The Day the Universes Collided


Chapter Twenty-Six



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Time: Unknown



Waker woke slowly and grimaced, holding a hand to his forehead. His head throbbed and his body felt like it weighed a ton. He struggled to get up and managed to sit up, looking around him groggily. The other Links were scattered around on the floor with him, he had been lying on his back the whole time, and they were in a new place.

"This...this isn't the Zero Dimension, or any of our worlds...." Waker murmured softly as he gazed up at the sky, a darkened stormy sky that only rumbled and rolled heavy black clouds. They were on a round platform that had a walk way stretching out as far as he could see. All around were tall structures like ancient ruins, pyramids and temples, more dungeons and caves than any Link could ever hope to explore in a single lifetime. Waker carefully stood and tested his legs, then walked around to each of his friends to wake them up.

Elfin lay face down nearby, his sunglasses broken beside his head. Upon being roused from unconsciousness, he immediately griped about the lack of coffee and stretched his limbs, then checked to be sure Glitter was still with him. "Damn, and those were my favorite glasses, too." he muttered about the shades.

Link lay on one side, slightly curled and sleeping peacefully. Waker shook his shoulder gently and sat back as the hero woke slowly. Blinking sleep and confusion away, Link sat up and looked around, stunned, then grimaced and put a hand to his head. Waker looked worried. "I'm okay. I just have a fairly horrendous headache." the Hero of Time muttered softly, "Where are we? I thought we'd at least return to Zero's home."

"I don't know." Waker murmured as he headed to the twins. Allstar also lay on his back, partially sprawled out. Half draped on top of him was his twin, curled protectively over him. Even knocked out, Dark Link's first instinct was to defend his twin brother, his arms lying limp across Allstar's chest and his face buried in the front of the green tunic. "Hey, guys. Wake up." Waker murmured again, shaking the both of them. The twins made faces and woke, struggling to get up.

"Dark Link, you're heavy, man. Get off." Allstar griped in a soft voice, helping him get to a sitting position. Dark Link nodded and just stayed on all fours, waiting for a dizzy spell to pass. Allstar looked around and frowned. "Where the hell are we?" he added. He blinked suddenly. "Wait! Where's Maverick?!"

The group looked around a bit and spotted him sprawled out on the walkway. Allstar cried in shock and ran up to him. Shaking his shoulders, he tried to rouse the elfin captain, but Maverick wouldn't wake up. Finally, the actor shed the shield and sword on his back and carefully pulled Maverick's body onto his back, swinging his arms and head down around his neck and supporting his legs by holding them up around his waist.

"Can one of you guys carry my stuff for me, please?" he called out as the others joined him after regaining some strength. Dark Link picked up the Mirror Shield and motioned to Waker to pick up the sword.

"I can't touch it. That's the Blade of Evil's Bane and programmed only to be handled by the Links. If anyone of the Dark Side touched it, we're instantly put in suspended animation and only the Golden Mascots or the Legendary Twins can pull us out of it." he explained as he hitched the shield on his back and took down his own, choosing to equip it on his right arm instead. Waker picked up the sword and gazed at it. Taking a cue from Maverick, he slung it back to align with his Hero's Sword and wore both together.

"So the IDG didn't take us to anyplace recognizable, I see." Elfin muttered and looked around, "Helloooo! Anyone here know where the frick we are?!"

"Yeah! You're in the Quin Dimension!" a voice boomed out from the heavens. The elves ducked in reaction and looked around for the source of the voice. "You destroyed my figurines! I would have killed you for that, but they were boring me already." the voice went on. "But watching you guys was lots more interesting! And Zero wanted to send you all home again, bah! I have an idea for you instead!"

The walkway shifted suddenly and rotated around the platform. The heroes managed to keep their footing as it lined up with one of the many hundreds of temples. When the shaking stopped, they looked at the doors to it. The entrance glowed a golden color.

"This temple has a bunch of puzzles I've been putting together to correspond with what I've seen of your worlds. All you have to do is get through them. If you can reach me in the heart of the temple, I might decide to let you all go home, and with a present! But if you don't...." the voice teased and lightning flashed. A group of elves just like them appeared before the doors, all wearing a golden ring around their necks and smiling brightly. "Then you'll stay here with me forever and play with me for all eternity! My Rings of Binding will keep you here and happy forever and ever! I really hope you mess up, 'cause you look like you'd be tons of fun to play with!" the voice finished, "Well, enough of my jibber-jabber! Go in the temple and have a blast!" The doors opened and the images faded.

"This dude scares me." Elfin muttered.

"What did he mean by us staying here and playing for eternity?" Link whispered to Dark Link, who only shrugged and looked just as confused.

"I dunno. Maybe he wants to make us his personal slaves or something? I'm actually kinda used to servant work. I was the personal servant to Master Bowser for the longest time before he named me his heir." he replied, "The whole servant thing was actually his way of teaching me wisdom and how the Dark Side worked in harmony with the Hero Side. I kinda liked it, I had errands to do in the Dark Lands and got to stand in on some interesting meetings."

"You know, that might be Quinta." Allstar muttered as he began walking to the temple. The other Links blinked and jogged up to catch up with him.

"You think? If he diverted the signals from the laptop and SPC, then maybe he messed up the signal on the capsule so it would take us here instead of to our proper homes!" Link exclaimed.

"So we don't have any choice but go through his tests?" Waker remarked and sighed, "I thought we didn't have to do any crazy puzzles. But I guess those figurines were just tests to see if we'd be 'fun' to play with here forever!"

"Mmmm." Maverick suddenly shifted and winced a bit. Allstar stopped and looked back at his charge, watching his face for signs of him waking up. But Maverick only relaxed again and drifted into deeper sleep. Allstar gave him a bit of a shake and sighed when he got no response.

"He probably knocked out Maverick, too. He's the most versatile in the group and the least likely to get killed by accident." he muttered, "I'm betting he would have given us big advantages in the puzzles."

"Maybe." Elfin muttered and looked determined, "But I have a family to go home to! So let's do this!" He yelled and raced into the temple, followed by the other Links, who cheered and whooped and accepted the challenge.



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Moblin's Keep



The Links looked around as they entered what looked like an underground dungeon full of stalactites and stalagmites. Unlit torches lined the walls and a circle on the floor sported the 'Q' symbol just for a moment, then faded. All around the circular indentation were switches. Link looked around warily.

"I don't like this. This is Moblin's Keep, or at least a perfect copy of it, but I don't recall this setup in the caves." he growled.

"Moblin's Keep?" Allstar asked in confusion as the others wandered around in search of a way out. Link nodded.

"Once I was taken prisoner in an underground cave system when searching for my stolen Gilded Sword. The leader of the Moblins who lived there, King Moblin, thought my hair was gold and kept me locked up in his vault with my sword and piles of other golden objects, coins, and rupees." he replied. "It took ages for me to get out, it seemed, because I had been shot with a deadly poison that the Moblins barely managed to purge out of me."

"Sounds like a deranged FanFic story." Dark Link muttered as he examined one of the switches, on one knee next to it.

"I think it is. Remember that Link we met in Center Mall that day we got Advance Link his Mario Golf game for Christmas?" Allstar remarked, "The one that looks constantly pissed off and flipped off any Zelda he met? I think he mentioned a story scenario about Moblin Keep."

"Oh yeah." Dark Link murmured, "Zelda dumped him for a prince after a week of screwing around and he ran off to marry Malon, cursing Zelda's name the whole way through."

Waker stepped on one of the switches carefully and blinked when a torch across the room lit up. He lifted his foot and the torch went out. Curious, he walked to another switch and stepped on it. A new torch lit up. He counted them. Five switches, five torches.

"Guys? I think I'm on to something!" Waker called out and waved his hands at the switches. "We have to step on the switches! Light the torches and see what happens!"

"We all die, that's what happens!" Allstar yelled, "Look at the switch you're on and the torch that lit up!" Waker blinked and took another look. The switches and torches were lined up so each torch faced a switch, but the switch Waker stood on didn't light the torch across from him. It lit up the first torch. Waker was standing on the third switch. He jumped back and looked startled.

"What kind of puzzle is this?" he yelped. Elfin got up and stepped on the fourth switch, watching as it activated the third torch.

"It's a messed up one, that's what." he muttered, "I bet that you have to step on the switches in the right order to light up the torches in the right order. See, they're numbered. The switch I hit lit torch number three." He stepped off the switch and the torch went out, "But we have to stay on the switches for all the torches to turn on." Dark Link stepped on the first switch and nodded as the fourth torch lit up. He went over and stepped on the fifth switch, and the second torch turned on.

"Okay, I see it now. Everyone get to a switch and I'll tell you when to step on and who goes in order!" he declared and stayed put. The Links all lined up and waited. "Okay, Waker, you're at the third switch. Get on."

Waker jumped on and watched the first torch light up. Allstar blinked and glanced back at Maverick. The little elf still slept on, completely oblivious to what was happening around him. Dark Link took a deep breath and stepped on his switch. The second torch lit up.

"Okay, now. Elfin, you're next. Press the fourth switch." Dark Link said quietly. Elfin nodded and stepped on. The third torch lit up. "Bro, you're the first switch. Go."

"If we die, you're not getting my stereo." Allstar growled and stepped on, closing his eyes tightly. The fourth torch lit up. The group swallowed collectively and held their breaths as Link silently stepped forward onto the second switch. The last torch lit up and the circular indentation began to spin and glow.

"Level One clear. Access granted to Level Two." a mysterious voice intoned. The heroes breathed in relief and smiled at each other.

"Way to go, Dark Link!" Elfin cheered. Dark Link shook his head and pat Waker on the shoulder.

"This guy deserves some credit too! He found out about the switches and torches!" he laughed.

"Maverick, you okay? You awake yet?" Allstar asked the little elf. Maverick shifted again and murmured something under his breath before nuzzling his cheek into Allstar's neck and drifting off again. "Quinta, whatever you did to Maverick, you're not getting away with it!" he hissed up at the ceiling. Waker hopped into the circle and studied it.

"I think this will take us to the next level!" he declared, pointing at the glowing ring. The other Links walked into it and grinned.

"I think Sega tried to do that and ended up getting messed up." Dark Link joked and the group laughed to get rid of some of their tension as the glow enveloped them and transported them to the next part of the temple.