Summary: Link remembers how he was invited to the First Smash Brothers Tournament. Surprisingly, it coincides with the First Mario Kart Tournament.

Pairings: Link and Mario friendship and rivalry. Link and Ganondorf enemies. Mario and Peach romance. Link and Peach friendship Bowser and Ganondorf friendship. Link and Cloud friendship and rivalry. Link and Zelda friendship. Link and Saria friendship.

Warnings: The Rage of Mario Kart

"Woo-hoo! I-a win again!" cried Mario as he passed the finish line a mere two feet ahead of Link on his Master Cycle. "Hail Mario! The-a King of Nintendo and-a Rainbow Road!" cried the Italian plumber as he hopped out of his Kart and did a little victory dance.

Link dismounted and threw his helmet in rage. "Right there. I WAS RIGHT THERE! But then SOMEONE decided to be a dick and fucking BLUE SHELL ME AT THE LAST SECOND!" screamed Link, going through what was now commonly called "Kart Rage". It was a common disease that affected all who played Mario Kart. Common symptoms include extreme rage, high blood pressure, constipation, and extreme profanity.

"Remember-a Link: The-a blood will-a run when you press-a start." Laughed Mario at his old friend's pain. "For all is-a fair in-a love and-a Kart." Snickered the Italian.

"When I find the little bastard who threw that shell I'm going to teach him a violent lesson in pain!" snarled Link, looking more animal than man at the moment. (Luigi suddenly felt a very cold chill run up his spine, and he suddenly regretted throwing that Blue Shell for some reason. He suddenly felt that letting all of the other finish the race before him was a good idea.)

"As-a opposed to-a peaceful lesson in-a pain." Said Mario as Peach came up to him and wrapped him in a big hug. "Oh-a, hello-a Peach." Said Mario, returning the hug to his Princess.

"Oh Mario, that was s imply wonderful race!" she cried. "You're driving skills are simply beyond amazing." She said before releasing the plumber and turning to Link. "Oh Link, I'm dreadfully sorry that you got hit by that Blue Shell. You were so excellent out there today." She said with a cheerful smile. Link flushed, embarrassed at his earlier outburst. But he couldn't help it! Karting just brought out the worst in him.

It was times like this he envied Peach. Somehow she was never affected by Kart Rage, and always maintained a cheerful demeanor while racing. It was the same in Smash. She never got competitive, only smiled and continued on her way. It was downright disturbing sometimes.

Unfortunately, Link was interrupted from his thoughts by booming laughter from Bowser. "Hey, Tinkerbelle! Nice going with the race! Shame bout that Blue Shell, especially when you were RIGHT THERE! BWHAHAHA!" laughed the Koopa King. In a flash Link's Kart Rage returned and he hurled a Red Shell at Bowser, which promptly exploded in the Koopa King's face. Yeah he kind of deserved that.

"ARRGH! I HATE THIS GAME!" roared Link, kicking his Master Cycle. He quickly regretted this descicion and grabbed his foot, hopping about in pain. "Oww, fricking metal!" he cursed.

"Peach giggled and laid a hand on Link's shoulder. "Oh Link, this isn't all bad. It's how we first got you into Smash Bros." she said with a smile.

(Hyrule, Era of the Hero of Time, Ganondorf's castle.)

Link, the Hero of Time, stood at the edge of the pit of Fire that protected the floating castle of Ganondorf: the King of Darkness and Link's sworn enemy. Somewhere within was Princess Zelda, Link's treasured friend, and the Dark King himself. Between them lay whatever torturous nightmares Ganondorf could concoct and any number of demons he had summoned up from the bowels of Hell.

Was Link afraid? Yes, of course. But he also knew he was not alone. He had Navi, his fairy companion. And though they were not in sight, the Sages were with him as well. All of them, the friends and comrades he had made in his travels. And he sensed that on some far off plane of existence the Gods were with him as well.

"Link!" came Saria's voice. "Ganondorf is going to have all sorts of nasty creatures up his sleeve. Are you sure you're ready for this?" she asked in a worried voice. Link nearly cried. Even now, here at the end of all things, Saria was worried for him.

"It's okay Saria." Said Link confidently. "I can do this." He said with absolute certainty. It might cost him his life, but he knew that he could. And hey, everyone had to die for something. Might as well make it something worth dying for.

There was silence on the other end of their connection before he heard Saria speak again. "Well, the least we can do is make things a little bit easier for you." Said Saria, her voice filled with pride for the little boy she had raised in the woods who had become such a brave and noble man.

There was a surge of holy power, and a flash of light. Link threw up his hands and shielded his eyes. When the light faded, Link lowered his hands and felt his mouth fall open. Before him, connecting the land to the castle, was a bridge made of rainbow light. It flickered and raged like fire, beautiful in the same way that a thunderstorm was beautiful.

Link grinned and looked to the heavens. "Thanks Saria." He said. He inhaled and took one tentative step onto the bridge of rainbow fire. He found it solid and took another step with increased confidence, another, one more, and then… he was promptly run over by a Kart driven by a certain trolling Italian Plumber.

"Woo-hoo! Rainbow Road is-a open!" cried Mario, the godfather of video games as dozens of Karts raced behind him, all of them zooming over a very confused and in pain Hero of Time. "Let's-a go!" cried Mario as Bowser launched a Green Shell at him which narrowly missed the Italian plumber.

Meanwhile, up in his super evil lair, playing his evil pipe organ (of DOOM!), Ganondorf suddenly heard the sounds of chaos and screeching tires coming from his courtyard. Thoroughly confused and wondering if the Sages are pulling some sort of practical joke on him. However, upon sticking his head out the window he was met with a strange sight.

"HEY! GET OUT OF MY CASTLE YOU DRUNKEN HIPPIES!" he roared in fury at the Kart racers below.

He was promptly Blue Shelled by Bowser.

"Yeah, good times." Said Peach with a smile.

"I was in the hospital for three weeks." Said Link with a cold expression. "Thanks for that by the way. My only consolation was that Ganondorf was in there for twice as long." He said with a mixture of bitterness and nostalgia.

"Hey, we-a paid for the-a bills didn't-a we?" asked Mario with an indignant expression. "And-a that's how-a we invited-a you to-a Smash Bros." said Mario with a smug look. "And-a is it-a makes you-a feel better we-a can invite Cloud to race on his-a choccobo." Said Mario with a grin.

Link's day instantly brightened as he imagined the pain Cloud would soon be put through. Mario was right. Mario Kart was FUN!