Published on May 29th, 2016.

Chapter 37/50
Fire Sanctuary
Volcano Summit Arc (3/4)

Within the volcano of the temple, the group first saw two owl statues, which Ed gasped. "The boss of this temple are owls!" he said.

Double D sighed. "Ed, please," he said. "This is not a video game." As they continued on, they stopped in front of a small pool of magma. Above the pool were several wooden roots growing in this heat. Even big green fruits with spikes grew along with the roots.

"Uh... I'm no plant scientist," Eddy began, "but how are they growing here of all places?!"

"It looks like they evolved to adapt to this intense heat."

"Those are Water Fruits," Fi said in Link's sword. "They collect moisture within their hard shell. This feature is vital to their survival here."

"Water Fruits, huh?" Link said, starring at one.

"You thinking what I'm thinking, bud?" Gorko asked.

"Yeah. Let's test it out." Link pulled out his Scattershot and fired at one Water Fruit. Upon impact, the entire spiky shell opened up, revealing its water sphere. The fruit fell down to the magma, creating a big steam. When it cleared away, a rock platform appeared.

"Very nice!" Double D said, grinning. The group hopped onto it before reaching the other side (though Gorko took a while due to his weight). They stopped once again at a river of magma. Link did the same trick to the second Water Fruit, allowing the group to cross the river. Before they headed to the door, they heard something to their left.

A Mogma emerged halfway out of the dirt. His thick gray hair covered his entire vertical body while having a semi-white long beard. Two medium sized porcelain pots were strapped on his back. "Ho ho ho... Ahhh!" he said, touching his bread. "The exit at last." He looked at the group. "Whoa! Don't scare me like that! I thought you were one of those monster creeps!"

"A new Mogma?" Link asked.

"Is that a giant...mole?" Double D asked, blinking his eyes.

"Hey, old dude!" Eddy said to the Mogma. "You know Ledd, Cobal and those others?"

"Oh? You know them?" the Mogma asked. "Wait... Are you those people that helped them?"

"Yeah, yeah!"

The Mogma crossed his arms. "Show me proof that you helped them."

"Proof? Uh..." Link said, then turned to someone. "Ed, show him your Digging Mitts."

"Rawr! I am a monster!" Ed said, pulling the item out.

The Mogma gasped and nodded. "Those are our Digging Mitts," he said. "Okay, I believe ya. I wanna say my thanks to you all. Ledd and Cobal talked about you guys the most. The name's Guld, and I'm the big boss of the Mogmas. Did you know that I invented those Digging Mitts?"

"Really?! That's so cool!"

Guld laughed. "So...what brings you all here deep in the Eldin area, hm?"

"I'm just here to research!" Gorko answered.

"We're finding something important here," Link answered.

"I see," Guld said with a nod. "Rumor has it that there's a huge treasure hidden in these here ruins. But nobody who's ever seen it has come back to tell the tale. Countless treasure hunters have disappeared in here! Poof! Gone! As a treasure digger, I gotta warn you to just turn around and enjoy the many peaceful years of diggin' left to you."

"Pul-lease!" Eddy said, waving his hand down. "If there's really treasure here, you bet I'll find 'em! And my treasure instincts never lie!"

Guld sighed. "Oh, if only I have the energy of your youth... All right, then. I'm gonna let you all in on an ancient treasure-hunting legend passed down among generations of Mogmas. Every Mogma worth a handful o' dirt knows this one. This might be important, so ya better listen, okay?"

"Go on," Link replied.

"'Ye who seek the entrance to the king's treasure, look for the two statues that face one another. Show your bravery and jump into the mouth of the sleeping statue. Do this, and the path will open before you.'"

"An...interesting riddle," Double D said, furrowing his brow.

"Jump inside a sleeping statue?" Eddy asked, scratching his head. "Uh, okay, I guess."

"It's the owl statues back there!" Ed said, pointing behind.

"Er," Guld said, "those are not the statues I was talking about. They're not facing each other."

"Aw..."

"Anyways, thank you, Guld," Link said, smiling. "If you have no other tips, we best be going."

"I do have one more thing to say," Guld said. "Two of my guys, Silva and Bronzi, are searchin' around here for the treasure. You might encounter 'em along the way."

"Silva and Bronzi... Okay." Link's group entered through the doorway and into the outside world, much to everyone's surprise. The architecture around appeared the same as the temple's entrance. A few elegant stone bridges were around the vast area. The group walked up to the black fence and peered down, seeing a huge lava pool below. At the very end of this area was a building with a giant door.

Double D pulled out his binoculars to see the door. "If my theory is correct," he said, "we must enter through that door. It appears we need the key of this temple."

Eddy groaned. "Why do these temples make it complicated for us?" he asked. "Who made them, for crying out loud?"

"To ward against greedy treasure hunters," Gorko answered.

"Exactly," Double D added.

Link walked to the side, seeing the staircase down and the hallway. "We've got a long way to go," he said. "Let's find the temple's key." The team walked down the steps, entering the hallway. They stopped when several Keeses, in dark aura that showed off their skeletal structures, emerged out of the windows. Fi quickly warned them that getting touched by one would prevent them from using their items. The Dark Keeses flew toward them before being blown away by Ed's Gust Bellows. He, Link, and Eddy quickly finished them off before the Keeses could recover.

After turning the corner, entering through another hallway, and continuing on, they turned to their left. They looked down to see another circular pool of magma, except it was covered with a black grating floor. Several random rock platforms were on top of the grating floor. But they noticed a strange white-like circle in the magma that was moving around.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Gorko said, gulping.

"But we got no choice," Link said, jumping down to the grating floor. Ed jumped and landed next to him. The rest looked among themselves in hesitation before deciding to jump down. With everyone down, they starred at the moving white-like circle until it began to bubble. Seconds later, a magma hand emerged through the grating floor, staring at the group before approaching it.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Eddy said, gasping. "Another lava monster?!"

"Wh-what do you mean by that?!" Double D asked.

"We fought a lava boulder monster in that one temple in this area!"

"Scatter!" Link said as everyone else did what they were told. The magma hand tried to grab before submerging back to the pool. Double D and Gorko ended up climbing onto a rock platform at the other side of the room. "What is that, Fi?!"

"That is a Magmanos," Fi answered in Link's sword. "Theoretically, it would be possible to inflict damage on the monster if you were able to solidify its body. But at this moment, defeating it is impossible."

"Impossible?!" everyone else asked.

"Like I'll believe that!" Eddy said, pulling out a bomb as the Magmanos emerged, to everyone's surprise, below the rock platform where Double D and Gorko were standing on.

"Oh dear! Oh dear!" Double D said, hugging Gorko as the magma hand raised up their platform. "It's gonna get us!"

"No, wait!" Gorko said, turning around to see a new doorway. "We can jump to this floor! Come on, Double D!" Both of them leaped forward as the Magmanos began to sank down.

"Oh no, you don't!" Eddy said, igniting his bomb.

"Eddy, wait!" Link said, but Eddy already threw his bomb at the Magmanos. The explosion covered the spot, destroying the rock platform.

Eddy smirked. "Yeah! Bombs solve everything!" However, the group saw the Magmanos' white-like circle moving around in the pool. "What?! Are you serious?!"

"Don't waste your bombs, Eddy! Fi already told us it's currently impossible to defeat it. We have to retreat and move on!" Eddy growled in frustration before joining up with Link and Ed at a different rock platform. "Let the Magmanos carry us up to the next floor!" The magma hand did the same thing, allowing those three to hop off.

"Thank you, Mr. Magma Hand from Hades!" Ed said, waving at it. His group realized they had to go around the room to reach Double D and Gorko. After a few minutes of using their Clawshots to get to various spots, they finally landed down next to the two.

"You know," Gorko told Eddy, "if you hadn't destroyed that rock platform, we would have save some time."

"Big deal," Eddy said, frowning. The group continued on, entering the doorway. They stood on the first elegant stone bridge. At the end of the bridge was a lone Lizalfos, except it had purple skin. It rushed up to them.

"I'll handle this," Link said, pulling out his sword and shield. The Dark Lizalfos looked like it was about to turn around with its spiky ball tail, so Link still held up his shield. The spiky ball tail collided against the shield, but Link pushed his shield forward, sending the tail back at the enemy's face. He slashed it a couple of times before it disintegrated into purple smoke.

"You're so strong, Link!" Ed said. "Power!"

"A success, but a little violent," Double D said, feeling a bit stiff.

Eddy shrugged. "I could have done that," he said.

"The way is cleared," Gorko said. "Let's move on." All five of them went to the other side, entering the doorway. Here, they spotted a lava river in a reverse L-shape, though it did not appear to be flowing to one direction. But they saw a few Cursed Spumes in the lava river and Bokoblin Archers at the other end of the room. Link, Ed, and Eddy pulled out their bow and sniped every enemy in this room.

"Bokoblins..." Link said, putting his bow away. "If they're here, Ghirahim might be here."

"No prob!" Eddy said, smirking. "We can take care of him." Though Water Fruits hung from the ceiling, the group tried to figure out how to make the lava flow to the other end of the room. They eventually found a statue at the far right side, seeing a statue of the mouth blocked by a boulder. Seeing the lava leaking out, Link suggested Ed and Eddy to use their Beetle and bomb together.

"We have liftoff!" Ed said, shooting his Beetle to the statue with the bomb in its pincers. The Beetle collided into the boulder, exploding the blockage into pieces. As the Beetle materialized back to Ed, the group watched the river beginning to flow to their destination. After two minutes, they used the Water Fruit ride to reach the other end of the door. However, they noticed another doorway to their right, so they decided to enter there, instead.

It was a small room with another lava pool. A wall grating was at the other side of the room where they could see another room. What caught everyone's attention was a Mogma, with green long hair covering his eyes, dangling and flailing his arms above the lava pool. They spotted a long metal chain next to them. "What the?!" he asked, stopping his struggle. "New guards?! Hah! You can't break me with interrogation, sons! You'll never make me talk! I'm not some sideshow for you to talk at! Get lost! Shoo now!"

"We're not some bad guys!" Eddy said, frowning. "Do we look like bad guys?!"

"Huh? Hang on..." The Mogma put his hand on his chin. "Hey, you're right. You guys are not those same creeps that captured me and hung me here. And you have a Goron."

"You're one of those Mogmas Guld told us," Gorko said.

The Mogma gasped. "You met Guld?! Then I know for sure you're not bad guys! Yahoo!" He began to swing around. "I'm Silva. Check out my long green hair!"

"Then...how are you seeing us through your hair?" Double D asked, then shook his head. "Eh, never mind."

"Hold on, dude!" Eddy said to Silva. "We'll get you down! Lava ain't so bad to fear!"

"Are you nuts?!" Silva asked, flailing his arms. "That stuff looks hot! I wouldn't mind a little hot bath for my sore shoulders, but this is too much!"

"Uh..." Eddy started to feel his Fireshield Earrings. "I guess you got a point."

"Guys, we have a problem!" Link said, who was already at the metal pulley. "This pulley was designed so that Silva's only hope is to lower him down and unhook the metal chain on him."

"What?!" Silva asked. "I'm stuck here forever?!"

"Our only option is to drain the lava out of his room. For now, it seems we can't do anything in this room."

"Just hang in there, dude!" Eddy said to Silva. "We'll come back later!"

"I'm already hanging on for my life!" Silva said, slumping down his shoulders.

"Uh... Well... Hang in there! That's it!"

"Hanging!" Ed said. The group left the room and resumed on to the new doorway. They were now outside, seeing grass growing on the stone floors. Upon exploring the room more, they spotted another path blocked by the same flames from before. The frog statue's tongue was above the path. They climbed up the stairs to approach the frog statue, standing a few feet away.

"Anyone got any water?" Link asked as they examined their belongings. To their surprise, no one had a water bottle.

"What do we do?!" Ed asked.

"There must be another source of water around here," Gorko said.

"But where?" Eddy asked.

"The Water Fruits," Link and Double D answered. Surrounding them were many Water Fruits hanging on tree roots.

"But here's the problem," Double D continued. "We can't grab one because of their spiky exterior shells."

"Get one, Gorko!" Eddy said, which Gorko frowned.

"Eddy, my hands are soft like yours," Gorko said. "My back is where it's durable."

"I know how to handle this," Link said, pulling out his sword. He faced one Water Fruit and stabbed the top fruit's stalk. The shell opened up to show its water sphere, but it did not fall. Link held the opened Water Fruit with its sword and threw it to the frog statue's tongue. The eyes turned blue, and the path stopped spewing flames.

Gorko gaped. "I never thought about that! Nice one, Link!"

"Excellent thinking, Link!" Double D said, smiling.

"So cool!" Ed said.

"Not bad," Eddy said with a small smirk. The group dropped down and continued on through the pathway. They fought more Bokoblins, but Link's overwhelming strength and skill defeated them with ease. They turned the corner to the right and opened up the door, entering a very similar room where they encountered the Magmanos. This time, they noticed two Magmanos in the lava pool. "Oh, great..."

"I see no way out," Link said. "We may have to fight."

"How?!"

Link looked around, seeing a few openings on the wall. Then, he gasped. "There are Water Fruits over there and there! Maybe these Water Fruits can solidify them!"

Double D gasped. "Of course!" he said. "We do stand a chance in this fight!"

"All right, guys! Let's do it!" Link jumped down to the black grating floor and immediately went to one rock platform. One Magmanos tried to grab him underneath, only to grab the rock platform while raising it up. Link hopped off and stabbed one Water Fruit As the Magmanos threw down the rock platform, Link threw the Water Fruit down to the magma hand. The water splashed on the hand as it writhed in pain before turning into dull red stone. "Now, guys!"

Ed leaped down with his hammer. "Crush the monster!" he said, slamming down vertically as the Magmanos exploded into pieces.

"That's one down!" Double D said, then gasped. "Ed, look out!"

Ed turned around to see the second Magamanos about to grab him. "Whoa!" He leaped away to the side, sliding his body on the grating floor. He looked up in horror to see his enemy approaching him until it was struck with another Water Fruit.

"Got it!" Link said. "Take it out!"

"I got this!" Eddy said with his lit bomb. "Get away, Ed!"

"Fire in the hole!" Ed said, standing up and running away. Eddy threw the bomb to the Magmanos as it exploded the hand into pieces.

Eddy laughed out loud like a maniac. "Yes! Man, that felt so good!" Everyone started to see the lava pool below draining down before vanishing completely.

Link sighed with a small smile. "It's done," he said as everyone else dropped down to the grating floor.

"Hey!" a familiar voice said as the group looked through a fence wall. They saw Silva flailing his arms in excitement as there was no lava below him. "I was watching you all! Ya really socked it to those lava thingers! Amazing stuff!"

Eddy smirked. "Yup!" he said, raising his chin. "It all went according to my genius plan!" Double D coughed in silence in response to that statement.

"So yeah, uh, any chance you can bring me down here?" After that, the group found a door that led back to the room with Silva. With the lava in the room drained, they lowered down Silva and freed him. Using his tail as support, Silva clapped his hands while bouncing in place. "Oh yaaah! I'm saved! I owe ya all big-time! Say... Are ya all here looking for treasure, too?"

"Well-" Link began.

"Yup!" Eddy said, raising his chin while smirking.

Silva laughed. "Ah, you were totally caught up in that too, pal! I can see it on your face! You're here because of the 'legend of the sleeping statue,' right?!"

"That's what Guld told us about the statue," Gorko said.

"Ah, okay. But it seems like none of ya have claws like Mogmas."

"But we do!" Ed said, pulling his Digging Mitts. "Guld made these!"

"True, but those only work on the surface. Ya need real digging mitts to burrow underground and get some treasure. As thanks, I have two pairs of Mogma Mitts for two people!" Silva reached for his backpacks and pulled out the Mogma Mitts. The top glove extended over the wrist significantly, and the claws looked even sharper than Ed's Digging Mitts. "Who wants 'em?!"

Eddy dismissed it with his hand. "Eh, I want real treasure," he said.

"Me! Me! Me!" Ed said, taking a pair.

"I guess I'll take the other pair," Link said, equipping his mitts.

"Awesome!" Silva said, smiling. "Just remember that with those particular mitts, you can burrow underground. Well, I'm outta here!"

"Take care, dude!" Eddy said. "Tell your friends that I, Eddy, saved your butt. They should know me."

"I guess I can't argue that. Right! So long!" Silva burrowed underground until his body was not seen.

"We," Double D began, "or rather Link and Ed, should test the Mogma Mitts."

"Yeah," Link agreed as the group went up to a fenced wall. He looked at the particular area on the ground. "This here is dirt. These mitts should get through them. Ed?"

"You got it!" Ed said as the two began to dig. "Dig a hole, dig a hole, dig a hole!"

Link awed at their work. "Wow! We're digging like it's nothing!" The two created a large hole, allowing the group to go in. Around one minute later, the group emerged back to the circular room.

"Ugh... Messy, messy, messy," Double D murmured, dusting off the dirt on his body.

"I am a mole, Eddy!" Ed said, grinning.

"Keep dreaming, mole boy," Eddy said with a small frown.

"All right! Let's continue on!" Gorko said.

"Right," Link said, nodding. When they went to the northern room, the door had a lock, so they had no choice but to go through the eastern door.

They ended up outside onto a second bridge, but the walkway in the center was gone. They spotted a couple of Bokoblins Archers aiming at the group. Fortunately for the team, the flaming arrows could not reach them with their poor quality bows. Ed and Eddy sniped the closest ones while Link sniped the farthest one on top of the porch. The team was forced to leave Gorko temporarily as Link and the Eds reached the other side with their Clawshots.

Upon entering the next room, Link and the Eds found another Mogma suspended in the air. He had blonde hair with a bag tied above his head while carrying a large backpack. "Ohhh yah!" he said. "Rescuers! I don't care who or what ya are, but get me offa this chain, pals!"

"It'll cost you!" Eddy said, pointing at him.

"Eddy, please!" Double D said, frowning.

"I'm just kidding! I'm not gonna do that to these Mogmas."

"Yeah, yeah, sure!" the Mogma said, flailing around. "Set me free, and I'll give ya something important I found just recently!"

Eddy smirked. "Or I guess that can work! Come on, guys!" After a while in this room, the team realized there was a pulley at the other side of a fenced wall. The entrance to that room was blocked by another frog entrance with a wall of fire. They found a Water Fruit at a corner, but it was blocked by another fenced wall and a gate. They realized they had to dig underground to reach the other side.

Ed dug underground, singing his digging song. As they continued to dig, he found a switch, which he decided to press it. Above ground, the gate moved in a wall, allowing the above group to access the Water Fruit. Link stabbed it and prepared to leave with the group when the gate suddenly closed.

"What the?!" Eddy said as the gate moved back and forth in a crazy manner. "Ed, you idiot! Stop it!" He stomped on the ground.

"This is fun!" Ed said, laughing as he pushed and pulled the switch, ignoring the dirt above him falling down.

"Ed!" the above group said.

"Huh?" Ed decided to returned back to the hole he dug up. When he did, he saw the group, but he stared at Eddy's scowl expression.

"What were you thinking, idiot?!" Eddy asked, glaring.

Ed grinned. "I found a switch, and it was fun!"

Eddy growled. "You idiot." After a few seconds, Link had already deactivated the frog switch and found the pulley to set down the Mogma. Afterwards, the group set him free.

The Mogma cheered. "Sweet, sweet flavor of freedom!" He suddenly smirked. "Thanks...for nothing, suckers!"

"What?!" the team asked, widening their eyes a bit.

"You really think I would give something to strangers? My momma didn't raise no patsy!"

Eddy marched up to him. "First of all, don't call me a sucker!" he said, pointing and pushing the Mogma's chest. "Second, we're no strangers to you guys! We just saved a Mogma here!"

"A Mogma?! Where's ya proof?!"

"Here's our proof," Link said as he and Ed showed him their Mogma Mitts.

The Mogma gasped. "Those gloves are from my brother's secret collection! You guys are actually friends with Silva?!"

"And we also met Guld," Double D added.

"Huh?!"

Link walked up to him. "Hold on," he said. "Are you...Bronzi?"

"Y-yeah! Oh man! There's no mistake about it! I'm sorry, pals!" He took something out of his backpack's pocket, showing the small object to him. "I found this key while surveying this room. I got through a fake wall and avoided a worm beast just to get this. But with all these enemies around and getting captured, I'm afraid this is the end of the line, ya know?"

Eddy nodded. "Yeah, I think I kinda understand what ya getting at," he said.

"Wow!" Bronzi grinned. "You know, I kinda like ya. So in exchange for this key, please don't tell anyone that I was captured. It'll just be our little secret, okay?"

Eddy smirked. "Deal!" He and Bronzi shook each other's hands as Eddy grabbed the key from the Mogma's hand.

"Time for me to hit the dust. Bye!" Bronzi dug underground.

"Eddy sure is popular with the Mogmas," Link said, chuckling.

"He'll become a Mole Mutant!" Ed said, gasping.

"Ed, shut up," Eddy said, rolling his eyes. The team returned back to Gorko and then the room that once had the two Magmanos. With the key, they entered through the northern room.

The group ended up being outside, but a bit more closer to the main building with the giant door. They walked up the right staircase, seeing that building.

"Hey..." Link said, peering through a fenced wall. "There's another one of those hexagonal target for our Clawshots. It can get us to the building's staircase up to that door."

"A shortcut?" Double D asked.

"Yeah. Hold on." Link put his feet in the holes of the fence and aimed at the hexagonal target. Once attached, he jumped up high and pulled himself in to the target. The second he made contact to it, the object began to fall down, causing him to hit the stone floor.

"Link!" his friends said, peering through the fence.

"I'm okay!" Link got up, seeing himself next to the staircase heading up to the giant door. Then he scanned the surroundings. "There are no more of those targets!"

"What do we do, Link?" Ed asked from afar.

"I think we'll go separate ways for now!"

"What?! All by yourself, Link?!" Double D asked.

"Yeah, I'm with Sockhead here!" Eddy added as Ed nodded.

"We have to hurry because Ghirahim might be here!" Link said. "He might get the flame first! We can explore this temple more efficiently with two groups!"

Double D furrowed his brows. "I don't know, Link! I think you're a bit too hasty in this situation!"

"I'll be fine! I can take care of myself!"

"But-"

"Don't worry, Link!" Gorko said. "I'll take care of 'em till we regroup!"

Link smiled. "Thanks, Gorko!" he said. "I'll be seeing you guys in a bit!" He began to walk away.

"Link!" the three Eds said.

"Buddies," Gorko said as the Eds turned to him, "have faith in him. Someone like him will be fine." The Eds looked among themselves before nodding. "Good. Now let's get going! Quickly now!" As the four walked down the staircase, Gorko turned his head to where Link went, eve if he could not find him anymore. He kept recalling Link and Ghirahim's fight in Skyview Temple. But if Link meets Ghirahim, this will be bad. We have to hurry!

The Eds and Gorko stopped in front of a lava river, but Eddy used his Scattershot to shoot down a hanging Water Fruit to create a platform. Before anyone could move, Double D had already analyzed the river. "Wait, guys!" he said.

"What?" Eddy asked.

"If we ride this lava river, it could take us to where Link landed earlier."

Ed gasped, then grinned. "Then we could meet up with Link now!" he said.

Double D shook his head. "But we have the problem. This river is not flowing to the eastern direction. In order to meet up with Link, we have to find some way to make this river flow."

"How?!" Eddy asked. "Ask the lava river god or something?!"

Double D looked at the western direction, seeing three statue's with their mouths opened. "I believe if we activate another river system there, the incoming pour there will allow this river to move to the eastern direction."

"Got it," Gorko said, nodding. "Let's cross this river and head there." The group hopped onto the platform and to the other side. They walked up the left staircase, entering inside the building. After walking to the left, they looked at the left to see the view, including the lava river, the final building, and the areas beyond.

"We must be standing on top of the three statues I mentioned." Double D scanned the room. Beyond the outer end was a huge pool of lava. "I don't see any switch for the river. Is it underground, maybe?"

"Probably," Gorko said.

"All right, Ed!" Eddy said, snapping his finger. "Find the river switch! Go!"

"You got it, Eddy!" Ed said, starting to burrow down. "Dig a hole, dig a hole, dig a hole!"

As Gorko looked down, he stared at Ed's feet and realized where Ed was going. "Wait a minute," he said. "If he keeps going in that direction, he'll head to that lava pool behind."

Double D gasped, looking at the pool. "Oh dear!" he said. "I hope Ed doesn't do anything reckless."

Meanwhile, Ed started to crawl around instead of digging. He noticed this maze-like underground was already dug by someone. Still, he continued to head to the direction of the lava pool when he saw a waggling blue tail at a corner. As he crawled with caution, he heard an excited voice. "Ah..." someone said. "So busy, so busy... Burning the midnight oil again looking for loot!"

At that point, Ed's nose was in front of the waggling tail. He could clearly hear this person digging on the spot. Ed's eyes darted at the tail for around 10 seconds before he started to grin. "Tail!" he said, grabbing it.

The person screamed out loud as Ed let go. As the person turned around, he saw Ed's head popping out from the corner. "A yellow head!" Ed blinked his eyes, seeing a small overweight Mogma, with blue hair, shivering. He also wore a treasure box on his back. The Mogma started to murmur. "I can't believe they're following us down here now. I guess I'll have some fun."

"Huh?"

The Mogma chuckled in a somewhat mischievous way. "You're on Mogma turf now, fiend! You may look goofy, but as long as the way ahead of me is clear, you'll never catch me!" He started to crawl away.

Ed gasped in delight. "Are we playing underground tag?! You're on!" He started to chase after the Mogma, which the Mogma gasped and picked up the pace. Ed continued to chase for around a minute, almost catching up to the Mogma, until he started to pant. As he stopped to catch his breath, the Mogma crawled into a path and laughed.

"Guess you're not used to digging underground while crawling!"

Ed started to listen to the Mogma's laughing. There was a wall between him and his target. My brain is working.

The Mogma finally stopped laughing, deciding to escape from his pursuer. Before he could move, two long arms trapped him, causing him to yelp. Then, he saw Ed's face coming out of the dirt with a creepy smiling expression.

"I found you," Ed said in an ominous tone.

The Mogma screamed and covered his eyes. He found no hope within himself. "No! G-go on, you monster! Boil me, bake me... Do your worst!" As he prepared for the worst, his last thoughts were thinking of his brothers, Bronzi and Silva, the Mogmas, and all the treasures he would not have for himself. Then, he felt a poke on his forehead. When he opened his eyes, he saw Ed grinning.

Ed laughed. "Tag, you're it!"

"H-huh?" The Mogma widened his eyes when he saw Ed's gloves. "I know those gloves! Ain't those from my brother's secret collection?"

"He gave me 'em! He also gave 'em to my pal, Link!"

"What?! You know my brother?!" He saw Ed nodding. "Whew! I thought you were a monster! Sorry, guy!"

"It was fun! I'm Ed! What's yours?"

"Plats. I'm the brother of Bronzi and Silva."

"We met them in this temple! We saved them!"

"R-really?! Wow!" Silence took them in. "Uh... So what are you doing here?"

"Uh... Find a river switch?"

"A river switch? I'm not sure about that. Why don't we just get out of here and talk on the surface?"

"Sure!" The two began to crawl back to the exit. Currently, they were at the far end of the room as Plats crawled to the right. Ed continued to crawl until his left claw struck a bomb, making it roll toward the other path.

"Wh-what was that?!"

"It wasn't me!" The two turned to see a lit up bomb rolling to a blockade of rocks. When the bomb exploded, the two gasped to see lava flowing to them. It became clear the two were right next to the lava pool. The two let out a loud scream.

"Crawl away!"

Ed turned the corner with a sweated expression. "Crawl away, crawl away, crawl away!"

At the surface, Double D, Eddy, and Gorko wondered about all the screams and the explosion they heard. "I've got a bad feeling about this," Gorko said. "Maybe I should try to dig to find Ed."

"He's been there for a while," Eddy said, who also had a worried look.

Double D looked at the lava pool, noticing it was starting to flow toward their direction. "That's odd," he said as Ed and Plats leaped out of the hole. "Ed! Thank goodness you're okay! And another Mogma?!"

"Whoa, you look beat, Ed! What happened, dude?"

"Crawling!" Ed said, panting out loud. "Mogma! Crawling! Bomb! Lava! Crawling!"

Plats began covering the hole with dirt. "I think that should do it," he said, panting.

"Ed, did you just leak the underground with lava?" Gorko asked.

"It wasn't me!" Ed replied. "It was the bomb's fault!"

"Then it's your fault, Ed!" Eddy said.

"Everyone, look!" Double D said, standing at the edge. Below them, the three statue's mouths spewed out with lava, landing into the lava river. "This whole river is now flowing to our destination. We can regroup with Link!"

"Attaboy, Ed!" Gorko said, patting on Ed's back. If it was any normal being, they would have stagger by a Goron's power.

Eddy turned to Plats. "And who are you?" he asked.

"Oh, uh..." Plats began, a bit startled to see this group.

"It's okay!" Ed said with a reassuring smile. "They're my friends."

"I'm...Plats, brother of Bronzi and Silva." After that, the group introduced themselves to him.

"And..." Double D continued. "Well, we're currently missing our leader. We got separated just recently."

"And this person...is named Link?"

"Indeed. He wears the same green knight uniform as Ed, but he wields a sword."

Plats nodded. "Ah, okay. Speakin' of Ed, I heard from him that you saved them here."

Double smiled. "Yes, we did. We also met and talked to Guld."

Plats gasped. "Guld?! Okay, so all of you are not with those monsters roamin' around here."

"The Bokoblins, yes."

Plats sighed. "And here I thought this treasure hunt was supposed to be an easy gold mine for us, but I guess the boss was right, after all."

"What are you gonna do?" Eddy asked as Gorko looked back at the scenery.

"Me? I'm headin' back to the boss's place. This place is gettin' a bit more dangerous, so I might as well save myself. You guys take care out there. Don't wanna see you all get skewered or nothin'."

Gorko gasped. "Ghirahim!" he said.

The three Eds darted to Gorko. "What?!" they said.

"I saw Ghirahim at the front door! He attacked Link into the building! Link's in danger now!"

"We'll save you, Link! Come on!" Ed said, rushing off as the rest followed him. Plats quickly dug underground and retreat. As for Gorko's group, they exited out through the door, but Bokoblins appeared out of thin air. They shrieked their battle cries at the group.

"Oh, come on!" Eddy said, gritting as everyone got ready to fight.

When Link went separate ways from the group, he stopped at an intersection with three paths. To his left was the big door which Link assumed the final Sacred Flame was located. Straight ahead led to another building, but the right path caught his attention. He saw a flat stone with words inscribed on it.

"'The bridge of decision,'" Link said, reading. "'Choose the path you believe in... Move forward bravely.'" He walked down the right path, walking on a black grating bridge. He reached a dead end where it stood over the lava pool way below him. When he peered to the left, he saw a giant creature head with its eyes closed. When he peered to the right, he saw the same creature's head, except its eyes were opened. Link gasped in realization. "These heads are facing each other. Is this what the riddle meant?"

Link started to smirk, feeling a surge of confidence as he leaped to his desired path: the one with the closed eyes. As he descended down closer to the sleeping statue, a glowing clear tongue materialized out of the mouth. Link opened up his Sail Cloth, descended more slowly until his feet made contact to the crystal tongue. He began to slide down into the mouth, stopping himself in front of a staircase.

"That was easy." Link walked up the staircase until he reached the door. When he entered inside, he saw the room being circular with a grating floor, but with no lava below. It appeared to be a simple arena room. To further prove it, two Dark Lizalfos stood in the center, startled to see Link until they got into their battle stances. The portcullis closed down behind down, but that did not deter Link. Instead, he pulled out his sword and shield before charging at the Dark Lizalfos.

Link held up his shield, waiting for one of his enemies to strike first. However, one Lizalfos appeared to spew out something, so Link jumped back. That Lizalfos breathed out a dark flamethrower. The second Lizalfos charged toward Link, beginning to twirl around with its spiky tail. Link bashed it back with his shield, then managed to slash his enemy only once. It growled in pain before jumping back as the second Lizalfos came in. Link slashed down, but the Lizalfos sidestepped away. Though it held up its arm shield, it taunted Link by letting out its tongue. Seeing this overconfidence, Link's sword almost reached down the enemy's head, but it ended up slashing the left shoulder.

The Lizalfos roared as it started to see its comrade behind Link. Link still stared back with a fierce look before holding his sword behind. Both Lizalfos charged toward him, but to their surprise, Link spun around with a Spin Attack. He quickly leaped forward in the air and held his sword down, performing the Fatal Blow. The Lizalfos on the ground tried to get up, but the blade pierced down its chest before exploding into purple smoke.

As Link pulled out his sword, he looked back to see the last Lizalfos standing up, but it panted out loud while touching its chest wounds. Nevertheless, it charged toward Link in berserk. Link put his shield away and activated his left Clawshot. It grabbed and pulled the Lizalfos to Link as it started to get bashed repeatedly by the hilt of Link's sword. When he was done pummeling, the Lizalfos opened its mouth in preparation to spew its dark flamethrower. However, Link threw his enemy up with great strength and slashed the Lizalfos once. As the Lizalfos descended down, Link yelled out and did three overhead arcing slashes. On the last hit, his enemy disappeared in purple smoke.

Link breathed in and out before swinging his sword forward a bit before sheathing it on his back. Doors at opposite ends opened up as a white treasure chest materialized in the center. He opened up the chest and picked up a strange item. It was a faint glowing sculpture of golden cubes (with a few rectangular prisms). A few areas on it had bits of pieces off, and it appeared to be missing several other cubes. Link was a bit baffled by this Mysterious Crystals before leaving the room.

In the next room, Link realized he was in a tower, starting at the bottom. A spiral of staircase went around and up the room, but some parts were missing. Whenever Link reached these missing holes, he either jumped forward or used his Clawshots to hook onto the vines in order to continue onward. Link also fought a few annoying Dark Keeses along the way, but none of them posed a serious threat to him.

It took a while, but he reached the top and exited out the building. Through the window, he saw the building with the big double doors to his right. The pathway was blocked by a gate, but Link simply stepped on the switch to open it. He went down the staircase and finally returned back to the intersection. This time, he went up to the final building, examining the door's keyhole. It was shaped like a reverse keyhole. Link pulled out the Mysterious Crystals, yet he doubted this object's purpose until he rotated the sculpture a few times. He let out a gasp when he saw the item matched the reverse keyhole, so he inserted in. Like before, the key disappeared before the doors opened up.

"Finally..." Link said, smiling as he turned to his left. He noticed the three statue's mouth pouring out lava and he could barely see his friends on top of them. He saw Gorko turning around and seeing Link, which both of them waved at each other. They were about to call each other's name until Link swiftly turned to his left. He gasped to see none other than Ghirahim charging toward him with his rapier. Link quickly ran into the building and jumped out-of-the-way. As the doors closed, he gritted his teeth before pulling out his sword and shield. He saw his arch nemesis standing in the middle of the room, looking up at the wall in particular. "Ghirahim!" No response, which Link growled. "Ghirahim!"

Ghirahim turned around, smiling. "Oh, hello there, Link," he said in a nonchalant manner. "I see you and your friends are still among the living. Fancy meeting you here. We seem to bump into each other time and time again."

"Bump?! More like you tried to attack me while my guard is down!"

Ghirahim chuckled. "Oh, it's no coincidence, though, is it? You and I, we're bound by a thread of fate."

"What?"

Ghirahim pointed up. "Look at these old drawings!" He pointed at the hieroglyphs which had a yellow goddess in the center. At her side were two yellow Gate of Times in different buildings. "Before I pushed you in, I stumbled upon this room earlier. Until I found these, I was...upset about that little stunt the goddess's guard dog pulled at the Gate of Time. What was that twig's name again? Impa?" He waited for Link to respond, but he did not. "Well, never mind that, because these drawing suggest the existence of a second Gate of Time. This news has just filled my hear with rainbows! I've been a busy boy, searching here and there and everywhere for another Gate of Time."

Link widened his eyes. If he finds it at the Sealed Temple, Zelda will be in danger! Suddenly, Ghirahim warped away, causing Link to look around the room. He found Ghirahim at the left side of the room, kneeling at he drawings.

"And yet, I couldn't even find a single clue. Since I know I can be honest with you, I'll admit I got a little sulky. It was frowns all around." He warped away in front of the drawing, particularly in front of the yellow goddess. He let out a long sigh and looked away. "The thought of never getting my hands on that darling young girl again was...well, more than I could bear."

Link narrowed his eyes. "That persistence is more than enough for me to stop you! I won't risk it this time!"

Ghirahim put up a delighted smile. "Oh really? I can't help it after I found this place!" He leaped in front of Link and warped behind Link's back as he touched Link's shoulders. Link froze in place. "The prospect of a second Gate of Time has made me positively giggly!" Link slashed back, but Ghirahim warped away to the front. He put his arms out. "That girl... Your adorable friend... She will be instrumental in bringing about the revival of my master. And though I feared she was now quite beyond my reach, I despair no longer!" He lowered down his arms. "But before we talk any further on that subject, there's still the outstanding matter of your punishment, Link. And that also goes to your friends and Eddy."

"At least you remembered my name."

"Do you remember when I told you that the next time we met, I'd make your ears bleed from the sound of your own screams? Well, I've been thinking... Perhaps corporal punishment is a touch harsh. I might be willing to forgive and forget if you strike a deal." He offered his left hand to Link. "All I ask is that you tell me where I can find the other Gate of Time. That's not too much to ask, is it? Oh, and don't you play coy with me. I know that you know, so why not let me in on the fun?"

Link held his shield in front of him, narrowing his eyes. "Even if I did know, I won't tell you!"

Ghirahim sighed and turned to his right. "Such behavior. A mischievous boy like you needs to be dealt with firmly. I must warn you, I won't go easy on you this time."

"And this time, I will fight back!"

Ghirahim's red cape began to disappear as he raised his arms forward. In a flash of diamonds, his arms turned black. "Lovely, aren't they? You'll find the supple skin of my arms tougher than any armor. Doesn't their shape just leave you...breathless?" He faced Link, revealing a bit of more changes than his arms. A black vein was imprinted on the diamond hole of his left chest up to his left eye. It also extended down to his left leg thanks to his diamond holes. "Behold! Such beauty! Such a pure form! Such an exquisite physique! Such stunning features! Yes, I've pretty much got it all!"

Link scoffed. "If Eddy was here, he would comment on this."

Ghirahim frowned. "Though there is one teensy, tiny thing I lack... Namely, mercy!" Ghirahim showed out his tongue in a menacing way. "Come to me, Link. You and I, we're bound by that thread of fate. Destined to fight. So come close, Link! Meet me in battle, and the thread of fate that binds us will be soaked crimson with your blood!"

Link gritted, pointing his sword at him. "No! It'll be your blood, instead, Ghirahim! It's payback for what you did back in Skyview Temple!"

Hyrule Historia's References:

1. Guld, Plats, Bronzi, and Silva's final version (P.51)
2. Dark Keese's final version (P.59)
3. Magmanos' final version (P.65)
4. Dark Lizalfos' final version (P. 61)

Link [6+6 Hearts]
Main Equipment [Goddess White Sword], [Braced Shield]
Sub-Equipment [Sailcloth], [Scattershot], [Water Dragon's Scale], [Whip], [Clawshot], [Bow], [Fireshield Earrings], [Mogma Mitts]
Inventory [Bottle (Heart Potion)], [Goddess's Harp], [Farore's Wind]

Ed [6+2 Hearts]
Main Equipment [Spiked Hammer], [Reinforced Shield]
Sub-Equipment [Sailcloth], [Scattershot], [Tough Beetle], [Digging Mitts], [Small Seed Satchel], [Gust Bellows], [Water Dragon's Scale], [Clawshot], [Bow], [Fireshield Earrings], [Mogma Mitts]
Inventory [Bottle (Heart Potion)], [Big Bug Net], [Bottle]

Double D [3+1 Hearts]
Main Equipment [Zeal Wand], [Divine Shield]
Sub-Equipment [Water Dragon's Scale], [Clawshot], [Fireshield Earrings]
Inventory [Binoculars]

Eddy [4+3 Hearts]
Main Equipment [Metal Racket], [Braced Shield]
Sub-Equipment [Sailcloth], [Scattershot], [Bomb Bag], [Water Dragon's Scale], [Clawshot], [Bow], [Fireshield Earrings]
Inventory [Orange gemstone (Right eye)], [Bottle (Heart Potion)], [Bottle]