Hello readers. It is I once again. I hope you like this chapter. It is going to be the longest one yet. For all I know, the next chapter won't be as long. But it might. We'll just have to wait and see. Anyway, this is the beginning of the end. Only one more chapter to go. This does not count the epilogue. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Ugoh.

Chapter 14

Skull Kid stopped outside the Temple of Time only long enough to put on the Stone Mask before racing down the trial, running by the Moblins once more. He was about to go to the trail leading to the castle before remembering the promise he had made to Grim last night. He turned away from the trail and started searching the streets and alleys, looking for the Clock Town Academy. After twenty minutes, he finally found it, a large two- story building. It looked closed. He checked the door. It was closed. Skull Kid had to think about how he was going to get the book inside. He stepped back and took a look at the building. The windows were boarded up as well, so that wouldn't help. This old school seemed to have been closed for weeks, judging by the small amount of dust around the place. He noticed that there was a door on the roof, leading from a stairwell. But there seemed to be no way to get there. Then he noticed the large bell hanging from wooden supports on the roof. He took out his hookshot and grappled onto the bell support, pulling himself up. He ran over to the door on the roof and opened it, going down the stairwell. He looked around for the principal's office, walking down the empty, ghostly corridors, past empty, ghostly classrooms. He finally found the principal's office. Strangely, everything was still there. There was still a desk, paper, pens, pencils, diplomas, and bookshelves around the room. There were even a few pictographs. Skull Kid walked over to the desk. But when he did, he saw something he hadn't been able to notice before. It was in the principal's chair. It appeared to be a tiny object of some sort. Skull Kid leaned closer and picked it up. It was a small stone figurine of a human, his face trapped in a twisted scream of horror. Skull Kid suddenly had a notion. He looked at one of the pictographs on the walls, finding one of the principal himself. He looked back at the figurine. The pictograph. The figurine. The pictograph. The figurine. They were the same man. Skull Kid almost dropped the figurine. He quickly placed it back on the chair and went into the secretary's room, right outside the office. He checked the secretary's chair and found a small stone figurine of a woman, her face also frozen in a scream of horror. Skull Kid suddenly knew why the school was closed yet had all of the furniture and things. All of the people in the school had been hit at once by a curse that had turned them into stone figurines. Skull Kid was willing to bet that if he checked behind every desk in the academy, he would find another figurine. As Skull Kid walked back into he office, he felt another wave of hatred coming up. Who had done this atrocity? Ganondorf or Majora? Skull Kid wasn't sure it mattered. He placed the journal containing his life story on the desk, picked up one of the pens, and started writing a note next to the book, telling him what had happened to him and what the story in the journal was about. He also added that everything in the journal was one hundred percent true, and had been taken down by Anju Wisteria the First. As he left the office, he felt as if somewhere in the heavens, the old woman was smiling. He left the building as quickly as possible, not wanting to stay in its hallways, so empty that they seemed haunted. He made it to the roof, only to realize that there was no way down. He thought for a moment. He sighed and went back inside the academy. He went to the front door and unlocked it, exiting the building. He slipped the Stone Mask on and headed for the trail leading to the castle. He dashed past the Moblins, confusing them. He ran down the path, being careful to avoid other Moblins. However, he was a bit worried when he saw what could be none other than the Moblin leader, a ten-foot tall monster with two spikes on each shoulder pad instead of the regular one, not to mention more armor. He wielded a huge hammer and kept looking around, sniffing the air, itching to smash someone. Skull Kid knew that this Moblin would smell him coming, so he had to be quick. As Skull Kid ran towards the guard, the Moblin smelled him and slammed its hammer into the ground, sending shockwaves in his direction. Skull Kid dodged each shockwave, making his way to the Moblin. As he ran right behind the guard, the Moblin opened his mouth, about to call the alarm, until Skull Kid struck him from behind with the hookshot, temporarily paralyzing the giant. With this opportunity, Skull Kid ran up the path, out of range of the Moblin's range of smell. Because it was an upward slope, Skull Kid couldn't quite see Ganondorf's castle. He could just see the top, but that was all. Skull Kid saw that the hammer-wielding behemoth had been the last guard. He got to the top of the trail and over the rise, thinking he was prepared for what was coming. He was wrong. He stared in disbelief at the castle grounds. Hymina Field was lush compared to this place. It was completely barren and devoid of any life whatsoever. There were no trees, no water, not even any Guays circling. This place was the source of the dark cloud that covered the town, obscuring the sun. Strangely, the clouds did not touch the center of the area, where sunlight shone on the middle of the grounds. The only signs of life were charred and broken bones. The land was dark and dreary, completely dead. Most of the grounds, even the old castle itself, had been completely obliterated. In their place was a huge pit with white-hot lava at the bottom. A wide, jagged path circled the pit, allowing one view of the thing in the pit itself. For in the pit was something constructed of pure magic, for it defied the laws of physics. Of course, many things in Garaton were magic and defied the laws of physics, but I digress. In the center of the pit, floating perfectly still and level with the edge of the pit, was a huge piece of land. It was suspended in the air, its bottom only inches from the lava. Occupying all but an extremely narrow strip of land at the edge was Ganon's Castle. It was huge and terrifying. It was very tall, a single tower reaching up and up. It seemed to be comprised of multiple levels. At the bottom was the first level, a multiple- sided wall encircling almost the entire platform. It was more than a wall, though. It had a roof that went a few meters inward before reaching the next level, which was taller but was essentially the same as the first, with a roof that went inward until reaching the wall of the next level, which went even higher, before ending in a tall keep that had several walkways leading around the outside before going into the keep itself. The tops of the first two walls were lined with spikes, and the corner of each wall had a tall point jutting from the top. The castle was made from black stone and metal, probably basalt and iron. At one point on the edge of the pit was a ledge that jutted out slightly. Right across from the ledge was an archway, leading into the castle. On the side of the arch was a lever. Skull Kid had never seen a more imposing building in his life. After staring for several seconds, Skull Kid walked up to the edge of the pit, right across from the door. He saw it was much too far for him to ever jump. The top of the archway was at the very, very end of his hookshot's range, but since it was made of stone, it would not work. It was too far to jump, and his Goron form could not make the distance without a ramp. A very high ramp. He would be able to jump into the lava as a Goron, but what then? The castle or the patch of land had no connection to the lava. He would be trapped. He noticed that pipes extended from the sides of the platform, some going all the way across the pit and into the wall on the other side, others just ending inches away from the platform. Sewage flowed from those pipes, being dumped into the lava. The pipes that did not dump were probably to allow water into the castle. He had no way of getting into the sewage pipes, and severely doubted he would find anything but a huge cistern even if he did get into the pipes. He would be trapped, again, not to mention disgusting. Skull Kid was at a loss. As he pondered, a voice behind him said, "Kid Skull! Doing how are you?"

Skull Kid almost jumped off the edge of the pit in surprise. He whirled around and found Garo. "Oh, it's you. Garo, what are you doing here?"

"To help I am here. Tael's absence in, your guide I will be. Off first, you get across chasm this. Help I shall." Garo stepped back then ran towards the edge of the pit. He jumped off, falling. As he did so, he extended his arms, letting the hot air rising from the lava catch under the large sleeves of his robe. Using the sleeves as wings, Garo glided across the pit, landing just inside the archway. "The hookshot use!" he shouted across the gap.

Skull Kid pulled out his hookshot, aimed at Garo, and fired. The hook caught on Garo's robes, pulling Skull Kid across. He almost lost his balance and fell into the pit, but Garo grabbed him in time. Skull Kid smiled. "Hey, if Tael wasn't kidnapped, would you have done this anyway?"

Garo shrugged. "Probably. Spirit guide your I am, all after." He started into the arch. "Come. Of the essence time is." Skull Kid followed Garo into the arch after pulling the lever, which extended a bridge across the chasm. He then entered Ganon's Castle. They were in a blue corridor, with a small set of stairs in front of them. At the bottom of the stairs was a door. They went through the door and were in another blue corridor with a small set of stairs. They went down the stairs and found another door. Going through, they entered yet another blue corridor with a small set of stairs. However, at the bottom of the stairs was a room with a few crates and a door at the back end. Standing on raised pedestals on either side of the door were a pair of Beamos, strange robots that fired lasers from their single, rotating eye and could be stunned by flashes of bright light, since their single eye was quite sensitive. They immediately noticed the two heroes and fired lasers. Skull Kid got his Solar Shield up in time, absorbing light from the Beamos' laser. Garo skillfully jumped over the Beamos' laser beam, somersaulting through the air and landing behind the metal monster. As the Beamos quickly turned its eye around, Garo hurled a Deku Nut to the ground, causing a flash of light that frightened the Beamos, making it shut its eye. Garo then pulled a bomb from somewhere in his voluminous robes and placed at the base of the pillar. He jumped out of the way as the bomb exploded. The lower part of the Beamos exploded, causing the eye to fall, which blew up on impact with the ground. Skull Kid had stored up enough light in his Solar Shield to fire a light blast. He did. The Beamos couldn't close its eye in time, and the energy blast overloaded its circuits, causing it to self-destruct. Garo nodded. "Very good, but you will need light inside this castle. Go outside and refill your shield, then come back." Skull Kid sighed and ran outside to recharge the shield. It was a good thing that sunlight shone above the castle. He quickly filled up his shield gauge and ran back inside.

The way clear, the duo went through the door. They were in a huge hexagonal room. The door they had just come out of was one of its corners. They were on platform that went halfway along either wall to their left and right, then turned into a staircase that went down the rest of the wall and halfway down the next wall, where it reached the room's floor. A short distance ahead of that staircase ending was the beginning of another, which also went up half of the wall and half of the next one before becoming a platform that covered the rest of that wall and half of the next one, where it became another staircase that went down half of the wall and half of the next one. This formed symmetry. In the middle of each wall, between staircases (or if they were on the platform, just at the top of the stairs) was a door. Each door had a symbol of one of the temples above it, except for Fire, Forest, Water, and Spirit, which were split in half with half of the secondary Sage's symbol next to it. At the top of the walls, above each door, was an ornate spike that sent a beam of colored energy to the center of the room. The center of the room was a tall, wide tower that extended from the floor and went through the ceiling. Just in front of Skull Kid and Garo was a bridge that went up to the tower, right through a door carved to look like the mouth of a horrible monster, its green eyes glaring evilly. Above the door with the Water/Ocean symbol was another bridge extending from the tower, but there seemed to be no way to reach this one unless you were coming from the tower or going to the tower from whatever corridor the bridge was leading from. There was no way to actually get into the tower, even though the bridge went straight across. The six energy beams stopped at the wall of the tower and combined, forming a force field. "So, how do we get into the tower in the middle?" asked Skull Kid.

"Powered the force field is by six barriers evil, representing each one the elements. To bring down force field the, cut off barriers we must. Follow." Garo walked to his right, going to the door with the Forest/Jungle symbol over it. Skull Kid went after him. They went through a door and found themselves in a small, round room with a door identical to the one they had came through, right down to the symbol over it, at the other end. Unfortunately, iron bars sealed it. In the middle of the room were four unlit braziers, arranged in a circle. In an alcove above the door was a fifth unlit brazier. Garo jumped up to the alcove and waited. Skull Kid quickly figured out what to do. He went into the middle of the circle and struck the ground with his Gigaton Hammer. Fire shot out in a ring, lighting the braziers. He then whipped out his hookshot and pulled himself up to the alcove, using Garo as a target. As Garo jumped back to the floor, Skull Kid pounded the ground with the hammer, lighting the fifth brazier. With all five lit, the bars retracted, allowing them through the door.

They went through it and entered a rectangular room with a spike pit for a floor. Several platforms rose from the ground. Some of them had silver rupees on them. At the far end of the room was another door sealed by iron bars. At either side of both doors were a pair of fans that blew and did not blow alternatively. A Deku Flower sat on either side of the platform Skull Kid was on. The clever imp quickly saw what he had to do here. Certain platforms were too far away for him to jump to, so he would have to fly to them. The fans would blow him in the right direction. He donned the Deku Mask and burrowed into the nearest flower. He popped out and flew into the nearest fan just as it started blowing again. It propelled him to a silver rupee in midair and allowed him to access a few other platforms. It took a while, but Skull Kid got all five rupees, opening the door. After changing back to normal, Skull Kid and Garo went into the next room. It was small, with two stairs leading up to a raised platform. On either side of the stairs was a stone brazier. One had a light green flame, the other a dark green flame. In the middle of the platform was another ornate spike rising from the floor. A green beam of energy came from it, going though a large brown sphere and into another ornate spike on the ceiling. "So Garo, I assume this is the first barrier. How do I get rid of it?" asked Skull Kid.

"Why you need light this is. All have you to do is concentrated light shine a beam of it on." Said Garo.

"Sunbeam, laser, or blast?" asked Skull Kid.

"Do will laser." Said Garo.

Skull Kid raised his shield turned the dial to ray, and fired a laser at the barrier. He only shot for a second, but it was enough. The sphere swelled and exploded in green sparks. The flames went out. There was a flash, and Skull Kid and Garo were back in the main room, in front of the door. They looked up as the green energy beam faded away. "Cool." Said Skull Kid. Garo walked down the stairs to the right, past the door with the Water/Ocean symbol above it. He walked up the next set of stairs, past the door with the Shadow symbol above it, and entered the door with the Fire/Ice symbol above it. Garo walked through the door. Skull Kid followed. They were in a long chamber filled with lava. There was a platform in the lava, more like a branching bridge that didn't really connect to anything. From the door ledge, it went straight ahead, then went left slightly and to the right. After going right, it went left for a long way before turning left again. It then branched, one fork going to the right, the other going straight. The straight one kept going then turned left and stopped. From the right fork, the bridge split left and right again. At the far end of the room, away from the platform, was a platform with a barred door. There were a few other platforms scattered about the room, accessible only by jumping from the bridge platform in the middle of the room. Silver Rupees were scattered about. Garo jumped of the platform and used the hot air to glide across to the platform with the door. Skull Kid knew he would have to gather the rupees himself. He jumped to the bridge platform and turned right, collecting the first rupee. He turned left, following the path, and left again, ignoring the fork, then went left once more. He could now jump to a platform with a turning pillar spewing flame. Skull Kid jumped to the platform, avoiding the flame, and grabbed the rupee. He quickly jumped back to the platform bridge before the fire could catch up to him. He followed the path back and jumped to another normal platform that had a silver rupee. He jumped back to the bridge platform and took the right fork. He turned right again and jumped to a pillar with a Torch Slug. He killed the slug with the hammer and jumped to another platform that had a rupee on it. He picked up the rupee and jumped back to the platform bridge. He went left and grabbed the last silver rupee. The bars retracted. Skull Kid pulled out his hookshot and used it on Garo, pulling himself across.

They went through the door, into a room that completely contrasted the last one. It was a small round room, the floor and walls covered in ice. Icicles hung from the ceiling and grew from the ground. There was a door at the back of the room, but it was trapped in a block of heat-resistant red ice. In the middle of the room was a brazier spouting blue flame. Icicles, and a horde of Freezards, who eagerly slid forward, hoping to freeze the trespassers, surrounded it. Skull Kid pulled out the Gigaton Hammer. Garo retracted his hands, replacing them with Garo swords. Garo darted around the Freezards, dodging their ice breath and smashing them with his ninja moves and blades. Skull Kid melted what was left of them with the hammer. Garo turned to Skull Kid. "Nice hammer a that is, but work on ice red it will not. Blue flame only can it melt." Skull Kid stood over the brazier, unsure of how to get the flame to the red ice. "Bottle use the." Skull Kid stared, cocking his eyebrow. Bottle fire? Garo shrugged. Skull Kid sighed and swung his bottle through the fire, trying not to get burnt. He was surprised by how cold the fire seemed to be. He was even more surprised to discover that the flame was actually in the bottle! He ran over to the red ice and uncorked the bottle, dropping the Blue Fire onto the ground. The Ice melted.

They passed through the door. This next room was just like the one where the Forest/Jungle Barrier had been, except the braziers spouted red and white flame and the energy beam was red and white as well. "No need to tell me, I know what to do." Skull Kid fired a laser at the barrier. It swelled and exploded in a shower of red and white sparks. There was a flash, and both of them were transported back to the main room, in front of the Fire/Ice door. The red and white energy beam faded away. Skull Kid grinned. "Let me guess, next one is Water/Ocean?" Garo nodded and lead the way. They entered the appropriate door and entered a room with a deep pool for a floor. Several high platforms rose from the water. Skull Kid's was the only one low enough to actually climb onto. There were a few Tektites in the water, which Skull Kid quickly killed with arrows. A platform in the middle of the room had a crystal switch on it. Skull Kid shot the switch with his hookshot, causing the water level to raise until it was just below the edge of his platform. On all the platforms, dragon statues with hookshot targets on their necks rose. The closest one was on the platform to Skull Kid's left. He grappled onto it, Garo choosing to jump, and grappled to the next one. The final platform was against the wall. Skull Kid grappled onto it via the dragon statue, but saw he was stuck. The door was in an alcove at the top of the room. The dragon head was tall enough to reach the alcove, but how could he get up there? Skull Kid got an idea. He shot the switch with the hookshot, lowering the water as well as the dragon statue. Skull Kid and Garo climbed onto its head. Once there, Skull Kid shot the switch once again, raising the statue to the alcove. They went through the door and into the next chamber. It had a yellow pump with a crank in the middle of the room's pool of water. There were two other yellow cranks on elevated platforms around the room. A pipe led from the pump to the first platform, which went to the second platform, which led down to the inactive waterspout beneath the alcove with the door in it. Skull Kid turned to Garo for help. "You think you could become a hookshot target again?"

Garo shook his head. "No. On your own this one must you solve."

"Somehow I knew you'd say that." Skull Kid swam out to the pump and pushed the first crank. He then puzzled as to how to get over to it. There was no hookshot target. He thought of walking across the pipe. It worked, and he carefully climbed to the second crank, which he turned. He then saw he was in range and at the proper angle to hookshot to the final crank platform. After turning it, the waterspout came on. Skull Kid jumped off the platform, diving into the water, and climbed onto the waterspout while it was low. It elevated him to the alcove, where he jumped to and shook himself off. Garo soon joined him, somehow untouched by the water. They entered the next room, which was the same as the last two barrier rooms. The flames were blue and blue-green, as was the energy beam. Skull Kid shot the barrier with his laser, causing it to swell and explode in blue and blue-green sparks. There was a flash, and they were back in the main chamber, outside the Water/Ocean door. They looked up as the blue-green energy beam faded away. Garo led to the next door, with the Spirit/Solar symbol above it. Inside was a rectangular room with two Armos statues and multiple spike traps. There were five silver rupees. Iron bars sealed the door at the far-right corner of the room. Skull Kid moved the Armos statues to give himself some breathing room, then collected all the rupees, opening the door. They were in a rectangular room that was split in half by a wall made of iron bars and stone. Built into the stone side of the wall was a barred door. Just on the other side of the bars was a crystal switch which Skull Kid was easily able to hit with his Spinning Dagger attack, since Skull Kid wanted to save the Master Sword for Ganondorf. However, all this did was cause a small treasure chest full of Bombchus to drop from the ceiling. The Bombchus could be useful, so he pocketed them. He noticed the switch at the back wall of the other side of the room, out of reach. He suddenly realized how to get through. He pulled out a Bombchu, aimed carefully, and sent it scurrying over the bars where it exploded on contact with the switch, activating it and raising the bars over the door. Skull Kid and Garo entered the second half of the room went through the corridor on the left wall. They entered a room full of Black Boes, which they easily killed with the Gigaton Hammer and Garo's swords. There was a door on the right wall, but iron bars sealed it. Skull Kid saw several sun switches on the wall, all waiting to be activated by light. Skull Kid set his shield to beam but wasn't sure how to tell which was the right switch. He turned to Garo. "How do I figure out which switch is the correct one?"

"The eyes truth that see the must you use." Said Garo.

Skull Kid looked through the Lenses of Truth and saw that none of the sun switches were real. He saw that there was a floor switch, but it was on the ceiling! Then he noticed the scarab jewel on the wall over the door. Switching his shield back to laser, he shot the switch. Gravity was reversed, and they were now on the ceiling. Skull Kid stepped on the switch, opening the door. He turned to Garo. "Hold on to yourself, we're going back to the ground." Skull Kid shot the jewel and they fell all the way to the floor. After lying there groaning for a few moments, they limped through the door. They were in the Barrier room. The flames and energy beam were orange and tan. Skull Kid shot the sphere with a laser, causing it to swell and explode in a cascade of orange and tan sparks. There was a flash, and Skull Kid and Garo were back in the main room, outside of the Spirit/Solar door. They looked up as the orange-tan energy beam faded away. Garo led Skull Kid over to the door with the Shadow Symbol on it. They went inside. It was a huge rectangular room. The floor was a pit of spikes. There were two large platforms jutting out of the pit across the room. Neither of them was reachable. The door was at the far side of the room, unbarred. The ceiling was supported by what looked like a giant rib cage. The first platform had a Like Like on it. Skull Kid killed it with a few arrows, then killed the annoying Green Bubble that was flapping around the pit. "How do we get across?" he asked Garo.

Garo pointed to a nearby ledge with an unlit brazier on it. "Light the brazier you must."

"How? It's too far away to get to." Garo pointed to a lit brazier to their right. "Oh." Skull Kid walked up to the brazier and moved around, getting the unlit brazier in his sights. He shot an arrow, passing through the flame and lighting the brazier. A timer started ticking, and a series of translucent blocks appeared out of thin air.

"Hurry!" shouted Garo, beginning to jump across the blocks. Skull Kid quickly followed. They made it to the first platform and kept jumping across the blocks to the next platform. They made it just as the timer ran out. The brazier went out. The blocks vanished.

"Now what? We're stranded!" shouted Skull Kid.

Garo shook his head. "Remember, eyes the see that the truth can." Skull Kid pulled out the Lenses of Truth and put them on. He saw an invisible bridge leading to the door! He quickly started walking across it, careful not to fall into the pit. With Garo behind him, he got to the door and went through. The Barrier chamber was the same, as always. The flames and energy beam were purple. Skull Kid shot the sphere with a laser, causing it to swell and explode in a shower of purple sparks. There was a flash, and they were back in the main room, outside the Shadow door. They looked up as the purple energy beam faded away. There was only one left. Garo led Skull Kid to the door with the Light symbol above it. They entered a round room with several treasure chests arranged in a circle. The door at the back was locked. Skull Kid still had his Lenses on, so he was able to see the invisible Keese and Skulltulla protecting the chests. He downed them with his Hookshot, causing another treasure chest to materialize. Skull Kid started to open one of the other chests, but Garo stopped him. "Empty these chests are. Not worth it are they."

Skull Kid shrugged and opened the central treasure chest, finding…a small key! Skull Kid ran over to the door and unlocked it. They went through and entered a small corridor with a locked door, an alcove on the right, and a rusted switch in front of the door. Skull Kid smashed the switch with the Gigaton Hammer, causing a treasure chest to drop from the ceiling into the alcove. Skull Kid opened it and found…another Small Key! He unlocked the door and they went through. They were in a round room with a tall, three- way intersecting wall in the center and two boulders rolling around the room. Two alcoves were in the room as well. Iron bars sealed the door. There was a silver rupee in each of the alcoves, two in the alcoves formed by the three-wall intersection and one on top of the intersection, accessible only by a hookshot target. Skull Kid groaned. "I am so tired of these silver rupee puzzles!"

Garo chuckled. "Worry do not. This puzzle I myself shall do. Wait." Garo darted around the room, collecting all five rupees in seconds. The door opened. Garo darted back to Skull Kid. "Come, come!" Dodging the boulders, Skull Kid followed Garo to the door. They went in and found themselves in the barrier room, except…there was no barrier. Just a blank wall where the energy beam should have been. But since Skull Kid was still wearing the Lenses, he saw that there was a corridor instead of a back wall. He quickly ran for it, barely dodging a Wallmaster. After going down the corridor, Skull Kid and Garo found themselves in the real Barrier room. The flames and energy beam were yellow. Skull Kid fired a laser at the sphere, causing it to explode in a burst of yellow sparks. There was a flash, and Skull Kid and Garo were back in the main room, outside the Light door. They looked up as the yellow energy beam faded. The force field flickered and vanished. They raced back up the stairs, crossing the bridge and entering Ganon's Tower. After going down a short corridor, they were in a circular room with two braziers and several Fire Keese flapping around, dive-bombing the heroes. The fire bats were easily dealt with using Garo's swords and Skull Kid's hookshot, allowing Skull Kid to look around. The room had four passageways, one for each point of the compass. To the south was the door they had come through. To the east was a corridor sealed by iron bars. It led to the inaccessible bridge. To the west was a staircase that wound its way up the inside of the tower. To the north was a similar staircase leading downward. Faint organ music could be heard from higher in the tower. Skull Kid thought for a moment then headed for the north stairway. Garo grabbed his shoulder. "Doing what are you?" he asked.

Skull Kid shook Garo's hand off. "Look, I know what'll happen when I beat Ganondorf. The whole castle will collapse, right? That means any prisoners in the dungeons will be killed. I can't let that happen. The husband of a very good woman is down there, and I have to save him. I know I only have so much time, so I'll need help. Will you come?" Garo paused, then nodded. They ran down the stairs. After going down one hundred steps, they reached the bottom. They went through the door on the right side of the wall and were in another room just like the last one, except there were no Keese. Skull Kid looked from door to door. Garo didn't know the way, so he couldn't help. Skull Kid tried the south door. He found himself in a large underground room, a racetrack with many obstacles, such as water hazards, trees, sandpits, and fences. There were two starting gates, and a grassy corral in the middle. There were no seats. Skull Kid pushed open the gates to the corral. He could hear whinnies, snorts, and neighs. Skull Kid walked around the corral and spotted two horses. One was a ruddy red-brown mare, with a white mane. The other was a great black stallion, with glaring red eyes and a mane as red as Ganondorf's hair. Skull Kid noticed the mare seemed to be a bit fat. As Skull Kid approached the mare, she realized that it looked a bit familiar, like he had met her before. Then he realized. It was Epona! "Epona!" yelled Skull Kid. Epona looked up and whinnied in surprise, a bit frightened. Skull Kid ran over. "Epona, don't you remember? It's me, Skull Kid! You were on that quest with us ten years ago, remember?" Epona stared blankly, not understanding a word he was saying. The stallion snorted and trotted forward menacingly. Skull Kid tried to remember the song Link had used to summon Epona. He quickly played Epona's song on his flute. Epona's ears stood up at the recognition of her song. She galloped over to Skull Kid, whinnying at the stallion. He seemed a little unhappy, but he backed off. Epona nuzzled Skull Kid, immediately forming a friendship with any who played her song. The stallion snorted jealously and neighed softly. Skull Kid backed up a bit. He knew he had to get Epona back to Malon, but he had no way to tell her to go. And he didn't know how to steer a horse, he had only rode behind Link, holding onto him in fear the entire way. The only other time he had been on a horse was when he was still possessed, and Majora had stolen Epona from Link. He thought for a moment, then realized he did have a way to communicate to her. He pulled the Mask of Truth from his pack and put it on, feeling slightly silly. Epona and the stallion snickered a little. Skull Kid tried to speak to Epona. "Epona, do you understand me? If so, tap your hoof once." Epona looked surprised. She tapped her hoof once. "Good. We have established a method of communication. From now on, if you mean yes, tap once, if you mean no, tap twice, and if you mean you don't understand, tap three times. Do you understand?" Tap. "Good. Now, I want you to run through that door, up the stairs, and out of this awful castle. Okay?" Tap Tap. "What? Why not?" Epona looked at the stallion. Skull Kid looked at him as well. Then he looked back at Epona's belly, which looked a bit larger than usual. Then he understood. "Ohhh…you don't want to leave the father of your child, do you?" Tap. "Well Epona, I guess I won't be able to convince you to leave. I'll just have to go back to Malon and tell her you won't return." Tap Tap Tap. "Oh yeah, I guess you didn't hear, being cooped up in this place. Malon really misses you. She cries herself to sleep every night. But I'm sure you don't care about that anymore, do you?" Epona snorted furiously and started for the exit. The stallion neighed pitifully. Epona turned her head and whinnied something back. There was s ort of an argument, of which Skull Kid did not understand, but in the end, Epona won. The two horses galloped out the door. Skull Kid followed and found a confused-looking Garo in the middle of the room.

"Why horses did up the stairs just run now?" he asked, bewildered.

Skull Kid grinned and walked over to the north door. He opened it and found an enormous treasury, full of gold and rupees, not to mention other beautiful valuables. Skull Kid was impressed that Ganondorf had been able to get this much. The taxes must be really steep. Skull Kid paused, realizing he couldn't just leave all this stuff to be crushed when the castle collapsed. Sadly, there was nothing he could do but leave it. A bit sadly, he went back into the main room, past Garo, and went through the west door. He found another downward-going staircase that wound around the inside of the tower. He walked down one hundred more steps before reaching the bottom. He went through the door on his right and entered a round room just like the last room, at least in terms of dimensions. There were no braziers or red carpets. Torches dimly lighted the room. There were no doors arranged to match the points of the compass, but several small prison cells, more like tiny alcoves with bars over them. Each had a small locked door built into the bars. Each cell had a single hole in the ground, obviously a toilet. There were no beds or chairs for the prisoners to sit on. Each cell really was tiny, only six feet long and four feet wide. There wasn't even enough room to pace. It was awful. Even more awful was the awesome machine in the middle of the room, obviously some kind of horrible torture device. It had a level wooden board, like a rack, except it had tacks jutting out of the surface. There were six manacles, four for the limbs, one for the neck, and a tiny one for the…ahem…private portions. All manacles had spikes on the insides, so the tiny one was…more painful than the others. All the manacles were hooked up to two cranks that could be turned to stretch the prisoner. There was a cap that lowered from the ceiling from a tube at the top. It had a visor and a spiked chinstrap. There were complicated mechanisms all over the main board. Skull Kid couldn't quite see how to operate them or how they worked, but he could tell what they did. One had nine whips, for multiple lashings. Another one had a phonograph pointed towards where the prisoner's head would be. The record in the phonograph was labeled, "Screaming of a Thousand Banshees." In closer examination, the visor's inside appeared to be painted with a picture of a naked old man who had the bubonic plague. The second worst thing was what was hanging from the ceiling, just above the board. It was a huge spiked weight that could be slowly lowered onto one's body, slightly penetrating the skin, causing pressure from the tacks below and the spikes above. The worst of all were the sides. The wooden board was actually the bottom of a case that had two lids, lying open on either side. If they just wanted to finish the prisoner off, all they needed to do was close the sides. They had spikes on the inside. Skull Kid shook his head in disgust. The Gerudo Pirates had been horrible, but this…this was just evil! What kind of a cruel, malicious, depraved, sadistic bastard would do something like this? There was only one answer: Ganondorf. What was worst was that Ganondorf's cruelty was nothing compared to that of Majora. Skull Kid noticed that there were a few people in the cells. One was a thin, tall medium-aged woman with red hair. One was a medium-aged man with purple hair and a very bony face. The last was a young purple haired man, his eyes red, wearing clothes that were once quite nice, but were now shabby and torn. They all looked quite emaciated.

"Who's there?" croaked the older man. "Another monster to taunt us?"

The woman just moaned. The young man stared at Skull Kid for a few minutes, then spoke. "I'm very sorry for my parents. They've undergone a little worse in the way of torture than I have."

"Not…that?" asked Skull Kid, pointing to the horrendous torture machine.

"Oh, that? No, Ganondorf never uses it on us. He keeps threatening too. By the way, my name's Kafei. Those are me parent, Madame Aroma and former Mayor Dotour."

"I'm still the Mayor!" wheezed Dotour.

"He's slightly delusional ever since the takeover. Not because he's lost his important government office, but because Ganondorf keeps making him wear the visor with the naked old man."

Dotour shivered. "The nudity…the nudity…"

"What's with your mom?" asked Skull Kid.

"She's still stunned by the poor food we get and how thin she's become. She used to be quite, well…large."

"I heard that, young man!" snapped Madame Aroma.

"You seem quite sane. Why is that?" asked Skull Kid.

"The thought of my wife in dire need always keeps me sober."

"Hey, you're married to Anju right?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Kafei, lunging at the bars. "Have you seen her? How is she?"

"She's fine. The Inn is going a bit downhill, partly because of the exorbitant daily taxes Ganondorf imposes, partly because she can't cook."

"You're telling me! That's why I handled food preparation. How's Dotour jr.? And Grandma?"

Skull Kid paused. "Your son's fine. Grandma…is dead."

His face fell. "Oh no! When did it happen?"

"Just last night. She had a heart attack, possibly from Anju's cooking."

Kafei grimaced. "Dammit! If Ganondorf hadn't locked me away, she might still be alive! Who are you, anyway? We've never had visitors before."

"I'm Skull Kid. I'm here to overthrow Ganondorf. Can you please tell me where the keys are so I can let you out?"

"Yeah, they're right over there," said Kafei, pointing to a hook on the wall. Skull Kid nabbed the keys and freed the three. Kafei said thanks just before leading his parents up the stairs.

Skull Kid waited a few moments then went after them. He found Garo back in the first basement, still slightly bewildered. "Did why three just…"

"No time for that now! Come on, let's overthrow Ganondorf!" They went back up the stairs to the first floor of the tower, then started up the other stairs. One hundred steps later, they were in front of a door. They went in. They were in yet another round room. The organ music was slightly louder. The south door was atop three stairs, sealed by iron bars. The west door was a corridor, also sealed by iron bars. There was no east door. As Skull Kid and Garo stepped forward, iron bars sealed the door behind them. Two Dinolfos dropped down from their camouflaged spot on the ceiling. Drawing ninja swords and Gilded Dagger, the two made quick work of the dinosaurs. The iron bars over the doors retracted while the ones over the corridors were still intact. They went through the door, into another staircase. After climbing another hundred steps, they reached the next door. It was round, as usual, but not quite what they expected. The east door was atop three stairs and sealed by iron bars. Iron bars blocked the north and south corridors as well. The room was decorated with mirrors, and a large canopy bed was in the middle of the room. There were two extra, unbarred doors in the room as well, one to the northwest, one to the southeast. Both were made of glass. The organ music was louder. As they stepped forward, iron bars sealed the door behind them. Two Stalfos jumped out of their hiding places behind the bed. Once more, Skull Kid and Garo killed the enemies. Once both Stalfos were dead, an ornate treasure chest materialized on the bed. Skull Kid ran over and opened it, finding…the Boss Key! Skull Kid pocketed it then decided to check the other doors. The door to the northeast led to a short corridor, ending in a balcony overlooking the bleak landscape. While outside, Skull Kid took the time to recharge his shield. Then he went back inside. He checked the southwest door and found a palatial bathroom. He returned to Garo. They went through the east door and climbed up another hundred stairs before reaching the next door. They went in, entering yet another round room. As usual, the next door, the south one, was sealed by iron bars. So were the two corridors to the east and west. Blocking the stairs to the door were two inert Iron Knuckles. The organ music was louder still. As Garo and Skull Kid stepped forward, iron bars slid down over the door behind them. They savagely attacked the Iron Knuckles, managing to stay out of their way as they awoke. Thanks to Garo's speed, he was able to deal blow after blow without getting hit. Skull Kid's small size helped him similarly as he lashed at the Iron Knuckle with the Gilded Dagger. Finally, both Iron Knuckles fell, bursting into blue flame. The bars over the doors retracted. They went through the door, entering another staircase. They climbed up another hundred stairs, finding that the next door was locked. Skull Kid paused, then pulled out the Boss Key and inserted it in the lock, turning it and opening the door. They were in a room a bit different than the others. It was a slightly octagonal room, more like a square, except that the corners were rounded off. The ceiling was very high. In the middle of the room was a tall square metal pillar, rising all the way to the ceiling. The ceiling looked like it was made from a series of medium-sized metal blocks, arranged in a pattern so that they formed several rows around the central pillar. The blocks in the corners were largest. Skull Kid looked around. Ganondorf was nowhere to be found. The organ music was much louder, they must be close to its source. Now that they were close enough, Skull Kid could make out the tune and found that it was quite creepy. He turned to the ninja. "Where's Ganondorf?"

Garo pointed to another door at the other side of the room. "Through there we must go." He started walking over to the door. They went through, and found themselves in one more staircase. This one had a red carpet, and stained glass windows for the outer wall. They depicted Ganondorf triumphantly as he stole, killed, and did otherwise nasty stuff. They walked up four hundred stairs, the music getting ever louder, until they reached the top, and the final door. The music was coming from the room right behind the door. Garo paused. "It is this, Kid Skull. This door past, no turning back is there. Ready are you?"

Skull Kid nodded, drawing the Master Sword from its scabbard. The Sword seemed to shine with a strange glow other than the shine caused by the sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows, as if resonating to the evil lurking inside the next room. They wen through the door. They were at the top of the room they had just been in. The metal blocks that had formed the ceiling of the last room were the floor for this room. Actually, it was more like the blocks were placed to make a temporary floor at the very top of that tall room. The pillar from downstairs was the central block in the floor. The wall was covered in stained glass windows, none of them depicting Ganondorf, but instead showed some drab pattern of color. A red carpet led across from the door to the other side of the room. On the middle block was a throne, with clawed feet and a nasty-looking griffin carved into the top. At the other end of the room was a large pipe organ, the pipes decorated with flames. Stone fingers curved out from the top of the organ, leering monster faces grinning from them. Ganondorf sat at the organ, playing the haunting melody. Hovering just above the throne was a small crystal with a frantically glowing ball of purple light inside it. Tael saw Skull Kid and Garo and jingled eagerly. It was fortunate that the crystal was soundproof, or Ganondorf would know somebody was there. Ganondorf seemed not to notice the intruders. As Skull Kid and Garo took a step forward, thinking that the footfall would be disguised by the organ music, Ganondorf stood up and turned around. They had underestimated his superhuman hearing. Ganondorf was an imposing figure. He wore boots made of black iron, covered up to the knee by slightly torn Gerudo cloth, covered in patterns of the same. His knees were covered by kneepads also made of black iron, with little yellow spikes coming out of them. A dagger and scabbard were attached to his left hip. His pants, like most of his clothing, were a dark brown. He had a belt with part of a Gerudo sash in the middle. His broad shoulders were covered by more black iron, with larger yellow spikes protruding from them. His arms were thickly muscled, his lower sleeve covered with more Gerudo cloth and his hands were covered in Golden Gauntlets. His iron shoulder pads also gave him a collar behind his neck. He wore a necklace made of a strange blue metal with yellow- orange stones placed in them. He had a similar headband. He had a ski-jump shaped nose, greenish skin, and flaming red hair. He wore an evil grin on his face, and for some reason his eyebrows seemed to grow from his hair. He wore a long red cape that swished on his back. His eyes were frightening, red portals to the evil and hatred boiling just beneath his skin. His grin faded, however, as he saw Garo and Skull Kid. "What the? You're not the organ cleaners!" he exclaimed.

Skull Kid and Garo blinked. "Organ cleaners?" asked Skull Kid.

"Yes! I ordered some people from the cleaners to come over and clean out this clog in my organ! I've been playing it for hours while I've been waiting, trying to get the clog out!" He frowned. "If you're not the organ cleaners, then who are you?"

Skull Kid's mind raced. "Er…er…we are the organ cleaners!"

"You are? They've never sent over a Garo and a Skull Kid before."

"We're new. Call it on the job training."

Garo quickly caught on. "Yes. Sent us over they did. Here to clean your organ we are."

Ganondorf looked at Garo. "What's wrong with him?"

"Speech disorder." Said Skull Kid.

"Ah. Hey!" said Ganondorf, suddenly noticing the Master Sword. "Isn't that the legendary Master Sword, the blade of evil's bane?"

"No! This is an organ pipe cleaner!"

"It is?"

"Yes. It is."

"Then why does it look exactly like the blade of evil's bane?"

"I don't know."

Ganondorf frowned. "If that's not the blade of evil's bane, then why is it glowing with a sheen caused by something other than sunlight?"

Skull Kid shrugged. "Look, Mr.…?"

"You may call me, 'Your highest Excellency, the Mighty and all-powerful ruler of Hymina, your lord and master Ganondorf the Great.'"

"Mr. you may call me your highest excellency the mighty and all-powerful ruler of Hymina your lord and master Ganondorf the Great, the Master Sword can only be pulled out of the Pedestal of Time by a great hero chosen by destiny. Do I look the part of that hero?"

Ganondorf looked him over for a moment. "You look like a pathetic, stupid imp not worthy to clean my toilet or even be put in my dungeon."

"Exactly!" said Skull Kid, trying to restrain himself from savagely attacking Ganondorf. "I'm just an imp!"

"Good point. How could any member of the lowest, weakest, dirtiest, stupidest, annoyingest, most worthless species in all of infinity possibly be a great hero chosen by destiny? Why, the very idea of you pathetic imps even having a job is laughable. I'm surprised that you've been hired into a position such as this. I would have just thrown you right back out onto the streets. Looks like they are relaxing their standards. Perhaps I should start taxing the air…"

Skull Kid didn't think he could hold it in much longer. He was sick of being discriminated against. Most of the people in Hyrule hadn't minded him, possibly because he had been helpful. But this man was just cruel to say things like this to his face. He turned to Garo. "Shall we clean his organ?"

Garo nodded. "Boost a I shall you give."

They went over to the pipe organ. Garo lifted Skull Kid to the top of the machine. "Okay Mr. Dorf, which pipe is giving you a problem?" Ganondorf walked over to the organ and pressed a key. One of the pipes opened, but no music came out. "Okay, just a second." Skull Kid climbed over to that pipe, flipped open its lid, and stuck the sword down the pipe's length. He felt a bit ashamed that he was using the sacred sword as a cleaning appliance, but it's not like he had a choice. He scrounged around, wiggling the sword, before pulling it out. Strangely, the sword wasn't even slightly dirty. "Okay, try it now Mr. Dorf!" Ganondorf pressed the same key. The pipe opened and a note played. Skull Kid jumped down. "Well, that's the organ fixed. Payment?" Skull Kid reached out his palm, waiting for the money.

Ganondorf scowled, dropped a green rupee on the floor and sat back down on the stool to play his music. Skull Kid frowned and picked up the single rupee. He carefully crept up behind Ganondorf. Now that the organ was fixed, the evil king couldn't hear Skull Kid's footsteps. Skull Kid felt strange, as if he already knew exactly how to wield the sword and use it properly even though Farore had not shown him how. Perhaps the Master Sword also made its wielder adept? Except that with the sword, he also realized he knew all of the sword techniques instead of just knowing how not to get himself hurt. He swung the sword, cutting into Ganondorf's flesh. Ganondorf screamed and whirled around, Skull Kid jumping back. "Why you little! How dare you attack me!"

Angrily, Ganondorf raised his right hand. The Triforce of Power glowed brightly on it. Ganondorf concentrated. Purple waves flew out from the hand, encompassing the room before fading. Garo stepped back, looking like he was under strain. Tael seemed to be jingling in fear, but could make no sound under the crystal. Garo cried out. "Kid Skull! Darkness the waves of keeping me are helping you from! Sorry I am…"

Skull Kid gulped. Oh shit He thought. Ganondorf chuckled and floated into the air, flying over Skull Kid's head to the top of his throne. He turned around to face Skull Kid. "I don't know who you think you are, attacking me with a cleaning appliance, but I will kill you for it!" Ganondorf laughed and flew to the ceiling. He flipped over, facing the ground, then dropped from the air, smashing his throne and striking the ground with his fist. The room trembled. The first row of boxes surrounding the central pillar fell to the ground below.

GANONDORF: GREAT KING OF EVIL

Ganondorf stopped floating and landed feet first on the pillar, now that his throne was out of the way. Skull Kid began circling the room. Ganondorf kept turning to face him as well. Ganondorf threw a thunderbolt just ahead of Skull Kid, exploding in sparks when it struck the wall. Startled, Skull Kid stopped. Ganondorf bent over slightly and charged at Skull Kid with unbelievable speed, trying to run over him or smash him into the wall or something. As Ganondorf started to run over the gap between the pillar and the blocks, Skull Kid knew he had less than a second to come up with a plan. He did. He sidestepped. Ganondorf was moving too fast to stop, and smashed into the wall, breaking through the stained glass windows and out onto the rooftop on the other side. Skull Kid grinned and sidestepped again as Ganondorf came smashing back through the wall, missing Skull Kid again. Ganondorf's momentum carried him across the gap and onto the pillar, where he tried to brake, but ended up falling into the gap on the other side. A few moments later, Ganondorf flew back up onto the pillar, looking really angry. Skull Kid continued to circle the room. Ganondorf kept hurling thunderbolts, not thinking to hurl them ahead of Skull Kid. As Skull Kid ran in front of the organ, drawing Ganondorf's fire, Ganondorf threw his thunderbolt, missing Skull Kid and destroying the organ. He roared. "Do you have any idea how much that organ was worth?!" shrieked Ganondorf.

"A thousand rupees?"

"Five thousand! You WILL die!" Ganondorf hurled thunderbolt after thunderbolt, desperately trying to nail his foe. It was a good thing Ganondorf hadn't been practicing his aim, and he kept missing.

"Hah! Looks like you can't hit the broad side of a barn, Dingledorf!" shouted Skull Kid.

Ganondorf gritted his teeth. "Do you know how much I hate that nickname?!?!?"

"Not as much as you would hate it if I called you…Ganondork?"

Ganondorf screamed and levitated up to the ceiling again, performing another Earthquake Punch. Skull Kid barely jumped off the block he was standing on before it and several others fell to the ground below, leaving the second row of blocks incomplete in several places. Skull Kid decided it would be expedient not to taunt the sacred-relic-wielding maniac. Ganondorf hurled more thunderbolts, none of them hitting their marks. Then he got an idea. He paused, then hurled another thunderbolt. Skull Kid easily dodged it, only to find it was still flying towards him! He barely raised his shield in time as the thunderbolt struck, being absorbed by the Solar Shield. Ganondorf was now lobbing homing thunderbolts. Ganondorf hurled another thunderbolt. Skull Kid suddenly had a wild idea. As the thunderbolt hurtled towards him, Skull Kid prepared the Master Sword. Then, he swung the sword, striking the thunderbolt and changing its polarity, deflecting it back at Ganondorf. Surprised, Ganondorf quickly swished his cape around, deflecting the thunderbolt again. Skull Kid swung, sending the thunderbolt back at Ganondorf. Ganondorf deflected. Skull Kid deflected. Ganondorf deflected. Skull Kid deflected. Ganondorf misjudged the timing and didn't bring his cape around at the right moment, causing the thunderbolt to strike him. He roared, temporarily paralyzed. Skull Kid raised his shield and fired a light blast, striking Ganondorf. Ganondorf howled in pain and fell to the ground, burning in a yellow-white flame. Skull Kid whipped out his hookshot, targeted Ganondorf, and fired, grappling across the gap. He then unsheathed the Master Sword and swung it. Ganondorf screamed. Skull Kid swung again. Ganondorf screamed. Skull Kid swung one more time. Ganondorf screamed. The fire vanished. Ganondorf started to rise into the air again with a 'I'm definitely going to kill you' look on his face. Skull Kid quickly puled out the hookshot again and targeted one of the stained glass windows, latching onto it and pulling himself back across. Ganondorf threw multiple thunderbolts, trying to catch Skull Kid off guard. Skull Kid absorbed each one using the shield. Since Skull Kid couldn't seem to be able to recharge the shield using the sunlight shining through the stained glass, these thunderbolts were actually helping bring the shield back to full strength. Ganondorf kept hurling thunderbolts at Skull Kid, only to have each one absorbed. Finally, the shield was back at maximum, but Skull Kid didn't want to risk losing all the collected light in one blast only to have it deflected by Ganondorf's cape. He had to stun him again. As Ganondorf hurled another volley, Skull Kid swung again and again, deflecting each one back at Ganondorf. Ganondorf was able to deflect the first few, but the others hit him. He roared. As Skull Kid absorbed the deflected thunderbolts, he quickly fired another light blast, dropping Ganondorf. Skull Kid hookshot over and performed three jump attacks on Ganondorf, performing more damage then the first three swings. As Ganondorf recovered, Skull Kid hookshot back to the metal boxes. Ganondorf raised his hand and started summoning a powerful spell, one that would surely destroy Skull Kid. Since Skull Kid didn't have any light, he would just have to block or try to deflect it. Ganondorf finished casting the spell, holding a black, evil-looking ball in his Triforce hand. He wound up and threw the ball of destruction. Praying the spell wouldn't explode when he hit it, Skull Kid swung the Master Sword. It worked! The energy ball rocketed back at Ganondorf. Surprised, Ganondorf didn't have enough time to shield himself. The ball struck him and exploded in a flash of light bright enough to fully recharge Skull Kid's shield. When the light cleared, Ganondorf had fallen to the pillar. Skull Kid hookshot over and performed three more jump attacks, then hookshot away as the depraved tyrant recovered. As he floated back in the air, a wild look in his eyes, his cape ripped and tattered, he paused. "How can this be?" he asked. "Any normal cleaning appliance would have caused that spell to explode, killing you. Why didn't it?"

Skull Kid grinned and shook his head. "Haven't you figured it out by now? This is no cleaning appliance! I'm not an organ cleaner! This is the sacred sword, and I am the great hero chosen by destiny."

Ganondorf blinked. "But…but…you're just…no matter! This next spell will finish you off, sacred blade or no sacred blade!" He raised his Triforce hand and started chanting again. However, he didn't know that the Shield was fully recharged. While he was gathering energy, Skull Kid fired another light blast. Ganondorf screamed and fell to the ground. Skull Kid hookshot over and performed three more jump attacks.

The last jump attack was the final blow. Ganondorf shrieked and reared up. Skull Kid quickly took a few steps back. He looked behind him and was surprised to see that all the metal blocks were back. He looked back at Ganondorf, who was gasping and hacking, seeming to have trouble breathing. The waves of darkness faded, allowing Garo to run over. The crystal holding Tael shattered. "Yes! You did it Skull Kid! You did it!" The purple fairy eagerly flew over to his best friend, taking his old spot on his hat.

Skull Kid smiled. "Good to have you back, Tael."

"Good to be back, Skull Kid." Said Tael happily.

Ganondorf was choking and coughing. "How, how can this be?" he wheezed. "The Great Evil King Ganondorf…beaten by this imp?"

"Yep, that's right." Said Skull Kid.

"Ha! A creature no bigger than a ten-year old beat you! Without the sacred Light Arrows!" jeered Tael.

"Loser! Loser!" chanted Garo. Ganondorf gritted his teeth in pain and roared in fury. The room started to shake. Garo looked worried. "Quickly! This way out!" he yelled. He ran over to the double hole in the wall made by Ganondorf's charge. Skull Kid and Tael followed him through the holes and out into the sunlight and fresh air. Skull Kid quickly looked around. They were on the very top of the castle. The room they had just left was the top of Ganon's Tower, a pointy thing sticking out of the top. The roof around them was a flat platform, surrounded by a railing. A gap in the railing led to a walkway that went down and around the side of the tower. The sunlight began to refill Skull Kid's shield. They only had a few seconds to register the sunlight as they heard a loud noise behind them. They turned around tin time to see the throne room collapse, the walls falling inward, crushing Ganondorf, who was probably dead already. As the smoke cleared, they could see Ganondorf's right hand sticking from the rubble, the Triforce of Power no longer showing on it. The trio cheered, victorious. Or were they? Suddenly, the ground started shaking. Garo was worried again. "Ganondorf! His last breath with, trying to crush us in ruins his of the tower he is! Hurry we must and escape! Follow!" He ran to the walkway and continued down it. Skull Kid and Tael followed. As they ran, flaming rubble started falling off of the castle walls. They jumped over a large gap in the walkway and kept going. They reached the end. To their right was a corridor, but iron bars sealed it. Garo stood in front of the bars and concentrated. The bars lifted, allowing them entry. They ran down the corridor and found themselves inside the room where Skull Kid and Garo had fought the Iron Knuckles earlier, entering from the previously blocked east door. Fallen pillars blocked the staircases, so they would have to use the west corridor. Garo ran over and raised the bars before running through. They were back outside the castle again, on another walkway. They ran down it, to the right, jumped over another gap, and reached the next blocked door. Garo raised the bars and they ran down the corridor, back in Ganondorf's bedroom. Since fallen pillars blocked the staircases, they would have to use the other corridor. They ran across, raised the bars, and ran through, always dodging the flaming rubble. They were on yet another walkway outside the castle. They ran right down it, jumped over a gap, raised the bars and entered the corridor. They were now back in the room where Skull Kid had fought the Dinolfos. The staircase downstairs wasn't blocked! They immediately ran to it as pillars slowly started to lean over and ran through. They raced down the stairs and out into the room at the bottom. Fallen pillars blocked the door back into the castle proper, so the only way out was through the sealed corridor. Garo raised the bars, and they rushed through, out onto the previously inaccessible bridge.

Skull Kid started to run across, but suddenly found himself paralyzed! A Redead moaned and shuffled towards him, closer, closer, closer…until Garo lopped its heads off with his swords, killing the zombie. Skull Kid grinned at the ninja. "Thanks, man."

"Time any, my friend. Time any." They continued across the bridge and down a corridor, up three small sets of stairs, and towards a barred door. Outside the door was freedom, the exit. Garo raised the bars, and they ran out into the fresh air. They turned around to see the finale. They had gotten out at the last second. The castle was rocked with explosions. One by one, each of the levels of the castle sunk into the ground. Then, the citadel itself toppled, crumbling and snapping in half. The lower half fell into the lava, the upper half falling over and smashing to the ground. There were more explosions, and more crashing, and more implosions. As the dust cleared, they could see that the entire floating island had been cleared of the castle. Much of the citadel itself had fallen to the lava below. Ganondorf's body was in the ruins, somewhere. Skull Kid didn't plan to check. They were still stuck on the floating island, but it would be easy to get to the bridge. They looked to the edge of the pit and saw that all the Moblins and a large group of people had come to see what was the cause of all the noise. The Moblins weren't sure what to make of the situation. They just stared at the castle ruins, stunned. The people started cheering, wondering who had done this wonderful thing. Garo turned to Skull Kid. "To them go, Kid Skull. Awaits your public. Luck good." He patted the imp on the back.

Skull Kid grinned. "You all right Tael?"

"Yeah, it's not like he kept me long, only several hours. Wow, it's almost sunset, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. Looks like we have some time to kill before midnight." They walked over to the other end of the island, picking their way through the rubble. As he came into view of the crowd, the cheering stopped surprised. They weren't sure what was more surprising, the imp or the sword in his hand. Skull Kid waved his sword in the air, deciding he should make a speech. As he cleared his throat, Tael interrupted him.

"Uh, Skull Kid?"

"Yes Tael?"

"I have two questions. One, if Ganondorf is dead, why is there still a dark cloud over the area?"

Skull Kid paused. He looked up. The sun was still shining through the hole in the clouds above the island, but the dark cloud covered everything else. "I…don't…know."

"Second, what's that pounding noise coming from the ruins of the top part of the citadel?"

Skull Kid had a very bad feeling in his gut. "I'm not sure Tael. Actually, I'm very sure of what it is. But I think it would be a bad idea to just leave it."

He started walking towards the center of the island, where what was left of the citadel lay. It was shattered and in pieces, strewn about the area, but part of the top was still intact. The pounding noise was getting louder, and not just because they were getting closer. The sound was getting stronger. The crowd, who had gotten over their initial surprise that their savior was an imp, had started cheering again, but had stopped because they too could hear the rhythmic pounding. Skull Kid reached the hunk of rock. As he did, he was suddenly aware of gasps of surprise from the crowd. He turned around and saw that a wall of fire had shot up at the edge of the island, encircling the entire rock and cutting off any access to the bridge. Garo was trapped on the other side of the wall of fire. He was waving his hands and pointing to the mound of rubble. Skull Kid turned around just in time to see what was causing the pounding. The pounding grew louder and louder and louder, and then…the rubble exploded, shooting out away from the island, most of it falling into the lava, others raining down around the edge of the pit. The rubble had exploded because something had erupted from underneath it. And that something was Ganondorf. Everyone in the crowd, even the Moblins, screamed. Ganondorf floated high in the air, looking quite dangerous. His cape was gone, and he had a very, very scary gleam in his eye. He stared downwards, his gaze focusing on Skull Kid, and only on Skull Kid. His eyes seemed to be saying, "DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!" If looks could kill, Skull Kid would be dead a hundred times over. Ganondorf, trembling with rage, raised his right hand into the air. The Triforce of Power glowed brightly on it. Ganon roared, and strangely, it did not sound like his voice. The Triforce glowed brighter. Ganon was engulfed in a dark crimson flame, flickering and twisting angrily in the air. And as the fire consumed Ganondorf, he started to grow, to change. He slowly lowered to the ground, as the transformation became more and more progressive. Finally, the fire died out, revealing his new form, a form Skull Kid had seen before. He was fifteen feet tall. He had cloven hooves, like a bull. He had green scaly skin. He had a tail like a stegosaurus, with spikes on the end. His chest was heavily muscled. In his massive forearms, he wielded two huge broadswords. His fiery red hair grew into a mane. He grew strange horns from the side of his head. His eyes were completely white. He still retained his necklace and head ornament. His flexible, reptilian snout twitched and snorted. His mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth and twin tusks. He roared, laughing maniacally. "Ahahahaha! Behold my most powerful form! Behold my transformation! Behold your ultimate doom! Behold…me! Hahahahahaha!"

GANON: BEAST OF DOOM

Skull Kid raised the Master Sword. Ganon swung one of his broadswords, knocking the blade from Skull Kid's grasp. It flung through the air, landing in the ground next to Garo. Tael flew up defiantly. "No way he's trapping me in a little crystal thingy this time! Together we fight! Though it would help if we had that sacred sword…."

Skull Kid drew his dagger. "Don't worry Tael. We have other means."

Ganon laughed. The hole in the clouds was still open, but the darkness around it was getting worse. Thunder and lightning crashed down. When the crowd tried to flee, lightning bolts struck the trail in front of them, causing them to reconsider their urge to flee. Ganon grinned. "Now you have an audience for your demise hero. Feel proud." He raised his broadsword. Skull Kid rolled under the beast's legs, surprising Ganon. Before he could respond, Skull Kid stabbed Ganon in the tail. Ganon shrieked and spun around. Skull Kid nimbly dodged out of the way and kept hopping around the lumbering beast, getting in range of the tail. He slashed it again, causing Ganon more pain. Ganon kept trying to catch up, but Skull Kid was too quick. He kept ducking the blades or rolling under the monster's legs, always attacking the vulnerable tail. After six hits, Ganon fell to his knees, panting. The fire lowered a bit.

Garo grabbed the Master Sword and threw it into the arena. "Kid Skull! Sword the! It use to slay King the Evil!" he yelled after it.

Skull Kid saluted then ran to pick up his sword, resheathing his dagger. As he picked it up, he heard Tael's alarm jingle. He ducked his head, barely avoiding Ganon's swing. He spun around, his sword in hand and stabbed at Ganon's arm. Ganon roared and tried another swing from his swords. Skull Kid blocked with the Shield. He kept trying to get around to Ganon's tail, but the monster had gotten faster. Skull Kid backed away, hoping to get a better idea. Then he got one. As Ganon came towards him, his swords lowered, Skull Kid raised his shield and fired a laser right into Ganon's eyes. Ganon roared and shook his head in pain. Skull Kid ran behind the beast and performed a jump attack with the Master Sword. From Ganon's shrieks Skull Kid could tell it hurt. Ganon spun around and almost decapitated Skull Kid. The imp backed away from the beast. He prepared to raise his shield. Ganon crossed his swords, making a shield of his own that would deflect the laser. Skull Kid paused. Ganon opened his mouth and unleashed a blast of fire breath. Skull Kid got it with his shield. Because it wasn't really bright light, the shield could only hold it for a moment. Then, it shot the blast back at a surprised Ganon. The fire went past the swords and hit him in the face. Ganon roared and shook his head. Skull Kid performed another jump attack on the king's tail, then backflipped away from another giant swing. He could hear the crowd cheering him on, not even sure who he was, but hoping he would win. Even the Moblins were cheering for him! Skull Kid knew he couldn't do another trick like that again. Ganon backed away, preparing a new attack. Ganon uncrossed his swords and swung them, sending two spinning blades of energy at Skull Kid. Skull Kid blocked, deflecting the blades back at their sender. Ganon slashed, deflecting again. The blades hit the Solar Shield and rebounded. This went back and forth until finally, one of the blades hit Ganon, stunning him. Skull Kid ran around and performed a jump attack on the beast's tail. Ganon crossed his swords. They began to glow. Then, a powerful, twisting energy beam was shot forth, spiraling towards Skull Kid. Skull Kid swung the Master Sword. Surprisingly, it worked! The beam was deflected back at Ganon, stunning him. Skull Kid performed another jump attack on the tail. The battle went on like this for a while, the imp always coming out on top. After nine jump attacks, Ganon didn't look so good. His face was blackened and burnt, as was his chest. His hair was singed. His blades were cracked. His tail was hanging on to his rear by a shred of muscle. He panted and fell to his knees. Skull Kid ran forward. His Master Sword, sensing victory close at hand, began to glow a bright blue. Skull Kid raised his sword. Ganon's eyes seemed to shrink in fear. Skull kid slashed. He struck at Ganon, eleven times in a row, each time drawing green blood. For a moment, Ganon was inert. Then, he suddenly leapt to his feet, his swords swinging wildly, trying to kill the imp. Skull Kid couldn't even fend off with the sword. All he could do was block. Ganon was pushing him back, towards the fire, trying to roast him. Skull Kid saw that the sparks from the swords clashing with the shield counted as light, repowering the shield. In a few minutes, he was at full power. He knew he had to time this correctly. "Tael, distract Ganon!" he shouted. Tael flew into Ganon's face, jingling and glowing brightly. Ganon was half-blind thanks to the laser and various other attacks so had to shield himself from the bright light. This was Skull Kid's chance, while Ganon wasn't swinging. He ran right up to Ganon and fired a light blast point blank into the evil king's face. Ganon roared in pain, stunned once again. Skull Kid ran around to the tail. Drawing on his last reserves of strength, he performed a jump attack, severing the tail from its base. Ganon screamed and fell to the ground, his swords clattering away and disintegrating. Ganon slowly started to shrink, his form returning to normal. Within moments, he was Ganondorf again. He lay on the ground, dead. Skull Kid walked around to Ganondorf's front.

"I don't know. I think he is." Said Skull Kid.

He kneeled over to examine the corpse. Suddenly, Ganondorf's right hand shot out and grabbed Skull Kid by the neck. His left hand shot out and grabbed Tael. The evil king stood up, still not dead. He lifted Skull Kid into the air, the Master Sword falling from the imp's grasp. Ganondorf grinned. "Don't be so sure."

Is this the end of Skull Kid and Tael's adventures? Has Ganondorf won? Duh, of course not! Skull Kid's gonna win! To find out how, stay tuned for the next chapter of Child of Time! And the final battle with…Majora.