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[H3]City Escape[/h3]

[b]Word Count:[/b] 2,378
[b]Level 4 Ganondorf:[/b] 34/40
[b]Exp:[/b] 3
[b]NEW EXP Balance---[/b] 37/40[/center]

It wasn't hard to spot the beacon that caught Omori's attention. And according to the boy, it was a signal intended to gather everyone in one spot. So between this and Sophie's earlier rudeness, Ganondorf wasn't going to get a chance to stock up on any more potions just yet. Well, regardless he followed the beacon for now anyway. It didn't seem like something someone would do lightly, so chances were good that something important had come up.

And come up it had. The Gerudo's blood began to boil at the sight of the Consul. Yet another brat pretending to be a ruler, it seemed. Well perhaps they would just have to teach them the same lesson they taught P. It didn't matter to Ganondorf either way. He wasn't interested in F's speech. Personally he preferred to skip the boring pleasantries and cut to the real reason why they were all here. But the Consul revealed he wasn't keen on making it that simple. First they all heard voices murmuring, then numerous familiar figures emerged from the rainy darkness. The townspeople, some of whom Ganondorf had even personally interacted with, had come to act as the Consul's army as it were.

But if the Consul honestly thought that this would be enough to stay the King of Evil's hand, then he was about to be sorely mistaken. Ganondorf had no compunctions whatsoever about doing what needed to be done. Even to these townspeople. If he could have it his way he'd transform and burn them all to ash right here and now. But that option was not in the cards at the moment. And so for now, the Gerudo had little choice but to play the Consul's little game... for now.

The first thing that happened was the familiar form of Riptor leaping through the air and attempting to pounce Ganondorf right from the start. But the towering man was not so easily moved. With his immense strength he was able to stop the mechanical dinosaur from knocking him over and then managed to fling her away from him with only some scratches from her claws for his troubles, [color=Red]"Seems somebody is still sore about losing to me the other day."[/color] He gloated as he clenched his fists and readied himself for a fight.

That was when Ganondorf heard the shambling footsteps of a skeleton lunging at him from his flank. He was able to sidestep the attack in the nick of time and now stared down a second opponent in addition to Riptor. The skeletal figure was unfamiliar to the Gerudo, and yet... familiar too, somehow. He looked very much like the stalfos that inhabited Hyrule's graveyards. And yet the stalfos had clothing and weapons that were clearly not of Hyrulean origin. But if he was anything like the stalfos that stalked the lands of Hyrule at night, then this kingly-looking stalfos probably shared their weakness to light. And so the Gerudo's hand went for the hilt of the white sword and he drew it from the scabbard so that he could cross blades with Igos du Ikana, while also staying wary for the inevitable attack that would come from the nearby Riptor.

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZtpGKVNkyo[/youtube][/center]

A few clashes of their swords, and Igos du Ikana was proving to be a decent enough opponent. Of course, the mechanical raptor stalking nearby made things more difficult than they otherwise would be. Ganondorf and Ikana would be trying to take swings at each other only for Riptor to come leaping in with an attempted ambush while Ganondorf was distracted. He definitely would have to do something about this because sooner or later one of them was bound to get a more lethal attack in if he didn't.

The perfect chance came when the massive white whale was summoned in the water. It provided a much needed opportunity for Ganondorf fall back and start putting a little distance between himself and the town. He retreated into Crumble Cavern. A tunnel system would make dealing with multiple opponents a bit easier to do. It wasn't a striking or decisive difference, but Ganondorf would take whatever advantage he could get. But while he saw that both Riptor and Ikana had pursued him into the cave, the Gerudo realized he'd lost track of Riptor. Maybe she'd take another turn somewhere or pursued someone else? Or... maybe she was hiding in the cover of darkness waiting to strike the moment her prey let his guard down.

That would have to be dealt with later. For now, Ganondorf had to focus on Igos du Ikana. He'd chased the King of Evil into the cavernous tunnels, keen to finish the battle with Ganondorf. The two crossed swords as Ganondorf fell back deeper into Crumble Cavern. The more narrow passages made it a bit harder for both combatants to swing their weapons given their size. But it seemed like Ikana had the rougher time of it, since he was also carrying his big square shield in addition to his blade. Ganondorf at least had the option to switch the white sword between hands whenever the terrain called for it. But Ikana wasn't without his tricks. When it became apparent that his sword alone wouldn't be enough, he appeared to take a deep breath and then exhaled a gout of purple flames in the Gerudo's direction.

Ganondorf had no real way to block an attack like this. Instead his only option was lunge backwards and keep out of the flame's range. That brief pause gave the King of Evil a good opportunity to summon his Moblin squad. They were spear wielders, who could thrust their weapons down the passage and attempt to keep Ikana from getting close. And it was good thing the Gerudo did this, because moments after he was set upon by the cyborg raptor pouncing him from the shadows of the cavern. This time Riptor was more successful in catching Ganondorf flatfooted and briefly had him pinned to the ground. She repeatedly tried biting at his face and throat, only to be held back by the Gerudo King's free arm. Thankfully Ikana was preoccupied with the moblins, otherwise Ganondorf would have been in serious trouble. Calling on the strength of the Triforce, the King of Evil managed to wrestle the raptor of him and drive her back into the shadows which she struck at him from.

With Riptor repelled for the time being, Ganondorf could return his focus to Ikana who had already taken down three of the moblin spearmen. Instead of charging in, Ganondorf fell back. It wouldn't take long for Ikana to finish off the last Moblins, but Ganondorf could use that time for a short reprieve and to summon some additional reinforcements. The Gerudo found himself in a more open chamber and decided this would be a good spot to continue things. He could already hear the footsteps of the approaching stalfos and immediately set about summoning Phantom Ganon.

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGDT7D8eHwA[/youtube][/center]

As soon as Ikana entered the open chamber room he was set upon by Phantom Ganon crashing down on him from above with his three-pronged spear. And that gave Ganondorf himself a chance to lunge in with the white sword. The gambit resulted in Ganondorf landing a solid strike on the stalfos. The holy light of the white sword seared the bones of Ikana causing him stagger back with a shudder. Down in here the darkness of the Under, he hadn't expected to encounter such a light. The holy nature of the white sword had clearly caught him off guard.

But just like any proper annoyance, Riptor came screaming back into the fray. She attempted to leap down onto Ganondorf from an elevated tunnel entrance that she had been hiding in. But this time, it was Phantom Ganon whom caught her attack. He began to try and fight off the mechanical predator so that Ganondorf could continue focusing on Ikana. And that's what he did. Ganondorf lunged forward with a warlock punch that ended up crashing into the stalfos's shield. But the raw might of Ganondorf was still a strong enough impact to send Ikana slamming into the cavern wall. He followed that up by lunging forth and plunging the white sword into the stalfo's body and practically pinning him to the wall. He was stopped from doing anything further when Riptor came pouncing on him from the side. She'd apparently managed to defeat the phantom and once again had her sights set on the man himself.

And so while Igos du Ikana writhed in pain against the wall, Ganondorf once again found himself struggling to keep the mechanical dinosaur from ripping his face off. After several attempted bites and a few successful claw attacks, Ganondorf finally managed to grab the dinosaur's mouth with both hands and with his own immense strength hold her back and then wrestle himself free of being pinned down. When his legs were freed he gave the dinosaur a good kick to momentarily keep her at bay. And that was when something latched onto his shoulder and bit down. It was Ikana, or more specifically, Ikana's [i]head[/i]. The stalfos's body was still pinned to the wall by the white sword but his head had apparently popped right off and flew over to attack Ganondorf while the latter had been occupied with Riptor. But it was only a simple head, and so Ganondorf had little trouble pulling it off his shoulder and neck with his strength. Then he used it as an improvised weapon to hit Riptor with as she attempted to lunge at him again, managing to slam the skull of Ikana into the raptor's own head to momentarily disorient her.

Ganondorf then threw the skull against the cavern wall and turned for the pinned body of the stalfos. But rather than go for the sword, he left stabbed into the thing's body while he instead ripped the shield off the stalfos's arm and put it on just in time to use it to block an incoming pounce attack from Riptor. Now that he had a physical shield, Ganondorf could more easily keep his footing against the charging raptor and then proceeded to bash her head with the shield's edges. This was particularly effective due to the shield's square shape and extra sharpened corners. Finally it looked like Ganondorf was making some progress in taking down this mechanical monstrosity. That was when he realized that Ikana's head had returned to its body and once it did the stalfos tried to spew another gout of purple flame at the Gerudo. Ganondorf simply lifted the shield and let it protect him from the flames.

As for Riptor. She was back on her feet, but noticeably not in good shape. Some of those earlier shield bashes managed to get her in her head area and so she was still a bit disoriented from that. But she attacked again nevertheless, but at this point all three combatants were beginning to lose steam. With the shield, Ganondorf was able to block her attack and throw her aside. Then he turned around and used the shield to push forward through another breath attack from Ikana and inched his way closer. Once within reach, Ganondorf stretched out his hand and grabbed the hilt of Ikana's weapon. While he could have grabbed the white sword, the Gerudo figured it was better to leave the stalfos pinned to the wall. He then whirled around in time for Riptor to once more crash into the shield and be shoved aside onto the cave floor. But now that Ganondorf was armed he was quick to launch a counterattack and thrust the blade deep into the raptor's side before she could get back on her feet. It was highly unlikely she would be getting back up from this.

Then Ganondorf had to block yet another breath attack from Ikana, although this one was noticeably shorter than the previous ones. He too was running out of steam it would appear. Then the Gerudo dropped the sword he took from Ikana and let it clang on the ground. He then reached out and grabbed the hilt of the white sword. With a mighty pull he freed it from the cavern wall as well as Ikana's body and then proceeded to lay into the stalfos. All that time pinned to a wall by a holy weapon had not done the skeleton any favors and he could do little to stop the King of Evil's onslaught. And finally, after several strikes on Ikana and literally having to bash Riptor's skull in... both of the Gerudo's pursuers were defeated and... well dead, unfortunately.

Ganondorf breathed heavily as he returned the white sword to its scabbard. The next moment he realized that both Igos du Ikana and Riptor had now become Spirits. Knowing that these two were particularly tough opponents, Ganondorf was quick to pick up and claim them. They'd make for strong additions to his growing power. After that he drank one of the Health Over Time Potions he'd received earlier from Sophie. That would gradually heal some of the injuries he'd been inflicted with. After that he drank the Swiftness Potion so that he could use the newfound speed boost to run through the Crumble Caverns and catch up to the other seekers.

By the time the Gerudo had finally caught up with the rest of the Seekers at the great stone tower, the effects of both potions had worn off. The health potion had taken care of some of Ganondorf's wounds, but a few scratches and bruises remained. He was also noticeably in possession of a square-shield that he did not have previously. It was the shield he snatched from Ikana during the fight, Ganondorf having decided to keep it in case he wanted to switch to a more defensive fighting style. It also might have served as a visual indicator of what he ended up having do during the escape from Home of Tears.