Author's notes: Bet you didn't see this coming. Bet you thought you had to wait 3 years for another update. Heh heh… That is if my readers from back then even still read this… sigh~. I've also, how the kids say these days, updated/improved previous chapters. Some even have new dialogue, like chapter 2. But yeah check that out if you want…
Also a side note I'd like to add:
Pure italics font (like this) refers to a character speaking to themselves in thought. While "this" refers to a character speaking in past events. Just wanna make that clear.
Also the usage of King is the shortened version of The King of Thieves. I felt like doing this just 'cause I thought that writing out his full title all the time would be a little too repetitive.
Anyway, disclaimer time! I do not own any of the characters and other things that are tied with Legend of Zelda or Adventure Time.
Chapter 10: A Hero's Worth
Pandemonium. That was the only word that could describe the Goblin Kingdom. Pure. Unadulterated. Pandemonium. The entire kingdom was set ablaze, despite the fact that everything in the kingdom was made of metal to prevent this. The intense flames beginning to melt away at the buildings and its residents left in pure shock at the events that were unfolding. Those who were lucky managed to escape while others found themselves to be trapped within blazing buildings or surrounded by molten metal liquid.
With all the chaos that was unfolding cheerful, upbeat, whistling could be heard from a boy strolling down the road, calmly making his way out of the kingdom. His arms were behind his head as he looked up seeing the black smoke bloat out the sky, he smiled. He continued to whistle a melodic forest tune as he continued to walk down the road, taking pleasure in the screams of the denizens of the Goblin Kingdom. The front gates were right ahead of him, he could see the bright, blue, sky and the extension of the illumination the flames brought.
He inhaled deeply, as if he fed off the despair and misery of the people. He exhaled, sighing happily. He was about to step a foot out of the kingdom when he heard a groan come from nearby. He turned his head seeing a little goblin girl trapped under a metal wagon. He calmly walked over to the girl and crouched down to be at eye level with her. He put a hand on his cheek, watching her struggling to breath as sweat ran down her face. His presence went unnoticed as the girl desperately struggled to get the wagon off her.
"Why hello my little goblin friend. How are things going for you?" He said with fake sweetness.
She looked up, seeing the man that she met earlier in day. A bit of hope filled her heart. It was the shadow.
"Mister Link!"
"That's right~." He practically sang out.
"Please, mister Link, you gotta help me! The whole kingdom is in trouble and I don't know where mommy and daddy are! You gotta help me find them!" She began coughing, she could practically feel one of her lungs collapsing from the weight of the wagon alone, let alone the smoke that filled the sky.
"Oh you poor, sweet, innocent, stupid, little girl." He emphasized saying 'stupid'. You really think that I'm gonna help you?"
She could feel the hope she had slowly fade away. "W-w-wh-what?"
He rubbed her head playfully, keeping eye contact with her practically seeing her heart break just through the emotions in her face. His smile widened.
"Why would I want to help the people of the kingdom that I just destroyed?"
"You mean, y-you…" Her hope was gone.
"That's right!" He stood up, towering over her. "I'm the one who set your kingdom on fire." He said cheerfully. He watched as any sign of hope drained out of her face leaving only despair. "Awe~ look at that face." He bent down, holding her chin admiring the despair in her face. "I must say that is a very lovely shade of despair that you are showing. Whenever I run amok somewhere I always find it hard to find that particular look of despair on people's faces."
"Why did you do this...?" She sobbed out, tears now flowing freely from her eyes.
"Why did I do this you ask? Maybe it's because I enjoy destroying places? Or maybe it's because I enjoy the chaotic atmosphere that doing something like this brings? No wait I know…" He lets go of her chin and pinches her cheek. "I do this because I can." He stands back up, he turns away from her and begins walking away waving as he does. "Enjoy the despair and chaos while you can. Consider it a gift for your hospitality."
He began whistling his forest song again as he exits the kingdom, in the distance behind him he could hear the girl screaming her lungs off calling for Link. He snickers to himself and eventually shouts in laughter.
"Oh that was one of my best works yet and in record time too. There's still daylight."
"That's because you played the Inverted Song of Time." The shadow's fairy emerged from his hat. "You slowed down time by a third. It should be early evening but it's only two-thirty in the afternoon."
"Oh yeah I almost forgot. No wonder everything looked like it was going in slow motion to me. I forgot we aren't affected by the song's effects if we're the one's who play it. You think I should restore the flow of time?"
They look at each other for a brief moment before answering "Nah." in unison.
"So, what do now B-dude?"
"We continue with our plan, my little fairy companion." He pointed a finger at the fairy. "You are going to find out where it is we can find our little Hero of Time and check on the state of that kingdom we were at."
"Oh come on!" The fairy groaned. "Why do ya gotta give me the hard job?"
"'Cause, it's fun to watch you suffer." He then points his thumb at himself. "I'm going to go hire a little helper to 'entertain' our pals at said kingdom."
"Awe~ no fair." The fairy whined. "You get to do all the easy stuff."
"Easy stuff, huh?" He placed a hand on his hip. "I don't know this place all too well so finding a hitman can prove rather difficult."
"Oh yeah. Well good luck with that." With that the fairy flew away.
The shadow sighed. He pulled out his ocarina and played Epona's Song backwards, summoning his black stallion. He stroked the horse's mane. "Hey boy. Where have you been?" The horse neighed and the shadow shook his head understandingly. "Oh really? Is that so?" He turned his horse's head so that he could look at him in the eyes. "Take me there."
The horse neighed once again, swishing his tail signaling for his master to hop on and so he did.
"Lead the way boy."
The horse reared up on his hind legs neighing once again before bolting forward.
…
The shadow's horse led him into the Dark Forest and now trotted along the dirt path. The shadow rolled his eyes as he watched forest fauna scurry further into the forest to avoid the shadow. "Smart animals."
Eventually the horse stopped once they arrived at a run down tavern. It was a tavern made from blue wood. Planks stuck out from it showing the building's unkempt management. There were two windows, both being broken, and no door being present. The shadow leaned closer to his horse.
"You sure this is the place?"
The horse nodded. The shadow shrugged his shoulder and got off the horse. He petted his head before entering the tavern. Upon entering he noticed the dim, red, lighting of the place and metal rock being played. In the center was a pool table and past that was the bar counter, the bartender being a chocolate malt ball man. Wood tables were spread out throughout the tavern. The tavern was filled with burly men of various species. Some were around the bar, others were around the pool table and the rest were just sitting. The shadow cleared his throat gaining the attention of the men.
"Evening gentlemen." The shadow waved to them. "I am looking for-"
An especially muscular blue gobin approached the shadow.
"Hey kid," His voice was deep as his muscles were huge. "I think you best be turning yourself around and walking right on out of here if you know what's good for ya."
The shadow smiled. "Awe that's cute. It thinks I'll be intimidated by it just because it listened to mommy about drinking milk."
"What did you say?" His muscles tightened but the shadow just laughed it off.
"Don't try and act all high and mighty little guy." The shadow walked past the goblin and patted his stomach as he did so. "Wouldn't want to send you back home to your mommy and embarrass you in front of all your friends."
The goblin placed his hand on the shadow's shoulder who stopped in his tracks.
"Alright kid, I'm tired of your sh-" The shadow, without turning around, grabbed the goblin's wrist. A loud crunch was heard followed by a high pitched scream. All eyes turned to the goblin who was now on his knees trying to pry the shadow's hand off his wrist.
"You know, I said I didn't want to send you back home to mommy so you know what? I won't." He turned around to face the now pleading goblin, he smiled. "I'll just send you to hell." In one swift motion the shadow took out his sword and plunged it into the goblin's head and carved a straight line into the skull of the goblin. Once he was done he cleaned his sword using the body's clothes and pushed the body away making the blood seep out onto the floor. The shadow calmly walked towards the bar counter, the remaining customers opted to move as far away as possible from the shadow.
"Oh bartender~." The shadow sang out to the chocolate malt ball. The bartender froze up and slowly turned to look at the shadow who was waving at him using his fingers. "Hi mister candy man." He said sounding playful.
He gulped. Alright Starchy, you took this job knowing how seedy some of these people can be but…
"Oh come now mister candy man. I don't bit." He laughed a little. "That is to say unless I get curious as to what you taste like."
Starchy mentality screamed before forcing his way over to the shadow. Every step felt like it would be his very last until he was in front of said shadow. The only thing separating them was the wooden counter, not that it provided Starchy with any comfort. Starchy slowly reached down to the shelves under the counter taking out a glass cup and a bottle labeled 'Red Butterscotch Rum'. He uncorked it and began pouring it into the cup, his arms trembling as he did.
"Drinks that aren't even visible to customers? Must be some good stuff, right?" Starchy quickly nodded, nearly spilling the contents onto the table. "Wow. I must be special if I get to have first dibs on it." The shadow said enthusiastically.
Starchy simply nodded his head. The glass was nearly filled to the brim when Starchy finished filling it and handed it to the shadow.
"Why thank you my good candy man." Starchy was about to walk away when suddenly…
"Just a minute, my good bartender. I wish to speak with you." Starchy made a loud, audible, gulp. "A little colt told be that this tavern is known for its hitmen, is that correct?" Starchy nodded. "And where might I find these hitmen?" Starchy pointed to a corner in the bar where three people were, one was sitting while the other two were standing. "Thanks." With that the shadow got up from his seat, taking his drink and walked to the indicated corner.
Maybe Starchy should reconsider going back to the candy kingdom.
The shadow approached the indicated table. He sat down and offered his drink to the man on his left who slowly backed away from the shadow. He then did this to the man on his right who proceeded to do the same thing. He then placed the drink on the table and offered it to the person across from him who took it. The person wore a cloak which shadowed their face.
"Hello, my good mercenary. How are things?" Silence. "Not the talkative type, I see. Well seeing as though you're the only person here with a pair I was hoping you would do a little job for me."
"My services require immediate payment." The person said in a deep robotic voice.
"Ooo~! A voice filter." The shadow clapped his hands together. "This should be very fun." The shadow took out his Giant's wallet and pulled out three black rupees and handed it to the person. Said person picked up one of the rupees and examined it before placing it down and nodding their head.
"Who will you have me kill?"
The shadow smiled, revealing his sharp teeth.
"Oh this is going to be delightfull."
…
Link was sitting in his hospital bed, his fists clutched onto his bed sheets and his eyes remained closed. For him to replay the events that had happened in the City of Thieves was... hard to say the least. Bubblegum listened to every single detail never once judging the boy, she only listened. The room was silent save for the quiet roar of Flame Princess's flames. Link was lost in his thoughts, his words ceased to continue, too afraid to recall his recurring nightmare.
"Link?"
His eyes snapped open, his breathing heavy and erratic. His arms were shaking vigorously and his hands held onto the sheets even tighter, as if his life depended on it.
"Link, please, calm down." Bubblegum held onto his left arm, trying to stop his shaking. His look snapped at her, his eyes wide and pleading. "You don't have to continue if you don't want to."
It took a few minutes of reassurance but eventually Link managed to regain control of his breathing and his arm having stopped shaking, having gone numb since. Fear having left his face, now only leaving depression, as he looked down at his hands, still gripping the sheets.
"I can understand if you don't want to talk about it anymore." Bubblegum said trying to reassure the boy.
"N-no… I-I want to continue…" Bubblegum placed a hand on his right shoulder.
"Link…"
"N-no I have to…" His left hand released his grip and brought it to his forehead, brushing away his bangs. "I-I don't think I can handle more stuff that I have to keep to myself. I think I'll feel better once I told you everything that I can remember."
"Alright Link." She moved away from to boy to bring up a chair for her to sit in. "I'm listening."
He breathed deeply. Before he could speak the squeaking of the door opening was heard and stepped in a boy holding a teardrop bottle.
"Hey, Princess Bubblegum." It was Finn. "I brought the…" An awkward silence crept in as the heros locked eyes. One filled with despair and sorrow while the latter's was filled with anger and disdain. "Oh, he's awake." Finn bitterly spat.
"Now Finn," Bubblegum said trying to be the voice of reason. "you royal promised you wouldn't do anything to Link until you heard what happened."
"Yeah I remember." Finn grumbled. He calmly grabbed a chair placing it uncomfortably close to the Hero of Time. He sat in it backwards so that he could lean on the chair's backrest. "So tell me Link…" Finn slowly leaned closer to Link, glaring daggers as he slowly spoke. "What. Happened. To. Flame Princess?"
Link uncomfortably gulped. He took a deep breath in, familiarizing himself with the tension that was practically breathing on him, and exhaled.
"Okay. I'm ready." Link continued his recollection of events, unbenounced to him that a black fairy was leaving his window.
…
"Link!"
Tobi watched in horror as he saw Link wiz past him watching him crash into a building brick wall. The knife having fallen out of his hand from the initial punch.
"Uh, come on Link, you can walk that off…" Link slid down the wall and sat on the floor. His head drooped, bangs shadowed his face as he sat motionless. "Link!"
Without a second thought Tobi flew over to Link, grabbing hold of his shirt collar attempting to shake the boy. "Come on Link get up!" Tobi lifted a bit of his hair seeing his normally blue eyes were a faded grey, he feared the worse. "No, don't tell me your…" He flew over to Link's neck checking for a pulse, fortunately it was there, faint but it was there. He sighed in relief but froze up when he heard a dark laughter behind him.
"It's adorable to see you so concerned for your friend." Tobi turned seeing the King of Thieves towering over him, arms folded. He looked down at him with a sickening grin on his face. "You people are by far the most interesting I've ever met."
"W-where's-"
"The little girl?" The King pointed his thumb behind him. "I haven't even touched her yet. She's only stood there. I think she'll make a fine statue once I've finished off Link."
"Y-you spineless coward! Link can't even defend himself! Where's the honor in that?!"
"Honor you say?" The King raised an eyebrow. "What could possibly know about honor? You're just an insignificant fairy." He raised both his hands up and both illuminated in the purple energy that encased his fist from before. "Now die like the fly you are."
Before he could do anything a flaming comet crashed into him from the side, blowing him away, revealing itself to be Flame Princess.
"Flame P!"
"Tobi," Her eyes fixated on the King who was now getting back up. "you take care of Link. I'll deal with this guy." Her hands lit up and she dashed at the King leaving a trail of fire in her wake.
"Okay Link, nap time's over. Time to get up!" He only sat there, motionless. "Come on Link we need your help! As strong as Flame P is even I don't think she can take this guy on her own!" Still no response. "Gah! What in the name of Din has gotten into you Link?!"
…
He was floating through darkness, he couldn't move. There was nothing around him yet he felt as though he was suffocating.
What's going on? Why can't I move?
He couldn't feel anything but the heavy sensation that surrounded his body, it was familiar.
"Link…"
Who's there?
"Link, are you even listening to me?"
A flash appeared, nearly blinding Link forcing him to close his eyes. He slowly began to reopen them seeing lush, green, fields and clear blue sky. He looked around, noting that he was in the sky and below him were two young kids looking up at the sky.
Hey that's me! And is that-
"Wha?" Link snapped out of his daze and sat up looking at the princess next to him. "Sorry, Princess Zelda, I kinda zoned out."
She giggled. "I told you, you can drop the formalities. It's Zelda to you." She playfully punched his arm.
I remember this, I was having nightmares about the things that happened when I was an adult so I wanted to tell Zelda about them to see if she could help me cope with them.
She brought her knees up to her and wrapped her arms around the front. "I said, are you alright? You seem like something is bothering you."
Link sighed and looked straight ahead. "Yeah, it's just that… I've been having… nightmares…"
Zelda gave him a skeptical smirk. "Nightmares? You mean to tell me the bearer of the Triforce of Courage is afraid of some dreams he's having?"
Link rolled his eyes. "Alright then, O' bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, how do you suppose I deal with this?"
Zelda dropped the smirk and looked at him with a straight face. "Even though we both carry one-third of the Triforce that best represent us we are only human. I mean everyone is afraid of something. To say that the bearer of the Triforce of Courage wasn't afraid of something is really dumb to say the least. Plus, it's okay for the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom to not have all the answers sometimes."
Link turned to her. "And what about the other third?"
"Well from the stories that you told me he's trapped in the Sacred Realm or with you having warned us he's currently waiting a long extensive trial." They both shared a laugh unbeknownst to them that dark clouds were beginning to cover the sky. However the Link watching them took notice almost immediately.
What's going on?
"Thanks Zelda. But when I really think about it I shouldn't be afraid of any of that stuff that I've overcome."
"Is that so?"
They both froze, slowly turned to the voice behind them revealing it to be Ganondorf. Link's arms screamed for him to grab his sword and shield but he couldn't. All he could do was look up at the wicked grin that was being aimed directly at him.
"A child like you has everything to FEAR."
He walked past him making his way to Zelda, his arms still trembling as his eyes followed the evil king.
"L-Link-" A hand grabbed at her throat and lifted her into the air so that she was that equal eye level with the bearer of the Triforce of Power.
Zelda!
Every part of Link wanted to move to go to Zelda's rescue, it was screaming for him to move but he couldn't. An unnerving paralyzes overwhelmed his body. He knew what this feeling was, this almost alien feeling.
It was fear…
…
"Come on Link, snap out of it!"
Still no response. Tobi groaned angrily as he could not shake Link from his near vegetable state. Flame Princess then rolled up near them but managed to spin herself back up to her feet before she could crash into Link.
"How's he doing Tobi?"
"Not good at all. But do you think you can hold off the creep until I'm able to wake him up?"
She cupped her hands into fists summoning a blazing fire around them.
"I'll do my best." With that she rushed back to the battlefield to confront the King of Thieves once more who laughed once she made it back.
"You just don't give up, do you princess?" He said shaking his head; hands on his hips. The black fabric he was clothed in was nearly all burnt away at this point leaving its reminisce as shorts on the King. He still wore leather boots with silver wings on the side as well as his gloves and shoulder guards. Other than that the rest of him revealed his green-like skin.
"It would make me look like some weak damsel if I backed down from fighting a creep like you."
"Funny how you would say that considering how, if I recall correctly, the princess's of this world all seem to share the innate ability to scream like little bit-"
"RAH!" Flame Princess blast a torrent of flames at the King who was able to continue to out run it as it followed him.
"Come now princess you have to try better than that." He mocked.
"Shut up!"
Flame Princess dissolve herself into a fiery trail and just as quickly as she did this she made her way to the King and uppercut him into the air. She followed him; blasting fire out of her knuckles as to gain more speed. She caught up to him and nailed both feet into his abdomen causing him to double over, arms now wrapped around where she struck. She backed away slightly and opened her hand aiming it towards the king. An orb of fire gathered in front of her palm. Using it, she shot out a fireball ten times the size of the orb which carried away the King. Once she felt it traveled a decent enough distance away she closed her hand into a fist and shouted "Scatter!" causing the fireball to erupt into small fragments that pelted the area.
Feeling satisfied, she floated back down all the while looking for traces of the King.
"I gotta say, you sure do put up a fight." She gasped turning around only to be met by a fist striking her cheek, sending her a few feet away from the King. "It's too bad that it's all amounting to nothing."
"That's what you think!"
She brought her hands forward and shouted, "Scatter Fire!" shooting eight bolts of fire at the King, four from each hand. They quickly surrounded him and with a snap of his fingers a burst of wind came and instantly vaporized the bolts.
"Was that the best you could-" He stopped abruptly as the princess appeared before him, her hands now taking the form of an intense blue flame with an inner white flame.
She attempted a jab at his face only for him to avoid which was continuously followed up by slashes and jabs all which the King managed to avoid and dodge. Each failed attacked only caused Flame Princess to shout and grunt in frustration.
"That was quite the dirty trick you tried to pull and I must say I really do like the whole 'blowtorch hands' thing you got. This whole thing you got going is quite cute really."
"There's nothing cute about this!" She made a horizontal slash for the head followed by a diagonal only for him to avoid both. "I'm gonna beat you and protect my friends!"
"Is that so?" Another jab failed only this time the King rushed forward and kneed the princess in the gut knocking the air out of her causing her to drop to her knees, the fire on her hands vanishing. "I'll tell you what, you certainly have the power to beat me but you lack the finesse to really do anything. Let's face it kid, you are out of your league. I'm the King of Thieves and you're nothing more than a weak, hot headed, princess."
"Don't call me weak…" She huffed out. The King smirked as he bent over a little to see her face. "And don't make jokes about me being made of fire!" Before he could do anything, Flame Princess sent an ignited fist at the King's crotch hearing an audible crunch and a high-pitched squeal coming from the King.
Tobi, watching this, takes a deep, sharp, inhale and exhales saying, "Nasty!". Tobi then redirected his attention at Link.
"But seriously… Come on Link!" He shouted. The hero hadn't moved from his initial position regardless of all of Tobi's shouts, hair pulls and punches. Nothing fazed the boy. "What's your deal Link?! Don't tell me some stupid, little, punch is going to take you out of action like that?!" He flew up to his face. "What's wrong with you?! Flame Princess is out there putting her life on the line while you're here looking at the ground because you're afraid of some ginger troll!"
...
Afraid… The word echoed in Link's mind. He still watched as Ganondorf slowly choked the life force out of Zelda while the Link he saw was still there, unable to do anything.
Yeah that's what I am… Afraid… A scared kid who can't do anything…
"L-Link…" As if hearing his thoughts Zelda called out to him. "Link… remember what I said… Everyone is afraid of something. It's okay to be scared because I know that you can overcome it. That's what makes you so strong, Link. You fill people with hope and in turn you're able to overcome any obstacle knowing that there are people who need your help."
Ganon's grip tightened. "Enough of this foolish nonsense. A weakling is a weakling. No amount of hope or courage is going to change that."
"You're wrong…" His thoughts now being said by the Link below. "When you took over Hyrule I saw the people were suffering and they had no one they could believe in. It was out of courage that I became the person that people could put their hopes on when all seemed gone…" He unsheathed his sword and shield. "I turned that hope into courage and used that to send you to the Sacred Realm!" The grip on his sword tightened as he raised it at the evil king. "So long as there's someone in need I can stand up to the likes of you! And even if I fail…" He ran at the Ganon. "I'd rather face you and die with courage than runaway and live in fear and shame!"
A white flash enveloped everything. Link shielded his eyes from the light, in the distance he could hear someone calling for him.
…
His eyes slowly opened the first thing he noticed was the flying, glowing, golden orb in front of him that was being obscured by strands of his hair.
"T-Tobi…?"
The fairy rejoiced hearing Link finally answer him.
"Link! It's about time you woke up! Now let's go Flame Princess needs us!"
Link hadn't moved, his gaze however was no longer fixated at the ground between his legs but the fight that was in the distance. Flame Princess stood before the King, who was on his knees, her arms arched behind her with one hand over the other and an increasing orb of fire growing between her hands.
"Infernoooooo…" She extended her arms forward opening her hands and unleashing a torrent of fire. "SHOT!"
The flames engulfed the King of Thieves and continued forward until colliding with a building, spreading its flames across the building upon impact.
"I'm not going to let you hurt my friends! THIS! ENDS! NOW!" With a shout the size of her flames increased becoming bigger and more intense. The flames eventually melted through the building and tore through the city, leaving a path of burn and ash in its wake. "Burn! Burn! BURN!" The torrent was beginning to destabilize as small burst of fire were beginning to shoot out from it.
"ERUPTION SCATTER!" The flames erupted from all sides of the torrent hitting and burning nearly everything in sight. Flames carved up the streets charring buildings and roads leaving remnants of ash and debris. The flames the princess shot soon stopped leaving her exhausted. She took deep breaths, still standing and still in the same position.
"Wow…" Tobi said in awe. "That was intense."
"There… it's over…" She slowly lowered her arms, her breaths still heavy.
"Yes, it is over…" She gasped turning around her eyes widened. "For you that is." He was behind her. His head no longer bearing skin revealing his skull, his hair caked in ash, two long horns protruding from his head, his right eye now covered by a black eyepatch with a green gem on it. The rest of him was covered in burns while some parts of his body revealed the skeletal structure hidden under the skin.
In a swift motion the king launched a fist covered in purple aura right at Flame Princess's stomach using enough force to lift her off the ground by a few inches. Her mouth hung agape words, let alone sounds, did not escape. Just as quick as he did that, he moved behind her and delivered a swift, hard, elbow to the back of her neck using enough force to cause the earth to crack underneath her as she slammed into it. She laid there motionless, her hair now losing its gravity defying touch and fell, spreading out on the ground.
"Flame Princess!" Tobi nearly screamed. He grabbed Link's hand, trying to pull him out of his sitting position. "She needs us Link! MOVE DAMMIT!"
He's right she needs us but why can't I move? Link grind his teeth, a scowl overcame his face as all he could do was watch the princess be beaten senseless.
"T-To...bi…" He said weakly. The fairy immediately flew before Link. "T-the bag…" Link tossed out the leather sack that contained his items. "...get the b-blue potion inside… the bag…"
"Blue potion! Got it!" Tobi immediately plunged into the bag, beginning to rummage through its contents in search of the bottle with the blue liquid.
"H-hurry…" He could only watch as the King grabbed her by the head and lifted her off the ground. Her eyes were closed shut, she was still breathing but her breaths were weak and shallow.
"What power you have. I must say I may have underestimated you, you have such raw, destructible, power." His hand began to glow in the purple aura from before and it slowly began to surround Flame Princess. "Hope you don't mind if I take it." The aura now fully encased her and now shot up in spikes resulting in screams from the princess and laughter from the King.
"Tobi… hurry…"
Her screams continues, her color slowly beginning beginning to fade.
"Yes! Scream for me! You're power feels so good! Ah-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-GHA!"
His laughter cut short as he felt a sharp pain in his leg. Seeing a small girl having stabbed a knife into his calf and was holding onto the handle.
"P-Penny… When did you…"
Sometime during the fight Penny had regained her senses, picked back up the dropped knife, and hid not wishing to confront the King. Until now that was.
"I won't let you hurt them anymore!"
"Eh?! Stupid kid!" The king released the princess and raised his leg looking at the girl in question. He proceeded to punch the girl in the head, repeatedly, in an attempt to get her off but to no avail. "Get off me!" He continued to do this, now including elbows, but she still hung on to the knife handle.
NO! I swore I wouldn't let her get hurt! "Tobi…"
"I got it!" Tobi reemerged from the bag now holding a bottle filled with blue liquid. He placed the bottle in front of Link, uncorked it, and feed it to him having him chug down the contents. Once the last traces of it were gone almost immediately Link stood back up on his feet. Grabbing the sack he took out The Great Fairy Sword and a bottle containing red liquid.
"Tobi," His voice was firm and stern. He extended the bottle to the fairy. "Give this to Flame Princess as soon as possible. I'm not sure of all the effects it will have on her but at the very least it should help her." His grip on the sword handle tightened. "I'm going to make him pay!" With that Link ran forward onto the battlefield.
"Get off me!" The King's fist became enveloped in purple aura and punched Penny sending her careening and crashing into a building. As she fell the debris from her impact fell with her and fell on her, practically burying her. He plucked out the dagger from his calf.
"Now that she's gone I can go back to-" Before him was a blur of blue. He jumped back but could feel the sting of metal opening him up across his chest. In front of him was Link, his hair shadowing his eyes.
"あなたは彼が実際にいますか?あなたはハイラルを破壊した男ですか?それとも、ただ私の恐怖の実施例がありますか?"
"What?"
Link sighed. "If you didn't understand that then that means you really aren't him." He looked down at his left hand noticing that the Triforce of Courage began to glow. In turn Link looked at The King of Thieves noticing a black glow emanated from his forehead. "But you're connected to the Triforce somehow and I'm going to find out how!"
"The heck is a Triforce? Bah, enough of this! I'm through playing games!" A vortex of red fire surrounded the king. Link readied himself, both hands now gripping the sword handle. "And with me absorbing the princess's power it'll be easier to…" His hands ignited. "Burn you to ash!"
He pointed a finger at Link, the vortex surrounding him separated into three separate wisps of fire. All closed in on Link colliding into a massive puff of black smoke.
"That was easier than I thought." As the smoke cleared it revealed Link surrounded by a see-through, blue, diamond like structure. "What kind of magic is this?"
"It's called Nayru's Love. While this is active you can't do anything to hurt me."
"We'll just see about that now won't we!" The King's arms ignited in blue fire at the flick of his wrists. "After I'm done with you all that's going to be left are the ashes of your ashes!" The King took off, shooting streams of fire out of his hands to close the gap between them even quicker.
"If you think that's going to happen then I'm sorry to disappoint you!"
The King was mere inches away from Link before Link decided to act. In an instant he threw down a Deku Nut, blinding the King, and followed it by kneeing the King in the face. The King staggered back and Link continued the pressure swinging his blade at the King slicing open a cut and slash at every part of the king's body that left him exposed. After a while Link backflipped, in doing so he kicked the King square in the jaw, he then leaped forward, raising his sword above his head and made a single vertical swing as he came down.
"Damn you!" The King was on a knee, he raised his hand up and caught the blade as it dug into his palm. "You think just because you have some kind of invincibility magic that you're safe from me?" His fingers slowly began to grip onto the blade causing it to slowly dig deeper into his hand. Link, now standing in front of him, tried to pull the blade out from the man's hand to no avail. The King's free hand became enveloped in a purple aura. "I'm not about to take crap like this from a bunch of kids!"
In an instant, his fist collided with the blue barrier the aura now flowing freely across it. Link tightened his grip as he could feel the force of the blow and energy radiating from the aura.
What's going on? I can feel my magic energy being drained away but how?
"I don't know what kind of magic you're using to keep the spell going but whatever it is…" A crack appeared on the magical prism to which Link gasped. "I'm taking it!"
In an instant the king's fist broke through Nayru's Love sending Link flying. He had a hand still griped to his sword and aimed it below him. As he came down the sword injected itself into the ground practically stopping any momentum Link would have carried from the blow.
Link propped himself backup and pulled his sword out from the ground. The King stood a few feet away from him, blue fire beginning to circle him as Link noticed wisps of aura disappearing from the king's fist.
This is bad. He broke through Nayru's Love and I can barely feel traces of magic left in me. But how is this possible? There's gotta be something else going on here…
The flames from the circle began to rise as it did Link noticed the black glow on the King's forehead beginning to emanate brighter as the flames grew.
Maybe that glow has something to do with it. It could be a weak spot. Only one way to find out.
The King trusted his hand forward, opening his hand, causing the flames around him to swarm in front of his palm. "Burn!" In an instant a torrent of blue flames shot out in turn two streams of fire shot out from both ends of the torrent and began to close in on Link.
The three streams collided from it came an eruption of blue embers that began to cake the ground. The flames dissipated the smoke beginning to make way for the King's handy work. The smoke cleared revealing a dome of red fire that took the place of Link.
"What?!"
"Now that's what I call fire control Flame P!"
The King looked behind him seeing a familiar golden fairy and fire princess a few feet away from him.
"I'm gonna make this guy pay for what he did to me!" Flame Princess growled out. Her breathing was heavy and her glow wasn't as bright as it usually was but her hair was standing like a lit torch and the look in her eyes meant she was ready for a fight.
"So you're back up are ya?" He turned to face them. "Fine by me! That just means more energy for me to dra-" The sound of metal pierced the King's ears. He turned and saw Link flying right at him, Great Fairy Sword in both hands and the Hookshot's handle gripped by the teeth.
"Damn it all to hell!" The King ignited his arm into a near blade made of fire. In a mere fraction of a second both collided blades and just as fast Link zipped past him. Link's grip on the Hookshot loosened resulting in him tumbling to the floor and eventually stopping before Flame Princess and Tobi.
"Link!"
His back displayed a clean cut from top to bottom, the cloth surrounding it showing signs of burns.
"I'll admit, that was smart of you trying to sneak up on me like that. But it was idiotic of you to think you could get me with a move like that."
"Was it really?" Link placed the Great Fairy Sword into the ground, using it as leverage to slowly bring himself back to his feet, a sly smile spread across his face. "'Cause I think it got the job done."
"What's that supposed to-" The King's eye dilated; he screamed as purple aura burst from his forehead. He dropped down to his knees as his hands covered his forehead in an attempt to keep the aura from seeping out.
"Link what did you do?" Tobi said now floating over Link's shoulder, Flame Princess followed suit and now stood beside Link.
"I wanted to test something. There's something in his forehead that responding to the Triforce and the only other thing to do that was that shard I found back in that dungeon. When I touched it it gave off a zap like it was a hazard or something. So I thought about doing the same thing by punching him in the forehead by making it look like I was going for a slice. I gotta admit getting sliced in the back really hurts but I guess it was worth it."
"Damn Link, you really are crazy. So any more ideas?"
Link was hesitant but he still voiced his thoughts. "I do have a idea but…"
"You little brat!" The King writhed in agony. "I'm gonna smash your head in for this!"
"Well whatever it is let's go for it." Flame Princess reassured. "We don't have many options at this point."
Link grimaced to himself.
"Right…"
…
Silence filled the room once again. Link could only stare at his bed sheets while he could feel the bandage wraps being removed. Princess Bubblegum took the liberty to apply the Cyclops Tears to heal Link's injuries and scars.
Finn still sat in his chair, his eyes never breaking focus off of Link. He spoke up.
"What. Was. The plan…" He let out slowly.
Link sighed heavily.
"The plan was for Flame Princess to lure the King back to the tower and I would stall him there giving Flame Princess enough time to charge up for a finishing blow. That being a really big ball of fire. But the catch was that we needed to take whatever was in his forehead before giving the final blow. So I gave her a Light Arrow and told her once she was done charging to get this as close to the glow as possible and then bottle whatever came out. The last thing I remember was seeing the King go after Flame Princess after he beat me up. Then everything went black after that."
"So you mean to tell me that you made a plan that practically endangered Flame Princess's life?!" Finn stood up, knocking the chair over in the process, his hands balled into fists.
"Now Finn just calm down." Bubblegum said trying to ease the tension. "There's no need to go flying off the handle like this. They both made it back in one piece and Flame Princess is recovering nicely. So let's not do anything rash."
"No," Link said. "he has every right to be angry with me. I can't say I wouldn't feel the same if I was in his position. So if you're going to beat on me for what I did then do it. I deserve it."
For a second, Finn was ready to start delivering blow after blow to Link's face but he only stood there his gaze fixated to the floor and his teeth clenched. He momentarily turned his head to look at Flame Princess who was still resting on the foil covered bed. He inhaled and exhaled, deeply, before speaking.
"I'm not gonna slug you one just because I'm sure Flame Princess trusted you enough to go with your plan. But I'm not going to let it slide that your plan put her in a lot of danger. So…" Finn walked away from Link's bedside, heading for the door, only to stop once he was at the foot of the room exit. "You and me. Outside. We're gonna have a fight." With that he left the room.
Princess Bubblegum, after removing the last of Link's bandages, bolted out of the room giving chase to Finn.
"Finn hold on a minute!" Her voice echoed down the call. "I said not to do anything rash. Finn!"
Link, being the only one conscious in the room, sighed.
"Good going, Link. You finally meet the guy knowing who he is and tell him you put his girlfriend in mortal danger. So much for getting along."
Welp there's that chapter, I swear these chapters feel like they get longer and longer or something. I apologize if Finn seems a little OOC in this chapter, there aren't really too many cases were Finn is shown harboring resentment towards someone for the reasons of someone else getting hurt.
On another note, the 'Hylian' (aka japanese) that Link speaks is a rough translation of this: "Are you actually him? Are you the man that destroyed Hyrule? Or are you just the embodiment of my fear?" Just wanna make that clear before someone uses Google Translate and finds something else.
