In a forgotten corner of Subspace laid the remains of Dedede's castle. Within laid the trophies of Luigi, Ness and King Dedede, untouched since its section of land was pulled into Subspace. At this point, the badges of Luigi and Ness' trophy activated, restoring the two of them to life.

"Whoa...what-a happened?" groaned Luigi.

"I'm not sure," said Ness before he glanced at the badge. "But I think these badges had something to do with it."

Quickly picking up the connection between the badges and King Dedede, Ness slapped his badge on the remaining trophy, restoring Dedede to life. Dedede seemed almost giddy as he was restored, giving the other two a hearty back slap.

"Ha ha, it worked!" he cheered.

"Wait, you planned this?" asked Ness.

"Indeed I did! You see, this was my backup plan in case the glowy guy turned us all into trophies. I figured how to reverse the process using one of his guns and developed these badges just in case."

"Glowy guy?" asked Luigi.

"I'll explain on the way. We'd better see what's going on here."

As ready as they would ever be, the three of them trekked through the twisted world of Subspace, using the badges to restore those who they came across before. Before long, they arrived at the site of the Great Maze, where Bowser's statue and Master Hand lay. Deciding Bowser's help would be necessary, King Dedede placed the Badge of him, reverting Bowser to normal.

"ARRGH, what happened to me?" growled Bowser. "Did you do this to me? I'm gonna smash your face in!"

Bowser began a charged at King Dedede, preparing to tear his face off, only for Dedede to calmly flick him on the nose. Bowser backed off more out of surprise than anything.

"I don't think this is the time," said King Dedede. "We need to work together to defeat this glowy guy before he destroys reality."

"Wait a second. Where's Peach? I thought she was going to be delivered here at some point."

"Maybe she's-a in here somewhere," suggested Luigi. "We did-a find a lot of the a-others."

"Good point, Green Stache," remarked Bowser. "...fine, I'll help you guys out."

***

Meanwhile, in another sector of Subspace, the trophy of Kirby glowed briefly. Kirby was shortly restored to his former self. He shook slightly from the shock before spitting up the Timed Badge he swallowed earlier.

"Whoa, that was freaky," he said. "Hey, where'd everybody go?"

Picking up the Timed Badge just in case, Kirby set forth through Subspace back to the Great Maze. As he did, he used his badge to free the others from their trophy forms. Eventually, he came back to the area where this mess had started, the Great Maze. Shortly after arriving there, he found the statue of Ganondorf.

"Oh, so that's what happened-..."

Before Kirby could finish his thought, Bowser plowed through and began to wail on the Ganondorf statue for a bit before giving up, realizing he couldn't properly tear it limb from limb.

"Grrr...it's just not as satisfying," grumbled Bowser as he plodded off.

"Kirby!"

Kirby suddenly found himself tackled and hugged by a oddly happy King Dedede.

"I'm amazed I'm saying this, but I'm really glad to see you here!"

"King Dedede? How did you get here?"

"I'll explain later. For now, we've got to get ready!"

King Dedede then headed off, dragging a surprised Kirby along with him. As that was going on, the restored Link and Zelda walked over to the recently pummeled Ganondorf trophy.

"Much as I'd rather leave him here, I guess we will need his help," said Link.

"I agree," said Zelda.

With reluctance, Zelda applies the Timed Badge to Ganondorf's trophy. In a flash, Ganondorf is revived. He slowly gets back up, holding his head in pain.

"Ow...where'd this headache come from?" he muttered. "And what are you two doing?"

"Saving your butt," replied Link, pointing behind him. "Take a look."

Ganondorf turned and caught his first glimpse of the Great Maze.

"So, that's what that Tabuu guy was up to," he murmured.

"We're going to stop him," said Zelda. "Whether you come or not is your decision."

The two of them began to head towards the Great Maze. Ganondorf grumbled in rage, but followed shortly.

***

As that was going on, the team assembled by Kirby and the one assembled by King Dedede meet up just outside the entrance. As the various parties exchanged pleasantries and prepared themselves for the long journey, King Dedede found himself blindsided by Wario.

"You're here too?" asked Dedede as Luigi and Ness helped him up.

"Yes, thanks to-a that puffball! Now I'm-a get you for cart robbery!" replied Wario.

"This isn't the time," replied Ness. "Take a look."

Wario looked over at the Great Maze.

"Huh? Oh, that."

"We're going to stop the Tabuu guy who's behind all this," said Dedede. "You can come or not."

Wario picked his nose and thought as the three regrouped with the others and began the climb. As the restored fighters gathered themselves together and began the ascent up the stairs, Wario suddenly charged through on his motorcycle, taking the lead.

"I can-a get you any time!" he called to Dedede. "But toppling-a this guy is gonna make me famous!"

***

Outside of the large Subspace tear, the others were still trying to figure out how best to get through.

"No good," said Wolf, getting off the comm lines. "My team can't get here due to fleeing from some cops. No Wolfen for us."

"Perhaps I could levitate us into that mass," suggested Mewtwo.

"No, I help you."

The group turned to see the large hand floating behind them.

"Master Hand?" asked Mega Man.

"No, I think that's Crazy Hand," replied Mewtwo.

"Need help Master Hand," said Crazy Hand. "Ran away earlier...came back to help him."

"We'll see what we can do," said Toon Link. "Do you know where he is?"

"Yes."

Scooping them up, Crazy Hand took the group through one of the Subspace Rifts, causing them to arrive just outside the Great Maze after the others had gone through it.

"Well, would you look at that," commented Wolf as he saw the Great Maze.

"Over here," said Crazy Hand. Not far from their location was the limp body of Master Hand.

"He looks hurt," said Toon Link. "We'd better get him out of here."

"What about this thing?" asked Geno.

"I can sense the others are there already," said Mewtwo. "We should deal with Master Hand first, then come back and help them."

Working together, the group picked up the body of Master Hand and pulled him back through the Subspace rift.

***

And so, a journey began through the structure known as the Great Maze. Tabuu's twisted image of his own world was a mishmash of the pieces of land he'd stolen and refilled with soulless Subspace doppelgangers of the fighters and the various enemies they'd met along the wall. With perseverance and teamwork, all their enemies fell, leaving them at the maze's center. There awaited Tabuu.

"I see you've arrived," commented Tabuu.

"Just give up!" exclaimed Link. "We outnumber even more than last time and you have no defenses left!"

"I fear you not. I defeated you all in a single blow before. Why can't I do that again?"

"Everyone, hurry!" shouted Snake.

As the heroes rushed towards him, Tabuu began to prepare his Off Waves for a second round.