"Here," Alasea said, handing over the silver gemstone that Colleen had created as R.D. brought up a wall of sand for Helena to get changed behind. "What happened to you guys?" she asked.

"Rat ghosts," Ileyna said, sounding tired. "Lots and lots of rat ghosts."

"Lasers work great," Hugo said. He was pleased with this knowledge.

"Make sure you have everything," Link said to them. "We'll be headed deeper inside once Helena's ready."

Once the weredragon had returned to her human form and had gotten dressed again, they went through the large entryway that had previously been locked behind the gate. What awaited them was a large, circular room with four openings in in the four cardinal directions. Only the hole in the far wall alerted them to the room north of them. The entire place was brightly lit by torches, and a large pillar ran through the center of the room, broken away at its base.

"What's with the holes in the ground?" R.D. asked, ignoring the Fire Bubbles--winged skulls that flew about while aflame--circled the room aimlessly.

"That looks like machinery under it," Alasea said, stepping forward to get a better look. "Gears, in fact." The center of the room, beneath the pillar, had a slot that looked as if a giant cog would fit into it.

Also noticing the slot, Helena asked, "Do you know anything that could fit that slot, Link?"

"Nothing that I've found, no," Link said. "But I won't rule out the possibility that there's something in this prison that will help us. Let's get going."

He lead them over to the eastern door and entered, showing them another circular room, only it was much more narrow, and a fluted column in the center that was threaded like a screw. Well below them was a platform, and in the walls were several alcoves--and more of those damned flying skulls.

"Oh good, another one of these rooms," R.D. muttered. He turned to Link. "Push the panel on the screw to raise the platform?"

"Looks like it," the adventurer replied. "Why don't you others fly to the other alcoves and make our search easier?"

Matt lifted up in the air with wind power. "Got it. Pick 'em off if they come after me." He floated up towards the alcoves.

R.D. dropped down after Matt, this time with his Guardian-issue rifle out, using it to pick off the Fire Bubbles as they flew around. A quick acquisition of the key and floor shift to the bottom level and they soon progressed deeper into the Arbiter's Grounds, through a chamber filled with spike traps, rat ghosts, and a Gibdo. They stopped in a circular room, where a large device spun a pair of spokes in a circle throughout it--the spikes covering it and the bits of shattered bone lying on the floor showed that not everyone who went through here made it. There was a tunnel off to their right, and another room further in.

"Split up," Link said. "Me and Matt and Hugo will take the side tunnel, the rest of you go forward and and take out anything that you come across."

They split off, all of them rolling and flying past the obvious trap as they split off. Link's lantern kept the carnivorous beetles that came after them up the quicksand hill, and soon they were on the ledge overlooking the room that was passed the spinning trap. R.D. and the others were caught fighting against skeletons armed with swords and shields.

Helena grabbed one skeleton and swung it, letting it fly into another. She let out a whoop as they collided.

"You're enjoying yourself," R.D. commented, shooting at the Stalfos with his rifle to force it back before sparing Helena a glance.

Seeing the others on the ledge above them, Alasea halted her attacks and shouted up to them. "Don't worry about us! Just keep going, we'll handle this!"

Link nodded and turned. "Let's get going," he said, opening up the large door behind them, one flanked by a pair of columns built into the wall.

When the three of them were inside, however, the door slammed shut behind them, and a gate slid in front of it, locking them in a darkened, circular room. And in its center with a gigantic black cleaver, held down by various ropes pinned to the floor. Each rope had strips of paper hanging from them. The air was cold and foggy, giving the room an ominous and heavy atmosphere.

"Ah, damn it," Hugo muttered. "This has to be a trap."

"What gave it away?" Matt said. Of course, Hugo was right. The chill room certainly did not mesh well with that huge cleaver. What kind of monster could use something like that?

Link slowly approached the gigantic sword, carefully looking about the room. A slotted rail seemed to surround the high ends of the walls, leading up to a ledge too high up for him to reach. But below that edge was another gate.

"..."

He turned to the others. "Get ready to fight," he said as he drew the Master Sword and began walking up to the sealed blade.

Matt held up his hand. "Hey, now, don't go jumpin' in!"

Matt's call for caution went unheard by Link, who got within range of one rope and slashed, severing it in twain.

The room seemed to still.

The giant blade seemed to... shiver, as red light glowed from the runes set into its length. The other ropes rustled as a result. As power infused itself into the blade, it continued to shiver, causing an unearthly gasp to sound throughout the wide chamber. Link backed away, holding his shield in front of him. Fire suddenly blazed out from the hilt of the weapon, racing down the wires and burning away the sealing strips.

Black mist seeped out from where the blade was embedded into the floor, and slowly, the weapon was pulled from the ground--the moment it came free, it swept up through the air in what would be a complicated motion for anyone who thought of wielding it, leaving an eerie red trail behind it.

It hovered in the air, as if regarding the three of them for the briefest of moments--and then suddenly whipped back and slashed down, striking the ground before Link, as if in challenge.

Edited by RisingDragon on June 13, 2010 at 4:34:23.

"See?!" Matt shouted, pointing. "That's what happens when you screw with stuff like that!"

"Shut up!" Hugo barked. His pickaxe stayed focused on the blade.

The sword lifted up off the ground once, floating around as if it was waiting for another strike.

Link kept his eyes locked on the weapon, so it wouldn't surprise him. As he examined it, he heard Midna whisper in his ear from the shadow she hid in. "Use your senses to find enemies you can't see with your eyes!" the imp hissed. Link nodded, and Midna used the Shadow Crystal--within moments, he had become the blue-eyed wolf once more. With a growl, he opened his senses.

The sword swept down, and the wolf leaped aside, deftly avoiding the blow. Sensing the creature before him, Link jumped, latching onto something the others couldn't see and biting repeatedly before being shook off.

The wolf landed nimbly on his paws, snarling, as the demon manifested before them, screaming in a terrible rage.

"Ahhhh, SHIT!" Matt threw back his hand. All right, could he hit this like those other ghosts? Let's try some fire and see what we can do.

Hugo was one step ahead - using his Fire Option, he shot a G-stone enhanced wave of flame.

Black smoke issued out from beneath the robes of the demon as it became airborne, trailing from it as it rose up and back towards the wall. However, it was almost immediately struck by the enhanced flames, and the fire raged across its body, causing it to scream in anger.

Within seconds, it was flying around the room, swooping about its circumference, leaving a trail of inky black smoke behind it. The demon narrowed the gap, spiraling forward at Matt and Hugo and Link while swinging its massive sword down at them.

"Gaaaaah!" A sword that big did NOT inspire hope! Another barrel roll along the ground saved Matt's hide, and he took Hugo along for the ride for good measure. Rising to one knee, Matt sent along the blast of flame he was loading earlier as an arcing fireball toward the monster's head.

The fireball struck true, exploding against the demon's skull-like head, rocking its body back with its force. The demon roared in pain, stunned by the attack, and Link surged forward, the Master Sword swinging. The blade struck repeatedly, leaving deep wounds in the beast's pallid skin. By the fifth strike, the beast reared back, screaming as it wrenched its blade up, sweeping it to the side at them and forcing Link to duck beneath it while the demon escaped to the air once more.

"I'm... I'm fine", eX objected unconvincingly. Aram was right, but eX didn't want to let it show. Any sign of weakness on his part and Aram might take the chance to attack him.

"Get back over here!" Matt shouted. He crouched and smacked the ground with his palm. "Avalanche Dragon!" He rode the mighty rock serpent up towards the demon, riding it all the way into the monster's face.

Hundreds of pounds of hard stone smashed hard against the demon, eliciting a terrible scream of rage from the beast as Matt's Avalanche Dragon collided with it. The beast impacted hard against the wall, bounding off of it with a scream and a slash of its evil sword before it fled, sweeping about the room and leaving its black smoke behind it.

"What's wrong?" Matt taunted, floating in the air and spreading his arms. "It's like you're mad that I threw a mountain in your face."

"Quit taunting it and fight, Matt," Link reprimanded, trying to keep his eyes on the monster as it whirled about the chamber. A sweep past Matt while he was airborne spread the vile black smoke all over the boy as it swept down towards Link and Hugo and slashed, bringing its heavy black blade down at them, forcing Link to nimbly backflip out of the way of the strike.

Hugo fired his grapple at the wall above. The teeth sunk into the rock, and the Mettaur retracted the line so he could fly away from the blade. He then pushed off the wall with his feet and released the grapple's claw, firing it at the demon's head to grab hold and try to swing near.

The monster screeched in surprise as Hugo's grapple clamped about its thin head, and it staggered back while waving about its blade. It reached up with a clawed hand to try and rip the offending robot away from its body.

"Matt, attack it!" Link shouted as he pulled back on the string of his bow before letting fly with an arrow. It struck the demon's chest, and it reared back in pain.

As Hugo swung behind the demon, Matt raised his hand. "Who wants lightning in his brain?" Forming a spear of electricity, he flew at the demon, rearing back with both hands wrapped around the elemental weapon before ramming it right at the monster's ugly forehead.

The terrible scream erupted from the demon as the lightning pierced through its head and burst out from its body, locking it in place. Link charged forward with the Master Sword in hand.

"HIYAAH!"

Leaping up, Link swung the sacred blade up over his head and down across the demon's body, delivering a fatal blow. The eruption of power released dislodged both Matt and Hugo from its body, and the demon roared in fury. The sword slipped from its fingers and clattered against the stone floor, while the demon itself writhed madly, as if having a seizure.

And suddenly it reared back, unleashing a terrible, drawn out roar, its spindly arms held out to the sides, as if prostrating itself to the heavens. Its discarded sword exploded into a cloud of smoke and fire and ash, and the demon's body began to disintegrate, breaking down into tiny bats. The creatures made a loud din in the chamber, their cries and the flaps of their wings echoing off of the walls as they soared up into the pitch-black hole in the ceiling, disappearing from sight.

The room seemed to grow warmer with their departure, and it brightened up considerably as the torches exploded into life around the doors. Behind them, the door they came through unlocked, the gate sliding back up into the ceiling, and the gate at the far end of the room also slid up, allowing them passage.

After the carnage of the monster's demise settled, Matt dusted his hands with satisfaction.

"Let's get out of here," Hugo said, retracting the grapple. "We need to check on the others."

"They'll be fine for a few minutes longer," Link said, proceeding forward. "That creature must've been protecting the thing we need for this prison. I'm not leaving here without it."