The trophy of the orange-clad space warrior hit the path with a thud. Fox twirled his blaster with a victorious grin, holstered it, and tapped on the base. After a brief flash of light stronger than a camera snapping a photo, the figure shook its head.

"On your feet, Aran," Fox announced, grabbing a gauntlet and pulling Samus up. "It's good to have one of the originals back on the-GAH!"

With a confused look, Mario stared at the armored figure of Samus. His eyes squinted when he took in the normal green visor…

...but saw no face behind it!

"Mama mia!"

It wasn't long before the bounty hunter noticed her current predicament, looking at herself all over. "I feel… empty."

"That… sounds like the term I'd use," Pit emphasized. "It's just the armor. We don't see… uh, you… anywhere!"

"If I may," Sheik offered, making her way past the angel. "I have felt a similar disturbance, Samus. I am currently unable to use my standard magic, as I need to be in my normal appearance to do so. For this, I will need to defeat the other half of my soul: a puppet fighter manifested in my princess attire."

"Your consciousness must have merged with the suit," Fox concluded. "Until we get your body back, it's gonna be like this for a while."

"Hollow… just a shell…" Samus whispered, glancing at her arm cannon. "A shell packed with weaponry."

"Exactly?" came Fox's hesitant reply.

"That is the least of our matters," Marth broke in. "We have concerns to address."

"Yeah," replied Falco. "Like where the heck we are now."

Pac-Man suddenly burst to the front, tossing aside any Smasher in his path. With a happy face, he pointed ahead of the group. Mario looked to where the yellow orb was indicating…

Up ahead were two pixelated neon walls. Walls of a maze that stretched off in a fork. The plumber just scratched his head.

"A maze?" spoke a puzzled Mega Man. "Ugh, some help that'll be. Just what are we supposed to do to reach the other end of-"

Wakka wakka wakka wakka wakka

"...it."

Pac-Man had already taken off, chomping down the path and heading right for a waiting puppet fighter of Mewtwo. With a wave of the fake Pokemon's hand, a Starman appeared, immediately basting PK Beams at Pac-Man. The ghost-gobbler weaved around the blasts, gnashing his jaws and closing in on the Mewtwo.

The false Pokemon levitated away, breaking to the left. Pac-Man pursued, chomping at the bits.

"Okay…" Pit spoke. "That kinda makes sense. He's a maze expert, after all."

"I suppose the best choice is to follow," Fox said. "Let's go, guys! You can follow Pac or take the other road!"

A number of the Smashers ran into the maze, several of them splitting up. But just before he could enter the maze himself, Mario stopped.

"Oof!" Pit groaned, running headfirst into the plumber's arm. "Hey! What gives?" Samus, Mega Man, and Kirby also paused.

Mario's only answer was pointing a finger to the north. In that direction, a path stretched down to a large desert-like area. "You seriously think we should go there?" Pit guessed. With a nod, Mario jogged off. "Okay, then."

"Come on! Let's-a go!" Mario called, sprinting down the path. Priming her cannon, Samus took off with Lucas, Kirby, Mega Man, and Pikachu in tow. Shrugging to himself, Pit broke into a run.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Smashers realized this was no simple maze. The first corners ended in nothing but dead ends… save for square tiles that, when stepped on, transported a Smasher to another portion of the maze. While Pac-Man just chomped on after teleportation, the others were less enthusiastic about it.

"Ooh, my head," Bowser grumbled, clutching his forehead. "Feels like gravity was all lopsided."

"Yoshii…" groaned the dinosaur.

"Do not give in, friends," Marth reassured. "We will reach the end soon enough."

Duck Hunt just whined.

For Pac-Man, this was a trip down memory lane. Sure, there were no dots, no Power Pellets, and no fruit to chow down on… but on the bright side, no ghosts!

Instead was a group of twelve Mr. Game and Watches and three Miis: one of each class. Pac-Man easily munched on the two-dimensional characters without a second thought, ending with an overhead bite to the last one. This only managed to stun it, to the hero's confusion.

Popping back to his limbed form, Pac-Man bounced off the floor and landed a kick to the Mii Brawler's face. He caught the Swordfighter's blade in his mouth, following up with a headbutt. The Gunner aimed with a charging shot but got a pixelated grenade to the face just as it fired. A quick combo to the Brawler and a serving of ghost to the Swordfighter put them down for the count. Pac-Man brushed his hands together, looking down the corner. Another dead end. He'd have to backtrack to the teleporter...

...something small hit the back of his head. A piece of 2D food. Curious, Pac-Man turned back.

There, one of the Mr. Game and Watches was lobbing food at him from a frying pan. The one he had stunned with his bite, no doubt. Scarfing down a quick Power Pellet he kept with him, Pac-Man turned back into his wedge form to gobble down everything the chef threw at him.

And when the food was all out, he chomped forward. The Mr. Game and Watch simply ran with clicks and beeps in its steps, racing towards Pac-Man… with a diving helmet.

CLANG! Pac-Man bounced off, hitting the ground in his limbed form. The two-dimensional figure hopped up, wielding a hammer. Pac-Man just jumped up with another headbutt, knocking the pest away. A swinging kick sent the character to the ground.

Rolling backward, the Mr. Game and Watch equipped itself with a torch. It thrust the weapon at Pac-Man, who just dodged to the right and thrust Blinky at the figure's side. The character smacked against the wall… and the last thing it saw was Pac-Man's mouth closing around him.

Now satisfied with himself, Pac-Man did a self-congratulatory thumbs-up… but when he looked back to where the Mr. Game and Watch stood, his mouth formed a small "o" of surprise.

Another trophy. Of Mister Game and Watch. This had been the real deal this whole time! With a happy face, Pac-Man tapped the base.

The beeping Mr. Game and Watch looked around the maze, waving hello when he noticed Pac-Man. The yellow dot-muncher just winked, gesturing to the teleporter with his thumb. Game and Watch nodded in understanding, heading over with beeps and clicks in each movement. Pac-Man returned to his wedge form, both classics vanishing inside the teleporter.

In another part of the maze, a brown furry bulk popped out from another teleporter, dazed and confused. Donkey Kong shook his head, knocking himself loose from the quick transit. The ape hoped he'd reach an exit soon because he didn't know how much more of this he could take.

Something wet spewed the ape right in the face, washing him back to his senses as if it were waking him up from a deep slumber. DK quickly scrubbed at his face, blinking at what the water originated from.

A puppet of Squirtle. The small Water-type Pokemon stood its ground, not at all fazed by how it was dwarfed by the gargantuan gorilla. Donkey Kong… just smiled knowingly.

Several smashes later, the fake Squirtle's shell bounced off a tree like a Koopa Shell would do to a block. The ape adjusted his tie, ignoring the bursting trophy and the releasing of the spirit. But when he reopened his eyes, the gorilla paused. Those trees up ahead… they looked familiar.

Behind the ape, several Smashers found one of the forked paths blocked. With a gesture, Lucario sprinted down the other path with the rest in tow. Donkey Kong stayed behind, taking in the sight of the trees. He walked further and further inside the tree line, stopping only when a small object on the ground drew his attention.

A peanut lying in the middle of a path. With a curious look in his eye, Donkey Kong bent down and picked up the nut with two fingers. This simple food item made his brain swim. It reminded him. Reminded him of-

The trees rustled. Leaves floated to the ground. DK dropped the peanut, his eyes turning to the treetops. He could barely see what was happening in there… but all he could make out was a smalled, tailed creature hopping and swinging through the trees.

Donkey Kong's jaw dropped. With several hoots of alarm, he took off running after the figure. He crashed through brambles and bushes, his vocalizations carrying off into the jungle…