The fighters gathered around the display, which showed the fights for the following day.

  Link vs. Mario.

  Kirby vs. Jigglypuff

  Donkey Kong vs. Captain Falcon

  Pikachu vs. Yoshi

  Samus vs. Fox

  Ness vs. Luigi

  The tensions within the room that had begun to ease rose anew, as each fighter looked at their decided opponent with a new suspicion, one that a plate of pasta would not be able to fix.

  Not that Mario would have wanted to make one. He was too busy staring at the young man in green who was supposed to be his opponent. Tomorrow, the two of them would fight until, what? Surrender? Death? And what kind of abilities did this man have up his sleeves? If he was supposed to be one of the greatest fighters from his world, Mario doubted that Link was as easy to stomp as a Goomba might be.

  It would probably ease him only a little to know that Link was feeling a similar apprehension. This diminutive man with the funny accent didn't seem like much, but the Master Hand had brought him here for a reason. He couldn't afford to be kind to him, not when he didn't know what losing might mean for his world.

  "Mario," he said. "Tomorrow. Good luck." It felt like the greatest token that he was able to offer right now.

  Mario nodded.

  After the fights were announced, no-one really felt like talking, and they soon returned to their rooms. Samus waited until the door was closed, and began activating the sequence that would allow her to remove her armour. She needed to be well rested for the next day, and she knew from experience that sleeping in the suit was... uncomfortable.

  She stepped out of her suit and stretched. The blue Zero Suit beneath still wasn't as comfortable as she might have liked, but she didn't trust these people enough yet to forego it. She had slept in it before, and she would again tonight.

  Before sleeping, she sat on the edge of the bed and put her head in her hands. She was no stranger to saving the galaxy by now, but this time just felt different. Perhaps the problem was that she didn't usually sit and eat dinner with the people who she was supposed to eliminate. She wasn't supposed to like them. It would make things harder.

  A slight noise at her door set her nerves on end. It was like the tiniest scratching noise, as though something was trying to make its way in. One of the other fighters, perhaps, come to attack her before her match? Or perhaps it was some other threat entirely that was native to this strange world. Maybe Master Hand was trying to have them let their guard down so that he could attack them during their sleep. Whatever the threat was, she wouldn't let it hurt her.

  Putting the Power Suit back on would have taken too much time, she she just grabbed her pistol. It wouldn't kill, but whoever was on the other side of that door wouldn't thank her for shooting them with it. Trying to move silently, she crept towards the door. The slight noise was still there, which meant whoever it was probably wouldn't hear her.

  She threw the door open, raising her pistol.

  "Pika?"

  The small rodent looked up at her with confused eyes. It either didn't know what the gun was, or simply didn't care, because it ignored it and went to nuzzle her leg.

  "What are you doing here?" she asked.

  "Pika-chu."

  She nodded. Of course. It couldn't speak.

  Before she could say anything else, Pikachu was in her room. It looked around, sniffing, and went to the Power Suit. Sniff. Back to her. Sniff. Then a cheerful "Pika!" that preceded it jumping onto her bed.

  Samus stared at it. "Did you only just realise that I was the one wearing the suit?"

  "Chu."

  "But you came and nuzzled against me before you knew that."

  Pikachu didn't answer this time, merely raising its tail and making a beckoning motion towards her.

  The paranoia kicked in, of course. Maybe it was trying to do something to her. But, she couldn't believe that this creature could be evil. it didn't have any malice in its eyes, it just genuinely seemed to like her. And for this kind of creature, being alone in one of these unfamiliar rooms must have been terrifying.

  After some hesitation, she laid down on the bed. Pikachu nestled into the crook of her arm, curling up into a ball and falling asleep almost instantly. The warmth that he gave off was relaxing, and Samus almost fell asleep as well. Except...

  By nature of being here, this Pikachu was an enemy, or at least a rival. At some stage, she would have to fight him. And he didn't deserve that kind of betrayal from her.

  Pikachu didn't wake when she picked him up, nor when she placed him in his own room. But he did open when she closed the door. On that first night, both of them slept on their own.

  There was no way to know that it was truly morning, because the mansion didn't have any windows or any other ways to view the outside. Nevertheless, all of the fighters woke up at about the same time. There was little conversation, with the knowledge that the first of the fights would be beginning soon. Mario and Luigi prepared a breakfast large enough for everyone to eat, but no-one except for Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Pikachu, and Kirby would eat any. It was like they thought the brothers were going to poison them.

  The announcement that they were waiting for took hours to come. Some waited in their rooms, some took up the communal areas. No-one would spend time with one another. Mario thought of speaking to Luigi, but everyone else was being so quiet that they almost certainly would have heard the conversation, and he definitely didn't like that. He busied himself checking and rechecking the kitchen, whose ingredients replenished as soon as they were used. No matter how many times he looked in the cupboards, their contents didn't change. But it was still better than doing nothing.

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  It would have been what felt like noon when Master Hand's voice was suddenly echoing through the mansion, unavoidably loud and completely impossible to ignore.

  "Assembled Fighters!" it said. "I know how much you've been looking forward to these battles, so let us begin!"

  With those words, the twelve fighters were suddenly pulled from their places in the house by an invisible force. Mario opened his eyes and gasped. This was Peach's Castle, except... it wasn't. This place looked like a facsimile of the familiar palace, but he had been there enough times to that the towers here were too small, oddly shaped, and lacking the warmth of their owner.

  He was standing on a section of floor which floated above the ground - it was paved in black and white like the palace floors, attached by magic to the top of the tallest tower. Other elements of the castle surrounded him, these too suspended in the air. Stairs and banisters, parts of the castle walls, even roofing. All placed around with no relation to one another, like a child using toys to create his playground.

  Link stood across from him. He too was examining their surroundings, not saying anything as he did. Sensing that the fight hadn't yet begun, Mario glanced over the edge of this small area. He could see the ground beneath him, close enough that the patches of flowers outside were visible, and yet at the same time they felt so unavoidably far away.

  "Mario!" He looked up and finally saw the other ten fighters. They were in seats, like those of a stadium, floating close enough that he could make out their faces, but once again so impossibly far away.

  "Fighters!" Master Hand's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Everyone looked up to see the white hand floating high above this field. "I think it's about time we discuss the rules of our little game, don't you? To begin with, don't worry - these fights are completely non-lethal."

  Link breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to kill Mario, as he seemed like quite a decent man.

  "And Link, you should know that within my world, your sword has been altered with guards over the edges." Link felt the shiver of being the hand's full attention. "I don't want you all cutting each other to ribbons. But the rules: these fights end with the first knockout. A knockout involves ejecting your opponent from the battlefield. You will find that, the longer the fight goes on, the harder it will be to keep your footing. With that in mind, try not to take too much damage. Nothing you do will kill one another, but it can still hurt, so bare that in mind."

  "But!" the hand said. "These are the rules, and we're all itching to get started. So, ready?"

  In the stands, Samus tensed even though she wasn't fighting. She would need to use this match to find out how the fights worked, so that she could win her own later.

  "Go!"

  Ever since Mario had come here, he had felt the presence of powers that he didn't usually have access to, that in the Mushroom Kingdom would have required the use of plants to awaken. But he didn't need to hesitate now. Fire gathered in his palm, and he hurled a fireball at Link as hard as he could.

  Link only had time to gasp and raise his shield. The fireball exploded against it, making him stagger backwards a few steps closer to the edge. Mario didn't let him recover. He charged, raising his fist and swinging it at Link. The swordsman managed to block it with his shield, but Mario jumped upwards. Here he could jump higher than ever, and he easily cleared the head of the green-clad warrior, landing behind him and kicking him hard in the back. Link gasped in pain as he was thrown forwards, his sword knocked from his hand and clattering across the tiled floor.

  Mario advanced again as Link climbed to his feet. He continued a combination of punches and kicks that forced him back. Mario realised that Master Hand had been telling the truth - every hit seemed to push Link back further, forcing him closer and closer to the edge.

  Link got close to is sword and kicked it into his hand. He tried to swing at Mario, but he ducked beneath it and delivered an uppercut to Link that threw him high into the air. Mario was about to follow, but he saw Link grab something and throw it in his direction. He had just enough time to register that it was a boomerang before it struck him hard in the chest and sent him flying back. That thing really had some power behind it.

  The boomerang returned to Link's hand just as he landed safely on the ground. He was breathing heavily and clearly in pain, but it didn't affect how strong his stance with his sword and shield was.

  "They're both good fighters," Captain Falcon remarked.

  "Come on, Mario is winning!" Fox protested. "Link has barely landed a hit."

  "Go on, bro!" Luigi screamed.

  This time, Link took the first move and charged with his head down. Mario threw another ball of flames at him, but Link batted it aside with his sword and closed the rest of the distance. He swung in a massive overhand blow that Mario couldn't move quick enough to dodge or block. It sent him stumbling backwards, dazed, which Link used as an opening to backhand him with his shield. Mario fell to the ground, and Link jumped into the air, before coming down on the plumber with the tip of his sword. Mario dodged out of the way at the last second and spun rapidly. A small tornado formed around him as he spun, throwing Link backwards.

  "Yes!" Luigi cried.

  Mario ran at Link again, spinning again at the moment before impact and once again creating a small tornado around himself. Link span as well, extending his sword and meeting Mario head on; both combatants were thrown backwards by the force.

  "So cool!" Ness remarked. "They're matching one another blow for blow!"

  Samus had to conclude that he was right. Though Mario had taken an early lead, Link had more than made up the difference and now both fighters were looking drained. "Pika." She looked down and saw Pikachu crawling onto the lap of her armour. She stroked him idly.

  "Mario. Strong." Donkey Kong grunted. The others turned to look at him. "Link. Strong too. Everyone this strong?"

  "Seems that way, big guy," Captain Falcon said. "And it's you and I in a little while." He flashed a thumbs up at the ape.

  "What?" Luigi asked. "Why are you happy about having to fight?"

  "Well," Captain Falcon said. "Haven't you noticed? They're smiling."

  The others gasped. It was true. Even as Mario and Link stood, fighting for breath, each of them had a definite smile on his face.

  "Smiling..." Samus wondered.

  Mario wiped the sweat from his brow. "You're pretty good," he told Link.

  "So are you." Link spun his sword in his hand. "I don't like being here, and I don't know what's going to happen, but if it's true that we don't have to win these fights to protect our worlds, then it's nice to just see how I stack up. Like sparring with other knights."

  Mario shook his head. "I don't quite agree. I don't like to fight unless I can help it."

  "Then why are you smiling?" Link asked.

  Mario smirked. "Ask me later." He ran forwards, gathering flames in both of his palms and throwing two balls of fire towards Link. The swordsman watched them both. At the angles they were coming, he could only be sure of blocking one. In that case, then he wouldn't block either. He grabbed his boomerang and threw it with all his strength. It weaved through Mario's fireballs and struck him in the centre of his forehead. At the same time, both of the fireballs struck him in chest, which he'd had to leave open to throw the boomerang.

  Both of them were pushed back, landing on the edge of the battlefield. Between them, the dust that had been kicked up by their shoes skidding across the stone settled.

  Link was at the end of his stamina reserve. But so was Mario. One last trick left. He abandoned his sword and grabbed a bomb from his pouch. As always, it lit automatically when he pulled it free. Mario was still recovering, he wouldn't have time to get away.

  But Mario did have time. He ran forwards, aiming a punch at Link. The punch didn't matter, of course. The only thing that mattered was being close enough that Link couldn't use his bomb safely. He grunted, and threw the bomb at the ground between them. It went off, hitting them both with a huge concussive force. Link and Mario both went flying, missing the edge of the battlefield by a wide margin. They tumbled into the sky below, into the short distance that was actually endless.

  "Game!"

  With Master Hand's proclamation, they were suddenly in the stands with the other fighters.

  "It was a draw!" Master Hand announced. "What a way to start our competition!"

  Mario turned to look at Link. They shared a smile, and then bumped fists. And that was the end of the first fight.