I promised myself I wouldn't upload this story until I had already finished one of the ones that I'm already working on, but it seems I'm just too impatient. I've actually worked pretty hard on this (for once) and come up with a storyline and a couple of chapters in advance, so yay. This should hopefully be good. It focuses mainly on the Legend of Zelda characters at the start, but it will move on to others as the story progresses. As for pairings...well, you'll have to read to find out! (though they're pretty obvious, but oh well ^-^)

Anyway, let's start before anyone dies of boredom.

Error Code 35

Chapter 1: Infected

I didn't feel like this yesterday.

Hands shivering and coated in icy sweat, he reached out into the darkness. His palm quickly found the lamp switch on his bedside table. Crushing it in desperation for light, he soon found that there was none. The lamp wouldn't turn on, despite any further attempts.

He would have clambered out of bed at this point to locate the light switch in his room, but he could not. An unbearable feeling of nausea tethered him down. It crushed his lungs, so that every sharp breath he drew in was agony. It caused his stomach to churn, the air around him to freeze, and dizziness to seep into his mind.

I'm going to die.

Was the only thought he could make sense of in his blurry mind.

I'm going to die.

Panicking, he clutched at the duvet that trapped him and tossed it frantically away. He fought the urge to vomit as he clambered out of bed.

Help. I need help.

Staggering through the darkness towards what he knew to be the door, he caught the sound of his breathing. It was ragged and fast. It scared him.

One foot after the other...

He forced himself to focus on the words. His mind was numbing with each step. A torrent of sudden dizziness threatened to throw him off course for a moment, but he just about managed to hold onto his consciousness, though it was slipping fast. The numbness was getting stronger.

Nearly there.

The words offered no comfort as he pressed slowly on. Now the air chilled him. He shivered, but did not stop. He wasn't one for giving in, not when there was a scrap of hope left. The door was within grasp now, and he stretched out his trembling hand. It met a cool, smooth surface. The door handle.

A lot of things happened in that moment. As he flung the door open, light burnt his eyes. A dull whining entered his ears and with vision flickering, lungs burning, and heart pounding with fright in his chest, the figure made an attempt to cry out.

But nothing came. The words caught in Link's throat. No longer could he breathe, and everything overwhelmed him.

The world slipped away from the hero as he dropped to the ground, drained of strength.

The crowd roared with delight as Bowser soared away from the Yoshi's island stage and hit the boundary. Peach's formerly furious expression returned to normal as she put away her frying pan: the weapon of Bowser's destruction. It wasn't long before Fox, spotting the gap in her defence, rushed at her. The princess was unable to react in time before his kick caught her in the stomach, and knocked her in Zelda's direction. The Hylian quickly dived forwards and attacked Peach in mid-air with a magic-aided kick.

The blow was fatal, and the crowd cheered yet again as Peach shot towards the boundary.

"Looks like it's just you and me," Fox said, smirking playfully. Zelda couldn't resist smiling back as she landed gracefully on the platform, but didn't offer a reply. She was out of breath from the fight and knew she wouldn't be able to put together a sentence without sounding ridiculous.

The battle had lasted long, with each smasher beginning the match with five lives. Now two of them remained with one life each, but Fox's damage was significantly lower than Zelda's.

Nerves were starting to creep up on her, and she took a quick glance at the crowd to see if she could spot Link this time. When her attempt to locate him failed again, anxiety started to build in the pit of her stomach. Ever since they had become engaged, Link had become much more (if not, unnecessarily) overprotective of her, and insisted on offering her support from the crowd during her battles. Not that she minded, it always helped to know that there was somebody rooting for you out there.

But this time it was different. She had not seen him arrive. His enthusiastic cheers and warming smile were absent, causing a feeling of loneliness to creep into her. The majority of the people watching didn't care for the smasher's safety, they thirsted only for violence.

Fighting alone wasn't something she would be able to get used to soon.

Pikachu dashed excitedly down the hallway. His location: the kitchen. His target: Toon Link's supply of ice-cream. After several days of observation, he had discovered that the sugar supply was located in the opposite right-hand corner of the room in a tiny cupboard, suspended above the kitchen counter.

It didn't seem like the most difficult place to access, and so the mouse Pokemon had decided it was the perfect mission for a sunny Saturday afternoon, when most of the smashers were either lounging around outside or watching the four way battle between Zelda, Peach, Bowser and Fox.

What Pikachu hadn't been counting on, was the obstruction at the kitchen door. In his anxiety to reach his prize, the mouse sprinted around the last corner and ran straight into the the leg of...Toon Link?

Not Toon Link...

The Pokemon pattered backwards, dazed. The figure was far too tall to be Toon Link. He felt a little relief flood into him as he looked up to find that it was just Link, who was gazing down back at him, amusement in his eyes.

"I don't suppose you were going anywhere in particular?" The Hylian smiled. "Toon Link's ice cream supply, perhaps?"

Pikachu's hopes dropped like a stone. How had he guessed?

"Pika!" The Pokemon cried in protest.

"I'll bet that was as good as a confession."

As Link spoke, his left hand drifted slowly to his back. The movement at first seemed subconscious, but after a while, far too deliberate. As he gripped the hilt of the master sword, Pikachu stepped back, sensing the danger that radiated from the foreign look replacing the amusement in in Link's gaze. It looked wrong. Beyond unusual.

Demonic.

The sound of metal scraping metal was all too loud in the empty corridors. When the hero had unsheathed his sword, the mouse Pokemon was several metres away with electricity crackling from his cheeks, ready to run or, if necessary, fight. However, Link's attention was on his blade. His stare slid from the top to the bottom of the shining weapon.

"They called it the blade of evil's bane," he muttered distractedly. "But that doesn't suit it...not something so powerful. So deserving. Something with the potential to end the lives of not only those undeserving, but the lives of those-"

He glanced down at Pikachu.

"-I loved."

Fur prickled on the Pokemon's back. Something was seriously wrong. It wasn't everyday that Link turned a casual conversation into a twisted monologue. His suspicion was confirmed when the hero raised his left hand to reveal the Triforce. It was glowing radiantly on the back of Link's hand, but it was no longer a vibrant gold.

It was dark green.

Before Pikachu could even register what was about to happen, the Triforce vanished from Link's hand. In a flash of light it was suddenly around him, the dark energy choked his power and clouded his thoughts. His squeals of pain brought nothing but a sick smile to Link's face.

"The nightmare is about to begin. Count yourself lucky that you won't be alive to bear witness," he muttered, twisting the master sword between his fingers so that the tip rested against the helpless mouse Pokemon's stomach.

But before it could pierce him, the point was suddenly withdrawn.

Pikachu heard an angry hiss and opened his eyes. Link was pinned to the ground by Master Hand. After a few seconds of struggling, Crazy Hand approached swiftly with a sedative in his grip. As Link's struggling stopped and his body slumped lifelessly, the Triforce imprisoning Pikachu vanished, and he dropped onto all fours, shaking.

"Are you OK?" Master Hand glided over to him as Link was dragged away by Crazy Hand. The Pokemon shuddered. He didn't feel particularly unwell, if not a little sick and dizzy.

"Pik-a-Pika."

"Not too bad? I don't know, maybe we should have you checked out by the medics. I don't want you becoming ill from any side effects of the attack."

"Pika?" Pikachu questioned.

"I'm no wiser on this one than you are, I'm afraid. Link will be placed in confinement until I can find out what's wrong with him. We'll also need to find out how he used his final smash without a smash ball. You're lucky we reached you in time before he completed it."

The Pokemon looked away, upset. His friend had been about to kill him, and had almost succeeded. Just what had been going through Link's head?

"Don't worry, little guy," Master hand soothed. "I'm almost sure that the person who attacked you wasn't Link. Not the Link we all know and trust, that part of him seems to have gone, for now."

But will we be able to get him back again?

Pikachu wondered sadly as he followed after the commentator towards the infirmary.

Good? Bad? Improvements? All welcome. Please click on that magical little button below with the speech bubble on it, it will stop me from dying! I don't mind concrit. I'd love to know how I can become a better writer :)

Oh yeah, this will be updating weekly, every Sunday I hope, but it could vary knowing me and my stupidly busy life. Hope you liked it, until the next chapter: Victims.