[center]
[h2]Vs. Triple Juggernaut[/h2]
Feat. [color=D34C25]Primrose[/color] and [color=797979]Ganondorf[/color]
[sup][@Yankee][@Double][/sup]
Word count: 4481 (+5)
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After being rather unceremoniously pushed out from the vein, Primrose had done her best to wipe the blood-like xylem from her face and wring out the hem of her dress - which is when Ganondorf found her, having been coughed out into the area from another vein. She glanced at the warlord, going through a mental checklist of his strengths and weaknesses that she’d observed so that she’d be able to better support him. Having arrived in this hollow a few moments before him, she’d unfortunately seen that conflict would be swiftly upon them.

[color=D34C25]"Separated, yes,"[/color] she said. But then she raised an arm and pointed Ganondorf’s attention toward the far side of the area. [color=D34C25]"But unfortunately it’s not just the two of us."[/color]

The hollow itself was a disgusting place; pustules throbbed over the Qliphoth’s infected tissue all around it, and the whole area was a sickly yellow pallor. But more importantly, opposite the two Seekers were three hulking monsters. [url=https://i.imgur.com/VyckG15.png]One[/url] looked as if it may have been human at one point, though its flesh was bloated and distorted. [url=https://i.imgur.com/oDLaMVp.png]Another[/url] carried a mass of sagging flesh on its head and wielded two tentacle-like arms, and the [url=https://i.imgur.com/uecNMBI.png]last[/url] was a quadruped with skin so hardened it looked to be made of stone.

They lashed out at each other, none of them doing much damage to others, but it wouldn’t be long before one of them took notice of the two newcomers to their arena. Primrose and Ganondorf couldn’t just beat a retreat either, as around the infected walls a soft magic barrier rose up, allowing entry by denying anyone’s exit.

[color=797979]”So it seems.”[/color] Ganondorf agreed, forming a grimace on his face. He quickly sized up the hulking monsters before him as his lips curled into a smirk. [color=797979]”I’ll keep them focused on me.”[/color] He said, a hand already grasping the hilt of the Sword of the Six Sages. He drew it from its scabbard and let its white blade glint in the horrid environment. He summoned his Moblins as well as Phantom Ganon and commanded them to stay on guard near the dancer, offering them to her as additional protection.

Then Ganondorf drew Litania from its scabbard and dual-wielded it alongside his Sword of the Six Sages, brandishing them together. [color=797979]”You’re MINE!”[/color] He shouted as a warcry before he charged forward to engage in battle with the three Juggernauts. Immediately the quadrupedal one let out a roar, either some kind of battlecry announcement or an alert to the other two. Ganondorf targeted it first in order to shut it up. He made a leap and attempted to plunge both blades into the creature’s back and flanks. Of course, the other two didn’t remain idle.

The bulky one turned to throw one of its hulking fists with a punch, meanwhile the other swiped with its tentacle-like arms in an attempt to spear the warlord with the spikes on their tips. As for Ganondorf, he did successfully manage to mount the quadruped’s back and forced it into a run to avoid taking the incoming attacks. If Ganondorf could maintain his hold he might be able to turn this beast's strength against its own allies in some way. All the while, his Moblins standing next to Primrose leveled their bows and loosed their fire arrows to take pot shots at the bulky one. Phantom Ganon went on the move to try and strike with his nail weapon in an attempt to inflict Bleeding on the Juggernauts.

The bloated walking earthquake easily shrugged off the arrows shot at it, each one simply bouncing off of its body while it continued chasing after Ganondorf. Only the phantom version of the warlord earned its attention, and the brute turned to take on the new contender when it approached by throwing a nasty punch.

Back with the moblin squad, Primrose had gotten to work. Ganondorf's willingness to jump right into battle hadn't surprised her, and if he planned to take on all three of the juggernauts himself she wasn't about to argue with him. She had her own way of fighting, and this was the perfect situation to hang back to empower the Gerudo while striking from a distance with her magic.

She'd started with the Mole Dance as Ganondorf first charged. She moved with short, graceful and controlled motions. Ganondorf was plenty physically strong already, so a moment after the dancer completed her performance with a low spin the man found his defense boosted.

[i]What next,[/i] she considered, standing fast with the entourage Ganondorf had lent her. Perhaps another dance, stacking her battle partner up with as much additional power as possible? She could boost his dark magic as well, or perhaps she could cast a spell of her own, catching as many of the monsters as possible in her attack. She settled on the latter, beginning to summon a large amount of magic to her hands.

All the while, one of the juggernauts had suspiciously pulled out of the fray. The spindly one had taken a step back, letting the other two fight to their monstrous hearts' contents while it actually seemed to be evaluating the situation. It took notice of all of its new opponents and judged which of them it should go for to maximize its killing chance, deceptively smart for how it looked.

It crouched, what little muscles it had in its legs tightening before it leapt high into the air, crashing down with a mighty slam at Primrose. Its landing squashed a few moblins and scattered the others, cracking against the protective barrier that formed around the dancer as she prepared her spell. The shell didn't hold up, it shattered and forced Primrose to abandon her planned magic for the moment and move.

She evaded backwards, now facing down the enemy only a few feet in front of her. The remaining moblins scrambled to get back into formation between her and the flood juggernaut, hollering at the overgrown parasite as they did. The fighting spirit she’d picked up didn’t allow her to flee and let the moblins try and handle it - she glared at the thing, preparing a counter attack.

Under normal circumstances, Ganondorf would have attempted some means of coming to the dancer’s defense. Unfortunately, he was rather preoccupied with two separate opponents and couldn’t spare the moment. His phantom, on the other hand…? Phantom Ganon began to glow red as he flew through the air after a lunging strike against the bulky one and aimed its attention on the spindly one attacking Primrose. Ganondorf had ordered him to act as her protection, after all, and he was nothing if not a loyal servant to his master’s commands. When he got close, Phantom Ganon engaged the spindly Juggernaut by trying to plunge his trident into its side. While glowing red under the effects of Ripping Bear, Phantom Ganon’s plunge was empowered to ignore all forms of invincibility, effectively allowing the strike to ignore armor. Then he struck while in close proximity with the N Corp Nail wielded in his off hand. If the spindly Juggernaut hadn’t been afflicted with Bleed before, it surely would be now.

Meanwhile, Ganondorf continued to contend with the other two Juggernauts. The quadruped had managed to shake him off, but the two swords remained plunged into its back. This forced the Gerudo to switch to his trident, Vaper - which he summoned to his hand with dark magic. The polearm’s long reach allowed him to strike at his opponents while keeping a short distance away in order to formulate a strategy. He noticed that the bulky one had indeed been suffering from Bleed thanks to an earlier strike from Phantom Ganon’s N Corp Nail. Good, so perhaps he could focus his attacks a bit more on the quadruped while the other bled away health over time, he could keep this manageable. Not that he wasn’t confident he could take them on fully himself, but quite frankly the warlord was getting sick of being in this tree and therefore wanted to finish this mission as quickly as possible. Ergo, pragmatism was taking precedence over pride… at least for the moment.

His opening move with the trident was of course to throw it around himself in a circular arc that would hit both Juggernauts as they attempted to close in on him. Naturally, the trident was also imbued with lightning during this time, adding to the strength of the attack. After this he spear-threw the trident at the quadruped, and upon landing a powerful lightning blast was called from above. Between the trident and the two swords stuck in it, there was no shortage of objects that could serve as lightning rods to attract the electrical blast. In the meantime he briefly engaged the bulky Juggernaut, who had thrown a punch at Ganondorf. But through a combination of Ganonfdorf’s own immense strength and the increased defense from the buff he received from Primrose, the Gerudo chuckled as he seemed to casually catch the incoming fist with an open hand before retaliating with a strong Gerudo Dragon uppercut that sent the Juggernaut stagger back some steps while Ganondorf re-summoned the trident back to his hand.

With Phantom Ganon's intervention taking the alien juggernaut's attention off of her, Primrose followed through with her own attack. A glowing aura enveloped her as she boosted her power, and then she brought a Black Fire Orb into being. When she threw the dark sphere at the monster its explosion pushed it backward, closer to the other two once more while Ganondorf's forces chased it down. The Flood juggernaut whipped its elongated arms around, fighting off the phantom and moblins by rapidly striking at everything around it.

With every opponent now occupied, Primrose had a second chance at her original intention. She took in a deep breath, burning another battle point to further increase the range of her next spell in order to make sure it caught every one of the three juggernauts. Once more she conjured dark magic into her hands, and this time once she had enough gathered she performed a graceful spin - and the darkness flew out, circling a wide area around the juggernauts.

[color=D34C25]"Be engulfed in my Spell Song!"[/color] she said, triggering the spell. The dark magic coalesced from the edges of the circle and burst apart, inflicting damage to the trio of monsters - while the lingering, glittering specks of black that now clung to them weakened their physical and magical defenses both.

Since the two bleeding juggernauts didn't need to recover from being electrocuted, they retaliated at once. The Flood juggernaut opened what constituted for its mouth, horrific little fingered tongues protruding out as it breathed heavily. When it next lashed out its speed was massively increased, its arms making for deadly flails that could extend to fall upon a huge area. It whipped at Primrose and Ganondorf both, as well as the minions conjured by the latter. At the same time the Infected juggernaut pounded the ground with both of its fists, unleashing a wide shockwave just before it physically tore up a chunk of the Qliphoth and hurled it at the Gerudo warlord that had been tangling with it so far.

A blast of dark magic was not something Ganondorf expected from the likes of Primrose. But he wasn’t about to complain about it either. A nice sizable hit that appeared to weaken their defenses to boot? He could definitely capitalize on this. While they were still near enough to him, the Warlord made another circular throw of his trident, letting it spin around him in a wide arc while empowered by lightning. That would be another decently strong hit. But before he could capitalize further, the Flood Juggernaut went on the attack, flailing its extended arms with surprising speed at both himself and the dancer. Ganondorf’s buffed defenses coupled with the Triforce of Power allowed him to block the attack coming for him and endure without too much issue. Meanwhile, the remainder of the Moblins were finished off, while Phantom Ganon moved to intercept an attack intended for Primrose, taking it himself instead. He wasn’t defeated just yet, but he wouldn’t last much longer at this rate.

And before Ganondorf could retaliate, the Infected Juggernaut pounded the ground and ripped a chunk out to hurl in the warlord’s direction. Ganondorf had to launch himself out of the way with Bullet Jump, but did so in a direction that would allow him to temporarily regroup with Primrose and Phantom Ganon. He brandished his Trident in a way that let him consecrate the ground where the two Seekers stood, turning it into Hallowed Ground. For ten seconds, this would give them an area they could make a stand in that would deal constant Radiation damage to the Juggernauts that stepped into it to attack them, and Ganondorf was reasonably certain that at least the Infected Juggernaut and the quadruped weren’t smart enough to recognize a hazardous zone when they saw it. He followed this by using Renewal. He released waves of healing energy that granted them temporary health regeneration for the next 23 seconds. During that time, and for the following 20 seconds after the Hallowed Ground wore off, they would also benefit from a 15% reduction to damage thanks to being under Renewal while standing on the Hallowed Ground.

[color=797979]”Now,”[/color] Ganondorf said, brandishing his trident and readying it while digging in his heels, [color=797979]”let them come if they dare!”[/color]

And come they did. The juggernauts converged on them from three sides, eager to crush the interlopers now that they were gathered close together. The four legged infested juggernaut ground one of its front legs into the fleshy ground before setting off in a strong charging tackle. As Ganondorf had surmised, the Flood juggernaut did not enter his radiation field. Its long, powerful arms were more than enough to reach the three however, and it started off with an overhead double slam of its tentacles from the side opposite of the quadruped. Finally, the bloated juggernaut approached from the air - by abandoning its attempts to run after the group and simply directly at the Seekers.

Though Primrose was content to let the Ganondorfs on either side of her protect her from direct damage, she didn't intend to completely play a damsel in distress. She burned one of her last battle points, meeting the infected juggernaut's jump with another boosted Black Fire Orb. The spell crashed into the monster while it was airborne, the concussive force of the pyromancy dropping it to the ground before it could complete its landing. It landed hard on its back, but it wasn't yet defeated. As it struggled to its feet she turned her attention to the infested. While keeping in Phantom Ganon's shadow to prevent the Flood's slam from reaching her the dancer used her Vengeful Spirit. The small ghostly white phantom of her own flew forward from her, passing right through the animal-like juggernaut's hard carapace and burning it from the inside as it went. The thing howled in pain, but did not stop its charge.

When the quadruped made its charge, Ganondorf dispelled his trident and instead strengthened his footing and, with his monstrous strength, took the charge head on. His hands grabbed the charging animal-like beast by its head. And while Ganondorf did slide back a step from the impact of the charge, the warlord stood strong in the end. Seeing the infected juggernaut downed after its jump attack was thwarted, the Gerudo decided to seize upon the opportunity. He channeled the strength of the Triforce and lifted up the quadruped before slamming it back down onto the ground right on top of the recovering infected juggernaut. Then he reached for the swords still embedded in the quadruped’s back and pulled them free, dual-wielding them once more.

[color=D34C25]"Ganondorf, it's belly,"[/color] Primrose pointed out to him, noting a soft glow from the now exposed area of the bull-like juggernaut. The entirety of the creature was covered in rock hard carapace, and though this section wasn't much different the subtle red light must have meant it was different from the rest of its body somehow.
The Warlord’s eyes narrowed as he quickly scrutinized the exposed area that the dancer had called to his attention. Then with a smirk he brandished his blades and proceeded to hack and slash away at the quadruped’s underside. If there was a weakness to be found there, he’d find it. Even if he had to physically carve it out of the beast’s hide by force. And for the efforts, it appeared to be doing the trick. The creature looked like it was suffering more massive damage compared to previous attacks that hit its sides or back.

Meanwhile, Phantom Ganon had managed to recover some of his strength thanks to the Renewal. But it was clear that he did not benefit as fully from the regeneration as Ganondorf and Primrose had. Still, he at least still had enough strength to defend the dancer from the Flood Juggernaut’s slam attack. But he began to become overwhelmed by the followup flailing attacks. Knowing his end was near, Phantom Ganon glowed red again and charged straight through the air at the Flood Juggernaut, aiming to get it with one more powerful lunging strike with his trident while under the effect of Ripping Bear before he could be dispelled from the battle. This left Ganondorf and Primrose with only themselves, which Ganondorf rectified by summoning a fresh squad of Moblin archers with fresh quivers of fire arrows. The moblins weren’t strong with their attacks, but they at least proved useful enough as decoys and distractions.

Ganondorf’s Hallowed Ground wore off at around this time as well. But while the radiation damage zone was gone, the defensive buff from Iron Renewal would still remain in effect for a further 20 seconds.

It was a buff Primrose intended to make the most of. She left Ganondorf to deal with the two Juggernauts he'd pinned and set her sights on the Flood monstrosity once more. She stayed within its range, a dangerous gamble with the speed and strength with which it flailed its arms around. Her saving grace was that it wasn't solely targeting her, so she managed to keep herself from being struck with a direct hit as she danced around the danger and looked for her opening.

It came when the limb slammed down on top of one of the moblins right beside her. She reached out, splaying her hands, and when she caught the juggernaut's arm flickering black flames immediately flared up from between her fingers. Her Black Serpent Pyromancy raced up the length of the tentacle, setting the creature aflame as it dove into the softest part of its body: its disgusting maw. The Flood Juggernaut jerked backwards, pulling its arm from the dancer's grip, but at that point it was too late. It still bled from the wounds inflicted by the Phantom, and the dark fire burned its flesh. It dropped down onto one knee, and the moblin firing squad pelted the vulnerable monster with arrows that further fueled the fire.

Meanwhile on his end, Ganondorf’s frenzied slashes with his sword slowed to a stop as he noticed the increasing glow in their blades. Good, that meant the Darkness energy was building up and could be spent on a strong explosive attack. And since he had these two Juggernauts pinned down together, he decided to do just that. He briefly rose up in the air a few feet as dark magic runes began to cover a circular zone below him which would indicate the radius of the attack he was about to use. Then he came crashing back down, plunging his blades into the floor and letting loose a Dark Explosion just big enough to engulf the two Juggernauts in its radius. But it wasn’t large enough to hit the Flood Juggernaut.

The moblins continued to loose their fire arrows in support of Primrose’s efforts against the spindly creature in question. One or two of them had fallen to the Juggernaut’s slams, but three still remained to take their shots when they were able to. It wasn't lack of trying on the Flood juggernaut's part that kept them alive. It, like the rest of the brutish trio, had taken heavy damage. If it was a lesser monster it would already have died. Even now it struggled to live, striking out at its assailants more sluggishly than before. It got back to its feet, taking a few staggering steps backward so that it could regroup. But Primrose didn't let it get far before she raised her hand, conjuring the dark magic of her Moonlight Waltz. Without ceremony a powerful pillar of shadows came down on the monster, forcing it back onto its knees. The dancer was ready to call forth another spell to finish it off, but seeing that it didn't react after the latest round of arrows struck it she lowered her hand. It had succumbed, its body was just slowly disintegrating from below.

There wasn’t much left of Ganondorf’s targets either. Between the Bleeding, hacking & slashing, and the Dark Explosion - they were just about down as well. And so the Warlord used his blades and finished them both off.

After their defeat, the infested hollow grew quiet save for the tittering of the few remaining moblins. Primrose made to regroup with Ganondorf, but she found that as soon as she turned her head her vision was overtaken by darkness. She nearly startled, wondering if she'd been pulled into a spell or a dream, but... it didn't quite feel like that.

Floating nearby were three cards, each with an image and text below them.

[hider=For Primrose]
[b]Smolder Ring[/b] - magic spells also inflict Scorch, a fire DoT with a short duration that can be refreshed and intensified by repeated application.
[b]Torch of Anti-Lag Ignition[/b] - after using your ultimate, the next attack you launch deals 50% more damage.
[b]Oil Blood[/b] - you're immune to fire, and you bleed black oil, but you bleed more when wounded. This oil can be ignited to cause severe fire damage.
[/hider]
They all appeared to be useful effects of some kind. Rewards if she had to guess.

One of the options was a little questionable. [i]Oil for blood...?[/i] Primrose thought, raising an eyebrow at the card. The immunity to fire it supposedly would grant almost made up for turning all of her blood into oil. She hesitated, actually considering it, her drive to grow stronger fighting with her increased vanity that recoiled at the mere idea. After a moment she reached out for a different card, selecting the leftmost.

When she touched it, the other two swiftly disappeared back into darkness. Then a [url=https://i.imgur.com/uNagmFW.png]woman[/url] that seemed to embody iron and fire appeared before her.

"Well, look at you, hot stuff!" The woman grinned at Primrose, her smile warm and somehow comforting. Like coming to rest by a hearth after a cold night. "You've got a spicy spark in you, I can just tell. So, what say we make a cozy little fire, then put all our enemies in it?"

She faded out of Primrose's vision before the dancer could reply, taking the darkness with her. Between one blink and the next, Primrose was back in the hollow with Ganondorf and the trio of juggernaut spirits.

After the juggernauts were gone and Ganondorf cleaned his blades of their blood, he too found himself overtaken by visions of darkness. Before him floated a trio of cards, each depicting a different name and image associated with it.

[hider=for Ganondorf]
[b]Shrine of Recovery[/b] - after not taking damage for 5s, regenerate 5% max HP per second. Regeneration stops when taking damage, with a maximum of 50% HP regenerated per instance.
[/hider]
Rewards? Spoils of victory? The warlord wouldn’t say no to more power, of course.

All of them seemed rather useful, but two of the three appeared to be associated with some kind of god or similar being. And since Ganondorf had no interest in becoming beholden to a god, he chose the third card. His vision faded back to normal, and as he stood there paused, Ganondorf could already begin to feel the beneficial effects of the card he chose.

[color=797979]”Well, that was… interesting.”[/color]

Primrose was not surprised that she and the King of Evil seemed to have experienced the same type of vision.

[color=D34C25]"Nice of whomever is in control of this tree to reward us,"[/color] she said, assuming that that was the case. Though she appeared flippant with her comment, there was an edge of suspicion in her voice. After all, it begged the question of why they were being offered more strength regardless of whether they'd earned it or not, when the whole reason they were here was to kill the Guardian that made the Qliphoth its home.

[color=797979]”I does make one wonder, doesn’t it?”[/color] Ganondorf observed. [color=797979]”About who actually controls this tree? I assumed it was the Guardian, but why would the Guardian be giving us powers that will ultimately help us defeat it?”[/color]

[i]My thoughts exactly.[/i] After gathering up the spirits and brushing herself of dust and debris the dancer set her eyes on Ganondorf, answering his question whether it had been rhetorical or not.

[color=D34C25]"Perhaps we've unknowingly stepped into a trial,"[/color] she suggested. [color=D34C25]"Whenever we've gotten close to a Guardian, that giant hand appears to us through our paces. Maybe this is part of the latest one."[/color]

[color=797979]”’Giant hand’...?”[/color] Ganondorf asked, a subtle grimace of recognition appearing on his face. He narrowed his eyes and then, [color=797979]”Which one?”[/color] He suddenly asked.

'Which one?' Now that was a curious question. Primrose regarded Ganondorf carefully. She knew that Midna took exceptional issue with the man, though the dancer herself had yet to learn the full story. She also knew that when they found Ganondorf he'd been chained up by that old kingly goat who had told them point blank that the man was evil. And, of course, she'd seen the ferocity and fits of anger he was capable of first hand while fighting together with him. Still, she didn't see any reason that he would betray them, and so she did not keep the information from him.

[color=D34C25]"A disembodied white glove, larger than a person,"[/color] she said. [color=D34C25]"Connected to the Consuls and the Guardians in some way... and a right hand, if that matters."[/color]

[color=797979]”That would be Master Hand, then.”[/color] Ganondorf clarified. “[color=797979]”I’m quite familiar with the entity, you see. And you all should be aware that there’s another hand like it out there most likely. Crazy Hand, I think it’s called. A left hand that moves much more erratically and chaotically than Master Hand does.”[/color]

Now that was news to the dancer. She blinked in surprise before her features smoothed to casual indifference. [color=D34C25]"How lovely,"[/color] she said sarcastically. So they had to watch out for yet another threat.

She spoke again after a little sigh. [color=D34C25]"Regardless if we're caught in some kind of game or we just happened to come upon some luck,"[/color] which she doubted, [color=D34C25]"I suppose we'll just have to keep playing, hm?"[/color]

Ganondorf nodded, his lips curling into a smile of agreement. [color=797979]”Indeed.”[/color] He also noted that the veins that were previously closed off were now opened yet again. Ganondrof made a gesture forward. [color=797979]”Ah, our way forward has opened, it seems. Shall we?””[/color]