After minutes of walking up a mountain, trying to take shelter from the Shadow Bug storm, Kirby, Piranha Plant, and Faker followed the Great Sage and Amaterasu to what appeared to be a small sky pirate ship, linked to land by a wooden bridge. Lanterns filled with fireflies were stringed alongside its rusty hull, and its air-powered engine in the back of the ship was producing a bit of smoke but still functioning fine. A glowing blue, semi-transparent, half-sized Spirit was hovering in the air thanks to a rather large balloon tied to his back. Once he put away the binoculars he was carrying, noticing the two Spirits returning with survivors, he popped the balloon on his back, sticking a rather nice landing on the deck despite having fallen from a pretty tall height.

"Kooloo-limpah!" the Spirit asked Amaterasu and the Great Sage. "Who dares pass through the borders of the Forgotten Resistance!?"

"It's us, Tingle," the Great Sage sighed, keeping Kirby, Piranha Plant, and Faker close to herself.

"Prove it, intruders!" Tingle yelled. "What's the secret password?"

"We had no secret password ever since we found this ship," the Great Sage replied. "You should have remembered it, unless you're an idiot…"

"Oh!" Tingle replied with a joyous expression. "I guess I kinda forgot. Please, do come on board. We were just departing." The five travelers then walked across the wooden bridge onto the deck just in time, for the ship slowly pulled up the wooden bridge and lifted off into the air, away from the mountain and the black-red storm cloud.

After what felt like a minute, the rusted ship was outside of the Shadow Bug storm in no time, floating high above the land while underneath the clouds and the afternoon sun. While on the deck, Faker noticed both Kirby and the Piranha Plant run to the sides of the ship, amazed by how big the World of Spirits truly was. The brown-skinned woman then walked next to the two fighters, looking at the view from up above.

"Wow," she said with a breathtaking voice. "I've never been up this high, and already I'm terrified of this height…" The Great Sage then waved her hand, getting the attention of Piranha Plant, Kirby, and Faker.

"Now, if you want to take a tour around the Undying Light, feel free to do so," the Great Sage told the trio, with Amaterasu nuzzling her face into the Mii mage's robe.

"I can be your guide around here," Tingle spoke up, hopping up and down. "I can give you a little advice on what's what and who's who." Later on, the three adventurers were following Tingle through the ship. Just then, a semi-transparent, glowing-blue Mabu pilot named Flynn arrived on the scene.

"Hiya, Tingle," Flynn spoke. "Mind if I take over for a while and join in with the others to help fix us dinner? I've been driving this thing and I haven't eaten in hours."

"Can do," Tingle answered, saluting the tall Mabu pilot. Tingle then ran off, leaving Kirby, Piranha Plant, and Faker with Flynn.

"Afternoon, new recruits," Flynn spoke. "My name is Flynn, and I'll be your substitute tour guide around the Undying Light." The Mabu pilot then walked off, with Kirby, Piranha Plant, and Faker walking with him.

"As you can see here," Flynn continued, walking through the power rooms where everyone was fixing and cleaning, "this ship may not look like much, but we love calling it a home. We've got all sorts of Spirit friends for you to make, like Professor E. Gadd, working on the boilers…"

"How are you doing?" E. Gadd spoke, wiping the ashes off his glowing-blue elderly face.

"We've got Sticks the Jungle Badger…" Flynn continued, pointing at a glowing-green, anamorphic, brown-coated badger that looked like she was a friend of Sonic's, searching for wrenches and bolts in a rather large toolbox.

"What's good!" Sticks cheered, waving her hand as she continued searching through the tools.

"We've also got a few several others, waiting to meet you on the ship," Flynn continued, Faker amazed by the small crew while Piranha Plant and Kirby looked around.

"Flynn!" a British voice spoke out from the only hole up to the cock pit. Jumping down without using the ladder was a semi-transparent, glowing-red woman, a purple wig on top of her head and an electric guitar behind her back.

"Enough with the lollygagging and get back to swabbing the deck," the woman spoke with a rather strong accent, tossing the Mabu pilot a mop and soapy water-filled bucket. "We've got to make this ship presentable for our guests, since they'll be staying for a while…"

"Aye-aye, Captain Barbara!" Flynn spoke, saluting her. After the Mabu pilot ran off, the three adventurers looked at the glowing-red Spirit, though she wasn't surrounded in that rainbow aura like all the others.

"Sorry for intrusions," Barbara spoke. "My name is Barbara the Bat, and I suppose Flynn showed you around parts of the ship?"

"We were just getting acquainted," Faker answered. "After all, the Great Sage and Amaterasu helped bring us on board…"

"Truly a woman like you is too revealing, especially with that… thing… on," Barbara objected, noticing the clothing Faker was wearing. "Jill!" A small, glowing-green, pink-haired girl climbed down the ladder to the cock pit, ready to accept orders from the guitarist.

"Take the black-haired stranger to the room where she'll be staying in," Barbara told Jill. "Afterwards, get her a presentable uniform and some hot food…" The glowing-green Spirit nodded her head, walking with Faker to the brown-skinned woman's room.

"Be careful, Kirby!" Faker called out to the pink puffball. Afterwards, both Kirby and Piranha Plant turned their attention towards Barbara, ready to learn more about the ship they're on.

"Anyway, I suppose I'll introduce you to the rest of the crew," Barbara spoke as both the Spirit and the two fighters walked around the ship.

"I'm sure you've been acquainted with people like Tingle and E. Gadd," Barbara spoke, followed by Piranha Plant and Kirby nodding.

"The rest of the gang shows us with common Spirits like Saki Amamiya, the Excitebikes, Kat & Ana, Mr. Resetti, Ray MK III, Magnus, Infantry & Tanks, Elec Man, Kururin of his own vehicle Helirin, and Lakitu with his Spines," Barbara continued. "This airship may not look like it, but it's fitting all of these members in here, with us Assist Trophies as commanders, as well as a few select others…" Kirby and Piranha Plant each rubbed their heads, confused when Barbara introduced herself and most of the Undying Light's crew as "Assist Trophies".

"I suppose I should explain all this," Barbara continued. "You see, back during the accident at the Yggdrasil, all of our prisons have been broken, giving us a chance to escape. However, unlike few of our friends, none of us had the chance for another fighter to hold up our trophy bases, so all that remained were our, well, Spirits. When Galeem arrived on the scene, he took control of us, forcing us to do his bidding. Some of us escaped and formed the Forgotten Resistance, but the rest were not so lucky, including all of those summoning Pokémon…" Kirby shook his head, suddenly realizing that so much has changed around here.

"Well, as you can obviously see," Barbara continued, "we are just normal Spirits. In this world, there are four classes of Spirits each person is ranked to, according to Galeem's rule – Novice, the blue-colored, Advanced, the green-colored, Ace, the yellow-colored, and Legendary, the red-colored. Each four of these classes is ranked from weakest to strongest, and what defines them is whatever powers they grant. However, Spirits are also split into two categories: Normal and Master. The Normal Spirits, as you can see, physically interact with the world around them, and can even pass through solid objects at will, even if they are lacking a body to complete them. The Master Spirits, on the other hand, are identified with the rainbow auras around them. They are basically the same as the Normal Spirits, but they can only interact with the world around them through possessing a vessel. Some of the citizens of this world have reported to seeing Master Spirits take full control over different living things, though we have only been able to find out so much about the Novice, Advanced, and Ace Master Spirits. The more powerful a vessel, the higher chance a better-ranked Master Spirit has of possessing said vessel. The Normal Spirits can combine powers with the Master Spirits, granting the living vessel bonus items and immunities. However, we don't know anything about the Legendary Master Spirits, outside of the fact that they simply… exist, even though we don't know who or what they're possessing, but that's all we know for now..."

The dinner bell suddenly rang, and all the Spirits gathered around with the only two fighters on the resistance. Tonight's special was thankfully a bowl of Superspicy Curry, which was also Kirby's favorite outside of the Maxim Tomatoes, and Tingle was serving it up. As the Spirits were dining on the delicious food, with the Helirin pilot, Kururin, outside of his vehicle, the Piranha Plant was also enjoying the meal, lapping it up and spilling some of the hot dinner on himself. While the Spirits were laughing with the Piranha Plant making a mess out of himself, Kirby simply sat there, depressed, not even touching his food. Sticks noticed the pink puffball wasn't eating and noticed that she could try helping cheer up the fighter.

"Aw, come on, you little goofus!" Sticks said with a cheery voice, pinching Kirby's red cheeks. "What's getting you down?" The other Spirits noticed Kirby was sad, with the Piranha Plant even attempting to find out what's going on.

"You think the little guy is alright?" Flynn asked.

"It's probably his first time here," Barbara answered. "He must be homesick."

"Highly doubt it," the Great Sage objected. "The Piranha Plant sure is having a good time hanging out with us."

"Then it must be because of the little guy getting lost," E. Gadd spoke.

"Think that kid was kicked out of whatever club he belonged in," Mr. Resetti answered.

"Maybe it's the fact that no other place was good enough for him," Magnus guessed.

"Or a terrifying monster came out of nowhere and attacked him," Kat answered.

"It could be," Ana agreed. "My twin sis and I can obviously tell by the wounds Kirby is sporting…"

"Or maybe it's because of the fact that this little pink puffball here was the only one to escape from a dreaded event that involved his friends going mysteriously missing or even killed, making him all alone in this big, empty world?" Sticks asked. The other Spirits were shocked by the final answer the jungle badger came up with, especially Kirby and the Piranha Plant. Tears then swelled up in the pink puffball's eyes as soon as he suddenly remembered what happened to his friends. Sobbing over the fact that he's all alone, Kirby placed his stubby arms over his eyes, jumping off his seat and running out of the dining room. Faker, who was walking in just in time, felt a crying Kirby run past her as she went to meet with the other Spirits.

"What's wrong with him?" Faker asked, the black-haired, brown-skinned woman fully dressed in war clothing. Her uniform looked like it was made out of an opal dragon's hide, with her cape shaped out of the reptilian wings. Her boots and gloves resembled the claws, and she was sporting the horns attached to her head. On the side of her waist, a long sword shaped out of a dragon's tooth hung by her side, and she was still wearing the charm she had before.

"Kid's crying after Sticks guessed what happened," Barbara explained.

"What?" Sticks asked. "It was a lucky shot… wasn't it?" Faker then sighed, sitting down in Kirby's seat. She then pulled out the photograph Kirby had with him, sliding it to the middle of the table.

"This is the main reason why he's on the ship," Faker replied. The Spirits looked over the table, noticing the picture was taken ten years ago thanks to the fact that the permanent marker reading "Smash Bros. 2008" was printed clearly on the paper. The picture showed off most of Kirby's friends during that time, and the Undying Light's crew understood what was going on.

"It just isn't the same without his friends," Faker continued. "He misses them so much that I even see him cry over them…" The Spirits then looked at each other, wondering what they could do to cheer up Kirby.

"It's settled," Professor E. Gadd finally spoke up. "First thing tomorrow morning, we'll be preparing the new members of the ship with the best equipment we could come up with, dropping off Kirby and his companions onto the land of Gallia, assisting them once they're ready."

"I agree," Barbara spoke. "Let's get started, asap." Agreeing in unison, the Spirits were shaking hands with each other, along with Faker taking the photograph with her outside of the room. Meanwhile, the Piranha Plant noticed the brown-skinned woman walking off to her assigned bed, thinking about the pain Kirby was going through. Amaterasu, who was laying down on the floor this whole time, gnawing on some fresh elk meat, looked at the carnivorous flower. Shaking her head, the white wolf then pointed her muzzle at the door, signifying the Piranha Plant to follow Faker. Walking out as soon as the Spirits left the dining room, the fighter walked out with Amaterasu, traveling through the steel halls in the cold of the night.

As time had passed, Faker was asleep in her room, the dragon armor off her as she was only shown in a white tank top and shorts. While the brown-skinned woman was dozing off heavily, she was suddenly hearing voices as her charm suddenly started glowing with rainbows.

"This is terrible," one voice spoke. "The fact that we're forever cursed to roam this multiverse in exile while Galeem's men do terrible, unspeakable things to our bodies is killing me."

"I agree with you right there," another voice spoke. "Hopefully Kirby knows what to do in time."

"Speaking of the pink puffball, I may not be the only one who believes he's going to bring us back," a third voice replied. "I know it. We just have to buy him time. That's all we really need..." Faker then slowly woke up to those sounds, wondering who's in the room with her. As soon as she turned her head to the left side of her body, she silently gasped in horror as she saw the friends Kirby was referring to: Mario, Link, Fox, Marth, Sonic, Cloud, every fighter that was with Kirby at one point. All of these memorable characters have become Fighter Spirits: semi-transparent warriors that have kept their original form and color but are surrounded by a rainbow aura. As Faker looked at Kirby's previous friends, she noticed they were levitating a few inches off the wooden floor, talking to each other.

"I can't live like this anymore!" Zelda cried. "We can't do anything to stop this monster! Every minute that passes by feels cold… and dead…"

"Dead!?" Luigi exclaimed, terrified. "Dead!? I don't wanna die! I never wanted to die!" The Fighter Spirit then hugged Link, sobbing dreadfully into the Hylian's blue tunic.

"If there's anyone to blame for our downfall, it's me," Sonic sighed, rubbing his head. "I should've been the one to get away and attempt to save you guys. Instead, I let a young fighter, who's still acting like a baby, force him to save all of us." Meta Knight then patted the blue hedgehog's back, comforting Sonic.

"Your kindness still shines through, making you sacrifice yourself for Kirby," Meta Knight objected. "You made the right choice…"

"Like I told everyone," Mario said to the Fighter Spirits, "we all have to stay together. We've got to help Kirby keep pushing forward."

"Hey!" Cloud Strife spoke out, noticing a trembling Faker sitting on the bed. "Someone's in this room, and she can see us."

"See us?" Link asked, pushing away Luigi for a brief moment. "Nobody can see us, not even the Spirits themselves. That's impossible… for anyone…" The Fighter Spirits were shocked as they saw Faker noticing them, the charm around her neck gleaming bright in rainbow colors.

I can see them, Faker thought to herself. Are they ghosts or something? No… It can't be… Surely Spirits like that don't just appear out of nowhere… do they? Just then, Mario's Fighter Spirit floated towards the brown-skinned woman, attempting to greet himself and the rest of his friends.

"How do you do?" Mario introduced. "I'm…" However, before the red plumber could finish, Faker just simply fainted on the bed, terrified. The charm around her neck reverted back to its usual dark purple color, and Mario's Fighter Spirit floated away once her world went dark.

"Nice job, dick-face," Zero Suit Samus sarcastically said, her arms placed on her hips.

"I swear this isn't my fault," Mario objected, floating back to the rest of the gang. "No one else can see us, so the best we can do is convince her that we're not just figments of her imagination."

"And help her encourage Kirby to get us back and prepare for the true final battle?" Ryu asked.

"Precisely," Mario answered. "The best we could do until then is wait… and hope." Once the Fighter Spirits vanished, all that remained on the only bed in the room was an unconscious, brown-skinned woman, not aware of the charm twinkling with tiny rainbow stars on her neck.