With a loud roar, the giant beast that was Taro smashed his fist down on the ground where Link was standing. With a skilled backflip, he avoided being squashed on the ground.
He drew his sword. "Din damnit," he cursed. He looked over to where Ingo was still lying on the ground.
"Please..." the lanky man whimpered. "Help me..."
"Link, we have to help him," Navi said. "If he was really controlled by that bracelet..."
"You're right," Link nodded. "But how am I gonna get him away from there while fending off Taro?"
Suddenly, something knocked hardly into the minotaur's back and made him stumble. An angry moo was being followed by a sharp whinny.
"Epona?" Link said in awe as he saw how the chestnut-colored mare raised on her hind legs again, intent on attacking Taro with her hind legs.
Epona was furious. No one would attack her friend! With an angry snort, Taro reached for her hind legs, but missed her.
Link used that short amount of time his equine friend gave him and dragged Ingo to safety. At the barn, he put his body down, next to Ukyo and Malon. "Here, watch him!" he said and jumped back into battle. While Epona was one strong filly, he didn't want to know what Taro would do to her in his fury.
Just as the monstrous beast ripped one of the wooden stakes out of the fence that surrounded the pasture, to use it as a club, Link arrived back at the scene. Once again he took out his hookshot, aiming for the makeshift club. But this time, he didn't put on his Iron Boots.
The force of the retracting chain pulled him towards the shoulder of the minotaur, where he wrapped his legs around Taros neck and grabbed the long horns with his hands.
"All right, Taro," he grumbled. "Let's see what you're doing when you can't reach your opponent."
Bellowing in anger, Taro wildly flailed around the air, trying to reach that flea that was sitting on his nape.
Back in the barn, Malon looked at the battle in worry. "We have to do something," she said. "Taro isn't really evil. He's just mind-controlled by Ganondorf."
"The... the bracelet," Ingo groaned from where he was lying. "Ganondorf... he gave it to me when he came here for the first time. He promised me a good position on the ranch, would I take that cursed piece of jewelry." He buried his face in his hands. "As soon as I put it on, I lost any meaning of right or wrong. It made me act in a way I would never act by myself. And he also told me, after I put it on, that I would never have to fear anything from Taro as long as I would wear it. I believe... he also uses it to turn his monster form into a mindless killing machine."
Ukyo looked down at the cracked, shimmering piece of jewelry with resolute eyes. "Is that so? Well, then I know what I have to do."
She slipped Ingo's hand out of the bracelet and put it down on the hard floor of the barn. She then raised her spatula high above her head.
Outside, Taro had managed to throw Link off his neck by beating his wings rapidly. The Hero of Time swiftly rolled over the ground and stood right back up. He gasped when he saw a fist the size of a boulder coming down on him. In the last instance, he reached for his shield... and realized too late that his Deku Shield was far too small for him to use. Besides, that powerful punch would have reduced it to wooden splinters.
In the barn, Ukyo gritted her teeth and focussed her energy, just like the Great Fairy had told her.
And then she smacked the spatula down with a massive swipe. "End of the line!" she shouted. The power of the magically enforced blow shattered the bracelet into small pieces.
And just before the minotaur's fist hit him, Link raised his arms and winced, expecting the crushing blow that would pound him into the ground.
But it never hit him.
Blinking, Link carefully peered through his arms. He saw the giant bull-creature standing in front of him, staring at him with wide eyes.
And then... Taro pulled his fist. Looking at it in awe, he then snorted apologetically and lowered his head.
Link stood up from the ground. The rain was still pouring down on taro's massive frame, and he was still in his monstrous form, but... the primal fury he had seen in his eyes was gone. What looked back at him was an intelligent creature, a Hylian trapped within a monstrous shell.
Taro was in control of his cursed form, once again.
Malon, Ukyo and Tatl looked over at them from the barn. The ranch girl sighed in relief. "It's over..." she muttered. "Now Daddy can come back... and we will be able to live in peace again."
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(Posted Tue, 03 Apr 2007 18:18)
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