Wow. This chapter took a while. It was really hard to write! Thanks so much to all the reviewers. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It focuses on group 1- Bowser, Ganondorf, Snake, Ike, Marth and Sonic, who are all hunting down evil Link. Enjoy :)
Something cold and sharp was pressing gently into his throat, Ike noticed, as the ringing in his ears subsided and the confusion fled his mind. Opening his eyes, he noticed that it was still dark in the forest, and that the shadowy outlines of the trees were still scattered around him. There was a soft chuckle from somewhere beside the knight, dragging him from his thoughts.
"Hello." Link leaned towards Ike, his cold breath tickling the knight's ear as he spoke. Ike squirmed, uncomfortable with the closeness.
"Get away from me," he mumbled, weakness preventing him from putting any force behind the statement. Link pulled back, grinning, but did not move the Master Sword from where he held it: at Ike's neck.
"I apologise for frightening you. I should have remembered that you are easily unnerved."
"I'm not afraid of you-" Ike was cut off as the Master Sword was pressed more firmly against his throat. He gasped as it sliced through the skin, warm blood soon trickling from it's edge and soaking his collar.
"Idiot," Link hissed viciously. "I could kill you so easily..."
As if to prove his point, he increased the pressure. Ike grunted, forcing back a cry. "Death...doesn't scare me..." he managed to choke out.
"You know what makes me sick about you? You're so damn arrogant! All of you, feigning bravery when your lives are on the line. Everybody fears death!"
"You're...just annoyed that...I'm not...scared of you..."
"Pathetic, arrogant, idiot! You are nothing compared to me, or the one who brought about my existence. His knowledge, his power...he is a deity to you!" Link snapped, his tone dripping with malice and hatred. "I can hardly believe that you think you can win the battle against the code."
"I don't suppose...you would care...to tell me who...your creator is?" Ike struggled, persevering against the pain and terror that tried to creep into his voice.
"Even if I told you, you would not live long enough to see him. You will not," Link growled.
Ike could sense the tension in the possessed hero's body. Link was about to finish him. Gathering his wits, he harnessed the adrenaline surging through his veins, and readied himself for a final strike. Link moved forward to press his body weight against the sword, which would enable it to severe through Ike's neck. But as soon as this happened, Ike suddenly grabbed the blade, shoving it away from him, whilst sending a powerful double-legged kick into Link's stomach.
The hero toppled back, doubling over. At this point, the knight scrambled quickly to his feet, unsheathing his own sword. Ragnell's golden blade glinted in the moonlight as Ike advanced towards the vulnerable hero, right hand around the hilt, left hand rubbing the cut on his throat. "That's it. I thought there might be a part of the Link I used to know in you, but there clearly isn't. There are no more second chances, now."
Link glanced up from where he knelt on the soft soil, meeting Ike's gaze with an odd look. The most noticeable aspect of it, was that it held no self pity, or worry. "No more second chances indeed. For you," he spat, eyes narrowing.
Ike gasped again, as the tracker strapped to his right wrist started to crackle with green bolts of electricity, sending a sharp, scalding pain through his arm. His left hand jerked towards it, prising it away and tossing it to the ground. It exploded at his feet in a flash of white hot flames, sending pieces of shrapnel shooting about the place, some of which buried themselves into his skin. In amongst the confusion, Ike noticed that he had dropped his sword. It lay on the soil a couple of metres away. Had he thrown it? The pain must have blinded him from his own actions.
-oOo-
Marth grunted at the sound of the explosion, shifting position slightly. His consciousness was returning, allowing his eyelids to flutter open. He looked ahead wearily, only half aware of the two black shapes, not far ahead of him. It was Ike's agonised cry that shunted him back into reality.
Cursing, he jumped up, ignoring the dull throbbing in his head. One of the figures had to be Ike, and as he drew closer to the pair, he saw that his friend was the one on his knees, facing sideways on to him. The moonlight illuminated his face, revealing his clenched jaw and eyes, screwed shut in agony. The other shape was Link, half of his face visible in the darkness. Marth dashed forward, about to reach for his blade, when he noticed where Link's was.
It was protruding from Ike's back.
Horror hit him, stopping Marth in his tracks. He felt himself shaking as he saw Link wrench the sword from Ike's chest suddenly, stepping back. Instead of blood, a multicoloured aura flowed from the wound, rolling slowly down Ike's front like mist. As this happened, the Triforce on Link's hand began to pulse with a haunting green light.
"No wonder I couldn't infect you," the hero muttered, approaching the knight once again and catching some of the aura with his free hand. "You've been protected this whole time."
There was no blood, perhaps Ike was still alive, Marth thought. The knight hadn't fallen yet, maybe it wasn't too late to save him...
"Oh well," Link continued, raising his Triforce hand. Ike squinted at the unbearably bright light, too weak to raise his arms and block it. "That power is no longer there to protect you..."
-oOo-
Marth dashed out from behind the undergrowth, unsheathing Falchion and leaping at Link. Mildly surprised, the hero pivoted swiftly on his heel to parry the attack as he sensed Marth's aura come close. The blades clashed, but Marth speedily withdrew the Falchion and let loose a flurry of blindingly fast slashes. Each one was met with the Master Sword's blade, every crash adding to Marth's fury.
"(Why won't you just...die?)" he roared, swinging the Falchion will all his strength into Link's defence, which easily held out. Wordlessly replying with a smirk, Marth's opponent continued to block the attacks with unnatural speed. The knight's stamina was slowly draining, and his concern for Ike was throwing his concentration. Link worsened his anxiety when he finally spoke.
"(Your friend is losing blood now,)" he said in Marth's own language. "(It is only a matter of minutes...)"
A wave of sorrow washed over the knight, filling him with uncertainty. The distraction technique had proved effective, Link noticed, as he saw Marth flinch, lowering his guard slightly. It was only for half a second, but half a second was all he needed. He drew his elbow back, before slamming it into Marth's unprotected temple.
Falchion slipped from the Altean's grasp as he fell sideways, unconscious.
"Marth..." Ike's last word forced it's way through his dry throat as he saw the prince go down. His outstretched hand then dropped to the soil and his body slumped.
Link glanced down at the prince who lay at his feet, before turning and heading back over to the lifeless Ike. The virus was about to claim it's first victim of the night.
-oOo-
The group of four sprinted through the trees towards the glowing Triforce symbol. It was several metres away, and hung in the air, filling the surrounding area with it's corrupted light. Trapped in the middle was Ike; remaining motionless as virus seeped through the glowing triangle and into him.
Sonic arrived at the scene first, screeching to a halt in time to witness the triangle vanish, dropping Ike to the ground. Link lowered his hand, about to turn to Marth, when a new aura stirred his senses. He glanced to his right and noticed the blue hedgehog, who was soon accompanied by Ganondorf, Bowser and Snake.
"I'm afraid that you're late, if you were hoping to save your friend," he said, nodding in Ike's direction. "The other one is over there, if you wish to see to him. It doesn't mean anything to me. You will all be infected before the sun rises again, regardless."
There was a brief moment of hesitation, before Snake and Sonic dashed to Marth's side. Bowser and Ganondorf paced in front of them, forming a barrier between Link and the pair attending to Marth. Snake knelt down beside Marth, reaching for the small medical pack strapped to his belt. He found a bottle of painkillers and held them out to the re-awakening prince.
"Here," he whispered. Marth's bemused expression changed to one of recognition as he saw the tablets. He grabbed two from Snake's open palm, sitting up slightly and clumsily placing them in his mouth. "You'll have a headache after what that guy did to you."
"(What...happened?)"
"(From what I saw, Link hit you pretty hard over the head. Knocked you out,)" Snake replied fluently; his job required that he knew a wide variety of languages.
"(Oh yes, I remember...Link's against us. There's something else...Ike. He was here. Where is he?)"
The mercenary's expression turned to one of disgust. He grunted with discomfort.
"(Dead,)" Snake finally managed. "(And infected.)"
"(How...did that happen? If I was here, I should have saved him!)" Marth cried, body shaking with small sobs. He wrapped his arms tightly around his his knees, lowering his head to try and hide his tears. Falchion was left on the ground.
-oOo-
Snake reached across and grabbed the hilt of the thin sword. "(Hey,)" he said, in a tone that might have been mistaken as soft. The prince didn't respond. "(Don't you want to fight for him?)"
"(If he's infected, then he'll be fighting us.)" Marth said.
"(How about we go after Link, then. Avenge your friend's death.)"
"(Vengeance is never the way.)"
"(Yeah, but it feels pretty damn good. You'll feel better knowing that you've achieved something.)"
"(I don't want to fight any more. I'm sick of seeing people die!)"
"(Oh well. I'll let you think about it,)" Snake sighed, placing the Falchion on the ground, next to where the prince was sitting. He stood up, nodding to Sonic. The two smashers walked over to where Bowser and Ganondorf were, in front of Link.
"Ike will soon reawaken as a more powerful being, and with only four of you against the two of us, I doubt you will last long," stated the hero as they arrived.
"Don't you ever just shut the hell up?" Snake growled. "Instead of trying to intimate us, how about you just get on with it?"
"You will pay for your arrogance in blood, my friend," Link said quietly. "All of you."
"Not if we kill you first hero," Ganondorf replied, before he and the rest of the group dashed forward.
Yet another cliffhanger! Not a very thrilling one, but oh well. The next chapter will focus on a different group, but me being terrible at planning things out, I haven't decided which one yet. You can suggest a group in your review if you want. They're all mentioned in the last chapter if you need a reminder of who's in each group. Hope you liked this thing.
Until the next chapter: The Hunt, Part 3 (yet another creative title!)
