[SSS HQ: E. Gadd, R.O.B.]
The professor and his creation followed the sound of the ruckus; they heard unfamiliar voices, so at this point they needed to find out what was going on. Upon reaching the lobby on the ground floor, they stopped at the doorway as they witnessed a cat-like boy (Lynx), a blue-armored person (Zero), and a very peculiar man with strange mutations (Rev). The latter two were engaged in violent combat, hitting each other every which way. Gadd and R.O.B. watched for a while, and then made a decision.
E. Gadd turned to R.O.B. "Commence Ray Shield sequence. This has to stop."
The robot nodded, and then focused on the newcomers before them. His eyes glowed white, and then a sudden flash of light accomplished the professor's request. Two barriers of streaming white energy blaring from each of R.O.B.'s eyes separated Rev from Zero and Lynx, appearing somewhat like flat clouds. Both sides attempted to break through the walls which encircled them to get to the other, but to no avail.
Professor E. Gadd stepped in between the two walls, and glared at each side reprovingly. "Newcomers to the headquarters of the Super Smash Saviors, this fighting must come to a STOP! Immediately! Our building is not an open battleground for any person to take out their contempts against others in. The situation of the SSS is precarious as is, and if I do not see some civilized behavior immediately, then we will have to imprison you until our situation is under better control. We could be invaded again by Crehavos's forces at
any moment, so whether you are here to help or not, your irrational aggressiveness is not acceptable. So are you going to continue to act like belligerent toddlers, or can I trust any one of you to be of assistance to the SSS in any way?"
[Dark Pyramid: Bob Snicket, Yoshi, Mr. Game & Watch]
www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01185/Boom...
BOOM...
BOOM! The stone doorway shattered under the might of Bob's Super Hammer, and at last they were able to continue. The room beyond, however, was a dead end. It was square and spacious, covered with gray tiles on the floor, which alternated being darker gray or lighter gray like a checkerboard. Dust settled thick on all surfaces, and the only source of light was a single torch in the middle of the far wall. There was a mounted notice board with an inscription on it.
Snicket and his two companions walked warily up to the torch, and the former read what the sign said aloud.
"WHERE DARKNESS MEETS LIGHT...THEREIN LIES THE ANSWER."
"Eh?" Game & Watch was perplexed, along with Yoshi and Snicket.
Where darkness meets light... What could this mean?
They looked around the room for an answer. But there was no obvious solution to the riddle. Yoshi sniffed and tested the solidity of the walls with his nose. Game & Watch stared at the ceiling, which no one could even see because it was enveloped in complete blackness. Bob got on his knees and felt the tiles of alternating darkness. Hypothesizing that they had something to do with this puzzle, he took out his hammer and, one by one, smacked the tiles with it, but with no result except the echoing of the hit through the room. Snicket then used his Illusionist's Gloves to conjure the fairy Navi, whose light illuminated the rest of the room which had been hidden in shadow before. Nothing out of place appeared to be around the walls or on the floor, and when he sent the tiny winged creature upwards, it simply continued ascending, no ceiling in sight. The search for a clue went on for some time, at least ten or twenty minutes.
They were stumped.
Bob put a hand on his chin thoughtfully. He went over again to the torch-lit notice, reading it over and over again, the engraved letters blurring before his azure eyes.
Where darkness meets light...darkness meets light...darkness...light...light?...what light?...The only light here is..."AHA!" Snicket exclaimed, snapping a finger as the truth dawned upon him. "Mr. Game & Watch. Come here..." Confused but trusting, the black Brawler hobbled frame by frame over to the notice. "Now...take out your flame. Your black flame."
Game & Watch thought about the reasoning behind this action for a moment, and then when he realized what Bob had come up with, jumped up and down in excitement. "Yes! That must be it." He drew out the black fire, holding it on a black stick. Yoshi, noticing their excitement, watched from close behind with wide, reflective eyes.
Snicket put his hands around Game & Watch's hand which was holding the flame. Directing it carefully, slowly, he moved the flame towards the contrasting light of the orange and yellow torch. All their hopes were staked against this idea; they had to do it precisely right if it were to have any chance of succeeding at all.
And so the black flame, representing darkness, came into contact with the flame of the bright torch, representing light. Darkness met light.
The torch became a mix of light and darkness, sending twisting, striped shadows everywhere; a state of between-ness, of twilight, came upon the room, illuminated completely now by the torch, which revealed everything besides the ascending darkness with its increased scope.
The classic Zelda unlocking sound rang in their ears as a large, spike-studded treasure chest fell from above and clattered onto the ground in the middle of the room, mere feet behind Yoshi. They all jumped in surprise, but felt triumphant after solving this puzzle. Snicket went over to the chest, and with a heave, flipped the heavy lid over. Inside was, of course, dramatic yellow light, which the boy reached into in order to pull out its contents.
Bob pulled out a big, heavy key engraved with various intricate markings, the handle looking like Agahnim's trademark eye of sorcery and creepiness. The writer held it up to the others, smiling. They were ready.
[Dark Pyramid: Doom, Snake, Veronica, Amaya]
www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01184/They continued down the left passageway in single file, Veronica in the lead and Snake flanking them. Brittle debris crumbled under their shoes, and breathing constantly grew heavier, but there was no other sound whatsoever. Finally, after ten or twenty minutes of walking, they came upon a wider chamber, similar in size and shape as the one where the boss key had been found. But instead of the normal stone walls and torch at the end, the walls were bright blue and red, two being red and two being blue, looking like a plastic playroom. And the tiles were like a checkerboard as before, but they were also red and blue. The only exception were four yellow tiles directly in front of them. One for each person.
"Hmm..." Snake pondered. "This appears to be some sort of trial of intelligence..."
"I have no idea what to do here," Amaya said, hopelessly befuddled.
"Neither do I," Doom boomed in his low voice.
Veronica, however, looked at the others incredulously. "SERIOUSLY? Haven't you
ever played a Zelda game before? This kind of puzzle involves starting at these yellow squares, and then moving across them to change them all to the same color. Everyone, pick a square; we're going to figure this out."
Compliantly, the four puzzle-solvers took their positions on the yellow squares. And then it began. Each time someone walked onto a square, it switch from red to blue or from blue to red. For quite some time, they struggled with this, Veronica taking the initiative to direct them where to go, being highly intelligent. It took a while, but at last, they had all the tiles red.
The Zelda unlocking jingle rang out again, and materializing in the center of the room was a step-on switch. Doom stepped on it with a boot without hesitating, and then the entire place began to shake and vibrate. Something was happening.
"Well, time to go back," Amaya suggested.
[Dark Pyramid: Ike, Zel, Brooke, Ian]
As with the left passageway, it took ten to twenty minutes for the four competent sword-wielders to reach the square room at the end. This chamber, however, was already completely lit, and was wrought of stone as was the Boss Key room. No torches were in sight; the light seemed to come from the air itself. And on the opposite wall was a wall-mounted notice with the same message: "WHERE DARKNESS MEETS LIGHT...THEREIN LIES THE ANSWER."
Brooke finished reading the inscription. But before they had any time to think, two huge, floating beings descended from the darkness above. They were massive, one of pure gold and shaped like the sun, with sickly eyes. The other was in likeness to the moon, crescent-shaped and composed of pure silver. Its eyes were equally sinister, but red and dark. It looked like they were in for a fight.
The hulking enemies hurled their levitating selves towards the SSS heroes, who barely ducked and dodged out of the way before the antagonists smashed into the stone wall.
And so ensued a desperate fight of mostly defense; considering the inscription, Zel pondered how they could use it to find a weakness in these monstrous geological creatures. But nothing came to him.
Brooke and Ian, in prevention of being sandwiched in between the sun and moon rocks, caused the two to collide into each other. Their enemies flashed red as a bit of their substances crumbled off their masses. Darkness had met light.
"That's it!" Zel said. "Keep doing that, everyone."
For another period of time, this strategy was applied; piece by piece, the brittle mini-bosses were tricked into breaking each other apart. Finally, they dropped deafeningly to the floor in defeat; Ike put one foot on them, raising his sword victoriously.
But it wasn't over yet. The pile of gold and silver threw Ike off, causing the Brawler to smash into a wall and fall unconscious. The two metals then molded into one another, swirling and bulging and morphing into an upright, humanoid figure. As it settled, Zel, Brook, and Ian realized that their opponent in the form of an Iron Knuckle, except it was made of gold and silver. The armor's composition was mixed between the two alloys, shining in the sourceless light. The sword had a golden hilt and a silver blade, glinting dangerously.
Zel using his Burning Metal strikes, Brooke adding her Crimson Slash and Burning Stab, and Ian swiping with his samurai swords, the three companions faced the Metal Knuckle. It seemed impossibly tough; their attacks did too little damage, and any damage taken from it would be fatal. It was a show-worthy battle, nonetheless, involving amazing maneuvers on the heroes' part.
Finally, Zel finished it off by beheading its solid metal neck, and the warrior of precious metals had fallen.
The Zelda unlocking jingle rang a 3rd time, of course, and materializing in the middle of the room was another step-on switch. Brooke had the honor of pressing it down, causing the place to vibrate as with the other group, while Zel used his magic to revive Ike.
"That was...fun..." Ian commented as they began to go back down the tunnel.
[M:-5]
