Edward Kidnastoff
By John Little
Chp. 10: Restructured Teams
*****
"Link! Hey, this is Dr. Kidnastoff. I've returned from the shopping trip, and have secured all of your necessary supplies. They're waiting for you outside the Battle Chamber. Please head there now, as I have a special surprise for you this practice session!"
Link heard the message with mingled hope and fear. He'd been alone in Dr. Kidnastoff's ship for a few days, and had only been granted access to a few of the many rooms that he was aware of. He was pretty sure that he had mentally memorized every last angstrom of the hallways that he could get to, and was grateful for the change of events. However, he wondered if his message had gotten out. If Kidnastoff had opened the bottle before leaving the ship for some reason, or if the fairy had been lost or killed, or if any number of other scenarios had occurred, Link might still be totally in Dr. Kidnastoff's clutches.
He reached the outside of the Battle Chamber and saw the bottle of magic potion, a full quiver and a full bomb bag. He wondered why Dr. Kidnastoff hadn't handed these to him personally. Had the delay caused by the supply run put Kidnastoff behind on some schedule that he hadn't told Link about? Did he have to ensure that certain monsters were fully ready by a certain date?
As Link picked up his items, the door opened. Link casually strolled into the Battle Chamber, quickly gulping down the potion. He felt his magic energy increase from the low state that it had been hovering at for days.
Link unsheathed his sword and looked up at the glass panel that Dr. Kidnastoff was standing behind. He looked a little more wild eyed than usual, and it also looked as if he had been unable to shave during his trip, making him appear even more wild eyed than normal. Dr. Kidnastoff waved in response and turned on the communications system.
"Good morning, Link! I apologize for my haggard appearance today, but I felt it important to get to work very, very quickly. A few unforeseen events occurred during my trip across Hyrule, and I feel that the two of us can work them out fairly well."
As soon as Dr. Kidnastoff said this, a wall panel slid to the side revealing Nabooru and Darunia, both looking very confused and shaken. Three jaws dropped as Link ran towards them.
"Nabooru! Darunia! What're you doing here?"
"Long story, kid," Nabooru groaned, blinking a few times in the unusual lighting of the Battle Chamber.
"Link, these two were able to follow me. They are, I believe, two of the Seven Sages of the land. I was unfortunate enough to encounter Nabooru along with a Sage named Saria in the Kokiri Village. Somehow they recognized me. I evaded them and ran to Goron City for the bombs where I encountered Darunia and another Sage named Impa. I evaded them as well. However, when the gateway between Hyrule and my fortress opened, I found these two barreling right after me. Now, I had been afraid of the abilities of the Sages, but I found that they weren't much of a match against me despite all of the mysteries surrounding them."
Link looked up to Dr. Kidnastoff's window and back to the two Sages. "The two of you lost to him in a fight?"
Darunia hung his head. "He is very strong and very fast. It also seems that most higher forms of magic will not work in this environment, we were only able to work a few simpler spells against him."
"Link," Nabooru whispered, hoping that Dr. Kidnastoff wouldn't hear, "Saria and I received your message about the Poes. Saria is still out there, so she should be able to tell the other Sages."
"Great," Link responded. "I don't know how much more of this place I can take."
"I'm sure that the three of you have a lot to catch up on," Dr. Kidnastoff chuckled through the communication device. "But we've got a lot of work to do today. I've decided to let the three of you become aquatinted with a little starter match before I figure out just where to lock these two Sages away. Enjoy this time together, for I'm afraid that it must be brief. In the interest of scientific research, these three-on-one matches can't happen again."
So saying, the doors of the Monster Maker 3000 began to open and smoke began to pour into the room. Link entered his fighting stance as Nabooru and Darunia followed suit. "Link, what IS that?" Darunia shuddered at the sound of the familiar laughter.
"Oh, that's the fun part," Link said. "It all goes downhill once you find out just what the thing is."
No sooner had he said this than a gigantic snake slithered into the room, seeming to leave a steaming trail of goo behind it. "I call this one the Basluk, a creature with the speed and accuracy of a snake and the acidic poison-trail left by some of the deadlier forms of slug," came Dr. Kidnastoff's cheery commentary. "Enjoy!"
*****
"How hard will it be for us to pinpoint the location where the Poes are being generated?"
Rauru's question echoed through the Temple of Time where the five remaining Sages were meeting. For the first time in the organization's history, two of the Sages were missing. The normal air of precision and purpose was missing, leading to an even more stressed environment than when they had met to discuss the kidnapping of Link. Rauru looked at the assembled Sages, each showing fear in their own way.
Princess Zelda hadn't had time to doff her Sheik disguise. Only her eyes were able to display emotion, and they weren't showing much. Everyone could tell that she was nervous, however, as she was constantly tapping her feet and pacing through the chamber.
Princess Ruto was obviously worried, but beyond a basic look of frustration she hid her emotions well. She had become friends with the Sages ever since they had first come together, and was naturally very concerned about Darunia and Nabooru. She felt, if possible, more worried about Link than before. If two Sages had already been lost in the quest to rescue Link, might he be forever lost to her and the rest of the world?
Saria's fear was the most noticeable. Her perpetual childhood permitted stronger emotions such as fear and anxiety to come through easily. Not only was she experiencing the trepidation running through all of the other Sages, she had been a witness to the vanishing of Nabooru and Darunia and knew how quickly and unexpectedly the capture could occur.
Impa seemed unusually calm. Whether through training or through a strong mental gift she displayed little emotion other than her normally inquisitive face. She was naturally worried about the other Sages, but she felt certain that they would be safe. Saria's information about Navi assured her that if Link was in any true danger, he was safe enough to reach the outside world. While Link was definitely one of the most gifted individuals in the land, if not the world, his personal powers were at best equal to that of a Sage and at worst below the level of a Sage. Darunia and Nabooru being captured might easily help the situation. After all, who's to say that they wouldn't be capable of capturing Dr. Kidnastoff? Neither she nor Saria, the only two witnesses, had witnessed what had occurred beyond the rectangle of light. Dr. Kidnastoff hadn't even seen them before they were enveloped. Perhaps they had already captured him, and were merely temporarily baffled by how to activate whatever mechanism would open the door to return. Whatever the situation, it was not hopeless. With that mindset, she took it upon herself to answer the question.
"It is not a question of difficulty. Instead, it is a question of time. We can all sense Poes, and sensing new ones as they appear will not be too much of a stretch for us. However, if Link is correct in his assumption that the alleged pipes are moving, then we may have difficulty reaching the new Poes before the device that creates the Poes moves on. If we sense it at the Desert Collossus while in Goron City, we probably won't be able to make it in time."
"Might we be able to spread out?" asked Ruto. "I'm still the best equipped for exploring areas such as lakes and rivers, after all. And no one knows the forests like Saria. We could still probably catch it after only a few times.
"No!"
Saria's answer rang through the chamber with more force than she had intended. She was now the focus of attention of everyone present.
"No, we can't do that," Saria repeated. "If one of us is captured by this Dr. Kidnastoff, then the rest of us might not realize it if we're too far apart. We need to stay in groups." Saria congratulated herself for some quick thinking. She simply didn't want to be alone when a lightning-fast trap could be snared around any of them at any moment.
"We may have to risk that," Zelda stated. "From what you and Impa have told us, Nabooru and Darunia were captured simultaneously. It would be better to lose one or two of us at a time than to lose the remaining five of us at a time. Because there is greater safety for the group as a whole if we are not in one place at a time, and because Ruto is correct in stating that some of us are still better suited to some environments than others, I propose that we split up."
The motion was set in place, and quickly passed. Zelda was told to meditate in Hyrule, Impa in Kakariko Village, Ruto in Lake Hyllia, Rauru at the Desert Collossus, and Saria in the Kokiri Forest. Saria didn't voice her feelings, but chose to quietly return home. She couldn't truly speak with the other Kokiri, but at least there would be witnesses in the event that she vanished.
*****
Nabooru and Darunia were both excellent physical fighters, Nabooru leaning towards the martial arts while Darunia could emerge from a wild brawl against a band of ogres or a wrestling match against the best Hylian fighter. Each had an intelligence that, while not necessarily the greatest among their respective peoples, was certainly on par with many of the notably intelligent protagonistic underdogs of myth and legend. As Sages, each had been granted unique magical powers and skills. Along with all of these factors, each of them knew how to lead a battle, having personally trained many of the greater warriors and soldiers that followed them.
That said, neither of them was adept at battling monsters.
Link didn't know whether he simply had greater experience or if he was better at locating weak points on an enemy. Either way, Link found their presence during the battle against Basluk to be more of a hindrance than a help. He almost spent more time protecting them than he did fighting the monster.
Mercifully, Basluk didn't have quite as much endurance as the others, thus allowing the battle to end quickly. Link was exhausted from having to constantly change his battle tactics, but he felt relief.
"Thank you, brother," wheezed an exhausted Darunia. Nabooru, similarly winded, merely nodded in agreement. "No wonder you....you were selected to be the....Hero of Time...."
"No problem," Link said. He couldn't help but wonder how Darunia's battle against Volvagia had looked.
"Nice job, everyone," came Dr. Kidnastoff's call from above. "Link, you've got one more monster to fight today, but I think that Nabooru and Darunia should go to their holding cells. Probably not the most hospitable rooms, but I need to be sure that they can't escape more comfortable accommodations.
So saying, Dr. Kidnastoff stepped out of site, mere moments before a wall panel slid to the side. The doctor was waiting for them, smiling as cheerfully as if he was at a carnival. Darunia and Nabooru nervously glanced at Link, waved a worried good-bye, and followed the doctor.
*****
"You can't keep us here indefinitely."
Dr. Kidnastoff turned around to face Nabooru and Darunia. He had been leading them through the labyrinth of corridors peacefully, as all three knew that Dr. Kidnastoff had the advantage in any physical fight. Nabooru had been the one to break the silence.
"What?"
"She's telling the truth," Darunia said. "Eventually, either through our own means or through the efforts of people outside, we'll all be released."
Edward smiled. He'd gone over this possibility in his mind many times. "I'm sorry, but as I told your friend Link, that won't occur. Before coming here, I ensured that this base of mine would be totally undetectable to anyone in this world of yours. This location is completely invisible to anyone looking with their eyes, and it doesn't generate nearly enough magic to be sensed by people on the outside. And even if there was some previously unknown chink in my defenses that would allow people to catch a glimpse of this place, it doesn't stay in one location for lengthy period of time."
Nabooru mentally nodded. Link had been right about the "moving pipes."
"What do you mean by that, exactly?" Nabooru prodded.
"I don't think that I should tell you. Your room is right here on the left, sorry about the cramped quarters."
*****
Dr. Kidnastoff briskly stepped into the Battle Chamber's control room. He looked from his window down to Link who was practicing some basic fencing maneuvers. The doctor considered the words of Nabooru and Darunia and realized that there was a bit of practicality to them. If he had been recognized after only his first jaunt to Hyrule after capturing Link, then might he not be as crafty as he had assumed? The remaining Sages may already have some method of tracking him.
Worse yet, Link may not live to be rescued! Dr. Kidnastoff had known from the start that Link was doing dangerous work, but he hated the idea of Link dying. Link had been very agreeable about being kidnapped, and had barely complained about his captivity.
Still, while he regretted having to put Link through this, making monsters provided food, energy, supplies, and even money in the few times when he came across a form of money that was accepted across a decent percentage of the Galaxy. Link needed to face his best monsters before he perished, that was all there was too it.
Dr. Kidnastoff turned on the communication system. "Link!"
Link stopped his fencing practice, and turned to look up at Dr. Kidnastoff's window.
"It's time for you to face Nightmare."
By John Little
Chp. 10: Restructured Teams
*****
"Link! Hey, this is Dr. Kidnastoff. I've returned from the shopping trip, and have secured all of your necessary supplies. They're waiting for you outside the Battle Chamber. Please head there now, as I have a special surprise for you this practice session!"
Link heard the message with mingled hope and fear. He'd been alone in Dr. Kidnastoff's ship for a few days, and had only been granted access to a few of the many rooms that he was aware of. He was pretty sure that he had mentally memorized every last angstrom of the hallways that he could get to, and was grateful for the change of events. However, he wondered if his message had gotten out. If Kidnastoff had opened the bottle before leaving the ship for some reason, or if the fairy had been lost or killed, or if any number of other scenarios had occurred, Link might still be totally in Dr. Kidnastoff's clutches.
He reached the outside of the Battle Chamber and saw the bottle of magic potion, a full quiver and a full bomb bag. He wondered why Dr. Kidnastoff hadn't handed these to him personally. Had the delay caused by the supply run put Kidnastoff behind on some schedule that he hadn't told Link about? Did he have to ensure that certain monsters were fully ready by a certain date?
As Link picked up his items, the door opened. Link casually strolled into the Battle Chamber, quickly gulping down the potion. He felt his magic energy increase from the low state that it had been hovering at for days.
Link unsheathed his sword and looked up at the glass panel that Dr. Kidnastoff was standing behind. He looked a little more wild eyed than usual, and it also looked as if he had been unable to shave during his trip, making him appear even more wild eyed than normal. Dr. Kidnastoff waved in response and turned on the communications system.
"Good morning, Link! I apologize for my haggard appearance today, but I felt it important to get to work very, very quickly. A few unforeseen events occurred during my trip across Hyrule, and I feel that the two of us can work them out fairly well."
As soon as Dr. Kidnastoff said this, a wall panel slid to the side revealing Nabooru and Darunia, both looking very confused and shaken. Three jaws dropped as Link ran towards them.
"Nabooru! Darunia! What're you doing here?"
"Long story, kid," Nabooru groaned, blinking a few times in the unusual lighting of the Battle Chamber.
"Link, these two were able to follow me. They are, I believe, two of the Seven Sages of the land. I was unfortunate enough to encounter Nabooru along with a Sage named Saria in the Kokiri Village. Somehow they recognized me. I evaded them and ran to Goron City for the bombs where I encountered Darunia and another Sage named Impa. I evaded them as well. However, when the gateway between Hyrule and my fortress opened, I found these two barreling right after me. Now, I had been afraid of the abilities of the Sages, but I found that they weren't much of a match against me despite all of the mysteries surrounding them."
Link looked up to Dr. Kidnastoff's window and back to the two Sages. "The two of you lost to him in a fight?"
Darunia hung his head. "He is very strong and very fast. It also seems that most higher forms of magic will not work in this environment, we were only able to work a few simpler spells against him."
"Link," Nabooru whispered, hoping that Dr. Kidnastoff wouldn't hear, "Saria and I received your message about the Poes. Saria is still out there, so she should be able to tell the other Sages."
"Great," Link responded. "I don't know how much more of this place I can take."
"I'm sure that the three of you have a lot to catch up on," Dr. Kidnastoff chuckled through the communication device. "But we've got a lot of work to do today. I've decided to let the three of you become aquatinted with a little starter match before I figure out just where to lock these two Sages away. Enjoy this time together, for I'm afraid that it must be brief. In the interest of scientific research, these three-on-one matches can't happen again."
So saying, the doors of the Monster Maker 3000 began to open and smoke began to pour into the room. Link entered his fighting stance as Nabooru and Darunia followed suit. "Link, what IS that?" Darunia shuddered at the sound of the familiar laughter.
"Oh, that's the fun part," Link said. "It all goes downhill once you find out just what the thing is."
No sooner had he said this than a gigantic snake slithered into the room, seeming to leave a steaming trail of goo behind it. "I call this one the Basluk, a creature with the speed and accuracy of a snake and the acidic poison-trail left by some of the deadlier forms of slug," came Dr. Kidnastoff's cheery commentary. "Enjoy!"
*****
"How hard will it be for us to pinpoint the location where the Poes are being generated?"
Rauru's question echoed through the Temple of Time where the five remaining Sages were meeting. For the first time in the organization's history, two of the Sages were missing. The normal air of precision and purpose was missing, leading to an even more stressed environment than when they had met to discuss the kidnapping of Link. Rauru looked at the assembled Sages, each showing fear in their own way.
Princess Zelda hadn't had time to doff her Sheik disguise. Only her eyes were able to display emotion, and they weren't showing much. Everyone could tell that she was nervous, however, as she was constantly tapping her feet and pacing through the chamber.
Princess Ruto was obviously worried, but beyond a basic look of frustration she hid her emotions well. She had become friends with the Sages ever since they had first come together, and was naturally very concerned about Darunia and Nabooru. She felt, if possible, more worried about Link than before. If two Sages had already been lost in the quest to rescue Link, might he be forever lost to her and the rest of the world?
Saria's fear was the most noticeable. Her perpetual childhood permitted stronger emotions such as fear and anxiety to come through easily. Not only was she experiencing the trepidation running through all of the other Sages, she had been a witness to the vanishing of Nabooru and Darunia and knew how quickly and unexpectedly the capture could occur.
Impa seemed unusually calm. Whether through training or through a strong mental gift she displayed little emotion other than her normally inquisitive face. She was naturally worried about the other Sages, but she felt certain that they would be safe. Saria's information about Navi assured her that if Link was in any true danger, he was safe enough to reach the outside world. While Link was definitely one of the most gifted individuals in the land, if not the world, his personal powers were at best equal to that of a Sage and at worst below the level of a Sage. Darunia and Nabooru being captured might easily help the situation. After all, who's to say that they wouldn't be capable of capturing Dr. Kidnastoff? Neither she nor Saria, the only two witnesses, had witnessed what had occurred beyond the rectangle of light. Dr. Kidnastoff hadn't even seen them before they were enveloped. Perhaps they had already captured him, and were merely temporarily baffled by how to activate whatever mechanism would open the door to return. Whatever the situation, it was not hopeless. With that mindset, she took it upon herself to answer the question.
"It is not a question of difficulty. Instead, it is a question of time. We can all sense Poes, and sensing new ones as they appear will not be too much of a stretch for us. However, if Link is correct in his assumption that the alleged pipes are moving, then we may have difficulty reaching the new Poes before the device that creates the Poes moves on. If we sense it at the Desert Collossus while in Goron City, we probably won't be able to make it in time."
"Might we be able to spread out?" asked Ruto. "I'm still the best equipped for exploring areas such as lakes and rivers, after all. And no one knows the forests like Saria. We could still probably catch it after only a few times.
"No!"
Saria's answer rang through the chamber with more force than she had intended. She was now the focus of attention of everyone present.
"No, we can't do that," Saria repeated. "If one of us is captured by this Dr. Kidnastoff, then the rest of us might not realize it if we're too far apart. We need to stay in groups." Saria congratulated herself for some quick thinking. She simply didn't want to be alone when a lightning-fast trap could be snared around any of them at any moment.
"We may have to risk that," Zelda stated. "From what you and Impa have told us, Nabooru and Darunia were captured simultaneously. It would be better to lose one or two of us at a time than to lose the remaining five of us at a time. Because there is greater safety for the group as a whole if we are not in one place at a time, and because Ruto is correct in stating that some of us are still better suited to some environments than others, I propose that we split up."
The motion was set in place, and quickly passed. Zelda was told to meditate in Hyrule, Impa in Kakariko Village, Ruto in Lake Hyllia, Rauru at the Desert Collossus, and Saria in the Kokiri Forest. Saria didn't voice her feelings, but chose to quietly return home. She couldn't truly speak with the other Kokiri, but at least there would be witnesses in the event that she vanished.
*****
Nabooru and Darunia were both excellent physical fighters, Nabooru leaning towards the martial arts while Darunia could emerge from a wild brawl against a band of ogres or a wrestling match against the best Hylian fighter. Each had an intelligence that, while not necessarily the greatest among their respective peoples, was certainly on par with many of the notably intelligent protagonistic underdogs of myth and legend. As Sages, each had been granted unique magical powers and skills. Along with all of these factors, each of them knew how to lead a battle, having personally trained many of the greater warriors and soldiers that followed them.
That said, neither of them was adept at battling monsters.
Link didn't know whether he simply had greater experience or if he was better at locating weak points on an enemy. Either way, Link found their presence during the battle against Basluk to be more of a hindrance than a help. He almost spent more time protecting them than he did fighting the monster.
Mercifully, Basluk didn't have quite as much endurance as the others, thus allowing the battle to end quickly. Link was exhausted from having to constantly change his battle tactics, but he felt relief.
"Thank you, brother," wheezed an exhausted Darunia. Nabooru, similarly winded, merely nodded in agreement. "No wonder you....you were selected to be the....Hero of Time...."
"No problem," Link said. He couldn't help but wonder how Darunia's battle against Volvagia had looked.
"Nice job, everyone," came Dr. Kidnastoff's call from above. "Link, you've got one more monster to fight today, but I think that Nabooru and Darunia should go to their holding cells. Probably not the most hospitable rooms, but I need to be sure that they can't escape more comfortable accommodations.
So saying, Dr. Kidnastoff stepped out of site, mere moments before a wall panel slid to the side. The doctor was waiting for them, smiling as cheerfully as if he was at a carnival. Darunia and Nabooru nervously glanced at Link, waved a worried good-bye, and followed the doctor.
*****
"You can't keep us here indefinitely."
Dr. Kidnastoff turned around to face Nabooru and Darunia. He had been leading them through the labyrinth of corridors peacefully, as all three knew that Dr. Kidnastoff had the advantage in any physical fight. Nabooru had been the one to break the silence.
"What?"
"She's telling the truth," Darunia said. "Eventually, either through our own means or through the efforts of people outside, we'll all be released."
Edward smiled. He'd gone over this possibility in his mind many times. "I'm sorry, but as I told your friend Link, that won't occur. Before coming here, I ensured that this base of mine would be totally undetectable to anyone in this world of yours. This location is completely invisible to anyone looking with their eyes, and it doesn't generate nearly enough magic to be sensed by people on the outside. And even if there was some previously unknown chink in my defenses that would allow people to catch a glimpse of this place, it doesn't stay in one location for lengthy period of time."
Nabooru mentally nodded. Link had been right about the "moving pipes."
"What do you mean by that, exactly?" Nabooru prodded.
"I don't think that I should tell you. Your room is right here on the left, sorry about the cramped quarters."
*****
Dr. Kidnastoff briskly stepped into the Battle Chamber's control room. He looked from his window down to Link who was practicing some basic fencing maneuvers. The doctor considered the words of Nabooru and Darunia and realized that there was a bit of practicality to them. If he had been recognized after only his first jaunt to Hyrule after capturing Link, then might he not be as crafty as he had assumed? The remaining Sages may already have some method of tracking him.
Worse yet, Link may not live to be rescued! Dr. Kidnastoff had known from the start that Link was doing dangerous work, but he hated the idea of Link dying. Link had been very agreeable about being kidnapped, and had barely complained about his captivity.
Still, while he regretted having to put Link through this, making monsters provided food, energy, supplies, and even money in the few times when he came across a form of money that was accepted across a decent percentage of the Galaxy. Link needed to face his best monsters before he perished, that was all there was too it.
Dr. Kidnastoff turned on the communication system. "Link!"
Link stopped his fencing practice, and turned to look up at Dr. Kidnastoff's window.
"It's time for you to face Nightmare."