Chapter 11
When we got to Castle Waxwane, we had to defeat some Grubs on the way who were flying through in airplanes as well as rescuing numerous different kids that were in puppet form, which the Grubs were trying to kidnap! And we also managed to encounter a couple of the little animals in the form of Dog and Tiger trying to rescue none other than the Bundlers, who were almost about to be stolen by one of the Vile Vines before I came through and attacked the vines with something different, that being a newfound power provided by the now-complete White Moonstone. I sent powerful light attacks at the vile vines, which made some of them shrivel and release the Bundlers, who I caught along with Pikarina, both of us carrying them on our backs and for them to speak after.
"Miss neighbor! You're... You're uncursed! How?!" Linda asked in concern as Boris spoke.
"Isn't it obvious?! She must be the new Moon Goddess! Or maybe a relative!" he smirked widely.
"Please get us back into the castle and defeat these disgusting plants! Then maybe we can go back home! I want to have Christmas with my mommy!" Tina said with some newfound energy, me nodding as we then went further into the castle and we found the area we needed fairly quickly, which was being occupied by the biggest vile vine, coated in tons of purple eyes.
"Eww! Look at all of those eyes! Let's slay it!" Tiger shouted in disgust as I then proceeded to attack it with the powers of the moon's light, which eliminated the purple eyes and caused the vine to get very much weakened! And when this happened, I then rushed into the hole it was at and slashed Calibrus through the stem, the bulb falling off and shriveling to ashes before the vines all finally shrunk down, resulting in all of our group then meeting back up in the main area, which was where we saw Ying Yang, the numerous rescued children, and all of the little animals. But there was one missing.
"Where's Esma Potts at?" I asked for everyone, which Ying Yang frowned at.
"She has been captured by the Mewn Bear King! We need to rescue her above all else!" he said, which is when Pikarina spoke up.
"Why would we think of helping HER of all people?! She's been aiming for the Moonstone Shards since day one!" Pikarina said, me speaking the truth to everyone.
"Because she was cursed by the Moon Bear King to be a witch. And her real identity is what I am now," I said, the others looking in confusion before Linda gasped.
"Miss Esma is the Moon Goddess?!" she asked in surprise.
"B-But that's impossible! How can that be?!" Pikarina asked in shock.
"It's the truth, and it is partially my fault. I convinced the Little Bear that the Moonstone could be touched, since he was highly favored by the goddess... and when he touched it, that's when the fates were sealed... curiosity ended the world and 8 of this cat's 9 lives," Ying Yang frowned with a sigh.
"I knew that as well," I said.
"But... how?" Gaff asked.
"I'd rather explain after we get rid of Castle Grizzlestein, defeat the Moon Bear King, save the rest of the children he has captured in that castle, and save the Moon Goddess," I said, them nodding as we then got to the balcony looking towards Grizzlestein and we saw it was coming closer and it was prepping for war.
"Crud! Avast, mates! Get ready fer the fight o' yer little lives! Man the Long Toms! Raise the Masts! It's time to have the final fight!" Gaff shouted, the kids then proceeding to go to the other areas with help from the other Little Animals with Horse, Snake, and Rabbit being by my side specifically.
"Okay, we've set up the big cannons! Aim, Load, FIRE!" Dragon shouted as he lit the fuse on the cannon at the top, which initiated Gaff to start shooting as Rabbit spoke.
"I know that castle like the back of my paw, and I can say that this is going to require a four-pronged attack. One team will go to the boiler room to eliminate power to the whole castle. Then, another will need to go to the Grub Production Facility and destroy productions there. Then, another will need to demolish the legs' main mechanism, a whole mess of gears. And finally, someone will need to destroy the bomb production at the center. I can warp special people to each location, but that choice is yours to make, Minsie Goddess," Rabbit said, me smirking at the name, even if I didn't really feel like one.
"Okay, then I think I know what to do. Pig! Do you have any bombs on standby?" I asked, the pig then appearing with seriousness.
"Got some powder kegs filled with Boomanyte! Strongest bit o' boom powders on the moon!" he smirked with a snort.
"Then you and Sheep will go to take out the Boiler Room. Take Dragon with you so you can fly the bombs over to the boiler itself," I said, Rabbit then poofing them to the room in an instant as I then looked at Bull and Horse, who were over to the left-top balcony with another Long Tom.
"Bull and Horse! You feel like having a date together in the grub production plant? Destroying everything in sight?!" I asked, the duo looking at each other and snorting a bit of smoke out of their noses.
"MOOO bet, Minsie! I'm ready to go!" Bull said with gusto, even in his smaller form.
"Let me at those grubs and I'll send the kids right back home!" Horse said with a whinny.
"Make sure to get the Queen Grub handled, and then you can free all the grubs all over the moon!" Rabbit said as the duo then got poofed to the bonus stage.
"Now for the Gears in the motion! Anyone of us immune to electricity?" I asked.
"That would be me and Dog!" Tiger said with seriousness.
"What's our job, Master?! So excited, rawrf rawrf!" Dog barked.
"You will go to the gears in charge of making the castle move. Destroy the biggest gear there and I'll get you out of the blast zone, like so," I said as I sensed that Pig, Dragon, and Sheep finished destroying the Boiler, so I warped them back with them only having a bit of their clothes singed.
"YA-A-A-AY! We di-i-id it!" Sheep shouted in glee as I then warped Dog and Tiger away to the gears and I then looked at Dragon with seriousness.
"Dragon, you, Rooster, and Snake are in charge of the final hurdle, the bomb production. You'll need to yank out the power core to cause a chain-reaction that will bring Grizzlestein to its knees! I am going to assist this time," I said, Rabbit nodding as he warped our quartet to the castle's power core and we saw that the core was very tight inside and that I was right to ask for their help, as there were a total of 4 different hooks that needed yanked all at once if we had a chance.
"Alright! Let's go! Cooooockadoodle doo!" Rooster crowed as we then used either our long length, flight, or both to grab the hooks and pull on them hard, avoiding the bombs that flew out above it. After doing this for roughly 30 seconds, the core finally got dislodged and landed on the bottom of the castle, which caused a chain-reaction with every single bomb that was at the bottom being produced.
"Let'ssss sssssplit!" Snake hissed as I then had our group warp back to Waxwane in an instant and we watched in amazement as Grizzlestein fell down to the ground in a crumpled mess... and then, from out of the castle, came the Moon Bear King, him having grown to at least twice his size by eating the puppets that were in the castle, which was much less than the giant size he'd have at the end of the game, but I knew I still had to get tough.
"Look at the size of him! How many children did he consume?!" Pikarina asked in shock.
"I don't know, but we're freeing every last one of them! Come on, Calibrus! Let's go!" Sheldon shouted for me as we then flew down towards the Moon Bear King and we then proceeded to have a clash of his big claws versus Calibrus, him failing the struggle as I found an opening that Smoke took advantage of by throwing a bomb at the king's head, which knocked him for a loop long enough for Chikita to get in control.
"CHIKITA SLAM!" she shouted in a deep wrestling voice as she then proceeded to slame the bear over our head and right into the ground, me then flying above and slamming him in the stomach! This left him dazed enough for me to rush and slash into the seams coating his body to free at least 300 different children that were inside of his body, their souls all flying back home as the king then got chopped down to normal size.
"Aye! E's back to normal size! FINISH HIM!" Cut-Lass shouted as I then proceeded to grab the Tyrant with her hookshot and slam the Tyrant's head into the ground.
"GAGH! Minsie Carver! All I ever wanted was the Moon!" he shouted, me deciding to speak my mind. I no longer feared him.
"No you didn't!" I shouted as he tried to slash me with his rod, me slicing it in two.
"Wait, that's right! All I ever wanted was the Moonstones!" he shouted, him attacking again, but I slashed his weapons away from him until he was disarmed.
"No, that isn't why you did this either!" I shouted.
"Then what was it for?! I sure hope it was worth it!" Pikarina shouted as she came from nearby.
"I... WILL... NOT-" he was about to attack before I halted him with a blast of Light, him getting dazed and falling backwards.
"All. You. Wanted... was friends," I said, the Moon Bear King then gasping out one last breath before the darkness completely left him and, shocking Pikarina, he turned into his little form.
"Is... Is this what he used to be?" Pikarina asked.
"I just wanted to be friends! I'm so lonely! I don't want to be alone anymore!" Little Bear cried as the Moon Goddess finally arrived from out of the magic painting and I looked at Little Bear with a smile.
"It's okay, Little Bear," I said as I went to him and simply shrunk my body to be his size. "If you want, I could be your friend," I said, him sniffling at that.
"R-Really?... You would?... Even after... all the stuff I did?" he asked, me smiling at him.
"I would, and I will... can you please give the Black Moonstone back? You and I both know that it wasn't helping you one bit," I said, him sniffing as he then produced it from his person and gave it to me, me proceeding to combine the duo of Moonstones together to be the perfect balance of Light and Dark that they were supposed to be, the Moon Goddess smiling at me as she approached me with a smile.
"You have fought valiantly, Minsie Carver. You saved the moon, you saved the Princess of the Sun, and you managed to save all of my little animal friends... I don't normally ask this of a human, but I would like to ask if you'd want a place by my side here, on the moon," she said, me smiling at that and shaking my head.
"Sorry, but I have a life on Earth... I would like to ask if it'd be possible for me to be able to visit from here to there at any time I want, though? I need to let my brother and neighbors know that I'm alright..." I said, Little Bear sniffling at me.
"You... You promise you'll come back... right?" he asked, me smiling and simply giving the little guy a big hug.
"A promise that shall never be broken," I smiled at him.
"And that's a fact, since you are my reincarnation, so long as you take time to visit the Moon, you'll remain unaging throughout the decades," the Moon Goddess said, me smirking at that.
"I don't really feel like a reincarnation of a goddess... but I won't deny, that sounds like it could be fun," I smirked. "But first, I think I should ask if I can get the champions to be their own selves again?" I asked, the goddess smiling and nodding as I then felt a power waft over me and, instantly, the four champions were standing right by my side and looking at her with a smile.
"M-Moon Goddess... I'm sorry for being such a coward... I don't deserve my title as the Knight," Sheldon said, me smiling at him.
"What are you talking about, Sheldon?" I asked, him looking at me in surprise. "You proved your bravery and then some numerous times during our adventure! Taking the charge to free Erma from General Monkey's machine! Being brave whenever we had to deal with his monster of a gingerbread house! Egging us up to go after General Dragon to prevent him from stealing all the souls of Earth! You've become more than a Knight. You're a hero," I said, him then smirking at me as the Moon Goddess nodded.
"All of you have assisted and fought bravely in the face of evil... I would like to ask if each of you can assist in governing the other realms of the Moon so that no one ever fear of another uprising," she smiled.
"Just make sure that Moonstone be under tighter lock'n key, milady. I know yer the trustin' sort, but it needed to be more protected and we wouldn't 'ave 'ad this kerfuffle," Cut-Lass said, her nodding.
"But of course," the Moon Goddess smiled as she then proceeded to do something shocking. She had the Moonstone enter my body, me gawking at the feeling of the giant stone being shrunk and being absorbed into my body. "Make sure you visit this moon at least once a month in your dreams and you won't need to worry about the Moonstone losing its connection to the moon, young Minsie," the Moon Goddess said, me smiling at her.
"I accept, on one condition," I said, her smiling.
"Whatever you desire," she smirked.
"Can I know your name?" When I asked this, all the Little Animals crowded around me, including Rat, Monkey, Pikarina, and Nebula.
"Ugh... do I really have to?" she asked.
"Don't worry, I promise to not say a word to anyone about it," I smiled, her sighing.
"My name is... Luna Cheese," she said, me smirking at that as some of the animals giggled.
"To be honest, it's not that bad. I've heard of people being named Goopy LeGrand, Chips Bettigen, Cala Maria, and even Noelle Holiday. Luna Cheese is just a smirk for me," I smiled.
"I expect my name to not be mentioned, okay, little ones?" she asked.
"We promise," the animals said as I sensed that Rat and Snake were thinking of speaking of it, me then going to the duo and pulling on their tails.
"Do you now?" I asked.
"Uh, yeah, yeah, definitely!" Rat said, me sensing that him and monkey no longer had any of the darkness in them, meaning that the plan had worked.
"I'll hold you to that, because if I find out that you did spill the beans, both of you are going to be eating a sandwich made with sardines and chocolate fudge," I said, them gulping at that.
"A Scooby Doo fan? When I go let my dad know that I'm okay and that you saved me, can I come visit you on Earth?" she asked, me smiling at that.
"I'd like that a lot, Pika. I can show you the sights, introduce you to my brother, maybe have some cuddle time," I said, her giggling and giving me a hug and a smooch on the face, followed by Gaff jumping down to do the same thing, though he literally swept me off my feet to do so.
"I guess the curse has finally been lifted, hasn't it?" I smirked.
"You just have that effect on everyone, my love," Gaff smirked, me smiling at him.
"Just promise that you don't go back to your old ways, mister. If you're going to be in love with anyone, you need to know them personally, not just on looks," I smiled, him nodding at me.
"I don't need any other buxom beauty in me life when I know one who can wield a blade as fine as thee an' with looks of more shine than a diamond," he said, Pikarina looking at him with the other children.
"Can I have permission to tackle him?" Linda asked innocently, me shaking my head.
"No, no, we need to go back home," I said, the children then cheering wildly as I then handed Calibrus to the Moon Goddess before then simply snapping my fingers to have all of the children from Earth return there to where their bodies were... and I knew I'd have to do anything to convince the nurses to let me see the Bundlers back home!