Metal Face tended to be highly demeaning of others, and that was sugar-coating it, but he was not afraid to admit that the Goddess of Light made for an excellent host. Upon his return to the main hall of her temple, victorious and somewhat worn down, she'd been prompt to praise his skills and daring in his match against the Forces of Nature, particularly his smashing through the eye of the enhanced Cragalanche and blowing a hole through his core.

She even showed him a notepad of her Top 10 Most Awesome Things I've Ever Seen and he was intrigued to find he'd made third place, right behind 'Medusa punches Hades' freaking head off' and, the number 1 'Pit shoots Hades with a freaking giant laser and Hades freaking explodes'. Normally, he might have been resentful over not being first, but considering the godly crap in this world, he supposed that there was fair logic in certain events being greater than destroying a mountain.

And, bless her, she'd even conjured up a massive hot spring at the back of the chamber for him to recuperate in. Apparently her angel brat was always so happy to find one of these, given both their rejuvenating abilities and their soothing warmth, and the goddess herself stated her fondness for them, dreamily noting of just how warm and refreshing they were.

Granted, he'd never heard of any hot spring possessing healing powers, either on Bionis or Mechonis, but then again, this was a whole other dimension filled with gods and plant monsters, so whatever. Either way, magic hot spring. He wasn't going to complain.

"Sure, Viridi has a point; I am pretty despicable if I'm calling in a blatantly gleeful killer like you to do my dirty work." Palutena offhandedly admitted with a shrug, once she was done complimenting his efficiency. "But you did do very well in saving the humans. I think if you keep it up, maybe we'll find a shred of goodness in that shell of yours."

"Whatever makes you happy, goddess. Lemme see if this hot spring lives up to the hype."

Oh, but it did. He need but merely put a foot in it before his armour seems to tingle with delight, his energy levels spiking in a wave of satisfaction. It's like all the little grazes and dents seemed to wash away into nothingness, like an entire wave of soothing sparks were tickling their way up his leg. Impressed, he strode right in and plopped down into the spring with a large splash. Ooh, this was lovely! Steaming hot, deliciously refreshing, like a direct infusion of ether straight to the nodes! The water swarmed around him, soothing his armour and easing his dents and bumps. Perfection!

He sighed contentedly as he sank his massive frame into the spring, shuffling slightly to get water onto his protruding cannon. Oh Mechonis, it was like he was sinking into a pool of pure unadulterated happiness. Maybe he could ask if she would let him take a pool of this stuff back to the Master Hand's realm after all was said and done, because this was the kind of relaxation he could kill for.

Okay then, hype lived up to indeed. He could definitely see why the goddess and her angel loved these things. Such hot springs like these were the perfect treat for a perfect hero!

"Content, Metal Face?" Palutena asked, smirking amusedly at his swift settling into the lovely pool.

"I could definitely get used to this." The Mechon purred, enjoying how the soothing liquid seeped into his crevices and revitalised his energy, eyes dimming in contentment. "Hot springs, people cheering, lovely host, exactly what an excellent hero like me deserves. I dare say it surpasses the Master Hand's accommodation. You ever considered hosting your own tournament, goddess? The hot springs alone ought to rake in the customers, ha ha."

"And risk being sued for taking the Master Hand's idea?" The Goddess of Light giggled. "Not likely. While you take a quick break, I'll get a bead on our next target. Viridi has to be shaken with how you took down Cragalanche, so I suspect she'll be a bit too busy fretting over how to stop you to bother attacking humans for a while."

"Take your time. I'm in no hurry right now." He chortled, sinking under the lovely water for a moment. And indeed he wasn't; fun as more carnage would be, this hot spring was lovely! Ah yes, let the nature brat flounder for a bit while he got comfortable. No hurry at all.

However, as Metal Face relaxed, he became aware of some sort of purple light glinting flickering at the ceiling of the temple. He turned his scanners on it and detected a weird sort of energy emanating from it, some kind of pulse to it almost like a heartbeat. Bewildered, he tentatively raised a claw and asked: "Um, goddess, is that a normal thing in this world?"

She glanced up at what he pointed at, curiosity briefly manifesting at the sight of the glint before her expression then hardened into resolve.

"Not normal at all. But expected."

Before he could ask what she meant, the glint suddenly expanded into a giant flame, earning a rev of shock from the robot, which burnt brightly for a moment before fading, and in its place was a gleaming white glove, a disembodied left hand with a most erratic rhythm of movement. Settled within this realm, the hand gave a maniacal cackle: "Palutena! Are you hoooooooome?"

They both knew who this was: The Crazy Hand, the chaos to the Master Hand's order, destruction to creation, instigator of the Crazy Orders and a secondary host of the Tournament. And they both knew his presence here did not bring fond tidings.

Metal Face tilted his head in curiosity; he hadn't seen this entity since he was first introduced to the Tournament. From what he recalled, the hand was kooky, weird, obnoxious and pretty much someone he'd prefer not to talk to. The hand himself seemed bemused at seeing the robot sat in a hot spring, before being distracted by the goddess speaking up.

"I'm right here, Crazy Hand." The Goddess of Light said, both respectful and cautious as she offered a polite courtesy to the deity of destruction. "To what do I owe the honour?"

"Oh ho ho, you know why, pretty goddess!" The disembodied hand giggled as he gleefully wiggled and rolled through the air before her. "Brother's not happy! You broke the rules, the rules, the rules! So many rules, and you picked a good one to break, to snap in half! You took one of the Master Hand's attractions, with not even a warning, not even a please, you just snatched him away! Ooh, good not, good not!"

Metal Face suddenly bristled with irritation at the notion of being considered a mere attraction in the hand's Tournament.

"I'm not an attraction, you demented-" He thus snapped, but he was silenced from further protests when the hand suddenly wagged an index finger at him warningly, akin to a parent sternly dissuading their child. Growling with anger, the robot responded by prepping his cannon, the weapon humming menacingly. The hand simply flipped up over and waved his fingers tauntingly, daring him to just try it.

Palutena diffused the sudden aggression swiftly before it could escalate, striding between them and declaring: "I'm aware of what I did, Crazy Hand, but I had no choice. My enemy, Viridi, threatens the humans I am sworn to protect. I needed someone to fight her for me lest innocent lives be lost, and Metal Face was in the best position to do so."

"If a fighter you needed, then why not your bird man?" The hand snickered, turning a finger to waggle at her. "Too busy wiggling chicken wings, dreaming of chicken hopes? And they say me crazy!"

Despite their brief stand-off a mere moment ago, Metal Face was about to snicker at the hand's joke as well. However, he paused upon seeing how the Goddess' expression darkened at the taunting of her angel, a disturbingly intimidating look on her otherwise sweet little face. Even to a powerful Face Mechon, such an expression did not warrant the risk of provoking the fury of.

Nevertheless, she rose above her defensive sting and kept her manner professional and cool: "Pit is away right now. He deserves better than having myself interrupt his private matters over Viridi's pettiness."

"Aw, how sweet, how loving, how kind! The mother hen feeds worms to her chicks." Crazy Hand cooed, before turning to the Mechon. "And your thinks, Face? Are you not the opposed to being roped into pretty Palutena's pesky prissy participations?"

Metal Face snorted: "It's not like I had anything worthwhile to do back at your Tournament. Attacking the competitors is fun and all, but the goddess here has been running me through a crash-course on divine warfare and I must say, the experience is positively smashing. You ever brought down a mountain monster? Really gets the ether pumping!"

Crazy Hand simply cackled: "Ah, such love of destruction warms a non-existent heart of mine. Still, brother is not happy! Brother pleads, begs, requests, asks, demands, dictates that you, Goddess Light, return to us our toy!"

"Hey, what did I say about-"

"I will return him, I promise you." Palutena said, the robot flexing his claws in irritation at being cut off yet again. "I just need him to stay here a little longer so he can stop Viridi. All I ask is that he puts her in her place, saves humanity and then he'll be back with you in no time."

"Hmm, promises, promises, all such intent of goodness, but still the brother gets so irked. I'm sorry to say, saying I'm sorry, that Face Metal must return regardless of what you want."

"Then allow me to rephrase."

And just like that, Palutena suddenly shifted from assertive negotiator into something far sultrier. Her professional posture disintegrated as she arched her body slightly, dimming her eyes in a seductive glimmer, hands teasingly trailing over select curves. If the other two had possessed jaws, they would have dropped like Kirby's stone form, because when the Goddess of Light got sultry, the whole world got a bit hotter.

The tiniest little whimper as she flexed her gorgeous form, a sound that had both of them shaking, before she whispered, tone practically oozing with tenderness: "Oh please, please oh mighty Crazy Hand, please let me have my fun. I do love to have fun, you know."

Crazy Hand started twitching more rapidly, response interspaced by unwieldy giggles: "Oh ho ho, seduction coming at me, ha ha! She's got an open mind, ha ha, aiming it at a bodiless hand reputed for being crazy, ha ha!"

Metal Face, in the meantime, opted to duck under the water lest he react in ways a Face Mechon ought not to react. For all his distaste towards organic life, even he wasn't quite that resistant to the charms of a goddess.

Palutena leans up, hands clasped behind her and hips swaying teasingly, more along the lines of a sweet and appealing tease than a desirable show: "So can I please please please keep him, just for a little bit? It would make me so happy."

Her tongue lathers her lips on the last word, drawing it out like a promise whispered in the ear during the throes of passion. It has the hand wiggling wildly, and Metal Face, still under the water, suspects that if the angel brat had been here to see this, he'd have wet himself by now.

"Your plan is as obvious as it is effective!" Crazy Hand giggled, twirling in mid-air as he delighted in her seduction. "Alas, I can't say no to feminine wiles, crazy as that sounds! Okie-dokie then, you can keep him for a bit. Angry will be brother but then he's always angry so who cares!"

He burst in deranged laughter for a moment, Palutena maintaining her alluring pose until she was sure all was said and done, before he paused and said: "But if you ever rule a break again like this, then brother and I and brother will have to start spanking. Bye bye!"

And then he was gone, vanishing in a flare of purple fire with a final cackle.

On his leave, Palutena dropped the façade of temptress with a discontented sigh: "Underworld below. The things I do for humanity."

Metal Faced peeked out of the spring and sardonically asked: "Is my innocence safe now?"

"Yeah sure I guess."

"Well then, that was a bit of fun. Guess the Master Hand ain't too happy about not being in control."

"No-one likes not being in control. But I can tolerate his irritation so long as I have more time to stop Viridi. But how about you? Are you still up for helping me halt her aggression, knowing the hands aren't too thrilled with you being here?"

"Ha, making that brat mad is the most fun I've had in ages. Ain't that the point, to have fun while we can? You heard what I said; I'm having much more fun waging your war than I was waiting for another match. So I'll stick with you; can't argue with fancy powers and lovely hot springs, after all."

Palutena gave a small smile: "Thank you. I appreciate that you're standing by me."

"Hey hey, it's not every day I get an opportunity to blast a mountain monster. You have good resumes, goddess."

"Even though you could have died against Cragalanche?"

"I've already died once. Ain't about to do it again."

She allowed a small chuckle at that, aware of the Mechon's fate back in his home realm, before turning her attention to where the Crazy Hand had just been, a somewhat uneasy look of consideration on her face. Barely one assault held off and already the hands were onto her. It wouldn't do well to lose Metal Face before Viridi gave up on her mad campaign, and she had been lucky it had been the more easily swayed Crazy Hand come to visit her.

If he came back with more resolve, if the Master Hand himself came, what could she do?

The robot observed her contemplation, took a guess at what her thoughts might be and thus voiced his thoughts on the matter.

"I know that you're oh so eager to keep me around to smash the brat's army and save some wimpy organics for you." The Mechon said, shifting his massive form a tad more comfortably in the soothing waters. "And believe me, I enjoyed it as well. But, speaking objectively here, are your precious maggots really worth challenging the hands over? Not that I'd object to seeing you get spanked, but it does seem quite pointless-"

"Don't you dare say that to me." Palutena snapped suddenly, very sharply, surprising him into silence, before striding over to her pool with a swish of her emerald hair. "Protecting the innocent, preserving the futures they have, the lives they hold dear; it's never pointless. The Master Hand can do whatever he wants, I don't care. So long as the humans don't have to suffer from Viridi's madness, I'll accept any punishment he can offer."

Metal Face snorted: "That's all well and good for you, but what if, hypothetically, they point the finger of blame at me? What then, goddess?"

"I'll take the heat for you." She responded simply, as if putting herself in more trouble for his sake was the obvious solution, before her tone switched into a dramatic tremble. "You were my unwitting pawn, forced into servitude by a cruel twisted mean old goddess. You can tell them your sob story, how I made you obey me just like that nasty man did back on Mechonis."

He chortled amusedly at her melodrama: "Very noble of you. I think I might actually starting liking you for reasons other than you letting me kill things."

"Noble indeed." She murmured, contemplative again, before turning a potent gaze on him. "You might even say it's what it is to be a hero."

The Mechon paused suddenly, a tad surprised, before grudgingly replying: "Eh, I suppose so."

"You know, I was actually thinking about what this might be for you, this battle against Viridi's hopes of genocide. I know it started out as just me bringing you along for a fight, but it's potentially more than that. Maybe, just maybe, it could be a second chance for you." Palutena mused, tapping a finger to her chin as she stared at him thoughtfully. "You've done a lot of terrible things back in your realm. Murder, destruction, exploitation, betrayal. And yet for all of that, you were still willing to take on a mountain monster to help me protect humanity-"

"Well, more for personal glory. Not everyone can say they smashed a mountain." He grunted, fiddling with his claws irritably at her turning the conversation sappy again.

"Point still stands, you saved that city from Cragalanche by fighting your hardest against him. You could have fled, you could have turned on me, but instead you took down Viridi's champion with barely any hesitation. That counts for something. In my opinion, you still have a chance to be the hero you once dreamed of being. Maybe not to Bionis, but at least to my world."

He merely snorted: "It's a nice sentiment, but that dream was just that; a dream. And dreams only last as long as you're sleeping the world away."

"So why not wake up and make it real?"

"Because when I did, it was taken from me."

His tone was quite tense now, angry even, becoming more and more incensed with her persistent prattling.

"Take it back."

"I tried-"

"Don't try, succeed."

"SHUT UP!"

He reared out of the spring, water upheaving all over the floor, and slammed his arms onto the ground with this shout, cracking the marble floor beneath his fists, red eyes flashing menacingly. She fell silent, eyes narrowing in distaste at the damage he'd done, not at all intimidated by his gesture.

He crawled to her until his face was inches before hers, and he growled: "That ain't how it is anymore, alright?! My chance was snatched away from me and I was left to rot in the background while Dunban got all the glory. But Mechonis gave me what I wanted, and I'm so much better for it. So you can take your stupid optimism and-"

"And what, pray tell, did Mechonis give you?" She snorted. "Power? New weapons? A chance to get revenge?"

"Exactly. I think you'll find that when you're wearing someone else's skin, it changes how you see things. Instead of a hero to Bionis, I was gonna be a champion of Mechonis. Same concept, different execution."

"I know exactly what it is when someone else wears your skin." She murmured coolly, matching his glare with ease. "I know what it is to see through the eyes of someone else. But I chose to stay true to who I am, to what I believed. I guess it varies, doesn't it?"

His eyes darkened a tad: "Maybe it does."

"So you don't care then? You'll only do this to torment Viridi, not even contemplating the possibility of redeeming yourself and becoming a true hero?"

"It doesn't matter anymore." He snapped. "Who I am redeeming myself to? Me? I don't care. You? I ain't got nothing to prove to you but the bodies I'll heap on the brat's doorstep. This realm doesn't know or care for who I was, and neither do I. This body is who I am now, who I became when the Master Hand stripped out everything inside, and that's all there is to it."

"You know, for all that talk on how you're better than Pit, it's just not true. Sure, you're bigger, you're stronger, but you have no resolve. Everything you've done is just for yourself, for your own ego. But when Pit fights, he fights for the sake of the innocent, for the sake of the people he cares about. He'll fight his hardest so that the world he loves doesn't have to suffer, with or without super advanced Mechonis technology. That's what makes him a hero, Metal Face, and if you started thinking that way, that's what could make you a hero too."

The Mechon just laughed, cold and cruel: "Aw, holding up your little angel as your bastion of brilliance. Pathetic! Like I said before, it ain't about who's better in our moral mind-set, in our definitions of heroism. At the end of the day, we find out who's better by who's left standing. That's how I did it back home and that's how you're doing it now."

He reared up and spread his arms dramatically, continuing his tirade: "That's why you brought me here to begin with! To get whatever edge you can to quash that brat under your heel, to have your vision of the world trump hers."

"Viridi is attempting to exterminate humanity." Palutena snapped. "No second chances, no willingness to help them change, to help them see. She just wants them all dead in her overzealous lust for whatever twisted concept of retribution she has. I'm not interested in putting her down, I'm only interested in stopping her army's mad rampage-"

"By sending a dangerous murderous Face Mechon to do it. Oh I know that given the choice you'd have had your angel holding the gun, but the point still stands; it ain't about talking her down with your oh-so blatant moral superiority, it's about having your warriors trump hers, your ideals smash hers and your preferences crush hers."

She narrowed her eyes, but in her hesitance to respond, he had his victory. Leaning in, he added: "And you know it. Same way you had your angel smash her army before, and all the other maggots he's crushed. You know that when all's said and done, it's just someone standing on someone else."

The goddess considered his words for a moment, contemplative eyes gazing into his gleaming red, before she shook her head and gave a soft chuckle: "You know what, Metal Face? I guess you're right. At the end of the day, between my ideals for humanity and her desire to end them, I know who I want to see standing at the end of it. Whether Pit or you or anyone else, I do what I can to defeat her and others like her to ensure victory for myself and all who stand beside me, so that the people I protect can live without fear..."

"Noble reasons, but still the same kind of carnage. Just a fact of life, really."

She sighed slightly and asked: "Still, all that aside, do you think you could at least consider it? Consider the chance I could give you? Maybe you don't care, fine. Maybe it doesn't matter anymore, sure. But it is before you, Metal Face. You can still be a hero. You can make up for what you've done and become something better. Will you at least try?"

He considered her words, tilting his head slightly at her. For someone who didn't even really know him and had only brought him here to fight a battle, she was certainly optimistic about him, about the idea that he could change. Bewildering.

He supposed that he must have had it in him to dream of heroism once; had it not been his motivation back on the Bionis? And he supposed she made a good point that the opportunity was before him; had not the humans of that city cheered for him after he thrashed the mountain? Gave him their praise, their admiration, which was certainly well-deserved?

He had done terrible things. He knew that, he revelled in that. But here, he had done good things. Perhaps for reasons not really associated with classic heroism, but good things nonetheless. Was there potential then? He somewhat doubted it; the way he lived now was a far-cry from the old ideals. But if it was within reach, would he so much as lift a claw to it?

That was a question she proposed, and it was a question he had the opportunity to answer. Well then.

"I doubt I'll ever be what you'd prefer to have as a hero." He finally stated. "Don't think I'll be what I'd prefer either, all honesty. But I guess it couldn't hurt to give it a shot."

She then smiled and extended a hand to him: "I can be glad for that. Want to try to be heroes together then, even with all our flaws and our excuses?"

He snorted amusedly, extending a claw for her to grip and shake: "Whatever makes you happy, goddess."

"You know, for a petty egotistical psychotic killer robot, you're pretty good at debating."

"For a puffed-up little moral paragon wannabe, I like that you're open to might-makes-right."

"True. Speaking of which, I think we're set for our next endeavour." She turned from him and strode over to her pool, before facing back with a sweep of emerald hair and smirking: "Ready to go make the brat mad some more?"

He just chortled and flexed metal arms: "I was made ready."

"The nerve of that floozy!" Viridi snapped, pacing back and forth in the main hall of her temple, irritably tapping the butt of her staff against the floor again and again. She was in the middle of a potent tantrum right now, infuriated at Palutena's persistent defiance of her campaign. "Snagging some robot from another dimension just to mess with me! Halting my mission over her pretentious favouritism! Smashing my darling Cragalanche into dirt! I swear, next time I see her I will wring her skinny neck until she's seeing Lumas!"

Phosphora and Dark Pit were sat nearby on a sofa composed of leaf matter, the former at attention and the latter slouching, and he saw fit to snark: "Well, you are attempting to eradicate humanity. That's bound to annoy her."

"I don't care if it annoys her! Humanity is a plague upon my world and I will not tolerate being harassed by psychotic robots and shiny little punks whilst I try and cure it!"

"But what can you do, may I ask?" Phosphora asked curiously. "Metal Face is much stronger than Pit, way stronger than any grunt we could throw at him. He even took down Cragalanche 2.0."

"Simple; if Palutena's gonna start bringing in warriors from other realms, then so will I!" Viridi declared, before summing a vine from the floor, the tip of which unfolded into a majestic flower that contained a shimmering mirror. It made for a useful tool in observing other realms, primarily Pit and Palutena's shenanigans in the Master Hand's Tournament, and now it would prove useful for finding a warrior to challenge a certain Face Mechon.

"Oh boy, stealing stuff from the Master Hand." Dark Pit sneered. "That'll go well."

"Oh hush, Pittoo ("Don't call me that."). If she can get away with it, so can I! Now let's see…" The Goddess of Nature mused, flicking through alternate dimensions with waves of her hand akin to someone changing the channel on a television. "Who to pit against Metal Face?... The Dark Emperor? Possible, but I think it's a bit too uncontrollable. The Yellow Devil? Nah, too slow… Oooh, here's a good one!"

At this point she had settled on an interesting wee stadium within the Master Hand's Tournament, a platform hoisted over a well of lava; the Pyrosphere. And upon this Pyrosphere lay a truly devastating beast indeed, a monster of fire and carnage that laid waste to all before him!

Well, currently said devastating beast was meandering around Smashville in the form of a helpless little birdy thing. Not so impressive.

"That thing?" Phosphora asked when she got a good luck at what the mirror displayed, surprised at such excitement provoked from a flimsy little creature. "It's just a puffball on chicken legs. How can that help us?"

"Because that puffball-" Dark Pit sneered. "-is none other than the larval state of the oh-so intimidating Ridley. Commander of the Space Pirates, a vicious and unrelenting monster and arch-nemesis of Samus herself. He's one of the nastiest freaks in that Tournament."

"Oh. I had no idea he was a chicken when he was young."

"Me neither. Guess even nightmares start from nobodies."

"He's perfect." Viridi declared smugly. "Once I've bought him here, I'll just metamorphose him into his adult form and set him loose against the Mechon. Giant dragon vs giant robot, the most hardcore interdimensional fight of the century! Ridley will be more than a match for Metal Face, especially with myself aiding him, and when he's done reducing him to scrap, he can help me wipe out the humans! So come to me, dragon, and let loose your power on all who defy the Goddess of Nature!"

"Yes, after calling out Palutena on summoning an unrepentant murderer, let's just bring in our own one." The dark angel snorted, ever the cynic (and likely sane one) of her crew.

Viridi ignored the punk, instead focussing on mustering her divine powers and conjuring an interdimensional portal between her realm and the Master Hand's, locking onto the little larval form of her soon-to-be new champion and willing him to come to her! Soon, she would have her revenge and both Palutena and Metal Face would regret that they had ever interfered with her righteous campaign!

But then nothing happened. Her powers fizzled and faded and there was no Ridley in sight.

Viridi blinked in confusion, before grumbling: "Well that wasn't supposed to happen."

"What happened, Mistress?"

"I'll tell you what happened: NOTHING! Someone's put a dimension barricade on the Master Hand's realm! I can't call Ridley here!"

"You are correct, Nature Goddess, and that is for good reason."

All three of them paused at the sound of a fourth voice, deep and masculine, before reacting with surprise at a bright blue light manifesting itself within the hall, bright enough that even Phosphora, adapted to wielding flashing lightning, had to shield her eyes.

The light faded, revealing none other than the Master Hand himself, deity of creation within the somewhat simply named Smash universe, instigator of the Master Orders and the host of the grand Tournament.

Dark Pit and Phosphora were prompt to retreat behind the couch, perfectly content with leaving their boss to take the heat, whereas Viridi stood her ground, narrowing her eyes in irritation. Just what she (read: not) needed.

"I thought it would be best to pre-empt a repeat of Palutena's breach." He said calmly, gesturing to the Nature Goddess' mirror and the little birdy it displayed. "I have erected a barrier between this realm and mine to avoid further disregard of the rules. Rules that your rival has blatantly broken with her taking Metal Face."

"I don't see why you're bothering me then." The Nature Goddess snapped. "Palutena's the one who stole your precious Mechon and turned him loose against my Children and thus started this whole mess. Why don't you go tell her off instead of giving me a lecture?"

"My brother is seeing to the Light Goddess as we speak." The Master Hand replied, leading Dark Pit to snicker a little at the idea of the Crazy Hand telling off Palutena. "But that hardly accounts for the fact that you were prepared to initiate the same type of breach by bringing Ridley here."

"It was purely for the sake of appropriate retaliation against her cheating! Fight fire with fire, fight interdimensional psychos with interdimensional psychos."

"I am aware of the logic you employ, hence why I am here to remind you of the rules; none of you are to take anything from another realm and let it roam freely, especially not without permission. As a Goddess, you should know that shifting elements between pure realms could have dire consequences. Why else would I create an entirely new realm designed to cope with such a concept? Any pure realm risks falling apart if exposed to too much dimensional conjoining."

"I understand completely." Viridi huffed, folding her arms irritably at his speaking to her like she was a mere schoolgirl. "It was just going to be a temporary thing, just to take down the Mechon and let all of us get on with the normal routine. I'd have returned him and the robot's battered corpse to you, no sweat."

"Insignificant. Your petty war with the Light Goddess provides no reason to risk dimensional degeneration. Thus I promise, Nature Goddess, that if you see fit to breach the laws as Palutena has, either now or at any point in the future, then I will be forced to take matters into my own hand."

"You can't threaten me here, Master Hand." Virid snarled, tapping her staff against the floor warningly as she faced down against the hand. "You may be all-powerful in your own little realm, but this is my turf. Your powers don't match mine here."

"As aforementioned, it's a promise, not a threat." The hand replied coldly, before leaning in slightly. "I am letting you off with this warning; avoid committing the same mistake your rival has made, lest I have to get to the core of the issue.

Viridi's challenge died immediately as his grim implication, swiftly stepping back from the hand in sudden fear, her expression paling with horror. Dark Pit and Phosphora exchanged a worried glance, shifting uncomfortably as the goddess stuttered: "Y-you wouldn't."

"Only if I have to." The host of the Tournament stated. "I have spoken my peace; you will have no-one from my Tournament, nor from any of the other pure realms, just as your rival will have to return Metal Face. That is all."

And then he was gone, vanishing in a wave of blue light.

A brief pause followed as the three of them considered his words, Viridi positively seething now, before Dark Pit stated dryly: "You know, it's the emphasis on 'core' that freaks me out the most about this whole confrontation."

"I never saw the core." Phosphora said, somewhat lamenting the fact her status in the Tournament was a mere Assist Trophy and thus incapable of seeing the boss fights first hand. "But I hear it's terrifying."

"I have seen it. I'd rather be on a chat-line with Hades than see it again."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Within the confines of a friendly Tournament? I guess not. With the implication of seeing it outside the confines of a friendly Tournament? Unholy Undeworld yeah."

"Well none of that will matter." Viridi then declared, snapping the two out of their conversation as they glanced at her. "We'll stick with the rules then, leave Palutena as the bad guy in the situation, and come up with another plan to beat Metal Face."

"But he said that the Crazy Hand had gone to get him." Phosphora pointed out. "We don't even need to worry about him anymore."

"You know, all those statements I was making about how Palutena won loads of her battles by seducing the competitors wasn't just low blows. Let's all be honest with ourselves, Palutena's hot to trot and she knows it. She can work people up, get them panting after her and thus put herself on top of whatever scenario she finds herself in, and that includes being hounded by an insane left hand."

Dark Pit snorted derisively: "She's hardly as hot as you're making her out to be."

Phosphora gave a laugh: "Oh please. Need I remind you that she once won a Coin Match because you, Lucina and Little Mac were throwing money at her so she'd keep doing that little pole dance?"

"I…. I have no comeback to that."

Viridi rolled her eyes at their banter and continued: "Point is, I bet you that she's probably shown the Crazy Hand some leg by now and thus secured her precious Mechon, at least for a while longer. So yes, Phosphora, we do need to worry about him."

Dramatically, she turned back to her mirror and flattened it down into a sort of makeshift table, before summoning some chairs made of wood and settling down onto the middle before said makeshift table.

"First things first!" Viridi declared, her two commanders walking over to sit beside her as she conjured an image of Metal Face from leaves and vines above. "Face Mechon; what are their weaknesses? How do you beat one?"

"Anyone could beat him back in the Tournament." Dark Pit pointed out. "But then again, that was a limitation imposed by the Master Hand to keep things fair. In this realm, he's pretty much as tough as he was in his own one. So, weaknesses would really boil down to the Monado. I remember Shulk saying that it can cut through Mechon armour with ease. Unfortunately, we don't have a means of creating or borrowing one."

"Urgh. Anything else?"

"Well swarming him was somewhat effective." Phosphora offered. "Had him on the defensive for a bit. He's not quite able to fight back efficiently against a massive number of troopers all going at him at once."

"But he has Palutena covering that part. Even if he got close to the ropes she'd just throw a power his way to even it out."

"Well, there is another thing that could work." Dark Pit mused. "I think that Face Mechon are vulnerable to electricity. I'm pretty sure that I heard Shulk mention how he powered down briefly after getting hit by lightning."

"Lightning eh?" The electrical mistress purred, eyes sparkling with delight at the idea of her element being the key to defeating the robot. "I can definitely provide that."

"And I've still got my Electroshock Arm. Double whammy right there."

"And we also have the Lightning Chariot. Triple whammy right there!"

"Damn straight."

The two fist-bumped.

Viridi mused on their chatter, before nodding and declaring: "Alright then. We have our plan; we'll wait for him to go where she points him to, have my Children soften him up before you two bring the lightning. Even if he survives that, he ought to be weakened enough for a final assault to finish the job. And even if he somehow gets through that, we'll just slam the Lightning Chariot into his face; no way he'll be any tougher than Palutena's barrier. And with all that said and done, we can deliver his scraps back to the Master Hand and get back to business. Sound good?"

"Sounds good to me!"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Excellent. Forces of Nature, let's get to it!"

The gleaming golden doors swung open and Metal Face peered out into a sky laden with bright white clouds above a titanic forest, vast and deep green, pristine and secluded with rivers snaking through it here and there. Figuring it rather fitting that a Nature Goddess would have some sort of base here, he jumped out of the doorway and folded into his flight mode, soaring off in search of Palutena's target.

He was well-rested, recuperated, inspired and boasting more of those special powers that the goddess had lent him for the previous mission. Power Bombs, Heavenly Light, a few Heals, Meteor Showers, even a solitary Black Hole personally donated by the goddess herself.

The Black Hole one, he was definitely eager to try out at some point. He'd seen how she'd used it (with him in the crossfire no less!) in conjunction with a Mega Laser during the Tournament, trapping her opponents and leaving them horrible vulnerable to the titanic blast that followed. He admired such pragmatic and energetic brutality and thus so strongly desired to put his own spin on things with the power.

"Your previous mission was a defensive one, but now it's our turn to launch an assault." Palutena informs him, her voice a comfort he clung to in preparation for when the Nature maggot inevitably ruined his peace. "This forest, and many like it, is used as a staging ground for production of Viridi's army."

"Lemme guess; the brat grows her troopers out of these trees, right?" He asked, scanning the forest below and finding nothing peculiar. "All the nuts and the flowers and stuff; she just grows them right out of this forest and then throws them at people?"

"Well, technically she can forge units anywhere, really. Her army is brought forth from the Earth itself; every tree, rock, bone and puddle has the potential to spawn a new monster. Part of the perks of being the Goddess of Nature. But in order for them to reach their full potential, Viridi uses specialised trees, known as Giving Trees, to infuse them with the necessary powers to become true soldiers."

"I get it; she can make them anywhere but she needs a special spot to boost them into something a bit more than worthless, which is still worthless. I suppose you're sending me to destroy one of these Giving Trees?"

"Indeed, specifically the most powerful one of them all. It's essentially a sort of super factory, except it's a magic tree, enhancing and spitting out units at an impressive rate. Destroying this one will set her legion back quite a bit, forcing her to play more carefully with her troops."

Metal Face accepted her logic and maintained his flight path over the forest, guiding by little pointers of light set up by the Goddess of Light. She herself was scanning the forest, seeking out the exact location of the Giving Tree; evidently, though she had a good knack for guessing where things were, she needed a bit of time to sum up their exact location.

Well, quality took time. He'd be patient, and when she gave the word, he'd do what he did past; smashing things.

And lo and behold, the chance was soon upon him when his scanners picked up movement below him; Forces of Nature, ranging from Lurchthorns to Daphnes, were emerging from the forest and flying up to challenge him. Clearly, they were defenders of the regional Giving Tree, and even more clearly, Viridi had not learned from the previous match between him and her sad little goons that these things didn't stand a chance.

"Oh ho, look who's coming to play!" Metal Face chortled, delighting in the opportunity to smash more feeble opponents, unfolding into his more battle-ready mode. "I guess the brat knows we're coming!"

"Indeed I do, Metal Face." Said brat's voice promptly rang inside his head, much to his displeasure. "Palutena is nothing if not predictable. I knew she'd be sending you after my production lines, so I've arranged a little welcome party for you."

"Yes, exactly the same kind of weaklings I was trashing before. I was hoping for something a bit more challenging this time. Got another mountain for me to smash?"

The Forces of Nature were upon him at this point, and he retaliated swiftly and viciously, jamming his claws into those foolish enough to come close to him and firing blasts from his cannon at ones further away. The Daphnes gathered together and unleashed a combined wave of bombs, but his thrusters easily boosted him past the slow attack and then jetted him forward straight into the plants, his massive bulk smashing through them easily.

The Lurchthorns were tad trickier, since only headshots could properly dispatch them, but his cannon sliced through the slow-moving bone things easily enough. Just as it was with the Boom Stompers, their painful slowness rendered any advantages they had pointless, and thus he found their efforts to stop him laughable.

"Unfortunately, I'm all out of mountains, but what I find particularly smashing is that you're still in this realm. I'd have thought the Crazy Hand would have snatched you back home by now."

Now this gave him a bit of pause, surprised at her specific reference to the less feasible of the twin hands: "What? How did you know-"

"I had a visit from the psycho's less psycho twin." Viridi stated dryly. "He said that you, Palutena, had to return Metal Face to him lest there be grave retribution, ranging from personal punishment to dimensional degeneration. Yet here he is, still flying about this realm without a care. And here I thought you were such a goody-gumdrops type of girl."

"I made my point clear to the Crazy Hand." Palutena responded coldly. "I don't care what the Master Hand says or does; so long as humanity is under threat from forces it cannot defend itself against, I will do everything in my power to protect them. If I must defy him or anyone else to do that, I will."

"Even if it means provoking the core?"

"Even if that."

Viridi gave a low whistle: "Wow. I'd say I was impressed by your nobility, Palutena, if it wasn't for the fact that you're wasting it on worthless scum."

Palutena did not respond, drawn into her own thoughts, leaving it to Metal Face to take up the mantle of bickering: "I may not hold her morals in high esteem myself, but between her and you, nature brat, I'd say you're the one I'd vote for being kicked off your high horse!"

"Aw, have we come to enjoy being Palutena's new toady?"

"Like I said before, I enjoy working for anyone who'd let me put my metal boot to your face."

"Big talk, Metal Face. Let's see if you can put your hearts where your pseudo-mouth is."

"Maybe your memory isn't as good as mine, but I believe I did just that when I reduced your ultimate champion to dirt."

Palutena gave an approving and taunting 'ooooh!', and Viridi opted to fall into a grumbling silence. Satisfied, Metal Face continued to smash his way through the defenders rising up to challenge him. A new type of enemy had revealed itself by now, a sort of green sludgey thing with blade arms that could turn invisible; they came out of nowhere and sliced at him, forcing the Mechon to jet back lest he be caught in a chain attack.

Palutena informed him that these things were called Flages, and Viridi chipped in with the fact that they were special operation units of her army, designed to sneak up on foes and slice them apart. A valid strategy, the combination of vicious blades and remarkable stealth.

But while most creatures would be unnerved by such a foe, the Mechon merely found them laughable. Try as they might, they weren't fast enough to get the drop on them, and their blades were no match for his claws. He sliced through them all and once again found himself easily dominating the brat's forces.

It was as easy as toying with the Monado boy and his stupid friends, back before he got that stupid upgrade. He might have lamented the lack of a challenge were it not just so much fun to smash things.

"The problem your army has, other than being weak and incompetent to begin with, is that they just aren't designed to cope with me." Metal Face snorted, as he continued to rip and tear his way through flower and bone and green goop. "They're designed to fight soft fleshy angels, not Mechon. Don't see why you're bothering to keep throwing them at me.

"Well no duh they aren't designed to fight Mechon, this world doesn't even have Mechon, you moron." Viridi grumbled. "The armies of the gods are used to other divine creatures, not gigantic super-advanced robots. If your world got attacked by Pokemon, you'd probably have the same problem. It's not every day I have to put up with a psycho machine from a whole other dimension."

"Pokemon? Those flimsy weird animals? Ha, as if any of those things could be a threat to even Bionis, never mind Mechonis!"

"Oh really? Don't you remember that time when a Deoxys blew you up?"

"What the hell even is a Deoxys?"

"Urgh, it's a humanoid Psychic-type Pokemon capable of altering its form that shoots lasers from its chest."

"That's a Pokemon?"

"Yes."

"You're lying."

Palutena interjected at this point, a tad amused at their topic: "Fun as definitions are, we have more important business right now. I've found her Giving Tree, Metal Face. It had a good hiding spot, but it's time to shine a light on that issue."

And indeed she did. A gleaming sunbeam descended from the heavens upon a small mountain situated near the forest. With a flare of power, it burnt away the rocky exterior, revealing it to be nothing more than a mere shell surrounding the true target within; a titanic tree, gleaming with emerald lights and radiating with exotic power. The Giving Tree was an impressive plant indeed, both beautiful and resonating with energy, and it was surrounded by more Forces of Nature.

Metal Face gave a low whistle of impressment. Wasn't every day someone used an entire mountain to hide something, nor was it every day someone else used a sunbeam to burn away said mountain.

"Aw boo, she found my tree." Viridi sighed. "Guess you better go down there and do the only thing you're good at, robot."

"Don't mind if I do, tree-hugger!"

Flying down towards it, he was curious to see that there were a whole horde of flower things waiting for him, attached to the titanic trunk of the tree. Their blossoms were shaped quite peculiarly, almost like the barrel of a gun. And it turned out to be for good reason; the flowers began charging up pink power and then shot lasers at him!

Fortunately, the Mechon had had much experience in avoiding ground-to-air defences and soared past the beams, firing a Power Bomb at a group of them in a fiery wave. Using his superior speed and his cannon to pick off others and secure a safe spot, he landed on a protruding branch near the top of the trunk of the tree.

Examining the glistening emerald wood, he asked: "So, do I just claw my way in, goddess?"

"Sounds about right."

"Yep yep, solve all your problems by slicing them." Viridi sneered.

"You can chat with the High Entia's Emperor about that." He retorted, before bringing his claws to bear. He slashed and swiped at the emerald wood, and though it proved quite resistant, it wasn't long before he was ripping a nice big chunk out of it, big enough for someone his size to get through.

Forces of Nature, predictably, attempted to backstab him while he worked, but a Meteor Shower made quick work of them. Ah, how he adored these special powers. Nothing like a bit of versatility to spice up the carnage.

Eventually, he bore his way through the trunk and found himself within the Giving Tree's innards. Interestingly, it was completely hollow, save for a gigantic glowing green stem rising up the middle, a huge pulsing thing reminiscent of a vein. And all around the walls were bright yellow pods, glowing with energy. Within these pods, he could see the brat's monsters, being nurtured into full-grown soldiers.

Not that it mattered; they were in no position to stop him and he was in every position to bring this tree crashing down.

"That's the Giving Tree's stem there, Metal Face." Palutena said, and he could just picture her finger pointing at the big green thing stalk in the middle of it all. "Sever it and the tree will lose its life."

"Urgh, no matter how many soldiers I throw at him, your stupid robot continues to be a thorn in my side."

"You don't sound particularly concerned about the fact he's breaching your most powerful Giving Tree."

"Do I not? Well, you're more than welcome to pull him out if you think I've set it to self-destruct or something like that."

"Doesn't matter if you did." Metal Face snorted, as he hopped down from the hole and landed on the ground, the floor damp and dirty under his feet. "I survived your mountain breaking apart; this tree isn't nearly as big as that."

"Well, your call, Face. Just don't whine at me if it's a bad one."

He just scoffed and stalked off towards the stem. It was a large target, much bigger than Cragalanche's core, but it did not seem nearly as resilient as the tree's trunk, more fleshy and pulsing. Urgh, disgusting organic waste. A good laser ought to rip it apart.

As Metal Face approached the stem, he paused for a moment and tensed. He could sense an energy around this place, not just from the tree itself. Something a bit less magical, something a bit more… electrical. He glanced around, but there was no sign of storm clouds or anything, not even some sort of biological electrical circuit.

Yet still the energy persisted, almost like the source was being hidden somewhere. A trap?

He strode on regardless, but more cautiously now, flexing his claws as he continued to scan around. The last time he'd wound up somewhere charged with electricity, he'd taken a hefty shock, and whilst the Monado boy's merry band of morons didn't take advantage of that, he was fairly certain that the Forces of Nature would be on him the second he got so much as a spark thrown at him.

"You feeling this, goddess?" He asked slowly, closing in the stem. "That tingling in the air? Like lightning's about to strike?"

"I do. And I have a hunch on who's behind it." Palutena murmured. "I'm keeping an eye out, but I'm not detecting anyone near you; there's some sort of interference down there. Sever the tree and get out of there quickly in case things turn sour."

"Right. Let's cut things down to size."

Metal Face, as he had done with Cragalanche, braced himself on all fours before his target, cannon leaning forward and powering it up. The stem wouldn't stand a chance against his firepower.

But right before he fired, lightning struck.

Electricity crackled around the shocked robot, disrupting his systems as he howled in pain, rearing up onto his feet as he writhed wildly, legs barely able to support him as he staggered about. His cannon powered down at the interruption and his eyes flashed repeatedly at the constant electrocution.

"Metal Face!" Palutena cried out in concern, but he wasn't as helpless as she might have thought.

Thinking quickly, he activated Heavenly Light, and the glowing beam of sunlight enveloped him, cutting off the electrical flow and rejuvenating his circuits. Freed from the impediment, he flexed his body into regaining his full set of motions. Ooh, electricity made him mad, and when he got mad, people got dead.

"Who dares strike me?!" He howled furiously, spinning around to face whichever little pest had seen fit to shock him from behind, before his eyes locked onto the culprit.

It turned out to be none other than some random Homs- no wait, human- female he recalled seeing at the Tournament, not a true competitor but an occasional pop-up from those trophy things. Oh but wait, not a human, was she? That was obvious, he supposed, giving from the fact she was floating and the other fact that her body was wrapped in crackling coils of lightning. Definitely not human.

She was similar to Palutena in her bright glowing beauty, save for a skimpier outfit decorated with vines and short sparkling blonde hair compared to long emerald, but while the goddess was soothing and amiable, this maggot simply had his armour bristling in dislike. And electricity, which he also disliked.

"Oh, no-one in particular." The girl cooed, adopting a posture as if she were reclining on a couch. "Just little old me."

Her pose and her tone were clearly masking the depths of her threat potential, but there was no mistaking the lethality of the energy crackling around her body. This girl knew a thing or two about wielding lightning, and he supposed he could appreciate that Viridi was one-upping her previous strategy of throwing rocks around.

"That is Phosphora." Palutena said coldly. "One of Viridi's commanders and a powerful opponent indeed. She's lightning fast and hits harder than a boom of thunder, so be careful Metal Face."

"Thunder doesn't hit anything. It's just sound." Said commander snapped irritably, previously sweet face scrunching up into pedantic annoyance.

"Shut up."

"Looks like the nature goddess finally got some sense into her after all, sending a lightning bug like you to take me on." Metal Face scoffed, baring his claws as he faced off against her. "But don't think a little electricity will turn the tide that easily! How about I show you some real light?!"

His Heavenly Light still enveloped him, and thus he rushed forward with the intention to bathe the girl in it and see how pretty she was once her skin was searing. But Palutena's warning about her speed proved very accurate; in what seemed like a flash, she darted out of the way, giggling sweetly as she reappeared behind the surprised robot.

Turning to face her, Metal Face growled: "So it's going to be like that, is it?"

"Only if you're too slow to change it up." She purred, before suddenly releasing a series of quick bolts at him. He hovered out of the way and retaliated with a blast from his cannon, which she avoided with another flash and another giggle.

This was going to get real old, real fast, he figured, having to deal with a quick and cocky little bug like her. But if he had any hope of finishing his mission, he needed to deal with her. So then, let's see if he couldn't catch lightning.

His Heavenly Light had faded by now, but it didn't matter. Blasting after her, he went on the offensive, swinging his claws at her repeatedly. She ducked and weaved through his attacks and struck back with crackling kicks, forcing him to block these with shielding energy from his hands.

Daringly, he attempted to head-butt her, but she was too quick and wound up behind him, ready to start zapping. Thinking fast, he tilted his thruster upwards and blasted bright blue fires at her, but a shield of electricity guarded her from the hit and enabled her to retreat to safety.

Metal Face pursued, but alas, he was having no luck catching her with any of his blows.

"Aw, is the poor slow robot having trouble keeping up with me?" Phosphora giggled, all but dancing before his flailing claws as he attempted to slice her up, before darting out of range and forcing him to shield himself from a crackle of lightning. "Guess Mistress Viridi isn't as incapable of handling you as you thought."

"Indeed, Phosphora." Said Mistress said smugly. "Poor little Metal Face here got so cocky in defeating simple grunts that he never considered facing anyone a tad tougher."

"So true. That's what happens when we-"

"Shut up! Just shut up! By Mechonis, all it is talk, talk, talk! That's all you maggots do!" Metal Face shouted furiously, interrupting both vocally and physically via firing a blast at her which was casually avoided. "The brat prattles, you prattle, everyone prattles around here! I thought Xord always talked out his thruster but you lot take the cake! Just shut up and let me slice your damn head off!"

"The Mistress was so right." Phosphora sighed. "He's much less fun than Pit. Just generic cliché bad guy threats and stuff. Boring."

Again, he lunged at her, but she just zipped out of the way and flew around him, grinning amusedly at his futility. Irritated, Metal Face planted down onto all fours and prepped his cannon. He fired a blast, but it had no hope of catching the agile lightning wielder.

"You'll have to do better than that, Metal Face." She cooed, teasingly waving her hands at him.

"Watch me." He growled.

His cannon continued to follow her, but now he had a different plan in mind; rather than shooting after her, he deployed a Power Bomb where she would likely end up. The bomb clattered onto the ground before expanding into a sphere of fire, and Phosphora was forced to halt lest she dart right into it.

Finally! He had a clear shot! He levelled his cannon and prepared to fire!

But just as he was about to blast her, he was suddenly occupied by a foot kicking into his face, misaligning his aim and thus leading his shot to uselessly fire off at thin air. With a wave of energy-infused wings, the offender promptly darted back out of range before Metal Face could swipe at it. Phosphora saw her chance and retreated as well lest she risk being shot at again.

Infuriated at the loss of his target, Metal Face locked onto the new foe. He was greeted by the sight of an angel brat, specifically the black-winged one, Dark Pit or something, now situated on a branch poking out from the stem high above the ground, prepping an arrow of dark energy in his bladed bow.

Frustrated at the clone's interference, he snarled: "Did you seriously just kick me in the face, you pathetic nothing?!"

"Eh, it works on other oversized morons." He replied simply, before firing. Metal Face batted the attack away with a wave of his claws, realising the implications of the angel's appearance just as Palutena saw fit to exposit for him:

"Dark Pit is here as well? Underworld below… alright, stay defensive, Metal Face. He's quick and he's pragmatic, and he's gonna try to keep you occupied while Phosphora aims for the finishing blow. But he's not as fast as her, so you have that on your side."

"I know how to fight multiple opponents." Metal Face grumbled. "Did it all the time back home. Here's hoping you're not as fond of this angel, because he's about to make an ascension!"

His cannon charged up and fired at Dark Pit, whom simply leapt out of the way before his perch exploded and glided off to another branch to resume his sniping.

Metal Face would have continued to fire at him, but the sound of electricity charging up forced him into evasive manoeuvres, jetting to the side before the other foe could shoot lighting in his back. He turned his cannon on Phosphora, whom simply grinned and darted away.

Ooh, yes, this really was going to get old quite quickly. If he got one in his sights, the other one would just stab him in the back. He needed a way to tip the scales.

Hmm… right, first things first, he should go for the slower one. Dark Pit lacked Phosphora's lightning speed, ergo he made for a more appropriate target.

Pretending to remain focussed on Phosphora, Metal Face waited for the subtle ringing of Dark Pit charging up an arrow, before swinging around and firing. The angel was forced to jump down lest the blast hit him, gliding lower down. Sensing opportunity, Metal Face jetted up after him and swiped with his claws.

Quickly, the clone brought up his blades to block the attack, but while it stopped the claws hitting him, the superior size of his foe meant raw force was enough to knock him back. Phosphora shot lightning at the Mechon, but he deployed a Power Bomb to absorb the attack and force her back as he moved in to continue his assault.

Catching up to the disorientated Dark Pit, he outright rammed his chassis into the smaller flyer, sending him crashing down to the floor. Cackling triumphantly, Metal Face landed on the floor and lowered his cannon, aiming it right at the angel's head.

"Dark Pit!" Phosphora cried, moving in to assist her comrade. But alas, her compassion proved to be her undoing. Having banked on her going to help Dark Pit, Metal Face was prompt to redirect his cannon from the angel to the lightning bug and fired a full-on laser straight at her.

The blast struck her directly, sending Phosphora flying back before crashing into the edge of the tree. For a moment she stayed, briefly lodged into the wood, before flopping free and hitting the floor, unconscious.

"Phosphora, no!" Viridi wailed.

"Yes, Metal Face!" Palutena cheered: "You're one step closer to finishing the tree!"

Dark Pit managed to get back to his feet, and upon noting Phosphora lying in a heap, he turned to the Mechon and snarled: "You dirty piece of junk."

Metal Face scoffed: "It's only dirty when you're not the one doing it."

"Touche. Dirty this."

He drew his bow and shot a plethora of arrows at the robot, whom blocked them with his hand shield before firing another blast from his cannon. But Dark Pit had a trick up his sleeve; right before the blast hit him, he drew out his Orbitars and conjured a glowing shield which reflected the projectile straight back at its launcher.

Metal Face barely had time to react when his own laser crashed into him in a flare of fire, knocking him back. Ooh, that had actually hurt.

Irritated, he got back to his feet and assessed his smoking hips, before employing a Heal to relieve the damage and growling: "Heh, proved my point. You actually made me flinch, bug."

"I'll do more than that, robot."

"So, Dark Pit, how come you're helping the nature brat?" Metal Face snorted, flexing his claws as the two circled each other. "I thought you were all about the lone wolf gig?"

"Our paths happened to align." The angel replied coldly. "And right now both paths are aiming right at reducing you to scrap."

He produced his Electroshock Arm and lunged forward, aiming for the robot's leg, but Metal Face simply boosted into the air, evading the angel's attack. Settling himself in a hover above his foe, he gleefully took in Dark Pit's frustration in his inability to follow him into the air without his Flight Power.

"Well, what are you waiting for, clone?" Metal Face taunted, waving his fingers in a beckoning manner at the irritated angel. "Aren't you gonna fly up after me? Oh wait, that's right, you can't so much as jump without the nature brat's say-so!"

Dark Pit's expression grew yet colder at the Mechon's knowledge of his inability to fly, the robot cruelly continuing: "Ooh yes, that one guy, Ganondorf, told me all about your little dilemma. Once a free spirit, going wherever the wind took him, but now reduced to nothing more than Viridi's little lapdog. Tell me, how does it feel to see clouds rolling above, knowing you can't so much as reach for them without having your leash loosened?

"You'd know a lot about leashes, Mechon." Dark Pit retorted, defiance ever potent even in face of his opponent's piercing statements. "First your boss on Mechonis, then the Master Hand, now Palutena; you've never had a shred of independence, always following someone else's lead. But what can I expect from the eternal second best?"

Metal Face glowered at him, red eyes flashing menacingly: "Well I ain't gonna lie, angel, I was always second best. Always chasing after that maggot Dunban, always trying to surpass him, but once he got the Monado, all my hopes of being the hero shattered like a mirror hit by a stone. But hey… at least I could still walk my own path!"

He flew down in a sudden attack and Dark Pit was forced to conjure his Orbitars, hiding behind their shield just as the massive claws bounced off of them with a clang of metal upon energy. Metal Face did not relent, kicking out with a huge foot and knocking back the clone, whom hit the floor hard.

As Dark Pit struggled back to his feet, Metal Face snorted: "Your path aligned with hers? Rubbish. I don't know much about this world, but even I can see how the system works. You angels need gods to give you your wings. But thing is, where the other brat loves his goddess enough to do anything for her with or without flying, you're not nearly as sentimental. You wouldn't work for a brat like the tree-hugger unless she had an edge you just couldn't refuse."

He leaned in then, metallic face relaying his cold logic: "That's your contract, isn't it? You want to fly, you have to do her bidding. You can't disobey her, not unless you want to spend the rest of your life grounded. No wings, no choice."

Dark Pit did not deny this, glowering coldly at the robot. For once, no-one else was speaking. Just the angel and the Mechon, facing off.

"But you know, thinking about it, there is an outcome that benefits both of us. I told the goddess I'd give it a shot, so here it is." Metal Face offered, and he reared to his full height, gesturing skywards. "You can join our side, Dark Pit. Join me beside the Goddess of Light. She'll give you wings, I'll give you mercy and together we can crush the maggot and be worshipped by the humans. Believe me, my goddess has better deals than your one could ever have."

"Well this is taking a turn I didn't expect." Palutena mused.

"Utter nonsense." Viridi grumbled. "Feedback on my chain of command is highly positive and the healthcare benefits are to die and get resurrected for."

"What do you say, angel?" Metal Face said, extending a claw to the angel. "You want to see the light? Join us and help me bring the genocidal brat's world down around her."

Dark Pit just laughed: "Nice offer. But life ain't as simple as that. It isn't just about wings, it's about what needs to be done."

He merely shrugged, retracted his hand and levelled his cannon at him: "Well, your loss. In more ways in one."

Dark Pit was ready; as the Mechon charged up his cannon, he prepped his Orbitars. The robot wanted to shoot him? Let him; he'd just wind up wearing himself down and-

Metal Face suddenly turned to the stem, and Dark Pit's confidence vanished immediately. He wasn't the target? Oh crap, he wasn't the target! He moved to try and attack, but too late, the Mechon was ready to fire and-

Lightning struck once more, a bolt of electricity connecting with the Mechon and surging terrific energy throughout his body, the machine immediately staggering back as the crackling pain enveloped him.

"Metal Face!" Palutena cried out in shock, as Viridi burst into laughter.

Phosphora had re-joined the battle, and her lightning was crackling around the flailing robot, disorientating him again as his systems struggled to cope with the influx of electricity. He attempted to activate another Heavenly Light, but Phosphora pumped yet more lightning into him, frazzling him and thus preventing any attempt to summon a power.

Relieved that Phosphora had things covered and sensing a golden opportunity, Dark Pit strutted over to the front of the agonised Mechon, smirking at the stunned robot as he drew his Dark Pit Staff. The weapon charged up with dark energy, and he levelled it at Metal Face's head.

"Tch." He stated disdainfully "See this light, trash heap."

He fired, directly striking the robot straight in the face. Metal Face jerked up, frame twitching wildly and head now bearing a sparking wound. The combination of the blast combined with Phosphora's lightning finally took their toll and, systems powering down, Metal Face collapsed.

"Oh no!" Palutena gasped, seeing his downfall. "I have to get him out of here!"

A sunbeam began to envelop the downed robot, preparing to transport him to safety, but alas, another beam of heavenly power sprung from the Earth itself, colliding with Palutena's before it could retrieve Metal Face.

"Oh no you don't!" Viridi snarled, her own energies locking into Palutena's and forcing it back, preventing it from teleporting Metal Face back to safety. "He's not going anywhere but to the trash heap! Children, finish him now while I hold her off!"

"No! Don't!"

Forces of Nature sprung from the ground, from areas of the tree and promptly began to converge onto their helpless victim, surrounding the Mechon and unleashing a wave of projectile attacks. Bombs and lasers struck the robot, exploding upon his armour and enshrouding him in smog, followed up again and again with more and more blasts.

Dark Pit and Phosphora withdrew to a safe distance as their opponent continued to be bombarded by all manner of natural monsters, again and again.

When the surge of projectiles finally stopped, there was a moment of silence.

"Did we do it then?" Phosphora asked. "Is he dead?"

"Maybe." Her fellow commander muttered, glaring into the shroud of smoke to see if he could spot the body. "Pretty easy if that was it. We didn't even need the Lightning Chariot."

Her warrior defeated, Palutena reluctantly withdrew her light, murmuring: "Oh no…"

"Oh yes." Viridi replied smugly. "I think we've seen the last of Metal Face. Children, collect his scraps. I'm sure the Master Hand can rebuild him-"

And then came the Black Hole.

The smoke and ash vanished in an instant as they were sucked into the mass of raw energy crackling where the Mechon had once stood. The Forces of Nature could only shriek in horror as the intense gravitational power locked onto them, dragging them into the all-consuming power. Horrified, Phosphora nevertheless reacted quickly, grabbing Dark Pit and zapping them back to a safe distance.

"-Oh what the actual flying fu- How did this happen?!" Viridi protested, utterly outraged by this turn of events as the Black Hole sucked in the remnants of her ambushers and crushed them into pieces.

Palutena spoke up now, her dejection replaced with excitement: "What a comeback! Even I didn't see that coming, and I see quite a lot of things!"

As they watched the Black Hole finish it works and dissipate into nothing,Dark Pit and Phosphora were suddenly made aware of a kind of intense tearing and ripping sound. They turned to the stem, which was pulsating violently with some kind of disruption, before the very Mechon himself tore his way through it in an explosion of amber sap and fiery chaos. With the stem torn asunder, its power began to leak out, and the whole began shaking and shuddering as its energy left it.

"Oh come on." Dark Pit grunted irritably.

"No way!" Phosphora protested furiously, as Metal Face flew over to them, wiping the sap from his claws as he continued to laugh triumphantly. "How the Underworld did you-"

"Ha ha! Losers! Did you maggots really think you were the only ones to try and take me out with lightning?" Metal Face cackled, landing before them with a hefty thump and with claws bared. "Maybe the first time I got a shock slowed me down a bit, but don't think the same trick works twice! I asked the Master Hand to cover that little sore spot for me when he popped me into his little Tournament! He figured it equivalent exchange for removing my old body, but for me, it was pure win-win! Ha ha!"

Stomping the ground in his delight, he maintained his gleeful gloating: "So, escaping your pathetic trap was child's play! I just pretended your little lightning and grunts slowed me down, then took a quick fly around when the smoke came up, leaving behind my own trap! And you all bought it, hook line and sinker!"

"Alright fine, credit where it's due, you got out of it." Phosphora snapped, rising up and charging up her energy. "But we've still got-"

"Don't bother trying to fight me anymore. I did what I came to do." He chortled, rising up himself on his thruster as the Giving Tree began to break into pieces around them. "I'm off now. See ya' some other time, kiddies!"

All said and done, he folded into flight mode and boosted off, satisfied with the carnage he had wreaked. The two commanders of Viridi watched him go with intense dissatisfaction and dislike.

"What a jerk." Phosphora grumbled.

"I really hate that guy." Dark Pit grumbled.

"As do I." Viridi grumbled. "Next time, no playing around; we just shove the Lightning Chariot down his throat from the get-go."

And with that, in a flash of natural energy, the two of them were teleported back to base just as the tree began to break down, crumbling into nothing.

As Metal Face boosted out of the collapsing tree, with more success than he had had with Cragalanche, and reached open sky, Palutena gleefully complimented: "I'm absolutely impressed, Metal Face! That was one Underworld of a trick you pulled off there! I had no idea you'd had the Master Hand cover up the old weakness of yours."

"Was a smart thing to do if I say so myself. Ain't gonna bother keeping any sore bits around, am I?"

"Very true. But to be honest, I'm even more impressed with how you actually offered a legitimate offer to Dark Pit. That must have taken a lot of effort on your part, to not just attack something mindlessly for once."

"I said I'd try, didn't I?" Metal Face snorted, doing a few loop-de-loops in appreciation for his skills. "The whole hero thing, being the bigger not-quite-a-man and all that. Ain't got anything better to do, do I?"

"I'm actually very proud of you, Metal Face. That was quite a noble thing, putting aside your lust for carnage in favour of finishing the mission. I mean, granted, you were an absolute prick beforehand with the whole mocking-him-for-not-flying-thing, but at least you took some kind of a step forward."

"What can I say? Your hot springs speak to me."

"Of that, I definitely have no doubt. Let's get you back to them then."

The sunbeam slid around him, enveloping in light, and thus the Face Mechon returned to Skyworld.

In the secluded cosmic refuge of the Final Destination, the Master Hand was rather irritated.

"Some days I wonder how I haven't become a second crazy hand yet. I sent you, my brother, deity of destruction, to Skyworld on an important endeavour to speak to Palutena about. Remind me as to what that endeavour was?"

"To reclaim the Mechon." Crazy Hand giggled, flopping around upon the surface of the stage without a care in the world.

"That is exactly right. I had sent you to inform her of my displeasure on her stealing the Mechon, part of our fine Tournament's newest and most impressive feature, and then to bring the Mechon back here. And what is it that you have failed in accomplishing?"

"To Mechon the reclaim."

"Exactly. Such a simple task, such an easy task, and yet it did not come to pass. That does not bode well for your record of competence. So enlighten me; what exactly led you to disregard my command and leave Metal Face with the Light Goddess?"

"Well brother, it's actually very complicated in its simplicity." Crazy Hand cooed, relaxing from his spasms now, waggling fingers contentedly as he contemplated his annoyed twin's question. "You see, I did indeed relay your displeasure to the Light of Goddess on her nabbiting our robot, but then she gave the eyes that spoke wonders of not-suitable-for-work intent, waggled the hips that oozed the desire to confound and rubbed the curves so curvaceous in their curviness that to curve any further would be to unmake reality."

The Master Hand lamented the lack of a face to slap his hand against: "So she seduced you then."

"No, to be seduced would imply that I had been manipulated. Instead, I manipulated implications to be seduced for my own pleasure."

A pause.

"Brother, words cannot describe how I wish to slap you right now."

"Ah but brother, it is for a cause of good! She only desires him to smash a naughty little case of genocide and save the humans, save them, save them. To Mechon the reclaim is to victory her deny."

"The wars of her realm are not my concern." The Master Hand grunted. "What concerns me is the continued inter-dimensional breach of her transporting an alien element to her own world."

"Worry not, brother, I'm sure she who dances around the staff will have her fun in time quick. One single robot does not a dimension break."

"But it is not a risk worth taking regardless. But… if she is truly as quick as you say, then I suppose I can have tolerance for the moment. It would be rather heartless of me to leave her with nothing to challenge the Nature Goddess' brutality, I suppose. But if she continues to delay in returning the Mechon, if she oversteps her boundaries again, then we will take matters into our own hands."

The Crazy Hand just giggled. He loved puns.