The whole castle was excited. Breakfast went by surprisingly fast, and everyone was outside the doorways much sooner than they had anticipated. A large TV crew was standing outside a stadium, which was filled to the brim with spectators. The smashers turned their attention towards the reporter with a mic. "Aaaand here they are folks! The super smash brothers!!!" The crowd cheered wildly.

"Now, everyone do their taunt in front of the camera," Peach instructed. "In alphabetical order." "Awwwwww, man!" complained Bowser and Zelda. "What are you whining about?" Zelda asked. "You get to go first, and get it all over with!" "So?" asked Bowser. "Going first can be nerve-racking sometimes!" One by one, the smashers did their taunts. Zelda ended with a bang, doing what Marth called her "sultry taunt." The crowd continued screaming. "Aaand now, the first battle!!" the reporter shouted, receiving a piece of paper from the Master hand. Everyone waited intensely. It was the first match, and no one knew who they were paired up with or against. "It takes place in HYRULIAN PALACE!!" Ganon and Zelda cheered. Impa and Summer whistled in the crowd. "Teeaam blue," declared the reporter. "Will be Mario aaand Zelda!!" The spectators cheered. Zelda smiled. "Wish me luck," she mouthed at Link. He gave her a thumbs up. She smiled again. "Playing against Team Red: Donkey Kong aaaannnddd LINK!!" Zelda and Link felt their jaws drop, as they slowly turned towards each other. They gaped mouthlessly at the Master hand. "P-Peach!" Zelda stammered, as Link and DK were changing to red outfits. "I can't battle Link! He's the one who's saved my life so many times!! It seems just so.ungrateful!!" "I'm sorry Zel, there's nothing we can do," Peach said, handing Zelda her pair of blue gloves. "Oh, thanks." After being thanked, Peach walked slowly to the trenches in the stadium (where non-participating smashers sat). As Zelda pulled on a glove, something fell out of it. She picked it up, and, as she had thought, it was Link's old Valentine. She knew that if Mario hadn't walked over to her to ask if she was ready, Zelda would have got into a crying fit of hysterics. "It's-a okay, Zelda," Mario whispered, as the stepped onto their platforms. "If-a you want, you can-a take Donkey-a Kong, and I'll-a do Link." "Oh, thank you Mario." They were transported to the Hyrulian Palace, about eighty feet in front of Link and DK. "3.2.1.GO!!" Mario and Link ran towards each other, and began fighting immediately. However, it seemed Zelda and DK both had the same tactic: to remain stationary, and wait for their opponent to attack first. After deciding DK wasn't going to move, Zelda did her taunt. He slammed his fists on the ground, and charged towards her. "Watch-a out, Princess!" she heard Mario shout. Zelda looked up, and grinned. DK was about three feet in front of her, when a box came falling out of apparently no where and hit his head. To the Princess' delight, a jackhammer fell out of it. She picked it up, and began to automatically swipe at the air. Gasping, DK tried desperately to run away. Unfortunately, he was rather slow. After two hits, he was sent skyward. Meanwhile, Mario had gained possession of a pokeball. He tossed it at Link, who quickly stepped back. A single Beedrill came out of it, and flew off the battle field. Then suddenly, a whole swarm of Beedrill came charging at Link, who ducked. Unluckily for him, the pokemon were flying at all altitudes. After getting stung repeatedly, he fell over the edge.

Eventually, the scores stood thus: Zelda had two lives, and Mario, Link and DK each had one. Opening a party ball, Zel picked up a mine and threw it. Then, she leapt on top of DK and wrestled him to the ground. He punched her back, and she was sent skidding several feet. The princess immediately stood up, and grabbed him. Twirling the giant ape over her head, she threw him right over the mine. At that same moment, Mario was being tossed by Link onto the same mine. The two smashers collided, hit the mine, and were sent flying away. "Maaaaaaaaaarrrriioooooo!" "DONKEY KONG DEFEATED!!.MARIO DEFEATED!!" came Master hand's voice over the loudspeakers, before the news reporter took back over. Zelda and Link stared. There were just the two of them left now to battle it out. The Hylian princess had been dreading this. "Oh Link, I can't hurt you!" she cried. "I can't! We've got to request to end the battle now!" "No!" Link responded. "We can't, remember? The rules have been changed from last year!" He slowly unsheathed his sword. Zelda jumped onto a ledge, and picked up a bat that lay there. "All right Link. I'm ready! In the infamous words of Captain Falcon: Show me your moves!" The two of them began to battle furiously, sword and bat clashing. "Impa! Impa!" Summer squeaked. "I can't watch it!" "I don't believe it!" the King grunted. "I'm amazed that she didn't ask to end the game!" "She's not allowed to!" Summer sobbed. "The rules were changed!" "Augh!" Zelda cried, doubling over. Link was shaking. The princess touched her cheek with a trembling hand. She removed it, and blood had seeped onto her glove. In a sudden well-placed move, Link parried at Zelda, and her bat was sent flying from her hands. She mournfully watched it sail out of sight. While Zelda was distracted, Link threw a bomb at her. She heard it coming, and managed to elude it. Somersalting her way towards him, Zelda kicked his legs, sending him to the ground. She scrambled to her feet. "Well, I say!" the reporter shouted. "That's sure not showing gratefulness to the elf who's saved your life on countless occasions, Zelda!" "WOULD YOU SHUT UP?!" she yelled to the news dude. "YOU DON'T THINK I KNOW THAT ALREADY?!" As Link sat there in pain, Zelda worriedly considered letting him win. Then her gaze was attracted to Mario, who was sitting up on a stretcher. He was looking at her pleadingly. Summer and Impa were wringing their hands, fearing that the person they'd come to see play would go down in her first match. It was their first tournament. She could not let them down. Zel picked up Link, electrocuted him beneath her, and sent him flying over the edge. As soon as she'd done it, she regretted it. "LINK DEFEATED!!.GAME!"