Kai and the Chaos Emeralds

Chapter 35: Back to Hyrule Castle

Toad eventually woke up. He sat up and saw the other heroes.

"What happened?" Toad asked.

"You were nearly chocked to death and the emerald was stolen," Hazel said.

"I'm sorry," Toad said. "I messed up."

"What are you talking about, Toad?" Kai asked.

"Metaknight told us to let you fight on your own," Toad said. "I…I had a bad feeling. I wanted to make sure that you were alright. I should've trusted you. Then we might still have the emerald."

"No," Kai said. "If you guys didn't come, I might've been killed. Thanks, Toad. You are my best friend."

Later that day, all of the heroes met on the deck of the ship.

"It seems that we have failed," Metaknight said.

"Now that Ganondorf has the Chaos Emeralds, he'll have ultimate power in no time," Sonic said. "But there has to be a way to beat him."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Alakazam said. "Look."

They all looked to the right side of the ship, toward where the Gameon Islands are. A large cloud of Twilight was slowly spreading across the world.

"I estimate that the Gameon Islands will all be engulfed in Twilight by tomorrow morning," Alakazam said. "Not only that, the Twilight will surround the whole world within the week."

"That's not good," Hazel said. "What should we do?"

"The only thing we can do: fight Ganondorf," Kai said. "I don't care how strong he is. I started this adventure. I'm gonna end it."

"Inspiring words like always, Kai," Zero said. "But do we really stand a chance?"

The whole crowd of heroes started to mumble.

"We do if we give it our all!" Kai exclaimed. "If we get to Ganondorf, we can win! I know it! Now who's with me?!"

Toad was the first to raise his hand. One-by-one, the other heroes joined in.

"Then let's go," Kai said.

"Where do we go?" Tails asked. "We don't even know where this Ganondorf guy went."

"There's only one place he would go," Kai said. "It's the one place he's wanted to take over for years. Next stop: Hyrule!"

"Aye aye, captain!" Toad shouted.

Toad then rushed to the ship's steering wheel. He then turned the ship sharply to the right. The ship began to head straight for Hyrule. About halfway there, they reached a dark fog of Twilight.

"Ready, Link?" Kai asked.

"Ready, Kai," Link answered.

Kai and Link both swung their swords at the fog. The fog opened wide, and the ship was able to enter the Twilight Realm. Inside the fog, everything was covered in thick darkness. Midna suddenly rose from Link's shadow.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Midna asked. "I could relax here if we weren't after that jerk, Ganondorf."

"We should immediately head for Hyrule Castle when we get to Hyrule," Kai said.

"That's right," Link said. "That's where Zelda's body is."

"Actually I was going to say that…WHAT?!" Kai exclaimed. "Zelda's BODY?!"

"Is she dead?" Hazel asked.

"No," Midna said. "She transferred her soul into my body to heal me. Once I get my curse lifted, I'll bring her back."

"Anyway," Kai said. "Ganondorf's going to be there. I can feel it."

"It'll be difficult getting there," Metaknight said. "He will have monsters all over Hyrule. We'll have to fight them to get to the castle. Then the fun begins."

"That's why I packed plenty of Mushrooms and Honey Syrup," Hazel said. "We can heal ourselves when we reach the castle."

"Good," Kai said.

"We would be best to rest now," Metaknight said. "We'll be there in about an hour."

"Right," Kai said.

One hour later, the S.S. Mushroom finally reached Hyrule. As soon as they docked on the shore, they began to head toward Hyrule Castle. There were various enemies along the way. The heroes easily took care of these enemies. Soon, they reached the outside of Hyrule Castle. There was a large barrier surrounding the castle.

"This is where I come in," Midna said.

Midna then pulled out the three fused shadows. Using their power, she dispelled the barrier that surrounded the castle. They ran through the inside of the castle until they reached the castle's courtyard. Across the courtyard was a locked door.

"We're at a dead end unless we find the key," Link said.

"Can't you just pick the lock, Serena?" Kai asked.

"It's a magical lock," Serena said. "It would take me all day to unlock that."

"Then we have to find that key," Sonic said. "No problem for the world's fastest hedgehog."

Suddenly, someone snuck up on them. Kai noticed the intruder and turned around. It was the large, green orc with horns that stole Ilia the last time he was in Hyrule.

"King Bulblin!" Link shouted.

"He has a name?" Kai asked.

"I've come to play!" King Bulblin said menacingly.

He pulled out a gigantic axe made of stone.

"This will be fun," Kai said.

Zero stepped forward and got in Kai's way.

"I'll take this guy," Zero said. "He most likely has the key. I'll find it, steal it, and throw it to you so you can escape while I distract him."

"Shouldn't I steal the key?" Serena asked. "I'm the expert thief."

"There might be a more difficult enemy ahead," Zero said. "Your thieving abilities might come in handy then. I'll stay here and take this fool on."

Zero then stepped forward. King Bulblin walked forward and swung his axe. Zero swiftly moved out of the way. Zero threw three shuriken toward him, and Bulblin blocked it. Zero ran up behind him, found the key, stole it, and threw it to Kai. Kai caught the key.

"Now move!" Zero shouted.

"Thanks," Kai said.

Kai unlocked the door, and he, as well as the other heroes, continued on.

"Now it's just you and me," Zero said.

Bulblin charged forward and swung his axe diagonally. Zero jumped backwards and used the Fireball Jutsu. Bulblin was surprised by this, but he managed to block the fire. When the fire was gone, Zero had moved somewhere.

Bulblin looked all around him for Zero, but he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, a hand rose from the ground and grabbed Bulblin's leg. Bulblin just grabbed Zero's hand, pulled him out of the ground, and threw him against the wall.

"So attacking from below won't work," Zero thought. "I'll have to try something different."

Bulblin charged forward and swung his axe. Zero then used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to create three clones of himself. The three clones then charged forward and surrounded Bulblin. They tried fighting him with punches and kicks from different directions, but Bulblin managed to take the hits without flinching. He then grabbed one Zero and swung him around, hitting the other three Zeros. These three Zeros disappeared in clouds of smoke. He then threw the Zero he had against the wall.

Zero painfully got up.

"I'm running low on chakra," Zero said. "If none of those moves work, I have to try something else. It's time to pull it out."

Zero began to concentrate. The seal on his stomach began to glow.

"Chakra Release!" Zero thought.

Suddenly, a large amount of energy began to surround Zero. He then formed a few hand-signs. When he finished this, he pulled his right hand to his waist and formed a fist. All of his chakra formed onto his right hand and turned into a white ball of energy.

"I have one shot," Zero said. "I better make it count!"

Zero charged forward. Bulblin swung his axe vertically, but Zero swiftly moved to the side to dodge. Zero was now within range.

"METEOR BLAST!!!" Zero shouted as he jabbed Bulblin in the stomach.

All of Zero's chakra burst out of his hand as he hit. A large explosion of energy blew Bulblin straight into a wall. Bulblin fell to the ground and passed out. Zero stood up. He then clenched his stomach in pain. The pain he felt was extremely intense.

"Damn!" Zero thought. "The side effects are kicking in. It's a good thing I made that hit."

Zero then fell to his knees. Bulblin stood up.

"No!" Zero thought. "He can't be standing!"

Bulblin put his axe away and helped Zero stand up.

"You…you aren't going to finish me?" Zero asked.

"I follow the strongest side," King Bulblin said. "That is all I've ever known."

"Then train yourself," Zero said. "Go somewhere and train yourself. I'd like to fight you again."

"Yes," King Bulblin said. "May we meet in battle again, ninja."

A giant boar suddenly burst through the walls into the courtyard. King Bulblin hopped onto it and rode away. Zero watched him disappear. He then dug into his backpack, pulled out some Honey Syrup, and drank it.

"It'd probably be best if I don't use any more ninjutsu," Zero thought. "I'll wait outside of the castle for the rest of them. Good-luck, Kai."

Zero then headed for the exit. Meanwhile, the rest of the team continued through the castle. They fought the various twilight enemies that crossed their path.

"This is getting annoying," Toad said as he killed one enemy with a Fira spell.

"How much further?" Hazel asked.

"We can't be far," Kai said.

Metaknight sliced a pair of dark birds. Sonic used his Sonic Wind to destroy two large dark creatures simultaneously. They all continued fighting until the enemies were gone. They then took a break. Everyone was resting except…

"Where's Serena?" Alakazam asked.

"Not sure," Kai answered.

Toad then stood up.

"I'll go look for her," Toad said.

"Me too," Luigi said.

Toad and Luigi then separated from the group. Meanwhile, Serena had found her way into a room filled with treasure. Serena's eyes glowed as she saw that she was surrounded by gold, silver, diamonds, and pearls.

"WOW!!!" Serena exclaimed. "I hit the jackpot!"

Serena then began to shove as much treasure as she could into her backpack. She was about to leave when she saw a sword with a golden handle. The handle was encrusted with jewels. The sword's blade was buried under the gold.

"I bet I could sell that for a pretty penny," Serena happily said.

She walked to the sword. She grabbed the handle and pulled. She couldn't pull the sword out of its spot, however.

"This thing's stubborn," Serena said. "But I'm not leaving without it."

Serena decided to dig through the gold to find out what was holding the sword in its place. She continued to dig until she found that the sword was being held in the mouth of a dragon. This dragon was pitch-black and had spikes all along its spine.

"DAMN!!!" Serena screamed.

The dragon got mad at her, spit out the sword, and charged straight for her. Serena began to run around the room in an attempt to escape the dragon. The dragon spat a large, fireball toward her. Serena barely jumped out of the way. She continued to run until she tripped over a pot. The dragon had her just where he wanted her. He launched one more fireball.

"Blizzara!" Toad shouted.

A large ball of ice hit the fireball and destroyed it. Toad and Luigi had reached Serena.

"Thanks," Serena said.

"Do you have to think of treasure at a time like this?!" Toad shouted.

"I…um…just wanted a souvenir from this adventure," Serena said.

"In other words: you're just being greedy," Toad said.

The dragon interrupted them by launching another fireball. Toad and Serena jumped out of the way. Luigi drew his sword.

"Poltergust!!!" Luigi shouted as he swung his blade.

A large gust of wind shot from where Luigi swung his blade. The gust became as sharp as a blade and hit the dragon, cutting its head off.

"Nice shot," Toad said.

"Thanks," Luigi said.

Luigi then noticed something strange on the ground. It was a small crystal with a strange symbol on it.

"What's this?" Luigi asked.

"It doesn't matter right now," Toad said. "We have to catch up with Kai!"

Serena grabbed her backpack, and the three of them left the room. They eventually reached Kai and the other heroes, who were fighting off a few enemies.

"Where were you?" Hazel asked.

"Nowhere," Serena said. "Just doing a bit of exploring."

"We should be there soon," Alakazam said.

"Right," Kai said. "Let's go!"

They continued through the castle until they reached the exact center of the castle. They stood in front of a large door with a symbol of the Triforce on it.

"Let's go," Kai said.

They opened the door. Inside, they found Ganondorf sitting on a throne. To the right were the seven Chaos Emeralds, which were placed on seven small pillars. To the left was the lifeless body of Princess Zelda.

"Zelda!" Kai shouted.

"Welcome to my castle…Kai Kamai and friends," Ganondorf said calmly.