Master Hand was never the best at making solid decisions, whether it ranged from things of a grand scale, to smaller issues that your every day Mii dealt with.

In the case of his largest problems, he always had a issues trying to decide where to stop with his development of any world. He always liked to watch places grow and progress on their own, but he wanted to make the place manageable for the denizens there. He understood how struggle brewed strength in creatures, but he didn't want to make their world miserable.

Add to that the general unpredictability of growth and the evolution of worlds, and there was never any solid answer for such a thing. It regularly irked Master Hand, and it always made him marvel at how well some worlds turned out... whether that be for better or worse.

When discussing smaller problems going around... in this case it came back to the letters once more, though to a lesser extent. Writing a letter to Link, the Hero of Hyrule, would be among one of his easier tasks...despite the fact that many of this Link's exploits technically were not performed by him.

As mentioned earlier, certain worlds could develop unpredictably, and in certain cases, there could be multiple realities that appeared. Citizens placed in different versions of their world, influenced by new events, settings, and people that never originally existed in the different realities that their counterparts called 'Home'. The most obvious tell for the relations between these worlds were certain elements that perpetuated throughout them.

Among these, Link is one of the most important constants that tied the many existing incarnations of Hyrule together. In each world, when trouble showed up, the power of the Goddesses saw to it that he would be there, born as a simple man, forced taking on a monumental endeavor and become a Hero. Of course, it was for Link's many great exploits that he was always invited, and the reason so many people celebrated Link and his world.

Link himself could be found among many different versions of the world's of Hyrule, each one giving him a wildly different origin, but all retaining the same general personality and purpose of protecting his home and those that inhabited it.

This was where a bit of strangeness of the situation popped up.

Despite some of the enjoyment that they felt when coming here, Master Hand could always sense a certain level of awkwardness to the Heroes of Hyrule. Their silence didn't make it easy to understand why each of them felt the way they did. As it stood, there were three Link's who have participated in the Tournament, and one had even gone as far as declining to come back for the previous event. Young Link had shown a bit of disinterest in fighting after having dealt with the curse of Majora, but the other two were still a mystery to him. It was never enough to cause any strife, but it was alwaysthere.

Still, it wasn't something that Master Hand would allow to stop him. He had full confidence in the decision making skills of the Link, and if they weren't up for the idea of participating once more in the Tournament, they would be capable of saying no for their own sake.

If he couldn't trust a grown man who have saved a world to do that much, what could he trust?

Link, The Hero of Hyrule,

You grew up as a simple townsperson, a young man with an average upbringing with good friends around you. You were happy, satisfied with the simplicity of your small village.

You never expected it to be attacked, nor were you prepared for the destiny that you would undertake. In your pursuit of the children of your village, you had discovered so much more. You found out about the Twilight Realm, and the malicious intent of Zant the Usurper King and his army, with the stakes of the entire situation being higher than you had ever imagined. With all of the dangers that you had learned of, you also became aware of something just as important; the means to fight back.

Throughout your adventure, you met many individuals who had helped you, most notably Princess Zelda and Midna of the Twili. The former gave you the knowledge of your destiny, and the latter stayed at your side, helping you throughout your adventure. In your travels, you gained the items and the skills necessary to take down the darkness that plagued your home.

Your fights against the Twili forces, as well as Ganondorf himself, were ones where you had many odds stacked against you. While it was destiny that claimed you would succeed, I have seen destiny proven wrong time and again.

No, your victory didn't happen because of any sort of prediction-rather, you were chosen to take your path because the Gods were sure that you would accept and accomplish what you were tasked with. It was by your will that you left home for the sake of rescuing your villagers. It was your choice to become deeply involved in the otherworldly events causing the Kingdom strife. And it was by your own strength that peace was restored, and your home was safe once more.

You are a man who has lived through more adventures than you could possibly imagine, with different versions of you living in various circumstances. However, each version differs from the next in countless ways. Every one of you is unique, and just like any other person, no other individual out there has everything that makes you who you are.

This is why once more, you are once again invited to the latest Super Smash Bros. Tournament. Your sense of duty towards the innocent, as well as your bravery in the face of impossible odds, has earned you the chance to join. With your strength of character and fighting skills, I have no doubt you would be a welcome addition to the latest roster.

-Sincerely,

The God of Order,

Master Hand

P.S.-I hope things are going well with everyone in Hyrule.

P.S.S-Please give your answer within the next several weeks, otherwise the chance of entry shall close automatically.

"Hah!"

A voice echoed through the dim, empty training halls as a blade sliced through the air. A grunt was heard as the same sword was swung upward, and then stabbed forward several times. It's wielder briefly held up his shield before rushing forward,

"Tyah!"

A sideways slash was unleashed at the empty space in front of the warrior, followed by a quick the thrust, and the blade vertically slicing the empty space in front of him. Quickly leaping back, Linkheld his arm close to his chest. He paused, awaiting his imaginary foes to get closer, and closer, right until-

"HYAAAH!"

A harsh scream was released as the swordsman spun around knocking the air around him back. With his strongest attack released, the warrior paused to take deep breaths, trying to calm himself down as the adrenaline from training faded away. He became acutely aware of the strain in his muscles, and the biting chill of the early morning air against his skin, damp from sweating. Waking up before the sun was close to rising would seem ludicrous to most people.

For combatants as dedicated to their craft as Link, it was almost a necessity. They needed to make sure that their body's were strong, always prepared for any threats that could harm the land of Hyrule.

In this case however, the Hero of Hyrule had pushed his body even further than normal. He had spent the early hours doing brief exercises with every piece of equipment that he could find within the training hall. He wanted to clear his head after receiving his good news.

He was reentering the Super Smash Bros Tournament soon.

With his body more relaxed, Link loosened up his posture as he walked towards a nearby bench. He placed his shield and sword down on it, ripping off his wet shirt and tossing it aside before picking up the envelope that brought him there to begin with. It was hard to read in the light of the early dawn, but he had no issue recalling the important details of it. A new tournament was being held, and he was going to be a member.

He just wanted to make sure he was completely up for it before throwing himself into it.

Link was all but ready to head back into the fray, and meet with his friends once more. On the battlefield or off, he had found countless ours of joy as he communicated with unique individuals through conversation and combat.

In particular, there were members such as Marth, an honorbound royal that he had grown close to. Between his skill in both the blade and his merits as a ruler, Link was all but happy to spend time with him, especially knowing how much he was always willing to sacrifice for his home. It was a quality he respected in any leader, one he first identified in Zelda herself.

Among those he spent more time fighting with than speaking (it was never much either way) were Meta Knight and Lucario. Both of them were only recent entries, but he was very impressed by how each of them handled themselves. The former was a near peerless swordsman, whose small stature betrayed his ferocity on the battlefield. The latter was among the most disciplined living creature that he had ever met, Pokemon or otherwise. Hours of meditation and training apparently went into harnessing the power of aura as a weapon, and it showed in combat.

Link felt more than happy to accept them as allies, rather than enemies.

These were just a few of the strange characters he had grown close with. Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Pit, he had generally gotten along with all of the fighters for the most part. He had so many reasons to return...

...And two reasons holding him back.

The first was more personal. After first entering the Tournament, Link had learned of his multiple worlds, and the different versions of him that existed everywhere. This didn't affect him much until he met both Young Link, and later Toon Link. One was just a child, and the other was a strange looking version of him, and each managed to achieve feats equal to, or greater than, his own.

At first it was just about accepting that strange individuals like these could stand on the same level as him... but that thought was quickly dismissed. He was in a world of strange characters., with marvellous accomplishments under their belts. He had accepted that they were capable of these feats, and t was the same with these two.

The lingering problem came from the fact that they were both technically him... and just two of many. When he met Toon Link, it fully hit Link just how many more versions of himself there were. All of them had their own adventure, lived their own wondrous experiences, so many, just like him.

And he was one of them. Just another Link out of a million, maybe more. He always felt that even if something he did paled in comparison to another fighter's skills, his own accomplishments were unique enough to stand out. With this, Link had felt that he was no longer the Hero of Hyrule, but just a Hero.

In his mind, he thought he had lost what made him unique, and everything he did seemed so much it didn't matter as much.

Those were his thoughts for a time.

Now, he knew better. He had a clearer understanding of how much his actions mattered, and why they mattered. Why saving this Kingdom, and all of these lives, was and accomplishment that earned him his position. That he may have been Link, but he was a Link unique to all of the others. No one else could have been transformed into a wolf, travelled into a land of Twilight, or stop an otherworldly mass invasion-and if they did, it couldn't have been anything like his own experience. He was sure of it. And even if somehow that did happen, it didn't matter-not as much as the most important thing. The fact that lives had been saved. It was the whole reason he had been fighting, and it should have been enough to quash his uncertainties.

However, while he was aware of this, there was still this gnawing feeling of doubt he had in these thoughts. That in the grand scheme of things, perhaps with the large scale of not just the different Hyrules but also that of all the different worlds, that he and everything he did, everything he saved didn't matter.

He wanted to try and get rid of those feelings this morning, at least push them away long enough to accept this invitation with a clear head. Not would this be for his own benefit, but also for Toon Link, whom he suspected was returning as well.

Throughout the entire third tournament, Link had given Toon Link a harsh cold shoulder, actively avoiding him whenever possible. To him, the other Link was a constant reminder of another place, and another him among many that made him less significant in the grand scheme of things... and he wanted to try again with him. Start over with Toon Link and treat him as a person, possibly even a friend, rather than just some bad reminder of his own made-up thoughts on everything.

He just wanted to apologize to someone who never wronged him in any way.

With his heart calmed for now, he felt more secure about joining the tournament. His only worry was much more predatory than just his own demons. This one was far more dangerous than any demon he might ever face.

Ganondorf. The King of Darkness, and a driving force behind the Twilight Invasion invasion of Hyrule.

Link honestly knew little of the man. He was a male from the Gerudo tribe, with the Triforce of Power, who was banished to the Twilight Realm for his actions. Fighting him head-on in the past, he also understood how powerful and dangerous he could be, and how leaving Hyrule unattended could be a bit dangerous, to say the least.

At the same time, he had some mixed feelings about this as well. Ganondorf had betrayed him and the other Smash Fighters for the sake of hopefully gaining ultimate power from what they believed to be Master Hand. He had later agreed to fight alongside him, Zelda and the rest, but Link was not entirely sure of the reasoning. Was if because he was fooled, because he understood the danger Tabuu posed to the multiverse, or was there a small part of him that truly felt like doing right for once?

The final thought was a very hopeful wish of Links, but he had to assume the worst; that Ganondorf was no better a man than he was the day he was imprisoned within the Twilight.

Thinking back to Master Hand's reasoning for inviting him, mainly due to his skill as a fighter, Link recalled the sentient appendage stating that Ganondorf had no actual way of coming back to Hyrule. That he was imprisoned in a very special place, and only a powerful being like him could find a way to get him out.

Link was not completely sure about whether or not to make his decision here and now about this. Not only did he want to spend a bit more time sorting out his own personal feelings, but he also feared the possibility that his own home could come under attack while he was away. He wanted to trust Master Hand, but he knew very well that the neither the God of Order or Chaos were omniscient in any way. There could easily be malicious forces beyond their knowledge, waiting to do who-knows-what to his home...

Taking one last deep breathe, Link grabbed his shirt, and the regular sword and shield he was using for combat practice, walking out of the empty training hall, letter in hand. He decided that discussing this with Zelda would be best. She had more in depth conversations with Master Hand, and between that and her keen intellect, perhaps she could help him fully evaluate the situation and make the right choice.

For now, he decided he simply needed to get moving as fast as he could. The sun was climbing over the horizon, and he needed to get washed up and ready. The queen was giving out a big speech to the commonfolk, and she needed her personal knight at her side, both for publicity and personal comfort.

Well, this was a long time coming. My sincerest apologies for those waiting a long time. College came up and pretty much threw a wrench in everything, and I had to cut off pretty much all communications with everything to focus on work. I'm back now though, and for the Summer too (with a bunch of personal stuff I want to do as well).

So, firs things first with what I want to say-yes, I am using the Twilight Princess continuity for this Link. It was a bit weird considering he was in Smash long before TP ever came out, but... I just rolled with it. It's hard to say how close or far each of the timelines are, and I decided to use that vagueness to make this decision. Apologies if you were hoping for a different take on the character, but I hope you at least enjoy my interpretation of Link. If anything seems off, let me know, I may be a little rusty with my writing.

A few other things-I'm probably just going to have any Miis that show up speak normally, rather than do what I was trying to do with them before. So... yeah, if you see that, there you go. I thought about editing my first chapter to feature the Mii character Bentley, but I don't know if I should bother.

Also, I picked up Star Fox Zero, but I want to spend more time playing through that before writing Fox. The same goes for Ness with Earthbound, which I feel I should at least look up some gameplay for before writing about it since it seems pretty unconventional. For now, I think I'll write about everybody's favorite electric mouse. Pikachu's up next!

Note: For anyone who has noticed, yes there were edits made later on, mainly for mistakes I overlooked. I'll try to keep these to a minimum, but if they do happen in the future, I'll be changing them. Again, this will likely revolve mainly around spelling errors I missed, rather than any really big alterations.