The jellyfish emerged from the hole at the top of the mountain, carrying Alice and Tily with them. "Aaaaaaand...dismount!" exclaimed Tily as she lept off of her jellyfish. Alice looked down, making sure hers was close enough to the ground before sliding off and landing on her feet.
"That was really fun!" said Alice. Suddenly, another jellyfish drifted up behind her, knocking the poor girl to the ground. Tily couldn't help but let out a good-natured burst of laughter.
"You okay, Alice?" the fairy asked, still giggling. She pointed to a path leading to the very top of the mountain. "We're at the home stretch! Just follow this path and that portal's as good as yours!"
Alice sprung to her feet. "Alright!" she exclaimed. "I'm really going home! You're the best, Tily!"
Tily smiled. "Don't mention it." she replied. With that, the two girls ran up the path, too eager to even speak to each other. Tily was just so happy to help this girl out; after everything she had been through, she was finally going home...she'd miss her new friend for sure, but Alice had a family that she needed to get back to.
Tily reached the peak first. Her cheerful smile faded when she saw what was standing atop it. "Tily! Wait up!" cried Alice as she caught up to Tily. She too, however, fell silent. Standing several yards away from them was a giant, humanoid robot, one with a skull-shaped head and tattered pirate clothes. It stood in front of a giant, swirling portal, the one that was to take Alice back to her home.
"Oh...oh, no..." said Tily as the robot caught side of the kids. It spoke up in a deep, tinny voice.
"This area is off-limits. It has been reserved for Razorbeard's army. Turn back the way you came or face termination."
Alice weakly spoke up. "I...I just wanna go back home. It'll only take a moment..."
The robo-pirate held its ground. "Turn back the way you came or face termination," it repeated.
Alice turned to Tily, confused. "Tily, who is he? What's going on?"
"That's one of Razorbeard's robots," explained Tily. "He's a pirate that tried to enslave everybody on our planet several years ago, but he was stopped, and nobody's seen him since." She looked to the ground, nervous. "If he's still alive...this is bad..."
The robo-pirate interrupted once more. "You have twenty seconds to comply. Turn back the way you came or face termination."
Tily suddenly snapped her head up the robot, glaring hard at it. "Listen here, you ugly pile of tin! My friend here went through heck and back to get where we are now! She's done nothing but good, and she deserves to go back home! You let her through, and I'll leave you alone! Deal?"
The robo-pirate raised one of its arms, which consisted of a large cannon, aimed right at Tily. "Ten seconds to comply."
Tily got into a fighting stance. "Well, if you don't wanna settle this peacefully, then be my guest!"
Alice held her arms out. "Wait, Tily!" she protested. "I don't want you to get hurt!" Tily grinned.
"Don't worry, Alice! I'm an expert at teaching people manners." Without a second thought, Tily leapt into the air just as the robo-pirate fired, missing her completely. Tily held her hands above her head, producing a ball of energy. "Here's a message for your boss!" She thrust her arms out, ready to blast the robot's head clean off.
Without warning, the robo-pirate produced some sort of force field around its head. Tily's energy ball not only deflected it, but blew right back into her! Tily convulsed in midair as the electric current surged through her. The robo-pirate aimed its cannon at her and fired a blast of energy, sending her flying towards the edge of the peak.
"Tily!" Alice ran up to her wounded friend and knelt by her side. The poor fairy was covered in burn marks, looking barely conscious. "Tily! What did he do to you? Oh, no!" At that moment, Alice forgot about getting back home. She was terrified for her friend's life.
"A...Alice..." Tily spoke weakly. "I...I'll be fine. I've gotten hurt before. I'll distract him long enough for you to get through..." She tried to stand, but her legs were shaking so badly that she slipped and fell back down. Alice stood up, turning her attention towards the robo-pirate. A hot feeling of anger burned from within her as she stared up at the beast. Against her better judgement, she began walking right up to the hulking mechanical creature.
"Hey! Mr. Pirate Robot!" Alice shouted indignantly, pointing her finger up at the robo-pirate's face. "My friend's really hurt because of you! All she wanted to do was help me! You should be ashamed of yourself!"
The robot was unfazed by Alice's chastising. It raised its cannon right at her face, and as Alice looked straight down the glowing barrel, she was thrown out of the moment as reality set in.
This giant, unfeeling robot was about to reduce her to a charred memory. All she could mutter was a small "Uh oh..."
"BWAH BWAH BWAH!"
The amplified, unmistakable cry of a Rabbid filled the air. Neither Alice, Tily, or the robo-pirate had any time to react before a large mecha robot soared into view and landed with a heavy thud on the mountain peak. The robo-pirate lowered its aim and turned to face the newcomer. Within the large glass dome that served as the head of the robot were the Rabbids that Alice and Tily had seen earlier. The Queen Rabbid was at the controls.
"Bwah bwuh-bwuh bwah!" shouted the Queen, pushing a few levers forward. The Rabbid mech charged at the robo-pirate. The robo-pirate raised its cannon to fire, but the Rabbids grabbed hold of its arm and yanked, sending the robo-pirate stumbling a few yards away.
Alice and Tily simply watched, dumbfounded, as the two robots battled it out, throwing punches and laser blasts at each other. Before long, the Rabbids had knocked the robo-pirate to its knees. Without a moment's hesitation, the Rabbid mech grabbed the robo-pirate's head with both its hands, and pulled as hard as it could, until they tore the robo-pirate's head clean off. Sparks exploded into the air, followed by a lot of steam. The Rabbid mech tossed the head into the air and gave it a mighty kick, sending it soaring out of the mountain range. The robo-pirate's body collapsed onto the ground.
The Rabbids began cheering wildly, their mech performing a victory dance. Then, the dome popped open, and all the Rabbids leapt out, laughing and cheering as they tore off their costumes. They ran straight into the portal and were gone in an instant.
"Wow..." Tily said, after another moment's silence. "I may need to re-think my stance on those little guys." Still weakened by her injuries, the little fairy slowed got up to her feet, with the help of Alice.
"You gonna be okay?" Alice asked.
"Heh heh, I've been in worse scrapes than this," Tily reassured. "I'll be just fine. The important thing now is that you can finally go home."
The two walked up to the portal and stopped. "I'm really gonna miss you, Tily," said Alice. "It's been so much fun, and you've been so nice to me."
Tily chuckled, grinning. "Awww, shucks. I just like doing the right thing. I see someone in need, I help them out, even if that means going on a great big adventure! Actually, I'd say that's an even better reason to help them out." She laughed before continuing. "But for real though, I'm really glad I got to meet you. You're a real great friend, and your family's lucky to have you."
Alice beamed. "Thanks. You're a really great friend, too!"
Tily smiled back. "We'll have to find a way to meet again. Maybe you'll happen across another portal, and we can go on another wild adventure!" The two chuckled.
Alice gave Tily a quick kiss on her cheek. "Goodbye, Tily. I'll be thinking about you." She said before turning towards the portal. She took a deep breath, and leapt through. Tily waved as Alice began to fade out of sight, but not before she turned back to wave to Tily. The last thing Tily heard from her new friend was one final, distant-sounding "Bye!"
After Alice vanished, Tily continued to stare into the swirling vortex as she let everything that had happened in the past few hours register in her head. She had her first ever experience with a human, and it had been amazing...she had discovered there was more to appreciate about the Rabbids then she ever thought possible...she found out that Razorbeard was still arou-
"Uh oh!" Tily glanced down as the motionless body of the robo-pirate, still laying in a crumpled heap on the ground. "I gotta tell Rayman about this..."
...
Up in a large tree, there was a soft flash of light, and Alice materialized between two of the branches. She looked around, not being able to make her surroundings through all the leaves. The young girl carefully tried to lower herself, but wound up slipping and sliding down the slanted trunk of the tree, until she was flung off, landing straight into a bush.
An immediate sense of relief washed over Alice as she saw where she was: the same park she had been in prior to her adventure. Strangely, it didn't seem like any time had passed since she had left; the lighting was the same, and there still weren't many people around. The only real difference was the presence of several Rabbids; they were playing about, chasing each other, and messing around on the empty playground.
Alice got to her feet and went over to the bench where she left her doll. It was still there...only a Rabbid had gotten to it first. The bug-eyed creature examined her doll with great interest, holding it upside-down as it tried to make heads or tails of it. Finally, the Rabbid simply opted for putting the doll's head in its mouth and tasting it.
"No, cut that out! You're gonna break it!" Alice yanked the doll out of his mouth, its head covered in a thin layer of saliva. She looked down at the Rabbid, suddenly remembering the part it played in saving her and Tily's lives. Alice smiled. "Dolly didn't like that," she said in a playful tone. "And now it's going to retaliate!" She lightly pressed the doll's wet head against the Rabbid's.
The Rabbid let out a yelp, but then started to laugh. Alice giggled, too. The Rabbid took off at a playfully slow speed, still laughing. Alice chased after him, holding her doll out in front of her.
"You can't escape the wrath of Dolly! Come on! The sooner you surrender, the sooner your suffering will be over!"