"Oh, hey, Marth. Just in time for dinner."
Marth stopped at the entrance to the academy. Peach was standing there, having just seen Marth run back.
"Already? Isn't it a bit early?" Marth asked. He had been hoping to read the book as soon as possible. He sighed. "Well, what's for dinner?"
"Pot roast!" Peach announced proudly. "And corn bread, and beef fried rice, and chicken noodle soup--not that lame canned stuff--and--"
"Alright, alright," Marth interrupted. "I didn't need the whole slew. Is it ready right now?"
"Yeah, everybody's in the kitchen." Peach frowned and looked around Marth. "Where are Link and Zelda?"
"Still walking. I came back here on my own. They'll be here shortly."
Peach, proud of her cooking, frowned. "Well, you'll have to tell them they missed dinner. You know how much Link likes pot roast."
Actually, Link hated pot roast, but Marth decided not to mention that and followed Peach back into the kitchen. No doubt the huge dinner and early celebration was to herald the coming of the final round of the tournament. Grimacing, Marth wondered what Peach would cook up after the winner was decided.
--
The dinner was excellent. Which, unfortunately, threw Marth's mind off of his initial task: To read the book on the floor of the library. In fact, since he had put it back on the shelf, it would likely be a nightmare finding it again. Peach had insisted that he have one (or two or three or four) of everything, so by the time Marth reached the corn bread, he could barely stuff anything else in. He was slightly grateful when Donkey Kong, understanding Marth's reluctance, grabbed the plate and ate all the remaining pieces in one bite by hurling them into the air and down his throat.
"That's disgusting," Peach murmured, although Marth had to admit that it was pretty interesting.
Since he was close to bursting, he decided he would take a nap. After a painful trek up the stairs and what seemed like a lifetime to reach his bedroom, he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep.
--
Marth woke up, surprised, the next morning. He had been so full, exhausted, and sleepy that he had gone to bed right after dinner and slept all the way through the night. What was worse, he hadn't even entered the library to look through the book! If he really was working under a time limit, he had only a few days left.
He hadn't even gotten under the covers of his bed. He had fallen asleep with his clothes and shoes on and even Falchion still attached to his belt. He hurriedly hopped off his bed, got ready as quickly as he could, and rushed down the stairs.
He decided to ignore breakfast. The last time he ate, it distracted him from his mission and cost him valuable time. He grinned with dark humor as he thought of how that weakness could be exploited.
"I'll never let you past!"
"Here, eat this."
"Yum...hey, come back here!"
As hungry as he was, he turned in the opposite direction of the kitchen and to the library, where he would (hopefully) find out more about Mastermind. He entered the large, elaborate room but took no time to admire the decorations. Part of the library was in sunlight due to the position of the sun shining down through the overhead window. Marth climbed up the stairs and scanned the rows of shelves for the row he was looking for. Fortunately, the shelves were right in the sun's light. Eventually, Marth found the correct row and entered in.
Now, to find that book. What was it called again?
It was very basic, very simple, and related to the Linking Dimension...Oh. That's what it was called. The Linking Dimension. Tingling slightly with excitement, Marth looked at each book until he finally found the one wanted.
The book's cover was very bland. It was brown, simple leather with golden words saying "The Linking Dimension" across it. The pages were faded and worn. Apparently, it was very old. Marth opened the cover and half-expected to see a cloud of dust fly out. He squinted his eyes in expectation, but no such cloud arose.
The book was not huge and elaborate. There was no five hundred page history of every last little detail that went on inside the Linking Dimension. Master Hand had been very brief and simple with it. Marth wondered how he typed it. He imagined a huge keyboard and laughed a little. Maybe he had gotten Crazy Hand to act as the left hand and help him that. Teamwork to the max.
Marth sat down in a nearby chair and started to read.
There are many, many dimensions that exist, with different worlds, continents, countries, and even planets in each. Some are mere parallel dimensions, carbon copies of another but with alternate histories. Others are different in every way, shape, and form. One dimension may be tens of thousands of years old while another may have just started. The Linking Dimension was created after many others were created first, and it acts much like a nexus, a crossroads for dimensions. I, Master Hand, and my "brother," Crazy Hand, were created as the caretakers and living beings of this dimension as no other living beings existed in it. We had our own language comprised of high-pitched sounds emanated from within us; after all, we have no real mouths. We communicate with our minds, really. Eager for knowledge, we quickly decided to learn as much as we could, and we eventually learned almost all languages in existence.
"Wow, Master Hand's an old guy," Marth chuckled.
Friends though we were, we were polar opposites of each other. I have the instinctive urge to create and bring up, whereas Crazy Hand has the urge to destroy and create havoc. Even so, we were both very intelligent and knew more at our creations than the average person does when he dies. I understood that the Linking Dimension was a crossroads and knew that we could access each dimension somehow. So we built a machine simply known as a Teleporter which gathered the energy at the outskirts of the Linking Dimension and created a bridge to another area. It took years to complete.
It was Crazy Hand who first came up with the idea of bringing warriors from other dimensions to fight here in the Linking Dimension. I understood that, for him, it was just to sate his need for violence, but it intrigued me as well. I agreed with him and decided to get started on the idea. We first built a building around the Teleporter--yes, the Teleporter came first, and the building was modeled after it--and made it suitable for fighters to stay. The original building had eight rooms, and we sought out eight fighters in various dimensions worthy to fight. At the last second, we decided to include four more fighters and had to make four more rooms. We sent out invitations in the form of talking balls of light to fighters we heard about through Dimensional Windows--devices that peer into other dimensions and act like satellites you can see through--and they all agreed to come. Thus, the Super Smash Bros. were created. Cautious of Crazy Hand's violent nature, I decided it would be best if he stayed out of the first generation--for I was positive there would be other generations in the future--and see how it went. In the second generation, I decided that he should come and challenge only the toughest fighters that made it to me. Our combined power was too much for any ordinary fighter to handle.
That seemed to explain the reason why Crazy Hand only showed up if fighters cleared the "Classic Mode" quickly and easily enough. Marth had managed to fight and defeat both Hands on occasion, but he had to admit, it was tough. Crazy Hand was probably able to take down one of the fighters on his own if he wanted to.
We both created our own battling arenas. It was long, hard work. We put all our energy into creating balls of energy that would sustain the arenas, keep them afloat, and protect them from harm. My creation was called Final Destination, and, appropriately, I made it the last arena the fighters would have to go through if they went through the series of matches against well-designed copies of other fighters that we had created. Crazy Hand's was Battlefield and differed from mine slightly in that it had more platforms. We had thought of the idea of connecting them or sticking them next to each other, but as we are both radically different in personalities in design, so were the arenas. They can't come near each other without exploding. That's why Battlefield and Final Destination are so far apart. We upgraded them after the first generation in appearance and effectiveness, so they had more protection. One of the chief changes we both made were the backgrounds. We were fascinated with making realistic environments that would awe the fighters.
"Marth?"
Marth was so engrossed in the book that he jumped nearly a foot into the air when Peach said his name. He hadn't even heard anyone approaching. He looked at Peach's face and saw that she looked a little anxious.
"What is it?" Marth asked.
"It's Samus," she said. "She wants to speak with you. She looked upset about something. And I think I know what it is," she added, looking at the floor.
Marth was worried. Had something else happened?
"Okay, lead me to her," Marth said, putting the book back on the shelf.
Marth followed Peach out of the library, upstairs into the bedroom hallway, and into Samus's room. Sure enough, Samus looked agitated and was sitting on the edge of her bed in a tense position. Marth wondered if Mastermind had stolen something of Samus's.
"You wanted me?" Marth asked uncertainly, although it was more of a statement than a question.
"There have been some disturbing events," Samus said. Marth could hear the edge in her voice. "Go ahead and sit down if you want. There are some chairs over there." Samus pointed behind her without looking. Marth grabbed two chairs, offered one to Peach, and sat down in the one he had.
"What happened?" Marth asked.
"I think I've come to the definite conclusion that Roy is not the little thief we've been looking for," Samus said. "This is based on two events. First of all, my Power Suit is gone."
"What!?"
"And if Roy really was who we're looking for, he couldn't have taken it because he fled. So yes, I think he really has been kidnapped. And then there's probably something even more disturbing." Samus glanced at Peach. "And I think you know what it is, Peach." Peach nodded. Samus looked back at Marth. "Link and Zelda haven't returned."
Marth sat up suddenly from his seat, knocking it over. "What!?! This is unbelievable! Who could have taken them? They were both far away from the academy, and the both of them were together. How in the world could they have gotten captured!?!"
Samus shrugged. "There are a couple of possibilities. Possibility number one is the one I'm hoping for, and it's that one of them was caught and threatened to be killed if both didn't come willingly. And then there's possibility number two, which I'm dreading: There's more than one bad guy here. The enemies may have overwhelmed them."
Marth shook his head. "That can't be possible. There's no such thing as an army here. There aren't enough villains. Link and Zelda should have been able to take them. Maybe if I had just stayed with them a little longer when I was walking with them, I could have--"
"Stop being melodramatic and blaming yourself," Samus chided. "Perhaps you should just be grateful that you didn't get caught as well. Then we'd have four missing people."
"I know, I'm just stating what could have happened," Marth countered.
"No, you're blaming yourself. Maybe you could have and maybe you couldn't have stopped it. Let's concentrate on what we can do to find them."
Marth nodded slowly. There was no point in throwing a pity party when things were disappearing like crazy, including people. That time was better spent looking for information.
"You're right," he said. Then he frowned. "So, now am I to understand that the trio becomes a duo? With Zelda gone, there are only two girls, not one."
Samus nodded. "It's pretty bad. Keep looking, Marth. We all will. Whoever has my Power Suit can do a lot of damage."
"At least you have your Zero Suit."
Samus glared at Marth.
"Don't tell me," he said.
"Yes, the Zero Suit is gone, too," she said. "So now I'm at a disadvantage both ways. This guy needs to be found soon before he can use any of the things he's stolen."
And, as Marth's mind reminded him, that could be only a couple of days away. Samus couldn't be Mastermind now; why would she steal her own things? At least he eliminated several of the fighters off his list. But that still left many people left, and with the clocking ticking quicker than it should, he didn't have a whole lot of time left to find out who it was.