A/N: I am SOOO sorry people! It took a while, but my inspiration has returned! I'll try to update as often as I can. I promise you I will not give up on this fic. In case you want to know, I'm trying to make this story as accurate to the games as possible. So if anything seems a little weird don't hesitate to tell me.
On another note, this chapter takes place AFTER Legend of Zelda: OoT but before MM. For those who don't know (or if your memory needs to be refreshed) at the end of Ocarina, Link was sent back to his past to relive the years he lost when he was sealed in the Temple of Time, thus, leading us into Majora. Since time travel can screw up the timeline, I've made it so that Majora never happened to 'Adult' Link. Instead, he just lived the 7 years like a normal kid. Confusing? Let me simplify it. Link's time travel screwed up the 'space-time continuum', creating an alternate Hyrule. When he was sent back at the end of Ocarina, his other self made a different choice and decided to search for navi. This sorta explains Y. Link's presence in Melee.
Ahem. Now then. ON TO THE STORY!
Chapter 2: Time's Hero
Master Hand appeared back in the dimension he was imprisoned in to drop off his new captives. But the place was not what it once was.
Master Hand had used his evil powers to alter it into a dark fortress. On the outside it looked like a simple building, but on the inside was a maze of hallways and many strange looking rooms.
Master Hand had dropped Mario and Yoshi in a dungeon-like room with several machines and computers. The prison that held the heroes had bars made out of some sort of energy so that it would be impossible to escape.
Master Hand once again used the Staff of Power to create another portal. The destination: Hyrule.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arianna landed on the ground with little more than a soft 'thump'. It took a little while for her to take in her surroundings and realize where she was. She was in Hyrule; the Kokiri Forest to be exact. It had been so long since she had last laid her eyes on this place that she had almost forgotten its beauty. Even at night, the forest lost none of its magnificence. Since it was nighttime, many of the Kokiri children were in their homes, which would make Arianna's task of finding the one she was looking for all the more easier. No use in gaining unwanted attention.
Arianna listened quietly to the sound of the chirping crickets and heard a faint melody being carried on the wind. Knowing the one she was searching for would be playing the melody, she followed the music deeper into the woods. As the music got louder Arianna could see a figure silhouetted against the starry sky. Even though it was dark she could still make out his features in the moonlight. Short golden hair, sharp eyes, and pointed ears. If Arianna had never seen him before, she would've sworn that he was an elf. The colors of his clothes would've also suggested the same. He wore, a green tunic over white undergarments of some sort, tall boots made of leather, gauntlets around his wrists, and a green cap on his head. Arianna guessed that the young man was no more than seventeen years old.
The young man in question had his eyes closed with a small instrument pressed to his lips, playing the melody she had been hearing. An ocarina. She waited until he had finished playing before she approached him.
"It's a beautiful song." She said. The startled look on his face told her that she had taken him by surprise.
"I didn't know I had an audience." He replied. It took her a few moments to realize that the young man had several weapons strapped to his back; a sword, a shield, a boomerang, a bow and a quiver full of arrows, some bombs, and something that looked like a grappling hook. He made no move to draw them, however.
"So, what's it called?" Arianna asked.
"It's called 'Zelda's Lullaby'." He replied.
"Ah. . . . So, your name's Link, right?"
Link raised a blond eyebrow. "How do you know that?"
Arianna chuckled. "Would you believe me if I told you that I'm a Portal Guardian that's trying to prevent universal annihilation?"
The Hylian's look changed from one of suspicion to one of confusion. "I didn't understand even HALF of the words you just said, but somehow I believe you."
"Really? Do you have some sort of sixth sense or something?"
"No." Link said. "Princess Zelda, the ruler of Hyrule. She had a vision about you. She said that you would appear at this very spot asking me to join you on a quest of significant importance."
Arianna remained silent for several moments, surprised that Hyrule's princess was able to predict her arrival. ". . . I guess I won't have to say much to convince you into helping me, then."
Link shook his head. "Why don't you tell me the details of your quest? I need to know exactly what we're going up against."
Yoshi opened his eyes only to see nothing but darkness. He was frightened, but he calmed down once his eyes adjusted to the dim light. He was even more relieved to find Mario with his back to a wall, staring out at nothing. It took a few minutes before Yoshi realized where they were. They were locked in what looked like a high-tech cell. The walls and floor were made of a cold, dull gray metal, and the only light that illuminated the area came from the cell's bars, which were pulsing with ominous purple energy.
Mario noticed that Yoshi was finally awake and crawled over to him.
"Yoshi, you're up." He said. "Are you all right?"
"Yoshi fine." He replied. "Where are we?"
Mario let out a long breath and glanced at the bars. "I don't know, but we're going to do whatever we can to get out of here. I'm going to need your help, though."
Mario led him the the front of the cell until he could clearly see a dim hallway. Yoshi couldn't see the reason why Mario brought him there, but he waited patiently for him to reveal his plan.
"You see that panel over there?" The red clad plumber pointed to a large metal panel on the wall opposite the cell. Buttons of assorted colors covered the panel, but only one of them, a large blue one, was glowing. "That button; it may be the one that gives power to the bars on our cell. If we press it, we just might be able to escape."
It seemed simple enough, but it didn't explain why Mario needed Yoshi.
"Yoshi don't understand." He groaned. "Mario didn't tell Yoshi why he needs him."
"I'll tell you now. You know I can't reach the panel. I've tried my fireballs, but they don't seem to do much of anything!" Yoshi nodded and let Mario continue. "Yoshi, your tongue just might be long enough to reach it."
Yoshi stared at him, finally understanding what Mario was getting at. He nodded with determination.
"Alright. Yoshi will try."
Yoshi reared back his head, then thrust it forward, his long tongue quickly making its way across the small hallway. The end of his tongue hit the button with a wet smack before it returned to Yoshi's mouth. Nothing happened. Mario and Yoshi then heard a loud hum and the bars of energy disappeared.
Mario's expression perked up. "Yes! You did it, Yoshi!" He cheered.
A swirling blue portal immediately appeared in front of them. The two heroes gazed into it, debating whether or not to enter it.
"Do we go in?" Yoshi inquired. "It only way out of here."
Mario wasn't listening. The entire builing had been relatively silent with the exception of the humming noise the bars had given off a minute ago, but the only sound breaking the silence now was the sound of slow, heavy
footsteps. But they didn't sound like normal footsteps.
Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!
It sounded like metal. They were faint, but Mario was sure he heard them.
"Mario?"
"Shh!"
"What? What is it?"
"Do you hear that?" Yoshi listened intently. He nodded. He could hear it, too. "Whatever it is, it's getting closer!"
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
Without waiting for a reply, Mario grabbed Yoshi's hand and dove into the blue void.
As the figure rounded the corner and into the holding area, it saw nothing unusual. It walked down the hall, its footfalls making a metallic noise as they hit the ground, until it came upon Mario and Yoshi's empty cell. It scanned the cell with its emotionless eyes and then left to attend to other duties. It wasn't capable of much thought, but all it knew at the moment was that Master Hand wasn't going to be very pleased.
"Hm. An interesting story."
Arianna had just finished telling Link about Master Hand, the Staff of Power, and his plot to dominate the universe. It was a highly condensed version of her story, but Link understood every word perfectly.
"So," He muttered. Link began pacing around, trying to sort everything out. "You're name's Arianna? And you're a Portal Guardian; you protect the barriers of time and space."
"Correct." She said.
Link now had his hand to his chin. "Now, this Master Hand stole the Staff of Power. It keeps the barriers of the different worlds in place, you say. So if the Staff is gone-"
"The dimensions are no longer separated and people can travel between them." Arianna continued. "Now that Master Hand has it, it won't take long before he has the entire universe in his grasp."
"That doesn't sound good. Hey, I've been meaning to ask you this: What do you need me for?"
The Guardian sighed and sat herself on a large rock. "It's not just you I need. Master Hand grew more powerful when he stole the staff. I tried to fight him by myself, but I lost. My magic is strong, but my powers are limited even though I'm a goddess. That's why I'm looking for heroes like yourself to help me. The Hand is searching for heroes, too, only he wants to destroy them so they won't get in the way of his plans. He's already got Mario and Yoshi."
Link opened his mouth to ask about the two heroes when a large blue vortex opened up in front of them. Arianna stood up and watched the portal with an intense gaze, not knowing if Master Hand would pop out. Instead of Master Hand, the portal spat out a man in a red shirt and blue overalls, and a green dinosaur.
"Mario?! Yoshi?!" She exclaimed.
"That'sa me!" He said cheerily. "Who are you?"
"Long story." A Arianna replied. "I'm Arianna, a Portal Guardian. This is Link, Hero of Time."
Link waved to the plumber. "I'm assuming you're Mario, nice to meet you. Who's your friend?"
"Oh, him?" Mario motioned to Yoshi. "That's Yoshi. He can't speak english very well, but it's good enough to understand. You! Arianna, right? How do you know our names?"
"Like I stated; it's a very long story." She grumbled. "But let me put it this way: there's a very bad guy who's trying to take over the universe and is going to destroy every last hero until no one can stand against him. So, I'm gathering as many heroes as I can to stop him. Got it?"
Mario nodded. Suddenly, maniacal laughter filled the air. Behind them was Master Hand himself.
"Very good story, Guardian." He said, his voice filled with mock praise. "I'm really disappointed that you portrayed me as the villain. The way you described me was all wrong! Ahahahahaha!"
"Link," Arianna whispered. "That's him! That's Master Hand!"
"Haha! You've made this too easy for me, Guardian. With four of you in one place, I can eliminate you all with plenty of time left to conquer the universe!"
"Not if we can help it!" Mario yelled. "If it's the universe you want, you'll have to get through us first!"
Master Hand chuckled. "After what I did to you last time, do you really think you can beat me?"
"Why don't you come and try it?!" Link aimed his bow and fired an arrow at the Hand, making twitch with pain.
Mario and Yoshi took the opportunity to hit Master Hand with everything they had. Yoshi jumped up high and Flutter Kicked him, while Mario threw Fireballs. Link kept on assaulting him with bombs, arrows, and his boomerang, but once he got tired of that he went in close and started slashing with the Master Sword. Arianna helped them out from afar with her magic blasts.
A Spin Attack from Link wore him down to his last legs. Master Hand let out a cry of frustration and shook them all off.
"You haven't seen the last of me! My army is more than ready to take over; you're only delaying the inevitable! The universe WILL be mine!"
Master Hand then vanished in a flash if white light, laughing.
"C'mon." Arianna declared. "We should go to Nexia, my world. We can prepare for our next move there. Mario, I'll explain everything to you and Yoshi once we arrive."
Arianna then opened up a portal to her home world and left with Link, Mario, and Yoshi to plan what to do next.
Like in chess, the game had begun and the pieces were being moved. The only difference was that one side still had many pieces to gain, and the other was trying to prevent that from ever happening. With the entire universe hanging in the balance, losing is not an option.
END OF CHAPTER
A/N: Did you like it? In response to those of you who reviewed already, Samus and Kirby will be coming soon. I might have to introduce the Smashers in twos for some chapters to get the story moving. Since I know virtually NOTHING about the Metroid universe, the Samus chapter will take a while to write.
Suggestions are welcome as long as it doesn't include killing off characters. Don't forget to review! You'd be surprised at how motivating it is.
This is GoldAngel signing off!