"Hello everyone! I'm back with yet another update."

Silence.

"…Strange. This is normally where the random person turns up and promptly irritates me to a level never-before-seen."

The silence continued.

"Guess I deserve a holiday from him once in a while."

The silence continued to continue.

"So… Um… Er… Nothing to talk about..."

The silence continued to continue to continue.

"…Meh, who cares about this bit of dialogue, anyway? You've all either dropped off to sleep, or skipped ahead to read the review replies or today's chapter."

The silence continued to continue to continue to… well, you get the idea.

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From Jolteon Master:

Hm...so you're just gonna have them all turn into beasts? If you do please make Bryonel a bunny, that would be hilarious. Now that you think about it a Toad isn't really a character an actual person would pick, not one who wants to take the game seriously at least. So make a toad just for the heck of it.
Name: Flughrought (Male)
Class:Black Mage (he's not stupid)
Personality: He's a joker who doesn't take anything too seriously unless it's life threatening. But he's not stupid so he picked a good class for Toads. You could compare his battling to being an airheaded blond who has no clue what's going on but is just blasting for the hell of it.

Hey. You said you wanted a Toad, adjust him to suit your needs. KEEP WRITING!!

My Reply:

I'm thinking about either turning them all into wolves, random beasts, or just keep them the way they are… nah, that would be no fun. But Bryonel as a rabbit? …Hmm… Embarrassing AND funny. I'll think about it.

I did want a Toad Character. Well, sort of, anyway. Thanks for him. By the way, from now on, I do not want any more character suggestions from anybody. I don't want this story overflowing with too many random characters, since I have most of the wanted characters planned already. However, I will take your suggested character into account. Thank you for your review.

P.S. Keep writing as well! I'm still eagerly anticipating the next (and final) chapter of Curse or Fate! (And quite possibly a sequel! ^_^)

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From KCSonic113:

Heh, I guess you're right. He does seem WAY to powerful this early on. Can he just have Squirtle then? And I didn't think when I just pulled him from my story.

My Reply:

Okay. He's accepted. He'll appear sooner or later, so just watch out for him. Thank you for your review.

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From Ayane the Game Master:

Yay! It's Link! And you talking with that random person's hilarious , you should give him a name. Thanks again!

My Reply:

Yes, Link is back. The random person is… somewhat humourous… I just don't know where he's disappeared off to… Currently thinking for a name for him. (Though there is no known name in the English, or any, for the matter, language suitable for him. Except perhaps "annoyance," "twit," or "idiot." Thank you for your review.

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"So many reviews, so little time."

The silence continued to continue to continue to… "ARRGH! Even when he's not here, he still has an annoying affect on the world around him!"

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Last Game Standing

Chapter Eight: The Shadows beneath the Castle

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A short while after leaving Faron Province, Ryan, Bryonel, Cenn and Link found themselves at the gates of Hyrule Castle Town. The sun shone brightly onto the walls that had protected this citadel from harm for centuries.

For Ryan, it was a moment of amazement, as he looked upon the first major city he would come across in the game.

For Bryonel, it showed a chance to get stronger, and to access more weaponry, items, and complete the quest that they were on.

For Cenn, it was a chance to high-tail out of the party before he was hacked up into small pieces by a nasty creature with a very obscure name.

And for Link, there was nothing, because he was an NPC and therefore only semi-important, despite being an extremely strong NPC, which raised his importance caliber by about fifty percent. However, since semi means half, which means that his importance caliber was already at fifty percent, and was then raised by a further fifty percent, leaving him with an importance caliber of one hundred percent, making him as important as a normal player. However, since I've wasted too much time talking about Link's importance caliber, I have no space or time left to explain what he was thinking about. Oh dear!

Ryan and Bryonel would both get what they wanted. Cenn, however, would have to wait to get his wish.

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The quartet made their way to the Castle, where they were quickly admitted access by the guards the moment they saw Link. This raised Link's importance caliber by a further twenty percent, making him more important than anyone else in the party! Huzzah!

Ryan and Bryonel instantly questioned this way of "keeping score", while Cenn just held his head in his hands and silently wept at their stupidity.

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They walked to the throne room, where the esteemed Princess Zelda now was. A cut scene ensured once again.

"Oh! Link! You came!"

Link walked towards the princess and knelt down. "As I pledged."

"Hmm… And who are these people?"

"They are my companions and assistants."

"Oh. Good. Now, we must move. Our enemy has a firm foothold in our lower dungeons. If you and your allies can infiltrate their base, and defeat their leader, we may yet stand a chance."

"Understood. What kind of enemy do we face?" Link inquired.

"Shadows. Monstrous shadows. They copy your form, or that of a monster's. Be careful, all of you." Zelda cautioned.

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They walked towards the doors to the dungeons. Bryonel whispered in Ryan's ear. "Since we have we been classified as 'assistants'? Aren't we supposed to be heroes?"

"Dunno," Ryan murmured. "But if we can win this upcoming boss battle, we're sure to get something awesome!"

"Is that your motto or something?"

"Meh. Come on, we'd better keep moving."

A few feet away, Cenn was groaning under his breath. "I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die!"

That more or less explained Cenn's thoughts on the situation.

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They trudged through the dungeons for what felt like hours, although it was probably only about ten minutes. No enemies had come their way. This might have been useful, but it wasn't as reassuring as it could have been.

Suddenly, they stopped. Link looked around. "This should be the place," he stated. "The monster should be somewhere nearby."

But no monsters were in sight.

Cenn sighed, out of both relief and fear. "Guys, if there's no monster, there's no point staying here. Let's just…Ah!"

Four misshapen blobs fell from the ceiling of the dungeon. Slowly, they grew, and took form, each one bearing an uncanny resemblance to each of the adventurers.

As swiftly as the blobs had fallen from the ceiling, Link dispatched each one of the false heroes. Each one of them fell to the ground, broken and fused.

Except one. The Link clone was injured, but not defeated. It raised its head to the roof, and shrieked.

A rumbling noise began. Everyone looked around, trying to locate the source of the sound. But there was no need.

In a matter of moments, a dark substance incased itself around the adventures and the false Link. The clone shrieked with joy, its wounds healing. It had trapped its enemies in its own, unique battlefield. And then, it grew.

Ryan and his companions picked themselves up, and gazed upwards in horror at the now-titanic monster.

They were in trouble now.

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Sorry it took so long to update. I'll work on updating sooner for now on.

Until next time,

Ultra Blader