Ages ago, despair had fallen upon humanity. Temples were left in ruin; villages were burned to ashes. Only a slimmer of hope remained for the destiny of mankind.

On the brink of extinction, the tribes of man had banded together to defeat the evil forces that brought destruction upon them. Only a few survivors remained. The last stand was underway; these warriors lost their families, their homes, and their liberty. Justice was bound to be on their side.

Swords, bows, axes, lances, magic; each warrior had his own diverse toolset of abilities. The ravine was stained with a river of crimson flowing through it. The valiant heroes fought with everything on the line, and Valhalla would be proud. The cries of agonistic war deafened even the brinks of the battlefield.

After several days of sufferance, the dust finally settled. The battle was over, and our heroes proved worthy of victory. The rooster crowed, and the age of war had officially ended. Peace and serenity washed over the warriors; even those who didn't come out in one piece. Cheers of relief spontaneously spread throughout the land, uplifting the spirits of the survivors.

To avoid near-extinction once more in the future, our heroes decided to disband. With humanity split up throughout a multiverse, evil shall never be able to catch up to every tribe without burning to ashes beforehand, they believed. Thus, the oracles, the magic-wielders, and the wizards created dimensions for each of the warriors. There, they would all build their societies from the ground up. Timelines and dimensions were created. Each universe would grow alongside each other, and all ties would be sealed off completely.

However, in the case that this defeated evil may rise again, and the dimensions would need to join together to defeat it once more, seals in dimensional rifts could be opened. For the sake of humanity, however, access to these rifts were buried in absolute secrecy. Only in desperate times would humanity be able to find the rifts.

That is, unless someone is idiotic enough to accidentally stumble across it and absolutely ruin our ancient ancestors' plans for our prosperity.

—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—

"It actually says that in the book? Whoa."

"N-No, I don't think—"

"So, what should we do? Should we activate it?"

"Hey, you're the leader here. You decide."

"Kehehe... Hand me the sword... Once I break this seal, ALL of the dimensions will be Grima's to rule...!"

"Don't you all think we should discuss this over some refreshing drinks?"

"... ... ...That doesn't seem very safe..."

"I'm just kinda concerned, or should I say, chromcerned that this isn't a 'desperate' situation."

"Did you just—"

"But, dude, who cares? It sounds fun!"

"Excuse the idiot, please."

"Hey, shut up you white-haired turd—!"

"Virion, I thought we said no drinks!"

"We only agreed on not discussing over drinks. Does it look like I'm discussing? No."

"Guys, guys, chrom on. We need to focus."

"DID YOU JUST—"

"It looks like the rift is leaking already... I think that's how we all were summoned here together in the first place. But why would it start leaking?"

"Was the magic not strong enough?"

"No, no... Seals like this don't just suddenly weaken."

"Yeah? How would you know?"

"I'd trust him if I were you. He's one of the Shepherds' most reliable magicians."

"H-Heh... Thanks, Chrom. Though... I do think it's a bit odd that a seal would have a physical form like this... It's like a barrier of some sort..."

"So why would it start glitching out like this?"

"Bro... Do you see that?"

"See what?"

"There's... like... one of those dog Snapchat filters on the pink-haired one..."

"...A-Are... Are you r-referring to m-me?"

"Bro... What? What's a Snapchat?"

"Guys, we're getting off track again... Do we deactivate the seal or not?"

"Maybe the seal WANTED us to find it..."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I mean... If it's not broken, then... It's gotta be leaking on purpose, right? Maybe this is what that old book was talking about! It said we could only find the rift if the timing was desperate. What if... What if it's a desperate time, but we just don't know it yet...?"

"Oh, pleeeeaaase... I can take care of whatever threat arises. I got these Falcon GUNS to take care of everything."

"Get away from my daughter, please."

"So, what do you guys say? Should we break the seal? We wouldn't wanna make a... chromtraversial decision."

"AGAIN, DID YOU JUST—"

"Well? Final verdict?"

"All we have to do is swing that glowing sword at the seal, right?"

"That's... what it says."

"Leader? Would you like to do the honors?"

"Heh... I'll gladly chromfirm."

"DID YOU J— I'm honestly this close to bailing."

"What, no, stay—"

The burly, blue-haired swordsman slowly strolled to the glistening sword that sat vertically in the stone pedestal. His fingers felt their way around the handle. As everyone stared in anticipation, Ike gripped the handle with utmost assurance. With a triumphant smirk and unrelenting confidence, the Radiant Hero of Legend tugged on the glowing blade. Too bad that the sword barely budged.

Robin frowned slightly, "...That's unfortunate."

With a forced chuckle, Ike put a second hand on the hilt. He grunted as he tugged again, and the sword wiggled itself out of the stone. Once he got it free, Ike flashed an anxious smile, "Phew, that was unchromfortable." The sword seemed to be of light weight once the muscled warrior pulled it out.

Chrom sighed and hung his head, "I guess I should learn to live with it, huh...?"

Shulk swallowed nervously as he held his concerned gaze, "Are we sure about this, guys? We have the entire multiverse in our hands here. It'd be a real shame if we ended all of mankind, you know."

Captain Falcon scoffed, "Pshhh, as if it's actually that serious."

Lucina raised an eyebrow, "Um, did you listen to anything that's been said?"

He perked up, "Huh? Uh, yeah, of course! ...Something about dog filters."

Olivia blushed, not knowing if the attention was a good or bad thing.

Frederick shook his head in dismay, "To think that the legacy of our legendary ancestors is in the hands of these hooligans... Perhaps you all should leave this to the Shepherds."

Virion drunkenly stumbled to the group, "Yes— *hic* L-Leave it to us..."

Palutena rolled her eyes in disgust, "You people are ridiculous."

A faint, metal 'clink' began repeatedly sounding off near the gang of misfits. They all looked towards where it was coming from: the seal. Rosalina gasped, and Ricken chuckled in amusement.

"W-What're you doing!?" Ike yelled out as his eyes widened.

"He's clearly just practicing for when he chops up his dead bodies, that's all~," Henry answered with glee.

"Interesting, heheheh... He would make a fine apprentice in my army..." Validar muttered to himself before frowning and piercing his eyes at Robin, "Maybe HE would actually make a grateful son...!"

"You guys... were taking too long..." Villager spoke as his axe swung down on the solid purple, door-sized seal, "So, I... decided to take... matters into my own hands!"

The seal wasn't budging in the slightest. Around it was a wall of bedrock. A few days ago, the members of the group each unknowingly transported to this dark, mystic area without notice. It started one-by-one until the entries finally came to a stop. Now, the number remained at fifteen; a nice round number. The group was there for a few days, each person getting acquainted to the last. The bickering was constant, and the accusations were nonstop.

They all shared their names, their home universes, and their backstories. The majority was from the "Fire Emblem" universe, but the others were from other various worlds. They didn't dare walk away from the ominous, purple wall that was surrounded by the bedrock wall. They felt... attracted to it somehow. They also came across an ancient, rustic book. Robin flipped through it, and he told the others what he could understand. Some of the text, however, was written in a language that was foreign to everybody. It was almost impossible to make out.

Realizing that they were probably transported for a reason, each of them agreed to team up and uncover the mysteries. Well... most of them, anyway. Some were just stuck there, and they simply wanted to leave.

"Wait, umm..." Shulk hesitated, "What happens if... the seal wasn't supposed to be broken? What do we do then? It's not like we can just patch this thing up."

Everyone sat in silence for a moment, not knowing how to answer the question. Rosalina spoke up, breaking the silence with a simple answer, "Then we're screwed." As blatant as it was, it was exactly what was going through everyone's minds.

"But hey!" Ike called, catching the attention of the other fourteen people, "We sound like a powerful bunch. I'm sure we can all handle it if we work together, right?"

"Erm... The evil in the book killed thousands, if not millions of people. I don't know about that." Robin glimpsed at the others as he spoke, then soon looked at the ground in thought.

"Then we can just go get more people!" Shulk exclaimed with joy. "I know a few others, a-and I have no problem with meeting new guys!"

Henry's smile widened, "I wouldn't wanna miss out on all this fun just beCAWS we had a people shortage." Ike perked up and threw two finger guns at the mage, clearly amused by the pun.

"Guys, guys. I can handle it by myself. I can clearly—"

Everyone seemed to speak up at once before the bounty hunter could finish another annoying boast, "Falcon, shut up."

Ricken yawned, clearly disengaged from the situation. "How else can we go back home? I don't see ANYTHING in the distance. It's all just a buncha rocks on this side, and boring ground on that side."

Ike inched towards the purple seal with the illuminated sword still in his hand. "Maybe we need to talk about this a little more... For example, what if—"

The hero was cut off by a high-pitched, monotonous 'Weeeeee!' coming from Virion's direction. The archer was spinning himself in circles for whatever reason other than he was intoxicated out of his mind.

"...U-Umm... V-Virion...?" Olivia passively questioned.

"Yessssssssss?" he asked, hissing like a snake.

"...Wh-What're you d-doing...?"

"It's like... my own rollercoaster..."

After curiously examining the drunkard, Frederick's eyes shot open. He noticed that Virion had his bow fully taut with an arrow resting in it. Reacting suddenly, he yelled out, "Get down—!" The armored soldier quickly ran to Chrom to cover him, and the others yelled frantically when they realized it too.

Mistaking the warning to be targeted at himself, Virion screeched. His hand released the ammunition in Ike's direction as he dove onto the ground. The arrow quickly zipped past Ike's head and into the glowing weapon that he was wielding. As if in slow-motion, the sword fell out of Ike's grip. Everyone watched in horror as the blade flipped end-over-end towards the seal that he was only a few feet away from.

Everyone soon realized that their big question had just been answered for them. As if fate manipulated Virion itself, the sword's tip came into contact with the seal. The affected area of the seal cracked like glass, and the glowing sword got lodged in it. The group stood in silence, trying to comprehend what just happened: the seal had been broken.

Ike gulped, "G-Guys..."

Henry's grin beamed, "Oh boy! What a CAWtastrophe!"

"What do we do now...!?" Palutena questioned in a panic.

Falcon slowly stood up from his crouch that he held during Virion's mishap. "There's no turning back now."

Robin's stomach sunk as soon as he saw the bounty hunter. "Falcon, what're you—"

"This is it, guys... Time to move forward once and for all!" he yelled as he tightened the glove on his right hand. Before Robin could stop him, Falcon leaped into the air as his fist engulfed in flames. "FALCON...!"

The man's fist reeled back, and his eyes were locked onto the intimidating purple barrier that separated the group from destiny. With terrorized expressions, everyone spectated as the instinctual racer yelled with all of his might: "PUUAWNCH!"

The sound of shattering glass filled the fifteen's ears as a blinding light pierced through where the barrier once was. The echoing noise was the last thing they all heard before the light encompassed them like a white sheet. Unconsciousness overtook them, and the next few years to follow would redefine their lives forever.