85"You guys see this?" Dante asked, standing in front of a large stadium with lines of crowds of people going in. The five fighters that went with him gazed upon the building, reading the sign upon the entrance as "ARMS League" while they stood around in the parking spaces that they first appeared in without anyone caring to notice.
"Do you suppose we're in the place where we needed to go?" Isabelle asked.
"Sure seems like it," Ganondorf answered. "The Master Hand made sure he programmed this thing so it took us to the right universe…"
"Look at some of these gals!" Dante chuckled, admiring some of the promotional banners on top of the towering walls. They were large flags depicting each and every one of these supposed competitors in this world, and the Devil Hunter glared at some of them as though he was attracted to the female fighters in the league. "Can't wait to meet them once we get inside."
"Focus, Dante," the Wii Fit Trainer objected. "We're here to find the warrior that has the Smash Ball, and it could be any one of these competitors."
"What about this guy?" Dante asked, pointing up to a large banner that served as the center of attention. The border gleamed with a gold fashion design, and a masked man with a muscular build, a golden pompadour on top of his mask, and belt-like arms with the words 'Max Brass' broadcasting behind him as a sign to show he was the champion of this league. "He sure seems like the guy you people are after."
"Who knows?" Ganondorf noted, looking at the long line of people paying tickets to watch the fights in the league. "We might not really get in at this point. We have to wait in line for a while, not to mention pay for our seats with currency no one in this world can recognize and accept."
"We won't have time," Little Mac responded. "What if some major threat comes along or something?"
"Yeah," Dante scoffed. "Like that's ever gonna happen…" The Devil Hunter took a quick glance at the place before dashing off to the side of the large building faster than a bullet, waving towards his new pals in the parking lot. Dante had just discovered a back entrance to the place, which was unguarded by the people running it.
"Looks like he found another way in," Isabelle stated, hopping onto Ganondorf's back.
"And it's free," Ganondorf chuckled, running towards the Son of Sparda. The other fighters went with him, by which Dante simply pushed the door open. Once the fighters went inside, they were surprised to see a training room filled with weightlifts, training benches, a boxing ring, and a few sandbags. The only other people that were with them happened to be few of the competitors in the league. One seemed to be a masked, blue-eyed girl with blonde hair in the form of ribbons and a cheerleader-like uniform of pink, and she was busy punching a sandbag with her extendable ribbon arms from a reasonable distance. Another one exercised on a weight-lifting machine, and he had chains for arms and a green-and-blue ninja suit that seemed to fit his style. The third competitor in the room was sitting on a bench doing curl-ups, and she had ramen noodles for arms as well as straight bangs, an orange mask, and an Asian-style athletic suit complete with leggings and green sneakers. Last but not least, there was a young man with blue, curly hair and a magenta mask with metallic blue arms, who had a small towel laid across his shoulders behind his neck as he splashed a bottle of some ice-cold water onto his sweaty face. Out of all the challengers in the room, he seemed to be the one who worked out the most as he sat down on the bench of one of the lunch tables, pulling out a slice of pepperoni pizza out of a box. The one getting a bite of fresh pizza was the guy the veteran Smashers instantly recognized.
"Spring Man!" all the fighters from Arcus except Dante and Dark Samus greeted, with the former having no idea who Spring Man is and the latter having the inability to speak. Isabelle, Dark Samus, and Little Mac hugged Spring Man, much to his utter confusion.
"We're so happy to see you again!" Little Mac laughed.
"I'm sorry," Spring Man answered, placing his pizza slice back in the box and pushing the three Smashers away. "Do I know you guys? I haven't necessarily been around the world in 80 days, but… for some reason I've never seen you guys around here… haven't I?"
"Wow…" the Wii Fit Trainer added. "You really don't remember, do you?"
"Remember what?" Spring Man asked. The three fighters that were once Assist Trophies stepped back, hit with the remembrance that those who became Spirits have no recollection of the world of Arcus.
"Excuse my friends over here," Ganondorf responded, terrifying the young man a tiny bit due to the menacing nature the Demon King sported even after he had a change in heart. "My name is Ganondorf, and these are the Wii Fit Trainer, Little Mac, Isabelle, and Dark Samus. Joining our team as the latest recruit is Dante, otherwise known as the Devil Hunter."
"Pleasure meeting you here," Dante introduced, swiping a fresh slice of pizza from the box. "I take it with that look of yours, you're a rookie around these parts?"
"You bet," Spring Man answered confidently, wiping his shoulders with the towel he had. "In fact, I'm one of the newest contestants to join the current Grand Prix going on. Also participating are Ribbon Girl, Ninjara, and Min Min. Say hi, guys!"
"Pleasure meeting you guys here!" Ribbon Girl greeted, resting her extendable arms on the sandbag she was punching. Ninjara waved at the fighters while Min Min chuckled upon spotting them.
"So, you're also here to compete, are you?" Spring Man continued before he noticed they don't exactly have what the place was looking for. "On second thought, scratch that. The ARMS Gene hasn't exactly developed for you, hasn't it?"
"I don't think we're even born with it," Little Mac pointed out. "Look… we're just here because we were told to come here. And we kinda need everyone right now to lend us your ears." The three young competitors stopped their exercising to hear what the small boxer had to say, all before the Devil Hunter spoke for him.
"Alright. Now we got your attention, so listen up," Dante spoke. "Apparently these guys have sensed some sort of power from the other side of the multiverse with the hopes one of you guys might have it, because… how do I say this without sounding too confusing?... from what I've learned from my short time on this planet called Arcus, you guys have something called…"
"A Smash Ball," Isabelle corrected.
"Yeah, there we go," Dante addressed. "Anyways, it could be any one of you or someone else in this league that might be the guy we're looking for, so…"
"Oh, I doubt any one of us has these… Smash Balls you're looking for," Min Min answered. "Since none of you technically have ARMS, you could automatically be disqualified… unless you're able to pull off a way into the league like Mechanica. If not, I guess you could watch the matches going on."
"I suppose we could do that," Little Mac responded. "By this point, the winner of this Grand Prix going on just might be determined enough to be the fighter we're looking for."
"Excellent!" Spring Man pointed out. "Just head on over to your seats when no one's watching before the tournament starts. I can probably tell none of you paid for your tickets, huh?" The Smashers shook their heads as a final answer.
"Figured," Ninjara pointed out. "Better take the stairs up to your places, and hurry. Crowds of people will be flooding in…"
"Thank you!" Isabelle called out as the fighters from Arcus climbed up the stairs. "We'll be sure to cheer you on, no matter what!"
"Don't mention it," Ribbon Girl added. Once the fighters and Dante disappeared to the roaring crowd, the four young competitors looked at each other.
"Was the dog… talking to us?" Ninjara questioned.
"The strangest questions often need no answering," Min Min pointed out. "Besides, the Grand Prix starts in ten minutes. Better get on out there soon…"
In one of the spas hidden somewhere around the city, the misty air heated up the tiled floor and walls with a heavy warm fog, making it quite difficult to take in the needed oxygen necessary. This was, in fact, a girls-only spa as many of the female fighters were relaxing in the place. Some were giving themselves pedicures, few were taking mud baths, others relaxed as hot pieces of charcoal were pressed onto their backs. There were those even chilling in different saunas. Palutena, Lucina, and Clementine were the only ones sharing the same sauna so far. All three of them had towels wrapped around their naked bodies, but the Inkling was the only one who didn't have a towel wrapped around her tentacle-hair.
"This is the life," Palutena sighed, pouring some of the water onto the heated coal in the center of the room. "The freshest sauna one can afford and a day spent with my girlfriends. Not… in the romantic way, of course."
"Kind of feeling a little stuffy, now that I think about it," Lucina responded, relaxing herself with the warm mist around her. "Though I must say, the lavender scent was kinda an excellent choice. I'm surprised Clementine's not melting at this point."
"The water's free of radiation, remember?" Palutena added. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with kicking back and relaxing after twenty years of fighting against the forces of evil…" Not a minute passed when their peaceful interlude was interrupted by a familiar blue hedgehog knocking on the glass door, much to their dismay.
"Hey, uh… Clementine?" Sonic asked, his voice muted from the warped glass from the outside of the sauna. "Could you get dressed and meet me outside the sauna? It's kinda urgent…"
"Sonic!?" Zelda called out from a reasonable distance. "What are you doing here? No boys allowed!" A blob of shampoo landed in the blue hedgehog's face, followed by a clamoring of the other feminine Smashers in the spa. The blue hedgehog wiped the soap from his eyes, dashing out of the spa before chaos ensued. Clementine got up from her seat, unlocking the door to the sauna.
"Where are you going?" Lucina asked the Inkling. "You're heading out with Sonic, aren't you?" Clementine nodded, opening the door and walking out of the sauna before closing behind herself.
After fifteen minutes of drying and dressing up, the Inkling walked out of the sauna, taking in the fresh air of the city that was completely absent from the thick, hot atmosphere that was heavy with water and stress-free relief. She jumped a bit when she turned around to meet with the blue hedgehog that called her outside.
"You ready?" Sonic asked. "Got everything you need? Good. Now then… me and Mega Man kinda need you over at our place because we've... kinda discovered some sort of alien message we're hoping you can translate for us." Clementine gave the blue hedgehog a funny look considering how she had been interrupted from her free time to help her other pals take care of things she didn't really have interest in. She loved Sonic as a friend even after they left for a few months, but even then, there were times when he might get on her nerves in the most uncomfortable of moments. After months of multiple Splatfests, you might think you can just be pulled out of relaxation to vent the struggles you went through trying to get to first place and not get frustrated.
The Inkling pulled out her Splattershot, shooting on the road and writing on it with her finger, and her message stated as follows:
"Was it really so important that you had to drag me out of the spa?"
"I… kinda think it is," Sonic answered, rubbing the back of his head. "We just need you for a quick translation. What do ya say?" Clementine sighed, nodding casually in annoyance. Sonic, with a grin on his face, grabbed the Inkling's hand and quickly swept her off her feet. He then dashed off faster than the speed of sound all the way back to Mega Man's apartment.
"Wow," Rockman responded, still surprised that Sonic can do things in the blink of an eye. "That was… kinda fast." Sonic set Clementine back on her feet, by which the Inkling was trembling after having to endure the blue hedgehog's perspective as he ran here. She wobbled as she tried to balance her body by holding onto a nearby table, cursing in her Inkling language.
"Anyways, we kinda figured you can read this language since we can't," Sonic explained to Clementine. "All I kinda remember is that you know these kinds of things. Do you think you can translate it for us? At least write it down on paper or something?" The Inkling came back to her senses, looking at the strange messages broadcasted from the Earth Citrine on the desk.
Clementine quickly recovered, making her way over to the glowing stone and holding it. Sonic and Mega Man watched as the Inkling analyzed every one of those foreign letters, making a careful study on everything the message tried to read.
"Is… something wrong?" Sonic asked the blue bomber next to him.
"From what I can tell, she doesn't understand anything," Mega Man responded, noticing that the Inkling pulled out a notepad and pen, writing down every letter in the message at least once. Regardless of how difficult it was to learn something so new to her, she was determined to learn this language no matter what.
"I'll go get some help," Sonic reminded. "Looks like this message is so hard to decrypt she can't do this alone without a couple of our friends." The blue hedgehog dashed out of the room, and Rockman slowly approached the frantic Inkling.
"Maybe I can assist you in some way," Mega Man asked, trying to give Clementine a helping hand. He looked at the current letters the Inkling had written down, trying to figure out the strange curves and squiggles in each one. As he watched Clementine read through the message broadcasted on the Earth Citrine, he picked up one of the notes with a letter written on it. It seemed to be two curving lines, with the significantly shorter one on the leftmost side. Four horizontal lines were on the right of the longest curved line, with a singular line in-between both curved lines. For whatever reason, Mega Man could read the letter clearly like a sheet of binary code, almost as though he was learning how to say it.
"Né…" Mega Man sounded out, catching the attention of Inkling for a bit. "I think that's how you're supposed to say it. I don't know what it means, but… here. Let me help you until Sonic gets back."
The fighters over at the universe where people diagnosed with ARMS lived wandered into the cheering crowd, trying to look for their seats to avoid getting spotted ticketless. They looked around the large audience, unsuccessful in their search for a row of empty chairs.
"This is just great," Ganondorf groaned. "How are we gonna try to find out who's the guy that has the Smash Ball and the determination thing, whatever the Master Hand says it is, if we can't at least get a decent view of the battles down there?"
"Leave it to me, grandpa," Dante chuckled, adjusting the collar on his red coat. "I will find us our places to sit through the power of good manners." The Devil Hunter walked up to one of the front rows, sitting down next to an attractive, adult woman with black bangs who seemed to lack the ARMS Gene.
"Heya, gorgeous," Dante spoke to her, trying to get the woman's attention through flirting. "I hope you don't mind making some room for me and the boys. We… kinda need to sit down, unless you wanna stay here with me for a while…" The woman slapped him across the face, getting up from her seat and letting five kids, by which Dante assumed were either her children or siblings, follow behind her, possibly transferring themselves to their new seats… wherever they may be. The Devil Hunter waved over to his companions, letting them know he found places for them.
"Uh… thanks, Dante," Little Mac said, with the Son of Sparda scooting over to the right as far as possible so he could make room for the Smashers to sit down.
"Hey, don't sweat it," Dante responded. "It's just my charms that earned the woman's trust."
"Yeah," Ganondorf spoke with sarcasm in his tone. "Sure…" A large horn rang throughout the stadium, giving rise to a deafening cheering throughout the crowd. A large, holographic screen appeared above the stage in the center of the audience, and the host and mascot behind the ARMS League presented his face on the screen. He seemed to have a cartoonish hand growth on his head, and he wore a black bowtie and orange mask over his light-yellow body.
"Thank you, everyone!" the strange creature spoke out to the crowd going wild. "Thank you all for attending the ARMS League Grand Prix 20XX, the biggest league we have ever made to date! My name is Biff, and I am your host and mascot as always. Now it looks like we have a ton of newcomers in our show, both our latest recruits and some new members in our audience, so let's get to the jest. For those of you who don't know, competitors from all over the world use the unique miracle of ARMS to get their way to the top and claim their title as champion, but none have ever taken the spot from the league's founder Max Brass himself. Well, we hope one of these faces you all know and love will overthrow him and crown themselves the champs of the ARMS League!" Biff's camera screen shrunk down to the bottom left corner of the screen, and a tournament bracket chart broadcasted itself for everyone to see. From what the Smashers and Dante figured out, there were twelve slots, and there were six 1v1 battles for the first round, three for the second round, a 4-player free-for-all in the semi-finals, and a battle against Max Brass in the finals.
"Now then…" Biff continued, "let the Grand Prix 20XX begin!" The crowd began to cheer, and two doors on opposite sides of the arena opened up.
"Here he is… the face you all know and love, Spring Man the Bouncer!" Biff cheered, with the crowd cheering for Spring Man as he jogged over the border of the stadium. "Fresh from Spring Gym, he comes bouncing into the fray! Why do they call him 'The Bouncer'? If you're asking, you're not paying attention! He's long dreamed of hanging that championship belt on his mantle, but will he crack under pressure? With a height of 5'11, weighting 168 lbs., and spending most of his days weightlifting and eating pizza, this 20-year old fighter will hopefully be the one to say otherwise!" The door on the opposite side of the stadium opened, and the crowd roared as Spring Man's opponent waltzed in like a ballerina.
"Could it be…?" Biff asked in excitement. "Wow! The crowd's going wild! And why wouldn't it be? Ribbon Girl the Airess has just taken the stage! Not only is she everyone's favorite pop singer from Ribbonics Records, but when it comes to ARMS...she's a total ringer (pun not intended). Her double life has given her double the edge! I must admit, even I'm starstruck! Let's see if this 17-year-old kid with 5'6 in her height can take home the gold and glamor of her adoring fans!" The screen flashed "Round 1," and the first bracket on the chart flashed on-screen, with the words "Spring Man vs. Ribbon Girl" flashed in gold. A timer of five minutes appeared, and the horn blared.
Ribbon Girl threw the first punch, to which Spring Man jumped high in the air. He pulled up his Toaster ARMS, parrying the Airess's second punch. He quickly shot out both of his ARMS, which glowed in red flames as he grabbed Ribbon Girl's waist and pulled her towards him. In his grab, Spring Man knocked his opponent back with a rough punch into the chest, knocking her down onto the concrete ground of the stadium and making the whole crowd go wild. Ribbon Girl quickly jumped back onto her feet, dancing through the air with multiple punches and dodging Spring Man's fiery punches.
She landed on the ground and slammed her Sparky ARMS into Spring Man's face, electrocuting him with the attribute those equitable ARMS of hers packed. This significantly slowed down Spring Man's movement options, but Ribbon Girl was too slow in getting out the next few punches once her opponent defended himself from her punches. As the next few minutes went on as the crowd cheered, the fighters in the audience watched as the two ARMS League contestants threw their punches.
"Who do you suppose might win?" the Wii Fit Trainer asked the other Smashers.
"I don't know," Little Mac answered. "It could be any one of them, so I guess we can assume whoever beats this Max Brass guy has to be the one we're after… right?"
"I think Spring Man might win," Isabelle said. "I have a gut feeling he might be the one we're looking for…"
"How would you know?" Ganondorf questioned. "I'm quite sure there are plenty to choose from. You might find your favorite. Besides, we don't know if Spring Man could be like one of us. He was an Assist Trophy before…" While they were talking, the bell suddenly rang, and the crowd shrieked in excitement once more.
"Looks like Ribbon Girl's down for the count!" Biff spoke on the monitor, with some of the fans mumbling in worry as Ribbon Girl limped away into the building in defeat, having been forced to sit out for the rest of the tourney. The fighters in the crowd looked down in surprise, not having the chance to witness the Airess get knocked out by Spring Man in the end. The Bouncer raised his ARMS triumphantly, laughing in victory.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have our winner for the first match of Round 1!" Biff continued. "It is Spring Man, and it looks like he's going to Round 2! Stay seated for just a second folks. We'll be heading on over to the next stage in the ARMS League."
"What does he mean…?" Dante asked before he, his buddies, and everyone else in the building was covered in a neon green-blue light. In just a few seconds, the entirety of the ARMS League was out in the open in what appeared to be a dark, gloomy cemetery mixed with a hospital for… mummified corpses?
"Oh," Dante noted with realization to his previous question. "Looks like the technology's slightly more advanced here…" A wisp of smoke dashed out onto the ring, revealing himself to be Ninjara and making the crowd go wild.
"Heading out onto the Mausoleum is the Student of Stealth: Ninjara!" Biff shouted out, with most of the crowd cheering for him. "Now you see him. Now you don't. Now you only THINK you see him... Seriously, is that really him? Currently, he is studying at Ninja College, or as it's officially named, Rasen Ninjutsu University. He clocks in at 21 years of age, weighs in at about 150 lbs., and is 5'10 in height. So let's see if he's got what it takes to pass this test!" Bursting through the opposite side of the ring appeared to be some sort of purple-skinned man with a hulking body the size of a gorilla, wrapped up entirely in linen cloth. A golden harness is bolted to his head like a mask, and his ARMS seemed to drag behind himself quite roughly.
"Here he is—the undead idol we love to fear... It's the Grim Creeper, aka Master Mummy!" Biff continued, with yet another roar from the crowd. "Master Mummy's story has always been wrapped in mystery...and 500 thread count cotton, plus with 368 lbs. in his weight and a height of 7'6. He's been searching for answers since he rose from the dead about what happened to his wife and son, but will victory bring the closure he seeks?"
"Ooh, an undead amnesiac," Dante chuckled, leaning over the edge of the fence keeping audience members from falling into the ring.
"Focus, Dante," Ganondorf resounded, watching the letters "Ninjara vs. Master Mummy" flash on-screen with the 5-minute timer counting down. "The best we can do is see if the winner of the league could be our chosen one." The horn blared, and Master Mummy beat his chest with his Megaton ARMS before dashing ahead towards the Student of Stealth. Before the Grim Creeper's ARMS hit Ninjara, the young ninja vanished in a puff of smoke and reappeared behind Master Mummy, thrusting his Chakram ARMS behind his opponent's back and snagging on tightly to the cotton wraps.
Master Mummy was stunned by the Chakram ARMS drilling deep into his rotting skin, giving Ninjara a chance to throw the Grim Creeper into the ground midair. As soon as Ninjara landed, he threw his ARMS at a recovering Master Mummy, hitting him roughly in the face with the curving equipment attached to his ARMS. When Ninjara punched again, Master Mummy pulled up his own ARMS and blocked the attacks, recovering some of his health. He then grabbed ahold of Ninjara and slammed him hard into the ground.
The Student of Stealth was much faster than the Grim Creeper, and he quickly vanished in a puff of smoke before Master Mummy cornered him at the edge of the ring. Ninjara began to glow with a yellow aura, with the crowd chanting "Rush! Rush! Rush!" in a repetitive manner. Coated in golden flames, Ninjara unleashed a special move on Master Mummy, rapidly jabbing the beefy undead fighter with his Chakram ARMS and knocking him out.
"And we have our winner for the second match!" Biff called out as the crowd went wild. "Ninjara takes the win and is pushing his way into Round 2! Will he have what it takes to take down Spring Man? Only one way to find out. For now, let's move on to the next match!"
The gloves of Meta Knight began to strum the strings on an acoustic guitar, accompanied by the soft whistling of the masked swordsman. He sat on the edge of a cliff, gazing out into the afternoon sea as he played his leitmotif on his guitar. It reminded him of the Halberd… its glorious majesty and wonder as the sea glistened with sunlight.
Meta Knight felt at peace, and he always had ever since the war between light and dark. As he whistled his theme, he began to think if there was something more at play. For whatever time he had left, he knew that he shouldn't let I've hold him down forever. Just when things that troubled him seemed to go away through the music…
"Hiya, MK!" Sonic called out right behind him, scaring the masked swordsman and causing him to slip and fall off the cliff. Sonic chuckled with the notion that what he did was a complete accident, watching as a pissed-off Meta Knight transformed his cape into bat wings and glided back onto solid ground with the guitar in his gloved grip.
"¡Idiota! ¡No vuelvas a asustarme así!" Meta Knight snapped in his native language, pulling out the Galaxia and pointing it at Sonic's chest.
"Woah, take it easy," Sonic chuckled nervously, slowly pushing the tip of the golden blade away from him. "I just kinda needed a favor to ask of you…"
"Perhaps you should learn how to not scare people off cliffs, estúpido," Meta Knight growled, slipping his acoustic guitar and sword behind his cape. "Maybe all these months growing up on Arcus has turned you into a reckless rodent, hasn't it?"
"Okay, Meta Knight," Sonic apologized. "I'm sorry. It's just that… this is something very important I can't do without you. Mega Man and I had just uncovered a hidden message in the Earth Citrine, and we need your help decrypting it."
"Decrypting it?" Meta Knight asked, having just gained the curiosity of the situation. "How did you even get the Earth Citrine?"
"Some guy named Dante found it for us," Sonic answered. "He's in another universe with Ganondorf and a few of our pals, trying to find another fighter. The message the Earth Citrine's showing us is something we can't translate well, and Clementine's doing the best she can."
"I believe I know a friend of ours who can help," Meta Knight responded. "I may not know what you just said, but I'll be damned if I don't help you with your current scenario."
"Thanks, pal," Sonic chuckled. "Who's the guy you wanna visit?"
"It may not be likely, but I am certain Link might help with translating," Meta Knight answered. "I believe he's on Luna's Atoll, taking pictures of the wildlife there."
"So… he's on an island," Sonic sighed, knowing he can't really swim due to having terrible memories of being underwater. "Can you fly me over there?"
"Gladly," Meta Knight responded, unfurling his bat-like wings and grabbing ahold of Sonic's bionic hands. He took off into the air, with the blue hedgehog clinging on tightly to his gloved hands as he looked down upon the view of the land near the ocean several feet in the air. Sonic laughed as he felt the cool breeze blowing through his quills, never feeling more alive in his life as Meta Knight helped carry him to a crescent-shaped island in the sea.
"This is amazing!" Sonic laughed, losing his grip and falling before Meta Knight quickly swooped in and grabbed onto the blue rodent's hands again. "Do you always have this much freedom when you fly?"
"I guess I do," Meta Knight answered. "You know, you should always learn not to be such a reckless rodent."
"Relax, MK," Sonic noted. "Dangerous is my middle name."
"No, it's not," Meta Knight jokingly responded. "Your middle name's 'the.'" Sonic laughed at that remark, keeping memory of what to tell the Champion of Hyrule as the masked swordsman glided down towards Luna's Atoll.
Link was hiding behind a mossy rock, with the soft breeze blowing through the tall grass and tickling his pointy ears. The salty sea air cleared the Hylian's sinuses, giving him a better vision on the photography he was taking of the wildlife native to the atoll. He managed to spot some sort of three-eyed road with an angler on its head, which was sitting on a small rock near a puddle filled with a peculiar green muck. A dragonfly with a singular, large compound eye buzzed overhead, shedding a white powder over the muck. The Champion of Hyrule pulled out his Sheikah Slate, taking a couple photographs of both the one-eyed dragonfly and the strange toad before the toad flicked its tongue at the dragonfly, dragging the insect into its mouth and chewing through its crunchy exoskeleton with its powerful jaws.
Link analyzed the photos he took, noticing that the dragonfly was in fact fertilizing the muck on the puddle, leading him to believe that the muck was a cluster of tiny eggs and the dragonfly had male attributes. Just then, the Champion of Hyrule heard the sound of footsteps landing on the atoll, and he looked to his right to spot Sonic and Meta Knight.
"Hi, Link," Sonic greeted. "Looks like the wildlife's fascinating, huh?"
"I guess," Link answered. "Strange how all these creatures existed up until the end of the dragon reign, and they just popped back out of the blue after we conquered both light and darkness. I already took photographs of some of the animals. Wanna look?" Link gave the Sheikah Slate to the blue hedgehog, going through a slideshow of critters far more peculiar than the ones the Hylian got before.
"That looks really interesting," Meta Knight complimented, peering over Sonic's shoulder. "Were you always using this to blog wildlife?"
"Oh yeah," Link pointed out. "It does a lot more than taking pictures of alien animals and activating special kinds of bombs. It can also scan pieces of machinery, analyze blueprints, collect data, help me solve puzzles, translate foreign languages… anything you want to do for the most part. I kinda wonder why Sheik never mentioned this…"
"That's kinda why I came to visit you, Link," Sonic noted. "Y'see, Mega Man and I came across a mysterious message we can't decode without your help. The Inkling's doing the best she can, but I think we need more help to solve it. Think you can help?"
"Of course I am," Link answered with a cheerful heart. "How exactly did you get this message?"
"The Earth Citrine activated for them," Meta Knight answered. "That's precisely what the young hedgehog told me."
"I kinda wonder… how did you even get here to Luna's Atoll?" Sonic asked. "There isn't even a boat on shore."
"I found a way after reconnecting my roots to the Hyrule I ended up in," Link answered. "Climb onto my back, Sonic." The blue hedgehog eagerly held on tight to the Hylian's back, his curiosity growing as Link pulled out his glider and some strange glowing orb. A gust of wind blew underneath Link and Sonic, carrying them both into the air with tremendous force. The blue hedgehog noticed that the ancient spirit of Revali was the one behind the gust of wind, and the Divine Rito Champion vanished once Link pulled out his glider and aimed for the shore at the main land Sonic and Meta Knight arrived from. The masked swordsman took off into the air, flying next to the blue hedgehog and the Champion of Hyrule.
"So you're saying you need me to translate some ancient language because I have access to a Sheikah Slate?" Link asked.
"I think that's what Meta Knight said," Sonic answered. "Hope we can get this figured out once we get back to Clementine and Rockman…"
Mega Man had just finished helping Clementine translate the whole message, writing the alien letters in how they sounded in the common language down on a piece of paper. The Inkling double-checked through the letters on the Earth Citrine, making sure she didn't miss a single one, and gathered up the notes lying on the desk. Sonic reappeared in a flash, leaning on the door frame.
"Oh, you're back," Rockman noted, spotting the blue hedgehog. "Took you a while longer than I expected."
"Yeah, I kinda went to get help," Sonic answered, with Meta Knight and Link walking into the room.
"I think Clementine and I got the hang of this language," Mega Man explained, handing the Champion of Hyrule the paper he wrote on. "It's almost like we can read it like binary code…" Link read through the paper, which went as follows:
Nésyl umbrëgilueaëg éshtumbr sāhnéshtumbrtæl uiosyl nésylüriumbrlnonésyloot éshtcraëgueauioésht,
Éshtueasyl ootceauioëgilnéuiosylsāhn sāhncraumbrceanaiil ëgnésāhnuea pianééshtcra ilueazahueasylsāhnueasāhn sāhnueaésht
Voceaëgnéueail ilueaueatæl pianééshtcranésyl ootuealnosāhn, sāhnéshtumbrsyluea, uiosylil sāhnéshtueanainai
Nésāhn éshtcrauea zahnéëgsāhnésht tælnéueaüriuea umbrzah éshtcrauea tælceaielnielnnaiuea ætchumbrcea lnoceasāhnésht üriumbrsylüriueauionai.
"Oh my…" Meta Knight responded.
"Oh my indeed," Mega Man noted.
"So… Link," Sonic noted. "Do you think you can help translate the rest for us? Shouldn't be too hard with that slate of yours…" Link grabbed ahold of his Sheikah Slate, snapping a picture of the message written on the paper. The Champion of Hyrule then took a photo of the alien message floating above the Earth Citrine. The Hylian then began tapping on the smooth screen of the ancient tablet, waiting for it to process the language into something readable.
"Uh… what's taking it so long?" Sonic asked.
"This Sheikah Slate has had a few upgrades in recent months," Link confessed. "After raiding multiple temples, it wouldn't make sense why this thing takes forever translating new languages. This usually takes a few, otherwise it'll just be a bunch of errors. Hold on…" Link tapped on the frozen screen a few more times, trying to get a good result from the ancient device.
"I wouldn't advise you tap on it that much," Meta Knight pointed out, worried that Link might break the one obligatory thing he kept around all this time.
"I've had this thing for as long as I can remember," Link added, trying to restrain himself from harming the frozen Sheikah Slate. "I know how to fix these kinds of situations, and there we go… I think." The Sheikah Slate finished loading, and the additional lag it took processing the language translated the whole message into the common language completely by accident.
"Was your thing supposed to do that?" Mega Man asked.
"I don't know…" Link answered, reading the full translation on the ancient tablet. "Well, anything I read is usually in Hylian, but I modified this thing just so everyone can read what it says. Alright. Here we go…"
In order to stop an incoming threat,
Ten guardians should rise with defenses set
Buried deep within gems, stone, and steel
Is the first piece of the puzzle you must conceal.
"Is that what it says?" Mega Man asked, with the Inkling reading over Link's shoulder. "Looks like it's gonna take a while to learn this whole alien alphabet…" As Clementine walked over to the notes she gathered on the desk, she and the fighters in the room noticed that the original message from the Earth Citrine vanished, and a path of orange light flowed out the door. Meta Knight glided over to the stone and picked it up, with the light path still on the ground.
"Ten guardians? Defenses set? First piece of the puzzle?" Sonic questioned. "Well, wherever that stone's leading us has to give us our answers eventually." The blue hedgehog zoomed out the door, getting a headset as always.
"Wait for us!" Link called out, reattaching his Sheikah Slate onto his belt and following the path outside Mega Man's room. Sure enough, Mega Man, Clementine, and Meta Knight followed behind the Champion of Hyrule.
While all that was going on, Dante, Ganondorf, Isabelle, Dark Samus, Wii Fit Trainer, and Little Mac were watching the next few matches about to take place during the first round. The next match took place in front of some sort of Chinese ramen restaurant, with the bowl-like stage curving inward to the center. Min Min emerged from one side of the ring, her fans cheering for her.
"Could it be? Is it she? It is!" Biff called out as Min Min waved her ARMS to the raving crowd. "Well, get a whiff of that! The one and only Ramen Bomber" has entered the ring. It's Min Min! This young lady proves that "noodle arms" ain't no joke—They pack a real punch! And don't let her size fool you—Min Min's fighting can kick it with the best of 'em, and her heritage from the Mintendo Noodle House clearly shows. With 5'5 in her height and an age of 18, this next opponent of hers is sure to feel the fiery burn!" Emerging from the other side of the stage was some sort of human girl who lacked the spirals in her eyes and was fully human. The mech she piloted was some sort of yellow tube-like machine, complete with ARMS of its own.
"Here she is: the only kid on our block that lacks the ARMS Gene!" Biff called out, with a hosanna from the crowd calling out her name. "Sure, she's young, but the Scrapyard Scrapper is as destructive as she is darling! But under that metal exterior, Mechanica is a kid like any other! Well, sort of...How many kids do you know who'd design and make a heavyweight powered suit with built-in thrusters? This 15-year-old chick stands at a height of 7'8 inside the suit and 5'2 outside, and adding her weight of 99 lbs. to that mech she designed herself brings her total weight to a whopping 1202 lbs.! Who doubted her when she dreamed of making it to the big league ever since she was just a humble fan or our shows? Let's hope she isn't served as her opponent's next meal!"
"Woo! A catfight!" Dante laughed. "This is gonna be fun…" The 5-minute timer started, and the horn blared throughout the stage. Mechanica used the thrusters on her mech, dashing through the air while powering through Min Min's Megawatt ARMS which would stun lighter opponents midair. Mechanica activated the ARMS on her mech, avoiding the roundhouse kick executed by the Ramen Bomber's agile movement by ducking her head into the cockpit.
The ARMS on the mech began shooting out multiple projectiles at Min Min with the Revolver ARMS equipped onto it. Min Min successfully charged her ARMS for longer than expected, automatically transforming her left ARM into a Dragon ARM. It fired a beam at the first round of Mechanica's attacks, which burned the multishot property the first throw had but was unsuccessful in hitting the second. The Scrapyard Scrapper knocked Min Min down, forcing the Chinese martial artist to lose her Dragon ARM which would have otherwise lasted the entire match.
Despite being agile in her movements with such heavy ARMS, Min Min was no match against the mech piloted by the teenage girl that didn't even have the gene as she was growing up, and she was instantly knocked out by the Scrapyard Scrapper's Rush move. Mechanica's fans cheered loud, with some of the audience members that also didn't have the gene like her shrieking in excitement.
"Who would have guessed that a match in the first round would belong to Mechanica!?" Biff exclaimed. "We're seeing strong progress, so let's move on to the next round of fighters!"
"Wow… all these fighters, and they hold such raw determination…" the Wii Fit Trainer noted in surprise as she watched the entirety of the ARMS League get enveloped by the neon green-blue light, the seats underneath them vanishing.
"Careful, guys," Isabelle noted, getting up from her seat. "Where we're going, we don't need seats…" The five Smashers and the Devil Hunter then looked around to see some sort of movie theater, which was filled with luxurious cars in the circular driveway. The doors to the cinema opened, followed by the whistling and cheering of fans as well as flash photography. A woman with dark brown skin as smooth as chocolate dressed in black skintight pants, a white sleeveless shirt, and black high heels. What was strangest about this obvious celebrity was that she had the ARMS Gene… but not in the way anyone expected it. Instead of having her arms transformed, her white-and-pink hair was affected by it.
"Looks like this celebrity has taken center stage!" Biff spoke on the holographic screen still above the ring. Roll out the red carpet! The Silver Screen Queen herself, Twintelle is making her entrance. She's an ARMS fighter, but it's not her arms you need to worry about... It's her hair that packs a punch! So keep your eyes on those shiny, silvery locks! According to ARMS Labs, she's the only known person in the world with the ARMS Gene affecting her hair, but she has declined the laboratory's requests to give them some of her hair three times. This dazzling actress has a height of 5'10, weighs 139 lbs., and is at the golden age of 26."
"Huh. Looks like arms aren't the only parts of the body affected by this strange gene," Little Mac noted.
"Suit yourself," Dante answered, staring at the fact that Twintelle was… well-rounded The Devil Hunter slipped back to reality once the Silver Screen Queen's opponents arrived. Emphasis on opponents. They were two robots, with the more humanoid of the two sporting wind-up keys on his shoulders on his policeman-like design. His smaller companion looked like some sort of dog head mounted on a single wheel, with a red beacon on his head.
"If you thought a dog's bark is worse than its bite, then you haven't seen this iconic duo!" Biff went on. "Bad guys, beware! Our favorite police team, the Clockwork Cops of Buster Beach, is on a new beat. Give a warm welcome to Byte & Barq! An unlikely duo, Byte's a standard-model patrol unit and Barq's a tin pup trained to search for lost items. They've been on duty for a while now, but are eager to get back to their true love—fighting! They kinda cheated their way into the ARMS League due to the fact they're of the K-9000 model and designed to disguise themselves as a singular individual, but don't let that slippage through our guidelines bother you! Their popularity saved them and kept them in the ranks! Together, they weigh 265 lbs., and they are built around the height of 6'2… well, with Byte mainly…" The horn rang, and the 2v1 match began.
Twintelle shook her hair around, activating the ARMS Gene inside her locks. She began punching at the Clockwork Cops, mainly aiming for Byte while keeping in mind of the Toaster ARM Barq shot out. Byte jumped on Barq's head, activating his Seekie ARMS which homed in on Twintelle. She quickly dashed through the attack as best as she could, briefly slowing down time for a minute and following up with a one-two punch from her Chilla ARMS, which slowed down Byte as much as her time-stopping moves. However, the actress was hit in the shin by Barq, which dealt a fiery blow against her.
As the fighters in the audience watched with excitement, Dante heard a strange gust of wind from the back of the crowd nobody seemed to notice except him. It wasn't a demon since the movement was slow, so that was a relief. Before he suspected anything else, the match was over and Twintelle was victorious.
"And there you have it, folks!" Biff sounded out. "Twintelle is moving onto the second round! We have two more matches remaining, so stay seated!" The league was warped over to a new location, by which it looked like some sort of lab with six test tubes laid around. A masked contender with scaly clothing breakdanced into the scene, wearing some sort of helmet that obstructed his face entirely like a real cobra. As soon as he finished busting out a few moves, he waved to his audience, which cheered for him in their seats.
"Welcome to the Speed Demon's domain, where Kid Cobra runs the show!" Biff called out. "He's a top snakeboard rider, an extreme sport that involves landing tricks on a spinning board. His signature quick step allows him to strike at his prey as fast as a snake! How, you may ask? Simple. Is it his height of 6'0 or the weight of 170 lbs., which was accomplished at the age of 19? Not really. Out of 1 in every 100,000 people, Kid Cobra is one of these few to be genetically born with the ARMS Gene, and his face still hasn't been revealed to this day." Some sort of stretchy green humanoid jumped into the stage, with ARMS resembling DNA molecules, strands of pink and blue on his head, and a metal mask with two yellow lights on it.
"Right now all eyes are locked on the "Man" of Mystery and test tube titan...Helix!" Biff introduced to the cheering audience. "He's representing the famous ARMS Laboratories—the epicenter of all ARMS-based research. So just how will the result of a science experiment fare outside the lab? Having only been born 2 years ago, one may never know…!" Once the horn blared once again, the two opponents went after each other.
Kid Cobra gave off his loads of style and major moves, dashing underneath Helix's swinging ARMS before following up with a quick uppercut with his Slamamander ARMS. A green wind effect surrounded Helix, knocking him back pretty far. The green blob quickly turned into a puddle before springing up into the air, slamming his Blorb ARMS into Kid Cobra and blinding the Speed Demon's mismatching eyes of green and violet. Kid Cobra quickly wiped the blue sludge from his masked face, grabbing ahold of the "Man" of Mystery and slapping the humanoid blob in the face before preforming a breakdance kick to knock Helix back.
"Y'know, this is getting kinda boring," Dante yawned, clearly showing no signs of interest in the matches going on. "I'm gonna go take a quick piss. Let me know when someone gets to this Max Brass guy."
"But you can't leave!" Isabelle objected.
"The only reason why Sozo assigned you with us was because you were the only other person in the room," Ganondorf encouraged. "Besides, we are supposed to be on the lookout for our fighter, no matter who's the winner or loser."
"Dude… I really need to piss," Dante responded. "Can you at least let me use one of the restrooms here?" Ganondorf groaned in annoyance from the devil-may-care half-demon.
"Ugh… fine. But make it quick," Ganondorf sighed. Dante climbed up onto the tops of the chairs, "tight-roping" his way to the left of the seats. Dark Samus looked back at the Devil Hunter as he ran off to the nearest exit door faster than the average human.
Dante made his way over to the empty halls, where he could hear the faint cheering going on outside. The Devil Hunter clearly lied about having to use the bathroom, for he knew full-on that someone was there. Just several feet away, Dante could hear the faint humming of a levitating aircraft right around the corner at the end of one of the hallways, and he walked towards the sound as quiet as a mouse. The closer he got to the suspicious sound, the more it seemed to move away from him until he eventually ended up in front of the janitor equipment door.
He suspected the quiet humming sound disappeared behind the door, so he jiggled the knob a bit. He was surprised to find out the door wasn't even locked, leading him to the conclusion that whoever went in there forgot to double-check to make sure no one got in. Dante opened the door and slipped in.
"Hm… think it would be a little nice if you could light up this tiny place," Dante jokingly told himself. "Wonder where the light switch is...?" The Devil Hunter quickly managed to spot it even in such a dark room, and he flicked it on. The moment he did that, a neon-green circle with the emblem of a skull and a lightning bolt covering its right eye appeared on the tiled floor, opening up a metal chute that descended deeper underground.
"Well, hello," Dante spoke. The Devil Hunter wasted no time jumping in, sliding down the chute until he reached solid ground. The Devil Hunter poked his head out of the chute, looking at the mysterious place he arrived in. The rusty air hung over the walls that were tainted with messy experiments, with a conveyor belt in the center of the room that seemed to have been elevated to the corners. Test tubes were carried around on the ceiling, outshining the lights that dimly illuminated the place.
"Looks like someone has a lot of time on their hands," Dante remarked, walking over to a wall where medals, badges, and gadgets were hung in front of multiple blueprints lying on a desk, which seemed to be failed attempts in analysis on Mechanica's suit due to multiple scribbles in white damning the blueprints and labeling them as "useless." He also noticed cassette tapes lying around the desk, with labels that predated back to two years ago. They all seemed to focus around Helix, the green humanoid blob. The Devil Hunter knew that whoever lived here seemed to be a whole lot dedicated to their work, and he took off a small badge off the wall to read who it belonged to.
"Dr. Coyle…?" The moment he figured out the name of the doctor living in this place, his demonic powers kicked in. As though he sensed it was coming, Dante quickly dodged an ARM flying in from his side. A small explosion occurred where the heavy ARM landed, and Dante quickly drew his gun Ivory with his right hand, shooting some sort of metallic plating and knocking the invisible attacker down.
"A gun?" the attacker asked as she groaned, some blue electricity dancing around her body and revealed her invisible appearance. "Who the hell brings a gun into a fistfight?" What Dante just shot seemed to be a metallic suit in a copper color, with every cog and gear and even her ARMS being centered around lightning and a jet designed for hovering attached to her back. Her long, messy green bangs covered up one of her eyes on the right, which were also green and sported the spiral shape those growing up with the genetic mutation always have. Her suit seems to be a mix of green and black, with a purple mask concealing her face.
"You're Dr. Coyle, ain't ya?" Dante asked, pointing his gun at her from a reasonable distance. "From how this place looks, you could tidy up once in a while…"
"You sure are clever, especially coming from an individual without ARMS," Dr. Coyle responded, levitating as she got herself up, slipped her Lokjaw ARMS off, and attached them to her waist. "Following me all the way down here, and I haven't even figured out your name."
"Dante," the Devil Hunter answered. "Let me guess: you're down here because of a friendship with the current champ that turned sour because of political differences which resulted in you becoming rivals with him and which also explains why you have so many weird things in your lab." Dr. Coyle held her tongue, unable to put up a good argument as to how Dante could read her like a book just from those expressions of hers.
"Uh… yes," Dr. Coyle added, surprised Dante revealed his backstory without her telling him. "Perhaps your cleverness could be useful. Follow me. And don't touch anything." The middle-aged boxer walked to the other side of the room towards a black curtain, grabbing some of the blueprints and cassette tapes beforehand.
"Thirty years ago, I founded ARMS Laboratories, the guys who run the league and the Grand Prix every year," Dr. Coyle explained as she placed her stuff on the table next to her. "Even if I wasn't born with the gene, I devoted my life to decrypting the secrets about it that even predate back to when humans first walked the earth. Eventually, I perfected the ability and trained hard with it. They called me the Rad Scientist, a once-in-a-lifetime genius. Max Brass wasn't always the champion of the ring. He was once my assistant."
"Something happen between you two?" Dante asked. "Not that I don't mind anyway…"
"Where he saw entertainment and fame from the research, I saw potential in my studies," Dr. Coyle continued as she set her things up. "Potential that can help people. Create new life. Raise the dead. He said I should stop worrying about these kinds of things. He said all those years of research… meant nothing to me. He said all the people want nowadays is to see those born with a gift unique to only them fighting in front of a crowd. But I will prove him wrong… with everything you see here. I will become the greatest ARMS champion of all time, and I will prove to the people that the ARMS League stands for a whole lot more…"
"You're quite determined, aren't you?" Dante asked. "I guess fighting for sport kinda blinds others until all they see is entertainment from physical pain. And there's nothing really wrong with that in the right sense. But I'm kinda getting carried away from myself. Building something behind that curtain?" The Devil Hunter watched as Dr. Coyle plugged a few routers from behind the curtain into some sort of small, boxy TV. She turned the TV on and popped in the youngest cassette she had.
"Finally, it took two years to complete alongside my other project, but it looks like Springtron's almost complete," Dr. Coyle muttered. The cassette player, showcasing a match between Helix and Master Mummy. The moving camera was mostly focusing on Helix, from what Dante saw. The Rad Scientist pulled away the curtain, revealing some sort of robot that had the exact same structure as Spring Man but was built with a mouthpiece, blackened eyes, and a red-and-black coat of paint. This machine was strapped to some sort of metal table, and she loosened the straps keeping the bot in place.
"The idea of Springtron came to me after trying to exploit Mechanica's weakness," Dr. Coyle explained. "That girl is a complete natural, I tell you that. I have no idea how she made that mech of hers, but I guess her family's gotten real friendly with Max Brass in recent years. Her tastes in culture, however… let's just say I'm the complete opposite of her. Springtron: activate!" The machine heard her command, and his eyes flashed a bright blue. Springtron moved his limbs, climbing off the table he was resting on.
"Springtron: attack!" Dr. Coyle commanded. As she walked off, Dante grabbed her near the shoulder.
"You probably want me to stand still so you can test his combat maneuvers?" Dante asked.
"Just trust me," Dr. Coyle responded. As soon as the middle-aged scientist walked off to the side, Springtron unleashed his Toaster ARMS at the Devil Hunter. The robot managed to hit Dante in the chest with a powerful force that knocked him down. As soon as Dante got back up, he shielded himself using his arms to deflect the powerful punches coming from Springtron.
"Huh," Dr. Coyle spoke, with the notion that whatever she was thinking were thrown out of the window due to the events exceeding her expectations. "Looks like the premature blob had more fight in him than I thought. Okay, Springtron. Stop." The machine obeyed his creator's orders, and he drew his ARMS away from Dante.
"Those videos that I played via cassette tapes?" Dr. Coyle explained. "They were supposed to analyze Helix's presence from within the ARMS League, made to counter my failed experiment's movements. I'm honestly surprised that he learned how to fight in the past couple years, even if he hasn't grown outside of the tube he was supposed to stay in longer. This robot was made during Spring Man's popularity years… the perfect killing machine against any second-generation competitor."
"I'm quite surprised you did all this just so you could take back the glory you once had," Dante pointed out.
"He's still a work in progress," Dr. Coyle explained. "I just need to make a few adjustments to him before he steps into the ring, most notably his lack of voice…"
"Anything you want me to do?" Dante asked.
"You can help me with finishing up Hedlok," Dr. Coyle answered.
"Hedlok?" Dante questioned. "What is it? Some sort of masterpiece exceeding that bot of yours?"
"Yes. He's my greatest creation, a prototype with the ability to override the mind of its wearer. He's planned as a follow-up to another project the lab designed, a way to help ordinary humans control all the ARMS the original prototype failed to deliver according to my theories. Perhaps with your keen intellect, we can come up with a way to reclaim my title as champ."
"Sorry, mistress," Dante responded with his careless attitude, walking back to the same chute he came in. "I'm a one-man team, and besides… I don't speak to people a little… crazy in the head."
"C- Crazy?" Dr. Coyle asked before clearing her throat. Despite being a mad scientist, she knew how to keep her cool, and snapping back at the snarky Devil Hunter was definitely not an okay thing to do, for she knew that it would just confirm his thoughts about her. "I understand completely. If you need me, I'll be there, working tirelessly on Hedlok until he's fully completed around this Grand Prix…" The Son of Sparda climbed up the chute, making his way back up to the ARMS League.
"Springtron…?" Dr. Coyle asked. "Do you think you can bribe the matchmakers to put you in the free-for-all round? It has no cost efficiency, really."
"And Helix is our winner!" Biff cried out through the holographic screen. "Who would have thought this premature fighter wouldn't make it on the first step to becoming champion?" On the current state, Helix hollered in victory, bouncing around as Kid Cobra snaked out in defeat, clenching his fist as he felt ashamed of losing to the youngest fighter in the league.
"Stay seated, folks!" Biff continued. "We've got the last match of the round between our lovable world-traveling clown Lola Pop, the Sucker Puncher, and the Spirited Fighter Misango, hailing from the Misangan lands!" Everyone in the stadium was warped over to another stage, which appeared to be some sort of candy land-themed place where it rained gumdrops and chocolate ran down the walls in the forms of waterfalls.
"…Who takes THIS long to use the restroom?" Little Mac asked. "Shouldn't Dante have finished using the bathroom five minutes ago?"
"Beats me," Ganondorf answered. On one side of the stage, a clown-like fighter flew in like a deflated whoopee cushion. Her ARMS were based off candy, and she wore striped and spotted overalls that complimented her goofy and sweet appearance.
"You may recognize our next fighter from her performances on this very street corner. It's Lola Pop!" Biff introduced to the crowd. "Watch out for the Sucker Puncher herself, folks—this gal doesn't clown around. She's spent years traveling the world, honing her craft. But if she wins this grand prix, she'll put down some roots and use the winnings to start her own circus!"
"Hey, guys," Dante spoke out to his pals, calling out to them from the cheering crowd.
"Oh, finally," Ganondorf sighed. "You're just in time for the next match. Helix won back in the previous one." On the other side of the stage seemed to be some sort of tribal warrior complete with a golden headband, a blue shirt and shorts, and ARMS made out of woven fabric.
"From the remote region of Misanga, named for its eponymous deity, it's…Misango!" Biff continued. "His fighting style—enhanced by the spiritual woven entity at his side—has been passed down from generation to generation through the arts of the Spirited Fighter. According to a vague prophecy, Misango must enter the Grand Prix to prove that the Misangan fighting style is the greatest in the world!"
"Eh… I dunno about that clown over there," Dante groaned once the horn blared and the two opponents dashed after each other, with Lola Pop inflating herself like a balloon and rolling straight into Misango before deflating. "Do you think she could lose against that spirit guy?"
"What do you mean?" Isabelle asked, watching as Misango used his Scorpio ARMS to have them scuttle across the graham cracker ground and hitting her legs with their poisonous tips. "Do you have a fear of clowns? Is the Legendary Devil Hunter himself a coulrophobic?"
"Not really…" Dante responded, obviously showing the sign he wasn't afraid of something that couldn't attack him. "It's just that… looking at clowns now kinda gives me… a bad feeling in my gut."
Near the pit of Ginnungagap, Hakai stared down into the darkness beneath the chasm. He had been staying there for a long while, simply doing nothing and letting nothing but the peaceful sounds of the darkness calm his mind. He wanted to enter the void, and yet he couldn't do so. Try as he may, the violet-eyed general simply wouldn't fall in. Just then, a path of orange light flowed beside him, descending deep into the Pit of Ice and Fire. Hakai then turned around to hear the rapid pattering of footsteps coming his way, and a dust of smoke emerged from whoever was skidding across the dirt blossoming with new life.
"Sonic!" Hakai exclaimed. "I give out my sincerest apologies for not noticing you were here… What brings you to this place?"
"It's a long story," Sonic answered. Running right behind him were Meta Knight, Link, Mega Man, and Clementine, for the blue hedgehog took care not to run too fast and get them lost.
"Why do you have the Earth Citrine?" Hakai asked, noticing Meta Knight holding the stone. "What's going on?"
"While I was researching on that thing for answers, something happened and now it's generating a light path… down there…" Mega Man answered, trailing off as he saw the abandoned pit. "Why are you here, Hakai? Isn't your brother worried?"
"I often come here to think," Hakai answered. "Think about the secrets of every parallel universe out there, how every speck of dust down to the smallest quark is connected with each other. You're saying this stone is leading you… down to the bottom of Ginnungagap?"
"Sure looks like it," Link answered. "The message from that gem told us we need to look for ten guardians to… conceal a puzzle."
"Sure sounds important," the violet-eyed general answered. "Perhaps I can be of assistance."
"Thanks, Hakai," Sonic responded, tightening his white gloves. "We don't know what we'd do without you."
"So… you're saying you need to go down that pit?" Hakai asked.
"If it satisfies our curiosity," Mega Man answered.
"…I see," the violet-eyed dragon noted, transforming into the Crazy Hand with his left wing unfurled. "Hop on. I'll take you down there." Link held onto the Inkling's waist, hoisting her into the Crazy Hand's palm.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Meta Knight asked, looking down at the glowing stone he was holding. "The Subspace Army has been living out of that pit for quite a while, and maybe it's for the best." Sonic and Mega Man exchanged glances, looking at each other and then the masked swordsman before nodding in response. Meta Knight, aware that he would get involved in this anyway, took flight with the Earth Citrine in his mittens, diving deep into the darkness of Ginnungagap. A glimmer of orange light shimmered at the bottom, letting Hakai and the other Smashers know where to go. As soon as the blue hedgehog and bomber climbed in, the Crazy Hand floated over the pit before descending.
Once Hakai got close to the ground, the fighters in the group that couldn't fly jumped off the Crazy Hand and landed safely in front of Meta Knight, who was patiently waiting for them at the bottom of the pit with the glowing Earth Citrine in his hands. The ground in the pit was of solid black terracotta, swirling into chaotic patterns dyed with charcoal. There surprisingly weren't any shadows when the small team of Smashers arrived, which was either from the Earth Citrine's light or some unknown magic in the place.
"So… I guess the light path ends here," Meta Knight responded. The fighters noticed that the track created by the gem seemed to disappear into the ground, just below the terracotta.
"I'll handle this," Hakai told everyone, still keeping his Crazy Hand form. "Everyone, stand back." The Smashers, including Meta Knight with the stone, went behind the Hand of Destruction, who floated over the point where the light path ended. Curling his fingers up into a fist, the Crazy Hand slammed into the terracotta, with bits and pieces of the ground flying everywhere. Once the terracotta rubble settled, the Smashers found some sort of jagged stairway descending deep into a cave underground, with the orange path of light flowing deeper underground. Hakai shook his fingers, transforming back into his draconic self.
"Alright, everyone," Hakai spoke to the fighters as he walked down the stairs. "Stay behind me and keep in each other's line of sight." Each of the Smashers followed the path, with Meta Knight walking behind the single-file line.
Both the violet-eyed dragon with a single wing and the small group of Smashers felt rather claustrophobic about the dark caverns at first, considering the walls seemed to press around them. Once they got to a place where their bodies could breathe in the relaxation of not being squished together, the light of the Earth Citrine's path seemed to help them see better. Clusters of jewels hung up on the ceiling, twinkling from the light of the bioluminescent mushrooms growing where the ground met the walls. The terracotta decorating the place seemed to have merged with gold, silver, platinum, and other valuable metals that were mixing in with the peculiar charcoal swirls.
As the Smashers looked around the place, there were multiple paths to go into, each with their own clusters of gems, but the path where the light of the Earth Citrine led the party was on the main one. However, as the fighters walked to their destination, some of the gems were alive as they detached themselves from the walls and began forming into a humanoid with limbs entirely made out of jewels from the clusters. The Smashers were too far away to hear the echoes of more jewels forming into humanoids though.
"Whelp, here we are, compadres," Meta Knight spoke, he and his companions gazing upon a double door carved entirely out of the purest platinum. Streaks of gold sealed it tightly shut, with a symbol like that of the Earth Citrine's imprinted on the seal. A large bull wearing armor and a nose ring was seen rampaging on the image depicted on the door, with a constellation of tiny white diamonds on its body and a circle with two pointy shapes curving up into horns on each side on its chestplate. On top of the bull image was a message written in the same language as the one broadcasted by the Earth Citrine, and Link took a picture of it with his Sheikah Slate and translated the message.
"The rarest sapphire that gleams of gold
Is locked away in the comfort of the cold
Only one who has tamed the bull
Can remove this bulky hull," Link read aloud.
"Uh, last we checked, sapphires don't gleam with gold," Sonic corrected.
"I swear this is the original translation," Link answered in slight frustration. "Besides, this doesn't look so hard to open. All it takes is a couple adjustments and…" The Champion of Hyrule activated the magnetism properties on his Sheikah Slate, aiming the two golden beams at the door. However, it wouldn't budge.
"Hm… one who has tamed the bull, huh?" Sonic asked. "Hakai, do you know what this means?"
"Last I remember of Lord Ceresor, our father, teaching us about the world of Arcus, he explained that there was an ancient race that existed before the dragons, using their own protections under the guidance of the stars. Perhaps the zodiac sign within the bull Taurus might give us an answer…" The puzzle-solving did not even take off before the jewel humanoids that followed them all this way landed in the center of the group, alerting the other fighters.
"Stand back!" Hakai warned, readying his combat position. "These are Corundumiuns, golems made out of gems through purely focused magic and always carrying out the last commandment their reanimaters gave them. Looks like this last command is killing any intruder that enters this place, including us." The violet-eyed general slashed his claws at one of the Corundumiuns and shattered it into multiple shards, roaring as he slammed his tail on the ground and erected a stone pillar in front of himself. The stone pillar slammed another Corundumiun into the roof, with multicolored gem shards raining down upon the fighters.
"I think we have to leave!" Mega Man called out, firing a charged shot at one of the gem golems. "We've got company!" Just like the blue bomber feared, more of the faceless golems emerged from the roof of the cave and surrounded the group. Hakai transformed into his Crazy Hand form, going on his reckless behavior as he liberated multiple Corundumiuns. The shaking of the ground beneath the Smashers was enough to knock them off their feet, and considering Hakai's chaotic powers that lacked any form of control that was saying a lot.
"Which way do we go?" Sonic asked, trying to keep his balance from the rumbling and lasers flying left and right. "We have to get through these guys in order to escape, and there could be more on the way!" Soon enough, some rocks were about to fall on the fighters, and both the blue rodent and Meta Knight grabbed the other three fighters and dragged them all into one of the passages away from the fight. As some of the Corundumiuns followed after them, surviving Hakai's attacks, Link pulled out a remote bomb and threw it at the golems, activating the initial blue explosion using his Sheikah Slate. Some of the terracotta fell off the walls, burying the Corundumiuns under pounds of rocks and blocking off the Smashers from the Crazy Hand.
"Well, I guess we follow where the Earth Citrine takes us," Meta Knight answered, having still kept around the Earth Citrine in his mittens. The Smashers, covered in dirt and dust, followed behind the masked swordsman down the labyrinth of multiple pathways.
Back at the ARMS League, the crowd was going wild, and the fighters that entered that world were shocked in Misango winning against Lola Pop.
"Told you the clown would lose," Dante bluffed, resting his feet on the metal fence. "What did I say?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ganondorf groaned. "But that loser alongside many others might be the fighter and we might have missed it. Your mission, alongside the rest of us, is to keep your eyes peeled. Do I have to repeat myself again?"
"Relax, grumpy," the Devil Hunter responded. "I heard you the first time."
"Aided by the spirits invested in him, Misango broke his opponent's funny bone and left her in the dust, earning him the winner of this round's final match!" Biff called out, with the audience cheering over the warrior trained in the ancient arts of his people. "Now we'll move on to the next round, so everyone stay seated! As for those who lost the previous rounds, don't fret! You can stick around and spectate the upcoming matches and watch as the remaining competitors push themselves up to the top ranks and beat Max Brass himself!"
The next few matches in the second round were relatively the same in terms of the fighting style, with the audience members needing no introduction on the fighters in the league. This time, there were three matches instead of six.
The first match was Spring Man against Ninjara on the staircase of Ninja College.
Spring Man won.
The second match involved Mechanica vs. Misango in her scrapyard.
The only fighter without the ARMS Gene won with her mech despite the warrior's attempts on connecting with his spirits.
Third round was between Twintelle and Helix on Buster Beach.
Helix, unsurprisingly, won against the actress. The audience was then bathed in the warping light and transported into the seats surrounding some sort of sparring ring.
"Well, it took a while, but we're just at the free-for-all stage in the semi-finals," Biff spoke out to the raving crowd in the league. "Now then… we have three contestants remaining in the Grand Prix: Spring Man, Mechanica, and Helix. In a free-for-all, it's you against many! Knock down your opponent and earn points in the progress, but be careful! They'll get back up. Whoever gets the most points by the end of the round after three minutes gets to advance to the Sky Arena and partake in the finals, so make those points count!" Spring Man, Mechanica, and Helix all looked at each other, determined to take on each other and get the gold.
"Wow…" Isabelle pointed out. "They sure are determined, aren't they?"
"Yep," Little Mac answered. "Perhaps by now, the Smash Ball hidden in one of these fighters might give us an answer on who it could be…"
"Ready… set…" Biff continued before he got an incoming notification. A wave of confusion sailed over a questioning audience over the sudden interruption, and even the Smashers themselves grew curious over the scenario.
"Apparently, a new challenger wants to join the fray, so… please welcome our sudden newest recruit before the start of the fight!" The three fighters in the ring looked over to the side to see a large cloud of mist seep out of the open double door, and the crowd went silent for the newcomer. Springtron emerged from the door while stepping into the ring, and only Dante seemed to know who the robot is due to the fact that he met him alongside Dr. Coyle.
"Oh! Um… It appears we have a new opponent, and one that looks like Spring Man," Biff introduced.
"PLEASE," Springtron spoke. "CALL ME SPRINGTRON." From what everyone could figure out, it seemed as though the robot took voice clips from Spring Man's audio logs and Frankensteined them into coherent speeches.
"Uh, yeah. Springtron…" The audience clapped not as a sign of cheering but as a sign of confusion and nervousness… nervousness that he might probably kill them. "Ladies and gentlemen… our newest contestant: Springtron!"
"THE MEAN MACHINE!" Springtron called out, pulling out his Toaster ARMS. The screen on top of the stadium arranged the pictures of the fighters broadcasted so that Springtron's face was placed in the free-for-all semi-final bracket.
"A-am I hallucinating?! Do we have an…intruder? I've never seen anything like this, folks! …I don't know about you, but I smell something fishy goin' on here. We gotta take this guy down! Anyways, ready… set… ARMS!" The horn blared, and the four competitors ran after each other on the ring with their extended ARMS. While Mechanica was busy attacking a bouncing Helix with her mech's ARMS, both Spring Man and Springtron set their eyes on each other, mimicking their movements that ranged from attempted grabs to simple punches. Whatever the four players attempted to use to attack one another, they were earning points as a result.
"That the best you got?" Spring Man asked his robotic copycat, dodging Mechanica's ARMS. "You're just a metal clone of me!" The Bouncer grabbed ahold of Springtron, throwing him straight at Helix. The "Man" of Mystery stretched out like a gelatin candy, quickly wrapping around the robot and slamming him into the ground. Spring Man winded up a flaming punch, hitting Helix off the bot.
"Oh, I am so much more," Springtron responded, taking hold of Mechanica herself and throwing her out of her mech, surprising the crowd greatly as he kicked over her deactivated mech. Helix slammed his ARMS into Spring Man, by which he quickly parried from the blob's attack. Before Helix could punch again after the parry, Springtron activated some sort of shockwave that seemed to mess up the reception in Spring Man's and Helix's ARMS.
"Woah, what's going on here!?" Dante asked. "I had no idea he could do that!"
"The ability to deactivate other ARMS when they extend?" Wii Fit Trainer questioned. "That sounds brand-new…" Around the time Springtron was attacking the other two competitors, Mechanica got back into her mech and piloted it into Springtron. Spring Man, upon seeing the scenario, quickly shook his own ARMS back to normal and punched Helix away.
As the timer went down, the free-for-all continued like normal, with the exception that the other three competitors had to counter Springtron's small shockwave. The horn blared, and the fight ended.
"The results are in!" Biff called out alongside the audience cheering. A tally board was put up, with the total scores built up next to the pictures of the four fighters. Ranking in last place was Springtron with 75k points, Helix at 536k, Mechanica at 2M, and Spring Man at 2.1M. "The winner is Spring Man, moving it up to the finals where he will meet the grand champ!"
"Woo! Alright, Spring Man! You go!" Little Mac cheered, with Dark Samus clapping her exoskeleton arm cannon.
"Heh. Looks like the kid's got some fight in him, huh?" Dante asked.
"Of course," Isabelle answered cheerfully. "After all, he is seen as the mascot of the ARMS League… I think…"
"And who knows? Maybe he might be the one we're looking for right now…" Ganondorf responded.
"Dammit, Springtron! You had one job!" Dr. Coyle's voice echoed throughout her lab.
"THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD DO," Springtron objected, trying to get his creator for mercy. "DESPITE MY EFFORTS, THERE WAS SO MUCH GOING ON IN THAT CHAOTIC FIGHT."
"Enough!" Dr. Coyle snapped, slamming her ARM into Springtron's face and denting it slightly through the sheer amount of force she put in. At this point, she didn't care what Dante thought about her, even if he wasn't literally in the same room as her. "You had to screw up your career for mine. I knew it was a mistake teaching you Helix's fighting skills. Even he wasn't a disappointment compared to you, you piece of junk. Now get outta my sight before I turn you into scrap metal." Frightened by the scientist, Springtron backed away. The frustrated Dr. Coyle walked over to another curtain near the walls of the room, pulling it off to expose the experiment hidden inside the glowing-green goo inside a glass tube.
"I have to do literally everything myself, don't I?" Dr. Coyle asked herself, aware that what she was cooking up was not ready for testing yet even after all these years of preparing it.
The Smashers within the interloping passageways inside the cave tried to find another way out, trying to follow the light path from the Earth Citrine in Meta Knight's grasp that led them back to the barricaded door. However, they knew Hakai was still being attacked by all these crystal golems, and any attempt to get back outside was fatally dangerous to a T.
"What do we do now?" Sonic asked his pals. "It's dangerous to go back there, let alone get ourselves killed. Link could've blunted his sword back there."
"Well, at least we know we can kill these… Corundumiuns," Link responded. "Hey, is it just me, or is the place getting darker?" As they continued farther away from their destination, they seemed to notice that the jewels on the terracotta were completely absent, with only the bioluminescent mushrooms scattered around. The Champion of Hyrule began to pick up strange signals from his Sheikah Slate, and he quickly pulled it out.
"Hey, everyone," Link told his pals. "Slow down and wait a second…" The Hylian looked around the empty room, seeing nothing but lumps scattered across the floor. There weren't any mushrooms growing around here, so it was pretty hard to see anything.
"No, no, no... ¡No me abandones!" Meta Knight begged, telling the stone to not quit on him. The Smashers suddenly recognized the Earth Citrine was losing power for an unexplained reason.
"I think it's losing its spiritual connection with the earth," Mega Man answered as best as he could.
"Spiritual connection with the earth?" Sonic asked in complete confusion. "We're literally surrounded by the earth in here!"
"No… not like that," Mega Man corrected before he came to a certain realization. "Hey, Sonic. Do you remember when you had the Rainbolements? Like Ultima? Sozo? Hakai?" The blue hedgehog simply stared at the robot with bewilderment dancing around in his head.
"Uh…?" was all Sonic could respond with before Mega Man snatched the stone from Meta Knight's hands and placed in the blue hedgehog's hands.
"C'mon, you gotta remember having powers before," Mega Man pleaded, hopeful that Sonic might come to the recollection of what happened during the battle against the Seraphim of Order and Chaos. "You had control over the earth and everything…"
"All I remember is having my trusty speed," Sonic answered, looking down upon the twinkling stone. "Whatever powers you claimed I have seemed to be gone from my memory. If any one of you guys could at least fill me in on some detail, surely I might recognize why I can't remember…" Link made solid eye contact on his friends, letting them know that he needed to tell the demented hedgehog something important.
"A while ago, you probably don't remember, but… you were experimented on by Dharkon," Link explained. "You were left to hang in chains, from what we've learned so far, and something happened to you because you had the powers of a Dragosmo. You had connection to all seven of these Rainbolements, and yet you were losing control over them once we got closer to the Seraph of Chaos. Something snapped inside you, like a wildfire made by a tiny spark sitting on a dry leaf. Last thing I… or any of us… remember is you saving most of us from Tabuu's Off-Waves and… everything was a blank from there. Last thing we remember: you were hooked up to a bed, your hands and scars missing, and literally anything about the precious knowledge you bookmarked for us: all gone. It could be why it might be too early for you to use such a… powerful stone to your ability."
"Oh… sorry, Sonic," Mega Man responded with a nervous laughter accompanying his apology. "I thought you were… y'know… ready to use this thing?" The blue speedster sighed, looking down at the glittering stone in his gloved hands.
"I don't know," Sonic suspired. "If what you say is true about what happened to me, then I don't know if I can handle being some sort of messiah. Somehow, I might have always been the test subject for situations like these, and I feel as though there could be more to us than meets the eye. Besides, Hakai might probably need our help back there and… if this stone runs out of light, we might be trapped in this cave forever…"
"Why don't we look around this area for a bit? See what we can find?" Link asked. "You can wait right here and try learning how to use those powers of yours… wherever they are in your head. Clementine?" The Inkling was on it to retrieve a few of the glowing mushrooms, and she picked up a small cluster and gave each individual stalk to the other fighters. As soon as each of the Smashers went off to different locations in the room, Sonic the Hedgehog sat on the floor, watching the light of the Earth Citrine dwindle.
"C'mon, stone," Sonic quietly and playfully chanted, rubbing his hands on the cut surface. "Make some light. Get us back home to our pals." The blue hedgehog cleared his head as best as he could, trying to stimulate his senses as he focused his thoughts entirely on the stone.
"C'mon, stone," Sonic continued, whispering as he continued talking. "Guide us back to the surface. We're kinda trapped… in the dark, so just please, please, please, please, please…" No matter the effort, Sonic groaned in frustration as he gently tossed the Earth Citrine to his side.
I can tell you are rather frustrated about your studies, Gaster spoke, appearing right in front of Sonic as the environment around Sonic seemed to slow down and darken around him. Your friends told you the truth. You are not going to learn everything in just one day.
"What do you want, W.D.?" Sonic asked, burying his face into his knees. "Can't you see I'm trying to figure out how to light this stone? They expect me to use my hidden powers to at least activate it, but… I can't do it."
...Perhaps the riddle you found on the door might give you the answer, both to your friends and to yourself, Gaster continued, looming over the blue hedgehog. Do you remember what it taught you?
"Yeah, I do," Sonic answered. "Only one who has tamed the bull can remove this bulky hull."
That is correct, Gaster continued, the strange symbols flowing behind himself. And do you also remember the day when I permanently stripped you of the memories of different worlds sans your own homeworld, including how you left it, as well as the knowledge of the powers not related to your extraordinary powers of superspeed?
"Yes and no," Sonic responded. "I mean, I get what I was going for, but… what does any of that have to do between you, me, and that gem lying on the ground?"
…Come with me, Gaster said, holding out his boney, pierced hand to the blue hedgehog. There is something I must show you in this cavern. Sonic looked up at the man who speaks in hands, not willing to take no for an answer. He held tight to Gaster's hand as he pulled the blue hedgehog back onto his feet. Sonic followed the mysterious entity towards the strange lump hidden in the darkness, which the Inkling frozen in time shed some light upon with one of the glowing mushrooms. The man who spoke in hands wiped off the dust from the lump, and at that point Sonic figured out this "lump" was in fact some metallic artifact decorated with imagery of strange beings that looked completely different from their designs alone.
Sonic noticed that in one group of these strange creatures, everyone was designed with usually simplicity and seemed to harness wonder and imagination. In the other group, there seemed to be figures that had rounded curves and sharpened edges, which looked as though they were brought to life from a factory.
"What exactly is this?" Sonic asked. "I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed myself, y'know…"
You are aware of the dragons that existed before your time, right? Gaster asked. The blue hedgehog nodded in response. Well, there was an era before this planet had its name changed to Arcus, and that name was Terra. There was a unique race of inhabitants that thrived long before the dragons came into play, and this era was known as the World of Toys. Gaster moved his hands around, with Sonic staring in wonder at the images depicted on the metal springing to life by the Eye of God's mysterious magic.
"Oh, so something like the World of Trophies, right?" Sonic asked.
Shortly after the fall of humanity, the toys they created on the planet sprung to life, starting from the very planet which you and your friends are now standing in, Gaster explained, letting the visuals of the pictures tell the story. These toys divided themselves into two groups: those born in factories… and those born in the comforts of home. They were known as the Neomeats and Wïshas respectfully. Before their downfall, the two races never bothered to overlook the evidence of their upbringings and lived in perfect harmony. The blue hedgehog watched as the two races of toys worked together to rebuild landscapes, cities, and more after the fallout that brought forth the extinction of the human race throughout the universe.
However, the differences in their culture and beliefs seemed to divide them based on their heritage, Gaster continued. The Neomeats had more power and work control over the Wïshas, who in turn had more creative freedom. The Wïshas demonized the Neomeats for their upper hand of power in general, and the Neomeats saw the Wïshas as sticks in the mud that only seemed to play their victim cards. Eventually, war broke out between the two races once a child born between a divided world came into existence. Along with their original morals to preserve what humans once accomplished, the sentient toys vanished in the midst of a galactic war that expanded past the stars. From what the hedgehog saw in front of him, these glyphs of the different toys were attacking each other with weapons before they were eventually killed off from a cartoonish explosion. Soon enough, the imagery vanished, and the pictures imprinted on the steel reverted back to the way they once were.
"So... what does any of this have to do with anything?" Sonic asked.
Do you know why I am showing you all this? Gaster responded. That metal scrap was just one of the few remnants of the history of this world buried underground, preserved in the minds of its dynasty through memory alone. However, the two races had long forgotten their rich history, preferably… their connection with Zodiac Familiars. Gaster slowly wiped the thick layer of dust on a part of the metal scrap, and Sonic looked at what the glyphs told.
The picture had the toys worshipping the constellations in the night sky like gods, and the surrounding dust from the wipe faded away to reveal an entire celestial sphere filled with all the sets of stars in their current night sky. There was also a circle that seemed to have twelve constellations, one of which looked like the bull imprinted on the door from earlier.
According to the Wïshas and Neomeats, they had discovered the stars when mankind first learned how to think for themselves and invent tools, Gaster continued. Unlike the humans, they saw the constellations as living, sentient beings who alter the multiverse, for better or for worse, and from there they have learned of the existence of the Eyes of God, who were manifested from these constellations. The Eyes of God have only one real goal: to guide and protect who they see as worthy to accomplish their goals. Through a special kind of bargain, these individuals had permanently bound their souls to us until death, earning us the titles of Zodiac Familiars.
Zodiac Familiars would reconnect to the physical realm for moments in time, giving them access to abilities they never had before, the man who spoke in hands went on. In your case, it is an easier access to the knowledge you seek. That ability belongs to Taurus.
"The bull?" Sonic responded, with a look of realization on his face. "If you have given me easier access to knowledge, and this Taurus guy has the ability to do so, then that would make you…"
A physical manifestation of the ox himself and a pure master of knowledge, Gaster answered, bowing in front of the blue hedgehog. According to the toys that lived in this world, any constellation of the Zodiac Belt is one of the main twelve individuals who rule over the rest of their own kind. My constellation, Taurus, is one of the Zodiacs, and he stands as the king of the skies for he is the most powerful.
"If what you're saying is true, and I'm technically yours to serve until I die, and the riddle says only one who had tamed the bull can open the door, that means…" A sudden jolt of realization hit the blue hedgehog like a sledgehammer, and he knew exactly what to do.
"I know how to open the door! I know only I have to do it! But…" Sonic glanced back at the Earth Citrine lying on the ground, noticing that the light inside it was quickly fading.
"How am I gonna refuel that stone's batteries if I can't learn how to harness the spiritual connection with this… Earth Rainbolement?" Sonic asked nervously. "C'mon, W.D… You gotta help me out on this one…"
I could have offered to help you instantly regain your knowledge of the Rainbolements, but the price you paid was far too big for you to carry, Gaster answered. If the knowledge was delivered to me in small portions, then I might put that into consideration. However, given the events that had followed, you had spent a hard bargain to save the ones you cared for the most, and that would be enough for me.
"So… I can't be kicking ass like Ultima did during the final battle?" Sonic asked, starting to feel a little nervous about himself. "You do know she's dead, right? With us making the whole promise of looking after the planet?"
The way you learned those Rainbolements was not through experience, but more through experimentation, Gaster mentioned. Again, I promised you would find a way to re-educate yourself on these powers in the way that you desire, but not through the same method you received them beforehand. You are a brilliant young mind. You can figure something out.
"Wait, Gaster!" Sonic objected, about to jump after the man who speaks in hands. As soon as the blue hedgehog jumped into the black mist that was once Gaster, he quickly woke up with a short and quiet gasp. The other fighters were busy looking around the room with time itself back to normal, and the dust on the metal scrap was still untouched. Sonic the Hedgehog sighed in relief, knowing that same encounter with what he now considered a Zodiac Familiar spoke directly to him again.
The Inkling, as she wiped away the dust from the metal scrap, gurgled her language towards her friends. The other three fighters, having been clearly unsuccessful in their search for answers, managed to find what Clementine spotted.
"Woah… look at this!" Mega Man spoke, looking at the glyphs imprinted on the steel.
"It just keeps going…" Link pointed out, wiping off more of the dust with his elbow. "What do you suppose these pictures are trying to tell us?" Sonic knew they found the vague history of the two races of toys, and without thinking he answered:
"It tells of a time when toys ruled the planet before the dragons." The Smashers were surprised by how he figured it out so fast, and they all turned around and looked at the blue hedgehog.
"They were split into two groups: homemade toys and factory-manufactured ones," Sonic continued. "Loads of problems happened between the two races and they just… kinda vanished."
"…How have you acquired this knowledge?" Meta Knight asked, suspicious of the brainpower the blue hedgehog gained.
"I dunno," Sonic swiftly spoke. "Shot in the dark, I guess?" The other fighters exchanged glances at each other, aware that their anthropomorphic friend was a bit far from off the hook.
"Oh my God, we completely forgot!" Sonic ejaculated in sudden recollection. "We left Hakai back at that door with all those gem golems!" The blue devil quickly snatched the Earth Citrine from the ground, taking deep breaths as he focused his sight on the dwindling gemstone.
"Didn't you say you couldn't do it?" Mega Man asked.
"I did," Sonic responded. "I just need a little concentration to make this thing work and then we can get what we came for and leave this damn place." As the blue hedgehog deepened and quieted his breathing, he tried to establish a spiritual connection as best as he could. The stone's glow may had dwindled down into a non-existent speck, but its magic over the earth was still there, just buried deep within the structure that gave the Earth Citrine physical form.
And yet he couldn't sustain that connection… but that wouldn't stop him and his friends from trying to get back to Hakai.
"About that riddle on the door, I know exactly what to do," Sonic told his pals. "Hold onto me and make sure any item of significant importance is kept on you tightly." As the Smashers secured whatever weapons they had, they held each other's hands with Sonic in the front.
"We're heading back in," Sonic chuckled, tossing and catching the Earth Citrine as he ran straight ahead in a streak of light. As the blue hedgehog ran through the passageways, he could feel the faint rumbling of Hakai attacking more of the Corundumiuns.
"Everyone, prepare to let go," Sonic spoke, ready to curl himself up into a ball and strike back at the crystal soldiers. The Smashers weren't really prepared to get back on their feet as Sonic curled up into a spinning orb of lightning and struck down several of the Corundumiuns.
"Link! Meta Knight! Guys!" Hakai exclaimed, having suddenly snapped out of his rage to notice the fighters who had just slipped and fell thanks to Sonic's speed. "I thought you could've gotten lost!"
"Well, we're here to help now," Link answered, unsheathing his Master Sword. "We better stall these guys and make sure Sonic opens that door." The one-winged dragon looked back at the blue hedgehog, who was attacking a bunch of the gem warriors with spindashes as he fought his way to the door.
"Keep 'em occupied!" Sonic called out to his pals. The jewel warriors focused their attention towards the one-winged dragon, the Champion of Hyrule, the masked swordsman, the Inkling, and Rockman rather than paying attention to the lone individual that was trying to figure out how to open the door. This clearly came to show that even if these Corundumiuns were strong in physical strength, they completely lacked brains. The fighters and Hakai charged at each other, distracting the golems with jewels for every limb through fighting while the blue hedgehog tried to concentrate on establishing a spiritual connection with the Earth Citrine again.
"C'mon, jewel," Sonic quietly demanded. "Give me signs. Glow, glow, glow. Give me powers." A gem that served as a limb flew over his head, ramming into the metal of the door. It created a ring loud enough to sting his ears, and he backed away from the door for a bit.
"Hurry up!" Mega Man called out, blowing the head of one of the Corundumiuns off with a charged shot. "They're not gonna be distracted for long!"
"I'm trying my best, Mega Man!" Sonic called out, focusing his attention to the Earth Citrine he was holding. "C'mon… C'mon…!" The blue hedgehog then gasped as though his breath was taken away, feeling an energy spike suddenly burst through his fingertips. The Corundumiuns were deactivated and fell to the ground in clusters of jewels, and the Smashers watched as the constellation on the door glowed. The scars of Galeem and Dharkon appeared on the blue hedgehog's face, but the fighters and Hakai didn't see them since Sonic had his back facing them from their perspective. Without knowing he even had the scars and colored eyes, which were both orange in color, Sonic placed his left hand on the bull marking's head. The image of the bull split apart into multiple limbs, unlocking the door and opening by itself. As the door opened, a mist that was colder than what the Ice Climbers could conjure flowed out like a chilly night wind.
As soon as the door was fully opened, Sonic's scars vanished alongside the artificial colors of orange. The blue hedgehog looked back at his friends, who were all shivering except for Mega Man and the violet-eyed general. Sonic walked in with the glowing Earth Citrine in his hands, determined to see what was in the chilly room.
Hakai waited outside while Link, Mega Man, Meta Knight, and Inkling followed behind, seeing nothing but ice concealed by darkness. At the end of the room, the fighters had discovered the object the Earth Citrine's light path was leading them too: a figure sealed in a crystal pillar of gems with a thin layer of ice. The figure seemed to be feminine, with dark magenta hair covering her face and a body that seemed to have plastic limbs stitched together at where the limbs met, and her clothing was a white shirt with baggy, dark pink pants with blue slippers.
"A girl?" Link asked, scanning the figure frozen in those cold gems with his Sheikah Slate for any vital signs. "That was the figure we've been searching for this whole time?"
"Doesn't look like any girl," Mega Man responded, approaching the girl sealed within. "Maybe whatever past she has of herself, she can tell us… one way or another."
"Yeah, but first we're gonna have to break her out," Sonic the Hedgehog pointed out, wiping the fog on the jewel to get a clearer vision of the adolescent-looking figure.
"Looks like her vital signs are completely healthy," Link answered, reading through what he scanned. "Hakai! Can you come over here and help us out, please?"
Fireworks exploded in the air, overshadowing the deep orange sun behind a city of skyscrapers. The Smashers and the Devil Hunter stayed within the applauding crowd as they watched Spring Man make his way over to the ring in the Sky Arena.
"Well, it has been a long road, but out lucky contestant was brave enough to climb all the way to the top ranks!" Biff spoke out on the monitor. "Most of the challengers we had so far didn't even make it up to this point. Now then… it's time for the moment you've been waiting for!"
"Come on, Spring Man!" Wii Fit Trainer cheered from the sidelines.
"You can do it!" Isabelle yipped. "You've made it this far!" The crowd's cheering grew louder as the center of the stage opened, with the silhouette of a large, beefy man with a muscular build slowly emerging from the stage. Fireworks of gold began exploding behind him, revealing the champion of the entire ARMS League HQ as his theme played through the surround-sound speakers on top of the tower.
"Here he is… the grand champion for 30 consecutive years in a row, give it up for the one… the only… Commish himself - Max Brass!" The crowd roared for the champion of the tournament after Biff introduced him, who raised up his Roaster ARMS.
"Thank you, one and all," Max Brass chuckled. "It feels so great finally meeting your faces here, and I see we have some new spectators sticking around for the ultimate showdown. They call you Spring Man, correct?"
"Yes, sir!" Spring Man answered, his heart quivering a bit from meeting the Commish face-to-face. "Looks like I'm ready to take that prize from your hands now…"
"Oh, no problem at all!" Max Brass responded. "But first, you'll have to earn it, and folks like you have never pried it from my hands before. So good luck!" Max Brass readied his position at the edge of the ring, waiting for Spring Man to get in place.
As Dante was ready to watch the showdown begin, he began to sense something off… like there seemed to be something out of place. The Devil Hunter's heightened senses began to kick in once his suspicions were confirmed. Out of nowhere, an invisible figure appeared beside Max Brass and punched him out of the ring.
The audience gasped and went silent as Max Brass got back up on his feet, yelling and dashing at the levitating figure who interrupted the fight. She threw out her Hedlok ARMS at the Commish, hitting him in the face before kicking him high into the air. Before Max Brass could grab her, the levitating fighter teleported behind him, punching him off the Sky Arena and sending him plummeting down to the rooftop of a nearby skyscraper.
"Oh no… it's Dr. Coyle…" Dante sighed in annoyance. The other fighters looked at the Devil Hunter in complete and utter bewilderment, as if he knew what they didn't.
"You know this chick?" Ganondorf asked.
"What are you talking about?" Little Mac questioned.
"Okay, I may have lied about wanting to use the bathroom," Dante answered. "I kinda met this woman in a secret lab of hers. Says she's crazy and wants to take back what's hers through obsession over research…"
"The Commish was knocked out cold! Who would…? Wait a minute! I'd know that face anywhere. It's "the rad scientist," Dr. Coyle!" Biff exclaimed in fright. "The head of ARMS Labs and their top researcher, she's also a sponsor of this very tournament!" Dr. Coyle laughed maniacally, glaring at the terrified audience with a cold-hearted stare of obsession.
"That's right!" Dr. Coyle shouted. "You all remember my name, don't you? The youngest scientist in ARMS Laboratories? The one who created your favorite fighters Helix and Springtron, both of whom have disappointed me? The one who's going to make Max Brass take back all he said to me!? All these experiments on ARMS have led up to this moment, where I can finally bestow the title of champion upon myself. And if that doesn't stop me…" Dr. Coyle raised her left ARM up high, calling down some sort of machine from the sky. It appeared to be some sort of metallic orb mixed with a skull, with red swirling eyes that burned with a fiery rage as it slammed itself around Dr. Coyle's head. As soon as the machine activated, Dr. Coyle ascended into the air, with four additional ARMS emerging from the thing attached to her head like a face mask. Those ARMS were complete duplicates of the ones the Rad Scientist used, which were equipped with the Hedlok ARMS she carried.
"…nothing will, and with Hedlok by my side… I will show no mercy," Dr. Coyle finished.
"Oh, this is gonna be good…" Ganondorf chuckled, eager to see the showdown between Dr. Coyle and her Hedlok against Spring Man. The bell rang, and this time there was no timer. Spring Man lashed out his Toaster ARMS at the flying scientist, trying his best to avoid six ARMS at a time. No matter how much the Bouncer hit the machine, there was no effect. No dent, no nothing. Dr. Coyle giggled quietly within her Hedlok as he overridden her mind, letting her creation take control of the fight.
"Oh my… she really is determined, isn't she?" the Wii Fit Trainer pointed out as the controlled Dr. Coyle began hitting Spring Man's chest with all six ARMS. "As far as we know, she might be the Smasher we're looking for."
"Her?" Isabelle asked, yelping as the Bouncer was thrown around like a ragdoll thanks to Dr. Coyle and her Hedlok. "She's too crazy for us to let her on our team!" Dark Samus and Ganondorf looked at the assistant mayor in confusion, aware that they were, in the context of their universes, psychopathic antagonists.
"Uh… guys?" Dante asked, paying more attention to a burning white comet in the sky than to the fact that Spring Man was pummeled to the ground. "Don't wanna rain more cats and dogs on your pretty crappy parade, but have you looked up at the sky?" As Dr. Coyle laughed in victory over a broken and bruised Spring Man with the crowd cheering her name for whatever reason, the Smashers listened to the Devil Hunter and looked up at the sky to see the comet heading in their direction at an incredibly fast rate.
"Oh my God, you're right," Little Mac responded. "And it looks like it's coming towards us… wait…"
"Everybody, take cover!" Wii Fit Trainer yelled out to the whole audience. They managed to hear what she said, and most were panicking when they saw the bright orb of light heading straight for them. As soon as Dr. Coyle turned around, she ascended into the air and sent out her six ARMS to knock the comet onto the Sky Arena. From what the Smashers and Dante recognized, this comet was abnormally small to be considered "dangerous" to harm the entire ARMS League and ruin the Grand Prix… unless…
"There's not gonna be anything landing on my stage, especially with a new invention I can finally consider worthy!" Dr. Coyle exclaimed, her voice robotized as it was interpreted through the machine.
"Oh, not even your 'invention' can save you now," a familiar voice called out to her, followed by a devastating laser blasting in her direction. Dr. Coyle flew out of the way, sending out the four ARMS on Hedlok at the mysterious intruder. The figure grabbed ahold of the ARMS, ripping them off until only the broken circuits remained. He then swung the torn-off ARMS at the Rad Scientist, shattering her greatest creation into rubble and knocking down Dr. Coyle through sheer force alone.
"Oh no…" Dante groaned in annoyance, suddenly finding out the figure who arrived in the comet and who also attacked Dr. Coyle was none other than Marx himself. "What is this? Some sort of inception?"
"Suppose," Isabelle answered. "Then again, I remember when I met this guy alongside my friends…"
"Alright, people!" Marx snapped at a petrified audience. "Looks like this match of yours ain't gonna go on anytime soon. I'm looking for a man named Dante: white hair, a red coat, an attitude that pisses me off… he's got something I really desire. Where is he!?"
"Get off the stage!" one man booed, throwing an empty can at Marx. As the crowd jeered at the winged jester, Dante sighed in annoyance as he gently planted his hand on his forehead.
"Let me guess: someone you've met before?" Ganondorf asked as he noticed the Devil Hunter's expression.
"To be fair, he's not as obnoxious as Arkham was, but still: he would get on my nerves if he wasn't careful…" Dante responded. "Looks like he wants something I have… don't know if I'm willing to take the risk..."
"Shut up!" Marx snarled, firing a powerful laser at the crowd. Many were knocked back, and few were severely injured. "I'm not here to play fair! So don't act all defensive for someone you haven't met, especially for the folks you call competitors! If you want to have your precious league back, then give me the Devil Hunter! Or else…" Marx ascended into the air, swooping down and picking up a few members of the crowd through telekinesis.
"…I'll rip everyone's heads off like gummy candies!" Marx snarled, his talons glowing as he pulled on the necks of the audience members.
"Okay, okay," Dante called out, alerting Marx at gunpoint with Ebony and Ivory. "You win, Karl. Drop the humans and let's get this over with."
"Took long enough for you to show up," Marx replied, noticing the Devil Hunter and his new friends. The winged jester cancelled his telekinesis powers, dropping the audience members he dragged out of their seats. And just like that, the Devil Hunter put away his guns back in his jacket.
"Alright. Whatever you say, cutie-pie," Dante responded. He turned towards the other fighters, never really having lost his confidence that these strangers he was getting close with will always look after each other. Dante climbed over the fence, jumping down into the Sky League and approached Marx.
"I am not a cutie-pie!" Marx snarled, getting more irritated from Dante than ever before.
"Sure you are," Dante chuckled, placing his hand on the handle of his blade. "Why don't you go marry Stalin, while you're at it? I'm sure the two of you would get along just fine…" Marx growled at that devil-may-care attitude from the Son of Sparda, still irritated by how his opponent acted by mockery through reference just through name alone even if he didn't get the references.
"Very well," Marx growled, spreading open his wings. "I'll be prying that prize of mine from your cold, dead hands! And stop taunting me with communism jokes!"
"Then you clearly haven't picked up a history book, huh?" Dante responded, pulling out his unawakened sword Force Edge. "I guess I have no choice but to teach you, don't I?"
"B̴̹̻͎͂r̴̗̽͐i̸̡̤̞͛ṋ̷̤͠͝g̶͙͎̎ ̶͈͋i̸̗̯͐̐̒ț̶́̑͑ ̵̖̊́̑ö̵̢̗̺́̉̾ṉ̵̉ ̶͓̲̈́͘t̸̺̣͇̉h̶̹̍ê̸̯̰n̷̟̓́!̵̛̤͝" Marx snarled in a demonic voice before reverting back to his "normal" tone. "I've been waiting to do this all day!" Marx swooped down from the air, with Dante jumping over his body and slashing with his blade from behind the jester. Marx teleported out of the way, firing a laser behind the Devil Hunter and hitting the edge of the stage once Dante jumped out of the way.
"You can do it, Dante!" Isabelle shouted, she and the other fighters surprised by the Son of Sparda's demonic abilities that rivaled Marx's.
"Yeah! That Marx guy has got nothing on you!" the Wii Fit Trainer cheered. The encouraging of the Smashers slowly caught the attention of the audience and even some of the ARMS competitors, who were either slowly recovering from unconsciousness (with Max Brass bewildered by the fight going on over there from a distance). Soon enough, some upbeat music began playing on the speakers as a way to encourage Dante in his fight against the alien creature that arrived out of nowhere.
"Ah yeah," Dante chuckled, sitting on Marx's head. "This party's getting crazy." The jester split himself in half as a means to suck in the Devil Hunter, but he quickly jumped off Marx and pulled out his guns, shooting with a rapid auto fire at the teleporting jester.
"Keep calm, folks!" Biff spoke with confusion on the holographic screen. "Even I have no idea what's going on, but this looks like a battle surely no one will ever forget. We have contacted the authorities, so don't panic and evacuate in a single-file line towards the exits we have established."
"Let's go," Little Mac spoke, grabbing Isabelle by the waist and getting up from his seat.
"But… what about the fighter we're supposed to look out for?" Ganondorf asked.
"We have time to check back here once we get everyone to safety," Little Mac responded. "As far as we know, it might even be Dante as the Smasher we're looking for."
"Well, I'm not one to stray from the mission," Ganondorf responded. "I'm heading onto the stage and swatting that clown like a bug. You're coming with me, Dark Samus." The two reformed villain characters jumped over the sides, landing onto the Sky Arena and avoiding the exploding beach balls and thorny vines as they ran over to Dante. The Wii Fit Trainer got up from her seat, helping lead a few children towards the exit alongside Little Mac and Isabelle.
"So glad you could make it over here," Dante spoke, shooting Marx in the eyeball with Ebony and knocking it clean from his socket. "Been wondering when bad guys like you could chill in hell for a while." The jester clawed the Devil Hunter's face, slashing through Dante's eyeballs and knocking him down. As Dante got back onto his feet, he wiped his eyes, which reverted back to good as new.
"Healing properties?" Ganondorf asked. "What kind of bloodline are you from?"
"A very weird one," Dante responded. "But at least it's not as weird as having a name like Marx."
"Shut up!" Marx roared, transforming into a blinking pile of eyeballs and shooting lasers in multiple directions like a disco ball. As Ganondorf began deflecting the beams with his own sword, Dante pulled out his sword and awakened it into its Sparda form, activating his Devil Trigger. The Devil Hunter transformed into some sort of unnatural bipedal creature. Dante, having just activated his demonic side, also had access to the power of flight, and he soared into the air and knocked Marx back onto the ground, creating an explosion of eyeballs. Dark Samus lashed her plasma grapple at the jester, but the winged demon bit on the blue ectoplasmic Phazon and dragged her towards him before slamming her into the ground.
Inside the building itself, crowds of people were pushing their way out of the ARMS League, trying to escape from the chaos going on at the top of the place. As Little Mac, Isabelle, and Wii Fit Trainer tried swimming towards the empty benches, the yoga warrior had just managed to spot Ribbon Girl make her way back.
"Where are you going?" Little Mac asked as loud as he could.
"I'm going back to the Sky Arena!" Ribbon Girl answered, pirouetting her way on top of the heads of the audience. "Being a champion is what I came for, and I'm not going to run from danger!"
"I agree with Ribbon-chan," Ninjara called out from the crowd, grabbing ahold of Kid Cobra's ARMS and using his weight to jump out and pull the snakeboarder streamer out with him. "We're not going to leave another fight without Max Brass himself." The sound of inflating could be heard from the sea of crowds, and jumping on the inflated body of Lola Pop was Misango. The candy-based clown deflated herself like a balloon, flying straight out of the crowd and landing in Master Mummy's strong arms before inflating herself back to normal.
"Springtron? You too?" Wii Fit Trainer asked, watching Springtron dash through the crowd and knocking a few people over with Helix on his back. Mechanica pushed her way through the crowd to head back to the Sky Arena and get her mech back, which was waiting for her at the gym. Byte swept her off her feet while he was riding Barq, and Twintelle used her hair to carry Min Min by the waist. All of the fighters that participated in the Grand Prix on way or another entered through the gym, not wasting any time to rescue Max Brass, Spring Man, and even Dr. Coyle from the chaos going on at the top of the Sky Arena.
"They really are all determined," Isabelle whispered in wonder, the bells in her bun jingling as she ran towards the Sky Arena with Little Mac and Wii Fit Trainer following behind her.
Up in the Sky Arena, Dante was busy attacking Marx with his Sparda blade while in his Devil Trigger form. As Ganondorf and Dark Samus helped drag the weakened bodies of Spring Man and Dr. Coyle, they noticed Max Brass sailing down to the ring in the air on his Parasol ARMS, acting confident and heroic as though nothing happened.
"Hello down there!" Max Brass called out to the battle going on and interrupting the fight. "What did I miss? Did I miss something good?" Marx, having just noticed the Commish had spoiled the mood, fired a laser from his mouth and scorched the Parasol ARMS. Max Brass then fell down, but he thankfully landed in the middle of the Sky Arena or he would have been as good as dead.
"You keep watch on the kid and the scientist," Ganondorf told Dark Samus, taking a look at a Devil Trigger-powered Dante attacking the psychopathic jester. "I'm getting Max Brass." Ganondorf ran towards Marx, pulling out his sword and ramming the alien into the ground with the blade. As Dark Samus helped a groaning Dr. Coyle get back up on her feet, the scientist pushed the Phazon warrior away as she got up herself.
"That little brat… pushing me away as I was just about to claim the title of champion?" Dr. Coyle growled, brushing the pieces of what was once Hedlok off her shoulders. "I'll show him…"
"Wait… Dr. Coyle…" Spring Man groaned, his ARMS trembling as he pushed himself up. "You don't understand. I don't think these guys are from our world, so we can't really stand up against them without getting killed ourselves."
"I guess you're right," Dr. Coyle responded. "I may be a mad genius, but I'm not THAT psychopathic. I just wanted to stick it up to Max Brass after he told me my research… was just a waste of his time. But I'm not here to dump exposition on your fight. That winged demon thing entered the ring, and we're gonna knock him out of it, but not even my intelligence and strength can confront him… at least not without help…" The exit doors were broken down by Mechanica's machine, and she powered up her jets to hover down to the stage. Following behind her were Ninjara, Min Min, Ribbon Girl, Master Mummy, Kid Cobra, Springtron, Helix, Kid Cobra, Byte and Barq, Misango, and Lola Pop, all landing beside Dr. Coyle and Spring Man as they jumped down. Ganondorf arrived in time as well, dragging Max Brass's numb body over to the other competitors. As Max Brass slowly opened his white eyes, he looked up to see Dr. Coyle staring down from above him.
"Oh! Dr. Coyle… my old friend," Max Brass laughed nervously, quickly standing back up as a beach ball exploded beside him. "How goes the research…?"
"Don't talk to me about it," Dr. Coyle responded, not wanting to hear anything other than an apology by which she knows she'll never hear. "Right now, we need to get that clown behind bars."
"Um… what did I do?" Lola Pop asked in a saddened tone.
"Not you," Dr. Coyle sighed. "Him!" The scientist pointed her ARM at Marx, who tore off his own arms and grew flaming branches of veins all over the stage before grabbing ahold of the Devil Triggered-Dante and slamming him into the ground. The small jester managed to kick Dante back to his normal self, deactivating the reawakened powers Sparda had and reverting it back to its Force Edge form.
"I know your type, Dante," Marx snarled, pressing down hard on the Devil Hunter's chest with his boot as Dante lied on his back. "You can read minds, and you know what I'm after. Well tell me this now: where is the Earth Citrine!?"
"You really want it back to accomplish your evil goals, huh?" Dante chuckled, resting on his elbows. "Well, I've got this to tell you: you're outta luck. And I thought I was the only bad gambler around here…"
"L̶͙̐i̸̹̋e̶̹̾s̵̡͐!̵͙̕" Marx shrieked, his pupils dilating as a sign that his sanity was slipping. "You have the stone! I know it! Don't play dumb with me!"
"Oh, I'm not playing dumb," Dante quick-wittedly answered. "Even if I had no idea you would follow me all the way across the multiverse, I knew that idiots like you would be dumb enough to attack me only to find out I'm broke. So I left it behind at one of the most well-defended planets out there. And I'll say it again: you're outta luck." Marx, upon hearing what the Devil Hunter said, looked around himself to see Max Brass, Dr. Coyle, and the rest of the fighters within the ARMS League surrounding him.
"Get him," Max Brass spoke to the competitors. Once everyone stretched out their ARMS to attack the jester, Dante ripped Marx off his chest and rolled behind the fighters, watching the fight begin with Ganondorf and Dark Samus. The ARMS League cast was attacked by thorny vines, icy balls, and crescent-shaped blades, but each one of these champs used their abilities to knock out Marx.
Spring Man and Springtron both began deflecting the projectiles at Marx, with Springtron unleashing a shockwave that knocked Marx back into Master Mummy's punch. The jester tried splitting himself into a black hole, but Mechanica and Dr. Coyle ascended into the air and slammed Marx's halves back together with great force. Byte jumped off Barq's head, dunking a wounded cosmic jester towards the ground. Once Marx soared into the air again, he was about to fire a powerful laser before he was interrupted by a gunshot at his hat.
Marx hissed at the sight of Dante, who had just shot his two-tone hat off with his Ebony gun. This lowered the jester's guard down to the point where Max Brass grabbed him from down below, slamming Marx into the stage again and again. As soon as every one of the competitors got at least one hit on Marx, the jester's battered body rolled towards his hat like a bruised grape. Marx slowly opened his eyes, slipping that hat of his back onto his head. The moment Marx was defeated, a small swarm of helicopters flew overhead, surrounding the roof of the tower.
"Well, we better get out of here," Dante sighed in his usual devil-may-care attitude, getting up from his seat made from the rubble. "Anybody wanna call it a day?" As the Devil Hunter walked away with Dark Samus and Ganondorf, he could hear the demonic screeching of Marx as he tried to fly away from the ARM-less police force that pinned him to the ground.
"This the thing bugging your Grand Prix?" one of the officers asked, holding down the winged alien jester with his regular human arms.
"Actually, now that you mention it, it was-" Max Brass was about to answer before he was cut off by Dr. Coyle.
"Yes, that thing you're pinning down is the one that bothered us at the finals," the scientist answered before turning towards the commish and whispering, "At least be glad I'm doing you a solid favor by saving your career again."
"Suspect confirmed," the same officer told some of the men. "Taze him." One of the officers walked over to Marx, who bit him hard on the arm. In panic and pain, the officer pulled out a taser and electrocuted the psychotic jester. Once Marx was immobilized to the point where he could only talk and look, another officer pulled out a cage designed to keep dogs locked in and threw in Marx.
"Mark my words, Dante!" Marx called out to the Devil Hunter as the cage he was trapped in was carried up a rope ladder towards one of the helicopters. "When I escape from the facility these guys are taking me to, you're gonna wish you've never been born! Do you hear!?"
"I'm sorry. What was that?" Dante asked, pretending to be deaf to Marx's threatening message even though it was obvious that he could hear the adorable demon speak out to him. "You're gonna have to speak up."
"You'll all pay for you sins!" Marx yelled as he was still being carried up the ladder.
"What?" Dante called out, simply messing with the easily-irritated jester.
"You'll all pay for your-!"
"What?"
"You'll all pay f-"
"What?"
"You'll! All! Pay for yo-"
"Whaaaaaaaat?" At this point, the helicopter carrying Marx was gone, with Marx shouting insults too far away for Dante to even hear, or mostly care to notice. At this point, Little Mac, Wii Fit Trainer, and Isabelle ran out to the seats to meet up with the rest of their companions, who had just jumped onto the floor where they would soon be reunited.
"What just happened over there?" Wii Fit Trainer exclaimed in worry.
"Let's just say the authorities came in and they put him behind bars," Dante responded, looking back at some of the officers cleaning up the rubble and asking questions about their current health that had affected both themselves and the audience. "I'm not sure they would be putting such a dangerous creature behind bars though. Should've killed him where he stood…"
"Oh relax," Isabelle spoke. "It's not like he would have any major consequences to our worlds at some point. Though I kinda wonder: what exactly was he doing here…?"
Over at some sort of mental asylum, Marx was gnawing at the bars of his cage as he was carried around on a moving carrier with handles that reached up to the ARM-less doctor pushing it. The jester looked around and saw multiple creatures locked away in containment facilities marked with numbers, each of these creatures with a different pitch of growling and screeching.
The doctor stopped in front of an empty containment unit, swiping the card on the door lock until the red light turned green and granted access. The door to the facility opened, and he took Marx's cage and quickly dragged the jester out. As soon as the winged demon was out, he was still weakened by the constant beatings, making it much easier for the doctor to lock the door to the containment unit.
"Didn't go as planned, did it?" a familiar voice asked, surprising Marx greatly.
"Mephiles!" Marx stammered before regaining his hot-tempered behavior with a touch of sarcasm. "I almost had it, I swear! My dreams, no… our dreams were just out of reach! Oh, and what was it that you said? 'Your goal is to eradicate every single one of these champions and regain the Earth Citrine.'"
"Hm… that does seem like a predicament," Mephiles responded. "Figured this would be your fate."
"Well guess what, hot shot!? Your order didn't work!" Marx continued in his angered state. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have to confront that Dante guy, overexhaust my powers to the point where I let myself get taken down by the guys you told me to kill, and I wouldn't be in this mess!"
"Ah, see?" There's your problem," Mephiles pointed out. "You have become so fixated on using your powers that you forgot to use everything else. Sooner or later, you will have to learn how to use than just your emotion of malice."
"Wait… how did you know I was gonna fail like that?" Marx asked, his talons tapping gently on the soft floor.
"It's all about the three core elements of determination I have already learned to master," Mephiles said, stretching out his crystalline hand while his Insaniton perched over his head. "I will explain what it is once I take you to our hiding spot on another planet." Marx grabbed ahold of Mephiles's hand, a sharp-toothed smile stretching across his face as he and his master were teleported out of the containment unit before the infrared cameras hidden in the walls could detect anything.
"So, according to what we told the cops, they said people like you shouldn't be around this place any longer," Max Brass explained to the Smashers and the Devil Hunter at the entrance of the ARMS League. "So much damage has already been dealt to our establishment that they decided to cancel the Grand Prix this year."
"Hey, at least you understand now that fame isn't always good, right?" Dr. Coyle asked, hoping that her old friend would apologize.
"Eh… I still think the way you approach this research on ARMS is rubbish," Max Brass boastfully scoffed.
"You take that back…" Dr. Coyle growled, trying to restrain herself.
"It'll be a while before Max Brass's and Dr. Coyle's relationship sweetens again," Lola Pop joked as she spoke to the fighters from other worlds. "All candy puns aside, are you sure you have to leave?"
"We're afraid so," Ganondorf responded. "We've apparently been through so much here without figuring out which one of you guys could be the fighter we're looking for. But… at least we all know what you're like. How you're all so… determined. And hey: I think you might find more entertainment for the people through tournaments of your own." Spring Man walked over to Isabelle, Little Mac, and Dark Samus, hugging them with the notion that he might not see these people again.
"Don't worry," Little Mac told Spring Man. "We'll come back and visit you again. If you wanna head on over to our place… here's a way to do so." The small boxer opened up Spring Man's hand, placing one of the large, white pellets in his palm.
"Just give it a quick squeeze and you're in Arcus… I think," Isabelle replied, pulling out her own pellet and jumping out of the hug.
"Ready, Dante?" the Wii Fit Trainer asked, tossing the Devil Hunter a spare pellet. "We'll be heading back now, so say goodbye to the crew here." Dante walked up to the different competitors and veterans, unaware of which one he should say goodbye too.
"Um… Dante, I was wondering if you can forgive me for what I said about you," Dr. Coyle spoke, unable to express her true emotions.
"Forgive you for what? For asking me to help you in your crazy research? It's fine. No hard feelings," Dante responded, much to her surprise.
"You mean you're… not mad?" Dr. Coyle questioned. "After everything I tried to claim first prize for myself?"
"Yeah, sure. Whatever," Dante answered, walking away from the fighters from this world. "Are you at least gonna give me your number?"
"In your dreams," Dr. Coyle replied.
"Dammit. Oh well…" Dante squeezed his pellet and vanished in a white light. Shortly after, Little Mac, Isabelle, Dark Samus, Ganondorf, and Wii Fit Trainer all warped away from the planet, leaving the door open to a better and brighter future for those who participated in the ARMS League.
The Devil Hunter and the five Smashers reappeared back at the transporter, with the Ice Climbers heading on over to meet them.
"Hey, guys!" Popo greeted.
"Did you find the newcomer?" Nana asked.
"We couldn't," Ganondorf answered, disappointing the Ice Climbers with complete shock. "Sorry, kids. In the end… it was hard for us to decide."
"At least we have someone to hang out with us for a while like with Steve currently, right Dante?" Little Mac said, with Popo and Nana focusing their attention on the Devil Hunter.
"Pretty much," Dante replied, resting his arms behind his head. "Since nothing exciting really happens on my corner of this… omniverse we're living in right now, I might stick around. Wait for a day until I can go around killing the most terrifying, gruesome, bat-shit awful demons imaginable. But until then, I can hang out and see what all the hubbub of this world is about…"
Banjo & Kazooie poked their heads through a door, watching Mewtwo gently ease the blocky Steve as he telekinetically moved the sheets over the Player's shoulders. Assured that Steve wouldn't be bothered for a while, the Pokémon floated towards the open door and squeezed his way out. He made focused eye contact on Banjo & Kazooie, ready to tell the animal duo the scoop.
"Your friend is going to be fine," Mewtwo telepathized. "It was a long and painful procedure, but I had managed to calm him down by removing his memory of the traumatic experience. He should stay in this room for at least three days, and no one may enter unless absolutely necessary."
"…If it really was THAT painful, then what we're dealing with is an enemy unlike any other," Banjo whispered. "I told my pals about how Sonic is the culprit behind what is happening around us right now… what is happening far from our reach…"
"You cannot blame the blue hedgehog on everything," Mewtwo telepathized. "We might not even know if he's the culprit for our problems or not. He can't always have the spotlight because of what we take for granted."
"Maybe you're right," Kazooie cooed quietly. "Maybe we misheard the part of the Lord of Games telling us to seek out a hedgehog. Maybe the enemy we could be facing… is the one lurking in our midst, planning some sign of vengeance. Maybe… an enemy that has mastered cognition."
