Link dove towards Ganondorf, his sword erupting into brilliant orange flames as he did so. Ganondorf dodged out of the way, but not so quickly that he didn't feel the heat of the flames singing his beard. Peach slammed her hands into the ground, and ice spread from her palms across the clearing, snaking around Link before covering the floor beneath Ganondorf in a thick cold layer. He furrowed his brow as the swordsman came at him again, using his forearms to block the next burning strike. The heat was intense, leaving a large burning mark across his arms, and the ice made him lose his balance. He stumbled backwards onto safer ground, but was unable to regain his stance properly before three flaming arrows flew at him. He roared in pain as they sunk into his chest, and released a blast of darkness from his fist.

  Peach summoned a wall of ice which split the darkness in half, and allowed her and Link to hide safely behind it. "Are you alright?" Peach asked.

  Link nodded, and charged again. He raised his sword and brought it down in a huge overhead swing. Ganondorf grunted, reaching up and catching the sword with both hands. Flames leapt from the blade and down his arms, but the king of evil didn't let go. He pulled Link closer, and snarled in his face. "I will see you sundered, boy."

  One hand closed around the Master Sword, while the other reached down to grasp Link by his tunic. Link struggled to break free, but Ganondorf's grip was like iron. Peach appeared as if from nowhere, aiming a high kick at Ganondorf's head with a thick coating of ice forming a boot on her foot. Ganondorf let Link go and backhanded her, hard, across the clearing. She hit a tree and gasped in pain.

  "Princess!" Link yelled. He grabbed his boomerang and threw it at Ganondorf as hard as he could. As it spun through the air, it burst into flames and summoned a whirling cyclone of orange fire that enveloped Ganondorf. The gerudo glared at Link from within the flames.

  Link ran to Peach's side. "Are you okay, Princess?" he asked.

  Peach nodded as she got slowly to her feet. "Just winded," she said. She gestured at her dress, whose blue colour was beginning to drain out around the hem. Link noticed that his own greaves were beginning to turn green again. "These powerups won't last much longer, especially with the damage we're taking," she said. "I'd say we get one more use out of them."

  Link nodded. "Whatever you need, Princess."

  Peach smiled. "I bet your Zelda misses you. Come on."

  At that moment, Ganondorf broke through the whirling flames with a burst of darkness. "I wonder how she'll miss you when she finds your grave!" he shouted. He raised his fist, and began to channel huge amounts of dark power into it.

  Link raised the Master Sword and pointed it at Ganondorf. He was tired, so it would be hard to summon the light within, but perhaps if he combined it with the fire that Peach had given him, he could make it work. The sword glowed with a white flame as light and fire became one. The red colour drained out of his clothes as he channelled the remains of the strange flower into his attack.

  "Too slow!" Ganondorf yelled triumphantly. He unleashed a huge blast of darkness, which instantly killed all the plant life it touched as it flew towards Link. Link swung the Master Sword, and white flames met the darkness, holding them back but not making any headway. He gritted his teeth as Ganondorf released more power - his legs felt like they were about to give out, and the white flames were beginning to fade.

  Peach dived towards Ganondorf from the side. She coated her long white glove in ice and punched him in the face as hard as she could. Ganondorf stumbled, the darkness reduced slightly, and Link ran forwards and slashed with the light.

  Ganondorf screamed in pain as the sword carved a deep wound down his front. Light spilled out of the cut, then clouds of darkness followed, as though chasing the light out of his body. He fell to his knees, clutching his chest. Link collapsed, exhausted, the power of fire gone.

  Peach ran to him, also out of ice. "Here," she said, bringing Link to his feet.

  Ganondorf glared at Link. "You haven't won, hero," he spat, getting to his feet. "Look around you. The Crazy Hand rules this world now, and the only reason you're still alive is that you haven't been worth its notice. And you, Princess - the Hand is coming for you soon enough."

  Link started to step forwards, but Peach stopped him. "Why does the Hand want me?" she asked.

  Ganondorf's lip curled in a sadistic smile. "Because you're connected to the great powers that govern the world you come from. That means you can be a key, through which the darkness of Crazy Hand can spread to other worlds."

  Peach gasped, her hand going to mouth. She looked up at the dark skies above her. "But..." she breathed. "The mushroom kingdom... it can't be covered by a darkness like this. I won't allow it."

  "Not today, perhaps," Ganondorf said. "But can your new knight protect you forever? He knows as well as I do, Princess, that without your intervention he would be dead by now. He failed fighting Master Hand, how can he hope to fight Crazy Hand?"

  Link gripped the Master Sword tightly. "I won't let you or anyone else take her," he said.

  Ganondorf smiled. "Of course you won't, hero. But, consider this. The Crazy Hand wants to break into other worlds too. Perhaps Zelda will be a key that brings the darkness to Hyrule. You wouldn't want that, would you? Of course, it's not like you'd even know if she was in danger. Perhaps she's already in the Hand's grasp." He smiled. "I for one would love to see what happens to her after the ritual is complete."

  "No!" Link screamed. He ran forwards, raising the Master Sword.

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  "Link, wait!" Peach yelled, but it was too late. Ganondorf raised one finger, and the burst of darkness like a tiny lance sprung from his finger. It struck Link in the thigh, and he gasped as it pierced through his leg.

  "If only I had the energy to kill you," Ganondorf said, turning away as Link fell to the ground. "But I'd rather not keep fighting you now."

  An arrow slammed into the tree next to him. He paused for a moment. "If Zelda is hurt," Link said, fury in his voice. "I don't care whether it's you or the Hand. I'll destroy you."

  Ganondorf laughed. "I'm sure you will, Link." He walked slowly away, holding the wound on his chest.

  Peach knelt next to Link, who was supporting himself from keeling over by leaning on his sword. "Come on," she said. "We should get that leg looked at."

  When Captain Falcon pulled the Goron version of Link into the river, he thought that was a win. After all, the boy was made of rocks now. There was no way he could fight in the river, right?

  Well, he was underwater when he realised that he had been very wrong. First, he watched Link remove the mask that he had put on before, shrinking back into the form of a boy. Then he pulled another mask somewhere and pressed it against his face.

  Link writhed in the water as the mask twisted his form to imitate Mikau's. As his limbs lengthened, the roaring water of the river seemed to lessen - not in such a way that it was actually weaker, but in that it was now far easier for him to navigate. Within this water, it was like he was weightless.

  He swum towards Captain Falcon and delivered a two-footed kick that knocked him head over heels under the water. Falcon struggled to hold his breath as he cartwheeled down the river, quickly losing track of which way was up. He kicked and paddled desperately, and managed to bring himself to the surface where he took several deep breaths.

  In front of him, Link jumped out of the water like some kind of performing animal, and Captain Falcon finally got a good look at this new form. Link looked like some kind of humanoid fish, with pale blue skin and fins on the elbows and a long, aerodynamic head. He dove back into the water, and Falcon felt a hand close around his ankle a moment later. He was pulled under, and he opened his eyes to see Link's grinning face in front of him. He had teeth like a shark.

  Falcon reacted as quickly as he could, and struck out at Link with his fist. The punch caught Link in the chest and knocked him back, but even with the strong current he quickly righted himself and came back at Falcon. The fins on his elbows flashed, and the Captain felt slashes on his chest and arms. He tried to defend by covering his body with his hands, but a moment later Link was behind him attacking again.

  He grunted, and twisted in the water. He managed to grab Link by one of his wrists, and he held on tightly as he pulled back his other fist. Under the water he wouldn't be able to use the full power of the Falcon Punch, but hopefully this would do enough.

  As he swung, Link's eyes narrowed in concentration. From the centre of his chest, a sphere of electricity rapidly expanded outwards. Falcon roared in pain and water filled his mouth, but then the forcefield threw him out of the water and he was in the air.

  "Oh, no," he said, seeing the ending of the river in front of him.

  He landed in the water, and began frantically swimming away from the waterfall, to no avail. Link's head emerged next to him. "Need help?" he asked.

  Falcon nodded. Link grabbed him and began to pull him against the current. Unfortunately, Link realised too late that this current was stronger than he could swim against while holding another person.

  "Can you fly?" he asked.

  Captain Falcon shook his head. "No."

  "Ah."

  They went over the edge of the waterfall. Falcon screamed as he fell down hundreds of feet, only just managing to brace himself before hitting the water hard. For a few moments everything was black, before he wrenched himself back to consciousness and started to swim frantically. He pulled himself exhaustedly onto the bank, and looked around for Link.

  "Up here!" He looked up to see what must have been another form of Link's. It was small, enough that it would barely come up to his knee, with the green hat that both of the Links he had met had worn. It looked like it was made of wood, with round cheeks and mouth that was an open, carved tube. Link was currently holding to a large flower, and using it to float harmlessly down the waterfall.

  Link landed in front of him. "You don't seem like someone who'd work for Ganondorf," Link said.

  Falcon frowned. "Technically I am. But you tried to save me - the evil person that Ganondorf described would have no reason to do that. But why would he lie like that?"

  "He's a bad guy," Link said. His small wooden form faded away, and Link removed the wooden mask from his face. He still was barely hardly Falcon's height. "Bad guys lie. But I'm sorry I attacked you like that."

  "You did the right thing," Ganondorf's voice said. "At least, you did what I wanted you to do. You too, Captain Falcon. You were an excellent puppet."

  Link's eyes widened. Falcon saw something reflected in his eyes - a darkness that was streaking past him and towards the child. He threw himself to the side and took the dark attack in the centre of his back. He felt the wound Master Hand had given him throb, heard Link cry out.

  He managed to turn and saw Ganondorf, dressed now in an armour and a long, ornate cape. He looked younger, too. Though he stood hunched over, his hand on his chest like it was causing him in pain, his other hand crackled with darkness.

  "Captain," Ganondorf said. "How disappointing. You heroic types are always so keen to throw your lives away. I -"

  "Shut up." Link raised his sword and pointed it at Ganondorf. "I can tell you're injured. You can't beat me right now, right? That's why you had to use a surprise attack. So leave."

  Ganondorf hesitated. "Fine," he said. "You're a cunning one, little hero. You were always my least favourite of the Links."

  Darkness enveloped him, and he was gone.

  Link reached for his Goron mask and looked back the way they had come. "I'll carry you," he told the Captain. "I know a Princess who might be able to help you out."

  Nana decided that being in a prison cell didn't suit her. For starters, there was nowhere she could exercise. On top of that, her cellmates were a half mad cosmic entity who was unable to remember much more than its own name, and a psychic cat who was, honestly, not the most fun to talk to.

  Of course, the worst thing about it was the lack of any Popo. But she could think about that later.

  "You brought me here," she told Mewtwo. "So you must know how to escape from these cells."

  "There is no escape," Mewtwo insisted. "This is the energy of Crazy Hand that seals us in here. It is a far greater power than I have, let alone that you have."

  "Rude," she muttered. "But I take your point."

  "Why are you so keen to leave?" Mewtwo asked. "At least here you are safe from what is to come. All will happen while you are in here. You may even have some life when the darkness conquers all."

  Nana shrugged. "Letting something like that happen would be bad for my image," she said. "Besides, those people you mentioned... Ren Fair, this Zelda person, the fruit lady, the mouse thing, and the flat guy? It wouldn't be fair to them if I didn't at least warn one of them what they were getting into. And Popo is probably bringing Ren Fair here, idiot that he is. So I can't just stay here."

  "Hmm," Mewtwo said. "And yet, the why does not eliminate the need for a how."

  "No, but the how is easy." Nana gestured over to the cell in the corner, where the remains of the Master Hand pulsed softly. "We have a Hand right here. We just have to make friends with it."