Hopefully I can begin updating on a more regular basis like I did for 2018-19, but with college going on I can't make any promises. Kind of crazy to think that I've been writing this since I was 15 in sophomore year of high school.

With that being said, I hope you all enjoy this chapter in spite of its short length.

If you haven't already, I strongly recommend reading the final few chapters of Everyone Is HERE! to get an understanding of what is happening.

"Uh... what did we just walk into?" Steve whispered to Alex.

For once, Alex's thrill-seeking, irreverent personality completely failed her, as she was at a complete loss for words at the scene she was witnessing.

Dracula pried himself out of the wall and focused his attention on Wario, who, to his credit, didn't back down and flexed in challenge. Cackling, Wario boasted, "Give me a break, Wario's taken down jewelry that's tougher than you!" before pulling out Goodstyle and drawing a checkmark in front of himself. A purple cloud briefly surrounded Wario, and when it dissipated, he had turned into the Purple Wind. Striking a pose, Wario boasted, "Silent but deadly!"

As Luigi and Samus snuck past the ongoing scene to confront the newcomers, Eight turned to Peach and whispered, "Is he always like that?"

"Not always, though I'm pretty sure being raised by storks doesn't help much..."

At the same time, Luigi and Samus reached the unknown arrivals, the latter pointing her arm cannon at the two of them as Luigi sighed, beginning, "Sorry about that, we're just trying to be sure you're not- what's that in your pocket?" The younger Mario brother pointed at something sticking out of Steve's pants, and the survivalist pulled out a pair of envelopes. "Oh! If you may, can I please take a closer look at those?" Luigi asked. Steve nodded, and passed the two items to Luigi, who began reading them. Once he had finished, Luigi extended a hand, saying, "I wish we could've met under less... dire circumstances, but it's always nice to see just who Master Hand has picked out for our tournament!" before turning to Samus and saying, "You don't have to point that at them anymore," the bounty hunter lowering her arm cannon as the words came out of his mouth.

Just as Steve finished shaking Luigi's hand, Alex exuberantly shook it before asking, "So what is it that you guys want us to do? We'll help however we can!" giving Steve a playful punch on the shoulder for emphasis.

Luigi mulled it over for a moment before asking, "Do you have anything that can deal with the undead?"

"As a matter of fact, we do!" Steve took out an Ender Chest he had been carrying and opened it, and, ignoring the droning noise said chest made when he opened it, reached into its ink-black depths and pulled out a couple of Healing Potions, before sheepishly saying, "These ones only work by consuming them, though... oh, I know!" as he pulled a brewing stand out of another chest he kept on his person.

As Steve got to work, Alex asked, "You took the brewing stand with you?"

"Well yeah, when have I not?" Steve began sprinkling gunpowder into the potions as he lit the brewing stand, watching as the Healing Potions began to bubble.

Despite her initial shock, Alex laughed, saying, "Well, you are the one who coined our motto, after all: 'be prepared for any eventuality,'" while in front of her, Luigi and Samus shared befuddled looks.

The exchange was interrupted when Dracula finally managed to knock Wario away with a well-timed fireball and began stalking towards the new arrivals.

Isaac stomped on the ground, unearthing a large chunk of the floor, before tightening his fist and causing the piece of rubble to break down into dozens of small drill-shaped spires. With a sweeping motion of his hand, Isaac sent the spears he had made out of the floor right at Dracula, who ignored a vast majority of them until a few struck him in his vulnerable head. With a frustrated growl, Dracula summoned forth a Spirit Orb and pointed it at Isaac's general direction before continuing his advance towards Steve and Alex. Before the Adept could react, however, Ike shoved him away from the path of the Spirit Orb, which then proceeded to take the son of Greil instead.

Ike found himself on a grassy field near a regal castle. Walking towards the castle, he kept an eye out for any potential Spirits lurking around. As Ike looked towards the bustling town by the castle, he realized, "Wait, this isn't Tellius... but it feels familiar... where am I?"

A sudden blast of wind nearly took Ike off of his feet, and a smooth, drawling voice off in the distance answered, "Perhaps I can give you the answer you seek..."

Ike turned to the source of both the wind and voice and was greeted by a green-haired Robin who wore the garb of a bard. Raising Ragnell, Ike held it in a guard stance and asked, "And who are you supposed to be?"

"I am nothing more than a wayward minstrel who goes where the wind takes him..."

A different voice, one that was authoritative yet reassuring at the same time, interrupted Robin's spiel with, "Alright Lewyn, enough with the cryptic behavior, who exactly is this-" The voice stopped once it caught sight of Ike, who in turn stared in utter befuddlement at what appeared to be a more... regal version of himself wearing the same blue-and-white gear that Master Hand had given Ike at his first outing in the Super Smash Bros. tournament.

The other Ike dismounted from his horse and sheathed his sword—which bore a striking resemblance to Marth's Falchion—before extending his hand and saying, "My name is Sigurd, and I am of Grannvale's House Chalphy. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, er...?"

"Ike. Ike Gawain."

Robin, or rather, Lewyn, perked up upon hearing the name, and said, "Ah, now that's a name to be proud of. The many stories I've heard from my travels across Jugdral include one of a man of that name, who would soon be known as the Radiant Hero... of Legend." Lewyn's train of thought petered out as he asked, "That is exactly who you are, am I right?" Ike gave a curt nod in response.

The Sigurd-possessed Ike smiled at that, adding on, "Ah, that story was a favorite of my sister, Ethlyn... in our youth, she would pretend that I was the Radiant Hero and that she was Mist, his plucky little sister... bit on the nose, in retrospect." Bringing himself back to the present, Sigurd said, "But I've said enough, what brings you here to Jugdral?"

"You're trapped in the bodies of other people as Spirits, it's up to me and anyone else freed from Dharkon's grasp to retrieve said Spirits."

To Ike's surprise, Sigurd took a slight bow and said, "Then allow me to aid you," turning into a Spirit Orb which housed his likeness before turning to Lewyn and asking, "What about you, Lewyn?"

A shrewd smile having worked its way onto the bard's face, Lewyn lazily tossed the Forseti tome back and forth between his hands, saying, "Sigurd, as much as I would go over without much argument... I wish to fight the Radiant Hero myself, to see if he's really as strong as the legends claim."

Within his Spirit Orb, Sigurd gave a glance towards Ike and asked, "Well, what do you say?"

Unsheathing Alondite, Ike placed the massive sword on his shoulder before beckoning Lewyn to bring it with a simple, "Prepare yourself."

As he opened Forseti, Lewyn's eyes glowed a brilliant green as a fierce gale of wind began howling around him. With a simple snap of his fingers, the Prince of Silesse sent a massive funnel of concentrated wind barreling towards Ike. However, much to Lewyn's shock, Ike had actually dodged the spell and scraped Alondite across the ground. The blessed blade created a wave of energy that flew towards the bard, who sidestepped with a graceful spin. Raising the hand that did not hold the tome, the wind began to dance around Lewyn, some of it breaking off from the main stream and condensing into small bullets of air. Pointing a finger at Ike, Lewyn shot some of the air bullets in his direction and began charging another massive funnel.

Ike held Alondite in front of him in a guard stance to deflect the incoming blasts of air. However, as he shifted into an offensive stance, Lewyn, his eyes once again shimmering with green, exclaimed, "Forseti's rage!" and let loose with the full might of Forseti. The funnel of divine wind smashed right into Ike, blowing him off of his feet and into a group of trees.

The winds he summoned carrying him towards Ike, Lewyn lazily flipped through the pages of his tome as he watched the Radiant Hero use Alondite as a support to pull himself back up. Absently brushing his finger across a particular incantation, Lewyn suddenly found his body moving on its own, the Divine Dragon Forseti having assumed full control of him. Raising his tome above his head, Lewyn, with added reverb to his voice, said, "Sorry, but this is the end..." However, before Lewyn could let another gale of wind fly loose, Ike tripped him with a sweep kick. As he got up to his feet, having put Alondite away, Ike held Ragnell in his grasp once more as he grabbed Lewyn in his free hand.

Ike launched Lewyn upwards with an uppercut and threw his sword at him as the bard flew into the sky. With a single leap, Ike managed to reach Ragnell and promptly slammed Lewyn down into the ground with the blessed blade, watching as the bard flew off towards where Sigurd's Spirit Orb still resided. Wincing at the cuts that populated his arms and face as a result of the stinging winds of Forseti, Ike began jogging to where Sigurd and Lewyn were. Upon reaching the two of them, Sigurd congratulated Ike, clapping as he said, "Now that was something to behold... if she were here, my sister would've loved to see you in action. I look forward to lending you my strength in battle as a descendant of Baldr, one of the Twelve Crusaders." Looking towards the battered bard, Sigurd raised an eyebrow in amusement as he asked, "Well, Lewyn? Was that enough material for a song of your own?"

Massaging a cut on his face, Lewyn muttered, "I suppose it was." Looking at Ike, Lewyn extended a hand, staggering a little from the Radiant Hero's strength once he met him in the middle for the handshake. Looking directly at Ike, Lewyn said, "While I don't exactly share Sigurd's eagerness to fight, you can rest assured on my honor as a descendant of the crusader Ced that I will guide you, as the will of Forseti guided me," before turning into a Spirit Orb and flying into Ike's person along with Sigurd.

Ike was spat back out into Dracula's Castle, where, much to his surprise, he saw that the count himself was actually struggling because all of his attacks appeared to be walled out by, of all things, a humongous wall of stone. Hurrying behind the wall, Ike saw that everyone save for Wario and the Belmonts were huddled up behind it, causing the merc to ask, "What happened when I was gone?"

Mr. Game & Watch pointed up to Steve and Alex, the latter standing on a stone platform to throw potions and shoot arrows at Dracula, while the former was replacing any part of the wall that happened to break from Dracula's onslaught. A rare smile appeared on the two-dimensional man's face as he expressed, "These two are great!" To Mr. Game & Watch's left, Villager was furiously scribbling down on a notepad as he watched Steve replace a hole in the wall that had been created by one of Dracula's fireballs.

Peering from the side of the wall, Ike whispered to Ness, "Do you think you can absorb those fireballs? I've got an idea-"

Ness instead responded by pulling out his Gutsy Bat, saying, "I've hit a lot of stuff with this baseball bat that I shouldn't have hit, I think I'll take my chances." Flashing Ike a confident smirk, Ness continued, "I wasn't the star batter of the Eagleland Turkeys for nothing, you know!" before running out from behind the wall and batting a fireball back at Dracula. The rebounded fireball nailed the vampire square in the head, temporarily blinding him.

At that point, Ike vaulted over the wall and dodged a fireball before pulling out both Alondite and Ragnell. Holding Alondite normally and Ragnell in an inverted grip, Ike stalked toward Dracula, batting away any stray fireballs the stunned vampire had sent flying before leaping up and bashing Dracula's head in with Ragnell's crossguard. As the count stumbled, Ike tossed his sword up into the air before catching it by the hilt, now holding both swords in the regular method. From the Radiant Hero's sides, Simon and Richter lashed their Vampire Killers around Dracula's neck, before wrenching backwards and bringing the count down to his knees.

Dracula's sight returned as soon as he hit the ground, and he looked at the three warriors standing before him. Ignoring Ike, he looked at Simon and then Richter and hissed, "You two remind me so much of Leon..." Chuckling darkly, Dracula continued, "What a fool he was, too stupid to realize the truth until he gave me the ability to defy His beliefs." Simon's grip on the whip tightened, and he nodded at Ike, who positioned Ragnell and Alondite near Dracula's neck like a pair of shears. With one swift motion, Ike cleaved the count's head off, Dracula's body crumpling to the floor while his head rolled off to the side.

Simon suspiciously eyed Dracula's headless body upon noticing that Richter was still in a guarded stance, while behind them and Ike, the wall that Steve and Alex had erected shattered. Wario immediately began searching the throne room for riches as the others began to come up to Ike and the Belmonts, and Samus looked in his direction, unimpressed, before using her cannon's Grapple Beam to pull him away from a treasure chest, the treasure hunter letting out an indignant shout as she did so. As he regained his bearings, Wario growled, "Why I oughta-"

"SILENCE!" Simon's yell cowed everyone into shutting up, and he continued, "This isn't over just yet, from what my descendant has told me, Dracula did not go down so easily..."

Ken interjected with, "Wait, so you're telling me that you have no idea what's about to happen?"

"The hand took me from my world before I could face Dracula myself-" Simon was interrupted by Dracula's body beginning to violently convulse as it stood up on its own. The vampire's head flew back onto its owner's neck and the count let out a bestial roar as he transformed into a creature of the night, a hulking winged demon. Upon cricking its neck once, Dracula's demon form took one look at Luigi and snarled, causing the younger Mario brother to let out a startled yelp. Rearing back, Dracula spat out a blast of energy, causing everyone to scatter lest they be vaporized.

Twirling the Vampire Killer in his hands, Richter proclaimed, "The Belmont clan will not rest until the evil you brought unto this world has been purged! Die, monster!" In response, Dracula roared before swiping at the younger Belmont, who dodged and struck back with the Vampire Killer, scoring a wicked blow on Dracula's chest.

Sheik, for a moment, stood on the ruins of the Clock Tower before blitzing past everyone, tossing Ryu and Faye up into the air as she did so. R.O.B. began tracking the Sheikah's movements before firing a laser at where he predicted she would be, but she vaulted over that with Bouncing Fish, kicking the robot in his chassis. Breaking out into a run, Sheik effortlessly dodged a swing from Marth's Falchion and slid under Min Min's Dragon ARM before being put to a stop by Meta Knight materializing seemingly out of thin air with his Dimensional Cape and slashing at her.

Flipping backwards away from Meta Knight, Sheik instinctively turned around, blocking a Metal Claw from Lucario and then ducking under a Blaze Kick that was infused with the latter's Aura. As Lucario stumbled, having put all his power into that one kick, Sheik exploited his lack of balance from that and tripped him before unleashing a flurry of kicks onto his chest, which pushed him a few inches into the ground.

In the meantime, Mythra had been carefully watching Sheik's movements, and upon seeing the ninja run off from the crater she had put Lucario in, she communicated to Pyra, "Her path's gonna take her to that tree root that's right next to us, on my signal, you swing. Got it?"

"Right!"

"Alright, here goes..." Mythra transformed into Pyra, the latter waiting for the former's cue as Sheik drew closer. "Now!"

Pyra swung the Aegis sword with all her might, obliterating the tree root and the tree itself in a massive conflagration while Sheik tripped over the blade, catching herself and skillfully coming to a stop before she crashed into another nearby tree. Switching back, Mythra watched carefully as Sheik rose from the dust cloud she had kicked up before firing a blast of Chroma Dust a few inches above Sheik in the air. As she predicted, Sheik jumped right into the projectiles and was catapulted into the tree.

As she bounced off it, Meta Knight swooped in and took her high up into the air, ignoring the ninja's various attempts to get him to drop her to the best of his ability. Once he was sure that he had flown high enough, the masked swordsman began a swift descent from the skies that would drop the two of them onto the ruined remains of the clock tower. Meta Knight held onto one of Sheik's arms with a grim determination as he crashed head-long into the rubble, kicking up a large cloud of dust that obscured himself and Sheik to the rest of the Smashers.

Lucario extricated himself from the crater that Sheik had put him in and used Aura Sight in an attempt to locate Meta Knight and Sheik within the wreckage, and upon catching sight of the two of them, he saw that Sheik had been purged of the malevolent presence that had inhabited her body. Deactivating Aura Sight, Lucario hoisted Meta Knight out of the rubble first before lifting a couple of pieces of the remains of the clock tower to find Sheik. Once he found the ninja, Lucario pulled her out of the wreckage as well before sitting down and wondering out loud, "Wasn't the Triforce of Wisdom supposed to be around here?"

Zelda's right wrist began to glow with a golden light and she responded, "Apparently, it is around here somewhere," closing her eyes and concentrating as hard as she could. After a brief pause, she opened her eyes and pointed to where the clock lay in the remains of the clock tower, saying, "It's there!"

Leaning on Falchion, Marth asked, "I don't intend to sound rude here, but is the Triforce really that easy to find if you're one of its chosen heroes?"

As Zelda made her way towards the clock, she nodded, replying, "The pieces of the Triforce have historically been drawn to their chosen wielders, but the Triforce of Power specifically is usually pretty easy to find, which I find odd given how it's always been linked to Ganondorf. Then again, the Goddesses may have done that so that particular piece of the Triforce isn't always being used for his destructive ambitions..." Zelda looked at Marth, who had given a polite nod at the end of her ramblings, and she muttered, "Carrying on..." pointing her right hand at the clock tower's clock.

The Triforce manifested on Zelda's hand as she concentrated, and blinding light began to shine from the clock, causing everyone present (and still conscious) to reflexively shield their eyes. When the glow died down, everyone looked towards the clock to see a shimmering golden triangle floating in the wreckage. Zelda gingerly reached out to the Triforce of Wisdom, which promptly reacted to being in close proximity of its chosen champion and flew into Zelda's hand, leaving behind a small imprint. Reaching over to Sheik's unconscious form, Zelda clasped her alternate self's hand in hers and the ninja's hand began to glow as hers had when summoning the Triforce.

Sheik's eyes fluttered open when the glow faded, and she looked Zelda in the eye and asked, "Let me guess, another cataclysm?" Zelda nodded, and Sheik let out an exasperated sigh as she stood up, muttering to herself, "And to think that I thought the Master Core incident would be the end of that kind of stuff happening..."

"I hate to interrupt this conversation, but shouldn't we return to the castle to rendezvous with the others who have found their respective Triforce piece?" After seeing Zelda and Sheik nod in affirmative, Meta Knight finished, "Very well then," before taking flight.

The rest of the Smashers who accompanied the party to find the Triforce of Wisdom stood up as well and began to follow Meta Knight to the castle.

After a while had passed, Meta Knight touched down in front of the castle and saw that a rather long trail of fire that came from the southeastern side of the realm was slowly dying out. Muttering to himself, "This has to be Sonic," he turned to his right and saw that his instinct was correct, as the Blue Blur was impatiently tapping his foot while pretending to look at a wristwatch, waiting for his companions to return from the section of the Sacred Realm they had been exploring. Walking up to Sonic, Meta Knight tapped the hedgehog's leg and asked, "I take it you guys are finished too?"

"Yeah, just waiting on the rest to catch up, by the way, we managed to find Olimar, Young Link, and the Pokémon T- er, Red's friend, Leaf while looking for the Triforce of Courage. Did you guys find anyone we know?"

"Only the Mii Gunner and Sheik. That being said, however, we did run into someone who's supposed to be in the tournament but wasn't present at the Newcomer's Ceremony... one of Master Hand's 'late arrivals,' I imagine." As if on cue, Mythra blitzed onto the scene, landing in a three-point stance before righting herself and switching back to Pyra.

"She's the one?" Meta Knight nodded, and Sonic looked up at the redhead, giving her a silent acknowledgement once his brief assessment was done.

Shortly after, Charizard came down for a landing, Red and Leaf dismounting off the burly fire lizard's back as he did so. Reaching up and gently stroking his Charizard's neck, Red then turned to face Sonic and said, "The others are almost here," the Blue Blur nodding in response.

Looking past what was supposed to be Hyrule Castle, Meta Knight surveyed the desert where the Triforce of Power was supposed to be located and murmured, "Hopefully their search went smoother than ours did..."

As it turned out, the Smashers searching for the Triforce of Power had managed to find where the Triforce of Power was located, but there was one problem. A very tall, very intimidating, and very leather-clad problem.

Sephiroth tossed the beaten and battered body of the Wii Fit Trainer at Ridley's metallic talons, a sadistic smirk on his face as he said, "Don't keep Galeem waiting," but before he could report back to the light god, the former SOLDIER was blindsided by a small vehicle that spun out to a stop a small distance away.

Poking his head out of the Junior Clown Car, Bowser Jr. shook his head to regain his bearings before yelling, "We gotta do that again, Papa!" The Spirit of the Koopalings that resided in his head let out varying assertions of agreement and disagreement before abruptly clamming up at the sight of the man with the absurdly long sword stepping towards them, his sword held in a striking stance.

As Sephiroth closed in on the Junior Clown Car, a distinctly enraged voice roared, "OH NO YOU DON'T!" and Bowser body checked Sephiroth seemingly out of nowhere, sending the silver-haired man sliding across the sand. Glaring at the figure in the sand, Bowser roared, "NO ONE THREATENS MY SON!"

Raising an eyebrow in amusement, Sephiroth inquired, "And just who are you?"

Flame slowly built up in his throat as Bowser growled, "The guy who's gonna kick your sorry ass into next week."

"Is that so?" Sephiroth chuckled as he snapped his fingers, erecting a barrier around himself and the Koopa King that was a mix between Barrier, Shell, and Protect, sealing everyone else out from their clash. Pointing the Masamune at Bowser, Sephiroth coolly said, "If you win, the Triforce of Power is yours to keep."

"Sounds good to me," Bowser snorted as steam came out of his nostrils.

"Not even going to ask what'll happen if you don't?"

"Don't need to, I KNOW I'm winning this!" Bowser boasted. Letting out a roar, the Koopa King began by releasing a gout of flame from his mouth, which Sephiroth dodged before jabbing Masamune into the ground to use Quaga, the ferocious Earth spell shaking everything inside and outside the barrier.

As Bowser stumbled, Sephiroth snapped his fingers in the overgrown turtle's direction, tagging him with Shadow Flare. However, much to Sephiroth's surprise, Bowser didn't flinch from the initial burst and clobbered him with a backfist, before sprinting forward and grabbing his torso with a single hand. Though, as Bowser prepared to slam Sephiroth headfirst into the ground, the Shadow Flare detonated, peppering the Koopa King with dark energy and freeing the former SOLDIER from his grasp. Landing a fair distance away from Bowser, Sephiroth slashed Masamune three times, using Zanshin to send waves of energy flying towards the Koopa King.

Smirking, Bowser blocked the first one by crossing his arms in front of his face before bounding clear over the other two. In the air, Bowser's right fist began to glow an earthy green, and he descended shortly after, punching the ground and using Crusher as he landed. From the point where Bowser's fist had made contact with the earth, fissures erupted along the ground, racing towards Sephiroth. Underneath the silver-haired man's feet, the cracks coalesced before erupting on his sides as a stalagmite split vertically. Quickly, Sephiroth activated Scintilla on his sides as the two half-spires of earth slammed inwards, clashing against Scintilla.

The hex-shaped walls activated as the earthen spire made contact with them, emitting a brilliant light that shredded the earth to mere pebbles. Sparing a glance at the rubble beneath his feet, Sephiroth mused, "Not that good at magic, are we-"

WHAM!

Bowser had used Crusher as a distraction to get in close against Sephiroth and finally land a clean punch, sending the false angel careening across the makeshift battlefield. Merely spitting out a clod of blood, Sephiroth fired a single Zanshin at a charging Koopa King, which Bowser blocked again before bounding forward and performing an overhead slash with his claws. Sidestepping the swipe, Sephiroth retaliated with Telluric Fury, beating back Bowser with a series of slashes, and when Bowser was sent sliding backwards with the final slash, Sephiroth dashed forward with a sudden burst of speed, closing in on Bowser and uppercutting him with a fist infused with dark energy.

Landing on his shell with a hard THUD, Bowser quickly rolled over back onto his feet, rotating his shoulders in an attempt to assuage the worst pains from the impact. Seeing Sephiroth charge towards him, Bowser snarled and shot a few fireballs in the ex-SOLDIER's direction, which where all batted away by an Aeolian Onslaught, one of the reflected fireballs smacking Bowser right in the face, momentarily blinding him.

Upon seeing the Koopa King stumble around, Sephiroth chuckled, saying, "Your end draws near," before using Octaslash.

However, Bowser instinctively threw his arms up as the attack was unleashed, the eight powerful slashes merely chipping at his wristcuffs and leaving some cuts on his arms, which was much preferrable over the alternative of his unprotected body taking the full brunt of the attack. As Sephiroth slid to a stop, Bowser grabbed his arms, causing the false god to drop Masamune. Showing a toothy grin, Bowser triumphantly exclaimed, "The show's over!" before performing a Flying Slam, driving Sephiroth into the sand. Upon landing, Bowser transitioned into a ground-and-pound, landing a series of powerful blows before Sephiroth activated Scintilla.

The explosion of light blew Bowser back a fair distance, and Sephiroth grabbed his sword before stumbling to his feet. Walking over to Bowser, Sephiroth cast Curaga on himself, waiting for the Koopa King to stand up.

Panting as he rose to his feet, Bowser looked down at Sephiroth and between breaths, growled, "I believe I won." Much to his surprise however, Sephiroth, instead of claiming otherwise, simply deactivated the barrier and vanished into a dark void, pointing towards a treasure chest just off to Bowser's left before he was fully gone. Shrugging, Bowser trudged over to the treasure chest and flung it open, revealing a glowing golden triangle that he assumed was the Triforce of Power. Sighing in relief, Bowser closed the chest and turned to the others, pushing the chest towards Ridley and hauling the unconscious Wii Fit Trainer onto his shell, carefully positioning her so that she wouldn't be poked by any of his spikes.

"That was AWESOME, Papa!" Bowser Jr. exclaimed as soon as Bowser was finished, excitedly hopping up and down inside of the Junior Clown Car.

Bowser could only smile at his son's excitement.

Snorting dismissively, Ridley scooped the treasure chest into his talons and took off, only to stop when down on the ground, Arvus called up to him, "Shouldn't we wait for the others?" pointing to Gruntilda's lair for emphasis.

"You can if you want, I'd rather get the hell out of here as soon as possible," Ridley retorted, flying towards the enormous castle that resided at the heart of the Sacred Realm. Almost everyone followed the ex-Space Pirate's lead, leaving only Arvus and Terry standing in the midst of the desert to watch the rest of their companions walk towards Hyrule Castle to breach it.

Adjusting his hat, Terry shared a glance with Arvus before asking, "So... what now?"

Arvus put away his shield and sheathed his sword before turning to the stone bust of Gruntilda that doubled as her lair and curtly replying, "We help some friends out," walking towards the entrance. After tightening his ponytail, Terry followed suit.

"...and to put it simply, you must work with the others to save our worlds from sure multiversal destruction." Kazuya simply quirked an eyebrow, and Master Hand reverted to his human disguise, peering over his sunglasses before letting out a sigh and asking, "What is it that you care the most about?"

"My personal motives are not important in this universe. Just answer this for me: are these fighters you speak of competent?"

Master Hand simply laughed at that question as Galeem continued tracking the Smashers a fair distance away from him.

Generating an image of Mewtwo clad in the powered armor he wore under Giovanni's control, Master Hand glanced at Kazuya to see the martial artist's reaction, which had not changed from his earlier stoic stare. Nonplussed, Master Hand snapped his fingers, and the image rippled, changing to the moment where Mewtwo had gone berserk shortly after its reawakening, destroying an entire laboratory with a simple wave of psionic energy. That time, Kazuya gave a small nod of acknowledgement.

At that, Master Hand began showing Kazuya the various feats of the rest of the Smash tournament's roster, among them being Marth's climactic clash against Medeus in the heart of Dolhr Keep, Kirby's triumph over both Dark Matter and Zero, Ridley single-handedly laying waste to the Ceres space station to kidnap the last living Metroid, Greninja (in his Ash-Greninja form) taking down Alain's Mega Charizard X to win his Trainer the Lumiose Conference, and Isaac staring down the Doom Dragon on the aerie of Mars Lighthouse, the Gaia Blade in hand.

Once he finished, Master Hand looked Kazuya dead in the eye and said, "This is the level of competition you will be expected to go against in the Super Smash Bros. tournament should we emerge victorious from this entire ordeal. They're more than competent." Jabbing a finger in Kazuya's direction, Master Hand played to the ego of the G Corporation's leader by finishing with, "If anything, it's your own competence that you should be worried about. I'm very much aware of the curse and gifts your bloodline has given you, but your arrogance will not serve you well should the tournament begin. You do remember Jigglypuff, right?"

Kazuya, remembering how laughable the balloon had seemed compared to the others, nodded.

Master Hand snapped his fingers, and a small highlight reel of Jigglypuff taking part in the Smash tournament shimmered into reality. Casually, Master Hand said, "Let me tell you this: Jigglypuff is the only competitor to have beaten every single tournament winner at least once." After letting that sink in, Master Hand continued, "If this is what one of our so-called 'unimpressive' competitors is capable of when everyone else is taking it seriously, what makes you think that underestimating anyone in this tournament is a good idea?"

It's been a long time, hasn't it? Almost 2 years, give or take?

Yes, Ash won the Kalos League in my take on the anime.

If you haven't read Everyone Is HERE! to see why Kazuya is where he is, I highly suggest that you do so. Speaking of Everyone Is HERE!, I find it crazy that it's all done, and that this is all I have left to do. (and yes, Kazuya basically got a lore crash course)

Group 1 (Dracula's Castle): Luigi, Ness, Peach, Villager, Rosalina, Simon, Daisy, Isaac, Samus, Wario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Mr. Game & Watch, Eight, Ike, Ken, Robin, Richter, Byleth, Chrom, Steve + Alex

Group 2 (Sacred Realm - Triforce of Courage sector): Link, Toon Link, Mii Swordfighter/Brian, Red + Leaf (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), Sonic, Eleven/Luminary, Geno, Mario, Lucas, Olimar, Young Link

Group 3 (Sacred Realm - Triforce of Wisdom sector): Ryu, Zelda, Falco, R.O.B., Lucario, Marth, Jigglypuff, Meta Knight, Min Min, Mii Gunner/Faye, Pyra + Mythra, Sheik

Group 4 (Sacred Realm - Triforce of Power sector): Ridley, Inklings (Meggy, Evan), Bowser, Pichu, Duck Hunt Duo (Ollie, Mallie), Bowser Jr., Wii Fit Trainer

Group 5 (Sacred Realm - Gruntilda's Lair) - Banjo, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, King K. Rool, Erdrick/Arvus, Terry Bogard

Group 6 (Mysterious Dimension): Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Incineroar, Bayonetta, Solo, Corrin, Mewtwo, Sora

Group 7 (?): Sephiroth, Kazuya Mishima

Apollo Sanctum key pieces: 7/13

NOTE: I am planning a re-write of some of the early chapters some day because quite frankly, they suck compared to what I have now.