Crimson

[Link]

The boy spat a glob of blood to the ground, the same crimson trickled down from his brow and ran profusely from his nose, staining his normally pristine emerald tunic a sickening shade of brown. He struggled against the restraints that held his wrists and ankles in place. Squinting against the reflection of the bright lamp against the metal table before him, the surgically clean room around his lie painted by deep shadows, his reflection repeated over and over in the mirrors that sat either side of him, along the walls of his confine. The brilliant white only sought to ensure that his head would continue to throb endlessly, a strange fuzziness wafting over him in sickening waves. 

“I won’t ask you again,” a guttural, growling voice spoke from beyond the light, his form blurred by the sheer brightness, “what is your purpose here?” The suit behind the voice calmly gathered his hands together, resting them upon the clinical surface. 

Another glob of crimson stained the formerly pristine metal ground. 

“You’re a prime, no?” The suit enquired, “You must be, given the damage you dealt to our Troopers.”

The boy hung his head slightly, staring down at the small pool of scarlet that gathered around his boots. A rage came over the suit, growling in his throat as he stood, smashing the lamp to the side, it’s bulb flickering as it connected with the ground. A clenched fist came thundering down upon the green-garbed teen’s hand, a faint crunch resonated from the boy’s digits. Pained pants burst through gritted teeth, still no words. The suit shook his head, cheeks rosy red with anger. He raised his foot, placing the sole of his boot upon Link’s shoulder and pushed forwards, tipping the young Hero of Time to the ground, another pained wheeze escaped the boy. 

“There’s little you can do to cease this, worm, you tell me your intentions and you’ll be on your way,” Suit hissed, “The Empire has sufficient evidence that pertains to your involvement with one ‘Sawada Tsunayoshi’. The rings he holds are of great interest. You provide us with information and this will all be over.” 

A faint tingling rushed over the boy, his tunic began to shimmer faintly, a small section started moving, gently at first until the small creature inside had had her fill.

“Hey! Listen, Link hasn’t done anything wrong! We just met him! We don’t know anything about any rings..” Navi cried out, clearly concerned for her partner’s well being, “What do you want from us?!”  

Suit snorted. This situation was getting stranger and stranger. First the boy refused to speak a single word, then this.. This ball of light and wings speaks for him. 

“Information. There is nothing else you can provide us with.” Suit snarled viciously and turned, slamming the heavy metal door as he left.  

“Link.. Link, are you okay?” The fairy pestered, dashing about the boy to check over the state of his body. If there was anything stranger to be thankful for, the boy found himself thankful for Suit’s assault upon his digits. He struggled against the restraints, his thumb reduced to little more than a source of pain, dislocated. Another fact he was thankful for. He would be able to slip his bonds without having to somehow dislocate his own thumb. 

The fairy continued her incessant pandering, dashing from top to toe, inspecting the boy for any serious injuries. 

“I know what you’re planning, Link, but it’s not going to go well. How are you planning on getting out without being seen?” Navi’s pleas fell on deaf ears.

[Todd Ingram]

Reborn walked through the hallway and looked around the corner. Two guards passed the holding cell that was containing Link. The young hero of time was sitting down, seemingly doing nothing. The infant hitman saw his chance and walked up to the cage, “ciaossu!” His signature greeting made Link get up from his position, he seemed happy to see the mafioso. He opened his mouth to reply but before he got a chance Navi re-appeared from his tunic, “Finally! Where have you been? Do you know what kind of hellhole this place is? They haven’t even offered us food.”

“Yes i know, but you did assault the guards. It’s only natural for them to be weary of outsiders that brawl with the guards. Especially if those outsiders are powerful primes.”

Navi didn’t seem to have a response ready for Reborn’s logic so the infant continued to talk to Link, “I just came to from Sawada, he was doing well. He did ask about you, it seems he was rather worried.”

The hero of time smiled and returned the same concern, “I’m glad he’s doing well, hopefully they will let us out of here soon.”

“Don’t you worry about Tsuna, i am already taking care of his situation. You however, might be in for a longer period of time, the empire doesn’t take kindly of renegade primes that assault stormtroopers. I’m not sure if they would just let you go like that.”

Navi quickly interrupted, “Well they better! This is no way to be treating the hero of Hyrule, do you know what he has sacrificed over the years? He shouldn’t be in a prison like this.”

“I agree,” The young hitman said, “That's why i’ve come bearing gifts. Two gifts to be precise. One is from Tsuna.” He held up the Vongola ring of thunder, “This is the Ring of thunder, back in Tsuna’s world he had friends, people he would do anything for and they would be there for them. These people could always count on each other during their time of need. Now that he is in the Omniverse, he still has the rings just not the same people. New guardians will be found within this world, and he would like you Link to be one of them. See it as a partner arrangement.”

The tunic wearing hero nodded that he understood what he was told, getting ready to give the hitman a response he inhaled, but navi took the role upon herself once again, “So what does this ring do? Is it magic?”

Reborn shook his head, “No it’s not magic, these powerful rings tap into the wearers dying will flame, allowing them to use the dying will power that is stored within. Everyone has this power within themselves, these rings simply allow the wearer to use that power and you Link, you posses the traits of the lightning flame, hence you will be given the ring of the Guardian of lightning.”

The Hero of time accepted the piece of jewelry and placed it on his finger, a perfect fit. He observed it closely as somehow he knew how to use it, almost as if the object was telling him how to. Coming from the ring a small green flame appeared, lighting the lightning flame,  a buzzing sound similar to that of electricity was heard instead of the common Flame sound, which is associated with fire.

“Lightning Flames are in many ways more similar to electricity than actual flames. The special trait of these flames, hardening, can be employed to harden and increase the firmness of objects, or even sharpen them.” Reborn continued to explain while Link was observing his new found power. “I am sure you will find good use for this.Well, i best be going now.” Quickly turning around Reborn started to head out once more.

“Wait!” Navi shouted, “Didn’t you say you had two gifts?”

“Ah yes, ofcourse.” The hitman replied, he turned around and threw a keycard Link’s way. “Be sure to use it wisely.” He grinned and turned around, walking away quickly as he heard the patrol returning from their rounds.

Link was left in his cell once again, it seemed he made a new ally, someone he could count on and could count on him. Perhaps this Omniverse wasn’t all bad.

[Link]

The metallic door to his cell flung open once again, Suit entered, flanked by a pair of guards. Tucked beneath his arm rested a beige folder, brimming with papers. Suit tossed the folder onto the table, a significant thud emanating from spoiled surface. The apparent interrogator returned to his seat, hands crossed atop the folder. Silent.

Link perked a brow, eying the suited Imperial warily for a moment before looking to the folder. The Hitman’s words reverberated through his mind, not only from the previous few moments, but from before their incarceration. He wasn’t going anywhere for a little while, surely there was no better time than to set about summoning the Great Fairy’s gift.

Suit shifted idly as he observed the young Hero of Time, straightening out the creases in his near pristine suit jacket. The guards stepped outside, leaving the pair and their captor alone inside the metal room.

“My superiors have suggested we use this as an opportunity, Link, was it?” Suit spoke out, his tone even, “They believe you may be useful to the Empire, to Coruscant as a whole. We would put you back out into the world, as an agent of the Empire.” Suit fell quiet, letting the proposal sink in, blissfully unaware of the fact his offer fell on nigh deaf ears.

“But what do we get out of it?” Navi blurted out, “You can’t expect us to work for you.. For nothing.”

“This Omniverse is not a kind place, there are no simple options, no easy life. You work hard, earn your keep and you live. For as long as the higher powers would have you live. What we offer is a chance at a more.. Satisfying life. You would become a member of the Empire, live a rich life and most importantly, you would retain your freedom.” Suit’s spiel came an end, silence fill the room once again.

“Well.. that doesn’t sound.. So bad,” Navi began, only to be interrupted by a faint blue glow resonating from Link’s closed fists. The boy’s Guardian recognised the glow, she had witnessed it many times on their journey together. A familiar wave of energy surged through Link, fizzling to life within his digits. Thankfully, Suit had not noticed the glow, thinking of it as merely a reflection of the Fairy’s own dull glow.

“I’ll give you some time to mull it over. Don’t go anywhere.” Suit added, smirking coyly as he turned to exit the room, flanked once again by the guards.

“You got the gift, didn’t you? If you want to go.. Now is the best time. Their patrol shouldn’t return for a few minutes now.” The fairy egged her companion on, “We can get out of here, Link. We could go somewhere.. Away from here.”

Link did not speak, he merely nodded as he slipped the bond that held his dislocated thumb in place. The young hero grimaced, the pain was unbelievable but his wrist was free, a small price to pay. After the first bond was free, it wouldn’t take much more work to free the other wrist.

Link began tugging at the second restraint, thumb tucked underneath his palm. Freeing himself was going smoothly, until knuckle met metal. He rolled his knuckles against the metal, searching for the least painful path to freedom. He strained against the metal cuff and, finally, with a click and a groan, his hand fell free of the cuff.

Tentatively, the teen made his way for the door and tugged it open. He poked his head out and glanced from left to right. Clear. No sign of the guards returning from their patrol and no sign of Suit. This was turning out to be easier than previously anticipated.

With his back to the wall, as stealthily as he could muster, the Hylian scooted through the hallway, making for the nearest exit.

[Link]

Link took a deep breath, holding it in as he peered around the corner that lie before him and the exit. The pale white hall before him was empty, to the hero’s delight. Not a person in sight. The halls echoed eerily, a breeze carried through the ducts that ran the length of them. Distant footfalls reverberated through the building, shadows of the source danced through doorways, the boy’s heart skipping a beat at each individual silhouette that crossed his path. 

The teen froze in place, back planted against the white wall of the holding area. Another footfall, closer this time. Another. And then another. Yet another until they ceased, mere inches away from the Hero of Time, who’d mustered nigh on all of his strength into flattening his body against the ivory wall. The trooper’s shadow lingered for what seemed like an eternity before finally, thankfully, it turned, receding back into the hallway from whence it came. 

Both Link and Navi breathed a sigh of relief. The boy peeled himself away from the wall and peered around the corner once again, watching the trooper turn a corner at the very end of the corridor. The exit was tantalizingly close, although the hallway between loomed, appearing to stretch out for far longer than logically possible. 

A tentative step saw the hero out into the corridor, followed by another, faster step. In little more than a heartbeat, Link found himself bolting through the hallway, closing the distance between himself and the door. Another heartbeat guided the teen through the door and into the crisp, fresh air of the upper tier of Coruscant. 

Darkness lay thick across the city, a distant rumbling reverberated through the air, carried up from the lower, more congested tiers. A dull roar emanated from the hover cars that flew nearby, not quite loud enough to drown out the even closer steps of the Stormtroopers patrolling the courtyard Link had entered. The grounds were littered with various shrubs and bushes, each dense bed of plants appeared to have its own personal guard, patrolling the paths that  lie around them. 

The troopers trudged along their designated paths, quiet chatter hummed through their comms, occasionally eliciting a response from one or more of the guards. Link observed for a while, watching the troopers make their rounds from a distance, and noticed a pattern. Every time the closest trooper rounded his area, there was a brief gap in their line of sight. The second closest trooper wouldn’t turn the corner to find Link for a moment, giving him time to dash across to the next spot. The third and fourth troopers alternated. When one was on the side facing Link, the other was behind and vice versa. 

There it was. His chance. Link bolted, feet digging into the nigh ivory cobbles. He dove across the first plant bed, narrowly avoiding being spotted by first trooper. Landing shakily at the very edge, the Hero found his balance and threw himself into a neat roll, grinding to a halt halfway along the second bed. The third guard rounded the corner, just as Link managed to duck behind cover. The second guard’s comm whirred into life, a short jingling, his attention drawn to the device, causing him to cease his patrol, giving Link just enough breathing room to set about shadowing the third guard. With the fourth making his way around the backside of the last brush, Link darted forwards, escaping the labyrinth. 
The boy’s heart beat in his throat, adrenaline forced him to continue on, darting between every piece of cover he could find. Patrols passed far too close for comfort, so close in fact, Link was able to pull a few choice words from the conversation echoing out from the trooper’s comms. “Escaped-.. Holding area-..” The Hero’s heart skipped a beat. He’d been noticed so soon. There was little choice left. Link flung himself towards the next building that obscured his escape route. Little more than a checkpoint, by the looks of things. As he moved, an arrow materialised in his hand, the tip of which glowed a pale yellow. What could he do now, but run? He reached the checkpoint, the guard on duty bringing his head up to meet the boy’s eyes. A glint of determination sparkled within as he threw the arrow towards the trooper. The arrow’s tip embedded itself into the trooper’s desk, shortly before erupting into a blinding white orb of incandescence. The trooper yelped, moving to shield his eyes as best possible, but the damage was done. Link vaulted the gate that separated the holding area and the rest of the top tier. 

As far away from the checkpoint as his was, he could hear the chatter on the Imperial’s comms going wild. His escape was now known to most, if not all of the troopers in the area. He ran. Potentially faster than he’d ever run before.  

                                                                                                                                    ***

Ducking past the Imperial’s patrols and cameras, even at night, was proving a difficult task. They were on his tail and his only shelter was the odd indent in the opalescent walls of the building he’d taken refuge nearby. The shadows cast by passing Troopers and citizens alike made the boy’s heart race. He wasn’t safe in this place. Then it hit him, an epiphany of sorts. Travelling by foot would be a short lived escape. He had to make it into the air, into the bustling causeway of hover cars and speeders. At least then he’d have a fighting chance of outrunning them. He had no idea where the gate for the Nexus was situated, nor if there was any kind of safe house or proper shelter he could use for the time being. All he needed now was a hover car. 

Link skulked into a narrow alleyway, passing between a bustling restaurant and a looming hotel, it’s roof extending hundreds of meters upwards into the inky black night sky. He brought his hands above his head, willing a pair of clawshots into existence. Sure enough, the devices materialised and in the instant they did so, the boy pulled the triggers on both devices. The claws flew into the air, colliding with an extended corner of each building, each claw closing around the ivory stone. Another squeeze of the triggers saw Link vaulted threw the air, the claws of the pair of devices retracting with just enough time for the boy to fire the claws into the air once more, each latching on to the extended stones of the ornate building. The next time, however, he fired one at a time, allowing the claws to take the brunt of his weight and drag him through the air. The Hero of Time repeated the process time and time again until he reached the pinnacle of the hotel. With great effort, he pulled himself over the edge and onto the roof of the skyscraper-esque hotel. Relief came over the Hylian in a wave. Not only had he made it to the roof, he’d made it to where the patrons of the hotel had left their hover cars. 

“Nearly there, Link. Keep going.” Navi encouraged the boy from within his tunic, it was the safest place for her, afterall. 

The Hylian nodded as he approached one of the speeders, a crimson vehicle with white racing stripes along the side and devoid of a roof, save for the miniscule windscreen at the front. He had no idea how to pilot one of these things, but there was little choice. He’d made it this far on sheer luck alone. The blond hopped into the vehicle and studied the controls for a few moments. It took a little while, but sure enough the Hylian deciphered the intricate controls and the engine whirred to life, thrusting the vehicle into the air, hovering a little over half a meter from the ground. The boy tugged backwards on the controls, launching the vehicle upwards and towards the invisible highway of Coruscant. 

                                                                                                               

***

 

“Dispatch, we’re getting reports of a stolen Speeder.” 

“Repeat, LM-1696.”

“Reports of a stolen Speeder, Dispatch. Description of the suspect matches the escapee from the holding area. Red T-44 Speeder, headed for traffic, sir.” 

“Confirmed. Speeders en route. Remain grounded, LM-1696.”

“Yes, sir.”

                                                                                                                                    ***

High above the streets below, the Hylian sped through the traffic of Coruscant, narrowly avoiding collisions with passersby. The heavily congested airspace proved to be a decent hiding spot, but at the same time, a deadly one. A sloppy barrel roll sent the boy and his vehicle careening over the roof of another speeder.

“Link! They’re gaining on us, quick!” Navi yelped from her perch on Link’s shoulder.

Another barrel roll sent the vehicle outside of the traffic and into the open. The Hero slammed the vehicle’s controls forwards, dipping it into a near enough vertical dive, the pursuing Imperials continued the chase, mimicking the Hylian’s erratic movements. With the ground quickly approaching and the Imperials closing the gap behind, the boy took to the buildings, weaving the speeder in between narrow alleyways and gaps between buildings. The Imperials followed, relentlessly. The further within the tier Link delved, the narrower the gaps. Yet another choice made for him. With the Imperial’s still catching up and out of sight, behind a building gave Link a small opportunity. He stuffed Navi back into her hiding place, within his tunic and yanked a piece of cloth from a pouch on his belt. Clutching on to the fabric tightly with both hands, the boy held it into the wind. Finally, the sailcloth caught the wind and opened up wide, yanking the Hylian from the vehicle and leaving it to careen off into the ground, the entirety of it erupting into flame.
“Dispatch, the stolen Speeder is down, looks like the Prime went with it.” 

“Copy, DG-7416, set down and inspect.”

“Copy, Dispatch, over.”

The Imperial speeder slowed, carefully hovering a few meters above the ground before finally setting down. A pair of Stormtroopers exited the vehicle, blasters in hand. The pair moved to inspect the crash site, peering into the cockpit of the destroyed Speeder as best they could, past the flames. 

“Dispatch-”

“Go ahead, DG-7416.”

“There is no body, Dispatch, I repeat, no body within the cockpit.”

“Copy. Return to your patrol, troopers on the ground will continue the search.”

The young Hero heard the conversation from his hiding place, little more than a few feet from the crash site. The pair of Stormtroopers took to their positions around the crash site, waiting on the next patrol to arrive. Sheer luck continued to shine on the Hylian as he bolted through the narrow alleyways. In the distance, a bustling crowd marched slowly towards what appeared to be an elevator. An escape route for the blond, if anything. Behind him, the patrol arrived. He had to move, and quickly. He waited a brief moment while a pair of Humans passed by the alleyway before dashing out of cover and into the open street. As quickly as he had exposed himself, he disappeared once more, into the bustling crowd before the elevator. Link tugged his hat off, stuffing it into his tunic as he began shoving his way to the front of the crowd and queue. His movements, however, were not taken kindly. A few of the people within the queue yelled out at the boy, scolding him for cutting. Others attempted to drag him back behind them. Nevertheless, the Hylian persevered, finally reaching the elevators and sidling his way through the closing doors of the descending mechanism.

The elevator was crowded. Tourists and residents alike taking the journey to the lower levels. Minutes passed agonizingly slowly, for the Hylian at least. The elevator music did little to settle the boy’s nerves. He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Finally, the elevator ground to a halt and a computerised voice rang through the PA system. 

“Tier Two.”

The Hylian decided to remain aboard the Elevator, upon noticing a pair of Stormtroopers manning a station a short distance from the lift. Link suffered through many more agonizingly slow minutes within the sweltering machine, surrounded by complete strangers. At long last, the computerized voice rang through once again;

“Tier Three. Finally stop.”

The people within the lift filed out slowly. Link followed suit, ensuring the keep to the middle of the group, his head hung low just in case. But, to his delight, Link found there to be little Imperial presence. The boy breathed a sigh of relief and set off, away from the rest of the group. A sign post directed him towards a stairwell, marked ‘Tier Four’. 

Tentatively, Link set off into the descending stairwell. His, and the other traveller’s, footsteps echoed over the dull roar of their chatter. The noise carried for what appeared to be miles. Lights flickered and rubble dust fell lightly from the ceiling as trains and other vehicles passed overhead.