Chapter Seventeen Out of Time

   Ganon stood before the clock tower, staring up at it.  In one hour, the tower would open, and he would climb the steps to his destiny.  He would become a god, and the Realms would tremble at his feet.  Any anxiety he felt about Link's possible survival was overshadowed by this feeling.  Even if the boy had survived, he would be too late to stop him.  Far, far too late.

   Smitts came up beside him, staring at his boots.  "The townsfolk are sealed in the city hall, like you ordered, sir.  They'll be out of the way."

   "Excellent.  And my men?"

   "They're on their way.  The only ones who aren't coming are the ones guarding the four gates and city hall."

   Ganon nodded.  "Again, excellent.  I want them all here to witness my ascension to godhood."

   "Then shouldn't all the townies be here?"

   "No.  I considered that, but no.  They already know that they are defeated, that they will never beat me.  To them I am already all powerful, whereas you and your ilk still believe otherwise.  Don't bother with excuses, Smitts," Ganon told him, holding up a hand to stop any protests.  "I have heard of the mutinous thoughts you and your men harbor.  It is natural among your kind, so I hold no grudges.  I may have need of you after my ascension, so it will be good to quell any thoughts of insubordination.  Not that I fear you, of course."

   "Of…of course, my master."  Smitts hesitated momentarily before saying, "My lord, I was wondering if I could ask a favor.  See, there's this woman…the old innkeeper.  I was wondering if I might…"

   He stopped at Ganon's sneer of disgust.  "Very well, Smitts.  Do what you will with her, but make it quick.  And keep it quiet; it's bad enough your acting like the crude beast you are without having the others get any ideas."

   Smitts nodded quickly and rushed away, afraid of a more strict reprisal.  Ganon ignored his departure, and continued to stare up at the tower.  Fifty-seven minutes to go.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

   A covered wagon rolled steadily towards the southern gate of Clock Town.  In the driver's seat sat two hunched figures, dressed in dirty clothes covered by muddy cloaks.  Their faces were smeared until they were almost black, hiding their boyish features.  "Well, here we are again Rocky," Boomer exclaimed.  "You and me, stuck with the most boring job imaginable."

   "We're carting a wagon full of weapons and explosives into the heart of the enemy base, which is in fact our city, on what is most likely a suicide mission to take it back.  Boring is hardly the word I would use."

   "I mean, everybody else gets to break in and fight and cause mayhem—two things me and you are renowned for—while we got to be all sneaky and 'inconspicuous'.  It's boring!"

   Rocky just sighed.  "Boomer, look at it this way: if our cover is blown, the whole plan is shot.  We'll be killed, Link's plan will fall apart, and yeah, we'll be killed.  This whole thing hinges on us.  Boring or not, I get the feeling this is going to be far from easy."

   "Well if it was easy, it wouldn't be any fun at all," Boomer muttered.  He continued to sulk in silence for a few minutes as Rocky steered the horses closer to the gate.  "Y'know," he finally said.  "I've been thinking…"

   "That has to hurt…"

   "I've been thinking about our lives, Rocky.  I mean, what do we have to say for them?  We've been alive sixteen years and have nothing to show for it.  We've been living lives of luxury and laziness.  The whole town has."

   "I'd hardly call it luxurious, but I get your point."

   "I mean, had we been better prepared, less slack and ambivalent to the outside world we might have been ready for the mercs.  We might have put up more of a fight, and when Link came we would have been able to take back the city a lot sooner.  Bottom line is, we were lazy, and we paid for it."

   "What's that have to do with our lives?"

   "Everything!  See, before Link came, our lives had no point.  We lived from one day to another, taking the bad with the good, totally reactive.  Link taught us to be proactive, to actually make things happen instead of waiting for them to happen.  It's something we should have learned a long time ago.  I mean, we are…we are…the youth of the nation!  We're the ones who're going to be in charge some day…"

   "Gods save us…"

   "…and I think this is the way we should do that."  Boomer had risen to his feet, caught up in the fervor of his speech.  "Instead of simply reacting to whatever life throws our way, we should take charge!  We should make our own futures, make things happen for us!  Take the future by it's arm and tell it 'hey!  We're in charge here!  You follow us!'.  It's our responsibility Rocky!  This is the reason we live!  We exist to lead Termina into a golden age of responsibility and choice!  No more will we wander blindly through the soup that is fate!  No more will we chase the tail of the dog of the future; the tail will chase us!  We will…"

   "Boomer, sit down before you hurt yourself," Romani's voice said from behind them.  "And before you let the whole town know who we are."

   Boomer sheepishly obliged.  "I thought you were sleeping."

   "I was, but a very talkative and abrasive teenager woke me up."  She sighed and sidled up between them.  She was also disguised, though a little more work had been done to make her appear a little less attractive.  "Besides, I couldn't sleep.  I'm too nervous.  I mean, this is it.  Tonight's the night this all ends, one way or another."

   "That's the idea, at least," Rocky confirmed.  He pulled back on the reins as they got closer to the gates, slowing down.  "Alright you two, time to fall into character.  Just remember the script Link gave us and we should be alright."

   Boomer made a dismissive gesture with his hand.  "Rocky, please.  The mercs think that we're either dead or already inside, and somehow I get the feeling that whatever goombas Ganon sent to guard the gates the night he becomes a god are far from the sharpest knives in the drawer.  I bet you all we gotta do is feed him some two sentence story and ask to go in and they'll let us."

   "Somehow I don't think it could possibly be that easy."

   "Shut up you two," Romani hissed, as the pulled up to the gate.  One of three guards stepped up to the wagon and surveyed the three teens.

   "Whatchu doin' out and about now?" he asked.  "I thought everyone was already on the insides."

   Before Rocky could say his line, Boomer growled.  "Lord Ganon wanted these weapons from the rebel camp brought in tonight and we fell behind.  Me mate here had some chili what didn't agree with him and had to take a stop.  So let us in already!"

   The guard looked at them a moment longer then turned and walked back to the entrance.  He tapped an odd looking stone that had been added to the wall three times, and with a sharp flash of red, a door opened in the magical shield surrounding the city.  Trying hard to cover his surprise, Rocky spurred the horses through the door.  When they were safely through, Boomer gave his friend one of his 'I-told-you-so' looks and said, "And you said it couldn't possibly be that easy."

   It was a good thing Romani was between them, otherwise Rocky would have strangled him.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

   As Link led the rebels through the sewers beneath Clocktown, he couldn't help but be a little apprehensive over their progress.  The fact that everything had so far gone according to plan bothered him to no end.  His reliance on his 'luck' had nearly gotten both him and the entire rebellion destroyed, and he would be damned if he let that happen again.

   That being said, he couldn't help but be relieved at the same time.

   Link had known that since their first escape from Clocktown Ganon would have the route under the Stock Pot Inn closed off, so that way was out of the question, as was the path they had used to escape from the mayor's office, thanks to Krishna's betrayal.  However, Link had anticipated these results even before the attack on the rebel camp and had planned accordingly.  Even now he was thanking his foresight for not revealing the entirety of his plan to anyone.

   Which was why their path from the astronomer's old observatory was so far obstacle free.

   The plan was fairly straightforward.  Link and the remaining rebels would sneak into the city through the sewer systems, and once there they would divide into two groups.  One would go to free the hostages, who according to Scrat's rodent friends were once again being crammed into the mayor's office.  Once freed, the group would rendezvous with Boomer, Romani, and Rocky at the North gates; that area of the city was secluded even during the middle of the day, and according to previous scouting reports it was basically deserted at night.  Meanwhile, the other group would continue down the sewers until they got to the Laundry Pool and wait for the signal.  Link realized that the plan was hinging on his knowledge of Ganon's arrogance, and if he was right in assuming that Ganon would gather his troops to witness his ascension, then the rebels would catch the mercs from both ends, trapping and surprising them.  The surprise, coupled with the townsfolk's desire to win at any cost, should be enough to win the night.  Cremia would lead the first group with Scrat, while Kafei was in charge of the second.  Link would be the signal.

   "Y'know, there's something vaguely familiar about this…" Tatl quipped from above his head.  "Let's see…Festival day, the fate of the world resting on your shoulders…Think you'll be able to pull it off again?"

   Link couldn't help but smile.  "I don't see why not," he replied

   They reached the junction where they would split up with just over forty-five minutes to go.  Kafei, Scrat, and Cremia came to the front of the line and joined Link, Tatl and Tael hovering overhead.  "Alright," Link told them.  "This is it.  We've got three quarters of an hour to get this done and ready.  Timing is everything now, and we need to be perfect; the only way this will work is if we're all ready to go when the time is needed.  Can you do that?"

   Cremia nodded and gave his hand a squeeze.  "We won't let you down, Link."

   "We'll beat them back once and for all," Kafei said.

   "Absolutely.  They'll scurry on out of here like rats fleeing a ship.  Not literally of course, because rats are much better company than them, and I probably shouldn't even have said that…"

   Link clasped Scrat on the shoulder.  "I know, Scrat.  And you're right."  He turned his attention to the other rebels behind him, and his chest swelled with pride at the determination he saw in their eyes.  "I want you all to know," he addressed them, "How proud I am to be a part of this.  How proud I am to have gotten to know all of you.  No matter what happens to me, I know that you'll carry on, that you'll succeed.  Tonight you take back your home, and your children will remember it for years to come."

   With that, he turned and headed down the small tunnel, alone, as always, to face the darkness.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

   With twenty-five minutes left until midnight, it started to rain.

   Boomer, Romani, and Rocky huddled together against the wagon, doing their best to keep warm as they waited for Cremia and the others to arrive.  Boomer had tried singing to pass the time, but the other two had quickly shut him up.  "Aren't they supposed to be here by now?" he asked.

   "Not for another five minutes," Romani answered.  "Just be patient, Boomer."

   "I can't!  I mean, how can you not be anxious at a time like this?"

   "We are, we just don't make as much noise over it," Rocky replied.

   Boomer was about to protest when a new voice stopped him.  "You three!  What are you doing over there?  Everyone's supposed to be at the clock."

   They turned sharply to see a lone sentry marching up towards them, spear in hand.  "I thought this part of the town was supposed to be deserted!" Boomer hissed.

   "It was, but things change," Romani snapped back.  "Just be cool,"

   "Hey!" the sentry pressed as he stepped up to them.  "I asked you a question…"

   "Orders," Rocky growled, lowering his head to hide his face.  "We're waitin' on our commander to check out this cargo.  He said to meet him here."

   The guard eyed them suspiciously.  "Here?  Why here?  Who's your commander?"

   "Krag," answered Rocky, while Boomer simultaneously replied "Bones".

   Trying hard to disguise her horror and anger at them, Romani spoke up.  "What they means is we was under Bones, but after he got killed, Krag took over."

   The guard continued to glare at them, then suddenly leveled his spear at Romani's chest.  "Alright, hands up!  Now!"

   Obliging, the three rebels stared at him in shock.  "Hey, what's up?" Boomer protested, trying to mask his fear with mock anger.  "What do you think you're doing?"

   "Krag was killed in last night's raid.  Whoever you are, you're not his men.  Now, turned around and put your hands against the wagon!"

   Romani was about to attack with the dagger concealed under her cloak, but all of a sudden the guard lurched forward into Boomer's arms, dropping her spear.  Surprised, Boomer fell back with the corpse, slipping in the mud and falling to the ground.  Romani took one glance at the arrow sticking out of the merc's back and smiled, as she raised her head to see her sister leading the liberated rebels towards them, bow in hand.  "Two minutes early and not a moment too soon," Cremia observed as she embraced Romani.

   "'Bout time you got here," Boomer grumbled as Rocky helped him to his feet.  Already the rebels were moving in the wagon, distributing the weapons.

   Cremia ignored him and turned to Romani.  "Is this the only guard?"

   "Yes, it looks like he just happened to wander by by accident."

   "Great!" Tael piped in from overhead.  "If that's the only glitch in the plan all night, things should work out perfectly."

                                    *                                  *                                  *

   As Anju was shoved along towards the Laundry Pool by Smitts, the only thing on her mind wasn't fear over what was about to happen to her, but on her family.  She feared what had happened to Kafei in the aftermath of the raid, and what would happen to Jon and Kayla now that her life was about to end.  She held no illusions as to what Smitts' intentions were, and she knew that by the time it was over she would be dead.

   Anju stared up at the clock tower as they passed, and at the assemblage of over three hundred and fifty mercs before it.  If Link was right, then the tower would be the death of her world.  On the other hand, if Link and the others had somehow managed to survive the raid, it would also be their salvation.  That little strand of hope was of more comfort than it had any right to be.

   Smitts had wrapped her in a cloak in a crude effort to disguise her, presumably so none of the other mercs would pay them any mind.  It was coarse and smelled bad, but Anju was thankful of it, as it helped keep her dry of the downpour.  The cobbled streets were slick, however, and Anju had to struggle to keep her balance every time Smitts shoved her.

   "Get goin'," he growled as he maneuvered her up the steps to Laundry Pool.  She cast one last glance over her shoulder before she entered the secluded section of the city.  She backed up until she hit the lone tree.  Smitts grinned predatorily at her, moving in so close she could smell his rank breath.  "Alone at last," he purred.  "Y'know, I've been waiting for this for a long time.  Ever since I first saw you.  It's not often a man like me gets to be with a woman as beautiful as you, and I intend to enjoy every minute of it…"

   As he moved in to kiss her, new thoughts went through Anju's mind.  She thought of how Link had taught them all to never give up, how Kafei had gone through hell to be with her eight years ago, how she had taught her children to always stand up for what was right.  She thought of all these things as she drove her knee into Smitts privates.

   Smitts howled in pain and doubled over, and Anju tried scrambling around him towards the exit.  His flailing arms blocked her way, and she was forced to retreat back towards to the pool.  She searched about desperately for a way out, and through the rain she saw the door leading into the back room of the Curiosity Shop.  She turned and sprinted towards it even as Smitts straightened and charged toward her, praying to the gods that it was open.  She was less than ten feet away when she slipped on a loose stone and fell to the ground.  Scrambling to regain her footing, she was too late; Smitts was already on top of her, forcing her on to her back.  She struggled valiantly, but Smitts was too big and too strong, and she closed her eyes as she prepared for the inevitable.

   Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice cry out and Smitts was thrown off of her.  She turned her head and saw Smitts and her husband struggling against each other.  Smitts struck Kafei a blow to the stomach and attempted a roundhouse punch, but Kafei blocked it and drove his fist into Smitts' nose.  Smitts teetered on the edge of the bridge over the pool, and just as he was about to fall he grabbed Kafei's shirt, pulling both men into the water.

   Other rebels poured out of the doorway, but Anju ignored them, her eyes focused on the pool.  Kafei came up first, yanking Smitts up with him.  Holding the merc by the collar the mayor of Clocktown struck him again and again.  Smitts attempted to draw a dagger from his belt but Kafei fought back, forcing Smitts' head under the water.  The merc struggled for several seconds until his body finally went limp.

   Panting from exhaustion, Kafei turned to make sure his wife was alright.  He needn't have bothered, however, as Anju was already in the pool, holding him tighter than ever before.

                                    *                                  *                                  *

   Link pulled himself up out of the sewer water onto the platform beneath the clock tower with ten minutes to spare.  So far everything was on schedule.  As long as the other groups hadn't met any difficulties, things should go as planned.  Now all Link had to do was instigate his distraction: stopping the clock from going up at midnight.

   He ran over the plans Bacus had shown him of the clock in his head.  The mechanism that would raise the clock face was usually manually operated, but in the event of an emergency a timer would instigate the reaction automatically.  As Bacus and Kafei had the only keys into the clock tower, none of the mercs would bother going to the effort of picking the lock to open when the job would get done by itself, so in theory Link would be the only one in the tower.  Once he disabled the timer, the clock face would be unable to rise, Ganon would be unable to reach Majora's Mask, and the rebels would begin their attack.

   As Boomer might say, a piece of cake.

   Link went over the plans and turned towards the wall panel that housed the mechanism.  It was right next to the door, so he needed to pass the giant organ that sat against one of the walls, the same organ the Salesman had used to free him from the Deku Mask eight years before.  It was covered in dust from lack of use, however, as if nobody had considered playing it since.  Which was why he was so surprised to hear it play when he was only three feet from the mechanism.  Startled, he spun to face the instrument, sword drawn, only to find Krishna sitting on the bench, grinning maliciously.  He was dressed all in black with the red Eye of the Sheikah on his chest, a variation of the standard Sheikah uniform.

   "You know, Link," he started, getting to his feet.  Link noticed that he had both his swords drawn.  "Despite what Ganon told himself, I had this sinking feeling—no pun intended—that you were still alive.  I just knew it couldn't be that easy to kill you."

   "Yeah, well, I'm just full of surprises," Link replied, slowly making his way back towards the mechanism.

   "So it would seem.  But so am I.  And I wouldn't bother with that device there," Krishna's smile widened even further.  "The clock will rise no matter what.  I dismantled the shutdown.  Completely on my own initiative of course; Ganon believes that nothing else can stand in his way, so I took it upon myself to see to it.  Oh, don't look so surprised.  Did you honestly think I wouldn't be able to guess your plan?  After all the centuries I've lived and experienced, did you think I wouldn't be able to at least guess that the clock would have something to do with all of this?"

   Link briefly considered the idea that Krishna was bluffing, but dismissed the thought almost immediately.  Instead, he unstrapped his sword from his back, leaving the blade in the scabbard.  "If that's true, why is it only you down here?  Why not have a whole squad of men down here to back you up?"

   "Because I don't need a squad of men.  I can kill you all by myself.  And even on the off chance that you did beat me, I highly, highly doubt that even you can single-handedly defeat over three hundred opponents, not to mention Ganon.  But by all means, if you think you stand a better chance with them, go for it.  The door's open," Krishna beckoned to the exit.

   Link fought back a triumphant grin; Krishna believed that he had entered the city alone, meaning that the other rebels would still have the element of surprise.

   But he would still have to stop the clock.

   "I can still shut down the clock manually, Krishna," Link told him, drawing his sword and throwing the scabbard to the ground.  "All I need to do is jam the gears over there," he gestured to the giant spinning wheels in the background.

   "Oh I know," Krishna replied.  "Only one problem…" he brought both swords up into attack position, smile replaced by grim determination.  "You'll have to go through me."

   Without another word, Link charged.

*                                    *                                    *

   Tatl returned to Kafei and his group at the Laundry Pool with five minutes until midnight.

   "The others are all set," she reported, hovering in front of Kafei's nose.  "Cremia and Scrat managed to free everyone without a hitch, and they're all armed and waiting."

   "So what does that mean?" Anju asked from beside him, now armed with a sword and shield.  "We just have to wait until midnight?"

   "That's right," Kafei answered.  "The clock won't rise, and that's when we attack."

   "But what if it doesn't rise?  Don't get me wrong, I believe in all my heart that Link will succeed, but what if something else happens?  What if the clock has been sabotaged?  I mean, Rankish—Krishna, sorry—could have been planning this from the beginning."

   "That's just stupid," Tatl scolded.  Kafei gave her an uncertain look, and her color flared in indignation.  "Geez people, have a little faith!  This is LINK we're talkin' about!  What could possibly come up that he couldn't deal with?"

                                    *                                  *                                  *

   Link fought with a desperation he did not know he possessed, the seconds counting down in his head even as he deflected a blow to it.  Krishna pressed the attack, slashing his left sword at Link's stomach, which he managed to swat aside with his sword.  Link used the momentum and Krishna's poor balance to strike with a spinning elbow, dazing the traitorous Sheikah.  Link hoped to impale Krishna through the chest before he had time to recover, but Krishna was too fast and caught the blow on his right blade, immediately followed by another stab with his other sword.  In two minutes the clock would rise, and the whole plan would be shot.

   "Time's almost up Hero," Krishna taunted, echoing Link's thoughts.  He attempted a double-bladed slash at his neck, but Link managed to duck out of the way and attempt a sweep kick, which Krishna nimbly leapt over.  "In less than two minutes Ganon will destroy this world and then move on to ours.  And while I'll be there to see it, you'll be burned to a crisp with the rest of these rebels."

   "You know Krishna," Link retorted as he brought his sword back over his head to block a strike to his back, then immediately brought it up again to swat away Krishna's cut to his stomach, "For a Sheikah you do an awful lot of talking."  Suddenly Link pressed against Krishna's sword with all his might, throwing his opponent off balance.  With uncanny speed Link spun and slashed at Krishna's right arm, causing him to cry out in pain and drop one of his swords.  Link rolled forward on the ground, picking up the fallen weapon as he went, getting to his feet and charging towards the gears.  He raised the stolen sword above his head, prepared to drive it into the gears to forestall the rise of the clock.

   The blow never fell.

   A familiar sound of a spring being released reached Link's ears, but before he could react he felt a stabbing pain in his right shoulder, causing him the drop his swords.  He felt a sharp tug on his injured shoulder, spinning him around and bringing him to his knees.  Standing in front of him, right arm cradled to his stomach, was Krishna, holding in his left hand a bloody hookshot pointed at Link.  There was no longer any mirth or mockery on his face; he glared at Link with pure hatred and loathing.  "Close, Link," he breathed, "But not close enough."

   Link gingerly touched the wound; the tip of the hookshot hadn't gone all the way through the shoulder, and he could still move it, but the pain was intense.  Link struggled to his feet and turned back towards the gears, only to find that they were no longer stationary.  The wheels were turning, and Link could hear the grinding of the mechanism as it performed its task.  He had failed.

   It was midnight, and the clock was rising.