Archive of Our Own ^beta

The Hunters’ League of Smashville were huddled outside the grotto in silent horror. They had no idea what was happening to the man they knew only as a friend. But Samus did. And it made her skin crawl.

The Shagaru Magala had been flying far too close to Smashville, outfitted with armor. It must have been a remnant of Galeem’s army, subdued and intended to be used as a weapon. It went without saying that it had to be dealt with immediately, and with as much firepower as possible. Ganondorf’s assistance was exactly what they needed.

Samus had known what he could do to it. What she wasn’t prepared for was what it could do to him.

She now knew it was called the Frenzy Virus.

When Ganondorf had moved in to send his sword through the beast’s skull, he’d taken a direct hit from the dragon’s breath. In a twist of cruel irony, it would have likely caused less damage had it been anyone else. Instead, the virus had caused the Malice embedded in him to spike out of control. The Frenzy Virus wasn’t fatal to humans… but Malice could absolutely be.

Samus looked around at the hunters. They were whispering among themselves, terrified. Ganondorf had practically become one of them. The hunters knew nothing of Hyrule, Demise, or his curse. To them, Ganondorf was “just” a seemingly invincible man with immense power and a cape, that was always willing to help in their hunts, no matter how big or dangerous the monster.

They called him Superman.

And now they waited, outside the Sanctorum Grotto, as Ganondorf rode out the horrific effects. Occasionally they could hear his raw screams of agony, causing even the most grizzled of the hunters to flinch.

Samus was doing her best to reassure the other hunters, but… what the hell was happening down there?

~~~

Richter descended into the Grotto, exchanging glances of worried horror with Palutena, who was helping Zelda maintain the wards. At the deepest chamber, sure enough, was the shackled, trembling figure of Ganondorf.

He was chained to an inscribed monolith, his breathing heavy and ragged. Richter had always felt a sort of solidarity with Ganondorf, having been cursed and used as a weapon of evil himself. Seeing such a formidable man in so much pain was… troubling, to say the least.

Without warning, Ganondorf’s head snapped up, and he SCREAMED, thrashing furiously as the Malice burning within him tore at his body, mind, and soul with renewed fervor. The chains glowed, channeling more magic, struggling to handle the fevered, inhuman strength of the delirious wizard. As he writhed, howling in agony, Richter physically recoiled at the sight of Ganondorf’s back.

Blood was trickling from several small wounds, made not by piercing from the outside, but from the INSIDE. Small points of Malice had snagged through his cape, forcing their way out through their host’s skin.

To Richter’s horror, it didn’t end there. With a guttural, soul-wrenching howl of agony, Ganondorf’s eyes went solid orange for a moment, and several even larger Malice spines tore out from his chest and shoulders.

And just as abruptly as it had begun, it was over. The massive Gerudo slumped forward with a hoarse groan of pain, suspended by the chains binding him to the monolith. Fresh blood flowed down along the spikes of Malice, the sound of their dripping onto the stone below the only thing to break the silence apart from the Gerudo King’s labored breathing.

“Richter?”

It was Robin. The young mage was visibly worried. Judging from what Richter had just seen, he had every right to be. With his confirmation that it was only a friend, Robin cautiously approached the limp form of Ganondorf.

“What are you doing?” Richter asked.

“We… we have to get these out…” muttered Robin, taking hold of one of the black spines. “If they stay in, they’ll make it worse…”

Wincing preemptively, the tactician pulled hard, tearing the shard of Malice free from its host’s flesh. He placed it inside a glowing sphere, and braced himself for the next. This one was one of the largest. Robin tried to pull it out, but it was not only slick with blood, but deeply embedded.

“Richter, I… think I’m going to need help…”

It took several tries. Each attempt was more gut-wrenching than the last, until the spike finally came loose with a horrible, wet sucking noise and a weak, gasping shudder from Ganondorf. Was— oh God, was that an EYE that had flickered in the open wound…!?

“I… I brought some of Samus’s biogel…” whispered Robin, speaking as much to Ganondorf as he was to Richter.

He carefully cleaned out the bleeding hole, even more carefully sealing it with the regenerative compound. Ganondorf was disturbingly silent and still as they worked, feeling the heat of a raging fever rising from his curse-tinted skin. He was no stranger to pain. Richter knew they had done unspeakable things to him in the prison he’d been rescued from, but now he had a macabre window directly into the Gerudo King’s inhuman capacity for suffering…

It seemed like hours. It very well could have been. Some of the wounds had multiple smaller shards within. The Malice had flared up again, requiring them to retreat until the...episode… was over. But finally, the last of the black shards was removed, bandages covering the wounds. Both Richter and Robin were covered in blood, and Ganondorf had mercifully faded into unconsciousness some time ago.

“...It’s done…” came the echoes of Robin’s voice as he led Zelda in.

The poor girl looked like she was about to cry. She reached up, having to stand on her tiptoes to gently touch the unconscious warlock’s face, resisting the urge to hug him because of his wounds. She’d had to hear everything, the poor child…

Everyone was able to breathe a sigh of relief when Palutena announced that the worst was over, and she had sent for someone to help with the aftermath.

With Palutena’s supervision, they unchained Ganondorf, with Richter and Robin taking the dead weight of the very large and very unconscious Gerudo onto their shoulders.

“G-guys! I got the message, here…!”

Isabelle was scurrying into the room, carrying… a leaf? No… She tossed it onto the ground, summoning a big, soft bed. Richter smiled as they managed to get the enormous man in. Isabelle was such a sweet girl…

Zelda placed her hand onto Ganondorf’s, and he twitched a bit, blinking slowly in a semiconscious haze. He’d been through far too much tonight.

“You’re gonna be okay, Mr. Ganondorf. You did it.”

Isabelle put a hand (a paw?) on Ganondorf’s head, gently stroking his hair a bit. He was staring up at Robin, confused.

“...Why…?”

“...I know what it’s like…” Robin said softly.

Oh. Right… Grima…

“No one should be used as a vessel for evil. I couldn’t just… not with…”

Robin sighed. Ganondorf, as out of it as he was, seemed to understand.

“...Thanks.”