Harmony of Heroes: Ultimate Multiverse Explorers

by Lucar

Chapter 175: The Battle of Forsaken Fortress

As the sun was setting, Phantom’s boat soared across the ocean, islands barely visible in the distance as they passed.

Amy gave a loving sigh. “It’s so romantic. Don’t you think, Sonic? Well, it’s not a cruise, but good enough.”

“I prefer when we are surrounded by ground, not water,” Sonic replied.

Amy pouted. “Way to ruin the moment.”

“I see it!” they suddenly heard Link yell from the Red Lion beside their ship. The boy was looking through a red telescope. “I see the Forsaken Fortress! We are arriving!”

At this moment, the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, darkening the sky.

“Finally!” Sonic shouted.

As the two ships approached, they could see more and more the Forsaken Fortress, which was revealed to be an ominous natural fortress sculpted in the stone of the island. It was surrounded by cliffs, there were searchlights watching the water, and there was a large tower structure with the bow of a wooden ship at the top and a large nest on a stone extension with a large masked bird sitting in it. For some reason, there were anchors hanging from all over the tower, and there was also a half-sunk ship beside the fortress.

“You never judge a book by its cover, but this fortress really screams that something wrong is there. Also, nice vacation spot,” Sonic said.

Link pointed at the tower. “My sister and other girls are locked inside this tower.”

“Then we have our goal,” Phantom said.

Suddenly, the half ship on the tower exploded. Link immediately pulled out his telescope again to see what was going on. Phantom copied him by materializing one.

Out of the explosion came none other than Mewtwo in its merged XY Mega form.

“What is Mewtwo doing here?!” Phantom exclaimed in surprise.

“Mewtwo?!” everyone else except Link and Red Lion shouted.

“And somehow, it still has its XY Mega Evolved form.”

At this moment, a giant beam came out of the cloud left by the explosion and almost struck Mewtwo who teleported just in time. Mewtwo then reappeared and gathered energy into a ball that it fired at the cloud, striking something that roared.

Little by little, the cloud cleared to reveal a giant bipedal pig armed of two swords.

“That’s Ganon!” the Red Lion shouted.

“Just our luck,” Apple Death said.

“Actually, it’s perfect. While these two fight, we will be able to enter the fortress and save the girls without encountering problems,” Phantom said.

As she said that, the giant bird rose from his nest and went after Mewtwo, attacking it with his claws.

“Still, what is Mewtwo doing here? That’s Giovanni’s Mewtwo, right?” Sonic asked.

“Only his Mewtwo could Mega Evolve into both its X and Y form at once,” Apple Death said. “But how can it do it with Giovanni gone?”

“I have a bad feeling,” Phantom said.

“So you know about this creature attacking Ganon?” the Red Lion asked.

“It’s a creature called a Pokémon, once forced to work for a despicable man named Giovanni,” Phantom explained. “Last we heard of it, it escaped the laboratory where it was kept after Giovanni’s defeat. Also, it’s extremely powerful.”

Link, witnessing the power of both Ganon and Mewtwo as they fired powerful projectiles at each other, gulped. He thought he had been ready to fight Ganondorf, but seeing his Ganon form firing huge beams that could probably blow up whole islands, it made him understand that he may be in over his head. How did the Hero of Time defeat that thing? And that Mewtwo creature was giving back blow for blow. It was like watching two titans fight.

They found the fortress’ entrance, a large wooden gate defended by cannons which Link easily destroyed with his own cannon firing his bombs. He then blew up the gate, allowing them to enter the fortress.

They approached a little dock to disembark, with some stairs leading to the fortress’ central yard where two searchlights were moving around.

“Be careful,” the Red Lion began. “Even if Ganon and the Helmaroc King are kept busy, their minions will still be everywhere in the fortress.”

“Nothing to worry about,” Sonic said. “These girls will be saved before they know it.”

They climbed the stairs, and Apple Death and Phantom decided to deal with the searchlights right away, flying to them and dealing with the Bokoblins (tall blue-skinned imp-like enemies) manning them.

Meanwhile, as Link, Sonic, and Amy approached the stairs to the second floor of the fortress, Amy ready to hit the stakes blocking the path with her hammer, they were stopped by a laugh suddenly resonating from nowhere. Then, suddenly, an armored ghostly dark figure with blue markings, a horned helmet, and a cape appeared behind them. The figure floated away and readied a ball of blue energy that it fired at Link. The boy readied his sword and hit the ball, sending it back toward the ghost who hit the ball back toward Link.

As the two hit the ball back and forth, Sonic and Amy looked in confusion.

“Seriously? A tennis match?” Sonic asked.

Before more could be said, Apple Death suddenly teleported behind the ghost and touched its back. The next instant, the ghost yelled in pain as it began to burn, purple flames engulfing him. Before long, nothing remained of the ghost.

A chest then appeared in the middle of the yard, but Link didn’t go to open it right away, more busy looking at Apple Death in shock.

“You… You defeated it so easily!”

“Ghosts are mah specialty.”

Amy was the one opening the chest, revealing a large hammer with a skull decorating it.

“Ugh. What an ugly hammer. I prefer my Piko Piko Hammer. I think it’s for you, Link.”

She gave the hammer to Link.

“Thank you.”

“Well, now that we are done here, time to enter this fortress,” Sonic said.

Just as he said that, they heard “Nyeh Na!” and “Deh Dank!” sounds, and suddenly, they found themselves swarmed by a large number of little imp-like creatures with large heads. They quickly revealed to be very easy to kill, but their number seemed infinite, so the heroes decided to move on while dealing with them.

Now that Link had the hammer, he could hit the stakes blocking the stairs to the second floor.

“I remember the path to the girls. It’s this way,” he said.

He hit the stakes, planting them into the ground and opening the path.

Meanwhile, in the sky, Mewtwo hit the Helmaroc King with another ball of energy which revealed to be too much for the bird who flew into the sky in pain before he exploded into a cloud of darkness, dying. In return, Ganon fired and hit Mewtwo with another laser, but the Pokémon immediately healed before it focused back on the pig.

The heroes quickly climbed the stairs and entered the fortress. From there, it was a matter of crossing rooms and outside hallways while dealing with Bokoblins (especially green-skinned ones) and Moblins, Link and Amy planting the stakes whenever there were ones blocking the path. Link often had to use a giant leaf as a parachute to cross large gaps between platforms to reach the other side of the rooms.

Eventually, they reached a staircase to a door guarded by two Moblins, easily killed. They passed the door and were back outside the fortress where they had to climb more stairs while dealing with the Miniblins again.

Following the path circling the fortress’ tower, they eventually reached a part where there was just a very narrow ledge against the wall forming the path, which would force Link who couldn't fly or jump far enough to press himself against the wall to cross. Instead, Apple Death levitated him while the others dealt with the Miniblins.

There were two such sections one after another before they reached the end of the path, before a door to inside the tower. Link had to hit a switch with his hammer to open the door.

Inside the tower, they found the cell holding the girls (and also seagulls for some reason). With the Helmaroc King dead, Link didn’t have to worry about the bird suddenly swooping down from the top of the tower to stop them freeing them, so he directly ran to his sister while yelling, “Aryll!”.

Aryll, a blond girl in a cyan dress with orange flowers, was sitting against the bars of the cell when she heard her brother. She immediately turned around and saw him coming.

“Big Brother!”

This gained the attention of the two other girls held prisoner in the cell, a rich-looking blond girl in an extravagant pink dress with a fan, and a poor-looking black-haired girl in patched up clothes.

“You're okay! I was… worried,” Aryll said.

“Aryll, are you alright?” Link asked. “Don’t worry, I will get you out of here.”

He then went to open the door, but failed because it was locked.

Before Phantom could tell him to let her handle it, a girl suddenly said from behind them, “The cell won’t open that easily!”

The origin was a tan blond girl with a pink shirt under a blue vest, with a red bandana around her neck. She had a red sash over a white pants, with a scimitar at her side, and sandals at her feet.

At both sides of her were two huge, muscled men, one with a green shirt, dark red bandana and sash, and white pants, the other bearded with a blue tank top, a belt, and brown pants.

“There you go… Acting before you think, as usual… I know that the bird is gone, but it’s not like Ganondorf will drop on us right now.”

“Who are you?” Phantom asked.

“Oh, you have friends with you this time? I’m Tetra, nice to meet you.”

One by one, the heroes presented themselves.

“I think we talked enough. Let’s free these poor girls. I can see that Link has enough to wait,” Tetra said as she saw Link regularly look at his sister. She then saw Link’s sword on his back and was very surprised. Meanwhile, Phantom destroyed the cell’s door, freeing the girls.

“... That sword! Where did you get that?! Are you… Is it even possible…?” She then smiled and shrugged. “... How could it be?”

“Ya know about the Master Sword?” Apple Death asked.

Before Tetra could answer, the whole island suddenly shook, causing some to stumble while they heard Ganon’s roar of pain.

“Ganondorf is losing…” Tetra said. “I don’t know who this creature attacking him is, so I have no idea if this is a good thing or a bad thing.”

Phantom interrupted. “I guarantee you, if Ganondorf loses, we’re next, so let’s call it a bad thing.”

“Then let’s hurry to get these girls out of here,” Tetra said.

At that, she signed to the two men with her to take the girls.

“We leave you to it. Meanwhile, we will have to join the big battle up there,” Sonic said.

Link nodded, then looked at Aryll. “Listen, Aryll, I know we just reunited, but I have to go and deal with the bad man who took you. Trust in these pirates, they will bring you back to grandma. Be nice to them, okay?”

Aryll hesitated, but she eventually nodded. “Okay Big Brother.”

“Wait! Listen!” Phantom suddenly shouted, silencing everyone.

…

Tetra understood. “The sounds of the battle have stopped!”

Apple Death turned into a ghost. “Let’s go right now!”

Instead of climbing the wooden walkway that spiraled to the top of the tower, Apple Death levitated all the heroes.

“Wait! Take me with you! I can fight too!” Tetra said.

Apple Death nodded and levitated her too, leaving the two burly men to take the girls out of the fortress.

The heroes flew up to the top of the tower where they saw the remains of the destroyed ship here and there on the roof. Flying to where it had been, they saw Ganon knocked out on the ground, Mewtwo floating beside him, beside his right hand.

Mewtwo held its paw forward, and out of Ganon’s right hand came a golden triangle. It flew to Mewtwo’s paw, and Phantom, Apple Death, Sonic, and Amy gasped. They immediately understood what happened.

Meanwhile, Ganon glowed and shrunk, returning to his usual Ganondorf appearance, revealing a dark-skinned man with red hair and beard in a black kimono.

“Oh… This is bad,” Phantom said.

Apple Death dropped everyone beside Mewtwo and Ganondorf, ready to face the Pokémon.

The ghostly filly felt at this moment something within Ganondorf’s soul. Something evil. But she put it in the back of her mind as she had a more immediate problem.

Mewtwo looked at them with surprise. You are here. How curious. The possibility for us to encounter each other in the same universe is infinitely small.

“Yeah. How curious,” Phantom said, already suspecting DD to have something to do about it. “What are you doing here?”

I was charged to get the Triforce of this world.

The heroes groaned.

“Let me guess,” Apple Death said. “Crazy Hand?”

That’s right.

“Ugh… Of course he recruited Mewtwo,” Phantom said.

“I’m guessing this is bad news,” Tetra said as she took out her scimitar.

“Very bad news,” Amy said.

But first, to eliminate the lot of you, the Pokemon said as psychic energy coursed like lightning across its body, before it rocketed forward slamming into a barrier of bone raised by Apple Death as Phantom teleported behind it, sword in hand. She slashed at Mewtwo’s neck, only for the blade to shatter after cutting through an inch. This annoyed Mewtwo who immediately healed with Recover.

Mewtwo elbowed Phantom, then caught her and slammed her on the ground before throwing her away. It then fired a Psybeam at her only for Apple Death to use a skull shield to defend her. The shield was destroyed, but it allowed Sonic to get Phantom out of the way in time.

Amy came to hit it with her hammer only for Mewtwo to catch her weapon with its psychic power. Before it could do anything, Tetra kicked it on the head. It still reacted quickly enough to catch Tetra with its right paw while it threw Amy away.

“L-let me go!” Tetra shouted.

Suddenly, the Triforce on the back of its paw glowed, surprising it.

You… You have a piece of the Triforce.

“Wha… What do you mean…?” Tetra asked.

Before Mewtwo could answer, Link came and cut its paw only to get stuck within an inch, forcing it to release the girl as it held its bleeding appendage after Link let go.

Your sword… Somehow, it hurt me more. But still not enough!

Again, it healed.

Link stepped back. “It… The Master Sword… isn’t enough…”

Ganondorf suddenly groaned, showing that he was conscious.

“Your blade doesn’t have its power anymore. It is useless as it is,” he said.

“It was still able to hurt Mewtwo! It’s better than nothing!” Phantom said before she sent cubes toward Mewtwo who teleported around to avoid them.

It was then hit from behind by a Homing Attack from Sonic from behind, but Mewtwo barely stumbled before it turned around and used Psystrike on him, knocking him unconscious right away.

“Sonic!” Amy yelled.

Mewtwo looked at her and used Psychic to send her flying beyond the edge of the tower. She was quickly caught in Apple Death’s telekinesis and brought back on the roof.

Mewtwo then turned toward Tetra and used Psychic again to bring her to it only to be finally touched by one of Phantom’s cubes. The next instant, it was transported into a reality where it was attacked from all sides by powerful cannons.

Once it returned to normal reality, Mewtwo quickly healed again, then flew up and used a very powered up Psystrike down on the roof, destroying all of it. Apple Death was able to teleport everyone, including Ganondorf, back to the yard of the fortress, avoiding the terrible attack.

Mewtwo teleported to them and used Flamethrower on the whole yard. Thankfully, Phantom materialized a stone shield all around them. The stone, however, was quickly melting into lava, so she quickly acted and threw a spear right through the shield to pierce Mewtwo. However, the spear barely planted a few inches into Mewtwo’s body before it shattered. It still was enough to make Mewtwo stop, and Apple Death appeared beside it to slash it with bone claws. The claws shattered too, but they still hurt the Pokémon more.

Mewtwo used Ice Punch on her, but Apple Death dodged and blasted it toward the ground where it was welcomed by Link slashing it, only for his sword to get stuck again after a few inches. Tetra quickly got him away.

Mewtwo healed.

“There is no end!” Amy shouted.

Mewtwo used Blizzard, starting to freeze everyone. Phantom turned her body into fire and rammed Mewtwo, stopping it. Again, Link used the occasion to cut it, quickly getting his sword unstuck to get away.

After healing again, Mewtwo used Thunder, striking Link, Tetra, Amy, and Phantom with lightning bolts, knocking Tetra and Amy out, then teleported to avoid a scythe from Apple Death before it blasted her with Psystrike.

Suddenly, a huge red dragon came and breathed fire on Mewtwo. Link, on his knees, was surprised to see him.

“Valoo?”

“We arrive just in time, it seems,” a voice said.

Link looked and saw two birdmen, one younger than the other, just out of childhood.

“As I thought, things went wrong, but not in the way I expected. I did well to ask Valoo for help,” the eldest one said.

“Quill! Komali! Oh, thank you! Your help is welcome!”

Valoo was suddenly struck by a ball of energy, stopping him from breathing fire. Out of the flame came Mewtwo, burned, but still conscious and healing quickly. However, it was starting to breathe heavily. It then showed the Triforce of Power, calling its power.

Then, Mewtwo turned giant, as if it was Dynamaxed.

That’s enough! Your attempt to stop me is futile! With the Triforce, I will defeat you, then I will exterminate humanity from this world and pass to the next one! Not even Crazy Hand will control me anymore! Now, die!

It rose into the sky and gathered energy into a giant ball.

“It is about to blow up the island!” Phantom shouted. “We must go! Let’s return to Hyrule!”

“Wait! Before you teleport us away, take Ganondorf with us!” Apple Death said.

“What? Are you serious?”

“Ah’m feeling something in his soul. I think that his case may be more complicated than we thought.”

Phantom groaned. “Alright.”

Mewtwo sent the giant ball, and Phantom teleported everyone, including the Red Lion, back to Hyrule.

The ball then hit the island, and everything disappeared in a huge explosion.

Comments

[Herald of Opera]

As the two hit the ball back and forth, Sonic and Amy looked in wonder.

“Seriously? A tennis match?” Sonic asked.

To a native English speaker, these two lines conflict; "looked in wonder" usually means that you're impressed rather than confused.

the ones who couldn’t fly or jump far enough

Mentioning jumping implies that there's one or more characters present who can in fact do so, but that would then mean literally only Link had to actually engage with the gimmick and that doesn't feel right either.

[Lucar]

11876740
Thanks. I modified.