A/N: Hey guys. It's been a while. I'm sorry for the long wait, especially since it was in the middle of a boss fight. I had not intended to take so long so I sincerely apologize to those of you who are following me. This chapter is not as long as the last one (this chapter was a piece that was cut from the last chapter). I hope you guys enjoy it.

Anyway, now for a quick recap:

In the last chapter, Link fought with Dark Link. Dark Link taunted Link in an attempt to make the Hero lose control. However, he went just a little too far when he brought Zelda into the mix. A mysterious new power awoke within Link, giving him the ability to finish Dark Link off. Meanwhile, Cody and Malon plot a way to cheer Zelda up. Malon decides that Cody should talk to her because he might provide insight into Link's "psyche". Though Cody seems to be partially successful, their discussion is interrupted when Morpha attacks. Malon is captured and Cody and Zelda had to fight their way to her. Cody manages to free her, but is thrown into Dr. Mizumi's lab, losing his sword in the process. There, after he is fixed up, Mizumi grants him the prototype Clawshot. Now Cody is ready to reenter the fight with his new weapon.

And now, without further ado, I give you part 2 of the Morpha battle.

Chapter 22: Giant Aquatic Amoeba: Morpha

Cody:

They were still fighting at the shore. I poured my energy into the Zephyr Boots, greatly increasing my speed. I briefly thought about attempting the Quick Step, but quickly dismissed the idea. Now was definitely not the time collapse from fatigue.

It didn't matter anyway, because I made plenty of time. I quickly reached the outer set of tentacles, Via right behind me. Zelda was about halfway in while Malon was fighting directly in the middle of the flailing appendages. Morpha's eye was a little far, but since getting closer was going to be difficult, I decided to chance it.

I planted my feet and took careful aim. Once I was certain, I squeezed the trigger, causing the claws to open and rotate into a locked position. I released the trigger…

The claw shot out of the main body at an amazing speed, the chain not even faltering as it flew to its target.

Unfortunately, the waving tentacles knocked the projectile off course, causing it to miss by a mile. I swore as Morpha finally noticed my reappearance and started swinging at me. I pulled the trigger again which caused the chain to withdraw at an almost terrifying speed. As the chain was withdrawing, I was forced to dodge Morpha's attack…

And I discovered something. When I dodged, I was forced to jump to the side. This changed the trajectory of the chain, causing it to swing through the air instead of coming straight back. Before I could wonder about the wisdom of allowing such a dangerous chain to swing like that…

The chain sliced through one of Morpha's tentacles.

I grinned as I realized a new way to use the clawshot. I pulled the trigger once again, halting the retrieval of the claw, and started using it as a chain whip. The chain ripped through a few more of the tentacles. I spun around, the chain surrounding me in a circular motion as I released the trigger. The claw finished retracting as I finished my spin.

With the destruction of several tentacles, Zelda and Malon finally noticed me.

"Cody!?" they both shouted in surprise.

Given the circumstances, I'm still not sure what made me do it, but when they shouted my name, I grinned at them, "Yeah, I'm a glutton for punishment. I know."

I didn't bother waiting to see what their reply was. I moved in closer and took another shot at Morpha's eye. Again, it deflected the shot and again, I spun around severing more tentacles with the chain than I could with the shorter reach of the Dimensional Sword. Using this method, I was able to make my way to Zelda's position.

Zelda was doing pretty good herself. She was using explosive fireball spells on some of the tentacles, and any that got too close got a taste of her kodachi.

As I moved up next to her, we set ourselves up back to back, facing down the tentacles that were starting to surround us again. Does this thing ever stop regenerating its tentacles!?

"Where did you get that weapon?" she asked calmly as she slashed down another watery appendage.

"Oh you know," I said as I shot the claw through another tentacle and swung the chain to take down a second one, "mad scientist living on the hill and all that."

"H-he wasn't that bad," Via said, hiding between me and Zelda.

"Yeah, you're right," I said. Probably best not to tell her that I was just joking around. "He told me that the Clawshot can easily get at Morpha's eye."

"Clawshot?" Zelda asked, surprised. "I thought you were using a Hookshot?"

"I'll explain it later, right now we need to help Malon."

Against a monster like Morpha, Malon was at a distinct disadvantage. With only her bow and arrows, she did not have anything that she could use to fend off the tentacles other than the bow itself. Malon was spending most of her time swinging at the tentacles, unable to fire any of the arrows that I had retrieved for her.

"Agreed," Zelda said. "Cover me."

"Wait, that's my line!" I shouted at her, but she was already gone. Zelda started dashing at the mass of tentacles that kept us separated from Malon. I looked on in shock as Zelda closed in on the appendages at a rapid rate.

"Th-there's no way she can m-make that!" Via said in shock.

I silently agreed with her. Zelda was good, but I didn't think she was that good…

Turns out I shouldn't have worried. She was almost upon the tentacles when her body became surrounded with a green glow. Right before my very eyes, it appeared as if her entire turned into a green ball of light. The energy ball passed through the tentacles as if they weren't even there, kicking up a large burst of wind in the process. Once on the other side, the ball of energy rematerialized into Zelda.

I'm pretty sure my mouth was hanging open as Zelda lightly touched down on the other side, her kodachi at the ready.

"You're so teaching me that later!" I yelled at her as I returned my attention to the tentacles around me. I continued trying to hit the eye with the Clawshot. Unfortunately, I discovered one thing…

My aim seriously sucked…

Most of my shots missed wide (though that was partially because I couldn't take the time to aim), but I was also having issues even when I did get enough breathing time to actually aim. Morpha only had to work a little to block my attacks.

Where's Link and his Hookshot when you need him…

I ripped through another set of tentacles with the chain of the Clawshot when I noticed something. Morpha's eye was floating around from tentacle to tentacle, never staying still for very long. The question was, how could I stop its movements long enough to hit it?

"Zelda!"

Zelda cut down another tentacle while simultaneously firing off a fireball at another, "What is it?"

"Can you help me destroy the tentacles around the eye?"

"We can try," Zelda said as she calmly took down another tentacle. "But if we take out too many, Morpha's eye might retreat into the lake and we'll really be in trouble."

I grumbled in frustration. "Then how…"

An idea popped into my head. Instead of taking down the tentacles surrounding the eye for a clear shot, maybe I should just protect the claw with a wind barrier. I needed the Orb of Winds. Unfortunately, it was still in my sword which was lying on the shore next to Zelda and Malon. And of course, they were blocked by a lot of tentacles.

"Hey guys!" I yelled out to them. "Could you toss me my sword?"

Malon was finally able to take a shot at Morpha's eye, but the arrow was easily blocked by the thrashing tentacles, "We're a little busy at the moment!"

"I need the Orb of Winds!"

I saw Zelda glance at me, then at the sword that was still lying on the shore, emitting a green glow. Whether or not she understood why I needed it I could not be sure, but she wasted no more time in rushing over to the fallen blade. Instead of picking it up, however, she instead crouched down and waved her hand over the crystal on the hilt, causing the Orb of Winds to pop out.

Zelda quickly jumped away from a tentacle that tried to attack her. She grabbed something off her belt that I could not see and seemed to fiddle with it for a few seconds.

"What are you-?" I stopped abruptly when I finally saw what was in her hand. It was a throwing needle.

And it was glowing with a green light.

That's possible!?

She tossed the needle at the wall of watery tentacles separating us. The wind picked up, allowing the small needle to easily tear through wall. The needle hit the ground next to my feet, causing a huge gust to pick up. I grinned as I quickly snatched the needle off the ground and dodged an incoming tentacle.

"Thanks!"

I withdrew the orb from the needle (it's not very difficult, you just have to concentrate a little), then immediately jammed it into the Clawshot. It glowed green as the wind started to swirl around it. If I missed, then Morpha would probably be much more wary of me, making this much more difficult. Heck, it may even concentrate on taking me out.

I dodged a few more tentacles, unwilling to fire off the Clawshot just yet. I finally got some breathing room. I pulled the trigger, locking the claw, and took careful aim…

Please, please, please don't miss…

I released the trigger, letting the claw fly.

A very strong gust surrounded the claw as it sailed towards to its target. Morpha spotted the projectile and swiped at it. The wind surrounding the claw ripped through the water, destroying the tentacles. Maybe it was surprise, but Morpha's eye did not move as the claw rushed towards it.

The force of the impact aided by the Orb of Winds caused the claw to push Morpha's eye out of the back of the tentacle with a resounding splash. Once the eye lost contact with the water, all of the tentacles dissolved, falling to the ground and back into the lake. Needless to say, we were all soaked. Poor Via was dropped to the ground by the weight of the water, squealing the entire time.

I quickly withdrew the claw. As it locked back into the main firing chamber, I swung the device, causing the eye to get flung up farther away from the water.

"Malon! Zelda! NOW!"

Again, I really didn't need to bother. Multiple arrows were already flying towards the eye from Malon as well as a few fireballs from Zelda. All of the projectiles hit the mark. The impact from the arrows spun the eye around, and the explosions from the fireballs threw the eyeball even farther. The eye landed, spinning in place. We watched in trepidation as the eye slowly stopped spinning. It looked at us and blinked once, then burst into blue flames. The flames quickly ate away at the eye until the only thing left was a circular patch where the grass had been burned away.

Overkill is a beautiful thing.

As soon as the eye was gone, I was overcome by a wave of exhaustion. I dropped the Clawshot and collapsed to my knees. I leaned back and supported myself with my arms. Looking into the sky, I started to laugh. I was overwhelmed by this sense of relief. I have to say, it felt pretty good.

Via floated down onto my shoulder and vibrated her wings rapidly to shake off the excess water. It was hard to tell due to her glow, but I could swear that she was giving me a look of concern, "Are you o-okay?"

It took me a second to calm down long enough to answer her. I wiped the tears from my eyes and answered her, "Yeah. Don't worry. I'm alright."

I felt something touch the side of my face. I quickly turned to look to see what it was. Zelda was standing over me, holding a bottle filled with a green substance.

"You used a lot of magic today," she said with a small smile. "This should allow you to recover your energy."

I took the bottle and felt my face involuntarily form into a grimace, "Is this, by any chance, as bad tasting as the red potion?"

Zelda seemed thoughtful for a second, "Well…"

I winced, "Never mind, I get it."

I chugged it quickly in the hopes that I would not have to taste it too much. It tasted pretty bad. I sincerely hoped that I was never going to have to drink it ever again, though that seemed unlikely.

As I finished the potion, Zelda sat down on my left. Malon came over as well and sat down on my right.

She sighed, "That wasn't fun. Tentacles…" She gave an involuntary shudder.

Zelda chuckled, "Yeah. From what I understand, Link didn't like Morpha much either."

We sat on the bank of the shore, resting as we waited for the return of Link and Ruto. We remained silent for a while when I noticed that the usually calm and composed Zelda was fidgeting. I looked at her questioningly.

She eventually noticed my stare. She sighed, then asked, "Is… Is what you said true?"

I just blinked at her.

"You know," she said, looking away. Was she actually blushing!? "What you said earlier… About Link…"

I blinked again, and then grinned at her, "Of course. The reason why I was teasing him earlier was because of how uncomfortable he looked."

"Oh," she said. I felt a nudge on my right side. I turned to see Malon looking at me, smiling happily at me.

I smiled back at her and she blushed. She turned away and spoke rather shyly, "Cody, can I tell you something?"

I blinked once again (I seem to be doing that a lot), "Yeah. What's up?"

"Well…"

Malon was interrupted by Zelda when she gasped. Malon and I quickly turned to look toward the island in the middle of the lake. Stumbling out of the water was Link, being supported by Ruto. He looked pretty bad. His tunic was ripped in several places and stained with blood. There was a particularly bad tear over his right shoulder, but I didn't see any wounds. I shuddered when I realized he must have drunk a red potion.

"Link!" Zelda cried out, springing to her feet and rushing off to the injured hylian. I jumped to my feet as well and was about to run off after her when I felt Malon grab the back of my jacket.

I turned around and noticed that she was still blushing. I raised my eyebrow, wondering what was up.

"I…" Malon started, but she shook her head. "I'll tell you later."

She released my jacket and ran off after Zelda. Something was up with Malon. I didn't know exactly what it was but…

Was it… that?

I shook my head to clear it. No time to think about it now. I ran off after them to check on Link, Via still perched on my shoulder.

A/N: They now have four of the six Elemental Orbs. Only two left to go. Will Cody finally be able to go home? And what does Malon have to say to Cody?

The next chapter is the most emotionally charged chapter in the fanfic.

Stay tuned.