Chapter Twenty-Four: Link's Secret

YEAR STAR STAR: MONTH MOON: DAY 4

"Come on, Link! Do it faster! Faster!" Patricia shouts, sweating incredibly. It was almost as if she were in a tight situation.

"I know, I know! I'm trying as hard as I can! Don't rush me, please!" Link shouts back. He too, was also sweating. Whatever they were doing, it was quite heated. "Almost there! I can do it! I can DO IT!"

"Faster, Link! Faster! Do it until your face BLEEDS from the pressure! You can handle it!" Patricia screams again.

"Hnnnngh!" Groans Link.

"Rrrrgh!" Moans Patricia.

They were just unlocking the basement door, silly willies.

"YEAAAAAAH!" They both shout freely in the air, and then slapping each other's hands. "Woo! That was awesome! That took me forever to undo!" Lupo smiles. Adelenn began to clap with the Pokemon. "Yaaay! We rock!" Says Adelenn with a beaming grin. "Abso Abso Absol!" Soulola barks cheerfully, jumping up and down in Adelenn's arms.

Geno was rolling with laughter. "You guys… are TOO funny! Stop groaning like that or we'll get caught! HEHEHEHE…" He chuckles, his stomach hurting from his continuous laughing. Mario was not impressed, though. "Guys… we're on an important stealth mission, and we've been doing NOTHING stealthy so far. Compose-a yourselves, people!" Mario exclaims, arms crossed to show that he's losing patience.

"Alright, alright, guys. Let's get serious." Lupo commands, and everyone nods their heads. Vivian takes a look at the Tattle Log, and to her surprise, she finds a small map of the sewers. "So when we pass through this door, there should be a small flight of stairs. I think that's how we're supposed to get to Hazy Maze Cave. Right, Mario?"

"Yeah, that's right. All we need to do is go to the rightmost part of the sewers, and there will be a door with a star on it. When we pass that door, we're as good as gold. Simple, but we have to watch out. Who knows who may have gone in here?" Mario explains.

Link unsheathes his Master Sword. "So we have to be a little careful, huh? Not a problem. Patricia and I are the best at this kind of stuff. I'll make sure we all get through safely." Link grins. "Yeah, me too. This guy's lazier than a fat cat at times. Gotta make sure there's a special someone in his life who'll look after his mistakes." Patricia puffs.

"Oooh! I bet that someone special is you, Patricia!" Adelenn states, pointing at Patricia, who blushes and chuckles in response. "Oh, stop it. It's not like you would know tha-"

"You got to choose, Adelenn. Now it's official that Patricia's my special one." Link says blankly. Patricia stares right back at him. "Wait, what?" Patricia asks. "Adelenn can't just do-"

"Yes I can. Teehee!" Adelenn giggles and walks right into the door. Geno follows right behind her.
"Adelenn! Come back!" He calls, speedily walking through the door. This causes Mario to follow behind him. "Geno, wait!" He says, following Geno.

In a chain reaction, this causes Vivian , Lupo AND RAWR to follow him. "Mario!" They all say in unison, along with RAWR barking. This time, the door is destroyed due to all three of them entering the door at once. "H-hey! I don't think this is stealthy at all!" Jaraberutzu exclaims, following the other seven.

Lastly, there was Link, Patricia and Soulola. Soulola was looking at Patricia, and occasionally barking. "Sol." She murmurs, staring at Patricia. Patricia stares back. "…What? Did I do something to you?" Patricia growls, and curls up her fists in frustration. "Being stared down by a Pokémon is REALLY making me feel uncomfortable, Hun." She says to Link. He simply pats Soulola on the head, making her growl slowly and affectionately.

"Hmm… I wonder why. Soulola doesn't act like that with me. She even gives me bite-kisses!" Link smiles, completely absorbed in petting her. "Sooooool…" She says, nudging her nose against Link's chest. "We should get going though. We'll end up getting lost."

Link runs towards the door, holding Soulola. Patricia slowly follows behind them, checking every corner. "I don't like how silent this place is. Link seems too excited about it, though. Better make sure nobody gets hurt." She mutters to herself, pulling out her Mighty Shot.

When the three enter the door, there are two paths. One that leads to a sliding door with a star on it. The other leads to a hallway. Link and Patricia head down the small flight of stairs, like Vivian said. They come across a hallway filled with Marble tiles, and it leads to a wooden door. Link opens it and peers through.

"Did the guys go through here?" He wonders, unsheathing his Master Sword. He couldn't take any chances, so he goes in whilst armed. When he takes a peek, he can see the other seven standing right in front of the sewers. "There they are!" Link smiles, and starts running to them.

However, Adelenn stops him dead in his tracks by using her arms. "SHHHHHH. Something's moving around here." Adelenn whispers quietly, trying not to make a sound. Link immediately stops moving. "What is it?" He asks quietly.

The instant he asks, he hears a wall crashing down. Following that sound was the groan of a seemingly dead being. "Uuuuuuuuuuurgh…" It said, slamming into other wall. It breaks with incredible ease. The wall was closer than the last time.

For a moment, Link shivers. "Oh no. Not that thing. Anything but that thing. PLEASE tell me it isn't that." He says, tugging on his own hat. Everyone else was confused. "What's the matter, Link? You're getting pale." Jaraberutzu exclaims. "Aww, maybe you need a little bit of warmth. C'mere, you!" She continues to hug him, but it doesn't make him feel any better.

"It's Dead Hand, isn't it, Mario?" Link assumes.

Even Mario jumps at this. "Mama Mia…" He whispers sadly. He's seen Dead Hand before. One time, he was exploring with Link when they met Dead Hand. It was Link's fifth time seeing it, and nearly every time, it would suck the life out his partner. He was scared that anyone would get hurt from it again.

Dead Hand is a monster from Hyrule, created by Ganondorf. Dead Hand does not have arms on his actual body. They appear from the floor, and are called Infinite Hands for the reason being that they will regrow. The only way to kill Dead Hand is to attack the main body itself, but its endurance is so high that it is nearly impossible to kill it. Link has fought it five separate times, and has yet to kill it.

"Absol." Soulola barks nervously, trying to get Link's attention. "Yeah, I know, Soulola. That thing IS scary. I should make sure that everyone's safe from it." He rubs Soulola's head, and gives her to Patricia. "Hold her for a sec while I finish this." He explains.

"Wait, didn't you say you couldn't defeat it before?" Mario says. Link shakes his head. "That was a year ago. Three months before I became an S-Tier. Before I was able to stand a chance against anyone. Before Malon was… hurt…" He clenches his teeth and fists. He knows that in the past, he wasn't able to fight well. Everything changed in such a small amount of time.

He walks up to Dead Hand, and sees its frightening image once again.

It was very pale. Spots of blood covered its entire body, and it was oozing out of its teeth as well. Its hands were gone, and its torso was inside of the ground.

Soon enough, it notices Link. "Uuuuuuhuhuuuurg." It chuckles, seeing Link's face once more, laughing. Dead Hand was amused, because the last time it met Link, it killed one of the people from Kakariko Village, a small village in Hyrule. A small boy who fell into the well of the village, and never came back.

"What's so funny? You're about to fight me again. The man that's been pestering you for months. Ganondorf may have freed you from control, but that doesn't mean we're on equal terms with each other! I'm gonna make sure that you don't hurt anyone else." Link shouts proudly, pointing his Master Sword directly at Dead Hand.

"Hurrrg." It shouts.

From the wall, an enormous arm pops out and tries to grab Link from behind. It was seemingly going at a blinding pace. However, it was too slow and too loud for Link. Link slices it once and it rips to shreds, leaving nothing behind.

"…Hmph. I thought you were better than that." Link exclaims. Dead Hand was in fact shocked to see that Link defeated his hand in one slice. "Go get 'em, Link!" Patricia shouts from afar. "Lemme at 'im! Lemme AT 'im!" Adelenn squeals, trying to help Link, but is restrained by Jaraberutzu. "This is Link's fight. He told us to stay out of it!" She explains. Adelenn still attempts to break free without hurting Jaraberutzu.

Link pulls a Boomerang out of his pocket. Dead Hand shoots multiple arms at him at once. Link uses this opportunity to throw his Boomerang at all of them. They end up becoming stunned, allowing Link to jump on them and attack Dead Hand directly.

"See how you like this!" Link shouts, and shoots Din's Fire at it from his mouth. Dead Hand is quite flammable since he is made of rotting flesh. "HRUUU! UUUURG!" It screams, writhing in pain. It retreats into the sewer floors, but it was not done fighting Link.

"Strange, Mario… I don't see this thing in the Tattle Log at all. I wonder why?" Vivian asks. Mario takes a look at the Tattle Log. "Maybe because it's only for beings in the Mushroom Kingdom. It shouldn't have much about Hyrule in it. Other books might have information about Dead Hand, though." Mario explains. Vivian smiles and closes the book. "Cool. Let's hope that Link can finish this guy off." Vivian replies.

"Oh, he'll win, alright. He hasn't even begun to get serious. Look at how slow he's moving." Geno smirks.

However, he wasn't moving that slow to begin with. It was even hard for Adelenn to pick up his movements. Adelenn has enhanced animalistic senses, including sight and hearing. This means that her senses are far better than animals. Not being able to track Link very well indicates that he is moving at a terrifying speed. "Hey! Hit him in the head, Link!" Adelenn shouts.

Link looks behind him to see Adelenn guiding him through the battle. "Hey, that's not a bad idea! I'll try it!" He takes Adelenn's advice and goes straight for Dead Hand's head.

No good. Dead Hand blocks with several arms, making it impossible to attack its head. Link uses his attack to bounce back onto the floor safely. "Darn. I thought he'd do something like that. Guess it's time to use THIS baby." He smiles while pulling out his Longshot. He presses the button on it, and latches onto one of Dead Hand's Infinite Hands. As if he was on a rope, he swings across the sky, hooking himself on to several different platforms before looking for a place to strike Dead Hand.

'He's taking extra precaution. He won't let me get behind him, and he keeps trying to pressure me with his Infinite Hands. Burning him doesn't do much either… how can I defeat him without using half of my speed and power?' Link thinks to himself. He was not even at 30%, and was still putting up an equal fight with Dead Hand. However, he did not want to resort to brute strength and skill just yet. It would be too easy.

"It is kinda boring though. I want to see Link fight someone with all of his might." Lupo frowns, crossing her arms. Vivian couldn't agree more, and does the same thing. Mario chuckles. "If that happens, we could get caught in some dangerous blows. Mama Mia!" He says.

Link proceeds to trick Dead Hand into believing that Link would go into another direction. He throws his Boomerang to the side, not hitting Dead Hand at all. It follows the Boomerang, thinking that Link is moving in that direction. However, Link comes in close and slices him in the head.

Dead Hand shrieks tremendously. The sheer pain of being attacked by the Master Sword was unbearable, as its light pierces through Dead Hand like butter. He begins to retreat back into the floor, and spawns many more hands to grab Link. He jumps high, and bounces off of the walls to avoid contacting the Infinite Hands.

He then pulls a match from his tunic. With his left hand, he takes out a giant blue sphere. It had a fuse on the top, so it was most likely a bomb. Link lights the match, and hits the fuse with it. It begins to spark.

"I've seen this trick way too many times." He sighs, and throws the bomb right at the floor. It just lays there for a moment, but Link moves out of the way quickly, as fast as lightning.

"TAKE COVER! THIS ONE'S GONNA BE BIG!" Link commands the crew by waving his hand down, and they immediately listen. They weren't expecting Link to use a bomb so quickly. Mario knows how dangerous they are.

The bomb then explodes into many pieces, causing an explosion that shook the entire castle. The walls were crumbling, and the other heroes had to move into safety. They were safe at a dead end. More importantly, however…

Dead Hand resurfaces from the ground, screaming in pain once more. "HUURRUUUUG! REAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" It shouts into the air, trying to cover its eyes with its dismembered arms.

"Beautiful opening." Link smirks.

Instead of immediately going for Dead Hand, Link decides to hold the Master Sword by its blade. "Okay, I've never tried this before. Let's see how it goes." Link says to himself. He then holds his arm back.

He throws the Master Sword right into Dead Hand's skull.

"HRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The sheer impact of the sword impaling Dead Hand sent it through the sewer walls. Rocks were impaled into it, and it screamed even louder. There was absolutely no way that the Toad guards could not hear it.

Yet, they still ignore it. "Hey, Nif T. Did you hear that?" Says a Toad in the basement, inside of a small workshop. Nif T. shakes his head. "No… go finish up your homework." Nif. T responds. The other Toad goes back into his work.

Insanely enough, Dead Hand was still withering, trying to escape its humiliation and defeat. It tries to claw its way out, but can't escape.

Link takes this opportunity to slowly take the Master Sword out of Dead Hand's head, and brings the sword to its neck. This made it scream even more.

"HRRRRAAAAAA-"

"SHUT UP!" Link shouts with all of his might. In an instant, he released his mana to 50% power, shaking the very ground itself. It was easily causing a Magnitude 8 Earthquake within the area.

Dead Hand stops moaning. It doesn't even move. It just stares at Link blankly.

"Whoa… Link's scary, Geno. He told a monster to be quiet, and it did!" Adelenn silently claps her hands together. Geno wouldn't move. "W-what… That was… Link?" Geno turns to Mario. Mario smiles. "Yep. I told you he was strong. But that wasn't all of it…"

"That was Link at half-power."

Even Patricia turns her head around to face Mario. "Well, duuuuh! He's my man! Of course he's strong. He's SUPPOSED to be strong!" She grins, looking back at Link's painfully one-sided battle. "Sool." Soulola frowns. She was upset that Link was upset. She claws at him, trying to grab his attention. "Rawr." RAWR was also upset for the same reason.

Link raises his sword to deal the finishing blow. Even at half-power, he knew that it was enough to end Dead Hand.

Suddenly, Link catches a glimpse of Soulola clawing for him. He clenches his arms in frustration. Slowly, he sheathes the Master Sword, and walks up to her. He grabs her head, and rests his head upon hers. "Soulola, baby. I didn't wanna make you this upset from watching me fight." He frowns. "Sorry."

"Sol. Absol, Absol." She barks. Link looks up at her. "Oh, so you trust me? Are you sure that you're okay with this?" Link asks, and she nods back. "Sol!" She smiles, biting Link's nose gently. Link eventually smiles back. "Thanks, Soulola. You're the best." He says.

Dead Hand was watching Link. It was laughing. Laughing at the fact that Link had not finished it off just yet. Its laugh was piercing, and sounds like metal screeching. After a few seconds, it lays its head down. It suddenly turns into a black puff of smoke, and vanishes.

"Well, I guess it was already dead." Link says. He picks his head up to hear if anyone was coming downstairs. "Strange… nobody's coming down here."

"Wow, Link. Where did you learn to fight like that? I've never seen anyone fight so clever in my life." Vivian wonders. She was envious of Link. She wanted to be able to fight just like him. Link was hesitant to answer. "Uh… well, errr, not sure if I wanna tell you that. Trade Secret."

"Don't give me that 'trade secret' junk! Just tell me!" Patricia punches his shoulder. Link sighs deeply. "Well, I guess I have no other choice…" He finally agrees. Mario was quite interested to hear what he was going to say. "Hmm?" He says.

"I was… I was trained by Rosalina. There, I said it. Are you guys happy?" He looks to the floor next to him, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

Mario was stunned. Geno was stunned. Almost all of them were stunned. "ROSALINA!?" Mario asks with confusion. "Aunt Rosa taught you how to fight like a man!? But she's a girl! I thought girls learn to fight and win like girls!" Adelenn wonders.

Link laughs. "Hehe, it doesn't work like that, Adelenn." He begins. "However, training with her was… awkward. At first, I had to do a lot of helping around her observatory, like feeding the Lumas while fending off Rosalina herself. She'd attack me whenever she felt like it, even during sleep! She was also always on top of me, so I had to get her off of me, even though she was so heavy! She also gave me this weird milk. She said it wasn't from cows. I wonder what it was from…"

"Space Cows!? Space Cows EXIST! I KNEW IT! Aunt Rosa was right about the Space Cows!" Adelenn suggests. Patricia nods. "Yep. Definitely some Space Cows." She agrees. "Space Cows have tasty milk." Geno adds. "Whoa. Space Cows. Space Beef… Mmmmm…" Lupo daydreams about eating Space Steak. Link smiles. "It tasted good for something that wasn't cow's milk. It tasted like home…"

"However, I should tell you guys about how it even started. It's kind of a long story."

"A year ago, while I was still a D-Rank in Super Smash Brothers, I was starting to begin feeling desperate for the power to protect my loved ones. After what happened to Malon, I was looking for someone in the guild hall that could make me better. However, I wasn't warming up to everybody well at first. Heh, not even Meta Knight would talk to me." He begins. "It was there that I was about to give up. Master Hand was busy, and said that he was sorry that he couldn't teach me at the moment. I had no friends besides Mario, but you were busy fighting Antasma."

"As usual, I went to get milk to drink my problems away. Of course it wasn't Chateau Romani; I was too young for that. It was there that I met a new person there. You guessed it; it was Rosalina, who was also drinking milk. She seemed powerful, so I went to ask her. When I did, she seemed startled at my appearance. I was dirty, battered up, and lacked enough training, even though I hadn't lost a fight yet."

Everybody began to sit down to continue listening to Link's story, even Link himself.

"She look me in the eyes a lot. She always smiles at me, and looks like she has something to confess to me. She's even like that now. Her training was also very positive. Instead of trying to break me, her training consisted of things that would reinforce my spirit, like meditating and basic, yet effective exercise. Definitely Yoga."

"It got worse a few days later." He laughs. "She then stopped being soft on me, and started having battles with me DURING exercise. She was immensely powerful. Even looking at me could've caused me to pass out. I quickly overcame it, and I was able to fight her with all of my might. As of then, she's still at least six times as strong as I was, but my technique and power have increased over time. I should be half as strong as she is by now."

Everybody was in confusion. Link and Rosalina haven't shown much interaction with each other up until now. "But… whoa. I can't even begin to think of what kind of training it must have been to make you from a D-Tier to an S-Tier in three months. That shouldn't even be possible." Lupo says. Link chuckles and scratches his head. "Hehe, Master Hand promoted me as soon as I took the championship three times in a row. He acknowledged my skill… and here I am today. Still alive and breathing."

"Also, whenever I was asleep, I'd always feel something soft and smooth run across my forehead. I thought it was someone's lips, but Rosalina said it was the Lumas that would play around while I was asleep, since their heads are super soft as well." He adds. Mario lowers his eyes. "Oh, really?" He asks. Link nods his head.

Soon enough, somebody catches on to the racket that was made. "Hey! Who's down there? Is it one of you stupid bunnies again!? Get out of there!" Shouts a Toad Bodyguard. His footsteps were loud, echoing as he walks down the basement steps.

Everybody jumps up in a panic. "Mama Mia! We gotta get out of here, guys! Let's-a go!" He immediately says, grabbing the closest person to him, which was Vivian. With her, he follows the trail towards a small door with a star symbol on it. The other heroes follow shortly behind, and peer through the door.

"Is anyone in there?" Jaraberutzu asks. Mario shakes his head. "Nope. Coast is clear as day." He says. "Not a Toad in sight. Let's get in here before we get spotted." Lupo says. They all agree to enter one by one, making sure nobody was spying on them.

The room was a perfect cube. Two stairways led to a circular hole, filled with a liquid. Surprisingly, it shines like metal. No other liquids were this color. It was definitely of magical influence.

The heroes gather around this hole, and investigate it. "What's this, Mario? I've never seen this before." Geno asks. "Interesting… It looks as if this is a gateway or a… portal of some sort."

"No sweat. It is a portal. It's a portal to the cave right behind the waterfall outside of the castle. It's the only way to get inside through the castle." Mario explains. "It's also one of the more discreet ways to enter besides jumping right into the waterfall. I do it all the time when I want to go to the Hazy Maze Cave."

Link was petting Soulola, who was telling him what they should do. "So Sol, Absol. Absol Ab, Sol-Ab." Soulola begins. "Sol Sool. Absol?"

"I get it. I won't blow up the place. Jeez." Link agrees to Soulola, who smiles and gives him a bite-kiss on the nose. "Rawrrrr. Raw Rawr." RAWR says, agreeing with Soulola. Link rolls his eyes. "Yeah, RAWR. I know. She JUST told me that. Thank you very much for clarifying that." He replies.

"It's kinda weird that nobody's here… Wouldn't a place like this be under heavy guard or something?" Patricia wonders, looking back at the door. "Maybe it was Wario who was supposed to guard this place. He seems like the only powerful guy here." Geno adds.

"Whatever the matter is, we should go now. We don't want those Toads to catch us." Mario finishes up, and throws himself into the metallic liquid. "Let's-a go, paisanos!" He shouts as he disappears into the fluid.

"Hey, Mario! Wait for us!" Vivian and Lupo shout, jumping right after him (Vivian has no legs, so she cannot jump). "Oh, those guys! They jumped in, Geno! Let's go!" Adelenn takes Geno's arm and immediately throws him into the fluid. "ADELEEEEEEENN!" He growls as he disappears into the fluid as well. "Yipee!" Adelenn shouts as she slowly glides into the fluid.

Jaraberutzu, while Patricia wasn't looking, swipes a kiss from Link and disappears into the fluid as well. "Oh, well… that was unexpected." He says. Patricia looks at Link with an eyebrow raised. "What was?" She asks. "Oh, nothing. Jaraberutzu acts weird sometimes. Let's take the Pokémon through." He replies, wiping red lipstick off of his mouth.

RAWR decides to jump in, and Link picks up Soulola. He nuzzles his nose into Soulola's side, and makes her giggle. "We're gonna go in there, get the Crystal Sun, and then I'll get you a nice piece of steak, okay? We can even share it!" Link smiles. Soulola likes the idea, and barks happily. "Absol, Absol!" She says.

Soon enough, Patricia and Link (along with Soulola) jump into the metallic fluid. "Thanks, Rosalina. You helped me get this far." Link smiles, as he submerges into the Hazy Maze Cave with Patricia.

IN THE OBSERVATORY…

"Ah…ACHOO!" Sneezes poor Rosalina. In the past few minutes, she's been sneezing wildly. "Oh… oh my. Mucus is interesting. Why did I share such a trait with other beings of life? It is ruining this couch. Polari! Please hand me the napkins in the kitchen! My nose is about to rupture from mucus!" Immediately, Polari flies to the Kitchen and retrieves the napkins. Rosalina takes one and wipes the mucus off of her hands and nose. "Thank you, my dear." She smiles, blowing her nose.

'Someone was talking about me… not many know of my existence…' Rosalina thinks. 'I can only guess that it is Mario, Link, Adelenn, Geno and their friends. Their wonderful, beautiful friends. They will be safe… I know it. But I fear for Adelenn and Link especially…'

'As of now, anything that brings Adelenn into a severe emotion such as anger or sorrow… Link will completely lose it… and even worse is… if that is not what happens…'

'The invoking of Demon Queen will begin.'

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR END.