I got this one done early. It's longer than the last one by quite a bit, but still pretty short. I'll work on that. So without further ado…

CHAPTER 2: THE WELCOMING COMMITTEE

As soon as Ike past through the gates, he gasped. In front of him was an incredibly large and beautiful estate, the largest and most topographically diverse piece of property he had ever seen in his life. To his left, a forest stretched onwards towards the horizon with no visible end. To his right, a lake consumed a very large corner of the grounds. And straight ahead, at the end of a long path, lay the Smash Fortress, the largest and most defensible building in the modern world. Its numerous towers stood like soldiers against the world, while its walls towered almost over the towers themselves. From where he was standing, he could make out the shapes of hundreds of men patrolling the grounds and fortress, each and every one of them armed with what looked like guns. Ike was astonished at this fact, as guns where a relatively new technology to the continent of Tellius, and only the most elite warriors where permitted to carry them.

He had very little time to take all of this in, however, before the sound of a horse coming to a stop resounded behind him. Ike turned around to see a large brown horse standing just outside the gates. Seated on the horse was a blond boy with pointy ears who looked to be about 17 years old, very near Ike's own age of 18. He wore a long, floppy green hat and matching tunic, and carried a sword on his hip and a bow on his back.

The boy, noticing Ike said, "Hello. You must be one of the new competitors. My name is Link. What's yours?"

"My name is Ike."

"Well, Ike," said Link, as he climbed off of his horse, "Would you like me to give you a tour of the premises?"

"Yes, that would be much appreciated," said Ike.

"Then come, let us walk"

Link began to head down the winding path that led to the Fortress, Ike following close behind.

"So," said Link, "where are you from, Ike?"

Ike replied, "I'm a general in the Crimean army on the continent of Tellius. You?"

"I'm actually the Captain of the Royal Knights of Hyrule," boasted Link, somewhat lightheartedly.

"Really?" said Ike, slightly skeptical.

"Yeah," Link answered. "You see, I saved Hyrule from tyranny a while ago, and they appointed me as reward."

Ike realized how similar this was to his own story. "You don't say. You know, I saved the continent from the evil king of Daien."

"Cool. Well, you better get used to stories like this, because everyone whose competing has some sort of tale of country saving or something. They weren't chosen for no reason."

"Speaking of the tournament," Ike asked, "what exactly happens?"

"Well," said Link in his most authoritative voice, "the Master Hand, the league coordinator, chooses from the participants and pits them in non-lethal combat against each other in a multitude of stages built for this purpose. The rest of the rules will be explained in the orientation. Well, here we are."

They had reached the gates of the Fortress. They seemed even more impressive close-up, being several stories tall and about as wide. Link walked to one side of it and yelled into a tube that led up to the top of the wall, "Open the gates!"

A gruff voice repied, "Who's down there?"

"Link and Ike. He's new."

"Ah, just a second"

The voice died away and there were many moments of complete silence. This silence was violently broken by what sounded like a million mice being crushed by a large hammer, followed by a very large earthquake.

"Don't worry," said Link, practically screaming over the racket. "It's just the gates opening."

And indeed they were. The large metal grate was slowly inching to one side. The noise went on for quite a while and all of a sudden stopped when the grate screeched to a halt.

"Right this way, Ike," said Link.

END CHAPTER 2

Well, I got that one out of the way. By the way, reviews make me happy. Flames do not. Flames are for making s'mores, not rating stories. Please review (only constructive criticism unless you agree that this is the best story ever).