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Chapter Six
Master Hand waited at the top of Tournament Mountain for his opponents, confident he would enslave them all. A Polygon rushed up to him and stammered its message quickly.
"WHAT?!" Master Hand bellowed, "Another one?! How did they manage to rescue another of their friends?!"
"The fighters are better than we originally thought, Master Hand." the Polygon replied meekly, "And we still haven't found the identity of the incorrect character. We believed he could be found by analyzing the strength of the character and the weakest would be the less popular one that we took by mistake. But they were all quite powerful in their own rights."
"Find that character and bring him to me! NOW!" Master Hand roared. The Polygon yelped and rushed away again. "How could I, the great and all-powerful Master Hand, possibly mistake an influential character with one of weaker value? He will feel the full brunt of my fury when I catch him!" he simmered.
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Night came and the Nintendo fighters slept peacefully. Luigi got his hat back and the group was given new hope on finding the other two characters and getting home. Pikachu also slept to recover from the battle. Link let him sleep and returned to programming the robot mouse. As he did, a shimmer in the space in front of him caught his attention. Stashing the robot behind him, Link glared at the shimmer. It slowly formed into the image of GB Link. He smiled in relief at the blonde rookie.
"Oh, good. You're all right. The other Links and I were worried about you." GB Link told him. N64 Link nodded, surprised by the image.
"GB Link! How did you find me? Can you get us out of here?" he asked in a whisper. The image shook his head.
"Something is blocking our beam. We can't quite lock on to you. As for how we found you, we traced the transmitter's signal." he replied. N64 Link looked confused and GB Link laughed softly. "The earring you wear on the left ear is actually a tiny micro-transmitter. The one on the right is a tiny microphone. Everyone has a transmitter on them so we can track them locally, but yours we had advanced so it could be picked up anywhere." he explained.
"And when I'm little?"
"Embedded in your clothes. Listen, we can't get you out yet, but the other Links and I wanted to give you something that could help you out." GB Link said and held out the First Gen Ring, a gold band with a green jewel on it. "This is the First Gen Ring. It was in storage for the new Game Boy Color and Project Atlantis adventures we currently have under construction, but we decided you needed it right now." he told the elf. N64 Link reached out and took the ring, studying it with curiosity. "When you put the ring on, it will instantly make you look exactly like me. Be careful on your quest. We think it could be dangerous."
"GB Link, you don't know the half of it. You've got to tell everyone back home to be prepared! You could get invaded by robot copies of us!" N64 Link cried, "There's this guy who's planning to...!" The image of GB Link vanished before he could continue. Link stared at the air, then looked down at the ring before putting it away. He turned and shook Pikachu awake. "Pikachu! Get up! I need to talk to you! The plan, remember?" he called. Pikachu came to with a start.
"What? Oh, yeah. What's your idea?" he asked as he sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Link brought out the robot and Pikachu yelped. "Why did you keep that thing?! Quick! Get rid of it before it starts attacking us!!" he shrieked and Link covered his mouth.
"Hey! Quiet! It's dead, and I reprogrammed it to obey me." he told him, "This robot will help us in my plan. I snuck it out of the battle and we're going to trick Master Hand with it."
"Wait a second. Reprogrammed? You mean we've been fighting robots all along?" Pikachu asked. Link nodded. "That explains the Yoshi and Mario teams talking with one voice. They sounded like robots."
"I'm going to switch this robot with you in the next battle. You'll hide in the Poké Ball in my bomb bag. The robot takes your place in the match after that. When it gets defeated, Master Hand will think it's the real you and take the robot out of the tournament." Link explained quickly, "I'll get to Master Hand and we'll double team him. Together, we can beat him!"
"It's sneaky and underhanded, Link." Pikachu pointed out, "You'll be breaking the rules of the tournament." He grinned mischievously at the robot Pikachu. "And I like it! Let's do it!"
"We'll switch you in the battle so no one will know what happened, especially Master Hand." Link told him. He pointed up at one door. Over it were the symbols for Link, Pikachu, and Samus versus DK.
"Why do we need three people to beat up one stupid monkey?" Pikachu grumbled. Link shrugged as he packed up the robot after closing up the gash.
"Who knows, but we'll have to do the switch while Samus is distracted or she'll learn about my plan." Link replied and showed Pikachu the First Gen Ring. "Oh, and GB Link sent this to me via some kind of hologram. The other Nintendo characters are trying to get us out of here but they can't beam us out because Master Hand must be blocking the signal." he added.
"They never let us have it easy, do they?" Pikachu sighed. Link shook his head. "Well, let's get some sleep so we can deal with it tomorrow." And with that, the two of them drifted off.
Morning brought the Nintendo characters a new challenge. Three characters against one opponent. The first door had the symbols for Mario, DK, and Fox against a DK clone. The second door had Link, Pikachu and Samus. The third had Yoshi, Kirby and Mario again.
"What?! I have to fight twice?! Why?!" Mario demanded. Link growled angrily.
"Master Hand must have figured out that Mario is one of the two Golden Mascots for Nintendo, Luigi being the other one. He's trying to wear Mario down by making him fight twice in one day so he would fall easier." he muttered. Pikachu looked worried.
"What about you? I'll be rested, but you'll be fighting battles alone from now on." he told him. "So, how's the you-know-what?"
"It's fully programmed now. While Samus is distracted, I'll put you in the Poké Ball and the robot takes your place." Link whispered. "Get ready. Here we go."
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A beam dropped Link down, a Poké Ball unleashed Pikachu, and a portal let Samus step out onto the wooden arena for DK. A pair of circling platforms floated in the center and a barrel passed back and forth underneath the arena, spinning around. A giant barrel dropped down in front of the three fighters. Samus held herself ready as Link and Pikachu prepared to find a time to switch.
"Seventh battle for Link, Samus, and Pikachu! Link, Pikachu, and Samus versus Giant Donkey Kong!" the announcer declared.
"Giant Donkey Kong?!" the three fighters exclaimed in shock as the announcer counted down the timer and the barrel exploded. A huge version of DK loomed above them on one of the slanted platforms over the arena.
"I guess this is why there's three guys against him." Pikachu muttered. Link jumped up onto the moving platform.
"Samus! Charge up your blaster! Pikachu! Get underneath and use Thunderbolt! I'll attack from the front!" he ordered the two fighters.
"Got it!" Samus cried and began to charge up her gun. Pikachu scampered forward and started calling down lightning to hit DK. Link threw his boomerang over and over. The ape jumped down and began slamming the ground, shaking and damaging Pikachu and Samus.
"Not good! Link! What now?!" Pikachu cried just as Link came down on the giant ape, slamming his sword into him. "He's up to forty points!"
"Link! Out of the way!" Samus shrieked and fired the charged shot. The elf jumped and grabbed onto the circling ledge as DK was thrown back and spun back onto the platform with a whirling attack.
"You cannot defeat me with only a hundred points of damage! I am more powerful than any fighter you've been against so far!" the robotic ape laughed. Pikachu made a face and jumped to give him an electric drill attack.
"Pikachu! Be careful! Samus! Charge again!" Link cried and threw a bomb at a barrel that dropped onto the scene. It blew open and revealed a laser gun, Poké Ball, and Bob-omb. He grabbed the bomb and tossed it to Pikachu. "Pikachu! Catch!" he cried and grabbed the ball. DK swept his hand overhead and slapped Link aside. He slammed onto another ledge, dropping the ball. The Poké Ball opened and released a Snorlax that soared into the air.
"Take this!" Pikachu yelled and threw the Bob-omb at Giant DK. It exploded and caused more damage to the ape. "Link! Are you okay?! Move out of the way! Snorlax is coming back!" the mouse yelled. Link lay still as DK began to charge up a Super Punch, swinging his arm around and around. "Link!"
The Snorlax grew three times its size and came rushing down, slamming into DK, but not even touching Link. The ape was thrown off the platform again, but came spinning back up onto the arena again.
"When will he go down?!" Samus screamed, firing the charged shot at him. Pikachu ran up to Link's side and shook him.
"Link! Link, wake up!" he cried. Link groaned and sat up, shaking his head.
"What hit me?" he groaned. Pikachu laughed and was about to speak when Link yelped, grabbed him and rolled backwards off the platform. DK had jumped up and grabbed the blaster, firing away at them. "What's happened?! Why is he still around after all the damage he's picked up?!" Link yelled.
"We've got him at a little over a hundred points, but he's too strong for us!" Pikachu replied, "I'd hate to admit it, but this DK is stronger and smarter!"
"Get him higher!" Link exclaimed as Samus went into a Superspin attack and built up a lot of damage points on DK. "Attack!" Link yelled and jumped up to stand in front of the ape and stabbing at him over and over with the sword. Pikachu stood beneath his platform and called down electricity over and over. The damage meter went up to two hundred points until DK used a spin kick to sweep Link and Samus off of the platform. Samus fell over the edge, screaming.
"Samus! Look out! Grab onto the edge!" Pikachu cried as she landed in the barrel. "Shoot back up here!" The barrel spun and fired Samus straight up into DK. Link was thrown down and nearly fell over the ledge, but he held on and scrambled back on board. Another barrel fell and DK grabbed it, throwing it at Samus as Pikachu continued his electric barrage and Link jumped up onto the circling ledge. The barrel exploded and hurled Samus backwards.
"Hang on!" Link cried and grabbed onto her leg as she flew past him. Samus cried and dangled over the edge of the platform as Link struggled to pull her up. DK lumbered over and jumped to his ledge, charging up his Super Punch again.
"And now I'm going to finish the two of you at the same time!" the giant ape laughed. Pikachu raced up with a Zap Jump and Electric Drilled his back, throwing him out of the charge long enough to let Link pull Samus up.
"Thanks, Pikachu!" he called back and checked the damage meters. "DK's up to about two fifty. Get him to three hundred and maybe that will knock him over." he muttered and turned to Samus. "Okay, keep using that spin attack. Pikachu will attack from underneath and I'll grab whatever falls for our use."
"All right. Thanks for saving me." Samus replied. Link nodded and smiled at her.
"We'll beat him!" he exclaimed and they spread out to fight DK, who now moved down to the lower ledge and waited for one of them to get near him. "I'll get him up here! Heeyah!" Link yelled and used a downward stab on him. DK knocked him aside and jumped up to a ledge. Samus jumped over ledges to reach him as Pikachu leaped down to join Link.
"When do we make the switch?" Pikachu asked him. Link sat up and pulled out the robot.
"Right now. Samus is too busy beating up DK to notice. Get in the Poké Ball." Link whispered. Pikachu winked at him.
"See you in the final round." he replied and vanished into the ball. Link packed it into his bag and activated the robot.
"If I make it there." he whispered and focused on the robot. "Okay. Attack Donkey Kong. Stop when he is defeated." The robot nodded and leaped up to use electric drills and kicks.
"Link! We've got him up to three hundred and twenty points!" Samus cried. Link leaped straight up and pulled a whirlwind attack, slashing around in a wide circle that threw DK off the arena and slammed him into the force field. The ape shrieked in fury before vanishing. The clone Pikachu stopped fighting and stood, waiting for its next order.
"Donkey Kong defeated!" the announcer declared and a portal opened. Samus laughed in relief as she wobbled to it.
"I am hurtin', but I feel great! We beat a giant Donkey Kong!" she whooped and danced through the portal. Link sighed and looked out at the arena.
"Step one, complete. Now for step two. I have to put on the ring and trick everyone into thinking I'm GB Link." he muttered, "With the robot gone, no one is watching this room, so here goes." Link brought out the ring and slipped it onto his finger. A flash of light erupted from it and then a wave of golden light spread over his hand, up his arm and across the rest of him, changing the look of his clothes and the style of them into that of GB Link's outfit and colors. When the transformation was complete, Link felt his face. Instead of the perky, slightly pointed nose he was given, he now had GB Link's slightly long, rounded nose. "Hey! It worked! Come on, Pikachu! Out the portal!" he declared and ran out of the room with the robot following behind.
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"We defeated Giant Donkey Kong!" Samus laughed as she ran up and hugged Captain Falcon. Yoshi and Kirby blinked and looked at each other in surprise.
"Giant Donkey Kong?" Kirby echoed.
"That explains why we need three characters to fight him." Yoshi remarked. Link and Pikachu joined the group and the characters stared at Link. "GB Link?! Here?! Where's N64 Link?" Yoshi cried in shock.
"We locked onto his transmitter and beamed him back to the base." Link lied, "He told me what was happening, so to keep Master Hand from learning about the missing character, I decided to take his place. He's just a rookie, too inexperienced to fight here. I'll do a much better job."
"Finally! A Link with some brains!" Captain Falcon declared. Link winced and frowned. So, that's how they really thought of him, a blonde airheaded idiot.
"Quiet!" Samus snapped and looked at Link. "Sorry. N64 Link acted with experience in the last battle. He showed leadership and intelligence. You and the others have trained him very well. When did you come?"
"Just after you left the arena. Pikachu saw me switch Trainee Link out." he replied. Pikachu nodded and smiled.
"Pika!" he exclaimed as the second door opened and the three fighters walked out, tired. DK looked around, spotted Link, and laughed.
"So, Sunshine decided to run and hide while a real man took his place." he snickered, "Nice to see you, GB Link." Fox raised an eyebrow, then headed off to sit and rest. Mario walked up to him, shook his hand and expressed gratitude that he was there, asked where N64 Link was, then went to rest before his next battle.
"Be quiet, you filthy ape!" Link snapped at DK and stalked away to steam and think over his next part in the plan.
"Ha, ha. You got GB Link mad at you." Kirby teased, "Ooh, now you're gonna get it." Yoshi checked on Mario and asked if he felt ready to fight.
"Yeah. Okay, I'm ready. Let's go. Watch out for that guy's whirlwind attack. It brings him back on the stage. Get him up to about three hundred damage points to knock him out." Mario replied as he and Yoshi and Kirby headed up to the door to start their fight.
"Pikachu! Come here!" Link called out and the robot ran to him, sitting next to him. The group watched them curiously, then went back to trying to figure out what would happen next.
"The fights are getting harder. I don't think we can take much more of this." Fox sighed.
"It's a good thing N64 Link was taken out of the tournament. It wouldn't do us any good if he fell in the next challenge. He's too young to fail now. Nintendo still needs him for Dolphin, once he gets the you-know-what." Samus said quietly.
"You're getting one, too, aren't you?" Luigi asked, "Oh, wait. My mistake, we get new trainees. N64 Link is the only one getting it, huh? I'd like to see what he'll look like once Dolphin gets to him."
"A lot better programmed, I think. Did you see the demo schematics the Links showed us? The Players are going to love it!" Fox replied, "Can you believe I'm getting a trainee of my very own? I can't wait to start teaching him about the Arwings and his background story!"
"Just so long as you don't get him worked up over James McCloud. He was a character for one game only." Luigi pointed out. "Anyway, I'd like to see what new game I'll be in. I hear Mario won't be the main character, just a part of the plot. Great! I step out of my brother's shadow for a while again!"
Link listened to the conversation and thought about it. What was Dolphin? What was it going to do to him?
"Pikachu. Prepare for new orders. In the next challenge you must fail. Don't fight. Let yourself be taken." he told the robot. The mouse nodded.
"Pikachu." he confirmed the new orders. Link sighed and looked out at the wide expanse of grass and hills. The Realm of Neutrality didn't have much in it, except for the mountain.
"So what exactly does Master Hand rule over? A bunch of gopher holes?" he muttered and lay back, looking up at the sky. A bit of hair flopped onto his face and he reached up to brush it away, catching a glimpse of the color. Red-orange and kind of wavy. "Ugh. Now that I think about it, I'd rather be blonde anytime. I kind of liked my hair color and style. More manageable." Link muttered and sighed, "Maybe I should just be glad with who I am and not try so hard to copy the other Links so much."
In another hour, the other door opened and the final team staggered out, exhausted. The ledge lifted up to the next level as the group gathered to rest and recover. Mario looked exhausted beyond reason. He could barely walk and fell asleep almost as soon as he hit the floor.
"This isn't good." Fox muttered and looked up at the doors. Each one had one symbol, just like the doors that led to the break-the-targets challenge. "That's worse." He looked over at DK, who stared at the doors with his mouth open and his finger up his nose. "And that's the worst of all."
"Uh...." DK began.
"We know! We know! You don't get it!" Link shouted in exasperation, "Instead of proving to the world what an idiot you are by opening your mouth, keep it shut and let those of us with brains figure it out!" The Nintendo fighters cracked up, laughing as DK stood there with a scowl.
"That's not funny." he grumbled as Link gave in to the contagious laughter, joining in with them. He pointed at the characters.
"They seem to think otherwise." he reported to the ape and smiled, daring DK to protest.
"First Pikachu, then Sunshine, now GB Link. Who's next?" DK muttered and stormed off to find a banana. Link just grinned and joined the other characters for dinner.