended into the rest of Skyworld, looking for soldiers of the Subspace Army to kill. Fortunately, Pit had seen his four colleagues combat the Primids at the Stadium. He knew that it wouldn't take much to defeat Subspace's cannon fodder. A few slices with his sword here, some celestial arrows there, and a few point blank kicks wherever else were enough to take care of the opposition. Some tougher enemies came along, like the mechized twin-cannon type known as a Roturret, but Pit prevailed with minimal problems.

Floating out of the palace and landing on a cloud, he went to search for Mario. However, while looking for the plumber, he found a more impressive sight: the Halberd, whom he just saw ambushing the Stadium minutes earlier.

"That's that ship..." Pit said to himself. He sighed and changed his course towards the Halberd, changing his focus from Mario to other Subspace soldiers. Flying towards the Halberd, he found a few speedbumps in other enemies of the Subspace Army, determined as ever to stop the angel from stopping their plans. However, Pit's confidence would not be shaken. Soon enough, he saw Mario lying face-down on a distant cloud. Taking a quick leap and gliding down, Pit roused Mario to consciousness.

"Wow! What-a happened?" Mario exclaimed as he got back to his feet.

"You got blown away from the Stadium by that cannon," Pit replied. "You're lucky one of us was able to find you."

"But didn't you-a-say you were-a going on a-break?"

Pit sighed and said, "Well, I was able to see the fight from Goddess Palutena's palace back in Skyworld. It's...kinda like a television you'd have down in the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Oh, I-a see," Mario replied. "Do-a you have-a any idea what-a happened to the Princess and-a Kirby?"

"I just caught them leaving the Stadium on a Warp Star. Hopefully, they're alright."

"That's a good-a sign."

"Yeah...looks like it's the two of us for now, though." Pit realized the conversation they had upon their reunion gave the Halberd enough time to escape being run down by him and Mario. Fortunately, help was on the way. A Star Fox Arwing flew over the two, in hot pursuit of the Subspace Army.

"That's got to be Fox!" Pit exclaimed. "That's a relief."

"Yeah-a...maybe-a Falco, too."

"I don't know. If Falco was there, there'd probably be two of them."

"You've-a got a point. Hope-a-fully, whoever it-a is should keep-a chase while-a we get going again-a..."

~~~

Shortly after leaving the Stadium, Peach and Kirby made chase of their own, following the Halberd into the cloudy sky. It looked as if they were in store to make quick business of the Subspace Army on the ship. They were even able to get out in front. Nonetheless, the mask of Meta Knight that donned the nose of the ship loomed closer and closer behind the pair in pink.

"Peach, hang on tight!" Kirby yelled. "I've got to make a crash landing on the ship!" With that, Kirby lifted his Warp Star further in the air, letting the bow pass under. Immediately afterward, Kirby jerked the Warp Star down, sending him and Peach into a tumble miles above the ground. However, they regained their balance and landed back on the ship mostly unscathed.

Now, the Halberd's crew were more than aware that Fox was in hot pursuit. With Slippy, Krystal and Peppy manning the Great Fox on the sidelines, all eyes were affixed on the Arwing.

"Fire all lasers," announced the Ancient Minister from the cockpit, still as enigmatic and cold as usual. Upon response from his R.O.B. lackeys, dozens of lasers homed in on the Arwing.

"Fox, they're coming in hot!" shouted an excited Slippy into Fox's headset, with Peppy continuing the relay right afterward:

"Fox, there's only one thing left to do and that's to do a ba--"

"Yeah, I get it..." Fox sarcastically responded, not in the mood to hear Peppy finish "that phrase" again. He did do his barrel roll and in doing so, dodged the incoming assault from the lasers. What the Star Fox crew didn't realize was that the Minister had a backup plan. Already familiar with the Halberd's array of weaponry, he requested the lethal Combo Cannon be used. Upon approval, the cannon launched out of the ship's frame, surprising McCloud as he exited out of his barrel roll.

"What is that?!" exclaimed Fox as the cannon continued to lurch out.

From inside the Halberd, the Ancient Minister sat back in delight, realizing that Fox was too absent minded to realize he was flying straight into the arm of the cannon. "This is just perfect..." the Minister said to himself. Back in the Arwing, Fox had realized his bad manuever and had no choice but to take the hit and risk a crash landing somewhere, be it on the Halberd or elsewhere.

"Fox! Is everything alright?" Krystal said worredly from her radio.

"I don't think so," Fox responded. "They got me. They got me," was the end of his response. He looked to make one last swoop at the Halberd, but with his G-Diffuser malfunctioning as a result of the Combo Cannon's impact, Fox's chances at a smooth ride were over.

"Watch out! You're gonna run over Peach and Kirby!" Peppy shouted, catching a small glimpse of the two on the deck.

"Peach and Kirby?! They're okay?" Fox said as he tried to keep the ship in line. In trying to do so, the two innocent fighters got caught up in the Arwing's turbulence, sending them into a long fall off the Halberd. The two trailed away yelling for help.

"Oh no, did I hit them?" Fox asked, his voice growing in tension.

"No, but the air turbulence was more than enough to send them off," was Krystal's response. "I hope they land somewhere soft." Fox nodded as the Arwing continued to descend, a crash landing imminent.

On the other side of this interaction, Peach and Kirby kept falling, but the soft clouds were able to break their fall without a problem. Soon enough, they were moving slowly enough to where a cloud supported the princess and the Pop Star puffball. They walked off and soon set on their way to find others and destroy Subspace soldiers.

~~~

Taking a distant look at the Kongo Jungle, one could imagine it being the perfect getaway locale. The weather was humid but beautiful, and any unassuming person would believe that nothing wrong was going on. However, taking a closer look, one realized that Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong were not coming home for some jungle comfort.

"Alright, buddy, where are they?" DK asked Diddy as they ran back from their recent match at the Stadium. Previously, Dixie Kong had warned the others that she noticed strange activity near the jungle, and it didn't look like K. Rool's responsibilty. Soon after, she saw a Hammer Bro in the distance, piloting a cart loaded with the Kongs' banama horde, telling DK and Diddy to chase them down. They had taken a run through the forest with stride, plowing through Goombas, Koopa (Para)troopas, and even the occasional Hammer Bro with little energy wasted, and now they were out for their bananas. Approaching a cliff, Diddy hopped up onto Donkey Kong's shoulders before taking a leap of faith off.

"Yup, I see the one Dixie warned us about!" Diddy yelled, pulling out his Peanut Popguns.

A Goomba in the back of the cart caught a look at the Kongs and fired off three Bullet Bills. "Take that!" the Goomba shouted, but they were no match for Diddy's unorthodox projectiles. The peanuts demolished the missiles as Diddy stuck the landing back on the cliff. The two Kongs struck a confident pose, pointing down at the Bowser-horned, banana-loaded cart.

"Bullet Bills, that's nothing, Diddy! It's not like we're not face to face with a Fire Sumo! Let's go get 'em!" said DK, chasing down the rest of the Koopa Troop. Despite a surprise super-sized Goomba at the end of the trail, the two plowed their way through the jungle, until they caught up to the Hammer Bro and Goomba on the cart.

"Uh...we'll give you the bananas if you let us go? Please? Please? Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?" the Goomba pleaded.

Diddy motioned DK to huddle in before saying quietly, "It's just a Goomba and a Hammer Brother. What do you think, DK?"

"I guess," Donkey Kong reluctantly agreed before turning back to the two members of the Koopa Troop. "Okay, we'll let you go, but just remember, we own this jungle!" DK gave one more authoritative pair of chest pounds before turning around, noticing who else but Bowser staring straight at them, equipped with the same gun Wario used to turn Zelda into a trophy.

Bowser let off one of his signature laughs before exclaiming, "You twerp monkeys have no idea what idea what you just got yourselves into..."

"Twerp monkeys?" Diddy responded, getting in the way between DK and Bowser. "DK is a gorilla and I am a chimpanzee--"

"Whatever the heck you are!" Bowser scoffed. "Ahem, as I was saying..." Bowser started to charge up his Dark Cannon, staring straight at Diddy. He knew that the little Kong wasn't going to get away easy by insulting who else but the King of the Koopas.

"Buddy!" DK shouted as he charged up a Giant Punch the same time Bowser was ready to fire his cannon. Soon enough, Bowser pulled the trigger, shooting out an arrow of darkness at Diddy, spelling almost certain doom. Diddy only had enough time to see himself sent into the sky by his partner's punch. Donkey Kong would wind up sacrificing himself for Diddy, as the Dark Cannon's shot would hit DK squarely, turning him into another trophy. Diddy had no chance to react as he was flung away, seeing the dramatic end result of DK's transformation. He let out one final "No!" before disappearing in the distance.

~~~

The action returned to Pit and Mario, fresh off another rally of trouncing menial Subspace foes. Using their newfound teamwork, they made commotion throughout their adversaries, but fatigue was never threatened. Sooner than later, they were able to catch the Ancient Minister hovering in the distance. The Minister noticed this, too.

"You two think you can catch up to me?" the Minister taunted at the two.

"Well-a, we can-a certainly try, Mini-a-ster!" Mario warned. He took a leap off of the ground but the Minister teasingly ascended a bit higher. "Pit-a, leap-a off-a me! I need-a your flight ability!"

"Right," Pit affirmed, taking the jump off of Mario in midair, he floated up in an attempt to catch up, but the Minister just laughed as Pit missed grabbing hold to the Minister's hovering device.

"You two thought, but you couldn't make it..." the Minister said with his mysterious eyes focused on the distance in front, knowing he successfully escaped. Upon landing, Pit sighed and turned to Mario.

"Now what do we do?" Pit asked.

"Now-a, I think we-a catch our-a breath and-a move on, but we will-a claim our-a Stadium-a back!"

~~~

Diddy Kong got back up to his feet a long distance away from where he last saw DK. Despite being shaken up by the Giant Punch, he gathered his senses and started to scamper through the jungle to find him. By the shore of the jungle's lake, he noticed the wrecked remains of an Arwing, which surprised him a bit. He cautiously walked over to examine the damage.

"Hello?" he cautiously called. "Are you okay in there?"

Before anyone could answer, a huge splash thundered from the lake and out popped the lanky dragon Pokemon, Rayquaza. Diddy's eyes opened wide as he appeared to bite his nails, staring at the green behemoth.

"Don't hurt me...I'm just an innocent guy..." Diddy responded. Rayquaza let out a mighty roar and began to charge a beam from its mouth, preparing the signature attack Dragon Pulse. Rayquaza looked to Diddy as if to shake him off for the time being, instead targeting the Arwing. The laser was fired, and Rayquaza scored a direct hit, torching the spaceship. At this point, Diddy was struck with more fear than before, believing Rayquaza just added insult to Team Star Fox's injury.

He would be fearing for a lot more soon enough. Rayquaza snatched him in his grip, taking the primate hostage into the water. Diddy looked to be suffering a scary fate of his own as he pleaded to let go. Rayquaza roared again, not wanting to let anything get past itself.

"Hang on!" shouted a voice from inside the Arwing. It turned out that Fox was just shaken up with a few minor stings and bumps as he ejected himself from the fiery remains. Seconds later, Fox leapt towards Rayquaza and Diddy, unleashing an Illusion that stunned Rayquaza enough to let go of the Kong in its hand. Diddy was relieved but he knew that the fight wasn't over.

"Don't worry, little guy. I know how we can take care of this!" Fox affirmed as the two landed back on the shore. Rayquaza, annoyed, charged another Dragon Pulse, aimed straight at Fox. Fox calmly stood in place and turned on his Reflector, bouncing the Pulse right back at the Pokemon. Rayquaza had no time to react and was promptly taken out by its own attack.

Fox pulled out his communications and talked to the rest of his crew. "Guys, I'm alright. Another wrecked Arwing, but we'll be okay. Just watch out for those strange armies."

Fox couldn't get much else in to say, though. Diddy Kong started to tug on Fox's shoulders.

"We need to save DK from Bowser! He launched a cannon at him and he froze into place--I think he turned into a trophy!"

"Huh? What? I don't get your logic. See you later," replied Fox as he started to walk off to search for his crew.

"Stop searching for your crew and help me!" pleaded Diddy as he latched on to Fox, dragging him on the ground. McCloud reluctantly agreed as they continued on into the Kongo Jungle. Through this trek, they would continue to encounter more members of the Koopa Troop, but just as before, it wouldn't take much for them to be defeated. Some begged to be spared and let go, while others tried to put up an unsuccessful fight. After a while, the new duo got used to fighting for each other and developed a good team. It would prove handy as Diddy spotted Bowser in the distance.

"There he is..." Diddy whispered to Fox. The two continued to leap and run through the trees, soon landing next to Bowser. Diddy muttered again.

"That's odd...he doesn't have that cannon he had before."

"Maybe it has very limited power or something," Fox replied. "Well, if you want to know how to fight Bowser over at the Stadium, allow me to show you the way!"

With that, Fox leapt into the battle first, quickly attacking Bowser with a wide repertoire of moves. An Illusion stunned the Koopa for enough time to let Diddy in on the action, scoring a few hits with his popguns to go along with a physical onslaught. Fox delivered a huge upward smash, which gave Diddy the chance to prepare his Rocketbarrels before blasting hard into Bowser's midsection. Shortly enough, Bowser couldn't take it anymore and slammed back onto the ground unconscious.

"Nice job," Fox said. "You're learning our business very quickly."

"Well, I have had my experiences versus K. Rool and his army, so I'm not that inexperienced..."

"Ahhh," replied Fox. Diddy started to walk in closer to Bowser, eyeing him closely. "Diddy, what are you doing?"

"He looks... funny." Diddy rammed into Bowser, only for the body to dissolve into a swarm of Shadow Bugs! The two bounced backwards a bit, surprised at what happened.

"That was a fake!" Fox exclaimed. "Bowser just wanted to mess around with us!"

"Mess around with you, Vulpix?" growled a voice in the distance.

"That would be the real Bowser, alright," Fox sarcastically mumbled to Diddy Kong. "Whoa! Watch out!" While Fox was cranking his one-liner to Diddy, Bowser fired his cannon again, and another dark arrow closed in on Diddy. Fortunately, the two were able to roll out of the way in time for the arrow to miss both of them.

"Okay, Koopa, that's it!" Diddy shouted, ready to seek revenge on Bowser.

"What?" Bowser mocked. "You want to fight me when I've got this sucker? I wouldn't do so, little guy! I'll do what I did to your bodyguard!"

"Bodyguard?!" Diddy responded before he felt a sharp tug of his own by Fox.

"You persuaded me to keep going with you. Now I'm ordering you to quit while you're ahead, Diddy," Fox warned as he ran off towards a cliff. Bowser let off another laugh as the team of Fox and Diddy Kong ran away. "Hang on tight, we can survive this jump!"

"Over the waterfall?" Diddy queried.

"Yeah! We'll be okay!" Fox shouted as they took a leap of faith over the rapids. In the background, the evil grin of Bowser Koopa stared down at the two that just jumped over, ready to conjure up his next evil strategy.

"They're smart, but they're still cowards..." Bowser said to himself.

TO BE CONTINUED