Chapter 54: A hopeless battle?
Link and the Seven Sages watched in utter horror as the now monstrous Ganjora towered over them all like a sick, mutated pig that was covered in nothing else but flesh, bearing the sickly multiple colors of primarily magenta, dark blue, pink and violet/purple, interlaced with bright green-glowing veins pulsating from under the bare skin, while also sporting those soul-piercing eyes from Majora's Mask on the chest, while his normal eyes had green sclera and lacked the presence of irises and pupils. The jewel on its forehead was now acting as a third eye akin to Majora's Wrath, and the sides of his face were protected by two horns that curled outward, ready to skewer anyone close and unfortunate enough to get caught if he would charge at them. He retained some level of clothing through the Gerudo garment around his waist, under arms and around the shoulders, the initial knight plating being completely destroyed during his growth, the only remnants being the torn cape at the back and some garment on the shoulders. His feet had been replaced by boar-like hooves and for the rest he was completely packed with bulging muscles, being actually far more buffer than the Ganon Link had fought in the Future That Almost Was. The fiery red hair also had grown longer, the tips molding together to create tendrils akin to Majora's, and on his shoulders and on his sides were now deadly spikes that were raised to protect them from there. It also grew a tail that was big enough to almost rest on the other side of the arena itself! But the thing that scared the group the most was the sheer size of him; whereas Ganon was already big enough to easily tower over both Link and Zelda and several remains of his old castle, this new Ganjora stood at least at TWICE that height, showcasing the tremendous power combination that both Majora's Mask and the Triforce of Power had pumped into Ganondorf. With a bestial howl and a roar, Ganjora then plunged his oversized blades into the ground of the arena, creating a shockwave that practically launched Link and the Seven Sages off their feet, while at the same time raising the outer ring of the arena itself, where as more of the rocky wall around it began to crumble and tear, some pieces floating up in the air, while others fell all the way down from the tower. Lightning crashed around the area with loud thunderclaps that resonated throughout the area, as if Ganjora's power was big enough to disorient the atmosphere around them.
Reimu and her troops narrowly managed to fly out of the tower itself as parts of it were already beginning to crumble down under the sheer pressure and force of the power increase Ganjora was boasting, coupled with the lava now melting anything that could be melted by it around, varying from the crates that were stacked around to the remaining corpses of Ganondorf and Majora's forces that Link and the Seven Sages had slain before. Whatever lava had risen throughout the inner area of the tower and streamed out of the open windows were now covering most of the tower itself and its surrounding areas, almost appearing as if the world had cracked open on that part and revealed an artificially created volcano which seemed to be contained within the vast mountain area it was located in.
"Oh, dear Goddesses, look at the size of that monstrosity!" Leia shouted, seeing the silhouette of Ganjora's form sticking out from the position she was in while she looked up at the tower.
"It's frigging huge!" One of the Gerudo Pirates exclaimed.
"And our leader Nabooru and her friends are up there! We have to help them!" Another one said.
"How?! That monster's likely able to keep outsiders out!" A third one asked.
"We won't stay here and do nothing. Besides, I also have a score to settle with that freak for brainwashing me and almost making me kill my beloved sister. I'll show him that we Gerudo don't need such a vile, despicable ruler that Ganondorf is!" Reimu said, moving to keep a close watch on the battle, waiting for her chance.
Getting up after the harsh landing on the outer ring, Link and the Seven Sages were all faced with the monstrosity known as Ganjora, whose menacingly looked down upon them like they were insignificant insects to it. Ganjora stared at them with those menacing, green-glowing, empty eyes, before heaving another howl which roared like thunder, causing Link and the Sages to cover their ears to prevent their ear-drums bursting from the deafening sound. This was done right before Ganjora thrusted its blades onto the ground again, sending the group flying into the air, before Ganjora smacked them all with the flat portion of the blade in its right hand. The force of the impact alone caused the group to be sent flying over the outer ring to the right, spreading them out a bit so it would take time for them to get together again. At this point, Link and Zelda both landed next to each other, skidding a bit over the outer ring at their landing point before laying still, enough for them to at least try to get up, but their injuries weren't making this easy. Looking behind them, they saw that the other Sages had been spread behind them, but too far to properly catch up due to Ganjora preparing himself for another assault.
"Darn it! Now he's even more crazy than before!" Link said, observing it for a moment while wiping blood from his mouth.
"Now what are we going to do?! There's no way we can fight him alone like this…" Zelda said.
"We're on our own at this for now, but I'm not going to stand here and let him kill us." Link said, looking to his right, seeing that the area there was clear.
"What are you planning?" Zelda asked, seeing as Link was attempting to move first to ensure he wasn't hindered in his legs from injuries as well as watching at where Ganjora was currently looking at.
"If Ganjora has the appearance of a mutated Ganon, I'm inclined to think that the tail is his weak point and I'm gonna try to exploit it. You can come with me if you wish, but we need the others to keep him occupied or otherwise keep moving to avoid his attacks!" Link said, tossing his shield aside in order to maintain speed and not wanting the weight of his other equipment, save for the bow and arrows, become cumbersome to him during his movements.
"Right." Zelda said, just as Link went on his way, Zelda following right away while telepathically contacting the remaining Sages, who understood it, although some of them were badly wounded.
It was as if in this moment, the respective Triforce Pieces that dwelled within both Link and Zelda began to glow on the back of their hands, which in turn empowered the two to run around the outer ring forward while hoping that the Six Sages could keep Ganjora occupied long enough for them to reach its tail, to which they believed to be its weak spot to be attacked. They just didn't care about any gaps or obstacles; they just kept going as if adrenaline was empowering them to run as fast as their legs allowed them to, intent on finishing the fight once and for all. Interestingly, the Six Sages shared this mentality as they did their best to keep Ganjora occupied with the best of their abilities, however Ganjora already noticed something was off; why were only six of those pests attacking it, while he was clearly facing eight?! He then looked around where the other two were, before spotting movement from the left corner of his eyes. Turning into that direction, it saw Link and Zelda running towards its tail. Realizing what it was planning, Ganjora roared angrily and attempted to strike them down with one of its massive blades, only to be hit by a Silver Light Arrow courtesy of Saria. This made it howl in pain for a moment, enough time for the Sages to regroup.
"LOOK OUT! IT HAS SEEN YOU!" Nabooru shouted towards Link and Zelda, who were almost at the monstrosity's tail.
Hearing this, Link then grabbed Zelda's hand while continuing onward, hoping the beast would stay stunned long enough to at least get one strike on the tail in. When the tail was in reach, both Link and Zelda drew their blades, ready to strike, but then Ganjora recovered and attempted to strike them down with its massive blades. As it thrusted the blade down however, Link jumped into the air, taking Zelda with him, causing the blade itself to miss them, but get lodged in the side of the outer ring, becoming stuck inside it. Seeing this, Link immediately seized the opportunity to run up Ganjora's massive arm, holding his arms out to the side as if to maintain balance while running towards the tail, which was now curled upward against the far side of the arena, before smacking it with his Golden Master Sword. Hearing Ganjora's howls of pain, Link continued his assault, soon joined by Zelda whom attacked the tail itself as well, while making sure she was out of the way of Link's attacks. The fact that Link himself was left-handed when it came to wielding his Golden Master Sword was very helpful in this. Both managed to deliver several strikes to the beast's tail, before the tendrils of Ganjora's hair picked the both of them up and tossed them off of it, right into the other Sages, knocking Saria, Ruto, Impa and Nabooru over in the process, while Ganjora succeeded in freeing its blade from its position, now free to use it against the group once more.
Link grunted in pain as his head collided with Saria's during their involuntary toss off of Ganjora, while Saria tried to shake the stars out of her head to focus her powers in healing the worst injuries, while Impa held her stomach area after receiving Zelda's feet against it during her landing. Getting up, Impa saw that Ganjora was preparing an electric current between the tips of its horns, as if it was preparing to electrocute the entire group.
"EVERYBODY RUN! IT'S GOING TO ATTACK!" She said, grabbing Zelda and Ruto along the way.
Darunia helped Link, Saria and Zelda up while Rauru picked up Nabooru, the Gerudo leader rubbing over her jaw as if checking there weren't any loose teeth from the impact of Zelda's head against it, or otherwise the area swelling from the impact. With the group now on the run, the electric current missed them safely due to them constantly moving, but Ganjora wasn't giving up so easily. It then used the tendrils on its hair to strike at the arena a few times, intending to either smack or trip the group while they were on the run, intending to reach the tail one way or the other. Thrusting its blades into the ground again, Ganjora launched the group straight into the air, before smacking them in the faces with the flat portion of its left blade. Although grunting in pain, this didn't stop Link in the slightest as he got back on his feet and continued on his way, feeling the energy pulsing in his veins, letting him continue. The Sages on their turn shared this mentality and, despite their own injuries, also kept going as best as they could. It was then that Ganjora reared up and thrusted its chest forward, powering the eyes of Majora's Mask and getting ready to prepare its fire beam from them. Seeing this, Link stopped for a moment and fired a Silver Light Arrow in an attempt to strike the behemoth in the chest to stun it, only for it to block the arrow using one of its humongous blades, before firing the fire laser directly at him. Link now ran for dear life as the fire laser followed his trail closely, almost touching him even, only for Zelda to fire a Silver Ice Arrow at one of the mask's eyes, disabling it and weakening the laser, before Saria used a second Silver Ice Arrow to freeze its other eye. Ganjora howled at this as it hunched over in pain, standing still as it attempted to thaw its chest out. This gave the group some form of reprieve as they now ran on towards the tail. Just then, the ice on the chest shattered as Ganjora itself removed it with force, before turning to face the group once more, rage and hatred clearly visible in its eyes. With a menacing roar, it used one of it blades to sweep down over the arena, although the group clocked him and dove forward on the ground, keeping themselves flat as the blade passed over them, feeling a slight gust of wind blowing from behind due to the momentum of the blade's movement, before getting back up and resuming their way towards their target, although Ganjora wasn't making this easy at all.
After a couple of more of such swipes, alternated with some electric bolts trying to strike them, Ganjora thrusted its blades again into the floor of the arena, the force of the impact sending the group into the air, leaving them vulnerable to another swipe in the face using the flat edge of its blade. Getting back up again, the group resumed their run towards their target, although Ganjora kept turning in their direction, ready to unleash another attack against them, this time in the form of a barrage of electric spheres. While he was hit a few times by them himself, Link recovered and eventually proceeded to smack them back towards Ganjora with his sword and Mirror Shield, intercepting other blasts or otherwise striking Ganjora itself, hurting the beast as it grunted. While the Sages on their turn did receive hits from these blasts as well, they soon joined Link in the retaliation action, sending multiple blasts back at it, until it roared and apparently collapsed enough to lodge the blade into the inner side of the outer ring, allowing the group to run up the beast towards their target. While Link ran ahead with Zelda following close behind him, Saria and Ruto caught up with them, with Saria releasing vines to catch and constrict the tail, allowing the group to strike at the tail with vigor using sword strikes, arrows, punches, Sage abilities and even magic/energy blasts, anything the group could do to strike at their target. Ganjora howled in pain as the tail received hit after hit, whether it was with the Golden Master Sword, Silver Light Arrows, Fire Punches or with other conventional weapons or abilities, which went on for about a good half a minute before the behemoth snagged them all in its tendrils, separating the group for a brief moment, before the tendrils moved them in front of its face, letting the group hang face to face with its own, staring at them with its soul-piercing, green-glowing eyes.
"You… ignorant buffoons," Ganjora snarled, his voice being bestial in appearance, "don't you realize you're up against the mighty King of Darkness and Destruction?!"
"Ah… s… screw you!" Link snapped back, trying to wiggle himself free of its grasp.
"You think you have had the upper hand on me, yet you don't realize that all your efforts are in vain!" Ganjora roared as he then moved the tendrils which it held Link and Zelda captive with, before colliding them with each other, while at the same time letting Impa collide with Nabooru and let Saria and Ruto bash against each other in turn as well. Ruto howled in extreme pain, while Saria mustered her powers to use her vines as a wrench to free her arms, grabbing her bow to prepare a Nice Silver Light Arrow in frustration. Seeing this, Ganjora moved Link and Zelda right into the path of the arrows she fired, with one Silver Light Arrow striking both Link and Zelda in the back, causing the two children to scream in pain, but before Ganjora could laugh at their misfortune, the THIRD Silver Light Arrow of the cluster Saria fired struck it in its snout, causing Ganjora to howl in pain as well as the light of justice stunned it for a brief moment. This was all the time Darunia needed to free his own arms using his own brute strength and pull himself towards Ganjora on the tendril holding him captive and clobbered the beast straight in the left eye, causing it to howl even more as it reared back, using its hands to grip his eye, dropping its massive blades in the process. At the same time, Link pulled the arrow that had hit him out of his back, biting through the pain before pulling his own hands out, retrieving his bow and firing it as another Silver Light Arrow right into Ganjora's other eye, causing it to howl again. However, this only succeeded in making Ganjora even more angry than it already was, first regaining or tightening the grip on the group, before using those tendrils to smash Link and the Sages on the floor of the arena itself.
"You fools… this is your end!" Ganjora said, putting pressure on the tendrils in an attempt to break the ribcages of the group.
"Not so fast, monster!" A female voice shouted, before several blasts were fired that struck and severed the tendrils, freeing Link and the Sages in the process.
Ganjora shrieked in pain as it lost the tendrils used to keep the group captive, looking around for the offender, only for an airship passing by. It was Reimu, whom came to the group's aid using one of the Gerudo Pirates to help her with the cannon, before Reimu moved at first away, before turning around to prepare for another assault. At first, Ganjora fired an electric blast which Reimu avoided, letting her comrade fire the cannon at it, nailing the beast in its face. Now pissed off, Ganjora roared and prepared a blast from its mouth, firing it at Reimu's ship as it moved away.
"REIMU, LOOK OUT!" Nabooru shouted.
Reimu saw the blast coming and tried to fly in a position to ensure the blast wouldn't hit too many critical parts… only for another ship to fly up behind her to intercept the blast for her, only for that ship to be destroyed, causing its occupant to be launched from the debris with a scream.
"LEIA!" Reimu screamed as she saw the woman falling, trying to move after her to catch her, only for another Gerudo ship to arrive and catch her.
"We got her. She's unconscious, but alive!" its pilot said, making Reimu sigh of relief.
Seeing this however made Ganjora go mad, unleashing another ear-piercing howl before thumping its massive fists on the ground, destabilizing the tower underneath it, while at the same time breaking the outer ring off of its position, making it float up as a portal opened up high in the sky, before Ganjora itself began to fly upwards, towards the portal.
"He's trying to get away!" Impa exclaimed.
"Not on my watch!" Link said, standing up despite being badly wounded and blood seeping from the wound on his back, using his Hookshot to reach one of the now-rising platforms, seeking out the nearest target to reach.
He was soon joined by Zelda and Saria who, despite their own wounds, shared Link's determination to finally defeat the evil monstrosity.
"How are we ever going to beat him?! He seems to be growing stronger every minute!" Zelda asked.
"We've managed to hurt him, but it didn't accomplish much other than making him angry… looks like their union was pulled off far better than I expected." Link said as he kept on making his way to the top, seeing the other Sages approaching as well.
"But there has to be SOMETHING we can do to defeat him, right?!" Saria asked.
"You bet there is, but I just don't know what. However I won't rest until he has been defeated!" Link exclaimed, moving higher and higher as he went along on the broken, floating platforms.
The Sages followed his every move, even though they could see that Ganjora was staring them down, floating in place as if watching them closely. It also seemed quite agitated at them due to seeing them still alive and able to fight. The group could hear it growl, before inhaling and unleashing a roar that had an effect of a vice shout on them, causing the group to cover their ears as they stood on the platforms. Recovering afterwards, Link resumed his way to the top, eventually reaching the highest platform, preparing a Nice Silver Light Arrow, just as some of the other Gerudo ships came to their aid and began pelting Ganjora with their own cannon blasts in their attempt to distract it. This worked as Ganjora was swatting at them now with both its massive hands and its tendrils, allowing Link to charge up his Nice Silver Light Arrow Shot, just as Zelda came next to him, also preparing her attack, soon to be joined by Saria and Ruto. Just as Ganjora turned to them, the four children fired their arrows, striking Ganjora in the face, with several of them striking it in the eyes! Ganjora let out a inhuman howl of agony as the Light of the Silver Light Arrows blasted through its body like a knife through butter, making it at first collapse down to the lower part of the arena, much to the delight of the entire group.
"Direct hit!" Nabooru shouted.
"Whew, hopefully that will be the end of it…" Zelda said, wiping the sweat of her forehead.
"I hope so… we need to get our wounds patched…" Saria said.
Link however remained on guard and carefully moved to the edge of the platform he was on to look down towards the arena… or what remained of it…
Suddenly, without warning, a bright light shot up from the arena, directly in the center of the platforms that were floating in the air. Immediately, Link jumped back in shock, blinking at the scene, while the Sages were startled and instantly went at Link's side, only for a figure to suddenly float in front of them. This figure didn't look like the monstrous beast form of Ganjora, but had a more Humanoid appearance. In fact, this figure looked like a tall, slightly beefed up version of Ganondorf, while having the green-glowing veins, spikes on the shoulder and the mask-turned chest armor from Majora. It was as if the spikes now became part of the shoulder armor that Ganondorf wore, while it retained those sickly green eyes. This was the Humanoid form of Ganjora, whose hair was now also flaming a bit upward and its teeth retained its carnivorous appearance with the sharp fangs in place of normal teeth. His skin was still a menacing dark color, although it was no longer blue like in its beast form. Tendrils had appeared on the hands, while a few minor ones were still at the hair. It looked quite pissed, while Link instinctively grabbed his sword and shield, the latter he had picked up along with the rest of his gear during the ascension of the platforms a few minutes ago.
"You are far more resilient than I thought, but it takes more than that to defeat me. You may have slain the monster, but the beast still lives," Ganjora said, "and as long as I have the Triforce of Power in my possession, I doubt you will ever be able to TRULY stop me!"
"Hey, I defeated both you and Majora once before, what makes you think I can't do it again?!" Link snarled, getting in a defensive position.
"HAH! You were lucky that time," Ganjora said in Ganondorf's voice, "and for the record, you didn't exactly kill me. Yes, you defeated me, but all you did was making me vulnerable enough for your friends to seal me away in the Sacred Realm. As I was drawn in, I swore to you that I would kill your descendants whenever I would break free from it, but it appears my good friend Majora made things easier for me."
Ganjora then looked with an amused expression at seeing Zelda drawing her blade as well, also ready to fight, making it chuckle. This made Link and the Sages blink, wondering what the monstrosity was chuckling about.
"While I should be very pissed off at you for ruining my plans time and time again, coupled with my current powers being able to kill you easily as I did before, I find your defiance of what appears to be your fated doom amusing. That's why I'm issuing a challenge to all of you." Ganjora then said.
"A Challenge? What challenge?" Impa asked.
"A very simple one. No new temples, no new puzzles, no new enemies to fight. Just follow me through the portal so we have a more, shall we say, 'comfortable' place to fight in. So if you feel you can still defeat me, all you have to do is follow me through this portal. Your friends can come along too. I'll be waiting for you on the other side." Ganjora said, before it floated up, straight into the portal, laughing menacingly.
Link and the Seven Sages watched it leave through the portal, dismayed at the sight of their nemesis still alive and well… and apparently stronger than it ever was before.
"This is just great! NOW what do we do?!" Ruto asked.
"I wish I knew… we could either stay here and let death come to us, or go in the portal and make our stand there. Either way, it seems Hyrule and Termina will be lost after all…" Impa said, sighing.
"Not exactly…" Link said, whom was currently holding something in his hands.
"Huh? What are you on about?" Zelda asked.
"Remember that day where Majora transported us into the depths of Ikana Canyon and we encountered that Deku Scrub there on the second level of the Skulltula cavern?" Link then asked.
Zelda blinked at this, getting pulled into a flashback…
The group swiftly takes out the Deku Babas, each gaining a Deku Stick in the process, while Link also sends the attack of the Deku Scrub back at him by using his Shield. Immediately the Scrub tries to escape after being hit, but Zelda confronts it.
"Please, miss! I'll never do it again! If I give you some advice, will you let me go?" The Deku Scrub pleaded.
"Alright, spill it." Zelda said.
"I overheard this: While most enemies can be beaten easily in a group, some of the more tougher ones require more power and may need to be faced with a fighter of the same caliber. That's all I can tell you." It said, before it left.
"I remember now, it said that some of the tougher enemies required an enemy of the same caliber… I still wonder what he meant by that…" Zelda said.
"I believe now that he means that such an enemy has to be faced with someone of the same power, instead of fighting in numbers." Link said, his expression as serious as it can be.
"So, what do you propose then?" Saria asked, overhearing the conversation.
"Yeah, surely we can't go all the way back to that lava outpost and ask assistance from the Ancient Fire Sage, right?" Impa asked.
"We won't have to. What I propose is that we as a group combine our powers into a single entity, using this." Link said, before showing the Purified Fierce Deity Mask to the group.
"Huh? You mean that we use some kind of fusion to even the odds?" Nabooru asked.
"Yes." Link said.
"I can see why Link is proposing this," Zelda said, "after all, I DID fuse with him momentarily when we fought against Majora alone in a stone cavern after breaking free from a petrification spell he inflicted on us to turn us into stone…"
"And we did split back up once he had retreated…" Link said, to which Zelda nodded.
"I see, so you believe that a fusion between the eight of us will give us the edge against our enemy now?" Darunia asked.
"I do, but I'm willing to listen to any of your ideas if you have alternatives. Either way, we need to destroy the tools that powers those two or otherwise take it away from them." Link said.
The Sages nodded.
"I support Link's idea," Saria then said, making the group turn to her, "if Ganondorf and Majora have combined their bodies and powers in their fashion to best us, what makes them believe we can't do the same to counter it?"
"Saria has a point," Link said, "after all, there should be always a counter for something…"
The other Sages went to think about it for a moment.
"Well, what do we have to lose anyway?" Nabooru then asked, "I'll join in."
"Very well then. I believe we unanimously agree to Link's proposal. Besides, if the fusion can be undone similar to Link and Zelda's, it's only a matter of just getting in, beat Ganjora and take its power tools before we can go back home." Darunia said.
"Right," Rauru said, "let's proceed then."
Link nodded with a smile, while Zelda moved to instruct the others on what they have to do for this…
