Mario woke early and lay still for a few seconds, staring at the darkness. His bed here was uncomfortable, with a lumpy mattress that made it hard for him to rest properly, even though he had slept in far rougher places. He supposed it was also the conversation from the night before that was keeping him awake. The thought of what Master Hand was doing in this world, this Smash, kept looping in his mind with no clear resolution.

  In the end he sighed and climbed out of bed, slipping his feet into his boots and stepping out of his room into the dim light of the communal area. He quickly found that he wasn't alone - Link sat on one of the sofas, staring into the light of a small fire that he had lit in the fireplace.

  "Oh, sorry," Mario said, as Link looked up at him. "I didn't realise you were in here."

  Link shook his head. "I don't mind. I'd be glad of the company, in fact. Sit down."

  Mario nodded, and sat on the sofa opposite Link. In all honesty, the swordsman made him nervous. He carried such an earnest sense of calm with him all the time, the kind that Mario recognised from some of the older Toads who had experienced many of Bowser's invasions. It was the look of someone who had seen so much that it was hard for him to be afraid anymore.

  This would be his partner in today's fight. Though they had recognised one another's strength yesterday, Mario didn't think they were friends yet. He didn't know how to start the conversation, so he waited.

  Eventually, Link said: "Tell me about your home, Mario."

  Mario raised his eyebrows. "Why do you want to know?"

  "I don't know. Maybe it's that I caught a glimpse of it yesterday, and I want to know more about where you come from. Whose castle was that?"

  Mario sighed. "Peach. She's... well, she's the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. She's smart, kind, beautiful, everyone loves her." He smiled slightly. "And she makes delicious cakes as well."

  "Is she your..." Link let the question trail off.

  "Not quite," Mario replied. "I mean, I care about her very much. You wouldn't even believe how far Luigi and I have gone to help her in the past. If nothing else, she's one of my closest friends."

  He looked at Link. "What about you? Do you have anyone like that?"

  "Princess Zelda," Link said. "It's complicated for me, Mario."

  "How?"

  Link hesitated before answering. "In Hyrule... there's this curse. It says that whenever the spirit of a being called Demise rises, a version of me and Zelda will be reborn in order to fight against him. Power, Wisdom, and Courage." He held up his hand to show Mario a crest on the back of his glove, which showed three triangles. "And I know this, because since I arrived I've been picking through the memories of every life that I've lived. I don't really know which of them, if any, are my real life. And Zelda? Well, I remember her in every life, and in every life I've been her knight. In many of them, I've loved her. But those lives aren't really mine. So, given all of that, I don't know what Zelda is to this version of me."

  "Wow," Mario said. "A love that could last for so many generations. This Zelda must be incredible."

  "So does Peach," Link said. "And person that could inspire someone like you to go so far, that you would try so hard to get back to her."

  "Yeah," Mario smiled. "She is."

  *********************************

  "This first battle will be taking place upon Hyrule Castle!" Master Hand announced, opening its fingers to a shower of light. The battlefield was the flat roof on top of a grey stone castle, with a sprawling field stretching out in all directions. Link gripped his sword tightly as he drew it from his scabbard, but that was the only indication he gave that seeing part of his world bothered him.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "Are you ready?" Luigi asked.

  Ness nodded. He snapped his fingers, creating a small spark of magic on the end of his finger. "I remember the plan," he said. "And we agreed we'd give them the best fight that we could in order to try and access the Smash power. I won't let that chance slip away."

  Over in the stands, Captain Falcon frowned. "This will be a tricky fight for Ness and Luigi," he said.

  Fox glanced at him. "How do you figure."

  "Well, Mario and Luigi have very similar abilities," Captain Falcon said. "But, from what I saw yesterday, Mario is probably more skilled out of the two of them. Then, when it comes to Ness, most of his abilities are effective at range. If Link can get in close, there's not much that he'll be able to do."

  "I'm sure they have a plan," said Samus. She fed Pikachu a small piece of fruit from breakfast. "You can see from here - they're both determined to win."

  Ready? Go!"

  Link was the first one to move, grabbing his boomerang and throwing it towards Ness as hard as he could. Ness reacted instinctively by using PSI Magnet, but the boomerang passed through it unimpeded and hit him hard in the chest.

  Link grinned. "So, I guess that shield of yours can only block energy based attacks." He held up his arm, and the boomerang returned to his hand. "I know you think you have me beaten at range, Ness, but I have my own tricks."

  Meanwhile, Mario ran at Luigi. He coated his hands in flames and leapt at his brother, who was forced to counter with a green flame punch of his own. "Have we ever actually fought seriously?" Mario asked, as they grappled with one another.

  "Never," Luigi admitted.

  Mario grinned. "Well I guess we're going to find out who the winner is today."

  Luigi returned his grin. "It's not that simple, bro."

  "PK Fire!" Luigi threw himself to the side in time for Ness's orb of fire to strike Mario and erupt into a column of flames. Mario yelled as the flames compressed into a final explosion that launched him backwards. He would have gone over the edge, but Link stuck out his hand and grabbed him by his overalls.

  "Don't let your guard down," Link said. "Remember, they're both a threat."

  "Right," Mario agreed. "Sorry."

  "PK Thunder!" They dived apart to avoid Ness's ball of electrical energy. It curved in the air and back towards Link, who knocked it away with his shield. It exploded against the ground. Luigi threw three green fireballs towards Link, who had to back up in order to avoid them, but one caught him on the leg and made him go to one knee. Mario jumped in the way and returned fire, but Ness was ready, using the PSI Magnet to draw in the fireballs and extinguish them harmlessly.

  Luigi continued to throw fire towards Link, who hunkered down behind his shield. He wasn't taking any damage, but each impact was strong enough to prevent him from rising to his feet. Mario tried to get to him to help him, but Ness's endless PSI attacks were preventing him from doing anything but dodge the fire and thunder.

  "What do we do?" he yelled.

  Link gritted his teeth. "Working on that!" He focused on Luigi's fireballs, and the impacts hitting his shield. They seemed to come at random intervals, but Luigi had automatically fallen into a pattern that repeated every seven or so fireballs. He just had to time it right, in the slightly longer gap between the third and fourth strikes.

  One... two... three...

  Link pushed himself to his feet, pulling his shield back and then batting the air with it just as the fourth fireball collided. He hit it in such a way that it was sent back towards Luigi, who was knocked off his feet and momentarily stunned. He then grabbed his boomerang and threw it towards Ness, who was forced to dodge and stop his attacks on Mario.

  The swordsman and the plumber shared a nod and charged. Ness had only just enough time to pull out his bat, which let him deflect Link's sword strike but not Mario's kick, which pushed him back several feet and made twin trails of dust rise up in his wake. Mario came in for another punch, which he dodged, but then he was standing with his back to Link, who slammed the flat of his blade into his back. Ness fell to his knees, and panickedly called for a PK Thunder, but it took too long to cast and Mario was able to hit him with a burning punch.

  Luigi dived in from one side, eyes and hands glowing green, and forced Link to back away, but Mario had been ready for his. He got close to the ground and swept his leg out, knocking Luigi off his feet and allowing Link to slam an unexploded bomb into his chest. The Hyrulian jumped backwards, and the bomb exploded, sending Luigi hurtling backwards into Ness and having them both land in a heap on the roof.

  "They aren't going easy," Samus observed.

  "Of course not. We all agreed that we'd fight as hard as we could," Fox replied. "If this is the best they can do now, then that's on them."

  Luigi clambered to his feet. "How are you doing, Ness."

  Ness replied, his voice shaky. "Mr Luigi... my leg."

  Luigi looked down at Ness's leg, and gasped in horror. The leg seemed to have solidified into a hard statue, which Ness was holding and frantically trying to move. "What's going on?" Ness asked. The solidification was spreading up to his waist and other leg, freezing them into a solid and polished form.

  "What's going on?" Mario asked, running over.

  "I can't stop it!" Ness yelled. "Help, please -"

  The process reached his mouth. Ness was a statue now, with a small golden base forming at the bottom of his feet.

  "This is... what is this?" Luigi asked.

  "The fight will continue!" Master Hand announced.

  "But Ness -"

  "Has been beaten! He is no longer a participant! But this contest is still ongoing!"

  Link grimaced. "So, this is what losing means in this world."

  Luigi put Ness down on the ground. "Wait here," he said. He turned to Mario and Link, and green flames danced around his fingers. "It's Luigi time."