Mumbo slowly got up from where he was and made his way over to the duo. "Well done." He smiled, still deciding to use his "old speech". "Now we take fight to evil witch."
Hearing that name made Banjo start to quiver again and Kazooie to shrink back into her bag. "F-fight G-grunty? A-are you sure we'll be able to defeat her?"
Before Mumbo could say anything, Lucario stepped up and put his hand on the bear's shoulder. "You are the strongest of all of us, Banjo. If anyone can defeat her, it's you."
This seemed to cheer the bear up, believing the Pokemon to be telling the truth. "Thanks"
Kazooie then popped up from Banjo's backpack. "What about me? This furball would be nothing without me!" she bragged.
"It is by your combined effort that your strength is so formidable"
"That's right, dog breath!"
"Let us get going now. Our foe awaits us" said Ryu decisively. "Where should we be headed, master?"
"Wait! Why are you calling that skullbrain master?" interjected Kazooie.
"Because he has been teaching us about how to use his magic. We've yet to know how to use it correctly, so we've left it as a last-ditch effort." said Ryu.
"Huh. Come to think of it, we've never thought of having Mumbo just teach us how to use his magic, have we Kazooie?"
"Nope."
Mumbo smiled at his friends. "Magic is very powerful, would take many years to learn." He then pointed out of the house in the direction of the cave where he, Lucario and Ryu had fought Klungo. "We must go to witch's lair, her tower, in Spiral Mountain."
And so, they took off to their new destination. The trek was long, but they went in relative silence.
Ryu was steeling himself for an even bigger fight than the last, knowing that he wouldn't allow himself to be defeated like the last time. He needed to prove that he was still capable to fight, no matter the foe. That he could overcome this challenge like he did so many in the past.
Lucario was prepared for the next fight, taking his last loss in stride. He'd lost fights in the past and that had only allowed him to grow stronger, wiser and more attuned with his Aura. He was also keeping a close eye on the others' auras, especially Banjo's and Kazooie's. That they're calm now doesn't mean they won't panic the moment they set eyes on their enemy. I need to be prepared for that.
Banjo was nervous, but also strangely calm. He wasn't looking forward to meeting Grunty, but he kept reminding himself of the victory over her robotic minion, as well as his previous times they'd defeated the witch herself. I can do it! Besides, Kazooie was hyped up and back to her old self, which meant she knew they could do it again, didn't it?
Lastly, Kazooie was raring to go. She'd forgotten all about her previous fear and had only one thought in her mind: Let's show that hag what we're capable of! For me and for Banjo! She knew how nervous Banjo was, and if she didn't put her best foot forward right now, he'd lose his spirit. That's why she needed to show him that they were more than capable to defeat her.
Finally, they arrived at the front door to the witch's lair. "I can sense somebody inside, with a great amount of aura even for such a big body." noted Lucario.
"That's gotta be that old bag of bones!" exclaimed Kazooie.
"Isn't she young now?" asked Banjo.
"Don't you know by now? She's always going to have the spirit of an ugly old hag!" replied Kazooie.
Meanwhile, in the farthest reaches of the desolate tower…
A beautiful, green skin toned young woman with fangs and a black dress and high heels was standing in front of a mirror, doing various stretching exercises. "Ah, what a wonderful day. Nothing can possibly ruin it."
Gruntilda stood and walked over to a spell tome. "I'll have to thank that Dharkon fellow for fixing that annoying speech problem…"
Back at the lair entrance…
The rag-tagged group entered the witch's lair and looked around.
There was a picture of the normal Grunty hanging on the wall opposite the entrance, a raised area to the left, a dirt path to the direct left of the picture, and a path that led to Mumbo's Mountain on the right.
"We take the dirt path." Mumbo exclaimed as he walked over to it.
The path took them up the tower and into a new room. It contained a few enemies: three goblin-like creatures called Grublins, two ants called Tickers and a sentient beehive.
The group easily dispatched these foes and continued onwards.
Meanwhile, Grunty had been alerted to the group's presence. "How!?" She yelled. "How did they become their old selves!? And they have help?"
The Witch used a magic spell to gaze at the group as the continued to climb the tower. "…Dharkon told me about those two… No matter, there's nothing they can do to free themselves…"
Room after room, they cleared it of enemies. Ryu with clear precision and strength, Lucario by prediction and strength of his aura and Banjo and Kazooie by raw power and teamwork. No foe stood a chance.
Finally, they nearly reached the top of the tower. Lucario was fully alert now, feeling the source of great aura close in as they climbed. "The witch is just outside. I can feel her strong aura as we speak."
"Then it is time to face her" commented Ryu.