Wow, I need a better upload schedule lol. I'm sorry this took so very long, folks, but I've come with a new world. This is the first world of several that isn't in Smash. I've always loved the Prince of Persia series and I feel like the Prince will bring a lot to the table in this battle.
Next up, a world that is more down to Earth and has a very maternal atmosphere.
Chapter 12: The Sands of Time
Link and Ganondorf found themselves the middle of the desert. It was sweltering, but they found themselves next to a large, cool river. They began to cool themselves off in the water, and felt quite refreshed. They realized they stood in front of a great city of the desert made of thick stone. In the center stood a tower many hundreds of feet tall and appeared to yet still be in construction. Surrounding that was what appeared to be a bustling city, and surrounding that was a massive stone wall. Link and Ganondorf, however, began to feel uneasy. If this was such a lively city, where were the people? Where was the smell of the market? Where the humdrum of people going about their lives? Where were the villagers coming to the river for water? It was increasingly eerie without all those telltale signs of life. It was almost as if the city had had all of its inhabitants stolen, or worse, killed. Right when they were about to discuss with each other that tingling feeling, they saw a boat. On it, two beings of clear royalty sat. A prince, garbed in merely shorts, stood proud and able bodied. He exuded masculinity and power; his eyes looking longingly at the city as if it was his home. The empress was dressed in a pure white gown and sat silently and appeared to be warning the prince about something. The prince was clearly having nothing to do with that argument and continued to stare at the city silently. Link and Ganondorf were about to yell at them when the city's guards appeared to open fire. Fiery catapults launched their payloads against the boat, and within moments, the boat was destroyed and its inhabitants were floating unconscious in the water. Without thinking, Link dove in the water, and Ganondorf was not far behind; after all, if he was going to try this hero thing, he might as well go the whole way. The boat was a quite a ways downstream, far closer to the main entrance to the city. That was why the horrible beast-man that appeared to be made of sand reached the empress first. He had a terrible horned mask on, used a large dagger, and was heavily armored. Link and Ganondorf were able to recover the princess and brought him back to relative safety where they might not be seen by those inside the walls. It took a while, but the prince was finally revived, sputtering and coughing.
"W-who are you? Why did Babylon fire on my ship?" the man sputtered and tried to get up.
"I'm Link, this is Ganondorf. As for the city that you call Babylon, I don't know why they launched their attack on you; we had just arrived here on a long journey. Are you an enemy of this state?" Link asked.
"No… no. I'm استاد زمان, the prince of this city. My father rules here. I'm… I'm the Prince of Persia." the Prince said.
"Seems like they don't accept you as royalty, Prince," Ganondorf noted.
"I'm sorry Prince, but the girl that was with you was taken by the monsters of the city," Link worried.
"The Empress? Oh no… it didn't seem to be made of sand, did it?" the Prince asked.
"Yes, they did. Man if I had those guys in my army…" Ganondorf mused.
"No no no! It's happening all over again. The Empress warned me about this when I took her from the Isle of Time." the Prince fretted.
The Prince got up and ran towards the city. He scaled the walls with seemingly flawless grace. Link and Ganondorf looked at each, hesitated a moment, then ran after the Prince. They too climbed the walls and followed the sound of the Prince's footsteps across rooftops and down back alleys. It was clear they were going to through secret ways that only someone who had lived here their entire life would know. When they finally caught up to him, he was glaring at a dagger in a building.
"Why is it every time I'm in one of these situations I find myself without a proper blade?" the Prince grumbled as he picked up the dagger. The Prince once again ran away and Link and Ganondorf quickly followed him. This time, they were close enough to the Prince to properly see him in action this time. He moved silently, and he snuck up on the sand monsters with incredible skill, dispatching them with his dagger in only one or two stabs. They seemed to be heading towards a palace just on the outskirts of the giant tower. They managed to catch up with the Prince just before a major courtyard. They tried to speak with them, but with great horror in his eyes, he told Link and Ganondorf to silence themselves and look into the courtyard. There stood a supremely old man with an evil glint in his eyes that Link didn't like and Ganondorf knew too well. Chained up was the princess from earlier and she was struggling extremely hard.
"Empress of Time… how much I've longed to meet you. I assume you've heard of me?" the wizened old man chuckled.
"I've heard of you, Vizier. You, who have caused horrible destruction over all the countries of this Earth. Release me: you know not the powers you tamper with," The Empress of Time spoke calmly.
"No, no, you see Empress, with this dagger, I'll be able to finally achieve immortality by killing you and releasing the Sands of Time, as I'm sure you are aware," The Vizier explained.
"You have no idea, Vizier. You stand in the city of my chosen warrior, and if you slaughter me, he'll only defeat you and reseal away the Sands of Time," the Empress warned.
But it was here that the Vizier had seemed to lose patience and he rushed forward and stabbed the Princess of Time with his ornamental dagger. The Empress let out a shriek that only said how much pain she was in. Her body disintegrated into sands before their eyes and a great wave of powerful energy burst forth. Link and Ganondorf dove behind walls, and the Vizier underwent a terrifying transformation. He grew massive wings, became extremely muscular, and seemed to lose decades in mere moments. The Vizier had become a god. His soldiers behind them took on strong blasts of wind too and became infected with the power of the Sands of Time too. They were now much more fearsome and horrible than they were before. The Prince, in intense shock, ran forward with his own dagger to try to attack the Vizier, but the Sands blew him back too. A chain from one the sand monsters attacked the Prince and dug the chain into his arm. The Vizier never even acknowledged the Prince's existence. He merely waved his hand, and a burst of powerful wind carried the Prince off into a collapsing part of the road that lead to a deep underground cave. Link, seeing the ceremonial dagger on the floor and immediately noticing its power, grabbed it. Ganondorf and Link ran towards the Prince and climbed underground many meters to reach him.
Chapter 13: The Tunnels
Link and Ganondorf found the Prince at the bottom of the pit, grievously injured. Link somehow knew that his normal medicine would not work on this human. Nevertheless, the Prince was losing blood fast, especially from the chain in his arm. They both knew it was this Prince here that they had come to rescue and recruit to their cause. But how could they if he was about to die? Much to Link's surprise, Ganondorf grabbed a nearby flower growing in the dry sands and chewed it up. Taking a new paste, Ganondorf placed it onto the wounds of the Prince. Astonishingly, the wounds healed almost instantly and color began to rush back into the Prince's face.
"In the Gerudo Desert, the medicine Hylians know are hard to come by. We used the plants of the desert, and every Gerudo is raised from birth to recognize each of their properties. Now, the flower I chewed up appeared to be a very close relative to the Gerudo Dragonflower. Mixed with Gerudo saliva, it can rapidly regrow skin and replace blood. I'm not as good as the elders of my race, but I know enough to get the Prince back to health," Ganondorf explained.
Link didn't have much time to be startled by this side of Ganondorf that had never been revealed, because the Prince sputtered to life. He looked utterly shocked to be in this whole with the same two strangers who saved him before.
"I guess we should introduce ourselves, Prince, I'm Link and this is Ganondorf, we hail from the kingdom of Hyrule, and… " Link started.
And with that, Link dove into a full blown explanation. He told him about the origin of all worlds, the destruction of their worlds, and of Tabuu's ambitions. The Prince seemed incredibly skeptical throughout, searching both of their faces for any hints of lying. Apparently, they passed the Prince's test, because when Link had finished his story about half an hour later, the Prince nodded once and spoke:
"Well, Link, Ganondorf, I'd like to welcome you to Babylon, the capital of Persia, where my forefathers ruled for centuries and I am the first born son of mine father, next in line for the throne. But as you can see, all is not right, " The Prince said sadly.
"Who's the Vizier?" Ganondorf grunted.
"He's a crooked man who wishes to become a god; no, became a god. That woman you saw was the Empress of Time. Within her, the very Sands of Time were kept. By sacrificing her with the dagger you hold Link, he was able to rend the Sands from her body. Blessed with this power, he became a god. The Vizier wishes for nothing less than world domination, and now he might get it because of my foolish actions. In my voyages, I rewinded time to save the Empress and brought her here despite her warnings that I should not... I would love to join you Link and Ganondorf in your fight against this Tabuu, but my people are suffering at the hands of the Vizier, I cannot let him to destroy Babylon," the Prince choked.
"Then I guess we'll just have to help you beat the Vizier, Prince" Link smiled.
The Prince looked at Link, and got the sense he had done this evil god thing before, and the Prince wondered who Link had defeated. Ganondorf also seemed quite strong to the Prince and exuded a power he could not comprehend. Seeing this, the Prince decided that the best choice was to allow them to help him save Babylon. He began to explain to him the plans he had to destroy the Vizier and was about five minutes in before a massive stone chunk fell from the sky, killing Link and Ganondorf instantly. The Prince, however, didn't seem so startled. He picked up the dagger from Link's lifeless body and pressed his thumb to the bottom. This dagger had the power of the Sands of Time and the Prince watched calmly as he watched time in reverse and saw the life rush back into Link and Ganondorf and the chunk of rock rose back up to its place. The Prince let go of the button and shoved Link and Ganondorf from the spot. Link and Ganondorf seemed startled, like they somehow knew they were nearly dead.
"How did you know that rock was about to fall?" Ganondorf observed.
"Because I have witnessed a future where it killed you. This dagger can control time and I merely rewinded before the rock fell and pushed you out of the way. From here on, if I tell you to do something, it's probably best you do, since I have likely seen the future that will occur if you do not. Now, let's move on," the Prince said.
And so Link, Ganondorf, and the Prince walked through the great tunnels under Babylon. They encountered very few monsters, and those that did were quickly wiped out by the trio. It soon became clear that it was an irrigation channel for the city, bringing water into the city for all sorts of uses. Link took note, he knew Zelda would want to hear how this was done the moment they saved Hyrule. It was often pitch dark, and it was only through the Prince's abnormally good knowledge of the upper city that kept them from getting lost. The ground finally began to slope up and a great gushing river of water was rushing past them from some great water source it seemed.
The three finally found the exit and blinked the harsh desert sun out of their eyes. They were standing in a massive pool of water in the middle of the city. They were a short distance from the giant tower from earlier, but it was not a far distance. The three snuck into an abandoned house.
"The Vizier will likely have set himself up at the top of that tower. It's the tallest point in the city, and thus best protected. Unfortunately, even if we made it up the tower, the Vizier is too powerful. There are now Sand Portals that use the power from his own army to improve his power. We'll have to destroy those, and fast. Any moment we waste is another civilian in danger," The Prince remarked.
Link and Ganondorf nodded their understandings and they stepped out of the house with the Prince. It was in the brief moment of the blinding sun that they were ambushed by the sand monsters. Link had his sword wrenched out of his hands, Ganondorf was heavily stunned, and the Prince lacked the range with his dagger to attack the group of monsters. What a way it was to end this adventure, except it wasn't the end. Arrows sprouted from each of the monsters and a fierce woman stood on a nearby rooftop. The Prince looked up, with his eyes wide with realization.
"F-Farah?!" the Prince stammer.
"I don't know how you know my name, stranger, but you ought to be more careful. If I wasn't walking by on my way to destroy the Vizier, you'd be dead," Farah scolded.
"But Farah, don't you remember me! I'm the Prince of Persia! We've gone on adventures together!" The Prince replied indignantly.
"I'm sorry, but I've never seen you before, and if you're the Prince of this place, then you ought to be fleeing. Babylon has fallen," Farah yelled as she ran off.
"You know her?" Link said after a while.
"I-I did. When I rewinded time to save the Empress, I must have erased our journey together," the Prince explained sadly.
"One thing I've learned from time travel, Prince: fate has a nasty habit of repeating of what ought to have happened," Ganondorf noted gruffly.
The Prince wiped tears from his eyes, then nodded once. He looked at his dagger, and it seemed to tell him something, and he ran off. When Link and Ganondorf had finally caught up, they saw the Prince in intense combat with half a dozen sand monsters armed only with his dagger. Fire danced in his eyes, and Link and Ganondorf were rendered dumbstruck for a few minutes before they thought to join in the battle. Between the three of the them, the sand monsters were wiped out in mere moments. There was a particularly memorable moment that the Prince would one day regale his own children with where Ganondorf picked up a sand monster, Link stabbed it repeatedly, and the Prince thrust his dagger into its heart to take its sand. When the monsters were cleared, the Prince stabbed a hole in the ground surrounded by ornate markings. A massive blast of sand came out of the hole, and Link and Ganondorf barely weren't thrown back by the force of it. The Prince pulled his dagger out after a few minutes and seemed satisfied.
"There's one Sand Portal," the Prince muttered to himself.
"How many more are there?" Link asked.
"If my dagger is telling me the signs correctly, six more, and they're relatively nearby. It seemed the Vizier wanted to create a sand barrier of sorts," the Prince answered.
"Then let us be off. The sooner we destroy the Sand Portals, we can stop the Vizier and save your subjects. Then, you can join our cause," Ganondorf reasoned.
The other two nodded their assent. They ran off together, climbing up walls and buildings to find sand monsters and Sand Portals. Sand monsters posed no threat it seemed, as they worked in perfect tandem to destroy any in their path, although they indeed saw few thanks to the Prince's knowledge of secret paths and stealth. It merely took them the morning to destroy all seven Sand Portals, which were impressive, considering that the circle in which they were assembled was about two miles in diameter. Finally, as the sun reached its highest point, they had destroyed the Vizier's protection. It was time for them to climb the tower.
Chapter 14: Master of Time
The trio had set out into the tower, but were met with a grim sight. There were bodies everywhere: men, women, even children. They were each wielding a weapon and were stuck in gruesome poses. The men were in the outer circle, and seemed the longest dead. The women were next, guarding their sons and daughters with smaller weapons. The children, many as young as weeks old, were strewn about the floor in the center. They seemed freshly mutilated, and their wounds seemed even more grisly than those given to the adults. The sand monsters seemed to leave them like this on purpose to taunt survivors who walked in here. You could almost see the older siblings standing in front of their younger brothers and sisters to take the deadly bite of death for them. Everyone heard the echoes of battle; the cries of the fallen, the screams of the wounded, the wails of babies. And in the midst of the children, who seemed to have been their last savior…
"F-father!" the Prince cried as he ran forward.
The dead King of Persia was stabbed with a horrible weapon, but that didn't defile him. He looked strong, proud. He looked sharpened, not worn with age. His wispy beard stood freshly trimmed, his armor was impeccably worn, and his sword was held in his hand, apparently he had died fighting. It seemed almost like time had stopped. The Prince had been hoping to find his father alive; they had fought just before the Prince left on his voyages. To see him lying here, dead because of the Prince's mistakes, slain in defending the innocent children of the kingdom, it was almost too much to bear for the Prince. He cried like he was a mere boy again, he remembered growing up with his father, he revisited those long walks through the palace grounds where his father taught him how to be a king, he heard those words the King of Persia told him so long ago: "The role of a king is not to rule, son. It is to be the face, the body that protects his people. A king that does not protect his people is no king at all. It would be better to die in battle protecting your people than to flee and allow your people to suffer without you." After an eternity, the Prince reached up, closed the King's eyes, and took the King's sword.
"Is this your king?" Ganondorf said when the Prince stood up.
"Yes, and he died valiantly protecting his people. It was the way he wanted to go. I'll just have to take his place and pray that I can be half the king he ever was. Good-bye father, I will destroy the man who killed you and slaughtered our people," the Prince responded bravely.
"I can tell he was a good man, too bad he could not join our cause. But we must be off Prince; Vizier is merely growing in power and we have no idea what Tabuu might be up to," Link warned.
They began to climb the tower, seeing endless floors. Each one seemed to be much newer than the last with an entirely different directions in the design.
"Each king commissions a new floor for this tower in honor of the last king. It's supposed to represent the growth of the kingdom over the ages. This floor was for my distant ancestor King Aldir the II, who led the kingdom after a period of disunion and brought us into a golden age. That's why this floor is so handsomely decorated and beautiful," the Prince explained.
And so they continued in this way. Each time they climbed a floor, they saw the history of Persia and the Prince's ancestors. He told them of each of the kings' rule and what they contributed to the kingdom. For all the talk of time, it seemed to them that for the first time, they really were traveling through history. The work and furniture of each floor became progressively newer and more sophisticated, and it seemed particularly endless after about 40 floors of kings. The Prince explained that before the invasion, these floors would be open to the public, and everyone would come to learn about the history of the kingdom and pray to those spirits from the respective eras. These halls would be filled with the mumbles of worshippers, the laughter of children, and the scratching of quills by scholars of history. This tower was the heart of Babylon, because it was the place that was a living monument to all that had happened. This whole discussion kept the company entertained, but almost melancholy because of the sight on the first floor and the eerie emptiness of the tower. On the floor of Queen Sheria the VI about fifty-nine floors up, they ran into Farah again.
"Farah! Please listen to me! You can't go up there!" the Prince pleaded.
"Look, Prince? I don't know what it is to you if I go up there or not. The Vizier killed my people, and I intend to kill him. Why do you care if I could be in trouble?" Farah mused.
"Farah, please… We met before, but I… I threw it away. I rewinded the events of our adventures to save the Empress of Time. I… care about you Farah. I've lost too many people today; I can't lose you Farah,"
"Farah? I've been helping the Prince, and he was hurt by our last meeting. He truly cares for you," Link offered.
"Considering the Vizier is a god, I guess that that story isn't too far fetched, but why should I believe you?" Farah countered.
"Because Farah, I know how much you cared for your people, and I know the responsibilities of royalty. If you must go up there, please let us go with you," the Prince pleaded.
The tower rumbled violently. Dust fell from the ceiling, and chunks of rock went all over the floor. In horror, the Prince watched as the archway they were standing under begin to collapse. He pressed the button on his dagger again, but instead of rewinding time, it slowed it down for the Prince. In a fraction of a second to the others, the Prince dove and pushed the other three out of the way, but found himself on the other side of the collapsed archway.
"As if this trip couldn't get more annoying," Ganondorf grumbled.
"Prince! Are you OK?," Farah asked.
"Fine, Farah. Thankfully, I have my father's sword," the Prince replied.
"How will that help?" Link questioned.
"It is a truly powerful sword passed down from king to prince, queen to princess. It shall shatter this debris in a second!" the Prince said confidently.
True enough, the wall of debris was shattered and the Prince stepped through looking more confident and strong than he had been all day. It was as if the shock and horror of the day, from the fall of his city to the death of his father, had been lost merely by meeting up with Farah and saving the others. Each nodding at each other, they understood perfectly. Their squad, only together, was the best hope of defeating the Vizier. They tore up the sides of tower, racing towards the slowly approaching top. But no longer were their hearts filled with dread of battles yet to come. It was filled with exhilaration, hope even, for a future they could find happiness in. It took another hour to finally climb all the floors and they stood at the top of the tower.
The sun was setting over the river and the city looked like it was ablaze by the reflecting sunlight. There was a beautiful outside courtyard surrounded by ornate columns. The Vizier was flying with his wings in the center, overlooking the setting sun and seeing his new domain.
"So, Prince? You've come to try to defeat me again? And you have friends this time. I see Farah, lovely. Too bad she doesn't remember our little adventures, hehehe. But I don't recognize the other two. Who's the green runt and the desert wanderer?" the Vizier said without turning around.
"These are my companions, and they have helped me in reaching you. They come from other worlds and together, we will defeat you! You'll come to fear their names!" The Prince screamed.
"I am Link, the legendary Hero of Hyrule reborn. With my trusty holy blade at my side, my strength has sealed away the darkness in countless ages. You will be the next villain to feel my Master Sword!" Link declared raising his sword skyward.
"And I am Ganondorf, the King of Evil. I plagued the land of Hyrule for endless eras. With the power of the gods in the palm of my hand, I have done more than you ever could. You aren't even worthy of being my minion!" Ganondorf chuckled.
"Bold words before a god. Perhaps I should teach you a lesson!" the Vizier laughed.
"Bold words, but nevertheless true. You will feel pain for what you did to our kingdoms, Vizier," Farah calmly explaining, unslinging her bow and taking aim.
The Vizier narrowed his eyes and fired spines out of his body at everyone. The Prince pressed the button on his dagger and this time the dagger sent out a blast of sand to blow these away. The Vizier countered by breaking off pieces of the columns with telekinesis and throwing rocks at the group. Ganondorf summoned his dual blades of light and struck them with extreme speed. Farah and Link both fired volley after volley of arrows at the Vizier and it was clear they were doing some real damage.
"I guess I need to try harder. Maybe I'll just start this battle over and defeat you!" the Vizier screamed with lightning in his eyes.
"Not so fast. You may hold the Sands of Time in your body, but my dagger is the true master of the Sands. That's right, the Dagger of Time. Your time powers won't work in a battle against me! With this in my hands, I am the true Master of Time. Surrender Vizier!" the Prince demanded.
The Vizier looked furious and dove at them with sharp claws, but Ganondorf stood in front of the group and laughed. His thrust out his fist and the Triforce mark glowed.
"Vizier, you're not the only one with a more powerful form," Ganondorf smiled.
Ganondorf grew many times in size. Massive golden blades appeared in his hands. His feet became hooves, and his face grew massive tusks. His face became that of a pig's. His muscles rippled with horrifying power. Ganondorf had become Ganon. Ganon merely deflected the claws with his tusks and delivered a deep blow to the Vizier's wings. The Vizier could no longer fly.
"You call yourself a god, Vizier? You're weak, you don't understand power. You have to work for it, all you did was kill a girl," Ganon berated the Vizier.
Link and Farah kept firing more arrows, and the Vizier now looked rather like a porcupine. The Vizier's face kept looking more and more furious that he was hurt so much by these four. But to the Vizier, it looked more and more grim. The Prince was blocking his most powerful moves, Link and Farah were drawing blood with every shot, and Ganon would block and counter any hint.
"Give up, Vizier? Merely release the Sands and I'll let you live in exile on some island somewhere," the Prince said.
"N-never! Prince, I can still win!" the Vizier screamed violently.
The Prince smirked. He had expected this. It was clear that only killing the Vizier would work.
"Ganon, pin him down. Link and Farah, hold your fire. Vizier, I pledged to give you mercy. And I shall. I shall send you to your maker, with the Dagger of Time and restore the Sands to its master," the Prince whispered.
The others did as they were told. All was silent except the Vizier's struggling against the strength of Ganon. It was almost pitiful. To those who were there, they would swear that it was as if the world was holding its breath for the Vizier's death. The Prince walked slowly up and looked into the eyes of the Vizier. Only Farah saw it, but in the corner, she swear she saw a figure, a figure that seemed to be royalty looking upon the Prince. It is from my sources that I believe that the King remained on the earth just to watch over his son and pass on his legacy. I imagine he was at peace here.
The Prince finished staring into the eyes of the man who did so much destruction, and in a sharp motion, drove the Dagger of Time straight into the Vizier's heart. The Vizier screamed only once, then another blast of sand came out of him and Farah was blasted away into a nearby door, upon which the doorway was blocked by collapsing stone. There was no way to get to her quickly. The Vizier's body disintegrated and the sun finally set. The three men caught their breath, getting ready to free Farah. But it was too late: Tabuu had come for this world. A void appeared in the darkness and Link and Ganondorf knew that Farah was lost. The Prince seemed to realize this too, and grew agitated.
"Come, we must remove this rubble!" the Prince cried.
"Prince! We cannot help her! The void is right on top of us, we have only moments before we are destroyed by Tabuu's darkness!" Link exclaimed.
"Prince, go on without me. I see now you have a higher calling. Never fear for me. When you return, we shall swap our tales and we will celebrate!" Farah cried from the other side of the door.
"But-" the Prince started.
Ganondorf grabbed the Prince's hand and pointed up. Already it was mere feet away, and Ganondorf shook his head. The Prince understood.
"Fare- Farewell sweet Farah," the Prince wailed.
Link, Ganondorf, and the Prince held hands and left the world, hoping that they had done the right thing.