"Snap out of it, Fox!" cried Kirby as he stared down the barrel of the pilot's gun.
Fox only stepped forward, still aiming his weapon and growling fiercely. Link stood ready to block any shots that were fired, but it was apparent that he was nervous as a couple of sweatdrops rolled down his face. In Mario's hand, the faint glow of a forming fireball made it evident that he was ready to throw it if he had to.
A loud "Go!" echoed loudly, but no source was to be seen. Fox began to pull the trigger repeatedly, just missing Link and Mario by mere inches. They leapt, dodged, and scrambled to get out of the way.
"What do you think you're doing, Fox!!??" Link blocked a shot with his sword.
Fox did not seem to hear him, and only continued to attack as he raced after them. It didn't take them long to reach the edge of the ship, and they gulped at the concept of being cornered.
"I've had about enough of this!" Link leapt out of Fox's shooting range. "I say we fight back!"
"But we might hurt him!" Kirby protested.
"Link's right." Mario hurled a fireball at Fox, only for the nimble pilot to dodge it. "We can't just stand around like sitting birdos. Besides, this is a tournament!"
"But what about Fox?" Kirby dodged another blow.
"Maybe we can snap him out of it by fighting him." Link took a swipe at Fox, who only took a light scratch on his arm. "It's worth a shot!"
"Got it!" Kirby nodded quickly. Mario and Link attacked Fox repeatedly, but the pilot was very skilled in self-defense, taking little damage from either of them. Kirby, on the other hand, concocted a plan that just might work.
"Link! Mario! Out of the way! Now!" the puffball shouted as he dashed into the middle of the fight.
The two warriors backed out immediately, sensing Kirby's idea. Fox reached for his gun, but before he could fire, he found himself being sucked into the void that was Kirby's mouth. The puffball swallowed him and expelled the Fox himself behind him. Kirby now donned a helmet and ears identical to McCloud.
Fox quickly regained his senses and lashed out in a fury. Kirby reached into his dimensional pocket and retrieved what he had hoped to find: Fox's gun. Mario managed to hit the pilot several times in the back with combination of kicks and fireballs. Beginning to weaken, Fox was unable to defend himself as easily as before. Link took advantage of the situation and let Fox have it with the Master Sword.
"You might wanna back up, Mario!" Link called as he pulled something round from his pocket.
"You got it!" the plumber replied and leapt out of Fox's reach.
"Link! Duck!" called Kirby.
Link ducked down low as Kirby began to fire his gun at Fox. Lighting the bomb he had pulled out, he tossed it hastily at Fox. Unfortunately, his aim had been a little off, causing the explosive to land behind the intended target. As Kirby continued to shoot, Fox was unwittingly backing up right into the bomb.
"Keep going, Kirby!" yelled Link.
"You almost got it!" Mario rushed to get behind Kirby.
Fox continued to near Link's bomb, but he still wasn't close enough, and the thing was going to explode any second now! Thinking quickly, Mario charged up a fireball and took aim.
"Get ready, Kirby!" said Mario, indicating what he was up to.
"He's not close enough!" Link panicked.
Just as the bomb was about to explode, Kirby and Mario hit Fox with their combined power, sending him right against the bomb. The intense explosion sent the pilot hurdling toward the edge of the ship screaming. Fox managed to catch himself for a moment on the very edge, but a final bit of shrapnel forced him off balance. His terrified gaze suddenly reverted to normal, free from the possessed white it had attained after fighting with the Master Hand.
"Fox!" Link raced forward toward his teetering friend.
The furry pilot reached out to grab a hold of the edge of the ship, but the vehicle was just out of reach. His heart skipped a beat at the sudden thought of plunging endlessly into the abyss below. He saw Link and Mario peer seemingly helpless at his plight, until Link reached hastily into his side pocket and fired something at him -- a grappling hook! The device snagged him securely and reeled him in quickly.
Having finally pulled Fox to saftey, Link hauled Fox up and threw him onto the platform. Fox was struggling to catch his breath, the brush with death still haunting him. He managed to crack his eyes open just enough to see Mario, Link, and Kirby staring down at him.
"Are you ok?" Kirby blinked.
"Just what in Hyrule did you think you were doing!?" Link glared angrily.
Fox groaned. He had a horrible headache starting, and all the questions were just making his head hurt worse. It was only when he had managed to catch his breath that he remembered blacking out during the fight with the Master Hand.
"Where is it?" he sat up suddenly, looking around wildly.
"Where's what?" asked Kirby.
"The hand!" Fox put a hand to his forehead, which was again pounding from the sudden movement. "Where is it? That thing's got some serious payback coming to it!"
"It left after it gave you that jolt." Mario explained. "And speaking of which, how are you feeling? And why did you attack us?"
"One question at a time! Please!" Fox moaned, wishing his headache would just go away. "I feel like I've been hit by lightening for one, and secondly, what do you mean I attacked you?"
"You came after us with a vengence after that hand electrocuted you." Link sheathed his sword. "My guess is you were being controlled. Don't you remember fighting us?"
"No." Fox stood up and shook his head. He could feel all over that his fur was charged and fluffed up in some places and sticky in others. Sticky? His body ached, and everyplace he felt sticky, there was a bleeding injury.
"Um, what the hell happened to me?" he asked.
"Sorry about that!" Kirby scratched the back of his head nervously. "When you came after us, we had no choice but to fight back! Hope you're not too mad at us."
"Not your fault." Fox brushed the dirt off of himself and wiped away some blood. "All I remember after being frickasied is blacking out. Something or someone blew me over the edge of the ship and I sort of came to."
"I guess my bomb snapped you out of it." Link opened his pocket and peeked inside. "Hey! Why do I still have eight in here!?"
"Huh?" Mario cocked his head to the side.
"What do you mean?" asked Kirby.
"Maybe you packed an extra by accident?" Fox shrugged his shoulders.
"No, no! You don't understand!" Link seemed to panic. "Normally, I can only carry eight bombs at a time! But I used one when we were fighting, so I should only have seven right now! Look at this!"
They all looked inside of Link's pouch. Inside were eight shrunken bombs and the boomerang. Link pulled out one of the bombs, which grew to normal size, and threw safely out of the group's range. It exploded harmlessly away from them. Then, he looked back into his pocket.
"I don't believe this!" Link cried. "There are still eight bombs in here!"
"Lemme see!" begged Kirby.
Sure enough. Despite having used two bombs, there were still eight sitting readily available in Link's pocket.
"This is really weird!" Link sweatdropped. "I've never seen anything like this happen before!"
"Do you think it's this crazy place that's doing it?" suggested Kirby. "After all, this isn't the first weird thing to happen today!"
"And speaking of weird things, what the hell are you doing with my....... MY EARS!? AND MY HELMET!" Fox rubbed his hands all over his head, checking to make sure his own ears and helmet were still in place. Kirby just laughed warmly.
"Guess I should explain what happened!" the puffball scratched his foxy ears.
The four of them sat down to update their new friend on what they knew. So far, they had encountered arenas that looked like their homelands, a giant hand that was out to get them, and, strangest of all, each other.
"My guess is that sooner or later, another door is gonna open up and take us someplace even weirder than this!" Fox remarked. "What's next? Monsters from outer space?"
"Or maybe dinosaurs!" Link chipped in.
"We might even run into my little brother." said Mario. "After all, he was invited to the tournament too!"
Moments later, not one, but two doors appeared on the crest of the Arwing. They all stood up from their conversation circle and approached the doors cautiously.
"I thought you said there was only one door the other times." said Fox.
"There were." Mario replied. "I wonder which one we take."
"I say we go for the one on the left." Link suggested.
"Let's stick together!" Kirby added.
Link and Fox nodded and went through the door first. As Mario and Kirby proceeded to do the same, the door suddenly shut and disappeared on them.
"Hey!" Kirby looked around, confused. "Now how are we gonna follow them?"
"I don't know. " Mario looked at the other door. "But hopefully this door'll take us to the same place they went. What do you say?"
"Do we really have a choice here?" the puffball blinked.
"I guess not." the plumber scratched his head. "Let's go."
With that, the two of them disappeared into the door, which promptly disappeared behind them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is Chapter 6. Where would you like to go next?
