Hey y'all! Welcome back to the story! After careful feedback, there are some important notes that should be told before you read this chapter:
1) *I have change the interaction between Zant and Midna once again. This time around, she does not get raped, nor does Zant even get the chance to kiss her or anything like that. Instead, Midna was attempted to be made a "mind-puppet" by Zant. Fortunately for the Twilight Princess, her magic that Zelda granted her and her own love for Link protected her mind and spirit from his mental/spiritual attacks. Subsequently, she is saved by the Golden Wolf. Midna then volunteers to stay back and watch Zelda as her body begins to take effects from being raped by Ganondorf (leaving her in no condition to fight or travel huge distances). This leaves Link and Samus to face the Arbiter's Grounds alone.*
2) Link's memory of the Cave of Ordeals become foggy...he remembers bits and pieces of what transpired, but doesn't remember for sure if the Great Fairy forced herself onto him.
Enter the Arbiter's Grounds...
"This is the Arbiter's Grounds?" Samus asked Link.
The swordsman nodded.
"Yeah..." he responded in an eerie tone.
Link and Samus looked around the hunting dungeon. It brought back many dark memories of the past for Link. This place also reminded Samus of the Chozo Ruins. Most of structure remained the same, but it was clear that people had lurked through these hallways the last time that he was here with Midna.
"...my father told me that the remnants of the Spirit Temple can be found in here." he added.
In fact, people were not the only things that occupied this space. Immediately, he drew the legendary Master Sword.
"Stay sharp...I sense many restless spirits lurking through these hallways." Link commented.
Samus took note of this, and thought of a bright idea. She activated an alternate visor, causing her visor to glimmer white.
"I've seen ghost before, so my X-Ray visor should be able to detect them." she noted.
Link smirked - impressed by Samus' abilities.
"Your suit has everything. Can it make me a sandwich too?" he praised her.
She giggled a bit at her crush's compliment and his innocent joke. These were rare moments that she cherished with him. Unfortunately for her, that moment was short lived as soon as she turned to face Link's direction. An floating woman with marvelous hair levitated to her friend.
"Link! Watch your back!" she called out to him.
Link's eyes widened, and felt a cold chill down his spine.
"Woah!" he shouted.
As if it was his spider sense, or perhaps something akin to an ultra instinct, he dodged the presence before it could touch him. Now, he was side by side with Samus. Both of them had their weapons ready to strike.
"Nice call! I can't see it, but I can still sense the chills in the air." he noted to Samus.
Even still, Link cursed under his breath.
Damn it! I wish Midna was here - she could have turned me into a wolf like before. Link said in his mind.
Finally, the spirit manifested in a physical glowing form, and Link immediately knew what kind of person this was: It was a fairly tall woman, with golden eyes and chocolate skin. In addition she had on priceless jewelry, made from rubies, diamonds, and emeralds. Above all else, she had long crimson hair.
"No way...a Gerudo?" Link said lowering his sword.
The ghostly woman's eyes narrowed in irritation and hatred. She balled her fist as though she was alive and ready to strike.
"Yes...I am a Gerudo...and there are many spirits like me here that roam this temple. Does that scare you, Hylian?" she questioned him.
Link's eyes narrowed in hatred, but then remembered that the ghost was not totally wrong for saying what she said. He was aware of the curse that lingered among the Gerudos. Still, the swordsman remained silent, and simply waived for Samus to put her arm canon down. She complied slowly, but never taking her eyes off of the spirit.
"I take it that both of you are here to stop Lord Ganondorf..." the ghostly Gerudo inferred.
Link and Samus gazed at each other briefly.
"Where is he?" Samus demanded.
The spirit simply gave the space warrior a disgusted look. While she couldn't see Samus, she heard a strong feminine voice from inside the armor.
"Certainly I haven't come here to tell you, woman." she hissed at her.
This only frustrated Samus. None of this was making sense to her.
"Why not?! He's hurting innocent people!" she shouted at the spirit.
"He's saving our extinct race!" The Gerudo woman barked back.
"By raping and forcing young women to bare his DNA!" she retorted.
Even Link didn't know how the spirit was going to respond to that. Despite Samus' retort, the Gerudo's ghost still had words to get off of her soul.
"The people of Hyrule has brought this on themselves! Their royal family has the blood of my people on their hands! Consider this an eye for an eye!" she bellowed out.
Samus wasn't going to argue with her any longer. She raised her arm canon and fixed her beam to the Power Beam, which could damage and kill Ghosts. After that, she charged a blast, ready to fire a Super Missile.
"Enough! You tell us where Ganondorf is NOW!" she threatened her.
Finally, the Gerudo spirit had enough. She knew that she was in no shape or condition to fight them. The floating Gerudo Sprit simply closed her as and soften her expression, as if she was going to accept her fate. Much to Link and Samus' surprise, she rose her hand and opened her palm, causing it to glow. After a few seconds, a key manifested in her arm, which solidified to the physical realm.
"That won't happen, but I'll give you this..." she began.
She floated closely to Link so that he can grab the key, which confused both him and his companion altogether.
"Here's the key to the lower dungeons. You won't be able to stop our King, but go ahead and free those sex slaves of his if you so desperately desire. It won't change their outcome. They will still breed Gerudo offsprings for our race, or else they will die." she boasted to them.
Link was glad that she gave them a key, even though he had no idea why she would remotely help them. Still, he couldn't believe that this Gerudo woman would even think about taking pleasure in the suffering of innocent people.
"How could you even be on Ganondorf's side? What is wrong with you?" Link asked her genuinely.
It was a fair question, and the Gerudo eyed Link and Samus intensely, as if she was judging them. It seem like this was going to be her last interaction with them, so there was no going back.
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"Do you know what it's like to lose a child?" she began.
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Those words struck a core in Link, but especially in Samus. While the busty space warrior never gave birth to an actual child...at least not yet...she still had a life force that looked up to her like a mother: The baby Metroid. Losing the baby was a strange feeling, but it was enough to make Samus grieve even for a bit. The blonde woman could only imagine what this Gerudo was going through. Link glanced at Samus, but her eyes were locked on the spirit. He of course wasn't a father...at least not yet...but he still had people younger than him that looked up to him. It was hard to imagine for him what this Gerudo had experienced.
"What...what do you mean?" Link asked the spirit, but now with more sympathy.
If a ghost could cry, then this woman would be doing so right now. Her lips began to tremble, and her astral body shook.
"They killed her. They killed my one and only daughter, just for being a Gerudo...!" she wept.
Link and Samus both frowned as they realized where her hatred was coming from.
"When Hyrule was rounding up all of the Gerudos, those damn soldiers promised me that they'd spare my child if I took her place, but my spirit found out that she died from a lack of nutrition. I'll never forgive the royal family for their actions! NEVER!" she cried out to them.
Then she fell to the ground balled her eyes out. Link and Samus could only watch with sorrow as there was nothing that they could do. While the Gerudos had committed unforgiveable crimes in the past, they were not completely to blame for everything that was transpiring.
"I'm...I'm sorry...but supporting Ganondorf isn't going to bring your child back." Link finally stated.
But that wasn't good enough for the spirit. Her expression rose from sadness to anger with a flip of a coin.
"Don't lecture me about what is right and wrong! And I don't need your pity, knight of the goddesses!" she hissed out to him.
Samus could only watch as she realized that the spirit was too far gone to counsel. Given her pain and hatred, Samus was surprised that she even gave them the key to the prisoners.
"It seems that that Hylia only cares for her people and no one else...have it your way then. When our race rises from the dead, we will rule your people on the throne room for all of eternity! Long live Lord Ganondorf!" she declared.
With that, she faded back in the dungeon, leaving Samus and Link alone with each other. Both of the warriors silently took in what they experienced. It left them wondering if they were on the complete right side of justice.
"Link..." Samus began.
He was staring hard at the ground. She could tell that he was thinking hard about something, but he kept it to himself. He then gripped the key in his hand and looked at his ally.
"Come on - let's go Samus." Link finally stated.
She nodded. Together, they descended into the dungeon to unlock and free the prisoners.
Deep inside the Dungeon, Link and Samus find the slaves of Ganondorf, much to their horror...
"Ilia! Anika! Oh Hylia!" Link cried out.
The musky scent of bodily fluids filled the swordsman's nostrils. Samus smelt no such thing due to her suit, but even still, her stomach twisted at the sight of naked woman chained against their will. Their bodies looked severely weakened, especially since they were fed little to no food for the past three days. On top of that, bruises and wounds were scattered all throughout their bodies, especially in their nether regions due to Ganondorf's massive membrane.
Link approached Anika first and immediately went to free her from her chains by slashing them with the Master Sword. This awoke Anika as she came to.
"L-Link...?" Anika weakly called out to him.
He caught her before she could fall and gently set her on the ground.
"It's going to be alright, Anika. We're going to get you out of here." he promised her.
Samus on the other hand was not wasting any time. She used her plasma beam to cut down all of the chains one by one, catching them in the process. Link approached Ilia next, but to his surprise, a familiar issue arose with the young woman.
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"Wha...who...who are you?" Ilia asked Link.
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This stunned Link. It stopped him in his tracks as he looked at his childhood friend who once again had no recollection of him. While it did saddened him, the swordman knew that he had no time to sulk or stop now. He had a job to do.
"It's me, Link. We're going to get you out of here and get you some help." he simply replied to her.
Ilia just stared at him in confusion and pain.
"L-Link...?" she uttered.
Ilia couldn't find the memories to help her recognize that name. In fact, she couldn't remember anything at all. Like before, perhaps her brain was hardwired to shut down after a traumatic event.
Most of the other women were unconscious or crying as Samus pulled them down. Despite being the legendary space warrior, the blonde woman was still a woman at the end of the day. No matter how much she tried to hide them, or act over them, Samus did her best to hold back tears in her suit. Thank the heavens that she never experience the pain of being forced upon. She even took a lot of pride in that, especially since most men that she came across wouldn't hesitate to get their hands on her body if they had the chance.
Suddenly, there was no more time to sulk, as her suit detected an unknown object approaching the slave chambers...
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"Someone's here!" Samus shouted and she readied her arm canon at the wall.
Link stood up and readied the Master Sword, but to his surprise, it began to glow along with his triforce of courage. He knew exactly who that person was. After a few more moments, the wall crashed down from the east, and a 7 foot warlock stood tall and strong. The wound that he had suffered from the sages all of those years ago still glowed from his chest. He eyed the bounty hunter before locking eyes with Link, causing him to smirk.
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"Welcome to my dungeon." Ganondorf snickered to them.
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This grinded Samus' guts. On the other hand, those words reminisced Link of when he and Midna encountered him for the first time. For one reason to another, Link couldn't help but feel an urge to slice Ganondorf's head clean off of his body. The urge originated from anger, but then that anger twisted into bloodlust, with Link grinning back in the process.
"I've been dying to see you again, Demon King!" Link growled back.
Ganondorf's eyes widened as he still continued to smirk. Those lines of words were ripped straight from Midna's chatter upon encountering him back in the Twilight invasion. While Samus was furious of the Dark Lord's gloating, she was now concerned about her friend's state of being. She could see Link gripping the Master Sword until his knuckles turned white.
"Link..." she uttered to him.
But Ganondorf wasn't going to let this bloodlust go away from Link. He continue to gloat about the horrific situations as much as he could.
"Do you like the scenery?" he mocked to Link. "I tried to make it look as beautiful as I could in this short period of time." Ganondorf asked them waiving his hands and looking around the room.
But instead of becoming flustered, Link met Ganondorf back with his own twisted sense of humor.
"Perhaps your blood would give it a nice makeover, wouldn't you agree?" he growled at him.
This caught the Demon King's attention again. Ganondorf knew that if they fought now, then Link would fight with the intent to kill him. Of course, he could simply just reincarnate one day, but that was clearly not ideal for him. He still planned to take the throne for himself, and he wasn't planning on dying just yet.
"Ya know...as a wielder of the triforce, we ought to understand one another. There is no need to continue this mindless bloodshed." he pointed out, folding his arms.
This was almost enough for Samus to lower her arm canon. However, something about this situation didn't feel right to her. She couldn't put her finger on it, but this felt like a trap that Ganondorf was trying to bait Link into something that he would regret.
"Ya know...you're right..." Link responded to Ganon.
Every conscious woman in the room turned to Link as if he had just betrayed them.
"Wha-what?!" Samus called out to Link.
"Oh?" Ganondorf uttered, raising an eyebrow.
Even he himself was confused. But Link knew what he himself was saying. He looked at Samus to reassure her that he had not gone completely insane. Then he turned back to the Demon King, and pointed the legendary master sword at him.
"There is no need to continue this mindless bloodshed. All I have to do is ram this divine blade through your cursed skull, and we'll be done with this war in no time!" he fiercely declared.
Ganondorf rolled his eyes and sighed.
"I was afraid that you'd say that..." he stated disappointed.
Link then took this chance to charge at him.
"SHERAAAA!" he screamed out.
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But it was too late. Something clicked within Samus that this was a set up.
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"Wait! Link!" she cried out to him.
*SLAM!*
Before Link's blade could reach Ganondorf's throat, a giant space dragon teleported in between them and brushed him to the side like an insect. His sneak attack was so powerful that it sent Link flying through three walls, into an open space of the Aribiter's Grounds.
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"I guess these so called goddesses will let anyone wield their power, eh?" Twilight Ridley snarled out.
This made Ganondorf chuckle.
"Agreed." he responded to his Co-Commander.
But Twilight Ridley gave the Demon King a side eye.
Hmph. I was talking about YOU, ya dumbass. he stated in his mind.
Samus rushed over to her in-closet crush and took a knee by him.
"Link, are you okay?!" she called out to him.
He groaned in pain, but nothing seemed broken. However, his head was dripping with blood, and the impact made it hard for him to hear people. A huge thump made him have the worst headache of all things.
"Ugh...Y-Yeah..I'm fine. I was careless. I should have known that he was trying to bait me into rushing him." Link admitted.
Samus turned to her arch-nemesis. She gripped her fist and activated her plasma beam.
"Damn you, Ridley!" she shouted at him.
This only made the space dragon grin more.
"Nice to see you again, Sammy." he responded to her.
"Don't call me that." she hissed at him.
Then Ridley shrugged his shoulders, mocking Samus.
"Aww come on! I thought that we were friends now, remember?" he mocked her.
Link groaned as he got to his feet.
"Ugh...I don't remember any of my "friends" knocking me through walls of concrete." he groaned.
On the other hand, Ganondorf did not take what Ridley said as a joke.
"What the hell are you talking about, space dragon?" he demanded.
Ridley turned back and narrowed his eyes at the Demon King.
"Oh...nothing to it, you overgrown pig. I was just mocking them before I lead them to their demise." Ridley stated.
But Samus could read between the lines. She remembered back to what Ridley offered them: A temporal alliance. She slightly lowered her arm canon and began to debate to herself: Is it worth it? she thought. Regardless, Ganondorf was now irritated and gave a fake smile to Ridley.
"Hmph. Well if that's the case, then why don't you show me your legendary power, huh? Let me see the power to wipe out entire civilizations right before my eyes." he edged on Twilight Ridley.
The leader of the Space Pirates grinned as he licked his lips.
"With pleasure..." he stated.
He readied his wings as he flew towards Link and Samus.
"Mindless insect..." Ganondorf mumbled to himself about Ridley.
Vs. Twilight Ridley (Round 2)
From there, an intense battle ensued with the space dragon and the heroes. While Ganondorf could team up with his Commander, he stayed back to see if Ridley was all talk. Who knows? Maybe they would end up taking each other out in the end. Moving forward, Ridley went to take out Samus first, but Link blocked his attack with his Hylian Shield. The space dragon shot fire balls at Link, but was still surprised that his shield simply deflected any projectile that he threw at him. Samus fired off rounds at her arch-nemesis, but Ridley covered himself with his metal wings. He then used his Twilight magic to teleport himself next to Link, but the swordsman could sense his use of magic and dodged his claws at the last moment. With more teamwork, Samus and Link successfully knocked some blows onto Twilight Ridley. This angered the space dragon. Unlike before, Samus has now obtained all of her missing gear, so her stats were superior to his own. Fortunately for him, he had an idea. He flew back towards the sex slave dungeon to pick up Ilia.
"No! Don't hurt her!" Link begged, chasing after him.
Once inside, Ridley threw Ilia at Link, and then charged at him. The warrior had no choice but to use himself as a human shield. Ilia was fine, but Link suffered massive amounts of damage due to protecting Ilia. Samus' heart sank at the sight of Link's critical condition. Her visor scans showed her that he needed medical attention.
"Stop this, Ridley! Dark Samus and Ganondorf are only using you and your Space Pirates to get what they want!" she complained to him.
Ridley stopped in his tracks, and sarcastically raised his eyebrow at Samus.
"Is that right? And what do you suppose that I should do? Join forces with you and put a stop to them?" he asked her.
Samus heard that sentence like it was a signal to her head that Ridley was trying to say something else. On the other hand, Ganondorf's eyes widened. The golden opportunity to kill Link was right in front of the space dragon.
"What are you waiting for? KILL HIM!" The Demon King shouted at Ridley.
The space dragon barred his fangs at Ganondorf and then turned to Samus.
"I'm waiting for your answer, bounty hunter!" he told her.
Sweat ran down Samus' forehead. She couldn't bring herself to ally with Ridley.
"I can't...I can't...I can't..." she mumbled to herself. But if I don't, then Link will...
Ridley smacked his teeth and then turned to Link.
"Hmph. What a waste..." he said as he rose his hand, ready to finish off Link.
Finally, Samus made her decision. It felt like she wanted to throw up, but she had no choice.
"Ridley!" she cried out.
This caught his attention once again, and he turned his glowing crimson eyes at Samus for the last time. Samus glared intensely at the space dragon. Frustration, rage, and anger was built in her glare. They have never seen eye to eye, and they probably never will see eye to eye...however...for today...things would change...
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"Kill him!" Samus demanded to Twilight Ridley.
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Link had his eyes closed, so he had no idea what Samus was talking about.
"Wha-what? Samus!" he cried out to her in confusion.
On the other hand, Ridley knew the assignment. She could tell by her glare. The space dragon grinned ear to ear in satisfaction.
"With pleasure..." he said.
Then in a swift motion, Twilight Ridley teleported behind Ganondorf to impaled him with his claws. The Demon King had no time to react whatsoever.
"GAHHHH!" Ganondorf shouted out in pain and confusion.
He looked behind him to see Ridley chuckling to himself.
"You...you renegade bastard!" he growled.
Ridley licked Ganondorf's blood that spilled from his claws.
"Opps, I'm sorry...my hand slipped!" he teased the Demon King.
Link slowly got to his feet, but struggled a lot. Ilia was in the corner unconscious as the previous impact knocked her out. His ally zoomed to help him up, but Link had something else on his mind.
"S-Samus...r-run...!" he murmured to her.
"What? What do you mean? He got him!" Samus protested.
Link just shook his head. He knew what was coming next. The triforce on Ganondorf's arm glowed brighter than ever. Then the Demon King began to growl like a lion, and his eyes became bright white.
"Huh?!" Twilight Ridley murmured to himself.
In the next moment, Ganondorf's body exploded completely, knocking Ridley back through some walls. Once the smoke cleared, he had taken the form of a giant pig monster. He roared in anger as he took on his beast form. Ridley wasn't too hurt, but he was more irritated than anything.
Vs. Dark Beast Ganon
"Oh great...and I thought that he was bluffing when he said that he could transform into a giant pig." he said rolling his eyes.
Link drank some milk that he saved, restoring some of his hearts, before getting back on his feet. Samus and Link then regrouped with Ridley.
"You're...you're helping us?!" Link asked the space dragon.
Ridley almost threw up at the swordsman's words.
"Nice observation there, young man. Gosh - you humans are so 1 dimensional it makes me want to throw up!" he snarled at them.
They all turned to Ganon who was growling at them. Samus then activated her scan visor.
"I can scan him. We'll be able to know how to defeat him afterwards." he told them.
"No need, we already know how to." Link said gripping his Master Sword.
Ridley narrowed his eyes at the swordsman.
"And how's that, genius?" he snarled at him.
Link stretched his shoulder before taking a warrior's stance. Samus charged her arm canon, ready to fire at Dark Beast Ganon.
"I'll run this sword through his skull!" he firmly declared.
Ridley looked at the sword that sealed the darkness, and then back at Ganon.
"Why don't I just take your damn sword and do it myself!" he hissed.
The space dragon then forced Link to drop his sword.
"Wait - Ridley I wouldn't do that..." Link began.
But it was too late. As soon as Ridley touched the blade, his skin literally began to disintegrate. He roared in pain as he slowly regenerated.
"Gah! What the hell?!" he growled.
Link picked up the Master Sword again.
"This sword seals evil and darkness. You may be our ally for the time being, but you do not have a pure heart to touch this blade, nor are you its master." he informed him.
Ridley smacked his teeth before facing Ganon. The dark beast was not going to wait any longer, and he charged at them. Samus and Link dodged, but Twilight Ridley stood his ground as he engaged in a sumo-wrestle with the giant pig. The space dragon's muscles were pushed to his limits, something that was rare for Ridley. Not only that, but he was enhanced with his metal form AND Twilight magic.
"W-well now...you're stronger...than I THOUGHT!" Ridley growled out with a smirk.
The dark beast simply became angrier as it eventually overpowered the space dragon, impaling it with one of his horns. For once, Samus was actually worried about her arch-nemesis' well being, but then she remembered that he could simply regenerate. Samus took the chance and used her grapple beam along with her wave beam to temporarily stun Ganon.
"Now Link!" Samus shouted out.
Link then took this opportunity to do what his father had taught him.
"HYAHHH!" Link cried out.
He then used the Master Sword and rammed it through the giant pig's skull. Green blood oozed out from the beast as it howled in pain and agony. Despite this, this didn't kill the beast. Smoke exploded from the pig as he then reverted back to his human form. Ganondorf laid powerless on the ground. Link approached him carefully, but then soon realized that he was in no condition to fight.
"G-Go ahead...finish it!" Ganondorf dared the hero.
Link didn't say anything, he instead looked at the Demon King with pity, something that Ganondorf did not appreciate. He further dared the legendary swordsman to take his life again.
"Killing me won't solve anything! I will just reincarnate again and again! I have already impregnated dozens upon dozens of Hyrule's people, including your beloved princess! My descendants will live on through the people of Hyrule, and especially the throne! Once nature takes its course, I'll reincarnate as the heir to the throne. Either way, I WIN!"
Link looked down at the Demon King with unforgivable hatred. There was no way in hell that he would ever extend mercy of his own free will. Alas, he knew that killing him would only continue the relentless cycle. More than that, the words of Zelda's wisdom rang in his ears. Ridley on the other hand was not having any of this foolishness.
"What are you waiting for?! Behead him already!" he demanded to Link.
Link rose his sword, and gripped it as hard as he could.
"HAYAHHH!" he screamed as he thrusted his sword down at the ground.
But to everyone's surprise, the Master Sword only made a cut in the ground, missing Ganondorf's skull completely. Ganondorf met Link's eyes as they were now tamed.
"Not this time." the hero declared to everyone.
This however, infuriated the space dragon.
"You're showing him mercy?! Samus - convince your foolish ally to get rid of this vermin once and for all!" he scolded.
Samus looked at Ridley, but shook her head.
"It's...it's not that simply, Ridley..." she said disappointed as well.
Ganondorf smirked at the two space life forces, but Link was not going to let him have any pleasure in this.
"Make no mistake...you won't be able to do any further damage anymore." Link declared.
Then to everyone's surprise, Link's triforce of courage began to glow along with the Master Sword. The Demon King could feel magic radiating from his arm and the blade, and knew what was coming. Even still, he was in no condition to move, and Link used the hilt of the Master Sword to knock Ganondorf out for the time being. Samus remained neutral to this, but Ridley twitched in irritation.
"Well that was anticlimactic if you ask me." he remarked.
Link finally turned to Ridley and Samus.
"We need to get Princess Zelda over here so that she can seal Ganondorf for the time being. Since he's powerless right now, both of us should be able to do something to him." he explained to his space allies.
Samus nodded.
"Understood...oh, and Ridley..." she said turning to him.
"...we'll need your help carrying these prisoners." she stated.
"Like hell I will!" he snarled at her.
Samus rolled her eyes as she knew that he would say something like that. Ridley shook his head in disapproval.
"There's no way am I touching any of those prisoners that were stained by the seeds of that damn Demon King!" he proclaimed at them.
Link then took his turn to roll his eyes.
"I knew that this was a bad idea..." Link murmured under his breath.
Fortunately, or unfortunately for him, Ridley could hear his snickering.
"Hey if I wasn't for me, you'd be dead right now. I would have killed you myself." he mocked him.
Link didn't take that boasting lightly, but he played Ridley's game and spun it back at him.
"Part of me wish that you did." he argued back.
The Twilight monster grinned.
"Well then...would you like me to grant your wish, little brat? I can send you to hell just like I did with Samus pa-"
"SHUT UP RIDLEY!" Samus yelled out.
Link was caught off guard by her voice. It really goed to show how much hatred and history that the two had for each other. He was actually surprised that they haven't killed each other by now. Ridley simply laughed and sarcastically put his hands up like he was intimidated.
"Listen...Ridley...if you don't want to take any of the prisoners, then you're carrying Ganondorf himself and taking him to Princess Zelda." Samus demanded.
Ridley smacked his teeth.
"Not a chance, madam. That's worse than the last option. Besides, when did I say that I'm taking orders from you now?" he asked her raising an eyebrow.
Without breaking eye contact, the space warrior charged her arm canon. The space dragon's eyes narrowed as a drip of sweat dripped down his neck. The ice cold glare of the legendary space warrior could pierce through his Twilight magic.
"Does this get the point across? Besides, you need us more than we need you. If you won't help us, then we won't help you." she reminded him.
Ridley crossed his arms and then cursed under his breath. He knew that she was right, besides, there was a very high chance that she could kill him if they fought right now, especially since she has that damn swordsman with her.
"Hmph. I should expect this kind of bargaining from my arch-nemesis. Very well then, where should I drop off this damn pig?" Ridley said pointing at the unconscious Demon King.
This actually made Samus smile. It was a new feeling: Making Ridley do her bidding for once in her life.
"At Lanayru Spring." she told her.
Ridley uncomfortably pounced over to Ganondorf and picked him up by his feet like a hawk.
"Let's make this quick..." Ridley growled.
Then Samus remembered something.
"Not so fast! Before you go, we'll meet at my ship landing site in 24 hours!" Samus shouted at him.
Ridley smacked his teeth. He then went airborne, causing massive winds to be thrown at Link and Samus.
"Make it 20 hours, we don't have all of the time in the world!" he growled at her.
Before Samus could bark back at him, the leader of the space pirates teleported himself and the Demon King out of the dungeon using his Twilight magic. Finally, Link and Samus were left alone with each other again for the first time in a long time. The bounty hunter deactivated her Twilight Suit, revealing her lovely curves and pretty face to Link once again. Samus was the first one to speak.
"I'm sorry for yelling early, Link." Samus finally stated.
Link's eyes widened as he looked at Samus' eyes. She did not look back at him. Instead, she was focused on the ground, ashamed of herself that she let her frustration get the better of her.
"What? Oh come on. No need to apologize for that. That damn skeleton deserved it." he teased her.
Of course, he was trying to comfort her, and Samus appreciated that. While her eyes remained on the ground, she curled her lips to a smile.
"Words can't describe how much I appreciated your presence during this journey. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Link - for everything." she said sadly.
Link initially smiled back, but then frowned.
"Woah hold on. Samus? Why are you sounding like you're saying goodbye?" he asked her.
Finally, the blonde woman turned to face him. Sadness was written all over her face. This was clearly hard for her to say.
"With my gear restored, and Ganondorf defeated, we've completed our joint missions. This world will now fall back to the light, and Dark Samus will most likely retreat to her Phaaze planet. Our partnership has ended. I'll finish this myself." she explained to him.
Link's eyes widened, not in anger but in a state of shock. There were some gaps in her explanation, but he knew that she was trying to distant herself from him, and he wasn't going to let her.
"What? No! I'm not leaving you! Besides, think about it! If we stick side by side, then we're invincible!" he protested to her.
Samus bit her lip while turning away from him again. Part of her really agreed with him, but there's no way that she could simply agree with him outright.
"It's-It's not that simple...unliked Ridley and Ganondorf...Dark Samus is ruthless and cunning. She'll stop at nothing to reach her goals. She'll even turn my allies against me just to physiologically torture me." she explained.
This struck a core in Link, but he was no stranger to fighting allies who have turned to the dark side. Even Ganondorf managed to use Princess Zelda's body as a puppet, and by far, that was one of the worst psychological fights of his life. That is why Link was going to get his point across, one way or another.
"Samus, please! Don't take all of these burdens by yourself! Dark Samus might not even be able to influence me due to my triforce of courage. Besides, I want to be at your side - no matter what!" he firmly declared to her.
"I just...I just..." she began, now holding back tears.
"Samus! Please!" he said putting his hands on her shoulders.
His touch was warm and smooth, but it escalated what the blonde woman was already feeling. Finally, the busty bounty hunter snapped. Her emotions swirled round and round in her body until it flooded into words.
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.
.
"...I can't lose you, Link!" she screamed at him with tears streaming down her face.
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Silence fell through their area as it settled into Link's mind of what he meant to his ally. Their eyes glared at each other, and Link eventually removed his hands from her shoulders. It wasn't out of discomfort, but the purpose was to allow Samus to get some space, and for her to wipe her face.
"I'm sorry...I just...I just can't...if...if I lose one more person that I've grown close to...I don't know what I would do...I'd lose it..." Samus admitted.
It took a lot of courage and willpower for the space warrior to admit that. Vulnerability was not something that the blonde woman was known for, but the swordsman didn't judge her for that. At that moment, it was the closet thing that Samus could say in regards to the ILY bomb. In fact, Link finally understood where she was coming from. There was now some courage that Link was going to face, right here, and right now.
"You won't ever lose me, Samus. You mean the world to me. I...I mean...I..." Link responded to her.
Samus then looked back at Link, trying to figure out what he was trying to say. Link almost disregarded it, but he knew that he couldn't call himself a man if he wasn't honest with her, or himself. He molded what he had in the triforce of courage before speaking.
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.
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"I love you, Samus." he finally admitted.
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It was as if the world had finally stopped moving. Reality was now on pause and all that was ringing through Samus' mind were the words of Link. Those were the words that she had longed to hear for so long in her life. She could only stare back at him as he realizes that he was still inches away from her face. His previous touch had already illuminated her body, and it gave her the confidence to do something that she would never have considered with any other man. Before the swordsman could process anything, Samus leaned in and pressed her lips against his own. Immediately, Link's eyes widened. All he could see what Samus' blushing face in front of him, with her eyes closed shut. Her lips tasted very sweet, like fruit juice. For Samus, there was a lot of blood and salt in Link's mouth, but it didn't take away from the amazing feeling of kissing her lover. Eventually, Link felt his eyelids become heavy as his muscles relaxed. After a few moments, he kissed her back. Samus led him into another kiss, which Link gladly accepted it. However, the back of the hero's mind was screaming at him that this was not the time and place for hugs and kisses. With the remaining willpower that he had, Link pulled away from Samus' delicious lips. He blushed as he wanted more, and Samus was a bit embarrassed.
"I'm-I'm sorry...I-I-I-um..." Samus said stumbling with her words.
She looked at him in fragile desperation. Did I...did I just mess this up? Am I moving too quickly for him? Those were the thoughts that she thought to herself. Her blue eyes shimmered into his own ocean pairs. While Link was struggling to get out of his shocking bliss, he was not going to let Samus drown in rejection, embarrassment, or shame. He gently took a hold of Samus' hand, much to her delight.
"No...it's fine..." he assured her.
"...there's a lot that's going on...so um...let's get back and free those prisoners." Link told her.
It felt so sensation to hold his hand. That reassurance was just what the busty warrior needed at this moment. The doubts that Samus felt before was being washed away like a river. While this wasn't the complete answer that she wanted to hear, it was enough to almost make her lips curl into a smile. They have come a long way from being strangers, to allies, and now to possibly lovers.
"Yeah...of course..." she responded, albeit still a bit embarrassed.
Link began to walk back to the prisoners, but much to Samus' surprise, he doesn't let go of her hand. Samus smiled and walked with him, gripping his hand even tighter.
I hope you understand, Samus, I want you...I really do...but...we need to take care of things here first...besides...there's still...Midna...Link told himself.
On the other hand, Samus' mind was running wild as well.
We...we finally kissed, and he kissed me back! He said that a lot was going on, but I assume that he meant our current mission, right? Was he talking about the prisoners and defeating Dark Samus? Or was he talking about...the Twilight Princess...? Samus said to herself.
Now the question remains: Where do Link and Samus go from here? That will have to be put on hold as they free the Demon King's sex slaves in the Arbiter's Grounds.
I really appreciate you all reading and for letting me know that you liked what you have read!