Mask Madness

Chapter 4: Terrifying Surprises

The sky blue color of time swirled around Ganondorf, the portal quickly speeding him to a far distant past. Finally, a distant white circle appeared at the end of this magical tunnel, and gradually grew larger. Ganondorf reached it, and flew right out of the portal onto some short green grass. The portal disappeared in a flash of blinding light, and Ganondorf slowly got back up to his feet.

After regaining his senses, Ganondorf observed his surroundings, then smiled widely, "So, the Master Hand actually managed it. I am back in Hyrule when I was in full power."

Ganondorf glanced over at the dusty brown Gerudo Fortress, then turned a bit and examined the pearl white castle that stood strong and tall. However, remembering that he only had two hours to complete his task, Ganondorf turned and faced his target: the Kokori Forest.

Ganondorf left his position in the center of Hyrule Field and walked briskly toward the forest, imagining all of the amusement he was about to enjoy. He, an evil king, coming to torture a small, peaceful town of children who never grew up. These Kokori even possessed their own "guardian fairies", and were led by a great and wise tree, better known as the Great Deku Tree.

Ganondorf charged through the wooden tunnel and across the old bridge, and came into the Kokori Forest, frightening its few, nearby inhabitants. A small blonde girl who was dressed in attire similar to that of Link's, and rather the whole town's, had a pink fairy circling her head, and she made a silent scream as she stared up at the intruder.

As Ganondorf made to move up to her, a small group of three Kokori holding spears marched up to him, the one in front with red hair putting out his small hand and shouting, "Stop!"

Though these Kokori attempted to look strong and brave, all of them were shaking slightly in fear. The leader spoke up again, "What is your business here?"

Ganondorf replied politely, "I am here in search of a certain Kokori that goes by the name of Link."

"Link? What do you want with him?"

"I simply want to talk to him." answered Ganondorf.

The leader raised an eyebrow, "And if we let you speak to him, will you leave us alone in peace?"

Ganondorf nodded, "Of course. I do not wish to disturb you."

The leader nodded, then whispered to his blonde companion. "He will retrieve Link for you."

Ganondorf smiled, "Thank you."

As Ganondorf waited, he wondered, 'How far has Link gotten in his quest at this point? Is he a good fighter, or has he barely begun to learn?'

Soon enough, the blonde Kokori returned with a ten-year-old Link. However, when Link spotted Ganondorf, he gasped, having seen him before chasing after the Princess Zelda, when he injured Link slightly with an electric bolt. Quickly and smoothly, Link withdrew his sword and brought up his shield, going into a fighter's stance.

He scowled up at Ganondorf, and the gerudo simply rolled his eyes and chuckled, yet holding back the urge to pound the brat. He could not attack here, he told himself, otherwise the Deku Tree could interfere and cause Ganondorf to run out of time.

"Now, wait and listen. I am not here to fight you; I simply need to talk to you."

Link only deepened his scowl and did not shift out of his stance. As the surrounding Kokori watched with bated breath, Ganondorf began to lose his patience.

Seeing that Link would not be cooperating any time soon, Ganondorf quickly took a punch at the boy. Link immediately rolled out of the way, and as he did so, Ganondorf swiftly bent down and grabbed him by the ankle. He then sent a bolt of electricity through Link, causing him to scream out in pain and drop his sword.

The Kokori started to scream and run, and Ganondorf hastily picked up Link's sword, quickly making his way toward the exit of the forest. On the old bridge, Link's struggling began to become too much of an annoyance, and so Ganondorf hit Link hard on the head with the hilt of his sword, knocking the boy out cold.

Ganondorf walked through the wooden tunnel and out onto Hyrule Field. Quickly glancing up at the moon, he judged that over an hour had passed, possibly closely to two. Ganondorf walked to where he had appeared in the center of the field, then sat down and laid Link's unconscious body on the ground.

Ganondorf smirked victoriously down at the blonde boy, "I am going to certainly enjoy this."

As Ganondorf sat waiting for the portal to reappear, he wondered about how this whole time travel thing worked, 'If I'm taking this Link with me to the future, then won't this alter the future? Or, is the future already a result of this event having already occurred?' Ganondorf shook his head, then growled in frustration. He stopped pondering about the concepts of time travel and instead looked around Hyrule, remembering his time as a king.

After a few more minutes had passed, the portal appeared, and Ganondorf quickly stood up and threw Link's limp body over his shoulder. Then, with a great leap, Ganondorf jumped into the time stream itself, moving through the swirling blue color and toward the future. After only a few moments, Ganondorf arrived triumphantly in Master Hand's bedroom.

Majora grinned down at Link's body as Ganondorf laid him on the floor. "Now," Ganondorf turned toward Master Hand, "This boy will also be entered into the tournament along with me. I'll leave you to talk to him when he wakes up."

Ganondorf glanced over at Majora, "With my friend's help, of course."

Master Hand looked solemnly at Link, "Who is this, then?"

Ganondorf smirked, "It is Young Link."

Ganondorf then headed toward the door, "Well, I better be prepared for tomorrow. I'm going to my room."

Later On

After a little over an hour, Young Link began to stir, thinking to himself and slightly muttering, 'Ugh, where am I? What happened?'

He rubbed the back of his head, and winced as his fingers brushed over a rather large bump. And with that, the most recent events of his memory came rushing back in a huge flood,

'Ganondorf attacked me! And then, he, ugh, stupid headache! Wait, he picked me up upside down, then must have knocked me out... Which means...!'

Young Link sat up abruptly, then regretted it as his head swam. However, he caught the attention of Majora and Master Hand. They looked at him, and Majora started, "You have finally woken-"

Young Link snapped his attention on the dark figure, and his eyes widened in surprise. However, his eyes quickly became thin slits as he pulled back his arm to retrieve his sword. His eyes widened once again as he grabbed nothing but thin air. He looked behind himself, saw that he was completely unarmed, then whirled around and faced Majora again, who was grinning like a madman.

Neither this look nor the current situation comforted Young Link, and so he again narrowed eyes, but held up his fists instead of reaching for his sword.

"Relax," started Majora amusedly, "I am not going to harm you."

Majora then glanced over at Master Hand expectantly, encouraging him to tell Young Link exactly what they had previously discussed. Young Link's shifted along with Majora's, then he gaped slightly at the large glove.

"Um..." started Master Hand hesitantly, "Hello, young one."

Young Link raised an eyebrow a bit, "What is going on? Where's Ganondorf?"

Master Hand sighed, "Ganondorf is not here. He brought you here to compete in a tournament that is currently taking place. My tournament, in fact."

"But...why?"

Master Hand answered, "I asked him to bring you here. I could not reach you, but desperately wanted you to compete in my tournament, for you are an excellent fighter."

Young Link looked horribly distraught and confused, "But, why does Ganondorf want me to compete then?"

Master Hand shook his head, "I do not believe Ganondorf cared whether or not you competed, but I paid him very well for his services."

Things still did not add up for Young Link, but he was starting to feel sleepy, and could not think properly, so he simply replied with a faint, "Oh." He then yawned, despite his efforts to hold back his tiredness.

Master Hand smiled slightly, "It is awfully late. Would you like to retire to your room?"

Young Link looked up at Master Hand questioningly, "My room?"

"Yes, you will stay here with the competitors."

With Young Link's focus completely concentrated on Master Hand, he did not see that the cause of his rather sudden tiredness was due to the fact that Majora was behind him quietly placing him beneath a weak sleeping spell.

Young Link nodded, his eyelids drooping. Master Hand neared the door, then looked back at Young Link, "Follow me." Like a zombie, Young Link nodded, stood up, and followed Master Hand out of the room. Remaining in the room, Majora smiled, "This should be interesting."

The Next Morning

As the early morning sunlight trickled through the window, Link groggily opened his deep blue eyes, then sat up and stretched as he yawned widely. He then slipped out of his bed, combed his hair, pulled on his leather brown boots, threw on his green tunic and hat, admired mentioned hat in the mirror, then armed himself with his weapons and left the room.

Link walked next door to Zelda's room, then knocked lightly on her door, whispering, "Zelda? Are you awake yet?" Link heard some shuffling from behind the door, which opened soon afterwards, revealing a slightly disheveled princess.

Zelda smiled, "Hello, Link. I'm almost done; I just need to do my hair."

At this, Link glanced at her tangled hair, and then, deciding it would be a good idea to make sure Zelda was in a good mood for the up-coming battles, so that she would be more focused, he offered to do something he had only done once before, "May I brush your hair, Zelda?"

Zelda blushed a bit and nodded her head, "Of course."

She then sat down in front of a mirror, and handed Link a brush. As he gently brushed Zelda's long golden hair, he admired her beauty, and also thought amusedly, "Thank the goddesses Zelda's a morning person."

Only a little while after having thought this, the peace was slightly disturbed by the yelling of a woman from down the hall, "Mario! How dare you wake me at these hours!"

WHACK!

The woman smacked Mario with something that sounded heavy, which Mario's anguished cry seemed to agree with, "OUCH! But-a Peach! You need-a to get ready-"

BAM!

"Okay! Okay! I'll let-a you sleep!"

A door slammed, and a shuffling of footsteps could be heard nearing them from down the hall. As Mario passed Link and Zelda's doorway, he glanced in as they glanced out.

Both Link and Zelda smiled a bit hesitantly, "Um, good morning."

Mario sighed as he shook his head, "It's not-a fair. I can never tell when-a she's going to be in-a good mood in-a the morning."

Link nodded sympathetically, "Well, at least she'll be in a better mood later on."

Mario shrugged, "I hope so. She just seems to-a be in a bad-a mood since-a yesterday."

Zelda smirked slightly at this, but it then faded into a polite smile as she looked back up at Mario, "Well, we'll see you at the battle grounds later on then."

Mario nodded, then continued his way down the hall. Link and Zelda smiled at each other, then Link expressed happily, "Thanks for not giving me any nasty surprises this morning." Zelda replied, "Same here."

Zelda then looked thoughtful, "I wonder what it was that Peach hit Mario with anyways?"

Link looked slightly worried at this, "Something you would never hit me with...?"

Zelda smiled widely at him, then broke out in laughter, "Relax, Link! I was only kidding!"

Link still looked suspicious at her, but then also laughed, though more lightly. He then examined Zelda's hair with satisfaction, "All done."

Zelda replaced her tiara, and Link suggested, "Let's go have some breakfast. We shouldn't battle on an empty stomach." Zelda nodded, and they both left the room.

Meanwhile…

"Ugh..." Young Link woke up early in the morning, and while his headache had mostly subsided, it was still there and making him slightly irritable. He rubbed the back of his head, where the annoying bump still remained.

Young Link slowly sat up in bed, rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes, then looked around his room. At first, he was slightly surprised to find himself in an unfamiliar room, but then remembered the previous night.

However, as he recalled this night, he began to frown, thinking to himself, 'So, this talking glove, uh, what was his name? Menace Hand? No... Wait, Master Hand. Yeah, that sounds right... So, Master Hand wanted me to compete in his tournament because, well, he didn't give me a good reason, really, he just said that he wanted me to come because I was a good fighter. Due to that, he had Ganondorf come and get me, for money...'

Young Link frowned a bit more deeply, 'But why would Ganondorf do that for money? I thought he was after Zelda, and wanted to rule Hyrule after he got possession of the triforce... This just doesn't make sense...'

Young Link gave up on trying to figure it out, and hopped out of bed. He looked in the mirror, and did his best to make himself more presentable, having slept in his clothes.

'Well,' thought Young Link, 'I suppose I should figure out exactly how this tournament works. Maybe I can find another competitor...'

With that thought in mind, Young Link opened his door, and walked out into the hallway, looking in both directions in search of another person. Not too far away, he spotted Mario, who, despite the fact that he looked a bit unhappy, looked like he might be a bit friendly.

Young Link walked up to him, examining his clothes curiously, then looked up at him, opened his mouth to ask a question, but then shut it again as he saw Mario gaping down at him.

"Mama mia."

Not understanding this, Young Link decided that this man could not speak his own language, and so simply stared back. Mario shook his head as if to dispel a hallucination he might have been having, looked back down at Young Link, smiled hesitantly, then continued to walk down the hallway, muttering to himself as he rubbed his head, "Peach must-a have hit me harder than-a I thought..."

Young Link watched Mario leave, then, deciding that the man must not be right in the head and would therefore not be able to provide any decent answers, continued down the hallway in the opposite direction. Young Link sighed as he thought about his original quest to stop Ganondorf, 'This is a waste of time! I should be in Hyrule! I'm supposed to have opened the Door of Time by now!'

He then stopped abruptly, 'Maybe that's why Ganondorf brought me here! To stop me from opening that door! Well, then I guess I'll just have to be quick about this thing!"

As Young Link thought about this possibility, he started to walk again, and this time more briskly.

"I have to find someone..."

Young Link rounded the corner of the hallway, and finally met up with some other people, but instead of being pleased and pursuing with his urgent questions, he jumped back and screamed,

"Aaaahhhhhhh!"

as the others reacted the same way, jumping back and screaming,

"Aaaaahhhhhhhh!"

Link gaped down at what appeared to be his younger self as his own eyes seemed to stare back up at him. Zelda's head moved back and forth furiously, gaping at both of them. Having already been extremely distraught, Young Link broke the short-lasting silence first,

"What the HELL is happening!"

Link sputtered, "I, well, tournament, but, you?"

Young Link then answered carefully, "Yeah, tournament...I--I'm supposed to be in it... A-- and you?"

Link nodded, "Yeah, s--same here."

They both examined each other from top to bottom, remaining silent. After a little while, Zelda finally spoke, "So, um, little Link..."

Young Link switched his intense gaze over to Zelda, and, since he had been focusing so much on his "older self", widened his eyes and gaped, "No, it can't be, but,"

He narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked over Zelda, "Princess Zelda...?"

Zelda nodded, and, to Link and Zelda's surprise, he smiled slightly, "Wow, you're beautiful..."

Zelda blushed, and Link gaped a bit, but then his cheeks turned slightly pink as he blushed ever so slightly in embarrassment. Young Link then looked back over at Link, and glanced back at Zelda. He suddenly looked a bit timid, then asked carefully, "So, um, are you two, uh, will I...?"

Zelda smiled brilliantly, "Yes, we're together."

Young Link smiled largely, "Great!"

As Young Link pondered about his future, well, observed it, Link brought everyone back to the current situation, "So," he began, "Exactly how did you get here?"

Young Link frowned at this, "Ganondorf."

Zelda gasped, and Link jumped back a bit with widened eyes, "WHAT?"

Zelda looked horrified, "But, how did he escape?"

Young Link looked up at her in question, "Escaped? What from?"

Link grabbed hold of his senses, then quickly snapped his attention on Young Link, "Wait! How far have you gotten through your quest so far?"

Young Link then looked up at his older self, and became worried at the sight of the panicked expression upon Link's face, but continued to explain, "I had just received the Ocarina of Time, and was about to open the Door of Time, but I had gone to get some supplies from the Kokori Forest."

Link closed his eyes and breathed deeply, attempting to calm himself, then looked back down at Young Link, "Okay. Please tell us everything that happened from that point on."

Young Link nodded, then frowned as he recalled the events, "Well, at the Kokori Forest, one of the Kokori came and told me that there was an intruder who wished to speak to me. When I had asked why, he said that if I talked to him, then the intruder said he would leave in peace. With that, I followed the Kokori back, and I spotted the intruder."

Young Link's eyes narrowed even more, and his voice lowered in anger, "It was Ganondorf. So far, he did not seem to have done any damage, but I knew better than to trust him. I went into a fighting stance, believing that he wanted to take the Ocarina of Time from me, but he only laughed, then told me that he only wanted to talk to me. I remained in my position, knowing that this whole thing had to be a trap, and, well, it turned out I was right...

He just remained silent at first, then out of nowhere he threw a punch at me. I managed to roll out of the way, but he then grabbed me by the ankle and held me upside down. I went to slice him with my sword, but he sent a bolt of electricity through me, successfully disarming me."

Young Link paused momentarily as he fumed furiously, but continued, "The Kokori ran away, frightened at the sudden outburst, and Ganondorf left with me. I struggled, but, well, then I think he knocked me out, because I don't remember anything else after that..."

Link frowned, also furious that Ganondorf had dared to disturb his childhood home. He shook his head, then turned back toward Young Link, "What happened when you woke up? Did you just wake up here?"

Young Link shook his head, "It was really strange... I woke up in a dark room where there was a, well, a talking glove that called himself Master Hand and some other jerk..."

Link raised an eyebrow, "What did the "jerk" look like?"

Young Link shrugged, I couldn't tell. He blended in with the dark. I could only see Master Hand fairly well because he was bright white."

Link looked extremely concerned about this, but encouraged, "What happened next?"

Young Link continued, "Well, I asked about Ganondorf, and Master Hand told me that he had paid Ganondorf to bring me to this tournament thing because he "desperately" wanted me to compete."

Link frowned, "That's all?" Young Link nodded, "Yeah. I then remember feeling exhausted all of a sudden, and Master Hand took me down to a room."

Both Link and Zelda were in deep thought when Link let out in frustration, "But how did Ganondorf bring you here?"

Zelda's eyes lit up and she jumped excitedly, "Dr. Mario!"

Young Link looked utterly confused at this, while Link looked thoughtful, "That time stone thing..."

Zelda nodded, "Exactly."

Link then furrowed his brow in concentration, "But, this still doesn't make sense... Why would Master Hand send Ganondorf…? Ganondorf!"

Ganondorf came down the hallway, smiling broadly, "Well, I see you've met."

At first, the group stared at him in horror, then both Link and Young Link drew their swords, and attacked in rage. "Ganondorf, you fiend!" "Ha!"

Not having expected this, Ganondorf's eyes widened, and he moved across to the handrails on the other side just in time. Both swords clanged painfully off of the metal handrails, and both Links winced. Then, thinking alike, they both took out bombs and Ganondorf's eyes once again widened as he saw them hurtling toward his face.

"Oh, sh-- !"

By hopping to the right, he managed to dodge Young Link's bomb, but he then went straight into Link's.

BOOM!

Both Link and Young Link smiled at each other, then once again turned toward Ganondorf, who was now, to Link and Young Link's pleasure, having large plumes of smoke lifting from his blackened skin. Some of the Smashers came out of their rooms, some with expressions of curiosity and others looking slightly alarmed, and Master Hand came racing down the hall.

"What was that?" He looked around at the small group. Though he seemed to be angry about the situation, Link could have sworn he saw him smirk a bit when he saw Ganondorf. "So?"

Ganondorf coughed, then spoke up, "These two attacked me, right here in the hallway!"

Having solid evidence of this staring him right in the, well, whatever he saw with, Master Hand spoke again before either of the Links could complain, "Well, that is against the rules. We need to only beat each other up in battles, all right?"

Link and Young Link nodded, and Master Hand continued, "I'll let this one go. Besides, you do not have much time! The first ever battles for this year are going to start in fifteen minutes! Now hustle!" And hustle they did, Ganondorf stalking away furiously and Link and Young Link looking happily at each other, "It was a pleasure meeting you." Young Link smiled, "Same here."

A/N: And there you have it. Everyone has finally arrived. Thank you for the reviews, especially Blissey, who's been keeping up the whole time. PLEASE review. Thank you.