"Majoaku."

"Yes, Master?"

"You DO realize that with every Star of the Ancients those brats recover, your daughter comes ever closer to unlocking the full power of the Twilight Princess?"

"Do not worry, Master. I have a devious little plan that will ensure that my victory is absolute. Even if my daughter does unlock her full power, once my plan is set in motion, it won't matter."

"For your sake, I hope you know what you are doing."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Wow... it's so hot here..." Akemi Suzuki stated, looking over the horizon for any possible way out. No such luck, as there was nothing but sand, sand and more sand, as far as the eye could see. The crystal witch apprentice did notice a strange-looking temple in the distance, but nothing else seemed to catch her eye.

What Akemi had just stated pretty much clinched it: the Dusty Dune Galaxy was too freaking hot.

"If only there was a place I could rest and try to wait out this heat..." Akemi asked nobody in particular. Just then, she accidentally bumped into what appeared to be a palm tree, with a decent amount of shade beneath it.

"Hm... what are the odds?"

Akemi laid down in the shade of the tree, VERY glad that she felt much cooler than when she had been traversing in the sun.

"I guess I'll just wait here," Akemi stated, closing her eyes and letting sleep overtake her.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

(When you want to do something, don't just sit there and waste your precious time. Do something about it. Do it right away. It's the only way to live a life without regrets.)

S.P.D. Gold Ranger presents:
Ojamajo Doremi Galaxy: The Tides of Time
This Chapter: June 23rd, 2008 (On a completely unrelated note: Happy birthday, Sonic the Hedgehog!!)
Summary: When a mysterious new villain returns and steals the Stars of the Ancients, using their power to erase the Ojamajos from history, Nick must embark on a galaxy-hopping adventure in order to reunite with his friends and put an end to "the dark one's" evil ways...
On Today's Episode: Nick and Kurumi blast off to the Dusty Dune Galaxy and navigate fields of treacherous quicksand in search of their friends...

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Ojamajo Doremi or Super Mario Galaxy. They belong to Toei Animation and Nintendo.

Note: I'm only going to be covering the main galaxies (none of the mini-galaxies) and enemy bases in this story, with the exception of Buoy Base Galaxy, because there's going to be a big plot point in that galaxy when we get to it. I'm going to be keeping this author's note in, just in case someone joins the story later than usual. Also, there will be a few galaxies of my own creation later on.

Note 2: The Ojamajos created by YukiShinoya444 will make an appearance in this story. Before you even ask, I do have permission to use Yuki's team in my stories (so long as I don't make them look bad).

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Chapter 14: Sand Island

"WHOA..." Kurumi stated in awe as she and Nick approached the Dusty Dune Galaxy. "It's like a never-ending beach here!!"

"You're telling me?" Nick replied as they both landed on a platform that was jutting out of much darker sand.

"Looks like we've got a whole planet to explore here. Let's head out!!" Kurumi exclaimed, stepping towards the darker-colored sand. It was then that Nick noticed a rather peculiar sign to the left of where they'd landed. Nick almost turned pale when he saw what was on the sign.

"KURUMI, DON'T TOUCH THAT SAND!!"

Too late, as Kurumi had already fallen into the quicksand, flapping her arms in a desperate attempt to escape.

Nick was already one step ahead, bringing out his Shining Poron. "Asobu soba de sakiyaki sore!! Get my friend out of the quicksand!!"

Responding to Nick's call, a chain of green music notes wrapped around Kurumi, pulling her out of the quicksand and letting her land safely on the lighter sand, which was safe to stand on.

"I tried to warn you, Kurumi-chan," Nick stated. "Most of the darker stuff is quicksand. You would have been sunk if I hadn't gotten you out of there in time..."

Before Nick could say anything else, Kurumi rushed up and threw her arms around the green witch apprentice. Nick instantly blushed at this.

Kurumi, however, was a little more concerned with this strange feeling that was building up within her. What's this feeling I get every time I'm close to Nick-kun? Kurumi thought.

Nick suddenly tensed up, wondering what was nearby.

"Hey, Nick-kun... is that who I think it is?" Kurumi asked, just noticing this new arrival sleeping under a shady palm tree.

"Yeah! That's Akemi-chan!" Nick responded, walking up to the sleeping Akemi. I never realized how cute she looks when she's asleep... Whoa. Where did THAT thought come from? Isn't Mori-chan the one who usually tells Akemi-chan stuff like that?

Bending down, Nick softly ruffled Akemi's crystal-colored hair, causing her to slowly open her eyes and stare at who had just awakened her.

"Well, well. Good morning there, sleepy-head," Nick teased.

"N-Nick-kun?" Akemi asked, still rubbing sleep out of her eyes. When the light of the sun died down enough for Akemi to properly focus her eyesight...

"NICK-KUN!!" Akemi exclaimed, jumping to her feet and embracing Nick tightly. "I missed you!!"

"So have we, Akemi-chan. We've all been worried sick about you!!" Nick stated while returning the embrace.

"Do you know where Moriko-chan is?" Akemi wondered.

"Still no sign of her yet," Nick replied. "But I'm sure we'll run into her soon enough."

"That's good," Akemi noted. "I miss her..."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Yes, my dear daughter. Walk further towards the power of the Twilight Princess. When you finally do reach that road, you will be mine."

Majoaku laughed evilly.

"This girl is very persistent for her years. She and her bratty little friends have foiled my plans for this world time and again. But this time, they know not of what they are dealing with."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"What the...?"

A girl looked up at the sky above her. Her silver eyes shined in the sunlight as her long blue hair flowed in the breeze.

"Don't tell me that she's on the move again..."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

As Nick, Kurumi, and Akemi continued searching through the Dusty Dune Galaxy, they came across many unexpected pitfalls, namely due to the colors of the sand that gave the galaxy its namesake. They all knew that one wrong step and they'd be done for.

After reaching the temple that Akemi had seen much earlier, the gang was greeted by an earthquake that made the entire planet rumble.

"Why is this earthquake so strong?" Akemi wondered, trying her best to keep her balance.

"Trust me, Akemi-chan, you get used to it after a while," Nick responded. "With these villains, they always like to make an earthquake to kick off their appearances."

"Just like in all those action flicks I've starred in," Kurumi noted.

Just then, a massive, multi-segmented, worm-like creature popped up out of the quicksand, flailing its giant head and knocking the entire temple straight into the quicksand with surprisingly little effort.

"WHOA!!" Kurumi exclaimed.

"Oh, my god..." Akemi stated.

"Boy, am I glad we weren't on the receiving end of that one," Nick noted.

The Sand Worm continued creeping through the quicksand.

"What are we going to do, Nick-kun?" Akemi asked.

"I'm going after that thing," Nick responded, hopping into a nearby Sling Star and shooting into the sky, landing on top of the Sand Worm.

"All right, down to business," Nick stated to nobody in particular, dashing off down the many body segments of the Sand Worm. Every now and then, the gigantic worm would feel something weird on its back and try to shake it off, but Nick would counter this by jumping just as the body segment he was on lifted into the air. Most of the time, his timing was so precise that he was actually lifted much higher into the air than his normal jump would allow. He compensated for this by doing a little stylish flip every time he was launched into the air.

"Nick-kun's always such a showoff," Kurumi noted.

Nick finally approached the head, and was about to strike when the Sand Worm turned a complete 180 and started charging in the other direction. Nick was nearly knocked off thanks to this, but thankfully, he was able to orient himself just in time.

"That was way too close," Akemi stated, breathing a sigh of relief.

"That's Nick-kun for you. He always likes riding the ragged edge of disaster," Kurumi stated.

Taking advantage of the jump height he was getting off of the bobbing of the Sand Worm's body segments, Nick continued to charge forward in the air, using interlaced spin attacks to keep his momentum going. Upon finally reaching the head...

"Checkmate!!" Nick shouted, performing another stylish leap into the air, his Shining Poron extended. On the drop down, Nick stuck out his wand, which plunged straight into the head of the Sand Worm.

This caused the sand-dwelling monstrosity to stop dead in its tracks and start to shake. Nick suddenly noticed that he was VERY far away from the platform where Akemi and Kurumi were waiting.

Guess I'm going to have to take a chance... Nick thought, bracing himself. Thusly, the Sand Worm exploded, the blast wave knocking Nick for a loop and sending him flying back towards the platform.

Performing a backflip to kill his momentum when he reached his destination, Nick finally landed on the sandy platform, jamming his Shining Poron into the sand to stop himself from skidding right back into the quicksand.

As the remains of the Sand Worm poofed out of existence, a green Power Crystal appeared on the central platform.

"That's the last of the green Power Crystals," Nick noted. "Maybe those green Lumas can tell us more about the Trial Galaxies when we get back to the Observatory."

After acquiring the crystal, Nick hopped into the Launch Star that had just appeared and blasted off, Akemi and Kurumi not too far behind.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Nick landed in front of the two green Lumas he'd already found, Akemi and Kurumi landing behind him.

Almost instantly, the green Power Crystal that Nick had found back in the Dusty Dune Galaxy floated from his hands, eventually transforming into the final green Luma.

"You did it!!" the first green Luma exclaimed. "You actually found all three of us!!"

"That is a beyond amazing feat," the second green Luma noted. "Us green Lumas have quite elusive tendencies."

"We are the guardians of the Trial Galaxies, three special galaxies where whoever dares venture forth will face great trials that will put what you've learned to the test," the third green Luma explained.

"All right. I like a challenge," Nick stated, heading for the newly-formed green Launch Star. Just before he could hop in, however, alarms began blaring.

"Enemy base spotted!!" Rosalina's black Luma companion exclaimed. "We're detecting massive energy spikes, too! What ARE they doing up there?!"

"Well, time to go kick Majotourbillon's butt again," Nick stated, turning to Yuki, Akemi, and Kurumi.

"Why don't you three check out the Trial Galaxies while I go take care of business in the enemy base?" Nick asked. Yuki, Akemi, and Kurumi nodded, hopping into the green Launch Star and shooting towards the Trial Galaxies.

Meanwhile, Nick charged back towards the bedroom, ready to tackle the enemy base.

"He is definitely making progress, Rosalina," the black Luma stated.

"He just may be the one," Rosalina replied.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"I'll admit this," Majotourbillon stated, looking out over her Dark Matter Plant. "That kid has come much farther than I would have expected of him, but he will not go any further. I will see to it myself."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Author's Note: You actually thought I was going to cover the Trial Galaxies, weren't you? No, I'm not going to cover them. They're too much of a pain in the keester.

Next time:

Chapter 15: Nemesis Majotourbillon

Nick blasts off to the enemy base to confront Majotourbillon once more. He'll need to contend with deadly dark matter and tricky jumping puzzles if he wants to stay alive...