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Ridley roared and spun around, knocking the attacking Smashers off of him and sending fireballs their way.

As Samus dodged, Mario used his cape to send one of Ridley's frieballs right back in his face, knocking the monstrous space dragon backwards.

Spyro flew straight at Cynder. "Cynder! Stop this! This isn't you!"

Dark Cynder wrapped her tail around Spyro and chuckled. "Cynder isn't here," she said, smirking. "She's asleep, boy, I'm in control now!" she roared, diving down and grinding the poor dragon across the stadium wall and hurling him to the ground below. She let out a chuckle and took off towards the sky.

Ridley roared and sent a barrage of fireballs at the smashers again.

Both Yoshi and Link were violently hurled from Ridley's back. Midna quickly snatched Link from midair and maneuvered around the fireballs while in flight. Yoshi was sent flying and collided with Peach as she slowly fluttered downwards with her parasol; both Smashers fell to the ground only to be struck by Ridley's flames.

Zelda quickly teleported in front of the two fallen Smashers and used Nayru's Love to deflect the second bout of flames, buying just enough time for Peach and Yoshi to regain their ground. She then proceeded to hurl more Din's Fire at the beast with a cold fury.

The green dino's eyes narrowed. "Yavashta Yavi!" he scolded angrily before charging again in an Egg Roll.

As soon as she regained her breath, the Toadstool Princess quickly gathered her skirts and dashed towards the purple dragon, unconcerned with Ridley's attacks; the others could see to him as far as she was concerned, but someone had to help Spyro!


Midna quickly released Link again once she had safely flown above the great beast before darting over to Samus's position.

Once released, Link once again pointed his sword's tip underneath him, aiming a downward smash for the dragon's head.

"Samus!" Midna shouted as she approached the bounty hunter. "What is this guy's weak spot? An unarmored eye? Suspicious magical-crystal-gem-thingy?"

"Yeah, yeah I hear ya!" Midna called to Samus. She then quickly dashed by the two Hylians, relaying the new information to each individual in turn. "Forget about his belly! Go for the wings! Link, see if you can chuck a bomb down his gob when he tries to stink us out with that putrid breath of his! Think 'Dodongo!'"

The swordsman glanced at the flying imp and grunted in reply. He then used his clawshot to try to latch onto Ridley's left wing. If it met its mark, he'd then use his free hand to slash with his sword.

In responce, Zelda's fire quickly changed direction and slammed into the elbow joint of Ridley's right.

***
Peach finished her sprint towards the fallen dragon and quickly knelt down, gently lifting Spyro's head. "Are you alright? Goodness, that looked awful!"

Ridley roared out in pain as his wings were assaulted, his left being severed by Link's sword and his right wounded by Zelda's attack. Before he could retaliate, Samus sent a missle right into his wounded wing, destroying it as well. Roaring in pain, he openned his mouth, charging up a fireball.

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Spyro got back to his feet. "Yeah... I... I'm fine," he said, looking down. "It's... It's just that Cynder... She's been turned into a monster again... She's spent most of her life since I freed her trying to distance herself from that monster but now..."

"Link, NOW!" Midna screamed. "Dodongo!"

The swordsman quickly rolled to the ground, breaking an otherwise nasty fall after his sword sliced through. He then reached into his pouch and pulled out a bomb, scraped the fuse against the broken terrain, and tossed the now-lighted bomb into the space-dragon's maw.

Zelda, seeing his intent, sent Din's Fire down the dragon's throat after the bomb to accelerate the explosion before more fire could be spewed at them.

***
Peach forced Spyro to look him in the eye. "She will be alright," she scolded rather forcefully. "Believe that she will be okay, you must!"

Mario shot several fireballs down Ridley's throat, Samus a Charge Beam along with the other attacks.

Ridley screeched in agony, fire pouring from his maw, and exploded in a huge fireball. Unlike the Smashers, monsters such as Ridley would reincarnate somewhere else when killed, as opposed to simply turning into a trophey.

"How many times do I have to kill that guy?" asked Samus, rather annoyed, even BEFORE she came here, Ridley just kept coming back!

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Spyro paused for a moment, then nodded slowly. "... Alright... But what do we do now?"

"I feel the same way about Ganondorf," Link replied, "But then the Hands just had to add him as a Smasher..."

"I don't see what the big deal is," mused Midna. "I mean, the guy's taken care of and we won. And about Ganondorf and the other villains, at least they're super slow and no stronger than the rest of us, right?"

Zelda laid a hand on the imp's shoulder. "True we won, but will we need to battle them again? It seems likely and we are still no closer to rescuing Cynder from her possesion."

Midna heaved a sigh. "So much for levity," she grumbled.

At that moment, Yoshi, who was still in egg form, rolled through empty air and crashed into the arena wall, causing a small pile of rubble to land ontop of him. "Ahhh...yavshi? Ya, yaba yada yasha?" he inquired as soon as he dug himself free, dizzily shifting from one foot to the other in attempt to regain his balance as he held one hand over a swelling goose-egg.

Despite herself, Zelda had to raise a gloved hand over her mouth in a poor attempt to cover stifled giggles. "We just finished him off, Yoshi."

***
Peach smiled sweetly at the dragon. "How 'bout joining the others? Looks like they beat that brute; maybe one of them knows what to do next?"

Realization shown in Link's eyes; he'd completely forgotten about Epona! Quickly, he reached under his tunic until his fingers brushed where Ilia's horse charm hung around his neck and swiftly brought the end of the small, horseshoe-shaped flute to his lips before playing the sweet melody his beloved horse adored.

Within moments, the gigantic mare thundered down the path before stopping before the first-story door of the stadium, bellowing a large winny of impatience.

"Well then, milady. Shall we go?" Link asked politely with a bow before offering his arm.

Zelda groaned, earning a snicker from Midna. "No wonder outsiders think we're a couple, with displays like that!" she hissed in his ear after obliging. "Next time, if you absolutely must, a bow will suffice."

Link blinked out of bafflement. How was he supposed to know it would be taken like that! "Err, anyways, we'd better get going. We'll be waiting outside." With a curt bow, he quickly made his exit, trailed by a more dignified princess and obnoxious imp.

"By the way, I'll still be hiding in your shadow," Midna smirked before ducking within that delicious blackness.

"Freeloader..." Link grumbled sullenly.

"Hey, it works, right?" his shadow laughed. "Beside, why should I work when it works out so much better this way?"

***
Outside, both Hylians sat seated upon the mare, waiting for their companions to lead on.

Samus' gunship took off and lead the way, Spyro flying a bit ahead to guide them along the path towards his area of the world.

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The Emperor watched the gem be placed in a large machine high above the room, which was full of the villains inhabitanting this world. "It's time for this to begin," he said, eyes lighting up as he fired the beam from his visor into the gem, the other villains all firing their various projectiles into it as well, powering up the machine. Those without projectiles simply touched their hands to energy channels to contribute their power.

The satilite that was the Emperor's base openned up, producing a large cannon. Moments later, a massive energy beam fired out towards the earth below.

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Samus stopped as the beam struck the planet in the distence, sending out a huge shockwave and cracks spread through the planet. "What's going on?" she asked in confusion as the planet began to split a part.