Author's Disclaimer: I do not own Super Smash Bros or any of the characters involved in it. I am earning no profit from this story, other than the enjoyment of writing it and sharing it with others! I hope you all enjoy reading it!

One final explosion shattered the door. Cloud drew his sword off his back and held it in front of his face, the thick blade protecting him from the wooden shrapnel. Sephiroth's wing flashed into existence, and he used it to protect himself. When the dust settled, both fighters lowered their makeshift shields and beheld the wreckage. Wood littered the floor of Sephiroth's room. Standing in the newly emptied doorway was Link, his Sheikah Slate in hand and a fierce scowl on his face. Young Link was behind him, accompanied by Zelda, Palutena, and Shulk.

Cloud let out a sigh of relief. Sephiroth held up his hands in mock defeat. "Go on, Cloud. You've been rescued, it seems. I cannot do anything more."

"Let's go," Palutena ordered Cloud, and it suddenly occurred to him that they might be cross with him. Going up into his nemesis's room by himself without telling anyone wasn't exactly the best course of action.

"I hope you think about what I said," Sephiroth sneered. "I hope you-" his sentence cut off as his body glowed gold and golden chains shot through him.

Link had the Sheikah Slate pointed at him, an emblem of a gold lock visible on the screen. "I'm more than certain you are tired of his voice," the knight explained. "But it won't last. Let us be off." He gestured for Cloud to lead the way down the hall.

Cloud glanced at Sephiroth's frozen body, then squared his shoulders and walked back downstairs. The one-winged angel was no match for all of Cloud's friends. He could at least take solace in that.

"You didn't think to do that to Cloud when he was being possessed?" Young Link demanded of Link.

"It would not have accomplished anything. Merely forestalled the inevitable. Five seconds is its limit. That is not much time."

Young Link shrugged.

"We can't ignore what just happened," Shulk reminded the two heroes. He glared at Cloud. "Just what exactly were you thinking?"

"He wasn't," Palutena added helpfully.

Cloud couldn't really deny that. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Somebody needed to talk to him about fighting with us."

"And it shouldn't have been you," Zelda said pointedly. "He has too much emotional blackmail. You both hate each other. And no offense, but you're not great at controlling how you feel."

"I'm honestly impressed his Limit didn't break while he was in there," Young Link pointed out.

"Mewtwo told me he might listen to me."

"Mewtwo was wrong. And we should've talked about this," Shulk insisted. "Even if that was the best course of action, we could've taken a better approach than having you go up into his room alone without any backup!"

Cloud sighed. "Okay, I screwed up, I get it."

"And…?" Zelda prompted.

"And what?"

"She is looking for an apology," Link said.

Cloud sighed. "What am I? A child?"

"Just do it, Cloud," Palutena ordered. "You messed up. And depending on what you said to him, you might've messed up our plan. I think you should say you're sorry."

"Doesn't look sorry," Young Link noted. "And not even a thank you to me either! You know I got back downstairs and not even Mewtwo knew you were in danger. If it hadn't been for me, you really would've been stuck!"

"Alright, I'm sorry!" Cloud exclaimed. "I'm sorry I didn't think that through. And thank you, Young Link."

Shulk nodded, satisfied.

"Moving on then," Zelda decided. "Did you manage to convince him?"

"No."

"Then we'll need to take a different approach," Palutena muttered. "How can we get him to see reason?"

"He does not seem like a reasonable man," Link pointed out.

"He isn't sane, but he isn't stupid," Shulk corrected.

"Did he tell you anything important?" Zelda asked Cloud.

Cloud considered the question.

"He did," Young Link jumped in. "Or did you forget about the part where he wants to use your body to fight against Master Hand, Cloud?"

Cloud sighed. "I didn't forget."

"Elaborate," Link said.

"He dragged me up there because he wanted to make me angry-"

"Which he did a very good job of," Palutena noted.

Cloud glared at her. "He wants my Limit to be easily breakable. So that in two days, he and I can fight Master Hand and Crazy Hand. Alone."

"Thank goodness he doesn't know about liquid rage," Shulk admitted.

"...He probably does," Cloud said.

"How? Who would've told him?"

"Maybe Ganondorf. But he knows about the orbs for sure."

"What did you tell him?" Young Link cried, kicking Cloud in the shins.

Cloud bit back a swear. "Nothing. I told him nothing. But he can take whatever he wants from my head. Probably did it while I was sleeping."

The party exchanged nervous glances. "We hadn't thought about that," Zelda said quietly.

"Then why wouldn't he give you liquid rage?" Shulk questioned.

"He'd need to raid the office," Young Link pointed out.

"Yes, but he doubtlessly knows how," Palutena said.

"Because Cloud is uncontrollable when he's like that," Zelda suggested. "More likely, Cloud could break free and attack Sephiroth. Sephiroth needs him seething, but not like that. That's almost more like being drunk."

"But back to the telepathy thing," Shulk said. "Can he take from any of us?"

Cloud shook his head.

"So any planning we do...we need to leave you out of it…" Palutena surmised.

"Why bother?" Young Link questioned. "He already knows about the most important thing; the orbs."

"Which he's also leaving alone," Zelda observed.

"He'll probably try to take some once he gets into the office," Shulk guessed.

"He also doesn't want to wait for us to carry out our attack," Palutena said. "Which he knows is in less than three weeks."

"But then he knows we need him," Young Link argued. "Without him, we can't do it."

"If we wait too long, people will get angry," Zelda sighed.

"We will not take stupid risks because the others are impatient," Link assured her. "They can afford to wait. We cannot afford to do this wrong."

"He's right," Shulk agreed. "If we lose this time, Master Hand will make sure we never remember our fights again, and we'll never rediscover the orbs. This is our best shot. We can't mess it up."

"The only piece that's missing is Sephiroth," Palutena sighed.

"So?" Young Link questioned. The others stared at him in bewilderment. "Yeah, that's right. All we have to do is wait a few days. He'll get himself thrown in the torture room for controlling Cloud again, and he'll see that he can't stay here. He'll want to fight."

"He isn't that petty," Cloud argued. "He doesn't get angry that easily."

"...That's a problem we could fix," Zelda realized.

"What do you-"

"Liquid anger," Shulk caught on.

"Okay, no," Young Link objected. "Cloud was insane when he drank that stuff. I don't even want to think about Sephiroth."

"But I didn't hurt any of you," Cloud admitted. "I only hurt the robots."

"Because you care for us," Link explained easily.

"No. Because I hated the robots more than you."

"Real nice of you," Young Link sneered.

"I'm serious. Zelda called it being drunk, and well, that's what it feels like too. I couldn't think straight. All I knew was that those stupid robots had hurt me and all I wanted was to hurt them back. Samus told me I should focus on the iron door in the hallway. Well, that door hadn't hurt me, so I ignored it."

"If we give Sephiroth artificial anger...he'll fight with us," Shulk said. "Not even of his own free will, but he doesn't hate any of us. He hates Master Hand, Crazy Hand and their robots."

"Yeah, well, he also hates Cloud," Young Link said.

"If he never sees Cloud, he'll leave him alone," Zelda said.

"How is Cloud going to consistently hide himself in the middle of an active battlefield?"

"He will not have to," Link said.

Cloud glanced at him.

"An active battlefield moves much too fast for close scrutiny. All you need, Cloud, is something else to wear. All you ever wear is the color black. Put on something else, and you would be unrecognizable unless he really stopped and stared."

"His hair would give him away," Palutena snickered.

"Just dump a bucket of water over it and suddenly it's not so spiky," Young Link suggested.

Cloud opened his mouth to protest, but Zelda spoke first. "Now we're on to something," she said with a small smile.

They got downstairs and crossed the room to everyone else.

"One problem," Palutena said. "This will work, yeah. As long as Sephiroth doesn't find out. And we've just told Cloud everything."

Cloud stared at the floor, clenching his teeth.

"Well, we're officially the stupidest people ever," Young Link decided, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Cloud!" Pit called. "You're alright!"

Cloud nodded.

Toon Link got out of his chair and ran to Cloud's side, throwing his arms around him. Cloud ruffled his hair. "I'm fine, kid."

"You shouldn't have done that," Toon Link whispered, shivering. "I-I was so worried about you!" He stared up at Cloud, and the ex-mercenary noted that Toon's eyes were rimmed with tear tracks. That only served to make him feel worse.

"Did you at least accomplish what you set out to?" Robin asked.

Cloud shook his head.

"We've got a tentative plan, though," Zelda admitted.

"Yeah, as long as Cloud forgets about it," Palutena agreed.

"What?" Pit questioned.

They quickly explained what they had discussed on their way downstairs, and why it was so bad that Cloud knew about it.

"Has he found out yet?" Robin asked Cloud.

Cloud shook his head. "No. I don't think so." He hadn't felt Sephiroth in his head, but he hadn't at any other time and Sephiroth already had all that other information. Mewtwo had mentioned he felt Sephiroth in Cloud's head that one night. Perhaps scouring Cloud's memories while he slept was a regular occurrence. But since Cloud hadn't gone to bed since this plan had been hatched, he was hoping it was safe.

"So we need to wipe your memory before you go to sleep tonight," Shulk said thoughtfully.

"Yes, but nobody here knows how to do that except Master Hand," Young Link said.

It sounds like you could use my assistance.

"Mewtwo says he can help," Cloud said. He didn't exactly want to have his memories tampered with, but they had no other course of action.

The others turned to him, waiting for elaboration.

I can wipe clean the conversation you just had. And I can even create false memories in their place. All you'll remember is being scolded on the way downstairs from Sephiroth's room.

"Can you really do that?"

My power might not be much compared to Sephiroth's, at least when it comes to you, but my abilities are still nothing to scoff at. I can do much more than that, Cloud Strife, but that is what you need, no?

Cloud nodded. "Mewtwo can reset my memory. I won't remember anything we just talked about, except being yelled at."

"Woah," Pit breathed. "That's crazy."

"It's exactly what we need," Palutena admitted.

"So, how do we do it?" Shulk asked.

Meet me in your room. Being conscious throughout the entire process would be painful. So I will knock you out first. You'll wake up just fine, perhaps with a headache, but nothing terrible.

Cloud relayed the instructions.

"And the rest of us need to not bring this up around him," Zelda added. "He can't know."

"Are you alright with this?" Link questioned.

Cloud nodded. "Whatever it takes to get out of here."

Link nodded slowly. "As you wish."

"It's just a three-minute conversation," Young Link said. "Not his entire life."

Link shrugged, but his expression suggested that he found this solution to be undesirable.

"I'll be fine," Cloud promised. "I'll never know, right?"

"But we will," Link insisted. "I just…"

"It's okay, Link," Zelda said, taking his hand. "Young Link's right. It's not his entire life. It's not really anything important. It won't damage his relationship with anyone here."

"...Very well," Link decided.

Of course Link would be sensitive about anything regarding memories. But they had no choice. And it wasn't even Link's memory being messed with. The knight would be fine.

"Let's head upstairs, yeah?" Pit asked.

"Yeah," Cloud agreed. He assumed Mewtwo was already up there. He hadn't seen him ascend the staircase, but he also hadn't been paying much attention. Cloud led the way back to his room. Sephiroth was nowhere to be found. Now that he'd sufficiently bothered Cloud, it seemed he was content to return to his self-imposed isolation.

"While we're doing this, why don't we just get rid of Cloud's entire conversation with Sephiroth?" Young Link questioned.

"What would that accomplish?" Zelda asked.

"Sephiroth wanted to make you mad, Cloud," Young Link replied. "And he did a good job at it, didn't he?"

Cloud didn't reply. But he couldn't deny the anger that had been stirring in his stomach for a while now. It wouldn't take much to set him off right now.

"He did," Young Link decided. "But if we erase that...Sephiroth's attack on Master Hand will fail catastrophically."

"We cannot risk it," Link objected. "Sephiroth will question why Cloud was not angered. He watched Cloud's reaction. He knows he is upset."

"He'll be thrown into the torture room before he can ask questions," Young Link argued.

"And so will Cloud," Shulk realized. "Cloud...you do realize that in two days Sephiroth is going to get you thrown into the torture room, right?"

Cloud clenched his fists. "I hadn't made the connection, no. But you're right, of course."

"We could try to help…" Pit suggested tentatively.

"No," Cloud objected sharply. "Stay out of it. Please. None of you need to get hurt."

"You're going to be tortured, Cloud," Zelda said. "Surely we can do something."

"He's right," Robin admitted. "There's nothing we could do but get ourselves either injured or in trouble. Sephiroth could just as easily turn Cloud on us than on Master Hand. We don't need to repeat what happened a week ago all over again."

"I'm staying upstairs," Toon Link mumbled.

"You all should," Cloud said. "I'm serious. I'll survive. I can't do anything about it. But you all can. So please, stay upstairs, and stay out of it."

"Okay, back to my suggestion," Young Link said. "Sephiroth's attack will go much worse if Cloud's Limit isn't readily available."

"We can't do it, Young Link," Palutena said. "Based on everything he already knows, Sephiroth spends a lot of time in Cloud's head. He'll notice if that entire conversation just isn't there anymore."

"Will he notice that Cloud's memories are otherwise fractured?" Link asked.

No, Mewtwo assured Cloud. My work is seamless. Nobody will know but us.

"Mewtwo says he won't," Cloud replied. "And that's good enough for me." They reached Cloud's door and Cloud let himself inside, leaving the door open for everyone else. Mewtwo was waiting for them, his arms crossed and his eyes closed, violet magic circling his head. His eyes snapped open as soon as Cloud approached his bed, the signature violet color of the physic's magic radiating from his irises.

It won't take long. You'll be awake before dinner. Tell your companions to leave. One of them bring you a potion. When you inevitably ask why you're unconscious, the answer is that you tripped on the way down the stairs.

Cloud repeated the commands, but that explanation was a bit far-fetched. "No way I just fell down and got knocked unconscious."

Do you want to do this or not?

"Yes, I do. But that's a little out there."

Go with it. More importantly, your friends must go with it. Those are the replacement memories I'll give you. You will remember tripping and falling, slicing your head open on Young Link's exposed blade on the way down. Is that satisfactory?

Cloud nodded, relaying the makeshift story. It made some semblance of sense. And Cloud wouldn't doubt his own memory. That was also embarrassing. He would probably never bring it up again if possible.

Very good. Sit down.

Cloud did as he was asked, situating himself on his bed so that his back was leaned against the headrest. When he collapsed from unconsciousness, he wouldn't fall over.

"Goodnight, Cloud," Toon Link whispered.

Mewtwo pressed a finger against Cloud's forehead. A jolt of psychic magic sent his brain into disarray. Another one shut it off completely. Everything went black, and Cloud knew nothing more.

Cloud woke up a while later with the remnant of a headache. He pulled his eyes open slowly, unsure where exactly he was or why he was there. He remembered...talking...about something on the way downstairs. Then he lost his balance...tripped and fell...and then blood was everywhere...that was about it.

"Come on around," Young Link's voice encouraged gently. "That's it, wake up."

Cloud sat up, pressing a hand against his forehead. It had been...bleeding. How? What had he cut himself on? "What...happened?"

"We were on our way downstairs after rescuing you from your ill-advised field trip into Sephiroth's room," Young Link explained almost testily. Oh, that's right. That's what they'd been talking about. Everyone had been mad at Cloud for going off so recklessly. "You tripped on the staircase and fell. I still had my sword out from being high strung and you...sliced your head open on it when you fell."

Cloud ran his fingers across his forehead, searching for some remnant of the injury, but he came up short. That potion did a really good job, apparently. His memory was getting clearer now. Everyone had been scolding him. He'd been getting upset, because he really had only been trying to help. And he'd missed a step, twisting his ankle and crashing to the ground. The memory grew fuzzy around the part where blood was everywhere, but that was only because his head had hurt so badly. The agony was clear. But everything else was pretty foggy. He'd passed out almost immediately after hitting the ground. "How did you get me into my room?"

"Team effort," Young Link answered. "Trust me, it was difficult. We had to make two trips; first you and then that enormous sword. But we got both up here eventually and I ran down to get you a potion."

"Where's everyone else?"

"Eating. It's dinnertime."

"...You missed dinner for me?"

"Hey, I was worried. And I felt bad. It was my sword, after all."

Cloud threw his blankets off himself. "Let's get downstairs. Hopefully there's at least something left."

"Don't count on it," Young Link muttered. He followed Cloud out of his room and down the hall to the staircase. Cloud walked down a little more cautiously than he had previously. Young Link almost laughed at him, but hey, better safe than sorry.

They made it down the stairs without incident and Cloud crossed the main room to the dining table. He took an empty seat and noted that nothing was set in front of it. Young Link did the same, and made the same observation. They'd be hungry tonight, it seemed.

"Did it work?" Pit demanded of Young Link.

Young Link glared at him. "Of course the potion worked, dimwit. Why wouldn't it?"

"G-guess I was just worried," Pit replied, shifting his attention to Cloud and studying him closely. "That head wound was nasty!"

"I'm fine," Cloud said firmly. "Let's not talk about it anymore."

That seemed to settle it. Nobody seemed to want to tease him or poke fun at him. They were happy he was alright, and they seemed more than happy to move on from that subject.

"Only a couple weeks left," Robin said. "Then we'll be free."

"It's been so long, I've forgotten what it feels like," Young Link sighed heavily.

Zelda nodded slowly.

"I'm just ready to see my friends," Shulk said.

"How about you, Link?" Pit asked. "Who are you missing? You never talk about your home much."

Link shrugged.

"...There's nobody you feel like mentioning?" Palutena pushed.

"I have everyone I need right here," Link admitted, taking Zelda's hand.

She giggled, pecking him on the cheek.

Young Link rolled his eyes. "You do have to go home, Link. You've got a job."

"Who says he has to go back to it?" Palutena questioned. "No doubt after six months his kingdom declared him dead."

Link shuddered.

"I guess," Young Link admitted. "But still. Isn't that what you want, Link? To go home?"

"I want to leave this place," Link said firmly.

"Stop bothering him," Zelda commanded Young Link.

Young Link raised his hands in mock defeat. "Whatever."

Toon Link had been awfully quiet during this entire conversation. Wouldn't the kid have something to say about going home? Cloud glanced at him, watching him run his small fingers across a blue charm around his neck. Cloud had noticed the thin gold string before, but he'd never seen the charm it was attached to. Toon always had it tucked into his tunic.

"Whose is that?" Cloud asked him, gesturing to it.

Toon Link looked up as though startled. "What?"

"He asked who that belongs to," Robin repeated.

"Oh. Tetra. It's Tetra's."

Cloud nodded. He, and everyone else around him, knew who Tetra was. She was a prominent part of Toon Link's stories. The daring pirate captain who had a soft spot for the Hero of Winds. She seemed nice enough. Cloud would've liked to meet her, but that likely wasn't going to be possible. They'd defeat Master Hand and Crazy Hand...and that would be it. They'd go home, back to their own remarkably different usual lives. Never to see each other again. Palutena was a goddess, but hopping worlds was not something even she'd been able to do before all this. So they'd never see each other again.

It was sort of a sad thought. Cloud wanted more than anything to get out and see Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel again. But he also would truly miss Toon Link, Pit, Palutena, and all the others. He imagined that melancholy was even more so for Link and Zelda.

"Do you miss her?" Palutena was asking, resting a hand on Toon Link's shoulder.

Toon Link nodded slowly.

"You'll see her in a couple weeks," Zelda promised. "This is going to work, Toon. You have to believe that."

"I...I do," Toon said quietly. "B-but it's been so long. W-what if she doesn't recognize me?" His eyes widened. "What...what if I don't recognize her?"

"How long has it been now?" Cloud questioned.

Toon Link shook his head slowly.

Cloud would guess four or five years. Cloud had gotten here about two and a half years ago. Toon Link had already been here. And he hadn't seemed like a new arrival either. So he had come at least a year before Cloud, maybe longer. Four years was a very long time for a kid.

"You will," Pit said. "You'll know it's her. You love her, right?"

Toon Link nodded timidly, his face flushing.

"Well, that's how love works," Pit said confidently. "You always find the person you love."

"That's not-" Young Link began, but Palutena kicked him under the table. Pit's assurances had Toon Link smiling. Young Link didn't need to ruin that with facts.

They drifted back into companionable silence.