Aboard the Legacy, the Falcon Flyer Group and the Wolfen Assault Group boarded the ship, and their landing triggered an alarm that awoke the guns set off by Validar, who was standing right in front of the rivals.

"Stand back… I'm warning you…" Validar trembled, "or I'll be forced to shoot!"

"This was all thanks to your defeat back at our homeland, isn't it?" Robin asked their enemy. "The way you're trembling, and the fact that Grima has possessed your soul…"

"SHUT UP!" Validar yelled as the two groups approached closer to him. The wimpy mage slipped and fell on his behind, trying to crawl away. "That Blight Ganon fusion monster I devised was pretty ingenious, was it not?"

"I think you stole someone else's idea," Ganondorf objected. "It was supposed to be planned by me during the attack ten years ago, but the Gunship, which it was built on, was destroyed in the progress."

"I'm giving you one last chance," Validar stammered. "If you don't surrender to me, I'll be forced to shoot-" Before Validar could finish, he didn't think twice of protecting himself with powerful magic, so he was knocked down easily by Ryu's Focus Punch. The guns then retreated back into the ship's hull, not firing anything at the intruding fighters.

"That was easy," Ryu scoffed.

"That was just the first line of defense," Falco then said. "There are enemies and traps waiting for us inside, so if we were to break in, we'll have to be ready for a heavy line of fire."

"Let's g-g-g-go, then," Luigi stammered, hugging Peach close. While the warriors broke down the only small door to get inside the Legacy, Pit was just about to follow them in, but a mysterious dragon snatched him, carrying him off. As the white-clothed angel saw himself straying farther from his teammates and closer to their actual destination – the Yggdrasil – Pit groaned and saw that he was being carried by a terrible beast: a red-skinned dragon not that of the Winged Firestorms.

"Rathalos!?" Pit exclaimed as the monster roared. "Lady Palutena warned me about you, and that you'll eat me once you land! Somebody help! Hear my prayers, Lady Palutena! I'm too young to die, even though I think I've lived over thousands of years! I never even learned how to reeeeeeeead!" As Pit was screaming for help, Rathalos kept flying through the black-red darkness towards the Yggdrasil.


Meanwhile, Indie emerged from the hull of the Legacy, grabbing Validar's unconscious body and, as he was slowly waking up, bringing him down to the control room, where Sephiroth and the Mii Fighter troops were waiting for him with anger on their faces.

"That was your last chance to prove that your loss at your homeland would not get in the way of doing what is important for the Subspace Army," Sephiroth growled as Indie got behind the one-winged angel, lashing his katana blade at Validar's face.

"Please… this is not my fault, I swear!" Validar trembled. "I didn't realize what a fool I was and I'm sorry for what I did-" Sephiroth then grabbed Validar by the neck, stroking the dull end of the blade across the mage's face.

"What you did was unforgivable," Sephiroth lashed. "I promise you pain without end…" Before Sephiroth was about to behead Validar, a mist of black smoke appeared in the room. The Mii Fighter troops looked behind them, and Sephiroth let go of Validar to see who this newcomer was. Lo, as the smoke cleared, a tall, pale man with white locks and small facial hair, black-and-red clothing and vampire fangs instead of flat teeth appeared out of nowhere. The stranger slowly floated towards Validar, making the black-clothed mage tremble.

"Please, allow me," the stranger replied in a peculiar accent. "My name is Dracula, the Lord of Darkness, and I have come for the worst teammate in your clan."

"What brings you here around these parts?" Sephiroth replied. Dracula then pulled out an Assist Trophy Capsule, balancing it on the base. However, since he was not one of the trophies of this world, touching the base had no effect on the item. Instead, Dracula gave the Assist Trophy Capsule to Sephiroth, letting him have it for safekeeping.

"Found it in your stash vault," Dracula said. "Give it to your leaders at the World Tree, but make sure they bring back my son Alucard, who was sealed off long ago by my mortal rivals, the Belmont clan. Assist Trophies show up at random, so make this new challenger count." Sephiroth tucked the Assist Trophy Capsule in his only raven-black wing, putting away his sword. Dracula then looked at Validar and pulled out Death's Scythe, grinning at him with darkened eyes. With a quick slash, the sound of gushing blood was spilt without a single scream, and Sephiroth and the Mii Fighter troops looked as Validar's now-dead body collapsed on the metal floor, showing a bleeding body and white eyes that lacked pupils to mark those as the people who have seen Death in person. Dracula then tucked the powerful weapon into his cape, looking at Sephiroth.

"He was pretty weak anyway," Dracula said. "Besides, don't you have two more teammates you can count on?" Indie floated right beside Dracula, looking like he was becoming less like himself.

"Give the guy a chance," Indie said. "I'm slowly losing more of myself through each passing day, starting with my fingers…" Instead of the usual blue shovel-tipped fingers that Indie originally had, there was mere black wisp in place. Sephiroth looked at Dracula for a while, thinking about his decision. Just then, the Subspace computer was receiving a call from Morpho Knight and M. Bison.

"Hey, Sephiroth," Morpho Knight said through the screen. "Just a heads up, we'll be waiting for you at the Yggdrasil, and you'll hopefully take care of the intruders aboard the Legacy." Sephiroth approached the computer, tapping on the keyboard without pressing the buttons.

"I'll be with you there," Sephiroth replied before getting ready to end the transmission. However, he suddenly remembered something. "What about Infinite? Are his replicas doing fine?"

"Last thing we've heard," M. Bison said, "Infinite was kicked out of the Kin when Meta Knight and Sonic were captured, and the Ultimates Reborn flew to the Yggdrasil. We haven't heard back from the Phantom Clones, though it seems the security footage says it all." M. Bison then brought up a camera screen, showing Sonic the Hedgehog, bound and gagged, kicking the Sephiroth Phantom Clone in the crotch while Meta Knight was rescuing Daisy, Lucina, and PAC-MAN. Mega Man and Inkling broke through the vent pipes just when the Phantom Ruby clone called in the Fighting Mii Team.

"Are they still on board?" Sephiroth growled.

"Alive and free as a butterfly," Morpho Knight answered.

"Find them and kill them," Sephiroth snarled. "I want you to make sure the ultimate power never wakes up." Both M. Bison and Morpho Knight nodded before the transmission ended itself. Sephiroth then looked at Dracula, sighing.

"You're in," Sephiroth said, "and hopefully you'll be better than Validar."

"I already am," Dracula replied. "While you were too busy focusing on the fighters, I took that Blight Grima of yours and transformed it into a familiar friend, one who's powers are more intense than any other monster and Assist Trophy."

"Which friend, exactly?" Sephiroth asked, transporting the Assist Trophy Capsule to the Ultimates Reborn with his powers. Dracula showed off a small grin, knowing something that no one else in the Subspace Army knew.


In the black-red darkness as purple lightning flashed, Rathalos, with Pit still struggling and crying for help in his claws, was flying towards the Yggdrasil, the waypoint to the Ruins of the Ancients. The young angel then pulled out Palutena's Bow, splitting it in half, and slashing at the monster's claw. As Rathalos was roaring in pain, the red-skinned dragon let go of Pit, and the angel was falling to what was presumably his death.

"Hopefully this works!" Pit cried, admitting he didn't think first before attacking. His wings were flickering with light as he tried to unleash his Power of Flight, wobbling as he was keeping his balance. However, it was too late, as Pit crashed through the roof of the Kin, which was coincidentally below him as it was approaching the landing pad of the Yggdrasil, crashing into people who were already below him through the control room, making the prison ship explode on impact. As Pit slowly rubbed his head, he saw what appeared to be his old friends Sonic the Hedgehog and Meta Knight, as well as five new faces: PAC-MAN, Daisy, Lucina, Mega Man, and Inkling.

"…Sonic? Meta Knight?" Pit groaned. Sonic's ears perked up to hearing a familiar voice, and Meta Knight rubbed his mask as he heard the sound too. The two fighters looked up to see Pit in a burning background, crying tears of joy. Happy with relief, Sonic and Meta Knight ran towards Pit, hugging him, glad to see him again.

"I thought you were dead!" Pit cried. "I thought they killed you and dragged the Smash Ball out of you!" The three fighters broke the hug, looking at the five newcomers on their team. Everyone looked at the fiery explosion, which was caused aboard the Kin, and from the ashes emerged the Sephiroth cloned from Infinite's Phantom Ruby, showing red-and-black pixels as he was very weakened. Eventually, the clone dissolved, showing Rathalos in the background, flying towards the Legacy. When the warriors turned around, they saw they were on the bottom floor of the Yggdrasil, a tall, black-and-neon colored building shaped like a tree, with orb-shaped leaves as central control rooms, and the tip of the tower, shaped like a giant eagle, perched on top, poking through the black-red clouds and serving as the command center.

"So, our objective is to get to the top of that tower, right?" Sonic asked everyone. "Disable the Yggdrasil, weaken the troops, and head over to the Ruins of the Ancients?"

"Seems like it," Mega Man replied. "Looks like we'll have no time to waste. Come on, everybody." The small team then ran through the main entrance, while Infinite, now on the ground, watched from afar, slowly getting up and recharging his powers.