Star Fox 64

"Caiman, here! No problems." Caiman called over the com in his ship. Behind him and several other ships came the Star Fox team and Great Fox. They fired on them. "Do you copy? Emergency maneuvers!" Caiman called as the ships scattered.

"Too late!" Falco Lombardi sneered, "Game over, pal!" Fox McCloud, leader of the Star Fox team, looked over his radar.

"Entering Venom air defense zone!" he called as he fired on several fighter ships that charged at him.

"Let's take 'em all out!" Falco called out. Fox grinned, he didn't have to worry about the ships too much. His Player was in tip-top condition today. Trigger-happy and quick to react, Player One had not failed a single mission since the beginning of the game.

"Atta boy." Fox murmured proudly. Perhaps today he would see the true ending to the game. Slippy checked his scans.

"Space mines ahead! Watch out!" he warned. Fox dodged the mines expertly and, suddenly, there was a flash of light in front of him.

"Huh?" he yelped and then everything went black....

Pokémon, Red Version

Pikachu slept in the Poké Ball, confident that he would see the Elite Four soon enough. Suddenly, he heard his name called. In a flash of light, he was released onto a battlefield, a pool of water with floating blocks and pads. The gym leader for this particular gym was Misty, the water trainer of Cerulean City. Pikachu hated being in the Poké Ball, but it couldn't be helped. The game demanded him to stay in the ball so he obeyed. Misty called up a Staryu to start the fight and as Pikachu prepared to fight, a brilliant flash of light erupted in front of him and there was only darkness....

Mario Kart

Coming onto the home-stretch, Donkey Kong dropped off the Mystery Box bomb behind him and accelerated. Just a little faster and he'd pass by Bowser. The giant ape blazed past on the final curve of the Rainbow Road racetrack. It was smooth driving from here on, as long as the Player didn't get too overzealous and make a mistake.

That's the problem with Players, some get too happy on the trigger and wipe out, like the one controlling Toad back on Lap One. DK was lucky, Player Two wasn't like that and he was ready to cross the finish line and claim the trophy. Why couldn't all Players be like the one controlling him? Donkey Kong sighed in bliss as the last straight-away neared its end. Just as he closed in on the finish line, a bright flash exploded in front of him and his last thought was the fact that he had missed the chance to win the race....

Super Mario 64

Mario dashed about crazily, scrambling to get enough stars to enter the next painting. His Player was panicking too easily. "Chomp! Chomp! Get me away from the Chomp!" Mario wailed as the giant ball of teeth snapped towards him. What was the Player thinking?! Was he trying to get a Game Over on purpose?! Princess Peach was trapped somewhere and the only way to rescue her was to defeat Bowser, and the only way to get to him was to collect two hundred stars.

The Player only found thirty.

"The Chomp! Get away from the Chomp! Why won't he listen to me?!" Mario yelled angrily as he was steered in circles around the thing. Just as the giant black ball loomed over him, a flash of white light erupted before him and Mario cried for help as the world went dark....

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Link dangled from the edge of the pillar and sighed unhappily. The day wasn't going well. First, his Player dragged him through the lava in the volcanic Death Mountain, ran him right into a firewall, then got stuck in a room in the Fire Temple. Navi floated above him and tsk-tsked him.

"Navi, please signal this guy and tell him that the Goron tunic makes me flame-proof, not immortal!!" Link yelled, "I'm down to four hearts! I started with ten! Make him save and quit before he kills me and gets another Game Over! I've gone through three of them already!" He climbed up and stood impatiently as his Player paused the game to check through the menu screens. "It's not like this is the most difficult game ever made in the series." Link griped as the Player chose to equip him with red potion.

"The Player is trying his very best, Link. It's probably his first Zelda game." Navi replied.

"Then tell him to buy a Player's Guide! I've had enough of falling off the mountain! It's not fun!" Link yelled, "If he can't figure this out then he shouldn't have gotten the game to begin with! He wants something easy, have him play Link's Awakening!" He drank the potion and then made another try at the distant door. He grabbed onto the ledge with his hands and climbed up.

"Finally! He made it!" Link declared joyfully. He walked over, unlocked the door and opened it, stepping right into a bright flash of light that made the whole world fall into darkness....

Super Metroid

"Die, you idiot!" Samus Aran shrieked as she fired several more times. The Dragon dodged and snapped its head forward to try to kill the woman clad in a computer suit of armor. She jumped away and fired more Orbs. The Dragon jerked back as it was hit. Samus' scans confirmed that three more hits would destroy the creature. "All this for an alien fetus." Samus grumbled in her high-tech gear as she aimed for the creature's head. Then there was a bright flash of light. With a cry, Samus fell back, unconscious as the light wrapped around her body....

Yoshi's Story

Little Yoshi ran along, slurping up fruit and avoiding the Shy Guys that chased him. The Player wasn't going for a high score, just trying to blaze through the levels as fast as possible. Rush, rush, rush, when will the Player learn that Nintendo always rigged their games with secrets and bonuses for the people who took the time to search them? Apparently not today as Little Yoshi slurped down yet another piece of fruit to finish the level. But this time, instead of being taken to the next page of the storybook game, Little Yoshi felt himself grow up at an amazing rate and then was dropped into a brilliant white light that made his mind spin faster until he blacked out....

Kirby's Super Star

Kirby watched the end of the game credits roll by and sighed happily. His Player had done well. After days of persistence and determination, he had finally beaten the game and seen the ending. All that was left now was to report back to Nintendo and see what they were planning for him. They were working on a new Kirby game for him and promised to make it a great one, with mini-games and replay value. He got up and turned to find the secret portal to take him to the home base when a brilliant flash of light swept him up and Kirby was lost in it....

-------------------------

"NO NO NO NO NO!" Link yelled angrily, stomping around on the grassy field and hitting the ground with the Master Sword. Mario woke up and looked around to find the other Nintendo characters starting to come around. Fox rubbed his head and groaned.

"Somebody tell the new Link to shut up." he griped, "The old one was quieter. I liked him better." Link went on slashing at the field, raging.

"I finally get the player to get me up to the third part of the temple and then I get zapped here! Not fair! Not fair! Not fair! Nintendo's not letting me have a chance!" Link went on and finally dropped to his knees, shaking. "Why won't they give me a chance?" Mario walked up to him and pat him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry. You just need a little more time to get settled in. People aren't used to you yet. They're used to the Links from the old NES, Super NES and Game Boy games." the plumber told him.

"It's because I'm blonde, right? They liked the Links with the red-orange hair. They think I'm a ditz, running around as a kid and getting into all sorts of girl trouble." Link muttered, "I wish I could have talked longer with them, known what they did in the games to be so popular."

"Hey, it's okay. The old Links are great guys. GB Link'll be around for the Game Boy games and he's still going to train you for the Nintendo 64 and Project Dolphin." Donkey Kong pointed out reassuringly. Link looked up at them.

"Project Dolphin?" he echoed. Fox stretched and flexed his tail, dusting himself off as he stood up. Once he decided he was still battle-worthy, he gave DK a hard punch.

"Who said you could tell him about Dolphin?! He's not ready for it yet, you idiot!" he snapped at the ape, then turned to Link, "Nintendo's new project. Don't worry about it. They're also making a new game for you as soon as Ocarina of Time got through with its nominations in the Gamer's Choice awards." he clarified, "Something about masks and a new world... I didn't get it."

"You have lots of potential, Link. I mean, what's the Game Boy Link got that you ain't got?" Samus asked brightly as she checked over her gun.

"A short comic book series by Nintendo Power and a cartoon series that ran for a season or two." Link muttered. Pikachu brushed dust off of his arms.

"I think that was supposed to be a rhetorical question." Yoshi remarked sarcastically.

"So the Game Boy Link got a little more attention in areas other than games. Big deal. Name one thing you have that he doesn't have!" Kirby declared.

"A Player who doesn't know the difference between flame-resistant and 'shielded against everything Ganondorf throws at you'." Link replied sarcastically.

"Hey, who's the new guy?" DK asked, finally noticing Pikachu grooming his ear not too far from them. Everyone turned to look at the little electric mouse. Link furrowed his eyebrows, thinking.

"I know him. He was introduced to the Nintendo line-up earlier this year, right after me. His name's Pikachu, and he's a Pokémon." he said quietly.

"This rat is a Nintendo character?!" DK exclaimed and laughed as Pikachu looked up at them when he heard his name.

"Hey! Who are you callin' a rat, banana-breath?! I'm an electric mouse!" Pikachu yelled, "Just 'cause I'm a new guy don't mean you can push me around, not unless you want a shocking reaction!"

"Ooh, I'm scared. The little fuzzy thing is threatening me." DK taunted as Link stood back up, sheathed the sword, and thought harder.

"GB Link told me about him. Pikachu's games are almost exclusive to the Game Boy systems, but Nintendo's bringing him to another game that's on the N64." he muttered, "Now if I remember correctly, my Japanese is lousy, Pikachu means electric mouse and that means...."

"PikaaaaCHU!" Pikachu had enough of Donkey Kong's teasing and unleashed a Thunderbolt attack, electrocuting the giant ape. Mario and the other Nintendo characters watched in shock as DK fell back, jolted. Link snapped his fingers and grinned.

"That's right! He has the power to unleash large amounts of electricity whenever he wants! In fact, that ability is making Pikachu the most widely recognized mouse in the world!" he finished.

"Thanks for the warning, Link." DK grumbled as he sat up. Pikachu stood on his little feet and looked around.

"Okay. Where are we and why are we here?" he asked as Samus began to scan the area with her computer equipment.

"Looks like we're not in Nintendo territory anymore. This must be another realm and there doesn't seem to be any other game characters here except us." she told the group when she was done.

"Why the heck are we here anyway?!" Fox snapped after another minute of looking around. There was a sudden clap of thunder and the sky above darkened with stormy clouds. A voice boomed from above.

"Why, to be my loyal servants, of course!" someone replied. Fox clamped his ears down, the sound was too loud for him to handle. Link screamed in pain, crouching down and covering his ears, crying out something about Kokiri training.

"Servants?! I ain't serving you anything, Mr. Voice! The only thing I'm gonna be serving you is some white hot electric Thundershocks right up your....!" an enraged Pikachu began to shriek out.

"Ahem! I am the lord of the Realm of Neutrality. You all may call me Master Hand and each of you are keys to my brilliant master plan of global domination!" the voice interrupted, a little softer, as loud as rumbling thunder. Link looked up and tried to see who was talking. Thunder rumbling he could handle, booming voices only made his mind rip itself to shreds. "You see, each of you are popular in your own rights and that will help me very much." Master Hand went on, "Hundreds of people whom you call 'Players' focus on you when they play your games and they become engrossed in your tiny little worlds. With such a vast audience of people intent on keeping their minds on you, I could easily use you eight to take control of the people's minds and enslave their world! Then I, Master Hand, shall dominate the Realm of Neutrality and the Realm of Humanity!" The Nintendo characters grew angry by the unseen threat's words.

"You want us to help you use our games and influence for your evil little schemes?!" Mario yelled, "No way! We were created to bring people fun games to play! Something challenging and new!"

"I have brought the eight of you here to begin converting you to my control, but there is one of you who does not have the influence. One of you is the wrong character." Master Hand grumbled, "It isn't possible, but I have made an error. No matter, the rest of you shall do the job and the eighth can be used for something else." The group looked around at each other. One of them was not the real deal? Who was Master Hand talking about? Who was not a true Nintendo champion?

"We don't care what you did or didn't do right! Put us back in our games right now! Nintendo will not be happy if they find out we're missing! You're really gonna get it from them!" Kirby snapped in frustration.

"Yeah! No way are we gonna do what you tell us, so put us back in our rightful games! Now!" Pikachu demanded. Master Hand laughed at him.

"Ooh! I'm shaking! Alright then, I'll give you a sporting chance to win your freedom and spare your precious Players." he sneered. The ground suddenly began to shake and the characters fell to the ground. Link curled up and covered his head. Game Boy Link didn't train him for this kind of thing! A mountain rose up in the distance from the group of friends. The ground stopped quaking when the mountain was fully risen.

"I'm very fond of tournament style fighting and this is what you can do.... Make your way to the Tournament Mountain and begin battling at the bottom of it. I have already sent opponents there. Each of you will fight your own tournaments, alone, but there will be times when you will have a few of your friends to help you in a fight. If you make it past these battles, you come against me! Defeat me, and you will be set free. Lose, and you are mine forever!" Master Hand said.

"What if we don't want to fight your stupid opponents? What if we just head straight up to you?" Yoshi shot back as he got to his feet. Master Hand laughed, he still hadn't appeared to the group yet.

"Did I mention I also captured a few of your friends? If you don't go through the ladder, you will never see them again! Here, maybe you'll recognize these little items...." he said and four objects fell from the sky. A green hat, a red yo-yo, a blue bow and a helmet lay on the grass.

"Luigi!" Mario cried, recognizing the hat.

"Ness!" Fox yelped, seeing the yo-yo.

"Jigglypuff!" Pikachu cried out in shock at the bow.

"Captain Falcon!" Samus whispered when she saw the helmet. They collected the items as Master Hand laughed.

"I knew you would see things my way! So hurry along, little warriors, and I'll see you at the top of the ladder! Then again, maybe I won't.... Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" the evil voice jeered maniacally as the band of characters got up and raced for the mountain.