Mask Madness

Chapter 7: Majora's Mask

Ganondorf stepped into the dark room, the door creaking shut behind him. Majora appeared, and peered down on the gerudo, "Well? Have my masks caused enough trouble?"

He smiled wickedly, and Ganondorf held back a groan as he replied, also smiling, though only slightly, "Your masks have been very successful. However, the matches did not turn out as planned."

Majora frowned, "How so?"

"Well," began Ganondorf, "to begin with, I did not end up fighting Young Link. Rather, I fought against Princess Zelda."

"And did you win?"

Ganondorf raised an eyebrow at Majora, "Do you doubt my abilities that much?"

Majora looked at Ganondorf with a straight face, "It was simply a question."

Ganondorf muttered, but then continued, "While I am continuing on to the next round, Young Link is not." Majora scowled deeply, "What...?" "He and Pikachu tied in their match." "How the hell did they tie?" "Bombs sent them both off of the course at the same time."

Majora looked extremely displeased, "This is not working."

Ganondorf replied, "No, but I did notice something else today."

Majora looked over at Ganondorf, and the gerudo continued, "Link did not seem to be his usual self today." "In what way?" "He did not fight as well. In fact, he looked a bit weak."

Majora shifted his eyes to a wall, as if looking for an answer, "Was he the only one?"

Ganondorf nodded, "It seemed that way."

Majora continued to stare at the wall, remaining silent. Ganondorf watched him closely, waiting for a reaction. After only a few seconds had passed, Majora smiled, "Link probably attempted to remove one of the masks. Back in Termina, he did this by playing the Song of Healing. However, by playing the song on the cursed masks, the song did not perform it's usual duties of, say, 'bringing the victim back to their own life', but rather worked in reverse and tried to take away some of the life of the player."

Ganondorf frowned, "So you are saying that by playing that song, Link lost some of his life? But how--"

"Well," interrupted Majora, "maybe not actually some of his life, but some of his energy at any rate."

"How long will this last for? Through tomorrow at least?" asked Ganondorf. Majora shook his head, "If Link receives enough sleep tonight, he should recover almost all of his strength."

Ganondorf swore, and Majora looked at him in question, "What? Why does this matter so much? You cannot attack him out of the clear blue." Ganondorf, out of frustration, shouted, "Why not?" "Keep your head, Ganondorf. If you attack him, you will not only be disqualified from the tournament, but the other fighters will attack you in return, accomplishing nothing."

Ganondorf muttered, "Well, what about the match then?" "What match? Who are you fighting tomorrow?" Ganondorf frowned, "I'm fighting against Link! Don't you think that we should take advantage of this somehow? We could injure him greatly..."

Majora frowned, "Why only injure him? Why only weaken him? Why don't we kill him!" Ganondorf frowned, then raised an eyebrow, "How do you mean 'we'?" "I'll come with you." "How?" "I'll reside in my mask, then I can come out when the time is right in the battle."

Ganondorf scowled, "But, I thought you had wanted to make the boy suffer before killing him?" "We won't kill him instantly! Think about it; we will all be trapped in that world, and we will have all the time we like." While Majora looked rather pleased with this idea, Ganondorf frowned a bit, but then quickly began to smile along with Majora, "It is set then." Majora chuckled hoarsely, "Yes, let's choose some items to make this occasion all the more enjoyable."

Link and Co.

Link sat in one of the chairs of Zelda's room, thinking on how exactly to explain the story. Young Link sat in the other chair on his right side, while Zelda sat on the end of her bed straight across from him.

Both stared at Link like a hawk, and he finally began, "Well, I suppose it starts out with the meeting of Skull Kid..." Link explained how the Skull Kid stole the ocarina and Epona from him, then turned him into a Deku Scrub. He continued, revealing how the Song of Healing made him a hylian again, and caused a Deku Scrub mask to appear, allowing Link to transform into a Deku Scrub whenever he pleased.

As he explained the workings of the song, and what it had managed to accomplish, Zelda looked puzzled, "If the song worked so well then, why did it not work here?"

Link shrugged, "I have no idea. It was strange... Normally when I play the song, I feel calm and soothed, rather than suddenly finding myself to have fallen unconscious on the floor."

Zelda frowned thoughtfully, "You used the song on victims of masks, but are all of the masks supposed to be harmful?" Link replied, "That was another thing that confused me. Usually, after the mask has been created from the chaos, it is helpful rather than harmful. Like the Gibdo Mask that Falco was wearing today. Normally, the mask allows the wearer to talk to Gibdos, and it prevents them from attacking you."

"But it worked in the exact opposite..." said Zelda.

Young Link frowned, "Wait, that creature was a Gibdo? It looked awfully like a ReDead wrapped up in toilet paper."

Link smiled, "They are pretty similar."

"But Link," started Zelda, "Didn't you say you were gathering these masks as you went along? What happened to them?"

Link shrugged, "I left them behind in Termina, with the mask salesman."

"Why?" asked Zelda.

"The mask salesman wanted them, and said that he would protect them. I wasn't sure of what to do with them, to be honest."

Young Link perked up, "So is the mask salesman behind this?"

Link frowned, "I don't think so. Someone probably stole the masks from him. If I had thought about it more carefully..."

Zelda spoke up, "It's too late now, Link. Besides, how could you have known?"

Link sighed, "Because it was a mask that was stolen from him in the very beginning that caused a lot of trouble."

"What mask?" asked Zelda.

Link narrowed his eyes, "Majora's Mask."

"Majora...?" trailed off Zelda. Link sighed, "Yes, Majora. He was an evil creature who had been previously trapped in a mask. When the Skull Kid stole this mask, Majora possessed him, causing him to make the moon hurtle down toward Termina."

"But then you two fought, and you defeated him, once again sealing him up in the mask, correct?"

Link smiled at Zelda, "Yes, then I returned to Hyrule." Young Link looked up in confusion, "But then why did you bother to collect all of those masks?" Link paused, then said, "They helped me to defeat Majora."

"Do you think Majora could have escaped?" asked Zelda. Link shrugged, "Possibly." "But what about Ganondorf then?" asked Young Link. "Who knows?" replied Link. Zelda looked puzzled, "What if they are working together?"

Link raised an eyebrow, "How, though? They come from different lands." Zelda shrugged, "Just a thought."

BOOM! "Aaaahhhh!" Zelda looked over at Link with a raised eyebrow, "How was that mask ever helpful?" Link smiled, "Well, it was cheaper than having to buy bombs all the time."

In the Middle of the Night

"Dark Link? Can you hear me?"

"Yes, master."

Ganondorf had found a more remote area of the mansion, and was now in the middle of contacting his minion from within a circle of light that shone from a bathroom floor.

"What is presently occurring in Hyrule at the moment?" asked Ganondorf.

The hoarse voice answered, "Nothing, as far as I can tell. Everything seems to be at peace."

Ganondorf frowned a bit, but knew that it was actually a good thing for his current situation, "Are you still in the cave at Lake Hylia?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now listen closely, there is something extremely important that I need you to retrieve for me."

"Of course, master. What is it?"

Ganondorf smiled, "First, I need you to go to the old man's laboratory..."

Morning

As sunlight began to trickle through the bedroom window, Link continued to simply stare at the ceiling with bloodshot eyes. He sighed, then got up out of bed. He yawned widely on his way out of the room, then knocked on Zelda's door.

She groaned, "Come in." and Link entered, spotting the princess laying in bed, staring out of the window, until she turned her head and looked up at him blearily.

"Good morning." said Link, and Zelda replied, "Don't start... I know you didn't sleep well either. I don't believe anyone could have between the screeching chickens, the occasional explosions, and the rather odd music that seems to drift down from Samus' room."

"Don't forget the moaning of the mummy, well, Gibdo, that you heard following Falco's cussing." said Young Link as he entered the room, also looking disheveled.

Zelda crawled out of bed, and Young Link looked up at Link, "So, are you ready for the match today?" Link shrugged, "My opponent can't have slept any better." "Who's left anyways?" asked Young Link.

As Link mentally went through the list, he froze, "Faore! Ganondorf is the only one left! Din! How could I have over looked that?"

Zelda looked worried, but then added, trying to be optimistic, "Well, he can't really kill you, can he? Technically, you're supposed to fall off of the course."

Link frowned, "I don't know..."

"Well, it doesn't really matter, does it? I mean, you can kick his butt!" exclaimed Young Link.

Link smiled, "Let's hope so."

They heard some heavy breathing, then Fox entered the room, looking worse than the rest of them. "This is ridiculous."

"Did you get the chickens stuck up in a tree again?" asked Young Link.

Fox nodded, "Yeah, but they only stay up there for so long. And even when I lock up the house the best I can, they still find some way in. The whole thing is crazy! I'm running away from freakin' chickens!"

"Master Hand is supposed to see to it today, right?" asked Falco as he also entered the room, not as torn up as Fox, but still looking exhausted.

"I suppose..." mumbled Link.

"Link, it's almost time for the match." said Zelda.

Link sighed, and said, "All right, let's go."

On their way down to the dome-shaped building, Fox and Falco wished Link luck before racing off once again to trap their chasers in trees and closets, or whatever else they could find. Despite the fact that it was the final match, only half of the Smashers had shown up.

When Link spotted Ganondorf leaning up against the far wall, he was surprised to find the gerudo looking so awake and well. While Ganondorf did look to be a little tired, he did not look exhausted as everyone else did.

When a rather unhappy Master Hand entered the building, there was a bit of an uproar, "Well, when are you going to take care of these damn masks? You must have heard them last night!" Master Hand frowned down on Captain Falcon, and replied, "After this match, I will see what I can do."

No one bothered to argue, Ness actually falling asleep and slumping down along the wall, and Master Hand continued, "Today, we have the final match: Link Versus Ganondorf. Now, if you two could step onto the transporters..."

Link was wished good luck and kissed on the cheek by Zelda, then headed over to the transporters and stood stiffly next to Ganondorf. The computer scrolled through the courses, and shouted, "Hyrule Temple!"

Link Versus Ganondorf

Link appeared on the left side of the stage while Ganondorf showed up on the right. The computer yelled, "Ready? Go!" and Link quickly drew out his sword as he narrowed his eyes at Ganondorf.

Ganondorf simply smiled as he walked toward Link. Link jumped to the small, center platform and pulled out a bomb. He jumped up over Ganondorf and swiftly threw it down, but Ganondorf dodged just as quickly.

Now on the same platform, both faced each other, and Link charged at Ganondorf with his sword raised high. He managed to make a decent slash in Ganondorf's right arm, and the gerudo growled as he retaliated with a raised fist.

Link went soaring off of the platform, and landed on the ground below. As he struggled back up to his feet, Ganondorf jumped down from the platform and landed next to him. Ganondorf swiftly bent down and grabbed Link's collar.

Link struggled furiously as he was lifted off of his feet, and before Ganondorf lost his grip, he quickly pulled out a small, black instrument, and pressed it against Link's stomach before releasing several volts of electricity. Link screamed out in pain, then Ganondorf dropped him to the ground before putting away his weapon.

"What the hell was that?" yelled Roy.

Link sat on the ground with his eyes closed tightly, clutching his stomach. Ganondorf laughed, "Pathetic child." Ganondorf's laughing stopped, and Link looked up to see that Ganondorf had frozen. The gerudo's eyes stared blankly into space as Link struggled to his feet.

Link stared at Ganondorf, catching his breath and perplexed with Ganondorf's lack of movement. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion, then slashed his sword at Ganondorf, slicing the gerudo's calf and causing him to snap back to reality.

"Dammit!" Ganondorf scowled darkly at Link's angry face, but then began to take on more of a thoughtful expression. At that moment, something started to shake on Ganondorf's thick, black leather belt. As the thing became more aggressive, it started pushing Ganondorf from side to side, causing the gerudo to cuss in surprise. Finally, the thing managed to break lose, and went flying gracefully onto the left side of the main platform.

Link looked over to see Ganondorf's expression, expecting to see a smile, but was surprised to see that the gerudo looked grim.

Link narrowed his eyes, "What was that?"

Ganondorf only ignored him though, and jumped over to the main platform. Link followed cautiously, not liking this at all. When he reached the platform, and saw what the thing was, he gasped, "Faore!"

Majora's Mask hovered in midair as the sky began to darken, and Link looked back and forth between the mask and Ganondorf.

At this point, back in the control room, Zelda was going hysterical, "Stop the match! This cannot be allowed, can it? He should be disqualified immediately!" Master Hand stopped gaping at the screen, and turned to look at Zelda apologetically, "I'm sorry, I - I don't think I can." "What do you mean you can't?" yelled Zelda. "Well, I can't just transport them back, the computer does it automatically once the match is over." Roy looked furious, "You didn't plan very far ahead with this piece of junk of your's, did you!" Master Hand apologized, "I'm sorry, but there is nothing I can do."

Link stood frozen on the spot, debating on what to do. However, he did not have much time as the mask sprang up into the air and a horrible, monstrous body grew in beneath it. Majora laughed as he appeared on the stage, "At last, you will pay for what you have done you insolent little brat!"

Majora whipped out his horrible tentacles and sent them soaring over to Link, striking him in the chest and sending him screaming off of the platform. Now with nasty gashes in his chest, Link was bleeding as he lied down on the ground, gasping for breath. Link struggled to his feet, hearing Majora laugh from up above him, and cringing when the monster grabbed him around the waist and hoisted him up into the air.

Link struggled painfully against the tentacles, and Majora simply laughed at his efforts, "You can squirm all you want, hero, but you will not escape your fate." Majora squeezed harder, and Link screamed, struggling more furiously as Majora's eyes blazed, "It is time for you to die!"

Majora slammed Link hard onto the ground, though holding him tight so that he would not go soaring off of the course. Link tried to beat upon the tentacles with his fists, but in his current condition was unable to do any significant damage.

He looked over at his sword longingly, wishing it would pick itself up from the ground and soar into his hands, but nothing happened. Majora smacked Link with one tentacle, causing him to cry out in pain, "You!" – another tentacle came down – "Damn!" – and two tentacles fell down upon Link's legs simultaneously – "Brat!" Majora smiled, "I hope I've managed to make you realize what real pain is!" Majora raised the several tentacles that were not pinning Link to the ground, and shouted, "Goodbye, Link!"

Zelda screamed, "No, Link!" as Mewtwo worked furiously with the computer.

The tentacles began their descent as Link prepared himself for the worst, hardly able to believe that he was going to die, especially this way, after all he had accomplished… Collecting the spiritual stones, defeating all of the horrible monsters, including the dragon Volvagia, and beating Ganondorf himself.

That was when he heard a furious, "NO!" and looked up to see the tentacles swerve off to the side. Majora shouted in rage, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

Ganondorf held onto to Majora's bent back, pounding the creature between the shoulders. Majora shrieked in pain when Ganondorf hit a nerve, and turned around swiftly, throwing Ganondorf off of his back. No longer pinned to the ground, Link crawled toward the edge of the platform, and toward his sword.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? I ALMOST HAD HIM!" screamed Majora. Ganondorf did not answer, but quickly regained his footing. Ganondorf charged at Majora, and punched him in the stomach with full force, though he caused little damage.

Majora yelled in outrage, and grabbed Ganondorf by his cape. Majora then tossed the gerudo to far left side of the stage, sending him over the edge. Ganondorf managed to jump and grab the edge of the platform.

Majora appeared above him, fury etched into his horrible face, and his yellow eyes slanted downward. He whipped out a tentacle, and sent it racing toward Ganondorf. However, the gerudo's eyes were focused elsewhere; he grabbed a few of the other tentacles that were dangling from Majora, and pulled hard, causing Majora to shout out in surprise and anger, "LET GO!"

Instead of crawling toward his destination, Link watched his two enemies fight each other on the edge of the platform, Majora leaning forward and loosing his balance as Ganondorf braced himself against the side of the platform, his legs tucked up underneath himself and his feet flat against the wall, using both arms to hold onto Majora, which was his only support.

Ganondorf pushed off with his feet, effectively yanking Majora off of the platform, and sending them both plunging through the endless sky. The computer shouted, "Game!" and the fighters reappeared to the control room, meeting up with hysterical Smashers.

"Link!" shouted Zelda as she rushed over. Link lied on the ground, breathing heavily and barely conscious.

As she neared him, though, Majora exploded, "NO! THIS ENDS NOW!" He threw Ganondorf across the room, slamming him into the far wall. Majora then immediately averted his attention to the vulnerable Link, but Zelda stood in his way, having placed up a protective shield called "Nayru's Love".

As Majora yelled at her, "MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" she only looked back up at him with narrowed eyes and an expression of determination. Majora struck the shield, but the tentacles bounced right off.

By now, the other Smashers in the room had gathered their senses and attacked Majora simultaneously.

"You're going down!" shouted Captain Falcon, and both Roy and Marth shouted a battle cry in Japanese. Mewtwo shot little purple energy balls at Majora as the swordsmen raised their metal blades. Before being nailed by them, however, Majora shrieked as he felt one of his tentacles be sliced off.

He looked down and saw Young Link, who was scowling, and yelled out in rage, "You little--!"

Just then, he was bombarded with attacks, being slashed with Marth and Roy's swords, and punched by Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong, Jigglypuff, and even Bowser's fists, though the Koopa ended up hitting Majora after he came back up, bunny ears flopping furiously. After being punched by Bowser, Majora lashed out his tentacles, sending all of the Smashers flying into the back of the room.

They all charged, and as Majora once again sent out his tentacles, he was stopped with a quick slash to the back, courtesy of Young Link. The Ice Climbers then came barreling toward him with their hammers stretched out, spinning in a circle and smacking him repeatedly.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu sent a huge bolt of electricity through Majora, which was quickly followed by one from Pichu. Yoshi then stuck out his tongue, prepared to turn Majora into an egg, but then ended up cringing as he backed away, spitting and wiping his tongue.

Ness quickly jumped in and sent a ball of electricity at Majora, shocking him effectively. Marth, Roy, Captain Falcon, and Mewtwo then all attacked Majora at the same time, pummeling him in rage as Young Link continued to sever tentacles from the back.

By this time, Zelda had managed to bring Link to the far side of the room, and away from the bulk of the fight, though her shield had now been removed as she had run out of energy. Majora let out the loudest and most horrible shriek yet, and in a fury slammed himself into the nearest wall, taking several of the Smashers with him.

His eyes blazed as he stomped over to Link and Zelda, ready to finish off what he had originally planned to do. As the Smashers recovered behind him, and came running, Zelda knew that they would not be able to arrive in time.

She stood up protectively over Link, shaking slightly, then thrust out her hands, using magic to power up the force of her attack. As the blue magic surrounded Zelda and Majora, the creature was suspended for less than a second before being slammed back into the far wall.

Zelda kneeled back down next to Link in fatigue, though prepared to fight again if necessary. However, she did not seem to need to as the Smashers once again came upon Majora.

Majora gave out one more horrifying screech before shrinking into a dark ball of light and disappearing once again into his imprisonment. At first, there was only silence as everyone waited apprehensively, but then most of the Smashers cheered wildly, and Young Link, after picking up a strange sack that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, joined Zelda, who was looking down at Link in concern.

"Is he okay...?" asked Young Link.

"I'll be fine." whispered Link hoarsely. Marth and Roy then joined the small group, and more of the Smashers after them.

"We should get you to the medical wing." said Marth. Roy and Marth carefully picked up Link, who winced with the movement. They then proceeded to leave the building, stepping outside into the sunlight.

"Yeah!"

"Finally!"

They spotted Fox and Falco dancing happily near a tall tree. Ness shouted at them, "What are you guys so happy about?"

Finally taking notice of the group of Smashers, Falco shouted, "The masks are gone!"

Fox, though, had seen Link, "What happened?"

"It's a long story..." replied Marth.

Fox and Falco left it at that for the moment, and followed the group up to the medical wing. Link was not the only one who needed medical care as many of the Smashers had received nasty gashes from Majora's tentacles.

Dr. Mario was more than overwhelmed as everyone entered the medical wing, shouting, "Mama mia!" as he spotted Link.

"Okay, a-everyone! Take a bed-a and I'll get to you after-a I take care of Link!" Zelda took up a chair beside Link's bed, who was tired but uninjured, while Young Link took the bed next to Link. As the other Smashers waited their turn, they explained what had occurred to Fox and Falco. While Dr. Mario was treating Link, the hylian fell asleep, becoming peacefully oblivious to the world around him, and for once receiving the rest that he desperately deserved.

That was when Young Link glanced around the room before asking, "Where's Ganondorf?"

A/N: Hey, everyone! Hopefully my grammar wasn't too bad this time. I tried to edit this chapter more carefully, but I always find myself skimming it. And so Sheik is female? Positive? I've never been sure about that, so thanks for the info Blissey, and I'm glad your back! Thanks again for all of the reviews everyone! And, as always, anyone who reads this story, please review!