Mask Madness

Chapter 11: Yet Another Mask?

"So, let me get this straight," started Nabooru with a slight frown, "Young Link here was brought to a different time period from the past by Ganondorf, who used the luphira stone to accomplish this. He was brought to a tournament, where everyone else was at, in a time period far in the future. Ganondorf cheated in his battle with Majora, though their was some fighting and confusion between the two of them. However, in the end it was Link who became greatly injured and so ended up stuck in the infirmary. Then Ganondorf attacked Link one night, with some sort of necklace that allowed him to steal,"

Nabooru scowled deeply, then continued, "the triforce of courage. Ganondorf then used the luphira stone to travel to Hyrule, and all of you were forced to follow. Now, Ganondorf is somewhere here in Hyrule, plotting to take over."

Young Link nodded, "That pretty much covers it."

Nabooru growled, "This isn't good at all! How did he escape his imprisonment in the Sacred Realm anyways?"

Zelda shook her head sadly, "I don't know."

There was silence as Nabooru frowned at the floor in thought. Zelda glanced at Nabooru every now and then, waiting for an answer, as Young Link yawned widely.

Nabooru sighed, rubbing her temples, "Ganondorf could be anywhere, doing only the goddesses know what. I suppose I could send some of my warriors out to check the spirit temple."

Nabooru looked up at Zelda, "I would go see Impa. See how things are going with the Sheikah. She might be able to sense something."

Zelda nodded, and Nabooru looked over at Young Link. When she saw him with his head bent down over his chest, his eyes closed, and his chest rising slowly and steadily up and down, she smiled, "He is still just a kid."

Nabooru looked back at Zelda, "Now, as for the Link from our time period, well... I think we need to keep a very close eye on him. And as for the others from the tournament... See if Impa can come up with some good disguises. They need to be able to do more than just sit in a field."

Zelda nodded, and Nabooru stood up. "I think it's time we call it a night."

Zelda nodded in agreement as she too stood up. Nabooru retrieved two of her guards, then had them show Young Link and Zelda to a bedroom. As Zelda followed the guards to the room, Young Link, still sound asleep, was carried by one of them.

In the Market

"Owwwwww…." Roy painfully opened his eyes, though regretting it after the light poured in.

He coughed, then rubbed the back of his head. "What happened…? Why do I feel so awful?"

Awkwardly, he got up to his feet, then stumbled into the bathroom. With a groan, he splashed water on his face. He slowly looked around the room, and, noticing that Marth had left, walked over to the door, squinted into the hallway, then made his way downstairs.

Roy spotted Marth sitting at a table, and sat next to him with a moan, dropping his head on the table. Marth rolled his eyes, then asked, "Enjoying your hangover?"

Roy lifted his head slightly and looked up at Marth, "What…?"

"You got drunk last night."

Roy blinked, "I did?"

"You sure did."

Roy groaned again, "Well… I don't remember drinking…"

Marth sighed, "Of course you wouldn't, Mr. I Only Had Juice."

Roy raised his head at this, "I did! Honestly! It must have been spiked!"

"Sure…" replied Marth sarcastically.

Roy glared, "Well, you get to retrieve the supplies on your own, anyways."

"Yes, and you have to be happy with what I choose."

"Whatever…" replied Roy painfully, his headache attacking with full force.

Marth stood up from his chair, "Well, I'm off. Stay here, okay?"

"Don't have to worry about that." replied Roy bitterly.

Marth walked out onto the market street, then observed the shops around him. "Where to start…"

In Hyrule Field

As the morning sun shined on Hyrule Field, a couple stomachs growled hungrily.

"Food!" shouted Kirby miserably.

"I wonder how long Marth and Roy will be?" asked Fox.

Falco groaned, "I don't know, but I'm tired of just sitting around! There's bound to be something to catch on this field."

Falco stood up, then loaded his gun.

"But we can't be seen!" shouted Ness.

"There's no one out here!" shouted Falco, waving his arms for emphasis.

Fox sighed, "Well, if you're going to hunt, at least let me come with you."

Mewtwo agreed, "Keep each other out of trouble, and return within two hours at the most."

Falco smiled, "No problem. C'mon Fox!"

The two of them walked out onto the field, and Kirby asked hopefully, "Think they'll have any luck?"

Samus rolled her eyes, "Not a chance."

Gerudo Fortress

As morning light came in through the fortress window, Young Link blearily opened his eyes, then sat up in bed, stretching and yawning widely. He hopped out of bed, then put his boots on. As he left the room, he noticed two gerudo guards standing outside in the hallway.

"Um, excuse me?" They looked down at him with raised eyebrows, and he continued, "Do you know where Princess Zelda is?"

They pointed to the next room, and Young Link hesitantly thanked them before quickly knocking on Zelda's door.

"Princess?"

There was a "Come in!" from inside, and Young Link opened the door. "Good morning. So, what's our next destination?

Zelda answered, "Hyrule Castle. We need to talk to Impa about some things."

"But what about Mario?" asked Young Link.

Zelda's eyes grew large, "Oh no! I forgot about Mario!"

She quickly got up and left the room, proceeding to ask the gerudo guard for permission to visit Nabooru. Zelda and Young Link were once again led to Nabooru, the gerudo leader smiling at them, "How is everything? About to leave?"

Zelda's cheeks turned pink in embarrassment before replying, "Well, almost. It's just that we are missing something… Or rather, someone."

Nabooru raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Well, we sort of lost someone on the way here, and I wondered if you had maybe spotted him."

"Possibly. We do have a new prisoner."

Zelda gaped a bit, then asked, "Oh. Well, could you describe him?"

Nabooru nodded, "Yes, he was very strange." She laughed a bit, "In fact, he caused the whole fortress to laugh hysterically!"

Both Zelda and Young Link gave each other confused looks at this. "Anyways," continued Nabooru, "He was short, dressed in a lot of red, had a funny black mustache, and claimed to be the savior of 'Mushroom Kingdom'. Oh, and his name was Maria, or something weird like that."

"Oh, it's Mario! Please release him, Nabooru. He means no harm." asked Zelda.

"Of course. Though it'll be a shame to lose the entertainment."

Nabooru sent her guards to reluctantly retrieve Mario from the dungeon. When he appeared, his face was red with anger, but otherwise just fine.

"I can't-a believe this! The teasing-a never stopped!"

The guards snickered a bit before recomposing themselves. "Well, thank you very much for everything you have done, Nabooru. We should be going now." said Zelda.

Just as Mario was about to rant again, Young Link kicked him lightly in the shin to keep him quiet. Mario scowled, but obediently followed his companions outside of the fortress.

"Thank-a goodness we're-a out-a there! And Link-a," he started, turning toward Young Link with a meaningful look, "You-a need to train-a your horsey better!"

Kokori Forest

As Link slept on through the early morning, Saria decided to make some breakfast. She hummed her tune to herself as took out the frying pan, feeling some relief as she did. Once she got her meal cooking, she peeked out of the kitchen and glanced at Link, and, smiling in satisfaction, went back to her enjoyment of cooking.

However, a few minutes later, she heard footsteps on her wooden floor, and stiffened a bit. But then, when she heard her name called by a familiar voice, she relaxed again. She walked out to the entrance of her house and spotted Mido, who, to her concern, seemed agitated and worried.

"Mido? What is it?"

Mido jumped a bit, but then turned toward her, "Oh, hi Saria! I just wanted to let you know that, well, there seems to be something sneaking around the village, and I wanted to warn you to be cautious."

"Oh, do you know what it is?"

Mido shook his head, "No idea. But it doesn't seem to want to leave or come out of hiding. It's really weird."

Saria nodded, "Well, I'll keep a lookout. Thanks for the tip."

Mido smiled, "No problem!" then left.

When Mido left, Saria could smell something burning. "What...?" Her eyes widened in realization, "Ah! Breakfast!"

She rushed to the kitchen, grabbed the pan, then rushed outside with it, the smoke marking her trail. While Saria disposed of her ruined food, a few tree branches swished over her house.

More footsteps could once again be heard on Saria's floor, though faintly. They made their way towards the bedroom as Saria slowly made her way back to her house. When Saria entered her home, she froze, the hairs standing up on the back of her neck. As she stood there, she heard a sliding of metal on metal. Her eyes widened, but she forced herself to remain silent. She quickly but quietly made her way to the bedroom, and almost screamed at the sight before her.

As Link continued to sleep obliviously, a shadow version of him had a sword raised above his neck. Acting on instinct, Saria swinged her frying at the back of the shadow, throwing him off balance. His red eyes narrowed at the Kokori, but then as quickly as he had entered the house, he left, jumping swiftly out of the window and back up into the trees.

Still being cautious, Saria looked out of the window, though she couldn't see a trace of the fiend.

"Saria...?"

She whipped around quickly, frying pan raised, but then relaxed when she saw that it was just Link, who had finally awoken. She only stared at him at first, then dropped the frying pan on the ground and hugged him.

"I'm so sorry Link! That was too close!"

Link's eyes widened in surprise, "What? Saria, what's going on?"

She stepped back a bit, and sighed, "I only left the house for a little while, having, well, burned breakfast. But when I saw him with his sword raised over you when I got back..."

"Wait, what? Who?" asked Link in shock, amazed that he had slept through all of this.

"There was, um, a sort of dark and shadowy version of yourself. And he was about to kill you!"

Link gaped, "Dark Link...? But how?"

"Wait, so it is a darker version of yourself?" asked Saria.

Link hesitated, "Well, sort of. Ganondorf created him to look like me, though to fight like me as well, I suppose, and placed him in the water temple, but I defeated him..."

Saria gasped, "You don't think Ganondorf recreated him, do you? That would mean he's back!"

Link looked at Saria sadly, "I didn't want you to have to worry so soon, but, well, Ganondorf is definitely back."

Saria gasped, "What? But how?"

Link shrugged, "We don't know."

Saria raised an eyebrow, "But then how do you know that he's back?"

Link sighed, "It's a long story..."

In Hyrule Field

Fox sighed, "Falco, there's nothing out here-" "Ssh!" interrupted Falco, putting out his wing, "Look! Over there!"

When Fox peered around Falco and to where he was pointing, Fox raised an eyebrow, "You think that thing's edible?"

"Well," began Falco, "Maybe it's a large fruit or something. It kinda looks like a large pineapple."

As he tilted his head a bit, Fox rolled his eyes, "I doubt it's a pineapple." "It could be a medieval version." retorted Falco.

Fox sighed, "Okay, let's make a deal. If we go over there and find the thing to be pretty similar to a pineapple, then great. We take it back to the others and... I guess, after checking it... eat it. However, if it isn't, we still go back to the others."

Falco nodded, "Fine. Now, let's go!"

They walked over to the fruit-like plant and looked it over curiously. "Think the plant could be poisonous?" asked Fox. Falco shrugged, "I'll just make sure not to touch it." "How...?"

Fox's eyes widened as Falco pulled out a sword. "Where did you get that?" shouted Fox. The plant moved slightly, but neither of them noticed. Falco grinned, "Kirby leant it to me."

Falco swinged the sword around experimentally, then turned toward the plant. Fox, backing up a few steps, yelled, "Don't destroy it!" Falco nodded, "Don't worry."

Falco narrowed his eyes in concentration, aiming for the roots, then swinged with all his might. "BOING!" The blade did no real damage and bounced right off of the plant.

Fox laughed hysterically as Falco regained his composure. He turned his back on the plant as he went to yell at Fox, "I'd like to see you try!" There was a ripping sound from behind, and as Fox gaped and pointed, Falco's face dropped before turning around.

"Aaahhhhh!" they yelled simultaneously. The "plant" had jumped out of the ground, and was now flying with blades swirling around it. They both bolted, Fox shouting sarcastically, "Oh yeah! Some pineapple that thing is!"

Falco glanced back, ignoring this comment, and yelled, "Hey, look!" It turned out that the plant-monster wasn't very fast, and they had already outrun it. They both began to walk, "Man, that was freaky!" said Falco. Fox nodded, "I'm never going to mess with another foreign plant again."

Falco nodded, but then paused temporarily, "Wait... Do you hear something? Like a, well, mini helicopter?" They both turned around to find baby versions of the plant-monster flying quickly towards them, blades slicing through the air.

"Aaaaaahhhh!" Again they were off, heading in the direction of the entrance to Kokori Forest.

At the entrance, Kirby stared desperately out at the field for Fox and Falco to return with some sort of food. Finally able to hear something, he jumped up, shouting "Food!" Everyone else looked at him, then looked out at the field.

They began to hear some kind of whirring noise. "What on earth...?" asked Samus. They all got up to venture out and see what the noise was, but it turned out that they didn't have to.

Just as the screaming could be heard, Fox and Falco ran by into their field of vision, quickly followed by miniature, flying plant-like things with blades, eventually along with what looked to be the mother. Everyone gaped, looked at each other, then rushed off to help.

In the Market

Marth looked down at the red rupees in confusion, "So how much are these jewels worth anyways?" He sighed, "Guess I'll have to find out. I wonder if the others on the field are just sleeping all day. Probably are..."

Marth finally ended up entering a food store, where he bought lots of dried fruit and meat. Then he also decided to buy other, possibly helpful things, such as rope and healing potions. He also bought bombs, smiling as he thought of more than one way in which he could use them. All in all, he ran out of money pretty quickly.

"Hmmm, I wonder if that'll be enough?" He shrugged, then decided to do some browsing. The mask shop had caught his attention early on. When he came into the store, he was amazed at the amount of masks hanging on the wall. There were ones of skulls, fish people, women with red hair, rock people, zombie-creatures, and more.

"Hello, good sir!" piped a voice from behind the counter. Marth looked over at the rather small and hunched-over man, then greeted, "Oh, uh, hello. Interesting shop."

The mask salesman nodded, "It certainly is, isn't it? Do any of them take your fancy?" Marth shrugged, "I don't know which to choose. Besides, I don't have any money on me right now."

"Oh, that's okay!" said the salesman, "If you want, I can give you a little job." Marth raised an eyebrow, "A job?" The salesman nodded, "Yes, in helping to sell my masks. I'm guessing that you travel a lot?" Marth nodded, "Well, yeah, I suppose..." "Then you're perfect! All you have to do is carry one mask at a time, sell it to someone, then give me the money back."

Marth hesitated, "Thanks, but I don't think I'd do a very good job." "I'll give you a free mask." insisted the salesman. Marth perked up a bit, "Any mask?"

The salesman nodded, "Anyone you want!" "Well," started Marth, "What do you have?" "What do I have?" laughed the mask salesman. "Well, where do I start?"

He disappeared behind the counter, then brought out a large box full of various masks. Marth gaped, "Well, uh, wow." The mask salesman nodded, "Go ahead."

Marth started to dig through the box, and came upon a cow mask. He raised an eyebrow, "What good is this for?" The mask salesman shrugged, "Who knows? Every mask varies in gifts and power. I cannot know them all."

Imagining himself transforming into a cow, Marth decided against the mask. After digging for an hour so, the salesman became impatient with Marth. "Nothing?" "Well..." began Marth, "I want something that will help me in a battle, but I can't seem to really find anything for it."

"A battle?" the salesman asked curiously, "as in a large, difficult battle, perhaps?" Marth nodded, though a bit suspicious, and continued, "Yes, well, possibly anyways. I mean, I've just joined up with a group of people, and, well, it's sort of complicated..."

The mask salesman nodded understandingly, "Who's in the group? Anyone I know?" "Well..." Marth hesitated, deciding whom it was safe to talk about. 'Maybe Roy?' he thought. 'Or someone that the salesman may actually know, like Link or Zelda? Well, probably not Zelda, as she's the princess, though probably not Link either, except... Well, didn't Link have the masks to begin with? Maybe the two were friends?'

Marth finally decided that the salesman was harmless anyways, and replied, "Well, what about Link?" The mask salesman froze, "Did you say Link?" Marth nodded a bit worriedly, "Yes..."

The salesman suddenly jumped up, smiling and laughing, "Yes! Finally! Please, sir!" shouted the salesman, turning towards Marth, "You must let him know that something terrible has happened!"

Marth nodded, "O-Of Course."

"Please, listen carefully. Tell Link that Majora's Mask has once again escaped my grasp." Marth sighed, "He already knows."

The mask salesman's eyes widened, "He does? How?" "There was an encounter with it..." answered Marth. The salesman smiled, "So the mask has been recaptured?" Marth shook his head, "No, it just disappeared..."

The salesman frowned, "Disappeared...?" For a little while, it was quiet as the salesman thought and Marth waited. The salesman growled quietly, making Marth jump.

Marth stepped away a bit as the salesman sighed, "Well, that's certainly not good, but I don't-" He paused, his eyes lighting up, "Wait!" He rushed into the back room, leaving Marth debating on whether or not to make a run for it. However, he wasn't fast enough as the salesman reappeared with a small box.

Marth looked at it curiously as the salesman opened it carefully. He lifted a white mask out, and Marth had a strange feeling overcome him as he stared at the mask. The mask had white hair and a face somewhat similar to that of Link's face, though it had very strange markings on it, almost like war paint

"This is the Fierce Deity Mask, and a mask that possess amazing, yet terrifying power." Marth stared at the mask in amazement while the salesman continued, "As far as I know, only Link can wear it safely. Marth," he began, looking up at the swordsman, "If you help me sell masks, I will give you the Fierce Deity Mask."

Marth nodded in agreement, "I'll do it." The salesman nodded, then began to hand over the mask. As Marth reached out for it, however, the salesman suddenly took it back a bit, "But remember, DO NOT wear this mask yourself. Only deliver it to Link. Understand?"

Marth nodded grimly, then received the mask from the salesman. After Marth carefully wrapped and placed the mask in his sack of supplies, the mask salesman went back into his joyful mood. "Now, my good employee! Here is the first mask that I would like you to sell."

Marth received a mask of a small child, apparently of a Kokori according to the salesman, and placed it in his bag. "Well, thank you. I'll do my best." said Marth. The mask salesman nodded, "I'm sure you'll do fine. Now go! My shop is closing!"

Marth left, feeling a bit weirded out by the experience, though satisfied with having gained possession of the Fierce Deity Mask. "Every little bit of help will get us closer to our goal."

A/N: Well, finally another chapter. There have been a few "little" mishaps lately, such as, well, my computer completely crashing on me out of the clear blue and the car accident which involved me hitting black ice in my dad's truck, hitting a ditch, and so flipping and totaling the truck. But otherwise, not much. (rolls eyes) Anyways, please review! And please let me know if this story is really worth continuing.