Chapter 25: Death and Decay
Zelda stood there, panting and sweating. Her heart was racing again. She was the most powerfull of the Chosen Ones, but this... this had taken great toll of her. What a power she wielded! She scared herself. Again.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Again. She startled and turned around with a shriek, just to stare in the surprised eyes of Link. She immediatly clung on to his shoulders, burying her blonde head in his chest.
Link wrapped his arms around her, giving her some protection in the ugly world.
"Hmph. I turn my back on you ONE time, fairy boy, and you're trying to get into her panties again." Terry's rude response was as he came walking to the two Hylians, his hands nonchalantly in his pockets. He stopped next to Link and Zelda as the two looked at him. "Well, I guess we nuked pretty much their entire army. Let's go home okay? Not much to be done anymore around here." He said.
"We?" Link said challenging. "I thought it was Zelda who created that wave." he continued as he let go of Zelda and turned to Terry.
"Hmph. If you would've given me five more minutes, I would've killed them all as well."
"Sure, Terry." Fox said, walking past the Human to congratulate Zelda.
"Absolutely, Terster." Galford said, waking past him as well.
"I don't doubt it, Terry." Kyo said, following not much later.
"Haha. Aren't we funny?" Terry said, putting his hands in his sides. That was strange... No bright comment from Mary. He looked around. She was nowhere to be found. Terry of course wasn't worried about her. Not at all. Not one bit. But he didn't feel like sticking close to all those slimeballs kissing up to Zelda, so he decided to go and look for his fellow American.
After a while, he found her. She was sitting on the ground, facing him with her back, her jacket next to her. She was staring in front of her, not distracted by the chaos around her. The chaos formed by grief, surprise, moving material, cheerful people...
Terry noticed her rubbing her arms. She was cold. No wonder. Her top didn't really give the best of protection against the harsh land. But why didn't she put on her jacket? Stupid woman.
He walked to her and picked up the jacket, which he carefully hung on her shoulders. "You're going to get a cold, moron." he said, ever so tactful. But before he could remove his hands, Mary grabbed on of them and softly squeesed it, not ceasing her staring. This motion startled Terry. What the heck was she... He wanted to withdraw his hand, but somehow... couldn't.
"We won." Mary said, her voice containing no joy whatsoever.
"Of course we won. As if a bunch of anorexia-sufferers can defeat us. Ha!" Terry said, confident as ever.
Mary let go of Terry's hand and looked up at him. "It hasn't started yet."
"Excuse me?"
"The pain, the suffering... It hasn't begun yet." Mary spoke with utter sadness in her lovely eyes.
"Jesus! What are you on?" Terry cursed.
Mary stood up and put on her jacket decently, looking away from Terry, towards the horizon. "We have to get out of here. We have to get EVERYONE out of here!"
"My God, you're starting to sound like Zelda, you know that? Oh no, we're going to die and suffer and hell is coming and yada yada yada. Bullshit! We won! Hayabuzzer was just being a weenie. There's nothing more than..."
"Shut up!!" Mary yelled, suddenly turning around to Terry. "Shut that big mouth of yours for once and listen to me! We have to get out of here! Or we will all die... Trust me, I know!"
Terry tilted an eyebrow. Mary wasn't kidding. She seemed very serious. "Okay, miss know-it-all. Let's find the other female freak and ask her opinion." Terry said, before he turned around and walked away.
"Insensitive jerk." Mary said through gritted teeth.
"You said something?" Terry replied, not looking back.
"No, nothing." Mary said, biting her underlip and swallowing away some tears.
It took the two Americans some time before they finally found the others and as soon as they had, Mary immediatly walked to Zelda.
"You felt it too." Zelda concluded from Mary's worried face.
Mary nodded. "We have to get out of here." she said.
"Ho, ho, ho! Time out! We're not going anywere!" Terry said, stubborn as always.
"Yes, we do! Or do you want to die?" Mary said angry towards Terry.
"I have yet to meet the motherfucker who can kill me!" Terry returned.
"Whoa! Chill, Terry!" Galford said. "Dude, you gotta relax. The girls may be right." the ninja continued.
"Well, they're not, justice-boy! And if I were you, I'd keep my annoying mouth shut before something bad happens to me!" Terry returned, now facing Galford.
"Shut your din-damn mouth for a change, Terry!" Link yelled aggrivated.
"I believe mister I-have-no-job-so-I-just-fuck-princesses-to-earn-a-living wants to make a point for a change?" Terry directed towards Link.
"You take that back, American!" Link said furious, grabbing Terry at his collar with both hands.
"Keep your hands off me!" Terry said, pushing Link hard away from him.
Fox' ears pointed away from the fight. They picked something else up. Something more disturbing. Fox turned to the sound of walking boots. Dark- brown medieval boots. As the Lylatan's face turned, he drew his gun at the same time. His natural instinct told him to do so. When his look finally reached it's destination, it didn't want to believe what it saw. Fox's hand started to shake, but he kept his gun pointed at the owner of the boots.
The owner of the boots stopped not far from the arguing friends and crossed his arms in front of his chest, letting his dirty cape fall down gently.
Fox steadied his gun and sharped his senses to the maximum. Fear grabbed his heart and squeesed it tightly, making his breathing seem harder. "Hi, Ganondorf." Fox then said to the man in front of him, trying not to show his fear.
The word 'Ganondorf' silenced the arguing friends in an instant and they all looked at the Evil warlock.
"Look at the collection of miserable low-lifes. How pathetic." Ganondorf said with a sigh. He had a dark aura around him. Something the friends couldn't see, but solely feel. It was a dreadful experience.
"My God..." Kyo said in pure shock.
"Your pitiful God can't help you now, Kyo. I am so much more powerful than He has ever been." Ganondorf spoke quietly. He turned to the ill-tempered Terry. "Well, Bogard. Don't you want to get a shot at me? I had your little friend raped. Now's your chance to get even. Come and get me, I dare you!" Ganondorf spoke with a taunting voice.
"I'm going to kick your sorry ass, you bastard!" Terry yelled furious. The sight of Ganondorf had released a lot of held emotions. Emotions of despise, hatred and loss. And Terry wasn't really a forgiving person.
"Terry, no!" Fox yelled as the American ran towards Ganondorf with the sole intent of killing the Evil wizard.
"You will die for everything you've done!" Terry yelled as he quickly approached Ganondorf. He jumped up in the air as his fist lighted up. "Power Dunk!" he yelled as he returned to the ground and... his fist got caught by some invisible force, making it bounce off.
Terry clumsily fell on his back, shaking his head to clear the dust of his cap. Ganondorf held out his hand and out of nothing, a huge sword materialised, at least two meters in length and beautifully decorated. As far as a weapon could be beautiful, that was. Ganondorf simply held the weapon as if it was a stick of wood instead of a huge metal object. Loosly with one hand.
"You're so pathetic, Terry. Hardly worth killing." Ganondorf said with a grin.
Before Ganondorf could strike, he felt a kick in his side. But that was all. He felt it. A soft push in his side by Link's boot. Ganondorf grabbed the young Hylian's leg and swung him through the air as if he was nothing! A couple of times, above his head, ignoring the screaming Link.
"Come on, guys!" Fox yelled as he fired his gun towards Ganondorf without visible result. Kyo and Galford both charged Ganondorf at the same time, Galford with his sword and Kyo with a burning fist, Galford to the left side of Ganondorf and Kyo to the right. Right before they would collide with the evil warlock, he smashed hard Link onto the ground, creating a crack in the earth, before he simply vanished, leaving Galford and Kyo to slash air.
As Link was trying to get up, Kyo and Galford had to duck to evade Ganondorf's huge blade which slashed at them at head-height from behind. Their 'sixth sense' had saved them. They were powerful, but not immortal.
Mary jumped at Ganondorf's free arm in an attempt to take him to the ground by wrapping her legs around his arm and making a twist with her body. But Ganondorf made a simple swing with his arm, throwing Mary off of it with incredible strength.
Mary flew through the air with a shriek, noticing a sharp boulder approaching rapidly. She tried to turn her feet, but she flew way too fast. But instead of being caught by the sharp edges of the boulder, she got caught by two arms.
"You okay?" Terry asked as he looked at her, a slight worry in his eyes. Mary looked up at him and noticed the compassion with which he said it. It was a tiny little bit of compassion, only recognisable for those who really knew Terry.
Mary slowly nodded.
"Okay." Terry said as he gently put her on her feet. He turned away from Mary, towards Ganondorf, who was easily warding off Link, Fox, Galford and Kyo, while being watched with terror by Zelda. "I'm off." he simply said before he dashed away towards the vicious fight, which had drawn some attention from the gathered armies.
But at the sight of Kyo punching flames, Galford warping and Ganondorf's simple countering, they weren't sure how to intervene. Would it matter? No. Not a bit.
Link got punched in his stomach so fast by Ganondorf that it was barely visible, sending the Hylian flying off. He crashed down next to Zelda, all the bones in his body hurting beyond belief. But he stood up and ran towards Ganondorf again and again. This guy could not be more powerful than the seven of them together. It was impossible.
Ganondorf dropped his sword and lowered his hands. "Come on, Chosen Ones. Give it your best shot!"
"Now, everyone!" Fox yelled, seeing a chance to get a shot at Ganondorf.
"Power wave!" Terry yelled, smashing the earth with his fist, creating a wave of pure strength which shot towards Ganondorf from behind.
Link grabbed his sword with two hands and felt the electricity cracking through the blade, enforcing the determination in his eyes. He backed off of Ganondorf a little and then threw his fury, his blade and his body towards the Evil man.
Galford swiftly warped here and there before finally appearing above Ganondorf, his sword catching sweat from his convulsive hold of the handle.
Kyo tensed every muscle in his body, increasing the heat beyond imagination. Then, his entire body caught flame, creating the sound of replacing air. Though that wasn't it. The flame escaped his body. That was all. But Kyo's temperature was so high, that the fire kept raging as he ran towards Ganondorf, igniting even the dust on the dry ground.
Mary came running towards the Evil wizard as well, but she was too far to reach the collision of forces in time.
Zelda was still frozen in place, too scared to do anything. The rest didn't pay any attention to her, they could only see Ganondorf.
Link reached Ganondorf first, slicing at him with a fury unlikely for the young man. Ganondorf managed to evade the first blow, but was pushed forward by Terry's energised Wave and felt electricity raging through his veins as Link's blade cut open his stomach. Ganondorf stumbled backwards, bent forward, and then felt a heat of such intensity, that his right arm simply melted off under his loud screaming.
Kyo stood a couple of meters away from Ganondorf, blowing out his burning finger as though it was a heated gun.
Then Galford dropped down behind the screaming Ganondorf, cutting open his back.
Ganondorf, once proud and unbeatable, now more dead than alive, dropped to his knees, supported by solely his left arm. He lifted his head and saw Fox standing in front of him, gun in hand. The warlock's look was altered by pain and humiliation, making him seem even more uglier than before.
Fox simply put his blaster against Ganondorf's forehead. "Any last words, sicko?" he said with a nearly growling, but calm voice.
"To... hell with... you all!" Ganondorf said as loud as possible.
"Funny you mentioned that." Fox coldly said before he pressed the trigger, blasting Ganondorf's brains against the dusty ground, colouring it with a faint pink liquid.
The warlock's dead and defeated body collapsed forward, spilling the blood from his wounds in the holes in the ground.
"Growse!" Mary said, making a face and putting her hand on her stomach.
"Girls..." Terry sighed. He looked at Mary. "Was this your vision of suffering?" he asked mocking.
"Well, he suffered alright..." Kyo said grinning.
"Yeah, he did. Wonder if we can use him for fertilizer or something?" Terry said, grinning no less.
"You guys sicken me." Mary said, slightly angry as Fox was smiling a little and he twirled his blaster before he put it away.
"Anyway, the vile threat to justice has been vanguished, guys!" Galford said, enthusiastic as ever. He really lived among his newly found friends.
"Shut up, justice-boy!" Terry said annoyed.
"Well, Galford does make a point there. We DID slay some evil here!" Kyo said, enforcing Galford's point of view.
"God, no. Not ANOTHER one like him..." Terry sighed, slapping his forehead. Then Mary wrapped her arms around his mid-section and held him tightly, putting her head against his chest.
"I'll never forget how you saved me, my hero..." she said strikingly in a sigh.
"Would you...? You really have guts, missy! Let me go this instant!" Terry said, but not doing anything to push Mary away.
Link smiled, glad Ganondorf was finally really dead and that the spirits were still high. However, when he turned to Zelda, he saw her staring at the body of Ganondorf as her body was shaking with frustration, anger, fear and helplessness. He walked to her and grabbed her chin gently, making her look at him. It costed him more effort than he would've wanted. "Princess, are you okay?" he asked concerned.
"Why? Why do we have to... kill. I don't want to kill..." Zelda muttered.
Terry turned his back towards the two and sighed as he looked down. He wanted to make a comment, but he realised Zelda was used to luxury and comfort her entire life. The others were used to fighting, used to hurting and killing when needed. But Zelda wasn't. Ah, she was way too young for this! They were all way too young for this. He looked around and noticed that the soldiers around them were cheering. They had probably witnessed the battle. But Terry wondered. Ganondorf was finally dead, yes. But he figured Zankurou and Geese had been resurrected as well. And where were they? Perhaps Ganondorf was this prime-evil? No, that wouldn't make sense. Ganondorf had kept talking about some master or power above him. No, the Chosen Ones weren't there yet. And Terry figured they still had a pretty long way to go.
"I see you can manage yourself quite well, big brother." a familiar voice sounded, drawing Terry's attention. The American turned his head and saw two very familiar people standing in front of him. A young man with long blond hair and a young woman with her long brown hair in a broad ponytail. They both wore some casual clothing. "Andy!" Terry yelled, drawing the attention of his friends as he hugged his younger brother, surprising Andy a little.
When Terry finally backed away, so many questions wanted to come out of his mouth. Why Andy and Mai had left them, how they had found them again, how they were doing... But somehow, they didn't leave his mouth, leaving him to stare at his younger brother with a questioning gaze.
Andy too had his questions, no surprise there either, but somehow, he wasn't really interested in answers at the moment. He was just glad that no one was dead, and especially not his older brother.
Fox was already surprised that Andy and Mai had shown up, but his surprise grew even more when he saw a certain prince with an escort and... Malon... They were followed by a dog, a wolf and some kind of bird... They all came from the portal. Almost all at the same time.
"Malon!" Zelda yelled as soon as she noticed the ranchgirl and immediatly ran to her and prince Marth.
"Poppy!" Galford yelled as he ran to the dog, which was leading the other two animals.
Kyo then noticed a girl walking through the wide portal and immediatly recognised her. "Athena!" he yelled as he ran towards her warm embrace.
Fox squeesed his eyes as Link joined his side and Mary walked past them to join Terry's. Fox and Link stood well away from the reuniting friends as they looked at each other.
"Link." Fox started. "You can call me paranoid, but..."
"Yes, all those people from all those different countries coming here all at the same time is too good to be true. Keep alert, buddy." Link said with a gloomy voice. He walked to the dead body of Ganondorf, stepping in the evil blood of the warlock. He kept staring at the dead man. His worst enemy. Or wasn't he...? Was there something worse? He didn't know. But Ganondorf's dead, no matter how conclusive it was to it all, just didn't feel satisfying. "What do you got in store for us next, huh?" Link asked the silent body in front of him. "Whatever you've got up your sleeve..." He paused and turned away from the dead wizard, looking in the direction of Zelda, who was hugging Marth and Malon. "You won't hurt Zelda anymore." Link continued as he finally sheathed his sword. It produced a reassuring sound, but Link felt far from easy. Everyone around him was moving. They were counting the losses, putting up a base... It had been a short battle, thanks to Zelda. But it just... It wasn't... No, it didn't feel right. Suddenly, he felt Fox patting on his shoulder.
"Hey, buddy. Isn't that Athena? That girl Hayabusa warned us about?" the Lylatan mentioned, pointing at the girl Kyo held in his arms.
Link turned around and saw it too. "Yes, you're right. Perhaps Hayabusa was wrong about her. Seems like a nice girl to me." Link said naive.
"Hayabusa is rarely wrong, Link." Fox said, drawing his blaster again and starting to walk towards the seemingly happy couple.
"I'm SO glad you're okay, Kyo. I thought you..." Athena said, stopping her sentence with a doubt of what to say.
"I'm fine, Athena. I've just gotten stronger, that's all." Kyo said with a smile, looking in Athena's beautiful eyes. How he had missed her. He vaguely remembered what Hayabusa had said, but it mattered not. Hayabusa had been wrong. Athena was a nice girl. And what did Hayabusa really know about her? What did such a cold ninja know about love anyway? Not a thing.
Athena rested her chin on Kyo's shoulder and noticed Fox and Link coming her way. She backed away from Kyo a little and looked at him with the most innocent smile she could muster. "Kyo, I missed you so much."
"I missed you too, honey." Kyo returned, smiling no less.
"But Kyo..." Athena said sweetly. "Would you die for me?"
Before Kyo could even form a look of surprise, he felt cold steel running between his ribs, tearing his skin, flesh and... his heart. He was too surprised to let a scream as he stumbled backwards and put his hand on the wound, staring at the treacherous Athena one more time before he collapsed on the ground.
"No!" Fox yelled in horror as he saw his friend's blood colour the ground.
Link stared in disbelief at Athena, who dropped a blood-stained knife with such nonchalancy that it was an insult towards Kyo's loyal friends.
Terry saw the scene from the corner of his eye and he turned to the dying Kyo with a mingle of disbelief and fear. Fear that his good friend would die. That he would lose his friend. He immediatly ran to Kyo's aid and knelt down next to him, completely ignoring Athena. "K... Kyo?" Terry tried, but he saw the cut in his chest and the amount of blood pouring out of it.
"They... got me..." Kyo spoke with surprise and pain in his voice as blood crawled down the corner of his mouth. His vision was fading because of the lack of blood that reached his brains.
"You're going to be fine, Kyo. Don't worry!" Terry said with a panicking voice and widened eyes.
Kyo pulled his lips in a vague smile. "Too... cliché... Terster..." He then closed his eyes for a moment and let a heavy breath, his last one. It was mingled with a painful moan, also the last thing his voice would ever do. Kyo was dead.
"No..." Terry murmered, the full realisation that his long-cherished friend had passed away starting to penetrate his being. "No!" he yelled as he stood up, drawing the attention of all the Chosen Ones. "No! No! No!" He didn't want to believe it. He refused to believe it! He knelt next to Kyo again. "You can't be gone, Kyo!" he said, tears rolling down his cheeks. He then noticed Zelda was standing next to him, her hand in front of her mouth as she stared with a look of shock at the body of Kyo. Terry immediatly stood up again. "You know magic. Make Kyo live again." he ordered Zelda, pointing at the princess with his indexfinger.
Zelda carefully shook her head. "I can not do that, Terry." she spoke softly, at a regrettable and excusing tone. She seemed stronger than before. Somehow. It was strange. Was she getting used to death? Was her innocent soul being tainted by all the blood? She seemed shocked, yes. But she didn't cry and answered Terry calmly. "Raising the dead is an evil magic, Terry. Kyo will never be the same again. He will solely become a being of hatred because of his brush with emptiness. I am sorry."
Terry wanted to... but he couldn't... It wasn't Zelda's fault that Kyo was dead. No, it was Athena's! He looked at the girl with fury in his eyes. Such hatred! It was the result of his feeling of incompetence to save Kyo. If he only had seen that it had been Athena... That... that bitch had used Kyo and eventually murdered him!
Mary didn't dare to comfort Terry. The young man's muscles were tense and his look... It was so frightening!
"You..." Terry growled towards Athena. Terry wanted to spill her blood, to kill her in the most horrible way he could think off. Kyo had been his friend for so long... "You will die for what you have done!!" Terry yelled.
Terry wanted to charge at Athena, to rip her chest open and feed her her own heart, but a sudden cackling laughter spread across the area. It was loud and was heard by everyone. It came from nowhere and yet from everywhere. It chilled every living soul to the bone.
Zelda immediatly ran to Link and sought protection within his arms. But this demonic laughter scared even Link. However, that did not hold him back from protecting his princess.
Insanity was poking in the minds of the Chosen Ones. The loss of Kyo and this strange laughing of something impossibly human filled their hearts with remorse and dread. Desperation was sneaking in and for a moment, there wasn't anyone left who wanted to live. Some soldiers put their guns against their heads and pulled the trigger, causing pure chaos and more grief.
Zelda closed her eyes to hide from this all, but she saw nothing but blood and torture. Screaming men, women and children who were being ripped apart and skinned alive. Zelda shrieked and wanted to open her eyes, but couldn't. "Link help me!!" she screamed. "Help me!!"
Link saw it too. The visions of horror. This had to the hell itself he saw. So much torment... Demons eating children, people being staked... "No!!" he yelled. He had to do something to make this stop! He wanted to draw his sword. To end this terror for Zelda and him, but his willpower didn't let him. Instead, his eyes shot wide open and he pressed his lips against Zelda. "Kiss me, Zelda." he murmered as he met a writhing Zelda who didn't allow him to kiss her.
As Link's relatively calm voice penetrated the princess's mind, she opened her lips a little and allowed their love to flow between them freely. It worked. By the Goddesses, it worked! Zelda focussed on that wonderful feeling she shared with Link, those beautiful moments she had with him. The visions of horror soon disappeared from her mind, but to many others, they didn't. More people started to commit suicide without a second thought. It was horrible!
Link knew they had to get out of there. And fast. He saw Terry lying on his knees and he took Zelda at her hand as he ran to the American. "Zelda, quickly. Help Mary and the others." he ordered the princess as he noticed that Mary too was devestated by this terrible experience. Zelda gathered all of her courage and let go of Link's gloved hand and ran to Mary's aid.
"Terry! Terry! Pull yourself together, man!" Link tried as he shook Terry's shoulder.
Terry looked up at Link with considerable effort. His eyes were like those of a madman, but the moment he saw his friend, they calmed down. "This is so sick, fairy boy..." he murmered softly.
Link praised the Goddesses that Terry used the words 'fairy boy' and helped the American up his feet. "We have to find the others, Terry." he said, looking around. But all the two friends could see was blood, death and pure chaos.
"My God... This is what Hayabusa meant with having to face our worst nightmares... such insanity..." Terry murmered, witnessing people shooting themselves and each other in the chaos. Link ran off telling Terry to search for the others as well. Terry did not complain. This was pure evil they were facing. There was no need for petty arguments.
It didn't take the American long before he found Andy and Mai. They both looked so incredibly miserable, but just as with Link and Zelda, their love kept them from the brink of insanity. "Quickly, Andy! Take Mai with you and get as far away from here as possible!" Terry yelled through the noise of shooting guns and screaming men and women.
Andy looked up from the shaking Mai. His eyes seemed to tell Terry that he understood. That he understood that Terry had to fight all this... this madness. "Be careful, big brother. And make them pay."
Terry nodded. "I will. Now go."
Andy did not waste time, knowing there was nothing he could to to help his brother. He stood up and helped Mai up her feet. He looked at Terry one last time before he ran with his girlfriend to the yet untainted free world and escaped the insanity.
Terry saw Athena. She stood there. Laughing like a demon. With the voice of a demon. Kyo and he had fallen into her trap. And now that the Chosen Ones were no longer necessary for the Evil, they had to die. A tear welled in Terry's eye as he studied Kyo's body and ignored the screaming and terror. Kyo. His best friend. As the tear rolled down his cheek, he used his thumb to wipe it away. This wasn't right. Kyo would never have wanted him to mourn. He knew his best friend like none other. This wasn't a time to cry. This was a time to fight. When he looked at Athena again, she was gone, her laughter joining the first unearthly voice. "I'll get you, bitch." Terry murmered, straightening his cap. "You'll beg for death." he continued, walking away to search for his other friends.
In the mean time, one of the bigger Lylatan spaceships started to capsize. Only God knew what horrible things happened aboard the ship. Or His sworn enemy... The ship slowly started to approach the ground, only to crash moments later, killing thousends of people in the enormous blast, swiftly turning the environment in a hell of a fire. Fitting.
Zelda tried to calm Mary down, but she was too distressed herself. Mary was screaming and her body was twisting and turning, forcing Zelda to back away herself as well. The young princess felt like completely losing control of the rapidly worsening situation. She didn't like this all. No she did not like it at all. No. No, she wanted to be in a nice field a nice field with flowers and sheep. And she wanted to be home. She saw a peaceful little sheep, running past her, jumping with joy... until his head exploded. Zelda shrieked. She was starting to get crazy! She was turning mad!
Terry didn't fail to notice this and ran to the girls, grabbing Mary at both her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Mary!" he yelled.
Mary looked at him with lacklustre eyes. "Will you kill me, Terry?" she whispered, but with an unexplained joy in her voice.
Terry was shocked. Was this Mary? No! He decided it was time for bigger measures. "This means nothing, okay?" he quickly said before pressing his lips to hers. It worked with Andy and Mai and it worked with Link and Zelda. Perhaps it would work with Mary as well... He noticed how soft those lips were... Very soothing...
Mary's eyes widened and softened again. She moved her hand to Terry's cheek, but the young man quickly backed away.
"Okay, that worked." he said rapidly, clumsy... Shy?
"Well, we don't know that for sure... Better try again..." Mary immediatly suggested.
"In your dreams." Terry said, making a face and retreating into his social shell. He quickly turned to Zelda and saw that the princess was in a far from good shape... She had lost all grip on herself... Terry thought it was pretty scary to see the once timid Zelda scream like some wild animal. Frightening. He knew they had to find Link in time.
But Link was stunned at the spot as he noticed... Galford...
The ninja was surrounded by the bodies of a hawk, a dog and a wolf. He had killed them... He looked around with swift movements of his head until he noticed Link. Galford's eyes were foggy, unsharp, unfocussed... He rolled them and turned them to strange angles. His body was shaking and he franticly held on to his blade, which was covered with blood. "I freed them from terror, Link." Galford said, the volume and tone of his voice uncontrolled. "And now... Now I am going to see Nako..." he continued, putting the tip of the blade at his chest.
Link ran to Galford, startled, as he yelled: "No, Galford!" But he was just in time to witness Galford thrusting his sword through his chest and collapsing on the ground while gorgling blood. Link frightfully backed away from Galford as the ninja breathed his last breath. It was a quick death. "Din, no..." Link murmered. This felt so surreal... Two friends had been killed in a few minutes time... "This isn't real." Link started to laugh. "No, no. This... this isn't real. No! It is not!" He continued his strange laughter, a cry it was more. Until Terry grabbed his arm and pulled him along with him.
"Leave Galford, we have to get out of here!" Terry spoke coldly. He knew staying here was suicide. With Zelda's arm in his left hand and Link's arm in his right, he started to walk towards the exit of this crazy domain, Mary close behind him.
The chaos around the four was increasing as they searched for Malon, Marth and Fox while they drudged towards the exit to freedom.
Fox, being the cool-minded young man as he was, kept thinking rationally. He kept his mind clean from unclean thoughts that would drive him mad as he searched for his friends, even as he passed Ganondorf's body and the sound of explosions, screams and gunfire were overwhelming. He decided it would be best to head back to earth and catch up with the rest there. He started to walk, but... couldn't. Something held on to his lower-leg. When he turned around, he saw it was Ganondorf. The rotting, but living corpse of Ganondorf! He looked up from his lying position and grinned at Fox.
"Fuck!" Fox yelled, drawing his gun and aiming it at Ganondorf's head. Or whatever was left of it. "How long does it take you to understand..." Fox started, shooting another hole in Ganondorf's splintered head. "...that you..." He shot again. "...don't..." Again. "...stand..." Again. "...a chance!" But no matter how many holes Fox shot in Ganondorf's body, he didn't let go.
Instead, the corpse of the warlock stood up. Slowly, letting go of Fox's leg. Normally, Fox would've done the smart thing and run, but he was paralysed. In horror, the Lylatan witnessed Ganondorf's body regenerating. The wounds slowly closed and flesh grew back. It was a horrible sight.
As soon as Ganondorf was his former self again, he grinned at Fox. An evil, disturbing grin. "You can not kill a god, Fox!" he growled. With an incredibly swift move, he grabbed Fox at his throat, lifting him up.
Fox's mind was clouded with fear, so the only thing he could do was aim his gun at Ganondorf. But Ganondorf snatched Fox's blaster from him and put it against Fox's own head. "Now let's see who really goes to hell, shall we?" Ganondorf spoke calmly, before pulling the trigger and ending Fox's existance on the mortal plane.
At that moment, four Chosen Ones escaped the menace and the portal. It came to a shock to Link and Zelda that they were suddenly out of the menace and they dropped to their knees.
"Take care of them, Mary. I'll find Fox and the others." Terry quickly said before running back to the portal. But before he had gathered enough courage to step through it again, he saw Ganondorf. The evil... man... raised his hand with which he held the decapitated body of Fox McCloud, showing it Terry with a grin.
Terry's breathing ceased and a deadly grimace engulfed his face. "You bastard!" he screamed before he ran towards Ganondorf... and got stopped by some invisible barier. The portal... it was closing again! Something invisible was put between earth and this other dimension.
"We have enough resources now to conquer the universe. Enough blood. Enough fear and suffering. We won, Chosen Ones!" Ganondorf roared in victory as he dropped Fox's remains nonchalantly. And out of nowhere, Athena, Geese and Zankurou appeared.
"Fox!" Link yelled as he joined Terry's side in a futile attempt to break through the barrier. The sight of Fox's body made Link drop to his knees. "No..." he murmered in tears.
"Yes, Link." Ganondorf said, walking towards the barrier while the other three remained behind him. "And now it will only be a matter of weeks before we have Earth. And when I kill all of you, I will keep your princess as my eternal sex-slave!"
Link heard Ganondorf's words, but didn't want to react. He didn't care anymore. He just kept crying over the loss of Fox. And Galford's death. And Kyo's assassination.
"See you in a few days, Chosen Ones!" Ganondorf said laughing before everything behind the portal started to disappear and the portal closed slowly, returning to it's previous state. The colossal device of foreign power was closed again, only to leave for the imagination to guess what cruel deeds would be performed on those still inside.
Zelda stood there, panting and sweating. Her heart was racing again. She was the most powerfull of the Chosen Ones, but this... this had taken great toll of her. What a power she wielded! She scared herself. Again.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Again. She startled and turned around with a shriek, just to stare in the surprised eyes of Link. She immediatly clung on to his shoulders, burying her blonde head in his chest.
Link wrapped his arms around her, giving her some protection in the ugly world.
"Hmph. I turn my back on you ONE time, fairy boy, and you're trying to get into her panties again." Terry's rude response was as he came walking to the two Hylians, his hands nonchalantly in his pockets. He stopped next to Link and Zelda as the two looked at him. "Well, I guess we nuked pretty much their entire army. Let's go home okay? Not much to be done anymore around here." He said.
"We?" Link said challenging. "I thought it was Zelda who created that wave." he continued as he let go of Zelda and turned to Terry.
"Hmph. If you would've given me five more minutes, I would've killed them all as well."
"Sure, Terry." Fox said, walking past the Human to congratulate Zelda.
"Absolutely, Terster." Galford said, waking past him as well.
"I don't doubt it, Terry." Kyo said, following not much later.
"Haha. Aren't we funny?" Terry said, putting his hands in his sides. That was strange... No bright comment from Mary. He looked around. She was nowhere to be found. Terry of course wasn't worried about her. Not at all. Not one bit. But he didn't feel like sticking close to all those slimeballs kissing up to Zelda, so he decided to go and look for his fellow American.
After a while, he found her. She was sitting on the ground, facing him with her back, her jacket next to her. She was staring in front of her, not distracted by the chaos around her. The chaos formed by grief, surprise, moving material, cheerful people...
Terry noticed her rubbing her arms. She was cold. No wonder. Her top didn't really give the best of protection against the harsh land. But why didn't she put on her jacket? Stupid woman.
He walked to her and picked up the jacket, which he carefully hung on her shoulders. "You're going to get a cold, moron." he said, ever so tactful. But before he could remove his hands, Mary grabbed on of them and softly squeesed it, not ceasing her staring. This motion startled Terry. What the heck was she... He wanted to withdraw his hand, but somehow... couldn't.
"We won." Mary said, her voice containing no joy whatsoever.
"Of course we won. As if a bunch of anorexia-sufferers can defeat us. Ha!" Terry said, confident as ever.
Mary let go of Terry's hand and looked up at him. "It hasn't started yet."
"Excuse me?"
"The pain, the suffering... It hasn't begun yet." Mary spoke with utter sadness in her lovely eyes.
"Jesus! What are you on?" Terry cursed.
Mary stood up and put on her jacket decently, looking away from Terry, towards the horizon. "We have to get out of here. We have to get EVERYONE out of here!"
"My God, you're starting to sound like Zelda, you know that? Oh no, we're going to die and suffer and hell is coming and yada yada yada. Bullshit! We won! Hayabuzzer was just being a weenie. There's nothing more than..."
"Shut up!!" Mary yelled, suddenly turning around to Terry. "Shut that big mouth of yours for once and listen to me! We have to get out of here! Or we will all die... Trust me, I know!"
Terry tilted an eyebrow. Mary wasn't kidding. She seemed very serious. "Okay, miss know-it-all. Let's find the other female freak and ask her opinion." Terry said, before he turned around and walked away.
"Insensitive jerk." Mary said through gritted teeth.
"You said something?" Terry replied, not looking back.
"No, nothing." Mary said, biting her underlip and swallowing away some tears.
It took the two Americans some time before they finally found the others and as soon as they had, Mary immediatly walked to Zelda.
"You felt it too." Zelda concluded from Mary's worried face.
Mary nodded. "We have to get out of here." she said.
"Ho, ho, ho! Time out! We're not going anywere!" Terry said, stubborn as always.
"Yes, we do! Or do you want to die?" Mary said angry towards Terry.
"I have yet to meet the motherfucker who can kill me!" Terry returned.
"Whoa! Chill, Terry!" Galford said. "Dude, you gotta relax. The girls may be right." the ninja continued.
"Well, they're not, justice-boy! And if I were you, I'd keep my annoying mouth shut before something bad happens to me!" Terry returned, now facing Galford.
"Shut your din-damn mouth for a change, Terry!" Link yelled aggrivated.
"I believe mister I-have-no-job-so-I-just-fuck-princesses-to-earn-a-living wants to make a point for a change?" Terry directed towards Link.
"You take that back, American!" Link said furious, grabbing Terry at his collar with both hands.
"Keep your hands off me!" Terry said, pushing Link hard away from him.
Fox' ears pointed away from the fight. They picked something else up. Something more disturbing. Fox turned to the sound of walking boots. Dark- brown medieval boots. As the Lylatan's face turned, he drew his gun at the same time. His natural instinct told him to do so. When his look finally reached it's destination, it didn't want to believe what it saw. Fox's hand started to shake, but he kept his gun pointed at the owner of the boots.
The owner of the boots stopped not far from the arguing friends and crossed his arms in front of his chest, letting his dirty cape fall down gently.
Fox steadied his gun and sharped his senses to the maximum. Fear grabbed his heart and squeesed it tightly, making his breathing seem harder. "Hi, Ganondorf." Fox then said to the man in front of him, trying not to show his fear.
The word 'Ganondorf' silenced the arguing friends in an instant and they all looked at the Evil warlock.
"Look at the collection of miserable low-lifes. How pathetic." Ganondorf said with a sigh. He had a dark aura around him. Something the friends couldn't see, but solely feel. It was a dreadful experience.
"My God..." Kyo said in pure shock.
"Your pitiful God can't help you now, Kyo. I am so much more powerful than He has ever been." Ganondorf spoke quietly. He turned to the ill-tempered Terry. "Well, Bogard. Don't you want to get a shot at me? I had your little friend raped. Now's your chance to get even. Come and get me, I dare you!" Ganondorf spoke with a taunting voice.
"I'm going to kick your sorry ass, you bastard!" Terry yelled furious. The sight of Ganondorf had released a lot of held emotions. Emotions of despise, hatred and loss. And Terry wasn't really a forgiving person.
"Terry, no!" Fox yelled as the American ran towards Ganondorf with the sole intent of killing the Evil wizard.
"You will die for everything you've done!" Terry yelled as he quickly approached Ganondorf. He jumped up in the air as his fist lighted up. "Power Dunk!" he yelled as he returned to the ground and... his fist got caught by some invisible force, making it bounce off.
Terry clumsily fell on his back, shaking his head to clear the dust of his cap. Ganondorf held out his hand and out of nothing, a huge sword materialised, at least two meters in length and beautifully decorated. As far as a weapon could be beautiful, that was. Ganondorf simply held the weapon as if it was a stick of wood instead of a huge metal object. Loosly with one hand.
"You're so pathetic, Terry. Hardly worth killing." Ganondorf said with a grin.
Before Ganondorf could strike, he felt a kick in his side. But that was all. He felt it. A soft push in his side by Link's boot. Ganondorf grabbed the young Hylian's leg and swung him through the air as if he was nothing! A couple of times, above his head, ignoring the screaming Link.
"Come on, guys!" Fox yelled as he fired his gun towards Ganondorf without visible result. Kyo and Galford both charged Ganondorf at the same time, Galford with his sword and Kyo with a burning fist, Galford to the left side of Ganondorf and Kyo to the right. Right before they would collide with the evil warlock, he smashed hard Link onto the ground, creating a crack in the earth, before he simply vanished, leaving Galford and Kyo to slash air.
As Link was trying to get up, Kyo and Galford had to duck to evade Ganondorf's huge blade which slashed at them at head-height from behind. Their 'sixth sense' had saved them. They were powerful, but not immortal.
Mary jumped at Ganondorf's free arm in an attempt to take him to the ground by wrapping her legs around his arm and making a twist with her body. But Ganondorf made a simple swing with his arm, throwing Mary off of it with incredible strength.
Mary flew through the air with a shriek, noticing a sharp boulder approaching rapidly. She tried to turn her feet, but she flew way too fast. But instead of being caught by the sharp edges of the boulder, she got caught by two arms.
"You okay?" Terry asked as he looked at her, a slight worry in his eyes. Mary looked up at him and noticed the compassion with which he said it. It was a tiny little bit of compassion, only recognisable for those who really knew Terry.
Mary slowly nodded.
"Okay." Terry said as he gently put her on her feet. He turned away from Mary, towards Ganondorf, who was easily warding off Link, Fox, Galford and Kyo, while being watched with terror by Zelda. "I'm off." he simply said before he dashed away towards the vicious fight, which had drawn some attention from the gathered armies.
But at the sight of Kyo punching flames, Galford warping and Ganondorf's simple countering, they weren't sure how to intervene. Would it matter? No. Not a bit.
Link got punched in his stomach so fast by Ganondorf that it was barely visible, sending the Hylian flying off. He crashed down next to Zelda, all the bones in his body hurting beyond belief. But he stood up and ran towards Ganondorf again and again. This guy could not be more powerful than the seven of them together. It was impossible.
Ganondorf dropped his sword and lowered his hands. "Come on, Chosen Ones. Give it your best shot!"
"Now, everyone!" Fox yelled, seeing a chance to get a shot at Ganondorf.
"Power wave!" Terry yelled, smashing the earth with his fist, creating a wave of pure strength which shot towards Ganondorf from behind.
Link grabbed his sword with two hands and felt the electricity cracking through the blade, enforcing the determination in his eyes. He backed off of Ganondorf a little and then threw his fury, his blade and his body towards the Evil man.
Galford swiftly warped here and there before finally appearing above Ganondorf, his sword catching sweat from his convulsive hold of the handle.
Kyo tensed every muscle in his body, increasing the heat beyond imagination. Then, his entire body caught flame, creating the sound of replacing air. Though that wasn't it. The flame escaped his body. That was all. But Kyo's temperature was so high, that the fire kept raging as he ran towards Ganondorf, igniting even the dust on the dry ground.
Mary came running towards the Evil wizard as well, but she was too far to reach the collision of forces in time.
Zelda was still frozen in place, too scared to do anything. The rest didn't pay any attention to her, they could only see Ganondorf.
Link reached Ganondorf first, slicing at him with a fury unlikely for the young man. Ganondorf managed to evade the first blow, but was pushed forward by Terry's energised Wave and felt electricity raging through his veins as Link's blade cut open his stomach. Ganondorf stumbled backwards, bent forward, and then felt a heat of such intensity, that his right arm simply melted off under his loud screaming.
Kyo stood a couple of meters away from Ganondorf, blowing out his burning finger as though it was a heated gun.
Then Galford dropped down behind the screaming Ganondorf, cutting open his back.
Ganondorf, once proud and unbeatable, now more dead than alive, dropped to his knees, supported by solely his left arm. He lifted his head and saw Fox standing in front of him, gun in hand. The warlock's look was altered by pain and humiliation, making him seem even more uglier than before.
Fox simply put his blaster against Ganondorf's forehead. "Any last words, sicko?" he said with a nearly growling, but calm voice.
"To... hell with... you all!" Ganondorf said as loud as possible.
"Funny you mentioned that." Fox coldly said before he pressed the trigger, blasting Ganondorf's brains against the dusty ground, colouring it with a faint pink liquid.
The warlock's dead and defeated body collapsed forward, spilling the blood from his wounds in the holes in the ground.
"Growse!" Mary said, making a face and putting her hand on her stomach.
"Girls..." Terry sighed. He looked at Mary. "Was this your vision of suffering?" he asked mocking.
"Well, he suffered alright..." Kyo said grinning.
"Yeah, he did. Wonder if we can use him for fertilizer or something?" Terry said, grinning no less.
"You guys sicken me." Mary said, slightly angry as Fox was smiling a little and he twirled his blaster before he put it away.
"Anyway, the vile threat to justice has been vanguished, guys!" Galford said, enthusiastic as ever. He really lived among his newly found friends.
"Shut up, justice-boy!" Terry said annoyed.
"Well, Galford does make a point there. We DID slay some evil here!" Kyo said, enforcing Galford's point of view.
"God, no. Not ANOTHER one like him..." Terry sighed, slapping his forehead. Then Mary wrapped her arms around his mid-section and held him tightly, putting her head against his chest.
"I'll never forget how you saved me, my hero..." she said strikingly in a sigh.
"Would you...? You really have guts, missy! Let me go this instant!" Terry said, but not doing anything to push Mary away.
Link smiled, glad Ganondorf was finally really dead and that the spirits were still high. However, when he turned to Zelda, he saw her staring at the body of Ganondorf as her body was shaking with frustration, anger, fear and helplessness. He walked to her and grabbed her chin gently, making her look at him. It costed him more effort than he would've wanted. "Princess, are you okay?" he asked concerned.
"Why? Why do we have to... kill. I don't want to kill..." Zelda muttered.
Terry turned his back towards the two and sighed as he looked down. He wanted to make a comment, but he realised Zelda was used to luxury and comfort her entire life. The others were used to fighting, used to hurting and killing when needed. But Zelda wasn't. Ah, she was way too young for this! They were all way too young for this. He looked around and noticed that the soldiers around them were cheering. They had probably witnessed the battle. But Terry wondered. Ganondorf was finally dead, yes. But he figured Zankurou and Geese had been resurrected as well. And where were they? Perhaps Ganondorf was this prime-evil? No, that wouldn't make sense. Ganondorf had kept talking about some master or power above him. No, the Chosen Ones weren't there yet. And Terry figured they still had a pretty long way to go.
"I see you can manage yourself quite well, big brother." a familiar voice sounded, drawing Terry's attention. The American turned his head and saw two very familiar people standing in front of him. A young man with long blond hair and a young woman with her long brown hair in a broad ponytail. They both wore some casual clothing. "Andy!" Terry yelled, drawing the attention of his friends as he hugged his younger brother, surprising Andy a little.
When Terry finally backed away, so many questions wanted to come out of his mouth. Why Andy and Mai had left them, how they had found them again, how they were doing... But somehow, they didn't leave his mouth, leaving him to stare at his younger brother with a questioning gaze.
Andy too had his questions, no surprise there either, but somehow, he wasn't really interested in answers at the moment. He was just glad that no one was dead, and especially not his older brother.
Fox was already surprised that Andy and Mai had shown up, but his surprise grew even more when he saw a certain prince with an escort and... Malon... They were followed by a dog, a wolf and some kind of bird... They all came from the portal. Almost all at the same time.
"Malon!" Zelda yelled as soon as she noticed the ranchgirl and immediatly ran to her and prince Marth.
"Poppy!" Galford yelled as he ran to the dog, which was leading the other two animals.
Kyo then noticed a girl walking through the wide portal and immediatly recognised her. "Athena!" he yelled as he ran towards her warm embrace.
Fox squeesed his eyes as Link joined his side and Mary walked past them to join Terry's. Fox and Link stood well away from the reuniting friends as they looked at each other.
"Link." Fox started. "You can call me paranoid, but..."
"Yes, all those people from all those different countries coming here all at the same time is too good to be true. Keep alert, buddy." Link said with a gloomy voice. He walked to the dead body of Ganondorf, stepping in the evil blood of the warlock. He kept staring at the dead man. His worst enemy. Or wasn't he...? Was there something worse? He didn't know. But Ganondorf's dead, no matter how conclusive it was to it all, just didn't feel satisfying. "What do you got in store for us next, huh?" Link asked the silent body in front of him. "Whatever you've got up your sleeve..." He paused and turned away from the dead wizard, looking in the direction of Zelda, who was hugging Marth and Malon. "You won't hurt Zelda anymore." Link continued as he finally sheathed his sword. It produced a reassuring sound, but Link felt far from easy. Everyone around him was moving. They were counting the losses, putting up a base... It had been a short battle, thanks to Zelda. But it just... It wasn't... No, it didn't feel right. Suddenly, he felt Fox patting on his shoulder.
"Hey, buddy. Isn't that Athena? That girl Hayabusa warned us about?" the Lylatan mentioned, pointing at the girl Kyo held in his arms.
Link turned around and saw it too. "Yes, you're right. Perhaps Hayabusa was wrong about her. Seems like a nice girl to me." Link said naive.
"Hayabusa is rarely wrong, Link." Fox said, drawing his blaster again and starting to walk towards the seemingly happy couple.
"I'm SO glad you're okay, Kyo. I thought you..." Athena said, stopping her sentence with a doubt of what to say.
"I'm fine, Athena. I've just gotten stronger, that's all." Kyo said with a smile, looking in Athena's beautiful eyes. How he had missed her. He vaguely remembered what Hayabusa had said, but it mattered not. Hayabusa had been wrong. Athena was a nice girl. And what did Hayabusa really know about her? What did such a cold ninja know about love anyway? Not a thing.
Athena rested her chin on Kyo's shoulder and noticed Fox and Link coming her way. She backed away from Kyo a little and looked at him with the most innocent smile she could muster. "Kyo, I missed you so much."
"I missed you too, honey." Kyo returned, smiling no less.
"But Kyo..." Athena said sweetly. "Would you die for me?"
Before Kyo could even form a look of surprise, he felt cold steel running between his ribs, tearing his skin, flesh and... his heart. He was too surprised to let a scream as he stumbled backwards and put his hand on the wound, staring at the treacherous Athena one more time before he collapsed on the ground.
"No!" Fox yelled in horror as he saw his friend's blood colour the ground.
Link stared in disbelief at Athena, who dropped a blood-stained knife with such nonchalancy that it was an insult towards Kyo's loyal friends.
Terry saw the scene from the corner of his eye and he turned to the dying Kyo with a mingle of disbelief and fear. Fear that his good friend would die. That he would lose his friend. He immediatly ran to Kyo's aid and knelt down next to him, completely ignoring Athena. "K... Kyo?" Terry tried, but he saw the cut in his chest and the amount of blood pouring out of it.
"They... got me..." Kyo spoke with surprise and pain in his voice as blood crawled down the corner of his mouth. His vision was fading because of the lack of blood that reached his brains.
"You're going to be fine, Kyo. Don't worry!" Terry said with a panicking voice and widened eyes.
Kyo pulled his lips in a vague smile. "Too... cliché... Terster..." He then closed his eyes for a moment and let a heavy breath, his last one. It was mingled with a painful moan, also the last thing his voice would ever do. Kyo was dead.
"No..." Terry murmered, the full realisation that his long-cherished friend had passed away starting to penetrate his being. "No!" he yelled as he stood up, drawing the attention of all the Chosen Ones. "No! No! No!" He didn't want to believe it. He refused to believe it! He knelt next to Kyo again. "You can't be gone, Kyo!" he said, tears rolling down his cheeks. He then noticed Zelda was standing next to him, her hand in front of her mouth as she stared with a look of shock at the body of Kyo. Terry immediatly stood up again. "You know magic. Make Kyo live again." he ordered Zelda, pointing at the princess with his indexfinger.
Zelda carefully shook her head. "I can not do that, Terry." she spoke softly, at a regrettable and excusing tone. She seemed stronger than before. Somehow. It was strange. Was she getting used to death? Was her innocent soul being tainted by all the blood? She seemed shocked, yes. But she didn't cry and answered Terry calmly. "Raising the dead is an evil magic, Terry. Kyo will never be the same again. He will solely become a being of hatred because of his brush with emptiness. I am sorry."
Terry wanted to... but he couldn't... It wasn't Zelda's fault that Kyo was dead. No, it was Athena's! He looked at the girl with fury in his eyes. Such hatred! It was the result of his feeling of incompetence to save Kyo. If he only had seen that it had been Athena... That... that bitch had used Kyo and eventually murdered him!
Mary didn't dare to comfort Terry. The young man's muscles were tense and his look... It was so frightening!
"You..." Terry growled towards Athena. Terry wanted to spill her blood, to kill her in the most horrible way he could think off. Kyo had been his friend for so long... "You will die for what you have done!!" Terry yelled.
Terry wanted to charge at Athena, to rip her chest open and feed her her own heart, but a sudden cackling laughter spread across the area. It was loud and was heard by everyone. It came from nowhere and yet from everywhere. It chilled every living soul to the bone.
Zelda immediatly ran to Link and sought protection within his arms. But this demonic laughter scared even Link. However, that did not hold him back from protecting his princess.
Insanity was poking in the minds of the Chosen Ones. The loss of Kyo and this strange laughing of something impossibly human filled their hearts with remorse and dread. Desperation was sneaking in and for a moment, there wasn't anyone left who wanted to live. Some soldiers put their guns against their heads and pulled the trigger, causing pure chaos and more grief.
Zelda closed her eyes to hide from this all, but she saw nothing but blood and torture. Screaming men, women and children who were being ripped apart and skinned alive. Zelda shrieked and wanted to open her eyes, but couldn't. "Link help me!!" she screamed. "Help me!!"
Link saw it too. The visions of horror. This had to the hell itself he saw. So much torment... Demons eating children, people being staked... "No!!" he yelled. He had to do something to make this stop! He wanted to draw his sword. To end this terror for Zelda and him, but his willpower didn't let him. Instead, his eyes shot wide open and he pressed his lips against Zelda. "Kiss me, Zelda." he murmered as he met a writhing Zelda who didn't allow him to kiss her.
As Link's relatively calm voice penetrated the princess's mind, she opened her lips a little and allowed their love to flow between them freely. It worked. By the Goddesses, it worked! Zelda focussed on that wonderful feeling she shared with Link, those beautiful moments she had with him. The visions of horror soon disappeared from her mind, but to many others, they didn't. More people started to commit suicide without a second thought. It was horrible!
Link knew they had to get out of there. And fast. He saw Terry lying on his knees and he took Zelda at her hand as he ran to the American. "Zelda, quickly. Help Mary and the others." he ordered the princess as he noticed that Mary too was devestated by this terrible experience. Zelda gathered all of her courage and let go of Link's gloved hand and ran to Mary's aid.
"Terry! Terry! Pull yourself together, man!" Link tried as he shook Terry's shoulder.
Terry looked up at Link with considerable effort. His eyes were like those of a madman, but the moment he saw his friend, they calmed down. "This is so sick, fairy boy..." he murmered softly.
Link praised the Goddesses that Terry used the words 'fairy boy' and helped the American up his feet. "We have to find the others, Terry." he said, looking around. But all the two friends could see was blood, death and pure chaos.
"My God... This is what Hayabusa meant with having to face our worst nightmares... such insanity..." Terry murmered, witnessing people shooting themselves and each other in the chaos. Link ran off telling Terry to search for the others as well. Terry did not complain. This was pure evil they were facing. There was no need for petty arguments.
It didn't take the American long before he found Andy and Mai. They both looked so incredibly miserable, but just as with Link and Zelda, their love kept them from the brink of insanity. "Quickly, Andy! Take Mai with you and get as far away from here as possible!" Terry yelled through the noise of shooting guns and screaming men and women.
Andy looked up from the shaking Mai. His eyes seemed to tell Terry that he understood. That he understood that Terry had to fight all this... this madness. "Be careful, big brother. And make them pay."
Terry nodded. "I will. Now go."
Andy did not waste time, knowing there was nothing he could to to help his brother. He stood up and helped Mai up her feet. He looked at Terry one last time before he ran with his girlfriend to the yet untainted free world and escaped the insanity.
Terry saw Athena. She stood there. Laughing like a demon. With the voice of a demon. Kyo and he had fallen into her trap. And now that the Chosen Ones were no longer necessary for the Evil, they had to die. A tear welled in Terry's eye as he studied Kyo's body and ignored the screaming and terror. Kyo. His best friend. As the tear rolled down his cheek, he used his thumb to wipe it away. This wasn't right. Kyo would never have wanted him to mourn. He knew his best friend like none other. This wasn't a time to cry. This was a time to fight. When he looked at Athena again, she was gone, her laughter joining the first unearthly voice. "I'll get you, bitch." Terry murmered, straightening his cap. "You'll beg for death." he continued, walking away to search for his other friends.
In the mean time, one of the bigger Lylatan spaceships started to capsize. Only God knew what horrible things happened aboard the ship. Or His sworn enemy... The ship slowly started to approach the ground, only to crash moments later, killing thousends of people in the enormous blast, swiftly turning the environment in a hell of a fire. Fitting.
Zelda tried to calm Mary down, but she was too distressed herself. Mary was screaming and her body was twisting and turning, forcing Zelda to back away herself as well. The young princess felt like completely losing control of the rapidly worsening situation. She didn't like this all. No she did not like it at all. No. No, she wanted to be in a nice field a nice field with flowers and sheep. And she wanted to be home. She saw a peaceful little sheep, running past her, jumping with joy... until his head exploded. Zelda shrieked. She was starting to get crazy! She was turning mad!
Terry didn't fail to notice this and ran to the girls, grabbing Mary at both her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Mary!" he yelled.
Mary looked at him with lacklustre eyes. "Will you kill me, Terry?" she whispered, but with an unexplained joy in her voice.
Terry was shocked. Was this Mary? No! He decided it was time for bigger measures. "This means nothing, okay?" he quickly said before pressing his lips to hers. It worked with Andy and Mai and it worked with Link and Zelda. Perhaps it would work with Mary as well... He noticed how soft those lips were... Very soothing...
Mary's eyes widened and softened again. She moved her hand to Terry's cheek, but the young man quickly backed away.
"Okay, that worked." he said rapidly, clumsy... Shy?
"Well, we don't know that for sure... Better try again..." Mary immediatly suggested.
"In your dreams." Terry said, making a face and retreating into his social shell. He quickly turned to Zelda and saw that the princess was in a far from good shape... She had lost all grip on herself... Terry thought it was pretty scary to see the once timid Zelda scream like some wild animal. Frightening. He knew they had to find Link in time.
But Link was stunned at the spot as he noticed... Galford...
The ninja was surrounded by the bodies of a hawk, a dog and a wolf. He had killed them... He looked around with swift movements of his head until he noticed Link. Galford's eyes were foggy, unsharp, unfocussed... He rolled them and turned them to strange angles. His body was shaking and he franticly held on to his blade, which was covered with blood. "I freed them from terror, Link." Galford said, the volume and tone of his voice uncontrolled. "And now... Now I am going to see Nako..." he continued, putting the tip of the blade at his chest.
Link ran to Galford, startled, as he yelled: "No, Galford!" But he was just in time to witness Galford thrusting his sword through his chest and collapsing on the ground while gorgling blood. Link frightfully backed away from Galford as the ninja breathed his last breath. It was a quick death. "Din, no..." Link murmered. This felt so surreal... Two friends had been killed in a few minutes time... "This isn't real." Link started to laugh. "No, no. This... this isn't real. No! It is not!" He continued his strange laughter, a cry it was more. Until Terry grabbed his arm and pulled him along with him.
"Leave Galford, we have to get out of here!" Terry spoke coldly. He knew staying here was suicide. With Zelda's arm in his left hand and Link's arm in his right, he started to walk towards the exit of this crazy domain, Mary close behind him.
The chaos around the four was increasing as they searched for Malon, Marth and Fox while they drudged towards the exit to freedom.
Fox, being the cool-minded young man as he was, kept thinking rationally. He kept his mind clean from unclean thoughts that would drive him mad as he searched for his friends, even as he passed Ganondorf's body and the sound of explosions, screams and gunfire were overwhelming. He decided it would be best to head back to earth and catch up with the rest there. He started to walk, but... couldn't. Something held on to his lower-leg. When he turned around, he saw it was Ganondorf. The rotting, but living corpse of Ganondorf! He looked up from his lying position and grinned at Fox.
"Fuck!" Fox yelled, drawing his gun and aiming it at Ganondorf's head. Or whatever was left of it. "How long does it take you to understand..." Fox started, shooting another hole in Ganondorf's splintered head. "...that you..." He shot again. "...don't..." Again. "...stand..." Again. "...a chance!" But no matter how many holes Fox shot in Ganondorf's body, he didn't let go.
Instead, the corpse of the warlock stood up. Slowly, letting go of Fox's leg. Normally, Fox would've done the smart thing and run, but he was paralysed. In horror, the Lylatan witnessed Ganondorf's body regenerating. The wounds slowly closed and flesh grew back. It was a horrible sight.
As soon as Ganondorf was his former self again, he grinned at Fox. An evil, disturbing grin. "You can not kill a god, Fox!" he growled. With an incredibly swift move, he grabbed Fox at his throat, lifting him up.
Fox's mind was clouded with fear, so the only thing he could do was aim his gun at Ganondorf. But Ganondorf snatched Fox's blaster from him and put it against Fox's own head. "Now let's see who really goes to hell, shall we?" Ganondorf spoke calmly, before pulling the trigger and ending Fox's existance on the mortal plane.
At that moment, four Chosen Ones escaped the menace and the portal. It came to a shock to Link and Zelda that they were suddenly out of the menace and they dropped to their knees.
"Take care of them, Mary. I'll find Fox and the others." Terry quickly said before running back to the portal. But before he had gathered enough courage to step through it again, he saw Ganondorf. The evil... man... raised his hand with which he held the decapitated body of Fox McCloud, showing it Terry with a grin.
Terry's breathing ceased and a deadly grimace engulfed his face. "You bastard!" he screamed before he ran towards Ganondorf... and got stopped by some invisible barier. The portal... it was closing again! Something invisible was put between earth and this other dimension.
"We have enough resources now to conquer the universe. Enough blood. Enough fear and suffering. We won, Chosen Ones!" Ganondorf roared in victory as he dropped Fox's remains nonchalantly. And out of nowhere, Athena, Geese and Zankurou appeared.
"Fox!" Link yelled as he joined Terry's side in a futile attempt to break through the barrier. The sight of Fox's body made Link drop to his knees. "No..." he murmered in tears.
"Yes, Link." Ganondorf said, walking towards the barrier while the other three remained behind him. "And now it will only be a matter of weeks before we have Earth. And when I kill all of you, I will keep your princess as my eternal sex-slave!"
Link heard Ganondorf's words, but didn't want to react. He didn't care anymore. He just kept crying over the loss of Fox. And Galford's death. And Kyo's assassination.
"See you in a few days, Chosen Ones!" Ganondorf said laughing before everything behind the portal started to disappear and the portal closed slowly, returning to it's previous state. The colossal device of foreign power was closed again, only to leave for the imagination to guess what cruel deeds would be performed on those still inside.