It is a mysterious realm, one that has gone unnoticed for
thousands of years by Reality. Joined in an alliance known as
VideoLand, it has become a place we see only in our imaginations.
Now, one young man is about to discover...
That his dreams will become real...
September 9th, 2000
There was a cry in the gaming hall as a single person was at the helm of the prototype GameCube controller. On the massive screen, displayed in all his full rendered glory, was the green clad Link of Hyrule, racing down a huge dungeon corridor. As one looked about, it was seen that this was not just a contest or preview; this was the final revealing of a long awaited game at a massive convention that thousands, if not millions, of fans had dreamed of. Even more so, the teenager at the controller was obviously a very lucky person to be able to play this game. And he knew it. Such were the gifts of being a three-time gaming champion. "Keene, how the hell are you doing this without dying once?!" The young blonde at the controller grinned while tapping one of the buttons. On the screen, Link whipped out the Sword and brought it crashing down on a Moblin that suddenly leapt from the dungeon shadows, and quickly entered a flurry of slashes that detonated the creature. The player, however, spared a single glance to his friend. "Mike, you're the one who nicknamed me Captain N!" he exclaimed while returning his attention to the game. "Besides, it's always easy at first!" With a chuckle, he brought Link turning into another corridor, heading down in search of the dungeon lord. "And this is one game I get the feeling that will get a hell of a lot better the deeper you go."
In another world and realm of existence, a young man, about sixteen years of age, rushed through the halls of the shining red Palace of Power, almost in synch with the running of his video game counterpart on the screen. Clad in what appeared to be a brown leather tunic and lighter brown under-clothing, his eyes shined like emeralds, and his ears were long and pointed, revealing themselves from under his golden hair. The blade on his back clattered in its sheath, leaving him to hold the bottom of the scabbard with his left hand. The contrast to how he was appearing to the eyes of the player in the other world was sharp indeed. "Launch more attack drones!" came a cry from one of the robotic troops of the Palace. "We've already exhausted all the drones!" another robot reported while he turned away from the screen at his station. "Our only defense are the shields and main weapons array!" As the elfin teenager came to a halt in the defense chamber, he looked around at the chaos. The robot soliders of the Palace were in a panic, and though they all knew nothing could break through the shields of this floating fortress, they had no way to fight back against such a massive force. He swore and ran off through the corridors of the Palace. "Kidd!" he cried out. "Where are you?!" "Right here, Link!" came the reply from a young boy dressed in gold and silver armor. His auburn hair bounced with his pace as he ran up to the older boy, red eyes shining while the large white wings on his back shifted to help him keep balance. "Where's Reinhardt?" With a shrug, the angelic child glanced back down the corridor he'd been coming from. "Probably making sure Simon doesn't get killed," he muttered just before there was a rumble. The Palace shook once more with the impact of a weapons hit, and the two heroes rushed back to the main weapons room. There, a blue humanoid robot with sections of armor plating on his body swore as a screen showed several machines impacting against the force fields. "Wily's trying to break through our shields!" he cried out. "What the hell does he think he can do?!" "Calm down, Megaman!" Link yelled in attempt to regain order. Suddenly, a huge hologram appeared, imposing itself into the entire room. "Mother Brain!" the blue robot exclaimed in anger. He'd almost raised his arm into cannon mode, but this was only a projection of the hated being. "Surprise!" the large cerebrum replied. "I just called to let you losers know that Ganondorf is on his way to conquer VideoLand once and for all! Ah ha ha ha ha!" Link was not amused, or fazed. "Megaman, cut her off!" "I can't!" the robot replied. "She's on all channels!" "See you in the slave pits, Link!" His stance was unwavering, being that he'd faced far worse than this overgrown organ, and he knew it well. "Look, Lame Brain!" Link snapped back angrily. "If you think that we're going to give up now-" "No need for despair, Simon Belmont is here at last!" Everyone turned and groaned as a well-built blonde man ran in, burn marks on his blue coat, yet none on his almost perfectly styled hair. "I really don't think you need to send Schneider after me," he continued while looking around at the chaos that the Palace was in. "Well, you're a total mess!" the brunette behind him replied as he entered the main command center. He swiftly sheathed his short sword while snapping his wrist to curl up the silvery whip in his hands and stow it on his belt catch. "If it weren't for me, Vlad would have your head on a silver platter!" "Wrong, I will!" Everyone froze at the sound of that voice. "Bloody hell," Link muttered under his breath. He turned to see the huge image of a olive green scale skinned face that bore a pair of horns where ears would be, and red hair adorning the head. "Ganon Ralnetha." "Must you use that title for me?" the demonic Gerudo replied. "Could you not use my actual name? I supposed not though." A pause, and then he grinned to flash his razor sharp teeth. "Ready to surrender?" "No!" Megaman replied, only to be answered by a powerful rumbling when the image glowered at him. "Wrong answer!" Just then, a young woman ran in. Her brown hair, with blue and golden streaks running through in a pattern, was held back in a loose braid. She was clad in a reflective blue high cropped sleeveless top piece with silver shoulder covers and a matching skirt, silver trim connecting to large sections on teh front and back. Silver arm bands were around her forearms, and her blue boots went up three-fourths to her knees. On her head was a shining golden tiara with a large set ruby in the forehead piece. When she saw the image of the demon lord Ganondorf ul Dragmire, the girl shook her head. "No," she whispered. "No, no, no!" Ganondorf's image smiled at seeing the fear in the girl's eyes. "Get ready to fall, Princess!" he roared. "The throne of your kingdom will be mine, and all the Tellurian will bow before me!"
GameWorld Presents
An EGV Production
Christopher Blair
Matthew Swinford
Michael Ubowski
Steph Kelly
Assistant Producer Costume Designer Visual Effects Music By Director of Photography Film Editor Adapted from Screenplay by Casting Directed by
Executive Producer
Eric Sandberg
Neil Coleman
Lisa Fitzwater
EGV Studios
Christopher Blair
Brandon Erwin
Timothy Kirby
"Captain N: The Game Master"
Christopher Blair
Michael Miller
Christopher Blair
Ganondorf's threat was still echoing on all channels as everyone in the chamber stared at the massive holographic image. After looking to the blue and silver clad princess, Link returned his gaze to the hologram and snarled. "No way!" he snapped. He'd dealt with this being for far too long to just let a defeat of the magnitude they were facing just happen. "The first Magnus beat you, and so can I!" Ganondorf laughed, shaking his head in amusement. "So, the teenage twit would bite!" "You won't win! I won't let you!" the teenage girl snapped, her fury rising as she snarled at Ganondorf's image. "Oh come now, I'm sure we can solve this like reasonable beings." Ganondorf paused for a moment, then suddenly appeared to change appearance to become even more demonic than he already was. "Surrender to me, or be destroyed!" Once more, the Palace rumbled violently. In tears, Lana ran off, leaving everyone staring at her departure while Ganondorf's image vanished. Link quickly chased after her, trailed by Megaman, Kidd, and the two resident vampire hunters. "Lana! Wait!" The princess ran into the throne room and began to cry. She didn't know what to do; Ganondorf was practically at their gates, and they could do nothing now. The war they fought had raged for seven long years, and now, in a matter of minutes, it was going to be over.
With his day at the convention behind him for now, the sixteen-year old named Kevin Keene said good-bye to his friends before heading up the walkway to his front door. His mother still wasn't back yet, apparent from the fact that no one else was home. It was rather late, but considering he'd known she as well had a long day, it was no surprise. "May as well fix something to eat," he muttered while walking into the kitchen and quickly pulling out some sliced turkey and bread. His hands skillfully grabbed the jar of mayonnaise and some lettuce before shutting the refrigerator, then went to work constructing his meal before stowing all the ingredients back into the 'fridge. He took a bite of the sandwich, then headed to his room and slid on the old NES Power Glove that rested on a desk. In an instant, he had turned on the old Nintendo and was inputting a password on Punch-Out that sent him to the second to last fight of the game. With a grin after punching in the proper program code into the Glove, Kevin set to work on fighting Mister Sandman. "Bring on the champ!"
"Lana!" Link sighed as he entered the throne room and walked over to where the princess was sitting against the throne itself. "We still have a chance, we can beat him!" The girl shook her head. "We can't," she replied. Link pulled her to her feet, and as she looked into her friend's eyes, she buried her face into his tunic. "We've got nothing left, we can't beat him!" Simon smiled as he walked up. "Fear not, fair princess. Simon Belmont shall protect you." Reinhardt shook his head in disgust. "I can't believe I'm related to this guy." "Do not give up hope yet, for there still remains the Prophecy." Everyone looked around, shocked by the presence of the bassful voice, but they couldn't find the source. "Who said that?!" Link demanded as the lights began to fade in and out. This wasn't resulting from the attack on the Palace, this was coming from within the throne room itself. "There are powers beyond those of which you can possibly imagine. The Ancient Prophecy of the Tellurian foretells of a dark hour." A large glowing sphere appeared in the center of the chamber, one that Link determined was the source of the voice. "Ancient Prophecy?" the boy asked as he slowly walked toward the shimmering point of energy. "You mean the one recorded by Anakin?" "The day shall come when Darkness will unite, causing destruction and suffering to spread across the realm. The Devil, who shall be named Ganon Ralnetha, will in his exile from the heart of the cosmos rule this Alliance of Evil, and bring about a dark era in the life of the universe. Death and plague shall sweep across the cosmos, and Darkness will be strong." They knew about all this. Ganondorf ul Dragmire was also known to the people of Hyrule as Ganon Ralnetha, an ancient word meaning 'Lord of Oblivion'. And he was referred to as the Devil by many of the worlds in the VideoLand alliance, with the ram horns for ears serving such an image far too well. "A good king who fights to bring peace will lose much in this war of Light and Dark. His son will abandon him, and the armies of Good shall fall slowly into nothing. The Devil shall banish this good king into a reflective land. His daughter shall be forced to hold the burden of rule, and her strength shall be strongly tested." These words shocked Lana. That's what happened! she thought. Her father, King Marcus, had been banished by Ganondorf into another realm years earlier, sometime after her brother had run away. But the Prophecy that was being spoken was eons old, how could they have known back then that all this would happen? "In the Darkest Hour, a young warrior from another world shall be brought forth to save two realms from Evil! Time is his ally, his power to unite the forces which fight to protect all things! Evil shall fear his name, and Darkness shall retreat when he battles! He is the Game Master!" As the words continued to echo in the air, the sphere began to brighten even as the voice emanating from it grew more bassful. "Behold, the Great Warp!" The sphere rose up and began to expand, transforming into a huge glowing ripple that seemed to suck up all the light. Everyone shielded their eyes as the light flared and looked up at the rippling warp.
"Come on, just a few more hits!" Still on Punch-Out, Kevin Keene struck at his opponent, having passed his opponent and now on the final challenge of the game; Mike Tyson. With a few more dodges and well-timed strikes. he knocked the "champ" out, and sighed as he turned off the game. He'd been through the games he had too many times for there to be much challenge anymore. His eyes glanced to his N64, and, strapping the N64 Glove to his left arm, he turned on the system and started up Metroid Omega. With a smile at a game that truly gave him the challenge he needed, Kevin imagined that he was the one leaping into the caverns of the shadowy planet. "This is what I live for..." "Kevin, I'm home!" came the call as he heard the front door open and shut. The female voice let him know that his mother had arrived, probably brought dinner home for him as well. "You get your room cleaned?" "Mostly, I'll finish up in a few minutes!" Kevin called back, but he knew it would be longer than a minute before he started to clean his room. There wasn't that much; just the N64 box and some scattered game magazines. It could wait until he'd gotten past the as yet unseen boss and save, probably until after dinner. Suddenly, just as he was about to enter the boss chamber, the screen fuzzed up and was washed with static. "Ah, no!" Kevin exclaimed. He growled, thinking that maybe the the power cord had come loose again, then saw that the red power light on the N 64 was still on. "What the..." Suddenly, as a bright flash burst from the TV screen, he saw a group of people staring up at him, all looking like they were rendered in some kind of brightly colored CGI. But, that was impossible, the N64 wasn't capable of processing these kinds of graphics! "What the hell?" the teenager hissed. "That...this shouldn't be in the game!" Suddenly, lightning energy flew out and grabbed at Kevin, turning his body into wire frames wherever it struck. He backed away, staring in horror as his hands began breaking down into a neon green grid. "What's happening?!" Even as he heard the footsteps approaching his room, Kevin turned just as he was phased completely into a wire grid and saw his mother staring in horror at what was happening to him. The moment he opened his mouth, the grid blasted apart, scattering into the massive blazing rift that had erupted from his TV. "Kevin!"
The ripple seemed to suck up all the light from the room as it fluxed more violently in the air. Suddenly, as a faint outline appeared, they could all hear a voice screaming while the silhouette became more distinct. It looked like it was the form of a human boy. "What in the world?!" With a grunt, the form flew out of the Warp and came crashing to the ground. He groaned, shaking his head as his vision began to focus. "Wha…what happened?" the boy muttered as he blinked. He looked at his surroundings, then his hands, and gasped. "I'm...I'm a cartoon! Where am I?!" "Welcome to VideoLand," Link stated as he walked toward the human boy. He halted once he got a good look at their newest arrival. Something was very odd. Green eyes, golden blonde hair, very distinct almost feline facial features...this human looked like him! Looking at the six, Kevin Keene blinked as his mind tried to comprehend everything. "No way," he whispered. He recognized most these heroes, except, they looked different from what he knew. "Megaman, Pit," he said, eyes going from one to the next. "Reinhardt Schneider, Link...this can't be happening. You guys aren't real!" "We're very real," Megaman stated. "And my name is Kidd Icarus," Kidd replied. "Not Pitt." With an annoyed snort, Simon looked up in an arrogantly disdainful fashion. "What I'd like to know is how he recognizes you four, but not moi, Simon Belmont." Lana had a worried look on her face. She tried to banish it as much as she could. She knew the right look might lure this guy to help her; she hated to think of herself that egotistically, but she had to do whatever she could to help VideoLand, and if this guy could help them, she had to do whatever she could to get him to help. The Great Warp would not have brought him if he could not. There was something else about him as well, and it was not just his uncanny resemblance to Link. This was something deeper. "My name is Lana." As Kevin turned to face her, his eyes widened involuntarily. "I-I, uh," he stuttered, his eyes still wide open. He couldn't take his eyes off this girl. Granted, she was quite lovely, and her outfit did nothing to even attempt hiding her beauty, but, it was more that that. What really struck Kevin most of were Lana's deep blue eyes. They looked like they could see right into a person's soul. "I'm...Kevin. Kevin Keene." He paused for a moment, trying to compose himself. The way that the rest of these people looked to Lana, she was obvious someone of great importance. "Uh, where am I again?" "You're in VideoLand," Lana stated calmly. "Part of the Tellurian. The Great Warp brought you here." Still in a bit of a daze, Kevin finally snapped out of the daze he’d been in. "Wait a minute, Great Warp?" he echoed. "You mean like the Warp Whistle in Mario Three?" "Er..." Lana hesitated. It was an odd response, nor did she understand what the boy was making reference to. "I...guess so," she finally replied. It was an odd question and comparison. What was a Warp Whistle? "The legend foretold of a Hero who would save our universe from Evil." Kevin looked at his wrist and saw what seemed to be a combination of both of his Power Gloves. Now things were getting really odd. "Me, restore freedom to...VideoLand?" he questioned. It was a place he'd never heard of, much less in relation to video games. "Hey, I don't even have my driver's license yet." With a sigh, he lifted up the Glove. "And this is just a toy." Carelessly, he squeezed his hand into a fist, knowing nothing would happen. To his surprise, as well as that of everyone else in the room, a pulse of brilliant white laser energy shot out and bounced off the walls, vanishing as it expanded its energy. His eyes went wide as he looked back down at the fusioned Glove in shock. This wasn't possible, every ounce of logical thinking in his mind screamed that none of this could be real. "This isn't happening," he spat in shock. "This can't be real!" "It's very real," Link stated while walking over where he stood next to Lana. "We have been locked in a seven year war with Ganondorf and his allies, and we're losing." The Hylian paused for a moment. "That's why the Great Warp brought you to us." "If you cannot help us," Lana continued with growing despair, "Ganondorf will conquer all of our universe, and our freedom will be lost forever!" With that look of shock still in his eyes, Kevin shook his head. This wasn't possible, he was probably dreaming. A two day trip to the gaming expo was bound to create some weird dreams. Still, something tickled in the back of his head, as if telling him that this was no dream. "Hey! You've got the wrong guy," he stated flatly. "I'm just a sixteen-year old who plays a lot of video games. Your, Great Warp obviously made some kind of mistake." He turned to the Warp only to see it vanish. "Oh man. Come on, open back up!" Link frowned. This wasn't going well at all. "The Warp opening drained the Sun Stone," he stated. "It won't be able to open for quite a while." Kevin shook his head. "I just want to go home! Come on!" "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Simon laughed, putting his hand on Lana's back gently. "There, there, don't worry, Princess. I'll save VideoLand." He smiled sweetly at her, but this did little to console her. Mostly because she knew of Simon's empty boats of heroics, but also because of just how much they were about to lose. Lana's eyes filled with tears. "You were our only hope!" she cried, then pushed Simon away and ran to a lift platform. "Your Cuteness, wait!" Belmont called as he ran off to catch up with her. Link stared at the human teenager coldly, his emerald eyes seeming to storm over. "Nice going, hero," he snapped just before the Palace shook again. He growled, then ran off to keep up the defense. Megaman, Kidd and Reinhardt all followed. If this boy didn't get the idea now, they couldn't wait. Kevin just stood there in remorse of what had just happened. Man, why me? Now how am I going to get home?
In her private chambers, Lana sat in front of a desk console, looking at a holo-photo she had of her father. Tears continued to stream down her face, running down over a series of orange markings on her cheeks that hadn't been there before. "I'm so sorry," whispered to the holo-image. "The Great Warp finally has awakened, but the one it brought to us isn't ready enough to face our darkest hour." She looked up as the Palace rumble again from weapons fire. "I've tried to lead our people since you disappeared, but...I just wasn't ready."
Within a massive brain-shaped asteroid, the evil Mother Brain, a biological super computer created by the Chozo, and her lackeys were watching the massive power loss in the Palace on the monitor in her lair. "Mm, mm, mm!" the evil mind quipped as she turned from the screen to her two moronic servants, but she was speaking more to herself than to them. "Isn't that too bad? The Great Warp has drained the Palace's power, giving me a perfect opportunity to strike a fatal blow at the heart of VideoLand, and giving Ganondorf the chance to take over! Eh, hee, hee, hee!" She looked directly at her two chief minions, King Hippo from Hippo Island and Eggplant Wizard from Angel Land. "I have a job for you." Eggplant Wizard automatically switched to his butter-up mode. "Anything you desire, my sweet potato!" He bowed ingratiatingly. "Not you, Eggplant Wizard! King Hippo!" Eggplant Wizard got on his fat belly and pounded the floor with his arms and tried to do so with his feet, but his belly was too large and his legs too short. "No fair!" he whined. "It's my turn! He got to do your last evil deed!" Mother Brain took him by the neck with her tentacle and lifted the vegamorphic mage up. "Let me tell you why," she said in medium volume, then began squeezing his neck as he began struggling. "Because you screwed up the last time, you incompetent moronic vegetable!" She tossed him across the room, the wizard popping vegetables behind as he flew into the wall. She turned to King Hippo and addressed him less angrily. "Hippo, go to the Palace and punch out their defenses. Then, kidnap the Princess and bring her to Ganondorf!" King Hippo had been watching the interchange between Mother Brain and Eggplant Wizard, and it prompted him to do his best to obey her. "Heh, heh! Don't worry, Your Disgustiness! I'll be back with that chick before you can give me a ten-count!" Mother Brain turned to Eggplant Wizard, who was lying on the floor in front of her. "And you, go with him, you brainless idiot!" Eggplant Wizard got up and sharply saluted. "Yes, Your Sugar-Beetness!" He turned to the door and ran out after King Hippo, leaving vegetables behind as he panicked. Mother Brain turned to the monitor, which again showed her troops around the Palace of Power. "Soon, our forces will conquer this universe, and Ganondorf will rule supreme! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Kevin wandered aimlessly around the Palace. He still couldn't get over what was happening. His two Gloves had indeed been fused into one, meaning it was now useless as a console accessory, plus it was also now a weapon. Having such a thing if he went back to his own world might not go over too well. Plus, he still did not have a way home yet. "Well," he said to himself. "If that princess got me here, then she can send me back."
With a crackle and warping of the air, King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard arrived on a floor in the Palace of Power, which was, unfortunately, where the Princess' room was. The obese boxer looked about into a hall with many rooms when he turned and saw Simon approaching while whistling, ducking back into the wall. Eggplant Wizard, however, stepped out blindly into the hallway. "How do we know which door leads to the Princess?" he asked. King Hippo quickly grabbed him by the cape and pulled him out of the hall. "Ack!" While gesturing for Eggplant to be quiet, Hippo watched from behind the wall as Simon walked by, whistling, his eyes closed, to Princess Lana's room. "Simple!" the boxer hissed. "That guy'll lead us to her." Simon walked straight to the door to Lana's room and knocked. "Yoo-hoo! Princess, darling! It's me, Simon Belmont!" He put his ear to the door. "Just a minute," Lana's voice replied. It sounded tired and upset, but still, it had been a positive response. Or at least, Belmont interpreted it as such, and thus smiled to himself, not noticing as King Hippo sneaked up behind him with a large bag and bagged the vampire hunter, then tied him up. "Uh..." Eggplant Wizard muttered, not understanding what King Hippo was going to do. King Hippo took Simon to a warp chute that led to another section of the Palace. "Ha, ha!" the boxer laughed. "This should drop him out of town for a while!" He forced Simon into a fetal position, tossed him into the chute, then rubbed his hands. The two ran back to the door to Lana's room and flanked it. "Be quiet now," King Hippo ordered, Eggplant Wizard's eye narrowing so that he was making a venomous smile. The doors opened from the inside, and Lana emerged. She was still rubbing the tears from her eyes when she looked up. "Okay, Simon. What do you..." The instant Lana discovered something was wrong, King Hippo grabbed her and silenced her by holding his gloves over her mouth. "Mmph!" She struggled against his grasp, but to no avail as she was dragged back into her room by the obese boxed, and Eggplant Wizard closed the door behind them to assist in packaging the Princess. Seconds later, Kevin arrived and knocked on the door. "Uh, Princess?" He heard her humming from inside and knocked again. "It's me, Kevin. I need to talk to you." Within, King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard were wrapping Lana up in a heavy carpet. "Quick, think of somethin'!" Hippo hissed quietly. "Me?" Eggplant Wizard replied in an equally silenced tone. "I'm just an incompetent vegetable!" "Is everything all right in there?" Kevin's voice asked, a tone of suspicion in his voice. Something was wrong, and the edge in his voice indicated that he was well about to do something about that feeling. "Er, uh..." King Hippo said, "...yuh, yes, yes, everything's just fine, thank you," he finished in falsetto voice. "Can I come in?" "Uh, no." Hippo continued in falsetto. "No! Go away! I'm not decent! Hoo, hoo, hoo!" Eggplant Wizard was holding the Princess. "You can say that again!" he said very quietly. "Pipe down!" King Hippo snapped. Eggplant Wizard dropped Lana, and, with his hands at his ears, he stuck out his dark-green tongue at King Hippo, who was looking away to the door. Kevin frowned. There was definitely something wrong. In fact, that did not sound like Lana at all, much less a teenage girl. He raised his Glove, almost feeling instincts take over, and fired, blasting the door in an instant before he ran into the room and saw the shocked lackies before him. "King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard?!" he exclaimed while raising his Glove up. "And I thought Simon looked ridiculous...now I've seen everything! Put her down!" "Heh, heh! Whatever you say!" Eggplant Wizard laughed. He and Hippo tossed the wrapped-up Princess at Kevin and knocked him onto his back. "Whoa!" he cried, but he quickly uncovered the still struggling Lana's face. "It's me, Kevin!" he announced. It was then that he looked up to see Eggplant reach behind himself and pulled several veggies out. "Oh, crap!" With an evil grin, Eggplant Wizard juggled the veggies, then tossed a lethal tomato at Kevin. The teenager pressed right on his Glove's keypad and blurring aside, the tomato popping onto the wall and burning the gold plating like acid. "Whoa!" he exclaimed. "This is too cool!" Eggplant formed a banana pistol with holster and belt on himself near the 'waist.' "If you think you're so good, human," he said while glaring at the boy, "try to outdraw me!" "Anytime you're ready!" Kevin said, accepting the challenge. He tightened his grip, Eggplant reaching down to the banana pistol. They watched each other closely. Kevin's eyes narrowed slowly, then Eggplant Wizard's quickly. Eggplant quickly drew, but in that same instant, Kevin's own hand rose and fired, causing a blinding impact explosion that sent the teenager flying back into the wall. The two minions, however, took their chance and dragged Lana away. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the dizziness that overcame his sense. "That's it," he growled. "You guys are frag fodder!" He finally got up and looked around, but King Hippo, Eggplant Wizard, and Princess Lana were nowhere in sight. "Lana! Oh crap!" Kevin left the bedroom and looked down the hallway. "This is not good!"
Reinhardt, Kidd and Megaman were still maintaining the defenses when Kevin came running by. Oddly enough, Link had gone missing, though with how much the Hylian hero was popping in and out as it was, it was a good bet he was somewhere else in the Palace. "Kidd, Megaman! We've got to find the Princess!" the terran cried. Kidd gave Kevin the thumbs-up as he smiled. "Don't worry us! She's safe with Simon!" He then frowned as he slapped his head. "Wait, Simon's not the safest person to be with, I take that statement back." A warp opened above the four and dumped the sack with Simon in it onto the floor. After hitting the floor with a loud thud, Simon popped his head out of the bag. "Simon, the Princess has been kidnapped!" Kevin exclaimed. "If we don't find her, I may never be able to get back home!" "We'll start searchin' immediately!" Kidd replied. "Not so fast!" Simon said as he debagged himself, then grabbed Kidd by the back of his armor's collar and turned the angelic boy to face him. "As the highest-ranking officer of Her Highness's court...not to mention her dearest friend..." At this, Reinhardt rolled up his eyes. "I shall give the orders." He put his left foot on a box. "Megaman, shine my boots. Kidd Icarus, I could use a little trim. Not too much off the top, however. Cousin Reinhardt, you just watch and observe good grooming." Simon smiled, his eyes closed, as Megaman very, very rapidly shined his boot. Soon, Simon smelled smoke and looked down at his boot, which was so hot it was red. "How's this for a mega shine?" Megaman asked with a sardonic smile. "Yow!" Simon cried, holding his left foot as he leapt about the room in pain. Kidd cocked his crossbow and fired an arrow into the air, causing a shower over Simon. After being dampened, Simon was not amused. He stormed over to Kidd and Megaman and promptly started arguing with the two of them. He accused them, while they both accused him. "Hey, pause it, guys!" Kevin said. When they ignoerd hi, he groaned, then glanced to his Gloves and pressed the one of the two rectangular buttons that were next to the keypad. To his surprise, everything in the room froze in place, like the pause on a game. This he could get used to. "No wonder VideoLand's losing this war, you guys are fighting yourselves!" He hit the same button again and unfroze the room. "Simon, get me a map of VideoLand." Simon walked over to Kevin and put his hand on Kevin's shoulder. "Simon Belmont takes orders from only one person," he boasted, then indicated himself with his thumb. "Me, Simon Belmont. I'll lead us to the fair Princess, but first, I'll need a map." He removed a metal cylinder from his backpack that grew into a map on legs. "Hm. Whoever abducted the Princess is obviously taking her back to either Mother Brain on the asteroid base Tourian, or possibly to Ganondorf on his ship." He pointed to a loop on the right side of the map, near a blue circle labeled 'K'. As he did so, Kevin was running that statement back over in his head; something wasn't making sense about it. "There's a Warp right here that'll take us directly to Mother Brain." "No, it won't." Simon growled and narrowed his eyes at the teenager. "I beg your pardon?" he demanded indignantly. "Look, I've played Metroid a hundred times." Kevin quickly indicated a loop on the left side of the map, near a yellow circle labeled 'Z'. "This has to be the warp to Zebes. Anyone with enough know about the Metroid games knows that Zebes is the planet Mother Brain is based on, Tourian is just the name of an area on the planet where her base is." "Wrong Warp, Reality brain; it's this one," Simon said egotistically, pointing to the loop he had been indicating. "Being that Tourian is a floating asteroid base, not some piece of alien real estate." "And I say you don't know a thing on what you're talking about!" Kevin snorted at the vampire hunter. "You hunt vampires, not aliens!" Simon gritted his teeth for a moment, then smiled genially. "Tell you what, I'll flip you for it." He removed a coin from his pocket. "Heads we go my way, tails we go yours." He flipped the coin. It spun in the air and landed on the floor, with Simon's conceited face smiling upwards under the words 'MY HERO'. "Heads! You lose! Ha, ha, ha!" He laughed as he, Megaman, and Kidd left for the Warp Zone. Kevin picked up the coin, thinking of how conceited the vampire hunter was. He flipped the coin in his hand. Heads again! "Hey!" Reinhardt gave an understanding nod and walked over to Kevin. "He's liable to get himself killed at this rate," the man remarked while clapping Kevin on the back. "Don't think that this means I like you though."
Within the uncountable corridors of the Palace, the group came to a large chamber with a large ring that was mounted at the far end of the room. There were markings all over it in a ring pattern, as well as a series of triangular parts that looked like locks. The main computer display showed a chart listing what looked like symbols to be entered for opening warps to specific warp conduits. "This is it!" Simon announced as Megaman keyed in the appropriate set of symbols. "The express warp to Tourian!" A bright flash as the bright blue warp opened. Kidd quickly ran through the vortex, followed by Megaman, and then Simon as the man looked as if he was merely jogging through the portal. Kevin looked at the warp suspiciously, Reinhardt smiling as he nodded. "You're careful, I like that." "Well," Kevin replied. "I'm figuring 'K' stands for Kong, meaning Donkey Kong Country, which means this will lead to DK Isle." "We call it Kongos," Reinhardt stated. "And knowing that cousin of mine, that's exactly where this warp probably leads. Shall we?"
As the winds silently blew across the landscape, the five emerged from a large rift as it tore open, depositing them in the sprawling jungles of a world most definitely not the one they sought. "This isn't Tourian!" Kidd exclaimed as he examined their surroundings. "Simon, you moron! This is Kongos!" "Kongos?" Simon demanded. "But that's the home of...Donkey Kong!" Speaking of the ape, they were quickly to realize that they were atop the creature's head. Screaming, they fell down off and into the river where he was apparently resting. When Donkey Kong saw the heroes land in the water, he screamed in shock. Everyone else scrambled to escape while Kong sent a wave of water at them. With a grunt, Kidd turned about toward the ape and pulled out his weapon. "Let's see what some crossbow action can do!" he declared as he aimed his crossbow at a coconut tree and fired. The arrow knocked three coconuts loose from the tree, and each coconut landed on Donkey Kong's head as he stood up and screamed. When he reached for Kidd, the winged archer attempted to fly away, but Donkey Kong grabbed him by the leg. "Ah! Let me go!" "Kidd?" Kevin whispered while turning back and seeing the prince in trouble. "Wait!" he exclaimed as the others kept running. "We've gotta get Kidd!" "That'll be a snap," Simon said as he took his whip and snagged a tree limb. He then swung toward Donkey Kong with a cocky grin, but when the limb snapped, the vampire hunter began to fall! "That wasn't the kind of snap I had in miiiiiiiind!" he screamed before slamming to the ground. He stood up and dusted himself, shaking his head. "Phew. That wasn't so bad." Unfortunately, he had landed on Donkey Kong's open hand. The man groaned as he turned and shut his eyes. "Yes, it was." He yelled in fear as Donkey Kong thrust him over Kevin and Megaman's heads into a tree. The ape tried to stomp Kevin, but the teenager pressed a button on his Glove and shot away in a blur away before the foot reached him. In the mean time, Simon had smashed into the tree. Megaman sighed as he slammed his fist into the tree's trunk and brought it down. "Phew!" Simon commented as he got to his feet. "He'll think twice before tangling with me again!" Kevin quickly came to a halt back to the team in front of Simon, Megaman and Reinhardt. With his brow arched up slightly, Reinhardt finally gave Kevin a faint smile; it seemed the hardened vampire hunter was finally starting to get impressed. Unfortunately, Donkey Kong had started climbing a tree, with Kidd still in his clutches! "Help!" the archer cried. "Bloody hell, he just has to go King Kong now!" Kevin spat as he positioned his finger over the green button on the Power Glove. "Hope this works right!" He pressed the button just as he jumped and shot off in a blur upwards onto the hand of Donkey Kong that held Kidd. Kevin quickly fired at the ape's hand, forcing Kong to release Kidd and let both of them back down to the ground. "Hey, thanks!" Kidd said gratefully, his wings spread wide to let him glide down to the ground. "Maybe the Great Warp was right about you after all." "Thank me later," Kevin replied seriously. "We've gotta warp out of here before Donkey Kong gives us the big Game Over." He and everyone else raced toward a hollow tree stump. Donkey Kong landed on the ground in front of the tree, and his anger and frustration were growing by the second. "Get into the tree!" "What for?!" Kidd yelled. "The warp we came through is closed up, and we don't have a way to open it again!" "And that beast is closing in!" Simon cried as Donkey Kong raced toward them. Kevin looked around in panic, then smiled. "There's the way off this world!" he stated, pointing off in a direction. He was pointing at the spewing volcano.
In Ganondorf's ship, the Death Helm, King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard held Lana steady in front of Ganondorf. For the first time, the princess could truly see why VideoLand feared this demonic Gerudo warlord. His mere presence blanketed the area with evil, like he was Darkness itself incarnate. "You won't get away with this, Ganondorf," Lana warned, trying to hold onto some measure of courage. "My warriors will rescue me." With a laugh in response the threat, Ganondorf rose from his throne, his hair furled like spines to indicate just how much of a terrifying presence he had. "Of course, my little princess, of course," he replied while stepping down from the throne dais. His teeth gleamed in the dim light, and as he walked toward his prisoner, he reached out and grasped her chin gently. "Just as they rescued your beloved father." There was a flash in those glowing red eyes, nothing more than points of light. "This would be so much easier if you would just surrender now and concede defeat to me." There was a defiant look in Lana's eyes, one that Ganondorf knew well. He then pushed her face to the side and stepped away from the princess. "However, like your father, I know you won't. As such, other methods will be employed." He snapped his fingers, forging from sheer magic a rift that engulfed Lana and sent her into a prison cell deep in the heart of the ship. Looking around, Lana looked out of the cell to see a Hindox form as guard in her cell. Now, she knew what Ganondorf had planned to do with her; to send her to the same fate as her father.
"This is crazy! We're headed straight into a double dead-end!" Simon exclaimed as the heroes climbed the mountain. "Dead if we jump in the volcano, and dead if we don't!" The five heroes emerged on the top of the volcano, trying to keep their balance as it rumbled. Behind them, the giant ape named Donkey Kong was climbing the face of the mountain, still chasing after the group. "Look, I've played the Donkey Kong Country games enough times to know what I'm doing!" Kevin stated with confidence. "Trust me!" "I hate to say it," Megaman replied while his visor ran a series of scans. "But Simon was right! My sensors detect no warps in this area!" There was a grin on Kevin's face at that statement. "I never said anything about a warp," he quipped while continuing toward the crater. Suddenly, the surface of the lava in the volcano's magma tube flared up and burst, sending rocks flying upwards. He glanced up, then turned to his companions. "Get down!" the teenager ordered, the five ducking to dodge the flaming boulders. "'Trust me', he says," Simon muttered mockingly. "Ha! I'd sooner trust a vampire to give me a shave!" "You know," Reinhardt replied harshly as he resisted the urged to smack his cousin. "I'm going to hold you to that one of these days!" The rocks fell and nearly knocked Donkey Kong off, but he managed to maintain his ground. "Quick!" Kevin ordered. "Closer to the edge of the volcano!" Everyone else shook their head while Simon grabbed Kevin's arm. "Are you nuts?" the vampire hunter demanded. "I know what I'm doing!" Kevin said with a smile. "Trust me!" "I trust you, Kevin," Kidd quipped, remembering that Kevin had just saved his life. "As do I," Reinhardt added. Megaman smiled. "If Reinhardt trusts you, I trust you!" He neared Kevin, Reinhardt, and Kidd near the edge. "Come on, Simon!" Kevin called. Simon backed away from the group. "Oh no! Not me! I'm staying right here!" The lava burst again and sent more boulders skywards. Immediately, Kevin hit the Pause button again. "Freeze Frame!" He got on one rock, Kidd and Megaman on another, and Reinhardt on a third. "Quick! Get on the boulders!" Simon was beginning to lose his confident look, but he did not want to concede defeat to the new hero yet. He looked to Kevin, then noticed something odd. Was Kevin's face showing strain? But from what? "Simon, hurry! I can't maintain the pause forever!" A few moments more, and Kevin finally fell to his knees just as the time freeze released its hold to let the boulders fly off. Simon turned and saw Donkey Kong's head come above the volcano's top. A gasp from the man as he backed toward the edge just as another rock flew up behind him, and the vain vampire hunter whipped out his whip to snag the boulder before Donkey Kong could snag him. "Wait for meeee!" The boulders left Kongos and flew through space, toward the giant warship known as the Death Helm. It wasn't long before they reached the massive cruiser, Kevin smiling as he readied his Glove. "Okay guys, this is where we get off," he announced just before he hit the pause button again. "Whoa!" Simon cried, his whip loosening from around the boulder, and he crashed on the ground. When the pause cut off, the boulders continued on their path and bounced off the surface of the ship. Simon was loving the ground, kissing the metal hull repeatedly as he whispered a thanks to whatever deities existed for his continued existence. Kidd and Megaman were most impressed by Kevin now. "That was a real cool move, Kev!" the Angelian exclaimed. "I agree!" Megaman added. "Don't thank me yet," Simon said as he stood, no end to his conceit in sight. "I still have to rescue the Princess." Kevin sighed, shook his head, and looked at his Glove. "Well, I can use my Glove to cut a way into..." The he realized something; they were in deep space and still breathing. "Um, does outer space here have air?" "Yeah," Reinhardt replied. "Why?" "'Cause in my universe, outer space is a vacuum, with no air." Megaman shrugged; air in space was something they took for granted. He morphed his hand into his cannon arm, took aim, and blasted a hole in the ship's hull. "Let's go!"
Ganondorf spun around as an alert went off. His mind stretched ot, and a smile formed on his lips as he felt five very unwelcome minds. "So, the royal guard comes for their princess," he intoned insidiously. "Well, we'll have quite a surprise in store for them. Darkan!" A large Moblin ran in and bowed. "Yes, Lord Ganondorf?" "Send a group of Moblins into deck sixty-five. We have some uninvited guests." The Moblin smiled; it had been a long time since he had seen a real challenge. "At once."
As the five walked down the corridors of the ship, Kevin kept his Glove at the ready, then saw something in the shadows. "Hold it!" he cried. A blonde Hylian stepped out and sighed as he shook his head. "You know, with all the noise you make, it's a wonder Ganondorf hasn't captured you already." "Link!" Kidd remarked. Kevin sighed and lowered his right hand. "Sorry." Link shrugged as he drew the Master Sword. "Well, what ya gonn'a do with the newbie? Train him." "Hey," Kevin shot back. "Who's wearing the Power Glove?" He suddenly realized something after a moment. "Wait, how did you get here before us?!" While his eyes flashed back and forth, Link smiled sligthly. "I suspected that Ganondorf was going to make an attack, so I traced a warp conduit to a mobile warp gate here on the Death Helm." Another smile. "Seems Ganondorf's got quite a few toys he brought with him from Hyrule." Reinhardt drew his whip, eyes snapping back and forth. Something didn't feel right about how easy this was seeming to be. "I've got a bad feeling about this." Megaman nodded as he armed his cannon. "You're not the only one." Kidd readied his crossbow and frowned. "I don't like this. It's too easy." Link held the Sword ready while Kevin kept his Glove aimed forward. Simon was pretty much the only one who didn't have his weapon drawn. "I don't see what the big deal is. Ganondorf's got such lousy security, that all there is in our way is too eas-Aaaahhh! Moblins!" Everyone who had their weapon ready fired at the Moblins, vaporizing them all. Kevin smiled as he nailed the lead Moblin and cocked his hand back. "Don't mess with the game master." Reinhardt looked into the corridor and frowned as he drew his sword, holding it ready. "I really don't like this. That was way too easy." "Nothing is to difficult for Simon Belmont," Simon remarked, then gasped as Megaman grabbed him by the collar and literally got in his face. "Would you shut up?!" For once, Simon complied. Link kept the Master Sword ready and saw a yellow skinned creature dart across the corridor into another hall, growling in anger. "After it, it saw us!" The six heroes chased after the creature, then came to a dead end, one filled with more of the yellow skinned creature, and Simon screamed as he covered his head. "Aaahh! Zombies! Get them away, I don't want their icky rotting flesh in my beautiful hair!" Reinhardt started flailing his whip back at the undead corpses as they ran, the zombies giving chase. "Well, I guess this means Ganondorf knows we're here!" "Gee, you bloody well think?!" Link shot back as he cut down a zombie. "Take a left at the next turn! I'll catch up after I handle these freaks!" The group did as Link had said, and with the Master Sword engulfed in wisps of wind, the Hylian swung down and brought the blade crashing to the ground, causing a massive shockwave to roar forward. The swarms of rotting creatures were torn apart, allowing Link to jump up into a ventilation duct as more of the zombies showed up.
After searching about through the database on the Death Helm, Megaman found the deck where Lana's cell was, leading the group down into the prison sector and blasting down the door. The guard rushed at them, running straight into a blast from Kevin's Glove. "Kevin, Megaman, Kidd, Reinhardt!" Lana said. "Simon..." she added, obviously not excited to see the Belmont. "As I promised," Simon said. "Your hero is here to rescue you, fair princess." Lana ran past him as Megaman opened the cell, and went straight to Kevin, hugging the boy tightly. "I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with VideoLand," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't take you seriously before," he replied. "I couldn't believe that this was real." As they looked into each other's eyes, she shook her head. "I should apologize to you." Megaman looked back and frowned. "Where's Link, he said he would catch up with us." Kevin looked toward the robot. "I don't know, but let's get out of here, pronto!" Suddenly, a steel wall slammed down where Megaman had blasted a hole, and Ganondorf's face appeared. "Ah ha ha ha! So, you came for your princess, and straight into my trap! How predictable!" "Ganon?!" Kevin cried out in amazement. He had expected a piggish looking creature, not this human looking demon. Ganondorf, however, narrowed his eyes in response to the name Kevin had called him. "How do you know that title?!" "That's your name!" Kevin replied. "You gave up the name Ganondorf when you took the Triforce of Power!" There was now a grin on the teenager's face. "I've played the games, horn-head, you can't surprise me!" Even as his rage at the impudent child rose, Ganondorf managed to grin. "Well, then perhaps you'd like to take on the real Hyrule underdark!" A crackling opened up beneath them, and they fell into the portal, warping into a large underground cavern. Link soon followed, dropped from a second warp in the air. Kevin groaned as he got to his feet and looked around. "Where are we?" he asked while Link as well got to his feet. Reinhardt took a moment to scan their surroundings. "Judging from the looks of this place," he remarked while quickly drawing out his short sword, "the Underdark of Hyrule." Even as his own eyes flashed around, Kevin quickly lost his confident air. "Guys, this is not looking familiar to me, and I've been through every single Zelda game!" "You seem to not have learned this fact," stated Ganondorf's image as he appeared before the group. "Your games are sheer coincidence in anything they state about us. Namely, how you perceive the Tellurian is not the truth of it." He grinned and vanished, leaving the group to begin their search for a way out. His visor lit up, and Megaman quickly began to scan their surroundings. "Sensors detect a warp at the center of the dungeon," he stated, morphing his right arm into cannon form and blasting down several walls, shortcutting to the center. "This is too easy!" "That's what worries me," Kevin replied. "I don't recognize any of this place, from any of the games. I should be noticing something, this isn't anything like what I expected!" Suddenly, it got rather hot, and Kevin saw why. In the next chamber was a huge three-headed dragon, fire spewing from its mouths while it roared angrily. "Oh boy!" he exclaimed. "It's a Gleeok!" Simon drew his whip, then ran as Gleeok started breathing fire at him. "Oh no! Aaaahhhh!" Kevin dodged a fireball and returned the favor with a blast from his Glove, smiling as he quickly formulated a plan. "Reinhardt, hit his heads!" he called. The vampire hunter didn't need to be told twice. Taking out an axe, he threw it at the dragon, slicing the left head off, and Megaman shot off the right head, leaving the center head for Kevin and Kidd to blast away at. Lana breathed a sigh of relief as the dragon vanished, allowing them to run into the next chamber where ther found a large ring that looked like the one at the Palace. Megaman smiled as he started inputting a symbol sequence on the pedestal that stood before the ring. "Opening a warp to MegaLand," he stated moments before the bright blue warp burst open. Oddly, the warp here had a distinctive watery look to it. "We can get some help from dad before heading back to the Palace."
Ganondorf snarled as he rose from the throne. He'd underestimated this human from another world. It was time to get some information on any weaknesses the boy might have. "Wily, get your forces ready. The royal guard's on their way to MegaLand. I want you to find out any information you can on this, Game Master." The scientist nodded before turning and talking to something off-screen. "I'll find a vay to get him avay from the rest of the Royal Guard and do a memory scan on him." As the transmission ended, Ganondorf turnd back to his throne and sat down again. This was already going from bad to worse with the involvement of a child from some world they'd ever even heard of. "There had better be a way to bring this boy down," he hissed under his breath. "Or it's all of your heads."
Wily nodded as the second transmission ended, ready to carry out his new orders. "So, this, Game Master has a rival. Vell, I can play at that. Hippo! Eggplant!" The two lackeys ran into the room, currently on loan to Wily from Mother Brain. "What's up, Wily?" Wily handed them a strange looking gun device. "This is a memory recorder implanter. Aim it at this Game Master, and it vill record his memories of the past, vhile implanting false, bad memories of the person in question." Hippo nodded, and he and Eggplant ran off into a warp.
Kevin looked around and frowned. "I don't like this. Doesn't Doctor Wily live on this world too?" "You're quick," Link replied. "Yeah, he does, which is why I'm surprised he hasn't sent any Robot Masters at us." Unknown to the heroes, they were being watched by King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard. Hippo aimed the recorder at Kevin and activated it, the device absorbing his memories and implanting the false ones. Kevin looked back and shook off the weird feeling he got. What was that?
Hippo and Eggplant warped back to Wily's lab, and Hippo ran over to the doctor. "We got it, Doc!" "Excellent!" Wily took the device and plugged it into a screen, watching the recorded memories and smiling evilly. "Perfect." He turned back to the robotic body he was building and continued building it, now finishing the look and personality of the machine.
Kevin looked around, quite impressed with what he saw; the lab was huge. "So, can you help us?" Theodore Light sighed as he shook his head. "Well, I can't, but if Beat were working, he could. By the way, Rock, have you found your brother yet?" That rang a bell in Kevin's mind. "Hey, that's right. Where is the Red Bomber?" Megaman shrugged. "I don't know. He went off after Wily, and that's the last I saw of him." "We should get back to the Palace," Lana remarked Link nodded as he turned to Theodore. "Theo, can you open us a warp back to the Palace of Power?" "Of course," the scientist replied as he activated the warp, the eight warriors returning back to the Palace. Lana noticed that the attacks had ended, and that meant that something was wrong. She noticed the com board flashing and activated a screen. "What is it?" "