Mask Madness

by Silver Lioness 200

When the Smashers come together for a tournament, an old enemy manages to escape from his imprisonment, and the masks from Link and Zelda's world somehow end up appearing among the competitors.

6. Chapter 6

Mask Madness

Chapter 6: Masks Galore

As Falco gave a retelling of his battle, showing how well he had done, Fox rolled his eyes, "Yes, okay, well done, you managed to beat up two little kids."

Falco blanched, "Excuse me? Look who's talking! Mr. I beat up a little yellow mouse!"

Fox then retaliated, "Yeah, a mouse that gives off electricity! And a lot of it too!"

Falco cut in, "Oh yeah? Well, why don't you try taking on two opponents at one time!"

From another table over, the two heard someone clear their throat. Fox and Falco looked over to see both the Ice Climbers and Pichu frowning at them. They both smiled back a bit hesitantly, Fox apologising, "Yeah, um, sorry about that... We just get a "little" competitive sometimes..."

They then turned back around, once again facing Link and Zelda. Falco began, "Well, Link, you had a pretty good battle, didn't you?"

Captain Falcon walked by, slightly limping, and scowled at Link before heading over to the buffet. Link smiled hesitantly back at Falco, "Um, sort of, I suppose..."

"Well, no matter. We've all made it to the next round, haven't we?"

Zelda frowned a bit, "Yeah, but I hope I actually get to battle against someone else next time."

Fox looked a bit thoughtful, "Yeah, that was a bit strange, wasn't it?"

Falco nodded, "Especially since he went through so much trouble to get us here. You'd think he would have counted us to make sure it was an even number."

Young Link frowned at this, "You're telling me."

Fox and Falco looked at Young Link curiously, "How is it that Master Hand managed to bring two Links together like this?"

Young Link muttered, "Ganondorf." as Link said, "The luphira stone." Falco looked confused, "Wait. Say what?"

Link sighed, then decided to go ahead and explain so that Fox and Falco could be wary of Ganondorf, "Master Hand has a luphira stone, which allows him to time travel."

Fox and Falco gaped a bit, and Link continued, "Then he sent Ganondorf to pick up Young Link."

Falco frowned, "But, why?"

Link shrugged, "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

Young Link perked up at this, "I was thinking that maybe Ganondorf wanted me to be here so that I could not finish my quest."

Fox raised an eyebrow, "Quest?"

Link nodded, "Yes, a quest that would result in Ganondorf being locked up in the Sacred Realm."

"Huh. Well, I'd say that's a pretty good reason." said Falco as Young Link exclaimed, "Wait! He escaped from what?"

Link smiled down at his younger self, "The Sacred Realm."

Young Link frowned at this, "But..."

Zelda then spoke up, "Did Ganondorf actually escape the Sacred Realm?"

Link looked bewildered at this question, "You know, you have a good point there. We may be dealing with the Ganondorf from Young Link's time... But then, how did Master Hand reach Ganondorf? This just does not add up..."

Zelda sighed, "We need more information."

Link nodded, "Yeah. But for now, let's go relax a bit. Who knows? Maybe we will find something."

Link, Zelda, and Young Link then waved good-bye to Fox and Falco, and headed upstairs.

Ganondorf and Majora

"Well?" As Ganondorf entered Master Hand's bedroom, he looked up into Majora's inquiring face, "Link fights as well as ever, and Young Link is not bad himself."

"I take it that they both moved on then?" asked Majora.

Ganondorf nodded, and Majora frowned, "How are the matches set up?"

"Master Hand randomly chooses names from a hat."

Majora raised an eyebrow, "That's it? Well, this should be easy enough. Where's the hat?"

Ganondorf frowned, "He makes it appear out of thin air. There is no way to tamper with it."

Majora scowled, "What are the odds of you fighting Young Link tomorrow?" "One in thirteen." Majora let out a low, inhuman growl, "That's not good at all! We need to do something..."

Ganonforf raised an eyebrow, "As in get rid of some of the competition?"

Majora nodded slightly as he narrowed his eyes, "They are impressive fighters, then? You don't think you could sneak up on them and kill them in the middle of the night?"

Ganondorf snorted, "I don't work that way. Besides, I am far too huge for something such as that."

Majora's expression grew more thoughtful still, "Then how could we cause them to be affected by a harmful item?" Majora paced a bit, frowning, until he suddenly stopped, "Wait... How could I have forgotten?"

Majora reached behind himself and pulled out a brown, leather bag. He opened it, then reached inside with his grotesque hand, pulling out the bunny hood and smiling horrendously, stroking it seemingly affectionately, "Yes..."

Ganondorf, however, did not look impressed at all. "So you are going to make that thing attatch to one of the competitor's heads, then make them forfeit through embarrassment? Yes, sure, that should do the job much better than any fatal poison."

Majora growled in fury, "SILENCE! How dare you insult my precious artifacts!"

Ganondorf backed up a bit, but then scowled at Majora, now thinking him to be crazy, "What the hell makes that bunny hood so marvelous?"

Majora looked over at Ganondorf gradually, still holding up the bunny hood, which's ears flopped slightly at the movement, "Normally, this hood grants its wearer the ability to move much more quickly. However, I have cursed it to work in the opposite."

Ganondorf smiled slightly at this, "So the competitor will not be able to compete." However, as another thought came up, Ganondorf frowned a bit, "But then why not simply give this item to Link?"

Majora sighed, "Because Link knows all about these masks, and so will be suspicious."

"What about Young Link, though?" Majora scowled deeply, "While it was the older Link who had defeated you, it was Young Link who had defeated me."

Smirking a bit, Ganondorf commented, "So the little brat was too much for you?"

Majora looked furious, "He had help, remember?" He shoved the bunny hood in Ganondorf's face, "With these!"

"Yes, of course I remember. What are the other masks?"

Majora still scowled at Ganondorf, but then opened his sack wider and poured several of the masks onto Master Hand's bed, first pointing to a mask that represented a mummy's head. Now, let me explain to you how these different masks work..."

Morning

As the sunlight poured through the window and landed upon Link's face, he began to stir. He sat up in bed, and stretched and yawned widely. He then hopped out and quickly threw on his usual tunic. Seeing that Zelda's bedroom door was open, he walked in and greeted Young Link and Zelda. Link kissed Zelda before sitting next to her on the bed, and Young Link rolled his eyes.

"You wait--"

"Aaaaahhhhhhhhh! There's a mummy in the hallway! A FREAKIN' MUMMY IN THE HALLWAY!"

All three quickly jumped to their feet, then went into the hallway. Falco came streaking past, wearing some kind of strange mummy mask. Soon after, a mummy came moaning down the hallway, arms stretched out in front of it as it walked awkwardly.

As Zelda and Young Link gaped, Link paled, "No... It can't be..."

These thoughts were interrupted as Fox then came flying down the hallway wearing some kind of bird mask, also being chased by something, except instead of a mummy, he was being attacked by, "CHICKENS! GET OFF OF ME! OUCH!" A chicken flew up and nipped Fox's leg, closely followed by several others.

As Fox continued down the hallway, he ran into the mummy. His eyes widened, and he quickly skidded to a stop, then turned down the hallway in the direction he had just come from, yelling, "MUMMY!

As Fox came streaking past them once again, Mr. Game and Watch came down the hallway, making computer noises all the way. However, instead of being a solid black that made him difficult to spot at times, he was now striped with all the colors of the rainbow, besides the stone mask that lied upon his face, which was a plain dark brown.

Young Link and Zelda looked at each other, then at Link's pale face. Zelda looked concerned instantly, "Link, what's--"

BOOM! "Aaaaaahhhhhhh!" "Mama mia!"

When they looked down the hallway, they saw smoke billowing out of a rather large hole in the bedroom wall.

"Mario! Get it off of me!"

"I'm a-trying!"

Link took off down the hallway, followed by a confused Young Link and Zelda, and entered Mario's room. "What happened?"

Peach screeched as she pulled furiously at the bomb shaped mask on her face, and Mario answered hastily, "She woke-a up with a present at-a the foot of her bed, saying it was-a from Master Hand and that it-a was to be used in today's match! But when-a she put it on, this-a mask went off-a like a bomb, and we don't-a know why!"

Link whipped out his ocarina, and Peach screeched, pulling at her slightly blackened hair, "Why are you going to play music? Try to do something helpful!"

Link frowned, "This might help. It did before, anyways..."

Zelda raised an eyebrow, "Before...?"

"Well, then play it already! I don't want this thing--" BOOM!

Everyone was thrown back, now coughing as they got back up to their feet, "Hurry already!" shouted Peach.

Link picked up his ocarina, then began to play the Song of Healing. Everyone suddenly felt calm, even the frazzled Peach, as the song worked its magic. It was like floating through the clouds, without a worry in the world. The magical notes stopped playing abruptly, and everyone snapped up in alarm.

"What-- Link!" Link was now slumped up against the bed with his eyes closed. Zelda knelt down next to him, shaking him gently, "Link, wake up!"

Link groaned, then gradually opened his eyes, "What...?"

"Link, are you okay?"

"Yeah... I'm fine... But why am I on the ground?"

"I think it was that song." answered Zelda.

Link looked confused, "What? But how..." He looked up at Peach, then frowned, "Why didn't it work... These must be the masks from Termina..." Link slowly got to his feet with Zelda's support, and looked out into the hallway through the hole in the wall.

To his surprise, one of the competitors were running down the hallway, but in slow motion, like the lifeguards on Baywatch, except it was Bowser with flopping bunny ears on his head. With every step he took, the floor vibrated, though also seemingly in slow motion.

Everyone snickered a bit, even the frazzled Peach. As everyone looked around at each other in slight relief, BOOM!

"Aaahhh!" Peach yelled, now with a fair amount of smoke pouring off of her, "What are we going to do about this?"

Everyone else groaned as they once again regained their footing, Link swaying a bit before catching himself on the bed. "Shouldn't we go see Master Hand? The mask was from him after all..." suggested Young Link. Link groaned, "Might as well..."

"But where is he?" asked Zelda. Link shrugged, "Let's check on the others in the dining room."

As the small group made their way down the hall, and turned around the far corner, they heard some rather strange music emitting from one of the rooms. Though Link recognized it... When they peered into the bedroom, they saw Samus with some sort of strange, slightly inhuman, grey-faced mask on. She was dancing oddly to the unique music, and upon seeing them, shouted, "I can't stop!"

"We are-a going to find-a out what-a is going on. We'll be-a back!" shouted Mario hurriedly.

They then headed down the stairs and entered the dining room, where almost everyone was huddled up into one group. "What is with these masks?" asked Marth. "And what about today's battles? Most of the competitors are unable to fight!"

With this, Kirby came in looking miserable. He was wearing a kind of pig mask, and his face was scrunched up as if he was smelling something horrid. His stomach growled, and he went over to pick up some food, a delicious donut, but ended up setting it back down, gagging.

"There's only five minutes left until the battles begin." "Let's go see what Master Hand has to say about this!" perked up Ness.

The large group of Smashers practically marched down to the dome-shaped building, then waited impatiently inside. Falco showed up a little later, and came up to Link, "Do you have any idea what is up with these masks? This is crazy!"

Link frowned, "Where's the Gibdo, er, mummy?"

Falco smiled slightly, "I locked it up in a closet. Sure did scare me this morning though. That is not something you like to face in the early morning! The stupid thing appeared out of thin air!"

Link shrugged tiredly, "I have no idea how this is all happening..."

There was some moaning, and everyone screamed as a mummy appeared out of thin air, right next to Falco, who jumped about five feet high, "Damn it!" Everyone backed away from the mummy as it chased Falco out of the building, who was cussing the whole way.

Master Hand appeared in the room, and was greeting everyone amiably when someone shouted, "What the hell is going on?" Master Hand looked at Captain Falcon in confusion, "What?"

"What's - with - these - masks - you - sent - us?" asked Bowser, talking very slowly.

"Masks?" Master Hand looked over at Ganondorf, who smiled in return. Understanding immediately, Master Hand began, "Well, I am not sure where these masks came from, but I assure you that I did not send them. It must be a joke or something."

"A joke?" screeched Peach furiously.

"Well," Master Hand raised his voice over all of the shouting, "whatever it is, the battles must commence."

"But most of the fighters are unable to compete because of these masks!"

Master Hand looked over at Ganondorf, and received his answer, "I am extremely sorry, but we must continue with the schedule. If those who can battle would please step up." "But--!" "Anymore arguing, and I will disqualify you from this entire tournament."

The Smashers silenced instantly, though they still frowned. Link, Zelda, Young Link, Ganondorf, Pikachu, and Mario all stepped up. "Thank you." The top hat appeared in Master Hand's fingers, and he randomly pulled out a slip of paper, "First, it is Young Link against Pikachu."

Both stepped up to the transporters, and the computer scrolled through the courses, landing on, "Mushroom Kingdom II!"

Match 1: Pikachu Versus Young Link

Both Young Link and Pikachu appeared on the screen, and immediately after the computer shouted, "Ready? Go!"

Pikachu charged Young Link, head butting him in the side. Young Link fell back a bit, but managed to land on his feet. Pikachu shot bouncing electric bolts his way, but he jumped over them, then came down and side swiped Pikachu with his sword.

"Pika!" Pikachu fell back a bit, then landed on a flying carpet above. Young Link jumped with his sword pointed upwards, landing in a decent hit as Pikachu fell off of the carpet. When Pikachu jumped onto the left side platform, a strange, almost feminine yoshi looking creature appeared, also known as Birdo, and started shooting eggs.

Pikachu was pelted with one of the eggs, then tuned around and attacked Birdo in retaliation. "Pikachu!"

Young Link hopped up onto the platform, ready to strike, when Pikachu suddenly turned around and sent out an electric bolt. Young Link flew off of the platform and only barely managed to catch himself on the left side of the main platform. As Young Link pulled himself up, Pikachu continued to beat up Birdo, and a party ball appeared over the center platform.

As Link went to open it, Birdo went sailing across the screen, and Pikachu came over to Young Link. They stood side by side, pushing each other around a little bit, preparing to grab the items, when... BOOM!

Peach jumped a bit at the familiar noise, but then sighed in relief when she realized it was from the fight. However, thinking about how the mask could go off at any time, she quickly left the building.

Bomb-ombs fell down everywhere, and the two fighters' movements set them all off, sending both of them soaring to the sides of the screen, screaming the entire way. Then, the computer shouted, "Game!" and revealed the results to be... a tie?

When Pikachu and Young Link reappeared in the room, they looked at the results quickly, then frowned up at Master Hand, who was looking bewildered, "A tie...? The odds of that happening were so slim... Haven't considered it a true possibility to be honest..."

Young Link asked, "So, what does this mean...? Do Pikachu and I both win, or do we both lose?"

Master Hand looked thoughtful, "Hmmm... Well, I think we need to keep this tournament moving..." Pikachu looked angry, "Pika! Pika pi!"

"That's not fair, though." said Roy.

Master Hand replied, "I'm sorry, but... Well, what if I added a new feature for when this happens next time? A "Sudden Death" type of thing?"

The Smashers mumbled in agreement, and Master Hand continued, "Excellent! Let's move on--"

"But--"

"Moving on," said Master Hand more loudly, who then snatched his hat out of midair and pulled out two pieces of paper, with many Smashers frowning at him, including Ganondorf, "In our next match, we will have Zelda," Zelda perked up a bit in anticipation, "fight against Ganondorf!"

Zelda's shoulders drooped, and her face paled. Link looked horrified. As Link looked over at Ganondorf, the gerudo smirked back, walking up to the transporter. Link patted Zelda on the back, and whispered in her ear. Zelda nodded, then narrowed her eyes and took her place beside Ganondorf.

The computer scrolled through the stages, and landed on, "Battlefield!"

Match 2: Zelda Versus Ganondorf

Ganondorf appeared on the top platform, while Zelda ended up on the main platform. The computer shouted "Ready? Go!" Ganondorf chuckled a bit, thinking of how to beat up the princess in the most painful way.

Before he knew it, though, he was on fire. Zelda sprang into action and jumped up beneath Ganondorf with her arm raised, flames of fire bursting out when she came close enough to her target. Ganondorf yelled in fury, and Zelda tensed up, preparing for the worst, though a bit proud of herself at the same time...

Ganondorf came charging at Zelda like a bull, and raised his arm quickly, punching Zelda hard in the stomach. She flew across the platform and landed hard, wincing a bit as she got up.

Both Link and Young Link flinched, and Link hoped dearly that Zelda did not become too badly injured.

Ganondorf laughed madly, his cape swirling behind him, "Do you really think you have a chance against me?"

Zelda narrowed her eyes, then placed her arm out straight, using Din's Fire to send a small ball of fire soaring toward Ganondorf. When it reached him, Zelda let go of it, and Ganondorf was once again engulfed in flames.

Ganondorf shouted in anger, "Damn it! That's enough!"

Ganondorf came rushing toward Zelda, his arm raised, but to his immense surprise, he found himself lifted off of the ground by some kind of invisible force. Eyes narrowed in concentration, Zelda threw Ganondorf to the ground below her, then shocked him in a swirling pool of magic. Ganondorf slid across the platform, then quickly regained his footing and performed a sliding kick powered by dark magic, striking Zelda and sending her into the air.

Ganondorf jumped up onto the right platform, prepared to attack the falling Zelda, who, surprisingly, seemed to be aiming toward him... As Ganondorf raised his leg, Zelda suddenly struck out with both of her feet, made contact and sent Ganondorf soaring across to the left platform.

Zelda jumped up to the top platform, and Ganondorf quickly got to his feet, then kicked upwards and sent Zelda into the air once more. Zelda barely managed to stay within the boundary lines, and as she fell back down to the platform, toward Ganondorf, she performed a spectacular move: she threw up her arms, and magic swirled around her as she became, somehow, a male Sheikah known as Sheik.

Sheik came down with his foot, and kicked Ganondorf hard in the face. Ganondorf landed on his back, but then quickly got up. He grabbed Sheik and threw him down onto the main platform, and as he jumped down, the sheikah groaned and got back up to his feet. He quickly backed away from Ganondorf, but Ganondorf ran after him.

Going into a swift kick along the platform, Ganondorf slammed right into Sheik, sending him yelling from the course. The computer shouted, "Game!" and both Ganondorf and Zelda appeared in the control room.

Ganondorf walked over to his usual spot on the wall, looking only slightly satisfied as Zelda walked over to Link, bruised up and obviously sore. Zelda leaned heavily on Link, who had to struggle a bit to regain his balance, and said, "I lost..."

Link replied, smiling slightly, "That's fine. As long as you are okay... Which you are, right?"

Zelda nodded slightly, "I'll be fine... Just really sore..."

Link frowned, "You can go rest if you like."

Zelda shook her head, then stood up straight, "No, I want to watch you battle."

Link looked concerned, but did not argue, as Master Hand had just drawn out two pieces of paper, though the next match was already known, "For today's last match, we will have Mario fighting against Link."

Link looked over at Zelda and Young Link, then walked over to the transporters. The computer scrolled through the various arenas, then landed on, "Kongo Jungle!"

Match 3: Link Versus Mario

Link appeared on the far right, top platform while Mario showed up on the top left. The computer shouted, "Ready? Go!" Link and Mario jumped toward each other and met up in midair.

As Mario went to punch Link, Link slashed out with his sword. Link barely landed his hit first, receiving a tiny bit of Mario's punch before sending him crashing down to the main platform. Link landed on the lower left platform, then quickly regained his footing, though he was a little less graceful than usual.

Link jumped down to the main platform, and quickly met up with a fireball. Link quickly jumped back up onto the platform, avoiding the second fireball. As the fire went out, Mario jumped up underneath Link with his fist raised in the air. A few coins went lose into the air as Link landed hard on his back on the above platform.

Young Link frowned at the screen, "Why is he not fighting very well...?" Zelda looked concerned, but remained silent.

As Mario landed next to Link, Link rolled into a kneeling position and jabbed his sword at Mario's feet, causing the plumber to jump back with a yelp. Link stood up, then slashed his sword at Mario, landing in a fairly strong hit.

Mario went soaring off of the platform and landed on the main one below. Link quickly came down after him, his sword pointing down and aimed at Mario, but only landed in the wooden log as Mario rolled out of harm's way.

Before Link could completely recover, Mario caught him with a weak punch, which was then followed with several, quick punches and kicks that made it difficult for Link to back out of. Eventually, he managed to smack Mario's feet with sword, causing the attacks to stop.

Link then swinged his sword behind himself, and spinned around with his sword stretched out, creating an amazing ring of color. When Mario was hit, he was sent off of the platform, but managed to grab onto a small boulder.

Mario struggled onto the rock as Link pulled back on his arrow on his bow, and when Mario jumped up onto the main platform, he saw the arrow come flying toward him, but managed to barely block it.

Link then threw his boomerang at Mario, which was also blocked. Link then threw a bomb at Mario, which was, surprisingly, caught. Mario threw back the bomb at the shocked Link, causing it to explode.

When the smoke cleared, Link saw Mario running toward him, he frowned and decided on a new action; he lashed out his hookshot, sending the chain hurtling at the charging plumber, whose eyes widened as he shouted, "Mama mia!" Link caught Mario on the end of the chain, then reeled him in like a fish.

Link then threw Mario on the ground before body slamming him. Afterwards, Link slashed Mario with his sword, pushing him back a bit, then again created a flashing circle as he spinned around with his sword outstretched, sending Mario soaring off of the platform, and out of the arena entirely. The computer shouted, "Game!" and Mario and Link reappeared in the control room.

As Mario walked over to Luigi, Link made his way toward Zelda and Young Link. He smiled at them tiredly, while they smiled a bit hesitantly back at him.

Link raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"Well," started Young Link, "You did not seem to be fighting at 100 today."

Link shrugged, "Yeah, but I'm probably just having an off day."

This time, Zelda raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure, Link? You looked tired before the fight even began."

Link smiled, "Don't worry, I'm fine. I think it was just from when I tried to play that song earlier."

"On that matter, what is it that you know--"

Master Hand spoke up, concluding the matches, but Mario yelled out, "Wait! What-a about all of those-a masks? How is Peach-a supposed to sleep if-a she keeps exploding randomly all night-a?"

Master Hand frowned, "As I said earlier, I have no idea what these masks are about. If they are still around tomorrow, then I will look into it further. However, if it is a prank, it should stop by then."

Before anyone else could argue, Master Hand left the building, then floated up to the mansion. Zelda looked over at Link expectedly, who sighed in return, "Let's go upstairs, and I'll tell you what I know about these masks..."

As Link, Zelda, and Young Link walked back up to the mansion, they passed by a tree full of chickens, which were being pointed and laughed at by Fox, who had bits of fur missing here and there.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Sports are starting up a bit more, and a few other things popped up. Thanks for the review. I would be really happy if more people reviewed, though! Well, until next time.