Edward Kidnastoff
By John Little
Chp. 11: Echidna's Nightmare
*****
A wave of dark magic spread across Hyrule with incredible force. Princess Zelda and Rauru noticed and stared in the direction of the source of magic. Princess Ruto and Impa, closer to the source of the problem, felt a dull throbbing in their heads. Saria, passing the time by organizing a supply of healing potions in her hut, was briefly disoriented by a headache that came as the result of the magic. She turned towards the exit of the Kokiri Forest. "That's just outside the Forest....and up?"
Darunia and Nabooru, both waiting just a few corridors away from the source of the dark magic, fell to their knees and screamed in pain, unable to think due to the sudden introduction of that much evil in such close proximity....
*****
Link could not feel the introduction of the nearly two-hundred Poes, he wasn't as sensitive to the ethereal plane as the Sages. As the doors to the Monster Maker 3000 opened, introducing a much darker smoke than ever with an even louder high-pitched laugh, Link did, however, feel a familiar darkness. He knew that he had felt it before, but this was a lesser version of it. His response to this only magnified his sense of trepidation when he witnessed a giant being step through the doors.
The creature was nearly like a normal person in shape if you ignored the fact that it was sixteen feet tall. It's skin was a dark grayish green with no truly noticeable features other than slight indentations to hint at where the eyes, nose and mouth of a normal person would be. The skin color made it very difficult to judge just where it was standing, it blended in with the walls of the chamber with incredible accuracy. The odd appearance of this latest monster, along with the sense of the dark magic that he could sense exuding from this creature, would have been enough to send fear through anyone without the help of the last two notable features of this creature: instead of hands, this creature, this Nightmare, had two long blades. The claws, larger and obviously more deadly than even Link's biggoron sword, glinted in the light of the Battle Chamber. Despite this, Link realized with a bit of a start that he couldn't really see them.
The swords seemed to have a definite size, shape and form, but Link couldn't honestly say that he saw a sword there. Link wasn't sure that he could see anything there. Nightmare turned towards Link and began to slowly march towards him.
"Now Link," came Dr. Kidnastoff's chuckle from above, "If you can beat Nightmare then you can beat anyone in the bunch. He's not all there, you see. His body is composed of a liquid clay, capable of reforming itself against your attacks. I suppose you could freeze him with one of your ice arrows, but he's designed to withstand any environmental conditions, even ones that extreme. And you couldn't harm him without first chipping away the ice that impedes him. Along with that, you'll notice his blades. Can you guess what's unique about them?"
Link took a few cautious steps away from Nightmare and shook his head. He couldn't even look at those things....
"Ever heard of a phase blade, Link?"
Link again shook his head while stepping away from this latest monster. It appeared to be strolling towards Link, seemingly confident of its capabilities.
"Well, let's see here. You're familiar with teleportation gates, correct? Rifts in the fabric of space and reality? You've encountered a few in your day, I'm sure. At any rate, these swords are basically miniature rifts in the fabric of space, tiny gates into other worlds. They can literally cut through anything. Instead of relying on the principle of the wedge to split apart the atoms that hold things together as most swords do, however, a phase blade transports the excess material to another plane of existence! I think the reality that Nightmare is currently set to is a place that you call 'The Sacred Realm,' or something."
This caught Link's attention. If those swords were gates to The Sacred Realm, then the dark energy that he was feeling could potentially be Ganandorf!
"Hey, Doctor Kidnastoff!" Link shouted. "This isn't a great plan! Pick any other dimension than that! There's this guy in the Sacred Realm named Ganandorf, you see, and if he finds the smallest way back to reality then he could force it further! He could get back to this world and-"
"I'm aware of the danger, Link, but this is an emergency. I need to test Nightmare before too much time passes, or else you might not live to see him! Nightmare was programmed before I learned about your mission to defeat Ganandorf, and there's simply no time to refashion his coding! Beat him quickly if you can, and you'll have absolutely nothing to worry about!"
"Ed, do you realize the type of person that you'd be releasing?"
"Yes. A potential customer."
With that, Link heard the speaker system click off. Link didn't hesitate to unsheathe his sword and raise his shield. He ran up to Nightmare hoping that he would be lucky. Every monster had a weakness, Navi had taught him that. He just had to find it.
Before he could get close enough to strike at Nightmare, however, the monster delivered a slash. It cut straight through the top of Link's shield.
During the next second there was absolute silence in the chamber. Link watched the top fourth of his shield fall to the floor with a resounding clang. Had he been four inches closer, that blade would have slashed right about where his neck was. Link looked up at Nightmare, and Nightmare's clay-filled sockets stared back, seemingly apathetic to the situation for the moment.
Link ran.
*****
Dr. Edward Kidnastoff sighed. Link's claim that Ganandorf could be released was definitely bothering him. Ganandorf had killed many, harmed many more, and made life for those in Hyrule a morbid shadow of what their lives had once been. He had said that Ganandorf would have made a valuable customer, but the more he thought about it the more he disliked the idea of his monsters actually harming people.
Dr. Kidnastoff sighed as Link ran from Nightmare. This was definitely something new. What if Link were to die right here during this fight? Dr. Kidnastoff didn't know if he could stand that. He realized with a shock that he had never seen any of his monsters kill (or even harm) a soul before. They had always been pieces of art to him, fantastic testaments to life in general. Artificial life, capable of comprehending and following simple orders and instructions. He always sold them to those who would buy them....villains, dark mages, other scientists with evil agendas, warlords, despots, dictators....he never asked questions, but never really considered them worth asking.
"Every monster has a weakness." That had always been what he had said. An excuse. He didn't like the idea of people dying due to his creations, but his clients nearly always had some heroic foil that they referenced during the purchase. Maybe he had been counting on these heroes to destroy the monsters.
Dr. Kidnastoff realized that he didn't particularly care for the idea of creating life forms just to see them die.
He pushed these thoughts far from his mind as Link narrowly avoided a slash from Nightmare. Nightmare was running by now, seemingly interested in destroying the evasive Hero. Link could run faster, but he could never put a truly safe distance between himself and this behemoth. Every so often Link attempted a weapon. Run a certain distance and shoot an arrow. The arrow simply embedded itself in the clay with Nightmare not even noticing. Get just far enough away, and throw a bomb. Nightmare saw it coming, and sliced at the wick with his sword, cutting it just short enough to effectively extinguish it. The hookshot turned out to be a mistake as it embedded itself into Nightmare, and pulled Link even closer to him. Link was nearly chopped in two, but was saved due to Nightmare's unfamiliarity with this tactic. Link didn't try it again.
Dr. Kidnastoff sighed. Was there no weakness for this one? "Come on, Link," he said to himself. "Don't die on me. First company I've had on this ship in years...."
Moments later he felt something move in his pocket. The doctor looked down just in time to see a reddish-pink ball of light zip out of one of his pockets and zip around the air quickly. Edward shouted in surprise and fell off of his chair as the little ball of energy alighted on the button that activated the communication device.
"Listen! Link, this is Navi!"
*****
Saria ran from the Forest and entered Hyrule Field. She looked up, still able to feel this sudden creation of dark magic. "It must be the Poes! They're....right above me? But....they're moving....."
A tiny rectangle of light appeared ten feet in the air above Saria. She yelped and jumped back as she saw a dark cloud emerge from it. The cloud coalesced into Poe after Poe. Within moments, an easy twenty were hovering in the air just above her.
"Moving pipes!" she exclaimed. "I found the moving pipes! And the Poes!" She felt a surge of joy at this. Link couldn't be far from her.
Just then the Poes noticed her presence. The surge of joy was quickly extinguished.
*****
"Who are you?" raged Dr. Kidnastoff, trying to swat at the little fairy. Despite his incredible speed and strength, he wasn't fast or nimble (or practiced) enough to swat a fairy.
Navi dodged all of his attacks and shouted through the system. "Link! If those swords can go through anything that would include the environment! He could slice the walls or floor!"
"Quiet, you stupid fairy! You'll ruin everything! This is for scientific study! Link needs to fight Nightmare as he would normally, no outside interference!"
Navi hovered in the air. "But I'm his guardian fairy! I've been with him in nearly all of his fights over the years!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, from Gohma to Ganandorf. Well, I didn't do Termina, but he had a fairy there too!"
"I don't believe that. No one ever mentioned you in the stories about him!"
"Well, I'm a fairy! A helper! The sidekicks are rarely brought up in stories, after all. Besides, Link still does everything. I just help him."
Dr. Kidnastoff blinked. "Huh. I wish I'd known that earlier. I would've kidnapped you as well."
While the two chatted, neither really noticed as Link put Navi's advice to good use. Link ran just barely within Nightmare's slicing range and rolled to decrease his risk of danger. Nightmare took the bait and sliced in Link's direction, creating a noticeable tear in the floor. Link attempted the maneuver a second time, returning at an angle from the direction that he had come from. A third role, and a complete triangle had been cut beneath Nightmare!
Link leapt away with a cheer, eagerly watching for the ground to fall away. He wasn't expecting Nightmare to jump off of the spot as well, however. Nightmare jumped at Link just as the ground fell, nearly slashing him in half. Link only narrowly dodged by diving under the monster as it sailed over him. He might have felt relief at his narrow escape had he not found himself suddenly falling through the triangular hole in the metallic floor.
Link painfully landed several yards later. A high-pitched siren began to wail, prompting Link to roll to his side just as the bellicose Nightmare landed right where Link was lying mere seconds earlier. Link jumped to his feet in an attempt to put some distance between himself and Nightmare, only to gasp in shock at the room around him.
Link was reminded of the Great Bay Temple from his adventures in Termina. Countless pipes and gears of various colors and sizes were present. Along with those, multi-colored lengths of wiry substances connected large structures of shiny metal. Extending from many of these structures were metallic towers and spires that were shooting electricity between each other.
Link was deep within a jungle of technology.
*****
"So what you're saying is that I should grant Link the chance to acquire at least one new mystical artifact per monster defeated?"
"Exactly!" Navi said, wondering to herself just how long she could keep this conversation going before Dr. Kidnastoff tried to swat her again. "Link nearly always gains some new weapon or skill between monsters in the real quests that he goes on. He gained the hookshot before going to the Forest Temple, he found the Megaton Hammer on his way to face Volvagia in the Fire Temple, he needed a special tunic and iron boots before facing Morpha in the Water Temple,....not letting Link change his setting could cause him to stagnate!"
"How could I have missed that?" Kidnastoff wondered. "So many variables go into this hero act. Very difficult to gain a proper scientific insight."
The doctor would have continued after that had an alarm not gone off at just that moment. Snapping back to reality from his conversation with Navi, he looked through his window just in time to see Link diving through a newly formed hole in the ground with Nightmare in hot pursuit.
"Not the engine room! Those two could kill us all!"
"What?"
"Every aspect of this place is controlled through machines in the chamber just beneath the Battle Chamber! Lighting, life support, flight,....there's no telling what could happen if he accidentally damages the wrong component of the Monster Maker 3000!"
Knowing that every second mattered, Dr. Kidnastoff darted from his control room in an attempt to make it to the engines before Link or Nightmare could do any damage.
*****
Link stared down from his perch atop a large, humming machine as Nightmare concentrated on carving the machine into small, manageable pieces. Due to a lack of hands and opposable limbs, the monster was having a noticeable difficulty in climbing. Link knew that it would only be a matter of time before Nightmare managed to cut enough of the machine away, however. Link looked around, hoping to find another high machine that he could jump to, though none looked close enough that he was willing to risk it. Just as he was beginning to despair, he heard a sharp fizzling sound that quickly replaced the humming of the machine.
Link looked down to see Nightmare, twitching on the floor in shock, a frayed wire from Link's perch brushing against the monster's leg. "He must've cut the wire free with those phase blades of his. Poor guy doesn't have a concept of electrical safety."
Link didn't waste any time. He quickly pulled out a bomb, lit it, and tossed it onto Nightmare's shocked form. He jumped to the floor and ran for another climbable machine, this time selecting one with a tower shooting electricity. He began to climb just as the explosion occurred, removing any possible chance that there was a working component left in the machine. As a dazed (and seemingly injured) Nightmare groggily managed to stand, Link wondered just what the machine was.
*****
Saria was growing weary. She had effectively been trapped by the Poes, and was fighting for her life. On every side, at least five Poes were waiting to stop her, as more continued to appear from above. She had been able to take care of several Poes already, but she wasn't sure how long she could continue to cast the few battle spells that she could manage under the circumstances.
As she frantically looked around, hoping to find a safe path to escape with, a large shadow passed overhead. At first she dismissed it as a bird, but the shadow didn't move away. Instead, it stayed where it was and slowly began to spread across the ground. Confused, Saria looked up to see a gigantic gray object in the sky. It appeared to be growing outwards, though the faint glowing radius around the object indicated that it was simply appearing as opposed to expanding.
Even the Poes stopped their constant jeering to look up in surprise at the behemoth above them. Within just a few moments, the object had firmly appeared, revealing itself to be a gigantic gray disc, hovering in the air at an altitude higher than even Death Mountain. Green lights could be seen on the exterior of this disc, though their purpose was not clear.
"That's....that has to be at least as big as Hyrule Castle!" Saria gasped. "What is that thing?"
She took her eyes off of the monstrous disc for a second, but noticed that all of the Poes were distracted as well. Taking the opportunity, she ran for the Kokiri Village in order to view the object from a safer distance.
*****
Link was ecstatic. So far, the ploy of electrocution followed by a well- placed bomb seemed to be working. After the first failed attempt, Nightmare had learned to avoid cutting any wires himself, but Link was always able to sever the proper cords on his own. He did have some concern about the damages that he was causing to the machines, but between the destruction of the machines and the destruction of himself, Link was willing to make life a little more difficult on his captor. Five machines had been torn to pieces between his bombs and Nightmare's slashings, and Link was pretty sure that it couldn't take much longer to slay this latest monster.
A wall panel slid aside and Dr. Kidnastoff ran in. "Link! What are you DOING?"
Link glanced over to Dr. Kidnastoff before turning back to the stunned Nightmare. "Just finishing off your Nightmare, doctor. One more bomb ought to do it."
So saying, Link lifted the bomb above his head and lit it.
"Don't drop that! Link, if you damage that machine, it could kill us all!"
"Don't drop it? I've just lit this thing, and I can't stop it! If I don't drop it, it'll probably kill at least one of us!"
"Link, that machine you're on is....look, this base is flying. We're flying higher than Death Mountain, and the machine that you're standing on now keeps us in the air! There are some reserve systems protecting that machine, but you and Nightmare may have already damaged those beyond a reasonable limit!"
That thought didn't take long to sink in. "So I was right about the pipes....you say that if this machine goes, this whole base goes? Crashes to the ground?"
"Yes, and we may all be killed!"
Link didn't hesitate for an instant. He tossed the bomb at Nightmare who was just about to recover from his shock. The last bomb was too much for the monster who simply solidified into a dried clay and crumbled to pieces while its phase blades seemed to fizzle out of existence. The machine, it seemed, had also taken as much as it could stand, hissed and fizzled, and finally ceased to hum.
A shudder passed through the entire base as Dr. Kidnastoff screamed in terror. Moments later the ship began to fall, lifting Link, Edward, and everything else in the ship that wasn't nailed down into the air.
"I told you not to damage that machine!" yelled Dr. Kidnastoff at a rather triumphant looking Link. "We're falling, we're going to crash into the middle of Hyrule Field!"
"Don't worry about it, Dr. Kidnastoff. That thing was waking up, and with Ganandorf just on the other side of those phase blades I didn't want to waste any time at all. It was worth it. Besides, I was getting a little tired of these monster sessions, and this should put an end to my employment with you pretty nicely."
Dr. Kidnastoff scowled. "Oh, really? How do you plan on getting out of this death trap that you've set for yourself, Link?"
"The same way that I get out of all of my Nightmares. A long, long fall that I'll hopefully wake up after."
*****
Two weeks later Hyrule was getting back to normal. The crash very well might have killed Link, Nabooru, Darunia and Dr. Kidnastoff had it not been for the two-hundred Poes that had been floating in the air beneath the base as it fell. They were all squashed out of existence, and provided just enough of a cushion to make the disaster survivable. The flying base was, however, completely demolished. Not a trace of technology was left undamaged.
When the other Sages arrived at the crash site, along with several guards from Hyrule Castle who had witnessed the "disturbance", they found Link, Nabooru and Darunia lying on their backs mere yards from the wreckage with a very panicked Dr. Kidnastoff, aided by a frantic Navi, affixing tourniquets and minor healing salves to the wounds that the Hero and Sages suffered.
Dr. Kidnastoff and Navi had been the only two to remain conscious when the crash occurred, Edward due to his above-average physical endurance and Navi due to her size and maneuverability. The two managed to rescue the three others from the wreckage.
Dr. Kidnastoff had probably saved the lives of Link, Nabooru and Darunia then. Link thought about that as he walked into the dungeon cell that Dr. Kidnastoff was being kept in.
"Ah! Link! Nice to see you, please have a seat."
Dr. Kidnastoff was still in his unusual lab coat, and still seemed as cheerful as ever despite the destruction of his entire base. Link did take a seat, though he didn't feel entirely comfortable doing so.
"Dr. Kidnastoff, I came by to thank you for saving me from the wreckage. I would've done so earlier, but they said that as soon as it was clear that the three of us would make it you instantly surrendered."
"Yes, I decided it was better in the long run."
"Why? You could've taken nearly anyone there in a one on one fight, and you can outrun everyone in Hyrule....well, maybe not the Running Man, but....and why save me?"
"Link, I wasn't going to just let you die. No, you'd earned life there. Nightmare was the best that I had, and you managed to get rid of it. Through an environmental quirk, of course, you never would've beaten him had you stayed in the Battle Chamber,....but you were victorious anyway. Besides, I'm just a geneticist and medical physician, I've got no idea how to rebuild most of my base. All of it was purchased from other people in other worlds. I might be able to get another Monster Maker running, but there's at least a decade of checking old notes that would go into it. If I'm going to be stuck in this world of yours, I decided that it would probably behoove me to cooperate with the local customs as much as was in my power. You destroyed my old life, so I need to keep my current slate as clean as possible."
"I see. Dr. Kidnastoff, I'm sorry if I destroyed 'your life,' but you were doing something terrible with that machine of yours."
"I know. Link, you gave me a lot to think about. I'd never really seen any of my monsters fight before, and I'd never really seen a hero in action. Maybe it was because you were the first person that I'd really talked to in years, but I think that I'm better for the experience."
Link didn't know how to handle this situation. He had come expecting Dr. Kidnastoff to be filled with rage, to hurl insults and curses. But Edward was simply waving the past away as if it didn't matter. Link was glad that his former captor was being very agreeable, but that in itself seemed unusual. He was saved from replying by Dr. Kidnastoff's train of thought.
"I'd never really thought about this before, Link. I don't know how I got started in this field of work, it's been so long now....but I never considered the people. I always counted on the heroes to stop my clients and the monsters that they purchased. But when you practically destroyed yourself to get rid of Nightmare, I knew that even the best of heroes can't always be around. I've officially decided to make my profit through a more respectable career. If they ever let me out of this place, I'm going to become a healer. Peaceful work, the pay is well, and people might actually like the results."
There wasn't much left to say after that. A few words were exchanged, vague references to future employment were passed around (though Dr. Kidnastoff's sentence had yet to be officially set), and Link decided that he needed to go. With the Monster Maker 3000 no longer producing creatures, he at least held a decent chance at putting a dent in the Poe population.
Link walked out of the Castle's Market and found Epona and Navi waiting for him, just where he had left them. He smiled as he mounted Epona. He was monster hunting again, but this time it would be by his own agenda and no one else's.
THE END
*****
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Hey, everyone. I've decided to take this time to say thanks to everyone who left their positive reviews, they really pushed me to finish this story. I apologize if this last chapter seemed a bit more rushed and hasty than the previous ones, but I've really stumbled across a rough spot in my life and needed to finish this so that I could deal with other things that take precedence over writing. I also want to apologize for not communicating with all of you more frequently within the chapters, but as this was my first "true" fan-fiction on this site (not counting a few test fictions that I submitted to get a feel for the layout and formatting), I didn't know what style I wanted to go for.
Special thanks to those of you who replied more than once as it demonstrated that people were actually coming back to this story, an unusual concept for me. Oh, and special thanks to Harry Read for pointing out that I'd entirely forgotten about Saria's Song, Amaya (Krazie4Christ) for telling me that the summary rhyme had been effective, and StarDragon Blue for telling me that the first monster was similar to Goht, a bit of knowledge that pushed me into renting and playing Majora's Mask for the first time (weird how similar he was, now that you mention it). Everyone else, your encouragement greatly helped at times when I might have succumbed to doing homework (had I fallen to that, I might have forgotten about this story for weeks), so I thank you.
That's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading, and I hope to return to writing again very soon. ;-)
By John Little
Chp. 11: Echidna's Nightmare
*****
A wave of dark magic spread across Hyrule with incredible force. Princess Zelda and Rauru noticed and stared in the direction of the source of magic. Princess Ruto and Impa, closer to the source of the problem, felt a dull throbbing in their heads. Saria, passing the time by organizing a supply of healing potions in her hut, was briefly disoriented by a headache that came as the result of the magic. She turned towards the exit of the Kokiri Forest. "That's just outside the Forest....and up?"
Darunia and Nabooru, both waiting just a few corridors away from the source of the dark magic, fell to their knees and screamed in pain, unable to think due to the sudden introduction of that much evil in such close proximity....
*****
Link could not feel the introduction of the nearly two-hundred Poes, he wasn't as sensitive to the ethereal plane as the Sages. As the doors to the Monster Maker 3000 opened, introducing a much darker smoke than ever with an even louder high-pitched laugh, Link did, however, feel a familiar darkness. He knew that he had felt it before, but this was a lesser version of it. His response to this only magnified his sense of trepidation when he witnessed a giant being step through the doors.
The creature was nearly like a normal person in shape if you ignored the fact that it was sixteen feet tall. It's skin was a dark grayish green with no truly noticeable features other than slight indentations to hint at where the eyes, nose and mouth of a normal person would be. The skin color made it very difficult to judge just where it was standing, it blended in with the walls of the chamber with incredible accuracy. The odd appearance of this latest monster, along with the sense of the dark magic that he could sense exuding from this creature, would have been enough to send fear through anyone without the help of the last two notable features of this creature: instead of hands, this creature, this Nightmare, had two long blades. The claws, larger and obviously more deadly than even Link's biggoron sword, glinted in the light of the Battle Chamber. Despite this, Link realized with a bit of a start that he couldn't really see them.
The swords seemed to have a definite size, shape and form, but Link couldn't honestly say that he saw a sword there. Link wasn't sure that he could see anything there. Nightmare turned towards Link and began to slowly march towards him.
"Now Link," came Dr. Kidnastoff's chuckle from above, "If you can beat Nightmare then you can beat anyone in the bunch. He's not all there, you see. His body is composed of a liquid clay, capable of reforming itself against your attacks. I suppose you could freeze him with one of your ice arrows, but he's designed to withstand any environmental conditions, even ones that extreme. And you couldn't harm him without first chipping away the ice that impedes him. Along with that, you'll notice his blades. Can you guess what's unique about them?"
Link took a few cautious steps away from Nightmare and shook his head. He couldn't even look at those things....
"Ever heard of a phase blade, Link?"
Link again shook his head while stepping away from this latest monster. It appeared to be strolling towards Link, seemingly confident of its capabilities.
"Well, let's see here. You're familiar with teleportation gates, correct? Rifts in the fabric of space and reality? You've encountered a few in your day, I'm sure. At any rate, these swords are basically miniature rifts in the fabric of space, tiny gates into other worlds. They can literally cut through anything. Instead of relying on the principle of the wedge to split apart the atoms that hold things together as most swords do, however, a phase blade transports the excess material to another plane of existence! I think the reality that Nightmare is currently set to is a place that you call 'The Sacred Realm,' or something."
This caught Link's attention. If those swords were gates to The Sacred Realm, then the dark energy that he was feeling could potentially be Ganandorf!
"Hey, Doctor Kidnastoff!" Link shouted. "This isn't a great plan! Pick any other dimension than that! There's this guy in the Sacred Realm named Ganandorf, you see, and if he finds the smallest way back to reality then he could force it further! He could get back to this world and-"
"I'm aware of the danger, Link, but this is an emergency. I need to test Nightmare before too much time passes, or else you might not live to see him! Nightmare was programmed before I learned about your mission to defeat Ganandorf, and there's simply no time to refashion his coding! Beat him quickly if you can, and you'll have absolutely nothing to worry about!"
"Ed, do you realize the type of person that you'd be releasing?"
"Yes. A potential customer."
With that, Link heard the speaker system click off. Link didn't hesitate to unsheathe his sword and raise his shield. He ran up to Nightmare hoping that he would be lucky. Every monster had a weakness, Navi had taught him that. He just had to find it.
Before he could get close enough to strike at Nightmare, however, the monster delivered a slash. It cut straight through the top of Link's shield.
During the next second there was absolute silence in the chamber. Link watched the top fourth of his shield fall to the floor with a resounding clang. Had he been four inches closer, that blade would have slashed right about where his neck was. Link looked up at Nightmare, and Nightmare's clay-filled sockets stared back, seemingly apathetic to the situation for the moment.
Link ran.
*****
Dr. Edward Kidnastoff sighed. Link's claim that Ganandorf could be released was definitely bothering him. Ganandorf had killed many, harmed many more, and made life for those in Hyrule a morbid shadow of what their lives had once been. He had said that Ganandorf would have made a valuable customer, but the more he thought about it the more he disliked the idea of his monsters actually harming people.
Dr. Kidnastoff sighed as Link ran from Nightmare. This was definitely something new. What if Link were to die right here during this fight? Dr. Kidnastoff didn't know if he could stand that. He realized with a shock that he had never seen any of his monsters kill (or even harm) a soul before. They had always been pieces of art to him, fantastic testaments to life in general. Artificial life, capable of comprehending and following simple orders and instructions. He always sold them to those who would buy them....villains, dark mages, other scientists with evil agendas, warlords, despots, dictators....he never asked questions, but never really considered them worth asking.
"Every monster has a weakness." That had always been what he had said. An excuse. He didn't like the idea of people dying due to his creations, but his clients nearly always had some heroic foil that they referenced during the purchase. Maybe he had been counting on these heroes to destroy the monsters.
Dr. Kidnastoff realized that he didn't particularly care for the idea of creating life forms just to see them die.
He pushed these thoughts far from his mind as Link narrowly avoided a slash from Nightmare. Nightmare was running by now, seemingly interested in destroying the evasive Hero. Link could run faster, but he could never put a truly safe distance between himself and this behemoth. Every so often Link attempted a weapon. Run a certain distance and shoot an arrow. The arrow simply embedded itself in the clay with Nightmare not even noticing. Get just far enough away, and throw a bomb. Nightmare saw it coming, and sliced at the wick with his sword, cutting it just short enough to effectively extinguish it. The hookshot turned out to be a mistake as it embedded itself into Nightmare, and pulled Link even closer to him. Link was nearly chopped in two, but was saved due to Nightmare's unfamiliarity with this tactic. Link didn't try it again.
Dr. Kidnastoff sighed. Was there no weakness for this one? "Come on, Link," he said to himself. "Don't die on me. First company I've had on this ship in years...."
Moments later he felt something move in his pocket. The doctor looked down just in time to see a reddish-pink ball of light zip out of one of his pockets and zip around the air quickly. Edward shouted in surprise and fell off of his chair as the little ball of energy alighted on the button that activated the communication device.
"Listen! Link, this is Navi!"
*****
Saria ran from the Forest and entered Hyrule Field. She looked up, still able to feel this sudden creation of dark magic. "It must be the Poes! They're....right above me? But....they're moving....."
A tiny rectangle of light appeared ten feet in the air above Saria. She yelped and jumped back as she saw a dark cloud emerge from it. The cloud coalesced into Poe after Poe. Within moments, an easy twenty were hovering in the air just above her.
"Moving pipes!" she exclaimed. "I found the moving pipes! And the Poes!" She felt a surge of joy at this. Link couldn't be far from her.
Just then the Poes noticed her presence. The surge of joy was quickly extinguished.
*****
"Who are you?" raged Dr. Kidnastoff, trying to swat at the little fairy. Despite his incredible speed and strength, he wasn't fast or nimble (or practiced) enough to swat a fairy.
Navi dodged all of his attacks and shouted through the system. "Link! If those swords can go through anything that would include the environment! He could slice the walls or floor!"
"Quiet, you stupid fairy! You'll ruin everything! This is for scientific study! Link needs to fight Nightmare as he would normally, no outside interference!"
Navi hovered in the air. "But I'm his guardian fairy! I've been with him in nearly all of his fights over the years!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, from Gohma to Ganandorf. Well, I didn't do Termina, but he had a fairy there too!"
"I don't believe that. No one ever mentioned you in the stories about him!"
"Well, I'm a fairy! A helper! The sidekicks are rarely brought up in stories, after all. Besides, Link still does everything. I just help him."
Dr. Kidnastoff blinked. "Huh. I wish I'd known that earlier. I would've kidnapped you as well."
While the two chatted, neither really noticed as Link put Navi's advice to good use. Link ran just barely within Nightmare's slicing range and rolled to decrease his risk of danger. Nightmare took the bait and sliced in Link's direction, creating a noticeable tear in the floor. Link attempted the maneuver a second time, returning at an angle from the direction that he had come from. A third role, and a complete triangle had been cut beneath Nightmare!
Link leapt away with a cheer, eagerly watching for the ground to fall away. He wasn't expecting Nightmare to jump off of the spot as well, however. Nightmare jumped at Link just as the ground fell, nearly slashing him in half. Link only narrowly dodged by diving under the monster as it sailed over him. He might have felt relief at his narrow escape had he not found himself suddenly falling through the triangular hole in the metallic floor.
Link painfully landed several yards later. A high-pitched siren began to wail, prompting Link to roll to his side just as the bellicose Nightmare landed right where Link was lying mere seconds earlier. Link jumped to his feet in an attempt to put some distance between himself and Nightmare, only to gasp in shock at the room around him.
Link was reminded of the Great Bay Temple from his adventures in Termina. Countless pipes and gears of various colors and sizes were present. Along with those, multi-colored lengths of wiry substances connected large structures of shiny metal. Extending from many of these structures were metallic towers and spires that were shooting electricity between each other.
Link was deep within a jungle of technology.
*****
"So what you're saying is that I should grant Link the chance to acquire at least one new mystical artifact per monster defeated?"
"Exactly!" Navi said, wondering to herself just how long she could keep this conversation going before Dr. Kidnastoff tried to swat her again. "Link nearly always gains some new weapon or skill between monsters in the real quests that he goes on. He gained the hookshot before going to the Forest Temple, he found the Megaton Hammer on his way to face Volvagia in the Fire Temple, he needed a special tunic and iron boots before facing Morpha in the Water Temple,....not letting Link change his setting could cause him to stagnate!"
"How could I have missed that?" Kidnastoff wondered. "So many variables go into this hero act. Very difficult to gain a proper scientific insight."
The doctor would have continued after that had an alarm not gone off at just that moment. Snapping back to reality from his conversation with Navi, he looked through his window just in time to see Link diving through a newly formed hole in the ground with Nightmare in hot pursuit.
"Not the engine room! Those two could kill us all!"
"What?"
"Every aspect of this place is controlled through machines in the chamber just beneath the Battle Chamber! Lighting, life support, flight,....there's no telling what could happen if he accidentally damages the wrong component of the Monster Maker 3000!"
Knowing that every second mattered, Dr. Kidnastoff darted from his control room in an attempt to make it to the engines before Link or Nightmare could do any damage.
*****
Link stared down from his perch atop a large, humming machine as Nightmare concentrated on carving the machine into small, manageable pieces. Due to a lack of hands and opposable limbs, the monster was having a noticeable difficulty in climbing. Link knew that it would only be a matter of time before Nightmare managed to cut enough of the machine away, however. Link looked around, hoping to find another high machine that he could jump to, though none looked close enough that he was willing to risk it. Just as he was beginning to despair, he heard a sharp fizzling sound that quickly replaced the humming of the machine.
Link looked down to see Nightmare, twitching on the floor in shock, a frayed wire from Link's perch brushing against the monster's leg. "He must've cut the wire free with those phase blades of his. Poor guy doesn't have a concept of electrical safety."
Link didn't waste any time. He quickly pulled out a bomb, lit it, and tossed it onto Nightmare's shocked form. He jumped to the floor and ran for another climbable machine, this time selecting one with a tower shooting electricity. He began to climb just as the explosion occurred, removing any possible chance that there was a working component left in the machine. As a dazed (and seemingly injured) Nightmare groggily managed to stand, Link wondered just what the machine was.
*****
Saria was growing weary. She had effectively been trapped by the Poes, and was fighting for her life. On every side, at least five Poes were waiting to stop her, as more continued to appear from above. She had been able to take care of several Poes already, but she wasn't sure how long she could continue to cast the few battle spells that she could manage under the circumstances.
As she frantically looked around, hoping to find a safe path to escape with, a large shadow passed overhead. At first she dismissed it as a bird, but the shadow didn't move away. Instead, it stayed where it was and slowly began to spread across the ground. Confused, Saria looked up to see a gigantic gray object in the sky. It appeared to be growing outwards, though the faint glowing radius around the object indicated that it was simply appearing as opposed to expanding.
Even the Poes stopped their constant jeering to look up in surprise at the behemoth above them. Within just a few moments, the object had firmly appeared, revealing itself to be a gigantic gray disc, hovering in the air at an altitude higher than even Death Mountain. Green lights could be seen on the exterior of this disc, though their purpose was not clear.
"That's....that has to be at least as big as Hyrule Castle!" Saria gasped. "What is that thing?"
She took her eyes off of the monstrous disc for a second, but noticed that all of the Poes were distracted as well. Taking the opportunity, she ran for the Kokiri Village in order to view the object from a safer distance.
*****
Link was ecstatic. So far, the ploy of electrocution followed by a well- placed bomb seemed to be working. After the first failed attempt, Nightmare had learned to avoid cutting any wires himself, but Link was always able to sever the proper cords on his own. He did have some concern about the damages that he was causing to the machines, but between the destruction of the machines and the destruction of himself, Link was willing to make life a little more difficult on his captor. Five machines had been torn to pieces between his bombs and Nightmare's slashings, and Link was pretty sure that it couldn't take much longer to slay this latest monster.
A wall panel slid aside and Dr. Kidnastoff ran in. "Link! What are you DOING?"
Link glanced over to Dr. Kidnastoff before turning back to the stunned Nightmare. "Just finishing off your Nightmare, doctor. One more bomb ought to do it."
So saying, Link lifted the bomb above his head and lit it.
"Don't drop that! Link, if you damage that machine, it could kill us all!"
"Don't drop it? I've just lit this thing, and I can't stop it! If I don't drop it, it'll probably kill at least one of us!"
"Link, that machine you're on is....look, this base is flying. We're flying higher than Death Mountain, and the machine that you're standing on now keeps us in the air! There are some reserve systems protecting that machine, but you and Nightmare may have already damaged those beyond a reasonable limit!"
That thought didn't take long to sink in. "So I was right about the pipes....you say that if this machine goes, this whole base goes? Crashes to the ground?"
"Yes, and we may all be killed!"
Link didn't hesitate for an instant. He tossed the bomb at Nightmare who was just about to recover from his shock. The last bomb was too much for the monster who simply solidified into a dried clay and crumbled to pieces while its phase blades seemed to fizzle out of existence. The machine, it seemed, had also taken as much as it could stand, hissed and fizzled, and finally ceased to hum.
A shudder passed through the entire base as Dr. Kidnastoff screamed in terror. Moments later the ship began to fall, lifting Link, Edward, and everything else in the ship that wasn't nailed down into the air.
"I told you not to damage that machine!" yelled Dr. Kidnastoff at a rather triumphant looking Link. "We're falling, we're going to crash into the middle of Hyrule Field!"
"Don't worry about it, Dr. Kidnastoff. That thing was waking up, and with Ganandorf just on the other side of those phase blades I didn't want to waste any time at all. It was worth it. Besides, I was getting a little tired of these monster sessions, and this should put an end to my employment with you pretty nicely."
Dr. Kidnastoff scowled. "Oh, really? How do you plan on getting out of this death trap that you've set for yourself, Link?"
"The same way that I get out of all of my Nightmares. A long, long fall that I'll hopefully wake up after."
*****
Two weeks later Hyrule was getting back to normal. The crash very well might have killed Link, Nabooru, Darunia and Dr. Kidnastoff had it not been for the two-hundred Poes that had been floating in the air beneath the base as it fell. They were all squashed out of existence, and provided just enough of a cushion to make the disaster survivable. The flying base was, however, completely demolished. Not a trace of technology was left undamaged.
When the other Sages arrived at the crash site, along with several guards from Hyrule Castle who had witnessed the "disturbance", they found Link, Nabooru and Darunia lying on their backs mere yards from the wreckage with a very panicked Dr. Kidnastoff, aided by a frantic Navi, affixing tourniquets and minor healing salves to the wounds that the Hero and Sages suffered.
Dr. Kidnastoff and Navi had been the only two to remain conscious when the crash occurred, Edward due to his above-average physical endurance and Navi due to her size and maneuverability. The two managed to rescue the three others from the wreckage.
Dr. Kidnastoff had probably saved the lives of Link, Nabooru and Darunia then. Link thought about that as he walked into the dungeon cell that Dr. Kidnastoff was being kept in.
"Ah! Link! Nice to see you, please have a seat."
Dr. Kidnastoff was still in his unusual lab coat, and still seemed as cheerful as ever despite the destruction of his entire base. Link did take a seat, though he didn't feel entirely comfortable doing so.
"Dr. Kidnastoff, I came by to thank you for saving me from the wreckage. I would've done so earlier, but they said that as soon as it was clear that the three of us would make it you instantly surrendered."
"Yes, I decided it was better in the long run."
"Why? You could've taken nearly anyone there in a one on one fight, and you can outrun everyone in Hyrule....well, maybe not the Running Man, but....and why save me?"
"Link, I wasn't going to just let you die. No, you'd earned life there. Nightmare was the best that I had, and you managed to get rid of it. Through an environmental quirk, of course, you never would've beaten him had you stayed in the Battle Chamber,....but you were victorious anyway. Besides, I'm just a geneticist and medical physician, I've got no idea how to rebuild most of my base. All of it was purchased from other people in other worlds. I might be able to get another Monster Maker running, but there's at least a decade of checking old notes that would go into it. If I'm going to be stuck in this world of yours, I decided that it would probably behoove me to cooperate with the local customs as much as was in my power. You destroyed my old life, so I need to keep my current slate as clean as possible."
"I see. Dr. Kidnastoff, I'm sorry if I destroyed 'your life,' but you were doing something terrible with that machine of yours."
"I know. Link, you gave me a lot to think about. I'd never really seen any of my monsters fight before, and I'd never really seen a hero in action. Maybe it was because you were the first person that I'd really talked to in years, but I think that I'm better for the experience."
Link didn't know how to handle this situation. He had come expecting Dr. Kidnastoff to be filled with rage, to hurl insults and curses. But Edward was simply waving the past away as if it didn't matter. Link was glad that his former captor was being very agreeable, but that in itself seemed unusual. He was saved from replying by Dr. Kidnastoff's train of thought.
"I'd never really thought about this before, Link. I don't know how I got started in this field of work, it's been so long now....but I never considered the people. I always counted on the heroes to stop my clients and the monsters that they purchased. But when you practically destroyed yourself to get rid of Nightmare, I knew that even the best of heroes can't always be around. I've officially decided to make my profit through a more respectable career. If they ever let me out of this place, I'm going to become a healer. Peaceful work, the pay is well, and people might actually like the results."
There wasn't much left to say after that. A few words were exchanged, vague references to future employment were passed around (though Dr. Kidnastoff's sentence had yet to be officially set), and Link decided that he needed to go. With the Monster Maker 3000 no longer producing creatures, he at least held a decent chance at putting a dent in the Poe population.
Link walked out of the Castle's Market and found Epona and Navi waiting for him, just where he had left them. He smiled as he mounted Epona. He was monster hunting again, but this time it would be by his own agenda and no one else's.
THE END
*****
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Hey, everyone. I've decided to take this time to say thanks to everyone who left their positive reviews, they really pushed me to finish this story. I apologize if this last chapter seemed a bit more rushed and hasty than the previous ones, but I've really stumbled across a rough spot in my life and needed to finish this so that I could deal with other things that take precedence over writing. I also want to apologize for not communicating with all of you more frequently within the chapters, but as this was my first "true" fan-fiction on this site (not counting a few test fictions that I submitted to get a feel for the layout and formatting), I didn't know what style I wanted to go for.
Special thanks to those of you who replied more than once as it demonstrated that people were actually coming back to this story, an unusual concept for me. Oh, and special thanks to Harry Read for pointing out that I'd entirely forgotten about Saria's Song, Amaya (Krazie4Christ) for telling me that the summary rhyme had been effective, and StarDragon Blue for telling me that the first monster was similar to Goht, a bit of knowledge that pushed me into renting and playing Majora's Mask for the first time (weird how similar he was, now that you mention it). Everyone else, your encouragement greatly helped at times when I might have succumbed to doing homework (had I fallen to that, I might have forgotten about this story for weeks), so I thank you.
That's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading, and I hope to return to writing again very soon. ;-)