"Somewhere Only We Know"

Shantae traversed the cubic stones that extended from the ground of the otherworldly cavern. The purple, pink, and red glow cast on the walls from a source unknown guided the way. The cavern opened into a massive space where a village had been carved out of towering pillars of rock. Through the orange haze, Shantae walked toward the heart of the Village of Lost Souls.

No one greeted Shantae upon her arrival. The village seemed all but abandoned.

After days of travel and little sleep, Shantae allowed herself to take a break. She sat on the windowsill of the nearest building, resting her head against the cold stone that bordered the window, and gazed out at the rest of the village.

In her solitude, Shantae spoke.

"Hey . . . sorry I haven't talked to you in a little while . . . I just . . . I've been busy . . . . I saw Uncle the other day. He seemed . . . good. He let me borrow his boat. I . . . I wanted to talk to him about . . . you know . . . but, I-I just couldn't. I don't know . . . ."

Shantae held a hand to her heart. "The tear . . . lately . . . I feel it there . . . more and more each day. I just don't understand. There's so much I don't understand . . . . I-I really wish I could hear you right now. I really wish I could hear you tell me that it's all going to be okay . . . that I'm going to find her. Please . . . please tell me that I'm going to find her . . . ."

The small, fleeting hope that maybe this would be the time she'd finally hear that answer—the answer she'd been waiting her entire life to hear—held her in place. But, as always, Shantae was met with nothing but silence. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes tight. By the time she opened them again, she was ready to continue her search—alone.

Risky slowly paced around the glowing crystal spire as her tinkerbats worked tirelessly to build on and refine the machinery attached to its base.

Off to the side, Sky, still in immense pain, glared at Mimic while he remained lost in thought. "Mimic . . . would you please just start telling your stupid story already! I have a headache like you wouldn't believe, and you are not helping!"

"Oh, right. Sorry . . ." he said before clearing his throat. "Okay . . . so, not too long after the Dynamo incident, I made a trip out to the volcano where Risky had built that monstrosity. It was a long shot, but I wanted to see if there was anything salvageable from her hideout. All I found were these." Mimic reached into one of his jacket pockets and pulled out a handful of small crystals.

"Light Shards?" Sky asked.

"No," Mimic said, "these are known as Genie Crystals. Risky used them to locate the spot in Sequin Land where the barrier between our world and the Genie Realm was weakest. I didn't know much, but I did know that something wasn't right about them."

Mimic held one out closer for Sky to see. "Notice its glow? It's faint. The shine is far weaker than a Genie Crystal should have. At first, I thought that perhaps these particular crystals were affected by what happened during the incident, but then I sought out more . . . other Genie Crystals hidden across Sequin Land. And guess what? The glow of those Genie Crystals were just as faint."

"Why?"

Mimic pointed at Risky. "She's why."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Risky said, rolling her eyes.

"After she invaded the Genie Realm, the Genies clearly took action to make sure their barrier could not be so easily breached again. In other words, instead of putting up another fence, they built a wall . . . one that no one could get around. Their connection to our world is so weak that it's nearly nonexistent. That connection can be seen in the glow of these crystals. That's why their light is so faint."

"The truth," Risky said with a toothy grin, "is that they're a bunch of cowards that couldn't stand the reality that they were outsmarted by a pirate."

Mimic ignored her and continued. "After my discovery, I knew I had to do something. Our world needs the Genies. I don't know if they've forgotten that this was their home once, too, but—but they can't just lock us out and expect Shantae to save us every time evil strikes! How is that fair to her? Hasn't she given enough already?"

Mimic paused, realizing the rising tension in his voice. He took a moment to collect himself before starting again. "A-Anyway, I began studying the Genie Crystals in greater detail and found out that when Genies were a part of our world, they would use their magic on these crystals to create a form of communication during emergencies. Essentially, they used these to send distress signals that other Genies could receive no matter where they were. Having learned this, I started running experiments on the ones I collected to see if I could recreate one of these distress signals."

"But they're too weak," said Sky.

Mimic nodded. "The barrier between our worlds has grown too strong. That's when I remembered something your father once told me. A discovery he made that he told no one else about."

"Dad? My dad?" Sky said, "what's he got to do with any of this?"

Mimic stood up and walked over to the glowing spire of crystal. "Your father found this—a deposit of Genie Crystal in its purest form. If this is activated correctly, I believe it can act as a beacon of sorts . . . sending a signal strong enough to get through the barrier."

"Why didn't Dad tell anyone else about it?"

"Because unlike Genie Crystal shards which are incredibly resilient and harmless, pure Genie Crystal is incredibly fragile and volatile. And with the size of this deposit as large as it is, if you made one wrong move around this thing, you could create an explosion that would destroy a good part of Scuttle Town."

"Are you serious?" Sky shouted, "Mimic! You let Risky Boots and her weirdo tinkerbats near something that could destroy Scuttle Town?"

"Part—part of Scuttle Town . . . and I didn't exactly have a say in the matter once she found out what I was doing! I also happen to believe she's not interested in destroying Scuttle Town . . . at least not at the moment."

"Mimic . . . she's playing you. Again. How many times does this need to happen before you get that through your head!"

"Wow," Risky said with a chuckle, "even birdbrain sees how much of stooge you are, Mimic."

"Isn't this exactly why Shantae got upset with you?"

Mimic bowed his head. "I know! I know! I am an old fool! I get it! I put everyone in danger . . . again. I know. But I really believe this will work out. Then, once the Genie Beacon is complete, and we contact the Genies, I'm done. For good. You and Shantae won't have to worry about me causing any more problems. I swear."

"Now, I see why you and my Dad get along so well," Sky said before turning her attention to Risky. "So . . . what's stopped you from blowing up Scuttle Town? Not enough puppies and kittens in the area for you to send up in flames?"

"While I do love the smell of burning town," Risky said with a glint in her eye, "this is far too valuable to waste blowing up your sad-sack town. As I said . . . the old fool here and I have a common interest."

"And what's that?"

"To get those cowardly Genies out of hiding, of course."

"So you can invade their realm again?"

"Maybe one day . . ." Risky smirked. "But in any case, I want them in the game. Now that I know how easily corruptible they are, they pose no threat to me. In fact, I see them only as potential tools for me to use. And powerful ones at that."

"Oh, that's comforting to hear," Sky said, shaking her head. Using all her strength, Sky fought through the pain to finally sit up. She rested her back against the cavern wall, breathing heavily, as she studied the deposit of pure Genie Crystal. "So . . . you really think you can contact the Genies using this Genie Beacon of yours?"

"If we do things just right . . . yes," Mimic said, "yes, I do. We're only missing one piece of the puzzle."

"And what's that?"

"A Light Shard. But not your everyday Light Shard. We need one that's big. Really big. Turns out that's not so easy to find . . ."

Sky nodded slowly. "Okay then. Let's do it."

"You . . . want to help?"

"No, I don't want to help. I'll never trust her enough to want to help her do anything . . . but if we can use this to contact the Genies . . . then it might be the only way to save the zombie people."

Mimic smiled. "Then welcome aboard. Just be sure to keep things under wraps, okay? We can't have the Royal Guard finding out about this."

Sky nodded again.

"Oh, come on," Risky scoffed, "this brat can't even help herself. How is she going to be of any use to me?"

"We can use an extra hand," Mimic growled at Risky before turning back to Sky. "But you need time to rest. To regain your strength. Okay?"

Sky narrowed her eyes. Using the wall, Sky climbed to her feet, shouting through the immense pain. She glared at Risky with her hands on her knees, gasping. Risky lifted her eyebrows ever so slightly as she watched her regain her ground.

"No," Sky said, "there is no time. And besides . . . I think I already have what we need."

Building-by-building, hour-after-hour, Shantae searched. But after an entire day of rummaging about, nothing—living or otherwise—was found. So, with a heavy heart, she ended her search.

Just as Shantae started on her journey home, a rustling noise stopped her in her tracks.

She spun around to see a shadow disappear down a gap between buildings. She rushed toward the tight alleyway and peered inside. In the middle of the alleyway, a small dog wagged its tail as it scratched at the ground. The dog paid Shantae no mind as she slowly approached.

"Aww," she said, "what are you doing here, little guy? This isn't a place for a cutie like you!"

The dog kept on scratching the ground, letting out a "bork!"

"There's nothing there, you goofball," said Shantae with a smile. She read the tag on the dog's collar. "Wobble Bell, huh? What an adorable name! I feel like I've heard it before . . . must be a popular name for cutie-pies like you! Now, come on. Let's get you out of—"

Suddenly, Shantae noticed a rumbling sound coming from somewhere in the distance. She quickly made her way to the end of the alleyway and peeked her head out to look.

Her jaw dropped.

From over the far ridge, a horde of monsters burst into view. Hissing nagas slithered over the rocks. Reapers and ghosts floated, moaning and screeching, high in the air. The creatures of the mud bog flowed together like an ocean of oil. All moved in the direction of the village.

Shantae slid back behind the cover of the buildings, standing flat against the wall as she tried to calm herself and think of a plan. Having no way of escaping without being spotted, Shantae knew that hiding was her best option.

She turned to look back down the alley. Wobble Bell was nowhere to be seen. For just an instant, Shantae caught movement in a chunk of the alleyway floor—at the same spot that Wobble Bell had been scratching.

She rushed to the area and examined the ground, finding creases in the rock bed. After failing to pry up the chunk of rock with her fingers, Shantae resorted to pounding on the piece of ground.

"Hey!" she shouted over the growing cacophony of noise that consumed the air, "I know someone's down there!"

"Who is this?" a deep voice called from the other side.

"Someone who needs help! Open up!"

"How do I know you tell truth? What if you are . . . sneaky snake woman?"

"I'm not a sneaky snake woman! But I'm about to become a sneaky snake woman snack if you don't let me in!"

After a brief pause, the rock began to shift in place. One massive hand lifted the rock high enough for Shantae to quickly slide under and out of view of the army of monsters pouring over the village.

Shantae fell into a narrow alcove, landing on gravel. The only light in the alcove snuck in through the cracks in the rocks above.

After taking a moment to catch her breath, Shantae stood up and looked back at the hulking figure who let her in. Draped in shadow, the man's features remained unintelligible. He held Wobble Bell gently under his arm.

Just a few moments later, the monster army swarmed directly overhead. The alcove shook under their presence, sending dust and bits of rock raining down. But once they passed, all was quiet again.

"Thank you, sir! You really saved my skin!" Even though he was draped in shadow, Shantae instantly recognized the man. "Hey," she said with a smile, "Do you remember me? We met last time I was here."

"Eh . . . no. Sorry, young lady. Memory not so good."

"That's all right. Do you remember monsters acting like this? Has that always happened?"

"I think no. Only recent."

"Where are the others who live here . . . in the village?"

"Hiding . . ." the man said with a sigh. "I do not like this hiding business. I want to show monster my fist . . . maybe smash with ladder. But I cannot. I must protect little doggy and good girl."

"Good girl? Do you mean the girl with the glasses? Really sweet and friendly?"

The man nodded. "You know good girl? How is this?"

"She—she's a friend."

"Friend, you say?" the man said, studying Shantae with his head tilted back.

"Yes! Do you know what happened to her? Where is she?"

The man gave no answer. Instead, he began walking deeper into the alcove. "Come now. Follow."

They reached a dead-end where the man paused. He turned to Shantae and said, "hold little dog," before handing Wobble Bell to Shantae without waiting for her response. He grabbed a rock that jutted out from the wall and pulled it loose to reveal a hole. After sticking his hand in the hole, the man pulled out a cloth sack. He handed Shantae the sack and took Wobble Bell back under his arm.

"Why are you giving me this?" Shantae asked before glimpsing inside. "Is this . . . coffee?"

"Memory not so good. But this? I cannot forget. Never."

"I . . . don't understand."

"Good girl . . . right now . . . she is . . . not so good."

Shantae's stomach twisted.

"Before she get, eh . . . sick . . . girl give me this," the man said, pointing to the coffee. "She make trade for it . . . give up her 'most important thing.'"

"Most important—do you mean . . . her locket?" Shantae said, holding a hand to her mouth. "She traded away her locket for a sack of coffee grounds? Why?"

"I know not. But she tell me . . . 'give to friend.' I make promise. So, I protect. Now I give to you."

Shantae stared down at the sack of coffee for a moment before returning her eyes to the man. "Where is she now?"

The man pointed even deeper into the alcove. Then he turned and started back toward the entrance. Before disappearing from view, the man paused. "I try to help girl. Doggy try too. Still nothing. Maybe you help her? Maybe . . . ."

Shantae made her way to the end of the alcove, which opened up into a circular room. At the center of the room stood a wooden platform slightly elevated above the gravel floor. A single stream of light poured across the room. On the platform sat the human girl with the red-framed glasses who shared more than just the appearance of Shantae's zombie friend. She was seated cross-legged, facing away from where Shantae entered.

"Hello?" Shantae said.

When Shantae received no response, she slowly began to walk around the room until they met face-to-face.

The girl had no expression. She stared straight ahead, unblinking.

"Hey . . . there . . ." Shantae said, swallowing hard, "are you—can you hear me?"

No response.

Shantae looked down for a moment. When she returned her focus on the girl, she put on a smile once more and tried again. "Do you remember me? We met a while back . . . I found that locket of yours." Shantae held up the sack of coffee. "That man . . . he told me that you traded it away . . . for this."

Suddenly, to Shantae's shock, the girl moved. Although she kept silent and her gaze remained transfixed, she held a finger to her lips.

"You . . . want me to keep quiet about it?"

The girl nodded.

Shantae lowered the coffee. "Okay . . . that's fine. We don't have to talk about that. Can I ask you about something else? You don't have to speak. You can just nod or shake your head."

The girl nodded.

"Okay . . . okay, great! Um . . . so . . . I was told that you . . . weren't feeling so good. Is that true?"

She nodded again.

"The last time I was here . . . you told me about your dreams . . ." As soon as Shantae spoke the word "dreams," the girl shuddered. "Does this . . . the reason you don't feel good . . . does it have something to do with your dreams?"

In long, drawn-out motions, the girl nodded.

"O-Okay . . ." Shantae said, fidgeting in place, "is she—I mean, you . . . the you in your dreams . . . is that you . . . gone?"

To Shantae's relief, the girl shook her head.

"Is that you . . . in danger?"

Tears began to well in her eyes. She slowly nodded her head.

Shantae rubbed her hands over her face. "Okay . . . okay . . . is—is there something I can do? To save you—the you in your dreams?"

The girl neither nodded nor shook her head. Instead, for the first time, she made eye contact with Shantae. The sudden move caused Shantae to recoil slightly.

"Wh-Where are you?" Shantae said, "in your dreams . . . where are you? That's all I need to know! I can save you! Please . . . just tell me where you are!"

The girl blinked several times. A smile crept across her face. Leaning forward, she opened her mouth to speak in barely audible whispers. "You don't need to save her. She is saved. You . . . you need to be saved . . . healed . . . made whole. Like us."

Shantae took a step back. "Wh-What are you saying?"

"Come home. We all have been set free. You can come to us. We didn't want you to be here during the pulse. We didn't want you to have to go through that pain again. But that's all over. So, it's safe for you now."

"Pulse? What pulse? What does that mean?"

"Just come. Come back. We're waiting. She's waiting . . . for you to join us."

Shantae grabbed her by the shoulders. "What happened? Tell me! Please!"

She offered no response. Instead, her expression faded and her gaze dropped to look straight ahead.

She was lost once again.

With eyes squeezed shut, Bolo knocked on his forehead, hoping to jar loose whatever it was that he couldn't quite recall.

His concentration was broken when Batty placed a hand on his shoulder. "Bolo . . . are you okay?"

"Oh . . . I just can't shake this feeling that I'm forgetting something . . ."

"There's nothing else for us to do . . . yet," said CrabStar. "We've got eyes everywhere we need them . . . the coffee has been taken care of . . . so, now we just have to wait here in the Tower for—"

Bolo gasped. "The coffee!" he said, gripping his head between his hands, "I can't believe I—" Bolo paused to look at the monsters. "I-I've got to go . . . I'm sorry . . ."

"Go?" Batty asked with a downturned mouth, "why? What's wrong?"

"The coffee . . . I'm supposed to be looking for the coffee!"

"Oh, you mustn't have been around to hear . . . that's all done now. We found it all . . . and destroyed it."

Bolo's heart sank. "D-Destroyed? You destroyed it all?"

"Yup! And not a single human or half-zombie knew a thing! It really is incredible what we monsters can do when we work together. And we haven't even been assimilated by the Grey, yet! Imagine what we can do when we're all part of the true Collective! It's so exciting, isn't it?"

"The coffee . . ." Bolo said, "why did you—I mean, why did we have to destroy it?"

The monsters looked at one another.

"We . . . don't really know," said CrabStar. "It's what the Chosen wanted."

"But the zombie people . . . they needed it."

"Do you have zombie friends?" asked Dr. GhostPants.

Bolo nodded.

"Well, you don't have to worry," said Batty with a soft smile, "they'll be just fine. All of them. You'll get to see your friends here as soon as the Final Hunt is over."

"And, you know," said CrabStar, "I heard that coffee is actually bad for them . . . the zombies. It's what prevents the half-zombies from becoming full zombies. Who did I hear that from?"

"It was that zombie girl," said Dr. GhostPants, "the one that acts like a half-zombie."

Bolo's head perked up. "Zombie girl? What zombie girl?"

"Oh . . . what's her name? She's been here from the beginning . . . I think she's, like, the Chosen's messenger, or something. She's the only one who goes in or out of their room."

"Rottytops . . . is her name Rottytops?"

"Yeah! That's it! So you know her, too, huh?"

"Yeah, she's my friend!" Bolo said, his heart racing. "Wh-where? Where is she?"

"Probably at the top of the Tower," said Batty. "That's where the Chosen are. If she's really their messenger, then she's probably with them."

Bolo gazed up at the impossible heights once more with his mouth agape. "The top?"

"You can't fly or warp, can you?" asked Dr. GhostPants.

"No . . . I wish."

"Would you wish for me to summon a portal for you?" asked BirdFace.

"You can make portals? Yeah, that'd be great!"

BirdFace smiled. "Wonderful! Now, just afford me a moment here . . . I find the, uh, summoning process to be slightly more . . . difficult . . . when others are, um . . . in observance. It is a condition, you see . . . ."

But before BirdFace could even begin his summoning, he froze.

Bolo quickly noticed that the other monsters—all the thousands of them in his sight—also froze in place. Bolo waved a hand in front of Batty's face, but she offered no reaction whatsoever.

Then, just as suddenly, the monsters unfroze. They looked around at one another with big eyes.

"That . . . that was incredible!" said Batty, beaming. She wiped tears from the corner of her eyes. "I-It was so clear! Did you all hear it, too? Feel it?"

The others, who were also beaming and wiping away tears of their own, nodded enthusiastically. They all eyed Bolo when they realized he wasn't sharing in their joy.

"Uh . . . oh . . . yeah . . . that was, um . . . that was something, wasn't it?" Bolo said, forcing a smile.

Dr. GhostPants squealed, "I'm so excited!" before she flew in circles around the group, giggling.

"So this is it . . ." said CrabStar. "It's really happening . . . like, right now! I'm kind of nervous . . ."

"Don't worry," said Batty, "everything has gone exactly as planned. At this point, nothing can go wrong."

With his mouth hung open, Bolo blinked as he observed the others.

"Bolo," BirdFace said, grabbing his attention, "I am deeply sorry that I am unable to reunite you with your friend at this time . . . but . . . what if you were to pick the location of our Final Hunt in consolation?"

"Um . . ."

"That's a great idea, BirdFace!" said Batty, "Bolo . . . where should we go to get our Tributes?"

"Tributes, huh? Haha . . . wow . . . we're just throwing out weird words left and right today, aren't we? Good thing I, uh, know everything about Trib—Trib—uh, Tribunes, or whatever. So, you know, it's—it's tough. It's a tough choice. I mean, how could I choose?"

"Come on! There's got to be somewhere!"

"Anywhere?"

"Anywhere."

"Well, okay then . . . I guess I have a place in mind."