Chapter One: The World Gone Mad
"Do you have any questions?"
The creature let his eyes to watch every six participant around the table. Although he didn't see much from them since only two candles on that long table lighted the dark hall. He could have used his dark vision ability but he knew it wasn't fair for those who couldn't use. Everyone else in this hall could only see his long, grayish, skeleton-like hands with five fingers.
"Yes," said a male creature with brass-like voice whose gigantic white-gloved arms hovered on the middle air. "Why we have to keep these meetings in total darkness?"
The skeleton-handed creature was surprised that no one has asked that question before. They must have watched too many movies about secret societies and their government wasn't even secret. Before the creature could answer his second-in-command answered for him.
"Electricity will take some time to work. Replacing the magic is quite a lengthy process," she said waiving her small, green hands.
"That is correct," said the five-fingered creature. "Now, does anyone have any questions about our plan?"
"What about the Heart of the World?" asked a short man with rusted, metallic voice. "Shall we blow it or what?"
"That will be completely unnecessary. Our army is five times larger than theirs so conquering the Glade of Dreams does not require any dirty tricks. That reminds me about you two..."
The leader of this mysterious group pointed his finger at the short man and a large, gray-furred creature who was sitting next to the short man.
"You will not take anyone..."
"...as slaves," replied the short man.
"Or..." said their leader pointing at the large creature.
"...gladiators," replied the large creature.
The skeleton-handed creature was little annoyed that he had to remind these two about correct treatment towards people. He, however, believed that they would eventually learn. After all, he had created them to be better than that.
"Well, if everything is clear we should go to prepare. The meeting has ended," he said and hit the table with his fist.
*****
Rayman was watching at his concerned reflection in the pond. This was one of those many moments in his life when he had nothing to do. For some odd reason it didn't bother him as much as it should bother. Maybe he just didn't anymore need excitement to feel alive. Was he becoming...old?
Rayman chuckled to this thought as he watched his reflection. There were no signs of elder people, not wrinkles or grey hairs. Perhaps he was just getting mature. Can you blame him; he has saved this world at least three times. First robopirates, then hoodlums, then rabbids. He even had to go to that weird planet called Earth to stop rabbids' plans. He has always had to do the difficult parts. Rayman smiled to his reflection when he remembered what his best friend Globox had said during that hoodlum incident:
"I mean come on, every time world needs saving nobody is around. Good thing that we are."
Yes, good thing that they were.
Rayman turned to watch Globox who was lying under a tree.
"Sooo...what shall we do today?" Rayman asked.
Globox turned to watch his best friend with tired look.
"I don't know, perhaps we could just rest today. Having over hundred teenagers can be quite exhausting."
That's right; Globox's children were growing up. One fifth of his 650 children had opinion differences with their parents. Rayman didn't want to give up. He hadn't become tired to all adventures, just to those which he had to do when the world was in danger.
"If you feel family life exhausting maybe we could go to look unknown places that are not marked on the map of the Glade of Dreams to get new experiences."
"Thanks," Globox replied, "but raising these teenagers is enough adventure for me."
Rayman felt sorry for his old friend. He didn't have any kids and he definitely didn't want any after he saw one word fight between Globox and his eldest son.
"Maybe it's just an unwanted but necessary process to become independent."
Globox thought Rayman's words.
"Meh, maybe you're right. But still I just want to rest. There's too much tension in adventuring, you know. I only adventure when the world is in danger."
Rayman accepted it but he had another motivation than getting experiences: his past.
The problem was that the earliest memories of his past were from two years or so before the robopirates attacked. Although he had a feeling that everything used to be in 2D. He knew he wasn't a creation of Polokus, he was the only one who hadn't any limbs, and his parts just...hovered on the air. Maybe Polokus would have some answers but he had disappeared mysteriously right before hoodlums' arrival. Just like his muscled friend Clark. Or...Ly.
Oh, how much he missed her.
*****
Oh, how much I have missed this world. Those trees and plants, this whole forest. The Glade of Dreams hasn't changed at all during my imprisonment. But I can't just stop to look the landscape. Sergueï and his army of rabbids will go through the portal at any minute. I have to get to the Fairy Council and warn them. Have to run...run...run...but it's so hard to run with a dress on. Is that...? Rayman! And Globox! They can help...they always can...
*****
Rayman woke up from his thoughts when he saw Ly rushing through bushes. He shocked from Ly's sudden and unexpected appearance and was able to say or do nothing when Ly fell to his arms. She was breathing insanely with a look of ultimate fear in her eyes. She wore a weird piece of red clothing Rayman had never seen before. It looked like much a robe.
"Is that...Ly?" said Globox stating the obvious.
"Globox...Rayman...so good...to see..." said Ly and tried to calm her breath. "The Glade...of Dreams...is in...danger..."
Those were words that got Rayman's mind back on track.
"What have happened?" he asked.
"Later," Ly replied. "I will tell everything once we get to the Fairy Council."
Rayman nodded and asked Globox to help him to carry exhausted Ly. Suddenly Rayman started to feel weird tickling feeling in his arms...
*****
Finally I will be victorious! The Glade of Dreams could never expect an attack by their old and new enemies from every direction. Rabbids are coming from the portal in Bog of Murk, robopirates aided by anti-toons and culture cops are coming from the air. All I have to do is to get hoodlums to attack from the inside. I have to concentrate. It is so amusing that my armies have fought against Rayman for many times but he never had any idea who the real mastermind behind those attacks was. I have not even met Rayman. Well, part of me has not met Rayman.
This concentration is so hard. I have done this trick before but then Rayman was sleeping so it was an easier task. I must target all my godly mental powers on the hands of Rayman...
*****
Suddenly Rayman's hands fell off. They started to run towards the forest on their fingers. Ly, who just fell because handless Rayman was unable to carry her, yelled:
"Stop them before...!"
Ly couldn't finish her sentence when Rayman's hands released a shot of energy that knocked Rayman and Globox. That gave them enough time to run out of reach. Ly was terrified.
"No!! Now nothing can stop them, nothing!"
"Stop who?" Rayman asked while they all were raising themselves up.
A swarm of black creatures flew from the deep of the forest. The swarm stopped next to Rayman Globox and Ly. Now they saw that they were...black lums! One of them flew forward and watched the three with his mean eyes.
"I don't recognize you," he said pointing at Ly, "but I remember you two more than I'd want to."
"Andre!" yelled Rayman angrily.
"Andre!" yelled Globox happily.
"You must be kidding, right?" said Ly angrily at Globox.
"As much I'd like to chat with you me and my brothers have lots of things to do. By the way, Rayman, thanks to your hands. It feels so good to be normal again."
After saying this Andre flew off with his swarm of black lums laughing maniacally.
When Rayman looked after them to the sky he saw more worrying things: two big robopirate ships. And even more, he heard much feared and hated scream from the forest:
"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
This just wasn't his day.
Surprise came when an army of fairies and teensies came from opposite direction and attacked the coming rabbids. Rayman, Globox and Ly watched this chaos for a while.
"How they knew there is an attack?" Ly wondered.
"Polokus told me," said a voice behind them.
There was a long teensie, three times longer than normal. He had a royal, green-purple robe and golden crown on his head with long, grey hair.
"Who are you?" asked Ly.
"Oh, this is Ly," said Rayman confused. "Ly, this is Otmeozo, the King of Teensies."
Couple of months ago teensies finally seemed to remember who their king was. Otmeozo had came confused to the Fairy Council and told that he was imprisoned by some mysterious dark force. Surprisingly many teensies agreed that their long lost king was found.
"Ly?" Otmeozo said surprised. "I am glad you are here. We may talk later but let us talk about the ongoing battle around us."
Indeed, a huge battle between fairies, teensies, hoodlums and rabbids was around them.
"Polokus sent me a message last night. He is apparently a prisoner of the same dark force as I was. He informed that there is a portal in the Bog of Murk which is used to let their forces to come from another world. Rayman, he told that you should go there and close...uh...where are your arms?"
Before Rayman could answer, Otmeozo yelled:
"Robopirates! I have to go to help. Ly, I need you to aid me."
He and confused Ly ran in the middle of fight. Rayman and Globox watched at each other.
"What shall I do?" asked Globox terrified.
"You can do that rain dance, right?" Rayman replied.
Globox nodded and disappeared to the crowd.
Rayman watched when his old enemies fought against his friends and no one paid any attention to him. Then came new enemies didn't recognize but they looked oddly familiar. Small blue creature with white hair and red shoes, some of his size which had weird yellow-brown hats and robes. Like him their torsos, hands and heads hovered on the air except with blue creatures whose head and torso were the same thing. Too many things happened in the same time. Rayman felt himself completely powerless and he fell to his non-existent knees.
"The whole world has gone completely mad!" he yelled and raised his look to the sky. "!!!"
Instantly he realized how dramatic his cry of pain would have been if he just had his hands.
Rayman stood up and looked wildly around him. He was desperate to find his hands and asked from random fighters:
"Does anyone know where my hands are?"
"NO!" they replied and continued their fight.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" said a familiar rusty voice behind him.
Rayman knew instantly who was behind him so turning to look would have been unnecessary. But he wanted to see had Razorbeard changed at all during these years. No, same clothing and appearance, although he seemed to smile.
"What hurts?" Rayman asked tiredly. Nothing surprised him anymore.
"When your army falls around you. When you had woken up Polokus and he started to destroy my army I knew instantly my plan would become busted. For a second I even feared how low my chances to escape were. But don't worry, I won't fight you. You're not the greatest threat right now."
"I will get you, I guarantee that. But before I'll do that I must..."
"...find your hands. I saw some hands running towards the Bog of Murk. Were they yours?"
Rayman said nothing when he grimly walked past his old nemesis.
"You're welcome!" Razorbeard yelled cheerfully.
But Razorbeard didn't have any intentions to stay there fighting. He would follow in Rayman's trail and watch his utter defeat.
*****
Rayman had seen so much chaos during his run in Bog of Murk. He had seen the enemy forces taking prisoners and causing havoc. He even had seen his old enemy Sergueï and some rabbids beating Jano, the Guardian of Cave of Bad Dreams. Normally he would have helped but he just couldn't without his arms. But now he had reached the portal in Bog of Murk. He had used this portal before, when he had fought Begoniax during hoodlum incident. The portal seemed highly aggressive and radiated white lightning. Something powerful was coming out.
Rayman saw his hands in front of portal. They didn't seem to notice him. Last time this happened his hands attached him voluntarily so he hope nothing would have changed from those times. Fight against own hands felt too weird to imagine. Then something stepped out of the portal. His mere appearance made Rayman to shiver.
The creature wasn't very high, perhaps a size of a knaaren. But his other features made him threatening. His blue, sleeveless robe revealed his long, skeleton-like arms which both had five razor-sharp fingers on them. He had a pitch black, mouthless head with two yellow, red-pupilled eyes. On his head was a bronze tiara which eight spikes made it look like a twisted sun of evil. Rayman could feel this creature's godly power.
"Rayman," the creature spoke, "the champion of gods, we meet at last."
Rayman was speechless in front of this divine might. So speechless in fact he didn't even notice that his hands were attached back to him.
"I am Nelegus," the creature continued, "who shall soon be the God of...Everything."
"Not this world's you evil creature!" Rayman yelled to Nelegus and prepared to fight.
Rayman however hesitated. Nelegus actually seemed...insulted.
"I...am...not...evil!" he said with rage in his voice but he almost instantly calmed. "That...was immature from me. My apologies. You just think I am evil because my army has come to conquer your world and your main objective is to protect it. But believe me; this is for your own good."
"Do you know that you just revealed a major weakness of yourself?" Rayman mocked. "That was highly amateurish move and reduces your chances in our battle."
Suddenly Nelegus moved his hand and Rayman's own hand hit him. Nelegus mocked back:
"Why did you hit yourself?"
Rayman walked dizzily around. Behind him he saw Razorbeard, Andre and Sergueï watching quietly this humiliating show.
"There is much to be done before the complete victory of culture can be achieved," said Nelegus ruthlessly. "Right know I can use you as my hands, my legs and my eyes but you must learn to look from my point of view before I can use you as my mind."
Nelegus hold his fist in air and Rayman's fist was becoming full of energy.
"This happened so easy it almost makes me cry," said Razorbeard.
That was the last thing Rayman heard before his powered fist knocked him unconscious.
*****
I'm so sorry Rayman, I'm so sorry! I would have wanted to help you but I couldn't risk it. We both might have ended as Nelegus' prisoners. It is necessary that at least one of has a chance to free all. But the way Nelegus and your old enemies treated you...I'm so sorry.
Nelegus is pure evil, even if he thinks otherwise.
Luckily I have recovered my powers back. I have to change myself into an energy ball and follow them from a distance. Don't worry Rayman. I'm right near you.
*****
The four characters looked at Rayman's motionless body.
"I counted that taking over this planet took two hours and 40 minutes," said Sergueï. "We beat the previous record, seven hours."
"You dope," Razorbeard said, "that was just a computer game!"
"Now, now, Razorbeard," Nelegus scolded. "Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction."
Andre was confused.
"So...who are you and what is a 'computer game'?"
"Oh, Andre, the leader of hoodlums," Nelegus said. "These are admiral Razorbeard, the leader of robopirates, and Sergueï, the leader of rabbids. I am Nelegus, the leader of everyone."
"So you're...a god or something?"
"Yes, I am also the reason of your existence. As for your second question, you will get it answered once we have stepped through this portal to our world. Now are you sure that every single inhabitant in the Glade of Dreams is out of here?"
"Positive," said Razorbeard, "all two ships are full."
"Excellent," replied Nelegus. "Razorbeard, go to prepare the cosmic vacuums. Sergueï, once we have gone through inform to the third clone of professor Barranco that we have arrived."
Nelegus took Rayman gently on his arms and carried him through the portal. Andre, Sergueï and a small ball of energy that no one noticed followed him.
*****
Razorbeard had done this so many times it was becoming tiring. Luckily their mission to collect all planets that had life was nearly done. He gave the command and his ship revealed both of its huge cannons. He commanded them to shoot.
The Glade of Dreams popped like a huge balloon filled with sand. Next command and all of the cosmic dust was vacuumed by his robopirate ship. Both ships moved towards a huge star in the distance.