CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: The Wrap-Up.

The sun shone brightly on the flowing fields of Spiral Mountain, meeting a warm breeze that crept along the land. The birds had all returned, a long time hidden from the dangers that had once ravaged the place. But there was no fear, no peril. The secret items had done well to remove the evils there, and both the spiral and the lair it led to were repaired. Far above this, where the large stone head of Grunty once stood, were the effigies of the lost STOP 'N SWOP crew members.

------

Jolly Roger Lagoon had undergone a change. It now had a shore extending far into the horizon, and aquatic life thrived in the enchanted waters that had been filled with the help of a weasel and a rat. The place had been retruned to the mighty center of commerce and tourist attraction it once was.

Jolly Roger himself, it seemed, was doing his best jig performance yet. "Hooray, hooray for the bird and bear, for doing the greatest deed! They fought and they fought -- they learned and they taught -- and the eggs came in times of need!"

Banjo, Kazooie, Mary, Mumbo, and the mole family cheered. They could still remember that awe-inspiring night, and now, exactly one year later, they would commemorate the destruction of the witch.

Jolly continued, "Ding, Dong, Kluntilda's dead!"

"Which old witch?" asked Mary.

The frog paused. "Didn't I already say it was Klunty?"

Nearby, someone was tugging on Bottles sleeve. "Tell us again how you did it?" asked Squinty, no longer brainwashed. "Please?"

Bottles sighed. "Oh, all right." He recounted the tale: everything that happened in the stadium, in the tavern, inside Clanker, at Hailfire Peaks, on DK Isles, at the race, in the fortress, and finally in the sky.

"Wow!" said the mole siblings. Speccy adjusted her lenses. "I wanna be on adventures when I grow up!" she said cheerfully.

"A person can't BE on adventures," Kazooie explained. "Adventures just happen." The foam at the rim of the ginger beer she was holding slopped onto her wing tip. "Geez, I'd better get to drinking this."

"Meh," said Goggles. "Those types of things aren't for me. I wanna start a internet search engine!"

Mrs. Bottles stared. "Come again?"

"I wanna have a website named after me," the mole explained.

Kazooie laughed. "But you have such a silly name!" She continued her drink.

Near the bar, Miss Maggie Malpass was having her way with a weakened Mumbo. "You're all mine!" she squealed.

"Where zapping stick when Mumbo need one?" he moaned.

"So, wait a minute," said Squinty. "What happened with the eggs and spellbooks?"

Bottles looked seriously disturbed. "Whatever's left of them is scattered throughout the Isle o' Hags -- maybe even farther. Banjo, Kazooie and I have only managed to get about one third of it all."

"That's right," Banjo added. "If we ever find enough of 'em, maybe they can come back."

"I would like that," said Squinty.

"I would like that too," said Bottles.

The team of hippos lining the bar raised their jugs. "To the STOP 'N SWOPPERS!" they declared.

Ungry wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. "Blubber ol' boy, you did a great job."

"Thank you, sir," said Blubber, holding the carbon dioxide in. "It was really nothing."

"Are you kidding?" said the captain. "Ye saved our lives!"

"Yeah whatever," said the sailor.

"In fact, I'm promoting you to second in command -- you are now our standing captain."

Blubber let off a sandstorm of gas. "Oh, thank you, sir. Thank you so much!"

"Not only that," he continued, "but as soon as the Salty Hippoine is built, you'll have yer own ship."

"What's that smell?" asked Mary. "Did someone mess himself?"

------

Outside, sitting on the edge of the water, two Jinjos were in the middle of a discussion. "So," one of them spoke, "Is the witch gone?"

"Bah, who knows," said the other. "Three strikes, you're out, maybe?"

"Not sure about that," said the Jinjo. "But wait... who was that head on a stick over at the Village?"

"That's Klungo. Weren't you listening?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." He lifted a bucket full of fishing bait. "Need any more, Molly?"

"No thanks, but thanks," she said.

"You're welcome anyway," said Leaky.

Molly's line suddenly strained. "I think I got something!" She tugged with all her might, and a fish popped out through the surface.

"A goldfish?" said the other Jinjo. "What are the chances of that happening?"

"That's what I'd like to know," said Roysten.

Far beyond the shores of the Lagoon, the deep, majestic underworld of the sea sits unmoving, quiet. The eerily still waters shift only for a massive anglerfish, one with a platinum Jiggy swinging over his head, vowing to persue his defeater.

But somewhere, infused with the nature of the ocean, a being of increasing power is manifesting herself... waiting...

-THE END-