Link was teleported back from the ruins of 'Brinstar Depths' to the Great Hall. For a few seconds, he just stood there panting, before the cheers started. Zelda ran forwards and hugged Link while most of the others just clapped. A handshake from Pit, a nod from Samus, and a look of resentment, but begrudged respect from Ganondorf were given to him next as he was congratulated by the rest of the Smashers. A small silence fell as Mario slowly approached him, but the tension was broken when Mario took of his cap and bowed to the winner. Link smiled and did the same.
Before he could thank the competitors for the applause, Master Hand descended from the ceiling to reveal himself for the first time, expecting gasps from the Smashers, but instead receiving a cold silence, only broken when Mewtwo said proudly,
"I told you guys he was a giant hand…"
Master Hand grunted in disapproval and muttered to Mewtwo,
"You can just wave goodbye to your appearance in any sequels…"
Master Hand then turned to face the rest of the Smashers and tried to address them politely.
"Ladies and gentleman… and Hylians… and citizens of Mushroom Kingdom… and Pokemon… and weird pink blobs… and robotic bounty hunters… and fat people," (Wario let out an angry snarl) "Let me be the first to congratulate not just Link, but all of you for competing in one of the first of hopefully many tournaments. I saw your progress, and you all fought well. I look forward to your returns if… you allow me to hold more tournaments… I can bring more competitors too. I've heard of these people from a myth called 'Fire Emblem' that are pretty good, and I might be able to persuade other big names like Sonic to compete next time too. What do you guys say?"
A stunned silence fell over the hall as the Smashers realised they could be doing this more often. The silence ended when Luigi said,
"Same time next week everyone?"
Master Hand let out a happy but mildly disturbing squeal as the rest of the Smashers agreed with Luigi, and generally thought it was a good idea to be returning to fight again.
"Yes!!! I mean, good." muttered Master Hand before 5 small boxes appeared at the end of his fingertips. The Smashers looked at them confusedly, before Master Hand continued to say, "Well you can't have a tournament without medals, can you?"
Most of the Smashers gave excited little gasps as Master Hand clicked his fingers and the five boxes went flying in random directions.
"I'm going to need a LOT of time to prepare for further tournaments, so I'll leave it to you guys to give the medals to whoever they say won them. Enjoy them!"
Before anyone could thank Master Hand, he floated back up through the ceiling and disappeared. The attention quickly shifted to the 5 medal boxes, which had been caught by various Smashers. Samus Aran caught one, and she opened it quickly, before clearing her throat and reading out,
"For coming second in the tournament, and beating Star Fox, Diddy Kong, Ness, Pit, and putting up a good fight against Link, this medal goes to Mario!"
The Smashers clapped as Samus gave Mario his medal with pride. Ness was the next to have found a box, and eagerly read out,
"For winning the tournament, and beating King Dedede, Pichu, The Ice Climbers, Samus, and Mario, this medal goes to Link!"
Link smiled and bent over to Ness' height so the young boy could reach high enough to put the medal on him. Falco grasped the next box tightly in his wing, and opened it slowly and dramatically, only to discover that it was bronze.
"Outstanding achievement, third place. For beating King K Rool, Simon Belmont, and almost beating Link, this award goes to the Ice Climbers!"
Popo and Nana cheered while the rest of the Smashers clapped and Falco put the medal around both of them.
Jigglypuff had caught another medal, but Mewtwo thought that the message in the box would be better understood in human speech, so he took it and read out,
"Outstanding achievement, second place. For beating," Mewtwo sighed as he read the next word, but cleared his throat and carried on. "For beating Mewtwo, Megaman, and almost beating Mario, this medal goes to Ness!"
Mewtwo hung the medal around Ness' shoulders telekinetically, while the rest of the Smashers applauded again and Ness blushed.
Link himself had caught the last medal, and opened it slowly, before picking out the note and saying,
"Outstanding achievement, first place. For beating Wario, Bowser, Kirby, putting up a good fight against Mario, and being a good friend, even though it doesn't say that here, the gold medal goes to Pit!"
The hall roared with applause as Link handed Pit his medal with a smile. With all the medals given out, there was another short silence before some small roaring sounds came from the opposite side of the hall. At first the Smashers backed away, but they soon realised that portals were appearing to take them back to their homelands. The first one to appear was labelled, 'Dream Land', which Kirby and King Dedede walked into after waving goodbye to the Smashers. Soon, more portals appeared, including 'Kanto', 'Mushroom Kingdom', 'Eagleland', 'Hyrule', and 'DK Island'.
The Smashers slowly began to leave. Some shook hands, some exchanged vague addresses, whilst some just waved and left.
"Next time, I'll try not to get in any fights outside the tournament," said Zelda as she jumped back into Hyrule.
"Next time I'll be prepared for everyone," said Ness before stepping back to his house in Onett.
"Next time, me and my new Kong friend here will get further than the first round," said Fox jokingly, patting Donkey Kong on the back before stepping through the portal labelled 'Lylat System'.
"Next time, I'll have trained harder," said Pit, before he stepped back through the portal to tell Palutena of his adventures."
It was just Mario and Link left, as Mario tipped his hat to the elf and said, "Next time, I'll get even further," before stepping back into the Mushroom Kingdom.
Link let out a small chuckle and muttered, to no one in particular,
"And next time, I'll have a title to defend as champion," before stepping back into Hyrule and awaiting news of the next tournament.
The end!