Ari THE LEGEND OF ZERENA Disclaimers: All mandatory disclaimers apply to Naoko Taeuchi for Sai- lor Moon and Nintendo of America's Shigeru Miyamoto for The Legend of Zelda. =====CHAPTER 4: AGAHNIM===== CHERRY HILL TEMPLE MINUTES LATER "I...I'm sorry, guys," Raye said weakly as she was loaded into the ambulance. "What happened here?" Link asked, in horror and shock. "After you left," she said with what little strength she had left, "A...agahnim came. Agahnim...and a huge, th-three headed mon- ster. He took Serena, and that creature this to me." "I'll KILL that bastard!" Darien shouted. "H-he took her to Tokyo Tower...Hurry...there's not much time." At that, the ambulance doors slammed shut, the paramedic slapped the doors twice, and it took off. "Tokyo Tower," Link said, looking back at Darien. "We gotta get there quick. Are you ready?" Darien, meanwhile, had already transformed into Tuxedo Mask, a look of hatred and content on his face. "Just let him try and stop me." TOKYO TOWER LATER THAT NIGHT Tuxedo Mask led Link through the streets and to Tokyo Tower. As they approached, they slowed down and stared up at the top, seeing if they could make out either of them at the top of the tower. They had been concentrating on it so much, that their attention could only be disrupted when Tuxedo Mask walked into a strong electric magic field guarding the entrance, and subsequently screamed in pain. Link rushed over to his side. "Oh man! Are you alright?" "Y-yeah," Tuxedo Mask murmured. He looked up at what he ran into. "What is that?" There were two lightning rods each crowned with glowing spheres, about five feet from the door, and they generated a bright orange electric field blocking the entrance. In the center, the electricity took the form of a bat. "A trap," Link said, looking it over. "No doubt set by Agah- nim-YEOW!" He touched it with a finger, and got quite a jolt for his trouble, and shook his finger as he finished expalining, "to keep in- truders away." For a while, Link and Tuxedo Mask just stared at the device. Then Link got an idea. "What're you doing?" Tuxedo Mask asked as Link drew the Master Sword. "Let's see what this does." Link swung the sword, and as it cut through the bat figure, the device shut down, clearing the way for the two heroes. The two opened the doors, and when they entered, they noticed it was much darker and unhomely than outside. It looked as if the place was run down and haunted, and when they got no less than five feet in the door, their suspicions were concerned. Tuxedo Mask reacted with a jolt when he heard a gunshot take his tophat right off his head. They had noticed that cops, created by Agahnim's evil magic, were trying to take them out. "I don't think these are human," Tuxedo Mask said. "I don't think you're kidding," Link answered as they stood back-to-back, waiting for the next move. Suddenly, one charged at the two. "Here we go!" The two fought off the dozen or so bogus cops easily. Seeing that Agahnim that on the verge of opening the gateway to a world of pure evil and is hell bent on conquering all of existance, they would think that security would be just a *little* bit tighter. Nevertheless, when all the cops perished, an elevator dor on the other side of the room opened up eeri- ly. As they entered the elevator, the doors slowly closed behind them and took them up to the next floor. Such, the same thing that happened on the first floor happened for the next six floors. When they got to the seventh floor, they found no enemies, no resistance. "That's strange," Link said. "There's no one here." As the two gazed around the room, Tuxedo Mask noticed something going on be- hind a set of glass doors. "What's that?" he asked, looking at the shadow figure behind the doors. "What's what?" "That over there!" Link looked over at the doors, and the two heroes approached cautiously. When Tuxedo Mask recognized the figure as Agahnim, he made an enraged rush throught the door. And then, the doors slid open mechanically, and they saw some- thing absolutely horrible. Serena - rather, Sailor Moon - lay unconscious on an eerily de- signed altar, and Aghanim stand on the other side, apparently expecting their arrival. "Ahhhh," Agahnim said. "Welcome gentlemen." "GIVE HER BACK *NOW!*" Tuxedo Mask shouted. "Uh, uh, uhh," he retorted, menacingly. When Tuxedo Mask tired to charge him, he found himself frozen in place. Link tried to do the same thing, but he couldn't move either. "Now I figured you two would have made it this far...and I've saved you two the best seat in the house! Behold! The last moment of Sailor Moon!" Then, Agahnim started speaking in Mudora - Link could recognize - chanting a strange enchantment, waving his arms, and making Sailor Moon's body rise above the altar. Then, at the end of his spell, he held both of his arms above his head, causing lightning to form around Sailor Moon. Her body flowed with the lightning for several seconds, and then, she disappeared. "Ho, ho, ho..." Agahnim started. "With this, the seven wise men's seal is finally broken; the way to the Golden Land is open! Evil will flow freely and overrun this world! Don't bother trying to stop us; for we are unbeatable now that we have the Power of Gold." Feeling the spell break, Tuxedo Mask leaped across the now empty altar, and swung his cane at Agahnim. But, there was no Agahnim there. He teleported to another side of the room, laughing up a storm. Tuxedo Mask retorted by flinging his signature red roses at him, but his image floated around the room, un- til it stopped in front of the center of three drapes. This time, when he flung a rose, the image disappeared and the drape dropped, revealing a staircase. When the two ran up the staircase, they found themselves on the observation deck of Tokyo Tower. Agahnim was standing towards the rai- ling, waiting for him. "I get it," Agahnim said, "you want me to make your death wish come true? Fine by me." "You're the one who's gonna die," Tuxedo Mask shouted, drawing his cane and charging, "for what you've done to Serena!" But then, as he was inches away, his image disappeared, and he nearly dove off the edge. He reappeared in a far corner, ready to fight. "Ho!" Agahnim shouted. "You're a rather bold one, Tuxedo Mask. How do you like this?" He raised his arms, generating more magic. He released it, and it took the form of a glowing sphere the size of a truck tire. Not knowing what to do, Tuxedo Mask could only dodge out of the way and watch the magic sail aimlessly into the night sky. "This guy seems tough," Tuxedo Mask said. "Any ideas?" "I dunno," Link said, as Agahnim turned his attention to him, and fired another magic ball at Link. Instinctively, he swung the Mas- ter Sword at the magic ball, and to his surprise, it flew back at him. As it hit Agahnim, he screamed in pain as he was engulfed in his own magic. And promptly disappeared. "Alright!" Link shouted. "We got him!" They could hear his voice. =Don't be too sure.= He appeared behind Link, and tried to blast him again. Only, he couldn't swing the sword in time to deflect the magic, so he ducked out of the way. But when Tuxedo Mask tried to do the same thing Link did, he got jolted with evil magic. "Hey!" he shouted. "What happened?" "Do you think you can defeat me with that little stick?!" Agah- nim said menacingly, as he summoned some more magic. "Tuxedo Mask!" Link shouted. "Try this!" He reached into his pouch on his belt, and threw a small object at Tuxedo Mask. He caught it, and it enlargened in his hand... ...into a bug-catching net. "What is this?" Tuxedo Mask asked in disbelief. Link realized what he did and regretted it. "Oops..." "And I suppose that puny net will help you anymore than your cane huh?!" He instead went to blast Tuxedo Mask. But - on reaction - he swung the net at the magic...which to everyone's surprise, sent the magic back twice as hard at Agahnim. This time, Agahnim fell to one knee in pain and was gasping for breath. Tuxedo Mask kept him down by darting him with roses. "Link! NOW!" At that, Link charged at Agahnim, jumped at him, and swung the Master Sword overhand into his rose-riddled body. When the blade hit home, he let out the loudest scream yet, started to trem- ble, and collapsed in a heap. He coughed hard. "I...guess I underestimated...you boys..." Link and Tuxedo Mask got close to him so they could hear his now faint voice. "You are much stronger than you seem. But...don't think that my...demise will restore the...Wise Men's seal...." He got up to his knees, but the two victors discovered his face melted leaving only his skull. "With my final breath...I will cast you...into the Dark World." Smoke started to pour from Agahnim's robes, engulfing the Link and Tuxedo Mask.... ?????????? The smoke cleared. When Link regained their sight, they took one look at the sky. It looked like sunset. There's no way that a whole day could've gone by during their fight with Agahnim. Could it? "Alright," Tuxedo Mask said, "where are we?" "I hate to quote the Wizard of Oz," Link started as Tuxedo Mask reverted to Darien, "but I have a feeling we're not in Tokyo anymore." Indeed they weren't. For when they looked around, they weren't on the Tokyo Tower observation deck. They were standing on the top of a pyramid that looks like it's made out of gold. "I guess he's right," Link said. "We are really in..." "Yeah," Darien said. "The Dark World...." =====TO BE CONTINUED=====