FicWad

Chapter 32: Reflection

"Oh, boy," Mega Man said.

The hulking Phantom Ganon floated above the ground with a magical whooshing noise, his long black cape swishing behind him as he spun his long trident in his arms. He held up his hand in the air and particles of yellow energy began forming above his head, morphing into a globe of force With a grunt, he threw the lightning ball at the two heroes.

"Run!" Link shouted. The two split up just as the energy exploded where they had once been standing. Mega Man tumbled to the side and activated his arm cannon. He fired three plasma shots at the floating phantom. The plasma shots flew through the air and with a clink bounced off the creature's armor harmlessly.

A stunned Mega Man tried firing again but the shots hit with the pitiful sound of a hammer tapping metal and ricocheted off.

"That's impossible. The only substance that can reflect plasma is litanium," he said, remembering the various robots like met-tools that used it.

Ganondorf's voice laughed within its golden prison. "You see? You cannot defend yourselves against me. You are just as weak as your predecessors."

Mega Man glowed with energy as he charged up his Mega Buster to full blast. "Defend this," he said as he fired. The trailing sphere of blue plasma sailed through the air, direct and true at the phantom's head. He spun his spear in the air and smacked the plasma ball hard, reflecting it back to Mega Man. The speed of the shot was too quick to dodge. He absorbed the full impact of the blast and was thrown back against the wall.

"Mega Man, are you all right?" Link shouted from behind a table.

"Arrgh," he groaned as he checked his power levels, down to 25. "What sort of creature can do this?"

"It's a creature of magic," Link said from behind a table. "It can only be defeated by such."

The phantom turned his head to Link as he spoke, its lifeless yellow eyes tracking his movements.

"Oops," he said.

The phantom floated over to Link's body, swaying back and forth. He raised his trident, gathering magic blue energy in the tip and flung it at Link. Link readied his sword and sliced it through the incoming magic. The sword passed harmlessly through the formless force and collided with his body. Link was flung back against the wall, smoke wisping off his clothes.

"Ow," he said as he gathered himself.

Mega Man continued firing shots at the floating phantom, targeting different areas, each one rebounding off his impenetrable hide. "There must be a weak spot," he said.

"If only I had my Master Sword, I could reflect his shots," Link shouted above the din.

"Give up, you fools," Ganondorf shouted. "This creature is far stronger than anything you've ever faced before."

"I've apparently defeated it before too," Link quipped.

"Your predecessors had twice the brains you have. You'll never win, you pathetic puppet."

The phantom vaporized into a puff of black smoke. The two looked around curiously. "Where is he?" Mega Man said. Ganondorf simply laughed maniacally from his mirror.

Phantom Ganon winked into space behind Mega Man and speared him between two prongs of his trident, lifting him up over the ground. Mega Man shouted in surprise as he was lifted up over Ganon's head, whirled him around by the pole, and then slammed down on the ground. Link jumped into the fray to save him, holding his sword high above his head, but the phantom vanished again.

"Arrgh, how can we defeat something we can't see!" Link shouted.

"There's got to be a weak spot. There is always a weak spot." Wasn't there?

Link and Mega Man's head darted around, looking for where the phantom would show up as Ganondorf laughed maniacally in the background.

Suddenly, Link felt himself lifted up by the back of his neck and torn off the ground. Link dropped his sword and his hands immediately went to his closed off neck. Mega Man aimed his arm cannon at the phantom holding up Link, but he was moving too erratically to fire a clean shot.

"Put him down!" Mega Man shouted.

The phantom's response was to raise the hero higher in the air, bringing him closer to the pedestal with Ganon's ashes.

"You see, Link," Ganondorf said as he brought the boy over his reflective surface and his ashes. "You're nothing more than a pawn. You're strings are being pulled, you're being told what to do and how to think. You have no choices in life, you are manipulated into the role you're playing. You are a worthless puppet of fate."

Phantom Ganon brought the trident closer to Link's neck, the hooked prong ready to slit. Link managed to grip onto the phantom's weapon-holding wrist.

"I may be a puppet," Link said. "But it takes three to put on a show."

Link kicked out his feet, getting a hold on the pedestal, and pushed it over, spilling the triangle and Ganon's ashes on the floor.

"NOOOO!" Ganondorf shouted.

Link, still holding onto his wrist, tightened up his stomach and flipped over, loosening the phantom's grip. He kicked the monster in the face and darted to the ground, landing next to Mega Man. He helped himself up and stood by his compatriot.

"I don't care if I have to follow you to the end of time. I'll still be here, ready to take you down," he said as he picked up his sword.

"I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" Ganondorf screamed.

The phantom held the trident over his head. A great pool of dark purple energy swirled about as the monster churned the storm. Small tendrils of lightning spread out over it. A flurry of small globules came raining down on them from the black magic storm. Link and Mega Man scattered apart, trying to dodge the deadly rain.

The phantom floated closer to the two as his magic spell did his dirty work. Ganondorf laughed like crazy as Mega Man and Link scattered throughout the room, crawling on hands and knees through the dingy dungeon. Mega Man aimed his arm cannon and fired an idle plasma shot at the triangle. "Don't you ever shut up?"

The plasma shot reflected off the metal and flew upwards to the ceiling. The phantom hovering near the triangle flew back in surprise as the bullet sailed upwards in front of his face. Mega Man could tell he was startled in a fearsome way. Link saw it too, suspicious of the action.

"A moment to reflect?" Mega Man asked.

"But of course."

Link scrambled across the room and rolled over the remains of the spilled pedestal, picking up the idle shard as the magic rain thinned out. He stood up and held it in front of his chest with Ganondorf facing outward. Mega Man fired his plasma cannon at the triangle in an angle so that the shot ricocheted and hit the phantom. It absorbed into his body instead of bouncing off, but he still kept coming. Mega Man continued firing rapid shots, but they had no visible effect on him as he began rolling particles of black energy into his hand again.

Ganondorf laughed. "It's going to take a lot more than that to defeat my creation, ha ha ha!"

As Ganondorf laughed, Mega Man closed his eyes and withdrew into his internal system, diving around programs until he found and activated his weapon copy circuitry. The color of his armor washed to a solid gold, glistening in the candlelight. His arm cannon whirred as circuitry and wires switched and reconnected. On his indicator, the selected 'Triforce' glowed with a determined aura. Ganondorf stopped laughing as he sensed the immense power Mega Man was carrying.

"How convenient. I just happen to have a lot more than that."

Link stepped back, ready to brace himself should something go wrong. Mega Man raised his cannon, putting his other hand on his arm to steady himself.

Mega Man fired. There was a second delay as the weapon built up energy emitting a high-pitched whine. The barrel shot forth a giant beam of shining gold energy, sparkling like stars, massively crashing into the golden triangle. Ganondorf shouted in rage, overshadowed by the thrumming sound of the beam. It reflected off at an angle and struck the Phantom Ganon in the chest stopping it suddenly, frozen in air. Mega Man continued firing the beam into the triangle and off into the monster, beginning to feel the energy build-up of the beam reaching critical levels. Its power level was not draining as he fired. Link kept one foot behind himself to brace for the massive force pushing him back. The beam's power finally penetrated the monsters armor, spreading through his body like cracks, glowing yellow with power. It began shaking uncontrollably.

"No! No! NOOO!" Ganondorf yelled.

The Triforce Beam began causing fractures in Ganondorf's mirror, making horrible cracking sounds, white light permeating through. Mega Man pushed the last little bit of energy he could in and stopped firing, pulling back his arm. Link turned his head away just as the mirror shattered into a mighty explosion of millions of pieces. The phantom exploded with a magnificent blue fiery burst just like the mirror. White light bathed the room, and Link and Mega Man shielded their eyes they retreated back to the walls blinded.

The light subsided, but a low rumbling began within the walls. A faint humming sound could be heard. Mega Man looked where it was coming from and saw a great rotating circle sparkling black and gold, swelling like water, floating above the air where Link was holding Ganondorf's triangle. Both the phantom and the evil sorcerer's laughter were no more.

"Link?" Mega Man shouted.

"I'm here," Link said, brushing himself off. He looked at the glowing circle. "What is it?"

"It looks like... the same portal that brought me here." Link walked around it and stood looking at it with Mega Man. On a whim, Mega Man tried to establish a comm connection to Light's computer. To his surprise, the connection found a receiver. "It is! This is the way home," he said. "It must have been an effect of the Triforce beam and Ganondorf's magic."

"The Triforce works in mysterious ways," Link said.

A large rock fell to the ground near Link as the ground began shaking.

"You better get out of here, this place is about to fall apart." Link held out his hand to Mega Man. "No time for long goodbyes. It's been good working with you," he said.

Mega Man returned the handshake. "And it's been good working with you. Maybe someday we'll meet again."

"Maybe."

"I'll always remember you."

"And I won't forget you." Inside, Link's heart was breaking a little. He had finally made a friend who understood him, who he could fight alongside with, and he had to leave. Stones and boulders began raining around them, but the two friends were oblivious to the chaos. "Go ahead, go," Link said, urging him on with a nod of his head and a sad smile.

"Thanks for everything," Mega Man said. He leapt up and jumped into the portal. The circle bulged as it accepted Mega Man's body, then returned. He was gone.

Link sighed as he thought of all the experiences he had been on. He contemplated jumping into the portal after him for a brief moment, then thought better of it. He was needed here, in Hyrule. He also had a role to play

A large rock fell into the table, collapsing it in the middle with a thunderous boom, signaling it was time to leave. He turned his head to the ceiling, looking for any stones about to crush him. The ground was shaking tremendously now, it was taking concentration just to maintain his balance. The rocks were coming down so fast he now hastened to the door, skidding to a stop. He reached out for the handle.

Suddenly, he noticed a gathering shadow at the door's edge. He looked up and saw a pile of rocks about to come down on him. Just in time, he practically fell out of the way as the boulders piled up at the door, blocking his way out. Small pebbles bounced off the humongous stones. Link tried pulling one off but it was too heavy.

"Uh-oh," Link said as he jerked his head left and right, looking for another door. The severity of the collapse began to worsen, the room was about to cave in any second. And he had no way out.

Except the portal.

One of the support pillars at the wall tumbled down with a great crash. Link looked around desperately for another exit, a trap in the floor, a ladder in the ceiling, anything. The entire room had become a waiting death trap for him if he didn't move. He turned around and looked at the glowing circle.

"Oh, great. I hope this doesn't hurt."

With a shout, he bolted for the swirling vortex, dodging the raining boulders. Spreading his body out, he dived in headfirst. The portal swallowed him up, just as the gigantic ceiling of the cavern collapsed in on itself, burying the portal and all the room.

END PART 1