The Legend of Zelda: Sky Lines

by Light Onthemayo

One hundred and fifty years after the disaster with the Spirit Tracks, Hyrule has risen to the skies. The people have made a living through the use of airships and the "Sky Lines", trails of intense wind used to aid these airships in their travels. On the eve of a fantastic adventure, a young man named Link has just been given command of his own airship...

100. Dark Link, Technoworks Construct

Chapter 100: Dark Link, Technoworks Construct

…

"I just made it up," Irleen repeated.

"You mean…" Link started. He stopped for a moment to think. "You mean… you've never seen this before?"

"Giant statues coming out of the technoworks to kill whoever misses a note on a magical door?" Irleen replied. "Nope, that's a new one."

"But that was definitely the technoworks that did that?"

"The technoworks is supposed to follow commands. It wouldn't have attacked unless someone told it to, though the whole thing with the door was probably the trigger."

"'Imayn Kyabtin." Link turned at the sound of Layna addressing him. She was standing behind him, presenting the Lokomo Sword to him with both hands.

"Oh," Link replied. He took the sword by the handle and carefully lifted it, worried that he might cut the hand she used to hold the blade. "Thanks, Layna."

"I can't be completely sure what's going on," Irleen continued while Link examined the sword in the dull light. "Clearly, the technoworks has been taken over by someone, but the question is 'who'."

Link sheathed the sword. "It's possible to do that?" Link asked. "Take over the whole technoworks?"

"Well, we've already seen that the technoworks won't respond to the bracelet," Irleen said. "I don't know what the deal with the doors is, though. Maybe a trap."

"'Maybe'," Link repeated. He glanced around at the Geozard corpses and the remains of the Technomos littering the room. "I'd call this more than 'maybe'."

"Okay, they're unquestionably traps," Irleen amended. "But I've never read about anyone using the technoworks like this. I don't think anyone even knew this was possible."

"Sooo… I don't get it, what are you suggesting?"

Irleen sighed. "I don't know. But it's clear that we need to get to the control room and stop whoever's doing this."

"Can the technoworks be taken back through those…" He gestured. "… those column things?"

"The interface, Link. And I think it's possible. I think. When we were on Might Island, I had you use a command to reset the technoworks. If we can still use the interface, I'm sure we can do it again. But we can't afford to make any mistakes again. When you're playing the harmonica, you have to be precise."

Link nodded. "Or we'll… get attacked again."

"No, Link. Look at the door you just tried to open."

Link looked around to remember where everything was. Then he glanced to his right, where the aforementioned door was. At first, nothing seemed any different. Then he took a couple steps toward the door and squinted. The flow of particles across the technoworks, which had been a constant up to this point, was completely gone from the door they had tried to enter. "The… the little floaty things are gone," Link said.

"My best guess is, for now, that door won't respond to the harmonica again," Irleen said. "It may come back once we leave, it may never come back at all. This is all new to me."

"So, if I don't get it right, there's a good chance I could lock us out of the control room," Link reasoned.

"Ooooh, yeah."

"If I haven't done that already."

Irleen took in a sharp breath. "Okay, let's try to keep this positive, shall we?"

Link pulled the blues harp from his pocket. Then he pointed to the door on the other side of the room. "Well, let's get back to work then."

"And remember," Irleen added as they started across the room. "For every wrong door you play, we get attacked by Technomos."

"Great…"

Link triggered the door and, after memorizing the pattern four times, played. This time, he managed to play through flawlessly, the thought of handling the Technomos again hanging on the back of his mind. The door lifted away, revealing a small closet-sized space with a ladder. Link started down the ladder, and Layna followed a second later. Upon reaching the bottom, Link turned around and discovered that the room's walls were filled with holes. He had found the dormitory. His first thought was that he had succeeded in getting locked out of the control room, as he had come to expect the dormitories to be a dead end.

Then Irleen spoke up from the left side of the ladder, "Over here, Link."

Link found her hovering in front of a door and breathed a sigh of relief. "For a moment," he said as he approached, "I thought we'd hit a dead end."

"So did I," Irleen admitted. "Good thing whoever put together this technoworks thought it was a good idea to put a dormitory in the middle of the path to the control room."

"You sure it's not a closet?" Link asked with a grin as he pulled out the blues harp.

"Seriously, Link?"

Link shrugged. "Just thought I'd ask."

"Remember, Link," she said. "If you play a note wrong, just stop. Maybe if you don't complete the piece and try over again, the technoworks won't attack us."

Link nodded and pulled on the single note to trigger the door. Again, he took his time memorizing the pattern, which was now coming close to the length of the songs he had had to play for the technoworks back on Might Island. They were still quite simple, and the notes remained evenly spaced. He finished the piece and beamed because he had gotten it right the first time through.

"Don't get cocky," Irleen told him.

"Too late," Link joked as they moved into the next room.

This room looked about as wide as the room above, but the ceiling was lower. It looked clean with two more doors leading elsewhere.

"Okay," Link said. "Do we wanna go right or straight?"

Irleen sighed. "I don't know," she said in an annoyed tone. "Just… pick one."

"Right?" Link asked, pointing.

"I don't care."

Link approached the door on the right with the blues harp still in his hands. The moment he was close enough, he triggered the door. Then he took a couple of minutes to memorize the door's notes. He was a little concerned by this one because the length had doubled again. But he waited until he had the sequence memorized, not wanting to chance being attacked by the technoworks again. When he was ready, he played. He used his limited sight of the blues harp's top surface to keep track of the notes, and he managed to keep up with the sequence.

But, when he finished, the Sorian musical notation, which looked far too complicated to even be intelligible anymore, turned red and disappeared.

Irleen turned to Link and whined, "Liiiiiink! Why didn't you stop?"

"Oh, uh…" Link uttered as he watched the particles around them turn red. "I was actually doing pretty good. I just… missed the last note."

"Oh, great…"

They followed the particles to their resting place on the opposite side of the room. Link was immediately worried, because there were six eyes instead of three. Although the statues looked to be about regular human height, this also meant they were a whole head taller than Link. Link put away the blues harp and pulled the Lokomo Sword, and Layna pulled a couple of blades from her pockets. Link had to squint to get a good look at the statues, and he could see why there were not any dead Geozards in this room.

They looked nothing like the giant statues. These were sleeker, more angular and less blocky. They had definite heads, although they were shaped more like a long-beaked bird with groves set along the top, bottom, and sides. Their joints still used spherical pieces, but rounder body parts made them fit together better. Link could hear their marching feet up until they stopped about halfway across the room.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Irleen said.

Layna and Link moved apart from each other. "They're just small statues," Link said. "How bad could it be?"

The statues jerked their arms in unison.

Shhink! And, from where their forearm connected to their wrist joints, they produced steel, triangular blades that sat parallel to their forearms.

"If you ever say that again," Irleen told him, "I want you to remember this day and just shut up."

The statues charged, running hard against the technoworks floor. Link was amazed by their speed and held the sword ready. The first one took a headlong dive at Link, blades held forward to skewer him. Link dodged to one side, and then he swung the sword up into a defensive strike just as a second Technomos attempted to stab him. The first jab was deflected, but the Technomos had twisted with the clumsy block and thrust its opposite arm forward at Link's stomach. Link barely caught this in time to jump backwards, his arms held up to keep the blade from catching his elbow.

The second Technomos immediately stepped aside, and a third stepped forward with a hand raised as if to punch Link in the face. Link had only barely recovered and swiped his sword to his left to deflect the incoming strike. Due to the third Technomos attacking with its left, its torso spun with the blocking move, exposing its back to Link. Link took a second to turn his shoulders, and then he landed a horizontal swing into the Technomos' head just as its eye shifted to relocate him. The blow caused the Technomos to stumble and nearly collide with the second Technomos while Link winced in pain from having struck solid rock with his sword again. He skipped aside along the wall to his right and turned so that he had all three Technomos in front of him.

The second Technomos rounded the third one (whose head had a pulsing, red line across the left side) and attempted to drive its left blade into Link's skull. Link, keeping his sword raised, side-stepped out of the way and subsequently ducked when the Technomos tried to salvage the attack by swinging the blade in the same direction. Link twisted his wrist and landed an upward strike into its armpit. The Technomos flinched and shifted to avoid having Link hit its shoulder joint again. Link responded by twisting his wrist again and smashing his sword blade into the top of the Technomos' head. The Technomos decided to retreat, and Link was surprised by the first Technomos diving for him again. He danced out of the way, but his right forearm still got caught by the blade. He took in a sharp breath and backed into the wall behind him. He did not have time to look at the wound. Instead, he found the third Technomos bearing down on him with another punch-like attack. Link dropped to his knees, allowing the Technomos to miss his head completely and deflect off the wall. It then tried to use its opposite blade to stab into Link's head again, but Link had landed on his hands when he dropped, and he pushed forward just as the blade went for his head. The Technomos brought its blade up to find Link's hat on the end. Link got one foot under him and swung his sword into the back of the Technomos' left leg while it was distracted. The strike caused the Technomos' leg to fold, and it flailed just before it fell to the floor next to Link. Link jumped to his feet and backed away again.

The first Technomos charged at him from his left and tried to slice him apart with two consecutive strikes. Link had backed out of range of both, then he lunged forward and brought the sword down on top of the Technomos' head. The Technomos retreated just as the second Technomos, the one already sporting a red line across the top of its head, approached for another swing at Link. Link met the threat by winding up, and the Technomos thrust a blade forward to stab into Link's right shoulder. Link had to step aside at the same time he swung, and the blade struck the Technomos' neck right where the sphere connected to the head. With Link's powerful swing augmented by the bracelet he wore, the blade caused the technoworks to break and sent the Technomos' head flying while the body simply collapsed where it stood. The first Technomos had recovered in time to take the second Technomos' place, and Link nearly had his upper back torn open by its leading strike. Link had only avoided the strike because he had leaned forward from the momentum left behind from the decapitation. Link stopped himself from falling on his face, and he almost did not notice the rush of air across his back. He spun around with the sword aimed wildly. The horizontal strike glanced off the Technomos' back and clipped its head, chipping off a piece of technoworks and adding to the red glow on its head.

The third Technomos, back on its feet again, took advantage of Link's stagger and jabbed with one hand. Link, unable to bring his sword back to defend himself, used his right hand to catch and deflect the arm. He pushed the blade down and away, but the edge put a gash in Link's right thigh. Link cried out and, now holding the Technomos' forearm, jerked it to one side. The Technomos, being living rock, did not budge much, but it allowed Link to turn faster and bash the Technomos' head with the sword's guard. The Technomos reeled, and Link wound the sword back to attempt to take its head off as well.

Tink. The sword jerked in Link's hand, and Link turned his head to find that the first Technomos was still standing behind him, although it had not been concerned with attacking Link while it was still reeling from Link's previous hit. The sword had touched the Technomos' shoulder, and, once it had Link in sight again, it immediately turned to deliver a thrust. Link ducked out of the way, and the blow sailed past Link's head and bashed the third Technomos' head. The third Technomos fell to the floor, and Link, after stepping back out of the way, flung a quick backhand swing into the first Technomos' neck. The blow instead hit the Technomos' head from below, causing its head to snap upwards. It staggered backwards with its guard dropped, so Link wound up and hit its head again with a full-powered swing. The force snapped the head off its neck, and the first Technomos fell on the spot while its head skipped off the floor.

Link then spun back to the third Technomos, which now sported pulsing, red light on almost the entirety of the right side of its face. This made it only look menacing; it was slowly rising to its feet, wobbling in a manner befitting a creature that had just been punched in the head. This offered Link the opportunity to drop his sword and draw Sello's hammer from his belt. The clang from the dropped sword caught the Technomos' attention, and it looked up at Link. This presented Link with its eye, and he immediately dropped the hammer down into its eye and shattered it. The Technomos froze in place as particles flowed across its body once again.

Link looked up when he became aware of something stumbling toward him. To his shock, it was a Technomos body. He saw that it was the second Technomos, the first one he had decapitated. This he could tell because the Technomos was carrying its own head in one arm. He let out an exhausted breath and said to himself, "You gotta be kidding." He backed up a few steps and reached his right hand around to take his sword.

His hand found hard rock in roughly the shape of a foot, and he turned to see what it was. The other decapitated Technomos had managed to recover faster and was now standing between Link and his sword. Link immediately rolled out of the way (spilling his bow and remaining arrows in the process) as the Technomos jabbed downward, intending to impale Link's face. Link recovered and immediately spotted the head near the door he had yet to try. He ran for it at full speed. But, instead of doing something smart like stopping and bashing it with Sello's hammer, he used his speed to kick the head in the direction the Technomos had emerged from. Link then spun and found that the high-speed kick had disoriented the body enough to make it collapse to the floor again. Then Link saw the Technomos that was now carrying its head jump over both its fallen companions and run at Link. Link switched the hammer to his right hand and produced his boomerang in a flash. He threw it as hard and straight as he could. The Technomos did not have enough time to respond to the new weapon, and the boomerang knocked the Technomos' head loose just as it tried to tighten its hold. The Technomos, unable to juggle its head while also experiencing what must have been a greatly disorientating, spinning sensation, dropped its head and collapsed to the floor. Link was on the Technomos in a flash, hammer back in his left hand, and smashed the Technomos' eye just as it looked up to focus on him.

Link heard soft footsteps approaching and looked up to find Layna slowing to a walk. Irleen also flew down on him from her hiding space near the ceiling. He let out a relieved sigh and said to Irleen, "Well. We survived that one, too." He glanced around Layna to find that the three Technomos that had attacked her were lying on the floor, flashing red across most of their bodies. "How'd Layna take out those three?"

"I think she blinded them until they were just useless," Irleen said. "Then she made them hit each other until none of them could move without causing necrosis. But it looks like you missed one."

Link glanced to the far end of the room to see the Technomos body still stumbling around, unable to locate its head. "Yeah," Link said, "I probably shouldn't have kicked his head over there. But at least it's not bothering us."

"Kyabtin," Layna spoke up in a mild amount of alarm. She pointed at Link's right arm and said, "Lwajma'."

Link remembered that he had been cut on the arm and glanced down. Although he could feel the sting of an open wound, he could not distinguish between his blood and his black bodysuit because of the light. He glanced down at his right thigh and was just barely able to make out the dark stain on his trousers. Link shook his head. "I'm okay, Layna." To emphasize the point, he gave her a thumbs-up. Layna gave him a worried look. "Really. They're just scratches; they don't bother me. C'mon, we must nearly be there."

"You gonna get your sword first?" Irleen asked.

Link looked down at his left hand, realizing that he was only holding Sello's hammer. "Oh, yeah," he said with a small laugh. "I think I dropped a couple things, too."

Both Link and Layna took a couple minutes to recover their weapons, Layna having thrown and dropped a number of blades in her fight. Link was amazed to find his cap was still in one piece when he had been sure it had been skewered. His bow, boomerang, and sword were also intact, but Link found the bow to be useless because, when the Technomos carrying its head had jumped over its companions, it had snapped his last two arrows. After some time, all three of them heard stone strike stone and turned to find that, unable to locate its head, the remaining Technomos had simply fallen and reverted to its dormant state.

They gathered back in front of the only remaining door to try, and Link triggered it. Not wanting to fight the Technomos again, he made sure he knew the arrangement before actually playing. He felt exhausted by the recent fight, but he kept himself together long enough to play the song through all the way and opened the door on the first try.

The door lifted open, and both Link and Irleen let out a sigh of relief. In front of them were the two columns that always adorned the control room. Although they were black and purple as the rest of the technoworks, the particles that fell across their surfaces were blue instead of white.

"How about that?" Link said. "I didn't lock us out after all."

"Congratulations, Link," Irleen said with a flat voice.

"We're just minutes away," Link told her as he stepped through the doorway.

WHAM! Link jumped at the sound of something heavy slamming nearby and spun around. To his horror, the door had returned. He ran to it and tried hitting his fist against it. "Layna!" he shouted. "Irleen!?" He heard no response, so he placed his ear to the door. He still could not tell if they were calling for him, so he shouted, "Layna! Irleen! Can you hear me!?" When he continued to hear silence, he backed away from the door and prepared to play the trigger note from his blues harp. But two things stopped him. First, the particles were missing from the door.

Second, something behind him was grinding together, sounding like rock rubbing rock. The noise was loud and, in a quiet room, spooky beyond anything Link had ever heard before. All of his natural warnings triggered at once: the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, his hands and feet became cold and clammy, his heart pounded hard in his chest, and his breathing ceased. His instincts told him that he should turn around to see what it was at the same time his body froze up to prevent him from doing so. The grinding continued, and Link found that he could at least turn his head. It was a slow process, but once he was started, he became committed to following through with the movement. He turned halfway so that he had a clear sight of what was behind him. The room's particles had disappeared.

And, instead, he found two, red eyes staring back at him. The only thing scarier than a Technomos that could not be seen because it blended with the wall behind it, Link discovered very quickly, was a Technomos that stood out because it was completely black against a purple backdrop. But this, to him, felt a lot worse than looking at any regular Technomos.

Because this Technomos looked just like him. Link had to look about himself to make sure. The size and shape, the weapons he carried, his clothing… the only thing that disturbed Link was the fact that it was not audibly breathing and just stood there like a statue. Link was not even sure if it could be called a "Technomos".

Link slid the blues harp into his pocket and reached a hand up to grab the Lokomo Sword. The Technomos, seemingly in response, reached up and grabbed the handle of its own sword. The fact that it moved made Link start, and he wrenched the sword from its sheath as fast as he could and held it up in preparation for battle. The Technomos followed suit, almost an exact duplication of Link's movements.

Link shook his head. "You… you can't be me."

"Eauu… Eauu kkhaennt bhii miiih!" The Technomos' voice came out as a horrific screech with its pronunciation so heavily garbled that Link at first could not tell it had mimicked his words.

Link felt bile in the back of his throat, so afraid that he might actually throw up. He swallowed it back and said, "This is all wrong."

"Thhihzz ih zahll rahungg!" the Technomos screeched at him. The voice so upset Link that he did not want to say another word, lest he actually did throw up from the fear.

"Bhuhth ayiii aaem eauu, Lhiiingk!"

Link was still trying to get through his initial shock when it said those words, rendering Link almost paralyzed with fear. Link had just half of a second to realize that, with its words, this dark abomination had charged forward to get in the first strike.

When he came to, Link jumped to one side, avoiding a downward strike which would have cleaved him in two. The Technomos was fast, nothing like the smaller ones he and Layna had just got through fighting. Link could actually feel malice from this creature, feel its killing intent just by being in the same room with it. Link recovered and immediately brought his sword up to block a thrust that the Technomos had switched into after it had missed. Link deflected the blade to one side, somewhat amazed that he could tell the blade was there at all given his opponent's shadowy appearance. Link attempted to follow through by stepping forward and aiming a quick strike for the face. He felt contact, and the Technomos backed away.

But the wound, a horizontal slash across its left cheek just underneath its eye, only seemed to add to its menacing appearance as it throbbed bright red. Link took a step back. The Technomos tilted its head as if it was confused by Link's reaction. Then it charged for another strike and went to take Link's head off with a horizontal slash. Link held his sword vertical and batted the enemy blade away. Link then turned his wrist with the intention of trying to get the Technomos with a backswing. However, the Technomos recovered faster and went for a similar strike aimed for Link's stomach. Link had to change the trajectory of his strike to deflect the blade again, knocking it into a high enough arc that the swords were above their heads. The Technomos spun in place while Link brought his sword down to a defensive stance. The Technomos had intended to strike him with the spin, but Link deduced that it would be coming and held his sword up to intercept the strike, halting the Technomos' blade. Link realized that it was not like he was fighting the living technoworks at all, but another living being with the attributes of a real human. He did not know what this meant, but he decided that something that looked and sounded so evil needed to be ended.

The Technomos pulled its sword back and attempted a diagonal upswing. Link allowed this to pass by leaning backwards, the blade coming dangerously close to opening his chest. With his arms held wide, Link attempted to return the swing with the intent to rip open the Technomos' shoulder. The Technomos, however, realized its mistake and cut its strike short of flying over its head so it could switch direction and deflect Link's sword. Link jumped away so he could avoid a retaliatory swing that would likely have struck his face. But the Technomos pushed toward him with a jab. Link twisted his sword in a circle and succeeded in driving the enemy blade off before it punched into his chest. They both let the swords slide off each other, and Link held his sword level in a horizontal strike toward the Technomos' face. Not one to be marred again, the Technomos intercepted and halted the strike. Then, in a surprise move, it turned the blade toward Link and reached forward.

"Gah!" Link cried out as the tip of the Technomos' sword sliced through Link's tunic and bodysuit. He was more surprised by the move than hurt, as the tip, by the time it reached his flesh, did not have the power to open his shoulder. Still, Link backed away yet again.

And the Technomos was on him, going for a backhanded horizontal strike aimed for Link's neck. Link backed up another step to let the blade pass by. The Technomos stopped itself from following through with the swing and lunged forward. But it had already gone past Link and wound up thrusting into the empty air on the right side of Link's face. Link, realizing far too late the danger next to his head, snapped his sword across his front and batted the enemy's sword away from his head. This gave him an opening, and Link turned his blade around for a quick horizontal backhand that sliced into the Technomos' forearm.

"Ghah!" The pain did not sound sincere. If anything, Link felt that the creature was mocking his earlier reaction. Still, it dropped its sword for a moment and stepped back. Link decided to press his advantage and jabbed for the Technomos' chest.

And the Technomos just disappeared in a flash. For a moment, Link stood surprised. Then he looked up.

The Technomos was standing, toe to heel, on top of Link's level blade. It stared down at him.

Then the Technomos disappeared in a splash of color after kicking Link in the head. Link fell backward onto the floor, feeling pain throbbing in his left cheek. He shook out the thought of pain and looked up in time to see the Technomos aiming a heavy vertical strike for his head. He rolled left and, now feeling anger at the cheap shot, decided to return the favor by catching the Technomos' wrist with a backwards kick. The Technomos faltered, allowing Link to scoot aside and rush back to his feet. The Technomos pursued and tried another vertical strike. Link countered by ducking to one side and getting off a horizontal strike to the Technomos' chest just as the Technomos' strike fell. It opened a red gash that caused the Technomos to writhe in silent pain as it backed out of Link's range. Link stepped forward and tried to hit it with a backhanded strike. Blade hit blade when the Technomos intercepted the strike. That was when Link noticed that the Technomos was holding its right arm over the gash in its chest, as if it was protecting itself. He pushed into the Technomos, and the Technomos had to back up with Link to keep from having its own blade smashed in its face. They broke away, and Link decided to thrust at the Technomos again. The Technomos did its same disappearing act.

And Link turned his blade just as the Technomos landed on top of it. He could not feel the Technomos on it, but he wrenched the blade backwards and up at the Technomos. The Technomos fell to the floor, its whole body flattening. It sounded like any other person hitting the floor, including the dull thump of skull smacking solid technoworks. Its arms were lying stretched out to its sides. Link quickly strode forward and changed his hold on the Lokomo Sword.

The Technomos struck, adding another slice to Link's right thigh. "Dah!" Link cried out, immediately backing away. This was not a shallow wound, either. The whole of Link's thigh burned from a deep gash caused by the Technomos' edge. The pain was such that Link had to keep the leg as still as possible to avoid having it become any worse.

The Technomos returned to its feet and charged Link. One hand on his thigh, Link held up his sword horizontal to intercept a downward strike. The Technomos pulled the sword back and struck it against Link's sword again, and then again. The handle stung Link's hand from the amount of force it was trying to hold off. His grip faltered, and the Technomos struck again. Link held the blow back, but the Technomos started to put its whole weight against Link's sword. And, contrary to the weightlessness of the Technomos when it stood on Link's blade, now it felt as if Link was holding back a boulder three times his size. The Technomos leaned closer, and Link dropped to one knee. The movement caused him to shout in pain, and he put his opposite hand on the flat of his blade to help hold off the Technomos. The Technomos leaned in even closer, and Link's arms started screaming in pain. The Technomos was near to his face. If he had just positioned the sword right, he could deflect the blade and strike for the Technomos' face at the same time. But Link was putting his all into keeping the Technomos from collapsing his guard and placing the black blade into his skull. He needed some way to move. His right hand felt slick from covering the wound on his thigh.

And, at once, he had an idea. Link forced all the strength he could into his left arm so that he could free his right hand. He pressed the fingers of that free hand onto the fresh blood pouring from his wound. He had to hurry; his guard was collapsing.

Without hesitation, he thrust his free hand past the two blades right into the Technomos' face as it hovered just over Link's sword. Link smeared his blood into the Technomos' face, and the Technomos suddenly retreated in surprise. The pressure lifted, and Link got back to his feet. It took a bit of effort with the amount of pain he was now feeling in his leg, but he was up once more while the Technomos, confused and blinded, pulled away from him and attempted to force the blood from its face with its empty hand. Link started into a walk. Then he picked up his pace. The Technomos heard his feet on the floor, but it still had not cleared the blood from its face.

"DAAAAAHH!" Link hollered in rage as he raised the sword above his head. The Technomos raised its sword to a horizontal block intended to take down overhead strikes. This caused Link to switch to a low hold, and, just as he came within range, he swung upward and added another, larger gash to the Technomos' chest.

"KHAAAH!" The Technomos' cry was almost feral and showed much more emotion than anything else that had come from its mouth. Link's strike also knocked its sword, and it decided to bring the sword down on top of Link. Link shifted to his left and followed through with an upward backswing that turned the gash on its chest into a large X shape. "BHAH!" The Technomos went for a horizontal swing at about chest level. Link back-stepped out of the way. Then he stepped forward again and laid a horizontal swing across its face, causing it to twist in the same direction as Link's blade moved. It stumbled and turned away from Link, dropping its sword on the floor. Link stood still for a moment, huffing from the amount of effort he now had to put into his swings. The Technomos also seemed to be exhausted, its heaving back turned toward him.

"Know… Know what the difference is… between you and me?" Link asked it.

The Technomos turned around, although its lack of focus told Link that it could not see him. "Noh… Nnoh hwaht dha dhihfhrehnzz izz… biittwiiinn eauu aenn miiih?" it asked back.

Link strode forward and landed a downward strike that opened a large cut in its shoulder. Its cry was silent as it fell to its knees. Then Link wound up and decapitated it with a vicious backhand, sending the head rolling onto the ground some distance away. The body flopped to the floor.

Then, just as with the other Technomos, the particles of the surrounding technoworks overran its body, causing it to cease all movement.

Link dropped to his knees in front of the body and looked up in time to see the door fly open. Irleen and Layna entered and located him. He dropped the Lokomo Sword and looked down at the body.

"I've got lives to save."