Fox, Sonic, and the Mii Brawler took a good look at the quartz torches, trying to see what they could figure out. By their side were Banjo and his Breegull friend Kazooie, who were trying to help them as best as they could.

"So… what's the riddle again?" the Mii Brawler asked.

"An Owl Statue told us to light the torches so the hour is midnight and the minute is worth a dime," Fox answered. "It would be pretty cool if we could find out what the time even reads in the first place…" Sonic then saw some sort of Hylian writing on one of the torches in the outside circle, brushing away the dust to read it.

"You guys might wanna come and see this," Sonic told the gang. The fighters gathered near the glitching blue hedgehog, unable to translate the language.

"I think it means 'seven'," Sonic continued, surprised that he can read Hylian. "How do I know this? It must be these powers enhancing me…"

"Powers?" the Mii Brawler asked.

"Apparently, Dharkon did something to Sonic so he's like this," Banjo answered. "Don't know how or why, but it can't be good for the poor critter." Sonic walked around another torch, with a reading labeling it as "six". Sonic managed to find the torches they lit told the time 4:40.

"Of course," Sonic told the group. "The torches on the outside circle are minutes, and the torches on the inside are hours."

"But how do we figure out the time for this riddle?" Fox asked. "The Owl Statue told us to set these torches to the correct time, with the hour of midnight and the minute worth a dime."

"Well, we know the hour of midnight is 12:00, but what about the minute…?" Kazooie cooed, thinking about the solution.

"The best guess I could come up with is dimes are usually worth ten cents… so what would that make the minute then…?" Sonic responded.

"The time's 12:10," Fox answered. "It may not be the right answer, but this is what we're going with."

"I'll light the right correct ones," Sonic told the Star Fox mercenary. "Wait right here." The glitching hedgehog approached the torches, the palms of his hands generating fire. The blue speedster sent out two fireballs, trying to control which one would land. He had already etched which torches to light in his memory, and he got both the 10-minute torch and the 12-hour one. Things seemed to stop once the ground shook with a more powerful rumble than before. Right at the center of the torch clock in Kakariko Village, a blue pillar of light erupted into the cloudy sky, glowing so bright everyone can see it from the ends of the lands.


Deep in the Lost Woods, Mario and his team were constantly getting separated from each other, always going around in circles and reuniting. To make matters worse, it was so densely foggy that you can't see several feet in front of you. Once the group reunited at the entrance to the Lost Woods, they were already exhausted.

"Any luck?" Mario asked, panting. The fighters all shook their heads, feeling confused and lost.

"Look!" Sheik called out, pointing at the blue beacon. The fighters turned around and saw the light pillar shining bright into the sky, and Mario already knew its location.

"Kakariko Village," Mario said. "We have to hurry." The red plumber dashed off from the Lost Loose entrance back to the village, and his companions followed after him. Kirby was about to join them too until the red mist of the Mii Brawler Primary appeared from the fog and entered into his body without the pink puffball knowing it. The stone he swallowed before glowed again, triggering yet another vision inside Kirby as his eyes flashed red.


The pink puffball groaned as he opened his eyes to the dark world of Arcus, noticing Galeem was sitting outside near the lake by the cave. The Lord of Light watched as the Crazy Hands dominated the black skies.

"Dharkon…" Galeem scoffed, whisking the water with his extended claws. "It seems you found out my secret. For once, you've found what I want out of these dragons. I just want to use them to create an empire. I see it's not just about how many people recognize you anymore. We know we have the power to change the universe to suit our needs, and you want to destroy me with it…"

"Excellent choice, Galeem," the calm voice spoke behind the Lord of Light. Galeem turned around to see the mysterious black mist right behind him, holding the pink slime in his crystalline hands.

"I see your brother has finally had enough of your government," the figure with the green sclera and red irises spoke. "…Would you like me to help you with that?"

"How do you know I can trust you?" Galeem asked, standing up on his four legs. "As far as I know, you're here to kill me at the last minute."

"Maybe, maybe not," the stranger responded. "So you wish to become as powerful as Dharkon? I and been around the block seven times, not counting this event."

"What you mean not counting?" Galeem growled, become suspicious of the black-mist figure. "Tell me what's going on here!"

"Your brother Phoenix wished he would be just as powerful and popular as you, dreaming to live up to your level," the stranger responded. "I gave it to him… but the results were catastrophic in levels I had never expected. You can blame me and say it's my fault, but I suppose there is no way around this. Your brother has become too dangerous for this world. His darkness will spread throughout the planet, then the solar system, then the galaxy, and later the universe and all other universes beyond."

"What do I have to do?" Galeem asked, starting to lower his guard.

"That's rather easy," the stranger responded, his pink slime slithering around his crystalline arm. "In order to defeat the monster, you must become the monster yourself. So far, Dharkon is only bent on killing you and putting out all the lights in existence, ranging from tiny flames to enormous stars. He sees you as corrupt as all other sentient beings. You are stronger and wiser than him. Your heart is as tough as stone so Dharkon will not control you. Burn him from this world and wipe out all the shadows and chaos. Then, you will have what you desire: order and perfection." The white dragon slowly approached the shadowy figure, unaware of what the stranger had in mind.

"Let me awaken you to your truest form…" the stranger spoke. The pink slime quickly slithered up the crystalline arm to the stranger's fingers, disturbing Galeem greatly. The Lord of Light was about to jump away in panic before the coated crystalline arm scratched the left side of his face, only without any pain this time. Galeem's breathing stopped as he felt the golden scar running down the left side of his face, surprised at how deep it went through his iron-tough skin before it faded. Even though it appeared to have vanished, the scar was still there.

"This should give you an advantage against your brother," the stranger spoke. "If you should even need help, you can always talk to me."

"But… what about Ultima?" Galeem asked. "My wife? Our unborn child?"

"They don't matter," the stranger responded, levitating into the black sky with the pink slime on his shoulders. "What's important is that you bring the light and order back to this world. Destroy the darkness and chaos. It shouldn't be hard to convince the survivors to be on your side. What do they know about me anyway…?"

"Nothing…?" Galeem answered in the form of a question. "…Wait. Who are you and why is this happening? Wait!" Before the Lord of Light could get a response, the black-mist stranger vanished without a trace, his pink slime companion included. Galeem touched the area of his scar, which lighted up before it went out again. Before he could think of anything else, Galeem entered into the Cave of the Ancients, already having a plan to defeat Dharkon. As soon as things calmed down for the pink puffball, the environment went dark, and Kirby woke up back in the Sacred Realm near the Lost Woods.

"Kirby!" Marth called out from the distance. "Let's go!" Kirby willingly listened to the command the Hero-King was giving him and quickly followed the trail to Kakariko Village.


"What's going on?" Banjo asked, shielding his and Kazooie's eyes from the blue beacon that was growing bigger and brighter.

"I think we did something," Fox answered. "I think… it's the second half of the Triforce of Wisdom! We found Zelda!" The blue beacon vanished after a split second, fading away to reveal another Primary of Dharkon: the beautiful and wise Zelda as she appeared ten years ago.

"So you think you can just intrude this land without Dharkon's permission, don't you?" the Zelda Primary asked. "Have at thee, Invaders, for I am Hilda, the Princess of Lorule!" Fox wasted no time in listening to introductions as fast as he pulled out his blaster and fired at the Primary's skirt. A small flame ignited near her feet, and the Zelda Primary stepped on her skirt to put it out.

"Listen," Fox snarled, exposing his canine teeth through his pissed-off expression. "We've been having a rough ten years of fighting, so don't think this can end any differently for you."

"Whatever you say, warriors not from Hyrule," the Zelda Primary noted, summoning a Phantom behind her. Once Sonic dashed towards her and kicked the captured fighter's knee, the Phantom's legs were only completed as it dashed towards the other three fighters. Fox and the Mii Brawler jumped above, but Kazooie quickly shielded Banjo with Golden Feathers and quickly dashed towards the possessed Princess of Hyrule. The Zelda Primary was about to use Nayru's Love as she was being launched, but the Mii Brawler quickly landed behind her and up-smashed, sending her into Fox's flaming jump.

She was tossed onto the ground, trying to conjure up dark magic like in Lorule and mixing it with Din's Fire. Kazooie laid another Grenade Egg that rolled from underneath Banjo's backpack meant to be aimed at the captured fighter, but the Zelda Primary used Nayru's Love and reflected the Grenade Egg which landed in Sonic's hands. Without warning, electricity spiraled out through the grenade, and the glitching blue hedgehog could not react in time to throw it. As Fox was rapidly kicking the Zelda Primary, he dashed towards Sonic before the electrical-charged grenade was about to explode and quickly pulled out his reflector. The grenade was about to go out with a bang in the air, and Kazooie quickly assisted Banjo with grabbing the Zelda Primary and throwing her into the grenade's direction. The Mii Brawler simply tossed a bowling ball as bait, and the Zelda Primary took it by using Nayru's Love and reflecting the ball only to notice the charged grenade flying towards her in time. Before she could teleport away with Farore's Wind, the humongous blast created from both fire and lightning killed the Zelda Primary instantly, winning the battle.

The four fighters cheered for their victory, applauding at the large explosion that defeated the Zelda Primary. Sonic whooped and spinned around in place before he slipped and fell into Fox's arms. The Star Fox mercenary shook his head for the trouble only an idiot like the blue hedgehog will go through, and Sonic pushed Fox's face away from himself.

"Thanks, pal," Sonic chuckled, getting back up on his feet. The comatose Princess of Hyrule was bathed in a blue light, floating down to the village as the red mist and Hilda Spirit accompanied her. The four fighters watched as the red mist swirled around Sonic, bringing back more of the hedgehog's memories. He started remembering an urgent message delivered to his door one day, saying that Knuckles and Shadow the Hedgehog went missing. In an act of rescue, Sonic managed to gather all seven Chaos Emeralds and even steal some from Dr. Eggman and transformed into his Super Form, leaving his home planet without telling the rest of his friends. This resulted in him searching through different universes different from his own light-millennia away, stopping at different worlds to let the Chaos Emeralds recharge as he went around the various landscapes, fighting common enemies, learning about the legendary heroes and creatures and even befriending said heroes and creatures while competing in friendly rivalries. The journeys he went through gave him a memory that spanned a lifetime, mapping literally the entire multiverse and its tales from the back of his head. The only thing he was currently unable to recover was Arcadia. All he remembered afterwards was nothing, not even managing to rescue Shadow and Knuckles… for now. The red mist levitated away from Sonic's face, floating with the Hilda Spirit into the direction of the Lost Woods.

"…Banjo? Kazooie?" Sonic asked, finally recognizing the bear and the bird.

"You do remember us!" Kazooie happily cooed, Banjo hugging the glitching hedgehog tightly.

"Guys…" the Mii Brawler told the three anthropomorphic animals. Banjo and Sonic broke up the hug and saw the rest of their group travel down from the path to the Lost Woods, surprised by what they were met with. Most of the houses in Kakariko Village were torn down from the fighting, with many Spirits huddled close together and frightened.

Link, Toon Link, and Sheik ran up to Princess Zelda, who was just waking up. Joker and the Hero hugged Banjo & Kazooie, glad they were back together after five years.

"We didn't think we would see you two again!" Ireburn cried, both he and the Phantom Thief happy to return to the bear and his Breegull friend.

"Mamma mia…" Mario sighed, planting his hand on his face. "When will you learn, Sonic? When will you learn…?"

"That my actions have consequences?" Sonic jokingly finished, laughing at his own humor whilst glitching. "At least I know who I am and know about you guys…"

"At least the old Sonic's back, and we're finally out of the Lost Woods," Marth responded in relief. While the Smashers were greeting each other in acquaintance and satisfaction over one's safety, Kirby watched as the Hilda Spirit and the red mist entered his body, triggering yet another vision.


The pink puffball woke up to the clamoring of dragons, preferably the survivors in the Cave of the Ancients. Ultima emerged from the nursery to meet up with her sister-in-law and mentor to figure out what was going on.

"Oh, Ultima," Medley said. "You're here in time. Galeem has an idea to take back our world and save Arcus."

"I hope he does…" Ultima answered. "I mean… it's not like he's going to betray us at the last minute… right?" Sozo approached the young Queen of Arcus, showing that there is something going on in the general's mind.

"I have a confession to make," Sozo sighed. "However, this is a major secret, and no one else must hear us. Follow me." Sozo ran right into the nursery, and Ultima went after him in confusion.

"But won't the children listen?" Ultima asked.

"Dragonlings are weak in their mental state, meaning that they don't listen as good as the adults," Sozo explained. "Even if they were to listen, they would just find it too boring to understand." The two royal dragons made it to the nursery, where most of the few million baby dragons have already calmed down.

"You were saying?" Ultima asked.

"When my father, Lord Ceresor, had died, I managed to sense an… unspeakable evil in your presence when you were at his grave," Sozo answered. "There are many evils in our world doing things for their own twisted intentions, but whoever visited you… was not from this universe, or any other universe. Somehow, it found a way into our world and is twisting your brothers against each other as it feasts on their family secrets to make itself stronger."

"Brothers?" Ultima asked. "Galeem would never fall under sin. He's the Lord of Light, symbolic of peace and hope."

"He may have my authority and powers, but he is still to juvenile to understand the consequences," Sozo answered. "Even if he had traveled to different planets with us, he is still not bright enough to know about… her."

"…Her?" The Queen of Arcus was starting to think about what her mentor was talking about, starting to remember the goddess from her nightmare.

"Her consciousness is strong enough to manipulate and deceive even the strongest of minds," Sozo responded. "One minute, she arrives when you are at your weakest. The next… both she and her raw power convert you into one of her many toys. Toys that break once she plays with them too rough, just like how she sees us. Her envy and insanity for the Almighty Father's creations has no limit. She thinks she can create the perfect multiverse free of sin… by destroying ours. I can see through your memories. My father told me and Hakai about her. We know who you saw…" Flashing images of Ultima's nightmare flashed through her mind, scaring her to the point where she doesn't know what's real anymore.

"In the beginning, she was locked away for her attempt of destruction," Sozo continued. "The Almighty Father and his angels split her into two: her raw power and her mind. Her raw power, the Mother, was sealed away in the World of Insanity far away from our grasp, but her mind was strong enough to remain in the multiverse, still bent on collapsing all matter. The mind was locked away in a parallel universe, guarded by the Flames of Surtr's Son until time ended in that dimension. After His work was done, the Almighty Father killed the Seraphim of Balance on his side, who were corrupted by the goddess that worked for Him. He then spread their powers to the mortals, believing that anyone in a higher plane of existence than flesh and bone cannot be touched by her scheming ways. From what has happened so far… He was wrong for once. The mind of the goddess manipulated the flames to merge with him, and they had combined into a god. When three figures of light had stopped them, all they did was put out the Flames of Surtr's Son."

"Then… that means he made it here…" Ultima gasped with sudden realization in her golden eyes. "The pink slime he carried along is an Insaniton that somehow survived! That goddess somehow found us! But that means… Galeem is in danger…!"

"His own actions will only get himself killed, whether he was corrupted by the mind of the goddess or not," Sozo answered. "Your brothers have reached a point to where you cannot stop them now in their conquest for power. I know you cannot do this alone… but only with help can you stop a terrible fate that not even the Almighty Father could do to stop. I hope you know what you're doing, Queen of Arcus." Ultima looked outside of the nursery, watching as Galeem was giving a motivational speech in the center of the crowd of dragons.

"And I promise you once we burn all the shadows from this world, we will build it up to a perfect society!" Galeem roared, cheering from the other dragons aching him on. "We will be free from a world of darkness and chaos! Light and order will remain, and we will become the ultimate hive mind! Our loved ones may be gone, but we will live on in their name!" Ultima looked back on Sozo, who looked after the children in the nursery.

"I know what I'm doing," Ultima told the ex-Lord of Light, "unless I'm too late…" The dragons tore down the entrance to the Cave of the Ancients, flying towards Dharkon's current resting place with Galeem leading the way.

"I will stay with the younger dragons," Sozo told Ultima. "They are clearly inexperienced with battle and conflict. It's up to you with what you want to see. I hope your brother isn't already under the influence of the Mother." The Queen of Arcus looked back on Sozo and the dragonlings, noticing Josei and Ningyo with the eggs of Glimmeress and Inkereign in the large group of young dragons. As soon as Ultima soared out of the cave, Kirby's eyes flashed red again, with the environment fading into shadows and bringing him back into reality.


Kirby groaned as the Duck Hunt dog sniffed his face, waking the pink puffball up.

"You awake, sleepyhead?" Kazooie asked. The pink puffball rolled back onto his feet to be greeted by a bipedal bear with a bird in his backpack. It wasn't long before Fox rubbed his cuddly head, glad that his pal was back.

"I can't thank you enough for Smashers like you rescuing me," Zelda spoke out from behind the reunited team of fighters. "This surely is a strange world we live in…"

"Zelda! Your hand!" Link told her. Mario, Kirby, Fox, Sonic, Snake, Joker, Mr. Game & Watch, all of the fighters on their team became surprised when Zelda's right hand flashed blue with half the mark of the Triforce of Wisdom. Sheik's second half glowed blue too, finally finding its match, and PAC-MAN lifted up the Sheikah's hand for his friends to see.

Back at the Temple of the Master Sword, the completed Triforce of Wisdom flashed blue, its aura spreading throughout the land. The fighters then suddenly noticed the dense fog looming over the Lost Woods drastically fade so that their vision was not so opaque as before. This would clearly give them an easier chance of traveling to who they know is the bearer of the Triforce of Courage's third.

"Ready for-a round 2?" Mario asked, popping his knuckles. "We've got-a Triforce to complete." The fighters all got their weapons ready, with some raising their fists close to their faces. Those that were rescued from Dharkon clearly would not know what to expect.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" the Mii Brawler asked. "Hyrule 2.0 can be filled with a lot of traps, my people included…"

"Cineroar," Incineroar answered, giving a thumbs up.

"We complete the Triforce and bring peace, we head back to your base," Zelda responded, magic glittering between her fingers.

"Don't look at me," Sonic replied while glitching. "I'm just here to get my memories back." The blue hedgehog let the seven Rainbolements slither at the tips of his gloved hands as he dashed towards the Lost Woods, eager to learn more about himself.

"Wait! Come back!" Fox shouted, chasing after him. Soon, the entirety of Group A rushed down to the Lost Woods, returning veterans and newcomers included.