ATTENTION! ATTENTION! WARNING, WARNING! This chapter is fairly long. Turns out this story still has three more chapters left or two. I'm happy I got to put this chapter up early. We had a fog delay! No school for two hours. Thank you for your reviews and we continue with….

Chapter 18

Unhappy Birthday Part I

"It is …FREEZING!" Zelda rose up and grabbed her arms for warmth. She started to rub her arms. "Why am I so cold?" She looked around the room she was in. The room was a small tight place with white walls. But as Zelda looked even harder she saw the white wall was actually frost growing on the walls. Adding more strangeness, she could see meat and other frozen food. What is going on here? Zelda looked around and saw two figures in the frost, two girls she knew very well. Zelda tried to rise but she fell right back down. "I can't even stand." Zelda looked over at Peach and Samus. They were both still unconscious. Zelda decided to crawl over to them with the cold blowing around her. As she got within range she called one of the girls. "Peach," she said weakly.

Peach's eyes twitched and she stirred. She almost didn't respond, but the cold made her wake up. Her blue eyes looked at her surroundings. "Unh." She groaned as she tried to sit up. "Why are we in an icebox?"

"Icebox?" Zelda looked around. Peach was right. They were in an icebox. A very cramp one. "This is an icebox, isn't it?"

Unlike Zelda, Peach was able to get up and stand. "They could have at least locked us up in a decent room. We are ladies after all, not Eskimos. Even Bowser does a better job than these idiots when he kidnaps me."

"Even when we're in peril, Peach, you always have to be treated well don't you?" Samus was finally up, but she wasn't standing. She was still lying on her side. Zelda successfully stood this time and walked over to Samus to help her up. But Samus brushed her away. "I can get up. Don't worry. I just need to lay here for a minute."

Peach was still inspecting the room. "How can they lock us up in here? There's meat in every single spot in this room. Revolting! I'll never eat hamburgers again! And there's not even a single window."

Samus rose up at that comment. "It's not a hotel suite, Princess. This is a prison, in their case anyway." Samus let out an agitated cry. "I can't believe we fell for this stupid trap."

"I can. I knew Garrett was nothing but trouble." Zelda closed her eyes and tried to do Din's Fire.

"Yes. I know. I just found out too late. The evidence was real to me when I found the note in the servant room. Sure, it didn't say that he was lying to me straight in the face but I put two and two together and found out he was just like his sister."

Peach was inspecting the meat. "That's too bad. He was so handsome. I guess it's like they say: It's always the good looking ones."

"Yes, don't blame yourself, Samus," Zelda said quietly. She finally opened her eyes. "Why can't I do it? None of my magic is working. I tried the magic of Nayru, Din, and Farore. No luck. No healing powers either."

"That's expected," Samus stood up and grabbed her arms for warmth. "They don't want you to use your powers so you can escape out of here. So, I wouldn't be surprised if they drugged us or used some type of magic proof barriers," Samus glanced at her wrist. "Looks like they took our communicators, too. I don't have my transformation watch either."

Peach looked at her wrist. Her pink communicator was gone. "Very sly. What was the point of keeping us locked up anyway? If anyone finds us here, we'll just be set free." The reason popped into Peach's head. "Wait. Veronica wants us to get caught. Then we'll really look bad. And then we'll all get expelled."

"That girl thinks of everything." Samus saw something in the corner of her eye. She walked over to the corner of the room. There was a device on the wall. She inspected it. "This is not good. There is a thermometer on the wall."

"Aren't thermometers in a freezer?" Zelda asked.

"Yes. But that's not what I'm looking at. The temperature is slowly dropping. We're at 20 degrees Celsius right now. Now, it's 19…" Samus stared for another 7 seconds. "18… we need to get out of here before we freeze our butts off."

"I think freezing to death is the real problem here." Peach ran over to thermometer. "There isn't a single thing we can do. Oh no. I can't imagine worse than this!"

Zelda didn't think anything else could happen. "Worse than what?"

"My lips are all chapped up. I want to look decent if I have to die in here."

Samus stopped staring at the thermometer and slanted her eyes to Peach. She shook her head at the curly blonde princess who responded with an innocent "What?" Zelda stopped attempting her magic and made one more swift check of the room. There wasn't a single window and there was a steel door without a handle on it. What are the chances of getting out of this mess? Zelda sat down on the cold, icy floor. Pretty, pretty, slim. But wait. Zelda closed her eyes and focused. There might be one way to get out of here. But I'm going to need absolute silence.

Nintendo Resort

"Anybody see Link yet?"

"No, not yet."

Young Link sighed. Where was his big brother? He hadn't seen him all day. But he was getting strange feelings. As he was sitting cross-legged on the floor Mario came by. "Hey, Young Link. What's wrong?"

Young Link jerkily shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just sitting here thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

"It's nothing. I'm just pondering about different things."

Mario crouched down next to Young Link. "You're too young to be pondering. You're supposed to have fun like regular kids."

"And I do. But when I…" Young Link paused for a moment. There's no point in explaining it to him. Mario just doesn't understand us kids. "Can I have some time to myself please if it's not too much trouble?"

"Okay." Mario walked off not giving Young Link's behavior a second thought. Young Link closed his eyes for a second. In another second, a purple light flashed before Young Link. In front of him appeared Mewtwo. Young Link gave himself a silent cheer for reaching Mewtwo. Hey, Mewtwo. Thanks for hearing me out. I need your help.

I'm willing to do favors. As long as it doesn't involve stealing candy for you again or trying to get you out of trouble, I'm listening. It seems you have troubling thoughts.

I do. It's faint but I think I can sense Link. Don't ask. It's just this feeling I get. I can tell he's going to get into some serious trouble. I don't know what it is but I keep seeing these things from our world called triforces. Well, two of the pieces are in a fight in my mind. Farore of Courage and Nayru of Wisdom. These two never fight. It's usually the other piece Din that causes all the fighting. Anyway, I think this is a vision of the future. And since Courage belongs to Link and Wisdom is Zelda, I think they are in for some rough challenges ahead.

Mewtwo nodded. I see.

I know it's kinda on the weird side, but I'm unsure of their safety right now. And I was wondering if you…

Mewtwo finished Young Link's sentence. Would try to find Zelda and Link?

Exactly. I can't get there by myself.

Well, I wouldn't want you to come with me. If everyone starts disappearing from this party, Master Hand or Walden will get suspicious. And then they'll start to wonder, and then you know what comes next.

Yep. It would be best if I stayed. I can't really give you a clue to where Link is. We're not exactly telepaths.

That won't be necessary. I'm getting a small connection from one of them already. I can't tell who it is yet. But I can track whoever it is.

That's good. Thanks, Mewtwo.

It's no trouble at all. Cover for me. The glow appeared in Young Link's eyes again and Mewtwo left again. Young Link said a silent prayer to himself hoping for Mewtwo's safe return and for the safety of his brother and Zelda. As he finished, one of his many best friends Pikachu, came dashing up to him. Young Link opened his eyes as he heard Pikachu stop right in front of him. Young Link put on his best fake smile. "What's up, PK?"

"I haven't seen Pichu in a while. Have you?"

"Not since this morning when we went down for breakfast. She wandered off somewhere and I never saw or heard from her after that. Do you have any idea where she might be?"

"Not a clue. But where would she go? She usually tells me where she is going before she goes anywhere. Where can that little Pokemon be?"

Joypadana River Walk

Pichu looked up at the tall mountain. Her ears blew forward as the chairlift rose up to the top of the mountain. Pichu knew she didn't have any money for the chairlift so she hopped on top and took a ride. Earlier on in the day, she saw Samus, Peach, and Zelda walk away from the hote, take the train, and now take the chairlift up to the top of the mountain. She didn't follow them then because she still wanted to check the surroundings the mountain. There were only two buildings and they couldn't really be considered buildings because one was a stable and the other was a shed chock full of supplies. Now you would probably say this is boring, but to a 5-year-old Pokemon, anything is fun. So, Pichu stayed out there, playing and having a great time, until she feel asleep in the tall grass around the shed in the relaxing weather.

Pichu squinted through the wind blowing in her eyes. She could see her stop up ahead. Without thinking Pichu jumped off the chairlift as she reached the end of the lift ride. She used her agility to reach the mountain. The shocks from her agility made her twinge a bit but she kept on going till she reached solid ground. She landed on her feet but tumbled into a small bush. Pichu started to rub her eyes.

"Pi," she said quietly. When the pain was gone she poked her head out of the bush, and her eyes spotted a black iron gate. Behind the gate were even more bushes. Pichu found herself on a quest. The quest to find her friends. Pichu hopped out of the bushes and went up to the iron bars. She took a deep breath and tried to leap through the bars. Her head luckily made it through but her round body got stuck. Pichu may have been small in height but her sweet tooth made her round in figure. But after a little bit of tugging, she squeezed through the bar. She tumbled again while curling up in a little ball thinking this whole quest was fun. She stopped rolling when she hit a nearby fountain. Pichu sat up and shook her head.

"Pi?" She hopped up onto the fountain. As she looked into the fountain, unknowing to her, Jay and Hyde walked out at the moment. They were heading towards the fountain and Pichu still did not notice them. The tropical fish swimming around in the water were entertaining Pichu. As they reached Pichu, she lost her footing when she tried to touch the fish. She slipped right into the fountain making a tiny, inaudible-to-ears splash. Jay and Hyde walked right passed the fountain without giving it a second thought. They were too busy talking.

Hyde was talking at the moment. "What is taking Veronica so long to get here? I want my end of the deal."

"What was it again?" Jay asked.

"How could you forget? She promised us that she would let us choose which girl we can keep for our own. And I already know which one I want."

"If it's Samus, you might as well forget it. She's mine and mine alone. No one else deserves her except me," Jay argued.

"You? You wish. Samus laid her eyes on me first, and we had an instant connection. She and I obviously would have a good time together.

"That's sick. Why would she want to do anything with you when I'm around?"

"Many reasons, my dear friend. Then again, I'd be willing to give her up and take that blonde chick with the big blue eyes," Hyde said next. "When I was holding her in my arms ,she looked like a delicate little bud waiting to be bloomed by the Hydster."

"Fine with me. But as long as they're locked up in that freezer there's a chance no one will get any girl." Jay grumbled at the thought. "They're going to be frozen icicles soon."

"Icy, but still hot," Hyde said with a grin. "I just thought of something. As long as Garrett is here there's no chance of anyone getting Samus. He said no one can touch her, and if he catches us near Samus, he'll certainly be plunging his sword in places we won't want it, ya know."

"Oh yeah, I know." Jay thought about Garrett sharpening his sword, ready for the kill. "There is a way we can get what we want. We can take him out with the help of Moe and Ace. He can't take on three people at the same time."

"Don't you mean four?"

"You know I never liked math. Too much thinking."

Hyde rolled his eyes. "I'm really starting to wonder what year you dropped out of school. But I like the way you think. We can take on Garrett. Once we handle him, we can get all the girls and take them for our own. We can even take that elven princess. She'll be a treat. I can see the fear on her face right now. She'll be helpless without her little Link around her."

"She'll be like a tiny mouse caught in a mousetrap. She'll be a slave to whatever we do to her. But didn't Veronica say leave her alone so she can handle her by herself?"

"Veronica Smeronica. Didn't you hear what she said she was going to do to the princess? She's going to give her a little surprise before she kills her. The keyword here is she's going to eventually kill her. We can't let that happen. So we gotta grab our lady booty and get outta here before she shows up."

"Didn't know that. Do you have a key to the freezer where they are being kept."

"No. We'll have to get it from Garrett's room."

Pichu poked her head out of the fountain. She could no longer hear what they were saying. Pichu hopped up onto the fountain. She didn't understand anything they said except for two things. Her friends were in trouble and they were being kept in the freezer. Pichu's ears twitched to the sound of a door squeaking. To her left, was the front door of the mansion wide open.

My quest continues. Pichu thought quickly. She leaped out of the fountain and pranced over to the door. She stopped at the door and looked inside. There wasn't a guard in sight. But then two characters appeared on the scene. Moe and Ace were standing by the stairs.

Ace had a bag in his hands. "Here, take these and hide them somewhere. You never know what could happen."

"Sure. I know where I can hide it. Leave it to me." Moe took the bag and waited for Ace to leave. As soon as he was gone Moe took the items out of the bag. Pichu recognized the items as Zelda's, Samus's, and Peach's communicators and other small belongings. Moe took them and hid them in a little drawer sticking out of the wall. "No one will ever look there. Wonder what they got to eat around here." Moe left for the kitchen.

Here's my chance. Pichu thought. She dashed inside the room. The tile floor was cold on her paws but she continued to run to the drawer. She twitched her ears like an antenna to find any footsteps coming her way. She could hear the guards' voices using her big ears but they were far away from this room. Taking a chance to check the drawer she jumped up and grabbed the handle to the drawer. . She pulled the drawer out and climbed inside. Her feet hung out of the drawer.

"Pi?" There aren't any communicators in here. It's empty. When she tried to get a closer look her whole body fell inside the drawer as it closed. Pichu was stuck inside. She was going to push the drawer open but the drawer tilted backward and Pichu was in for the ride of her life. She slid down the drawer into a type of slide. She slid back and forth in twists and turns. Pichu squealed in glee enjoying the ride. She held her hands up like she was on a roller coaster. The slide made turns for a while but then at the end was a long straight drop.

"PICHU!" Pichu yelped as she fell down the drop. She dropped into a basket full of sheets and clothes.

"Hmm?" Moe said. A noise had reached him in the ktichen.

Garrett looked at his companion's face. "What is it now?"

"I thought I heard something."

Garrett shrugged his thoughts off. "It's probably that greedy gut of yours. I'll show you where the food is."

Pichu poked her head out from under the sheets. The drawer she crawled into was actually a laundry chute that lead to the basement. Pichu felt something rough under her. She moved a little to the right to see what it was. They were the communicators and other belongings of her friends. Pichu took off the green backpack she was wearing and stuffed the communicators and other items inside. Part one of the Great Pichu's quest is complete. Now I have to find the prisoners in this large castle. Pichu sniffed the air. I can smell a very familiar smell down here.

Pichu hopped out of the laundry basket on the cold, sticky floor. There was only one light, flickering and fading on and off. Pichu continued to sniff the room. The scent grew stronger as she moved towards the corner of the room. Pichu stopped sniffing right in front of a vent. The vent was loose. Pichu poked her head in and sniffed inside. I can smell it much clearer now. It smells like an expensive perfume. It must be Peach's. Looks like this is the place to go. Pichu hopped into the vent and continued her journey.

In the Freezer

"What's the temperature now, Sam?" Peach asked.

Samus weakly looked up at the thermometer. It was almost frosted all over. She made out the numbers though. "I think 10 degrees. It's been that way for a while now."

Peach slumped against the wall. "It better not get any worse. I think my hair is about to chip off. I'm freezing in here!"

"You're not the only one. I'm really starting to hate you even more, every time it gets colder, Peach," Samus said while looking at her.

"Me? What did I do?"

"You made me wear this stupid halter top and skirt! I can barely move my toes because you told me I had to wear some sandals. If I weren't so cold right now, I'd walk over there and strangle you!"

"Hey, beauty comes at a price." Peach naturally said.

Zelda was in a corner with her knees hugged to her chest. "A little hostile aren't we, Sammie?"

"Mm...whatever." Without warning, she grabbed the ends of her skirt and started to pull it down her legs.

"Sam?" Zelda was quite confused. "What are you doing?"

"Getting this torturous skirt off me." She slipped the skirt off of her, revealing some black jean shorts. She then proceeded in taking off a scrunchy that was wrapped around her ankle and tied it around her hair. "That's a lot better."

"Ah!" Peach gasped. "You little cheater! You said you'd wear the skirt all day."

Samus snorted. "Please, did you really think I'd get through the day wearing this skirt? Take it back." She chuckled along with Zelda before tossing it at Peach.

Peach swiftly caught it. "You know, a lot of girls would kill for this skirt!" She stopped ranting for a moment."Did anyone notice this little device in the corner of the room here?" Peach was now looking at a device she was lying on. "I think it's a listening device" Zelda and Samus looked at the device on the wall. Peach looked at Samus. "It looks like one, doesn't it?"

"It is one. Probably listening to us, but we can talk to Garrett and his goons with this thing" Samus took her hands off the thermometer and looked at the speaker. "What room do you think they're in?"

"What do you want to talk to your boyfriend for? Didn't he get us in enough trouble as it is?" Peach asked in a quizzical tone.

Samus frowned. "First off, stop referring to him as my boyfriend. Secondly, we can probably convince them to get us some blankets so we don't freeze in here."

"Forget it! They'll freeze up too and I don't want to see their ugly faces come through that door. They make me sick! The little perverts." Zelda muttered the last part under her breath.

Samus sat down next to her friend. "I really am sorry, Z. I should have known earlier that this was a trap. But I promise we're going to get out of here."

The steel door to the freezer swung open. Two of the men were standing by the door. Neither of them were Garrett to Samus's relief, but rather Hyde and Jay. Peach decided to be the brave soul to speak. "Is there some reason you all want to bother us? We were having a lovely time until you guys showed up!"

"We don't have time for small talk. You and you over there." Hyde was referring to Peach and Samus. "You're coming with us."

"What for?" Peach asked.

"That's none of your concern. Garrett told us that you three can't be trusted together." Hyde ran a hand through his black hair.

"I thought you said it's none of our concern." Peach pointed it out.

"Shut-up! I don't need you correcting me!" Hyde snapped.

Samus looked at her left out friend. "What about Zelda?"

"She's not coming along," Hyde answered. "Now can we get a move on?"

"No. Not until you get my friend out of here and some place warm. I'm not going to let her freeze to death," said Samus.

"I'm not leaving either." Peach stepped back from the door.

"If Garrett wants my friends so badly, why didn't he come get them himself?" Zelda was starting to get worried about the hungry looks the men were giving her two best friends. She knew that look all too well.

"You know, you two should be thanking us," Hyde said. "We're rescuing you girls and taking you away to a really nice place, and we're sure you'll just love it." he answered as his eyes grew wilder from staring at the girls.

"And of course, we'll want a reward for our heroic rescue. If ya know what I mean." Jay added.

Samus grew disgusted. "You must be joking."

"You're not going anywhere with my friends. I won't allow it." Zelda bravely spoke. But she backed down as the men shifted their hungry eyes on her.

"Oh we'll come back for you too, Miss Zellie. We couldn't leave a beauty like you by yourself." Jay answered before turning back to the other girls. "So ladies, shall we be going now?"

"You must be out of your mind if you think we're going anywhere with you creeps!" Peach planted her feet on the ground. "We're staying right here!"

"It wasn't up for negotiation." Jay grabbed Peach's wrist roughly. "Let's go!"

"Hands off!" Peach jammed her foot into his stomach. Jay doubled over and grabbed his stomach. "You may have had us at an advantage earlier, but not this time. We're not as weak as you think we are."

Hyde was coming for Peach. But then above the two, the vent was rattling. Samus watched Hyde look up at the shaking vent. Samus got up quickly and charged at him. With one quick movement of her hands, Samus pushed Hyde right out the door. Peach kicked Jay out of the room with her foot and then shut the door on both of them and used her body to bar the door. "Good thing that vent above us started rattling." She watched Samus run over to the speaker and shut it off so they couldn't hear anything else.

Zelda looked up at the vent. "Why is it rattling?"

The three girls watched the vent continue to rattle. In a few seconds, the vent fell off and crashed to the ground almost hitting Samus. Not only did the vent fall but something else fell out of the hole. A small round object fell into Samus' arms. Peach looked at the thing from her position on the door. "It's a small, yellow ball."

"A fuzzy, yellow ball." Samus said. The ball started to twitch and move. Samus almost dropped the object but held it tight. "Uh…"

Zelda looked at the object. "I don't think it's a yellow ball." Zelda watched the little ball unfold into a small, yellow mouse. "Pichu!?"

Samus looked at the mouse. Pichu was smiling in her face. Samus held up Pichu by the waist. "How in the...How'd you get here?"

"Pichu pi!" she chirped.

Peach scratched her head. "Maybe she's been following us this whole time. Good thing she's here though."

Pichu got free of Samus's grasp and hopped onto the ground. She took off her backpack and placed it in front of Samus. Samus picked it up and opened the bag. She gasped. "Pichu has our communicators and our bags."

"What?" Zelda rushed to Samus' side. She saw her pink communicator hanging out of the bag. She pulled it out and stared at it. "I thought they would have smashed these things a long time ago. Where did you find it?" Zelda thought about what she just asked Pichu to tell her in her language. "Nevermind." She picked Pichu up and hugged her. "You got them all by yourself? You're so brave."

"Chu." Pichu nuzzled her head against her chest. She started to get real comfortable.

Zelda let Pichu rest in her arms as she looked at the door. "It's only a matter of time before they come back here."

Samus took out Peach's communicator and tossed it to her. Peach caught it swiftly and then pushed her body against the door again. "I know. We need to get out of here. Maybe the same way Pichu got out of here?"

Zelda shook her head. "No, we're too big. But Pichu coming out of that vent made me realize something. There has got to be some kind of larger vent producing all this cold air. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. Peach, keep barricading that door alright?"

"Sure. Leave it to me." Peach pushed on the door harder. "The vent might be behind those frozen meat products. I hope it's big enough."

Samus headed over to the corner of the room. "It will be." She pushed some meat aside. "We should worry if there's even one in here."

Pichu being small only pushed the small meats out of the way. Zelda went to a rack of steaks hanging from a wire. She pushed them aside carelessly. "If there was ever a national disaster where we run out of food, we know where to go first, huh?"

"Not here. All this meat would make me want to become a vegetarian automatically. I feel sorry for the poor animals that have to watch their family members' carcasses lie in an icebox." Peach looked around with her own eyes to try and find the vent. "Anyone find it yet?"

"No, not yet. This might take a while. Oh, Din! That's disgusting!" Zelda backed away from the meat. "Some of these meats are just rotting dead bodies. There's four dead rabbit carcasses back there. I think there's a pig with it's head chopped off."

"What kind of home are they running here?" Peach asked.

"Here, I found it." Samus pulled away the last slab of meet. And look, it's loose." Samus pulled it off with relative ease. The cold air started to shut off and the machine shuttered. "We're getting out of here after all."

Zelda dropped the meat she was holding and hurried to Samus. "Do you know where that large vent will lead to?"

"To the outside I'm hoping. There's only one way to find out, let's go through. And to tell you ahead of time, Peach, it's going to be a nasty crawl." Samus looked around the room and her eyes fell on what she wanted. She picked up a large rack of meat and used it to barricade the door Peach was blocking. "This one will do. Come on, let's go. Zelda. You go first with Pichu."

Zelda obeyed and grabbed Pichu and her backpack. Samus moved aside and let Zelda crawled inside, and Pichu held onto Zelda by her shoulder. Peach hesitated at first but crawled in anyway. She already started complaining as she went inside. Samus rolled her eyes and climbed in after her. When she was inside she turned back to face the freezer. "We have to cover our tracks."

"That would be a good idea." Zelda called from ahead. "How are you going to do that by the way?"

Samus didn't answer. She stuck her head back inside and pulled the swinging furnace vent door shut. And since the vent had bars she could stick her arms through. She maneuvered her arms to fit inside the bars and she grabbed another large steak she picked up earlier. With all her might she pulled the meat in front of the now closed furnace. "It's not gonna take them off the trail, but it will buy us some time."

Peach came crawling back over to Samus. "Here, let me help a bit." Peach pulled off her blue pendant in the middle of her blue dress. She turned it upside down and on the other side was hairpin strapped to the back of the pendant. She pulled it off and got in front of Samus.

"What are you going to do with that?" Samus asked. She tried to see what Peach was doing, but Peach's hair blocked her from seeing.

"Believe it or not, hairpins are pretty handy." Peach was screwing all the furnace's screws tightly with her sharp hairpin. "There we go. All nice and tight. They'll never notice a thing. Well, for a while anyway."

Samus raised her eyebrows. "Wow. I'm impressed. Where'd you learn how to do that?"

"My friend Princess Daisy is a tomboy. She learned how to screw things and pick locks with hairpins from some boys in her kingdom. And since she knew I was a hairpin fanatic, she taught me this skill whenever Bowser kidnapped me or something."

"Hmm. Good technique. I'll have to remember that."

"Pichu, Pichu pi!" Pichu called.

"I can hear them too, Pichu. We need to get moving. I can hear their footsteps from far away and they're all coming." Zelda called back. She started to crawl forward and Pichu continued to clutch onto her tightly.

"We're coming!" Samus and Peach called. They crawled after their two friends.

When Zelda heard their two voices she started to crawl a little faster. The space in the vent started to get bigger and it became easier for them to move. As they continued to climb she started to wonder what everyone else back at the Nintendo Resort was doing. This wasn't something she was expecting to do on her birthday, but in a creepy sort of way it was exciting and adventurous. As she was thinking, she heard Peach in back.

"Did anyone see that spider move?"

"No, that was definitely a roach," Samus replied.

"Roaches?" Peach cried out.

Those words made Zelda jump too. Just like Peach, even though she never admitted it, she was as scared of bugs as Peach. Perhaps even more.

"Hey," Samus hissed. "You want them to hear us? Voices echo through every room when we're in a vent."

Zelda nodded and took a deep sigh. But as she did this, she felt a small tickle on her right hand. She looked at her right hand and let out a tiny gasp. On her hand was a brown, yellow, and black snake. It wasn't moving at all. She could feel a scream inching up her throat but she covered her mouth and the scream changed into a small whimper. The snake quietly hissed at her. She felt someone bump into her.

"Hey." She recognized the voice. It was Peach. "Why did you stop?"

Zelda was trembling. "Sn…sn…snake." She muffled through her mouth.

"What?" Peach said. Peach looked over her shoulder. "Oh, you said snake."

Pichu was about to cry but Samus covered a hand over Pichu's mouth. "Don't cry, Pichu. We can't take that risk. Besides it's a baby snake."

Peach surprisingly took the snake off of Zelda's hand. "To be more precise it's a gopher snake. It's not poisonous and doesn't eat human flesh. Yes, this snake is harmless. Now if you're a gopher, it's a whole different story." Peach smiled as she looked at the snake. "It's a female. And she's a little cutie when you look at her."

Peach's knowledge of what type of snake it was already freaked out Zelda and Samus. Now, Peach had to top it off by picking it up and saying it was cute. While Zelda was recovering from her fearful experience, Samus gave Peach a long, hard stare. "Where do you learn all this?"

Peach stared back. "What? Oh you mean the whole snake thing." She was already letting the snake coil around her hand. But the snake seemed to take a liking to Peach because it didn't try to cut off her circulation. It just hung on her wrist like one of Peach's accessories. "I told you I have a tomboy friend and she tells me just about everything concerning nature. And it's not like Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi didn't teach me a little about wildlife."

"You're scared of all the bugs in the world, but you'll let a snake hang around you like a bracelet? I underestimated you Peach," Samus said with a smile. "You do have your tomboy days."

Peach smiled back. "Thank you."

Zelda was getting fairly annoyed. "As pleasing as this conversation is, can we get out of here? I rather not see what else is crawling in here."

"Fine. But I'm taking the little snake. She can probably scare off the insects and besides I think she's taken a liking to me."

"Okay, enough snake loving. Let's go!" said an agitated Zelda. "I think I see a ladder up ahead." Zelda rose up when she reached the ladder since the room was large enough room for her to stand. It was a cramp room and only she and Peach could crawl into the cramped space with the ladder. Samus had to stay on her knees in the smaller tunnel. Zelda put her hands on the railing. "I guess the only way out of here is going up."

Samus tried to look up at the ladder to see where it ended but she could not see it from where she was crouched. "Well, lead the way and hurry up. The fumes in this vent are making me dizzy. And make sure you check what's up there before you climb all the way up."

Zelda started to climb the first step. As soon as she started to climb, she could feel dirt collecting onto her hands. She could no longer hear the men coming after them. Their footsteps had faded away, but Zelda hoped that it didn't mean they found out how they escaped. With those thoughts, Zelda rushed up the ladder faster. Before she climbed the last step, she decided to do what Samus advised her to do. "There's nothing up here," She spotted something above her. Unlike the tunnels made of iron there was one outcast square made out of wood. On the side of the piece of wood were hinges. She called down to her friends. "Girls, I think this door above me leads to the outside. It's like a trap door in a way."

"That's good to hear. Now we can rid ourselves of this mansion and it's nigtmares." Peach gripped the bar of the ladder even tighter.

Zelda placed her hand on the door. This whole thing seemed too simple to her. She realized it a little too late. As soon as she put small impact on the door, her ears picked up on men's voices. They were all too familiar. "They're here."

"No, they can't be." Samus backed off the ladder. "I thought they wouldn't find out. I guess they're smarter than I thought."

Peach climbed down the ladder quietly and Zelda followed her. Zelda looked at Samus. "What do you think we should do? Should we head back to the freezer? "

"And freeze into ice cubes?" Peach spoke before Samus could get a word in. "I say we stay in here, and besides they're probably blocking off the ice chest ."

Zelda heard a loud thud. She saw her friend Samus on the ground leaning against the tunnel wall. "Samus, what's wrong?"

"I don't know." Samus closed her eyes. Zelda watched her breathe slowly in and out. It was like she was trying to get some air in her lungs. Pichu hopped off Zelda's shoulder and went down on the ground. Pichu's cheeks were lightly sparking and her eyes started to droop. "Pichu." Zelda kneeled down and picked up the little Pokemon.

Peach dropped to the ground also. "I don't know why I'm so tired. I can't stand anymore. I just…need…sleep." She rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

"You guys have to get up. They'll be in here soon." Zelda shook Peach roughly in attempts to make her get up. Samus was already knocked out and sleeping soundly. "What's happening to them?"

"I guess that sleep powder does work on humans. I thought it only worked on Pokemon. It must take longer for us to become fazed by it. It's not working on you though, Zelda. Must be that strong magic resistance Veronica was talking about." Zelda recognized the voice as Garrett's. He must have been standing right above the other side of the trap door. "Give yourself up, Princess. Your friends can't help you and we have you surrounded from both sides. You can't use your magic with that strong gas in there. It blocks off all magic. We can thank one of the Nintendo Characters for selling it to my beloved sister."

"Zelda…" Peach said weakly. "Teleport us out of here."

"Teleport? I can't, Peach. You saw what happened earlier. My magic isn't working. They blocked it off with that gas."

"Come on, just concentrate. Don't believe what they say. You're allowing them to make you think you can't do it." Peach opened her eyes for a second, but then closed them. "Remember in the fire. You found a way then and you can find a way now."

"But…" She turned her gaze to the weakening Pichu and Samus.

"Please, Zel. We need to get out of here or we're just going to be put somewhere else where we won't have any chance of escape," Peach said.

Zelda knew this was the only way. And for her friends, she would take a risk. She got down on the ground and placed a hand on Peach and Samus. Pichu weakly grabbed onto Zelda. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She could already feel the magic not responding but she didn't give up. Just like in the elevator, she cleared her mind and focused on teleporting to the train station since that would be a safe distance away from the estate. It was tiny but she could feel Farore's power reaching out to her, and Zelda was reaching back. There were a few strains of pain but she was able to get past it. Farore had reached her and she knew she could now teleport. She focused on the train station again and then she felt cool air blowing. Wind was blowing around her. This was Farore's power. There was silence for a moment but then she could hear the rustling of trees around her. She opened her eyes. She was now some meters away the Joypadana Train Station.

"Told you you could do it." Zelda felt Peach's eyes on her. She was no longer sleepy. She winked at her. "You always had it in you. And look, you're not even fainting this time." Samus was fully awake also.

"Yes. But I still have a small headache." Zelda grasped her head for a second. She felt like falling over again but Samus placed her hands on her shoulders to prevent her from doing so.

"When all this is over, we're going to need to work on that magic of yours. We're not out of the woods yet!" Samus said, heading to a random train. "Let's get out of here, pronto!"

"Don't we want to take the train that will take us back to the resort?" Peach asked.

"No. They'll be expecting that. Let's take this one and besides that one's not here yet."

Zelda didn't have a plan anyway. Samus was the one usually with the plans. "Okay, let's go. "

"On to more and more adventures. Come on now," Peach got onto the train with Peach by her side and Pichu at her heels.

The train was empty. At least this train car was empty anyway. The only one in the room was Samus. She was busy fiddling with her communicator. When she saw her friends come on, she stood up. "We got on the train, but the real problem is I don't know if we have enough evidence to bust Veronica yet. Definitely not how I planned this to go."

Zelda sighed. Samus was right. If anything, Veronica could turn this whole breaking in situation on the three of them and they all would get expelled. "There's got to be something we can do."

"Well, maybe the train ride will give us some time to think. We need a map of the train stations."Samus turned to the back of the train. "I hear they have small stores at the back of these trains. Maybe I can get a map and see where this train is heading." She walked in a fast pace out the back door to the back part of the train.

Zelda took a seat in the vacant seat Samus was sitting in. She looked out the window. The train was starting up and they were about to go on a journey to who knows where.

Another Train

"That took too long. We're going to be late now. By the time we get there, we'll be a half hour late." Marth rammed his head against the window. "How did this happen?"

"We were waiting for you to come up with some way to apologize to Sam. But I didn't think it would take you that long. Now we'll be a little off schedule."

"How about an hour off schedule?"

"You know the more you ram on about it, the worst it's going to sound and you're going to blame it all on yourself."

Marth ignored Roy's comment and hit his head against the window again. As he did this the train stopped at a train station. Marth grew angry. "This about the 5th stop. How much further does this thing have to go?"

"Patience, Marth." Roy couldn't believe what he had just said. Tell Marth to calm down? How the tables had turned. Marth was usually the calm one and he would have to tell Roy to chill or shut-up. Who's the mature one now! Maybe Peach will think twice before giving that map to Marth next time and give it to yours truly. Ha! Roy started snickering that eventually turned into a laugh. He received a stare from Marth.

"What are you laughing about?"

Roy realized he was now laughing out loud. He turned as red as his hair. "Nothing. Inside joke."

The train doors opened again and Roy looked out the window. He saw a familiar face. "Hey, Link's outside."

Marth refrained himself from banging his head against the window again. "Link?" He looked out the window when he pressed his fingers against the glass. He recognized the green tunic and hat right away. "That sure is him."

Roy hopped out of his seat. He ran for the door. "We gotta go talk to him!"

"No, wait." Marth couldn't get the words out before Roy was out of the train. He groaned and got up quickly and walked out after him.

Roy called his name when he was close enough. "Link! Over here!"

Link looked away from the other trains and looked at Roy. "Roy, what are you doing out here?"

Roy stopped in front of him. He places his hands on his knees as he bent over to catch a breath. "We're… on… our way… to Joypadana River Walk Estate Mountain." Roy took a large breath after saying all those words at the same time without taking a breather. "Where've you been?"

"I was doing some early morning training out here. It's a nice, quiet, and isolated place. There are very few people here. And well… I'm done now," Link explained.

Marth caught the end of the conversation. "So, you can come with us. We're supposed to meet Zelda and everyone else at that Joypadana place. We can go now."

Link shook his head. "Sounds good, but I can't. I have places to be."

"Places to be? And where would those places be, Link?" Roy asked suspiciously. "Today's Zelda's birthday you know. Where could you possibly have to be?"

"That's none of your concern." Link turned from him and tried to leave, but Marth blocked his path. Link frowned. "Move." He said in a low voice.

"Tell us where you're going. It doesn't have anything to do with Veronica, does it?" Marth questioned him. "After everything we talked about yesterday?"

Link grew a bit tense about that question, but showed no physical emotion of it. "Don't worry about it, okay? If it does, what does it matter to you? Now, move so I can be on my way."

"No, tell us what's going on." Roy said as he blocked Link's other side. "You're up to something, because no way in heck would you miss Zelda's birthday. She's your best friend."

"I'm going to be there. But I can't go now. And then again I may not show up at all. Who says Zel is going to come anyway? She's too depressed about leaving. I don't want to say it again. Move out of the way, Marth!"

Marth stood firm. "I already told you, I'm not moving."

Link rolled his eyes and glared at him. "Idiotic fool." He muttered. And in a second he had his grasp tightly around Marth's collar. Marth tried to get loose but Link was amazingly strong!

"Link, what are you doing!" Roy said as he looked at what he was doing to his friend.

Link ignored Roy's wonder. He kept staring at Marth. How he hated the prince's blue eyes. He just wanted to punch them out. "When I say move, I mean MOVE!" Link let out an angry noise and with all his strength he threw Marth right into one of the banisters of the train station. People who were already looking at them started to scream. Marth's back made contact with the banister bar roughly. When his arms hit the bar, the pain shot up from his elbow up to his shoulder and down to his hand. He let out a small cry from the pain and grabbed his arm.

"I can see why Samus is in love with Garrett, and why she kissed me. You're nothing, Marth. I really don't know why you're even a part of Melee. As weak as you are, who can expect much from you? Samus surely can't." Link spat.

Marth's eyes instantly shot up at those words. "You..how dare you even..." Marth was livid, and wanted nothing more than take Link down at that moment. Link turned away from the fallen swordsman, looking pleased with what he did.

Roy was trying to contemplate what just happened. Was that his friend Link? He tore his eyes away from Link and went to Marth's side. As he looked at Marth, he could see his injured arm. "Link, what did you-"

Roy saw Link was no longer in sight. All he could see were the onlookers looking at the now injured Marth and some were calling for a doctor. Roy turned back to Marth. "Is it broken?" Roy tried to help him with his arm.

"No. I think it will be fine." He tried to get back up with the arm. But the pain shot through his arm again. "Ah!" He went back down.

"That was stupid, Marth. Of course that arm's going to hurt."

"Ir's fine, Roy." Marth used his injured arm again. The pain kept surging through his arm. "Link," he muttered angrily. "Thinks he knows everything."

"Come on, Marth..." Roy started, but failed to reach him.

"Always. Always thinks he's better me. Gods, if it weren't for Samus, I'd-"

"Will you just shut-up!" Roy knew what this was. He grew angry with Marth.

Marth looked at him in shock.

"You always do this. Just a few words out of Link's mouth and then you get angry with him. Be the better man here, Marth. What Link did was uncalled for, but now you go and mutter things about him just because he takes you down. Sometimes I wonder if I'm more mature than the both of you put together. Now I don't know what's wrong with him, but we'll deal with him later." Roy looked up and saw their train leave. "And there goes the train. We'll have to wait again. Maybe you need some cool down time anyway before you go see Sam now." Roy held out his hand. "Now, man up, and receive help when you need it."

Marth hesitated. He just kept his eyes on the floor. Roy shot his hand back. "Then fine. Stay on the floor like the jealous little boy you are." Roy started to walk away.

Marth knew Roy was right in everything he just said. Except Marth was everything but jealous. He sighed and held out his undamaged hand. "Fine. Help me up please. Even though it's hard to admit, you're right, Roy."

Roy turned around and walked back. "Oh where's my 'Roy is right' money jar when I need it?" He grabbed Marth's hand and pulled him up. "Glad you came to your senses again."

"Fine, you were right. But I am not jealous." Marth clarified. When Marth got up, he looked at the arriving trains. He noticed one of the train's names and lowered his eyes. "And this is why Peach made me navigator. The train is still here." He grabbed his hand and cradled it.

"Oh, well then, let's vamoose!" Roy ran to the train, forgetting about Marth's injured arm.

Marth ran after him successfully without any pain. "Mature, huh?" Marth rolled his eyes at that thought. But then he thought about it again and smiled. "Eh… he's getting there."

Joypadana Mountain Estate

"How did they get away? I left you in charge. I thought you and your blasted goons could handle three weak girls!?" Veronica screamed into the phone.

"I'm sorry, sister. We had them but then they overcame the impossible. They just keep surprising us all." Garrett said calmly to Veronica.

"I DON'T WANT ANY MORE SURPRISES. I WANT SUCCESS! GET THEM BACK HERE IMMEDIATELY GARRETT!"

"Don't worry, Sis! This is no sweat. I have someone who will be able to bring them back and will they be in for a big surprise."

You're positive?

Garrett laughed. "For sure. As we speak, I already have a prize waiting for me in the lab."

The Train

Zelda looked out the window for about the fifth time. "Where is this train taking us? This train hasn't stopped even once."

Peach was petting Pichu behind the ears. "Just relax, Zelda. Chances are the goons can't catch us if it's far away from everything else."

That's what I'm afraid of. Zelda thought quickly.

Beep! Beep!

Zelda heard her communicator go off. She lifted her wrist and saw a green light flashing. Peach poked her head in. "Who is it?" Zelda couldn't believe it, but she said it. "It's Link."

She pressed the button on the communicator. "Yes?"

"Hey, Zel! Happy birthday!"

He's talking to me. She thought with glee. She smiled. "Thank you. I thought you forgot or you weren't talking to me."

I'm not mad about what happened with Veronica at the festival, Zelda. Just a little shocked, but otherwise I'm fine. I can't be mad at you forever. You're my friend. Where are you?

"You're not going to believe it if I told you. But we just escaped a house with some creeps that kidnapped us and put Samus, Peach, and me in a freezer. Pichu saved us."

"Pichu? Are you pulling my leg?"

"I'm being serious. She's the one who brought us back our communicators and gave us a way to escape.

"Well, I guess even the smallest Pokemon can be heroes. But that's all bad. I wish I could find you, but I'm out in the mountains past Joypadana training and stuff. I'll stop and come find you before you get in any more trouble."

Zelda sighed dreamily. "How heroic."

"Please." Peach muttered sarcastically.

Zelda ignored her. But then she remembered what Link had just said. "Did you say past Joypadana Mountain?"

Yep. The next stop after Joypadana is where I am. It's called Gamma or something like that. Why?

"We're on a train. Heading out that way. We can come meet you."

That's great! I'll meet you there.

"Okay. We'll be there when the train stops."

"Great. Can't wait to see you. I have a surprise for you.

"Surprise? What is it?"

"Come on, Zellie. You know the saying. If I tell you, it won't be a surprise."

Zelda, defeated, gave up on guessing. "You're right. I guess I'll see you then."

"Later!"

Zelda turned off the communicator. "This is going great. We can tell Link everything."

Peach didn't quite agree. "Are you sure he'll listen?"

"Maybe not. But when he sees what we found he'll give in. Speaking on that subject, what did you find?"

"Oh! I didn't tell you guys. It was…" Peach stopped for a second. "Where's Samus? She's been gone for a long time now."

"I'm sure she'll be back soon."

Just as Peach was going to talk again on what she found, a purple light flashed in the room. It scared them for a second but then they remembered the only Pokemon they knew who could do that. Mewtwo's light had come into the train as he teleported right in from them and he appeared to the girls.

Hello, Princesses.

"Mewtwo, what are you doing here?" Peach asked.

Zelda answered that question. "I called out to him when I was sitting down on the ground in the icebox. I was trying to get some help from him to get us free."

"Kinda late for that, isn't it? Not like it's your fault or anything, Mewtwo," Peach added, so she wouldn't get the Pokemon mad.

Mewtwo shrugged it off. Zelda, I have something important to tell you.

What is it? Zelda called back. Peach was able to hear it and contribute.

Young Link thinks something is terribly wrong.

What is it?

He thinks that danger is going to occur between you and Link.

What? I just talked to him.

He doesn't know if he's right. He thinks someone is going to attack you two.

I think he means Veronica. And I was expecting that. But Link and I can handle her. No problem. We're going to get rid of her.

"Are you sure?" Mewtwo watched Zelda nod. "Well, I'm going to stay just in case. You may need some help if something is wrong."

"Thank you," Zelda said quietly.

"Yes, the more help, the better." Peach added. "Now the five of us can handle her."

Mewtwo was about to nod, but he stopped short and closed his eyes. "Something's wrong."

Zelda stood up. "Not again. Is it one of those guys? They must be following us."

"No. Someone's fallen."

Zelda's first thoughts went to Samus. "Oh no, Sam! She didn't return." She was heading back but Mewtwo stopped her.

"The weak life force is coming from the front. In the conductor's room."

"The conductor?" Peach got up from her seat and went to the doors that lead to the conductor's room. She opened it and poked her head inside. "Oh!"

"Peach, what is it?" Zelda's tension and fear started to rise.

Peach brought her head out of the room. "The conductor is out cold!"

"No, how did he…" Zelda's ears heard the sound of a door open behind her. She turned around, and saw Samus had returned. She was staring at her friends without saying a single word.

"Sam, the conductor is out cold. We need to get out of here!" Zelda exclaimed.

Samus crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "I can't let you do that."

Peach and Mewtwo exchanged looks. Pichu was looking at Samus from her seat. "Sam? We need to get out of here," Peach said.

Samus kept the same stance and expression. "No. Everyone stay put." The expression in her eyes looked completely dead.

Zelda tried to walk over to her best friend. "Samus, what are you…"

"Zelda, wait!"

"Huh?" She knew it was Mewtwo's voice, and she stopped walking. She turned back around. "But she…"

"Samus isn't herself. There's a dark force surrounding her," Mewtwo said calmly.

Peach nodded. "That's not her."

Zelda looked at her bounty hunter friend. Samus had pressed the button on her suit and she now had on her Chozo suit. Her gun was charged and was aimed on Zelda. "Samus, what are you doing? You're on our side."

"I follow Garrett's orders now." Samus didn't let her gun drop.

"Garrett? But he…"

"I don't want to hear it, Zelda. This is who I am now. I'm over you smashers and Marth now. I don't need any of you guys anymore."

Zelda stepped back. The gun followed her till she was right next to Mewtwo. Her best friend was no longer with her. She was on Garrett's side, which was basically Veronica's. She wanted to just drop dead at this moment but she held her ground. "Samus please…" she pleaded.

"Shut-up! I don't have time for pretty words, Princess! I made my decision. And now it's time for you to make yours. In a few minutes this train is going to speed up and go off the road killing your friends and you of course. Wil you go out fighting or will you surrender?"

"And you?" Peach picked up the now scared Pichu. "You will die too."

"If I do, oh well. I'm a soldier, Peach. I'll die for what I believe is right."

"You'll do that for Garrett?" Mewtwo asked in a quizzical manner.

"I will do anything for him. You have a choice here: you either give up and leave Veronica to be with Link and go home like you're supposed to or you can just die, taking your friends along with you."

"This is crazy. Samus, look at what you are doing." Zelda took a step forward. "This isn't how you want to be. Listen to me, please. After all we've been through, don't you recognize me? I'm your friend-"

Samus let out an angry cry and shot her charged shot right at Zelda. Zelda didn't move since she was filled with disbelief. But thankfully Mewtwo put up a big barrier to cover the four of them. Pichu clutched onto Peach hard almost in tears. Peach stroked her head to calm her down.

"THAT WAS NOT ONE OF THE CHOICES! MAKE ONE!" Samus screamed at them. After a few angry breaths, the anger subsided a little. "I was told not to kill you, but if you press me again, I won't hesitate next time."

Zelda couldn't take it anymore. She started to crack. "Samus, what happened to you?" She said in a crying voice, but she didn't shed a tear.

Peach looked at Samus and Zelda. This was horrible to watch. And she wasn't going to let her suffer anymore. Seeing that the barrier was still up, Peach took this time to grab Zelda and pull her towards the door. She opened the train door. They were high up above the mountains. She pushed Zelda towards the door.

"Peach! What are you doing! We can't leave Samus here! She needs our help!"

"Forget about Samus. You need to find Link. I'll distract her. You're probabaly going to hate me for the rest of your life for doing this to you. But it's for your own good." Without warning, Peach pushed Zelda out the train door! She could hear Zelda already screaming in fright but luckily Peach knew what she was doing. She flipped around towards Mewtwo. "Mewtwo, get her!"

Mewtwo looked at her for a second. "I know what you're going to do. Are you sure about this?"

"Yes! Just keep Zelda safe! Now go!"

Mewtwo nodded. "You're very brave." He teleported out of the train. He could spot Zelda from a distance while he was teleporting. She was still screaming in fright. Mewtwo appeared in front of her.

Zelda looked at him bug-eyed. "Mewtwo!"

Mewtwo held his arms out. "Grab onto me!"

Zelda didn't hesitate for a minute. She grabbed onto Mewtwo as tight as she could. Mewtwo used his levitation to stop the falling. He was floating with Zelda still latched onto him. She kept her eyes shut as he floated down to the ground. They landed by the trees surrounding the mountains. When Mewtwo stopped levitating, he looked at Zelda with her eyes still closed. "You can open your eyes now. It's safe."

Zelda opened her eyes. Indeed she was safe. But what about Peach and Samus? Peach just pushed her out of harm's way, sacrificing herself. And Samus, her now brainwashed friend. And Pichu: she couldn't let her die like that. Zelda let go of Mewtwo. "Thanks for saving me. But I have to go back. My friends need me."

"No, you can't. Peach wanted you get out of there."

"That was stupid of her! I would have been able to fight. We could have saved Samus together, and now she's probably up there battling for her life with Samus as they head for their death." Zelda started to walk in a random direction. "I can't let them fight alone, and I won't."

Mewtwo knew Zelda was going to be stubborn. But then Zelda was smart. She may be right. Mewtwo thought to himself. He floated after her. He heard rustling behind him. He flipped back around. Zelda turned too as she heard it. She looked over at the bushes where the rustling was. In a matter of seconds a familiar face came out of the bushes. Zelda knew who it was as soon as his face appeared. "Link!"

Link looked away from the bushes he was chopping to see Zelda running towards him. "Zel?" He held out his arms as she tried to force herself into them. She buried her face in his chest. "Hey. What's wrong?"

"Oh, Link. It's horrible. I don't know what to do," Zelda said no more as she continued her muffled cries. Link wrapped his arms around her and then looked at Mewtwo giving him a look that said 'what the heck happened'. He pulled Zelda away from him. "It's okay, Zelda. I'm here now. Whatever happened, tell me as we head to the station. There's a path that leads up there, so there's no need for climbing." Link lead the way and put an arm around Zelda as they walked together.

Mewtwo followed, but fell suspicious. Something isn't right here.

The Train

It was a stare down between Peach and Samus. Peach was now in a fighting position and so was Pichu. Peach laughed. "You know, I'm surprised, Samus. I thought you were too tough to allow yourself to be controlled so stupidly like this. To turn on me, Zelda, and the others like this? You must be really weak."

"Watch who you call weak, Princess." Samus had her gun loaded and ready. "You know you don't stand a chance, right?"

"That's what you say. In case you forgot, I'm a smasher too."

"So you are. You're not as tough as me and neither are you, you little rat!"

Pichu growled and sparks started surrounding her body. "PI…CHU!"

Samus laughed at Pichu. "Ooh. Aren't you the tough one?" she said sarcastically.

Peach glared at her. "Enough, Samus. I don't know what's gotten into you. But I'm going to handle you and get you back to normal."

"That's big talk for a wimpy fighter." Samus snapped back.

"Call me what you want. But this train is reaching its falling point as we speak." Peach readied herself. "So why don't we finish this up and see who leaves alive? I've been wanting to get some steam off about your fashion sense for a while anyway."

Samus smirked under her helmet. "Gladly."

Top of the Mountain

"Samus is brainwashed?" Link repeated. "Are you serious?"

Zelda nodded slowly. Her feet were starting to hurt from the long path leading up. But she could see the top where the train station would be. "She has to be. There's no other reason why she would turn on us like that. I'm worried now that they both...tbat they." She couldn't even say it.

"Zel, you can't think like that. They'll be fine. They're strong girls."

"I know. I have more faith that they are alive than the other way around. But the idea of my two best friends fighting brutally to their possible deaths." Zelda hurried her walk. "That's why we need to get there as soon as possible."

"Otherwise this was a gigantic waste of time." Mewtwo added.

"Right past these trees is the station. We're already here."Link went through the trees quickly. "Come on."

Zelda was about to follow, but Mewtwo placed a hand on her shoulder. Isn't this a tad bit suspicious to you? To see Link here out of the blue is strange.

Strange? Zelda echoed in her mind. She looked forward at Link. He's acting normally. It must be just a coincidence.

Mewtwo held her there. His appearance seems too well-timed to be just a coincidence. I think you should approach him with caution.

Zelda heard what Mewtwo said, but no, she couldn't do this. She couldn't suspect another friend. Don't be that way, Mewtwo.This is Link, not Veronica. Link would never lie to me. Thanks again for helping me, but don't doubt him now. What could you possibly suspect about him?

...Princess.

This is him, Mewtwo. There's no reason not to trust him. Zelda went through the trees after Link. Mewtwo sighed and followed after her. Zelda had to pass many trees. "Link, where are you?"

"Just a little further, Zel! I can see you. Keep going straight," he called.

Zelda did what she was commanded and soon she could see Link. When she was close enough, Link held out his hand and she grabbed onto it. Link helped pulled her out of the trees. "Here we are."

Zelda looked around. But something was wrong. Zelda didn't see a train. She didn't even see a train station or train track. There was nothing out there but more mountains. The cliff was a long drop back to where they started. There was a waterfall in view and she couldn't see a single house or anything. It was just more of the mountain forest.

"Link, where's the-"

BANG!

Zelda heard a hard metal clunk to the head. She turned around. Mewtwo was on the ground lying on his stomach. She can barely process the shock as she saw a little bit of blood trickling from the wound.

"Mewtwo?" Zelda could barely utter his name. What was going on? Why was he lying there like that? He was fine merely seconds ago.

Link was as shocked as Zelda. "What happened?"

Zelda was about to reply, but then she heard rustling in the trees just like before. Another person emerged from the bushes but this time this was a face she did not want to see. Veronica came out of the bushes with a weapon in hand. It was a metal shovel. When she saw the blood on the spade of the shovel, Zelda now knew what had happened to her friend.

"Veronica." Zelda said quietly.

"Hello, Princess. Happy Birthday. How's the day going?" Veronica smirked. "I mean between the kidnapping, your friend turning on you, your best friends riding to their deaths, and now this?"

Zelda grew angry. She was tired of Veronica hurting her friends and ruining her life. "Veronica…" She walked dangerously over to raised her hand when she was close enough to hit her. "You're going to pay!" Zelda tried to hit her but just as it reached her face, Veronica didn't move and neither did Zelda's hand. She looked back and wished she didn't look back at all. Link was holding her hand back and preventing her from hitting Veronica. "I can't let you hurt my one true love."

Veronica smiled. "Thank you, Link." She said in a soft yet cold way. Zelda looked back at Veronica. She couldn't form any words on how she felt. But she didn't have the time to because Link roughly threw her back. Zelda felt her leg hit something sharp and it sparked with pain, but she held her balance. She just looked at Link. She was shaking her head, not believing this was happening. "Link… you can't be doing this to me."

"Sorry, but I am." He responded. "You've been a nuisance long enough."

"Yes." Zelda looked at Veronica slowly walking over to her. "And with her friends dead and out of the way, we can get rid of this nuisance together." She sneered. She kissed Link on the cheek. "Girlfriend and boyfriend style."

To be continued…

A/N: I have nothing to say. That chapter was way too long, but I'm trying to shorten the amount of chapters. Review Please!