Author's Note: Here is my second Rayman fanfiction, and I hope you enjoy! This in no means has anything to do with my first fanfiction. A side note, my good buddy helped me out with a few ideas for this story, so I have him to thank to make this possible as well. You know who you are, and thank you so much. Also, there will be characters featured throughout the Rayman franchise, even if this particular story takes place after Rayman Legends. The Rayman franchise does not belong to me, but to Ubisoft. Please support the original series! Thank you!
Chapter One—
For yet another time, Rayman was staring back at the reflection of himself. He turned to see himself at all possible angles. He didn't want to miss a single detail. He had to look his best tonight. He drew closer to the mirror, running his fingers through his hair tufts slightly. He took another look and sighed.
"Rayman! Are you almost ready?" the voice belonged to a familiar, auburn-haired nymph. She approached him from another room in their home. "It's getting a little late, so I just thought you'd-"
The limbless hero stopped what he was doing to stare back at the nymph. She had a hesitant look on her face.
"Uh…What is that?" she started, pointing at his attire.
"What, this old thing?" Rayman gestured to his outfit. "It's just something I had lying around. I thought I'd try on something different today, y'know?"
Betilla crossed her arms, giving a playful smile. "Rayman… that's a tux."
"Aw, c'mon, Betilla, I have to look my best don't I?"
"You don't have to look that good." She giggled a bit. "You know where this is going to be, right? Outside in the Glade. Not inside some fancy building."
"All right, all right, I'll take it off."
He quickly left to change and came back, wearing his usual attire. His red hoodie, purple top and bright, yellow sneakers.
He made a gesture with his hands to himself. "Well? Is this any better, Betilla?"
She smiled a bit, ruffling his hair. "Much."
"Hey, easy! I just fixed that up…"
"Rayman."
"…Right. Let's get going then."
The hero and the head nymph had reached their destination in no time. In the middle of the Glade took place one of the largest gatherings Rayman has ever seen. Beautiful, multi-colored lanterns hung across many trees, along with other small decorations spread across the area such as streamers, balloons, and flowers. Nearby, a single head desk stood, right next to a microphone.
Rayman let out a content sigh at the view of this wonderful event. It was just getting started, and he already felt it was going to be amazing. No, he knew it was going to be.
He took a moment to look back at the nymph and cleared his throat. "Hey, Betilla. You mind if I go find…?"
"Well, I'm sure you miss them, so of course I can't say no."
"Great, I'll see you later."
With that, the guardian took off and went to find who he was looking for. While he was searching, he couldn't help but notice how lively everyone was. Some were dancing, talking, and some were just sitting on their blankets across the lush grass, waiting for the event to start. Everything here seemed perfect.
He seemed so distracted by all this; he didn't even pay attention to where he was going and—bonk!
He rubbed his head and looked up at the one he bumped into. A smile quickly ran across his face.
"Ly! Am I glad to see you!"
The fairy smiled back, ruffling his hair. "Heh heh, I'm happy to see you too, Rayman!"
"Where'd you come from anyway, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Oh, well, I—"
"Slow down, would ya?!" an obnoxious, but familiar voice called out, directed to the fairy. She turned to him, giggling slightly.
"Murfy, you're the one the Teensies put in charge." She told the greenbottle. "I'd expect you to get here before me, or anyone else for that matter."
Murfy grumbled, buzzing towards the pair. "All right, all right, ya got me there."
Rayman hesitated. "Murfy? In charge? Whose idea was that?"
"The teensies. Murfy talked to them and… yeah. But they should be here to support, especially the Grand Minimus. They should be here soon. That reminds me…" she turned to Murfy. "You do still have that copy of the speech the Grand Minimus gave you, right?"
Murfy's eyes widened, and he looked away. "Uh…yeeeah…"
Rayman looked surprised as well. "Hang on, a speech? Y'know…" the limbless hero rubbed the back of his head a bit. "I've been hearing about this event for weeks, but I…I never really attended it before."
"Well, this sort of thing only happens like what…90 years or somethin' like that." Murfy mumbled.
"Every 50 years, to be exact." The fairy corrected him. "It's understandable that you haven't attended. But I know now that you're here, Rayman, I know you'll love it."
Rayman's face lit up. He was only created less than 18 years ago, so to be able to attend a major event like this was an honor to him.
"Great, I can't wait!" the Guardian looked around, scratching his head. "Say…have you guys seen Globox anywhere?"
"Last I saw him, he was somewhere among the crowd with his kids. Shouldn't be too hard to find." Ly told him.
"Thanks, Ly. I'm going to go find him." He was about to head off, but looked back at Murfy. "Good luck with the speech, Murfy. See ya guys later."
With that, the hero went off. The greenbottle sighed irritatingly.
"Yeesh, like I'll need it anyway."
The tall fairy gave him a disapproving look before she bumped him with her elbow.
Rayman had gotten back to the clear opening with now a rather large group of folk from all around the Glade. However, like Ly stated, it was indeed, not hard to find them. All that blue made Globox and his family stand out!
"Globox!" Rayman called, embracing his best friend.
The big, blue glute smiled at him, hugging back before letting him go. "Rayman! Buddy! I'm happy to see you!"
Suddenly, the glute children gathered around Rayman, their smiles lighting up. As if almost all in sync, they called out to the hero: "Hi, Rayman!"
"Hey, kiddies! Glad to see you're all doing all right."
Globox's wife, Uglette wasn't too far away, and smiled over at him. "Hello, Rayman! Wonderful to see you!"
"Hi, Uglette!"
Globox clapped his hands together, barely holding his excitement. "Ooh, I can't wait for tonight!"
"Heh, you said it, pal."
Feedback off of a microphone was starting to be heard. Rayman smiled.
"Hey, look. Looks like it's show time." He pointed over to the stage.
Murfy grabbed a hold of the microphone, clearing his throat a bit. Ly stood next to him. The Grand Minimus and a few other teensies had just arrived, to accompany him.
"Ahem." Murfy started. "Can I have everyone's attention? Hey! Listen up!"
The crowd's talking and muttering soon died down and they all turned to face Murfy. Murfy smiled slightly.
"Great. Well, folks, it's good to have you all here tonight! And, uh,"
Murfy took a few peeks at his script. Ly rolled her eyes playfully, smiling a bit.
"…And I'd like to take a minute of your time to talk about this eventful night." Murfy mumbled something under his breath, and then continued. "As you all should know, tonight marks an important event in history, one that only occurs every 50 years. That event is called…" he glanced at the paper. "Night of the Lights. Wow, very original." Murfy spoke the last part quietly to himself. "The Night of the Lights is a very important night… To keep the Heart of the World remaining strong and our source of magic and energy, the lums gather to harness all their energy together. This triggers the birth of many new lums for the Heart."
Murfy yawned slightly. Ly scolded him. He cleared his throat and continued. "We come here today to witness the beauty and magic…" the greenbottle held back a chuckle. "…Of the wonder that is the lums. Without these creatures, many things would not be possible. And for that, we are thankful. Please enjoy the night, folks!"
There was a minor sound of clapping before Murfy let the microphone go, and the folks continued to talk. The speech was over, and now, all they needed was for the lums to start their magic.
Rayman smiled widely and turned back to his glute friend, who was giddy with excitement.
"Oh boy, oh boy! I can't wait for the lums! This is a really great thing to see, buddy, trust me!"
Rayman chuckled slightly. "Yeah! It sounds great! …But hey, where are the lums, anyway?"
Globox gave him a blank stare before he just shrugged at his limbless friend.
"Hm… Globox, I'll be right back." Rayman told the blue glute, before he stood up and scrambled over to meet with Ly.
Deep in his mind, Rayman already felt something was going on, and it certainly didn't feel like it was a good thing.