The Lorulean army marched through Thieves' Town slowly and solemnly. The townspeople, catching sight of the approaching soldiers, retreated into their homes and watched quietly through the windows. Leading Lorule's army were Princess Hilda, Ravio, and the Elder, debating the finer points of their strategy.

"Sunrise was only a few hours ago," said Ravio. "The cultists usually don't come out into town until about noon. It'll be perfectly safe for all of us to storm the front entrance to Thieves' Hideout and break it down."

"No," countered the Elder. "We need to send a smaller force ahead to distract them. They are crafty; Majora's Mask is guiding their movements, after all. I would be surprised if they didn't have scouts posted throughout town at all times. The cult owns Thieves' Town, and that means Majora's Mask owns Thieves' Town. We will need to be sneakier than they are. Now, there are guards protecting the we send a big army at them, the guards will sound the alarm. If we send only a few, the guards will believe they can deal with them alone."

"You've gotten us this far, so we'll do as you say," said Hilda to the Elder. Turning to one of the army captains, she commanded, "Send a defense-prepared squad up to the front entrance to the hideout. Tell the soldiers to make a big show of attacking."

As the captain jogged away to carry out her orders, Hilda turned to Ravio, only to find that he was already looking into her eyes.

"We're going to be all right," he said with certainty. "We've survived worse."

The Elder turned toward them, his old eyes filled with sadness.

"No, you haven't," he murmured.

Fear flooded through Hilda, but at the same time, a kind of resolve. She would not die today.

"Well, we'll survive this," she said, and kissed Ravio. He kissed her back, leaning into her, pulling her in close. She pressed herself against him, savoring his touch.

"I'll never leave you," he whispered to her. "I love you."

The Elder cleared his throat. "We have nearly arrived at Thieves' Hideout, so…"

Hilda laughed. "I love you too," she whispered to Ravio with a smile, stepping away from him and turning toward the intimidating gates of the hideout. A squad of soldiers was already engaged in a deadly crossfire of arrows with a team of cultist guards, yelling something about how there were certainly no reinforcements on the way. Their distraction was working, it seemed. The cultists weren't exactly difficult to mislead.

Hilda nodded, and several other soldiers pulled out their bows and shot the cultist guards down before they knew what was happening. The guards were out of the way, and no alarm had been sounded.

As she watched, a group of soldiers knocked the entrance to the ground with an enormous battering ram. The way into Thieves' Hideout was open. It was time.

"Advance into the hideout!" Hilda yelled, as the army began moving. "We will win this! We are strong enough!"

With Ravio and the Elder by her side, she ran into Thieves' Hideout. It was dark; much darker than she would have imagined. The walls seemed to hiss at them as they ran by.

As they rounded the first corner, they came across a group of clearly shocked cultists. As a squad of soldiers drew their weapons and charged, the cultists scrambled for swords, shields, and spears. The sounds of battle cries and clashing metal echoed against the dimly lit walls.

Whenever the troops came to a passageway, a group of soldiers would break off from the army and hurry down it, while the rest of the army continued down the main hallways. By the time Hilda, Ravio, and the Elder reached the site of the passage to Majora's Mask, the entire hideout was alive with fury and bloodlust. Swords clashed, shields broke, and the cries of the dying reverberated through the hallways.

"The time has come," said the Elder ominously, the trio stood before the false wall leading to Majora's Mask. "I am afraid that I will be of no use to you in the coming battle, but I pray for your victory."

"You've done more than enough," Ravio promised. "We wouldn't have known about any of this without you. Wait here; be safe."

Hilda stepped toward the Elder and hugged him. "Thank you," she murmured. She felt the old man stiffen in her arms, then relax.

"Don't be afraid..." he said to her. "Make it afraid."

Ravio and Hilda turned toward the false wall. They broke through it and sprinted down the corridor; Hilda carrying her staff and a large knife, Ravio wielding his favorite ornate sword and shield. They rounded a corner in the secret passageway and found themselves in a large room, comparable to the inside of a temple. Torches burned along the walls, and sheets of multicolored fabric decorated the room. A large altar stood at the far end of the room, with a glowing light emanating from it. As Hilda and Ravio approached it cautiously, something stirred behind it, and Majora's Mask appeared. Heart-shaped and multicolored, with spikes on its sides and glowing yellow-orange eyes, it hovered across the room towards them, its eyes shining.

"Hello!" shrieked Majora's Mask, advancing on Hilda and Ravio. "It is delightful to have you here! I so rarely get visitors-at least any who are in actual control of their minds! Usually its just those annoying cultists! And, damn them, they are annoying! I get so tired of having to listen to the same "mumbo jumbo" nonsense all day!"

"Go to hell," snapped Hilda, drawing her knife with her left hand while raising her staff with her right.

Ravio stepped into a fighting stance, his sword and shield at the ready. "You're no match for us."

Majora's Mask screamed with laughter. "Well, we'll never have to know that, will we? I've decided to make this confrontation a little more…fair! You wouldn't really fight me two on one, would you? Shouldn't I get an ally of my own? Well, guess what? I already have one at the ready! Maybe you've heard of him?"

"What are you talking about?" Hilda snapped.

"While I was drifting between worlds and dimensions, which eventually led me to Lorule, I came upon a place that you might call the 'gap between dimensions,'" responded Majora's Mask. "And it was in this gap between dimensions that I came across an old enemy of Hyrule, a remnant of the Era of the Hero of Time. An enemy exiled there for his failures. An enemy who I have managed to summon to Lorule, and who has agreed to aid me in this battle!"

"Who?" Ravio asked apprehensively. "You don't mean…"

"Ganon?" laughed Majora's Mask. "No, I'm afraid he's gone from Lorule forever, unfortunately. Unless someone can find a way to bring him back, which I suppose is possible. Regardless, this is someone who's a bit more elusive. A bit more mysterious. A bit more of a…phantom...in nature."

A portal opened next to Majora's Mask, and a figure stepped out and landed heavily on the floor. He was a tall, humanoid individual, wearing a skull mask and looking incredibly similar to the legendary Ganondorf, the King of the Gerudo and the conqueror of Hyrule. But when the figure hovered up next to Majora's Mask and summoned a trident from out of nowhere, Hilda and Ravio knew that this was no man.

"Phantom Ganon! Magnificent, isn't he?" proclaimed Majora's Mask. "He's a little angry for being condemned to the gap between dimensions after failing to kill Link. After all, he did manage to kill Saria, who was the Sage of the Forest at the time, and that should count for something. But you won't know about any of that, and it doesn't matter anyway. Ancient history by now!"

"Fine. Two on two it is, then," said Hilda calmly, staring at her enemies. "You'll both burn in hell where you belong."

Princess Hilda and Ravio stood together on one side of the room; Majora's Mask and Phantom Ganon hovered in midair on the other side. As if commanded by an unspoken signal, the four warriors leaped toward each other, and the battle began.