I'm back from vacation. It was quite enjoyable. The people of Morocco are nothing but friendly and welcoming to tourists. Didn't meet a single one I didn't like. I wouldn't trust one behind the wheel of a car, though. Fortunately, I only got hit once.
Okay, it was actually the car I was in that was hit once, and thankfully no one was hurt. But it still counts.
I think I should express a few more thoughts on Tears of the Kingdom. It's an impressive game, and if you liked Breath of the Wild you'll love it. I do have two criticisms, though. One is that its story goes against established canon a lot. And I know Zelda isn't a franchise where being a stickler for continuity pays off, but let's put in some effort, Nintendo. The second is that it doesn't really remember it's a sequel. I get that Nintendo didn't want to cut out half the exploration by leaving the Sheikah shrines in Hyrule, or trivialize the four main challenges by having the Divine Beasts take care of them, but just not acknowledging they even existed in the first place when they were an important part of two previous games isn't how you make a sequel.
Overall though, they're not game-ruining problems. With how many AAA games are either released half-finished or clearly should have been left on the cutting room floor, I can't bring myself to be too harsh on Nintendo when they're one of the only major studios releasing games that aren't garbage.
Now, for your scheduled action.
The strike team climbed in the air as they approached the Divine Beast. As they got closer, the beams of the targeting lights attempted to track them. Teba kept the directions of his magic winds changing, keeping the beams from getting a lock on their approach. Medoh still tried to blast them out of the sky, but its beams kept barely missing. However, as they got close, a pink energy field appeared around Medoh, with only its cannons exposed.
It was fairly obvious what they had to do. If the cannons were taken out, Medoh would have no recourse but to let them face the Blight Ganon or let them continue their quest to defeat Calamity Ganon unopposed.
Link had figured out quickly that even Petra, Claude, and Cyril, excellent as they were at both using the paraglider and the bow, could not fire off a shot and then get their paraglider open without losing a lot of altitude. For some reason, only his reflexes were fast enough. Teba could also fire arrows in flight, but the two of them were the only ones who could do so. However, it wasn't really an issue. Two air archers was more than enough. While the cannon fired at one, the other would take it out. Soon enough, the cannons had all been destroyed.
Once they had destroyed all of the cannons, the shield disappeared, and the seven of them could land. "Wow, are my arms tired!" Claude joked.
"Hopefully not so tired that you can't fight," Ingrid said, drawing her sword.
"Huh. Look who finally decided to show up," a smug-sounding voice spoke inside all of their heads. "If it isn't Link. You sure took your time getting here. And you brought reinforcements. Let's hope these ones fare better than we did, hm?"
"Revali? Is that you?" Teba asked.
"You were expecting someone else?" Revali asked. "You're Teba, I know that...you're Julissa's grandson, aren't you? I wonder, did she inherit my gift, or just her chicks? I imagine if she did inherit it, no one else ever heard the end of it. And Link thinks I'm a braggart."
"I don't have time for this, Revali," Link said.
"How long has it been, anyway?" Revali asked.
"One hundred years," Link answered.
"Interesting," Revali mused. "How are you still alive?"
"They placed me in some kind of Sheikah machine. It brought me back." Link decided not to mention his missing memories. He didn't feel like giving Revali any more ammunition than was strictly necessary at the moment.
"Of course, they could only use such technology for the hero with the special sword," Revali said bitterly.
Cyril decided to speak up. "Well, it doesn't look like you were in a place where anyone could have gone and gotten ya."
"...Fair point," Revali admitted. "Still, Cyril, I wouldn't get too comfortable standing next to him. In the end, you're as replaceable as I am."
"Do you think I wouldn't have tried to save you if I could have?" Link asked, offended.
"No. If there was any hope of saving me, you would have tried," Revali admitted. "But even so..."
"We don't have time for this," Ingrid snapped. "If you aren't going to shut up, at least tell us what to expect from what we're going to fight."
"Well, someone's testy," Revali said. "Well, Ingrid, that spear of yours won't do all that much good. The monster favors ranged attacks over close combat. But don't mistake me, it's still bigger and stronger than you. My advice? There's a Mirror Shield in a chest near the console. Use it. It's more valuable than your spear here. Keep that thing from being able to attack the archers properly. Save your spear for if it changes tacks and tries to get close. How many of these things have you faced, anyway?"
"Marianne and I both fought two," Link said. "For the others, this will be their first."
"Two? You left me for third?" Revali asked, offended.
"Well, sorry ya weren't closer to the Great Plateau," Cyril deadpanned.
"If you're going to give us attitude, we could always go see about freeing Urbosa first..." Claude added.
Revali laughed at that. "I like your new friends, Link. Let's hope these ones survive."
"We will not be going quietly," Petra promised, as the archers unslung their bows and Ingrid retrieved the Mirror Shield.
Teba followed suit. "Huh. Revali isn't quite what I expected."
"Legendary historical figure or no, he was just a person," Marianne pointed out.
"All right, moment of truth," Link said as he approached the console.
He activated the console, then quickly backed away as Malice poured out of it, taking shape, elongating and developing the limbs that would become its arms, torso, and head. Its left arm formed first—long and slender with a clawed hand, just like the previous creatures that Link faced. Its other arm grew thicker and developed Sheikah armor in place of a hand. At the end of the armor, which was cylindrical in shape, there were three pulsating blue orbs like Guardian eyes.
Its head developed with a flat plate in the front, just like the others, though this one was much more rounded than previously. The glowing blue eye appeared a moment later, with yellow Sheikah constellation designs spreading out from it. Like the previous ones, this creature also had a mane of red hair, though its hair spiked out in all directions. It had no legs, but more Sheikah armor covered its lower torso.
One thing that set this one apart from the others, however, was the addition of spike-like protrusions that stuck out from the creature's back. They were each clearly Sheikah in look and design, but Link couldn't tell if they were merely there for show, or if they were some other kind of weapon.
It was fairly obvious that the cylinder at the end of its arm was for firing Guardian blasts. The purpose of Ingrid's new shield became clearer.
Petra and Claude both drew back arrows, one an Ice arrow, one a Bomb arrow, and let them fly at the Blight. The monster seemed unconcerned, and as the arrows drew closer, they were blown away by a gust of wind.
"No!" Revali's voice shouted. "That's my Gale!"
The Blight fired a trio of blasts at the two of them. The blasts were smaller and slower than Guardian blasts, but still dangerous. Petra dodged out of the way of one, while Ingrid reflected the other two back at it.
"I'll try and draw its fire!" Teba said, flying in the air and firing bomb arrows down at the Blight. The Blight returned fire, and the others fired at it, now adjusting for the wind.
As the arrows connected, the creature threw its head back and swung its arm, creating a vortex of wind that followed after Link. Link tried to avoid it, but as he did so, he ended up being hit by something with the force of a hammer blow. But before the pain truly set in, he felt a feeling like water washing over him. "Mipha's Grace," he realized. He had been hit, but Marianne had saved him. He had to be more careful.
He had to end this fight quickly. He took one of the Ancient Arrows Robbie had given him, fired it, and...was deflected by the wind created by the creature. The arrow flew harmlessly past its side, falling to the ground.
As the creature attempted to follow up, however, ice ran across much of its body. Soon, a bomb arrow from Petra shattered the frozen part of it, sending it reeling. Link tried to use the opportunity to plunge his Ancient Sword in its eye, but it moved at the last second, and the sword was caught in the armor around its eye. Reaching out with its clawed arm, it caught Link and held him away from its face.
And then, without warning, it's head and torso exploded in a flash of blue light, and the Malice that made up the rest of it dissolved seconds later.
It took a moment for everyone to realize what had happened, but they figured it out when they saw Cyril was next to where the Ancient Arrow had fallen.
"Guess that secret weapon really worked," Cyril said.
"Impressive," Revali said. His ghost now visible, his voice was coming from it and not from inside their heads. He turned to Link. "I suppose I was wrong about you. I didn't realize...just how lucky you would turn out to be."
Link looked mock-thoughtful for a moment. Then he shook his head. "No, I was right about you all along. You really were an ass."
The two of them were silent for a moment, then they both laughed uproariously.
"Uh, Captain?" Claude asked, catching Link's attention. "Is it just me, or is that dragon heading straight for us?"
Sure enough, there was a long, serpentine, blue-and-white dragon flying in their direction. And patches of Malice were visible on its body.
And just as they began to process the problem, the moon and night sky turned red.
Ingrid said what they were all thinking. "Fuck."