The Twilight Princess 2: The Time Forgotten

Four

"What are these?" Zoey dangled a heap of chords on her fingertips, back in Zerelelia. "These are very dangerous. Stay away from them, or you'll break the connection." Dr. Krawl placed the chords on a top shelf. Seeing the suspicious look he was getting from Zoey, Krawl sighed and explained. "They're tracking chords. You see, I'm trying to track a bounty hunter."

Kai turned his head to them. "A bounty hunter? Here, in the kingdom?" Dr. Krawl nodded. "Yes. I'm afraid so." Suddenly, a bunch of sirens sounded down the street. Dr. Krawl poked his head out to see what was going on. Someone had set fire to a villager's house. An ambulance carried out an elderly man on a gurney. He was completely covered in smoke, barely breathing.

"Who could have done this?" Zoey popped her head out too, examining the situation. "I only know of one." Dr. Krawl said, not making eye contact with her. "The princess's own bounty hunter. Ora Gloon."

Zoey and Kai turned to each other. "Maybe we can help," Kai said. Dr. Krawl stuck his head back inside. "How?" He raised an eyebrow. "We can help catch him."

Krawl shook his head several times. "Oh no. No, no, no. That's a bad idea. This guy is said to be the toughest in the land. He supposedly has the strength of at least 10 Zeru, probably even more. You kids wouldn't be able to take him on. I can't let you do that."

He opened the front door. "I'm going to go investigate. Now, both of you stay put. Got it?" They both nodded, and Krawl nervously walked out and shut the door tightly behind him, and locked it. After the click of the door occurred, Kai immediately jumped up. "Let's go catch a bounty hunter!" He exclaimed heroically and gleefully. He started to sprint to the door, but Zoey stopped him. "Kai, we can't...you heard Dr. Krawl—

"But what if this is the kind of help he needs? He won't admit it, but he needs our help." Zoey tossed her head back and laughed. "You sound like Aria." All of a sudden, a gust of wind blew through. "That's strange," Zoey said, heading over to the window. "The window is closed."

A loud crash emerged from behind them. Kai turned around, only to see the heap of chords all tangled together on the floor. "You better pick those up before Krawl notices," he said. Zoey bent down and reached her hand out to pick one up, when a dart came sailing just barely past her head, landing on the wall.

"Whoa, where did that come from?" Kai turned to Zoey, then his gaze fell upon the dart itself. Then, right before his eyes, another one came, this time landing on the floor right next to his shoe. "We should probably get out of here—

"Not so fast," a scaly voice echoed. Kai and Zoey's gaze fell upon the masked figure standing in front of the front door. The upper half of his face appeared to be that of a robot's, while the lower half was covered with a bright red bandana, which also covered his mouth. He held out an odd-looking weapon, which must have been where the darts were coming from.

Thinking fast, Kai grabbed ahold of Zoey's hand, forcing her to stand up. "I'll distract him. You get out of here," he told her. Though she looked like she was about to say something, she just nodded, lips pressed together firmly, too frightened to find words. She watched closely from behind one of the many cardboard boxes scattered across the room as Kai grabbed one of them and hurled it at the creepy shooting robot thing.

It dodged the attack though, and instead shot another dart towards Kai's face. He picked up another box, using it as a shield in front of his face. But the dart flew straight through the box, leaving a hole in it. Kai ducked just in time. The dart landed on the wall again. The assassin, frustrated, took another weapon out of its pocket, which somewhat looked just like a blow dryer--but it certainly wasn't one.

The assassin pulled the trigger, and a fiery bullet shot out almost immediately. Zoey couldn't bear to see this go on. She knew she had to take action and do something. She scanned the area, searching for a solution. Then she spot it. While Kai kept the assassin busy dodging his attacks, Zoey sneakily crawled over to a nearby outlet, which was plugged in. "Let's see how ya do without power," she whispered. She ripped the plugs right out, and suddenly everything became pitch black.

The assassin, not being able to see anything, stepped back and stumbled on a pile of boxes and crates. "Quick, now's our chance," Kai whispered to Zoey. He started to crawl towards the door. "No," Zoey stopped him. "That's too obvious. The door creaks when it opens. He might hear us." She started to think, and suddenly remembered how she and Ro escaped from the monster back in the castle two years ago. "Through the vent!" She commanded.

Kai busted it open, unscrewing each of the four bolts. "Well," he said, gesturing her in. "Ladies first." Zoey rolled her eyes and climbed in. Kai looked to make sure that the assassin wasn't on to them. Suddenly, its circular eyes flashed an extremely bright red. "Uh oh." Kai quickly climbed in, and put the screen back on behind him. "What is it?" Zoey asked from in front of him, trying to stay calm, but a hint of unsureness pinched at her voice.

"Go. Quick. I think he can see us." Zoey started to slow down. "What do you mean?" She asked, clearly alarmed now. "Just go, don't stop." He gave her a little push.

"Ouch."

"Shush."

"What was that for?"

"Hurry up."

A grumble that short the whole vent alerted them both to move faster. "We're almost there...come on," Kai said a few minutes later. "How do you know? It's completely pitch black in here."

"'Cause...I...just—know—no need to be such a smart alec!" Zoey tittered at his answer. "Oh really? I'm the smart alec?" A small gust of light ahead of them interrupted. "Hey, I think I see an opening!" Zoey exclaimed, pointing to it. Kai shrugged. "Oh, well, now there's an opening."

As soon as they reached it, they climbed out of the vent only to set foot on a snow-dusted, cobblestone street. "Ah, that feels much better," Kai said as he stretched out his legs. Zoey laughed, stretching her own legs. "I agree."

"Zoey? Kai? What are you two doing out here?" Dr. Krawl caught a glimpse of the two from down the street and headed over to them. "I thought I told you guys to stay inside." He crossed his arms firmly, waiting for their explanation. Kai pointed to Krawl's house. "There was a robot thing, shooting darts and bullets, with glowing red eyes—

"A robot thing? You can't be serious." Krawl tossed his head back. Zoey nodded, trying to support Kai's case. "He's telling the truth. I was there with him." Dr. Krawl looked down at the ground and shook his head. "This could be very bad, I'm afraid."

"What is it?" Zoey asked him. "Well, it's bad enough that there is a bounty hunter on the loose. Now we've got some shooting robot thing too? This kingdom could be in a lot of danger," Dr. Krawl explained. "If only the Chosen One was here."

After a brief moment of silence, Zoey stepped forward. "What if I could fill in for her? I mean, someone needs to do something." Kai laughed. "You? I'm not sure that's how that works." Krawl nodded. "He's right. Only one has the power to banish all evil. And she's in a whole different time right now."

Dr. Krawl turned his attention to the sound of even more sirens. "Another one?" He walked over. Zoey sighed with annoyance. Kai turned to her. "What?"

"We can't just sit around while Zerelelia is literally shred down to pieces." Kai shrugged. "So, what do you suggest we do?" Suddenly, Zoey caught sight of a fleeing sniper. "Shhhh." She grabbed Kai by the jacket and flung him behind a wall along with herself, out of sight. The sniper wore a jacket that read "Property of the Twilight Princess." Zoey half-smiled. "Time to catch a bounty hunter.