Without anytime to waste, Link ran through the portal; the fate of all existence within his hands. His parallel version, Dark Link, ready to detonate a bomb so powerful that it would wipe out all of reality in a microsecond. He fell through to Earth Prime and immediately took in his surroundings: destruction and ruin. Dark Link theorized that Earth Prime is where all reality came from.
"Welcome to Earth Prime," Dark Link greeted with a smirk as he was putting in some final calculations to his weapon. Link looked to his left to see Dark Link and the device he used to get to this dimension.
"Before there was thought, there was this place," he continued. "One Earth, with a single history. But with the coming of man came the illusion of free will. And with that illusion, came chaos. With every choice we make, we literally create a world. History branches in two creating an Earth where we made the choice, and a second where we didn't. That's the secret of the universe you know: billions of people, making billions of choices, creating infinite Earths. Some are so similar to one another that you could spend a lifetime looking for any distinction. Others so radically different, they defy comprehension."
"And all of the branches originate here?" Link asked, planning his attack as he walked closer to Dark Link.
"Every version of reality, balances precariously…. on this… singular… Earth," Dark Link theorized. "It seems so different from the Earth's we know. I can only imagine the decisions that led to it crippling out of it's orbit. But I know this, the source of the cataclysm is the same as it always is: Man."
"You can't be sure of that," Link responded. "Anything-"
"You know better," Dark Link interrupted. "Man is a cancer and I've chosen to cut out the disease."
"You're talking about killing-" Link began before being interrupted.
"Everyone who has ever lived, who ever will live," Dark Link boldly stated as he put in the final calculations, activating the bomb. "I choose to make the only possible real choice."
The bomb began to activate one of it's many activations rings. It requires tremendous power to ignite, so the actual detonation would not be for at least five minutes. Link knew exactly what he had to do to accomplish hiss goal.
"You're insane," Link said, drawing his sword.
"Does it really matter?" Dark Link said with a smug, walking away from the bomb, sword in hand. "There are versions of me you might find quite charming."
Link made the first move, throwing two smoke bombs at Dark Link, creating a thick smokescreen. Dark Link readied his defence. Link charged in, Master Sword first only to have it collide with Dark Link's shield and got sent flying backwards. Link chucked his boomerang only to have it deflected by Dark Link's metallic cape. Dark Link charged forward, preferring to use his fists instead and scored three direct hits on Link's abdomen, sending him flying into a rock. Link forced himself up. He sheathed his sword and shield, to better match Dark Link's fighting style
"From what I gather, were very much alike," Dark Link taunted as he approached Link. "Everything about you tells the tale. Your attitude, your costume your tactics, they all scream courage, heroism, vengeance. What terribly wrong set you on the path?"
Dark Link grabbed Link by the throat and pinned him against a rock.
"It doesn't matter," Dark Link stated, his piercing red eyes peering into Link's blue orbs. "Nothing matters."
"What are you going to do?" Link asked, gasping for strength. "Talk me to death?"
"Actually," Dark Link began with a smirk as he threw a punch at Link's face followed closely by two punches to his chest and one to his chin, sending Link to the ground. "I thought I'd beat you to death."
Dark Link lunged at Link with one mechanical punch plummeting towards the ground. Link jumped out of the way, behind Dark Link. He grabbed him by the neck, holding a small device in his hand that would emit a knock out gas. Dark Link caught on and activated a protective mask on his suit that bounced the gas right off of him. he grabbed Link's arms and tossed him twenty feet in front of him. Link stood up only to see Dark Link taking aim at him with explosive arrows. Link dogged as best as he could. He fired his claw shot at Dark Link but to no effect. Dark Link then emerged from the dust throwing several mechanical punches at Link. Link played the defensive but could only defend for so long before being punched threw a rock and point blank. Dark Link caught up a picked Link up by the neck.
"You should have sent your jumping man," Dark Link taunted, referring to Mario. "With his strength he might have had a chance, but you don't anyone to do what needs to be done!"
Dark Link tossed Link's dimension surfing device aside to prevent him from escaping.
"I feel the same way."
"If we're really like, then you know this is wrong," Link said out of desperation. "You must have been a good man once."
"No, not good," Dark Link began, thinking of his past and his path to villainy. "Never good. After all, I'm only human."
Dark Link threw multiple punches into Link's chest. With each punch, Dark Link could hear the bones in Link's chest crack. Link grabbed something from his pocket and planted it on Dark Link's hat. The small device exploded, freeing Link from Dark Link's grip. Link ran for the bomb, trying to disable it as best he could. Dark Link then emerged from the smoke only to see Link tampering with the control panel. He unsheathed his sword and impaled Link through the right side of his chest.
"Hyeaahhh!" Link yelped out in agony. Dark Link then removed the sword and put Link into a choke hold.
"No more debate," Dark Link proclaimed. "I'm going to kill you, then everyone else."
Link looked up to see the bomb just seconds away from detonating. He could feel his life fading from him with each drop of blood coming out of him. He had to act fast.
"There is a difference between you and me!" Link proclaimed. He ran up the side of the bomb freeing himself from Dark Link's grip and landed a kick into his face. Dark Link feel onto the control panel for the bomb. Before he could recover Link fired his claw shot and let in wrap around Dark Link's arm, chaining him to the control panel.
"We both looked into the face of fear," Link said as he activated the dimension surfer device he stole from Dark Link to send him and the bomb to another dimension. "But when it looked back at us…. you blinked."
Link activated the device and threw it just as Dark Link unchained himself, successfully sending Dark Link and the bomb to a parallel Earth to be destroyed. Link watched as Dark Link and the bomb disappeared before his eyes.
Dark Link rematerialized on some Earth that was covered in Ice, clearly uninhabitable by any stretch of the imagination. Dark Link began to panic. A large beep went off behind him; the bomb was fully activated. He looked at the control panel as it read: Abort.
"It doesn't matter," Dark Link said to himself, realizing another version of himself would have aborted. The bomb exploded, destroying the entire planet in a few seconds.