Hello, Readers! Just a warning: This chapter is long. Also, If I get any characters incorrect, let me know! All that aside, I'd like to let you all know that I have only one more pre-written chapter to post, and then after that you guys will have to wait week or two for a new chapter as it takes me a while to write the chapters I do. SO, without further ado….

Chapter Three: Odd Party

The Great Hall was vast. The room was enough to accommodate over two hundred normal-sized people, but Ravio could plainly see that that rule generally didn't apply to the large Castle. A long table stretched down the middle of the hall, and there were smaller tables near the sides of the room, by the thin windows that helped light the area. In between windows, bright orbs lit the areas that the windows couldn't, and overhead hung a weird chandelier made of metal with more of the orbs attached to it. When Link, Ravio, and Zelda walked into the room after Ganon, Ravio's mouth dropped open. In addition to the people and creatures Ravio had seen in the hallway, there were many many others including a group of swordsmen, some kids playing with Toon Link, and a few other people in strange suits of armor.

Link went to the front of the table and cleared his throat. "So, uh, can I have your attention?" however, the ruckus echoing about the Great Hall was no match for Link's call for attention. Link sighed and looked at Ganon with raised eyebrows, but Ganon shook his head with a smile. "This was your idea, Hero." The green-clad hero shrugged and walked over to a shorter, mustached man wearing overalls and a red shirt and cap. After a short conversation, Ravio saw the man stand up and call for attention. This time, everyone listened. "Thanks, Mario," said Link, and he turned to the crowd. "Hey, everyone! I know you all were probably busy when Zelda gathered you up, so I appreciate you making it..." "Oh, cut to the chase," interrupted King Dedede, "I've got really important things to get to!" "Yes, I get it, so listen up!" Link shouted, getting frustrated. "Any way," he walked over to Ravio, "This is Ravio, and he's from an alternate dimension of my world." "Don't get started on your timeline again!" yelled a comical looking man called Wario, but Link ignored him. "His kingdom, Lorule has been attacked and, according to Ravio, scattered throughout the dimensions and universes." "So, d'you want us to help?" asked Shulk. "Yes," Zelda said, "we need some of you to help look for other pieces of Lorule in other dimensions while Ravio, Link, and Ganon scope out our own Hylian dimension to see if we can find any clues." "So, who's in?"

First Mario, and his green-clothed brother, Luigi spoke up. "We'll a-volunteer to help!" "So will I!" said Kirby, and Meta Knight shrugged. "I guess I'll go too." "I'll give any assistance I can," said Samus, and soon after, both Captain Falcon and Little Mac volunteered too. In a few minutes nearly every Smasher had volunteered to help Lorule's cause. Ravio beamed at the crowd, happy that everyone was willing to help, despite barely knowing him. Suddenly a loud, deep announcer-style voice cut through the din of talking Smashers. "And just how are you planning on making all of those dimensional jumps?" everyone was immediately silent, looking at something directly behind Ravio. Ravio turned around and saw a massive white-gloved hand hovering just inside the doorway. The merchant yelped and ducked behind the slightly taller Link, his purple rabbit hood slipping down over his eyes.

"Heeeey, Master Hand," said Link, a nervous edge to his casual greeting, "what brings you here?" "I'm in charge, remember?" the Hand casually hovered over to the other end of the long table and lowered itself as if it were sitting ('If giant sentient hands could sit,' thought Ravio, still hiding behind Link). "I also noticed that an unplanned gathering had been arranged in the Great Hall without my knowledge." Link gave Zelda a side glance. "You didn't tell Master Hand?!" he hissed. Ganon chuckled. "Master Hand," said Zelda, "It was I who gathered the others together. You see, we required assis-" "I don't care if you needed assistance! As soon as someone from another dimension comes here without an invitation I need to know!" the Hand crunched into a fist. Ganondorf raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Ravio is harmless. And besides, why'd we tell YOU about him if he's not even s'posed to be a fighter here?" "Because," he said, "I could send you back to your sorry dimension now to live out your fate, but because you're a Smasher I have allowed you to stay here if you follow MY orders. And my orders are to inform me if any beings, harmless or otherwise, cross into this dimension without my consent."

Ganondorf glared but stayed silent. "In any case," continued Master Hand, "I have decided to give this 'Ravio' a chance at convincing me to help, but if he fails I'll blast him back to Lorule so fast..." Ravio shrank a little farther behind Link and gulped as he noticed that when the Master Hand said 'convince', the more violent Smashers chuckled and jostled each other while the Heroes and Friendly smashers looked to each other nervously. "Can we have a minute?" asked Zelda. Master Hand relaxed a bit, giving the Princess permission. Zelda put a hand on Ravio's shoulder. "Listen, I might not know you too well, but I know you can do this." "D-Do what, exactly? What does 'Convincing' mean?!" Zelda sighed. "I'm sorry, but it means you'll have to beat Master Hand and his brother, Crazy Hand in a match." "WHAT?!" Zelda hugged the shorter Merchant, trying to calm him down. "Like I said, Ravi, you'll do great." Ravio nodded shakily and stepped out in front of Link, Zelda, and Ganon so he faced the large Hand. "Okay," he said, feeling a bit braver thanks to Zelda's pep talk and the rabbit hood he wore, "I'm ready to convince you."

-

The stage, Ravio noticed, was larger than he thought it would be. As soon as the purple-haired merchant had told Master Hand he was ready, a shining whitish-blue light surrounded him and soon he was standing on a floating, circular platform some distance above a long, flat area in the middle of 'Space' as Link called it. Zelda later identified this stage as 'Final Destination'. Ravio was also relieved to find that he was now holding his trusty bag full of rentable weapons. At least now he had a fighting chance ("Another Farore-Awful Pun..." Link would have said).

Ravio's floating platform suddenly started to blink rapidly and then disappeared, the merchant on top falling to the ground and spilling a few rupees from his pack. Quickly gathering them up, he hears 2 different malicious cackles and looks up to find Master Hand zooming to the stage. Frightened, Ravio looks in the opposite direction to find another hand, wiggling its fingers in crazy directions, zooming towards Master Hand. The two hands fist-bumped, and Ravio assumed the newcomer was Crazy Hand. After fist-bumping, the two hands moved to opposite sides of the stage and began their assaults. Ravio immediately flattened himself onto the stage, the various attacks whistling above his head. He jumped when he saw Master Hand sliding on the ground towards him, and then resumed his ducking position. He wasn't going to last long, being the coward he was.

Suddenly, a crackling noise was heard near his ear inside the safety of his hood. "Hello?" Link's voice could be heard now, "Ravio! CAN. YOU. HEAR. ME?" "Y-yes?" Ravio managed, really confused. "Ravio, this is important" Ganon could now be heard inside the hood as well, "Fox and Falco sneaked this communication device in your hood, so we can talk you out of doing something stupid." "What a vote of inspiration, Ganondork," said Link sarcastically. "Boys, stop fighting," said Zelda, "we need to help Ravio." "I'm gonna have to go with Zelda here, ," said Ravio, nearly getting hit by one of Crazy Hand's bombs. "Right," Link got back on topic, "So, do you have any weapons in your bag? The platform usually spawns anything that could be a weapon on you, so that sack must count for something." Ravio waited for a gap in the attacks, and used the opportunity to grab the first thing in the bag that touched his hand. "I've got the Fire Rod! I'm gonna try using it!"

With a flick of his wrist, Ravio sent a swirling tornado of fire at Master Hand, and a glowing red number appeared over the appendage, displaying a number going down. "Excellent!" cackled Ganon, and Ravio assumed he did SOMETHING right. So he kept doing what he was doing and managed to keep the hands at bay. That is, until the Master Hand got the idea to go through the fire, and punch Ravio, making the Merchant fall and skid across the stage. The fire rod slid off the stage and into the abyss. "Don't worry Ravio," advised Zelda, "It'll reappear after the match. For now, find another weapon. "Ok," Ravio pulled out a bow and arrow, and some bombs, "I've got an idea this time." running and dodging, Ravio managed to tie the smaller bombs to the tips of his arrows, and once they were secure, began firing at Master Hand. Just as Ravio shot his last arrow, Crazy Hand laughed maniacally (is that all he ever does?) and seized the purple merchant by his striped scarf, rendering him useless.

"What now, oh Purple One?" asked Master Hand, getting ready to flick Ravio into oblivion as if he were a fly. However, despite his cowardice Ravio had another trick up his sleeve. He reached into his large bag and drew a large hammer, swinging the heavy thing upward at Crazy Hand. The outraged Hand dropped the merchant, and Ravio landed on his feet this time, his bag plopping on the ground right by his feet. He held the hammer with both hands, and wielded it as if he were born to do so, his new friends from Hyrule cheering him on. Minutes later, Ravio felt himself tiring out. The Hammer was getting heavier in his arms, and the hood was feeling stuffy. And the Hands knew it. Despite the red numbers (Health Points, as Zelda had informed Ravio later,) above Master and Crazy hand going down, they started doing heavier attacks on the poor Merchant, and finally, giving into his tiredness, Ravio resorted to laying flat on the ground, as he did at the beginning of the match. "Hang in there Ravio," said Link, "We're tying to send in something to help!"

Ravio could hear chatter in the background of the comm device, and in a few seconds, he could hear Zelda. "Look up, Ravio." he obeyed, and saw a shiny sphere floating some distance above him. "What is it?" he asked, jumping to avoid another attack by Master Hand. "That's a Smash Ball, courtesy of R.O.B and all of the other technology nerds at Smash Castle!" "Link, that doesn't answer anything," huffed Ganon haughtily, "All you need to do is give it a good whack with your hammer, and give 'em Din's fire and brimstone." Ravio nodded determinedly, and using the Tornado Rod to get up to the ball, he used all of his strength to hit it as hard as he could. He heard the sphere shatter, and colorful energy rushed to him, giving him power. "Hit them... NOW!" Ganon shouted, and Ravio danced. "Not QUITE what I expected for a Final Smash..." he heard Zelda say, and when he finished his odd jig, he saw both Master Hand and Crazy Hand doing the dance as well! In fact, they seemed to be under a spell, forced to do Ravio's curious little dance until he attacked, or something like that. He laughed, thinking about what an odd sight it was, and then smirked as he thought of something. Ravio served through his bag again and came up with two very heavy explosives. Calmly lighting them, he sent them rolling towards each hand until BOOM!

"GAME!"

-

Like at the start of the fight, a whitish blue light surrounded Ravio and when it went away, he was standing near the end of the long table in the Great Hall. Master Hand hovered at the other end of the table, looking slightly bruised but still dignified. The crowd gathered in the large room were chattering loudly, surprised that the newcomer was able to beat Master Hand and his brother with no obvious experience in fighting (especially in an arena). "Congratulations," said the Hand, silencing everyone, "You have successfully convinced me that I should help, so I will operate the dimensional cannon that will get you to the dimension you need." Ravio nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. He was sore. "Okay," said Link, "We already have a few volunteers so we just need to figure out what dimensions to send them to." "I think," said Lucario, "the best option would be to send us where we would blend in best." "I agree," said Snake, surprising some people. For some reason he still hung out even though he was no longer a fighter.

"Very well," said Master Hand, "all Smashers crossing dimensions shall meet me in the Launch Bay in an hour." and with that, the massive Hand floated out of the room. As soon as he was out, massive amounts of talking and murmuring broke out and echoed around the room, the noise making it hard to think. Link clapped Ravio on the shoulder, a big grin on his face. "You did AMAZINGLY, Ravi," he said. the red and green heroes of the Mushroom kingdom joined the Hylians. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to be-a Smasher here?" asked Mario. "No," said Ravio, "My princess needs me." "Understandable," the red hero said, "If Peach weren't here, I wouldn't be here either-" "-And I'm sure it's the same way with Link," broke in the green brother, Luigi. The two brothers soon excused themselves to get ready to go and walked out of the Great Hall. Ravio lowered his rabbit hood after remembering he had it on, and chuckled. "Ravio, do you know the way back to the Hyrule hall?" asked Zelda. Ravio nodded. "You all can go if you'd like," he said respectfully, "I would like to stick around and meet a few others." "You sure you'll be alright Ravio?" Link asked, concerned. Ravio nodded again and smiled. "After facing that ginormous hand, I don't think anyone else here can really scare me." "Okay, be careful." "Yes," said Ganon, "some of the other guys here... well, they aren't exactly welcoming to heroes. Good Luck."

As soon as Zelda, Link, and Ganon walked out of the Great Hall, Ravio's arm was seized and he was pulled to one of the smaller tables lined up on the sides of the Hall. When he turned around to get a look at who had grabbed his arm, he saw it was only Toon Link. "Oh, hey," he said, smiling at the little kid. And then Ravio noticed that there were three others sitting at the table. All of them wore tee shirts, but one had black hair and wore a strange sideways cap, one had blonde hair, and the last had brown hair. "Ravio!" said Toon Link, "I'd like you to meet my friends. This is Lucas, Ness, and Villager." "Wow!" said the blonde one, Lucas, "You really do look like a taller version of Toon... But more purple." Ravio smiled at the kid, holding out a hand. "Nice to meet you, . I'm Ravio." Lucas shook Ravio's hand. "Nice to meet you too! But I'm not really a Mister..." "I'm Ness," said the dark-haired boy, also shaking hands with Ravio, "And I'll say that you did an awesome job out there with the Hands." Ravio nodded once. "Thanks, !" He looked at Villager next, half expecting another introduction, but the kid with the red shirt didn't say anything. "Oh, Villager doesn't speak much," said Toon Link, looking at the other kid, "But he's actually very smart. You wouldn't want to be on his bad side." Villager reached into his pocket and pulled out a strange brown beetle that Ravio had never seen before. "Looks like he wants to trade with you," said Ness, pleasantly surprised. "Okay," said the purple-haired hero, "Lets see what I've got." Ravio set his bag down and began to rifle through it. He may have been in an unfamiliar environment, but one of the things he could do best were making business transactions. In a few minutes, Ravio triumphantly held a glass bottle above his head, containing a glowing red fairy. Hoisting his sack back over his shoulder, he handed the bottle to Villager, who took it with a smile and handed the strange beetle to Ravio, who put the thing in his own pocket.

"Well, it was nice meeting -and introducing-you," said Toon, watching as Villager ran off with his new item, "but I think we have to go before Villager lets the fairy out!" the two other boys nodded in agreement and after telling Ravio they'd see him in a bit, they ran off after Toon Link and Villager. Ravio grinned. Kids will be kids. He faced the middle of the Great Hall, wondering who he should introduce himself to first. However, his feet seemed to be glued to the floor. Even though being a merchant required talking to people, Ravio was a coward at heart, and really only got a boost of confidence every once in a while. To make himself feel safer, Ravio quietly slipped on his rabbit hood and walked towards a lone armored person sitting on one of the side seats on the long table. He sat down next to the person and said hello. "Nice performance, Purple," the person said, surprising the merchant. "R-really?" stuttered Ravio. The armored person sighed and took off her helmet, revealing blonde hair tied up into a ponytail and intense blue eyes. "Yes, you did fine. Although I did see your Hylian counterparts helping you during the match." she winked. "Don't worry, purple. I won't tell Master Hand." "Who are you?" asked Ravio, still nervous. "I'm Samus. And you're Ravio, right?" "Right." "So then," Samus placed her helmet on the table, "I'm surprised that you're handling being here as well as you are." "Come again, Ms. Samus?" asked Ravio, slightly confused.

"I'm talking about the...variation of fighters here. Heck, even the building is like some kind of patchwork. I'm just impressed that with your personality you're not sobbing in a corner now." For a person who sounded impressed, Ravio thought Samus didn't really make a big deal out of it, which, of course, he was fine with. "Oh," said the merchant, "well, back at Lorule, there are lots of strange people and monsters; not all of them are civilized like the Loruleans though." Samus nodded. "Well, it's the same case here. For example, those two apes over there," she pointed to Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, "they're civilized, but not in the way you'd define it. However, those two," she pointed out a strange Rito and what looked like an anthropomorphic Keaton, "are Fox and Falco, and they each own a type of starship." Ravio had no idea what a starship was, but he had a feeling it was advanced, like the glowing orbs that lit the room, and had the odd metal structure of the 'Metroid' and 'Star Fox' areas of the Smash Castle. "That's cool," said Ravio, with a smile (although no one could see it under the hood). For a while after that, Ravio talked more with Samus as she pointed out other Smashers. Ravio didn't actually introduce himself to any more fighters (besides the ones within vicinity), but he was okay with that. Him (and Samus) weren't exactly social butterflies. Eventually, the Great Hall had cleared of most of the smashers there, and Ravio figured he'd best head to Hyrule Hall and see if Link, Zelda, or Ganon needed any help.