"I hate to spoil your fun, Matt, but we kinda have a little problem in the form of all of us fitting into the car," R.D. pointed out. "I know my motorcycle isn't going to make it through these sands so using that is already out of the question."

"I don't know what this car is that you speak of, Matt," Link said, motioning for him to come up the dune. "But all of these crags in the desert are going to make travel difficult."

From what he could see using the Hawkeye, the area ahead was littered with large fissures spreading out across the immediate area. And, from the looks of it, there were more ruins ahead, similar to the amphitheater they had seen near Lake Hylia.

"Well, we can get there part of the way in the car," Alasea said, noting it. "We'll have to stop eventually, though, and walk the rest of the way."

"Well, anything to cut down on the walking." He flipped out the square and it unfolded into that beautiful, super-enhanced Firebird, which landed with a burst of sand. "All right. There are four seats available. For those who can't fly or can't fly quite as well as anyone else, I recommend you get in."

"You just want any excuse to drive it, huh?" Hugo asked.

"Hell yeah."

"Heh. I don't blame you."

"You do realize that basically just leaves you and Ileyna as the ones not riding, right?" R.D. asked. "Because none of us here can fly unaided as well as you can."

"I don't think you're going to get through to him," Alasea said, as Link warily examined the machine that lay before him.

"What is this thing?" he asked.

"Matt's latest toy," was R.D.'s response.

"Three people can fit in the back seat," Matt said. "Four if you count the passenger seat up front. I have to drive it, as Hugo so obviously pointed out." He shook a fist dramatically. "Don't take this from meeeeee!"

Helena was eliminating the possibilities by knocking down her fingers. "Hugo gets to be carried on someone's lap, and if Matt wants to drive, that leaves five. Someone's going to have to share a seat."

"Or ride on the roof," Matt said. "Which would be pretty cool."

"Just get in the car," R.D. said exasperatedly. "Me and Ileyna'll try to keep up, so long as lead-foot here knows how to slow down."

And so, they drove through the Gerudo Desert, up until a small ruin and the crags made the trip too dangerous for the car.

"Looks like you have to walk from here," R.D. commented, landing near the Firebird after a Godhand-enhanced punch. Behind him, Ileyna floated down, a golden dayfly resting in her glowing hands, having been caught on the fly.

Hey, he got to drive for a while, and that was good enough. And even got to speed a bit, mostly thanks to R.D.'s little "lead-foot" comment. Everyone got out of the car and Matt folded it up, taking a chance to glance over the landscape as he did so.

"I wonder what these statues are for," Alasea commented, stepping around of the ancient pillars in the ruin while looking up at the large owl statue resting atop one of them. "We saw one back in the amphitheater."

"There's one in Kakariko, another in the Faron Woods near Coro's," Link said, looking up at it. "And another one at the Bridge of Eldin. They're scattered all over the place."

"Maybe they're all made by the same civilization," R.D. suggested, pulling the red cloak out and draping it around his shoulders, now that it was cooler than before. "We don't have the time to find out, though."

Link nodded, turning and looking around. "There's something out there, deeper into the desert," he said as he observed. "I can see... a campfire, I think. We're not alone out here."

Matt shielded his eyes, squinting towards the direction Link mentioned. "Yeah, you're right on that one. Hugo, do a scan for lifesigns and see if they're friendlies."

"Got it." Hugo's antennae extended, blinking.

"They won't be friendly," Link said, turning away. "Anything out here besides us will be out to kill us. Its probably the Bulblins again."

"We'll have a better vantage point from there," Alasea said, pointing to the plateau ahead of them, where the gigantic white pillar stuck out at an odd angle. A larger, wider plateau was right up next to it, and a third, smaller one with a gnarled, dead tree growing atop it was next to that. Some sort of flying creature with spinning fins hovered well above it and the larger plateau.

"... that pillar looks familiar," Link said, looking at it. "Let's go up and check it out."

Edited by RisingDragon on February 28, 2010 at 17:40:10.

"Keep it close together," Matt warned them. "Helena, go for a distraction shot if anything looks suspicious to lead them away from us."

It only took them a few minutes to reach the plateaus, where they found that the flying creature was actually some kind of plant, using hardened leaves spinning around in a circle to hover in the air, like a helicopter. Link pulled out some sort of claw-like device with his left hand and aimed it up at a cluster of parasitic weed on the gnarled tree. Depressing a trigger, the claw suddenly shot out on a chain, grabbed a hold of the clump, and reeled in, yanking Link off the ground in a blink of an eye and depositing him up on the plateau. R.D. and Matt quickly followed him up as Link aimed the claw next at the flying plant, using it to get up to the wider plateau.

"That must be one of the devices Shad was talking about," R.D. commented as he reached the second plateau with Link, who nodded as he put the device away.

"It wouldn't surprise me if there was another device in that prison we're headed to," Link said. Looking forward, he saw that several ledges made a makeshift stairway up to the highest plateau, where the stone pillar jutted from. "Let's go."

As they approached it, dozens of black pillars smashed down into the sand around them, in a rough circle around half of the plateau and on the higher ledges.

"What the hell?" R.D. swore, as the black pillars glowed with red light, manifesting a barrier of energy around them, trapping them in.

"Damn!" Link cursed. "Its a trap! Get your weapons out!"

Above them, a black portal was forming. Alasea looked up as she heard Link and R.D.'s shouts, and spotted it as it began to glow with red light, causing her to gasp. "Guys, look out!"

"Shit!" Matt drew his energy blade and faced the portal, keeping a loose stance. Wonder what crazy-ass enemies they were fighting now?

Both R.D. and Link drew their swords as the portal opened up wide, glowing with red light from the lines intersecting through it. As it opened up, black creatures plummeted from it, impacting hard into the sand on their backs before righting themselves.

"What are these things?" R.D. demanded, as the three humanoid creatures stood up on long, powerful arms and legs like a gorilla would. Red lines crisscrossed over their chests and backs, and their heads were covered by gigantic black plates of metal, a mass of black tentacles spouting out from them.

"Shadow Beasts!" Link said, blocking with his shield as one swung a large fist at him. "Kill them all at the same time!"

"Well, this is useless, then!" Matt said. He tossed away his blade, and as it dissolved, he brought up the fire gem and unloaded a burst of flame towards the Shadow Beasts, trying to engulf them all.

As the flames billowed out at the creatures, R.D. pushed forward with a swing of his weapon, the blade charged with electrical energy. As the blade bit into the creature's black flesh, the Shinkuujin wave burst forward, shredding through the beast.

The blade swept through the air towards the creature behind it, cutting into the creature and electrifying it as the previous two creatures died from the burns and wounds. Before the beast could cry out, the Master Sword flashed down through the metallic plate on its head, cutting through with ease thanks to Link's jump attack. The Shadow Beast's head rocked back before its body collapsed forward, impacting into the sand. The three creatures lay still for a moment before suddenly bursting into black flakes of energy tinged with a teal light. With twitching movements, the energy seemed to gather before rocketing into the air, reforming the portal with blue lines high in the air.

Link looked up put away his weaponry, sighing. "We're definitely on the right track," he said. "If Zant had those things waiting here for me..."

"Are you okay over there?" Helena called.

Matt waved back. "Yeah, we're fine! These guys folded pretty easily!"

"What would've happened if we didn't kill them all at once?" R.D. asked, turning to face Link. He ignored how the glass--formed when the sand fused under Matt's attack--crunched beneath his boots.

"If only one of those creatures survived the others," Link explained. "It would've paralyzed us with a shout while raising its brethren from the dead. We might fight more of them, so be sure to remember that."

He looked up at the pillar towering above them, now recognizing what it truly was. Without saying anything about it, he turned away from it, gazing far out into the desert, where the campfire was. It lay some distance away, well before the prison they were traveling to. Now at the plateau, they were granted a perfect view of the structure. Surrounded by the mountainous crags and the six spires, the building was circular in shape, much like an ancient coliseum.

"We'll wait here until its truly nightfall before we move," Link finally said. "In the meantime, we'll see what's ahead of us and plan accordingly for it. This is no place to fall under a Bulblin ambush, so we can't go in half-ready."

Edited by RisingDragon on February 28, 2010 at 20:01:41.

Matt shuddered as a crisp wind blew by. Damn, it was cold. "Not to be cocky here, but if Hugo can kill a Bublin in one shot, a bunch of them shouldn't be a problem for us. Now, I'm not saying we rush in and trigger an ambush, mind you, I'm just saying."

"You've only fought Bokoblins so far," Link said, shaking his head. "You haven't fought Bulblins. They're weaker but they're smarter. Plus, if they're leader is here, there will be trouble.

"Let's get the others up here then so we all know what's going on," R.D. suggested, turning around while wrapping his cloak around him.

Matt began moving back towards the ledge. "Who names these monsters, anyway? Bokoblin sounds like a baby's first word."

"Would you prefer more Zoomers and Geemers?" R.D. asked as he walked with him, jumping down to go gather the others.

"Oh, because THOSE are so impressive, too."

"What are you talking about?" Alasea asked as they came down, her eyebrow arched at them.

"Nothing important," R.D. said, waving it off.

Minutes later, they were all gathered up on the wide plateau, and Alasea was looking out over the desert, with her own cloak clutched tight around her. She took care to make sure it didn't blow open whenever the wind cut through--it'd do no good for it to open up and let out all the warmth inside of it. Night was beginning to fall, and as it did, the wind was only getting colder. Whoever heard of a cold desert? This was insane.

"... looks like there's a few guard towers out there, and a bunch of Bulblins around a campfire," Link was saying, holding some mask up to his face. "They've got Bullbos, too." The man bit off a curse.

"What the hell's a Bullbo?" R.D. asked, kneeling down next to him.

"Large, ridable boar," Link said. "Very dangerous if you anger it. Those will be hard to deal with without Epona here."

"We can just burn them from afar," Helena said.

"I was thinking of collapsing the ground underneath them if they get too rowdy," Matt said. "Me and R.D. can handle that, no problem."

"Maybe, but we don't know what's ahead of us," Link said, looking further past the camp. "They've got the entrance to the prison blocked off."

"Is that going to be a problem?" Alasea asked from where she stood near Helena.

"Not with a Bullbo, no," Link said as he lowered the Hawkeye mask. "How fast can you and R.D. run?" he asked of Matt.

Matt lifted his right arm. "If I switch to the right element, I can gun it for a bit before I run out of juice. I can get in there and blow the entrance open if you want."

Link nodded once and looked over at R.D., waiting for his response.

"I can run fast when I need to," R.D. said. "Faster with my armor's thrusters."

Link nodded, deciding not to ask what "thrusters" were. "I can't run fast in my armor," he said. "But here's what I was thinking. When the Bulblins out there start getting drowsy, you two and Helena in her transformed state can run out there and take the ones on the ground. I can use my Hawkeye and my bow to pick off the ones on the guard towers."

"Why don't we just wait for them to fall asleep?" R.D. asked. Link shook his head.

"Because they won't. They'll get drowsy, and that'll slow their reaction time," he explained. "But they won't fall asleep if they're on guard duty. They're too well trained for that. Our best bet is to hit them before they can get organized, and to do that, you need to get there quickly before they can react to me killing their sentries."

"I can't keep up with Matt when he's running at top speed," Helena said. "I'm fast but not that fast. He moves at, like, mach speed."

"Not exactly mach, but damn fast," Matt said.

"And I think R.D.'s faster than me when using his thrusters. Maybe I should help you pick them off."

Link shook his head. "No, that's okay," he said. "I know of something else you can do. Those Bullbos are going to go berserk when the fighting starts, and they're hard to secure. Can you use your dragon form to pin one of them down so it doesn't flee into the desert? We'll need one to get through to the prison."