Matt (Guest): Yeah, well, it's pretty easy to forget about. And him getting impeached was something I had so much fun writing about!
We are in the home stretch! Time to begin the final game in the series.
In Jasmine's mind, the flight couldn't end soon enough. While the plane they arrived on the island on was decently spacious, her claustrophobia was still kicking in a little. Besides, the excitement was killing her. Once Sky stepped off the plane, she pulled her hood back with a sigh.
"This is the place! Time to kick back and relax," She said before being nearly tackled by an extremely excited Shantae. "Hey!"
"This place is a paradise!" Shantae gushed, not paying attention to anything else. "We get to stay here for a whole week! Can you believe it!?"
"What?! A week!? You packed enough for a month!" Bolo wailed, regretting that he had let Shantae sucker him into carrying her bags. He couldn't help it! Her puppy dog eyes always won him over.
"You should have known this was gonna happen when you got a girlfriend mate," Jasmine said as she patted his shoulder, giving him a clean view of her holding her own bag. Bolo just groaned.
"Hey, I need all that stuff for the festival!" Shantae protested.
"And I brought some unfinished projects from my lab!" Mimic added in.
"Ugh. C'mon, the sooner we can check in, the sooner we can relax," Sky grumbled as everyone trudged towards check in.
Once they had dropped everything off, Jasmine and Shantae headed into town to do some exploring. The town actually reminded them of home a little.
"Jas, this is so cool!" Shantae continued to gush, much to her older sister's amusement. "I can't believe I'll actually get to meet other half genies! I wonder how many there are, and what their powers are, and-"
"Calm down," Jasmine said with a smile. Why was she cursed to have such a cute little sister? It made it so hard to actually be upset with her. Not that she was upset with her at the moment, though. Besides, it was nice to see her so happy. Shantae couldn't find Rottytops to ask her to join them before the deadline and had been quite upset about it. "I'm sure all of those questions will be answered."
"Excuse me, you two!" A voice called out. The girls turned to see a middle aged man waving to them. The girls headed over. "Hello and welcome to Paradise Island! You must be Shantae and her sister! All the way from Scuttle Town!"
"Hello!" Shantae greeted.
"G'day mate!" Jasmine said with a tip of her hat.
"You can call me the mayor!" The man said. "Thank you for coming. It's my greatest pleasure to host this event...the inaugural Half-Genie Festival! I created the festival to demonstrate my appreciation for rare, magical beings like Shantae here. I want people from all over the world to witness the magic firsthand! That way, they can better understand their half-human, half-genie neighbors! Ahhh. This beautiful island makes a dandy backdrop for the event! Don't you agree?"
"The island's a real beauty," Jasmine admitted with a nod.
"Certainly seems good for business," Mimic agreed as he walked up behind the girls. "This place is packed!"
"Hello!" The mayor greeted him with a handshake. "And you must be these young ladies's uncle! Why yes, we have managed to muster quite a crowd! Of course, most of the ticket money goes to support local businesses...and provides a free flight and hotel stay for each of our half-genie super stars! But not just them! Their families, too! All expenses paid! If...they agree to be the stars in my grand performance...the HALF GENIE SUPERSTAR SPECTACULAR!"
"Yee!" Shantae squealed as she started clapping.
"I like that enthusiasm!" The mayor said with pride. "That's why I want you on that stage for the sneak-peek preview event...tonight!"
"Tonight?" Shantae asked. "Buh….uh...I don't even know the routine yet."
"Yeah, how is she supposed to perform if she doesn't know anything?" Jasmine asked, equally unsure and confused about this.
"No worries! It's just a dry run after all! You know, a practice performance in front of a live audience! Something to work the kinks out! Trust me, you'll be fine!" The mayor assured them. "Oh! That reminds me...I've invited five other half genies to perform with you! They're here on the island now. Could you and your sister find them and remind them about tonight's big show?"
"We'll take care of it," Jasmine promised. The mayor then handed her a list.
"We'd be glad too!" Shantae agreed. "Oh boy! I can't wait to meet them!" The girls headed off and Shantae started gushing again. "Jas! This is so cool! I can't wait to perform...even if I do have a little stage fright,"
"Relax, you should be fine," Jasmine assured her. "Besides, there'll be five other people on stage with ya!"
"I just wish you could be on stage with me," Shantae said.
"Me too, but I'm not a half genie," Jasmine said with a smile. The first half-genie wasn't too hard to find. She had rust colored hair and seemed to carry herself with an air of wisdom.
"Shantae! It's so nice to finally meet you!" She said once the girls got her attention.
"You know my name?" Shantae questioned.
"Of course!" The other half genie replied. "I'm Harmony, the oldest of the half-genies."
"Mate, you don't look old enough to be the oldest of anything," Jasmine admitted as she looked over her. She looked to be only a few years older than her and Shantae!
"And you are?" Harmony asked.
"Right, sorry," Jasmine apologized, realizing she had yet to introduce herself. "Name's Jasmine, I'm Shantae's adopted older sister."
"Nice to meet you!" Harmony said before returning focus to the prior conversation. "Listen...half-genies haven't been around all that long! We exist as a generation of one! So unless the genies return someday...there won't be any half genies to follow after us, while there?"
"Gosh, I never thought of that!" Shantae admitted.
"So...we must do our very best to make a difference in this world, don't you think?" Harmony questioned.
"You're right!" Shantae exclaimed. "She's almost as cool as Jasmine!"
"We can talk more after the show," Harmony promised. "Just remember to always give it your best, okay?" With that, she walked off.
The next half genie was a little ways outside of town. She had a darker skin color, hair that matched and was dressed in what looked like a hula outfit. She was standing near a strange hatch.
"Yo!" She called out once she saw them coming.
"Uh, hi!" Shantae replied, walking over to her. "Are you one of the half-genies here to perform for the festival?"
"Yes! My name is Vera," She replied. "My town is right here on the island! With all the tourists around, my people tend to keep hidden away. But I wanted to support my fellow half-genies and put my refresh magic to good use!"
"Wow! Who knew there were so many different forms of magic?" Shantae gushed before realizing something. "Oh! My name is Shantae and this is my big sister, Jasmine!"
"You'll get to see them all tonight at the big show!" Vera promised. "And it was nice to meet you both! But speaking of the show...it's time I head back. Toodles!" As she headed off, Jasmine and Shantae headed further into the forest. Another half-genie was nearby. She had blond hair, blue eyes, and seemed to be staring off into space.
"Hmm...I definitely sense something odd in this place." She said to herself, not realizing there were people behind her.
"Uh...are we interrupting?" Jasmine asked as she tapped the girl on the shoulder. Unlike Harmony, this girl looked to be pretty young.
"Oh! I thought you were Vera!" She exclaimed. "My name's Plink."
"I'm Shantae and this is my sister Jasmine!" Shantae piped up.
"You know...I came to this island to perform for the festival." Plink began to explain. "But since meeting Vera, my half-genie senses have been going nuts."
"Senses?" Shantae asked.
"I'm a seer. That's my power," Plink explained. "The invisible world around us...it's visible to me."
"Sounds like a cool power to have, mate," Jasmine admitted.
"Well...I better head back to Arena Town." Plink said before heading off. "Cya!"
Much to Jasmine's chagrin, the other two half genies were on the other side of the island in the Sunken City. The girls had overheard that said city was the big tourist attraction for the island prior to the festival. The first one they found was clearly a warrior of some kind. Her black hair was pulled back and she was wearing armor.
"Oh, hey," She said bluntly. "Look at you two. Another half genie and her family."
"I'm Shantae!" Shantae chorused.
"Name's Jasmine. I'm Shantae's older sister," Jasmine chimed in. "Flew in all the way from Scuttle Town."
"I'm Zapple," She replied. "So what do you think of this island?"
"It sure is different," Shantae admitted as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"You got that right." Zapple agreed, even though she seemed to be local. "This Sunken City tour...think it's real?"
"I have my doubts…" Jasmine admitted. The amount of monsters for something that the public was allowed to enter confused her.
"Sure, why wouldn't it be?" Shantae replied, a little confused at why Jasmine and Zapple were so suspicious.
"Dunno." Zapple admitted. "I'm half tempted to plug into one of these terminals. See if the power lines run back to some rich guy's mansion or something."
"Plug in?" Shantae asked.
"Oh sorry. My magic is electricity-based." Zapple replied before causing lightning to swarm around her. "IT'S CURRRRRRRRRRRSED!"
"YEEEEK!" Shantae exclaimed as she dove behind Jasmine for cover.
"Just kidding," Zapple assured her. Shantae slowly crawled out from behind her sister's legs. "I said that for shock value."
"Nice one mate," Jasmine with a chuckle.
"So what's your power?" Zapple asked, turning to Shantae.
"When I dance, I can...TRAAAAAANS-FORRRRRM!" Shantae exclaimed before giving a demo, turning into her monkey form.
"You can turn into anything?" Zapple asked. "Like a key to a locked door?"
"Uh...no." Shantae said as she rubbed her arm. "I tried that once...it didn't end well. I can only do animals. Jasmine has her special necklace thing that let's her transform too."
"Let's see it," Zapple said. With a nod, Jasmine took a step back and transformed into a gorilla. She wanted to look impressive, but also didn't want to do anything too big. "Impressive. Don't be late for the performance." With that, Zapple left.
"One left!" Shantae exclaimed. "I wonder what she'll be like!"
"Let's go find out!" Jasmine said with a laugh. They found the last half genie nearby, but she looked much different compared to the others.
"Yikes!" She panicked when she saw the two sisters. "What the buns!?"
"I'm so sorry!" Shantae said, quickly trying to go in for damage control. "Did we startle you?"
"Wait...are you a zombie?" Jasmine asked as she looked the girl over. Her hair and skin were both different shades of green.
"It's not suspicious!" She quickly snapped out.
"I didn't say it was!" Jasmine exclaimed, holding her hands up in defense.
"Let's...start over," Shantae said as she walked between her sister and this newcomer before anything could break out. "My name is Shantae and this is my big sister Jasmine. What's yours?"
"Oh! It's...Fillin. Fillin The...Blank," She replied unsurely. "Look, I gotta go. It's almost showtime!" Before Jasmine or Shantae could comment further, she raced off.
"Strange one," Jasmine noted to herself. There was something off about her and it wasn't just that she was a zombie.
"It doesn't matter!" Shantae said quickly. "That's all of them! I gotta get back for the show."
"Hey, before you go, I gotta tell you something." Jasmine said before Shantae could run off. "Break a leg. I'll be cheering you on from the stands!"
"Thanks Jas!" Shantae said as she pulled Shantae into a quick hug. Jasmine quickly returned it before Shantae rushed off. Jasmine followed. She was not missing this show for the world.
"This is so cool!" Bolo gushed, popcorn in hand. He, Sky and Mimic were already in the stands, waiting for the show to begin
"Hey, you think if Shantae does a good job, they'll give us another free vacation next year?" Sky asked.
"Maybe?" Jasmine replied as she took her seat, a little miffed at the fact seemed to care more about that then about how big this would be for Shantae.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!" A voice began over the loudspeakers.
"It's starting!" Mimic exclaimed.
"Welcome, to the first ever, Half-Genie Festival!" The voice continued as the spotlights turned on, revealing the genies all in place...other then Shantae who was a few seconds late. Sky and Jasmine both failed to hold back their facepalms. "Taking the stage from parts beyond-part human, part magic. The shimmering stars of the evening, they are your spectacular HALF-GENIE SUPERSTARS!" The crowd began to cheer as the girls began to dance around the stage, when suddenly the music cut off. Then the arena was plunged into darkness. Once the lights came back on, only Shantae was on stage.
"Uh, hello?" Shantae called out, wondering what happened to the others. Murmurs began to run around the crowd as Jasmine, Sky, Mimic and Bolo all shared nervous glances. Something had just gone very wrong.
The next morning, there was a meeting between the group in the girls's room. It was mostly to talk Shantae out of trying to attempt a rescue
"Shantae! For the last time! Let the authorities handle this!" Sky snapped at her friend.
Shantae sighed a couple of times before speaking up again. "You're worried that I'll disappear too, is that it!?"
"It's for your own safety!" Sky snapped again. Her friend could be so stubborn! Not helping was that Jasmine had yet to say anything.
"Can you imagine what it's like being the only one left behind?" Shantae asked. "I can't hide indoors and do nothing!"
"Be reasonable!" Mimic begged. "Leave this to the mayor!"
"Those girls are not coming back," Shantae said firmly. "Something weird is happening on this island! And I'm going to find out what it is!"
"You do what you want! I was promised a vacation and I'm going to get one!" Sky barked.
"Fine! Be that way!" Shantae snapped back. With that, Shantae headed out, slamming the door as she did.
"I'll go after her," Jasmine said as she headed out. Thankfully, Shantae hadn't gone too far.
"Jas, I'm not hiding or letting you do this. So if Mimic sent you, go away," Shantae ordered, not even bothering to turn around.
"I said I was going after you," Jasmine admitted before a smirk appeared on her face. "But I never said I was bringing you back. I'm coming with you."
Shantae turned around to face her. "Thanks Jas. Nice to know at least one person knows I can handle myself!"
"It's just worry talking," Jasmine assured her. "But let's get moving. Your new friends aren't gonna save themselves!"
So as per the norm, things don't go as planned. But luckily, Jasmine is here to help her sister out. Next time, the quest begins! I will see you then!