Samba and Link winced at the sharp rise in volume upon opening the door again to Pouring. They looked around and across the room to the nearest opposite corner. Indeed, two doors were there--one barred, one locked. To their right was the ravine full of molten metal and lava. There was a short ledge pointing out to it that was little wider than the door. Samba looked and gauged the distance from there to the other side. "Don't hide, I might need to," he told Link before taking a step or two back. He paused, taking a breath and letting it out. Then, with a reptilian warcry, he charged forwards and leaped off of the ledge. To his surprise, he landed with about a footpaw length of ground behind him. He blinked. "Oh. Must have just been intimidated."
Getting Link over with him, Samba led on. Before him, he noticed a broken ladder. He frowned and had Link hide for a moment when he saw rivers of magma streaming out of the northern wall (the room the map called "Melting" that they were heading for). He jumped across, noticing the hanging track above him that carried the molds of compressed sand from Molds. Thankfully, all he met were keese, which he ignored until he was on the western side of the room. Then he spin attacked every one of them, having to do his double-spin he discovered earlier in the dungeon. After that, he looked around.
There wasn't much space between the walls and the magma. Before him was the door with the keypad on the wall to the left of the portal. On his left was the locked door. Behind him was an intact ladder up to the catwalk around the room. He went forwards, letting Link out after recalling the map reading there wasn't anything to prevent him from continuing without hiding. He stopped at the keypad and thought for a second.
It was laid out much like the way keypads we know them to be are. Four rows of three buttons faced him, going in the familiar-to-us sequence. The bottom row had a green button, then 0, then a red one that they assumed meant to clear what was punched in already to try again. "It was...20, 97..." Samba muttered, prodding the metal squares while uncomfortable with the technology.
"...19, 98..." Link muttered behind him, watching him enter these in. They saw a reasonably-sized display of round, pencil-circumference yellow lights illuminate from left to right. They were squares of nine, and the correct number lit up when the number was pressed. When Samba pressed the green button, they turned green and flashed as the door unbarred.
"Great," Samba smiled. "Let's go see what hell awaits us in here."
Link chuckled nervously behind him as they entered Melting. As the door closed behind them, the noise level died down a fair bit, hot hissing replacing the metallic clanging. This room was very heat-heavy, but not as abundantly as the main room of Pouring. However, the fact there was pure magma present very nearby made it just as toasty. Melting was more square than Pouring, but still rectangular. Around them, support beams held up the various troughs of melted metal, being of both the straight and slanted varieties wherever appropriate. The molten rivers origiated from a sort of "moat" around a peninsula of a machine. This must have been where the melting occured, as well as sorting out the liquid metal. Bridges spanned across the rivers here. One was more a ramp that went up to the square machine. Looking around the square part of this central object, slanted walls at the corners gave it the overall shape of a curveless fish of sorts. Directly above them was a square platform on its own--probably disconnected from some walkway of sorts. A door on the second floor, the map said, led to it from the west. Apart from a beamos they saw in the southeastern corner, a few other enemies were walking around, two on each of the little islands that formed the southern part of the room and four on the longer strips that made the sides of the room. They were either bokoblins or...
"Alright, that's called the XT23-9A, or 'Cirkitt'," Samba said, pointing at one of the faulty mannequins coming towards them. "It's an older model of the basic human-like mechanoid that is by now in serious need of work. We know what to do: Push 'em off a ledge, spin attack 'em, or boomerang 'em. Just DON'T directly attack with the sword!"
Samba and Link, looking at their map, decided to go along the path before them and take the nearest door. They dealt with any enemies they encountered on the way (three, two being bokoblins) and went into the first door on their left.
This door turned out to be a dead end. They found a quiet, very small room with a wall to their right and two walls of heavy boxes and crates stacked high atop each other to their front and left. They noticed a little shelf high above them that, when they went out against the far box wall, held a large chest. They also noticed that one of the largest boxes up top above them was painted blue on the flat side facing them. Finding nothing they could do, they went out again and then on to the second of the three west-hand doors of Melting (and the only other availible one; the third, farthest north, was barred).
This led them into a very quiet, on its own, room with only a wall made with the close-set supports of a trough. They found no enemies and no resistance between them and the other door. The only other thing of interest in this room was that all four--yes, four--doors were free, even the barred one. This probably meant it was a one-way. Why, they didn't know. All they did know was that they were in a hall between Melting and the room they were going for, one that could (when in full use) allow people to go through on either side of the support beams.
They entered the next room, a considerably-longer-than-wide one the map called "Furnace". As they did, the rings emitted the strange, cryptic tune again. The Furnace in question took up much of the northern part of the room. More close to them was a locked door to the south and to another hall, also the smallest room in Clamor Plant. To their right was the wall of supports. They found more annoying bokoblins and a Cirkitt on each side of them. Link dealt with the 'blins while Samba went to the Cirkitt.
While fighting in the reasonably tight space, Samba, the most western during his duel with the robot, noticed an interesting way to do the supports before they ended. Two angled in a "V" and were in line with the others, but over that one and perpendicular when looking at it from above were two more angled ones making an upside-down "V". The points of the figures were at the same spot, forming the "intersection" of the plus sign they formed. Samba saw a reasonably smart bokoblin hop through the lower "V". 'Good plan,' he thought.
The supports ended not because of a wall, but because of a pool of molten metal with a very durable machine bathed inside it (one covered in stone somehow). When looked at from a side, it was like a simple 3-4-5 right triangle lying on its long leg and made with curves instead of corners. It was really a conveyer chain of sorts. Wide stone buckets were attatched to it and they cycled around, going up the slope and then down the short, vertical leg, scooping up metal before coming up again. When they went over the curve to face down, they dumped metal into the trough above. This metal flowed from there to the machine in Melting to be sorted and added with, if the name meant anything, more melted metal, to go to Pouring. The two were gradually learning about how foundries work as they went on. (Though, working like this probably was exclusive to this one.)
After knocking his Cirkitt into the metal, Samba beckoned and led Link through the legs of the support angle. They continued to defeat the remaining enemies. When that was over with, they heard a clinking from above and to the west. "That sounded like a key," Link raised his eyebrows.
"Or something around that size," Samba shrugged. They looked around more.
On the other side with a clear view, they found the northeastern corner was a big pile of rocks. Edges of a floor tray were visible around it. Next to it was a shaft with four corners and some beam supports being walls. It contained a chest on a raised platform on a piston. Though Samba or Link could easily get to it from the height it was, the supports on the front had fallen and blocked them. Samba stepped back and looked up. "There's an opening on top of the machine there," he pointed. "I bet I can jump down, get what's in there, and jump up again." He looked at the pile of rocks and frowned. "But that's the only way we could get up...it's too steep, though..." Indeed, it was a very steep slope. "If we could clear a portion, all'd be well and good."
"Well, then, let's get started," Link said, making Samba turn. He was holding a red rock above his head, smirking. "They're laying around. Alright..." He looked. "I think we'll have to spark one after throwing it up there on that part on the right." He tested his idea, throwing his rock. It landed perfectly on top.
Samba and Link gathered another rock each and put it up there. Hoping they were touching, Samba cast Fire Pebble and struck the nearest one. It glowed, and the two ducked behind their shields. After a moment, an explosion rocked the rocks away, flying all over. When there were no stones falling among them, the swordsmen looked up and smiled. A sizable hole had been made and the slope was lessened, forming a hill in the northwestern corner of the pile.
Samba led them up the rocks, noticing that some were warmer than others, particularly closer to the machine in the north side they were climbing onto. Now on the second floor, they saw that there was a huge pile of stones on the top of it. They came from a slot in the ceiling. "That's where the ore goes," Link realized. They couldn't reach it, however; the machine had walls on top that held some controls and kept folks at bay from getting on and in trouble. They looked in the front of the machine. A skinny ledge went around, curving at the edge at one point so that the only way to go was on top. Besides, molten metal waterfalled from the curved part into the pool below. The map related this, but it said that it turned a corner around the machine to a wider part. "Must be something there," Link muttered, looking at the minimap on his hand.
"Apart from the key on that part right there?" asked Samba, pointing to a platform above the southwestern corner. On it sat a small key. "But you probably can't get a good jump from the ledge--it's so narrow, you'll fall when you push away from it."
"Look up," Link pointed. They saw an upside-down trough held to the ceiling by telescopic poles. "It looks like, if it's lowered, we could jump over and grab the key," he described.
"Right," nodded Samba. He looked at the shaft in front of them. "Lemme get this chest, first, though..."
"Wait, we'll use Sync Mode again," planned Link. "I think your feet are too big for that ledge--I'll get across it and see if there's a switch to hit. Then, you go and jump and get the key. Since you're going solo for a sec anyway, we might as well not waste any time."
This was agreed to be a smart idea, and Sync Mode was activated once more. Samba dropped down to the chest and opened it, resulting in a series of sounds that made Link stop and turn, carrying a perfect, "Huh??" face while he stayed in the position he had taken to begin sidling--legs spread and arms around the corner of the machine, body close against it.
Thump. Creeeak. "--RRRUUH??"
"What is it?" Link called over his shoulder.
Samba grabbed the edge of the machine before pulling himself up again. He walked over and brought out the item he recieved. It was a grey burlap bag of metal things that looked complicated to them. The Roman numeral III was on it in red ink. (Hyrule didn't know the Romans, so they only used I, II, and III, since, most of the time, you would have to be more than just a bit clueless not to realize they mean 1, 2, and 3.) "Think it's garbage?" he asked, raising an eyeridge.
"It was in a chest that was marked by the compass," Link shrugged. "If the rings are showing it to us, it's probably important. I mean, I think I saw a chest that looked like the others in the smithy, but it wasn't marked by the compass. We've gotten on so far without whatever it had, so..."
"Right, we'll keep it," Samba nodded uncertainly, putting it away. "Maybe Sarbog can explain." He smirked slyly and thumbed down the ledge, transferring the Master Sword simultaneously. "Now stop doing lewd acts to the machine and get going."
Link was confused for a second at this before he realized his position, making him blush and glare at Samba, who laughed. "Yeah, you're still a bit evil in there," Link said, rolling his eyes.
"We all are," Samba said quietly, though still chortling a bit.
Link sidled along the ledge, forcing himself to NOT look down and to take the corner slowly and carefully. His brow was damp, making his blonde bangs stick to it. The question entered his mind, 'Why aren't my bangs burnt to a crisp in this heat, yet?' but he shook it off mentally. He breathed a sigh of relief when he got around the corner and onto ample footing again. "Why was it so much easier when it was hundreds of feet above the ground?" he asked nobody.
"Hey, you didn't have to be afraid," called Samba. "I told you to not hide before because I planned to switch and hide if I was about to hit the metal. That would save me. You could've done the same, probably, Sync Mode or not."
Link nodded, hearing this. 'That's a good plan,' he thought. He looked and saw, indeed, a crystal switch. "Alright, get ready," he called before striking it. With a chunk! sound, the trough cover lowered onto the long tray.
Samba got the Master Sword as his signal to go and was off, jumping off an edge that was in a space between the shaft and the ledge. He dashed across and jumped up to the key's platform. "Gotcha!" he hissed in victory as he grabbed the small key and looked at it in his paw. "Alright, lemme try coming down again," he said as he hopped down and ran across again. During this time period, they heard a clocklike sound from somewhere. It was getting faster and faster. Seconds after it was as fast as it could go, it stopped and the cover lifted. Samba rolled off of it and landed on the machine again as it came up. "WHEW!"
They ended Sync Mode and Link complimented his actions, if a bit worriedly. They then went down to the first floor once more. Samba went around and got to the locked door.
They entered into a room that was relatively high-ceilinged, but very tight and narrow--the smallest room in the dungeon. It was made to just be a hallway between two rooms that were so close together, they could have almost shared the same wall. Why it was so wide, they didn't know. However, they were later rather thankful for it.
The door barred itself behind them when Link came through. They looked back in alarm at this before looking forwards.
Samba looked up and instantly growled, but didn't draw his weapon. "Get back, Link!" Link looked over his shoulder, then raised his eyebrows and got by the lizalfos.
A creature was falling from a grating in the ceiling that it had slammed open. It was big and wide, it appeared, and after it SLAMMED to the ground, it suddenly leaped up HIGH, almost covering as much vertical distance as it had just fallen. After it landed, debris fell off of it. As it did, two long, pointed, rabbit-like ears popped up and the creature shook itself. It appeared to be a giant blob of cream fur, glaring with beady little eyes at them. It then began to jump forcefully in seemingly random directions, the first being towards a wall. It jumped very high, but only one floor; its round body bounced it off of the wall. It appeared four small feet were on the bottom, concealed at first by long hair, like for some domestic breeds of dogs.
"Okay, WHAT is THAT?" Link asked, watching it carefully as it fell. It made a dull thud on landing before jumping in another direction. He had already drawn his sword.
"It's a Pols Voice," answered Samba, watching intently, as well. "It's a creature that is smaller than you think; most of what we're seeing is very dense fat beneath extremely durable hide, which together make anything bounce off of it; not even the Master Sword can cut it. It uses its invulnerable nature and high weight to its advantage by jumping randomly with powerful legs, confusing and intimidating prey until they collide with it mid-jump." He frowned. "You know, I dunno why it's here of all places," he added, a bit puzzled.
"ROLL!" Link ordered, and they rolled forwards to avoid it before it crushed them. They turned after getting up again. "Outta curiousity, why?" Link couldn't help asking.
"Well," Samba grunted, jumping aside to let the thing through, "it absolutely hates loud noises, since its ears are very sensitive. Then, well, this room's relatively quiet..." He sighed, a little sad, now. "I know these things are agressive in the wild, but they're adorable pets if you can tame them from birth," he commented. "There are a couple at home."
Link's face lit up in insight. "Music soothes the savage beast, you know," he told Samba.
Samba raised his eyeridges, then grinned, narrowing them again as he looked at Link. "You musta read my mind," he chuckled. "Almost forgot about that detail!"
"C'mon, corner! It has less chance of landing there!" Link beckoned, and they trotted to the southeastern corner, then turned again, facing the behemoth bouncing around. "Quick! Zelda's Lullaby!" Sheathing the Master Sword and his Hylian Shield quickly, Link whipped out his ocarina. Samba produced his guitar, and together, the two counted off quickly before playing the first few notes of the tune to get in sync.
The Pols Voice bounced...and landed VERY close, turning and facing them next. Since they had just gotten into sync (without Sync Mode), their focus allowed them to ignore the minor shockwave that came a foot from the thing.
Then the song began to play fully. The Pols Voice stopped, widening its eyes before squeezing them shut and pressing its ears to its skull like people would put their hands to their own ears, twisting left and right violently. When Link and Samba finished, opening their eyes, they were worried it didn't work.
However, the Pols Voice stopped, perked its ears again, and looked up at them, blinking with wide eyes. It bobbed up and down in place, not doing any more bouncing for the moment, it appeared. Now that it was close to them, they found it was about four feet tall and who knows how heavy.
When they finished playing, Link noticed both doors clunked, unbarring. "That did it!" he exclaimed in surprise and minor triumph.
The Pols Voice's eyes shifted as if it were frowning, ears flattening again, and it slid away from Link. Samba frowned and shushed Link before turning to it, soothing it in Lizalfos. "There, there, he didn't mean to," he said to it, petting it comfortingly with a smile. He crouched down to it, getting eye level with it as he scritched behind an ear. "Link's just a little excited that we can get out of this room. It's alright." It slowly unflattened them, eyes returning to normal. Samba smiled benevolently. "There, see? Samba's right," he told it gently, and the creature flopped its ears cutely. Samba chuckled. "Now, calm down, and don't let the noise here get to you, okay?" he asked, tilting his head. The Pols Voice bobbed up and down happily. Samba grinned and nodded. "Good! Go on and get out of this dangerous place, you smart little thing, okay?" He stood and patted it on the head. "Invulnerable or not, you can still turn into a fur-and-blubber pancake by these heavy things around here."
The Pols Voice appeared to understand, bobbing forwards and back. Then, it turned and began hopping off, going in a certain direction and at a reasonable hopping height. It was actually quite adorable as it went over a far wall, where a grating was in middle reach. It stopped a couple feet before the wall and bounced up and up and then finally, making a very small slam as it came down to the floor again, bounding up to it at the right angle. It slammed into it, richocheting away and landing again. It shook itself and tried again, sure it could do it. Samba stood, paws on hips and smile on face while watched it go. Link watched the scene with interest. "You're very good with those things," he commented, impressed, afterwards. Samba turned sharply to look at his arms-crossed slouch, smile vanishing from his face...though a blush soon spread across it instead. Link laughed and shook his head. "Hey, don't be embarressed! I won't think little of you for liking cute monsters!"
"Sorry, I've always loved those things," Samba confessed (in Hylian), grinning sheepishly and holding a paw up while rubbing the back of his head with the other. He sighed contentedly, looking up in remembrance and lowering his paws. "Hmmm, oh, to hug the little guys, and to ride them when I was younger," he recollected. He frowned, still looking up. "Then...the other kids said I shouldn't ride them or go near them anymore because my big feet and blue scales scared them since they were so different..."
Link frowned, sympathetic. He actually suddenly felt a little guilty that he had no strange physical features to be made fun of for.
"But then, one day, D--someone told me not to worry and to go ahead and play with the pet Pols Voices," he continued, going soft as he muttered, head coming down again. He was thinking aloud more than recounting, now, and Link had to take a step or two closer to hear him over the noise. Samba chuckled and looked up, smiling. "Hey, don't worry about my stupid childhood," he told him, waving a paw. "Let's get going. We've got to get over to the Power room, don't we?" He pointed to the south door.
Link, although curious to learn more about this "stupid" childhood, nodded, knowing that business comes before pleasure. 'I'll ask him some other time,' he thought.
Samba turned and started walking off, but stopped when he turned to find the Pols Voice sitting down, it appeared. It was slumped over, panting slightly, ears flopped over, in a spot on the floor, where Samba recognized it landed each time it bounced off of the grating (which, Link assumed later on, was to a ventilation system).
"Uh-oh," Samba went under his breath, eyeridges up. He came over to the Pols Voice, worried. "Hey, little guy, you alright?" he asked it in Lizalfos, bending knee and putting a paw on its back. It just flopped its ears at him in a slight not.
Link raised an eyebrow, examining the grating. It appeared to be very strong, composed of iron rods as thick as his finger welded together stretched across a large, square frame. This frame was nailed onto the wall only at the corners. "I bet if we pulled on it hard enough, we could get it off, like the Pols Voice did when it came down from the other side of one," Link said over his shoulder. He then spotted the old grating lying on the floor and noticed something different right away. The one he was right next to appeared to be made with good-condition metal, whereas the other one was rusted. As well, they were in different patterns.
Not only that, but, if he looked hard enough, he saw that the nails on the corners of the wall grating were each fairly big and had an "N" engraved on it, the diagonal going out to the edges of the head. Red was painted in the grooves of the lines.
"What is it?" Samba asked, looking up at his friend's thinking face. "Is there something keeping us from just grabbing it and pulling it off?"
"Maybe," Link replied, walking over and examining the other grating. "...I think this one's a little older than the other," he said, holding it up. "It's rusty. That might be why the Pols Voice could come through. That, and the nails appear to be smaller...as well as not having the same etching over there..." He carried a nail while walking over there. "...Yeah," he confirmed, close to it. He held a nail and looked at its reddish head and then at the grey and red head of the other. He held it up closer. "It's plain and smaller. Whuh--!" He jumped back as the nail in his hand flew out and attatched itself to the nail he was nearby. "What on--?!"
"It's...It's sticking on," Samba marveled in wonder. Indeed, the two heads were sticking to each other. He grabbed it and tugged it off, then kept a good grip on it while he pulled it away slowly. "I feel a force...What is it?" he wondered aloud.
"Well, whatever it is," Link said, making them turn to each other, "I don't think this guy can get out easily without hopping up to that hole it made above."
Samba looked up, frowning. "Yeah, I think it'd've tried it," he agreed. He looked in worry at the Pols Voice, now back to normal (if a bit concerned, itself). "Don't worry, little guy, I'll find a way to get you out," he assured it in Lizalfos. "But we can't do anything right now. It looks a bit too strong, even if both of us pulled at once. Just stay in here and try not to hurt yourself on these rusty nails." He tossed his aside to a corner.
The Pols Voice bobbed, ears flopping as it "nodded".
"Right." Samba looked at the other door. "Let's get going." He led Link through the door and into another room. To their disgruntlement, the door barred itself again.
Before them was a room with lots of crates, some open and showing random pieces of metal, many of which appeared to be items at once point. One close to their left appeared to be scalable, as were a pair a crate's length away and against the right (west) wall. All three were made of metal, had handle holes cut into the sides, and were closed. The rest were wooden. It looked like Samba, or even Link, could probably jump from the one on the left to one directly south two crates' length away, which appeared to be high enough to consider it part of the second floor. He could then jump over to another little wall of three of these boxes. All of them were thankfully closed on top or full in a stable way, so his footpaws wouldn't be hurt.
What was notable was that the room on the map was bigger than it looked. This was because there was a gigantic wall of boxes and crates fencing in the majority of the northeastern corner. They couldn't possibly get on top of them. They looked quite familiar, actually. "It's that dead-end we found from Melting," Link realized, looking at the map. The room was called Metal Storage.
"Well, it looks like there's a balcony on the second floor in the southeastern corner, and it looks like the door there leads to that chest we found," Samba pointed and path-traced with his claw. He looked over at the metal crate. "Interesting," he muttered, brow furrowing. "So different..." He shrugged and jumped on top of it. Right before he jumped off the edge to get to the second-floor crate stack, he was LAUNCHED straight at the stack! Instead of going up at the angle he wanted, he crashed right into it comically, limbs splayed and everything, making it rock a little. As he came down, he grunted and turned in midair to face what was changing from a box into something else. He landed on his feet and drew the Master Sword. "I should've known!" he spat.
"Sneaky things, aren't they?" Link asked, drawing his sword as well as the other two "metal crates" changed, too. They extended two sides to act as arms, they opened their hinged bottoms to let out two very short legs, and a head popped up from the top like a jack in the box. A large, thick-glassed camera was the only thing on the hunk of metal. As they stood, their fronts and backs flapped out, hinged at the top, for a moment before they slapped them down again with clawlike hands that extended from the sides, turning those into bucklers. Sharp-cornered bucklers.
The split bottom sides served as feet for them to balance themselves on as they hobbled over at moderate-slow speed. They raised their arms in front of them, ready to fight. Before Samba could talk, he had to defend himself as the one he had been on faced him and quickly twisted its "shields" perpendicular to the floor and lowered its arms to its sides, turning them with the corners out. Without a moment to spare, it jabbed at him. It would have hurt a fair bit with the point coming at him if Samba hadn't been guarding himself. He was pushed slightly off-balance on the first hit but could recover in time to block the second it. Well, that's if he could aim with his buckler better. Taking advantage of the blocking tool's small size, the second punch landed right in Samba's front, making him cry in pain. He growled and sidejumped away.
Link, meanwhile, was ducking to avoid a spinning assault from the one that had gotten nearest him. "What are these and how do we hit them?" he asked. "Arrows don't work on their cameras!"
"These are XT23-1N's, 'Collapsabots' in Hylian," answered Samba, keeping up his backing away from danger for the moment. "They're stealthy suckers who can hide to become tough-shelled boxes, then pop out and attack. They're a little slow, but fast punches and a spinning attack gives them impressive range. There's supposed to be something about their metal that makes them so sturdy..." He narrowed his eyes, looking at the one coming at him.
Link was doing the same. "...Is it just me," he said, then grunted and blocked a one-two. "Or is their metal slightly red?"
"I think you're right," Samba nodded. He had an idea. "'Rang their heads to stun them quick!" he instructed before yipeing and ducking to avoid both a punch from his and a spinning attack from the third, who had decided to come over to him since Link was occupied.
Link nodded, then shoved with his shield when it punched at him. Both were knocked back, but, since the hylian was against a wall, only the Collapsabot was repelled. Taking the time it took it to get back, Link whipped out his boomerang again and targeted the three heads. He let fly.
Comically, the heads spun around for a moment when the boomerang struck them, making them lower thier arms and stop. It appeared to take a little while before they reached up and grabbed their "hats" to make them stop spinning, and then a little more while they lowered their arms once more, a shutter making them "blink".
Right before they could attack again, though, Samba, who had retreated to the far end of the room (with Link in tow), threw his Fire Pebble. It hit the closest one. He soon had combo-thrown two more at the other two. They had convienently turned about to face them right before contact. When the pebbles sparked against their fronts, their arms came in as all four sides flew up, an annoying beeping sound emitting from them. They saw a mess of wiring and other delicate workings inside them.
Wasting no time, the two warriors rushed out and attacked. They stayed open for only one combo's worth after they got to them, the time of which was another combo's worth. They repeated the process, Link boomeranging them and Samba readying three Fire Pebbles. After two more combos each, the two they had targeted stopped beeping, instead making all sorts of boops and squeaks as they rocked back, heads spinning as their non-box parts flashed red. They snapped forth after the apex of their lean, extending all their parts with a power-down-like bloop before slamming together again. First they came to the ground, putting their "feet" together. Next, the left arm snapped in, prompting the back flap to shut, closing itself around before slamming its head in. All of this was done in close, equal rhythm. A half second after closing all the way, they shook and let out a muffled BOOM, smoke soon coming from the hand holes. They smoked for a few moments.
The third joined them after Samba used the last of his magic power to cast Fire Pebble once more on it. Both stood panting for a moment before flourishing their weapons, sheathing them. "That was interesting," Link said briskly to Samba, turning his head.
"I can't wait until we can do something to take care of them quicker," Samba groaned. He looked around at the three things that were now crates free to be pushed and jumped onto. He nodded and got behind one. He pushed hard, and it moved after some effort. He labored it to the wall of unscalable boxes, then against the second-floor-reaching crate stack he had been trying to reach before. He jumped up on top of it, then jumped again to the second-floor crates. Link watched from below as the lizalfos hopped over to the lower crate-wall. "C'mon," Samba called.
Link hid, but was unable to be let out, for some reason; they remembered seeing that the room was bordered by dark violet, like the compass room was and suspected that had something to do with it. (The others were in green, as normal.) So, Link simply came out as his wingless-fairy form. They saw the other part of the impassable wall of containers. In about the spot the blue block was before, a red one was there instead. They gathered it was dual-colored, but hadn't the slightest idea why. Ahead of them to the east was a small balcony with a ladder, a door facing them. It was about as wide as the big, red/blue block it lined up with, with both against the wall and at the same height (on the bottom). It was also too far away from them for Samba to get there in one jump. He'd at best hit the upper quarter of the ladder. To the south along the wall was an exposed pipe...no, a cable, they gathered, because it was faintly slack. It looked strong enough to hand-over-hand (or paw-over-paw) across from the crates to the balcony. However, electricity sparked around it, detering the two from trying.
"Well, if all else fails, we can hop down from the balcony in Melting," Link shrugged when Samba noticed the one-way trip. Samba sighed and nodded.
The lizalfos ran and jumped to the metal ladder, grunting as he caught onto it. He climbed up and onto the balcony, then opened the door.
Back in Melting, he found himself on a balcony right next to a trough full of molten metal. It was cordoned off by railings. In front of him, however, he saw a big chest. His eyes grew big with delight, wondering what was inside. He went over and opened it. He gasped at what he saw inside.
A scroll of that same parchment from the same unidentifiable monster's hide sat at the bottom, wrapped with a thin, bow-tied ribbon that was white in the middle, fading to a color at the sides. On one was red and on another was blue. He held it out and looked in wonder at it. "It's another spell!" he whispered.
"A spell? Like Fire Pebble?" Link checked, still out of his ring.
Samba nodded. Worried it might be unsafe in there, he returned to the other room and read it by the electric lights above. Like before, while his eyes looked at the writing, a burst of light shot from the parchment and struck him. Again, a vision came, which Link was not privy to. He saw himself as if looking at a mirror. His claws were bent in clawing pose, and they were crackling with light blue lightning, which was slowly getting stronger. Then, after a couple seconds, he let his paws be normal. They were still covered in lightning, though. Another flash came, this time bringing him to an over-the-shoulder look. He was standing, holding his right paw out. He bent his claws and lightning again wrapped around his paw. This time, two geas appeared around his wrist, colored red and rotating around clockwise while trailing a thin line of electricity. He let that paw down and brought up the other, already electrifying it. As soon as it was up, blue (normal blue) geas appeared around his wrist, circling the other way. Then, he brought both forth and together, heels of his paws together in horizontal kamehameha position. The four geas turned violet and traveled about his wrists in a figure eight, going up between to go the direction they had been taking before. Then, the geas disappeared as he slowly turned his paws to make a sort of cage with his claws. One that looked almost like a spiral. Lightning gathered up in the middle before firing out in a bolt in front.
After this lengthy vision, Samba blinked to find himself looking at the scroll in his paws, which made him have to blink again to be sure they were not electrified. "What happened?" asked Link.
"I got a vision, like last time," Samba explained. He then looked at the Lizalfos writing, reading aloud the other information. "The Volt Claw Spell. This spell allows you to surround your paws in lightning--electricity. This has myriad uses. First and foremost, whilst your paws are electrified, you may safely grip electrified objects and electricity in general--but not too much; the spell does not allow you to hold vast quantities of electricity before it harms you. You will know instinctively how much you have left and how much you have to go before overloading. You may also hold your paws up to use magnetism. Your right paw holds north and your left, south." (These two directions were in red and blue ink, respectively. As well, all words about magnets had "magnet" spelled just like that--there was no Lizalfos word for it, so it only used the Lizalfos alphabet for the word and spelled it the same. The pre-/suffixes were the same Lizalfos ones.) "Holding both out cancels them out to become straight magnetism that is unable to interact with other magnets, but it doubles the magnetic power. Remember: Opposites attract. Also, making a coil with one's claws allows one to fire a short blast of charged electricity forwards, charging real coils with power."
"That was quite the mouthful," Link commented as Samba, raising an eyeridge, rolled it up and retied it before putting it with the scroll for Fire Pebble. "How do you use it, then?"
"Well, like this, I presume," Samba said, holding still and letting his paws to his sides. He cast the spell and found that it only began consuming magic power, which he had restored with a small magic bottle found on the balcony in Melting, after he curled his claws. Electricity swam around his paws, and he immediately felt something like a canister of sorts in his chest fill slowly up with electricity. It rose faster than his magic power sank (which was moderately slowly), and as it did, his paws became more intensely electrified. He shut it off after a half second. The electricity slowly fell again. While it did, he looked over at the cable to his left, hanging across the south wall. He nodded and went over. "Here goes," he said before jumping up and grabbing it.
He was shocked, of course.
But it didn't hurt. Instead, he felt both his electric power and his magic power rise. The magic stopped after it reached the point it had been before when he first cast it, but his electric power kept rising. He let it get halfway before dropping to the balcony again to look in wonder at his paws. "Such...Such POWER," he marveled. "I can feel it in my whole body! It's amazing...but scary. I know I've got a limit before it starts to hurt me. But until then...wow..." He clenched his paws, which made the electricity flow more dramatically about them. It looped around his wrist, it arced along and across the metal parts of his gauntlets, it poked out from the sides of his fists.
"..."
"Reh?" Samba looked at Link. "What?"
"..." Link looked away. "I...don't think that's quite the treasure they talked about..." he muttered.
Samba widened his eyes, smirking, before he burst out laughing. A spark jumped between his fangs while he did. "You're JEALOUS!!" he declared, pointing a claw at Link.
Link flitted back, both in emotion and to avoid a string-thin tongue of lightning that came from his clawtip. "N-no, I'm not!" he fought back, sounding affronted.
Samba chuckled, crossing his arms. He lost some of his bravado for a second when he realized what he'd just done, starting, before it occured to him that he'd've felt it by then and he regained his sly composure. "You're jealous I just got a cool little toy and you haven't yet," he teased.
"Well...Do you even know how to fully USE them??" Link asked hotly.
"Heh, sorry, Link, I couldn't resist," Samba apologized, shaking his head and holding a paw up. The lightning was fading--he was running low on power. "I...think I do, 'cept..." He frowned, thinking. "What's magnetism?" he asked.
Link looked a little better after that, but he bobbed in a slight curve, sort of shrugging. "I haven't a clue," he replied. "Hmmm...North and south..." He looked at the red block. "...Opposites attract..."
Samba dropped from the cable, having recharged his power for free, when he heard what Link said. "What about...Wait." He stepped forwards and then, readying the spell in his mind, stopped, deciding it best to hold still when handling electricity. He held his left paw up and clenched his claws. Strangely, he experienced only a drain in electric power, not magic. 'Must be because I have some electric power left instead of starting it from scratch while holding out.' As he used electricty, depleting it faster than it did when he was idle, the blue geas appeared around his wrist.
And, to his amazement, the block he aimed at began to pull out to him.
Link watched in awe for a second before he squeaked and flew in front of his face, turning his blue scales teal. "Stop! The other way! Push it in!!" he ordered urgently.
"Ryaaaugh! Not in the muzzle, Link!" Samba yelled, stopping and waving his paws in front of his face. Link apologized and backed off. "Well, I think I know what 'opposites attract' mean, now," Samba held his right paw out and used electricity.
"I knew it!" Link crowed when the block pushed forwards. "Red is north, while blue is south, and when you aim them at each other, you and what you're aiming at pull together, while aiming the same results in pushing."
Samba nodded, running out of elecricity just before the block was halfway on and halfway off. "I did feel myself being pulled and pushed before and had to brace myself," he described. He then held his right paw out again, casting the spell once more. As he thought, magic power was used instead, and no electricity was added to his body. 'I should remember this...' He used only enough to send the block tipping over and down to the floor there. He discovered, as well, that the balcony and the spot that block was at were within jumping distance between them. So, taking a running leap, he jumped over to the crates the block had been on. He first checked and estimated he could jump back up again from both the ground to the block and from the block to the crates. Then he dropped down and, taking another running jump, grabbed onto the edge of the metal balcony holding another large chest.
Link and Samba both cheered in happiness at what they found. "A Piece of Heart!!" they announced joyfully as Samba beheld it. "Now we've got..." Samba looked back in memory before grinning excitedly. "...FIVE!"
"That means we've finally assembled a Heart Container!" Link bobbed up and down excitedly.
"Alright..." Samba closed his eyes, then, flashing in reddish pink light, the four other Heart Pieces came out of his body (as leader, he carried them with him). He watched as they floated in a five-pointed circle, the newest rising to be on the top. After floating, each one rotating at the same time, they converged in the center to be a Heart Container. This hung in midair before Samba brought it into his body. The power glowed over him and around Link's orb. The rings pulsed with red-pink light. "...There," Samba smiled, holding his chest.
"Did you HAVE to make it so dramatic?" Link asked.
"Why not?" Samba asked, playfully raising an eyeridge. "Alright, we're all chipper with full strength and another Heart Container! Time to get going again!" He shook his fists resolutely as he spoke.
"Right!" Link "nodded", or bobbed up and down. He hid again and watched Samba jump across and get to the other balcony again. He recast Volt Claw and jumped up to the cable. Then, as soon as he had a good grip, he went paw-over-paw to the other side and dropped. Samba felt himself about three fifths full of electricity. 'Why aren't we going to Melting?' wondered the hylian. 'This is the long way. Why go there after getting...oh.' He felt a little stupid. 'I would've done the same thing, test out my new item. Well, spell, in this case.'
Samba went through the door and let Link out. He was relieved to see the Pols Voice still there. He smiled and waved at it. "Hey, you still alright, little guy?" he asked in Lizalfos. The Pols Voice bobbed, nodding. "Good!" smiled the lizalfos. "I think I know how to help you, now..." He turned and looked at the grating. He peered, seeing flecks of red, and then held his left paw up. Still having electricity left from the last room, he was able to use it for "free". At first, he thought nothing was happening. Then, he realized that the nails were slowly coming out.
"Hey, those are...I think those are screws," Link said, looking around at them. "Yeah, they're threaded! You're pulling on them straight out but not touching them, making them twist out!"
Samba grinned as he finally got them all out. Just in time, too, since he ran out of magic. (He found some more in the jars by the door out later.) The screws fell jangling to the floor, falling a bit forwards as they tried to go to his paw. The grating was now ready to be pulled off. He smiled and trotted over to it, grabbing it and, after bracing his big footpaws against the walls to help, got it off--flinging himself away in the process. BAHNG! "Raaaaugh--G'OOF!" Whunt!....CLANG-clahnga!
The Pols Voice looked ecstatic. It jumped up and down in place, eyes shut as if smiling, before hopping over to Samba. It stopped, looking at him. Samba, on his bum, looked back, smiling. "Heh, you can leave, now," he told it in Lizalfos. He smirked. "Toldja I'd get you outta here."
The Pols Voice looked carefully at him for a moment, nose twitching, then bowed, flopping its ears to the floor before turning and, after crouching, leaping into the vents, where it disappeared.
Samba stood up, smiling after it with a raised eyeridge. He put his paws on his hips and slouched. "Interesting little bugger," he muttered in Hylian. "Let alone more cute than usual."
Link looked at the vent. 'I wonder where it'll go. Hopefully somewhere safe.' He turned to the exit. "Well, we'd better get going to find a way into that power room," he said.
Samba nodded and trotted over to the door, opening it. "Where to, you think?" he asked over his shoulder.
"You remember how you can safely grip electrified objects?" Link checked.
"Yeah." They went into the hallway between the furnace and Melting.
"Well, I recall seeing some electrified objects back in Pouring, such as some bars on the second floor that would prevent you from hopping a gap to an open door." They turned south to Pouring.
Samba raised his eyeridges, "That's right! I forgot!" He nodded. "Alright, then, let's get over onto the catwalk."
They ignored any enemies they could and re-entered the hub of Clamor Plant. By then, they were becoming used to the noise. A ways in front of them, they noticed that there was actually an intact ladder leading up to the catwalk. So, Link hiding, Samba climbed his way up it. He got up and onto the catwalk before looking about.
He was right next to a river of metal again, but without any railings. Well, there appeared to be evidence of an old railing, but, like much of the intrastructure, it was broken off by the monsters. Only a nub remained on the south end. It was hidden by the side of a large machine of sorts sitting there. (Above the machine hung enough exposed wiring that Samba could not be able to jump over or use Volt Claw to make things safe.) Further examination (leaning VERY close around the side, precariously over the metal and a gap that came from a curve in the trough) revealed that it was actually something originally embedded in the wall, but it was rotated 90 degrees, causing a block. He saw the same sort of machine, half of it broken entirely off, sticking out from the catwalk on the other side, and remembered seeing it before.
At his big feet, probably what stopped the pulled-out machine from a full rotation, was a crystal switch that was like the kind they'd seen before..."It's the same as when we watered the gorons," Samba described, crouching to look closer. "It's not smooth--it's faceted, like a dragonfly's eye but finer. You have to look close unless the light's hitting it right and causing a triangle to shine."
Link, coming out in his ball of light form, added, "It's larger, too, than most crystal switches. Guess we can identify the ones we have to hit in unison, now, eh?"
"Yeah," Samba agreed, nodding to his partner. He straightened. "Well, I think we're stuck going the long way around," he said, pointing down and tracing the path they had to go now.
So, they went. Samba advised Link to remain in his ring or ball of light form before he made his way. First, he had to wait until a mold had moved out of the way for him to jump across the molten rock stream. He had to then go onto a metal, pitlike square that the mold stopped over the center of to recieve metal from a bucket above. It made a loud HISSSSS! as the hot, fluid solid tried to melt and burn the sand, but to no avail. Samba had to wait for molds to get out of the way each time he had to jump, since he was going towards them, now, but he made it.
Jumping from the north part of the room to the south across the part of the pit with the smallest distance across (as well as the least obstructions), Samba scooted away before the beamos statue by the door there got him. (This was the door to the stairwell with the trap.) He managed to make his way across the gigantic room to the ladder. He climbed up and saw what Link had described.
Indeed, nearby and a hop up was a round bar covered in some exposed wiring that they could both swing around...were it not for the electricity about it. Ahead (facing north) was the back side of the machine that, if the wires connecting it and the wall meant anything, WAS pulled out. Above the gap across was another bar. "I bet you could jump up, swing, build up enough speed, and launch to the other bar and catch it," Link described.
Samba looked below, noticing a beamos and the pit were his prize should he jump a short distance from the bar. "How about you come out so I can zip up to you if I fall?" he suggested, taking Link's ring off and tossing it behind him.
Link, after materializing, nodded. "Good luck," he said, stepping back to let Samba get up. Before anything else, though, they were reminded there were archers up there.
After sniping the snipers, Link stepped back again and Samba stepped under the first bar, looking up. "Alright, here goes," he said, and he cast Volt Claw, charging it for a half-second before hopping up with arms high and claws open. As he thought, there was enough power in his paws to safely last the trip from catwalk to bar as he grabbed it. It was a little strange to grip the bar and the wire around it, but his paws were big enough to compensate. So, before he could overload from the power feeding him from the pole, he started to swing--forth, back, and with a mighty double kick forth again into a lizalfos that could now go over the bar. He continued a couple times, building up speed, until he was swinging as fast as he could. Then, like a gymnast, he dismounted forwards, doing a backflip in the air from momentum. He came up again with paws out and ready, like a monster pouncing down from above. He grabbed (to his relief) the next bar and continued his swing, the momentum letting him instantly be able to go into a full rotation. Once around the bar and he backflipped down to the catwalk with very live paws after the Prince impersonation was over. One more second of gripping would have overloaded the spell and harmed him. The metal on his gauntlets fizzled with power nearly blindingly. Samba gazed at his paws and the intense might they held as it slowly faded away.
He kept marveling at his paws while Link hid again to get on the side he had gotten to. Link came out in his ball of light. "Hey," he said. Samba looked at him before nodding and letting him out, then turning to his paws again. Link clapped. "Great job with the gymnastics!" he praised.
Samba gave a small smile and chuckle before coming over and showing Link his paws, still brimming with power. "Look at this, it's amazing," he described.
Link had to admit, it was very spectacular. "Can you feel the power in your body?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. 'That why he looks so strange right now?'
Samba nodded. "Yas. It's...both frightening and exciting, both pleasing and wakening," he described, gesticulating with great effect from his state. When his claws came close, electricity often arced between them. He frowned in worry at the bar behind him. "What if I need to hang on to one of those for a long time?" he wondered. "Maybe...Grrmm..."
"Well, when you're ready," Link said, leaning against the door. Samba's electricity petered out after about four more seconds. When that was done, he turned to the door and opened it, the two coming through. To a pair of groans, the door shut tight behind them with bars blocking its reopening.
They faced west. They appeared to be on a balcony, since they saw stairs leading down to the first floor a bit to their left and railing directly in front of them. A pace or so away right, the path went forwards again, this time edged on the right with a solid wall. An open door sat at the end of this path. To their direct right, there appeared to be a plain, metal wall at the end of the path. The kind of bar wall that projectiles could be launched through was visible, as well, and was north-to-south, lined up with the railing in front of them. There were no enemies up there in the rectangular room that was longer north-to-south than east-to-west.
Link walked over to the bars and looked through. He raised his eyebrows at the sight. "Huh?" There appeared to be three normal crystal switches arranged in a triangle past the bars. Each one stood on a foot-tall square pedestal with a different-colored border painted on it. The one on Link's left (southern-most) was blue, the middle was red, and the right one (northern-most) was green. "Interesting," he muttered, Samba stopping by him.
"...Aren't those the same colors as our rings?" Samba asked, pointing at them.
"Hmmm..."
Link got his boomerang out and targeted them in order. When Samba saw this, the lizalfos trotted over to the stairs to look out, ready to see if anything would happen down there. What he saw surprised him for its simplicity: The stairs went down west, around a corner landing, then down north. In the general corner of the stairs sat a single beamos. The locked door from before was to the east at the far, northern side, and across from it stood another closed door. The only other thing of note were three little panels on the floor arranged in a triangle. Samba tilted his head. "Why so...?" he murmured.
Link threw his boomerang at his targets and named them off as his item flew to strike them one by one. "Power...Wisdom...Courage..." He caught it and looked around.
BRRRRRRRT!
A loud, odd horn that described the word "WRONG!" without speaking sounded. The switches, which had illuminated yellow, went out again. "Link!" Samba called, pointing. "The first floor, Camera Kee--se?"
Below, coming from the three panels that slid open from a split in the middle, were three things that APPEARED to be Camera Keese, but upon further inspection, they were merely metal objects with Camera Keese spinning blades. They were also larger and appeared sturdier. As well, each one was a different color at its core--red, blue, or green. They began flying about aimlessly on the first floor.
Link ran over and looked, catching the panels closing. "Those...look a bit different from Camera Keese," he raised an eyebrow. "For one, Camera Keese aren't that brightly-colored..."
Samba raised his eyeridges. "Hey, I wonder if they have anything to do with the switches," he turned his head to Link.
Link put a hand to his chin. "I bet they do...Alright, how about we fight them off, then?" he suggested. He frowned at the beamos. "I bet they're too hard for our ranged weapons..."
Samba nodded and began leading down the stairs before something occurred to him. "Hold," he said, stopping and holding his paw behind him. He turned. "What if it's an order-type thing?" he wondered. "Both of us fighting might make us defeat two at the same time, and that would complicate things, or we could defeat them one after the other but not know the true order. Besides, I bet they're easy enough for one, anyway."
"...I was wondering the same thing," Link agreed, crossing his arms. "You're still leader, so you go, if you want."
Samba nodded and went down while Link stayed behind. Apparantly, the new enemies had no way of seeing him, let alone anything else. Thankfully, they merely bounced back from each other and walls and even the beamos. This wasn't exactly a blessing, though, since Samba had to get the last one (each one could go down in one hit with the Master Sword) near the beamos. He was lucky they were at a height that he could get them at with a running slash. Afterwards, he scooted back upstairs, out of range of the beamos, and met Link on the landing. "I'll stay down here if it goes wrong again so we can switch quickly," he said. He made Link leader. "You go up and try blue, green, red."
"Alright," Link nodded, and he went up. At the bars again, he got his 'rang out and targeted. "Blue...green...red!" he named with each acquisition before firing his homing weapon. This time, after he caught his boomerang (which banged against a bar, flying back before doing as tight a turn it could and going through the gap it missed), no buzzer sounded and Samba reported nothing but a beamos making itself dizzy down there. Link didn't hear it very well, though, since the "wall" at the northern end of the floor slid up into the ceiling, revealing itself to be a somewhat broad shutter. As well, the barred door on the top floor unbarred itself. Link looked up and saw the shutter was really metal covering an inch-thick layer of what appeared to be clay, judging by the coloring. When he looked back to see what was behind there--there was no chest on the map in the room at all--he was a bit surprised and confused. "A...a spring?" he asked, furrowing his brow and tilting his head.
Samba came over and raised his eyeridges. "A...coil..." He held his chin. "'...charging real coils with power'..." He walked over to it, telling Link to step aside a moment. He then stood in front of the switch and held his paws out, both, their heels together. He activated Volt Claw. As he suspected, holding his paws out then casting cost magic, since he hadn't used it before holding out. The geas reappeared. He remembered his vision and rotated his paws like he saw before, making the circular cage. His right thumbclaw faced forwards and his left back while his claws curled above the opposite paws. They turned into a sort of spiral, and suddenly, the electricity became a bright, light blue whose hue could only be attributed to what it was coloring. It gathered into a small ball in his claws for a second before it stayed the same size, crackling electricity. Samba felt his electric power and magic power stop "moving", yet he could still hold it for as long as he liked. So, he aimed, and hoped that releasing his hold on the spell released the lightning in his paws.
KRRRRZZTT!! A bolt of electricity raced forth from his paws into the coil. It flew out for a short time before the stored electricity ran out. Samba felt his built-up electricity fade out with the shot. When it was done, he saw that a little bulb above the coil had lit up. As well, they heard a CLUNK downstairs. Link ran to look. "...That's the key! We opened the door!" he called back.
Samba grinned. "That's great!" he said when Link came over. "I think Boroy told me that that thing's called a 'coil circuit.' It's the only kind activated by pure electricty coming at it from the air, though I don't get exactly what he means by that...I get the electricity part, now, but...Alright, should we head down there, or..." His eyes rolled to the other door, the one that had been open the entire time.
Link considered the possibilities. '...We know what to do, and it's annoying, but we could get it done easily if we have to,' he asserted. "Let's go through there, first," he nodded at the door.
Link led them through. For once, it didn't shut tight behind them again despite there being enemies in the room and one HELL of a contraption inside. The whole thing was a little overwhelming, and something else attracted their immediate attention, so they decided not to look at the thing inside in detail. They DID note that the room was fairly noisy, thanks to a multitude of hums around them and the crackle of electricity everywhere. Looking at their map later, they confirmed themselves to be on the balcony of the room marked with a lightning bolt--Power. The compass gave its four-note melody.
Their balcony was a triangle in the southeastern corner with a square bit on the northern corner of it, this being room for the entrance. High chain link fences blocked them from falling down to the first floor from the other edges of this square. Glass appeared to prevent them from going over the large, amazingly intact control panels forming the hypotenuse of the balcony triangle. A sign was posted to the wall they came from. The map indicated a chest was in the far corner.
And two robots inhabited the relatively cramped space. They appeared to be Cirkitts, but they had nothing sticking out of them. They were smooth, unbroken mannequins of metal. And they saw and came over to Link and Samba. They noticed a big, circular disc of dark red glass in the part of their 'faces' where the mouth should be.
"Cirkitts?" Link asked, drawing the Master Sword warily.
"'Armos Cirkitts,' actually," corrected Samba. "They're newer models than the ones we've seen--XT23-6F. They're essentially Cirkitts in full function, Boroy says. They can take hits a lot more than Cirkitts, but they've also got a big weakness. It's GLARINGLY obvious." He emphasized the word with a short pause before and after, making eye contact with Link as he said it. Link got that this was a hint in the form of a bad joke. "And because they have no exposed wiring, sword attacks are alright...if you've got the strength of a goron behind your steel, that is."
They split up and took on one each. Like Samba suggested, sword attacks were safe, but useless. Spin attacks were still effective, as were Samba's kicks. They noticed that they attacked faster, without the glitchy pause in their punches that Cirkitts had. They also noticed their red "mouths" glowed bright red (proving the glass was originally dark from light, not color) right before attacking. They didn't have much time to react, however, and they had barely pulled out their ranged weapons to aim when they were punched. Link was cornered against the chain link fence, but he shield-shoved his way out. When he did a third time, the Armos Cirkitt had just started to punch. When it was repelled forcefully, Link saw that the light was still on. He took the chance and aimed with his bow, firing. He struck the easy target and made it stop still for a half second before going haywire, mouth glowing while it flailed about at double the speed, moving across the floor erratically. Its head rotated counter-clockwise sort of slowly as it went, and Link was able to nail it with another arrow, making it stop, spin its head quick clockwise once as it dropped its arms, and explode in defeat.
Samba found that his opportunity came when he ducked the fist and came back with a mule kick. He, consequently, had precious less time to fire, but he managed. Soon, he, too, had defeated the Armos Cirkitt. After it exploded into nothingness (leaving a few rupees), he felt something. "Ruh?" He stood looking forward, arms down, with a confused face on before he yelped and looked down in surprise. Link laughed as Samba went from standing on two footpaws to one, flailing about to balance as a small chest materialized below him, pushing him up. When it was done, Samba regained his balance enough on one footpaw to look down and raise his eyeridges. "I see what you were talking about," he said in wry humor.
Link chuckled and shook his head. "Okay, get off, you look silly," he told his companion, sheathing his sword and shield and making a shooing motion.
Samba shrugged and hopped forwards and off after digging his talons into the wood. As he had thought, the lid flipped open from his departure. He landed, turned, and retrieved the small key, smirking. He gave it to Link, chuckling, himself. "Hey, you said to get off," he told him.
Link gave a shrug and headshake. "Well, okay, but that's kinda scary that your talons are big enough to grip that well," he replied.
"Well, let's get down to the door we opened before so we can take in this room properly," Samba suggested, making for the door.
"Wait a second," Link held his shoulder, looking over his own at the sign on the wall. He made his way over. "...It's a note in both Goron and Hylian. Wonder why both?...Oh, well.
"'In case of emergency, remove conductor block from node in corner room. Please do not be a rockhead and hide the block behind a shutter door that needs electric power to open. (Though, figuring out how to get it there will be commended. But you will have to figure out how to get it out again.)'"
The two exchanged wide-eyed confused looks, blinking at each other. "Didn't get a word of that," Link shook his head helplessly.
"Me, neither," Samba shook his.
They made their way back out and found, thankfully, the puzzle had remained solved. They went downstairs and then into the previously-barred door to properly enter Power.
- - -
AUTHOR'S COMMENTS -- OPTIONAL READING
Ugh...I promise, SIMPLER dungeons next. At least, seeing as they've seen enough machinery that it's getting a little easier to describe, things might go a bit faster. At least we've now got the resurrection of my favorite item from Seasons! Ain't it cool? Heh...Let's see, any liberties this time? Oh...
- In reality, the Armos Cirkitts would've gotten there before Samba could finish his description. But, hey, Navi and Tatl stopped time to explain, so...Yeah, total liberty...
- The Pieces of Heart becoming a Heart Container. I promise, that's a single-time thing--I think it's kinda stupid, now.
And, yeah, PoP totally inspired that pole section. It'll inspire something else, sorta, too, that we'll hopefully see next or one after. God, this is getting worse than Hawaii...(hugs and kisses to any who get that)
Still to come: Something, something else, and, 'course, the boss.