14th installment of the VGNU.
The time has finally come.
Heroes are called from all corners of a universe self-destructing.
A mysterious figure has gathered them to save their worlds before it is too late.
Will they stop this great calamity?
Or...
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All of the Sages were gone, having said their goodbyes. Ready to go back home, to be a child again at long last, Link let the lights take him.
... And take him they did, just... not where he expected to go.
Different colors spun around him, and for a moment Link thought that it was the power of the Sages, but the twisted feeling he got from those lights wasn't the same feeling he got from the Sages magic. This was something else, something... not exactly evil, but still held a darker intent. It made him dizzy, and he felt sick.
Even when the lights stopped spinning suddenly he felt like he'd been thrown, jerking to a stop. They dimmed, and everything around him became pitch black. The ground beneath him felt solid enough, but the air was stale, like he was trapped in someplace small and closed off.
Sorry to have to bring you here like this.
"What!?" Link exclaimed, drawing his sword and shield. "Your voice... I remember you..."
I was early before, and for that I'm sorry. I sort of broke something. I'm still a little new at this.
"What's going on?" Link asked, spinning in place. "Who are you?"
I'm a friend, I promise. A fan of yours, actually... I need your help.
"Then why didn't you just ask?" Link growled. "I have other things to do, so wherever I am now, send me back!"
... Again, I'm sorry. What I'm about to ask you to do, you'll want to say no to... But I'm afraid you don't get a choice.
"Then that's not asking!" Link shouted. "Show yourself! Who are you!?"
In the darkness, a door of light opened. It was almost blinding, but it wasn't. It was like... fake light. It didn't feel like it was really there. But in that doorway, there was a figure. He wore a white under-suit with a red cape, and he had silver skin. He looked like he was made of metal.
Link held up his shield. "What do you want?"
The figure held out his hand. "I need you to come with me," he said, his form shimmering in the fake light. "With the others it was a simple matter of leading them here. I missed my chance with you when I showed up earlier, so I couldn't just bring you where you needed to go--"
"Explain, any of that!" Link hissed. "I don't... understand."
The figure nodded. "Then let me put it bluntly," he put his hand down and stepped aside, gesturing to the open doorway. "Through there is a place that needs a hero like you. The universe... is falling apart. You've been chosen to help save it."
"Chosen... to save the universe?" Link scoffed. "What other heroes are you talking about?"
"People like you," the figure said. "Heroes from different corners of the universe. From different corners of Time. It's all becoming unraveled... but this is the Final Destination. We won't make it without you."
Link looked at the doorway, and stepped away, placing a hand on his sword. Whatever this was... it was wrong. He didn't feel any ill will from this man, but he knew he himself was in the wrong place. This wasn't his job, his purpose... But if he really didn't have a choice? If he wasn't allowed to say no? Just this once... he would demand it to be fair. "Say I go with you... What do I get out of it?"
"Get out of it?" the figure asked, clearly expecting Link to just do this for free.
"I've given up everything twice now," Link hissed, jabbing his sword at the figure. "And now I've been pulled away from it against my will, the second I'm told I can finally just go back. So yeah! What the hell do I get out of all this!?"
The figure held up his hands, staring down the length of the blade, but he didn't seem scared, just... sad. "Then I truly am sorry. Because as of the moment I pulled you out of your world, your time... There is nowhere for you to go back to." He pointed to the door. "All that's left, is putting it all back together."
Link grit his teeth. "So you really meant it... I have no choice."
The figure nodded. "Saving the universe, saving Time... or sitting here in the nothing that is swallowing our worlds."
Link narrowed his eyes, studying the figure's expression. "You're not answering me." He hated when people didn't answer him. "Who. Are. You?" He pushed his sword closer to the figure's throat. "And what?... Do you want me to do?... Exactly?"
"My name is Brett," the figure said. The metal exo-skin peeled away from his head, revealing a normal human beneath it. "And I want you... to fight something that is threatening to destroy all Realities."
Link lowered his sword, but he still didn't trust this person.
"I know you don't remember," Brett said, staring into the fake light of the open door. "But you and I worked together before, battling a lesser evil..." He shook his head. "No, I suppose that wasn't really you... But still--"
"Stop stalling," said the voice of the green diamond on Brett's belt. "You can't say no, and people need your help. You want a reward? Your reward is everyone you know and love gets to live, and so does everyone else. Is that good enough incentive? Does that help?"
"Em," Brett warned.
Link turned away from them, gripping his sword. "Save everyone?... Everyone I know and love... is already dead."
Brett lowered his gaze away from him. "I... I know... I'm sorry."
"Aren't you all," Link hissed, shoving passed him. "Just shut up. I'm done talking to you."
He stepped through the doorway, and once again lights consumed him.
If this is your first time here, you're probably wondering who Brett is. Don't worry, keep on keeping on. I have a lot of fun writing 'Em' later.
As for Link... If it weren't obvious by now, he's my favorite to have written so far in the VGNU. He is the most broken character I've written in a long time, both on an emotional level, and on power scaling. He's basically the Goku/Superman of this universe, but if those characters were Fantasy and written by a depressed mid-2000s emo kid.
