Entry Thirteen
New Challenges, Old Rivals
"Zelda. You. Me. Pyrosphere. Sparring."
"W-what?" I stuttered as Samus dragged me away from Link at the lunch table.
Samus explained, "We both need the extra practice and they said the arenas were open, remember?"
"I-I-"
Link stood to help, but I waved him off. I could handle this, hopefully.
"Isabelle," Samus said, approaching a little counter next to the interdimensional doors in the ballroom, "Is anyone in Pyrosphere?"
"No, Miss Samus. You came early enough," the little dog stated, shuffling through some papers. Over her head were more monitors flickering back and forth between a few pairs of Smashers already sparring with one another, some one on one, others is larger groups. Isabelle continued, "Would you like Items?"
Samus shook her head.
"Omega or regular form?"
"Omega?" I pondered.
"It's the competitive, flat form of the stage with no obstacles or obstructions. Good for concentrating on fighting alone," the secretary explained.
"That one," Samus declared.
"Okay, ladies!" Isabelle pushed a few buttons on her control panel.
"Were you controlling this stuff earlier?" I asked
"No. The Hands gave me this desk so I could take a shift at running the doors while they relax. The only downside is I can't be an assist trophy until someone else relieves me.
"Weren't you working at the bar a few nights ago?" Samus investigated.
"Yes. But I like to help! It was my job back home." Isabelle smiled, and after pulling a lever, the big red doors opened next to us, revealing a swirling portal to the arena.
We thanked the secretary and Samus pulled me along into a new area full of so much strange technology, it was a little intimidating.
"I remember this place," she sighed, "but let's not worry about that."
"Why did you bring me here?" I wondered.
"A few reasons," she replied, and before I could ask anything else, clutched her gun and leaped at me, eyes glazed with ferocity and determination. I was done for.
Her foot slammed into my chest, and immediately afterwards, she sent some sort of stunning shockwave through my being with her weapon. I was frozen in place for a second too long before she swept my feet out from under me and stood over my shuddering body, weapon pointed at my face.
"Come on, Pretty Princess. I know you can do better than that," she cackled.
Replacing the ebbing pain, a wave of anger gave me the extra push to summersault away from her hold.
"You look mad. Use it," Samus instructed, firing an electric grapple that pulled me towards her. Before she could hit me again, I jammed my hand into her face and electrocuted her in response. She took a step back but then leaped into the air, plopping behind me before I could jab at her again.
"Slow and pathetic," she uttered, lunging forward with an aerial kick to my hip. I was flung farther back this time, but was able to land on my feet. Frustration was trying to clog my mind, and I was too slow to stop it.
"HHHRAAH!" I roared, tossing a flame at Samus, but aimed incorrectly and let it go too early, missing her by a few feet.
Samus wandered up to me, leaving herself wide open. "I can see why you didn't win any matches today," she taunted. "Your closest one was the first, and that Pikmin monster did all the work for you.
Her words continued to sting. She was right, yet I kept trying.
"Persistence. That's pretty valuable, but you still suck." She sidestepped most of my blows and then sent me skyward with her plasma whip.
Trying to take advantage of my height, I kicked at her from above, but she sidestepped again and kicked me backwards. Hitting her was becoming pointless, and I knew at any moment one of her blows would send me out of bounds.
"Why are you doing this?" I panted, feeling defeated.
"Because you need it. I said use your anger, not abuse it." She shot at me again, but I deflected it back with my crystal force field. She was right; my frustration was beginning to fog my concentration. Samus gave me just a split second to take a deep breath before rushing at me, full force, and I let her. Right as she was about to strike, I stepped to the side and grabbed her with an electric aura. Her feet dangled off the ground and since my strength for lifting people was a bit lacking, I let my magic do the work for me.
Before I sent jolts through her bones, she grinned. "Good."
After shocking her a few times, I tossed her over the edge, my boots clunking on the metal floor as peeked over the side to see her activate her rocket boots to save herself. On a whim, I launched myself into the air, and down-kicked her into oblivion. I snatched the edge of the stage before falling and rolled back up into a resting stance. Samus respawned and dropped down, facing me. I raised my hands, the tips of my fingers glowing, waiting.
"Woah there," she laughed. "I'm done picking on you for now. That was good. Wasn't expecting the grab."
I lowered my hands, but kept the glare.
"Lose the face. I'm done," Samus urged.
"Why all of this?" I demanded, trying to soften my expression, but I was still too irritated to accomplish it.
"Like I said, you needed a push. You're so close to doing what you want to do with your talent, but just don't know how to use it yet. Trust me, I kept an eye on your matches all day while I could."
I scoffed. "I don't have talent. I don't deserve the blessings of the goddesses. I still do not know why I am here."
"Zelda. Shut up for a second and let me finish."
Taken aback by being talked to in such a way, I abided, more curious than angry.
She continued, "I've seen plenty of warriors in my days and have fought plenty of beasts. The angriest always destroy themselves in the end. The weakest scare themselves into submission under my boots. The dumbest make stupid-and fatal-mistakes. Coming out on top always takes preparation, persistence, wit, patience, and understanding. I was able to anger you, but after realizing your mistake, you fixed it immediately. You fear weakness. I saw a lot of that today, but you surprised yourself with your own strengths. I don't even need to elaborate on your smarts and determination. Use your natural patience for the battlefield like you would in everyday situations. All you really lack is preparation, which we are taking advantage of right now." The bounty hunter stepped closer to me, placing her hands on my shoulders. "You're holding yourself back and are blinded with fear and frustration. It was easy for you to eliminate the anger, but your fear is a little stuck, isn't it?"
I nodded.
"You hide it well."
I pondered, "Then how would you know?"
"Experience. As an early trainee, I, too, was scared for my life at times."
"What made you get over it?"
Samus smiled, "Realizing my own life wasn't the most important to me. Sure, I am a bit of a loner, but I had people to protect from the darkest corners of the universe. This 'experiment,' whatever it is, seems to be testing the limits of multiple worlds by challenging the guardians chosen to protect them."
"But like I said," I sighed, "I feel like I do not belong here."
"Stop doubting yourself, because I think you do." She shook me a little before letting go. "Enough of this mushy stuff. Ready to keep-"
There was a rumbling underfoot, cutting Samus's question short. A large pipe burst, spilling out molten lava into the blank space below. Unseen platforms flickered back into place, becoming tangible out of thin air.
"What is going on?" I asked.
"Not sure, but I think the Omega form of this place glitched out," Samus suggested.
Something was off. I felt a chill travel up my spine and looked around the facility, trying to find the source. Softly, ever so softly, I detected a scraping noise from down below. "Do you hear that?" I inquired.
Samus concentrated harder on her surroundings. "Just barely, but… Man those long ears are useful." She glanced at me and then stepped to the edge, focusing on the crackling stream of liquid fire.
"It sounds like it is coming from below the stage," I described, wishing I could look without falling to my doom. Granted I would respawn, but with the stage glitching out, I'd rather not risk it.
"Watch my back," requested the bounty hunter as she slapped the stage with her plasma whip and propelled herself over the edge.
The ground shook once more, this time accompanied by a disturbing growl that nearly stopped my heart entirely. A moment later, Samus attempted to pull herself up, anger and desperation in her gaze, and one other thing I never expected from her: a touch of fear.
"RUN!" she yelled as some sort of dragon-like creature ripped her off the stage in it's claws, pulling her into no man's land. It let out a screech that scraped on the back of my brain so sharply, I was forced to clutch my ears. The bounty hunter wriggled her gun arm free, yet before she got a clear shot, the beast tossed her into the blackness below before setting its sights on me.
I froze. The woman with piqued confidence was just thrown into nothingness and to top it off, wasn't respawning. Everything shred of confidence she had given me was ripped away. There was nowhere to run or hide. The only thing I had left was to fight.
Despite the earth-shattering fear in my joints, I readied myself, wasting no time to throw some Din's fire, aiming for the fierce, yellow gaze. It screeched at my fire, purple wings flapping harder, preparing to dive. Sure enough, swooping at blinding speed, in its mouth I went, sharp teeth cutting into my abdomen. If not for the death-resistant spell the Hands cast over this place, I would be seriously injured, but with said knowledge, I tried to ignore the cutting pain. I raised my hand to its eye, sending electric pulses into its face until it dropped me, just out of reach of the stage. Luckily, I remembered the feeling Farore had bestowed upon me, and teleported, back onto the platform. The beast spun around, its tail connecting with my chest. I was hit to the other end of the stage, landing hard. My damage percentage had to be way up from fighting Samus, and one or two more hits like that would end my chances. But what was I doing? If I just jumped over the edge, I would end up back in the mansion. If not, this beast would surely do it for me; I was surely prolonging the inevitable. Crawling up to me with an agonizingly slow pace, it sneered at me, and right when I tried to stand, it swiped.
No. I needed to get over these fears.
Instinctively, I rolled underneath it, narrowly missing its grasp and standing under the belly of the beast, swiped it repeatedly with the shards from Nayru's love. It lifted off the ground in frustration, but I responded with a lunge after it, fiercely blasting fire at its underside. Hissing in pain, it snatched me in its claws, and my confidence started to ebb even more when I couldn't move.
"LET HER GO!" A familiar voice called from below. An arrow lodged itself into the creature's shoulder and he dropped me. I landed on one of the floating platforms and the beast grew angrier, blowing gusts of fire at my rescuers. Link had somehow appeared in the arena with Shulk at his side and another smasher I was not familiar with. Unable to tell the gender, he or she wore and orange mechanical suit of high-tech armor and shot various, exploding projectiles. Shulk slashed away, dodging and cutting away at the beast's feet while Link kept volleying arrows directed at its chest and face. I hopped onto the ground, joining my hero and started to send more Din's fire at the foe.
"Zelda, stand back," Link advised, but for once, my fear was ebbing and I refused. Instead, I charged forward, feeling the rare shadow magic within stir, and with all of my might, summoned a dark phantom. The armored ghost swung, landing a hard blow at the beast's chest, sending it reeling off the back of the stage with a finality that felt so satisfying. With a flash of red white, it was gone.
I wiped the sweat from my brow, and turned to face my friends and the newcomer I had not met yet, one hand on a hip that stuck out a little more than normal. "Good riddance," I utterred. There must have been something strange in my composure, or just the whole incident in general had Link staring at me with surprise.
"Zelda, I'm proud of you," a voice called from inside of the suit. The green visor retracted to reveal Samus's beautiful face from the inside. "You just helped take down one of my biggest challenges. Granted, I'm sure the Hands made some sort of deal with Ridley to ease up, because that attack was hardly anything, but even so, that son of a drake was angry.
"Hoy! Let's do that again!" Shulk laughed, slinging his Monado over his shoulder.
"No," Samus growled. "Let's not."
I had to know. "I must have skipped over the part in the pamphlet about that armor."
"Oh this?" Samus wondered. "I usually wear my power suit."
"Well it is one of the more extraordinary things I have seen thus far," I complied, still surprised I knew the name of Shulk's weapon but missed the part about Samus's mecha form.
"Thank you," she said.
Link stepped up to me, still a might concerned. "Are you hurt?"
"No. My damage percent is probably high, so do not step on my toe or you might win this match," I chuckled.
Samus laughed but Link literally took a baby step backwards.
I sighed and said to Link, "Ease up, Soldier. You will not harm me in any way in this place."
"Finally starting to feel… invincible?" Shulk asked.
"Yes. I suppose the ideas of how things work around here are starting to sink in," I answered.
"Just don't forget the rules when we return home," Samus warned, eyes wandering around the area. "Isabelle! Isabelle?" She called to whoever could hear. "Can you transport us back yet?"
Before I could ask, the four of us were warped back into the ballroom in the center of a large, curious group of smashers who had just been watching the monitors. "I'm so sorry all of you!" Isabelle cried, pushing through the crowd and waddling up to us, her little yellow paws covering her eyes with shame. "I tried to stop him!"
"Stop whom?" I inquired, before my attention turned to Link. He was wondering towards Donkey Kong, and in the ape's arms was none other than Dark Link, his arms being held firmly behind his back.
Isabelle explained, pointing at the suspect, "He messed with my controls when he knew you were inside the pyrosphere and set the stage to normal mode, thus releasing the stage hazard, Ridley."
"Thank you for your help, Isabelle, and I do not blame you," I stated, then walked over to where Link stood, waiting for me to give the word to let Donkey Kong free Dark Link.
I had something to say first. "I do not know what your intentions were, but that little challenge assisted me tonight."
"Is that so? Great. Fantastic. Glad to be of assistance. Now can you get this filthy thing to let me- OW!" Dark Link yelped as DK tightened his grip.
"I still have yet to figure out exactly what you are, but for now I could not care less," I hissed. "Just go. You cannot cause problems much worse than that around here. You are surrounded by powerful beings who can easily handle you. Let him go, Donkey Kong."
The ape complied, and the dark doppelganger rubbed his wrists, red eyes cutting into my soul, yet I refused to show it any since of submission. "There is nothing to figure out about me. I won't let you. I am not an 'it.' I am a person, a person that will enjoy messing with such a prissy little doll," he seethed.
Link's eyes flashed with fury, but I held up a hand to still him.
"Good luck with that," I stated, standing tall, chin high and eyes proud. My words were unlike what I would usually say, but nonetheless I couldn't hold them in my mouth.
Dark Link trotted away, standing just as tall as me, a smirk in his step.
"Thank you, Donkey Kong," I said, and he grabbed me, wrapping his fluffy arms around my entire being in a happy embrace, grunting in sincere welcome. Before he put me down, he picked Link up too, so that the two of us were squashed in the death-hug.
He lumbered away after setting us down, and I giggled when Link sneezed, sending a flurry of fur into the air. The knight of Hyrule paused for a moment, looking like he was to say something important, but stopped himself and instead, asked, "May I?"
"May you what?" I wondered.
"Your crown is crooked after that hug."
"Oh! Um, yes. You can fix it if that is what you were asking."
Hesitant at first, he tucked away a few loose locks of my hair and straightened the diadem. There was a softness in his eyes I had not witnessed yet since he tried to calm me down in the midst of the chaos two days prior. It made me blush profusely, and despite trying to cover it, I think he took notice, for his cheeks did the same.
"Thank you," I muttered, almost inaudible, and my embarrassment deepened when I noticed a multitude of people still had their attention drawn to us. Clearing my throat awkwardly and breaking his eye contact, I pondered what to do next.
"Want to go grab something to drink?" Link offered. "I heard there is a room around here to just relax."
Indeed there was, for Ganondorf had introduced me to it already, yet we weren't very relaxed. "Sure, Link. I would love to."
A/N: Slow again? Yes, I am. Sorry. I hate to say you may have to expect these intervals of time from now on from me. I'm sorry... I wanted two weeks to be the length, but that's just not possible in my life right now. I haven't even written since Christmas break. Don't worry, there is still two or three chapters in reserve, so the content isn't done yet. But I have 22 credit hours in college and about 14 hours of instrumental practice time I need to accomplish every week AND 8 a.m. classes every single day... I need to focus on my musical career right now, but once summer hits (which is like May for me) I should have a different daily schedule. I will be taking 15 credit hours of summer classes and hopefully find a job along with still keeping up my music skills, but that should give me more time to write.
One last small issue is the slight lack of motivation for this story. I'm just having a bit of plot devising trouble. There is so many scenes I want to write but I need to thread them together better. I don't expect it to be my best writing ever (yes I know it's the only big project I have on this account thus far but I have better fanfics in mind) since it's actually mostly done for my FB page fans and I wanted to post it here as well.
IDK where I was going with that XD but if you follow my FB page you'll get the daily (unedited) snippets of this and get to meet some of my fans. ^.^ The page name is Zelda - Holder of Wisdom. Anywho, sorry for being a lame poster. I'll try to do what I can, but my schooling comes first. When you play like 8 instruments you get kinda busy '^.^ heh.