The fighters stared at the ground where Captain Falcon had lain a moment before. He had had so much strength left, and the Master Hand had obliterated him in a single blow.

  "I hope that now you understand what a mistake it was to challenge me," the Master Hand - or whatever it was that had emerged from within the hand - said. "I speak to you now, not as a creator, but a destroyer. There is no longer the opportunity for you to surrender. No more can you continue to quiver in your last throes of existence. I will wipe all of you from existence. Though, if you are repentant, I may be swift with the end of your respective existences. Then I will move on to a new group of fighters and begin this ridiculous charade all over again."

  Samus gasped. "Wait. Are we... the first you've brought here?"

  The hand was silent for a moment. "I think it must be the duty of those less evolved than the hands to challenge those who keep them safe. I thought that by showing you my origin, Samus, that you would understand the dangers of this universe. I could protect you from it all - and yet you spat on my hand."

  "How many?" she asked.

  "It is of little consequence. Though, to your commendation, none have progressed so far as you have in the inevitable challenge. There is a dignity in that, perhaps. A shame that none will ever remember it."

  It clenched its energy fingers into a fist, and a shockwave of incredible power tore across the battlefield, expanding from a point like an explosion. All ten of the remaining fighters were knocked off their feet with cries of pain from the power of the attack.

  "A hand should not assume this form," Master Hand said. "We can scarcely exist without the gloves that make up our restraints. And yet, for a time, I have the greatest power in the universe!"

  The battlefield was suddenly carved in as one of the fingers swiped through the air, forcing Luigi and Donkey Kong to scramble away to avoid being pitched into the void.

  "Attack!" Mario yelled. He threw a ball of fire, but it bounced harmlessly off a shield that surrounded the Master Hand. The others attacked too, unleashing all of their best moves, but none of them even reached this being of energy. The hand spread its fingers again, and more energy tore across the stage, almost splitting it into even smaller pieces. Mario watched, helplessly, as Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Jigglypuff were pitched into the void.

  "Resistance is useless!" the hand cried. "I am the greatest power in -"

  Kirby passed through the barrier without even slowing down and kicked the Master Hand hard where the palm would have been, sending it flying. Mario's jaw dropped at seeing the pink creature attack with such power.

  "What is this!" the Master Hand bellowed. "How could a being like you match my power!"

  Kirby smiled and held up his small nub hands. There was something different about them, but Mario couldn't quite tell what it was.

  "Hey," Fox said. "When did Kirby start wearing gloves!"

  The Master Hand looked frantically around the arena. This was impossible. In order for Kirby to copy its power, he would have needed... The finger! Where was the finger?

  Luigi paled. "Did Kirby eat Master Hand's finger? Can he even do that?"

  "So cool!" Ness cried. "Go, Kirby!"

  Kirby did go. A pair of wings made of the same shining white energy emerged from his back, and he flew at the Master Hand. Master Hand braced for impact and they clashed together in the air briefly before separating and rising higher into the sky. They clashed again and again, becoming a streak of white against the stars.

  "Can anyone follow this?" Fox asked.

  "I can," Samus confirmed, staring at the battle through her helmet's display. "It sounds impossible, but Kirby is actually keeping up with Master Hand!"

  "Well, can he win?" Mario asked.

  "I can't tell," Samus said. "But... maybe?"

  Kirby broke away from Master Hand for a second and focused on the vast well of copied abilities that existed within him. As part of last night's preparation, he had swallowed all of the other fighters at least once so he'd be able to call upon their power if needed. He chose Link's power, and a long gleaming sword made of Master Hand energy appeared in his hand. Then he selected Mario's powers, and the sword burst into flames.

  "You think you're so powerful," Master Hand taunted. "Well you still can't overcome me!" The stars behind him flashed and began to grow bigger, and Kirby realised they were being thrown at him. He dodged one star and sliced another in half, took a hit from the third and just barely dodged underneath a fourth before swinging his sword at Master Hand. As he did the sword's size increased by ten, and the Master Hand was thrown across space by the impact.

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  Kirby had to end this quickly - the energy from consuming the finger was apparently finite, and he was burning through it quickly. His only hope was that Master Hand would burn through its energy as well, but so far it showed no sign of slowing down.

  Back on the battlefield, Samus reported what was happening in the battle to the others, while Ness went around using his healing magic to get everyone on their feet.

  "We have to help," Mario said.

  Fox looked at him like he was insane. "Did you get hit in the head too hard? What are we supposed to do against the Master Hand when it's throwing stars around."

  "Master Hand and Kirby are about even right now, right?" Mario asked.

  Samus nodded.

  "If that's the case, then this could be our only chance. If we wait, we might not have another shot, and if Kirby does get beaten then it's all over."

  "Well, what do you suggest we do?"

  High above, Kirby was losing steam. He was burning through the powers of the other Smash fighters fast, and the power from Master Hand had less than a minute left at best. He had just forced himself out of a black hole that the Master Hand had created and responded with a version of Ness's PSI magic that had carved a chunk out of the hand that had quickly reformed. By his reckoning, he had one last big attack left, and if it wasn't enough then he didn't know what else to do.

  He started charging the attack as the Master Hand floated beneath him. It took the form of a sword made from a galaxy, filled with magic and determination. If it hit, it had a good chance of defeating the Master Hand. But it had to hit.

  "We need to call on this world's power," Mario said. "If we all focus on the power of Smash, then perhaps we can create a miracle."

  Luigi nodded. "I agree with my brother. I've felt that power first hand - I think we can use it to defeat the Master Hand."

  "But how?" Ness asked.

  In answer, Mario closed his eyes and concentrated. The power of Smash had been here all along - it moved through the air like the smell of a pizza, twisting around him in ribbons of power that he just couldn't grasp. It didn't matter now if he couldn't master their use. He just needed something.

  Luigi walked over to Mario and took his hand. "Let's focus together, bro." He focused on their bond, and remembered their fight the day before, which had been an expression of both of their feelings.

  Ness ran over and grabbed onto Luigi's other hand. "I don't really know how this works, but I definitely want to try it!" He started to probe around him with his PSI energy.

  Fox shrugged. "Well, I don't really get how this whole thing works. But if this is what we're doing, then fine." He holstered his pistol and put his arm on Mario's shoulder. He thought about the void - about space. He was at home here, in a way. But his squad wasn't here, and if he didn't win this then he might never see them again.

  Samus looked at Pikachu. "Are you ready?" she asked. She had never imagined that she might come to care so much for a creature like this. But even now, as Pikachu jumped onto the now familiar perch of her shoulder, she could feel the strength of their bond calling power to them. She put her hand on Mario's chest.

  There was a flash of light that pierced through Mario's closed eyelids. When he opened them, he saw a star floating in front of him. This was the miracle that they had called forth.

  "Is that?" Luigi asked.

  "A power star," Mario confirmed. He stepped towards it before hesitating for a moment and looking back at Luigi.

  "Go," his brother said.

  Mario nodded. He reached out and grabbed the star. Instantly all of the aches and pains from the fight vanished as the light of the star spread through his body, leaving only raw power in their wake. He began to float off the ground, and focused his attention on the clash that was happening far away. Except it wasn't so far away now. He could see everything.

  He began to fly upwards towards the fight, leaving the battlefield far behind. Stars stretched into lines around him as he accelerated, extending his fist to charge up a punch.

  Kirby swung his sword down. The Master Hand created a shield of a black hole that stopped the blade in its tracks.

  "I am... this world's god!" the hand shouted desperately. "I won't allow myself to be beaten!"

  It became all too late of the thing streaking towards it. Mario slammed into the back of the Master Hand with the force of a colliding moon, not enough to defeat the hand but more than enough to make it lose concentration on holding up the black hole. Kirby's sword of galaxies smashed through it as the last of the Master Hand's power left him, cutting the hand in half down the middle. It screamed, and everything around them seemed to break.

  Kirby opened his eyes. He was back on the final destination stage - the void that surrounded it had vanished, and they now floated in the sky above a world full of forests and lakes and plains and mountains and deserts. He looked up and saw that Mario was extending a hand. He let the plumber pull him to his feet.

  "Did we win?" Fix finally asked.

  Mario hadn't realised how out of breath he was until he tried to speak, but eventually he said: "Yes. I think we did."

  Ness cheered. Pikachu cried out happily and ran over to the boy, so that they could dance happily together. Samus exchanged an exhausted smile with Fox, while Mario just hugged his brother.

  "We actually did it," he said. "We won."

  Luigi stiffened suddenly. "What's that?" he asked.

  He pointed to a spot far away on the horizon, where the light from the sun was shining on the water. Except, that light on the ocean was vanishing as the water turned black and dull. That blackness spread upwards, to the sky, covering everything in dark clouds. It started to rain.

  "This feels bad," Ness said.

  The sky flashed, and a bolt of lighting descended from the dark clouds and struck their platform. Rather than vanishing, the lightning stayed in place and formed a shape - the shape of a hand, that looked almost exactly like the one they had just beaten.

  Samus gasped and raised her cannon. "It's the Master Hand!"

  "No," said the voice of the new hand. It was very different to the Master Hand's voice - it felt like the scraping of metal, and hurt for them to even hear it. "Not the Master Hand. We're a little less... put together."

  Then it struck the centre of the stage, and darkness spread through the cracks. Pikachu, panicked, jumped onto Samus's shoulder, and Luigi dived to protect Ness.

  "We like this world," said the new hand. "Perhaps we will keep it!"

  The stage broke apart, throwing all of the screaming fighters into the world below.