Act III
The motorcycle stopped in the town square.
"Here is where we get off, kid." The rat said to his passenger. Tuff looked all around, eyes wide and mouth agape. Piles of toys were all over the place.
"Am I in kid heaven?!" He asked. He got off, and ran towards a pile. "There must be every single toy ever made in these piles!" He got out a pink stuffed bear, and pushed its stomach. "Get err done!" It said. This confused Tuff.
"Now, where have I heard that before?" He put the bear aside, and got out an action figure. "Cool; an action figure!"
"That's Supersonic Man." Butch exclaimed from behind him. "The hottest toy from 1996. Every kid wanted one for Christmas that year. Tuff played with the arm.
"Why are these toys in piles like these?" Butch was about to answer when they heard crying. They looked, and saw a crying Suzy being dragged away by her brother Jeremy.
"NOOOOOO!" The little girl cried. "Not Ducky Momo!"
"Sorry, Suzy." Jeremy told her. "You heard King Butch; every single toy must burn."
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Tuff looked at Butch.
"Please tell me that isn't true. You're not going to burn all of these toys are you?" Butch nodded. Tuff was shocked. "Why?! You know toys being recalled because of one kid chocking or dying are really stupid and unfair. I mean, it's sad, but to recall it because of a single incident? It's not the toy's or even the company's fault. Most of the time it's the parents who should focus on what their kids are doing."
"They're being burned because kids should be working instead of goofing off by playing."
"What?! But, that's the greatest thing about being young; no boring adult jobs. Kids need toys and imaginations."
"Really? Because now it seems that you kids nowadays are on tablets and mobile phones. You rather look at screens, and let them do the imaginations for you, then play with dolls or race toy cars. It'll get worse every year. By the start of the new century, kids won't know what toys will even be. It'll be sad. I'm doing them a favor here. Since toys won't be necessary on this planet anymore, how can we get rid of them? The answer is burning them."
"You're wrong! Sure more kids these days are on phones and tablets, and will want the next best things of the future, but kids will always want to play with toys too. And since toys like dolls or Plagos don't need power, you don't have to worry about them shutting down unexpectedly. You can play with them forever."
"But as technogly evolve, those problems might not problems anymore. These toys are a nuisance, and will better be off gone."
"No! I won't let you do this! I thought you were cool at first, and now I know the truth. You're nothing but pure evil. I mean, weren't you ever young? I will be the hero of kids now and kids of the future." Butch sighed.
"You're just like the rest of them. Why did I ever think you were different?" He called for his henchmen. Scratch, Norm the robot, and Parker the platypus came to drag Tuff away.
"No!" Tuff shouted. "Let go of me. NOOOOOO!" Chloe and Link were watching from a distance, a horror was on Chloe's face. She was about to run in, and save her brother when Link pulled her back.
"I know you're worried about your brother." Link began. "But, going after him is really dangerous. I say we wait when the time is right."
"When will that be?" Chloe wanted to know. "When he's dead? I can't wait that long; I have to save him before that happens! I know you want to wait until you're properly trained to defeat Butch, but since this is a dire situation, I say now is as good as any. Please, for Tuff's sake!" Link thought of this and knew she was right. He took out his sword.
"You're right. Let's do this. It's now or never!" Chloe smiled.
"I knew you'd make the right choice." They were about to go when an Alolan Raticate approached Butch's side. In his paws were a struggling baby Luma.
"Look who I found in one of the toy piles." The Raticate told him. Butch went to the Luma.
"Well, well, well," The rat started. "looks like a little Luma wanted playtime some more that he ran away from Rosalina. Guess she didn't keep a sharp eye on you. Oh well, it's her loss. Take him away with the brat."
"Yes, Boss."
"NOOOOOOOO!" Chloe shouted. They looked at her. Tuff smiled as she ran down to them. Link did face palm.
"Chloe!" Her brother shouted. "Boy, am I glad to see you. Help me!"
"I will!" She looked at the bad guys. "Let my brother and the Luma go right now…or else!" Butch and his minions laughed. Chloe looked determined. Butch and the others stopped.
"Or else what?" Butch asked.
"Or else…" Chloe looked in the distance at Link, and pointed at him. "Or else Link will kick all of your butts!" The bad guys looked at him, then back at Chloe, and laughed all over again. Butch went to Chloe.
"Then he better save you first." Chloe was confused.
"Save me, what?" She was then grabbed by GigaBowser. She struggled to get free. "Let go of me…please?" Butch laughed a third time.
"Politeness won't save you this time little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes Mary Sue. Nice try! You know what to do with her." Chloe screamed as she was being taken away with Tuff and the Luma. "As for the rest of you…" He looked at Link. "GET THAT LINK! I have another urgent matter to attend to." He left as his other minions came for Link. Link prepared for battle, and ran to them. They all did as well.
When they were all defeated, Link went on his way to save the children and the Luma.
"Chloe!" Link whispered when he came to a sleeping Beagle Boy. "Tuff, Luma! Where are you!"
"In here!" Link heard Chloe's whisper. Link turned around, and saw that they were all in a huge rat cage. Chloe held the Luma in her arms. Link walked to them.
"Where are the keys?" He wanted to know. Chloe pointed to the Beagle Boy's pocket.
"In his pocket." Link looked at them in the minion's pocket, and sighed.
"Of course it is. I'll be right back." He snuck up to the Beagle Boy, careful not to wake him. He reached his hand out, when the Beagle Boy turned around in his seat, his head now resting on the other side.
"Darn it" Link cursed to himself. He switched to the other side, and tried the same thing. He did it again. Link sighed, and switched again. The Beagle Boy kept switching, forcing Link to do the same. They kept this up for a while. This irritated Tuff.
"Can you stop, and just get the key?" He questioned. Link shot a look at the Cappy boy.
"Tuff!" Chloe said to him. "What does it look like he's doing?! Be patient, okay? He's trying to save us!"
"Okay, sorry!" He looked at Link. "You can resume trying to get back the keys. But, please hurry!" Chloe shot a look at him again. "Take as much time as you need." But, seriously, please hurry. Our lives are at stake here!
Link finally grabbed the key from the pocket. The kids and Luma cheered.
Finally! Tuff thought to himself. Link was about to go when the Beagle Boy breathed in his face. Link swatted away for the smell for it was rancid. Chloe and Tuff ushered him to hurry up. Link ran to the cage, and put the key in the lock. Link then heard a loud yawn from behind him. This made the kids gasp.
"Please, don't tell me he's behind me." Tuff was about to say Beagle Boy wasn't up, when he decided against it.
"I'm sure you're find out soon enough." He stated instead. Link looked at the Beagle Boy, and took out his sword. The Beagle Boy laughed.
"You think I'm going to fight you because you're going to let the prisoners escape?" He questioned.
"Yeah, I am. You're going to try to stop me, and I can't let that happen."
"Well, I am too. I was tasked to guard them, and I will go by my word. So, come at me, greenie. Give me your best shot!" Link ran up to the Beagle, jumping up into the air, while doing his battle cry. Beagle screamed, defending himself.
"Please, don't hurt me!" This confused Link.
"And why not?"
"Because I'm not armed properly. It's no fair for me."
"I'm sorry, but you're the bad guy. If you're not prepared, that's your problem."
"So that's it? You're going to win because I'm not properly prepared?"
"Uh, yeah." Beagle pouted.
"You're mean. You're a meanie, greenie." Link sighed.
"Look, I'm sorry, but…" Beagle grinned evilly, and kicked Link in the shins. Link hopped on one foot in pain. Beagle grabbed Link's sword, and pointed it at him.
"Ha! You thought I was dumb, huh? Well, I'm not if I outsmarted you! Looks like whoever trained you didn't train you to never keep your guard down."
"Actually, he did" Link grabbed his shield, and hurled it at his face. It hit him, and he went down. He got back up, and Link continued beating him up, until the Beagle Boy fell down, unconscious. The kids and Luma cheered. Link hopped up onto his chest, and grabbed his sword back.
"Now, get us out of here!" Tuff spoke. Link freed them, they thanked him, and they went to off to face Butch.
"Butch!" Link shouted at him as they entered his throne room. The rat was sitting on his throne.
"Aw, Link!" He hissed. "You arrived." He hopped down. "Ready for a fight?" He noticed Chloe and Tuff. "How did you two get out?"
"Link freed us." Tuff answered. "You need better security." Butch hissed again.
"Never mind that. I'll defeat you Link myself. So how do you want it to go down? Ever since I lost that guitar contest to that puppy. I've been working on my playing." Link shook his head.
"Oh no. I don't play guitar. It won't be a fair fight."
"Then that's perfect; I'll win for sure. I might not even need to cheat."
"I'll defeat you in a good fashioned sword fight." He took out his sword. Butch sighed.
"Fine! I'll still win though, even through I don't do have a sword, and therefore don't do swordfights."
"Then it's perfect. I'll win for sure." Butch hissed.
"Don't be so sure. Are you ready to be defeated, Link?" Butch asked Link.
"No." Link said. "But, are you ready to lose?" Butch laughed.
"Don't make me laugh. It will be you that is going to lose!"
"I don't think so."
"Agree to disagree." He pretended to look at something. "Hey look, Princess Zelda!" Link didn't budge.
"Nice try; that's not going to fly with me."
"You better hurry, she's getting kidnapped by your nemesis, Ganondorf."
"Again, nice try. You might as well give up because nothing is going to…" Butch ran up, and bit Link on the ankle.
"Link!" The kids screamed. Link screamed when bitten, and hopped on one foot.
"You should learn to never get your guard down."
"Lesson was already learned, and I will never forget it. I don't know about you though."
"Oh, I won't."
"Good, now let's dance." Butch gave a sly smile.
"Now you're talking!" And with that, the fight between Link and rat began. Chloe and Tuff watched, cheering Link on.
Butch had Link pinned to the floor. Link was about to use his sword when Butch took it in his mouth, and threw it aside. He looked back at Link with a toothy grin.
"Joke's on you!" Link responded. "I can just tell one of the kids to give me back my sword. He looked at Tuff. "Hey, Tuff, could you…?"
"Sure!" Tuff agreed, picking up Lick's sword. "Anything to beat this toy-hating jerk."
"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" The rat tested. He then called for two Beagle Boys who both walked in.
"RUN, TUFF!" Tuff ran with the sword. The Beagle Boy grabbed him. Another Beagle Boy grabbed Chloe. They both struggled to get free.
"Didn't your mom ever teach you not to run while holding scissors and other sharp objects?" Beagle Boy asked, "My mom did." Tuff didn't answer. Instead he threw the sword towards Link.
"Link, catch!" Link got ready to catch, but Tuff's aim was off, so he missed. The Beagle Boys and Butch laughed.
"You throw like my grandma!" Tuff's Beagle Boy teased. Chloe stomped on her Beagle Boy's foot. Her Beagle Boy yelled in pain, as Chloe ran for the sword and picked it up.
"Catch that girl!" Butch ordered.
"But I can't." Tuff's Beagle Boy admitted. "If I do, I have to let go of the boy, and I don't think you'd want that." Butch growled in his throat. He called for his other minions. But, it was too late. Chloe offered the sword to Link as the other minions came in. Link grabbed the sword.
"Thanks, kid." He slashed Butch off of him. Butch screamed as he hit the floor. Link went on to swordfight the other minions. He stabbed Tuff's Beagle Boy in the eyes. He yelled in pain, covering his eyes.
"Are you okay?" Link asked Tuff.
"Yeah." Tuff said with a nod. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it. I'm just protecting you and your sister. I like you. You two are good kids." Link swatted Beagle Boy with the sword, causing him to trip. Butch saw that he was about to be squashed. He was about to run when the Beagle Boy fell on top of him, only his tail was sticking out. Tuff broke out laughing. Butch then screamed something, but his voice was muffled so it was hard to hear. This confused the Beagle Boy.
"Did you hear that?" He asked Link, Tuff, and Chloe.
"Yes." Link replied. "It's your boss." This confused him even more.
"In speaking of my boss, where is he?" Tuff laughed some more. Beagle Boy noticed this. "Why do you keep laughing?"
"Such a cliché classic!" The Cappy kid said, and pointed to his tail. "You're sitting on him!" Beagle Boy saw Butch's tail and stood up. "Oh, I'm sorry, Boss. I didn't mean to fall on you but when you fall, you have to fall on something. It's gravity; you can't help it. You fall when you fall, you don't know wher…" Butch saw that the heroes were running away.
"They're getting away, you idiot!" Butch yelled. "GET THEM!"
"Yes, Boss!" He and other minions ran towards them. Link turned around and presented his sword to them. They all stopped dead.
"Don't kill me!" The Beagle Boy pleaded. Link thrust his sword. The scared Beagle Boy ran away. "MOMMY!" Link looked at the others.
"Do any one of you want a piece of me?" He thrust his sword again. The minions were scared, and all ran off
"Not you guys too!" Butch shouted at them. "You are all wimps!" He sighed. "If you want things done right you do it yourself. Alright, Link and kids, prepare for your lives to end!" He snapped his fingers. He was surprised when nothing happened. This confused Link and the children. "What?" He snapped again, and again, and again. "No, no, no, no, this can't be happening. This happened when I killed those puppies." Everyone gasped.
"You killed puppies?" Chloe questioned. She then was mad. "You MONSTER! I'm usually nice to people no matter what, but purposely killing puppies crosses the line! You're worse then that guy who shot that fawn's mother on a movie Tuff and I saw!"
"Whoa; whoa!" Butch defended himself. "Have you ever thought that he wasn't so bad? I mean, he had to eat like all living things, right?"
"Link," Chloe said to him. "Send this rat to Timbuktu!"
"Gladly." Link agreed.
"Think about it." Butch said to Chloe. "You need to step in their shoes every once in a while, see how they're thinking. Have some respect. Alright, Link, you can send me to Timbuktu, but first…" He gasped. "OOOOH! Link, Princess Zelda is here, and don't tell her I told you this, but she plans to propose to you."
"That'll be nice." Link said. "But do you think I'm dumb? When will you ever learn?"
"The question is, when will YOU ever learn!" He lunged towards Link. Link dodged in time, and let the rat tumble to the floor.
"The question is when will YOU ever learn?" He did it again and again. Link kept dodging.
"You have to do better then that."
"Stay still!" Butch growled.
"No, you want to hurt me. That's just common sense. When someone wants to hurt you, you don't stand still. You mov…" Suddenly, he screamed in pain as a alolan Rattata bit him in the leg. The kids gasped. He collapsed onto the floor.
"LINK!" They shouted, and ran to his side. The Rattata laughed.
"Ha!" He laughed. "I used my Poison Fang on you. You're going to die. You don't have time for an antidote." He looked at Butch. How's that for a 'wimp' Boss?"
"Not bad." Butch said. "Not bad at all. I'm so proud of you." The rats laughed, and ran off. They then saw Link transform into his true form. The kids were crying.
"Link," Chloe sobbed. "You're get though this. Won't you?" Link sadly shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Chloe, but the poison is really bad. I...don't think I'm going to make it."
"But you have to!" Tuff protested through tears. "You're a hero, so you can fight this."
"Sorry, not this time, champ. Even the greatest of heroes have to fall at some point. After all we're only human. Tell Princess Zelda that I died a hero."
"You can tell her that yourself," Chloe pointed out. "Cause you're not dying." Link smiled.
"Thanks." He then went limp.
"No, no, no, no." Chloe shook Link to no avail "Link; Link! Help me, Tuff!" But from one look at her brother told her everything. "Link!" She laid her head on his chest, and cried and cried. The Luma had tears in his eye as well. So did Tuff.
The Luma then remembered something. He floated up to Link, and touched his chest. He closed his eyes, and focused. He began to chant.
"Luma," He began. "Luma, Luma, Luma, Luma, Luma, Luma!" Suddenly, Link started to glow. Luma continued to chant.
"Uh, Chloe," Tuff said, noticing it. "What's happening to Link?"
"What?" Chloe questioned. She then looked at Link, and gasped. "I..I don't know." She looked at the Luma. "Is this your doing, baby Luma?" Luma then stopped chanting, and Link stopped glowing. He then opened his eyes, blinking.
"Chloe?" Link questioned. The kids and Luma got excited. Link was caught off guard when the little girl hugged him.
"Oh, Link; you're alive!" She said. "I thought you were dead."
"I did too." A confused Link admitted. "What happened?"
"Magic from the baby Luma I guess." Tuff stated.
"I guess I can believe that." He looked at the small Luma, and smiled. "Thanks baby Luma, you really saved my life." Luma smiled back.
"Luma, lum!" He responded. Link got up.
"I guess we'd better take you home, little star." He looked at the kids. "You kids should go too."
"What about Butch?" Chloe wanted to know.
"I'll deal with him later." The kids agreed, and they went back to Rosalina and the other Lumas.
"There you are." Rosalina said when she saw the Luma with them when they all were back on the tree branch. "I've been looking for him everywhere. He likes to wonder off sometimes."
"It seems he took a liking to Chloe." Link told her.
"Oh, is that so?" He nodded. Rosalina then began to think. She looked at Chloe. "Do you want to take him off my hands then?" Chloe was confused.
"You mean have him live with me?" Rosalina nodded. "Really?!"
"I have a lot of Lumas to look after, so it'll really help. It's up to Luma too, but I bet he wants to live with you." Chloe looked at Luma.
"Do you want to live with my brother and I?" Luma looked at her, and nodded.
"Luma!" The star said with joy. Chloe beamed.
"Sweet! I get my very own Luma!" She laughed, as the Luma hugged her, snuggling up to her chest.
"That's great and all," Tuff said. But, what about Mom and Dad? Are they going to let you keep a little magical star?" Chloe was unsure about this.
"Oh, well, um…" Luma had an idea.
"Luma!" He said. He transformed into a plush. The kids were impressed.
"Your parents won't suspect a thing." Rosalina spoke.
"But what am I going to tell them where I got this plush from?" Chloe asked.
"Just say you brought him because you thought he was cute." Tuff stated. "Or maybe say your ballet teacher gave him to you as a Christmas present."
"But that'll be lying. I can't do that. That's bad."
"Come on, Chloe! Sometimes you just have to be a rebel. Be laid back, and have fun. Don't be a good girl all the time."
"Says my brother who breaks the rules a lot."
"You'll thank me later." Chloe told Rosalina about Luma reviving Link.
"Lumas have that power." Rosalina told her. "Healing those who are sick , wounded, and dying. I'm amazed it worked. This is the first time he performed it, at least to my knowledge." Chloe was impressed.
"Really? Wow!" She hugged the Luma. "Great job if it was your first try little Luma!" Luma responded happily.
"Okay, kids." Link said once they were back in the family room, and full size again. "This is goodbye."
"When will we see each other again?" Link frowned.
"Unfortunately, this'll be the last." Chloe sniffed sadly. Tuff was sad as well. "But, don't worry. I'll be in each of your hearts. Our other friends as well."
"But, what about Uncle Klaus? What will I tell him? He gave you to me after all."
"Easy!" Tuff said "Just…" Chloe was irritated.
"You can't lie about everything, Tuff! It's still bad."
"He'll understand." Link said to her. "Don't forget, you have Luma." Chloe nodded.
After they all shared a tearful goodbye, Link leapt up into the trees.
"Kids," Bonnie said to them coming into the room. "Santa's coming. You know what he wants when he gets here." The kids and their mom went to get the milk and cookies, and carrots for the reindeer.
At their Christmas party, the next day they were surprised when their Uncle Klaus said that he could stay with them again. They told him about Link, and he understood. The parents never suspected a thing with their new Luma plush as well. It was a magical Christmas.
And the kids knew that wherever they went, Link would go with them, now and forever.