…It's been exactly one year, three months, and twenty-six days since the last update…

I hope you've all been well. There's a lot to deal with, especially with the pandemic and protests. Be kind to one another, please, and don't hoard all the toilet paper.

Some good news: I graduated from college! But now I'm preparing for grad school, so don't expect weekly or even monthly updates anytime soon… I'll still be working on this story whenever I can, though.

This fanfic's title has changed once again (and so has my username)! This should be the last time this happens. The previous title didn't really fit with the overall plot, so here we are.

Chiaroscuro has recently been cross-posted on AO3, so I'd appreciate it if you give it some comments and kudos if you have an account over there.

Here's Chapter 7. It has a very "sci-fi" tone, for some reason. Please enjoy!

Chapter 7: First Contact

The pitch-black room was completely silent and the air was still. The lights that had once hummed with electricity and illuminated this space had long since fizzled and died out. Then something in the darkness stirred.

-ooo-

"…Where…am I?" asked King Dedede groggily as he slowly regained consciousness. Everything seemed to be spinning before his bleary eyes, and there was an uncomfortable feeling on the back of his head. He reached back and rubbed at it, and he immediately squawked in pain. "Ow-ow-OW!" he cried, now fully awake. "What gives? Who dare hit me, the great ruler of Dream Land, right on the noggin?!"

There was an incomprehensible mumble near him. He looked to his left to see a familiar pink puffball. "Ughhh…" Kirby groaned and yawned widely. His entire body ached. "…Why am I hurting all over?"

"You, too, huh," King Dedede remarked as he glanced around, eventually recognizing his surroundings as the Smash Mansion's living room. He and Kirby were sitting on the opposite ends of one of the sofas. "Wonder what happened to us. I haven't had a headache this big for a long time." He carefully felt the lump on the back of his head, wincing as he applied pressure to the wound. "Ooh. Ouch."

"I just wanna sleeeeeep," wailed Kirby in despair, much to King Dedede's amusement. "Everything hurts! It feels like I got set on fire!"

"Well, uh…if it helps, I feel like my head's about to split open," said King Dedede in a feeble attempt to make the pink puffball feel a little better. "But I want to take a nap, too. Let's head upstairs."

"Uwahhhh… I don't wanna move…"

The penguin king grimaced. "…Uh…I…guess I'll, uh…give you a lift. Just this once!" he said firmly when he saw Kirby's elated face, which quickly turned somber again. "I'm gonna charge a fee if you ask again, and it ain't gonna be cheap!"

"Meanie," said Kirby petulantly.

King Dedede sighed, but there was nothing else to say. Kirby was just a child, and it was nearly impossible to argue with children. Sliding off the sofa, the penguin took a moment to regain his balance before walking over to Kirby and scooping him up. The puffball was so exhausted that he hardly reacted to King Dedede gently tucking him under one arm. "I wonder how we got here, anyway," he mused, waddling to the archway that led to the hallway outside. "I don't think that place where we were fighting the Squeaks was in Smashville. It involved a Transport Gate, didn't it, Kirby? …Hey, Kirby?"

The puffball had fallen asleep and was quietly snoring. King Dedede chuckled softly. Kirby really earned this break, he thought. We couldn't have done it without him…and his love for food, I guess? As he lumbered down the hall and toward the foyer, he could hear the fuzzy voices of his fellow Smash Mansion residents echoing around the building, and he deduced that today's third and last Brawl had come to an end. Feeling the need to hear what was on his mind, he muttered, "Anyway, I wonder what's with those crazy Transport Gates…"

The three Transport Gates that surrounded Smashville Plaza were already there when Master Hand and Crazy Hand brought the Smashers to the town after they had defeated Tabuu and the Subspace Army. What each gate was made of was unknown—it was clear that the material was some kind of metal, but that was all that could be told. While Master Hand never explained the gates' construction, he knew how they functioned and instructed the Smashers on how to use them whenever they needed to travel to different worlds.

And on the topic of foreign constructions…

"Heck, the entire town was already here when we got here!" grumbled King Dedede upon entering the foyer, where he stopped to continue thinking aloud. "The buildings, everything in the plaza…even the whole Smash Mansion… Did Master Hand and Crazy Hand really make all of this themselves? What kind of power do they have?! Arghhhhh…"

The more he thought about it, the more he realized just how little he understood the circumstances of his new life in this strange world. And the more he thought about it, the worse his throbbing headache became. He shook his head, irritated. "I don't need just a nap… I also need some ice…"

"Who needs some ice?"

King Dedede stopped and looked down. Lucas was watching him with an inquisitive expression. "Also, why are you carrying Kirby like a basketball?" the boy asked.

King Dedede looked away, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "Th-that's unimportant!" he stammered. "Anyway, I need some ice! I gotta run to the kitchen—"

"Um, or you can just stay here and…" Lucas put his hands together and began to form a swirling ball of snow between them. He stopped when the ball was about the size of a grapefruit, and he offered it to the penguin king. "…let me give you this?"

"…Oh." King Dedede blinked a few times. "Right. I forgot you could do that. Well, thanks." He took the snowball from Lucas and gently applied it to the back of his head. "Ooh. Ouch."

Lucas wiped his wet, snow-covered hands off on his shorts. "What happened to you guys?" he asked concernedly.

"I'll just keep things short and say we got into a scrap with some…old friends," answered King Dedede cautiously. He decided not to talk about the False that he and Kirby had encountered—he had a good idea of how the fidgety Lucas would react to it. "Anyway, we were just about to head upstairs and take five."

"Take five what? Minutes?"

King Dedede guffawed at the boy's innocent naiveté. "Hah, I'd honestly take five weeks off if I could! Naw, kiddo—it's just going to be five hours, or maybe until it's time for dinner."

"Ohhh…" Lucas smiled sheepishly. "Then it must've been a pretty hard hit to the back of your head."

"You really don't want to know." King Dedede pressed the snowball against the back of his head with a little too much force. "Ouuuuch."

Ness ran out of the corridor on the opposite side of the foyer. "There you are, Lucas! I was wondering if you'd like to come with me to the plaza to check out the—oh! Hi, Triple D!" he exclaimed with some surprise when he saw the penguin with Lucas. "Glad you're okay!" In a hushed voice, he said, "Smashers left and right have been getting knocked out today…"

King Dedede winced. "Sucks to be us, I guess."

"Yeah. I guess so, too." Ness turned back to Lucas. "Let's go now so we can put this extra hour of free time to good use!"

"Oh! Yeah!" the other psychic boy hastily agreed. Turning back to King Dedede, he bowed a little and said, "Sorry for keeping you here. Hope you and Kirby will feel better soon!" He and Ness opened the Smash Mansion's entrance doors and dashed off, chatting enthusiastically about their plans for the rest of the day. King Dedede caught a few words of their conversation but quickly lost track as they ran farther and farther away.

"…Hwuhhhhhh…"

Kirby was half awake. He looked oddly comfortable in the crook of King Dedede's arm. He blinked twice before murmuring, "This isn't our room…"

King Dedede sighed in exhaustion. "I know, I know. We're almost there." He walked to the elevator doors and pushed the up button; the nearest of the three chimed and opened to reveal Meta Knight.

"Ah! Good afternoon, Your Majesty," the masked knight greeted King Dedede as he stepped inside. "You look like you've…been busy." He then noticed Kirby, who had fallen back asleep. "And Kirby, too, of course." In an amused tone, he said, "This is a most unusual sight! When did you two start getting along so well?"

"Aw, shut up," said King Dedede crossly. He punched the button labeled 4 and leaned against the wall as the doors closed and the elevator ascended. Changing the topic, he gestured toward Meta Knight's dirty gloves and cape and asked, "Halberd stuff?"

"As usual."

The elevator stopped on the second floor. "I need to grab some more towels," explained Meta Knight, exiting the elevator. "I was told the gym on this floor might have some spares…"

"Have fun," King Dedede called after him. When the doors closed and the elevator continued upward, he looked down at Kirby, who was still fast asleep. The snowball that Lucas had given him was starting to melt into slush, so he tossed it into a corner of the elevator. He reached the fourth floor and immediately went toward a door with a yellow Warp Star painted on it.

"Poyo," mumbled a blissful Kirby in his sleep when King Dedede placed him on his bed. The penguin king snorted before yawning widely. He turned around and dived into his own bed and lay right on top of the blankets.

I'll have a chat with…Master Hand…when…

He passed out.

-ooo-

The wrench slipped from Falco's grasp and clattered onto the floor of the command station with several piercing clangs. The avian grunted and wiped the sweat off his brow. None of this was getting any easier—not that he had expected it to, of course, but a glance through the shattered windows of the Battleship Halberd's bridge (1) left a sour taste in his mouth.

"Falco!" yelled someone from below. "Is everything okay up there?"

He recognized the voice as Blade Knight's. "It's all good," he called back. "Just dropped a wrench is all."

"Understood. Please let me or Sword Knight (2) know if you are in need of any extra help! We're still working on the Combo Cannon. Just say our names and we'll be there."

"Gotcha."

Falco had only known Meta Knight's assistants for a few months, but they were certainly two of the most hardworking people that he had ever seen. Their diligence was second to none and easily put his team to shame.

…All righty, he thought with a nervous smile. Star Fox needs to take some notes. These two here are setting an excellent example. Well then…

He bent down to pick up the wrench that he had dropped. At the same time, he heard the elevator doors slide open with a soft swoosh, and he tiptoed his way to the windows to see who it was. From his position in the highest point of the gargantuan Halberd, he could barely make out the tiny figures of Marth and Ike, who emerged from the elevator.

"…been slacking a little," Marth was saying to the other swordsman as the elevator closed its doors and traveled back up to pick up someone else. "How does tonight at six sound?"

"Sounds good," Ike said. "Do the other usual participants know?"

"Not yet, but—"

Falco cleared his throat loudly. "Hey, you guys!" he shouted, waving wildly. "How's it going? What are you doing here?"

Marth squinted a bit to see the avian Smasher in the bridge, and he waved back. "Oh, hello! We just wanted to see how the work on the Halberd was coming along." With a smirk, he asked, "And what are you doing? Working hard…or hardly working?"

"Oh, c'mon," groaned Falco as he tossed his wrench up and down. "I've been busting my ass off in here. My hands are sore and—whoops!" he exclaimed when he missed the wrench. It fell through the window and out of sight. Falco winced each time he heard it bounce off of a hard surface.

"Yikes!" Sword Knight yelped in surprise when it landed on his helmet.

The wrench eventually came to a stop on the floor of the hangar. It landed at Ike's feet, and the Crimean swordsman gave it a questioning look.

"Okay, see that?" Falco gestured below himself. "That's a sign that I've been working really hard and that it's time for a break." He climbed through the window and quickly went down the scaffolding that surrounded the bridge. Sword Knight and Blade Knight gave him disapproving looks as he passed them by before returning to work. He eventually reached the floor and walked over to Marth and Ike. "I'm heading out," he said as he bent down to snatch up the wrench at Ike's feet, which he then handed to Marth. "I might come back."

Ike snorted. "'Might'?"

The other Smasher shrugged. "It'll depend on my mood."

Marth glanced at the wrench in his hand, and then he craned forward to give the Halberd's stern a closer look. He was still thoroughly impressed by its sheer size, despite its dilapidated appearance. Quietly, he said, "I can't believe how quickly this powerful battleship had been destroyed. One good hit—" With his hands, he mimed an explosion. "—and boom, there it all went."

"But with some manpower, this baby's gonna be up and running in no time!" Falco replied optimistically.

At that moment, he saw a green helmet with red tassels poke out from the Halberd's stern's main deck. Blade Knight shouted, "This baby won't be running anywhere if you don't come back to help us later!"

"Yeah, Sir Meta Knight would really appreciate it," agreed an out-of-sight Sword Knight.

Blade Knight's helmet disappeared again. "It's not just him," the knight responded to his purple-armored companion. "We would, too." In a louder and more frustrated-sounding voice, he yelled, "Then we can finally get done with constructing—no, reconstructing this godforsaken thing for the millionth time!"

Ike flinched when he heard the sound of another wrench landing on Sword Knight's helmet. "Somebody's angry," he muttered as he gave Falco an uneasy look. "Are you sure those two won't be angry at you for leaving…?"

The avian waved off his concern. "Heck, what are they gonna do—sue me?" He laughed. "It'll be fine. I'm not ditching for good, of course. I just need something different to do for an hour or two." With a shrug, he added, "Or more. I did say it'll depend on my mood."

"It might be better to make a decision based on their moods," Marth pointed out as he pointed to where the Smashers saw Blade Knight.

But Falco was already walking away. "I'll think about it. Maybe I'll even sleep on it! That oughtta do some good." He waved goodbye to the two swordsmen. "I'll see you later, maybe. Tell Meta I'll be back in ten minutes."

"…Didn't you just imply that you would be gone for at least an hour?" asked Ike suspiciously.

By now, though, Falco was out of earshot, so he didn't respond. Marth and Ike watched as he walked along the length of the Halberd's stern, running his hand over the surface of its uneven hull, before turning around a corner and vanishing. The moment he had left, the elevator behind the swordsmen opened its doors again, and Meta Knight swooped out. His eyes were just peeking over the tall stack of towels that he was carrying.

"I have a job for you two," he said to Marth and Ike. "Come with me to the stern. Falco, if you still feel like working, I would like you to…" He looked around. "Falco?"

The avian was long gone. Meta Knight exhaled deeply. "I will never understand that bird…"

"He said he'd be gone for ten minutes," said Marth with a short laugh, "but I doubt his ten minutes is the same as the norm…"

"Of course you should doubt him. This is Falco we're speaking of. I don't think any of the Smashers have to know him as well as Fox does to be aware of his…personality. Oh, well—that's simply the way he is." Meta Knight threw the towels into Ike's arms. "Follow me. There should be a ladder on the starboard…"

In reality, Falco wasn't thinking about taking a nap. In fact, he wasn't even heading out, nor did he intend to. Once he had made sure that Meta Knight, Marth, and Ike weren't facing his direction, he dashed over to the Halberd's bow-side portion. This half of the battleship was in far worse condition than its other half, having taken the full brunt of the blast that had destroyed the ship. Its once distinct mask had been rendered unrecognizable—most of it had been burned or melted away, and there was a gaping hole in the center. Falco was debating the fastest way to reach the hole when he heard Ike's voice in the distance.

"Meta Knight, have you done any work on the other half of the Halberd yet?"

"No," the knight replied dejectedly. "The bow is currently off limits. Many sections of it have serious structural issues. I know of one area on the main deck that is so damaged that Kirby stood on it and fell right through the floor."

"Oh, goodness!" cried Marth in alarm. "Is he all right?"

"There's no need to worry about him. He's much tougher than he looks."

"Ah, the rare compliment from our favorite knight from Dream Land," Ike said sarcastically. "But why was Kirby there in the first place?"

"…I needed some way of assessing the severity of the damage done to the bow."

There was a pause. Falco could picture Marth and Ike processing Meta Knight's words and putting two and two together, and then—

"What?! You're horrible!"

"I'm having second thoughts about helping you out…"

"As I said, Kirby is much tougher than he looks," Meta Knight responded calmly. "He and I know each other well. I wouldn't do anything like that to either of you, however."

"…What's that supposed to mean?!"

Falco quietly snorted at Marth's protests. Meta Knight clearly had his own methods of handling things, but it was obvious that he also knew his peers very well. He was right about Kirby's resilience. After all, the pink puffball had been the one to deal the first—and finishing—blow to the Subspace Gunship.

But enough about Kirby, Falco thought. I'm here to check this thing out!

He walked backward until he was about twenty feet away from the Halberd's mask. Taking a moment to brace himself, he eyed the gaping hole in the mask, and then he flung himself forward. He pushed himself off the ground with as much force as he could and hurtled upward.

There!

The avian grabbed onto the bottom edge of the hole with one hand. He dangled there for a few seconds, breathing slowly to make himself as quiet as possible. When he was certain that the other Smashers still had no idea that he was still in the hangar, he grunted and hurriedly heaved himself up to perch on the hole's edge.

"…Whoa…"

From his vantage point, Falco could see directly into the Halberd's bow. It was like looking into a completely different world. The battleship's interior was dark and dreary and, in some areas, filled to the ceiling with debris. In the few rays of light that were able to penetrate the darkness, he could see particles of dust floating around. When he poked his head further inside, all the sounds in the second-floor basement were instantly muffled by the still air within the bow.

"Blade Knight, Sword Knight"—Meta Knight sounded so oddly far away—"how goes the work on the Combo Cannon?"

Disgruntled sighs followed the knight's question. "I'll start with the bad news," said Sword Knight. "We just discovered that the main cannon suffered a lot of water damage. We'll have to rebuild it from scratch. The good news is that the laser cannon is in surprisingly good condition, likely because its compartment remained closed when the Halberd was shot down."

"I see. Then this is what we shall do…"

Falco quickly tuned out Meta Knight's boring explanation of the logistics of recovering what could be salvaged. He looked around and saw a slab of concrete about ten feet below him. Slowly, he slid off the edge of the hole and landed on the platform.

"Quiet, quiet, quiet…!" he hissed when he started skidding down the concrete. His boots dislodged a few small pebbles that echoed through the Halberd's bow as they tumbled down, making a sound reminiscent of the pattering of light rain. At last, Falco landed at the bottom of the concrete slab, where he stood stock still for several seconds.

"Ike, please place the towels right over there," he heard Meta Knight instructing. "We're going to dismantle the Combo Cannon and remove all the water-damaged components…"

Falco began to breathe again. "At least I haven't been caught…yet," he said to himself with a tense chuckle.

Heaps of rubble lay before him. The avian wasn't as familiar with the battleship as some of the other Smashers were, so he had no idea what he was looking at. In the dark and dusty space, everything looked unsafe. He didn't know where to begin exploring.

"Never thought I'd live to see the Battleship Halberd in such a sad state of affairs," he murmured as he gazed around. His eyes swept across the wreckage. "How are we ever gonna…"

His voice slowly trailed away when he caught sight of something faintly glinting from behind a heap of concrete fragments. He squinted at it to get a better look. It was metallic and had a rusty bronze color.

Well, he thought, maybe I should start th—

Something made a sound from behind the metal.

"Oh, sh—"

-ooo-

"—it," Fox breathed in disbelief. "Is that really…?"

Peppy was mystified. "What's happening? What are you talking about?"

The foreign transmission spluttered and flashed on the Arwing's HUD. The voice of Fox's father said, "I—repeat. This—is James McCloud—speaking. Do you—read me?"

"Fox, my boy!" exclaimed Peppy with concern. "You look like you're seeing a ghost!"

Fox swallowed hard and looked down. He was clutching his Arwing's thrust lever so hard that his knuckles had turned white, and he quickly let go. His palms felt sweaty and his pulse was quickening. "…Peppy?" he said hoarsely. "I… I gotta go."

"H-hey! What's goin'—"

The vulpine ended the transmission, and the old rabbit's video screen vanished from the dashboard's HUD. He stared at the blurry video that had interrupted his call, wondering what to say. Before he could come up with anything, James spoke again.

"Hel—lo? Does anybody—" Suddenly, his video screen disappeared.

Fox's eyes widened. "No," he gasped, panic rising in his chest. "No, no, no, no, no. Don't go. Please don't go. Not after all this time!" He sat up in his seat and punched several buttons on the Arwing's dashboard. Several controls flickered to life, glowing light green. "Comms—online," he muttered. "Flight controls—check. Weapon systems—online. G-Diffuser system…fuel—ugh," he groaned when he saw that the Arwing's fuel was only a fourth full. For a split second, he hesitated.

"…No," he decided. "There's no time." Deep down, he knew he was likely making a huge mistake, but at this moment James took priority over any other matter. He continued to go down his checklist, breathing deeply when he finished. "All systems go."

A round of static burst through his headset, but something interrupted the transmission again. He exhaled noisily, knowing that he didn't have any time to waste. He started up the Arwing's engine and activated the green eyepiece attached to his headset; the small panel of glass flipped over his right eye and rapidly adjusted to his line of sight before syncing to the Arwing's radar and weapon systems. As the starfighter's engine warmed up, Fox tightly gripped the thrust lever with his left hand and the control stick with his right.

"Open the hangar doors."

At the other end of the long runway were the massive doors. At Fox's command, the steel panels began to simultaneously slide upward. Sunlight poured into the basement; a few rays struck Fox right in the eyes, blinding him. He squinted several times to accustom himself to the light.

"Preparing for takeoff—"

With three deep clangs, the doors reached their uppermost positions. The sound resonated all around the hangar.

"—in five…four…three…"

The engine of his Arwing suddenly flared with bright blue flames.

"…two…one—"

Propelled by the Arwing's fully engaged engine, the small platform that carried the starfighter shot forward. It rapidly glided along an electromagnetic rail that ran parallel with the runway, and when it hit the end of the rail, the Arwing was launched into the open air (3) of the cloudy October afternoon.

"Here we go." Fox opened his Arwing's wings to their widest angle and flew to a higher altitude. "Where…"

His headset crackled again. "The clouds—" came James' distressed voice. "Hurry—!"

Fox immediately took off toward the gray clouds, some of which briefly flashed blue. His heart was racing. Within seconds, he went through the clouds and into the clear of the stratosphere (4), where he instantly spotted another starfighter that was several miles away from his position. Although its surface was battered and its overall design looked somewhat outdated, he could easily tell that it was an Arwing. It was wildly darting through the air.

What the… Fox pulled back on his Arwing's control stick, guiding his starfighter toward the other Arwing. He activated his headset, steeled himself, and spoke into the microphone. "James…McCloud? Do you read me?"

The Arwing continued to fly in circles, though it seemed to slow down a bit. However, its pilot did not respond. Through clenched teeth, Fox said again, "Do you read me?"

All of a sudden, blue flames burst out of the other Arwing's engine, and the starfighter zipped away.

"Whoa, hey!" Fox boosted his Arwing's engines and followed James' starfighter. Although the other Arwing had clearly been through many more missions and dogfights than Fox's had, it was still able to maintain an impressive flight speed. Its pilot's skill in maneuvering the starfighter was evident as well, as Fox was struggling to keep up with the Arwing's erratic flying.

"Wait—hey, wait!"

The other Arwing showed no sign of slowing down. It abruptly pulled into a steep dive and flew into the clouds below. Fox cursed as he, too, plunged into the clouds in pursuit of the starfighter. The gray clouds obscured his vision but had no effect on his radar, allowing his eyepiece to maintain its reticle on James' Arwing.

"Boy, do I love technology," he muttered dryly.

The Arwing in front of him ducked and weaved through the clouds, continuing to fly as though its pilot had no destination in mind. It was barely visible now. Fox had no idea how it was able to fly around like this despite its decrepit appearance. As he attempted to speak into his headset, James' Arwing flew off with a sudden burst of speed, the blue flames spewing from its engine glowing even brighter.

"Oh, come on!" Fox screamed into his headset. "No more games!" He yanked back on his Arwing's thrust lever and went after James. "You were talking before—why not now?!"

The other pilot remained silent as his Arwing hurtled back out of the clouds at breakneck speed. Fox's heart pounded against his chest and blood roared through his ears. It was becoming difficult for him to keep his emotions under control. Why the hell was that bastard not responding?

"My apologies."

Fox jumped in his seat, startled by the voice. "What—"

The Arwing ahead of him suddenly deployed its air brakes, causing Fox to fly right past it. His eyes widened and, swearing under his breath, he pulled on his Arwing's control stick to turn around.

"You goddamn—"

He cut himself off when, from the corner of his eye, he noticed an odd shimmer. With a jolt, he realized that James' Arwing was beginning to take on a golden glow. A thin layer of light covered its dented gray surface. Fox jerked the control stick to the right and performed a tight U-turn to face the other Arwing again, just in time to see it swerve dangerously from side to side.

"Your Arwing's gonna fall apart if you keep this up, James!" he hollered. He had no idea if James was even receiving any of his transmissions, but he continued anyway. "Enough already! This is Fox McCloud. I'm a friend, I'm on your side, I'm—I'm…" He breathed shakily as he took a moment to prepare to say the next words. "…I'm your son!"

Immediately after he had said this, James' Arwing came to an abrupt halt and hovered above the clouds. Fox slowed his Arwing and cautiously approached the other starfighter, which remained in place and continued to glow as the Smasher stopped about a hundred feet away from it.

"J—Dad? Can you…" He had to pause to calm himself down. James was so close… "Do you remember me?"

The blurry profile of a fox wearing a pair of dark sunglasses appeared on his HUD. He whispered a steady stream of oaths as he stared at the video and threw glances at the glowing Arwing before him. His mind had gone blank.

James was so close…

"…It really is you, Fox."

The vulpine Smasher sat there, startled, as the sunglasses-wearing fox flashed the briefest of solemn smiles. He spoke with sympathy.

"Trust your instincts."

His Arwing became fully enveloped in golden light, shining brightly like a star. At the same time, the video feed on Fox's HUD faded away and was replaced by a green Star Fox logo. The Smasher shouted in panic and confusion as he raised a hand to shield his eyes from the painful light, which grew brighter and brighter. It gleamed on the clouds below him, turning them from gray into a blinding white. Just as he thought he couldn't take it anymore, James' Arwing, which by now was nothing more than a blazing ball of light, dipped sharply into the clouds like a meteor before resurfacing a moment later. The golden light soared past Fox at such an incredible speed that his radar was unable to keep up with it.

"W-wait!" Fox pulled his thrust lever to its farthest position, causing his Arwing to shoot after the beam of light at maximum speed. The light was impossibly fast—with each passing second, it put more and more distance between itself and Fox, who was growing increasingly desperate.

"Don't go, don't go, don't go, don't leave—"

But nothing in the world could catch up with it, and nothing in the world could stop it, either. The ball of light that was once James' Arwing flashed even more brightly than before, forcing Fox to look away. He blindly flew his Arwing toward the light.

"—don't leave, don't leave, please don't l—"

A high-pitched siren started to shriek—the Arwing's fuel was dangerously low. He had to land within the next few minutes or risk running out of fuel in midair.

"Trust your instincts."

James' last words echoed in Fox's head as he sat there in silence. Even though he knew it was hopeless, he continued to chase after the light. He wanted to follow it into the depths of space, past the moon, past the planets, past the stars. Anything to see his father and hear his voice again.

"Trust your instincts."

Fox turned around and flew back to the Smash Mansion.

-ooo-

"The Pokérus is, as you may have guessed from its name, a virus that only infects Pokémon," Master Hand explained to Mario. "It is highly contagious. However, it is unique in that most Pokémon Trainers, if not all, would actually love to infect their entire party of Pokémon with this virus because it can make an infected Pokémon stronger than usual."

The doctor's eyes widened a little as he put a hand to his chin. "Hm!" he said with some interest. "So it is a mutualistic virus!"

"Indeed," agreed Master Hand. "However, I am unable to think of any Pokémon that Lucario had recently come in contact with who could have been infected." He was still staring at the curtains. "On top of that, the Pokérus is exceedingly rare. The chances of encountering an infected Pokémon are about twenty thousand to one."

"Mama mia, that is rare…"

"Indeed. I am intrigued."

Mario considered the hand's words for a moment before asking, "But if the Pokérus is a good thing…does that mean I've got nothing to worry about?"

"I would avoid saying that the Pokérus is for certain a good thing," said Master Hand as he turned around to face the doctor. "It is impossible to categorize things as simply good or bad. For now, I suggest that you keep a close eye on Lucario for the next few days. Keep him in quarantine—you never know what might happen."

"Okee-dokee," said Mario. "I'm going back to the medical room to see how Lucario is doing. It's good to know that he should be fine!" Smiling at Master Hand, he continued, "Thank you for your time. I think that's all I need to know for now." He turned on his heel, went to the door, and opened it. "Have a good rest of your day!" He exited the office with a more confident bounce in his stride.

Master Hand watched the doctor go before telepathically shutting the door again with a flick of his finger. At least he remained in good spirits…

Just as he was thinking this, a giant left hand appeared in his office with a short burst of reddish smoke.

"Ahhh…hello, Crazy Hand," said Master Hand a little warily, waving the smoke away. "I have not seen you for a short while."

Crazy Hand's fingers were twitching uncontrollably as usual. However, Master Hand noticed that there seemed to be some nervous trembling accompanying the quick movements. "Something appears to be troubling you," he observed. "Is something the matter? Did you destroy yet another object of extreme value?" He chuckled. "I will simply have to repair it again. This is considered our daily routine, is it not?"

Rather than respond to his statement, the other hand rapidly shook from side to side. In a quiet voice that was very unlike him, he asked fretfully, "D-d-does he know?"

Master Hand was confused by this. Then he understood what Crazy Hand meant. "No, he does not," he said in a gentler tone. "No one knows. Our secret is still safe between the two of us."

Crazy Hand sniffled a little as his fingers steadied slightly. "But…what if they find out…?"

"They will," replied Master Hand, choosing not to sugarcoat the matter, "but in due time. They must learn everything at their own pace. And none of them will not fully understand it until Lucario does."

"I think that's gonna take a reeeeeally long time…"

"Well, perhaps. And perhaps not. Who knows? We are not omnipotent."

Making frustrated noises, Crazy Hand began to aimlessly drift around the room. "Well, here's what I don't get," he said. "Why can't we just tell them? Why keep hiding it?!"

Master Hand curled his fingers into a loose fist. It was unfortunate that Crazy Hand was rarely taken seriously—he certainly wasn't dumb. "This is why!" he said, his voice sounding strained. "You must not forget why we are here in the first place!"

"'We' as in… Oh."

"Yes. You must never forget."

Crazy Hand suddenly stopped in place. He was shivering. "…H-hey, bro," he whimpered. "Can you, uh… Can you pull up the curtains?"

Without replying, Master Hand pointed at the gray curtains, which lifted over the office's three windows. Crazy Hand relaxed a bit when sunlight entered the room. "Thanks," he said softly. "I'm kinda embarrassed."

"Oh, you," said Master Hand with a small laugh, and he playfully poked the left hand. "What is there to be embarrassed about?"

"Well, like…" Crazy Hand lifted his thumb and pinky for a moment. "…I'm…uhhh…scared of the dark? Or more like…I'm scared when there's no light. That's a little embarrassing, dontcha think? Maybe even more than just being scared of the dark…"

Master Hand waved him off. "Nonsense! That is a perfectly valid fear."

"Awww, I'm already feeling a lot better. Thanks, bro."

The two hands exchanged a fist bump. "What do you have planned for the rest of the day?" asked Master Hand, quickly changing the topic.

Crazy Hand instantly perked up. "I'm gonna find Sonic and throw him into the pool!" he proclaimed.

The more sensible hand just groaned. "Oh, dear. You seem to have committed to this plan long before I even asked the question…"

"DUH! Gotta plan ahead to commit to the plan! Right?!"

"I…suppose. Well, you know full well that I cannot stop you. But I will hound you down if your antics become excessively…deranged."

"Wow! That sounds AWESOME!"

With a long sigh, Master Hand relaxed his fingers, relieved to hear Crazy Hand gradually coming back to his usual, hyperactive self. "Well, whatever you say. Good luck, er, catching Sonic."

The left hand, adrenalized once more, did a happy little twirl. "He can't get away from me!" he squawked. "It's no use!" With that final declaration, he vanished with a quick snap of his fingers, leaving Master Hand alone in his office.

"…Hmm." The hand faced the door, pondering Crazy Hand's words. "Sometimes, I feel like that hand is too perceptive for his own good. At least we have here a wide variety of things to distract him from the past." He chuckled to himself before falling silent again. "But…he is right to be afraid."

Crazy Hand's fears weren't unfounded—it was without a doubt that danger continued to lurk beyond Smashville. Master Hand didn't want to admit it, but he, too, was afraid. He wasn't entirely sure if he and his brother had fully succeeded in escaping their pasts, and it didn't help that they had no way of knowing if they had. After all, neither of the hands, despite their great powers, could see the future. All they could do was tread carefully.

"I just hope Crazy Hand will have enough sense to know how to tread carefully," said Master Hand to himself. "I wonder why he never behaves as one normally should under certain circumstances."

As for the Smashers…they simply couldn't know yet. They wouldn't understand. It wouldn't be until they had seen it for themselves that they would.

Master Hand slowly turned around and felt the sun's afternoon rays shine down on his fingers. Although it was a somewhat overcast day, the sun was still easily able to penetrate the blanket of cotton ball-like clouds and bathe Smashville in a warm, pale yellow light.

He despised that light.

-ooo-

Since it was still early afternoon, there was quite a bit of activity in Smashville Plaza when Ness and Lucas entered it. The plaza, which was home to several businesses owned by people from a wide variety of worlds, was crawling with locals and tourists. A few Smashville residents waved to Ness and Lucas when they saw them, and the boys waved back.

"Okay," said Ness excitedly as he turned to Lucas. "I heard from Pikachu and Jigglypuff that there's a new shop in town. Apparently, it's a café that serves drinks using ingredients from the Pokémon world!"

"That's pretty neat!" the other boy replied. "What's it called?"

"Spinda's Café, I think. It's actually not open yet, but I thought we could sneak a peek and…I dunno…" Ness blushed a little and looked away from Lucas as he quietly concluded, "…possibly get an early bird discount?"

Lucas started to laugh. In response, Ness started to panic.

"Th-that's reasonable…right?!" he asked in desperation. "If we show our interest in the shop as early as we could, the owner would appreciate it and offer us more sweet deals the more we go! Although…it would probably mean more to him if we paid in full each time we buy something—"

"Ness, Ness," interrupted Lucas, still chuckling, "you're overthinking it. Let's just go. Where is it?"

"Ah—" His friend managed to quickly regain his composure. "Right, uh…" He glanced around himself as he adjusted his baseball cap. "…You know, they actually never told me where the place was…"

The perimeter of Smashville Plaza, which was roughly in the shape of a large square, was lined with multiple restaurants, cafés, clothing stores, grocery stores, and other small shops. A few structures stood out among the others; this included the Smashville Clock Tower and a large department store called T&T Emporium, which was owned and run by two raccoon brothers from Animal Crossing. In the center of the plaza was a to-scale replica of the Fountain of Dreams in Dream Land. Neither Ness nor Lucas could see anything that resembled a café owned by somebody from a Pokémon world.

"Let's look for it, then," suggested Lucas.

The boys walked further into the plaza, searching for Spinda's Café. They passed a couple of Rito who were talking excitedly about how a businessman named Beedle was currently in town. A Mii wearing the uniform of the Smashville Postal Service raced by, clutching a small package. A group of colorful, aquatic-looking creatures crowded around a sign that displayed a map of the city. One of the creatures looked up just in time to spot Ness and Lucas.

"Wowee!" she cried as she pointed at them. "Aren't you two of the Super Smash Brothers?!"

At the mention of "Super Smash Brothers," the rest of the group whirled around and ogled at Ness and Lucas, who stared back at them. They had never seen creatures like these before. Each one was slightly taller than either of them and looked like a cross between a human child and a squid. Their large eyes had thick black markings around them, making it look like they were wearing masks. The creatures also had shiny, brightly-colored hair…but upon closer inspection, the boys realized that everyone's "hair" was actually made up of several tentacles.

"Yeah, we're Smashers, but…whoa…!" exclaimed Ness. "I'm super sorry if this sounds kinda rude, but…what exactly are you guys?"

One of the creatures began to laugh, her orange pigtails…tentacles…things bouncing on either side of her head, and she said, "Don't be silly!" To Ness and Lucas' surprise, her bubbly voice sounded like she was talking underwater, which made it slightly difficult to understand her. "It takes a lot to offend any of us. Well, with the exception of Adrian, maybe…"

One of the male creatures who had green hair and wore a skull bandana over the lower half of his face just sighed in exasperation.

"But to answer your question," continued the orange-haired girl, "we're Inklings!"

"Part kid, part squid!" an Inkling girl with purple hair cheered.

"What she said," confirmed the first Inkling. "We're on a week-long vacation in Smashville! We're leaving tomorrow, so I'm stoked that we got to see some Smashers in person before taking off."

"That's awesome!" Ness said. "Well, I'm Ness and this is my good friend Lucas." He glanced at Lucas, who was trying to avoid making eye contact with any of the Inklings. "C'mon, Lucas, say hi."

The blond-haired boy hated that he was so painfully shy. Whenever he encountered somebody new, it felt like the entire world had its eyes on him. He forced himself to look at the orange Inkling. "Er…h-hey, I'm Lucas," he stammered. He felt his face burning and quickly turned away from her to stare at his red and yellow sneakers. "I-I-I'm sorry…"

Ness put an arm around Lucas' shoulders to comfort him, while the orange Inkling tilted her head to the side. "Don't apologize for who you are," she said kindly. "Certain things are just harder for some people than they are for others." With a smile, she said, "Anyways, I'm Ayu!" Then she gestured to the other Inklings. "And these are my buddies."

A blue Inkling boy waved at Ness and Lucas. "Call me Trent! And that there is Adrian."

The green Inkling boy called Adrian just nodded once. He clearly wasn't the talkative type.

A pink Inkling girl sporting a red and white cap jumped up and down. "BOOYAH!" she whooped loudly. "The name's Nixie! Nice to meetcha!"

A cyan Inkling boy with a pair of glasses winced when Nixie yelled right into his ear. "Calm down, Nix," he admonished her. "It's not like we're about to fight them or something." He redirected his attention to Ness and Lucas and said, "Well, I'm Tampa. Good to know you."

The purple Inkling from before giggled as she adjusted her hair clip. "Hiya, I'm Indy!"

"And last but not least, I'm Caspian," finished an indigo Inkling boy who was decked out in skate gear, even though there wasn't a single skateboard to be found. "Think you got all our names (5) down?"

"No," said Ness very truthfully, "but I guess we'll just do our best."

"Then I wish you the best of luck!" said Indy with a playful expression. "We're actually missing a teammate right now because she's out on a mission—"

Adrian sighed again, but the other Inkling ignored him.

"—but she says hi and sorry for missing the trip!"

"Aw, that's too bad. What's her name?"

"If I told you, I don't think you'd remember her name…let alone all of ours."

"Hey!" Ness cried indignantly. "I'm sure I can remember your names! I mean…if you guys continue to visit us, it'll be easier for us to remember them…"

"Then I've got some great news for you!" said Trent, grinning widely. "We got access to the Smash World not too long ago, so you'll definitely be seeing us again."

Lucas' curiosity eventually got the better of him, and he found himself speaking up. "Uhhh…s-sorry, but…what do you mean by 'got access'…?"

Trent explained that a special method of transportation had recently been established between Smashville and Inkopolis, the Inklings' hometown. It was called the Interdimensional Hyperspeed Skyway, and it functioned much like a normal subway system apart from the fact it allowed its passengers to travel between completely separate dimensions within a matter of a few hours. Ness and Lucas learned that Transport Gates connecting the Inklings' world and the Smash World were currently being constructed, but because of stability issues caused by the great distance between the dimensions that each world was located in, it would take a while before they would be fully functional.

"So that might explain why I hadn't seen you guys sooner," Ness surmised. "The Wild World must've gotten working Transport Gates earlier because it's closer to us than you are. Who built the Skyway?"

Ayu shrugged. "Not anyone we know, that's for sure. It just sort of appeared out of nowhere. And it uses some ridiculously sophisticated technology! It must've taken a really long time to construct. But we do know it's operated by…ummm…" Her face scrunched up in concentration as she tried to remember the term.

"Humans?" supplied Tampa.

"Right! The conductor and attendants were all humans." Ayu's orange eyes were huge. "Real, living humans! It was incredible! Not sure why they all referred to themselves as 'me,' though…"

Lucas was about to ask why it was so shocking to see humans when Adrian reached over and poked Ayu's shoulder to get her attention. Then he tapped his wrist.

"Oops!" said Ayu. "I hate to cut this short, but I forgot we're on a time limit. We gotta explore!" She winked and suddenly struck an odd pose, raising one leg in the air and holding her arms out like a zombie. "Booyah!"

Lucas was bewildered. "What are you—"

Trent roughly elbowed Ayu, knocking her over. Ignoring her protesting cries, he said apologetically, "I'd explain if we had more time. Ness, Lucas, it was really nice to meet you! I hope we'll be seeing each other again real soon."

"Yeah, same here!" Ness replied. "Next time you come, I want to give you a tour of the Smash Mansion!"

The Inklings took this in with much excitement. "We'd love that," gushed Nixie. "Ooh, tell Master Hand that ATLANTIC will come by someday!"

Ness and Lucas looked at each other. "ATLANTIC?"

But then the Inklings realized that they were behind schedule, so by the time Ness and Lucas had given up on deciphering the meaning of the word, their new acquaintances were already running off to their next destination.

-ooo-

Snake's mailbox was still empty.

Each resident of the Smash Mansion had a personal mailbox in his or her room. Every piece of mail that was delivered to the mansion would mysteriously find its way to the proper addressee and turn up in that person's mailbox. It was a system that few questioned because it worked quite effectively. A few of the many Miis who lived in Smashville were the town's mail carriers, and as far as Snake was concerned, they were always on time. His package, which was supposed to have arrived three days ago, was a fairly important one—and he needed it for tomorrow.

The mercenary began to wonder if it was because of the unusual contents of the package. He couldn't think of anybody besides himself who had anything to do with them, and even he hardly used them nowadays. But he knew someone who was very fond of them.

Well, he used to know someone.

Snake eventually decided that staring at his empty mailbox was getting him nowhere. He leaned forward and immediately winced. The ice pack that Mario had given him helped numb most of the pain caused by the nasty bruise on his stomach, but half of it had already melted and the condensation on the outside of the bag was making a mess. He set the ice pack on his nightstand and stood up with a grunt.

Might as well take a walk.

He pocketed his bandana, gave the worn photograph taped to the wall beside his bed a cursory glance, and left his room. He shut the door without locking it—there was nothing of interest in there for him to care too much about other Smashers snooping around. He knew they wouldn't, anyway. When he started making his way down the hall, he noticed that the mansion was fairly quiet—the last Brawl of the day must have finished a while ago. With a small frown, Snake thought back to his and Lucario's Brawl from this morning. He wondered how the Pokémon was doing now.

Normally, the mercenary would ignore the elevator and take the stairs all the way from the fifth floor to the first. He wasn't too fond of elevators. But he realized that he didn't have much of a choice this time—pain throbbed throughout his body with each step he took. He entered the first elevator that opened its doors, pressed the button for the first floor, and closed his eyes as the doors slid shut, trying not to think about the small space that enclosed him.

"Oh, Snake!" exclaimed a familiar voice a short moment later. The mercenary reopened his eyes and looked down to see Mr. Game & Watch standing before him. Then he saw that he had reached his destination. He stepped into the lobby, while the two-dimensional Smasher passed him to enter the elevator.

"I heard about what had happened," the other Smasher said sympathetically. "How are you doing?"

"Could be better," Snake grumbled. "But thanks for your concern."

Mr. Game & Watch waved at him. "Well, take care of yourself, okay?" he said right before the elevator doors closed.

Snake just shook his head with a furrowed brow. He still couldn't understand how a being such as Mr. Game & Watch could exist. A two-dimensional creature in a three-dimensional world… As he pondered this, he walked through the mansion's foyer and toward the front doors.

"Where should I go today?" he then asked himself. "The plaza's too busy…and I'm not a fan of that forest…" He pulled one of the doors open and grimaced when a ray of sunlight hit him right in the eyes. It took him a few seconds to adjust to the new lighting. "Maybe I should stay close to the mansion and just go around one of the quieter neighborhoods in the town…"

As he shut the door, he suddenly became aware of somebody shouting his name. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw a figure in blue clothing jogging up the hill that the Smash Mansion sat on. It was one of the mail carrier Miis, and he had a small cardboard box tucked under his arm. Snake recognized this Mii, having passed him by multiple times and occasionally chatting with him during his trips around Smashville.

"Cutting it a bit close this time, don't you think, Marcel?" he called, secretly relieved to see that his package had finally arrived in one piece.

The Mii named Marcel reached the top of the hill and handed the box to the mercenary, panting as he did. "I'm so sorry," he apologized breathlessly. "The moment your package appeared in the post office, I was off and running. It looked pretty important, so I thought it would be a good idea to deliver it to you personally. I'm not too late, am I?"

"Well…not really," said Snake with a chuckle. "Thanks."

Marcel grinned as he attempted to neaten his short blond hair. "You know, the reason why it took your package so long to deliver was because of the specificity of your order," he explained. "I mean…that particular brand?" He shrugged. "We had to dig through a bunch of directories because no one had ever heard of it. It took us a while to find it."

"Is that so?" Snake felt bad for the Mii and the other mail carriers. "Damn, sorry about that. I should've just hopped over to my world and bought 'em there. I'm heading there tomorrow, anyway."

"I see," said Marcel, giving the package in Snake's hand a look. "You're going to your world? Will you be visiting some friends?"

"…Er…sort of," said Snake after a pause.

Marcel nodded, hearing the discomfort in the mercenary's voice. "Well, I'd best be going. My shift just ended, but I'll be late for the dueling club if we continue talking… Sorry again that your delivery took so long to arrive." He waved goodbye to Snake. "See you around. Take care!"

Snake watched the Mii run back down the hill. "Take care," huh? he thought. That's the second one in ten minutes. Am I really looking that shabby?

He glanced at the box in his hands, feeling its shape and weight. It wasn't very heavy—in fact, it couldn't weigh more than a pound. But to him, it seemed to carry the weight of the world.

-ooo-

Falco immediately placed a hand on the grip of his Blaster, which was tucked into its holster on his right side. There was definitely something behind that pile of rubble. Inanimate objects could not make sounds by themselves, after all.

Unless, he thought with some uncertainty, I knocked something out of place while sliding down that concrete slab…but that couldn't be it, could it?

He took a few steps closer to the rusty, bronze-colored metal, his boots crunching over tiny bits of concrete. Whatever had made the sound before was now silent, which only made him feel more on edge.

"Come out, come out, wherever—and whatever—you are…" he muttered under his breath.

Nothing responded. How typical.

"Tch. Am I really gonna be doing this the hard way?" Falco tiptoed to the pile of rubble, which was concealing most of the metallic object. Keeping his right hand on his Blaster, he used his other hand to brush the rubble away, little by little. He managed to get rid of all the smaller pieces, but there were still a few larger ones in the way. With a long sigh, he let go of his Blaster and used both hands to roll the heftier pieces of debris aside, revealing the rusty metal in its entirety.

His eyes widened.

The metal belonged to a bronze-colored door. It was completely covered in rust and scorch marks and hung at an awkward angle, but it was clearly a door of some kind. Falco closely examined it and took in its design. Four thin strips of metal, two horizontal and two vertical, ran across its surface, and there were four narrow slots near the bottom that appeared to provide ventilation for the room that the door had once been a part of.

"Jeez," he muttered in a moment of sudden revelation. "It's a Halberd door. And…ah."

The door was still attached to a room that—from the outside, at least—appeared to be almost entirely intact.

Falco shook his head in disbelief. "Hell… The good news is the Halberd isn't a total loss. One room is better than—"

He was interrupted by a rumble that shook the entire second-floor basement. He quickly crouched down and watched the pebbles at his feet bounce across the floor. The Smashers outside yelled out, startled by the noise, while Falco's eyes widened when he realized what was causing the rumbling.

That's an Arwing booting up! And there's only one other Smasher who flies one… With an irritated huff, he thought, Now what's Fox up to?!

The rumbling became louder and louder as the Arwing's engine warmed up, eventually growing to a roar. Then a metallic groan joined the commotion—the hangar doors were opening.

"We really need to talk to Master Hand about putting all functioning vehicles in a separate hangar!" Blade Knight hollered over the din.

Falco closed his eyes and clapped his hands over his ears when the Arwing's thunderous engine roared to life and resonated throughout the hangar. The starfighter took off a moment later, the sound of its engine disappearing as quickly as it had come. When he couldn't hear it anymore, the avian reopened his eyes and uncovered his ears and was instantly awed at how quiet the entire second-floor basement had suddenly become.

"…Whew!" he heard Sword Knight remark. He sounded a bit rattled. "Er, that sure was…something."

Blade Knight laughed at his friend's lack of words.

Falco let out a shuddering sigh. He was worried about Fox—the vulpine had been extremely shaken up by Wolf's words during their Brawl. Wolf had brought up a touchy subject, and it didn't help that he was the one to have mentioned something about it. But Falco knew that when Fox wanted to be alone, he had to be left alone. He likely took off in his Arwing just to take a breather.

Sooooo…that leaves me with my predicament…

Falco was still alone in the darkness of the Halberd's bow, along with whatever was inside the room he had just discovered. He gave the door ahead of him a suspicious look, and then he steeled himself for the worst and approached it, this time taking his Blaster out of its holster. He half expected the door to automatically slide open, which wouldn't have made sense since there was no power running through the battleship, and it looked like it was jammed, anyway. He pressed the side of his face against the door's rough surface and listened intently.

There was silence…and then something on the other side moved.

With a yelp, he leaped back and aimed his Blaster at the door with quivering hands. Whatever was inside the sealed room must have been startled, too, because Falco heard pebbles bouncing and rolling around. He knew he didn't do that.

C'mon, Lombardi! he furiously scolded himself. You've faced everything from Aparoids to the Venomian Army—and won. Some little noises could never hurt ya. You're armed and you've got a whole list of tricks to show off. And hey, you're a Smasher! Smashers aren't afraid of sounds. Hell, you were one of the last guys standing when you took down Tabuu! Takes a decent bit of skill to do that, wouldn't you agree?

His confidence slightly boosted by his own pep talk, he stepped toward the door once more. His inner voice drowned out everything around him. There was only the rusty bronze door. He inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth, listening to the rhythmic pattern of his breathing to calm his nerves. Then, with his free hand, he reached out and cautiously slipped his fingers through the door's ventilation slots, and he attempted to lift the door.

"…Urghhhh…!"

The door was stuck fast—the rust that covered its surface kept it firmly in place. Gnashing his teeth, Falco tugged at the door again, but it refused to budge. He took his hand back out and glared at the door. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins.

"All right, all right…" he seethed, and he shoved his fingers into the slots again. "All RIGHT!"

With a sudden surge of newfound strength, he managed to wrench the door open; it hurled upward with a long, grating shriek and stopped in place halfway up. Falco cringed at the sound—the Smashers working on the Halberd couldn't have missed that. But he'd already gotten this far and there was no turning back now.

As if to confirm his thoughts, Ike's voice floated into the dark, dusty space of the Halberd's bow. "Did you hear that?"

"Yes," Falco heard Meta Knight reply. "I think it came from inside the bow."

"Now I understand why you haven't worked on that half of the ship yet," said Marth anxiously.

Meta Knight sounded uncharacteristically smug as he said, "I did say there were serious structural issues…"

They seemed to believe that something within the bow had collapsed on its own. Falco started breathing a little easier, knowing that they were still unaware of his sneaking around in the bow. He ducked his head and peeked into the room, struggling to see anything at all. But the room was pitch-black. The avian blindly crept into the room, hyper-aware of every sound around him. He could hear the other Smashers taking the Combo Cannon apart piece by heavy piece. He could hear the gentle breeze that entered the second-floor basement through the hangar doors that Fox had forgotten to close. He could hear an alien gurgle from somewhere to his left. He could hear his own heart frantically beating away. He could—

Falco whirled around, spooked by the noise, and fired his Blaster twice. Both shots pinged off of a chunk of metal that lay in a corner of the room and burned two shallow dents on its surface. The avian's blood ran cold when he heard something let out a frightened cry.

"Gotcha!" He launched himself at the debris in a flying kick, planting his right foot on the metal and knocking it aside. When he returned to the ground, he drew his Blaster again…and came face to face with an odd creature.

The creature was crouching on the floor and holding its shaking, brown gloved-fists before itself. It wore a dull green uniform with a white collar and a cylindrical cap with a red feather sticking straight up from the center. Its face and limbs were black and its red eyes glowed faintly in the darkness. A cloud of purple particles spurted from a tear on its back.

Falco let out a loud swear, while the Primid just squealed.

CHARACTER PROFILE

Name: Ness

Age: 13

Species: human

World of origin: Mother universe

Video game(s): EarthBound (Mother 2)

Quote: "Fuzzy pickles!"

Biography: Ness is a young boy with PSI powers who hails from the town of Onett in Eagleland. His psychic abilities, which are strong enough to affect cosmic events, leave his foes blinded, burned, electrocuted, and smashed up (pun not intended). He had to put these skills to the test when his world was threatened by the evil alien Giygas. His outgoing personality and passion for sports, especially baseball, make him popular among all kinds of people and creatures.

Fun fact: He used to be overweight.

NOTES

(1) Just in case the term bridge has been causing any confusion… The bridge of a ship is the elevated platform where the captain gives commands while having the best view of everything that is happening around the ship. The stage in The Subspace Emissary called "Battleship Halberd Bridge" (where you fight Duon) isn't really accurate; I think "Main Deck" would've been better. The actual bridge is in the stage's background.

(2) It's been some years since I've known about the Super Smash Bros. series, but it wasn't until I was writing this chapter that I discovered something—while Blade Knight has a trophy in SSBB and SSB4, Sword Knight has never appeared in the series in any form. I also discovered that the last game he appeared in was Kirby Mass Attack, which came out way back in 2011. Blade Knight has been getting a lot more love. Bring Sword Knight back, please!

(3) This is how an Arwing takes off according to Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins. In the anime, this takes place inside the Great Fox; the same system has been implemented in the Smash Mansion's hangar in this fanfic.

(4) No weather occurs in the stratosphere.

(5) Most named characters in the Splatoon series are named after water-related things, so it's the same for the Inklings in this chapter:

"Ayu" is the name of a fish that is native to East Asia. It's also called the sweetfish.

"Trent" comes from the River Trent, a river in the United Kingdom.

"Adrian" refers to the Adriatic Sea.

"Nixie" are shapeshifting water spirits in Germanic mythology and folklore. They're also known as "nix."

"Tampa" comes from Tampa Bay in Florida.

"Indy" is short for Indra, the god of storms in Hindu mythology. It's also short for "indigo," a color that is close to purple.

Lastly, "Caspian" refers to the Caspian Sea.

I have no idea how an Arwing works or how a flying battleship is built, so please take everything in this chapter that involves either of these with a very large grain of salt. Maybe even a whole lump of salt.

See you next time in Chapter 8! Remember to leave a kind review.