*location skip
Sonic, Meta Knight, Bayonetta, Palutena, Dark Pit, Shulk, Lucas, Charizard, and Little Mac were grouped together, running through the dry, arid frontier, heading to the direction of Civiltatula, the city the blue rodent described.
"Are we there yet?" Lucas asked, slowing down in pace from exhaustion.
"We still have a long way to go," Sonic answered, "but we can take a break if you like."
"Yes, please," Lucas panted. However, Meta Knight walked in front of Sonic, his eyes giving off a slightly angry hue.
"Are you nuts?" Meta Knight then objected. "We are on the run from the Subspace Army, and you need to rest? Our enemies can't and never will rest until they have what they want."
"So, you're saying there's no time for breaks?" Sonic asked. "Y'know, you just need the time to sniff the flowers, as I always tell myself."
"How can I if we're stranded in the middle of nowhere where there's bound to be a lot of enemies spawning for no reason?" Meta Knight answered in the form of another question. "You're the only one who's bringing back the Smash Balls, regaining our memories. It's crucial we all work together to make sure the Subspace Army does not have what they want."
"And you're saying the fact that my existence is releasing the ultimate power which our enemies need to power the Subspace Bombs?" Sonic objected. "This is all kinds of confusing, even I don't seem to be following this…"
"Sonic. Meta Knight. Zip it," Shulk butted in, breaking up the argument. "Once we find out what kinds of crazy contraptions the Subspace Army is building with these blueprints, we'll be able to find out where they're making them and blow the place up. Simple as that, don't you think?" Sonic and Meta Knight then looked at each other with forgiveness, taking a look beyond the horizon in the direction they were heading off to.
"Since a war is never fair, and our enemies never take a vacation, I guess we should go through the Meta Knight route," Sonic answered. "It may not be the most logical – believe me, I know – but it's the only thing getting closer to reuniting with our friends." The blue hedgehog then pulled out the jar with the neon purple Shadow Bug named "Faker", taking a small glance at the tiny companion. Running off with a trail of dust, the other fighters started to follow him to their destination.
Thousands of miles above the black-red cloud coating all of Arcadia in darkness, a small, red-coated dragon called the Winged Firestorm Mini went lightning-fast into space, deep into the crystal-clear night sky, right in front of a rather large ship in the form of a futuristic castle powered by what appeared to be a glowing orb barely as dense and bright as the other stars. Inside the Winged Firestorm Mini, piloting the creature, were a series of Magikoopas and Hammer Bros., all lead by none other than the Koopa King's spoiled little son himself – Bowser Jr. – sitting in his Koopa Clown Car.
Watching tiny stars with what looked like eyes on their faces flinging themselves at the Winged Firestorm Mini, Bowser Jr. merely shook his head in disappointment.
"Uncle Sephy said I could have a little fun blowing up the Comet Observatory," Bowser Jr. said to himself, "and that's what I'm gonna do. Whatever it takes to reunite with my papa. Okay, boys! Fire when ready!" The Magikoopas started laughing when the Winged Firestorm Mini opened its mouth, napalm fire heating up in the back of its metallic throat. The giant fireball released landed right at the center of the spaceship's core, blowing up the Comet Observatory. Jewels shaped like stars flew out from the explosion, dropping through the black-red cloud waiting down below.
Coincidentally, Sonic and his team were at the same place the star-like jewels fell from the sky. As they looked around, they saw rainbow-glowing gems falling from up above, clearing the sky a little bit for them to observe the beautiful celestial bodies of space. Once the jewels touched the ground, they exploded into more gems shaped like stars. As the fighters looked above, they saw the Comet Observatory burning up in the atmosphere, turning into rubble. The rubble started landing around them like meteorites, iron-hot to the touch.
"Everyone, get out of the way!" Sonic yelled, pushing Palutena and Dark Pit out of the way followed by Lucas, Charizard, Bayonetta, Little Mac, and Shulk. Once everyone was hiding in a nearby cave, the blue hedgehog ran back to get Meta Knight, who had his legs trapped underneath one of the large pieces of rubble. Sonic started lifting it up as the last incoming debris was falling right above them.
"Go, M.K.!" Sonic groaned as his legs started wobbling from the excessive weight. "Run for cover!" Meta Knight flew into the cave as Sonic ran away from the collision just in time but couldn't back out from the shaking of the ground, which was so powerful it knocked him into the dry sand, rendering him unconscious. The last thing he heard were the voices of the other fighters from the cave, after the debris stopped falling from the sky.
Slowly waking up from the collision, he felt if the jar that was carrying Faker was still there unscratched, and it was. Giving a sigh of relief, he was trying to see what was tickling his nose at the time, waking him up. As he sharpened his vision, he saw a tiny, star-like being glowing yellow with large, black eyes, tapping the blue hedgehog's long, black nose with its stubby arms. His friends ran up to him just in time, trying to see if he's okay.
"Sonic!" Lucas said. "You all right?"
"Yeah," the blue hedgehog answered. As soon as Sonic got up and put the jar with Faker back in his quills, the star-like being started dancing like it was suspended in space, its squeaking voices echoing, relived of Sonic's survival with the catastrophe.
"What is that thing?" Pittoo asked.
"I have no idea," Sonic answered. "That was the first thing I saw when I woke up. I wonder what it's doing here." The star-like being was flailing its arms, almost as if it was terrified.
"By the way, buddy," Sonic asked the star-like being, "what do we call you?" The star-like being then started spinning in the air, creating waves of light that lasted long enough for the other fighters to read. Once the star-like being was finished, the waves of light read:
I am what you call a Luma. A terrible threat caused our home to explode like a supernova! Now, we have nowhere to live in the stars, and Mama's trapped and sleeping.
"Trapped?" Little Mac wondered. "Sleeping?"
"Where do we find your Mama?" Palutena asked the Luma. The star-like being started waving its arms, signifying the others to follow it as it flew off.
"Hey!" Sonic exclaimed. "Wait up!" The fighters started running after the Luma, following the thin streams of light. Once they were in the open, in the center of a huge crater were more of the Lumas - some red, blue, green, others white, black with blue eyes, or purple. The fighters then got into what the Lumas were protecting: a large, cyan-colored crystal with a sad girl trapped inside.
"That's your Mama?" Shulk asked. The yellow Luma nodded.
"How do we get her out of here?" Lucas asked. The Lumas started dancing around in waves of light, giving another message:
Maybe try breaking it. It could free our Mama…
"Break it, huh?" Sonic asked in wonder. Meta Knight unsheathed his sword, unleashing a flurry of attacks at the crystal. When the others saw what the Lumas meant by breaking the crystal, they started attacking, revealing cracks on its surface. Once Little Mac dealt the finishing blow, the crystal shattered into many pieces, unleashing a blinding light. After the light cleared, the fighters saw the sad girl trapped in the crystal was a mysterious woman with silky, blond hair. A long lock of it covered her right eye, which each one of them were a deep-space color and sparkled like the cosmos, and she was wearing a silver crown on her head. Her earrings looked like they were twinkling, and her dress was as blue as the waters of the earth. She was wielding a wand in her left hand, and she was slowly regaining conscious as she started sitting up in what remained of the crystal she was trapped in.
"Oh, dear," the woman said, her voice echoing like the Lumas. "I wasn't supposed to arrive here until another hundred years…"
"Well, we got you outta here," Sonic said. "Do you mind telling us your name for those who don't know, miss?"
"My name is Rosalina, protector of the galaxies and mother of the Lumas," the woman answered.
"So, do you mean you're a mother physically or mentally?" Sonic asked, the question having nothing to do with the situation.
"SONIC!" Meta Knight yelled angrily as Rosalina and the other fighters giggled.
"I guess you could say I'm both," Rosalina said.
"Nah, that's fine," Sonic replied. "Anyway, why was your ship falling from the sky?"
"The Comet Observatory's main core was destroyed," Rosalina answered, the yellow Luma cuddling up into its mother's arms. "Someone from this world has finally destroyed our home, even though we had no idea how we got here or where we came from… or how we became like this…"
"Well," Sonic said, "I know you were once a human girl when you first came across those Lumas, and…" Before Sonic was about to begin the story, the Winged Firestorm Mini roared before landing to the rubble. Hearing the rumbling, all the frightened Lumas disappeared into thin air except for the yellow one, who stayed close to Rosalina. Sonic and the other fighters then crawled out of the crater, noticing the red, robotic dragon. Then, Magikoopas and Hammer Bros. fell from the Winged Firestorm Mini's stomach, and they were all followed by Bowser Jr., who slowly glided to the ground in his Koopa Clown Car.
"Looks like I found the prisoners who escaped from the previous version of the Winged Firestorm Pro," Bowser Jr. said. "I wasn't expecting you guys to show up. I just wanted to see if the protector of the cosmos was still alive after I purposely destroyed her home for fun…"
"Don't get too soft, boy," Bayonetta interrupted. "Who the hell do you think you are?"
"I was the boy who was separated from his father for years to come," Bowser Jr. answered. "The kid who stayed away from his papa for ten long years, trying to finish what he started after his betrayal to Tabuu. Bowser Jr.'s my name, and you picked a bad time to disturb our invasion. I'll give you another warning: if you ever dare of stopping our attack on Arcadia, there will be consequences." Bowser Jr. then jumped into the Winged Firestorm Mini, and the Magikoopas and Hammer Bros. watched as the red dragon took off into the skies towards the city of Civiltatula. Shadow Bugs started raining from the sky, forming Spaaks, Tickens, Bytans, Bucculi, Auroros, Shaydas, and paper-thin but boogieboard-wide flounder-shark hybrids with long, whipping tails and a hundred eyes on their faces – Halicarptus – which dove into the ground and emerged with stretchy jaws that would swallow a victim whole and carry them deep underground to suffocate them from the pressure.
"Alrighty, guys," Sonic said to the new recruits. "Looks like we're taking the road to the city the HARD way." Sonic started running towards the Magikoopas and Hammer Bros., avoiding their magic beams and flying hammers. Once the blue hedgehog managed to get behind their backs, he kicked them into oblivion, followed by his spin-dashes that were hard to predict. Shulk used his Monado Arts to switch into Speed Mode, allowing him to run faster than the Shaydas were able to catch up to him. Dodging the Subspace monsters' slashes, the Bionis jumped into the air, using his signature Backslash to split their bodies in half between each of their two heads. Charizard rushed up to the Tickens, breaking their hard shells to reveal innocent baby chicks that flew out of harm's way, and Lucas used his Rope Snake to grab the incoming diving Auroros. Bayonetta went high into the air and started firing her Bullet Arts at the Spaaks, knocking them out of the sky. Little Mac and Meta Knight charged at the Bytans and Bucculi, unleashing flurries of attacks and jabs. Palutena tried jumping over the soft ground, for she knew that Halicarptus love swimming in there, and once one jumped out, she zapped them with her staff. Dark Pit fired his arrows from his Silver Bow at one Halicarptu, splitting its thin, stretchy body in two.
Sonic started running out of the dangerous part of the frontier just in time, but remembered his friends weren't as fast as he was when he saw they were still surrounded by a lot of enemies. The blue blur then started running faster than the speed of sound, beginning to curl up into a ball at the incoming enemies who all suddenly noticed him. Sonic started grinding into a few ancient pillars as some of the Halicarptus rammed into the hard stone since they couldn't actually swim through a solid surface. The blue hedgehog's friends got out of the soft sand and onto hard ground, Sonic jumped right in front of them, with the monsters chasing after him only to be crushed by the pillar. The only creatures that survived were the Halicarptus, who were squirming underneath the weight only to die seconds later. After the fighters noticed the bad-ass action Sonic preformed, they started applauding in wonder.
"Don't thank me," Sonic replied. "That's how I do my job around here." Once he took another step, he started feeling the pain from before, clenching his stomach. Worried about Sonic's health, Meta Knight and Rosalina ran to his side, with the yellow Luma hiding behind Charizard's wings.
"What's with him?" Rosalina asked Meta Knight while Sonic was groaning badly.
"He's going through another phase of the Smash Ball," Meta Knight answered. "We're going to have to back away from him slowly and figure out what he's seeing this time." After the fighters were backing off, Sonic stood upright, opening his white, glowing eyes once more.
After Sonic got up, he saw that he had the rainbow hue, glowing golden irises, and Smash Ball attached to his chest once more. He took the jar with Faker out of his quills, still thinking about how this is possible. Looking around, the blue hedgehog saw where he last left off – Hella with the very first Shadow Bug traveling to the Isle of the Ancients for answers of her long-lost past and why they were using her technology. As Sonic observed, the black-haired girl came from a long journey, holding the map she was carrying up to her face once in a while.
Time passed by ever since I started looking for the Isle of the Ancients before heading for the location of the Mii Fighters I somehow knew but never... really studied, Hella's voice echoed in Sonic's head. I had been travelling for weeks without the Master Core's acceptance, wandering the far corners of the land. I was growing tired, weary, and the only person I could ever talk to and share my feelings with was the Shadow Bug I created. The blue blur watched as the time with Hella sped up around him, and he wasn't moving at all as he watched her walk to her destination. Finally, after a long journey, Hella looked awfully exhausted.
I had been far away from the Arcadium for a long time, Hella replied. I suddenly came across a rather large mountain where the map said was the Isle of the Ancients. I felt like I was lied to, but I decided to not give up when I travelled so far. So, with all my strength, I climbed to the largest tree on the mountain at the very peak. There, I unpacked my stuff and took a deep rest. Sonic the Hedgehog started observing over the time the black-haired girl was sleeping, the mountain started to rumble. Taking off into the air, the mountain started lifting up, revealing what appeared to be hovering devices underneath. Buildings that were invisible at the time started fading into sight as the clouds seemed to lower themselves above them. The Shadow Bug in the jar at Hella's side watched as the mountain was beginning to float into the skies and tried to wake her up, but to no avail. After the rumbling stopped, Hella stirred up from her sleep after quite some time. The Shadow Bug was chirping signs of annoyance, and Hella calmed it down by gently rubbing the jar it was encased in. As the black-clothed warrior looked around, she suddenly saw what once appeared to be a mountain was actually a long-lost city.
I finally found it, staring with eyes of wonder, Hella said. The hidden city of the Isle of the Ancients, floating high above the clouds. Sonic watched as Hella got up from her resting spot and looked around her. The blue hedgehog then started following her around, the rainbow hue surrounding him trailing behind. Hella was looking around, admiring the chrome-colored buildings and futuristic technology lighting the pathways. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted what appeared to be a small R.O.B. simply walking out of the building. Noticing someone not of their kind is on the island, the robot started releasing loud beeps to signal anyone else to see what it sees. More robots that looked much like the small R.O.B. walked out of more buildings, trying to see what's going on. Sonic was in front of Hella at that time, but the R.O.B.s simply passed through him. As the blue hedgehog watched through the crowd of robots, he saw that they were looking at Hella and her Shadow Bug with curiosity. Just then, the R.O.B.s parted way for what appeared to be the lead robot, her head a white platinum with golden arms and a silver body. She was trying to communicate with Hella, but her own language consisted of only beeps in frequencies even Hella couldn't understand. Eventually, a cream-and-red colored R.O.B. brought to her a dark green cape with a thought translator attached to it. When the lead robot put it on, she managed to keep it snug.
"I'm not very good with introductions, human," the lead robot said. "I'm known by a lot of names, but you may call me the Ancient Minister."
"How come your city was disguised as a mountain?" Hella asked.
"We had kept our secret for years," the Ancient Minister said. "We recognized the technology you made for our survival."
"They're not much," Hella replied. "They're just made for random battles."
"Nonsense!" the Ancient Minister objected. "We were most pleased with your work."
"So, what you're trying to tell me is that you're thankful for my inventions to build machines to replicate the need for an increased life?" Hella asked.
"I guess if that's how you want to put it," the Ancient Minister answered. "Thanks to your devices, we have decided to treat you as a friend from now on."
"A… friend?" Hella asked. "That's nice. I mean… I've never really had a friend before, and I always fight with those I know…"
"That's alright," the Ancient Minister answered. "We'll be having a party at the Great Hall for thanking you for your inventions." As time passed, the Ancients were setting up a banquet and treating Hella as the guest of honor. There was music and food beyond anything Sonic could imagine, and even though he was viewing this through a memory he was a little hungry…
After the hours had passed, Hella with the Shadow Bug in her pocket was walking with the Ancient Minister through the courtyard, admiring the view from on high.
"So..." Hella asked, "about your voices, how come you never actually talk?"
"We communicate through special understanding only we could read," the Ancient Minister said. "It wasn't until your inventions helped us talk to other species better."
"Maybe you wouldn't be needing those doohickeys once you find another kind who reads your language…" Hella resounded.
"Maybe…" the Ancient Minister replied. "Anyway, what brings you here to the Isle of the Ancients? Is it because you want the inventions you have back?"
"No, no," Hella answered. "I finally see you're happy with my little toys. It's just that… I am one of the many species who was supposedly abducted from my homeland and transformed into a trophy, which would remove all memories of anyone's past. I was eavesdropping on the Master Core and told someone to bring both my technology and the past knowledge of anyone in this land to the Isle of the Ancients…"
"I think you may have misheard him," the Ancient Minister said. "We don't have the knowledge that you seek. However, there is a more elderly species far away from here. They are called the Mii Fighters, based off beings from other universes. Deep in their city is the Chamber of Secrets. There, you will find who you truly are. However, once this vast knowledge is read, you will never be the same again. The land of the Mii Fighters is hidden in the pit of Ginnungagap, the area where Muspelheim – the fire – and Niflheim – the ice – meet. The map to the land of the Mii Fighters is hidden in the stars. Follow the Northern Star, which is so bright it even shines during the day, and you will never lose your location."
"Thank you so much, Ancient Minister," Hella answered, tucking the Shadow Bug into her pocket. "There are some blueprints left on your table, so you can use my technology for yourselves. I promise I'll come back to visit sometime. Anyway, how do I get down from here?"
"With your inventions of teleportation, of course," the Ancient Minister answered. With a rather large cannon, the robot shot her, warping her out of the Isle of the Ancients. When Hella woke up, she found out she was back in the land of Arcadia where the mountain she visited before once was, and she remembered to follow the Northern Star to the land of the Mii Fighters and find out everything about herself. Walking out of the woods and into the uncharted territory, the black-haired girl was sketching the new areas and creatures she founded along the way.
From A to Z, Hella's voice rang as Sonic watched her travelling, I found new species that were submissive to my will – Armank, Armight, Auroros, Autolance, Bombed, Borboras, Bucculus, Buckot, Bytan, Cymul, Feyesh, Floow, Gamyga, Glice, Glire, Glunder, Greap, Mite, Mizzo, Nagagog, Poppant, Puppit, Roader, Roturret, Shaydas, Shellpod, Spaak, Ticken, Towtow, and Trowlon. I charted and observed each creature on how they behaved, understanding the ways of the wild. During my long journey, I was starting to remember heading back to the Arcadium to prove the Master Core wrong about us after I completed my quest to follow the Northern Star.
Eventually, Sonic the Hedgehog saw Hella stumble into an empty land, where it was filled with nothing but icy-cold waste. The wind was blowing almost as powerful as a hurricane, the large crystals slicing and bruising the girl's soft skin. The map that Hella was holding onto at the time started to shred into pieces, and the sky was so foggy even the Northern Star couldn't shine through the blanket of the snowy clouds. Her Shadow Bug companion started shivering and sneezing, cuddling up next to Hella for warmth in her pocket.
"Where am I supposed to go!?" Hella cried. "I feel like I've been walking around in circles. I'll die here… The Master Core was right. I was too careless in my actions and so damned myself…" The black-haired girl started weeping, with Sonic walking right up to her side, the rainbow hue the only thing illuminating the thick, icy fog. Just then, a spark of fire flew right past her face, followed by a series of more sparks. Hella wiped away her frozen tears to find out there must be some generator of warmth around here. Walking towards where the sparks got brighter and holding her breath from the incoming smoke, Hella saw huge bursts of flames gushing out from special pillars. When Hella looked around, she observed the snowstorm colliding with the sandstorm. She saw the fire and ice then swirl around on another before being sucked into a hole larger than anything she's ever seen, and above the pit was the Northern Star shining the light on top of the two areas.
"The place where fire and ice meet," Hella said to herself. "Ginnungagap! I found it!" Geysers of hot and cold erupted from the mouth of the pit and scrapped her left arm, both freezing and burning her a little. Hella backed away from the pit, trying to see where she can find a way into the land of the Mii Fighters. As Hella was trying to think of a way in, the colossal pit started shaking, and the land underneath the black-haired girl's weight collapsed. Hella felt that she was falling, and she started screaming in terror that she was falling to her doom. Sonic jumped in, feeling the fire and ice flowing around him but not do any physical harm to him. Once Sonic got onto the ground, he saw Hella lying unconscious, surrounded by strange, exotic plants. She slowly stirred up, feeling the Shadow Bug she made was still in the jar in her pocket. There was artificial sunlight generated from the fire of Muspelheim, and many of the plants had that icy texture of Niflheim. Trees and flowers that Sonic thought were extinct thrived, and the fresh air breathed through in small gusts. Hella was in an entirely new land hidden deep below Ginnungagap.
The rustling of the plants disturbed the silence, encouraging Hella to bring her guard up. She started to carry her weapon, looking around the new environment she was in. Emerging out of the bushes, a Mii Brawler wrapped around in a ragged tunic emerged, followed by a Mii Swordfighter wearing a leopard's tunic and a Mii Gunner clothed by a giant leaf. Their weapons consisted of rocks for the Brawlers, sharp, hard leaves for the Swordfighters, and ancient plasma for the Gunners.
"Stay where you are, outsider!" the Mii Brawler spoke. "You dare invade our homeland when we were safe for many years to come?"
"I- I'm sorry," Hella muttered. "It's just that… I wanted to visit your ruler and ask for your knowledge…"
"You seek us for our knowledge?" the Mii Gunner said. "Intruder from the surface, we'll be taking you to the Ultimates for interrogation." They eventually grabbed some rope and tied Hella's hands in front of her body, dragging her to their city. As Hella was observing, she saw the land didn't look or feel like an all-knowing nation. She looked around, seeing the tons of Miis that didn't even become Fighters swinging through the vines on the trees next to their stone huts. Hella was then placed in front of the three Ancient Ultimates, who were cloaked with black star leaves.
"What brings you here to our secret land, outsider?" the Swordfighter Ancient Ultimate said.
"She was found beyond our borders, looking for the vast knowledge we contain within these walls," the Mii Brawler said.
"I wasn't looking for any harm," Hella objected, struggling with the bondages. "I was only travelling, hoping you could unlock the secrets to my long-lost past…"
"Your persuasions don't seem to have that kind of effect on us," the Brawler Ancient Ultimate said, gently grinding his stone fists together.
"If you please don't arrest me," Hella explained, "let me tell you why I came here."
As the time had passed, Hella's voice rang out in Sonic's head, I told the Mii Fighters about my residency with the Master Core and the fact that I needed their knowledge to find out who I really am. As a bonus, I promised to make their nation better than before, for I saw that they were living in toil and torment.
"Say no more," the Gunner Ancient Ultimate said, releasing Hella from her bondages. "We'll be taking you to the Chamber of Secrets. But be careful: this vast knowledge is not meant to be looked at by anyone, for anyone who reads them will run in fear of who they truly are…" The three Ancient Ultimates each placed their left hands on the edges of their thrones, opening a passageway that extended deep underground in the center of the room.
"Good luck…" the three Ancient Ultimates said. Hella took the long staircase down into the pit, looking around the damp, empty chasm. Sonic was slowly walking behind her, trying to find the all-knowledge in the Chamber of Secrets. Finally, right in front of her, Hella found the collection of scrolls and books in front of her that the Mii Fighters have saved over the many years. They were all listed in alphabetical order, each one with every name in all of Arcadia. Hella started viewing in the "H" section of the collection because of the first letter her name started with. Once she finally found a scroll that started with her name – only one – she started to open it and began to read. Turns out she discovered it was a note taken from the Master Core herself.
I was pretty alarmed when I discovered the Master Core himself wrote down most of this information about all of us, Hella's voice echoed through Sonic. Nonetheless, the note read, "Hella is by far one of my most prized possessions. She is my favorite character and deserves to be treated equally, like all of the other fighters. However, my bondage to Ragnarokk prevented me from doing so. Hella was also a part of me, and she was on Ragnarokk's side for using ultimate power to create a land where everyone could get along. When I couldn't handle it anymore, I split myself from Ragnarokk, leaving only Hella behind. She was the one who had all the order, I had all the power, and I knew I had to do something to keep her away from my domain. If I didn't have, it could lead to an all-out war involving imprisoning me. To protect her, I stripped her of her true powers, transformed her into a trophy to wipe away her memories, and made her think she was one of the brave warriors I created. I hope she never finds out, and even then, I already know I can't kill her… for we were once whole…"
Hella was surprised that she was lied to this whole time, how she was stripped of her ultimate power, how the Master Core didn't kill her when he had the chance. Lowering her head, the black-haired girl tucked the scroll in her pocket, the Subspace tattoo on her left arm exposing. She walked out of the Chamber of Secrets in front of the three Ancient Ultimates, bowing her head in thanks.
"Were you shocked to find out the truth?" the Brawler Ancient Ultimate asked.
"Oh, no…" Hella answered in nervousness. "Not at all. Really, I'm fine. So… do you think you could warp me back to the Arcadium with some sort of special device, if you have one?" The three Ancient Ultimates clapped their hands, and the Mii Fighters presented to her a special elixir glowing green. Once the cork popped off, Hella could smell a faint, apple-scented flavor emitting from the peculiar juice.
"Once you drink the whole elixir," the Swordfighter Ancient Ultimate said, "you'll fall into a deep sleep, making us easier to carry you back to your home, making the long journey back seem like just a dream." Hella then took the elixir and slowly drank it. Once the bottle was empty, she felt awfully woozy, beginning to yawn as the Mii Fighters placed her on a leave-woven bed and started to carry her to the outside world.
When Hella woke up, she found out she was back in her lab, and her Shadow Bug was still in its jar carried in her pocket. She slowly got up, taking out the scroll she had with her the whole time, reading it word-for-word again, wondering if she really did have long-lost abilities more powerful than the Master Core? If she was so weak before that he had the chance to turn her into a weak trophy? If she could do something to treat all fighters equally? After she walked out the door of her lab, she found out the Master Core himself was right in front of her, with the Swarms forming the structure of a human man.
"You've been away for quite a long time," the Master Core said.
"I had to find out who I was," Hella answered. "To see how much we can learn from ourselves…"
"By befriending the Ancients and the Mii Fighters?" the Master Core objected. "To help make their lives better? You seriously don't think I can't see and hear everything across this land? I should have never planned this future when I created Arcadia…"
"I told you before, old man," Hella replied, the Master Core standing in front of her. "Sometime soon, people are gonna be waking up and finding out who they really are, and there will be nothing to stand in your way. Had it not been for me, you would've been abducting warriors from other lands and erasing all memories of their past lives by now. But I guess that wouldn't really matter, considering the fact you ARE dragging warriors from their homelands…"
"Had it not been for you, Arcadia would never exist," the Master Core answered. "You know how much I dearly care for all of the fighters in this land, and I was doing it all for you without you even realizing it…" The Master Core started holding Hella in his arms, his snake-like arms wrapping around her chest. Hella then pushed him away, thinking that something isn't right.
"This… this all seems like a lie," Hella replied. "If you really cared for everyone and wished you were one right now, then I might ask you to give up being taboo. No one should ever have that unlimited power…"
"Give up being taboo?" the Master Core asked. "But I need that power to make sure you all live equally. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"Yes, but," Hella answered in objection, "this is not what I asked for… If you really cared, you would have given those who have been abducted back their memories and a way back to visit their worlds once in a while."
"Memories are dangerous for warriors new and old," the Master Core objected. "The pain they went through is not allowed in my world. Here in Arcadia, we remove all of the suffering and the consequences. What you did is make the rules of this world even worse by bringing order and change after reading that scroll." The Master Core then yanked the scroll out of Hella's hands, burning it into ashes with his magic. He then grabbed the Shadow Bug that Hella was keeping with her and crushed the jar with his hand with the creature trapped inside.
"Tomorrow morning," the Master Core said, "I'll be creating a new city called Civiltatula, the world where every creature could live under my rules and not yours."
"You say that there is no purpose on leading a successful life for all," Hella objected. "It's you who never chooses to change. Aren't you the REAL villain here?"
"Enough, Hella," the Master Core answered. "Tomorrow morning, I'll be taking you into the Arcadium, giving you the death penalty."
"But… you said trophies can't die," Hella objected.
"Well, who says that when you discover you and your master were once one?" the Master Core asked, the black-haired girl trembling as the Swarm-made figure walked out her lab door.
"One day," Hella said, "the Goddess of Oblivion will return, and I'll be making the perfect world in her honor, and I'll make sure all of the fighters stay secluded to my orders. Besides, you clearly said, in the scroll, that you can't kill me because you can't exist without me?"
"I can make sure you don't rise again when I finish your life," the Master Core said. "The land is constantly changing with your actions, and every law is altered. Goodbye, Hella…" Transforming into a giant cloud, the Master Core left the front of her lab house, leaving the black-haired warrior to sit alone.
With the thought that she's part of an all-powerful goddess.
She gently picked up a piece of the fractured jar with her very first Shadow Bug, the small tears reflected on its transparent surface. Looking down on her arm, she saw the Shadow Bug she made rub her cheek before disappearing into the walls, never to be seen again. Filled with rage, anger, jealousy, and unforgiveness, she stood up, thinking about a plan for changing the rules of the world.
"I can't do this alone," Hella said to herself, Sonic watching from afar. "What the Master Core has that I don't is an army of his own. He could command every trophy to turn against me, no questions or objections asked. I gotta get help." She then took out a communicator and started to contact her best friend, the Ancient Minister. The display screen started flashing green, revealing the lead R.O.B. answering the communicator.
"Hello, Hella," the Ancient Minister said. "Is there anything I could do to help?"
"I'd like you to contact the Mii Fighters," Hella answered. "Give them the best equipment you've built. I'll be going out into the wilderness on my hyperdrive hover pack to collect certain creatures to aid us. Before I leave, I'll be making more Shadow Bugs to form into beings just like the Master Core can do."
"What are you saying?" the Ancient Minister asked in slight fear.
"We're in a war," Hella answered before shutting off her communicator. After those events, Sonic the Hedgehog saw everything going white, eventually flashing before his eyes. When the blue blur woke up, he suddenly realized he was right in front of the city of Civiltatula, where the futuristic buildings were an eerie black opal, the lights flashed many different colors, and the rain poured its heaviest. Deep within the city, Primids with multiple red eyes, useless wings, and bleeding mouths were dominating the streets, walking around like an apocalypse of the undead. Many of the creatures Sonic had encountered before were all there, simply idling around like there was no one to intrude them. As the blue hedgehog looked up in the black-red sky, he saw the Winged Firestorm Mini fly into what appeared to be the tallest building in the city.
"Wonder where all my buddies went?" Sonic asked. "Either they were way ahead of me when I was vision-walking, or they're WAY back where I first appeared." As Sonic looked behind himself, he saw the rest of his gang running towards him, alarmed that they found him. The blue hedgehog ran back to the group, panting after all that running.
"Well?" Meta Knight asked. "What did you see in that vision?"
"I kinda figured out something," Sonic answered. "It seemed like there was some sort of ancient being called Ragnarokk, the Goddess of Oblivion, and apparently, the Master Core and Hella were once one. She found out about herself, befriended the Ancients and the Mii Fighters…"
"Did the vision mention anything about the Smash Ball?" Lucas interrupted, followed by Charizard nodding.
"Not that I know of," Sonic answered. "Anyway, it looks like we're just about here at our destination – Civiltatula, the City of Monsters and Nightmares."
"Are you sure we'll find someone in there who can understand these blueprints?" Palutena asked the blue blur.
"If there's anyone left in there, maybe," Sonic answered. "All we need to do is find someone who at least reads our language and understands the speech that is in the blueprints, even if he or she can't speak the common tongue…"
"Whoever's in there," Bayonetta chirped, "we'll be needing their help in the incoming invasion. New monsters just spawn out of nowhere, and the previous monsters you've encountered are even worse than ever. Wonder why…"
"I dunno either," Sonic answered. "Any moment now, the Subspace Army probably snagged some copies of the original blueprints. We've gotta find someone in there and fast." Sonic, Lucas, Charizard, Little Mac, Shulk, Bayonetta, Palutena, Dark Pit, Meta Knight, and Rosalina with her Luma ran towards the border of one of the most dangerous territories they've ever set foot in – Civiltatula.
