The room was dark and cold, just like all the other rooms in the castle were. Dark thunderclouds roared outside the stained-glass windows, with lightning streaking across the sky. A long carpet stained red with the blood of the monsters' victims was laid across the stone floor. The ebony throne was standing over ten feet tall, and Dracula Vlad Tepes was sitting in it at half that exact height. His pale skin and gray hair were just as present as before, his fangs stained from the red wine he was drinking from a small glass.

Dracula patiently tapped his fingers on the arm rest of the throne he was sitting in, already prepared for Group B as they ran into the throne room. The vampire looked upon the fighters with a gleam in his devilish eyes, chuckling at the peculiar warriors gathered in front of him.

"So you are the brave warriors that Lord Dharkon has warned about," Dracula spoke with a calm voice. "And not even a Belmont this time." Richter stepped out from the group, twirling the Vampire Killer in his hands.

"Your reign of terror ends right now, Dracula!" Richter snapped, with the fighters joining the Belmont's side and preparing their weapons.

"Die, you monster!" Falco cawed.

"You don't belong in this world!" the ex-Swordfighter Ultimate Reborn spoke.

"So, first you break into my castle after five years," Dracula renowned. "Then, you start freeing the servants that were given to me and were given strict orders to hunt down a certain blond-haired intruder with the white shirt. Now, you enter my throne room and threaten me with the act of murder… Bold of you to assume I fear death."

"It's not just us Dharkon has captured," Lucina objected. "You may not know it now, but Dharkon is keeping you as HIS hostage. I know you begged for him to give you your body back."

"And it's time for us to release you from the clutches of Dharkon and vanquish the darkness!" Terry yelled, his fists glowing with flames and chi energy. However, Dracula simply chuckled lightly, tossing the wine glass onto the carpet. The shattered glass scattered across the carpet, leaving behind a stain of wine on the floor.

"What is a man?" Dracula asked as he stood from his throne, towering over the fighters. "A miserable pile of secrets. A ravaging beast who hungers for material things, like gold and comfort in his own home, and he fights to keep whatever was given to his greedy hands. A being who claims to be fighting for what he believes is right but falls into sin and despair at the end. A mortal that is beyond all animals, the only species who lusts for riches and reproduction. The riches, in which he can spend on food, clothing, shelter, and other necessary essentials. The reproduction, in which he can use his mate however he wants, hearing her cry for mercy, the mixture of pain and pleasure becoming all worth it in the act of creating new life."

"But enough talk," Dracula continued, flipping his cape. "Have at you, Super Smash Brothers!" The fighters prepared their weapons, watching as the towering vampire warped himself onto the floor. Diddy Kong, Peach, and Daisy started the fight by shooting peanuts and throwing the white turnips, not having enough time to react to Dracula's Dark Inferno move. Falco and Dark Pit quickly jumped in front of the three fighters and began reflecting the dark fireballs back at the vampire. Dracula paid no mind to that and teleported himself to where Dr. Mario and Ridley were standing. The pale vampire's eyes glowed red with fire, creating three projectiles of fire and sending them out towards the fighters. Dr. Mario quickly pulled out his cape, reflecting one of the fire balls, while Ridley shielded in front of Terry and Wario, taking the hit for them. As the Space Pirate was stunned, Dracula traveled to Ridley's direction as a swarm of bats, hitting Pikachu, Robin, Jigglypuff, and Richter.

When the vampire stopped in place, he spread his cape open and began unleashing magical orbs that curved around him, spreading far and wide and hitting the other fighters. Because they were pretty much disjointed from Dracula, the orbs could not be reflected by those that do have reflectors built into their moveset. Wario pulled out his motorcycle out of nowhere, and he blared his horn.

"C'mon, Terry!" Wario shouted. "We don't have much time!" The Legendary Hungry Wolf stood on the back of the bike the second it sped off towards Dracula. Wario kept an eye out for pillars of fire emerging from the ground that shot all the way to the ceiling, moving his bike left and right while Terry kept an eye out for the magic orbs.

"Yo, Ken!" Terry called out, alerting Ken as quickly as possible. The Hungry Wolf grabbed ahold of Ken's hand and pulled him onto the bike, the two of them unleashing powerful projectiles of fire as Wario continuously drove around the flame pillars and magic orbs. While Dracula kept teleporting around and unleashed orbs after every fire pillar, he was hit by the flaming projectiles from Terry and Ken. As he doused his burning cape, his pale face met with the fiery uppercut punches of the two street fighters.

Once Dracula was hit, he succumbed to the floor, trembling upon defeat. All of the magic abilities he unleashed upon the fighters was gone. When the Smashers calmed down with the attack, they slowly approached the vampire. Just as soon as they were about to leave, Dracula chuckled softly.

"You thought it was over, did you not?" Dracula asked, his voice becoming more monster-like. The vampire slowly stood back onto his feet, a black aura outlined with red surrounding him. Pieces of his clothes began to rip apart as Dracula's skin went from a pale white to a sickening green.

"This fight was only the beginning!" Dracula roared before his voice drastically changed, hunching over as his clothes were torn apart. The vampire grew large rows upon teeth to hide the fangs he once had, with claws growing on his hands and feet. Horns shot up straight from his head, and Dracula had strong, powerful muscles. He grew much larger, towering over Group B as he transformed into a humongous, winged demon. From that transformation, Dracula Vlad Tepes was no more.

Peach and Daisy pulled out their Toads when they saw the second form of the vampire shoot out wailing ghosts, curving around before they tracked down the princesses. Falco and Dr. Mario got in front of them and quickly reflected the ghosts back at the green demon before they spammed their own projectiles. The winged monster jumped up into the air before landing with a powerful shockwave, growling as Pikachu and Jigglypuff landed on his back, attacking him from behind.

Dracula's claws were tainted with poison, and he viciously swiped them across his back, swatting the two Pokémon off his back. Terry caught the small fighters in time, letting the poisoned Smashers rest on his head while he began avoiding the fiery and electrical projectiles from the winged demon. Terry unleashed powerful flames from his fists, basically attacking as though he was a pyromaniac. The South Town Hero then noticed that Robin and Dark Pit couldn't jump out of the way in time before they were slammed by Dracula's monstrous fist, pummeled to the ground, and Dark Pit and Ken were next.

"Got this!" Lucina interrupted, jumping over Terry's head with her Parallel Falchion in her hand, rushing towards the two trapped fighters and pushing them out of the way to take the hit from the powerful, darkness-covered fist. The blue-haired warrior princess fell under the heavy weight. Dark Pit and Ridley ran to her rescue, trying to comfort a wounded Lucina as Dracula's claws were coated in a black aura.

"Hey, vampire!" Gilbert shouted, unleashing a powerful tornado at the demon's face. As Dracula opened his bloodshot eyes, the Mii Swordfighter stabbed one of his eyes clean off, making him bleed with a blackened ooze. As the monster held over his eye, roaring in pain as Wario, Ken, and Terry punched at his feet, the ex-Swordfighter Ultimate Reborn slid down the demon's wing, sliding off a wing and doing a backflip as he cut off the sharp end of the throne's arm chair. The Mii Fighter then got to a hiding spot from the demonic vampire, stuck his sword in the stone floor, and began carving the piece of the ebony throne into a stake.

"This'll kill him… right?" Gilbert asked himself as he held onto the wooden stake he made, placing it in a pouch on his belt and continuing the fight.

Dracula continued swiping his poisoned claws at the dodgy fighters. Even though he was half-blind, his eye was slowly regenerating due to his immortality. Richter tossed holy water at the demon's face, scalding the green skin as though it was boiling. The Smashers eventually gathered into one spot and began spamming their projectiles, ranging from Diddy Kong's peanuts and banana peels to large explosions from Terry Bogard. The Mii Swordfighter ran up to the group in time, twirling the wooden stake in his hand.

"Keep your eyes on me, Dracula!" Gilbert spoke, grabbing a bottle of holy water from Richter and sprinkling it onto the tip. The winged beast fired out ghosts from his voracious fangs, but the Mii Fighter was too fast for them to catch up. Gilbert eventually climbed onto Dracula's chest, avoiding the poisonous claws before he lodged the stake right into the monster's chest, supposedly impaling his heart.

As Dracula Vlad Tepes roared in defeat, Terry Bogard finished the fight with a flaming uppercut mixed in with his chi energy, ending the fight between the vampire. The winged demon's body began exploding in a multitude of colors, shaking not just the floor of the throne room but the entire castle as well. Bats and winged hellions flew out of the castle, while grounded monsters like mummies and spiders were crushed underneath the rubble.

"What's going on?" Daisy asked, trying to keep her balance from the shaking floor.

"We have to get out of here! Now!" Falco exclaimed, grabbing ahold of Lucina and jumping straight through the stained-glass window at the end of the room. The other fighters followed after their two friends, now falling to what was supposedly their death. Luckily, they were saved by one of the falling walls of the castle, bracing themselves for impact once they crashed into the ground. Once they were on the solid cobblestone road, the group looked back on Dracula's Castle, watching it crumble into the bottomless abyss of the cold, dark, starless night. A large blast surrounded the area, its shockwaves echoing throughout the realm. Things seemed to have calmed down afterwards.

The fighters began cheering over their victory, congratulating each other for their role in the fight. It wasn't long before they all looked at Terry Bogard, who was adjusting the cap on his head.

"So… I take it there are some of you that haven't left this castle in years," Terry spoke, looking at Daisy, Wario, Ridley, Ken, Dark Pit, Robin, and Richter. "I've been entering and leaving the place for quite some time, and the outside world is far more disturbing than what you've encountered. I'm probably taking a wild guess that your friends have already suffered out there?"

"That's right," Lucina responded, trying to steady her balance before Falco kept her upright. "So just… prepare yourselves for what you're about to see…" The reawakened Smashers looked at each other nervously, wasting no chances as they all followed Pikachu and Jigglypuff into the blue portal to the World of Darkness.

"Pika pika!" Terry, Peach, Falco, Lucina, Diddy Kong, Dr. Mario, and Mii Swordfighter all tagged behind the fighters, heading out of the sub-area victoriously.


As the fighters emerged from the portal onto the colossal, broken clock, Daisy, Ken, Dark Pit, Richter, Wario, Robin, and Ridley were all shocked by the world they were forced to live in. Storm clouds rolled high in the sky and down below the bottomless abyss, thunder echoing throughout the darkened planet.

"Oh my…" Daisy gasped with shock. "We had no idea how bad this got…"

"And it all began five years ago," Terry sighed. "Lead the way, bird boy."

"Roger that," Falco Lombardi chuckled, checking the compass on the device secured around his wrist. The Star Fox pilot then journeyed down the path made out of coils, and the group followed after him, making their way back to the Undying Light.


Back on the ship, Sonic the Hedgehog rested his arms on the railing of the deck, his fingers trailing across the scars that damaged his face. The blue rodent still could not believe that this happened. At the beginning when Galeem first arrived, why didn't Sonic use the Chaos Emeralds to escape? Could they have vanished without a trace at a bad time? Just like that?

The blue rodent's eyes were no longer the emerald green they once were. Instead, all that remained was nothing more than irises that were completely different colors from each other. A reminder of the traumatic event that changed him into an uncontrollable god. Plus, he hadn't seen his home planet in twenty years, so his friends would not recognize him even if they were attacked by Galeem.

"I can tell things are on your mind, huh?" Fox asked, walking up next to Sonic and resting his arms on the railing. "Yeah, I hope our pals survive out there in the chaotic world. Who knows what crazy things they'll run into?"

"I think they already did," Sonic sighed with worry. "I just hope they're okay… What are my friends gonna think of me when they see me as a god too afraid to even control his powers?" Fox McCloud rested a hand on the blue hedgehog's shoulders, shaking his head.

"I don't know, kid," Fox answered. "I don't know. Until then, the least we can do is help you control your powers. Since there are basically no dragons in sight to help us, and Ragnarokk isn't even a dragon yet, that doesn't mean I can at least train you." Sonic looked back at his best friend, letting go of the railing.

"Let's get ready in our battle positions," Fox spoke, pulling out his blaster. The blue hedgehog stood in a form where he crouched in place, his eyes gleaming with blue lightning.

"First thing you wanna focus on: what is it that you're afraid of so much you completely forgot it?" Fox asked, slowly moving circles around his training partner.

"…It's what Galeem and Dharkon did to me," Sonic answered, feeling the currents of lightning fizzle through his fingers. "Well, Dharkon anyway since he changed me into a Dragosmo…"

"C'mon, Sonic," Fox sighed. "You can try a bit harder than that. Try to remember something traumatic from your past outside of your curse." The blue hedgehog tried to clear his mind, casting out the two dragons from his mind. Soon, his mind was completely empty… and he could think of nothing impactful in his life.

"I… can't," Sonic responded. "I know I remembered it before, but Dharkon messed up my memory so much it's still a little hazy. Whatever it was… I hope it wasn't important."

"Well, you tried your best," Fox sighed. "Now… concentrate on your emotions. Control them and let your feelings flow. That's how I fight, and probably how you fight. Just imagine me as an enemy, probably a hostile robot. How would you react with your newfound powers?"

"Well," Sonic answered with a smug look on his face, lifting up his hands. The ground started rumbling underneath the Undying Light, pieces of the large floating island falling apart. Even the Star Fox mercenary was getting shocked by the raw power the blue hedgehog had.

"Sonic…! I think we wanna stop. This is overkill…" Fox spoke nervously, afraid that the large rocks Sonic summoned would destroy the ship entirely. The moment it took time for the blue hedgehog to realize this was too much, the large blast from Dracula's defeat echoed throughout the sky, catching Sonic off-guard. This caused the blue hedgehog's current powers to go out of control, causing him to drop the rocks a little too hard.

The entire island started crumbling, forcing the Mii Fighters and rescued Spirits outside the ship to run back into the ship. Sonic began to stumble from the powerful shockwave, hugging Fox in fear of what he had done.

"It's not your fault," Fox spoke, noticing Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Peach, Daisy, Dr. Mario, Falco, Lucina, Dark Pit, Wario, Diddy Kong, Robin, Ken, Ridley, Richter, Terry, and Mii Swordfighter all trying to catch up to the ship before the solid ground it's trapped in crumbles. Sonic noticed that too and ran to the edge of the deck, watching Group B hop onto the floating rubble in an attempt to climb onto the Undying Light.

"Uh, guys!" Sonic called out to his pals in the ship. "We've got company! I think it's our pals!" Not wasting any time, the blue hedgehog made vines and leaves emerge from his hands, twisting and forming them into a stable ladder for the team to grab ahold to. Terry was the first to hold on, grabbing the hand of Ken, who held onto Falco, then Lucina, then Ridley, and so on. Mario and Link were the first to emerge onto the deck to find the group has returned and ran to Fox's and Sonic's aid.

"Hoist us up! Quick!" Terry yelled, he and the teammates of Group B getting a firm grip on the ladder. The four fighters pulled up the ladder, getting the returning group onto the deck before the entire island crumbled off the ship. As the rubble cleared away, the entire Undying Light itself was exposed, over a hundred times larger than the tiny ship they once had before.

"See? I told you it was the Legacy," Sonic spoke as the Undying Light itself was, in fact, the exact same ship that was believed to have been destroyed by Galeem ten years ago, and in perfect condition too. The vast buildings were still intact, with the large cannons built front and center. It was a pretty big surprise that the whole thing was hidden in the rubble and the crew hasn't noticed that despite having passed through many doors before.

"I cannot believe I didn't notice that," Mario gasped in wonder, surprised that this whole island basically rebuilt what was once lost. However, Link didn't seem to care about the ship and instead focused on the recruiter teammates.

"Hey, guys!" Link called out to the fighters in the ship. "Group B is back!" Upon hearing that, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Kirby, Ness, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Sheik, Zelda, Marth, Young Link, Ganondorf, Chrom, Mr. Game & Watch, Pit, Zero Suit Samus, Snake, Pokémon Trainer, Olimar, Toon Link, Villager, Mega Man, Wii Fit Trainer, Little Mac, PAC-MAN, Shulk, Bowser Jr., Duck Hunt, Ryu, Cloud, Inkling, Simon, Incineroar, Joker, Hero, Banjo & Kazooie, and Mii Brawler all ran outside to meet up with the group that had successfully returned on their mission safely.

"Father!" Lucina cried, running towards Chrom and hugging him lovingly. Robin joined in on the tender moment between father and daughter, with the descendants of Marth rubbing his white locks of hair.

"Pittoo!" Pit cried, tears running down his face as he squeezed his black-clothed clone in his arms. "I missed you so much! I hope Lady Palutena's okay!"

"Get off, and stop calling me Pittoo!" Dark Pit groaned, trying to push the clingy angel away from his face.

"Good to see you, pal!" Ryu chuckled, patting his friendly rival Ken on the back.

"It sure was dark and scary back there at the castle, but look who we found!" Ken responded, dragging the Legendary Hungry Wolf out of the crowd of fighters.

"Terry Bogard?" Joker asked.

"Oh my gosh!" Ireburn squealed happily as he and the Phantom Thief ran towards the South Town Hero and hugged him. "It's Terry!"

"We were so worried you would be consumed by the darkness!" Banjo replied, joining in with the group of survivors.

"Same for you, guys!" Terry laughed before his expression changed. "Any idea where Piranha Plant and our second teammate went off to?" Sonic looked at Fox confusingly upon hearing that statement.

"You brought a Piranha Plant on board with you?" Sonic asked with surprise.

"It's a long story," Fox sighed. "Regardless, the plant you're looking for is off north, traveling with the rest of the awakened fighters. The whereabouts of your friend is… currently unknown. Hopefully you can see them again once they deal with the chaos over there."

"I see…" Terry responded, looking back on the huge buildings on the Legacy. "Well, we'll be heading inside the ship. See you people later." Soon, the four survivors walked into the ship, with all the other fighters walking in. Only Kirby remained outside, looking into the storm clouds up north. A twinkling light glimmered in the darkness, watching with worry about the third group traveling over there. As soon as he walked to the center of the deck, a red cloud mixed with the Spirits of captured fighters flew in from the southeast. They all entered inside the body of the pink puffball, triggering what was pretty much his longest vision yet.