A Link to Murder

Chapter 2

“Any luck?” She asked him.

“Nah. I questioned Link, and he looked pretty guilty, but the Master Hand doesn’t want “looks guilty”, so I’m still empty-handed.”

Samus combed her hair out. She really didn’t feel too comfortable having her helmet off near anyone but Marth. Somehow, she felt better when he was around.

“I’m sorry to hear, Marth. I just can’t believe it happened. I mean, I don’t think even Bowser is evil enough to do something like that. It’s just horrible.” She put her brush down, forced her hair down the back of her suit, and put her helmet back on. Marth looked at her.

“Where are you going?” He asked as he hung his cape and sword up.

“Oh, Zelda and I are going to go train, probably in Hyrule Temple. One of these days, I’m going to convince her to fight me in Brinstar Depths. Then we’ll see who’s got home court advantage.” She smiled at him.

Marth returned the smiled. “Alright. Fight safe.” Samus laughed, and walked out of the room. Marth sighed, falling backwards on the bed.

“Well, if she’s going to train with her friends tonight,” Marth said aloud. “then I wonder what Roy is doing.”

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Roy showed up about five minutes after Marth did. Roy and Marth had been friends ever since they met, seven years ago. After a few fights, it had been apparent they had trained under similar masters, and had since then taken up a friendly rivalry to see who could master the style first.

After preparing the match, and setting it up on Onett, between two houses, they began the fight.

“So, how’d your day go? What did the Master Hand have you do?”

Marth leapt on a rooftop, then at Roy. They hit each other in midair, and landed on a very flimsy platform. “Well, I have to go around and attempt to solve the murder of Nana and Popo. He’s letting Samus work with me, but only because we’re together. Honestly, I don’t know what he has against her.”

Roy back flipped, dodging a low swing from Marth. After a few more misses on both sides, Roy spoke again.

“I really don’t know. I think she’s a great woman. And she can fight, too. You know, come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever beaten her before.” He charged Marth. Marth side-stepped, and brought down a shield breaker down on Roy, hitting him in the shoulder. Roy leapt up on another roof, and Marth gave chase.

“I’ve only ever beaten her once, and that was on our first date. Then again, she had fought against Mewtwo that day, so I think she was pretty drained when we fought. But after that, I never won again.” Roy leapt backwards in mid-air, a skill which took a lot of practice to perfect, and Marth was temporarily thrown off track. Roy leapt again, giving two mid-air slices, and hit Marth, sending him back against a building.

“So, about the murder. Any leads?” Marth air dodged a powerful swing by Roy, and, after landing, came up with a dolphin slash, knocking Roy off his feet.

“Well, unofficially, yes. Link’s looking pretty suspicious. You should have seen the way he denied having anything to do with the murder. I don’t know for certain, but based on his expressions alone, I’d say he did it.” Marth turned to the sound of a horn, and noticed a car coming their way at high speeds. He back flipped over it, however, Roy was not so lucky. The car hit him, causing it to spin out of control, and sending Roy flying out of the stadium bounds. Marth laughed and walked over, helping Roy up.

“I hate that car..” He groaned as he rose, stretching his back.

“So, want to go again, or call it a night?” Marth suggested, adding, “For fighting, at least.”

Roy looked at him. “Smash pub?” Marth just nodded, grinning.

“Alright.

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In the morning Zelda awoke with a start. She looked around her room. Nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe it was just the late night fight with Samus that had gotten her riled up. Yeah, that was probably it. She recalled their conversation:

“Hey Samus! How’s it going?” She asked.

Samus shrugged. “Not too bad, not too bad. You remember when the Master Hand called me in this morning? He asked Marth and myself to investigate the murder of Popo and Nana. I questioned a few people, including Peach and Ness. Marth seems to think it’s Link that did it, but it’s probably nothing.”

Zelda seemed a bit taken aback by that, however, she also wasn’t entirely surprised. “Well, you know, Link has seemed a bit odd lately.”

Samus frowned, studying her. “Odd how?”

“Well, he’s become a lot more sword happy as of late. Anything that pisses him off, and his sword is out and ready. And since the Ice Climbers did kind of disgrace him.. well, I hate to say this, but it may actually have been him.”

Samus shook her head. “No, no, it couldn’t have been him. This person used a blunt object. He beat them to death. Link couldn’t have wielded a blunt object so proficiently as to murder the Ice Climbers with one.”

Zelda thought about that for a moment. “That’s true. But.. he could have used the flat edge of the sword. That would probably get the job done just as well.” She looked up at Samus’ face, which was hidden by the gleam in her mask, but Samus was thinking intently. What if Zelda was right? Link could have used the flat edge of his sword so as not to be an immediate suspect, but instead incriminate someone else.

The fight hadn’t really been that good, Zelda remembered, even after she had changed to Sheik. It was like they both had their minds on the murder now, and both of them were stuck on one decision. Link had done it. Somehow, Link had come up with the ingenious plan, and executed it.

However, Zelda could have sworn Link was next to the bed, sword on the ready, as if he were going to stab her through the heart and be done with her. Zelda wondered what the first things out of her mouth were going to be when she met Link today. She hoped she didn’t ruin anything. He was still a good friend, and a great kisser.

She rose, putting on her white robes. She liked these ones the best, and apparently, so did Link. After freshening up a bit, she walked out of her room, and into the main dining area. Both Marth and Samus were there, but they weren’t eating, just discussing. Probably the Ice Climbers incident.

Zelda got a plate, and helped herself to some scrambled eggs and bacon. She was about to sit down when she glanced over at Samus, who beckoned her to sit with them. She nodded, and walked over.

“Hey Zelda.” Samus said once she had sat down. “How’d you sleep?”

“Ugh, not well. Horrible dreams.” She took a bite of bacon.

“Sorry to hear it. Say, have you seen Link today?”

Zelda shook her head. “No, I just got up.”

“Marth nodded. “Alright. Well, if you see him, let him know we’re dueling today.”

Zelda looked at him with shock. “You’re dueling? The Master Hand is letting Link duel?”

Marth nodded again. “Yeah, he said that without probable cause, we have no reason to suspect Link of having done a thing, therefore, he is still allowed to duel. And we’re dueling today.”

“If I see him, I’ll let him know. How much has it brought in?”

“I’m guessing about seventy-five thousand dollars. I don’t think it’ll go much higher, since it’s in a couple minutes, but then again, you never know.”

Samus looked up as Fox and Falco entered the cafeteria. Fox was soaking wet, and Falco seemed to be having a hard time not laughing about it. Samus returned her attention to the conversation going on.

“Just, be careful, Marth. I’m not saying it was him, just.. if it was, then we’re not sure how much he’s capable of.”

Marth smiled. “Oh, don’t worry, Sam. Link’s not that strong. I’ll devastate him.”

“I’m serious, Marth. He is a potentially dangerous person. If you get yourself killed, I will be so pissed at you.”

Marth quit smiling. “Alright, I’ll be careful.” Suddenly, the intercom blared.

“Would Marth and Link please report to the arena. The duel is about to begin.”

Marth rose. “That’s new. I guess you won’t need to tell him.”

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Link was just putting on his hood when he heard the broadcast. Hmm, I didn’t know we had a duel.. and since when have they been announced on the intercom? Aren’t we supposed to get little slips of paper under our door? He looked at himself in the mirror. He liked the black uniform. It looked great on him.

He trotted down to the arena, since it was a considerable distance away. He got to his side, which was, fortunately, the closer of the two, and stepped inside the preparation room. He used the video screen to see what kind of audience they had brought it.

The seats were packed.

There were people all over, crowding to see this fight. On a number of occasions, he noticed multiple people in one seat. He had never, in the history of fights he’d seen, seen a crowd like this. It was almost unbelievable.

Just then, the Master Hand announced. “Ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure, we have two of the best swordsmen in the galaxy, and pitted them head-to-head in a 3 stock, no time limit duel!” The crowd went nuts. It was almost hard to think over the noise.

“To my left,” Shouted the Master Hand, enthusiastic about the money that had been brought in. “the swordsman with a heart of steel, and armor to match, the bearer of the sword emblem, let’s give it up for Marth!!” The crowd cheered again. Marth walked out to the center, twirled his sword around, and finally sheathed it again. The crowd didn’t even consider dying down for at least a minute and a half.

“And, to my right, the Kokiri warrior, defender of Hyrule, wielder of the Master Sword, and Hero of Time, let’s hear it for Link!!” Link walked out as the door opened. He’d thought he was prepared for the audience, but he was dead wrong. They surrounded him, making as much noise as two or three very loud jets. He leapt in the air, spinning with his sword out, to get him even higher, then brought it straight down into the ground with a loud THUD! He got the exact same response Marth did.

It was then that Link looked at Marth. Looked into his eyes. He could tell that there was something about him that wasn’t quite normal. Then he remembered Marth accusing him of the murder of Nana and Popo. Maybe Marth thought he was going to try to murder him. Link shook the feeling off. It was probably just nervousness. After all, this was a huge audience. Screw up today, and many people would be seeing it live.

“The competitors today will be fighting in Hyrule Temple. They will fight until one is defeated, and other than that, there are no rules.” The crowd went silent for once. The bridges began retracting as the arena’s thrusters kicked in, keeping it in mid-air.

The surroundings went dark again, and, as they became more visible, they could tell that they were in fact dueling in Hyrule. The Master Hand counted down.

“Ready… GO!!!” Fast as lightning, the two leapt at each other, swords ready to take each other’s heads off.

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Samus watched in the fighter’s podium, which was the best seat you could get in the entire auditorium. Unfortunately, you had to be a competitor to get it.

She watched nervously as the two went at it. Marth readied himself for an attack, and, sure enough, Link leapt at him. Marth easily parried, then riposted with an attack of his own, sending Link tumbling back. He landed on his hands, back flipping a small distance, and rushing forward again. Marth tried to jump, but Link shot his hook-shot out, connecting with Marth. Link pulled him back, and slashed upward, causing Samus to flinch.

Samus scolded herself mentally. Marth has been in hundreds of fights, he can take a hit. Stop being so nervous about him. There’s no real proof that Link even did anything. She returned her attention to the game.

Back on the playing field, things were going in Marth’s favor. He picked Link up, and slammed him into the ground. After sidestepping back a bit, he brought a shield breaker down on Link. Link flew across the arena, but managed to grab hold of the edge, crawling back up. Marth ran after him, leaping across the field until he was within range, then slashed downward, slamming Link into the ground again. A quick slash took Link out for the first time.

Link appeared again, coming down on the revival platform. This was a bit more dangerous than the belts, fully relying on the platform to rescue you, but the crowd liked it more, so sometimes the Master Hand had it done. Link dropped off the platform, drawing his sword. He blocked Marth’s oncoming attack, and tried to return it, but Marth sidestepped behind him. Before he could again, Link struck at his legs, taking Marth to the ground, then he brought an overhead slash at him. Marth flew quite a distance, but landed. He leapt, then fell through some platforms, entering a small cavern-like area. Link quickly followed him.

Marth used a dolphin slash the instant Link was within range, sending Link back up. He fell through the platforms again, and dodged an air attack, landing and flinging his boomerang at Marth. Marth leapt over it, turned, and back flipped almost as soon as he landed, dodging it again. He ran forward, not wanting to let Link keep him at a distance with his ranged attacks, and swung downward. Link took a minor hit, but recovered rapidly, and again lashed out with his hook-shot. After hooking him, Link tossed Marth backwards, over the edge. Marth dolphin slashed in an attempt to recover, but failed, and fell.

After Marth had reappeared, he back flipped to the other entrance of the cavern, and proceeded down, catching Link off guard. Marth saw an opportunity, took a lucky swing, and managed to K.O. Link with one shot. It was at this point he took a moment to realize his surroundings. He realized the Master Hand had been announcing the entire time, Marth had just been too focused to notice.

“And an avenger K.O. delivered by Marth! That’s excellent form! But Link is coming back for his say!” Marth turned just in time to parry an attack from Link. He swung a couple times, knocking Link backwards, then rushed forward, using just his forward force to deliver another attack, knocking Link back further. He put the tip of his sword to Link’s neck.

“I should kill you right now.” He said, venom in his voice. Link looked up, startled. Marth reached down swiftly, grabbing Link’s tunic by the collar and easily lifting him, then tossed him over the edge. By the time Link realized what was happening, it was too late. He attempted a recovery, but in vain. The platform healed him, and transported him back into the headquarters.

“And the winner, by knockouts, is Marth!” Hyrule temple changed back into a normal arena, and the bridges began extending again. The entire crowd rose to applaud him. Samus did the same. She felt a wave of relief wash over her, and cheered that Marth had won. She turned, and left the podium, heading down to meet Marth as he exited.

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She met Link back at his quarters.

“Hey Link. I saw the fight. You did pretty well.” Link looked up, startled.

“Oh, Zelda. You scared me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just came to… to talk to you about something.”

Link frowned. “What?”

“Well… it’s about the Ice Climbers.”

“Oh, not you, too! I didn’t murder them! Just because I lost to them doesn’t mean I’d go and murder them!” He exploded. “Who got you convinced it was me? Was it Marth? God damn him, I swear, I’ll-“

“Link, calm down!” Zelda cried. She’d never heard him like this, and frankly, it was a little scary. “First of all, it was Samus who told me about Marth’s suspicion, and second, I never said I accused you. I came here to tell you to be careful. I care about you, and I don’t want you to do anything that may incriminate you. The whole of headquarters has you on unofficial alert. Hell, you should be thankful the Master Hand let you duel!” She took a deep breath after this.

Link just stood silent for a moment, refusing to meet her eyes. “I’m sorry. You’re right, I need to calm down a bit. But it’s just so frustrating. I can’t walk down the hall without seeing people’s eyes, seeing the hatred, and the mistrust. I can’t stand that look.”

Zelda put a hand on his shoulder. “I know, Link. Don’t worry about it. As long as you know you didn’t do it, you’re fine. I’m sure Samus and Marth will find the real killer. I have faith in them. Then, you’ll be free of suspicion, and people will even be apologizing to you because they were wrongfully rude to you. Alright?”

Link finally met her eyes. He loved her eyes. “Alright.”

Zelda smiled. “Good.” She looked at the clock in Link’s room. 11:30. She looked back at him. “You want to go do something?”

“Sure.”

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“That was great!” Samus cheered as she hugged Marth. Finally, she let go. Marth smiled.

“You see?” He said, with a laugh in his voice. “I told you he wouldn’t be any trouble.”

“Well, ok,” She agreed. “but you should still be careful. He could have had some trick up his sleeve, and cheated to beat you. You may have even been hurt.”

But Marth remained unphased. “Nah, he wasn’t even somewhat of a challenge. I could take him with one hand tied behind my back.” At that exact moment, Link walked up.

“Oh, hey Link. Back for seconds?” Link drew his sword. In a flash, Marth’s was out, ready to fight.

“NO!” Samus yelled, stepped between the two. “I am not going to let either of you ruin your chances in the arena by fighting here. I think it would be best if neither of you talked to each other for a while.”

“Screw that, Samus.” Link said, anger in his voice. “Step out of the way, while I kill him.”

“What?” Samus said, focusing on Link.

“I’ll kill him. He killed Zelda, I kill him.”