Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was pure chaos. Pikachu’s instincts were screaming at him the second that creature turned into a black hole, and by the time he comprehended them, the light burst forth. The front lines fell instantly. Mario, Link, Samus, Fox, Shulk; they were all gone. Just like that. All Pikachu could do was run with the others.

He ran as fast as he could, but he could practically feel the beams closing in on him. At that moment, he looked up and saw Sonic next to him. Odd; Pikachu could usually never keep up with him. Why was he running so slowly? The answer was given to him when Sonic held out his hand and gave Pikachu an urgent look. No words were needed.

Pikachu used Quick Attack at the very last second and leapt into Sonic’s arms. A split second later, Sonic picked up speed and two beams flew where they were previously running; they had narrowly avoided demise by an instant.

Sonic held Pikachu tightly to his chest as he ran faster than he ever ran before. Left and right, he could see his comrades, his friends, all vanishing into the light before they even had a chance to react. Sonic pushed down the sadness and anger that was welling up inside him. All he could do was at least protect one of his friends. Pikachu’s eyes were shut tightly, as if praying that Sonic would be fast enough and when he opened them this nightmare would be over. But even Sonic, as he narrowly dodged the beams, was beginning to wonder if he could make it.

Then, something caught his eye. Kirby was flying on his warp star, just as fast as he was running, narrowly dodging the deadly lights pursuing him. The pink puffball looked down and locked eyes with Sonic. Both of them kept dodging and running as they slowly grew closer to each other.

Once they were mere yards away, Sonic reached out, both him and Kirby pushing their speed as hard as they could. Kirby’s warp star was reaching its limit. They only had seconds. Sonic grabbed Kirby’s tiny hand. There was a small pop, and Kirby, Sonic, and Pikachu vanished, just as the light consumed everything.

Sonic and Pikachu weren’t sure where they were for however long they were gone. Only Kirby really knew the capabilities and details of his world and his items, and even he had trouble describing them. All they remembered, was that it was silent. Then they were back in the sky, Kirby barely hanging onto the star with one stubby hand and his two friends with the other.

The star crashed and vanished on impact, sending Kirby, Sonic, and Pikachu flying. Sonic curled around Pikachu, having not loosened his hold on him since grabbing him, taking the brunt of the fall. They tumbled until they slid to a stop.

They stayed on the ground for a few moments to catch their breath. Their minds and bodies still hadn’t fully caught up with what just happened. Pikachu peeked up at Sonic from his chest and Sonic slowly sat up. Pikachu managed to make himself let go of Sonic and go to Kirby to help him up. They looked around; no one was there. Everyone was gone.

The three fighters exchanged a look of sadness, worry, and fear. There was the slight relief that none of them were alone, but it was overcome by the fact that it was pure luck that they managed to get away together. One wrong move, and no one would have been left.

The three wandered to the edge of the cliff they were on and gazed down upon the new land that awaited them below. Were their friends down there? Was there any chance to bring them back?

One by one, their sadness turned to anger, which turned to determination. They had to be alive. Kirby frowned; sparks flew from Pikachu’s cheeks; Sonic tapped his shoes, readying them to run. It was just them now. But that was enough. They headed down the hill towards the new world of light.

“You know...this place doesn’t look half bad.” Kirby and Pikachu gave Sonic a strange look as they walked up a trail. “What? Yeah, that thing took everything from us and took over the world but I gotta admit, I was expecting worse.”

“Pika…” Pikachu shrugged in an ‘I guess…’ response. They walked down the path before them, blinking as the deep fog seemed to slowly be surrounding them.

“Poyo!” Kirby whined, batting at the smoke as if that would help.

“You’re telling me, bud,” Sonic muttered, trying to strain his vision to see. “There was no fog before, why now?”

Pikachu scouted ahead, having the more attuned senses and soon his ears twitched. “Pika!” He scampered ahead and Kirby and Sonic followed him up a hill. Once they reached the top, the fog cleared.

“Finally!” Sonic sighed.

“Pah!” Kirby chirped. They looked around but found they were surrounded by a sea of fog.

“Not really digging the view though,” Sonic commented. “Where’s a sunset when you need one?”

“Pika…” Pikachu’s ears drooped and he looked around the area, sniffling the air. Nothing could be seen thanks to the fog, making it impossible to plan ahead. They would just have play with the cards they had been dealt and roll with it.

“Poyo!” Kirby suddenly exclaimed.

“What?!” Sonic jumped. Kirby was turned around, pointing to the sky. Sonic and Pikachu followed his stub and in the distance, right in the middle of the sky was It. The monster that took their friends. Pikachu yelped and the three of them tensed, ready to run from another round of light beams. ...But nothing happened.

“Wha...does it not see us?” Sonic asked.

“Poyo,” Kirby growled, glaring at the monster. They waited a little longer, but the monster still did nothing. It sat in the sky, a shield glimmering around it, like some kind of proud king, watching his land without a care in the world. The three fighters slowly let their guard down as it seemed clear the monster had no intention of attacking them.

“What, is it too good to take us on?” Sonic taunted.

“Pika pika!” Pikachu agreed, glaring at the creature. The monster still did nothing.

“Huh...usually that works,” Sonic said.

“Poyo pah!” Kirby exclaimed, when something caught his eye behind him. Something...glowing. “Bee?” Kirby tilted his head and walked closer, finding a small path down from the hill that wasn’t covered in fog.

“What’s up, Pinky?” Sonic asked.

“Po!” Kirby pointed and headed down the path. He then stopped short as he saw...Mario? “Poyo!!” Kirby cried happily, breaking into a run.

“Whoa, wait!” Sonic called. Kirby ran up to Mario and he turned to face him making Kirby freeze in his tracks. That...wasn’t Mario. The being suddenly turned completely metal and socked Kirby right in the face, sending him flying onto the ground.

“Kirby!” Sonic zoomed ahead and rammed into the fake Mario with a hard kick to the chest just before it had a chance to follow up.

“Pikachu?!” Pikachu cried in confusion, helping Kirby up.

“I don’t know bud!” Sonic said. The fake Mario got up and glared at the three fighters, and only then did they see its eyes. They were glowing bright red and its body had a strange aura surrounding it. The last time they had seen a Smasher look like that was back when Tabuu was making Subspace clones, only the shadowy aura was more colorful. While that wasn’t a good sign, it helped make one thing clear.

“Okay,” Sonic punched his palm. “C’mon guys, let’s pound this faker!”

“Chu!” The mouse wasted no time, rushing forward and slamming into the clone with his head before he could turn metal again. Kirby followed up with a hard hammer swing, making him fly into a homing attack from Sonic; the clone didn’t stand a chance.

With the three of them piling onto him with constant attacks, it wasn’t long before the clone fell and didn’t get back up. The fake Mario then burst apart in specks of gold, fading into nothing before hitting the ground.

“Okay, yep, not the real Mario,” Sonic said, unsure if he was feeling relief or concern.

“Po…” Kirby pointed as an orb of light rose from the ashes.

“What the…?” The orb floated towards them and circled around them, moaning softly. An image could faintly be seen inside it; a Smoky Progg. It was a creature that Olimar had told them about on a few occasions.

“Was this thing...inside that fake Mario?” The spirit bobbed up and down like it was nodding and moved about, like it was trying to tell them something.

“Pika…”

“Poyo po…” Kirby agreed.

Sonic held up his hands, letting the spirit hover over his palms as if holding it, “Were you trapped in that clone, little guy?” The spirit nodded again before shimmering slightly, emanating a bit of warmth. Whatever it was, it seemed happy. “Well, at least you seem friendly,” Sonic said. Before they could even really think about it, they heard thumping.

“Pika…” Pikachu’s ears twitched and it began trotting down the path.

“Pikachu?” Sonic called, Kirby and Sonic following, along with the spirit. A few moments later, Pikachu came to a halt as three Yoshis appeared, one blue, one yellow, and one red and all three of them had tanuki tails.

“Kay, now I’m really confused,” Sonic rubbed his head. “Cause there’s no way that’s OUR Yoshi.” Pikachu frowned, backing away from the Yoshis; something felt off about them, in more ways than one. Something that felt...familiar in a way.

“Poyo!!” Pikachu was snapped out of his confusion as Kirby leapt between him and the Blue Yoshi, throwing up a shield as the dino’s tongue was inches from grabbing him. Pikachu chirped a thanks and sparks flew from his cheeks; this was no time to freeze. At that moment, the spirit flew up to the front of them, jumping a bit in front of them.

“Uh...do you wanna help?” Sonic tried. The spirit bobbed and flew into Kirby; a second later, a Unira appeared in his stub, startling the puffball.

“Po?!”

“Where did that come from?!” Sonic exclaimed. Kirby’s body glowed in response, with the same aura surrounding that spirit.

“Pika pika!” Pikachu pointed.

“I think you’re right bud, that spirit must’ve done it!” Sonic said. “And I think that thing will make this fight way easier!” Kirby nodded and threw the item; it landed between them and the enemies and grew its spikes, catching two of the Yoshis off guard and sending them back a foot or two. Sonic then took the opportunity to run around and kick the two Yoshis away, leaving Pikachu and Kirby to forward smash the Blue Yoshi.

The three dinos sprung to their feet, glaring at the three fighters. “Perfect, one for each of us,” Sonic said, cracking his knuckles. Pikachu growled, and Kirby got out his hammer and the six fighters collided.

Pikachu, Kirby, and Sonic ran around and jumped much more than usual to keep up with the Yoshis; the dino was always a high jumper which made them sitting ducks for down air attacks more than once.

Pikachu managed to use his tail a few times to stay safe, but Yoshis had fast feet, even in the air. Kirby adopted the strategy of getting above them and hitting them with his stone attack, but the Yoshis were agile, while Sonic simply decided to use his homing attack more often than not.

The three heroes tried to get them thrown into the Unira every now and then, which certainly helped, except on the Red Yoshi, who’s fire breath gave them more trouble than they expected.

Luckily, with each Yoshi being occupied by one fighter, they eventually got them on the ropes and Pikachu saw his chance the moment all the Yoshis were near him. “Pika!” Pikachu faced the heavens and a huge thunderbolt came crashing down on all three Yoshis.

Finally, all three of the dinos collapsed and exploded into gold. However, only one orb arose from the three bodies. The spirit floated towards them, looking almost similar to the Smoky Progg and behaving the same as it circled Pikachu happily.

Pikachu’s eyes widened as the image of an Eevee appeared in the orb. “Pika…!” The Eevee spirit chirped sadly, lightly nuzzling the mouse almost as an apology. Pikachu teared up slightly as the spirit communicated with him, telling the mouse what happened when the light attacked. Pikachu’s ears drooped as it gazed at the Smoky Progg in sorrow.

“Something tells me our friends weren’t the only ones wiped out by that thing…” Sonic said, glaring at the Monster in the distance.

“Poyo?” Kirby asked sadly. Sonic solemnly nodded and Kirby’s face fell. Even innocent lives weren’t spared from that monster’s wrath. If a spirit of an alien from Olimar’s universe, and the spirit of a Pokemon were here...there was chance that everyone they knew back home was…

“We should keep going…” Sonic said. Kirby and Pikachu nodded and walked onwards, the two spirits following behind.

Chapter Text

The fog seemed to clear as they traversed down the path off the hill. The weather of this new world was still unclear, but one thing that was clear after a while was that the passage of time was just about non-existent. They had been walking for a good while and the past two fights had taken up a great deal of their energy so they had decided to stop and rest; but that proved difficult.

“Where’s the sun?” Sonic exclaimed. “Is it that thing?” He pointed to the Monster.

“Poyo…” Kirby whined tiredly.

“Geez, then that thing must be pretty full of itself,” Sonic sniped. “It’s been hours, and I’m pretty sure it hasn’t gotten dark or anything! How does night happen?!”

“Pika pika…” Pikachu said unsurely, lying on the ground. The spirits even seemed to droop a bit.

Sonic sighed, “Well, either way, we better take a rest,” He lay down with his hands folded behind his head, “I’d say we should keep track of when we rest, but I don’t think that’s possible.”

Kirby yawned and lay right down on the ground, ready to sleep, while Pikachu stretched and lay down next to Sonic. The hedgehog couldn’t help but smile as the two smaller creatures lay down so close to him; after what that Monster did, none of them wanted to be alone.

The spirits chirped and hovered nearby, keeping watch for any enemies and Sonic found his eyes drooping closed.

They didn’t sleep for long, mostly thanks to the bright, never-dimming sky above them, but they felt refreshed enough to move onwards. The fog cleared as they walked, and it wasn’t long before their next opponent appeared; a Jigglypuff wearing a big pink bow. The Eevee and Smoky Progg shivered a bit as they gazed at the fighter.

“Another one of yours?” Sonic asked; the Eevee nodded.

“Pika pikachu…” Pikachu remarked in concern; Sonic could tell by his eyes that he was referring to their actual friends.

“Don’t worry buddy, I’m sure when we find our friends, our real friends, we’ll know.” He punched his palm, “In the meantime, let’s focus on freeing this spirit.”

“Bee!” Kirby nodded in agreement. The Jigglypuff puffed up and began to fly towards them.

Pikachu shuddered as the Eevee spirit entered his body, making him glow. “Pika…!” The mouse felt a sudden boost in strength, and with the Eevee’s chirp of confirmation in his head, Pikachu powered up a Skull Bash. The moment the Jigglypuff landed, Pikachu released its attack, hitting the opponent dead on and making it fly back many feet.

“Whoa, that’s new!” Sonic exclaimed.

“Poyo!” Kirby said excitedly.

“I guess you guys do more than just give us free items,” Sonic remarked to Smoky Progg, who bobbed in response. “And speaking of, why don’t we give Pikachu a hand? I don’t wanna be left out of the action.” Smoky Progg entered Sonic’s body, making him shudder. “Whew! Chilly!” The Unira appeared in Sonic’s hand and the hedgehog and Kirby rushed towards the battle.

“Heads up, Pikachu!” Sonic called before chucking the item. Pikachu leapt out of the way and the item nailed the Jigglypuff right in the face before landing. The spike popped out and hit the Jigglypuff and Pikachu appeared behind it and kicked it in the back towards the item and his friends.

Sonic grabbed the clone and looked at Kirby who had his hammer ready. Kirby nodded and Sonic tossed the clone towards Kirby as his hammer caught fire. Kirby slammed the weapon into the Jigglypuff and sent it flying. The clone slammed onto the ground and didn’t get back up. The clone exploded and a spirit emerged.

“You know, I’m surprisingly getting used to this already,” Sonic commented. The spirit floated towards them and the image inside became clear. It was the image of an owl, an owl that reminded them of Villager and Isabelle. Not even their world was spared, it seemed.

The spirit hovered near them, as if trying to say something, when a whisper seemed to be carried by the wind. ‘Celeste…’

“Poyo?” Kirby asked.

“That’s your name?” Sonic asked. The spirit nodded, and Eevee and Smoky Progg flitted over to their new companion. “I have a feeling our group is gonna keep getting bigger,” Sonic said.

“Chu,” Pikachu nodded.

The group continued on their way, and at long last, the terrain began to change. The path started to turn from dirt to stone, but something giant was waiting for them, it’s robotic eyes glowing light blue.

“That’s a...BIG R.O.B.!” Sonic exclaimed. Pikachu whined while Kirby’s eyes simply grew large and round in shock. Sure, they had seen bigger versions of their friends when picking up a Power Mushroom, but this one somehow seemed...bigger.

“Okay...no worries, we got this,” Sonic said, trying to keep his cool. At that moment, the R.O.B. faced them and its eyes turned bright red. The three heroes suddenly felt their pulse speed up in fear as the robot began rolling towards them, its laser eyes powering up.

“Hit the deck!” Sonic yelled. Everyone dove out of the way as a huge laser was fired at them, scorching the ground. The robot swiveled its head, scanning the area for them and eventually locked on Kirby, heading towards him.

“Waa!” Kirby cried, inflating and flying over him. Pikachu took the opportunity to attack, but that just drew the robot’s attention to him. Pikachu squeaked and booked it as a laser hit where he was standing.

Kirby hit the R.O.B. with an air blade and followed up with a hard kick. Sonic jumped in, summoning a bounce pad to launch him up and hit the clone with a series of kicks as he flipped through the air. Pikachu also returned, taking the opportunity to hit the robot with a Thunder attack, making the clone stagger.

“Okay, we got this!” Sonic yelled. “Don’t hold back!”

“Po!”

“Pika!” The Eevee entered Pikachu once again and Smoky Progg entered Kirby. Kirby threw the Unira onto the ground, the spikes hitting the robot and Pikachu followed up with a full power Skull Bash. Sonic launched himself up once again and hit the clone with a hard down kick to the head, and with a final smash to the face from Kirby’s hammer, the robot finally staggered and keeled over.

As usual, the clone burst into light and a spirit arose from it, slowly moving towards them as an image became clear. It was a Guardian, one of the fearsome robots Link fought in Hyrule.

“Okay, suddenly the nightmares make sense!” Sonic remarked, remembering Link’s stories. Link had described his battles with them many times, mostly when talking about which enemies from Hyrule he feared the most. Guardians were large and ruthless, they left nothing but destruction according to Link. So it was a bit comforting knowing this one was on their side.

The spirit bobbed happily and flew ahead of the heroes before stopping and bobbing some more.

“Want us to follow you?” Sonic asked. The spirit nodded so the fighters complied. The spirit led them down the stone path until great ruins came into view, looking to be the remains of an arena of sorts.

They stepped inside and were almost reminded of a classic arena stage back in their world, where their friendly fights took place, before the Monster took it all away. They reached the middle when Kirby stopped suddenly, forcing the others to do the same. Sonic and Pikachu followed Kirby’s gaze and tensed.

In three corners of the arena were three tall pedestals blocking the pathways before them, and on each, was one of their friends. Marth stood on the pedestal to the left,  Joker stood on the one to the right, and Mario stood in the middle. Their eyes were closed and glowing blue cords were wrapped around their bodies.

The three heroes began to rush towards them, but the Guardian floated in front of them urgently, stopping them in their tracks. The robot’s eye was blinking red as if in warning and the three fighters deflated in realization.

Just like the clones up to this point...they had to fight them.

“Well...I guess we shouldn’t be surprised…” Sonic said a bit shakily, his eyes locked on Mario’s form. “I mean...fighting is the only way anything really gets done with this crowd, heh…”

“Po…” Kirby gave Sonic’s hand a gentle tap of comfort to help quell the feeling of uneasiness they were all feeling. While fighting the spirits, they had the comfort of teamwork, but this time was different. These weren’t simple spirits borrowing clones of their friends, these were the real deal. Experienced fighters who they had fought multiple times before. This was going to be a real fight, and judging by how worried their new spirit friends were, they would be fighting alone.

‘Choose…’ Celeste’s voice blew through their ears as she floated near them. ‘Choose...one…’ Those words sent a bit of a shiver down their spines; what would they had done if only one of them had survived? Would they just choose one and hope they would be able to return for the others? Well, at least that wasn’t going to happen.

“We’re lucking out with the numbers so far; one each,” Sonic said, bending his knees and stretching a bit in an attempt to calm himself. “I don’t know about you guys...but I’ll take on Mario.”

“Pi?” Pikachu asked in curiosity.

“Let’s just say...I owe him this,” Sonic said softly. Pikachu frowned and nodded in understanding, as did Kirby.

The puffball turned to Joker, trying to ignore the condition of the thief. Kirby had taken a shine to Joker ever since he arrived late. They had grown quite close in the short time they knew each other, and Kirby never gave up on friends, new or old.

Pikachu looked at his two companions before facing Marth, the only remaining opponent. Pikachu wouldn’t exactly say he was close with the prince, despite having known him since the second gathering of Smash, but he knew that Marth was humble, brave, and a good friend to others, and that was enough to convince the mouse to try his hardest to get him back.

With their opponents chosen, the heroes stepped towards the three captured fighters. At that moment, all three of the frozen fighters' eyes opened, revealing their pupils to be a deep shade of red. The blue cords around their bodies vanished and they jumped off the pedestals, landing firmly, and walking towards the fighters.

Pikachu couldn’t help but shrink a bit as Marth glared down at him; seeing the usually kind-hearted prince look this intimidating was jarring to say the least.

Kirby swallowed, trying hard to keep a strong face as Joker took out a card and his pistol without hesitation. Kirby really didn’t want to do this...but he had no choice.

Sonic barely stopped his mask from cracking as Mario walked towards him. Seeing their friends like this was nothing short of nightmare inducing. The three heroes glanced back at each other, as if for reassurance, and felt their courage spike a bit.

At that moment, the spirits flew towards them. Smoky Progg entered Kirby once again, making the Unira appear in his stub. The Guardian entered Pikachu, and the remaining spirits, Celeste and Eevee entered Sonic, the fighters feeling a slight boost in power from their presence.

Sonic gazed at Pikachu, who was growling and sparking, and Kirby, who was getting into a fighting stance and took a deep breath. “Alright...c’mon old man,” Sonic locked eyes with Mario. “Let’s see what you got.”

With that, the three heroes dashed towards their opponents, leaving the comfort of each other’s presence and into the cold air of battle.

Chapter Text

Sonic jumped and started off with a down kick, hitting his target but Mario easily recovered and followed up with a punch to Sonic’s face. Sonic recovered and ran back in landing two punches and a kick, sending him flying. Sonic then curled into a ball and built up his speed, zooming right into Mario as he hit the ground.

Sonic revved around for another hit, but a fireball halted his speed and Sonic was sent flying by a hard headbutt. Mario then grabbed the hedgehog and spun him around before tossing him, having him land hard on his face.

Sonic got up, wincing from the pain. “Heh, not bad,” He said, facing him. Sonic went in for a homing attack, only for Mario to jump. Sonic tried to follow up but Mario kept air dodging and blocking as much as he could before hitting Sonic with a spin.

“Guess they call you Jump Man for a reason,” Sonic remarked, wiping some dirt off his face. “Looks like it’s time for me to get serious.

Joker started the fight by running right for Kirby, blade at the ready, but the puffball inflated and jumped back just in time as Joker tried aiming a series of slashes and gunshots at him. Kirby grimaced and turned to stone, dropping right down on Joker’s head.

Joker flew back and Kirby ran up, slamming him with a flaming headbutt. He whipped out his hammer ready to end this as soon as possible, but Joker had other plans as he parried the attack and grabbed Kirby. He kicked him in the opposite direction and followed up with his Eiha magic, sending Kirby to the ground. Kirby winced as he felt the magic starting to drain his energy.

Joker ran in for another attack but Kirby then remembered the item in his hand and chucked it, causing the thief to run headfirst into the spiked Unira. Kirby took the opportunity to hit him with an Air Blade and grabbed him, throwing him right back into the Unira once again, only for Joker to fight back with his gun, jumping and spinning as a flurry of bullets emerged. Kirby threw up his shield and waited for an opening.

Pikachu started running and didn’t stop, ramming his head into Marth’s stomach for the first blow. The prince grunted in pain and was blown back but recovered quite well. Pikachu decided on an aerial attack next but Marth jumped right up after him with an air slash, coupled with a down slash that sent Pikachu to the ground. Marth had always been swift and nimble; coupled with how hard he could hit, it made him a real threat in the long run.

Pikachu got up and ran back towards him, powering up a Skull Bash which Marth simply dodged, leaving Pikachu’s back wide open for attack. Pikachu whirled around and threw up his shield but quickly realized his mistake as Marth lunged forward, the tip heading right for him.

Pikachu shut his eyes, ready for the blowback of a broken shield...but it never came. Pikachu opened his eyes to see his shield shrunken but not broken; he quickly lowered it and rolled out of the way of the next attack with ease.

“Pika…?” Normally when the tip of Falchion hit its mark, a fighter’s shield broke instantly, but Pikachu had resisted? Pikachu heard beeping inside his head from the Guardian spirit. Pikachu didn’t have much time to think as he swiftly dodged a slash. The mouse followed up with a downward electric headbutt, now filled with reassurance; Marth’s sword couldn’t break his shield which would make this fight much easier than it probably would’ve been in any other circumstance.

The three single fights continued for quite a while, the three survivors giving it their all. They weren’t just going to sit back and let that Monster do what it pleased with their friends. They had to still be in there somewhere, they had to be!

Marth had Pikachu on his toes as the mouse dodged as many stabs as possible until the mouse found its path blocked by the pedestal Marth had occupied earlier. Marth raised his sword, his eyes empty as he prepared to end this, but the mouse had other plans.

Pikachu leapt up into the air with Quick Attack as Falchion sliced through the pedestal Marth had been standing on. The stone structure crumbled, and Marth suddenly seemed to falter at the sight of what he had done. Pikachu landed and seized the opportunity.

He grabbed the front of Marth’s tunic, bringing him down to his eye level. The mouse sent a silent apology with his eyes before throwing the prince down and slamming him. Pikachu then spun at light speed, trapping Marth in a vortex of electricity. And to finish it off, Pikachu charged up as much electricity as possible and shot it out at Marth, sending him soaring through the air.

Kirby threw up his shield again as Joker tried hitting him with a downward slash from his blade, and moment it was over, Kirby caught him off guard with his rapid punches. Kirby followed up with multiple hard kicks, sending Joker staggering backwards until his back hit the pedestal he had been standing on and Kirby took his chance.

Kirby slammed Joker and the pedestal behind him with his hammer as hard as he could and Joker fell to the ground dazed as the debris of the now broken pedestal showered him. Kirby frowned in both sadness and determination to end this and punted Joker into the air with a charged upwards kick, sending him flying.

Sonic coughed as Mario had just kicked Sonic hard in the stomach. Sonic swallowed the pain and allowed himself a chuckle. “You always hit hard old man…” He said. “Just keep moving forward and don’t look back, that’s what you taught me, remember?” Mario ran up to him and jumped above him, his fist at the ready, but Sonic dodged at the last second and grabbed him. “So that’s what I’m gonna do; I’m not leaving you like this.”

Sonic threw Mario onto the ground and revved over his body as hard as he could. Mario rolled away after and Sonic came up with multiple punches at the ready. The plumber threw up his shield, but Sonic didn’t waver. He punched and kicked the shield as hard as he could, making it slowly shrink and not giving Mario and opening to hit back. At long last, the shield broke and Mario staggered dizzily on his feet.

“Sorry about this, Pop…” Sonic built up his strength and kicked Mario as hard as he could, sending him flying into the pedestal and shattering it into pieces. It was at that moment that Joker and Marth were flung in the same direction, landing on either side of Mario and they didn’t get back up.

Pikachu, Kirby, and Sonic quickly ran back towards each other and faced their opponents, tense, panting, and ready to keep going as the fighters stirred. They waited with baited breath as the fighters sat up and opened their eyes and they felt their hearts stop. Their eyes were no longer red.

“Ugh...my head…” Marth groaned.

“Ow...shit…” Joker muttered.

Mario slowly blinked more awake and looked around. “Where am I…? What…?” Mario’s eyes fell on Joker and Marth next to him and memories slammed into them like a tidal wave.

“That light...we…” Marth said softly. Joker nodded, his eyes wide with shock. They then heard a whimper and their eyes fell on their three rescuers before them.

“Guys…” Mario said before his eyes widened in realization as tears became apparent in their eyes. “Oh no...did you…?”

Sonic, Pikachu and Kirby found their faces wet, and they barely even noticed. They were numb with relief and pure joy as they zoomed forward and tackled the three fighters. 

“Paaaaah!” Kirby nuzzled Joker, dampening the thief’s cheek with his tears. Pikachu buried his face in Marth’s chest, letting out soft sobs while Sonic just clung to Mario, as if letting go would cause them to be taken away again. They may have started this journey with the sole purpose of saving them, but ever since starting that journey, there had been a linger of doubt. Doubt that they could really save their friends. What if they were lost forever? But now...that doubt was silenced for good. And the relief was overwhelming.

Marth slowly returned the mouse’s hug and the others followed suit with Kirby and Sonic. “Pika pika…” Pikachu whined, the sound muffled from his hidden face in Marth’s tunic.

“Pikachu…” Marth said softly; he had never seen this much emotion from the mouse before, from any of them before.

“I thought we’d never see you again…” Sonic murmured. Kirby hiccuped and nodded in agreement.

“Hey...it’s okay…” Joker said. “We’re fine…”

“Yes, we are safe...thanks to you,” Marth agreed.

Mario nodded and hugged Sonic tightly, “Thank you…” He said softly.

“Anything for you, Pop…” Sonic returned.

Marth couldn’t help but gaze at the injuries the three heroes had sustained during their fight. “It seems we caused you quite a bit of trouble,” He said with a tinge of guilt. Pikachu peeked up at him and smiled through his tears, his relief crushing any resentment he may have had towards the prince.

“It wasn’t all bad,” Sonic said, finally pulling away from Mario and wiping his eyes. “We had some help.” The four spirits emerged from the three fighter’s bodies

“What the heck are these?” Joker asked as they flitted around the freed fighters.

Sonic, Pikachu, and Kirby exchanged a glance. “It’s...kind of a long story.”

Chapter Text

“How did the three of you escape?” That was the first question that needed answering.

“You can thank Pinky here for that,” Sonic said, reaching out and giving Kirby an affectionate pat. “If it wasn’t for him and that Warp Star of his, I don’t think I would’ve been fast enough to save myself and Pikachu.” He blinked. “Man that feels weird to say...”

“Pika pi,” Pikachu agreed.

“What happened to you guys?” Sonic asked. “Honestly, after that thing wiped out, well, everything, we thought you were…” Pikachu and Kirby deflated as they were reminded of that lingering despair that had traveled with them up until now. Pikachu curled into Marth’s arms a bit more while Kirby tightened his grip on Joker as if reminding themselves that the nightmare was starting to end.

Joker understandingly stroked Kirby in comfort while Marth couldn’t help but blink at the mouse’s seemingly sudden attachment to him. He pet the mouse’s head regardless with hopes of comforting him.

“Well, after that light came, we were all captured and put in some room,” Mario answered. “We don’t remember much and we weren’t there for very long, but I do remember that thing is called Galeem.” Pikachu’s ears pricked and Kirby’s eyes opened.

“Galeem…” Sonic repeated, the fighters slowly looking back up at the space the Monster occupied in the sky. The Monster that now had a name.

“We heard Galeem speak briefly when we were captured,” Marth said. “It wishes to recreate the world as it sees fit; and I suppose to an extent, it succeeded.” He gestured to the world around them.

Sonic couldn’t help but scoff. “A world without night is hardly a world worth bragging about.”

“There’s no night?” Joker asked in surprise.

“Not that we’ve seen, and we’ve been wandering through this place for a while,” Sonic confirmed. The spirits floated around them, bobbing in agreement.

“And these?” Mario asked, gesturing to the spirits. “I think Galeem mentioned spirits but...it’s pretty fuzzy.”

The survivors’ faces fell. “Turns out while you guys were captured...everyone else wasn’t so lucky,” Sonic said solemnly. “And I mean everyone...from everywhere.” The three rescued fighters gazed at the images inside the spirits and realization slowly set in.

“No…” Marth breathed, looking down as fear and sadness filled his eyes. “Then...Caeda, she’s…?”

“Ryuji...Ann...even Morgana…?” Joker said in horror.

Mario put a hand on his head in slight shock, “Everyone…?”

Sonic nodded. “We figured it out the hard way...” The Eevee spirit floated down to Pikachu, who reached towards it with his paw and they easily recognized the Guardian, Smoky Progg, and Animal Crossing citizen.

“But...they’re all probably here,” Sonic said, catching everyone’s attention. “These guys were inside clones of us and I bet this place is crawling with them, so if we find them all and take out that ,” He pointed to Galeem. “We can find a way to save them.” Pikachu and Kirby let out just as determined chirps of agreement. They couldn’t waste time mourning what had passed.

“That’s a plan I can get behind,” Joker grinned. “So which way should we go first?”

Sonic blinked and suddenly remembered that there were three paths to choose from. “Huh...good question” He scratched his head. “From what we saw, this place is pretty big…”

“How big?” Marth asked.

“Well we started out up on that hill there,” Sonic pointed from where they came. “And when we were up there it was basically an ocean of fog so...yeah, pretty big.”

Marth, ever the tactician, put a hand on his chin in thought when an eerily familiar laugh filled the air. The fighters leapt to their feet as a large gloved hand appeared above them, floating down to them.

“Master Hand…!”

Sonic, Pikachu, and Kirby found themselves standing protectively in front of Marth, Joker, and Mario, more on edge than they’ve been since arriving here. Considering last time the Master Hands under Galeem’s control created those light beams, they weren’t taking any chances. Thankfully, this Master Hand didn’t dissolve into light. But it did swifty move over them and spread its fingers wide as its palm hovered over them.

“WATCH OUT!!” Sonic grabbed Mario’s wrist and ran back, while Kirby and Pikachu jumped and shoved Marth and Joker out of danger as Master Hand’s palm collided hard with the solid ground where they had been standing.

The hand raised up and shook itself off while the fighters got to their feet. Master Hand flexed its fingers and the tips began to light up. Marth grabbed Pikachu and somersaulted out of the way as lasers emerged from its fingers, forcing them towards the left path.

Joker took out his gun and tried firing at it from a distance, but a barrier appeared around the entity, deflecting the bullets. “What the?!” The thief and puffball jumped back as the hand threw a round boulder at them, which Kirby quickly smashed with his hammer.

“That’s not good!” Sonic remarked. Master Hand continued firing its lasers, forcing the other two groups towards the middle and right paths. Sonic tried a homing attack just in case, but the shield held firm, blowing him back. Mario yanked Sonic to safety as Master Hand literally shot finger guns at the hedgehog.

“Everyone, run!” Mario yelled. With that shield they had no way of fighting the massive hand. They could only deflect attacks for so long.

“Poyo!” Kirby protested but Joker scooped up the puffball running towards the right path; as much as the thief wanted to take out his anger on Master Hand, he would just be throwing himself into danger. He knew when to run from a fight and there was no shame in fleeing from this one.

“Sonic, let’s go!” Mario called from the middle path.

Sonic hesitated, but eventually nodded, “Right!”

“Come, Pikachu!” Marth urged. Pikachu whimpered, glancing at his comrades now separated by the giant enemy, but relented, cantering over to the prince’s side. “Good luck!” Marth called to the others.

The three groups ran down the separate paths, the three survivors sparing a glance back at one another, hoping safety to each other.

Sonic hated to leave Kirby and Pikachu, in fact he despised it. Just when they had felt hope in reuniting with some of their friends, friends whom they considered family, they were torn apart again.

The hedgehog had felt a certain strong kinship with Kirby and Pikachu despite their short time together; none of them wanted to be alone in this world of light, sharing the despair of being the only survivors of Galeem’s onslaught and now they were separated. What if Galeem captured them again? What if-

“Sonic?” He blinked as Mario appeared in his sight, a gloved hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright?”

“Uh, y-yeah, I’m fine,” Sonic said, keeping a poker face. “Just...didn’t see that whole ‘Master Hand attacking us’ thing coming, you know?”

Mario didn’t look convinced but nodded regardless. “Well, it doesn’t seem to be following us,” He said.

“What if it went after the others?” Sonic asked, now letting his concern show.

“The others will be fine,” Mario reassured. “Galeem may have gotten the drop on us back then, but they can take care of themselves.”

“Yeah…” Sonic murmured. Galeem hadn’t shown any interest in repeating its light show of death beams, and it probably would have done so already if it had. So...maybe they were safe.

The spirits of Celeste and Smoky Progg floated around them, having ended up herded towards them during the attack. Hopefully that meant the Guardian and Eevee had ended up with the others. And they would likely find more along the way. Sonic just had to hope that Pikachu and Kirby were strong enough to pull through. They just had to keep moving forward.

Chapter Text

 “Poyo…” 

“Yeah, that’s not really something I expected to see here.” Kirby and Joker stood at the top of a path where a large race track could be seen in the distance. “It’s like this place took a bunch of different worlds and smashed them all together...actually that would explain a lot.” The Guardian spirit and a newly acquired spirit, a half robot woman named Tron Bonne, floated next to them and nodded in agreement. 

“If you were able to find, Mario, Marth, and I, then maybe someone’s down there,” Joker said. “My bet’s on Captain Falcon.” 

“Bee!” Kirby pointed ahead. 

Joker nodded, “Yeah, we should explore around just in case; don’t wanna miss anybody.” They headed down the path, taking down and recruiting a few other spirits standing in their way until they reached some kind of mountainous area with small hills. From where they stood as the fog cleared away, they could see a good number of clones guarding the area while a figure could be seen on a pedestal in the middle of it all on the tallest hill near a ruined tower. 

“Sonic was right, this place is crawling with these spirits,” Joker said. 

“Po…” Kirby growled. Joker looked at Kirby, who was glaring daggers at Galeem in the sky. The thief couldn’t tell if it was anger from taking everyone back then, or making so many of these clones. 

Joker could relate; knowing that everyone was being used to churn out these hollow shells was sickening. Joker vaguely remembered the feeling before he was sent to the colosseum. He was frozen in place, unable to move or even speak. Golden light constantly poured over him for what felt like hours on end when more clones were needed. 

That golden liquid was burning hot like liquid metal; Joker was sure that if he could move or speak he would have been screaming the entire time, and he likely would have heard the others scream too. It was almost a blessing when it finally came to a stop and he was put into the pure dark bliss that was mind controlled fighting when Kirby, Sonic, and Pikachu came along. At least then he could finally move. 

Joker clenched his fist and knelt down, putting a hand on Kirby’s round head. “Hey...why don’t we take that anger out on those guys?” He gestured to the small army. “We’ll make sure Galeem feels it.” 

Kirby nodded firmly and then pointed to his mouth. “Po?” He pointed to Joker. 

“Oh, sure,” Joker said. “Make it quick.” 

Kirby nodded and quickly inhaled the thief. A split second later, Joker was expelled and Kirby stood with a tuft of black hair and a Phantom Thief mask on his face. They were going to do this together as a team. 

Kirby followed Joker who stayed low, taking the sneaky approach. Better to get a small advantage by getting the drop on them. They hid behind a boulder where a silver DK clone was right in their line of sight. From the looks of it, that and an over-sized Dedede clone were the only big ones. Best to take them out first. 

Joker readied his blade and leapt onto the DK clone’s back, positioning his blade under his chin and Kirby hurried after him ready for a follow-up attack with his gun. 

Pikachu and Marth’s journey was quite barren for a good while, at least from where the fog allowed them to go. There were many cliffs with a few spirits waiting for opponents, which took a good amount of time for them to hike while also keeping their energy up from battles, some tougher than others. But as they ventured forth, recruiting those few spirits to their little party, the fog soon cleared, revealing a canyon of giant mushrooms, leading to some kind of jungle. However by that point, they were both too tired to even think about going on. 

“We should find a place to retire,” Marth said. Pikachu nodded wearily and they walked down a path they hadn’t tread but seemed safe enough. Thankfully, no spirits hindered their trek and they soon found themselves at a large pond. 

They knelt by the edge for a well deserved drink when Pikachu gazed across the pond. “Pika!” 

Marth raised his head and understood the mouse’s exclamation. The pond had some kind of tarmac floating in the water at their far left with a small plane sitting on it, and a lone boat could be seen floating aimlessly in the middle of it all. Certainly a strange sight to behold. 

“We should investigate further once we’ve rested,” Marth said. “They could prove useful.” Pikachu nodded in agreement and they finished getting their drink. Marth moved and sat at the base of a nearby tree, finally sheathing Falchion with a sigh of relief to finally be off his feet after the long journey. 

Pikachu wasn’t far behind and climbed onto Marth’s lap before curling up tiredly. Marth stroked the mouse’s back and couldn’t help but stare at Pikachu in curiosity. Throughout their travels, Marth couldn’t help but notice that his small companion was almost constantly glancing at him, staying as close as possible as if at any second Marth would vanish in an instant. 

Perhaps it had something to do with the mouse being one of the few survivors. Galeem hadn’t made any move to attack again and Master Hand was still nowhere to be seen, yet Pikachu remained on edge. 

This was shown in his fighting as well. At one point they had been opposing the spirit of a Don Bongo, a creature from Yoshi’s world, that was housed in a giant clone of King Dedede. His massive size meant his hammer hit even harder than usual, even the Eevee spirit struggled keeping up. 

Regardless, Marth somehow found himself knocked silly by the clone’s giant mallet and barely saw the clone raise the weapon to squash him flat, but Pikachu appeared from seemingly out of nowhere, knocking the clone back with a Skull Bash and an electric headbutt.

Pikachu showed no mercy and made quick work of it, but Marth noticed how its stance was shaky and its fur was on end. Seeing Marth in danger had triggered a ferocity in Pikachu that Marth had never seen. 

Pokemon were strange creatures; despite having interacted with them throughout all these tournaments, their minds and inner workings were still a mystery to him. He recalled the Pokemon Trainer saying that Pokemon were known to forge very strong bonds with humans, some stronger than others. But Marth had never been particularly close with the mouse. ...But then again, perhaps watching them all be engulfed by Galeem changed things. 

Back in the present, Marth rested a hand on Pikachu’s back and found his eyes drifting shut, unaware that two pairs of eyes were watching them from the water while another watched from the trees. 

At that moment, a huge gust of wind burst out of nowhere, causing the prince and mouse to roll away from the tree. Pikachu cried out in confusion and the two fighters managed to stop themselves from moving as they were dangerously close to the shore of the lake. 

They looked up as a clown car rolled into view, red eyes glaring at them. It was one of Bowser Jr.’s many siblings; even they weren’t exempt from being cloned. Marth shuddered at the thought; the cloning process was bad enough on just them, Gods only knew what it was like having an alternate form ripped out of them. 

The Lenny clone laughed and fired a cannonball their way. Dodging was much harder than it should have been thanks to the wind, that didn’t seem to be letting up at all. Marth reached for Falchion, but the clone rolled towards them at top speed thanks to the wind at its back. 

Lenny whipped out his drills and charged towards them. Pikachu managed to jump and use Quick Attack against the wind to get behind the clone, while Marth wasn’t so lucky. He tried to roll out of the way, but the drills had a further reach than he anticipated, and a good hit sent him flying. 

Pikachu cried out as Marth flew through the air, landing in the pond behind them with a splash. Marth resurfaced, taking a breath, but Pikachu’s relief was crushed as the prince was seemingly dragged back underwater by something.

Marth struggled as his cape seemed to be caught on a familiar giant hammer. He looked down to see a discolored Dedede dragging him underwater with a grin. Marth grabbed his cape, wrenching himself free, and began to swim back up, only for a small pink figure to swim around him in fast circles, disorienting him. 

Marth shook his head and blinked to see a pink female Inkling swimming faster than he was sure the original ever could. The Inkling took out her blaster, and before Marth could even think about the fact that the ink wouldn’t work underwater, she darted forward and slammed his chest with it. 

Bubbles escaped Marth’s mouth as the air was almost knocked out of him. He felt the Dedede’s hammer slam his back, though not as hard as he was used to, due to the fact that they were underwater. Marth took advantage of his mobility from being smacked around and tried to swim back to the surface. He managed to get his head up and take one gulp of air before he was dragged right back down again. 

Marth finally drew Falchion and got the Inkling to let go with a slash. Marth immediately felt the difference, swinging a sword underwater as opposed to on land. Dedede swan at him and Marth was barely able to block it, the blow pushing him deeper underwater. This wasn’t going to be easy.

“Poyo!” Kirby cried as he slammed his hammer onto the Luigi clone, freeing the spirit within. Kirby glanced over at Joker who had destroyed the Lucina clone, but was currently dealing with the Shulk clone she was previously attached to. 

Joker hit the clone with Eiha and took the opportunity to jump and shower the clone with bullets. One final strike from his blade, and the clone exploded, leaving the spirit behind. 

“Okay,” Joker nodded and twirled his blade. “I think that’s everyone.” Kirby glanced around the field, the spirits they had freed gravitating towards them. Now that only left... 

They gazed up the hill where Link stood on the pedestal, wrapped in blue chords. Joker’s face hardened and he got his blade ready. 

They headed up and Kirby stopped him just steps before they reached the top. “Poyo,” Kirby looked determined and moved in front of the thief. 

Joker frowned, “You’re not doing this alone.” 

“Bee!” 

“Nothing says this has to be one-on-one, we’ll work together!” 

Kirby shook his head, looking worried, “Poooo!” Joker tried to move forward but Kirby pushed back against his shins. “Poyo po!” Kirby looked up in panic. “Bee! Poh!” 

“Hey,” Joker knelt down and put a hand on his head, his eyes gentle. “It’ll be okay.” Kirby looked down before looking back up at Galeem in the sky. Joker followed his gaze before moving Kirby’s face back to look at him. “Don’t worry about him,” He said. “We’ll get him; I promise.” Kirby stared at him before nodding, his face becoming determined. “For now…” Joker stood up straight. “Let’s focus on getting our friends back.” 

“Po!” Together, they stepped forward. Link’s eyes opened, revealing the red hue of Galeem’s control. He stepped off the pedestal, drew the Master Sword, and wasted no time. He charged forward and Joker put up his blade and blocked the sword just barely in time. 

Joker grit his teeth as the Hylian Champion pushed against him with seemingly no effort, but Kirby stepped in. He swung his mallet and knocked Link away, Joker almost stumbling back down the hill. 

Kirby darted forward and leapt above a swing from the sword and turned to stone. He landed on Link’s head with a hard thump and Joker shot Eiha towards him. Unfortunately, Link dodged it in the air and tossed a bomb right at Kirby, detonating it right in his face. Kirby fell only to be caught by Joker and Link darted forward for another attack. Joker held Kirby close and put up his Rebel’s Guard. 

Kirby cried out in worry as Joker took the onslaught of sword strikes; the damage was only halved, but it still hurt like hell. Joker grit his teeth; almost there...now! 

Joker kicked Link back and yanked off his mask. “Persona!” Arsene appeared behind him, ready to go. Joker put down Kirby and charged forward with Arsene, Kirby close behind. 

Kirby moved ahead of Joker and quickly inhaled Link. But rather than copying his ability, Kirby turned and shot him towards Joker who sent him straight up with his blade, now powered up by Arsene. Joker then jumped after him and showered him with bullets, followed by Kirby’s air blade, sending him crashing to the ground. 

Link slowly got up, but Joker was already closing in. With a final blow by Joker and Arsene, Link was sent flying. He landed hard on the ground, breathing heavily, and the two fighters let their guard down as he started to get up...but his eyes were still red. 

Link leaned heavily on his sword as he struggled to get up, his feet continually sliding out from under him. Link was clearly unable to keep fighting, but his body was trying desperately to stay upright, like a rag doll. It was like there was one last thing keeping Link from breaking free of control. 

Luckily, Kirby put the pieces together in a record breaking period of quick thinking back to their last fights against Mario, Marth, and Joker. Kirby ran across the field and flames covered him as he picked up speed. He tackled the pedestal and smashed it to pieces and Link dropped to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. 

Joker blinked and glanced over at Kirby standing over the broken pedestal. Then he remembered how his pedestal was smashed when he woke up. “So those things are the final step to breaking Galeem’s control?” He wondered out loud. Guess they would find out as they traveled. Link groaned and began to stir, opening his eyes. Joker couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief that they were no longer red. 

“Ugh...where am I?” Link muttered, sitting up and blinking at the two fighters. “Joker? Kirby?” 

“Poyo!” Kirby happily leapt into Link’s arms and Joker held out a hand to the confused Champion. 

“Welcome back,” Joker said with a smile. 

Link took the offered hand, still holding Kirby and shook his head, “Where are we?” 

“Some kind of tower ruins in a field?” Joker tried. “Honestly, we’re still mapping this place out.” He frowned, “In the meantime, remember anything? Specifically, that?” He pointed to Galeem. 

Link followed his finger and his eyes hardened the moment he laid eyes on the monster. Kirby joined him in glaring it down; little guy couldn’t seem to get enough of that. “Yes,” Link said lowly. “I remember.” He then blinked as the memories settled. “Zelda…! Toon, Young Link, where-?!” 

“We don’t know,” Joker said calmly. “We’re still looking for people; we split up not too long ago.” 

Link’s eyes hardened. “Tell me everything.”

Pikachu breathed heavily, sporting cuts and bruises as he glared at the spirit. It was tougher than it looked, and these winds weren’t helping in the slightest! The mouse glanced behind him at the water; Marth still hadn’t resurfaced. Pikachu shook off any weariness he was feeling and growled at the clone; he had to end this and fast!

Marth knew he didn’t have much time left. His lungs were starting to beg for air, but these clones weren’t letting him so much as float near the surface anymore! Marth locked Falchion with the Inkling’s paintbrush and kicked her away before deflecting another hammer swing from Dedede. The Inkling slammed into him, pushing him deeper underwater before letting him float through the water on his own, when his eyes landed on a boulder that was fast approaching. Marth glanced at the two clones that were next to each other, waiting patiently for an opening, but as a result, left themselves open. Now was his chance! 

Marth planted his feet on the boulder and pushed off it as hard as he could, propelling himself towards the clones. Kicking as fast as he could, Marth zoomed towards them and twisted his way past their oncoming attacks. He slashed his sword across them in a devastating blow as he passed. And with that, the two clones went limp in the water before exploding into nothing, leaving the two spirits behind. 

Marth covered his mouth with his hand as the last few dregs of air escaped him. With his clothes and sword weighing him down he could see the surface getting farther away as his vision darkened. But then, he thought he saw some kind of shadow over the surface. 

The next moment, he felt something tugging him upward. Just as his vision was about to leave him, Marth was thrust above the surface and air filled his lungs. The prince coughed as he took several breaths as he was dragged through the water until his head tapped something solid. He felt something trying to tug him upward and Marth finally got enough bearings back to climb onto whatever he had been dragged to. 

Once he was out of the water, Marth sat against something solid and looked to see he was on a small white boat, the same one they saw earlier. A spirit was at the wheel, misty tendrils gripping it, while others hovered around him, most likely the two he defeated. 

“Chu…” Marth looked to see Pikachu by his side, its yellow fur soaked and dripping water. So it was Pikachu who had dragged him to the surface. 

“It seems you’ve saved me again,” Marth remarked, giving the mouse a tired but gentle pat. 

“Pika…” Pikachu said softly, leaning into his touch. Marth noted the weariness in the mouse’s gaze; Pikachu still hadn’t quite recovered from his battle with the prince, and perhaps defeating the spirit that was in charge of this boat was even more difficult. 

“Thank you…” Marth said softly with a grateful smile. The mouse smiled back and gave the prince a weak hug that Marth returned. 

The spirit at the wheel bobbed happily and the boat began to move again, the wind at their back. The boat sailed towards the big tarmac sitting in the water and docked as close as it could. The two fighters spent a bit more time catching their breath before finally getting up and disembarking. 

Pikachu stayed close to Marth as his steps were still a bit shaky from fatigue. “I’ll be fine,” Marth reassured. They waded through the water until they reached the tarmac; no spirits were nearby, only the plane. The door was wide open and a small set of stairs led up to it. 

Seeing nowhere else to go, Pikachu and Marth exchanged a glance before slowly entering the airplane. 

The moment they were inside, the door slammed shut. “Pika?!” 

Marth hurried over to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked tight. Had they just fallen into a trap? The two fighters jumped as the engines roared to life “What is-” 

The plane suddenly jerked forward and Marth was thrown back into one of the passenger seats. The aircraft began to lift off at a shocking speed; Marth heard a squeal from Pikachu and he reached out and grabbed the mouse’s tail before he went rolling down the aisle. 

“Sorry!” Marth exclaimed as he pulled Pikachu safely to his chest by his tail. Pikachu let out a whine as the plane continued to tilt up; Marth could already feel the ground leaving them from the aircraft. Holding Pikachu tightly, the prince managed to fight gravity and haul himself out of the seat, making his way to the cockpit of the plane. No one occupied the pilot seats, but the plane was running as smooth as ever. 

“Pika pika!” Pikachu pointed to the front windows and Marth’s eyes widened. A blue portal had appeared before them and the plane was heading right for it. 

“What is that?!” Marth exclaimed aloud. 

“Pika pi!” The plane showed no signs of stopping and Marth could only tighten his grip on his companion as they flew through the portal. 

“Sonic? Sonic!”

The hedgehog blinked, “Yeah?” 

“You zoned out for a second there, kiddo,” Mario said. 

“Oh,” Sonic said plainly. “Huh, guess I did; I thought I saw a plane fly through a portal in the sky...guess this place is already getting to me.” Their recently acquired spirit of Metal Sonic moved around his face as if taunting him. But it couldn’t exactly be taken seriously as a ball of light. “Yeah yeah, get your laughs in,” Sonic quipped, waving the spirit away. “Don’t forget who saved your shiny butt from that totally inaccurate clone of me; a metal me with a jetpack? You would’ve been a laughing stock.” 

The spirit seemed to growl in response but followed the group regardless. It had nowhere else to go anyway. 

“Up ahead!” Mario suddenly pointed. Sonic looked up and saw a pedestal, holding another one of their friends. 

“Jigglypuff!” Sonic exclaimed. The two fighters ran up to it, but forgot about the invisible alarm system these things apparently had. Jigglypuff opened her eyes, her usually sweet and innocent blue orbs now a bright and sinister red. 

“Man, it’s even worse when they’re so big…” Sonic moaned. Jigglypuff floated off the pedestal and glared at her two opponents. Sonic hid a wince as he bent his knees, ready to run into action along with Mario. 

The spirits entered them, giving them their respective item or power boost, and Sonic charged in before Mario could blink. “Sonic, wait!” 

Sonic slammed his foot into Jigglypuff, making her float back like a balloon that was just punched. Sonic revved up for a homing attack and hit her dead on. Jigglypuff being so light was always a weakness in her fighting technique; once she was in the air, she was a very easy target. 

However, Galeem likely figured this out, as Jigglypuff entered rollout in mid-air, making her fall to the ground rather than float and slammed into Sonic. That was when Mario decided to jump in with a flick of his cape, causing Jigglypuff to roll in reverse right into a tree. 

“You okay?” Mario glanced behind him as Sonic got up. 

“Yeah, I’m good,” Sonic said, shaking the blow off. “Maybe we should come up with a plan-” 

Mario started, but Sonic was already rushing right back in. Jigglypuff tried another Rollout, but this time Sonic threw up his shield, bouncing her back a bit before swinging his leg out and sending her flying. Mario hurried back in with a spinning attack. He then sent Jigglypuff flying upward with a head bash and Sonic jumped up after her. 

“Sorry about this…!” Sonic leapt above her and slammed his foot into Jigglypuff, driving her to the ground, hard. “Mario, the pedestal!” 

Mario looked at it and somehow put together what he needed to do. He leapt up and slammed his fist into the pedestal, shattering it into pieces. There was a moment of silence as no one moved. 

The Pokemon slowly rolled to her feet, her big blue eyes looking around and quickly growing confused. “J-Jiggly…?” 

Sonic hurried over and knelt in front of the Pokemon. “Hey Creampuff…” He said gently, pulling out her nickname. 

“Jiggly…?” The Pokemon’s large eyes were blue and wet, full of fear of what had happened, but seemed to light up in relief at the sight of Sonic and Mario. 

“Yeah, it’s me,” Sonic said, putting a hand on her head. “It’s okay…” 

“Jiggly...puff!” The Pokemon jumped into Sonic’s arms, shivering and nuzzling him, making Mario smile. Sonic always had a way with the small creatures. 

Sonic easily hugged the Pokemon back, “You’re okay…you’re okay…” Mario knelt next to Sonic, joining the hug. However, when they started to move on, Mario couldn’t help but gaze at Sonic in concern as the hedgehog’s smile was back; a smile that wanted to look genuine, but was hiding pain. 

Pikachu and Marth breathed heavily as the plane flew them to their next battle. Getting on the plane in their past condition was a grave mistake looking back. Neither of them were prepared for the onslaught of battles that was to come. 

It was a simulation of the World Tour that Ryu and Ken often spoke of from their world; traveling and taking down champions from around the world. Except they were all replaced with spirits possessing clones ready to pummel the two fighters at the drop of a hat. Some were easy, but others were close finishes, even with the aid of their spirits. 

Marth was currently sitting in one of the seats, cradling Pikachu who was sporting a nasty black eye and other bruises from their previous fight against a giant Mac clone that housed a spirit by the name of Balrog. Pikachu had barely managed to pull out a victory against it and its scarily accurate punches. One more wrong hit and the mouse would have gone down. The simulation was set up so that all fights were one on one. There was no way for Marth of Pikachu to help one another if the fight got nasty. 

The slight silver lining was that the spirits showed some remorse after being freed. Pikachu gave Balrog a weak smile as the spirit quivered a bit in guilt while Marth gently pressed ice to the mouse’s bruises. Chun Li, the first spirit they freed, knew the plane better than they did, and showed them around to the medical supplies that the flying machine had in store. While it wasn’t as efficient as a Heart Container or a Fairy in a Bottle, it had to suffice until they beat this simulation. 

“I’ll handle the next round,” Marth said. 

“Pi…!” The mouse shook his head and tried to sit up only to wince and whimper from the pain. 

“You need to rest,” Marth said firmly. “I’m in better shape than you; fighting in your condition would be suicide.” It wasn’t a complete lie; while Marth wasn’t exactly at the peak of health at the moment, he had far fewer injuries than Pikachu. Bringing a sword to a fistfight gave him a decent advantage. 

While it was dangerous, there was no way he was letting Pikachu fight in this condition. It was all they could do. 

The F-Zero Racer skidded to a halt with a screech as the racetrack came to a dead end. The door opened and Joker, Link, and Kirby all stumbled out, dizzy and nauseous. 

“Oh god...never again…” Joker mumbled. 

“Poooo…” Kirby spun in little circles with swirls in his eyes; even he couldn’t stand the sharp turns and starts and stops of the car, on account of the spirit clones blocking the track. Some of the spirits seemed to giggle lightly at their misery. 

Link shook off the dizziness rather easily and gazed ahead at their opponent. Captain Falcon stood on a pedestal wrapped in the blue chords, his eyes closed. 

“Ha…! Called it…” Joker couldn’t help but quip between breaths. 

Link drew his sword and took the initiative and stepped forward, “You two rest,” He said to Joker and Kirby. “I’ll handle this.” The Hyrule champion stepped forward and Falcon opened his now red eyes behind his visor.

Pikachu breathed heavily as the clone before him exploded. The spirit emerged and hovered around him, introducing itself as M. Bison through soft whispers. 

“Pi...ka…” The mouse nodded and swayed on his feet. 

Marth bolted into the ring just as the mouse crumpled to the ground. “Pikachu!” Marth fell to his knees as soon as he was close enough and gingerly picked the mouse up. “Oh, Pikachu…!” 

The poor thing was limp as a ragdoll and it was wheezing as it breathed. Marth could already see more bruises starting to blossom around the old ones. The spirits gathered around them, quivering with worry. 

“You reckless creature…” Marth couldn't help but whisper, but he felt a pang of guilt as he knew this was partly his fault. Marth had taken on the last few spirits in a row to allow Pikachu time to heal, but they had been harder than he anticipated. Vega had been difficult enough, but facing Sagat soon after was somehow worse. Galeem truly didn't play fair when it came to simulations like these and it had taken his toll on him. 

As a result, Pikachu had bolted out of the plane before Marth had the chance to take on the final spirit alone, leaving Marth trapped in the plane to watch in horror as the mouse was nearly pummeled, despite pulling off a come from behind victory. 

At that moment, a path appeared before him, leading up to another battlefield where a figure on a pedestal stood, waiting for him. Marth placed Pikachu in the plane, leaving a few spirits to watch over the mouse, and headed up the path with the few remaining spirits. 

Ryu stood on the pedestal and opened his red eyes the moment Marth stepped onto the battlefield. Marth drew Falchion and the spirits entered him. “It’s time to wake up, Ryu.” 

“Sonic,” Mario broke the silence as the group of three had stopped for a rest after battling and recruiting a few more spirits. “We need to talk.” 

“About what?” Sonic asked with an easy grin. “I don’t think the weather’s weird enough for this, even though this is pretty weird.” 

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed,” Mario said firmly, crossing his arms. “You’ve been acting a bit strange and I’m worried that you aren’t telling me something. I know you like rushing into things, but this is pushing it, even for you.” Some of their newly acquired spirits bobbed in agreement. The moment a new spirit blocked their way, Sonic was the first to run in, even if he was at a huge disadvantage right off the bat. It was scaring Mario half to death and he was at his wit’s end. 

“C’mon Pops, your imagining things!” Sonic said, waving it off. “This place is pretty trippy, maybe you’re just letting Galeem get to your head.” 

“Sonic,” Mario fixed him with a stern gaze. “Are you alright?” 

Sonic’s bravado slowly faded, as well as his smile as Mario locked eyes with him. After a few solid minutes, he looked at the ground. “No...I guess I’m not alright…” 

“Jiggly?” Jigglypuff stepped closer, worry in her gaze. 

“It’s just...what are we supposed to do? Against that?” He pointed to Galeem in the sky. 

“Sonic, I’m sure we can-” 

“That thing wiped out everyone without lifting a finger!” Sonic exploded. “All I could think about was running away and getting any of my friends out of there! That doesn’t happen with me!” Sonic took a deep breath. “The three of us...Pikachu, Kirby, and I...we saw what that thing did...and when we landed and saw what was left, it...it hurt...a lot…” Sonic wrung his hands. “It was pure dumb luck that we got away! Kirby and Pikachu know that too!”

Link landed a final blow, slicing through the pedestal and felling Captain Falcon. Joker, Kirby, and Link surrounded him as he regained consciousness, his visor back to normal. Kirby jumped and danced happily as the F-Zero racer sat up before going in for a hug. 

Joker’s smile faded a bit as he spied Kirby steal a glance up at Galeem once again.

“If it wasn’t for Kirby...and I think even he knows...he took a huge risk taking us along on his Warp Star...we barely made it, only by a millisecond...if either of us had messed up...there’d be no one left…” 

Sonic clenched his hands into fists. “I meant what I said back then...we all seriously thought you were gone for good...and just finding out we were able to get you back at all was...the happiest and most relieved I’ve felt in ages.”

The plane flew out of the portal and landed back on the tarmac in the lake, healing everyone’s injuries as they returned to the real world. 

Marth happily hugged Pikachu, relieved that the mouse was alright and the mouse nuzzled him before realizing they had an extra group member. Pikachu cried out with joy and leapt onto Ryu’s shoulder, giving him a relieved nuzzle and the fighter scratched his ears in return with a smile. 

Marth felt a pang of worry as Pikachu’s eyes seemed to be shining with unshed tears.

“What if this is something we can’t beat? What if we’re just on borrowed time and...and we lose everyone again? This time for good?” 

Mario’s heart broke at how lost Sonic sounded. Jigglypuff went in for a hug and Mario put his arm around the hedgehog, pulling him close. “That won’t happen,” Mario said, keeping his voice strong. “I’m scared too, Sonic, but we have to try.” 

“How can you be so sure?” Sonic asked. 

“Remember Tabuu?” Mario asked. “He did the same thing back then, wiping us all out in one go; but we still pulled through, mostly thanks to you taking out those wings of his.” 

A smile pulled at Sonic’s face, “I guess…” 

“It just seems scary now because we’re all separated,” Mario said, rubbing his shoulder. “But once we find everyone, we’ll do whatever it takes to stop Galeem. We just need to have hope.” 

Sonic’s spirit seemed to lift a little bit and he nodded. “Thanks, old man…” 

“No problemo, kiddo…”

Chapter Text

“Ready?!” 

Mario strained holding the fishing line of a possessed Isabelle. “Do it!” 

Sonic revved into a ball and Jigglypuff readied rollout. They zoomed forward and smashed the pedestal into pieces. Isabelle’s grip on her pole went slack and she keeled over. Mario threw aside the fishing line and hurried over to Isabelle. He knelt by her side and gently lifted her head as Sonic and Jigglypuff joined him. 

“So the theory worked,” Sonic commented, glancing at the smashed pedestal. “That’ll save time.” 

“Jiggly!” 

Isabelle moaned softly as she came to. “Isabelle?” Mario called softly. 

Her big eyes opened and blinked innocently. “Mario…? Sonic?” 

“Hey, Bell,” Sonic smiled. 

“Puff!” 

“Jigglypuff…? Where are we?” 

“Easy…” Mario carefully helped her sit up. “Are you alright?” 

Isabelle put a paw on her head, “What happened? I was…” Her eyes widened as everything came back to her. “Oh...oh no! No!” She looked at the three fighters in panic. “Are you alright?! Oh goodness what did I do to you?! Where’s the Mayor?! I didn’t hurt him did I?!” 

“It’s okay, you didn’t do anything wrong, we’re fine” Mario soothed. 

“As for the kid, well, we don’t know where he is yet,” Sonic added. “But don’t worry, we’ll find him; someone will.”

“Jigglypuff!” Jigglypuff agreed. 

Isabelle took deep breaths and Mario gripped her paw as tears welled up in her eyes. “That light...Galeem...I couldn’t move...it hurt so much…” She whimpered. 

“Jiggly…” Jigglypuff swiftly hugged her and Mario’s eyes softened in understanding as he rubbed her back. 

Sonic stepped back and let them have their moment; only those who were engulfed knew the true feeling of being in Galeem’s grasp. That was something that he, Pikachu, and Kirby would likely never know. A part of Sonic wished that wasn’t the case, just so he could provide comfort those he cared about. 

But that voice was quickly squashed by remembering that if he did know that pain, and if Pikachu and Kirby did too, then that would mean they had lost. Someone had to be without pain, and fate handed that privilege to Sonic, Kirby, and Pikachu. They would just have to deal with it and stay strong for everyone. 

Once Isabelle calmed down, Sonic held out his hand to her, “C’mon Bell,” He said gently. “We got a lot to catch you up on.” Isabelle wiped her tears and nodded firmly, taking his hand.

“Well, this definitely looks ominous…” 

“You can say that again…” 

Kirby, Link, Joker, and Captain Falcon all stood at the start of a large bridge, spanning a deep chasm. It was as if a chunk of the world had almost been split and torn off and the bridge was the only thing holding it together. 

“Poyo…” Kirby said softly. Even though the bridge looked solid, it gave off a dangerous air. At least Kirby could inflate and get everyone to safety should the worst happen, but that didn’t make it any less scary. 

“Well, we won’t get anywhere by standing here,” Captain Falcon said. “Our friends could be waiting for us on the other side; let’s be brave and move on.” 

“You’re right,” Link nodded. 

“Yeah, we’ll just be quick,” Joker agreed. 

“Pah.” 

The group all steeled themselves and began to walk across the bridge at a brisk pace, ignoring the eerie howling of the wind coming from below. But as they reached the middle of the bridge, the felt the world shake. 

“Dammit, I had a feeling this would happen!” Joker cried. 

“Run!” Captain Falcon yelled. No one needed to be told twice. The chasm below them started to glow yellow as pressure filled the air, like something was about to erupt. 

Everyone yelled out and was shoved forward onto solid ground as a wall of light shot out of the chasm with a roar, destroying the bridge and the way they came.

Ryu let out a battle cry as  he charged up his attack, a possessed Olimar struggling to get up from the harsh fight. “Hadouken!” 

The blast of energy shot from his palms and hit the pedestal the explorer was found on, shattering it into dust. 

Pikachu rushed forward and caught Olimar before he fell. Although he was one of the few humanoid Smashers that was nearly the mouse’s size, Pikachu still struggled a bit under his weight until Ryu knelt down and gently scooped him up. Marth came forward and knelt next to them, Pikachu hopping on his shoulder, as Olimar slowly opened his now normal eyes. 

“Hello, my friend,” Marth smiled. “Welcome back.” 

“Pika!” Pikachu said happily. 

Olimar blinked and looked at the three fighters. “Where am I…? How did you…?” 

“Relax, it will come back to you,” Ryu said, setting him on his feet. 

Olimar put a hand on his helmet as he steadied himself. His eyes then widened and he saw Galeem up in the sky; he remembered. “How did you escape?” He asked in shock. “We couldn’t move…” 

“Kirby, Pikachu, and Sonic escaped,” Ryu answered. 

“We had to split up, but we’re trying to find everyone,” Marth added. “There’s a lot more to explain, we’ll tell you on the way.” Olimar nodded when the ground started to shake. 

The group cried out in surprise as they managed to keep their balance on the large mushroom. A loud roar suddenly ripped through the air, making everyone jump to alert. 

Marth got ready to unsheath Falchion, Pikachu jumped off Marth and got on all fours, Olimar yanked some Pikmin out of the ground, and Ryu raised his fists. 

“Who’s there?!” Ryu demanded. Nothing appeared, but a light became visible in the distance. A wall of light cut through the world, a good distance away, only visible because the mushrooms they were on were so high up. 

“What is that?” Marth asked out loud. 

“Pika…” Pikachu growled and looked at Galeem; no doubt he had something to do with this! 

“Whatever it is, it doesn’t look like it’s a threat to us at the moment,” Ryu said. 

Pikachu let out a small whine of worry and Marth gave him a pat, “Don’t worry Pikachu, I’m sure the others will be alright,” He said softly. 

“Pika…” Pikachu certainly hoped that was true.

“What do you see?” Mario called. 

Sonic bounced up on his summoned bounce pad again. “Some kinda light!”

Bounce.

“Like from a canyon!”

Bounce.

“Spreads super far!”

Bounce, bounce.

“Mr. Sonic is right!” Isabelle joined him and summoned her Balloon swing to stay up for a bit. “And Galeem is shimmering a bit; he must’ve done it!” 

Her balloons popped and Sonic bounced once more before his bounce pad vanished to catch her. However, something caught his eye. “What the-OW!” 

Being too distracted to catch Isabelle, the dog had fallen on Sonic’s head. Jigglypuff quickly inflated to a large degree to catch and cushion their fall, their weight making her slowly deflate like a leaky balloon. 

“Thanks, Creampuff…” Sonic breathed. 

“What was that about?” Mario asked. 

“Sorry, I just thought I saw someone,” Sonic said, putting Isabelle down. 

“One of our friends?” Isabelle gasped. 

“Pretty sure; they weren’t moving around like the clones,” Sonic said. 

“Which way?” Mario asked. 

“This way!” Sonic lead the group, their spirits trailing behind. Eventually, they reached a clearing and the fighter, or pair of fighters, occupying the pedestal opened their eyes the moment Sonic’s red shoe touched down. 

“Banjo; Kazooie!” Mario exclaimed. The normally cuddly bear jumped off the pedestal and took Kazooie out of his pack, readying the Breegul Blaster, both their eyes red and full of malice. 

“Have I mentioned I hate seeing everyone like this?” Sonic commented. 

“There’s no shame in saying it because it’s true,” Isabelle whimpered. Kazooie started firing, forcing the fighters to leap out of the way. 

“Maybe we should save the pity party for later,” Mario grunted. 

“Yeah, okay, that’s fair,” Sonic agreed before revving up.

“Everyone alright?” Captain Falcon called. Kirby, Link, and Joker sat up from their spots on the ground. 

“I think we’ve had worse,” Link admitted. 

“Holy…” Joker’s gaze was on the bridge, causing everyone to turn and look. A giant wall of light was emerging from the chasm like a never-ending geyser. The bits of the bridge that remained were burned black and smoking from being so close to the light wall. 

“Po…” Kirby shivered. 

“Well...let’s hope we can find another way back across when the time comes,” Joker said weakly. Kirby looked at the other side of the bridge in worry, really hoping that Joker was right. 

“You might want to pull yourselves together,” The Captain said, getting to his feet and staring ahead. “It seems we’re not alone.” The group looked up and through the fog, a familiar power suit could be seen, the visor lighting up red. 

“Samus…” Link breathed. 

Captain Falcon cracked his knuckles, “Let’s bring our friend back to the light, shall we?”

“Pikachu, come rest.” 

The mouse flinched and looked behind him from his post on a tree branch. Marth, Ryu, and Olimar were gathered under a tree where they had decided to set up camp for a few hours to catch their breath. Traveling the Mushroom Gorge was quite taxing and the jungle they now found themselves in was likely going to present many challenges. 

“Pika,” Pikachu waved his paw as if saying ‘I’m fine’, and turned back to keep watch. The jungle was dense and thick, even without the fog obscuring their view; Pikachu wasn’t going to let any spirits sneak up on them like they did at the lake. Ryu and Olimar were currently asleep, and it seemed that Marth had just woken up. 

The prince frowned and got up, walking over to him. “Pikachu, you need to sleep, I’ll take over the watch.” 

Pikachu’s ears drooped and didn’t respond; he was tired, but he didn’t want to abandon his post. He had the best senses in the group, he would be able to tell right away if something was wrong. Could he afford to sleep? 

Marth carefully picked up Pikachu off the tree branch and walked over to their resting area. “You’ve been fighting harder than all of us; you deserve a break.” 

“Pika…” Pikachu whined, looking unsure. But then his ears twitched. The mouse froze and looked over Marth’s shoulder. 

“What is it?” Marth turned around and followed Pikachu’s gaze towards the distance where a thicket of trees lay. Now he could hear it; some kind of strange but very familiar sound.

Waka waka… 

Marth’s eyes widened, “Ryu, Olimar, wake up!” 

“Huh…?” 

Pikachu cried out as a pixelated strawberry suddenly shot through the air. The fruit hit Marth square in the chest, sending him flying into the nearest tree and dropping Pikachu. That got Ryu and Olimar wide awake as Pikachu growled at the place where the fruit had come from. 

A few moments later, a possessed Pac-Man emerged into view, looking more angry than was necessary. 

“What the hell?! I thought they didn’t wake up unless we approached!” Ryu exclaimed.

“We must have been close enough to activate him!” Olimar said. 

Marth grunted, getting his breath back from the staggering sneak attack. “We need to find his pedestal, quickly...!” 

Olimar was already on it, plucking out multiple Pikmin and telling them to search for the pedestal, while Pikachu and Ryu got ready to fight. So much for resting...

“Samus…?” 

“Samus, can you hear us?” 

“Poyo!” 

The bounty hunter’s helmet retracted into the suit, letting the young woman inside see more clearly. Samus blinked to see four faces above her. 

“There she is,” Joker smiled. “Good thing Kirby didn’t hit you with his mallet too hard.” Before Samus could ask what he was talking about, the Captain offered her a hand up. She obliged and got to her feet before quickly retracting her suit, leaving behind her blue jumpsuit; with her head pounding, she couldn’t bear to be in that metal thing any longer. 

“Poyo!” Kirby jumped into her arms, almost throwing her off her feet. 

“Are you alright?” Captain Falcon asked. “You seem a bit dazed.” 

“I’m just…” Samus shook her head. “How did I get here…? Where is everyone…?” She blinked as she realized how small her rescue party was. “Where’s Pikachu?!” The bounty hunter and Pikachu had become very close ever since the Subspace Incident. They had become almost inseparable and Samus tended to worry immensely about the little mouse if he was out of sight in a bad situation like this. 

“Pikachu’s fine, he’s with another group,” Joker reassured. “We had to split up, but he survived with Kirby and Sonic.” 

“Pah!” Kirby nodded. 

“We’ll explain everything,” Link said. 

“In the meantime, we should move on; we don’t want to keep others waiting.” Captain Falcon agreed. Samus nodded, her mind starting to slow down and take everything in rationally. She just had to trust Joker’s word that Pikachu was alright. They started walking, Samus still carrying Kirby in her arms but they didn’t get far. 

“Uh, why is there a digital maze here?” Joker asked.

Ryu took the lead as the group walked through the jungle. He glanced behind him to make sure everyone was keeping up. Marth and Olimar were alright, as well as Pac-Man who was gently carrying a sound asleep Pikachu. 

Marth, Pikachu, and Ryu had been able to keep Pac-Man busy while Olimar and his Pikmin found and destroyed his pedestal. The old arcade icon was immediately subdued and Pikachu rejoiced at the return of his yellow friend. After giving Pac-Man the usual explanation, they finally took that time to get some rest. But even after waking up, Pikachu was still exhausted, hence Pac-Man volunteering to carry the mouse so he could sleep. This meant that Pac-Man couldn’t really fight any clones that came their way, but with the combined efforts of Marth, Ryu, and Olimar, it wasn’t too much trouble. 

The spirits also deserved praise, as it seemed having so many of them made their attacks even stronger than usual. There were some cases where they were able to defeat clones in one or two hits, thanks to their new strength. 

Ryu looked ahead and came to a stop, “Well that’s something I didn’t expect to see…” The group caught up with him to see what looked like a large metal facility. It looked a lot like the places Snake would describe when talking about past missions. 

One of the spirits they picked up who went by the name Otacon, floated up and moaned. It floated towards the facility, the smashers following, and Otacon hovered before the closed gate. 

“You want us to go inside,” Marth confirmed. Pac-Man made a noise and Olimar turned to see Pikachu yawning and waking up. 

“Morning, Pikachu,” Olimar greeted, along with Pac-Man’s smile. 

“Pika…” Pikachu nodded with another yawn, looking much more well-rested. 

“You woke up just in time,” Marth said. “This spirit wants us to go into this building.” 

“Chu?” 

“Do what you have to,” Ryu nodded to the spirit. Otacon floated into the control panel next to the entrance, and seconds later, the gate and main doors opened, revealing a portal, very similar to the one Pikachu and Marth flew through to get to the World Tournament. 

“We should be cautious,” Marth warned. “If this portal is anything like the one where we found Ryu, it’s likely we won’t be able to get out until we finish...whatever Galeem has in there.” 

“Pika…” Pikachu said worriedly while perched on Pac-Man’s head. 

“With five of us, our odds are bound to be better than yours and Pikachu’s before,” Ryu said. Marth nodded in agreement and they headed into the portal.

“I’m so sorry…” 

“Banjo, for the hundredth time, we’re not mad at you,” Mario managed to give the bear a pat as he was crushed in a very literal bear hug. 

Kazooie, on the other hand, was gazing at the spirits and the strange world around them. “...Is all...this,” she gestured vaguely to the world and Galeem, “a regular thing for you guys?” 

Sonic shrugged, “Honestly, this has only happened like, one other time, but...yeah.” 

“Puff!” Jigglypuff nodded.  

Isabelle pet Banjo’s fur, “Don’t worry, I’m new to this too; I know how you feel…” 

“I’m just so glad it’s over…” Banjo whimpered, finally loosening his hold on Mario. 

“Don’t worry Fuzz, that jerk hasn’t made a move since Pikachu, Kirby, and I started this journey,” Sonic reassured. “I don’t think he’ll start now.” 

“Let’s hope not,” Mario agreed, getting back to the ground. “We should keep moving and try to find anyone else, unless someone needs to rest.” 

“Aw c’mon Pops, you know me, I never rest,” Sonic said, jogging in place. 

“I’m alright too,” Isabelle agreed. 

“Jiggly!” 

“So am I,” Banjo chimed in. 

“Even after that fight?” Kazooie asked. “Yup, I feel like I just woke up from a nap, honestly,” Banjo said, stretching his arms. 

“Huh; guess that Galeem jerk did something right; crazy son of a bi-” Sonic smartly cut himself off after a glare from Mario. “Anyway, onwards!”

 “I hate teleporters…” Joker grumbled as they ended up in the same place yet again. 

“Pooooooo…” Kirby whined in agreement. They had been in this stupid maze for ages, and Kirby was getting hungry! 

“Stay positive,” The Captain said. “I’m sure we’ll find the exit soon.” They stepped into one more, and they got their wish; it wasn’t the exit, but it was something different. A pedestal, holding Mr. Game&Watch. 

“Oh, I will GLADLY take a fight now,” Joker said, taking out his gun. 

“Agreed,” Link pulled out his boomerang and threw it towards the possessed fighter, making him wake up and leap off his pedestal in time to dodge. 

Samus quickly pointed her own laser pistol at Game&Watch and started firing. While the figure didn’t have any eyes, you could tell just by looking at him that he wasn’t right. It was really putting her on edge. “And you say that all of us are like this?” She asked, activating her laser whip. 

G&W recovered from the attack only to fall under a shower of bullets from Joker. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine once we give him a really loud wake-up call!” 

“Poyo!” Kirby sucked G&W into his mouth, turned, and spat him back out into the path of a Falcon Kick from the Captain. Link then charged towards their opponent and rolled out of the way as G&W nearly hit him with his torch, making flames explode in the air around it.

Pikachu and Pac-Man scurried to safety as a missile chased them before exploding. Marth couldn’t help but growl in annoyance as he took cover yet again to shield himself from another grenade thrown his way immediately after. 

Snake was proving himself to be the camouflage master he was, trying to take them all out with sneak attacks. Normally Snake fought more out in the open, since none of the stages really allowed for hiding, and because he didn’t need to. So facing this side of him in combat was more than a little grating. 

Olimar tried sending his Pikmin to try and find any small space he could be hiding, but Snake shot them all down with ease. 

“Come out and fight with honor!” Ryu yelled. 

“Pika pi!” Pikachu cried. 

“We need to find his pedestal!” Marth exclaimed, yelping as another blast hit dangerously close to him again. The fighters all looked around desperately for the possessed Snake, when a spirit, a little girl named Ashley, approached Pac-Man. The spirit moaned, communicating with him, and Pac-Man nodded with determination before Ashley’s spirit entered him. 

“Got an idea?” Ryu asked. Pac-Man nodded and jumped out from hiding into the open. 

“Pac-Man!” Marth started to go after him, but Pikachu yanked him back by his cape. 

“Pika!” The mouse whined.

Pac-Man jumped around, waving his arms and taunting the empty air, when a missile hit him dead on. But before his companions could even react accordingly, Pac-Man lit up with a multitude of colors; he was ready for his Final Smash. 

“What?! From one hit?!” Ryu exclaimed. 

“It must have been the spirit!” Olimar exclaimed. Pac-Man wasted no time activating his Final Smash, transforming into a giant, hungry, yellow mouth. Pac-Man zoomed around the room as fast as he could, eating everything in sight, including the objects shielding his friends. When the attack wore off, Pac-Man returned to normal, landing in the middle of the area once again. 

Pikachu’s ears twitched and his eyes roamed upward, where a red-eyed figure was sitting in the rafters. “Chu!” Pikachu ran up and used Pac-Man as a spring to leap up and zap Snake, causing him to fall out of his hiding place. 

“There you are!” Ryu grinned, as everyone emerged from their hiding spots. Marth also spied the pedestal tucked into the corner of the room and bolted towards it while the others kept Snake distracted. 

With one clean slice, the pedestal was cut and destroyed, making the soldier fall to his knees in a daze. 

Snake blinked and grunted before looking up at the group surrounding him. “...How did I get here?” Pikachu’s ears drooped in relief and he leaned on Snake’s knee in a small hug, confusing the soldier even more. 

“It’s a long story,” Ryu said, Pac-Man giving a thumb’s up.

Confused beeping filled the air as a newly freed Mr. Game&Watch got up from his spot on the ground. His head was spinning from a very hard final blow.

“Sorry about the Falcon Punch, my friend,” The Captain said. “I wanted to end it quickly.”

G&W beeped in acknowledgment and Samus knelt in front of him. “A lot’s happened; do you remember everything?” G&W beeped again and looked down before perking up and nodding frantically. 

“Pah,” Kirby patted the figure on the back in a form of comfort before gesturing to the nearest teleporter. 

“Yeah, we’ll explain as we get out of here,” Joker agreed. G&W beeped again and hurried ahead, gesturing to follow. 

“I guess he knows the way,” Link guessed. G&W nodded and entered the teleporter, and everyone else quickly followed. Thanks to G&W’s odd movements and constant beeping, it was easy to follow his fast pace until they finally reached the other end of the maze, leading to a lovely field and river. Well, it would have been lovely...if not for the clones guarding it, as well as the ominous portal nearby. 

“That’s new,” Joker remarked, looking at the portal. 

“Poyo…” Kirby breathed. 

“Perhaps we can find another one of our friends through there,” The Captain suggested. 

“I’d rather cover smaller bases like that before exploring this large place,” Samus agreed. G&W beeped in agreement.

There was a loud crash as Banjo slammed Kazooie onto the pedestal, smashing it to pieces. Lucario dropped Isabelle, who he was holding up by her shirt, and fell to his knees, holding his head in pain. 

“Mr. Lucario!” Isabelle ran to his side as the mythical Pokemon opened his eyes, no longer under Galeem’s control. 

“Isabelle…?” The dog heard his voice in her head; his telepathy. 

“Yes, I’m here, it’s alright,” Isabelle soothed. “You’re free.” 

Everyone gathered around Lucario, who saw them all with their clear and pure auras. “You’re all safe…” Lucario spoke into their minds, a habit he had gotten into ever since first joining the tournament. 

“Yeah, and so are you,” Sonic responded. 

Lucario slowly got to his feet, gazing at his group of rescuers, before drawing his gaze to Galeem in the sky. “The evil aura from Galeem...it still burns strong, but I feel it weakening.” 

“I bet that’s Kirby and Pikachu’s doing,” Sonic said a bit proudly, putting his hands behind his head. “Those guys are probably working real hard as we speak.” 

“It feels more and more like we’re all coming together,” Isabelle said happily. “I hope we meet up with everyone soon!” 

“This way,” Lucario suddenly gestured. 

“Huh, what’s up?” Banjo asked. Lucario lead the group up a path and a small hill. Down a short ways below, a large ominous castle over a pit of lava stood. 

“Puff…!” 

“What is this place?” Isabelle breathed. 

“I saw it from the sky, when Galeem placed me down,” Lucario said telepathically. “Once you go in, you can’t come back out until Galeem’s presence is gone.” 

“...So basically we go in, fight whatever’s in there, and then we can leave,” Sonic summarized, earning a nod from Lucario. 

“Do you think more of our friends are in there?” Isabelle asked. 

“I sure hope so,” Banjo agreed. The group reached the castle, but unfortunately they weren’t alone. A large Squirtle clone was blocking the way, trudging around in a way that Mario found familiar. 

“Six against one; with that big guy, I really like those odds,” Sonic commented. 

“Jiggly!” Jigglypuff agreed. 

“Let’s get ‘em!” Kazooie said eagerly. 

The group crept down the hill before engaging the clone, starting with Sonic revving into it together with Jigglypuff’s Rollout, as well as Banjo coming in from the other side with a Wonderwing. Lucario aided from afar with Aura Spheres, and Mario and Isabelle went for the physical attacks. 

The clone was overwhelmed in minutes, exploding into the spirit of a Boom Boom. “Knew it…” Mario muttered, as the spirit joined their rapidly growing spirit army. 

“We keep this teamwork up, Galeem doesn’t stand a chance,” Sonic said easily. The other fighters winced a bit, but Sonic didn’t notice. They stepped up and the door opened, revealing a portal rather than a hallway. 

“Hey, isn’t this place exactly like those castles where you usually fight Bowser?” Kazooie asked. 

“Yeah, it is,” Mario answered lowly. 

“Then...Bowser might be in there!” Isabelle gasped. 

“You okay, Pops?” Sonic asked. 

Mario took a deep breath, “Yeah…I’m fine,” He nodded before walking forward.

Joker put his hand through the portal as if to test it, and then ventured inside, followed by his group, coming face to face with a lush jungle, crawling with clones.

Mario took a deep breath as he stood in front of the portal, staring up at the entrance, seeing the usual lava and heated atmosphere that had been faithfully recreated inside by Galeem. “This is just another obstacle we have to fight, nothing more.”

Marth drew Falchion and stood his ground with the others who drew their weapons or readied themselves as the massive robot, the Subspace creation, Galleom towered over them.

“Besides, we’ve been through this many times before...this time will be no different.” Mario clenched his fists and leapt through the portal.