//------------------------------//
// 9: Gold Bone 
// Story: Super Smash Bros: Harmony Rising 
// by Lance Skyes 
//------------------------------//

	Skully's ship just barely made it out of the forest before it finally fell to the ground, utterly broken. “Oh for the love of Sakurai!” he shouted. “You can't move just a few more yards you stupid hunk of junk?”
Right as Skully said this, a voice came over his comm. “Skully!” the voice shouted. “Have you arrived yet?”
“Uh... I sorta did, Cap'n,” Skully replied sheepishly. “My, uh... my ship's a bit... damaged.”
“Really, Skully?” the voice replied. “What kind of trouble could you have possibly gotten yourself into that pushed your ship to exhaustion... again?”
“Skully!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she and Pinkie Pie galloped towards the downed ship.
“Those two, Cap'n,” Skully replied. “Along with Shulk and Link.”
“Are those horses?” 'Cap'n' asked. “If they really gave you that much trouble, I'll just step in.”
“It looks like Skully's ship is down,” Pinkie said to Rainbow.
“Then let's go in, finish him, and save everyone,” Rainbow Dash replied. The two then galloped over towards the wrecked ship. However, they were stopped by several explosions that went off between them and Skully. “What's with all these explosions today?” Rainbow complained as she and Pinkie Pie looked up to find a gold-colored spherical ship that had a skull design on it.
(Gold Bone's Theme)
“So, I hear you two have been giving me first mate a hard time,” an evil-sounding voice called from the ship. “That alone isn't proof of your power, though. No, I wanna see that proof for myself.”
“Who are you?” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“I am Gold Bone,” the voice replied. “Captain of the Gold Bone Gang. And this is your only warning: turn around and leave me to collect my Trophies, or you will suffer the consequences.”
“We've gotten pretty used to the 'consequences' bit of this world, actually,” Pinkie Pie said as she and Rainbow Dash readied themselves for combat.
Gold Bone simply cackled evilly. “I was sincerely hoping you'd say that!” he shouted before several protective barriers formed around his ship and he descended towards the ponies.
(Come Get Me!)
Rainbow Dash was first to leap into action, delivering a powerful flying kick that simply bounced off of Gold Bone's barrier. “Woah, that barrier isn't just for show,” Rainbow Dash commented as she fell back to the ground.
“It's gotta wear off after a while, though,” Pinkie replied. “Maybe we should just keep attacking until an opening appears.”
“Ha! You can try,” Gold Bone laughed as his ship lunged forward, ramming into both Rainbow and Pinkie. Both ponies were able to recover from this attack quickly.
“Alright, let's see how you like this!” Pinkie shouted as she galloped forward, quickly drawing her party cannon and slamming the barrier with it before firing a pear that also bounced off the barrier.
“A cannon that shoots pears?” Gold Bone asked with a curious tone. “In what universe is that supposed to work?”
“In the universe where I come from,” Pinkie replied as she fired her party cannon again, only this time firing a flower pot that bounced upwards off the barrier before coming back down and dealing an additional hit before the pot fell to the ground.
“Okay, this is starting to get a little annoying,” Gold Bone said with a growling tone. “Let me show you how a real cannon is supposed to fire!” His ship then fired a powerful disc-like object from the mouth that hit the ground right in front of Pinkie, creating an explosion that knocked her backwards.
“Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow shouted as she watched her friend fly over her head. The pegasus then turned back around to Gold Bone. “You are going to pay for that!” Rainbow charged forward, using her wings to gain as much speed as they'd allow in their injured state, before leaping up and delivering a powerful dash attack that hit the barrier so hard, it actually shattered.
“Well I'm surprised,” Gold Bone said as the eyes of his ship fired several small pink blasts of energy, several of which hit Rainbow and sent her flying backwards. “How could I have known that you two would actually manage to destroy my ship's barrier?”
“We're just full of surprises,” Rainbow replied as she got up from the hit she took, Pinkie Pie quickly rejoining her. However, it was evident from the way they were panting that Gold Bone's attacks were dealing far more damage than the ponies could reply with.
“Sadly, however, you two have begun to get on my nerves,” GB continued. “Like pesky little flies. And there's only one way to deal with pesky flies like you...” The ship then looked like it was beginning to charge energy into the mouth, causing that part to glow brightly and a ball of energy to appear there. “Say goodbye, little horses!” With that shout, Gold Bone's ship fired a huge beam of energy that fired at high speed right at Rainbow Dash. The pegasus had no time to dodge, only stare wide-eyed at her approaching fate.
“RAINBOW DASH!” Shulk's voice shouted from nearby. At an almost blinding speed, the Homs ran out of the woods and leapt into the air between Rainbow and Gold Bone's attack. At that exact second, the blast hit Shulk right in the chest, causing him to go flying backwards and glow brightly before he fell to the ground as a Trophy on its side.
“Shulk?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What just happened?”
“Grr... that stupid kid,” Gold Bone grumbled. “How dare he interrupt the future when it's me creating it.”
“Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie Pie said, “it looks like Shulk gave us an opening. Gold Bone's ship looks like its recovering from the attack we just fired. This is our chance to strike.”
“Got it,” Rainbow replied with a nod. She and Pinkie Pie then galloped forward and leapt into action. Rainbow was first to reach Gold Bone and charged in with a powerful descending kick that hit the face of GB's ship, knocking it backwards a bit. Pinkie Pie then followed this attack up by drawing her party cannon and firing a present that hit the exact same mark. The party pony then vanished from existence before reappearing by exploding out of the present and delivering a powerful body blow to Gold Bone's ship that seemed to damage it enough to the point where smoke was starting to come off of the ship.
“Why you little...” Gold Bone growled. “Why I oughta-”
GB was interrupted when another ship suddenly flew in over his, firing what looked like a green plasma whip that latched onto Gold Bone's ship and carried it a few yards before the base of the whip, which was at the bottom of the other ship, suddenly rotated around the back and over the ship, overhand throwing Gold Bone into the trees. “What the hay was that?!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
(Song end)
Right as Rainbow asked this, the ship circled around and flew towards Skully's downed ship before firing the plasma whip again, latching onto and tearing off the bottom of the ship and causing the Trophies depicting Jigglypuff, Ike, Kirby, Toon Link, and Duck Hunt to fall out onto the ground. “Oh no!” Skully shouted. “This isn't good!”
“I ask again, what the hay is that?” Rainbow repeated. As though in response to her question, the ship circled back around and landed in front of the two ponies. Now that it was holding still, Rainbow and Pinkie could see that the ship looked kind of like a huge orange oval shape with two sphere on the sides that were apparently the rockets that helped the ship fly. Also hovering next to the ship was a kind of smallish light green sphere that was apparently the source of the plasma whip from before. Once the ship landed, the window at the front part of the oval, as well as a similar window at the front of the sphere, opened, and two humanoid figures emerged. From the larger ship emerged a character wearing a steampunk getup, a large helmet with a yellow visor that obscured most of his features, and on his right hand was what looked like a small cannon. As for the character who emerged from the pod, he wore a full samurai outfit, complete with helmet and katana, and, though his helmet also obscured most of his features, it was evident that he wore glasses and a fairly neutral expression.
“Y'all ok?” the steampunk character asked Rainbow and Pinkie in an accent similar to Applejack's. “Ah noticed y'all were havin' a bit of trouble with mah old friend Gold Bone.”
“Um... we're fine,” Rainbow replied. “Thank you for saving us. My name's Rainbow Da-”
“HimynameisPinkiePieit'sgreattomeetyouwhatareyournamesIneedtothrowyoutwoapartyforsavinguslikeyoudid!”
“Woah!” the samurai shouted as he stumbled backwards a bit from Pinkie suddenly rushing up to the two and delivering a trademark Pinkie Pie verbal assault. “Um... it's nice to meet you, too?”
“Pinkie, haven't we gone over talking slowly when meeting new people?” Rainbow Dash asked with a facehoof.
“Oh right,” Pinkie replied with a giggle before turning to the pilot and samurai. “My name's Pinkie Pie. What are your names?”
“Well, it's nice to meet y'all, Miss Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie,” the pilot said. “Mah name's Gale, captain of the Mii Force, and this here's mah friend Lance, the ruler of a mighty fine country some worlds away.”
“That's not all that describes me,” Lance replied. “I'm not just a monarch. I'm also a skilled swordsman.” He then turned around to the ponies. “So, dare I ask, what's gotten you two at odds with Gold Bone?”
“He kidnapped a few friends of ours,” Pinkie replied. “Speaking of...” The party pony quickly turned around and was about to gallop over to Skully's ship to retrieve the Trophies that had spilled out onto the ground, but she stopped when Gold Bone's ship suddenly flew at her at high speed, just barely missing her. “Woah!”
“You annoying little pests!” Gold Bone shouted in an incredibly angry tone. And he seemed right to sound like that. His ship was evidently damaged and had smoke coming out of several spots. Plus he apparently saw Skully's ship broken in two and the Trophies on the ground. “As though these horses weren't enough, now you've returned, Gale.”
“Nice to see ya too, old friend,” Gale replied. “Hey, mind if I ask ya how you survived your exploding Robo-Bone some time back?
“Heh, did you really think I'd be stupid enough to not install an escape pod in that death trap?” Gold Bone replied. “But reminiscing about days long passed is for another time. For now, it looks like you all have won the day. But once again... for now.” Gold Bone then flew around to Skully's broken ship and picked up the pieces with a tractor beam as a loud rumbling noise could be heard from above. Everyone looked up to see a massive golden battleship with a skull design on the front descend and hover above the forest. “We shall meet again!” Gold Bone shouted as he carried Skully up towards the ship, the Goldie VII, where the skull on the front opened its mouth and GB flew into it before the mouth closed and the ship rose slightly before flying off.
“Jeez, are massive airships standard issue in this world?” Rainbow asked.
Ignoring Rainbow's question, Lance turned to Gale. “If the Gold Bone Gang is here, then it sounds like Emperor Fynalle wasn't kidding when he said he's raised an entirely new army,” the samurai said.
“You're right,” Gale replied with a nod. “It looks like we've got a helluva fight on our hands.”
It was at this moment that Link had finally arrived at the scene, but all the Hylian could do was look around in confusion as he saw a downed Shulk, a moderately-sized ship, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie talking with two Miis, and the Trophies of Jigglypuff and Ike lying some distance behind the scene. “Hmm...” Link said to himself as he walked up to Rainbow, Pinkie, and the Miis.
Right then, Rainbow turned around and saw Link approaching them. “Oh, hey there Link,” Rainbow said. “Sorry, you kinda missed the action.” The Hylian replied with a shrug before looking around the scene once more, Rainbow and Pinkie following suit. “Oh right... someone should probably go save Shulk, Ike, and Jigglypuff.”
“Wait a second!” Pinkie suddenly shouted while looking over to where Ike and Jigglypuff lay. “What happened to Kirby, Duck Hunt, and Toon Link?”
This was replied to by an evil laugh from off to the side. Everyone turned around to see Duck Hunt somehow free with Toon Link being carried by Hunt and Kirby under Duck's paw. “You all really need to be more observant,” Hunt said while Duck was snickering evilly.
“Duck Hunt!” Lance shouted as he readied his blade. “How did you two even escape from your Trophy form?”
“Our base landed right on Toon Link's forehead,” Hunt replied. “Stroke of luck, no?”
“I'm seriously still questioning how this world works,” Rainbow mumbled while shaking her head.
“Y'all don't really think we're lettin' ya get away with them two, do ya?” Gale asked while raising his arm cannon and aiming it at Duck Hunt.
“Watch us get out of here,” Hunt replied as Duck grabbed onto him. Hunt then turned around and took off flying, somehow managing to fly despite how much weight he was carrying.
“Oh no y'all don't!” Gale shouted as he raised his arm cannon and fired a barrage of small beams of energy at Duck Hunt. Only one of these attacks hit, but it hit Duck's paw perfectly, causing him to drop Kirby.
“Grr...” both Duck and Hunt growled. However, the two still had one Trophy in their possession, so they weren't going to risk losing this one a second time by trying to retrieve Kirby. Instead, they just kept flying.
“Dammit,” Gale grumbled. “Ah should've shot 'em outta the sky with a Gunner Missile.”
“I don't think it would have even hit,” Lance replied. “They move rather slowly.”
“Oh, and your Gale Slash could have even made it close to 'em,” Gale snapped back.
“Hey, stop!” Pinkie shouted, suddenly appearing between the two Miis. “Sure Duck Hunt got away, but we were still able to save Kirby, Ike, and Jigglypuff, plus we drove off Gold Bone. We can save Toon Link later, but the point is that our friends are safe right now.”
Gale and Lance just glared at Pinkie for a moment before Lance sighed. “She's right,” the samurai said. “If we dwell on what little we lost, we'll lose all we gained.”
“What you said,” Gale replied with a nod. He then turned to Link. “Oh, and here we've got the famous Hero of Time. Sorry we didn't get to ya b'fore.” Link replied with an understanding nod. “Name's Gale, and this is Lance. Pleasure makin' your acquaintance.”
While Link was meeting Gale and Lance, Rainbow galloped over to where Shulk lay and gave the base he stood on a tap, causing the Trophy to fade away and Shulk to get up slowly.
“You ok, Shulk?” Rainbow asked as the Homs stood up.
“Ah, I've taken worse hits than that and lived,” Shulk replied. “I'm just glad you're alright.”
“How come you threw yourself into that attack for me?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, I'm grateful for that, but...”
“I had a vision,” Shulk replied. “You weren't going to survive that attack, and I didn't know how else to stop the attack after it was fired. You and Pinkie Pie are different from the rest of us. If you're defeated in battle, you're not gonna turn into Trophies. You're just going to sustain injury after injury until... well, until the end.”
“Oh,” Rainbow said as she frowned and her ears drooped. “Well, that's not very reassuring.”
“Don't worry,” Shulk replied. “Once we get to that Palutena, maybe she'll be able to use her Goddess powers to make it so that you two will turn into Trophies rather than die.”
“Hey!” Gale called as he, Lance, Pinkie, Link, Ike, Jigglypuff, and Kirby walked up to Shulk and Rainbow. “Did Ah hear y'all were lookin' for the Goddess Palutena?”
“You did,” Shulk replied as he walked up to Gale. “We're going to try to get her to help us organize an offensive against Overlord V.”
“Overlord V?” Lance asked. “Oh no, I completely forgot about him!”
“What?” Ike asked. “How could you forget about someone as dangerous as Overlord V?”
“Me, Gale, and a couple of our friends have been more focused on Emperor Fynalle,” Lance replied. “He's got his own plans for this world, and odds are he's gonna be butting heads with Overlord V. Hmm... that being said, how about Gale and I come with you guys?”
“That's actually a great idea,” Gale said. “Ah could even give y'all a lift to Palutena's Temple in Skyworld.”
“You can get to Skyworld?” Ike asked in a surprised tone.
“Mah ship can travel the stars without a problem, Mister Radiant Hero,” Gale replied. “Ah think Ah can find some angel city without much problem.”
“Woah!” Pinkie said with wide eyes. “Are you serious? You can travel the stars?”
“That Ah can,” Gale replied with a smug look. “But Ah'll show you that another time. For now, come on. We should load up and head on our way now. The longer we wait, the more likely it'll be that even Palutena won't be able to help us against V and Fynalle.”
“Right,” Rainbow said. “Just one question, though... how are we all going to fit in that ship of yours? It looks like it only has room for you.”
“You underestimate the ingenuity of the Mii Force,” Gale said with a chuckle as he walked over to his ship, indicating for the others to follow him. Gale then leapt into the cockpit of his ship, pressed a few buttons, and out of the back of the ship emerged several pods that were similar to Lance's, except they were all gray. “Each of you hop on into one of 'em.”
Everyone followed Gale's instructions and climbed into the pods. The second each one entered their pod, however, the pod changed color. Ike's pod turned yellow, Rainbow's turned light blue, Shulk's turned red, Link's turned dark green, and the pods that Pinkie, Kirby, and Jigglypuff entered turned pink. “Woah, did that just happen?” Rainbow asked as she saw all the pods change color.
“Each pod is designed to reflect the personality of its occupant and change its weapon accordingly,” Gale replied as Lance climbed into his pod. Right then, all the pods formed up around Gale's ship in a sort of Y shape. Lance's pod was at the front with Ike's behind it, to the left was Kirby with Pinkie Pie behind him, on the right was Jigglypuff with Link behind her, and at the back was Rainbow Dash with Shulk behind her.
“Hey, how come I have to be trailing behind?” Rainbow complained.
“Sorry, but the plasma whip Lance gives is one of mah more preferred weapons,” Gale replied. “Ah also like to keep mah side weapons symmetrical, which is why Jigglypuff and Kirby are on those sides. But don't worry, you and Shulk will be serving a pretty important purpose... that is if we happen across any trouble.”
“Let's hope we don't run into any more trouble,” Shulk said into a comm system that was linked to all the other pods, as well as Gale's ship. “Between getting KO'd twice, meeting two ponies, fighting space pirates, and encountering one of my dead rivals again, I think I've had enough excitement for today.”
“Jigglypuff Jiggly,” Jigglypuff grumbled.
“What'd she say?” Shulk asked.
“She's grumbling about how you're not even trying if that's all you're complaining about,” Pinkie replied.
“How'd you know that?” Rainbow asked. “All I heard was 'Jigglypuff'.”
“Oh, Pokemon aren't that hard to understand,” Pinkie replied with a giggle. “You just have to pay attention.”
“Poyo,” Kirby agreed with a nod.
“Okay, if we're done talkin' an' complainin',” Gale said, “let's take off. Everyone ready?”
Everyone confirmed in each of their respective languages.
“Then let's go,” Gale said. He then activated several switches on his console, which activated the thrusters on the back of his ship and caused everyone to slowly rise. “Next stop, Skyworld! YEE-HAW!” With that shout, Gale and everyone else flew off into the distance at high speed.