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"Mysteries Revealed"Mysteries RevealedBy: Silent StalkerChapter One: The First Attack "Bong bong! The time is-" Cloud hit the clock to shut it up. He hadn't slept at all. He had been awake all night trying to remember where he had heard the word Ithamor. Ithamor...Arek of Ithamor... That diplomat that had been here a few days ago. Cloud had done some digging after Arek had left, and had discovered that Arek was really the prince of Ithamor. And that the country had but a few months ago changed its name, and that time had been when Arek's father died. Arek hadn't been crowned yet. Why did he have such a bad feeling about him? Perhaps it was the fact that Arek had somehow forgot to mention his royal title. Maybe I'm just paranoid, Cloud thought. Then he had an idea. Computer. The thought echoed through his mind. Run a scan on all conversations from.oh, say..50
years ago.
At least he felt better about that! Patpatpatpatpatpatpatpatpatpatpat. "Huh?" he said aloud. Those were footsteps! Grabbing his swords, he lunged at the door and ripped it open. A field of energy blew apart As he opened it. Outside were two men wearing armor. Their helmets had long spikes on the top, just like a Prussian field Marshal he had seen in a book. One was looking down the hallway, and was facing away from the door. "He broke through!" yelled one, scrambling backwards. "Nonsense!" the one looking down the hall scoffed. "That dark barrier will-" He turned and caught sight of Cloud. Cloud raised his swords. "You two better start talking right now, or take up your new job as sword practice dummies." "It's all his fault!" one screamed, pointing to the other. "Liar!" the second yelled. "You forced me into this! So shut up!" "Are you gonna make me?!" "Yeah!" "Yeah?!" "Yeah!" "Yeah?!" "Quiet!" Cloud screamed. He glanced at their helmets and noticed that the helmets were strapped on. He reached over, grabbed their armor, and hurled them at the ceiling. The spikes stuck in the wood. "My neck!" one moaned. "Sue me," Cloud snarled. He looked over at Sarah's door. It was blockaded also. He was just about to break it down when a scream of pain, then one of horror reached his ears. "Link! Zelda!" He raced down the hallway, ready to destroy anything
in his path. What a way to start the morning!
Bambambambambambambam! Zelda awoke from a beautiful dream. Someone was banging on her door. She quickly dressed and stumbled for the door. Bambambam! "I'm coming already!" she shouted over the ruckus. Zelda flung open the door. "Zelda, my dear!" "Arek?!" she said incredulously. Behind Arek were standing a small army, armed with bows and swords. "What in all of Hyrule are you doing here?!" Arek gave her a transparent look of innocence. "I've come to rescue you, of course!" "From what?" "From the army marching through Ithamor!" Zelda's eyes narrowed. "Listen, Arek. I have spies, Link has spies, Cloud has spies. Everyone in Hyrule and their dogs have spies! Give me one good reason why we haven't heard anything!" Arek shrugged. "Don't ask me. But we must leave now!" He waved one hand in a benevolent matter. "You may bring your bratty husband-to-be, and your strong but dumb guardian, if you must." Link emerged from his room, holding his sword. "WHAT IN BLAZES IS GOING ON HERE!?!?" he exploded. Arek looked about nervously. "Don't talk so loud, Link! You might wake up Cloud and-" He stopped. Link smirked. "You're lousy at subterfuge," Link said. Arek backed up slowly and sighed. "I had hoped it wouldn't come to this." He snapped his fingers. One guard drew his bow and aimed for Link. "Hold on to that arrow, or hold on to your head. Your choice." Arek turned to see Cloud standing a few yards down the hallway from his army. "Kill him!" Arek yelled. An arrow flew out of the group, heading straight for Cloud. Cloud's hand shot up, grabbed the arrow before it hit him and broke it in two. "Try again," he said. Arek made a strangling noise. The other troops readied their swords. "Well, that didn't work," one of the soldiers unhappily. "I noticed that!" Arek said nervously. "Don't make me kill you all," Cloud said warningly.
A few seconds later, a small object flew over the soldiers...
Link delved into his pouch and handed Zelda an arrow with a blue ball at the end. She recognized it as an Ice Arrow. "Where did you get that?" "Never mind, just do it!" She tossed it high over
the soldiers, and when it landed, it froze the entire group solid.
"Well, Arek?" Cloud said smugly and gestured to Arek's new ice sculpture. "Pull another trick out of your hat, why don't you?" Arek smiled and said, "I'll be glad to." And with that he snapped his fingers once more. Ten monsters appeared from the air. They looked like Lizfols with black skin. "Beauties, aren't they? I call them Dark Lizfols. I got the idea from Ganondorf." "Oh, good. A new enemy," Cloud said happily. Drawing his swords, he charged. Two Dark Lizfols leapt to both sides of Cloud and fired large blasts of Dark Energy at him. Cloud caught each beam and held them back. The force drove him to one knee. Arek smiled, drew his sword, and slowly walked towards Cloud. "I'll enjoy cutting you in half," Arek said. "In your dreams, pal!" Cloud shouted and jumped
back, letting both beams collide. He then mixed his red energy with the
Darkness, and with a blast of power, sent the whole mess at Arek. Arek
dodged left only to encounter a Hyrulian Royal guard.
Behind the guard was a regiment of men. "What's the trouble, Your Highness?" he asked Zelda. "Uh, well, um, you see, um , officer, heh heh heh... Oh boy." stuttered Arek. "Let Link tell you!" she answered "Arek tried to kill me and now he's conjured a bunch of monsters! Let's get them!" he yelled to the soldiers and pointed to the reptiles. Link led the group straight into the middle of the Dark Lizfols. Arek was growing increasingly nervous, but he smiled and said, "Say hello to my latest creation!" A pile of green slime about half as tall as Zelda appeared. "Yuck!" Cloud said disgustingly. "What is that?" Two eyes on long stems poked out of the sludge. The thing gurgled a few times before crawling towards Cloud, stopping next to his leg, and rubbing him affectionately. "Aw, I think he likes you," Zelda said with a smile. "No, no, no!" Arek yelled angrily. "Attack him!" The creature turned and tossed a small ball of slime at Arek. "Not me! Him!" "Next time, give your things more intelligence," Zelda told Arek. The slime crawled over to Cloud and began rubbing him again. "I'll call him Slimy," Cloud said. Arek rubbed his forehead. "I think I'm getting a headache," he muttered. Cloud patted Slimy before asking Arek, "Why are you picking on us?" "Simple," Arek said. "I hate both you and Link, and I wish to kill you." "Why?" "Well, first of all, Link stole my girl over there," he pointed at Zelda, "and-" "YOUR GIRL!" Zelda screamed. "THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I"VE SEEN YOU! AND THE FIRST TIME WAS BUISNESS, AND THIS TIME- well, I don't know what this time is, but YOU GET THE POINT!" "It's obvious that I'm the perfect man for you," Arek said haughtily. Oh, no, Cloud thought. Another one of these. "Okay, shut up. Now, why don't you like me?" Cloud asked. "You challenged me to a fight! And when I declined, you called me a coward and sucker punched me. I am here to reclaim my honor." He started dancing about. "Put 'em up! Put 'em up!" Cloud stared at him. "I meet all the classy guys. Listen, Twinkle toes, You challenged me, and I declined. Then you started insulting me, and I beat you fair and square!" "You seem so smug," Arek said coldly. "But I have just the creature to teach you some respect!" Yet another thing materialized. "Don't you ever run out of ideas?" asked Zelda. This time it was a man-like monster, but what made it unreal was its gigantic muscles. Without missing a beat it slammed a hamfist into Cloud's chest. Cloud hurtled across the room and clanged against a stone wall. He slowly opened his eyes, and fingered the large dent in his armor. "Okay. That's it," he said calmly. His hand grew cherry red. Zelda recognized this as his signature move, Energy Blast, and backed away. Just then Sarah bounded around the corner. "What in the Four Moons of Kantarak is going on here?" she demanded. "It took me ten minutes to cut my way out of my door, and I ruined a good dagger," She held up a knife with a many dents in it. "And as of that wasn't strange enough, two weirdoes were hanging around outside my door, literally!" . Cloud did something different then his usual Energy Blast. He charged and swung his fist, still encased in the glow, and caught the muscle bound monster in the chin. Muscleman flew by Sarah with a swish and crunched into the far wall. "Will you PLEASE tell me what's happening!?" she repeated. "Not now!" Cloud said angrily as he rushed the creature. Arek began sneaking around the group, muttering over and over, "I should have brought it, I should have brought it." Zelda spotted him, and called, "Link! Arek's escaping!" Link leapt out of the fray with the Dark Lizfols, and charged down the hall. The last image he had of Cloud was him dodging a charge being made by Muscles and, before his opponent could stop, much less turn, Cloud stomped on the ground. The shockwave sent Link and Arek to the floor. Arek's servant didn't do so well. He was tripped up and hit the far wall. Link got up and ran after Arek. Apparently Arek had been fueled with fear, had been up the same second he had fallen, and had never touched the ground on his flight. Link continued on to find a large hole in the ceiling. Arek had just flown through it. "I'll get you for thiiiiiiiiiiiissssssss." Arek's voice trailed off as he floated away. "Since when can Arek fly?" Link wondered to himself. Behind him he heard some glass hitting the floor, followed by footsteps. Cloud ran up to him. Cloud's armor had been dented and his skin had been torn in many places, revealing shiny metal, but he still looked happy. "Who won?" asked Link. "Well, it was sort of a tie. He kicked me through a solid wood door, and I tossed him out the window. He's probably only stunned though." Link looked at him a long time. "We're in the sleeping tower. We're about a hundred and thirty feet up." Cloud blinked. "Oh yeah...now I remember. Where's Arek?" Link pointed at the hole. "You mean he..?" began Cloud. Link nodded. Sarah and Zelda arrived but a few seconds later. "Where's Arek?" inquired Zelda. Link quickly told them what happened. "Looks like Arek of Ithamor has a few more powers than we first thought.." Sarah said to no one in particular. Cloud pounded his fist against the wall, causing
a few chunks of rocks to crumble. "Where have I heard that name?! It's
infuriating! I started a scan but I still-"
"Who said that?" started Link, drawing his sword. "Don't worry," answered Cloud. "Find anything?"
he asked his computer.
"Times of each?"
"Hm. That would be when I told Zelda that Arek of
Ithamor
was coming. Next.
"That's good. Recall audio and visual records."
"Destroyed? Can you still retrieve it?"
"I don't care! Continue!"
"Ok," said Cloud. "Who's the wise guy that programmed
in that phrase?"
It started slowly. A slight twinge of pain. Then
a worse one. Then a progressively worse one. Finally, without warning,
it happened. It was like a thousand men with pick axes digging into his
brain. Cloud screamed once, then fell into the world of dreams.
"What happened?!" Link demanded. "Cloud is trying to recall memory data that was deleted from his hard drive, but deleted data can still be retrieved," Sarah informed him. Link stared at her. He had been staring at people most of the day. "It's Greek to you, isn't it?" He nodded. Whatever Greek was, he agreed. "What could happen to him?" Zelda asked worriedly "Well, in the best of circumstances, he could come out of it just fine. Otherwise, his circuitry could fry, and he'd die in but a few minutes. "Wait a second!" Link started. "Cloud brought Zelda out of a coma with an electric shock. Would that work?" "No," Sarah answered. "Actually, that's probably
the worst thing you could do. The electricity would short him out. At least
right now he has a fighting chance at surviving." She shook her head. "There's
only one memory I know of that was deleted, and Heaven help us if..." her
voice trailed off.
It was raining heavily. He was indoors. Why was it raining indoors? No, he was outside. Now he was inside again. The rain turned to fog. The fog to snow. Oh! That was static. It cleared up quickly. Cloud was running down a hall. He didn't recognize the hall, and why was he running anyway? He stopped, or at least he tried to stop but he
couldn't. Wait! This was a memory. He was looking at what he had seen 17
years ago, but didn't remember it. Cloud looked at the hall more closely.
He couldn't turn his head, but he still examined the walls. Maybe they
could tell him where the heck he was. Skulls lined the wall.
His past self turned his head, and Cloud realized that he, or they, actually, they being his present self and his past self, were being chased. They dodged into a hallway and his past form used bolts of energy to block the opening. They then turned to see a door with a Drake Skull hung on the front. How in the world did this person kill a Drake? They were one of the most fearsome dragons in history, second only to the Wyvern and maybe the snake dragon. They rushed forward and tried to open the door. It was locked, of course. Why don't people ever leave the dumb door open for once? It didn't prove to be a problem though. They simply charged. Now, a Drake Skull can withstand many hundreds of pounds of pressure. But it couldn't stop a 400 pound charging Cyborg, and neither could the door. CRASH!!! Once the debris had cleared, Cloud and Past Cloud saw their opponent. It was a tall man, with his armor's breastplate made into the shape of a skull. He had skull kneepads, skull shoulder pads, and a skull adorned his helmet. What is up with this guy and skulls? A group of villagers huddled in one corner, obviously hostages. "Let them go!" Past Cloud said in a commanding voice. "Your quarrel is with me," he paused. Oh, no.. Not. "Demonskull."
"You won't be able to brag once I destroy you with
my newfound toy. The Dark Blade.Of Ithmor!"
A long battle ensued, in which Past Cloud finally triumphed (big surprise). After the battle, The Cursed Blade of Ithamor floated up from Demonskull's hand. "You haven't gotten away with this yet. I will return in one year to destroy you. I shall tune in on your memories, and will kill youuuuuuuuuuuuuu..."It's voice trailed off as it hurtled out the window to parts unknown. And so, to keep the sword from returning, Cloud
had to have his memory wiped..
"He's stirring!" Sarah exclaimed. "Stand back, he may have memory sickness. He'll think he's still..wherever." Sarah was right on target for at that moment, Cloud flipped to his feet and began lashing out violently. "Cloud! Calm down, you're with friends now, Cloud. What ever you saw is gone, you're back!" Cloud drew his swords and slashed about him. "Cloud!" Sarah's strong voice snapped him out of it. He fell to the ground, breathing heavily. "Arek..has...Sword...Cursed..Ithamor." he moaned. "Oh, no.." Sarah said softly.
Chapter Two: Arek's Second Attempt "Now what?" asked Zelda. "Arek won't attack directly except for a last resort," said Cloud. "He doesn't want to risk hurting you, Zelda. He'll probably try assassins and kidnappers." "Assassins?" said Link. "I thought he wanted Zelda alive." "The assassins are for you and me. But don't worry."
He smiled. "I'll leave lots of lights on. Let's get on about our business,"
Cloud said. "I'll scout around and tell you if I find anything."
The day went on without incident. Cloud flicked his Gossip Watch. "Bong, bong! The time is 9:30 PM." "Time for bed." He walked towards the bookshelf and pulled a random book out. The bookshelf was full of books that people had given him saying that the stories were "great literature", and he had promised to read each one. This will be known as mistake number one. "Hmmm, what's the title of this book?" He looked at it and sighed. "'Kissy Kissy Woo. A tale of romance.' Oh, great, another one of these. I'll kill that fat lady with the dog that gave me this next time I see her." Cloud put the book under his arm and headed for bed. CLANG! "Huh?" "Ljhdlfkjielajflk..." "I thought I heard a clang, and then mumbling. Maybe I'm just imaging." CLANG! He whipped around and tossed an Energy Ball at the window. "Wahh!" Someone leapt out of the window and landed a few feet from Cloud, throwing stars in hand. "Ha! That won't pierce this!" He tapped his Mithral armor. The throwing stars started glowing black. "Ok, that might do it." He dodged behind his bookcase, but his book was hit by a throwing star. "Oh, I'm crushed," he said, grinning. "Thanks!" Cloud yelled. Four more shapes tumbled out of the window. None of them landed very smoothly. "Ow! I told you I can't climb in this window!" one said angrily. "Will you shut up? Will you shut up? Will you do me that favor and just shut up?! I can't believe Arek-" Cloud leapt out from behind his cover and blasted one of them. The others charged him, knives in hand. Mithral, probably. he thought, so he dodged and kicked behind him. Cloud was rewarded with a CRUNCH from his opponent's shattered ribs. Then he twisted around and broke another one's jaw. Three down, two to go. One of his attackers lunged for Cloud but encountered a flying backhand. The last assassin pulled a throwing star and tossed it at Cloud. It pierced his right eye. He flinched back, but did not cry out. Cloud did something that surprised his foe. With his thumb and forefinger he pried his eye open and pulled out the throwing star, eye and all. A red light shown from the socket. The assassin gasped. Cloud put the eye down, reached in to his pocket, and drew out a new eye. His attacker stumbled backward as he once more pried his empty socket open, replaced the eye with a new one, picked up the star, shut his good eye, hurled the throwing star at the far wall, and traced its path with his no longer wounded eye. "Good as new!" he said, then turned to his stunned enemy. "An eye for an eye. Leviticus 24:20," he told the assassin. "Now I'd suggest giving up." The assassin quickly raised his hands. Link ran into the room. "I heard the noise and came to see what's going on!" he said. "Who's that?" "An assassin," Cloud answered, then said to the man, "What's going on here?" The assassin smiled. "I'll never tell!" "Very well. Be prepared for immediate termination." Cloud grabbed him and held him out the window. "No, no! I'll talk! I'll talk!" "Good idea," Cloud snarled. "Now hurry before I change my mind about turning you in to sidewalk pizza." The man began spouting a large amount of gibberish. Link looked at Cloud. "Did you understand one word of that?" "I got the gist of it, yes." Cloud ran to the window. A black wagon with two men in front was just exiting the castle. "That's them now, I'll bet. Link, go down and ambush the wagon from behind. I'll take care of the other two." Link looked at him. "Do they have Zelda?" "Yes, and that is why we must hurry!" Link dashed out of the room and down the stairs. Cloud grabbed an iron post from off his bed and twisted it around the one assassin left. Then he walked to the window. Cloud looked down. 130 feet. This will hurt.Good thing I'm tough. He put one foot on the ledge, then leapt off, aiming for the two men in front of the getaway wagon. "Give my remains to Broadway," he muttered as the
ground closed in on him. Then he frowned. "Or was it give my regards
to Broadway?" Oh, well. He'd have plenty of time to ponder that as he went
down. "BBBAAAAAAAADDDDDDD DDDDAAAAYYYYY!"
When Zelda woke, she was bound and gagged, bumping along in a rickety little wagon, with one man in front of her. "She's woke up," said that one. "Shall we give 'er the rag again?" he held up a wet rag. "Naw," came the reply, "we shouldn't waste our expensive chloroform on this wench." "Right," said another. Zelda rolled herself into a position where she could see out the front. There were two men walking in front of the wagon. "WoaaaaaaaaaaaaH!" CRUNCH! The two men disappeared. The last kidnapper's knife flashed into his hand, and he swung it towards Zelda's throat. POW! The knife was gone. Zelda and the man looked at the place where the other two were. A hand was sticking out of a large hole. A glowing hand. A glowing red hand. The hand grasped the edge of the ground and pulled the rest of it up. "Mumf?!" she said, astonished. "Crwod?" "The name's Crwod, er, Cloud! You won't live to
fear it!" The assassin pulled some throwing stars out of a pouch on his
side, and tossed them at Cloud.
Link rushed through the ramparts. He had to get there soon. He happened to peer out over the edge. The wagon had stopped. Looks like Cloud got there. Then he noticed two men standing a few hundred feet from Link. One held a large bow with a black arrow and was aiming for a figure in front of the wagon, and the other was yelling instructions franticly. "Shoot! Shoot, darn you!" "He keeps dancing like a fool!" Link pulled his own bow, shot the arrow and watched it pierce the heads of both men. They disappeared in a flash of smoke. The last one lunged for the wagon, trying to get away but Cloud grabbed him also. "Isn't this shocking?" The man screamed as Cloud sent tens of thousands of volts of energy coursing through man, frying every last bone and vein. Finally, the assassin gave up the ghost, and dissolved. Cloud walked over to Zelda and broke her bonds. "Well, that was a whole lot of fun." He sighed.
"Never a dull moment. Let's get some sleep."
When Link woke up, he was still in his room and was still alive. No signs of assassins anywhere. But that changed when he opened the door. Something flew past his nose and crashed against the far wall. He peered in the direction that the thing had come from. Cloud was limping off in the other direction, using a cane. Looking at the object, Link found it to be a man wearing black. The man had a goofy grin on his face. Link went to find Cloud. Boy, even with a cane he moves fast. Link found Cloud leaning against the wall of the ramparts. Link tapped him. "Bwahh!" Cloud spun on his one good leg and swung a fist at Link. Link prepared to have his teeth knocked down into his stomach. When he opened his eyes, he saw a fist in front of his nose. The fist was noticeably shaking, whether from lack of sleep, anger, or fear, Link couldn't tell. He ruled out fear. Cloud stared at him. "You IDIOT! Don't do that! Sneaking up on people, I oughta-" "I wasn't sneaking, and you know it as well as I do!" Cloud looked as if he was going to retort, but he stopped. "You're right. I'm sorry. This assassin thing has made me nervous. On my way back to my chamber, two jerks leapt out from corners at me. It's been that way all night. One got lucky and hit my leg. It's nearly healed though." "Ha ha!" came the triumphant laugh. A head poked up from behind the wall. Cloud didn't blink as he shoved the man's head down into his rib cage. "And about two o'clock, they learned how to climb the walls. Assassins crawling around everywhere, Hyrule Castle looks like Playworld." "Playworld?" "A place in Dimension A." "Ah." Link leaned on the wall. "Nice day, isn't it?" "Oh yeah, wonderful," he said sarcastically. "If you like watching inhuman assassins jump around like fleas, yes." "Hard to think of how something could go wrong on a day like this." "Arek will probably learn how to build a B-52 bomber, complete with atomic weaponry." Link let that one go. A man rushed up to them. "Cloud! Link! An army is massing in Ithamor, and they're building something!" "Great. If it is a bomber, I quit." "No! It looks like a boat, with long blades attached to a pole. More things were happening in the other valley, but our spies couldn't get there." Cloud gasped. "An airship. That's what they're building."
He turned to the man. "Call a meeting in the war room. We've got trouble."
"I must be frank, Your Majesty," said the advisor. "No, you must be the advisor," Cloud said, grinning. "Oh, shut up. The situation is grim. They have an army almost twice the size of our own, and an airship. With 7000 troops verses our own army of 4000, and 7000 more on the way to support the first group, the only way we could win is to have the best tactics since General Slamhorder, and we don't! They have it! I suggest giving the what they want. Give them Zelda!" Cloud looked up. The advisor slowly rose into the air. Cloud's moved his hand like he was crushing something. The advisor's hand flew to his throat. "Care to repeat that?" "Cloud..." said the king warningly. Cloud shrugged and released his grip and the advisor slowly sunk back to his seat. "Although I agree in that course of action against the advisor," the King glared at the panting man, "That's hardly the way to rally the troops." "Yes, your Majesty." Cloud looked at the map. "True, we don't have Slamhorder anymore, but you have an outsider that can blow this army away." He smiled. "You have a plan?" inquired Zelda. Cloud laughed. "Yes, quite a plan indeed." Cloud pushed the four statues on the map representing the four thousand men of Hyrule. He placed them on a small circle on the map representing Lon Lon. "If we crowd ourselves, we can just fit in to Lon Lon Ranch. Arek's men won't attack there, because the target is the castle. Now, if we get the Sages, we'll be able to combat the army with more luck." "How?" asked the king. "I'll tell you, be patient. We'll also need the Poe Sisters to help us take care of the reinforcements. " Cloud ripped a pole off of the king's throne. "Hey!" "Sorry. Now, I can fashion a pole about 50 feet tall, and, with just six people, take out 5000 of their men, provided those six are all Sages. The pole will work like a lightning rod, and we can disguise the pole with the Sages powers, and....." He paused. "Yes, it just might work! And we can beat the entire 2000 left with our four thousand, and capture Arek with the plan called, 'Pipe Plunder' and then..." "Well? What?!" said the king. Cloud told them the plan. "Good, good!" said Zelda. "But how do we get through the castle walls?" "Got that taken care of. We'll chain our entire group together and chain their weapons up, too. I'll lead the group to the castle gate, and pose as an Ithamorian mage, bringing in the prisoners. They open the drawbridge and, boom! We're in." "What if they test the chains to find out if you're the real deal?" asked Link. "Let 'em. They will be chained together." "How do we get them loose? If we try, they'll destroy us." said the king. "Anyone got a knife? Toss it in the air." A knife
flew up in to the air. It stopped abruptly. "And here's how we get them
loose." The knife broke in half.
Later, after the pole had been made, Hookshots distributed among 1000 men, and the Sages and Poe Sisters had been contacted, Cloud was ready. All the men crammed their way into Lon Lon, and waited. The armies of Ithamor marched past Lon Lon without a second thought. The Sages used their minds to hide the pole, and all went well. After the army had taken Hyrule Castle, Cloud led 2000 men out to the gate. As was planned, about 5000 Ithamorians marched out to destroy them. Cloud led the army behind Lon Lon, and gave the signal. The Hyrulian army scattered, and the Sages focused their energy on the pole. A rainbow colored shield of energy broke out from the tip of the pole, and encircled the enemy army. "Now!" cried Cloud. The shield contracted until the entire 5000 Beta humans (Arek's creations) were crushed. "Part one worked," murmured Cloud, "now time for part two." Once 2000 of the Hyrulians were chained, and their weapons put into a bundle, Cloud encircled them with his mind, floated into the air, and led the men plus Link and Zelda to the drawbridge leading into the market. Sarah had been left at Lon Lon. "Open!" he commanded. A guard looked over at them. "Why? Who are you?" "An elite mage, now open that drawbridge." "I've never heard of you." "You'll never hear anything if I blow up your eardrums," he said calmly. "Now open the drawbridge." "Uh, yessir!" The drawbridge grumbled down to cross the moat.
Cloud led them across, then, once they were inside, he closed his eyes..focusing
on the chains...
Cloud's diversion idea worked like a charm. While he and 1000 other men Hookshotted, if that word can be used, all in different directions, Arek's men became rather befuddled. Arrows flew about wildly, and missed anything remotely alive mostly. Cloud rushed out of the market and ran as fast as he could to the southern area of Hyrule, and was just in time to see the last bit of men from the reinforcements cross the mountains. They looked to see one man trying to stop them. But that one man became two. Two became four. Four to eight. Eight to sixteen. Soon an army of twenty thousand Clouds faced them. The soldiers ran for their lives. Cloud turned back to the castle and rushed back that way. Far off, the Poe sisters watched as the illusions
of Cloud frightened off the entire army. They all giggled. The Poes had
done well.
Link and Zelda emerged from the sewer via a secret passage. To find they had been cut off. Link's 500 fought them as Zelda and her men rushed to the throne room. Only Zelda had made it through the door when it slammed shut. Arek was sitting on the throne and grinning with delight. The door had been barricaded by magic. "We meet again," he said.
Cloud knew something was wrong. He doubled his pace, reached the castle in record time and broke down a wall. "Ow." After recovering, Cloud bolted through the halls and made his way to the throne room. Link and his soldiers were still fighting Arek's bodyguards so he grabbed the door handle and ripped the whole thing off. "Wilma! I'm home!" Arek had been slowly walking towards Zelda. When he heard Cloud, he froze in his tracks. Cloud jumped over Zelda and sent a strange ripple through the air. "Shockwave!" he yelled. Arek was driven against a wall by the attack. "Go! Get out of here!" he called to Zelda. Arek shot a beam of darkness at Zelda. It formed
a bubble around her. Arek attacked Cloud with another beam, but Cloud's
Rage snapped free once more. He retaliated with a stream of white light.
The lasers collided, and it became a battle of stamina.
Ten minutes later, Link finally escaped the small war and ran into the throne room. He was just in time to see Cloud being destroyed by Arek. "NO!!!!!" he screamed as Cloud's lifeless body dropped to the ground. Arek and Zelda disappeared from the room. Link rushed to Cloud's side. Cloud's synthetic skin had been burnt off. Cloud's metallic face looked up at Link. "Save Zelda.Use this energy I have left.." A small glowing orb floated out from his chest. It powered up the Master sword. "That's the Nebula Star... one sliver can light up New York from now till doomsday. See you soon..Link.." Cloud's body became limp. Link got up and walked a few feet away. He turned away from Cloud. "I'll avenge you, friend." He looked back. But Cloud's body was gone. No time to ponder that now. Got to get to Zelda! After wondering for a while, he found them in the
highest tower in the castle. Arek looked as if he had gone mad. "Ithamorian
Blade...I have delivered you Cloud.now give me the body of Link!" The blade
powered up with Evil, and the Master Sword began to glow the same color
as Cloud's energy source. Both fired, and the battle of endurance began
anew.
Dimension Z. Top secret lab. The planet Royallus. Six scientists worked franticly, trying to save a man's life. "Get that new body over here STAT!" "I need some pressure here!" "Negative. We're under enough pressure already." "Ha-Ha-Ho-Ho, Johnson." "Transfer pipe, now!" A large glass container containing a brain was quickly but carefully carried over to the operating table. The container had some green liquid in it, keeping the brain alive. The transfer pipe was attached to the skull of the metal body on the table, and to the brain's glass box. The body leapt up as the brain was connected to the many Transjoints. "I'm back on the horse!" One man smiled. "Welcome back, Cloud." "Wow! What body is this?" "The X-2000." "Isn't that still experimental?" "Not any more." Synthetic skin was applied to Cloud, clothes given to him, and new armor. "Hm... Nice. doesn't this body have hyperatomic weaponry?" "No, we removed that." "Good job. Oh! I have to get back to Link's world. That Nebula Star won't last much longer. Neither one of us can fight Arek alone, but together we stand a chance." He opened a portal. "Thankssssssssssss!" His voice trailed off as he
was carried back to Hyrule.
Zelda watched as the Master Sword slowly grew less bright. It wouldn't last much longer. The glow had been covering the sword, but now it was down to the last inch. Finally, it happened. The sword was knocked from Link's hand as a bolt from the Blade of Ithamor caught him in the wrist. Arek laughed and stalked forward. "I've waited a long time for this. Of course, we haven't known one another long, but-" Arek was so caught up over himself, he didn't notice the flash near him. "Oh, well. Time to finish it." He raised the sword over his head, and Zelda shut her eyes. There was a sound of metal on metal. Link looked up to see a sword blocking Arek. The sword belonged to a man that was slightly taller than Cloud, and had a large grin splitting his face. The small jewel on the pommel of Arek's sword swiveled towards the man. "Who... who are you??" "I have had many names......Blaze, The Wolf....Wrath of Dragons.....Dragonstorm, Dragonquake..... some call me the White Dragon...others call me Chaos itself..." He smiled. "But, for once and for all, for now, and forever, I will always be the supposedly immortal man, Dragoncloud!" " NO!" the sword screamed. The sword, obviously in control now, lunged straight forward. Cloud dodged easily, grinning. "A body snatcher is only as good as the body he snatches." Cloud grabbed the sword and drove it deep into the stone floor. Arek leapt back and said, "I am a karate master! Surrender now." "Oh, help me please," Cloud said, still grinning. Cloud punched, but Arek dodged, stepped in close, put his shoulder under Cloud's arm, and pulled forward, hoping to flip Cloud. He got Cloud up above him, and tried to keep going. Cloud had once told Link that his Cyborg body weighed about 500 pounds. Arek disappeared under Cloud, with only a hand sticking out while strange grunting noises came from the floor. "Get the sword!" Cloud called. Link stepped in close, and lopped of the jewel. The bubble around Zelda fell as its power source was cut off. Cloud followed Link towards her, while Arek slipped out the door. "I'd hug you," Link told Zelda, "but Arek is leaving. I want to say goodbye." "Let's go filet him!" Cloud suggested. "Or barbeque." "Maybe we can boil!" They all hurried down the hall. "I hope we can catch him," Zelda remarked. "Don't worry," Sarah told her as she joined them from a branching hall. "He only passed here about 15 seconds ago. "Good, now- SARAH?!?!" Cloud yelled. He frowned for a moment and then began ticking points off on his fingers. "Ok, let's see. I left you in a room with no windows, locked doors, and three patrols outside so you wouldn't follow us. Correct?" "Yes. Nice little challenge, although there should have been at least five patrols. With Lazer Pikes." Cloud sighed. Up ahead, they spotted Arek. Link hit him from behind and tossed him against the wall. Once he and Zelda took up guarding him (Cloud had to make them promise not to kill him while he was gone), Cloud began investigating the airship tied to a post outside the castle. While he was up there, he flipped one switch marked "Comm unit" A voice began speaking. "Ground commander, do you copy? Ground commander? Blast, he's been taken." Huh? Who in all the known and unknown dimensions is that? "One flight, this is Blue Leader. Follow Three and Four. Attack formation Echo-Delta. Two flight, help One, Three, and Four scout that Gerudo Valley, then rendezvous with Control Ship at Vector five-nine-zero-mark-sixteen for R-commanding. We're not risking any of you. Ground Commander was caught in that field. It's up to us now. I wish I could get my hands on the man who designed that trap." Cloud cringed away unconsciously. "Does everyone know their orders?" A barrage of affirmative answers flooded the comm. That sword helped them do all this? In how much time? Comm units, army lingo, airships, the whole ball of wax....If that sword could do that, how did we beat it? "Private channel requested between Blue and Red Leader." That was a female's voice. "Accepted. Private channel on." They cut short. Cloud flipped through a small hand book next to him. "Override private channel. Code 184.09763-yellow-2873." "-Gold Leader?" "No word. Heh, he's probably dead. Now I can take over. Thanks for rigging that sword, Red. Now we can rule, as partners. How did you rig it, anyway?" "Cut off main power while he and the sword were sleeping. That sword was only at half power." Cloud felt almost sorry for Arek. Almost. He rushed back down. He just heard the man say, before he got out of range... "Do swords sleep?" "This one does...." Once he was back down, he told them of the transmission. "HALF POWER???"Arek screamed. "I'LL KILL THOSE-" "You haven't told us everything. What reinforcements do you have?" Arek grinned suddenly, his rage forgotten, like he had just been shifted into a position of power. "What if I don't?" Cloud, Link, Zelda, and Sarah began talking at once. "I'll strap you to a bomb-" "-you like your head?" "-take a dagger and-" "-toss you of a cliff into Death Mountain Cra- " "Never mind!" he cried. "Go up and look. Fly towards Ithamor, but be sure you have the Gold Leader Recognition Field on or they'll shoot at you." "I'll guard the little strovakk." Cloud said menacingly, pointing to Arek. "He doesn't like you," Link translated. Arek nodded. Link turned away. "Let's all go," Link suggested. "What of Arek?" asked Sarah. "I'll take care of him." Cloud whispered, and tossed a ball at Arek. "Here, catch." Arek did so, more out of reflex than anything else. FOOM! (Imagine a man from a cartoon that was hit with a bomb). Arek slowly toppled over. "Knockout gas. Let's go." "You....won't getaway wwth ith...." Arek trailed off. As Cloud slowly took them south, they all listened to the comm. "Gold Leader's alive??" That was Blue Leader. "NO! Red Leader-" "Sir! We're NOT on private channel. Ixnay!" A deep breath was heard. "Right. Head for C-ship. Now. We're leaving." "Think Arek got what he was after?" "No. That Zelda is a mean little woman. I'd steer clear of her." Cloud triggered the comm. "Uh, hate to interrupt, but we all should, uh..scout over that desert! Yeah, the one near the canyon to see if, um. there are any remaining forces?" He sounded hopeful. "Who is this? What's your code name?" "Um.. I'm.. Green Leader! Yeah! High commander of the airship force?" Cloud shrugged. "Green Leader," the stony reply came back after a loooong pause, "was killed in the war against Termina. We kept getting swooped at by a moon, Remember? That man on a balloon was using some kind of magic. Remember? And YOU, ' Green Leader', crashed against the Clock Tower!!" "Oh. " Cloud said uneasily. "Really? I had.....forgotten..?" "Yeah. You did have terrible memory. You would forget you died. Gold Leader? What shall we do with them? Gold......HEY! That transmission came from Arek's ship! "Get-" Cloud pulled a trigger. Something flew out of the bow of the ship and exploded on an airship. The rest of what he was saying was drowned out. "Get to the cannons! I'll try to fly the thing!" Cloud commanded. "Fly it? Are you-" "GO!!" He flipped a switch marked "Grav Field". A blue white shimmer encased the ship. He knew enough about technology to know that would establish a gravitational pull, so they wouldn't fall out the top if he flipped the ship. He then jammed the joysticks those triggers were mounted on forward. They sped up considerably. Cloud tilted back, and they started skyward. Tilt left, go left, pull trigger, fire... What were they firing? "Head into the hold. What type of weapons are we using?" Soon the answer came back. "They look like arrows with bombs on the tip." Pull trigger, fire explosive arrows, pull lever above me..... They started forward at VERY high speeds. -activate overdrive?! How in the world did that sword do all this? Bringing the ship into a snap-roll, he tilted it up till he had zoomed over one line of ships. He rotated around and strafed the arrows over the bows of three of them. "Cloud! One hit started a fire back here!" "Put it out! Hurry!" There was a twang of a bow, and the sizzle of fire. "It's out! Do you have a plan?!" Cloud owed Link for that fire thing. The ship had just started to shake. "No, I don't have a plan....Unless..Wait!! The C-ship is doing this! I'll take it out!" He brought the ship around to face the large bowl shaped airship flying along behind the fleet. "We're coming around over Lake Hylia! Jump in! I'm going to sacrifice the airship!" All 3 of his passengers leapt over the railing. Ripping a grappling hook and some rope out of his armor, Cloud activated the overdrive, ran out to the deck, and jumped over the railing- -just as the C-ship blew. The ships around him then simply flew in the direction they had been facing. Cloud looked down at Lake Hylia, only to discover that he was no longer over the lake. He was directly over the mountains surrounding Hyrule. Cloud tossed the hook over one ship's railing. He swung about 2000 feet in the air. He had been lower when the others had jumped. How had- SPROING!!!!! A hook flew past him. Soon the rope he was holding zipped out of his hands and followed the hook. Cloud gaped as he flew up in to the air, and started on his trip down. After muttering a heartfelt "Oh no" and several choice expletives, Cloud began to think. Too high up for that..... Wait! His jump jets!! He could fly!! Cloud smiled, and yelled, "I can fly!!!" as he engaged his thrusters. Nothing happened. Cloud's hand dug into his pocket again and this time came out with the X-2000 owner's manual. It said, Warning!!
"I can't fly!" This was the end. He could see the headlines on tomorrow's newspaper: "Dragoncloud, Royal family protector, crashed into big mountain like a dunce! Particles not found!" Then an airship ship flew below him. Thinking quickly, Cloud grabbed a propeller. He began spinning very fast. Cloud let go so he would be flung right into the lake. He sped downward.......Right towards the Water temple's peak. He smiled. Rocks were bad news. Ground that had been softened by the past few days of rain was just fine. CRASH!!!!!
After they had all climbed out of the lake, and freed Cloud from the mud, they all began their weary journey back to Hyrule, but they were interrupted. The running man, still wearing the Rabbit Hood, was speeding for them. He panted twice, then began. "Listen, all of you! Arek was being taken to the dungeon by way of the ramparts, you know how busy the courtyard and Market Place can be, when...." The running man leaned on Cloud a few seconds then continued. "He jumped off! Landed hard, just SPLAT! "At least he's dead...." Cloud said grimly. "But....." The man nearly fell over. "When they went for the body.....It.....was......gone." Then the man flopped down, in a deep faint. But in his sleep, he still said...... "But I......broke all my old records getting.....here....."
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