Peach put her hands on her hips and glowered at the pair in front of her. "Just when I get finished patching up Link's wounds, you two come in and tell me you got all beat up fighting one another?"

  Young Link and Captain Falcon hung their heads in shame. "We know, we're sorry," they said in unison. All thoughts of defending themselves by saying that Ganondorf had done the most damage were driven from their minds; Peach was like a strict schoolteacher, one that made them both shut up and wait until this was over.

  The princess sighed. "Well, I can't very well let you walk around all injured. I'll heal you, but I don't want any more scraps between you okay?"

  "Yes ma'am," they replied.

  Peach raised her hands, and a sweet smell filled the clearing. It was like a fruit, with some baked elements mixed in and flowers thrown on top for good measure.

  "It's like smelling a hug," Young Link said, as he closed his eyes and inhaled the scent. His bruises from the fight managed to disappear from his body, like some divine being was kissing them better for him.

  "Absolutely," Captain Falcon said. The wound on his back that Ganondorf had dealt him resisted healing at first, like the injury still carried its inflictor's will in it, but soon enough it closed as well. He got to his feet and stretched. He felt good as new - no, he felt better than new. Peach looked him over and smiled. The wind caught in her hair and tossed it gently, and he focused on her perfect lips and heart shaped face.

  "Princess Peach," he said, kneeling in front of her. "I swear my undying loyalty to you, which is born from a place of love and eternal devotion. I only hope that you'll allow me to stay as your attendant and your guard for as long as possible."

  Peach frowned, confused. "Oh, no thanks," she said. "I usually have Mario and sometimes Luigi do that for me, and Link is doing an excellent job of looking after me until I can meet up with them again. But thanks for the offer though." She patted him gently on the top of his helmet and turned away.

  Falcon's mouth dropped open. Young Link patted him on the shoulder. "Even I could tell that was a failure," he said. "You don't really seem like the prince type, anyway."

  "I've been thinking," Peach said. "If I know Mario and the others, they'll be making their way towards that mountain over there." She pointed towards the peak which extended beyond the clouds. "So I think we should go there as well."

  Link nodded. "Ganondorf suggested that Zelda is part of Crazy Hand's plan. If that's the case, I need to go to the mountain as well."

  "It's settled then," Peach said.

  Young Link frowned. "Don't Falcon and I get a say in this?"

  "You're in trouble for fighting each other," Peach said sternly. "But I won't make you come with us if you don't want to. Raise your hand if you don't want to go that way."

  Neither of them raised their hand.

  "Well, that settles it then."

  Popo looked down at the rest of the group. "Okay, is everyone properly attached to their harnesses and tied onto the rope?"

  He was met with a series of reluctant nods.

  "Why do we have to go through this?" Sheik asked. He pointed at the thick rope that was attached to the bright orange harness Popo had given him. "I'm a trained ninja. I can find purchase on a crack in a glass. Not to mention, Donkey Kong over there is an ape that is designed by nature to climb, and I think Jigglypuff is a balloon."

  Popo nodded. "All of that is true. However..." he gestured upwards at the mountain. While it looked like a sheer face from a distance, standing at the bottom actually revealed a slight overhang which hid the summit from view. "This will be a long climb - multiple hours, perhaps. There are a few reasons why we need to be roped together. First, we don't know how stable this mountainside is. There's every chance that those cracks you can stand on might not hold your weight. If something does go wrong, you need to have the lifeline of the other climbers. Furthermore, even if some people are more adapted to this than others, people will get tired, and they'll make mistakes. And, it allows us to help those like Yoshi who would have more trouble."

  Yoshi chirped happily in agreement.

  "Listen, Ninja, I get that you're the expert when it comes to whatever ninjas do, but this is what I do nearly every day," Popo said. "So let me take the lead on this one."

  "He's right," Marth agreed. "I trust Popo on this."

  "Thanks, Ren Fair," Popo said. "Now, let's get started. Remember, three holds minimum at all times, and communicate at all times."

  They began the climb, which turned out to be slow. The mountainside gave them good handholds to begin with, but these became fewer and farther between the higher they climbed. Popo was most at home on the cliff face, but even he managed to struggle, and the others found themselves making only incremental progress. It took them three hours to reach a shelf where they could rest, and they were still hardly any closer to the top of the mountain.

  Popo addressed the group. "We're doing well, gang," he said. "Get your rest in now, and then we'll continue making our way up. We should be there in no time."

  Marth noted his fist clenching a little as he spoke. The climber turned away from the others and looked up at the cliff, charting a path in his mind that would be easier to climb. Marth shuffled over and knelt next to him.

  "Are you okay?" he asked.

  Popo shook his head. "She's up there, and it feels like she's so far away. I can't... I don't know how this is supposed to work. I need everyone who's here in order to fight whatever's up there, but by the time I get them all to the top..."

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  He didn't finish the sentence, but Marth knew how it ended. "I know how you feel," he said. "I've had similar dilemmas before. Commanding armies, you know?"

  Popo nodded. "Right, war games at the Ren Fair."

  "I really don't know what you mean when you say stuff like that," Marth sighed. "Point is, there are hard choices in life. Sometimes there's no way to do something in the time you need to do it in. That's not a failure on your end, it's just the way the dice fell. Having said that..." he glanced over his shoulder, at the other resting fighters. "I think they deserve to know how much this means to you. Men march better when they know their cause."

  "But they know I want to save Nana," Popo pointed out.

  "You've said that with your words," Marth said. "But we can say things with things besides our voices."

  Popo hesitated. "I have no idea what that means, Ren Fair." He raised his voice to talk to everyone. "Come on, let's get going. We only have so much daylight, after all."

  Sheik came up to Marth's shoulder as Popo rechecked everyone's gear. "I don't really think he knows himself how much this means to him," he said.

  Marth glanced at the ninja, at the one eye that was visible through his mask. "What about you?" he asked. "You still haven't said why it's so important for you to be here."

  "I want to save Nana," Sheik said. Marth raised an eyebrow. "It's true!" Sheik protested. "I do care about saving her. But more than anything, I need to know what the hand wanted with you. I think maybe..."

  "What?" Marth asked.

  "Nothing," Sheik said. "Something I read in a book a very long time ago, about something that exists within my world. Tell me, Marth, within your world, is there any kind of symbol of power? It could be anything - physical, or maybe symbolic."

  He chewed on his lip as he thought about the question. "In a way," he muttered. "The Fire Emblem, perhaps?"

  "Come on!" Popo barked.

  Sheik regarded him coolly. "Tell me about it when we next stop," he said.

  Mario and the others had recovered from their encounter with Crazy Hand, thanks to Ness's magic. Still, every time Mario thought of that night it sent a shiver through his body. They had been winning. They had felt powerful. Then in a single instant, with a single flexing of power, they had been almost unmade. The pain that Crazy Hand gave him had stopped him from sleeping ever since.

  Luigi kept trying to get him to speak. He was worried, Mario knew, and he had every right to be. The words he had spoken, admitting his own weakness to his brother, felt foreign to him.

  It wasn't like he'd never doubted before. Many of his adventures felt like they'd be the last one until the moment when he won. But this was so much more. It was an overwhelming feeling that he simply couldn't win, no matter what he did. He didn't like feeling this way. He didn't like looking down at his hand and seeing it shake uncontrollably. That was why he refused to speak to Luigi. He didn't trust what he would say.

  The others were hardly doing better. Fox and Falco were grouped together, exchanging only short whispers with one another and brief nods with everyone else. Kirby had never been talkative, but he seemed especially withdrawn now. And Roy...

  He was just a kid. He was a good kid, a strong kid, but he had almost died twice that night. He hadn't spoken at all since that night.

  Did they expect something from him? Luigi did, and Ness would wait for what Luigi was going to do. The pilots, well, they could be doing their own thing. He felt though that Roy needed to hear something. And he had no idea what to say.

  Mario stood up. Luigi was the only other one at the campfire, and he looked worriedly at Mario. "What is it, bro?" he asked.

  "I need to go for a walk," Mario said.

  Luigi's brow furrowed. "Do you want me to come with you?" Oh, sweet Luigi.

  "No," Mario said. "I just need to be alone for a while. Don't worry, I won't go far."

  There wasn't far to go. They weren't all that far from the mountain, with its irresistible pull, and there was just grassland in every other direction. He decided to walk down to the lake. It gave him some distance from the others, but he would be able to find his way back.

  The water was still. Calm. Everything he wasn't. He idly formed a small fireball in his hand and skimmed it over the surface. It bounced over the water, sending up clouds of spray and steam, before flickering out after the fourth bounce.

  "Nice shot."

  Mario started. Bowser stood at the edge of the lake, having been hidden before by a tuft of bushes. Mario raised his fists to defend himself, but Bowser didn't look like he was here to fight.

  "Don't worry," Bowser said, "I'm not here to fight." He frowned. "Quick question: do you know a Salmon Aaron?"

  Mario squinted at him. "You mean Samus Aran?" he asked. "How do you know her?"

  Bowser nodded. "That's the one. We got into a fight. My fault - I had just arrived in this world and I was a bit aggressive. Then a two-dimensional man appeared and nearly killed me."

  "Huh," Mario nodded. "Anyway, you seem uncharacteristically passive. Normally we don't make it this long before you try and kill me."

  "Yeah," Bowser said. "But I don't think that would accomplish anything right now. Truth is, Mario, whatever's going on here I don't like it. I miss my children. I miss my people. I miss the Mushroom Kingdom too, in my own way."

  "Mhm," Mario said. "So you just want to go home?"

  "Yes," Bowser said. "I felt the call of darkness towards the mountain, and tried to call for it. I wanted to trade going home for whatever it wanted, and it rejected me. You know what that feels like, to be told you aren't evil enough to join the bad guys?"

  "I can't say that I do," Mario muttered.

  "Point is, I don't have a way to get back home," Bowser said. "And from what I got from that Crazy Hand guy, I don't think he wants to let any of us off the hook. You have to stop him, Mario."

  It almost made him laugh. "You're asking me for help? You're the one that I usually have to save people from."

  "Yes," Bowser said. "But if Crazy Hand has his way, then everything will be covered in darkness. Our home as well, and I know you won't allow that to happen." He sneered. "You're too good."

  Mario sighed. "I can't fight him." He sat down next to Bowser. Surprisingly, the King of the Koopas let him. Their reflections were exceptionally clear in the cool lake water. "I tried, and he almost tore me apart. I just don't have the power."

  "I held the power of a galaxy, once," Bowser said. "You still stopped me. You always win, and it's infuriating. Because you don't give up, and you find a way. And to be clear, that's something that I hate very much about you."

  "Of course," Mario said. "So, you think I can march up that mountain, defeat the Crazy Hand, and save about a dozen universes in the process?"

  Bowser shrugged. "If someone told me that was what you did with your weekend, I wouldn't be surprised."

  Mario rolled his eyes. "Maybe. What about you. Will you fight with me?"

  "No," Bowser said. Mario raised his eyebrows at him. "I can tell that I won't be any help in this fight. Evil isn't what's needed to put down this evil. No, this time I'll do what everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom always does."

  "And what's that?"

  Bowser formed a fist and thumped it gently against Mario's chest. Mario was surprised at himself for letting it happen. "I'm going to believe in Mario," Bowser said.

  Soon after, Mario returned to the camp. When he did, Luigi got to his feet and smiled. "So, are we ready to go, bro?" he asked.

  Mario frowned, confused. "What are you talking about. How could you -"

  "It's the way you're walking," Luigi said. "You look like my brother again."

  "And quite frankly, it's nice to see," Fox said. He was leaning against the hull of his ship, while Falco checked an engine piece on the other side.

  "Yeah, Fox has really been talking you up," Falco said. "Frankly, I was starting to be disappointed."

  "Don't tell him that!" Fox snapped.

  "Your words, Captain."

  "So now we're ready to fight," Ness said. "All of us are."

  "And that includes me." Roy clasped his sword to his chest and faced Mario. "I was scared, it's true. And I don't know why Mewtwo wanted me, or what the Crazy Hand wants. But I know that fighting them is the right thing to do. So, Mario, I'll fight by your side."

  Mario smiled and extended his hand. "Welcome to Smash, Roy."