There they were: Sora; Mario; Luigi; Yoshi; DK; Pikachu; Jigglypuff; Zelda; Samus; Ness; Fox; Jody; Mewtwo; Peach; Bowser; the Ice Climbers; Mr. Game & Watch; Marth; Roy. Twenty heroes, floating in pitch darkness like an Alfred Hitchcock rendition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

There had been no violent plunge or gale-force travel or tornado-tossed flying as one might expect from a journey into Kirby's stomach. It was more like they had all descended into a dreamlike realm, everything fuzzy, especially their thoughts. As they floated, no attempts to stroke forward or backward seemed to make any difference. So it appeared they were all just there for whatever hallucinogenic ride awaited.

They weren't disappointed.

A tiny pinprick of light grew into a bright circle like a sun, until it was so big that it filled nearly half their vision. Then some other astral sphere crossed over it, the silhouette eclipsing the light until all they could see was a glowing ring around the edges of the interloping planet.

Looking more closely, however, it became evident that the planet was no sphere at all; it was shaped like a star. Or, more specifically, like a Warpstar, due to its rounded edges. The star-shaped planet began to spin like a whirligig, slowly at first like a rusty steamboat propeller, then faster until it was moving so quickly that it might as well have been a sphere after all.

An off-centered cross of light penetrated through the planet from the bright star behind it, creating a clear representation of the Smash Brothers' symbol. The searing light was almost blinding. And as the heroes made to shield their eyes, they found the planet-sized insignia rushing toward them, as if they were all flying through space at unquestionably perilous speeds. The Smashers could do nothing but watch wide-eyed or shut their eyes tight as they were involuntarily rocketed toward the shimmering red intersection of the off-centered cross, then engulfed by its light.

Now they were standing on an endless, glowing white surface, like some kind of celestial desert with an otherworldly gradient. The blackness of space was spread out above them, but the speckled stars were in many places shrouded by enormous nebulae of dazzling rainbow stardust. These tie-dye tendrils were slowly swirling in a galactic orbit around the black hole's core, which was not too far from the Smashers—though how the swallowees weren't affected by its pull was a profound mystery.

The black hole's core was a massive sphere of writhing currents, the rainbow nebulae simultaneously pushing out and pulling in from its ebony center. It was like a downsized Jupiter whose layered gas storms had been converted to shadows, and whose gravitational pull had been amplified to such a degree that nothing else in the universe could resist, particles of matter decomposing into the rainbow dust that was drawing everything toward the center like the drain of a sedimentary sink. And yet there stood the Smash Brothers, less than a football field away, but utterly unaffected. How were they even able to breathe?

"As counterintuitive as this will sound," Fox said, eyeing up the writhing sphere, "I think we need to get closer. The Heart of This World's gotta be inside."

No one had any counterarguments, so they began their approach.

As they did so, however, something even stranger occurred. Incoherent whispers joined in a hushed chorus, and translucent figures composed of radiant blue light began emerging from the darkness, forming two ghostly lines on either side of the Smash Brothers' slow procession.

"Pika?" Pikachu and Jigglypuff paused at the appearance of the first figure. It was a young woman with sleek, dark green hair and hypnotic violet eyes, possessing a sort of dangerous beauty. Sabrina, the Gym Leader of Saffron City who had been killed by Metal Mewtwo so long ago.

But Sabrina didn't respond to Pikachu's inquisitive exclamation, other than to look at him and smile coolly, as she did while the other Smashers passed by.

"Robert!"

But Jody's similar astonishment at the sight of the deceased F-Zero pilot, Dr. Stewart, only elicited the same tacit response. It was as if these ghosts were there to see them to the end, but only as silent observers.

The Smashers had initially paused at these first two apparitions, but as more and more passed by, they realized this wasn't an interactive visitation like the ones many of them had already experienced; it was a collective glimpse of their spiritual audience.

There was Impa again, regarding them with her arms folded, acknowledging them with a curt nod.

Orca, the shirtless old man from Outset Island, his trademark spear planted on the glowing white ground.

Cranky Kong, rocking back and forth in an immaterial rocking chair while he regarded them with his perpetually disapproving expression.

Meryl Silverburgh, Snake's old friend.

King K. Rool—his full, organic self, without the cyborg parts.

Bowser's seven Koopalings: Larry, Morton, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Lemmy, and Ludwig.

The Rito Postman, Quill.

Taj the elephant genie, hovering on his magic carpet.

Mumbo Jumbo, the shaman who had been impersonated by Mingy Jongo in RareWare Tower.

Conker the Squirrel, an almost unrecognizable sanity evident in his bright, whimsical eyes.

Bumper the panda, one of the Timber's Island racers.

Dominic Santiago, Marcus Fenix's level-headed companion.

Brick, the bulkiest member of the Vault Hunters.

Cortana, the Master Chief's beautiful blue AI friend.

Captain Falcon, saluting them beside a number of other F-Zero racers who had been killed over the years.

Tikal the Echidna, former guardian of Mobius's Chaos Emeralds.

Toggle, one of Sackboy's sackcloth comrades.

Proto Man, Megaman's first android predecessor.

Lieutenant Foster, MechWarrior's fallen tech expert.

Toadsworth, Princess Peach's ever-faithful advisor.

Kameo's pale-skinned, heavily makeupped sister, Kalus, along with the King and Queen who had been poisoned by the Mystic.

Meta Knight, brandishing Galaxia beside Blade Knight and many of his fellow Star Warriors, all of them raising their weapons in a gesture of deep respect.

A small cluster of figures that almost made Zelda's heart stop: Darunia, chief of the Gorons; Princess Ruto, hands on her hips as always; and, stroking Epona's back with Navi fluttering near his shoulder…

Link. He just smiled at Zelda, as mute as the rest. And perhaps even more remarkably, beside him stood Ganondorf, a forceful look in his eye that made the princess almost feel like he was proud of her.

Valoo, the Sky Spirit of Dragon Roost Island. Apparently he hadn't survived his injuries on Shadow Moses Island after all.

Cipher, the Strangerealean ace pilot—along with his two wingmen, Pixy and PJ.

Pit—Kid Icarus—his feathery wings combined with his teal glow now giving him the visage of a true angel.

King Dedede, his hammer resting casually on his back, his already broad stomach swelling with pride.

Panther Caruso and Leon Powalski—Wolf's fallen team members—smirking and scowling at them, respectively. Falco Lombardi with his arms folded cockily.

Sylux, and several of Samus's other fellow bounty hunters. Evidently few of them had survived both the Space Pirate War and the confrontation on Zebes.

Legion, its red eye bulb flashing as healthily as if Giygas had never destroyed it.

Geno, the Star Spirit within him sparkling through his porcelain puppet eyes.

Chunky and Diddy Kong, waving at their speechless family head with heart-melting cheerfulness.

And another small, significant cluster: Red's Charizard and original Pikachu; Lorelei and Bruno of the Elite Four; April, smiling benignly; and Quentin, a peacefulness in his expression that hadn't really been present since he first reunited with his son on The King's Krystal.

In this trance-like procession, the Smashers soon found themselves right in front of the writhing black sphere. It was the end of the line. Almost every fallen Smash Brother, All-Star, and Sentinel had been accounted for. It was a kind of closure never before experienced—a final, Great Vision.

Mewtwo approached the unstable edge of the sphere, examined it, and extended a paw.

The force of the recoil blasted the Psychic Pokémon halfway back to where they'd started.

"I…don't think we can get inside that," Roy said.

Sora stepped forward. "You can't; but I can. It's like Master Hand said: the Heart of This World can only be reached by someone who's got friends on the other side—friends who've experienced True Death. This is where I go on…alone."

Again, there were no counterarguments. Just silent, though reluctant, acceptance.

Mario approached Sora and put a hand on his shoulder. "We can never thank a-you enough for all you've a-done for This World."

Sora managed a laugh. "That's okay. My universe was the one that brought all this trouble to you in the first place, so it's only right that I be the one to fix it. At least, as much as I can."

"You know," DK said, glancing back at his deceased family members, "I'm not so sure you bringing all this to our world was a bad thing. I mean, This World's been great and all…but I, for one, don't think I'll mind having things restored back to the way they should be." It was clear that by "things," DK meant the Kong family.

Each of the Smashers in turn had their own losses to think about. Some of those losses might be fixed by the Great Convergence; others not as likely. For Luigi and April; Samus and Snake and Captain Falcon; and really for each Smasher in relation to worlds outside their own; this was to be a final goodbye.

Sora felt just a bit uplifted by DK's encouraging words. He summoned the Kingdom Key, looking back at them as he approached the black sphere.

"May your hearts be your guiding key," he said.

And then he stabbed at the sphere with his Keyblade.

This time, the barrier did not reject him and thrust him away. Instead, the blade passed straight through the writhing shadows as if they were no more than exactly that: shadows.

And upon contact, a burst of light streamed from the blade's tip, and this time a sizeable host of spirits appeared in the sky, all of them regarding Sora and the Smashers like some ancient court of spiritual ancestors.

However, there was one thing Sora didn't notice: None of the Smashers could see what he was seeing.

Sora's mouth hung open. They were all there: Kairi; Riku; Roxas; Naminé; Donald; Goofy; King Mickey; Ansem the Wise; Axel; Xion; Aqua; Terra; Ventus; Cloud Strife; and many other characters and heroes from the former Disney Universe.

Riku stepped forward. "Time to go, Sora. Feel free to take your time; the universe is just collapsing all around us. No pressure."

"I'm so proud of you, Sora," Kairi said.

Tears dripped down Sora's face. "Will I be with you again…after it ends?"

Axel snorted, his green catlike eyes almost taunting him. "You can't get rid of us that easy; we'll always be a part of you, even when every other universe forgets we ever existed." He tapped his veritable mane of spiky red hair and winked. "Got it memorized?"

Sora managed a smile and nodded. "I'm ready now."

And he walked into the core of the black hole, leaving the Smash Brothers behind forever.

It was just like Sora remembered from his dream on the Destiny Islands.

Utter darkness—save for the dazzling blue-green heart pulsing before him, its light quickly swallowed by a somehow sentient blackness. He was alone—just him and his Keyblade. And yet, he felt as if he were in the eye of a tornado, the darkness forming a raging cyclone that threatened to swallow him up. He couldn't tell whether the dragon-sized Heart of This World was fighting it off…or controlling it.

And somehow, contained within that darkness were flickers and lightning glimpses of people, and places, and things, and ideas. It all went too fast for him to get a good look at any of them, but at the same time, a cacophonous chorus of whispered yells echoed from all sides, most of which was muddled nonsense, but every now and then he could make something out.

"…the Nintendo World belongs to me…"

Unlike his dream, however, this time Sora saw a face to go with it: the unmistakable pale cruelty of Nightmare, as he confronted the Smash Brothers in Master Hand's Room. Sora had never met him personally, but something in his heart seemed to click the facts into place.

"…your existence is meaningless…"

Again, an accompanying image: the yellow monitor and aged green screen of L.O.G., as he bore the destructive LOGosphere swiftly toward the targeted Citadel.

"…there is no such thing as a pure heart…"

Now Xehanort's face filled Sora's vision, his topaz eyes still burning as if they had never been extinguished, even though Sora knew these words had been spoken long ago in the Kokiri Forest.

The raging black currents and flashing images and overlapping voices were overwhelming, and the only fixed part of this entire place was the giant heart. Everything seemed to assault him from all sides, body and soul, pressuring him to succumb to despair. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't even do that. All he could do was float and observe this nightmare. Observe chaos in its purest form.

Enough, Sora thought, gripping the Kingdom Key tighter, his eyes fixed on Kingdom Hearts. I know what I have to do.

He pushed his floating body forward, straining against the black currents that urged him every which way except the one he was pursuing. He drew near the Heart of This World, drew black his Keyblade, and…

He heard the Fourth Voice.

The Smash Brothers waited for Sora to finish the job and prevent the Great Convergence from spelling the total end of their existence.

And they waited.

And waited.

Ten long minutes went by. The spiraling rainbow nebulae were moving more swiftly, more violently, indicating that they wouldn't wait much longer before pulling the rest of the Smash Universe into the black hole.

Five more minutes after that, Mewtwo spoke to their minds, his eyes clenched shut in concentration.

"Something is wrong."

Zelda nodded. "He should have succeeded by now."

"Maybe he already has," DK said uncertainly. "How would we even know?"

"Well, maybe we can ask…" But Ness's voice trailed off as he realized all the apparitions of the Great Vision were gone. They were alone again, the surviving members of the Original 25, waiting somewhere inside Kirby for their world to end. Not the kind of thing that happens every day.

"We have to help him," Jody said, and before anyone could stop her, she stepped up to the black sphere and brought back her fist.

"Falcon…PUNCH!"

This time, the recoil sent the intruder about three-quarters of the way back to where they had begun.

"Well, crap," Bowser said.

They stood for a silent moment, trying to put their faith in Sora. But that was just it: it wasn't a lack of faith in Sora that was bothering them; it was a distinct feeling in their hearts that the Heart of This World hadn't been unlocked, and that Sora was in trouble. Surely, with all the hearts of the Smash Universe connected to Kingdom Hearts, they would feel a difference when their fates were changed.

"I sup-pose we will sim-ply have to wait it out," Game & Watch said uncertainly. "Sor-a was the on-ly one with friends that suf-fered True Death."

"No."

The Smashers turned to the speaker in surprise. It was Mario. The plumber's fists were clenched, his brow furrowed, his face glistening with sweat.

"We've a-seen most of our fallen friends here. But there's a-one who never showed." A distant look came over him as he gazed out at the shrouded stars. "And I think they're a-waiting for another to pass a-through. Waiting for a-me. I…I've a-got to go in."

Yoshi, Luigi, and Peach were all stunned speechless.

"What?" Bowser pushed a few Smashers out of his way as he stomped up to Mario. He looked like he was having difficulty restraining himself from shaking Mario like a disobedient rag doll. "What kind of bull crap is this? Even if you could get through to Sora, whose ghost haven't we seen that would make it work? It'd have to be someone who knew you well, and cared enough to choose True Death just to save…" Bowser's pupils shrank in realization as he remembered two shadowy guests from Mario's past that had shown up in Hyrule for the wedding. "Oh."

Mario nodded, looking at each Smasher in turn. His eyes lingered particularly long on Yoshi, then Luigi, then Princess Peach. "I've at least a-got to try."

He summoned his fiery Keyblade into his hand, and slowly approached the blackness.

"But, Mario…" Luigi's voice was almost a whisper. But he had his brother's attention. "If you go in a-there, you'll get the True Death too."

Mario didn't have the emotional capacity to reply at the moment. He just poked his Keyblade forward to test whether it would penetrate the black currents.

It did.

"Yoshi!" The dinosaur was so distressed that he had cried out in his native tongue as he hurled himself at his lifelong friend—not knocking him over, but strongly wishing Mario would succumb to the pressure and back away from the black core. "You can't do this!" was how his protest translated.

Mario rubbed Yoshi's neck affectionately, and gently pushed him away. His eyes were now brimming with moisture, in spite of his best efforts. "It's the only a-way."

Luigi came next, gripping Mario in a reluctant hug. "You're the real a-deal, bro."

But one final obstacle stood between him and his fateful decision. Princess Peach had come up to his other side and softly taken his arm. Her royal beauty was made all the more resplendent, yet also horrid, by her current state. She said nothing—just stood there, pleading for her hero to come back with her. Impending extinction or not, she would have clearly preferred for them to end together than to go on alone.

Mario almost relented—but the thought of Sora, needing his help; of the Nintendo World's and the Smash Universe's immeasurable beauty and life and meaning hanging by a string; of his dearest loved ones who needed him to leave them behind now more than ever—all these gave him the impossible resolve to shake his head.

"I'm a-sorry, Peach. I love a-you." He turned again to the rest. "I love all of a-you. And now…I know my purpose. It doesn't a-matter if we're remembered as heroes, or at all; just that we a-do the right thing. That's all that a-counts." He kissed Peach on the lips, and began to walk into the darkness.

Peach clung on a little longer, squeezing his hand, her internal world shattering just as her outer world continued to collapse. "I'll never forget you."

Mario turned one last time, his mustache turned up in the faintest of smiles.

"Yes you a-will. And that's okay."

Then he stepped through and was gone.

Bowser roared with a special fury—not the fury of a thwarted villain, but that of a Koopa King whose entire life's framework and purpose had just been tossed into a fire. Peach, and Yoshi, and Luigi, and several others cried silently, still staring at the spot where the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom had disappeared.

Mewtwo, on the other hand, was watching grimly as the galactic vista grew more and more violent. "The Convergence is nearly upon us. There must be some way we can give them more time."

"There is." Yoshi, still extremely distraught, managed to think through what they knew about the Great Convergence. "Remember, Master Hand told us that what held the Smash Universe together until now…was fighting. It was when that fighting stopped that This World began to break apart. So maybe…"

"Maybe if we all start fighting, we can slow it down," Ness finished.

Zelda nodded. "It's worth a try. But I doubt it will make much difference if we're the only ones to do so." She looked at Samus meaningfully.

"On it," she said. "Calling all contacts. Though I don't know what kind of signal quality we'll get in this place." Once her Power Suit's communicator was set to broadcast, Samus cleared her throat and spoke.

"This is the Smash Brothers. If anyone can hear us…This World is about to end, and we need your help to slow it down. Drop whatever you're doing, and start fighting each other. Fighting is the glue that's held our universe together this long, and if you join us in this final fight, we might just be able to get through this. Please…if you have anything worth living for…now is the time to prove it."

Candy Chateau

Sony World

Snake smirked as Samus's message broadcasted through his communicator's speakers to every All-Star present. It was such a strange, simple request—there was no way of comprehending how it could possibly make any difference in the Great Convergence's outcome—and yet, it felt right.

"Knew she'd pull through," he said. He noticed the All-Stars were all staring at him. "Well, what are you all standing around for, soldiers?" He punched Sly Cooper in the face without warning. "You have your orders. Now, fight!"

Without further questioning, they engaged each other. Jak matched his elemental Eco weapons against Megaman's Mega Buster. Ratchet leapt at Rayman while his robot companion Clank tackled Daxter. Sonic and Crash Bandicoot spun around each other in a chocolatey whirlwind. Spyro went toe to toe with Sackboy, exchanging flame bursts for balls of yarn, which flew at him like rogue curveballs. He might not have been able to fly anymore, but he was still quick on his claws.

It was a fight like no other—not a fight to conquer evil, or to settle a dispute, or even to win a tournament. It was not even just a fight to survive, but a fight for their very existence.

Timber's Island

RareWare Islands

"Bombs away!" Kazooie hollered. She sent a volley of blue eggs toward the racers scattered below in their little cars, which were firing relatively harmless weapons at each other. Bear and bird both cried out, however, as a cartoonish red missile struck them from behind, halving their distance from the ground. Dixie Kong had snuck up on them in her tiny plane.

"Gawrsh," Banjo said as they swerved away to give themselves a better angle to deal with their ambusher. "I sure hope everythin' the Master Chief told us about the Smash Brothers was true. 'Cause if this doesn't actually help us save the world, then it'll be a whole lotta hurt for nothin'."

In midair, Kazooie pooped an egg directly onto Tiptup's head, causing the turtle to yell before crashing into a pool of water. She grinned.

"Oh, I wouldn't say the pain would be for nothing. It sure makes me feel better."

What they didn't know was that back in New Alexandria, Master Chief was watching approvingly while the rest of RareWare and Microsoft heeded Samus's call as relayed through him. On one screen, Ryu Hayabusa and his ninjas were sparring; on another, Marcus Fenix and his fellow Serans were playfully pulverizing each other; and other friendly fights—Kameo and her elves; MechWarrior and the other BattleMechs; the Vault Hunters; Jack Wynand and the residents of Rapture; Joanna Dark and her agency of spies; Berri and her squirrel soldiers; Commander Shepard and the former crew of the Normandy. All were fighting for this last, most desperate cause.

Satisfied, Master Chief turned and met against the other Spartans he'd summoned, joining the brawl.

Planet Bomber

The Bombermen took the expression "bombs away" to a whole other level. Though they had thankfully defused the worst of the bomb chains that would have exploded the entire planet, they still had plenty of explosives to chuck and kick at each other.

Outside Bomber Base, Pacman was personally having a blast facing off against his pyrotechnically obsessed associate. He tossed two-dimensional cherries, oranges, apples, melons, yellow bells, spinning blue keys, and the occasional Galaxian. Bomberman hopped and dove away from the projectiles and provided his own explosive supply as return fire.

And their planet was just one of many: from the dogfights in Lylat to the fistfights in Port Town; from the nonlethal shootouts in Elysia to the pummeling Waddle Dees on Popstar; from the tussling Krogans on Tuchanka to the swashbuckling Sky Pirates of Aeropa—it was a dying universe relying for its survival on, of all things, fighting.

Outside the Black Hole's Core

Bowser and DK wrestled each other. Peach and Zelda fought parasol against Master Keyblade. Fox and Ness dodged and reflected and absorbed each other's lasers and PK attacks. Yoshi, encased in an egg, raced around the celestial desert with Pikachu. Luigi and Jigglypuff kicked and slapped in between hops and slides. Samus and Jody fought hand to hand, the Chozo Power Suit matched against Captain Falcon's superpowered helmet. Game & Watch and the Ice Climbers bounced around and swung at each other with their hammers.

Marth jumped back from Roy's jab and smiled. "Perhaps you shall soon see Elibe after all, my friend."

Roy smiled back and blocked the Akaneian's counterstrike. "None of us will be seeing anything if you don't put up a better fight."

Mewtwo Teleported away from Fox and Ness's fight, which he had joined, to cast a brief glimpse at the heavens. The rainbow nebulae were still swirling inward, but noticeably slower. His heart lifted as he conveyed the news to the other Smash Brothers.

"It's working."

Mario's eyes widened as he beheld the green-blue glimmer of Kingdom Hearts, swarmed as it was by darkness. His Keyblade provided limited light as he pressed forward, straining his eyes.

"Sora!" he shouted.

The myriad whispers and roaring winds all but drowned out the faintest of responses:

"Mario…"

Mario pushed closer to the Heart, but even by its light he could see nothing. He yelled Sora's name again and kept scanning the Core, but it wasn't until he was nearly upon the Heart that he saw his friend.

Sora's body was wrapped in merciless tendrils of darkness, held upright like a marionette. Mario hadn't seen it before because the darkness had chosen, for whatever reason, to wait until now to reveal slivers of the boy's helpless body.

"He's…here…" Sora managed.

"Who?"

Suddenly, black tendrils were wrapping around Mario's own figure, pulling him away from the Heart and depriving him of his Keyblade. Mario cried out as he struggled against the darkness, but to no avail.

"Here we are," a hushed voice said, echoing all around them. "Your True Final Destination."

"W-who are a-you?" Mario managed. But even though this voice was unlike anything he'd heard before, like an oozing, supernatural whisper, he felt a strange, dreadful familiarity.

A soft laugh. "Don't you know me, Mario? Sora here…he was warned by that irksome space canine, who in his dimensional travels was the only one to glimpse me as I truly am. Yes, James McCloud, and Kirby to a degree, are able to glance through the outside curtain of This World, to learn things only a dimensionally fluid being can perceive.

"But I digress. Sora had a dream of this place, you see…a dream in which he heard a snippet from each of the Three Brothers, and then me: the Fourth Voice. And what I said back then when I was physically alive, I still stand by now: Nintendo is as corrupt as the other worlds. And at this the End of All Things, you will all get what you deserve: to be cast into oblivion even as I."

In spite of the direness of the situation, Mario found himself fixed on what the Fourth Voice had said: Nintendo is as corrupt as the other worlds…

His first guess would have been Xehanort, but considering the Third Brother's recent annihilation, that was clearly not the case. Then he remembered Yoshi telling him about his experiences in Wizpig's Palace, and he recalled that the Deconstructor had been built to sink the Nintendo World into the sea because of a particular individual's hatred of what Nintendonians had done to him.

"Reeka," Mario said.

"Yes…you Smash Brothers destroyed my body twice, and my digitized conscience, it is true. But my essence cannot be destroyed save by the True Death, which we will all soon suffer. A less than ideal prospect for me, but a consolation prize I will settle for.

"The ones who appeared to you as Master Hand and his two colleagues told you that their team was seven: them, and the Three Brothers…and then there was me. I was the genius behind the machine that allowed us to cross into This World and so many others. How ironic, then, that I was to be the one swallowed up in the dimensional threshold on the return trip. They all believed me to be dead, forever lost…but alas, the Hand of Fate had other plans for me.

"I was born and raised as Ulysses Reeka, subject to the humiliation of associating with Elvin Gadd and his pathetic family. Like Nightmare, and L.O.G., and Xehanort, I lived an entire life in This World before I could even think about how to revenge myself upon those who abandoned me here. But unlike them, I knew precisely what had to be done to get back to my Earth.

"I calculated that our three self-righteous colleagues would eventually build another portal and find their way back here, just as I predicted that they would feel responsible to make sure their meddling in This World did not do you any harm. The Three Brothers, with all their resentment and bitterness, were the perfect instruments with which to instigate the portal's reopening.

"So I worked behind the scenes, supporting each Brother in turn to help facilitate conflicts of cataclysmic proportions. I knew only by luring the other three back here would I be able to escape my interdimensional exile and use my new knowledge to dominate the multiverse with science and magic combined. Unfortunately, Nightmare's endeavors only provoked minimal involvement from them. L.O.G.'s campaigns forced them to become more involved, but they were still too cautious to leave me an opening back to the Other Earth.

"Xehanort and his Heartless forced them out of hiding more than any other time, and I came so close to breaking free. had it not been for Sora's indefatigable heart, I would have succeeded. But alas, his heart was too unpredictable for me to complete my plan to steal away from This World, and so here I remain, with nothing left but to ensure all of you go down with me. To ensure that all your small victories shall prove ultimately vain. So goodbye, Mario…Sora…to your existence."

The swirling tendrils of darkness were raging even faster now, closing in on the Heart of This World, whose light was beginning to fade. Mario and Sora both feared the same thing: Soon that light would go out, and then the Smash Universe would be no more.

They struggled harder than ever against the shadowy tendrils, but to no avail. This couldn't be! They were so close! After everything they'd been through…they had come all this way just to fail at the very end.

"Mario…I'm so sorry!" Sora yelled.

Mario shook his head. "We did our a-best. It just wasn't enough in the end."

Kingdom Hearts was dimming ever fainter, like an electric lantern whose battery was almost depleted. Perhaps a minute remained before it was all over.

Mario closed his eyes, awaiting the end, when suddenly he became aware of a pulsing lump in his front pocket. He glanced down and caught a glimpse of a small piece of pink fruit, with part of a smiling face peeking up at him.

It was a Heart Fruit. Yoshi must have secretly kept an extra one this whole time, and slipped it into his pocket while they were saying goodbye. Mario didn't know what effect the Heart Softener would have on someone so essentially evil as Reeka, but if he could just reach it, then maybe…

Flames of willpower conflagrated inside his heart, stimulating his senses, sharpening his focus. He summoned his flaming Keyblade back into his hand, and with one strong jerk, sliced through the tendrils holding his right arm.

The darkness recoiled, though just for a moment. Mario quickly grabbed the Heart Fruit from his pocket and squeezed it, causing velvet juice to drip from his gloved hand and all over the rest of the tendrils.

They hissed and fled from his body upon contact, as if the liquid had been acid rather than juice. Mario didn't know how long his freedom would last, but as soon as his limbs were loose, he leapt toward Sora with every ounce of strength he had, demonstrating the Jumpman he had always been.

Mario sliced through Sora's bonds, setting him free. Sora stumbled forward and summoned the Kingdom Key, and after the briefest of glances, they made straight for the Heart.

Hellish screams echoed all around as the two heroes bounded toward the Heart of This World, bringing back their Keyblades. Reeka's darkness was already pressing forward, racing them to the Heart with its numberless tendrils.

"Together!" they both yelled, and dove forward.

Just as the darkness was about to rip them away from their target, both Keyblades pierced the Heart. Immediately, its dim center brightened like a rapidly growing firefly, filling the heart again, and then spilling out in majestic beams through both points of penetration.

Reeka's screams were overwhelmed by heavenly ringing as light exploded from Kingdom Hearts, smothering the darkness as if it had never been there.

Mario and Sora stood there, their Keyblades still stuck in the heart. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Thank a-you," Mario said.

Sora nodded. "Same to you."

They looked forward again as two translucent figures descended through the blinding light—one a girl with striking red hair, the other a shadowy purple being with pink curls and a red-and-white striped witch hat.

"Time to go, Sora," Kairi said, her eyes glittering like oceans as she stretched her hand out toward him.

Vivian held her hand out to Mario as well, still blushing at the sight of the Mushroom Kingdom's hero, even now. "Are you ready, Mario?" she said softly.

Mario looked at Vivian, his gratitude beyond expression. She had given herself over to True Death just to give the Smash Universe a fighting chance. His mind went to Peach, whom he would never see again, but then another thought occurred to him, and he realized that because of that thought, she would be well taken care of. He took Vivian's hand.

"Let's a-go."

Sora took Kairi's hand as well, and then both heroes were lifted into the light, and embraced True Death.