Link looked confused. One minute he'd peacefully been having breakfast in Hyrule, and the next, he was teleported to a huge empty hall.

"Hello?" he called, but nobody answered.

Then, there was a blinding flash, and a short Italian plumber fell from the roof. He landed clumsily on the floor.

"What-a da heck?" he said, standing up and straightening out his hat.

Another blinding flash came and went as a woman who looked completely robotic, except for her face and long blonde hair, came crashing down.

A few seconds later, Kirby arrived in a flash. After that, some pokemon were teleported. Soon, the hall was filled with confused game characters, before a deep voice rang throughout the halls.

"WELCOME, HEROES! YOU HAVE BEEN DELIVERED HERE TO COMPETE IN THE ULTIMATE TOURNAMENT TO DECIDE WHO THE BEST CHARACTER IS OUT OF ALL OF YOU!"

Everyone looked around, some looking fearless, others looking worried, and some just staring at the more famous characters, especially Mario and Samus, although Link could feel a few eyes on the back of his neck too.

"Excuse me," said a soft voice, "Could you explain why we're here, and who all these people are?" Link looked across the room and saw Zelda, and breathed a sigh of relief. He knew at least one of the other contenders.

"VERY WELL," the voice replied. "THIS TOURNAMENT IS SIMPLY FOR FUN. WHEN YOU ARE NOT FIGHTING, YOU WILL BE IN THE AUDIENCE WATCHING THE CURRENT FIGHT, AND THE FIGHTS WILL ALL BE SAFELY PRECAUTIONED. THERE WILL BE NO MAJOR HARM TO ANY OF YOU. FINALLY, TO HELP ANSWER YOUR QUESTION ON WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE…"

A spotlight appeared, and dashed around the hall, occasionally stopping on someone when they were being introduced. First, it landed on the Italian stallion himself, Mario.

"Straight from the Mushroom Kingdom, it's Mario, along with his brother Luigi, his dinosaur pal Yoshi, his arch-nemesis Bowser, his girl Princess Peach, and one of his friends, Toad."

The spotlight dashed around until it shone on Link, and he felt himself blush.

"From Hyrule come the strongest elf-boy the world has ever seen, Link, along with the Princess Zelda, and his foe Ganondorf."
The spotlight moved onto the bunch of pokemon.

"From the Japanese countries of Johto and Kanto, give a warm welcome to Pichu, Pikachu, Mewtwo and Jigglypuff!"

The light reflected off of the robotic suits that the next contestants were wearing.

"In between battling the Metroids on planet Zebes, it's space hunter Samus Aran! And next to her, straight from the Lylat system, give an intergalactic welcome to Fox and Falco from the Starfox team!"

The light wove around, then stumbled on a group of monkeys and a crocodile.

"From deep within the Kongo Jungle, it's Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and Cranky Kong, with their enemy, Kaptain K Rool."

A young boy in a blue metal suit was next in line.

"The blue bomber himself is here, Megaman, his brother Protoman, and their foe Dr Wiley!"

Two unusual groups were next in the line.

"And in this priceless collection, we have Ness, straight from battling Giygas in 'Earthbound', next to him are the two Ice Climbers with their trademark hammers, and next to them is the adorable pink blob known as Kirby, with his on/off friend/enemy, King Dedede!"

"Next up, we have Simon Belmont from the original Castlevania days of battling Dracula, along with Captain Falcon, the F-Zero champion driver, and next to him is the original hand-held mascot, Mr Game & Watch."

Everyone had thought that Mr Game & Watch was a cardboard shadow until the voice had pointed out that it was actually a contestant.

"Our last two contestants will be beginning the first fight! One of them is Pit, the handsome young greek legend from 'Kid Icarus', and the other is the slightly more well-known… WARIO!"

Link saw Pit, the young boy from greek legends, turning to see his opponent, and being met with a laughing snarl. Wario looked tough. Link did not envy Pit right now…

Pit however, was granted a few minutes more preparation as the voice declared,

"All the matches for the first round have been posted on the wall opposite. It will be one minute until the first fight begins."
Link, along with various other characters, rushed to the notice board to see the fight plans. They read:

Pit VS Wario

Ness VS Mewtwo

Luigi VS Pichu

Princess Peach VS Princess Zelda

Diddy Kong VS Jigglypuff

Captain Falcon VS Falco

Simon Belmont VS Dr Wiley

Protoman VS Samus

Mario VS Starfox

Bowser VS Cranky Kong

Kaptain K Rool VS Ice Climbers

Ganondorf VS Toad

Mr Game & Watch VS Donkey Kong

Kirby VS Yoshi

Megaman VS Pikachu

Link VS King Dedede

Link didn't have much time to see his opponent, who, from what he could see, resembled a large duck in a coat, because the first fight was starting. He sat down in the audience and watched as Pit and Wario were teleported to an arena to start the tournament.