Demon Archives: Hades. The Lord of Greece's Underworld, Hades owns the most popular coliseum in the afterlife, the Underdrome. Fallen warriors flock here to challenge all manner of monsters. The Nimbi hero, Pit Icarus is one of the reigning champions. Currently, Hades is one of the Six Demon Saints.
The Masked Mirage took shelter in a labyrinth of Space Block, sniping Starbursts through the walls as Lord Death navigated the space. He shot Patty and Lizzy to ricochet and navigate the maze with ease… well, ease and discomfort. Regardless, the tiny spirits helped Death chart a path to the spacebender, afterwards landing a few sneak attacks with his bullets. The mirage flew through a portal, the maze dispelling, but Death cast a wave of Spirit Flames through to weaken her. "Hahahaha! Fighting you is pretty fun!" Mirage reappeared behind Death, hugging him to spread the flames onto his cloak. Her voice sounded like a distorted version of Jirachi's. "I hope we do this forever and ever!"
Death had already shot a bullet, bound to redirect itself and break the right point of her star mask. "Just who do you think you're fooling?" Death glared.
"You're the only fool here, hahaha!" Mirage zapped pink lightning, Death vanishing and appearing below to strike his own Spirit Lightning.
Fortunately, the Rescue Team had successfully entered the factory. Perry Uno, the Earth KND leader and swordsman; Jennu, GKND agent and gravitybender; Mika Gilligan, Sector RT leader and psychicbender; Lucina Stork of Sector IC, a Spank-Happy Vampire; Loki, Sector IC's Card Mage; and Astere, Phoenios apprentice and spacebender. Their mission commenced. (Play "Burning Churning Power Plant" from Kirby Forgotten Land!)
Stage 5: Mephisto's Forge
Mission: Rescue Star Winkiebottom!
Jennu's bending carried the group onto the side of the first smokestack. They traveled up the stack, evading bursts of steam, until they reached a position facing a safe spot on the next stack. Upon landing, lava centipedes called Magtails crawled up, gnashing pincers. Striking the bugs' single eyes would compel them to curl up in balls and fall in the lava below. The lava would simply rejuvenate them as they crawled up the stack again. The kids saw a barrier blocking the next path, connected to four pillars with slots in them. "Mika, can you throw these bug things into those slots?" Perry asked. After knocking the Magtails into ball form, Mika used psychic to grab and throw them to those slots. Doing so disabled the barrier, allowing Jennu to float them onto a stable path.
A platoon of armored Fatblin marched up. Astere was the first to strike, warping behind the platoon and blasting Starbursts at their soft undersides. "Yo, if that's their weakness, leave it to me!" Lucina beamed, using her signature technique to spank the demons' rears. Perry stayed back and sniped their bare faces with his bow while Loki cast fire spells to heat up their armor. Past the vanquished demons, the group entered a corridor where the walls threatened to press them. Mika's psychic was barely strong enough to keep it back before the walls would retract themselves.
"Let me look for a way to shut this down, loves!" Loki morphed into a squirrel and quickly scampered up the passage. Just as the walls pressed in again, Loki found an opening big enough to crawl in. The squirrel tore up all the wiring within, so by the time the pressers returned for their 3rd round, they stopped in place.
"Hooooooh, thank goodness, my brain-arms were getting tired." Mika sighed. She dedicated some chi to pushing the pressers fully apart, finding a hidden hole with a Caged Soul. Wizzrobes in engineer clothes would spawn around the path, twirling wrench wands. Loki's and Perry's magic and arrows subdued the parrot mages. The corridor led into a chamber with a wall of turning cogs, spinning against a lavafall. Jennu used gravity to land them on the cogs, the team making their way across. A Blargg emerged from the lava and tried to engulf them, but Astere threw up her arms and froze the beast into stone.
"You're an icebender, too?!" Perry exclaimed.
"Spirits can use different types of elemental arts." Astere answered. "But it's easier to focus on some than many."
"It'd be pretty chaotic if everyone could master multiple elements." Mika replied, scratching her head at the notion. "Just give us one and be done."
"Unless you're a mage like Loki." Lucina replied. "Then you have all kinds of tricks up your sleeve."
"Don't be jealous, love~"
The group had to travel up a shaft with burning sides, but cogs that would rise in and out. Jennu channeled gravity to carry them onto the cogs while they were out, quickly repeating the process up the shaft. Eventually, they flew out of the top of the smokestack and landed atop another, grated-top chimney. "LOOK OUT!" Astere gasped.
"HAAAH!" A bare-chested man in a crowned skull and dark robe soared down and slashed his scythe in a circle, Mika withdrawing her friends with psychic. "Bah! Shifty little snots."
"That uniform… Aren't you a Reaper?" Astere asked. "We're allies of Lord Death!"
"Dumbabababa!" Mumkhar laughed. "You ain't very bright, are ya, sweetheart? This is a mutiny!" His scythe's blade divided into three segments, shimmering green in his attempt to slice the scattered group. "Old Death's gonna fall today! But I'll skewer you lot before then."
Loki threw several cards around Mumkhar and magnified them with Engorgio. Afterwards, he thrusted his fists through matching cards, pummeling the Reaper. Mumkhar slashed the cards out of the air, but a camera flashed in his face, showing Mumkhar the illusion of a dinosaur rampaging above him. He instinctively sliced the illusion, but Mikaela blasted him away with a Psy-Sphere. "Oi, you lot run on ahead!" Loki said. "We'll deal with this Reaper right quick."
"He's stronger than he looks!" Astere said. "We should fight him together!"
"We can't keep Star waiting, can we?" Mika asked. "Just keep going, we can handle it!"
"She's not wrong…" Perry reasoned. "Just yell if you need help. Be careful!"
"Tch!" Astere grunted as the other three raced ahead. "This is why we should've brought more numbers! Mephisto was obviously prepared for this!"
"The problem with more people is they're harder to keep track of." Perry replied. "That's what Dad says, at least! Sometimes, it's safer to trust in fewer than to gamble on too many."
"Especially when we're jumping and gravitybending our way through these obstacle courses." Jennu agreed.
"Or in this case, gliding!" Case and point, Perry threw open his sail to glide in the updraft caused by a smokestack. Lucina used her bat wings for this purpose and the others their natural floating. They glid across following chimneys, dodging Fire Arrows loosed by Lizalfos archers. Their flight would land them on a rooftop balcony filled with Fire Lizalfos, the red-scaled lizards charging with flaming mouths. Sadly, their sheer numbers didn't mean much against Astere's icebending attacks, evaporating the Fire-types into mist. "Case and point." Perry affirmed.
The four arrived at a lava pool where churners twisted whirlpools. Jennu's bending could land them on the sides of the churners. The next churner spun too fast for her to focus, but Perry could snipe an Eye Switch above to stop it. Jennu directed them onto it, but she'd have to think fast and fly them to the next one before they were spun into a spike wall. The next churner spun at a wider radius, but lasers would burn from either above or below. "MY TURN!" Perry jumped to whichever necessary end and bounced the lasers away with his Mirror Shield. Jennu could later fly them through a window, smashing it as they landed on safe ground.
A stairwell led them into a dark, dusty basement. Skulltulas dropped from the ceiling, Lucina squashing them between her hands. Barriers of webbing blocked the following passage, but Astere could freeze and easily shatter them. Larger Skulltulas ambushed them from the walls, but Perry would frantically flip them upside-down with an upward slash, while Jennu stomped their soft undersides. "Giant spiders are the worst thing the gods invented!"
"Well, Queen Velma seemed pretty nice." Jennu reasoned. "But if these spiders are here, I wonder if her cousin is nearby?"
Some of the webs were covering turnable cogs, which could only be turned by the strength of Lucina's spanks. Turning them all would open a secret room with a Caged Soul. With no other secrets to find, the crew traveled down into a vast garage chamber. A huge web loomed on the ceiling, on which rested a massive spider with an upper white, humanoid torso.
A loud banging startled the group, and the spider-woman seemed to face the garage's giant shutter. "Oh, CYDAEAAAA!" The shutter was torn off the hinges by another, familiar spider, Queen Velma showing herself in. Behind her, Skulltulas had wrapped demon guards in webbing, feasting on their flesh. "I know you're in here! Come out and play, my dear cousin!"
"Velma…" Cydaea faced down from her web with a hiss. "Why are you always around to ruin my fun?! You can never mind your own business!"
"You need to learn when playtime is over. I know you kidnapped my grandson." Velma withdrew a spider-headed staff. "If you bring him here unharmed, I'll leave and let you carry on with your business."
"Not a chance, bitch! Diablo will rule the Underworld, so all current and former royals must die! That includes you, Velma."
"Cydaea, we both know I'm the strongest spider around here. There's a reason I was chosen as the Spider Queen and you're only one of Diablo's lower officers. We can make this easy or I can tear you up one limb at a time."
"Maybe you can… so, I'll let him put you in your place."
"Your clothes may be Chanel, Gucci, Your shoes crocodile! But baby, you're never fully dressed without a smile!" A radio voice sang jovially, Velma turning confusedly. "But if you stand for nothing, you'll fall for it all. We got all we need, got no more!" Alastor twirled his cane up the road, soundwaves slicing the Skulltulas in half. "You're never fully dressed without a SMILE!"
A strong soundwave blew Velma through the garage, crashing in the wall beneath the KND's balcony. "It's the Radio Demon!" Astere exclaimed.
"That guy?!" Perry knew him from last night's report.
"Alastor." Velma glared. "You're a real coward, Cydaea." She whipped her staff and conjured a massive, hypnotic spider-web, confusing the demon. She jumped left-and-right as she closed in on him, the hypnosis distorting her form in his vision. Alastor sang in his scepter, sending out aimless soundwaves as some sliced Velma. The Spider Queen relentlessly gnashed his entire torso, but Alastor withstood the pain and stabbed her stomach, pumping a powerful vibration into the arachnid.
"Don't feel bad, Velma." Cydaea turned down-left, smirking. "I have my own prey to keep me happy!" Seeing the operatives rushing to a door along a walkway, Cydaea swung down to intercept them. She squirted eggs behind that would hatch into Spiderlings, while otherwise squirting webs that Astere was quick to freeze. Lucina leapt and smacked Cydaea upside the jaw, the spider reeling backward as she then followed with Spank Hands.
"If you guys wanna go on ahead, I'll take care of this bug!" Lucina offered.
"She doesn't feel like a strong monster." Astere said. However, she could only look worriedly at Queen Velma, intoxicated by a smokescreen as staticky illusions of Alastor flickered in random positions.
"This way!" Jennu changed gravity so they could rush up the wall, over the brawling bat and spider. The remaining three made it through a door, finding a large forging chamber where Armos blacksmiths were hammering molten metal. Upon seeing the intruders, they changed priorities and hopped to hammer them. When their weak backsides became known to the kids, the Armos' moment was short-lived. The trio mounted a treadmill at the end of the room, riding through a tunnel and having to jump or duck electric bars along the way. The taller walls of bars threatened to end them, but Perry saw cranes carrying wood boxes along the ceiling. The girls grabbed him as he used his Hookshot to link the box and pull them over the bars, landing back on the treadmill. Two more electric walls appeared, but there were gaps on the left and right with Hookshot targets, helping them make it through. Perry hooked a Caged Soul on another ceiling crane, freeing it.
The treadmill abruptly ended, throwing them over a chasm of lava outside. Jennu quickly redirected their gravity toward a wall on the left. Hatches opened above the wall, pouring lavafalls as the trio hastened to outrun them. The wall led to a tower-like structure with stairs and walkways leading up and around it. From the edge of the wall, Jennu could float them onto the lowest floor of the tower. A herd of Real Bombchus spotted them from inside a window, scampering up the wall. As the group traveled up stairs, the Bombchus came dashing out of vents, but Perry's Mirror Shield repelled their efforts. On the next floor of the tower, a Sumoblin charged and shoved them off the ledge. Jennu quickly redirected them to safety, using her Gravity Kicks to repeatedly force the Sumoblin backward until the tubby demon toppled off the opposite ledge.
There were no stairs to the next floor, so Jenna landed them on the ceiling below that floor. Even still, a fence blocked them from stepping up onto it, so they traveled up upside-down stairs. Beamos tried to shoot them down, but Perry's shield proved helpful again in bouncing their lasers back into their eyes. At the top of the stairs, another Bombchu ran out of a vent, but as Perry bounced it away, the Bombchu exploded, blowing a way open into the stairs. The elevator inside was out of order, so the group had to backtrack down the stairs. Holemasters lurked along them, black holes from where hands would try to drag them in. Astere's spacebending helped compress the holes while Perry poked his sword through them to stab the weakened Holemasters. The bottom of the stairs had another elevator, raising them to the top.
A path linked the top of the tower to a large, devil-horned door. Twin Mighty Darknuts guarded the chamber, their great swords clutched firmly. Perry challenged the one on the left, his Gilded Sword matching against the larger blade. Perry dodge-rolled around the Darknut and sliced the back through his cape, then threw up his shield against the second one's blade. He followed up with an overhead leap, whacking the Darknut's helmet off, and when the previous one tried to slice him out of the air, he wound up striking his ally's head. Perry seized that moment of weakness to land cuts to the armor, then backflipping his sword. Perry did another Parry Attack behind the other Darknut and sliced his back, followed by jumping to whack the helmet off. Perry landed between the Darknuts, who both swung and clashed each other's swords while Perry ducked. The boy did a breakdance spin attack, sweeping the Darknuts off their feet. Jennu stomped one's head with Grav Kicks while Astere caught the other's in a Space Block, bursting it.
After the Darknuts fell, the horned doors opened. The trio entered a large chamber, where they came to face a huge, thinnish, red, skeletal demon with long horns and twin, boney tentacles. Behind him, Star Winkiebottom was bound in a spider-web. (End song.)
"Mephiphiphiphi." The demon laughed. "Of all the souls who could make it this far, it's only three feeble children. All the Divine Angels and Reapers and THIS was the best that could make it?"
"You're Mephisto, aren't you?" Perry stepped forth. "I don't appreciate you demons tearing up my world and hurting my family! You're about to learn what happens when you mess with us!"
"Such childish threats. But, that symbol…" Mephisto glared at the Triforce mark on his shield. "You're the new Hero of Time. The branch of the Uno Family that didn't inherit Malladus's soul, yet inherited the will of your other ancestor… the most revered demon slayer in the universe."
"Well, I wasn't able to draw it."
"DON'T JUST TELL HIM THAT!" the girls gawked.
"Mephiphi! Regardless, we planned to eliminate your family after Diablo succeeded. Looks like I'll be working ahead of schedule. But first, how about a spot of entertainment?"
They kept their guard steady as Mephisto conjured a holographic screen. Lord Death countered the Masked Mirage's lightning with Spirit Lightning, holding a pistol in his mouth and pulling the trigger with his tongue, damaging the figure. "MOM!" Star screamed.
"What?!" Perry gasped.
"YES! Lord Death has no idea he's attacking his own wife, brainwashed by Cydaea's costume! She will die by Death's hand! Such beautiful irony! Such a sight to behold! And you brats will have no chance to stop him! Mephiphiphi!"
"DAMN YOU!" Astere cast a blizzard at the demon, Mephisto withstanding the vengeful frost. "Huh?! Aaaaaaa…"
"What the-?!" Perry and Jennu were agape as Astere's head seemed to swell like a balloon, turning red.
"P-Perry!" Star choked on his breath as his head also swelled and reddened. "Jen-u…'elp…"
"I am Mephisto the Spiteful! Hatred gives me life! When those around me feel anger, my power takes effect! Now, their heads will burst within minutes!"
"THAT'S your power?!" Jennu exclaimed.
"Then we…we can't get angry, no matter what!" Perry said, struggling to heed his own advice.
"But that alone won't save you!" Mephisto's tendrils thrusted forth. "Your lives are MINE!"
Cleveland Beach
Jason spun both fists, as per the norm when preparing his signature attacks. But rather than send them as fists, his hands popped open as he cast them off. The "fingers" of the Light Fists spread open like sun rays, entrapping Jason's mom upon impact. "Not bad, kiddo! Ah'm sure this'll give those demons some trouble!" Though the same was not for Sheila, who easily split free of the trap. "Orright, let's practice some redirection next. And drink your juice!"
"Aye-aye!" Jason chugged a bottle of Sunny D and munched some oranges with bananas. Afterwards, he repeatedly shot Light Fists into the air, trying to whirl them in multiple directions. The fists would quickly shrink and disappear, so Jason absorbed more light and tried to muster larger ones, repeating the same tactic. He also focused chi over the sun itself in order to pull physical sun rays down. He tried to redirect those into angles, but the act proved much more tasking.
Their training kept up for several hours, the sun slowly leaving behind the dreary red horizon. "Them demons sure know 'ow to make things ugly." Sheila commented. "It's tainting the sun's Light Chi worse than clouds do."
"That's why Ah gotta get stronger!" Jason vowed. "Ah need ta shine bright even in THIS weather!"
"That's me boy! You ain't doin' half bad at it either! Not that Ah'm any good at math." Sheila tapped her forehead with her knuckles. "But ya know, Jason, there's something that every great bender has. You know what Fury Mode is, don't ya?"
"Oh, yea! That's sorta like a… power-up thing we can do, eh?"
"Aye! Each different bender 'as a core where most of their chi is concentrated. Waterbenders 'ave it in the arms, firebenders in the chest, but we lightbenders have it right in our heart. To unlock Fury Mode, you have to feel that Chi Gate in your heart and burst it open through will. Make all that power come spewin' out! 'Course, it helps if ya give your breast a jolly old whack. Like this!" Sheila punched her breast. Her body was instantly enveloped in yellowish-white flames, like a sun with wildly dancing flares. "In Fury Mode, your bending gets stronger, and you have better control!" Sheila threw up dozens of Light Fists and willed them to spiral around, stretching trails of light that would surround them in a tower of rings.
"COOOOOL!"
Sheila dispelled her Fury. "But when you pour all that chi out, you're gonna be mighty exhausted. Most of us only save Fury 'til the very end of a fight. Some benders learn to switch it on and off to help save power. So, you try it, Jason! Find the power coursin' through your breast and give it a good punch!"
Jason put a hand to his heart, closing his eyes and emitting a small light. He could feel his heartbeat, pacing rather quickly from the extensive training. But, he could almost feel a different force inside. It was like touching a running sink, feeling the vibration of the water flowing through… or perhaps it was more like feeling the whir of an active lightbulb. Not like Jason would know; actual lightbulbs were too hot.
Jason punched his heart, but nothing came bursting out. He tried to time his punches with the actual beats, but it didn't work. "Ghhhhh!" He furiously punched rapidly, but his ferocity couldn't awaken his Fury. "Jason, try to focus your nerves to your chest and make it throb or somethin'. Hehe, Oi really ain't sure how to explain it, Ah'm just use to it by now."
"Hmmmmp…pump! Pump! Pump! Pu-pu-pu!" He punched himself some more.
"Captain! Jasooooon!" Isabelle Rivera dashed up the beach, her swift feet stirring up a sand cloud trail. "Uh…what're you doing, Jason?"
"Ah'm tryin' to start my Fury! Hurrrrr!"
"Maybe you still need to rest a bit, Jason." Sheila suggested. "We've been goin' at it nonstop for… what time is it?"
"7pm." Isabelle answered.
"SEVEN HOURS?!"
"Jason, Ralph and Silica have been researching world news reports. There was a town in Iran that was completely devastated 24 hours ago; and 12 hours ago, a similar disaster happened in an African jungle."
"Wot about it?"
"It has to be Baal. We learned that Baal gets let out into the Mortal World every 12 hours to go on a rampage. We think if we can find where he'll strike next, we can ambush him."
"Strewth! Maybe we can whup him without havin' to go into the Underworld!"
"'old on there." Sheila said. "He gets let out every 12 hours… and the last time was 12 hours ago?"
"Exactly! We expect his next attack to start soon. As soon as they pinpoint any signs of mass destruction, we need to fly there and stop him!"
Right as Isabelle finished her point, their communicators rang, followed by Ralph's voice. "Dudes, we have a lead! A mass evacuation's been ordered in Azultown, Brazil! A bunch of demons are charging in the city and there're reports of explosions in the outskirts."
"Azultown?!" Sheila exclaimed. "That's me hometown!"
"It is!" Jason gasped. "Ralph, we'll be there ASAP! Is Christina ready to go?!"
"Well, Silica just called her, and… Jeanne refuses to let her leave. Says she isn't ready, yet."
"She expects us to fight without Christina?!" Isabelle questioned.
"She'll 'ave to catch up with us then." Jason said. "Let's go, Bella! Time for my training to pay off!"
"We should at least free Lyserg from that trappy thing…"
Azultown
The demon unleashed bursts of reddish-purple chi, destroying every hill and road around him. Crossing the city threshold, Baal reveled in the frantic cries of the citizens, scattering from the rampage, only to be stopped by minions in waiting. "Baalalalalalalala!" He bore a pale, humanoid face like that of a scowling old man, long horns protruding from his head and back. He had white hands with long nails, four thicker horns hanging horizontally with medals hanging from them, and four arachnid-like legs. "THAT'S RIGHT! GET OUT! Get off my planet, ya termites! I'm makin' this town my new beach house! It'll 'ave sexy Succubi, Sanzu martinis, and we'll play volleyball with all your heads! BOOM! Crush! Explode! I never get to 'ave this much fun!"
HIM took a slurp of his own such martini. The path of destruction began from the edge of a cave, the Gap's red glow shining at HIM's back. "I wonder when Superbia will have its next Day of Demons? I have to invite Baal to my old vacation town… Don't you agree, Clawthorne?"
The canine demon had a leash around his collar, the other end tied to a rock. Though the leash had no supernatural properties, King's condition of trust was to keep it on him. If he made any attempt to remove it, HIM would attack without mercy. "Whatever happened to those girls, anyway?" King asked.
"I surmise they would be in their sixties by now. Probably working boring desk jobs, teaching hero courses, or even knitting. I stopped caring about them ages ago. Still, the cartoon that was made about them was quite exaggerating. They were depicted with all these powers, but all they had were jetpacks and a single element to each of them: Blossom was Ice, Bubbles was Sound, and Buttercup Fire."
"Heh, I bet they could stick kick YOUR butt."
"For the last time, they NEVER beat me. And what of you, Clawthorne? Did YOU have any enemies in the Boiling Isles? Any annoying children you'd love to get revenge on?"
"Ah, we'll get there when we get there, Himmy. Hmmm…" Clawthorne faced the city with dread. He was tempted to stop Baal on his own… but he had to trust the KND would arrive. Once they were, it was up to him to hold HIM back.
"Pu! Pu! Pu!" As Sector V closed in on their destination, they spared Jason baffled looks. Captain, why do you keep punching your chest? Trella signed.
"Trying to start his Fury." Isabelle answered.
"Mum says I can use Fury Mode if I make me chi burst out of me heart! Oi wanna… try to do it at least once!"
"Even if you can pull it off, you shouldn't waste your energy before we fight Baal." Laruta reasoned.
"Demons at 10:00!" Lyserg alerted. Aeralfos surrounded the deck, along with Kargaroks carrying archers. Ralph and Silica loaded cannons and blasted the avians while the benders used projectile attacks. Though some of the ops suffered wounds, the demons dropped from the sky one by one. Lyserg sensed one last presence behind them and spun to shoot Morphine-
"HEY, HEY, HEY, hold your chain!" A familiar, furry harpy yelled in defense. "It's me!"
Lyserg returned to his Gigai. "Miss Eda?"
"Hey, it's you!" Ralph beamed. "Are King and HIM here?"
"They're waiting by the Gap. I just snuck out here among the lesser troops. Where's Christina?"
"My master ordered her to stay back until she's finished her training." Lyserg explained.
"Well, she sure picked a bad time to do that!"
"Oi, she deserves to take it easy after bein' stuck in the future!" Jason stated. "We can beat Baal on our own!"
"I hope you're right!" Shimmy yelled.
"I was thinkin' I can help you kids." Eda said. "Remember that spell I used to change the sky in King's domain? I can try to use it here, too."
"STREWTH!" Jason exclaimed. "Can you make it bright and sunny?!"
"Yeah! I have a Sun Stone for that very reason! But it's gonna take some time to get it ready. First I have to draw runes around the area of effect; which basically means the entire city, and then I have to sacrifice my Sun Stone in the exact center. Until then, you kids will have to confront Baal and make sure he stays inside the city."
"We're above Azultown now." Isabelle announced. "There are a bunch of people down there who need help!"
"Well, we can't leave 'em to suffer." Jason said. "Mates, spread out and take out the minions! Ah'm headin' straight for Baal!"
"I'll set up this Sky Window as soon as possible!" Eda assured, flying off. The operatives donned parachutes and dove toward the collapsing city. (Play "Waste Where Life Began" from Kirby Forgotten Land!)
Stage 6: Azultown
Mission: Stop Baal's rampage!
Jason landed in the crumbled ruins of a parking lot, cutting through a crumbled school. A Bulblin horde rode from the other side on Bullbos, Jason bashing the green demons off their boars. The captain found a staircase with only certain chunks of it intact, jumping up them to reach the 2nd floor. The high-schoolers were bashed nearly senseless by the Bulblins' clubs, but Jason's fists hit harder for the students' safety. A chunk of the hallway floor was broken, but there was a ceiling light flickering on and off. Jason used his Light Rope technique to swing the light! After crossing the hall, Jason climbed out a broken window and up an available wire to reach the roof. Jason was quick to dodge the Bulblin archers trying to snipe him, knocking the demons off the roof. He then picked up a fallen flag representing the school's colors, using it to glide partway across the ruined town.
He landed on a crumbled road, dropping the flag. The road sloped up and curved left, but Nejirons would emerge along the way. Jason ran from the sentient boulders, letting them roll into each other as they exploded. The road prematurely ended, leaving only a midair sidewalk to lead Jason. An Eyegore guarded the sidewalk, the big-eyed beast blocking Jason's spheres. However, when the beast fired laser jolts, the eye turned yellow. While dodging them, Jason could shoot spheres at the eye, which reddened each time until the beast keeled over and exploded. The rest of the sidewalk had already crumbled, except for flickering streetlights standing on divided chunks. Jason used Light Ropes to swing them once more; a Caged Soul rested atop one of them, so he flipped up to grab it.
Jason arrived at a city street, watching disgustedly as a Stalnox (skeletal cyclops) munched the torso off an innocent man. Before it could devour a woman next, Jason shot a fist to snap off its boney arm. The woman fled as the Stalnox reattached the arm, storming toward Jason while enduring his lightbending. The only fleshy, weak spot appeared to be its dark eye. Jason dodged its fists and jumped into its hollow abdomen, climbing up into the head. Jason kicked the eye out before leaping out to Ground Pound it. The eye popped like a balloon and the Stalnox died. The road would sink into a river of oil, with floating cars available for Jason's jumping. A Big Octo suddenly emerged along the way, its mouth a vacuum as it closed in on Jason.
"OI, I AIN'T NO SQUID DINNER!" Jason backtracked up the cars and spun his fist. He used the Light Fingers technique to squeeze the Octo's mouth, allowing Jason to safely jump on and bash the squid until it was KO'ed. Jason landed on the next car holding down a water spout, seeing other cars uplifted by escalating spouts. Jason Ground Pounded his car, causing that spout to suddenly shoot up higher. He repeated the tactic with the following cars, pressing them down against the spouts only to be flung even higher. The captain eventually landed on a roof, a troupe of Moblins attempting to whack him off with spears. Jason's limbs were superior, snapping the spear heads clean off. He spun up a Light Fist and willed it to bounce between the pig demons' heads. A bright spotlight was set up above, so Jason yanked a solid light beam from it to strike two Moblin.
A series of flexible bars hung along the side of the next building, Jason using them as spring-like footholds. "Huh?!" Jason looked into the building's windows, Bokoblins' backs facing him as they seemed to hold people at gunpoint. Since the demons didn't notice him, Jason charged fists and KO'ed them each with one swift punch. As a bonus, his Light Fists went directly through the glass without breaking them, keeping the other Bokoblin from being alerted. One window had a hall of mirrors behind it: Jason punched a fist to ricochet across the mirrors and free a hidden Caged Soul. From the last spring-bar, Jason tail-glid to the scaffolding of a construction site.
The scaffolding began to crumble from the bottom, Jason frantically jumping up the nearest available bar. The structure's sinking helped make the bars accessible, but this was followed by having to jump tarps suspended like trampolines. Green Bubbles (winged skulls with green flames) floated left-and-right between jumps, Jason careful to avoid them. After the trampolines, he swung hanging ropes, later to land at the top of a slide of slanted scaffolds. There was enough area underneath for the slide to sink, but for Jason to slide for a fair while. The scaffolds haphazardly swayed left and right from the unstable foundation, Jason ducking the Green Bubbles that were randomly splayed about, but would inconveniently be above the swaying slide's positions.
Jason leapt off the end, running from the cloud of dust and rubble that grew from the fallen scaffolding. "Blimey, I hope there weren't anyone under that! …Oi, what's that huge beastie?!"
Jason had located Baal himself. A trio of construction workers tried to drill the demon with jackhammers, but were violently smacked away by the demon. "LASSO KNOT!" Another worker, blonde with jeans and a matching jacket, snared Baal's neck in tight, twin lassos. Baal seemed to choke for a brief moment before ripping the ropes, blasting a Destruct Ball at the ground before him. The worker was flung backward, his life threatened by the sharp edge of a ripped trashcan, but Jason leapt to break his fall.
"'Hoy there! You orright, mate?"
"Th-thanks, kid…" The worker glanced back… His expression seemed to light up, looking Jason up and down. "Wait a minute… you look like Captain Sheila."
"Eh? You know my mum?"
"Your mom?! Heh, this is a hell of a time to meet you!" He smiled half-nervously, knowing the demon could strike again. "Name's Paulie. We work for the Mariner Shipyard. It's a business your grandma founded."
"Whoa, really?!"
"Yeah! I was a kid back then, but your ma and grandma are legends around here. The shipwrights kept the business going after Marine died and I decided to join one day. Er, but more importantly, what're you doing here?!"
"Ah'm here to kick some demon arse, ain't I?" Jason stepped around Paulie, cracking his knuckles. "Oi, you!" he yelled to the demon commander. "If you don't want the daylights knocked outta you, bring me Baal!"
"Hm?!" The demon scowled at the Faunus. "And what business would you have with him?"
"Personal, that's what! I'm gonna break 'is skull in for attacking Mum's home!"
"Baalalalalala! I AM Baal! You furry FOOL!" Baal unleashed a Destruct Ball. Paulie roped Jason and yanked himself away via a post, dodging the mass of destruction.
"Well, ain't that the bee's knees! Let's get this over with, wanna?"
"I don't have time to waste on some twerp."
Jason bravely rushed toward the demon, fists charging. "Kid, what're you-?!" Paulie tried to ask. The twin fists flew toward Baal, but his Destruct Ball intercepted as they cancelled each other. However, Jason didn't pour much power into those fists, instead reserving it for his right foot as he suddenly kicked a streak of light up into Baal's eyes. He whipped one more streak in the form of his tail, slapping his face as Baal growled in aggravation.
"Paulie, get your crew to safety! I got this…"
"Kid…heh." It may have been a sudden meeting, but could this boy carry the legend of the Sunny Fist?
"Very well, boy." Baal snarled. "This pain will last you through the afterlife…"