"Hello," Nana said. "I'm Nana. This is Mewtwo. He's a bit grumpy, but he's a big softie really. When he isn't kidnapping people, that is."

  "Grumpy?" Mewtwo asked.

  "There are worse names I could call you," Nana assured him. "Anyway, Hand guy, that's us. Now it's your turn to introduce yourself."

  The hand in the corner didn't respond, other than to pulse in a slightly different manner than it had been before.

  "Hmm..." Nana scratched her chin. "Maybe we just need to get in closer. Hey, Grumewtwo, can you move these walls?"

  Mewtwo narrowed his eyes. "Grumewtwo? I don't think I understand this name. Have you forgotten mine in the intervening seconds since you last said it?"

  "No, silly," Nana laughed. "It's a mix of Grumpy and Mewtwo. If you want it to go away, you need to lighten up a bit."

  Mewtwo considered arguing, and quickly decided it would be pointless. "Regardless, I cannot do anything about the walls. If I could, I would have already moved them to allow us to escape."

  Nana nodded. "I thought that might be it. In that case..." she cupped her hands around her mouth. "HELLO, MASTER HAND CREATURE. I AM NANA, AND TIS IS MY GOOD FRIEND MEWTWO. IT'S LOVELY TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE!!!!!!!"

  "What are you doing?" Mewtwo hissed in her mind. "Yelling like that will attract attention."

  "Well, excuse me," Nana snapped. "Some of us don't have the power to speak in people's minds, you know."

  "What if I connected you and the Master Hand telepathically?"

  She paused. "You could have done that the whole time?"

  "Yes. Did you not know?"

  Nana frowned. "Was that sass?"

  "I don't know what sass is, but based on context clues I would have to say that the answer to that question is yes." She glared at him. "Very well."

  Nana felt a strange sensation, like the feeling a piece of string must have when it connected two cups. "Hello?" she asked, tentatively.

  This time she got a response. The Master Hand was aware of her presence, alright.

  "Who are you?" it asked.

  Nana scowled. "Well, that's just rude. I already told you twice, you know. I'm Nana, one of the world famous Ice Climbers."

  "Ice... Climbers... ah yes. I know you. Why do I know you?"

  "Well, we've been cell mates for a while," Nana said, doing her best to be helpful.

  "No... my tournament. You weren't at my tournament, were you? But I surveyed you, and your world, when I was creating it."

  "I've heard about this tournament you set up from Mewtwo here," Nana said.

  Mewtwo bowed his head. "I also was not at the tournament. I only learned about it from my creator. May I ask, why form the tournament? In all of your power and knowledge afforded as a hand, you must have seen this coming."

  The Master Hand shook its body within its cell. "Hands cannot create or destroy on our own. They merely spectate and guide in a battle between light and darkness that has gone on for all millennia. When my world was taken by the battle, I was made a Hand to guide it towards the side of light. And yet, darkness is created in response to light. I looked on the remains of my world, and thought that something else could be done with it. And so I began to explore the many worlds that make up this multiverse, and I looked for fighters."

  "Why fighters?" Nana asked. "And, didn't you threaten to destroy the world of anyone who didn't come to the tournament?"

  "It was a lie," Master Hand admitted. "I simply wanted to ensure that they came along. I thought that I could have my world, where fighters could clash with no regard for consequences, and that it could exist for all time away from the war that destroyed everything else. But it seems that I was wrong. As the fighters clashed, they connected with the dormant power of my world. I don't understand it fully myself, but there is a special quality to Smash. A power that grows as hearts clash earnestly. This power attracted the Crazy Hand, but I had strength to hold it back from this world. And even as I was struck down, I had the power to seal it in here, isolating the evil to this world."

  "Then that is the reason for the Crazy Hand's plan," Mewtwo said. "To tear open the holes that must have been closed by you when Crazy Hand arrived."

  "That's correct," Master Hand said. "Five points will be enough to break through the barrier around this world."

  "And those five that Crazy Hand wants are the ones with the strongest ties to their home worlds," Nana finished. "That's why you were sent after Ren Fair, Grumewtwo."

  "Indeed," the hand confirmed. "My apologies to both of you. You are trapped in this world now. The barrier around Smash cannot be allowed to lift. If it does, your worlds will surely die. And this is all as a result of my actions."

  "You can help us," Nana insisted. "With your power, we can stop Crazy Hand."

  "No," Master Hand said. "I'm afraid not. I don't have the power left to fight. And even if I did, the clash of light and darkness could only ever invite Him. I won't inflict that on this world again. Please, accept your fate."

  The string separated from the cup, and the connection went dead.

  "I thought it wouldn't work," Mewtwo said. "Perhaps your partner will be on time."

  "Don't give me that," Nana said. "If I made Popo come all this way to get me, and I couldn't even offer anything to solve the problem, there's no way I could still call him my partner." She glared daggers at Mewtwo. "Connect me again. I'll keep trying until it agrees to help us."

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  The second day climbing the mountain was even worse than the first. On the first day, everyone had been well rested, and there had been a sense of general optimism about the group. But a night spent buffeted by strong winds and constantly being woken by strong feelings of vertigo left everyone tired, and the mountain rations that they had eaten for breakfast brought about a greater fatigue. The summit was still out of sight, and to make things worse the dark clouds had no started to drop rain. Not so much that it became obvious at first that there was a problem, but soon everyone was soaked to the bone and the rocks being increasingly slippery hindered progress badly.

  They were resting on a ledge when Popo heard the first rumbling of thunder in the distance.

  "Not good," he mumbled.

  Marth rested his hand on his shoulder. "How not good are we talking?"

  "Really not good," Popo said. "Climbing in rain is a bad idea. Climbing during a thunderstorm is basically suicidal." He looked upwards. "I could probably make it on my own, you know."

  Marth realised what Popo was doing. He was, in a way, asking for permission to go on his own. He wanted it, he knew. But at the same time, he knew that Popo would never leave them behind on his own. It would be abandoning them to a dangerous mountain without an expert. So as much as he wanted to give Popo the reassurance that they'd be fine and that he could go on his own, Marth held his tongue. He didn't want his new friend to have regrets.

  "Maybe the storm won't last too long," he said. "We don't have any reason to think an extra day or two would cause any more harm to Nana."

  Popo nodded. Marth could see the disappointment on his face, tinged at the same time with a relief. Being part of a group was safer, after all.

  "Based on the wind it shouldn't be more than a few hours," Popo said. "I just hope I'm right."

  Sheik sat down next to Marth and glanced over at Popo. "You miss her, don't you?"

  "Of course," Popo said. "She's my best friend."

  Sheik nodded slowly. "I understand. I have a person like that. The person who's the most important to me. When you're apart from them, it feels like an ache deep inside."

  "You've got it, Ninja," Popo said. "Who's yours?"

  "A knight I know," Sheik said. Marth could see him smiling beneath his mask. "He's the kind of person who would go to the other end of the world for me, if I needed him to."

  Popo nodded. "You love him? Because, just so you know, it's totally cool that you swing that way."

  "Huh?" Marth and Sheik exchanged a look. "What are you talking about?"

  "You know... two dudes."

  Marth still didn't get why that could have been in a problem, but he cleared his throat. "So, how come you and Nana ended up being the famous Ice Climbers?" he asked.

  Popo shrugged. "Tale as old as time, really. Boy meets girl when they're kids growing up in the same town. Girl persuades boy to go out into the woods with her. Boy and girl get lost and spend three days hiking through the frozen wilderness. Boy almost dies of hypothermia, girl saves boy. Girl and boy fight off a bear together. Boy and girl are eventually found but decide they want to go on more adventures together. Boy and girl spend all their free time learning how to navigate and survive in all kinds of terrain, before travelling the world to climb all kinds of mountains together. Boy and girl help each other so many times that they basically move in sync."

  "So it's a relationship built on trust and respect," Marth said. "Think about that, Popo. If you've always trusted Nana before, trust now that she'll be okay for as long as it takes to reach her."

  Sheik nodded along with him. "Just like I'm sure she believes you can make it here."

  Popo looked at the storm clouds in the distance. "Why do you think you need to tell me that? I always believe in Nana."

  Nana was thrown against the wall of her cell, where she yelled in pain and slid to the ground. Every time Master Hand rejected her, it was with greater force, and it was starting to hurt.

  "Connect me again," she growled. "Mewtwo, connect me again."

  "This is pointless," Mewtwo protested. "You'll only become more injured."

  "I don't care," she protested. "This is all I can do to stop Crazy Hand from destroying everything in my world. So this is what I'll do." She struggled to her feet and strode across her cell so that she was as close to Master Hand as possible. "Connect our minds again."

  Popo stood and stretched. "Well, we aren't going anywhere until that storm lifts. We should probably -" He turned suddenly towards the storm, then looked up at the cliff.

  "What is it?" Marth asked.

  Donkey Kong looked up as well. "Storm closer."

  "Take cover!" Popo yelled.

  A moment later, a bolt of lightning struck the cliff face above them. Cracks spiderwebbed across the rock in every direction, and the shelf they were resting on shattered.

  Popo reacted the most quickly. Even as the cracks spread across the rock, he was throwing ropes that wrapped around Marth and Yoshi, and connecting them to his belt. He threw the other end of the rope to Donkey Kong, who was able to grab onto an outcropping, while the other two were jerked to a stop by the rope. Then the rocks began to fall from above.

  Jigglypuff was right in the path of a boulder. Popo leapt towards her, barely having time to secure himself to the cliff, and used his hammer to deflect the rock away. Sheik was also in motion, dodging more rocks, but he simply didn't have the footing to keep doing this, and much of what he did have was crumbling. At the same time, Popo could see Donkey Kong's hand slipping. If the ape let go, then all three would fall. And Jigglypuff still wasn't safe from the falling rocks.

  He could do everything. He was an Ice Climber, and this was his operation.

  He grabbed Jigglypuff under his arm and threw her towards Donkey Kong. She weighed almost nothing, but even so it caused the ape to slip more. Popo had been ready for that, though, as he dove towards Donkey Kong with climbing spikes. He drove them into the rock and they thankfully held, giving him more secure handholds. Then he moved towards Sheik. He just needed too...

  A rock struck him on the back of his head. He had been so focused on everyone else that he hadn't even thought to check himself. Stupid, so stupid.

  He began to fall. He heard shouts from the others, but there was nothing they could do.

  Then he felt arms close around his waist, and saw Sheik had dived down towards him. They were falling together, the ninja glancing wildly around for something to grab onto. The force of the wind tore at his hood and mask and wrapped them away, and Popo finally saw the face beneath.

  "Wait," he muttered. "You're a girl?"

  Well, he couldn't let this be it. He threw a rope, and it snagged in a crack he had used as a handhold earlier. They swung into the rock, which hurt, but Popo managed to make them impact in such a way that they didn't break every bone in their bodies.

  "How long have you been a girl?" he asked, staring at Sheik.

  She frowned. "Since I was born. Sorry to keep it a secret - I disguise myself in unfamiliar places like this. You can call me Zelda."

  "Zelda." Popo rolled the name around his mouth. "I like it."

  "Well, you'll hopefully like this," Zelda said. She held her hand upwards. Light surrounded them, and Popo had the sensation of being pulled through space suddenly. When he opened his eyes, the light was fading and they were above the point where they had fallen from.

  He looked at Zelda, whose ninja outfit had disappeared and been replaced with a fancy looking gown. "Could you have done that the whole time?"

  "Not without revealing my identity," Zelda said. "I'm sorry."

  Popo looked down. The cliffs had stabilised, and the others looked like they were going to be okay. "We need to bunker down for the storm," he said. "Can you climb in that dress?"

  "I can do a lot of things in this dress," Zelda insisted. "Don't worry about me. Worry about them, and yourself, and Nana."

  "Nana," he muttered. "Can't you just teleport use to the top?"

  Zelda shook her head. "I can barely take one person with me, let alone five, and nowhere close to that far. I'm afraid we'll have to do this the old fashioned way."

  He hesitated. "But, could you take one person? Do you think you and Ren Fair could go? If you did it in smaller jumps, and I gave you equipment to steady yourselves."

  Zelda looked like she was considering it. "Maybe. Probably. But why us?"

  "Because Nana needs help," he said. "And I can't get to her yet. But I can send people I trust to help her. This is what I can do right now."

  He met Zelda's gaze, and she nodded. "Okay. I will."

  Popo looked up at the mountain again. "This will take some time. But I swear I'll make it, and get everyone to the summit to back you up."

  Nana struggled to her feet. "I swear I'll get through to Master Hand, so that I can help to save all the worlds."

  "Because I'm Popo,"

  "Because I'm Nana,"

  "of the world famous Ice Cilmbers."