Chapter 8

"Oh my head…" Harmony awoke slowly, a bit disoriented from the battle earlier. Her whole body ached from the clash between her powers and Rubella's. She examined her surroundings. She was inside of some sort of room. The walls and floor and ceiling were the same sickly pale green. The blonde haired girl sat up and found she wasn't alone. On one side of the room was Gibson. Otto was laying down on the other.

"Gibson? Otto?" She called out. "Are you guys okay?" Harmony crawled over to Otto and turned the simian's body onto his back. She found a large dent on his helmet and gasped. Quickly she grew the blue crystals on her hands and placed them on his head. Slowly the helmet was no longer dented and Otto woke up.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"I…I don't know." Harmony replied. "But…we need to get out of here. Rubella kidnapped us."

"Where are we?" Gibson sat up and rubbed his head. Then he gasped once he examined his surroundings. "Oh no…oh no…what are we doing here? Why are we here? This can't be good!"

"Huh?" Harmony asked.

"We're in the Citadel of Bone! This was Skeleton King's old ship!" Gibson explained. "We need to escape!"

"But this place is like a maze, Gibson!" Otto shuddered. "And…knowing what creepy stuff used to…or could still be lurking in here…just…makes this place a billion times scarier!"

"Well, we will get out of here! And whatever Rubella is up to…won't happen." The blue monkey placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. Harmony nodded.

"Well, what should we do? It looks like Rubella didn't lock us up." She said.

"We should move with caution." Gibson began to lead the way through the fortress.

"How do you know this place so well?" Harmony asked.

"When Chiro first learned he was the chosen one, the team was kidnapped and it was up to us both to rescue them."

"Cool…"

The three slowly walked through the ship. There were no more monsters. There were just cracks in the walls and some small puddles of thick black ooze on the floor. A strong smell lingered from the substance every time they passed one of the spots.

Suddenly Harmony began to hear something. It sounded like a lullaby…a familiar song…but she couldn't make out the words. She walked away from Gibson and Otto to follow where it came from.

"Harmony, where are you going?" Otto asked.

"Harmony!" Gibson yelled.

The girl didn't answer. She just walked down one of the halls and didn't say a word. She just followed the voice. As she followed it, it slowly transformed from a soothing gentle melody to suddenly a dark and unusual tone. It was until she was outside of one room she began to notice this.

"Harmony! Come back! We have to stick together!" The blue simian shouted.

"What…is this stuff?" The girl asked. She looked around to see numerous toys and stuffed animals along with a mannequin in the center of the room wearing a blue uniform and baseball cap.

"Weird…" Otto looked around.

"This room is where Skeleton King was keeping Chiro's stuff from his past. We came across it that day we were here."

"But…if this is all Chiro's stuff…why is this doll here?" Harmony asked. She picked up a doll that was wearing a blue dress and blue ribbon in its pink hair. It had two button eyes and no other facial features.

"This…this was my doll…" The girl mumbled.

"So…Skeleton King has Chiro's stuff from when he was a kid…and Harmony's doll…something's not right." Otto said.

"Well, whatever is going on, I don't think we'll find any answers from staying in this room." Gibson answered.

"You're right." Harmony put the doll down and followed the simians out of the room.

"Perhaps we can find Skeleton King's throne room. There, the walls should be thin enough to break free." The blue simian said. The girl and the green monkey nodded and they began their search.


As they continued through the seemingly abandoned fortress, a young girl with purple hair, Rubella, swished her foxlike tail back and forth. She stepped into one of the black puddles and narrowed her eyes. A wide grin spread across her face.

"It's time…" She whispered. Suddenly the black puddle changed to the color purple and began to glow. Violet hued formless grew out from the puddles, spikes growing from their backs and different kinds of weapons made onto their hands. "Go get them." Rubella said and the formless walked down the halls.

"What was that?" Otto asked. The three stood still and heard footsteps. Gibson gasped as purple formless minions came out of the different hallways. The two simians drew their weapons and Harmony formed a large staff with her crystals. The leaped up to fight off the enemies.

"WHIRLING DESTRUCTO SAWS!" Otto sliced into the formless, but they slowly regenerated.

"LAZER CRISS CROSS!" Gibson slashed into several other formless with his drills.

Harmony spun her staff around and stabbed two formless at once, then swung them into other formless.

After a few more attacks, they were surrounded.

"Gibson, Otto, I have an idea." The girl said. "Get your weapons ready and fire when I say go."

The formless drew closer as the two robot monkeys prepared their attacks.

"GO!" Harmony grabbed their tails and began to spin around in a circle. As the two monkeys spun in the air, the attacks streamed out in a spiral and defeated all of the formless in 30 seconds.

"We did it!" Otto got to his feet. Gibson nodded and Harmony tilted back and forth trying to get rid of the dizziness. But suddenly the ooze leaped up, returning to the formless shapes and grabbing onto the arms of the heroes.

"Hey! Let us go!" The girl cried out. The formless began to drag them to the throne room. Inside, Rubella was perched on top of the throne. The formless stopped and began to harden. The three struggled to escape their grip and the villain stepped down to their level.

"Well, it seems we finally get to meet properly." She said.

"What do you want from me?" Harmony asked.

"I just want to chat. That…and you're the key to something very special."

"I don't care what you want with my powers, let us go! We won't let you get away with your plan!"

Rubella began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Otto said puzzled.

"You think it's your POWERS?" The evil girl cackled. "Oh, how wrong you are…you see, I know you were an orphan. And I was too, but I knew who my father was all along. I knew about my whole family. However, you may find it quite shocking that my father is truly…Skeleton King. You see, I was the daughter of the alchemist, but before he turned completely evil, he had Captain Shuggazoom take his daughters someplace safe. After I learned he turned evil, I was loyal and decided to join his side…if it weren't for the fact he was killed by the Hyper Force."

Gibson narrowed his eyes.

"But…" Rubella continued. "I figured out that if I can get the right DNA, he will return to take over, and with me by his side, we'll be more powerful than ever, which is why I need the last part…little sister."

She turned to face Harmony, who tried to step back in shock, but the hardened formless made it impossible for her to move.

"Now it is time!" Rubella shouted. "Let's resurrect our father, THE SKELETON KING!" Her body began to glow, and she sent her hand forward. A ball of light formed and floated over to Harmony, who cried out in pain as her own body began to glow a bright green! Suddenly it felt like there was a twister in the room, as the light began to leave their bodies and spiral through the air, turning into dark black clouds. A familiar menacing laugh was heard as the clouds began to fade. There in the center stood a skeleton wearing a long black cloak with a hood. His skull, however, almost looked as if some flesh had returned, slightly rotting.

"I…have…returned…once again!" Skeleton King whispered.


DUN DUN DUUUN! Skeleton King has returned! And he's Rubella's dad? And is Harmony really Rubella's sister? We shall find out soon! Review please! Or else my fish Alfonzo will sneak into your house at night and eat all your fish food and freeze dried brine shrimp!