For those of you who are wondering, I'm writing this story on the basis of the split-timeline theory.
If you don't know about the split-timeline theory I'll try to summarize it for you:
The timeline that this story's taking place in right now will eventually lead to Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks. However, Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess will only happen in the timeline where Link is sent back into the past and is a kid again. Simply put, there are two alternate realities that are created thanks to Zelda sending Link back in time at the end of OoT. Because of this alternate timeline, the events of Twilight Princess will never happen in the reality that Malon is in right now. Thanks to that, it's possible that Midna and Zant are actualy alive during this time period. (Check out the LoZ split-timeline theory on Youtube for a better explanation.)
Simply put: I'm putting Midna and Zant into this chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Malon's Epic Cow Delivery
Ch 12: Twilight Realm Science Pt. 1
"Yuna, I don't think we're in Hyrule anymore."
"Moo! What was your first clue? The dark atmosphere? The continuous rain of shadowy fragments? Or maybe it was the fact that a group of hideous monsters are headed our way?"
Malon and Yuna found themselves staring out at a strange world. Instead of being illuminated by a bright sun, the place was shrouded in a dim light that reminded the two of a sunset. All around them, shadowy fragments poured down from the sky like endless rain. Most surprising, however, was the fact that the giant landmass serving as the only visible ground in the whole place seemed to be magically floating over a bottomless black void.
Before the two could observe their surroundings a bit more, the group of "monsters" mentioned earlier by Yuna approached them. Now that they were closer, Malon could tell that the creatures were humanoid in shape. However, it was blatantly obvious that these creatures weren't Hylians. For one, their skin tone was a fusion between black, white, blue, and green. All of them had stretched, elongated appearances, with long limbs, necks, and heads. Most noticeable, however, were their faces. Every single one of them had large red eyes with no pupils along with two slits serving as nostrils instead of a nose. All in all, they were a bunch of very oddly-shaped creatures indeed.
"What are they?" Malon asked nervously as the creatures began to surround them.
"From their appearances, I'd have to say they were either aliens or relatives of Voldemort."
All of a sudden, one of the creatures stepped forward and began to speak. At least, that's what it looked like. All Malon managed to catch was a soft moaning noise.
"Umm... sorry. I don't speak... whatever it is you're speaking," she replied in confusion.
The strange being pointed at the two and began making the moaning noises again. While Malon stood by looking more and more confused, Yuna pushed her way forward.
"I think I understand what they're saying! Leave this to me!"
Yuna boldly walked forward and began making strange, guttural sounds from the back of her throat. Suddenly, all the creatures surrounding them gave a large gasp and took a step back. Encouraged by this, Yuna continued to make sounds reminiscent of a cat hacking up a hairball. By the time she finished, all the creatures were staring at the cow with looks of shock. Done with her work, Yuna turned to face Malon with a triumphant look on her face.
"Simple as pie."
The next thing they knew, Malon and Yuna were stuck in a large prison cell.
"MOO! WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?"
"Er... I think those creatures warped us in here."
"What? Why? I only asked them to show us a way out of this creepy world of theirs!"
"Are you sure about that? From the sound of things, I thought you were telling them to shove a Cucco down a Goron's throat."
"I said nothing of the sort!"
"Then why did they stick us in their dungeon?"
"How should I know? Stupid mutant freaks! How dare they put me in a dirty prison cell like this! If I get my hooves on them, I'm going to trample them till their faces look like mashed potatoes! In fact, I'm going to trample them so hard that they'll need to..."
Yuna's rant was cut off by the sound of a mysterious voice coming from the corner of the previously thought empty cell.
"Oh goody! I finally have someone else to talk to besides Mr. Helmet!"
Malon and Yuna quickly turned around and looked for the source of the voice.
"Who's there?"
In answer to Malon's question, the zaniest character from the entire Legend of Zelda universe sprang forward from out of the corner.
"Hi there! I'm Zant, the true ruler of the Twilight Realm! Who're you?"
xxx
Underneath Kakariko Village's well...
Bongo-Bongo slumped down onto the sofa in pure exhaustion. He had just spent the whole day ordering equipments and materials needed to rebuild his amusement park. After getting into an hour-long argument with a duct-tape salesman, the Phantom Beast decided it was time to call it a day.
With his main body still slumped on the sofa, his hands flew off to grab the TV remote and a can of beer. They both returned shortly and Bongo-Bongo turned on the fifty-inch LCD TV in front of him.
"... as Hylian fans continue to wait expectantly for the upcoming game. In other news, the apocalyptic threat in Termina has been identified to be another gigantic moon..."
Bongo-Bongo paid little attention to the reporter as he opened his can of beer. As he began drinking his beverage, the reporter suddenly stopped his current monologue with a surprised look on his face.
"This just in! A large portion of Lake Hylia, along with the Water Temple, has just been destroyed!"
The Phantom Beast spat out the beer in surprise when he heard this.
"We now go to Clark who is currently on site! Clark, what does the situation look like?"
The screen shifted to show a thin, nerdy man in glasses standing in the middle of what seemed to be an enormous smoking crater.
"It's... it's hard to describe, Rick! It looks like the lake was hit by a nuclear blast! There's hardly anything remaining... Wait! There's someone over there!"
The reporter was seen running up to a teenage boy wearing a blue tunic and hat.
"Excuse me sir! Did you happen to see what caused this destruction?"
"It's not my fault! How the hell was I supposed to know that the Triforce of Courage had a self-destruct function?"
"Er..."
Suddenly, a blue fairy appeared from out of the boy's hat.
"Link! Get out of here before you draw anymore attention to yourself!"
Heeding the fairy's advice, the boy known as Link hightailed it out of there. The reporter called Clark was left standing with a dumbfounded look as the cameraman got a shot of Link plowing through the gates separating the lake from the field.
"We'll... uh... get back to you..." Clark managed to mutter before motioning for the cameraman to stop filming.
Meanwhile, Bongo-Bongo continued to look on in shock at the TV screen. Dead Hand's words began to echo in his head as the memory of their conversation resurfaced.
"Link's... heading... here... to... try... and... kill... you..."
Suddenly, keeping the Shadow Temple the way it currently looked didn't seem like such a bad idea after all.
xxx
Twilight Realm...
"So, let me get this straight. You guys are called the Twili and you're trapped here because of something your ancestors did a thousand years ago."
"Pretty much," Zant replied.
"And you're the rightful ruler of this place who was forcibly removed from power."
"Mr. Helmet says yes."
"Mr. Helmet?"
"Oh, I didn't introduce him to you yet? Here, let me call him out for you two. Mr. Helmet!"
Malon and Yuna looked over Zant's shoulder to see who this mysterious Mr. Helmet was. However, no one appeared in response to Zant's summon.
"Umm... where's...?"
"Hi there! I'm Mr. Helmet!"
Our two heroes turned to find Zant wearing a strange-looking helmet shaped like a grotesque face with its tongue sticking out.
"..."
"Moo! Can you just tell us how to get out of this dump?"
Zant put away his helmet and looked at Yuna curiously. Thanks to his pupil-less orange eyes, his stare was very unnerving, even for the world's most sarcastic cow.
"Well, I would like to help you two out..."
"Yes! Finally!"
"...but my source of power, the Fused Shadow, was stolen from me when I was usurped."
"Goddamn it!"
"On the other hand, if you can help me get the Fused Shadow back, I might be able to warp the both of you back to your own world."
"That seems like a fair deal. So what does this Fused Shadow look like?" Malon inquired.
"Well, the closest thing that I can compare it to is a strange suit of armor. Its about the size of your average imp and has a shadowy aura around it."
"And where is it now?"
Zant's face suddenly darkened as he answered.
"I'm guessing that it's in her room."
"Who's her?"
"The Usurper Queen: Midna. She's the one who overthrew me and sent me to this dump."
"And you're positive she has them?"
"Mr. Helmet says that it's more than likely."
"Alright then. We'll help you and... Mr. Helmet... get the Fused Shadow thingy back. In exchange, you have to promise to send us back to our world."
"Agreed. But..."
"But what?"
"You do realize that we're still stuck in a prison cell, right?"
"Oh, that? Leave it to me."
With a simple flick of her fingers, Malon blew the cell door off of its hinges. Zant stared open-mouthed at the destroyed door as Malon and Yuna made their way out.
"Well? Are you going to lead us to the Fused Shadow or not?"
Still in shock, Zant followed the two out. As they made their way out of the dungeon, Zant continued to stare at Malon as if she was a three-headed platypus. Eventually, he decided to ask her about her incredible feat.
"How did you...?"
Before he could finish, Yuna turned around and shook her head.
"Don't question it. You'll just end up with more questions than answers. Besides, you get used to it after a while."
The party managed to get out of the dungeon without incident. Once outside, they could see that they were at the far edge of the landmass housing the Twilight Realm. Zant wasted no time in looking for his intended destination. As soon as he spotted it, he motioned for Malon and Yuna to follow him.
"Where are we headed?"
"See that gigantic building in the center? That's the Twilight Palace. Mr. Helmet says we'll find the Fused Shadow in the throne room."
However, this was easier said than done. Once the group got in close, they could see that a mass of Twili soldiers were guarding the main entrance.
"Moo! Now what do we do? Even if farmer girl goes in to attack the guards, they'll just use their magic powers to warp us back in prison again!"
Zant seemed to consider what to do for a few minutes before he began to move off in the opposite direction. Malon and Yuna exchanged quizzical looks before following him.
"Where are we going?"
"To a secret entrance. Mr. Helmet knows one that'll lead us straight into the throne room."
"And how do we get to this secret entrance?"
Zant gave a large gulp before answering.
"We need to pass through... the Twilight Realm Science building."
xxx
Deep in the Lost Woods...
Din glanced at her watch as she waited impatiently for her associate to arrive. According to the clock, he was already five minutes late. With an annoyed grunt, she sat down on a nearby stump and summoned a book to read. Just as she was about to open the book, a small chuckle sounded behind her.
"Sorry about the delay. Baseball practice ran a bit late."
Din quickly got up and turned around. Standing behind her was a thin, smiling man carrying an enormous backpack on his back. He had his hands clasped together and was rocking back and forth continuously. As you might have guessed by now, the strange man was none other than the infamous Happy Mask Salesman himself.
"How dare you keep me waiting!" Din raged as she approached her associate. "I'm in the middle of a serious investigation and you're off playing... did you say baseball?"
"Yes, I did. I'm first baseman for the Hylian Dodgers."
"Really? I never knew that..."
"Well now you know. So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Oh, right. Ahem. It's about my daughter, Malon. She was recently attacked by a suspicious character while crossing the Gerudo Desert."
"Interesting..."
"What? Do you know something about this?"
"No. I was just wondering if I should call you Mrs. LonLon from now on."
The Happy Mask Salesman had to dodge Din's fists as she took a few swings at him.
"Whoa! No need to get violent!"
"Get serious! I just found out that the person who attacked my daughter was also responsible for the death of Fox McCloud and Kirby!"
The Happy Mask Salesman's trademark smile suddenly faded away and was replaced by a frown.
"Fox and Kirby? Wha...?"
"That's not all. I found this when I went to check on the assassin's body."
"Body?"
"Malon," Din simply stated as she handed the HMS a severely damaged notepad the size of a postcard.
"What am I looking at?" he questioned as he skimmed through the pages.
"Apparently, the assassin's agenda. Guess who was next on his list of targets?"
"Let's see. Target number three: Link and Zelda... Hyrule? How did he know about Link's past? I thought Farore erased everyone's memories regarding Link?"
"That's what I thought as well. Anyway, it gets even stranger. Read page 35."
"Alright. Secret Mission: Locate and deliver MM to leader... MM? Are they talking about...?"
"I'm afraid so."
"This is bad. If they know about the artifact, the entire universe could be at risk! What're we going to do?"
"For now, I'm going to see if I can find anymore leads. As for you, I want you to go and keep an eye on Malon."
"What? Shouldn't we focus on safeguarding the MM? I mean, I know you care for your daughter and all but..."
Din cut him off with an annoyed sigh.
"And I thought you were supposed to be the well informed one. If you're so reluctant to follow my orders, maybe I should give you a better initiative for protecting my daughter."
"And what would that be?"
"Malon has the MM."
xxx
Somewhere in the Twilight Realm Science Building...
"How long does this hallway go?" Malon asked.
"Mr. Helmet says we need to keep going for at least another mile or so."
"Ugh. Why do we always have to deal with the crazies?" Yuna muttered.
The three were currently walking along a seemingly endless hallway. The walls around them were all stark white as if they were in some kind of futuristic spaceship. Considering the dark atmosphere of the Twilight Realm, the brightly lit science facility seemed extremely out of place.
After continuing on for a few minutes, Malon decided to start up a conversation.
"Hey, Zant... or Mr. Helmet... are the Twili generally afraid of foreigners?"
"Not really. If we find someone we haven't met before, we usually throw a banquet in honor of the guest. Of course, seeing as how we're trapped in the Twilight Realm, we hardly ever have any guests. The only exception would be the postman. We hold a celebration every time he comes to deliver the mail once every ten years."
"Umm... okay... What I don't understand is why those Twili guards threw me and Yuna into prison before we could even properly introduce ourselves. Then again, Yuna did make some weird noises at them. Maybe she insulted them without knowing it."
"I keep telling you, I only asked them for the way out!"
"Why don't we ask Zant? I'm sure he can tell us what you were really saying."
"Fine!"
Yuna turned to face Zant and began making the choking Goron noises again. By the time she finished, he was staring at her with a look of shock and anger. Before Malon could ask what Yuna had just said, Zant went nuts on them.
"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A BLAHSHRUT!"
"A what?"
Zant suddenly put on his helmet again before calmly answering.
"A Blahshrut. It's a racist term used to describe Twili that have an aquamarine skin tone."
"Aquamarine? Isn't that pretty much the same thing as blue-green?" Malon asked.
Zant put away his helmet and began screaming at the two again.
"NO, IT'S NOT! HOW CAN ANYONE NOT NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AQUAMARINE AND BLUE-GREEN?"
"Moo! I don't see what you're so worked up about! So what if you're skin tone's aquamarine?"
"HAVING AN AQUAMARINE SKIN TONE IS THE MOST DISGRACEFUL THING A TWILI COULD HAVE! "
"Strangely enough, I'm starting to miss Mr. Helmet," Yuna whispered to Malon as Zant continued his rant.
Luckily, the angry Twili's shouting was stopped short as the three of them entered a large, open room. The interior of the room was decorated in an identical fashion the hallway had been. Despite the fact that the chamber was nearly as big as a football field, there was nothing in it except for a large, rectangular block located on the opposite end of the room. As soon as Malon, Yuna, and Zant had fully entered, a hidden door sealed off the path in which they had just come in through. With their only exit now blocked, Malon tried to walk towards the other end of the room but found her way obstructed by an invisible force field.
"Okay... We can't go back and we apparently can't go any further. What are we supposed to do?"
In answer to Malon's question, the rectangular block on the opposite side of the room began to rise until it reached her eye level. Before anyone could comment on the strange occurrence, a smaller block materialized in the center of the room. The small cube rose up until it hovered at the same height as it's rectangular counterpart. Then, without warning, the cube sailed straight towards the three. Malon and Yuna immediately jumped away from the flying projectile while Zant stared blankly ahead.
"Hey, why are you two..."
Before he could finish, the block hit him squarely on the forehead. Surprisingly, the block ricocheted off of Zant and flew off towards the other end of the room. The rectangular block from earlier responded by sliding sideways until it managed to bounce the smaller block back towards Malon's little group. After seeing this, Malon finally realized what was going on.
"Holy Aunt Nayru! I know what's happening! We're in the middle of a giant game of Pong!"
"Pong? As in the retro arcade game?" Yuna asked, bewildered.
Before Malon could answer, the cube sailed past the halfway point and continued towards them at blinding speed. Acting quickly, Malon grabbed Zant and flipped him over until she was holding him horizontally in front of her.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" the Twili asked in surprise.
"Sorry, but I'm in dire need of a Pong block."
"A wha...?"
Zant was cut off as Malon rushed in to deflect the incoming cube. This time, the cube hit Zant in a rather sensitive spot. All that came out of his mouth was a very high-pitched squeak. Meanwhile, the cube sailed back towards the other end of the room, traveling faster than ever before.
As Yuna watched, Malon and the opposing Pong block duked it out in what could've possibly been counted as the most epic Pong battle in history. Neither side gave an inch as they bounced back the cube with relentless fury. Soon, the cube was practically invisible as it shot across the room at near light-speed. Knowing that it was pointless to drag the match on any longer, Malon focused all her energy into her next shot. With a loud yell, she swung Zant like a baseball bat. The opposing block slid around nervously as it prepared for the incoming projectile. This time, however, the cube proved to be too fast for the giant Pong block as the small square flew past it and slammed into the wall behind it. A large fanfare played as the cube and the Pong block suddenly disappeared. As Malon and Yuna watched, a door slid open on the opposite end of the room. After a few tentative steps, Malon found that the invisible force field from before was no longer blocking their path.
"Moo! Looks like we can finally get out of here."
"Yep. Let's just hope we don't have to do that again. I don't think Zant will last another match."
"How is he anyways? Hey, Zant! You feeling alright?"
"Who's a Zant? I'm a helicopter!" the very concussed Twili answered as Malon put him down. As soon as his feet touched the floor, he immediately began to spin around with his arms wide open.
"He'll be fine. Let's keep going."
"Yo! Helicopter man! We need to get a move on!"
"Yes, Ms. Cow. Twili Copter away!"
Malon and Yuna both face-palmed as Zant followed them with his helicopter motions. Luckily, the door opened up to a single hallway so they didn't need to wait for Zant to lead the way. After a few minutes of walking though, the three reached yet another strange room.
"Are we standing on... girders?" Malon asked in confusion.
"Seems like it. Hey! There's a ladder ahead of us! Maybe we've reached the throne room already!"
"I don't think so. I get the feeling we're still... Watch out!"
Malon suddenly grabbed Yuna and jumped over an oncoming barrel. Unfortunately for Zant, he was still too dazed to fully recognize the danger.
"Ooh! It's a barrel! Want to be my friend Mr. Barrel?"
All he got in response was a large whack to the head.
"What the hell was that?" Yuna asked once Malon had put her back down.
"From the looks of it, I'd say we were nearly run over by a large, wooden barrel."
"I know that already! I was just questioning why a barrel came rolling towards us!"
"How should I... Crap! Here comes another one!"
Malon lifted Yuna again as she jumped over the barrel. A few seconds later, Malon and Yuna heard a loud thud behind them confirming that Zant was hit yet again by the wooden menace.
"Moo! Don't put me down! Just keep moving!"
"Where to?"
"Use the ladders, you dimwit!"
Deciding to heed Yuna's advice, Malon climbed the ladder and made it up to yet another girder. However, it was soon clear that they were not safe yet. Two barrels immediately came rolling towards them forcing Malon to jump once again.
"Hmm. I'm pretty sure I've seen this somewhere before," Malon mused as she continued to advance through the strange obstacle course.
"Less talk, more jumping!"
Eventually, the two made it up to the highest girder in the room. Waiting for them there was the strangest thing the two of them had ever seen.
"A robot gorilla? That's the thing that was throwing all those barrels at us?" Malon asked once she caught sight of the mechanical primate.
"Who cares? Just destroy it so that we can get out of here already!"
After one Malon Punch, all that remained of the robot menace was a few pieces of scrap metal. As Malon dusted off her hands, a portion of the wall that was behind the gorilla slid open to reveal yet another hallway.
"Ugh. How much farther do we have to go?"
"Mr. Helmet says that we're getting closer."
Much to Malon and Yuna's surprise, Zant was standing right behind them.
"How did you follow us up here with all those barrels crashing into you?"
"Easy. I just grabbed one of the hammers hanging on the wall and used them to clear my path. By the way, I still haven't forgotten what you did to me in the last room. Just for that, I'm not going to talk to you two anymore."
"Can we still talk to Mr. Helmet?"
Zant put on his helmet before answering.
"Mr. Helmet says yes."
With that, the trio set off once more.
The rest of their journey went pretty much in the same fashion. After making their way through a Poe filled maze, fighting an angry centipede, engaging a group of programs in a Light Cycle battle, and following a rather nasty encounter with a disgruntled L-block, the group made their way into a large stadium.
"Please... tell me... this is the last room," Yuna asked while trying to catch her breath.
"Mr. Helmet... says... yes."
Once all of them had fully recovered, they took a closer look at their surroundings. At a glance, the room looked nearly identical to the Pong room. The only difference was the large rectangle drawn on the floor. Standing on one end of the rectangle was an enormous Darknut at least twice the size of its original counterpart. At the moment, though, the Darknut seemed to be inactive.
"Leave this to me," Malon casually stated as she stepped forward to engage the Darknut. However, she found her path blocked by yet another invisible force field once she reached the edge of the rectangle.
"Okay... Now what?"
"Moo! Maybe you need to beat this Darknut in a tennis match. That would explain the large rectangle drawn on the floor."
"If that's true, where are the racquets?"
"Why don't you just use Zant again? After all, he did make a great Pong block."
Zant immediately went into panic mode once he heard this.
"No! If you want to use me as a tennis racquet, you're going to have to catch me first!"
With that, he ran off towards the opposite end of the room, forgetting all about the invisible force field blocking the way. Much to everyone's surprise, however, Zant managed to run straight through the barrier without any incident.
"Whoa. How did you do that?" Malon asked.
Zant, who was now within the rectangle, just gave a shrug.
Suddenly, the giant Darknut sprang to life. Before anyone could react, the Darknut held out his hand and summoned... a Pokeball.
"You got to be kidding me," Malon said with a face-palm once she figured out what was going on. As she did so, the retro Red and Blue Version battle music started playing as the room darkened.
"What in the...?"
Zant's question was abruptly interrupted by a series of large texts that appeared above them.
Trainer Darknut was challenged by Farm Girl Malon!
Farm Girl Malon sent out Zant!
"WHAT? I'M THE POKEMON?"
Trainer Darknut sent out Iron Knuckle!
True to the mysterious text's words, the Darknut threw his Pokeball and called out a large Iron Knuckle.
"Help me!" Zant screamed as the menacing suit of armor began approaching him.
Iron Knuckle used Mega Punch!
Needless to say, Zant was smacked straight through the ground as the fist connected.
"Moo! As much as I enjoy watching that lunatic get beaten up, I'm pretty sure we need to win this battle to get to the throne room," Yuna lazily commented as the Iron Knuckle reached down to pull out Zant from the hole he had made.
"What do you want me to do?" Malon retorted. "I don't what attacks he has!"
"Just call out something before he's ripped to pieces!"
"Okay! Zant! I want you to use Iron Defense!"
Zant used Defense Curl!
Zant immediately assumed the fetal position and began rocking back and forth before the Iron Knuckle grabbed him.
"That's not what I said!" Malon shouted out in frustration.
Iron Knuckle used Metal Claw!
"That's going to leave a mark," Yuna said as the Iron Knuckle shredded Zant with its metal gauntlets. Meanwhile, Malon was desperately calling out every Pokemon move she could think of in an effort to save Zant and win the battle. Eventually, she called out an attack that Zant could actually perform.
Zant used Tackle!
It's Not Very Effective...
As Zant tried to recover from the concussion he had just received, the Iron Knuckle summoned a large ax to its hand.
Iron Knuckle used Slash!
Critical Hit!
"I don't think he's going to last much longer!" Yuna exclaimed.
"I know that! Zant, use Mega Punch! Mega Kick! Hyper Beam! Focus Energy! Karate Chop! Umm... Splash?"
Zant used Splash!
Nothing Happened...
"Oh, for crying out loud! Of all the attacks you could have, you have Splash? What kind of lame Pokemon are you?"
Iron Knuckle used Mega Punch!
"I'd say a very flat one," Yuna replied as Zant was punched into the ground once more. "Actually, I'm surprised his organs are actually still inside him. I thought he'd be turned inside-out by now."
"Charming. Now then, why don't you give me a few attacks I could..."
Zant used Charm!
"Say what?"
Zant immediately summoned a metal pole to his hand and slammed it into the ground. Before Malon or Yuna could question where he had gotten his sudden strength from, Zant ripped off his clothes and... began pole dancing. The fact that Zant was naked wasn't the disturbing part (seeing as how most of the Twili were naked to begin with anyways). No, it was the pole dancing itself that caused Malon and Yuna to both hurl. Seeing as how this story's probably going to be rated M if I describe what Zant was doing, I'll skip ahead to the Iron Knuckle's reaction.
Iron Knuckle used Explosion!
Luckily, the nuclear blast the Iron Knuckle created put an end to Zant's unholy act.
Iron Knuckle fainted!
Zant gained 5860 Exp. Points!
Zant grew to Level 56!
With that, the battle finally ended and the Darknut deactivated. As it did so, a section of the wall behind the Darknut slid open. While Malon and Yuna tried to clear their mind of the unspeakable horror they just had to witness, Zant magically zapped his clothes back on.
"Whew! Glad that's over with. I thought I was going to die back there!"
"Never... do that... again," was all Yuna managed to say.
The good news was that their journey seemed to be finally over. After making their way through a large air vent, the three of them found themselves in the throne room.
"Finally! Now all we have to do is find that Fused Shadow and we can get out of here!" Malon exclaimed.
All three of them immediately set out to locate the artifact in question. However, their search was soon interrupted by an unforeseen complication.
"Who the hell are you? And what are you doing in my throne room?" shouted a sharp female voice.
Malon and Yuna quickly turned around to find an angry, female Twili glaring at them from the entrance. With one glance, Malon deduced that the Twili in front of her was the Midna person that Zant had spoken of earlier. From the looks of things, she had apparently just entered the room and found her throne room filled with unexpected guests. Deciding that there was no point in lying, Malon decided to take the aggressive approach.
"We're here to help Zant reclaim the kingdom that you stole from him!" the farm girl retorted as she tightened her fists.
Before Midna could respond, Zant suddenly popped up with a strange-looking object in his hand.
"Found it!"
Malon and Yuna let out a cheer while Midna could only stare at Zant in shock.
"Wha...? Who let that lunatic out?"
Hearing this, Zant finally took notice of Midna. He gave a malicious grin as he looked down upon his rival.
"Oh. Hello there, Midna. It's been a while."
"Zant. I knew I should've executed you when I had the chance. Just what are you planning to do with the Fused Shadow?"
"You of all people should know that. I'm going to retake my rightful place as the Twilight King!"
"You know that title was never yours to begin with! Besides, no one in their right mind is going to abide by the rule of a complete psychopath!"
"I'm sure the people would rather have me as their leader rather than an imp."
"What are you..."
Before she could finish, Zant blasted her with a bolt of dark energy derived from the Fused Shadow he was holding. Once the smoke had cleared, Midna was now an imp. As she looked at her new body in horror, Zant began laughing like the lunatic he was. Malon stared in confusion at what was happening before interrupting Zant and his insane fits of laughter.
"Umm... Zant? I think it's time Yuna and I left. Can you send us back to our world now?"
The Twili in question paused just long enough to answer Malon's question with an evil smile.
"I don't think so."
"What? But we had a deal!"
"I lied. And so did Mr. Helmet."
"Why you...!"
Before Malon could take a single step forward, Zant used the power of the Fused Shadow to make the floor beneath the three heroes disappear. Malon, Yuna, and Midna all fell screaming into the dark abyss as Zant's psychotic laughter echoed above them.