Just as the Koopas were staring at the palace somebody else approached...
"Welcome, I've been expecting guests for sometime" It was a male purple shelled Koopa he had green war paint on his cheeks and held a spear similar to that of Delandra. "If you follow me into the palace I will reveal much to you"
"Hey man, what about everybody else?" K looked to Andy and the others still knocked out
"They will be fine here, time does not exist in this place and there is nobody else except us"
As they entered the palace they saw it had royal red carpet and a throne, they expected to stop here but the Koopa kept moving and guided them into a garden.
"I supposed I should introduce myself. I am a member of the group shells, orbs, shadows and Kings, I am the creator of the orb of ice, I am also the protector of this palace. I am Koopalajan and this sounds weird for me to say, but I am your ancestor" The Koopa looked to AJ
"So I was named after you?"
"How should I know? I didn't even know your name, all I know is that your connectivity to the ice orb makes it obvious who you are"
"How did we get here in the first place?"
"The metal flute you took from the Koopa King's castle was actually a magical warp connected to this place, but of course I have the power to deny access. Let me tell you about these fountains as they are significant to how the orbs function"
It was then they noticed several fountains some were flowing with water while others were barely trickling.
"The more orbs that are together the greater the water flows from the fountain. Two groups have 4 orbs, so 8 of the fountains have a reasonable flow, yet the other 4 are somewhat lacking in flow because they are alone you see?"
K counted the fountains in his head there were 12 in total "Aren't there only 9 orbs?"
"Originally yes, but there were 3 others created in order to have a better chance at countering the fallen shadow monarchy by making these orbs slightly different and more protected from the shadows attempts at destroying all. If the shadows were looking for 9 orbs yet there were 12, that'd always be safer right?"
AJ clicked his fingers as all became clear to him "I understand now, the group spread a false rumour that the 9 orbs were treasure belonging to the King at that time when obviously they were never in his possession" he then stopped realising a fault with his theory "But then why would you spread a rumour about something you wanted to protect and keep secret?"
"For exactly that reason. The monarchists already knew we were building some kind of secret weapon to defeat a threat when it came. It turned out the orbs were not needed, while we lost the first battle, we won the second and by the third we captured their capital, we had many more numbers"
There was a long silence as the serenity of the place took over "However, I feel something terrible is happening, you need to get back and gather as many orbs as you can to have a chance"
K looked around "One problem, we are stuck here unless you do somethin'"
"Oh, these fountains also serve as a warp to your present. Throw the orb into the right fountain as marked by the colour then jump in yourself. You will see a reflection of the location you are travelling, it should be near where you first found the orb. If you need to come here again, hold an orb in one hand and this flute in the other and activate the orb as you would normally, do this when you gather all 12 or if you need to get to another location quickly"
AJ nodded "Okay, but we'll get our friends first"
"Before you do… take this" he raised his staff causing a blast of ice to touch the flute, it began to glow red "Those power diamonds you've been powering yourself up with, you can now power yourself up once more, even with a diamond that has already been used, give this to the other group to use too will you?"
They thanked him and left returning to the others.
Jamma seemed to be just waking up stretching "Where'd you two get to and what is this place?"
K sighed "It's yet another long story, but we know how to get back from here"
K led the others to the fountain that had a light blue stone base and threw the healing orb in, the water then turned the same colour, the reflection showed the forest just outside Kollwa.
"Jump in" K went into the fountain and vanished, AJ shrugged and jumped in too
"Well why not?" Mirage too went into the fountain and the others reluctantly followed her
They felt the warping sensation again and then flashing lights and appeared all together and crashed onto the ground. Like the reflection suggested they were in the forest that was between Kollwa and Goomstar
"Wow awesome… that's so cool" Andy stood up brushing himself off
Kora however was not as impressed "I'd rather travel through a warp pipe any day"
After everybody picked themselves up they headed back to the harbour and to Rogueport once more. They had lost count the number of times they had travelled by water. On returning to the office Frankly, Peach, Marilyn, Goombella and a knocked out Vivian were present, it seemed something was worrying them all.
"Ah, we were worried something might have happened to you" Frankly looked at the group as they squeezed through the door
"Well something did happen to me, Bowser's underlings caught me so K and everybody else had to come back for me and the orb. We got lucky in getting out of there"
"Yyyyou're working with Goombella on this?" Kora stammered a little
"Hold on a second, you're Aliciagoom's friend Kora, what's the meaning of this? I just told you to not react to Aliciagoom as much, not to make friends with her"
"They didn't… since she… well me as well, were responsible for AJ being captured by Bowser's minions I decided to join them to get him out… If you want me to leave…"
Goombella dropped her head slightly as if to apologise "No… I'm sorry I misunderstood, I shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion. I admit we are all a bit jumpy... we sort of have a problem"
"A problem?" Andy looked to Frankly
Peach nodded slowly "Yes, it is my fault. In collecting the three orbs that ancient map and replica I had unwittingly done the shadow sirens a favour. You see, those orbs were truly created by them and once Daisy, Goombario, Edde and I had gathered them all, the x-nauts and this Beldam attacked my castle. Beldam froze us all using the power of the orbs we obtained. She then took them and Daisy betraying the X-nauts and her sister in the process"
"So now we believe she is trying to revive the Shadow Queen once more. According to Marilyn, who is Beldam's sister, if she tries through the method of the orbs, she will revive the Queen but it will take some time before she regains any of her magic" Frankly finished
There was a long silence while everybody digested what had happened
"We don't know to what extends her power can reach and we don't know where she is or where to look. We have Vivian in the past trying to work these things out" Frankly thought on what the two had just said "I highly doubt she is in the Palace of Shadow but we will look there anyway. Peach, Edde, Goombario, as well as Goombella and I are returning to U Goom to retrieve the orb that belonged to my family, and I do not want to go there without an escort during this time. Vivian, Delandra, Lakilester, Bobbery and Marilyn are going to the Palace of Shadow to try find Beldam and then will try other methods of tracking her down"
K looked as if his group had been left out of the loop "What about us?"
"You just do as you usually do, find more orbs"
They placed the ice orb into the clock, it lead to Isle Delfino but the map wouldn't zoom in any closer, not giving a specific location.
Frankly stared at the wall in frustration hoping something would happen "Odd, it won't go in any closer… that will complicated things. You'll just have to explore the entire island and see what you can find out"
Location: Unknown
Beldam fires a blast of ice at a pider web causing it to drop out of her path. The area is only lit up by the flaming torch she is holding. In her other hand is a small bag, inside are three small orbs. She continues to move through the cave and comes to a wide open space. She spots three pedestals placed in a triangular fashion and places one orb on each, the orb returns to its original size on being placed. She then uses her magic to move a coffin into the middle of the triangle.
Beldam looked at Daisy lying on the ground in front of the coffin, just where she had left her
"Now my dear is where you play your part" Beldam smiled as she moved an unconscious Daisy in the same way she moved the coffin placing Daisy on top of the coffin. At that instant the cave was illuminated in a bright purple colour as a sphere of darkness was on top of the coffin. From it a black beam fell onto Princess Daisy and the coffin. Daisy cried out loudly as the energy went through her and soon the spirit form of the Shadow Queen floated through the coffin. She immediately headed into Daisy's body, but unlike Peach her dress and body did not change. When Daisy's body stood up it was as if nothing had changed about her.
Daisy stood up from the top of the coffin "… where am I? Who are you?"
Beldam was relieved when she heard the familiar sound of the Queen's voice "It is I, your faithful servant Beldam my Queen"
"Bel? Dam?" The Queen spoke as if she had never heard this name before
"Yes"
"I'm sorry but I don't know you…wait who I am…?"
Beldam soon realised something must have gone wrong with the resurrection, she did not know whether the Queen still had any of her powers or anything at all. The best she could do would be to try restore the Queen's memory, but this would take even longer, and if Peach as predicted ran back to Professor Frankly it would be only a matter of time before Vivian, Marilyn and Goombella started searching for her, and that was bad. Beldum wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating Vivian again, the fact Vivian has gathered a few of the original orbs with that group of hers is enough to suggest she isn't to be treated lightly. They would figure out where she was hiding, that was not so difficult to find out, however Beldum knew they may just crack the secret on how to reach her location, she hoped her plan would be in the closing stages well before then, otherwise it would be all over.
She also knew of the band of supposed fighters going around looking for the orbs, according to what information she had gathered weren't as strong as their profession suggested, but could become a potential problem. She sent Doopliss and some X-nauts who sided with her due to Grodus' oppression had already been sent to find out what they were up to.
Rogueport
Just before they had left for the tropical paradise, Jamma, Kora and Mirage went to see Merlon who granted them their extra abilities as well as an extra attack that wasn't known until it was needed, then because the balance was complete everyone powered up again once more. The distance between Delfino and Rougeport was considerably bigger then to Malsanaro, it would take them at least a day to get there.
However there was only a giant cruise ship to get there. It was the first time though that the fare was a bit more expensive then they would have liked, they could pay it but it would leave them short later, Jamma was emailing his Dad trying to get either extra funds or a way to cut a deal and within 10 seconds it was apparent Jamma's Dad would foot the bill…
"Yo, nice work Jamma dawg, let's kick back and relax on this thin'"
Once the ship had departed and got a fair distance off shore K and Jamma were swimming in the pool. Andy got on the diving board and prepared to dive stylishly into the water.
"I used to do this all the time! I'll show you some ultimate skills!" Andy bounced on the springboard a few times before attempting to do a double somersault but he had hit the water half way through the second one splashing water everywhere. Andy surfaced and rose to the laughter of K and Jamma.
"Nice bomb dude" K commented sarcastically in between laughs
Andy frowned and splashed water at the Koopa "So I screwed up! I'd like to see you do better"
"No way man… by the way, won't your mask get all soggy and stuff?"
"This? No, this particular one is specially made for the water, what kind of bandit would have to reveal his face?"
Jamma grinned cheekily "One who got caught! K hold his arms, I want to see just what kind of ugly scar is there!"
"Noooo! Nobody touches this!" Andy tried to swim away from the pair as they tried to reveal what he was hiding
2am aboard the Delfino Luxury Cruiser
A female Toad looks overboard the back of the ship looking at the stars in the sky, she takes a deep breath inhaling the fresh air and smiles. She now realised how much of a toll running the Glitz Pit took on her, dealing with moronic fighters who couldn't read a picture book, people who didn't do as she asked thinking they always know better, rough crowds, reporters and countless other issues. Out here and on Isle Delfino though there was peace, quiet, sunshine and…
Her thoughts were distracted when she heard hushed voices "So the Glitzville fighters are on this ship"
"Yeah, I saw that hammer brother, bandit guy, a yellow shelled Koopa and some other random nobodies"
"You got a plan?"
"Have I got a plan? Of course I have a plan! We attack them as soon as they get off the ship and get their orbs"
"SHUT it! Somebody's coming… Let's split!"
She heard the soft moving footsteps of them running presumably in different directions and then after that heard the footsteps of someone else, they headed over to other side and leant on the railing. She glanced over to see who it was, she saw the familiar yellow shell and height, but was it King K? He was without his sunglasses too and while he seemed to look stronger, his expression seemed defeated and depressed.
"It seems so long since I've seen you last… but it couldn't have been more then what? A week or so, and the look you gave me last is still on your face"
The Koopa turned, it looked like somebody completely different "What are you talkin' about?"
She knew it was King K now, she'd recognise that voice anywhere "You don't recognise me? That said I can barely recognise you"
"Could you be Jolene? You don't look or sound like Jolene though, seriously… you look uh…"
"Relaxed?"
"Yeah… you remind me of a girl that hangs out in the juice bar in Glitzville"
Jolene gave a light smile again knowing that he actually referred to her without knowing it "Anyway, have you been doing something you shouldn't be, maybe with a certain Bandit friend of yours"
K wasn't sure how to answer that "Yeah Andy's with me if that's what you mean"
"How did you afford to get on this cruiser then? It is unlikely you would have the money to get on something like this" Jolene had a suspicious tone in her voice, like she was leading to something
"Jamma's Dad helped us out, as Jamma is travellin' with us too, but Jolene why all the questions?"
Jolene thought for a moment, that part of the story did check out however she couldn't be sure yet "There are people after you, they believe you have something called orbs? Did you steal them with Andy?"
K banged his hand on the railing in frustration "For cryin' out LOUD, it's just one thin' after another! Where were they!?"
"On this ship! BUT you didn't answer my question!" Jolene got really stern, reminding K why she was formally known as Queen Nag
"Those were probably Bowser's troops that somehow got on this ship after they knew we got on… we have somethin' they want, its an ancient treasure that we and a bunch of others have been looking for"
"Treasure? But they are after you, so you have had some success or made it seem you have?"
K showed her the fire orb "We have 3 others like this one, that's what them rookies were probably after. Friends of Gonzales have 4 as well"
"Wow it's beautiful!" she stopped staring at it and turned her gaze to K "But… this is not the King K I know, the King K I know never allowed himself to lose control, always smiled, relaxed, patient, able to keep his cool... "
"That King K didn't have to worry about people dying, the world being controlled, all that kinda evil stuff. Back in the Glitz Pit if I lost the only guys that got hurt were me and my peeps, if I lose now..." K thought he was revealing too much information to Jolene, both of them knew just how close the world came to being no more when the darkness took over their world when the Shadow Queen was revived.
Jolene was not sure whether she should believe K, from Andy she would have laughed it off as one of his stories to make him sound cool, but from King K it was a different story "What makes you think any of this is going to happen?"
"Keep this between us, but my buddy's been havin' nightmares… ever since we started this thin'. He's worried sick that his visions will become reality cus they are related to what we are doin'. At first it didn't seem all that of a big deal but now it's becomin' more and more likely that what he's been sayin' could be true. All this is weirdin' me out, an' I just don't know anythin' anymore" K then focused and held the orb out to the ocean, releasing a blast of fire from it before it exploded in a firework like fashion
"I understand… so it's like the crystal stars is it?"
K shrugged turning around "You know what, I'm sorry I told you all of this, pretend like you never saw me" he then walked off
"Those guys who are after you plan to attack after you get off the ship so be careful"
He stopped "Okay… thanks I guess, tell Andy this if you see him before I do" and continued to walk
However when the ship docked just before noon, the only sign of an attack were 5 x-nauts all knocked out lying on the jetty. While most of the passengers just headed off into Delfino Plaza the 6 of them looked over the ko'ed x-nauts.
"Andy and I took care of some uninvited guests, they planned to attack us as we got off" Mirage smirked seemingly proud of her handy work
"Yeah just a little tip off we got and I understand she spoke to you first K. She said she overheard a conversation involving some of these weird guys"
"What are they anyway?" Jamma looked at one of the ko'ed x-nauts
"They are X-naut foot soldiers. They are part of something called the X-naut regime. Their leader Grodus and a few of his underlings are on Leincarts most wanted list" Mirage said knowledgably
"Yup, just another bunch of lunatics really" AJ concluded
"You think Bowser's associated with these goons dawg?"
AJ shook his head "Highly unlikely, the two both want control of the world but that's about all they have in common, it would more likely that they would be rivals and in fact that might work to our advantage"
"That's all wonderful but where do we go? Where do we even start? When I'm looking for something I generally have a fair idea of where to look, but we surely can't look on the entire island" Mirage had put a good point forward, they didn't even have a clue who to ask or where to go
After the small silence while somebody tried to think of something when Kora suggested… "We could try find somebody who's good on the history of the island, maybe someone in a library?"
"Yeah, it'll just be like we are tourists so nobody will suspect anything" Jamma and the others seemed to agree on this and headed into the plaza
Andy was about to head to one of the younger female Pianta's to ask his question but he realised asking about a library probably wouldn't make the girl think he was that cool. While Andy was hesitating, Jamma asked a guy standing near the main statue.
"Hey, you know if there's a library around here, either that or somebody who knows the history of the island"
The pianta laughed stupidly "Ohhoho, you are tourists and you want to go to a library, enjoy the sunlight"
"We are on business" Jamma replied coldly not taking kindly to the Pianta
"Ohohoho you look as if you all could use some fun. Uh anyway I really don't know, maybe at the 4 star hotel on the beach, but most people come here to relax. However there is the woman around the fruit market, she's the one in the first stall as you come past"
Jamma nodded and took off with the others.
The walk was not very far at all but typical of Isle Delfino, it was rather hot. Compared to the icy climate they had just experienced it was now the opposite problem.
The pianta woman seemed uneasy from the minute K and the others approached her "Yo, would you know anythin' about a treasure hidden around here?"
While K's question was indirect the Pianta seemed to know what K was after "No! I don't know anything about some stupid orbs, they are history, a myth, non existent. You don't waste your time searching for those things you understand"
K took a step back "Hey I didn't even mention anything lady…"
"AHHHH! He's back!" a scream was heard from the distance
"Back?" Andy looked to where the crowds were running from
"It's Petey Piranha! He's heading right for the town" one of the Noki's shouting
While most of the town's people ran away from the main statue, K, Jamma and Andy headed towards it, Mirage followed but the other two were hesitant, just from what they could see in the distance, it was huge.
"Come on, that woman surely knows something, we need to gain her respect to get any information" Mirage looked to Kora and AJ
With that the plant was then upon them. Some of the citizens watched from the alleys or rooftops watching nervously as the plant stared at the 6 of them while drooling sludge at its mouth as if to say 'meal time'.