10. Three vs. The Imprisoned

Tetra mimics the stomp of a Goron who's preparing for a sumo match over the Sacred Grounds. Nearby, Medli is examining the scenery. She gently plucks at one string of her harp while she does so. She admits that she is a tad nervous. Should they be here? Is Tetra being disrespectful by stomping at the very bottom of the spiral slope? As the Sage of Earth, Medli is receiving vibes from the dirt below her feet. Surely, there is something special about this area.

Trouble in a straw hat makes its unexpected and grand entrance at just about this time. The forest child's feet scurry in reverse while the child himself rides the barrel forwards. He is pulled by gravity down the curved hill. Similar to riding a bike, he leans with it, not against it, miraculously sustaining balance.

Medli has been watching him in suspense ever since she heard him at the level ground; however, she still has to dodge him at the last second before getting bowled over. Tetra pays no mind to it, and thankfully she didn't have to. If she had been a foot to the right she would have been in his path. He was laughing on the way down, but now he can't stop. Skull Kid bashes flat into the dirt wall.

Tetra can't read the ancient text on the miniature obelisk standing in the dead center of the elliptical arena. She is tempted to give up, or at least come back later with the encyclopedia of the warriors, Fi.

Skull Kid chuckles as he approaches. "I'd bet you wouldn't want to touch that stick knowing how many dogs have peed on it." Tetra isn't fazed; she has put things in her mouth more disgusting than canine urine. Then she looks at the imp and asks, "Do you know any dogs that have peed on this thing?"

"Well, I can name one guy that tried. He stood there for about five minutes wringing out an already empty bladder before giving up to try again another day," Skull Kid replies before giggling. Medli narrows her eyes and says, "Only you would do something like. And that's sick." The prankster is full-on laughing now.

Tetra releases a sigh of defeat. She admits, "I don't think we're going to find anything of interest here. They say this place is a prison, but for what I can't figure out. I was hoping treasure or something of equal value." Why she says all of this is to answer Medli's question from when they first arrived.

Skull Kid is getting incoming information straight to his brain. His interest is spiked. "You're not wrong," he reveals. "Majora says he can feel a seal."

"A seal?" inquires Medli. Tetra steps towards Skull Kid while she deduces, "All glue comes loose with something. What do we have to do? Pull the master sword or something?"

Skull Kid proceeds to have a telepathic conversation with his mask. He abruptly whips around, retrieves his bruised barrel, and places it over the pillar. He looks very accomplished.

There is a moment of silence.

"Great! So we've established that it can be hidden," Tetra flippantly declares. Medli utters, "UH… was there a purpose for that?" Skull Kid nods and replies, "That's for privacy. Majora is going to break the seal." Tetra and Medli watch as Majora separates from Skull Kid and disappears under the barrel.

Tetra's hand begins to glow. The Triforce of Wisdom is removed from her and pulled under the barrel. Skull Kid assures her that Majora just needs to borrow it real quick. Medli urges Tetra to call it back, but Tetra refuses. She actually wants this seal broken, and if her Triforce piece can be of assistance, she'll let Majora do whatever he needs to do with it.

Majora returns, taking its place over Skull Kid's face. The Triforce of Wisdom is also returned to Tetra. Skull Kid attempts to move the barrel, but Majora assures that the barrel doesn't need to be moved.

…

…

"Well, this is a waste of time," Tetra bluntly states. Skull Kid agrees with her. Then he shrugs and says, "Good try, Majora." Majora feels mocked. Putting her hands in her pockets, Tetra starts to leave. Skull Kid follows closely behind. As he passes a stationary Medli, Majora strums a single string of her harp.

Ugh, she hates it when Skull Kid messes with her. But this gets her thinking—if something, like a spirit, is really here she should pay her respects. She reaches over her shoulder and brings her harp to her front. She plays the only notes of a mournful Rito song she knows.

Just as she starts to play again, an earthquake occurs. It doesn't stop. The ground under Medli starts to rise. She hurls herself towards the only other warriors present, but doesn't nearly reach them. She moves just far enough not to be swallowed by The Imprisoned as it emerges from the ground. Medli pushes herself into a sitting position as she frightfully gazes at the beast. Tetra and Skull Kid have both turned around to face the monstrosity in the same manner as Medli.

Meanwhile, in the depths of Faron Woods, Midna is mocking Ghirahim straight to his face. She has dawned his cape and begins to stomp around announcing, "Never fear, the fabulous Ghirahim is here. My complexion is so pale that my opponents are blinded. My dance moves pick up chicks about as well as Tingle does."

Ghirahim rolls his eyes. He'll let Midna have the maximum amount of fun she can out of this. He defames himself by saying, "No, Tingle can pick up babes better than my dance moves." Midna's grin could span all of Hyrule. Ghirahim shakes his head with a smirk; he has amused himself. "Now wipe that grin off your face. You look ridiculous," he playfully demands.

A strong presence makes itself known to Ghirahim. He feels it deep in his bones, but he can't identify where it's coming from. He must find the source of this familiar vibe before Lord Ganondorf does, or worse, Princess Zelda. He simply snaps his finger, and his cape reappears on him. Midna now lacks a cape. The demon lord begins to charge through the forest with a purpose.

"You realize I was only teasing you, right? Your dance moves aren't actually that bad!" Midna calls after him. She hurriedly follows.

Back at the Sealed Grounds, the ground ceases to tremble when The Imprisoned has risen completely from the dirt. All three warriors are motionless in awe.

The beast lifts its foot to step forward. Skull Kid is the first to flee. Medli is paralyzed with fear. Tetra grabs the Rito by the arm and hauls her out from under the creature's foot before she is squashed. Medli's flight response kicks in, but instead of flying, she just runs beside Tetra. The girls follow Skull Kid up the spiral, and The Imprisoned keeps a sharp eye on them.

Instinctively, Skull Kid takes shelter in the Temple Entrance. The pirate captain and Sage of Earth do the same. Despite the methodical stomp of the great monster outside, it is quite peaceful in there.

"Majora, what did you do?!" cries Skull Kid. Medli attempts to find her happy place before she has a panic attack. Tetra's experience with surprises gives her the advantage; she is not afraid. Taking charge, she turns to Skull Kid. "By the looks of things, we weren't supposed to mess with that."

"You think?!"

"Ask your cursed mask how to fix this mess!" Tetra commands.

Skull Kid is already getting telepathically scolded by his mask. "But it was your idea!" he rebuttals. Like a telephone call, Tetra can only hear Skull Kid's side of the conversation. "But… All of my ideas are great!... No, you shut up!" This is getting nowhere.

Medli has been watching the entrance doors, which were left ajar. She hasn't found her happy place, and now she'll never find her happy place. She screams preemptively, anticipating the monster biting the ancient roof off the temple. Only the small bits of rubble hit the children, fortunately. Going farther into the temple would only back them into a corner, and Tetra knows this. Medli and Skull Kid take refuge behind Tetra.

Tetra does the only thing she knows to do—shoot at it! She swiftly takes the pistol from her back and fires a single bullet without aiming. That shot was lucky; it hits and destroys The Imprisoned's middle toe on its right foot. Startled, the monster moves away from the crumbling doorway.

Medli makes sure to point out the obvious; "Look! That pushed it back!"

Tetra, the self-appointed leader, yells, "That's the strategy! Destroy its toes, or, whatever those things are! Shatter its white appendages!" Medli is concerned, asking, "But what if that hurts it?" Tetra replies with "Who cares?!"

Skull Kid is willing to take a chance after he is urged to by his spirit companion. He dashes between The Imprisoned's legs and makes it to the other side unscathed. But his move doesn't go unnoticed. The Imprisoned jumps and rotates 180 degrees; in other words, now it's facing Skull Kid. Tetra takes this opportunity to take the long way out of the temple, taking Medli with her. Skull Kid considers getting down with the stairs, but why do that when gravity is so much faster?

The Imprisoned watches as Skull Kid hurls himself towards the middle of the battlefield, dropping several feet. He only reaches the halfway point with his jump; he's not a professional long-jumper. He stumbles forward upon landing on his feet only one level below. There is a nasty crack from his left ankle, which didn't feel good. Nonetheless, he keeps going, managing to tumble to the lowest level and roll to the middle.

That distance is no problem for The Imprisoned. It could make that jump without knees! And it does. Skull Kid rolls onto his back at the same time he is shaded by the airborne beast. He doesn't have time to move, but Majora has time to produce tentacles and guard its host. This is a lot of pressure on just a mask. Skull Kid doesn't miss a beat, scooting out from under his mask and scurrying into the light. With nothing below him, Majora can relax. He is crushed in a moment's noticed. Skull Kid stares with his mouth agape. In a comedic turn of events, he looks down to see Majora miraculously at his feet. The kid is content to pick it up and return it to his face. His comrades finally join him. Medli looks a little winded, but Tetra appears as if she could dash another mile. She's pumped.

With the trio as a team, it doesn't take much effort to destroy the toes one-by-one. Medli gets a little too close, and when it is time to move back, she doesn't move back far enough. Skull Kid gasps, because from his angle she's going to get crushed. By chance, she was positioned just right so that she is wedged between its toes. With her limited bicep strength, she manages to create enough room between her and the toe so that she can strum her harp, causing a shockwave that shatters the toes imprisoning her.

Tetra dives behind the monster when all six front toes are gone. She thought it might topple over forwards, but then discovers that they missed a couple. "Ugh! This thing has eight toes, not six!"

"I have ten!"

"If you make one more stupid comment like that, Skull Kid, you're going to have less than ten toes! Do you understand me?!" Tetra bellows. Skull Kid has nothing more to say, but he still thought that was funny.

Medli delivers the final blow with her hair, go figure. Her ponytail inflicted damage to the final toe and caused it to burst as she was whipping around. The Imprisoned topples forward like a bookshelf in a library, except without the books. Skull Kid dodges epically with a summersault forward right back onto his feet. The Imprisoned creates a breeze as it hits the ground, giving Skull Kid the impression that he is standing in front of a wicked explosion. Tetra wants to hit the creature from above, maybe drill that pillar into its brain. She runs at Skull Kid, giving him the brief instruction to "give me a boost!"

Tetra leaps into Skull Kid's extended palms, and he tosses her over his head. Tetra scales the pillar, but not the entirety of The Imprisoned. She rolls to a stop on the back of the monster before running back in the direction she came from. The pillar is still hidden inside of Skull Kid's barrel, but Tetra doesn't see that as an inconvenience; in fact, she uses that to her advantage. She manages to climb on top of the barrel, in spite of the fact that it is being suspended by its rim by the tip of the pillar. She delivers a hardy jump, and the pillar is drilled just an inch into the beasts head. The barrel is now level.

The Imprisoned doesn't appreciate that. It flings Tetra forward, effectively paralyzing her temporarily. Medli rushes to help, reaching Tetra just in time to carry the pirate captain away from the charging Imprisoned. Tetra regains control of her limbs and grabs Medli's foot, at which point Medli can lift herself and her passenger to the skies and out of harm's immediate way. In case you were curious, Skull Kid ascended the spiral straightaway after assisting Tetra.

Ghirahim and Midna arrive at about this time. Ghirahim is puzzled and embarrassed at the same time—how could these three infants summon The Imprisoned so easily? The first feature Midna notices about the beast is its full set of teeth. It has three rows of daggers! Midna's pearly whites among a fang look like the gums of a frog in comparison.

The Imprisoned would rather not pursue a chase up the slope. It stops. The children regroup to celebrate, but this moment is fleeting. The Imprisoned refuses to crawl around, so it generates a pair of arms to get itself upright. The warriors drop their shoulders in realization that this fight isn't over. Tetra mutters a sailor swearword that would give King Daphnes a heart attack.

The Imprisoned takes a swing at the little warriors. Tetra calls, "Duck!" Medli was once again frozen in fear, so she is hit. The force is similar to being hit by a car on the highway. The Rito girl is airborne for most of the launch, but travels further tumbling on the ground.

The demon lord appears in a display of diamonds behind Tetra. He says, "Forgive me, my lord, but was that not a little excessive? They're only children." Tetra gasps, whipping her head around to see the source of the voice. He chuckles.

Skull Kid puts himself between the great beast and the winged girl. It leans in close enough to where its warm breath feels like the desert wind on Skull Kid's bare arms. The kid's eyes water from the stench of rotting corpses.

Ghirahim gets a good look at the monstrosity when it leans close to Skull Kid. His shoulders slump at a random discovery. "Why is there a barrel on your head? That doesn't suit as headwear for you at all." And with that said, Ghirahim leaps skyward without so much as a propellant under him. As suavely as an anime butler, he sends daggers into the barrel, knocking it clear off the pillar and The Imprisoned's noggin. If he couldn't do that, what kind of demon sword would he be?

From a short distance away, Tetra can be heard calling, "Heads up!" The Imprisoned falls for the power of suggestion, lifting its head. Its lip is blasted with a bomb about the size of Tetra's head. Tetra had catapulted that bomb from the Groosenator in the West Canon Keep.

She loads up for another go. With five bombs in the catapult, she prepares to launch. Unfortunately, she can't think of a good one-liner, so she just fires. The Imprisoned attempts to swat at the bombs, but this proves to be beneficial for the warriors, as swatting the explosives only damaged The Imprisoned's fingers. Ghirahim doesn't like where this battle is going.

Skull Kid knows a distraction when he sees one. She takes this opportunity to move Medli out of harm's way. He picks up Medli like he once picked up Majora while the spirit was in Cia's body. At the time, Skull Kid himself was in Volga's body, so it wasn't hard. He runs as fast as he can, but his upper body strength is a little on the lacking side. The Imprisoned attempts to swipe the kid off his feet, but thank goodness for Majora, because it warns Skull Kid to duck. He does, but he trips and collapses on Medli's unconscious body. This is when Tetra takes a daring shot with the Groosenator. It is a fortuitous direct hit; there is a reason Tetra is one of the most feared pirates on the Great Sea.

The Imprisoned has lost its fingers. Ghirahim can't believe how redoubtable these kids are. Perhaps his master won't mind if he steps in. Ghirahim takes a step forward. Tetra doesn't have time to run around him, so she takes the middle passage, going between the demon lord's legs. He is startled by her hair brushing his inner thigh. She takes a running jump for the monster, stabbing a single toe with immense force. It bursts, of course. By the time Ghirahim remembers what he was doing, Majora has already decided that he is a threat. The demon lord finds himself doing the limbo under Majora's laser.

Tetra makes short work of The Imprisoned's toes. She has done so once before, so the second time is a piece of cake. However, then the beast tumbles, Tetra is lucky that pressing herself against the wall gave her just enough room to avoid being crushed. Standing above her on the edge is Skull Kid. With Majora's surprising power, he summons a meteor from just outside the atmosphere. The meteor shatters on The Imprisoned's pillar, sending bits of rock across the grounds.

Medli regains consciousness as Skull Kid gives the cry of a victorious wild banshee. She is mostly confused with a headache, and just slightly disturbed. Tetra sidles her way out from between the wall and The Imprisoned before dashing up the slope. Majora alerts Skull Kid to Medli. He watches as his comrade stands rather weakly. "You missed it," Skull Kid informs. "We took it down!" Medli smiles.

Ghirahim fled to the temple. He had to stop and gape at the decimated entrance before going inside. He has a feeling that Fi is going to be truly outraged when she discovers the ruins of this millenniums-old foyer. He begins to observe the grounds from the Hall of Time, hoping his presence there might aid his king somehow. Perhaps a ritual would be helpful right now.

Tetra comes to halt when her peripheral vision picks up movement from the scaled behemoth. She gazes in awe as it stands once again. She is also at the appropriate angle to witness The Imprisoned grow a tail. Tetra slowly ascends the spiral slope, her gaze still firmly on The Imprisoned. Medli and Skull Kid, too, are gazing and trembling. And to add insult to failure, The Imprisoned begins to fly.

Skull Kid is ready to go to bed. He's just done at this point. He cries out in frustration. With a sigh, Tetra begins to dash for the West Cannon Keep. Medli keeps a cool composer; in fact, she looks rather determined. She boldly states, "I was completely useless earlier, but this is my chance at redemption!" And with that, she takes the sky. Skull Kid reaches out for her, concerned. It's like the four giants all over again, except there is only one Medli.

After everything that has happened, The Imprisoned has finally recognized its opponents as formidable, and decides to reveal its true might. Tetra approaches the West Cannon Keep. The Imprisoned can afford to ignore Medli for thirty seconds as it charges a laser beam. The ritual being performed in the Hall of Time by a particular demon sword provides a boost to the laser that allows The Imprisoned to fire it five seconds early. Those five seconds were the difference between Tetra arriving at the keep, and her not before the laser obliterates it and the Groosenator within. Skull Kid witnesses a real explosion behind his back. He has to place a hand on his hat to keep it from being whisked away in the scorching wind. Tetra is thrown a few feet back the way she came, but otherwise unharmed.

Midna has discovered another cannon keep. She calls upon the only available warrior at the moment, Skull Kid. He begins to run for the keep, but Majora knows a shortcut. As Midna reenters the keep, she discovers that Skull Kid beat her there. She doesn't ask questions; instead, she points to the remaining Groosenator. "We need to figure out how to fire that thing!"

Skull Kid laughs. "Figuring stuff out is what I do!"

That pirate captain has been nothing but trouble this entire brawl. The Imprisoned decides that she needs to go. It begins to charge another laser. Tetra sits up, her head throbbing. In retrospect, she's glad she was a little slow on that last dash; otherwise, she might have been up in flames from the explosion. But she's not in the clear; she takes attention to her oversized opponent to realize she is being targeted. Naturally, she hurries to get out of range of the next blast. For its size and power, The Imprisoned has a good aim. It doesn't manage to hit its dashing target, but the blast radius does send Tetra forward towards the center of the grounds. She descends a level.

Meanwhile, the imps haven't yet found the mechanism to trigger the catapult. It is locked in the ready position. Skull Kid is rubbing his rear end on the hinge, hoping to loosen a spring or something. To be honest, he knows what he's doing is pretty much useless, but it's funny nevertheless. Midna angrily kicks the side of the machine with no effect except for hurting her foot.

A feather Medli lost in mid-flight has been carried by the breeze to the East Cannon Keep, where it gently perches on the Groosenator. Like magic, it triggers. The arm swings up, pinching the seat of Skull Kid's pants between the frame and the arm. He squeals; if you've ever been pinched in the butt, you know what he just experienced. Midna, full of surprise, suddenly lifts her head. She heard the machine act, though it had nothing to fling. And speaking of ammunition, Midna notices that they have none.

Skull Kid is struggling. He grumbles, "Let go." The machine has a firm grip on his trousers, and it isn't letting loose. Midna cries, "There's no ammo!" "Help! It's got my pants!" calls the younger imp. Midna closes her eyes tightly in desperation to think of a solution. Then Skull Kid yells, "I can't move!" In that moment, Midna's brain hatches an idea like a cucco hatches from an egg. She looks at Skull Kid and suggests, "Just take them off!"

The enemy pirates have never shot at Tetra with their cannons when she was right on top of them, so maybe The Imprisoned won't be able to aim for her if she is directly under it. She positions herself there. Ghirahim, observing this from the safety of the temple, chuckles. He remembers his master well enough to predict how he'll handle the situation. And sure enough, Ghirahim's prediction isn't wrong. The Imprisoned simply stops hovering. The shadow around Tetra quickly grows. She notices in the nick of time, sparing her a crushing demise. She is nearly crushed by the foot of the beast, but slides out from under like a runner in baseball slides to home base. On its way down, the arm of The Imprisoned nearly took Medli with it. She spun in the air several rotations before stopping herself. She may have stopped spinning, but her world hasn't. Her eyes see the world in rapid rotation. The Imprisoned rises off the ground again to see if it can't smash Tetra.

"I am ammunition!" calls a familiar voice, then the sound of the Groosenator. Skull Kid is airborne like a rocket. He announces as he flies, "And I'm not wearing any pants!" Sure enough, those didn't come loose until the rebound of the launch, where the machine seemingly spit them out. Midna, currently accompanied by Majora, finds it ironic that the pants are loose now.

The Imprisoned has a little parasite on its head. Skull Kid landed there and held tight to the pillar. The beast shakes as vigorously as it can, and despite its lack of speed, the effect is no less powerful. Skull Kid grips to the pillar for dear life. The art of playing woodwind instruments (plus the trumpet, which is technically a brass instrument) has strengthened his fingers. This momentary distraction has not only allowed Tetra a breather, but opened an opportunity for Medli to make quick work of The Imprisoned's toes.

"No, no no!" The demon lord is spectating in anguish. "This is the strongest form he can obtain under the goddesses curse, yet somehow three, inexperienced juveniles are besting him! It's like everyone is born the legendary hero now!"

The Imprisoned increases its altitude. Medli follows it easily. Skull Kid has never been above the trees; he has only ever climbed to the treetops. He realizes just how dangerous this is. Without his mask, he'll fall to the ground like a rock. And without his pants, he doesn't have a parachute.

Medli has never dodged in the air quite as vigorously as she is right now. That is not to say she doesn't enjoy it. The adrenaline is empowering, as if she was invincible. She is even receiving assistance from the ground; Tetra is using her expert gunmanship to target and blast the monster's fingers.

Midna left the cannon keep in search of Ghirahim. Her trustworthy canine companion, Shade the Twilight Wolf, leads the way right to him. He has a distinct scent—a mixture of his natural aroma and his cologne that he reapplies once a week—that Shade would be able to pick up in a snowstorm.

She arrives at the Hall of Time just in time to witness a great victory. Ghirahim falls to his knees when the last of The Imprisoned's appendages are shattered. Like the toes and fingers, hope of victory for the cursed demon king has also shattered.

Cascading towards the ground, The Imprisoned finally rids itself of the little troublemaker. Skull Kid is hurled westward. At his speed of descent an abrupt landing will devastate his internal organs as well as any bones in direct contact with the ground. Lucky for him, Majora has a conscience and an array of magical abilities. The mask teleports to its chosen puppet, and it didn't forget to bring that puppet's shorts. Skull Kid graciously accepts his clothing, puts it back on, and returns Majora to its place over his face. He slows immensely, eventually approaching the ground at the speed of a falling feather.

As this was happening, Tetra removed herself as hastily as possible from under The Imprisoned. Medli has the strength to deliver the final blow to the pillar. She dives into it as instructed by one of the many Rito warriors, as not to injure herself. The pillar is jabbed the final length into The Imprisoned. The monster returns to its prison underground, the seal strengthened once again.

Freed and resealed by the same children on the same day. That sucks!

The exhausted trio collapse on the ground together right where they started. Tetra gives a hardy sea laugh, for they have won. Medli lifts a fist to the sky before allowing her arm to go limp. She can't believe the day isn't even half over yet.

The Twilight Princess herself appears from a Twilight Portal. She rests a hand on the pillar as she acclaims the young warriors. Ghirahim, too, appears seemingly from thin air. He has one question; "I must know which one of you summoned The Imprisoned."

The warriors sit up. Tetra points fingers. "Me?!" Skull Kid cries as he jumps up. "I didn't do it! Majora did it!"

"Isn't that thing your responsibility?" Tetra accuses. She stands to face her accused.

Skull Kid remembers distinctly what happened. He claims, "Majora wouldn't have been able to summon that thing if you hadn't given him your shiny triangle!"

Medli stands calmly. "Wait, let's analyze this. First Majora went under the barrel, asked for Tetra's Triforce, and then nothing happened. We were leaving when it burst out of the ground. Was that just a late reaction?" she deduces.

Tetra's eyes squint. "You weren't walking with us, though. You stopped to stare at it and…" Tetra trails off. Skull Kid points fingers as Tetra remembers and announces that Medli played her harp just before The Imprisoned crawled out of the dirt.

Medli's defense is Ghirahim's next statement: "It isn't possible that a simple tune would have awakened my master. There had to be stronger magic at work." So Skull Kid and Tetra turn on each other, since they each possess a powerful relic. In an ironic twist, it is Tetra that tackles the forest child to the ground. They tussle fist-to-fist as Medli watches from the sidelines in horror.

Midna shrugs. She meets eyes with Ghirahim. Now before all of this, where were they?

Author's Notes- I'm having a little too much fun with Skull Kid. Suggestions please, if you have any. And if any "would you rather" questions for the warriors come to mind, don't hesitate to share them. That is all.