Mario POV

I began to run towards the sea when Bowser stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

"You aren't going out there without a fight with me, plumber." He said.

"Forget your battle, someone's about to drown, yet you want to fight! What is wrong with you?" I pushed past him and continued towards the water. Off in the distance, I heard my enemy yelling in rage and say he'll get me later, but I didn't bother to think about him at the moment.

Before I knew it, I was swimming towards the boy in the sea. Adrenaline coursed throughout my body as I began to get closer to the drowning boy. The waves were unnaturally strong and I was being pushed back to shore, away from the kid. As I got closer, I began noticing the outfit the kid was wearing.

He was wearing all green with a familiar green cap on his head. I was now at arm's reach of the boy, yet I hesitated in saving him. He reminded me of Link, the only person I despised more than Bowser. 'I could turn back right now and leave him out here.' I thought to myself. Instantly, I felt horrible for even thinking of leaving him out here. I was supposed to be a hero, yet I was thinking of leaving a child to die.

I grabbed the kid, who wasn't moving at all, and began swimming towards shore. Even with the currents pushing me in the right direction, the kid was weighing me down. I had to force myself to stay afloat as we got closer to shore. I looked back at the boy and saw something clinging on to his leg.

Whatever that was, it was slowing us down and I needed to get it off quickly. I propped the boy so that he was floating face upwards and swum to his leg. After getting a closer look, I saw that a glove was tightly gripped to his leg. I pulled away the glove, which was connected to a body. Instantly, the eyes opened and I was met with one of my old rivals, Sonic the hedgehog. Nowadays, he was more of a nuisance than an enemy. Sonic quickly grabbed the kid's leg again to remain buoyant.

"Look who it is," Sonic sneered, "the fat plumber from the mushroom kingdom. I can't wait to wait to destroy you in the smash tournaments this year! Hmmm… where is your shadow, I mean brother?"

"He… couldn't make it." I lied. "What are you doing out in the sea? I thought you couldn't swim."

"The sea is the fastest way the tournament from my place, and I don't do boats. They're too slow, like yo-" Before he could finish his sentence, the hedgehog sank underneath the waves like a brick, carrying the little boy. I quickly grabbed them both and began to swim towards shore, trying to keep both of their heads above the water.

Once I reached shore, I was extremely sore, but I had still had the boy to worry about. Kirby ran over to my side as I began checking his pulse. When I felt the beating of his heart I began to relax. I turned to my marshmallow friend and said, "Good news, he'll be fine."

"Yay!" Kirby exclaimed.

"Have you forgotten about me? I almost drowned!" Sonic said groggily. He stood up and started brushing the dirt off of him. "Never going near water again." Sonic looked up at the stadium. "I made it. I, Sonic the freaking Hedgehog have made it to smash bros! I am not late this time either. It's time for me to go register my spot in. Talk to you guys later on the battle field. I hope that link pretender gets better. Bye!" Before I knew it, he was off in the stadium, leaving a blue trail behind him.

After Sonic left, I was alone with Kirby, and this kid dressed up as link. Maybe he was some sort of fan of Link who loved to dress up as him. Fans did this all of the time so I didn't think much of it. I carried the boy inside and laid him down on a bench.

Then, I noticed the piece of paper had fallen out of his pocket on the trip inside. I went back to go get it.

Normally, I wouldn't look at other's personal things, but the design of the paper was oddly familiar. In fact, when I picked it up, I realized it was the invitation letter to the smash bros tournament. When I walked back to Kirby and the boy, my curiosity had gotten the best of me and I began to read the letter aloud. "You are invited to join in the Super Smash Bros tournament, Link, as a newcomer."

I felt a chill down my spine. The paper dropped from my hands and Kirby scrambled to pick it up and read it himself. When he was done reading, he looked up at me with an expression of disbelief.

"So, his name is Link." I said. "If he's anything like the other Link, we're going to have a problem." I couldn't believe there was another link. I couldn't even take one being here, but two? The kid couldn't even make it here unharmed, how would he expect himself to win?

Kirby began tugging at my shirt.

"What do you want?" I said. My tone must have been more aggressive than I meant it to be, because Kirby had an expression of shock. "I'm sorry." I apologized. "What did you want me for anyway?"

"I think I can answer that."

I turned around to see the Link I know standing in front of a hallway, arms crossed, as if we interrupted him from his activities.

Link started walking over to us. "Mario, Mario, Mario. It's nice seeing you again, old friend."