Meanwhile, Solano was looking through the moonstone on his staff, growling as he watched the group head towards the Moon Kingdom.
"Drat! They're heading to that blasted kingdom!" His moonstone gleamed icy blue as he gritted his teeth. "Well, let's see if I can swirl their world to bits!"
At his words, he created magic tornadoes and sent it to where the group was heading. The tornadoes went ahead of them and began to swirl at their direction as they drove forward and met up to them.
"Tornadoes! 12 o clock!" Crusher warned.
"WOAH!" they all skidded to a stop before backing up to not get caught by the tornadoes.
"How do we get past these things?!" Darington shrieked.
"Uh... RUN!" Blaze cried out before they all turned to drive away.
Meanwhile, Queen Moonbeam watched all the action from the crystal ball in her room. She hissed at the sight of the magic torndaoes.
"Oh no... my little brother needs help!" She headed to the window and pointed her tire up at the frozen moon. "Moon, heed what I say!"
Through the ice, the moon glowed a bright icy blue before beaming it's light towards where the group were running from.
"Woah, what that?!" Zeg cried out as the beams reached out to them.
"I'm not sure..." Blaze hissed.
Only Crusher knew where the beams came from and knew what they did. He beamed as he skidded to a stop and drove towards the beams, much to the other's surprise.
"What are you doing?!" Darington cried.
"Don't worry!" Crusher assured them as he stopped and waited for a beam to reach him. "These are safe!"
At the touch of the beam, he levitated into the air, up and above, safe from the magic tornadoes.
"Whooaaaaaa..."
"Come on!" Crusher urged them. "Let's go!"
The others nodded and drove towards the beams. At once, the beams levitated them in the air, causing them to levitate over each and every one of the magic tornadoes.
"This... this is incredible!" Blaze gasped. "It's like the moonbeams are magic!"
'Thank you, sister dearest.' Crusher sighed in relief as they waited for the tornadoes to disappear into dust.
As soon as the tornadoes vanished, they were lowered down onto the ground. The beams then disappeared as if they never came.
"Wow... that was amazing!" Stripes cheered.
"Crusher, how did you know that would happen?" AJ asked.
"Erm, experience," Crusher grinned nervously. "I mean, I've travelled through here before, so... yeah, I knew that would happen,"
"Oh... ok." AJ nodded slowly, a little unconvinced.
"Let's keep going," Blaze encouraged them. "The sooner we get to the kingdom, the sooner we can bring back day time,"
They all nodded, and Crusher turned to lead them off once more.
Meanwhile, Solano watched in rage as the beams from the moon helped the group escape his obstacles.
"DRAT!" he snarled. "How did those moonbeams help them?! Argh, must be that pesky queen and her powers. Not sure why she'd help a bunch of strangers, but I know what to do to stop them,"
He took out a few crystals from his pocket and blew them into the air, releasing a mist to blow towards where the group was heading. The mist surrounded the group, blocking their path.
"Hey... where'd this come from?" Starla asked, irritated.
"I can't see... even with the speed lights on!" Stripes hissed.
"How are we gonna get through if we can't see?" AJ asked.
"Gabby, is there any way we can make the speed lights brighter?" Blaze turned to the mechanic.
"I can try," Gabby replied as she took out her tools. "but it won't be easy. This mist is impossible to see through,"
Meanwhile, Moonbeam sighed as she watched the mist surround and practically blind the group from reaching their destination.
"I better give them a hand..."
She raised her tire to command the moon, which lit up brightly through the ice. At once, the moon lit up a path through the mist for the group to see.
"Whoa..."
Crusher sighed in relief and drove ahead to lead the group. He was gonna owe Moonbeam big time for this.
"Come on! The path's lit up! Let's go!"
"Right behind ya!" Blaze grinned.
They all followed nodded and followed after the dark blue truck. The path twisted and turned a corner, over and over. With every pass, the path of light behind them lost it's shine. Finally, they managed to make it through the mist.
"We made it!" AJ cheered.
"That was too close!" Watts let out sigh.
"Guys... I think someone might be helping us," Darington pointed out.
Pickle nearly choked on those words. Crusher began to sweat but kept his nervousness hidden.
"Wh-What makes you say that?"
"I mean, come on!" Darington insisted. "Someome obviously made the moonbeams magic so we could get past the tornadoes, and made the path appear so we could find our way out of the mist."
"B-But if someone WAS helping us, wh-where could they be, hmm?" Crusher questioned with a little gulp.
"But Crusher, it would make sense that someone's helping us," Blaze told him.
"I-I guess..." Crusher hissed and turned away. "Let's... Let's just get to the kingdom. It's just over these mountains after all,"
As he drove off to lead, the group exchanged glances at one another at his strange behavior.
"Is it just me, or was Crusher acting nervous when he was trying to insist that no one's helping us?" Stripes questioned.
"I don't know... but he is leading us, so I don't think we should say anything." Blaze suggested.
The group sighed and nodded before they followed after the dark blue truck.
Back at the park, Solano was fuming at the sight of the group nearing the kingdom.
"HOW DID THEY GET PAST MY MIST?! IT'S AN IMPOSSIBLE MIST!" he snarled. "Well, they're not going to get past my little pets!"
He lifted his moonstone up, and it gave a glow as it reached the mountain tops. There, the moon leopards appeared, growling hungrily before they made their way towards the group, who were climbing up themselves.
"Almost... there-"
"WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS?!" Blaze cried out.
"Moon leopards!" Stripes hissed as they all backed up. "I've read about them before. They grow stronger at the light of the moon,"
"Ohhhhh why did the moon have to be big and bright tonight...?!" Starla growled.
"Then we can already guess who's been trying to stop us from reaching the kingdom," AJ gritted his teeth. "Solano!"
"How do we get past these?!" Watts cried.
"They say in the books that the moon leopards prey on living creatures but obey the royals of the Moon Kingdom," Stripes told them.
"But no one here is a royal!" Blaze argued.
'Shoot, sis, we're gonna need a little help here...' Crusher gulped, glancing up at the moon as his eyes flashed icy blue.
From the castle, Moonbeam heard his call and nodded. She raised her tire towards the mountains and called on the moon to help her. At once, a beam from the moon appeared, creating an illusion of her but cloaked right above a cliff, just near where the group and the leopards stood.
"Who is that?" Watts asked with a whisper.
The illusion turned to them before turning to the leopards, raising her tire. "Leopards of the Moon, heed me! Stand down!"
At once, the moon leopards obeyed and sat down like tamed pets. The group were astonished.
"Whoa... now they're like common house kitties!" Pickle cooed.
Crusher sighed in relief as Blaze turned towards the illusion. "Thank you for helping us back there."
The illusion merely nodded, acknowledging them before disappearing into thin air.
"Whoa..."
"Wait, since the leopards obeyed her, does that mean that she could have been the queen or the princess of the Moon Kingdom?" Starla questioned.
"Could be," AJ nodded. "Let's get there and find out."
They all zoomed off, past the leopards. Crusher dragged behind a bit and petted the leopards before driving off to take the lead once more. They made it to the bottom of the mountain before heading through the nearby forest. After a few twists and turns, they managed to get to an arc made of black stone with a crescent moon symbol above.
"This is it!" the dark blue truck beamed. "We're here!"