The City of Evil
Note: This story is a crossover between Batman and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The reason why is that I felt that a game like Twilight Princess had a dark and gritty feel and just fit in with the Batman mythos. It's a bit of a ridiculous idea, I know, but this is a combination of two of my favourite fictional characters. I don't own any of these characters, Batman and all related character and place names belong to DC Comics. Everything Legend of Zelda related belongs to Nintendo. I've taken a serious approach to this story and it is very much a labour of love for both franchises. I'm not the best writer there is, but I do hope I am at least good enough to present you with something enjoyable in this little project of mine.
It is also on another website called North Castle. It is my work in both cases.
Chapter 1: Betrayal
In the perpetual twilight of another realm, a lone figure stands perched atop the balcony of an elaborate palace. This belonged to the Royal family of his kind. He looked out into the distance, watching the dancing particles of darkness, forever falling into nothingness. He wore a look of anger and cold, pure, hatred on his face. His yellowy eyes glowed, fiercely. Dark thoughts consumed his mind.
This was not fair. Why did Midna do this? The true ruler of the Twili, Zant, had been killed by her hand. He needed redemption. He needed vengeance for his fallen king. His name was Lanim, and he was the sole Twili who pledged allegiance to Zant.
All the rest hated the usurper. Not Lanim, though. He truly believed that Zant was the true ruler of the Twilight Realm. He was plotting vengeance, but sorely needed allies. He had no one on his side. He thought for a long while. He then had a thought.
Midna was the most powerful of all the Twili. The Twilight Princess would surely be a great source of power. She would not aid his cause, though. Not willingly, anyway.
If he could somehow manipulate her power, then he might stand a chance. Her help would also help revive Ganondorf. Zant worshipped Ganondorf, which meant, so did Lanim.
He would not find any allies in this world, so he needed Midna to get him to another. There, he could find many who would follow him, and he could use Midna's power to revive Ganondorf there, and bring him, not only back to the Twilight Realm, but the Light World as well. He could aid Ganondorf in finally capturing the land of Hyrule.
His plan now complete, it was time for him to put it into action. First off, he would need to somehow get Midna's power. To do that, he would need to gain her trust. Then, he would steal her power and warp himself to another world. His own power was quite weak, so he needed to gain her power.
Lanim's eyes glowed menacingly, and he turned back toward the door to enter the palace. The symbols on the door glowed fluorescent blue, and opened by some unseen force. He entered, letting the door close behind him, the glow fading once more.
He walked forward, and ascended a small flight of stairs. He continued through the winding halls until reaching the door to the throne room. As he approached the door, one of the guards standing there stopped him.
"Stop right there" he said in a bored, exasperated voice. "Have you an appointment to see the princess?" he asked, unenthusiastically. He was incredibly sick of giving the same speech over and over again. So many people wanted to see the princess, it was ridiculous.
"Let me through, I need to speak with Princess Midna. I have urgent news."
The guard sighed.
"No one is allowed to see the princess unless one submits a request through the Royal Request Service and writes a formal letter to be accepted or denied by the princess herself."
"Listen to me! I have news that the princess must know, now! Let me in!"
The guard rested his forehead on his right hand and gave an exasperated sigh.
"Look man, I'm tired. My shift is almost done, and I want to go home. I've heard all the excuses, and yours is the oldest in the book. Without a request, you can't see the princess. Don't make this any harder on you, or me, and just turn around and leave."
"You incompetent fool! This is news of great concern to the princess! She must know this, or her safety will be in danger! Now, do your job, and let me in!"
The guard saw how persistent Lanim was, but he held firm.
"My job is to keep unwanted and unexpected guests from getting to the princess. I am doing my job, and doing it well. Now, take your lame excuse and get the hell out of here!"
Lanim was furious, but could see no way of getting past the guards. He turned away in disgust and angrily stomped his way all the way down to the palace exit. He would have to think of some other way of getting to Midna.
Lanim approached the palace once more. He had come up with a brilliant plan to get into the palace. He thought so, anyway. He entered through the main entrance. There were no guards here because most of the palace was open to the rest of the Twili to freely enter at their own leisure.
He walked up to the throne room door. Thankfully the guard who had been there yesterday was not there today. He made like he was injured and stumbled toward the door. The guards took notice and approached him.
"What happened to you?" one of them asked.
"I... was... attacked! By a group of... rogue... youths" Lanim replied, panting in mock exhaustion.
"We must get you medical treatment."
"No! There's no time! They are planning an attack on the princess!"
"We can handle them, sir. They won't get past us."
Lanim grew irritated, but maintained his composure.
"You don't understand! They are planning to blast through the back wall using dark magic!"
"What? We must stop them! Stay here. We'll see to you later."
The two guards left, leaving the door to the throne room unguarded. Lanim smirked to himself. His plan worked perfectly. Convincing those youths to attack the palace made his plan seem like a real incident. It was precisely what he needed. All he needed to do now was save the princess from these youths in order to gain her trust.
He approached the door. It opened, and he entered. Midna was sitting on her throne, looking bored, until she saw Lanim.
"You're not supposed to be in here! Guards!"
She noticed that no one answered her call.
"What? Where are they?"
"Your majesty, you are in grave danger. Rogue youths are planning an attack on you! The guards went to stop them after I warned them. I fear they will not reach them in time."
"Nonsense. No one would attack me!"
As soon as she said it, the wall began to collapse. A large chunk of the wall began coming down, but Lanim leapt at her and pushed Midna out of the way. He jumped back, just as the wall hit the ground.
The three youths entered and rushed the princess.
"Bring her down! Bring down the usurper!" they cried.
Lanim stepped in front of the princess.
"She is no usurper, you fools! She is the rightful princess to the Twili and I will not let you harm her!"
Lanim almost cringed as he spoke those words. He almost couldn't bear to defend the one he hated so much. But he had to, to win her trust.
"What?" asked the lead youth. "But, you're the one who told us-"
"Lies!" Lanim cried. "You attacked me, and began this rampage for nothing! I will stop you!"
He leapt forward, and threw a vicious kick to the lead youth's stomach. He went flying into the wall, and was knocked unconscious. The other two immediately raised their hands in surrender.
The guards arrived at the broken down wall. What they saw stunned them. They saw Lanim, who had injured himself intentionally to make it even more real, standing above the three youths. They were tied up, and closely watched by Lanim. He limped over to the guards.
"You saved the princess!" both guards said in unison.
"It was only my duty" he said, feigning modesty.
"You are a Twili hero!"
He smiled, but it was not because they had called him a hero. It was because his plan had worked perfectly. He would soon have the princess's power at his disposal. He looked toward Midna, who gave him a warm smile.
"Thank you, sir. I owe you my life. What is your name?"
"Lanim, your highness."
"Very good, Lanim. You are now, as of this moment, a Twili Knight. And I will bestow upon you the highest honor. You will serve as my personal guard."
Lanim smiled, but he hid the evil it contained. She was playing right into his hand.
"Thank you, your highness. I will serve you well."
A few weeks later, after the wall had been repaired, Midna sat on her throne once more. Lanim stood at her side, garbed in Royal Twili armour. Midna sighed, deeply. Lanim decided to feign concern.
"What's wrong, your majesty?"
"I was just thinking of someone. From the Light World. I miss him terribly."
"Who, your highness?" he asked, trying to hide his rage at her mentioning the accursed light dwellers.
"His name is Link. We know him as the Divine Beast."
Lanim growled under his breath. How he hated the Divine Beast for what he did to Zant. He would pay, too.
"I wish I could see him again, just one more time. I love him. I almost told him, before I destroyed the mirror, but stopped at the last second. I wish I had told him. But then, he'd have to live with the knowledge that I would never see him again, and would sit here in pain. He'd feel terrible. It's better that I didn't tell him."
Lanim was growing irritated with all this nonsense. He turned to her and said
"Princess Midna, would you come with me for a moment? I've something to show you."
"What is it?"
"It's a new spell I've been working on. It's something that may be able to open portals to other worlds."
Midna's eyes widened in excitement.
"Really? You mean, like the mirror?"
"Precisely, your highness. All I need is your powerful magic to help open it."
Lanim was pleased with Midna's eagerness.
"Of course, Lanim! I'll gladly do that for you!"
"Thank you, princess. Follow me."
As he turned, he smiled wickedly. This was just too easy. Everything was falling into place. He led her to his chamber. The door closed behind them as they entered, and he secretly locked it.
"Now, princess, I will bring forth this spell."
He began chanting strange words and raised his hands above his head. A small purple vortex opened above his head.
"All right, your highness, add your power to mine, and the portal will fully open."
She did as he said, and the vortex began growing in size. It grew steadily until it covered the entire ceiling.
Little did she realize that Lanim had also been stealing her power with this spell, adding it to his own. When the portal finally finished growing, Midna opened her eyes, and suddenly felt dizzy.
"Wow. That was tiring. It worked!" She said, excitedly. "Come on, Lanim, let's go to the Light World."
"Oh, you're not going anywhere, princess." Lanim's tone had turned dark and cold. "I am to use this portal. And, it does not go to the light world. It goes to another place. A place far in the future and in another dimension."
"You traitor!" she could sense his intentions through his voice. "Why would you go there?"
"To gather allies, and bring back the King of Evil."
Her look changed from anger to shock.
"Ganondorf?" Lanim nodded. "I won't let you!"
Midna tried to use her power to destroy Lanim, but realized that she couldn't. Her power was now very weak.
"Oh, I forgot to mention, I stole your power while you opened this portal. My power is now limitless! Goodbye, Midna. When I return, your false reign shall end. You and the rest of your foolish followers are doomed!"
With that, Lanim leapt up into the portal and vanished. In the blink of an eye, the portal disappeared as well. Midna stood there, stunned. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Now there were three worlds in danger, and she could do nothing about it.
Her power was gone, and she had no way of contacting Link. She also had no way of pursuing Lanim, and had no way to stop him, even if she could. She sat in silence, and tried to think. It was happening again. Evil was afoot once more.