Author's Note: This was actually planned to go up a couple of days sooner but I got sidetracked with some assignments for college. As for if this means if I will be regularly writing for SWOL again, I'm not sure. I'm tempted to say that I'm going to start uploading chapters regularly again but I really don't want to make any promises. If this chapter seems weird compared to the others, I'm sorry. I'm still getting into writing headspace for this again.

On a better note, SWOL has gotten to almost 50 followers and over 40 favorites in the time that I've been gone. Shout-out to Thankfulclock50, CrescentApple, Zythus Lin, epicpeachtime, justinq719, fanfictor2000, JutsuMaster250, nevermind the fallability, crossover15, , Sethelephant and Nochu1997 for reading SWOL! If you didn't want to be mentioned, then just send me a PM.

Review Responses:

Guest: I'm still pretty disappointed in myself that the last chapter I wrote was the 1st year anniversary for this but I'm pretty sure that since SWOL has hit a 1 year anniversary, it hopefully won't die soon.

epicpeachtime: I tried to delay Nathaniel telling the others about the memory thing because I wanted to try as much drama as I could but in hindsight, it was a pretty ridiculous idea. Also, thanks for pointing the problem with the list, I keep forgetting to edit so I occasionally miss stuff like that.

Kinda Worried: WELL GUESS WHO'S HERE NOW AND WITH A BRAND NEW CHAPTER! TAKE IT AWAY CHAPTER TITLE!

Chapter 29: Worries and Relaxation

"What do you think would happen if I ate one?"

"What are you talking about?"

"One of the amiibos, what do you think would happen if I ate one?" I asked, staring into the sky. We hadn't realized that night had fallen so we decided to set up camp. Currently, I am amusing myself by looking at the stars. Something in the back of my mind told me that I didn't really take much time to do so back home so it was nice to do so now.

Then, a green sphere of energy blasted itself into my side.

"Ow! What was that for?" I screamed at Aimee. She just blew the non-existent smoke off of her hand cannon before crossing her arms.

"That was for slacking off when we're practicing against each other and for asking stupid questions," she answered bluntly. Oh yeah, we were.

I pulled out the Steel Diver and fired before charging after it. Swapping weapons to Death's Scythe, I leapt into the air, bringing the scythe blade down onto her.

Aimee was quick to counter. Putting the tip of the cannon to the ground, a small, metal ball popped out rolling towards the torpedo. The ball exploded as the torpedo flew above it, destroying both. At the same time, the gunner sidestepped my aerial assault, letting me stab into the ground instead.

Grunting as I tried to pull the blade out so I could swing again, I slowly realized that the scythe was stuck in the ground.

I muttered, "Oh no," as my head slowly turned to see Aimee charging up another shot.

Light bulb! Idea! Smart thing to do!

I reached into my inventory, pulled the Fire Bar, and climbed onto the handle of the scythe. Using that as a platform, I leapt into the air, plunging the Fire Bar down onto Aimee.

Or at least, I would have.

As I stood on the scythe, tensing my body to leap, the blade in the ground slipped loose. Death's Scythe fell to the ground, me included. On the bright side, Aimee let loose a shot, aiming for where I would have been if I jumped.

Landing on my back, I threw the Fire Bar at Aimee as I kicked the Scythe towards my other hand. Hopping to my feet, I ran at her, brandishing the Scythe.

Aimee caught the Fire Bar in her free hand and tossed it back at me. I knocked the item away with the end of the Scythe before stopping as Aimee shoved the end of her Hand Cannon into my face, creating a small explosion to blast me away.

Getting pushed back, I landed on my knee, coughing a bit from the blow. As I moved to my feet, Aimee pointed her cannon in my face again, "Give up. You're clearly not in top shape right now."

I felt a scowl creep across my face, "Say that again, I dare you."

She shrugged, "Sure. You should just gi-" She paused to smash my hand with another explosion as I tried to swing with the scythe. My hand recoiled as the scythe was sent flying out of my grip. Aimee put her boot against my chest and pushed me back to the ground, "Give up."

"Fine, I give up."

Aimee removed her foot and walked over to the campfire as I went to grab my dropped items. As I moved to walk back to camp, Crazy Hand caught my eye. She was looking at the Switch and was tapping away at the screen.

Walking up to her, I tapped her on the shoulder, "Crazy, do you mind if I could talk to you in private?"

Turning away from the screen with a sigh, she gave me a cold look. "Sure, why not? As long you aren't in the mood for destroying stuff."

I could only look at my feet in shame as we walked towards the pillars that rimmed the pavilion we were in. "I just wanted to apologize again for my earlier behavior. I understand that simply saying sorry doesn't mean it's okay and that it has to reflect my future actions and that-"

Crazy cut me off with a wave, "Nathaniel, it's late. Please get to the point so all of us can go to sleep."

"That was the point."

"Really?" She glared daggers at me. "You wanted to talk to me in private for this?"

"No," I admitted. "I kinda wanted to talk about the reason why I was acting like a douche earlier. Um, I'm missing some memories that I should have."

"You're an amnesiac. That's nothing new."

"Yeah, except I'm talking about the memories that I'm supposed to get from amiibos." Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out Kirby's amiibo. "When I'm the one who gets the amiibo, I remember something from before but when I got Bowser," I pulled out his amiibo, "I don't get any memories back. Clarence is the one who beat Bowser. The same happened with Marth, with Wii Fit Trainer, with Little Mac, with Jigglypuff, with Dr. Mario."

"So? Didn't you make recovering your memories a secondary goal to joining the tournament?" Crazy raised an eyebrow. "You made it seem like you didn't care that much when I asked before."

"That was before I actually started recovering my memories." I sat on a broken pillar, staring at my feet. How had my shoes never gotten untied so far in this adventure? "What I've been remembering so far has been random. Pointless scenes that barely have any connection to each other. My dreams have more continuity than my memories for god's sake!"

I drew out a sigh, trying to regulate my breathing, "I can't even remember the names of my siblings. Whenever their name comes up, it's always static. I can barely remember what they look like even now. They're the people that I've spent my whole life with. That's not even to mention anyone else important in my life. What's the point in saving the world if I don't even remember the people that I care about? But at the same time, if I insist on awakening all the Smashers, then that's going to impede our progress too much, especially if we split up. But what if we just go through the rest of this like this? What if I never get my memories back and I have to return to my world? I don't even know my own address. Whatam I going todo then? Whywas, why did I ever lose mymemories to beginwith? You saidthatit wasn't your brother sowhatwasitthen? AmIdead and, and allthisisjustahallucination as I'm dying on a hospitalbed? WhendoI wakeup then? WhathappenswhenIwakeup?"

"Nathaniel."

"What?"

"Don't you dare eat an amiibo to see if you can recover your memories that way."

All I could answer that with, was just a slow stare at Crazy, who shrugged in response. "Sorry, just kinda wanted to make sure that you wouldn't actually eat one."

Crazy leaned back on a pillar, "Nathaniel, I don't know why you lost your memories or why you're here. I don't have the answers, all we can hope for is that we find someone who does have the answers. You not recovering any memories from Smashers that other people awaken is strange. I do wish that you told me earlier so that we could work on a solution faster but I suppose telling me now is fine. I do have to ask, what kept you from telling me earlier?"

I paused. Why did I try to hide it? Pride? "I don't know. Maybe I didn't want to bother you guys with my problems."

Crazy sighed, "At least you haven't killed anyone over it. How do you want to deal with the problem? From how I see it, we have you awaken all the Smashers, that'll take longer but it's a surefire way to get all your memories back, or we could just do with how we've been dealing with the issue so far. Then we could see if my brother could restore your memories."

"Do the second option, Master Hand is definitely strong enough to restore your memories," Oblivion whispered in my mind.

I bit my lip. "Are you sure Master Hand can restore my memories?"

"I'll tell the truth," Crazy said. "I really want to say yes. There's no reason not to, even with my assistance, he is definitely powerful to do so. The only reason I say maybe is that I have something telling me that there is something wrong with your memories."

"Yeah, it's called having amnesia."

Crazy rolled her eyes, "You know what I meant. Something's fishy about it. But even so, all we can do is hope. Final answer?"

I sighed, "Sure, I guess I'm gonna hope that Master Hand can fix my memories."

"Glad we got that sorted," Crazy said. She looked up at the night sky before speaking again, "It's getting pretty late, you should probably get some rest soon."

"In a bit, I kinda wanted to stargaze a bit."

"Just don't wander off." With that, Crazy walked back to camp, leaving me alone to my thoughts and the stars.

"Let me guess, you wanted private time to talk to me."

And Oblivion.

"Yeah, why do you trust Master Hand to restore my memories? Crazy, I understand but even she had doubts about it."

"Nathaniel, I've seen Master Hand reduce entire worlds to nothing more than stardust. He has taken suns and collapsed into the size of pennies. He has built kingdoms within a month. He created a black hole and teleported into the stomach of a titan to kill it. He literally dropped a mountain. He, I was going somewhere with this, I don't remember what though."

"Master Hand? Amnesia? Something upon a mountain?"

"Oh yeah. Point is, even if I'm exaggerating, Master Hand is more than enough to restore your memories. Crazy even said so herself."

"I guess. Another question: You said before that I'm here because of a promise you made. Mind elaborating on that?"

"Hmm, nope!"

"Why though?"

"I don't remember the details of it!" the voice exclaimed. "It's kinda like you and your siblings. You remember that you have siblings, their general relation to you. You liked your sister more than your brother, your sister was an egghead and your brother was somehow a nerd and a jock at the same time. I remember that I made a promise, I have a vague idea of what it was about, and that vague idea is that it dragged you into this mess."

"Oblivion?"

"Yeah?"

"Any other promise I should know about?"

"Nope!"

Another sigh slipped out from my mouth, one that I dragged on for as long as my lungs would allow. Taking one last look at the sky above me, I walked back to camp and collapsed on my blanket.

Markus was dressed as usual, black cloak and featureless. He did have something new in the form of a fishing pole. Was he doing the expected activity of fishing that is normally associated with the new object?

Since I'm asking that question, of course not. He was beating a Primid over the head with it.

"GO. DOWN. ALREADY. YOU. ANNOYING. BANANA," he grunted with every hit. Eventually, the Primid scattered into dark spores.

Glancing around, Markus was standing at a grass-covered cliffside that overlooked an ocean that stretched to the horizon. Behind us was a path that snaked through a green forest. Surrounding us, however, was a sea of the dark spores. Also, a bucket that was next to Markus.

The spores began to coalesce, gathering in front of us, slowly building legs, then a torso and arms. Within a few moments, a humanoid figure stood, although featureless.

"stRoNg." A voice, creaky like an old house, came from the figure. The only movement made was the constant shifting of the spores as they swarmed to form the figure, shifting constantly within the frame.

"Nah, the mooks you sent are just really weak," Markus said, his tone like he was talking to a neighbor that he prefers to avoid so he doesn't have to talk to them. "Tabuu, I presume?"

"CoRrecT. veSSeL. limITeD."

"Oh, so you don't actually talk like that? That's good to know. Quick question actually," Markus kicked the bucket by his feet lightly, "Do you know what kind of bait fish around here like? I was supposed to get fish but I forgot to grab bait and it would be really awkward if I went back to grab it so I was wondering if I had anything on me that could be used as a substitute"

"JOin? Us?" The figure asked.

"Oh, oh. I'm sorry but krrsh, krrsh, the connection's breaking up. Krrsh,krrsh. Oh, oh! I'm losing your signal!" With that, Markus withdrew his Beam Sword and threw it like a spear, piercing through the figure's torso. Upon impact, the spores fell apart, scattering into a pile. Within moments, the spores faded into nothing.

"You'd think that if Tabuu really wanted to recruit me, he would learn a better sales pitch." Markus's head gave a little twitch and he walked over to pick the Beam Sword up. Grabbing the handle, something caught his eye as he turned his attention to it instead.

Moving closer behind him, I peeked over Markus's shoulder to see that it was one of the dark spores. Glancing around, all the other spores that littered the ground had already faded away. Markus reached into his cloak and pulled out a jar, which he scooped the spore into.

Capping it with a cork, Markus cocked his head to the side as he stared at it. Then, something began beeping in a rhythmic tone.

Tucking the jar away, Markus pulled out a flip phone and answered, "He-hewwo?"

"Please don't do that ever again," Master Hand's voice came out, as dry as sand. "Screw the jokes, we need you at camp now."

"What? Why?"

"We're under attack! Hurry up already!" The connection cut off afterwards.

All Markus did was sigh, "Markus, go get firewood. Markus, go set up the tents. Markus, go get fish. Markus, go oh wait, they're under attack I should most definitely hurry."

With that, the cloaked figure dashed into the woods, quickly being lost among the shadows.

"Tea is the superior drink."

"Nooooo. Coffee is!"

"Tea."

"Coffee!"

"Tea."

"Cah-feh!"

"Some of us are trying to sleep for all that is good and fried!" I shouted, being roused from my sleep by the sounds of arguing. Clarence and Aimee, each with a cup of their respective beverage, just stared at me.

"With all due respect, Nathaniel, you're the last one to have awoken," Clarence said.

I glanced around to see that, yes indeed, I am the last one to have woken up. Crazy and Piranha Plant were huddled together, looking at Crazy's Switch then writing something down. Joker was fiddling with a coffee pot that was suspended over the dying campfire and Clarence and Aimee were sitting across from me.

"Nat, tea or coffee!" Aimee practically shouted at me.

"Why are you asking," I started before stopping for a moment to process what she had just said. "Wait, why are you calling me Nat?"

"Because it's short for your name. And because you're like one of the little annoying bugs, y'know gnats?" Aimee held up a hand and began moving it erratically in front of her, making buzzing noises. I also noticed that her left eye was also twitching quite a bit.

Clarence sighed, "We are arguing over which is better, tea or coffee."

"Yeah, I kinda got that from the shouting."

Ignoring me, Clarence just waved his cup around the camp, "Currently, we are at a standstill. Aimee and Joker prefer coffee. Piranha Plant and I prefer tea. Crazy Hand said she doesn't care what she drinks as long as she gets her caffeine. How about you?"

I just shrugged as I began to fold my blanket, "I don't think I drink either, I mean, I don't remember if I do have a preference and I haven't had a chance to try either since I got here."

Those were the very wrong words to say.

In an instant, the two were on me in an instant, shoving their drinks in my face. Instinctively, I leaned back to gain some space between myself and the two but I leaned too far, falling backwards. My right leg went up, hitting Aimee's hand and making her drop her cup.

She fumbled, failing to catch the cup but, succeeding in knocking in Clarence, making him drop his own cup as well.

Clarence and Aimee pulled each other back, managing to not fall on top of me. Their dropped cups, however, were a different story as the cups and their contents spilled onto my chest.

The coffee and tea spilled onto my chest and I felt the burning sensation as they scalded my flesh. Then my body tensed as I triggered my shield. The red bubble grew, bouncing the burning liquids into Clarence and Aimee's faces along with their cups.

"Hot! Hot!" Aimee cried out as she ran off, looking for something to cool the coffee with. Clarence just stood there, wiping the tea off his face with his bare hand.

"Don't throw coffee at me next time!" I shouted after Aimee while checking my shirt. Thankfully, it was dry. I turned to Clarence who was staring at me. "What?"

Before Clarence could speak, Crazy shouted, "Group meeting everyone! Gather around please!"

As we did so, Crazy pulled out the map again. "Okay, so there are two routes we can take currently. There's the path north which would lead to another town and the southeastern path. The southeastern one would take us through the Mushroom Gorge and towards the second guardian so here's what I was thinking. We split up, with the first group taking the north path, clearing out the town of Spirits, and then moving to catch up with the second group who should still be at the Mushroom Gorge since it's a much larger area. Any objections?"

I raised my hand, "Question: Why is splitting up always our go-to plan?"

"Because it's more efficient this way," Crazy said as she looked at me, giving me a couple of exaggerated winks.

Ignoring this, Joker asked, "So, who's on the A team and who's on the B team?"

"About that," Crazy began, "I was thinking that Aimee, Piranha Plant and I could go on the North path while the other team would be you three. What does everyone think?"

"I have no objections. I am rather interested to see how a thief fights," Clarence said, turning a side-eye to Joker who smirked.

"And I'm interested to see how well you do in my dust."

Piranha Plant chomped into the air four times.

Aimee rolled her eyes before turning her attention to the inside panel of her arm cannon.

I paused for a moment.

Then I shrugged, "No objections."

Crazy has left your party.

Aimee has left your party.

Piranha Plant has left your party.

Save File 2: Saved

Party: Nathaniel, Oblivion(?), Clarence, Joker

Items: Nathaniel- Steel Diver, Fire Flower, Beehive, Fire Bar, Death's Scythe

Clarence-Special Flag

Joker-None

Smashers: Mario, Link, Kirby, Fox, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, Jigglypuff, Peach, Bowser, Sheik, Dr. Mario, Pichu, Marth, Lucario, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Little Mac, Inkling

Author's Theater:

As you attempt to enter the Theater, the doors inside are locked with a sign posted on the door.

"Due to immense property damage caused by a giant birthday cake, the Theater will be temporarily closed for the time being. We thank you for your patience and good faith in recent times."