Chapter 4: Enter the Hero
Officer Nielson was having a bad day. First he'd accidentally overslept, gotten in to work late and gotten bitched at by his boss (again), then he'd been informed that he hadn't gotten the promotion (again), and now he was stuck here guarding this freaky vortex thing that looked like something straight out of the twilight zone. He shifted his feet and grunted, eyeing the phenomena in question warily. He didn't know what it was exactly, but something about that thing gave him the creeps. Well- besides the fact that it defied everything he knew about physics. He'd heard that some kid and fallen into it earlier, and came back out all bruised and burned. They'd already shipped her off to the hospital by the time he arrived, and now the entire area was blocked off to make sure no one else shared the same fate. He shot another glare at the vortex. He really didn't like that thing.
He wished they'd left some more people to watch the area with him, but almost the entire force was busy-something about a gang of medieval skeletons marching down Main Street. Pfft. Yeah right. Walking skeletons…what kind of a sick joke was that? He snorted, casting a glance at his partner, who was dutifully performing the task demanded of him with his usual air of professionalism. Actually, he was sleeping against a tree, but Nielson didn't care. It wasn't like they had anything better to do. The vortex hadn't attracted too much attention, and the small mob that had appeared was already dispersed. The entire place seemed practically deserted…heh, maybe everyone was inside hiding from those "medieval skeletons". Morons.
The sporadic cackling of high voltage electricity broke into his musings, and he whipped around to stare at the vortex. The surface had changed from eclectic blues to violent zigzags of mauve, and the electric bolts skimming its surface had grown more concentrated. Nielson furrowed his brow. Now what, was some little green man going to jump out and demand to be taken to their leader? With a final burst of electricity, a figure did indeed emerge from the depths of the vortex, sailing gracefully through the air and landing in a feline crouch. As it turned out, Nielson was a little off. The man who emerged from the vortex was not green, although his clothes were. He wore a medieval style green tunic with matching cap atop white leggings and a simple swordsman's shirt of the same color. Leather gloves, boots, belt, and scabbard completed the outfit, with what looked to be a genuine sword poking out of the sheath. Nielson gawked in unabashed amazement. This guy looked like a character straight out of the Lord of the Rings movies! Well…accept the ears were longer. The young man straightened, brushing his blonde hair out of his sapphire eyes as he took in his surroundings. He froze when he caught sight of Nielson. The two stood staring at each other, neither saying a word.
To tell the truth, Link had absolutely no idea what to do. Of course, neither did Officer Nielson. At the moment though, he was seriously considering seeking professional help. It couldn't be normal to hallucinate about green-clad elves jumping out of mystic portals. Link meanwhile looked the stranger up and down, drinking in the foreign appearance as he tried to sort things out in his mind. The man had small ears, smaller even then a Gerudo's, and the edges were rounded instead of pointy. Yet in every other aspect he looked like a Hylian. Pale skin, black hair, blue eyes...not to mention the fact that he was male. He was wearing a uniform of some sort, and he had some strange short weapons hanging from his belt. Link shifted around awkwardly. He must look as strange to this stranger as the stranger did to him! He cleared his throat nervously and finally decided to break the silence.
"Um…hi."
"…hi."
Well at least they seemed to speak the same language. Must have something to do with that "echoes" thing Impa was talking about. Thinking about Impa made Link remember what he was here for, and he shook himself inwardly. What was he standing around for? He didn't have a minute to lose!
"Hey, have you by any chance seen a tall Geru- er, a dark-skinned man with red hair and yellow eyes come by here? He should be wearing black armor…"
The stranger numbly shook his head no. Link sighed.
"Well have you seenanything come out of this portal? Anything at all?"
"…w-well…there was this kid…wandered in that vortex thing, came out all beat up…"
Link felt a brief surge of fury. Had Ganondorf hurt the unfortunate person who intercepted his sealing?
"…think they took her to the hospital…"
Link blinked in confusion. "…hospital?" He'd never heard that word before.
"Yeah…Cherry Creek Hospital…just off of Main and Sampson…"
Link blinked again. None of that made any sense to him, though he tried to remember it for later reference.
"Er…what direction?"
The man pointed.
"Thank you." Link tipped his hat to the man, then ran off in the direction he had indicated.
Officer Nielson watched him go, then shook his head. He really ought to lay off the drinking.
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Jon was worried. Julie had agreed to come over to his house over an hour ago, and she still hadn't shown up. He'd been calling both her home phone and her cell phone over and over, but no one answered. After waiting for thirty minutes, his mom suggested they go out and look for her. This is why Jon and his mother were driving by when Jon spotted Link coming out of the park. He did a double take when he first saw him.
"Is that…?" he began without thinking.
"Did you see Julie?" his mother anxiously inquired, stopping the car to peer in the direction he was staring. She caught sight of Link. "Oh…is that…a friend of yours…?" she said haltingly, staring at the man's strange clothing.
"Uh…" Jon shifted in his seat, trying to get a better look. Yup, this guy was dressed as Link alright. He even had the hat, and…was that a real sword? Jon raised an eyebrow. Why on earth would anyone run around dressed up like Link? There wasn't a convention in town, was there? The strange man caught sight of them and ran up to the car. Jon's mother, who had taken his stutter as a "yes", rolled down her window.
"You need something, hon?" she asked.
"Um…" the way the man was staring strangely at their car, you'd think he'd never seen one before. "I need to get to the uh…oh what'd he call it…Cheerie…Cheery Creak Hospital?"
"The hospital? Well get in the car, I can take you down. It's not a far drive."
The man just sort of stared at her, looking a little lost. Hesitantly he surveyed the vehicle again.
"It's not locked." She told him.
That only seemed to add to his confusion. A sneaking suspicion began to form in the back of Jon's mind, but he pushed it aside. Normally he wouldn't approve of picking up hitchhikers, but if this guy needed to go to the hospital, it must be serious. So he opened the door and scooted over, gesturing for the man to come in. He did so, but in the same hesitant manner. Once he was in he looked back at the open door oddly, then cautiously reached out, gripped the handle, and tried to pull it closed. The first tug was very weak, and didn't budge the door very much. The man blinked in surprise, as if he hadn't expected it to be so heavy. He tried again, this time giving a hearty tug which successfully slammed the door closed. He then proceeded to stare at it for a moment or two, before finally turning to sit in the seat properly.
"Seatbelt." Jon's mother reminded casually.
The man blinked, furrowed his brow, and looked down at his belt. Then he looked at the seat, back at his belt, and back up to Jon's mother. He seemed utterly lost.
"Well fine, don't wear it then. It's your life." She muttered, and began driving towards the hospital. The man's initial reaction when the car started moving was simply priceless. He gripped the edges of his seat, his wide eyes shifting frantically in their sockets. He relaxed a little after the initial jolt, his brow settling back into its furrowed position as he observed the view passing by the windows and looked over the interior of the car. He seemed utterly fascinated. He leaned forward and squinted at some of the buttons on the door. He poked one warily, and jumped when the window opened a fraction of an inch. He stared at the window, then back at the button, then up at the window. Eyes still intent on the glass, he reached out and poked the button again. The window slid down a little more. He cocked his head, utterly fascinated by this simple contraption before him. He reached out again, and this time he held the button down. The window slid all the way down. Smiling slightly, he turned his attention to some of the other buttons on the door. The one he had been pushing was marked with a down arrow. He looked up at the window, then back at the buttons, stroking his chin thoughtfully. Then he tried pushing the button with the up arrow on it. Sure enough, the window slid all the way back up.
"Huh." said the man. Jon's mother looked back at him strangely, but he didn't seem to notice. Jon, meanwhile, had noticed something: the man's ears. Fake ears, he knew, would have some sort of seam where the plastic (or felt or paper or whatever they were made out of) met the skin. But this guy's ears…they were seamless…and they looked soreal… Without thinking, Jon reached up and touched one. The man jumped, his hand shooting reflexively to his ear. He stared back at Jon like he was insane. But Jon wasn't paying attention to him. He was marveling over the realization that the ear…it didn't feel like plastic or anything. It was a real flesh and blood ear! The suspicion began to grow, but the logical part of Jon's mind would have none of it.
"Dude…did you have surgery or something?" he asked, amazed. The man stared at him, his face a mass of confusion.
"These people sure have funny words!" A squeaky, high-pitched voice came seemingly out of nowhere. The man's eyes went wide and he frantically grasped his hat with a snarl that sounded suspiciously like "Navi!"
Link must have felt their eyes on him, because he looked from Jon's mother to Jon and grinned sheepishly.
They had almost reached the hospital by now, and Jon's mother returned her attention to the just in time to turn right onto Main. She hit the breaks the instant they were around the corner, barely avoiding a collision with a police car blocking the road in front. It was only one of many in the middle of what once had been a police blockade. But something bad had happened here. Fire cackled through the shattered windows of the vehicles, tongues of flame licking the crushed and dented hoods of the overturned cars. The bodies of several police officers dotted the scene, blood pooling beneath their unmoving forms. Jon's mother stared aghast at the grisly scene before her, her body rigid with shock. Jon finally turned his attention away from Link in order to see why they had stopped. His eyes widened and he gripped the back of the front seat as he leaned forward for a better look. "Oh my god…" he murmured.
Link surveyed the carnage grimly, his mouth set in a thin line. Dimly he'd hoped that Ganondorf would lay low and leave the inhabitants of this dimension alone…but he knew the dark lord better than that. He glanced at the other passengers of the car, decided they should be okay without him, and gripped the hilt of his sword as he reached for the door handle. The boy had pulled something when he'd opened the door earlier, and the only pull-able thing that he saw on the door was the sideways black lever. His hand had barely closed around it when it happened.
'Thump.'
Jon's mother nearly jumped out of her skin when something slammed against her window. The first thing that registered was the face; pale as death, its eyes wide with fear and its brow glistening with sweat. Jon's mother calmed slightly when she recognized the police uniform the terrified man was wearing. The calm soon waned however, when she realized the implication of a man in uniform trembling with fearful panic.
"Run!" The man screamed through the window, "Run while you still ca!" A bloodstained green claw closed around his neck, and before he could even scream the dinaflos wrenched him back from the car and flung him through the window of a nearby building. Jon's mother didn't need any further provocation; she jerked the gear into reverse and slammed on the gas as fast as physically possible. Jon jumped when he heard the click of a door opening. He turned just in time to see the mysterious stranger jump out of the car and hit the ground rolling. The dinaflos roared as it saw its prey retreating, and a torrent of flame streamed out of its mouth in pursuit of the fleeing car. Jon's mother screamed, shielding her face with her arms as the vivid red flame seemed to swallow the area in front of them, blocking all view out of the wind shield. The flame had only begun to lick around the sides of the car when it suddenly stopped. Jon, who had not covered his eyes like his mother, stared in awe as he watched the stranger wrench his sword out from the gaps in the armor plating the monster's chest. A glowing blue ball of light flew out from under the man's cap and spiraled around him as he wiped the blood from his blade. Now, finally, even the logical side of Jon's mind had to give in to the painfully obvious.
"It is him…" he breathed.
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"This is bad." Julie moaned, "This is really really really really bad."
"Could be worse." Jack grunted as he whacked another stalfos upside the head with a chair.
"Oh yeah? How!" Julie snapped through clenched teeth as she ducked to avoid the lunge of another Stalfos. Dodging around a bunch of bloodthirsty skeletons probably wasn't a good idea for someone recovering from rope burn and a dislocated shoulder. Fortunately with the combination of adrenaline and painkillers she had pumping through her system, the pain was dulled to a tolerable level.
"Well…" Jack trailed off as he booted an approaching Stalfos in the stomach- although, since the creature had no real stomach, he wound up kicking right through into its spine.
It was about that moment when the power went out, bathing the hallway in darkness.
"…you just had to tempt fate, didn't you?"
Jack scowled, "Well I- aah!"
"Jack? Jack what hap-"
At about that moment the lights flickered on. Either the power had come back, or hospital's backup generator had kicked in. Julie turned and saw immediately the cause of Jack's strangled scream. A stalfos which Dr. Rivers had previously disarmed had snuck up behind him and locked its skeletal arms around him, making him drop the chair. Vainly he struggled against it, but he stopped struggling when another stalfos pressed its sword up against his neck.
"Give us the medallions, or I'll chop his bloody head off!" The stalfos snarled. Julie gulped. She, Jack, and Dr. Rivers had been playing keep away with the bag of metal pieces, and she was currently in possession. She tightened her grip on the pillowcase, looking around at all the stalfos nervously. Everyone had stopped fighting and was staring straight at her.
"Don't do it, Julie! Whatever they want with them, it can't be good!" Jack wheezed. The stalfos had shifted its grip to his throat, and he was struggling to breathe now.
"Shut up!" The stalfos snarled, kneeing him in the square of the back.
"Now now, do not be so rough with the foreigners." A smooth baritone voice drifted from behind her. It was heavily accented, though it was no accent Julie had ever heard before. The stalfos all visibly stiffened at the sound of that voice. Julie looked at them, and at the shocked faces of Jack and the doctor, and suddenly she had a feeling she had a good idea as to who was behind her. She turned slowly, heart squeezing with cold dread. She froze when she caught sight of him, her heart leaping into her throat despite the fact she'd half been expecting to see him.
Ganondorf strode towards her confidently, his trademark half grin twisting his bronzed face. He was much more imposing now than before, when he had been shocked speechless. He seemed taller somehow, and something about the way he held himself just screamed power.
"We just keep running into each other, don't we?" he said with a smile, his deep booming voice sending shivers down her spine. "Although I am glad that, this time, it is not in a literal sense." He chuckled softly, and Julie subconciously rubbed her shoulder.
"Now I want you to listen very carefully to me. I can stop these creatures- you can see already how they fear me. I can make them all go away…but I need the power of the medallions to do it. I can understand if you do not want to trust me, but please…it is the only way to end this." He held his hand out to her, "please…the medallions."
Julie blinked at him uncomprehendingly. What the heck was he going on about? Then it clicked- He doesn't know we know who he is! He must be trying to trick us into giving him what he wants! The instant she realized this, her expression hardened, and she glared at him as she stepped back a pace.
"N-nice try." Julie cleared her throat and concentrated on speaking without stuttering. D-mn the man was intimidating in person. "We know who you are. Those things are your minions, and you'd sooner kill us than help us!"
Ganondorf blinked and drew back in obvious surprise. He raised a questioning eyebrow. "How do you know me?"
Julie swallowed. "Um…this is hard to explain…but you're sort of the main villain of a…a video game."
"Vidayo…game?" His brow furrowed, "my Hylian must be a little rusty, for these words- they do not make sense to me."
"Hylian? You're speaking English!" Jack said.
Ganondorf regarded him for a moment, then shook his head. "English, Hylian, whatever you call it, the point is I have never heard those words before."
Julie rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "It's…really hard to explain…"
Ganondorf waved her away, "Forget I asked. Now, I do not know how well this…'video game' of yours portrayed me, but I suppose I can understand why you would not want to hand over the medallions. So let me assure you, if you give them to me then no harm will come to you or your people." He paused, his eyes darkening. "But, I am afraid, I can not guarantee the same…if you do not give them to me."
Julie was silent a moment, trying desperately to compose herself. If she refused, they were probably all going to die. If she didn't refuse…well, actually they were still probably all going to die, but it was slightly less likely.
"…why the h-ll should we believe you?" she said finally, struggling to keep her voice from squeaking in her fear. "You would just as soon kill or enslave us all, whether we gave you the medallions or not!"
To her surprise, Ganondorf smiled. "So you really do know me," He met her eyes, his expression unreadable. "…interesting."
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The dinofols screamed hideously as Link's sword sliced through the grizzled flesh of its leg. It fell to its remaining knee, and Link wasted no time in parting its head from its neck. Navi flew to him as he wiped the blood from his blade.
"Link! I think I've found the hos-pit-al! But it doesn't look good- Ganondorf has erected some kind of barrier around it!"
Link looked up, his eyes hard. "Show me."
Down the empty street they ran, dispatching the occasional dinaflos that would appear seemingly from no where and attack them. Link spotted the building easily enough; it was the only one in the row of giant buildings that was shrouded with a rippling purple barrier.
"Why is this one a different color from the barrier Ganondorf used on his tower before?"
"Because this is a different type of barrier. The other one was powered by the captive elements of all six sages. This is a barrier consisting of Ganondorf's magic alone; you can probably break it with the power of the master sword."
Link nodded, and didn't even slow down as he neared the building. Instead, he drew his sword and unleashed a mighty battle cry as he charged the barrier. He swung the blade in a grand arc, shattering the black magic on impact. He skidded to a stop and gazed up in awe at the giant building which was now visible before him. The hospital towered over the other buildings in the area- buildings which, to Link, were already ridiculously huge. Link grimly surveyed the shattered glass doors, the bloodstained floor, and the overturned reception desk. Ganondorf had obviously been here, but why? What was here that was important enough to deserve a barrier of any kind? Link didn't know, but he was bound and determined to find out.
A/N: See? More action! Sorry this chapter took so long, but now that I'm actually writing more material for my other Zelda fic as well as this one, things are getting a little more difficult for me. But don't worry, I just had a big break-through with this story, and my writer's block is pretty much vanished. Er…pretty much. (writer's block creeps up behind the author and leers evilly) Gulp…
Minor Edit: I would like to give the 4th triforce piece a shout-out for helping me correct an error about the power outage (duh, hospitals have emergency generators, why did I not think of this?) However, shout-outs are no longer allowed on ff, so I won't. (shifty eyes)