Authors Note: Remember that depending on the person's who's viewpoint the stories in. The stuff described may sound strange, even though it's a normal object we see every day. For example, Link won't know what light bulbs are so 'light bulb's' won't be said until he learns more.
A long gash appeared in the air inside the hallway. It slowly widened until it almost reached the steel walls. A shadowed form appeared in the white inside the rift.
"Ahaha!" Link cried as he was thrown from the rift. He rolled across the hard ground until he slammed into one of the walls. Groaning he fell onto his stomach, his face in the floor. A moment later Star exited the rift, easily landing on her feet.
"Watch your step," She said calmly as she touched the ground. Link's eye twitched in irritation.
Why didn't you tell me that before…?
Star looked around, ignoring Link's grumbling.
"We have arrived," She stated.
"Arrived where?" Link asked, picking himself up off the floor.
"My master's palace," Star informed him. Link blinked and looked at their surroundings. They were both in a wide hallway. The walls were made out some strange shiny iron, similar to the stuff seen in the Goron's mines. Above them, a bright light was being emitted from small objects placed into the ceiling. Star walked forward, getting Link's attention.
"Go through that door," She said, pointing down the hallway, "There you will meet some of the other participants and my master himself," Link looked at her.
"Uh…right…" he said, a little unsure. Star bowed her head slightly.
"My final duty is to wish you luck, and to welcome you into the tournament, Master Link," She looked up slightly.
"Fight well," She said before a small cloud of smoke erupted from where she had been standing. Link coughed as it spread.
"Cka! What the…!" When the smoke suddenly cleared, Star was nowhere to be seen. Link could only stare blankly at the spot she had been standing.
"…Why do I get the bad feeling she's going to be one of the more normal ones here…?" Link sighed. After a moment his face grew more serious. Turning around he faced the door Star had pointed at. For a moment all he did was stare at it. Then his eyes narrowed and he walked forward. He was only mildly surprised when the door slid upwards by himself. Stepping through it his eyes widened when he entered an enormous room.
"…Whoa…" he breathed. The roof was easily over two hundred feet in the air. Golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The walls were decorated with elaborate rugs and tapestries. The floor was covered in large red rugs with golden markings on the sides. On the far side of the room stood an enormous staircase that led up to another level below the ceiling. Looking around, Link cocked his head slightly when he noticed the people in it.
The first person he saw was a young man with rounded ears and dark blue hair. He was dressed somewhat similar to Link only his tunic was a dark blue with gold trimmings. A tattered cape hung from his shoulders and a sheathed sword was strapped to his side. This person was simply standing while looking around, his posture looked relaxed but Link could tell that he could spring into a battle stance in an instant.
Another person was a boy, around fifteen, with brown hair. He wore a white robe and had angel like wings growing from his back. Several golden rings surrounded his left hand. This person was sitting on one of the many chairs placed in the room, excitedly looking at the decorations with a gleam in his eyes.
The final person was young woman, around his age or maybe a year or so older. She was sitting calmly in a chair off to the side with her arms crossed and her eyes closed. Her blond hair partially covered her face and two long bangs hung from each side of her face. She was dressed in a tight suit made of some material Link had never seen before.
When Link entered the room all of them turned to look at him. Almost immediately the woman closed her eyes again and returned to her original position. The boy with brown hair cocked his head slightly as he looked at the new comer. The person with blue hair watched Link carefully as the hero walked forward.
Link stopped about halfway into the room, unsure of what to do. It seemed as if they were all waiting for something. Noticing how few people there were Link raised an eyebrow.
This is it?
Master Hand said I was participant thirteen. But there's only three other's here.
"Hey you," Link looked to who had spoken. It was the man with blue hair. Link didn't answer him, but looked at the man to show he had heard. The man walked forward stopping before the hero.
"You're here for the tournament to huh?" the person said. Link nodded.
"Yeah," He said simply. The man smiled lightly, holding out his hand.
"My name's Ike. How's it going?" Link returned the smile and shook his hand.
"I'm Link," he replied.
"Well Link," Ike said, laughing, "I'm glad you're here, because between you and me, you and I the most normal looking people in the room," Link couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"Hey, don't say that. We're all from different places. To me, you guys are the weird ones." A voice behind, and above, Link said. Link's eyes widened in surprise.
"Eh?" He said, turning around. He jumped slightly when he saw a brown haired boy floating in front of him. The boy smiled happily.
"Yo! I'm Pit! Nice to meetcha Link!" He said. Link smiled slightly, recovering from the shock of seeing a floating boy.
"Hi Pit," He said.
"Did I surprise ya?" Pit laughed, "Sorry, I guess the wings are a bit different. But where I come from it's a common thing,"
"Where you come from?" Link asked.
"Angel Land!" Pit said cheerfully. Link blinked with half lidded eyes.
Angel…Land…?
"I'm from Tellius," Ike said, stepping up beside him, "What about you?"
"I'm…from a place called Hyrule," Link said. The Ranger cocked his head slightly.
"Hyrule huh? It seems that everyone here really are from other worlds,"
"Everyone huh?" link said, glancing at him and Pit. Ike nodded.
"You're the fourth one to arrive," Ike said. Link blinked.
"The fourth? I thought there'd be more people," Link said. Ike nodded.
"I thought so too," He said, "I was told I was the ninth participant, "But there's just the four of us so far," Link looked around as Ike said this, wondering what could be going on.
"You don't think it's just gonna be just us do ya?" Pit asked. Link and Ike turned to him.
"It's obvious isn't it?" Link blinked, this was a new voice, calm, cool, and feminine. The three turned to look at the woman sitting in the corner. She watched them all with an unreadable expression.
"With thirteen of us and only four here," She gazed at them all through her blond hair, "They're splitting us up,"
"Splitting us up?" Link repeated.
"You mean, in teams?" Ike asked. The woman gave a slight nod.
"Why would they do that?" Link asked, "I thought this would be an individual tournament,"
"Che," The woman lowered her head and scowled slightly, "That's what I thought to. I didn't think I'd have to partner up with people,"
"You say that like it's such a horrible thing," Ike said with a bit of a disapproving tone.
"I don't work well with others," Was all the woman said.
"Obviously," Ike said, sounding a little annoyed, "You haven't even told us your name," The woman glanced up at them for a moment before closing her eyes again.
"Samus…" She finally said, "Samus Aran,"
"And where are you from?" Link asked. Of all of them, she looked the most strange. Her skin tight clothes were made out of some flexible material with strange glowing markings on them. She also had a strange weapon strapped to her thigh. It looked like a small steel crossbow except it was missing the limbs and the string. The woman glanced up at Link.
"…Do you really have to know that?" She replied.
"Just curious," Link said back, not blinking under her hard stare.
"Che, Are you always this nosey?"
"Are you always this cold?" The two stared at each other for a moment before Samus smirked and looked away.
"I don't really have a place I call home, if you must know Elf kid," Link's eye twitched in annoyance.
Who the hell you calling an elf?
Rather, who the hell are you calling a kid!
Before Link could respond however, one of the doors lining the wall opened. Samus and Link turned their heads while Pit and Ike stopped talking and looked toward the door. Seeing the person in the doorway Link's eyes widened.
"Z-zelda!" He exclaimed. The princess's head turned sharply toward the person who had called her name.
"Link!" She said. Immediately she rushed forward and embraced the hero.
"Thank Goddess you're here," She said as she released him. She sounded out of breath.
"Zelda? You're going to fight in this tournament too?" Link said, looking surprised, "I would have thought you'd want to watch over Hyrule," Zelda's eyes narrowed.
"That's the thing," She said darkly, "I declined the invitation, yet they brought me here anyway," Link, Pit, and Ike's eyes widened at the statement. Samus narrowed her eyes slightly as she glanced at the princess. Link suddenly noticed the small tears in her clothes, he stared at Zelda, who was still breathing heavily.
She's been fighting…
"Wait, you mean they just dragged you here?" Ike asked, coming up behind Link. Zelda glanced at the person for a moment before nodding.
"A man named Rouge came to collect me. When I told him I wasn't interested he tried to take me by force. I wasn't prepared for that and couldn't hold him back," Ike stared at her in surprise.
"But that's-"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," A new voice rang throughout the room. Their eyes widened and they spun around, facing the stair case. A man with black hair and silver eyes stood on the upper level. He wore a clean black tunic and a black trench coat lined with a deep gold. Everyone immediately recognized him.
"Welcome…chosen hero's," The man smiled calmly down at them. Link narrowed his eyes.
"Master Hand…"
"I do hope I haven't kept you waiting," Master Hand said, looking out over them.
"What's going on!" Link demanded, "Why'd you force Zelda to come!" Master Hand raised an eyebrow.
"Hmmm?" He looked down toward Link. Spotting him he smirked.
"My dear hero," He said in a cool voice, "I had to. Having a missing member of the legendary Triforce just doesn't make sense does it?" Link narrowed his eyes.
What's he getting at?
"There's no need to get so upset," He said calmly, "Princess," Master Hand continued, "Surely you cannot be that opposed to participating in my little game?" Zelda glared up at him.
"It's as you said," She replied, "I'm a princess, I have a duty to my kingdom and its people," A smirk crossed Master Hand's face.
"How honorable," He said, "Well...What if I promised that while you were here, I would personally make sure no harm befalls your kingdom," He smiled coolly down at her.
"Surely…that would make your participation acceptable?" Zelda narrowed her eyes slightly. Master Hand continued to watch her with his cold eyes.
"That is...unless you want to ingore my offer...?"Zelda held his gaze for a moment before scowling and looking away.
"Che," She said, "It looks like I don't have much of a choice," She said. Master hand smirked.
"Good girl," He said. Looking away from her he spread his arms, "Now that that's finished, I wish to welcome the rest of you to my humble home," The rest of the fighters looked up at him as he continued.
"Ranger Ike, leader of the Greil Mercenaries, what a pleasure it is to finally meet you," He turned to Pit.
"Young Pit, you who have blessed by the Goddess of light Palutena and wield her magical bow. I welcome you," He turned to Samus.
"And Miss Aran, the most famous and feared bounty hunter of all worlds. You grace me with your presence," Finally, with a smirk on his face he turned to Link.
"And Hero Link, The soul savior of the land of Hyrule and the one who carries the legendary Triforce of Courage. It is truly an honor to have you with us," Looking out over the five he smiled coolly.
"You five together are Team Alpha. The other eight fighters make up the other two teams, Gamma and Omega," He smirked as he raised his hand.
"Now then…There's no sense in wasting time. I've put together a little…preliminary challenge for you. I wish you all luck,"
"Wait, what!" Ike excalimed, "What are you talking about!" Master Hand smirked.
"Don't worry, you're heroes, you can hanlde it,"
Before any of the fighters could do anything he snapped his fingers. Purple lighting sparked above them. A moment later an enormous rift opened up over their heads. Eye's wide they weren't even given a chance to move as it suddenly crashed down around them. The room was ablaze as the pure white energy covered the bottom level of the room.
Master Hand watched with a smirk as the rift grew smaller, until it eventually shattered into pieces, dissipating. Still smirking he gazed out over the empty room.
"Let the games begin," He said to himself.
Link braced himself as he fell out of the rift. The ground came rushing up beneath him. He landed easily on the ground with his hand on his sheathed sword. Narrowing his eyes he stood up.
Damn it! Could have given us a bit of a warning!
The hero glanced around. He was in some sort of cave. Several glowing green crystals covered the walls, lighting up the area. Link slowly took a step forward.
"RAAAAAAAAWWRRR!" Link's eyes widened at the inhuman roar. A large shadow fell over him. Link gritted his teeth as he heard a whistling sound. Leaping forward, he barely dodged the enormous fist that slammed into the ground where he had been standing. The ground shattered under the impact, causing the cave to rock. Link slid across the ground and pulled out his sword. The crystal's lining the walls made the steel glow slightly.
A giant monster stood before Link. Its red fur covered its entire body, right down to its pointed tail. Long gagged horns grew out of it face while it's spiked protruded from its snout. It glared down at link with glowing green eyes.
"So this is the 'preliminary challenge' huh?" Link said. He gripped his sword and smirked.
"Well…bring it on!"
Authors Note: Can you guess what stage Link's on? It's from Brawl.