As the Smashers stared down the glowing ball of light that had declared his malicious intent against them, they prepared to fight this 'Galeem'. Many of them were no strangers to fighting gods or god-like beings, and with many of these god killers assembled on the island, this should be fairly easy.

Or so they thought.

Shulk's eyes began to glow, which is something that happened when he was having a vision of the future. He knew what was about to happen.

Beams of light erupted all around them. Many were struck with the beams and turned to naught but ash. However, some managed to escape through portals. Shulk himself was grabbed by Joker and pulled into a portal different from the others. But just as he was about to be pulled to safety, Shulk saw Byleth standing around looking at the others disintegrate around her.

"Byleth! Don't just stand there! Get moving!" Joker yelled.

But just as the professor turned to look at Joker, she was hit with a beam and disappeared.

"No!" Shulk yelled.

As Shulk exited the vision, he turned toward the others to warn them of the coming danger.

"RUN!" Shulk yelled.

"What?" Cloud asked.

"We need to run! I've seen the future, and you lot need to run if you want to...!"

Before Shulk could finish his sentence, the foreseen beams of light erupted all around the Smashers, turning many in the front to naught but ash. Only now did the others turn tail and run.

Shulk activated the Monado and cast the Speed Art on himself and those closest to himself in an attempt to help them escape.

As he ran, Shulk noticed a series of portals open up and saw several of his fellow Smashers run into them. Despite having ample chance to run into one, Shulk frantically looked around for Joker, as he knew the Phantom Thief would be his best bet to escape.

As Shulk ran, he felt someone grab the back of his vest and pull.

"What are you doing?! Do you want to get vaporized? Get in here!" Joker yelled.

Before Shulk could respond, he saw Byleth standing around looking at the others disintegrate around her. Remembering his vision, Shulk called out to her.

"Byleth, you need to run or you won't make it!"

"Byleth! Don't just stand there! Get moving!" Joker yelled.

But just as the professor turned to look at Joker, she was hit with a beam.

But before she could be fully vaporized, she used her Divine Pulse ability to reverse time to before she was hit with a beam of light.

"Byleth! Don't just stand there! Get moving!" Joker yelled.

Byleth quickly rolled out of the way of the beam and avoided several more with graceful movements before making her way toward Shulk and Joker.

"Impressive moves," Joker said in a suave voice.

"Less talking, more escaping." Byleth deadpanned.

With that, Joker pulled out his phone and opened a portal to Mementos, and pushed the two Smashers in before jumping into it himself.

Once everything was said and done, Joker opened another portal back to the normal world and walked out of it alongside Shulk and Byleth. All three looked mildly disturbed at what they had seen.

"I... was not prepared to see that kind of madness," Shulk uttered.

"And here I thought demonic Edelgard would be the weirdest thing I would ever lay eye on," Byleth muttered.

"I've seen some weird shit in Mementos before, but never anything like that. I'm not sure why I'm surprised, though. Of course, the collective unconscious of the world or Smash would be crazier than that of Tokyo." Joker stated.

The trio then looked around and, to their surprise, saw nothing and no one.

"What do you suppose happened to everyone else?" Joker asked.

"I saw a load of portals open up as I was running. Hopefully some of them managed to escape." Shulk said.

"I'm not sure about that. I saw so many of them get hit by those beams. If any escaped, I'm not sure it was many." Byleth countered.

"So where do we go now? Back to the Smash Mansion?" Joker asked.

"No. Our enemy would probably expect that. If this 'Galeem' knew where to find us, then it probably wouldn't take him long to find out where we live." Byleth reasoned.

"So where should we go then?" Joker said.

"I say we try and find the lot that managed to get away. If we decide to fight Galeem, we'll need all the help we can get." Shulk suggested.

"If we can fight Galeem. He seems like some kind of God. I've never fought a God before." Byleth said.

"I have." Both Shulk and Joker stated simultaneously.

"...Very well, then. But like Shulk said, we will need help. If some got away, I think they would go to places they feel safe. With that said, let's head to the colder regions. I know more than a few people who live in the cold." Byleth reasoned.

With that, the trio made their way to the cold parts of the world.

The trio had been traveling together for some time. After traveling north for many miles, they had made it to the region of the Smash World that was perpetually covered with snow and frost. In an attempt to stave off the cold, they told stories as they traveled.

"And that's how my friends and I defeated Yaldabaoth." Joker declared.

"Huh, and I thought I was the only one who fought someone called Yaldabaoth." Shulk mumbled.

"I suppose you two weren't kidding when you said that you have faced down gods. And I thought it was bad enough having one live in my head." Byleth said.

"Yeah, The Phantom Thieves were pretty awesome like that. Though looking back, I do think it's kinda funny how I basically summoned Satan to shoot a god in the face in order to save Christmas." Joker stated.

Shulk and Byleth both looked at Joker with odd expressions. Some of those words sounded foreign to them.

"Oh yeah, you guys may not have Christmas or Satan where you come from." Joker muttered.

"In any case, have you lot got something a bit more sporting for this weather? It's getting rather cold." Shulk asked.

Joker and Byleth, who were both wearing big coats, shook their heads.

"I'm afraid not," Byleth said. "Take it from someone who's spent a lot of time in the coldest region of Faerghus, you need to prepare better for cold or else... wait. What is that?"

Shulk and Joker looked at what Byleth was pointing at. It appeared to be a statue. As the trio got closer to it, they realized it resembled one of their comrades. More specifically, it resembled...

"Snake? Solid Snake? is that you?" Shulk asked. But the statue didn't respond.

Joker approached it and pulled out his trusty knife, tapping it against the statue three times.

"Well, he's 'Solid' alright." Joker stated.

"Knock it off! We need to figure out how to help him." Byleth said.

"I might have an idea. It's a long shot, but here goes nothing."

With that, Joker pulled out his phone and walked into Mementos.