Chapter 4—A Son Scorned

After a long night, Link seemed to be acting like his usual self. Mario locked himself in the clinic to figure out what was put into Link's system with the blood sample that he got, with Luigi and Peach helping him out in any way that they could. Zelda had pulled an all-nighter staying up to watch over Link, so as soon as Link was up and about, she went into her room and slept for the entire morning and part of the afternoon.

Ganondorf decided that he wanted to do some training to help clear his head. As he made his way down the hallway toward the battle room, his usual emotionless expression soon turned into one of disdain. For some reason, the whole situation with Link was getting to him, and the fact that it was bothered him.

"He's my enemy," he grumbled to himself. "Why should I care what happens to him? I'd rather see him dead with his piece of the Triforce in my hands." He paused for a moment to punch the wall to his left, leaving an indentation where his fist landed. He sighed, then continued his way to the battle room. As soon as he opened the door, he scowled when he saw Fox standing at the controls. "Crap, looks like I have to wait." Fox's ears twitched when he heard Ganondorf speak to himself and he looked over his shoulder.

"Waiting to get some training in?" asked Fox curiously. Ganondorf scowled and nodded, walking fully into the room. Fox then looked out the window to watch Link go through one of the stages. "Link's doing Adventure Mode right now. It seems to be helping him take his mind off of things." Ganondorf nodded. "It's also giving me a chance to see if his performance has changed at all due to the incident with Spinne."

"How's he doing?" interrogated Ganondorf, standing next to Fox.

"He's getting ready to do the Hyrule stages," started Fox, "so he should be feeling right at home." Fox then looked at Ganondorf curiously. "Why do you care?" Ganondorf's face contorted a bit.

"I don't," huffed the Gerudo. "I just want to know when he'll be done so I can get in there." Fox knew better than to push issues further with people like Ganondorf. He just shrugged and watched Link start the Underground Maze. His eyes furrowed a bit once he paid closer attention to Link's movements.

"He's not going his usual route," noted Fox with concern. Ganondorf blinked and watched as well. "He's avoiding the ReDeads instead of taking them out like he usually does."

"Odd…" breathed Ganondorf. The two continued to watch Link as he delved deeper. Link had no problems fighting against his clones, nor did he have a problem with killing off Like-Like's and Octoroks. Things soon took a turn for the worse when he started going down a hallway with three ReDeads on it. He skidded to a halt and his eyes widened in horror once he spotted the three. He backed away from the ReDeads, which were slowly approaching him. Link felt himself back into a wall. While he had the option of jumping up onto the platforms and escaping, he was too struck with fear to do anything. As the ReDeads drew closer, he dropped his sword and shield, grabbed his head, and screamed loudly, falling to his knees and shutting his eyes tightly.

"Oh shit…Abort! Abort!" shouted Fox. Ganondorf didn't have to be told what to do: he immediately hit the Abort button as Fox started shouting. The two quickly opened the door and ran down the stairs to Link. Fox knelt down next to Link while Ganondorf knelt down in front of him. "Link!! What happened?? What's wrong??"

"ReDeads…everywhere…" spoke Link shakily. His body was visibly trembling and his skin was sheet white. "Dozens of them…screaming…grabbing at me…ripping at my clothes…clawing at me…I couldn't move…" Fox noticed how tightly Link was holding his hair. He grabbed Link's right wrist.

"Link, you're going to pull your hair out if you keep doing that," mentioned Fox. Link quickly retracted his wrists, cringing a bit. Ganondorf narrowed his eyes a bit.

"What's wrong with your wrists?" he interrogated.

"They were bound…" choked Link. "I was tied to a pole…I couldn't move…I couldn't get away…" Link then hugged himself, still shaking with his head lowered, his bangs hiding his frightened eyes. Ganondorf studied Link for a moment.

Blink.

Ganondorf saw himself as a small child in the same position, hugging himself, shaking.

Blink.

Ganondorf was looking at Link again. He narrowed his eyes once more.

"Fox, go get Mewtwo," he ordered quietly. Fox blinked.

"You want me to go?" asked Fox. Ganondorf snapped his head in Fox's direction.

"Are you questioning me!?" roared the Gerudo. "Go! Now!" Fox quickly nodded and stood up, running out of the room. Ganondorf watched Fox go, then turned back to Link. After a few moments, he shut his eyes.

Flash.

He ran into the Gerudo Fortress, sobbing. He ran past the Gerudo guards, who merely stepped out of the way for him, not asking what the matter was with their prince. He eventually made it into the makeshift throne room of the fortress, where his surrogate mothers, Koume and Kotake, were sitting, chit-chatting with each other. He skittered up to them.

"Mama Koume!" he cried. "Mama Kotake!" The sisters looked at the small Ganondorf, who was no older than five-years-old.

"What is it, Ganny?" asked Kotake, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Ganondorf held up his scraped arm, sniffing.

"You're crying over that little thing??" yapped Koume. "You're the future King of the Gerudos! How would the others feel if they saw their future ruler crying over a small scrape like that!?"

"It hurts," whined Ganondorf.

"Stop your crying," ordered Kotake. "You must set an example for the others, and you must be strong. The Gerudos can't have a weak leader, now can they?" Ganondorf just sniffed and ran out of the room. He ran out into the hallway and hid behind some crates. He got down onto his knees and hugged himself, offering himself some comfort. He fought back from crying anymore tears and just stared at the ground, emotionless.

Flash.

Ganondorf opened his eyes and frowned at Link.

"No wonder this has been eating at me," he muttered to himself. "He's reminding me of myself when I was a child." He looked around to make sure absolutely no one was looking, then looked back at Link, gently placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. Link looked up at Ganondorf quickly, the sudden movement startling him. Ganondorf looked into Link's frightened eyes and could tell that Link, too, was fighting back tears, just like Ganondorf had all those years ago. The Gerudo then did the unexpected; he pulled Link into a comforting hug, like a father would to a son. "Let it out, Link. Nobody's watching."

"Why?" questioned Link, obviously confused. "Why are you doing this for me? I thought you…"

"I still don't like you," assured Ganondorf. "But the kind of pain and torture Spinne is putting you through is a low that even I wouldn't dare reach. I'm a tyrant, not a psychopath. Yes, I may try to kill you and Zelda when we're in Hyrule, but know that I would never…ever put you two or anybody else in Hyrule through something this disgusting." Ganondorf blinked when he felt Link cling to what he could of Ganondorf's clothing and armor and buried his face into the Gerudo's shoulder. He felt Link quiver in his arms and could hear him break down into loud sobs. Ganondorf sighed and closed his eyes, hugging Link a bit tighter, letting the boy know that he's not going anywhere. "I'm not going to let him get you…I promise." Ganondorf's attention quickly went to the set of footsteps he heard on the stairs coming down into the room. He tensed up once he saw Fox and Mewtwo, who had frozen in their spots to see the position Ganondorf and Link were in.

"Are you…comforting him?" breathed Fox, bewildered. Ganondorf scowled, looking back down at the sobbing Link. Fox walked over and knelt down next to the two, Mewtwo standing behind him. Fox smiled a bit. "Now I know why you sent me out of the room."

"Is Mewtwo going to read his mind or not?" interrupted Ganondorf. Mewtwo got on the other side of Link and placed a hand gently on his head. After a few moments, Ganondorf felt Link slowly go limp in his arms, falling asleep. It kept its hand on Link's head and looked at Fox and Ganondorf.

"You know what to do if you want to witness what happened," announced Mewtwo. The two nodded and placed their hands on Mewtwo's arm, closing their eyes and focusing on Link.

Flash.

Link was dragged into a large, circular room with a domed ceiling by a Spider Drone, another one following behind. The one holding Link slammed him into a pole back first and held him there while the other drone tightly bound Link's wrists behind the pole, then tightly tied another rope around Link's upper body to the pole. Link struggled the entire time, doing what he could to escape, but to no avail. The ropes were tied so tightly that they were cutting off some of the circulation in Link's arms. The drones, with their tasks completed, exited the room and shut the door behind them. Link looked ahead of him to see Spinne and Ubel through a window leading into a control room where they resided. Spinne turned on a microphone and spoke into it.

"I've been studying your history, Link," admitted the doctor. "You're quite the courageous young man. I'm not surprised, though, since you do hold the Triforce of Courage within you." Link simply glared at the man.

"I won't break!" protested Link. "I'll do all that's in my power to keep you from succeeding with your plan!" Spinne laughed, which sent chills down Link's spine.

"You've already been softened up already, even before you got here," explained Spinne. "And I know that you can't resist what's about to come up." Link heard a buzzer go off, then the lights went completely out. A bright light came back on directly above Link's head, letting Link see about ten feet in front of him. He gasped when he heard the familiar moaning of a ReDead. His eyes slowly widened as he heard more and more moaning. He knew there were at least five in the room, and they were getting louder. Soon, they started coming towards him, walking ever so slowly. Link could see them walking into the light. His eyes darted from left to right, scanning what he could see. Already he could see eight coming, and he heard the dragging feet of more coming from behind him and to his sides where he couldn't see. His skin turned sheet white as he saw double of what he already saw coming up behind the first row of ReDeads. As they got closer to Link, one after the other they let out paralyzing screams. Link felt his heart pounding quickly and his body shake.

"Oh Gods, they're everywhere…" said Link, barely able to speak with his shaky voice. They started getting closer and closer to him, their paralyzing screams continuing. The look of sheer horror filled Link's face as ReDeads started grabbing at him, ripping at his clothes on his upper body, trying to get at his flesh. Scratches started forming on Link's pale skin, and the ropes binding him started leaving rope burns and bruises where they touched his skin. "Stop!! Let go of me!! Leave me alone!!" Link completely forgot where he was; all that was on his mind was to get out of there before the ReDeads killed him. Link couldn't move at all; he was completely helpless, and he knew it. Tears started pouring down his cheeks as a couple of ReDeads completely latched onto him and were ready to bite down on his skin to suck the life out of him. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!"

"Yes!" exclaimed Spinne through the microphone. He pressed the Abort button and all of the lights turned back on, the ReDeads disappearing. Link felt his legs give out under him as he collapsed onto his knees, still tied to the pole. He lowered his head and broke down into uncontrollable tears. Through his sobs, he didn't hear Spinne open the door and enter the room, walking up to Link. He knelt down in front of the Hylian and cupped his hand underneath Link's chin, tilting his head up to look at the doctor. Spinne grinned wickedly when he saw how terrified Link was. "Yes…I knew you broke when you cried out for help. You're like putty in my hands now." He let go of Link's face to let Link's head drop down again. Link didn't even want to look at Spinne anymore. Spinne leaned to the side a bit to catch a glimpse of the back of Link's hand, where the Triforce of Courage gave off a weak glow, then faded. "You're not quite ready for me to use yet…once I get you to show more fear, then you will be ready." He then stood up and walked out of the room. Link just continued to sob.

"Please…somebody help me…" cried Link weakly.

Flash.

Fox and Ganondorf's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed simultaneously.

"That bastard…" growled Fox. "This guy makes even Andross look normal."

"We were correct in assuming that Spinne wanted to frighten Link for some reason," explained Mewtwo. "Link apparently knew what that reason was before dealing with the ReDeads."

"Were you able to figure out what it was?" inquired Fox.

"As I have said earlier," started Mewtwo, "I cannot see what Link cannot remember. If he can't remember what Spinne's ultimate plans are, then we have no way of knowing until he does, or until Spinne comes back for Link."

"He's not going to get Link back," vowed Ganondorf. He looked down at the ground, subconsciously pulling the sleeping Link closer to himself as if he were protecting a small child. "I'll personally make sure of that."

Thank you to Zelda Rockbell and bijoukaiba for leaving me reviews on my stories. I'm glad you guys are liking it so much! To the rest of you...please review! I'd like to know how I'm doing, especially if it's something that I can work on and correct in the future to improve my writing.