Okay, it's been a while, I know! Please try to remember the rest of the story!

N. Gin ran his fingers through his tangerine-like hair. He felt the dry wind of the Wastelands, as did the others. It felt nice after being inside a musty old castle for so long.

Nefarious laid a protective hand on Mariana's shoulder when he noticed Uka Uka looking at her critically, and somewhat accusingly. He held her to him, as if trying to keep her out of Uka Uka's dark mind. Casting his own accusing glare to Uka Uka, he left Mariana's side to go towards him, for he was his "board".

"Forgive me, Uka Uka." Nefarious said sarcastically. "But what must be done, must be done."

The evil witch doctor mask just glared back at him, huffed once, and laid his self face-down on the soft, crimson sand. "Just be thankful I'm not going to send you into a stone wall." The hunk of wood grumbled.

"Okay. Thank you." Nefarious tried to sound as sarcastic as possible without getting ahead of his self. Changing his attitude completely, he looked towards Mariana and smiled. N. Gin was helping her stand up straight on Aku Aku. When she finally got it down pat, she looked towards him and flashed him a wide grin.

"Alright," N. Gin began. "I just want to warn you about the Wastelands, Ma….!"

"GO!" Before he could begin explaining, or even finish his sentence, Mariana kicked at the ground and went flying down a hill at full speed. She jumped at a cavern opening, grinded on a rock and then a sand dune, and went sailing off a cliff. She performed a Super Man, a back flip, and a Twister before carefully landing on the sand below, and gracefully gliding forward.

Awestruck and dumbfounded, Nefarious and N. Gin watched her. They both could not believe that she was actually getting it. N. Gin put both hands on Nefarious' back, and pushed him down the hill.

A little frightened from the unexpected push, he lost his train of thought on Mariana, and focused on not wiping out. Once he regained his balance and built up speed, he hopped, skidding on a canyon wall over a deep gorge, and made it safely to the other side. Jumping off of a sand dune, he executed a side flip over a group of at least twenty cacti. Once he reached the cliff that Mariana had flown off of, he grinded on the edge, and let go at the right moment, allowing his self to sail out over the landscape.

He leaned forward and grabbed the edge of Uka Uka, pulled up on it, and performed a triple back flip. He then grabbed the side of the mask and pulled it out from under his feet, pulling his knees back, and putting his other arm up. He was not sure what to call that trick, but he thought it was fun nonetheless. At the last moment, he put Uka Uka back under his feet, and landed with a soft THUD on the sand. Gliding along, he leaned forward and picked up momentum, allowing him to catch up with Mariana. He reached her side and cast a smile at her. She looked surprised to see him catch up so quickly, but she smiled back at him, baring her fangs.

"You should have been a professional sandboarder, not a Necromancer!" Nefarious said. She just giggled at him and turned her eyes back to the ever-expanding Wasteland before them. Upon finding the skeleton of a large dead animal just jutting out of the sand, she got an idea. She swerved to the right, leaving Nefarious' side, and glided over to a makeshift ramp. It was basically just a piece of weatherworn stone in the sand, and it was right in front of the skeleton. Jumping off of it, she flew over the ribs of the beast, and landed in between its monstrous horns. Using them as a half pipe, she performed various tricks.

Not about to lose to her, Nefarious found a deep gorge that worked as a makeshift half pipe. He slid down into the gorge and traveled along the center of it for a while. He then swerved to the left, then to the right, and then back to the left again. He continued that pattern until he built up enough speed. When he thought he was going fast enough, he bent his knees, made a u-turn, and slid up the side of the gorge on his left. He flew off the edge and made a complete arch, going up, and then coming back down. Then, when in going off the opposite side, he pulled back on Uka Uka, performed a triple back flip, and landed it. He went backwards up the opposite side, and turned in midair, allowing his self to land correctly.

Mariana watched with a small smirk, and she came down from the horns of the skeleton. Swerving on the smooth sand, she jumped, twisted in midair, grinded on a stone, and when in coming back down, she slid into a cave. Little did she know, the cave was actually a tunnel that turned into a network of tunnels deep below the Wastelands.

Nefarious, wondering where she could have gone to, stopped and dismounted Uka Uka. He looked around while waiting. All was silent but the wind blowing the sand across the ground. Suddenly, from a cave opening at the top of a rock wall, she soared out, doing a corkscrew 540. She landed backwards, executing a downhill fakie. Nefarious stared after her, completely love stricken.

"Tropy, I need to have a word with you." Uka Uka said menacingly. He floated up to meet his eye level.

"Yes, Great Uka Uka?"

"I've come to notice… you're not as evil as you were. You've become the exact opposite of the notorious Dr. Nefarious Tropy that we all know." He paused and looked back after Mariana. "Fight her to the death."

Everything the mask had just said was like a blow to the chest for Nefarious. But to fight Mariana was pure madness. One, he loved her more than life itself. And two, he would be slaughtered by her.

"I… I can't…" He was unsure of what else to say.

This angered Uka Uka. "Either you fight her… or I will kill her…" He growled.

Nefarious now felt a certain fire inside of him. The Pentagram on his back began to burn again. It was out of of love, hate, anger… although he only wanted to rip the mask into tiny shreds, he knew what he had to do, and he hated it. Without a word, his heart throbbing uncontrollably, he turned his back to Uka Uka, and began walking off in Mariana's direction.

She had seen him coming and dismounted Aku Aku. She smiled at him, which tore him apart on the inside. He thought for sure he was about to cry. When he looked again, they were only a foot apart from each other. The smile had faded from her face, and was now replaced with a concerned expression.

"Nefarious…?" She lightly laid her hand against his cheek. "What's wrong?"

"I love you… forgive me…" Nefarious whispered, apparently too softly for her to hear. With one swift movement of his right arm, did an uppercut, and punched her under the chin, sending her falling back. She landed flat on her back, coughing up blood. Nefarious thought his heart was going to explode, but he had to do it.