The two heroes have settled down at the campsite made by Master Hand. The island it was on was very similar to the battlefield they previously fought on except it had no platforms to land on. Link suggested the idea of using this time to set up a trap, but the island seemingly had no resources except for what Master Hand had given them for the night. Link was disappointed and worried about what could possibly happen next but Mario was content and got sat in the tent with Link soon following suit.
Once the two settled down, Mario decided to spark a conversation. "That was a good fight today. I'm-a Mario. What's your name pal?"
"Oh. Names Link…. Sorry about that-"
"No no. It's fine. In fact, that was the most fun I had in a while! Doing the same old song and dance with Bowser gets exhausting after 30 years…"
"Hm? Who's this 'Bowser' person you're talking about?"
Mario gave a small grone. "It's-a long story…"
The two heroes spent their time learning about each other. They've learnt about their enemies, Their princesses, Their enemies, and summarized some of their famous tales.
"Ahahahaha! You rode a builder across the Plate?!" Mario laughed out
"That's the kind of stuff that stasis can allow you to do. How about I show you a trick right now?"
"Okay dookie!"
Link got out the Sheikah Slate and tried to use stasis, only for nothing to happen.
"This...Usually doesn't happen…" Link tapped it over and over again, trying to show off the rune's ability. But then Link noticed a little message from an unknown sender.
Link. For the integrity of my tournament, I have destabilized most of your runes abilities except for your bombs. It wouldn't be fair to just have you going around freezing the water, throwing metallic objects, and of course we aren't going to have your stopping time. So please play by the rules and enjoy your time in this tournament for as long as your needed. - sincerely, Master Hand.
Link groaned in annoyance and put the slate away. "Well it looks like Master Hand blocked out some of my abilities so that stasis showcase is going to be put on hold."
"That's alright! I can't wait to see it in action! From the sounds of it, it's-a impressive thing to have!"
"Thanks, but I think it's time we eat up and sleep in for the night."
"MAMA MIA! How much are you going to eat!?"
Link continues to eat his 15th meat skewer, 10th bowl of ramen, 11th bowl of spaghetti, (deff to Mario's dismay) some tarts, and is currently eating some curry. "Until I'm stuffed up for the next battle, of course." He then continued on and kept eating.
Mario decided to change the subject to something that will keep the Hylian from eating the entirety of their food. "So what were you doing before the hand took you? I was getting ready for a nice break after all that's happened in the past couple of years."
Link finally put down the bowl and said "I'm helping a merchant travel across the fields of Hyrule. Even after Ganon being slain, monsters still have most of the control in that territory."
"But I thought you said the land was mostly peaceful after this 'Ganon' thing was beaten?"
"Well, let me give you the basic drift of what happened. Most of the Guardians were peaceful again. But then rumors started to go around about the Guardians attacking people and naturally me and Zelda went to investigate…"
It was another beautiful day in Hyrule. Birds were chirping and the townsfolk were rebuilding after the calamity struck the land. It was strange to hear the sound of the Guardians still attacking people after all that's happened. But there is a possible danger if this is true, so the princess went along with her swordsman to investigate this for themselves. Link made sure to stay close to Zelda's side in case anything goes wrong.
"This is where Robbie told me it was happening."
It was a small riverside near the Zora's Domain. It currently seemed to be working fine and surveying the area for monsters. The two approached it and no aggression was shown at all, which made Link surrender the breath he was holding tightly within him. Zelda went towards the machine and examined it.
"It seems no one has tampered with the shell, and even if they did attempt it the Guardian would throw them off. If anyone were to reach the inner mechanisms it would have responded immediately and taken them down. I think we can pass this off as just a rumor-"
The machine suddenly went off. It's red high-light beam began targeting something in the air. The two looked up and realised the Guardian was targeting a Rito. Link quickly got to work and sliced the leg off the Guardian before it could fire at the Rito as the Guardian swiftly turned there head towards the Hylian and began charging a beam at the Hero, now identifying him as a threat. Zelda quickly used stasis as Link began moving around it and slicing with his Master Sword before delivering a powerful thrust into the eye of the machine.
"-Robbie later discovered that the inner mechanics of some of the Guardians were damaged after they were taken control of by Ganon, making it harder for them to identify citizens from monsters. And we were going to plan a trip to Hyrule castle to fix this issue before Master Hand just came here and yoinked me out of my world."
"Oh… That sounds like a difficult problem to deal with."
"There's hundreds of them. They've been spreaded out everywhere across Hyrule and I'm starting to have my doubts about this ..."
"Don't worry! I'll-a see if I can help you with this!"
"Heh… thanks Mario, but I'm not sure what's gonna happen when all of this is over anyways. So for now let's focus on taking that hand down."
The two shock hands on that deal to take down the biggest hand of them all.
"ATTENTION FIGHTERS!" The hand demanded attention. The two heroes slowly get out of the tent.
"What does he want now? I was hoping to get some breakfast before dealing with this…"
"Hey! You had plenty last night Link!"
"I can't help it! Besides, every warrior needs a proper meal before battle."
"I apologize, but I'm afraid we're running low on time. So I suggest you start moving to the next stage before anything horrible happens."
"...What are you planning?" Link asked
"Oh, me? I'm simply going to make some space so these skies don't get crowded."
"What are you saying?!" Mario asked
The hand simply laughs as the two look back to the battlefield from yesterday. The hand floats above the island as he manifests a sword the size of a building. The hand thrusts the blade into the island causing it to crack from top to bottom. The heroes watched in horror as the hand meanicingly floated up and down like a hammer ready to hit a nail. The hand then slammed down into the blade and the island collapsed to pieces.
Mario, in a panic, makes room for a triple jump as the hand begins to float over their campsite while manifesting a new sword. Link goes through all of the objects slayed down, grabbing food, arrows, and his paraglider. The plumber jumped once, then twice, and finally a third time, gaining tons of height… only to realise he had nowhere to jump to as he fell. Link on the other hand, took the glider out and swapped in for the plumber. Mario held on tight as the two floated away as the hand once again destroyed one of his creations.
"WOAH! That looked brutal." a toad comment on the video feed of the hand's demolition work.
The hand turned back to the audience. "And remember kids! Giant Floating Islands are dangerous for the environment. So if you ever see one, please contact your local demolition expert and completely destroy it! Leave no traces of it before it causes any harm to the people you love most. Now stay tuned for this next fight!"
"Woah, that was so COOL!" one toad commented.
"It wasn't that impressive…. And besides, I've seen floating islands before and they don't bring any problems. That was just some stupid thing to justify another stupid thing." A Hylian soldier commented.
"OOOOOH! I bet your real fun at parties, aren't yah, tall boy." another toad remarked
"At least I don't fall for simple party tricks!"
"I don't know~ you seemed really impressed when Mario threw out a fire ball."
"THAT IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AND YOU KNOW IT! It's not everyday when you see a man throw a fireball. He's got to know some kind of magic. How did he do it?" The Hylian ranted.
"Hmph, you really do know nothing about Mario. Toadsville 1~ Hydrool 0."
"So we aren't counting the part where Mario lost?"
"IT'S RIGGED I TELL YOU! RIGGED!" The two go on and on before the Hand gives a teaser image of the next match. Many of the toads instantaneously recognized who it was, filling them with excitement on this next match and hyping them up. The Hylains were confused on why they were going from two heroes (well they weren't entirely sold on Mario just yet, but the fight against Link warmed them up a little to his talent.) fighting each other to two heroes fighting a giant monkey but they hoped for this to be a good surprise.
The two heroes flew for about an hour. Link was thankful to Hylia and the Sheika for the shrine challenges that eventually led up to him now with just about enough stamina to fly over this much terrain. He was also thankful for Mario giving him items to help keep this up and still have enough for the match that was ahead of them. Hallway through the scenery changed from endless skies to massive trees and in the center of it all laid a wooden platform that had no platforms but it had a bit of a slump in the middle, along with a barrel floating from side to side at the bottom.
"And here they arrive! Let's hear it for our heroes of yesterday!" The crowd roars with anticipation as the heroes stand prepared for the hands challenge.
"But enough of Yesterday. The past is old news, and in this tournament we up the ante with MORE fighters, MORE challenges, and MORE FUN!" The hand announced as the cheers became defining.
"And so it's time for the act of the day…." the hand made a dramatic pause in his speech.
"...He's finally here. Fighting. for. you~" The cheers grew ever louder as Mario's eyes widened.
"Oh no…" Mario cried out.
"..." Link was concerned about this new fighter but he couldn' show it. Not on a stage of people that needed him to be strong.
"~If you know some words, you can JOIN. IN. TOO~" There was some rumbling as Master Hand summoned some strings from his fingertips. He got pulled down hard for a second, before slowly rising and loading the barrel.
"~Put your hands together, if you wanna clap~" There is faint sounds of clapping that quickly grew noticeable.
"As I introduce, This New Com-Bat-OW!" The hand shot him out of the barrel. Link looks up to see something blocking the sunrise. Mario grabs ahold of him and they rush out of the way as he crashes.
"AND HIS NAME IS!-"
"DK! DONKEY KONG!" The hand does a motion similar and makes the sound of a record player being scratched as they chant. The ape slams down to the platform, knocking the two heroes off their feet. He had several strings connecting to him but the first thing Mario recognized was that massive increase in size that made him and Link look like ants, and Mario knew what he does to ants who cross him and his banana pile.
"DK! DONKEY KONG IS HERE!" The heroes get up to face the giant Monkey.
"Yes everyone! This is Donkey Kong! Famed protector of the DK Islie, the classic barrel throwing Monkey that gave our plumber's grand papy a run for his money! And tonight I have brought him here to turn our fighters of Yesterday into Kremlin kupcakes!" The crowd roars with anticipation for this big fight.
"And that's not all! Some of you may have noticed he's BIGGER! FASTER! AND STRONGER TOO! And it's just a few additions to make you as excited as I am for the legendary first member of the D. K. CREW! Let's hear it for Donkey Kong!" The audience already knew that this match was gonna be big, but with the Master's hype rant over they knew that this was going to be one of the biggest matches of the tournament.
"3!" The crowd began placing their bets...
"2!" The Hero of the Wild and The Hero of the Mushroom Kingdom stand united against their great foe...
"1!" Donkey Kong pounded his chest, impacts being felt through the stage as Master Hand uses his body like a puppet and laughs.
"GO!"
The fight began with a chaotic strat as Donkey Kong rolled in like a boulder. The heroes split up as the ape rushed to the sides as Link began firing at the super sized monkey. Donkey Kong didn't even need to dodge as he simply tanked the hits like a sponge and swung his visit to both of his sides. Link jumps back as Mario sprung up to Donkey Kong's head and gives a whack and hammers him down. He got up and smacked the two away as he began winding up a massive punch.
"It's impressive that they managed to last so long already! But here comes Donkey Kong with a windup punch that's gonna send em' flying to the moon and back!"
Link gestures to Mario to get off the platform as the ape charges up. Link gets under the stage as Mario tries to follow along and leaps to the edge, barely dodging the massive fist which covers up half the arena. The two both jump back up as Link rushes in and slices at DK's ankles. Link then throws a bomb into the air as Mario delivers a kick that sends it flying into Dk's face, knocking him back a few steps.
Mario then leaps to Link's side as he fires arrows at the overgrown monkey. Mario used his fire hand to light the arrows ablaze creating makeshift fire arrows for Link which left small burns whenever they marked the large beast. Link then lifts his shield to the sky as Mario bounces off and delivers another strong spike to Donkey Kong's face.
"Wow! Incredible! The two fighters' teamwork is overpowering the titan of the DK Isle! It's as if they were a red and green pair of brothers! But the battle isn't over Yet!" The hand moves his fingertips along the strings as he watches Donkey Kong's body twist and bend to his will. It was a fitting punishment for his previous transgression, that hand thought to himself as he remarks on first getting him.
It was a fairly sunny day on Donkey Kong's island. He was just watching whatever was interesting on his T.V. while Cranky rambled on and on about something again. Diddy was out looking for more bananas as the Kongs sat back and relaxed. Donkey Kong himself didn't have to do much ever since King K. Rool disappeared. Sure there were some things he had to get up and deal with like tikis or vikings but it wasn't a whole lot since he had Diddy and the rest of the Kongs helping him. After going through several things and none of them being interesting Donkey Kong went down to get his hands on one of his Bananas.
As he climbed down and started with his first banana, he saw a glove waving at him. Master Hand was confident after it worked so flawlessly with the other starchild so it should work just as well on him too. Once Master Hand drew the Kong out of his home he went in and snagged him.
Only for Donkey Kong to grab ahold of him instead. Kong continually beat on the hand until he teleported and did a finger gun motion, blasting the Kong into the stone wall, followed by a poke that saturated Kong.
"That… was very unpleasant." He was going to find a proper punishment for being treated like a fool.
The hand laughed and felt proud of himself as spun the Kong around like a helicopter. Mario and Linked dodged as DK went flying around the stage at a level of skill that was illogical. Link finally began to notice the strings on the Giant DK and pointed it out towards Mario.
"We Have to cut those, now!"
Mario gave a confident smile back to Link. "Let's-a go!"
Mario rushed in towards him as DK began bounding the ground, causing an 'earthquake' that was beginning to knock them off the edge. Link used the Master sword to keep himself in place as Mario began springing towards the Giant Donkey got closer and closer until DK suddenly stopped and clapped upwards as Mario was leaping. Mario barely slips from the titans grasp as he kicks him in the eye. DK responds with swiping at him, launching him into Link who was paragliding towards DK. Link grabbed Mario with great precision and DK began spinning again, making the both of them fly far away from the platform.
"Well folks. Is this how our battle ends!? DK's sending them flying towards the blast zone with no chance of recovery!"
"Blast zone?!" Link was shocked as he took note of a field of static. It was pulsating around the arena, and he could feel it from where he was and he could tell it could kill something in one hit. The two needed to think of something and fast!
Link desperately looked around for anything that they could travel too. They were fighting heavy winds that were blowing them into an imminent death, if they can't get out of this then what'll happen? Mario noticed something familiar to him. The barrel that's floating at the bottom of the stage wasn't any ordinary barrel, it was a cannon barrel! The type that DK uses to travel around his island! Mario told Link to follow his lead as he jumped into it. Link, having no other choice, puts all of his trust into Mario and takes a dive. Once the both of them fell in, it began spinning wildly and aiming in all directions. It was nauseating, but they were alive. But Mario knew that it would just shoot them out randomly so he knew that they had to aim their launch to get back on the platform. Link offered to be the one to time and fire.
5 seconds have past…
7...8...9...10! Link fired and the two of them returned to the edge. They quickly begin planning their next move again. Dk delivered a hard headbutt into the ground, creating a hole in the sturdy plank floor that was quickly repaired by Master Hand. The two started to realise what they could do to win this battle.
Mario ran around the big monkey and began ducking and dodging attacks, Link following along as the Hand made it so DK was aiming his attacks at both of them. One hand crashed into the stage and DK paused as Master Hand quickly filled that hole as they repeated the process for a few minutes. Once enough time had passed, Link charged in at the ape and began to cut the strings like butter. Master Hand responded by fixing the strings and growing more but as Link cuts away, Mario continuously pounds on DK brutally. Master hand quickly made many strings and covered DK and tried to swing in with a counter attack, but realised that DK had too many strings on him. Master hand tugged but it only bent Donkey Kong in graphic and harsh ways. Audience members cringed as they saw him break and bend and began to boo at the Hand. The heroes decided to put a final end to the battle as Mario walked in to deliver the final strike. Once the hit was dealt, DK immediately became a statue and Master Hand flew away, most likely to talk with the audience.
Master Hand knew the audience was mad with him. He had gone too far with his toy and damaged his integrity. He was unsure of how to fix this after the display of DK's limbs being flung around and twisting like a rag doll, but the Hand will make a comeback.
"Good Evening my viewers."
"What was that!"
"What just happened"
"Mommy I'm scared!"
"Is that some kind of joke to you!"
"I'm not laughing!"
"Children were watching that!"
"Calm yourselves, your right to be mad with me. That display was… unbecoming of a being like me. I've toyed with the fighter pychily and now I must pay a price. So for now I take an oath to not take direct control of the fighters here. And I will also note that I will try to prevent the audience from seeing any more… unfavorable actions in the future."
"LIES! EVERY WORD THAT CAME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH IS A LIE!" The town turned their attention to Dr Toadly, who was silently watching as the events unfolded.
"Ah, Dr Toadly. So you're not only toadsvilles local doctor but also a 'fortune teller' am I correct?
"You are! But does it matter? It doesn't."
"Yes, yes. Very good now." The hand takes hold of Dr Toadly with strings and lifts him into the air with him.
"So, pray tell me something. Isn't this not perfection? Is my tournament not a perfect idea? Or have you not see the full extent to my plans?"
"I have seen them. You are not the showcrafter you think you are. Have I seen this tournament? I have. How does it end? With-"
Master Hand grabbed a hold of Dr Toadly and squeezed hard. "Na-ah-ah! No spoilers for those who've grown invested. So be a good little toad and stay silent as the show continues on…" The hand dropped Toadly to the ground, leaving him in a state of almost statuisation.
"...Y-you…" The doctor points to the hand.
"Oh, are you referring to mwah~" The hand flamboyantly gestures to himself.
"...Y-you...Will fall…"
"Oh, how original. So who's gonna do that? The Plumber? The Swordsman? Perhaps the ape? Or maybe you're referring to our other guest I have in store?"
"Y-you will fall by many-" The doctor chokes out.
The hand slaps Toadly. "Spastifics, doc. Are you not a doctor?"
"I am!"
"Then give me the spastics on who."
"By the ones who are pure…"
The hand slaps him again, leaving Dr Toadley on the verge of statuisation. "Do you have any idea how many that still leaves?! I can list several if you want? But that's for another time. You're simply old news, and it's time to focus on the now!" The hand teleports away as Dr Toadley gives in to the injuries.
The hand knew that he needed to recapture his audience quickly. And what better way to do it then with some new fighters. He gave some thought about what the next world could possibly spark people's interest. Then his goals began to expand from that. Why not take a section of an entirely different universe and bring it here? The hand asked himself. But he needed someone that the audience would adoor. Someone who's strong enough to give his current big three a run for their money. The answer came naturally, of course. Besides, the tournament could use something like her to balance out all the optimism….
The Space Pirates made a swift attack on the Galactic Federation as they charged in one last desperate attempt to retrieve whatever DNA they may have on the Metroids. They quickly shot down their soldiers and captured their top scientist.
They only had one member that could speak that 'english' language that the humans keep using, so his survival was on top priority and guarded by their best fighters.
"Where is it!?"
"I-I can't tell you! They've transported the Metroid DNA to the BSL!" They shot the man as he crashed down into a pool of his blood. They quickly made a rush for the exit until they were caught off guard.
The English speaking Space Pirate saw a faint glow of a viser, before being obliterated in a single shot. They knew who it was. They've dreaded this encounter for years but for Samus, this was just a quick side job before she makes her way to SR388.
One of the former guards dived at her with a kick, and Samus countered and responded by bombarding him with super missiles. The second one tried to fire a quick few beams before running away, until Samus fired a charge beam from her plasma beam, killing him instantly.
There was a third space pirate that was trying to hide around and avoid Samus as she used her X-Ray visor to look at what else remains. The Space Pirate then hit the self-destruct sequence and began running for his life. Once the sirens start going off, Samus starts running and activating the speed booster. She managed to crash into the third Space Pirate as she quickly made her escape from the research lab.
Samus left feeling agitated. She has grown sick and tired of the Space Pirates and humorously remarked to herself about how nice it would be to fight something else for a change. As Samus flew across the depth of space she was suddenly being pulled in by something. She turned the engines to max power only for the ship to be caught in by a wormhole that has opened up from behind.
Samus woke up in their Viara Suit instead of their previously worn Gravity Suit. Samus struggled to move any of her joints but found that she couldn't.
"Ah~ Samus Aran. Galactic Bounty Hunter, the Metroid exterminator, the planet destroyer. I've been waiting for you to regain consciousness."
In front of Samus was a giant floating hand. It was sort of funny to her. She thought Hell would have just been her being tortured endlessly by Ridley and yet she ends up with this. She doesn't give the hand the satisfaction of an exchange between the two.
"So, were sticking to the 'silent' treatment, noted. Anyways, I'm here to tell you that your first match in the Multiversal Fighting Tournament will begin in the next 5 hours…. Yes I'm aware the title needs some work. I'll get a better one eventually."
She began to consider the possibility of this being a dream. But it wasn't likely considering she could still feel total control over her whole body, she just couldn't move the power suit.
"And who knows? Depending on the match results, I can give you a little taste of Freedom." Samus was intrigued by the hand's comment, she decided she's going to 'play along' until she can escape whatever this tournament is.
"Oh, and heres a quick note: I've destabilized some of your weapons and abilities, if you haven't noticed. I'm not sure if it would be fair to nuke the entire stage with your power bombs so I took those away. Along with your other beam types such as plasma, ice, wide, except for the charge beam, since that's the only tool that has any resemblance of fairness. Anyways, tata Aran, and welcome to the tournament."