Brandy's Bizarre Adventure

by Von Reivanon

Brandy the Bandit lives happily with her king Oticat, her best friend Dan the Knight, and the rest of her fellow troops. But when the dark machinations of an evil King and an evil Clan start to tumble into motion, her life is thrown into chaos. Rated T for intense action, peril, heavy themes, and slightly suggestive content. And yes, there are lots and lots of JoJokes.

9. Chapter 9

"I… I mean… wow. God.", Brandy said. "Okay."

She looked at the man in brown, still walking toward her. The aura of calm surrounding him seeped into the grass, and it grew taller and stronger with every footstep.

"Which one?", Brandy asked. "I know there's Se'th, and Dr'ew, and T'im, but which one are you?"

God winked, and stood next to Brandy. Even though he had seemed much taller before, his height had mysteriously adjusted to be as tall as Brandy was. "Oh no, I'm none of those. You see, I am no mere god of balance- I am the god of the entire Royale Continent. My power is absolute over its entirety."

"God of this continent…", Brandy said. "Does that mean that there are gods of all of the other continents, too?"
"Yes.", said God. "But it's been such a long time since I've seen them, I've quite forgotten their names. I'm currently the only one awake."

"Awake?", Brandy asked. "Are the others asleep?"

"Yes.", said God. "They're taking their routine centennial slumber, while I keep watch. And before you ask, no, they're not asleep because the world is dying, or an ancient evil is awakening, or anything like that. So don't worry."

"Oh. Good.", Brandy said. "I wasn't thinking so, but that's good to know."

"I suppose you're wondering why I came.", God said, and waved his hand. There appeared a small blanket, just large enough for the two of them. On it was a magically bubbling teakettle, two full tea sets, and several small, multicolored pouches.

"Sit down. Have some tea.", he said, and gestured to the set. "I'll tell you all about it."

"Should I?", Brandy asked. "I don't really drink tea."

"Oh, don't worry.", God said. "It's fine. My own specialty blend."

With another flick of his finger, a teacup floated into Brandy's waiting hands. He gave a small nod, and the bubbling kettle rose off its stand and poured a nice steaming pool of tea.

Brandy looked to God for encouragement, and he nodded. "Drink it, Brandy. I shouldn't have to tell you."

Brandy tipped the teacup into her mouth, and drank the slightly glowing tea. Instantly, a warm, comforting sensation filled her, spiraling down through her torso and into every part of her body. But the tea affected her not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. She felt the aching that had been part of her for weeks melt away, fading into the night and the warmth. The aura of confusion that had taken such firm root in her mind shriveled and withered to nothing, leaving only calm thoughts and tranquil order.

Brandy lifted the now empty teacup from her lips, and gasped. If she could see herself in that moment, she would have seen the Red fade from her eyes, a slight blue glow spreading over her skin as the last evil influence was banished from her at last. But even though she could not see it, she felt it- real, true, peace at last.

She turned to God, tears of joy welling up in her eyes. "You…", she said, and gently set the teacup down. God opened his arms, and Brandy nearly tackled him in a hug.

"I… I didn't know what I was doing…", she sniffed, and pushed harder. "I…"

"No, don't worry Brandy.", God said, giving her a pat on the back. "It'll be alright. Everything will. Don't worry. You don't have to be afraid anymore. They're gone. Everything will work out."

The hug lasted for 8 more seconds, then Brandy broke it off. She sat down on the grass next to God overlooking the ocean, and took a deep breath of the salty night air.

"I heard you, Brandy.", said God. "I heard your plea."
"Wait, what?", Brandy said. "What are you talking about?"

"I told you, I was telling you why I came.", said God. "I heard your plea, muffled as it was through the voice of demons. Now, I had some business to attend to, but I put it on hold. Saving an attacked soul was far more important."

"Then… why didn't you help me earlier?", Brandy asked. "When all the other stuff was happening? Why didn't you save me in the canyon?"

"You didn't ask.", said God. "That's all you have to do. Ask, and it shall be given onto you."

Brandy quietly pondered this. "Oh.", she said, then reached for her teacup. "Say, do you have any more of that tea?"

God laughed, and poured her some more. "Take as much as you like. I have no limit."

Brandy took a gentle, deep sip from her cup, and God prepared one of his one. For several seconds they sat there in silence, just enjoying the atmosphere, the moonlight, each other's company, and, of course, the exotic flavors of the tea.

"What is this flavored as?", Brandy asked. "I can't quite tell. It doesn't seem like anything I've ever tasted."

God looked up into the sky, and pointed towards a bright star. "It's Fylanamar flavor. It comes from that star, right there."

Brandy looked up, and saw where he was pointing. "Huh. You mean, you just got it off of the star?"

"Oh, no.", God said. "I can see that my choice of words was not very specific- no, I got it off the third planet of the star. Tymonias."

"What do you mean, planet of the star?", Brandy asked in confusion. "Stars are just stars. There's no planets."

"Is that what they're teaching kids these days?", God whispered underneath his breath, then reached into a cookie tin that had appeared out of nowhere. He cracked open the metal lid and pulled out a spool of thread, then a shortbread wafer. He handed it to Brandy, who took it without hesitation. "Here.", he said. "Eat this. Then you'll see."

Brandy popped the shortbread into her mouth. It began to dissolve on her tongue, just as Brandy's sight dissolved into a vision.

She saw the stars above, what she had always assumed were just lights in the sky. But as the cosmic knowledge flashing inside her mind told her, they were in fact other suns, surrounded by other planets, with just as much fullness of life as her own.

"Woah…", Brandy said once the vision had faded. "I didn't know… that the universe was so big!"

"It's very big.", God said. "There's so much happening. Speaking of which…"

He stood up, and the blanket folded up, taking the tea things with it. Brandy quickly drank the last of her cup, before it too was folded into the blanket and into thin air. "I have to go now. Lots and lots of stuff to do. But before I do, do you have any questions for me?"

"Yes.", Brandy said. "Yes I do."

God sat down again, and Brandy got a misty look in her eyes as she recalled the events of the last few weeks. "Why me?", she asked. "Why did everything happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?"

God thought the best way to word his answer for Brandy's specific situation. He knew the answer, of course, knew it like the top of his own hat. Everyone he met or rescued asked this question sooner or later, and so he thought it would be best to have a specific answer ready.

"Because, Brandy,", he said, "It was part of the The Plan. You see, everything, even those things as awful as the ones that happened to you, happen for a reason. Nothing is without reason, and nothing is without consequence."

"But…", Brandy said. "But I'm a good person. Did they really have to be that awful?"

"Are you asking why bad things happen to good people? Because I have an answer for that too."

"Well-"

"Really, you're taking some very hard assumptions about the whole thing. You're assuming that things happen to people based on how good they are alone. But that's not true at all. Yes, ones who are good will find themselves on top in the end. But the real reason? You see, without bad things, there wouldn't be good people."

"What do you mean?", Brandy asked.

"Take, for example, your friend Dan.", said God, and waved his hand. A still image of Dan appeared in midair, hovering blue. "Before everything started, he was a fine young gentleman- but that's all he was. Then, once the bad things began to happen, he was motivated to become better. And that's the same way with you. Once everything blows over, Brandy, I guarantee you will be a better person because of this experience."

But Brandy was only halfway listening to his speech, eye-opening as it was. As soon as the holoimage of Dan had appeared, Brandy had been focusing on it alone. She hadn't even really thought about him for days- she had just been wallowing in her own depression. And now, once the cloud had been lifted, it occurred to her just how much she missed him. Her heart and soul ached, suddenly wanting nothing more than to see him again.

God stopped his speech, seeing the look of longing in Brandy's eyes. He slightly smiled, and the image vanished. He slung the tea things into nothing, and tipped his hat.

"I see you're thinking about your friend.", said God. "Good, that is what's supposed to be happening. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really do have to go."

"Wait!", Brandy said, and threw out her hands. "But- what about him? Will I ever see him again?"

She gestured to her torso. "And what about this? How is this going to work out?"

God spun on one heel, and gave her a mischievous grin. "The answer to all of those questions, Brandy, is yes."

And with that, he folded up, and vanished.

Brandy just stared at the air where he had been, in sheer amazement. The air still slightly sparkled, and the grass still waved with exuberant life. A small green and yellow bird flew past, gave a slight nod, and vanished into the trees.

Brandy smiled at the little bird, and looked up. The moon shone brightly overhead, its angle signaling that it was almost 9:00. The realization hovered around in Brandy's mind for a little while before it sank in.

"Oh, T'im!", she yelled out loud. "I've been gone for almost 2 hours! What was I thinking? I gotta head back!"

She turned to face the forest, and prepared to run- but she realized that she didn't actually know the way back. She had run blindly through the trees, not really caring about anything. Strangely enough, even though it had been less than 10 minutes ago, the time before God's help seemed so far away…

But those were thoughts for another time. Preferably when she was home, and not lost on the edge of the continent. Looking around to gather her bearings, Brandy saw that she was somewhere near Spell Valley. She put her hand to her ear and thought.

"Let's see…", she muttered to herself. "If I'm south of Spell Valley, and Oticat lives near Builder's Workshop, then…"

Brandy took a few measurements of the sky with her hands, and got the best path. She crouched down, and prepared once more to take off. "I just need to head southwest. I'll be there in no time."

Brandy sprinted off towards the trees, not aware that deep within, a pair of glowing green eyes watched her very carefully.

Song: Out of Control

Only mere seconds after she had vanished into the treeline, Chuck burst through a line of bushes. He pulled on Trigger's reins, bringing him to a sharp, screeching halt. Trigger reared up as the rest of the search party came to a stop behind him, milling around in circles as they scanned the area.

"See anything, Trevor?", asked T, ChupilickytwaCT's own Hog Rider. Gold dust gently drifted down from his hammer as he expertly checked the ground for any tracks.

"No, not yet.", said Trevor, the Hog Rider of SpaceKrakenX. "But I'll tell you when I do- no! Wait! There's something!"

He pointed to the ground where Brandy had been, and Chuck looked. He saw the footprints that Brandy had left on the way to the cliff, but not the ones she had left going away. Those ones had been erased by the massive spurt of grass growth caused by the presence of God.

Chuck took into account two facts. One was how close the footprints were to the edge of the cliff. The other was how they seemed to end. He put two and two together, and instantly assumed the worst.

Tentatively, he inched forward on Trigger and peeked over the edge, hoping that he would not see a splash of Elixir that had once been Brandy. He did not, for obvious reasons, but he did see something else.

"You see that, T?", Chuck asked, and pointed out to the water. If one looked hard enough, they could just see a churning trail of water, created by something swimming. The something was actually a Fisherman, thoroughly enjoying himself during his nightly swim. But Chuck did not know this, and automatically assumed that it was Brandy.

"Brandy!", he yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Where are you going? Come back!"

But the Fisherman, distracted as he was, only turned up the volume on his private stereo, putting on Alex Jones the Giant's greatest karaoke hits of Season 1, and cast out his net for what was sure to be a fun-filled night.

Chuck turned back to the group, his eyes wide with trepidation. "I have some bad news, fellas.", he said, and started mentally preparing what he was going to say to Oticat when he got back. "Brandy has jumped off the cliff, and is now heading for the Continent of the Clans."

T's eyes widened. Trevor gave a long, slow scratch down the side of his Hog's back. Another Hog Rider, Germal, merely fainted.

Brandy ran through the forest, trying to look for her previous path as she did so. If she managed to pick it up again, then finding her way back would be a cinch. Unfortunately, however, the forest was chaotic and cruel, and any traces of her previous path had been erased.

Brandy slowed to a stop, pausing to catch her breath. A sharp pain shot through her torso, and she was reminded of the child she still carried.

"Hoo boy.", she breathed, and sat down on a log. Not The Log, just a log. "Let's just rest for a moment, shall we?"

As she sat, breathing in the cool night air and trying not to make any harsh movements, a thought occurred to her. She wasn't sure where it came from, or what it had to do with the situation, but it was a thought nonetheless.

Why do Kings have such weird names? Regular Troops all have names like Robert, or Brandy, or Mike, but then Kings have names like Nineinchnails or Butterinthepan or Auroraborelais. Doesn't really make much sense, does it?

"No.", Brandy said out loud. "I suppose it doesn't."

Brandy Is that you?, the thought said again. Am I reading this right?

Brandy blinked in confusion. Were the thoughts coming from someone else? Was there someone around to put the thoughts into her head?

Who is that?, she thought back. Who's there?

Brandy, it's me!, the voice said urgently. It's-

But then a rolling pain shot through Brandy's mind, and the voice disconnected. She sat in silence for a few more seconds, wondering who it could have been, when she heard the faint sounds of crying. It sounded, from that distance, like a Goblin.

Song: Killer

Brandy got up, and looked around. She didn't see anywhere where a Goblin was, but if there was anyone in need, Brandy would help them.

The crying grew louder as Brandy walked forward, indicating that it was coming from somewhere in front of her. She squinted, trying to look for the source, and the moon shifted up above. A small beam of light fell from the sky to illuminate a single scarred Goblin, softly sobbing behind a rock.

Brandy crept up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump and screech.

"Woah, woah, don't freak out.", Brandy said. "Don't worry, I'm here to help. What's wrong, little guy?"

The Goblin looked up at her, wiping away no tears. He sniffed deeply, then said something in Gobbish that Brandy didn't understand in the slightest.

"What?", Brandy said. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that…"

The Goblin took a deep breath, and tried again in broken English. "Grug lose friend.", he said. "Grug and friend walk in tree. Grug look at shiny rock. Friend gone. Grug sad."

"Oh, that's terrible.", Brandy said. "Something like that happened to me once- but don't worry. I'll help you. Here-"

Brandy helped the Goblin to his feet, and she looked around for a sign of anymore. A faint warning bell rang at the back of her mind, but Brandy didn't really notice. "Where did your friend go?", she asked. "Did you see at least which way?"

The Goblin's grip on her hand grew tighter, and Brandy looked down to see why. Her mouth dried up, as she saw that the Goblin was grinning.

"Grug see friend.", he said. "Friend right behind you."

I knew it, Brandy said. I should have known.

She jumped backwards, away from the Goblin's grip, and saw another Goblin, running up behind her. He held a sharp knife- and from the look in his eye, intended to use it.

Brandy spun around on her foot, delivering a sharp kick to the Goblin's hand and sending the knife flying. She grabbed Grug by the neck and threw him into his friend, and they both collided with a rock.
"Any more friends I should know about, Grug?", she asked. "You little bugger? Tried to trick a Bandit in the forest? Really, you should know better."

Grug lifted his hand, shakily pointing a finger to somewhere behind Brandy. "Grug have… lot of friend.", he said. "Grug have many friend. Bandit make Grug friend… angry."

His arm fell, and he closed his eyes as he fell unconscious. Brandy looked around, and her eyes widened in shock. "Oh, crap.", she said.

There, among the treeline, was a veritable horde of Goblins. Some of them had already made it into the small clearing, others were hanging from the trees, and still more were hanging back, slowly running towards the front. They wore various tattoos of all shapes, sizes, and colors, and jeered at Brandy with expressions of jovial anger. There were Spear Goblins, Dart Goblins, old Goblins, Goblin Brawlers- but mostly just regular Goblins, the ones with knives. But soon enough, the crowd parted, and a huge, potbellied Goblin Giant stepped into the front. He dropped to one knee and squinted, taking a good long look at Brandy.

"Well, well, well.", he said in a deep, ragged rumble. "Lookie here, boys! I'd say we got ourselves a new one!"

The wall of Goblins cheered, some of them losing themselves in the raw excitement and falling down unconscious. A Dart Goblin blew some stray shots into the air, arcing away into the night.

"Now, miss, why don't you introduce yourself?", the Goblin Giant asked. "Before we start, and all."

"Now hold on.", Brandy said. "I think I know what you're going to try and do here."

"Oh really?", the Goblin Giant chuckled, and the two Spear Goblins on his back looked up from their game of poker to look at what was going on. "What, then, am I going to-"

"First, you're going to say- which shall it be, miss, your money or your life? Which is kind of ironic once you think about it, since I'm a Bandit and all. I'm the one who's supposed to be robbing people. And after that, I'm going to fight- of course, and I'm going to beat you, because I'm an expert fighter, and you're just a bunch of little forest buggers. Except for you, you're a big fat forest bugger. Then your last words will be: But… how? You were just one little Bandit… after which I will stab a branch through your head, kill your hitchhikers, and be on my way. Am I right?"

The Goblin Giant stared for a second, trying to remember everything Brandy had just said. But he gave up after a while, because he wasn't exactly that smart. He just grunted, and got up.

"Well, sort of.", he said. "You missed the part where since its clear that you're not going to give up, we just kill you with sheer force of numbers, after taking whatever you have on you. Which, by the way, is what?"

The Goblin army began to creep forward. Brandy concentrated Dash in her arms and legs, getting ready to strike. "I don't have anything.", Brandy said. "Nothing… but death."

Her eyes glinted, and she tensed. A group of Goblins rushed forward, spears and daggers in hand, and shrieked a battle cry.

Song: Overdrive

Brandy Dashed forward, planting her fist right through the nearest Goblin. His eyes twisted in shock before he popped into Elixir, sinking into the ground within seconds. Brandy ducked underneath the swung spear of another, and lashed out with her leg, snapping his leg off and killing him almost instantly. A Dagger swung at Brandy's throat, and she ducked. The blade landed in the face of a third Goblin, and he went down.

The Goblin Giant watched these proceedings with disinterest. It didn't really matter if his boys died- they were all Wild Goblins, after all. They would regenerate. Otherwise, things would be quite bad.

Brandy grabbed another Goblin right as he was about to swing, and plunged her hand right through him. Her fingers went transparent, and she grabbed his heart. She squeezed, popping the Goblin into Elixir- but so focused on the technique was she, that the dagger swung by the fifth Goblin of the group managed to stab her in the leg.

Brandy grit her teeth, and delivered a vicious backhand into the face of the offending Goblin. He flew backwards, turning into Elixir midair and splattering all over the face of his comrades. Several of them licked it off, loudly declaring that it "tasted like chicken." However, in reality, it tasted like rotten fruit. To a Goblin, everything tasted like chicken.

Once the Goblin Gang had been defeated, Brandy spun around to face the Goblin Giant, definitely spitting on the ground. "Is that all you got?", she asked. "Have you lost enough Goblins for your liking?"

The Goblin Giant waved his hand in dismissal. "Oh, I'm not worried about them. They'll reform soon enough. You, on the other hand…"

He narrowed his eyes, and swung his arm downwards. "All units! Charge!"

The entire horde of Goblins ran forward, screeching in a furious battle cry. Brandy's eyes widened, and she Dashed backwards, but the horde grew closer within moments.
"You are skilled, Bandit?", said the Goblin Giant. "But are you skilled enough to overcome such overwhelming numbers? I suppose the real question is… will you last? Will you last, Bandit?"

Song: Shoot towards the Decisive Battle

Brandy said nothing, merely pulling herself back into a battle stance. The wall of Goblins didn't seem to have any defenses of any kind- it was just a huge, meaty wall to hit. Brandy had always wondered what it would be like to be an area Troop- but now, she was about to find out.
"Doraoraoraoraoraoraora!", she yelled, throwing forward her Dash-enhanced hands at fantastic speeds. The force of the blows slammed into the tide, breaking apart half a dozen Goblins, but many more remained.

"Doraoraora! Doraoraoraoraora! Doora", Brandy shouted, firing punches into the Goblin wall like rain onto the ground. But it didn't matter how many she punched, dozens more kept on coming.

"Dddddora!", Brandy roared, and swung her fist upwards. It punched right through the chest of a Goblin Brawler, sending him flying in death, but it did almost nothing to the swarm. Within seconds, 8 had grabbed her right arm, 16 had grabbed her left, and all the rest of them forced Brandy down to the ground, lying on a suspiciously flat rock. The Goblin Giant strode forward, taking a long, sharp sword from one of his subordinates.

Brandy felt, for just a second, her heart beat more. She heard it in her head, and felt it everywhere else. I'm not going to die like this, Brandy thought. Not after all I've been through. Not to Goblins.

The Goblin Giant drew closer, and raised the knife. Whatever he had planned to do with Brandy, it could not be good.

I'm not going to die to Goblins, frick it, I'm not going to die-

In that moment, something happened. Something which happened too fast for the Goblins to see, and for Brandy to even realize that she had done it.

For a split of a split second, Brandy's hair ruffled in some nonexistent wind.

For a split of a split second, a faint mote of silver flashed in her eyes.

And for a split of a split second, Brandy rushed through the Goblin ranks faster than she had ever gone, slicing every Goblin in half with a single well placed chop, cutting down dozens upon dozens of them to bare Elixir.

And then it was gone- whatever Brandy had just done could clearly not be easily done again. She cried out in pain and fell to her knees, gasping from the massive effort.

The Goblin Giant slowly lowered his arm that he had raised in order to protect himself, and looked down at Brandy, shaking on the ground.

"I- I don't know what that was.", he said, confusing many Goblins in his group that had always assumed he knew everything. "But it is over now."

He reached out to grab Brandy across the waist, then reconsidered. Instead, he just flipped Brandy over, her legs burning from the movement, and gave a harsh whistle.

"Go get her, boys.", he said. "Steal everything that she has, then kill her."

The Goblins rushed forward ecstatically, and Brandy shut her eyes. She tried desperately to summon back up whatever had caused her to power up so much, but there was nothing.

The first Goblin reached her, grabbing hold her her mask. He tried to pull it off, before Brandy lashed out with her still functioning arms and threw him into a tree, where he splattered apart.

More and more Goblins piled upon her, chattering gleefully, looking into pockets, scratching apart cloth, desperately searching for anything valuable. But so distracted were most of them in their quest for Gold, that they could not sense the imminent danger.

An immense shadow fell across the group, and a low, underlying "HHHHRRRMMMM" could be heard from above.

One of the Goblins looked up. He saw what was coming, and his jaw dropped in utter astonishment. "Holy Se'th.", he said. "What is that? What the frick is tha-"

Song: Jonathan Joestar theme

A colossal armored figure crashed down onto the Goblin Ranks surrounding Brandy with a shaking of the ground, a mighty "WWRRMMUUU", and a burst of golden energy that spiraled across the whole area in the form of lightning, shocking the entire Goblin army into purple stains.

The Goblin Giant looked up in utter shock at the huge figure now before him. He tried to think of something to do, or to say, but words were lost next to the figure in armor.

Brandy picked herself up off the ground, and stared in raging hope. There was only one person that could have made the energy wave like that. That person had also left to become better just about 2 weeks ago. And what way for a troop like him to become better, than becoming a-

"A Mega Knight.", breathed the Goblin Giant. "Where did you come from?"

The Mega Knight ignored him, folding his arms and then adjusting his helmet.
"What were you doing to her?", the figure rumbled, and raised a fist. "Tell me."

"Um. well…", the Goblin Giant said, desperately looking around for help. "I don't know. We're just on vacation, I guess?"

"As if.", said the Mega Knight, and his golden eyes glared with unrelenting rage. "We both know what you were about to do."

He started to move forward, each gigantic fist crackling with massive amounts of energy. The Goblin Giant tried to back up, but ran into a particularly huge and sturdy tree.

"I- I tell you what.", he said. "We have a huge pit of Gold in our secret lair. If you spare me, I'll give you some of it."

"Good grief.", said the Mega Knight. "You truly are the lowest scum in history."

He raised a fist, and golden energy flowed from his torso to his arm. A single bolt snapped onto the Goblin Giant, burning a mark onto his face.

"What you were about to do... can't be paid back with money!"

The Goblin Giant's Spear Goblins both fired their Spears, trying as hard as they could to fight for their master. But the Spears bounced harmlessly off the Mega Knight's thick armor, breaking in two and falling to the ground.

"Ora!", shouted the Mega Knight, and threw his first punch. It smashed into the Goblin Giant's face with a thunderous crack, and Brandy knew that her suspicions of the Mega Knight's identity had been all but confirmed.

"Oraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraora!", the Mega Knight continued, hitting the Goblin Giant with a flurry of blows that sounded like the strike of a meteor. Each blow was fast enough that it blurred, yet powerful enough to break down a stone wall. The Star energy wrapped around his fists flowed into the Goblin Giant as well, and the force, within seconds, became too much.

The Goblin Giant screamed in pain and terror as his body was ripped apart, the screech fading into the night air as a huge puddle of Elixir fell to the ground and dissipated. Even if he did reform, such a savage beatdown would be an experience that he would never truly forget.

The two Spear Goblins that he had left behind fell to the ground, picking up their spears as they went. They stared at the towering, powerful figure over them, and then back at their Spears. Deep within their crazed, Goblin brains, some primal instinct took hold over duty, and they took off into the trees.

Both Brandy and the Mega Knight watched them go, screaming away until all of the Goblins had left the clearing. Brandy looked upwards, and stood up. "Dan?", she whispered. "Is that you?"

The Mega Knight flipped his vizor upwards, revealing a changed, scruffier, but still very recognizable, face. "I don't know.", said Dan. "Is it?"

Brandy's lip quivered, and she Dashed forward. Dan stumbled a bit as Brandy collided with his leg, wrapping herself around him in a fierce hug.

"I knew it!", she said. "I knew you'd come back, and that you didn't leave me, and…"

Without breaking off the hug, she looked up. "Where were you?",

"Well, uh,", Dan said. "I was training. To become a Mega Knight."

"Where?"

"Royal Arena. That's where they come from, you know."

"Oh. But... if you're a Mega Knight, then does Oticat still have a Knight?"

Dan looked confused at this. "I don't know. I didn't really think about it that way. It would be weird for him not to have one. I guess that we can check when we get back home."

Home…, Brandy thought. It was a welcome idea. "Yeah. That'd be gre-"

A sharp pain struck Brandy in the torso, and she fell to her knees. She felt the muscles of her lower body start to shift, and she realized with a shock what was happening. "Oh crap.", she said. "It's coming."

"What's coming?", Dan asked, dropping to one titanic knee. "Brandy, what's wrong?"

Only then did he notice her torso. His eyebrows shot upwards in shock, and his vizor fell shut. Opening it again, he took another astonished look. "Brandy, are you pregnant?"

"Not for long, no.", Brandy said, and almost threw up. "Shoot, here it comes."

"Wait, hold on.", Dan said, and stood up. "I know someone who can help."

"Good.", said Brandy. "They better, or I'll kill them."

Dan shot a beam of light into the sky, like a homing beacon. It illuminated the trees for miles around, shedding light onto the nearby clouds.

Far away, a cold, wet, tired figure, on the brink of collapse, looked up in fear at the light. Her hands and arms shook, and she gripped her gun tighter.

Don't let that distract you, she thought. You have to keep going.

She pulled her cloak tighter to shield from the cold, gritted her teeth, and continued her slow, stumbling walk.

"Don't worry, Brandy, she's coming.", Dan said. "She'll be here in just a few more seconds."

"Ooh, she better.", Brandy burped. "Or else I'm gonna-"

She briefly lost control of her arm, and fell to the ground. With a groan of pain, she managed to roll herself over, and stared up at the sky. She felt a pair of gently arms grasp her, and lift her to a seated position.

"There.", Brandy heard a gentle voice say. "Isn't that better?"

"Oh, good, she's here.", Dan said, relieved. "She'll help you, Brandy."

Brandy looked over her shoulder, and found herself staring into the kind face of a Healer.

Song: Approach

"Hello, Brandy.", the Healer said. "Your friend Dan has told me all about you. My name is Hailizi. Now, what seems to be the problem?"

"The problem?", Brandy asked. "The problem? The problem is that I am minutes away from giving birth in the middle of the forest!"

"Now, there's no need to shout.", Hailizi said, and raised her hands in front of her as they began to glow a soft white and gold. "I have something that will fix all that, if you just hold still-"

Brandy tried, among the pain, to hold still. She closed her eyes, and Hailizi fired. A powerful healing ray hit Brandy dead-on, augmented with every possible upgrade that Hailizi thought would help the situation. For almost 10 seconds, Hailizi's healing continued, Brandy no longer feeling anything but what seemed like a warm bath.

Once Hailizi's arms fell back to her side, and the light and warmth faded, Brandy once again opened her eyes. Her first sensation was one of lightness.

"What did you-", Brandy asked, and looked down. To her utter astonishment, the child that she had been carrying for weeks had vanished.

Brandy's heart skipped a beat. Even if she hadn't wanted it to exist, the thought of actually just losing it like that made her oddly upset.

"Hailizi, what did you do to it?", Brandy asked. "Where did it go?"

Hailizi smiled, and pointed to the South. "Do not mourn the fate of your child. I simply put him… elsewhere. Somewhere where he shall be raised. Once the time is right, perhaps he will meet you."

"Okay.", Brandy said. "I guess that's okay."

Inwardly, she sighed with relief. She had known that she was unable of caring for a child, especially a son. Whoever he was, or wherever he had landed, Brandy knew that he would be getting a better life than the one she possibly could have given.

"But that's not all I did.", said Hailizi. "Look upon yourself, Brandy, and rejoice."

Brandy's hand flew to her forehead, where she had discovered the raised tattoo. But now, upon running her hand across her skin, Brandy only felt herself. The same results happened on her thighs, where Chad had carved his initials. And on her cheek, where a scar gained in the Raid on TheEvilOverLords had persisted for weeks. This truly was a powerful Healer.

"You… got rid of everything.", Brandy said. "You healed me."

Hailizi shrugged. "That's what I do. I'm a Healer."

Dan crouched beside them, taking a quick look in the direction of Oticat's castle.

"Thank you for your help, Hailizi.", Dan said. "But I think that there are people who need you now."

Hailizi slowly rose into the air, giving Brandy a slow wave- which she returned. "You are right, Warrior Dan. I bid you good luck on your future training. Farewell, and good luck."

She flew off into the night, towards the West, leaving Brandy and Dan alone.

Song: Peaceful Sightseeing

There was silence for several seconds, until Brandy gave a long whistle. "Dan!", she said. "Look at you! What kind of training did you do?"

Dan threw his arms outwards. "What kind of training did I not do? I was training the whole time they had me there!"

"No way.", Brandy laughed. "You were there for weeks!"

"Yeah.", Dan said, and posed. "Does this not look like weeks of nothing but training to you?"

He flexed exorbitantly, Star flashing around him. "When I went in there, I was just a Knight. Now? I'm like… the ultimate warrior!"

Brandy giggled, and Dan reached out to her. She took his hand, then let it go and Dashed onto his shoulder. "And I wasn't alone, either. There must have been at least 20 other Students of the Star there."

"Really?", Brandy asked. "Say, you never told me- what exactly is Star, anyway?"

Dan opened his mouth to speak, but he did not. He fished for a good answer inside of his thoughts, but failed to come up with anything. "I… don't really know. Exactly.", he said. "Bowza knows though, maybe he can teach you."

"What were they all there for?", Brandy asked. "What would they need to train for?"

"I don't know.", Dan shrugged. "Something something about a Dragon is all I remember. I just focused on getting strong."

"Do you think you could teach me Star?", Brandy asked. "It looks very handy."

Dan awkwardly blinked. Underneath his helmet, his face slightly reddened. "Yeah, about that…", he said, then trailed off. "My teacher said that only male Troops can learn Star to any effectiveness. Female Troops have something else."

"Really?", Brandy asked, a little bit perturbed. "What?"

"They're more sensitive to some other sort of power.", Dan said, trying to remember. "It was something called, um… Stan?"

"Stands?", Brandy asked, it being the first thing to pop into her head. "Was that it?"

"Oh, yeah!", Dan said. "It was Stands? Do you know what they are?"

Brandy thought it would be best if she didn't tell Dan about the Phantom. "Not really. Just something that Brenda told me about once."

"Oh.", said Dan, and looked up at the moon. "Uh, we should be getting back now."

"Right.", Brandy said, pointing towards Builder's Workshop. "Agatha's wondering where I am. Shoot, I bet they all are."

"Why?", Dan asked. "Didn't you tell them you were coming out here?"

"Eh, no.", Brandy admitted. "I kind of ran away. Without telling anyone."

Dan gave her a look, and Brandy winced. "Look, I'll tell you everything once we get back."

"Okay.", Dan said. "Onward!"

With Brandy on his shoulder, Dan lit up the bottoms of his feet with Star, and took off into the night.

Agatha paced back and forth in the entryway of Oticat's castle, sick with worry. There had still been no word from Chuck and his friends, and Oticat was considering sending out another search party of Bats and Minions. Agatha's mind swirled with possibilities of the worst, desperately hoping that none of them had come true. But dread still gnawed at her heart, the pulse of her heart beating like a drum.

Song: Himeru Omai

"She's dead, you know.", came a voice from another room. "That much is certain. Or at the very least, she very soon will be."

Agatha stiffened. The voice sounded like no one she knew, yet at the same time, it sounded very, very familiar. An evil aura emanated from the kitchen, palpable as physical touch.

"Webert?", Agatha asked. "Do you feel anyone? In the castle?"

But there was no answer- Webert had fallen fast asleep. Agatha, however, was never alone- she summoned her Skeleton trio and slowly crept towards the kitchen.

Once she looked around the corner, she silently gasped. There, on an oddly placed couch, sat a sprawling dark web. The edges of it sizzled and ate at the floor, barely audible screams coming from all around it. In the center reclined a tall figure in elaborate armor, every bit of him black as the darkest night. Smoke rose from his upper body, burning designs of demonic symbols into the ceiling above.

"I know it.", he said. "You know it. But will you admit it, that's the question."

Agatha held up her staff, even though a ferocious aura of fear swirled throughout the entire room. Larry held up his sword, trying to maintain a fierce composure.

"Who- who are you?", Agatha asked. "Where did you come from?"

"Mmm-mmm, wouldn't you like to know…", the demon hummed, and flicked his hand. A dark door opened in space, and he stood up. "But don't worry. You will… soon."

He raised his finger to his lips, and blew. All the light in the entire castle vanished, then reappeared again at his fingertip. With a single flick, it was gone, along with him. Only the insanity of his eyes remained lodged in Agatha's mind, a mosaic of pure evil that would most likely never truly go away.

Agatha stood there for a second, and gulped. The lights slowly came back on, flickering with the exertion required to do so. The couch that had appeared from nowhere slowly melted into the ground, leaving behind a puddle of what appeared to be liquified darkness.

"Agath?", came the half-conscious voice of Webert, from the kitchen. "Who was there?"

"I don't know, Webert.", Agatha said. "I'm not sure I want to."

Larry grabbed her skirt, pulling anxiously. He had just gotten what he considered to be The World's Greatest Idea, and was eager to tell someone before he forgot it somewhere inside of his empty skull.

"What?", Agatha asked, looking down. "What is it?"

Larry mimed taking a communicator from a pocket, drew a mask across his face, and held his hand up to his jaw. He clicked and clacked his teeth together to imitate speech, then jumped up and down as fast and high as he could.

"What- what are you-", Agatha whispered, before Larry's message clicked into place. "Oh! You want me to call Brandy. Larry, you're actually pretty smart."

Agatha dug her own communicator out of her pocket, flipped through speed dial, selected Brandy's button, and waited for her to pick up. "Of course she has her communicator on her. Why didn't I think of that?"

But, alas for poor Larry and his Fantastic Plan, Brandy had lost her communicator several miles back. It was one of the things that the Goblins had taken from her, and as such, was now ringing muffled under a puddle of Elixir, half buried in the ground.

Agatha waited for a few more seconds, then hung up. Her face turned ashen white, and she gripped her staff tighter.

"Webert?", she asked. "Is there any word from Chuck's group?"

"Let me check.", Webert said. He wandered over to the door, looked at the doorknob, grunted, and sat back down. He thought he was looking at his communicator, but he was still stone drunk. "Nope."

Agatha leaned against the wall. "Larry, call Oticat. Tell him to send out the Minions. We need to find out what's going on."

Larry saluted, and ran over to the table. He grabbed Webert's communicator and hit the King button, setting up a direct line between him and Oticat.

"Webert?", Larry could hear Oticat say from the other end of the line. "Is there any news?"

News?, Larry thought, and tried to say. I'm calling you for news! Of course we don't have news! We're not the ones that sent out a search party!

But, he realized too late, he was a Witch's Skeleton. And thus, he was totally incapable of spoken speech. He flapped his arms about, grabbed the larger model communicator in his arms, and ran over to Agatha. He dumped the device in front of her, looked up, and shrugged.

"Oh, right, I forgot you can't speak.", said Agatha. "I guess in the moment, it sort of just… slipped my mind…"

She picked up the communicator. "Oticat, this is Agatha, and it was Larry. Is there any words?"

"Oh, that's who it was.", said Oticat. "And no, Chuck and his group are not yet back. I'm considering sending out the Minions."

"Do it.", Agatha said. "For Brandy's sake."

Brandy did not know of this conversation. The only thing that she knew at the moment was the wind whistling through her hair and slamming into her face, as Dan ran across the open ground with Star-enhanced steps. She gripped his shoulders tightly, her hands digging into the collar for support. She squinted her eyes nearly shut- both to defend against the wind and to get a better look. Her heart leaped as she began to just barely make out the towering wood and brick spires of Builder's Workshop in the far distance. They were getting close.

"Dan!", she shouted, trying to be heard against the howling wind. "We're getting close!"

Dan looked up, slowing down just a bit as he did so. He, too, saw Builder's Workshop.

"Oh!", he said. "Awesome!"

Then he crouched down and sped up again, blazing through the marsh, each footstep a small explosion.

"I'll call Agatha!", Brandy said. "That way she'll know that we're coming!"

"Good idea!", Dan shouted, not taking his eyes off the path for a moment. At this speed, it would be very bad for both of them if they were to crash.

Brandy put her hand into her pocket where her communicator was. She felt around for a little bit, and frowned. It wasn't in there.

"Hey, what-", Brandy said, then slapped her own forehead as she remembered. The small, shiny device had been one of the very first things the Goblins had taken, along with the keys to the basement, a fistful of Gems, some art supplies, and- wow, the Goblins had taken quite a lot. As soon as she got some free time, Brandy would have to go back and find everything.

"Never mind, I lost it.", Brandy said. "It'll just have to be a surprise."

"You lost your communicator?", Dan yelled. "Aren't those expensive?"

"Eh.", Brandy shrugged. "I'll just have to take a little Gold out of my stash and buy a new one."

"How much do you have?", Dan asked.

"I don't know. Rude to find out all the way.", Brandy said with a flick of her finger.

Dan nodded, and they continued on the path towards home.

Song: Third Bomb

Oticat rushed across the room, to the group of Minions he saw hovering in the air. He waved his arms a few times to get their attention, and they all turned towards him with curiosity.

"Hey, listen.", he said. "You're all fast, and you can fly. Go find Brandy. She left towards the coast."

The Minions could understand what he said- an average Minion was on the same level of intelligence as a Raven or Crow. They knew that Oticat was worried, and that he had told them to find a specific person. They could work off of that. So they rose into the air as one, and took off towards the place that he had pointed.

"Please, guys, find her.", Oticat whispered under his breath. "We can't lose Brandy again."

"Hey, what's all this?", Brenda asked, having suddenly appeared behind Oticat. "What about Brandy?"

"She's missing.", said Oticat. "You wouldn't happen to know where she is, would you?"

He gave Brenda a look. He thought that he knew for sure that she had been the Phantom's user. And even though nothing could be proven, he also deeply suspected that Brenda, in one way or another, was still out to get Brandy.

"Say, could your Stand help us?", he asked.

"What?", Brenda asked. "What are you talking about?"

Her mind raced. How did he know about the Phantom? The only ones that knew her secret were herself and Grrshknn… she thought.

"Hmph.", Oticat said. "Playing-"

A great cry went up from the entryway of the room. Both Oticat and Brenda turned to look, their conversation forgotten. For there in the doorway, was the figure of a Hog Rider aboard his Hog, both dripping with exhaustion.

"I have news about Brandy.", he said. "It's bad."

"What?", said Oticat. He rushed over to the Hog Rider. "What is it? And where's everyone else?"

"Everyone else is behind me.", the Hog Rider said. "I'm just the fastest out of anyone. And the news is-"

He stopped for a moment to think. "You know, I'm not actually sure. They just told me to deliver the news, but no one ever told me what the news was."

"That's not good.", said Oticat, stroking his beard with worry. "I hope everyone's alright."

He turned to continue his conversation with Brenda, but she had managed to sneak away during the chaos. In her place, there stood a Knight, looking rather confused.

"Ah, Oticat.", the Knight said as soon as Oticat had turned. "There you are, I've been looking for you."

"What is it?", Oticat asked. "Who are you?"

"Why, I'm Dave.", said Dave. "Your new Knight."

"What? My new Knight?", Oticat asked in confusion. "But that doesn't make any sense. I'd only get a new one if my old one… was… gone…"

He looked up, removed his crown, and placed it over his heart. "Oh, Se'th.", he said. "What is going on?"

Song: Overlapping Fate

Agatha rose from her chair, and looked out the window. She could see the gentle glow of moonlight slowly flowing across the landscape, the faraway Arenas glowing with magical light. And under the illumination of the moon, there appeared a shape. Agatha squinted, trying to make out what it was, but she could not.

The hulking black figure stomped across the ground at tremendous speeds, throwing up a huge burst of dirt with every footstep. There seemed to be something riding on its shoulder, although Agatha could not tell what it was. But as the thing came closer and closer with every passing second, Agatha knew that she had to do something about it.

"Larry, go outside and see what that is.", she whispered. "Tarry, wake up Webert. Harry, stay by me."

The three Skeletons sharply saluted, and ran off to perform their appointed tasks. Except for Harry, of course- he stayed by Agatha's side as he was told. Larry ran out the special Small door in the kitchen, and Tarry jabbed his sword into Webert's arm. The Bowler gave a snort of surprise and sat up, looking out across the room with bleary eyes. "Wha…"

"Webert, we've got something.", said Agatha, not taking her eyes off the approaching monster. "I need you to help me with it."

Webert went over to the window. He took a good, long look at the approaching figure. He looked away, looked back, and at last saw it. His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped a little.

"Holy frick.", he said. "What is that?"

Larry ran outside, flailing his sword, ready to eagerly take on whatever the monster was. Screeching threats in Skeleton, he bounded towards the figure even as it drew closer. Larry looked with his magical eyes, assessing exactly what the threat was, and almost stopped in confusion. The signals were familiar, friendly He knew the monster- or were there two of them? And yet, they both seemed different, somehow, like they had grown.

Brandy saw Larry standing blankly in the middle of the road. Dan didn't, however, his thoughts focused entirely on covering the last few steps towards home. "Dan!", Brandy suddenly yelled, tugging on his neck armor. "Look out!"

Dan slammed one foot into the ground, sending up an explosion of dirt that reached fifteen feet behind him. He almost fell forward on his momentum, but was able to catch himself just in time.

"What?", he gasped, almost entirely out of breath. "What is it?"

"It's Larry!", Brandy said, and pointed. Dan looked towards the ground far below him, and saw Larry standing beneath him.

"Oh. So it is.", Dan said. "Hello, Larry."

Larry flung his sword over his head, extended a hand, and ran off towards Oticat's castle before anyone had had a chance to shake it. With a clatter of bones, he opened a small side door and went inside. Dan and Brandy looked at each other, Brandy sliding down from his shoulder onto the ground.

"Well, this is it, I guess.", Dan said. "I'm finally home."

"You are.", said Brandy. "And I'm glad."

And so the two both went for the door, at the same time, trying to get in first. Because that's just the way that they did things.

Agatha saw Larry enter, his skull shaking with pure excitement. Webert stood behind Agatha, boulder in hand, waiting for something to throw it at. "What is it, Larry?", Agatha asked. "What did you find?"

It took Larry a bit to get himself under control, but once he did, his hands and fingers started flying at breakneck speeds. Bandit, he signed, drawing a mask around his eyes. Brandy, he fingerspelled.

"Brandy?", Agatha asked. "She's back? But- what was that thing with her?"

Dan, Larry spelled, and Webert and Agatha looked at each other in shock. Giant, Larry spelled, bringing his hand up above his head as far as it would go.

"What are you talking about?", Webert asked. "Dan's a Knight, not a Gia-"

The door creaked open once again, and a familiar Bandit entered the room. Agatha's hands flew to her face, and Brandy waved with a weak smile. A huge dark shape lurked behind her, taking up the doorframe and then beyond. "Hey.", Brandy said.

"Brandy?", Agatha almost shouted. "Wha- where were you? And what's that behind you?"

"Oh, it's just me.", said Dan, and crouched down. He wiggled through the doorframe, then stood up. "Only better."

"Dan?", Webert asked, and blinked in disbelief. He strode past Agatha, who was still frozen in place, and extended his hand to shake. Dan gave Webert a hard fist bump, and the Bowler grinned. The two titans both jumped forward, slamming against each other's stomachs and back onto the floor in some ancient ritual of manhood.

"What happened?", Agatha asked. "Brandy, where were you? Dan, where were you? How did you two find each other?"

Agatha took another wide-eyed look, and saw that Brandy was no longer pregnant. "Where did the kid go?"

Brandy looked at Dan, and Dan looked back at Brandy. "I think you should sit down."

Agatha almost fell to the couch, Webert slamming down next to her. Larry, Harry, and Tarry all leapt up into the air, grabbing hold of Dan's arm and dancing around on his shoulders.

"Tell me everything.", Agatha said, leaning forward intensely. "Then we can go to the Clan Meeting. We have search parties out looking for you."

"Oh, that's where everyone is?", Brandy mused. "Alright. We'll make this quick."

"Sir, I don't… I don't understand.", Dave said with bewilderment. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no.", Oticat said. "You are innocent here. But if you exist, then that means that my old Knight, Dan, has passed on. May his soul rest in peace."

"Oh.", Dave said, then put a hand on Oticat's shoulder. "Well, I hope I can-"

The immense double doors at the front of the main room swung open with a loud crash, and a dozen Hog Riders all slowly trotted in. Their heads hung low, and their Hogs shuffled dejectedly along the floor, their moods reflecting those of their masters. Chuck gave a heavy sigh, and Trigger neighed to match the sound. T looked up, and scanned the room for Oticat. He was the one that had been chosen to break the bad news.

"T.", Oticat said. "You've returned."

His voice was thick with worry. He knew that the way that the Hog Riders carried themselves could only mean bad news. "Is Brandy… is she…"

T dropped his hammer, the traditional gesture of a Hog Rider's acceptance of defeat. In his eyes, he and his team had failed. "We found her. But not in any good way."

"What do you mean?", Oticat asked, but he already knew what T was going to say.

"Once she hit the coast, she didn't stop.", T sighed. "We saw her swimming towards the Continent of the Clans. We all know that the only Troops that can swim all that way are Fishermen and Hogs. We tried to call to her, but it was no use. We can only assume that she drowned."

Oticat stared down at the floor, heartbroken. He had tried so hard to protect Brandy, mounting a massive investigation to find her after she had been kidnapped, taking on an entire enemy Clan that wielded what were probably demonic powers- all for it to end like this. With Brandy commiting suicide, and drowning in the sea. And with Dave's existence, he knew that Dan had died somewhere as well.

"Farewell, Brandy. Farewell, Dan.", Oticat said, and looked up to the sky. He placed two fingers over his heart, and pushed them upwards to represent the souls of the fallen. "May you meet again, on the other side."

"Why wait?", came a voice from the side door. "We could just meet each other now."

Oticat almost choked on air. His face reddened as he fell to the floor, whacking himself on the back. After a few seconds of this, he looked up in utter shock at the side door. He was the last one in the room to do so.

His eyes fell on a welcome sight, dressed in a long green robe. Next to her stood an armored titan, characterizing golden energy flickering around him. Even though Oticat did not have one, he knew a Mega Knight when he saw one, and could recognize Dan anywhere.

"Brandy?", he almost shrieked. "Dan? You're alive?"

"I think so.", Brandy said. "You wanna check?"

As the entire room stood, watching in shock, Brenda alone Dashed up to Brandy. She grabbed her hand, shook it, and turned to the audience. "They're alive.", she said, and winked.

The assembled Clan, as one, let out a cheer, and then turned back to their various activities.

"But...but how?", Oticat sputtered, running up to Brandy and Dan. "I mean, I guess that I know how Dan and Dave worked out, but Brandy- Chuck and the others saw you drown! How are you alive?"

Brandy shrugged. "I don't know what they saw. I never even stepped foot in the ocean."

Oticat pondered this for a second, then he broke out into a wide, ecstatic, ear-to-ear smile.

"Go and join the party, you two.", he said. "You've earned it."

Brandy and Dan looked at each other, grinned, bumped fists, and both left to join the festivities.

"Let's do this.", Brandy said. "Hopefully, this will go better than the last Clan Party I went to."

"What do you me-", Dan began, then stopped as he remembered. "Oh yeah. I don't think that'll be hard."

Brandy laughed, and Dashed over to the bar. There was a pyramid of Skeletons tending it, at least where she was. It was a very long bar, with multiple tenders. Dan crashed down right next to her, the bench very nearly buckling under his weight.

"Hey, rattlers!", Brandy said. "Give me something good."

The pyramid of Skeletons flipped over to her, looked supernaturally among themselves, and made a decision. The one in the back bent over and grabbed a totally random bottle, then tossed it to one in the front. He caught in his bony hands and gently tipped it into Brandy's cup, then threw it into her hand.

Agatha tapped Oticat on the shoulder. "Excuse me, sir?"

"What is it, Agatha?", Oticat asked. "I hope you can tell me what all happened."

"Well, it's a bit of a long story.", Agatha said. "But I guess I can tell you roughly what they told me."

Oticat sat down on a nearby lounge chair, and Agatha slammed her stick down onto the ground.

"So, Brandy ran through the forest…"

Song: Silver Twist

Brandy almost drank what was in her cup, then took a closer look. She had assumed it was just Elixir, but it wasn't. It was a thick, murky liquid- and it was green.

"Excuse me, what's this?", she asked, and the Skeleton pyramid halted. It slowly grinded around to face her, and all the Skeletons blinked.

"They say it's grassbeer.", a Goblin next to them drawled. "The strong stuff."

"Oh. Okay.", Brandy said. "Hey Dan, you got some too?"

Dan took a look inside his cup, then realized that there was nothing in it. "I don't know. I drank all of mine."

Brandy giggled, then threw back her cup. She drank all of the grassbeer in one giant gulp, then dropped the cup onto the floor. Almost instantly, her vision clouded. The sights and sounds of the party around her faded into fizzy darkness, and Brandy lost consciousness.

Nearby, Brenda was sitting at a small table. She had been having a riveting conversation with a Dark Prince, who had seemed to come out of nowhere.

"So, uh, what's your name?", she asked, taking a sip of her grassbeer.

"My name is Mike. I'm 33 seasons old. My house is in the northeast section of My clan, where all the troops are, and I am not married. I work as a troop for my king MegaBanditx, and I get home every day by 8 PM at the latest. I don't smoke, but I occasionally drink. I'm in bed by 11 PM, and make sure I get eight hours of sleep, no matter what. After having a glass of warm Elixir and doing about twenty minutes of stretches before going to bed, I usually have no problems sleeping until morning. Just like a baby, I wake up without any fatigue or stress in the morning. I was told there were no issues at my last check-up. I'm trying to explain that I'm a person who wishes to live a very quiet life. I take care not to trouble myself with any enemies, like winning and losing, that would cause me to lose sleep at night. That is how I deal with society, and I know that is what brings me happiness. Although, if I were to fight I wouldn't lose to even level 13 e barbs.", he said, in one long breath, then looked up. "I've got to go."

He stood up and left, leaving Brenda wondering what had just happened.

"Yeah, okay-", she said, then saw out of the corner of her eye Brandy fall to the floor.

"Hello, Brandy? Can you hear me?"

"What?", Brandy thought. She saw herself, yet she was still in her own body. She floated upside down in a huge red space, with only a small turquoise river running through it. Looking around, she could see no one, yet she recognized that voice.

"Ah, it appears that you can. Fortunate.", said the voice again, then God appeared in front of her. Next to him was a floating mannequin head, wearing a totally blank expression, yet still somehow managing to look pleased.

"Thank you for your company.", the head said, and spun on its axis. It vanished into thin air, and God clapped once.

"Brandy.", he said. "There's something very important that I forgot to tell you. It's about me, and my power."

"What?", Brandy asked. "What is it?"

"I told you that no matter what happens, my power would protect you from harm. But that's only as long as you stay on the Continent of Royale. If you go anywhere else, I can no longer help you."

"I… don't think that'll be a problem.", Brandy said.

"That includes Legendary Arena.", said God. "I can't reach there. So if you ever go there, do it knowing that I cannot help you."

Brandy's heart raced. Did that mean that she would go to Legendary Arena soon? But why? Oticat was only in the Jungle Arena. Why was God telling her this? Was it important?

"God, wh-", she began, but God tipped his hat and vanished. The vision spun out of control, and Brandy woke up almost on the floor, lying prone in Brenda's arms.

"Woah.", said Brenda. "Looks like someone can't hold their drinks."

Then she looked up, and gasped.

"What?", Brandy asked woozy, and pushed herself up to grab the edge of the counter. "What is it?"

Brenda didn't answer, only staring at the cornucopia of blue lights, dancing above Brandy's head. They jumped and twirled in patterns, flowing around like a halo.

"What is that?", she asked. "Does anyone else see that?"

"See what?", Dan burped. Brenda looked to the Goblin behind the counter, who shrugged. She looked to Webert, who had just sat down next to Dan, with more or less the same result. And then, Brenda realized. If she was the only one that could see it, then it must be-

A Stand?, Brenda thought. Brandy has a Stand?

"Brandy?", Brenda asked slowly. Her mind raced, trying to think how this could have been possible. Yes, Brandy had been stabbed with the Stand Arrow, but the Phantom had said that the dosage was not enough to give her a Stand. And yet…

"What?", Brandy asked. "What is it? What did I do?"

Brenda slapped her own knee. "Brandy, I don't believe it. You have a Stand!"

"I do?", Brandy asked. "I have… what you have?"
"It's crazy, right?", Brenda said. "I could have sworn you never got one."

"Then where is he?", Brandy asked in confusion. "If I have a Stand, then where's my own Phantom?"

"Wait, that's- that's not how it works.", Brenda said. "Not all Stands look like that. I'll tell you more about it later, but-"

She leaned in close, and the arm of the Phantom reached out. He felt the air around Brandy's head, retreated, and gave his report.

"You seem to have a passive Stand, able to foretell the future and grant visions through dreams.", Brenda said in wonder. "Nice…"

"Should I name it?", Brandy asked. "I think it needs a name."

"Well, of course.", said Brenda. "All Stands need a name, after all."

Brandy put a finger to her temple, and thought. "I think I'll name it… The Dreamer."

"Good name.", Brenda said. "Very fitting."

Then Brandy's sort of drunken mind kicked into a higher gear. She suddenly remembered what the Phantom had tried to do to her, and under whose orders he'd been acting. She didn't want to, but there was no better time to confront Brenda about it than now. "Hey, speaking of Stands…"

"What?", Brenda asked, but the anger in Brandy's eyes told her what she was about to say.

"Yours tried to take my soul. On multiple occasions.", Brandy said. "What, may I ask, was the reason for that?"

Brenda's face darkened. She looked down onto the bartop, and spoke very quietly. "That… wasn't my fault. I didn't want to do it. But I had to."

"Why?', Brandy pushed. "What do you mean, you had to?"

"I was kidnapped by a being named Grrshknn.", Brenda said. The lights in the room momentarily flickered, but it was noticed by no one. "I don't know how he found out about me and the Phantom, but he did. Once he took me, he told me that either I gave him your soul, or he killed everyone in the Clan. I didn't want to do it, but I had to."

Brandy felt the anger drain from her. She nodded, knowing what that was like.
"But it's all good now.", Brenda said, and noticeably brightened up. "I managed to trick him into thinking I was dead, and I haven't heard from him in days. Hopefully, he left to wherever he came from."

"Hopefully.", said Brandy. "Does that mean that Ryusei_Nakao69 was working for Grrshknn too?"

"Based on what I saw around his Castle while we were raiding it? Probably.", said Brenda. The long arm of the Phantom emerged from her back, snagged a bit of chocolate from a desert cart, and brought it to the table in front of the two Bandits, still engaged in conversation.

"Makes sense.", Brandy said. "Ryusei_Nakao69 had to get his powers from somewhere. This Grrshknn seems pretty cowardly, though. Always making people do his work for him."

"He's got stuff to back it up.", Brenda shivered. "I've seen some of his power in action- and I don't doubt for a second that he couldn't follow up on his threat. Chocolate?"

Brandy looked down at Brenda's outstretched hand, seeing the small chunk of chocolate that the Phantom had taken.

"Chocolate… I've never had any.", Brandy said. "What's it like?"

"Oh, it's great.", said Brenda. "Tastes real good, and helps with headaches too. Try some."

"Okay.", Brandy said. She took the chocolate from Brenda's outstretched palm, popped it into her mouth, and began to chew.

Instantly, Brandy's entire mouth lit up in a fireworks show of flavor. Her cheeks reddened, and her eyes opened wider.

"Woah…", Brandy moaned, and chewed harder. The rich flavor of the chocolate ran through her mouth, lighting up her tongue like a bonfire. She shut her eyes, not wanting something like sight to get in the way of her enjoyment. She let out a small squeal, slowly swaying back and forth.

"This is… incredible…", Brandy breathed, and swallowed. She felt a tingle run from her head to her toes, and she let out a deep, satisfied sigh.

Brenda looked in shock and mild worry, as Brandy finished the chocolate.

My, I haven't seen anyone react that way before, said the Phantom. To... anything.

Me neither, Brenda thought. It's a little freaky. I mean, I like chocolate just as much as the next Bandit, but…

"Hey. Brandy.", said Dan. "You okay?"

Brandy opened her eyes again and looked up at Dan. Her cheeks flushed unexpectedly, and she suddenly found it hard to talk.

"Um…", she said, and tried to formulate a response, but it was impossible. The combined influence of the beer and the chocolate had opened a direct gateway to her heart.

She saw Dan, not as anyone else saw him, but almost glowing. Her gaze lingered on his face, then slowly traveled downwards. Dan saw the way she was staring at him, and it suddenly grew very stuffy inside of his helmet.

"I have to go to the bathroom.", he said abruptly, and stood up, slamming a passing Goblin into the floor with his arm. He walked at a high speed towards the far end of the room, Brandy watching him all the while.

A Valkyrie watched him pass, and the Prince sitting next to her raised his eyebrow. She cracked a wide grin, and took another sip of wine.

"Did you see the way those two were looking at each other?", she asked.

"I did.", said the Prince. "They totally look like they would be the cutest couple together."

"We should get them to bang.", the Valkyrie said

"Totally.", said the Prince. They gave each other a fistbump, and then walked off- Valia the Valkyrie towards Brandy, and Terrence the Prince towards Dan. Valia accidentally bumped into a King, who nearly fell off his stool.

"Oh, sorry sir.", Valia said, and the King turned out indignantly.

"No, no, it's no problem at all.", said the King, then turned back to his partner.

"So, as I was saying, MalaysianCitizens, our best next target would be the Rush Islands."

"I like the way you think, Ledanos.", said his partner, and they both clinked their glasses.

Brandy took another sip of her drink, finishing the last gulp. She set the cup down with a satisfied sigh, and looked at her fingertips. Strangely enough, she felt them start to tingle.
"Hey there, Brandy.", said Valia, and slid in right next to Brandy, smooth as a greased Dart Goblin.

"Hey.", said Brandy, and looked to see who it was. Upon seeing that is was a tattooed Valkyrie, she flinched a little bit. Despite her recovery, Brandy had still not totally gotten over what had happened. "Uh, who are you?"

"The name's Valia.", said Valia, and raised her hand. "Gimme the strongest thing you got. And the 17th strongest for Brandy here."

The Skeleton Pyramid tending the bar chittered, and ran off to get whatever those things were. Valia spun her axe around, then dropped it onto the floor. "So. I saw the way you were looking at Dan."

"What?", Brandy asked, as her face reddened a little bit. "I wasn't-"

Valia put her finger on Brandy's lips. "Shh. There's no need to hide it. I know what you were thinking about him. I don't blame you. He's hot."

"Well, I-", Brand stammered, and tried to collect her thoughts. It was difficult through the haze of the grassbeer.

"And let me guess. You're new to this kind of thing, and you just don't know how to express it.", Valia continued, looking at Brandy with a sly eye. "Don't worry, I'm an expert here. And seeing as how you're both drunk, neither of you will remember anything in the morning. Perfect time to practice!"

"Well…", Brandy slowly said. "I guess so."

"Good.", said Valia, and propped her legs up on the stool. Brandy felt a little intimidated by her presence, but didn't show it.

"Now, the first thing. Knowing your attraction type.", Valia said. "And the first thing you need to know about that- you're not sexy."

"What?", Brandy asked. "What do you mean, I'm not-"

"Hush, Brandy.", said Valia. "I'm the one talking here. What I mean is that you're not sexy, you're cute. There's a big difference there."

She brought up her hand, poking in the air in front of her with each word. "And you have to play. It. Up. To the max."

"I'm not sure what you mean…", Brandy said. "What do I have to do?"

Valia sighed. "Just- be you. Be the small, hyper, cute one. It'll be the perfect counterpart to Dan- he's the huge, slow, strong one."

She gave Brandy a strong slap on the back, almost knocking her off the stool. "Now come on. Give me your best smile."

Brandy smiled nervously. Valia took one look, and her eyebrows arched so highly that they almost needed to register for airspace. "That's a decent smile, but not a cute one. Try again."

"Well, what's a cute smile?", Brandy asked. "I've never done anything like this before."

"Um… think of some time in your life when you were trying to be flirty with someone.", Valia said. "Maybe he- or she- was being flirty with you. Think back to that."

Brandy's mind automatically flashed back to the Phantom. Even though she knew that she probably shouldn't, she focused on the way he held her, the way he sang to her, the way he-

Valia's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Yes! Yes, that's it! That glowing smile! Hold it!"

Brandy held her face in place, and Valia placed her fingers over her own face like a camera. "Yeah, just like that. Most adorable little smile I can imagine."

She stood up off the barstool, and Brandy stumbled down with her. "Alright, go get em.", Valia said, and pointed across the room. Brandy could see Dan exit the bathroom, and start walking over to her. "You got this."

At the same time as Brandy's conversation with Valia had been taking place, Dan was recieving a few lessons of his own, from Terrence.

Song: Overlapping Fate

"Oh, man.", Dan whispered to himself as he slumped against the wall of the bathroom. Several wall Goblins popped out of their holes and started to yell at him, then immediately withdrew once they saw his sheer size. "Why was Brandy looking at me that way?"

"I think I know why.", said Terrence, as he sat down next to Dan. He calmly stroked his beard, and took a sip from a cup of tea.

"What the- who are you?", Dan asked, scooting away a little bit.

"I'm Terrence.", said Terrence. "Lady's man and lover extraordinaire. And you, my friend, look like you need some help."

"What? No.", Dan said. "I- well, I mean- Brandy's a friend. My best friend, but still just a friend."

Terrence shook his head, and cracked a mischievous grin. "Aha, you may think so. But…"

He abruptly rose to his feet, and Dan did the same. He wasn't sure why- perhaps it was the sheer confidence that radiated from Terrence in droves.

"I ask you, Dan- when you rushed headlong into an enemy Castle to save Brandy, was that action of friendship, or was it of love?"

"I-", Dan said, but Terrence would not let him speak.

"When the rage filled you in that canyon, was that the rage of a friend, or the rage of a lover? When you fought for her honor, do you really think that was the act of mere friendship? No, my friend, it was not!"

"But-", Dan sputtered out. Terrence raised a single finger, indicating that he was not yet done.

"When you took it upon yourself to become better, you did it for her!", he said louder, very nearly shouting. "That is not what friends do, my boy! No, that- that is the action of a lover!"

"I-", Dan said. He began to slowly see what Terrence was talking about.

"Dan!", Terrence shouted. He grabbed Dan by the arms, and looked up into his face.

"The way you feel for Brandy- do not seal it away, as if it were something to be lost! No, you must embrace it! Do you embrace it?"

"Well, um…", Dan said, sweating under his helmet. It was a gigantic commitment, one that he still wasn't quite sure of.

"Do you want to hold her?", Terrence yelled, his brow knitted in excitement. "Please her?"

Dan thought for a moment more, then made up his mind. "Yes!", he shouted. "I do!"

"Do you love her, Dan?", Terrence shouted. "Do you at last see now, that everything you've done for her has been love?"

"Yes!", Dan shouted, and threw his fist upwards. A bolt of Star flashed from it, destroying parts of the ceiling and giving a random Miner quite a shock. But neither Prince or Mega Knight cared.

"Then go to her!", Terrence yelled. "Go to her, and confess!"

"Yes!", Dan bellowed, and turned around. He flexed his gigantic muscles, and threw open the door.

A Goblin had been washing his hands at the sink during the length of the conversation, watching all the while. As he watched Dan grow more and more excited, he began to fear for his life, until Dan finally broke off the talk and left. Shakily, he gave a small thumbs up. "Good on you, bro.", he said, although he said it in Gobbish, so it sounded more like "Glubasha boor tala." But it was the thought that counted.

Brandy walked nervously towards Dan, who was still all the way across the room. She passed a table where sat a short figure in a black cloak. He gave off a pungent stench, and his head turned to give Brandy a look.

"Hi.", he said meltingly. "My name's Epic_Gamer_Jeff. I love you."

"What?", Brandy asked in shock. Valia winced, and motioned for Brandy to keep walking, but she didn't see it.

"Are you a virgin?", asked the creature. "Because I think a delightfully innocent virgin like you deserves a nice guy like me."

He slicked back the 6 hairs on his head and leaned forward, his cracked lips puckering as he aimed for Brandy's hand.

"Yeah, I'll get my Elite Barbarian friends to help me.", it said. "They'll pin you down while I turn your insides into-"

"Dorra!", Brandy yelled, and swung her fist. Halfway on its course, her Dash activated, turning her punch from regular to subsonic. The blow connected with Epic_Gamer_Jeff's face, cracking open his skull. As Brandy's fist continued on its path, brains were blown out and fragments of head sprayed across the table. Epic_Gamer_Jeff's body flipped backwards, dissolving into Elixir from the feet up. It flipped across several tables before splattering into nothing, right onto the dinner of a very disgruntled Giant. His head rolled underneath Kar's feet a dozen tables away, where he and Lars were having a very intense drinking contest. Almost subconsciously, Kars stomped downwards, crushing the head into Elixir.

Brandy wiped her fist off on the tablecloth, and huffed. "Disgusting.", she said. "Wonder who that was."

Then she looked up, and saw Dan staring at her from across the room. His eyes lit up a brighter blue, and his arms lit up gold as he struggled to contain his emotions. Brandy started walking faster, and they met in the center of the room. Valia and Terrence watched closely from the sidelines, both hoping that their training would pay off.

"Uh… hey.", said Brandy, and flipped back her hair. She flashed her best smile like Valia had taught her, and she felt her heart flutter.

"Hi.", said Dan. He tried not to be nervous, but what could he do with Brandy right there in front of him like that? She was just so adorable, he felt like picking her up and just squeezing her as hard as he could.

"You… wanna sit down?", Brandy said, not knowing what else to say. She gestured to a nearby empty table, with half a plate on it. The plate, along with all the food on it, had a bitemark out of it the shape of Goblin jaws.

"Sure.", Dan shrugged. He tried to think of something to say. He had rehearsed some lines as soon as he got out of the bathroom, but he couldn't remember them now.

Brandy slid into one of the chairs, and Dan slammed down onto the floor. Even though he didn't use a chair, he towered over the table like a mountain over a plain.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Terrence signing something. It looked like he was mimicking… eyes? No, a smile. Sparkly? Dan thought for a moment, then understood.

"You're looking cute tonight, Brandy.", he said, scratching the back of his armor.

Brandy gasped in mock surprise, and Valia pumped the air with her fist. Brandy smiled internally- the plan had worked.

"What?", she asked. "You really think so?"

Dan sweated a little bit. Had "cute" worked? Was she messing with him, or was that something that he wasn't supposed to say? He didn't know- why couldn't girls just be straightforward about things? Why did they have to mess around with things?

"Yes!", he said proudly, and slammed his fist onto his leg. "I do!"

Brandy was a little taken aback by his straightforwardness. From the way Valia had taught her, Dan was supposed to follow with her, play along a little bit. Why couldn't guys just mess around a little bit? Why did they have to be so straightforward?

But such thoughts were soon forgotten, as Brandy and Dan looked at each other once again. They stared into each other's eyes, the sparkling blue colliding.

"Oh, this is it.", Valia whispered to herself. "I think it worked."

"Come on, man.", Terrence said, putting his arm around a passing Goblin Brawler. So overflowing was his aura of confidence that the Brawler stopped, and watched the show. "Do it!"

"Brandy, I…", Dan said, and stopped. Was he sure that he could do this? Was he…

A surge of confidence filled him, and he grit his teeth. Of course he could do it! He was Dan the Mega Knight, the ultimate Star Warrior, and nothing could stop him, let alone the truth. But as he looked into Brandy's starstruck face, hesitation still gnawed at him.

Brandy knew what Dan was going to say. I love you, she thought. She knew that he was going to say it- but she still wanted to hear it out of him.

"I-", Dan said, then an unusually loud doorbell interrupted his words. Both of them turned to look at the same time.

"I… think you should get that.", Dan said, and Terrence groaned. He slapped his hands to the side of his head, and almost fell over. "Oh no!"

"Right.", Brandy said quickly, and stood up. She Dashed over to the door, opening it as fast as she could.

"Trick or treat!", came a small voice, and Brandy looked down to see a Villager Child. She was, to Brandy's amusement, wearing a Bandit costume and holding a green bag.

"I'm sorry about this.", came the weary voice of her mother, and Brandy looked up. "I know that it's still only September, but she really, really wanted to."

She leaned forward, and whispered. "And I needed to get her out of the house. She's been tearing up the walls lately."

"Hiya, Brandy.", said the little Villager shyly, swinging her bag back and forth. "I remember you."

"How do you remember me-", Brandy asked, then stopped. "Oh! You're…"

She snapped her fingers, trying to remember the kid's name. She had met her at the gift shop outside of Frozen Peak almost a month ago. Her name was… was…

"Cookie!", Brandy finally said. "Nice to see you again, Cookie."

"My mommy said I couldn't ever be a Bandit.", said Cookie. "But look at me now."

Brandy laughed, and reached inside her pocket. She felt around for anything to give Cookie, and grabbed on to something random.

"Well, you know what would make it even better?", Brandy asked playfully, and charged up her Dash in whatever hand held the object. "Some candy to go with it!"

With a burst of pure Dash energy, Brandy temporarily turned her hand intangible. She waved it inside of Cookie's pocket quick as a flash, leaving the treat inside- which upon inspection, turned out to be a small piece of hard candy and a musket ball.

Cookie felt the weight in her pocket, and instantly grabbed what was inside. Holding the loot up to the light, she gasped. "How did you do that?"

"Bandit magic, kid.", said Brandy. "Like this. Watch."

In a flash of Blue light, Brandy Dashed back inside. She grabbed a random candle off a random table and Dashed back to Cookie, the flame extinguishing with the speed.

"Here you go, Cookie.", she said, and dropped the candle into her bag. "Have fun with that."

"What is she supposed to do with a candle?", Cookie's mother whispered to Brandy. "Don't you have any more candy you can give her?"

"Oh, maybe.", said Brandy. "Although…"

With a blur of motion as fast as she could possibly manage, Brandy flicked her hand towards Cookie's exposed neck. There was a flash of light reflected off of metal, and Cookie's skin raised as the fragment of Stand Arrow cut her skin, ever so slightly. To mask the action, Brandy dropped a roll of wrapped caramels into Cookie's bag. "There you go. The greatest gift."

Cookie's mother looked up at the sky, and the full moon. "Well Cookie, it's getting late. We better be getting back home. Now, what do you say to Brandy?"

"Thank you, Brandy.", said Cookie. "For the candy. And the musket ball."

She started to go, when something very interesting caught her eye. "Woah!", she shouted, pointing into the room. "Who's that?"

Brandy followed her gaze, seeing that it fell on Brenda, attempting to balance 7 trays of food at once. Brandy could see that she had summoned the Phantom to help her. "Oh, that's my friend Brenda.", she said. "She's nice. You want to meet her?"

Despite the stern looks from her mother, Cookie refused to pull away. "No, who's that behind her? The tall man, in the mask and coat?"

Brandy felt her heart jump a little bit in her throat. Cookie's mother gave her daughter a strange look, and Brandy smiled a bit. She could see a small, red tentacle slowly sweep around Cookie's leg before vanishing.

"Oh, that's just her friend. Don't worry about it.", said Brandy. "You should be getting to bed though, it's getting pretty late."

Cookie finally allowed herself to be turned away from the castle, and her mother sighed in relief.

"By the way…", Brandy said. "I think you might want to look after Cookie a little more carefully now. She's… gonna be harder to handle."

"What? Harder to handle?", the Villager said in fear, before Brandy winked, and closed the door.

She waited a bit before turning around again. "Okay, uh, let's get back to-"

She startled a little bit when she saw that Dan, while she had been talking to Cookie and the Villager, had silently appeared right behind her. Even though he was crouching, his gargantuan 18 foot frame still towered over her.

"Brandy.", he said, in a voice as serious, yet tender, as he could muster. "I need you to listen to me."

"What is it, Dan?", Brandy asked. She slowly leaned against his leg, knowing what he was going to say. "Tell me."

"I…", Dan said, and swallowed. He saw Terrence and the Goblin Brawler both giving him a thumbs up from across the room, and a swell of courage filled him.

"I love you, Brandy.", he said. "I always have. I… I thought it was just friendship before, but now I know the truth."

Brandy's eyes watered, and she threw herself forward into a tight embrace. She wrapped around Dan's waist, burying her face in his armor. "I love you too."

Valia and Terrence both took out their communicators, and furiously typed out a message.

Operation Lovebird is complete, typed Terrence.

Move on with Operation Lovenest?, Valia replied.

No, not yet. We should wait and let them enjoy the moment, Terrence typed, then hung up. He looked outwards with a smile, and his gaze fell on a lonely looking Barbarian in the corner. He was staring longingly at a Musketeer, sitting at a table alone.

Hold on, I found someone else, he messaged quickly. Agent Valia, report to my position.

Affirmative, Agent Terrence, Valia replied, and looked to where Terrence was. She too could see the Barbarian, and the Musketeer. A sly smile crawled across her face, and she slicked back her hair. A matchmaker's job was never finished.

Brandy and Dan stayed in the embrace for several more seconds, not wanting to let each other go. But soon enough, Brandy had to come up for air, and she moved her head out of the thick armor of Dan's torso.

"So… what now?", Dan asked. "What happens now?"

"I… don't know.", Brandy said. "Maybe we… go celebrate?"
"That's a good idea.", Dan said. "To the bar again!"

Brandy Dashed up onto Dan's shoulder, and he pointed in the direction of the bar. But before they could go, there came another knock at the door. This one sounded very worn, and tired, each knock a struggle. Brandy's attention snapped towards the door, as did Dan's.

"I'll- I mean, we should go get it.", Brandy said. "It sounds important."

"Right!", Dan said, and stomped over to the door. He opened it with a flourish, and his eyes widened.

Song: Approach

"And then once she arrived back home," Agatha said, finishing up her relation of the night's events to Oticat, "She told me what I just told you. But we were rather late for the Clan Meeting, so I used those teleportation pads SpaceKrakenX gave you."

"What?", SpaceKrakenX shouted, as his head popped up from behind a couch. He somersaulted over to Oticat and Agatha, picking up his crown as it fell. He looked with wild eyes across Agatha's person, scanning for any sign of dimensional wear. "You used the teleportation pads? But they weren't tested! At all!"

"Well, we're fine.", Agatha said. "If they weren't tested, then why did you-"

"You're fine?", SpaceKrakenX asked, and one of his eyes began to twitch. "Then that means they're perfect! Haha, they worked! I'm a genius!"

He flung his hands into the air, and somersaulted away again, vanishing behind the couch.

The door hit the wall from the force of Dan opening it, sounding with a loud crack. A worn, haggered figure collapsed onto the floor, her cloak covering her head. The long gun by her side fell beside her, spinning before coming to a rest.

"Help…", she moaned, and Brandy's head ticked with recognition. "Please…"

Dan looked closer, and his eyebrows narrowed. "She's Red.", he said. "Who the-"

The nearly dead Musketeer somehow managed the strength to lift her head, and Brandy gasped. "Holy frick? Meg?"

She Dashed down from Dan's shoulder, grabbed Meg, and lifted her to her feet. "Hold on.", she said. "We can help you. We're gonna get you food, and Elixir, and some new clothes, and-"

"Brandy, what are you doing?", Dan asked in bewilderment. "She's Red!"

"And?", Brandy said. "Dan, this is Meg. I met her back at Their castle. She said that she doesn't want to be Red anymore."

"Oh.", Dan said. "Are… are you sure?"

"She is.", said Webert, coming up from behind Dan. "I met her as well. She was one of them, then chose to leave."

Meg looked up at Webert, nearly collapsing from the effort, and managed a weak smile. "You're Webert.", she said slowly. "You're the one who rescued me."

"He did?", Brandy asked. "But how? How did you survive? The entire Castle was blown to dust."

Meg started to say something, but instead gave a violent cough. Brandy supported her more, and Webert decided that he would say what happened. "I, as my Clone, went around the Castle rescuing prisoners. I found her sobbing in front of a large fallen rock, and she said that she wanted to come. So I let her. Once we were outside and out of the blast range, I used the recall button on my communicator. I thought it would grab her too, but she was still Red. It left her behind."

"I…", Meg coughed, having worked up the strength to speak again. "I wandered the forest for days, looking for you guys. I finally found where your Clan Castle was, and when you would be there, and just barely managed to make it here in time."

"I'm glad you did, Meg.", said Brandy. "I think we all are."

Meg tried to take a step forward, but almost pitched forward onto the floor. "Oohhh."

"Webert.", Brandy said. "Get some Elixir. Get some food, too. She needs some."

"Right.", said Webert, who had already returned with a platter of sandwiches and a gallon jug of Dark Elixir. "I thought she might."

Brandy took a look, and arched an eyebrow. "Webert, that's Dark Elixir. We just need the regular stuff."

Webert took another glance, and frowned. "Ah, yes. Sorry about that. Guess I just wasn't looking."

He opened his hand, and called to a passing Goblin Gang. "Heyo, I need some Elixir! Y'all got any for me?"

The Goblins looked at each other, and shrugged. But one of them crowed triumphantly, and reached into his pocket. He pulled out half a bottle of Elixir, and all the other Goblins ooed and awed.

"Yeah, thanks bro.", Webert said. "Toss it here."

The Goblin wound up and threw the bottle as hard as he could. Webert stretched out his hand, but Brandy Dashed up into the air and grabbed it before he could, then gave it to Meg.

"Here, drink this.", she said. "It'll-"

Before Brandy could even finish her words, Meg snatched the bottle out of her hands. She broke the cap off and poured the Elixir down her throat all at once, the color returning to her skin as she did so. Brandy could see her limp arms grow stronger, and her tarnished armor start to shine.

Meg ventured a careful step away from Brandy's arms, managing to take a few steps. With uncharacteristic fierceness, She grabbed a sandwich off the platter and ate the entire thing in one bite, then another. Within seconds, the number of sandwiches had gone down by 6.

Meg downed the last sandwich, and heaved a sigh of relief. "Whew. Thought I wouldn't make it for a second there."

She looked around, and saw the party. "Wow, this is… a lot different from the last party I went to."

"Yeah, Blue parties are a lot different from Red's.", Brandy said with an awkward smile. "More casual conversation, lot less consorting with demons and random criminal acts."

"Demons?", Meg asked. "What?"

"Yeah, turns out Ryusei_Nakao69 was using the power of a demon.", Brandy said. "Brenda told me."

"Who's Brenda?", Meg asked, and her hands started to shake. "I'm sorry, I'm just so lost…"

But Brandy simply gave her a warm smile, and took her hand. "Dan, come with me. Meg, I think I have people to introduce you to."

Song: The Stardust Man Appears

Kars roared in triumph, and slammed down his 73rd consecutive glass. His opponent, Lars, at last keeled over onto the floor and fainted dead away. The small crowd around them cheered, and Kars beat his chest with both fists.

"Yeah, who wants to take me one?", he yelled, as he yelled everything. "I am the ultimate drinker!"

He reveled in his victory for a little bit more, until he felt a firm tap on his shoulder. He turned around, nearly slapping Brandy's face in the process.
"Hey, Brandy!", he shouted. "What can I do ya for? You wanna go?"

"No, not right now.", Brandy said. "I just want you to meet someone. This is Meg."

Meg shyly stepped forward, and gave a small wave. "Hi, I'm-"

Kars grabbed Meg's hand, and gave it an aggressive shake. Meg vibrated up and down from the force, her glasses nearly flying right off her face.

"Nice to meet you, Meg!", he shouted. "I'm Kars! Kars the Lumberjack! As you can see if you look at me!"

Kars broke off the handshake with a wild downwards throw, and Meg readjusted her glasses. She looked at Kars, but then turned away when she saw that he was, after all, a muscular, shirtless man, sweaty from drinking his body weight in Elixir. "I see.", she said.

Brenda propped her feet up onto the table, picking her teeth with an iron toothpick. "So, what was your name again?", she asked the Night Witch sitting in front of her.

"My name is Lilian.", the Night Witch said, and put her arm around the Prince next to her. "And this is SilencePriest, my lover."

"Really? That's your name?", Brenda said, and sat back down in her chair. She leaned forward with subtle curiosity. "Sounds like the name of a King."

SilencePriest shrugged. "It's just my name."

"Hmm…", Brenda hummed, and waved her finger ever so slightly. The Phantom appeared above her, looming over the Lilian and SilencePriest like a shadow.

"I don't sense anything suspicious about them.", said the Phantom, after a few quiet moments of inspection. "They both belong to Keegladiator."

Awesome, Brenda thought, so that the Phantom could hear. For some reason, I thought they were bad.

"Hey Brenda.", said Brandy from behind. The Phantom instantly withdrew, and Brenda leaned her head back. "Oh hey, Brandy. What's up."

"I want you to meet someone.", Brandy said, and ushered Meg forward. "Brenda, this is Meg. "I met her in TheEvilOverLord's castle. She used to be Red, but now she wants to be Blue."

"Nice.", said Brenda. "You know, I think I might have seen you while I was raiding there. It looked like you were running away from a room that I had been looting from right before it collapsed."

"Oh.", Meg said, and looked down at the floor. "That must have been my room. I guess nothing in it survived, then?"

Then she looked up again, suddenly realizing the fullness of what Brenda had said. "Hold on a minute. You said you were looting stuff from there, right?"

"Yeah.", Brenda said. "Next you'll ask me if there was any chance I found a journal, right?"

"Is there any chance that you-", Meg began, then stopped. She stared at Brenda in bewilderment. "How did you do that?"

"Eh, just a Bandit thing.", Brenda said, and gave Brandy a subtle wink. "But yeah, I found this."

She reached inside her cloak, and withdrew a battered leather tome. An imprint of a musket was scratched across the front, and some parts of the spine had seen better days.

"Oh, thank you so much!", Meg said. Her hands shook as she grabbed the journal, and held it to her chest. "This means so much to me- I don't know what would have happened if I had lost it."

Brenda stood up, flipping her chair to another table. It was instantly swarmed upon by Goblins, and sat on by 16 of them at once.

"You look like you need a new uniform, Meg.", Brenda said. "How about after we all get some food, I can go help you with that?"

She looked at Meg's torn shoulder patch, and read the 3. Her eyes widened, and she flicked Meg on the shoulder. "And then we need to get you upgraded! No one should be minimum level in a Clan like this!"

A Clan like this. The words echoed inside of Meg's mind, and she smiled. No more would she be abused. No more would her nights be filled with terror, or not even knowing if she would survive the next day. For the first time in her life, Meg was at peace.

She didn't even notice, but as she thought that thought, the shaking in her hands calmed down a bit.

"Meg, did you hear me?", Brenda asked.

"Oh, sorry, what?", Meg stuttered, snapping back to reality. "What did you say? I'm sorry, I didn't hear you."

"I said, what would you like to eat?", Brenda said again. "We're all ordering."

Meg blinked, and looked around. Somehow, while she had been deep in thought, the four had all sat down at a circular white table. Meg was holding a menu- odd, she had not remembered taking or opening one.

"Uh, um…", Meg said, flipping through the menu at random. She opened to the third page, and her finger fell on a block of text. "That. That looks good."

Brenda leaned over, and arched an eyebrow. "You'll have… Goblin Catering Services, all forms of payment accepted, including Gold, Gems, and tickets to MMA tournaments?"

Meg nearly dropped the menu, and tried to hide her embarrassment. "Uh, I mean, that.", she said quickly, and pointed to some caesar salad. "I meant to point to that."

"Okay, that's one caeser salad…", said the Builder that had arrived at their table. "Brandy? Dan? What about you two?"

Brandy looked up from snuggling in Dan's arms, and thought. "Um…"

"I'll have the double-decker steak tower.", said Dan. "With all the sauces, and all the sides. Extra meat, with a tall drink and two pieces of toast. Cook it until Fireballed, toss it and cover it with a blanket of lettuce."

The Builder had been writing down his order, but stopped halfway through. When Dan was done ordering, the Builder gathered all the sarcasm he could possibly muster, and put his hands on his hips. "We serve food here, sir."

"Oh, uh, I'll just have the steak Tower then.", said Dan. "Brandy, what do you want?"

Brandy tapped her finger to her chin. "Can I get that as a vegetarian option?", she asked. "I don't eat meat."

The Builder stared for a bit. He slowly massaged his head with his hand, and muttered angry, bitter things to himself. But then he put on an appropriately chipper face, and gripped his notepad just a little harder. "You want steak. But a vegetarian option.", he said.

"Yeah.", Brandy said, and sunk deeper into Dan's arms. "What's wrong with that?"

"Oh, nothing.", said the Villager. "Just a… little hard to prepare, is all. It will take longer."

"Ah, that's alright.", said Brandy with a wave of her hand. "I can wait. I have all the time in the world…"

She slowly put her hand above her head, then let it fall. Ah, that would explain it, thought the Villager. She's drunk.

"Next you'll say, and what would you like this evening, Brenda?", Brenda said, twirling a cup around on her finger. The Builder turned to her, and raised his pencil.

"And what would you like this evening, Brenda?", the Builder said, then with a deep frown, realized what she had already said. Brenda slightly stuck out her tongue, then opened up the menu. "I'll have the fish fillet. No sauce."

"No sauce…", said the Builder, and wrote it all down. He flicked a switch on his coat, and his wheely shoes activated. He sped away towards the kitchen, wondering just what it was that ever made him take this job.

"Dan?", asked Brandy, looking up at him.
"Yeah?", asked Dan, gulping down another pitcher of Elixir. A few drops fell onto Brandy's face, and she licked them up.

"Could you teach me Star?", she asked. "I want to learn."

"Why, sure.", Dan slurred, forgetting what he had said earlier. "It's actually pretty simple. You see, you just breathe in-"

Dan breathed in as deep and long as he could, Brandy doing the same.

"Then you focus the energy in the air into some part of your body. Say your fist-", Dan huffed out through the fullness of breath. He did what he had done so many times before, and Brandy did what she thought, in her drunkenness, she was supposed to do.

"And then just- expel it!", Dan said, and golden light flickered around his arm. "Like this!"

A nearby King, Digby, noticed what he was doing, and raised his hands in panic. "No wait don't do that in here-"

But it was too late. Dan and Brandy both punched the air in front of them, sending out twin shockwaves that punched through the wall, revealing the cool night beyond.

"Overdrive Beat!", Dan yelled, the golden Star rippling outwards.

"Haaaa!", Brandy yelled, the force of her Dash projecting through the air, then through the wall.

Brandy looked down at her hands in disappointment, then back up to Dan. "Aw, I didn't do it.", she said. "What happened?"

"It takes time to learn.", Dan said. "Everything does. But I'm sure you'll get to do it eventually."

"You think so?", Brandy asked.

Dan smiled underneath his metal helmet. "Brandy, I know so."

They embraced again, before being interrupted by the oddly familiar voice of the waiter. "Good evening, everyone. Here's your food, cooked to perfection by yours truly."

Brandy looked up in shock. Instead of a Builder holding the food, it was a tall man in black armor, his hair a shock of spiky blond. Brandy gasped. "Max?"

She scrambled to a seated position, and stared in shock. "You're alive?"

Meg took off her glasses, gave them a rub to make sure she wasn't seeing things that weren't there, and then put them back on. The sight of Max in front of her remained unchanged.

'Max?", she asked. "How did you survive? You locked yourself in the kitchen as soon as the fighting started. I saw you."

But Max merely gave a wry smile, tapping his finger on the side of his head. "Let's just say… I found a way out.", he said. "I put many secrets in that kitchen. Glad I could use at least one before it went out."

"Brandy, who's this?", Dan asked. "Someone else you met at the Red castle?"

"Yeah.", Brandy said. "He's a Dark Prince. He actually convinced Ryusei_Nakao69 not to wipe my mind. He… probably saved my life."

Brenda extended her hand, and Max gently shook it. "Nice to meet you, Max.", she said. "I'm Brenda. I didn't kill you, did I?"

Max shook his head. "No, I didn't fight anyone during the raid."

"Okay, good.", Brenda said. "Because I know I took down a Dark Prince at one point, and it would be pretty awkward if it was you."

"Yes, it would.", said Max, then leaned over. He placed the platters of food onto the table- Dan's perfectly cooked steak Tower, Brenda's fish fillet, Meg's caesar salad, and a large slice of watermelon for Brandy. He thought that it would be the closest thing to a meatless steak they had.

"What is this?", Brandy asked. "I didn't order this."

"You ordered a vegetarian steak.", said Max. "This was the closest thing we had to meatless meat."

"I ordered that?", Brandy said. "Oh. Guess I forgot."

She giggled, and accidentally spat some Elixir she had drunken earlier out of her nose. Dan snorted, and a flash of Star came out of his own nose, frying bits of the tabletop. The two collapsed into laughter, drawing the attention of an Ice Wizard at the table next to them.

"Miksi käänsit tämän?", he said. "Se ei oikeastaan sano mitään."

But he was quiet, and no one heard him.

Dan and Brandy got up, picked up their food, and dug in voraciously, as neither of them had eaten for many hours.

Meg carefully took her salad from the center of the table, and picked up her fork. But before she could begin to eat it, the ceiling shook above her from some friendly brawl, dislodging a rock that fell directly onto the table. It landed in the middle of her bowl, breaking it in two and sending the salad flying in all directions. Meg stared at it for a few seconds, then looked up to gain the attention of a waiter.

"Do you hear that?", Brenda asked.

"Hear what?", Meg replied.
"It sounds like… screaming.", said Brenda. "And… opera music?"

Meg listened for a moment, but could hear nothing but the party. "I don't hear it."

"Oh well.", said Brenda. Hey Phantom, do you think you could do something about the salad?

The Phantom materialized for a moment, looking over the broken bits of bowl and scattered leaves. He shrugged, then slunk back into Brenda.

I possess many powers, he said. Salad repair is not one of them.

"Oh well.", Brenda said, accidentally out loud. "Thanks for checking."

"Who are you talking to?", Meg asked.

"Um… no one.", Brenda said. "I just, uh, talk to myself sometimes. Don't listen to me."

There was the cough of a Builder at the side of the table, and Meg turned.

"What is it?", he drawled, the very picture of It's been 17 hours since I started my shift and there is absolutely nothing more I'd like to do than go home and die written all across his face.

"Um, a rock fell onto my caesar. Salad, I mean.`` Meg stammered, trying to keep her hands under control.

"It's fine.", said the Builder. "Here is another."

He reached down onto his cart and pulled out another bowl of salad, placing it on the table.

"Oh, thank you-", Meg began, but the Builder had already vanished.

Brandy leaned back in her seat, wiping the watermelon juice off her mouth with the corner of the tablecloth. She gave a small burp, and flipped her plate upside down for no reason.

"Well, looks like I'm done.", she said. "Anyone else done?"

Dan looked up in surprise from his steak Tower, still only halfway through. "You're done already?", he asked. "How?"

"Well.", Brandy said, and pointed somewhere in the general vicinity of Dan's plate. "That is probably at least 10 more food than what I have. And I eat fast, because Bandits naturally have a fast metabolism, and this is the first food I've had in probably 16 hours. So if you put all that together, that's why I ate fast."

"Brandy, how many drinks do you have?", Brenda asked. "You don't sound too coherent."

"Oh, I only had one.", said Brandy. "Why? Is that a lot?"

Brenda looked at Dan, and he shrugged. "Looks like you can't really hold your drinks."

"No, I drop em.", Brandy said. Her frayed attention wandered over to the center of the room, where she could faintly see a group of Barbarians setting up a bunch of chairs. Surrounding them were dozens of various Goblins, helping as they saw fit. Even though most of those ways involved jumping up and down on random Barbarian's heads.

"Holy Dr'ew, are they setting up for-", Brandy shouted, and rose to her feet. But she stood up too fast, and fell back down again into Dan's arms. Despite this, she didn't even miss a beat with the rest of her sentence. "Karaoke?"

"Are they?", Dan asked, craning his neck to look. "Is it Karaoke night already?"

"Looks like it.", said Brenda. Silently, she dispatched the Phantom to go and inspect the area. "And I take it you want to go?"

"Absolutely!", Brandy said. "I love Karaoke!"

"Really?", asked Dan. "Since when?"

"Since… uh… now, I suppose.", Brandy said, and tapped her chin. "Actually, I guess I've never done it- but I do want to try it."

She suddenly felt Dan's massive arms squeeze her tighter, bringing her up to his chest. She was about to say something, when she saw tears slowly drip from his face. For some reason, Dan was crying.

"Dan, what is it?", she asked, bringing her hand up to his face. "Why are you crying?"

Dan sniffed, and flipped open his vizor. His bright blue eyes shone, and he tried to summon up words.

"I just... ", he said. "I'm just so happy that you're here, and safe, and I'm here, and we're all here, and there's nothing wrong anymore, and that I love you, and you love me, and…"

He tightened his embrace, squeezing Brandy just hard enough to count as a hug. "I'm not sure how to put it.", he whispered. "I just want to say… I'm happy. I'm happy now. I'm not sure what I was before all this started, but I know it wasn't as good as this."

"I know what you mean, Dan.", Brandy said. "I never thought I would be saying this, but… after seeing how everything's played out, I guess that it was sort of a good thing. This whole adventure. I mean, you learned your Star powers and became a Mega Knight- that wouldn't have happened. Max and Meg were able to get new and better lives. I got a Stand. TheEvilOverLords are all dead now. If we hadn't brought them down, who knows what they would still be doing?"

She looked up towards the ceiling, thinking of what God had said to her. "Now obviously, some parts of it didn't have to happen. But if you just weigh the good and the bad, well… I guess that even though there was suffering, great joy was born because of it. And really, what better thing in life is that?"

"I can think of something better.", said Dan.
"Really?", asked Brandy. She had a sneaking feeling that she already knew what Dan was going to do. "What?"

"This.", he said, and leaned in for a kiss.

"Hey, what's going on?", came the voice of Bowza from behind them. Dan's head instinctively snapped up, and Brandy's lips landed on solid metal. She thought of trying for it again, but somehow knew that it would be better if saved for another time.

"What?", Dan asked. "What's going on?"

"That's… what I asked.", said Bowza. "Do you not know?"

Brandy sat up next to Dan, smoothing back down her ruffled hair. She straightened her hood, and snapped her gloves back to their right position on their hands.

"There's a Karaoke contest going on over there.", said Bowza. "You all want to participate, I'm guessing."

"Sure.", said Dan. "Most of us do. I don't think Meg would want to, though."

Brandy reached out with her mind, trying to find Dan's. She was trying to ask him why he had turned away from the kiss- but then she realized. Dan had never learned telepathy. Agatha and Bowza had only taught her, as far as she knew.

Oh shoot, right, came his voice unexpectedly. I'm sorry, I can't really remember anything right now. I'm drunk.

Wha- Dan, you can use telepathy?, Brandy asked in confusion. Since when?

They taught it at the place where I learned to become a Mega Knight, he said. Thought that I might as well take it.

Where exactly was that?, Brandy asked. You never said.

I don't think it actually had a name, said Dan after thinking for a bit. All I know is that it was nestled in a small valley, somewhere around Frozen Peak. And there was a burrito place nearby.

Huh, Brandy thought. Think you could find it again?

I'm not sure…, Dan said. But perhaps.

So, are we gonna kiss again?, Brandy asked.

When the time is right, Dan thought. I want it to be special.

"Right.", Brandy said out loud, and stood up. "Well, I know I want to go sing in front of people for a prize. Who else does?"

Brenda stood up as well. "Sure.", she said. "I'm pretty good at singing."

"I've never done it.", said Dan. "But I'll do it now."

It was only Meg that declined. "You guys can do it.", she said. "I'll… I'll just watch."

Bowza's eyebrows knitted together. "Who's this?", he asked. "I don't believe I've ever seen her before. And she's Red."

"Hi, I'm-", Meg began, then Bowza put his hand on her forehead.

"Hold still.", he said. "I'll just read your mind for a bit."
"Hey-", Meg squeaked out, but the process had already begun. Quick as a flash, Bowza took a quick trip through her memories, of which there weren't many. After a few seconds, he broke off contact, leaving Meg in a slight daze.

"I see.", he said. "Well, you're welcome to be with us. Good luck."

He folded up his arms, golden Star crackling around his feet. With a flash of light, he teleported away and reappeared in the steel seating in front of the stage.

"Meg, come with me.", Brenda said. "Let's get you a new set of clothes while Dan and Brandy try to sing."

"Okay.", Meg said, and finished the last bite of her salad. "Where's the-"

Brenda put one hand on Meg's lower back, and the other on the back of her head. "Hold very still.", she said. "If you don't, this will hurt."

Meg's eyes widened, a half-second before Brenda Dashed up the nearest flight of stairs, a silently screaming Meg in tow.

"Come on, let's go.", said Dan. "It's just you and me now."

Brandy Dashed up onto Dan's shoulder, nuzzling against the side of his head. "Right. It's just us."

Dan walked away from the table, and towards the center of the Grand Ballroom, where the first contestant had already taken the stage.

The door to the Uniform Room blasted open, and Brenda stopped a few feet in. Meg stumbled out of her grasp and fell onto a stool, breathing hard and trying not to throw up.

"Please, never do that again.", she said. "It was traumatizing."

"Oh. Sorry.", said Brenda, and began to run her finger along the various uniforms that hung up on the walls. "What size are you?"

"Uh, a size three.", Meg said. "I think."

"Okay, size three…", Brenda muttered, and Dashed along the large selection. Once she came to the Rares aisle, she slowed a bit. Once she arrived at the Musketeer section, she slowed down more, and once she hit size three, she stopped. She pulled out a wrinkled bag, the uniform of a Blue Musketeer within.

"Okay, I got it!", she shouted, then Dashed back to where Meg was sitting in the center of the room. "Does this look alright?"

Meg took the bag, and held it up to the light. "Yes, that looks good."

Brenda sat down on a stool, and motioned for Meg to open the bag. "Okay then. Change. We'll see how it looks on you."

Meg's face turned a deep red, and she looked down at the floor. "I'd rather not.", she said quietly.

"What?", Brenda asked. "Is there a problem? Is it just that you'd rather not take off your clothes when there's another person in the room?"

"Yes.", Meg said, looking down at the floor. "Last time I tried that… I didn't get them back for hours. My clothes, I mean."

"I see.", said Brenda. "You can trust me, though. I promise I won't steal anything. Even though I'm a Bandit."

But Meg still didn't move, or say anything. She just stared at the slatted wooden floor, her face remaining a flushed crimson.

"And besides, we're both girls here.", said Brenda. "So what's the problem?"

"Well, that's the biggest problem.", Meg said, and shuffled her feet along the floor. Her hands trembled, very nearly leading to a dropping of the bag. "That you're a girl. You see, I'm… uh… attracted to them. Girls, I mean."

Brenda thought for a moment. "I see.", she said, and held her fingers in front of her mouth. "Yes, I can see how that would be a problem."

She stood up, and flicked her finger. "Well, guess I'll leave for a bit. Go change, and get me when you're done."

Brenda Dashed at Lightning speed out of the room, leaving Meg alone.

Meg cracked open the bag, and looked down at her torn Red uniform. "Well, this is it.", she whispered. "The moment when I finally cast aside my old life, and become Blue."

She took the bright Blue fabric in her hand, letting it slowly cascade down.

"But… it feels wrong.", she said. "I don't know why, but…"

"Of course it feels wrong.", came a voice.

"Wha-", Meg said, and spun around. She saw no one, but she could tell that there was someone there. "Who said that?"

"I did.", said the Phantom, and he stepped out of space. "I said that of course it feels wrong."

"Who are you?", Meg said hoarsely, trying to force her voice to be louder. "Where did you come from?"

"Don't worry, I'm a friend of Brenda's.", said the Phantom. "I'm just here to tell you that everything new feels wrong at first. Every change, every new action feels different, which you naturally perceive as wrong- even if the net change is good. So don't be afraid. Put on that uniform."

He leaned forward, and gave her forehead a single light tap. "Become who you are."

And with that, he faded.

Meg stared again at the uniform. She swallowed hard, looked up, and grit her teeth with an unexpectedly ferocious resolve. "I can do this.", she said. "And I will."

Not waiting to hesitate, Meg ripped off her old uniform, straight down the middle. She cast both sides of it aside, then threw the Blue one over her head. It fell down onto her body straight as an Arrow, sliding neatly in to fit her. She briefly inspected the package- it was, indeed, an automatic model.

With another quick burst of actions, Meg attached the cape and shoulder pieces. Her level still read a dull 3, but that would soon change. With one final motion, Meg took the helmet out of the bag, and slammed it over her old one. The Red helmet cracked and split apart under the pressure, sending the last shattered pieces of Meg's old broken life spinning across the floor.

She picked up her gun. That had no color markings, so it would stay. She gave a little twirl, surprising herself. She took a step forwards, and saw herself in the mirror.

The Musketeer that Meg saw was undoubtedly her- and yet, not. She shared the same face, yet the person that Meg saw was totally new. No longer was she Meg the easy, Meg the wimp. No, starting today, she was going to be who she knew she was- and that was Meg the Musketeer.

"Dang, girl.", she whispered to herself. "You look good."

Behind the curtains of the stage, Sadie was frantically going through some notes.

"Elizabeth!", she hissed through clenched teeth. "Help me out here!"

Elizabeth didn't even turn around. She was busy helping a Goblin Brawler tie bits of the stage together, her long hair tied back into a bun. "What?", she said, trying to talk through the nail in her mouth.

"We start the show in like, no minutes and I'm missing 3 pages of speech!"

"Oh, that's a problem.", Elizabeth said. "But don't worry. Just do what I do."

"What do you do?", Sadie asked, frantically gesturing to a Goblin stagehand to keep the curtain closed.

Elizabeth spat out the nail. The Goblin Brawler caught it between two outstretched fingers, then carefully placed it into a chalk X. He drew back his fist like a hammer and punched the nail directly into a slab of wood.

"I make stuff up.", Elizabeth said nonchalantly. "It works for me all the time."

"But I'm not you!", Sadie whisper-shouted. "Just because we're twins doesn't mean that-"

"I can't hold it!", the Goblin Stagehand screeched, and his fingers let go of the rope. The curtain fell open, revealing a shocked and slightly embarrassed Sadie standing center stage, still holding her notes.

"The...same...person…", Sadie groaned, then turned to the audience. Even if she couldn't improv like Elizabeth could, she would have to try, all the same. She took a deep breath, and-

"Hey, everybody!", Elizabeth said, running out in front of Sadie and giving a giant wave. "Thanks for coming, it's great to have you here!"

The audience cheered, in various ways. A Giant waved tiny flags. A Bomber threw his Bomb up into the air, where it was caught by a Balloon. Dan fired a small bolt of Star, which erupted into a firework-like blast. A Valkyrie twirled her axe on fingertip. A Goblin tried to eat his own nose.

"I know you all want to get started, so I won't keep you waiting any longer.", Elizabeth said, subtly gesturing for Sadie to get behind the scenes. "Let the party commence!"

Saide tucked and rolled, sliding into a tech booth cleverly hidden behind a statue of a pine tree. "Yes, and we have…", she said, trying to sift through her frazzled notes. "A free-for-all Rap Battle as the first event!"

The crowd cheered, and a Night Witch rose from the back. Looking across the audience, she could see her previously assigned partner, Marc the Giant Skeleton slowly get up from sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"The two competing first will be…", Elizabeth boomed through the microphone, sweeping her hand in a wide arc. "Tabitha the Night Witch and Marc the Giant Skkkkeleton!"

Tabitha lifted up her legs, allowing herself to float up towards the stage. Marc took a single ginormous step, slamming onto the stage with a loud crack.

"Somebody lay down a beat!", shouted Sadie, attracting the attention of two Goblins that were supposed to do exactly that. They had actually forgotten all about it, and only did it because they were bored and had figured eh, why not?

The two jumped up and down on either side of an old minecart, making a low boom each time one of them hit the floor. Elizabeth threw down her hand, signaling that the rap battle had started.

Tabitha smirked, and raised her staff. "So throw your hands up, cause it's time to get down! You better make way, I'm the new kid in town!"

There were a few cheers from the audience, but not much. They had seen better.

"I float on mist-"

A Bat flew out of Tabitha's hair, ruffled itself, and sat on the microphone. "With her big battle axe!", he said in an oddly deep voice, and the crowd began to get more interested.

"And I always roll deep…", Tabitha said, and summoned the rest of her flock. They harmonized with her as she said "With a gang of bats!"

"So throw your hands up if you're ready to clash- it's the bat signal, baby, you know where it's at!"

The crowd cheered. It had been a pretty good performance. But they all focused their attention on Marc, as he picked up his own microphone. Supposedly, he had never, ever, been defeated.

He took a deep breath, as deep as his nonexistent lungs would allow, and opened his eyes. They glinted, and the upper bit of his jaw cracked open in a smile.

"Heywhat'supitsyourboyI'maGiantSkeletonandI'vecometoknockyourshelloffandturnthisbattleintoaroutyeahthat'swhatI'mallaboutyoulooksoproudlikeagoodmama'sgirlwellI'mheretoringyourdeathbellI'veneverbeendefeatedneverhaveneverwillcauseI'minvinciblejustlikeeveryonetellsyouthoughtitwasagoodideatogoupagainstmebutyouseethatwasyourfollythere'snowayyoucaneverreachmyheightsI'mclimbingtoohightoofastsoforyouitsgoodnight.", he said in one deep, long breath, then dropped the mike.

Tabitha blinked, and her mouth hung open in shock. She had always thought of herself as a pretty good rapper, but Marc was… he was just something else. Hanging her head, Tabitha knew that she had been defeated.

Slinking back down to the audience, she passed Elizabeth, who was even now scanning the crowd for volunteers. "Does anyone want to take Marc on?", she asked. "Anyone?"
Various Troops in the audience looked around, scratching their head, looking down, sighing, and trying not to attract attention. Marc was just beyond any of them.

"Not even for a prize pool of…", Elizabeth said, and gave a wry smile. "500 Gems?"

Brandy's eyes lit up. She stood up off her chair, and raised her hand.

"Brandy, what are you doing?", Dan whispered. "You can't beat him!"

"I could try.", Brandy said. "This is 500 Gems that we're talking about. I have to at least-"

But even as she spoke, she could see a small, frosty figure run its way onstage. It grabbed the microphone from where Tabitha had left it, and somehow managed to balance it in between its stubby little arms.

"Wha- Randy?", Brandy said, squinting to see. "What's he doing up there? He can't even talk!"

Elizabeth looked down, seeing Randy beaming up at her. "You… want to try?", she asked, and Randy nodded. But he said nothing, because he was an Ice Spirit.

"Well, go ahead.", Elizabeth shrugged, and backed up. She threw her hand down, and the match began.

As per the rules, Randy rapped first. He pushed the microphone up to his face, opened his mouth, and for the first time that anyone could remember, spoke.

"Ş̵͍̟̞̱̳͈̻̙̖̝͈̭͍͔ͤ̏̽̂̔̑̒̌͌ͥ̋̚ ̵̓̽̂̎͐͗̾ͮ̄ͭͨ̆͞͏͖͙͍̘͇͇̘̻̯̳̠͎̟U̡̧̧̥̲̻̟͇͙̪̻̠̹̹̺̯̱̪̘ͭ̄͆ͩ͌ͬͯ̏ͥ̾̿̔ͦ́͝ͅ ̶̴̤̪̖͇̖̼̪̤͕͈̞̫̬̬ͪ̇̑ͩ͋͐̿̆̆̃̾̀ͅC̴̴̻͖̥̺͚̦̯̗̦̥̮̫̦͙̫͚͈̬ͬ̐͗̂͋̿̉̅̿̇̓ ͋ͤ̏͛ͥ͌̓ͭ̐͒̾̚̚̚͏̧͇͔͈̭̗̱̫̞͎̟͕̲͔̲͓̣C̫͉̤̞͓͓̱̠̟̳̩̟̫̥̱͙͖ͩ͌ͧ̓ͤ̽̉̐͐͋̊̇̆̓̀͢͡", he boomed, and the world went dark.

Meg stumbled in the upstairs room, grabbing a dresser to steady herself. All the lights shut off at once, leaving the room in near pitch-black darkness. She held on to her helmet and tucked her gun to her chest. "What the…"

Brenda slammed open the door. "Meg, you alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine.", Meg said. "But what just happened?"

"I don't know.", said Brenda. "Something, that's for sure."

Phantom, could you-, she thought, but the Phantom answered her before she could finish.

It appears that a blast of sheer chaotic force came from somewhere downstairs, he said. I'm not sure what it was, but it was not malevolent in intent.

"Well, that's good.", Brenda muttered, and Meg gave her a weird look.

"Who are you talking to?", Meg asked, and Brenda blinked.

"Uh, myself.", she said. "Just myself."

The lights slowly flickered back on, and they both heaved a sigh of relief.

"Whatever it was, we should go check it out.", Brenda said. "Now come on. Meet the rest of your life."

Meg nodded, and she followed Brenda as they both ran out the door and downstairs.

The lights slowly came back on in the Grand Ballroom, revealing an audience in the beginning stages of mass panic. Several Goblins had already began to go around and loot random Troops's stuff. A Bowler was crawling over the lap of a Giant Skeleton. Dan had charged up some Star in his hands, and had been using it for light. But it had been only a few seconds since Randy shattered reality, so the panic hadn't progressed too far.

Elizabeth slowly peeled herself off of the back wall of the makeshift stage, having been blown backwards by the force of Randy's incantation. Her hair stood up as if shocked, and black soot covered most of her body.

"Ah, sorry about that…", she nervously stammered, trying to collect herself. "I'm not entirely sure what happened, but I think that was it."

Randy giggled, proud of his work, and ran away. But just before he did so, he made sure to bow to Marc, yielding him the victory.

"Uh, I guess I win.", said Marc, scratching his head. "If, you know, no one else wants to challenge me."

The audience looked around, and collectively chose not to say anything.

"That's it, then!", Sadie said from up in her control booth. "Marc wins the Rap Battle tournament!"

Elizabeth motioned to the side of the stage, and to Jack the Goblin Brawler. He grabbed the handles of a wheelbarrow of Gems, and pushed it up onto the stage.

"Congratulations, Marc!", he said. "Now take your Gems and leave."

Marc reached a giant hand towards the wheelbarrow, and stopped. Do I really want Gems?, he thought. I do not eat. I do not sleep. I have no need for material possessions besides Bomby. Maybe…

He grabbed the wheelbarrow, lifting it up over his head. "I don't need these.", he said. "You guys can have them."

He flicked the stack of gems high over the head of the crowd, and they all gasped.

"I got it!", Brandy yelled, and Dashed right out of her seat. She spread her arms open wide, slamming into the rain of Gems at high speed. Her Dash shield protected her as she shot through them and to the floor, rolling to a stop. There was a great amount of shouting and struggle, then the rain abruptly ended. Each Troop's eyes flew to their hands, trying to count how many they had managed to catch.

Brandy looked at her arms, and the green glow of the Gems reflected off of her eyes. She had caught 8- no, 12, no- 18 Gems. 18 Gems. That was a good amount.

"Brandy, how many did you get?", came the voice of Dan from behind her. "I didn't try to catch any."

"I caught 18.", said Brandy. "That's a lot, right?"

Dan looked at Brandy's pile, and raised a single eyebrow. "That's not 18. You only caught 9."

"No I didn't.", Brandy said. "Look, 18."

"I think you're seeing double, Brandy.", said Dan. "Are you sure you only had one drink?"

"Pretty sure…", Brandy said, trying to think. "Yeah, just one cup of grassbeer. The green stuff."

"Okay.", said Dan. "I guess you're just-"

He stopped, and realized what Brandy had said. "Wait, the green stuff?"

"Yeah.", said Brandy. "Why?"

"Brandy, grassbeer's clear! It's not green! If it's green, that means it's expired!"

Brandy tried to think about that, and she just barely managed to. "Oh.", she said. "Is that… bad?"

Dan shrugged. "Well, not like bad bad. More like just '10 times the strength' bad."

"Is that why I'm drunk?", said Brandy.

"Most likely.", Dan nodded, and picked Brandy up by the waist. "Come on. Let's get back to our seats. I think the next thing is about to start."

"What can we buy with all these gems?", Brandy asked. "Maybe like a…"

"Let's talk about it later.", Dan said. "You probably shouldn't make any important decisions right now."

Sadie shuffled through her notes, trying to find the next event. "Alright everyone, next up is…"

She went faster, trying to find the right paper. Where was it, come on…

"Is…", she muttered, flipping as fast as she could through the stack. "Is…"

With a sigh of relief, she found it. Holding it up to the light, she read clearly into her microphone.

"A Dance Battle!", she said. "Between our very own Rascal siblings and Digb's Guards trio!"

Double, Trouble, and Tim all popped their heads around the stage, and Double blew a large bubble. "Did someone call us?", Trouble asked. "Because we're here, and we already signed our names backstage."

"Onto Jack.", Tim added, smiling at his accomplishment. It hadn't been easy to cover the Goblin Brawler with paint, but they had done it.

"Yeah, yeah, come onstage.", Elizabeth said with a wave. The trio ran up the stairs, and posed.

"We are here as well.", said the Guards, all at the same time. "And ready to dance."

They had suddenly appeared behind Elizabeth, and she jumped when they spoke. She readjusted her microphone, and backed up behind them.

"Okay then.", she said. "Sadie, hit us with some music, and let the dance-off…"

Elizabeth swung her hand downwards, and Sadie flipped a switch. "Begin!"

Song: Canzoni Preferite

The Guards began their dance first. One of them, Ay, flipped his shield onto his head and spun around. The other two, Bee and See, locked spears and spun each other around, then collided elbows and dropped to their knees. Ay crossed his arms in front of himself, while Bee and See stood up and spun around to either side of him. Ay gave a signal, and Bee and See dropped to their knees. Ay backflipped onto Bee and See's shoulders, their weapons and armor balancing off of them in bizarre shapes.

"Nice.", said Double. "But don't think you're even close to winning."

She swung her legs back and forth, doing a moonwalk without going anywhere. She stopped, and snapped her fingers as her arms hung outwards from her body. Slowly bobbing to the right, she stopped, threw her arms out in front of herself, and then crossed her limbs in an X. Placing one arm on her hips, she repeated the snapping move, drifting to the other direction. Slowly waving to the right, Trouble came up behind her.

As Double continued to drift across the stage, snapping her fingers, Trouble began to imitate her moves. The two simultaneously bent both arms upwards, then back down again, then bent at the waist and folded their arms over their knees. Tim looked up, and joined his sisters at the front of the stage.

As the crowd began to cheer and chant along to the song, all three Rascals raised their arms like the wings of a chicken. They slapped them down to their knees, and hopped back and forth in both directions. They leaned back and jutted their arms in front of them, Double sliding both her feet in a split. Trouble slowly unfolded her arms, put them on her hips, and looked upwards to the sky. All three of them jumped sideways across the stage, rhythmically snapping their fingers, then threw their arms upwards, to the front, and behind, tilting their necks up to the sky.

With a large, sweeping movement, all three of them swung their arms in front and to the floor, then spun around and crossed them in a downwards facing X. They all raised their left knee, bringing their arms up to their shoulders, and threw them downwards to their knees, bopping their legs up and down in quick succession. Then with a lightning fast movement, they were back to the finger snapping, going the opposite way across the stage this time. They turned back and crossed arms once more, then Trouble faced the cheering crowd.

"I guess we normally use that one for interrogating people…", she said. "But it works fine as just a regular dance too."

"Yoooo!", shouted a Bull from the back of the room, who was stone drunk and there for some reason. Then he collapsed face-first into a potted plant and was forgotten for the rest of the evening.

"And… the winner of that, I think we all know…", Elizabeth said, "Is our very own Rascals!"

She swung her arm around with each word, riling up the audience more with each movement. "Let's hear it for Double, Trouble, and Tim!"

Double took a bow, and Trouble didn't miss the chance to push her in the back. Double gave a cry as she stumbled forward and almost fell off the stage, before Tim reached out a hand and grabbed her by the back of her shirt.

Double glared at Trouble, and lunged. Tim pulled her back, and grabbed the back of Trouble's shirt as well. Holding them both off the ground as they scrabbled for each other, he huffed, blowing his hair out of his eyes. They always did this.

Tim walked off the stage, and out of sight. Elizabeth pulled her microphone closer to her mouth, and whispered into it. "Sadie, we're going through these faster than we thought. What's the next event?"

"Uh…", Sadie said, flipping through the stack of papers. But as this point, it was far too jumbled to make out, so she just made something up. "The Karaoke contest."

"Are you sure?", Elizabeth said. "Wasn't that supposed to be the last event?"

"Yes, and yes.", Sadie said. "Let's just go through with it."

"If you say so.", Elizabeth whispered, then smiled to the audience. "Alright, it's somehow time already for the next part of the show."

She pointed her finger up into the air, and bent at the knees. "The Karaoke contest!"

Brandy tapped Dan on the shoulder, and he leaned down. "Dan, let's go up there. I want to do it."

"I wanna do it too.", Dan responded. "That's why we came over here, remember?"

"Oh, right.", Brandy said, and tapped her chin. "I forgot."

Dan smiled underneath his helmet, and stood up, knocking over a stack of Goblins that had been about to steal his plume. "Then let's go!"

Elizabeth looked around the audience, searching for volunteers. The Karaoke contest was open, unlike the others which select Troops had preregistered for. But now, there was no shortage of volunteers.

"Okay, we got Brandy and… excuse me, who are you?", Elizabeth said, as her eyes fell on Dan for the first time since he had returned.

"Oh, right.", Dan said, and flipped up his vizor. "I'm Dan. Just a little bigger now."

"I see.", Elizabeth said, and turned her attention back to the crowd. "And there's Brenda and a Musketeer, and Kars and Webert. Alright, that's 6, we can start the first round."

"Meg?", Brandy gasped, and turned to see Brenda and Meg coming up the side of the stage. "Oh, you're Blue now!"

"Does it look good on me?", Meg asked, tapping her fingers together. "The uniform?"

"It looks great!", Brandy said. "You look like you've always been Blue."

Elizabeth stared, dumbfounded. "What are you all talking about?"

"Uh…", Meg started, before Kars broke in.

"This is Meg!", he shouted. "She's a Musketeer, as you can tell if you look! She used to be Red, then she came here for some reason and now she's Blue!"

"Aha.", Elizabeth muttered, then perked up. Even if that was weird and suspicious, there was a show to finish up.

"Sadie.", she whispered into her microphone. "Start the music on my command."

"Understood.", Sadie said up in the tech booth, heating up some noodles. "What's the song, and what's the command?"

"The Song.", Elizabeth whispered. "And don't worry, you'll know."

"Oooookay.", Sadie said, and took a long sip through the straw of her drink. "I guess that's fine."

Elizabeth pointed up into the air and closed her eyes, screaming into the microphone. "Alright everybody! Meet our contestants!"

Then her voice dropped back to normal, and she gave the crowd a low stare. "I mean, you all already know them. But you know what I mean."

The crowd cheered, and Elizabeth gestured to the wings. Several Goblin Stagehands rushed out from either side, distributing a microphone to each singer.

"The rules are simple.", Elizabeth said, strutting from one side of the stage to the other. "All three duos sing a selected song. Once all three have sung, you guys cheer the loudest for whoever you thought did the best."

A Goblin, deep in the dizzy stupor of drunkenness, stood up and screeched at the top of his lungs when he heard the word "cheer". Then he fell down, somehow into the same potted plant as the Bull, and he too laid there unconscious for the rest of the evening.

"Our first team will be Kars and Webert!", Elizabeth yelled with excitement. "Singing a song of their own creation, 'Rage and Bowling Combo!'"

Kars and Webert took center stage, and Sadie flipped a switch. Loud, nonsensical music began to blare from the speakers, and Kars opened his mouth to sing.

"Should I believe it?", he bellowed. Webert stepped up to his side.

"Just believe it!", he sang, a bit more on key than Kar's drunken yell. They bumped up against each other, and sang in harmony.

"Rage… Bowling… Combo!"

The music kicked in harder, and a dozen Goblin backup dancers emerged from the wings, all frantically and randomly throwing their arms in various directions.

"My name is Kars, the user of an aaaaaaaaxxxeee….", Kars said, drawing out the last note. He swung his axe for dramatic effect, the sound of the swing echoing through the microphone and off of the walls. "My card is the Lumberjack, and I work best in a pair!"

"With others, I shine!", he sang, hoisting up his bottle of Rage. "But with a Bowler? Will I be alright?"

The spotlight swung to focus on Webert, who put on an almost overly exaggerated frown.

"I am Webert- I throw a giant baaaaaallll…", he sang, holding up his huge rock. "I'm horribly slow, but I'm going to be very fast!"

He pointed to the sky, and a hologram of a Skeleton Army popped into view. "I'll take down all the swarms! My ball kills them, 100%!"

Kars and Webert swung around to face each other, bumping arms in a manly gesture. They held up an oversized Odds Card, one typically used by bet runners in the Arena.

"That says- that says-", they sang together, "Everything will go our way, right?"

Kars faced the audience, and slapped both hands to his face in an exaggerated gesture of shock. "That's amazing! I can hardly even believe it…"

"Our combo is indisputably good!", Webert sang, waving his hands to get the crowd more excited. "But what will the Arenas decide?"

"Everything will go our way…", Kars sang, and sliced his axe across the floor of the stage. "If only there's no air…"

"And if we fight exactly right!", they sang together, Kars taking a quick gulp of Rage before continuing. "We both believe in it! Rage… and Bowling… Combo!"

"Believe in me, bro!", Webert said, extending a hand.

"Okay! I believe in you!", Kars shouted back, fist bumping it in what sounded like a veritable explosion of thunder. They folded downwards, and dramatically posed.

"Rage… and Bowling… Combo!"

A bunch of Minions flew onstage, diving swoops and swirls around the two's heads. They mocked terror and started to slow-run offstage, still singing as they went.

"Even though our combo is great…", Kars sang.

"The fate of it is still decided in the air!", Webert finished, and the two vanished backstage.

Elizabeth stared, more than just a little shocked at the bizarre display that had just unfolded. She cleared her throat and stepped forward to the front, sweeping her arm out open wide.

"Well, that was certainly...something.", she said. "But hold your applause til the end- we still have two more acts to do. So get ready for Meg and Brenda, with…"

She was expecting music to start blasting from the speakers, but nothing happened. She quickly pulled her microphone up to her mouth, and spoke into it furiously. "Sadie, where's the music?"

Up in the tech booth, Sadie was flipping randomly through piles of records. "Uh...um…", she said. "I'm looking for it!"

"Well, you better find it.", Elizabeth said. "Because-"

A massive bass note blasted out of the speakers, and Elizabeth fell. She blinked and straightened her crown, then looked up to see the speakers physically vibrating with the force of the sound.

"I see you've found something.", she said dryly. "Wonderful."

"I don't even really know what it is.", Sadie said through the mike. "I think it's labeled, uh, am I reading this right? Echoes?"

"Yeah, probably.", Elizabeth said, then stood up. "So get ready for Meg and Brenda-", she shouted again, "With… Echoes!"

Song: Domastic and Anna Yvette- Echoes

As soon as the music picked up, Brenda went on the aggressive. She shot Meg a look from across the stage, and Meg startled a little bit. She wasn't used to this much attention, of any kind. Even her persecutors had gone after her at night, or in a rarely used hallway, or some other secluded place.

"Throw a rock into a pond…", Brenda sang. She had actually quite a good singing voice, with the Phantom having taught her. "Ripples fade away…"

Meg hesitated, not knowing what to do. She didn't know the words of the song, or how to sing, or what to do with her body. But she trusted Brenda, and she would try.

"Human hearts aren't so lucky…", came the words out of her mouth, surprising her. She hadn't consciously sung those words- there was some other force at work. "Love's battle scars remain…"

Brenda began a slow walk towards Meg, staring straight ahead the whole time. Meg almost cowered out of instinct, but found the resolve to stand her ground.

"I'm chasing echoes…", Brenda said, and held out her hand.

In that instant, the Phantom flew from Brenda's head into Meg's. The words of the song appeared plastered across Meg's vision, and she sang with confidence.

"Echoes of your ghost…"

Boldly, Brenda grabbed Meg's arm and pulled her around, their backs touching. Meg's eyes widened, and her face turned red. "Can't let go of the one thing I wanted most… chasing echoes…"

"Brenda, what are you doing?", Meg whispered, not loud enough for the microphones to pick up. "I- I thought you were-"

"Maybe I am.", Brenda slyly whispered back. "But who knows?"

Then she sang, loud and clear. "Echoes of your ghost!"

"La da da da da da…", Meg sang, and spun her arm around. Brenda let herself fall, landing in Meg's arms and almost on the floor. "La da da da da…"

Brenda licked her lips, and brought the microphone to her mouth. "La da da da da da da…"

She briefly Dashed, yanking herself off the floor and threw her arms around Meg, reversing their positions before there was even time to blink. "La da da da da da da da da…"

"What- what are you doing?", Meg whispered. "I don't know about this."

"Don't worry.", Brenda said. "It's fine."

Then the music erupted into a massive burst of sound, and Brenda spun Meg around on one foot. Meg closed her eyes, feeling one of Brenda's hands take her glasses off, and the other support her in a low dip. "Echoes…"

Sadie watched them with great interest. She didn't know who the Musketeer was, but she had barely known Brenda for some time. She didn't really know her- but she did know the dance they were doing was not a "let's dance for fun".

So focused on watching was she, however, that Sadie failed to notice a single Fire Spirit that had snuck into the control booth. He looked around, and saw an interesting looking lever.

Giggling madly to himself, he ran for it, leaving a trail of smoke in his wake. Too late, Sadie noticed. "

"F̷͠҉͝r̴̷̀́͡r̶̸͘͘I̵̵̧ķ̶̴̢͢s̷̵̛͢h̷̡͠i҉̴̕l̡̕ỳ͟͞҉!", she screamed, lunging for the giggling Fire Spirit. "Get away from there!"

F̷͠҉͝r̴̷̀́͡r̶̸͘͘I̵̵̧ķ̶̴̢͢s̷̵̛͢h̷̡͠i҉̴̕l̡̕ỳ͟͞҉ stopped on the control panel, right before hitting the lever. He looked up, covered his mouth with his stubby arms, and giggled.

"Okay, now step away from the lever.", Sadie pleaded, gesturing towards herself. "Nice little Fire Spirit, good little F̷͠҉͝r̴̷̀́͡r̶̸͘͘I̵̵̧ķ̶̴̢͢s̷̵̛͢h̷̡͠i҉̴̕l̡̕ỳ͟͞҉-"

F̷͠҉͝r̴̷̀́͡r̶̸͘͘I̵̵̧ķ̶̴̢͢s̷̵̛͢h̷̡͠i҉̴̕l̡̕ỳ͟͞҉ giggled once more, jumped on the lever, and turned it all the way to max. Now that he was on it, he could see that it read Bass.

"I'm chasing…", Brenda sang, looking into Meg's eyes. "Echoes…"

Meg stared back, transfixed. She couldn't look away. She couldn't move, or think, or even hardly breathe. The intoxicating atmosphere, the song, the way Brenda held her, it all combined to turn Meg into putty. "Echoes…", Brenda sang again, and drew closer. "Echoes of your-"

The speakers erupted in a titanic blast of pure sound, augmented by the bass boost provided by F̷͠҉͝r̴̷̀́͡r̶̸͘͘I̵̵̧ķ̶̴̢͢s̷̵̛͢h̷̡͠i҉̴̕l̡̕ỳ͟͞҉ and his antics. The song ended as the speakers broke down, Meg and Brenda both falling to the stage. The crowd both screamed and cheered, several of them instantly losing consciousness.

Meg blinked and shook her head, the spell broken. Brenda picked her up off the stage, and handed back her glasses. "Uh, sorry about that. Didn't quite know where I was going there."

"No, no, it's fine.", Meg said, and Brenda raised an eyebrow. "I- well, I think I liked it."

"Oh, you did?", Brenda asked, and the Phantom appeared behind her from the mental and emotional activity. "Well…"

She put her arm around Meg, who tried, and failed, not to blush. "Come on, Meg. After the contest is over, I'll go buy you a drink."

"I'd like that, thanks.", Meg said, brushing her hair behind her ears. "Let's do that."

While they had been talking, Bob the Builder had already fixed the speakers. With one last whack of his magic hammer, he grunted in age-old approval and gave a thumbs-up to Elizabeth.

"Okay, everyone, we're ready to begin!", she shouted, and pointed towards Brandy and Dan. "Please, everyone, give a great big hand to our third group, I'm sure you all know them, Brandy and Dan!"

Dan stepped out into the middle of the stage, and slammed his foot forwards in an intimidating pose. Brandy Dash-flipped onto his shoulder, and struck one of her own.

"Their song will not be revealed until it starts to play!", Elizabeth said. "You know, for fun. But don't worry you two, I'm sure you both know it."

She pointed up to the ceiling, and gave a big wink towards the control booth. Sadie knew, as sure as the two Princesses were sisters, that that was the signal.

"Here goes.", she breathed to herself, and slid in a single, dusty record. With a flip of the switch, the speaker system came to life, and the song began.

Song: Be my Lover

"Holy frick, I love this song!", Brandy screamed, as the first few iconic notes echoed across the room. It had been her favorite ever since it had started to be played on the radio, when the gods had announced Star Levels almost a year and a half ago. Brandy stood there for a second, soaking in the warm, rich notes, until she remembered that it was a karaoke contest, and that she had to sing. "Ah, sorry.", she said to no one in particular. "I'm just a little drunk, ha ha."

"La da da dee da da da da…", Brandy hummed, sliding down from Dan's shoulder. "La da da dee da La da da da dee da La da da dee da da da da da…"

She took a step forward, then swung back into Dan's arms. She looked up at him, and smiled.

A sudden burst of confetti fell outwards from the ceiling, showering the wowed audience in sparkles of blue.

"Be my lover, wanna be my lover…", Brandy sang, running her fingers up Dan's hand.

The song swelled, and Dan grabbed Brandy by the waist. Passion surged deep within him, fighting for some way to be released.

"Looking back on all the time we spent together- you oughta know by now if you wanna be my lover, wanna be my lover…", Brandy sang again, letting herself be embraced by Dan's immense arms. "Go ahead and take your time boy, you gotta be secure, before you make me mine, baby, you have to know you're sure, wanna be my lover, lover, lover…"

Dan decided that it was his turn to sing. He brought the microphone up to his mouth, channeling some Star energy into the space in front of his face. He hoped it would make his voice sound better. "La da da dee da da da da, la da da dee da da da da...", he sang, looking down at Brandy. Even though the audience was cheering loudly, Dan ignored them. In the moment, he could hear nothing but her.

"La da da dee da, la da da da dee da, la dee da da da da da…", they sang together, in perfect harmony. Golden light ran off of Dan's back, excess from the sheer emotion he had built up inside of him. Several moments passed where they should have been singing something else, but they were too locked up in each other to notice, until the seconds had gone. But Dan noticed in time for the next verse to start, and lowered his microphone to his face.

"I must confess, my thief, yes, I wanna be your lover, take a chance my love is like no other, on the dance floor getting down, hold tight I'll never let you go! My love is strong as it can be, I went from boy to man on bended knee, loving you all over, yes I wanna be your lover.", he rapped in one long breath, golden trails leaking from his mouth due to the exertion of oxygen.

Brandy breathed in, and a single blue light flickered behind her head, invisible to all but three. "I hear what you say, I hear what you do, I know everything I need to know about you! And I want you to know that it's telling me -"

She jumped up, onto his arm shoulder, wrapped herself around his neck, and hung there, staring directly into Dan's face. "I wanna be your lover."

"La da da dee da da da da, la da da dee da da da da, la da da dee da la da da da dee da, la dee da da da da da…", they again sang in harmony, and Brandy dropped to the floor. She spun around on her hands and knees, Dan booming out loud with his enormous voice.

Brandy closed her eyes, and swung out on her knees to the front of the stage. She continued to harmonize with Dan, trying to hit the last few notes of her favorite song just right.

"A ha ye heyee wanna be my lover… A ha ye heyee wanna be my lover… A ha ye heyee wanna be my lover… A ha ye heyee…"

The last few notes of the song faded away, leaving Brandy and Dan exhausted. "Be my lover… please?", Brandy whispered, just loud enough for the microphone to pick up. Dan looked down, and nodded. "Yes.", he said.

The crowd erupted into applause, and Elizabeth let out a loud whoop. Dan lifted Brandy to his face, and stared deep into her eyes. Now, he thought. Let's do it.

Brandy understood immediately. Let's, she thought back, and they both leaned in for their kiss.

They drew closer to each other, and Elizabeth squealed with excitement. Far across the room, Terrence happened to look up. Nearly spitting out his cinnamon roll, he quickly elbowed Valia, who looked up as well. She, too, dropped her cake.

Oticat was across the room as well, but he did not look up. He was too busy trying to get wine stains out of his beard. For whatever reason.

Dan and Brandy were within mere inches of each other, when a stray bit of Star decided to make its move. It leapt from Dan's metal armor to Brandy's bare skin with a sharp crack, and her head snapped backwards. The crowd gasped, until Brandy gave a random thumbs up. She looked up, the shock of the electricity having blown her hood down. Brandy's hair stood a full 6 inches off of her head, the static rendering it a massive puffball.

Shoot, that didn't work, Dan thought. Should we-

No, Brandy thought back. Remember, we do need it to be as romantic as possible.

Right, Dan replied.

Elizabeth cleared her throat, and stepped forward to the front of the stage. "Well alright, everyone!", she shouted, and the crowd leaned forward on the edge of their seats. "I'm gonna just wave my hand over-"

She looked at the size of Webert and Dan, and realized that with her height of just 4'3, there was no way she could do that.

"I mean, wave my hand towards, each group, and you guys cheer the loudest for whoever you think won! Ready, go!"

Elizabeth gestured towards Kars and Webert, who had gotten back onto the stage. "Was it Kars and Webert, with Rage and Bowling Combo?"

The crowd cheered loud, but not overly so. They had been funny and entertaining, but their song had been kind of terrible. And they couldn't sing.

Elizabeth waved her hand towards an empty space. It was where Meg and Brenda would have been, if they hadn't let for the bar almost immediately after their song. "Was it Brenda and Meg, with Echoes?"

The crowd cheered louder. Both of them had sung very well, and the sheer electricity of what seemed to be their burgeoning relationship was almost palpable. Most of the audience had been thrilled by it, save one old, homophobic Goblin in the back.

"Or was it…", Elizabeth asked, and bent at the knees. She threw her hand towards Dan and Brandy, still posing. "Dan and Brandy, with Be my Lover?"

For a moment, the crowd went silent, and Brandy's heart dropped. Had they done badly? Why was no one cheering for them? Were-

But her questions broke apart and faded, as the entire audience, even the old Goblin, erupted into a standing ovation that echoed off the roof. For a brief moment, no one could hear anything but the wall of sound from the deafening applause. Elizabeth shouted something that was lost entirely, then bent down into her duffle bug. She withdrew a pair of small trophies, which she held in front of Brandy and Dan.

Finally, the crowd quieted down, and returned to their seats. Dan took one of the trophies, and Brandy the other. They were polished so sharply, Brandy could almost use it as a mirror. So she decided to do so- pushing her hair behind her ear, rubbing off a bit of frosting that had gotten onto her cheek, seeing the checkered top hat behind her-

Brandy turned around in shock. There, behind her on the stage, sat God. He appeared not to notice her, and took a sip of tea.

"You- what are you doing here?", Brandy asked. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing wrong.", God said. "I was just checking up on how you were doing. And I'm glad."

"Of… what?", Brandy asked. "What did I-"

God suddenly went from sitting to standing, with a firm hand on Brandy's shoulder. "You won.", he said.

"The- the karaoke contest? What does that matter?"

"No, not that. Although I suppose you did win that too. But what I'm talking about is far more important."

All around her, Brandy could see everyone and everything slowly grind to a halt. She realized that God must have stopped time, and put all her effort into listening to what he was going to say next.

"I was… curious about whether you were going to successfully pull out of it or not.", he said, and took another sip. "Of course I thought that you would, but I was not quite sure. And judging from this evening's events, I say that you have, for the most part, moved beyond your trauma."

"I did?", Brandy asked. "But… I still have all the memories. Of what happened."

God nodded. "Yes, you will remember. The scars of what happened to you will never truly fade away. But with any luck, it will affect you no longer."

He sat down again, and slung his teapot and cup behind him into nothing. "The experience has changed you, that much is undeniable."

He started to flicker in and out of reality, and a sound like a slowly snapping rubber band came from everywhere at once as time started to flow once more. "But in time, I'll think you'll find…"

He winked, and tipped his hat. "That it has changed you for the better."

Then he was gone, as time and the stage went back to normal. Brandy almost fell forward, but Dan caught her just before she hit the floor.

"Okay, who's ready to dance?", Elizabeth shouted, and the crowd got more excited. "Sadie, hit that music!"

Up in the control booth, Sadie flipped a switch with all the grandiosity she could muster, and sat back down. It was the final switch of the night.

Song: Dancin (Kronos Remix)

The song came thumping through the bass speakers, and Elizabeth gestured to Dan and Brandy. "Come on, lead them.", she whispered. "Whoever wins the contest gets to lead the audience in dancing. It's tradition."

"Uh, okay.", Brandy said, and listened to the music, trying to find the right dance for it.

"Dan, how do we dance to this song?", she whispered, and Dan shrugged.

"I don't know.", he said. "Maybe we just…"

He tried to kick out his legs, and some members of the crowd kicked along with him. But nothing else much happened.

"Sway.", came the voice of the Phantom in Brandy's ear. "Just sway."

Brandy's eyes widened in shock, and she looked behind her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Brenda give her a wide smile and a big thumbs up.

And Brandy swayed. Holding her arms above her head, she started to sway back and forth, bent at the knees. Dan noticed her, and started to do the same thing. The synchronized movement picked up momentum in the crowd, as more and more Troops began to sway back and forth. Kars and Webert started to sway, as odd of an image as that was.

The Ratzo brothers, in the audience, held their Ram above their heads and swayed back and forth. Agatha and Bowza, even across the room, held hands and did the dance as well. Dozens of members of the audience, all swaying as one, followed Brandy's every move. She smiled, and a single tear of joy dripped its way down her cheek. And then, out of the blue, she knew it. She knew that right here, right now, with the atmosphere of celebration surrounding her like a warm, comforting blanket, with her best friend turned lover by her side, that after so much trauma and pain, she had at last found happiness. It wasn't the cheap, fragile peace that she had taken for granted before the whole thing started. No, this was real joy, born of victory, and progression, and above all, love.

And so it was that the dance escalated into levels never before seen, and Brandy danced the rest of the night away, surrounded by her friends and loved ones, free from pain at last.

Far away, over the Clash ocean

Hailizi flew over the water, lost in thought. It had been quite some time since she had left her village, and they had to be missing her by now. Her time as a trainer and trainee at the Star encampment had helped her more than she had ever thought possible, but it was time to go back now. Oh well. At least she had been able to help one more poor soul before she had left. Dan's friend, the Bandit. She had been suffering from such a damaged mind-

Halizi stopped. She floated in midair, and realized what a terrible mistake she had made.

"When… when I saw that she was pregnant, I-", Hailizi thought aloud, realizing what she had done- or, more accurately, forgotten to do. "I just focused on her body. I didn't heal her mind. No, I…"

She grabbed her head in her hands, wondering how she could possibly have been so stupid. "I automatically pushed all of her negative feelings deep down into her. All her fear, all her guilt, all her Rage… it's condensing inside of her."

Hailizi swallowed hard, and looked toward the horizon. To her Healer vision, the Continent of the Clans appeared as a green smudge on the edge of the water, even though it was actually quite close- only 30 miles away. "But I have to get home now.", she said. "I'm sure nothing bad will happen…"

She flew away faster, praying silently to anyone who would listen. "I hope."

Even further away, in an evil place

Song: Un'altra Persona

Grrshknn stood over a control panel, its seemingly infinite depths flickering with dark lights. Dozens of appendages, tentacles of shadow, ran over it, tapping readouts and pulling switches.

"I thank you, TheBaldBalancer, for telling me of the situation.", he rumbled, addressing the Red King that sat somewhere behind him.

"It was really the least I could do.", TheBaldBalancer said, taking another look around the otherworldly room. "When I came back from vacation to discover my entire Clan dead, I knew that you would be the one to tell."

"Yes, I was quite busy.", Grrshknn replied. "Without your information, I wouldn't know what to do next."

"Ah, about that…", TheBaldBalancer said, and Grrshknn turned a single feeler towards him. "What are you going to do next? I'm just wondering."

"What am I going to do next?", Grrshknn asked. He looked up, dark lightning building around the bottom of his cloud of mist. "I have entrusted this job to my minions so far. However, as you can see, they have failed me."

His feelers withdrew, and Grrshknn drew himself together into the shape of a snaggletoothed bear. "So I'm going to do it myself."

TheBaldBalancer swallowed. To be in the presence of such overwhelming power was frightening, to say the least. He knew that if he said the wrong thing, it might be his death.

"I see.", he said, trying to play it safe, and Grrshknn raised a single paw. TheBaldBalancer flinched, but Grrshknn only smiled. "Go back to your home, King.", he said. "Build something new out of it."

TheBaldBalancer bowed his head and vanished by Grrshknn's spell, leaving the demon alone.

"So, they want to defy me.", he said quietly, and dark spikes jutted out of his back. "They wish to defy me, Grrshknn, the great slaughterer, eater of monarchs, breaker of worlds!"

He reared up on his hind legs, and focused on LosDementosCT's Clan Castle in his mind. With impossible precision, he started to fold and weave the fabrics of reality, making the beginnings of a portal. "They may be powerful, but even they are not strong enough to withstand the world-shattering might of Grrsk-"

Song: Arrest the President (instrumental)

Grrshknn stopped, and let his paws fall. His bear form dissolved altogether, fading back into a dark cloud. He could feel the intense bass of a theme all too familiar to him, one that was played wherever He went.

Grrshknn slowly turned around, and saw a tall figure in black armor looming over him, arms folded, a curious leer on his lips.

"Lord- Lord-", Grrshknn squeaked, and bowed. "Lord Blackness!"

The demon lord known only as Blackness stared for a few more seconds, then let out a low chuckle. He ruffled Grrshknn's forehead, and let him look up.

"Grrshknn, what did I tell you about this mission?", he asked, almost like a father scolding his child.

"That- that I couldn't interfere personally, Lord Blackness.", Grrshknn said, his voice trembling with fear. "That I had to do it only by my minions."

"Very good, Grrshknn!", Blackness said. "That is correct. So tell me, then…"

He leaned in close to Grrshknn's ear, causing him to let out an involuntary shiver. "Why were you just about to go after them yourself?"

"I-", Grrshknn said, and squeezed his eyes shut. "My minions couldn't do it, sir. I made some bad calculations, and now they're all dead."

Grrshknn braced himself for a mighty blow- that never came. Instead, Blackness just reared back his head and laughed, his long curled hair blowing in an invisible breeze. "Did you forget that you're a demon, Grrshknn?", he said. "To you and I, raising the dead should be easy!"
"Oh.", Grrshknn said. For some odd reason, he had entirely forgotten that he could do that. "Well, I guess I did."

Blackness rose up into the air again. "Then do it, my student. Raise your minions to fight once more. Take the girl's soul, for me."

He pulled one fist up into the air, gathering strings of the deepest red. "And let the Crimson King be…"

He vanished, leaving behind echoes of sinister drumbeats and the smell of dark nothing. "Reborn."

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