Back at the floating arena, Mario was in his room, slumping on his bed. Holding the old photo of the group, he was thinking about the friendships he made all this time, and how it could probably be all broken because of the secret revealed about the last Subspace Bomb. Just then, Mario heard a knock on the door and slowly slid the photo in his overalls' pocket.
"Hey, it's Sonic," the voice from outside called out from the door. "Is it fine if I come in?"
"Yeah, sure," Mario answered. "The door's open."
Sonic slowly walked in, the door creaking, quietly waving at Mario who was still sitting on the bed. Rubbing his eyes, the blue hedgehog sat on the bed, next to the plumber.
"By the way," Sonic lamented, "I'm sorry about what happened earlier today."
"No, no. It's my fault," Mario replied. "I was the one who got into this mess when I helped Snake and his friends head over to what remained of the Ancients. They received a note from the Master Hand to check out the last Subspace Bomb."
"Listen, Mario," Sonic said. "Despite everything that's happened all because you won't tell the truth, I'm one of the many fighters who can take the blame, because that's what a good friend does. I've been living in this world unaffected by those transformations, and I have noticed recently that you guys haven't been transformed yet. Wonder why. Regardless, I am always happy to provide with what you can't remember. We can be more than just toys, y'know."
Mario thought about the times he put his teammates in a tough situation and helped them get out of it, considering he was one of the few trophies who was only here for fighting. Holding Sonic's hand, the plumber answered, "Thanks for your advice, hedgehog. I'm sure we can think of something to keep this under control."
Sonic and Mario smiled at each other, but just then Ike walked in, tired and catching his breath.
"What is it?" Sonic asked. "Is there something wrong?"
"Uh-huh," Ike responded. "Lucas and Charizard are back, and they're in the center stage, trying to tell the crowd about an… attack, or something?"
Just then, Mario got up from his bed, running off. Sonic and Ike were following the plumber, the blue hedgehog eventually catching up because what else would you expect from the fastest thing alive?
Mario, Sonic, and Ike eventually met up with all the other fighters – Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Mr. Game & Watch, Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, Zero Suit Samus, Pit, Marth, Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight, Fox, Falco, Pikachu, Lucario, Jigglypuff, R.O.B., Ness, Captain Falcon, and Olimar – seeing that Lucas and Charizard were trying to tell everyone about the fight they just witnessed while the crowd was mumbling in fear.
"Listen, everyone!" Lucas cried out. "The Subspace Army has returned, and we have to get ready!" However, no matter how hard the blond-haired PSI boy tried to make all of it sound true, it seemed no one believed him except for all the other fighters. Lucas looked at his friends, tears in his eyes.
"Please," Lucas wept. "You have to leave. The Subspace Army has taken our buddies and is on their way here. There are new recruits we haven't seen yet, but we can tell they're very dangerous. If we're not careful, we might be next on their killing list!"
"Woah, woah, woah," Fox spoke, trying to calm Lucas down. "What happened?"
"Snake and the others have been captured," Lucas answered as calmly as he could. "Charizard and I were the only ones to escape."
The fighters all looked at each other, worry in their faces. Link, his voice sweet and compassionate, replied, "We understand, kid. Now come on. We have to get out of here before- What the-?"
Just then, the sky turned a dark red, the people were screaming in fear, and the Winged Firestorm colored blue soared through the sky, breathing Shadow Bugs onto the stage. When the fighters saw the purplish-black specks falling, they moved out of the way, watching as they clustered together to form Primids and the lowest members of the Subspace Army.
"It's the Winged Firestorm Pro!" Lucas exclaimed, trembling in fear as Charizard growled. "They've found us!"
"I thought this would never happen again," Lucario muttered, "but I guess we'll be doing this once more." Readying their choices of weapons, the fighters all rushed towards the minor Subspace Army members. The dragon, in the meantime, was hovering over the arena, and a voice was booming out from its mouth: "Take as many as you can prisoner. Raid the items room and steal whatever you can find. These resources are perfect to recreate the weapons of the past."
The minor Subspace Army members rushed towards the fighters, their claws outspread and their blood-red eyes glowing bright with envy. Mario rushed in, blasts of fire coming out of his hands, as he punched a few Primids in the face and burned them alive. Luigi followed in to his brother, but since he was more cowardly he only went out with a few fireballs while slapping the Primids with his hands, crying in fear.
Peach was pelting with turnips, Bowser slamming and knocking them sky-high, Wario rode his bike, running over the Primids; R.O.B. and Mr. Game & Watch were beating up whatever enemy attacked them. Link, Pit, Marth, and Ike were using their weapons and swords, Sonic went faster than the naked eye and launched the minor Subspace Army members into oblivion, Samus in her Zero Suit was agile in her movement and with her newly equipped jet boots kicked most of the Primids out of the Midair Stadium, and Zelda launched blasts of magic, and the Primids that fell out of the center stage spontaneously combusted down below.
Once all the fighters cleared the area and everyone in the crowd evacuated, more Shadow Bugs were raining out of the sky, but this time they just stood there as they took their physical forms. The Winged Firestorm Pro flew back, and it just hovered in midair as the hatches in its stomach opened and black rope fell down in the Midair Stadium. Then, three figures slid onto the stage, meeting the fighters on the stage as the Subspace Army backed away as best as they could. The figures almost looked exactly the same to each other – peculiar bodies that resemble a humanoid's structure while still being rather small, and all they wore were black cloaks marked with two perpendicular lines colored many different shades of the rainbow flowing like fire, with the insides of their hoods so dark you can't make out their faces, and their arms were sticking out – with only a few different features; the figure with the red arms was wielding its bare hands, the one with dark blue a sword, and the one with orange a motion-controlled arm cannon. More figures slid down onto the stage, but they weren't wearing masks and instead exposing their faces, as many of them too were wielding weapons of their own. The faces looked peculiar being supported by their single-colored bodies, and each one of them resembled humans but were unique in their own way.
"What are those things?" Zelda asked.
"I don't think anybody knows, princess," Zero Suit Samus answered.
"Please," the figure with the fists called out onto the empty stadium. "Don't hesitate to call us by our preferred names: the Ultimates of the Mii Fighter clan. Although I feel like just Ultimates are a better choice."
"Three types - Brawler, Swordfighter, and Gunner, three times the pain," Sonic spoke to the fighters. "I've got a good feeling they don't remember me anymore..." Fox looked at Sonic, starting to grow a little suspicious about the blue hedgehog. For whatever reason, the Star Fox mercenary knew there was something Sonic wasn't telling the other fighters.
"What do you want from us?" Meta Knight cried out.
"Just a little something," the Gunner Ultimate replied. "How about… giving yourself up for Tabuu?"
"But Tabuu's dead," Pit objected. "We killed him a long time ago and sealed the doorway to Subspace forever."
"Why do you think you see the Subspace Army in front of you?" the Gunner Ultimate asked. "Not that you can ask us. We are just the first in command, y'know. Wait… that robot…" When the Gunner Ultimate noticed R.O.B., she sent out two of the Mii Fighters to drag him out. R.O.B. tried struggling, but their grasp was firm. Eventually, they let the robot go and pushed him onto the ground.
"Well, well, well," the Swordfighter Ultimate said. "If it isn't the Ancient Minister himself. I almost didn't even notice you lost that thought translator when we heard your cloak burned up, which WE have by the way."
"Hey, and don't forget that 2D render you guys brought with you," the Brawler Ultimate replied as he pointed to Mr. Game & Watch.
"Enough fun and games-a," Mario said. "Why have you come here?"
"Oh, just to bring you guys a little present," the Swordfighter Ultimate answered. "You're pretty obvious about the rules of the world have be altered a lot so now you can't die but you can't turn into trophies either, right?"
"Sure, we're sure," Zero Suit Samus remarked.
"Well," the Gunner Ultimate debated, "all you know is just a tiny fraction of what really happens around here nowadays. Bring out the Dark Cannon!"
The pilots inside the metal dragon heard the command and the latches on the airship's stomach opened once again, gently lowering down a familiar weapon from the past. The fighters all looked at it in fear when they remembered what it does.
"I'm sure many of you have seen a Dark Cannon, or used it, before," the Brawler Ultimate said, "and how it's charged with the pure essence of Tabuu's Off-Waves, capable of turning anyone back into their trophy selves. But as we were recovering the last existing one from its long-lost tomb, we noticed it does something a little different – one that you are unable to reverse for as long as you live on this worthless planet. And, just for fun, we will be testing it to show you what it can do as of now. Troops!"
Few of the Mii Fighters dragged out Mario, Link, Zelda, and Zero Suit Samus out of the group, and the fighters cannot do anything to stop them. Once the Dark Cannon was set in place and it started charging, those that were dragged out to be perfect targets looked at the others and gave each other a face of worry.
"Don't worry," Link sighed. "No matter what happens to us, we just want to tell you guys how much we all lo–"
Before Link was about to finish, he felt himself get hit by the Dark Cannon's bullet, which also rammed right into Mario, Zelda, and Zero Suit Samus in one strike. After a brief second of blinding light, the fighters saw that Mario, Link, Zelda, and Zero Suit Samus were slowly waking up. When the targeted fighters got up, they felt perfectly fine – to make things even stranger, a little floatier. However, just as soon as they looked to their right, they saw what appeared to be four more unconscious bodies lying next to them. When those fighters too got up, they blankly stared at their original copies, while the rest of the group looked with shocks of fright in their faces.
Mario was observing his cloned copy, muttering, "Is that… me? As Dr. Mario? That coat… the headpiece… oh, no…"
For Link, he thought, "Could that be… an alternate version of me? That kid who looks like he belongs in a cartoon? Toon Link?"
Zelda, her face looking rather terrified, stammered, "Sheik? The person I pretended to be when I ran away from Hyrule Castle for seven years?"
Zero Suit Samus, confused, said, "Since when did my Power Suit have a mind of its own? Being Samus is one thing, but I've just officially become Zero Suit Samus. I wonder who's piloting that thing now that it's out of my life…"
"What happened?" the targeted fighters asked.
"Fragments of your minds are now in separate bodies," the Swordfighter Ultimate answered. "What the Dark Cannon does now is split an important part of your personalities into a completely different person, those of which will revolt against you and destroy you."
"You'll both have new abilities compared to when you were whole," the Gunner Ultimate said, "but hey, you'll get used to it because this will never go away for as long as you live. And as for the rest of you, you're all next."
The Mii Fighters and the Ultimates then readied their weapons as the Dark Cannon was beginning to charge once again. It seemed like all was lost for the fighters, but Sonic rushed in and snatched the Dark Cannon out of the Subspace Army's hands.
"Looks like we'll make sure none of this ever happens again," Sonic remarked, his face away from the charging weapon. And just like that, the blue hedgehog snapped it in two and tossed it over the stage, deep down into the chasm below.
"Good work, Sonic-a," Mario cheered.
"You idiot," the Brawler Ultimate growled. "What have you done? The Dark Cannon will explode when it's finished charging and now it's snapped in half. There's unidentified matter in that large pit, and if the following explosion connects, half of the Midair Stadium will become demolished!"
"Well," Sonic smirked. "Looks like you should have told me before I broke it. But, it's your loss."
"Shut up!" the Gunner Ultimate exclaimed. "Subspace Army, ATTACK! Take whoever you can prisoner and get the rest of our troops in the items vault back up here immediately! We need to have hostages and resources and flee as soon as we can! We have two minutes max!"
Soon, it was going to be a big blood battle between the Subspace Army and the still rather small group of fighters, and when the two minutes are up, no one wins in the end, so the best solution is to head towards the emergency exit and stop whatever gets in their way. Lucas and Charizard were just about to go with them, but they felt themselves latched in chains by the classic Primids, pulled towards the metal dragon while the Primids who ran into the items room came back with whatever they got.
"We have to get out of here as fast as we can!" Zelda cried. "We're going to have to take whatever vehicle we can find and go!"
"But Charizard and Lucas are being taken away!" Marth said, pointing at the Pokémon and PSI boy who are being dragged into the blue-tainted metal dragon by chains and were struggling to get free from the Primids and Mii Fighters, crying for help.
"We can always come back for them later," Zelda answered. "Right now, we all have to get out of here before this place goes down with us in it!"
Marth, nodding his head in command, waved towards the two fighters being taken prisoner with the items into the Winged Firestorm Pro, yelling, "Don't worry! We'll come back for you! Just hang in there!"
Just like that, all the fighters that weren't captured ran off towards the vehicles in the emergency exit, with a quartz bridge to cross the abyss. Most of them managed to get across, but the Ultimates noticed they too were getting away.
Waving to a large red Nagagog, the Brawler Ultimate pointed to the bridge at the exit and ordered, "Destroy that bridge before any more of them escape!" And then, running towards the quartz bridge, the Nagagog slammed its body into the quartz, sacrificing itself as if fell to the bottom. The leftover rubble was crumbling, splitting the bridge. Mario, Link, Zero Suit Samus, and Zelda managed to make it before the bridge broke, but their replicates were hanging on for dear life on their side, not letting go of the other.
"We gotta save them!" Mario told the three.
"But didn't you hear the Ultimates!?" Link asked. "They said that these clones will destroy us when we least expect it!"
Mario looked at the fighters hanging on for dear life, all while he saw the blue metal dragon flying off with the Ultimates, the Subspace Army, the Mii Fighters, and their friends Charizard and Lucas prisoner. A sharp light in Mario's eyes gleamed when he looked at the rest of his companions, saying, "The rest of you, go on without us."
"WHAT!?" all the fighters exclaimed.
"We'll be catching up with you," Mario answered. "And it's our job to make sure almost all of us gets out okay. Link, Zero Suit Samus, Zelda. You three will have to team up with me and save our buddies. Us guys will be going on Samus Aran's Ship. Until then, goodbye."
Many of the fighters were starting to weep, knowing that their friends may not make it. Sonic, looking at the flames spreading across the Midair Stadium for whatever reason, wept, "I guess this is goodbye if you guys don't make it." With a quick dash, the blue hedgehog hugged the red-capped plumber, and Mario hugged Sonic in return. Once the hug was broken, everyone ran off towards the exit, and Link, Zero Suit Samus, and Zelda stayed behind.
"Well, come on," Mario replied. "We gotta help our replicates. They are living beings, after all, whether they're good or evil. And this place is gonna blow up any minute. If we don't get out right now, we're history."
Grabbing Dr. Mario's hand, Mario and his teammates pulled the clones up, as the white-coated doctor got out first, followed by Toon Link, then Samus, and then Sheik. Once the replicates were on solid ground on the now-broken quartz bridge, the eight fighters ran off towards the exit, ready to grab Samus's Ship and fly out of here.
Meanwhile, all the other fighters were heading towards the hovercar parking lot. There were a series of large spaceships, two of which were the Big Blue and a large Wolfen Assault.
"Looks like we're going to have to pick one or the other," Meta Knight said. "The space will be cramped, I know, but at least they're the only ones so far that have enough fuel to get us out of here."
Suddenly, a Greap landed between the large group of fighters, splitting them apart. As the minor Subspace Army member was rapidly swinging its scythe-like arms, Captain Falcon, Meta Knight, Marth, Ike, Pit, Olimar, R.O.B., Mr. Game & Watch, Peach, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Lucario, Jigglypuff, and Wario were on the Falcon Flyer's side, while Luigi, Diddy Kong, Fox, Falco, Yoshi, Kirby, King Dedede, Ganondorf, Pikachu, Ness, and Sonic were at a larger version of the Wolfen Assault. When the Greap started charging towards those at Wolf's ship, a large slash suddenly ran right through the Greap's thick skin, damaging its internal organs. Once the Greap was killed, the fighters saw that it was a Phantom summoned by Princess Zelda. After the Phantom disappeared, the Hyrulian princess looked at her hands, muttering, "Those Ultimates were right about one thing: we do have our own unique abilities." Mario, Dr. Mario, Sheik, Samus, Zero Suit Samus, Link, and Toon Link caught up to Zelda, and Mario was tugging at her dress, saying, "We found Samus's Ship. Now, let's go with the group we're stuck with and fly out of here, everyone."
Once everyone got in their ships, turned them on, and hovered off the ground, the last Dark Cannon that was broken had just finished charging, and once it fired, it created a small blast that connected with the unnatural matter in the abyss, making a chain of explosions and destroying parts of the Midair Stadium. The lead metal dragon of the Subspace Army got out just in time, but the three ships didn't even leave and got caught in the blast, splitting from each other and flying off miles into the different corners of the land before they crashed.
