Link woke long before the others did. He had become used to sleeping the minimum amount of time across his various adventures, and that attitude had carried over into his stay in this world of Smash.

  He swung his legs out of bed over where he had left his boots the night before. He reached down to start lacing them, but winced as his head was suddenly filled with a horrible, thumping pain. He managed to bury the urge to scream and wake the others, even though his skull felt like it was splitting open from the inside. Images danced in front of his eyes - the lives that his dozens of incarnations had lived, their adventures blending into one another, splitting the strings that held them together. He didn't know which life was which, which experiences belonged to which Link. All he knew was that he was in pain. He needed... he needed...

  Zelda's face swam into view in front of his face. It was hard to get a true sense of what she looked like - in some of his memories she was blonde, in some she was brown, and her age seemed to vary somewhat. But still...

  Link reached out as though he might grasp her. The symbol of the triforce on his hand felt hot, like someone was pressing an iron against it. Then a hand reached out and grabbed his, a sign of the triforce burning on it as well.

  "Link!" cried a voice. "Hold fast, Link. Brave the storm!"

  "Zelda..." he groaned.

  He didn't know if he was imagining her or not, but the pounding in his head began to subside. He rubbed his temples, trying to dispel the lingering pain. He had no idea why these headaches kept happening, but he couldn't allow them to continue. If one came to him during a fight, like today's for example, it could be a catastrophe. If one did appear, he would have to power through it for the sake of the others.

  For the sake of the others. He looked over at the Master Sword, which leant against the wall of his bedroom. Once again, it seemed he would be using it to smite evil.

  Anxiety filled the room. The twelve fighters sat or stood in the sitting room, waiting for the voice of Master Hand to summon them. With no other way to leave the mansion, they had no other actions to take, and no-one felt much like talking at the moment. Ness tried not to focus on his stomach - he had heard the term having butterflies in one's stomach, but this was worse. It was like Donkey Kong had gotten into his stomach somehow, and was doing his best to get out.

  He heard heavy footfalls next to him, and saw Captain Falcon looking down at him.

  "Are you alright, kid?" the captain asked.

  Ness nodded. Then immediately shook his head. "It's not my first time in a fight like this," he said. "But even so, I'm still scared."

  "I understand," Captain Falcon said. "I think we all are, so don't worry about that. Just remember that whatever happens today, I'm proud to have fought by your side."

  Ness smiled. "Thank you, sir."

  "Oh please," Falcon said. "You can just call me Douglas."

  Ness hesitated. "No I... sorry, that feels wrong. I don't think you should tell people that that's your name."

  "Are you suggesting that it's not actually my name?" Captain Falcon asked.

  "I guess? Like I said, I'll just call you Captain Falcon."

  The captain sighed. "If you must."

  Across the room, Mario noticed that Luigi kept stealing glances at Ness. "He'll be fine," he said.

  Luigi raised his eyebrows at his brother. "Are you sure? He's just a kid."

  "A kid who almost kicked your butt," Mario reminded him. "The Master Hand brought him here like everyone else. Whatever else, it must mean that he's strong. And besides, we've been in the hero business since we were babies."

  "We aren't normal, though," Luigi reminded him. "And I think Yoshi was the one doing most of the work back then."

  Yoshi walked over at that and nuzzled Mario's shoulder gently.

  "You ready for this, buddy?" Mario asked.

  Yoshi nodded. "Yoshi!"

  "Funny," Mario said. "We've been on a lot of adventures together, huh. I sure hope it doesn't all end today."

  Luigi wasn't sure which of them he was talking to.

  In another corner of the room, Fox was building up the courage to ask something he'd been thinking about for a while. "So..." he said, glancing over at Donkey Kong. "Why do you only wear a tie?"

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  Samus looked away from that train wreck of a conversation and focused on Pikachu. It was strange - she had only known the little one for a few days, but she almost felt like she wouldn't be able to live without him. Pikachu saw her looking and grinned, then pushed the sides of his face inwards to make a funny face. Samus giggled. "Thank you, Pikachu. I needed that."

  "Good morning fighters!" everyone had been ready for it, but they had been so tense that the voice still took them by surprise when it finally tore through the room. "You have decided to fight me today. So now you will be brought to your final battlefield."

  For what felt like the last time, the sitting room melted away. The fighters found themselves standing on a large, roughly circular structure that was approximately fifty feet across. Fox, who was standing close to the edge, looked over and saw only stars - stars and galaxies, as far as the eye could see. The platform itself appeared to be made of metal, but the pieces that made it up felt like they came from different places. What was this place?

  "Welcome to the Final Destination." The Master Hand floated above them, but for once it wasn't out of reach. They were, for once, sharing space with it. "The rules of this final battle are thus. I shall fight all of the twelve of you at once. If a fighter is ejected from the match, either from being thrown from the battlefield or simply by being no longer able to continue, they will be unable to return to the fight. Once all of you have been beaten, I shall set about destroying this world once and for all."

  "And if we win?" Mario asked.

  "If you can somehow overcome me, then you will be allowed to return to your worlds. However..." the Master Hand spread its fingers, and energy crackled at the tip of each one. "I do not intend to hold back during this fight. If anyone wishes now not to face me, then they should say so now."

  No one moved.

  "Very well. Then the fight begins now."

  There was a change in the air when the Master Hand announced the start of the fight. It was like all the warmth was stripped away, while at the same time the breath in everyone's lungs seemed doubled in its oxygen levels. The universe itself seemed to be cheering them on for this fight.

  As soon as the match started, Mario ran forwards, along with Link, Captain Falcon, and Donkey Kong. They approached the Master Hand from two different sides and began a flurry of punches, kicks, and swords slashes. The Master Hand closed into a fist to better weather the damage, then splayed its fingers again, creating a blast of force that knocked them all backwards. As soon as it did, Samus fired a charged blast from her arm cannon, and Kirby mimicked her having copied her abilities. The two bolts of energy staggered the hand.

  "Letsa go!" Luigi yelled, charging a green flame in his hands. He threw it towards the Master Hand at the same time that Ness yelled "PK Fire!" from across the battlefield. Their two bursts of fire struck the Master Hand, one on each side of its form, creating a burst of smoke.

  "Pikachu!" Pikachu emerged from the smoke and landed on the back of the Master Hand, before releasing all of the electricity it could into the white glove. While it did, Jigglypuff began to roll in place, charging kinetic energy she did so. Fox pulled his sidearm and began firing wildly at Master Hand, stunning it as it tried to throw off Pikachu.

  Yoshi's tongue lashed out and ensnared Jigglypuff, pulling her into his mouth. He took careful aim at the Master Hand, and fired Jigglypuff from his mouth. Her spinning combined with the force of his spit launched her like a cannon bolt across the field, where she slammed into the open palm of the Master Hand the instant after Pikachu jumped off.

  "Yes!" Mario cried. "We got that big hit in!"

  The smoke from the explosion Jigglypuff's impact had caused cleared away slowly, leaving no sign of the Master Hand.

  "Did we do it?" Fox asked.

  "No," said a deep voice. "You did not."

  They looked up and saw the Master Hand above them, looking completely no worse for wear. It was like none of their attacks had done any damage - not even a scuff on the white gloves.

  "Such a shame," the hand said. "I had almost expected better. But it seems that was really the best you could do."

  "As if!" Ness yelled. "We're only just getting started! PK Thunder!" He released a bolt of lightning which curved through the air towards Master Hand. The hand simply batted it aside, like it was just a seed.

  "No," the Master Hand said. "You're actually just finishing."

  Its fingers splayed open, and it slammed down on Ness, crushing him beneath its weight. It lifted off him slowly, revealing the boy lying prone on the ground, unmoving.

  "Ness!" Luigi yelled, and tried to run towards him.

  The hand dived down to block his path. "You should focus on yourself it warned." A simple flick of the fingers and Luigi was sent flying across the battlefield, coming to a stop just before falling off the edge.

  Fox ran at the hand, fire surrounding him as he called on his Fox Fire ability. "You bastard hand! I might actually respect you if you were the Master Paw!"

  Master Hand held up its hand as though it was calling a stop to a car, and Fox's fire attack stopped in its tracks. "I'll bear that in mind." The hand closed around Fox, who struggled to break free, yelling curses as he did so. Then the fingers tightened and the curses stopped, and Master Hand placed him, unmoving, on the ground.

  Donkey Kong, Captain Falcon, and Jigglypuff all dived towards the Master Hand, there fists outstretched. Master Hand backhanded them away with hardly a look, sending them all sprawling like the others.

  "What the hell," Samus muttered. "In just a few moments... he took half of us out."

  Next to her, Link suddenly fell to his knees, clasping the sides of his head and screaming. His vision swam, like he was seeing through many eyes - this headache was worse than any of the others so far. He was dimly aware of someone asking him if he was okay, but he couldn't even tell where the voice might be coming from.

  The Master Hand regarded him coolly. "It seems he cannot sustain the number of lives within him. Perhaps this will be a mercy then."

  It raised its two fingers so that they resembled a gun, and pointed them towards Link. Energy began to gather at the end of those fingers. Light energy, the light of creation, the light that could also destroy.

  Yoshi, Pikachu and Samus ran towards the hand - Mario and Kirby ran to Link. The hand knew that they would all be too slow.

  A shot like this would surely wipe the Hylian from this universe. Link looked up, and the light of the energy bullet filled his eyes and banished the shadows from his face. The Master Hand fired.

  "Link!"