"If Gannon got his butt kicked so badly during the Potion of Power ordeal," Kevin stared down the long table of gathered heroes, his voice serious with a hint of anger. "then how is he able to throw his weight around now?"
"It's been many years since you left us, Kevin." the princess' voice was soft. "And in that time, Videoland has gone through a lot of changes."
"First change was the Super Upgrade," explained Samus. "which expanded Videoland's borders more than we ever could have imagined! There were warps to worlds like none there have ever been."
"Some of the pre-existing worlds were even changed." continued Captain Falcon. "Samus' home world, for example; from what I've heard,… uh… what's your name again?"
"Kevin." The game master replied. "but my friends sometimes call me Kev."
"Cool," Falcon nodded. "Anyway, from what I heard, you went to Metroid World pretty often. The changes that came during the Super Upgrade would make you wonder where the heck you were if you went there now!"
"I believe it!" Kevin smirked. "On the consoles back home, the graphics just keep getting better and better!"
"The Super Upgrade not only brought new worlds and heroes to Videoland, but new enemies as well…" said Lana.
"Pika pika…" Pikachu's ears drooped.
"Even old ones that'd been put out of action ages ago were rearing their ugly heads again." Samus added.
"Like Gannon…" Kevin breathed.
"Yes, but that's not where the story ends." the princess nodded. "Years later, Videoland went through the N Upgrade, and even more new faces and places emerged."
"But what about Gannon?" Kevin politely cut in. "Wasn't Link around to deal with him?"
"Link was keeping careful tabs on Gannon and his followers, making sure that they wouldn't start anything without his knowing about it. Even when things were quiet, Link always kept one eye on him."
"So then how did he get this powerful?"
"I'd like to know myself!" groaned a familiar voice.
All heads turned towards the throne room archway to see Link, banged up and filthy. He clutched his right arm tightly and walked towards them with a heavy limp. Drying blood from a deep cut on his leg had bits of grass and mud stuck to it. His leggings were all but ripped to shreds.
"Link!" Kevin rushed to the Hylian's side and let him lean on his shoulder. Steadily, they got to the table, with Link now resting in Kevin's chair.
"Link! What happened!?" Lana and the others hurried over to patch up their friend. Link winced as pain streaked through his arm.
"Two… words…" the Hylian managed to mutter. "BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG… Moblins…"
"Oh,… that's right…" Kevin recalled aloud. "In 'Ocarina of Time,' the Moblins got bigger, didn't they?"
"OH yeah!" Link winced again as Samus moved his arm to scan him with her visor.
"I've seen guys wreck on the track before," remarked Captain Falcon as he came up with a medical kit. "But they never come out in half of the bad shape you're in!"
Link managed a weak smile.
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"
"Come on, Link." Kevin's tone was serious. "I've played 'Ocarina of Time' plenty of times. Why didn't you just stun them with a Bombchu then hit them from behind?"
"Chu?" Pikachu blinked, confused.
"Do you have any idea how many rupies those things cost?" the Hylian groaned. "Even if I did have the rupies for them, they're all sold out."
"That's a drag…" Falcon muttered.
"But even without the Bombchus, couldn't you have used the ice arrows?" the princess inquired.
"It wasn't just the Moblins that got me like this…" Link coughed. "After the N Upgrade, I had my hands full dealing with some kid wearing a dangerous mask…"
"Majora's mask!" Kevin cried.
"Yes, please don't remind me…" Link sighed. "All those trips back in time are still making my head spin!"
"Sorry."
"No problem"
"So I'm guessing that while you were taking care of that 'mask' problem, Gannon went unsupervised for awhile, huh?" Samus pulled off her helmet once she had finished scanning.
"Exactly…" Link forced a weakened arm to lift up and wipe some sweat and mud off of his forehead.
"Villains…" Falcon shook his head. "They're like little kids sometimes - turn your back for one lousy minute and they're already into all kinds of trouble!"
They finished patching Link up and escorted him to one of the guest rooms to recuperate. The Hylian was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Afterwards, they all returned to the throne room to continue their discussion.
"With Link all mangled up, that gives us a big handicap against Gannon." said Kevin. "We're definitely going to need help on this one. We're gonna need the old N-Team."
"What!? We're not good enough?" Falcon's chair scraped against the floor as he stood up suddenly, enraged.
"Whoa! Whoa! Take it easy there!" Kevin raised his hand defensively. "I didn't mean anything like that! I just meant-"
"Sit down, Falcon." Samus nudged the racer with the end of her blaster, a bored tone to her voice. "What Kevin means to say is that the old N-Team's got experience in dealing with creeps like Gannon, so they could be a big help to our cause."
"Right." Kevin nodded. "So we're going to have to call them all back here and kick that piggie's butt!"
"I'm with ya all the way!" Samus grinned.
"Me too, Kevin." The princess smiled.
"Pika pikaaa!" the pokémon cheered.
"I've gotta agree to this too, now, don't I?" Falcon mumbled.
Everyone nodded.
"Then I'm with ya!"
"Then it's agreed. We'll pick up Megaman and Kid Icarus now, then stop by Castlevania first thing tomorrow morning."
"Aw, don't tell me you're gonna drag that stuck-up vampire killer along for the ride!" Falcon grumbled.
Thinking back to his games back home, Kevin snickered. "If he keeps that up in front of Simon, he'll be crying 'bloody tears.'"
"You're lucky we're dragging YOU'RE loud-mouth with us, Falcon!" Samus nudged him a little harder with her blaster. "So I'd be quiet if I were you!"
"Pi…kachu!" Pikachu nodded.
Lana and the others could not help but laugh, and reluctantly, Captain Falcon joined in as well.
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This is Chapter 3. Where would you like to go next?
