Once the barrier vanished, Zelda collapsed from exhaustion.

"Zelda!" Link and Mario grabbed Zelda's shoulders and held her up.

"Are you all right?" Zelda had drained most of her mana.

"I'm fine, just tired."

"Well, at least now we have a way to beat those guys!" Mario said cheerfully.

"I don't think so." Zelda said. "I used up most of mana trying to hold that, and I sense that the sages did too. If they attack us again anytime soon, we won't be able to protect ourselves."

"What else can we do?" Mario asked as they sat her down in a chair.

"Well, there is one thing, but you will have to pass many trials and travel great distances to do it."

"And what is that?"

"You see, there's a legend that has been passed down for several generations that tells of a great and powerful ship that can even sail the stars, called the Nintendo 64. It was built long ago to protect our planet from any evil that might come against us. Because it is so powerful, it can only be found if someone gathers the four keys. The keys, also known as the controllers, were entrusted to four different people, so that it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. One of those keys is hidden deep within Lost Woods."

"Really? I grew up there, and I never heard of such a thing."

"It is kept a secret and only told to people who need to know, and until now, you didn't need to know."

"All right, then we'll get the key. So how do we get there?"

After walking through the forest for some time, they finally came to a small, stone building with a stone door in front. Link came to the door and played the tune that Zelda had taught Link to play to open the door. The stone slid up and the entrance was open. As they walked in, Link was surprised at what he saw.

"Strange."

"What is it?"

"I've been in lots of temples and dungeons before, but I've never seen a place like this." The door led to set of stars that led down, but the strange thing was that the walls were made of metal and electric panels.

"Looks like something high-tech." Mario said as they walked down the dark stairway.

"Yes, but such technology isn't used here. Must have something to do with the people who made this place to guard the key." As the stairs ended, they found their selves in a dark room, and they couldn't see their hands in front of them. That's when Mario grabbed a fire flower from his pocket and held a fireball in his hand. With some light in the room, Link saw a torch on the wall, so he fired a fire arrow at it. When it lighted the torch, the whole room lit up.

"Looks like you activated the ceiling lights."

"Yes, and this place seems to combine magic and technology." As they looked around, they saw that the room had a door, and the floor had a pattern of lights, and the wall had switches on them. Mario went up to the door, but couldn't find any way to open it.

"What do you suppose we do?" Mario asked, but when he looked back at Link, he saw that he was pondering something.

"Those switches, and this floor. I think we need to flip those switches in the same pattern as the lights."

"Worth a shot." Mario and Link went to the wall and flipped the switches, and the door slid open.

"Say, good move." Mario said.

"Thanks." As they went through the door, they found their selves in a dark hallway, but just as they entered, several ghosts came flying at them screaming. Mario threw some fireballs at them and Link shot some ice arrows, but they didn't do a thing. As they got closer, Mario became scarred and ran out of the hallway. Mario looked back and saw that Link was just standing there.

"Link, look out!" Mario started to run back towards Link to get him out of the way, but the ghosts got to him first. Mario was confused, though, as the ghosts just went right through him.

"It's an illusion, Mario. Just a scare tactic." Mario walked down the hallway and the ghosts just went right through him as they screamed.

"Their screams are irritating, though." Mario said.

As they stepped into the next room, the door behind them closed, and a door above them opened up, pouring in water. The room was filling up with water fast, and was already almost to Mario's knees. Link quickly shot an ice arrow at the door, and the top froze.

"Whew, that was close." Just as Mario said that, the ice began to crack, and water again came pouring down.

"Mario, stand back!" Link took out a bomb and dropped it on the floor. As it exploded, the floor below it broke apart, and the water had a place to go. "The floor sounded hallow as we walked across it, so I figured I could make a hole for the water to go out."

"Wow, you're good at this stuff!"

"I've had plenty of practice." As they looked down the hole, it looked like there was only so much room, and the water was reaching back up to them. Just as it reached the top, however, the door above them closed, and the water stopped. The door in front of them then opened.

The next room was circular, and in the center was the controller. It was in a glass case on top of a pedestal. Link went up to it and used his sword to break the case, but his sword bounced right off it.

"Huh, I guess it's not exactly glass." They were thinking about how to open it, but the door behind them suddenly closed, and the room became dark. They weren't able to see a thing, but then another ghost appeared. This one was three times as big, and was glowing, which lightened the room a little.

"What, another illusion? Ha ha." As Mario stood there looking at it, the ghost swung his fist at him, sending Mario flying into the wall behind him.

"Mario, are you all right?"

"Ow. I'll live, but this guy certainly isn't an illusion." Link drew his sword and charged straight for it, but as he swung, his sword went right through it. The ghost then swung his fist at Link, making him fly into the wall.

Link and Mario got back up, attacking with a different strategy. Link shot a fire arrow while Mario threw a fireball, but they too went right through him.

Link had fought ghosts before, but he was able to hurt them. Link then thought that since it's a ghost, then it probably wouldn't be able to stand a light arrow. Link fired one, but it too went right through him.

"I don't understand, nothing can touch him, yet he can touch us." The ghost then yelled out a terrible scream, worse then several nails against a chalkboard. Link and Mario covered their ears, but it was still irritating. The ghost then lifted them both up by some sort of telekinesis, and pounded them against the wall several times.

As Mario was up against the wall, he noticed that there were four, small lights on the ceiling, and they were pointing wherever the ghost went. When the ghost let them go, they fell on the floor, and the ghost laughed at their pain. With his arms free, Mario through a fireball at one of the lights, though it hurt to do so in his roughed up shape.

When the fireball destroyed the light, the ghost's glow faded a little, and it screamed as if in pain. The ghost then swung his arm at Mario again, and he lost his firepower because of the damage he had.

"Link, aim for the lights up there!" Link fired an arrow at two of the lights, and the ghost screamed even louder as it became dimmer. The ghost was then about to slam his body on Link as he aimed for the third light. The ghost was only a few inches away from him as the arrow broke the light, and as soon as it was gone, so was the ghost. It disappeared instantly as like turning off a light. With it gone, the lights in the room came back on, and the glass around the key had vanished as well.

"Whew, glad that's over. Man, I've never seen anything like that. Just what have we gotten ourselves into?" Link said. He then walked up to the key and grabbed it. He then turned around and held it above him with his hands stretched out to the sky while looking at it.

"Um, Link, what are you doing?"

"Huh?" Link quickly lowered his arms and put the key in his pocket, looking slightly embarrassed. "Oh, uh, sorry, old habit. Well, what do you say we get out of here?"

Back at the castle, Link showed Zelda the key. It was an odd looking key, as it had three prongs on the bottom that you could hold, and at the front was a small rod that stuck out with a round end.

"So, this is the controller?" Zelda said. "Now the other three must be found."

"Do you know where they are?"

"Not their exact locations, but I know the lands they are in. Like me, there will be someone who was entrusted to know the secret of the keys. However, before you look for the next one, you should try to find Sonic. I know he travels a lot, but he often stays at Station Square. Link, Mario, you both need to complete this mission. This is not about the safety of Hyrule or the Mushroom Kingdom, it's about all of Nintendo. As you search for the keys, try to enlist the aid of as many people as you can. The more people that help the better our odds are.

"What about you?"

"Peach and I will stay here. If they come to attack again, someone will need to be here to protect Hyrule. So, are you ready?" Both Mario and Link firmly nodded their heads.

"How will we get there? Station Square is thousands of miles from." Mario asked.

"I'm going to use my power to teleport you. I believe I've recovered just enough power to do so." Zelda closed her eyes and raised her hands towards them. Link and Mario became surrounded by a blue energy, and then Vanished.

"Good luck, you two." Peach said, hoping she would see them again.