Chapter 21, part 1: Fox's dexterity
Fox blinked his eyes as he noticed he stood in a room lit with candles. It had a marble black and white floor and walls made fromt the same material. The ceiling was high. The large room would make for an excellent fight. Fox noticed a big gate opening on the other side of the room. "I guess it's getting started." he murmered as he walked forward. And indeed, five beings entered the room through the opened gate. It were red humanoids with horns on their heads and clasws at the end of their arms and legs. Their big, yellowish eyes bulged out of their sockets and they ran swiftly towards Fox as they screamed fiendish cries. "Why can't it ever be a fluffy stuffed bear..." Fox murmered as he drew his gun. As soon as he aimed at one of the creatures, as soon as his adrenaline started to run, something seemed to take over. Which, of course, wasn't true. But he felt as if something happened to him, as if someone flicked a switch. He narrowed his eyes and his mind automaticly found the first creature's weakest spot. His eyes. Fox aimed his gun, held it steady and shot clean through the monster's left eye. Before the creature would collapse, Fox moved his gun a little and shot him through his right eye as well. The dustance was about fourty meters and it happened in a few microseconds. Fox amazed himself. The remaining creatures raced towards him with incredible speed as their comrade fell backwards with blood spirting out of his emptied eyeholes and brainfluid dripping out of the holes on the back of his head. Fox swiftly took out another creature with exactly the same method as the first. Then, he put his blaster away and started to run towards the three remaining beings, who had gotten pretty close to him in the mean time. In a short moment, Fox's speed increased incredibly, far exceeding the speed of light. Right before he would crash into one of the monsters, the atoms of his body split up and shot straight through the creature. They tore open the molecular structure of the monster, making his body vaporise in thin air, before they came together and formed Fox's body again. Fox nearly stumbled against the wall as he recovered from it. He stood on the other side of the room. He had traversed fourty meters in less than a nanosecond! He turned around and saw that the intense heat created by the speed of his atoms was burning up the last two creatures rapidly. They screamed as they burned and melted away before his eyes. Fox could barely believe it. He hadn't really fought yet. He could only imagine the power of his fists and feet in melee combat. He closed his eyes for a moment... and stood amidst his friends again. He dropped to his knees and then rolled onto his back. "This... this is incredible..." he said to his concerned friends. "Fox has passed the final test. Who's next?" Hayabusa asked, no emotion on his face.
Chapter 21, part 2: Mary's agility
Mary walked through the room towards the gate she saw on the wall on the other side. She had her hands in the pockets of her green jacket which she wore over her red top. She wore light-blue jeans and sturdy boots. She was chewing on a piece of gum to help her calm her nerves. She wondered whether Fox had been in the same room, since she saw no marks of combat. No bodies, no blood. Nothing. She noticed the gate in front of her opening and she stopped her pace. Something was coming. She removed her hands from her pockets and prepared herself. Exactly the same monsters Fox had encountered came running from the hole in the wall. Five of them. "What on earth..." Mary murmered as she let the creatures approach. The first one was with her very quickly and hacked towards her. But Mary simply evaded it by leaning back. This went easy. She let the other monsters approach and hack at her, since she easely evaded them by ducking, stepping aside or jumping. She automaticly felt where she would be hit, even while surrounded. And her body quickly responded by moving to the right side. Her jacket nearly flew from her unnatural swift motions. She could stand there for houres, but she would have to defeat them to finish this test. She grabbed one of the monster's outstretched arm and faced the being with her back. She broke the creature's arm by slamming it on her shoulder. It broke as if it were dry wood. She turned, twisted the being's body around and grabbed the creature at its neck from behind. She then started to spin her own body. Slowly at first, but rapidly increasing in speed. The creature screamed as he spinned around and around, faster and faster as his legs struck his fellow monsters and made them soar through the air, even beheading two of them. At top speed, Mary let go of the creature and it flew through the air, all the way through the room, and smashed into the wall with an incredible force, creating a large hole and killing the being instantly. Mary looked at the debris created by her actions: Dust and loose rocks flew about. The two monsters who had survived, walked to Mary, unable to run because they were wounded. Mary however, ran to one of them and jumped. She entangled his neck with her legs and took him with her for a ride. While still in the air, she twisted her body around, breaking the monster's neck. The next moment, Mary hit the wall with her feet. She let go of the body of the creature and used her feet to press her away from the wall. She flew towards the last creature and, as she passed him in mid-air, she grabbed his head with both hands and turned her body, so that she flew past him from behind. This motion twisted the neck of the monster so far, that his neck broke and he died instantly. Mary let go of his head and rolled onto the floor. She stood up slowly as the monster's body dropped next to her. This was incredible! She felt like Superman, Batman and Spiderman in one! She smiled at that thought and then suddenly, she stood amidst her friends again. "Liked it?" Fox asked with a smile. "Yeah. I did." Mary said. She felt incredibly confident.
Chapter 21, part 3: Link's swordmanship
Link's boots echoed through the large room. He had seen the gate and calmly walked to it. His sword was sheathed on his back, but he felt a bit naked without his shield. As soon as the gate opened, he drew his sword and let the tip drop to the floor. It made a sharp, but soft sound as it collided with the marble. He wasn't really surprised when he saw the red monsters charging him from the darkness behind the opened gate. "How cute..." he just said as he reached for a sharp blade shaped in the form of a boomerang which hung from his belt. He had found the weapon somewhere during their training and he had decided to take it with him. He had practiced with it to perfection. Basicly, it were two crescent blades held together by a hold. Link grabbed the edge of one of the blades with his thumb and indexfinger. He pulled it from the leather belt and took a throwing position. "Go fetch!" he yelled as he threw the sharp boomerang. Right before he threw it, his mind calculated the best path for the boomerang to go and send a signal to his arm how to throw. The boomerang soared through the air gracefully and, without any effort at all, cleaned the heads of two monsters neatly from their shoulders. As this was happening, Link ran towards the remaining three opponents. His bodily energie was raging between him and his sword as the weapon and the wielder became one. Link charged into the first unlucky opponent he encountered he raised his sword and struck down, tearing through the creature's hide as if it were a wet paper. Link completely divided the being in two. A left side and a right side. It went so easy that Link barely used any strength at all. The monster died instantly. Link noticed that one of the two remaining monsters attacked him. Link wanted to parry the being's clawy, but instead of parrying it, the creature chopped his hand off on the blade. Link was surprised to say the least. He hadn't done anything but holding his blade in a defensive position. This was awesome! He suddenly sensed something and he raised his hand. Just in time to catch his boomerang.He quickly put the object back under his belt. The wounded creature stumbled backwards, but Link was merciless upon him. He tensed his muscles and stepped towards him. He felt a great energy being sucked from his body into his sword. He then furiously started to chop into the creature. And something happened. His blade, which cracked under the presence of a strange force, shot lightning into the being's body. Link hacked and sliced, and with each cut, a voltage of more than one hundred billion volt shot through the monster's veins. The being was long by dead, but Link kept hacking and hacking. The creature's body shook from the voltage and remained in his standing position because of Link's slicing. Then, Link grabbed his sword with both hands and hauled it backwards before striking the being one last time. A terrible thunder sounded and an enormous amount of energie released from the sword. A huge pile of electrical energy filled the room killing the last monster which was about to attack Link, and vaporising all the bodies in the blink of an eye. When the energy changed into heat and disappeared from the room, Link was still standing there, holding his sword with both hands. He was panting and sweat stood on his forehead. "By the Goddesses..." he murmered.
Chapter 21, part 4: Terry's strength
From the seven friends, Terry was the most confident in his fighting skills. If a Hylian, a Lylatan and a girl had passed the tests, then so would Terry. That's what he was telling himself. Of course there was a slight feeling of nervousness was in his body as his old sporting shoes made the sound of old, stretching leather across the room, but he was pretty sure it wouldn't be that hard. "Oh boy." he said excited as the gate opened for him as well. He was least surprised when he noticed what kind of beings charged him the next moment. In fact, it made him sigh tiresomely. All those uglies were getting on his nerves. Why couldn't he fight some stunningly beautiful naked women for once? The monster-type opponents were turning into a cliché. Oh well. No one said it was going to be easy. Or fun. Not that hitting women was considered fun by Terry, but hitting filthy monsters was dirty and... Terry sighed for a second time. Those useless thoughts which occurred sometimes in his mind... Bloody annoying. He raised his fists and prepared himself as he let the beings approach. "Come on..." he murmered as the first monster jumped towards him with a great strength. Terry's eyes narrowed and he jumped up as well. But instead of approaching the being normally, he turned his body completely around so that he flew up- side-down with his feet towards the higher situated monster. "Rising Tackle!" Terry then yelled. As if Terry's body was toying with gravity, he shot up with an abnormal speed as he started to spin his body around, forming a living drill. He spun and spun, rapidly going faster and faster. The next moment, he struck the jumping creature. Terry's drilling movement went so fast, that, as soon as he planted his feet in the monster's stomach, he drilled almost literally through him. His spinning feet tore open the creature's skin, flesh and organs, ripping him in two. Terry returned to the floor, only to see him standing between monsterblood and organs. "Great..." he murmered as he noticed that his shoes were covered in the disgusting contents of the now-deceased monster. However, there was no time to be wasted. The four other monsters were swarming around Terry and they didn't seem very pleased by Terry's latest action. Terry didn't like the position he was in, so he quickly stepped forward and grabbed a monster at his throat. He pulled him up without much efford and tossed him away before he quickly ran out of the threatening circle. He turned around and saw two monsters standing close to each other. The one he had tossed away slowly stood up, while another one was too far behind the first two. Terry tapped his cap with his index finger before he ran towards the two monsters. He moved his fist beckwards before striking the first being he encountered against his chest. The monster seemed completely paralised as Terry kept his fist against the creature's chest. Terry then put his free hand on his upper arm and his fist started to actually smoke. "So long, ugly." he murmered as his fist started to shake. Two other monsters came very clost to Terry, but hte next moment, the American's fist started to actually explode. "Buster Wolf!" Terry yelled as a big explosion occured from his fist. A flaming shockwave shot from his fist and blasted away the three beings closest to him in an instant. Their smoking, burning bodies flew through the room and smashed against the walls, decorating them with sticky blood. Now there was only one monster left. He ran towards Terry, furious as he was. Terry calmly walked towards the being. The monster slashed in Terry's direction with his right claw as soon as he was close enough. But Terry simply grabbed the beings arm with his left and, as he pulled the monstrousity closer, chopped his head off with a powerful blow of his right one. Terry nonchalantly dropped the being's dead body, right after the head, after a long travel, had made contact with the floor. "What a bunch of softies." Terry murmered.
Chapter 21, part 5: Zelda, Princess of Destiny
From the seven friends, young Zelda was the least confident. She carefully walked down the hall. She had to do it alone now. Link wasn't here to protect her. But so far, everyone had passed, so she couldn't let off. She had to fight well so she could join Link in the battles that would come. She was determined not to lose. But she was very nervous at the same time. She had always been able to hide a little behind Link's broad shoulders. But he wasn't here now. But he was counting on her. She had to go through with this! She feared she hadn't really put on the most comfortable of clothing. The dress she wore would perhaps get in the way. But there wasn't really much the young princess was able to do about it now. Then shivers ran up her spine as she noticed the gate opening. She swallowed as she saw the horrid creatures who emerged from it and started to run towards her. A sudden urge to run tried to take over her actions, but she knew she had to make a stand. Or die. Her hands were nervously shaking. She had never really fought such beings without Link by her side and she... No. She had to calm down. She could take them. All she needed to do was concentrate and let loose a rain of devastating spells on the beings. But it would perhaps take too long! But she had no choice. It was now or never! She closed her eyes. She had to concentrate. And quickly. But much to her surprise, she felt... different. More... powerful. She heard the scream of one of the monsters closing in and she quickly opened her eyes in fear. She held her hand in front of her and turned away, knowing this would be the end. She hadn't prepared a spell. She would die! The monster hacked at her and Zelda looked up one last time to see the sharp claw closing in. "I'm sorry, Link." she murmered, right before the claw would crash into her. But... It didn't. It got stopped by an invisible barrier. Zelda was surprised by this. She hadn't had the time to cast a barrier around herself. This was weird... Where-ever this barrier came from, it gave her the time she needed to cast a spell. She closed her eyes and concentrated, not being disturbed by the clawing of the monsters against the barrier. She was planning to cast a smiple ball of fire to shoot at one of the creatures. It was a simple spell and wouldn't take a lot of time to prepare in her mind. When she opened her eyes again, her hand was glowing. She looked at one of the creatures and made a throwing gesture with her hand. She expected a small fireball to emerge and push the bing back, but what came then was more than she could have ever dared to think about. Instead of a simple ball of fire, an intense wall of all-consuming flame shot out of her petite hand, covering the entire length of the room and roasting, burning, melting, incinerating the five opponents in the blink of an eye. The room cooled down and the smell of roasted meat penetrated Zelda's nose. This... This immense power... She had killed, murdered, in a moments notice, without really having to do anything for it. Those beings hadn't stand a chance! Zelda felt... terrible. She sank to her knees. She was frightened by this huge power she wielded. She was so incredibly scared. She was just too strong. A murderous witch! She started to cry and her body shook with each sob. "Young princess." a voice sounded. Zelda looked up and saw Hayabusa standing in front of her. "Please get up, your Majesty." he said respectful. Zelda shook her head. "I'm a monster, Hayabusa. An all- consuming monster!" she said with a shaking voice which showed her dread. "No, princess. You are not." Hayabusa shortly said. After a brief pause, he continued. "You are indeed the most powerful of all the Chosen Ones. Even more powerful than all of us together." "I cannot take the responsibility. I can now kill without effort. I'm a filthy murderer." "You have killed before, young sorceress." "I know! And I see now how evil it was. I'm no better than Ganondorf." Zelda said as she stood up, tears still in her eyes. "No, princess. An evil person is someone who fights for his own ideals. Ganondorf fought to increase his own power and wealth. You are pure, Zelda." "How can I possibly be pure when I murder living beings!? Who am I to judge over life and death?" "No one is, Zelda. Fate decides who stays. And fate decides who goes." "But then it doesn't matter what I do. You cannot change fate..." Zelda said, calming down a little, but still upset. "That's what people think, princess. But fate, destiny, is something people CAN control. But only the people with willpower. People like you, Zelda." "I've noticed. I just sealed their fate." Zelda said sad, looking at the burned corpses around her. "No. THEY sealed their own fate. It was their destiny to die. And they hadn't had the willpower to change that destiny. Your heart is pure. You know true friendship. You'd sacrifice yourself for your friends. And you are the ONLY Chosen One who can really change your destiny." "Link! Can't he change his destiny?" Zelda said, affraid something awful was awaiting the man she loved. Hayabusa quickly chuckled. "See, Zelda? You worry for the safety of others. You are pure of heart and not evil. You will have to kill a lot. But you do it for the love you charish and for the friends you have. And you will not let Link down, for the love which binds you is a very powerful force. More powerful than any force in the universe. Remember that, princess. And defend that force with your life." Zelda suddenly felt a lot better. She had to fight for Link. Perhaps she could influence HIS destiny. And safe him from a dark fate. "Okay, Hayabusa. I will. And thanks." she said, before she closed her eyes and warped herself away. She didn't know where to go to, but she focussed on Link. When Zelda had disappeared, Hayabusa muttered: "The fate of the universe is on your shoulders... Princess of Destiny."
Chapter 21, part 6: Galford's way of justice
"Come and meet the blade of justice, vile demon!" Galford enthusiasticly yelled as he drew his sword and let the monsters approach him. He closed his eyes for a moment to take in the tension, but when he opened them again, he stood in a completely different position in the room. This startled him for a moment, but somehow, his mind seemed to get what happened. He closed his eyes again and this time, he stood in the corner of the room, far from the confused monsters. This had to be some kind of swift warp-power or something he now possessed. This certainly was cool! Now he just had to aim... He closed his eyes and opened them again, looking straight in the eyes of a blood-thristy monster. "Shit!" he yelled, swiftly ducking to avoid being ripped to pieces by a demon-claw. He quickly slashed the creature's belly open, pouring the monster's most recent dinner all over the floor. Then he closed his eyes and quickly warped to a safe distance. This time he had to concentrate. He closed his eyes and... Yes! He faced a monster's back this time! He cut open the creature with inhuman swiftness, exposing his spine. "Yech, why don't they make this things more sturdy?" Galford said in disgust. He quickly warped to the next monster, but instead of appearing behind him, he tried something else. When he opened his eyes, he appeared to be... in the air, a few meters above the being he had focussed on. This took Galford by surprise, but he recovered soon enough to point his sword down. Helped by gravity, Galford crashed into the monster and the blade easily went through the creature's skull, before tearing off an arm as well as Galford landed on the ground without too much trouble. Normally a fall of a few meters would at least hurt, but Galford didn't feel a thing. Now there were only two monsters left, so Galford decided to do something special this time. Just for fun. He warped to behind the first monster and punched him so hard in his back, that he flew up in the air. Then he quickly warped to face the second monster. Before the being could react, Galford made a swift cut in his leg, weakening the monster as it screamed. Galford then grabbed the being at it's arm and threw him towards his comrade with abnormal strength. The beings flew towards each other and collided neatly. The one Galford had thrown flew much faster and took the first monster with him in his flight. Galford then warped and reappeared in mind-air, on the trajectory of the soaring monsters. He pointed his blade and, without efford, impaled both monsters on it. The monsters died immediatly, but their bodies almost took Galford with them as well, so he quickly removed his blade from their bodies and warped to the ground. He was just in time to see the two lifeless bodies fall onto the ground as if they were one. He smiled a little. "Don't mess with the blind babe Justice, suckers." he said. He then chuckled over his own comment. What was that all about? He had certainly gotten more fanatic over the time. But he felt relaxed as well. Perhaps because his mind had actually gotten off Nakoruru for those past months. All the fighting had made him almost forget her. Well, he did feel a heck of a lot better. He would better not think about it anymore. She had decided to stay here. Perhaps it was indeed for the best. He abruptly stopped thinking about it as soon as he looked into Terry's sarcastic face again. "Don't tell me YOU passed as well, justice-boy?" Terry said challenging. "Well, I sure did, Terster." Galford said as soon as he was over it that he was completely somewhere else now. "Damn." Terry cursed. He looked at Kyo. "I guess it's your turn, buddy." he said. "Yeah. I know." Kyo merely said.
Chapter 21, part 7: Kyo's fire
Kyo sensed the flame. Felt it. In his blood. It was burning. He was ready to meet whatever would come. Small flames danced between his fingertips and his eyes bolstered a look of fire. He felt great as he sensed a burning in his body. He was so overwhelmed by this feeling that he barely noticed the five last monsters attacking him. They were far enough, though, so it was no problem. Despite this strange feeling Kyo was experiencing, he raised his fists and prepared for the small group of enemies. He had heard from Fox how his sensed had gotten multiplied, he had heard from Mary how agile she had gotten... It made him confident. He had figured great powers indeed were released amongst the Chosen Ones and he would make no exception to that. He prepared himself to face the five opponents. But right before he would collide with the first one, right before the battle would begin, the monsters suddenly drew back, their claws in front of their faces, screaming. Kyo was surprised. He had done nothing yet. But then his eyes noticed something strange. The air... The air around him was... vibrating. As if there was some sort of heat-source nearby... Then he got it. HE was the heat-source! His body was so warm, that the monsters had to back away from it in order not to get burned. This was amazing! This was against all laws of physics. It was just impossible! But it was true... Kyo slowly walked towards the monsters, who were still backing away from him. Time to test his new powers... The first two creatures overcame their fears and jumped towards Kyo. Sometimes fear can indeed save your life, for Kyo caught both monsters with his hands, one hand per monster, and blasted them away with some sort of flaming geysers which shot from his hand. The pillars of flame engulfed their enemies first before launching them away. And Kyo had barely needed to do a thing. Just raise his hands. He walked to the remaining monsters and opened his hand in front of him. A flame shot out almost immediatly and burned in the palm of his hand. He put his other fist in his flaming hand and both his fists caught fire. With burning fists, he attacked the monster which was closest to him. He swiftly punched him in his stomach and almost immediatly, his fist burned straight through the being's body. He turned around and kicked the monster behind him away as he punched the third one in his face. The temperature of his fists was so high, that the monster's brainfluid actually started to boil and with an unhealthy explosion of blood, bonepieces and brain, his head exploded moments after making contact with Kyo fist. The last monster, which Kyo had kicked away, walked backwards as Kyo turned to him. Kyo raised a flame in his hand and wanted to throw a ray of fire towards him, but he didn't. He saw... fear in the monster's eyes. Fear to die. Kyo slowly lowered his arm and extinguished the flame. He lowered his head as the monster backed against the wall and started to make strange sounds. Sounds which seemed like an odd form of crying. "I'm sorry." Kyo murmered. "But you all left me no choice." He suddenly realised that with such a great power that he wielded, an even greater responsibility was required. But was he able to handle that responsibiliy? He looked around for a moment. Bodyparts were scattered everywhere and his fists were covered in blood. He sighed. He had to take the responsibility. Whether he liked it or not. There was a universe to save. Suddenly, the cold hall had made way for the lush meadows with his friends. Kyo almost immediatly looked at Hayabusa. Had he failed the test? "Kyo has passed the final test." Hayabusa said, as if he had read Kyo's mind. This was followed by cheering from the six friends. Everyone had passed!
Fox blinked his eyes as he noticed he stood in a room lit with candles. It had a marble black and white floor and walls made fromt the same material. The ceiling was high. The large room would make for an excellent fight. Fox noticed a big gate opening on the other side of the room. "I guess it's getting started." he murmered as he walked forward. And indeed, five beings entered the room through the opened gate. It were red humanoids with horns on their heads and clasws at the end of their arms and legs. Their big, yellowish eyes bulged out of their sockets and they ran swiftly towards Fox as they screamed fiendish cries. "Why can't it ever be a fluffy stuffed bear..." Fox murmered as he drew his gun. As soon as he aimed at one of the creatures, as soon as his adrenaline started to run, something seemed to take over. Which, of course, wasn't true. But he felt as if something happened to him, as if someone flicked a switch. He narrowed his eyes and his mind automaticly found the first creature's weakest spot. His eyes. Fox aimed his gun, held it steady and shot clean through the monster's left eye. Before the creature would collapse, Fox moved his gun a little and shot him through his right eye as well. The dustance was about fourty meters and it happened in a few microseconds. Fox amazed himself. The remaining creatures raced towards him with incredible speed as their comrade fell backwards with blood spirting out of his emptied eyeholes and brainfluid dripping out of the holes on the back of his head. Fox swiftly took out another creature with exactly the same method as the first. Then, he put his blaster away and started to run towards the three remaining beings, who had gotten pretty close to him in the mean time. In a short moment, Fox's speed increased incredibly, far exceeding the speed of light. Right before he would crash into one of the monsters, the atoms of his body split up and shot straight through the creature. They tore open the molecular structure of the monster, making his body vaporise in thin air, before they came together and formed Fox's body again. Fox nearly stumbled against the wall as he recovered from it. He stood on the other side of the room. He had traversed fourty meters in less than a nanosecond! He turned around and saw that the intense heat created by the speed of his atoms was burning up the last two creatures rapidly. They screamed as they burned and melted away before his eyes. Fox could barely believe it. He hadn't really fought yet. He could only imagine the power of his fists and feet in melee combat. He closed his eyes for a moment... and stood amidst his friends again. He dropped to his knees and then rolled onto his back. "This... this is incredible..." he said to his concerned friends. "Fox has passed the final test. Who's next?" Hayabusa asked, no emotion on his face.
Chapter 21, part 2: Mary's agility
Mary walked through the room towards the gate she saw on the wall on the other side. She had her hands in the pockets of her green jacket which she wore over her red top. She wore light-blue jeans and sturdy boots. She was chewing on a piece of gum to help her calm her nerves. She wondered whether Fox had been in the same room, since she saw no marks of combat. No bodies, no blood. Nothing. She noticed the gate in front of her opening and she stopped her pace. Something was coming. She removed her hands from her pockets and prepared herself. Exactly the same monsters Fox had encountered came running from the hole in the wall. Five of them. "What on earth..." Mary murmered as she let the creatures approach. The first one was with her very quickly and hacked towards her. But Mary simply evaded it by leaning back. This went easy. She let the other monsters approach and hack at her, since she easely evaded them by ducking, stepping aside or jumping. She automaticly felt where she would be hit, even while surrounded. And her body quickly responded by moving to the right side. Her jacket nearly flew from her unnatural swift motions. She could stand there for houres, but she would have to defeat them to finish this test. She grabbed one of the monster's outstretched arm and faced the being with her back. She broke the creature's arm by slamming it on her shoulder. It broke as if it were dry wood. She turned, twisted the being's body around and grabbed the creature at its neck from behind. She then started to spin her own body. Slowly at first, but rapidly increasing in speed. The creature screamed as he spinned around and around, faster and faster as his legs struck his fellow monsters and made them soar through the air, even beheading two of them. At top speed, Mary let go of the creature and it flew through the air, all the way through the room, and smashed into the wall with an incredible force, creating a large hole and killing the being instantly. Mary looked at the debris created by her actions: Dust and loose rocks flew about. The two monsters who had survived, walked to Mary, unable to run because they were wounded. Mary however, ran to one of them and jumped. She entangled his neck with her legs and took him with her for a ride. While still in the air, she twisted her body around, breaking the monster's neck. The next moment, Mary hit the wall with her feet. She let go of the body of the creature and used her feet to press her away from the wall. She flew towards the last creature and, as she passed him in mid-air, she grabbed his head with both hands and turned her body, so that she flew past him from behind. This motion twisted the neck of the monster so far, that his neck broke and he died instantly. Mary let go of his head and rolled onto the floor. She stood up slowly as the monster's body dropped next to her. This was incredible! She felt like Superman, Batman and Spiderman in one! She smiled at that thought and then suddenly, she stood amidst her friends again. "Liked it?" Fox asked with a smile. "Yeah. I did." Mary said. She felt incredibly confident.
Chapter 21, part 3: Link's swordmanship
Link's boots echoed through the large room. He had seen the gate and calmly walked to it. His sword was sheathed on his back, but he felt a bit naked without his shield. As soon as the gate opened, he drew his sword and let the tip drop to the floor. It made a sharp, but soft sound as it collided with the marble. He wasn't really surprised when he saw the red monsters charging him from the darkness behind the opened gate. "How cute..." he just said as he reached for a sharp blade shaped in the form of a boomerang which hung from his belt. He had found the weapon somewhere during their training and he had decided to take it with him. He had practiced with it to perfection. Basicly, it were two crescent blades held together by a hold. Link grabbed the edge of one of the blades with his thumb and indexfinger. He pulled it from the leather belt and took a throwing position. "Go fetch!" he yelled as he threw the sharp boomerang. Right before he threw it, his mind calculated the best path for the boomerang to go and send a signal to his arm how to throw. The boomerang soared through the air gracefully and, without any effort at all, cleaned the heads of two monsters neatly from their shoulders. As this was happening, Link ran towards the remaining three opponents. His bodily energie was raging between him and his sword as the weapon and the wielder became one. Link charged into the first unlucky opponent he encountered he raised his sword and struck down, tearing through the creature's hide as if it were a wet paper. Link completely divided the being in two. A left side and a right side. It went so easy that Link barely used any strength at all. The monster died instantly. Link noticed that one of the two remaining monsters attacked him. Link wanted to parry the being's clawy, but instead of parrying it, the creature chopped his hand off on the blade. Link was surprised to say the least. He hadn't done anything but holding his blade in a defensive position. This was awesome! He suddenly sensed something and he raised his hand. Just in time to catch his boomerang.He quickly put the object back under his belt. The wounded creature stumbled backwards, but Link was merciless upon him. He tensed his muscles and stepped towards him. He felt a great energy being sucked from his body into his sword. He then furiously started to chop into the creature. And something happened. His blade, which cracked under the presence of a strange force, shot lightning into the being's body. Link hacked and sliced, and with each cut, a voltage of more than one hundred billion volt shot through the monster's veins. The being was long by dead, but Link kept hacking and hacking. The creature's body shook from the voltage and remained in his standing position because of Link's slicing. Then, Link grabbed his sword with both hands and hauled it backwards before striking the being one last time. A terrible thunder sounded and an enormous amount of energie released from the sword. A huge pile of electrical energy filled the room killing the last monster which was about to attack Link, and vaporising all the bodies in the blink of an eye. When the energy changed into heat and disappeared from the room, Link was still standing there, holding his sword with both hands. He was panting and sweat stood on his forehead. "By the Goddesses..." he murmered.
Chapter 21, part 4: Terry's strength
From the seven friends, Terry was the most confident in his fighting skills. If a Hylian, a Lylatan and a girl had passed the tests, then so would Terry. That's what he was telling himself. Of course there was a slight feeling of nervousness was in his body as his old sporting shoes made the sound of old, stretching leather across the room, but he was pretty sure it wouldn't be that hard. "Oh boy." he said excited as the gate opened for him as well. He was least surprised when he noticed what kind of beings charged him the next moment. In fact, it made him sigh tiresomely. All those uglies were getting on his nerves. Why couldn't he fight some stunningly beautiful naked women for once? The monster-type opponents were turning into a cliché. Oh well. No one said it was going to be easy. Or fun. Not that hitting women was considered fun by Terry, but hitting filthy monsters was dirty and... Terry sighed for a second time. Those useless thoughts which occurred sometimes in his mind... Bloody annoying. He raised his fists and prepared himself as he let the beings approach. "Come on..." he murmered as the first monster jumped towards him with a great strength. Terry's eyes narrowed and he jumped up as well. But instead of approaching the being normally, he turned his body completely around so that he flew up- side-down with his feet towards the higher situated monster. "Rising Tackle!" Terry then yelled. As if Terry's body was toying with gravity, he shot up with an abnormal speed as he started to spin his body around, forming a living drill. He spun and spun, rapidly going faster and faster. The next moment, he struck the jumping creature. Terry's drilling movement went so fast, that, as soon as he planted his feet in the monster's stomach, he drilled almost literally through him. His spinning feet tore open the creature's skin, flesh and organs, ripping him in two. Terry returned to the floor, only to see him standing between monsterblood and organs. "Great..." he murmered as he noticed that his shoes were covered in the disgusting contents of the now-deceased monster. However, there was no time to be wasted. The four other monsters were swarming around Terry and they didn't seem very pleased by Terry's latest action. Terry didn't like the position he was in, so he quickly stepped forward and grabbed a monster at his throat. He pulled him up without much efford and tossed him away before he quickly ran out of the threatening circle. He turned around and saw two monsters standing close to each other. The one he had tossed away slowly stood up, while another one was too far behind the first two. Terry tapped his cap with his index finger before he ran towards the two monsters. He moved his fist beckwards before striking the first being he encountered against his chest. The monster seemed completely paralised as Terry kept his fist against the creature's chest. Terry then put his free hand on his upper arm and his fist started to actually smoke. "So long, ugly." he murmered as his fist started to shake. Two other monsters came very clost to Terry, but hte next moment, the American's fist started to actually explode. "Buster Wolf!" Terry yelled as a big explosion occured from his fist. A flaming shockwave shot from his fist and blasted away the three beings closest to him in an instant. Their smoking, burning bodies flew through the room and smashed against the walls, decorating them with sticky blood. Now there was only one monster left. He ran towards Terry, furious as he was. Terry calmly walked towards the being. The monster slashed in Terry's direction with his right claw as soon as he was close enough. But Terry simply grabbed the beings arm with his left and, as he pulled the monstrousity closer, chopped his head off with a powerful blow of his right one. Terry nonchalantly dropped the being's dead body, right after the head, after a long travel, had made contact with the floor. "What a bunch of softies." Terry murmered.
Chapter 21, part 5: Zelda, Princess of Destiny
From the seven friends, young Zelda was the least confident. She carefully walked down the hall. She had to do it alone now. Link wasn't here to protect her. But so far, everyone had passed, so she couldn't let off. She had to fight well so she could join Link in the battles that would come. She was determined not to lose. But she was very nervous at the same time. She had always been able to hide a little behind Link's broad shoulders. But he wasn't here now. But he was counting on her. She had to go through with this! She feared she hadn't really put on the most comfortable of clothing. The dress she wore would perhaps get in the way. But there wasn't really much the young princess was able to do about it now. Then shivers ran up her spine as she noticed the gate opening. She swallowed as she saw the horrid creatures who emerged from it and started to run towards her. A sudden urge to run tried to take over her actions, but she knew she had to make a stand. Or die. Her hands were nervously shaking. She had never really fought such beings without Link by her side and she... No. She had to calm down. She could take them. All she needed to do was concentrate and let loose a rain of devastating spells on the beings. But it would perhaps take too long! But she had no choice. It was now or never! She closed her eyes. She had to concentrate. And quickly. But much to her surprise, she felt... different. More... powerful. She heard the scream of one of the monsters closing in and she quickly opened her eyes in fear. She held her hand in front of her and turned away, knowing this would be the end. She hadn't prepared a spell. She would die! The monster hacked at her and Zelda looked up one last time to see the sharp claw closing in. "I'm sorry, Link." she murmered, right before the claw would crash into her. But... It didn't. It got stopped by an invisible barrier. Zelda was surprised by this. She hadn't had the time to cast a barrier around herself. This was weird... Where-ever this barrier came from, it gave her the time she needed to cast a spell. She closed her eyes and concentrated, not being disturbed by the clawing of the monsters against the barrier. She was planning to cast a smiple ball of fire to shoot at one of the creatures. It was a simple spell and wouldn't take a lot of time to prepare in her mind. When she opened her eyes again, her hand was glowing. She looked at one of the creatures and made a throwing gesture with her hand. She expected a small fireball to emerge and push the bing back, but what came then was more than she could have ever dared to think about. Instead of a simple ball of fire, an intense wall of all-consuming flame shot out of her petite hand, covering the entire length of the room and roasting, burning, melting, incinerating the five opponents in the blink of an eye. The room cooled down and the smell of roasted meat penetrated Zelda's nose. This... This immense power... She had killed, murdered, in a moments notice, without really having to do anything for it. Those beings hadn't stand a chance! Zelda felt... terrible. She sank to her knees. She was frightened by this huge power she wielded. She was so incredibly scared. She was just too strong. A murderous witch! She started to cry and her body shook with each sob. "Young princess." a voice sounded. Zelda looked up and saw Hayabusa standing in front of her. "Please get up, your Majesty." he said respectful. Zelda shook her head. "I'm a monster, Hayabusa. An all- consuming monster!" she said with a shaking voice which showed her dread. "No, princess. You are not." Hayabusa shortly said. After a brief pause, he continued. "You are indeed the most powerful of all the Chosen Ones. Even more powerful than all of us together." "I cannot take the responsibility. I can now kill without effort. I'm a filthy murderer." "You have killed before, young sorceress." "I know! And I see now how evil it was. I'm no better than Ganondorf." Zelda said as she stood up, tears still in her eyes. "No, princess. An evil person is someone who fights for his own ideals. Ganondorf fought to increase his own power and wealth. You are pure, Zelda." "How can I possibly be pure when I murder living beings!? Who am I to judge over life and death?" "No one is, Zelda. Fate decides who stays. And fate decides who goes." "But then it doesn't matter what I do. You cannot change fate..." Zelda said, calming down a little, but still upset. "That's what people think, princess. But fate, destiny, is something people CAN control. But only the people with willpower. People like you, Zelda." "I've noticed. I just sealed their fate." Zelda said sad, looking at the burned corpses around her. "No. THEY sealed their own fate. It was their destiny to die. And they hadn't had the willpower to change that destiny. Your heart is pure. You know true friendship. You'd sacrifice yourself for your friends. And you are the ONLY Chosen One who can really change your destiny." "Link! Can't he change his destiny?" Zelda said, affraid something awful was awaiting the man she loved. Hayabusa quickly chuckled. "See, Zelda? You worry for the safety of others. You are pure of heart and not evil. You will have to kill a lot. But you do it for the love you charish and for the friends you have. And you will not let Link down, for the love which binds you is a very powerful force. More powerful than any force in the universe. Remember that, princess. And defend that force with your life." Zelda suddenly felt a lot better. She had to fight for Link. Perhaps she could influence HIS destiny. And safe him from a dark fate. "Okay, Hayabusa. I will. And thanks." she said, before she closed her eyes and warped herself away. She didn't know where to go to, but she focussed on Link. When Zelda had disappeared, Hayabusa muttered: "The fate of the universe is on your shoulders... Princess of Destiny."
Chapter 21, part 6: Galford's way of justice
"Come and meet the blade of justice, vile demon!" Galford enthusiasticly yelled as he drew his sword and let the monsters approach him. He closed his eyes for a moment to take in the tension, but when he opened them again, he stood in a completely different position in the room. This startled him for a moment, but somehow, his mind seemed to get what happened. He closed his eyes again and this time, he stood in the corner of the room, far from the confused monsters. This had to be some kind of swift warp-power or something he now possessed. This certainly was cool! Now he just had to aim... He closed his eyes and opened them again, looking straight in the eyes of a blood-thristy monster. "Shit!" he yelled, swiftly ducking to avoid being ripped to pieces by a demon-claw. He quickly slashed the creature's belly open, pouring the monster's most recent dinner all over the floor. Then he closed his eyes and quickly warped to a safe distance. This time he had to concentrate. He closed his eyes and... Yes! He faced a monster's back this time! He cut open the creature with inhuman swiftness, exposing his spine. "Yech, why don't they make this things more sturdy?" Galford said in disgust. He quickly warped to the next monster, but instead of appearing behind him, he tried something else. When he opened his eyes, he appeared to be... in the air, a few meters above the being he had focussed on. This took Galford by surprise, but he recovered soon enough to point his sword down. Helped by gravity, Galford crashed into the monster and the blade easily went through the creature's skull, before tearing off an arm as well as Galford landed on the ground without too much trouble. Normally a fall of a few meters would at least hurt, but Galford didn't feel a thing. Now there were only two monsters left, so Galford decided to do something special this time. Just for fun. He warped to behind the first monster and punched him so hard in his back, that he flew up in the air. Then he quickly warped to face the second monster. Before the being could react, Galford made a swift cut in his leg, weakening the monster as it screamed. Galford then grabbed the being at it's arm and threw him towards his comrade with abnormal strength. The beings flew towards each other and collided neatly. The one Galford had thrown flew much faster and took the first monster with him in his flight. Galford then warped and reappeared in mind-air, on the trajectory of the soaring monsters. He pointed his blade and, without efford, impaled both monsters on it. The monsters died immediatly, but their bodies almost took Galford with them as well, so he quickly removed his blade from their bodies and warped to the ground. He was just in time to see the two lifeless bodies fall onto the ground as if they were one. He smiled a little. "Don't mess with the blind babe Justice, suckers." he said. He then chuckled over his own comment. What was that all about? He had certainly gotten more fanatic over the time. But he felt relaxed as well. Perhaps because his mind had actually gotten off Nakoruru for those past months. All the fighting had made him almost forget her. Well, he did feel a heck of a lot better. He would better not think about it anymore. She had decided to stay here. Perhaps it was indeed for the best. He abruptly stopped thinking about it as soon as he looked into Terry's sarcastic face again. "Don't tell me YOU passed as well, justice-boy?" Terry said challenging. "Well, I sure did, Terster." Galford said as soon as he was over it that he was completely somewhere else now. "Damn." Terry cursed. He looked at Kyo. "I guess it's your turn, buddy." he said. "Yeah. I know." Kyo merely said.
Chapter 21, part 7: Kyo's fire
Kyo sensed the flame. Felt it. In his blood. It was burning. He was ready to meet whatever would come. Small flames danced between his fingertips and his eyes bolstered a look of fire. He felt great as he sensed a burning in his body. He was so overwhelmed by this feeling that he barely noticed the five last monsters attacking him. They were far enough, though, so it was no problem. Despite this strange feeling Kyo was experiencing, he raised his fists and prepared for the small group of enemies. He had heard from Fox how his sensed had gotten multiplied, he had heard from Mary how agile she had gotten... It made him confident. He had figured great powers indeed were released amongst the Chosen Ones and he would make no exception to that. He prepared himself to face the five opponents. But right before he would collide with the first one, right before the battle would begin, the monsters suddenly drew back, their claws in front of their faces, screaming. Kyo was surprised. He had done nothing yet. But then his eyes noticed something strange. The air... The air around him was... vibrating. As if there was some sort of heat-source nearby... Then he got it. HE was the heat-source! His body was so warm, that the monsters had to back away from it in order not to get burned. This was amazing! This was against all laws of physics. It was just impossible! But it was true... Kyo slowly walked towards the monsters, who were still backing away from him. Time to test his new powers... The first two creatures overcame their fears and jumped towards Kyo. Sometimes fear can indeed save your life, for Kyo caught both monsters with his hands, one hand per monster, and blasted them away with some sort of flaming geysers which shot from his hand. The pillars of flame engulfed their enemies first before launching them away. And Kyo had barely needed to do a thing. Just raise his hands. He walked to the remaining monsters and opened his hand in front of him. A flame shot out almost immediatly and burned in the palm of his hand. He put his other fist in his flaming hand and both his fists caught fire. With burning fists, he attacked the monster which was closest to him. He swiftly punched him in his stomach and almost immediatly, his fist burned straight through the being's body. He turned around and kicked the monster behind him away as he punched the third one in his face. The temperature of his fists was so high, that the monster's brainfluid actually started to boil and with an unhealthy explosion of blood, bonepieces and brain, his head exploded moments after making contact with Kyo fist. The last monster, which Kyo had kicked away, walked backwards as Kyo turned to him. Kyo raised a flame in his hand and wanted to throw a ray of fire towards him, but he didn't. He saw... fear in the monster's eyes. Fear to die. Kyo slowly lowered his arm and extinguished the flame. He lowered his head as the monster backed against the wall and started to make strange sounds. Sounds which seemed like an odd form of crying. "I'm sorry." Kyo murmered. "But you all left me no choice." He suddenly realised that with such a great power that he wielded, an even greater responsibility was required. But was he able to handle that responsibiliy? He looked around for a moment. Bodyparts were scattered everywhere and his fists were covered in blood. He sighed. He had to take the responsibility. Whether he liked it or not. There was a universe to save. Suddenly, the cold hall had made way for the lush meadows with his friends. Kyo almost immediatly looked at Hayabusa. Had he failed the test? "Kyo has passed the final test." Hayabusa said, as if he had read Kyo's mind. This was followed by cheering from the six friends. Everyone had passed!