Shadow Fire

At first, he found himself feeling uneasy, given the odd surroundings, but then he remembered something that Nights had told him. "If you believe, you can do anything in Nightopia. I wonder..." Sonic closed his eyes, tilting his head up as if to let the very heavens see his face. Slowly, he began to lift off the ground. Opening his eyes, the blue hedgehog smiled. Well, that's the easy part...

Looking up at the Forest Temple's entrance, the green-hatted boy frowned at the broken stairway. Suddenly, he remembered the Hookshot. Putting an arm around Kaze, he aimed the Hookshot at a branch that overhung the entrance of the temple, before firing. After being pulled up to the entrance, Link let go of Kaze and smiled. Shall we?

Opening his eyes, Sonic found himself in a place he hadn't been for some time. A beautiful oasis was before him, stars twinkling in the sky above. "It's... Nightopia..." Glancing around, he realized he couldn't spot Nights anywhere.

The green hedgehog gave a soft chuckle. "It's okay. Today wasn't going to have any schoolwork. Lazy day or some crap." Moving closer, he nibbled on the white hedgehog's ear. "So, why don't you come to my room, and I'll show you a more productive way to spend the day?"

While he slumbered, Silver dreamed of the past, when he and Ethan shared a room in the Pokemon Center, and a smile appeared on his sleeping maw. Ethan.

As the trio played, Link felt a small power flow through him, and he stared at his ocarina when they were done. Sheik glanced at the other two mysteriously. "Link, Kaze... I shall meet you again." Taking a few steps back, Sheik suddenly threw down a Deku Fruit, and when the flash faded, was gone. O...kay?

As the two sat in silence, Sonic found himself falling asleep, head resting gently on the Nightmaren's shoulder. An ear flickered, but he slept peacefully. Mmm... Nights...

Manic grinned even wider, pulling Light close. "Somehow, I get the feeling we're gonna be late." Moments later, the sound of a certain blue hedgehog gasping floated from the bedroom.

Giving a soft chuckle, Modern brushed a finger under his nose. "Ah, yes... that fateful encounter. Take it from me... Knucklehead still gets easily fooled. As a matter of fact..." The green-eyed hedgehog began telling stories of his adventures, starting with when Eggman had found the Chaos Manuscripts.

Some time later, Silver had fallen asleep again, kept warm by the little bundle that had nuzzled up against him for warmth.

Smiling into the kiss, Silver let his psychokinesis flare, lifting the two of them off the ground, hovering a few inches above it. Is this what they mean when they say 'as lovesick as a schoolgirl'?

Looking around, Link suddenly gave a soft gasp as a familiar form dropped down before him. Sheik slowly stood and began walking towards the two heroes. "The flow of time is cruel..." he said. "Each person perceives its speed differently, but it never changes. What time doesn't change is a memory of childhood days. If you wish to return here, listen and play the Minuet of the Forest." As Sheik brought out his harp, Link prepared his ocarina.

As the title implies, this is where you can post your Christmas swag for 2015. Super Mario Maker Wii U Bundle Skylanders (I'll be honest, not likely gonna play it. It came with the console) $20 JB Hifi Gift Card Sonic the Hedgehog 3D Motion Mug Dancing Groot Figurine Santa Fur Plushy Not pictured, but also received was the Pentatonix CD "That's Christmas to Me".

Both of your levels were great. Rather simple in design, not too challenging, and rather fun. The second one was a bit tricky in some parts, but that's more down to the engine being finicky with its jump physics.

Plenty of Mario levels in the past have had similar mechanics, with leaps of faith and unavoidable death traps as life sinks. I was inspired by such levels and it's what led to this one, but I can understand where you're coming from. However, there are some even more sadistic levels on there. Ironically, it took me hours to do that level. I was really enjoying playing around with it.

So, like... I got Super Mario Maker for Christmas, and I have been having so much fun with it. After a lot of experimentation, I just (literally at the time of this post) uploaded my first level. I will be sharing it, but I figured this topic could be used to post codes to levels that either the community has made, or found interesting. So, without further ado, here it is. Course DeletedSadly, this course was automatically deleted.

A little of both, actually. While I did want to keep the community on the newest version, Invision merged the suit, supposedly making it easier for each component to interact with one another. We saw how good that was, lol.

We do. I just made an executive decision, and boy, it was a bad one. It may be difficult to fathom, but the alpha builds of IPB 4 were somewhat more stable than the final release. To use a gaming analogy, the alpha was akin to Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (which isn't really a bad game, it's just different) while the final was more akin to the CD-i games (which looked like crap and was broken like all hell).

I am willing to admit it: I fucked up royally by "upgrading" to 4.x. It was a horrible, broken mess, and until they (Invision) sort out their shit, I won't be budging from this software any time soon. Even then, I'll bring it to the rest of the staff and have a full look at things before making any decisions.

Fallout 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops III, both on Xbox One.

Good idea. I'll get right on that.

Closure RequestThe topic author has requested this topic's closure. Topic closed. If you feel this is in error, please consult a member of staff.

That's the odd thing. The private messages are in the SQL tables, and are showing in the ACP, but aren't showing in the Message list for some reason. I thought I had restored reputation, but I may not have. It's low priority at the moment. Anyway, glad to be able to do things again. 4.x was terribad. Not sure. There's a lot to go through, but I think you had actually posted mostly in other places. You, like many others, were kind of daunted by 4.x, and rightfully so.

So, since IPB 4.0 was a colossal crapfest, the forums have been reverted to 3.4. There were a few complications, but for the most part, things are fine. Some of the features that were previously available are currently missing, but they will be restored in the near future. However, any users that registered after July 23, 2015 will no longer be in the system. In addition, posts, messages, etc that were made after July 23, 2015 are also gone, but I have a backup. If you are requiring a post to be remade, I can post it, and change the topic author. Simply make a request, and I'll do what I can.

Whew... took a while, but I finally completed another chapter. Of all of them thus far, this one was the most difficult to write. Writer's block is a bitch. Anyway, enjoy! :3 Chapter 18: Goodbye, My Friends The boy's legs seemed to grow heavier with each passing moment as he raced to Shiek's side. Kneeling down beside him, Link gently cradled the Sheikah close. "Sheik!" he gasped out. "Sheik! Please, open your eyes!" The last remnant of Princess Zelda slowly opened his eyes, a weak smile forming as he recognised the elven boy that held him. "L-Link..." he wheezed. "Y-you... m-m-made... it..." A look of hopelessness was Sheik's response. Eyes filling with tears, Link stifled a sob, giving a desperate nod. The petit male smiled a little wider, paying no heed to the blood that drooled down the savage wounds he was a victim of. "G-good..." he continued. "I-I'm g-g-glad... that you--" "Enough!" was Link's anguished interruption. "You have to conserve your strength! You have to... you have to!" Tears freely flowing, Link attempted to clean the blood from Sheik, giving a strained cry as fresh blood continued to seep forth, showing no signs of cease. A gurgling cough came from the Sheikah, who weakly shook his head at Link. "Too late..." he choked out. "Th-there's... nothing... you c-can do..." The pained look that showed on Link's face intensified as a trembling hand was lifted, to grip onto the green-clad boy's tunic, undoubtedly staining it with a bloody handprint. Sheik's smile faded. "It..." the Sheikah resumed. "...h-happened... s-so... quickly... S-s-so... m-many... m-monsters... Held them off... f-for as... l-l-long as... b-but... c-c-couldn't..." Sheik trailed off, giving very wet-sounding coughs, more blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Link fussed over him as well as he could, and opened his mouth to speak, but Sheik beat him to it. "S-so sorry..." he added. "It's... all my... f-fault..." The blond hero shook his head, cradling the ninja closer, ignoring the additional crimson stains that soaked his tunic. "No..." he choked out. "It's my fault. I should have been quicker. I took too long to return, and because of that, you..." Trailing off, the boy found himself unable to restrain his soft, distraught sobs any longer. As he wept, a sudden feeling of dread came to him. Fighting back panic, he scanned around, only now noticing remains of monsters, but with each sight, his panic began to show. Swallowing, he turned back to Sheik, his frantic gaze meeting with the younger boy's. "Where is she?" he demanded. "Where...?" The panic the boy felt as the dying ninja averted his gaze increased tenfold, the other blond looking quite, for lack of a better word, guilty. "I-I'm..." he wheezed. "...s-s-she..." Voice trailing, the Sheikah expelled a violent fit of coughs, specks of his blood spraying out. Alarmed, Link attempted to fuss over him again, but Sheik weakly swatted his hand away, still keeping his gaze averted. "...s-saved me..." the ninja continued. "...s-saved the t-t-temple... and... the g-gate." Although his limbs began to feel even heavier, Sheik lifted his hand and gestured to a nearby monster's cadaver. Turning his gaze, Link stared at the corpse, confused. "B-but..." he stammered. "Where is she?" Sheik trembled, hesitantly glancing at Link, before speaking a single word that made the green-clad boy's entire form freeze up. "...gone..." Time seemed to screech to a halt at that one uttered word. Eyes widened in despair, the green-hatted boy turned to face Sheik, a look of pure disbelief coming to his face. Slowly, he shook his head. "N-no..." the hero choked out. "It's not... she can't be...!" As Link tried to find his words, Sheik averted his gaze again, staring over at the monster corpse. "It... did this..." he replied, trying not to choke with each word. "N-Navi... did what she... c-c-could... t-to heal m-me... but... t-t-too strong..." Staring back at the boy he cradled in his arms, Link listened as Sheik continued his explanation. "There was o-only one thing she c-c-could d-do..." the crimson-eyed boy said. "She... f-flew right up t-to it... and... w-w-with all her p-power... d-destroyed the b-beast..." A strained sob escaped from Link, and he felt like hyperventilating. He could do naught but imagine how hopeless the situation was if Navi had to expend her life force. Staring back over at the beast's remains, it was then that he realised what exactly must have happened. "I understand..." he said softly. "I was in the past. If the gate was destroyed on this side, I'd have been..." With another sob, he stared back at the boy in his arms, only to gasp as he saw two crimson eyes staring back into his, a sad smile on their owner's face. "C-c-couldn't..." the boy coughed out. "...l-let you... c-c-couldn't... l-lose you..." The Hero of Time felt his cheeks warming as Sheik reached up and weakly cupped his face. Again, Link ignored the blood, reaching up with a hand to place it over Sheik's. Reciprocating the sad smile, the hero listened as Sheik continued. "I was... b-born from Z-Zelda..." he explained. "This... you already... know... b-but... I never r-r-revealed... h-how I f-felt..." Unable to articulate a reaction, Link just stared, his cheeks reddening at the sudden revelation. "L-Link..." he continued. "I... l-love... you..." Cheeks becoming even redder, Link was taken aback as Sheik leaned up and pressed his lips to the other boy's. Link felt his eyes flutter shut, applying a soft amount of pressure in return. When he felt the pressure slacken, he pulled away and looked at the other boy. "Sheik?" he began. "Why me?" There was no response. Sheik's eyes were closed, and when he removed his hand from Sheik's, it slumped onto his unmoving form. Eyes widening, he gave a disbelieving sob, and began gently shaking the lifeless boy. "Hey, wake up!" he sobbed. "Don't give up, Sheik! I can... get you to a Great Fairy! Please, wake up!" As Link desperately tried to awaken Sheik, he began to shimmer, before Ulzo appeared before him, placing a shadowed hand on his shoulder. He's gone, kicsi farkas. There's nothing you could have done. Glaring up at Ulzo through tearstained eyes, Link shook his head. "Don't say that!" he snapped, causing Ulzo to whisk his hand away in surprise. "He just needs to..." Trailing off, the blue-eyed boy broke into mournful sobs. Ulzo sighed, folding his arms over his chest. I know your pain. You really cared for him, maybe even to the same degree as he did for you, but you shouldn't despair. He didn't seem to lament his fate. On the contrary, he was probably happy to have given his life for you. Staring back at the shadowed figure, Link sniffled, his doppelgänger giving what seemed to be a smile. It may seem disheartening now, but remember what you ultimately will achieve. Blood-red eyes gleamed mischievously, the shadow unfolding his arms and punching a fist into the palm of his other hand. You're gonna kick Ganny's ass, get the Holy Power, and then, with its radiance, repair the damage he has done. How does that sound, kicsi farkas? In spite of his despair, the sapphire-eyed boy cracked a smile, nodding in agreement. His smile faded as he lifted Sheik into his arms. Closing his eyes, he concentrated the power of the Sages he had reclaimed. "O Great Spirits, hear my plea... let my prayers reach out to thee..." As Link concentrated, his unspoken wishes were answered, as Sheik's lifeless body began to radiate with a bright aura, before suddenly fading out of sight completely. Opening his eyes to empty arms, he gave a sad smile. Please wait for me. I promise to avenge you, and make Ganondorf pay. Ulzo said nothing, instead rejoining with Link, the boy walking up the stairs and returning to the main chamber of the temple. The corpses of the various monsters scattered about began to also fade, leaving the temple completely empty, except for Link. Stretching a hand out towards the altar, he watched as it returned to its original position, staring silently at it. Turning away, he continued onward, unsure of where to go next. As he exited the temple, he glanced back inside, taking a deep breath. Goodbye, my friends... End of Chapter 18.