Ok, slight clarification on the beginning of the previous chapter. For those that missed it the first time, Link says that Mythisper didn't do anything he strongly objected to. This means that he was not, in fact, turned into a girl here. As for him being stuck in female form for a couple days, I'm going to have to ask you to refrain from using your omnisence to read the chapter I'm halfway through writing. That is all.

Depths

In the depths of the Earth, where the sun's light never touches, something is stirring.

Music: Zelda Reorchestrated's (zreomusic:dot:com) Fire Temple Redux

As Link and Mythisper descended deeper into the Ancient hall, the temperature began to rise. Several times they passed small fissures in the volcanic glass which let out a faint red glow. There were far less monsters down here than in the previous sections. This annoyed Link, as they had passed a number of Goron switches in rooms without anything to weigh them down with.

"I bet the Big Key is behind a door that needs a Goron switch to open." Link said.

"Why?" asked Mythisper.

"Because in my dad's journals, it was always impossible to reach the Big Key without finding some new weapon or other. We haven't tracked down anything that can trigger those pressure plates." Link replied.

"That's true." Mythisper said, as they came to some yellow flames requiring one-use crystals to turn green. "I guess that only leaves the right-hand door two rooms back, and we'll have explored everything we can reach."

They backtracked, and then entered the door in question. It was round, and illuminated by a red glow from a deep pit encircling most of the room. Roughly in the center of the room, there was a strange mound of obsidian. Clearly visible and connected to the mound was a large hammer. Link thought that the hammer could probably break work on some of the switches they had passed. Sword and shield ready, he approached it.

Music: Zelda Reorchestrated's (zreomusic:dot:com) Majora's Mask Middle Boss Battle


As Link had half expected, the mound cracked and stood up. It seemed to be an oversized Goron somehow coated in volcanic glass. It grabbed its hammer and rolled into a ball, charging at Link.

Link quickly sidestepped the crazed Goron's attack, and lashed out with his sword. It bounced off his opponent's stony hide. The monster abruptly stood up, swinging its hammer. Link dodged backwards just in time. The cracks that appeared in the floor were a testament to just how deadly that particular blunt instrument was. Link tried to blast it with a bomb. However, his foe hit it back at Link with his weapon, forcing Link to jump backwards to avoid the blast. Mythisper launched a small ice blast at it. Unfortunately, some magic is easily deflected by reflective surfaces such as volcanic glass. The frigid sphere just barely missed Link's foot.

The creature came at him again with its slow, powerful strikes. Link was on the defensive, continually moving backwards and sideways. After a massive overhand club left it vulnerable, Link ran forwards and sprinkled magic power on it. It burst into flames, but seemed otherwise unharmed. As Gorons can survive even the hottest of fire, the attack was harmless. Nothing Link had seemed to damage the thing.

After several near collisions with the titanic hammer, Link had another thought. He slipped his shield over his back, as it would do no good against the mighty Mad Goron. Instead, he grabbed his magic wand. With the word "Morbido" and a flick of the wrist, he softened the stone at the creature's feet, sinking it into the ground. As soon as the beast was immobilized, he rolled a bomb between its legs. The Goron tried to knock the bomb away with his hammer, but couldn't reach behind himself. The blast caused large cracks to appear in the obsidian armour, though it still held.

Soon, Link was able to strike it with another bomb. This time, the armour was shattered off entirely. Now, he had nothing to protect him from Mythisper's magic. She shot him with some form of ray. The imposing Goron was shrunken to about half of its normal size. However, it seemed no less eager to kill him. It kept swing with its hammer, landing a blow on Link's right hand. His magic wand was knocked to the edge of the arena, his hand stinging too much to be used for much.

The monster began its rolling attack pattern again. Link jumped to the side. Link pulled the string on another bomb as it rocketed past him. Before the monster could recover, he threw the bomb at it. Between the force of the blast and its existing momentum, the Goron was knocked into the pit. It fell into the lava at the bottom, leaving nothing except its hammer, which had miraculously avoided being thrown into the abyss.

Music: Zelda Reorchestrated's (zreomusic:dot:com) Fire Temple Redux


Link inspected his prize. The hammerhead was approximately one and a half times the size of his head, and made of some dense metal. In some ways it resembled the Megaton Hammer his father had wielded, but the handle was different, as was the shape of the head. In fact, it almost seemed to be a natural chunk of metal which had simply been flattened on one side. Due to the shape of the head and its devastating impact, he called it the Meteor Maul. Carrying it would be no problem now that he had the D-bag, but swinging it would be tough. He popped it into his bag and went to find a safer place to practice.

After clearing out a room which was relatively clear of traps and obstructions, he began hammer training. He tried bringing it over his head and swinging downwards, like chopping wood with an axe. It took a lot of effort, and was very slow. It would be easy to strike him while he wound up, but if he could trick an opponent into charging right into it, the overhead strike would be devastating. Next, he tried swinging it sideways. Again, the strike left him far too open. It was a lot like clawing as a Wolfos, except it left him vulnerable both before and after attacking instead of only leaving an opening after.

After that, he tried to see how wielding the Meteor Maul would affect his dodging. Jumping sideways was next to impossible. The hammer was too heavy and kept him in place. Back flips were similarly impeded. A jumping attack was out of the question. Then he had a sudden thought. The reason he was so vulnerable after a side swing was because the hammer swept him off balance. He tried swinging the Meteor Maul, then jumping in mid-swing. He still took a moment to wind up, and was still vulnerable after landing, but he could dodge somewhat. His next action was to try combining a strike with a roll. He somersaulted forward, flipping the maul over his head as he did so. The Meteor Maul struck the ground with devastating force the instant he stood up. The strike still left him open while winding up, but he could minimize the risk by becoming a moving target.


Link and Mythisper resumed dungeon exploration. Now that they could depress the Goron switches, it didn't take long to find the Big Key. Soon, they would open the door to the heart of the Ancient Hall and face the beast which had defeated their rock-like friends.