The crowd was louder than usual in the stadium that day as Mario jumped onto the platform. Sandbag shook his head as Mario picked up the baseball bat and practiced swinging a few times.

"No no no no no no," Sandbag mumbled as he started hopping away.

"Ready? Go!" The announcer cried. Mario started running towards Sandbag. When he got close enough, he swung the bat as hard as he could, sending Sandbag flying. The crowd went wild as Sandbag flew out of sight.

As Sandbag soared through the sky, he scowled and said to himself,

"It's always the same. Baseball bat, me, baseball bat, me. Has the thought that there's actually a sport called baseball never occured to them?"

ƚᗡ=Dƚ

Meanwhile, in Subspace, a single Primid lay dormant, surrounded by the remains of a long lost battle. Despite the fact that the forces of evil had been vanquished, a malevolent aura still lingered in the air. Suddenly, the Primid began to stir. It's eyes burst open, changed.

"I have returned. This time, I will not make any mistakes." The Primid clenched his fist.

"A new name, for a new beginning. No longer shall I be known as Tabuu. Now, I shall be called Krux. For if these heroes cross me again, I will not be so easily defeated."

ƚᗡ=Dƚ

"Well, that's not good," Sonic remarked. R.O.B. nodded in agreement.

The two heroes were standing on the edge of a cliff, gazing at what remained of Subspace.

"Should've known all those bombs going off at once would leave a permanent void," Sonic commented. R.O.B. nodded again.

Sonic was turning to leave when R.O.B. nudged him and pointed at a white speck in the distance flying towards the void.

"Is that... Sandbag? Man, that's not good. We need to find the others," Sonic said nervously, running away.

R.O.B. nodded a third time and drove after Sonic.

ƚᗡ=Dƚ

"Well, my luck's officially run out," Sandbag murmured to himself as he approached the Subspace void.

"At least no one will hit me with any sticks again."

Sandbag closed his eyes and took a deep breath mere moments before he crossed the threshold of Subspace.

ƚᗡ=Dƚ

"Liquid metallic antimatter. Perfect for an army of sentient Subspace bombs," Krux nodded at the pool of bluish purple liquid.

"Which would be enough to handle most heroes, but these ones will require some special treatment. Time to find some minions." Krux turned and walked away.

A few minutes later, something fell from the sky and landed in the pool.

"Aak! What is this gunk?" Sandbag said, wiping some of the liquid onto his arm.

"Wait a minute... I don't have limbs! What's going on?" Sandbag yelped, waving his newfound appendages around.

"INTRUDER ALERT. ACTIVATING SECURITY PROTOCOLS," A disembodied voice called out. Suddenly Sandbag was surrounded by large, spherical robots.

"Looks like I'm going to have to fight my way out of here," Sandbag grinned, looking at his arms and legs.

"Let's see what these babies can do!" He yelled, throwing a punch at one of the robots.

Time seemed to slow down as his fist glowed with energy. The punch connected, and the robot flew backward, pieces flying off of it. It hit the ground, sparked once, and exploded.

"JUGGERNAUT DOWN. THREAT LEVEL HIGHER THAN INITIALLY ANALYZED. EXTERMINATE AT ALL COSTS," the voice announced.

"Bring it on!" Sandbag cried.

ƚᗡ=Dƚ

"So you're telling me that if I join you, I will finally be able to take my revenge on that infernal blue hedgehog?"

"Indeed, Robotnik," Krux replied.

"It's been quite a while since anyone called me by my real name," Eggman mused.

"Very well. I will join you in your conquest."

ƚᗡ=Dƚ

"If I join you, I will get the chance to destroy Samus Aran?" Sylux asked.

"That is what I said," Krux said in return.

"That is all I need to hear. I'm in."

ƚᗡ=Dƚ

Link ran towards Olimar and threw a bomb at him. Olimar lept out of the way and hurled a purple Pikmin at Link, knocking him back. The crowd went wild. Link grunted and climbed to his feet. He notched an arrow and let it fly at Olimar, who deflected it with a rock Pikmin.

"You're a lot tougher than you look, but one way or another, I'm gonna beat you!" Link called.

Olimar shook his head as he pulled some more Pikmin out of the ground.

In a viewing box above the arena, an ugly man in a lab coat put the finishing touches on his creation.

Olimar charged at Link, Pikmin in hand. Link leveled his shield, slamming it into Olimar.

"Good fight," Link said. As he walked over to help Olimar up, the man pushed a button on his device, aiming it at Link. A beam of energy shot out from the machine, hitting Link in the back. Link's eyes glazed over, turning black, and he became shrouded in a aura of darkness.

"Ha ha! It works! The Brainwashinator works!" The man cried triumphantly.

A blank monitor flickered to life, and Krux came on screen.

"Keep vigilant, Doofenshmirtz. You have not succeeded quite yet," Krux commanded.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz nodded and turned back to the battle. Link was just about to seperate Olimar's head from his shoulders when a figure stepped from the shadows.

Naughty, naughty, naughty. The figure waggled it's finger at Link.

"What's Hero doing here?" Dr. Doofenshmirtz yelped.

(Note: Hero is the protagonist from Drawn to Life.)

Link scowled and charged at Hero. Their swords clashed in a flurry of sparks, once, twice, thrice. While the swords masters battled, Olimar picked himself up and ran away. Hero shook his head.

Now now, Link. You could hurt someone with that! Hero admonished, knocked the Master Sword out of Link's hands. The weapon went flying and imbedded itself in the Brainwashinator.

"Not again!" Doofenshmirtz yelled as his inator exploded, turning the doctor into a trophy and freeing Link of the mind control.

"Ugh..." Link moaned. "What happened?"

Nothing good, that's for sure. We need to find the other Smashers. Hero replied. Link nodded and followed Hero and Olimar out of the stadium.