Time to do the usual main-group-hearing-what-they-have-to-do-in-the-story scene. Here we go.
Chapter 9: Legend of the Eight Firstborn
Mt. Gnaa
"Oh…" Dr. Eggman groaned, limping into Lord Gnaa's chamber with Decoe and Bocoe, where Bowser and Brain also waited.
"Hey, Eggman! How'd it go?" Bowser asked perkily.
"Not well, Bowser."
"Cosmo and Nova defeated you?" Brain asked.
"Worse: they had help from Shadow the Hedgehog. If he's here, no doubt he brought Sonic and the others with them."
"And THEY probably brought Mario, too. The jackals!" Bowser shouted angrily.
"I suppose we'll capture the Guardian later." Brain said.
"Grah. When the heck is Gnaa getting here?" Bowser asked, angry. "K. Rool and his guys are WAY ahead of us by now. I can't just stand around here and do nothing!"
"Patience is key, Bowser." Brain said. "And it is not a race. We will all have what we want by the end of this."
"Blah blah, says Mr. I-have-a-whole-army-of-villains-from-different-worlds. I'm normally a patient Koopa, but I want action!"
"HEH…" Phantom Gnaa hissed in Bowser's face.
"Hey, back off, Creepo! Lord Gnaa better get here, or I'm gonna-"
"Care to finish that?" At this, they looked as Ganon, Lehcar, and Scarlet came in with a sleeping Harvey.
"Hey, hey, you brought the brat! Well?" Bowser asked.
Lehcar laid the sleeping boy on the ground, the four villainous allies standing over him. After a few seconds, his now-dark-purple eyes shot open, and his body levitated, putting him back on his feet. A dark aura emitted around Harvey as he studied his form.
"You are free… Master." Phantom spoke.
"…No. Not completely. My soul is now inhabiting Harvey's form… but my body remains trapped in the well." Lord Gnaa explained, walking up to Gaul's throne. The large ape stepped aside, allowing Gnaa to sit in the throne. "I can only be at full power while in my real body. Any lesser is futile."
"And we can get your body out if we spread enough darkness, can we not?" Gaul asked.
"…Yes. Anything that can spread darkness. Poison, Shadow, Psychic, or Fear. Such dangerous elements come from dangerous emotions."
"I pick Fear." Ganon said.
"The apes have also finished mining Evil Crystals." Gaul said. "They are ready to ship out."
"Good. The crystals will help us further into spreading evil in the hearts of others. We will use them to power our Darkness Cannons."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but can we get on with this quest already?" Bowser asked.
"Hm hm hm. Yes. Spread your forces out and conquer. But stay focused on the mission: find the Eight Firstborn, and turn the Guardians to our side."
"Grah HAR!" Bowser exclaimed. "Finally! I gotta go make sure my son's ready. Later, guys!" With that, Bowser excitedly ran off.
Eggman smiled. "Oh hoho hoho! I think I should be getting ready, too! Now, where are those dingbots?"
At this time, Orbot, Cubot, and Bokkun were hauling Hoagie's old teleporters into the room. "Hoof… hoof… here we are." Orbot panted.
"Perfect! Now, watch this. Ahem." With that, Eggman made a whistle, calling in a bear with a platypus on its back.
The bear stepped into the transporters as Eggman activated them. In a flash, the two animals disappeared and reappeared in the other one, merged into a bear with a platypus mouth and tail.
"OH ho ho ho! I call it… a platypus-bear! And I'll have plenty more other hybrids coming shortly."
"But don't such creatures exist in the Avatar Realms?" Brain asked.
"Yeah… but these ones will work for US!" But Eggman's pride was cut short when the hybrid growled and started slashing at him. "WHOA." He jumped back. "E-Easy."
"RRAH." Ganondorf punched it back, then started whipping it. "Sit." The monster did as told. "Good. Now… I'll make the hybrids and control them myself." Ganon decided. "They'll look great with my demons. …Though I'll probably just forget. You worry about your robots. Incompetent scientist." With that, Ganon led the creature away.
"Oh…" the Eggman looked down in shame. "Betrayed again by my own creations. Perhaps my genius alone isn't enough."
"Need some help?" Brain asked.
"Nnope! I appreciate the sentiment, Darth… but the only genius smart enough to help me… IS ME! OH ho ho ho! Now to just give him a call…" With that, he walked off.
"Sounds like he has a PLAN!" Cubot exclaimed as the henchmen followed him.
"Well then…" Brain spoke, "I believe I shall finish what Eggman started. Monsieur Mallah:" The Brain's gorilla assistant approached him. "Send the call to Nolan and his friends, and tell them to go to the Forest of Light. Make sure Celebi's Guardian catches Celebi in the Spirit Ball, and tell Nolan to attack."
"Vith pleasure, Sir. But zere is one other problem. It seems ve have picked up the wrong person."
"Which one?" Mallah then bent over and whispered into Brain's ear (where his ear should be, anyway). "…Hmmm. I was not aware of the Dickson boy having another sister."
Rachel's House
"Hoo… that was pretty rough." Rachel sighed as she, Sector W, and the others got back to her house.
"No kidding." Nigel said, leading Rachel to the couch and helping her sit down. "Still, you usually don't wear off so easily. What happened, Rachel?"
She panted. "I don't know… I was feeling fine when I fought that monster… but destroying that crystal… sure took a lot out of me." she said in between breaths.
"That was an Evil Crystal." Grim said. "Evil Crystals are dark gems that are found in the Underworld. Staying near an Evil Crystal for too long can make one go mad. They drain the energy from your very soul and make ya crazy with anger, mon."
"I guess that's why I'm feeling so beat." Rachel said.
"So, Ganon was using an Evil Crystal to power that monster?" Nigel asked.
"Yes. Evil Crystals can influence the very area, manipulating it in unnatural ways." Grim explained.
"They got plenty of them things growing on Mt. Gnaa." Facilier followed. "They probably usin' 'em for whatevuh they have planned."
"Wait, why Mt. Gnaa?" Lee asked. "You said they grow in the Underworld."
"Actually, the closest place to the Underworld from the mortal world is Mt. Malladus, where the gods imprisoned Malladus Uno." Grim mentioned. "Malladus was the main spirit of evil, and his influence on the mountain was growing the Evil Crystals. But Mt. Malladus was the Positive of Mt. Gnaa, and if something happens to one, the opposite could be effected as well. So, Evil Crystals grew on Mt. Gnaa."
"Hmm… Negatives really aren't so different from Positives, are they?" Nigel asked.
"Hey, guys!" Wally shouted as he and Abby came in. "Some guys are upstairs in Rachel's room!"
"They said they wanna see you." Abby said.
The two led the curious bunch upstairs to Rachel's room, and were slightly surprised at who awaited.
"Hello, kids." Clockwork spoke, drinking a cup of hot tea. Lying on Rachel's bed was a strange boy with dark brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a blue shirt with a broken clock, black pants, and black shoes. He was reading a Dr. Time-Space comic book.
"Pfft. That scientist don't know nothin' about-"
"Hey, give me that!" Rachel shouted, snatching the comic book. She smiled and blushed nervously, hiding it behind her back from the others. "Hehehe…"
"Rriiight." Nigel drew out, disbelieved.
"Ahem, kids: this is Clockwork, the Ghost of Time. He's an old friend of mine." Grim introduced.
"Clockwork? My dad told us about you." Nigel said. "You were the apprentice of the God of Time, right?"
"Indeed. I, and many others, serve as Dialga's assistants. This boy here is my apprentice, Jagar." The boy in question stood up. "The clock on his shirt was what he used to control his timebending powers. But it was destroyed by the Dark Master himself, so he's lost total control of his powers."
"So, you've fought the Dark Master?" Sonya asked.
"We and the other timebenders fought Lord Gnaa long ago." Jagar said. "We helped lock him up in that well. But my powers became disrupted when he destroyed my clock."
"That's why I'm currently teaching him to use his powers normally." Clockwork explained.
"Jagar… have I seen you somewhere?" Rachel asked, thinking he looked familiar.
"You'll have time for questions later." Clockwork said. "We must discuss something, regarding your little brother."
"You mean Harvey? And his new powers?" Rachel guessed.
"Do not blame Harvey for his actions. He has been manipulated by the mind of the Dark Master."
"Manipulated?" Eva asked.
"Right now, Negatar Gnaa is inhabiting Harvey's very soul. He's using Harvey's body as a vessel to roam free from the Well of Shadows and get what he's after."
"But what is he after?" Sonya asked.
"You kids know the answer… don't you?" he smirked. The gang thought for a moment.
"You mean… the Eight Legendary Firstborn?" Patton asked.
"What are the Eight Firstborn, exactly?" Eva asked.
"Here's the story:" Clockwork began. "As you know, powerful gods and spirits watch over our universe, and work to keep balance. Such as Kyogre, God of the Sea, or Mother Wisp, Spirit of Color. Each spirit plays a roll in guarding a part of the universe."
The kids nodded in understanding.
"But… there's a story that tells of eight spirits whose power is said to be greater than that of the other spirits. Those spirits are the Eight Firstborn. Eight powerful spirits that age no older than 1. While the other spirits inhabit the forms of seemingly powerful adults, the Eight Firstborn take the form of newborns. You see, since children are younger than adults, they are brand new, and are therefore more efficient because they have more energy. And since Firstborn remain their child age forever, they contain incredible, immense power."
"I guess that's why the Irken Empire was so strong." Rachel figured.
"Yeah. Hey… Jirachi was a Firstborn, wasn't he?" Nigel asked.
"And Manaphy." Eva remembered.
"Correct. Then you must remember how powerful they were." Clockwork said. The group nodded. "Then you must also remember what happened when Dimentia and Davy Jones got hold of these spirits' powers." The group nodded again, with frightful expressions.
"So, there're six others just like them?" Kade asked.
"Correct. And the Dark Master wants them all. If he succeeds, the very fabric of reality will fall into Darkness."
"Then we have to find them first." Rachel knew.
"No problem!" Wally exclaimed. "This'll be just like any other story! We'll just GO around the world, FIND the Eight Firstborn, wipe the floor with Lord Gnaa, and be home by Chapter 30! In our time, that's about a week!"
"You only wish it were that simple." Jagar said. "But finding the Eight Firstborn isn't like finding Seven Stars, Seven Talisman, or… God knows those Chaos Emeralds aren't… anyway, the point is, the Firstborn are powerful spirits. Lord Gnaa has his forces scattered all around the world. And even if you find the Firstborn first, it's not that simple. You see, each Firstborn has a mortal Guardian."
"Guardian?" Rachel repeated.
"That's right. When the Firstborn were scattered, the gods were worried about them falling into the wrong hands. So, they chose eight different mortal beings to be their respective Guardians, and when the time was right, those Guardians would hear their call." Jagar explained. "And the Firstborn won't side with anyone until they've been found by their respective Guardian."
"But who are the Guardians?" Sonya asked.
"The Guardians will reveal themselves." Clockwork smirked. "As soon as they've found their selves."
"Huh?"
"Yeah. I don't get what this guy says either most of the time." Jagar said.
"So, basically, we're supposed to look for eight really powerful baby gods, who can only be found by eight certain people, and… we have no idea where to start, do we?" Hoagie recapped.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that last part." Clockwork said.
"That's right." Nigel remembered. "What Ganondorf said: I have a cousin!"
"Ahem." Fanny and Eva spoke.
"Ugh. I meant another cousin. She's Father's daughter."
"Father has a daughter?" Sonya asked.
"Apparently."
"Then I guess Father's place is the first place we go." Numbuh 5 figured.
"Right. We go to Father's mansion, confront him, and make him talk!"
"This is a visit I've been anticipating." Violet smiled, extending her fingernail claws.
"Take Jagar with you." Clockwork said. "His timebending powers may be weaker, but they're strong enough to provide you assistance. I have other matters to attend to, so I cannot help you."
"But wait! You haven't told us where the Firstborn are!" Rachel yelled.
"Now what's the fun in adventure if you don't figure out yourself?" Clockwork smiled. "If you have to ask, you'll never know where to go. If you know where to go… you need only ask. Hm hm hm hm hm hm hm..." The spirit chuckled as he slowly faded away.
"…What the crud does THAT mean?" Wally shouted.
"I don't know. That guy annoys me." Jagar said. "So… we all ready to go?"
"Sorry, mon. But me and Harvey here have other matters." Grim said.
"Heh heh. Sorry, Abby." Facilier said.
"It's okay, Uncle Facilier. We got it under control."
"Well, I guess we're headed to Father's first." Nigel figured. "You ready to go, Rachel?"
"Yeah… I'm fine now. I just hope Harvey will be okay in all this. And who knows what else is going to happen?"
Middle of the ocean; Boogey Bay
The seas were calm and quiet as the Boogey Bay sailed along. Creeper studied some sort of map and said, "Oi, Captain Mandy. Are you sure this map is… accurate?"
The malicious, cold-hearted demon child, Mandy McKenzie, looked sick as she leaned over the railing, turning to Creeper. "How should I know? I just woke up, and there it was, right under my pillow. It has to lead to some kind of treasure."
The demon pirate looked at the map harder from different angles. "Eh… if you ask me, this thing keeps changing. I feel like it's following… us."
"Don't be ridiculous." Mandy said, finally standing straight and walking over. "You're probably just holding that the wrong… Oh…" She started groaning.
"Uhn? You okay?" Creeper asked.
"Ohhhh." She fainted.
"Captain Mandy!" Creeper exclaimed. Everyone gathered around as he began shouting, "OI! CAPTAIN DOWN! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S FEARSOME AND MONSTROUS, THE CAPTAIN IS DOOWN! ! !"
Heh heh heh. And so we have our mission. Can anyone guess why Mandy fainted? Anyway, next time, we'll see why, then we will have a stage… or maybe two. Later.
