Okay, people: it's time for the main group to head to Chicago. But FIRST, another Dream Realm segment. :P So play the "Dreams" Theme from Spyro: The Eternal Night.
Chapter 13: The Long-Lost Princess
Matthew Dimalanta slowly awakened, gripping his head, finding himself in some weird space. He looked around. "Where am I? Leo? Jeremiah? ELIJAH?"
"John Matthew Dimalanta…"
"WAH! Who's there? And how do you know my first name?"
"Relax… my name is The Chronicler. Spirit who watches peoples' lives…"
"A stalker?"
"Ugh! I swear, the next kid that calls me a stalker, I'm gonna… sigh, never mind."
"What do you want?"
"Ahem: I am here to teach you of your Poison Element."
"Oh, so you're here to remind me of my curse."
"Matthew… your powers are so much more than a curse. They are a blessing from a mighty spirit. People just don't understand the value of great power, and tend to fear it. Step forward… to learn more." As the floating rock path appeared before him, Matt decided to walk along it, his face emotionless.
He stood before a toxic gas gateway and a glowing gas-green circle. "Step into the light." Matt obeyed and stood on the circle. There, he was shown a vision of when he first discovered his poisonbending powers, mocked by all who walked by. "Poison is the Element of Hurt. Because of your powers, people constantly threw hurtful words at you… poisoning your very feelings. Many poisonbenders feel this pain… the pain of being cast aside… dumped." Matt was taken to a dumpster of smelly trash and toxic waste. "They have taken this mental poison… and turned it into physical poison. As a way of expressing their hurt feelings. Now…" Matt closed his eyes and remembered all the insults he was given, because of his powers, while poison gas slowly began to circle him. "Let the hurt… out…"
Matt waved his arms, drawing in more toxic gas, and released it all in an expanding gas tornado. The vision ended as Matt returned to the Realm, the poison gate opening for him to proceed. He arrived at a small path of buff guards, looking perfectly still with fearful expressions, except it looked as though they were falling asleep.
"When in your sleep… the poisons can still make you uncomfortable, never letting you have a peaceful rest. Let this feeling out in its own poison…" With that, Matt took a breath, and exhaled softly, letting a light-purple cloud of gas float to the guards. Their eyes became weary as they fell asleep from the knock-out gas, falling off the path and into the infinite abyss.
Matt continued along the path and reached a metal wall, cans of toxic waste by his side. "As a result of the poisons people give you, sadness can overcome your mind, and tears are formed. While actual tears aren't poisonous, they are still symbols of waste, burning away the good feelings. Use your powers to bend the waste, and make your way through."
"I already know this sh…" Matt mumbled to himself before using his bending to control the waste, rubbing it onto the wall and melting the metal away.
He then reached a part where the road was blocked by large boulders with no way around. "People poison you by throwing insults. Those insults usually come from the mouth." Matt chuckled at this. "And some people tend to throw those insults back. Since burping is a gas that comes from the mouth, as a poisonbender, you can use that to your advantage."
"Burping? Seriously?"
"I have coffee with that guy every Sunday. But if you don't like burping, another way people threw insults back was by far-"
"Okay, I'll try the burping." Matthew cut him off. He took some Purple Flurp Soda from his pocket and guzzled it down. In a few seconds, he let out a loud, "BUUUURRRP!", unleashing a wave of Gas Bombs from his mouth that blew the boulders away.
He finally arrived at the large open field where the army of stone soldiers awaited, as well as several spilled waste cans. "The evil ones are here to poison you some more. Use your powers and poison them back."
"Heh. I am the evil one." With that, Matthew fired a Gas Bomb in the center of some soldiers and blew them away. He bended some toxic waste from a can and threw it onto some more soldiers, watching them melt. He blew Sleeping Gas at another squadron, knocking them out, then shoved them over the edge. He destroyed the last bit of soldiers by throwing Gas Blasts from his hands, pushing them over the edge.
Matt was soon surrounded by another army of stone demons, readying his guard. He closed his eyes, taking in the hurtful names those monsters called him. "When the amount of poisons is so great, you now have a tornado of illnesses spiraling inside you. Your power is at your greatest. Let your poison out."
The gas tornado surrounded Matthew again. He waved his arms and threw them out, sending the massive tornado expanding and wiping away all the stone demons. "You have done well. But remember, you must beware of whom you're throwing the poisons at. Sometimes, you may even feel poisoned by those that are closest to you, but they mean you no harm. Just remember who your friends are."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just get me outta this joint."
"Sigh, typical. Come to the temple." Matt noticed a floating stone stairway appear, leading up to the temple, and proceeded upwards. It led him to the poison gate, which he passed through to get inside, looking at all the other elemental gateways as he approached the light circle in the center.
"So, what was the point of this? I already know what I can do. I may have learned a few new things, but this element is still evil."
"Matthew… there is Light and Darkness to all things. Especially the elements. But things are only dark when you make them that way. You must look at the good your powers possess."
"Hmph. Easy for a spirit to say."
"Look in the Pool of Light. It'll point you the next way." Matt did as told once more and approached the small pool. He took a breath and stuck his face in the water. (Stop the music.)
The pool showed him a vision of a rather colorful planet. On that planet was a strange swamp with purple water. "What is this?" Matt asked.
"This is Planet Avalar. On this world lies a dark forest along the Silver River. You must go to this forest and meet with the Spirit of Poison, Hexxus. There, you will learn more…"
Somewhere in the Sahara Desert
"Matt? Hello, Matt? Wake up!"
"Ohhh…" Matt was barely waking up, seeing Elijah and Jeremiah loom over him.
Jeremiah ate some rotten cheese, his breath becoming putrid as he leaned down for CPR. "O-kay, let's see if this works." The poisonbender was about to put his mouth on Matt's until his mouth was forced shut by the now-conscious leader's hand, saying-
"I'm awake." The two of them helped Matt up as the leader brushed himself off, looking around to see they were on a small cliff above a cactus field, the sun setting over the distant desert. "Where are we?"
"Somewhere in the Sahara." Elijah answered. "We must've got separated from Danika and her team."
"I hope they're okay." Matt said, looking around. "Where's Leo?" Just then, he saw some of the cacti shake.
"YYYEEEEEOOOWWWW! ! !" the dimwitted poisonbender screamed, flying up from the cacti and landing face-first on the cliff beside them.
"He's… in the cactus field." Jeremiah answered.
"AAHHHHH! OW! OW! OW! AHHHHH! !" Leo ran around in circles uncontrollably as the thorns stuck in his rear.
"Hold still!" Matt ordered, walking over and kicking him hard in the stomach, the momentum knocking the spikes out.
"Oh ho. Ow!..." Leo grunted. …At that instant, the puke that Leo released while in the vortex came out and landed on his head. He gritted his teeth in anger as his friends snickered. "It's NOT FUNNY! …" He then glared beside him. "…STOP LAUGHING, STEVE!"
Matt turned disbelievingly to his snickering teammates, who stopped shortly after. "Hehehe!... Sorry!" Elijah said.
"Sigh…" Matt slowly walked to the cliff's edge and jumped down, carefully landing on the small path in the cactus field. "Come on. The Brain's base should be a few miles away. We need to take one of his ships and go to the Silver River on Planet Avalar."
"What's on Avalar?" Leo asked.
"When I was asleep, a creepy stalker spirit taught me a few things about my Poison Element and said to speak with the Poison Spirit on Planet Avalar. So let's get there."
Jeremiah and Elijah shrugged as they hopped onto the small path after him. Leo, however, looked worriedly at the cacti, and said, "You know, I'll just find a way AROUND the dangerous spiky plants." With that, he went over the small rock hill behind him. "See you guys la- Huh?" He stopped when he encountered a group of three grey hyenas. The three scavengers turned to the frightened boy and growled in hunger. "Uh-oh. AAHHHH!" Leo hurried away from the hyenas, jumping into the cactus field. "YAAAAHHH! !" The others watched as Leo flew out of the prickly plants and ran far ahead of them, the pain giving him the energy to run.
"Well, there's something he forgot to teach me." Matthew remarked. They hurried after him as the hyenas barked at them from the cliffside.
"BARK BARK! BARK BARK! (Hey, get back here, you little morsels!)" Shenzi shouted.
"Grrrrr! (Well, go get 'em.)" Banzai told her.
"(I ain't goin' in that field, you want me lookin' like that li'l kid?)"
"(D'aw man, how come you never do the hard stuff. Aw, well. But LISTEN:)", he yelled to the poisonbenders. "(If you ever come back: WE'LL KILL YA!)"
"(Aw, man, you always say that.)" Shenzi said.
"OOH HOO HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH." Ed kept his dimwit expression as he laughed hysterically.
Delightful Mansion
Father peacefully sat by his fireplace in Delightful Mansion, wearing his yellow robe and reading the newspaper in boredom. The doorbell sounded, and his butler, Jenkins, walked over to answer it, finding a rather skinny mailman. "Ahem, uh… package for, um, Benedict Uno Jr.." he said in a Jamaican accent.
Jenkins noticed a rather large package beside the mailman and grabbed the side of it. "Thank you, Sir." Was all the butler said before dragging it in and closing the door. Jenkins dragged the heavy package all the way to Father's living room. "A package for you, Sir."
"What? I didn't order any package." Father told him, standing up with a questioning look as he walked over. "Who in the world-"
"REOW!" Violet screamed, pouncing out of the large box.
"AHHH- HEY!" Father frantically waved his arms as the werecat clawed at his face. "JENKINS, HELP-" The butler merely threw off his disguise, becoming the Interesting Twins. "Yin and Yang? What did you do with JENKINS?" Father yelled, lighting with fire.
"Oh, you don't need to worry." Nigel Uno said, dropping in the chimney with the others. "We tricked him to going on a… paid vacation."
"NOOO! ! You MISERABLE-" Father was about to throw a fireball until Eva froze his hand with waterbending from behind.
"Wow, you really cooled down, Uncle Ben." The anchorwoman taunted before freezing him completely against the wall, leaving only his head exposed.
"F-f-f-f…" Father shivered. "I h-haven't done anything to you kids in m-months, and THIS is how you pay me a visit-t-t?"
"Believe me, we would've loved to leave you in peace, but something suddenly came up." Rachel said, aiming her staff at his head.
"Now, spill it: do you have a daughter?" Abby asked.
"WHAT?"
"Don't lie to us, Father." Eva followed. "I'm a professional news reporter."
"And a pretty one, too!" Kade perked.
"I know."
"You better start explaining, Father." Violet glared in the half-demon's yellow eyes, aiming a claw at his neck.
"H-Hey. What makes you think I know anything, huh?"
"We do." Dr. Facilier said, walking in with the mailman. The skinny mailman threw off his disguise, revealing to be the Grim Reaper.
"Harvey…"
Harvey Facilier approached the shadowed man, waving a hand for Violet to hop off. "Come on, Ben, you've kept this secret for nearly 10 years. Isn't it about time you told them about the long-lost Demon Princess?"
Father looked away in thought. "…Okay… I'll tell you."
At this, Eva decided to unfreeze him, bending her water back in her bottles. "Okay… spill."
Father sighed. "15 years ago, I went to Japan and met a woman. Her name was Natsume. I fell in love with her, took her on a date, and… things went on from there. One day, she decided to move to the States, to Virginia… so I helped her. We got married eventually and she moved in to my mansion here. Everything was fine from there on until… I got her pregnant."
They gaped.
"And at the same time, Monty's wife was having a kid of her own: Nigel Uno. And I knew, not only would Malladus want them to rule the Underworld by his side… I knew that Ganondorf monster would be after them as well. So… I left Natsume. She moved to Chicago, Indiana, fell in love, and got married to some other guy named Johnathon Levine-Kelly, who decided to take Natsume's last name, Utsukushii. A few months later, she had her baby daughter. I wasn't about to let her get mixed in with our demonic affairs… so I had to leave her. I'd sooner let my nephew get involved with them."
Nigel gritted his teeth at his uncle, but calmed down. "So… I had another cousin all this time? And she's a part of the Royal Family?"
"Lucky she isn't part of the servant family." Fanny said angrily, remembering her family ancestry.
"Speakin' of which, Fanny, are those demon horns I see?" Patton asked.
"HUH? WHAT? WHERE? !" she panicked, scratching her head for horns.
"HA HAA! !"
"So, our cousin is living in Chicago now…" Yang said.
"Can you take us there?" Yin asked.
"I can't… I can't bear to see her again." Father covered his face with his hand in shame and leaned against the wall.
Facilier leaned down to him (he was several inches taller than Father) and said, "Ben, Malladus Uno is gone, and you can't keep the secret from them forever."
"Sigh…" he sighed.
"Ben… remember our deal: if Abby ever found out I was working for Malladus, you agreed to find that daughter o' yours and tell her the truth. …And you're months overdue…"
"Sigh… you're right, Harvey." Father stood up straight. "Alright, pack up, kiddies, we're goin' on a road trip." Facilier smiled and pat him on the shoulder.
They all headed outside where the kids were piling into Father's limo. Rachel saw Sector W talking amongst each other, with Jagar standing by them, tapping his foot. "This is as far as I can help now." Facilier said, getting into his freaky fancy car with Grim. "Good luck, Abby."
"Thanks, Uncle Facilier." She smiled.
"Okay, you guys, into Father's car." Rachel told Sector W, who smiled and nodded.
Father was the last one in his limo, getting in his driver's seat and turning the keys in. "Alright, the fastest way from here to Chicago is through the Virginian Forest. Matter of fact, that's become sort of a popular area, lately. Let's hit the road." With that, the limo backed up and drove off into the nearby forest.
Virginian Forest
The gang sat patiently as Father drove them down a dirt road in a deep part of the Virginian Forest, which seemed to have tall, towering trees. "Hey, this is the same forest I hung around when I turned giant." Fanny remembered.
Patton snickered. "Better hope the wildlife aren't so pissed at you for squashing them! Or for farting on them…"
"Ugh."
Rachel and Jagar were watching scenery pass by as the Supreme Leader decided to talk to him. "So, Jagar… have we met before?"
"Well, yeah… I used to be an operative before I was killed."
"Oh, that's right! You were in Sector IC with-"
"Don't say his name."
"Oh… sorry."
"Anyway, sometime after his banishment, Dimentia snuck into my treehouse and killed me. Three days later, she set up the test to bring Numbuh 1 to GKND. Three months after that, well, she was killed."
"Not anymore." Rachel replied. "Dimentia is-"
"Alive, I know. You have Clockwork to thank for that."
"What?"
"Dimentia escaped from the Underworld and made her way to this forest. Then Clockwork found her and used his powers to make her young again. In return, he wanted her to help with this quest. He wanted to give her a second chance. She should be with the other timebenders by now."
"So, how did you and the others stop Lord Gnaa before?"
"Well, after I died, I met with the other timebenders in the Spirit World. They knew I was a timebender, so Dialga let me keep my powers in the afterlife if I worked with the rest of them as his assistant. I was told to travel back 5 years and help the others fight Lord Gnaa when he finally achieved his full power. I wasn't good at my element at the time, so this clock was made to help me." She looked at the broken clock on his chest. "But Lord Gnaa destroyed it during the battle, so I'm not very good anymore. Since then, Clockwork's been trying to help me get better at it."
"Wow… sounds like you're having a rough time, huh?"
"Yeah. But on the bright side, the other timebenders have been great friends. In fact, one of them… uh, never mind." He blushed.
"Okay… well, that's good!" Rachel grinned.
"Hoo! Ah LOVE road trips!" Father said perkily. "Why, I don't think I've been on one since-" He was silenced when a squad of fat, red demons dropped from the treetops, holding up shields and aiming spears. "What the-"
"They're Bokoblin!" Nigel pointed, remembering those creatures from the Underworld.
"They're Fatblin." Father corrected. "These are Ganondorf's minions."
"Hey, get lost!" Wally shouted, sticking his head out a window and shooting a G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A. at them, but they protected. Nigel and Father just decided to shoot fire at them, burning their shields and scaring them off. But another gang of regular Bokoblin dropped down, holding swords and clubs.
"Ugh, they must have this whole forest overrun." Rachel figured.
"Demons? I was hoping for this." Violet said, unbuckling her seat and leaping outside. She threw shurikens at a few Bokoblin before pouncing onto a tree and leaping her way up the branches.
They heard the sound of a motorcycle's roaring, turning around to see Bruce Farley speeding down the road. "Hey, guys! Sorry I'm late."
"Bruce?" Nigel questioned. "We didn't really call-…"
"Violet did. Thought you guys needed the help. …Or maybe she just wanted the company." He smirked coolly. "Eat rubber, Boko bozos!" With that, the Sector Z leader sped by the demons, running them over with his bike.
"Hey… that's my bike." Father noticed.
"JUST play some stage music!" Wally whined. (Play "Right There, Ride On" (Sonic's version) from Sonic Rush!)
Stage 10: Leaf Scamper
Mission: Cut through the demon-infested forest!
Act 1
Violet scampered up the tall tree trunk before cutting through a hole and dashing down a large tree branch. She ran by some Bokoblin with clubs and sliced them before they could strike. She afterwards started swinging vines around another tree, avoiding the Green Chuchus that tried to drop on her.
She swung inside the trunk and started climbing her way up the inside of the tree. A giant spider, called a Skulltula, was blocking her escape, but she scratched and cut its large web, kicked it upside down, and stabbed it before running further. She ran along a path on the side of the tree and started Wall Jumping between that one and another tree next to it.
She reached the top and was above the leaves where she started jumping trees while Bulblins shot arrows at her from below. A swarm of arrows nearly hit her, but she gripped the side of a tree and started sliding down using her claws. She then got onto a vine rail and started grinding across, ducking any arrows the monsters shot at her and throwing shurikens at them.
She started climbing an upwards branch while some Miniblin skipped down and poked pitchforks at her, giggling, but the werecat kicked them away and continued to climb. She jumped into another opening on the tree and ran down the hollow trunk, dodging all Skulltulas that dropped down on her.
She made it outside and grabbed onto a vine, swinging around the tree before flinging off and landing on another set of vine rails. She looked back and saw a gang of Miniblin on unicycles pedaling towards her, aiming their pitchforks. But as they pedaled closer, Violet kicked their wheels, causing them to trip and fall below. The center rail led up around another tree while the others were cut off, so Violet grinded up the center one, leaving the Miniblin to roll off.
Violet grinded up and around the huge tree, then grinded down around a second one, getting back on the wooden path and running ahead. She arrived at a wooden bridge that was protected by three Fatblin. She ran to the first one, who held up its wooden shield, and stylishly sliced the shield to pieces before scratching his face, making him fall over. She ran up to the second one, sliced up its shield, kicked away his spear, then scratched his fat belly several times before he fell.
When she arrived at the third one, she tried to scratch his shield, but gripped her claws in pain after failing to slice the metal shield. The monster thrust his shield at her, but she leapt back, then ducked when he stabbed his spear. She kicked the heavy weapon, causing him to turn around, allowing Violet to poke his behind. The monster yelped and was sent upwards, coming down and splitting the bridge in two with his body weight. Violet gripped the other side of the bridge as it dangled, effortlessly climbing up and continuing on.
She headed up another spiraling path around another tree, then started hopping from branch to branch. She landed and went up a wooden loop-di-loop, coming downwards, then running off the edge, gripping a branch and stylishly swinging branches. When she gripped the last branch, she flipped around it a couple times before sitting perfectly still on it like a cat.
"Normally, this is where the cat would be meowing for help… but THIS cat's looking down at all the others and laughing. Ah ha ha ha!"
"WAAAH!" screamed a Bokoblin on a vine, holding a sword, swinging over to Violet and cutting her branch.
"REEOOOW!" (Stop the music.)
Violet frantically waved her arms and legs as she fell, but found herself landing on the back of Bruce's motorbike. "Don't worry, Violet. It's not over yet!" (Play Blaze's version of "Right There, Ride On"!) Violet wrapped arms around her boyfriend as they sped down the forest on his bike.
Act 2
Some Bokoblin, pretending to be apes, were swinging on vines, landing ahead of them and attempting to attack with their swords or clubs, but Bruce ran over them. There was a nest of Skulltula up ahead, but Bruce sped up a ramp, jumping clear over the giant spiders. His motorbike got stuck in some Red Chuchu, so Violet had to scratch the gooey substance off. As they sped on, Violet licked the strange jelly off her claws.
Bruce made some narrow turns as demons started cutting large branches off to block them, and also had to dodge incoming arrows. They hit some logs in the road, but the bike only flipped and kept going. They soon found their selves being followed by Bulblins on Bullbos, shooting fire arrows at them. When one of the monster warthogs got beside them, Violet merely scratched it, making it go crazy and ram other ones, making the Bulblins fall over.
Another squadron of Bulblin riders were approaching from ahead of them, but Bruce drove the bike down a hole in the ground, into a dark tunnel. Some Keese tried to gnash at them, but Violet scratched them away as well. Soon, they flew out of the tunnel on the side of a hill, landing back on the main road, with Bruce turning the right way and speeding ahead.
"We should be getting close to the exit." Bruce said.
Violet looked back, eyes widened with fright. "Uh… you might wanna step on it."
Bruce looked back. "AAHHH!" he screamed at a gigantic Skulltula, wide as the road and as big as a house, with 5 eyes, charging toward them. Bruce immediately hit the gas. The giant spider demon spat venom balls at them, but Bruce narrowly dodged while Violet tossed shurikens at his eyes, slowing him down.
Bruce looked ahead and immediately hit the brakes, stopping the bike before running into the enormous spider web. Violet stood and leapt several feet in the air, throwing a shuriken at its last eye. The spider screeched and flipped on its back, its weak spot on its belly exposed. Violet smirked and made one more leap onto its belly, stabbing the purple center. She hopped off as the spider screamed and quickly shrunk down to the size of a regular one. The spider regained vision in his eyes and looked up, and the last thing he saw was a towering Violet's gigantic foot, stomping down on him.
The spider web faded away as well right when Father's limo stopped by them. Bruce threw his motorbike in the trunk before hopping in with Violet, the couple high-fiving. As the limo drove out of the forest, Violet scraped the squashed spider off her shoe, licking it off her claw. "Hey, this isn't half bad!"
The others just looked sick while Bruce threw up on Wally. They continued their road trip past the sign that read Chicago, 40 miles away.
Peach Creek Cul-de-sac
"So, that's what happened." Annie said after hearing Gary and Dan's story. Emily was staying watch outside at this time, and it was nighttime at the cul-de-sac.
"Yeah. That talking wood and his buddy ship-jacked us." Gary said. "Boy. Who knew those Firstborn were so popular?"
"So, how's your daughter doing?" Annie asked.
"Jessica? Oh, she's fine. Hangin' out a lot with this foreign boy. …You know, I think they're sneakin' off to a secret club."
"How's Brain?"
"Oh, he's good, too. He's, eh… bein' evil and stuff."
"Do you even like working for that jarhead?"
"Well… honestly, I don't. But it isn't easy when you have a family to think about."
"Why don't you just find some other job, instead of killing people for some criminal?"
"I already told you. We weren't born from parents like regular humans. We were made as soldiers to BE soldiers, and a soldier's only purpose is to serve who outranks them."
"So? You may be soldiers, but you're still human. You don't have to act like mindless robots."
"Aw, and who put you in charge of knowing everything?" Dan asked. "Gary's right… for once."
"Hey!"
"We were cloned by Emperor Palpatine's orders, and no matter what, his wish is our command. And his last order was for us to obey his son, Brain."
"So, if Brain ordered you to shoot and kill each other, you would obey?"
"Er… uh…" They both scratched their heads in thought.
Just then, Emily, Cosmo, Nova, and Zuri hurried in excitedly. "Guys! Nova caught Celebi!" Cosmo exclaimed.
"Look!" Nova said, taking out her Spirit Ball and releasing the spirit.
The Stormtroopers gasped. "The Firstborn!"
"Bi. Bi bi, bi bi."
"You've rescued the villains? !" Nova asked joyously.
"Huh? Wait, where are the others?" Gary asked.
"Bi bi, bi BI bi."
"They were transported back in time via Plank's time machine, but Celebi went back and rescued them. She says they reappeared on two ends of the Sahara Desert." Nova explained.
"The Sahara?!" the Troopers exclaimed. They immediately pushed a button, dropping the five down a trapdoor out of the ship, with Celebi flying down with them.
The five recovered and saw the ship lifting off. After retracting its legs, it shot off into the distance. "HEY! COME BACK!" Emily yelled as the six of them gave chase.
Next time, both teams should be arriving at Chicago, where the main group will finally meet The Quads! :D Later!