A Link to Murder

Chapter 4

Samus walked into the Master Hand’s office. He looked up from his papers.

“Ah, Samus, come in, have a seat. What can I do for you?”

She took a seat, along with a breath or two. “You remember that favor?” She asked quietly. The Master Hand nodded. “Sure I do.”

“Well, I’d like to use it… I’d like you to do something for me.”

“Name it.”

“I’d like you to kill Link.”

This took the Master Hand by surprise. “Excuse me?”

“You have him restrained. Just go and give him a lethal injection or something. Plunge a dagger through his heart.”

“Now, Samus, I understand that you were close with Zelda, but we still haven’t proven he’s the one. Until we know that for sure, we can’t really do anything more to Link.”

Samus exploded. “What more proof do you need!?” She yelled, abruptly rising from her seat, knocking it back some. “He was there! No one else was! He’s a psychopathic MURDERER! KILL HIM!!!” She seemed ready to kill the Master Hand herself, however, he remained calm, looking into her eyes, his hands folded on his desk. After a moment, he spoke.

“Are you finished?” He asked her. She panted for a moment, nodding.

“Good. Would you mind putting the chair back where it was?” Samus turned, pulling the chair back, and sitting in it.

“Thank you. Now then, like I said, we can do nothing until we know for sure that he is a psychopathic murderer. I’m sorry, Samus.”

She was about to say something, when the phone rang. The Master Hand held up a finger, to signify he would be with her in a moment.

“Master Hand speaking. Oh, hello, doctor. What’s going on? I can’t – I can’t understand you. Slow down. There you go. Now, what happened? Really? Oh, well, that’s shit. Ok, I’ll be there momentarily.” He hung the phone up and looked at Samus. “I think you should come with me.”

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Dr. Mario paced back and forth. Finally, the Master Hand arrived. Samus was with him.

“Hello, doctor.” He said. “Let’s see it.” Dr. Mario led them to room H8, opening it and letting them look inside. Deserted.

“Son of a bitch!” Samus said. She looked around, hoping to notice him or something, but they were the only ones in the area.

“How did he get out?” Master Hand inquired.

“Well, I was just packing up for the night, when I heard someone scream, so I left the keys where they were. Link must have had a person on the outside nab the keys and let him out. I found the keys on the ground near the cabinet.”

“Ok. Who screamed?”

“Oh, Jigglypuff. She broke her leg while practicing her long jump.”

“Ah. Alright. Any suspects about the outside man?”

“Actually, now that you mention it, I may have one. Captain Falcon wanted to talk to Link not too long ago. I didn’t listen to their conversation, but yeah, Falcon is fast enough, he could have done it.”

“Anyone else?”

“Not that I can think of.”

“Wait, wait…” Samus interjected, as she scanned the ground. “There’s two sets of footprints here… invisible to the unaided eye, but… whatever the wearers were wearing, it’s the exact same material, but the one that is coming out and away from the front desk is roughly… seven years older than the other set.”

“Seven years…” The Master Hand pondered.

“Young Link!” They all exclaimed.

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Falcon raced down the halls. He’d decided he needed to find Samus. She was in the most trouble. He checked her quarters, but she was gone. He passed by Zelda’s quarters, just to make sure. Then he decided to check the hospital.

When he got there, he found Samus, the Master Hand, Dr. Mario, and Marth around the body of Roy. Marth was the first one to notice Falcon.

“Oh, hey Falcon. Link strikes again. He got Roy. Cut his arm off, then pierced him through the heart.” Falcon kept his distance, though, watching them.

“Ah… uh, Samus, could I maybe talk to you, in private, or something?” She stood up, and walked over. Marth watched suspiciously. Falcon led her around a corner. Marth walked up and stood on the other edge of the corner, listening.

“Samus… I know who the killer is.”

“Of course. We all know. It’s Link.”

“No, no, that’s what he wants us to think. Samus, I hate to tell you this, but the killer… the killer is Marth.”

Silence for a moment, then, “What?”

“Marth killed Nana. He killed Popo. And he probably killed Roy, too.”

“No, you’re mistaken. Marth wouldn’t do that. And besides, I was with him when Link killed Zelda, so it couldn’t be him.”

Falcon’s voice was exited now. “That’s the genius part of it. People saw him when she was murdered, so they ruled him out, and marked Link off as insane when he said he saw, with his own eyes, Marth run out of the room after killing her, in his red armor, when Marth was wearing white. That’s because Link never saw his face. It wasn’t Marth he saw, but Roy!

“You see, Roy is the perfect size to replace Marth, and knows all his techniques, so he’d be a perfect Marth look-alike. And they had to make sure Link saw Roy run off. They probably had a wig, to fix the hair, and the red armor so Link wouldn’t instantly see the blood, and therefore wouldn’t be instantly suspicious, and by the time he did find out, Roy was gone and changed.”

“No. I won’t believe you. I won’t. He comforted me. If he was trying to get rid of Link, then he would have let me kill him, instead of protecting him. It wasn’t Marth. Link and Young Link are working together.”

There was a pause, Marth could tell someone was moving, then, “Hey – where’d Marth go?”

Shit! Marth dove as fast and quietly as he could into one of the patient’s rooms, then checked the bed. No one in it. Good. He lay down, pulling the blanket up to cover part of his face. At that exact moment, Falcon opened the door. Fortunately, he didn’t turn on a light.

“Sir, did you see someone enter this room?

Marth strained his voice a bit, disguising it. “No, I didn’t.”

Falcon nodded. “Right then. Thanks anyways.

“No problem.” Falcon closed the door. Marth let out a huge sigh of relief. He waited for a moment, then got up, and peeked out the window. All of them had their backs turned, facing Roy. Marth slipped out and headed away from them, taking the first turn he could to get out of their line of sight.

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Link looked nervously around. No one. That’s when the intercom spoke. “Attention smashers and well-paying guests. We would like to warn you that there are two potentially dangerous men walking these halls, Link, and Young Link.”

“A-and Marth! Ow, dammit, that hurt!” Falcon said. Link couldn’t help but laugh. At least Falcon knew the truth. But what did Young Link have to do with this? Maybe he should go find him.

Then again, Falcon had said that Marth was wandering the halls with him. This had suddenly become a very deadly labyrinth game. He could only hope that Young Link was on his side.

That’s when he heard it. It was almost inaudible, however, any swordsman could recognize it. Someone had just been run through with a sword. Marth was near.

Link was actively looking for him where he’d heard the noise. That’s when he noticed a piece of evidence very crucial in knowing he was near where Marth had been. Peach lay on the floor, stabbed through the back. Then he smiled. There was a small blood drip trail leading away.

I have you… Link thought to himself. He followed it straight for a little ways, then saw it went around a corner. He went around the corner – and nearly lost his head.

Marth swung again, and Link jumped back. “Holy shit!” Was all he managed to get out before Marth swung again. This time, he connected, slicing through Link’s left ulna.

“Ah, dammit!” Link yelled, staggering backwards. Marth easily knocked his sword away.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here? A helpless knight, perhaps? Yes, I thought so. You know, you make a good murderer. But, there is one thing you failed on. And that would be, of course, actually murdering people. Now, see, people like me,” He stabbed Link’s right thigh, causing Link to scream in pain as he fell to the floor. “we relish murdering people. So, while you’re a useful decoy, that’s just about all you’re good for. And now it’s time to tie up that loose end.” At that moment, a boomerang hit him in the back. He turned, now staring down Young Link.

“I’ll never let you kill him!” Young Link said. He readied his sword.

Marth laughed. “You really think you can stop me, child?” He stepped forward, and in one fluid motion, knocked the sword out of Young Link’s hand, then slashed him across the chest. Young Link dropped to his knees, then fell face down, clutching his chest.

“Hey Marth!” A deep voice boomed from behind. Marth turned to see Bowser and Ganondorf standing there, grinning at him.

“Yes?”

“We’re going to have to kill you now, you little punk.”

“Bring it on.” Marth rushed at them, and at the last moment, sidestepped behind them. He slashed Ganondorf twice, then leapt over them as they turned. He stabbed Bowser in the heel, then turned and fled down the hall, as Bowser lay on his back, yelling about his foot. Ganondorf gave chase.

Marth came upon the arena. He ran up to the control room, and set the arena for Final Destination, just one big solid platform, then transported himself there. As he suspected, Ganondorf followed.

“What a fool.” Marth laughed when Ganondorf arrived. “You didn’t even put on a belt? Shame. Because since there’s no one up there,” He motioned to the control room. “the platform isn’t going to save your life. So, I guess this is where you die.”

Ganondorf frowned. “Me die? What about you? You aren’t wearing one, either!”

“That may be true,” Marth grinned as he walked up to Ganondorf. “but then again, I’m good.” With a fluid motion, he tripped Ganondorf, then back flipped as he fell. Marth ran forward again, grabbing Ganondorf by the back of the neck, and, with some effort, lifted him, then tossed him over the edge.

Ganondorf leapt in mid-air, just barely hitting the edge. He climbed back up to face Marth, sword on the ready.

“You little freak! You die this day!” Ganondorf yelled, and charged Marth. Marth side-stepped again, then stabbed Ganondorf in the leg as he went down.

“Stop!” A voice yelled from behind him. Captain Falcon, accompanied by Samus, stood facing him, on the platform. Ganondorf twisted to look, causing his leg more pain, since the sword still rested inside of it.

“Marth, I’m going to have to place you under arrest.” Falcon said, but Samus spoke up in his defense.

“No, look who he’s fighting! It was probably Ganondorf all along that was doing it!” Marth nodded.

“It was. He explained it all to me, just before we came here. That’s why I was trying to kill him!”

“Lying son of a bitch!” Ganondorf cried, leaping on Marth. He grabbed a fistful of hair, and was about to slam Marth’s head into the ground when Falcon rushed over, removing the hand. Marth slid out from under him.

“Ganondorf, just stay still for a moment. Marth, we are taking you in.”

“Who’s this ‘we’?” Samus asked. “I’m not letting you take him anywhere.”

Marth flashed a quick smile to Falcon. “You heard the woman. She’s not letting you take me anywhere.” Falcon couldn’t take it. He leapt at Marth, but Marth nimbly dodged, and Falcon went over the edge.

“Damn you, Marth!!” He yelled as he fell. He looked at the ground, which was rapidly coming to greet him with a big hug.

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Samus looked over the edge. “Oh, my God…” She whispered. Marth just stood with a look of contempt.

“One more nuisance rid of.” He walked over to Samus. “Thanks, Sam, for defending me. Now, there’s something I have to do for you.”

Samus looked up. “What’s that?”

Marth used all his force to push her over the edge. Samus screamed, pointing her cannon at the edge, and firing her grappling hook, managing to grab hold. She pulled herself up, aiming both feet directly at Marth’s chest, and connecting as she came up. He flew back a bit, landing on his back, then rose.

“Damn, it seems we’re going to have to do this the long way.” He could see the hurt look on Samus’ face, through her visor.

“Marth, what are you doing?”

“Oh, well, you see, you’re alive, and I’m not ok with that. So, I’m about to kill you.”

She still couldn’t handle it. “But… so what Falcon said… that was-“

“All true.” Marth finished. “Roy is such the good little pawn, doing basically whatever I’d needed. But you see, when Link got out, thanks to me, I suddenly realized that Roy would soon be contacted. So, I disposed of him, since you can never trust someone who isn’t, well, you.” He smiled. “So, in a sense, I avenged Zelda’s death. Aren’t you happy for me?”

“But – but why? Why did you kill people?”

“Because, fool. I wanted to. But no, I suppose that isn’t really a good reason, now is it. Now, let’s try, because of you?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. It was all because of you. I have been trying to think of a way to come up with something this grand for a while, and when the Ice Climbers thrashed Link, my opportunity arose. But, you know how I did it. Your question was why. Why would I kill all these people, just because of you?

“And the answer is, simply, to torture you. Psychologically, of course. To drive you insane. So insane, perhaps, that you could be driven to murder. Do you think you could do it? Do you really think you could murder someone?”

“No! I would never kill another human!”

“Never! Never, she says. Not even murder someone like, say, me?”

This caught Samus off-guard. “What?”

“Don’t you watch horror movies? Or read murder mysteries? There’s always a killer, and a hero. I’ve proven I’m the killer. The hero position is still open, Sam. Are you going to take it? Because this is it. This is the showdown. This is the climactic battle between good and evil! Think about it. Final Destination. You think I chose it randomly? One of us is walking out of here alive, Samus. And one of us is going to make sure Falcon isn’t too lonely. So, which of us is it? It’s your call. Are you a hero, or aren’t you?”

Samus stared into his eyes. Into the eyes of the man she still loved. He grinned back at her, a wicked grin. Suddenly, he rushed forward, sword blazing. He swung with all of his force, but Samus rolled away. She rose again, and, sadness filling her, accepted the role she knew she would have to. She aimed her cannon, and fired a missile at him. He ducked under it, and charged her again. She balled up and jumped, sparks flying everywhere. Marth was brought up with her, electricity coursing through him.

He fell on the platform, landing on his back. Samus fired a shot at him, but he was up again, dodging with ease.

“Come, come now, Sam. Is that the best you can do?” She ran forward, throwing a punch, but Marth was ready. He countered it, and slashed her armor, sending her back a bit, and weakening the armor. She fired another missile, coming very close to hitting, but Marth was too fast for it. He came up, swinging his sword like a madman. Samus fired her grappling hook, hitting him in the chest. She brought him in, then slammed him into the ground. Marth grunted in pain, which raised her morale. He could be hurt.

She rolled back just in time to dodge his sword taking her ankle off. She then rushed forward, leaping only slightly, and leaving two bombs before rolling away. Both hit Marth, burning his cape around the edges. He growled.

“You pathetic fool!” These words stung more than any of the hits she had ever taken ever had. “Give it up!” He charged again, landing a powerful blow to her arm cannon. Suddenly, her visor flashed the words, “Arm cannon malfunction”.

“Shit!” She said as she dodged his next attack, but he dolphin slashed, sending her up into the air, and over the edge. She leapt back up, but Marth was ready. He grabbed her, and tossed her up in the air, stepping back as she landed with a very heavy THUD! Then he laughed, watching her.

“Now, I know what you’re thinking. ‘But, the hero always wins! Jamie Lee over Mike Meyers! Austin Powers over Dr. Evil! Hannibal Lecter over Buffalo Bill! Well, I’m sorry, dear Samus, but this fight is going to resemble more of… ‘Empire Strikes Back’. You know, where the Empire doesn’t take it anymore, and obliterates a large part of the rebel forces?” He reached down, grabbed Samus by the neck, and lifted her up. “So, goodbye, rebel.” He stuck his sword through her, piercing her armor, and tossed her over the edge as he laughed, watching her fall.