Author's Note: Hello! So I finally got around to writing the newly revised version of this story just because I was working on the sequel and there were some changes that needed to happen to make the sequel work perfectly. I also wrote some additional scenes and covered some of the plot holes. I also decided to split the story into 3 or 4 chapters because it was getting to 12,000 words! So here is the first chapter. Enjoy and please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own SSB

He stared at the young Princess, his heart racing and pounding faster as he took two more faltering steps. His bones ached and he wanted nothing more than to go back to the Kokiri Forest and take a long, well-deserved nap. The adrenaline keeping him on his feet was slowly fading away, and he felt exhaustion seeping into his limbs. Link felt Zelda's piercing gaze on him, curious yet passionate and full of wonder. He grinned and took a few steps towards her, but Zelda only gasped in response.

"Who are you?" she asked, voice trembling. "How did you get past the guards?" She repeated the same words that she said to him the first time they met, which meant that...He took a step back, his heart hammering quickly in his chest. He wanted to scream at her, shake her until she remembered everything that actually happened. But his arms remained glued to his sides, and his mind was reeling yet felt so numb at the same time. "No one is supposed to be here!" she cried out. "Guards!"

"Princess, wait—" He finally spoke, but was too late. A guard swiftly grabbed his arm and he was being taken away from the Princess. Through the window, he could see glimpses of Ganondorf kneeling, and he struggled harder. "He's a traitor!" Link exclaimed, and Zelda frowned and took a few steps towards him.

"How dare you?" she responded. "That man—Ganondorf—is my father's friend! He is the leader of the Gerudos, so if I were you, I would show him some respect! He has sworn allegiance to my father, and I know he is sincere!" She looked up at the guard tightly gripping Link's right arm. "Arrest him," she said softly, and turned around. Link tried to call out to her again, but one of the guards covered his mouth and they dragged him away.

He was thrown into a small cell minutes later. None of the guards would tell him what will happen. He paced angrily around his cell for hours, waiting for anyone to show up. Eventually, the exhaustion took over his body and he sat down in the back of the cell, staring at the floor. Sleeping was out of the question, so Link sat and waited for...something.

Time passed, and eventually, the sun rose and light filtered into the cell through its small window. He heard someone walking down the steps, but he didn't care anymore. He looked up to see the princess unlocking his cell and stepping inside. He leapt suddenly to his feet, feeling a sudden burst of anger guide his movements as he stalked over to her. "What do you want?" he asked quietly, fighting to control his voice.

The princess looked into his eyes carefully and said, "I'm willing to let you go if you apologize to Ganondorf for saying what you did." Link's eyes widened as she spoke.

"You don't understand," Link responded, his voice rising, "I have done so much for you and for Hyrule to defeat that pig, and now you...Princess, don't you recognize me? Everything I've done was worthless, is that it?" he wondered to himself. Zelda was confused, but she only stared as Link continued talking to himself.

"You can't call him a pig!" Zelda exclaimed. "He has supported my father and the kingdom for so long. I have no idea why you think this way, but he's offended by your comments. Go apologize now!"

The boy only chuckled darkly. "What's wrong with you, Princess? You know I could never do that," he asked desperately. "This man will cause Hyrule to fall; you must believe me!" There were tears in his eyes all of a sudden, and he felt himself trembling with anger.

"No," Zelda responded quietly, "I trust him more than I could ever trust you."

Silence.

Something inside of Link must have snapped all of a sudden as he growled, "then Hyrule will be damned to hell!" He immediately leapt towards Zelda and gripped her by the throat, trying to choke her. "You have put me through hell," he whispered, openly sobbing, "and this is what I get in return." He heard the cell door open suddenly, but focused on choking Zelda even more.

The last thing he saw was Zelda's brilliant blue eyes, tinged with shock and hate.

In the dead of night, he sat up in his cell, quickly gathering his supplies. He grabbed the paper and envelope crumpled next to him and climbed up to the windowsill. Looking down, he realized it would be about a three-story drop, but it was well worth the risk.

While sitting at the windowsill, he took out the envelope stuffed into his pocket and studied the return address. It was quite far away, but he knew he had no choice. Staying in Hyrule was dangerous now. The ground below him was clear of any guards so he quickly dropped down into the castle's courtyard and shrunk into the shadows.

After sneaking around the castle, he found his horse waiting obediently outside the gates, as though she knew he would come, and left quietly. He hoped that no one would notice his absence until the next morning, when the guards would take him out of his cell to his death. He shook his head as he sped away from the castle, trying to rid himself of these thoughts.

In the forest south of Hyrule, he stopped when he knew he was alone. He sat down next to a tree and took out the envelope once again. The address was committed to his memory, but he found himself checking it every few hours anyway. It made sense; he had to make sure that he would survive, and this was his only option. He drank some water from his bottle, and looked down at the brightly colored envelope in his lap, reading the top line of the return address for probably the thousandth time: Smash Mansion.

It has only been a week since Young Link arrived at Smash Mansion. Link has tried to spend time with the boy, but his younger self seemed very intent on avoiding the older Hero of Time. However, the two Links were coincidentally sitting next to each other during breakfast, which gave Link his chance. "So," he said conversationally, "how do you like Smash Mansion so far?"

The boy only glanced at him briefly and ignored him, biting into a muffin. Link opened his mouth to speak, but Mario (the designated leader of the Smashers) suddenly stood up and clapped his hands loudly.

"Alright everyone," he called, "The first tournament of the year will start in about 2 weeks, but we will have a few team matches today and tomorrow. This is just for the newbies to familiarize themselves with fighting. However, each match will have 3 newbies and 1 veteran just to show them how it's done." He smiled and took a piece of paper out of his pocket. After unfolding the paper and putting on his reading glasses, Mario read the contents aloud. "Before I read this, remember I did not make these decisions; they were all done by Master Hand. The first match will be today at 11:00 AM; Ganondorf and the Ice Climbers versus Young Link and Link."

Young Link did not bother listening to the rest of the announcement. It annoyed him to no end that he would have to work with his older self (someone he did not actually want to be in the future) to defeat his (or rather, their) enemy, Ganondorf. He immediately wondered if Master Hand knew of his dislike of his older self. The younger Link believed that his older self was self-absorbed and walked around as though he owned the mansion. He was shocked when he saw his older self initially because he believed that Link was nothing like himself.

As soon as Mario's announcement ended, Young Link tried to run away from the table, but found his older self gripping his wrist. The young man looked at him intently before saying, "We should discuss some strategy."

Young Link shook his head and tried to free his wrist from Link's tight grip. Finally, he gave up and said, "I see no reason why we should. But you are clearly not letting me make my own choices." He put enough venom in his voice to have Link release his hand in shock.

"Fine," Link said gently. "Can you at least explain to me why you have been avoiding me for the past week? I've really wanted to hang out with you, but you always run away or ignore me."

The boy rolled his eyes. "Are we done having this conversation?" he asked, instead of responding to his older self's own question.

Link frowned. "No. You didn't answer my question."

Immediately, the younger Link responded, expressing all of his emotions. "I despise you. It annoys me that my future self is such an awful person. I always thought that I would grow so much in the future, and I would be a better person. Looking at you, I realized I was wrong. I will become so self-absorbed and annoying, and you are evidence of that." By the time he finished speaking, the few Smashers remaining in the kitchen stopped what they were doing and were listening to him. Before his older self could respond, the boy ran away from the kitchen and escaped to the comforts of his bedroom.

Link slowly sank into his chair, his eyes wide with shock. As Zelda approached him, the rest of the Smashers left. She sat down next to him, neither of them saying a word. "You know what he said is not true," she finally said.

"I..." He seemed unable to respond. "I was only ever so narrow-minded right after you sent me back in time," he said finally, his voice shaking. "I know he's insecure, but after a while it will be alright. He's just not used to this." He sighed. "I wasn't used to this, I suppose."

Zelda didn't respond. Link stood up. "Well, I should get ready for the match. I'll see you afterwards?" he said quietly. She nodded, and he left quickly. She never really thought about her decision to send Link back in time after his journey; she just assumed it was naturally the right thing to do. She sighed, remembering how angry and insecure Link was after he went back in time, and realized she was the only person who could help Young Link adjust to the mansion.

Young Link carefully unsheathed his sword and examined it. He considered going to practice in the training room before his match started, but there was only 30 minutes until the match at the time, and he was sure that his so-called partner would be training. So he sat in his room, deciding to save his energy for the first match of the year.

There will be a total of 5 matches today, each of them featuring 3 newbies and one veteran, just like Young Link's match. All Smashers were required to watch all five of the matches, but he did not want to watch any other matches. It forced him to interact with other Smashers, which was disconcerting since he preferred to be alone. Despite the many children of his age in the mansion, he didn't bother talking to any of them because he felt it was unnecessary; why spend time with people who would later break your heart?

He looked up from his sword and glanced at the clock. 10:52 AM. He stood up, gathered his belongings, and left the room. As he began walking towards the staircase, he heard someone behind him shout, "Hey!"

Link turned around, and saw a little girl in a pink parka waving to him. She walked to him and smiled sweetly. "You're Link, right?" Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, showing great energy.

With a start, he realized she did not mention his older self. Anyone who tried to speak to Young Link spoke of his older self as though he was some sort of god, or worse, someone who looked so much like Young Link. He smiled for the first time that day. "Yes," he said carefully, "I'm Link."

"I'm Nana," she replied. They started walking side by side, in a comfortable silence. As they began to descend the stairs, she spoke again, her voice soft and musical. "Are you ready for the match?" She fidgeted with her fingers as she spoke, staring shyly at him.

Link answered carefully, remembering that she was his opponent today. "I think so," he responded. He was about to make a snarky comment about how much he hated being his older self's partner, but was reminded that she had Ganondorf to deal with, who was marginally worse than the Hero of Time.

"I just wish we weren't on a team with Ganondorf," she admitted, echoing his thoughts. "He's so scary-looking. And I feel like he might do something that he shouldn't." They reached the first floor, and entered the living room where they were supposed to arrive. The girl smiled at him, and then walked towards a boy wearing a similar parka, except in blue.

At exactly 11:00 AM, Mario walked into the room, smiling. "Are you all ready?" The four (well, five) competitors nodded, their expressions serious. Mario walked to a door pulsing with a bright white light. "This will take you to the stadium. Once the match is over, you will automatically be teleported back to this room. Please be sure to enter one at a time, in order to prevent confusion." The plumber smiled at them again. "Good luck!"

Link—the older one, that is—spoke to the others. "Usually we enter in order that the match was announced. So, if you remember from this morning, the order is Ganondorf, the Ice Climbers, Young Link, and then myself." He watched as Ganondorf, with an evil grin on his face, turned to face the portal and walked into the light. Instantly, the hero knew that his enemy was planning something, and pledged to stop him. For Young Link's sake.

When Young Link opened his eyes, he realized he was at the stadium. He saw the screaming crowd, but did not recognize anyone sitting nearby. With a start, he realized he was wearing a blue tunic instead of his usual green. Ganondorf and the Ice Climbers (the girl smiled at him as soon as he saw her) were standing across from him, with the Gerudo King standing atop a platform, and the twins directly below him. Immediately, he looked up and saw his older self appear on the platform above him.

Suddenly, a loud voice from a microphone cut through the air. "3...2...1...GO!"

Without thinking, he jumped onto the platform and swung his sword at Ganondorf. The Gerudo King looked shocked only for a moment, then regained his composure and fought back. He was vaguely aware of Link fighting the Ice Climbers below him. He knew his older self would have little to no trouble fighting the twins, so he focused on getting Ganondorf knocked off the platform. However, the evil king had no problems blocking his attacks and even managed to hit Young Link twice. Before Ganondorf could strike him, he swung his sword, and jumped back. As he landed on his feet, a sound resonated throughout the stadium.

Clink. He glanced down towards his older self, who was frozen into a block of ice by the Ice Climbers. As he looked up, he saw Ganondorf strike at him and he quickly blocked the attack with his shield. They fought like this for a few moments, with Ganondorf attempting to punch him, only to be blocked by the Kokiri shield. After a few seconds, the Gerudo King got a hold of Young Link's shield and threw it off the stadium. Before the boy could react, his sword was also ripped from his grip and thrown aside. Ganondorf chuckled darkly. "Finally," he roared, "I will defeat the Hero!" He drew a dagger out of a sheath hidden by his cloak. Since the dagger was not a registered weapon, he knew its harm will not be prevented by the pain simulator.

Although the Ice Climbers were supposed to be on the same team as Ganondorf, Nana realized what he was about to do. Unfortunately for her, it was too late. As she ran towards Ganondorf with her weapon ready, the villain quickly whipped around and kicked her and Popo off the stage. The three Hyruleans were left then: the Gerudo King, the frozen Hero of Time, and Young Link.

The boy jumped up to the platform above him, hoping to run around Ganondorf to receive his sword. However, Ganondorf followed his actions and jumped on to the other side of the platform. He stood in front of Young Link, his dagger gleaming with a sickening green light.

"It's time to say goodbye, little boy," the Gerudo King said with a grin. He drew the dagger back and prepared to strike the boy through his heart. Young Link found himself paralyzed and unable to move. He closed his eyes, waiting for the pain.

The pain never came. He heard someone shout, "No!", and then he was suddenly pushed harshly off the platform. He landed on the ground below and opened his eyes then. Shocked, he watched with wide eyes as the Gerudo King drove the poison-laced dagger into the stomach of his older self, no longer in a block of ice.

So that's the first chapter! It's a bit of a cliffhanger *evil grin*. This one's a bit short, but the next two will definitely be longer. The next chapter will be up in 3 to 4 days because there are some things that I would like to fix before uploading it. Please let me know what you think!