Chapter Ten

Night came and went and the Nintendo fighters grew even more worried as they circled the mountain. There were four doors now and the circles above the doors hinted at another challenge that stood between them and Master Hand.

"I am so paranoid now, I can't stand it." Fox muttered, staring up at his door. "We started with eight, and now we're down to four! Four! We're gonna die!" he began to panic.

"Shut up! No one's gonna die! Stay focused! We will beat this creep!" Link shouted at him and entered his door. Fox gulped and looked over at Mario. Luigi gave his brother a tight hug, then watched him enter the door. He went to sit with Captain Falcon and helped Jigglypuff and Ness try to comfort him over the loss of Samus.

"I should have been the one to fight instead of my beautiful Samus! Why?! WHY?!" he blubbered. Yoshi sighed sadly and stepped into his door. Fox was the only one left to enter the doorway and take the new challenge.

"Okay, Fox. Stay cool. Stay calm. You can do this. You have plenty of ammo left." Fox told himself and walked into his door. "I hope."

-----------------------

"Race to the finish! Make it to the finish line in under forty-five seconds!" the announcer declared when Fox appeared. Fox gulped and got ready to run. "Ready? GO!" Fox raced forward, sprinting down the walkway as fast as he could.

"A race? No sweat!" he panted and yelped when a strange purple creature that looked like it was made of crystal charged him. It moved exactly like him! "Hey! What's that?!" The creature leaped into a running kick exactly like his own as it raced at him. Fox jumped and flipped over the creature, then continued onwards. "That's crazy! That thing moves like me, runs like me, and even attacks like me!" he declared as he jumped over a wall in front of him to reach the second level. "What if those things were disguised as us when we were in the arenas?! I bet that's what was fighting us all along! Those purple things!"

The second level had a pipe dropping rolling black barrels down it towards Fox. He glanced up at the clock, thirteen and a half seconds so far. He was making good time. Fox leaped over the first barrel, then the next and the next. The barrels kept coming and Fox had to dodge them. He raced under the pipe before it could drop a barrel on him, then leaped down the third level. As he jumped down, another purple creature jumped up to attack him. This one moved like Samus! Fox drilled it down, then used it as a launch pad to get him into the next part of the obstacle course. A jungle of bumpers blocked his way.

"Aw man! That's so not fair!" Fox exclaimed and rolled under the first bumper, leaped over the next and carefully but quickly made his way through them. With twenty seconds already up, Fox soared up and over the wall to drop onto the fourth and final platform. A large purple creature lumbered after him as Fox scampered towards a glowing doorway at the end of the hall. Fox looked back over his shoulder as he panted.

"Let me guess. That thing must have been modeled after Donkey Kong." he sighed and ran even faster. Finally, he threw himself into the doorway with twenty-seven seconds on the clock.

"Perfect!" the announcer declared as Fox began to vanish into the light. He panted, tongue out and wagging.

"Oh sure! Nothing... to it! It was... easy! Piece... of cake!" he gasped out and collapsed, transported out of the arena.

-----------------------

Everyone was exhausted when they emerged from the arenas. Luigi, Captain Falcon, Jigglypuff and Ness stared down at the Nintendo fighters as they crawled about the incredibly wide platform. Fox dragged himself everywhere.

"My legs.... My legs...! The race crippled me!" he gasped. Mario flopped about like a fish out of water, his face as red as his shirt.

"I'm not in shape for this!" he wheezed. Luigi cringed and silently thanked the heavens he wasn't in the tournament. Yoshi was sprawled out on the floor, his long tongue fully unfurled on the ground. He didn't care if it got coated in dust and dirt, he wanted to rest his aching feet.

"I take it this was a tougher challenge than you originally thought." Jigglypuff remarked flatly. Link dragged himself over to Captain Falcon, pulling himself along by the fingertips. He reached up to him and the driver leaned back, wary and creeped out. Link looked up at him, looking as if he'd been tortured.

"Help... meee... pleeease!" he wheezed out and dropped forward onto his face, hand stretched out on the ground where it dropped. Capt. Falcon scooched away. "Ow."

"You guys need a break. Master Hand's wearing you out." Ness told them. The group all looked up at them. Mario lay on his stomach, not moving an inch.

"Can't... move... legs!" he rasped out, "Can't... feel... legs!" Capt. Falcon snorted disdainfully.

"Oh, don't be such a baby!" he declared, "A little exercise never hurt anyone!" The exhausted fighters slowly turned their heads to stare at him. "It couldn't have been that bad! I, the great Captain Falcon, can withstand much more than a simple race to the finish line!" Link raised an eyebrow, as if confused. Mario blinked twice and dropped his head down, passed out. Fox strained to reach his blaster, hand trembling from effort and exhaustion.

"Come here, Captain Falcon...." he said in a shaky voice, one eye twitching and one corner of a forced smile trembling, "Come here for a second.... I want to share something with you, buddy...." Captain Falcon blinked at him. Luigi snapped his fingers near Mario's ear.

"I wouldn't if I were you, Cap." the plumber remarked without even looking up from his brother, "You might end up losing your helmet again, and the head that goes with it, too."

"Shut up, Luigi." Fox managed to say in a somewhat calm voice even though his face was still spazzing, "C'mere, pal.... I won't bite.... I promise...."

It took a few hours, but soon all the fighters were back on their feet again. They ate more rations as they began to figure out what the next challenge would be. Beside their symbols were exclamation marks. They didn't know what it meant.

"I don't like it." Fox grumbled as he chewed his food. Link frowned at the symbols.

"I never liked this stupid tournament since the beginning." he growled as he stabbed at his bowl of stew. Everyone stared at him.

"But... you weren't there at the very beginning." Yoshi pointed out. Link blinked, blushed, and locked up his mouth again. They finished eating, rested a bit more, then got up to enter the next challenge, unaware of what they were about to face.