Arc Rise: Hands of Destruction

As the sun sets over this mysterious temple, a lone figure watches over the horizon to watch as the short bliss of twilight graces the land. But in that short moment, much is bound to happen. As soon as the sun and moon both reach the horizon line, there is a brilliant flash of white light. This lone figure eyes the event in question. On his hand is a glove with three triangles together to form one large one. This peculiar mark suddenly glows as the figure, dressed in a green tunic, turns to leave. His face is written with intent and his body language insinuating that he has formed a plan of action, he looks over his shoulder as the light begins to fade.

In a far away land, a young woman in a bright, pink dress, sits at her desk. Resting on her long, blonde hair is a golden crown. A strange creature, much shorter than she, with a head resemblent of a mushroom, barges in. Its panicky tone alarms the young monarch, causing her to slip and spill tea on the letter she is writing at the time. She looks down on this creature with soft eyes and a warm smile, standing and looking to the door. She can see a peculiarly bright light through the crack. The door suddenly begins to open but no one is there. Suddenly, a stream of blazing fire blasts through from the light. This girl bravely grabs the small creature and turns, running up into a large back room and uneasily eying a painting. On her feet, she quickly writes something on the back of her original letter and leaves it before jumping into the painting, itself.

Elsewhere, an eerie black portal appears in the middle of a plain. From it walks a beautiful woman of blue-green skin with black clothes and orange hair. She bows her head and closes her eyes. From this position, she begins to speak a mysterious encantation that causes a light to emit itself from her body. She then transforms into a small creature with pointed teeth and ears with a devilish quality. On her head, a strange headdress of stone. Opening her large, red eyes, she floats away as if to find someone to help her. Her face is expressionless but if one looks deeply into her eyes, they could sense the worry within her.

The very next morning, a short man, dressed in red and blue, approaches a large castle with a stain glass image of the same young princess from the night before. On his head, a red cap with the letter "M" on it. In his hand, a boquette of pink flowers. Unaware of the previous night's events, this man knocks on the castle door, only to find that the door is open. Peeking inside, he sees the scorched section of wall from the fire the previous night. Dropping the flowers, he rushes in to search for the princess but she is nowhere to be found. This castle has many rooms and such but, after much looking, he finds the secret room in which the Princess escaped through the painting. On the floor lies the note.

To Whoever May Find This,

The Castle is under attack. I've escaped into this painting but I can only stall for so long. Find help and get us free. When that is done, I've something to tell you.

Sincerely,
Princess P

... The note did not finish. The princess must have run out of time. But it did not matter. This man knew the handwriting of the princess all too well to be thrown off by mere incompletion. Turning over the note, this man found a horror so terrifying, it'd caused him to drop it and leave the castle in search of help. The note slowly sways to the floor. On the other side, aside from the mangled letter the Princess had originally written, there was something else.

Did you really believe that this painting would hold me out for long? Mwahahahahahahaha!

Far up in the skies, two small aircrafts race on, evading enemy fire. Inside one of them is a creature resemblent of a fox. In the other, a falcon. These two highly trained ariel combatants ar quickly outmaneuvered and hit. One of them is minorly struck an continues moving. But the craft with the falcon inside is struck on the wing, damaging it. The falcon loses control and ejects. But rather than ejecting with a parachute, he rockets upward, surrounded in flame. The enemy craft gets under him as he lands. Three strange creatures form around him. Slyly, he pull a gun and blasts the three, causing them to fall over the edge. But soon more appear. Then have strange weapons and each one shoots him. From the guns comes a form of glue that seems nearly organic as it grows and expands. This substance binds the falcon, who submits.

The other wingman turns around to fire and free his partner but it is far too late. The enemy ship suddenly flies into a portal which innitially seemed to simply appear. The wingman flies in through the opposite site and suddenly finds himself crashing in the middle of the jungle. Ejecting himself from the craft, he looks around to find that the enemy and his partner are nowhere in sight. On the other hand, there was a large gorilla standing behind him, looking down on his head. The mighty creature first picks him up and observes him then puts him down. Out from behind the beast emerges a small monkey wearing a red shirt and baseball cap.

In the stars above everything, a young woman runs through a strange facility in space. She wears a tight, blue suit and her blonde hair in a ponytail. In her hand, a gun which she skillfully uses to gun down strange black creatures in her path. Sliding under a fallen pillar within this long stretching hall of steel, she stands and types in a key, letting her into a room which is sealed off by a titanium door. The panic on her face quickly switches to relief as she approaches a large tank in the middle of the room. After a few moments, the titanium door sealing off the room is blasted down. From the room emerges the same girl in a suit of armor made of a similar material. On one arm, a green cannon. She eradicated all those in her path then walks to a special port and seals the door behind her. There is a loud thumping on the door as something is trying to get in. The girl hastily types in a key code and the pod ejects down to the surface of the planet.

The girl emerges from the pod after it lands and looks around. She's made impact on a very military island. Staring her in the face is a rough looking man, holding a rocket launcher. His dark hair is held at the top by a blue headband. He wears a camoflage suit and eyes this girl directly. She removes her helmet and looks into his eyes. After a brief moment, the two of them nod. The girl presses a button and the armor folds away into a small container. She holds onto this rough man as he presses a button. Seconds later, a ladder drops down which he grabs. Then the two fly off to pursue a means of fighting the coming danger...

The short lived bliss of the previous day's Twilight was quickly transformed into catastrophe. Today would be no different. As the sun and moon once again meet at the horizon, a familiar flash of light shines over the world. In an eerie mansion, a tall, lean man sneaks around with what seems to be a vacuum. He dresses in blue and green with a green cap, the letter "L" on its front. Behind him is a peculiar round specter with pointed teeth, grinning as widely as a Cheshire Cat.

This strange ghost creeps up directly behind the unsuspecting man. But the light shines in through the window of the eerie mansion, scaring it off. The man hears the shriek of the frightened ghost an turns around to find nothing there. He shrugs and turns back to see the light shining in through the window. Without notice, the glass is shattered and an arm reaches in, snatching him up and pulling him in, his hat flying from his head and left on the ground.

Elsewhere, a young boy with a red shirt and cap, equipped with a yell backpack and a belt holding strange red and white spheres, is walking alone through the woods. All around him are strange creatures resemblent of insects and animals. The boy sees one particular creature he takes a liking to. He throws one of the spheres on his belt. From it emerges a small creature resemblent of a turtle. It is blue with a perfectly rounded, brown shell. As if hooking to a fire hydrant, it pumps a stream of high pressure water at the opposing creature but it suddenly disappears into the light of twilight.

The boy shields his eyes an calls back his own creature. As the light dicipates, there is a far different creature in the place of the original. It looks down on him and, with nothing more than a thought, it throws the two to the ground. The boy struggles to his feet and sees the original creature scurrying away. This newer one was far more powerful. He threw another of his spheres, releasing from it a large beast much like a dragon. It spews fire into the air then faces its opponent. It's tail lit on fire and its orange body burning from the inside.

The opposing creature lifts this dragon with but a thought then drops it to the ground. Looking to the boy, it vanishes in an instant. The opponent was white, white with a long, purple tail. Its eyes suggested a tormented past. The boy stares in awe at the place where this foe once stood. What could be so powerful that a mere thought could not only knock them to the floor but also render a massive beast like this dragon unable to move?

Meanwhile, far off on a futuristic race track, many combatant zip through the speed way, one car ahead of them all. It moves with such grace and speed that as it passes, one can only see a blue streak. But that is all destined to change. As the chaotic twilight shine sets over the track, racer after racer is blinded. Cars begin to swerve out of control. Soon, crash after crash results in a pile up of vehicles. As the leading blue car races up behind this collision, preparing to gain yet another lap on them all, the driver sees the wall of cars ahead.

This driver makes no sign of stopping. He simply proceeds driving. Just when it seems he will surely crash, he emerges on the other side without his vehicle, in a powerful jump. Landing opposite the carnage of this site. Through the visor of his particular red helmet, he sees the smoke from the vehicles. Down the track are several totaled cars and their drivers lying there nearly lifeless.

A helicopter flies overhead and from it drops the same blonde haired girl, armor and all. The racer rears back, prepare to fight. The girl holds up the cannon on her arm and when it seems they are to nearly do battle, she points out to the horizon then up to the copter above. The two nod and grab the ladder as the copter flies away.

In a far away land, a small, round, pink creature stares curiously into the flash of twilight. It does not notice as a large character in a red robe, bearing a massive hammer, is behind him, ready to strike him down. The hammer swings around, it is met by a spiked, golden blade. Its bearer's face hidden by an iron mask but his bright yellow eyes shining through. The two glare at one another for a moment, the attacker uneasily but the defender unfazed.

As if from thin air, a rodent-like creature snatches up the golden blade and the hammer. He wears a red top hat and cloak. Sitting on a tree limb, he snickers before vanishing completely. The pink one of the three stands up and turns around to find the others standing there. He must have been unaware of their presence the entire time. But even despite this, he smiles and waves at them, mumbling some meaningless chatter. After the events of that twilight, the iron masked swordsman grabs this clueless little thing and races off in a blur, the large one trailing behind shortly afterwards.

Up above, in the clouds, over this world. A young boy in white with angelic wings soars through the skies, using twin blades to defeat any of these strange dark creatures that he finds. But where were they coming from? Stabbing at one and slicing another in one swift motion, this boy puts the two blades together then turns them and fires a blue arrow of light, shooting a hole into a large creature.

The boy looks down through the clouds and sees a castle below. He sees an open field near it. Flying directly down toward the castle, he is soon greeted by a blade, thrown in his direction. He maneuvers around it then takes it by the grip and lands, handing it to the swordsman who'd thrown it. The swordsman is accompanied by another, both of them wearing capes. the one who'd thrown the blade wore a red cape and hard messy, purple hair. The other wore blue with well kept blue hair to match.

The two of them looked down on the boy for a moment then nodded in agreement. They proceeded out toward the battlefield, the day's hectic twilight now over. What was the cause of this epedimic? What could cause so much to occur?

Within a strange world, the Princess from the first day's twilight runs through the snow with her mushroom headed subject not far behind. They duck as another stream of fire passes over their heads. In pursuit is a large, reptilian beast with a spiked shell on its back. The princess ducks into a cabin and jumps into a room within, surprised to find a large penguin there as well. The penguin points at the twisting slide of ice near them.

The front door of the cabin breaks down as can be heard from the other room. The princess, the Penguin, and the tiny, mushroom headed person jump down the slide to escape just as the door to the slide is broken down. The beast takes one step onto the slide and it melts where he steps. His body heat won't allow him the follow anymore. It gives a great roar as it seems the princess has for now escaped.

Chapter 1
Twilight Heroes

Princess Peach and Toadstool slip down the icy slide. Having lost the penguin, they continue on their own, unable to tell which way they should go. Suddenly, Toadstool yells and begins to try and claw into the slide to stop. The frightened princess, sees no danger until she looks dead ahead to find the wall before them. She quickly grabs Toadstool and leans to the left in a desperate attempt to swerve. Whilst too close to turn in time, the two soon find that they are in no danger. They come up on the wall at a rapid pace but find that they've passed through it. This mysterious opening led through an icy tunnel and the two wound up in a small log cabbin.

Looking through the window in the door, the princess discovers that they are at the bottom of the mountain. She turns to get Toadstool then turns and opens the door. To her surprise, the devilish King of Koopas, himself, waits crouched behind the door. Mwahahahahahaha. With a mighty slash of his claws, Toadstool screams and the princess cries for help. "MARIO!"

In the boundless plains in a far away land, three heroes-Link, Yoshi, and Midna-brave the emptiness for a lone cause. "Link, we have to try and figure out what's causing these Twilight flashes," Midna begins. "The Flashes were once thought of as nothing but something to be admired. Then there was one big one. They called it the Great Flash." Midna paused to ponder for a minute. She looked up at the mid day sky, the sun lingering happily.

Yoshi seemed rather absent minded as well, but then again, it usually does. Yoshi was never one for deep thought. Midna, on the other hand, seemed to be in the realm of her inner thoughts quite often. When she snapped out of it at last, she found Link to be staring at her. "What, Link? Oh, you're wondering why I'm back in this Imp form. Well, Zant might have placed me in it to keep me from being a threat but Guess what. I found out that this form is immune to the Twilight Flashes."

For a moment, Link looked on as if he'd begun to piece everything together. He soon realied, he'd still no idea what the Twilight Flashes even were or where they'd come from, let alone any affects they'd had. He'd only that instinct that they weren't good. Perhaps it was left over from his days as a wolf and being in the Twilight Realm. Maybe exposure to Twilight gave him this sense. If anyone would know, it would be Zelda. But they'd left her on the infamous Bridge of Eldin, overlooking the Twilight Flashes. Midna stared at him, wishing that he'd stop thinking about Zelda, if only for a moment. She knew when he thought about Zelda. A peculiar look would sneak across his face as if the worry of probably losing someone near and dear.

Midna, crossed her arms and rested on Yoshi's head as he continued to waddle through the plains. "The Twilight Flashes are some sort of other worldly-meaning MY world-flashes that started popping up randomly one day. My guess is that they started showing up here around the same time. They have weird affects on people who look directly into them. They make you act really strange", Midna explained. Link tried not to think about why he and Zelda hadn't seemed to change at all. He simply provided himself the excuse that he and Zelda had been to the Twilight Realm in the past.

In the middle of the vast jungle, Fox McCloud searches for a means of transportation. Having left the two apes where he'd met them, he now seeks to locate his lost partner. He has treked the jungle for many hours with no luck of finding any transportation. The occasional rustling of leaves and tree limbs is hardly anything for this great commander to be worried about. However, when he isn't the one creating the sound in the first place and there are no acknowledged other around to take the blame for it, worries arise.

Fox soon found himself looking-First left then right then all around. Finally, he was able to locate a large silhouette in the bushes. From them emerged the familiar Gorilla and his small Monkey partner, baseball cap and all. At first, Fox had decided to turn and leave but at long last he'd found a means of transportation. He pointed first to Donkey Kong then to Donkey Kong's arm. The massive gorilla spun his arm like a pinwheel then threw a mighty punch, launching Fox clear across the Jungle. After which, Donkey Kong watched him soar. But when it came time to leave, he finds that something is missing; Diddy Kong.

The small Monkey had been in front of Fox when Donkey Kong punched him off and he'd grabbed onto Fox's leg as he left. The terrified monkey looked back at Donkey Kong, eyes widened. His high pitched cry for help could be heard for miles. High up in the skies, Fox begins to slow down. No longer are the two flying high over the jungle. They've begun their descent over the hard ruins. Surely they'd be flattened. Closing in on the ground, Fox looked back at poor Diddy Kong, covering his eyes.

In the Mushroom Kingdom, news hadn't yet gotten out oabout the Princess' disappearence and possible demise. The toads and the like had all been carrying on about their business, thinking the Twilight Flashes to be a form of new natural occurance. But Mario soon appears at the doors of the Library where he finds a familiar face. Toadsworth, Princess Peach's long time and trusted steward, was there, reading a cook book of all things. The silence of the library was quickly broken when Mario bburst through the door, yelling. "Sush, Mario, this is a Library, after all. Now, if you don't mind my asking, what are you doing here? You do not seem like the reading type", Toadsworth teases.

"Bowser has Peach!" Mario blurts out, trying not to let anyone other than Toadsworth hear. Unfortunately the Library echoes with this news and Toad after Toad pop out of isles and seats, all with the same wide eyed expression.

Toadsworth calmly sighs and holds his hands behind his back, heart races just the same. He takes a seat and turns to the book before him. "Bowser has her locked away again?" He asks, trying to be as calm as possible.

Mario ponders for a moment, soon recalling the letter. Princess Peach and Toadstool had escaped into a painting. Unfortunately, Bowser had found his way in as well. With every second, Mario could feel Bowser getting closer and closer still. He told Toadsworth of the letter which calmed the elderly Toad. Nonetheless, there was still a sense of panic. "Mario, I will have to entrust you to rescue her yet again, in this case." Toadsworth grabbed a book from a shelf and waved his cane over it. From the pages of the book rose a familiar two dimensional face in three dimensions.

"Mario, what are you doing back in the pages?" Asked the anit-average, friendly Goomba, Goombella.

"Goombella, Mario is not back "In the Pages". You, quite simply, are out of them. We need you to help him find and rescue Princess Peach once again."

"She's in trouble again, huh? Well, what are we waiting for?"

Mario and Goombella rush from the Library, on their way to the Castle. Toadsworth takes his seat once more and sits back, looking to the ceiling. Amidst the chaos around him, he lets out a sigh of grief and sorrow. If only this madness weren't happening. Perhaps someone would hear. Perhaps even a pen could drop and everyone would look as if it were the loudest thing they'd ever heard. The peace of the Library was no longer peace. It was an uproar of fear.

Deep within Luigi's Mansion, the very same Boo floats around in the dark, looking for something to do. From the same window that Luigi was taken through, it found the shattered glass. Looking outside revealed nothing. No one was there. The window had simply broken. Boo wandered timidly out of the mansion and found that the light was not as terrifying as it'd thought. Then Boo saw something haunting even for a ghost. Luigi's hat, the hat he almost never went anywhere without, was lying in the garden. The round ghost picked it up and for a moment, eyed it blankly. Then, with a rather strange tought in its head, Boo put the hat on and began to cackle. It wasn't until Boo was attacked by Pirannha Plants that it fled, without throught, away from the Mansion.

In the skies above the Desert, Samus and Snake ride in a Helicopter, closing in on a strange cybernetic signal. But the closer they get, the more static interferes with the equipment. Just when Snake is about to throw it out from the window of the Chopper, Samus grabs him by the shoulder and points out the window at R.O.B and Pikachu, unable to see the other two robots for their small size. R.O.B looks up at the chopper and waves along with Pikachu, the others simply staring the Chopper down to them. R.O.B then proceeds to pick up the both of them and jump into the chopper with Pikachu right behind.

As the day draws to a close, the Sun and the Moon close in on the Horizon line. The gorgeous sunset becoming a dark night. The Moon slowly on its way. Stars have already begun to show in the sky. Then the two meet. Very soon, this occurance is followed by the usual flash of light. The Twilight Flash catches Midna's eye. She looks on with a worrisome glare. "I hope, for all our sakes, we're ready for this."

Chapter 2
Shining Hope

As the quiet bliss of the Twilight Flash settles over the hollow lands of the seemingly endless desert, R.O.B watches from the helicopter. It tilts its head in awe at the beautiful but deadly light. The feeling of peace is in the air for a moment. But it all comes to an abrupt stop when the copter seems to have been struck. Samus veers out of the window, her long, blonde hair flowing. She feels anxious to find the cause of the bump. This was no turbulence. The helicopter had indeed been shot upon. What's worse, it was by none other than the horrid mercenary, Wolf, in his arwing.

Snake made a desperate attempt to shake the gunfire to avoid taking a critical blow. Managing to outmaneuver Wolf as much as possible, Snake flies the helicopter to the edge of the desert before Wolf manages to strike the propeller, downing everyone in the jungle. Wolf, believing he's done away with an apparent obstacle, flies away with a menacing smirk across his face.

Moments later, Samus, covered entirely in armor, pries open the door and climbs out of the wreckage. Captain Falcon and Snake quickly follow. Ray-01 and Chibi-Robo are the next the emerge, Chibi, being noticed for the first time since its arrival. But R.O.B lay on the floor of the copter, head twitching. Systems unresponsive, Samus looks down in grief. Chibi-Robo looks around at the sorrow felt by those around him, his small, computeried mind understanding the situation. He leaps into the copter and begins to fiddle with R.O.B's wiring.

Along the bland, annonymous pathway on the outskirts of the forest, a very confused ghost wanders about. Having lost his way, unable to relocate the mansion, Boo slowly floats along the path, hoping to be headed in the right direction. But the small, round ghost is all too far. Upon finding a peculiar statue, he pauses, at first frightened by it to the point of shielding his eyes. But a quick peak shows it to be the trophified figure of none other than Princess Peach's close friend, Princess Daisy of Sarasaland.

The confused girl emerges from her frozen state with a scream that firghtens poor Boo. The already white ghost loses all coloring and becomes see-through from fear. Daisy turns to see the terrified creature hovering behind her and screams again but this time much louder. As if from thin air, the Princess picks up a golf club and hits the poor Boo with it repeatedly, leaving mounds of bruises on his head. But as Daisy takes a closer look, she discovers that this Boo is not more harmful than an ant. She sees the hat on his head and removes it, taking a closer look. "Hey, this hat is Luigi's! Where'd you get this, you little..." Daisy paused. She could see the fear in Boo's eyes. Luigi may not have been the bravest guy in the world to her but the boo had to be equally timid if not more. "Alright, what happened to Luigi?"

Boo, still paralyzed with fear, doesn't realize that Daisy is no longer red with anger. He doesn't realize that she no longer wishes him more dead than he already was. He only realizes that now the both of them are in trouble. Pointing over the hill, Boo warns Daisy of an oncoming danger. Daisy, at first unable to understand Boo, looks over her shoulder to see a flood of red shells and green ones sliding and trotting their way. "Ah, Koopa Troopas!" Daisy screams, grabbing hold of Boo and running off, similarly to Peach's reckless grabbing of Toad some place far away.

Deep within the painting, Peach grabs Toadstool and throws him over Bowser's head. "Go find Mario!" She yells. Bowser ignores the creature he'd labeled insignificant. He wanted only the Princess. With another mighty slash of the claws, he got closer. Then another and another. Bowser slashed Peach's dress, ripping the delicate, pink fabric. With another swipe, a scream so loud and piercing that it could be heard even from outside of the painting.

Toadstool ran as fast as his feet could carry him. He ran and ran and finally, he was there. He'd found the secret Star hidden in the mountain and grabbed it, ejecting him from the painting but held on to it so he'd be able to leave the painting again, should he have to return. Frantically, Toadstool bolted from the castle in search of Mario.

In a far away region, the Pokemon Trainer proceeds to his next destination. But he is rudely interrupted by the same pokemon from before, blocking the path to the woods. Could this be the very same? It would have to be. It was the only pokemon of its kind. It was Mewtwo, standing in the path, meditating. The trainer, unaware of this Pokemon's power, holds a pokeball. "Charizard, let's battle!" He says, throwing his pokeball. From the small orb emerges the massive, hot skinned, fire breathing, dragon-like beast.

As Charizard races toward Mewtwo, it could feel the power of it. Mewtwo, as relaxed as it was, held up it hand and as if to pluck away a fly, it tossed Charizard like a salad, throwing it into a row of trees, back to back to back. The trees feel like great dominos, each one bringing the sound of booming thunder. Charizard lay on the ground, unable to continue. Just then, Mewtwo vanished in a flash. The trainer, calling back Charizard, looks to the horizon. The sun and the Moon kiss on the horizon and the Twilight Flash in the distance dicipates.

Having finally reached the end of the endless plains, Link, Midna, and Yoshi hault for a rest. Midna had been peculiarly quiet for most of the trip. On average, she'd have been running her mouth, taunting Link. But she was quiet, lost in fact. Staring off into the horizon, watching the moon rise, Midna hadn't uttered a word in hours. She just stared off at the horizon. The moon glistened in the night. She finally spoke. "It's so beautiful," she said, "I hope that maybe we can do something about the Twilight Flashes. If we don't..." Midna paused.

Link curiously looked back at her, the tiny imp sitting on Yoshi's back. Her eyes dead set on the moon. Her mouth hanging open in awe. "What is it?" He asked, uttering his first words in a long time.

"You spoke," Midna exclaimed in surprise. "I didn't know you could speak!"

"What were you saying about not stopping the Twilight Flashes?"

"If we don't stop the Twilight Flashes? Hm, if we don't...We'll never get to see a beautiful night like this again." Link froze in place and Yoshi paused where he was. The two of them marked with fear and distress. "Link," Midna began to say, smirking, "you have a funny voice."

Chapter 3
Flash Flood

Link knew Midna to be only joking. But still he was curious. He'd never thought his voice to sound unusual. He'd never so much as thought about it. Never before was he in any position where the content of his voice should matter. However unusual, Link found himself lost in thought. The feeling quickly is lost. As the moon rises in the aftermath of the day's Twilight Flash, the shadows of rocks and cactie spring from their mediums. Their cold, lifeless silhouettes become animate. They spring from the ground an stone walls throughout and surround the heroes. Link, sword in hand, makes a notion towards one wall of black creatures. They startled creatures jump out of the way as Link charges through, cutting down any that remain standing in his way. Yoshi, running as fast as possible with Midna perched on his back, desperately tries to keep up.

Elsewhere, in the tunnels under the Mushrrom Kingdom, Mario and Goombella bound through the darkness. Soon they come upon none other than Toadstool, who'd been sent to find Mario. For a moment, Toad seems overjoyed but he is quickly corrected by the blade-like teeth of a Piranha Plant. Mario, as if completely unfazed, trounces the vicious flower and snatches up Toad. Then with one swift motion, Goombella spins, throwing her book with such percision and power that it slices through the stem of the plant.

As Mario lets down Toadstool, the small, mushroom headed creatures begins to panic, grabbing Mario by the wrist and attempting to pull him off only to find that Mario wouldn't budge. The red and blue hero proceeded to jump high up onto a floating brick block. Sitting on the block was a flower, glowing like the morning sun. Gombella, recognizing the flower immediately, stared in awe at its radiance.

Mario holds up the flower carefully and looks back to the others, nodding. Closing his hand around the flower's petals, his outfit changes color from blue and red to red and white. In his hand where the flower once stood, a fireball. Looking at the others, he nods, jumping off and running through the cave, Goombella and Toadstool not far behind.

On the edge of the jungle, Fox and Diddy Kong fall through the trees, slowing them down, allowing them to hit the ground safely. They've wound up in the valley. Overhead, the roaring of a jet engine can be heard. From the cover of the treetops emerges the massive ship, resemblent of its captain, The Halberd. As quickly as he can, Fox snatches up Diddy Kong and jumps up into the trees then leaps up high. Vanishing in a flash of blue light then reappearing higher up, Fox is able to throw Diddy Kong and grabs the wing.

Inside, however, is not any friendly face. The sinister face in the cabin is almost familiar. Fox is able to guide Diddy Kong to the bridge where they meet face to face with none other than Falco. But this isn't Falco. His feathers aren't blue, they're black. "Falco, what'd they do to you?" Fox asks, Diddy Kong hiding behind him.

"No idea what you're talkin' about, Fox", Falco says, a look of hate in his eye.

"You're Black, Falco. You don't look..."

"I'm fine, Fox. In fact," Falco began, reaching for his gun. "I feel better than I have in a long time." Shooting his blaster at Fox, who has already moved. His blaster firing blue streaks of heat energy as Fox leaps and bounds around the deck.

Deep within the ruins, Chibi-Robo finally manages to awaken R.O.B. But something is different. R.O.B's lifeless husk of a body is even more animate than it once was. Chibi might have tampered with systems in R.O.B that had never before been active. Overhead, Samus could hear Wolf's Arwing booming by overhead, thrusters blasting. "Stay here", she says, running off into the woods. Shortly afterwards, a thunderous crash is heard and Samus emerges from the woods, he suit unscratched. "We have to get out of here. He'll be after us!" She says, looking as calm as possible but keeping an urgent tone.

Back in the endless plains, Link manages to cut down the last of the shadow formed black creatures. Midna, relaxing on Yoshi's back, her hands behind her head, opens one eye. Teasingly, she says with a grin, "You finally done?" Link says nothing. He only places his blade back into its harness and picks up the boomerang he'd thrown, placing it into a pocket on the harness. "Link," Midna begins, "do you think that the Flash caused this?"

Silently, he nods. His face written with all seriousness, his mind racing with thoughts of combat. Yoshi trotted by, Midna still on his back. Link, still hardly paying any attention to the world around him, stands in a daze. "You coming, Link?" Midna teases, turning around on Yoshi's back. Link, having momentarily snapped out of it, catches up to the others.

"Midna, it occurs to me that you never explained to me where we were going."

"Oh, that's right. Well, we're going to the Twilight Plains. I have a feeling we'll get some answers there."

Elsewhere, amidst what seems to be a flood of Green and Red, two figures emerge over the hill in the horizon, one floating, the other running in a yellow dress. Suddenly the avalanche of color becomes a great landslide of shadow. Where there were once Koopa Troppas there was now a sea of shadow creatures. Boo looks back on thm in dismay as they begin to catch up. "Boo, what kind of ghost are you, anyway?!" Daisy cries, looking for cover. Indeed she does find it.

A lone tree on the side of the road, just large enough to climb and fully support her weight while keeping a distance between her and the creatures. Grabbing the limb as she runs, she lifts her feet, swinging upward into the tree. Boo floats up to her and looks down as the flood of shadow passes by. To their surprise, the tree is consumed by darkness. Daisy holds onto Boo for dear sweet life but the poor ghost isn't enough to support her and the two are sucked into the abyss of darkness below.

Chapter 4
The Break of Dusk

The darkness is not a welcoming place. It is not like the Twilight Realm or the infinite abyss of the Negative Zone. Subspace would be a vacation spot to anyone unlucky enough to find this place. The Darkness is pure nothingless as far as the eye can see. There is no light yet one can see another before them. It it a truly horrid method of torture. But it is one that Daisy and Boo were unlucky enough to have fallen to. Daisy awakens to the instant feeling of remorse. "This place is cold", she says. Goosebumps raise on her arms and sweat drops down her brow. "Boo, are you there?" Nothing. "Boo?" Suddenly a chill creeps down her spine. Quickly turning around, she faces what may very well be the last thing she'll ever see in her lifetime.

SomeIn the Mushroom Kingdom, untouched by the nothingness of the Dark, Mario, Toadstool, and Goombella approach the castle. "Mario, Bowser might have gotten Peach by now. You have to hurry!" Toadstool panics, scurrying to the door and throwing it open. But there in the doorway is on of Mario's long time foes, Petey Piranha. The big mouthed flower beast quickly lunges but Mario snatches up Toadstool and jumps back with him.

A the beast utters a deafening roar, making Goombella and Toadstool hide behind Mario. "Let'sa go!" Mario says, leaving the two behind him, the large piranha plant charging him as a bull does a red blanket.

Across great plains and mountains, over seas around the world, Link, Midna, and Yoshi make their way to the strange Twilight Plains, the only remaining link between the Twilight Realm and the real world. "Alright, boys, stand back", Midna says. She chants, summoning the powers of the Twilight. But something is amiss. She seems to lack control. Link looks over the horizon and sees the sun lowering and the moon preparing to rise. Then comes that fateful ten second kiss between the two as they meet. The Twilight Flash that follows is just as beautiful but even more deadly as it does not stop over the horizon. The flash reaches. It reach and reaches and finally engulfs the trio in the midst of Midna's chant.

Samus, Snake, and Captain Falcon lead the robots through the jungle when the roar of the Arwing is heard once more overhead. Captain Falcon stops, holding his hand back to hold the others frm moving any further. The jungle is quiet. He steps through the bushes to find out if the path is safe. He is gone for several seconds before being launched through the bushes in the opposite direction, landing on his back. Wolf emerges, speeding through at near unmatchable speed. Samus aims, waiting for Wolf to make one false step but his footing is firm and almost an artwork. Snake lays a motion sensor as Captain Falcon springs to his feet with a powerful roundhouse kick, throwing Wolf back.

The three of them surround him, Snake holding a grenade and Samus aiming with her cannon as Captain Falcon crosses his arms. "It's time to have a little fun with this thing," Wolf says, a smirk spreading across his face. "Land Master, go!"

From the skies and through the dense canopy of tress crashes a massive tank-like machine. The mortar set on its front charges up a massive beam of energy. "Get out of the way!" Samus yells, pushing everyone. Her armor then takes the full front of the blast but it's so powerful that she's shaken within her suit. "Crap," she says, "That Land Master is piece of work. Weapons Status." Screen after screen over damage ratios to the suit appear before Samus' eyes. "Reserve Power Levels?" Across the large, central screen reads 50% "That's all I'll need." Samus gets to her feet and rotates the cannon on her arm then takes aim. Suddenly it charges up massive amounts of power and releases it all in one devestating blast.

The powerful attack entirely engulfs the Land Master's mortar and when it clears, the mortar is gone. Samus' armor sparks and shorts as she drops to her knees. "What?!" Wold exclaims. He presses a button on his wristband and suddenly the arwing appears, flying through the jungle, shooting at the heroes. R.O.B and Ray-01 both take aim and blast the Arwing out of the air but in coming down, it crash lands, trapping Samus beneath the hulk of it.

"I can't move," Samus says, "Suit's out of power."

"Hit the kill switch, Samus", Snake warns.

Samus weakly activates the kill switch but the suit only ends up electricuting her. "Argh!" She turns it off and drops her head. "The suit isn't coming off!"

"Sure it is," Wolf says, drawing closer with his claws marking the trees, "I'll get it off for you. We'll make it a game. How about can opener?"

Suddenly the Twilight Flash echoes its actions on the Twilight Plains and engulfs everything in sight, all three robots, all three heroes, and Wolf.

Deep in the city, the reign of machines is being eradicated by the familiar blue hedgehog, Sonic, and the PK wonder, Ness. Sonic speedily does away with each robot on one street and moves on to the next as Ness eliminates those on the other side of town. But the Twilight Flash is all too soon and perhaps faster than even Sonic the Hedgehog. It overpowers each machine and engulfs Ness. Sonic turns, running at top speed and jumping to avoid anything flying through the air into the flash but as he loses his footing, he is dragged into the eternal light.

Much has been desolated by the Twilight Flashes. Much trouble has been caused. But one can only wonder what their role is. And what of this Black Sea? Tabuu and the Subspace dimension have both been shattered and the Negative Zone is by no means powerful enough to cause this.

Kirby, Meta Knight, and King DeDeDe chase Daroach across the endless plains as he outclasses them at every turn. Meta Knight disappears into is cloak and as if from thin air, appears directly behind Daroach. But the sneak swings at him with his own blade and throws him to the ground then speeds away, unaware of the Twilight Flash he's set to run into. He runs straight into the flash, screeching as he attempts to stop. Kirby runs directly in after him but King DeDeDe is pulled in, trying to run away. Meta Knight is the only one left. The flash approaches as he braces himself with his cloak before being forefully pulled in.

Pit, Marth, and Ike walk along the battlefield where they'd first seen a Twilight Flash. But on this day they were greeted by a different force; The Black Sea. It creaps along the surface of the land, waiting to draw its next victim. Its gateway to the infinite abyss of nothingness, the Dark, a fate no one would dare wish on their worst of enemies, beckons to the three heroes. "That doesn't look friendly!" Pit points out.

"What manner of trickery," Marth begins. He doesn't finish. Instead he backs away, drawing his blade. Ike pulls his own sword and throws it high up in a spiral. "What are you doing, Ike?"

"Ether!"

Ike leaps up and grabs his blade, spinning in the air. He suddenly drops but rather than parting the darkness with his blade, he falls into it. Marth and Pit begin to back away then run. Pit grabs Marth and flies as high up as he can but the Black Sea is relentless. It pulls them in as a twister does to its hosting location. Then it continues to creep along the battlefields, engulfing all in its path.

Chapter 5
The Dynamic Duo and the Terrible Two Return

Mario lands, head first, in the dirt. Petey slowly approaches, mouth hanging open. Toadstool and Goombella panic, running around in circles as it gets closer. Mario opens his eyes. Reaching into hispocket, he removes a mushroom. Eating it whole, he grows to a tremendous heights, rivaling Petey. The two begin to brawl. Petey uses his powerful jaws to grab Mario and toss him around while Mario throws furious punches. "Mario, We'll go and find Peach," Toad begins, "You stay here and take care of that thing! Meet us inside when you're done!"

As Toadstool and Goombella trot into the castle, Mario realizes he's left the beast untended and within seconds, winds up on the ground. Thinking wuickly, Mario grabs Petey's tongue and swings him aroun then throws the monster into several trees, rendering it unable to move. But he soon realizes that he's flattened something in the process. Moving the disabled Petey Piranha, her discovers the two dimensional Wario and Waluigi. He peels them from Petey's back and drops them into the moat, quickly restoring them.

The two anti-heroes spring up from the cold waters and face Mario. "Hey, cousin, what's the big idea?" Wario asks, playing with his moustache.

"Yeah, Mario. It ain't nice to go flattenin' people like that", Waluigi adds.

Mario says nothing. He only turns and runs back to the castle, shaking the ground with every step. But he too shrinks with every step until he is once again a short man. Wario and Waluigi shrug and sneak after him deviously.

Upon reaching the castle, Mario opens the door and runs in, leaving it wide open. Wario and Waluigi follow him into the back room where they see him jump into a painting. Immitating him directly, they too leap in, soaring through the transport, finding themselves on a frozen over cliff. Mario leaps down a fire stack and into a cabin. Inside there is a penguid, waddling back and forth. "Oh me, oh my. How could I let this happen?" She says to herself, stopping to take a breath. "Oh, it's you! If I remember right, you're Mario! You beat me in a race down this very slide before! Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you but some jerk with a spike shell melted the slide. Come to think of it, I think he was chasing some girl and a mushroom headed guy. Oh yeah! I just saw that same mushroom headed guy pass by outside with some other little creature, wearing a mining helmet! Anyway, there's no way out of here now unless you want to be brave and dare try to make that jump to what's left of the slide."

Mario looks down at the melted section of the slide. The jump is enormous. He stands at the edge and looks down over into the dark abyss below. Wario and Waluigi slide down into the cabin and stand next to Mario, staring down into the darkness as he does. "So, what are we lookin' at?" Wario asks. Mario suddenly leaps across the gap and onto the slide from the start that Wario's presence had given him. He yells the entire way down as Wario and Waluigi watch him disappear around the bend. "Gah! Come on, Waluigi!"

Waluigi stands in the fire place with one foot in Wario's hands. Wario rockets his lean partner up and follows by jumping from wall to wall. Meanwhile, Mario steps out of the cabin at the foot of the icy mountain, dizzy from his ride. But he's quickly greeted by the familiar devious face of Bowser Jr. The young Koopa Prince cackled menacingly, taking out from behind his back, Toadstool and Goombella. "Looking for these, Mario?"

"Mario, Help!" Toad screams.

"Mario, Bowser already left with Peach! He's somewhere else in the castle!" Goombella warns.

Mario stands off against Bowser Junior, both of them simply staring one another down. "You keep getting in the way. Why do you keep trying to kidnap mama?!" Bowser Jr. says in a rage. He drops the two and pulls out another familiar from behind his back. It's a Bob-Omb. "Leave us alone!" Then he throws it. The heavy Bob-Omb drops to the snow and begins to light up. Goombella and Toad run over to Mario and try to escape with him but the Bob-Omb detonates, blasting the three of them off so hard that they're ejected from the painting. Bowser Jr. leaps through the painting and points a paintbrush at them when, suddenly, a tall man in green lands on him from another painting in the room.

"Luigi!" Toad rejoices, grabbing Luigi by the arm and jumpig up and down.

Luigi begins to rejoice as well for the simply fact that he is no longer in danger. But the feeling does not last. He turns his head to the door to find the King of Koopas standing there, glaring at the group. Bowser Jr. too begins to get up but Waluigi and Wario suddenly jump from the painting and land on him. Bowser gives a horrific roar then breathes scorching hot flames in the direction of the brothers and their rivals.