Categories > Games > Zelda > Gatecrash
 Chapter 10: The Thieves Guild
"All right, Roll. Try to stand up."
Roll, after readjusting to her surroundings, swung herself around and sat up on the table. "This is amazing. I suddenly have a greater sense of what is around me. Like I'm super-aware."
"You are super-aware, for lack of a better term. You needed sensory upgrades in order to properly engage in battles, like your brother. You certainly didn't need heightened perception as a housekeeper."
Roll nodded as she flexed her arms under her new body suit. The rubbery feel was a little uncomfortable, but still limber and pliant. It was colored a deep lavender purple with a green stripe running down both sides of her body. On her arms, legs, and torso were thin ringlets of reflective metal, similar to medieval chain armor in a way. "This is part of the dioxin filter," she realized.
"Right, I had to make do with what I could find. There wasn't enough to cover your entire body, so I did the essential areas most likely to get hit."
"I understand." Roll continued her inspection and looked around her person for the rest of her new features. She found two pistol-like weapons in holsters at her sides. Ah, yes, the best part. She drew them out to take a look at them. They had a thin squarish barrel with and treaded handle for gripping. Very streamlined. "These look like modified laser welders."
"Laser welders AND proton fusers. Sort of a hybrid really. Take a shot."
Dr. Light stepped out of the way, gesturing to a metal panel at the end of the room. Roll held out the gun in front of her and fired. A sunray of light flared up at the barrel and a short pink laser beam resounded with a vibrant PING as it shot from the gun and hit the panel in the center, causing a flared singe mark. Roll grinned as she admired her new weapon. It was lightweight, and she experienced almost no kickback, much smoother than her brother's buster. And it made a cool sound when you shot it.
"Sweeeeet."
"Oh, my goodness, I almost forgot." Dr. Light reached out and touched Roll's head. Her vision was suddenly masked by a green tint.
"Hey, what th-"
"The laser pistol has a rather nasty flare-up, if you didn't notice. Over-exposure will damage your optical calibration. So you need to wear this special tinted visor when in battle."
Roll reholstered her pistol and felt up around her eyes. There was indeed a thin green strip of plastic covering her eye line, fitting to her face. That wasn't all, though. The visor connected to some device around her head. She felt around, finding it placed tightly around the ears and just above her neck. It seemed to consist of a strip of metal covering the back of her head, tapering off at her ears where her visor was attached, and a strip of metal curving over, coming down to her forehead in the center. Apparently, there was still a small outlet for her ponytail to go through. "What is this, some sort of helmet?"
"Exactly. Some sort of helmet. I didn't have the materials for a full helmet, but you needed some cerebral protection, so I made this sort of 'skeletal helmet'. I'm sorry it's so piece-meal."
Roll smiled and put a hand on Dr. Light's shoulder. "It's great. I shouldn't have any problems with this. Thank you."
Dr. Light shyly smiled. "Well, are we ready to make it up to the surface?"
Roll took out her gun and spun it in her finger. "Let's."
She kicked the metal door open and jumped out. Her new battle protocols sprang into action, running over all elements of this escort exercise. She held one of her guns straight ahead of her, then whipped around behind, pointing it up at the ceiling, looking in all possible directions for hostiles. She gestured to the doctor that it was safe to come out into the corridor. In this normal walking area of the basement, the walls retained their gray concrete brick structure, reinforced to act as a fall-out shelter should the need arise. The lack of wear and tear on the hallway indicated that no one had arrived down here. Taking the lead, Roll shuffled down towards the exit, keeping her gun ready in both hands, darting her eyes in all directions, her ears attuned to every little sound, everything still strangely tinted neon green.
"So far, so good," Roll commented.
Dr. Light huffed along behind, swinging his arms energetically in the air. He wasn't out of shape for his age, but he wasn't running any marathons on an engineer's diet.
"Phew. Let's... go up this stairwell... It's quicker," he panted with his hands on his knees.
Roll looked to her left at the metal door, peering into its tiny window for anything suspicious. The stairway looked clean, no evidence of any robot masters trying to force their way in, but she couldn't see up to the top. It was another risk she was going to have to take.
"Here we go." Roll regripped her laser pistol and popped the door open. "Yaargh!" she primally screamed as she barreled up the stairs. With a final burst of speed at the top, she jump-kicked the door open, rolled onto one knee, and aimed her gun ahead. Her eyes scowled with fortitude and eagerness.
It was quiet, too quiet. Roll cautiously kept her eyes peeled as she stood up, searching and listening for signs of action. Rubble and debris littered the area, pieces of wall were completely torn down, unveiling the rooms beyond. Even the ceiling had jagged holes punched through. But the only motion was just from a broken off pipe dripping water from the second story. Their home was smashed to ruins, but there wasn't a trace of the guilty.
Roll clicked off the visor and it swiped away back into her helmet. "There's nothing here," she said frustratedly as Dr. Light finished climbing the stairs after her.
"How curious," Dr. Light breathed. "What could Dr. Wily have wanted?"
"I don't know, but I'm willing to bet they've cooked up something. Maybe a trap."
"No, look. Ahead."
Dr. Light pointed through the wrecked house. Some rooms were destroyed but other parts of the house were untouched. "Most interesting," he said. "Surely if they had meant to destroy us or destroy the house, they would have done so in a better fashion."
"Dr. Wily's never attacked you before, he's always gone for global domination. I'm beginning to wonder why this time should be any different." Roll looked closer at the damage. "It's almost as if he's created a path towards something, but for what?"
"Well, we won't know until we search. Come along, Roll," Dr. Light said as he took the lead.
"Aw, I got all upgraded for nothing," Roll said as she followed him.
Mega Man and Link entered the rocky cavern where the thieves guild members resided, expecting to be met with hostile forces. After all, they were on the side of the good and noble and the thieves were on the side of the... not-so-good and less noble. However, no one seemed particularly interested in them at first. There was a table set up where four people were playing cards, a barrel of ale next to them. Two others were off in the corner by the quote-unquote beds talking and looking over a piece of paper. Another was sharpening his knife on a nearby grindstone, embers sparking off the wide, short blade. Once their eyes adjusted to the sunlight, however, they realized all were now staring at them.
"Reminds me a little of the pub," Mega Man commented.
"This ain't no pub," Link said.
The man sharpening his knife stopped and sauntered over to the two. He was awkwardly lanky and had a weasely accent. "Well, i' looks like you two appear to be lost, li'l boys. We eat li'l boys 'ere, you know."
"We're not little boys," Link said confidently, despite that he was a good deal shorter.
"Don't you know where you are? You're in the bleedin' thieves guild headquarters, the most dangerous place in all of Hyrule."
Link smirked. "My good sir, I know the most dangerous place in all of Hyrule. I've been in the most dangerous place in all of Hyrule. I've destroyed the most dangerous place in all of Hyrule. And this, sir, is not the most dangerous place in all of Hyrule."
The tall thief threw back his head and laughed. "Hah, hah, hah. This kid's got guts after all." The other members laughed and guffawed in their own respective corners along with him. "I know you, all right. You're that Link fellow who 'saved' Hyrule. That true? They say you're the Hero of Cataclysm's Eve. The one who wielded the Master Sword."
Link thought it best to avoid this line of questioning. "Look, we don't want any trouble," he said. "We just came here for some information."
The gangly bandit rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, information, eh. Well, we're always lookin' to impart our knowledge onto the minds of those less fortunate. Right, boys?" The others grunted affirmatively. Mega Man doubted they were even listening to what's going on. "Yes, I believe we can stroike a bargain."
Mega Man poked into the conversation. "Would sixty rupees be enough?"
Link gave Mega Man a hateful, frustrated look as the bandit roared in laughter, throwing his mouth open wide with his hands on his hips. "Har, har, har, har, har! Who is this, your financial advisor? Har, har, har! Sixty? Try 600?"
Link's eyes opened wide at this number.
He continued. "And that's just the intr'duct'ry price. I don't even know wot you wanna know yet."
Link whispered to Mega Man. "I only have 500 on me," he winced. Monsters were in short supply in this area and the economy was tight enough he wouldn't be able to borrow from anybody. He wasn't keen on the idea of going on a rupee hunt.
"Uh, I'm a little short right now," Link grinned sheepishly. "Maybe we can work something out?"
Mega Man said, "Perhaps we could arrange a line of credit."
"Credit? Wot's credit?"
"Well, it's-"
"'Ow 'bout that fancy helmet on yer 'ead there," he pointed at Mega Man's head. "Look's like it'd fetch a fair bit o' wealth."
The brigand, quick as a cat, filched the helmet off of Rock's head and placed it on his own.
Mega Man reached up to his head, slightly embarrassed by his unruly helmet hair. "Hey, that's mine!"
The robber turned around to his mates and began waddling around with Mega Man's bright blue helmet ridiculously clashing with his drab clothes. "'Ey, gents. Lookit me, I'm a captain of the royal guard." The others laughed at his antics.
"Yoink!" Mega Man jumped up behind him and snatched the helmet back from him, placing it on his head.
"'Ey, audacious li'l bugger." The man raised his hand to strike him.
Link immediately stepped in, seeing that Mega Man was in trouble again, though not by his own doing this time. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Mega Man held his hands out in a gesture of peace. "We didn't come here for trouble."
"Well, you got trouble, blokes." He took a swing at Mega Man which he easily dodged.
"That's it," the robot said. "You are under arrest for assault, burglary, and intent to commit these acts." Mega Man grabbed the man's hand and spun him around, bending him over forwards in a submitted position. He turned to his companion. "Link, do you have some rope?"
Suddenly, a large rock bashed Mega Man in the head on the side, surprising him and causing him to lose his grip on his captor. "Aaah!" he said as he tumbled away. He felt the side of his head for damage. He looked up and saw one of the thieves standing on a rock ledge above them.
"Boys, let's rumble," the lanky man redrew his sharpened knife and made for Mega Man. His knife was hit by a boomerang slicing through the air. He drew his hand back in pain and shock.
Link caught the boomerang as hit came back to him. "That's not a knife, buddy." He withdrew his sword. "This is a knife."
"That's a sword."
"Close enough." Link lunged forward. All the thieves broke out of their stasis and jumped into the fracas, blocking Link off from Mega Man and his attackers. Link held up his shield to defend against their various weapons like knives, chains, and lead pipes.
Mega Man found the cockney thief coming at him, fueled by his rage. "I'll do you a trick, mate." He tossed his knife from one hand to the other menacingly.
"Your skills at magic will not stop me." Mega Man threatened. Of course, his reminder of the first law was running through his head. Although he couldn't attack, he could defend. And defend he did. As he brandished his knife, Mega Man parried his thrusts with his metal plated arms. The screeching, scraping of metal against metal echoed in the cavern; men winced from the sound.
"Aaargh," the thief screamed in frustration. "Aren't you the fast one."
"My reaction time is .02 seconds, thirty-five times more than a human. I am only slowed by my movement," he smiled.
"Roit, whatever."
Meanwhile, Link hunkered down under his shield while the guild members relentlessly pounded him, occasionally popping out to swing his sword at them. "Back off!" he shouted. Link fingered his boomerang again as blows rained down on him. Waiting for the right moment, he jumped out and threw it forward. It hit one swinging a chain in the head, stunning and throwing him back a bit. This would take forever, Link grumbled to himself, and his poor shield couldn't take this kind of abuse. Holding his sword behind him tighter, he concentrated, gathering up magic energy in the blade. A star-like sparkle scurried up the blade, sparking at the tip. The blade gleamed like ethereal silver with magic power. With an intense shout he spun around, holding out his sword. Magic energy billowed out in a whirlpool of force, blowing back everyone surrounding him, throwing them on their backs.
Mega Man grappled with the lanky man, not applying lethal pressure to the man's arms, just holding them at bay.
"Bloody... " he grumbled. "Marcus!" he shouted as he looked up. "Get down here and help!"
Mega Man looked up and saw the man who had thrown the boulder earlier, getting his club out and preparing to jump down on top of him. The robot quickly moved his feet and pulled his opponent around so they switched places. Marcus came down on the thief's head, screaming bloody murder. Mega Man let go and the two collapsed on top of each other, both of them knocked out.
Mega Man and Link looked around. The thieves were strewn about on the floor of the cavern. Mega Man dusted off his hands. "Well, it's just as good as an arrest."
"Yeah, except now we've got no leads. We're stuck. I hate that."
"Over here," came a meek, raspy voice from up above.
The two looked around for the source of the voice. Link pointed up to a previously unseen alcove near the ceiling. "Up there."
"I'm going to tie up these guys so they don't get away."
Link was about to protest, but figured this was as good an opportunity as any to rid Hyrule of one of its cancers. He would let the nearest royal soldier know about the treasure of criminals here.
He left Mega Man to find some rope and headed to the back of the room and up a ramp to a tiny little ledge. A wizened old man with white hair and a bald head covered in liver spots sat on a woven carpet. Some knick-knacks and a bookshelf were around him, making it seem like this was his room. Link had to crawl on hands and knees to enter the room proper.
"You are the Hero of Cataclysm's Eve," the old man said, as if recognizing him or acknowledging him. "And you seek the pendants."
A lead! He was on the right track. "Yes, do you know where they are?"
"Sure, they're right here."
"...What?"
The old man reached into a wicker jar beside him, opened the lid, and pulled them out. There they were, all three of them. A red, a green, and a blue medallion, carved with their respective crests, each attached to a small gold chain.
"It's you ... who has the pendants? And you're giving them to me?" Link asked incredulously. Link thought he would have to quest through temples and worlds and gather items and defeat a final overlord, who was apparently this old geezer. "What? Why?"
"To get you here. I needed the Hero of Cataclysm's Eve."
"For what? How did you get the pendants in the first place?" Link couldn't for one second believe that this grandpa could've infiltrated the palace vault.
"I'm old, but I'm quite powerful in the underworld. I have... connections."
Link growled. If this decrepit old fogey could get a hold of the pendants, then security at the castle needed a major overhaul. He would have to let Zelda know when he returned. How safe could the Triforce be? "Do you know what you've done? Just to get me here?"
"I've opened your eyes to the mirror."
"The mirror?" Link couldn't take any of this pretentious existentialism. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't bring you in right now."
"Because I have information. Information that is vital to the fate of Hyrule."
Link didn't believe him for a second and glowered at him irritably. But, apparently, his quest was over so there was really no reason not to indulge him for a second. "Fine, what is it?"
"The Triforce... has a fourth piece."
"What?" Link didn't know whether to laugh or drop his jaw. "What do you mean there's a fourth piece?"
"Just that. There are truly four pieces to the Triforce."
"That's ridiculous. There's only three. That's why they call it a TRIforce. Not a Quadforce."
"There are only three that you know of."
"There's courage, wisdom, and power. What's the fourth one supposed to represent? Cleanliness?"
"Who knows? Serenity, strength, honor, endurance. The answer may be on this," he said as he produced a piece of cloth from another basket. "It was found in a treasure chest that wandered up on shore. Here, this shows the Triforce as one whole golden triangle."
Link leaned closer to the outstretched cloth and looked. Sure enough, the sketching depicted four triangles of the Triforce coming together to form a whole, surrounded by runic markings that Link couldn't read.
Looking up to the old man, he said, "Even if I believed you, what am I supposed to do with it?"
"What else? Go find it."
"What for? No one's using it." Initially, Link would have jumped at the chance for another adventure, especially after this one's anti-climax, but he could have plastered a wall with his skepticism. "If it's been lost for so long, no one knows where it is anyway, so why bother?"
"But they will. Some day, some where, some time when you can't stop it. Think of what the Triforce can do now. Now think of what it can do when it is complete."
Link stopped in his tracks. It was true. Some point in the future, the fourth piece would be found and who knows whose hands it would end up in. Despite his own misgivings, Link was going to have to research this for himself. It did seem like there was the Triforce was missing a piece in the middle, where another triangle could go.
"Well, thanks for the info." Not, Link thought.
"One more thing," the old man interrupted. He produced from yet another basket a small copper mushroom. "This will aid you in your quest, I know."
"Gee, thanks, you're just full of goodies, aren't you." Link took the mushroom and put it in his pouch.
"Hurry, I sense that great danger is waiting to be unleashed."
Yeah, yeah, /Link thought, /what else is new. Link stood up as well as he could and crawled back down to the cavern floor. Mega Man was tying up the last of the unconscious thugs and placing them against the wall.
"Did he have anything useful?" he asked.
"Well, yes and no. I've got the pendants back, but he said that there's a fourth piece of the Triforce."
"What's a Triforce?"
"It... it's complicated." Link didn't want to have to answer a lot of questions about Hylian mysticism and back story. "It's a holy artifact of Hyrule. Here's a picture." Link handed him the cloth. "I think it's bunk. He says that thing is supposed to be millennia old. And the story he gave me was ridiculous."
Mega Man took a closer look using some of his visual receptor plug-ins.
"I believe he's telling the truth," he said. "The carbon decay and degrade of the material and ink confirm that this was created about 80,000 years ago."
"How do you know that?"
"Primarily, my spectroanalyzer, but I have used some other optical examiners built in."
Link didn't really know what all that meant, so he just shrugged it off and took back the cloth. Mega Man's verdict didn't add to the authenticity in his mind. "I can't believe he dragged me from place to place searching for the pendants, only to just give them to me, and tell me there's some fake Triforce piece out there."
"The cloth is real though."
"Oh, it's ridiculous to even think about," Link said as he marched out of the cavern. "If this Triforce piece has existed for so long then-"
"NOW!"
Suddenly, the two were covered in a rope net. "What th'-" Link exclaimed. The shock and weight knocked him down, trapping him tighter in.
"Do it, Gus!"
Just as Link was about to draw his sword and cut through the ropes a shining pink translucent glow surrounded them. The glow accumulated into a glass-like shield around them, solidifying with a metallic shink.
Link cut through the net with his sword as Mega Man ripped it apart. Link thrust into the pink glass. Solid as a rock. He looked up to see who his captors were. Ungar, Gus, and a host of others from the Card Club Mafia, were standing around them, gloating.
Ungar strutted up to their prison and peered in. "Nice magic barrier, don'tcha think?" he said as he tapped on the glass. "Good for keeping little rats in their cages." He came eye-to-eye with Link in a fearsome gaze.
Next Chapter: The Fight Scene
"All right, Roll. Try to stand up."
Roll, after readjusting to her surroundings, swung herself around and sat up on the table. "This is amazing. I suddenly have a greater sense of what is around me. Like I'm super-aware."
"You are super-aware, for lack of a better term. You needed sensory upgrades in order to properly engage in battles, like your brother. You certainly didn't need heightened perception as a housekeeper."
Roll nodded as she flexed her arms under her new body suit. The rubbery feel was a little uncomfortable, but still limber and pliant. It was colored a deep lavender purple with a green stripe running down both sides of her body. On her arms, legs, and torso were thin ringlets of reflective metal, similar to medieval chain armor in a way. "This is part of the dioxin filter," she realized.
"Right, I had to make do with what I could find. There wasn't enough to cover your entire body, so I did the essential areas most likely to get hit."
"I understand." Roll continued her inspection and looked around her person for the rest of her new features. She found two pistol-like weapons in holsters at her sides. Ah, yes, the best part. She drew them out to take a look at them. They had a thin squarish barrel with and treaded handle for gripping. Very streamlined. "These look like modified laser welders."
"Laser welders AND proton fusers. Sort of a hybrid really. Take a shot."
Dr. Light stepped out of the way, gesturing to a metal panel at the end of the room. Roll held out the gun in front of her and fired. A sunray of light flared up at the barrel and a short pink laser beam resounded with a vibrant PING as it shot from the gun and hit the panel in the center, causing a flared singe mark. Roll grinned as she admired her new weapon. It was lightweight, and she experienced almost no kickback, much smoother than her brother's buster. And it made a cool sound when you shot it.
"Sweeeeet."
"Oh, my goodness, I almost forgot." Dr. Light reached out and touched Roll's head. Her vision was suddenly masked by a green tint.
"Hey, what th-"
"The laser pistol has a rather nasty flare-up, if you didn't notice. Over-exposure will damage your optical calibration. So you need to wear this special tinted visor when in battle."
Roll reholstered her pistol and felt up around her eyes. There was indeed a thin green strip of plastic covering her eye line, fitting to her face. That wasn't all, though. The visor connected to some device around her head. She felt around, finding it placed tightly around the ears and just above her neck. It seemed to consist of a strip of metal covering the back of her head, tapering off at her ears where her visor was attached, and a strip of metal curving over, coming down to her forehead in the center. Apparently, there was still a small outlet for her ponytail to go through. "What is this, some sort of helmet?"
"Exactly. Some sort of helmet. I didn't have the materials for a full helmet, but you needed some cerebral protection, so I made this sort of 'skeletal helmet'. I'm sorry it's so piece-meal."
Roll smiled and put a hand on Dr. Light's shoulder. "It's great. I shouldn't have any problems with this. Thank you."
Dr. Light shyly smiled. "Well, are we ready to make it up to the surface?"
Roll took out her gun and spun it in her finger. "Let's."
She kicked the metal door open and jumped out. Her new battle protocols sprang into action, running over all elements of this escort exercise. She held one of her guns straight ahead of her, then whipped around behind, pointing it up at the ceiling, looking in all possible directions for hostiles. She gestured to the doctor that it was safe to come out into the corridor. In this normal walking area of the basement, the walls retained their gray concrete brick structure, reinforced to act as a fall-out shelter should the need arise. The lack of wear and tear on the hallway indicated that no one had arrived down here. Taking the lead, Roll shuffled down towards the exit, keeping her gun ready in both hands, darting her eyes in all directions, her ears attuned to every little sound, everything still strangely tinted neon green.
"So far, so good," Roll commented.
Dr. Light huffed along behind, swinging his arms energetically in the air. He wasn't out of shape for his age, but he wasn't running any marathons on an engineer's diet.
"Phew. Let's... go up this stairwell... It's quicker," he panted with his hands on his knees.
Roll looked to her left at the metal door, peering into its tiny window for anything suspicious. The stairway looked clean, no evidence of any robot masters trying to force their way in, but she couldn't see up to the top. It was another risk she was going to have to take.
"Here we go." Roll regripped her laser pistol and popped the door open. "Yaargh!" she primally screamed as she barreled up the stairs. With a final burst of speed at the top, she jump-kicked the door open, rolled onto one knee, and aimed her gun ahead. Her eyes scowled with fortitude and eagerness.
It was quiet, too quiet. Roll cautiously kept her eyes peeled as she stood up, searching and listening for signs of action. Rubble and debris littered the area, pieces of wall were completely torn down, unveiling the rooms beyond. Even the ceiling had jagged holes punched through. But the only motion was just from a broken off pipe dripping water from the second story. Their home was smashed to ruins, but there wasn't a trace of the guilty.
Roll clicked off the visor and it swiped away back into her helmet. "There's nothing here," she said frustratedly as Dr. Light finished climbing the stairs after her.
"How curious," Dr. Light breathed. "What could Dr. Wily have wanted?"
"I don't know, but I'm willing to bet they've cooked up something. Maybe a trap."
"No, look. Ahead."
Dr. Light pointed through the wrecked house. Some rooms were destroyed but other parts of the house were untouched. "Most interesting," he said. "Surely if they had meant to destroy us or destroy the house, they would have done so in a better fashion."
"Dr. Wily's never attacked you before, he's always gone for global domination. I'm beginning to wonder why this time should be any different." Roll looked closer at the damage. "It's almost as if he's created a path towards something, but for what?"
"Well, we won't know until we search. Come along, Roll," Dr. Light said as he took the lead.
"Aw, I got all upgraded for nothing," Roll said as she followed him.
Mega Man and Link entered the rocky cavern where the thieves guild members resided, expecting to be met with hostile forces. After all, they were on the side of the good and noble and the thieves were on the side of the... not-so-good and less noble. However, no one seemed particularly interested in them at first. There was a table set up where four people were playing cards, a barrel of ale next to them. Two others were off in the corner by the quote-unquote beds talking and looking over a piece of paper. Another was sharpening his knife on a nearby grindstone, embers sparking off the wide, short blade. Once their eyes adjusted to the sunlight, however, they realized all were now staring at them.
"Reminds me a little of the pub," Mega Man commented.
"This ain't no pub," Link said.
The man sharpening his knife stopped and sauntered over to the two. He was awkwardly lanky and had a weasely accent. "Well, i' looks like you two appear to be lost, li'l boys. We eat li'l boys 'ere, you know."
"We're not little boys," Link said confidently, despite that he was a good deal shorter.
"Don't you know where you are? You're in the bleedin' thieves guild headquarters, the most dangerous place in all of Hyrule."
Link smirked. "My good sir, I know the most dangerous place in all of Hyrule. I've been in the most dangerous place in all of Hyrule. I've destroyed the most dangerous place in all of Hyrule. And this, sir, is not the most dangerous place in all of Hyrule."
The tall thief threw back his head and laughed. "Hah, hah, hah. This kid's got guts after all." The other members laughed and guffawed in their own respective corners along with him. "I know you, all right. You're that Link fellow who 'saved' Hyrule. That true? They say you're the Hero of Cataclysm's Eve. The one who wielded the Master Sword."
Link thought it best to avoid this line of questioning. "Look, we don't want any trouble," he said. "We just came here for some information."
The gangly bandit rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, information, eh. Well, we're always lookin' to impart our knowledge onto the minds of those less fortunate. Right, boys?" The others grunted affirmatively. Mega Man doubted they were even listening to what's going on. "Yes, I believe we can stroike a bargain."
Mega Man poked into the conversation. "Would sixty rupees be enough?"
Link gave Mega Man a hateful, frustrated look as the bandit roared in laughter, throwing his mouth open wide with his hands on his hips. "Har, har, har, har, har! Who is this, your financial advisor? Har, har, har! Sixty? Try 600?"
Link's eyes opened wide at this number.
He continued. "And that's just the intr'duct'ry price. I don't even know wot you wanna know yet."
Link whispered to Mega Man. "I only have 500 on me," he winced. Monsters were in short supply in this area and the economy was tight enough he wouldn't be able to borrow from anybody. He wasn't keen on the idea of going on a rupee hunt.
"Uh, I'm a little short right now," Link grinned sheepishly. "Maybe we can work something out?"
Mega Man said, "Perhaps we could arrange a line of credit."
"Credit? Wot's credit?"
"Well, it's-"
"'Ow 'bout that fancy helmet on yer 'ead there," he pointed at Mega Man's head. "Look's like it'd fetch a fair bit o' wealth."
The brigand, quick as a cat, filched the helmet off of Rock's head and placed it on his own.
Mega Man reached up to his head, slightly embarrassed by his unruly helmet hair. "Hey, that's mine!"
The robber turned around to his mates and began waddling around with Mega Man's bright blue helmet ridiculously clashing with his drab clothes. "'Ey, gents. Lookit me, I'm a captain of the royal guard." The others laughed at his antics.
"Yoink!" Mega Man jumped up behind him and snatched the helmet back from him, placing it on his head.
"'Ey, audacious li'l bugger." The man raised his hand to strike him.
Link immediately stepped in, seeing that Mega Man was in trouble again, though not by his own doing this time. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Mega Man held his hands out in a gesture of peace. "We didn't come here for trouble."
"Well, you got trouble, blokes." He took a swing at Mega Man which he easily dodged.
"That's it," the robot said. "You are under arrest for assault, burglary, and intent to commit these acts." Mega Man grabbed the man's hand and spun him around, bending him over forwards in a submitted position. He turned to his companion. "Link, do you have some rope?"
Suddenly, a large rock bashed Mega Man in the head on the side, surprising him and causing him to lose his grip on his captor. "Aaah!" he said as he tumbled away. He felt the side of his head for damage. He looked up and saw one of the thieves standing on a rock ledge above them.
"Boys, let's rumble," the lanky man redrew his sharpened knife and made for Mega Man. His knife was hit by a boomerang slicing through the air. He drew his hand back in pain and shock.
Link caught the boomerang as hit came back to him. "That's not a knife, buddy." He withdrew his sword. "This is a knife."
"That's a sword."
"Close enough." Link lunged forward. All the thieves broke out of their stasis and jumped into the fracas, blocking Link off from Mega Man and his attackers. Link held up his shield to defend against their various weapons like knives, chains, and lead pipes.
Mega Man found the cockney thief coming at him, fueled by his rage. "I'll do you a trick, mate." He tossed his knife from one hand to the other menacingly.
"Your skills at magic will not stop me." Mega Man threatened. Of course, his reminder of the first law was running through his head. Although he couldn't attack, he could defend. And defend he did. As he brandished his knife, Mega Man parried his thrusts with his metal plated arms. The screeching, scraping of metal against metal echoed in the cavern; men winced from the sound.
"Aaargh," the thief screamed in frustration. "Aren't you the fast one."
"My reaction time is .02 seconds, thirty-five times more than a human. I am only slowed by my movement," he smiled.
"Roit, whatever."
Meanwhile, Link hunkered down under his shield while the guild members relentlessly pounded him, occasionally popping out to swing his sword at them. "Back off!" he shouted. Link fingered his boomerang again as blows rained down on him. Waiting for the right moment, he jumped out and threw it forward. It hit one swinging a chain in the head, stunning and throwing him back a bit. This would take forever, Link grumbled to himself, and his poor shield couldn't take this kind of abuse. Holding his sword behind him tighter, he concentrated, gathering up magic energy in the blade. A star-like sparkle scurried up the blade, sparking at the tip. The blade gleamed like ethereal silver with magic power. With an intense shout he spun around, holding out his sword. Magic energy billowed out in a whirlpool of force, blowing back everyone surrounding him, throwing them on their backs.
Mega Man grappled with the lanky man, not applying lethal pressure to the man's arms, just holding them at bay.
"Bloody... " he grumbled. "Marcus!" he shouted as he looked up. "Get down here and help!"
Mega Man looked up and saw the man who had thrown the boulder earlier, getting his club out and preparing to jump down on top of him. The robot quickly moved his feet and pulled his opponent around so they switched places. Marcus came down on the thief's head, screaming bloody murder. Mega Man let go and the two collapsed on top of each other, both of them knocked out.
Mega Man and Link looked around. The thieves were strewn about on the floor of the cavern. Mega Man dusted off his hands. "Well, it's just as good as an arrest."
"Yeah, except now we've got no leads. We're stuck. I hate that."
"Over here," came a meek, raspy voice from up above.
The two looked around for the source of the voice. Link pointed up to a previously unseen alcove near the ceiling. "Up there."
"I'm going to tie up these guys so they don't get away."
Link was about to protest, but figured this was as good an opportunity as any to rid Hyrule of one of its cancers. He would let the nearest royal soldier know about the treasure of criminals here.
He left Mega Man to find some rope and headed to the back of the room and up a ramp to a tiny little ledge. A wizened old man with white hair and a bald head covered in liver spots sat on a woven carpet. Some knick-knacks and a bookshelf were around him, making it seem like this was his room. Link had to crawl on hands and knees to enter the room proper.
"You are the Hero of Cataclysm's Eve," the old man said, as if recognizing him or acknowledging him. "And you seek the pendants."
A lead! He was on the right track. "Yes, do you know where they are?"
"Sure, they're right here."
"...What?"
The old man reached into a wicker jar beside him, opened the lid, and pulled them out. There they were, all three of them. A red, a green, and a blue medallion, carved with their respective crests, each attached to a small gold chain.
"It's you ... who has the pendants? And you're giving them to me?" Link asked incredulously. Link thought he would have to quest through temples and worlds and gather items and defeat a final overlord, who was apparently this old geezer. "What? Why?"
"To get you here. I needed the Hero of Cataclysm's Eve."
"For what? How did you get the pendants in the first place?" Link couldn't for one second believe that this grandpa could've infiltrated the palace vault.
"I'm old, but I'm quite powerful in the underworld. I have... connections."
Link growled. If this decrepit old fogey could get a hold of the pendants, then security at the castle needed a major overhaul. He would have to let Zelda know when he returned. How safe could the Triforce be? "Do you know what you've done? Just to get me here?"
"I've opened your eyes to the mirror."
"The mirror?" Link couldn't take any of this pretentious existentialism. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't bring you in right now."
"Because I have information. Information that is vital to the fate of Hyrule."
Link didn't believe him for a second and glowered at him irritably. But, apparently, his quest was over so there was really no reason not to indulge him for a second. "Fine, what is it?"
"The Triforce... has a fourth piece."
"What?" Link didn't know whether to laugh or drop his jaw. "What do you mean there's a fourth piece?"
"Just that. There are truly four pieces to the Triforce."
"That's ridiculous. There's only three. That's why they call it a TRIforce. Not a Quadforce."
"There are only three that you know of."
"There's courage, wisdom, and power. What's the fourth one supposed to represent? Cleanliness?"
"Who knows? Serenity, strength, honor, endurance. The answer may be on this," he said as he produced a piece of cloth from another basket. "It was found in a treasure chest that wandered up on shore. Here, this shows the Triforce as one whole golden triangle."
Link leaned closer to the outstretched cloth and looked. Sure enough, the sketching depicted four triangles of the Triforce coming together to form a whole, surrounded by runic markings that Link couldn't read.
Looking up to the old man, he said, "Even if I believed you, what am I supposed to do with it?"
"What else? Go find it."
"What for? No one's using it." Initially, Link would have jumped at the chance for another adventure, especially after this one's anti-climax, but he could have plastered a wall with his skepticism. "If it's been lost for so long, no one knows where it is anyway, so why bother?"
"But they will. Some day, some where, some time when you can't stop it. Think of what the Triforce can do now. Now think of what it can do when it is complete."
Link stopped in his tracks. It was true. Some point in the future, the fourth piece would be found and who knows whose hands it would end up in. Despite his own misgivings, Link was going to have to research this for himself. It did seem like there was the Triforce was missing a piece in the middle, where another triangle could go.
"Well, thanks for the info." Not, Link thought.
"One more thing," the old man interrupted. He produced from yet another basket a small copper mushroom. "This will aid you in your quest, I know."
"Gee, thanks, you're just full of goodies, aren't you." Link took the mushroom and put it in his pouch.
"Hurry, I sense that great danger is waiting to be unleashed."
Yeah, yeah, /Link thought, /what else is new. Link stood up as well as he could and crawled back down to the cavern floor. Mega Man was tying up the last of the unconscious thugs and placing them against the wall.
"Did he have anything useful?" he asked.
"Well, yes and no. I've got the pendants back, but he said that there's a fourth piece of the Triforce."
"What's a Triforce?"
"It... it's complicated." Link didn't want to have to answer a lot of questions about Hylian mysticism and back story. "It's a holy artifact of Hyrule. Here's a picture." Link handed him the cloth. "I think it's bunk. He says that thing is supposed to be millennia old. And the story he gave me was ridiculous."
Mega Man took a closer look using some of his visual receptor plug-ins.
"I believe he's telling the truth," he said. "The carbon decay and degrade of the material and ink confirm that this was created about 80,000 years ago."
"How do you know that?"
"Primarily, my spectroanalyzer, but I have used some other optical examiners built in."
Link didn't really know what all that meant, so he just shrugged it off and took back the cloth. Mega Man's verdict didn't add to the authenticity in his mind. "I can't believe he dragged me from place to place searching for the pendants, only to just give them to me, and tell me there's some fake Triforce piece out there."
"The cloth is real though."
"Oh, it's ridiculous to even think about," Link said as he marched out of the cavern. "If this Triforce piece has existed for so long then-"
"NOW!"
Suddenly, the two were covered in a rope net. "What th'-" Link exclaimed. The shock and weight knocked him down, trapping him tighter in.
"Do it, Gus!"
Just as Link was about to draw his sword and cut through the ropes a shining pink translucent glow surrounded them. The glow accumulated into a glass-like shield around them, solidifying with a metallic shink.
Link cut through the net with his sword as Mega Man ripped it apart. Link thrust into the pink glass. Solid as a rock. He looked up to see who his captors were. Ungar, Gus, and a host of others from the Card Club Mafia, were standing around them, gloating.
Ungar strutted up to their prison and peered in. "Nice magic barrier, don'tcha think?" he said as he tapped on the glass. "Good for keeping little rats in their cages." He came eye-to-eye with Link in a fearsome gaze.
Next Chapter: The Fight Scene
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