Chapter Three

A star hit the giant open book that was the Yoshi Team's arena and dropped off the little pink puffball. Three ledges were above him and there was a cloud on each side of the arena. Kirby looked around. This was the fake Yoshi's arena?

"Second battle for Kirby! Kirby versus Yoshi Team!" the announcer yelled out, "Three...!" A blue Yoshi dropped onto a ledge. Kirby turned to face it. "Two...!" A pink Yoshi dropped next onto the second ledge. Kirby turned to face it, too, shocked. More than one opponent at a time?! "One!" A yellow Yoshi dropped onto the highest ledge. "Go!" The three Yoshis began to walk around aimlessly.

"I have to fight three at once?! Not fair!" Kirby yelled and jumped up, giving the blue dino a hard kick. It flew into the force field and vanished. "Hey! They're not so tough! I can take 'em!" Kirby laughed and kicked the pink Yoshi away. A green Yoshi dropped down next, followed by a red one as Kirby dealt a nasty Pinwheel attack to the yellow Yoshi. One by one, the Yoshis dropped into the arena, some managing to get hits in, but Kirby knocked them away easily.

"Here! Take this!" Kirby yelled and used a Final Cutter attack, slamming two dinos at once with the sword blade that came from nowhere. An item fell, a crate. Kirby picked it up and dropped it onto a blue Yoshi's head, watching it get thrown out of the field. The crate left behind a beam saber. He jumped down to get it as one Yoshi grabbed a bumper and hurled it at him. Kirby was thrown off the book and landed on the cloud.

"Don't underestimate the power of a team! We're the Yoshi Team and we're gonna make you into Master Hand's slave!" three of the dinos yelled together as one. They sounded as if they were taught to say the words in the exact same way, in the exact same moment. "Give it up, Kirby! You're nothing compared to our combined might!"

Angered, Kirby began to swallow air and jumped, floating back to the main area of the stage. He positioned himself above the Yoshi that hit him and pulled a Rock Drop, slamming straight down on top of the Yoshi and hurling it away.

"Think again! I'm not giving in! I'll beat out this stupid Master Hand thing so we can finally go home!" he yelled and breathed hard as he dodged another Yoshi attack. Another Yoshi dropped onto the field and a tiring Kirby began to whack at them with the sword. Two of them hurled eggs at his back and he turned to throw the sword at them. He managed to knock out one Yoshi, but the other escaped.

"How many of these things are out there anyway?!" Kirby raged and knocked one Yoshi off the book. The Yoshi jumped in midair and kicked at the air, straining to bring himself back to the ledges. He fluttered and landed safely as the puffy creature jumped in front of another Yoshi and inhaled it. With a swallow, Kirby copied the Yoshi and spit it back out. A Yoshi cap appeared on his head.

"Oh no! Now he has my power!" the Yoshi wailed and tried to run away.

"All right! Let's see what power I have now!" Kirby cried and hurled an egg bomb at the Yoshi he had spit out. The dino was blasted out of the field as the Yoshi left behind came down on him, using a Bicycle Kick to cause major damage to Kirby. Kirby jumped to another ledge and looked at the floating scoreboard that boasted his picture and the pictures of the Yoshi Team. Nearly all of the pictures had gone black, except for three.

"We're gonna get you!" the two last Yoshis declared as they dropped into the arena to join the third, "You can't win! Give it up, Kirby, and perhaps we'll spare your life if we find you're the wrong character!"

"You three dino-dorks sound like a bunch of robots! Come and get me if you can!" Kirby snapped back and fired a barrage of eggs at them, knocking two Yoshis out of the arena. A tomato dropped into the field. Kirby spotted it, smiled joyfully and flew his way to the ledge that had it. The Yoshi ran after it.

"Oh, no, you don't! Come here!" he yelled as Kirby ate the fruit and was healed. The Yoshi grabbed Kirby and stuffed him into his mouth. Then, he turned and fired him out of his mouth like a shot. Kirby tumbled through the air, righted himself and landed on the lower edge of the book.

"You dare to swallow me?! You have no idea who you're messing with, scrambled egghead!" Kirby snapped and got rid of the Yoshi hat, thus getting rid of the Yoshi power. With a leap, Kirby came at the last Yoshi and gave him a hard midair kick. The final Yoshi slammed into the force field and vanished.

"Yoshi Team defeated! The battle goes to Kirby!" the announcer declared, "Hostage being released!" Kirby blinked at those words and jumped when a huge metal box dropped out of the sky and landed on the ledge. Kirby stepped up to it and knocked on the box.

"Who's there?!" a gruff voice barked.

"It's Kirby!" Kirby replied.

"Kirby who?" the voice shot back.

"Kirby The-Guy-Who-Just-Saved-Your-Butt-And-Didn't-Even-Get-A-Decent-Thank-You." Kirby replied angrily.

"Never heard of ya! Now, stand back! I am about to break down this puny door with my mighty strength!" the voice yelled and a loud clang was heard, followed by a grunt and a whining sound. Kirby leaned back against the box, his hands behind his head, whistling. Another clang, another grunt, more whining.

"You done yet?" Kirby asked casually.

"Uh, yeah. That's all I have." a voice squeaked. Kirby nodded and walked around to the front of the box. It had a small barred window, and a handle. Kirby reached up, turned the handle and opened the door, letting a tall, dark stranger walk out, holding his shoulder and looking slightly humbled.

"Ready to go, dude?" Kirby asked. The man nodded, black hair flopping over his eyes. Kirby looked him over. "Captain Falcon, I presume." he remarked. The man nodded again. "Word of advice, pal. Next time you try to break down a metal door, use the shoulder with the armor pad on it." Kirby pointed out with a smug grin and trooped off to the exit portal behind him with Captain Falcon grumbling under his breath as he followed.

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Kirby stepped outside and found the other Nintendo characters huddled together and growling. They had also found out about the team attacking and were not pleased. Captain Falcon rushed out and among them.

"Samus!" he cried out in joy.

"Captain Falcon!" the bounty hunter replied just as joyfully, "Put your helmet back on! You look like an idiot!"

"Yes, dear." the racer mumbled as he took the helmet from Samus and put it on. Kirby joined the group as they cheered over the rescue of their missing friend.

"He's back! He's back! Kirby! You saved Captain Falcon!" they cheered and whooped. Kirby grinned proudly and looked to the only door that had not yet opened, Link's challenge room.

"So... what's with Link? Does he always take this long to finish a fight?" he asked and the group turned their attentions on the door again.

"We were wondering the same thing." Fox replied in a low voice. Just then, the door slid open and Link dropped out, falling face forward onto the rocky ledge. Pikachu ran to him and started yapping into his ear. The elfin warrior struggled to get up and succeeded in being on all fours.

"Who gave permission for the enemy to be in a group?" he whispered coldly. The fighters all shrugged. "I'm starting to hate being here more than I hate being different." Link grumbled and staggered to his feet. He brushed himself off and glared at the surrounding characters. "Did you guys get beat up, too?" he asked.

"Mario got flattened a couple of times. Samus said she got stuck inside an egg." Yoshi replied, "Oh, and Kirby rescued Captain Falcon."

"Hip, hip, hooray." Link grumbled as the ledge lifted up to the next level. The characters agreed to camp again, rest, then try the new challenge the next day. Link sat away from the group, studying the strand of bi-colored thread and frowning. The remaining fighters decided to leave him and Pikachu to themselves and figure out another plan of attack.

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High atop Tournament Mountain, Master Hand waited for the first contestant to challenge him. A Polygon ran up to him and bowed, muttering something to him. Master Hand clenched into a fist.

"Are you sure?" he demanded of the creature. It nodded its head fearfully.

"Affirmative! The reports show that one of the hostages has been discovered and freed." it answered, "And the identity of the incorrect character is still a mystery."

"Go. Prepare for battle. I must wait and watch. The rouge will make himself or herself known. And when I find out who it is I will CRUSH them!" Master Hand fumed.

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Night fell and, over a light supper of soup and rations, the Nintendo Allstars Mario and Donkey Kong explained exactly what it took to become an Allstar.

"He's gotta be smart!" Mario declared to the group, who listened attentively. DK flexed an arm.

"He's gotta be strong!" he put in, grinning at his huge muscle as he flexed.

"He's gotta have courage." Mario added, giving DK a disapproving look.

"He's gotta face impossible odds and still manage to overcome them!" the ape tossed in helpfully.

"An Allstar never gives in, not even when he's down to his last Fire Flower!" Mario declared.

"Or his last Crystal Coconut!" DK put in. The characters nodded and listened carefully. Even Pikachu was all ears, hoping to get the title Allstar added to him. Link wasn't paying much attention, still staring at the strand in his fingers.

"It starts off reddish, then all of a sudden, it turns golden. What is it? Why is it like that?" he muttered to himself.

"A true Allstar is humble and modest." Mario lectured, "He'll find other forms of work when his current duty isn't in demand at the moment."

"An Allstar knows when to turn to friends for help." DK told the group.

"He's gotta do the best he can with what he's been given or found." Mario said brightly, "Princess Peach is an Allstar because she's a real tough gal who never gives up and always trusts in her dreams of peace and victory over evil!"

"An Allstar's motto is, 'A slim chance is still a chance!'" DK and Mario both said together and cheered. The other fighters clapped and whistled, cheering for the mascots of Nintendo. Link glanced up at them, then went back to studying the strand, almost sure that he could figure out how to trick Master Hand using the being's own rules against him. If only he had a clue to put the puzzle pieces in his head together!

He looked over his shoulder at the door behind him. An egg and a winged fox. Link had seen that winged fox somewhere before, then blinked in surprise as he remembered. He had seen it stamped on the outside of Fox's Arwing when he was shoved in a locker in the home base's docking bay for the Star Fox equipment by a bunch of Shy Guys as a kid. It had taken three hours for Fox to finally discover him in the locker. By then, Trainee Link was suffering from heat exhaustion and was withheld from continuing training until he recovered. The Shy Guys were punished but it wasn't enough to ease GB Link's fury.

"We're against Fox robots next." Link muttered and studied the strand again. It hit him then as he thought about GB Link. The old Links had reddish-orange hair! The strand started as that color, but then it changed to gold. Link reached up and plucked a strand of his own hair and compared it to the strand Pikachu gave him. Same golden color. Pikachu had given him a strand of hair from the robot copy of Link. "So my copy had red hair, then suddenly switched to blonde. Why?" Link muttered and put the strands away when he heard his name called.

"Link, weren't you even paying attention to the Allstars?" Pikachu asked with a frown, "You said you wanted to be an Allstar and here they were telling us how to do it and you're sitting here talking to your thumbs. Smart move, Link." Link forced a smile.

"Oh, sorry about that, Pikachu. Maybe you can tell me what they said later. I was just thinking about a little puzzle. It kind of got a new twist to it." he replied mysteriously. Pikachu gave him a look.

"Well, okay. But you gotta stop zoning out on me, buddy. People are gonna think you're stoned or something. You'll lose your 'E' rating." the Pokémon warned him.

"Rated 'E', rated 'A'.... what's the difference? The Players still won't like me. I'll bet that Player was trying to kill me on purpose." Link mumbled, looking down at his boots and hugging his knees. Pikachu jumped onto his back and perched on his shoulder.

"There's a big difference, Link! Nintendo has never made a rated 'A' game and it's not gonna start now, especially with yours." he growled. Link blinked at him.

"Mine? What are you talking about?" he asked and Pikachu tugged on his ear.

"Geez, Link, are you some kind of airhead?! Don't you even look in your own website?! The Legend of Zelda web site has practically exploded with new fans! Some of them are Ocarina of Time Players! They've spun off into their own sites with fan fiction and fan art!" he told him in a hushed tone, "And when I say rated 'A', I mean some of those fans have the idea that you and Zelda could make the hottest item since they tried pairing Mario and Princess Toadstool only to find her one of those string-'em-along types. You don't even wanna read what some of them dream of having you and her do together. We're talking Legend of Zelda: The Adventures of Love-Machine Link, here!" Link turned a bright red and stuck his fingers into his ears, shutting his eyes tight.

"Aw no! Why'dya go and tell me that for?! Now I'll never look at her without thinking that in my head! 'Love-Machine'?! I'm just a kid!" he wailed as Pikachu smirked and tugged at one finger to pull it out of his ear.

"Yeah, but half of those Players refuse to let you stick the Master Sword back and just spend hours staring at you in close ups on the screen." he teased and Link wailed louder.

"Hey! Shut up over there! I'm tryin' to sleep!" DK yelled, "Sunshine! Ain't ya got a mute button or something?! Turn down the volume!"

"Hey! You shut up, Dimwit Kong! You're not helping! Can't ya see I'm having a man-to-man talk with Link?!" Pikachu yelled back.

"Ya mean mouse-to-mouse! That wimp couldn't handle being a real man if he were actually awake to go through puberty!" the ape called back and laughed.

"Will you all just pipe down?!" Fox's voice sailed out and both Pikachu and DK turned their attention on him for a while before growing bored and ending the fight. Pikachu pat Link's shoulder and jumped down to find a good spot to sleep.

"Ah, forget it. Game Boy Link's had his share of problems, too. He just wants to be sure you're doing good with your identity before he lets you take a peek at what's up on the Net." the mouse told him and curled up. Link stared at him, then out at the starlit sky.

"I should have been a redhead with a button nose. I hope Zelda never finds out about those web sites. She might get some ideas for how to act back at home base. And I'll just bet a thousand rupees that they won't be rated 'E'." he sighed unhappily and settled down to sleep.