The full moon rose to shine brightly on the World of Trophies, easing the land into a restful sleep. Tiny pinpricks of light pushed their way into the darkening sky like inquisitive children peeking through keyholes. The night descended like a blanket on both the sky and the World of Trophies.

Within the dormitories of the Smash Mansion, young Starfy was fluffing up his pillow to get ready for a good night's sleep. He brushed his teeth, took his glass of water, and turned off the light (but not before opening the blinds just a crack).

As the star hopped into his bed, he glanced over at a small collection of pictures in frames on his nightstand. "Good night, Starly," he whispered. "Good night, Moe. And good night, Mom and Dad," Starfy said, gazing at the last picture, one of himself and two other star-like creatures in formal clothing.

With well wishes said, the young prince closed his eyes and began to drift off to slumberland, ready for a night of pleasant dreams.

…

…

"…Starfy…"

Starfy turned over in his sleep.

"…Starfy…" A cold wind blew through the room.

Starfy blearily opened his eyes. What time was it? As he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he noticed that his bedroom was darker than normal. The moon was still shining through the window, but outside of the small patch of light on the floor, the rest of the room was completely black, like his eyes were still closed.

"…Starfy…" There was that voice again, so deep and wicked, it sent a chill up Starfy's spine. It was painfully familiar to the young prince.

But how? thought Starfy as he cowered in his bed. Me and Starly and Moe beat him that time! How is he here?!

"Starfy…!" The voice was much louder now, making the room shake. From within the deep darkness of the room, Starfy could barely make out a shape slithering across the floor.

"You thought you defeated me then, didn't you?" asked the voice. The intruder moved closer. Starfy felt the urge to stand up and fight, but his body refused to cooperate.

"Hnn hnn hnn hnn… you truly are as foolish as I thought you were, starfish. As long as evil exists in the world, I shall return, time and time again, until we are victorious… until the world is plunged into darkness…" The shape now rose to its full height, much taller than Starfy, taller than Lyn or even Rodin, and stepped out of the shadow.

A frightful figure, tall enough that its head barely grazed the ceiling, and covered in a substance that dripped from its body like ink, but much more unpleasant to the senses, leered down at Starfy with blank white eyes. It grinned maliciously as the star tried to cover his head with his pillow.

"I am Evil!" bellowed the intruder. "And all shall perish within my grasp!"

Starfy opened his mouth to scream as Evil reached out to seize him with a cold metallic hand. It seemed like the whole world was shaking and falling apart…

Thud.

When Starfy opened his eyes again, he found himself staring at the ceiling. It seemed that he had somehow fallen off his bed. As he righted himself, he saw that the room was empty. There was no trace, no sign at all that Evil had been present. He clung tightly to his bedsheet. What was that? Had it just been a dream after all? But it seemed so real…

A knock sounded at his door, snapping the star out of his reverie. The door opened, and Jeff peeked his head in. "Starfy?" he asked. "Are you all right? I heard a scream, so I came running…"

Starfy paused. "I… I had a bad dream," he mumbled.

"Oh, dear," Jeff gasped. He stepped into the room, worry etched onto his face. "Do you need anything? A drink, perhaps?"

"Um…" Starfy swallowed hard, glancing at the darker portion of the room as though something might pop out at any moment. "Yeah. Some warm milk, I think."

"I see…" Jeff motioned for Starfy to follow him, and the two headed towards the kitchen to heat up some milk. As the duo shuffled down the halls and out of sight, the imposing form of Nightmare stepped out of the shadows, grinning wickedly. Glancing down the hall to make sure Jeff and Starfy were gone, he drifted in the opposite direction towards an old wooden door, which he gently pushed open.

As he expected, Mother Brain was already waiting for him, looking imposing and authoritative as she sat at the far end of the room. Devil and Ghirahim were also present, sitting on opposite sides of the table. Devil looked impatient, grouchily tapping a claw on the table, while Ghirahim looked quite relaxed, slouching forward in his chair and resting his head in his palm.

"Well, well, well," said Ghirahim by way of greeting. "Look who's on time tonight."

Nightmare grinned mirthlessly in response. "You know what they say," he rasped. "The early bird catches the worm." His gaze glided over to the sole empty seat in the room. "Speaking of worms… I wonder what's keeping our friend Albert."

"Pah! You know how humans are," growled Devil. "I would not be surprised if he simply forgot about this meeting."

"Nor would I," echoed Mother Brain. "You all saw how he acted at the last meeting. Such a feeble and weak-willed creature, as most humans tend to be… Had he lived on Zebes, I doubt he would have survived for more than a few minutes."

The sound of footsteps, heavy and quick, sounded outside the room, getting closer and closer. The door swung open, and in came Dr. Wily, looking very, very tired, and very, very anxious.

"Speak of the devil," drawled Ghirahim.

"You are late," stated Mother Brain. Her voice was cold and emotionless, but her displeasure was very clear. "Explain yourself."

Dr. Wily hobbled into a chair (to his displeasure, the only available seat was next to Ghirahim) and tried to catch his breath. "I was busy… trying to build a legion of robots for your… for your army. Just like you said, remember?!" he gasped.

"An army?" repeated Mother Brain. She stared hard at Wily, as if she was staring directly into his soul. The mad doctor shrunk under her gaze, suddenly feeling like he was pinned to his chair. It was a cold, hard, stare, one that reminded him of Mega Man after he had destroyed Wily's latest death machine and had him cornered on the floor and begging for mercy.

She leered and leered for quite some time until, to Wily's relief, she broke eye contact with a scoff. "You are getting ahead of yourself, Albert," she droned. "When did I ask you to build an army?"

Dr. Wily lost his voice. "I—er—but I—you said—"

"Honestly, Albert," continued Mother Brain with a roll of her eye. "Upon your arrival to this world, I was informed that you were one of the greatest geniuses of your own world. While my expectations have been drastically lowered since then, I supposed you would at least act the part."

This remark earned some snickers from Ghirahim and Nightmare. Dr. Wily's normally pale face flushed red. "E-excuse me! I am a genius! I—"

"Please, save your defenses," interrupted Mother Brain. "You need not waste your time building your little robots just yet." She turned to the others. "As for the rest of you… for tonight's meeting, I shall give you your instructions to take the first steps towards my plan."

"Now wait just a moment," cut in Devil. His glowing red eyes were narrowed in suspicion. "I have noticed that you have not yet divulged any details regarding this plan of yours. How am I to gain control over my realm if I do not know what exactly I am working towards?"

"Had you not interrupted," countered Mother Brain, "you would have given me the opportunity to tell you. At any rate, your inquiry has given me a segue into my explanation." Her cerebrum throbbed and contorted (Dr. Wily gagged and looked away), and a small compartment on the bottom of her glass case opened up to project a hologram onto the center of the table. It quickly took the shape of two large hands, the left one contorting its fingers.

"Master Hand and Crazy Hand," said Mother Brain. "The Spirits of Creation and Destruction and organizers of the Smash Brothers Tournament. You may have asked yourselves, 'How are they able to bring not only many fighters from a multitude of different worlds?'"

"Is it not their formidable cosmic power?" asked Devil.

"A reasonable guess," replied Mother Brain. "The answer lies in the invitations they send to new challengers." The hologram changed to take the shape of an envelope sealed with a familiar logo. "During both this tournament and the last, I have seen them send these envelopes to different worlds using technology to open rifts across time and space. Such a wonderful implement would allow me to call in the Space Pirates with but a single press of a button." She swiveled around to face Dr. Wily. "Which is where you come in, Albert."

Dr. Wily jumped, not expecting to be called on so early. "M-me?"

"Yes, you. Do try and keep up. Your mission is to take their delivery technology and reverse engineer it to open rifts to other dimensions. Is that doable for you?"

"Doable?" snorted Wily. "Please! Have you forgotten who I am? Stealing and hacking into a mere mailbox is child's play for me!"

Mother Brain remained unimpressed by his boasting. "It better be," she said. She then turned to Nightmare. "And you, Nightmare Wizard…"

The phantom stirred. "And what shall be the role that I play?" he asked.

"Your job is to spy on the other inferior creatures gathered here," said Mother Brain. "Find out their weaknesses. Discover their primal fears. Use them in case any meddlesome individuals attempt to pry into my intentions."

Nightmare smiled cruelly. "I'll do everything in my power," he promised. "To tell you the truth, there is one soul I've had my eye on for quite some time now…"

"Patience, Nightmare," advised Mother Brain. "Everything in due time. You may tell me about this once we reach the next step."

"Oh, I envy you, Nightmare," confessed Ghirahim. "I really do. Now then, what are my instructions?" asked the demon.

Mother Brain peered at him for a moment before speaking. "I am sorry to disappoint you," she intoned, "but you have no instructions until later. While your skills are vital to my success, to use them now would raise too much suspicion. For now, your task is to keep quiet and drive away any potential intruders. Understand?"

Ghirahim's face fell. He seemed quite disappointed, but he made no further protest. "Understood," he mumbled, curling his lip and glancing down at his sabre.

"The same goes for you, Devil," continued Mother Brain. "We cannot afford to be too rash at this juncture." Unlike Ghirahim, the Devil made no protest at all, instead staring impassively at her.

Mother Brain shut off the hologram and turned to the rest of the band of villains. "I would advise all four of you to keep your wits about you. For I have reason to believe that anyone could be spying on us at any given moment!" She stirred in her glass case. "At any rate, I expect you all to follow my commands to the letter. Meeting adjourned. Do not fail me." She finished this statement with a rather pointed glare at Dr. Wily.

The rogues left with the parting threat still fresh in their minds. Dr. Wily looked particularly rankled. "Bah! Who does that Mother Brain think she is?!" he fumed. "The least she could do is treat her supporters with some respect!"

"Respect is not given, human," growled Devil. "It is earned, whether through words or through deeds. How do you suppose I gained control of Devil World? I seized the darkness and struck fear among you mortals. The underworld was in turmoil before I came to power, and I brought it to order." The demon grinned as thoughts of grotesque monsters filled his brain. "Now I command a glorious, powerful army, ready to serve me at a moment's notice. And once you—" he jabbed a finger in Wily's chest to punctuate his point— "steal that technology for the flesh-and-steel creature to use, they will be under my control once more. I suggest you do as she instructs, with minimal grievance on your end."

Ghirahim clapped slowly and deliberately in response to his speech. "My, what a story, Devil." he chuckled. "You are truly an inspiration to us all." His gaze suddenly fixed on Wily. "You ought to consider yourself lucky, Albert," he sneered. "Mother Brain let someone like you handle such a crucial step so early in the operation." He regarded his own sabre with a longing, almost hungry look in his eyes. "I know she said my turn will come later, but I can't help but feel a bit impatient. So, I'm telling you now, if you should spoil my fun before it has a chance to begin…" The demon lord was looming over the scientist now, licking his lips in anticipation. His words came out in a deadly whisper. "…it won't be Mother Brain's fury you will have to fear." Ghirahim snapped his fingers brusquely, and he disappeared in a shower of red and gold diamonds.

Devil also took his leave, turning into a bat in a puff of smoke. "You would do well to heed the demon lord's words, human," he warned. "Lord Ghirahim may be theatrical in his words, but his thirst for carnage is no laughing manner." He turned a corner and flew out of sight, leaving the man to ruminate on his words.

Dr. Wily sighed. "Why does such a brilliant mind as me have to do so much to get the bare minimum of respect?" he asked no one in particular.

A cold chill ruffled his lab coat as an answer. It was not the cold of the night wind, but a deeper, more ghastly cold, a cold that made his breath catch and his legs turn to jelly. Nightmare glided in front of him, his pale face as gaunt and cunning as ever.

Dr. Wily glared at him as he waited. "Well? Aren't you going to threaten me, too?" he grumbled.

"Not tonight, Wily," assured Nightmare. "The fear I sense in you now will provide me sustenance for a fortnight." With a final, bone-chilling laugh, he transformed into a dark orb covered in stars and soared down the hallway and out of sight, leaving Wily alone.

Wily sulked and huffed, crossing his arms. "Hmph! Disrespect me, will they?! 'Measly little robots', eh?! Well, I'll show them! I'll show them all! I'll build war machines the likes of which the world has never seen before!"

He paused mid-tirade, remembering Devil and Ghirahim's words. I suggest you do as she instructs, with minimal grievance on your end…

…It won't be Mother Brain's fury you will have to fear…

"…Right after I steal Master Hand's mailing device, of course…"

Wily hurried away, in the opposite direction of his demonic cohorts. He'd have to put aside his ego for now if he wanted to take over his world. Somehow, he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him… He quickly shooed those thoughts away. He had a deadline to meet… and he was not looking forward to the consequences if he should fail.

But little did the mad doctor know that someone was indeed watching him, from the moment he had stepped out of the room at the end of the meeting. The figure had wanted to stop Wily and ask some questions, but he had run off before he had the opportunity. Now, they could only watch as he fled the scene. The onlooker gritted their teeth.

"I don't know what you're up to, Doctor…"

Zero traced a finger along his Z-Saber.

"…but mark my words, I'm going to put a stop to it."

Author's Notes: Mother Brain has given her subordinates directions for her plan. But as Dr. Wily flees, it seems that Zero is catching on to them. Will she achieve her goal of complete domination over the world?

I do like writing these villainous characters, but I rarely got to use them in previous chapters. Now that Dr. Wily and Nightmare have missions in mind, you'll definitely be seeing more of them...