Easton Kingdom Tropical Islands:

"Is this it?" Ramona asked the group. "Geno said there were two of these that would both lead to different areas of the Easton Kingdom."

Bowser, Athelstan, Marut, Ramona, and Andrew had gone a short distance north through the eastern portion of Sarasa Field to come to a wide green pipe that Bowser recognized as a "Warp Pipe." These were few and far between, not nearly as plentiful as in the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Right," Bowser replied. "He said that one would lead to the smaller, inner islands nearer to the coastline, and the other would lead to the larger, outer islands further out to the sea."

"So which one is this one then?" asked Marut. "Do we take this one? Where would Marissa be? Where would Daisy and Kokoro be? Did they take this one or the other one?"

"Geno said the other one's to the south of here," noted Athelstan. "So as far as we know, we could pop up in the Easton Kingdom Whitewood or the beaches of the tropical islands. Knowing them, they probably went for the beach. Smaller amount of land for fighting, but they won't have to worry as much about trees and obstructions."

"Wait, I'm confused," Ramona said. "So the whitewood is supposed to be the region making up the outer islands? Why wouldn't the whitewood be a part of the inner tropics? Why is it all the way out there rather than closer to here?"

"I don't know how geography works!" Bowser grunted. "I once saw a glacier right next to a volcano! I'm not asking any questions about geography!"

"Does anyone know how to use this?" Marut asked as he leaned over and stuck his head into the pipe.

"Take the Warp Pipe, he said," Andrew mumbled. "It'll be easy, he said..."

Bowser facepalmed. "Marut, all you gotta do is stand on it and then ease down in feet first."

"No, wait, I think I got it," Marut said, squirming around. "I think you just gotta like, climb in and-"

The Kruna of Air suddenly flopped over and fell all the way through the Warp Pipe. The others looked inside, then looked at each other. Marut didn't come back up, and they did not see him in there.

Andrew arched his back and folded his arms. "I guess that means it works!"

"Of course it works," said Bowser. "It always works. Unless someone fiddled with it and made it a one way transport."

"You're experienced with Warp Pipes?" asked Ramona. "I've seen maybe one or two but got scared because I didn't know where they'd lead to."

"Yeah, I've messed with a few of these before," Bowser replied. "You all go in first. I'll take up the rear."

With the Power Vase by her feet, Marissa continued focusing magic through her ritual spell on one of many of the tropical islands just within the Easton Kingdom's Whitewood region. Her spell nearing completion, she shifted its focus onto Tamara so that the green and silver-clothed Black Mage would bridge the portal while she tapped into the power of her Malocchio Eye.

King Boo flew down in front of Marissa and Tamara with eight Green Mushrooms in hand. He handed them to Marissa for her to keep on her person, though he did not look happy about having to gather them.

"These aren't very easy to find, I hope you know," King Boo said. "And why eight? Why does everything always have to be eight with you?"

"Because, silly!" replied Marissa. "If you turn eight sideways, you've got endless possibilities!"

"Remind me what those Green Mushrooms are for again?" Tamara asked.

"It's for a backup spell that I will make in case this doesn't work," Marissa said. "I'll run up to one of those Kruna, unleash my magic with these Green Mushrooms, and presto – this Power Vase will finally be filled. Somebody's getting their energy drained. I don't care who. I would give my own, but it would require me donating all of mine and I need to make sure I have all of mine available for tomorrow. The amount of power I exhaust for today can be made up for so long as I don't go crazy." Tamara let his head drift up into the sky and away from the demon witch after hearing that last part.

"I think you're better off skipping this and going straight for one of those rookie Kruna," said King Boo. "You realize that trying this again is not going to work after the way she reacted the last time."

"I don't care!" Marissa exclaimed, opening her Malocchio with a smile. "I tried being nice, but that doesn't do crap for anyone! Now I'm just gonna force it out of her like I should've done the first time!"

"Is the cost of energy for this spell really going to be worth it?" King Boo asked.

"It better be," said Marissa. "Or I'm taking a chunk out of your power along with two or three of those Kruna's to ensure that tomorrow's crucial divine ritual spell will not fail. I've already sacrificed enough hellhounds for it, and that Kruna of Shadow didn't have a lot of energy left in him for me to take." Her smile turned grim. "Besides; at least out here, we don't have to worry about her wrecking the mansion if she gets ornery."

"Just a few moments now and the portal will be ready," said Tamara. He addressed King Boo as he added, "I'm assuming you're just going to drag her out of there the moment it opens."

"Yup!" the royal spectre replied, readying shadow energies in his right arm.

Nova Daisy stared down Kokoro as she took soft, slow, lateral strides on the spacious sandy ground of the inner tropical islands of Easton Kingdom. Kokoro watched her, arms folded and stationary. Their postures both were upright and erect, their faces both housed varied smiles, and their powers were both at their highest out of the three times they had encountered each other. And yet, Daisy had a special sparkle and shine in her eyes as she made her steps around the battlefield.

"Rubber match," Daisy said. With a few more steps, she brought her movement to a stop. Kokoro turned to face her, and a heated face-off ensued.

The hatred filled the atmosphere, sizzling the very air the two beings breathed. Tension. Anger. Fury. Odium. Contempt. Daisy and Kokoro's very presence together at that moment threatened to suffocate all other lifeforms within a mile radius like a nuclear weapon built on nothing but abhorrence. Whatever wildlife was nearby sensed it and fled. Quick.

"Death match," Kokoro said in correction.

Daisy chuckled as her mouth drifted open to say, "Don't tempt me."

Kokoro chuckled in turn as he unfolded his arms and murmured, "So-called hero..."

"How about this time, don't whine when I beat you?" the Kruna of Earth said.

Kokoro crossed his wrists together and let his light energy flow. "...I won't..."

Daisy got herself ready to fight, though left her stance open for attack in a bold move. Kokoro saw this and narrowed his eyes, not sure if he should be glad that she left herself open, or angered that she did not bother putting up any guard. The fiend decided to wait and see what the earth wielder was going to do.

Daisy didn't do anything. A growing disturbance around one of the islands in the distance had suddenly drawn her attention. Though not very conspicuous, a slight vortex had developed in the sky there. She didn't turn her head, but her eyes were not focused on Kokoro at all.

Naturally, the Soul Stealer took advantage of Daisy's momentary distraction and fired off a high-speed beam of light. The Kruna of Earth caught the attack in her periphery though, and brought her hands up and together to slam the energy down into the ground. When the billowing smoke and debris cleared, Daisy gave Kokoro a blank stare.

"Damn you," Kokoro muttered, gritting his teeth.

"I expected as much," Daisy said. "A guy like you will claw for any meager victory he can get."

The Kruna of Earth kicked up a chunk of ground and slammed her fist into it to send it hurtling at Kokoro. The archfiend batted it away, hunched over and not amused.

"You earth wielders are supposed to be adept at seeing in the dark," Kokoro said. "Will that make it extra painful when I shuttle lasers through your retinae?"

"I can't say," Daisy replied. "You're not gonna have a chance to do so." She dashed forward with great speed, catching Kokoro by surprise and ramming into him with a crushing Wario-esque elbow. The maneuver knocked all the air from the fiend's lungs and sent him staggering backwards several steps before he could regain control and cease his momentum.

Kokoro coughed up some blood and grunted in frustration. "What the hell, Sarasa? We did not start yet!"

"What do you mean we didn't start yet?" Daisy responded. "We started when you decided you wanted to blast me when I wasn't looking!"

"I could do without your sass," Kokoro grumbled.

Daisy's eyes went wide. "SASS?! How is it sass when you blatantly tried to cheat?! Damn, it's like the Striker wild card round against Petey Piranha all over again!"

"I almost wish I knew what you were talking about," the Soul Stealer said, assuming his counter stance.

"I'm glad you don't," Daisy growled, getting into position to attack. "You would have given the league a very bad name."

Marut flew out of the Warp Pipe and landed face first on the lush, mystical forest floor of the Easton Kingdom Whitewood. He picked himself up and looked around in amazement and wonder of the bright and lively trees, the crisp, enchanting air, and the ethereal light shining down through the overhead leaves on the scattered idols. For as harrowing as their journeys had been, this dense forest was by far the most pleasant, serene, and even unearthly area the team had been to yet. He could also sense that some of the organisms and beings in this area collectively had some of the strongest energy signatures they've came across as well. One by one, Bowser, Athelstan, Ramona, and Andrew emerged from the Warp Pipe as well, all awestruck by their surroundings.

"Neva did say that most of Easton Kingdom had been ruled as a wildlife reserve," Ramona murmured. "Is this what is able to grow and flourish without influence and interference from modern society?"

"This place just makes me want to soar high up into the air," said Marut, wide-eyed. "I always wanted to just take off and fly. I hate being bound by gravity. I just want to take up and go high into the sky at will. I...I want to fly across the rainbow, and close my eyes and just believe..."

"We need to get you a Pendant of Flight, bro," Bowser said with a smile. "First chance we get, and the first one we see, it's yours."

"I feel like Marissa and King Boo are nearby," Andrew sharply said. With a clenched jaw, he added, "They're really up to something. The atmosphere feels beyond disturbed."

As if on cue, an echo of thunder ran through the whitewood despite the overhead sunshine. All five of the elemental wielders directed their attention towards the west.

"What could she be up to all the way out here?" Athelstan asked.

"We'll just have to go and see, now won't we?" Andrew replied, already dashing in the direction of the mystic disturbance.

Bowser grunted and sighed, sticking two fingers on his forehead. "I swear, it's like we have two of Daisy on the team. If she's not here to just recklessly rush off into the unknown, then it's Andrew. That's no way to survive! We don't know what lurks in any of these whitewood islands!"

Athelstan unlimbered his Avalanche Spear and held it in two-handed fashion. "Dash ahead, and we will find out. Tread lightly, and we will find out. Either way, we will find out. One way's just faster than the other, and we don't have a lot of time to work with, now do we?"

After having to fight their way through over a hundred hellhounds scattered throughout the Chai Kingdom's Deep Wood, Warra and Neva finally made their way to Marissa's Mansion Lair. To Neva, the complex looked just as macabre and unsettling in the daytime as it did at night, if not more. Walking through the lawn towards the front doors was a delicate task. They were not sure what traps, if any, were hiding in the midst. Fortunately enough for them, they made it to the doors without having to deal with any. They assumed that Marissa deemed it unnecessary to place traps considering what her or her Sweeps could do with a flick of the wrist, not to mention the heavy presence of hellhounds lurking in close proximity.

Upon reaching the doors, Neva let frost drift over the knobs, after which Warra slammed down on them with one of his axes. They were not concerned with leaving a trail of evidence behind so much as they were about getting caught right then and there, so they decided to make their move quick and quiet. Better to spend one minute making an entrance rather than close to a half hour trying to find an inconspicuous way in.

With a grand main level that opened up to the second floor and down to the underground chambers, the two elemental wielders had many options to take. Warra's time on the Mekarsari Guard back at his homeland lent to him making the decision for them to stay on the main level and shift through to the back. As a result of not knowing the actual layout of the mansion, they went out one door Warra did not intend for them to exit and ended up in the backyard. The two elemental wielders then found themselves marching through the graveyard, confused and unsettled by the presence of burial grounds behind Marissa's Lair.

"What would she need with a graveyard?" Warra wondered aloud. "Is it something to do with her spells?"

"It could be a way of connecting the world of the living with the world of the dead," said Neva. "Don't quote me on that, though."

Warra looked around and took note of six larger tombstones that were each outlined with a special neon colored border – one in blue, one in black, one in brown, one in green, one in white, and one in purple. All other tombstones were basic, conventional shades of cobblestone and gray textures. He did not recognize any of their names, though they were archaic compared those of the present day.

The two spent just a few more moments scouting around the graveyard before going back inside the mansion. They moved through the dimly lit corridors, alert for any sound, movement, or energy signature. They came across several miscellaneous rooms of disinterest before entering one that looked as if it had been used within the past several hours. Disregarding the two abandoned cups of Hoolumbian coffee and the ornamental porcelain plates with food crumbs on a nearby table, the room appeared to be a combination training room / casting chamber. An array of special, ancient artifacts of unknown value lay within a massive glass cabinet towards the back. Along one wall of the room were shelves of potions and serums. Lining the other side of the room was some sort of apparatus that was apparently designed to teach the user how to ride a Wiggler, though Neva wondered what the reasoning was for such considering that the demon witch's legion was made up of hellhounds.

"That's funny," said Warra. "You know, if I didn't know any better, that Wiggler training device looks to be about as old as those six highlighted tombstones out in the graveyard."

"Yeah," Neva replied. "Except this thing looks like it's been refurbished and restored over and over to try and mask its age." With a shift in tone, she added, "Let me guess; this is not what you thought we'd find?"

Warra shook his head. "I was hoping we would find something else, but I suppose no two buildings would be the same. I should have known that just from our mission at the Great Canyon, but I know that it's not going to be upstairs."

"Then that means we go down," replied Neva. Despite what she had just said, she walked towards the cabinet of artifacts in the back of the room, not making any attempt to hide her sly grin. Warra followed her and watched as she opened the door and pulled out what appeared to be an Alkemei Pendant of Power.

"Doesn't the big, friendly brown giant have one of these?" the Kruna of Ice asked.

"Yes, Athelstan does," Warra said with a frown. "And what do you think you're doing with that?"

"What?" Neva replied, coy in tone as she reached for the gem. "Wouldn't I look really pretty with some jewelry?"

"Put that back, Neva. We're already raising red flags just by being in here!"

"Then why don't you go hide in a box and hope nobody notices that? I'm taking this."

Warra was starting to get annoyed. "You don't even know what Alkemei that is! What if it's a Pendant of Self-Destruction? Or a Pendant of Sleep?"

"As long as it's not a Pendant of Turn-Me-Into-a-Whiny-Water-Wielder, I don't care," said Neva. She strapped the Alkemei around her neck, adjusting its thick metal necklace for a secure fit. The bulbous gem within the pendant turned white as a sign of its synchronization with Neva's ice energy. She then held up her hair as she tried striking some supermodel pose. "What do you think, Warra? Don't I look irresistible now? Aren't I a bonny lass? I bet I'm cuter than Daisy. Or are you just jealous now because you don't have one of these?"

"No, I'm not jealous," Warra responded. "But I highly suggest that you take that off and put it back where you found it. Yeah, you're having fun now, but when Marissa sees that we've stolen it-"

"What's she gonna do?" Neva said with a simper. "Level all of Sarasaland for a single Alkemei she had shelved and collecting dust? It's obvious that it's not being used. She won't notice it's gone..."