Chapter 31: The Great Maze

Everyone now in the group all met up outside the portal, along with Skeletor, and at this part the speech bubbles will end for now until the end. Anyways, as they were there, Lupin III told them that whatever is beyond that portal is likely to be even more dangerous than being in Subspace, however Skeletor did not like their company and decided to just go in there anyway without any of them, as he already detested them all, especially Homer due to the idicioy of the nuclear technician.

He went alone despite the thief’s objections, then Mario told him to just let it go, and that convincing Skeletor is not worth the trouble. But then they kind of realize that they may have to follow Skeletor into there, as it’s the only way they could actually know what’s inside. Then Mario said that it’s better that they take the risk, so then everyone followed him inside.

By doing so, they found themselves in what appears to be an arena. Mario recognized right away that it’s exactly where he fought against Petey Piranha from when he first heard about the corruption. There was barely anybody in the Stadium, but then what happens to look like poop appears out of nowhere, and everyone who were in the way that included Mario, Deedlit, Ike and Simon all jumped, then once the plumber saw that the brown stuff came from none other than Petey Piranha himself. This brought Mario back to when the corruption first started, when he saw Peach, Daisy and Rosalina turned into Shadow Queens and Mr. L was somehow there. Despite his memories flooding back, Mario knew he can’t give up, and since he now has new friends that can help him survive this, he can defeat the walking plant for good. The plumber led the attack, and this time, Mario had now killed Petey Piranha with a fire punch, burning the plant into cinders and ashes.

With the death of Petey, suddenly the arena they see before them started to disappear, along with the holograms of many villains and former heroes. Then Smithy appeared before Mario, who mocked the plumber, as he revealed that he took over the Mushroom Kingdom along with the rest of the Super Mario reality. In fact, he was the forth person Tabuu contacted after Giygas and Lavos were brought in as tools, and Rhea was recruited from her world after her defeat under Byleth and Elegard. Smithy and his minions with the help of the Subspace Army and other villains that Mario faced against except Bowser and his minions were the first world to actually face corruption. And Mario was not aware of this because while Smithy and the Subspace Army were corrupting that world, Mario was simply playing Kart-Racing with Toad, Yoshi, Shy Guy, Wario and Waluigi. He was oblivious until once the Final Lap finished on Rainbow Road, all his competitors were captured out of nowhere, and seeing the other Toad turned into evil versions with light and dark purple headtops and clothes along with Goombas and Koopas that also were mechanized. He knew right away that something weird was going on and he thought Bowser was behind it, so he decided to go back to the Mushroom Kingdom to find out, and that is where everything for Mario started. Once Mario realized this, he thought that Smithy gave up since his failures with the Star Road, he succeeded on that plan, and used the Star Road’s power to capture all of the Super Mario reality. Upon learning this, Mario was upset that this happened, and wished he knew ahead of time. Smithy disappeared, as the weapon smith stated that he already won, and that the plumber will never have his old friends back again.

Mario soon found himself surrounded now by those he had been traveling with for the past few weeks for when the Corruption of Reality was going on. Link saw that he’s still okay, and once the plumber asked where they were, the Champion of Hyrule showed that they were in what appears to be a park with a brick floor and a couple of trees surrounding the place, and then there was the dawn sky with a rip in there showing Subspace. Link showed Mario where they were, to see that Simon, Pikachu, Morrigan and Homer were there hoping he would recover. They all remembered about Petey Piranha, but Morrigan said that she wanted to show Mario something. The plumber thought that it was something suggestive at first, knowing that Morrigan is really into innuendos to realize that she showed him what was left of the SCP Foundation. The O5 council were all dead, and only 200 task force employees remain, along with just 12 scientists, seeing that the leaders are now a man wearing a pendant, and another one wearing a cowboy hat and blonde hair and is carrying a ukulele.

The rest of the team were there right beside them, and with Simon already asking the questions, first demanding to know why they left all of them behind once the Subspace Army invaded the town back at the Infinite Ikea. Both scientists had no idea of how to answer, until the one wearing the pendent said that the O5 council declared that everyone who was there was considered to be an SCP in the same way the others back in their world were, due to “anomalous” attributes. So they just labeled them all as a vague title of a combination between "Euclid" and “Thaumiel” due to their powers and possible use to curb the Subspace Army and the fact that they could find about the Foundation's true intentions to only look after themselves. The Foundation spent most of their resources, not on curing anybody affected by the corruption, but instead on just destroying Tabuu. However they find it in their best interests to attempt a Deus Ex Machina, as the damage done was too great, and if they rid it in their world, it will just come back. So they attempted to gain the three artifacts that they requested the 15 to get from before, and use them along with SCP-2000 to resurrect everyone in their world. However, all three artifacts would be reclaimed by the Subspace Army, and returned to their proper owners, along with SCP 2000 being destroyed ahead of time by the Chaos Insurgency when the Subspace Army invaded. This resulted in the SCP Foundation on simply giving up on this goal, and decided to just live in the edges of the Great Maze.

What’s left of the SCP Foundation was what the fifteen saw before their eyes. The ukulele man introduced himself as Dr. Clef, one of the best SCP scientists, and was a professional at destroying anomalous beings, a reason for how he was able to survive the Corruption of Reality. Then the man with the amulet said that his name is Dr. Shaw, the other co-leader with his amulet gives him immortality for his conscience and is also the primary way he survived, as he can’t be killed or better yet, can’t be corrupted by Tabuu or any of the other villains. They said that they are just at this point trying to survive, but did decide to find out what’s out there, as they all used their last resources to set up a village with plans to simply just stay and die there. However, Lucas still has some hope, as he has been in hopeless situations before, where he almost feels like giving up, and Terra agrees with him. Then Dr. Clef admits that they have found out that they can get to Tabuu, but warns, giving definite proof that at this point the vital which was supposed to be a cure no longer has any effect. All their friends who are corrupted are now permanently evil, and will serve their new villainous masters for all of eternity. Everybody in the group all opened widely with immense shock. Nobody can accept that there is no cure anymore, as Simon states that he's depressed about the fact that he can't get his wife back from Dracula. In addition, Tabuu already took over about 99.99% of all realities within the Great Maze, as now they are realms of pure evil, and combined, the Great Maze can also be called the “Negaverse”, because essentially everyone is evil and sinister, except for the slaves who are just meant to toil on the ground to do the work none of the villains or corrupted heroes want to do.

Due to this, the Foundation just gave up on everything, their will to live included. However they did give the fifteen the information they all have, but if they want to encounter Tabuu, they must go out into the maze and defeat certain villains, in addition the team will also have to face their exact clones, whom Dr. Clef revealed were all corrupted in their place instead of them. These enemies that the will have face includes Petey Piranha, whom they just defeated, and is off the count, as Mario mentioned, but then there are the others, and the villains the team will have to face before fighting Tabuu as Clef said includes Ganon, Dracula and Edea Lee, Mr. Burns, Porky, Rayquaza, Darth Vader, Ridley, Majora’s Mask, The Dark Emperor, Sigma, and Galleom. Then finally after all the bosses they will have to face off against both Giygas and Lavos at the same time. Homer made a dumb comment saying that is not so bad, until Dr. Clef mentioned that they will also have to fight against the corrupted clones, which everyone kind of expected. These clones Dr. Shaws said that they are: Two-Faced Lupin III, Devil Mario, Yiga Link, Shadow Pikachu, Maverick Mega Man X, King Homer, Clown Samus, Atsugessho Sailor Venus, Barb-e Terra, Steel Shade Crono, Werewolf Simon, Vampire Deedlit, Radiant Murderer Ike, Pure Evil Morrigan, and finally the most powerful out of those 15 is Subspace Lucas, whom Tabuu decided to corrupt himself and turn him into his top commander to lead the Primids himself, while Rhea and Smithy both handle diplomacy and manufacturing respectively. In addition each character will have to kill their evil counterpart directly.

The idea of having to face their evil counterparts freaked out the team, with Terra and Sailor Venus in particular, but also Lucas had the same feelings as learning about the fact that he could have the same fate as his brother worried him, as he thought about what his parents would think. Mega Man X even agreed, as the thought that he could ever go Maverick and harm any humans did not sit well with him. Then Ike soon enough said that they have been this far surviving together, noting that this is not the time to give up, and Deedlit agreed that although facing an evil version of herself did not sit well, going back to what Parn will think. The high elf was still still willing to give it her all. Once again they all did the hands together, promising that they would all collectively make it to the end, as they all managed to meet together by complete chance, from different backgrounds, abilities and walks of life. They decided to go out, although Dr. Shaws warned them that the SCPs that were in the Tower of Smash when it blew up actually survived, and are right now roaming the Great Maze. Everyone remembered the anomalies that they encountered back at the Tower of Smash, and they were not having good memories. Lupin III even stated that he did not like the Shy Guy, having to look away, while Simon noted that he thought the Sculpture was the worst, as he didn't like the idea that blinking could make it move, and especially looked at Homer for the fact that the nuclear inspector almost got it to kill them all. Then Crono brought up the Hard to Destroy Reptile, as running away from a fight was not something he likes, and as running away from something that just comes back from anything scared him. Sailor Venus now wondered if SCP-076 and SCP-173 were in the same area, they could be the worst thing, then Lucas told her not to think of those bad combinations, just mentioning that scared him. Then Dr. Clef reassured them that he will go out in his own way, mentioning that he is skilled at terminating many dangerous SCPs, so he won’t have that much of a problem, mentioning his eternal grudge against SCP-682. Then Dr. Shaws said that he won’t keep them there any longer, deciding that they have no idea of how the Great Maze works, but they know a lot about it. However, nobody wanted the explanation, feeling dumb for taking such advice, so the scientist just let them out of their way.

Once the 15 went out of the safe area, they all found themselves in what appears to be a series of endless corridors in the style of being a medieval dungeon, one that Link was familiar with along with Deedlit, Simon and Crono. They all walked down to see the occasional stairs that go upwards, but then they saw the occasional doors that are there. With some Subspace enemies that they encountered, they have to fight them as usual. The team however are unsure if they should even enter the doors that are in place, as from what they faced entering them could be certain doom. As that was the case, they all thought that maybe someone could volunteer to enter the door, with the risks involved, Crono eventually decided that he would go in there for everyone, mostly because he wanted to fight against newer monsters. Mario, Simon, and Pikachu all offered to come, and the latter most wanted to take Homer with them to take down large hordes. Of course he refused, and instead Deedlit offered to go in his place. Then Lupin III tied a thread on each of their ankles, and once they discover what is within the door they pull the string, while everyone else waits out back to be on lookout for any SCPs or Subspace Goons.

So then with Mario, Deedlit, Simon, Crono and Pikachu out the door, they hopped into what appears to be a whole battlefield on a platform with pinkish-purple skies, and some tornadoes in the background, almost looking like Subspace itself, which Simon had noted. Then all of a sudden, Deedlit sensed that there seemed to be a presence, and once it flew by, she told everyone to dodge, and that happens to be Devil Mario, with no hat but devil horns, red skin, hooves for feet and a M on his overalls. Devil Mario laughed when he saw the team, as he heard from his master Smithy that an “evil doppelganger” exists of him, and was sent out to kill him and anyone who’s around. Mario was angry over this imposter of him, knowing that this copy is meant to replace what heard from the SCP doctors. He stood in a fighting stance already with his fireball. Simon knew that the Devil Mario was a demon, so he told the plumber that since he has experience fighting against demons, Deedlit said that she will help him too to fight down the imposter. Mario liked that, so they charged right at Devil Mario, although the task was difficult. Eventually they finally defeat Devil Mario, once Mario himself jumped and punched him down, destroying his evil counterpart for good. Devil Mario swore that one of his allies will avenge as he vanishes forever with the power that Mario himself had.

Then all the five characters teleported into what they now see, a corrupted and evil version of the Mushroom Kingdom now covered by Shrooms and Smithy’s mechanizations. The five traveled, as Mario explained that this used to be his world. Now with it being evil, he is now depressed being reminded that Princess Peach, Daisy and Rosalina are now cruel and sadistic people, and that Mario had not seen his brother anywhere, but even knowing that his other friends are now dead like with Yoshi is also what gives it to the point that he misses Bowser. Pikachu states to Mario that he can’t give up, so that the plumber nodded and thanked the Mouse Pokemon for this advice. They carried on deeper into this corruption of the Mushroom Kingdom where the grass and trees are purple, the skies are black, with angry eyes on the hills and clouds instead of the usual neutral eyes. Seeing his land like this with no personality is getting to Mario, Pikachu keeps him calm. Although Crono said that it was nothing, Deedlit said that she had been to similar lands before the corruption happened, and Simon did when he ventured off to Dracula’s Castle. Then they all managed to get to Peach’s Castle, where they entered.

Then there was none other than Mr. L. Mario was shocked, and started to slowly realize that his brother Luigi was there right in front of him. Mr. L of course mocked Mario for taking so long to realize this, as the Shadow Queen trio appeared in front of them. The three told Mr. L to instead leave off for the day, as they will use their strength to put the five down. That is what they did, pushing them all into a hole. This hole brought all five of them to another place that’s much like the previous place where they fought against Devil Mario with all the tornados and everything, but this time, Crono himself got attacked by what appears to be an exact duplicate of himself, except with a purple tint. Then Crono realized that the tinted man happened to be none other than the Steel Shade. The Steel Shade did not talk, but Crono saw this a great challenge to fight against himself. Although everyone from Simon wanted to help, Crono tried to insist that he wanted to himself, only to get beaten badly, where Deedlit intervened, where she used her Will o’ Wisp spell, and Simon threw some Holy Water. Crono decided that he needed help like from before in his time travel adventures, so he agreed. Then after a while the Steel Shade is now in a weakened pose, so Crono then jumped and used Cleave to eliminate his doppelganger once and for all. Then once the Steel Shade is gone from existence, Deedlit notices that she feels a pull on her ankle, then she is suddenly dragged. Mario and Pikachu tried to give chase, only for the same thing to happen to them, and Simon and Crono followed after, all in the same direction.

The five all found themselves once again back at the many hallways, as they then saw Lupin III, who explained that he pulled the string once he started to notice the door was somehow vanishing into thin air. Mario wondered if his reality is still there and could be saved, although Simon doubted it, but told him that he still has him and the others. However Mario still felt bad over losing everything that was dear to him. Mega Man X came to the team, and he told everyone else that he found SCP-106 was around the corner, and that they should get going, which they did. As the team went along, Lucas noticed that there seemed to be signs, and one of them actually pointed in one direction to the train system that happened to be there. The psychic boy said that maybe they can take the train system to get around the maze quicker. Ike was about to shoot the idea down, Morrigan disagreed with that concept, as she thought that taking a risk would be something enjoyable, and Crono already supported that idea, as he wondered if there are more monsters to test his strength. Both the succubus and the time traveler started to bond over their hedonistic attitudes, and Lupin III even supported this, as did everyone else. Sailor Venus even mentions that they could get a break for once fighting against the Subspace Army while in transit. Everyone except for the Radiant Hero was on board with the idea, as he thought that this could lead to disaster.

Eventually after fighting some Subspace Goons, they all made it to the Train Station, and it was none other than Thomas the Tank Engine who was there, with him pulling a subway cart, which happens to be a 2 train from the NYC transit system. Everyone was surprised to see Thomas was there, so then Samus asked him why he was there, and how did he survive the blasts from the Subspace Gunship. The locomotive explains briefly that since Tabuu took over the rest of reality with the Subspace Gunships, including the NYC area that was a part of the Tower of Smash world and is apparently the same world where Tabuu himself originated from, and that he was transferred to the Great Maze mostly to transport travelers. Homer asked if Thomas had a T.V. inside the cart, of which the locomotive did reply yes, but all there is on it is nothing but news and some occasional ads and reality shows. Homer groaned hoping that there was going to be something decent, but then Ike actually thought that the news on board could be useful, as they could hear about whether they could be caught by Tabuu, and Thomas reaffirmed Ike’s analysis for the news's usefulness. Homer however groaned, and asked if there were good advertisements, with Thomas replied with no, and Simpson once again groaned. Samus told Homer that this is not the time to be concerned over such dumb stuff like that, then Sailor Venus suggested that Homer could listen to her sing with her idols skills, and Homer just cried, with Simon being sarcastic to Homer’s dismay.

All fifteen characters had hopped onto the 2 train, while Thomas was pulling it. Both Terra and Mario are inside of Thomas, and they were blasting the fire engine inside to keep the locomotive moving at a fast rate so they can stay away from any SCPs that might be around the corner. Then suddenly, some Subspace Goons hopped onto the top of the cart, while some Shadow Bugs sneaked into the gaps, forming Primids and other monsters. With this going on, Ike quickly said that he, Homer, Lucas, Crono, Pikachu, Deedlit and Sailor Venus will stay in the cart to fight against the enemies in there, while Lupin finds a way to make Thomas go faster while everyone else will fight on the roof, being Mario, Simon, Link, Morrigan, Samus and Mega Man X. Lupin III will go into Thomas’s engine room, where he told Mario about the Subspace enemies, as the plumber hopped on the top of the cart to join Link’s group. Lupin III is right now with Terra, with her still in charge of keeping the fire going, while he’s trying to drive Thomas and keep him on the rail at a faster pace. Terra was not sure, being concerned for their safety, but the thief told her that he knows how to handle trains, as he’s been on them several times enough to know what he’s doing. He puts in more coal, and Terra uses Fira to make Thomas go faster, while the Subspace Monsters on the roof did slide off, everyone else on the roof are now holding on. Sailor Venus quickly opened the door, and Morrigan quickly got in, as she was able to fly quickly enough, along with Mario who jumped in at the right minute. However, Link had to quickly use his clawshot, while Samus used her grabble beam to hold on to the Subway cart. Simon was holding onto Link, and while Samus did successfully got inside the cart, Link did not get his clawshot on in time, so Sailor Venus used her Venus Love Me Chain technique, where she used it to connect the the clawshot, where everyone in the cart all pulled together in desperation, where they successfully got both the Hero and the vampire hunter right inside the cart on time. Lucas quickly closed the doors and it was a good thing the team inside already killed all of the Subspace Goons inside. Link and Simon were glad that they are safe from the outside now, especially since the train was going fast. However Lucas went to see through the back window that there seems to be another train, which happens to have the “A” logo on it surrounded by a blue circle, and it seems to be going fast. The psychic boy screamed, and told everyone, and Homer started to panic, but from the intercom, Terra was there telling everyone that she and Lupin III knew about the cart on their tail, and told them all to stay calm. The thief meanwhile is trying to find a way to handle Thomas while escaping from the A-train from behind. Lupin III told the locomotive that he is going to have to prepare to crash, to which Thomas responds that he has been in plenty of crashes, and says that he will be fine. As Thomas came across a signal, Terra right away brought more coal to the furnace and burned it, and Lupin used his Walther P-38 to shot the signal to make a turn, and once past it, he shot again to make it go the other way to make the A-train go the other way.

After going through, Thomas then slowed down intensely, and he was able to stop at the next station in one piece without going off the rails. The station was much like any NYC subway station, except that it’s design is a bit off, but has all of the muck, graffiti, and a lot of bad smells of human and rat feces, along with chewing gum on the ground. Everyone all got off the train, as they were all exhausted, and Crono wanted to do the whole thing again, with everyone else all saying an angry NO in unison to him. Thomas was tired, but he would tell them all that there are other trains, including the train that was chasing them was actually SCP-052, a train that had the ability to time travel, but is now a vehicle designed to kill any of those who oppose Tabuu. The Tank Engine says he will be leaving now, since he’s supposed to pick up more passengers, but he warned them to only enter him and him alone. He said this because the other trains could also be traps, and that they should be careful, in addition he also warned them of another train that looked exactly like him that could possibly kill them all if they are not careful. He carried on. Then Ike said that they said find out where they are, then Link told everyone that he found a map of the whole Great Maze, everyone came, and he pointed the two stations from the one they came from which was in the futuristic setting all the way towards what happens to be a medieval styled castle, but there is also areas that resemble a diversity of places, such as a forest, a city, a ruinous area, a gothic castle and many more places that seems to resemble familiar places with more doors leading to other realities.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Upon examining the map, Lupin III already came up with a plan, and along with Ike and Mario of what to do. Homer already said he came up with a plan ahead of time. Lucas however notes to Homer that using the multidimensional T.V. networks for Skeletor to broadcast him saying that TABUU IS PURE EVIL is not going to ever work. Then Samus who is the most annoyed over Homer’s idiocy simply yelled at him, until Link calmed her down, and noted that maybe he had a point that they could hack the T.V.s with Skeletor’s help, but admitted that simply telling them that “Tabuu is pure evil” is not going to help, since everything evil is considered to be valued, and also that Tabuu is viewed as the “ultimate good”. However, Sailor Venus mentioned about Skeletor’s arrogance, knowing that from when she met him that he wanted to take out Tabuu on his own. Deedlit also added that it’s even possible that Skeletor could actually have been killed, and even if he’s still alive it will take forever just to find him in this large maze that seems to go on forever. With this in mind, Lupin III, Ike and Mario all decided that although the maze does go on forever, they found that from the map, there are 4 resting centers that they can teleport from to another, but Mario did warn them that there are some fake ones that do serve the same purpose, but they can’t allow teleportation, which is the only thing that differentiates the fake ones from the real ones.

Then the three chose their teams, Mario chose Homer, Deedlit, Crono and Simon. Meanwhile Lupin III chose Pikachu, Samus, Link and Terra. Finally, Ike decides to choose Morrigan, Sailor Venus, Lucas, and Mega Man X as his co-mates. They will all meet back at the 2nd rest station, after from the first rest station they were at right from where they entered and meet the remaining parts of the SCP.

Then the three groups will then split up to enter different doors. Each of the three all defeated the bosses they were all aiming to defeat. Mario’s group had went towards the Gothic Castle sector, and went into a door, where the five fought against King Homer and Mr. Burns right at the Springfield Power Plant at the Simpsons Reality, then against Vampire Deedlit, Werewolf Simon and Dracula and Edea Lee at Dracula’s Castle in the Castlevania reality, then facing Darth Vader in an area similar to that of Cloud City. The five got out, and went towards Ike’s group, who went to the Mother 3 reality to defeat Porky once again in New Pork City, along with Pure Evil Morrigan in the Darkstalkers reality, Atsugessho Sailor Venus in the Sailor Moon reality, afterwards to battle Maverick Mega Man X and Sigma in the Mega Man X reality, then they will face against the Dark Emperor in a floating tower. Finally, Lupin III’s group would go on towards to fighting directly against Two-Faced Lupin III in the Lupin III reality, along with fighting against Yiga Link and Ganon in The Legend of Zelda reality, then Shadow Pikachu and Rayquaza in the Pokemon reality, Clown Samus and Ridley in the Metroid reality and finally against Barb-e Terra in the Final Fantasy VI reality, then they faced against Galleom in the Military Base floating in the sky.

Everyone would all later meet at the 4th resting point, as they all have been to the others, and all over the Great Maze while they were collectively trying to fight against the villains and traveling with Thomas across the Maze. They faced against the Subspace Army, and even some SCPs with many being close calls, along with other monsters that are neither SCPs nor Subspace Army goons. At the 4th resting point, the 15 then had to discuss a plan, as apparently, they never came across Subspace Lucas. Then with that in mind, Terra quickly mentioned that just from the title, the Lucas clone could actually be the commander of Tabuu’s army, judging from the very name itself, and she even felt bad, as it happened to a child despite the fact that it’s a clone, which Morrigan did mention, but that did not make the half-esper feel any better. Then Simon did agree, but he also noted that they should just carry on, and even said that the clone is now gone, a permanent ally of Tabuu. Lucas did agree with Terra on the depressing side of the clone situation, but he still said they should move on, and he mentioned the fact that these clones may actually always been evil, as he analyzed that Tabuu would of had them be evil in the first place, because why would he have those clones be good. Samus agreed, as she noticed that all of them seemed to emit some kind of dark energy, as if they were Shadow Bugs, and maybe they are not the same copies after all. This left them wondering, but they went on out of the 4th resting point, where the area they are in is in a cave environment. They all decided to go into the final door, where once again, the whole team are in another area much like the other places where they fought against the Evil Counterparts.

Subspace Lucas came on the scene as he floated down, with his black hair, purple eyes and cloak, and a stern look on his face. Subspace Lucas simply smiled, and came a few feet away from the party. He then introduced himself, and confirmed the very theory that Samus said that the 15 clones of them, himself included, were indeed made from Shadow Bugs, as well as the DNA from Dr. Doofensmitz’s Dulpicatorinator. They can’t make perfect clones to corrupt, and can’t do so anyway. Instead they decided to make evil copies for each of their foes, as that was easier, and as Subspace Lucas continues to talk, Mega Man X shot off a blast, telling him to get on with it, then the evil clone of the psychic boy did an evil laugh. He decided to mock Lucas, and attacked him. It was a fight between the two of them now, and none of the others could join as they were all shocked and paralyzed by Subspace Lucas, as they are all in a seizure state. They fought one another until, Subspace Lucas was about to land the final strike with his orb, Lucas quickly dodged the attack, and slowly shouted “PK Love”, as Lucas blasted a powerful psychic blast toward the clone, and he’s destroyed for good. Lucas was already catching his breath, as he was exhausted from the battle. He quickly went to his allies to see if they were alright, but unfortunately all of them were unconscious, except for Homer who was just sleeping. Lucas can’t wake him up, nor bring anyone out, and just then the whole reality started to collapse on itself, just like it did with any other one that they all been to. However, Morrigan was up fortunately, as she was able to get herself up. Once Lucas saw the succubus was up, he explained to her about everything, and with that, Morrigan was shocked at the situation they were in. While Morrigan at first suggested that they both should leave, Lucas objects, as then states that the rest of the team are the very reasons why they are still alive in the first place, and why they were able to even enjoy themselves, as Lucas said that in order to continue, they must save them. Morrigan was not that convinced, as she was more concerned with getting out of the Dimension, until suddenly a set of tracks appeared out of nowhere, as they magically appeared, and Thomas was there pulling the 2 train. This shocked Morrigan, and Lucas was happy that he could actually get them back. The succubus was silent, and did not know how to react, then Skeletor hopped out of Thomas’s driving center. Skeletor just simply told Lucas and Morrigan to load everyone up into the 2 train cart before the dimension collapses, which they all did to bring all 13 of them onto the train. Skeletor quickly got Thomas to get going, as the train had left right away outside, and Thomas was able to get his wheels onto the track into the Great Maze’s rail system.

Everyone started to gain consciousness, and Deedlit was among the first, and the elf shaman asked where they were, and how did they get there. Lucas explained everything to her, and those that then followed, being Mega Man X, Lupin III, Link and Ike. Once everyone gained consciousness, Skeletor would go on and tell everyone that he admits that he was wrong on the fact that he can defeat Tabuu alone, and realizes that he actually needs allies in order to achieve the goal. Skeletor can’t find anyone while he was alone throughout the maze, until he encountered Thomas, where they became acquainted, as the Tank Engine told the Skeleton Wizard about the 15 characters in the maze, and they could help him. Skeletor knew who they were, but he didn't want to encounter them, until Thomas said that he needs friends, and Skeletor admits that he’s wrong, as in order to get his revenge, he can’t do it alone. And Skeletor even revealed that there is apparently another group that Thomas told about that was going through the maze, but the Tank Engine can’t talk about for the time being. Link was glad that Skeletor was alright, and that he was able to change. Simon would later question the Wizard’s intentions, as he did note that Skeletor had admitted that he was evil, as the vampire hunter did not like the idea of teaming up with a dark force, especially since Skeletor had worked under Tabuu directly. Many people in the team actually agreed with what Simon had said, including Ike who stepped and said that he’s not sure if they should trust him, and if they do, it should be with caution. Deedlit also stood up and shared the same concerns with Ike, as the elf shaman has stated the Skeletor was the one who killed all of their friends in the first place back at the Tower of Smash. Pikachu and Samus had the same hostiles and were convinced by Deedlit, Ike and Simon, while Homer simply was afraid of Skeletor. Then Sailor Venus and Terra were able to convince the other half that Skeletor should be forgiven, as they both state that Skeletor was able to help them escape from certain doom. The rest of the team, Lupin III, Mario, Link, Morrigan, Lucas, Crono, Mega Man X all agreed with what Terra and Sailor Venus said.

Skeletor would indeed confess over the fact that he did indeed order the explosion that killed everyone, actually feeling guilty over time. As he traveled through the Great Maze on his own, the wizard began to realize that he was lonely and in some ways jealous of He-Man and others for the fact that he always had friends to rely upon before the corruption had reached Eternia. Since he was contacted by Rhea and Smithy to work as a third in command. He accepted, hoping to gain more power to hopefully take over Castle Grayskull. However, as he worked under command of Master Hand, whom he thought he served, he already hated all of his allies, wishing to beat them up. He decided to put it off, as he even had to work with Hordak, who was given power, and corrupted both the lands of Etheria and Eternia, something that did not please Skeletor. Then the wizard decided that he will take over all of existence instead, and overthrow “Master Hand”. Of course that did not end well for him, and he would eventually wander the Great Maze hoping to get even with Tabuu. He had to take Thomas to get him over the maze, and with the influence of the Tank Engine and his journey made him realize that he actually needed help, and maybe he should treat others with respect, and even wondered if he actually is the problem. Skeletor apologized for what he did, and regretted it, as he felt like those whom he killed could've actually helped him in defeating Tabuu if he actually knew that the Ruler of Subspace and the Corruption was using him. He states that he actually made some other friends aside from Thomas the Tank Engine, who were just like the 15 who were also survivors of the corruption, and managed to fight and escape from the Subspace Army and the various villainous factions that serve them.

Most of the team who opposed trusting Skeletor, were a spectacle, until Simon had said that maybe they will have to trust Skeletor and take a risk, just like how they all did when each person in the group ran into each other with everyone being strangers to each other. Everyone eventually decided to take the advice of Simon Belmont, but however, Ike still was not sure, but seeing that they don’t have any options, and the fact that fifteen people won’t cut it when facing off against Tabuu, especially since if Tabuu could defeat Kirby, Shaggy and the Doom Slayer with complete ease, and the fact that nobody in the team even has a fraction of each of the trio’s power. Ike has no idea how they will be able to defeat Tabuu, and he asked anyone in the team if they even had any ideas on how to pull it off. Skeletor had suggested that they should fight off against Giygas and Lavos, the two of Tabuu’s tools that he used to corrupt everyone with the former and to interreality travel with the latter. With them destroyed, they should be able to defeat Tabuu. Crono was pumped up about this, as he bragged about defeating Lavos before the Corruption of Reality had ever happened back in his home world along with his friends. Skeletor notes that he believes that Lavos is most likely more powerful now than he was back when Crono and his friends fought against the parasite. Skeletor then notes the fact that Giygas must also be fought against, as he explains that since Giygas is not a physical entity, and can’t be directly defeated by brute force alone. Then Terra had suggested that Giygas could possibly be defeated instead through prayer, and friendship with one another, or peace. Skeletor admitted that’s actually the only way to defeat Giygas, him being the embodiment of evil and mindless at the same time. The wizard said that they should follow Terra’s advice, as he then mentions that he should get back with 7 friends that he met along the way in the Great Maze. He mentioned that they are additional allies that also survived the Corruption of Reality and avoided turning into evil servants of Tabuu.

Skeletor would later say that he will meet them soon enough, as he parted ways looking for his seven allies, before he would give them the path they needed to take in order to get right towards where Lavos and Giygas are. As the fifteen would head there, they all came across a hallway, and while traversing the halls, Link actually noticed something that was written on the walls. Although everyone wanted him to catch up, as Mario scolded Link for being distracted, he already read some information on the slabs, and suggested that everyone should follow, as he found out something that may disturb them. Once they all looked at the info, which actually had the information in a language none of them knew they knew, being that of a form of Latin. From what Link tried to examine what those writings said, and could not even make out a single sentence, and he thought he could figure it out since he has been good at figuring out languages with the old Hyrulean dialect he has done. Lupin III would help Link too, as he was also knew about bit about linguistics during his career. Together they both tried to figure out what it even says, but to no avail, as this language was not one they were familiar with. Soon enough, they found there to be information in the languages they knew, including Hyrulean, English, Japanese, and even an extremely simplified English. From what Link learned, the wall explained to the whole team that the whole time, their world and by extension themselves and everyone they knew are not even real, but nothing more than fictional characters that exist only within stories. And these worlds were created by an entity known as Master Hand, who is the God of creativity and imagination, along with Crazy Hand, who was the God of chaos and destruction. Together these hands have created the worlds they have been living in since birth, as the Hands have observed, and the Hand have created a new world for themselves, and created 40 copies of their favorite characters from across those worlds, which have them fight one another as a spectator sport. Although the Hands did watch them fight. Then one day, their world would be directly invaded by Tabuu, but he was defeated. Although Tabuu was thought to be destroyed, he survived, although he would end up under containment by the SCP Foundation, and from his patience, planning and preparing his ultimate plan, and using both Giygas and Lavos, the whole Corruption of Reality would soon happen, right after he took care of everyone who could pose a threat to him, including the Dimension Police, and the three characters of Shaggy, Kirby and the Doom Slayer. And the Corruption of Reality happened quickly, where in the first one Earth hour of when it started, 1,000 realities were already infected.

After reading everything that was right on the text, everyone was disturbed, as Lupin III notes that all of his adventures were just fake, almost as if all his heists were just simply there for entertainment. Mega Man X started to relate, as he wondered if his everlasting fight for peace was just a waste of time, as if it was also there for entertainment for other people, and Simon even related to, over his victories against Dracula. Sailor Venus was also in the mood, over the fact she even wondered if it was even fate that her friends, including Sailor Moon, the one she swore to protect would end up as servants of the villain she fought against, and everyone else followed through.

Then a voice came out and said “You all have learned a terrible truth, haven't you?”. A man came out from the direction of the voice, and it was none other than the Happy Mask Salesman. Link knew who he was, remembering their meeting on the Floating Island, the Underground Maze, and the Lost Woods. Mario, Pikachu, Morrigan, Ike, Lucas and Crono all also knew him too, as they all state they met him at different times and places, and they of course think of the H.M.S. as a weird guy. Link somehow had an instinct that the Happy Mask Salesman knows something about the Corruption of Reality itself, as the man never mentioned anything about the said corruption or even the fact that he said that he’s disappointed that Majora’s Mask is now just a decorative piece of wood. This cause anger and suspicion among the fifteen that the Happy Mask Salesman is a servant of Tabuu, and the memory of all their friends being corrupted bought them bad memories, as then Simon went up and demanded for the Happy Mask Salesman to tell them about what’s going, and how did the Corruption of Reality even happen in the first place, and why are their loved ones either corrupted on the side of Tabuu or simply dead. The H.M.S. was actually more than happy to tell them that, as he first mentioned who Tabuu was, at first both a psychologist and a quantum physicist named Mark Smith. He worked at a corporation that discovered a realm of reality that is Subspace, with his lab in New York City, right at Columbia University. Mark Smith had worked there as a research professor, and discovered a new empty dimension with vast amounts of an unknown substance, which he calls Subspace, and the substance “Shadow Bugs”, and with optimism, Mark believed that he could actually use this to the benefit of all of humanity. Mark and his team were able to get vast amounts of funding from the University and even the government, where he would research more on both Shadow Bugs and Subspace. He is the head researcher, as the project is also being done in MIT and Harvard at Boston. However, overtime, accidents happened, as in the lab at MIT, where Shadow Bugs were studied for military purposes, they were being tested on homeless people, until they would eventually turn on the test subjects, and would soon turn into Primids, while the reactor would go off in Harvard, creating a purple sphere destroying the university. All the higher ups want to shut the project down, but with the promise of high profits and that Mark Smith can control the Primids with his mental energies, they continue on the project. It would eventually be seen at a public event where many people from scientists, celebrities, C.E.O.s, entrepreneurs, investors, and many other people of high positions. Mark Smith now had a blue skin tone due to long exposure to Subspace, and a mechanical ring replacing his heart to survive in Subspace. The audience questioned this, as they were all concerned about the dangers that this can cause. Smith was angry, as he showed his experiment, but everyone rejected this, thinking that it’s all worthless, and all the money that was put into this was a waste of time. Mark smirked anyway, although he was angry. He sent out the Shadow Bugs on those people, as they all were swarmed by the Shadow Bugs, and transformed into Primids. And then Mark Smith started to have a heart attack, as he entered the Subspace Bubble along with his Primids, as Boston got sucked up entirely, as it all took place at MIT. He would stay there, and found the World of Trophies, and held a grudge against Master Hand, since the hand represents everything Tabuu hated, imagination and a love for good storytelling rather than cheap humor. Tabuu declared war on Master Hand, when the Subspace Emissary happened, and of course Tabuu lost.

But Tabuu was still alive despite seeming to be dead. He would find himself in the SCP Foundation reality, and would end up in confinement. Tabuu would bide his time, and start the corruption, damage the SCP heavily, prepared and destroyed anyone who could pose a threat, and the H.M.S. ends the story there, as he assumes that everyone in the team already knows what happened from there, especially with what happened in their own worlds. Homer said that he wants the H.M.S. to repeat everything, since the safety inspector did not get any of it, and the H.M.S. got angry and struggled with Homer over this. Deedlit had to save the idiot and pray them apart. Then the elf demanded to know about them being fictional, and wondered if she wasted her time fighting for peace in Lodoss, and about her love for Parn. Ike would then add to Deedlit’s anger, as he then demanded for the H.M.S. to talk about the fictionalism of themselves and their now corrupted worlds. So the H.M.S. decides to tell them a bit more about that they are in the imaginations of the people in Mark Smith's world, and they have ventured into. He decided not to waste much time on that, as he told the characters to try to forget about that as much as possible. Since that is the case, the effect is as he said they should be facing against Giygas and Lavos, but he did say they exist because of the Master and Crazy Hand, and since they have been killed by Tabuu, once he’s dead, everything they knew that’s at least within Subspace will disappear with him. He notes that all the corruption their friends and families and worlds went through was irreversible and apologized for that, but he said that they can’t be stuck in the past, and they must carry on. He said there is only one world that did not get tainted by Tabuu, and it’s the only one that’s left, a world made by Master Hand as a backup to the World of Trophies. Since the world being in Subspace is now Tabuu’s imagination, nothing can be undone. H.M.S. decided to leave, as he said his work was done, and as he left, he said that he hoped that the 15 fighters would succeed in defeating Tabuu and destroying his Kingdom.

Terra shares everyone’s woes, but she states that he’s right in that they should not give up, and says they all have each other in the end. They should be focusing on surviving, and saving what’s left, and that not just includes themselves, but also that one world that Tabuu did not manage to corrupt. Lucas agreed with the half-esper, as he says that everything still matters in spite of the fact that they are essentially just figments of the imagination of Master Hand, but he points out that if any of their loved ones were still around, they would want them to carry on. Mario even nodded to this, as he liked the time he spent with his new friends, not expecting that he will be hanging out with them for the rest of his time. Ike was glad about this, as with everyone else, as he gave a short speech about how they will save everything that they still have, and protect each other, being the friend they made on the way surviving the Subspace’s corruption. Ike would however ask on the possibility that they defeat Tabuu, how would they even escape the Great Maze, then Lupin III said that he does not have ideas at the moment, and said that he would cross the bridge when it comes.