Nintendo Land was as bright as it was crowded. Terry weaved his way through the crowd, keeping an eye on his date and a hand on his hat. Bel had more trouble cutting through the crowd, relying more on pushing to get through. They were able to break out from the crowd around the central tower of the theme park. The two of them stopped to take a breather.

"I never thought crowds of this size would be such a consistent problem," Bel said.

"Yeah, it's all part of the theme park experience," Terry said.

"Well, I guess with a crowd this big the attractions must be really good," Bel said. Terry laughed. For a veteran mercenary known as the Ashen Demon, Bel was naive about the nature of theme parks. He looked up at the top of the tower and the bottom of the stadium. Terry and Bel had been invited to compete in some exhibition matches at the new stadium seated on the top of the tower.

"We've still got some time. So let's check out some stuff," Terry said. He looked out across the park. They had a straight shot to Takamaru's Ninja Castle. Terry and Bel threw themselves back into the crowd and made their way to it. Once they stepped through the clearly marked gate the dimmer lighting was the first thing they noticed. It was also colder, not enough to be a bother, but enough to be noticed immediately. The decorations were all obviously fake, but it still felt like they were somewhere else.

The lines didn't appear to be long, but they moved very slowly. Terry tapped his hat, Bel observed the other people in the crowd. "How many people here do you think will also be watching our fights?" Bel asked.

"Probably a lot, but not all. It's the big event of the day after all. You nervous?" Terry responded.

"No, just trying to get a feel for things." Bel leaned against the wall and tapped her foot on the floor. "When you think about it, isn't it a little strange that so many people are interested in watching other people fight?"

"Not really, it's all in good fun. People just enjoy watching others push their limits and test their strength." Terry adjusted his cap.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Bel said. She didn't sound entirely convinced, but she also didn't seem interested in arguing the other point. She seemed used to hiding her emotion, but Terry had learned how to spot the tells. He'd continue the conversation when she felt like it. To distract her he brought up some old stories from South Town, both ones that he lived through and a few urban legends. It made the line more tolerable.

After some time they finally got to the actual attraction. It was a game that revolved around throwing shuriken at paper ninja, which would throw projectiles of their own at players. Despite not being used to weapons Terry quickly got the hang of it. Together he and Bel got through the entire attraction, though by the end they were only one hit away from losing. They walked into the gift shop leading back out to the plaza triumphantly.

"Oh come on, I had no idea they were going to make it look like that." Terry and Bel both stopped to look. Rex and Nia were gazing in distress at something in the T shirt section. Terry walked over to see what could get that kind of reaction, and stopped in his tracks. A disgusting T shirt hung in front of him. At the center was a poorly photoshopped picture of Rex with the words 'make the rent free you cowards' under it. The shirt had a fuchsia background, seafoam green stripes, and mustard yellow polka dots.

"Just looking at it hurts," Bel said.

"You should have known better than to trust Lucina's fashion sense," Nia said.

"She told me she would run the design by someone first. Someone else had to approve of it so I thought it would be safe. What kind of mad man would mistake this for a good idea?"

"I bet she ran it by Master Hand," Bel said.

"Or it could be Crazy Hand. Seriously though, this thing is like the Fitness Bread of T shirts," Terry said.

"Ugh, don't remind of that crime against nature," Nia said.

"Well not much we can do about it now. So I guess we should just try to forgot we ever saw these things. Nia let's go check out that crash course thing, we've got some time before our fights," Rex said.

"Oh you guys are competing too?" Terry asked.

"Yep. Rex why don't you go ahead and grab us a spot in line, I just need to check out some things here," Nia said. Rex ran off towards the next attraction. With a snicker Nia grabbed a large quantity of the horrific shirts. "I'm getting one each for all of our friends. It'll be worth every G. See you later." Bel let out a nervous chuckle as Nia went over to the register. Terry made for the exit and Bel went with him.

Coincidentally the train that ran around Nintendo Land had just stopped right in front of the store. Seizing the opportunity Terry and Bel jumped on board. Terry gripped the brim of his hat as Bel watched the park go past them. They sat in silence for a while as the train went in a circle. Bel tapped her foot against the floor. The relative silence of the train was refreshing. The messy assortment of noises found in every theme park were still present, but they were a bit further away.

Terry started looking out the window as well. There were a large number of families visiting Nintendo Land, just like any other amusement park. He remembered his father, the memories and reminder of his father's death struck him like a punch to the face. He found himself worrying if Bel was going through something similar. Her father had been killed too, and it was more recent for her. With Terry it was an old wound that acted up some times, for Bel it was still fresh. He didn't want to risk being the one who made it worse, so he kept quiet. Bel could handle herself and knew she could bring it up.

Advertisements for the exhibition matches could be seen throughout the park. Terry didn't recognize everyone featured on the ads. Loud cheering suddenly burst from the arena. It was loud enough to be hard to figure out what was actually shouted, but Terry felt he could just make out that Little Mac had won. It made Terry even more excited for his own round, Bel was shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

"Hey Terry, can I ask something a little personal?" Bel asked. Terry nodded. "Are you worried about the other fighters being hurt?"

"Nah, if they got invited here then they can take it. Don't want them to get hurt real bad, but if they're here they'll be tough enough to handle a few punches. And I can handle whatever they throw at me," Terry said.

"So it doesn't make the fighting less fun for you?"

"It'd be a lot more fun with no pain, but it's still fun. And you can't avoid pain so there's no point in letting it stop you from doing what you like. How could pushing yourself to the limit and growing stronger not be fun?"

"Did… did you enjoy fighting Geese?"

"Yes. But I didn't want to kill him. Well, that's not really true. Only reason I didn't want to kill Geese was so that we wouldn't get locked into some never ending cycle of revenge. I mean, how can I not want to beat the shit out of Geese. Same goes for the people who killed your father. Once we find them they're going to get what's coming to them," Terry said. Bel looked up.

"Thank you Terry. I was worried that there was something wrong with me for enjoying fighting, especially since my brother doesn't and we used to practically be copies of each other. We should have a sparring match again some time." Terry nodded. There wasn't anything else to say, so the conversation ended there. A few minutes later they were talking about far less significant subjects. Then the timer Terry had set on his phone went off. It was time to get ready for the exhibition match. The train stopped by the central tower, Terry and Bel hopped off and got inside the tower. It was a quick elevator ride to the stadium the top.

Stepping off of the elevator brought the couple to the large entry hall. The inside of the stadium had been painted with a dark blue color. There were stairs leading up to the seating area and two doors marked 'competitors only' set into the left and right wall respectively. At the other end of the room was an electronic display board showing the schedule for the many exhibition matches being held that day. Terry was up next.

Sheik was staring at the list of competitors like it was some sort of puzzle. "Hey Sheik, you fighting too?" Terry asked.

"No. I'm just looking at something odd. The person you're fighting, Volga, I thought for sure that he was dead. I can't help but be suspicious. Though I never looked too closely into what happened to him with everything else that was going on, so maybe I'm overthinking things. It wouldn't be unlike him to have just barely survived our last encounter and show up at some event like this," Sheik said.

"I trust your judgement Sheik. If you think something is suspicious then it probably is," Bel said.

"If this Volga guy is planning anything sketchy it should show in how he fights. I'll let you know what my read on him is after the fight, which I need to get to right now," Terry said. He walked over to one of the competitor only doors and pushed it open.

The locker room looked exactly like how Terry had expected from past experiences. Only difference was the screen set into one of the walls that let him look at the arena. The camera angles appeared to have been carefully chosen to stop Terry from looking at his opponent if they went out first, which judging from the cheers was exactly what had happened. Nothing about the arena stood out to him, though getting knocked down onto the artificial turf would most likely hurt less than all the times he'd gotten acquainted with the sidewalk. Terry sat down by the door leading out to the arena, he was already ready.

Gradually the cheers for Terry's opponents died down. Then the crowd broke out into a chant. "When Terry?! When Terry?! When Terry?!"

"And now representing both the Smashers and South Town, the Legendary Wolf, Terry Bogard!" The announcer shouted. Terry walked out into the arena, lifting up his cap and putting it back on his head. He took a few moments to soak in the cheers of the crowd. Standing across from him was a man dressed in red armor, Volga. Volga had a helmet shaped like a dragon skull, a long red plume that changed to a light orange at the tip reached out from the helm. Volga's eyes were obscured underneath the helmet, all Terry could make out was the black paint that surrounded his eyes and fell down his face in a straight line, almost like tears.

The announcer counted down from three. Both fighters were already in a fighting stance when it started. The countdown ended. Volga lunged forward with his spear. Terry charged right next to it and leapt up with a cry of 'power dunk.' Volga evaded the incoming attack and sent out a ball of fire. The fireball fell apart with a kick from Terry. It was even hotter than a hadouken, but thankfully Terry's foot was merely hot and not burning. Volga thrust with his spear again, a punch to the spear threw off his aim.

Terry went on the defensive as Volga sped up his attacks. Volga seemed pleased with the battle, but there was also an obvious element of impatience. Terry had learned how to spot people who showed up to fighting tournaments with ulterior motives. There was something bigger at play for Volga. Terry exploited the impatience to land some hits of his own in, taking a few in return. The impact of Volga's strikes with the blunt end of the spear made it clear his affinity with fire was deeper than most. Even a simple strike radiated the kind of heat normal humans didn't have. It felt more like fighting Incineroar than Ryu.

With a quick kick Terry spent Volga's spear flying up in the air. "Hey Volga, I got a question for you? Are you okay?" Terry dashed forward. The entire crowd joined in for his next line.

"BUSTER WOLF!" Volga went soaring backwards into the wall of the arena. He didn't stand up. The crowd cheered as Terry's victory was announced.

Terry walked over to help Volga back up. Then he stopped, something felt wrong. A rift opened inside the arena. A knight in azure armor stepped through it. Terry noticed the sword and was able to identity the intruder immediately, Nightmare. A magical barrier quickly formed around the audience stands, the announcer called for a calm and orderly evacuation. Terry could see Bel and Sheik making their way down to the arena.

Nightmare nearly stabbed Terry, but he jumped over the sword. Then Terry transitioned to a power dunk. The impact with the armor hurt Terry's hand. But Nightmare stumbled back, so clearly it had worked. Needles flew out at Nightmare. Sheik appeared in a puff of smoke next to Volga. "Let's go Volga, we can battle Nightmare later."

"Heh, as if I'd miss out on a chance to battle the so called sword of salvation," Volga said. He forced himself back up. With a rush his spear went right for Soul Edge's eye. Nightmare raised the sword and brought it down on Volga. A whip took hold of Soul Edge and pulled both it and Nightmare away. Bel called for someone to land a hit while her version of the Sword of the Creator kept Nightmare occupied. Terry obliged with an uppercut to Nightmare's helmet. It went up into the air. The true face of the azure knight was no longer hidden.

"Edelgard?!" Bel shouted. The white haired woman in the azure armor said nothing. Her eyes were glowing red. Terry quickly thought back to what he had heard of her from Bel. She was a student of Bel's brother and some kind of royal, he had never cared much for political details. Bel released Soul Edge from her own sword's grip as Edelgard swung Soul Edge above her.

"Soul Edge is the true power behind Nightmare, not whoever she is," Volga said.

"Then the solution is simple," Sheik said. She ran in front of Nightmare. Then she side stepped Soul Edge when it was brought down. A small storm of needles burst out of Sheik's hands, all aimed directly at Soul Edge's eye. A burst of dark energy came from Nightmare. It knocked Sheik, Volga, and Bel down to the ground. Terry held his ground and readied the next attack, punching the ground in front of him.

"Power Geyser!" A pillar of chi burst up from the ground beneath Soul Edge and Edelgard. Pieces of the infamous azure armor were scattered across the arena as the two went up in a small arc. Parts of an ordinary outfit showed beneath the armor. A purple light emitted from Soul Edge and another rift appeared between it and the ground. Terry ran to it, but the rift closed again. Both Soul Edge and Edelgard were gone.

"What a cowardly move," Volga said. He rejected Sheik's offer of support and forced himself back up once again. Sheik seemed unamused and helped lift Bel up. "Next time I won't let Soul Edge get away so easily." Bel opened her mouth, Volga cut her off immediately. "I'm not interested in an alliance." With that Volga made his way towards the exit.

"Hey Volga, fighting you was fun. Let's do it again some time," Terry said. Volga stopped to acknowledge Terry's words.

"I can see why they call you the Legendary Wolf. Next time I won't hold anything back." Volga resumed his walk out of the arena.

"You two go update everyone else on what happened," Sheik said. "There's something I need to investigate on my own." She vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Byleth isn't going to like this news," Bel said.

"It'll be fine. No point sitting around worrying about Edelgard when we could go look for her instead," Terry said. He started walking, moving slowly at first so Bel could notice and walk alongside him. "Let's just go spread the word around and then get going to the next fight. As long as we keep moving things are going to work out."

In a distant world overflowing with light, a small group of people had watched the battle with Nightmare. They were six in total, an ancient king, a sage, a Persona user, an alien, a manakete, and an aura guardian. Although it was bright, their world was empty of any life aside from them. There was an only an empty expanse to gaze at from the mountaintop they had all gathered on. "I guess we were wrong, someone is using Soul Edge for something, but it isn't our counterparts. There's no reason for Volga to help fight his own ally, even if he does love a good battle," the king said.

"I'm just glad none of the bystanders were hurt," the aura guardian said. He held up his staff and closed his eyes. "I'll be able to find Nightmare soon. We should free that girl and eliminate Soul Edge as soon as we can."

"Something about this worries me. We didn't give Soul Edge that shard which lets it travel to other worlds, neither did our counterparts, the Smashers, the Space Pirates, or any of their allies. But someone must have given it to Soul Edge on purpose," the sage said.

"It's definitely fishy. But we can't let Soul Edge run wild, he's making the situation with the world borders even more unstable." The persona user said.

"We have quite the list of enemies already. If we don't do something about my other half, there won't be anything left in my world to preserve. Perhaps we should put our faith in the Smashers and leave it to them? If it looks like too much for them then we'll step in," The manakete proposed.

"Found it," the aura guardian said. "It looks like Nightmare is in the Hands' home dimension now. And so is Lincoln." The alien had an immediate reaction. He spoke in a language no human could possibly comprehend. Everyone present understood him clearly.

"Just focus on your mission, don't get sidetracked with revenge and try to spare that girl. Even in the event that she had ill intent when seeking out the sword, Soul Edge is the one actually responsible for all this," the king said. The alien flew through a portal with no indication if it heard or not.

"Should one of us follow him to make sure he doesn't freeze that entire world or kill Lincoln? I know we don't have many options, but I worry about allying ourselves with something like that," the manakete said.

"I'll do it. All of us should keep one eye on him until we're sure he can really be trusted," the sage said. With that he also opened up a portal and left through it.

"Guess that's my cue to get going too. I'll use my reporter skills to see if I can dig up any info on Wuhu," the persona user said. She took out a notepad and a pencil from her pocket.

"Are you sure about that? We might reveal ourselves with this much activity," the aura guardian said.

"I'll be fine. Things might seem difficult, but we'll get through somehow. Let's think positive."

A/N: And after another long gap in updates the fic is back with another chapter. Terry is a cool character and I hope I kept him in character, especially when it came to his stance on Geese. You can also consider this Bel's focus chapter similar to how Leaf and Nept were featured in Daisy's chapter. The next chapter will switch the focus to male Byleth. Thanks for sticking with this fic through all the hiatuses, I'm going to focus on catching this fic up with the latest DLC so expect to see another chapter fairly soon. And now for the usual promotion that if you want to join a discord about Smash fanfiction the join code is gDK48u.