Gamelover41592: It was also partly meant to explain why Jasmine was so annoyed with Shantae wanting to fight all the monsters. They need their strength for the main event.
Alright, we are nearing the end of the first game! Time to find the final stone.
"Oh great, this place," Jasmine said with an eyeroll. Bandit Town was well known for attracting some not so savory types of people. Mimic had told the girls that they would never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. While there were some friendly faces, they were few and far between. Shantae had taken to holding onto Jasmine out of fear. Jasmine, for her part, just put a comforting hand on her shoulder. If she wasn't here, she knew that Shantae would have been in for a world of trouble. She had always been the more suspicious one of the two and Shantae was the idealist. Hence, their different reactions to the figure in front of them.
"Oh! A Genie! Are you Bandit Town's guardian?" Shantae asked a woman they had found in a bar. She was dressed in a similar manner to Shantae and the other genies the two girls had met, but Jasmine felt like something was off.
"Absolutely! I do my job using powerful mind-reading magic! For instance you've come here looking for the Twinkle Stone, right?" The genie replied.
"Oh wow, you're right!" Shantae exclaimed.
"What's your name?" Jasmine asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Oh, it is...Astoria," She replied after a moment. "Now, you two are both in luck! I can get you into the Twinkle Palace with no problem at all! Just meet me there in a little bit will you?"
"We'll be there!" Shantae answered before Jasmine could get another word in.
"Also, you should try cutting your hair short sometime! It would look awfully cute in a bob! Ho Ho Ho!" Astoria said as the two girls started to walk outside.
"Hee hee!... I'll think about it! Bye now!" Shantae called over her shoulder.
"Something is off about her," Jasmine said once they had begun their journey to the Twinkle Palace.
"Do you have to be like this about everyone?" Shantae asked.
"I only do it to keep you safe!" Jasmine protested. "Did you notice how her laugh was the same as Risky's? And how she told you that you would look cute without your ponytail aka your weapon!?"
"...Good point," Shantae admitted. "But I still think we should see how things go."
"...Alright, I trust you," Jasmine said. "But don't think I trust her at all."
Sure enough, Astoria was waiting for the girls at the door to the Palace. Jasmine just crossed her arms.
"Hello again!" Shantae said.
"Just sit back while I do my thing!" Astoria said. She smacked her hip into the door and opened the way.
"...Alright then," Jasmine said simply. She did not not know that something like that was possible and she knocked down a tree by backhanding it.
"Thanks again!" Shantae called as she and Jasmine walked inside.
"How are you not cold?!" Shantae exclaimed. The Twinkle Palace wasn't much warmer then the outside mountain. Of course, Jasmine wasn't having a problem with it.
"I am, I'm just not thinking about it. Also," Jasmine began before shifting into a wolf. "I have my necklace to keep me warm,"
"Thanks for taunting me with that," Shantae drawled with an eye roll.
"I think the chamber is nearby!" Jasmine said suddenly. "This form gives me a better sense of smell,"
"I don't want to know how you found that one out, but let's go!" Shantae said. Jasmine ran towards the chamber, with Shantae hot on her tails. With the genie found, Shantae learned a new magic trick. Namely, she could now turn into a harpy.
"Well, I'm happy I'm not freezing to death. These feathers are actually keeping me warm," Shantae admitted as she checked her new form out.
"Well, we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Jasmine playfully teased. With that, the two headed back out. They did have one final stone left to find.
"This looks like the place!" Jasmine said. The final stone, the Twinkle Stone, was in front of them.
"No sign of Risky Boots though," Shantae pointed out.
"So what?" Jasmine said. "Maybe she gave up?" Both sisters burst into laughter at that thought. Of course, all the laughter attracted a monster. A dragon with a little imp riding it. "Looks like this is our fight then,"
"I don't wanna lose!" Shantae said as she shifted into her newfound harpy form.
"And we won't!" Jasmine said as she took the form of a giant condor. In a rather strange battle, the girls found they could only damage the rider. And even then, all they had to do was touch him with their feet. Thankfully, as strange as it was, it wasn't hard.
"And the final stone is ours!" Shantae cheered. Both sisters went in for a high five.
"Now, all we need to do is destroy them!" Jasmine said. "That way, no one can misuse them!"
"How about instead, we give them to Uncle Mimic so he can make his own steam engine to be used for good things?" Shantae offered.
"Right, that sounds better," Jasmine admitted.
"Either way, can we get out of here? It's still freezing," Shantae pointed out.
"Right then," Jasmine said the duo headed outside. However, as they were walking through the palace, Jasmine noticed a small chest, no doubt filled with gems. Shantae had all the stones, anyways, so she could take a quick detour to grab them. Besides, their job as guardians barely payed anything because the mayor was cheap. Of course, Jasmine began to regret that choice when she saw Shantae outside, tied up and panicking.
"Jasmine! Get me out of this!" Shantae exclaimed when she saw her older sister coming.
"What happened!?" Jasmine exclaimed as she set her sister free.
"You were completely right about Astoria, or should I say Risky. She and her Tinkerbats blindsided me as soon as I got back out here and stole all the stones!" Shantae frantically explained.
"Risky has all the stones?!" Jasmine cried. "This is bad!"
"Yeah and if I just listened to you, nothing bad would have happened," Shantae said, looking down. Jasmine grabbed her chin and gently forced her head up.
"Do I look mad at you?" Jasmine asked, making sure to keep her tone soft. She really wasn't mad, but she was annoyed that now Risky had everything she needed to win. When she saw Shantae give a head shake, she continued. "Besides, it was my fault too. If I hadn't gotten greedy, we could have taken them down together. So we both messed up,"
"I guess," Shantae said. "But we can still stop her, right?"
Jasmine chuckled. "Of course we can! What kind of question is that?" With that, the two sisters started their trek back down the mountain. They had a pirate queen to stop.
Okay, so the reason Jasmine went to grab that chest was because I couldn't picture Risky being able to hold her with just rope. Jasmine is an amazon and she could have easily snapped her ropes. Compared to Shantae, who is much less muscular and shorter. Anyways, the girls said it themselves, next time, they are going to Risky herself.