After leaving the Gerudo Town, the fighters made their way through the rocky desert up north. While they were traveling through the sands, plenty of Dharkon's Supporters, Dark Puppets, and Subspace creatures appeared just to stop them.
"We can take them down easy-peasy," Mario told his friends.
"And Kazooie and I can play some music to lighten the mood!" Banjo told his companions, the bear and Breegull pulling out a banjo and a kazoo.
"You brought these instruments along?" Marth asked.
"Why do you think they call us Banjo & Kazooie?" Kazooie asked, tooting her kazoo. Banjo then played his instrument as he traveled through the desert to the labyrinth, he and his bird partner recreating the Gerudo Valley theme.
"Adventure is waiting for us! Forward!" Banjo called out. The anthropomorphic bear-and-bird didn't pay mind to the servants of darkness that lunged towards them, with both Marth and Ireburn hopping in front of them and slashing through the Subspace creatures and puppets, the rescued Spirits entering inside Kirby's body. Sieg slammed headfirst into the ground and knocked back most of the dark warriors, and Clementine knocked out the rest with her Splat Bomb.
Mario and Sonic managed to create fireballs that struck Cymuls in the air, and Joker simply shot his gun at the charging Glunders. Incineroar and Donkey Kong both rammed into the Armanks, with Fox and Zero Suit Samus firing their blasters at the hiding Octorocks. As soon as Banjo & Kazooie finished playing their instruments, untouched by the enemies, they gazed in wonder at the large cave in front of them. The fighters stopped and admired the entrance to the labyrinth in front of them, noticing the rims were carved with markings of the Yiga Clan.
"You ready to fight against the Demon King, guys?" Link asked, pulling out his Master Sword and Hylian Shield through his Gerudo outfit.
"Ready," Sonic answered.
"Ready," the other fighters that could talk responded after the blue hedgehog. The Smashers then entered into the labyrinth, ready to find the genderless genie.
When the fighters got through, they recognized, according to the twisty path that spiraled lower, that there really was a maze. In each dead end of the labyrinth, there were always deadly Subspace monsters and assassins from the Yiga Clan, believing them to be sneaky as the crouched when they could simply be spotted from above. From what they could tell, the fighters noticed the walls of the labyrinth were constantly changing.
"This is a deadly maze?" Sonic asked. "I can simply jump from here to the other side lemon-squeezy."
"Maybe for you," Cloud objected. "Most of us don't have superpowers like you."
"I'm with the juvenile delinquent on jumping to the other side," Fox answered. "From what I've learned, Sonic's natural powers are fueled by his emotions, so different emotions could power up different elementals. Fire is obviously powered by rage and anger, and I've heard the kid's usually a hothead."
"So what do I use with fire?" Sonic asked. "Use it as a jetpack to float to the other side of the labyrinth?"
"Pretty much," Fox answered. "When I'm in a situation and I need to use my fire boost to escape, I usually think of the terrible things my mortal enemy Andross did. Hopefully you can think of something…" The blue dolled-up hedgehog stood at the edge, taking deep breaths as he stood over the towering height. Sonic then started remembering terrible events where he was almost defeated, and even killed. He remembered the situations where some of his friends were kidnapped and thousands of millions of lives were being risked. The blue hedgehog started to remember getting up and fighting back for what was right for the planet, and a small smirk beamed on his face as flames circled around his scars and irises, spiraling down to his hands and feet.
The blue hedgehog then took a massive leap, no longer having fear in his eyes. Blasts of fire accelerated Sonic into the air, burning most of the Subspace creatures and Yiga troops waiting down below. The speedy devil safely landed on the other side of the labyrinth, cooling down his blue finger-nail painted hands by waving them rapidly. Sonic waved at his companions, who were just trying to get down by climbing over the changing walls.
"Wish Lady Palutena was here so I don't have to walk over walls like a mortal," Pit groaned, adjusting his slippers as he balanced himself on the shifting walls with his flapping wings. The other Smashers were doing their best to climb over the top of the labyrinth and jump over the gaps.
"Sephiroth's Spirit said we're constantly breaking the rules," Link responded, using his Master Sword to pole-vault over. "Surely it won't hurt to cheat a bit more." Mario used jets of fire from his hands and feet to head over to the other side as he scorched the ambushing enemies from below, and Fox simply ran over the walls and gaps like an anime character blended with an athletic. Olimar's Pikmin tackled the Subspace creatures and Yiga troops and climbed back up to meet up with the Hocotate captain, and Kirby simply floated over as he puffed up with air and waved his stubby arms to guide him to the other side.
The fighters that glided over like Banjo & Kazooie and Joker with Arsene made it to the end first, while the teammates that went the hard way of jumping over gap after gap arrived last. Regardless, they all made it across.
"When will they learn that we have ways around our problems?" Sonic asked, brushing his pink hairstyle with his fingers.
"Sometimes we can't simply cheat our way through this," Ireburn replied. "Our enemies might see this as unfair and try to bring us down…" Next to the group was a straight pathway to the area where it was believed that the genderless genie is holding the Gerudo gold. As Joker walked into the path, his foot stubbed against something metallic. The Phantom Thief put on his mask and recalled Arsene as he looked down on the golden object that caught him off-guard. Joker quickly dug up the golden object to find it is nothing more than an oil lamp.
"Hey, guys!" Joker called out. "Look at this! Look at this damn ugly bong."
"It's not a bong," Cloud Strife sighed, taking the lamp. "It's a lamp. One designed for trapping genies. As long as you say the genie's name, you can trap it here as long as the lamp itself is empty." Cloud then noticed some strange fingerprints on the lamp, which were visible from the faint glow in his Mako-infected eyes. The fingerprints were rubbed out and tainted with sand, obvious that someone had already used the lamp to free the genie from its prison and wish it to cause mischief upon the Gerudo Spirits.
"Well, we got the lamp like Riju said," Ryu said. "Let's just continue down the road and hope we meet up with this genie…"
"Yeah… if we can figure out what the genie's name is…" Sonic responded, tapping his chin while thinking. Suddenly, as the fighters went down the path, the blue hedgehog saw a cannonball emerging from the darkness without warning, heading straight for Fox McCloud.
"Fox! Look out!" Sonic yelled, dashing towards the Star Fox mercenary. The speedster created a reflecting shield right in front of himself and his pal, reflecting the cannonball back at the captured fighter who shot it. The other Smashers saw this too and got their weapons ready as the cannonball hit Dharkon's servant.
"Ow! Ow! Oh, geez! You pathetic humans never play fair, do you!?" a strange voice came from the darkness. The familiar sound of the Koopa Clown Car's motor blades could be heard kicking up the sand as the Bowser Jr. Primary emerged, holding his eye.
"Can it, wimp," Zero Suit Samus said. "And just who do you think you are?"
"Who am I?" the Bowser Jr. Primary asked. "Who am I? You mortals clearly haven't heard of the all-powerful Kaos, the greatest of all Portal Masters in Skylands and the one true lord of... the SECOND lord of darkness!" The Bowser Jr. Primary suddenly noticed the lamp in Cloud's hands.
"That's my lamp!" the captured fighter shouted. "I used it to summon the genie and steal all that gold! Give it to me!"
"No," Cloud answered with a stern voice, attaching the lamp to his waist.
"Very well then," the Primary spoke. "I suppose I'll just have to pick someone to fight while you deal with my… distraction. I choose eeny… meeny… miney… YOU!" As soon as the Bowser Jr. Primary pointed at Banjo & Kazooie, the pink slime Joker came across before in the Sky Temple landed on the bear's face.
"Get it off! Get it off!" Banjo cried, struggling as he tried to pull the slime off his face while Kazooie constantly poked at the mysterious creature. Mario attempted on holding Banjo in place as Kazooie was beginning to rip off the pink slime, and Sonic was about ready to burn the strange mass. Before either one of the fighters could do anything, Banjo ripped the pink slime straight off his face, shaking his head as the peculiar ooze landed in the sand, beginning to bubble. The Bowser Jr. Primary then grabbed ahold of Banjo and squeezed Kazooie's neck to avoid her from flying away.
"Let's see how you can handle this new toy I found!" the captured fighter called out. The pink slime then started changing shape, with static electricity spiraling throughout its semi-transparent body as it twisted.
"Uh… what's going on?" Toon Link asked, a little frightened.
"I don't know," the Mii Brawler answered. "Whatever that thing is… I'm betting it's sure to be a problem for us in the future…" A strange hand then emerged from the slime. This kind of hand was very humanoid, but not quite. In fact, it was more blocky and had a pixelated texture despite being a human hand. The pink gelatinous mass then shifted into something that resembled a human but was shaped into more of a person made entirely out of blocks with pixelated textures. It was some sort of terrifying mix between the two, and the face that was revealed on what the slime transformed into was completely hideous. It seemed to have rectangular eyes and a mouth, but the hyperrealism on those pixels really messed up its image, throwing the grotesque abomination straight into the uncanny valley. Plus, for whatever reason, it didn't transform into disgusting versions of Banjo & Kazooie like it was supposed to.
"Now attack, my Stevepost!" the Bowser Jr. Primary called out.
"Stevepost?" Marth asked.
"Yoshi?" Yoshi noted with a bit of confusion.
"I don't know!" the captured fighter replied as he tried holding Banjo & Kazooie in his clutches. "I found that slime out of nowhere and I didn't have time to name it, so I'm just calling it what I see. Nevertheless, get them!" The grotesque cubic humanoid pulled out a blue, pixelated sword, receiving orders and charging at the fighters. While the Smashers are attacking the pink slime that transformed into... something that even the author can't describe as human, the Bowser Jr. Primary transported both himself and the bear-bird duo through a vortex, which took them to the Final Destination version of Delfino Plaza.
"Now, prepare for the wrath of the all-powerful Kaos!" the Bowser Jr. Primary shouted, his hands flashing with blue flames and his purple eyes glowing with menace.
"Careful, Banjo," Kazooie told the anthropomorphic bear. "He does say he hates Skylanders, according to Flynn."
"Kazooie, it was ten years ago," Banjo answered with a joyful tone. "Besides, what's a cute turtle like him going to do to-" Before Banjo could finish, the Bowser Jr. Primary's Koopa Clown Car pulled out mechanical boxing gloves and punched the bear right in the crotch, causing him to kneel down and hold his hit area in pain.
"That," Kazooie answered while the voice of the rebellious Portal Master rang through the Koopa Prince's possessed body. The Bowser Jr. Primary was then about to fire a cannonball at the bear-bird duo, and Kazooie was quickly coughing up Blue Eggs to slow the projectile down, but it still kept speeding. Banjo then got up and spot-dodged, quickly grabbing Kazooie and having her cough up more eggs at the Bowser Jr. Primary. The captured fighter began throwing bombs in the form of Koopa wind-up toys, by which Kazooie pulled out some Golden Feathers. Banjo used this to their advantage and quickly dashed at the Bowser Jr. Primary, who was also charging towards the bear and Breegull. Banjo & Kazooie came out on top and rammed the captured fighter off-stage.
"Let's see… I am in the body of a completely different mortal," the Bowser Jr. Primary spoke. "How do I recover?" A large, red eject button quickly emerged from the Koopa Clown Car's control panel, forcing the captured fighter to press it and give himself a boost back onto the Delfino Plaza stage. The luck for the possessed challenger dropped significantly as Kazooie simply coughed up a Grenade Egg off-stage from Banjo's backpack, which only touched him without exploding. This, the Bowser Jr. Primary was gimped.
"Well, this sucks," the captured fighter groaned. "Let's see… how does a young child always call for help when they're in danger…? Mother! Mother, help me! Help your poor son! Somebody help me!" Those were the last words the Bowser Jr. Primary called out before he exploded in the blast zone, freeing both the Kaos Spirit and the Koopa Prince. Banjo & Kazooie congratulated each other before a vortex appeared right where they were standing on the vanishing stage, holding the unconscious body of Bowser Jr. and carrying him back.
Once the bear and the bird arrived with the red mist of the Dharkon Lock with Bowser Jr's body, the Spirit they rescued and the red mist both didn't go straight for Sonic the Hedgehog, for his memories had already been restored. Instead, they dived right into the mind of Kirby, who was about to be struck by the Stevepost's diamond sword before being saved by the Hero. The pink puffball's eyes flashed red again, and another vision flashed through his head again.
Kirby woke up in a large, vast field void of grass. A violent thunderstorm was raging through the sky, blackened as dark as Galeem's heart truly was. The pink puffball looked up into what remained of the Sky Temple, which was surrounded by Master Hands floating through the air. Looking down on the earth was Galeem himself in his draconic form. The Seraph of Order walked up to Lord Ceresor's tombstone, which was one of the few things that remained of the massive structure the Sky Temple once was.
"Look at your greatest creation," Galeem spoke to the grave of the Lord of Arcus. "Me. The one you banished because you saw me as cruel and selfish. You thought order and perfection cannot exist without chaos and disarray. But I can prove you wrong." As the Lord of Light turned around to walk to the edge of the floating island, his tail sliced across the tombstone, cutting it in half as it crumbled into nothing more than pebbles. Galeem then saw Ultima and Sozo walk out onto the field, with the Diamond of Universes glowing on the chest of the dragoness. The Mii Fighters and the Shadow Bug creatures with Galleom arrived, along with the aliens from other planets equipped with the technology from Raifujin.
"Kill them all," Galeem calmly ordered the Master Hands. "Spare no one except for the last two dragons. Leave Sozo and Ultima alive so I can transform them." The Master Hands obeyed, diving down straight for the charging army down on the field. Galleom grabbed ahold of the first few Master Hands, slamming them into the ground until they were nothing more than golden glitter. The Mii Fighters were assisted by the Shadow Bugs as both species jumped on top of more Master Hands and ripped through their silky shells, burning the fabric off. The aliens that were guided by the elementals they had served as major distractions for Ultima and Sozo to dash towards the Sky Temple, where Galeem glided down to the field in front of them.
"Figured you would still be alive, sister," Galeem spoke with a smile on his face. "It just make me much more satisfied now that I would have to kill you by my claws."
"You see this!?" Ultima snarled as she pointed at the Diamond of Universes on her neck. "This will end your reign once and for all, Galeem. I will make you fall." The Lord of Light wasted no time attacking Ultima and Sozo, bursting out golden flames that scorched the lifeless ground. Sozo began creating boomerangs of light and throwing them at Galeem, ricocheting off the seraphic dragon's colossal wings. The Seraph of Order dived straight for Sozo, landing on the ground and shooting pillars of blue lightning. The ex-Lord of Light began getting wounded after tireless seconds of attacking only to realize that his own powers cannot hurt Galeem. Just when Sozo was ready to flee with only one wing, Galeem slashed at his rival's neck with his claws, letting Sozo fall by his own gashing wounds.
"Sozo!" Ultima cried, the heavy rain falling on her battle armor. The Queen of Arcus began fuming with black thunderclouds, enhanced by the Diamond of Universes and shot out violet crystals at Galeem. Some of them scrapped his wings, and he roared at the intense pain the darkness was delivering to him.
"So I guess darkness outbalances light," Galeem snarled, creating a javelin out of some of his wings levitating by his golden aura. His eyes flashed red as he clashed his javelin weapon with Ultima's legs and tail. The Queen of Arcus then breathed dark smoke on Galeem's face before pushing him hard to the ground, gnawing at his neck with her teeth. Galeem then grabbed ahold of her and threw her onto the rocky dirt, the two of them getting up as quickly as possible.
"How and why could you do this, Galeem!?" Ultima asked, tears mixing with the heavy rain falling above them. "I thought being the Lord of Light was to keep balance and peace with the darkness, unless you cheated your way through! Whatever happened to being friends till the end, no matter what!?"
"The past is in the past, Ultima," Galeem answered, levitating without moving his wings. "I will clear a way for the future, and it all starts… with destroying the darkness before it destroys me."
"I won't let you!" Ultima roared, icy breath streaming out from her mouth as she ran towards Galeem. However, the Seraph of Order used his telepathy and stopped Ultima in place before she could strike him.
"Even with all the power in the multiverse, you are still weak," Galeem chuckled, placing his paws on Ultima's chest with his claws on different sides of the glowing stone. "Hopefully I never have to deal with you again." Galeem then shoved his claws deep into the scaly skin of the frozen dragoness, causing her to cry in pain as her own brother was about to reach to her internal organs.
In the battle against the Master Hands, the First Ultimates saw that the Queen of Arcus was about to be killed, and they wanted to do something about it.
"Quick!" Sieg the First Brawler Ultimate called out to the other two. "We each grab a cannon and fire them all at Galeem!" Each of the First Ultimates pulled out the cannons revealed before at Raifujin, pointing them straight at Galeem. They each fired, sending large lasers right at the Lord of Light. Once Galeem looked up, he was hit so hard in the head that he was knocked back in defeat, with the lasers reflecting back at Ultima and the First Ultimates. They all pierced through Ultima, splitting her into two conscious minds as the Diamond of Universes dropped to the ground. They then flew straight for the First Ultimates, and their souls were separated from their bodies and sent straight to few of the statues of the legendary warriors now located at Ginnungagap.
Galeem looked up and saw who once were Ultima now appeared as two godlike figurines that were starting to wake up: Tabuu, the God of Construction, and a mysterious, golden woman with abstract bird wings and a violet eye in the center of her chest. Kirby, for the first time, was speechless by what he saw. Who once was their mortal enemy was half of the Queen of Arcus. Tabuu was a split mind of Ultima. But who was the golden goddess…?
Tabuu was just about to reach for the Diamond of Universes, but Galeem quickly snatched it with his telekinesis, breathing harder than before.
"You'll pay for this! All of you!" Galeem growled, his slit pupils dilated. "I will truly murder you, Ultima! Or… what remains of you anyway. Two figures, one mind. Tabuu, the God of Construction and Ultima's darkness, and Ragnarokk, the Goddess of Oblivion and Ultima's light." Galeem then lifted the dying Sozo into the air, twisting the general's bones and flesh until he became the Arcadian Master Hand, which was identified with a golden aura. The Lord of Light then called the other Hands of Creation to his side before he flew back to the Sky Temple with the Diamond of Universes.
"Where do you suppose he's going to do with that stone?" Tabuu asked.
"Release Dharkon… just so he can kill him," Ragnarokk answered with the exact same voice as Faker's and Ultima's. Once the vision ended on a cliffhanger, Kirby's eyes flashed red again, bringing him back into the fight against the Stevepost.
"Kirby, wake up!" Young Link called out. The pink puffball quickly looked up to see the grotesque cubic human about to strike him with his pixelated diamond sword. Kirby quickly pulled out his hammer in the process and blocked the incoming attack, pushing the strange figure away. The Stevepost found himself surrounded by the other fighters, even Bowser Jr. who just woke up, but his gaze was focused more on Banjo & Kazooie, the duo the pink slime transformed from. For whatever reason, the Stevepost was talking in a way that was nothing more than untranslatable screeches for the other fighters but can only be heard by the bear and the bird.
"Why, if it isn't my pals Banjo and Kazooie," the Stevepost spoke. Even when he was smiling, he was terrifying with those flat human teeth. "Tell me: how you guys been doin'?"
"No… you can't be real," Kazooie gasped, putting her wings over her beak. "The Steve we knew was left to die…"
"Nonsense! I'm totally real!" "Steve" responded.
"You just copied our memories into the real thing…" Banjo answered. "Like we told you before, we will never be your friend after what you did!"
"What are the bear and bird doing?" Sonic asked with confusion. "Who is this 'Steve' guy they're referring to? I know only Banjo & Kazooie can hear them, but how do they know each other?"
"I don't know," Joker answered, "but whatever these two are hiding, they need a stern talking to."
"Oh, that's rich," "Steve" responded, being slightly sarcastic with his voice. "You abandoned me!"
"You were going to kill us all, and it would make me and Kazooie feel so much better!" Banjo growled, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. "We beat you once, we can beat you again!" The bear pulled out Kazooie like a sword, grabbing her by her feet.
"Sorry I have to do this," Banjo spoke.
"It's fine," Kazooie replied. "I've got iron-tough feathers and I like being played rough. Now swing me at that imposter!" Banjo and "Steve" charged at each other with sword-like weapons, the strange thud of Kazooie's feathers clanging against the pixelated diamond sword. Banjo then grabbed Kazooie's neck and made her cough up Blue Eggs like a shotgun. The grotesque cubic humanoid pulled out a shield and began blocking the projectiles, but was suddenly interrupted by Sonic's gust of wind. The Stevepost got back on his feet and snarled in an untranslatable language.
"Looks like the slime is angry!" Kazooie responded. "Good luck trying to understand what he's saying because even we can't!" Sonic's powers then automatically clicked, and his ears perked up to the sounds of the Stevepost being translated.
"So you can hear what I'm saying, huh?" the grotesque monster asked. "Looks like Dharkon's experiments REALLY did a number on you!" For the other fighters, this was nothing more than screeching.
"Shut up," the Luminary snapped, unleashing Kazap behind "Steve". The grotesque being was becoming electrocuted, standing up and turning around. He simply roared now, pulling out potions and throwing them at the fighters. Ness began swatting the potions back at "Steve" with his bat, and Fox began warping around with a blue aura around his body, rapidly jabbing in the horrifying cubic human's face. Blocks of TNT were placed to assist "Steve", and he was ready to light the small pile up in front of the fighters as he kept blocking incoming attacks with his shield. The Stevepost was ready to ignite a block of TNT with a redstone torch, which was just ready to explode. As the fighters were about to back away, Shulk received a vision of the future: the cave was laced with redstone connected to TNT. If one redstone torch was placed next to the redstone to ignite the TNT, then redstone repeaters would transfer the ignited information throughout the dust laid out and ignite more TNT blocks hidden in the rocks, blowing up the cave and killing everyone underneath the falling rocks.
"The caves are rigged!" Shulk called out as he struggled against "Steve's" potions. "This place is going to blow up if we don't get out!" Sonic used his speed to his advantage, vanishing in the blink of an eye. Just before the Stevepost ignited the TNT next to him, a house built from all the TNT Sonic gathered in time appeared around him, and it was to late for "Steve" as he couldn't get rid of the ignited block.
"Grab a soda, some popcorn, and let's enjoy the fireworks show," Sonic responded with a smirk behind his blue lipstick as he didn't look back upon the large explosion of TNT supposedly killing "Steve" inside it. The fighters watched from a safe distance of the fiery screams that was coming from the cubic human-guised slime, and Banjo & Kazooie were the most shocked. Once the fire calmed down and pieces of sand and popping gunpowder landed in the ground of the cave, things seemed to have calmed down with relief.
"That… was… terrifying," Bowser Jr. said as the genie's lamp was passed to him. "I have never met this guy before in my life, and he's already gave me nightmares for a full-straight month."
"I know how you feel, kid," Sonic responded, shaking the sand from his slippers. Once the Smashers continued down the path to the Gerudo gold, the blue hedgehog started hearing noises coming from the ashes of the TNT pile behind them.
"Determination is nonexistent, rat…" the bubbling voice of "Steve" growled softly. Fox McCloud heard the sounds from the ash pile, but there was the untranslatable gibberish for him instead.
"Guys…?" Fox and Sonic asked in unison as louder, squelching sounds arose from the area of the blast. The Smashers turned around in confusion to be met with the pink slime disguised as "Steve" transform into some of disgusting horror right in front of them. Slimy, slithering tentacles of deep cobalt and turquoise wrapped around each other into a pulsing body of ooze and pus. Arms made out of pure muscle and popping veins made themselves into limbs so beefy that Incineroar and Captain Falcon looked nothing more than a baby. The creepy face of "Steve" moved its way up to the top of the body of mutated flesh, his bones cracking with every movement. His human-like teeth became much more noticeably sharper, and his tongue was long and forked. His eyes rolled back into his cubic head until the capillaries in his corneas were shown at the bottom, with his blue pupils gone. His mouth stretched to an unnatural level, making a noise that was supposed to be laughter but came out as a voice from the depths of hell.
"Dear God," Snake spoke.
"Sweet mother of Chaos!" Sonic exclaimed as the eldritch horror in front of them exposed his yellowed teeth and hyperrealistic gums, releasing a stunning roar that filled the fighters with a brink of fear. They crouched and cowered at the terrifying beast towering over them by a meter, and the only ones immune were Banjo & Kazooie, the ones who were caught by the slime.
"Should we do this again?" Kazooie asked. Banjo nodded, dashing towards the monster that "Steve" had become and kicking sand in the creature's face. The horrific creature cried as he tried to get the sand out of his eyes, his eyes shrinking until they crunched into little black dots with pixelated skin covering the sides of his sockets. He began slamming with his strong arms, shaking the floor of the cave. The anthropomorphic bear stated hitting the slimy tentacles, jabbing as hard as he could with Kazooie to assist him. However, "Steve" whacked Banjo with his strong arms and ramming the bear into the wall of the cave. The grotesque creature then charged towards him, still roaring the roar that triggered the emotion of fright in the other fighters.
"Sonic!" Fox called out to the blue hedgehog. Sonic lowered his quills as he looked at the Star Fox mercenary, trembling. Even if he couldn't see "Steve's" horrifying face, Sonic could still visualize the abomination by simply hearing his voice.
"You need to stall that thing!" Fox exclaimed. "You're the only one out of any of us to stand up against that bastard thanks to your powers! Block his voices out of your head and focus!" Sonic then quietly stood up, knowing that "Steve" can scare his prey by being heard and seen. Out of the blue, the scars on the blue hedgehog's eyes flashed their respected colors, filtering the disturbing sounds and the looks of the humanoid eldritch so they no longer trigger his helplessness. Now, Sonic could concentrate and create a pillar of fire underneath the Stevepost's tentacles. Yet, "Steve" saw this coming as he approached Banjo & Kazooie. The creature extended his mouth and… swallowed the flame pillar?
"The hell?" Sonic asked. A fire symbol flashed on "Steve's" eyes as his mouth stretched to a point that it seemed as though he was touching the roof of the cave. Getting pissed as the horror was laughing, Sonic began tossing boulders, lightning bolts, thorny vines, gusts of wind, icicles, and magic blasts, only for "Steve" to swallow them all as fast as possible. His eyes rapidly switched through symbols of the Rainbolements, having completely absorbed them.
"Well, this is new," Kazooie replied. The head of "Steve" then split into seven, smaller heads, each on a long neck and a single, giant eye, with each eye having a different symbol of the Rainbolements. To top it off, his strong arms are missing, and it instead remained a blob of slimy tentacles with tips of pink. The head with the Fire Rainbolement began charging up bursts of fire and shooting them at the blue hedgehog and bipedal bear. The head with the Earth Rainbolement now started blasting out walls of stone, trying to push the two fighters into the cave walls and crush them, but they kept jumping out of the way and grabbing some of the paralyzed Smashers in the process.
The head with the Thunder Rainbolement spat out charged blasts of lightning, and the head with the Life Rainbolement spat out rapid-fire seeds which grew into vines that tried to slam Sonic and Banjo-Kazooie into the ground. Sonic quickly grabbed a paralyzed Fox as the head with the Air Rainbolement was ready to blow a massive tornado at the Star Fox mercenary. Some of the Smashers were starting to get up and avoid looking and hearing the abomination.
"You okay?" Fox asked, holding Sonic's cheek as he was trying to pull himself up. The blue hedgehog nodded and began to charge up lightning in his fingertips once the head with the Water Rainbolement spouted out a strong stream of water. The blue hedgehog placed his hands in the water and zapped the grotesque monster. Finally, the head with the Magic Rainbolement was ready to unleash a powerful blast that will surely kill the fighters.
Kazooie quickly coughed up a Grenade Egg, which served as a distraction for the "Steve" heads. Sonic then came up from behind via speed and created ice blades from his hands, severing some of the tentacles and cutting deep into the body of the altered Stevepost. The creature roared in defeat as pink slime was oozing out of his wound, and he squirmed around until he transformed back into his cubic humanoid self. As the other fighters got up, helping Bowser Jr. keep himself together, "Steve" began growling in screeches, but he spoke in the ears of Banjo & Kazooie as well as Sonic. With enough luck, Mega Man managed to translate the language as well with his systems.
"You will pay for this!" "Steve" snarled as he squirmed in defeat. "When I get back, I will drag you down to a place where there's no heaven, no hell – just nothing! Nothing as empty as the Mother's shell! She will live on! Do you hear!?" The grotesque figure then exploded into a pink mess on the sand, leaving Banjo & Kazooie shocked. Sonic was terrified by what he saw earlier, and Mega Man backed away in fear.
"What did he say?" Cloud asked. The three fighters turned around, unable to speak as of now. The grotesque horror seemed to do a lot on them. Mega Man's translator was all jumbled up from the message of the Stevepost, and even he couldn't process the message now.
"I suppose we just take this lamp to the genderless genie?" Bowser Jr. asked, tossing the lamp to the Hero.
"I suppose," Ireburn responded. As the fighters traveled to the cave of the genderless genie, the pink mess on the floor was slowly reforming into the mono-eyed slime it once was. It looked back on the disappearing fighters with its expressionless eye looking far at them.
The fighters made it to the area where all of the Gold of the Gerudo was being held at, and there, on top of the shiny pile, was the genderless genie. They were of a Master Ace class due to their rainbow aura surrounding their yellow body, and they had the graced of an angel that could fly like a bird. In their hands, they held the Thunder Helm.
"Oh boy," the genie responded in a teenage feminine voice. "I don't know why that young turtle wanted me to steal all this, but it sure looks pretty!" As the genderless genie was about to put on the Thunder Helm, they looked down at the fighters standing right in front of the Gerudo gold.
"Don't you people look adorable in those dresses?" the genie asked in a playful manner. "I can see past your disguises and know you're not really women…"
"Give the Gerudo back their gold and the Thunder Helm back now!" Zelda ordered, the Smashers getting ready to attack. However, the genie simply laughed.
"You people just don't know who you're talking to, huh?" the genie continued. "For whatever reason, I was given this gold and ordered to protect it. Now buzz off!" The Luminary then pulled out the lamp, scaring the genie.
"You've found it!" the genie gasped, dropping the Thunder Helm on the surface of the gold. "The one thing Dharkon kept me locked up in! Too bad you can't tell me my name or you'll be sucking me in right about now…" Sonic, knowing the answer quite easily due to his experience, grabbed the lamp from the Hero's hands and held the lamp.
"Is it NiGHTS?" Sonic asked. Shook, the genie trembled with a surprised expression.
"What the-!?" NiGHTS asked, a tornado swirling out from the lamp and sucking in the genie.
"NiGHTS!" Sonic continued, drawing in the genie as they tried to escape. In a state of panic, NiGHTS offered to make a deal.
"Okay, okay!" NiGHTS spoke as they were being sucked in. "I'll give all the treasure in this cave back to the Gerudo! I'll do what you ask if you just leave me alone! Please!" Sonic then covered the spout of the lamp, getting rid of the tornado and freeing NiGHTS. The genderless genie Spirit sighed as they snapped their fingers and transported all of the gold back to the Gerudo.
"And the Thunder Helm," Joker replied when he saw the headpiece still here. Sighing in defeat , NiGHTS snapped their fingers and returned the Thunder Helm through transportation.
"Now go back to the Gerudo and apologize," Mario told the genie. "Roll with whatever punishment they give you without complaining." NiGHTS then teleported themselves to the Gerudo tribe, leaving the cave empty.
"Well, that's that," Sonic said as he tossed the lamp onto the empty sand and walked off to the main entrance with his pals. Once they got outside, the Smashers looked around the darkened sky, feeling rather peculiar about this.
"I guess all that's left to do is find Ganondorf and complete the Triforce," Sheik told the fighters before she stared off into the direction of Gerudo Town.
"Especially the fight back there," Fox responded. "That was weird…"
"Yeah, Sonic answered, looking back at the cave. "I wonder who this Mother person is, and I wonder if she had… anything to do… with… the… situation…" While Sonic was talking, Fox in shock turned the hedgehog's head so he was facing in the same direction all the other fighters were. There, right in front of Sonic's eyes, was Gerudo Town engulfed in violet flames.
