A/N: Thanks to ZeldaRubix, alwaysingirl, RoseWing-chan, Kirkysaurus and (NEW REVIWERS!) anon and EvanEssence for their awesome reviews!

Thanks ZR! Again, I tried to incorporate Ganondorf's beliefs into the chapter as much as possible. In fact, I draw a little inspiration from the 'Columbo' series on (or was) TV. All the perpetrators on that have particularly screwy reasons for their dealings and the dialogue between them and Columbo is just amazing.

Thanks alwaysingirl! I also wanted to make Ganondorf as creepy as possible, like any villain would be. Glad it got through! And it's true - why can't Ganondorf just die? XD

Thanks RoseWing! I do tend to enjoy focusing on giving villains more life, having them explain their side of things. That way we can all hate them more!

I LOL'ed at your review, Kirkysaurus! XD Tennis is EVIL!

Really, anon? Hm... I read back through my fic a little but I didn't really see that occurring. Could you give me an example?

Congrats EvanEssence! You're the first person from ZR's recommendation to review this. Oh, and you got the 120th review! Thanks for that! Your review was awesome and encouraging :D

Wow, the thanks section is sure getting big, huh?

Sorry this is a couple days late. I was busy literally ALL weekend at the zoo and a friend's house 8D But today's a holiday for us Brits! What better time is there to resume my fic?

As always, thanks to TheZeldaDungeon for their walkthroughs. This chapter was inspired by the 'Ganon's Tower' music.

So, why is the castle beginning to quake?

Read on!

Chapter 35 - Sprint

The rumbling continued long after Zelda uttered that sentence. Link was still gesticulating wildly, pointing downward. The ball of light that accompanied him was bouncing up and down erratically in the air. Zelda's mind finally snapped back to reality and Link's muffled shouts started to form out of nothing. She shook herself, causing him to stop and listen.

'Link, listen to me! This tower will collapse soon!' she shouted over the din. She knew that they didn't have any time to waste.

'With his last breath, Ganondorf is trying to crush us in the ruins of the tower! We need to hurry and escape!'

She began to make her way to the spiral that circled the tower. It led down to the ground, a handy if not time-consuming escape route.

'Please follow me!' she shouted, beckoning him over. He obliged and ran toward her, and she began running down the spiral. It was tough. Her dress kept catching around her ankles and she kept stumbling. Little jolts of ice would run through her as she tripped and caught a glimpse of the fall on the side of the spiral. She assumed that is one were to throw a bottle from this height, it would simply disintegrate into dust.

She decided to jog instead of running in a full sprint. Only she knew the magic of opening the barred doors around the castle, as did most of the royal family and a few important people, for instance Impa. She knew if she fell here there would be no way for Link to get down and he would end up dying himself.

Link ran beside her, also in a jog. It was quite amusing, actually. They looked like early morning joggers in costume - one a Kokiri boy and the other the princess of Hyrule. They didn't exactly look like they were running for their lives or for each other's.

The bars came into view and Zelda readied her mind. They reached them and Zelda lifted her arms above her head, a pink circle of light forming on the door. Almost instantaneously, the bars shot up, causing Link to jump in surprise. Zelda ignored him and continued through the door.

Inside, there was a large tower which, when Zelda looked up, she found led to the room where they just were. Zelda acknowledged the small meteorites falling around her, making sure none of them hit. Link followed behind her and also nimbly sidestepped the blazing rocks. Zelda ran to the second barred door on the right and opened that one before walking through it, Link trailing only a few metres behind.

Outside there was a ledge to her left. The path between it and the spiral had been destroyed, probably due to the falling rocks from the top of the castle. Even in her dress, Zelda hopped over the small chasm and waited for Link. He exited and jumped over too, and she continued, jumping over the next one with ease. Link also jumped over as she was opening the next door. She went through quickly, and Link followed. It may just have been her imagination, but Zelda was sure that the vibrations coursing through the ground were increasing in magnitude. Perhaps it was due to the meteorites striking the ground near them, but she couldn't know for sure.

Inside the room, there were flaming rocks spread out over the beautiful red rug, which was also in flames due to the exposure to them. Zelda quickly ran around the perimeter of it, knowing that touching one of those rocks could give her a serious burn. Link followed her, also carefully avoiding the deadly obstacles in his path. Zelda opened the door on the other end of the room and they both ran through.

The spiral was starting to thin out and Zelda carefully traversed it, making sure not to look down. If she did so she could have been subjected to a serious bout of vertigo, something she really didn't need now. It was fortunate then that she wasn't acrophobic.

She opened the door on the other end of the path and ran through. There was a single flaming rock in the very centre of the room, but Zelda ignored it. She ran through to the next barred door but all of a sudden, flames leapt up in front of her. She tried to reverse back but more flames sprang up. She was now in a circle of flames, watching the ceiling as two monsters leapt from it. They were stalfoses, stalchildren only all grown up. They were hideous in appearance, with giant blades for weapons and a gruesomely savage grin.

Link took out the Master Sword and charged. The Stalfos nearest to him swiped but he threw his head back, dodging it with ease. The Stalfos, surprised at Link's agility, lost balance and fell forward. Link wasted no time and slashed at its head and chest. It couldn't get up, it seemed, and Link continued hacking away at any vital appendages or body parts to kill it quickly. Eventually it howled, bursting into flames and seeping into the floor. The other Stalfos howled in fury and lunged at Link. Link barely dodged its violent swipe as he was somewhat occupied with the death of its companion. Link quickly slashed at the beast's ribcage and spine, causing both to shatter and the Stalfos to fall to the ground in a dishevelled heap. Link again quickly sliced at its bones, and in a matter of seconds it cried out and burned up, joining its companion in the ashes scattered over the floor. The flames surrounding Zelda dissipated into nothing, and she bowed graciously.

'Thank you, Link. Now let's hurry!' she shouted. He nodded and sheathed his sword, running after her speedily. She opened the next door and ran through.

The spiral again was somewhat decimated at this area as well. The path from the door was normal, but then the rest had been pushed downwards, meaning the two had to jump to get it. Zelda quickly did so and Link followed. Running down, she opened the next door and sped through breezily. The room was covered in the flaming rocks of the outside, and they were also falling from the ceiling. Thanks to Zelda's trained reflexes as Sheik, she could tell where the next rock was going to land. Acrobatically, she dodged the falling rocks and skipped past the ones on the floor. Funnily enough, Link found he was only just keeping up with her.

She reached the door in a few seconds and opened it, running through. There was a staircase which was, again, populated by blazing rocks. Zelda easily swerved between them all, as did Link, and they reached the next set of bars. Zelda opened it and they continued on through. The path that followed seemed empty enough, and Zelda quickly ran through. She didn't quite catch Link's shout over the whooshing noises made by the wind and the falling meteorites.

What she did hear, however, was a piercing scream. It was so loud, so odd, so unfamiliar. Zelda felt her body solidify as if her very blood was frozen. She only caught a shadow of a glimpse of the creature responsible: a Redead. The very same creature she had seen eating the corpses of war splayed all over the battlefield.

She tried to scream, but her mouth was frozen in a concentrated breath. It was sidling up to her, so slowly, so painfully. Its mouth was agape, and she could see the stained yellow teeth it housed. She could have sworn she saw blood splattered across the thing's jaw. All it was concentrating on was her. Killing her and eating her to be more precise. Zelda closed her eyes and waited for the end. Her ears twitched involuntarily with every movement around her. She could hear the whooshing of meteorites and the creaking of the strained foundations of the castle. And most importantly, she could hear the slow shuffle of the Redead's feet, coming closer and closer...

But then she heard a gruesome spurting sound, like a knife slashing through meat. She opened her eyes and saw Link, standing on the creatures back, balancing only due to the sword that he had stuck inside its skull. It seemed to flop forward and Link leapt off, running away before the flames could catch him. At the same time, Zelda felt the rush of blood in her veins as her legs began to come to life. She ran to the bars on the other end of the path and opened them, continuing through to the other side.

There were stairs here, and scattered flaming rocks. Zelda quickly breezed past them and leapt up the stairs, three at a time. Link was just behind her. She opened the door on the other end of the stairs and ran through it, as did Link. As they ran, a huge rumbling unlike any they heard sounded, buzzing through Zelda's brain like an angry wasp. She looked back and saw the castle, the beautiful castle of the royal family, beginning to fall apart before her eyes. Whole chunks of the surrounding spiral fell from the building and clattered on the ground in a deafening shock of sound. Zelda flinched but remained where she was. Small explosions formed all over the walls and the castle started to sink into the ground. Whole watchtowers and walls fell from their position, hurtling toward the ground and joining the mixed sea of the bricks and dust already formed by the dying building. It was sinking so fast now it was like a blur. The top of the tower came into view as the whole thing settled into the ground with an almighty crash. Ganondorf's body was nowhere to be seen.

'It's over...' Zelda heard herself say. Link turned to her.

'It's finally over,' she repeated. She then found the exact meaning of the events that had occurred, and her face broke into an exuberant smile. Link smiled back at her, and the ball of light leapt out of his pouch.

'Link! I'm sorry I couldn't help you in the battle before!' it said, circling his head. Link merely nodded, still looking at Zelda.

Suddenly, there was a loud thump, and Zelda gasped in reflex.

'What was that sound?' she asked no-one in particular. Link started forward, towards the ruins of the roof of the castle. Zelda stayed where she was, dreading anything peculiar happening now of all times.

As Link neared the decimated area, a pile of rubble burst outward. Link quickly shielded himself before any of the stuff could cause any damage. But what it didn't shield him from was the sight nobody there wanted to see.

Ganondorf.

He floated upward and raised his fist wordlessly. The Triforce of Power glowed on his hand and he roared horrendously, his body convulsing in a display of transformation. Zelda gasped as a fantastic light shone forth from his body and it started to grow huge. Horns erupted from the side of his head. His arms grew muscly and gigantic. He wielded twin swords in his hands, which he sliced about menacingly. His eyes were circles, orange in colour. Zelda drew back at his appearance, and she finally understood what the Triforce of Power did to people. This Ganondorf was not like the one Link had fought only an hour ago. This one bore no sentience whatsoever, like a wild beast closing in on its prey.

That prey was Link.