"What was that noise, Link?"

Navi alerted Link to a loud crash that they had just heard behind them. Link was now several rooms into the east of the temple buried in the map Darunia had given him. He was halfway through a smooth brick labyrinth when he heard an almighty smashing noise. Deducing that this came from where Darunia was, Link quickened his pace. The sooner he could go to assist him, the better.

Squelch!

Next thing he knew, he stepped in something and when he looked down, his boot was on fire. "AAAAARGH! I'm on fire! I'm on fire!"

"Link! Your flask!" Navi squeaked quickly as Link dropped to the floor and began rolling around as if his entire body was ablaze. Just about hearing Navi over his own screaming, he pulled his flask out and dropped a small amount on his boot, extinguishing the fire before it could cause any pain. As he rolled backwards, he stood up and looked down at what had set him on fire.

It looked like someone had doused a pancake in brandy, set it on fire, flipped it and forgot to catch it. It was a red, flat gastropod shrouded in fire. It had a footprint stamped on its back from where Link had stepped on it.

SCHLLUP!

Suddenly, it turned its white eyestalks to face Link, causing him to cringe from the noise it made. He swiftly drew the Master Sword to destroy whatever monster this was, but Navi quickly stopped him by flying right in front of him. "Link! Don't kill that!"

To avoid hitting Navi, Link stilled his blade. "Why not?"

"It's just a Torch Slug!" Navi said, "They're animals, not monsters! All you need to do is make sure you don't step on them and you should stay unlit!."

Link looked down at the Torch Slug, whose eyestalks were erect from fear, before he quickly sheathed the Master Sword. "Sorry for stepping on you." So that he didn't step on it again, Link took a few paces forwards and around a corner. He looked around the floor for more Torch Slugs before looking back at his map. He could see icons dotted around several of the rooms, each marked with a unique number. This corresponded to a list on the side of the map, explaining what the number pointed out.

Sounds useful, right? Well, not really.

Everything was in German.

1: Eintrag

2: Lavadampfkavernen

3: Drachennest

4: Anbetungstatue

5: Gefängniszelle

"What on earth?" grumbled Link under his breath as he scrutinised the German writing. It was a very confusing feeling. The words almost looked like English, yet they also looked nothing like it. "How am I supposed to read this?"

Navi landed on Link's shoulder to look for herself. For a moment, she started to fade into her thoughtful green but ended up turning neon green. "Oh, right! I see what you mean. Let me have a look and see if I can..."

Link looked surprised. "You speak German?"

"No, I don't but… I might be able to make a few of them out." Navi pointed to number three. "See? That one clearly says 'Dragon nest'. It's… the room that Darunia went into."

Link's eyes shifted back nervously. "And… What about number five?" His trembling finger pointed to "Gefängniszelle"

"I have no idea, but… judging by the fact that the icon by the number is of a cage, I'd say this is where all the Gorons are being held captive. We should go there first."

"I agree. We are in this labyrinth at the moment so if we want to get through to the end, we need to go… left… left again… right… and… Bingo!"

Wengen looked out through the bars of his cell. Nekketsu had not lost a single beat nor had he even broke a sweat since Ganondorf left them all there. The entire time, he had just walked back and forth and back and forth, his arms pushing into his opposite sleeves, his eyes shut, his head up and his expression stern. He had changed so little that Wengen thought he was getting déjà vu.

Still, he and the others had devised a plan to get help. One wrong answer and it would all fall apart, but it was better than nothing.

1) Wengen would gather the kids together and stand at the jail bars.

2) He would ask Nekketsu if the children could use the toilet.

3) If he were to say yes, Nekketsu would lead them to the toilets and wait outside.

4) The kids would quickly go inside.

5) Using the Lizalfos costume that their father was making, they would all climb inside and form a Goron totem pole on the inside.

6) They would then exit the room and slip past Nekketsu before leaving the temple and finding assistance.

"Are you almost done?" Mürren whispered to his father as he finished the final few stitches on the costume. Wengen answered for him.

"It's ready."

"Good!"

Mürren signalled to a beefy Goron who was at the front of the cell. Upon seeing her signal, he nodded and waved at Nekketsu. "Hey! Karate guy! We need to ask something of you!"

Nekketsu suddenly stopped prowling. Narrowing his eyes, he slowly turned his head to the Goron. "Eh?"

"Please have a heart! The young ones need to use the Wasserklosett!"

Nekketsu sneered out of the side of his mouth, showing his pearly white teeth. "Heh." The Goron's faces all lit up as the monster reached down into a pocket of his purple Karategi and, feeling his fingers hit something, he pulled out a little golden key with a pink gem welded into the middle of it. As he cornered the lock to open it, he shot the rest of the Gorons a killer look so they wouldn't all try to escape. When the young ones heard the door unlocking, they all ran to the front, hopping up and down wildly and trembling their lips.

"Emergency! Emergency! It's an emergency! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up! My eyeballs are starting to overflow! Where's the bathroom? I gotta go, I gotta go, I gotta go!"

Nekketsu led the children down a hallway labelled "W.C →" before finally arriving at a swinging door which was the toilets.

"Thank you!" gibbered Wengen hurriedly as he, Mürren and a third Goron all went rushing off past the swinging door and into a stall. Not saying anything, Nekketsu turned around away from the entrance and stood straight up at attention, waiting for them to come back out.

He waited…

and waited…

and waited…

and waited. He waited for so long that he started to nod off at the door.

This was suspicious. Nekketsu cracked his knuckles and turned to march into the toilets and catch the three conspiring against him. As he did, however, someone came wobbling out through the door, hitting him with it in the process. Out waddled a green, tall lizard carrying an extravagant knife. It was a Lizalfos… who had apparently had too much to drink.

"It'sssssssss just me!" hissed the Lizalfos, his wobbling arm saluting Nekketsu. "Just a ssssssssshort break, that'ssssssssssss all!"

Groaning as he stood up from being smacked in the face with a door, Nekketsu saluted the Lizalfos, visibly trying to hold back his annoyance. As the Lizalfos vanished around the corner, he continued on his way to bust the three Gorons. When he went in, the door abruptly shut again, whacking him on the back and sending him crashing to the floor.

BUMP! "AAAAAAARGH!"

The drunken Lizalfos swayed down the labyrinth of corridors, making dead sure not to step on any Torch Slugs. Doing so would most likely set its costume on fire.

"All right, we've escaped." noted a voice from inside the Lizalfos costume. "What are we meant to do now? Who do we find?"

"A Zora?" suggested the Goron who was at the bottom.

"No, you know that they are weak against fire. They'll have a hard time coming in here, let alone taking down Volvagia!"

"Us three?" rang the voice all the way at the top.

"Are you serious? Darunia is fighting her right now! If he finds out, he'll go bonkers!"

"A Hylian?"

"That's not a bad idea, actually. Have you checked if Link still has that red tunic because we could offer that to them."

"I don't think we need to." said the voice on top. He manoeuvred the head of the costume up and around a corner. "Someone's already wearing it."

Still buried in the map, Link turned the corner and stepped over a Torch Slug. Navi suddenly sprung to attention, having heard clicking sounds on the floor ahead, like that of a dog walking across a hard surface.

Clak, clak, clak, clak, clak, clak, clak…

Making sure to produce as little noise as he could manage, Link drew the Master Sword and slipped the Hylian Shield onto his arm. He recognised this noise back when he fought the pair of Lizalfos in Dodongo's Cavern. As Navi began to slowly advance around the corner to scout for it, Link readied his sword…

Navi peeked around the corner before jumping back and nodding at Link affirmatively. Not saying a word so he wouldn't blow his own cover, Link gave a quick nod back to her and beckoned his fairy back to his side.

Around the corner, the Lizalfos started twitching as the three Gorons inside started whispering to each other on how to recruit the man around the corner. The kids all got stressed as they heard the man stepping around the corner, drawing an energetic sword. The one on top quickly put his head up to see through the eyes of his costume but he quickly ducked when he saw a blue, blurred blade being swung straight at his costume's neck.

VUM! TSSSSSK!

As he heard hissing around the corner, Link hopped to the side, rolled on the floor, stood up and, with a quick cut, took the head off the Lizalfos that was prowling around the corner. Its wobbly body collapsed to the floor as its head, which… seemed to be hollow, fell to the floor and flattened like a tyre.

"Good grief, he almost knocked my head off!" came a voice from inside the body of the Lizalfos. Link's face scrunched itself up in confusion. He was so bewildered that he could not speak.

Navi flew over to the neck hole of the Lizalfos, which had its rim glowing red hot, before she reluctantly flew inside. Link crouched down to wait for her return but she suddenly turned neon green inside the Lizalfos. "What in the world? What are you three doing in here?"

"What? Navi, are you joking?" Link raised his eyebrows. "Was that just… some kind of puppet Lizalfos that you didn't tell me about?"

Navi flew back out of the neck, still shocked as three Goron children crawled out, shivering like jelly after nearly having their heads cut off. "Huh?" Link pretended to remove his eyes and rub them on his tunic before putting them back in. "What's going on? I thought you were a monster!"

Navi turned a stern orange. "One of you had better explain!"

One of the Gorons stood up. Link instantly recognised him as Wengen, one of the kind Gorons who had helped him through Dodongo's Cavern. Next to him was Mürren, his sis… I mean his brother! I am never going to get used to that!

"Are you a… Hylian, by chance?" Wengen asked, dodging Navi's demand. Mürren seemed a little interested in Link. More than a little. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he stepped closer and closer to Link to get a good look at his face and confirm his suspicions.

"I am and I know you." replied Link. "You are… Wengen."

As he always did, Link forgot to pronounce the W like a V. Nevertheless, Wengen understood what he tried to say and his jaw clattered open. "Whaaaat? How did you know that?"

"Brother, do you remember seven years ago?" Mürren turned to his brother and then to Link.

"Yes, what about it?"

"Do you remember the boy who dethroned that dictator Dodongo?"

"Why, of course I do! Darunia named his son after him! It was L-" Once again, Wengen's eyes dilated and widened as he stumbled back. "No! No way. Are you-?"

"Link. I am Link and- Oof!" Link suddenly had the breath squeezed out of him as Wengen and Mürren both gave him a big, group Goron hug. The third Goron, still mostly in the Lizalfos costume, tilted his head and narrowed one eye.

"Do you know this guy?" he breathed as Mürren and Wengen pulled themselves away from their hero. When they turned to the third Goron, they had the biggest smiles on their faces.

"Gündlischwand, this is Link. Link, this is Gündlischwand."

"Gunders-what?"

"Gündlischwand. I know, it's a bit of a mouthful, but I'm used to it." The new Goron approached Link and looked at him with wobbling, beady eyes. "You're a hero to us all, Link, but I'm afraid you're going to have to cement that further."

"I came here to do just that." Link declared, lightly placing his hand on Gündlischwand's shoulder. "It's about Volvagia, isn't it?"

Gündlischwand shook his head. "Not at the moment. All of our Gorons are locked up and there's this karate monster that I think is called… Nekketsu or something. He's guarding them all. We escaped by posing as a Lizalfos, but that may not last long. If he finds out that we duped him, he'll punish everyone left! We need you to find and take him on!"

"Nekketsu, huh? What does he look like?" Navi asked.

"He wears purple gear and he has a black belt, he has black hair and eyebrows, orange eyes… red shoes… That's all I can remember."

"Don't worry." Link answered softly, "Lead my to the cell and I'll see what I can do."

As Wengen, Mürren and.. the third guy with the tongue twister of a name led Link through the maze, Link couldn't help but notice something about his map. Sheik had said that playing the Bolero of Fire by a statue in the temple, he would get a new ability. Looking at the numbers on his map, he was getting very close to number for. What was number 4?

Anbetungstatue.

Anbetungstatue.

"Navi?" whispered Link, stepping over a Torch Slug. "Come and look at number four."

Navi did as she was told. She pinpointed their current location before darting down to the number line to read the word. "What about it?"

"If that isn't the statue that Sheik was talking about then I don't know what is."

"You might be right about that."

Not telling this to the three Gorons in front of him, Link turned around the corner and looked to his left where the number 4 was marked.

There it was.

It wasn't a statue of a person, like Link had thought. It was a round, stone platform surrounded by three simple rocks with holes in them. These holes bore see-through, glass crystals. The platform had been painted red to resemble a fiery vortex.

"Everyone, stop here for a moment. What is this statue?" Link asked the three Gorons. They all immediately stopped walking and followed Link's eyes.

"That?" said Mürren, "That's Din's worshipping podium. We worship her here. In fact, there's a specific song that was once played here and the player apparently got the ability to shoot fire."

"Aha! I think I know that song! Just wait here and, with any luck, I'll have improved my arsenal if I need to ever tangle with this Nekketsu guy."

The Gorons and Navi stayed silent as Link mounted the platform and untangled the Ocarina of Time from himself. He raised it and, just as Sheik had taught him, he played the Bolero of Fire.

As he continued playing, the crystals in the three monuments surrounding him began to shine with a fireball each. Each Goron stepped back and gasped but didn't dare warn him. He was doing the right thing and they weren't going to interrupt him.

On a completely random note of the song, there was a loud blast of fire, almost stopping Link's heart and making him drop his instrument on the floor. The fire in the crystals all crackled loudly as they phased out of them like ghosts through a wall. As they began to shoot at him, Link ducked and covered his eyes but the fireballs disappeared inside of him, only giving him slight heartburn.

"Ow! I think I did it! But… What happened?" Link mused. He looked down at his fingertips, which were now crackling hot and red.

"Link, I know what that is!" trilled Navi, turning an inspired yellow, "That is Din's Fire! It lets you either shoot out a constant stream of fire or one really strong fireball."

"Are there any catches to this?"

"As far as I'm aware, the stream of fire will slowly drain your stamina while the big fireball will automatically take away a big chunk of it, so be careful."

"And how do I use it?"

"Simple, you just-"

"HEY!"

Link, Navi and the Gorons all looked in unison at what had shouted at them. Red in the face, a monster stomped down the hallway. His red slippers clacked against the floor from the force he was walking at. To say he was miffed about being tricked was a really big understatement.

Nekketsu was FURIOUS.

"Is this Nekketsu?" Link hurriedly asked the Gorons. They only nodded with dread at him, prompting Link to draw the Master Sword and bag the Ocarina of Time before it could be damaged. With a battle-ready war shout, Link held the Master Sword in both hands, leaped into the air and swung downwards. Nekketsu just stood there, arms down by his side, legs straight, eyes shut, face neutral, until the very last moment. When the sword came close to singing his hair, he-

CHINK! FZZZZZZZZZZT!

-caught the blade of the Master Sword with a swift clap. Link gasped loudly as Nekketsu put on a slashing smile. How? How was the Master Sword not instantly chopping his hands off?

Nekketsu raised his leg and kicked Link back, winding him. Mürren, Wengen and Gündlischwand nervously backed away and around the corner as Link dragged himself to his feet using his sword. "Navi, go and lock on, will you?" he panted at his fairy, who turned bright yellow and did so.

"Just look for some openings and keep your guard up. Use your shield instead of just your sword!"

"Got it!"

Once again, Link leaped at Nekketsu, pretending to do an overhead swing, but as Nekketsu raised his hands to catch the sword again Link moved his blade and went for a side hit. His reflexes like that of a cat, Nekketsu rolled back and out of the way before being hit. The side of his face twitched in anger as he reached behind him, returned his arm with a round, metal ball. He reversed his arm back and pitched the ball over his head. Not only did he have a black belt wrapped around his black belt which was wrapped around another black belt, he also was a dab hand at the shot put.

The ball flew in an arc towards Link. If it were to hit him it would probably have caved in his skull. He threw his shield up and let it absorb all the impact.

CLONNNNNNNNG!

Link awkwardly blocked the projectile, leaving his arm buzzing and numb. It was like trying to launch a bowling ball with a cricket bat. While he was blinded by his own shield, Nekketsu rushed him down, striking him with punch after punch and kick after kick. Link held his shield in various positions but Nekketsu's reactions were too good and he just started attacking in different areas. After he was done playing with his prey, he performed a Tomoe Nage which lobbed Link over his head and into the three Gorons with a CRAAAAAASH!

"Are you three all right?" blithered Link as he pulled himself up once more.

"Are we all right? What about you?" spat Mürren as she helped everyone else up.

"I'm fine, but-" Suddenly, Link found himself cut off by Nekketsu charging straight at him. "-bear with me..."

With that, he pulled the Hookshot out and fired the hook at Nekketsu's sleeve. It hit squarely, digging itself in and not coming out. Nekketsu flinched and shouted, but Link turned and hauled the Hookshot over his head, tossing Nekketsu to the floor in front of him.

"Ooh!" roared the monster as he hit the floor with a thud.

Link wasn't done with that. The Hookshot still connected, he turned and slammed Nekketsu to the floor on the other side of him.

"Ah!"

Still feeling the need for more, Link repeatedly turned and slammed the Karate monster to the floor on either side of him like an inverted pendulum. All the while, it sounded like Nekketsu was singing a rather repetitive pop song.

"Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah!"

The Gorons all tried to suppress their growing giggles from Link's metronomic man mashing, but they almost turned to stone… well, inanimate stone, as part of Nekketsu's sleeve ripped and sent him crashing to the floor. As quick as he had attacked, he leaped to his feet but his energy seemed to have drained a bit.

Slowly, his eyes began to turn red.

Slowly, fire began to envelop his arms and legs.

Suddenly, a massive inferno spread over him, completely covering his figure. His demonic laughs rose over the roaring flames as Link shielded his face from the light and Navi flew back to his side.

"Hoo, ha, ha, ha, ha! HAR, HAR HAR HAR HAR!"

BOOOOOOOM!

All the fire dispersed and Nekketsu was no longer recognisable. Before he had transformed he looked like a disciplined yet crazy karate monster. Now, he had transformed into what looked like an effigy of Guy Fawkes on Bonfire Night.

"He was a Flare Dancer all along!" squeaked Navi.

"A Flare Dancer?" Link echoed. The Flare Dancer bent his leg and placed it on his other one as if he were doing the tree pose.

"Lift that arm, reach it high, kick that leg, work that thigh! Wriggle right, leap on left, that's is how you lose your heft!"

Rave music blasted from the Flare Dancer as it chanted along. It pirouetted towards Link with some hot and elegant kicks. Link quickly threw his defences up. The Flare Dancer managed to hit his shield several times to the beat of the music, shoving him back with every one.

"One, two, three, four, Now I'll raise your pain some more!"

The Flare Dancer turned around, lowered its head and began walking backwards with a motion that looked more like it was trying to go forward. As it strutted past Link, it left a sizzling trail of lava behind it. The Flare Dancer completely circled his opponent with a ring of lava, preventing any kind of escape.

"This move here will make you quake, lets see how much you can take!"

With Link immobilised, the Flare Dancer began spinning psychedelically with a move that looked like it came right out of a Michael Jackson music video. It glided across the lake of lava it had produced and collided cleanly with the Master Sword. Having taken damage, the lava all vanished and the Flare Dancer's flames turned green.

"OW! Spinning is a lot of fun, you'll survive this if you run, gotta keep things going fast OR THIS FIGHT WILL BE YOUR LAST!"

Nothing was stopping this scarecrow from continuing his song. Its leg out, the Flare Dancer spun towards Link like a helicopter at some speed. When Link blocked it, the Flare Dancer bounced off his shield and began spinning in the other direction, pinging and ponging off the walls like it was in a pinball machine. It spun around and around, gaining speed as the Gorons all dived out of its way.

Link, on the other hand, was preparing to use his new skill. Din's Fire. He cupped his hand and, after moments of intense trembling, a gaseous fireball poofed into his hand. Already, he could feel his skin getting hotter.

"I have filled you full of dread and my reward lies ahead! Your future is looking red and very soon I will be..."

The Flare Dancer shut its mouth in an instant and stopped spinning when it noticed that Link had fired a small but powerful fireball at him. It zigzagged left and right as the Flare Dancer stood still, unsure of what to finish his song with.

"I will be..."

The fireball got closer and closer, darting left and right light a little red mouse. The fire around the Flare Dancer started shrinking from fear.

"I will be… I will be d-"

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Link, Navi and the Gorons hid around the corners as the fireball struck the Flare Dancer right in its unprotected core. It violently detonated the second it hit, creating a massive, dome-shaped blast that sent deafening sound waves hurtling through the air, assaulting anyone within fifty feet. Sand and stone sailed around as Link covered his eyes, as did everyone else. The debris cleared, revealing a gaping pit in the floor, smoke trailing out of it. All that was left was the charred theatre mask that the enemy wore, permanently frozen in a shocked expression.

The Flare Dancer was no more.

"Good going, Link!" congratulated Gündlischwand, a smile crossing his face. Navi was right. The fight with the Flare Dancer had already tired him out, but using Din's Fire had left him breathless.

Now was no time to be feeling depleted, though.

"Thank you." said Link to Gündlischwand, "I'm not done yet, however. I must free your kind!"

With that, Link continued walking through the maze. It was now one straight stretch with no branching corridors. Either this was a dead end…

or all the Gorons were waiting for him.

Quote of the Day:

"If you hit a wall, climb over it, crawl under it, or dance on top of it."