Hey, you found me! Welcome! Call me Changeling. I write, draw, and obsess over fandoms here, mostly Legend of Zelda but also anything else that might catch my interest. If you're here for Dimensional Links, rest assured you've come to the right place. But hey, if you're here for something else, that's awesome too.
If you want to read the story that these guys are from, it can be found on AO3 or FF.net!
THE CHAIN LINKS
Gen: The Link from Skyward Sword. Short for Genesis, which he will never ever let anyone call him by ever because he doesn’t actually like it. He’s generally level-headed and appreciates common sense, and gets a bit miffed when things decide to divert from said common sense. He’s the group medic, not necessarily by any skill on his part, but more because the group needed a medic and he couldn’t believe there wasn’t one yet, so the only logical decision was to do it himself. He gets very particular about the group taking the proper amount of healing items as a result. He functions as one-third of the Leader Trio and is the effective ‘super-ego’, if you will
Speck: The Link from Minish Cap. He’s quiet, by far the most quiet, and will really only speak up if he’s a) confident in what he has to say, and b) confident that it will add something worthwhile to the discussion. He has the ability to shrink via his magic hat (Ezlo) and a magical conduit shaped like a Jar that he carries around with him. Due to the bit where he’s usually in the background, the fact that he has a surprisingly violent streak catches just about all his enemies off guard - for example, his favorite method of attack is shrinking down and using his size to stab his sword directly into his opponent’s eardrum. Ironically, outside of a fight, he’s one of the Links most likely to apologize to a flower for stepping on it
The Four: The Link(s) from Four Swords. They’re the split-in-four version of the Link who drew the Sword, but due to a hive mind effect, everything they do is in unison. They’re pretty quiet most of the time, due to most people finding said unison relatively unsettling, but since the Chain couldn’t care less about that they’re more willing to speak up every now and then. They specialize in group attacks and such, but they’re terrible at being individual. The nature of their hive mind means that it’s both incredibly uncomfortable and incredibly difficult to break their unison, and so most of the time they won’t even bother trying. They have a little snarky side that comes out when they’re stressed, and they hang out with Speck most often due to having similar introverted dispositions
Ocarina: The Link from Ocarina of Time, and one-half of the Hero(es) of Time with Mask due to time being broken and the continuum being shot. He’s the younger half, even though he’s in his sixteen-year-old body, and since he has the mind of a nine-year-old it makes a very odd combination. He has occasional confidence issues and a few self-worth/doubt beliefs as the result of hanging out with his older self and worrying about how he’s going to successfully grow into someone so competent. He can usually be found next to his older self, or at the very least in the general vicinity of his older self, and he has a profound distaste for the necessity for secrets. Most specifically, his future, because it’s literally standing right next to him and he’d really like to know if he beats Ganondorf, thanks
Mask: The Link from Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, and one-half of the Hero(es) of Time with Ocarina. He’s the older half despite being in the body of a twelve-year-old, and since he’s technically got the mind of an eighteen-year-old at the very least it looks verystrange from the outside. He’s snarky, sarcastic, and takes great joy in messing with other people, most specifically his younger self by refusing to give away future hints and claiming ~Spoilers~ every time it comes up. He carries his transformation masks and uses then whenever the situation calls for it. He can usually be found next to his younger self because he’s secretly worried about shattering his own personal timeline, and he puts a lot of effort into making sure Ocarina survives whatever mess they’ve gotten into this time. He also puts an equal amount of effort into making sure Ocarina doesn’t notice this
Dusk: The Link from Twilight Princess. He functions as one-third of the Leader Trio and is the quote-unquote 'ego’ - or, in othher words, he’s usually the mediating force. If it’s pointed out to him though, he will steadfastly deny that he’s in any suited for a leadership position - which is in blatant contradiction to the fact that he’s probably the most effective member of the Leader Trio. He carries the Curse Stone from Zant around his neck in a pouch and usles it to transform whenever the situation calls for it. He’s also the regular soul-host for Midna, Shadow, or both, depending on the day. He’s by far the most level-headed Link, taking almost everything in stride, and it takes a lot to make him lose his cool. The one surefire way to do it is to threaten someone he cares about, at which point he will waste no time completely destroying whoever was stupid enough to make said threat
RGBV: Red, Green, Blue, and Vio are the Link(s) from Four Swords Adventures, and like the Four they’re the result of one Link being split into four bodies. Unlike the Four, they’ve retained their individuality and have four very different personalities as a result. Green is the established leader of their quad-cell, and is the most level-headed one. He’s not the most patient one, but he is the one who’s not afraid to do what needs to be done. Red is the most emotional one, easily excitable and absolutely willing to give hugs to anyone who asks (and a few who don’t). Blue is the most aggressive one, although he mostly directs it towards his enemies. He doeshave a on-again-off-again rivalry of sorts with Vio, but it’s never gotten beyond particularly invested sibling bickering. Vio meanwhile is the book-smarts one, or at least the one with the most strategic intelligence. He’s also the best ranged fighter they have
Lore: The Link from A Link to the Past, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, and Link’s Awakening. He functions as one-third of the Leader Trio, finishing off the dynamic as the 'id’. He’s by far the most unique personality, being a hyperactive chaos entity who delights in confusing people and making them question reality. He’s also a polyglot, knows at least ten languages, and is constantly hunting for new ones to learn. He’s easily the most experienced Link and as a result has Seen Some Stuff, but instead of being traumatized by the weirdness he decided to go in the other direction and embrace it instead. He’s an absolutely terrible shot in spite of his numerous adventures, but the sheer amount of stuff he has tends to make up for it. He hasn’t met a situation yet that he doesn’t have an item for and he’s not about to start now - although this is mostly due to his conviction that bombs are the answer to every situation
Realm: The Link from the original Legend of Zelda. He is constantly, hopelessly, chronically lost, and has absolutely no concept of where he is in relation to where everything else is. He also has a somewhat tenuous relationship with the concept of physical space, which tends to result in him getting lost in places he really should not have been able to get lost in (for example, a volcano). Regrettably this also extends to his items, which he frequently loses. In spite of this, he’s one of the most cheerful and optimistic Links in the group. It takes a lot to get him into a bad mood, and given what he already goes through while maintaining a good mood, the entire Chain has yet to see him in a bad one. A side effect of getting lost so much is that his stamina is absolutely ridiculous, which makes him very good at drawing out a fight - in fact, that’s more or less his specialty
Sketch: The Link from A Link Between Worlds. He has the ability to turn his body into paint and move along the walls like a living hieroglyph. Unfortunately, due to being made of watercolors when he does this, he also has a severe phobia of water as a result of the fact that he might actually die a horrifically painful death if his paint runs too much. Outside of that, he’s relatively level-headed and very crafty, in the literal sense that he likes to make things. He used to be a blacksmith’s apprentice before this whole Hero business got started (his specialty is metalwork). He likes things to make sense and gets a bit snarky when the universe decides to spite him by making no sense at all. He’s one of the best Links at stealth, because for some reason very few people will notice the artwork on the wall and as long as he has a surface to fuse with, he can get just about anywhere
Wind: The Link from Wind Waker. He carries said Wind Waker as part of his inventory, and it lets him control the weather. He’s a certified Weather Master in everything but the official certification, because he hasn’t had the chance to go back and take the test yet, but the ability to throw literal tornadoes at his enemies makes him arguably one of the most dangerous Links in the group. He does prefer to hang back in a fight and hit from a distance as opposed to getting up close and personal, but that’s very typical for a mage. He has an overabundance of patience, stored up from sailing for days back on his home ocean, and he’ll take just about anything in stride - unless you’re threatening his family, then all bets are off. He’s one of the quieter Links, being more content to wait and see the results of something rather than actively participating, but this in no way means that he’s not paying attention. He knows what he’s capable of, is fully willing and ready to do it if necessary, and makes no excuses to the contrary
Steam: The Link from Spirit Tracks. He has the ability to see hidden things, which extends beyond his own disembodied Princess Zelda and into things like mask spirits or just plain invisible opponents. He also has a summons in the form of the Spirit Train, which he takes great pleasure in slamming into whichever villain has annoyed him. He’s got a dry sort of sarcasm and he’s definitely not afraid to say what he thinks. As a result of spending most of his adventure on a Train, he’s easily the least physically fit of the Links and therefore tends to hang back in a fight, relying more on his summons for heavy hits or his sight ability to provide support. His previous career choice was a locomotive engineer, and as a result he and Sketch get along very well. They have regularly scheduled brainstorm sessions about what sort of gadget they should try and make this time, usually with Steam providing the math and schematics and Sketch providing the real-world experience to make it real
Shadow: The Link from a variety of games, since whenever a Shadow or Dark Link appears, that was him. He’s bitingly sarcastic, could not possibly care less about the opinions of other people, and takes great joy in finding the best way to insult someone as possible. Being formed from the darker emotions of other Links, he’s understandably in a poor-to-terrible mood almost all the time, although he can usually be convinced to take it out on other people. A side effect of being made of dark magic is that he can’t be out in the sunlight too long - it’ll start to burn him in the same way a match burns paper. As a perk though, he can manipulate his body into any shape he wants, mostly ignoring physics as he does. This makes him easily one of the most powerful Links in the group, since he doesn’t take battle damage the way a physically-bodied person would and is all but immune to being stabbed. He makes for an excellent aggro target, partly because he can take anything the opponent could give, but also because he’ll give it all back and then some
Oni: The Link from before Skyward Sword. Also known as the Fierce Deity. Saying that he’s overpowered is a bit of an understatement, as he can take out the likes of Majora in three hits or less, but he’s very unlikely to actually use his power like that. As a result of being put into a mask, he has no actual autonomy unless someone is wearing him, at which point he takes control of the body of the wearer to manifest in the real world. This lasts with no repercussions until his mask is removed, at which point Oni returns to his bindings. He has not deigned to explain how he ended up in a mask or who managed to put him there, but the loose implication points to the aftermath of the Demon War as the cause. Further information is pending. He’s stoic and composed, and has yet to be truly riled up by anything that’s happened. He also refuses, as a rule, to get involved with the rest of the Chain’s adventures unless his presence is truly required. As the First Link Ever, and the one from whom the entire rest of the lineage has descended, Oni feels somewhat responsible for guiding the rest of the Links through their journeys - but guiding and coddling are two different things and as far as Oni is concerned, his legacies need to be able to fight their own battles
THE SEQUEL LINKS
Rune: The Link from Breath of the Wild. He has the Champion Abilities, as well as his own Quicktime specialty, and is of course concerningly amnesiac. He’s quiet to the point of almost being forgettable, which is a side effect of a) spending nearly all his time in the wilderness alone with nobody to talk to, and b) having to constantly be on the alert for Guardians because nothing alerts a Guardian like a loud hylian. His inventory is nearly bottomless, and he therefore immediately becomes the group pack mule. He’s also hands-down the best chef (something which makes Gen only slightly jealous)
Lux: The Link from Hyrule Warriors. He is the quietest Link, but not because of his personality - it’s because he can’t talk. The most vocalization he’s ever going to manage is incoherent yells of effort, because anything beyond that is locked behind a psychosomatic speech block. He has not deigned to share why he has a psychosomatic speech block and at the moment it’s highly doubtful he ever will. He’s second only to Shadow in his sarcasm and general displeasure with the world, and the rest of the group is lucky that hylian sign only has loosely defined curse words, otherwise he’d be going off
RSE: Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald are the Link(s) from Triforce Heroes. Emerald is the leader of the trio, more or less, while Ruby handles anything that might need a good smacking and Sapphire embodies the emotional core. They have a strange dynamic where they bicker with each other to hide the fact that they care, which is a direct result of them still settling into their own dynamics. They have their Totem formation, of course, and share an incredibly specific set of opinions about fashion. The fact that they also have their entire wardrobe on hand is complete coincidence, yep
Lyric: The Link from Cadence of Hyrule. He can hear the Universe Music better than any other Link (with the possible exception of Wind) and he will do whatever he can to follow its lead. He’s constantly moving to the beat in almost everything he does, and it makes him unexpectedly deadly in a fight. It turns out that following the Universe Music gives very good buffs and Lyric is a master at following the music. Ironically enough for all his sense of rhythm, he cannot sing to save his life and is in fact instrumentally challenged, which annoys him to no end
Tacet: The Link from Echoes of Wisdom. He doesn't speak much, partly because he spent years being physically unable to and forgets that he can, and partly because it's just... a lot. Despite this, he takes up a lot of space with loud gestures, loud body language, and loud fashion choices. He may be quiet but he will not be ignored. He's in a matching set with Echo (his Zelda) and they're more of less inseparable. He's persistent and determined and fluent in Sign, which unfortunately makes him an immediate target for Lux (translation) and Lore (TEACH HIM)
THE OC LINKS
Codex: The Link from the Evil Overlord List, a story I write that somehow developed its own protagonist. He’s snarky, sarcastic, runs on caffeine and spite, and will probably take over the world someday if he ever gets around to it. He’s currently just a college student writing his thesis paper (The List), but once he graduates the world had better brace itself
Wraith: The Link that was made as a result of a random conversation one day, in which someone asked me what would happen if Demise won permanently. Five minutes with my angst-stunted brain later, I had a cheerful sunshine child who had the ability to see spirits and was getting mentored by all eighteen dead Heroes as the backup plan to deal with Demise. He’s way too pure for the world and probably shouldn’t be as big an optimist as he is for someone surrounded by dead people
THE BACKSTORY LINKS
Archive: The Link who came before Breath of the Wild, the one from the 10,000-years-ago legend that we learn about in the game, who came about after somebody asked me my opinions on the Links that we know about but don't know about. He's the one who originally designed the Divine Beasts, Guardians, Towers, etc. alongside the Sheikah and the Princess Zelda of the time. He's a mechanic with the ability to bestow vague semi-sentience into whatever he builds, if he chooses to, hence the Divine Beasts and their possibly-sentient actions. He wears pants with an uncountable number of pockets, can and will do the thinking-out-loud Rubber Duck thing at anyone or anything sitting still long enough, and sees absolutely nothing wrong with bestowing semi-sentience on an explosive. What could possibly go wrong, it's a great idea
Mini: The Link who came before Minish Cap, the one we learn about in the prologue of the game who fought in the demon war that resulted in the Picori Blade being forged. He is very short, very salty about it, takes absolutely no nonsense and could probably be voted Most Likely To Stab As An Instinct. Not to say that he's violent, but he has active war trauma and will probably attack first, ask questions after. He's not too sure how he feels about the successors to his sword being as cheerful and easygoing as they are, but also he's adopting them all, immediately, no further deliberation necessary
THE... UNCATEGORIZED LINKS
Sigil: the Link from Age of Calamity, who is technically Rune, but is also not Rune because of wibbly-wobbly, alternate-universe time-travel shenanigans (thanks Terrako). It's vaguely reminiscent of looking in a funhouse mirror, because he's everything that Rune is but without the memory loss and at least a full third less of the war trauma. On account of not having to relearn how to do everything, his version of Bullet Time is insultingly efficient and therefore more than a little bit overpowered, but it's offset by not having Champion abilities lent to him by the dead ghosts of his former friends. Because his friends aren't dead, and there are no ghosts. There's that funhouse mirror again
From @changeling-rin's wonderful writing (under the cut):
“Princess?” Vio asked softly, pushing his way through some small, scraggly, and somehow-not-dead-yet trees on the far side of the mountaintop. “Are you here?”
The only thing he received in reply was his echo.
Vio sighed and ran a hand through his bangs. He'd really thought there was a good chance she'd be in here, perhaps hiding from Vaati after a cleverly constructed escape. He wouldn't put it past her; she was, after all, extraordinarily clever.
After another minute spent scouring the thin growth for signs of life, Vio gave up and moved on – or rather, he tried to. Unnoticed by him until it was far too late, one of the scraggly branches of the trees had become hooked in the fabric of his hat. When Vio moved away, his hat noticeably did not follow him.
Vio's first reaction to having his hat removed by an outside force was to automatically assumed Vaati was attacking, and his resulting response carved a deep slice into three different trees and cleared all the shrubbery within a five-foot radius. It did not, however, dislodge his hat.
Once he realized what had happened, Vio spent a moment being thankful that none of his brothers had been there to see his embarrassing display, then reached up and attempted to tug his hat free.
'Attempted' being the operative word, because his hat remained firmly stuck.
Vio's mouth tugged into a frown, and he gave his hat a sharper pull. Nothing happened. He looked around for a moment, rolled over a dead stump, and stood on the wood to try and disentangle the fabric that way. The problem was that, in his earlier tugging, he'd firmly trapped his hat around the wood in the process.
Vio's frown turned into a full-blown scowl. Yes, Zelda was important, and yes, if she ever found out about this he would probably get into so much trouble.
But this tree had messed with his hat. This had just gotten personal.
----
After searching a couple alcoves and surveying the general area, Green concluded that the only thing inhabiting this section of the mountain other than himself were rocks and a few small lizards with exceedingly bad judgement in home locations. He let out a frustrated huff of air and stalked off to find out how the others were doing. In the distance, he could see Vio struggling with... a tree?
That seemed interesting, Green decided, and kicked his pace up into a jog, arriving at his destination a few moments later.
“Why are you losing a game of tug-of-war to a tree?” he asked in an amused tone, causing Vio to jump a good six inches into the air in surprise.
“Because,” Vio grunted, pulling, “it's a very tough and scraggly tree and my hat is very stuck to it, and I'm afraid that if I pull too hard I'll rip the fabric.”
Green winced at the thought of a ripped hat. “Well... have you tried better leverage?”
The look Vio gave him was drier than a desert. “Of course I tried better leverage. That was the first thing I tried. Who do you take me for, Blue?”
“Hey, Blue's pretty smart,” Green argued. “He just puts it towards swordplay and things.”
“Yeah, I know,” Vio conceded. “Now, have you got any better suggestions?”
Green took a step backwards and surveyed the tree. While it was quite short, twisted, and knobbly, it was also just tall enough that getting Vio's hat back was a piece of work. But because it was short, twisted, and knobbly, it was also a fantastic climbing tree.
“I'm gonna see if I can get at it from above,” Green decided, and set about doing just that. He got up the trunk and onto the branch just fine, but on his way out to the hat's location his leg slipped, sending him sliding towards the ground – until the strap that held his scabbard on his back got caught on a large protruding knob in the bark.
Green now found himself dangling about five feet off the ground, held up by a piece of equipment that he couldn't reach and a piece of tree that he couldn't break. Flailing proved to be of no use either, as it only resulted in him swinging a bit. He finally gave up after a few minutes and just let himself hang limply.
“Little help?” he asked plaintively.
Vio, in between snickers, reached up and gave Green's leg a strong tug – only to have Green's boot come off his foot instead and smack him in the face. Vio went down hard with a bruise on his forehead, and Green was left with a rapidly-getting-cold foot and a significant lack of a way down.
And through it all, Vio's hat hadn't budged.
“This tree is an evil mastermind,” Green muttered.
Something that I really like about the Current DL Rewrite is that the Links somehow feel more and more like an actual Found Family, what with the newly added interactions both fluffy amd angsty!!!
I am trying very hard. I want them to feel like people who chose to care, you know? Like, the universe (and their Goddess) threw them together but now you're gonna have to pry them apart with a crowbar. Each Link says no this is my sibling group now, I'm keeping them.
I am smacking them with the Found Family Stick and I'm having a great time.
(Anonymous Prime) What would each Link's personality be in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream?
DISCLAIMER! I know nothing about Tomodachi Life. I had to look all of this up. If I've gotten something wrong, please be gentle with me. Also why are the Personalities different only for the U.S.??? Odd. I'm gonna pick and choose between descriptions for the best results.
Gen: Achiever (confident, self assured) "Diligent, productive, and highly efficient. An excellent planner who always follows through."
Speck: Thinker (reserved, aloof) "Thoughtful and introspective. Great at thinking things through and analyzing issues from every angle."
The Four: Strategist (reserved, aloof) "Unique, carefree, creative, laid-back. They're self-reliant, doing things their own way and thinking outside the box."
Ocarina: Dreamer (easygoing, amicable) "Idealistic and romantic. Often has their head in the clouds, but finds a lot of great ideas up there."
Mask: Leader (confident, self assured) "Ambitious and takes risks. Full of energy and does things on a whim. A force to be reckoned with."
Red: Softie (easygoing, amicable) "Sensitive, emotional, and in tune with the feelings of those around them. Empathetic and sentimental."
Blue: Dynamo (energetic, sociable) "Assertive and highly regarded. Trusts their instincts, and easily commands the respect of others."
Green: Thinker (reserved, aloof) "Thoughtful and introspective. Great at thinking things through and analyzing issues from every angle."
Vio: Individualist (confident, self assured) "Intelligent and not afraid to show it. Knowledgeable in a wide range of subjects. Speaks with confidence."
Dusk: Carer (easygoing, amicable) "Trustworthy and considerate. Puts their friends first and works hard to make sure everyone gets along."
Lore: Adventurer (energetic, sociable) "Bold and captivating. Their wit and charm lights up a room. It's never a dull moment when they're around!"
Realm: Optimist (easygoing, amicable) "Positive, enthusiastic, and always smiling. Smiles not only for their sake, but to help others smile too."
Sketch: Perfectionist (reserved, aloof) "Imaginative and inspired. Happiest when creating something. Finds beauty in even the smallest details."
Wind: Bubbly (energetic, sociable) "Outgoing and pleasant to be around. Makes friends easily, and finds the silver lining to any bad situation."
Steam: Charmer (energetic, sociable) "Radiant and always on form. Their effortless style is admired by all. Easily adapts to new situations."
Shadow: Maverick (confident, self assured) "A determined self-starter. Cuts their own path, letting nothing stand in their way. Quick to execute plans."
Oni: Observer: (reserved, aloof) "Self-sufficient and highly individual. Doesn't show much outward emotion, but has a lot going on deep down."
Put all the links in a giant paintball arena, what happens?
It's (mostly) a free-for-all that starts as an attempt for everyone to prove that they're the best marksman, and devolves into covering each other in as much paint as possible. The carnage claims RGBV, the Four, Wind, Steam, Gen, Lore, Ocarina, Mask, and presumably Shadow except that he keeps incorporating the paint into his body and then pretending like he'd never been hit at all.
Meanwhile, Sketch is bizarrely immune to being hit. As in, he knows the paint is coming his way before he even sees it, and also knows exactly how to move to avoid it. "How was I supposed to know that I have some weird paint telepathy?" He argues, when the rest of the group votes to disqualify him. But when it then turns out that his own pigment overwrites the paintball pigment and that he's also physically incapable of being marked (Shadow is not jealous) the argument becomes a moot point and he's voted out anyways. He takes it with minimal grumbling.
Speck and Dusk emerge unscathed and are the winners by default of neither of them wanting to face off in a death-battle-for-the-victory. Speck is simply, genuinely untouchable, because nobody can find him. Dusk on the other hand found himself some high ground and proceeded to Hawkeye snipe everyone in play.
"Hey, if he gets to use his Hawkeye mask then next time can I-" Mask begins.
"Absolutely not," choruses everyone else.
"The Stone Mask is banned, stop trying to trick us into agreeing to it," Gen adds.
Animal anon here, I got the urge to reread DL again the other day (it was VERY fun, thank you again for all your hard work) and rereading it all made me realize that in the latest chapter when Gen is hugging Mask he’s using the same technique that Mask was using on Sketch and I’m having some kind of feeling about it 😭 I can’t wait for Ocarina to get his turn for the feelings/talk stick >:)
YESSSSSSSSSS I WAS HOPING PEOPLE WOULD NOTICE THAT DETAIL!
Mask drops a tiny little crumb that "oh yeah I knew this would work on you because it works on me, no big deal, anyways-" and the entire rest of the Chain goes WRITE THAT DOWN. Gen knows exactly what he's doing. This is why he's in the leadership trio, folks!
(I'm gonna have so much fun hitting Ocarina with the Feelings Stick, you have no idea.)
Phantom Anon. If each of the villains got a preexisting Villain Song, what would they be?
For my own sanity, I'm going to be sticking to movie songs. I sadly do not have the time to sort through every Villain Song ever made (do you know how many stage-shows there are?) ; but I figure that cinema will give me a good place to start.
this question is a tad angst, and id like to apologize in advance but im curious what your thoughts on this are. Given that Ocarina is internally 9 years old and was raised in a society where everyone's dad was a talking tree and everyone else got a fairy who im assuming was likely supposed to act as a mother figure of sorts. is it safe to say that when navi entered the picture that ocarina might have viewed her as a mother figure at all? and if so i have to ask about mask, did her just leaving him suddenly and disappearing without a trace or even a goodbye leave any resulting feelings about abandonment?
In my opinion, Ocarina has spent nine years without a mother figure and by that point probably doesn't even notice. More to the point, if any character is going to be mother-coded, it's probably Saria. Navi strikes me as more of a... partner/guide, of sorts? Possibly older-sister vibes, at the very most.
As for Mask, he admittedly wasn't happy when Navi left. That may or may not be a plot point to be addressed in a future DL chapter. Spoilers~
Would Gen, as the Medic, try to find some way to make a healing soup/potion potent enough to help The Four whenever they get Synchronization Headaches?
Oh he'd try, sure.
The problem is that the Synchronization is literally a symptom of being Four-Sword-Split, and there's... no medicine for that. The only real cure for a Synch Headache is to Stop Being Synched, aka put the sword back and stop being split. For obvious, time-travel reasons, that's not a viable option at the moment.
But in the meantime, the Four get to benefit from a lot of really good soup.
Oh, boy, here we go again! *Spins the wheel of Random Franchises* *Lands on Plants Vs. Zombies* .... Okay. Well, we have a Link that is A: VERY good at gardening, B: Seems to be dealing with the silliest Hatred Incarnation yet, and C: Has a very crazy neighbor who also happens to be a super-genius that cultivates/makes plants that are not only sapient, but also very willing to talk and help out with an investiation the undead. How does the Chain help?
Shadow has discovered his life's calling.
"So, even the non-sapient types of this species are carnivorous?" He asks, too delighted to try and pretend otherwise. "Do you have a care guide? And some seedlings? Or some adult plants? Or-" he catches himself, "-I'm, uh, asking for a friend. Obviously."
The rest of the Chain does not have Shadow's sheer enthusiasm for the idea, but it turns out that familiarity with Deku Scrubs (and in Mask's case, the ability to become a Deku Scrub) translates really well to botanical warfare. Also, they wear green, so by standards of a plant they're basically already Part Of The Crew.
When I read this I blacked out and woke up with this drawing
Scene:
Unfortunately, climbing up mountains takes much longer than sprinting down them, and by the time the group made it back to the top, the sun was going down. Also, Red Potions were not energy potions, and did approximately nothing to the level of stamina that everyone did not have after going through Demise, the hike down, Vaati, Ganon, and then the hike back up.
The end result was that everybody was really tired once they finally got to their destination, and since there was really nothing stopping them from crashing right then and there, that was exactly what they did.
There was just the matter of the unexpected visitor in the gray hours before the sun rose, who planted his foot on Blue’s stomach and bellowed, “RISE AND SHINE, IDIOTS!” at the top of his lungs.
An exact copy of Green and his crew stood smirking at them, ash-gray skin contrasting with black clothes and even blacker hair. Bright red eyes glowed through the gloom of pre-dawn lightning with an intensity that made everyone feel like a target despite the fact that the newcomer was only about four-foot-one.
“S’up, losers?” Shadow Link chuckled.
--
I do believe you wanted to be tagged in fanarts, @changeling-rin?
I love the disclaimers that's another plot in itself lmao
Mandatory disclaimer which states I do not own any of the content this story draws from. It would be annoying if it didn't keep me out of legal trouble. But it does. So it isn't. Yay!
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On AO3 | On FF.net
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Farore let out an annoyed huff. “Well that didn't work.”
“Wait, you were doing something?” Din said in a tone of great surprise. “All I saw was you staring at the universe hard enough to burn a hole in it, and it really doesn't need anymore holes.”
Farore glared at her. “I was trying to influence Courage to step into the hole so we could use the harmonic frequency of the antimatter to connect one reality to another and transport him to another position on the timeline so he could begin the process of meeting himself, but noooooo he had to think about what he was doing instead of following the mysterious urgings!”
“...Alright there?” Din asked cautiously as Farore panted.
“I'm just cranky,” Farore snapped. “Now all four of them are miles away from where they need to be and that makes my plan completely useless.”
“What if we try a different aspect?” Nayru suggested. “There's more than one possibility for the 'present' due to that alternate split back with the Hero of Time. We have at least two other options, so why not try them?”
“...That could work,” Farore said. “I mean, obviously the Four Sword aspect would have been the best choice, but we can make do with one of the others.”
“Your Attribute, your choice,” Din told her. Farore considered this and reached out to feel Courage's positions in the timelines.
“...Not the one from the Hyrule with trains,” she decided. “He's nowhere near where he needs to be right now, and influencing him there would stretch the Interference Laws too much... but the other option is a piece of work in himself.”
“That's the one who can't figure out where he's going to save his life, right?” Din checked.
“That's him,” Farore sighed. “He's been at it for two years and he still hasn't quite found Ganon yet.”
“Poor boy,” Nayru murmered. “But wouldn't that mean he's actually the worst choice for this?”
“On the contrary,” Farore said, waggling a finger. “His sense of direction is so marvelously out of whack that I can influence him in any direction I want and he won't notice.”
“Go for it then,” Din said. “Let's see if this works this time.”
Farore twitched and smacked her sister upside the head in vengeance.
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The Link in question was the Hero of Hyrule, a somewhat short boy with dark brown hair, a roundish nose, and quite possibly the worst sense of direction in the universe.
One of the better examples of this was the quest he was currently on. He'd met a woman named Impa, who'd turned out to be in the employment of Princess Zelda, who'd been kidnapped. Link, being an agreeable boy, had agreed to search for the missing Princess and free Hyrule from monster influence along the way.
That had been two years ago. He'd been twelve.
Now fourteen, Link's sense of direction hadn't improved one bit. He had a vague impression that he'd been more-or-less lost for two years straight trying to figure out where Ganon was keeping Zelda, but he wasn't entirely sure due to the fact that he didn't quite know where he was at the moment either.
He hoped it was the place that held the Magical Sword, because that was what he was looking for. He knew, of course, that the fact that he was looking for it made it nearly impossible for him to find it, but Link was a natural optimist and hoped he'd found it anyways. It certainly looked like the sort of place one would keep an important enchanted weapon; dark and mysterious, with an intimidating entrance that for some odd reason had been hidden under a bush. Link didn't pay this much mind though, because a vast majority of things in his Hyrule were hidden in strange places. For example, every single elder he'd ever met lived in one of two places; in a cave, or under a rock. He had no idea why they didn't just build houses for themselves, but then again he'd never asked. It wasn't his business.
Link drew his sword, tried to draw his shield but failed because he'd lost it about a week ago, and took a deep breath instead. He would get a new shield, but he'd lost his wallet two weeks ago and didn't have the money for a new one. Link's sense of direction, unfortunately, extended beyond the location of himself and included the location of his items, much to his annoyance. In the two years he'd been questing he'd gone through several dozen shields, at least twenty Candles, three Rafts, thirteen boomerangs, and far, far too many bombs to even hope to keep track of. It also didn't help that he attracted monsters like honey attracts bees, and Like-Likes were among the most common ones he dealt with, which did not do his shield situation any favors.
Lost in his thoughts, Link didn't notice where he was going until he tripped on a small rock and looked up to find himself in the middle of the dungeon with absolutely no idea how he'd gotten there. However, since this was a completely normal part of his daily life, Link just sighed again and kept walking.
Link walked through a doorway into yet another dungeon room, having a small argument with himself about whether or not this was the fifteenth or twenty-first time he'd passed this way, before freezing in his tracks as a loud growl sounded above his head. He slowly lifted his eyes and met the gaze of a very large, very irate, and very, very intimidating four-headed dragon. Something made a meep noise. He was pretty sure it was himself.
“On the bright side,” he mused as he slowly backed out of the room, “I definitely haven't been here before. Maybe I'm getting better.”
An earsplitting roar and the CRASH of the stone wall as the dragon came charging through it let him know otherwise, and Link yelped before taking off at full speed. Interestingly enough, rather than the gibbering terror that most people would be feeling in this situation, the primary thought in Link's mind was, 'Oh come on, not again!'
He sprinted around a corner, skidded into the wall, regained his balance and pushed off into a different room as the dragon came sprinting around the corner, skidded into the wall – and went straight on through the next wall too. Conveniently, this wall happened to be the wall between Link and the outside, and despite the fact that there was a large fire-breathing reptile between him and it, Link ran through without hesitation. The dragon, which was regrettably not hampered by either wall in the slightest, was all too happy to give chase.
“Okay, so clearly that was not where the Magical Sword was,” Link muttered as he sprinted, the dragon roaring behind him. “I'll have to cross that off the mental list once I get a minute.”
He pounded around a corner, startling some Keese which then got ran over by the dragon five seconds later. They made little squeaky noises as they poofed into smoke. Link frowned for a moment and tried to remember if those had been the Keese by that one cave or that one other cave, but then two of the four heads of the dragon decided that it would be an excellent idea to breathe fire and Link suddenly had more important things to think about. It wasn't like he knew where either cave was in relation to anything else, after all.
The other two heads had noticed the fact that the first two were breathing fire and had decided to hop on the flaming bandwagon, which now resulted in Link running from lots more death than he'd been before. He really wished he had his shield – not that it would have done much against a fire-breathing dragon, but because it would make him feel like he could do something against the fire-breathing dragon.
He sprinted past a Like-Like, then two more – and screeched to a halt, because the second one had his shield in its gelatinous body and was happily dissolving it as he watched. He debated for a moment about the wisdom of getting his shield back, but then the dragon arrived, roared its superiority to the world, and ate the Like-Like because it was aiming at Link but missed.
“Oh, COME ON!” Link yelled as his shield followed the Like-Like down the dragon's throat. “NOT AGAIN!”
In Link's opinion, things like this happened far, far too often. This wasn't even his first time being chased by a dragon; it was actually his third. The only differences were that the first dragon had only had one head, and the second dragon had had only two. He actually wished he were being chased by the one-headed dragon again instead. At least that one hadn't taken his shield – that honor had gone to the two-headed dragon, and now this four-headed one.
Unfortunately for Link, said four-headed dragon took his annoyed yell as a signal that the chase was on again, and Link found himself once again running for his life.
Basically, just another normal Tuesday. Or Thursday. Or Saturday. They were all pretty interchangeable by this point.
The next forty minutes or so consisted of Link sprinting, the dragon chasing, and Link's misdirectional field landing the two in all sorts of odd places. Among the ones worth noting were the Boss Chambers of every single dungeon Link had beaten so far, the place where the Zoras lived on the ocean floor (which was really an accomplishment, as Link could neither swim nor breathe underwater), the top of a cliff which had no discernible way up (or down, for that matter), the chamber where Zelda was being held captive (Link tried to free her but the dragon tried to eat him again), Ganon's throne room (where the villain stared in confusion and Link tried to kill him but failed because the dragon tried to impale him), and the underside of a gravestone that turned out to be an old man's house where, in self-defense against the idiot and the monster who invaded his home, he threw a shield at Link's head – which knocked the hero straight back out the door – and slammed said grave-door in Link's face. Link had just enough time to process his new shield before the dragon tried to eat him again, causing Link to yelp, take off sprinting, and begin the chase all over again.
In his head, Link was trying to keep track of how long he'd been running. He'd lost count a couple times when the dragon had lit his hat on fire, but he was pretty sure he was nearing the hour mark. From his past experience with dragons, he needed to keep running for... about thirty more minutes, which would be when the dragon passed out from exhaustion and Link could finally get back to what he'd been doing. He remembered the time when he'd thought running for hours on end was inhuman and rolled his eyes at his younger self, who'd also thought rescuing the Princess wouldn't take more than a couple weeks at most and that losing his sword was the end of the world as he knew it.
Ah, the irony.
He jerked to the right as the dragon let loose another fire blast and sighed. Only about twenty-seven minutes to go.
Twenty-eight minutes later, the dragon, who'd been lagging slower and slower, put his foot down, missed and straight-up crashed into the dirt. A few seconds later, Link heard a muffled snoring issuing from the third head, while the first two tried to untangle themselves and the fourth head just laid there and panted. Link spent a second or two supporting himself on his knees and regaining his breath, watching the dragon warily to make sure it wasn't faking. Considering the fact that one of the heads was, in fact, asleep (much to the annoyance of the other three), he decided it was real.
“Finally,” he sighed, earning himself a glare from the dragon. “Took you long enough. I mean, seriously, I've got better things to do than run from you.”
The dragon snorted, flipped the sleeping third head onto it's back, and turned around with a huff as it proceeded to ignore Link entirely. Classic dragon procedure; in the event of escaped prey, one should then act as though said prey never held interest in the first place.
Granted, this wasn't the most effective of strategies, but dragons are stubborn creatures and refuse to admit it.
Link watched the still-huffing dragon leave and rolled his eyes before examining his surroundings. Much to his surprise, he was standing right outside the place where he'd heard the Magical Sword was kept. Link spent five seconds or so just blinking at it, as he'd fully expected to spend at least another week and a half looking before he stumbled onto it completely by accident.
But this worked too. He had no problems with this method.
Link shoved the stone aside and walked down the stairs that had been hidden beneath it. One story below the surface was another old man (Link had yet to meet another person his age in Hyrule; they were all either elderly, Impa, or the kidnapped Princess) and the Magical Sword being displayed in a pedestal.
“Can I borrow that?” Link asked, pointing. The elder blinked at him.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I'm on a quest to save the Princess,” Link explained patiently, “and I need a better sword. I've been looking for the Magical One for about two months now.” He paused as a thought occurred to him and added, “That is the Magical Sword, right? Please tell me it's the Magical Sword, because if it's not I'm going to be somewhat annoyed because this would be the fifth time I've made that mistake.”
For the interested, the other four swords had been the Mildly Enchanted Sword, the Perfectly Normal Sword, the We-Think-It's-Cursed-But-No-One's-Sure Sword, and the Stick, which while not an actual sword had been carved to look just like one and had been painted silver. It had been very convincing.
“No, this is the Magical Sword,” the old man confirmed. “Might you be Link, the Hero?”
“That's me,” Link said, raising an eyebrow. “How do you know my name?”
“Impa told me that if I ever met you, I was to give you this sword,” the old man said, handing said weapon to Link, “and to ask you, 'What in the names of the Three Golden Goddesses is taking you so long boy!?'”
Link turned red. “...I got lost. Possibly more than once. I may still be lost, actually. I'm not quite sure.”
“Din help us,” the old man sighed. “You'd best be going, young one, if you want to make any progress by the end of the week. Good luck.”
Link thanked him, somewhat sheepishly, and traded out his current sword for the Magical one as he walked back up the stairs. He tucked the older one into his bag, though; with the rate he lost things, keeping a backup weapon seemed like a good idea.
He finished stuffing the sword into his bag, looked up at his surroundings, and promptly realized that he had no idea where he was.
“Look when you walk,” Link berated himself after he finished facepalming. “Note to self, pay attention to where I'm going, if only to know how I got here. It'd be a vast improvement.”
Then again, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know how he'd managed to get on top of that one cliff without actually climbing it... perhaps this was a blessing in disguise.
And then, because he was paying attention to his inner monologue and not where he was going (ironically enough), he walked straight into a rock wall. His newly-acquired shield bounced with the impact and rolled off somewhere, while his even newer-newly-acquired Magical Sword smacked him in the back of the head due to momentum. Link spent the next few seconds in considerable pain.
“...Ow,” he decided slowly, rubbing both his face and his skull as he glared up at the mountain in his way. He'd seen this mountain somewhere before, he thought, but then again he thought he'd seen everything somewhere before. The reason for this was usually because he hadseen it before, on his convoluted way to wherever he was trying to get to that was not where he was.
The black void was new though.
Link's thought train screeched to a halt as he ran that sentence through his head for a second time, then looked for the corresponding object that had prompted it. Sure enough, between this mountain and it's twin was a large, utterly black hole, floating a few inches above the ground and doing everything physics said it shouldn't. It was as though the hole had taken a good look at reality and said, 'Nope, not bothering with it' and proceeded to get rid of reality entirely.
Link took a few moments to stop gaping.
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“FINALLY!” Farore exploded.
“Okay, I admit taking thirty-two hours to follow a prompting is a bitmore than I expected,” Din admitted in mild surprise. “And you're telling me he's usually worse than this?”
“Much worse,” Farore sighed. “Do you know how long he's been looking for that sword he just got?”
Her sisters both shook their heads.
“Three months. He'd even gotten directions to the place; he just can't find his way to save his life.”
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Link finished processing the hole in the world just in time to notice the significantly-sized crowd of monsters that were all processing him. There was a frozen moment as everyone stared at one another.
And then they all freaked out.
“SWEET DIN!” Link yelped.
“GREAT GANON!” a Wizzrobe shrieked.
Pandemonium ensued.
Two minutes in, however, an Armos realized that they outnumbered Link by about a thousand to one and promptly capitalized on this fact by yelling it loudly. Link abruptly found himself surrounded by what seemed to be all of Ganon's minions. He even thought he saw the two-headed dragon from ten months ago that had eaten one of his shields.
Considering how he was being threatened by many pointy objects, however, Link pushed that thought to the back of his mind and said, “You really don't want to do that.”
“On the contrary, I really think we do,” the Armos growled.
Link frowned and switched tactics. “I thought I was supposed to get killed by Ganon himself though? Aren't the orders for you to be nuisances only?”
There was a bit of shuffling and muttering, before a Wizzrobe piped up with, “Ganon's not really around to give orders anymore-ow!”
The Lynel next to him had smacked him upside the head and growled something. Link got the impression that this particular Wizzrobe was a bit dim. Nevertheless, this sounded interesting.
“Why can't he give orders?” Link asked. “Is he out pillaging or something?”
All the monsters within earshot turned and glanced apprehensively at the hole.
“...Not exactly,” a different Wizzrobe answered. “What actually happened was-OW!”
A Bubble had... well, Link wasn't entirely sure what the Bubbles did, but it had apparently hurt. He was getting the impression that maybe all Wizzrobes were a bit dim. So, since none of the monsters seemed inclined to tell him, Link put two and two together and made an educated guess.
“Did he fall in the hole?”
“...Not exactly,” an Armos admitted. “It was more like... he turned into the hole.”
“And then he was gone,” a creature whispered from somewhere in the crowd. And with that, the dam broke, and nearly every monster visible started whimpering.
“It took my brother!”
“It ate my lunch!”
“It devoured exactly half of my sock drawer! Now one of my feet will always be cold!”
Link blinked. Then he shook his head and yelled, “HEY!”
The mob paused mid-wail.
“So what you're saying is, Ganon is gone?”
He was met with a great deal of wide-eyed stares before the entire horde broke down in sobs.
“THE MASTER IS GONE!” a Wizzrobe wailed, and everything went to the Dark World. The Armos holding Link at swordpoint opted for blowing his nose on his sleeve instead, a couple Like-Likes literally melted in their sorrow, and one strange moblin attached itself to Link's shirt and whimpered into the fabric. Link, not knowing what else to do, patted its shoulder awkwardly.
“Uh... it's okay little, um, guy. I'm sure he'll be back before you know it.”
Nobody paid attention.
“Alright, you asked for it,” Link muttered. “OI! EVERYBODY CALM DOWN OR I WILL SKEWER YOU!”
For whatever reason, this actually worked and Link was once again the center of monster attention. He briefly wondered why he'd thought this was a good idea.
“So,” he started slowly, “if I've got this right, Ganon got absorbed by a hole and vanished. Anyone and anything that touches the hole also vanishes. And as a result, you all are panicking. Did I miss anything?”
“You forgot the part where the hole grows,” an Armos contributed.
“Oh, it does? I didn't know that, thank you,” Link said. “Couple other things though, why was Ganon out here in the first place?”
A couple of the monsters winced.
“Ah, well, there was a security breach a few hours ago,” a different Armos said. “The Hero was being chased by our four-headed dragon and he somehow got all the way into the Lord Ganon's private chambers. His Highness wasn't very happy about that and he came out to punish us for our lapse in our duties.”
“Which we so richly deserved,” a Wizzrobe mourned. “Allowing a mortal near our Master... shameful...”
Link blinked. “Hang on. That was me.”
The monster horde stared at him.
“...You're the Hero?” an Armos checked.
“The one who's been killing us all?” a Darknut clarified.
“The person we've been fighting and dying against for two years now?” a Wizzrobe finished.
Link tugged on his bangs nervously. “I dunno about all that stuff, but... yes?”
There was about five seconds of pure silence. Then the Wizzrobe screamed, “RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!”
Link was then treated to the wonderfully uncommon sight of a monster stampede running in the opposite direction of him. He stared after them in confusion.
“...Okay then,” he decided into the sudden silence. “That's new. Apparently I'm intimidating now...?”
He thought about that for a moment and shrugged. Either way, he was just glad not to be dead. Then, with nothing else to do, Link turned to examine the void.
It was a very intimidating void.
“...Yeah, not touching that with a ten-foot pole,” Link said firmly. If touching it meant obliteration, he was going to stay far away, thank you very much. It wasn't like he had an item for closing things either. Thus, Link decided that this would be one thing he was not going to mess with.
Still... he couldn't just leave it. The Armos had been right, it was growing. Sooner or later it was going to be big enough to cause some serious problems, and as the Hero of Hyrule Link couldn't just ignore it. No, he needed to stick around and figure out how to stop this thing. Without touching it in any way, shape, or form whatsoever.
Poking it was clearly out of the question.
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“...He's not investigating,” Farore said slowly.
“He's sticking around, that's progress,” Nayru said encouragingly.
“But the plan relies on one of them investigating! If they don't investigate then they can't hop the timeline and meet themselves!”
“Somehow I think getting close to the reality-warping void is the last thing on Courage's mind,” Din noted.
Farore just let out a frustrated huff.
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As a general rule, Demise did not do 'regret'.
However, he was seriously considering it.
It turned out, that when he'd absorbed his Hatred Incarnations, he'd literally absorbed them. He had their powers, yes. He had their memories. He had their knowledge, their experience, and their plans.
He also had their voices inside his head. And they were grating on his very last nerve.
I DEMAND TO BE FREED THIS INSTANT! One of the Ganondorfs yelled. I REFUSE TO BE HELD CAPTIVE BY SOME HALLUCINATING IMBECILE THINKING HE'S A GOD!
“I AM A GOD!” Demise roared. “HOW DARE YOU REFER TO ME AS AN IMBECILE! I CAN SMITE YOU WHERE YOU STAND, YOU INCOMPETENT EXCUSE FOR A VILLAIN!”
SAY THAT TO MY FACE!
“YOU DON'T HAVE A FACE! YOU LOST THAT RIGHT WHEN YOU LOST TO THE HERO, YOU MORONIC SIMPLETON!”
WHO CARES!? One of the multiple Ganons bellowed. JUST RELEASE ME AND LET ME TAKE MY REVENGE!
Hang on, I thought you'd been banished to the Dark World or something, a different voice said. Demise didn't know who it was, nor did he particularly care. That's what my history books said.
SHUT UP AGAHNIM!
YOU SHUT UP!
Something exploded in the back of Demise's mind, followed by the sound of an all-out brawl.
Morons, a woman's voice muttered. Despite the fact that he didn't care, Demise could recognize the woman simply because she had the distinction of being the only female Hatred Incarnation he had. He vaguely thought her name was Veran, but because he didn't care he didn't bother to see if he was right.
Another explosion interrupted Demise's thoughts, which annoyed him immensely. “WILL YOU KNOCK IT OFF IN THERE!?”
HE STARTED IT!
I DID NO SUCH THING!
ALL OF YOU, SHUT UP! A Ganondorf roared. I CAN BARELY HEAR MYSELF THINK WITH YOU IDIOTS TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER!
Wait, people are killing each other? A new voice piped up. Why wasn't I invited? I love Killing-People-Parties!
Zant, go curse a Cucco, someone snarled.
Great idea! Cuccos are AWESOME at Killing-People-Parties! We can all wear Peahats!
Nobody cares, a new voice rumbled. Unless there will be trains. Then I will consider joining you.
Wait, you're the guy who can't do anything without a Train? That's pathetic! When did our kind stoop so low as to rely on a machine to do our job for us?
Oh, JUST because you can swing a massive mace, SUDDENLY you're better than EVERYONE else!
Do not make me show you how effective my mace can be.
LIKE IT COULD HURT ME!
There was abruptly a mind-shatteringly loud THUD, and the sound of something simultaneously squishing and breaking.
...ow...
He did not die, the voice that apparently wielded a massive mace said in mild surprise. Normally people die when I hit them. Perhaps I did not hit hard enough.
Another THUD ricocheted through Demise's head.
He's still not dead, the woman – Veran – said in a bored tone. Either we can't die here, or you're losing your touch, Onox.
Quiet, woman!
Don't make me show you your place.
...No ma'am. Sorry ma'am.
Did I hear you say we cannot die here? A new and curiously ambiguous voice said, sounding like it'd just heard the first interesting thing all century.
Well, it's only a theory.
I volunteer to test this theory. Who would like to help me?
Demise blinked as a squishing, bubbling noise replied to the question and briefly wondered if he was losing his sanity after all before remembering that one of his Hatred Incarnations, for some reason, had manifested as a squid.
I do not speak the ocean language.
He said he was interested, one of the Ganondorfs translated.
Ah. Good~
With a sudden, massive THWUMP and the sound of insane laughter, the ambiguous voice set the squid on fire that would put the tortures of the Dark World to shame. Demise wasn't entirely sure how he knew it was fire, but there was no doubt in his mind that it was. The squid, as was typical of things set on fire, began screaming, which went on for several minutes.
...No, it seems one cannot die while trapped in this prison, the ambiguous voice decided eventually, in a tone which implied extreme boredom. Pity... I was hoping to torture something to death today.
I think I'm going to like you, one of the previous voices said. Ganondorf, pleasure to meet you.
...That is debatable, but we shall see. I am Majora.
You can't be Ganondorf, MY name is Ganondorf! A different voice interrupted.
Highly unlikely, a third voice scoffed. I am Ganondorf.
All three of you are just mere posers, a fourth voice accused. You are simply taking MY name and adding 'dorf' to it!
Wait, your name is Ganon? A new voice repeated. You filthy thief! That's MY name!
This set off a whole cacophony of different voices arguing over who's name was who's, whether or not it had belonged to this person or that person first, and the various painful things they were going to do to one another if so-and-so didn't give up this name or that name within the next ten seconds. Demise slapped his hands over his ears, but then made the horrific discovery that it made absolutely no difference whatsoever because it was all happening inside his head, and resigned himself to massaging his temples instead in an attempt to get rid of the headache he hadn't known gods could get.
All of you, SHUT UP! Veran roared. We're going to settle this like civilized villains. Admittedly this may be a challenge for... all of you, but please do try, hmm?
You test my patience, woman, one of the Ganons growled.
And you test mine. Don't make me lose it. Now, you're having problems with naming?
However did you guess? A Ganondorf asked with extreme sarcasm. Veran ignored him.
The solution is quite simple, boys. Just number yourselves and be done with it.
I call Number One!
SHUT UP ZANT!
But I wanna be Number One...
YOU DON'T EVEN NEED A NUMBER!
Oh good, you agree with me, Veran purred. Alright, let's get to business. You'll be One, you can be Two, you'll be Three-
WE ARE NOT BEING NUMBERED!
But I wanna be Number One!
ZANT! NOBODY ASKED YOU!
Can I at least get a sandwich!?
YOU CAN NOT – wait, you want a sandwich?
Isn't that what we've been talking about?
But – how did you get a sandwich out of – no, that's not what we've been talking about at all! We've been... well among other things, we've been trying to get this pathetic excuse of a deity to release us, since he's somehow under the delusion that he controls us! We've been DEMANDING OUR FREEDOM!
Zant made a thoughtful humming noise. ...I'd rather have a sandwich. I DEMAND A SANDWICH!
...You're an idiot, Zant.
Couldn't agree more, One.
Veran, I am NOT GOING TO BE NAMED NUMBER ONE! IT IS AN ABYSMALLY STUPID IDEA!
Oh, and I suppose you've got a better one then!?
This sparked a debate which was so loud that Demise actually thought he might go deaf. But releasing the villains was out of the question, as putting them back in their places would restore the Universe to it's original, un-voided state and undo all the destructive progress made so far. That, and Demise was far, far too stubborn to bow to the demands of lesser beings.
"Okay, that's it!" Lore declared from his position on the dirt. He shot back up to his feet and planted himself in place, then jammed his arm into his Bag just as Demise fired off another round of electricity.
Now, normal physics dictated that Lore could not outdraw a lightning bolt. However, Lore did not care about normal physics, and somehow this apparently made him immune to said physics. As a result, Lore not only was able to take his hand out of his Bag before the lightning got to him, but he was also able to brandish the item he'd drawn from his Bag.
Which was how, in a staggering display of complete disregard for how the Universe worked, Lore hit the incoming lightning right back to where it came from… with his Bug Net.
Chapter 35 of Dimensional Links is up and titled "This Is My Time-Loop Detector, It Goes Ding When There's Stuff" On AO3 | On FF.net
Have fun!
And for the interested, a snippet:
“...Is he not here?” Steam wondered, glancing around with mostly-disguised curiosity.
“No, he's here,” Mask sighed. “But he probably wants to-”
A soft, amused chuckle sounded right in his ear and Mask only avoided startling because this had happened to him several times before. The rest of the group wasn't so lucky. Several of them flinched, Sketch actually managed to clear a full three inches, and Tetra, in a move that Mask was starting to suspect was a reflex of hers, tried to shoot the Salesman in the face. Emphasis on tried - she missed, because the man suddenly and simply wasn't there anymore.
The Happy Mask Salesman (now suddenly there in a completely different part of the Tower) was comically thin in comparison to the backpack he carried, which was at minimum three times wider than he was and stuffed to the seams. His hair was red and rigidly fixed into place, his eyes were creased shut in a facsimile of cheerfulness, and his mouth was stretched into an unmoving, bulletproof smile.
He gave off the impression that he might go for the throat if anything happened to break his friendly customer-service mask.
Dusk receives a letter that reads as follows:
"I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I. I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I. I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I."
How does he respond?
Update! I've been informed by the Discord that this is an Animal Crossing joke reference, which is a heck of a way to expose myself as having never played an Animal Crossing game. Oh well.
Funnily enough I think my original answer still stands, because Dusk from DL is not an Animal Crossing villager and definitely will not respond the way his counterpart would.
"I'm impressed at the commitment to the letter 'I' though," he decides.
