The Linkcracker
Act I
It was the week before Christmas, and Chloe Carmichael was riding home in her dad's car after the whole family, and their uncle Klaus (human form) watched her ballet class perform Swan Lake.
"That play was terrific honey." Mrs. Carmichael complimented her daughter. "You really did a nice job." Chloe smiled to herself.
"Thanks." She said.
"I flew in a week early from Berlin." Klaus stated. "Just for this little girl's wundarbar performance. Und I'm glad I did." He looked at Chloe. "Thanks for inviting me, kind"
"Anytime, Uncle."
"I can't believe you all liked that snore fest." Tuff said. "It was just music. No dialogue whatsoever! I didn't even know what happened."
"Tuff," Mr. Carmichael warned. "Be nice."
"I am, Dad. It was boring. I'm just being honest. You guys hated it, I'm sure you're just lying to her because you're our parents, and you have to be supportive no matter what."
"That's not true, sweetie" Mrs. Carmichael answered. "It was really good, and that's the honest truth, right, Clark?" Her husband nodded through the rearview mirror.
"Right you are, hon, and you better shape up, son." Tuff gave out a loud sigh.
"Don't listen to your brother." Klaus told Chloe. "It's just a hateful comment. They might be ugly at times, but you can't let them get you down. Just be you. And don't forget it."
"I won't."
"Good."
"Hey, kiddo." Klaus said to Chloe as they all were decorating the Christmas tree. Chloe looked at him.
"Yes?" She asked. What is it?"
"I know Christmas is a week away, but I want to give this to you early." He produced a gift from his back, and gave it to her. Chloe smiled from ear to ear.
"Thanks!" She began to unwrap it.
"Hey!" Tuff complained. "No fair! Mom, Dad, why can't I open up my presents early?"
"Because, son," Mr. Carmichael began. "You weren't in a dazzling show to make Uncle Klaus so proud." Tuff scowled at him. He then saw his sister take out a wooden Link nutcracker. A wooden shield was on its back.
"Like it?" Klaus asked. "It's a nutcracker. I made him myself in my garage back home." Chloe made the mouth, legs, and arms go up and down by pulling the strings.
"I love it!" She noticed the sheath with the little sword in it. "He also has a little sword and shield; how cute!"
"What's a nutcracker?" Tuff wanted to know.
"Well, it does what the name applies." Klaus answered. "It cracks nuts in its mouth."
"That's it? Talk about a boring gift."
"Tuff!" The mom scolded.
"It's all right, mom." Chloe assured her, "It's just a hateful comment. I won't let that put me down." Klaus smiled as she looked at him. He looked at Tuff.
"You better be nice, young man." He cautioned. "Otherwise, Krampus will come."
"No he won't." Tuff responded. "He's made up to scare bad kids into being good. Now Santa Claus, he's the real deal."
"Und Santa Klaus!" Klaus added. "He's real too." The kids laughed.
"Oh, Uncle!" Chloe stated. "You are so funny sometimes." Klaus took a bow, which made Chloe laughed even harder.
"Well, I try my best."
That night, as everyone was sleeping, Tuff crept downstairs. He went into the kitchen, got a nut, and went to the nutcracker standing under the tree. He picked him up.
Now, let's see if you really work. Tuff thought to himself. He pulled on the mouth string, and put the nut between it. He pulled on it again…and again and again. Come on, you nut! Unfortunately, he pulled on it too much that the jaw broke. His eyes widened. Uh-oh! He thought about hiding it under the rug beneath the tree, when he heard Chloe's scream.
"What have you done?!" She commanded to know as she ran down, and snatched the broken nutcracker from her brother. "You broke it!"
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean too. It was an accident; I swear!" The parents and uncle then came down, all looking tired.
"What's happening, sweetie?" Her mother wanted to know with a yawn.
"Yeah!" Her father put in. "I was dreaming that your mother and I discovered rare green and pink birds." Chloe looked at her parents.
"Tuff broke the gift that Uncle Klaus gave to me." She told them.
"And I told her I was sorry, and it was an accident." Chloe looked at her brother.
"Well, 'sorry,' and 'it was an accident' doesn't fix it does it?"
"What is your problem?!"
"Oh, I don't know! Maybe, Uncle Klaus made it with his own two hands. It was special."
"Well, maybe you can get a new one from a store, or ask Santa. Christmas is only a week away"
"But, it won't be hand-made. I wanted it to be made out of love."
"It will. If you go to a craft store maybe, and I'm sure the person that made it will love you for playing with it."
"I WANT MY UNCLE'S!" She realized she yelled, and calmed down. "Sorry."
"Tuff," Mrs. Carmichael said to her son. "I think it's time for bed. You too, Chloe."
"But, I'll be going to bed angry, and I don't want to do that."
"Then pretend you're not angry." Mr. Carmichael said. "It'll be easy. Now, I can't wait to see how that dream of mine ends." The parents went upstairs. Tuff stayed behind.
"Tuff!" Hollered Mrs. Carmichael.
"Coming!" Tuff called up, and then went upstairs. Klaus watched as Chloe sat on the chair, and cried. He came down.
"I can fix him." He said. Chloe looked at him.
"You can?"
"Ja, it' no problem. Just a broken jaw. I just need to screw it back on, then, it'll be good as new."
"Okay." She gave Klaus the nutcracker. She wiped away a tear. "Sorry."
"No, no, no, don't be. It's okay. There's nothing wrong. When you're sad, sometimes, you just got to let it all out."
"It's just he's always breaking my stuff, and I'm always nice to him, but I had enough. I'm just sick and tired of it, so I had to lash out. Am I a bad sister?"
"Nein, you're the greatest sister he ever had, granted his only, but still the greatest. It's nice to let your feelings be heard. You two look at things differently."
"He needs to learn how to respect that."
"He will. Now, why don't you go to bed? By the time you wake up, Link here, will be ready for you."
"You're sure you want to stay up fixing it? I mean, it's…" She looked at the wall clock. It told her that it was after midnight. "It's after midnight."
"I'll stay up. Like I said before, it's an easy fix. It won't take long. Go to bed before your mom or dad realizes you're up."
"Okay. Love you." They hugged.
"Love you." She then went upstairs as Klaus went for his tools to fix Link.
The next morning, Chloe raced downstairs when she saw the fixed nutcracker. She held it in her hands.
"I told you I'd have it ready for you in the morning." Klaus said from behind her. "Und I stayed true to my word." Chloe hugged him again. "Oh, and I forgot to tell you something."
"What?" Chloe wanted to know.
"This nutcracker comes to life, but only at night. It didn't last night, because, it was broken"
"How do you know? Did you see it come to life?"
"Because I sprinkled magic stuff on it, und I know because, well, I made it. PS, I may have gone an adventure or two with it."
"You did not!" Klaus nodded his head.
"But, I did."
"You aren't lying to me to make it more magical to a kid like me?" Klaus shook his head.
"I'll never do that." He changed the subject. "Now, after breakfast, we can make a snowman, go sledding, and have some wintertime fun. How does that sound?"
"Okay. Tonight, I'm going to go on an adventure with the Linkcracker."
"Be my guest. Just don't stay up too late."
"I won't."
That night when everyone was sleeping, it was Chloe's turn to creep downstairs She looked at the nutcracker; it was as lifeless as ever. Chloe sighed sadly. Knew it was too good to be true.
She was about to go upstairs when she heard something. She gasped to herself. It was Link! Only he was life-size! She saw him leap off the table. She heard a growling as well, only, it wasn't from Link. She looked around, and gasped again. It was a Rattata! She laughed lamely.
"Nice Rattata! Who's a good Rattata? You are!" The rat Pokémon wasn't amused.
"Rattata!" It screamed as it charged with a Quick Attack. Chloe dodged by running away, with the Rattata chasing her.
"What do you want with me?!" She wanted to know as she ran.
She ran until she reached a dead end. She looked back at the Pokémon. It screamed at her again, and went for a Hyper Fang. Chloe, terrified, defended herself.
She heard it scream again, but this time in pain. She unshielded herself to see her saver was the Linkcracker who slashed it away with his sword. The rat hit his head on the bark of the Christmas tree.
"I'll protect you, little girl!" Link said. "Just stay behind me, and everything will be fine!" The Rattata got back up, and groweled at Link. Link got ready to fight back.
"You will not get this young lass as long as I'm around; you hear me? Never!" The Rattata screamed again as it charged at him. "If it's a fight you want; it's a fight you get!" He ran towards the Pokémon.
Chloe watched as the battle enfolded before her very eyes, not believing that it was happening in her own living room. She cheered when it was over with.
Link had won! But her happiness was short lived as she saw the Rattata get up, and leapt at him for Hyper Fang.
"Look out!" She warned. Link looked back, and threw his shield like a boomerang at the Rattata. Rattata went soaring, and hit the wall. It got up, and hissed, and ran off, giving up. Link put his caught the shield, and put it away behind him, and looked at an impressed Chloe.
"Are you okay?" He wanted to know. "That Rattata didn't hurt you, did he?" Chloe shook her head.
"That was the best thing I ever saw!" She told Link. Link bowed.
"Why, thank you, milady! I only do it to impress, and the fact that you were in danger."
"Thanks for saving my life. My uncle told me you were real, and I didn't really think you were, so I checked, and here you are; a real boy!" Link was confused.
"I'm real. I'm as real as real can be. I always was." Chloe looked at him and noticed that he didn't have any nutcracker lines.
"Where are your nutcracker lines?"
"Nutcracker lines? I never had nutcracker lines because I'm not a nutcracker made out of wood. I'm real."
"But, my uncle…"
"You uncle?"
"My uncle Klaus gave you to me as an early Christmas present."
"I'm confused." Chloe sighed.
"I am too." Link then snapped his fingers.
"I know! We should visit Rosalina!"
"Rosalina?" Link nodded.
"Rosalina, the adopted mother of the Lumas. She can sort this out."
"Lumas? What are you talking about?" She looked around. "Where is she?" Link took Chloe's hand.
"On top of the Christmas tree."
"On top of…how are we going to get on the top of there?" Link grabbed her hand.
"I'll show you!" The two then leapt up. Chloe was in awe as the tree branches grew and grew. She also saw Link shrinking.
"You're shrinking!"
"So are you!" He was right. They were both shrinking! They stopped as they reached the top branch.
"Like it?" Link asked. Chloe went to the edge, and looked over it, impressed. Link followed her.
"I love it!" She said. "I never thought I'd be shrunk, looking down from on top of my Christmas tree before." Link smiled.
"That's the magic of it all." He then changed the subject. "Now, come; onto seeing Rosalina." Chloe followed Link deep into the tree. She was excited and nervous at the same time.
"Rosalina! Link called to her. She had just finished feeding a star. She looked at them as they approached.
"Link! How nice to see you." She noticed Chloe. "Who's this?"
"I'm Chloe Carmichael." The tiny girl introduced herself. Rosalina smiled.
"It's nice to meet you, Chloe. I'm Rosalina, and I'm in charge of these here Lumas."
"Are those the stars?" Rosalina nodded.
"You are a clever little girl." Chloe smiled.
"So, where do you live?"
"Here, in this house. We're on top of my Christmas tree as we speak."
"Goodness me! It's a very nice Christmas tree."
"Thanks. We got it from a tree lot the other day." She gestured towards Link. "My uncle gave me Link as a Christmas present, only he was a nutcracker."
"Yes." Link put in "That's what I want to talk to you about Rosalina. Am I a nutcracker?" Rosalina was about to answer when music started playing. Chloe got excited.
"Oh, I love this!" She twirled around, and turned around on her tippy toes.
"You dance really well." Rosalina said to her.
"Thanks. I take ballet." She looked at Link.
"You want to dance with me?" Link shook his head.
"Oh no." He told her. "I don't dance."
"Come on; it's easy. I'll show you." Link thought about this for a second. "Oh, okay." Chloe cheered.
"This'll be fun!" Link bent down so he could grab her hand. The two then began to dance. Baby steps at first, then when Link had it down, more advance. Rosalina watched as they danced and danced, with the Lumas joining them one by one. It was a most magical sight!
Some time later, the music stopped, so did the dancing. Rosalina cheered, clapping her hands.
"That was magnificent!" She observed. "Bravo!" Chloe curtsied.
"Glad you liked it."
"That was fun." Link said. "The most fun I had in a long time." Chloe smiled at Link.
"And you danced like you were doing all of your life, not for a few minutes. Are you sure you never danced before?" Link nodded his head.
"I'm sure. Now I have something to show Princess Zelda the next time I see her."
"You should."
"I will."
"Don't forget it."
"I don't plan on to."
"So, you asked if you were a nutcracker?" Rosalina said, changing the subject. Link looked back at her.
"Oh, yes. So am I?"
"Yes." Link was confused again. "You were cursed by Butch. He turned you into a nutcracker."
"Who's Butch?" Chloe wanted to know.
"He's the king of the rats. And an evil one at that." Chloe was puzzled again.
"Was that Rattata a friend of his?" Link nodded.
"Huh?" Rosalina asked. "You saw a Rattata?" So, Link explained it to her. She looked at Chloe again when he was done. "You are so lucky that Link was there to save you" Chloe nodded in agreement.
"Very."
"Well, I guess I should take this girl home, or off to bed. It's late."
"I think that's a very wise idea." Rosalina agreed.
"Oh, can't I come?" Chloe pleaded. Link was shocked.
"What?"
"I want to come back, and have more magical adventuress with you, Rosalina, and the Lumas."
"I guess, but, when I beat Butch, I'm going to turn back into my original form. I won't be your magical nutcracker anymore."
"Oh, please, please, please? I had a magical night; I don't want it to end."
"Well…," He looked at Rosalina.
"You can bring her." She said. "You need training after all." Link sighed.
"Fine! But only when I have trained enough. After that, it's done. You can't come back anymore." Chloe cheered to herself.
"Then I'll enjoy it for as long as it takes." Link took Chloe's hand.
"Then it's settled then." Chloe nodded, and said goodbye to Rosalina. Rosalina said the same thing to Chloe. "Ready?"
"Ready!" Link took Chloe back to the edge of the tree branch, and leapt off with her. Rosalina and the Lumas waved after them as they grew and grew.
When they were all the way down, and were full size again, Link told Chloe when there were meeting next and where. Chloe agreed, and Link was off. Chloe watched him go, and turn into a nutcracker once again. She smiled as she grabbed it, and took it with her, smiling all the way. She couldn't wait to tell her family what she had just experienced.