BEN DROWNED

"Hey!" I walked up to Mario. "You remind me of someone. Would you so happen to know of this chat place called BlazeCastle07? It was a constantly trolled Sonic chat site. Would you happen to be the Mario that was on there?"

"Oh my God, I remember that place! Good times... Anyway, I got all the crap we need, next time, I am not doing the shopping." Mario dumped all the stuff onto the ground so the group could pick out what they wanted from the pile, so everything would be even.

From behind the tower, Tingle overheard Mario's conversation. "Heehee. You won't be shopping any time soon..." He was speaking in BEN's whispery, emotionless voice. He flew off to West Clock Town, just above the heads of the citizens of Clock Town.

BEN loved taking Tingle's form, he knew most people hated it, and it allowed him to fly wherever he liked. It was time to play...

The shopkeeper at the Trading Post stood in his shop alone, scratching his incredibly itchy back. "Yawn...slow day today..." Tingle/BEN then entered through the wall. "You will give me all of your merchandise now."

"Why should I do tha-" The man stopped talking, as BEN stared at him. The shopkeeper passed out from fear onto the floor. He wouldn't be moving from that spot, at least until the next cycle of days.

BEN burned the Deku Nuts, Deku Sticks, Hearts, Shields, and Arrows, took all the Hearts for himself, and emptied out the potions, all right in the middle of the store. Now the group wouldn't have the chance to restock any of their items if they ran low., making them easy pickings.

Next, BEN flew to the Milk Bar, where Mr. Barton was cleaning up, humming a tune as he scrubbed the old milk from the floor. He was working extra hard, since the Carnival of Time was almost here. BEN made his way sneakily to the back room, where he put a special mixture into the milk, causing anyone who drinks it to be completely wasted, and thus useless, for an entire three day cycle. He was quite proud, he knew for sure he'd stop the group.

"MARIO! BUDDY OL' PAL! Thought it was you!" I said death-hugging the poor victim. Once as I let go, I couldn't help but notice Tingle soaring across the sky. "Hmm. He normally stays in North Clock Town. What's up with him?"


I looked over at Eykon. "We may have to go find the masks in this place. Only way to get out of here... would be to overthrow BEN, I think. I don't know how we'd do that. The kid's awful clever some--" Then I remembered this was his world, he heard all. "--All the time. Not only that, Link's elegy statues are invincible, it seems. He's a ghost, we can't... kill him. He's already dead."

Nova was hovering above clocktown once more when he noticed DJ, Jake, ad Ekyon, and made his decent much more gently then before. "So are we all ready?" He said as he landed.

Chris felt something approaching as his visors went down." I'm detecting a massive energy reading."

There was a massive energy of Blue light descending down, a figure in blue appeared as it was human looking, the eyes were clearly visible , the figure had blond hair as it had a holy looking sort of attar, it was indeed female looking over the age of 18. She spoke in a very well pronounced voice of innocence.

The figure then spoke out as if she was awaiting the group. " Evening young beings, I am the Goddess Eesa, or Luze. It appears all of you were sucked into here. Or had a will to come here. Correct?"

Chris nodded.

Luze started up again. " I noticed there were corrupted files in what people call a ' cartridge '. So there are several alterations not even I can comprehend. However I reward things far greater then you could buy at times. All I require of you all is to face my 'arcanas'" She smiled somewhat " However, do not fear death or to lose to these 'arcanas'. You have plenty of chance to defeat them, and I reward handsomely. Just seek me out if you ever wish to accept the challenge." She smiled once more as she practically hovered near a save owl and remained there.

Chris spoke out " Luze, the goddess Eesa, Arcana user, recorded. Log updated."

Eykon took some Deku Nuts and observed them. "These shall do nicely." He said, putting them into his pocket. "The rest of the spoils are for you." When the goddess appeared, Eykon seemed unimpressed. "I follow my goddess Europa." He said in a monotone voice.

Luze simply giggled as she found Eykon amusing." I do not expect anyone to follow me. So that's just fine. It's not like I will look down on you for it." she simply smiled.

"So, we're ready. We can't stand around, that leaves us open for attack! I'll take the Deku Mask, so I'll go to the South. I'll be fine on my own." I walked to the South Gate, then to the swamp. I had NO idea if the mask was there, but it wouldn't kill to look. Or would it? Nah.

Eykon watched DJ when he walked away. He thought to himself for a moment, and then started chasing after him. "Gr...Hold! Do not make such a hasty departure; there are those in this group who aren't knowledgeable of this land!" He had to fly shortly to catch up with DJ, but he wasn't out of breath when he did get there. "I have observed the others unfortunate enough to have been hexed such as I; and I believe that you can teach me about this place. I beseech you to allow me to accompany you on your travels, so I may learn how to live in a place so foreign to my eyes. In return I shall give you my strength and wit so any obstacles can be more easily overcome." He bowed slightly.

"As you wish." I smiled. I continued to walk, my eyes going into another world. "This boy named Ben who is hellbent on killing us has a reason. He's not angry at us, he's angry at the one who's kept him caged up in here, Jadusable. Really, if he had released BEN out into the world, the horrors would be on Earth, not Termina. I wonder what would happen if that was the case? In truth... I believe Ben is simply a clever child, who could be as innocent as any other kid. But this game is his mask. No one even knows if he's a child. He's awful intelligent to be able to do the things he's doing now. Ben can't possess us, because we have a conscience, whereas the people around us, do not. They're materialized digits. We can't trust anyone but our own group. Ben's manipulated plenty, even Jadusable himself. I... have a feeling he's not here. When Ben grew too strong for Jadusable to handle, and the boy eventually broke Jadusable's sanity, it's been said that Jadusable released a document, which I've studied well, about his time struggling with Ben. He destroyed his computer and possibly killed himself later. All we know is that Jadusable vanished form the face of the earth. No one knows his whereabouts." I stopped to see if Eykon was paying attention. "So, with that said, don't let any trickery around here confuse you. Just listen to me and Mario. We'll make sure the group is fine. Telltale signs of his tricks are things like hearing 'You shouldn't have done that', or if you get injured from something totally random, or something that shouldn't harm you. He's out to wreak his revenge. I personally believe it's Skullkid and the Lunar children that are pissing him off. I've heard rumors of a cult by the name 'Moon Children', plus a nightmare Jadusable had during his fight against BEN. Whether it's true or not, we could probably do a favor for him by eliminating Skullkid, his moon, and the Lunar children. That may be our only way home. We can't defeat Ben himself, for he's undead. If we kill his vessel, he'll simply possess another."

Mario quickly tailed behind. "He's right, Deku. Splitting up will be too confusing. We should all stick together. Termina is pretty big, and very dangerous, especially with a dead kid stalking us. We're gonna need to use all of our skills together if we want to make it out of this place alive. Let's all head to the Southern Swamp together."

All of a sudden, the music that regularly echoes through Termina Field stopped. "Oh crap! He found us, didn't he?" The Song of Healing played backwards, as a figure stepped out from the woods. As soon as the figure was visible, the music stopped again.

It turns out, it wasn't anything scary at all. It was the Happy Mask Salesman himself, his theme playing normally, in a calm, upbeat form, not at all eerie.

"Why hello there, travelers." The man said with a friendly smile. "I see you're in a bit of a pickle. I've never seen you folk before. Do you need any help finding your way around this land?"

"Uh, yeah." Mario said. "We're...not from around here. We're just looking for a way to leave. Do you have a map or something that we could borrow?"

"Maybe I can help you if you help me..." The man continued. "You see, I used to own a shop in a different land about a year ago."

"Selling masks, right?" Mario asked.

The salesman seemed confused. "My, no. I don't sell masks. My friends just call me the Happy Mask Salesman. Hee, hee, hee!" That did not seem normal at all. The HMS was even still wearing his backpack, covered in masks, even including the ones of Darth Maul, Elvis, and Mario from Super Mario Brothers as small jokes.

"You see, I used to travel the world in search of precious things to sell. However, in my travels, I once found a...strange cartridge."

Okay, something was suspicious here. Normally, he would be talking about Majora's Mask.

"The cartridge was worshipped by a strange cult. They called themselves the Moon Children, I believe. They were all just orphaned children, 30 of them total. Each wearing a unique mask. I barely escaped with my life when I got my hands on the cartridge..."

"I traveled far away, to a land much different than this one. Much more advanced. I kept it at my store, never selling it. One day, a pesky little boy, no more than ten years old, stole the cartridge..."

"After that, the cult found me. They wanted the cartridge back. I didn't have it. So, they forced me to disguise myself as an old man. When I found the boy, he was in a coma. The cartridge had done it. I went to the nearby lake, and I..."

He paused. The music in the background got softer, but it was still playing forward, which was very strange for a situation like this. Suddenly, the sky darkened. The HMS's face turned to his evil, mad expression.

"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

Everything went black. Seconds later, everything was normal. The sky, the music, everything. However, the salesman was gone. In his place were two things.

The first was a map. This was nothing like one of Tingle's. It showed the whole land already. The moon was painted on it, as well as an actual moving clock. Four symbols, showing the Four Giants, were in the place of the dungeons.

The second item was the Deku Mask. It would obviously be needed from here on out.

"Alright guys." Mario said. "We better get going. We don't want anymore creepy stuff like that happening again."

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A young woman paced the floor. "Sigh...he's been gone for days." She was showing quite a bit of worry. "He better not be walking out when our wedding is only days away."

A young man ran as fast as he could to get to East Clock Town. The sky had turned dark for a few seconds, something basically unheard of to Terminian science. The inn was not very far, but it felt strange to walk in darkness when it wasn't even noon yet.

Finally, the young man made it inside the inn, his soon-to-be wife standing behind the desk as usual. "There you are, Kafei!" She exclaimed. "I've been worried sick! Why on earth were you late?"

"Anju..." the man with the purpleish-blue hair breathed heavily. "I am so sorry for being late coming to visit. Something is very wrong with the weather outside today."

"That's been your excuse for everything lately! You were probably drinking at the Milk Bar, talking to all of the sweaty men about things that should definately be private!" The woman named Anju was clearly very mad. "I'm beginning to think...you don't really care..."

"Anju...You know that I would never do any of those things. You mean everything to me. I'm so sorry..." Kafei looked down, much too nervous to look at his lover's face.

"Kafei...I just want to be alone for now. Come back later." Anju shut her eyes, trying to hold back tears.

This was all very humorous to BEN. He had been watching the whole time. He took shelter from the strange darkness inside of the Stock Pot Inn. He knew he had to cause some mischief between these two.

BEN's invisible form jumped inside of Anju's mind, taking her over completely. He dragged her into a shroud of nothing, as she coughed and screamed for help. Kafei could only watch as Anju disappeared from view.

He feel to his knees, finally letting his sadness out.

"That... sounds like a lie, except the last part. The cult sounds valid, as well as the boy in a coma. I don't think he stole the cartridge, however. There must be a way that they've showed up in here, and it's NOT just because they killed a kid by the name of Benjamin. That's... not possible. If only he was here, and not out to totally kill us, perhaps we could get this straightened out. Something tells me Ben isn't the enemy here, more or less, this cagey salesman." I took the mask from the ground. "Perhaps, if the cult has been brought here too, that we must rid them from here, too?" I looked at it. "I'm not wearing this now." I placed it in a safe spot, which seemed to be in a magical pocket and it seemed as if the mask disappeared. "There will be bogus information, and there will be information that's authentic. So scratch what I said. We may have to listen to Ben and the people of Termina to put the pieces together."

Eykon shrank a little when the creepy stuff started happening. "I'm afraid I'm no good when it comes to the paranormal. All of it gives me shivers. As far as the story goes, I understand. I shall do my best to assist you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a square orange crystal that had four strings coming off of the corners. He put the strings around his ears and fastened them, so the crystal was hanging right in front of his lips. "I've stated before that I am unable to breathe fire, despite being part dragon. This allows me to breathe fire. I hope you understand why I wish to wear this at this time."

C.S. Mk.II was exploring the town as he observed Kafei and Anju.

He updated his log " Kafei, male, Anju, female, soon to be couple facing a crisis." He said before activating his short rang flame jets on his feet. After a bit he would catch up with the group as he landed besides them as he quickly explained the situation " A couple known as Kafei and Anju are arguing in clock town, location. stock and Pot inn."

He stood there expressionless waiting for orders on what he should do.

"Hmm? But I thought they were getting married. Alright. Allow me to go. You guys go and find the masks you need. I will stick with Chris. You guys need to stick together. No one goes alone. I'll have this android with me. Lirit, stay with them, if you're from my heart. We're connected, right? Then you stay with Mario while I go along. If I need to send out help, i'll simply use my heart, which you are the megaphone for."

"Got it!" Lirit replied as I walked to the East gate of Clock Town.

"Sounds like the mischievous work of a statue we know all too well. Maybe I can confront him for some information."

C.S Mk.II nodded " affirmative." He would follow beside D.J as he would attempt to make conversation. " How are you sir?" He would say as he continued to walk with him.

"Intrigued. I'm rather attracted to this whole story. Did Jadusable ever speak of a higher being? And I wonder if he'll cave soon?" I placed my hand on the door of Stock Pot Inn, but thought. Ben's behind that door. Was I truly ready to go after him? There was a window I could peek through, but if BEN saw me through the window, that'd be the end of me. I decided to peek first. Were both Kafei and Anju there? I saw Kafei slumped on the floor, and Anju gone. What had happened? If the android had gotten in, why not me? I always believed that when it came to things outside of math, that humans were superior to robots. We created them, after all. After a few deep breaths, I opened the door.


"What's going on in here?" I asked, the place seeming eerily empty. "Kafei?"

"Alrighty. Me, Lirit, Eykon, and Nova will be going on ahead to the swamp. Be careful near that messed-up kid, okay?" Mario walked off with the rest of the group towards the southern region of Termina.

Suddenly, while they walked on the forest path, a giant hand reached out of the map, dragging Nova inside, killing him instantly.

(He said he wasn't gonna post anymore. Anyone who stops posting gets killed by BEN.)

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Inside the Stock Pot Inn, Kafei continued sobbing as Anju was taken away. She floating through the ceiling into a void of nothingness outside. BEN's emotionless, whispery laugh sounded throughout the room, somehow both loud and quiet.

"Wh-who are you?" Kafei asked, shaking with fear. BEN laughed yet again, however he was nowhere in sight. "Heh heh heh. I'm getting new toys every day. Tingle, the man from the Trading Post, Mr. Barton, Anju...even your friend Nova! Hee hee hee!" He sounded very innocent and childish, but evil all the same.

C.S. Mk.II Attempted to can the void, it's power was uncomprahendable. Chris then proceeded to look at Kafei. " I am Christopher Shuzen Mark.II. I am here to investagate. So explain the situation sir." He said quite flatly.

"M-my future wife...she...she was mad at me. And n-now, for some reason, she's gone..." Kafei explained, through tears.

"And she now belongs to me!" BEN taunted.

"Nova? You mean the very Nova I've been friends with for 3 years?!" My color changed to red. "SHOW YOURSELF, BEN!!" Then I stopped, and calmed. "No. Fighting you isn't going help either of our true causes now is it? I wonder what you truly mean to do, Ben. I'll avenge Nova later, but for now, I want answers. Why did you take all those people, when there's one man in this place you should have killed all along? How come you'll kill off Link, who's fighting to stop the moon, yet, leave the very man who's giving you all the trouble be? When will you open your eyes and understand that what you're doing is making you go backwards in progress?" I knew I had crossed more than a few lines. If Nova was gone, I'd avenge him, even if it meant joining him. (I'm not suggesting that I want to die!) "I regret nothing. I suggest you show yourself. I'm not here to fight. More or less, for answers, like I said. You and that mask salesman have a shitload to explain, and I'm starting with you."

C.S. Mk.II took note " D.J, we have quite a conundrome" Chris stood there by D.J looking between him and Kafei.

All of a sudden, BEN's laughter stopped. "H-how do you know about The Father?!" His emotionless voice rang out, even louder than before. He decided to answer DJ's other questions. The infamous statue appeared, hovered over the desk in the lobby. "You don't get it, do you? This is all just a game! I'm certainly having fun, it doesn't mean you should too. I did not kill anyone. I'm just taking my turn to play with them. You'll get them back later, if you are nice!"

"My power is not as great as The Father's. I am cursed to stay in this cartridge, doomed to haunt the residents of Termina forever. And when someone finds the cartridge, I can use them to help me. Unfortunately, no one likes playing along..." Right then, an earthquake struck the building, ringing the bell atop the inn loudly.

"What's going on? What is he talking about?" Kafei panicked, obviously unaware he lived inside of a small gray box.

The Song of Healing played in reverse, with BEN laughing along with the notes.

"It's an earthquake caused by him, get out of here immediately before the structure collapses on you, Kafei! Do it, now!" I ran over, opened the door, ran out, keeping it open for Kafei and Chrism to escape. "Damn, he truly is stubborn. So Jadusable was right, there. But how much was he right about Ben?" I chuckled. "This 'Father' approached my friends and I directly, he seemed like a slimy liar. I never said I wasn't having fun. Thank you for not killing my friend. Things would get ugly if that's what you had done. Although I must admit! I never heard of anyone having fun under a curse!" I chuckled again.


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Lirit flinched. "Guys, I think DJ got Ben a little angry..." He heard the Stock Pot Inn Bell toll, then saw the earth shake. "hah hah... only a little..." He was uneasy.

Eykon growled again. Then he spoke. "BEN is capable of doing whatever he wishes. I am worried however. DJ had once stated that BEN cannot possess those who are living; as they have souls and therefore have to room to be occupied, but he can possess technology. However, the android that is currently accompanying him is exactly that-technology. Perhaps it's my own fear of the paranormal using my lips, but I forsee calamities befalling the android and those around him due to BEN's tampering." He turned to Mario. "I do not wish to be a bother; I have no doubt in my mind that DJ can take care of himself. We should continue to our destination with haste."