Samus hid behind a corner, just barely out of view of the guard that was on the other side of the corner. The guard had heard a voice in this hallway and walked into it to look for any unwanted guests. In a stroke of luck however, it decided not to pursue any further. Samus was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief when she heard the guard walk out of the hallway.
It had only been 10 years when a huge part of the real world became part of Subspace, and the Isle of Ancients was lost. Many of The Smashers who defeated Tabuu, like Mario, Link, Kirby, Bowser, Pit, Luigi, and King Dedede retired to their homes on Earth, as peace seemed to return back to their world.
That all changed one month ago. A monster that had resembled a skeleton entered the world. It was a cruel and heartless Heathen, who wielded a scythe and arrows, which when struck a person, would force their soul to leave their body. The abomination would then capture the soul in a gem which was placed around its neck. The Creature was like a demon. It floated in the air, wearing a dark robe and cape, with Blue flame eyes, and 4 arms, and with skeleton legs that of a crow, although it never seemed to use them.
A call summoning the Smashers was sent out, but it didn't reach everyone. The Veteran Smashers: Snake, Ice Climbers, Wolf, and the Pokémon Trainer disappeared, and not all the Smashers came to the call. Those who did, Mario, Luigi, Ness, Donkey Kong, Samus, Pikachu, Bowser, King Dedede, Yoshi, Kirby, and Fox McCloud had to enter on a airship which had the Skeleton, who the inhabitants of the World called "The Reaper". Once The Reaper entered the ship, a distress signal was sent out, but it seemed too late for the airship crew because on deck, the crew onboard were killed and had their souls harvested. When they boarded they were forced to split up, Mario, Fox, Pikachu, and Samus went to the control panel to take control of the ship, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, and Ness went to the jet turbines to try to slow down the airship, and Dedede, Bowser, and Kirby were to find any survivors, and or resources the Reaper could use, and destroy them.
"POYO!" Slash!
"YOSHI!" Slash!
"OOOOH OOOO!!" Slash!
"AAAAHHH!" King Dedede shouted. Slash!
"ROOOAR!" Slash!
Samus pushed her hand against her chest to calm her burning lung. Her group had to separate when they were attacked by a bunch of skeletons resembling the inhabitants of their world, like clones, which returned some awful memories. She looked around, but she had no idea where she was. She was in a room with a lot of crates, but nothing else.
"Ooh Ooh!" Just then she heard a cry for help. A sound like it came from a Monkey, and she recognized it instantly.
It was Diddy Kong.
She looked at the other side of the wall corner she was hiding behind, and saw Diddy Kong being dragged by two of those clones to the Reaper. She was shocked. Many of the Smashers who recieved the call never returned it, or gave any indication that they weren't joining the pursuit. Like Diddy Kong for example
"Master" One of the clones said in an unnatural deep voice,
"This one tried to destroy the gas compartments"
Diddy Kong was struggling to break free of their grasp when he was held up, surrounded by a blue aura, up to the eyes of the Reaper.
The Reaper then groaned in a horrific demonic voice, as if it's voice was deeper than the clones, had something in its throat and was trying to gurgle it out.
The Reaper than held up the scythe and with one swift move, he cut through Diddy Kong's chest, as his soul was liberated from his body, which fell to the floor. Diddy Kong's body had a face of pain and fright as his soul was sucked into the gem around the Reaper's neck, making it glow Green for a temporary time.
Samus had to hold everything in her gut not to cry, and vomit, as she tried to hold back her gasp.
"BEEEP BEEEEP BEEEEEEP" Samus jumped at the sound of the alarm, which she never knew was above her.
"All soldiers, intruders have been spotted on the ship, please engage, I repeat engage" The deep voice Samus heard from the clone's voice was on the speaker. The Reaper quickly floated towards another hallway, with his servants following him. Samus looked to a corridor on the other side of the room and began running towards it, hoping it would lead her to her friends.
Luigi and Ness were running. They were running for their lives. Donkey Kong and Yoshi were taken by the Reaper, and they also saw Dedede, Bowser, and Kirby, their bodies mangled, their souls freed from their body and captured by the Reaper.
After turning a corner however, they both froze. They ran straight into the Reaper. Not only that, they were on the outside deck of the ship, being protected only by a steel fence. Ness is able to snap out of his frozen trance, and run towards the Reaper, landing a hit on him, repulsing him back. Luigi, still frozen with fear, is able to snap out as well and tries to attack by closing his eyes and swinging his hands, but is effortlessly thrown into a stack of crates nearby, making them collapse on top of him. Ness, briefly distracted by Luigi's injury, is knocked into the right side of the shipwall. Ness, is then pulled up to eyepoint with the Reaper. Luigi climbs out of the crates, but is once again paralyzed with fear at the sight of Ness being controlled.
"I have to-a help him! Oooooh, but ima scared!"
Luigi thinks as he stares at the Reaper who begins to pull his scythe
"Ok ok ok ok! What would-a Mario do?"
Luigi thinks hard.
Suddenly without warning, Luigi's legs shoot up and begin running towards the Reaper.
"What am I a-doing?! I could be killed!! Hgnhh! No! I have to help Ness!" Luigi yells in his mind as he runs up to the Reaper.
As the Reaper begins to swing the Scythe, Luigi knocks Ness out of the way, leaving himself vulnerable. Ness is knocked into the Steel Fence and hangs on for his life as he dangles out of the ship.
Ness looks up and sees what had happened. Luigi had sacrificed himself for him.
Luigi's body was coughing up blood as the Scythe had penetrated his chest. The Reaper then pushed Luigi's lifeless body of the Scythe as his soul remained dormant on the knife's edge.
"NOOOOO!!!!" Ness screamed as Luigi's body fell next to him.
Before Ness could feel pain for his fallen friend, the wind overwhelms him, and his grip slips from the fence and falls from the ship, plummeting into a nearby lake.
Mario was crying at this point. He was tied up and forced to watch his friends executed on camera screens. Only him, Samus, Pikachu, and Fox remained, everyone else had been captured and, or killed. His anger grew and grew. When he saw Luigi get killed, and Ness overwhelmed, that was it. The fire burned his restraints, wearing down its fire resistant power. He had to fight his way back to the front of the ship, killing many clone guards along the way. Luckily he had given the Smashers headpieces. Headphones, with an earpiece attached. Hopefully he could still communicate with the Smashers remaining.
"Hello? Please! If-a anyone else can hear me, please respond!"
Mario waited for an answer from the headpiece. He waited, and waited, and then
"Pika?!"
"Mario?! Holy shit you're okay, It's me Samus!!!"
"No way. Mario? This is Fox. I was hoping you were okay."
Mario was absolutely relieved
"Thank-a goodness you guys are okay! Where are you?"
"Pika. Pika Pikachu"
"In the Shipping Area?"
"Pikachu!"
"I'm in the Right Corridor!!"
"I'm in Docking"
"Okay! Excellent! Samus! You need to-a go straight and take a left! We all need to get to the front of the ship!"
"Okay!"
"Pikachu? You need to-a go straight and take a right! Then keep going straight! You should get to where I am as well!"
"Pika Pikachu!"
"Excellent!"
"And Fox you have to-a make two straights and a left! Got it?!"
"......"
"Fox? You-a there?"
"Fox. It's Samus. Please respond."
"Pika? Pikachu Pika?
"Fox! Where are you?"
Never in Fox's life had he been so scared. He's faced enemies, and has had countless near death experiences, but nothing paralyzed him like right now.
Falco, his ally, his friend, his most trusted partner, was dead. He was lying near the Reaper, who was staring at Fox with a cold stare.
However, Fox's fright and pain soon turned to red anger.
"You killed him. You FUCKING KILLED HIM"
Fox screamed with anger and sadness in his voice.
"How could you...how could you take Falco away from me"
The Reaper stood unfazed by Fox's outburst
"He....was my friend, the only I trusted in this god-forsaken world"
Fox looked up to meet the Reaper face to face.
"Why are you doing this. Why are you taking everyone. Why do you need their souls? TELL ME!!" Fox screamed again, and once more the Reaper seemed unfazed.
Mario, Samus, and Pikachu has been listening the whole time since Fox's headphone was near his mouth.
"Fox! Don't-a engage!!"
"Mario's right! We can deal with it later!"
"Pika!"
".......I'm sorry....."
"FOX NO!!"
"Fox!! Please listen to-a reason!!!!!"
"Pikachu!!! Pika!!!"
Fox had to do this. To make sure he wasn't swayed by his friends, he took the headphone off, leaving him unable to communicate, though he can still hear his friends screaming at him not to attack. But he couldn't hold back. He took out his gun and fired at the Reaper. The Reaper responded by flying towards Fox, swinging at him with its Scythe. Fox however was able to land hits on the Reaper, both Physical and and by his gun. It was an uphill battle however, because the Reaper began to block more and more of Fox's attacks. Finally the Reaper managed to land a hit on Fox, and Fox soon, got effortlessly beaten into the ground, literally. The Reaper then held out its hand and grabbed Fox by the head.
"I have great respect for you....Fox McCloud" The Reaper said. His voice was scruffy, tough, like he had a cold, but it was also deep. Perhaps even deeper than the clones.
The Reaper was impressed by Fox's fight and determination, but it couldn't have that if it wanted to conquer this world.
So the Reaper brought out something else. Its sword, and pushed it into Fox's chest.
"Brother.....I'm sorry" Fox said to Falco as the color from his eyes whitened. The Reaper than brought the sword back in, releasing Fox's lifeless body and dropping it into the ground onto the headpiece, breaking it, while his soul was absorbed into the gem.
Mario, Samus, and Pikachu stood quiet. They had heard Fox's last words, and the voice of the Reaper.
".....Get to the front-a the ship now" Mario said silencing his ear and headphone piece.
It had been 5 anxious minutes, but Samus and Pikachu entered the Front part of the ship, coming into a group hug with Mario.
"We need to get-a out of here, and regroup"
Mario said as soon as the hug was broken.
"I can get us an escape pod, but I'll need to access the mainframe of the ship computer to override and open a pod door, and that's on the other side of the ship" Samus said with unease as she seemed paranoid
"Can't we use Pikachu's-a lighting bolt power?"
"Maybe. A lighting bot power that big may be able to override it, but we'll have to get there before-
SLASH!!!!
Before Samus could finish her sentence, a Scythe is thrown at them, almost hitting Samus herself. The Reaper had found them. It didn't seem like it was trying to hit them though, because it's scythe had hit the last Escape Pod.
The Smashers were trapped. And the Reaper wanted this to end here and now.
"We have no-a choice. We'll have to fight"
Mario said whilst creating flames around his hands. Samus also began charging her cannon, and Pikachu began making electric bolts. The Reaper than, without warning, flew forwards, giving the Smashers very little time to dodge.
Mario begins attacking the Reaper with fireballs, and getting the occasionally stomp on it. Samus is able to fire at the Reaper, keeping it from moving around, and Pikachu is able to throw lightning bolts at it, paralyzing the Reaper's attacks for small periods of time.
It seemed like the Smashers may have the upper hand in this fight.
However the balance of war tipped away from the Smashers.
The Reaper was able to hit Samus and Mario, giving itself breathing space to move. The Reaper then began to create small blue flame fireballs and throw them at the Smashers, and even getting a direct hit on Pikachu.
"Its time I show you the power of my home land!" The Reaper cackled in its deep voice as it created a blue force orb which he threw at the ground, it's reverberations flying around itself, sending Mario and Samus into the ground, and severely wounding Pikachu by throwing him at a computer.
The Reaper then grabbed Pikachu by his tail.
"Ever since I was young, I've hated rats"
The Reaper grabes its scythe and slices through Pikachu's defenseless body, separating Pikachu's body from his soul, and soon the gem gobbled it up, leaving a lifeless Pikachu corpse on the ship.
Samus is in sitting position, her armor severely damaged, while Mario is laying on his back, breathing heavily. They want to yell for their fallen little yellow friend, but all they manage out is a whispered scream. They have no more energy for anything.
Mario looks up and sees that The Reaper is getting closer to Samus's body and getting ready to swing.
"Master Hand, I know you can-a see me, give me strength, and give me power to save-a life"
A flame bubble forms around Mario's hand, and before The Reaper can strike, he launches the bubble toward Samus, enveloping her in a powerful flame protected bubble.
The Reaper, furious, attempts to slash the bubble open, then tries again, and again, and again, but is unsuccessful.
Samus looks up and realizes what had happened.
She looks at Mario, with a "What are you doing?!" face, which Mario replies with a casual smile, before looking down.
In a fit of rage, The Reaper pulls Mario toward himself, and begins slashing him with his Scythe. The Reaper wasn't trying to take his soul, it was releasing his anger on him, by slicing him in his chest.
Samus could only watch in absolute terror as her friend, no, her only family, was brutally tortured in front of her. All she could do is cry, and scream, neither of which was auditory.
Finally after all the slashes at Mario which caused him to bleed out, The Reaper tore it's arms through Mario's chest and arms, personally taking his soul out, and on cue the gem captured it. It then, unlike with the others, threw Mario's body overboard.
The Reaper then drew its sword, and sliced through the bulk of the ship, causing the airship to fail and fall.
Then, it disappeared.
Samus was still in the bubble when the ship crashed. Her bubble was the first to fall from the ship, and it only popped when she fell in the Marshlands. But she couldn't get up. She had lost more family, worst still was that it wasn't taken by Ridley, someone she could kill for anger management, but by a creature she couldn't even kill, or seemingly destroy. Her armor finally gave out at the water and she had to get out of it, technically becoming Zero Suit Samus. But as soon as she stepped on the hard ground, her legs gave out due to exhaustion, and she blacked out.
Flashback. 5 years after Subspace. Before Smash 4. December 25th, 2012
"Open it! Cmon-a!"
Mario insisted
"Fine" Samus groaned
She wished to stay out of Christmas time. While everyone wore Santa hats and Pj's, she always wore her armor. It just reminded her of too much trauma. She went to the other living room of the vacation house to be alone, but Papa Mario wouldn't let that happen.
She finally gave in and opened it
She looked inside. "What is it?"
Mario pulls out the gift
"It'sa Fur Coat!"
"Haha, yeah I'm not wearing that"
"Why-a not?"
"It's embarrassing Mario!"
Mario sighs but then a lightbulb appears over his head. He smiles evilly, then shrugs and says
"Okay, I'll just-a return it"
Mario makes a motion like he's walking away, but then in one swift motion, he presses the button on Samus's armor, releasing her.
"ACK" she yells out as Mario jumps on her and wraps her in the coat
"Wahoo! I gotcha! Now that you've-a worn it ya can't return it! Ohohohoho!" Mario laughs as he wipes his eyes. However when he opens his eyes, he finds Samus on her knees, smiling and almost on the verge of tears
"It's...It's an ok coat"
Mario smiles as he embraces Samus, who begins to quietly sob.
"And the winner is-a Mario!" Mario said in his smash voice as he and Samus shared a laugh.
Samus woke up, but her vision was blurry. She knew however, that she wasn't in the same place. It felt like she was dragged, as her suit felt muddy at the shins. Although her vision was bad, she could make out a silhouette standing above her. Before she fell out cold again, she heard the silhouette speak a phrase.
"Woomy?"