"Wow…" Sonic sighed as he looked at the landscape locked in conflict with itself. "That all happened while I was passed out?"

"Yep," Fox responded. "Ever since Galeem broke free from his prison, he and Dharkon have been attacking each other, the both of them powerful enough for one side to win the war over the other. Mario and the gang had left after hearing about the Dark Samus and Roy Primaries being somewhere around here, and they took a small team of Mii Fighters with them. The Primaries were busy guarding Morpho Knight and M. Bison respectably."

"Morpho Knight and M. Bison?" Sonic asked. "You mean the original guys behind the Second Subspace War have a say in this?"

"Without Tabuu to assist them, Galeem and Dharkon took it upon themselves to take control of the remaining Supporters, Primaries, and bosses. The split between the two forces was half-and-half. The whereabouts of Piranha Plant, Joker, Hero, Banjo & Kazooie, Terry, and Byleth are unknown, but we can assume they're under control of the Subspace Army after they too vanished." Just then, Ragnarokk ran up to the deck, still sporting the outfit she chose for the Dark Realm.

"We've got an urgent message from the Fighting Mii Team," Ragnarokk spoke. "The fighters have split up from them thanks to the bosses becoming super-powerful from the Seraphim of Order and Chaos. They're down south as we speak, waiting for the Miis to get the upper hand."

"Let me guess… the Miis are losing?" Sonic asked in annoyance. Ragnarokk nodded as a response, much to their predicable surprise.

"Well… better go after the bosses then," Fox responded.

"I'm coming too," Ragnarokk responded. "If what the rumors say are true, then I need to reunite with Tabuu. I need to be brought back as Ultima and end this war. With your help, I can bring back what was once lost." The Star Fox mercenary grabbed ahold of Ragnarokk's hand, placing her grip on his tail. He then made sure Sonic and Kirby held tight onto her waist.

"I'm getting us all down there," Fox reminded, pressing the device on his wrist three times. The four warriors teleported onto the crystal ground, several feet away from the grounded Legacy. The small group's new objective for now was to get to the team of Mii Fighters. The Star Fox mercenary used the compass on his watch-like device, which was now working because of the war going on.

"We head up north," Fox told the team. "Let's go." The three fighters followed behind Fox, walking across an area where light and darkness meet. One of the last Sheik Supporters with glowing-violet eyes tried to ambush them by jumping off one of the crystals, by which Sonic responded fast. The blue hedgehog jumped behind the puppet fighter within a flash and kicked her away. However, just as soon as the blue hedgehog landed, the earth rumbled underneath the four fighters. The light crystals began to move, pushing away the darkness.

"I forgot to mention," Fox responded. "Everytime you take down one of these puppets, you're shifting the balance for either the light or the darkness."

"So, it's not a good thing?" Sonic asked.

"In times like these, it's never a good thing," Fox answered. "Keep an eye out for a Supporter under control of Galeem." As soon as the Star Fox mercenary said that, an Ice Climbers Supporter with red eyes ambushed the small team again, but Ragnarokk quickly launched a fireball at the puppet fighters. The earth shifted again, and the dark crystals pushed against the light, sustaining balance between the two warring sides. Puppets of Inkling, Zelda, and Shulk under control of the darkness charged straight for puppets of Cloud, Bowser, and Donkey Kong under control of the light right in front of the group.

"Let's get this over with," Sonic spoke, popping the bones in his shoulders and spine as he dashed straight for the Supporters attacking each other. Kirby followed behind the speedy hedgehog, pulling out his flaming mallet as he swung at the puppets that were launched by Sonic's electrical dashes. Within the span of a few seconds, all the Supporters were knocked out without interfering with the crystals on both sides.

Within the distance, the four fighters could hear the small Mii team attacking up north.

"Keep them here! Don't let them escape!" one Mii called out.

"Gunners, attack the Primaries! Everyone else after the bosses!" another shouted.

"We must be getting close," Ragnarokk told her friends. She pulled out the dragon-tooth sword she had always carried along, marching straight ahead. Upon hearing a gunshot from a mile away, Kirby managed to quickly catch a bullet speeding several feet per second heading straight for the brown-skinned warrior. The pink demon quickly ran into Ragnarokk and pushed her away, knocking her straight out of harm. The lead bullet hit the ground, which surprised the other two fighters within the group.

Sonic looked in the direction from where the bullet was shot, and he managed to spot a few characters behind crystal pillars in the distance. The blue hedgehog dashed straight for the hidden fighters, curling up into a ball and dashing straight for one of them. Without thinking of who he was attacking, Sonic grabbed ahold of the fighter and sped back to his friends.

"Piranha Plant!" Fox exclaimed, suddenly noticing the fighter in Sonic's grasp. However, the appearance of the plant was… rather different. For one thing, the Piranha Plant sported a purple tinge, and surrounded by a shadowy aura. The carnivorous flower whacked Sonic's face by swinging his flower pot at the hedgehog, knocking Sonic back and freeing himself.

"Sonic, you need to get back," Fox warned the hedgehog, who was trying to get up. "This Piranha Plant's under the influence of the Shadow Bugs!"

"Shadow Bugs?" Ragnarokk asked with a tone of familiarity in her voice. Another fighter hiding behind the crystals jumped out, grabbing ahold of Kirby in the blink of an eye. Upon hearing the pink demon's squeak, Fox rapidly fired his pistol at the figure who grabbed Kirby: Joker. The Phantom Thief was also controlled by the Shadow Bugs, but his eyes exposed a golden hue. Kirby tried to squirm from the false fighter's grip, but Joker held on tightly. Sonic managed to get back up and kick the Phantom Thief, grabbing Kirby out of harm in the process.

"Stay behind me!" Ragnarokk told the three uncorrupted fighters as her sword lit up in flames. "There could be more of them!" The false versions of Joker and Piranha Plant began to hear the sounds of multiple Light and Dark Puppets charge right at each other, each one based off the Primaries rescued from either the light or the darkness depending on who they were controlled by at the time of their rescue: white with blue outlines for the Light Puppets, black with red outlines for the Dark Puppets. They didn't get the chance to attack each other shortly before they were each knocked out of the air by the four other fighters in possession of the Shadow Bugs. Once the false characters all landed on the crystal ground, there was no one to stand between the small team of Smashers and the fighters under control of the Subspace Army.

"Banjo & Kazooie, Byleth, Eleven…" Fox McCloud noted, counting down the survivors. "Oh no…"

"What's wrong?" Sonic asked. "Haven't you faced false characters of Subspace before?"

"We have… only one or two at a time," Fox answered with uncertainty. "This is taking down all six of them at once, and they are all based on the fighters who evaded capture from raw power and skill alone. The odds are against us, no doubt. We'd be knocked out before we even go out to rescue the last four Primaries."

"But that means Tabuu is free, and I am not wasting my chance to re-fuse with him!" Ragnarokk responded, launching a powerful energy wave from her dragon-tooth sword. Upon the initial explosion of the energy beam, the false characters jumped out of the way. Shadow Terry was the first one to land and dashed straight for the fighters, to which Kirby quickly responded by swinging his hammer around.

The Shadow Banjo & Kazooie dashed around with the Wonder Wing move, ramming straight into the pink puffball. Sonic the Hedgehog spindashed right into the bear-and-bird duo, but he was quickly hit by Shadow Byleth's Aymr. Thankfully, the move had plenty of endlag for Fox to approach behind the professor and rapidly kick him from behind. Unfortunately, the false Piranha Plant spat out a spiked ball by which Hero whacked it straight at the Star Fox mercenary with his sword like a baseball bat.

Ragnarokk buried her fists into the crystalline ground, creating thorny vines that sprung out from the ground. The Shadow Bug fighters were tangled up in the vines, but the false Joker managed to pull off his mask and unleash Arsene behind him, cutting off the vines that trapped the Phantom Thief. Now powered by his main Persona, Joker dashed straight for the four fighters, firing his boosted gun. Ragnarokk quickly deflected most of them with her sword and protected the other three fighters with a magical barrier to reflect the bullets back at the Shadow Bug fighter. The corrupted fighter tried to use Makarakarn to deflect the bullets, but they were far too strong and simply pierced right through his chest.

The false characters entangled in the vines witnessed the death of one of their comrades, who was laying down on the cold crystal ground. The vines began to twist around the Shadow Bug fighters until Banjo & Kazooie suffocated from the tightness squeezing around their throats. The other four fighters managed to squirm out, and Kirby quickly pinned down the Piranha Plant by transforming into a stone and crushing the carnivorous flower's stem with his distributed weight.

Sonic began taunting Byleth and the Hero, speeding in-between them before he was cornered by the two. As soon as the false characters were just within sword length, the blue hedgehog zipped out of the way and let the two swordsmen impale each other in the chest. Fox McCloud was tackled down by Terry Bogard, who was ready to punch the anthropomorphic fighter's face into a red pulp with a powerful chi-energized fist. Ragnarokk managed to quickly stab the Shadow Bug fighter in the chest with her sword, pulling it out once Shadow Terry drew his last breath. Once the vines wilted and Kirby transformed back to normal, the small group of fighters watched as the Shadow Bugs taking control of the survivors retreated from the corpses, revealing the trophies of their comrades.

"Well… I guess we somehow managed to pull through," Fox sighed as he walked up to the trophy of Joker. Just as he was about to touch the golden base, he hesitated and pulled his hand back.

"I don't understand," Fox told the others. "I thought the only way you can become a trophy is if you're given a new body by the Smash Ball glowing within you. Isn't that the reason why we're all here?"

"Tabuu must've probably found them and, according to Ragnarokk's memories, given them bodies of their own," Sonic responded. Just then, something hit the blue hedgehog in a figurative sense of realization. "But that could only mean…" Sonic quickly raced around the trophies, touching the golden bases of each one and reverting them back to normal. Each of the fighters groaned as they sat up, unable to recall what happened after Tabuu unleashed his Off-Waves.

"Quick!" Sonic asked the survivors. "Do you remember anything from your homeworlds? Any friends you made there? Any conflicts you went through?"

"I clearly remember everything: the Metaverse, each member of the Phantom Thieves, the Holy Grail… why? What's gotten into you?" Joker responded in the form of a question.

"Yeah," Banjo noted. "Kazooie and I know we had to rescue Tooty from the evil witch Gruntilda, racing around in planes, there was something involving us getting fat and ugly before being forced to build cars in an almost-empty world to avoid working in a video game factory… yeah… nothing much we cannot remember, but now we'd like to forget some of 'em."

"But I don't understand," Sonic objected, scratching his head. "I thought if you transform into a trophy with a new body that looks exactly like your original appearance, your memories are reset and/or gone."

"Well, I think after the Off-Waves were released, we were taken in by the Shadow Bugs and hid with Tabuu in some mysterious realm," Ireburn spoke, starting to have his memories come back to him. "It was pretty vague, but I think the determination within us had already grown to be so powerful we can carry our memories on even after 'death.'"

"Plus, we think the realm Tabuu and his forces hid out in may have the secret to destroying the crystal shell surrounding Arcus and help us conquer both light and darkness," Terry pointed out. "Bad news is: the big guy's mind was weakened by the chains binding him, and… he began to say strange things about things that didn't make sense but… didn't NOT make sense either. Like how we're trapped in a game."

"Like the ones Banjo and I were told about?" Kazooie asked.

"Yeah, that's it!" Terry clarified. "Only it's something… far more sinister. Almost as if he's sunken into a realm that has made his vision darker yet darker." Sonic started to remember the weird dream he had before, with the crackled, melting face flickering within his memory like a glitch. It sparked a familiar sound within his mind, buzzing through his ears like a fly buzzing around trapped in his eardrums. The blue hedgehog simply shook it away, calming himself by thinking it was just a coincidence.

"Look… we've got a few more friends we'd like to rescue," Fox told the survivors. "Regardless if you have a new body or whatever, you all need to pitch in and help us escape from this planet. We save this world, then we also save ours."

"We're with you," Byleth spoke, whipping out the Sword of the Creator. "Then we can teach those monsters not to double-cross us in other worlds." The other survivors drew their weapons, ready to fight once more.

"Then we better hurry to the Mii Fighters," Fox told them. "They're probably overwhelmed right about now." The Star Fox mercenary dashed ahead, and the other fighters followed behind. Byleth suddenly remembered the strange device he kept in his pouch before, taking a look at the strange thing. It was still with him all this time, even though he transformed into a trophy. Shouldn't Tabuu have it right about now? Maybe with whatever sanity the Construct God had left, he must've noticed just how important that thing was and gave it to his new body. Outside of having the ability to solidify into a statue, what significance does it have in terms of mortality?

Maybe that strange device he has might provide the answers.

Once he followed the other fighters up north, a familiar face peaked out from one of the crystal pillars on the side of light. It was Marx, alright.

The strange jester watched as Byleth and the others went off to the Mii Fighters, taking the device he carried along with himself for ten years fall into the hands of the enemy. He just felt so determined to get what he wanted that he didn't notice a stranger standing behind him.

"I take it something has been on your mind for quite some time, and it started after you quit working for Dharkon," the voice spoke. "Strange, isn't it?" Slightly alarmed, Marx turned around to see the crystalline hedgehog Mephiles behind him, still donning the Master Legendary Spirit disguise.

"What are you doing here?" Marx asked. "I thought you were one of those Spirits who's drawn into the stone Kirby swallowed alongside those Locks."

"I suppose I should drop the act right about now," Mephiles sighed, removing his Spirit disguise and exposing his physical form. "Galeem has managed to capture everyone in the universes where each of the Super Smash Brothers came from, reaching out into alternate timelines, but he hasn't managed to capture me. I take it you followed in my footsteps according to your intentions?"

"I didn't follow in anyone's footsteps. I followed my own, and I always will," Marx snapped. "Dharkon didn't transform me into a Spirit because he was clearly too weak to get the job done."

"No… I think it was something more than that," Mephiles responded. "Dharkon's powers are just as inevitable as Galeem's, but somehow YOU weren't transformed even though they hit you. You're not like the other bosses, aren't you? Most of them were just Spirits who begged to get their bodies back, but ever since Day 1, I had been watching you. You have been spying on the Super Smash Brothers, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses."

"Suppose," Marx spoke, looking out into the distance. "By the way, you are aware of what's about to happen next, right?"

"Yes," Mephiles answered. "The light and darkness will fall, the Spirits and fighters will return, and everyone will live happily ever after… almost everyone."

"Here's the thing," Marx noted. "Few of the fighters here were born on this planet. They don't really have any origins, and their memorials by which the Dragosmos made were sculpted out of the ashes of their future selves."

"A future by which they will never survive," Mephiles responded, trailing his crystalline hands on Marx's two-tone hat. "You know… I have grown rather curious as to what you hide under that hat. What secrets you have hidden from mortal eyes. Perhaps it could provide the answers to your insanity?" The crystalline hedgehog could feel the horns underneath that hat, feeling how they were bulging out from the short violet locks hidden underneath. Mephiles pulled the hat off, revealing the strange markings imprinted on them.

"The marks on your horns read 'lnouionainéüriuea' on your right side and 'ilueasāhnéshtëgceaéshtnéumbrsyl' on your left, otherwise translated to 'malice' and 'destruction,'" Mephiles noted, reading the mysterious language on Marx's horns. "It's spoken in multiversal, no doubt. But I wonder why you would keep this a secret."

"Because there are some secrets I don't want to expose anyone to," Marx sighed. "All I know about you is: you have been split from an unknown force with only little memory of your past, and you were the cause of starting this war between the light and the darkness."

"Glorious, isn't it?" Mephiles chuckled. "Ever since my defeat at the hands of Sonic, Shadow, and Silver under the influence of the Chaos Emeralds, my powers have significantly waned. There is a powerful barrier covering the planet, preventing any Spirit from escaping. We are no exception, even if we're not technically Spirits."

"The only reason why I'm even here in the first place is because I evaded Galeem's attack and hid out the storm. Dharkon, on the other hand, managed to lock me up in a dimension for five years. Ever since then, I've been thinking of a way to get back at those that think these worlds deserve no justice. I even sang a whole song about it by the time Byleth was helping the fighters get through the quizzes I set up! I work for own intentions, pal. And if you think you can help me, then forget it. I'm only here to assist the She-wolf. Only she knows how to give birth to a new multiverse… from the ashes of the old."

"Maybe I can help find who you are looking for," Mephiles responded in a calm tone, giving Marx back his hat. "Like you, I too would like to give justice to those who are blind. But my powers are too weak to be of any real threat. Our plan for now is simple: once the Seraphim of Order and Chaos fall and shatter the barrier, we make a break for it. We destroy the weakest planets first, then move on to stronger ones."

"Aren't people gonna take notice, though?" Marx asked, adjusting the hat on his head. "I mean… what if there's some kind of prophet hero on that planet destined to strike us down? I mean, every prophet's story begins the same: you spot the chosen one, you attack their home/mentor, the chosen one escapes, they learn about how great your threat is, they learn how to fight back with cool weapons and quirky side characters, you're eventually defeated due to the prophecy you helped make true. Why? Because you chose to attack their home/mentor in the first place!" However, Mephiles simply laughed at that comment.

"By the time Galeem and Phoenix are destroyed, Sozo and Hakai would be opening up the gateway to the dimension the dragonlings hid in," Mephiles responded. "The arrival of those young children would leave the Super Smash Brothers too distracted to notice our presence… especially when there are others waiting for our return…" The pink Insaniton appeared behind the crystalline hedgehog's quills, crawling up to the top of his head.

"This Insaniton is the last of its kind," Mephiles noted. "By the time the Mother was locked away, this little creature managed to escape and find me on Arcus. It focuses its growing power on insanity. The more insanity that is abundant, the stronger its powers grow. All I need is your assistance to help me make my mark: to make others fear me again… and to help me uncover my past, if I had any."

"Forget it, pal," Marx responded. "I only work for myself, and the only time I rely on others is when I need them to push myself to my goals." Just then, Mephiles spawned a red, juicy apple in his crystalline hands. Its faint aroma was strong enough to tempt anyone, and Marx was an extremely ravenous type. The jester's mouth watered the more he stared at the apple, and he couldn't hold his resistance any longer. Like a bat, Marx snatched the apple from Mephiles's crystalline hands and devoured the whole fruit, core and all.

"Keep talking," Marx spoke with a second thought. Mephiles created a slice of cake, filled with fluffy, golden batter, white icing, and topped with a ripe strawberry and gave it to Marx. The jester engulfed the whole thing, letting the flavor sink into his taste buds before he swallowed and licked his drooling lips.

"I have plenty more food where that came from, and all you have to do is hear my demands," Mephiles replied, looking at the disarray unfolding between the two sides of order and chaos from within the distance. "It wouldn't be long before the Super Smash Brothers get their happily ever after… for us, or course."

Marx looked up into the sky to see what Mephiles was talking about, and far up north he saw the two brothers blindly attack each other over which winner takes all.