LEGEND OF ZELDA
BOOK VI OF THE HYRULE TERMINUS SAGA
THUNDER PLAINS
CHAPTER VII
REVENGE OF THE MASK
Shadow ran through the darkness as fast as he could. He had to get to the Mountain in order to help his friends. He hoped that Lathos was right about his plan. He was only going to get on chance at this. He finally reached his destination and yelled loud enough that he could be heard for a great distance, “Demon! I know you're there and I know you have possessed my friends! I am here to challenge you! Will you show yourself or will you cower in fear like the wretched creature you are!” A loud laughter filled the air from all directions at once. “Fear?” it cackled. “Do you really think so highly of your pathetic form that you honestly believe I'd see you as something to fear?”
Shadow smiled. “If you don't fear me, Why send Puppets to do your dirty work? Afraid I'll hand you your ass, yet again?” The cackling voice now turned to one of rage. “You dare talk to me that way, you pathetic meat sack? I will destroy you!” The possessed companions stepped into view and Shadow laughed. “What do you plan to do with them? They can't hurt me!” The demon replied, “Destroy him!” The puppets stood there, motionless. “What are you waiting for, you fools? I gave you an order!” Smiling, Shadow said confidently, “Yeah. You did. But you overlooked something very important.”
A sneer hiss filled the air and the demon replied, “What's that, mortal?” Looking at his possessed companions, the dark elf said, “The challenge was issued to you and you alone. Your toys can't violate a direct challenge. You have no choice but to face me!” There was a pause for several moments and the demon came out of hiding. “Not as foolish as you thought, huh, demon?” The creature looked at him and said, “Looks like we've reached a stalemate. I'm not foolish to take on someone who knows how to slay me, but I'm not foolish enough to violate a challenge either. I propose an... alternate solution.”
Shadow smiled. “Yeah? What's that?” Waving it's arm at the puppets, it said, “You may fight any one of these three pawns.” pointing to Sheik, he said, “Will you fight my greatest warrior?” next was Saria, “the one you are fond of...” he was cut off as Shadow said, “I'll take the oversized Leprechaun. I have some unfinished business with him.” Link stepped towards Shadow and the demon said, “What is your preferred weapon, so that I may enjoy your demise?” Shadow threw his weapons to the ground and raised his fist, saying, “I intend to do this the old fashioned way. Schoolyard Rules.”
Link shrugged off his weapons and took a fighting stance. The Demon laughed and said, “I'll relish watching him beat the life from your body.” Shadow suddenly snapped his head back as Link threw a devastating punch at his head. Continuing to move back and away from his opponent, waiting for the right moment. Link wound back to throw a devastating Hay-maker when Shadow snapped his foot into Link's face, sending him stumbling to the ground. Link let out an evil smile and snapped to his feet. Link looked at him and adopted a fighting stance. Recognizing it as one of Sheik's, he managed to utter an “Aw, Shit...” before getting hit by a powerful roundhouse to the head.
Getting to his feet, The dark elf turned to his twin and said, “Okay, you ARE aware that that was beyond cheap, right?” Dodging another powerful kick, Shadow stumbled over a small batch of stones and hit the ground. Rolling quickly to the side, he avoided link's foot slamming down on his head. Now on his feet, Shadow said, “Well, this royally sucks.” The red garbed warrior jumped at him and threw a kick. Shadow quickly sidestepped and landed a powerful backhand to the elf. Winding his fist up, he punched Link in the face, causing the mask to crack slightly. Shadow jumped around, yelling, “Yeah! Alright...” Then, shaking his hand violently, yelled, “...and OUCH!! DAMMIT THAT HURT!!”
Looking at link, he yelled, “What the hell are those things made of? Stone?” The look on their faces told him that he had guessed right. Sighing, he muttered, “Well, that sucks.” He then got knocked to the ground by an uppercut from Link. Shaking his head, he yelled, “Were you taking pointers from Sheik while I wasn't paying attention?” He scrambled to his feet and the two of them threw a kick, hitting each other in the shins. They repeated this about five times before they stopped to rub their legs. Looking at each other, shadow smiled and tackled Link to the ground and started brutally pummeling his mask, gradually causing the crack to grow.
Link roared and threw him off and got to his feet. Shadow stood up, his knuckles bleeding badly and said, “Get it through you head, you idiot! I'm not going to lose to you!” Link smiled and drew his arm back, generating electricity in his hand. Looking at this, he casually stepped sideways, saying. “Come on. Do it, elf boy. This is exactly what I wanted you to do the whole time.” Link generated one last powerful surge of energy and fired it at Shadow. The warrior Jumped out of the way, but got hit with a significant amount of energy. Fortunately, it was nowhere near close to what the Demon got blindsided with. The current caused the Demon's body to ignite into flames, then explode. The masks fell off the three companions and they looked at each other stunned.
They ran to Shadow yelling, “Are you Okay?” Laughing weakly, the dark elf replied, “Only if you have a brush. My hair must be a fright.” They laughed and wrapped their arms around him, grateful for freeing them from the demon's control. Sitting to get some rest and a quick meal, Link looked at him and said, “Why did you choose me for the duel? I mean, Sheik I can understand. Me, I already proved I can floor you. Saria was the only one who wouldn't have put up a fight. While we were being controlled, our minds were linked together, so all three of us were aware that if you chose her, she would have let you win. So, what where you thinking?”
Shadow smiled. “Yeah. You're right. Sheik could have killed me in one hit. No questions. Saria, Well, Just because I might be from the Dark World doesn't mean I'm going to allow myself to hit a female...” Blushing, he said, “Especially not her...” Chuckling, Link swatted him in the head and said, “Get off your cloud, Shadow. I want an answer.” Smiling, the dark elf replied, “Well, the reason I chose you was because you're easily irritable.” Crossing his arms, the kokiri warrior said, “Excuse me?”
Laughing, Shadow said, “You've been on edge since we left my village. It's not my home, but it's where I live. You got mad at me for running solo while you were sick. Long time to hold a grudge. I figured that you still were pissed and used it to my advantage. Anger you enough to do that lightning thing and when you did... POW!! Catch the demon off guard by putting it in the line of fire.” Link laughed. “You had help. No way you could have thought of that on your own.” Smiling, Shadow replied, “Yeah. You're right on that one. I won't say who though. Now let's get some rest so we can get on with our job. We're out of the plains, so let's enjoy the break.”
The two of them Lay down and faded into sleep. Saria, knowing that everyone had turned in for the night, got up and moved over to shadow. Looking at the others to make sure they were out cold whispered, “Thank you Chain.” Giving him a kiss on the forehead, she said, “For everything.” Letting out a giggle, she finally concluded, “One day, I'm going to give that to you while your awake... So you'd better be ready, buster.” she then went back to where she had retired and went to sleep. Sheik lay there awake and rolled his eyes. “Shadow,” he whispered., “You idiot. What the Hell Am I going to do with you? Well, back to the drawing board. I'm not giving up on the two of you.” Chuckling, he closed his eyes and whispered in a sing-sing tone, “Shadow and Saria, sitting in a tree... Heh. I'll make sure of it.”
