Running across the snowy mountainside, avoiding many of the Subspace Army allies, the Falcon Flyer Group was seen running off to the northwest, hoping they can meet up with the Wolfen Assault Group and stop whatever enemy is in their path. Once they were in the clear, they stopped for a little break.

"Do you guys think Meta Knight will make it out okay?" Pit asked. "He said he should go alone, and I don't think he might be safe out there…"

"He's been studying old legends of the land ever since the Subspace Army took his ship," Lucario answered. "That's one of the many reasons why they nicknamed him 'The Lone Swordsman'."

"It just seems no matter where we go, we're never safe," Pit said. "Gee, I sure miss being with Lady Palutena in Skyworld, and my old buddy Pittoo…"

"You kept talking about them ever since you first arrived in Arcadia," Ike replied. "I'm sure your old friends would have taken care of themselves after ten years."

"Guys, do you hear something?" Captain Falcon whispered in question. When the bounty hunter heard the snow crunching from a distance, the fighters got up, readying their stances. As the sounds got closer, they were just about prepared for the worst. However, there appeared to be instead a small duck, his body all brown and his head purple. Seconds later, the duck was followed by a brown dog with black ears and nose, his collar red. When the fighters saw the duck hopping onto the dog's back, they lowered their weapons.

"Aw…" Pit said. "Isn't that adorable? A duck and a dog are the best of friends…"

"Stay back, Pit," Marth said. "They might be some random stranger's pets, and he might not like it if you go ahead and – "

"Come on, Marth," Pit objected before turning towards the duck and the dog. "What's the matter, buddies? You lost?" The angel crept in closer to the unlikely duo, the two animals walking towards Pit. As soon as the angel gently grabbed ahold of the dog's collar, the other fighters felt rather alarmed. Then, the dog started licking Pit's face, making him giggle while the duck was ruffling his feathers.

"It's alright, guys," Pit said. "These animals are friendly." Just then, Pit took a look at the golden tag on the collar. The angel took a closer look at the tag before he noticed he couldn't read.

"Ike?" Pit asked. Could you read this for me, please?" The Beorc walked over to the duck and dog, taking a good look at the words on the retriever's collar.

"That's the name you guys share, isn't it? Duck Hunt?" Ike asked. The dog and duck barked and quacked in response, and Ike probably assumed that it was their name. Just then, Ike took another look at the tag, and he said along with the description under the name, "Property of Subspace Army: return at once to avoid surrender. What does that mean, guys?"

"It could probably mean they ran away from the Subspace Army," Peach answered. "Poor things. I hope no harm happened to them. Wonder why…?" Then, Ike flipped the tag around to find out it read something else.

"What does it mean they're 'Powerful Retro Figures'?" Ike asked the other fighters again.

"Probably means that they might have some old-school, classic, 8-bit abilities," Pit answered.

"Old-school, 8-bit what?" Ike asked. Suddenly, they heard a powerful gust of wind in their direction, and the other fighters saw what appeared to be a red-orange warrior that looked much like Meta Knight, and his wings resembled that of a butterfly.

"…Meta Knight?" Lucario asked the warrior.

"Don't you fools know who I am?" the warrior responded. "I was originally known on my home planet as Galacta Knight, and thanks to the powers the Construct God has given me, I have become a more dominant figure: Morpho Knight!" Duck Hunt then started growling and quacking at the stranger, and the other fighters brought up their weapons again.

"Now, now," Morpho Knight said. "I don't want any bloodshed, especially from the Duck Hunt traitor. All I want is Meta Knight, for he had studied legends about a Smash Ball and knows about its uncharted abilities."

"Smash Ball?" Pit exclaimed in question.

"You heard me right," Morpho Knight answered. "I heard he has finally found one of them, which we need to create more Subspace Bombs and rebuild the Great Maze. In one of your friends, I presume."

"Enough games!" Marth exclaimed. "How do you know all this!? Which friend are you talking about!?"

"I swear I'm not even lying," Morpho Knight answered. "All of the Subspace Army has heard about one of the Smash Balls escaping after ten years of dormancy and has found its way into the body of the only fighter who was too fast to even be transformed into a trophy…"

"…No one can be that fast enough to outrun a trophy transformation, unless…" Captain Falcon objected. "Oh, no…"

"What?" Ike asked the bounty hunter.

"The only person who was too fast to avoid being transformed into his trophy self! Sonic the Hedgehog!" Captain Falcon answered.

"You got that right, warrior of the nine planets," Morpho Knight said. "We have finally heard about the blue rodent, and we'll do everything in our power to drag it out of his dead body and make sure you don't find out the truth."

"The Smash Ball is our only key to victory," Pit said. "If you really want to get to Sonic and Meta Knight so badly, then you'll have to go through us!"

"…Very well," Morpho Knight answered. Spreading his wings, the butterfly warrior released hypersonic waves that were so loud it made the fighters barely deaf. As the Big Blue Group clenched their ears against the soundwaves in pain, Duck Hunt tried to bury their heads in the snow because they were too sensitive to the noises. Just then, the duck and the dog were starting to generate pixels, and the pixels took shape into what appeared to be an 8-bit gunman, which he used his Western guns to shoot at Morpho Knight's wings, disabling the soundwaves. Once the fighters got up, they saw the gunman generated from Duck Hunt absorb back into the dog's body like it was nothing.

"Oh," Pit said. "Guess you really were a retro fighter…" When Duck Hunt heard the response, the duck and dog barked and quacked in praise. When the other fighters got up, they saw Morpho Knight struggling out of the deep snow, noticing he was grounded as he looked at his damaged wings.

"Suffer in damnation, you cowards!" Morpho Knight swore as he unsheathed his fiery sword and jumped into the air. The other fighters jumped into the air as they avoided the large beam that was emitted from the blade's slash. Morpho Knight got onto the ground before Marth and Ike could land a hit, and the butterfly warrior started clashing swords with the two blue-haired swordfighters, the fiery magma crystal clashing with the silver-tipped Falchion and golden-plated Ragnell. Duck Hunt then started rushing in, the dog pulling out a clay pigeon from the generating pixels and flung it into the air, flashing red symbols appearing as reticles for a strange, invisible Blaster. When Morpho Knight felt the pieces of stone fly onto his mask, he brushed off the dust and saw Marth and Ike before jumping out of the way.

Pit started flying in, firing his arrows with his metallic bow at the butterfly warrior. Then, Morpho Knight jumped into the air and charged towards the angel, but not before Pit launched himself at the warrior, splitting his bow in half into two blades and slashing Morpho Knight's mask off. The butterfly warrior, covering his face with his big gloves, turned away from the other fighters as they rushed towards him. Just then, he regenerated another mask before looking at the Big Blue Group.

"Do you think I'm through with you yet?" Morpho Knight asked. Suddenly, the butterfly warrior flew high into the air, beginning to draw in power. He started glowing red and split himself into four more copies of himself.

"He can replicate!?" Pit exclaimed. "That's so unfair!"

The Morpho Knight clones then gathered huge stones, flinging them at the other fighters. Everyone ducked out of the way, only to realize they were blocked off by what appeared to be pillars made from the rocks and the Morpho Knights jumping on top of them, ready to unleash a powerful strike.

"Everyone, destroy the rocks!" Lucario yelled, attacking the pillars. The fighters then started lashing their all at the stones before the Morpho Knights began to slash. There wasn't enough time to destroy the other three pillars as the three butterfly warrior clones hit the ground, making rocks fly everywhere before jumping into the air again. Once all the other fighters dodged the pillars, they saw the Morpho Knight that tried to break the pillar but noticed it was destroyed was trying to pull his sword out of the ground, and the other fighters started jabbing and punching him immediately like a sandbag. Once all the fighters dealt the final blow as the three clones started flying in, Morpho Knight crashed into the snow, his replicates disappearing into thin air.

"You are going to regret this day," Morpho Knight moaned, the other fighters walking towards him. "We'll find your friends and use them in unimaginable ways." The butterfly warrior then pointed towards Duck Hunt, R.O.B., Mr. Game & Watch, Bowser, and Wario. "As for the duck and dog, thanks a lot for betraying the Subspace Army, especially when you're friends with the original traitors." Getting up, Morpho Knight then unfurled his broken butterfly wings and teleported out of the area, leaving only a faint red-orange light where he last was.

"He said he's going to find Sonic and Meta Knight if it's the last thing he'll ever do," Captain Falcon said.

"Come on, then!" Pit exclaimed. "We gotta get to our friends quickly and tell them they're being hunted for this Smash Ball, whatever it is!" With Duck Hunt, the Big Blue Group continued running northwest, out of the snowy mountainside and into a deep forest.


Deep in the forest, where once was a paradise garden now stands a desolation of ashes from the Winged Firestorms. The Wolfen Assault Group journeyed deeper as they looked around, noticing there was more destruction everywhere.

"This looks terrible," Ness said. "I feel sorry for the poor creatures that didn't make the destruction out alive…"

"You're going to have to save your worries for later," Fox said. "Right now, we have to look for Sonic."

"Because you wanna tell him about leaving footprints in the ground doesn't work when you run faster than the speed of light?" Falco asked.

"No," Fox answered. "What I mean is we don't know why, but a lot of Subspace Army members are looking for him because – "

"We know, we know," Ganondorf interrupted. "Because of the fact that he's the only one outside all of us who was fast enough to avoid a trophy transformation. Do you think I don't know? You clearly remember I was first in command of the Subspace Army ten years ago. But what you didn't know was about the ones who were rejected before and are now probably in command right now…"

The fighters stopped in their tracks to understand what's going on and looked at the King of Darkness in question. "Whatever do you mean?" Falco asked.

"Sorry if I have to bore you with exposition, but I clearly remember the previous generals that were chosen to help the Ancient Minister in creating the Great Maze, back when we thought we were working for the Master Hand," Ganondorf answered. "His powers brought us here, and we were really deceived by Tabuu's given orders without even knowing it. Meta Knight was one of the trophies who was summoned because of the command of his ship. He told us that this could be the doom for us all, for he clearly knew the Master Hand would never take parts of our world for his own selfish needs, and someone else might be behind all of this. However, we only laughed in response and banished him from his ship, where he ended up in Marth and Ike's place. King Dedede knew about the situation that was going to happen and ran from us with a bag of strange looking brooches with his face on it, never to be seen again.

"There were only a few of us to be elected for command. I was chosen to organize the Ancient Minister's armies, Wario was made a bounty hunter with a trusty Dark Cannon at his side, and Bowser was made to look for the toughest in the fleet. He originally suggested the only spawn he ever had, but they had the King Koopa separated from his son for reasons unknown. Once those chosen for the original Subspace Army were picked out, everyone else was taken for use in the near future; in other words, they were immediately sent back to their homelands. One of the warriors walked up to me, determined that he should take my place."

"Any idea what this guy looked like?" Luigi asked.

"Hardly remember," Ganondorf continued, "except that he had long, silver hair and one wing sprouting from his right shoulder. His face and figure is all but a blank. He said to me, 'This is not fair, what you're doing. You are merely a reincarnation of an ancient demon long-lost in history. I am the eternal abyss, son of Loki's spawn Jenova, eldest sister of Fenrir and Leviathan. I can take control and build it up to the strongest army you have ever seen, if only you give up your place.' However, I was consumed by greed to take over Hyrule as intended, so I turned down his offer. Being rather pissed, he grabbed me by the neck, his glowing blue eyes shining through his thick locks. 'I will be in charge when you're gone,' he told me. 'The Subspace Army made their promises to bring us back one day, when the darkness falls. Every night that passes into day, the moon waits behind the land, eager for vengeance in its struggle against the light.' Then, he let me go and walked off with the rejected soldiers. I still fear the Subspace Army did keep their promises, as I noticed no one ever commands these monsters in such a way as they did."

"Sounds awfully similar to one of the guys that Lucas described," Ness said. "Did he do anything after you cast him aside?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Ganondorf answered. "The only thing he ever did was ship to us a large vessel of Smash Balls, legendary jewels fused with the powers of the stars, days after his rejection. Little did any of us know is that they have a mind of their own. They often contain memories of their creator's origin and they're really picky to call anyone's body their own vessel. They were hidden from our world and they have now found a way to communicate with us, but only through the bodies of trophies who havn't transformed into statues for ten years by one who hasn't been transformed at all."

"Sonic's the only one we know so far who hasn't been transformed into a trophy and still manages to keep his memories of our homelands and his," Fox said. "You don't probably mean he's possessed by one, do you?"

"Got that right, anthropromorphic creature," Ganondorf answered.

"Did you guys hear something?" Falco asked the group. The rustling of the trees swayed the branches above them with the black-red darkness behind the leaves. Then, the fighters saw what appeared to be a strange figure hopping back and forth, grunting with every jump. From the sounds the figure was emitting, the Wolfen Assault Group thought that that it was a woman, jumping to and fro. Once she landed on the ground right in front of the fighters, she stepped out of the shade, revealing herself. She had light-gray skin with dark-gray hair tied up in a ponytail, and she wore a blue sport bra with black yoga pants and bare feet. The other fighters saw how she looked whenever she stood upright, perfectly straight, pointing their weapons at her.

"Sorry if I arrived unnanounced," the strange woman said. "I think I'd like it better if you refer to me as the Wii Fit Trainer."

"What do you want from us?" Ganondorf asked her.

"Just for a little bit of fun," Wii Fit Trainer answered. "I'm merely a warrior forced to ally with the Subspace Army."

"Bounty hunter?" Fox asked. "You sure don't look like one, considering you're an ally from Tabuu."

"Don't be fooled by appearances," Wii Fit Trainer said. "I'm a lot stronger than I look, so don't kid yourselves. In the meantime, why don't we all relax with some hardcore exercising?"

"No one wants to fight, lady," Falco objected. "We dealt with it ten years ago. It won't happen again. All we want are just new allies to fight against Tabuu. Why don't we make a little deal?"

"Falco, are you crazy!?" Fox exclaimed. "You're gonna get yourself killed!"

"Patience, Fox," Falco said. "I'll find a way to get her of our backs."

"You do realize she's right in front of us, listening to every word we say?" Ganondorf remarked.

"Of course I realize it!" Falco answered. "Don't you see I'm trying to think of something? Anyway, Wii Fit Trainer, you sick of working for Tabuu?"

The light-gray skinned woman looked at the space gang leader, thinking about the decision she was about to come to. "Um, I don't know…" she answered.

"Listen," Falco said. "We're all sick of fighting each other, over and over, attacking whatever new faces seem threatening to us. You probably know that too, after ten years in isolation in this strange land. Why don't you just take a break and fight for the better good of this world?"

"Because… they're orders that I'm supposed to follow, no questions asked," Wii Fit Trainer answered. "I can't just simply… betray the Subspace Army."

"You got problems, you take a good look, girl," Ganondorf butted in. "I was fooled by Tabuu once and betrayed by him so that I can turn into a trophy. Don't tell me there's orders to follow from that coward!"

"That's not what I really meant," Wii Fit Trainer said. "I'm doing this because I have no choice. I'll join your stupid party, but only if you stop bothering me about pointless details."

"Deal," Falco said. "You're officially part of the Wolfen Assault Gang. Our mission: reunite back with our buddies southeast and find the third group we were stranded away from."

"What's that noise?" Fox asked. The fighters heard a low, rumbling sound appearing from the distance Wii Fit Trainer was spotted at. As the wind got stronger, the fighters all looked up to see a tough-looking general hovering in the air. He was clothed in red all over with a golden skull with wings on his cap, wearing a black cape, and his pupils and irises were missing from his blank white eyes. The stranger settled his feet on the ground, clenching his fists. When all the fighters saw who they were dealing with here, they readied their stances, all except for Wii Fit Trainer.

"Major Bison, leader of Shadaloo!" Wii Fit Trainer lamented. "I was not expecting you here. Please forgive me..."

"Enough of your precious lies, traitor," M. Bison boomed. "I know what you did, and you're planning on turning your back against the Subspace Army." The general then grabbed the light-gray skinned woman by the neck, tightening his grasp. The other fighters stood up against M. Bison, but the general told them to back off.

"Please let her go," Ganondorf said. "Whether she's the enemy or not, we don't want any harm done to her."

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the King of Darkness himself," M. Bison remarked. "I almost didn't even recognize that face. Remember the time when you were chosen to be in charge of organizing the Subspace Army? I remember, and every single one who lived to tell the tale…"

"Just as I feared," Ganondorf lamented. "There was a good reason why I turned away from the Subspace Army ten years ago. It was because of the fact I realized I was tricked by the Construct God. That doesn't mean I'm still getting used to having friends."

"Then you're probably rather weak," M. Bison said. "If you wish to see the Trainer alive, then you better do as I say: give me the one who has awoken the Smash Balls."

"We know who you're after," Fox said, remembering Sonic the Hedgehog. "We're not going to let you take him from us. He's the only thing we need to know about Tabuu and these Smash Balls."

"Last chance," M. Bison threatened, squeezing his fist and making Wii Fit Trainer choke. The fighters grabbed their weapons, ready to fight. "Give me the blue hedgehog or she dies."

"This seems all rather cliché, don't you think?" Falco asked. The fighters nodded in response, knowing about this rather familiar situation. "Someone makes a life-for-life deal, only to break it in the end…" When everyone stepped up to M. Bison again, Falco said, "Why should we even give up Sonic for Wii Fit Trainer? You're gonna have what you want and kill her anyway."

"Sad, but true," M. Bison chuckled. The general then tossed Wii Fit Trainer on the ground, causing her to crawl to the other fighters while catching her breath and correcting her body position. The other fighters then looked up to see M. Bison hovering in the air. Purple lightning sparked from his clenched fists as his blank white eyes looked down upon the Wolfen Assault Group.

"Now that you made it pretty obvious," M. Bison said, "I'll kill you all and look for the blue rat myself, and there will be nothing to stop me!" The other fighters then readied their weapons, challenging the red-clothed general.

"Psycho Crusher!" M. Bison yelled. He flew lower to the ground and made a forward punch with the purple sparks, but Pikachu and Yoshi managed to dodge it. Yoshi curled up into his egg form and rolled into the general, and Pikachu used Quick Attack, zipping in and out of place while leaving lines of electricity. Kirby and King Dedede then jumped into the air, with M. Bison following them high up in the air.

"Psycho Warp!" M. Bison yelled as he teleported in and out of place, a gravitational force field in the areas he appeared and disappeared out from. Kirby with his Cutter Sword created a blade beam with King Dedede throwing a Gordo, and the two of them launched several projectiles at the general. M. Bison managed to avoid them with his move but was crushed to the ground by a Gordo. Once M. Bison got up, he saw Diddy Kong, Fox, and Falco dashing and grabbing their guns.

"Headstomp!" M. Bison cried. The red-clothed general then jumped up into the air, falling headfirst straight down. Once the three animal fighters saw M. Bison falling, they managed to get off the ground, away from the falling general. Once M. Bison's head collided with the ground, he created a shockwave from the collision which spread across the forest, uprooting the smaller plants. Once all the fighters who were caught by the shockwave got up, Ganondorf, Luigi, Ness, and Wii Fit Trainer rushed towards the general, knowing that he was becoming weak from the impact.

"Psycho Punisher!" M. Bison flew up and charged a huge punch from the purple sparks in his fist. He was just about to land his most powerful hit on the fighters, but they jumped and attacked. Luigi used his Cyclone move, Wii Fit Trainer used her footbags and launched them at the general, and Ness used his PK Flash. Once the green entity hit M. Bison, the general was launched high into the air before crashing down to the ground. Before the general could even recover his strength, Ganondorf rushed in with a Warlock Punch, a move powerful enough to send M. Bison sky-high.

"This is not the end!" M. Bison cried as he blasted off, a small light flickering from the launch. The other fighters saw the Wii Fit Trainer getting up, who was cracking her spine with various poses.

"You got a little bit of forced conflict behind you, W.F.T.," Fox said. "You knew all along the enemy can't be trusted. We'll be wiped out of existence if we lose."

"Don't you think I know what happened to all those who had to surrender to Tabuu?" Wii Fit Trainer answered. "The Ancient Minister lost his people because of his negotiation with the enemy, from what I heard, and it was all Lord Ganondorf's fault they're gone."

"Listen," Ganondorf objected. "That was back when I thought I was working for the Master Hand for his promise of Hyrule, not even knowing the risk I put R.O.B.'s kind in. Forgive me if I was stubborn enough to even see the truth. When I found out I was tricked, I gave up working for the Subspace Army. Now I'm a wanted Gerudo. Didn't you hear M. Bison from before? You turned your back on them, so that means you're one of us now." The Wii Fit Trainer looked around, seeing all the new faces from the other fighters. The light-gray skinned woman then took a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders.

"So, I've heard you're looking for your friends, right?" Wii Fit Trainer asked.

"Mainly Sonic," Falco answered. "He has a Smash Ball, according to Ganondorf, which means he's on the run. Most of our friends are missing, others enslaved. It good to make sure that everyone makes it out okay, even if it means to risk feeling the sun's warmth again."

"Major Bison didn't just appear out of nowhere," Wii Fit Trainer said. "He had to have had a secret base around here."

"Secret base?" Ness asked.

"Yeah," Wii Fit Trainer answered. "Ten years ago, after the first defeat of Tabuu, some members of the Subspace Army survived to create hidden areas scattered all over Arcadia. There might be a high chance some of your friends are in there."

"Then we have no time to lose," Fox said. "We gotta reunite with our friends and prepare for the final battle." The other fighters then ran off, heading north to one of the secret bases which Wii Fit Trainer described.