I hate late uploads . . .

Sorry guys. Went out of town for a while and wasn't able to write. But here ya go! The next chapter!

I hope you guys think this was worth the wait ;-;

Dislaimer: I, sadly, do not own any of the Zelda characters.

Red slowly opened his eyes . . . how did his eyes get closed?

He looked upwards a little without moving his head, only with his eyes, and his eyes widened.

Green tunic bottom . . .

Blue tunic bottom . . .

Violet tunic bottom . . .

"Blue! Green! Vio!" Red finally found a burst of energy as his head snapped upwards. He saw three familiar faces with their matching hats.

"Red, you brat!" Blue roared happily.

"Red! You're ok!" Green cried.

"Red!" Vio was grinning wider than any of the Links had ever seen.

The three Links piled onto Red and smothered him with hugs. Red gasped in pain and three Links backed up with concerned faces. Red smiled at them.

"Don't worry," He piped up. "It doesn't hurt that bad!" The Links smiled at their friends remark.

"You look bad," Blue observed. "What'd that dang shadow boy do to you?"

Red was silent for a while, until he finally answered. "Nothing . . . It would only make you more worried."

"I don't doubt that," Vio nodded to Red. "I think you should just keep it a secret." Red smiled and nodded.

"Now, all we have to do is get you out of here," Green sighed and started to search for the keys. He stopped in his tracks when he heard Red gasp. "Red?" Green asked as he looked at his counterparts, who were also staring at the doorway. Green slowly turned to meet their gaze, and also gasped when he saw Shadow standing at the doorway.

"So," Shadow sneered. "The heroes tricked me? How did I not see this coming?"

"Shadow," Blue growled.

"That's my name, don't wear it out," Shadow snapped towards Blue. Blue sheathed his sword.

"What will it take for you to free Red?" Blue roared. Shadow leaned against the door frame.

"Well," Shadow thought for a while, until he smirked evilly. "Since you don't want the dark side, one of you will have to . . . duel me. And if you win, all of you, including your little friend, will be freed. But, if you lose, you will all be here, with me, for the rest of your pretty little lives."

The Links looked at each other in worry, until Vio narrowed his eyes confidently and looked towards Shadow. This was stupid . . . stupid . . . stupid . . . but there was no other way. He took one step towards the evil shadow and stood straight, ignoring his counterparts gasps.

"I'll duel you, coward."

Shadow grinned with evil pleasure, his fangs shining. "It'll be fun killing you, flower boy," He snapped.

Blue clenched his fist around his sword so tightly that his knuckles became white.

"Then let us fight."

Shadow smirked at the blue Links anger and snapped his fingers. Instantly, the chains around Vio's wrists dissolved, making Green and Blue chained together. Vio looked at his wrists, which were now red from the chains, and then back up at Shadow. He sneered and narrowed his eyes.

Shadow laughed and snapped his fingers again. Immediately, their surroundings changed from a prison to a duel arena. Red, Blue and Green were still locked up inside a prison nearby, while Vio and Shadow stood in the middle of the arena.

Vio and Shadow circled around the arena slowly. Vio tried his best not to be stupid and waited for Shadow to make his move.

"What's the matter, flower boy?" Shadow teased. "Are you afraid to fight me?"

"Stop calling me that!" Vio snapped angrily.

"What about cucco?" Shadow laughed. "Would you rather I call you cucco?"

"Shut up!" Vio sneered, finally becoming fed up with Shadow. Vio lunged towards the shadow with a large cry, only to hit air. Vio looked behind him and gasped when a sword tip slashed his arm. He gripped his arm, sword still in hand and glared at the shadow, ignoring his clone's worried cries.

Shadow laughed and crossed his arms.

"Hmm," Shadow smirked. "Flower boy it is, then." Immediately after Shadow finished his sentence, he swung his sword towards Vio. Vio gasped and raised his shield, stumbling back at the weight of the sword. When he snapped out of his shock of the blow, he lowered his shield and slashed at the shadow. Shadow blocked Vio's sword with his own.

Vio became more and more angry each time the sound of Shadow's menacing laughter reached his ears. How could he be laughing . . .?

Vio shook his head and bashed his shield forward in the hopes of stunning the shadow for a long enough period of time. Unfortunately for Vio, he hit mid-air again. Before he could lower his shield to see what was in front of him, the air got knocked straight out of his chest as he fell to the ground.

Shadow laughed and kicked Vio's shield of out his reach.

"Giving up already, flower boy?" Shadow asked mockingly.

"Not even close," Vio growled, slashing his sword at the shadow's feet. Shadow hopped back and easily dodged the attack.

Vio scrambled to his feet and hardly had time to blink before Shadow's sword came lashing out in front of him. Vio gasped and raised his shield arm, only to realize his shield had been knocked away. Vio cried out in pain as Shadow's sword lashed into his arm. He looked at the gash in his arm for a moment before shouting out a battle cry, preforming a jump attack upon the shadow.

Shadow laughed and jumped above Vio, landing on the opposite side. Vio gasped in surprise at the height of Shadow's jump and turned around, just in time to block Shadow's attack with his own sword. The force of the blow and the fact that Vio was on one foot made Vio tumble backwards and onto his back. Vio clutched his chest as the wind got knocked out of him, but quickly recovered as he held up his sword, just blocking another blow.

Vio jumped to his feet and lashed his sword at the shadow with all of his might. He hadn't hit Shadow once yet, and he was already becoming weak!

Shadow continuously blocked Vio's attacks with his sword, until he finally got bored and kicked Vio in the stomach. Vio gasped and stumbled backwards as the wind got knocked out of him, and when he looked up he was too late to dodge the sword that lashed across his stomach.

Vio cried out in pain and clutched his stomach. He had no time to block the next attack, as Shadow slashed Vio's chest. Vio gasped and lifted the arm that was once on his stomach, only to see his arm full of blood from the gash. Vio hung his head for a moment before lashing his sword in front of him towards the shadow. Vio looked up and realized Shadow was not there, and gasped in pain and surprise as the stinging sensation of Shadow's sword reached his back.

Vio stumbled forward and sucked air through his clenched teeth. He could hardly hear the concerned cries of his clones; everything was focused on fighting. Fighting, and surviving. Vio turned around and lashed out his sword, only to see Shadow on the other side of the arena.

"Come back here, you coward!" Vio demanded, charging towards the shadow. He lashed his sword at the shadow, only to find in surprise that his sword went right through the shadow . . .

And it disappeared.

"What . . .?" Vio gasped in surprised. What . . . what was that?

Vio turned around and gasped when Shadow lashed out at Vio's cheek. Vio cried out in pain as the sword slashed his cheek, just barely missing his eye. Vio clenched his eyes shut painfully.

"Give up yet?" Shadow sneered.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Vio growled, opening his eyes slowly. He cried out and lashed at Shadow. Shadow laughed and dodged the sword easily, jumping to the side and slashing the Links back, forming a large and deep gash all the way down his back.

Vio cried out and stumbled forward, blood pouring from his wounds all around. Shadow sneered and kicked Vio's cut up back painfully hard.

Vio gasped and fell on his stomach, crying out as small pebbles and dirt found their way inside his chest and stomach wounds. He grasped the floor with his shaky hands and slowly got to his feet.

"Nah, it's fun torturing you," Shadow sneered, lashing his sword across Vio's stomach. Vio cried out and grasped his stomach. Before he could look up at Shadow again, Shadow had slashed his sword at Vio's sword hand, cutting it deeply . . .

And finally Vio had enough.

Vio felt his eyes slowly close. He lost his grip on the sword, dropping it and making a loud crash as the metal hit the stone floor. Finally, Vio felt his knees buckle and he fell to the ground. He fell on his stomach once more, his world becoming black.

Shadow laughed out loud and snapped his fingers, his form disappearing from the arena. But at the same time, the cage around the three Links dissolved, along with their chains.

The Links gasped at their freedom, but their attention immediately went towards the fallen Vio.

"Vio!" Red was the first one to cry out as he immediately jumped to his feet and ran full speed towards his fallen friend, the other hot on his trail. Red collapsed to his knees once he reached the violet Link. Red gently turned Vio so that he was laying on his back.

"Vio!" Blue roared, looking at the multiple gashes the shadow had formed on his friend's body.

Green lifted Vio slowly, bridle style, still on his knees, causing the Links head to hang over the green Links arm. "Vio?" Green whispered. "Vio . . ."

*Le gasp* I used the power of cliffhangers!

So, is Vio dead? What will happen to the Links? And mostly, will Vio be OK?

Well stay tuned for the next chapter and all those questions will (hopefully) be answered! Have a nice day, children.