LEGEND OF ZELDA TIME LOOPS: Dungeoning across Time and Space
Disclaimer: And thus, I must reveal, that I do not own the Legend of Zelda
20.X
Hyrule Warriors, Initialize
Loki took a sip of coffee as he moved back towards his office. It had been a busy afternoon, and he still had a couple of new Loopers to check up on.
"...call me anytime."
Loki paused as the door to a nearby office pulled open, and Jormungandr slid out of the office, heading off down the corridor across from Loki. Blinking, Loki peered into the office Jorg had just left.
"I have to say, Jorg isn't the one of my children I would normally be expecting to see exiting your office."
Epona looked up at Loki's statement, her eyes unfocused, before she snapped out of her thoughts and frowned. "Haha, very funny. Jorg was just helping finish setting up another Loop Base for Hyrule. Hecate was in here with us earlier to pass along some of the code underlying Smash Brothers, to help stabilize multiple Looper entries." Epona shook her head tiredly. "This is such a mess."
Loki chuckled. "Susanoo break something again?"
Epona sighed. "I thought so at first, but no. I actually think it is just a product of the Event that started this mess, it's just gone unnoticed until now." Epona pulled up a Time Loop Mapping diagram. "You know how Hyrule doesn't have a conventional Baseline, they just Loop over select portions of their world's timeline?"
Loki nodded. "Yes, I remember. A quite ingenious way to stabilize their entire world quickly, without needing a bunch of immortal Loopers to sustain a single long Loop."
Epona nodded. "Well, apparently it wasn't as stable as we thought. Apparently, small time glitches have been accumulating around Hyrule for a while, essentially micro-time gates like the Branches around Alara were dealing with for a while. The Loops were suppressing them, but they weren't just going away. And, the alarm that should have alerted us to all of this was somehow redirected to my coffee maker. Every time one of these time snares popped up, it made a fresh batch."
Loki blinked, before he glanced towards the machine in question. "So...the reason you always have fresh coffee is because of glitches in the mainframe of your assigned universe?"
Epona giggled, nodding. "Yep."
"So how did you fix it?"
"Focused it all into a single branch. Hyrule operates under the Major Branching Timeline Rules, so I was able to isolate a potential branch that already contained time travel. It was a pretty standard go-back-and-win-the-war-before-it-begins situation, I just...amplified it a bit."
Loki nodded as he saw where it was going. "You amplified the in-Loop time disturbances to accommodate the glitches in the substrata, and then I'm guessing you used Jorg's improved Ouroboros design to safeguard it."
Epona nodded. "Yep, and the method we used to pre-load the Loop history meshed in very well. When an iteration loads in the Time Looping branch, it loads up a single, untouched version of Hyrule's history up to the branch point, including some divergences, and then the in-Loop time gates simply travel within the pre-established history, ensuring that none of the gates will try and cross Loops. Worst comes to worst, all they will do is crash the Loop."
"Impressive. Given that you mentioned Hecate was involved, I am guessing that it will function as a Safe Mode Universe?"
Epona shrugged. "Sort of. It isn't as stable as I would like for a Safe Mode, given all of the time travel, and there are some unique beings there that have been flagged as Potential Loopers, but it will be able to sustain the Loopers if I need to do wide-scale maintenance to Hyrule's structure."
Loki straightened up. "Well, I will leave you to it."
20.1 (AbZHz101)
Link danced away from Volvagia's fiery mane. This wasn't the first time he'd fought the gigantic dragon, but it was looking like it was going to be the hardest. Not because Link didn't have the skills or equipment to slay him, but because he honestly didn't want to.
It had begun earlier in the Loop. Link had found himself again at the point of timeline divergence, and he had found himself bored with altering things. The Loop had seemed to be a slight variant anyway, so he had decided to just play along with whatever happened. Then, he had noticed a vendor that had a baby dragon for sale. Slipping closer, Link had found himself looking at a baby Volvagia, the beast that so often was freed to terrorize the Goron by Ganon seven years in the future. Thinking that if he bought Volvagia now then Ganon would not be able to, and thus would be deprived a Temple Watcher, ultimately making Link's job all the easier, Link had put up the Rupees to buy the little beast.
That had seemed to have been a mistake at first. The snarling little lizard had only cared about himself and food, or so it had felt to Link. He had constantly had to shell out to pay for the things that Volvagia broke or ate...or both. This had lasted up until, Link had been surprised by a Stalchild, having been distracted at dark musings of ending the little menace. Granted, with the extra powers granted to him by Looping, it likely wouldn't have been truly dangerous, more just embarrassing, but he had been spared even that... by Volvagia's intervention. Volvagia had torn apart the Stalchild, and after that, Link had truly begun to think of Volvagia as a friend. But when he had gone to the Temple of Time, he didn't think to bring Volvagia with him.
That was what this entire situation had come down to, he didn't think. He didn't think to bring Volvagia with him; he didn't think to check on the dragon after coming to this point in the timeline; he didn't think to carry items that could remove mental influences or learn how to do it himself-even though it had happened to Zelda at least one occasion in Baseline! And because he didn't think now his friend would have to pay.
Volvagia's eyes were dull, they didn't have a spark of intelligence and barely any life in them. He ducked a swipe from Volvagia's razor sharp talons, trying to concentrate on a way that everyone he cared about could walk away happy. The Unawake Shiek/Zelda telling him that the only way to free Volvagia was to kill him was most definitely not helping matters!
'Come on, Triforce, show me the way!' he thought desperately to his Loop's true Anchor. And in the Triforce's response, Link knew despair. It is said that the Triforce of Courage had many powers, one of the more esoteric ones being the ability to guide it's bearer to victory, no matter how slim the chances. Right now, for Link Victory would be saving Volvagia from the brainwashing and not having to kill him. All Link saw was how to part the mighty creature from his head. Steeling himself, Link danced through Volvagia's defenses, and with a sound that he thought was Snicker-snack, Volvagia's head fell to the earth.
The dragon's eyes gleamed for but a moment, and a tear fell as the head mouthed the word "Link" once. Then the eyes dulled, the head tried to speak no more. Volvagia was dead.
Link stood there for a moment, his own tears staining the long-parched earth below him. Then shakily, Link pulled out the Ocarina. And he began to play. He could do nothing for Volvagia while the dragon had breathed, but there was one thing he could do now. The song was one he knew well, he used it so often within a decade (for him) of these events. A Song to put the spirits of the dead at ease. The Song of Healing.
'Screw this Loop'. He didn't know if more former friends awaited him now as enemies, but he decided he wouldn't find out. Link had already used something he technically shouldn't have at the moment in the Song of Healing. Now his plans for the Loop were very simple and straight to the point. First, he was going to give Volvagia a proper burial, no small task given that he was taking on a fully grown dragon corpse, but manageable. Next, he was swiftly and brutally killing Ganon, no playing around, not stopping until he was dead. Ganon wasn't Awake so he wouldn't raise a fuss about it later. Finally, when he was sent back into the past, he was going to find Volvagia, make up leaving him behind somehow and not let him out of sight until Ganon was shoved into the Twilight Mirror, probably not even then. ...It'd might be interesting how he and Termina reacted to each other.
20.2 (Conceptualist)
Link was having a very bad day.
Well, it was more of it being a bad Loop altogether.
First, Link awoke mid sword swing. Naturally, he followed through on the attack, as he internally focused on processing his loop memories. Link had a few blissful seconds of ignorance before the memory of exactly what he was attacking filtered through. In addition to that, the memory of what he had said right before he Awakened seemed to taunt him. Link knew, he just knew, he would pay dearly for his UnAwake self saying "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"
And then Link was on the run from flock of angry Cuccos. So much pain. So very, very much.
After that unpleasant Awakening, Link was determined to not let this Loop get him down. He was the Hero of Hyrule! There was nothing he couldn't handle and no Dungeon he could not defeat (with the right equipment, of course).
However, this iteration seemed to be out to get him. More than the usual Hordes of Unending Enemies and huge Boss Monsters and Doom and whatnot.
The very first Dungeon he had to get through was an Ice Temple. If it wasn't for the cold weather gear he had subspaced recently, he probably would have frozen to death. Many times over. Link's spell of Din's Fire saw more use in just this dungeon than the past twelve loops combined.
Worst yet, it seemed that this Dungeon didn't have anything to add to his equipment. Not even a Lantern. He wound up completing the exploration at a loss, as one of his favorite Clawshots broke down from the internal gears icing over. Which wouldn't have been so bad, if he wasn't using it to cross over a minor water area at the time. Brr.
Eventually Link did manage to find the Boss Key and defeat the Boss. A makeshift flamethrower featured heavy in defeating it, as did multitudes of Bomb Arrows and the Fire Rod. Which also tragically broke, just like the Hook Shot did earlier.
After the horrible, icy travesty that was the Ice Temple, Link was looking forward to something a tad warmer.
He should have expected that a Fire Temple was next. Only, it wasn't just built into a volcano like normal. This Fire Temple went deep underground, all they way to the bedrock layers of the crust. The trek down was long and full of pitfalls. Ice Arrows featured heavily as a method of stopping lava flows and shoring up the tunnels. Several Red Tunics were layered on top of each other, etc, etc. Suffice to say, it was a tad too warm for Link's taste.
And the less said about the Dungeon Boss, the better. It wasn't one of the more difficult of deadly boss fights Link had done over the course of the loops. But it was annoying as they could get. It regenerated from heat, so with all the fires it started, it was healed damn quick. It was invincible to bombs. It was a magivore, which meant that paradoxically Ice Arrows made it stronger. The only way to defeat it was to smash it's face in with the Master Sword until it decided that Link was more trouble than he was worth.
And the loop just stretched on and on, continuing in this vein for quite some time. Many more stupidly difficult Dungeons and Dungeon Bosses later, as well as a good deal of Link's subspaced equipment getting broke or badly damaged, it was finally over.
Well. Almost over, at any rate. Last stage of the adventure. Break the magic blocking his way into the castle, save the UnAwake Zelda and beat the ever lovin' hell out of the UnAwake Ganondorf.
Magic Keys were put in equally magic locks. The Keys turned, and a force field shut down. Link charged though the now unbarred castle gate, ready to relive all the frustration and fury that had built up from this highly annoying adventure. At last, some satisfaction instead of more of the same frustrating and horrid Dungeons, with their poor layout and imbalanced bosses. Soon, the person who was behind all of this would pay.
And then the loop ended, quite suddenly and with no warning whatsoever. As Link Awoke in the next iteration, his brow twitched quite comically.
20.3 (stonebrow)
"Where is my throne? Where are my minions?"
"Er, you don't have a throne Groose. And we object to being called 'minions'," Cawlin answered.
"What fresh hell is this? Wait, I can feel the triforce, this is our reality!"
"Um, Groose, base to Groose? Are you feeling all right?" Stritch asked.
"I think he's having one of those moments…" Cawlin stage-whispered.
"Ugh, all of civilization is contained on less than ten flying islands? This era is a miserable blight upon the rich tapestry of Hyrulean history. Fine. I've conquered worlds with less… I know Link?"
"Well sure, Groose, everyone knows Link. Come on, snap out of it! We need to sabotage Link's Loftwing so you can win the race."
"I don't need to sabotage anything to win… Although if he is Awake, maybe I should sabotage him anyway. Get him out of the way early, so I can make my move unopposed except by Zelda… Oh Tingle on a biscuit, why am I aroused by the thought of the wench?"
"Uh, TMI Groose, but probably because she is the prettiest, most eligible babe on the island?"
"Oh this is surely some karmic vengeance for all the orphans I've killed, isn't it?"
"Um, I'm not sure, but can you stop being creepy?"
"I've had enough of your babbling! Return to the matter you consist of!"
Ganon flung a pair of energy bolts at the two boys, and walked off in search of Link's bird as two piles of ash fell upon the floor of the school.
Meanwhile- in Link's room:
SNOOOOOORE
…
SNOOOOOORE
20.4
Ganondorf paused as he Awakened while walking down a hallway. He was dressed in some rather elaborate, and ultimately pointless finery, so it was a safe bet that he was once again a member of the Hyrule Royal Family.
"Zelda...you and your games." He sighed in mild disgust, while searching his Loop memories to see if he could determine just how she had mixed their bloodlines this time. He paused when the name Gerudo wasn't at all familiar to his Unawake self. Did Hyrule forcibly induct the Gerudo and erase mention of them from history? Seemed rather too cold for the fairly pacifistic nation...
His answer came with a half-remembered genealogy lesson. He had studied the Royal Pedigree, and he could just recall the names at the very top. Queen Zelda the First... and King Groose the Awesome. Turning on his heel, Ganondorf proceeded to bang his head against the wall of the corridor. He refused to subscribe to Zelda's ridiculous idea that the Gerudo bloodline began with that incompetent buffoon, whatever her memories may claim. Unfortunately, it appeared that the Loops shared her ideas, and continued to link Groose as being the progenitor of the Gerudo. Still, he mused, as he slammed his head against the tile again, at least the land is not named Grooseland.
"Why are you striking your head against the wall, brother?"
Ganondorf paused, before turning to stare at the short blonde child standing next to him. Zelda, his younger sister, wore an innocent smile, with wide curious eyes. The Triforce told him she was Unawake. However, a number of Loops as her father had taught him that, Awake or not, that perfectly innocent face hid a devious mind.
"It is nothing. I simply discovered a few things."
She frowned cutely, tilting her head. "What sort of things?"
Ganondorf winced. Having the curse of Demise broken on him had also unfortunately lowered his resistance to cuteness. "Nothing. It is a private matter."
She blinked, and then broke into a wide smile, the kind of happy yet mischievous grin that had heralded the Great Pizza Incident, the Goron in the Tower debacle, and far too many Cuccos in his bedchamber. "So, are you going to ask her to the ball?"
Ganondorf felt a small sliver of dread as he asked the inevitable question. "Ask who?"
Zelda giggled. "Impa, silly. Now that you know she likes you, you two can get married!"
A brief rush of semi-related memories of the statuesque sheikah from his Unawake self (and a few unwanted daydreams) returned him to banging his head against the wall.
"No, brother, stop. You-you're bleeding!"
Link sighed as he stared out at the horizon. He wasn't sure whether to be happy about this Loop or not. On the one hand, he was a member of the Likinas tribe, a group of Sky-Elves that seemed to have taken the place of the Gerudo. They lived on a group of floating tropical islands that hovered over the Great Desert (he had stopped pondering the fluid mechanics required after he had started to get a migraine), and, like the Gerudo, they were almost entirely beautiful females. On the other hand, he had been raised like a son/brother/nephew to most of the women here, which made dating a rather uncomfortable subject.
*Swoorp* Link turned at the odd sound to find Ganondorf standing behind him, panting.
"There, she shouldn't be able to trace that. For now, at least." Ganondorf then looked around, before locking onto Link. "There you are, hero." Link tensed slightly, but Ganondorf waved him off. "No time for that. I just need to rest a bit, then I will be on my way."
Link raised an eyebrow, sensing some blackmail. "Why?"
Ganondorf took a deep breath. "Because, I.." His eyes narrowed as he caught himself, "...never mind." His eyes then tracked past Link's shoulder, taking in the view behind Link. "Wait, is that the...?"
Link nodded. "Yep. That is the Great Desert. My new tribe has taken the place of the Gerudo this time, which I'm guessing is why you are dressed like a Hyrulian Prince?"
Ganondorf nodded, glancing between the stream running past them and the desert beyond. "How is it...?"
Link cut him off. "Don't think about it too hard. Seriously, don't."
Ganondorf nodded, sighing, just as a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind.
"Hmm, a tropical island getaway. This is certainly a nice location for a date."
Ganondorf yelped, before vanishing with the same *swoorp* sound as before, revealing Impa, clad in traditional Sheikah garb, standing behind him. Her shoulders slumped slightly, before she turned to give Link a curious look. She studied him for a moment, before shrugging and vanishing in a puff of smoke.
Link leaned back and considered the spot the two visitors had just left from. "Well, I can't wait to hear that story."
20.5 (wildrook)
When he heard the cries of a Loftwing, Ganondorf didn't exactly expect this world's Link riding it and dropping onto the battlefield.
"Come for your unconditional surrender?" Ganondorf asked Link, who was brushing himself off after landing.
"Threatening you, actually," Link replied, glad that, for once, Ganondorf isn't Awake this time. "Care for a drink? I'm just wondering whether or not the Dark Lord Ganondorf has anything to fear."
Ganondorf gave out an amused chuckle. "What have I to fear?" he asked him.
"The Warriors of Hyrule," Link replied, noticing the look on Ganondorf's face changing from amusement to curiosity. "Yeah, I know, unoriginal, but it wasn't my idea. It's what we call ourselves, though, and we consider ourselves a team." 'That, and the Avengers was taken already, but I'll tell you that when you're Awake.'
Ganondorf then sighed. "Indeed, we've met," was what he said.
Link then gave him a look. "I know. It took us a while to get off the ground, but let's do a headcount." He then got his gear changed. "The Queen, a part time ninja, full-time commander; a sorceress who happened to be the other half of your pawn; a master assassin bodyguard with a fondness for giant weapons; a bug collector who can use giant insects; the Princess of the Twilight Realm who isn't taking her new form too well; the Gorons' Big Brother and the Sage of Fire; the Zora Princess and the Sage of Water; a talking sword whose legs are actually quite sharp; and you, my friend...you managed to anger every single one of us."
"That was the plan," was what Ganondorf replied.
"Not a great plan, in hindsight," Link replied. "Because when they come...and they will...they're all coming for you."
Ganondorf then smirked. "I have an army," he said.
"We have the Sword of Evil's Bane," Link replied.
"And that was able to release my final soul fragment."
"You misunderstand, big guy. There's no throne. There's no version of this where you can come out on top. Maybe your army comes, and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect Hyrule, we can be sure we'll be able to re-take it."
20.2 cont.
Link finished explaining his horrible Loop and let his head drop to the countertop. Zelda and Impa both patted him consolingly on the shoulders, as both of them were familiar with those dungeons that were just out to get you, and they could just imagine how frustrating an entire course of them would be. Zelda sighed and glanced down the bar to catch the barkeeps attention for another glass. This wasn't a Looper's Bar, unfortunately, but it would have to do for consoling purposes. Zelda's eyes narrowed as she took in the other two Loopers who were joining them this Loop. Both Malon and Vaati were bent over a notebook, both rapidly trading off taking notes. With a quick flick of her wrist, Zelda used a Switching Spell on a napkin, to swap it with the notepad. She ignored Malon's outraged "Hey!" as she scanned through the pad. She frowned at the variety checkboxes and fill-in-fields. This looked pre-made, almost like...
"What did you two do?!" Link had apparently been reading over her shoulder and come to a similar conclusion to her. Both Malon and Vaati glanced at each other, then back at Link.
"Well, you see, it's, a, gotta go!" Malon twisted off her bar stool in a show of agility, equipping her own pair of Pegasus Boots as she went, and sped for the door. Behind her, Vaati shifted down to Picori form and stirred up a wind gust to lift him up in the rafters.
Link was already in motion before they cleared the barstools. One hand pulled out a Hookshot, snagging Malon by her leg, and then quickly yanking her back, while the chain danced around, tying her up. A bottle was thrown from the other hand, and it perfectly snagged Vaati out of the air. A thin cord was attached to the end that allowed Link to reel it back in. A few moments later, Malon and Vaati were trussed and bound, both leaning against the bar. Link held up the note-pad, which was clearly filled with after-action reports for a variety of dungeons and monsters, all filled out and describing his experience. "Explain, now."
"It was Vaati's idea."
"What?!" Vaati sputtered as Malon tossed him under the bus. "No way, if I go down, you do too."
Malon stuck out her tongue, before Link pushed the notepad back into their faces. "Explain."
Vaati spoke first this time. "Well, Zelda has all of the fun of setting up different bloodlines in the Loops and letting them become history, so, Malon had the ideaaOW!" Vaati squirmed from the kick Malon had manage to hit him with, "Fine, we had the idea to set up a Dungeon Maker College. Teach everyone how to build a better dungeon of every type. That probably became history for that Loop, as each of those dungeons hit the points on the syllabus for the given dungeon type. So, um, surprise, you get challenges...again..."
Vaati's voice trailed off as Link's eyebrow began twitching. Behind him, Zelda and Impa quickly set about evacuating the bar.
20.6
A bead of sweat slid down Link's face as he positioned himself. This would test his speed, skill, and precision to the utmost limit. He only had one chance to get this right.
His grip tightened on the hilt of his sword, held out and slightly lowered to his side. The blade gleamed as his energy flowed through it in preparation for his technique. Then, he moved.
Stepping forward, he pivoted on his heel, sending his body into a tight spin, even as he lowered his center of gravity and swung out and down with his blade. The gathered energy was unleashed in a tightly woven, sweeping edge, which lengthened his cutting spiral out across the terrain around him.
"HIYAHH!"
With expert precision, he ended his Spin Attack and sheathed his word in a single motion. It was a perfect execution. Smiling lightly, Link strode across the grass and up the steps into his house.
Next door, a larger man stared blankly, water dribbling out of the hose he was holding, at the perfectly trimmed lawn that his neighbor had just cut using a sword.
Navi darted forward, swinging Titania in a tight arc. The barest breeze rippled out as she cut through the obstacle ahead of her, then, circling her target, she sliced into the next obstacle. Around and around she went, blade flashing as she slashed there, sliced here, constantly cutting, and ever moving. A graceful dance of the blade.
Circling lower, she encountered a bit more resistance, but in the end, she cut her way past, looping around and back, then shot upward, stabbing her sword in the air in triumph.
"Done!"
Rubeus Hagrid turned to look in the mirror, beetle-black eyes widening as he took in his neatly trimmed beard and somewhat styled hair.
"Wow, Miss Navi. Yeh do good work. I reck'n Olympe'll be pleas'd ter see this."
Navi giggled. "No problem, Hagrid. Good luck!"
Link's leg lashed out, knocking the heavy wooden table flying into the air. Pivoting, he took a step, then leaped up and over the table. His eyes locked onto his target, hanging in midair tauntingly. With a grin, Link pulled back his arm. Light began to pour out of his blade, flaring out to fill the room with light.
"HOOWAH!"
His blade lashed forward, a Sword Beam ripping out to cut the air apart, slamming into the far wall and leaving a large slash. With a tremendous crash, the Gryffindor Table crashed back to earth, Link landing atop it. He reached out his arm and caught his target as it fell, before hopping backwards to settle on the bench beside the table. Calmly, he set the two smoldering halves of the walnut shell aside and popped the inner meat into his mouth with a grin.
Navi stood up and drew her blade. It wasn't Titania, given her currently human form, but it was close enough in shape and would do for what she needed to accomplish. She swept it out and to the side, a gust of wind following the sword as it ripped through the air. However, before the wind could fly off and dissipate, she swung her blade through the space in front of her again, cutting the wind blade apart and forming another. Back and forth, up and down, faster and faster, her blade ripped through the air in front of her, building up a whirl of air blades and gusts.
With a quick jab, the wind shot forward in a wild cone, sending papers and debris flying. Navi's eye tracked a specific piece of parchment, her blade lashing out to twist the whirlwind. The piece of paper spun around the horizontal tornado, flipping end over end.
'Now!'
Navi's eyes gleamed as she swept her blade in a powerful slash, cutting apart the tornado. Three more slashes sent out wind blades that sped past the paper, never cutting it, but sending it tumbling through the air, to land perfectly in the middle of the desk at the head of the room.
Behind the desk, Professor McGonagall sat with wide eyes, a magical barrier crackling from the tip of her wand. Navi smiled, bowed quickly to her, and left the room.
"And the winner of 'Most Mundane Use for an Overblown Sword Skill' is... Navi, with 'Turn in a piece of homework'!"
Ron, Zelda, and Dumbledore broke into applause as Navi, back in fairy form at the moment, spun about in the air and bowed, before grabbing the medal out of Harry's hands.
"Thank you, thank you."
Off to the side, Link pouted slightly. "I still say the nut cracking was more impressive."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, but kicking a table in the air isn't exactly a sword skill, and that is the main thing that made that so impressive."
Link nodded, sighing. "I know." Then, grinning, he turned to Navi. "Congratulations, partner. You earned it."
Navi giggled, nodding.
20.7 (Conceptualist)
Link was having an awesome day.
Navi woke Link up to take him to the Great Deku Tree as usual for this type of baseline, right before they both Awoke. A Wooden Sword and Deku Shield from his Subspace Pocket got him past Mido, but it turned out to be unnecessary to save the Great Deku Tree, because the Death Curse had lifted on it's own and the Great Deku Tree was recovering fine on his own. A quick trip to the palace found the reason why.
It turned out both Ganondorf and Zelda were Awake as well. Zelda had apparently struck some kind of deal with Ganondorf. While Link was not aware of the details, he was aware of the results. Ganondorf was taking the loop off, Zelda was now in charge of all of Ganondorf's Minions and Resources, and new Dungeons were scheduled to be built all over the place. Zelda had assured Link that there would be nothing impossibly difficult like the last time other Loopers went Hard-Mode Dungeon Happy, but instead the difficulty level would be "comfortably challenging." More importantly, they were going to be damn fun to play around in.
Link wasn't sure why Zelda was going around making new dungeons, but as long as he was allowed play around in them, Link didn't care.
Especially with seven years to do so in. Since there was no need to get the Master Sword to defeat Ganondorf, there was no getting sealed way till Link was older. So he was actually going to get to live the full span of seven years this loop had to offer, instead of bouncing back and forth from the beginning to the end and back.
A measly seven year vacation was nothing compared to the amount of time a Looper could remember, but it was still nice to live in the moment.
As the sun set on the first day of the rest of the Loop, Link smiled. This loop is going to be fun!
20.8 (Archeo Lumiere)
This, this was going to be a fun trick.
"This is a stupid idea, Link, you don't know what you're doing." chimed Navi in the background.
"Hush, I know exactly what I'm doing," was Link's response. In his hands were a pair of portal guns, one modified to shoot bolts, and on his feet were a pair of longfall boots. He had set this up well in advance, getting just the right surfaces for this prank. At the moment, he was standing in a rather quaint house, whose floors were made of a seamless white tile. In the center of the room was a cucco in a cage. To start, there was a pair of portals on the floor, one red, the other purple. Link jumped into the red portal, leading to an orange one set up in his house. Taking aim, he shot the aforementioned cucco, and promptly closed the red orange pair. Moments later, a cry of rage rang through Hyrule. Operation Cucco Storm (Mk. Ganon) was a success.
20.9
"How does this even work?"
Link paused after peeling himself off of the wall (It still felt weird to him, he didn't know how Mario could stand to spend every seventh Loop or so as two dimensional paper), then turned to Navi, who had similarly peeled herself off the wall. Apparently, Hylians this Loop all had fairy companions. Fi was acting as Zelda's, and both of them were Awake, so they had short-circuited Yuga's plans by wishing on the Triforce early to restore Lorule's Triforce. Link was almost certain he had heard a faint cry of "Kage Bunshin!" when it had happened, but he hadn't pondered on it too deeply.
"How does what work?"
"Travelling to Lorule. I mean, you said that Hilda or whatever is the Anchor, but it's just a mirror version of us, right? Does it even count as a different Loop?"
Link shrugged. "From what I gathered from Epona's explanation, it has to do with the Triforce not having 'jurisdiction' or something in Lorule, due to the nature of the dimensional rift between them. I still don't really get it, because the Triforce can grant wishes that affect Lorule and everything, but I think that is limited to the times when the cracks are open. Anyway, apparently, Lorule itself was breaking down whenever she tried to use our Triforce as an Anchor, and she was getting a weird 'Merge' error when she tried to use Lorule's. So, she slotted in Hilda to Anchor Lorule, and everything's golden."
Navi flittered around irritably. "Yeah, I got that much, but how is it we can just pop between them? I mean, shouldn't that cause issues with you being a Pseudo-Anchor or whatever? And didn't Hilda come visit when you held that last kart race without me?"
Link rolled his eyes at the irritation Navi put into the last two words. "It's not like I control when you are Awake or not. Anyway, to use the whole tree analogy, I guess we are like a branch that technically split, one bit becoming Hyrule and the other becoming Lorule, while the branches actually sort of grew back together. At different points in time, the Branches are able to be crossed between, and while that given Loop is running, both Loops are treated like a single Loop."
Navi bobbed up and down silently, as the two of them passed along the edge one of the canyons that divided Lorule. "...Ok, I guess I can see that. But does Lorule even have Loops when they aren't merged with us?"
Link winced. "Yeah, actually, and most of them are almost flipped versions of ours. Except their Zoras are Cucco-people, and act like Pinkie Pie on a sugar rush. Though, remind me to show you pictures of when I took Ravio's place in their Great Sky Loop. Apparently, Lorule explodes and it causes the whole place to turn into a bunch of floating islands. Yuga shows up to try and crash them together, though he is never exactly clear on why he is doing that. Regardless, there are some amazing views from those islands, I took tons of pictures."
Navi hummed. "Ok. So, I guess I can understand that. Still, it just seems weird for them to WHAT IS THAT!?"
Link jumped at Navi's shout, and glanced across the chasm. "Wha, oh, that's Ravio. Haven't you met him? Maybe not when he is in bunny mode, but yeah, that's..."
"Not him. The thing next to him."
Link blinked, then squinted. "Huh, that's...wait, the nose and...oh boy."
Ravio had apparently spotted them, and he quickly pulled out a golden disc from his Pocket and jumped on, which the small green gnome next to him doing the same. As they got closer, Link saw that his initial impression was correct.
"Hallo Link! How are you?!"
Link grinned at Ravio. "Pretty good. Who's your friend?"
Ravio looked behind him. "Oh, this is David, my Tingle for the Loop." Standing on the golden disc beside Ravio was a short bearded man with Tingle's face. It was...somewhat disturbing.
20.1 cont.
Link searched over Hyrule Field, worried because Volvagia was most definitely not where Link had seen him last. Had Ganon already gotten him? Was he still too late?
"Link!" a happy voice chirped out.
Link spun about and saw the baby dragon coming towards him happily twittering his name. Link could only smile in response.
20.10 (Detective Ethan Redfield)
Legend of Zelda, Looper Conference Side Story, Conclusion
Grim faces greeted Link as he stepped into the Termina Alliance halls. No one said a word until Link had taken a seat at the rounded table. Impa had rejoined the group, taking her seat once again next to Zelda. The princess shook her head, "Sakura's presence complicates this loop. I encountered her in our baseline, dissecting Ganondorf to study Demise's curse. Eventually, she crashed the loop when she tried taking apart the Triforce of Power."
Vaati flicked his hair, "I have met less troublesome versions of Link in our universe than Sakura. During a loop where I descended from the Minish, she laid siege to my fortress. After effortlessly taking apart my castle, she ended up punching me to the moon when I tried fighting back, but not before stealing my magic cap. I fear what she did with it."
Ganondorf was shaking slightly, but refused to comment. Link kind of understood after having been taken apart atop Wall Rose. After relating his story, which caused the gathered loopers to shake their head, it was Impa's turn, "I have not encountered Sakura personally. However, I have talked to many loopers in my travels, preparing for any dangers my Lady may encounter. Have you encountered loopers by the name, Kyuubey or Dio?"
There were a number of shaking heads. The assassin continued, "A few loopers have encountered these beings. They are starting to be called Malicious Looping Entities, or MLEs for short. They are active threats to the multiverse in that they will ascend if given the chance. However, Sakura is considered far more dangerous than those two. Not because she'll ascend, but because she cares little for loopers and less so for non-loopers, and because of her experience. Rumors are that she put her own sensei into a coma during his first loop."
Zelda folded her hands together, "I can confirm that. I talked to Kakashi once. He is recovering, but that doesn't help us now. How should we handle Sakura?"
Many ideas were passed around, most involving some form of combat. They were all shot down as, according to Zelda, 'we should seek a peaceful resolution to this. Only if one of our numbers are threatened directly by Sakura, then we may act accordingly.'
More ideas flowed after this, diplomatic ones this time. Link grew bored of this, and send a telepathic call to Malon. Perhaps she had some more interesting ideas. His call rang over and over, until finally it cut off. Link blinked, and sent another call. Again, nothing. Link arose from his seat, causing the debate to abide for a second, "Malon is not picking up. Excuse me, I must check on her."
Zelda tipped her head, "Keep us updated."
The Hyrule hero was no fool. After scaling a nearby tree, he pulled out a pair of Binoculars. Nothing too out of the ordinary. No gathered bandits, no Sakura, not that no Sakura meant anything,
More rock crumbled under them as another Titan ejected itself from the wall. As he fell, his feet found purchase on a slab of rubble even as he fell. Combined with a burst of magic, he launched himself at Sakura, his blade taking on a purple sheen. His mind calling out the attack, 'Tsubami Gaishi' as space warped, his attack turning into a three pronged slash, leaving her no openings for escape. But she vanished all the same as the attacks merged, like she was nothing but an illusion. However, she was no illusion. Already having fallen for her illusions once in the battle, he wore the lens of truth on one eye, and Sakura had been there only a moment before.
"That was dangerous," a voice behind him echoed. His feet found purchase again as he launched himself into the air, above Sakura's punch. He flipped himself backwards until he was facing Sakura upside-down, only for the lens of truth to reveal the Sakura he sensed was an illusion, the real Sakura's fist now only an inch above his face.
The strike was conclusive, as it sent him into the wall and embedding him in it, his blade clattering away. His body felt like a sack of marbles, so many bones had been broken. Sakura landed atop one of the wall remains. Her fist slammed through the structure and ripped Link's body out. Blood oozed from countless wounds. Sakura, meanwhile, just smiled at him, that humorless grin that would haunt his nightmares. However this time, there was something else, respect, "Must say, it's been awhile since someone forced me to fight seriously, if only for an instant. For that..."
She pulled out a staff and started chanting a couple lines from the Fay language. His body glowed for a second as the pain ceased. Sakura held the staff behind her head and looked at the injured looper, "I have taken away the pain. The healing spell in an of itself will kick in after I am out of range. Improve yourself, and fight me again someday. I look forward to it."
Link glared at her. His jaw was unbroken and his lungs were in good enough condition that he could speak, if only in a hoarse tone, "Next time, I will end you."
Sakura closed her eyes as she faded, as if the wind took her away.
His musings ended abruptly as something gripped the back of his neck. The voice, he recognized, "Oh? Has another bandit showed up to take away my newest friend?"
She turned him around, and sure enough it was Sakura, her humorless grin ever present on his face. She faked surprise, "My, no it is not. Just her protector. Tell me, did you know Malon was being followed by those thieves earlier?"
She dropped him on the branch and shrugged at him, "No matter. I have taken care of the problem for you. Those thieves won't ever bother you again."
He rubbed his throat, "I told you to leave us be."
Sakura shrugged, "And I told you I wouldn't cause trouble...if you don't start it."
She wanted trouble. It was written all over her face in her calculating gleam. His hand clenched, then relaxed. He would not start the trouble, he mantraed to himself quietly. Sakura, however continued, "After I showed Malon the thief then fed him another round of Veritaserum, she was grateful for the assistance. The girl let me in, almost with open arms. I decided to show her a few things I learned."
Her eyes turned wicked with that last sentence. The threat was there. His hand gripped the sword unconsciously. Sakura raised her eyebrow, "Are you threatening me, master swordsman. You cannot beat me. I thought you'd have learned that lesson atop Wall Rose. You're ally, Ganondorf, can attest that it is hopeless. The things I did to him-"
Already leaping back, Link's sword cut through air, just barely missing Sakura even as her face turned triumphant. Link's eyes widened in surprise at his own actions, but recovered as he used a prana burst to circle to her side, his sword edge turning purple. Sakura made to escape using the same method as before, chipping the blade and escaping via the one opening created in the unbeatable technique, until she saw Link's grin. Her eyes widened as, in addition to the original 3 attacks, six more appeared further around them, closing in on Sakura's position.
If that's the case, thought Sakura, as she channeled chakra to her fist, slamming it into the purple blade, shattering it into a thousand pieces. But the nine strikes did not stop approaching. She tried teleporting to the nearby Hirashin kunai, only for the technique to fail as she disappeared and reappeared in the same spot. Her eyes had just enough time to notice the second Master Sword in Link's hand as the nine strikes converged, cutting her to ribbons.
Link stood over Sakura's remains as he slashed his sword twice through the air, twirled it overhead, and slid it into its scabbard. His hand, however, didn't leave the hilt. Several seconds passed before a chuckle echoed through the woods, "Did you really think it would be that easy?"
Sakura's remains exploded into smoke as Link gave a small smirk of his own, "No...but for an instant, I really thought it might."
His other hand tapped his menu as he sent the message to Zelda, I might have started a fight with Sakura.
He could almost feel Zelda's anger as no reply came for a minute. However, her voice finally came through, with barely repressed frustration, We're on our way.
20.X - And thus, Hyrule Warriors enters the Loops. Loopers will be able to travel through time within the Loop, which should lead to some interesting shenanigans.
20.1 - My Little Volvagia, You'll Always Be My Best Friend.
20.2 - Link and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Loop
20.3 - Ganondorf's first Loop as Groose, back when he was still bad to the bone.
20.4 - Link is still kicking himself that he didn't get pictures of Ganondorf and Impa's dates.
20.5 - Yeah, Link is totally stealing the speech. Still, it rather fits.
20.6 - Guess who the neighbor in the beginning is.
20.7 - Link and the Awesome, Respectable, Not Bad, Much Better Loop
20.8 - This Loop occurred during a breakdown of the Kakariko Accords.
20.9 - Lorule is an interesting place, being a mirror of Hyrule. We will see if more Loops show up from over there.
20.10 - Sakura is a dangerous opponent, though she is getting better in recent Loops.