Chapter 14: In Too Deep
As Dudley and Eagle drove the heroes down the streets of London, they soon arrived at their destination which was the Thames River.
"Well, those Zora folk that you speak of have made a residence here," commented Dudley.
"Hopefully they'll be able to be of some help to you all," added Eagle.
"I'm sure they will be, but we'll only know once we talk to them," chimed in Link.
Dudley and Eagle shut off their vehicles and stepped out along with Link and company, a nearby bridge led them to the main entrance of Zora's Domain which Link and company wasted no time crossing.
"I know this sounds wrong, but I really could go for some sushi right now," remarked Ryu.
"I don't think it would be too smart to talk about sushi in front of fish people now," replied Ken.
Upon entering the domain, two Zora guards held up large spears to the group and glared angrily at them.
"Hey easy there, we mean you no harm," said Zelda in a reassuring voice.
"We're not taking any chances with that!" responded one of the Zora guards.
"You guys, it's me Link, your friend!" called out Link.
"Prove it, for all we know you could be a monster disguised as Link!" retorted the other guard.
Link raised his left hand up and the symbol of the Triforce shone on his hand with a powerful light.
"Now only the real Link would be able to do that, you're free to enter," said the guards lowering their spears and allowing Link and his crew entry into Zora's Domain.
"Wow, this would make for one fun water park!" exclaimed Alex as he gazed around the domain. Large waterfalls cascaded all over the domain even spilling out the main doorway. A large pool of water sat in the middle of the domain with a large coral colored land mass encircling the pool. Some of the Zoras swam around in the water while others walked about on the dry land. Sitting in the throne was a small Zora with the same pale blue skin the other Zoras had, he had two coral earrings in his ears and deep black eyes, and he also wore a coral necklace and a red cape giving him a regal appearance.
"Is this kid trying to play superhero or something?" asked Chun-Li.
"No, that's Ralis, he's the prince of the Zora tribe, although I guess we should be calling him king since his parents died quite a while back," answered Link.
"Prince Ralis, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," piped up Zelda as her and the others bowed to the young Zora prince.
"The pleasure is all mine Princess Zelda, it is good to see you and Link once again. Are these people friends of yours?" replied Ralis.
"Yes they are. Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and Alex have been journeying with us for a while in this fused world. Dudley and Eagle gave us transportation to you," answered Link.
"Ah yes, this has been a nice place thus far. Although I miss the waters of Lake Hylia, the people here for the most part have been quite nice to us," chimed in Ralis.
"I have to ask though good sir, what was with the hostility your guards initially showed us?" inquired Dudley.
"My apologies for that, but before you showed, some evil monsters had attacked me while I was out exploring the surrounding area and they were concerned they had come here for me," answered Ralis.
"Monsters you say, how did you escape from them?" asked Eagle.
"A friendly woman came and fought off those monsters allowing me to get away from my would be captors. But unfortunately, they overwhelmed her and eventually took her in. Apparently they're searching for something called a Secret Text. I think it might be in the Lakebed Temple that's nearby," informed Ralis.
"The Secret Text, then we need to get in there and get it before those monsters reach the text and give it to Ganondorf and Urien!" exclaimed Alex.
"I shall provide you Zora Armor so you can breathe underwater which you will need for exploring that temple. But first can you save the woman that saved me, I feel the need to pay her back unfortunately, I don't have very good combat skills," implored Ralis.
"No problem little buddy, we'll save her for you!" commented Ken flashing a thumbs up to the Zora prince.
"If I recall correctly, last I saw her was around this place called Westminster Abbey," said Ralis to the others.
"Thank you for the directions, we'll head out now and save your friend!" called out Chun-Li.
"Wait, before you go, I must take your measurements for the Zora Armor!" responded Ralis.
With haste, a few Zoras took the measurements for Link, Zelda, Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and Alex. After the Zoras were done, the six heroes with Dudley and Eagle still in tow then took off for Westminster Abbey.
"Now that we know where we're going, let's go save that friend of Ralis!" said Link to his companions.
With great haste, Link and company got back into Dudley and Eagle's cars and the group sped off towards their destination. After a few minutes of driving, the large group wound up arriving at Westminster Abbey, Link and Zelda gazed up at the large church in awe upon seeing it.
"What a magnificent church, I've never seen anything like this in our world," gasped Zelda.
"I agree, so let's stop these nefarious monsters from desecrating it!" ordered Link.
"The question is where are these monsters supposed to be hiding?" asked Ryu.
Just then, the sound of hoarse laughing became audible. Link put his ear to the ground to see where exactly the laughter was coming from and saw a nearby crack in the ground. Link pulled a bomb out of the bomb bag and placed it on the ground and ran back to avoid the blast. Right as the bomb detonated, a hole opened up in the ground which appeared to be the passageway that the monsters had taken.
"This like the hideaway for them, everyone get ready," suggested Link.
"No sweat, we'll dispatch of these monsters without too much hassle," said Alex.
With that, everyone leapt down the hole that Link had just blown open. Upon touching ground, the group found themselves looking at an underground cave with a small but long stream of water running through the cave. At the very end of the hideaway they saw a rope hanging from the ceiling and tied in that rope was a light skinned woman with a very petite build. She had blonde hair done up in two braided ponytails and was dressed in a red beret along with a dark green tank top, khaki colored shorts, and black boots. From the looks of it, she was unconscious.
"No way, it's Cammy! So the woman that protected Ralis was her," stated Chun-Li.
"But where are these monsters that did this to her?" pondered Ken.
Right as Ken finished his question; about four green scaled mermen with long swords and heavy wooden shields emerged from the stream and let out garbled roars at Link and company.
"Geozards! These fish faces are really annoying," informed Link.
"I could imagine, and we got more trouble than them too," chimed in Zelda. Out of the stream popped out a group of Octoroks who began spitting rocks at the heroes.
"I say, those are some obnoxious octopi," remarked Dudley as he dodged one of the rocks.
A Geozard lunged at Zelda who barricaded herself with Nayru's Love nullifying the Geozard's sword slash. Zelda then kicked the merman in the stomach sending him staggering back into Alex who slammed the Geozard to the ground with a Power Bomb and then stomped on the monster sending it up in a puff of smoke.
"Shall we dance?" inquired Eagle as him and Dudley strafed around another Geozard. The merman spit out a glob of toxic muck at Eagle. The British man swung his sticks in front of him like a baseball bat sending the glob back at the Geozard. As the merman dove out of the way of his own attack Dudley rushed up and nailed the merman with his Machine Gun Blow and Eagle followed it up with his Oxford Red attack driving his sticks into the Geozard numerous times right as Dudley finished off the merman with a Jet Upper.
"Hazanshu!" yelled Chun-Li as she did a split kick in an attempt to hit another Geozard, however the merman leapt away from her attack and pushed her away with his shield, she saw an Octorok get ready to hawk one of its rocks towards her, Chun-Li dodged the rock which hit the Geozard's shield and bounced back at the Octorok dispatching it. Chun-Li then hit the Geozard with her Hyakuretsu Kyaku sending the Geozard back into Ken who decked the malicious merman with his Tatsumakisenpukyaku. The angry Geozard let out another garbled roar and slashed at Ken who rolled under the Geozard and before it could whirl around found itself on the receiving end of Ken's Shoryuken sending it up in smoke.
"Good, only one of these left," commented Ryu as he fired a Hadoken as the last remaining Geozard. The monster however struck the projectile with its sword sending it back at Ryu who leapt out of the way and it wound up hitting another of the Octoroks. The Geozard then spit its toxic muck at Ryu who jumped over it and kicked the merman in the face and followed it up with his Shoryuken which sent it crashing to the ground near Link. As the Geozard arose, it swung at Link only to have its strike parried by Link's shield and then Link slashed the Geozard across the chest making it yelp in pain as it put up its shield. Link pulled out his bow and fired a Bomb Arrow at the Geozard making the merman's shield shatter and stunning the Geozard. Link then finished off the last Geozard with a Spin Attack as Ryu and Ken finished off the last two Octoroks each with a Hadoken.
"They were annoying for sure, but under pressure they were nothing but wet blankets," commented Ken.
"Now to save Ms. Cammy from her confines," added Dudley.
Link and company then approached the area where Cammy was being tied up from and all of a sudden, two Skulltulas descended down towards Link and his crew.
"Well, let's exterminate these disgusting bugs," said Chun-Li.
All the heroes waited for the Skulltulas to expose their weak spot, as they did, four of them laid into one of the monster spiders, and the other four laid into the other and without much hassle, both Skulltulas were easily squashed.
"So how about we get that girl down from there now?" suggested Alex.
Link pulled out the Gale Boomerang and threw it up at the rope that Cammy was being suspended from. The boomerang cut the rope and Alex caught Cammy as she fell from the ceiling.
"I can't stand to be down here any longer, how about we get back to the surface?" piped up Zelda.
Without any more time wasting, Link and the others headed to an illuminated platform and a bright light lifted them out of the cave and back onto the surface.
"Ah, it's good to see the sunlight again," said Eagle.
At that moment, Cammy began to stir and her blue eyes fluttered open as she gazed around her surroundings.
"Is that young fish boy ok?" asked Cammy weakly.
"You mean Ralis, yes he's fine. He sent us to go and save you from those despicable beasts miss," answered Dudley.
"Good, tell him I said thank you," replied Cammy as she fell back asleep.
"Looks like she's gonna need some medical attention," stated Chun-Li.
"We'll take you guys back to Zora's Domain and from there, get Cammy some medical attention," informed Eagle.
"Sounds like a good plan to me," responded Ken.
"Then let us make haste, for neither Ralis nor Cammy should be kept waiting too long," ordered Link.
All the heroes then stepped into Dudley or Eagle's vehicles and with great haste; Dudley and Eagle drove Link and company back to Zora's Domain.
"After we take Cammy to the hospital and make sure she's ok, we'll come back and help out the Zoras out here in case some monsters try to attack them again," chimed Dudley.
"Excellent, you guys take care and thanks for all your help," said Ryu.
"Not a problem at all friends. Be safe on the rest of your journey," called out Eagle.
Link and the others waved goodbye to Eagle and Dudley as they drove off towards the nearest hospital to get Cammy some medical attention. Once they were out of sight, the sextet entered the Zora's Domain where Ralis was waiting for them anxiously.
"So, were you able to save that woman from those beasts?" inquired Ralis.
"Yes, our companions went to get her medical attention, she thanks you for sending us to help her," answered Alex.
"Great, well I got your Zora Armor ready for you, this will allow you to breathe underwater which you will need most of the Lakebed Temple is covered in water. Be careful though for this also leaves you more susceptible to fire and ice attacks," informed Ralis as some Zoras handed out suits of Zora Armor to each of the six heroes.
"Hey, what's with these weird gloves that came with my suit of armor?" asked Ken.
"Mr. Masters, you are quite well known for your fist of fire, so these gloves will allow you to use those even underwater," answered Ralis.
"Cool, thanks little buddy," replied Ken.
"Another thing, take these with you too, when you equip them, you can walk underwater as well which may come in handy and certain points in the temple," said another Zora guard as he distributed six pairs of Iron Boots to each of the warriors.
"Hey thanks friend. Do you also have a shop around here to where we could replenish our other supplies?" asked Link.
"Yes, I'd suggest some Water Bombs as well since your regular bombs will not work in the water," answered Ralis as he pointed them to where the Zora Shop was. Link and the others entered and promptly bought some Water Bombs and also bought more arrows and filled one of their bottles with some potion and paid the according amount before leaving the shop.
"Are you all set now?" inquired one of the Zoras.
"Yes we are, thank you for everything," answered Link.
"Good, I shall take you to the entrance of the Lakebed Temple, let's get going," commented the Zora.
"Very well, lead the way," responded Zelda.
"Be careful in the temple and may you get that Secret Text in safe hands," called out Ralis to the heroes.
Link and the others waved goodbye to Ralis briefly before quickly heading out and preparing to go to the Lakebed Temple.
Author's Note: Yup, another chapter in the books. As I write this, E3 is going on. I'm stoked to hear some news on the next Zelda game; I wonder what it will be like. Anyways, next chapter begins our heroes' exploration of the Lakebed Temple so I'm off to go plan it out. Until then, please read and review.