A Journey Worth the Soul

Chapter 3

The Power Within


"Today's contestants are…"

Link grimaced and grabbed his head as the loudspeaker's noise swelled his already massive headache. Why does that thing have to be so loud…

It wasn't any louder than usual he thought, yet his headache seemed to amplify all the noises he was hearing. Lack of sleep can do that to you I guess…

He stared at the warp portal that would transport him to the arena where he would either continue on in the tournament or be known as the "Fall King" as Ganondorf had nicknamed him because of his rapid fall from fighting grace.

"Jigglypuff," the announcement rang out from the arena floor as Link felt another wave of nausea coming from his head sweep over him. He walked up next to the portal, awaiting his name to be called.

"Link"

He took a deep breath and tried to collect his thoughts over the objections of his harassed mind and stepped forward into the light of the portal.

Why do they have to be so loud…

Link felt his body floating downwards as the portal released him gently onto the floor of the arena, yet the only thing he could focus on was the noise from the crowds surrounding him. He glanced around at the arena and mentally groaned.

New Pork City. I really don't like this place…

If it wasn't Jigglypuff who would do him in, it would be the chimera that he absolutely detested. At the beginning of the current tournament, the match that started his downward spiral was on this stage against Fox and that monster was to blame for his loss. He was about to smash fox off the stage when it had appeared directly in front of him. All he saw was its open mouth before it launched him off the stage.

At least Jigglypuff can't use her rollout attack very well here, Link thought as he looked towards the reserved box in the stadium where all of the other smashers were gathered to watch the battle. He quickly waved to Zelda who gave him a thumbs up in return.

"3"

Although she could probably use her sing attack.

"2"

Sing actually wouldn't feel too bad right about now, actually.

"1"

I can do this, I can win…

"Go"

"I can help you…"

Link opened his eyes quickly and looked around quickly as he felt a presence nearby.

"Who's there?" he asked, glancing at Jigglypuff across the stage who was floating towards him.

"I can help you win, if you let me…"

The statement caught Link by surprise. He had never cheated in any match, he didn't begin to know how yet, whoever this was, was asking him to do just that.

I don't need your help, Link replied, whoever you are.

I will see about that was the reply as the phantom presence disappeared, allowing Link to focus on the match at hand.

Link jumped forward off of the platform he was on to the buildings in front of him, grabbing a bomb out of his belt and throwing it forward towards Jigglypuff who was almost to him. The fluff ball dodged the bomb mid-air, then responded with a double kick to Link's head, knocking him back towards the edge of the platform.

-O-

"It would appear that your Hero can't even take on a pink puffball."

Zelda grit her teeth as Ganondorf walked up next to her, his arms folded across his chest.

"He can defeat her, it is only the beginning of the match anyways," Zelda replied, inwardly grimacing as she watched Link's sword thrust be dodged and as another set of punches were delivered to his chest.

"Maybe it is a good thing that he will be defeated today. Then maybe they finally might throw him out of these tournaments permanently."

Zelda clenched her fists, and started seriously thinking of punching Ganondorf yet resisted the temptation. She knew better than to try and pick a fight with Ganondorf when he had all of his 'friends' around him. The last thing she wanted was a major brawl that would get everyone in trouble, again.

"Hey Ganondorf, leave her alone why don't you," Pit yelled over at the Evil King as he walked in between the Zelda and Ganondorf, "Or do you want me to cream you again in a match like last time?"

Ganondorf glared down at the boy before walking away to the opposite end of the box where Wolf and Bowser were watching the battle.

"It will be ok Zelda," Pit said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder to comfort her. "Link will win this one; I just have a feeling he will."

Zelda took a fleeting look up to the scoreboard where the damage counters were, her heart contorting with worry as she saw that Link already had 117% damage to Jigglypuff's 14%. She glanced back down to the battle raging below and offered a silent prayer to the goddesses.

Link you better win this one…

-O-

That one hurt… Link thought as he grabbed the ledge with his clawshot. The device grabbed the edge of the platform and yanked him up onto solid ground. He slashed directly in front of him, catching his opponent off guard and launching her back several yards. He took advantage of the momentary lapse in battle to massage his pulsating head. Jigglypuff jumped right back up and started rolling in place. He knew what was coming; he tried a forward dodge as the puffball burst forward in a roll but caught the tail end of the attack, spinning him halfway across the stage to its center.

-O-

"Hey, princess, are you sure you don't want to make a bet that your boy will win this one?"

The opposite side of the box roared with laughter as Zelda resisted the urge to answer Wolf's question.

"It shouldn't be that hard of a decision princess. I mean, you do think that he can beat that pink ball of fluff don't you? It isn't like Link is doing worse than your friend Kirby when Bowser here took him out last round. Oh wait," Wolf paused, scratching his chin with a single claw, "He's doing even worse than!"

Another howl of laughter and even a few chuckles from her side of the box broke out as she stood firm, facing the stage, a small tear starting to form. She wiped it away quickly, acting as if something had flown into her eye. Marth noticed her action and quickly walked over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"We are all rooting for Link you know. We know that something is up with him and that he is not acting like he usually is." Zelda momentary looked up towards the swordsmen who was smiling softly at her, then turned back to where he and Ike were sitting watching the battle. Her gaze again returned to the battlefield, a renewed sense of hope filling her mind.

-O-

Link got back up from the ground, glad that at least he had some distance between him and Jigglypuff, even if it was caused by her attacks. Checking his damage gauge, he gulped as he noticed that he had already reached over two hundred percent. With a migraine beating on the inside of his skull, not a single plan was coming to mind about how to beat Jigglypuff. A pop from above him momentarily distracted him as a dark blue light with a glowing, multi-colored center appeared in front of him.

A smash ball? Wait…It's a smash ball!

He quickly sliced at the object, hoping that he could break it before it flew away, yet when his sword connected with it, it didn't move from in front of him. Another slash of his sword smashed against its surface and again, it only moved closer to him.

That's odd…

Link didn't let his stupor distract him for long as he saw a pink blob jump over the platform that was next to the ball. Even though the pink blob was right next to the treasured weapon, it didn't seem like she noticed it at all. Link charged his sword and let loose a powerful smash attack against his last hope in this battle. His exuberance knew no bounds as he watched in joy as the ball cracked and shattered, filling his body with pure energy.

Jigglypuff skidded to a stop only five feet from Link, who was now glowing with in an aura of green and blues, his eyes flaming gold. With his headache gone, Link leapt forward towards the pink puffball, trapping her within two golden triforces. A grin leapt across his face as proceeded to pummel the puffball over and over again; winding up for his final slash, delivering it with a precision that surprised even him. The blow threw Jigglypuff far out into the horizon, causing a feeling of elation that he had not felt in a while, swell up inside of him.

I did it…I finally won again.

He landed softly, crouching to avoid any pain in his knees from the landing, watching a tiny pink speck disappear off the stage in a blinding flash of light. Equally surprising was that his headache was completely gone and his entire frame felt like it was shaking with energy. He raised the Master Sword above his head and let out a triumphal roar as the crowd erupted with cheers.

"I believe that thanks are in order, young man." Flustered that the voice was back, Link tried to hide his bewilderment at where it was coming from.

Why would I need to thank you? I did all of that myself.

Link heard the voice chuckle, a deep, grizzled kind of laugh.

You still don't understand do you? Very well then, let's see how you fare next time.

Link felt the presence of the voice leave his mind, grateful that the mysterious being was gone. He glimpsed the portal that would send him back to the review room out of the corner of his eye and started towards it, waving to the crowds who continued to cheer him on.

-O-

Inside the box, a series of whoops and hollers echoed throughout the chamber, being guided by an exuberant Zelda. Wario was in his corner, glumly shelling out winners to those who had bet on Link to win while Mr Game and Watch was flinging bacon in happiness like there was no tomorrow. Zelda looked over to where Ganondorf and Wolf were now sitting in chairs looking semi-glum.

"I guess I should have taken you up on your little bet," she cried, with a hint of sarcasm. "I could have made a pretty penny off of you two."

Ganondorf mumbled something incomprehensible, then stormed out of the room, followed quickly by Wolf and Bowser. Zelda turned towards the window, beaming at Link while he walked towards a shimmering portal on the fighting platform.

"I'll be going now," Zelda said quickly as she ran past Pit, Marth and Peach towards the portal that led to the review room.

"Why are you going so quickly?" Pit asked. "Don't you want to a stay a little longer and revel in Link's success? I mean, he finally won something!" he said beaming.

"I do, but I want to see how Link is doing first," she said, rushing towards the portal, "then I can join you for the celebration party afterwards."

Zelda walked into the portal and was enveloped in a blue light before disappearing from view. Pit shook his head in bewilderment.

"Why wouldn't she want to stay here," he asked scratching his head. "Wouldn't Link be coming up here as soon as he was done in the review room?"

Peach smiled and ruffled Pit's hair, much to his dislike. "You don't get these kinds of things yet," she said laughing as the young man tried to fix his hair. She glanced back towards the portal and wondered if it would be fun to barge in on them, but finally decided against it and turned back towards the other smashers in the room.


Thanks again for taking the time to read another chapter and especially for the reviews! The next chapter should be coming along within a week if midterms allow it. Gah, I really dislike tests... they mess up a writing schedule like no other...