A Word from the Author: Sorry for the long wait. Well, not so long I guess. This was finished last week, but we're on vacation so I've been side-tracked from uploading it. Anyway, I had a bit of fun with it, so I hope y'all like it. And by the by, this is the longest chapter I've ever posted so far! 4,396 words to be exact, not including this and the sentence before this one.


Chapter 4: Copernicus and the Minisaurus Plains

A rainbow of colors flashed before Rayman's eyes. "Woah!" he exclaimed. He quickly put his hands to his eyes; the flashing colors hurt his eyes, which seriously had to adjust. It was a burning sensation he had never experienced before. The only time he had ever come this close was in the colorful Picture City, capital city of the eastern half of the continent. Capital city of the Raymanians. He wondered for a moment whether Picture City still stood or not. But only for a moment, because Rayman's attention was quickly brought to the fact that he was moving at an extremely fast pace. Some invisible force was pushing him along. He was actually sliding on a thin neon platform hanging in midair. "Helloooooooo, and welcome to the Teensie Highway!" a voice greeted. Rayman quickly looked to his right; only for a second, though, as he didn't want to take his eyes off the road. A Teensie had been next to him, sitting in a strange hovercraft. He was not nearly as old as the Grand Minimus and though he was dressed in robes he had a bit of a young adult appearance to him. He had seemed laid back, resting against the back of his comfy-looking chair. A clipboard was in one hand, a pencil in the other. "My name is Chad, and I'll be your attendant this evening," the Teensie casually said. "Where are you headed, monsieur...monsieur..."

"Rayman!" Rayman quickly yelled.

"Monsieur Rayman, is it?" Chad calmly said with a smile. He wrote Rayman's name down at the top of the paper the clipboard was holding. "And where is it that you're headed?"

"Uh, um, the Minisaurus Plains!"

"Ah, the Minisaurus Plains! Wonderful! Well, I wish I could say something like, 'Sit back and relax,' but I can't do that obviously. Sooooo, Monsieur Rayman, got any business over in the plains? I hear they had wonderful zoos... You wouldn't happen to be a member of the Friends of the Denys Association, would you? All the Minisaurus Zoos were closed after the FDA declared them an inhumane way of keeping Minisauruses and Denys. Are you going on recreation? The Pier by the Minisaurus Plains has some wonderful beaches. And I hear fairies like to get a bit...naturalle, if you know what I mean!" Rayman couldn't help but roll his eyes upon hearing that one. "Anyway, your exit should be coming up shortly."

Rayman finally got over his amazement at how the Teensie Highway was a void full of psychedelic images and flashing rainbow colors and realized that Murfy wasn't around. "Where's M-Murfy?" he demanded.

"Oh, you came with a friend?" Chad asked, leaning back in his chair. He wrote a few more things down, such as where Rayman was headed and so on. "Well, don't you worry about Monsieur Murfy. He's probably just behind us." Chad stole a look behind him and what he saw confirmed his suspicions. "Yep, Monsieur Murfy is right behind us. Seems he's getting all cozy with Mademoiselle Marie, though. I hope you two weren't...together?"

"Oh, no no, we aren't together in that way!" Rayman yelled through his wind-swept mouth. It was very hard to talk with your mouth being pushed back. Rayman couldn't see how Chad could say anything with such ease!

"Ah, I see... Well, then I suppose you have nothing to worry about," Chad said quietly. "Oh yippee! Look over there, monsieur! Your exit ramp is coming up on the left!" he then happily exclaimed, pointing enthusiastically ahead of them.

"How do I get off?" Rayman yelled.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that, monsieur. Thank you, Monsieur Rayman, for riding with Teensie Slidelines this evening. I hope you enjoyed your trip!"

Rayman's mind started reeling. Of course I need to worry about that! he thought. Don't they realize the world is in danger!? And of course I didn't enjoy this trip! The exit ramp approached astonishingly fast. Rayman began to panic. How would he get off the ramp? Just as it seemed he'd miss the exit, he felt a painful ramming to his right and tumbled onto the exit ramp. "Hey!" Rayman exclaimed. "That guy just rammed into me!" Indeed, Chad had smashed his hovercraft right into Rayman's side to send him into the exit. Rayman stole a glance back, only to see Chad waving good-bye and speeding away. Then before he knew it, a Magic Spiral Door opened up right in the road's path and he fell into it, Murfy right behind.

-

With a great thud Rayman toppled out of a small Spiral Door on the wall of a cliff and landed head-first on a large boulder. He weakly pushed himself up, but just as he was thinking he was feeling better Murfy launched out of the Spiral Door. Murfy hit Rayman in the head falling, knocking the Raymanian right back onto the boulder. "Sorry about that, Rayman," Murfy quickly apologized. Rayman only dazedly pushed himself back up.

Rayman had been to the Minisaurus Plains before, but as he looked around things were different. Things were wrong. Before it had been a lively place, with Glutes running about and Minisaurus and Denys roaring and grumbling in the distance. Butterflies had flown everywhere, without a care in the world. But now the Minisaurus Plains were scary, haunting. The wind howled sinisterly as Rayman looked around. He wasn't even at the plains themselves, just at the bottom of a small canyon. The plains lay on a plateau, and he was certainly not at the right elevation. He knew though that even from here he should have been hearing the sounds of life. Instead, all he heard was the wind and a waterfall. No sounds of life. As if the plains were stone empty. "I think we're too late," Rayman whispered to Murfy, grave expression on his face. "The pirates must have already come through here." Tears began to form in his eyes. "Murfy, Ly lives here. What if..." He couldn't handle it. He broke down and cried.

Murfy took the moment to scout about the area. The plains were bare, trees and grass being the only things left on them. No, wait, what was that? "Hey Rayman!" he called with glee from high above. "I see a Glute!" He called to the Glute with all his might. "Heeeeey! Gluuuuute! Yeah you over there! Can you please come over here for a moment? We're here to help!" The Glute miraculously heard Murfy and rushed into a river. He rode it down the waterfall and landed with ease right next to Rayman and Murfy, who had flown back down. "Rayman?" the Glute gasped. "Is that you? I thought you were kidnapped by the pirates!" He was almost identical to Globox, just smaller. He had a few scars on his face.

Rayman brushed his tears away. He looked up at the Glute with at least a slight smile. "Globox helped me escape. What happened here?"

The Glute frowned. He looked a bit uncomfortable. "The Robo-Pirates attacked us. After you were captured we let our guard down. Unfortunately the pirates picked that time to attack. I think the only ones left here are myself, a few Minisaurus, and old Copernicus over in the Watchful Woods. The other freedom fighters are stuck fighting in the Eastern Plains now. A lot of the people living here were either captured or shot on sight. The plains have turned into a graveyard, Rayman. I fought my share, but I could only save so many. I think General Bzzit was even taken into the swamps... I don't think we've had such a terrible defeat before!" Now it was the Glute's turn to cry.

"There there," Rayman said softly. He patted the Glute on the back. "What's your name?"

"Pierre. I was fighting under Bzzit's ranks. I'm the only one left... But I regret it. It is so terrible, to watch and see your friends and family being massacred right in front of you. And the pirates probably would have stayed, but General Clark arrived and pushed the pirates back to the Eastern Plains. Sometimes I wish I had fallen in battle..."

"Now now, if you had died in battle then you wouldn't be here now," Murfy tried to comfort. "And we need you now more than ever. Unless limbless boy over here knows how to swim--and if he's like any other Raymanian he doesn't--then I'm going to need your help to teach him how. Can you help me, Pierre?" Pierre weakly nodded. "Good." Murfy turned to look at Rayman. "Rayman, the Grand Minimus put me in charge of giving you insight. And I'm now going to do just as they said. I'm going to teach you how to swim!"

"This is hardly the time, Murfy," Rayman scolded.

"You may think so, but this is the perfect time. Look, the pirates have caused a rock slide. There's no way to get up the canyon and onto the plains unless you swim through the underwater tunnel over there in the river. I'm not strong enough to carry you up in the air."

Rayman scowled and grumbled, but in his heart he knew that it was the only way. He finally sighed and stood up. "Alright, fine," he grumpily stated. "Teach me how to swim, you two."

Murfy smiled. "It won't be so bad," he happily said. "Thanks for giving me control! First thing is first, get in the shallow water. There, now I want you to move towards the deeper water. As you get deeper, start trying to hold yourself up in the water without touching the sand. Try kicking your...uh...imaginary legs." Rayman nodded sullenly. In truth, he was terrified of water. He tried to hide his fear to encourage Pierre, but couldn't help but gulp and grow wide-eyed when he looked at the deeper water. There was no turning back, though. He had to go on, and the only way would be by swimming. "Okay, Rayman, you can do this!" he mumbled to himself. Bracing himself, Rayman got into the water and tried to keep himself up.

-

"That's it, good!" Murfy cheered. Finally after hours of practice with Pierre, Rayman had loosely gotten the hang of swimming both above and underwater. It was scary, and he didn't like doing it for long periods of time, but he could do it now. "Come on," Pierre teased. "I'll race you to the other side of that tunnel!" Rayman looked around for the tunnel. He saw a dark spot in the river; that had to be it! He silently nodded and followed the Glute underwater. It hurt his eyes to keep them open underwater, but it was something Murfy had again and again informed he needed to do. In the tunnel was a blue ball of light. It launched itself at him, and he hesitated for a moment wondering what it did. For a moment he felt like he could breathe, but only for a moment. So he did and quickly paddled onward.

Pierre beat him to the water's surface on the other end of the tunnel. "Way to go, Rayman!" he cheered when Rayman made it to the sandy shore. By the small patch of land was a few ledges. They went up the canyon like stairs, all the way to the top. "Murfy's just up those stairs," Pierre explained. "I'll be with you two in a moment." Rayman nodded and left the Glute to his business. As he climbed the stairs he thought about the war. When he had left the Grand Minimus, things seemed as if they were going to be alright. Now that he had discovered the fate of the Minisaurus Plains, he wasn't so sure about things. When he was with Ly and Betilla and Globox, it felt like no Robo-Pirate could ever win. Now it seemed that the freedom fighters were losing, and badly. The massacre had been a struggle they could not win. How many more of these massacres would there be before somebody finally won the war? And who would win the war?

All was quiet as Rayman reached the top of the stairs and looked across the wide plains. It was almost completely empty. Miles of green, rolling plains, yet not a single animal. The wind made the grass shimmer on the plateau. It howled as it blew through Rayman's hair. There were rocks in the distance. Graves.

To the left along a dirt path was a small stone bridge. It kindly stood over the canyon, allowing a person on a walk to easily cross and enter the woods on the other side. The woods were not completely dark, but darker than the Forest of Light for sure. There seemed to be no animals in it either. The trees were green, basking in the sunlight and evidently enjoying the lack of predators. They formed a sort of wall or fence, blocking any entry with the exception of the small hole where the path went into. Because of its sturdy fortifications, the forest was called the Watchful Woods. Rayman wondered if anybody was watching from the forest. A dark shadow seemed to snicker from the depths of the forest. Of course, this was the Eastern Plains, a second plateau that laid on the side of the forest across from the Minisaurus Plains. According to Pierre, there was a battle going on in the Eastern Plains. It seemed almost impossible from the Minisaurus Plains that any battle could be nearby. From where he stood, Rayman felt like one of the last beings on the planet.

To the right of Rayman, the very same dirt path descended down the side of the plateau until it arrived at a deserted beach. Before there used to always be tourists enjoying the sunny sands, but now there was nothing but grumpy crabs. Sticking its wooden body into the sea was a small dock, known by the locals as "The Pier." It seemed so long ago that Bzzit captained a ferry boat connecting the residents of the continent to the continent far away, across the Looming Sea, where the Summit Beyond the Clouds stood ominously.

The dirt path was on the other side of a wooden fence. On the side Rayman was on stood a lone scarecrow. It stood almost like a ghost in a graveyard. No crows would come for it to scare away. It was useless.

Murfy fluttered down from the sky towards Rayman. "Hey Rayman," he said, trying to be cheerful, "I've been taking a look at this fence. It seems the only way to open it is to spin the scarecrow all the way around in a circle."

"That doesn't sound too hard," Rayman sighed. "Let's give it a go!"

"Hold it, buddy. This would be the perfect time to try out that magic fist! Look, I've positioned a small bulls-eye on the scarecrow's side. Just hit that seven or so times and it will have spun around perfectly! Why don't you give it a try?"

"Well... Alright. It wouldn't hurt," Rayman agreed. He looked straight at the bulls-eye. With a small effort he zoned out everything around him but the target. "Let's see, how shall I do this?" he asked himself quietly. Experimenting, he pulled back his right hand and cupped it as if he were holding a tennis ball. Nothing happened. He sprung his hand forward, but not far enough to call it "throwing his fist." As he did, he moved his hand so that it was as if he were tossing the ball forward. Suddenly Rayman felt a surge of energy through his fingertips. A white orb of light briefly appeared in his hand before launching forward straight into the target. It vanished on impact. The target was thrust back and the scarecrow rotated a little. "Ah, this is excellent!" Rayman happily exclaimed as he started throwing more magic orbs at the target, moving around the scarecrow so that he could hit it. "I don't have to get near my enemy to hurt them now! I feel like a Hunter now, except without the gun that needs reloading!" Rayman laughed with glee as he hit the target one last time. It was exactly the seventh hit, and the scarecrow had rotated in a full circle. Almost like the trigger of a mouse trap, the fence's gate sprung open. "Magnifique, Murfy! That was some great thinking! You're the fly, monsieur!" Rayman thanked.

Murfy only blushed. "Hey, don't mention it! You're a great shot, by the way." Rayman began to walk out the gate when Murfy flew in front of him and stopped him. Murfy then pointed at a small orb of light, fluttering in the wind. It was almost like a Yellow Lum, except it was green in color. Rayman hadn't seen anything like it before. "What is that?" he asked.

Murfy shook his head. "I'm not sure," he muttered quietly. "Well, not completely sure. It's a Green Lum, another fragment of the Heart of the World. But the books are practically empty when it comes to their business. Some say that some lums were created unexpectedly. Like a Black Lum or an Orange Lum. Green Lums are the most mysterious of them all. Their purpose is unknown. Nobody knows where they come from or why they are here. Scientists tried to figure out what they do, but it seems they don't affect anything about the world at all. I myself am baffled. All I know is that if you've got enough Yellow Lums, Green Lums can protect you from death itself. Like, if you fell into some lava and you'd made contact with a Green Lum first, then you'll suddenly reappear where you met the Green Lum, unscathed."

"That really is peculiar..." Rayman remarked. He suddenly remembered the light in the tunnel. "Murfy," he asked, "do you know about Blue Lums?"

"Oh yes, of course!" Murfy nodded. "Blue Lums are some of the most important lums around. Normally they are the only ones that fly free from the Heart of the World. Without them, life couldn't exist. They are the embodiment of life. When a baby is born, a doctor gives the baby a few Blue Lums. Those Blue Lums remain with them for the rest of their life. With the Heart of the World destroyed, there are more Blue Lums around than usual... I'm pretty sure that if you encounter one underwater, you'll get a few breaths of air. Pretty handy if you ask me."

"Gee, how many Lums are there?"

"A lot, I'll tell you that."

Rayman approached the Green Lum. It whispered something to him in some unknown language that neither Murfy nor Rayman could understand. Suddenly it then rocketed into Rayman's chest. Rayman's chest sparkled green for a moment, then returned to normal. "Well," the limbless man sighed, "I guess if I die I'll be finding myself here again." He remembered Pierre, the poor Glute that was still down by the river. "Murfy, what about Pierre? We can't leave without him," he told the Greenbottle.

"You're right," Murfy nodded. "I'll go attend to him. You go on ahead, I'll find you." Rayman didn't get a chance to say good-bye as Murfy flew a loop-di-loop and descended the canyon.

Now all alone, Rayman looked around. "Pierre said Copernicus would be in the Watchful Woods, I think," he mumbled to himself. "I might as well give the forest a look." Without another word, Rayman crossed the stone bridge and followed the dirt path into the dark forest...

-

Rayman had never been in the Watchful Woods for a long period of time before. Normally he just crossed it while jogging to Ly's House, which stood near the Eastern Plains. This was the first time he had actually searched the forest for something. After what may have been hours of wandering in the windy woods, Rayman encountered a sign at a fork along the dirt path. It pointed both left and right. It said that Ly's House and the Eastern Plains were to the left. Down the road Rayman saw the familiar giant mushrooms that marked the Eastern Passage. "I should go check on Ly's house sometime," Rayman noted to himself. The sign said that to the right was Watcher's Way, a Magic Well, and some sort of Stone Circle. Watcher's Way, as Rayman had heard about, was a scenic path leading to a cliff overlooking the River of Begoniax as it crossed through the Bog of Murk. Rayman wasn't sure what the Magic Well was all about, but the Stone Circle sounded like something a Teensie would hang out in. "Perhaps Copernicus is near the Stone Circle," he remarked quietly to himself. "It's worth a go." Rayman followed the path to the right, and soon found himself at another fork, this time with three paths. A sign pointed in each direction. To the left was the Watcher's Way trail. To the right was the Magic Well. But going up along the side of a large hill was the path leading to the Stone Circle. Rayman shrugged and walked up the hill.

At the top was a circle of large menhirs in simple designs. A sort of "Stonehenge," if you will. They were green with moss in the dark areas, but for the most part the menhirs were bare. The top of the hill lacked any trees, and the sun shone freely onto the mound. At the center of the flat hilltop was a small pit very similar to the one used by the Grand Minimus.

"Who goes there?" demanded a small but ancient voice. "I'm warning you! You don't know who you're messing with!" The voice came from behind one of the menhirs. Rayman slowly approached the menhir and peeked around it. Huddling in fear was a Teensie wearing a crown. The crown was tall and golden, though not as large as that used by the Grand Minimus. "Excuse me," Rayman called slowly, "but are you Copernicus? The Grand Minimus sent me to find you!" As soon as Rayman mentioned the Grand Minimus the old Teensie leaped into the air and grabbed Rayman's hand. He immediately began to enthusiastically shake the disembodied hand before hurrying into the sunlight. "Yes, I am Copernicus!" the Teensie happily declared with a bow. "Royal Governor, at your service! I am in charge of keeping all the doors in this area shut and locked, with the help of my loyal subjects the Teensie Ambassadors!" Copernicus paused briefly to look around. "Well, not anymore. It seems the pirates have captured all my Ambassadors! Oh dear... But you found me, Rayman! You're good!"

"Gee, um, thanks..." Rayman blushed.

"You're very welcome! Oh, I hope I don't seem too hyper to you. The other governors always say I'm too enthusiastic."

"Oh no, that's okay."

"Good, good! Well then, Rayman, how can I help you?" With the snap of his fingers a small Magic Spiral Door opened up and coughed out a lawn chair. It closed back up just as Copernicus happily plopped himself onto the chair.

"Well, first of all how did you know my name? And secondly, do you know where Ly the Fairy is?" Rayman asked in confusion.

"Easy! We Teensies know practically everybody, even if we've never met! You might call it 'intuition.' Or you can just call it 'Super Cool Psychic Powers!' But let's not get overexcited now... I've got some bad news, Rayman.

"Ly the Fairy has been carried off to the Fairy's Glade. The pirates have locked her up in a fortress there. Do you still wish to find her?"

"Uh, yes. I'm brave enough."

"Okay, then... The Fairy's Glade is right by here, you shouldn't have any trouble finding it. In fact, the Watcher's Way trail passes right through it! Unfortunately, though, the pirates have constructed huge doors blocking any entry to the glade... There is another way, however. If you stroll through the Minisaurus Plains for a bit, you'll come across a small dirt path leading down into a cave. The cave is a tunnel going right under the fortress and to a small pond in the glade. I'm sure you can get to the fortress from there!" Copernicus cheerfully finished, a twinkle in his eye.

"Alright!" Rayman excitedly cheered. "Finally I know where Ly is! Thank you, Copernicus! Thank you for everything! But I can't stay any longer. Ly needs my help, I have to go to the Fairy's Glade." He got up and started to leave.

"I know she does," Copernicus abruptly said, "but remember, Rayman. The pirates are merciless, and if my 'intuition' is correct then they are searching everywhere for you. Be on your guard, that glade is enemy territory!"

Rayman nodded his head. "Okay, thanks for the warning. I'll be careful, I promise. Bye, Copernicus!" He turned and rushed down the hill, Copernicus waving good-bye. "We'll meet again, I promise you," Copernicus called out.


A Word from the Author: Yes, I managed a cross over between the three major games. Do be sure to review the chapter, folks. I want to know what anybody thinks of my change to the Minisaurus Plains.