Inside the Smash Temple, the glowing blue sphere awaited the new champions that had proven themselves worthy to compete. The Announcer sensed three new universes had joined the fray, along with 12 new competitors. Also, he had an idea benefitting Mario; a lone memory of his that he had not given much thought for some time.
The sound of footsteps caught his attention. The Announcer's sphere rotated to the chamber's entrance to find the Mario Bros and Link arriving with the first two new challengers. Upon arriving, the bros moved aside, and Link gestured to the princesses to step forth.
"Ah, the first two of the new challengers." The Announcer greeted them. "Welcome, Princesses Peach and Zelda."
Peach gasped in shock. "How do you know our names?"
"And what sort of magic allows you to speak?" Zelda inquired.
"I will explain everything in dear time, princesses, once all of the new champions arrive." As he finished, a new voice cut through the air.
"C'mon. He's just through here." Fox said from another corridor.
"Whoever he is, he'd better have a reason for bringing me here." The voice of a new challenger replied before he entered the chamber and setting his eyes on the Announcer. "Gah!" he yelped, wing reaching for his blaster.
"Calm yourself, Falco Lombardi. And yes, I do have my reasons for summoning you. Your skills are greatly needed."
"You didn't tell me he looked like a giant ball!" Falco snapped at his partner. "He doesn't." Fox answered. "That's just how he can speak to us right now." Falco, still uneasy, holstered his weapon.
"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed as he and two other figures entered the chamber next. The floating white one stopped upon seeing the Announcer. "You… are you the source of the power I am sensing?"
"Indeed, Mewtwo. That is how I told you to come here. As for your little partner, his own skills are meant to be tested."
Mewtwo floated upward so that he was directly in front of the sphere. "Pichu is inexperienced." He explained with his eyes narrowed. "Its own electric attacks are known to damage itself. It can only properly control them once it evolves into a Pikachu."
"Of that I am aware, Mewtwo. But the self-inflicting damage will soon be the least of Pichu's matters." His gaze still cold, the artificial Pokémon levitated back down as the next two figures approached.
Two caped men wielding swords entered next, stopping on sight like the rest. One held the other back, hand on his weapon's hilt.
"I mean you no harm, warriors of the Emblem." The Announcer stated. "Approach."
Hesitatingly, Marth and Roy stepped forward to join the rest.
A lone small figure snuck through the corridor the Mario Bros and Link emerged from. He thought he could remain unseen for the moment. However, the Announcer acknowledged him.
"There is no need to hide, Hero of Time. You are essential to this as everyone else." Hearing this, Mario and Link's group turned around, with the latter receiving the most shock. Kneeling down to get a better view of his younger self, Link made sure that he wasn't imaging things by slightly brushing Young Link's shoulder.
"You might be slightly confused on how there can be two of you, Link." The Announcer explained, technically speaking to both Links at the same time. "I promise all will be revealed when everyone is assembled."
Next, two small figures with wooden mallets approached, admiring the chamber in all its glory. "Popa and Nana, you two share a partnership that could prove useful. Also, I see that my new beam on the temple has made it easier to locate it." The Announcer spoke as the duo stared at him in awe. "You've conquered mountains and won. Now let us see if you can conquer this next challenge."
As the two nodded and high-fived, a series of beeps and clicks sounded from another corridor while the rest of the veteran Smashers entered the chamber. At first, everyone saw nothing in the corridor at first… until the source of the beeps and clicks turned to its side.
"Ah, Mister Game and Watch. I assume you still need to adjust to three-dimensional conditions. In time, you shall. Now join the others."
Clicking while doing so, the two-dimensional character walked into position with the rest of the fighters. The Announcer prepared himself for the speech in which he would introduce the tournament and the fighters… but stopped.
"Is something wrong?" Zelda asked him as he looked around. "We are missing two. Two who specialize in brute strength."
At that moment, a section of the temple's upper wall shattered into bricks and dust as two still-brawling figures crashed to the ground, trading fire, dark magic and insults at each other. Everyone staggered back as the Announcer sighed. "Of course. Ness!"
"On it!" the boy shouted as he closed his eyes and concentrated on the fighting figures. "PK FLASH!"
A green pulsing light rose from Ness before setting down near the two villains. The boy spread his arms wide, making the light explode in a bright flash. The two villains landed on opposite sides of the room as the light died down.
"YOWCH! MY EYES!" Bowser roared, covering his face with both palms. "I can't see a thing!"
"ARGH! Cursed light!" Ganondorf snarled, one arm over his head. "Who dares?!"
"I dare, King of Darkness." The Announcer stated. "And shall you remain hostile to me further, you will not find the answers you seek."
"None commands me!" Ganondorf roared as he lunged for the Announcer, still fighting the effects of Ness' PK Flash. He jumped a threw a mighty punch, only for the sphere to flash and his fist to connect with a blue shield. The shield countered by blowing Ganondorf back, crashing to the floor.
"Rrrgh… huh?" Ganondorf recovered, only to find Samus' arm cannon aimed at him from his right, and Fox's blaster from his left. Meanwhile, Marth's blade was just inches away from Bowser's throat, where he lay confused.
"What is this, a party?" Bowser asked before frowning. "I HATE being uninvited to parties!"
"This is no festive celebration, Koopa King." The Announcer explained. "Ease yourself, Bowser, and all will be revealed."
"All right, all right! I'm eased!" Bowser replied as Marth slowly lowered his falchion. "Now what is all this?"
"Very well." The Announcer said. "Allow me to explain."
…
After explaining to the newcomers about the Smash tournaments, other universes and dimensions, and champions that have their worth proven by interdimensional crystals, it was time for the introductions.
A light shone on Bowser, and the same images from the first tournament appeared that showed Bowser either wreaking havoc or fighting Mario. "BOWSER! Archnemesis to Mario and capable of brute strength, fire breath and an army of minions at his side!"
"YEAH!" Bowser cheered while taunting to the others. "That's right! None of you punks stand a chance against me! And there's only one guy that's gonna destroy Mario… THIS GUY! GWAHAHAHA!"
"PEACH! Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom! Frequently the target of Bowser's schemes, only to be rescued by the heroic Mario!"
Bowser's expression instantly changed to disgust, crossing his arms and looking away. "Hmph!" Peach, meanwhile, gradually waved as if greeting her Toad subjects.
"ZELDA! Princess of Hyrule and wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom!"
As Zelda waved back, Fox noticed something in one of the images. "Hey, who's that?" he asked, pointing to a ninja-like figure with her face covered. "We didn't see anyone like him come in here."
"Ah, yes. Sheik can be… elusive. But she is here with us."
"If I may." Zelda said before a magical mist surrounded her. Everyone watched in awe as the mist swirled around… and dissipated, revealing the same ninja figure from the images.
"Two fighters in a single body. This will certainly be interesting."
As Sheik transformed back into Zelda, the introductions continued when the light shone on Ganondorf, who scowled at the brightness.
"GANONDORF! Wielder of the Triforce of Power and eternal enemy to Link, he is the true evil that can never be truly defeated!" As the Announcer finished, Ganondorf flung his cape to the side while stabbing his greatsword into the ground. "This isn't gonna be easy now that we've got bad guys in the mix." Fox muttered.
"I am the King of Darkness itself, creature." Ganondorf hissed. "Not a 'bad guy'." Fox only stared back as the light moved on to the little Link.
"YOUNG LINK! An alternate version of Link from another reality, proclaimed as the Hero of Time!" As he stared at the images now, Link thought about his smaller counterpart being an alternate version of himself rather than his past self. Otherwise, he would have remembered all of these events.
"FALCO! Ace pilot of Star Fox and Fox's closest companion!" Fox stared at one image that showed footage of Falco's Arwing blasting out lasers while rolling. "I didn't know you could do that." He whispered to his comrade. Falco smirked. "Trust me, there's lots of things that I can do. Just wait and see."
"MEWTWO! A genetically created Pokémon and clone of the rare Pokémon Mew, its psychic powers are unlike anything else in its world!" Mewtwo remained silent as he viewed the segments of his past: his creation, New Island, the Genesects and everything else in between.
"PICHU! A pre-evolution of the Pikachu species, but easily as predictable!" Pichu squinted at the light beam as it shone down on him. "Pichu…" he whined just before the beam moved on.
"MARTH! Heir to the kingdom of Altea and the descendant of a legendary dragon slayer!" Hearing this, Marth drew his falchion and slashed a few strikes for demonstration. He holstered it as the light moved.
"ROY! The Young Lion and wielder of the Binding Blade, capable of fiery proportions!" Roy smiled as he gestured to everyone else. "Trust me, you don't want to find yourself on the other half of this thing. I'll show you what it can do."
"ICE CLIMBERS! Conquerors of freezing mountains, no task for them is impossible if they work together!" Popo and Nana jumped up and down in celebration. The light now shone on the final competitor.
"MR. GAME AND WATCH! Hailing from a world where everything is two-dimensional, you might think he is easy to defeat! He will prove otherwise!"
As Mr. Game & Watch rang his bell, everyone waited for the Announcer to declare the beginning of the second tournament. However, a silence indicated he was not finished.
"Before we begin, I would like to introduce you to some things." The Announcer began before turning. "Mario, step forward please." Nodding, the plumber moved past Peach and a still-skulking Bowser until he a few steps away from the Announcer's pedestal.
"Like Sheik, you too will be given a different agenda to battle in. Tell me, what do you know about this?" Suddenly, a white outfit with a stethoscope appeared out of thin air, surprising Mario.
"You recognize this, don't you? It's from that time you decided to take a shot at medicine and fight viruses with you various medications." Awed, Mario took the outfit and held it in his arms. After staring at it for a while, he looked back at the Announcer.
"I say it's time to get back into business…" the Announcer's sphere flashed a bright blue as he finished. "DOCTOR Mario." Mario nodded as he returned to his position with his doctor's costume in hand.
The Announcer flashed blue again, this time having several bricks rise from the ground with a blue glow. They floated into place to repair the hole Bowser and Ganondorf had made during their own entrance. As they did, a section of the wall came into view, revealing various symbols that most of the fighters recognized.
There was the iconic Smash Bros symbol resting at the very top. From the row beneath it, there was mushroom with eyes, a triangle consisting of three smaller triangles, a sphere with a smaller circle, the letters "DK", a spotted egg, a star, a winged fox, a circle with a lightning bolt in it, a planet and a bird.
To the right of the bird symbol, three more symbols were beginning to take shape; each of them glowing with light. The lights faded, revealing a falchion blade, an eggplant, and someone from Mr. Game & Watch's world ringing a bell.
"This mural depicts all of the universes where worthy champions are found." The Announcer explained. "For now, only thirteen universes have joined together for the Smash Bros tournament. In the future, many more will come."
"Before you go into the Melee tournament, remember this. At the end of every match, this world turns defeated fighters into trophies. The only way to revive a trophy back to its normal state is to touch its base. Do all of you understand?" the Announcer asked.
Everyone seemed to as they nodded. "Good. Now… let the Melee COMMENCE!"
…
Several years had now passed since the Melee tournament, which the fans were pleased by. The fighters could now return to their own worlds and inform everyone there about the importance of the tournaments. It was not long before rumors of a third tournament began to be put in use…
Mr. Game & Watch was finally beginning to get used to three-dimensional worlds like this one. He also had his fair share in the Melee tournament, with many victories and defeats alike.
But little did he know about the role he would play in next.
Suddenly, purple lightning flashed in the sky, causing a purple vortex to open. This portal was more sinister than the blue ones created by the crystals, as Mr. Game & Watch realized. Quickly, he turned and began running for his life, clicking as he did so.
The rift surged, creating strong winds that the two-dimensional character could not fight against. He was flung into the portal while making his signature bell sound. Purple lightning flashed and struck as the portal sealed itself.
Elsewhere, in another realm consisting of nothing but pure darkness, the other end of that dark, malevolent portal opened and deposited Mr. Game & Watch. One couldn't tell by looking at him, but the impact made Mr. Game & Watch black out. As the purple portal closed, a blue humanoid figure drifted close to Mr. Game & Watch.
"Yes…" it whispered as it peered over the unconscious figure. "You will do perfectly. The rare material I seek can only be found in beings like you." Raising one hand, the figure fired a bright beam that struck Mr. Game & Watch in the torso.
Being unconscious, Mr. Game & Watch did not resist or fight the beam. It did its work, extracting out dark purple orbs from Mr. Game & Watch's body. Reaching its other hand to collect some of the orbs, the humanoid being examined them. "Shadow Bugs…finally." He remarked. "Now, my plan can begin…"
He flicked the Shadow Bugs to the ground as the beam extracted more and more of them. The Shadow Bugs moved close to each other and reacted to their energy, creating a new alien-like figure that rose from its murky depths. The creation was silent with red eyes and a symbol on its chest; consisting of a red circle with a horizontal line halfway through it.
"The first Primid." The being whispered as the beam vanished, its task complete. "They will be the foot soldiers of my new army. My… Subspace Army."
The being turned to Mr. Game & Watch. "As for this one, I must remain in possession of him. He is too important for me to lose. My army must need time to fully grow into an unstoppable force. For that, I need a vessel."
He spread his arms wide, creating a blurry image that consisted of many aircraft across the dimensions. None of them looked like they could do any good, like a ship shaped like a hat. None of them… except for one.
The being's eyes rested on one ship that had a mask on its bow, remarkable weaponry and wings like a beast. The being instantly knew its name: The Halberd. "Yes… that one will do nicely." He whispered. "But how to deal with its captain?" He thought for a while, a plan eventually coming into place.
He smiled. This plan, along with his greatest plan, will succeed. All worlds will succumb to Subspace. It was only a matter of time…
(A/N: Now this is where the fun begins! When the time comes, I will try to incorporate most of Brawl's chapters in with the Subspace Emissary. Each one will be set either before, during, or after the story mode! Until next time!)