Chapter 10: The fury of Dark Samus

"Try to tear us apart, but know that we'll wear our scars. -I Prevail"

Link gets up off the ground, groaning from the impact. Recomposing himself, he sees that he's back in the domain which is now covered by a barrier.

"What's going on? What is this?" Link wonders aloud before being distracted by otherworldly sounds emanating from dust covering whatever it was that hit him. Link focuses his vision and as the dust clears, it is revealed to be Dark Samus slowly floating towards him. "Who are you?"

"I found you… prepare yourself…" Dark Samus menacingly whispers as she takes aim. Moving fast, Link brings up his shield, defending him from the blast of phazon which pushes him towards the barrier, causing him slight injury.

"Wait a minute; you're the one I saw in Kakariko village!" Link says as he stands up right. "What do you want?!"

"Your world…" Dark Samus responds before rushing in and bashing Link with her right shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground and then aims at his head, looming over Link. "And your blood…"

Link quickly grabs her arm cannon and deviates her phazon stream away from him, then he kicks her away, jumps back to his feet and draws the master sword. In response, Dark Samus lunges forward with her cannon and fires a stream of phazon, which Link manages to split with his sword. He then dodges several shots while running forward. "This ends now!" Link severs Dark Samus's cannon and bifurcates her at the waist. His victory is short lived as he watches in horror as both halves of Dark Samus's body reconnect via tendrils erupting from the openings and then follows up by regrowing her arm cannon.

"No… it's just beginning…." Dark Samus maliciously laughs as her body reconstructs itself. Noticing that Samus, Zelda and the Zoras have arrived at the domain, Dark Samus looks at Link and brings up her left hand. "Now, let the carnage… BEGIN." She snaps her fingers, summoning the Yiga and several corrupted monsters.

"Men! Fight for our God's glory!" Silas, leading the Yiga, shouts as the footsoldiers storm the domain, attacking the battle weary Zoras.

"Get the elderly and the children out of here, now!" Sidon shouts before engaging a pair of blademasters. "Leave my home!"

Zelda attacks several bokoblins with a silver sword offered by one of the guards, along with her spells. She is nearly blindsided by a lizalfos, which is then blasted away by Samus. "Keep your eyes open! They're all over the place!"

"I know! There's just too many of them! They were brought on by that stranger in the dome with Link, weren't they?" Zelda asks.

"Yes, I'll explain who that is later. For now, we should secure the domain!" Samus explains before being cut off by a loud roar, revealed to be a corrupted blue Hinox running across the bridge to the domain.

"They brought a Hinox, of course…" Muzu, with an annoyed tone, speaks up.

"That thing's going to destroy the domain! We have to stop it!" One of the guards shouts, which Samus responds by running towards the Hinox and somersaulting at it while radiating energy and it simply swats her away, having been further strengthened by phazon corruption. Getting back to her feet, Samus lays down a hail of power beam shots at it. Zelda moves to shoot fireballs at the Hinox, but Samus stops her.

"I'll handle this monster! You worry about the others! "Samus orders as Zelda nods and returns to the others, silently praying that she makes it back.


Inside the dome

Link continues his fight against Dark Samus, with the added desperation of being unable to help the others.

"Why do you insist on fighting…?" Dark Samus asks after firing a scattershot of phazon energy.

"Because I have many others depending on my success." Link answers while dispelling his now exhausted Daruk's Protection. "And my home has seen enough calamities already." Link then points around the domain with the master sword at both opposing forces. "Look around us! The people will continue to oppose you as long as they have the spirit to continue fighting."

Dark Samus looks around to see the Zoras, injured or not, fighting back against her forces. She then looks back at him. "You're right; these people have the will to fight against overwhelming odds…. But he's about to change that…" Dark Samus then telepathically communicates to an unknown person. "Wreak havoc…" As she says this, dark storm clouds cover the sky and cause a heavy downpour.

"Fine, I'll do it myself." The stranger responds telepathically before taking flight from the cliffs overlooking the domain. Upon flying low enough, the stranger rains down a volley of fireballs at the zoras. They all look to the direction that the fireballs came from, but are unable to see the culprit due to the storm clouds and rain obscuring their sight. The stranger flies back down and fires a stream of superheated energy (while roaring).

"What is that thing?!" Link angrily shouts as he charges at Dark Samus, who parries his strike with her cannon and roundhouse kicks him to the barrier.

"Just a friend…" Dark Samus answers as she watches Link get back on his feet. "Now, I think our little game is at an end…" She takes aim at Link once again. "Die…"

Before Dark Samus can attack, Link lunges forward and slashes up her chest, causing Dark Samus to recoil and exclaim in pain. Looking forward, she notices the master sword covered in phazon, Link having previously coated it from the barrier. "A strength and a weakness in one. How embarrassing." Angered by Links mockery, Dark Samus charges again and forces him on the ground and, thinking quickly, he kicks her off and gets back on his feet. Dark Samus moves in to shoot him, but Link knocks her cannon away and then bashes her face (A/N: Or visor, whichever you prefer) with the edge of his shield. He then lays down a flurry of slashes to her while she's disoriented and finishes the fight by running the master sword through her chest. Dark Samus falls to her knees and struggles to breathe as she bleeds out (phazon).

"It's over. We've won." Link calmly announces to his "vanquished" foe, only for Dark Samus to look up at him, her visor turning from bright blue to black.

"Not quite…" She responds before crumbling to bits. Link doesn't have time to ponder these words as he is blasted from behind by a burst of phazon. Recomposing himself, Link looks back to see Dark Samus, without a single bit of damage on her.

"How? I just destroyed you!"

"You simply destroyed my Echo… You didn't believe that it would be that easy, did you…?"

Link charges forward and attempts to slash at Dark Samus's head, which connects. To his horror, not even a dent was left on her helmet/head, the phazon having dissipated from his sword. Dark Samus sinisterly laughs before blasting off the master sword and the armor from Link's right arm (the sword landing a few feet away). Before Link can react, she grabs him by the collar and head-butts him three times, destroying his helmet, and then shoots him point blank in the abdomen, leaving another breach in his armor and causing him to kneel over. Shakily, Link gets back up, much to the surprise of his opponent.

"Still you stand…?" Dark Samus asks.

"Hah….This is nothing." Link defiantly answers while pondering a way to reach the sword quickly.

"Very well… No more holding back…" Dark Samus flies forward with her left hand outstretched.


The Zoras, not only attacked by the monsters and Yiga, are bombarded by several fireballs and superheated energy.

"Master Silas, our liege's ally has entered the fray." A Yiga footsoldier kneels beside Silas before addressing him.

"Yes, it would seem our leader wishes to end this quickly." Silas calmly responds with his arms crossed. "Very well, leave no one standing."

"Yes Sir!" The footsoldier teleports away as Silas continues to look over the fight (Zoras fighting off the Yiga, Zelda using her magic against the monsters and Samus fighting the corrupted Hinox).

"I still owe you for that night in the rain, my dear…" Silas eyes radiate with phazon energy as he stares at Samus from afar.

Samus continues her fight against the Hinox with slow progress, all the while distracted by the bombardment. "Virginia, who or what is firing at us?"

"Unknown, the storm clouds are interfering with the scanners."

Before Samus can retort, the Hinox punches her against a pillar on the bridge. Samus gets back on her feet and notices the Hinox charging at her. Samus smirks and charges her power beam and, with the Hinox in close proximity, jumps up and uppercuts it in the face with her charged cannon, knocking it back and holding its eye in discomfort. While it's down, Samus equips her nova beam (high frequency blasts) and activates her x-ray visor, which allows her to see the Hinox's phazon infused heart and with the nova beams piercing effects, blasts a hole through its chest and out its back, obliterating the heart. The now dead Hinox falls off the bridge and onto the shallow edge of the lake. Samus catches her breath and as she turns around, Silas stands before her.

"Hello Samus." Silas threateningly greets her.

"Out of my way; I have no time for you." Samus demands.

"Unfortunately, that's not how this works; if you want other opponents, you'll have to defeat me first."

"Fine then." Samus shoots a charged plasma beam shot at Silas and, to her shock, he catches it with his phazon powered right arm and with a clench of his hand, he disperses it.

"You'll have to do much better than that." Silas smiles maliciously.


The Zoras continue their struggle against the phazon powered Yiga and monsters, as well as the unknown attacker's bombardment. Leading the attack are Zelda and Sidon, who decided not to stray from one another.

"This never ends!" Sidon shouts in frustration while fighting off several monsters.

"We can do this! Just hold on!" Zelda replies before ducking down as a fireball flies above her and hits the canyon wall. "What is that thing?!"

"It has to be some form of guardian skywatcher! But this rain is making it hard to see anything in the sky!" One of the zora guards speaks up near her while wrestling with a Yiga footsoldier, doing everything he can to keep him away from Zelda and Sidon.

Zelda looks up to the sky and tries to identify the stranger, noticing at least that they have an almost avian appearance. "No, this is something else…" The stranger dive-bombs and delivers a payload of fireballs, catching several zoras off guard as they fall into the lake, much to the exhilaration of the Yiga. Frustrated, Zelda walks to the edge of the cliff, ignoring Sidon and the soldiers protests, and takes aim at the strangers silhouette as it turns back to fire once again. "This ends now!" Zelda lets loose her arrow, anticipating the strangers trajectory (taught to her by Urbosa back in the day), until…. *CLANK!* to her shock, the arrow bounces off of the stranger and even more unsettling, he appears to be made out of metal. Zelda and the others notice that the stranger stopped his bombardment and hovers just out of visibility.

"Was that you're best shot?" The stranger mockingly quips. "Well then, here's mine!" The declaration is followed by a stream of superheated energy, knocking Zelda off the edge of the cliff and towards the lake below the domain. "Now then- what?!" The stranger looks down where Zelda fell and sees a fireball hurtling towards him and impacts his chest.

"Got you…" Zelda weakly says before finally reaching the lake. The stranger screeches as he too falls out of the sky and into the lake. The Yiga shout in anger as the Zoras cheer.

"We need to recover the princess!" Sidon shouts as he removes the trident from the corpse of a Yiga blademaster. "Wait, where is Samus?"


Back on the bridge, Samus continues her fight against Silas, having switched back to her power suit (yellow suit with less detail and orange-yellow flat shoulders) due to the varia suit receiving too much damage.

"Are you giving up?" Silas mocks Samus while flexing his arm. "We were just getting started."

Ignoring him, Samus locks on to Silas and fires a missile, which he dodges and smirks at Samus. To his confusion, Samus smirks as well and then he is hit from behind by the same missile, having been given a guided feature from the lock-on.

"I'm not through yet." Samus states as she waits for the dust to clear. To her horror, Silas survived the blast by turning his right arm into a shield like appendage.

"Almost got me." Silas says. "I nearly forgot that your missiles can do that."

"How do you know that?" Samus asks, having never used missiles on him. "And how do you know what they're called?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Silas immediately closes the distance between them and turns his arm into a battering ram, which in turn smacks her against a pillar on the bridge. Samus tries to fire a shot, but Silas swats her cannon to the side and punches her square on the helmet, cracking her visor. "This is for being such a nuisance!" Silas grabs her by the helmet and, turning his arm into a piston like appendage, hits her in the chest/abdomen many times, whittling her armor away and causing her injury.

"Suit integrity critical! Contusions detected!" Virginia alerts, causing Samus to grab the piston with her left hand and repulses him with the booster on her heel. Breathing heavily, Samus drops to one knee and coughs, tasting blood as she does so. Silas lunges forward and in response, Samus intercepts him and bashes his head with her cannon. Silas backs off and checks the wound on his forehead.

"Heh, you got me." Silas then reverts his arm to normal and points it forward. "But, how will you deal with this?" A stream of phazon fires from his palm and Samus answers it with stream of energy from her cannon. Unfortunately, due to being previously weakened by Silas, her cannon is overtaken and damaged by the phazon, as well as her suit being damaged further.

"I have to say, Samus; you were a disappointment." Silas states, having stopped his attack. "You looked like a formidable fighter, but it was just a ruse." Samus looks up to meet his eyes, bits of her suit chipping off. "He was right all along; beneath the armor, weaponry and list of successes, you're just a little girl shouting for mommy and daddy." Samus stares at Silas in rage, transferring parts of her suit to restore her cannon. "How does that make you feel, Sammy?" Silas cruelly chuckles, content that he humiliated Samus.

Infuriated, Samus uses the boosters on her back to lunge at Silas, landing three punches on his face, roundhouse kicking him in the chest and finishes with a plasma beam blast in the abdomen. She then picks him up by the collar and prepares to blast his head off.

Coughing up blood, Silas laughs at her rage. "Huh, I struck a nerve, didn't I? I'll make sure to be more sensitive next time. Heheh."

"You. Don't. Know me." Samus angrily responds as she moves her cannon closer to his head.

"I don't need to know, our friend knows plenty about you already. In fact, he's down there with the princess as we speak."

Alarmed, Samus turns her head to look below the bridge, giving Silas ample time to morph his arm into a blade and run it into her cannon and getting her arm in the process, causing Samus to shout in pain. He then kicks upward, destroying her already brittle helmet and then destroying several parts of her suit (left arm, right shoulder, abdomen, right thigh and left shin). Parrying one of his hits with her damaged cannon, Samus then pulls off the sickle from Silas belt and tries to slash at him, only for him to grab her arm and impale her through the abdomen with his blade arm. Struggling from the shock brought on by blood loss, Samus's sight begins to blur.

"*cough* I'll...kill you…"

"Oh, you tried; and you (brings the blade further in, causing Samus's eyes to widen, as well as exclaiming in pain) failed." Silas smiles sadistically. "You didn't think any one of you could stop us, did you?"

"Samus, yo-r v-als are cri-t-l. Seek me-c-l aid imm-iat-ly." Virginia attempts to report, but cannot form coherent words due to the immense damage to the suit.

"A shame that you came all this way, just to die. But, I suppose you can hear exactly how I know so much about you. Not like it matters now." Silas brings a quickly fading Samus close and whispers in her ear. "An old face from K2-L."

Samus's eyes widen briefly, unwilling to believe this revelation. Before anything else, Silas callously removes his blade from her abdomen and, unable to handle the injury, Samus falls to the ground unconscious.

"One down, two to go." Silas walks past Samus and motions towards the domain.


Meanwhile (A/N: everything up to this point happens at the same time), Zelda is brought up from the water by King Dorephan, who had taken it upon himself to save her from drowning.

"Come now princess, breathe." King Dorephan cradles Zelda in his right arm; eventually she coughs out water and hastens to breathe. "Easy now, I've got you."

"King Dorephan? What are- *gasp*" Before she says anything else, Zelda notices the many cuts and bruises littering his body. "You're hurt!"

"Oh, this? It is nothing to get upset about. I've been through much worse than this. You are more important than a few scratches here and there."

"Because I'm the princess of Hyrule?" Zelda asks in a regretful tone.

"Partly. Mainly because of my dear Mipha." King Dorephan quietly states, much to Zelda's confusion. "While she loved Link deeply, you also meant a great deal to her. She appreciated you for your kindness and indomitable will and even hoped that, once she became a champion, you two could become friends. I will never allow any harm to befall you."

"We were friends, King Dorephan. Then and always." Zelda smiles while wiping away a few tears. "Thank you."

King Dorephan grins widely at her before looking up. "Now, we should return; our fight is not yet over. Can you still raise a sword, child?"

"I'm raring to go. Let's save your home; Mipha's home."

King Dorephan motions to climb up the wall to reach the domain, but a fireball knocks him off and he falls on his back, shielding Zelda from rubble with his arms.

"What was that?!" King Dorephan shouts as he looks to the water where the blast came from.

"There's something down there…" Zelda comments while squinting her eyes to focus….until finally noticing a pair of red eyes staring at them.

"Princess!" King Dorephan brings her close to shield her as the stranger erupts from the water and slams him against the wall and roars. King Dorephan recomposes himself and checks to see if Zelda is unharmed, who confirms him. They then finally see the strangers appearance: an avian/reptilian like creature with clawed bird like feet, clawed three fingered arms, a long tail ending in a spike, golden bat like wings, a pterodactyl like head with sharp teeth and piercing red eyes and metallic armor skin.

"What are you?" Zelda asks in fear.

"Heheheh….call me Ridley."


Inside the barrier, Link fights a losing battle against Dark Samus, having lost several parts of his suit and exposing his champion's tunic.

"This is the best you can do…?" Dark Samus comments while walking towards Link. "To think that you were the one who awakened me after almost a century…"

"Had I known you were festering while Calamity Ganon grew in strength, I would have stopped you before things got out of hand." Link breathlessly says, using the master sword as a makeshift support.

"It no longer matters… You and your collaborators will die…" Dark Samus looks outside for a few seconds and then turns back. "Speaking of which…" She moves aside to allow Link to see a terrible sight; Samus on the ground and Silas standing over her.

"Samus!" Link tries to run over to help, despite his injuries, but is grabbed by Dark Samus.

"There is no escape from me…"

"Let go!" Link pulls out a phazon arrow from his quiver and jams it into her abdomen, causing her to scream and release her grip. Taking advantage of her brief vulnerability, Link follows up with a flurry rush of slashes, ending in a thrust to her chest. To his dismay, her vulnerability subsided quickly and the sword inflicted no damage, as well as recovering the wounds previously inflicted.

"Useless…" Dark Samus punches him in the stomach, winding him, and follows up with a force field that throws him backwards. She then teleports behind him and kicks Link in the back, making him fall to the ground. "Stop me then…? You can't even defeat me now…" Dark Samus notices that the fighting outside has stopped and communicates to Ridley. "It is time…"


Despite his best efforts, King Dorephan stood no chance against Ridley and lies defeated.

"King Dorephan! You must get up!" Zelda shouts in despair as she kneels down to speak to him.

"Princess… Run…" King Dorephan weakly says before fainting.

"Hahahah… That was the most he could come up with? How have these fools not taken over yet?" Ridley mocks, referring to the Yiga. "Now, I believe we have some unfinished business, you and I."

Ridley flies forward and grabs Zelda as she unsuccessfully prepares Din's Fire. Before he can do anything else, he receives a telepathic message from Dark Samus.

"Aww, over already? Very well then." Ridley looks down at Zelda, still clutched in his hand. "We'll come back to this later. For now, we have a little surprise for you and your friends." Ridley flies up and Zelda shouts in horror at seeing Samus face down on the bridge. "Another shame; I wanted to destroy her."

Ridley drops Zelda from a short height into the domain and sees the surviving Zoras on their knees with their hands behind their heads with the Yiga patrolling them before perching himself on the cliffs overlooking the domain.

"So, here we are; with you people at our mercy." Silas comments while stepping over a fallen Zora soldier. "You've put up quite the valiant resistance; misguided, but valiant." As he says this, the barrier lowers. "Ah, the fight is over, it seems."

Once fully lowered, Zelda stares in horror as Dark Samus walks out with Link being dragged from her left hand while the Yiga cheer.

"This is your champion…?" Dark Samus brings him up so everyone present can see Link, defeated. "Your leader…? Your savior…?" She then tosses him in front of Zelda. "No… I am."

The Yiga erupt in thunderous applause over their apparent victory as Zelda reaches over to Link, sadly acknowledging their defeat.

"This victory is yours, my liege. Even with the fall of Vah Ruta, the rest of the land is still under our control." Silas comments, showing everyone present the massive barrier still covering the other regions. "Face the truth, all ye foolish enough to challenge her; you have lost." Zelda and the Zoras lower their heads in shame as he says this. 'Let this be a lesson to all would-be resistance; that idea is very dangerous. All races, Hylian or otherwise, are insignificant creatures, put on this world to serve our conquest!" The other Yiga grunt in approval at Silas words.

"You're wrong, Silas." Sidon speaks up as everyone faces him. "We are not here to serve you or that monster." Silas slowly walks over to Sidon, finding amusement in his bravado. "I don't see the Yiga here, just a gaggle of slaves who think that their leader only wants them to reach greatness! So, who is the insignificant one here? We will not bow to you! Just like Ganon, you will fail!" The Zoras and Zelda look up and find inspiration in Sidon's words; Link even begins to regain consciousness. Before Silas can retort Dark Samus teleports in front of Sidon and seizes him by the throat and forms a phazon blade below her cannon (similar to a bayonet).

"Very well...You die first…" Dark Samus prepares to impale Sidon, who shows no fear, in the chest before being blocked by Link, who then forces her back into the center of the domain. A few of the Yiga attempt to aid her, but Silas stops them, telling them to "Let the champion have his fun".

Zelda gets up and runs to help Link, only to be restrained by Silas. "No no, you're staying with me, your highness. We wouldn't want you to miss even a second of this." Silas notices that Zelda is trying to summon her power, but he quickly shuts that idea down. "One spell and we start killing hostages, do you understand?" Zelda shoots him an icy glare, but concedes and dispels her magic. "That's better."

Link forces Dark Samus to the center, repels her and slashes across her chest, which quickly regenerates. Undeterred, he thrusts the sword and Dark Samus parries it, following up with a shot which Link deflects back at her (with his shield), leaving her briefly vulnerable to further attack. Taking advantage of this, Link lands a brutal downward strike on her chest, causing Dark Samus to yell, and he follows up by stabbing a phazon arrow on her left temple. She backs off, pulls out the arrow in discomfort, glares angrily at Link and cartwheels to the left as another replica of her cartwheels to the right from her. "I have plenty more…" Dark Samus orders her Echo to attack while she fires several phazon shots in the air, which begin to home in on Link. He dodges the shots and blocks the phazon stream from the Dark Echo, but is forced to roll away as Dark Samus appears behind him and fires another stream. The Echo morphs into a ball and slams into Link, making him fall to the ground and giving Dark Samus the chance to jump up and slam down on him. To counter her attack, Link conjures Revali's Gale to propel him upward and punches her in the visor. As they both fall back down, Link slams the master sword down on the unsuspecting Echo, destroying it. Searching for Dark Samus, he notices her floating above him with two more Echoes in a triangle formation before firing a large burst of phazon each. Link quickly conjures Daruk's Protection, which then redirects the blasts, destroying the Echoes and injuring Dark Samus significantly.

"That's it Link! You've got this!" Sidon shouts his praise as another Yiga tries to keep him quiet. This proves to be mostly unsuccessful as Zelda and the Zoras begin to lose their apprehension and gain confidence. Recomposing herself, Dark Samus fires a salvo of missiles at Link, which he manages to dodge by rolling to the side. This proved to be merely a distraction, as she takes advantage of his move by teleporting next to him and then kicking him to the side then following up with a boost ball to his chest before Link can react. Dark Samus flies up and prepares to slam down on Link, who brings up the master sword and holds it horizontally. She impacts her charged cannon on the blade and in response; it glows with a white light. The sword dispels the blast and has Dark Samus land a few inches away. "What is this…?" Link stands up as everyone else stares in awe at the splendor of the master swords white light and, unbeknownst to everyone else, Samus begins to regain consciousness.

"You're no savior." Link declares as he menacingly points the sword at Dark Samus. "You are nothing but a plague upon this world and we will stop you!" Link charges forward and before she can react, he slashes Dark Samus across the abdomen. To her shock, the blade managed to cause her damage.

"My liege!" Silas screams in fury, giving Zelda the opportunity to elbow him in the stomach and use her power to repel him away. The Yiga glare at Zelda, but their distraction proves to be their undoing as the Zoras rise up and fight them off. Ridley, witnessing these events, dive-bombs the domain but is struck down by a large boulder, which was thrown by King Dorephan (still injured). Sidon goes over to Zelda as they are approached by a Yiga footsoldier and before he can attack, he is hit by 5 shots from Samus's (still on the ground) pistol, sending him plummeting over the side.

"Samus!" Zelda shouts in a mix of joy and concern over Samus's condition. "Are you alright?!"

"I've seen better days…" Samus weakly quips.

"Don't move, we're coming to get you." Sidon declares as he and Zelda move to aid Samus.

Back to the main conflict, Link continues to overpower Dark Samus, leaving several lacerations on her. Realizing that his fatigue from fighting the queen metroid and his earlier fight with Dark Samus is beginning to catch up to him, Link moves in to finish the fight. She fires a stream of phazon as Link throws the master sword, splitting the stream and then impaling Dark Samus through her left pectoral. As she falls to her knees, Link moves in and brutally removes the sword upward and Dark Samus falls to the ground. Link breathes heavily as the sword loses its glow. "It's finished." Link turns around and sees that both sides have stopped fighting and are now staring at him. The silence is broken as the Yiga begin to cheer, much to everyone else's confusion.

"Have they gone insane?" Link wonders aloud before seeing Zelda, Sidon (with Samus on his back) and the Zoras staring in horror at the scene behind him; Link turns around to see Dark Samus floating in the air, absorbing phazon to fully restore her body and powering her even further. "This can't be!" Link shouts in disbelief.

"You don't understand, do you…?" Dark Samus slowly floats back to the ground. "The phazon gives me power… As long as it exists, I am invincible…"

Frustrated, Link charges with the sword drawn (Zelda shouting in vain to stop him), this proves to be futile as Dark Samus knees him in the stomach, bashes him on the head with her cannon and blasts him away (the Yiga cheer as the other watch in despair).

"Link!" Zelda shouts in terror, only being held back by Sidon. "She's killing him! Let go of me!"

"You were right, young hero…." Dark Samus grabs Link (battered and bloodied) by the collar, who only stares in defiance. "It ends now…" She then blasts him with a burst of phazon to his chest, causing him to fly towards a wall that breaks from the sheer force of the impact; the dust clears and Link is seen lying face down on the ground. The Yiga erupt in applause, chanting her name and holding their weapons high, while the zoras drop their heads in defeat (Zelda, in particular, looking on with tears running down her cheeks).

"Now, there will be no more interruptions, I assume…?" Dark Samus then looks to the side and sees the master sword sticking out of the ground and approaches it. "I claim your sword as the spoils of war…" She grabs it by the handle and, in a matter of seconds, is seized by excruciating pain while the master sword glows in a bright, golden light. She releases the sword and drops to her knees as the Yiga abandon the zoras and head to aid their master. Dark Samus then hears a voice in her head, which can only be described as divine; "Abomination, this sacred blade was never meant for you." She then makes the shocking discovery that the master sword significantly weakened her ability to absorb phazon and even left her near death.

"My liege!" Silas shouts in worry as he approaches her. "Fear not, we have you." He turns around and sees the zoras with their weapons ready, Sidon with his trident and a serious expression, King Dorephan pointing his silver longsword at the Yiga and Zelda with her flaming hands ready.

"Men, we must retreat…" Silas quietly announces. "Leave, now. Take our master away from here." The remaining Yiga teleport away with Dark Samus, only Silas stays behind. "This is the only time you will ever see us retreat." Silas points at the zoras with his phazon arm while glaring. "Next time, we will leave with the satisfaction of having ended your lives. Enjoy what little time you have left." Silas finally teleports away, while from behind the zoras, Ridley jumps up in the air and flies away while roaring in anger. With the threat averted, the zoras tend to Samus's injuries (who had fallen unconscious once again), the injured zoras are looked after by the healers and both Zelda and Sidon rush towards Link.

"Link, can you hear me?" Sidon asks in worry after placing Link on his back. Link then opens his eyes slightly.

"You'll be alright, Link. We've driven them off." Zelda says as she places her hands on his cheeks. Link smiles slightly as his consciousness begins to fade, everyone else gathering around him being the last thing he sees. "Just hold on, Link. Hold on…" Zeldas words echo as Link finally passes out.


Ten hours later.

Link slowly awakens to the sound of falling rain in a house he doesn't immediately recognize. He sits up from the bed, groaning from his injuries (most of which have healed), and finally recognizes the house; Impa's residence.

"I'm in Kakariko Village? How?" Link wonders aloud before looking down to see that his champion's tunic was removed and replaced with a simple white shirt, as well as his suit (or what remained of it) missing. Before he can ponder it further, he becomes distracted by the sound of footsteps coming from the stairs.

"Master Link!" Paya beams at seeing Link and kneels beside him. "Are you alright? Do you need anything?"

"Hello Paya. No thanks, but how did I get here?"

"W-well, when you didn't come back after dispelling the barrier, Grandmother sent Dorian and Cado to find out what was keeping you."

"What about the others? Are they- ugh." Link tries to get up, but his bruises affect him. Paya then stops him by placing her hands on his shoulders.

"T-they're fine." Paya answers, blushing slightly from the brief contact. "Princess Zelda and Prince Sidon are alright, b-but you and Miss Samus were terribly injured, we brought you here to heal. I was so s-scared…"

Link grabs her hand and gives her a reassuring smile. "Thanks for looking out for me. I'll be fine now." Paya, still with flushed cheeks, smiles back in response. "Can you take me to the others now? I want to know how they are."

"Yes Master Link, right away." Link puts his boots on and Paya helps him on his feet. They both make for the stairs with Paya supporting Link.

"By the way, where's my tunic? Who has it?"

"Aahh!" Paya's face turns into a deep shade of red at Link's question. "W-why would I kn-know about that?! I didn't r-remove it from you w-while you were s-sleeping, if that is w-what you're insinuating! I just w-watched you sleep peacefully- ahh! That isn't what it sounds like!"

"It's ok." Link puts up his left hand to slow her down. "I'm sure that Impa has it, right?"

"Oh, yes. That was obvious, wasn't it?" Paya answers while lowering her head in embarrassment. The pair reaches the first floor, where they are greeted by Zelda, Samus, Impa and Sidon.

"Link! Thank goodness!" Zelda gleefully embraces Link, much to his discomfort. "Does anything still hurt?"

"Not at first, but I feel something now, ouch." Link answers while wincing, but returns the hug regardless. He then turns to Samus, who is wearing a grey robe and slippers and with several bandages and her hair down. "Samus, are you alright?"

"I've looked worse, believe me." Samus answers with a slightly displeased tone.

"How are you back on your feet so quickly?"

"Thanks to my Chozo physiology, wounds tend to heal much more quickly." Samus then looks at Paya. "Thank you for tending to me, Paya."

"Anything for a friend." Paya answers while smiling.

"I'm thankful that everyone is, for the most part, recovered. But, I believe that we have much to discuss." Impa speaks up from her seat. Agreeing, everyone sits down on their mats and they bring Impa up to speed with what they encountered in Lanayru. "I see. Then this phazon is even more dangerous than previously established."

"Yes, but it no longer plagues Lanayru, Hateno or Dueling Peaks." Sidon adds, hoping to lift their spirits.

"While that is a victory, the barrier still covers the rest of the land." Impa speaks up. "I fear our troubles are far from over."

"I agree; this corruption won't stop until all of the phazon is purged." Samus retorts with conviction. "And we won't stop either."

"This is our home; we will never give it up." Zelda joins Samus in her conviction.

"No doppelganger is going to rule over this land, believe me." Sidon flexes his arm.

"I will not give in until that Leviathan is destroyed." Link stands up and declares with resolve, the master sword glowing behind him in a small shrine that was put together to house it.

Knowing how important their mission is, the group resolves to never waver and to keep fighting, for many people's lives rest on their shoulders.

The battle has only just begun.


Meanwhile, in the new Yiga clan hideout, Silas observes Dark Samus in a peculiar pod. The brief contact with the Master Sword's hilt has severely weakened her to the point of death, restricting her to the pod to rejuvenate.

"Rest and heal, my liege. Your faithful servants will continue your noble work while you recover." Silas then walks away while Ridley looks on from his perch within the chamber. "It is only a matter of time; we will not stop until this world is purified."

From inside the chamber, Dark Samus weakly flexes her left hand and her visor glows slightly.

To be continued.


Authors note: Well, yet another long chapter. I know I'm probably going to get a lot of hate for how badly Link and Samus were beaten in this chapter, but I decided to go with it because there is something that we kind of have to remember; heroes are not invincible, but they can still overcome the obstacle even after losing at first. In case some of you haven't figured it out, that wasn't Fi that spoke to Dark Samus when she tried to grab the sword; it was actually Hylia. So, that was the end of part one I guess, but don't get nuts; I'm not going on hiatus, I just see significant events as parts. With that in mind, I think I should give you guys some hints as to what you'll see in "Part Two" (aka the next chapters):

Dragons

Lurelin Village

Eventide Island

Space Pirate

Project Helix

Eldin Region

Exposure….

K2-L

And that's about all I can give for now. See you soon!