A Journey Worth the Soul

Chapter 4

What's Going on here?


Link sighed as he fell into the cusiony imbrace of the sofa in the battle events room. The couch felt so good as he slumped farther into its soft mass, feeling the tenderness of the pillows against his bruised body. It felt so wonderful compared to the absolute beating he had just endured and yet, somehow, he had still managed to win. He glanced around the room he was in. Across from the couches was a large flat screen TV which played the previous fight so that the combatants could watch and learn from what they and their opponents had done well, and done wrong. It was currently showing his match with Jigglypuff, which as it finished playing, left him wondering how he could have ever won without the sudden appearance of the smash ball.

His mind pondered the thought as the door to the room was pushed open and a small pink ball hopped into the room. Link smiled, as much as one who was feeling like he had been hit by a rolling goron could as Jigglypuff walked past him, waving one of her short arms.

"You did very well out there," Link stated as the pokemon walked past him to soda machine. The fluff ball glanced back and replied with a happy "Jigglypuff", which was the only thing Link had ever heard her say. She stared up at the machine, her eyes fixed on one of the topmost buttons. Leaping up, she stabbed at the machine, hoping to reach the desired button, missing it by several inches.

Link watched in fascination as several more attempts to reach her goal failed. She tried floating up to the machine, only to realize that, while floating her arms could not reach the buttons because of her puffed up body.

He laughed aloud, not being able to contain himself as Jigglypuff turned, inflating her body while scowling angrily at him. Link pushed himself off of the couch, an act which revealed how sore his body really was as he heard several pops as his knees and back resisted any movement, and walked over to the machine.

"What button did you want now?" he asked politely, trying to wipe the smile and any remaining laughter off of his face as to not offend the Pokémon any more than he might already have.

She pointed towards the top of the machine. Link scanned the buttons with his finger and stopped as the pink ball started pointing vigorously, jumping up and down in excitement. As he pressed the button, Jigglypuff's eyes were glued onto the candy bar as it dropped down to the bottom of the machine. Link reached down and grabbed the candy out when he saw that the Pokémon's arms were too short to grab her treat and gave it to her. The Pokémon grabbed the candy excitedly, running quickly away with her treat. She paused before hitting the door and turned back, running swiftly back to Link and wrapped her stubbly arms halfway around one of his legs while cooing softly, her big eyes staring happily up at him before she once again skipped happily towards the door.

I wish I could feel like that right about now… Link thought, since his initial euphoria after the match had vanished as quickly as the warp portal had transported him here.

"I see that somebody has a new crush."

Link jumped in alarm and spun around as he heard a person walking up behind him, the gently tapping of heels against the marbled floor.

"Oh Zelda, it's just you," Link gasped as he leaned over, panting at the sudden shock. "I didn't hear you come in."

Zelda laughed, a sweet, melodious sound that seemed to dance into every corner of the room, enlivening Link's mind with its gentle warmth. Even though his body still detested him for the day's activities, his mind was aloof to his body's protests.

"Next time I should be noisier then so I don't scare Hyrule's bravest Hero," she responded in a dignified tone which she reserved only for court, and the times when she made fun of castle life.

Link chuckled as he walked over to Zelda. Even though she was the princess of Hyrule, he knew that Zelda detested all of the different customs she had to follow day in and day out. Whenever she had the chance, she and Link would set out for some part of Hyrule, just to be away from the stuffiness of the castle. She wanted to learn about life outside of the castle as much as time had allowed her to and while the previous Smash Bros competition had helped that craving for adventure as she traveled to watch the competition, she yearned the chance to participate herself one day.

"Thank you so much for coming down here," Link stated as he grabbed Zelda into a loose embrace one that came from the deep friendship that they had forged over their adventures in Hyrule. They let go, Link leaving his hands on her shoulders as they smiled at one another.

"I was going to head up to the box to see you when you startled Hyrule's, bravest hero."

"Well," Zelda smiled, "now it seems like I have saved you a trip."

Link laughed, or tried to as his laughter turned to soft moans because of his tender ribs which he had used to block most of Jigglypuff's kick.

"Would you mind sitting down at all," he asked, rubbing his side while managing an awkward smile through partially clenched teeth.

"Not at all," she responded, aware of the pain that he must be feeling right then. She had been on the receiving end of punishment in matches many times and knew exactly how Link must be feeling about now.

They walked towards the sofa, Zelda helping Link along, his face turning red from embarrassment. Usually he would complain if Zelda tried to help him in the least, but today he didn't mind as much to complain about it. He collapsed onto the sofa, allowing his body to be enveloped in its cushions while Zelda gracefully sat down next to him.

"So tell me," Zelda started, her demeanor turning somewhat serious, "What happened down there? I want to hear about everything."

Link began quickly, going over the details of his battle from the beginning to the end. Even though they had always watched each others battles in the tournaments, they still sought each other out after each win or loss in order to congratulate or cheer up the other.

Zelda listened patiently, absorbing what Link was saying, yet a single question continually nagged at her while she listened. She bit her lip, waiting until Link had finished, watching to see if what he said would answer it for her. He finished, yet her question remained unanswered.

Link looked at her and noticed that Zelda seemed to be lost in thought.

"Zelda, are you ok?" he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

His touch knocked her out of her thoughts and back into reality.

"Yes, I'm fine, just…" she paused momentarily, deciding that if she didn't ask she would never know.

"How did you manage to use a final smash attack without a smash ball? I thought that only that object could unlock our potential to perform a final smash?"

Link was surprised. Was that the question that was on her mind?

"What do you mean?" he asked quizzically, his eyes trying to gauge her reaction.

Zelda was now the one who was confused. She eyed him more closely, searching his facial expressions. "You performed a final smash without the aid of a smash ball," she stated slowly. "I was wondering how you did that…"

Link sputtered for an answer when the door to the room burst open and a giant, very excited Master Hand flew through the door. It spotted the two people on the couch and raced over to them, stopping so close to them that Link had to scoot backwards into the couch to keep from getting his knees crushed in between the giant hand and the sofa.

"That was an amazing, come from behind win you just did there!" the hand sputtered. "I haven't seen a fight take a turn like that since Ness defeated Ganondorf last year with a Mr. Saturn! That was simply incredible!"

Link glanced over at Zelda who was trying to stymie a giggle while the tip of Link's ears started turning beat red. Yet the hand continued on how amazing the fight was.

"Seriously, I thought that you were going to be out of here, but no! You just pulled a brilliant victory out of your hat there young man!" The hand stated as it spun around Link and gave him a large slap on the back. Link coughed loudly as Zelda again tried to keep from laughing as the hand seemed to ignore Link trying to get his wind back from the hands 'pat'.

"It wasn't all that much," Link replied when he finally did get his wind back.

"But it was."

Link and Zelda turned towards the door where a figure in orange armor stood propped up against the doorframe. Samus glanced at both of them before she left the doorframe, walking towards the two of them trying to ignore the raving of Master Hand who seemed to be having a conversation with himself.

"Link, you are the first Smasher to be able to perform a Final Smash of their own free will." She said sitting down on a chair opposite of Link.

"Most of us have been trying to figure out a way to do that since the last competition. You should be proud of yourself that you were the first." she added as Zelda nodded her approval.

By this time Link was entirely confused. What do they mean that there wasn't a smash ball? I saw it right in front of my eyes… He tried to mask his confusion with a hesitant smile.

"I guess I found someway to do it?" he said quickly trying to piece together this very confusing puzzle.

"And that will make me a fortune off of these tournaments now!" Master Hand interjected, flying next to Samus who barely had time to move as the giant hand fluttered past her.

Again the door crashed open as several more of the Smashers charged into the room, led by Pit who had a large smile on his face.

"Finally, it looks like the Fall King has become the Smash King" the winged angel stated to a chorus of congratulations from everyone else who had come with Pit. Link groaned inwardly as everyone came up to him and started speaking to him at the next several minutes all Link could hear was people congratulating him about his come from behind win. With each passing second his face turned redder with embarrassment. He hated being the center of attention like this. Samus quickly noticed her friend's discomfort with the situation and leaned towards him, whispering something to him quickly, to which he offered a swift nod.

"I think Link needs some time alone now to relax," the bounty hunter said quickly, putting her and Link's plan into action. Everyone watched in slight amazement as Samus basically picked Link up and walked him through the crowd which parted for the two Smashers. The doors shut behind them as the duo disappeared into the enjoining hallway. Several of the Smashers expressed wonder at Samus' actions, yet after several minutes their conversations steadily turned towards other matters than Link and Samus' hasty exit.

Link was breathing hard as they walked down the main hall in the Smash Mansion.

"Thanks a lot back there," he replied between gasps of air. "I don't think that I could have taken much more."

"No problem," Samus replied her voice full of energy.

"Although," she stated as she slowed her pace, "I am curious as to how you were able to pull off that win with your Final Smash as well. You never did answer Zelda really well on that point."

Link grimaced, "I think that is the question on everybody's mind right now."

The bounty hunter looked at him carefully. "Are you saying that you don't know either?"

Link didn't respond, his own mind was too confused by what happened so he simply hurried his pace slightly. Samus sped up herself to keep in step with the Hylian, watching his reactions carefully.

Odd... Does he not even know himself or does he just want to keep it a secret? Samus looked at her friend, thankful for once for the helmet that concealed her intense scrutiny of her friend. She watched as Link stopped and rubbed his head for a moment before looking back towards her.

"Would you like to know the answer?" he asked staring. She was surprised not by his answer, but by the way he had said it and the look in his eyes. A mix of sadness and…fear.

Samus nodded slowly. Of course I want to know.

"You promise to believe me?"

Samus was even more confused and somewhat frustrated now. "I have no reason not to."

Part of the fear in his eyes disappeared as he asked her to follow him to his room where he told her he could give her his explanation as best he could.

-O-

As the hubbub died down, Zelda excused herself from the group she was conversing with, telling them that she was heading towards her room to relax from the day's events. She exited quietly, then walked swiftly down the hall hoping to catch back up with Link. She knew Link to be a tad bit on the rash side, doing things on a whim but she knew better of Samus, who was always the one who thought things out more carefully so their hasty exit troubled Zelda a tiny bit.

He will probably be in his room by now… she thought as she walked silently down the halls, the only noise being the soft echo from her shoes reverberating against the walls as she walked. After climbing the stairs, she turned the corner, surprised to see Samus just leaving Link's room. The bounty hunter looked somewhat startled, albeit Zelda couldn't tell what Samus's face actually looked like under her helmet.

"Samus, I was just looking for you," she exclaimed as Samus closed the door behind her.

Samus focused on Zelda more directly, "Why?"

"I wanted to check on Link, to see how he was doing.

Samus pointed towards the door, "He is really exhausted right now so he told me to not let anyone in."

Zelda uttered a small sigh, "I was hoping to see him since you both had left so suddenly. Is he alright?"

Samus nodded quickly, "He really wanted to get some sleep so he wanted to leave in a hurry." Samus bit her lip at the quick lie, not telling the princess that it had actually been her idea.

"It is only five pm though," Zelda replied. Samus fought to find a credible answer that would satisfy her friend's curiosity for several moments before finding a suitable one.

"It is from the Final Smash attack that he did," she responded somewhat hesitantly, "it took a lot out of him, to do that without a smash ball and all, so he wanted to recover fully so that he could talk with you tomorrow."

Samus inwardly cringed as the princess thought about the bounty hunters answer for several seconds. It was so hard to lie to one of your friends, especially when you were only looking out for a mutual friend. After what seemed like eternity, Zelda nodded slowly and seemed to accept Samus' response with some reluctance. The princess sighed softly then turned to head towards her room at the other end of the hall.

"Thanks again Samus for helping him out," Zelda said as she disappeared into her own room, closing her door with a soft click. Samus watched the door close, then glanced back towards Link's room as if she could she see straight through the door.

Maybe he might have enough time to explain whatever happened to him better tomorrow anyways.


Thanks again for the reviews. I tried to rework Zelda's character so that she was more along the lines of a normal teenager instead of what people usually portray her as in these stories (thank you Sweswe for the help on that change). This chapter seemed kind of rushed as well so I promise to put more time and effort into the next chapter, as well as introducing more characters and some fun. If you want to see any character in here, just send in a review and I'll see what I can do! Thanks again for reading.