A Journey Worth the Soul
Chapter 11
Awakenings
He walked through the darkened hall, the same corridor he had been through dozens of times. He glided down the long and narrow, past the dimly lit torches. He had repeated this course dozens of times, yet instead of continuing on; he paused, letting all the air out of his lungs in one, long breath. Rubbing the back of his head, he wondered one simple question as he glanced around at the mildew covered walls.
Why?
"Because this is your future."
Link whirled around, drawing the Master Sword from its sheath while rotating his arm so that the holy blade lay less than a hairs breadth away from the throat of a hooded figure.
"Is that any way to treat a friend?" the figure laughed, lighting tapping the sword. He flinched slightly as his finger touched the blade, then let out a ghostly cackle from under his hood as he glanced at his now burnt finger.
"I see it still holds its power," he mused, glancing at his finger for a moment where a dark patch of burnt skin was slowly disappearing.
"Who are you?" Link asked, still holding his blade next to the stranger's neck. His sapphire eyes stared intently at the shadows dancing under the man's hood where two crimson eyes stared back at him.
"Only the one you has kept you in the tournament," he stated while taking a step forward. Link held his ground, letting the point of the blade prick at the man's neck.
"Stop right there."
The man halted, putting his hands in the air by his sides.
"What do you have to fear from me Link?" he laughed, waving his hands in the air."I am not armed."
Link paused, his breaths coming out quick and short.
"I don't…know," he finally conceded. "I just don't feel like I can trust you...I mean who are you?"
The man let out a raspy laugh.
"You don't know who I am? Still? After all this time I've been with you?" Another hearty chuckle issued from the man's lips as he brought one of his hands to his face. "I was sure that you would have recognized me by now," he said with a shrug. "I guess maybe this will do it then. With a twirl of his hand, a small orb appeared instantly in his palm. Link's eyes widened. Lowering the Master Sword to his side, he stared at the glowing orb in the man's hand.
"That's a…."
"A Smash Ball. Tis indeed."
Link could almost feel the man's smirk as he let the smash ball drift into the air, the fiery orb floating around Link's head like the moon revolving around the earth. The glowing sphere hovered for a moment in front of the Hylian's face before shattering into a hazy mist.
"Then you must be…"
Through the small glow of torch-light, Link was finally able to make out a small grin on the stranger's face before the light moved him back into the shadows.
"You're pretty smart for a lad so young."
Link stared at the figure, both surprised and puzzled over his first meeting with the man to which he owed even being in the competition. The firelight danced around the two of them as Link slowly lowered his sword.
"Why did you help me?" he asked cautiously.
The man laughed.
"Because I could," he replied plainly.
"That isn't an answer," Link retorted, his eyes trying to penetrate through the stranger's hood. "Why did you help me?"
"Youth these days," Link heard the man mumble. "They never seem to accept the answers given them."
"That's because life isn't always what it seems," the Hylian stated bluntly. "Nobody seems to have seen, what you claim have given me during the tournament, except for me. You may be able to create a smash ball somehow, but," the Hylian's eyes narrowed, "It doesn't mean a thing when all of my friends think I am a fool for claiming it existed. I might as well have imagined it rather than it actually appearing to me."
"Ah, but you saw it with your own eyes, felt the power coursing through your veins." His crimson eyes twinkled ever so slightly as his voice dropped to a whisper. "You believed it was there," he whispered, glancing at a nearby torch, "and there it was," scoffed as the old man issued a soft chuckle and looked back at him. "Just because nobody else believes, or witnesses a thing, it does not mean it didn't actually occur. For instance," the man continued, raising his arms again into the air, his voice escalating slightly, "I have been watching you for a long time, and yet, you haven't seen me till this very moment. Does that mean that I have not existed until the instant your eyes first caught sight of me?" The Hylian squinted, attempting to see the logic behind the shadowed figure's words. "Heaven's sakes no. For you see, if I was to continue that train of thought, as of this moment, only what is in front of your eyes actually exists; and if that is true," he said, accompanied by a deep laugh, "then none of your friends actually exist right now so their opinions are mute. Why bother with what they think when they don't even exist?"
Link felt his brain begin to burn within him as he rubbed at his forehead.
"So did you just come here to confuse me, or did you just want to say hello," he said wearily. "Because as of now, you are getting on my nerves."
"Then I am not fulfilling my part of our friendship then," he confessed, his head lowering in shame. "I actually came here for…a different purpose really." Link's eyes followed the man's head as it slowly came up to meet his gaze. "I actually…."
A small spark of pure, white light appeared between the two men, causing both to flinch and cover their eyes at the brilliance of the spectacle.
"Not yet!" the man wailed, shaking his fists into the air as the aura enveloped the two of them. "I haven't told him what he needs to know!"
Link watched as the walls of the tunnel wavered and shimmered in the light, eventually disappearing altogether along with the strange man. The light slowly began turning into darkness as Link felt a warm sensation spreading throughout his body and mind; a pure, invigorating energy as if he had drank a hundred bottles of chateau romani at once. He slowly opened his eyes, letting the darkness behind his eyelids concede to the light of the world. Slowly, figures started to form above him. A short, pudgy figure appeared off to his right while a very familiar friend stood right above him.
"Hello...
-O-
Ike could feel the confusion pulling his mind apart. Before him lay one of the emotionally strongest people he felt he knew, almost prostrating on the ground while letting her emotions spill out of her like a raging river. On one hand, he felt the pull to reach out to her, to comfort her with words he could not yet imagine. On the other hand, his mind told him to flee from the scene in front of him, to leave and act as if he never had even entered into the room in the first place. Without knowing it, his feet decided for him as they slowly took him, step by step towards the figure huddled on the ground. He let his heart pull him forward.
Each step felt like a lifetime as he tried to move as silently towards his friend as possible, yet somehow, her head jerked.
Ike let out a surprised yelp as Samus pushed herself off the floor while leaping backwards; landing barely inches in front of him, her laser whip vibrating centimeters from the flesh of his neck. He saw the shock register in her eyes as she slowly backed away from the mercenary while turning off her weapon.
"Go away, Ike. "This doesn't concern you, she growled, turning her back on him while walking back to the middle of the room.
"Am I supposed to have a clue what you are concerned about?" he asked, part joke, part questioning.
"No," she snarled, "And if you knew what was good for you, you would leave this instant."
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
The bounty hunter stopped, her head turning back to face him.
"Excuse me?" she said, slowly turning around, her eyes glaring menacingly at his own. For a second he almost turned to leave when he saw something in her eyes that captivated his attention. Her eyes appeared like an azure sea, tossed angrily about by some unknown emotion hidden within her, the broiling seawater churning just below the surface hiding an deeper turmoil beneath. Her eyes transfixed him to the ground.
It both frightened, and concerned him.
"Well?" she pressed impatiently.
"Well, I…." he stammered, shaking himself loose from her penetrating gaze. She glared at him.
"Spit it out already!"
Debate clouded his mind as battled internally about what to tell her.
Why am I here?
"I…don't really know," he said, his head dropping from her piercing stare. The bounty hunter scoffed.
"Then you better be going. Now leave." A singular finger pointed in the direction of the door was all most people would have needed at that point, as the bounty hunter was now seething in anger.
"I already told you, I can't do…."
"And why not!" she roared.
"I don't want to see you cry."
It came out so quickly. He mentally slapped himself as the words came out of his mouth, surprised that he hadn't been able to curb his tongue any better.
"What did you say?" she hissed through clenched teeth as she began stepping slowly towards him.
"I…I," his tongue abandoned him at the moment of his life when it had delved him into the deepest trouble. For once he wished that he had never entered the room in the first place.
"And what would make you think that I do that?" the bounty hunter asked as she now towered directly in front of the mercenary, her words dripping with venom.
"I saw you crying just now so I…." he couldn't help himself as the words sputtered out of his mouth.
His sentence never was completed as a wave of pain reverberated across the left side of his face. He reeled back from the hit, realizing it was Samus' fist when her other hand caught him by his collar, pulling him roughly up to meet her eyes, which were now two burning orbs of liquid sapphire.
"If you think that I need someone like you to help me whenever they feel like it, then allow me to enlighten you." Her grip tightened on his collar as he felt his body growing limp under her angry glare. "I don't need you," she hissed, as she pulled him so close to her that he could feel her heated breath against his face, intoxicating his mind. "I don't need you, I don't need anyone in this mansion, I don't need friends and I especially, don't need somebody spying on me!" The last part came out as a primal roar as she threw Ike easily over her shoulder and into the middle of the room like a rag doll. The blue-haired mercenary flew several meters before slamming onto the carpet, rolling off into the wall. Ike quickly jumped to his feet, noticing the bounty hunter make a break for the door. Without thinking, the swordsman grabbed the carpet spanning the entire room and yanked on it with all his might, causing the bounty hunter to tumble and fall. Samus pulled herself back up, but before she knew it, Ike was already standing behind her, his beastly hand crushing her shoulder in his grasp.
"Let go of me," she snarled with a grimace as pain enveloped her arm.
Ike stared at her for a moment, surprised by his own actions. He almost let go of her at her request, however, the images of the previous minutes held too much sway for him to give his more chivalrous actions any more thought.
"I can help you if you would like me too," he stated, relaxing his grip only slightly when he realized how tightly he had been holding her. "I've gone through this kind of experience before, and I know what it can do to a person." It came out as a desperate plea, sounding pathetically weak, which only seemed to anger her all the more.
Why am I doing this again….he thought as her eyes burned into his own.
"I told you, I don't need your help," she hotly replied, squirming as she tried to break free from his superior grip. "Now let go."
"Please, just listen to me. I know how important Marth and Link are to you."
Her eyes blazed in annoyance.
"Don't make me hurt you," she warned in clenched teeth, her voice a deadly tone.
His eyes stared intensely into her, pleading with her.
"I can help…."
Unfortunately, Ike never got a verbal response. In a matter of a few moments, Samus had kicked the mercenary in the shin with her heel, finally breaking free from his lock. She instantly slammed him in the stomach with her shoulder, knocking him down a second time. Finally, a loud crack echoed across the room as Samus' boot came crashing into the front of his skull, jarring his senses momentarily. Black and white dots traced across his vision as he heard the door to the room open, and then slam shut, sending a shiver reverberating through the building.
He slowly came to a sitting position, holding his head as the dots slowly disappeared from his vision. All he could do was alternate between staring at the door and the empty space in his hand where he had made his last plea. Slowly, he shook his head.
Why am I such an idiot….
-O-
"So…how long was I out?"
"Oh, about nine hours or so."
The young Hylian's eyes widened.
"Nine hours?" he gasped, trying to push himself to a sitting position. He let out a grunt of pain as Zelda rushed to his side, holding onto his back and neck for support as she gently laid him back onto the bed.
"Thanks," Link grimaced through clenched teeth as he found a suitable position to lie in. "I don't care what Doc over there says, these beds are not comfortable."
"Yes-a they are."
Link laughed groggily as Zelda turned around, noticing that Doctor Mario was again sitting on his chair filling out paperwork, one hand waving his pencil at them. Zelda giggled softly as her gaze again returned to her friend.
"You had us all worried for a while," her smile wavering a bit. "Are you going to be alright?"
"I should be," he chuckled for a moment before it turned into a harsh coughing fit. Zelda could only watch as his chest shuddered from each outburst of toxic air. She grabbed his hand in hers as she concentrated deeply, closing her eyes as the strain of what was to come produced a bead of sweat across her brow. A soft stream of golden light surrounded her hand before seeping into his. Almost immediately the coughing fit stopped, as Link was again able to breathe.
"That comes in real handy Zelda," Link stated gratefully as he breathed in deeply. "You have my eternal thanks."
"Anything for you," she replied sweetly. "You're the only reason I'm here."
"Although she too was-a out for the same-a time as you were."
Zelda shot a dark glance at the doctor as Link's eyes widened in shock. She had not wanted Link to know about that particular detail.
"What? Zelda, wha-"
"It's nothing," she interrupted quickly, feeling her cheeks begin to burn under his intense scrutiny.
Link stared at her seriously.
"I need to know what he means by…."
A door slammed open as several people tumbled into the room at once. Almost immediately the two Hylians were surrounded by their closest friends. Zelda was instantly relieved at the several smiling faces surrounding them.
"Glad to see you're both finally awake," greeted Zelda, hoping that Link would forget that last conversation.
"I know," Malon replied, walking up next to the younger blonde. "Ilia and I were both pretty worried about ya'll."
"Could-a you please give-a them some room?" Doctor Mario pleaded as he tried pulling the women away from the bed.
"Hey, listen," Malon huffed, placing a hand on her hip with the other placed inches away from the doctor's nose as she shoved him away from the hospital bed. "Our friend almost died and you think we're going to leave him just after finding him awake? Well, ya'll got a lot of guts for trying something like that." As if to illustrate her point, her finger jabbed the man's portly belly several times, pushing him back as her glare burned a hole through his doctoral duties. "We are not going anywhere soon."
Everyone turned as the sound of someone clearing their throat echoed around their waists. They all looked down to see that Toon Link had the biggest smile on his face as his hand raised to point at the confused princess and hero.
"Maybe we should give them a little room, so they can…you know," he snorted, trying to suppress his giggling as his hand directed everyone's gaze towards the two Hylians.
Ilia's face began turning a deep scarlet as Malon's lips grew into a crooked grin.
"I see," the fiery redhead quipped, flipping her long ginger hair over her shoulder. "I guess we could leave the two lovers alone for a bit."
Both Link and Zelda's eyes flew open as they looked at one another. Zelda was the first to notice that he was still holding his hand in hers and quickly jerked it away, her face turning about as crimson as Malon's hair. A silent, mutual acceptance of what happened passed between the two of them as Link let out a soft chuckle.
"Um, excuse me, princess?" asked an unfamiliar voice.
Zelda turned to see a young woman about her age looking at her, the young women's flowing sapphire hair framing a lightly tanned face with soft cerulean eyes.
"Yes," replied Zelda.
"My, name is Shiida and…" the young women bit her lip hesitantly before moving on, "I heard that you can, heal people?" Her azure eyes stared intently into Zelda's crystal orbs, pleading for an answer. Zelda felt a smile grace her lips.
"Yes, that is correct."
Shiida's eyes brightened at her response.
"Do you think that you could…?"
"Heal Marth?" Zelda finished for her.
Shiida's eyes widened, and then softened as a tiny tear began to form. She wiped at it quickly while a small smile graced the space between her rosy cheeks.
"I was going to do that after checking on Link," she said, throwing a quick glance over her shoulder at the young Hylian who was busily being chastised by Ilia for his reckless endangerment of his life. "And as it seems like he is doing well, then, I think we can take a glance at your future fiancée."
"How did…what…." Shiida's confusion permeated her features as Zelda's musical laughter stopped the princess of Talis' remarks short.
"He is always talking about you it seems," she chuckled. "He never mentioned your name that I could remember, but, he always spoke appreciatively of a beautiful girl with blue hair from island kingdom of Talis. When I saw you, I simply put two and two together."
Shiida felt a blush crawling up her cheeks.
"Thanks," she mumbled.
Both princesses walked over to Marth, who was lying serenely in his hospital bed, his chest rising and falling slowly as several machines bleeped and hummed around him. He looked so peaceful, that one could almost not believe that he had been near death's door just a short time before. The prince of Altea was still unconscious, yet as Doctor Mario put it, perfectly fine besides the burn marks and scars he would have for the rest of his life.
Zelda gingerly grabbed the young prince's hand in hers as she began meditating. Closing her eyes, she began focusing the remaining power within her body, sending it towards the unconscious Altean. She heard a gasp come from Shiida, who was watching in wonder as the scars and burns that had covered his arms and face began receding, then disappearing without a trace. As Zelda felt the energy flowing from her beginning to slow, she released her hold on the magic. Her body slumped backwards, prompting a surprised yelp from Shiida as the Talisian jumped to catch Zelda as she fell.
Luckily, Zelda snapped out of her daze just as Shiida grabbed a hold of her shoulders. Together, Zelda rose to her feet, a little shaky, but alright.
"Thank you," Zelda murmured, bowing her head to show her appreciation. "I sometimes use a bit more than I should."
Shiida bit her lip in response, unable to express her thankfulness to the Hylian princess.
A groan from the bed caught both of their attention as Shiida leapt to Marth's bedside in a flash, holding onto his hand as she stared tearfully into his eyes. His eyes opened slowly as he sucked in a deep breath of air.
"Is…is Lin…alright?" he asked as he eyes fluttered shut again.
"He's okay thanks to you," Zelda finished for him. "You saved his life out there."
A small smile flirted across his face as his eyes again flashed open. His eyes widened as he recognized another familiar face smiling brightly down at him like the warm rays of the sun.
"Shii…Shiida? How did you get here?"
The young women choked back a laugh as several tears wrapped around her smile.
"The way we always do," she chided in a nice way, "by Pegasi." Marth's eyes crossed across her face as she gently stroked his hair.
"I'm glad that you are here," he spoke softly as his hand reached out to her face, letting his chilly fingers grace her warm cheek. "I've needed to tell you something, yet, not until today I have felt like I've needed to tell you."
"Go on," Shiida replied, grasping his hand in hers.
"I never told you this…but…" his eyes fluttered open and closed several times before he finally found the energy to focus them on a person. "I think you're beautiful…"
His eyes closed again as he slowly drifted off to sleep. Shiida smiled softly as she leaned across the bed, gently laying a soft kiss onto his forehead.
"Thank you, my love," she spoke softly; leaving his bedside to speak with the Doctor about what she could do to help care for Marth. She passed by Zelda, who was still standing by the Altean's bedside, a bit shocked by what had happened. She knew how much Marth loved Shiida just by how tenderly he spoke of her, yet when he had said she was beautiful, Zelda could swear that he was looking directly at her.
-O-
Ike grabbed the doorknob, extremely frustrated at himself, as well as at the turn of events. What he had hoped would have been a setting where he could have helped his friend, had turned into a huge disaster.
"Why do I always need to try and help people?" he asked himself as he jerked the door open.
"Maybe because it's your nature kid."
Ike paused momentarily as his frustration grew.
"Thanks Snake, I've figured that out a long time ago."
The mercenary shrugged his shoulders as Ike walked past him down the hall, the smell of cigarette smoke lingering in the air.
"Didn't Master Hand tell you not to smoke in the halls after he caught you trying to give a cigarette to Popo?"
Snake let out a satisfied grunt.
"Yeah, he did. I just don't care. Besides, he's too busy calling an emergency meeting to catch me up here anyways."
Ike stopped and turned towards the mercenary.
"What's the meeting for?" he asked curiously.
"I finally found out why all of those Bomb-ombs appeared on the stage and who had tampered with the controls," replied Snake cooly. "Master Hand thought it was important enough to call a meeting."
"That's great," Ike replied, feeling relieved by the news.
The two Smashers stood there in silence for a few seconds, Snake taking another swig of his cigarette.
"Well..." started Ike hesitantly."Aren't you going to tell me?"
"No," Snake grumbled, taking one last breath before crushing his cigarette into the wall, leaving a small black burn mark in the paint. He walked past the Cremian, fiddling with the controls of his watch. Ike watched him for a moment before Snake hurled one last comment over his shoulder.
"Oh, and by the way, you really suck when it comes to women."
Ike was about to reply when the other man disappeared down the hallway. Ike grumbled all the way downstairs as he contemplated ways on how to get the soldier back for spying on him and Samus. Several scenarios even brought a smile to his face….
The room was large by any standard, but the amount of people crammed into it made it even a bit crowded for most, especially Luigi who was dangerously close to being impaled on Bowser's spikes. Not that the Koopa King would have minded, except for maybe the time it would take to pry him off afterwards. To be quite frank, people were jammed in anywhere they could. The couches and seats were long gone, as well as the stools that several of the smashers and assist trophies had gathered from the dining room. Everyone in the mansion had been told to attend, as Master Hand had news for all of them to hear.
Ike walked slowly into the room, his stomach and head still in pain at Samus' fury. He was surprised at the amount of people in it as his eyes glanced around the room in an effort to find where his friends were. A wave near the bottom of the stairs caught his attention, as he recognized the voice of Lyn rising over the crowd.
"Hey Ike, over here."
He scooted his way around the edge of the room, squeezing past Fox, Falco and some blue furred fox that they were both heavily engaged in trying to snag the vixen's attention. Finally, after contorting his body into positions he hoped he wouldn't ever have to be in again, he reached the group who had settled with sitting on the steps of the grand staircase at the back of the room.
"Wow, that was pretty amazing contortions," Lyn yelled over the din of the crowd. "Almost wasn't expecting you to get past Wario over there."
A small grin passed over Ike's face. "I didn't think I would either. Luckily he makes the perfect height for a step-stool."
Both glanced over at the pudgy man, who was glaring daggers at Ike while rubbing his head. Ike's attention turned quickly to a giant white shape that hovered directly over Lyn and himself as it flew down the stairs. He followed the Hand's course towards the center of the room, then caught sight of a light blue figure standing in a corner. His eyes made contact with hers, and an instant feeling of nausea made his stomach churn as her eyes pierced into his own.
He quickly looked away.
"Alright, alright settle down everybody. Settle down."
The people continued to talk and mingle amongst themselves, ignoring the hand's orders completely. Actually, it's not like they were deliberately trying to ignore him. They just couldn't hear him.
"QUIET!"
Almost at once, silence befell the room like a curse and all attention was directed at the floating limb. Ike and Lyn couldn't help but give a small chuckle each.
"Ok, you all should know why you are here."
"No duh! Shouted Wolf from the back of the room, earning a quick chuckle from Bowser. A bolt of lightning zapped the wall next to Wolf's head, sending a frightened yelp into the air.
"I don't need any commentary thank you," Master Hand continued, his form now in the shape of a gun. He relaxed and went back to his speech as Wolf muttered a few choice words under his breath. "As you all know, we had a serious accident this morning in regards to the safety mechanisms during one of our matches." Everyone nodded their heads while several muted conversations passed about the room. "We have found the source of the problem, thanks to some digging by Snake and Samus earlier this afternoon. As it turns out, somebody, or something, disabled the safety mechanisms then set it to the setting of deadly."
Ike whistled softly at the news. He had known about the disabling of the safety features, but not about the items settings. For some zany reason, Crazy Hand had put that setting in during a bout of sanity. Master Hand had deleted it as soon as Crazy Hand had left the room, but, just knowing that someone had re-installed it into the hardware was a bit…frightening."
"Also, we recovered some photographic evidence the person, or creature, left behind thanks to one of the security cameras that caught a short glimpse of the intruder before they vanished."
Master Hand snapped his fingers, causing a large projector screen to pop down from the ceiling. Several confused murmurs rushed through the crowd, which turned steadily into laughter as the picture began to form on screen. Master Hand turned towards the screen, and turned completely red.
"Crazy Hand! Get the real picture up this instant!"
The picture disappeared as a muffled, "Sorry!"echoed from somewhere deep within the mansion but the damage was already done. For months afterwards, drawings of Master Hand getting his nails painted pink and blue appearing randomly throughout the mansion.
The new picture appeared onscreen as Master Hand began to cool off. Although it was dark and blurry, everyone could distinctly make out a cloaked figure that looked as if it was floating above the ground.
"Now, this is the intruder that penetrated all of our defenses," explained the hand seriously. You see anyone like this, do not engage him. Get help immediately as he is incredibly dangerous." As if to prove his point, another slide appeared on screen, showing the remains of what looked like a metal door, the entire centre of it a melted mass of liquefied steel. "We are also going to institute a few changes to security of the mansion, starting today."
The hand motioned towards Zelda, who was sitting in a nearby chair. She stood up and walked to the front of the room, her steps indicating vigor, but the dark rings beginning to form under her eyes portraying her weariness from the day's events.
"As you have noticed already, the assist trophies will be employed as security for the mansion," she stated.
"Great, I'm sure going to feel safe with Stafy guarding me at night," muttered Ganondorf from the back of the room.
"I got dibs on Advance Wars!" replied Falco, raising his wing into the air.
Fox and Krystal quickly pulled his arm down, attempting to save themselves the embarrassment.
Zelda shot the bird a glare then proceeded on. "Also, as it seems that Link, and to some degree, Marth were the targets of this attack, the hospital will be guarded at all times by a team of two smashers, starting directly after this meeting. I will be announcing the rotations and times when…."
"Too late for that sweetie!"
Zelda stopped talking as a chill swept down her spine. Menacing laughter filled the room, causing every head to look around for its source. A large explosion was heard in the distance as each of the lights in the room exploded, raining shards of glass down onto the panicky people below as the room was plunged into darkness.
Several of the younger smashers began to scream or cry, or both while several of the older ones began yelling for people to stay calm. After a moment or two, a bright yellow glow flashed to life as all eyes were turned onto the object. At the front of the room, sitting in the palm of Master Hand was a small, luminous star shaped creature.
"See, I'm not as useless as you think I am, 'Fannydorf', taunted the Assist Trophy.
"That's enough Stafy, Master Hand ordered as the star creature bounced from his palm onto the mantelpiece of the fireplace. "Now, we need to find out what just happened. Snake, Samus?"
Both people appeared at the edges of the circle of light in a moment.
"I need both of you to check out the emergency generators and turn them on. Lucas, Mario, I would like both of you to join them as well."
A path formed through the middle of the room as all four of the smashers sped down out of the room, Snake in the back with a flashlight and Lucas leading the way with a steady glow of Pk Thunder lighting their path.
"Ike, Zelda and Lucas, I need you three to accompany me to the hospital at once. I fear whatever has caused the blackout may be after Link."
"We're coming with y'all," a voice came from the back. Zelda looked up to see Malon, Shiida and Toon Link running towards the front of the room.
"We're not going to just sit back and let you check on our friends without us!" Toon Link added.
"Fine," replied Master Hand impatiently. "You can come too; just don't get in the way." The hand floated up high with Stafy so that everyone could see him. "Everyone else, wait for my return!" he announced. "Ganondorf, Bowser, Dedede and Meta Knight, guard the exits! Not one soul is permitted to leave this room! And unless you know for certain it's one of your fellow Smashers, no one is allowed to come in! Stay together, keep the young ones close by your sides...and protect your neighbors at all cost!"
The four mentioned smashers moved towards the exits as everyone else nodded their heads in agreement as the second group of smashers followed Master Hand towards the hospital bay.
-O-
The four smashers walked down a final flight of stairs, arriving at a solid steel door with a sign in large red letters reading caution.
"This is it, right? Lucas whimpered from behind Samus leg where he was hiding. "I feel kind of bad about this."
"There isn't going to be anything wrong kid so quit your complaining," she replied harshly. "Besides, you have a bad feeling about everything."
The blonde boy retreated farther behind Samus' leg as Snake opened the door to the room.
"See, there isn't anything bad down here…."
A loud zing rang through air as Snake's sentence suddenly stopped. His body jerked backwards, falling on top of Mario, who barely caught him in time as Lucas let out a panicked scream. Samus pulled her gun from her hip, aiming it haphazardly into the darkness as laughter met their ears. Snake groaned, clutching onto his shoulder, a small trickle of liquid oozing from under his hand as Mario helped him to his feet.
"Well Snake," a cold voice from inside the room hissed. "You shouldn't tell lies to children. They might believe you."
The voice suddenly took form as a man walked out into the light of Lucas' Pk fire. Snake gritted his teeth, letting out a hiss of pain and anger, barely audible over the whimpers coming from Lucas.
"Liquid…."
The man smiled at the mention of his name as he played with the gun in his hand.
"There 'isn't anything bad down here'? Oh ho. Mark my words, there is something 'bad down here'. Something 'down here' that will kill you all."
-O-
The group ran down the hall, rounding the final corner towards the hospital room when Master Hand stopped suddenly. Several in the group ran into the backs of those in front, tumbling to the ground in a confused pile of bodies.
"What was that for?" grumbled Malon who luckily was at the back of the group and the first to push herself off the pile of people in the hall.
She glanced down the hallway, her mouth dropping open.
"No…."
She sprinted down the hall, followed quickly by the others who had finally gotten themselves untangled. She stopped in front of the charred remains of the wall of the hospital, the doors completely gone. Bits of rubble and mortar lay everywhere while several lights above them flickered, casting an eerie glow about the room.
"What happened here…?" Toon Link blurted out as he surveyed the damage.
"I don't know," replied Master Hand as he slowly hovered into the room, his form jerking back and forth as if looking for something.
"Guys, I have a bad feeling about this." Lucas murmured as he added more power to the Pk Thunder sitting in his hands. The extra light illuminated the room, revealing even more destruction than that from outside.
They walked into the centre of the room, amazed at the damage. Curtains were torn and charred from their mountings, tables and beds smashed into tiny bits. Toon Link walked past the remains of several glass canisters that had once lined the shelving units. Now they lay knocked to the floor, shattered into thousands of pieces. Toon Link picked up a long piece of metal next to one of the beds, eyeing it carefully.
"I think this was a sword."
"Marth!"
The cry quickly turned their attention towards the back of the room where Marth and Link had been recovering. Zelda gasped as she saw Shiida huddled over a prone figure on the floor, shaking the person's body in an effort to wake him. Another figure in a white lab coat, lay nearby, the arms of his coat stained a dark reddish black.
"They're both alright," Master Hand surmised as he quickly hovered near both figures. "They just have been knocked out and I don't think that is the Doctors blood. I think it is something else…."
As Zelda surveyed the room more closely, she noticed several of the sword like objects that Toon Link had found laying scattered about. Apparently whatever had knocked out both Marth and the Doctor had taken a beating themselves. And by the looks of it, there were many of them as well. Her glance finally took her towards a bed, lying undisturbed in the corner of the room where Link had been earlier in the day.
"No…."
Zelda took a step towards the only remaining bed in the room, a feeling of worry creeping into her soul as the other people in the room glanced towards her.
"He's gone…" she stated bluntly as she eyed the empty bed. She turned back towards the rest of the group, her eyes glistening in the pale light. "They've taken Link."
"So you finally noticed, eh?" came a deep, gurgling voice from the opposite end of the room. The room shook as a hulking figure filled the cavity left by the double doors. "Come on out boys, looks like we got some more fresh meat to deal with!"
Several screeches and howls could be heard as the forms of dozens of creatures formed from the shadows of the walls and from behind the hulking monster. Skeletal warriors and slobbering lizard men appeared as Zelda finally recognized who the hulking beast in the door frame was.
"Why did you do this, King Bulblin? You promised Link that you would never harm us again," she roared across the room.
The beast laughed.
"I thought I had told that to Link once before," he cackled. "I've come to play."
"But why?" she pleaded. "You agreed not to do this anymore."
"No," he gurgled. "I just told Link that." He offered an evil grin that glimmered even in the darkness. "And as I told him, I follow the strongest side."
With that he motioned towards the rest of the creatures around him.
"Kill them all."
This chapter has been beta read and edited by Smash King24.
A Note by Smash King24: I would like to thank Cimar of Turalis for giving me the opportunity to edit his story. Having not read any of the previous chapters, I would like to say that I am thoroughly impressed with what he has accomplished here. I encourage all readers of this story to review and inform their friends. I can tell that a lot of work has been put into this story. This author deserves praise from all fans of the Super Smash Bros. Series. If there is anything that could have been improved on in this chapter, please leave a review explaining how and why. Thank you all for reading and be sure to visit my profile if you get the chance!
I'm back with another chapter. You knew that of course as you are here reading this right now…yeah. Anyways, I've been feeling in a good mood as I wrote this so try and catch all of the hidden references to the Legend of Zelda TV show. If you find them, you get a virtual cookie and a virtual high-five.
Oh, how you must enjoy cliffhangers. I love leaving them as well. What is going to happen, or what has happened? I don't know? I'm not the author or anything...
The next update might not come for awhile. Profs are giving out a lot of work so I'm going to be busy with that.