//------------------------------//
// 8: Unexpected Confrontation 
// Story: Super Smash Bros: Harmony Rising 
// by Lance Skyes 
//------------------------------//

	Pinkie Pie, Shulk, Rainbow Dash, and Link ran/galloped at top speed after Skully and his allies, who had flown off with Kirby, Jigglypuff, Ike, Toon Link, and Duck Hunt.
“Pinkie, you've gotta tell me something,” Rainbow Dash said as she galloped up next to Pinkie. “What exactly did you mean earlier when you said Kirby was you from the distant past?”
“I don't know all the details just yet,” Pinkie replied. “I just know that, before I came to this world, my memories as Kirby were blocked somehow. But when I left Equus and came to this world, everything came back bit by bit. And the second I laid eyes on Kirby, his memory of meeting me for the first time instantly rematerialized. In that memory, I remembered—or rather Kirby remembered—that, though he didn't recognize me entirely, he recognized another Star Warrior.”
“A Star Warrior?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“An ancient race that went extinct saving this dimension from a powerful force called the Nightmare,” Pinkie replied. “Oh! That's why I felt slight deja vu when we were up against Nightmare Moon! Huh, funny how past lives can weasel their way back into your current one. But that's beside the point. What's important is that, towards the end of Kirby's life, some kind of wizard or something is going to do something magical to Kirby that will reincarnate him as me. I don't know exactly how or why, but that's the best explanation I can give right now.”
“That's good,” Shulk said. “It looks like we wouldn't have time for any more explanations anyway.” He pointed ahead of the group to indicated that they they had caught up to Skully, who had apparently landed in a forest clearing due to engine trouble.
“Lousy piece of junk,” Skully mumbled as he attempted to repair his craft. “It's no wonder why I never beat those Mii Force people...”
“Is that guy supposed to be a skeleton?” Rainbow Dash asked as the group approached Skully, who at that moment turned around to see them.
“Augh! As if I didn't have enough trouble on my hands as it was,” Skully complained.
“Release our friends, Skully,” Shulk said while aiming the Monado at the space pirate.
“Heh, you think just because my ship's unfit to fly, I'm backed into a corner?” Skully asked. “She can still hover, and she can still fight. So guess where this encounter's leading.” Skully then leapt up into the air and into the cockpit of his ship. Immediately, the ship began hovering into the air. It didn't rise very far, but its weapons still aimed at the four fighters. “You wanna be reunited with your friends so badly? I'll make sure you're all displayed together in Gold Bone's trophy room!”
“Get ready everyone!” Shulk shouted as all four combatants readied themselves for battle.
(Road Block)
“Take this!” Skully shouted as he launched a volley of pink-colored energy blasts. These attacks were fairly slow moving, however, and everyone easily avoided them before charging Skully.
“I'll show you what you get for messing with me in another life!” Pinkie shouted as she leapt upwards and delivered a powerful aerial buck right to the nose of Skully's ship. Pinkie then fell to the ground to make room for Link leaping up and breaking into a Spin Attack that dealt several hits before he struck upwards with a hit that was powerful enough to knock Skully's ship backwards a bit.
“Hey! You'll scratch the paint job if you keep that up!” Skully shouted. “Let's see how you like it!” He then launched the two hovering cannons forward at Link and Pinkie, ramming them both perfectly and knocking them backwards.
“You are so going to pay for that,” Shulk said as he activated his Monado Arts and switched to Buster mode. He then charged forward, leapt up into the air, and dealt a downward slash attack. However, this left Shulk just open enough to a pair of energy blasts that Skully fired from the hovering cannons, both of them hitting the Homs and sending him flying backwards behind the ship.
“That'll teach ya,” Skully said with a cackle. However, his celebration was short-lived when Rainbow Dash leapt up and attacked both of the cannons with a powerful buck, knocking them both backwards. “Hey! Do you have any idea how expensive those are?” With an angry growl, Skully charged his ship forward and rammed Rainbow Dash head-on, sending the pony flying backwards.
Aside from knocking Rainbow Dash backwards, this attack actually did little but leave Skully open to a powerful Back Slash from Shulk. The fact that the attack hit the back of the ship combined with Shulk's Buster Art meant that the attack did so much damage, a portion of the armor on Skully's ship fell off. “How's that for ya?” Shulk taunted as his Buster Art wore off.
“Why you little...” Skully growled as he whirled his ship around and prepared to fire a powerful charged blast at Shulk. The Homs, on the other hand, simply reactivated his Monado Arts, only this time activating a yellow symbol.
“SHIELD!” Shulk shouted as Skully fired his attack. The blast apparently made contact with Shulk, but it was negated when the Homs summoned a barrier of energy to shield him from the attack. The barrier shrunk slightly since the attack dealt multiple hits, and once the attack was over, the barrier was just barely large enough to cover Shulk's torso. “Well that was close,” Shulk commented as he desummoned the barrier.
“Bet you won't survive a second one of those!” Skully shouted as he flew his hovering cannons over to him and fired three energy blasts at once towards the Homs. Since Shulk was still in Shield mode, he was too slow to dodge out of the way fast enough, plus his actual shield was almost depleted. Prepared to take the hit that was approaching him, Shulk was surprised when Link threw his boomerang in front of Shulk, where it doubled back towards its owner while generating a gust of wind that carried Skully's attack off course, causing the blasts to miss Shulk completely.
“Thanks Link,” Shulk said while looking over towards the Hylian, who had just then caught his boomerang. Link gave Shulk a nod before turning his attention back to Skully and drawing a Bow and Arrow, quickly charging it and aiming right at Skully's ship.
“You think that'll do anything?” Skully taunted as he trained his cannons towards Link. However, his aim was thrown off when Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie galloped forward and delivered a pair of powerful bucks right to the nose of the ship that tilted it upwards. Link then took his opportunity and fired his arrow right at the exposed underside, apparently hitting the mark that would have caused the lower half of the armor on Skully's ship to break off and fall.
“No! My ship!” Skully shouted as he tried to backpedal. “You... you're going to pay for this!”
“No, we're going to finish this!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she charged forward to try to deliver the finishing blow. However, she was stopped suddenly when a blast of energy, this one blue, was fired at her, causing the ground before her to explode and knock the pony backwards. “What the...?”
(Song end) (New one plays)
”Ahahahaha!” a loud but muffled voice laughed. ”Fancy seeing you here, Monado Boy! And it seems you've made some new friends since we last met, too.”
“That voice...” Shulk said as he looked up and gasped as he saw the source of the voice. “IT CAN'T BE!”
Right as Shulk said this, a giant and very unfriendly-looking machine descended in front of the group. It had huge sharp claws, blades on its back that had propulsion devices at the base, lines running up and down its body that occasionally flowed with some kind of red energy, and a red and gray face that had a sinister expression on it. ”What? You didn't really think our last encounter would really be our last, did you?” the creature asked.
“Shulk, what in Tartarus is that thing?” Rainbow Dash asked in a panicked tone as she rejoined the others.
“Metal Face,” Shulk replied in a growling tone. “A powerful Mechon who attacked my home a long time ago and killed the one I loved as well as many other Homs. My friends and I killed him some time after that event, but he's apparently returned.”
”Oh come on, Shulk,” Metal Face said. ”You don't have to sound so surprised. It's not like I fell off the leg of a titan to my death after the platform we fought on collapsed.”
“But... that's exactly what happened!” Shulk shouted. “How can you still be here? We even found your wreckage at the bottom of Mechonis!”
”Doesn't mean I couldn't escape the Mechon itself and then go off to build myself a new one,” Metal Face replied. ”With some help, of course.”
“Help?” Shulk asked. “Who helped you?”
”Ah, why should I spoil the surprise for you?” Metal Face taunted. ”Provided you live long enough to find out, that is. But as for why I'm here...” The Faced Mechon then turned around to Skully. ”Get that hunk of junk you call a ship along with all the Trophies you have out of here. The Emperor’s waiting for ya.”
“Wait, you two are on the same side?” Rainbow Dash asked.
”Again, why spoil the surprise?” Metal Face asked Rainbow before once more turning around to Skully. ”Are you still here? MOVE!”
“Ah! Y-yes sir!” Skully shouted. He then got his ship airborne and shakily flew it out of there.
“You're not getting away that easily!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she galloped after Skully, but she stopped when Metal Face drove his claw into the ground mere inches from Rainbow's face.
”Aw, leaving so soon? We haven't even had a chance to get acquainted.”
“Everyone be careful,” Shulk warned as Rainbow rejoined the others. “Metal Face is ruthless and can't be damaged through normal means. Only the Monado can damage Mechon like him.”
“So then what are we supposed to do?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“I have one plan,” Shulk replied. He then activated his Monado Arts once again, but he scrolled through six symbols this time, finally ending on an unfamiliar white one. “ENCHANT!” Shulk shouted as a white cloud enveloped everyone around him, causing them all to glow slightly. “Now you should be able to fight him, but be careful. That Enchant will wear off, and it'll be a while before I can use it again.”
“Pfft, I'm gonna turn this guy to scrap in ten seconds flat,” Rainbow Dash said. She then turned around and charged towards Metal Face.
”Aw, now aren't you adorable?” Metal Face taunted as Rainbow approached him.
“Yeah, you'll find this really cute!” Rainbow shouted as she leapt upwards and delivered a powerful punch right to Metal Face's face. She then followed this attack up with a powerful buck off of him that knocked the Mechon back a bit.
”Alright, so that hurt a little,” Metal Face said with a growl. ”Now I know that playtime's over!”
“Rainbow Dash, look out!” Pinkie shouted as Metal Face charged towards Rainbow and attempted to strike her with his claws. Fortunately, Rainbow Dash was able to roll between his legs and out of harm's way.
”Slippery little bugger, aren't ya?” Metal Face said as he tried to turn around. However, Rainbow Dash was right in his blind spot, and even if he did turn around, he couldn't have seen her leapt up off of his leg and onto his back. Rainbow Dash then made her way up on top of Metal Face's head and leapt slightly to deliver a powerful two-hooved strike that probably would have hurt quite a bit had the Monado Enchant not worn off at that exact moment.
“What the-?” Rainbow Dash asked as she noticed her attack did nothing. It was right then that Metal Face reached up and grabbed Rainbow off of his head and held her in front of him.
”You don't know who you're dealing with, little pony.”
“But I do!” Shulk shouted as he ran up and delivered a powerful slash attack to Metal Face's hand that hit hard enough to cause him to drop Rainbow Dash. Rainbow fell to the ground and was quickly helped up by Pinkie Pie.
“Are you alright, Rainbow?” Pinkie asked.
“I'm fine,” Rainbow replied. “I only really got hurt by that fall.”
”Then allow me to rectify that mistake!” Metal Face then charged forward and tried to strike with his claws once again, but he was halted suddenly just barely out of reach of the ponies. Pinkie and Dash looked over to find that Link had grabbed Metal Face by one of his wings with his Clawshot.
“Rainbow, Pinkie, we'll handle Metal Face!” Shulk shouted. “Go make sure Skully doesn't get away with the others!”
“You got it,” Rainbow replied. She then turned to Pinkie, who nodded in reply, before both of them galloped in the direction Skully headed.
”You think you can let your friends go just like that?” Metal Face shouted as he turned around and snapped the Clawshot's chain. ”You have some nerve, Monado Boy. And the same goes for you, little elf.”
“We've got plenty of nerve to go around,” Shulk replied with a determined expression as he and Link readied their blades.
”Was that supposed to be a comeback?” Metal Face asked with a laugh. ”If so, it wasn't all that witty!” The Faced Mechon then charged forward at Link and Shulk, the latter of whom did another Enchant on Link before they charged back.
Shulk was the first to leap forward and deliver a powerful slash to Metal's face. This attack was quickly followed up by Link leaping off of Shulk's head to rise over Metal Face before descending with his sword in a downward striking position, which hit Metal Face once, bounced off of him, then hit a second time before Link came back to the ground.
”You think those puny little attacks are gonna be enough to finish me?” Metal Face taunted. ”Boys, I'd better show you what real power is.” The Mechon then reared backwards while charging a powerful laser that could easily spell doom for Shulk and Link.
With a huge flash of light, Metal Face leaned forward and unleashed a powerful beam attack that struck clean through Link's Hylian Shield before penetrating the Hylian himself, sending him flying backwards before he began to glow brightly, finally landing as a Trophy.
“Link, stop him in his tracks!” Shulk shouted. Link replied with a nod before reaching into his satchel and pulling out a bomb, the fuse igniting itself. Link then charged forward and leapt up before throwing the bomb right at Metal Face's mouth. It was at this exact moment that Metal Face leaned forward to fire his attack, but instead of getting his attack off, all he got was a bomb exploding in his face, which caused his own attack to backfire and explode, dealing additional damage.
”Grr... now that's just playing dirty,” Metal Face growled. ”Looks like that little trick was enough, though. I didn't charge myself with enough Ether for a battle where I'd take this much damage, especially from a backfired attack. You won this time because I ran out of stamina, but the next time we meet, you won't be so lucky.” Metal Face then leapt into the air and flew off into the distance.
(Song end... unless you wanna listen to it more. I wouldn't blame you.)
“GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT US!” Shulk shouted after Metal Face. He probably would have shouted more had Link not gently placed a hand on the Homs' shoulder. Shulk turned around to meet Link's calm but serious expression. With a sigh, Shulk replied, “You're right, Link. He's just gonna have to be a battle for another day. For now, we need to go find Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.” Link smiled and nodded, and the two quickly ran off towards where Dash and Pinkie galloped after Skully.
In a location on the outskirts of the forest, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were face to face with a huge golden spherical ship that had a skull design on it and was protected on all sides but the front by an energy barrier. From the way Rainbow and Pinkie were panting, it seemed like they had been fighting for a while.
Suddenly, the ship began charging a powerful beam of energy before firing it at Rainbow Dash. The pegasus was unable to dodge this attack, however, and she took it head-on. There was something wrong, though. After she got hit, rather than turning into a Trophy like most combatants normally do when they're defeated, Rainbow Dash simply fell to the ground. Lifeless.
Shulk suddenly shouted and stopped in his tracks, causing Link to stop as well and look at the Homs in confusion. “Rainbow Dash's life is in danger,” Shulk said. “She isn't going to be turned into a Trophy if she's defeated for some reason. If she's defeated... she'll die.” Shulk then activated his Speed Monado Art. “I'm gonna run ahead and save her. Catch up when you can.” The Homs then ran ahead at high speed, leaving Link in the dust. The Hylian kept running to try to catch up, despite knowing that he was moving at a third of Shulk's speed.