Chapter 4: YOU. WILL. DIE!
The King of Hyrule sat contently on his throne as the prisoners were brought in. The day so far had been nothing but bliss for the mighty king. For starters, he had managed to add more numbers to his army. Sure the new recruits were oddly orbular, and seemed to cast an aura of darkness wherever they went, but if there was one thing that made it all worthwhile, it was that they were loyal. They were also so skillful. Ever since the royal family had, at the soldiers' insistence, put down several shrubs in the form of eyes, they had an almost telepathic sense of knowing exactly where intruders were. And, adding to the gloriousness of it all, the intruders were, at the command of the king, put to scrubbing all the floors in Hyrule!
And so, the King paced the wonderfully scrubbed floors and made a gesture. The soldiers pulled off the burlap sacks on each intruder's head.
First, there was a mustachioed man who wore an odd coat, a device around his neck and a suspicious band with a circular object around his forehead. When pressed, the man claimed to be a doctor. If this is true, thought the king, we'll make sure to give him some more fashionable clothing before we send him to the dungeon.
Second was another young man except, unlike the "doctor" this fellow had on armor and royal garments. The boy kept silent when pressed on where he was from until the king simply threw his hands in the air, waved them like he just didn't care, and decided that they would later look into this situation more. He made a satisfied grunt, though, and gave a look to the mustachioed man. At least somebody dressed appropriately!
Third was a strange, disfigured rodent whom beamed at him with cute eyes. The King knew, however, that Zelda wouldn't tolerate any type of mouse in this castle. He made a mental note to spray the brilliantly polished floors with "BombchuBegone!"
Then came the last intruder. When the King got a load of the stranger's, familiar, face the hall boomed with laughter. "Funny," he thought, "He almost looks exactly like-"
The laughter stopped very quickly.
"You're Highness." Young Link said from his position, tied up on the floor. "May I offer an explanation?"
Lots of explanation later…
The King looked at the clones gravely.
"Of course. Now it all makes sense. Master Hand obviously doesn't want you to reappear in the next tourney." Link sighed; if there was one thing that the people of Hyrule sometimes did well, it was state the obvious. And of course, nobody was the queen of stating the obvious quite like-
Link cut off that train of thought. It still hurt to think about her.
"Despite this, I feel I must come clean. My Child: I do not know where the badge you are seeking is." The melee veterans looked worriedly at each other. They had only managed to get two badges, and that was just from the first universe! Luckily, the regal ruler continued. "But I do know someone who does! She has been said to be a descendant of what has been known throughout history as the most useful guide, or Hyrule's greatest nightmare! Gate! ENTER!"
The door swung open. Link looked shell-shocked for a moment as a small blue light with wings flew through the door. Even as his friends shook him, nothing else registered. He wanted to be hopeful, to just assume it was her. He tried to shake off the idea. Master Hand had shown him countless versions of not only himself, but Zelda as well (along with having met, albeit briefly, one or two of them) so it, logically, wasn't out of the question to assume there were plenty copies of her. Instantly Tatl came to mind.
Unbeknownst to Link, Gate had also recognized him. However, where Link was hopeful, Gate was horrified. She had enough of a guilt trip without him tagging along.
She had spent the first half of her life kind and helpful. She had met him and they became fast friends. She kept mainly to herself, keeping the jealously at the princess and the farm girl on the inside. She tried to help her best friend to her full extent, giving clues and helping him focus. She thought that, together, they had a shot at stopping Ganon.
He failed.
Thus began phase 2 of Gate's life. There was a reason the Hylian history records do not note a squashed fairy amongst the corpses; once it became clear that Ganon was near unstoppable, the fairy did the wisest thing that came to mind. She fled. Simple as that, she fled to some neighboring country or some region of Hyrule where Ganon's rule did not extend and waited the whole mess out. But, festering inside of her were self-critique thoughts and, as many people know, realizing the reality of a situation was the thing that could send those high views of you, and all those around you, crashing down.
And that was what lead indirectly to step 3.
By this point, Navi (or her new handle: Gate) had almost come to terms with the possibility that, although he never had shown it, Link obviously blamed her for the rise of Ganon. She had come to terms with the fact that Ganon's murdering the hero and princess of Hyrule was also mostly her fault. Then the Dark Invaders did everything in their power to confirm it.
To make a long story short, Gate was conditioned to fear and despise her so called "friend." And she would be traveling with said "friend" for a while now.
Oh joy.
Meanwhile, at the Great Temple…
Zelda looked worriedly at the nonexistent clock on her hands. Master Hand had given her and Link a simple objective. It didn't seem simple at the time, mainly due to Crazy Hand delivering it…
"HeYGuuiiiiiisssss!MasTeRTolD ME TO TeLLyOu TO TeLl Me tO tell You That $$$$$$$$$$$$!"
"I'm sorry Crazy Hand, but pardon?"
"ShEEshGuis KEEP UP!? #$!"
After Crazy remembered to take his "Sanity pills", things went smoother. Zelda was already planning on what she should do, when Bowser arrived and, for once, it seemed to her that things might actually turn out, dare she say it, better than expected. Of course, when Vaati and Ganon found her…
"Give it up pipsqueak!" Ganondorf yelled to the wind mage as he shot orbs of POWAH! out of his fists. The seemingly young mage simply countered via the complicated measure of smacking the orbs back at Ganondorf. "I need Zelda. She has a third of the Triforce!"
Vaati looked smug. "Dream on old man! I want this dashing maiden all for myself. Either she marries me or I suck out whatever light force is left inside of her! Hang in there, my cupcake~." He cooed at the captive princess. Zelda was hanging on a rope strategically tied to the side of the Koopa Klown Car where Bowser and Kamek were watching silently. Kamek clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Oh come on!" He shouted, "Thunder3?! Really Ganon? And Vaati; that was the worst Aerial Ace I've ever seen!" A bolt of thunder nearly fried the Clown Car and Kamek pretty much lost it. "Ganondorf Dragmire! When I get a hold of your mothers, we are going to have a serious talk about friendly fire!"
"Kamek!" Bowser whined.
Vaati, now taking notice of Dragmire's attacks as well as Kamek's trash talk and, being Vaati, started a long boastful speech. In order to not bore you with the details, we shall be showing an abridged version.
"Foolish mortals! Do you honestly not realize that it is I with whom the Light Force has rested?! Is it not I whom holds their power?! Whom is allied with beings of such hatred and pain, that I can reassume a shape and form similar to theirs?! Blah blahblahblahblabbity blah blahbla and all that jazz And you deny me a spouse, when that is all I ask of you?! I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this but here I am, doing it anyway Blah blah Skip to my Lou my darling Blah BlahBlah All you're base are belong to us Blah blahblahblah burn burn to the ground! Blah Blah In the next room, or this very one, Blah I must summon… My three Shadow Links! Shadow Link A…"
Out of the shadows stepped an evil version of Link with a smirk and general evilness.
"Shadow Link 1…"
Out of the shadows stepped another evil version of Link, except this one had hearts in his eyes and seemed very keen on staring at Vaati.
"And Shadow Link +!"
Out of the quickly turning cliché shadows mamboed a third evil version of Link, except this one had a rose between his teeth and a Spanish guitar. Everyone looked at the latter two Shadow Links then back to Vaati.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay!? I asked the Dark Mirror to whip up two emergency Shadows and these were the two that popped out! Leave me alone!" Vaati then broke down from the stress that was getting to him while Shadow Link A comforted him. Shadow 1 tried to comfort him too, but Vaati gave him a glare that made him back off.
Zelda wanted to ponder this mysterious speech further, only to be interrupted by a blue fairy leading the clones into the temple. She tried to get the villains attention only for Ganon to give her a dark look.
"Can't you see this boy is suffering from severe stress issues!?"
"Actually I'm hundreds of years old." Vaati sobbed.
Zelda screamed in horror and frustration.
Back with our heroes…
Gate lead the way into the temple…'s basement. There, instead of carpets, creatures and oddly colored brickwork, was a doorway leading to a different hallway. As Dr. Mario got ready to heal and give out well thought prescriptions, Roy used his cape to shine his sword, and Pichu got ready to run as much as his baby legs would allow him, Young Link tried to talk with Gate. Most questions, she was able to answer. But when he tried to steer it back onto the subject of the fairy before her, she would either dodge the question or refuse outright to speak. Unfortunately for her, Link was not discouraged by her behavior problems and would simply try again about a minute later.
At last, Gate stood before the team and told them their goal.
"This challenge is in remembrance of the quest for the Triforce. Even though he had things under his control for a sweet thousand years or so, Ganon, at last, took a silver arrow to the face and died. However, in spite of this victory over evil, the hero (whom will go unnamed) went out on another quest soon afterwards to break a sleeping spell over the original Princess Zelda for some reason or another. His quest ended when he managed to reassemble the Triforce of Courage. This was accomplished by going into dark, dank palaces and putting jewels in statues.
Like the hero, you will also be climbing into dark dank dungeons for the Triforce. However unlike the hero, you are looking for the whole Triforce. Your goal is to navigate this labyrinth in search of the Triforce in one of several randomized locations. Now, who will be the leader?" Young Link's hand, much to Gate's displeasure shot up, unrivaled. She sighed and lead the four onwards. "But you might want to watch your step; there are all kinds of creepy, spooky stuff in here like Redeads," a shriek sounded at the end of the hall. "And Like-likes," In the giant main room, Roy thought he could make out a large pile of sentient sloop. "And Octaroks…"
As everyone walked through the haunting hallways, Dr. Mario noticed that Young Link was looking frustrated and decided to play psychiatrist.
"Hey, you-a okay there Link? You seem somewhat downhearted."
"I'm sorry doc, but it's just that my best friend Navi left me sometime back. Sure there were times where she would be a nagging pest, but she was with me all the time, even when I faced Ganon. And I won't even mention what happened when I went looking for her in the Lost Woods."
Mario nodded sympathetically. He himself has had two partners (at minimum) who had at some point up and died much less leave. He put an arm around the discouraged sounding kokiri.
"Don't worry Link, I'm sure you'll find her at some point. You never know who you'll run into again!" Dr. Mario exclaimed while adding a silent "like King Boo." in his head.
"That's not the problem. I'm pretty sure Gate is simply acting the way she is because she is Navi but she seems so cold to me. And I don't know what I did wrong."
"Hmm… Did you two fight a lot or did something bad happen?"
"At worst she would nag at me. Sometimes shout to get my attention. But I never did anything especially bad. Now she's giving me the cold shoulder for something I did not do!"
The doctor thought about this and wondered, what exactly, could cause something like this to happen.
"Mr. Mario! Link! Come look at this." The two older gaming icons didn't realize that they stopped and followed Roy, Pichu and Gate. They entered a small room with several platforms strewn around, a small but sizeable arena. In the middle of the room was a door and in front of it, a pedestal. On the pedestal, however, was not the Triforce but-
"The Master Sword!" Link set his eyes on the Blade of Evil's Bane, somehow having found itself in this dark tunnel.
"But what is it doing here? I thought it was in the hands of Adult Link." Roy mused. Young Link decided not to question and edged further towards the blade as the rest of the party followed. Only 'Gate' seemed extremely suspicious of the entire thing.
"Why is the Master Sword here? It isn't supposed to be here. This seems highly eyebrow-raising, almost like a-"
Horrified at her development, Gate yelled towards Link as put his foot down again-
"Trap!"
Sadly, it was too late. The moment Link stepped forward, the temple disappeared and in its place was a swirling pocket dimension. Adding to the increasingly large pile of woes, Link heard a voice laughing snidely to itself.
"Nyarglebargle! My plan worked, just like I knew it would!" Bowser Junior jumped down from his previous vantage point of underneath one of the platforms and nonchalantly circled his victims. "Dad told me to take care of you dorks again and after that little incident in the Mushroom Kingdom I was happy to oblige. That's why I decided to lure you out with a fake pedestal of your shrimpy sword. And you fell for it!"
"I should have known right away." Gate bemoaned over the snickering toddler. "Fake Master Sword pedestals are strewn all over the Lost Woods. It's all my fault."
"Again." Gate thought miserably. That is, until Link walked up to the Junior and pointed the Kokiri Sword at him.
"Listen, we don't have time to deal with you right now. Just go back to Bowser and tell him that you failed and we won't beat you into a trophy."
Bowsy failed to be threatened.
"Oh no you don't! Now, I know I can't take all of you on. That is just common knowledge at this point. But then I got to thinking: These so called ''legendary heroes were near unbeatable and there were plenty of statues for me to practice with…"
"Near unbeatable?" Link questioned in his mind's eye.
"And thus, I got myself some new bodyguards. Meet the Links to Art!" Bowser Jr then back flipped off the platform. In the intervening time frame, another Link joined the battle. The older Link first appeared to have the texture and consistency of water, only for detailed textures and colors to pop in, making him greatly resemble Link in a differently colored tunic. He was then joined by another. And then another. Eventually the only tunic color that not currently engaging our heroes was green as every other Link advanced menacingly.
Roy grimaced before striking at a blue tunic colored Link and starting a duel. Dr. Mario caught on and also started punching a painted Link in his painted nose. Before long only the kids were, once again, alone fighting a horde of Links.
"Okay Pichu: We fighting a bunch of me clones. Any ideas?"
("I've got an idea! Maybe they're just like the Yoshis in the Mushroom Kingdom!") To test this theory, Pichu tried to use thunderbolt on the painted Links. Despite being made primarily of paint, the damage to the Links was moderate while the recoil stung Pichu.
("Maybe they aren't. Sorry Link.")
"Shoot." Link had to think of another way to stop the horde. The kokiri looked around the platform, but there wasn't an item that could help them and every time Roy or Dr. Mario would stop one Link, Bowsy would simply paint another to distract them. "There must be something I can do." Link's attention turned to 'Gate' as she floated lazily between Roy and Pichu…
Roy and Pichu…
Memories of a certain tourney came rushing back to Young Link. Roy and Pichu had been partners for a few tourneys (Usually whenever Roy had started a win streak,) everyone expected them to fail. And yet, they somehow succeeded. Roy was good at making blows but couldn't actually launch anyone while Pichu had some launch worthy attacks that were useless because he would get knocked away before-
Link cracked a grin and whispered a plan in Pichu's ear while silently thanking his re-found friend. Pichu got the plan easily and happily agreed to its effectiveness.
Pichu once again got the Links' attention via a thunderbolt and gleefully lead them on a wild goose chase.
"Hehehe, stupid mouse. Why did you do that? That served absolutely no- wait, where's fairy-"
SLASH!
Bowser Jr. was continuously countered by Young Link who took advantage of Pichu's distraction to sneak up on the spoiled prince. The kokiri's sword danced upon the body of the koopa, who was too stunned to counterattack with his paintbrush. Junior eventually escaped the assault, but not without becoming extra floaty in the process.
"Okay, that's it! You think you're so funny aren't you, beating me up without breaking a sweat! Well let's see how funny you are when you're nothing but a torso, which is what you'll be when I-AUGH!" Pichu crashed into Bowser Jr. with a skull bash and the fight was over. The older smashers made easy work of the fake Links, the alternate dimension disappeared and floating gently to a nearby podium was the Triforce.
"We did it!" Young Link proclaimed while holding the Triforce over his arms.
"(Yay! We won!)"
"Way to go Link!"
"Don't get too cocky; We're not out of this yet."
Despite Roy's words, Link looked toward Gate. He knew she helped him and hoped that, perhaps, she was out of her funk. Thus, when Gate gave a simple nod before suggesting that everyone leave as soon as possible, he finally lost it. He marched right up to Gate, who was hovering outside the exit to the dungeon.
"Link, what's gotten into you-"
"No! What's gotten into you!? Why have you been playing around with my emotions all this time? Why are you refusing to talk to me Navi?!
Before Gate could answer his question, Young Link was tackled. Ganondorf stood up triumphantly.
"Finally!" He shouted to all who would listen (read: nobody) "I, Ganondorf Dragmire (AKA Mandrag Ganon) have accomplished my life's goal! I am now the wielder of the Tri-" Ganon was interrupted by a giant hammer held by a happy wind mage and his three Link doppelgangers.
"Aha! Now I, VaatiSomethingorother, am in possession of the closest thing to the Light Source!"
"I always knew you could do it Lord Vaati!"
"Shut up Shadow 1!"
YL got up from his tackle courtesy of Ganondorf only to be slammed into by an irate dagger clutching Zelda.
"You may have found the Triforce, but I don't have to give you the badge if you aren't alive to receive it! Then I'll take your trophies to the Master Hand, get a bonus, and move up to Meta Knight Tier!" And so she raised her dagger to stab the younger version of her best friend/lover/guard/whatever, when Roy intervened via his combo move.
"Zelda! Why are you trying to kill your friend?!"
"Yeah Zelda, what's gotten into you?!"
"Grr… Guard! Take care of them!"
At Zelda's command, a patch of black smoke materialized into the area. The smoke solidified itself, created a cloak and scarf around itself as well as black, spiky hair and a visor with a single blue eye. The being's transformation completed itself with a shiny grey sword. The being then charged at Roy, who was so stunned he narrowly managed to dodge.
In the meantime, Young Link had taken hold of his sword and was fumbling for his shield only to, once again get marked by Zelda. "Where do you think you're-" She looked at her back after feeling some suspicious weight and was greeted with an adorable yellow rat, sparks flying from its red cheeks. Her eyes narrowed. "Rat…" She muttered before using her diamond attack to knock the rodent off of her. Pichu then stood up, shook its posterior at her, made a face and fled. "Get back here you oversized menace!" The princess ran after her, allowing Young Link to start turning his sights towards Vaati and Ganon. At least he could have had Link Sr. not pointed a sword in his face.
Meanwhile, Dr. Mario too was headed for the quickly escalating fight when Bowser Sr. dropped down in front of him.
"Okay Mario," The king grumbled in a patronizing voice, "You may have stomped me back in the Mushroom Kingdom, but I've got something in store for you! Junior! Commence plan Z-BSX-NES-SNES-DS-… Something!" Bowser then pulled out a length of chain and threw it into the air. In a sequence eerily similar to whenever somebody transforms in Anime transforming shows, Bowser Jr. leapt into the air, attached a red spike bracelet (like Bowser's) and retreated into his shell as the chain connected with the bracelet. Bowser then threatened the doctor with the makeshift flail, forcing Dr. Mario to start falling back.
Link gazed at his younger form nostalgically. Ah, his youth. Those were the days. And that's not even counting the new paradoxal memories he gained in the World of Trophies. Sadly for Young Link, this would not soften the horrible agonizing blow that Master Hand will give him in about four hours' worth if he lost now.
"Link, think about this for a second." Young Link suggested to his still memory blinded future self. "I'm you in the past. We both know that we are the best knight Hyrule can hope to have. So, why should we fight? Perhaps we can settle this in a different way like Rock-Paper-Scissors?" Young Link kept a Bomb ready, just in case. Link shook his head however. "Sorry, little guy, but Master Hand said specifically to do you and your merry band of useless clone fighters in. I will say that out of all the clones, you were the second most admirable."
"Second?! Roy…"
"By the way, you're holding a bomb." Link then waited for the bomb to blow before beginning another sword fight with his clone.
Speaking of swordfights, Roy and the Dark Swordsman were fiercely clashing blades against each other as they moved throughout the arena. Roy tried for a slash against the being only for said being to back off and thrust forwards. The being took no heed with any of the prince's attempts to strike, only retaliating whenever it amuses him. Even when Roy tried to go on the defensive, the being would charge at him before floating back swiftly after being sure he had barreled the youth down.
"This is the general of Pherae? No wonder you're considered inferior to the Altean Prince" The cloaked figure laughed coldly before pointing his blade at his opponent's chest. "Get up boy; I'm not through with you yet."
A minute of silence as the prince got to his feet and-
"Have you ever wondered about the marvels of space?" Roy said out of nowhere, "The universe is indeed vast, right?" The Swordsman was not impressed.
"Child, I can safely say that your interest in space is extremely foolish and pointless. There is nothing of interest in space. Only darkness…" Roy nodded before asking another question.
"So, have you seen any space creatures? Starmen? ("…") Shroobs? ("…") Lylatians? ("…") Metroids? ("!")"
It was faint, but the swordsman seemed to look slightly more worried. Roy smirked before continuing on.
"So, which planet did you see Metroids on?" Roy asked while trying to remember the planets Samus had talked about being infested with metroids/were blown up shortly after a gunship had been spotted approaching. "Tallon IV? Brinstar?" The figure simply stood (?) there silently, only the tiniest twitch of memory. It appears that whatever memory the figure was trying to block out, it would appear that Brinstar only made a cameo. Roy thought about the planets surrounding Brinstar and made a, foolish but probable, guess.
"Planet Popstar?"
The creature lost it, barraging Roy with a flurry of sword strikes. The redhead could barely keep up with the sword of its adversary, at one point seeming to disappear behind Roy and, when he turned around, striking from where it originally intended. Unlike the earlier fight, which was sadistic in method, the creature was now looking to kill, or at least trophyfy.
Young Link then looked away from himself and saw his fellow swordsman being attacked. He ran towards the samurai, intending to strike, but-
"Stay. Out. Of. This."
-said creature sliced the air, opening a vacuum tunnel toward The Great Bay. Young Link, having leapt into the air shortly prior, fell into the vortex, with Older Link tumbling in after attempting to fight the suction.
Satisfied, the creature turned back to his victim, radiating fury. He held his sword out to Roy, resting the tip on the young adult's heart.
"Listen closely child. Never talk of that planet near me nor those of the same origin as me. We already are not known for our mercy, so unless you want to be trapped in a maddening hell from which you will never escape, you will not say a word of that wretched planet, it's inhabitants ESPECIALLY-!" The samurai started shaking like a leaf and the blue eye on his visor appeared to turn red, but eventually calmed down. "Now, about the fourth cycle…"
"What do you know of the fourth cycle?"
"Enough. Now, the blue robot in that cycle-where is he?"
"I'm afraid I don't know-"
"I'll be the judge of that."
Roy gave an unearthly scream as the creature shed its armor and rammed into him. Thousands of particles bombarded him, crushing him. Roy was sure that the pressure would turn him into a trophy and shatter him, but instead he felt the particles force their way into their body. He felt as if his soul was being crushed, or overpowered and eventually, Roy fell to the ground, little response.
"Mamma-mia!" Doctor Mario noticed as he dodged Bowser's attack once more. The doctor then managed to do a complete back flip over his nemesis and ran towards the fallen swordsman, Bowser and son in pursuit.
"Chuuu…." Pichu hated to do it, but it shocked Zelda with as much power it could muster at the moment. Zelda fell to one knee, allowing Pichu to advance to the same area, but she quickly continued the chase.
Both of them arrived at the same time and saw their friend's body was not in good shape. Parts were twisted in ways that they shouldn't be twisted, Roy's eyes were open wide in pain and black smoke was pouring out of his still open mouth. The only indication he was still alive was that he wasn't a trophy.
"Roy! Speak to me-what happened?!"
("Roy, please wake up!")
Their worried commands worked. Sort of. Because one sound emerged from Roy's mouth-laughter. The hybrid general of Pherae stood and his friends gasped at the two changes he now had. His armor had turned golden. Had he started the journey wearing it or had this been a melee, nobody would be questioning it. But he didn't and it wasn't. Second, and most alarmingly, his eyes, normally calm and calculating, took on a cold and sinister look.
"Roy… Are you okay?" Mario asked hesitantly. Roy didn't answer. Instead, he lifted the Sword of Seals above his head. At the tip of the sword a giant fireball gathered. Roy made a gesture and it split into four fireballs, launching his friends into the air.
"Whoo!" Bowser clapped, forgetting about Junior's shell still attached. "Way to go 'Straight Boy'! I never knew you had it in you! Never knew you could do that fireball thing either… How are you doing that?"
"N-No!"
"…"
"Leave my friends alone!"
"…You truly don't know."
"No I don't! Now let me go or else!"
"…why should I?"
"What's gotten into you Roy?"
Roy walked calmly to Dr Mario and casually smacked him to the edge of the landmass.
"One of you still knows of what I seek."
"Please, none of us know about the robot! None of us have attended the unveiling."
"Liar. The plumber was there he must know of the location of DLN 001."
"But that's not Mario! Why don't you stop taking hostages?!"
"I'm not. You're refusing to answer my questions. You're forcing me to force you to hurt your friends. Why are you hurting your friends Roy?"
(Roy! Why are you doing this?)
The Sword of Seals built up power at the tip again. This time it manifested in the form of black lightning and struck Pichu because the figure holding the sword had a grasp of the concept of irony.
"… I can tell you do not appreciate me attacking your old partner, am I correct?"
"Stop now! At least leave them out of this!"
"Do you think merely ordering me will convince me to give you control? I will ask again: Who knows of the whereabouts of the robot. Fail to convince me and…"
Done toying around, Dark Roy lifted up the Sword of Seals. This time, black tentacles erupted from the sword and wrapped themselves around the other clones' necks. Dr. Mario and Pichu grasped at the tendrils that held them in place only to fail to get leeway.
"Now, surrender to my race and tell where the robot is or watch your allies suffer."
"I refuse to surrender."
"And why, pray tell, is that? You lack any of the weapons that can be used to harm me except your pitiful sword, and even now, you can't prevent me from taking control. I'm essentially immortal
"Well you have to be mortal. After all given the way you reacted earlier, I'm assuming that Kirby had a hand in your defeat?"
Roy could tell by the way that the creature moved the blade to his neck that said creature was extremely unstable.
"Convince me human. Convince me to spare your worthless friends. Convince me not to kill you or make you a permanent slave to my race."
Roy continued to struggle to regain control
The pools of the Great Bay glistened beautifully, reflecting the giant moon in the sky. Link used to feel bad for the people of Termina; their moon was constantly threatening them. The only solace was that the giants of Termina would stop it, but the giants could only throw it back into the sky until it fell again. Whenever those samurai were visiting Hyrule and stumbled upon the pathway to Termina, dark thoughts festered inside of him.
"Such a futile endless cycle." The thoughts seemed to suggest. "Why not let the world die."
The hero of Time usually managed to shun these morbid thoughts, but as he continued to spar with himself, the thoughts proceeded to flood in.
Your quest is pointless.
You are setting out to disprove a fact of life.
Maybe everything later will be less painful if you end it now.
Young Link felt it. He felt everything. He almost felt like putting his sword down…
...Until something clicked inside of him.
These morbid thoughts only came about whenever the swordsmen were around right? Then why can he hear them now? He thought about this as he sidestepped an arrow from Link and threw a bomb in return. His older self rolled out the way before responding with yet another arrow. With all this going on, neither of them noticed the third hero on the beach in the background wondering where a certain octopus-like creature got to. Fortunately, a third passenger who had entered Dark Samurai's portal did notice.
On the beaches of the Great Bay, a third Link was currently wandering around. Unlike the other two Links whom looked realistically human mostly, this child was significantly more "Chibi" or cartoony then the other two, to the point that Master Hand named him Toon Link. Toon Link was a pretty skilled fighter amongst those who knew him and even made enough of an impression to be included in the fourth cycle (despite being initially mistaken for his descendant) which was more the his predecessor and his companions could say for themselves. "Here, Bellum." Toon Link quietly called out. "Come out, come out wherever you are." He cautiously looked to both sides. Nothing. A disappointed groan later and the child started to walk over to the entrance to Termina only to have his attention taken by a blue fairy who seemed on edge. Toon Link recognized the fairy as the spirit of wisdom.
"N-Neri?! The spirit of Wisdom?!"
"My name is not Neri, but I am technically a spirit of wisdom. Or at least I was. Look, I've made a terrible mistake and my friend is in trouble. You are the Hero of Winds, am I correct?"
Toon Link nodded.
"Then I need you to use the baton you have and conduct the notes I tell you to. Understand?"
Again, Toon Link nodded as he pulled out the Wind Waker, acknowledging that the winds will probably be messed up for a while.
Young Link dodged another arrow and was still struggling to find a way to beat his seven year older counterpart, when the winds suddenly got unpredictable and ferocious. By chance, he glanced to the beach to see Toon Link and Navi. After the quick "When did Navi get here?" question, he noticed that his counterpart was conducting a baton and Navi seemed quite energetic about it. Struggling, he took out his ocarina and quickly played the notes that were being telegraphed.
It was the Song of Healing.
Both Links' eyes grew wide at this, but the halting of Older Link's attacks ensured that Young Link didn't dare stop playing. Slowly, the older Hero of Time's posture became less crazed and violent and became more relaxed, his face changing from a look of shock to one of regret and sadness. As the notes rang into the air, a cloud of fuzzy darkness took shape above Link's head. The cloud eventually took form of several small black stars that melded together to form one giant star. The star opened a purple, tear stained eye.
"Your playing is beautiful man!" It cried out from the sheer beauty of the ocarina. "Matter is definitely going to want to hear this!" With that, the creature opened the portal between the Temple and the Great Bay…
The Dark creature did not like the music.
Once the portal to Termina opened and the Song of Healing reached the current audience, the tendrils gripping Mario and Pichu melted away to the disappointment of Bowser, Bowser Jr., Kamek, Ganondorf and Vaati, whom had given up the fight over Triforce to see what had captivated the Koopa Clan's attention. But there was only horror on both sides at what happened next.
Pained shrieks erupted from Roy and Zelda as darkness was forcibly expelled out of their bodies. This time, the cloud condensed into a orb with a simple eye like the star shaped creature.
Young Link dropped the ocarina in shock only to scramble back for it when he recognized a slow sound fading in as the Melody of Darkness; a song that sucks the life of those who hear it.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" A beam of lightning blew up the fairy ocarina. The alien then charged at Adult Link and ran through him with a sword. Within seconds older Link was nothing but a trophy. The eye creature, satisfied that the immediate threats have been taken care of turned to its partner, still blinded by rage. "HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?!"
"Have you heard the kid's playing?! It felt almost like I was being forced out!"
The creature closed its eye in what appeared to be frustration, before turning to the other heroes. The creature's body suddenly sprouted purple orbs and shot them at the two heroes, each petal turning orange as it approached. The Links were able to dodge them well… until a tentacle rose from the sea and grabbed the Hero of Winds.
"Blee-om… Blee-om… What have we here?" Another creature flew out of the sea, looking like a yellowish octopus with an eye in the center of its mouth (?) and on the end of each of its tentacles. Toon Link seemed to recognize this one.
"Bellum?! How-" He noticed a glance at the Dark creature. The one eyed orb simply gave a look, but Bellum seemed to catch the message.
"Oh dear… this is looking very bad for you…"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Blee-om… Blee-om…It seems you have won a one way ticket to the Dark Castle… imagine all the fun we can have catching up there…"
Bellum's tone made it very clear that whatever catching up that would be going on would be very bad for Toon Link. Before anyone could do anything though, Bellum flew off with Toon Link into the sky.
"And then there was one…" The Dark alien noted with acid in its voice while regrowing its armor. There were some slight differences though; the shoulder pads had a third, middle, part hiding the samurai's bandana and necklace, the new visor painted the samurai's eye white instead of blue and its capelet was a much drabber and grey than the greentinted cloak it wore earlier. Before the samurai could advance on Link, a blue light stood in its way. "Out of the way mite."
"No."
"Why are sticking up for the kokiri? Have you not forgotten how he has cruelly mocked you and made attempts on your life?"
…What?
"Because, Dark Matter, those memories feel… off. They used to feel so real and vivid, but now they feel like someone has been toying with my memories."
… That's why she has been acting cold to me? I would never…
"I should have known better than to trust someone like you. Maybe it was my fault that Ganon rose to power in this timeline, maybe it wasn't. But I do know that the calamity Hyrule, and possibly the entire world is currently facing is my fault-Because I let your kind in!"
…Ganon won?!
"I understand the situation clearly Ms. Navi." Suddenly, a black claw melted out of Dark Matter's body and caught the flying fairy before retreating back from whence it came, jolting Young Link to attention. "I see that our attempts at helping you have been for naught."
Link tore toward the samurai as the claw came out of its body a second time. This time Navi was nothing more but a trophy and a bomb was attached to the trophy. "I guess I'll have to end your life for you. Farewell." The claw threw the trophy into the air.
"NO!"
BOOM!
Charred metal pieces littered the ground.
Link stared blankly, paralyzed with shock.
"Hrm, what an insolent pest. You can thank me for ridding you of her." The warrior was so focused on the explosion that he was almost blindsided by an extremely stark raving mad Link. The young Hero of Time said nothing as he focused his rage at the creature in front of him. At first, Dark Matter blocked every blow Link tried to throw at him, but over time got lazier and lazier. Eventually, it left itself wide open to an obvious shot allowing Link to stike with all his might. But, instead of slashing at flesh or even mist, the Kokiri sword instead struck what felt like iron and shattered like glass. Dark Matter laughed mockingly at the look of near despair on Link's face.
"Now do you get it? No matter what, you and your friends are doomed to fail. If you honestly thought that a blade made by children in the forest could stop me, then you do not know of as much of my species as you think. Now, I will take my leave while leaving you to ponder your continued path to failure."
Dark Matter glided smoothly toward the portal, answered by nothing more than a pained wail.
"What the Underwhere was that?!" Bowser pulled up Vaati by the shirt and glared at the wind mage. "You said you were in cahoots with these guys shrimpy!"
"Yes, I'm somewhat involved in the goings of these creatures, but outside of providing myself with a Dreamy Cap, I have had little to do with their scheming so far."
"Gah- You're hopeless." Bowser then turned to Ganondorf. "Listen Ganon, I'm out. You're free to join me later if you like."
Ganondorf looked conflicted but decided that maybe later was a great idea. And thus, the Koop Troop and Ganon's minions began to bow out of the area. The clones were still recovering from their respective attacks when Dark Matter arrived again and talked to Roy.
"Child, you have lucked out today. It is because of other problems that I have right now that I cannot end you here and now. But know this: This is your last chance. We have already broken one of your friends. Leave us to our own devices. If you do not comply with my wishes then I'm afraid that you and your friends are fair targets for our minions."
"Link… what did you do to him?"
The figure was silent. He plopped down a trophy of Adult Link on the floor. "Be wary dragon hybrid: If I see the likes of you again, I will ensure that you watch as your family falls, as your kingdom burns, and the only time you will regain your free will be to watch this planet die." With those looming threats delivered, Dark Matter turned into an eyeless gaseous form and flew off.
"It seems as though something sinister is stirring."
Roy kept a poker face as he listened to Zelda's words. The entire ordeal had been stressful and in some ways terrifying. As if everyone didn't have enough problems, with the guilt that adult Link was facing, Dr. Mario's worries about why the invader attacked Roy and why it was looking for the doctor, Pichu bursting into tears upon seeing that Roy was alright and talking about how "scary" he had become, Young Link showed up and looked completely traumatized. He never spoke a single word ever since he came back from the Great Bay. He did manage to somehow tell Zelda everything. But if what he apparently told Zelda was true…
"Perhaps this may very well be connected to the encounter with the ghost you had earlier."
Roy nodded. It couldn't be complete coincidence that a group of evil eye monsters attacked shortly after it was learned that King Boo had partnered with a group having to do with eyes. On the bright side the team had two leads, which were connected with the next two destinations. At one point, Dr. Mario had brought up the idea of abandoning the tour and getting Link some help. On the other hand, Link had managed to convey via a drawing and some arrows that he wanted to disprove what the alien had said and encouraged the continuation of the tour.
"I assume, given that this is the Melee tour, you are going towards Brinstar now?"
"That is correct. Not only will we attempt to gain the badge there, but we will also be able to ask Samus about these…"
"Dark Matter. Their name is synonymous with the name of the most mysterious matter in the universe."
That can't be a good sign.
"At any rate, I have already rewarded Link with the badge for showing enough bravery to continue the tour, no matter what the stakes maybe. You may talk to me, and I will warp you to Brinstar to continue your quest. Until then, please enjoy our hospitality, General Roy.
"Thank you Princess Zelda."
Zelda nodded before leaving the room, pausing to glance at the sullen younger Hero of Time. Due to all of the events of the day, nobody could have guessed that the eye patterns on one of the dilapidated walls allowed a certain samurai to watch unnoticed. And nobody could have known what was in the bottle around his neck that cast off a strange blue light…
Authors Notes: Due to an increasing amount of schoolwork and pressure concerning my grades (along with some tests in February and March) I have less time for electronics. So if I take a while to update chapters around those dates, that might be why.
Otherwise, I had to rush a tiny bit, but for the most part, this turned out pretty close to what I expected it to turn out to.
The "Possessed Link and Zelda" plot point wasn't thought of in the original draft, but I decided that that would be too out of character for them.
This chapter is also an accurate reason as to why this story does not have a secondary genre yet.
So, poor Young Link: Learning that you're in a world where you failed to stop the bad guy, allowing another hero to get kidnapped, watching yourself get stabbed and temporarily killed and watching your first (and outside of smash, of few) friends die has got to be rough. While for Young Link individually his torment may be done (regardless of what damage has been done) for the group as a whole: Things will get much worse. (Hint: Home world advantage)
Next time: Space Pirate Happy Hour
Fun Fact: The entire underground maze section was originally also an anticlimax: The clones find the Triforce in the first room they enter and they never encountered Bowser Jr.) I decided that there it was way too soon and lighthearted an anti climax and made longer and actually plot significant.