CHAPTER 36

12 Hours Remain…

Burnscar and Dark Link clash swords, the only light in the cave stemming from the flames of Burnscar's cutlass.

"You're not the worst of my opponents!" Dark Link cries out. "I'll still end your miserable existence though!"

"Ye think so, eh?" Burnscar replies.

Dark Link trips Burnscar's foot, sending him stumbling backwards onto his back.

"Ye fight dirty!" Burnscar yells. He begins to launch fireballs at Dark Link. "Two can play in that game!"

Dark Link deflects the fireballs, laughing at his opponent. "You're not half bad!" He says.

"Hah! I've fought worse!" Burnscar replies.

Dark Link takes his chance and charges at Burnscar, thrusting his sword towards his foe on the ground. Burnscar rolls out of the way and slashes at Dark Link's back with his blazing sword as he gets back up to his feet.

"Take this!" Burnscar yells.

Dark Link ducks under a second slash and lunges at Burnscar, stabbing him in the chest. Burnscar falls backwards, clutching his wound.

"Get up!" Dark Link says. "I'm not finished with you! Not by a long shot! I'm going to make this long and painful for you! Traitor!"

"I'll show you a traitor!" Burnscar calls out. With great effort, he rises to his feet, slowly backing away from Dark Link.

"I'm going to finish you off once and for all!" Dark Link prepares his sword for a charge, aiming toward Burnscar's heart.

"Nope!" Burnscar shouts. "Not today!" He dodges the strike, rolling across the ground. He shoots behind Dark Link's knee with a fireball.

Dark Link cries out in pain and drops his sword. Burnscar picks up the sword and swings it at Dark Link's head.

"No!" Dark Link cries, he tries to dodge, but it's too late. He takes a huge gash to his face. "My face! My beautifully wicked face! You're going to pay for that too! Traitor!" He kicks Burnscar between the legs and takes his sword back.

"I'm not done yet!" Burnscar says, getting back to his feet from the low blow Dark Link gave him. He charges at Dark Link, swinging his sword wildly. Dark Link blocks the strikes with his own sword, pushing Burnscar backwards.

"It's getting closer! The moon's getting closer" Dark Link taunts "You should've stayed on our side, but no, you valued your own life over getting to see a perfect world where I get to be in charge with Master Ganon!"

"Shut ye mouth!" Burnscar yells.

Dark Link ignores him and charges forward again. Burnscar ducks and slices Dark Link's leg open, causing the Dark Link to fall to the ground.

"That was a cheap shot!" Dark Link yells.

"Coming from the guy who went for me super mushrooms!" Burnscar retorts.

Dark Link gets back up and charges at Burnscar, getting behind him and using his weight to push him to the ground.

"Get up!" Dark Link yells.

"You're the one who needs to get up!" Burnscar yells, slashing open Dark Link's other leg. Dark Link falls to the ground. "Get up!" Burnscar mocks Dark Link.

"No!" Dark Link says. He pulls out a potion and drinks it. His body begins to glow with blue energy as his wounds heal. "You're going to regret this! I'm going to kill you!"

"That's how ye gonna play are ye?" Burnscar launches a fireball at Dark Link, it misses wide.

"Ha! You missed me!"

"I wasn't aiming for ye!" Burnscar smiles.

"Your aim isn't the problem here, it's your brain that's stupid!" Dark Link yells.

"Oh ye'd be shocked to see just how clever of a pirate I am! Better watch yer back!" Burnscar says.

Dark Link smirks. "What makes you think I'm going to die by your hands?" His smirk soon fades as he smells smoke. He looks down to see that Burnscar's last fireball set fire to his item pouch!

"If ye got items on ye person like Link!" Burnscar says, "Then ye have to have more than potions in there! Like, for example...a couple dozen bombs that will blow up if they catch fire?"

Dark Link's eyes grow wide.

"That's right!" Burnscar says, "They should be going off...right...about..."

"...I hate you so much," Dark Link whimpers.

"...Now!" Burnscar yells as Dark Link explodes! Burnscar jumps away to get out of the blast radius. He covers his mouth and coughs until the smoke clears. Dark Link's charred remains are scattered throughout the room.

"I don't believe it! You killed me! In my own plane! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" Dark Link's voice echoes throughout the dark cavernous plane, fading slowly until it's gone.

"The feeling's mutual, ya swine" Burnscar says when he can't hear the echoes anymore. He uses his flaming sword to find the stairs and climbs back up them. In a couple minutes he's back on the Tower's second floor where Peach and the Red Toads are waiting.

"Burnscar!" Peach says. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Princess!" he says. "Yashil's not down there though! Just a Dark Mario trap!"

Peach sighs. "We're losing so much time...maybe we should've listened to Azura and went on ahead. He couldn't have gone too far."

"You're right," a familiar deep voice states. "In fact, I am right here."

Peach and Burnscar turn around to see Yashil with the newly reformed Green Toads.

"I'm glad you're alright," Peach says. "How did you get back up down here so quickly? How did you get the Green Toads back?"

"It's a long story," Yashil says. "I'll tell you about it after we save the world!"

Yashil, Peach, their respective colored Toads, and Burnscar begin running to catch up with the rest of the Rainbow Alliance.

After a few minutes of running they reach their friends. All of which are relieved to see them all right.

"Mr. Big Dino!" Maxil says running up to Yashil and giving him a big hug.

"Hey little buddy!" Yashil says.

Peach pats Maxil on the head, then addresses the rest of her friend. "What's our status on reaching the third floor looking like?" she asks, turning to Zelda.

"We found the stairs," Zelda says. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay, let's move out!" Yashil says.

The group continues to run through the floor, the halls becoming narrower and colder. They find a ladder and go up it one by one until they all end up in what looks to be a tower holding cell. Holding a rather familiar person Peach has been searching for...

"HELP!" cries Mario, clutching the bars. "Help me Peach!"

"MARIO?!" Peach yells. She runs to the bars and begins to grasp his hands. "Mario! I finally found you! I came all this way to bring you home!" Peach says.

"Home?" Mario asks. He turns his gaze to the ground. "It's been so long since I've been home I'm forgetting to remember what it looks like." He lets go of the bars and falls to the ground. "I'm sorry Peach. I tried to stop them. I really did. I didn't want it to come to this. I failed you."

"Oh, Mario" Peach coos. "It's alright. I know you did your best. Now, we need to free everyone else here. We need to rescue the people being held captive."

"All I wanted was to help fix things. It seems like it's only gotten worse..."

"How about we start fixing things by getting you out of this cell?" Peach asks.

"I don't think..." Mario starts to say.

"Just trust me for now," Peach says. "Come on, let's get moving."

"Alright Peach. I trust you..."

"Link?" Peach asks, turning to him. Link nods and rips the cell door off. Mario gets up and claps his hand, walks up and shakes one of Link's four hands...then blasts him into a wall.

"...You should never have trusted me though" M-A-R-1-0 says.