Prologue

16 year-old Jay Geemer nervously glanced at his watch. 47.9/100 Universal Time, it read. In Jay's preferred time system, that would be 5:45. That meant he had 15 minutes cross the galaxy to his home planet, Tallon VII. Old Man Lou had called for a gathering at 6:00 sharp, and he had said it was impertinent that all town residents be present and accounted for. Jay had his suspicions about the old coot, as did everybody in his hometown, but one thing he knew for certain was that Lou would not tolerate tardiness.

Standing a few feet in front of him was a street vendor, showing off his wares to a small group of customers, Jay included. A few members of the audience gasped or awed at every new trinket the salesman pulled out of his bag, but Jay was decidedly nonplussed. He'd found this galaxy, Clu-Clu-Land, after digging up some info on obscure places to visit. He had found this place, and, hoping it was a lost treasure, set aside today to visit. It seemed like an interesting place, at first. Jay liked the fact that the entire planet, minus large cities like the one he was in now, was covered in at least a half-foot of water. Apparently they had irrigated the cities long ago to make room for progress, but the whole town looked pretty humble compared to the likes of Port Town and other big cities. Most people would hate the idea of getting wet, but it always rained on Tallon VII, so Jay had actually grown to like the water.

The trip had ended up being a letdown, though. Take for example, the inhabitants: all of them were strange, red, balloon-like blobs that were OCD about holding onto poles at all times and making patterns in the ground by dropping … coins. Initially, Jay was ecstatic about drenching up all this money left behind by idiots, but he quickly realized there was nothing at all worth buying here. As far as Jay was concerned, Clu-Clu-Land could stay buried.

As Jay turned around to leave, he caught a quick glimpse of a man in a dark, shaded alleyway, turned away from Jay. He was staring at a brick wall, completely stationary. Not only was Jay surprised at seeing another human in this strange world, but this man was also quite oddly dressed. He appeared to be wearing some sort of dress, with odd, triangular appendages sticking out at odd angles. The spikes alternated in color, they were either gold or purple. The getup gave the man an appearance not unlike that of a porcupine. The man's gloves and boots were completely black.

Jay blinked, and the man was gone. Or was he? No, he was still there! He was now wearing a black tuxedo, along with matching gloves, boots, and a top hat. What was odd, however, about this suit is that it was entirely black, with no multicolored rims or adornments, so that Jay thought he was starting at nothing but shadows, until the man turned around, with his pale face towards Jay, and walked nonchalantly out of the alley and into the crowd of buyers Jay just left.

Feeling an undefined surge of panic, Jay made a beeline for his ship, walking as fast as he could while still looking discreet. Well, as discreet as he could look in a planet populated almost entirely by red balloons. Jay's tan skin, dark red hair, and green eyes, along with his tall, gangly body, had always made him stand out, even among other humans. But right now, he felt particularly like he was being watched. He passed by a few, shops, houses, and small crowds on his way, but nothing that indicated anybody was paying him much attention. So why did he feel like somebody was following him? Jay glanced back, but the curvature of this small planet had already hidden the crowd of shoppers, and the mysterious man, from view.

The man's transformation, Jay could chalk up to a trick of the light. But the man's eyes, on the other hand – they gave him chills. There was nothing particularly wrong with them – they were black, like the rest of the man's attire, but they didn't quite match the man's face. The man's face, as well as his clothes, suggested that he may be a perfect gentleman. His eyes, on the other hand, seemed mischievous, vengeful, filled to the brim with hatred. His hometown elders had always said that the eyes were gates to the soul. If there was any truth to that statement, Jay thought he might have just seen the devil himself.

He arrived at his vehicle, the S.S. Dolphin, named after the rocket of an old explorer. It wasn't much of a looker- rust had tarnished much of the beauty this sleek ship once had. The red paint job, where it was still visible, was peeling. Even the craft's body – which looked somewhat like its namesake mammal, with the back end being one large thruster, while two curved wings halfway up the craft's body controlling direction and altitude – reeked of old age. But Jay wasn't concerned about the looks- he had built this craft himself, with pieces from around the universe. Engine from Dream Land, seat from Termina, and landing wheels from the BeanBean Kingdom – it was definitely more serviceable that it looked. He had even ripped the overall design from an F-Zero ship he saw during a race at Mute city.

Comfort, however, was a different matter. He had come to Clu-Clu land looking for some seat cushions, or at least a good cup holder, but to no avail. What Jay really wanted was some type window – his spaceship had none, for most types of clear material would shatter at the high speeds required for space travel (up to 30 Light-years per Universal Time Period). Instead, he had to settle with a small black and white monitor that could show the view from either the front or rear of the ship.

Jay walked up to the nose of his ship, and placed his hand firmly on the very tip. A few seconds later, the sounds of mechanical whirring and humming could be heard from within the hull. Then, without warning, the side of the ship popped open with an audible creak, revealing the controls.

"DNA test complete." A stiff, female monotone greeted him. "Welcome back, Jay. The current time on Tallon VII is 5:49 PM."

Jay crouched down and wormed his way into the dark, cramped, control room. The door shut automatically behind him. Buttons and levers of all shapes and sizes lit up all across the dashboard. Most of them were just for show – Jay didn't want to take any chances with thieves or Space Pirates hijacking his ride.

A few button presses later, the Dolphin was on an automated course back home. It would take a space highway that was off the beaten path, going through a few of the lesser known warp gates on the way to their destination.

As the ship rocketed through space, the computer voice rehearsed a list of data.

"Now entering: Lylat System."

"Now entering: Johto airspace."

"Now entering: New Pork satellite belt."

Normally, Jay would be excitedly looking at the tiny, low quality monitor, watching as the different dimensions, entirely separate worlds, passed by. But today, he couldn't shake the image of that man out of his head.

"Come on, it's not that weird." He spoke aloud to himself. "I mean, I've been to places where monkeys wear ties and eating a mushroom makes you double in size. I should learn to stop being so amazed at every new thing I see." With that comforting thought, Jay put the odd man out of his mind for the moment and let himself become hypnotized by the rapidly passing dimensions.

The S.S. Dolphin landed on the surface on Tallon VII at 5:58 PM. The hatch opened partially, got jammed halfway, and then was pushed wide open as Jay scrambled out, into the familiar rocky valley he called home. As he ran to make it to the gathering spot in time, he almost slipped on the muddy ground, wet from the rain. It was always raining on Tallon VII. The two nearest stars to the planet were never seen from its surface, always obscured by a thick veil of clouds. As a result of all the moisture, nobody minded getting wet, and all crops had be grown indoors, inside one of the many caves that had been mined out by space pirates years ago, before the planet was colonized.

The meeting was to be held in one of these caves, the largest one in the valley. It was very wide and had long ago been chiseled out until it became dome-shaped. The walls of the cave were adorned with hieroglyphics from an ancient time when creatures known as the Chozo lived here. A couple of torches illuminated the cave here and there. Green gemstones hung from the ceiling like stalagmites, just out of reach. They created a sparkling glow which reflected the light from the torches and magnified it enough to light up the whole cave. The gemstones were often used as a form of money throughout the Tallon sector, which spanned 9 planets and several hundred minor asteroid belts. In a few months, they would be ripe for picking. Most likely, however, they would be ignored in favor of the much rarer but more valuable black and gold gemstones.

Sure enough, all of the local colonists had arrived. There were a few toads, some moblins, and a couple waddle-dees, but most of the population was human. The shorter creatures were in the front, while everybody else was crowded in the back, near the mouth of the cave. Near the back end of the cave, standing on a raised section of flat rock that functioned as a stage, was one of the local elders.

"…And now if you will all turn your attention to Lou Ryon, who wishes to speak with us tonight." The elder was speaking. Jay sighed with relief. He had only missed the introductions.

Lou appeared from one of the smaller side tunnels behind the stage and began hobbling slowly to the center, where a small, crystalline jewel pedestal awaited him. In one hand, he held a cane, and in the other, a hat, the likes of which Jay had never seen before. His skin was wrinkled with age, and his hair was white, but his well-groomed beard and moustache gave his appearance at least a little dignity. What he lacked in looks, however, he more than made up for in wisdom – he had proven himself as a genius on more than one occasion. Crazy, yes, and a bit senile as well, but then again, wasn't that the case with all geniuses?

After a few agonizingly slow minutes, Lou had finally crossed the ten yards from his starting position to where the pedestal laid waiting. He stepped up on top of the pedestal, turned around towards the audience, and began speaking:

"You're probably all wondering on what occasion it is that I have gathered you here today." His voice was hoarse at first, but it carried far – the cave was designed so that the echoes reverberated throughout the entire tunnel system.

"Before I start, however, I will warn you that this talk is going to last a long time. I hope all of you are well fed, because I cannot allow anybody to leave halfway through for snacks." There was a rare twinkle in his eye as he said it.

Jay groaned. If even the old man thought it was going to be a long speech, Jay knew it was going to be a long night.

"I'm sure you all remember my dear friend, Ryo, who passed away last month…" There were murmurs throughout the crowd as he said it. Ryo had been about the same age as Lou when he passed away. He was one of the pioneers of Tallon VII, and this colony wouldn't have existed without him. He was a mute, but despite that, he had a good sense of humor and was an encouragement to everybody in the community.

But still, the funeral had been held three weeks ago. Lou had given his speech at the time. Where was he going with this?

"…and it is with much remorse that I must inform you that I, too, will soon be leaving this world." Another ripple of gasps and murmurs spread through the crowd. Lou ignored it as he continued speaking:

"But this impending, unavoidable event has led me to wonder: what exactly is death? Is there a state of being afterwards? And, as rash as it may be of me to say so, I believe I have the answers. However, in order for you to fully understand death and its consequences, I must first tell you a story.

"Yes, that is correct; I have brought you here today to tell you a story. But this is no fairy tail. It is a most peculiar story, one that has never been heard by living ears before now, but it is undeniably true. Although none of you have ever heard this story, I'm sure you've noticed the outcome. Why, it would be nearly impossible to be ignorant of this tale's consequences. This is the story of how all the universes, all the dimensions, became one. It tells of the day that Tallon, Hyrule, The Mushroom Kingdom, Mute City, Clu-Clu land, and the rest of them were combined under one name. This great community of universes that we have come to call Nintendo was not always united as it is today. In fact, there was a time when we were unaware of each other's existence. Each universe lived in absolute solitude.

"The tale I am about to tell you, I tell you because I want it to be passed down. I want you to memorize it by heart and pass it down throughout generations, throughout universes. This is my dying wish. Now, listen closely as I begin our story…