Pit lowered his blades for now, but he kept them ready for now.
He let his gaze sweep across the room, which was littered with the unmoving bodies of countless monsters. It had been an intense battle, but for now, they were the victors.
"There's plenty more where those came from," Ike grumbled, his chest heaving. "I doubt Medusa will let us leave just like that."
"Then we must make her realize the errors of her ways," Pit said in a serious voice. "Come, we have to find her lair."
"You really wanna go further down into the Underworld?" Roy asked in disbelief.
"I'm not gonna let Medusa get away with this," Pit insisted. "Besides, why shouldn't we free this corner of Nintendopia from her reign, while we're at it?"
The three swordsmen looked at each other in surprise, then Marth grinned. "Well, I can't argue with that logic. Lead the way, sir!" And he saluted in front of his 'commander'. After a few seconds, the other two copied him.
Pit gave them a thankful nod, then they left the dungeon and went back to the Underworld's main shaft, where they could hear the sounds of another battle.
"Sounds like Link and Charizard," Roy said after hearing the Pokémon Dragon's angry roar. "They always have to be the center of attention, do they? Should we hurry and see if they need our help?"
"Nah," Pit smirked. "I think they'll do fine by themselves."
And indeed, when they reached the central shaft, Link just lowered his sword and wiped his sweaty brow, while Charizard chased off a few Eggplant Wizards that ran into a nearby tunnel.
"Well done, you two!" Pit said as he gave Link a pat on the back.
"Well, Medusa doesn't exactly seem to surround herself with the smartest monsters… you still wanna go find her?"
"Of course I do. But we might be able to find her faster than I thought." He gestured at the tunnel through which the Eggplant Wizards had fled. "My guess is that they are on their way to report to their queen… which means that Medusa's lair must be through here."
"All right, you're the leader! Lead the way!" Link shrugged.
"Follow me!" Pit said, and the others followed him through the dark tunnel.
Finally, they reached the end of the tunnel, and a passage that was modeled after Medusa's image… or rather, like a monster version of her image. The gaping mouth with the wicked teeth was the entrance to the next cavern. When they went through, they found themselves within a huge cavern that was illuminated with hundreds of candelabras. Stone and marble statues of various monsters were aligned at the walls, and at the other end, a massive throne was standing, on which Medusa herself was sitting.
The mistress of the Underworld had a beautiful figure, sure, but you could only feel pity with her that some cruel joke of nature had given her snakes instead of hair. Medusa was dressed in an elaborate robe that was adorned with glowing runes. Pit expected her to attack them on sight, but he was surprised to see that Medusa's eyes were filled with… fear.
She didn't believe any boy to be so strong that he managed to overcome all dangers of the Underworld and to face her in her own chambers.
And when Pit carefully approached her throne, she threw herself down on the floor and whispered: "My lord and master, you are the most powerful creature in Nintendopia! I was a fool to believe that I could stand up against your splendor. Palutena did well to choose you as her champion. I surrender myself to you, and if you desire to judge myself, I will accept any punishment. But if you are willing to take me as your slave, I will serve you until the days of my end."
"Stand up, Medusa!" Pit said. He wanted to show her no mercy, as he knew her to be a ruthless demon queen, but he liked what he heard from her. If she really underestimated his strength, and she willingly surrendered herself to him, now that he confronted her within her own chambers, then he should spare her life. Maybe she really was honest.
Medusa stood up and waited for his judgement.
Pit stared at her. "Are you willing to listen to every of my orders, no matter how difficult it will be for you to follow them, without any complaints?"
"I will, my Master!" Medusa said meekly. "And you will see that the two of us can do anything if we combine my magics with your might."
Roy scratched the side of his head. "Something seems fishy here…" he grumbled. "Why should the all-powerful mistress of the Underworld surrender to us just like that? Sorry, Pit, but I can't really say that I buy the image of the scared, defeated opponent that immediately volunteers to be your new servant."
"I am willing to believe her for now," Pit stated. "Every living beings deserves a second chance, and if I manage to make Medusa regret her ways, it will only be for the best. Palutena would want the same, I'm sure. Speaking of which, you will accompany us to the Palace in the Sky, where I plan to meet up with Palutena."
For a while, Medusa seemed very surprised and her eyes seemed to glow red for an instance, but as soon as Pit glared at her, she lowered her head and said: "I will comply, my Master!"
Pit nodded. "Good. Now, let's get back to the others."
They left Medusa's inner chambers and travelled back up to the surface. While they were walking along the bridges of the central shaft, no monster or demon attacked them. In fact, they didn't see a single monster on their way back up.
"Where are your servants?" Link asked. "It's kinda strange that they don't try to free you…"
"I am still the mistress of the Underworld, Hylian warrior," Medusa explained. "And I can control my servants from wherever I am. When I want them to stay out of sight and not attack us, they will comply."
"What will they all do while you're gone?" Pit asked.
"Nothing you don't want them to do," Medusa said with a short bow. "From now on, I won't do anything without your approval, my lord!"
That seemed to please Pit, but Link was eyeing the demon queen suspiciously.
They reached the exit and stepped out into the Piranha Forest. The snapping plants instantly became tame when Medusa waved her hand.
"We must try to catch up with the others," Pit said.
"They're not too far from here," Medusa explained. "I was trying to mislead them a bit."
"For the last time," Pit said.
"For the last time, Master!" Medusa nodded. "But how do you plan on going after them? On foot, through this forest?"
"Charizard will take us," Pit decided. "He is strong enough to carry three of us. Ike, you, Marth and Roy will follow us on foot."
The three swordsmen nodded, but Charizard glared at the demon queen with fiery eyes. "I am strong enough to carry three persons," he growled. "But I won't carry that hag on my back!"
"You will do it, because I want you to do it!" Pit said sternly.
Charizard still didn't want to comply, but when he looked at Link, the Hylian hero gave him a short nod, and reluctantly, he allowed them to sit on his back?"
"Where to?" he asked.
"Just fly straight ahead," Medusa said.
"What was that?" Charizard snarled. "I'm afraid I couldn't quite understand you…"
"Straight ahead, and stop fooling around, you heard her perfectly fine!" Pit shouted angrily.
"Just do it," Link whispered, and Charizard complied.
----
About half an hour later, they landed next to the huge camp. A large number of campfires were burning in the night, and the number of followers seemed to have increased.
Bounty hunter Samus Aran was the first one to notice Pit and the others, and she welcomed them back, even if she was eyeing Medusa carefully. Right now, she was once again wearing what she called her 'Zero Suit'.
"How many newcomers did arrive while I was away?" Pit asked her.
"Well, we weren't really able to count them all, but I'm pretty sure that by now, there are more than thousands of people following you. By the way, there's something else I wanted to tell you: Just a short time ago, we saw how five of those Eggplant Wizards arrived. But they didn't attack anyone and they stayed out of the camp, so we decided to leave them in peace for now. They were also carrying what looked like a sedan chair."
Pit looked at Medusa.
"They are my carriers," Medusa explained. "After you accepted me as your slave, I told them to go ahead and wait for me near the camp of your followers. It is the most pleasant way to travel, if you allow it."
"Very well, as long as you remember to tell me about all of your decisions from now on. Also, if you want them to do anything besides carrying you, tell me about it, got it?"
Medusa bowed her head, but Link frowned. "I don't like this…" he murmured.
"Now what's wrong?" Pit sighed.
"Don't you think it's strange that those wizards managed to get here in such a short amount of time, while we flew on Charizard's back? She must have sent here before we arrived in her throne room, which means she has planned all of this."
"Oh, for the sake of… Link, all of your worrying is making me sick! Stop questioning me already! I won against Medusa fair and square, or do you want to tell me that I could have never won by myself?"
Link and Charizard looked at each other in surprise. Link opened his mouth to say something else, but Pit didn't let him: "Stop it! Shut up and leave me alone! If you two don't like what I'm doing, then leave and don't bother me anymore! I can't take it anymore!"
And he crossed his arms and turned his back to Link and Charizard, in front of all their followers. Samus and the others stared at the scene in surprise.
For a while, Link just stood there and looked at the young angel. He waited, but as Pit didn't seem to turn back to look at him, he just turned around and left. Charizard followed him.
Medusa smiled.
But by now, Pit had completely forgotten that he had ever been a small, weak child in his own world.