Ever the scavenger, Wild leaned down to pick up a long bone he could use as a melee weapon in a pinch.
The bones around him shifted. A skeleton began to form. "Guys!" he barked.
"You're good!" called the Veteran, sword already pointed at the monster.
Wild ripped away the bone he was holding as a skeletal arm formed around it, then whacked the skull away from the still-forming body. The skull flew in Calm's direction, who promptly clove it in two.
The floor came alive. Stal monsters of every variety rose from the piles, surrounding the small group.
"All clear!" called the Veteran.
The boys leaped into action. Calm and the Traveler took out the ones that were flanking Wild and Junior, which freed Wild to provide cover fire for the Smith and Veteran. Junior kept his shield up and stayed glued to his dad's side, literally shaking in his boots.
More monsters spawned from the piles of bones. The Veteran started having difficulty keeping up with clearing all of them as friend or foe. "Junior!" he called.
Before the Veteran could get another word out a sharp pop sounded and a flash of electrical sparks scurried through the floor, ignoring the Heroes but stunning the monsters for a quarter of a second.
"Hyah!" The Veteran performed a spin attack to quickly test—and clear—this new wave of monsters, but just as he gave the all clear another, larger wave of skeletons rose from the ground.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" cried the Veteran before cutting one down and executing another spin attack.
"There's too many!" cried the Traveler as the monsters pushed him back.
Calm silently mowed through several at once.
Wild shot down a few skulls.
Soon the boys weren't even making a dent in the numbers.
The Veteran swore. "I don't see anywhere to retreat to—"
"There's just not enough of us!" cried the Traveler.
"On it!" The Smith finished off the Stal directly in front of him. "Wild! Cover me!"
Several arrows whizzed passed the Smith as he held the Four Sword out in front of him. "Four Sword, lend me your power!" In a blink the Smith's body seemed to duplicate, going from one Hero to four, each copy sporting one of the four colors of the Smith's original tunic.
"The f—!"
"Call us by our colors," said the one clad in green. "Green, Blue, Red, and Vio!"
"Let's crush some skulls!" cried Blue, charging into the fray.
"We can do this!" said Red with a smile.
"No 'friend' has appeared yet," said Vio. He took out a Stal and turned to the Veteran. "You're sure you've tested all these monsters?"
"No, dipstick, I'm standing around picking my gosh darn nose," snapped the Veteran before doing another spin attack.
"I don't think picking your nose is very helpful—"
"He's being sarcastic, Red."
"Oh!"
"Focus guys!" called Green.
"Right!"
Their numbers bolstered, the boys began to drive the waves of Stals and skeletons back.
"They're not letting up!" cried the Traveler. "They just keep coming—"
"Less talking, more killing!" barked the Veteran.
"There's got to be a way out of this," said Vio. He took out another monster. "This doesn't make any sense."
"Don't worry! I'm sure we'll find it!" said Red before splitting a skull in two.
"Guys, I'm getting low on arrows," said Wild.
Calm sliced through several more in one swing. "Where are they all coming from? The floor should have been empty by now!"
"That's it!" Wild tapped his son on the shoulder. "Junior, throw a flash bomb. Everyone! Let's see if we can figure out what's spawning these guys!"
"Good idea!"
Junior—still shaking from terror—pulled out a flash bomb and threw it down. A bright light illuminated the room.
The Traveler's face went white as the flash faded. "Guys? I uh… I think I found the 'friend'? Maybe? Oh Goddess I hope not—"
"Where?" barked the Veteran.
A skeleton landed not two inches in front of Junior, its back to him and Wild. Father and son leaped backward almost in sync, pinning themselves against the closed door as the Veteran pointed his blade at this new enemy.
"Ah!" Quickly he turned the blade away. "Yep, that's—oh Goddess, which one is it‽"
"More importantly, how do we change him back?" asked Vio.
"The mist!" called Green. "Everyone, stay away from him!"
"Oh no!" said Red.
Blue swore.
"Junior!" The Veteran shook himself. "Traveler, keep him occupied—Calm, cut me a path! The rest of you, take care of the small fry!"
"You got it!" called Green.
"Come here ya filthy little—!" Blue raged as he plowed through the monsters.
Calm moved to one side of the room and held his blade in front of him, focusing until it glowed a fiery blue. He raised it high and gave it a mighty swing, instantly clearing all the monsters between him and the wall by the door.
The Veteran wasted no time crossing the room and tossing the Master Sword to Junior as the Traveler dueled with this supposed friend. Junior missed the catch, but fumbled to the sacred blade as fast as he could, already beginning to glow as his dad kept an arrow notched and ready to fire.
As Junior grabbed hold of the Master Sword the skeletal 'friend' stepped back, stomping on the sacred blade and pinning it in place. White light filled the cavern, stunning the remaining monsters and stopping any more from spawning.
The 'friend', however, seemed largely unaffected.
He spun around, full attention fixed on Junior as he swung his blade down. Golden chains appeared out of nowhere, freezing the skeleton in his tracks just long enough for an arrow to strike before shattering. The skeleton rocked back from the force of the arrow just enough to release the Master Sword, allowing Junior to flee with sword in tow.
The Veteran glanced at Junior. "Why isn't the Light Force—?"
"I don't know!"
"The Light Force, you say~?"
Each of the Colors froze at the sound of the disembodied voice. Then, in unison they yelled, "Vaati!"
A wave of expletives poured out of Blue's mouth and the other Colors—even Red—looked grateful for the favor.
A sinister chuckle. "Such a spirited greeting~! But what is this? The Light Force in someone other than Princess Zelda?"
"Show yourself!" cried Green. "Come out and fight us!"
"Now why would I do that~? When I can have my puppet do it for me! HAHAHA!"
The skeleton swung down on Junior, but the Veteran blocked it, grunting from the force of the blow. His eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of his opponent's armor. "Old Man‽"
"So it's Time, then?" said Vio.
Wild pulled his son out of harm's way as the Veteran dueled the possessed Hero of Time, but the skeleton turned, intent on going after the holder of the Light Force.
A boomerang struck him in the skull.
"This way Old Man!" called the Traveler. He caught his own boomerang just in time to dodge out of the way of Time's.
"I d-don't know why it's n-not—why he's—"
Wild placed a firm hand on his son's shoulder. "I know. Don't worry, we'll figure this out—hey, why don't you play that riddle again?"
"I d-don't see how th-that—"
"That's actually not a bad idea," said Vio. "We may have forgotten something. Don't worry, we can keep Time occupied."
Junior's whole body was shaking. He pulled out the recorder pendant, but his fingers slipped. "Oh no! That's not the r-right—"
"Sh! Look."
Time stopped mid-swing. Slowly, his skeletal form turned towards the source of the gentle melody. He lowered his weapon. "That… song…" Like an illusion being dispelled, flesh returned to the Old Hero's bones. Any mist that still remained was burned away—not by the light from Junior or the Master Sword, but by a tiny light from within, one that seemed to awaken inside his heart.
"Curse you!" screeched Vaati's voice. "I'll be back for you, boy—the power of the Light Force will not evade me again!"
Vaati's voice faded. No longer suppressed by his dark presence, the torches and lamps in the room burned brighter. The Colors merged back into one.
The Smith sheathed the Four Sword and turned sharply towards Wild. "We have to keep Junior away from Vaati."
"Wha— Why? He—"
"No I'm serious. Vaati has the power to drain the Light Force from the one who carries it. I've seen him do it—at least partially—and I've seen the consequences of even a partial drain. We cannot let that happen, understand?"
"Where…?"
Everyone turned to Time. He was staring at Junior. "Where… did you hear… that song?"
"You okay Old Man?" asked the Veteran.
The Old Hero's gaze didn't budge. His eyes were soft, softer than they'd ever seen, and searching. "Tell me. Please."
Junior took a deep breath. "My b-brother s-sings it to the h-hors-ses to—to c-calm th-them d-down."
"My wife taught me that song." A tear fell down from his wounded eye. He wiped it away, almost confused. "Thank you. I—" His strength failed. The Traveler and Veteran caught him as he sank to the ground.
"Easy Old-Timer," said the Veteran, for once without his typical snark.
Wild tapped his son on the shoulder. "Hey. Help me gather up arrows."
"I'll help too," said the Smith.
Calm silently joined them.
The Traveler tended to Time's wounds as the Veteran sat nearby. Time groaned and held his head.
"I'm glad you're not banged up too bad," said the Traveler.
Time nodded. A couple more stray tears rolled down his face. "How did you boys escape?" he asked quietly. "Who freed you?"
"No one," said the Veteran.
"We were lucky enough to have ways to resist the mist—"
"The Dark," Time corrected.
"You've seen this before?" asked the Veteran.
"No." A tremor moved through his body. "Never something like this. But I know what it's called."
"Well, anyway," the Traveler continued, "us two and the Smith were able to resist the Dark. Junior can outright repel it—"
"Junior?"
"Yeah," said the Veteran. "Apparently he's—well, first of all we're calling the Champion 'Wild' now 'cause, you know—Hero of the Wild—and his twin brother from an alternate timeline or something showed up and they're both Champions."
"You know that young Hero with the shield that joined us not too long ago?" asked the Traveler. "Apparently he's Wild's son. From Wild's future, which is why Wild didn't know."
"I see." Time's eyes tracked down the father and son. The small light that had driven out the last of the Dark from within him rippled. "I should probably tell you boys, since, he's not with you—"
"Let me guess: the Ranch Hand is your kid?"
"No. He's my descendant."
The Veteran shrugged. "Same difference at this point."
"I need to explain to you boys how the Dark works," said Time, "while the memories are still fresh. Boys! Come here a moment."
Everyone stopped picking up arrows and gathered around Time.
"You need to know this," he said, "not only to rescue the others but also to protect yourselves. The Dark preys upon your own insecurities, your own pain, turning them into a prison for the Hero's Spirit. You have to fight with all your strength just to keep some memory of yourself alive." He paused. "That song you played… reminded me of home. Of my wife, who I love dearly. And that—that memory is what saved me." His serious expression returned. "Each of you needs to find something—some memory, some person, some place—that is precious to you personally. Each of us has an innate love for the land of Hyrule and its people. That is ingrained into the Hero's Spirit. But that is not enough to fight or dispel the Dark. You must find something—" he stared at his left hand, his voice softening "—that brings light to your soul at its very thought, something that fills you with hope." His face hardened again. "Understood? The Dark is not to be trifled with. I know you boys are all men of action, but in this circumstance we must take time for introspection."
"We need to figure out what that memory is for the others, don't we?" asked Wild quietly. "I mean, we happened upon yours by accident."
Time nodded. "We will discuss that later. For now, focus on yourselves. The clearer picture we have of what would save each of us, the better."