The Day the Universes Collided


Chapter Eighteen



Zelda Homeworld

Game Realm P.C.

Time: 1100 hours


Allstar sat in his chair at the table in the war room of the Zelda Home Base, scowling. Dark Link leaned back, relaxed, as Elfin and Link chatted about what to look for in a wife. Waker read his book from Old Hyrule and Maverick simply leaned against the wall, not bothering to join the other heroes who sat around the table. Alt Link and Alt Dark were murmuring to each other, sitting at the head of the table.

"I can still hear you. I'm not deaf." Maverick growled at his world's twins. "Where are Mario and Luigi?"

"You were thought to be dead. How did you escape Nintendo's Wrath?" Alt Link asked instead.

"The luck of heaven decided not to be stingy that day. Don't change the subject. Where are the Golden Mascots? What happened to Sega? What is going on here?!" Maverick snapped angrily. The heroes fell silent as they watched the events, curious and apprehensive. The Alt twins looked evasive.

"Should we start at the beginning?" Alt Link murmured hesitantly.

"I think it would be best to tell us all what happened since Maverick's disappearance from this dimension." Link remarked, "And thank you for the rooms. I appreciate the chance to sleep in my old tree home again, even if it's just the setting for your 'work'."

"And I owe you a whack to the head for shooting me!" Allstar added angrily. Alt Link shrugged.

"You should have just told us you were beings from other dimensions. It would have made things simpler." he replied, "And it's no problem, Link. We're happy to help."

"I suppose it is best. After Maverick's 'death', Nin and Tendo retreated into themselves, mourning over the loss. The next day, they approached the Allstars and said they were going to fix everything to be sure no more lives would be lost." Alt Dark started. "What happened next was horrible. The Twins smiled and summoned the spell Joy and Laughter. We barely escaped it, the sonic waves buffeted our ships and the next thing we knew, Nin-Tendo had destroyed the Mario Homeworld."

"So many lives were lost. Mario and Luigi managed to escape on their flagship, The Luck of Heaven. They set sail for the Planet of Powers in search of help to calm the Twins down. They asked Sega Sprite to help protect them." Alt Link murmured and cringed, "Captain N and Lt. GCN also went along, each in their fighters, Star Flipper and Star Atlantis. Just as they reached the world, Nin and Tendo appeared and attacked. Sega was overwhelmed, Captain N and his sister were nearly killed; she used the last of her power to transport them to the Playstation Homeworld. Sony took them in to protect them, then summoned the shield."

"Mario and Luigi were killed in the fight, The Luck of Heaven was totally destroyed." Alt Dark sighed, "We two are the last of the Allstars. Well, three, counting Neo Advance Link. Since then, the Twins have been traveling from world to world, destroying everything they see."

"Horrible." Waker murmured sadly as Link closed his eyes in a moment of silence for the lost characters. Elfin sat back and looked at the ceiling, allowing the information to sink into his brain.

"The Gentle Hand and The Fierce Hand on a rampage. I thought such a thing could never be." Dark Link murmured and Allstar clenched his fists and trembled in fury.

"How? Why?! They're acting like the X Twins!" he shouted.

"Where's Sega now?" Maverick suddenly asked. Alt Link winced and stood up.

"She's in our medical bay. If you'd like to see her...." he began but Maverick was already in shadow-mist form, vanishing into the walls in his search for the Entity. "Well, for those of us who can't play Poltergeist, let's walk to the bay." the Allstar sighed and led the way.



*******



Maverick looked down at the Entity with an expression of horror and sympathy. He reached out carefully and placed his hand on Sega's cheek, carefully ignoring the IVs and bandages that covered her from head to toe. One eye wasn't covered.

"Sega, can you hear me? It's me." Maverick whispered and glanced around quickly, "It's Advance Link. The original." The eye slowly opened and gazed up at him, the once bright blue now dark and dull.

"Maverick....Link.... It's good to see you alive." Sega whispered. "I wish we were reunited under better conditions." Maverick swallowed hard and took in her battered form, her fragile pixie wings ripped from her back, her antennae broken and hanging limply on her head.

"Same here, Sega. I can't believe Tendo would do this to you. Nin, either." he answered. Sega laughed hoarsely as the heroes finally arrived.

"Nintendo changes constantly. You should know that. It adjusts to match a dominating force. For so long, the dominating force was the Power of Creativity from all the Programmers and Players in the Realm of Humanity." she murmured, "But I feel a new force is here. And it has changed Nin and Tendo to make them obey it. They've been enslaved to it and are destroying what it wants them to ruin."

"Sega...." Allstar murmured in quiet shock at the beaten Entity on the hospital bed.

"Where is the new force?" Maverick asked quietly. Sega sighed tiredly and closed her eye.

"Home...home...where it all began, where the source of all that is Nintendo lies, where it can cause the most damage without anyone ever knowing." she whispered and finally fell unconscious.

"She regains clarity every now and then, but mostly she's asleep, trying to heal herself." Alt Link said quietly. "But we must stop the Twins before they kill us all. Our scanners say that they are heading our way. What's left of the Shigeru Armada is armed and ready for them."

"What are you saying?" Maverick asked, slowly turning to face him.

"We were told the plan on the way here, Maverick." Elfin remarked, "The Shigeru Armada is prepared for an all out war."

"They're going to kill Nin and Tendo first." Waker said in a wavering voice, "They're going to kill the Entities of Nintendo!"



********



Playstation Homeworld

Game Realm P.C.

Time: 1200 hours


PSX Zero leaned back in his chair and chewed on a stick of gum, worrying constantly. He glanced back at the huge red cushion set on a low pedestal. In the center of it sat a young woman with long auburn hair and dressed in a plain white dress. No decorations on it, nothing, just a simple white dress that was so long it spread in a small pool around her feet. The sleeves were so long, they went past the woman's hands and were cut at a slant. She sat silent, frozen like a regal statue, her sea green eyes gazing out at the distance. Every few seconds, a ring of energy would rise around her and disappear as it passed her head.

"How is she?" PSX Sigma suddenly asked, walking into the room and bringing a bowl of soup for him. Zero sighed as the soup was set before him.

"Stable for now, but I can hear her in my mind. She's crying. She said she felt another world be destroyed, so many lives lost." he replied and sipped at the soup, "Thanks."

"X was worried about you. So was I, and the rest of the Capcom crew." Sigma sighed, "Sony's voice is in all of our minds. Even now, generating the shield, she can still hear what's going on."

"What about Captain N and the girl?" Zero asked, motioning for Sigma to sit with him. The villainous character accepted, propping his cheek up with one fist as he looked up at the woman, the Queen of Playstation.

"Stable as well, but still badly banged up. I still don't see why we took them in. They're the protectors of our rivals." Sigma replied.

"We may be rivals, but we still have a truce with them. Nintendo did give birth to Playstation, so here in the Realm of Games we must watch each other's backs. The real competition is in Humanity. Players fussing and fighting over which is better and all." Zero answered and yawned.

"Get some rest. I'll take the next shift." Sigma offered, patting him on the shoulder.

"Thanks. I wish Maverick was here, though." Zero murmured sadly, "He's half Capcom, he's like blood to us."

"He is here. He is still alive." Sony's voice murmured softly in their minds. The two characters looked at each other in shock. "But he may not be alive much longer. Mother and Father know he has returned from another world. They are en route to the Zelda Homeworld to destroy him and complete their mission."

"We've got to warn them!" Zero cried and jumped when he heard Sony scream in his mind.

"Noooo! Mother! Father!" she wailed and the shields wavered for a moment, "The Allstars! They're going to destroy Nin and Tendo! Noo!"

"Crapcrapcrap! This isn't good!" Zero yelled as he raced out of the room, "Computer! Patch me to the PA system!" There was a beep and Zero began to shout out orders as he raced for the war room. "All Playstation characters! Prepare for battle! Get to your warships as fast as you can! Mistress Sony! I know you can hear me! Drop the shields and we'll go stop the Shigeru Armada! All characters, scramble! We've got to stop the Allstars! They're going to try to destroy the Entities of Nintendo!"

He turned a corner and nearly ran into his friend, X. The two recovered and raced on, desperate to beat the clock.



***********



On Board The Legacy of Links

Game Realm P.C.

Time: 1300 hours


"Zee, status." Maverick ordered as he watched the heroes strap themselves into various seats on the bridge of the ship.

"We're all gonna die. We're all gonna die. We're all gonna die." Allstar murmured over and over, rocking back and forth in his chair, eyes wide and staring at the distance. Dark Link shook his head and put his hand over his eyes, not even bothering to deal with his twin.

"Funny. I told myself as a kid that if I couldn't be an FBI agent, I'd be an astronaut. Now I'm in a spaceship, looking at the stars from their area, and all I can think of is...." Elfin murmured softly, "did I remember to sign my will?"

"By Nayru's Love, will you just SHUT THE HELL UP?!?!" Link screamed at Allstar, "Your constant blathering of death is starting to annoy me! You're a Link, act like it! Don't be such a sissy coward!" Maverick suddenly laughed and glanced back at him.

"I'm beginning to like you, Link of Old Hyrule. I'd say more, but I'm a bit busy at the moment." he remarked with a crooked grin.

"I don't suppose it'd be too late to ask to get off the ride, is it?" Waker asked, raising his hand.

"Sorry, Junior, but the shit's gonna hit the fan in less than thirty minutes." Maverick called back as Zee made her announcement.

"Engines are green. Trans-polarity shields are green. Main defenses and artillery are green. Fuel systems are at 100%. All systems are green. Preparations for combat are complete." the computer reported.

"Let's do this." Maverick muttered as the ship began to speed ahead of the Shigeru Armada, a fleet of warships designed to protect Nintendo airspace. The last Allstars were on board the Reality64, waiting for Maverick to lure the Twins into a specified location so they could attack with all the ammunition they had in hopes of destroying them.

"You know, if you and those guys back there do somehow manage to kill Nin and Tendo, all the Nintendo characters will instantly die." Dark Link suddenly said. Maverick stiffened slightly.

"They know. They planned it anyway." he replied softly, "They surprised me, those two Links. They are ready and willing to utterly destroy Nintendo to keep it from destroying everything else. They will sacrifice the system to save the realms, both Games and Humanity." He looked back at the group, looking more lifelike than he had ever been. "And the funny thing is, I don't want them to risk themselves like that. I tried to talk them out of it. But they went on anyway. I...I have a newfound respect for them. I thought I lost it years ago."

"Years? But you're thirteen! How long ago did you lose that respect?" Elfin declared.

"Seven and a half, on the day I restored Nintendo and saw it all to be just another lie. I was thirteen at the time, too. Nintendo characters don't age the way people do. We are made at a specific age and are stuck that way for life. The only way the Links can age is by pulling the Master Key, which is a portable version of the Master Sword." Maverick answered with a shrug and frowned.

"What is it?" Waker asked.

"It's the Twins." Maverick answered with a suddenly horrified look as he gazed out at space. A pair of colorful streaks of light sailed through space, spinning and weaving among themselves as the sounds of delighted laughter began to sound in the ship's bridge. "They're here...."