With it’s piercing and jarring eyes beginning to glow, the mask was moving around nonchalantly in the air. Readying himself in expectancy of battle, Link drew his sword and shield once again. Sara brought her hand forward, preparing to conjure a spell. However, before anything could materialise, Majora turned its gaze towards the Light Sorceress. In what felt like nothing more than a split second, the new menace in mask form zoomed right in front of Sara and from its eyes, emitted a maroon-coloured laser beam, hitting Sara at point-blank range. This sent her flying across the chamber and crashing into the wall. “SARA!!!”, screamed Link. “Na ah ah, blue-haired Saria. You’ve had your fun for years now. It’s time to give blondie here a go!”. Link began rushing towards his compatriot, but before he could make it far, Majora aimed another laser beam at the ground several yards in front of Link. “Where are you going, fresh-faced hero? C’mon, entertain me some, he he”. Link then turned his face back towards his new opponent. Giving a determined look, Link replied: “You want to play eh? Fine, I will give you a game that you’ll remember and take its memory to the grave with you!”.
The mask then suddenly manifested some tentacles at the rear. From its eyes, it began to shoot several brown energy orbs at Link. Link dodged them all with acrobatic ease. The mask shot another barrage at Link. This time, with precise timing, Link slashed at each energy balls and sent the projectiles back at Majora, smashing into him. “AAHH!! STUPID SWORDSMAN!”. Gathering its bearings once again, the mask changed its position into a horizontal angle. It then began to rapidly spin and shot towards Link. Before it could make contact, Link backflipped over the sinister mask. But not a moment later, the mask came at him again. This time, Link used his shield to perfectly time a parry, disorienting the mask’s movements. In that split second, Link dealt several slashes at Majora, causing it to shriek in pain. Managing to recover, the mask then flew several yards back. “Let’s see you dodge this, self-righteous little fool!”. He then started shooting beam after beam at Link. However, Link was dodging relatively comfortably. At this point, Link decided he would take a calculated risk. He then charged forward at the mask with his shield protecting him from the laser beams. Once he got close enough, he then jumped in the air and dealt a massive vertical slash at the mask, which sent it crashing onto the ground. The mask looked defeated. However, Link simply knew better. “As much as I would love to walk off declaring victory, there’s no way you can be defeated that easily. A being who has had the power to manipulate the minds of many over several years surely has much, much more to offer in battle. I’ve barely even been tested yet”. The truth was, the competitive swordsman in Link felt disappointed. He hadn’t even needed to call upon his Triforce power to defeat this mask. “He he ha ha he… how perceptive of you kid. And here I thought that silly little girl fell for some swordsman with all charm and no substance”. The mask levitated back up. Suddenly, it began sprouting a leg, followed by another, then followed by two arms. On top of its eyes, another eye manifested. The newly-limbed Majora began stretching its arms and legs. “My mask form not good enough for you? OK then, here’s a new incarnation he he”.
Before Link could process Majora’s new transformation, the fiend landed a rapid roundhouse kick at Link’s midriff, sending Hyrule’s Champion hurtling backwards. With a quick rebound, Link got back up and charged at his opponent to land a rapid blow of his own. However, Majora dodged with inhuman speed. “He he ha he ha. You maybe a formidable swordsman, but it’s all for nothing if you can’t hit me. Now… CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!!”. With that, Majora began sprinting around the chamber. Link was completely perplexed. He had fought tyrants, demons and dragons, yet never came across an opponent who began running around in random directions. But he knew he couldn’t let his guard down. He decided to bide his time and wait for Majora to come as close as possible. When that moment came, Link slashed at one of Majora’s legs, causing him to rapidly tumble to the ground. He then hit him with several simultaneous slashes. “AAAHHHH!!! LITTLE WRETCH!!”, screamed Majora. He then grabbed Link by his tunic collar and threw him to the wall. In quick succession, Majora sprinted up to Link and punched him in the stomach, causing Link to cough up a bit of blood. He was about to punch Link once again, but Link brought out his shield in time, parried Majora’s fist, disorienting him and slashed the air to let out a slash beam at the sentient limbed mask, sending him stumbling backwards. Wiping the blood from his mouth, Link smiled and declared: “Well well, looks like there is some bite with that bark. Come now, let’s continue!”. Majora then began sprinting around the room once again. Once again, Link smiled. “I see. So a master manipulator like you can only corrupt and manipulate the vulnerable to do his bidding. Yet, when his time to shine comes, all he can do is run. And here I thought I was coming up against a warrior. Instead, I’m facing a coward, a coward who chickens out of a fair fight… HOW DISAPPOINTING!!”. This caused Majora to suddenly stop in his tracks. He began to tremble. “You… YOU DARE MOCK ME!! CALL ME COWARD??! I AM NOW GOING TO BEAT YOU TO A PULP, AND THEN… YOU WILL WANT TO RUN LIKE A COWARD!!”. Majora then began to twirl around the room with one leg. The mask, which now made up Majora’s torso, began shooting light energy balls around the chamber. The smoke from the explosions were significantly dimming visibility. Link could not see his opponent at all. Suddenly, he felt a hard kick to his back, sending him rolling back into the middle of the chamber. It took him a few moments to stand up again. However, there was no sign of panic from Link. He merely closed his eyes and once again brought out his shield. He could sense Majora continually sprinting around the room and coming up with kicks, which Link was blocking with his shield. “HA, NO MORE ATTACKS LEFT, LITTLE WENCH? SEEMS LIKE YOU’RE THE COWARD WHO CAN NO LONGER DEAL ANY DAMAGE TO ME, HE HE HA HA!”. The smoke from the explosions were still significantly affecting Link’s visibility, but was beginning to subside. However, Majora’s kicks were decreasing in frequency. Link then sheathed his sword whilst keeping his grip on the handle. After a few moments, he was harnessing his Triforce power. The green aura was returning. Suddenly, he performed a twisting maneuver, brought out his sword and aimed a straight stab. “AAAAHHHHHHH!” came an agonising shriek. The smoke had now disappeared. In front of Link stood Majora. Completely impaled by the Master Sword. “What you thought was cowardice, I call strategy Majora. The sprinting was impressive, but there was no way you could sustain it indefinitely. So I waited, waited for the right moment to deal you my favourite move, the Mortal Draw”. Blood was gushing out of Majora’s torso. “He he… he he… HE HE HA HA HE!! You… you really think… YOU HAVE DEFEATED ME?!!”. Majora grabbed Link and pushed him back, which also caused the Master Sword to be dislodged from his torso. Again, Majora began to shake with anger. He then gave out a scream, which was followed by a ferocious earthquake. The earthquake began to disintegrate Ria’s throne chamber. The ceiling was caving in and falling on top of Link. Link seemed like having no place to go, until suddenly, Sara jumped in front of him. “BARRIER!!”, she exclaimed. Sara was still visibly wounded from Majora’s early laser beam on her, but she seemed to have enough energy to protect the both of them from the earthquake. “Link, sorry I couldn’t help you in the battle. Majora’s attack hit me with full force and I couldn’t stand afterwards”. Link simply smiled and replied: “Don’t blame yourself Sara. I have this battle”. The earthquake had stopped. Ria’s chamber had completely collapsed, exposing it to the outdoors. Link and Sara looked ahead. It was Majora. However, he had now taken on a fearsome form. The earlier limbs had expanded and bulked up to give Majora a proper, more solid body. The shoulders had spikes. But most notably, on top of the original mask’s eyes was a fully formed head and face. It was a face which looked like a devil straight from hell. It began to speak. “Now… YOU SHALL FACE THE FULL FORCE OF MY WRATH!!”
Turning to Sara, Link hastily stated: “You need to protect Ria. This battle is about to get serious. If we want to save this world, it’s imperative the both of you survive”. After a moment of reflection, Sara nodded, let down her barrier and ran towards where Ria lay unconscious. Seeing this, Majora suddenly manifested what looked like two whips from his arms. “Oh no you don’t, blue-haired Saria!”. He then aimed his whip towards the Light Sorceress. However, before it could hit Sara, Link jumped in the way and blocked the attack with his shield. “YOUR BATTLE IS WITH ME, MAJORA. Now, let’s end this!”. Smiling with his new face, Majora replied: “I couldn’t agree more, irksome hero!”. Within a split second, Majora aimed his whip from his other hand. Link just about dodged, but he then felt something coiling around his ankle. He looked down to see the first whip binding his ankle. He then felt himself being rapidly pulled in towards the transformed foe. When close enough, Majora landed a flurry of whip attacks on Link. Each blow dealt searing pain to Hyrule’s Champion, making him scream in agony. “YOU AND THOSE LIKE YOU!! ALL BEHAVING LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT’S RIGHT!! BEHAVING LIKE DEALERS OF JUSTICE!! SICKENING, ALL OF YOU. AND NOW, I WILL PUT YOU DOWN LIKE THE INSECT YOU ARE!!!”, bellowed Majora. He then brutally kicked Link forward, sending him falling into the nearby rubble. Link, coughing and breathing heavily. What was causing Majora to say these words? Who did he mean by those like you? Link thought to himself. Getting up gingerly, Link looked Majora dead in the eye. He gripped his sword once more. With his fist and eyes once again glowing a familiar green, Link smiled and declared: “Well well, it took you time, but it seems like you’re finally going to give me something of a battle”.
Link then charged at Majora with full speed. Immediately, he landed several blows at his foe. However, Majora recovered quickly and with one of his whips, landed his own blow at Hyrule’s Champion, causing a bloodied cut to appear near his left hip. Link then dodged the next few whip attacks, parried the next one with his shield, performed a forward roll under Majora’s legs and hit Majora in the back with an upward vertical slash. Majora stumbled forward, but before falling, dealt a twisting roundhouse kick to Link’s right ribs, sending him falling sideways. Sara, still holding a barrier around her dark sorceress counterpart, watched on for what seemed like countless moments. The battle between Link and Majora appeared to be even, with both dealing equivalent blows to one another. However, what was peculiar was that she noticed Link, albeit looking tired, not only seemed composed, but had a confident smirk on his face. “With how this battle is going, one would surely think we’re evenly matched. You’re unorthodox, I’ll give you that. However, without that, a jester with two whips is just that. Nothing more. In fact, the only way you can have any power at all is through controlling and manipulating others. Without it, all you are is this uncanny sight before me”, mocked Link. Majora’s new face looked as if it would explode any moment. Eyes were bloodshot, face was trembling. He then looked towards the sky and screamed with rage. “WOOOORRRRMMMM!! GNNAAAATTT!! I WILL SHOW YOU WHO IS WORTHLESS BETWEEN THE TWO OF US!!”. With that, Majora began uncontrollably aiming whip attacks at Link. Link began running from the attacks, however, Majora was chasing Link at alarming speed. “I’m taking a risk here, I hope this works”. For several more minutes, Majora kept up his chase. However, he was noticeably beginning to slow down, the attacks were losing their intensity. Link then ceased his running. Majora aimed another whip attack. However, the intensity of the attack was so low, Link easily parried it with his shield. He then grabbed the end of the whip and used its rebound to launch himself at Majora. With his eyes glowing green, Link landed a ferocious sword slash at Majora, sending Majora hurtling towards one of the walls still standing from the rubble of Ria’s throne room. With a calm face, Link walked up to Majora. “As strong an attack as that was, it isn’t a finishing blow for someone like you Majora. However, we both know how this battle will eventually end should we carry on. So I’m giving you a chance. Surrender, and restore this world back to how it was before you dragged us here”. Slowly regaining his bearings, Majora got himself off of the wall. He then gave an unnerving smile. “He he ha ha he, how naive do you think I am, self-righteous fool? You really think you’re going to get your world back? He he ha he ha”. He then looked towards the moon. Putting his hands towards it, he emitted a purple wave of energy. Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Link then looked towards the moon. For some reason, it looked like the moon was beginning to expand. But then flames began materialising around it. It was then that the horrifying realisation dawned upon Link. The moon wasn’t expanding. It was falling towards the Earth. “HAHAHAHAHAHA! YOUR WORLD IS NEVER COMING BACK, FOOL! WHY? I WILL CONSUME… CONSUME EVERYTHING!!”, screamed Majora. “YOU MAYBE RIGHT, YOU MAY EVENTUALLY DEFEAT ME, BUT CAN YOU DEFEAT ME BEFORE THE MOON FALLS AND WIPES EVERYTHING FROM EXISTENCE?! HAHAHAHA!”.
Suddenly, Link realised that this was now no longer about merely defeating the scourge of this distorted future. He had to be put down before the literal end of the world. But while distracted with these thoughts, Majora landed a circular right hook onto Link’s face, sending him flying sidewards before landing on the ground. “LINK!!!”, screamed a worried Sara. While on the ground and facing the sky, another horrifying site faced Link. As the moon continued its descent towards the surface, it was also pulling several meteors with it. But these were falling towards the ground at rapid speed. And the meteors were headed towards Palace Town. Under Ria’s spell or not, his people still resided there, not to mention his parents. However, there was nothing he could do, nor Sara as she had to protect Ria. Link was resigned to watching those meteors destroy Palace Town in mere moments. Suddenly, Link felt a strong gust of wind. He sat up and saw a spectacular site. It was a massive tornado to the right of Palace Town. And flying around it was a familiar site. “Holu?”, muttered Link. It was indeed his Rito compatriot. He then looked towards Link, and from a distance, bellowed: “HEY SLACKER, WHAT ARE YOU DOING??! I CAN’T CONJURE MY TORNADO FOREVER, END THIS BATTLE AND GET US HOME!!”. The tornado had indeed sucked in a few meteors. However, a few more were still on course to hit Palace Town. Link then saw another familiar site jumping high in the air and punching some meteors away. It was his Goron compatriot, Darbus. “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! DONCHA WORRY LITTLE GUY, WE GOT THESE MEASLY ROCKS AND WILL KEEP THEM AT BAY, YOU JUST FOCUS ON KICKING THIS UGLY PURPLE CREEP’S REAR INTO NEXT WEEK, AHAHAHAHAHAHA!”. There were just one or two meteors still falling towards Palace Town. However, they were shot and disintegrated by what looked like Light Arrows. With trepidation, Link turned his head towards the source of these Light Arrows, knowing full well who it would be. There she was, in all her glory. Princess Zelda. She then turned towards Link. Sadness was still seeping from her eyes, yet a gentle and melancholic smile was present. With a soft, yet sombre voice, she spoke: “Link, you… you can do this. For all of us”. Normally, any sighting of the Princess lit up his soul, but this time, Link felt a lump in his throat at seeing her. The trauma of Agitha, her long lost sister, dying in her arms should have mentally shattered her, and perhaps this was indeed the case. But the love for her people and to protect them still kept her going. That emotion suddenly became his motivation and inspiration to rise once again. He then turned his head left to see Impa standing with his sister Aryll and Ria’s right-hand girl Medli. “Holu, Darbus and the Princess will stop those meteors, I will take your sister and this troublesome Rito to Palace Town to keep the inhabitants safe”, stated Impa. Aryll and Medli looked at one another. Both were slightly red-cheeked and gritting their teeth. They had, after all, fought one another when Aryll and Holu had gone to free Zora’s Domain, and now were forced to work together. “OK blondie, just because we have to save a few people together, doesn’t make me suddenly like you now”, taunted Medli. With a slight smirk, Aryll replied: “Not surprised, given how our little skirmish ended, he he”. Medli was visibly appalled by Aryll’s cheeky remarks, but had to tolerate them. With that, Impa lead the two towards Palace Town.
With each passing second, the moon kept coming closer and closer. The sky was turning a fiery red. Link clearly had the upper hand in the battle, but still felt no closer to dealing the final blow. “Damn it. At this rate, the moon will crush Hyrule, and it’s all over”, Link mumbled to himself. But distracted with that thought, Link slightly let down his guard, letting Majora strike his whip at Link’s ankle, which wrapped around, and Majora’s pulled his arm back, tripping Link to the ground. Majora then jumped at Link. Of course, the battle had been taking its toll on him, and Link was unable to get up off of the ground quickly. “HE HE HA HE HA!! Looks like your arrogance has finally caught up with you, fool of a Champion! NOW DIEEE!!”. Majora was readying another strike. Fearing the worst, Link tried to shield himself. However, he heard the sound of Majora’s whip, but felt nothing. Curious, he moved his shielded arm to the site. He noticed a familiar figure standing in front of him, hands in front of him and conjuring a barrier. “K…K… Keaton?”, Link enquired inquisitively. What was more curious was the reaction of Majora, who began to scream at the mere sight of him: “YOU… THE MAN RESPONSIBLE FOR MY TORMENT… HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOURSELF… WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE FOR YOUR SINS!!”, but Keaton used another defensive spell to block. Regaining some of his strength, Link asked: “Keaton… what are you doing here? And what does Majora mean about his torment and your sins?”. Of course, with no expression because of his mask, Link couldn’t gauge what Keaton was thinking. However, he responded: “Link, there’s no time for me to explain. But all I can say is, the reason I haven’t used an offensive spell in these years is for precisely this moment”. He then put his right hand on Link’s shoulder “Now, use this power wisely, and end this for good”. With that, Keaton’s body began to disappear. Horrified, Sara looked towards Keaton. With tears flooding down her face, she exclaimed: “NOO… NOOOOO… KEATON… PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME… I…. I LOVE…”, but before she could finish her words, a meteor was on the verge of hitting Sara and Ria, endangering Sara’s barrier. However, in the nick of time, one of Zelda’s Light Arrows vapourised the meteor. By now, Keaton’s whole body had pretty much disappeared. The only think left was the front of his face. His normal fox-like mask had fallen off. Link realised that what was left of Keaton had also turned into a mask. The mask was a face which looked suspiciously Hylian-like, with red and blue markings all over. However, Link didn’t have the time to ponder. He had to trust Keaton’s words and put on this mask. “THAT OBNOXIOUS PIECE OF VERMIN!!! HE THINKS HE CAN RUIN EVERYTHING AGAIN DOES HE? WELL THIS TIME, I WILL END HIS EXISTENCE ONCE AND FOR ALL!!”, screamed Majora. He began charging at Link, who put the mask on his face. Suddenly, a dark purple aura was emitting from Link. Stunned, Majora stopped in his tracks. “Nooo… Nooo… NOOOOOOOO!”, he screamed. The powerful aura coming from Link, who was bending downwards and covering his face, was being felt by everyone in the vicinity. His attire was beginning to change colour. Even the Master Sword was changing form. It was elongating and becoming different in shape. Suddenly, the aura stopped. Link then stood straight, and now gripped his transformed sword with both hands. Link’s hat and tunic were now a teal colour, his hair and eyes completely white, and face with red and blue markings. Sara looked on in shock, and also a hint of awe. “K… Keaton?”, she muttered. Trembling in what looked like absolute fear, Majora looked pretty resigned, saying: “The bad guy… has returned”. With his tornado still just about in motion, Holu looked towards this new “Link” and remarked: “Whatever is standing there is not the Link we know. He looks like… dare I say… some sort of Fierce Deity”. With his normal boisterous laugh, Darbus shouted: “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! FIERCE OR NOT FIERCE, HE’S STILL OUR LINK! AND HE’S ABOUT TO FRY THAT GROTESQUE MONSTER, AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”. Zelda merely looked melancholically and said to herself: “No matter how you look, you’re still Link, and you will save us all”. Majora, still trembling, gave a defiant face. “NO MATTER YOUR RETURN CRETIN, I WILL STILL KILL YOU!!”. With that, he began to charge at Link. However, Link calmly looked towards his foe. Without saying a word, he moved towards Majora with speed he had never displayed before, and not a second later, he had moved past his opponent. Stunned, Majora looked behind his shoulder. However, his right arm had dismembered and fallen to the ground. With blood gushing out of where his arm was, Majora screamed: “AAAAAHHHHH. YOU DESPICABLE PIECE OF GRIME!!! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO…”, but in the next second, he felt his other arm dismember. Then one leg, and the other. Majora now had no limbs. His torso was on the ground. With nowhere to go, he could do nothing but stare in horror as this new form of Link calmly walked up to him. “NOO…NOOOO.. PLEASE… I… KNOW WHAT I DID WAS AWFUL, AND I BROKE YOUR SPIRIT AND HEART… BUT PLEASE… WE CAN DISCUSS THIS AND…”, “SLICE!!”. Link had cleanly decapitated Majora. The battle was well and truly over. The moon had suddenly ceased its descent. The meteors stopped falling. Sara, Holu, Darbus, and especially Zelda, looked on speechless.
Again, Link began emitting purple aura. The colour of his clothes were changing once again. After several moments, something fell from Link’s face and landed on the ground. Once the purple aura stopped, Zelda, Holu, Darbus and Sara were faced with the sight of Link, back in his normal appearance. He then crouched down to pick up the object previously falling from his face. It was the mask Keaton had transformed into before Link’s bizarre form. Link looked at the mask with a perplexed expression. Flying to his side, Holu immediately enquired: “So… would you please care to explain what on Earth that was all about?”. Still confused, Link replied: “Honestly, I have no idea. We all know Keaton was a mage. But it seems like he had one last spell to temporarily give me all his remaining power. However he did it, it worked, and the power within me was so immense, I genuinely felt invincible. I felt so powerful, I even felt a sense of pity for Majora. The pity simply drove me to end him, right on the spot. Even without the urgency of a moon falling down to crush us all. But it seems after all that, he’s gone…”. With that, Link and Holu looked over to what appeared a most tragic site. Sara, who had been protecting Ria with her barrier, was inconsolable. She was vigorously crying. “He’s… he’s gone… HE’S LEFT ME… HE’S LEFT ME FOREVER”. In that moment, Ria opened her eyes. She sat up, and seeing her compatriot in such a wretched emotional state, looked at her with sorrow. A few moments later, she slowly put both her hands on Sara’s shoulder. Surprised, Sara raised her face. Also in tears, Ria stated: “Your… your tears… they seem to stem from the same realisation, don’t they? You… know how this ends. He… he will never choose us”. Of course, it was plain to Sara that Ria couldn’t fully understand the true source of her tears. But perhaps to comfort herself as much as Ria, she wiped her tears and simply responded: “We don’t always get the one we want in this life, but now… we can choose to live with that eventuality”. For the first time, Ria smiled without malice. She then tightly hugged Sara and replied: “Sara… you… you were always my better half”. With a smile, Sara responded: “For the ones we loved, let’s at least see their wishes fulfilled. Let’s remember, remember our song. The song which lit up the Forest when you and I were one”. They both slowly rested their foreheads together and begin singing the Ballad of the Forest. At this point, Link, Zelda Holu and Darbus gathered together. Even Impa had returned to the scene with Aryll and Medli. Link looked towards Zelda. She returned his gaze. Both felt immense pain, yet managed a smile at one another. The problem was, the Ballad was having no effect. Slightly vexed, Holu exclaimed “Hey Sara, you said this would work. So why aren’t we back in the present yet”. Moving her forehead back from Ria, Sara gave a slight confused look. “Well, this should have worked… but wait”. With a smile, she exclaimed: “If the purpose is to turn the world back 10 winters… then perhaps… Ria, let’s sing the Ballad backwards”. Ria immediately obliged. It was a nervous few moments for Link, Zelda and the heroes’ party. Suddenly, they were surrounded by a massive vortex. The world around them started to disintegrate. With no time to lose, Link ran up to Aryll. With a hug, he said: “I cannot believe how proud you have made me as your brother. You became everything I dreamed you would and more”. With tears coming down her face, Aryll simply responded with: “Yeah… now help me do it again in the past, will ya!”. Medli suddenly flew up to Holu and kissed him on the cheek. Holu’s face immediately went red: “What was the meaning of this eh?”, he shouted. With possibly her last cheeky grin, Medli remarked: “Perhaps you’ll realise someday”. Zelda looked around and with a tear in her eye, simply said: “Goodbye, my dear Agitha. I failed you in this future, I will never fail you in the present”. Ria then looked towards Link one last time. With an innocent smile, she simply gave a: “Goodbye Link”. The vortex around them suddenly ended. Link looked around in haste. They had returned to the Forest.
End of Part 9