The Final Battle

"The following article contains Major Story Spoilers. Articles after the main synopsis are unlabeled. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED"The Final Battle is the climatic finale to the bad smash fanfic. The event takes place in Book X: The GreatER Maze. The fight itself takes place on Final Destination, the heart of the Great Maze. The ideal ending involves the Heroes successfully traversing the great maze with no casualties. Mitsuru and Waluigi awaken to their true power, Kasuigi, in the great maze once. In the final battle, the heroes discover the true identity of the HMSD. They learn that he sought out to trophy everyone in the universe to complete his skylander collection. Kasuigi then morphs to combat forme Mk II to better handle the threat at hand. A majority of the fight is spent in a disadvantage state by the heroes until the HMSD's shield is broken using the ham. Every character charges their strongest attack for the longest and strongest shield break punish of all time. Kasuigi puts the Liberal Destroyer to its absolute limit along with her own body in order to seal the HMSD away once and for all. Kasuigi loses control of her form and her conscious begins to slowly fade away. She ascends to the heavens and bursts to form the second sun. All the heroes celebrate their accomplishment. The story returns to earth in Kenya. A large tree grows in the middle of the savannah. The bodies of Mitsuru and Waluigi, frozen as wood, protrude from the trunk. They bear fruits from their hands. The fruits themselves serve no purpose, but a reminder of the sacrifice that was made to give the universe a second chance.

Endings
The final battle is split into one of four possible outcomes. Each outcome concludes the story in its own way.

Bad Ending
The bad ending can happen at multiple times, even before the final battle itself. The ending is triggered when major plot points are not met or certain villains are defeated. In this ending, the HMSD successfully fulfills his goal of trophying every single being in existence. The bad ending can be triggered by any of the following events;


 * Have any character who is not supposed to die fall in battle
 * Fail to send the calling card to Obama before the deadline (December 24th)
 * Have Athena Asamiya survive the battle in Toledo
 * All members of the Cube Alliance die during the Monstropolis infiltration
 * Lose access to the Ham
 * Buck Bumble fails to destroy Racism 2
 * Fail to defeat most major villains
 * Hitler gets cucked by Edelgard
 * All heroes fall in battle in the Great Maze
 * Mitsuru nor Waluigi never fuse
 * All heroes fall in battle during the final fight.

Not So Bad Ending
In this ending, the heroes make it through the great maze. They are overwhelmed by the HMSD in the final fight. As an act of sacrifice, Kasuigi arms a subspace bomb and suicide bombs herself, taking the life of herself and all the fighting heroes in the process. Peace is restored to say the least, albeit not in the way it was intended. The remaining survivors live out their lives in the remnants of the universe. If no conditions for the bad ending are met, the story will automatically progress to the Not So Bad Ending. The not so bad ending is chosen if all of the requirements for the Somewhat True ending are not met.

Somewhat True Ending
See plot synopsis of Book X. The true ending sees the defeat of the HMSD. Despite the true identity of the HMSD being revealed, the heroes never discover his complete backstory. The HMSD remains an enigma for the rest of time. Hundreds of historians dedicate their life trying to piece together the mystery that will never be solved. The heroes spend a lengthy time fighting the HMSD with no point of advantage. Kasuigi delivers the final blow by herself and survives the strain it has on her body. Mitsuru and Waluigi find themselves unable to separate and thus Kasuigi remains as a permanent character. She is praised as the savior of the universe and rejects the rewards she is given. She spends the rest of her life in distress, never being able to find peace. The final scene showcases Ray William Johnson and Makoto Nijima under a normal tree together in Kenya. The two deliver the final lines of the story and question what they will do with their lives. Overall, this ending sees the conclusion of the overarching story, but many elements and character arcs still go unresolved.

Requirements
There are a large list of requirements needed in order to reach the true ending.


 * The following members must be alive and present in the party; Waluigi, Mitsuru Kirijo, CJ, Master Chief, Luis Fonsi, Cfive, Crimson Chin, Voldo, Makoto Nijima, Patchy the Pirate, Principal Skinner, Ethan from Loss, Goku, Ray William Johnson, Robert Downey Jr., Isaac, and Johnny Test.
 * The HMSD must be defeated by the main party members
 * Send the calling card to Obama before December 10th.
 * Max out the confidants of Wilbur Soot, Goku, Isaac, and Pimp Bubsy before their respective cutoff dates
 * Defeat Henry J. Waternoose
 * Complete The Great Maze using no continues or restarts
 * Acquire the Liberal Destroyer and use it in the final battle (kind of a fucking obvious)
 * Free all the trophied victims before entering the final fight
 * When Mitsuru makes a deal with Squidee to be enhanced with S.T.E.P before entering the throne room, she must refuse the offer of receiving a sword upgrade
 * DC Joker MUST NOT awaken to his new power and persona
 * Have Mitsuru meet with Waluigi a few days before they enter the great maze
 * Successfully fuse to Kasuigi once inside the great maze
 * Defeat all the villains in the great maze
 * Waluigi cannot receive the invitation to Smash
 * Acquire all the Magic Macguffins
 * Defeat the HMSD in the final fight without any deaths
 * Find the cure to COVID-19
 * Pinpoint the location of every possible trophy

True Ending
see plot synopsis of Book X. This is the true ending that is currently canon as the plot of Book X. There are a few noticeable differences from the Somewhat True Ending, but overall it tells the exact same story. The first difference comes in the aftermath of the battle. Kasuigi aids everyone else and expends all of her life force in order to seal away the HMSD, thus killing herself in the process. The aftermath of the battle sees no appearance of Kasuigi whatsoever. The second difference comes from the battle itself. In the final battle, the HMSD reveals his true motives to the heroes. He explains his methods and motives to the characters, further enlightening them on who they're up against. The third and final difference is the final scene. The final scene takes place in the same setting but is completely rewritten. There is no dialogue and the only "character" present is the Tree of Rebirth. This ending sees the conclusion to every character and every arc. The true ending also plays the Silvagunner arrangement of Final Bowser Battle as the final battle theme instead of the Brawl arrangement of Final Destination as the final battle theme, further cementing the fanfic as a parody of the Subspace Emissary rather than World of Light.

Requirements

 * Meet all the requirements of the Somewhat True Ending
 * Break the HMSD's shield with the ham (integral)
 * When Mitsuru makes a deal with Squidee to be enhanced with S.T.E.P before entering the throne room, she must crack a wise joke while fitting it
 * Kasuigi needs to expend all of her life force to swing the finishing blow
 * Mitsuru must leave her evoker at the grave of Yukari before leaving for the maze
 * Max out the confidant of Ray William Johnson to avoid auto-progression

The Final Words
Each ending finishes the story on a different stanza before the credits roll. All of the stanzas different meaning in their relevance to the conclusion of the story.

Bad Ending
"'The future has been written. Man has succumbed to the chains of evil. The world may remain, but its heart has been lost.'"The chains of evil are a blatant reference to the heroes falling to the evil plan of the HMSD. Fate has been sealed, and no one remains to change it. There is no good left in the world. It is heavily implied that the world does not end in this ending. However, the universe is stuck in an eternal limbo.

Not So Bad Ending
"'Salvation requires sacrifice. Man has sacrificed itself to break the chains of evil. Now leaves no winners, only survivors.'" The narrator once again makes an analogy to the heroes overcoming the plans of the HMSD. The sacrifice is a reference to the death of the heroes in the final fight. The final lines convey that the true conclusion was never properly met, and that there could have been a better way.

Somewhat True Ending
"'The future was feared by no man, and was left unwritten.'"Overall, this ending concludes with the universe overcoming the plans of the HMSD. The characters now have their freedom in the world. However, the characters are left oblivious to how they will find their future. This ending implies that the world is now a blank slate, and it will mold to those who want change. Even if it is good or evil.

True Ending
"'The future was feared by no man, and was left unwritten. Let's search for our future, with our hearts.'"These ending lines reflect the fact that the True ending is an enhancement of the not so true ending. It borrows the same lines from the original, implying that the characters have gained their freedom. In this ending, many of the characters finally discover their purpose. This is reflected in the final line. The characters have truly learned what the world wants from them, and they have fulfilled it. They now move to better themselves and the world around them.

Bad Ending
The bad ending follows a condensed version of the full credits. Many of the staff members' names are scrambled or distorted. The credits abruptly end right before the final copyright notice shown. The theme played here is Mementos from Persona 5. Depending on what event triggered the ending, the font of the credits will change to fit the cause of the story's downfall. Mementos will also receive a beta mix with extra vocals, instruments, or chord progression to fit the cause of the demise.

Not So Bad Ending
The not so bad ending plays the credits at their normal speed with no formatting on the text. The text remains as Arial. The names of some of the staff members slowly fade away the closer they get to the top of the screen. The theme that plays is the piano arrangement of With the Stars and Us from Persona 5. Many names fade out in sync with the music. After the final copyright notice is shown, a feather slowly drifts to the ground. Upon touching the surface, it shatters. Doves are often a symbol of peace and grace. The shattering of the feather could symbolize a fall from grace in the heroes.

Somewhat True Ending
The somewhat true ending has the credits properly formatted in Times New Roman. No names vanish and there are no special modifications. The theme that plays is the main theme to Super Smash Bros Brawl, except the final note transitions it to With the Stars and Us from Persona 5.

True Ending
The true ending is aesthetically identical to the ending of the somewhat true ending. The theme that plays is Kimi no Kioku from Persona 3. At the very end of the credits, the word finis (meaning "end" in Latin) briefly flashes on screen.