His vision was blurry. He staggered to his feet. His sight focused on a single red dot. He took a step. He took another. Link slowly felt himself gaining momentum. He was alive. He was going to kick ass.

Groose slowly began to regain consciousness as he tried to remember exactly where the hell he was. He reached for a Master Sword that wasn't there. He squinted, and in the darkness, he was able to make out a large hole in the ground. Gaining a sense of the urgent threat that stood at the mouth of the cave, Groose scrambled to his feet. He, too, staggered on his own two feet, but he found he was more than capable of standing. Refocusing his attention, Groose began to run forward, catching up to Link.

The two heroes connected with their intended targets at the same time. Link leapt at the Bokoblin, spearing the monster with his shoulder. As Link tackled the monster and flew out of the cavern with him, Groose made his contact. Leaning his head down, his headbutt caught nothing but air. The masked villain swiped its cape, vanishing into the air. Groose felt the lack of contact and spun around, prepared to fight.

Groose felt a fist hit the back of his head. He stumbled forward as a knee slammed into a stomach. Two chops to the sides of his chest brought him down to his knees. Groose was being attacked from all directions, and in the dark on top of that. Staggering back to his feet, Groose prepared to be hit from the back again. When he felt the pressure on his neck, he knew he has successfully anticipated the attack. Spinning around, he grappled with the seemingly invisible force.

Outside, Link and the Robokoblin exchanged punches on the ground. Link eventually found himself on the top and he began punching for his life. The Robokoblin, seemingly immune to the pain, shot out his hand and gripped Link by the throat. Link wrestled with the Robokoblin's arm, managing to pry it off of his windpipe, only to be thrown to the ground. He crawled backwards while facing the mechanical beast, until he felt his hand slip. He fell flat to his back. The Robokoblin pointed his arm downwards and released a barrage of clicks and beeps. A low humming began to grow. The monster's arm began to glow and pulsate with energy.

Link took a single look backwards and saw the edge of the volcano. Thinking quickly, he rolled out of the way and leapt to his feet. The Robokoblin let loose a charge of energy that missed Link by a hair's width and burnt into the ground. Link let loose another spear to the Robokoblin from the side. As the beast struggled to his feet, Link wrapped his arms around the cyborg's waist. He turned his back to the edge of the cliff before lifting the Robokoblin off of the ground. Link could feel his muscles being worked far beyond their normal extent, but that wasn't of any concern at the moment. Using all of his strength, Link flipped the Robokoblin over himself and drove his head into the ground behind him. Unleashing the full might of his suplex, Link dashed away. The ground of the cliff began to move, and correct to his assumption, Link watched as the Robokoblin tumbled along with the ground beneath him off of the volcano.

Groose flipped and slammed the masked villain into the ground with his arm. "That's what I call the Grooseslam!"

"You'r… You're a mo… moron…"

Groose stomped his foot on the masked villain's chest, and repeated the action again and again. Unfortunately for Groose, he continued this a little too long, as the villain grabbed his foot and twisted it. Groose went flying into the wall of the cavern, and before he could get up, the masked man was on top of him.

"I'm going to gore you like a fat Moblin, then leave your gutted, empty carcass to waste away in a pile of its own disembodied organs and fluids. Not even the Hroks will want to feast on your mangled corpse when I'm through with you, you disgusting, writhing, insolent pile of worthless vermin."

"Oh yeah? Well… you're dumb!"

There was a long silence as the two stared each other down, each one attempting to fully process the other's careless insult. Groose's lack of attention span soon proved to be an asset, and he flung the masked villain off of himself. He leapt to his feet and ran over to the fallen robed figure. Groose took a deep breath before grabbing him and hoisting him up over his head. Holding him perpendicular to his own body, Groose dropped the masked villain to his shoulder, and fell forward to the ground. He felt the impact of the masked villain on the cold, hard ground as he returned to his feet to marvel at the beautiful spinebuster he had executed.

Groose felt a cold hand wrap itself around his leg. Before he could react, Groose felt himself falling forward, but he didn't feel the ground. He felt the hand release its grip, and he began to fall through the hole in the floor he had carelessly forgotten about in the midst of battle.

"You've got something that I want."

The masked villain rolled on his side to see the entrance of the cave.

The fires of Eldin outside began to shine through the dark wall of smoke and ash. The entrance of the cave framed a dark figure in the foreground of the masked villain's vision. The figure took a labored step forward, and then another. Heavy breathing drew closer. As he drew near, the masked villain searched for an ounce of strength leftover to battle, but found none.

A hand clenched itself around the villain's neck. Link hoisted up the robed figure and held him over the hole in the ground.

"You think… you're doing… what's right… for Zelda?"

"I didn't crawl back in here to hear you run your mouth, so I suggest you shut it."

The masked villain's breathing was sharp, and audibly pained.

"You… you know… nothing…"

Link tightened his grip and the robed figure dangled helplessly above the pitfall below. "You've got a few words left. Make good use of them." Link firmly stated.

"You're… no… hero…"

Something snapped. Simply letting him go wasn't enough at this point. A line that had been drawn a long time ago was unexpectedly crossed inside of Link's mind.

Link's grip grew tighter. Lifting the masked villain high above his head, still keeping his fingers dug far into the neck of his adversary. Link leapt far into the air, the robed villain's limp figure still at the far reach of his arm. Tilting forward, Link began his descent. For a split second, the everlasting flames of Eldin provided enough light for him to see his own reflection off of the pale white mask of the masked villain. Upon it was his own face, twisted, contorted into a grimace of pain, anger, and disgust.

Link's concern faded quicker than the reflection did. He felt himself gaining momentum, his arm outstretched below him. Not once did the idea of any harm coming to himself from this maneuver cross his mind. He wanted to shatter that mask into a thousand pieces before throwing them to the wind.

The freefall lasted an eternity before Link saw a pale blue light appear below him. He knew nothing of what might lay below him. Hopefully something hard. Link would have the lifeless body of the masked villain to cushion his own fall, if it was any condolence to himself.

The light grew brighter and brighter. Link saw the downward sink hole's opening in full. Knowing the end of his fall was near, he tightened his grip even further, to the point he feared that he'd break the masked villain's neck before he got a chance to hit the ground and die on impact. Link gritted his teeth, he turned his head, but refused to let his eyes shut.

Link saw them pass through the opening. Below them, a large cavern opened up. It was covered in pale blue crystals, giving the room its glow. The ground was quickly approaching.

It was in view. The ground below was within view. Link strained to keep his eyes opened. A voice called to him, weak, beaten.

"Why… do you force yourself... to still… look on… in the face of… death...?"

"I…" Link paused.

The ground was mere inches away as Link finished his final words.

"I want to be the one to watch you die."

The four were battered and bruised, but not beaten. The bloodied Groose finished tying a spare bandage around his massive abs to stop the bleeding. Upon landing, he'd been sliced open by a crystal shard that had been lying around. Groose pondered who had put that there, and made a mental note to beat the shit out of them if he ever found them.

"Master Groose, can you operate at full capacity?"

"Of course I can, Fi! I'm Groose, the hero of Skyloft and Grooseland and all that stuff that I'm in too much pain to rattle off! Of course I'm alright!"

Fi internalized the statements made by Groose. She determined that he was most likely not okay. Dowsing the area, Fi detected a nearby source of healing ability. Hoping it to be a fairy fountain, she began processing the route.

Meanwhile, Groose scraped Cheeb off of the ground and hoisted him up upon his shoulder. Even though the Kikwi couldn't have weighed more than Groose's fist, Groose still felt his legs buckle a slight bit at the added weight.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Better than ever!" Cheeb said. He squeaked before spitting out three teeth and giving Groose what could only be interpreted as a smile. Groose chuckled.

Ghirahim approached the group, brushing himself off as he walked. "You wouldn't believe how filthy it is down here. There's an adjacent cave system to this blue gemmed cavern. I decided to go exploring a bit while you were all knocked out, and I got my clothing all full of soot! Can you believe it?"

"Not in the slightest." Fi replied.

Ghirahim gave her a playful smirk before reattending to his tarnished clothing. "Where are we, anyway?" he asked.

"My sources of information allow me to deduce that were are currently standing in a system of caves known as the Eldin Caves to the native Gorons. They often mine this system of caves for precious gems and minerals, along with rocks. The Goron civilization of the spirit maiden's day was well known among the other earth tribes for sustaining its own life upon eating rocks."

"Thanks for all that." Groose said sarcastically, rubbing his finger in his ear in a futile attempt to dislodge some dirt.

"So, has Link woken up yet?" Ghirahim queried.

There was a long silence as the four looked at one another, waiting for someone to confirm with a response.

"He did fall down here with us, didn't he?" Ghirahim prodded.

"I found his sword and his shield a few paces over from where I landed, but not him. Fi, Cheeb, did you two see him?"

"Nope!"

"Negative. However, I am detecting a faint signal of life. I believe it could be Link. I suggest we follow this signal by dowsing and see if it is Li-"

"I am not dowsing." Groose cut Fi off.

"Master Groose, I implore you to reconsider. It is at times like this that comedic entertainment would greatly benefit group morale levels."

Groose sighed, and pulled out the Master Sword with a smirk. He began holding it out as Fi continually made beeping noises in an attempt to alert him of the signal's origin. It was a touching moment that brought them together, if even for a brief time.

A mangled metal beast lay on the shores of the lava field. Having barely escape the jaws of certain death, it had passed out due to the immense heat. Its malfunctioning technology wouldn't last for very long in these conditions.

In an instant, it wasn't alone any longer.

"You. Wake up. There is still work to be done."

There was a faint humming followed by incomprehensible strained beeps.

"I lost the Triforce pieces, yes. However, I managed to escape with my life, which is the important part. We need to reobtain the pieces if we are to complete our true mission."

A strained electronic whine was the only response given.

"Come. I shall repair you to the best of my ability."

The robed figure brought a hand to his own mask. He felt a chip. A broken piece. A crack in his defenses. A weakness.

With a whisk of his hand, the masked villain warped the two broken villains away.

Link was out cold. There was little more to say on the matter than that. There was no inner monologue for the narrator to narrate. No soliloquy to run through. No emotion to be delivered. There was nothing but silence and a body.

Ghirahim was the first to stumble into the cavern they had found themselves in. The impact of the landing had sent them flying elsewhere, but Link's descent was straight down, as if planned. He had not careened off of a rock wall or giant crystal. His fall was a straight line from top to bottom.

Leaning in over the body, Ghirahim ran his hand along Link's face in shock. His fingers drifted to Link's neck. He was still breathing, but barely.

Groose and Cheeb walked in after Ghirahim had already found the body lying in its crater. There was a large indent in the ground, roughly the size of the Sealed Grounds by Groose's imagination. The impact was huge. And in the center of the destruction, Link's body lay peaceful and undisturbed. Groose and Cheeb walked over to Ghirahim as Groose sheathed his sword.

"We need to get him something to tend to his wounds, now." Ghirahim said, a hint of panic in his voice.

"The nearest source of healing energy, by my calculations, is approximately ten minutes from our current position. If we follow this short trail back to where we found ourselves, we can reobtain our dropped possessions, such as Link's sword and shield, before we carry on to what I believe to be a fairy fountain."

Groose nodded. He turned to pick up Link and carry upon his shoulders, but Ghirahim had already beaten him to it. As he cradled Link in his arms, he noticed Link's fist clenched around something. While Groose walked and Cheeb followed, Ghirahim held up the rear. He began to pry apart the fingers of Link's hand. A faint golden glow was beginning to shine from beneath his fingers.

"Surprise..." he called to the party in front of him. "...we've got one more piece to go."