Day 4 Morning

[Proto Man]

Knew he was familiar…

From his spot behind Mickey Mouse, Proto Man stepped forward and took a longer look at the young man in the green tunic. He certainly appeared to be the exact same person he’d met a few years back in Camelot. How had the preteen machine not made the connection after their first run-in with the other group?

Blasted island.

“Hey, Link,” Proto Man replied as he stepped up next to the mouse and looked at the young man’s dirt- and sweat-stained visage. “How have you been?” Having just asked for the others to identify themselves, it was clear that the Hylian wasn’t expecting such a casual inquiry from someone he didn’t recognize. With a frown, Link glanced at the mouse and then to the redhead. Once he’d taken them both in a second time, his eyes returned to the beleaguered machine.

“We’ve never met… outside of this island, of course.”

The red robot frowned before shaking his head. “You said your name was Link, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you not remember Camelot?”

When the response Proto Man got was another confused-looking stare, the machine started to scowl. “The dragons?” He asked before tucking his hands under his armpits and flapping his arms like chicken wings. After a few flaps, he held out fingers as if they were jagged claws and scraped at the air between the Hylian and himself. “Big, scary monsters that were eating villagers?”

Link furrowed his brow. “…What are you talking about?”

Proto Man turned and clapped a hand down onto Mickey’s shoulder before pointing at Link’s face. “C’mon, you don’t remember this guy from that island? Or maybe the barracks?”

Mickey turned his eyes back to Link, stared hard for a few moments, and then returned a confused look to his robotic companion. “N-no?”

The preteen machine let out a groan and threw his hands up in the air. “How is it that I’m the only one who can connect these dots?”

“I don’t remember any islands other than this one,” Link muttered, eliciting a grunt from Proto Man, who turned his focus back to their former adversary-turned-new acquaintance.

“You had a rocket launcher? You were teamed with that big guy… the one who turned into a pig?”

“Ganondorf?” Link declared as some of the color drained from the Hylian’s countenance.

“Yea, you guys ran roughshod through a bunch of your opponents.”

“Nonsense!” The young man spat as some red spread across his cheeks. “That sounds nothing like me.”

Proto Man recoiled a little bit at Link’s sudden outrage, and with that, the machine decided to let the subject go. The island had caused his memories to blur, so it made sense that the Hylian could have suffered similar damage at the hands of the Warlock’s magic.

“So, uh, I’m Belle,” the redhead with the assortment of injuries lurched forward and put on a faint smile. After that, she lifted up her head to show a bruise on the underside of her chin. “Thanks for this one,” she said in a tone that made it hard to tell whether that was venom or sarcasm on her lips.

“Where are the people you were with, anyway?” Proto Man asked as he took a moment to scan their surroundings. “Why are you alone?”