Dargon: Again, for the one hundreth time… THANKS TO EVERYONE! If you reviewed, THANKS TO Y'ALL! If you viewed, THANKS TO Y'ALL! Even if you are reading these words. These words. THANKS. SO. MUCH! More than 900 views! I'd just like to say how glad I am that so many of you guys are reading and enjoying this story, and glad that I can be your writer! Please, review if you feel that something could be better in my writing or something!

I apologize for the long delay! I'm really sorry… Writer's Block decided to pay me a visit!

ANDDDD… HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER!


Disclaimer: My gosh, LoZ is AWESOME. But… I don't own it. DANG IT!


The air rushed up around Green, pushing up against his feet as he fell down through the sky. Milky white clouds swirled in and out of his vision, causing a cold chill to rush through him every time the water vapor came in contact with his skin. Green looked down to see ground coming up fast, and he bent his knees, preparing for landing. Just before he hit the earth, he tucked in and rolled, coming up on one knee without a scratch on the ground. Green sprang to his feet and looked around him. He was on some kind of circular platform, raised miles above the ground. Four identical pillars lined the circumference of the platform, each placed the same distance from each other.

"Green!" he heard a shout, and Green turned to see the others racing towards him.

Green looked around at the others. "W-Where's Shadow?"

Blue shrugged. "He wasn't with us when we landed."

"He can't go into the light, can he…" Green looked at Vio, who nodded tightly, worry creasing his expression. "So… where could he be?"

Before anyone could respond, a sudden, sharp crack rang through the air. The Links whipped around to see a pulsing, dark shadow, rising up in the center of the pavillion.

You've fallen into my trap, pesky heroes. The dark mass angrily swirled around, like a trapped thunderstorm. Did you believe we would let the shadow traitor side with you fleas? That will never happen. Darkness isn't supposed to mix with light… as the traitor is learning now.

Another orb of darkness blossomed into existence at the base of one of the pillars. The orb then dissipated, revealing a figure chained to the pillar by a set of iron chains.

"SHADOW!" Vio cried. Shadow screeched in agony as the daylight hit him directly, causing him to collapse to the ground in pain, clawing at his chains.

As soon as we dispose of you four fools, he will soon die as well. Face it, heroes… you will never defeat us. You will never be able to save your fair maiden, Princess Zelda.

The darkness began to pulse a dark, ominous purple as the mass began to stretch and split, forming a colossal figure that rose into the air, cackling madly. Then, the shadow's features seeped into it, revealing a monster with two sets of leathery wings, black tentacles, and a single blood-red eye that shone in the middle of the monster's head, glinting maliciously.

"Vaati…" Vio looked up silently at the beast, his eyes widening.

Yes, you are quite correct. I am Vaati, the Wind Mage. Now… welcome… to your DOOM! With a roar, the monster's tentacles suddenly whipped towards the Links, smashing into the earth and forcing them to dodge out of the way. Green stumbled to the right, glancing up at the gigantic monster. How were they supposed to defeat that thing?

Another tentacle slashed at him from behind, sending him crashing straight into one of the pillars flanking the edge of the platform. Spots danced in Green's vision as he staggered to his feet.

Quite fragile, aren't you, heroes? Vaati taunted. Maybe this will end faster than I had comprehended.

The monster began to beat its leathery wings, beating them faster and faster and whipping up the air until a fierce windstorm blasted against the four Links, nearly knocking them off of their feet. Green struggled to stay on his feet; if he lost his grip on the ground, he would be swept right off of the pavillion, falling down to the ground below, miles below them.

Closing his eyes, Green concentrated hard. Maybe… if he could just seize control of Vaati's winds…Focusing on the wind whipping around him, he imagined it was part of him, coaxing it to do his bidding…

Vaati snarled. What are you… The winds suddenly sputtered, disappearing for a split second, then continuing to blow. Green suddenly felt another force in his concentration, and he knew it was Vaati's power, wrestling with him for control over the winds. The Wind Mage's power was stronger, though, and Green began to lose his focus rapidly as Vaati overwhelmed him. This wasn't going to work...

A howl cut through the air, reverberating in Green's ears as he opened his eyes, searching for the cause of disturbance. And then he saw it; Red had taken out his slingshot and had managed to nail the demon straight in the eye. Of course, the small stone hadn't hurt the beast at all, but it had taken his focus for a split second, and that was all Green needed.

The winds spluttered again, this time ceasing, and then the winds suddenly stopped blowing. Vaati roared in irritation and raised his wings to summon another windstorm when Vio rolled, ducking low to the ground as he shot a volley of five arrows straight into the demon's eye.

ARGH! Vaati screeched. INSOLENT FOOLS! Blood flowed freely from his wounded eye as the monster tumbled out of the air, crashing with a heavy thud onto the center of the pavillion.

"Back off!" Vio shouted, and leapt forwards, his sword raised above his head, and brought it down with full force onto the monster, slicing a huge chunk out of the demon's eye.

Vaati howled as he flailed, blood spurting out of his eye in red bursts. HOW DARE YOU… THIS IS NOT OVER YET! I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED AT THE HANDS OF PUNY MORTALS!

A great roar emitted from the monster's throat as its body curled into a giant sphere of darkness. The orb flashed a bright green, red, blue, and then purple, then split into four separate smaller spheres. The spheres drifted to each of the four pillars flanking the edge of the pavillion, and took shape.

Red's eyes grew wide as he stared up at the top of the pillar in front of him, to see…

...him staring back at him.

It was just like Shadow Link, in the essence that it was just of copy of him. But unlike Shadow, the new evil Link that grinned wickedly down at him was clothed in scarlet, just like Red, and had eyes the color of freshly shed blood… unlike Red.

Red cast a quick look around him as he backed up into the center of the pavillion, the others at his back in a circle, each of the real Links facing outward at a pillar. There, standing atop the other pillars, were three more Links that were clad in blue, green, and purple, all with red eyes.

One last trick for you fools, all of the demonic Links hissed from their perches on the pillars. You have fought against many beasts… but what about a battle with yourself? Cackling with laughter, all of the Vaati Links leaped off of their pillars at the same time. The scarlet demon Link landed with a slight thump on the ground, in front of Red. Red swung his sword at the opposing demon, but in a flash, the Vaati Link had blocked his attack with his own Four Sword - or at least, a copy of it.

A pity, the monster Red sighed mockingly, effortlessly shoving Red's blade out of the way and causing Red to stumble backwards. The timid, most innocent one of the group… It's no wonder the others can't put up with you.

"Wha… what are you talking about?" Red stuttered, shaking as he nearly dropped his sword.

You're always the one holding your brothers back, the heavy burden. Your strength is quite weak and insufferable. Mostly, it's your brothers doing all of the work. The fake Link sneered.

"T-That's not…" Red stopped as the reality of the copy's words began to sink in.

Maybe he's right.

Did Blue pick on him because he was weak? Did Green argue back for Red because he thought Red couldn't fight for himself? Did Vio think of him as an incompetent fool?

Yes… you see… the others have no need for you. Don't be the heavy, negative weight of their burden anymore. The fake, Vaati Link growled as he raised his sword over Red as the hero stood stock-still, frozen in place. It would be much better and painless to kill yourself. Let me destroy you, and let your pains be eased.

Red was silent.

The monster Link snarled in triumph and slashed downwards at Red's head.

That may be… Red thought quietly as the blade whipped towards him, inches from cutting into his skull.

They may think I'm weak at times…

But we all know we're the same.

With a furious cry, Red rolled to the side, coming up behind the fake Link. With a mighty, single slash, Red whipped around, slicing straight through the Vaati Link's body. The fake duplicate screeched as it disintegrated, into black particles, rising into the air. Red looked up, panting, just in time to see the other real Links finish off their Vaati duplicates as well, reducing them into more black fragments.

The particles of shadow fused together,converging to form the great body of Vaati again.

You may have defeated me… Vaati's eye narrowed. But I am not the only one. Ganon, king of darkness… Vaati's body began to shift as the monster let out a long, hideous wail that reverberated in the air. Even when the Links had thought their enemy could not get much bigger, Vaati's form began to grow in size, until it was a shifting giant.

Dark, stormy clouds formed in the air, rolling and coating the blue sky with its dark tendrils. Lightning flashed in the background, lighting up the dark clouds and showing the giant's true form, a demonic boar that had taken the place of the evil Wind Mage.

"It's… it's…" Red swallowed hard.

"It can't be…" Green stared at the monster that stood before them now. "T-That's…"

"Ganon… the king of darkness." Vio finished for him.

The beast chortled, enjoying their stunned looks of surprise and fear. My, the Wind Mage was quite ineffective. But it was merely only that, a pawn. Both the shadow and the mage have both failed me. Shall it be by my hand that you die once and for all? Very well, then.

Give me the Four Sword!

As quick as lightning, Ganon roared and slammed both of his paws down onto the platform in which the Links were standing, knocking the Links off of their feet. Without pausing, the beast raised his hand, and suddenly, lightning tore from the palm of his hand down to the pavillion, where it exploded into the earth.

It was as if he was paralyzed. Red struggled to get up as Ganon slowly advanced on them, grinning maliciously and taking his time, as he knew they were done for. Red's clothes were smoking, and he felt as if his skin had melted, burned right off.

"N-No!" he tried to cry out, as a pulsing ball that crackled and fizzled with dark electricity formed between Ganon's hands, a sure sign that he would use it to end the heroes. Would they die here?

They had come so close…

But not close enough. Red squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the end.

Shadow watched in horror, paralyzed, from his chains as Ganon lifted the sphere above his head, about to bring it down on the heroes.

Well… here's your chance to do something good for your life, Shadow reminded himself silently.

The time had come.

While the daylight had been blocked out from the dark clouds that had covered it, Shadow had been able to restore some of his energy and power. Now, with the last strength he had, he focused hard on his chains, and they snapped apart. Without much hesitation, Shadow raced towards the Links just as Ganon brought the final, ending blow down…

And leaped right between his brothers and the attack.

As the pulsing ball came in contact with his body, he closed his eyes, channeling all of his energy into the sphere of electricity, and sent it hurtling straight back at Ganon.

What- Ganon roared as electricity arcing along his matted, coarse fur. You little… shadow… WEAKLING!

"NO!' The Links yelled as Shadow collapsed to the ground in front of them.

Ganon staggered, clutching as his right arm. He growled. Nice try… but that is not enough to defeat me. You have only killed yourself.

Blue grit his teeth. Was he dead? Blue stared at Shadow's limp body, trying to see some hint that he was still alive, but Shadow remained still.

Too still.

It couldn't be…

Yes, it's a pity you all have to die. But I am afraid you have went too far. Ganon snarled angrily. He lifted his hands up to the sky again, this time two orbs of pulsing electricity blossoming in his palms. There will be no one to take the blow for you now, heroes.

Green glanced at the others. They all nodded in silent agreement. They couldn't take him out by each of them just attacking him, like they had previously done on the other monsters…

But with a combined power…

Each one of the Links concentrated hard, focusing on drawing their powers out. Then, the Links wrapped their energy around each other, linking them all as one chain of raw energy. Light began to glow as the Links combined their elemental abilities, fire, water, earth, and wind all joining together.

Just as Ganon brought down the death blow, the two spheres spiraling towards the heroes, the Links released their hold on their concentration. A loud snap, like the sound of a rubber band breaking, sounded as a sphere of pure, white light blasted forth, quickly swallowing the orbs of electricity up as the light shot towards Ganon.

Ganon howled, clawing at the air as the light enveloped him. NO! Not… not the cursed… LIGHT! You will never win! Darkness will rule forever! The beast's skin began to melt as the light shrouded the monster, persistently growing larger and larger with each of Ganon's tortured, agonized wails. The monster's form seemed to fold in on itself, becoming smaller and smaller until it exploded, black shards of shadow hovering in the air.

The Links all raised their swords as the shards were sucked up into each of their blades, swallowed up by the metal. With a final flash, the light curled and rose upwards into the air until it had melted into the sky.

The king of darkness and evil was gone.

Daylight began to break through the dark canopy of clouds, shining onto the pavilion, as the dark clouds hanging overhead began to swirl and dissipate. A wide shaft of light fell directly onto the center of the pavillion as a lone figure descended down from amidst the clouds, landing softly on the ground.

"ZELDA!" The four yelled, rushing towards the princess.

The young girl opened her eyes as they approached, blinking in confusion as she looked around her. "Green? Blue? Red? Vio? Where… where did Ganon..."

"H-He's gone." Green smiled weakly, but his face quickly darkened.

Zelda looked at all of their solemn faces. Shouldn't they be happy that the darkness was obliterated? "...What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

The Links parted slightly to reveal the limp, motionless figure of Shadow, lying a few feet away.

Zelda's eyes widened and she ran to him, the Links following closely behind. As they came closer, Green dully noted that the shadow's coloring was an unnatural, pale gray, deeply unlike his usual charcoal-black complexion. His eyes were closed, and there were wounds tainting his body.

"Is he…" Zelda looked up at Green.

Green shook his head.

"Shadow…" Vio muttered, dropping to his knees next to the body. "Shadow, say something!"

No response. Red joined Vio on the ground, fumbling with shaking fingers for Shadow's wrist. Desperately, he felt for a pulse, some sign that he was alive.

Nothing.

"SHADOW!" Blue yelled. "Why… why…"

As Green stared down at Shadow, another memory began to resurface; Komato dying, lying on the ground, his flesh mutated, ripped apart…

Komato had sacrificed himself. And now, Shadow had done the same.

The Links were silent as they closed their eyes, each of them filled with sorrow. The sun's light fell on their little circle, the children around their brother.

Suddenly…

Vio felt a weak hand tug on his sleeve. He wrenched his eyes open to see Shadow smiling weakly, wincing slightly, his eyes half open. Vio gave a startled, overjoyed cry, and the others looked up to see what was going on.

"Shadow!" they all cried.

Shadow's grip tightened on Vio's arm, as he whispered, "I… I'm here. I'm not… gone…"

"I know," Vio murmured, wiping his eyes with his other sleeve. "I know."