Chapter Two: Old Friend, New Friend

Ravio woke up with a start, covered in sweat, his bright green eyes wide open. He loosened his striped scarf a bit as he looked around and took note of his surroundings. He was in a grassy field outlined by a thick forest, and in the distance, he could see a castle that looked a bit mismatched. For example, one side of the building resembled Lorule's castle, whereas another side had a completely different castle style, and another side was made of a metal Ravio didn't recognize and seemed to be powered by some sort of magic. Point is, Ravio didn't recognize where he was at all, so he figured his best chance was to scope out the strange castle to see where he was, and maybe get directions back to Lorule.

Thinking of his home-kingdom made Ravio groan, suddenly sick to his stomach. He was right there. That stranger who probably had Hilda and Lorule's Triforce had been right in front of Ravio, and he didn't attack, because he was a coward. And now Lorule is in trouble because of him. "Woah there, one step at a time, Ravio," the merchant said to himself. He could still feel the weight of his familiar bag of merchandise strapped on his back, and the unfamiliar sword sitting in the sheath just behind the bag, so that was a start. He began the slow walk to the castle.

When he got there, Ravio walked around to the side that looked like a backwards Lorule Castle, or maybe a clean-cut Hyrule Castle and tried the large, heavy door. It was unlocked, and surprisingly, there were no guards. So, the merchant let himself in.

The inside was remarkably similar to Hyrule castle, which he had visited once over two years ago. The hallway had a dark red carpet, and lots of (non-magical) paintings, like he remembered, but Ravio felt that something was slightly off about the castle, especially considering that it seemed as if the castle completely changed themes after the hallway ended. 'I guess it sorta reflects the outside, what with all the different structures and looks' said Ravio, putting his purple rabbit hood on. Looking around some more, he also realized that there were a grand total of four doors in the 'Hyrule hallway' before the theme changed to that of a more comical castle. Ravio wondered why that was, when suddenly one of the doors flew open and Ravio dove behind a blue vase, nearly knocking the pottery over in the process.

He peeked out from behind the vase to see what had come out of the room, and was surprised and happy to find a familiar figure with blonde hair and a green tunic over chain mail walking away from his hiding place. He ran up behind the figure and gave him a tap on the shoulder. "Mr. Hero! It's you!" the green-clad hero turned around and looked at Ravio curiously. Like the castle, this Link looked different and taller than Ravio remembered, not to mention he had an updated shield, but that didn't matter, for he knew that his old Hero-Friend Link would surely help him... Right?

"Uh, should I know you?" "Yes, I rented you items for your journey, remember? With the paintings and such?" Ravio, his hope wilting a little, began rummaging in his bag for something, anything, that Link had used on his journey. "I-I'm sorry," said Link, genuinely, "But I really don't think we've met." Desperation turned to frustration, Ravio took off his hood. "Listen to me, Mr. Hero. Lorule, my home, has been taken by someone very powerful and I need your help." "Lorule? Where's that? And why d'you look like me?" Link was confused as Ravio huffed. "Look, I'm you from another dimension! Almost two years ago you and Zelda helped me and Princess Hilda restore the Triforce to our land, and now it's been taken AGAIN by... By... Well, I don't know who, but we need to rescue Lorule before it's too late!" Link looked somewhat surprised by this outburst from the purple-clothed stranger. "Look," said Link, "um, I'd really like to help, but I need more details." Ravio nodded. "Ok, like what?" "Like what your name is and what universe you're from?" "Well, my name's Ravio, and uh..."

Suddenly, the door next to the one Link came out of opened and a tall, dark-skinned man walked out. He had red hair and gold eyes, typical of a Gerudo, and wore dark armor with a noticeable glowing chink in it. Distracted by the door opening, Ravio broke off his sentence and looked at the figure. "Oh, hey Ganon," said Link. "Hey, who's this?" Ganondorf towered over Ravio, who had started stuttering and backing up. "Y-you!" "What?" Ganon looked confused, but Ravio continued, "What did you do with Hilda? And Lorule?" he unsheathed his sword. "Tell me!" "Woah, calm down, Ravio," said Link, putting an arm on Ravio's sword arm, "This is Ganondorf. He's fine." "But he stole the Triforce from my land!" protested Ravio, "I didn't see his face, but that voice! I know it's him." Ganon put his hands up, trying to calm the purple stranger. "Look, kid, I don't know who you are, but I didn't steal any Triforce and I sure as heck don't know any 'Hilda'." he put a hand on his chin, thinking, "Well, I did try to conquer Hyrule a few times in the past, but after living in this castle for a while, Zelda, Link and I have made up since then. I mean, there's a few skirmishes here and there but I wouldn't try to overtake a kingdom again." "He's right, trying to take a kingdom would be ... unwise." Ravio jumped, and Zelda stepped out from behind a curtain.

"I swear, Zelda, if you make one more Nayru-Awful pun I swear I'll-" "Wait, Zelda?" Ravio cut off Link and kneeled before the Princess, wondering at the same time why she looked so different, and wearing some sort of armor over a more intricate dress than the other Zelda he knew. "There's no need, child." Zelda turned to Link and Ganon. "How long have you been listening in?" asked Link. "Hm, awhile," said Zelda with a smirk, "however, I've heard enough to know that Ravio here needs assistance. And we're going to help him." "YOU GUYS are gonna help him," said Ganondorf, beginning to walk away, "I have other things to do." Zelda stood in front of the dark lord and stared him down. "You are going to help, things to do or not." "Zelda does make a point," said Link, moving to stand next to Zelda, "I mean, according to Ravio YOU stole their Triforce, so it would do some good to have a Ganon from another timeline there." "Wait a minute," said Ravio, breaking into the conversation, "firstly, how do you know that Ganondorf isn't lying about stealing my Triforce? Secondly, you mention 'another timeline'. What's that supposed to mean?"

"We'll explain later," said Link, "Zelda, can you gather the others in the Great Hall? Ganondorf and I will catch up in a minute." Zelda nodded and walked down the hall. "Alright, Ravio," said Link, "I need you to be really specific, okay?" Ravio nodded. "What Hylian history do you know?" "To be honest, not that much," admitted the merchant, "But I do know that when Hilda and Yuga came to try and steal the Hylian Triforce, it took them a while to locate the Triforce of Power because the bearer had died many years ago. But what does that matter?" "Because," said Ganon, "unlike most other universes, the one we're from has multiple timelines, which one from our world wouldn't realize was the case unless they came here." "And where's 'here', exactly?" "Smash Castle." said a stranger who walked out of another door. He looked almost like Link, except he was very short and had brown eyes instead of blue. His tunic also looked slightly different than the taller Link's and he looked way younger.

"Woah, am I seeing double?" joked Ravio nervously, and the younger Link copy caught on. "No, not at all." "Ravio," said Link, "This is Toon Link, but around here we just call him Toon, to avoid confusion." Ravio shook hands with the small Link and smiled. "Nice to meet ya, Mr. Toon Hero." "Likewise, Ravio. Hope to see you later!" Toon Link ran off down the hallway, off to find his friends and tell them about the new stranger. "So, um, what were you gonna say about the timelines?" "Come on, Ravio," said Link, starting to walk in the direction Zelda was going, "We're going to the library." When Ganon tried to walk away in the opposite direction, Ravio seized his cape with surprising strength and dragged the Gerudo with him.

Ravio thought the walk to the 'Smash Castle's library was interesting. Like the outside of the Castle, the inside held several different themes, in which different types of people lived. Link explained to Ravio that Smash Castle held warriors and champions from across the multiverse, many of which either fought in tournaments or acted as "assist trophies" to help some fighters in battle. The living quarters of each group of fighters depended on what universe they were from ('So that explains the different designs,' thought Ravio). For example, all of the fighters from Hyrule lived in the Hyrule themed area. Some other sections included in the Smash Castle were the Mushroom Kingdom, Fire Emblem, the Arcade, and Pokémon HQ. Something odd that Ravio noticed almost instantly (aside from the architecture) was the variety of residents living at the Castle. One creature, who Ganon obviously knew, resembled a kind of large, malicious yellow turtle, yet when the trio turned the corner Ravio was startled when a yellow lightning-fast mouse like creature darted down the hallway, it's whiskers shooting small sparks as it passed.

When they finally got to the library, Link pulled out a green-covered book called the Hyrule Historia. He opened it up to a page with an odd timeline, and skimmed the Hylian written across the page. "This is a compiled collection of history from our world," explained Link, "And as you can see here, the history splits into three possible timelines after the Quest of the Hero of Time." "So each outcome of a final battle creates an alternate universe?" Ravio summed up. "Yes," said Link, "and in this case, there are three outcomes. The first timeline: The Hero of Time defeats Ganondorf and he keeps living his life as an adult. The Adult timeline is where Toon Link is from." "Really?" said Ravio, surprised. 'So interdimensional travel is still possible,' he thought with a glimmer of hope. "The next timeline option happens if the Hero of Time defeats Ganondorf, and is then sent back to his own time to relive his childhood. The Child Timeline is where Ganon, Zelda and I are from." Ravio put a hand on his chin, confused. "Wait, so Link said you were defeated, Ganon?" Ganondorf, who hadn't spoken for a while, nodded once. "Yes, that child and his Twili friend defeated me," he said, gruffly, "And sometimes I still think I could have fought a little better, but that is over. Master Hand, the one in charge of the Castle you might say, gave me, Zelda, and Link a chance to participate in the Super Smash Tournament only if we kept the fights in the Arenas." "Interesting," said Ravio, trying to process what was said.

Link cleared his throat. "anyway, moving on... The final timeline option, which happens if Ganondorf succeeds and kills the Hero of Time, has the most incarnations of the hero, not to mention the defeat of the evil wind sorcerer Vaati and the weird hero that wielded the Wand of Gamelon." ("Talk about an evil face," muttered Ganon, to which Link glared at him and muttered something about 'another Din-Awful pun and I swear...'). "Huh, so that must be your favorite timeline, Ganon," joked Ravio. "Hah, if only I'd lived it," chuckled Ganon, "Although I'll have to admit, the Me from Toon's era is not bad..." "Can we please get on topic?" sighed Link. "Right," said Ravio determinedly, "We were talking about timelines?" "Yes. Based on what you said earlier about the 'bearer of the Triforce of Power being destroyed', I think you might be from the Hero's Downfall timeline." "Really? Why?" "Because," Ganon broke in, "Even if the Hero of Time dies, I could still be defeated by another incarnation of the Hero." "Makes sense," said Ravio.

"Okay, he's from the Downfall Timeline in an Alternate Dimension, we've established that much," said Ganon as Link put the Hyrule Historia back on the shelf, "So what's the plan now, Hero?" At that point, Zelda walked into the library. "The other Smashers are gathered in the Great Hall," she said, "And I haven't told them anything yet, so you guys had better get in there." "Well, let's go already!" Ganon quickly strode out of the room before anyone could stop him again, and the three others quickly followed suit.

Hello again readers! I hope you enjoyed the first two chapters of this story! I have more chapters coming, so if I have any info that is incorrect be sure to comment and let me know! Any suggestions, likes, and follows are appreciated and encouraged, and don't forget that they will also encourage me to get more chapters up!