Chapter Twelve

The mountain rumbled and the three remaining Nintendo fighters knew that it meant Yoshi had failed. Luigi looked around, then looked at his brother, fearful. Mario stood up and got ready to enter the door.

"Don't do it, Mario! We can't lose you!" Luigi exclaimed. Fox loaded a fresh cartridge into his blaster gun and clicked it securely.

"We don't have any choice. Yoshi's down. We have to go." he muttered, "Mario, dude, good luck." Mario sighed and looked to his younger brother.

"Luigi, don't panic. I'll be fine. I promise. I'll come back to you all. Master Hand can't take me down!" he vowed. He gave Luigi a hug, then entered the doors, preparing to fight against the ruler of the Realm of Neutrality.

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Mario dropped onto the platform and looked around. Everything was set up exactly the way it was for Yoshi. Mario looked up and spotted his friends in the capsules overhead. The screen next to them had his picture and that of a hand with 300 health points. Yoshi looked down at him, scared.

"Mario! Master Hand's a giant hand! You have to knock out all of his points to beat him! He's got some wicked attacks that you have to watch out for!" he shouted down at the plumber. "He slams you, slaps you, even blasts off like a rocket! Watch out for his attacks!"

"Thanks for the tip, Yoshi! How many points did you knock off?" Mario called up.

"None! I couldn't touch the guy! He's super-hard to attack so stay on your toes!" the dinosaur replied as Master Hand zoomed in and laughed.

"Prepare to meet your end, little man! Are you the false star?! Tell me!" he demanded. Mario looked startled, then recovered to take on a fighting stance.

"I am an Allstar and I won't lose to the likes of you! As for fake Nintendo characters, none of us are fake! We're all true stars!" Mario shouted. Master Hand shook in fury, clenched up in a fist.

"You lie! I know for a fact that one of the three fighters remaining is a fake! That one has little or no popularity among the humans! I have no use for a fake star!" Master Hand shouted and began to attack with a slap. Mario put up the bubble shield and rolled away. He turned and fired off a Fireball which hit Master Hand and knocked off only six points. The gloved hand shook it off and clenched into a fist.

"How dare you strike your new master?! You will pay for it with your freedom!" Master Hand yelled and shot up into the air. Yoshi recognized it.

"Mario! Look out! He's gonna do a Rocket Finger!" he shouted a warning.

"Pikachu! Pika! Pika! Pikachu!" Pikachu yelled out. Samus was studying him, using her computer to analyze the patterns of his voice. The cries were in a pattern that changed every hour, as if being randomly selected from a set of cries.

"He sounds... robotic." Samus murmured suspiciously, "Could it be... that this Pikachu isn't Pikachu?"

Master Hand hit Mario twice with the Rocket Finger attack, knocking the plumber senseless. The giant hand then slammed the Allstar several times and flicked him right off the platform. Mario hit the force field and screamed as it sucked him in and re-deposited him in a capsule next to Yoshi. Master Hand had done the unthinkable, he had defeated the Nintendo Golden Mascot, Mario!

"We're doomed!" Donkey Kong wailed. The capsule scanned Mario and declared him an Allstar. Master Hand rested on the arena and thought things over.

"I've made a mistake somewhere and he is making me even more angry." he grumbled, "When I find him, I will make him suffer excruciating pain before I kill him." Mario slumped back against the glass of the capsule and looked out at the stars glumly. He had failed. Now Nintendo would suffer a horrible fate if the last two fighters couldn't win the tournament.

"Poor Players. We've let them down. At least N64 Link won't get hurt, he's back home safe and sound. For the time being." he murmured and silently prayed for one of the last two fighters to win.

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Fox Versus Master Hand!

"Where did GB Link go?" Luigi wondered as they waited for signs of the battle's outcome. The Nintendo characters looked around but didn't see him anywhere. "I bet he heard what Capt. Falcon was saying and got mad."

"Of course he'd be mad. The idiot here insulted the Links' design for the rookie!" Fox barked, glaring at the racer. Captain Falcon only shrugged.

"Truth hurts." he replied simply. Fox stood up angrily.

"I'll tell you what else hurts! My blaster barrel jammed up your...!" he started to threaten and the mountain shook violently, nearly knocking Fox off his feet, "Hey! What's going on?! The battle barely started! It can't be over that fast!" Luigi looked wild-eyed.

"Mario! Mario! They got my brother! They got him!" he shrieked and leaped up, racing for the golden doors.

"Don't do it!" Link suddenly cried out and raced around the peak, tackling the green plumber. They fell to the ground as the shaking stopped and Luigi sobbed. "Getting yourself recaptured won't save Mario. Just stay here. Fox will rescue him. I know he will. He's fast and clever. He can do it." he added gently. The elf consoled the plumber as best he could, then sat back and rested against the mountain wall, pulling his legs close to his body and hugging his knees. Fox looked up at the doors and swallowed a little. Ness looked worried.

"You're not really going in there, are ya?" he asked softly. Fox looked back at him and smiled.

"I have to, Ness. It's up to me and GB Link, and he got the last straw. Wish me luck." he whispered and stood to enter the doors and face Master Hand.

"I wish you brains!" Captain Falcon yelled.

"Wish for some of your own, Captain Drives-Like-A-Maniac!" Fox snapped back and entered the arena.

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Fox stood his ground and growled as Master Hand came down to meet him. The captured characters watched the scene in hopes that Fox would be the one to defeat the awful overlord. They couldn't help but wonder what Master Hand had meant by one of the last two fighters being a fake Allstar. Fox wasn't an Allstar, at least not yet, and GB Link was an Allstar for his era, but not for the recent generation. So, who was the fake?

"Are you the false star?" Master Hand boomed. Fox growled deeper.

"I'm not even an Allstar, pal, but I am popular with the Players! Let those characters go right now, and maybe I won't shoot you to bits, ya oversized glove!" Fox snapped. Master Hand laughed at him, amused.

"How quaint. The tiny insect threatens me." he murmured and then slapped the stage. Fox was down before he even knew what hit him.

"Fox, that guy's a cheater! You have to knock down his life points, but watch out for his attacks!" Yoshi yelled as Mario stood up and watched the fight in horror. Things were starting off badly. Samus scowled at the capsule next to her. According to her scans, Pikachu was metal through and through.

"That's not the real Pikachu. It's a robot copy. But then, where's the real Pikachu?" she wondered to herself and thought hard. The last time she saw Pikachu act normal was just before she, N64 Link and Pikachu defeated the Giant Donkey Kong. After that, he wouldn't respond to anyone and would stick close to GB Link. "Now that I think about it, that's the same time N64 Link disappeared and was replaced by GB Link." Samus added, "Is there a connection between them?"

Fox rolled to his feet and watched for Master Hand to pull back. As the giant hand hovered, pondering which attack to use next, Fox leaped up and used a Drill Kick on him, knocking off several hit points. Enraged, Master Hand flew up to slam onto the arena again.

"Look out, Fox!" Yoshi cried as the pilot threw up the force field and let it take the force of the blow. Once Master Hand pulled back in shock at the fact that Fox wasn't failing as quickly as he had thought he would, Fox let him have it with a few shots of his blaster. Though on Master Hand the blasts were weak and mostly ineffective, they did take down more of his health. Master Hand was now at 270 points of health. Fox's Drill knocked away a few more.

"He's doing it! He's really doing it! Fox could win this match!" Kirby declared joyfully just before Master Hand formed a gun with his fingers and fired a shot at Fox. He fell back and slid off the platform, scrabbling to hold onto the edge. "Hey! He's starting to cheat again!"

"Insolent fool! How dare you attack me in such a manner! How dare you revolt against your future master!" Master Hand raged and aimed his index finger at him. Fox scrambled back onto the platform, but Master Hand already began jabbing at him, adding damage and knocking the breath out of him. Finally, he pulled away to perform his Rocket Finger attack. Fox collapsed to the floor and struggled to get up. He was hit once by the incoming finger and thrown into the air. He was hit again on the way down to the platform as Master Hand zoomed back across the arena.

"I can't make it, guys!" Fox cried as Master Hand pulled back smugly to watch him, "That last hit damaged my shield!" He fought to get to his feet and waited vainly for an item to drop and help him.

"If you're hoping for me to let you have a small knick knack to help you, forget it!" Master Hand laughed, "In this arena, I rule and my rules are NO ITEMS!" He roared loudly and formed a fist, "Prepare to meet your end!" With that, he punched Fox hard and sent him flying off the arena. Fox spiraled through the air and fell against the force field, screaming in pain. He vanished and reappeared in a capsule, battered and bruised. Master Hand watched the capsule intently. It flickered and came to life, then declared Fox to be a true star. He had enough popularity to capture a wide audience. "At last! Now I know who the false star is! The final challenger! He is the fraud and he shall die!" Master Hand roared in triumph, "And once he is dead, my clones will take control of your games! Weep, fools, your end is nigh and my reign of agony and suffering and despair shall soon begin!" The Nintendo fighters stared at each other in shock. GB Link was a fake?! But he was an Allstar! How could an Allstar be a fake star?!

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Round One:

Link Versus Master Hand!

The mountain shook violently as the characters remaining outside waited. Link looked up in surprise, then looked sorrowful. The real stars had failed, and now they were counting on him to save the players and Nintendo. He stood up and listened to Master Hand's laughter, then backed away from the golden doors as the others watched.

"I can't do it!" he whispered loudly.

"What are you talking about?" Ness exclaimed, "You're our last, best chance at beating that guy! Take him on, Link, and win!"

"I can't do it! You don't understand! I'm not good enough!" Link cried, covering his ears with his hands and shutting his eyes tightly, shaking in terror. "I can't do it!"

"Why the heck not?! You're GB Link, Allstar of the Game Boy Era! Show that Master Hand creep what an Allstar's really made of!" Jigglypuff declared. Link shook his head violently.

"No! NO! I can't do it! I can't do it because I'm not who you think I am!" he cried. Ness, Luigi, Jigglypuff, and Captain Falcon looked at him strangely.

"GB Link's finally lost it." Capt. Falcon whispered to Luigi, who gave him a cold glare.

"I'm not GB Link!" Link cried and finally bolted for the golden doors, "Take me now and end it all! I'll give my life to save the Players and spare Nintendo from carrying its biggest mistake into the holiday season!" he screamed and vanished into the Master Arena.

"I think he got conked on the head during the last match. He's not thinking clearly." Capt. Falcon added with a solemn nod.

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Link appeared on the platform and looked around in fright. What was he doing here? What chance did he have, when the true stars couldn't beat Master Hand? He looked up at the capsules and gasped. All the fighters were there, pounding on the glass and trying to escape. And there was the fake Pikachu, still operating under his control. Maybe he did have a chance after all! Link calmed down a little and looked up at the scoreboard. He saw the picture of himself with zero damage points and a picture of a hand with 300 health points.

"Link! Master Hand's a giant hand! He's got a ton of nasty attacks and you have to whittle down his health points to destroy him! I got him down to 250 points before he knocked me out!" Fox shouted, "Good luck! You're our last hope!"

"I'll do my best, Fox!" Link shouted up and gasped as Master Hand came down to greet him. He was shaking in a fury.

"YOU! You are the false star! I should kill you now for ruining my plans!" he raged. Link stepped back slightly, wincing in pain from the loudness of his voice. "But as I have said before, I'll give you a sporting chance. Defeat me, and you are all free to go. Fail, and I shall kill you!" Master Hand bellowed and began by firing a bullet at Link. The elf threw up a shield to block it and quickly rolled away when he slapped across the platform in an attempt to knock him off. He pulled out his sword and began to slash in a fury, the blade a mere blur as Master Hand rose up out of the line of fire, his health down to 240 points already.

"Look out!" Kirby yelled as Master Hand zoomed back into the fight in a punch, knocking Link up into the air. Fox recognized the move.

"He'll try for another!" he shouted and Link twisted in midair to do a Downward Stab attack for another few points of damage.

"Arrragh! You insolent creature!" Master Hand raged and began to let his fingers walk across the platform. Link jumped straight up, pulled a mid-air jump, then used a Whirlwind to sail cleanly over him and land safely behind Master Hand. As soon as he touched ground, Link slashed at Master Hand several more times. Link's damage was up to fifteen percent, Master Hand's health points were down to 215 and falling quickly.

"You can do it, Link! Allstars don't give up!" Yoshi declared. Master Hand flexed his fingers in anger.

"You are not a true star! You are a fake and you will die!" he bellowed. Link breathed hard and quickly thought through his options. He should call Pikachu out now, but was the timing right?

"A little longer. I'll take out a little more of his health and then it will be time to see if my plan will work." he told himself and growled as Master Hand laughed.

"Giving yourself a confidence-boosting pep talk? Give it up! You'll never defeat me!" he declared.

"Then why is it that you've lost more health than I have acquired damage?" Link asked in a harsh voice, "Face it, Master Hand! Your time is almost up!" Master Hand shook in fury and suddenly slammed the platform, startling Link and crushing him under his weight. The hand then lifted up and zoomed off to do a Rocket Finger. Link struggled to his feet, battered and bruised. His damage meter was going up, twenty percent already. The Rocket Finger blasted through, adding more damage and throwing Link to the floor. The elf lay there, dazed.

"And now you shall die, False Star. You shall die, but first, you will watch your friends become my slaves!" Master Hand murmured victoriously and turned to watch the capsules. Link struggled to sit up and watched in horror as a strange purplish-black energy began to slowly fill the capsules, rising from the bottom of the tubes. The Nintendo characters looked startled, then began to panic, jumping in place to try to get away from it. "Go on and try to escape it! It will claim your minds soon enough!" Master Hand crowed and turned to face Link once again. "And now, time to die, False Star." he hissed.

"GB Link! Look out! Don't let him throw you into the force field!" Samus cried as her computer's alarms rang off the charts, "He's changed it to electrocute you! It could kill you!" Master Hand ignored her and proceeded to slam the platform again and again, crushing Link beneath him and raising his damage meter so there would be no way he could recover from a Smash Attack. Link strained to reach for the Poké Ball in his bomb bag, but the blows were making him lose focus, lose consciousness.

"It can't end this way...." he whispered brokenly as Master Hand pulled away for the final blow. Link tried to get up, but his damage was up to a hundred and fifty already. A hard enough hit would finish him for good. "I failed Nintendo...." he whispered in anguish, "I knew.... I'd never amount to anything.... I was a mistake... I was never meant to be anything but a mistake...." He couldn't keep the tears back as he lay helplessly on the platform.

"DIE, FALSE STAR!!" Master Hand shrieked and delivered a Smash Attack punch that slammed Link into the force field like a bullet.

"NO! No, oh no! GB Link!" Kirby cried as the others shrieked in horror. Link stiffened and arced against the electric voltage coursing through his body, screaming and writhing against it. This was it! He had failed and now he would die! Just like Master Hand said! Nintendo would fall! The Players would be enslaved! All of Humanity would plunge into endless suffering because of him!

"IT... CAN'T... END... LIKE... THIS!" Link howled and something finally snapped within him. The force field exploded and threw Link back onto the Master Arena, slamming him down with enough force to crush every bone in his body. The Nintendo fighters stared down at him in horror as Master Hand floated and laughed. Was he... dead?

Link lay motionless on the platform, burned, battered, bloodied and beaten. For a few moments, it seemed as if all hope was lost. Then, slowly, but surely, a glow began to emanate from Link's hand. The fighters stared down at the glow in confusion. What was that? Pikachu blinked at it, then began to yell in its robotic way again. Its orders weren't carried out completely yet. It will follow its orders until its master died or it was reprogrammed, whichever came first.

"What's... happening?" Samus whispered in awe as Link's body lifted from the platform and hovered in the air. The glow flashed and revealed itself to be a small ring that glowed bright gold, then shattered into dust. The golden dust flowed up Link's arm and covered his entire body, restoring him and bringing his damage down to zero.

"Is that like a one-up or something?" DK asked in confusion. The dust began to fade away, revealing GB Link's true identity. N64 Link! The Nintendo fighters gasped in shock. The rookie had been there all along, posing as GB Link! But why?! "Hey! What's Sunshine doin' here?! I thought he was replaced by GB Link!"

"That's it! GB Link's an Allstar, but N64 Link isn't! Master Hand wanted true stars, but he swiped the rookie by mistake! He really wanted GB Link!" Mario declared as the realization hit him.

"Then Pikachu is a fake too! That's a robot that N64 Link switched for the real Pikachu!" Samus shouted, pointing at the capsule beside her.

N64 Link remained suspended for a few moments longer, then was set gently back down on the platform. Master Hand was stunned, then began to shake in fury again. He had been tricked! This elf had cheated him, not once, but twice! First by being in place of the true Allstar he had been trying to kidnap, and now by returning to the battlefield after Master Hand had won!

"How dare you...!" he hissed and N64 Link's eyes flew open in an angry glare.

"By planning ahead, ya fingered freak! Now let's do that fight over again! Round Two, Master Hand, and this time we play by MY rules!" N64 Link declared and armed himself with the Master Sword and a Poké Ball, ready to fight.