Inside Castle Siege, a small group of fighters have congregated in the battle hall, each taking a seat on the chairs provided. Numerous chatter can be heard amongst them. Marth looks nervously at his comrades and searches the pits of his mind to find the right words.

"Umm…" he stammered unconfidently. "Excuse me."

"I wonder if Mario is okay…"

"Hiii..."

"Uh, hello?" he tried again to no avail.

"Will the Mondado's power be enough?"

"Excuse me," Marth tried again a bit more sternly.

"..And in one of my latest adventures, I out ran a black hole."

"I'd call that impressive if I didn't find it so hard to believe. I'll have to race you one day to see who's really the fastest."

"I'm recalibrating my arm canon. You'd best do the same, blue boy."

"My name is…"

The various conversations are put on halt by the sound of Ike's Eruption shaking the room and vanquishing all other sound. A blue flame briefly lit up the section of the room where everyone congregated. He raised his head in a way that his mouth was hidden behind the sheath of his sword, diverting all attention to his intolerant eyes, all the more highlighting his menacing scowl.

"Shut up," he calmly said looking at no one in particular.

"Thank you Ike," Marth said, gaining his confidence and turning his attention back to the remaining warriors. "I'd like to make it apparent that we have a crisis on our hands but I don't think it could be more obvious. So far, we've deployed 1800 Hyrulian soldiers, 3000 of Ganondorf's minions, and an incalculable amount of Palutena's troops. There is still no word on the whereabouts of Bowser's army. Giga Bowser has managed to defeat almost every single one of them within the last 2 hours. To make matters worse, a number of our personal friends have also been reported as casualties or MIA. Among them are Dark Pit, Palutena, Greninja, Lucario, Charizard Wii Fit Trainer, R.O.B, Lucina, Yoshi, Rosalina and Luma, Meta-Knight, King DeDeDe, Wario, Diddy Kong, and…"

Marth hesitated and looked away for moment. He took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Villager."

Ike put his right hand on Marth's left shoulder. The melancholy mood had been set and aura of sorrow has filled the air. Donkey Kong punched the ground out of frustration before turning away and covering his face to hide a flood of tears. He gritted his teeth as Peach walked over with a sympathetic look to comfort the distraught giant. Luigi, who wasn't wearing his cap and isolated himself away from the group squeezed a familiar red cap without breaking his stoicism. Since the moment he sat down, all he's done was forward and maintain silence. After a few seconds, Marth found the courage to speak again.

"Giga Bowser is becoming a growing problem. Literally. With every foe he defeats, he has grown slightly. But we've formulated a plan. A troop of the remains of Waddle Des being led by Bandana Joe are luring Giga Bowser to Gaur Plain where Metal Face has agreed to come out in and aid us in the battle. However, it pains me to say that he is woefully outmatched. All he can do is buy us time…"

"Question," Sonic called out while raising his hand. "So, why the heck are we sitting on our hides while our friends are sent off to die?"

"Because Sonic," Ike said in a tone a parent uses to a child while chastising them for a misdeed. "If we go out there all Leroy Jenkins, then we're going to die too. And then who'll be able to protect Smash from total destruction."

"You're joking right? Because last time I've checked, this entire room is filled with people who've selflessly put their lives on the line to protect their land, planet, friends, you name it. This isn't anything new Ike. I feel you, we've lost a bunch of our friends and that sucks big time but you know what we've accomplished in the two hours we've spent mingling here? Jack squat. And the more time we spend doing jack squat, the more of our friends die. You, me, and everyone else in this room knows that any sort of resistance we'll send will be just as easily mowed down as they were dispatched, which is only making Giga Bowser stronger. You hear that? We're losing and he's winning. And he's gonna keep on winning unless the big dogs step in and do something about it. Plus, we've got everything we need. We've got a butt load of assists trophies, we've got massive Pokéballs, and we're armed to the teeth with items and rations. So again, I ask: Why are we wasting time with this tea party?"

Ike closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, a vein had appeared next to his left eye. Before he could say anything, Marth gave him a hand signal to silence him. He continued.

"Sonic, an army is near useless under poor direction. Right now, this is a battle of wits. Now without further ado, I'd like to explain the plan, so no more interruptions."

Marth turns his body to the right where Ness, Zelda and Mew Two were intensely focusing.

"Ness is using his psychic abilities to search for any missing fighters. Mew Two is serving as a psychic bridge between scouting troops who have intelligence on the enemy and the whereabouts of missing fighters. If any of them die, he will know. Right now, our plan is to find Dr. Mario so we can replicate the procedure used the last time Giga Bowser went on a rampage. Dr. Mario should be able to create a capsule that holds several Super Mushrooms. Once used, an attack of a similar magnitude of a charged forward Smash should be able to defeat Giga Bowser. With the number of fighters we have left, that would be overkill. Our best bet is to lure him to a secluded area and ambush him."

Sonic grunts impatiently and folds his arms. "If you say so."

At that moment, Fox walks in dragging Mario by the shoulder. "Special delivery," Fox says in a futile attempt to illuminate the melancholy mood poisoning the air.

Luigi jumps from his chair and runs to his brother, giving him a tight squeeze. Peach rubs her eye at the sight.

"Well look what the fox dragged in," Captain Falcon remarked.

"Bad news though," Fox. "Dr. Mario's been reported MIA."

Shulk stares intensely at Mario, looking very confused.

"Okay," he began. "At the expense of sounding like an idiot, how exactly is that possible?"

Zelda interjects, placing her hands about an inch apart. "That's easy. In this dimension, this amalgam of worlds that we collectively call Smash, nothing really makes sense. It's as if all of our worlds cohabit yet do not. Certain rules are broken allowing us to cohabit with our alter egos, hence why Dr. Mario can be slaughtered while Mario would face no consequences and vice versa, which has happened during the last time Giga Bowser attacked."

A aqua blue light appears from her hands and grows larger, parting them. In seconds, it becomes too large for Zelda's hands and eventually takes the shape of a male about her size. The light grows dim before eventually fading away. Shiek appears before everyone's eyes, to Shulk's amazement.

"However, these alter egos are basically another conscious altogether. They can live their own lives, have their own experiences separate from their origin. And once these alter egos separate from their origin, they take along with them whatever abilities and traits that are exclusively associated with them, hence why you won't see me pulling any needles out of my skirt any time soon. It's the reason why recently, Samus has been able to fight against herself without her armor and why you see Shiek here."

Shiek waves at Shulk. For eight seconds, Shulk looks dumbfounded. "I guess that would explain that one time I fought myself in my underwear…"

"No," Shiek said very femininely, further exasperating Shulk, much to Sonic, Falco, Captain Falcon and Ness's amusement. "That's something else entirely different but that's not important right now. I'll go scout for more survivors, anybody with intel or who could aid us in battle. Keep a telepathic link. Fox, I'll bunk with you."

"Right-o," Fox exclaimed.

"God speed, me." Zelda said clasping Shiek's hand."

"Good speed, m'me." Shiek returned before dashing off with Fox to the Arwing.

"Which brings me to my next point," Sonic said impatiently tapping his foot at incalculable speeds. "Why don't you just send me out there? I could literally circle this jigsaw puzzle of a world in search M. ."

"Because Sonic," Ike said with a very annoyed expression. "You're needed here."

"While your speed would prove valuable in searching for comrades," Marth interrupted before Ike said something that would further delay the conversation. "But the fact is that you'd be much more suitable for combat. Your run and gun fighting style complimentary to your high speed gives you one of the highest chances of survival in a direct confrontation."

"Completely ignoring that you're feather weight." Samus said petting Sonic. Even though he feigned being irritated doing his trade mark arm fold and half scowl, he secretly enjoyed it.

"Which is why," Pit continued. "We're going to ambush him in squads aided by the remnants of Palutena's soldiers combined with the Hyrule forces that are being led by the Links. Then, we'll lure him to the stadium and confront him there."

"But since docta Mario's outta the picture," Falco added. "That leaves us with fight till we drop."

"My protégé has a point," Captain Falcon added. "An ambush got us nowhere last time. Giga Bowser's got super armor making our moves useless in our current states and top of that is incredibly strong. Frankly, and I'm not saying this to decrease the morale but the only thing our numbers could do is delay the inevitable."

"I ain't your protégé," Falco said with a hostile look. Captain Falcon responded with a smirk.

"The key to our victory last time," Peach cut in. "Was the abundance of Super Mushrooms Dr. Mario had in a capsule. With that, Roy and Mr. Game and Watch had enough power to deliver a devastating combined forward smash sending Giga Bowser flying."

"Too bad," Mega Man said. "If only we could just make the items appear."

There was a brief pause and all of the fighters save for Mew Two and Ness looked at Mega Man, who was startled by the sudden attention.

"You M2," Sonic exclaims. "You think you guys could cook us up a batch of super shrooms? And not the trippy kinds either."

Mew Two opens his left eye. "Do I look like Jesus to you? Don't bother me with such obtuse requests."

Sonic turns back to the rest of the group, gritting his teeth. "Geez, what is it with ultimate life forms and their need to talk down to people? Makes me think they're compensating for something…"

"Sonic, please," Marth said while walking over to the group of psychics. "Mew Two, we haven't explored that possibility."

Mew Two sucks his teeth and gives Marth his full attention. "You can't expect us to just pull out objects out of thin air."

"I do it all the time…" Sonic whispers.

"Silence!" Mew Two snaps. "We cannot just summon items out of the blue. We're not mag…"

Mew Two turns to face Zelda's stone cold stoicism and Ness' perpetual smile.

"Well maybe if we combine our powers, something could happen. But doing so would require that we search deep within this already complicated framework and manually activate the coding that makes items appear. Doing so would take tremendous psychic power and Zelda isn't primarily a psychic. I'm not promising anything."

"Only promise that you'll try," Marth retorts.

Mew Two nods. He closes his eyes, Ness and Zelda taking cue.

"Together now," Mew Two commands.

After three seconds, Zelda, Mew Two, and become enshrouded in a blue light. Marth returns to the remaining fighters.

"Okay, while they're doing that, we're going to have to put this plan into action. Who knows how long…"

A centurion from Palutena flies in, landing in front of Pit and bowing.

"Rise soldier," Pit commanded.

The centurion does as he is told and raises his right arm to salute. "Captain, we've received word that Giga Bowser has plowed through 56% of Zelda's forces and has defeated Metal Face. However! A squad of our fastest troops along with the Links are leading him away to the Garden of Hope. There is still no report on the whereabouts of King DeDeDe or MetaKnight but we have found Bandanna Dee leading a squad of Waddle Dees through a section of the Smash run. We have a squad patrolling all of the Kirby stages for more minions to come to our aid."

"Thank you centurion. You're dismissed."

"Sir!" Then the centurion flies away.

"You heard him Marth," Ike interjects. "We're running out of time."

"Indeed. Looks like we're going to have to get into our positions sooner than expected. Sonic, looks like you're getting what you wanted."

Sonic hops out pf his seat and puts on his trademark grin. "Sweet."

Marth returns the grin for he anticipated this might be the last opportunity he may have. "Mew Two is simultaneously connecting us through a psychic link so expel any distracting thoughts, which I understand may be hard but remember that the fate of our future is in our hands. Speak now if you don't understand your assignments."

Silence fills the halls.

"Good." Marth draws his sword. "Remember comrades, we fight not just for the fate of our worlds. We fight not just for the sake of vanquishing evil." Ike nonchalantly kicks the mechanism controlling moat and it slowly lowers. Marth raises his sword and the light from outside illuminates him and reflects off his sword.

"We fight for justice! For glory! For the future generations who have yet to receive to opportunity to participate in Smash. And most importantly, we fight for our friends!"

Ike smirks although he was secretly disappointed since he really wanted to say that last line. An enormous cheer erupts the castle. Marth turns around to face the descending moat separating them from uncertain fate.

"Smashers," Marth said leading the march to war. "Let's fan out."

Sonic rises his left hand and pulls on his glove to tighten it. "Finally. All of this pent up energy is getting put into good use!"

"Phrasing," Falco says.

"Shut up!"

Peach, Captain Falcon, and Ike laugh. Before returning to the cold and calculating disposition needed to fight in a war.