Chapter 22: Another Day, Another Mystery

Arriving back at the ship, Rayman and I immediately noticed the mood was lively.

"Getting to know each other? This has to be the biggest group of people I've seen in a while, so I'm not surprised... Bentley, how's Tails?"

"Well, I haven't seen anyone this smart since the Continum Jumper was working..."

Penelope pipes up. "Does he remind you of how we hit it off when we first met?"

"Not a bad comparison..." Good to hear. He'll have to fill me in later...

"What happened while you were out? I take it you have the bolt?"

Ratchet notices a sheepish smile.

"Don't tell me..."

"Don't worry, we got it, but we were attacked by Nightmares and Darktoons while looking for it..."

Sora asks, "Are you OK?!?"

"For my first time fighting those things, it went surprisingly well. We didn't even need to call on "The Murray..."

"The Murray?" I notice a big smile on Sora's face. He's struggling to hold in the laughter too...

"What can I say? The big guy likes wrestling."

Bentley asks, "Could I have the bolt? Me, Ratchet, and Tails are going to have to get to work if we want to get back to Hyrule in a timely fashion."

I hand it over, saying, "Go work your magic, and take all the time you need."

"We'll see you in a bit."

As the brainiacs head off, I start talking to Sora. "While we're waiting, Rayman explained this world to me while I was away. Dreams and nightmares taking form, apparently. Mind telling us about the "Realm of Sleep?" I heard the name when we first arrived here."

"That... is a funny story. I was sent there to take my Keyblade Mark of Mastery Exam. I just had to unlock some more Keyholes, the Keyholes of worlds that didn't fully recover from Heartless attacks. Turned out the big bad of my adventures was watching me and Riku the entire time. It's...something I don't really like to talk about, falling for his trap and having to be rescued by Riku."

"We don't have to talk about that if you don't want to."

"Thanks, Sly. We haven't known each other for very long, but I already see you as a friend."

Bentley, Ratchet, and Tails walk out of the ship, looking pleased with themselves.

"I think we're ready to go. This ship was my biggest repair job ever, but we should be able to head out now."

"Nice job, buddy! What are we waiting for? Ready to get an update on the mystery?"

"As I'll ever be. Ratchet, would you like to do the honors?"

"...Let's get going."

SKSKSKSK

The starship was, to put it lightly, a tech paradise. Bentley is going to have a field day exploring this place.

"First the Gummi Ship, now this. Once the job is over, you're going to have to fill me in regarding how this stuff works, Ratchet."

"Absolutely. ...Look at that. We're coming in for landing in Hyrule."

Rayman says, "So this is where your friends live. Reminds me of when me and a Viking princess stormed a castle on the other side of a painting..."

Mario pipes up.

"You've-a jumped through paintings? I've-a done the same. Went-on-sa-short power star hunt."

"OK, we have to swap stories once this is over."

Landing near the castle, we see Link, Zelda, and Aaron. Mario immediately recognizes Link for some reason, and Link can see it on Mario's face.

"Do I know you?"

"Checked in at-a-the Rose Town Inn a-while ago."

"Oh, that. And your name?"

"It's-a-me, Mario!"

Zelda notices the large group. "You brought some friends, it seems."

Sora makes the introductions.

"That's Sonic the Hedgehog, who has the blue Chaos Emerald, Mario, who has the red one, Ratchet, who has the yellow one, and Rayman, who has the purple Emerald. We bought their friends along with too. Everyone, this is Link, he holds the green Emerald, Zelda, the princess of the kingdom of Hyrule, and Aaron, a local alchemist."

A collective "Hello!" is said by the crowd.

Zelda responds with, "Pleased to meet you. I think we will get to know each other better over the next few days..."

Aaron says, "Let's get down to business. Over the last little while, the 3 of us have been studying the mysterious book that Sly and Sora brought with them."

Zelda follows up with, "But it became obvious almost immediately that if we were going to understand all the references, we needed different perspectives on the passages. Take a look."

"That one there talks about Kingdom Hearts!"

"Kingdom Hearts?"

"Heart shaped moon that my adventures revolved around. I've kept it away from bad guys for years. And... that one's about water magic? I know some water spells, but I don't know these."

Rayman notices a passage on what seems to be darkness written in his language.

"Sora, help me out here. The Element of Shadow?"

"Why would it be addressed to you and not me?"

"No idea."

Sonic notices a passage on the Element of Wind. "Finally!Something I'm familiar with. Kind of."

Sora calls out to Mario. "Look, Mario! You get the passage on fire!"

"And no-a Fire Flowers in sight..."

Link gets a passage on the Element of Earth.

Aaron comments, "I think he's getting an urge to use a hammer..."

"And we're nearing the end of the chapter. Ratchet, I think that passage is for you. The Element of Storm."

Sora comments, "Even to me that's foreign, and I'm good with magic...

Ratchet comments, "I see something at the bottom of the page. Something about beings with Bio-mechanical energy being our next goal. Does that mean anything to anyone here?"

Scanning the crowd to get a lot of "No" answers, I notice Clank go silent.

Ratchet asks, "What is it, buddy?"

"Orvus."

Zelda asks, "Who?"

Clank responds with, "My father who passed away six years ago. We need to go see his race, the Zoni. They watched over the stability of time from a Great Clock at the center of our universe, give or take fifty feet. I think I remember seeing some near a Lombax mural on Fastoon..."

"If your race has some answers, we should get going right away."

Sora preps for a Duo Chaos Control with Ratchet as the ship lifts off.

"Fastoon, here we come!"

End Chapter