Morning arrived on the land, with the first light of dawn shining on three legendary fighters fast asleep next to a dying campfire now crumbling into ashes. The Piranha Plant managed to stay up through most of the night, keeping watch over the team. Mario slowly opened his eyes, feeling his head snuggle into Kirby's soft body. The red plumber sat up, rubbing Kirby's soft body.

"Wake up, sleepy-head," Mario sighed. Kirby hopped up, rubbing his big eyes. The three fighters managed to sleep all throughout the night, without a single monster attacking them. Just then, Piranha Plant started picking up something deep within the ruins. The carnivorous flower heard robotic noises, followed with exploding and crumbling stones. Kirby and Mario heard it too, and whatever it was sounded enormous.

"Come on, guys!" Mario told Piranha Plant and Kirby. The three adventurers then traveled down the path through the ruins, noticing the noise getting closer and closer the faster they walked. Eventually, Mario, Kirby, and Piranha Plant looked down from above a desolated pillar to find the cause of the noises: a giant pink R.O.B. blasting lasers, no matter how weak they were due to charging time. The puppet fighter glared at the three warriors with glowing red eyes, watching as Mario, Piranha Plant, and Kirby walked up to the robotic creature.

Before the three adventurers could react, the ground underneath them rumbled. A flat stage then shot out of the ruins' ground, creating another UV sphere around itself. The stage twisted and formed into some sort of ancient technology, and the background changed into what looked like Hyrule Field, though everything was mostly wildlife dotted with existing civilizations, and the Hyrule Castle far off in the distance was left in shambles as darkness barricaded the royal walls. It was the Final Destination version of the Great Plateau Tower. Piranha Plant, Kirby, and Mario looked at the giant R.O.B. Supporter they were facing, watching as it merely stood its ground and began firing lasers.

The fight was rather simple: avoid the lasers and attack the puppet fighter. As Mario was jumping into the air, watching out for the beams the R.O.B. Supporter was shooting, he began taking out his golden cape, flipping the lasers back at the puppet fighter. As the giant pink R.O.B. was quickly getting up, Kirby and the Piranha Plant ran towards the puppet, punching and kicking from behind. The R.O.B. puppet was still shooting lasers at the trio, trying its best to catch up with them. Eventually, the three fighters began wailing on the giant R.O.B. with projectiles while staying at a safe distance: Mario with his fireballs and golden cape, the Piranha Plant with his ability to blow spiked balls at the robot, and Kirby with his Inhale move, spitting them out in the form of powerful stars. With one last hit, Mario used a basketball dunk on the giant pink R.O.B., knocking the puppet fighter out. The stage crumbled down beneath the victorious adventurers, and the UV sphere vanished.

Once Kirby and Piranha Plant felt themselves on the ground again, they saw Mario suspended in the air, pointing the Spirit Sniper at the giant pink R.O.B., who disintegrated into Shadow Bugs. As the puppet fighter vanished into thin air, all that remained was a glowing-green, Normal Advanced Guardian, the kind found in the mythical land of Hyrule that worked for the entity known as Calamity Ganon, heavily based on the technology founded by the Sheikah. The barrier formed around the Normal Spirit like before, and Mario pulled the trigger on the Spirit Sniper, hitting the Guardian and freeing the Spirit. Once Mario dropped onto the ground, the Spirit Sniper vanishing like always, the Guardian floated right into the gemstone suspended in Kirby's body, causing the pink puffball to jump up in confusion.

"We can do this, like I said before," Mario told Kirby. "Just keep yourself brave, okay?" Kirby looked at Mario, a tiny bead of sweat rolling down his pink face. The Piranha Plant then started growling again, sensing something down the path. As soon as the carnivorous flower broke up from Mario and Kirby, the other two fighters started following him to where the pathways split. The area was a mystical pyramid, creating three forks in the road. The distance was big, but the three paths the warriors were forced to decide upon were clearly shown. On the path to their left, Marth's possessed body waited. To the right, the Villager was seen looking for a challenger. At the middle path, Sheik was there. Both Kirby and Piranha Plant looked at Mario, wondering how they were going to do this.

"Don't expect me to-a know everything," Mario said. "The Werewolf back there said if we choose one path, the other two will close off, forcing us to stay one the path we have chosen until we complete it…" Kirby and Piranha Plant started thinking about it, wondering what to do. Afterwards, the pink puffball looked at Mario with a brave face.

"Let me-a guess…" Mario sighed. "We're going to have to split up. Three paths, three fighters. Call it even if you will." Kirby nodded as his final answer. Mario, Kirby, and the Piranha Plant walked off to where the path split up. The three warriors then looked at each other, knowing the risk they were about to take.

"I know we just-a met and yet… I'm really going to miss you guys…" Mario sighed, adjusting his cap. Kirby and Piranha Plant hugged the red plumber, knowing they must part ways again for this one mission. The trio broke the group hug and looked at each other, walking down the paths they have chosen. Mario went towards where Marth waited, the Piranha Plant to Sheik, and Kirby to Villager. The three fighters knew they wouldn't be together after a long while, knowing the decision they made.

Mario walked towards his old friend Marth, noticing the glowing-red eyes the Hero-King sported. The image of the Master Legendary Spirit possessing Marth showed the humanoid form of the warlord Duma. For Piranha Plant, the carnivorous flower looked at Sheik walking closer to him, her glowing-red eyes gleaming brighter. In a brief flash of an image, the Master Legendary Spirit that was revealed was shown to have been the combined version of Kotake and Koume: Twinrova. Far off into the left, Kirby carefully approached the Villager, noticing the Mayor of Smashville looking at him with the glowing-red eyes. Through a single flash, the pink puffball quickly figured out the Master Legendary Spirit that was possessing Villager turned out to be one of the god-like beings he faced on his home planet Popstar: Magolor.

"Looks like the fat idiot decided to show up at last," Duma's voice spoke out of Marth. "Tell me, what took you so long as to split up with your gang?" Mario looked at the Primary Fighter with an aggressive face, setting his white-gloved hands on fire.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Twinrova asked the Piranha Plant through Sheik's body. "All of the greatest warriors in the multiverse, and only a plant comes and faces me…"

"I haven't seen you in a long while, Kirby," Magolor said inside Villager's body. "Tell me… how's my friend Marx doing when he's not suspended in the depths of space, floating around in the Comet Nova's rubble?" Kirby pulled up his stubby pink fists, putting on his war face.

"Now that you're here…" Duma in Marth's body spoke.

"…and you're all alone…" Twinrova in Sheik's body continued.

"…it looks like the two of us will be having so much fun together." Magolor in Villager's body finished while cackling. For the three fighters against each of Galeem's Primaries, vortexes surrounded the possessed fighters, and each opponent was taken to different areas of the Final Destination.

Mario walked towards the possessed Marth, watching as the Primary Fighter shifted parts of the Hero-King's body into what he was before. A light-green ponytail long and ragged shot out of Marth's blue hair, elf-like ears pointed out from the sides, dragon claws stuck out from the Hero-King's gloved hands, and Marth's eyes were entirely red now. Pulling out the Falchion, Duma inside Marth's body rushed towards Mario, slashing with such grace and accuracy.

In another part of the Final Destination, Twinrova inside Sheik's body saw Piranha Plant licking his lips, letting his head slowly shift into multiple colors as he was going to release some sort of unpredictable attack afterwards. The possessed Sheikah sprouted a large gem on her head, with the right side of her body red and the left side blue. Like before, Sheik's eyes were fully red now, and two streams of fire and ice grew out from the back of her head. Twinrova inside Sheik's body pulled out several needles, twisting her neck so she could pop the bones in her spine.

Kirby pulled up his stubby pink fists, facing against Magolor inside Villager's body in a different area of the Final Destination. As the Primary Fighter pulled out a wood-cutting axe, the possessed warrior's entire eyes started glowing red, flinching rapidly. A strange golden crown appeared on the puppet fighter's head, with some sort of white bandana covering his mouth. His arms vanished and his arms became detached thanks to moon-shaped auras, and misty red magic started gleaming through the transformed Villager's hands.

With a fire-like blast, Duma inside Marth's body unleashed a devastating laser at Mario, only to find out about the red plumber jumping over him and kicking the Primary from behind. The possessed Hero-King quickly jumped up from the ground, charging up his Shield Breaker move. Mario managed to dodge the thrusting tipper in time, watching Marth's Falchion create a small scratch in his overalls. Pissed off, Mario set his hands ablaze, launching a series of fireballs at Duma inside Marth's body. The Primary warrior tried avoiding the fiery attacks, but he only managed to dodge only a few fireballs. The rest of them scarred his skin with nasty burns, and Marth's glowing-red eyes met with Mario's boot.

Mario kicked Marth right in the head, sending the Hero-King close to the edge of the Final Destination platform. The red plumber started pulling out his F.L.U.D.D. device on his back, heating up the water inside to a boiling temperature with his fiery powers. Mario watched Duma still inside Marth's body, crawling up in a dragon's posture, wiping the blood leaking from his glowing-red eyes as he snarled, the Hero-King's Falchion in his hand. Mario then pumped out boiling-hot water from the F.L.U.D.D. device, soaking the Primary warrior in scalding pain. Afterwards, Mario set his fists ablaze once more, unleashing a fiery punch and knocking Duma in Marth's body off the stage into the blast zone of the Final Destination before everything went dark all of a sudden.

In another part of the Final Destination stage, Piranha Plant started mauling and biting at the Primary he was going up against: Twinrova inside Sheik. When the possessed Sheikah started throwing needles at the carnivorous flower, they quickly transformed into arrows of fire and ice, traveling at a sharp and fast distance. The Piranha Plant jumped and dodged, holding on tight to his flower pot with his two big leaves. Once the storm of fire-and-ice needles was over, the carnivorous flower noticed pieces of his green body were cut off and burning. Just when Sheik's body was about to kick him, Piranha Plant grabbed ahold of her leg with his white-lipped mouth, biting deep with his sharp teeth. While Twinrova inside Sheik's body was slashing at the carnivorous flower rapidly with fiery and icy knives, Piranha Plant still kept on holding on to his bite, his teeth sinking deeper into her skin and cracking her leg bone.

The Piranha Plant then spat the Primary warrior out, poisonous saliva at the teeth marks mixing in with her darkened blood. Once Twinrova still inside Sheik's body quickly got up, she clenched on to her leg in pain, her glowing-red eyes flashing at Piranha Plant. The carnivorous flower then blew a large gust of wind, launching a spiked ball at Sheik. Landing on her flat chest, the spiked ball launched the Primary warrior off the stage. As soon as she was about to recover with her Abyss move, the Piranha Plant jumped off and slammed downward with his flower pot, knocking the possessed Sheik out. Like with Mario, the Final Destination stage vanished in black instantly. All that remained in one more part of the Final Destination was Kirby against Magolor inside Villager.

"Now it's just you and me, puffball," Magolor teased, violet flames coming out of the Villager's floating hands and his glowing-red eyes becoming brighter. Kirby ran towards the Primary warrior, knowing he had faced godlike-beings and literal gods before even though he could not remember who and why. This time was a little bit different, especially coming from a possessed fighter. Magolor used all of the original abilities he had before when he had his own body, except it was all in Villager. Kirby began hopping up into the air, kicking with his large red feet once Magolor generated three shadow-coated balls above him from Villager's floating hands. He floated out of the way after launching them at Kirby. Thankfully the pink puffball was able to inhale all three in time before jumping and spitting out the shadow-coated balls in the form of a star cluster. Kirby managed to time the spit and hit Villager's body, but Magolor teleported back onto the stage, pulling out a fruit-coated tree out of nowhere and a chopping axe.

After Magolor chopped down the tree with Villager's body, Kirby managed to grab onto the tree in time, swinging it by the trunk with brute force despite his simple stature and strength. The deciduous branches hit the Primary warrior, causing Magolor inside Villager to float into the air again. He then created paint-coated pillars from the Final Destination stage, and Kirby did not manage to react in time as he felt himself impaled and launched high into the air to meet the possessed Villager's burning fist. Just as Kirby was about to give up, he suddenly remembered what happened during that encounter with Mario when he was under the Galeem Lock, and the pink puffball quickly inhaled to gain Villager's Copy Ability. Magolor still inside Villager was sucked in, and the moment he landed a blow with his fist, it was too late for him. The Primary warrior was quickly drawn into Kirby and launched out a second later from the pink puffball's body. As soon as Magolor knew what happened, he saw Kirby's eyes flash the Smash Ball gleam from before, and a wig of brown hair from the Villager appeared on Kirby's head. Villager's Fighter Spirit took over Kirby's body thanks to Faker's stone, and now the young Smashville mayor was ready to fight in the body of a Star Warrior.

Magolor floated into the air again, throwing shadow-coated ball after shadow-coated ball. Luckily, Villager inside Kirby began pocketing the projectiles, throwing them out one at a time at the Primary warrior's body. Magolor suddenly noticed he was losing, and the pink demon had a winning chance just like before, but this time a kid that looked like a murderous psychopath was taking control. Magolor, still inside Villager's body, kept blasting powerful electrical explosives at Kirby, who was running towards him now, the Villager's wig still intact. With one jump, Kirby's body pulled out a bowling ball and launched it right on top of the controlled Villager, knocking the Primary warrior off the stage. Like what happened after Piranha Plant and Mario won with their rivals, the Final Destination stage crumbled into particles similar to Shadow Bugs, and the sky went dark.

Standing back-to-back, Mario, Kirby, and Piranha Plant were close together, floating in the darkness, noticing Marth, Sheik, and Villager's bodies generating their barriers after defeat. Duma, Twinrova, and Magolor still remained attached to their selected bodies as the barriers with tiny holes kept spinning rapidly. A Spirit Sniper each generated in Mario, Piranha Plant, and Kirby's hands, and they were each pointing at their defeated opponent. The Fighter Spirits of the Primary warriors the trio defeated created ammo for each fighter alongside Kirby, with the Villager's Spirit flowing from the pink demon's body. Taking aim, with the Shadow Bugs closing in, the three fighters fired at the Master Legendary Spirits within their captured friends, each one of them using a perfect shot. Mario and Piranha Plant vanished, and only Kirby remained behind in the dark, the gem inside him taking effect. The shattered Galeem Locks from Marth, Villager, and Sheik flew right into Kirby with the Spirits that took control of the three rescued friends, turning the pink puffball's eyes into a glowing white before exiting out of his body. The area around Kirby brightened, and the landscape transformed again.

Kirby slowly woke up, feeling the Smash Ball on his forehead again and noticing his golden irises and rainbow aura. The pink puffball looked around as he adjusted his eyesight, seeing that he was back in the land of Arcus, though it was somewhat different. A young, golden-coated dragon infant ran right through Kirby's body, playing with his other two friends with a blue rubber ball. Kirby looked around, amazed by what he saw. The pink puffball was in the middle of a large town populated by dragons, and there were many different huts and caves to live in. The city of dragons also seemed to coexist with nature as there were trees and flowers growing within. As Kirby watched the dragons being friendly and peaceful, playing with different animal friends and each other, the pink puffball noticed they were all uniquely different, no matter how similar. Kirby stopped for a brief moment to take a look at a crimson-coated dragon in the middle of the cobblestone street to entertain a small group of dragon infants. His golden-coated wings started glowing with red flames, and with a mighty breath shot an impressive blast into the air. The dragon's breath whizzed up into the air, exploding the sky with multi-colored fireworks, and the sparks drifted down from up above in the form of golden butterflies, disappearing into ashes before they even touched the ground. It was a sight to behold. Kirby then suddenly looked behind himself, and he saw Metallio and Toropikaru with their children, though they seemed to be a little older than when they first hatched but still being as playful and energetic.

"Daddy?" Ultima asked, trying to learn how to fly as she flapped her multi-colored wings. "Where are we going?"

"We're heading to the Dragosmo Solstice," Metallio answered, grabbing and placing his daughter on his back with his mouth.

"We've been talking and planning this for a year now," Toropikaru chuckled, nuzzling into Ultima and making her giggle. "Every ten years, in a coming of age, our Minister arrives from the Sky Temple, giving his word that he has chosen new guardians of Arcus." Ultima's two brothers, Galeem and Phoenix, ran to their parents, anxious and ready to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event.

"If there's gonna be a new protector of this planet, it's going to be me!" Galeem spoke, determined as he ran right in front of Toropikaru and Metallio.

"No, it is going to be me," Phoenix objected, playfully rubbing Galeem's face with his front paws.

"Now, now, children," their mother spoke. "Simply being elected as a new guardian isn't going to be enough. You need to be truthful in strength, wisdom, speed, courage, loyalty, forgiveness, and teamwork. It's a lot harder than it sounds, so keep that in mind."

"Your mother does have a point," Metallio spoke, hoisting Ultima off his back with his tail so she could walk on her own. "Any dragon can sign up to be a Dragosmo, but only few can make it. However, defending the planet also comes with the balance between the darkness and the light…"

"Mommy! Daddy! Look! They're starting!" Ultima exclaimed, running to where the Dragosmo Solstice was taking place. On her four legs, the black-coated dragon infant with rainbow-colored wings waited behind the large crowd of dragons for her family to catch up to her. She and her two brothers perched on their mother's head, trying to catch a good glimpse of the big event. There was a humongous tree stump that stretched out twenty feet around, and two white-coated dragons with golden wings walked to the front of the crowd. They were coated in golden armor, grabbing the mouthpieces of their trumpets with their muzzles, blowing into those instruments for a special announcement. Kirby, passing through all those dragons like a ghost, walked to the front of the crowd to climb onto the large stump and see what was going on. The pink puffball watched, seeing seven dragons falling from beyond the clouds, spreading their wings and dancing in the sky. Their colors defined what elements they had for their breath. The red dragon was breathing fire; the orange dragon created a dust cloud of earth and dirt; the yellow dragon zipped through the sky with lightning particles; the green dragon conjured up seeds and spores, exploding into a shower of leaves and flowers; the blue dragon created small storms around itself, dancing around in the wind; the indigo dragon spurted a blast of water into the sky, raining down from above before collecting and absorbing into its wings; the violet dragon flew high into the air, unleashing beautiful blasts like magic. These seven dragons were flying in the form of their solstice dance, coloring the sky in many colors. For their big finish, the seven dragons all flew high into the air, creating a blast of light before flying off in different directions, leaving behind their chosen elements levitating in the air as they glowed bright, leaving the sky in a rainbow-like spectrum.

The crowd of dragons cheered, and Kirby felt amazed by what he saw. The pink puffball looked behind himself, seeing that Ultima, Galeem, and Phoenix with their parents were enjoying this a lot. Inside the white blast in the sky, the Dragosmo Minster flew from down below. He had a rather long beard colored light gray as his facial hair, and he sported large, quartz horns. The Minister's armor was lightly tinted with pink, daffodil, and cyan, and his eyes gleamed a deep brown. Once he landed, the two dragons that were blowing the trumpets stepped out of the way.

"All hail Ceresor, Lord of the Arcus Dragons and Balancer of Darkness and Light!" one of the white-coated dragons clad in golden armor spoke. The large crowd of dragons cheered, and Kirby was looking at the elderly beast in awe. Coughing, Ceresor pulled out a scroll from his back with his mouth, unfolding it once he laid it down on the ground and straightened the paper with his front paws.

"Citizens of Arcus," Ceresor spoke in a slightly wheezing voice, reading off the scroll. "It has come to my intention that after years of intense training for my students, I have finally decided who will be joining me in the halls of the Sky Temple, looking down from up above for any sign of danger that would surely throw our world into damnation." The dragons in the large audience cheered, ready to hear who was going to be announced.

"We sure have hit a lucky streak this year," Ceresor continued reading, "considering how hard these new warriors have studied. And the winners this decade are…" A young drummer dragon with tiny lavender wings and baby blue scales fluttered onto the stage, making a drum roll with his two front paws with his sticks. The dragon audience and Kirby were curious on who won this year, and the Dragosmo Minister cleared his throat to announce the new guardians.

"…the Miraculous Seven," Ceresor finished, spreading his quartz-coated wings. With a loud applause from the crowd of dragons, Kirby heard the soaring of the seven dragons that appeared before, flying high into the air and creating another rainbow-colored blast in the sky with their elemental breaths. The seven dragons then landed down onto the stage, standing in front of Ceresor. With a small breath, the Dragosmo Minister created special, dragon-shaped badges for each member of the Miraculous Seven. Each of the new guardians' parents ran onto the stage to greet their children, so proud of them. As the audience cheered for their new protectors, Kirby noticed Metallio and Toropikaru walking away from the Dragosmo Solstice with their three children, and the pink puffball followed them off the stage, still unnoticed by the dragons even though he was in plain sight.

"You should've seen the way they flew through the air with their powers like pew, pew-pew-pew, pew, BOOM!" Galeem laughed, running to his brother and sister.

"And the way they had finished with that blast was… incredible," Phoenix spoke, rubbing Galeem's head with his black-coated paw.

"That was amazing!" Ultima exclaimed with joy, hopping up into the air and fluttering as hard as she could to her parents. Toropikaru and Metallio merely chuckled when they noticed their offspring enjoyed that display and solstice.

"I wanna be a Dragosmo when I grow up," Ultima said to her parents, lying on her father's back on her stomach.

"I don't know, really," Toropikaru objected, throwing the three dragon children into a bit of question. "It's hard work being a guardian of Arcus, and there's this thing trying to balance the darkness and the light…"

"Mommy, please?" Ultima asked beggingly.

"Yeah, what's wrong with being a Dragosmo?" Galeem asked, standing up for his sister.

"Well, mother?" Phoenix asked, agreeing to his siblings.

"Hmmm…" Toropikaru replied, "…maybe ask your father." The two brothers hopped onto their father's back to meet up with Ultima, and Metallio looked at them, chuckling.

"We'll see," Metallio answered. "Maybe when you learn how to fly, you can train to be a Dragosmo." The three little dragons jumped off their father's back, excited.

"This is going to be so awesome!" Galeem laughed, hugging his brother.

"It sure is," Phoenix answered.

"However, just be careful," Metallio warned. "I've had a few close friends who knew about their friends becoming Dragosmos. They've had tales of learning about big responsibilities to take, and they would have to accept reality to deal with their troubles, and they would have to let go of the past to make way for the future..." Phoenix and Galeem did not listen as they kept telling what they would do once they become Dragosmos, perched on Toropikaru's back. Only Ultima paid attention to her father's warning, understanding every word of it at such a young age.

Kirby stood behind the family walking back to their cave, wondering what this could mean. Just then, the Smash Ball on his forehead started glowing again, and the environment around the pink puffball turned white. Things grew dark again for Kirby.

As the pink demon was slowly waking up, he felt the Villager he rescued poke him with a stick. Quickly hopping up as waking from a nightmare, Kirby looked around, noticing Villager's eyes were back to normal and Magolor's was nowhere to be seen inside the Mayor of Smashville. Villager hugged Kirby, happy that he was back and ready to take revenge against the Seraph of Order.

"Poyo-poyo-poyo-po…" Kirby spoke, glad to see Villager again. The pink puffball suddenly remembered something: a warning from the Werewolf about a Master Hand blocking off pathways. Scared, Kirby quickly broke the hug with Villager, running back to the pathway into the ruins. However, his cuddly pink face squished against something invisible. Kirby looked to his right, seeing Piranha Plant with Sheik and Mario with Marth, the two of them split up by something. In front of the six warriors was a Master Hand, laughing with a malicious voice.

"Looks like you're merely just rats caught in a trap," the Master Hand spoke. "It was originally said that whichever fighter you rescue the other two paths will close off, but… seeing as how you broke the rules, you're split from each other again. Good luck trying not to die." Laughing evilly, the Master Hand warped away from the ruins, and the six fighters discovered what was keeping them apart: three invisible barriers blocking their way back into the ruins and to each other.

"We can-a do this, Kirby!" Mario yelled to the pink puffball teamed up with Villager. "All we have to do is keep going. We'll meet up again once we're near the Northern Barrier. Okay?" Kirby nodded, but he suddenly heard his watch-like device beeping. Pressing the red button, the pink demon heard Faker's voice.

"Kirby!" Faker spoke over the transmission, the voice becoming more staticky. "Are you okay? We've heard something happened to you guys! Stay still- wait a minute- you're breaking up- you're not showing up on the map anymore- take care of my gift from me to you, okay Kirby?- #$ !$" The transmission ended in static, cutting off connection between the fighters and the Undying Light. Kirby looked at Villager, scared. The pink puffball then nodded with determination, running off with the Mayor of Smashville. Piranha Plant and Sheik walked off in separate paths too, and Mario traveled with Marth down the road they were now stuck on. Though on different trails cut off from each other, the six warriors all had one goal: to rescue their friends and bring down the threat that destroyed their world.