Link was wriggling, upside down, but he still couldn't get out of the ropes that were tying his arms and legs together, hanging him upside down from the ceiling. It's not like he'd never been in troublesome situations before, but at least then, he'd always been able to get out of them. Then, he'd have been saving the world, defeating Ganon, rescuing Zelda, or all three. This time, he was gagged, and stuffed into a closet at Smash Mansion. Blood was still pouring to his head, and he would have groaned if he wasn't gagged, but he was still grateful for one thing; he hadn't needed to go to the bathroom yet.

He had already been there for an hour, but he was still no closer to getting out. As he continued to struggle to get free, his mind wandered back to how he had got there…

Link had always had a small crush on Zelda, but he'd never acted on it. She was a princess, whereas he was just a commoner. A commoner who was also the Hero of Time, but still a commoner nonetheless. Zelda didn't know of his feelings, and Link intended for the situation to stay that way, until his feelings were discovered by someone. Luckily for Link, it was a friend.

Link had been the first to befriend the nervous Pit when he arrived at Smash Mansion, and Pit had soon settled into style of the fighting. Link was one of the few Smashers who had made an effort to learn the backgrounds of all the newcomers, so Link and Pit were never short of conversations to have, but after hanging out with Link for a few days, Pit had already noticed something.

"Link, you're doing it again."

Link blinked and looked back at Pit.

"What?"

Pit gave a loud sigh.

"You were looking at Zelda again."

It was Link's turn to give a loud sigh, as he tried to explain to Pit, but was silenced.

"You don't have to say anything, it's pretty obvious that you like her."

Link looked alarmed, but Pit quickly calmed him down.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," Pit whispered, putting his hand on Link's shoulder. "Don't worry, you should tell her. I'm pretty sure she likes you too."

A few hours later, Pit realised that he was wrong, as he was talking through Link's door after Link had shut himself in his room.

"Link, you have to stop worrying about this! She said no, but she was nice about it, and she doesn't seem like the kind of person who would let this come between the friendship you had. Anyway, isn't it better you found out now, rather than wasting your life chasing her?"

Link slowly opened his door, took a deep breath, and thanked Pit for his advice.

"I'll get over this. I just need some time, ok?"

"Sure."

Link smiled. He was sure he could get over this. All he needed was some time alone, and something to take his mind off Zelda. However, things went downhill from there, especially when Zelda started to date someone; Marth. They had a lot in common, as they were both royalty, and they spent long times together, talking or kissing. It was tough for Link, but he gritted his teeth and wouldn't let it get to him. Zelda and Marth were his friends, and he wouldn't let his feelings come in the way of them.

Then, one day, something terrible happened.

Zelda and Marth were walking through the halls of Smash Mansion, when Marth asked her a small question.

"Say, Zelda? Whatever happened to Link? You used to hang out with him so much, but now you don't. I'd hate to think I've come in between you two."

"Oh, Marth, don't worry. I don't see him so much because…"

Zelda leaned towards Marth and whispered to him, "He has feelings for me, and I don't want to hurt his feelings, so it's best if I don't make him see me and you together too much."

"He has feelings for you?"

As soon as Zelda had let Link's secret out to Marth, the damage was done. Link had turned from a friend in Marth's eyes to a rival, and Marth gradually became more and more suspicious of Link, despite how Link had no bad intentions whatsoever.

Link soon noticed the change. Suddenly, Marth and Zelda would always leave a room when he came in. Whenever he wanted to speak to Zelda, she always stated she was busy and ran away. Even when he confronted them both and asked them what was going on politely, they screamed at him. Marth slowly turned Zelda against him as he persuaded her that Link was trying to break them up. However, Link soon stopped trying to figure out what was happening, because it always ended with Zelda and Marth screaming at him. Pit was worried that this would send Link into a depression, but Link just spent more time training, or talking to Pit. Everything was going well, Marth's next plan came.

The bullying.

Marth had always been sure that the best form of defence was attack, and he was slowly becoming more and more paranoid that Link was trying to split up him and Zelda. At first, it was only snide little actions that Link noticed. Marth would stick a foot out every once in a while to try and trip him up, or mutter insults to him as he walked past, but it was only little things, and Link wouldn't let the insults affect him, until Marth did the unthinkable.

He got Zelda involved.

Link didn't mind having Marth muttering insults at him, but now, every time he passed Zelda in the hallways, she would scoff and quietly say, "Freak," or "Monster." Link was trying to keep his dignity and hold up, but eventually, things got out of hand. Marth and Zelda would start screaming at him if he 'sat too close to them' in the hall, and make up vicious rumours about him. Pit stood by Link through the bad times, but Link himself just couldn't take it.

One day, when he tried to pass Marth in the dinner hall, Link found himself being pushed into a wall by Marth, which was followed up by Zelda shouting, "Watch where you're going, idiot!"

Link tried to respond, but completely gave up. Letting out quiet tears, he sat down on the floor and let everything out. Pit was the first to notice, and when he rushed to Link's side, the other Smashers also gave their attention to Link, most of them rushing to his side and asking what was wrong. Link kept quiet, but Pit was happy to tell everyone exactly whose fault it was. As the crowd of Smashers turned towards Zelda and Marth, Link couldn't stop the inevitable shouting match between Zelda and Marth, and the rest of the Smashers. Luckily, the argument ended soon when Peach stormed over to Zelda and slapped her in the face. Zelda screamed and stormed off, followed by Marth, whilst the Smashers tried to comfort Link.

Their attempts worked, and Link was soon smiling again and thanking them all, but he wasn't looking forward to seeing Marth and Zelda again. He was nervous that they might try and attack them, and he was right. A few hours later, Marth was waiting behind a corner, and the moment Link walked past, Marth pounced on him and dragged him into one of the Mansion's airing closets, where Zelda was waiting with rope. Before Link could say anything, Marth gagged him while Zelda started to tie him up. Before Link could even react, he was being hoisted into the air by his ankles, while Zelda and Marth laughed. As Marth opened the door and slipped out, Zelda whispered,

"We'll be back for you in a few days, never try to split us up again!"

Link tried to protest, but Zelda slammed the door in his face with a cold laugh, leaving Link trapped.

As Link stopped recalling these events in his head, he realised that it was getting colder. There was no light shining in from underneath the door, so Link knew that by now it was night-time, and most of the Smashers would be asleep. Desperately hoping that someone would hear him, he tried to move, and found out that if he moved his entire body at once, he could swing slightly. Swinging towards the door as hard as he tried, he knocked his head against it, creating a small tapping sound. As Link continued swinging, he hoped that someone would hear it.

Luckily, Link's prayers were answered as he heard footsteps. They were getting closer, and Link was becoming hopeful that they would hear him. Bashing his head even harder against the door, he was now creating a large knocking sound, and whoever was walking through the corridor appeared to here it, as they stopped and slowly walked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from. For a second, they stopped right outside the closet Link was in and leaned on it, but Link was so desperate for them to hear that his tapping had escalated into a full-scale banging. Soon, the person outside turned around and slowly opened the door.

Link didn't catch a look of who it was, because the moment they saw him, they screamed and slammed the door again. For a second, Link thought that they were going to run away, but then the door slowly started to open again. Samus, in her Zero Suit, slowly stepped forwards with a grimace on her face as she whispered,

"Link… who did this to you?"

Samus wasted no further time in untying Link, which accidentally sent him crashing to the floor. Samus let out another startled scream as she helped Link to his feet and started to untie him, but the moment she did, he fell to the floor again. As Samus pulled apart the gag in Link's mouth, she gently asked him,

"Link, can you stand up?"

Link tried, but his legs were sore, and he reluctantly shook his head. Hours of being upside down were catching up with him, as his stomach felt queasy. Before he could even ask for help, Samus picked him up and ran through the corridors of Smash Mansion until Link heard her opening a door. Not recognizing the room, Link assumed it was Samus'. After all, Samus never let anyone in her room. Ever.

Feeling himself being carried further, Link was eventually let down in Samus' bathroom, where she stood him next to the sink. As Link caught sight of his face in the mirror, he gasped. He looked boiling, most of his blood had run to his head, and it was obvious that he was on the verge of throwing up.

Luckily, Samus was taking good care of him. After taking his temperature for a second, she held a wet towel against his head and told him to take some deep breaths. Link did as he was told, and slowly felt the nausea going away. However, as soon as he was feeling better, the mood changed as Samus led him into her room, pointed at the bed, and commanded, "Sit."

Link did as he was told, and Samus quickly asked him another question.

"Did Zelda and Marth do this to you?"

Link gulped and considered lying for a second, but decided to tell the truth, and nodded.

Samus gave a loud sigh. "They just don't leave you alone, do they…"

Link was about to explain the situation, but Samus silenced him.

"Don't bother, Pit already told me everything. You've got him worried, Link, but I don't blame you."

Link would have been alarmed that Pit had told Samus about his problem, but he was too concerned on trying to prevent another one.

"Please don't retaliate, Samus."

Samus raised an eyebrow and waited for Link to continue.

"If you annoy Zelda and Marth, they'll just blame me and try to get revenge on me again. I just want this to stop!"

"But it won't stop, Link! Did you retaliate when Marth barged you into that wall? Did you retaliate when he turned Zelda against you? You didn't, but Zelda and Marth carried on. You're letting them do this to you Link!"

Link responded by repeating his last sentence. "I just want this to stop…"

Samus gave off a sigh and tried to soothe Link. "Link, Pit told me that you need something to distract you from the whole business with Zelda and Marth."

Link mumbled in agreement, but didn't notice Samus starting to blush as she edged closer to him.

"Well, I can think of something that would probably… take your mind off things."

Link looked up.

"What?"

Samus took a deep breath before leaning forwards.

"This…"

Samus planted her lips on Link's and started to kiss him. He was shocked, but he still kissed back. Eventually, Samus broke the kiss, but the look on Link's face told her everything she needed to know. He was amazed, and smiling for the first time in days.

"Samus…"

"Don't say anything, Link."

They leaned forwards and kissed again, knowing that neither of them had to stop for as long as they wanted.

…

"Zelda, is that you?"

"Marth? What's going on?"

"I don't know, it's too dark!"

"If this is Link's work, I swear to-"

The door to the closet burst open as Samus looked at Zelda and Marth, tied up back to back in the same closet they had tied Link into.

"Samus! Get us out of here!"

Samus responded with a laugh as she said,

"You know, you two really hurt Link. In fact, he's taking the rest of this weekend off with me to recover from what you two did to him. So, naturally, before I left, I had to set you two up here. We'll be back on Monday, have a great weekend!"

Samus slammed the door, but opened it again, just to show them a shiny object she had.

"And if either of you ever hurt Link again, trust me, I'll put you in here for a whole week. And by the way, I'm locking you in."

Samus slammed the door again, and there was a click as the lock in the door turned. Zelda screamed and shook but she couldn't get out, and just when she thought things couldn't get worse, she felt her stomach rumbling.

"Zelda…"

"Marth, I think I'm going to be sick!"

"Zelda!"

"What?"

There was a stony silence as Marth whispered, "I think I need to go to the bathroom…"

It was going to be a weekend to remember.