Disclaimer: I don't own SSBM or related titles and characters.
The One I Love
Chapter 5
I awoke in a cold sweat. I'm next? What could that mean? Who was the short man? Why did he turn on Ganondorf like that? I was still trying to organize my thoughts when I heard my name booming on the intercom in my room.
"Link! I repeat, Link! Please report to the teleporting room immediately for your next match! Tardiness will result in pay deduction and unpaid overtime!" the intercom yelled at me. Overtime? Not this week! I grabbed my sword and shield and bolted for the teleporting room.
When I got to the teleporting room, I found Captain Falcon and Roy awaiting their cue to enter teleporting machines.
"Well, there you are." Roy commented. "But my partner hasn't shown up yet. It's supposed to be a two-on-two match, but if Ganondorf never shows up…"
"Ganondorf is supposed to be your partner?" I asked. Perhaps the dream was more than a dream.
"Yea. It's not like him to pass up a chance to kick your sorry butt." Roy joked. The half-smile faded almost immediately. "I take it you haven't seen him?"
"No…" I replied. I didn't know how an absent Smash Brother would affect the match. Since the match would have to go on anyway, they would probably find a replacement, or change the rules of the match. As if on cue, Luigi walked into the room and took his place on a teleporting machine.
"Let's-a go!" Luigi said cheerfully. And we went.
"3...2...1...GO!" the unnamed announcer blared. This match's arena was a page out of Yoshi's Story. Not my favorite arena, but still a breath of fresh air from Final Destination. At least I might get a chance at some fruit here. And it was only a two-stock match, so it shouldn't take too long.
I put my shield up barely in time to avoid being kicked by the man in a green plumber's suit. I responded with my hook shot and kicked him behind me, where Roy conveniently was. The impact sent Roy flying over the edge of the arena, but he managed to jump onto one of the clouds surrounding the main platform. Captain Falcon waited for Roy's return attempt as I chased Luigi around the main platform, tossing bombs and arrows his way. I was finally able to smash him on the top platform and sent him soaring into the next screen. One stock down.
Roy managed to counter Falcon's cornering attempt, but I capitalized and drove my sword into his skull with a well-placed meteor attack that eliminated him. Falcon and I now had both our opponents at a one-stock advantage. Luigi, fresh off his return platform, spun himself and hit me with a decent meteor attack. I hardly budged, but I did smash him in return.
Roy came out of nowhere and smashed me into oblivion. I managed to let loose one bomb before losing a life, but it hardly hit Luigi for minimal damage. Fortunately, Captain Falcon seized the opportunity to Falcon Punch the green plumber into elimination. Roy ran up beside Falcon, but his smash attempt was foiled by Falcon's shield.
I'll never stop liking the feeling of floating when I return from oblivion, or the temporary invincibility that follows. But back to fighting. I immediately threw a bomb at the incoming Roy and laughed as he fell back. He recovered quickly and narrowly avoided a Falcon Kick that sent my teammate over the edge. As he tried to recover, Roy smashed him offstage and into the loss of his first stock. I responded with a quick meteor attack that sent Roy across the stage. I charged at him and barely missed my hookshot attempt as he jumped over me.
Roy threw me against the ground and slashed me to the other side of the platform. Captain Falcon nailed Roy this time with a Falcon Kick that sent the red-haired youth back to the cloud that saved him earlier in the match. He jumped back to the main platform and Countered both mine and Captain Falcon's smash attacks, sending us both sliding backwards.
I recovered and hopped up to the top platform as Falcon charged Roy beneath me. Roy countered the Captain with a smash attack that sent the racer to his elimination. As he did, however, I dropped in from above with a meteor attack that earned Falcon and I victory of the match.
"Y'know, we make a pretty good team." Captain Falcon mentioned to me as we left the teleporting room. A few paid interns fetched the bodies of our exhausted opponents.
"Yea…" I replied. Ganondorf's absence still bugged me. "So what do you think happened to Ganondorf?"
"I don't know, man." Captain Falcon responded. "Your guess is as good as mine."
I just nodded in agreement. I think my guess might be better than yours, I thought.
A couple dreamless nights later, I found myself at the gates of Hyrule Castle again. This time I was neither a child nor unwelcome. The gate guard acknowledged my arrival with a brief nod and opened the gates for me. I nodded in response and headed for the castle. As I approached, I was greeted by Impa.
"It's about time you arrived. Zelda was getting worried." Impa said with a hint of suspicion.
"Zelda was right," I responded to a narrowed-eyed Impa. "You are getting a little chubby around the waistline." I flashed a toothy grin and chuckled. Impa stared at me for a moment and turned to walk into the castle.
"This way." Impa said. I happily followed.
Impa led me down a great hallway lined with several large paintings that seemed to be ordered in sequence.
"Hey Impa," I called as I stopped to look at a painting of the castle enveloped in a purple cloud. Impa stopped. "Was this when Ganondorf took over Hyrule?" Impa walked back several steps and took note of the painting in question.
"No." Impa calmly stated. "It's dated eons before Ganondorf was even born." She turned to continue walking.
"Mind explaining it a little bit to me?" I curiously asked. Impa stopped and shrugged her shoulders. She turned around to face me.
"I don't know much about it, only what I've heard in stories from Zelda and her father." Impa began. "Long before the Gerudo tribe was even a thought, there was an entity of great evil that terrorized all of Hyrule. If anyone were ever to see it, it would only be in the form of a purple cloud. The only ones who ever saw its true form were the people who eventually defeated it. It took a group of ten of Hyrule's greatest warriors to defeat it. Of those ten, Zelda's great-great-great grandfather was the only survivor."
"Neat story." I interrupted. Impa gave me an icy glare.
"Do you want to hear the rest or not?" she asked impatiently. I nodded. "Anyway, as the entity had already killed the entire royal family, the lone survivor was crowned king. His first decree would be to never speak the entity's name, lest it be summoned and return to wreak havoc on Hyrule. That decree is still in effect, and the name has been allegedly lost to the ages."
"So Ganondorf never comes into this story?" I asked.
"Maybe, maybe not. One of the entity's supposed abilities was to pass its own power on. But since Ganondorf was born ages after the evil was banished, we all figured Ganondorf's power was all of his own accord." I stared at the painting a moment longer before turning my attention to a nearby painting.
"How about that one?" I asked.
"Oh…" Impa began, seemingly exasperated this time. "Zelda's father thought it would be cute to have a painting of our allies from the Mushroom Kingdom nearby."
"Ah." I noted. The contrast between the painting of Mario and friends and the one of the great evil was striking. I couldn't help but feel the cloud looked familiar though.
When I was finally able to pull my eyes away from the clouded painting, I noticed one of the castle guards speaking to Impa in an inaudible whisper. Impa gave a shocked look before turning to me.
"It would seem…" she started, then paused. "that the king of Hyrule is unwell at the present time. If you wished to speak to him, now is not a good time." Impa couldn't fend off the worried look, hard as she tried. "Zelda, however, is eager to see you." Impa and I continued walking down the hall.
We finally came to a stop in front of a normal-sized doorway covered only by a blue drape with the picture of the Triforce in the middle. Impa motioned for me to enter, and I did.
The modest doorway simply did not do the room justice. Grand would be a bit of an understatement. The walls were virtually lined with countless dressers and armoires, each covered in various jewelries, mirrors, and trophies. Some even had small chests on top that reminded me of my adventuring days. One had a particularly large vanity mirror mounted on top. Why Zelda would need so much storage space remained a mystery to me, but my eyes eventually drew themselves toward the huge canopy bed in the middle of the room. It was a real fancy bed littered with blankets and pillows, each with designs more ornate than the last. I noticed several curtains at the top of the bed that could be drawn over the bed. The only more impressive object in the room was the object of my affection, who calmly stood by the bed with a faint smile on her face.
"It's so good of you to come, Link." Zelda said in that harmonious voice that would make any man swoon.
"It's good to see you, Princess." I replied.