Okay, everybody, next Chronicler scene! Play the "Dreams" Theme from Eternal Night.
Chapter 27: Destination: Vaporization
Danika Anderson soon awakened, holding her head as she stood up, finding herself on a floating asteroid in space. "Oh… where am I?"
"Danika Anderson…"
"Whuh? Who's there?"
"It is I… The Chronicler. Spirit who watches peoples' lives."
"I assume you get on the Internet a lot?"
"Oh, is that supposed to be a 'stalker' joke? I read books, just so you know. But listen to me: I am here to teach you of your Shadow Element."
"I already know about my Shadow Element." She sighed.
"Yes… but you must learn more. Step forward to begin." The floating rock path appeared for Danika to proceed.
She arrived at a black shadow gate and the glowing shadow platform (wait, glowing shadow?), stepping on the black spot as she was surrounded by darkness. She was shown a vision of her younger self, being made fun of and hiding behind dark corners.
"Shadow is the Element of Hiding. As you know, shadowbenders, like many others, are castaways. The world taunts them for their nature, so they hide from the sun and from the world, along with the shadows." Her younger self looked at her own shadow and waved, making other still movements, pretending it was a person. In a moment, the shadow slowly rose from the ground, grinning as it slid over and physically shook Danika's hand. The real Danika smiled at this, remembering this as when she and Cheshire (unnamed at the time before she gave her one) first met. "The benders become friends with the shadows… and are able to control them. They are what these castaways now rely on."
The area became pitch-black again as Danika closed her eyes. She felt all the shadow surrounding her inside a ball, throwing her arms out and releasing the shadow in an explosion. When the vision ended, Danika proceeded along the path ahead. She came to a wall blocking her path, seeing a small gap along the bottom of it. "The more benders are acquainted with the shadows, they will be able to hide beside them. Hide with your shadow, and proceed…" Cheshire reached up and wrapped around Danika, pulling her in her Shadow Veil. As a shadow, Danika slid right under the wall.
She reemerged on the other end, arriving at a chasm where the path continued across. "You can also pull the shadows up with you, and with their weightless bodies, you can float around." Cheshire slithered up around Danika's body, her whole body becoming black shadowy smoke as she flew over to the other side in her weightless body.
She landed and reemerged, continuing along the path, stopping when she spotted strange, orange sparks floating in midair. "This is a move meant for higher-ranked shadowbenders… but you will need it now for the danger ahead. Shadowbenders are similar to psychics, in this way: they are able to sense other shadows that hide, and the aura of the mass they are behind. Sense the alien monsters and get by without detection." Danika sunk below with Cheshire again, closing her eyes and sensing shadows of strange, floating invisible aliens. Sensing their locations, she was able to slither by them as a shadow, reemerging once she got past them.
She soon made it to the large field where the army of stone men were waiting. "The evil ones are trying to throw you in the shadows again. Use your connection with the shadows and destroy them." Danika drew out her daggers and ran to the first two, stabbing them in the chest. Another one tried to strike her, but she slid behind him as a shadow and stabbed him. "Using the shadows, you can also blind the visions of others for a short time." Right away, Danika turned around, and blew her Shadow Breath at some minions, blinding them, enabling her to take them out. She finished the last ones off by dragging them down with her, and dropping them at the bottom of the floating field, watching them fall.
When she came back up on the ground, she found herself surrounded by thousands more. She closed her eyes and felt the blackness surround her again. "When fully cast inside the shadow… they are completely on your side. Unleash them and show what power the shadows have."
Danika crushed her hands together as the shadow barrier surrounded her again. "HUAH! !" She threw her arms out, releasing the shadow explosion again, wiping out all the soldiers.
Danika stopped to catch her breath after the attack. "Good… but remember: while the shadows are also your friends, you must never forget your friends in the Light World. Shadows are horribly misunderstood. Now… step into the temple." The floating staircase appeared for Danika to proceed, the girl walking up and stepping through the shadow gate.
She slowly approached the Reflecting Pool in the middle as she spoke. "Well, I learned a few new moves at any rate. But I already know where shadowbending comes from."
"But do you know of the shadows' origins?"
"Do they… come from the Negaverse?"
"No… The Negaverse is the Dark Side of the universe. The Posiverse is the Light Side. The shadows, however, come from the realm in-between. They are beings of twilight: half-light and half-darkness. Everyone has these two sides to them. But both sides are needed to keep the coin whole. The Negaverse is connected to this world and keeps it balanced. With no Dark Side, there can be no Light, much as Darkness can't survive without the Light. And the shadows are the bridge between these worlds."
"Talk about complicated…"
"You will soon learn for yourself, of Cheshire's origins. Look into the Reflecting Pool…"
Danika looked at the glowing pool of light. She walked over and stuck her face in the water. (End song.)
Her vision showed a strange realm of twilight, shadow beings floating all around. Through the blackness that appeared, she could see a black and white childlike being, with light-blue lines along her body, an orange ponytail, wearing a stone helmet that covered her left eye, showing only her orange right eye. The strange being looked at Danika, giving a mischievous grin, a sharp tooth on the left of her mouth, and laughing childishly. "Who…"
"This child is a denizen from Cheshire's world, banished from her own land. She is trapped somewhere… on the planet. A great danger awaits you on that world. Hone your senses… and be careful."
Planet Vaporia
"DANIKA!"
"HU!" Danika shot awake, startled at Nolan's shout. "I-I'm awake!" She shot to her feet. "Where are we?" Danika looked around to see they were in some junkyard wasteland, piles of cars and electrical items everywhere. In the vast distances, they could see huge columns of fire, and could hear massive explosions.
Cad Bane looked at his wristwatch, which showed nothing but static, angrily banging it. "Arrgh. No good. Communications are all down. We can't call for help. But perhaps now you could tell me just why we were headed to Planet Avalar in the first place?" he rose a brow at Matt.
The poison leader figured he had no choice but to tell them now. "…I had a dream that… told me to go to Planet Avalar to meet a spirit."
"Ha! Typical children. You'll get yourself killed listening to whatever dreams tell you."
"You'll pretty much get us all killed here." Aurra followed.
"So… we're stranded here?" Leo asked.
"Not quite." Bane said. "I heard about a special Wisp that's supposed to reside on this planet. Gives battery power to just about anything. It's the only thing that can get our ship running again. But we have to be careful…"
"What's so bad about this planet, anyway?" Elijah asked.
"If we stay quiet…" Bane said, "you won't have to find out…"
Stage 24: Vaporia
Mission: Find a way off the mysterious planet.
Act 1
The team of eight started their walk through the planet, Bane and Aurra leading the way, going through a tunnel of scrap and crossing a bridge over a poison water river. On the other side, the two sidled along a wall over the river, carefully jumping the parts where the ledge broke off. When they reached the other side, Bane peeked around the corner to another pile of ruined cars. "Stay behind me." he told them, holding his gun ready.
The two hiked to the top of the hill, looking down the other side, which was much steeper. "Looks good so far." Aurra said.
Bane looked in his binoculars over at some kind of tower in the distance. "There. I bet that's where the Wisps are being held." He put them away. "Let's get there before we're noticed."
Just then, Leo slipped on some scrap, the others trying to grab him, but ended up slipping themselves, sliding down the pile of trash. They fell down a small cliff into a hole, groaning in slight pain as they recovered their selves.
"Ow, my head…" Matthew groaned.
"Quiet!" Bane yelled. "We've got company…" They looked ahead with wonder to see a strange, orange spark in the center of that pit.
"Ooh, pretty!" Leo said, walking to it.
"Wait!" Bane stopped him. Just then, they saw two Wisps fly by above them, a cyan and a yellow.
"Hey, Wisps!" Nolan pointed.
At that moment, the orange spark reached an electric beam up to the Wisps, wrapping around them and pulling them in. In the blink of an eye, the Wisps were zapped into nothingness by the touch of the spark, the villains gasping in horror. It sparked more as it started to float over, the team backing away. "Mip. Mip. Mip. Mip. Mip. (Extra terrestrial life forms detected. Preparing to neutralize.)" the spark beeped. Bane started shooting it with his gun, but it did no effect against its barrier.
"Hang on." Danika said, using her Shadow Breath and covering the thing in black smog. The spark shook around, distracted as the eight ran by it, hurrying past a few more scrap piles until they were safely away.
The gang stopped for a minute to catch their breaths. "That was close." Nolan panted.
"What was that thing?" Elijah asked.
"Vaporians." Bane replied. "The nastiest bunch of aliens in the known universe. They're composited of microwave energy, and can detect flesh and body creatures by our heat. They feed off of electricity, which explains all this junk, and they destroy anything they touch by the tiniest tap."
"So, we're basically dealing with a whole planet of aliens that eat electricity and destroy anything that breathes." Matt summarized.
"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Nolan asked. "Can we fight them?"
"Not unless you can wipe out those invisibility shields." Aurra said. "Without those shields, they can be beat by just about anything. Anything that ain't direct attacks."
"But for now, let's focus on getting to that tower." Bane said. "It won't be easy, seeing as they're invisible."
"Wait, I can see them with my shadowbending." Danika mentioned. "I can use my Shadow Sense to see where they are and where they're looking."
"Whoa. Where'd you learn that?" Nolan asked.
"A dream." At this, Matt stuck his tongue out at Bane.
"Whatever." The Duro replied. "Just use that power to sense any more. If they spot us, better hide quick. We got lucky then, but the Vaporians almost never lose their prey…" (Play "Does Anyone Have Any Cough Syrup" from Rayman 3.)
The gang crept up behind another small pile, Danika using her Shadow Sense to see two more Vaporians, turning their bodies and looking around. When they both faced away, Danika waved for them to follow as they ran behind them. They came at a small pathway between scrap hills, ducking behind a car as two Vaporians passed by.
"Meep meep meep, meep, meep meep meep. (Hey, did you get the new Zipper Electro Cards?)" one asked.
"Bip bip, bip, bip, bip bip bip. (Sigh, no… I had to go to my grandma's.)"
"Meep, meep, meep meep meep. (Ah, sucks for you, Dude. But hey, maybe we'll find a Gamecube or somethin' to dine on.)"
As they passed by, the lights on the car switched on as the car honked, the group closing their ears. Nolan's computer came out and switched on as he tried to stuff it back. When they turned down a path, the car and the computer switched off. "What was that about?" Nolan whispered.
"Vaporian presence makes electrical items go crazy." Bane whispered. "Lucky we weren't noticed. Careful with that computer."
They came out and ran down the opposite direction of where the aliens were going. They noticed two more aliens coming down that path, so Danika hurriedly grabbed Nolan, Bane, and Aurra, and pulled them in a shadow. The poisonbenders, however, looked around frantically for a place to hide, seeing some crazy mirrors beside them, and decided to get in front, making a pose.
From the shadows, the others' hearts raced as the Vaporians hovered over them, Danika using her sense to see them stop and look at the poisonbenders by the mirror. They exchanged a glance and shrugged as they continued on. "(So, uhhh… Venom is s'posed to be some kinda Evil Peter?)"
"(Remind me why I hang out with you.)"
The four emerged after they were gone. "Okay… why did they just pass you?" Danika asked.
"Vaporians' vision get disrupted by glass." Bane said. "Makes it difficult to sense flesh creatures."
"So, glass is our best friend. That's good to hear." Matt replied.
The eight kept down that path, turning a corner and going into a dark cave. Danika used her Shadow Sense to see the way through, all following close behind her. She felt a Vaporian turning down a corner towards them, jumping behind a nearby glass wall, the others hiding as well. They quietly watched the orange spark float by. "Meep, meep meeeep. Meep, meep meeeep. (I'm walkin' on heliuuum. Oh, oh, oh…)"
The eight hurried down the path after it passed by, Leo sticking his tongue out at it in cockiness. But they suddenly saw a smaller orange spark zoom down the hall, about mouse size. Cad Bane immediately drew his gun and tried to shoot it, the spark jumping back. "Meep Meeep! ! (HOLEH SHYET!)" The tiny Vaporian then sped back down the hall.
It went into a mouse hole to meet up with another small Vaporian. "Meep, me meeep, meep meep! (Hey, man! There some crazy stuff back there!)"
"Zip zip zip? (Man, what was it? Miley Cyrus?)"
"(D'aw, see, now you say something cooler, so my thing don't sound cool no more.)"
"(Aw, come on! What'd ya see?!)"
"(I don' remember! I was just thinkin' of MILEY Cyrus!)"
"(Aw, don't pull my leg!)"
"(You ain't got no leg! You an invisible black thing with spinning arms!)"
Another little one shot by them and went, "BEEP-BEEP!", before shooting off like Road Runner.
"Augh… filthy little monsters." Bane said, sheathing his gun.
"It would help a little to know what they're saying." Matt said.
"Wait! If I can get close to one, the translator could probably decipher their language…" Nolan figured.
Bane peeked around another corner, waving the others to follow as they sidled along a wall. Danika felt two more coming as they got behind a fallen glass table. Nolan's computer activated as they drifted by, the boy quickly activating his translator. "Mip miiip, mip mip."
Nolan and Danika read the translation that said, "(Hey, did you hear about the recent capture at the mining tower?)"
"(Yeah, what kind of creature is it, anyway?)"
The computer went back to static as they went by. "Follow them!" Danika whisper-shouted, the two quietly following behind close enough for the translator to work.
"(I dunno. Some being from the Shadow World, I think.)"
"(Why didn't we just destroy it?)"
"(I dunno. It's important, I think. We COULD sell it for a bounty on the black market…)"
"(Since when do we go to the black market? We just kill people.)"
"(I dunno… the death black market?)"
The two stopped following to let them keep going. "Did you see that?" Danika whispered.
"They're holding a creature here. So?"
"It's someone from Cheshire's world! We have to help it."
"Aw, now?" Leo whined. "It's scary enough here. I just wanna get the Wisp and leave."
"And even if we find it, there's still the matter of getting back." Bane replied.
"Hold on! Maybe we don't have to. Maybe we could call for help." Nolan thought.
"How do you plan to do that, kid?" Aurra asked. "Even if you do call someone, anything electrical that passes near this atmosphere will just short out."
Nolan thought for a minute. "…But what if we called a ship that WASN'T electrical?"
"What?"
"We'll get close to a Vaporian, I'll use my computer to send a message to Brain and tell him to send some of Bowser's pirate ships over."
"Hmm… that could work." Bane agreed.
"Okay then. Let's keep going." Nolan finished. With that, Bane continued leading the way, looking out for any sparks, finally making it out of the cave.
The eight came to a field with several Vaporians pacing back and forth, the group seeing they were close to the tower. The closest one was pacing back and forth over a car. When its back was turned, Bane and Aurra ran and slid under the car. After it passed over again, the two dashed behind a glass wall, avoiding detection from another Vaporian. The Vaporian that was closest to the path ahead was going around an old street light. The bounty hunters quickly ran for it when it turned left, successfully making it across and jumping behind a car.
As for the others, Dani grabbed Nolan and pulled him in her Shadow Veil, the two sliding across the ground to the right end of the field. Nolan fired a missile up above the ground and hit a Vaporian, attracting the attention of the others, coming over to look around. While they were distracted, the Toxic Four hurried across. Leo got his foot stuck in a bucket and tripped, so the others hurriedly pulled it out, dragging him along. The Vaporians went back to their posts, not noticing the boys, or Dani and Nolan, the two going over to join them.
They kept along the path, spotting another Vaporian that was safely behind a glass wall. Nolan rolled close to it so his computer would activate, then started typing his message. "Help…" he spoke as he typed, "Trapped… on… Va-por-ri-a… disables all electric items… send… Bowser's… ships…" He clicked 'Send'. "Done!"
Final Brain
At the Brotherhood Base, Mallah and The Brain sipped some tea and played Chess, while Madame Rouge and Immortus were playing cards. The hologram projector beside them, which showed a large holographic globe, started to beep, the four turning their attention to see Nolan's message appear.
'HELP! ! ! Trapped on Vaporia! ! Disables all electrical items. Send Bowser's ships! ! !
-Love, Nolan.'
"Hmm… this is quite a predicament." Brain said.
"Vhat are zey doing on Vaporia, anyway?" Mallah asked.
"No matter. We must go to their aid."
"But what about the matter regarding Manaphy? We just had a report from Eggman saying they were in the desert. They'll be at the Kremlings' hideout before long." Immortus said.
"General Immortus, you and Madame Rouge will handle the operations regarding the Firstborn. Monsieur Mallah, send a call to Bowser's airship fleet and gather some soldiers. We're going on a space trip."
Back on Vaporia
"You think the message got to 'em?" Danika asked.
"I hope so. For now, let's try and escape ourselves."
"The tower is close. Come on." Bane waved for them to follow.
The gang got to a larger road, looking at the massive tower ahead. Elijah turned the opposite way, his eyes widening in fear. "Uh… guys?" They all looked his way, startled at the sight of a swarm of Vaporians. (Play "Chased by the Knaaren" from Rayman 3!)
"Run!" Bane ordered, shooting at the Vaporians as they pursued the villains. His gun still had no effect, so they kept running. The front Vaporians launched their electric tentacles at them, but Danika blew her Shadow Breath to keep them back, but the aliens still kept coming.
"Wait!" Matt stopped, taking out his Purple Flurp and drinking it, burping out Gas Bombs that exploded on the Vaporians. "Come on, team." He said to his teammates, giving them some of the Purple Flurp, burping Gas Bombs at the aliens while the others kept running.
Leo's brain sparked, thinking up a better plan, smiling as he turned and farted the Gas Bombs at the aliens, dealing more damage. "Aw YEAH! That'll show 'em!"
"I don't know whether to be joyous or disgusted." Danika said, disbelieved.
"Come on!" Nolan yelled as they kept going.
The poisonbenders held back the Vaporians a little before deciding to keep running. Leo noticed them run off and yelled, "Guys, wait for me!", chasing after them. "AHH!" Suddenly, his leg was grabbed by a tentacle, already pulling him in.
"Leo!" Matt shouted, the boys running to grab his arms, pulling him back. Nolan fired missiles at the aliens, doing them a bit of damage, but the one still kept pulling Leo, nearly pulling down his pants as it played tug-o-war with the other benders. Nolan shot some lasers at one of them, strong enough to barely disable its shield.
"That's it!" Bane exclaimed. The Duro immediately started shooting the Vaporian through the hole in the shield. After enough hits, the alien exploded. "GOT 'IM!"
The poisonbenders still kept trying to help Leo. After a bit more struggling, the poisonbenders sadly lost their grip, falling over as Leo was yanked away. Danika's face became frozen with horror, and her color vanished, as she watched. "FUUUUU-" Leo was dragged into the barrier, obliterated to nothing in less than a second. (Stop the music.)
"LEO! !" Dani screamed, reaching her arm out.
Danika still couldn't believe the sight. The world fell silent around her. Her face remain frozen, swallowed in a maelstrom of emotions. She had so much stirring in her mind, her face fell totally pale.
Four years old. As Danika lay asleep in her room, Leo snickered quietly, pulling his pants down and aiming his butt in her room. He released the worst fart that was ever smelled, and Danika was immediately awakened. "Cough, cough!" She stood up, covering her mouth. "LEO! !" she ran after her brother as he laughed victoriously.
There were many occasions where Leo swiped Dani's food, blew a blowhorn during her sleep… and as a counter, Danika used Cheshire to scare him, pants him, and even smack him and make Leo yell at Steve. They also played with their food during dinner, making faces at each other. When no one else played with them at the playground, they played Tag, and when bullies attacked Leo, Danika sent Cheshire at them. Leo made Danika annoyed several times… but he also put a smile on her face. Leo always knew how to brighten her gloomy day.
Danika still didn't move. Her eye began to twitch. Finally, she yelled with anger and pain in her voice, "LEOOO! ! !"
"NO! !" Bane and Aurra held her back when she tried to attack the Vaporians.
"YOU MONSTERS KILLED MY BROTHER! ! I'LL STAB YOU IN THE HEAD!"
"It's no use! He's gone now!"
Just then, a tentacle reached and grabbed Nolan's leg, pulling him out of his chair, the boy scratching along the ground as he tried to pull away. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" Danika yelled, blowing a powerful Shadow Breath that totally stunned them, freeing Nolan as the poisonbenders carried him back to his chair. Danika's angered, torment-filled eyes glowed white as her whole body became a pitch-black shadow. Her form expanded as shadow tentacles emerged, the Vaporians beeping like crazy as they tried to retreat, but Danika's tentacles crept into the shadows and slid beneath them, popping up and killing the aliens.
"What? What is she doing?" Nolan asked.
"I've heard of this." Matt replied. "Whenever a bender becomes so distraught with anger and pain, they unleash a powerful form of their element. She could destroy anything around her, not just her enemies."
"What?! DANIKA, STOP!"
The pitch-black shadow turned and looked at him, and Nolan saw the rage burning in her pale white eyes. "No. He was the only family I had out here. They deserve to pay."
"That's not true. There's still your other sisters. Payton, Brianna, Victoria… and there's us, too. The Brotherhood unites all freaks. That means we're as family to you as any of them. You can't stay angry forever! Please…" He looked at her with pleading eyes as he held her huge left hand with both of his.
The shadow entity began to calm, and they could feel the energy fading. Danika shrunk back to her normal form, fainting into Nolan's arms. "You always felt family to me…" was all she said before falling asleep.
Almost instantly, another group of Vaporians arrived, approaching them angrily. "Bah. Just what we need." Bane groaned.
They then noticed a round shadow expanding around them. "What…?" Matt tried to say.
"WHOA!" They were all grabbed by an orange hand, dragging them below as the shadow disappeared.
Planet Earth; The North Pole
Jagar King and his timebending companions looked across the icy expanse that was the North Pole, rubbing their arms from the shivering cold. "Tell me what we're doing here again." Olive said.
"Wait…" Misty began. "We're not here because of him, are we?"
Jagar quaked a bit from the cold and nodded. "It was my fault he left in the first place. This is my only chance to see him again."
Misty walked beside him. "Jagar, I'm not really sure this will change anything. Shouldn't we get back to the others?"
"Well, Clockwork coulda told us what would happen, but he didn't. I have to find out for myself. Besides… he probably foresaw this."
"Well… if you're doing this, I guess I am, too."
"Same here." Olive nodded. "Let's go find us a jerkwad."
The three spirits began their venture through the cold wasteland, passing by a mountain. The three heard some rumbling and kept their guard up as an avalanche rolled down. Right before they were run over, two twins jumped in front of them and unleashed an ice blast. The spirits uncovered their eyes at the sight. "Huh? Who are you?" Jagar asked.
The twins jumped around. "I'm Popo." The blue one said.
"And I'm Nana!" the pink cheered. "And we're…"
"THE ICE CLIMBERS!"
"Ice Climbers?" Olive repeated.
"Yep! We're the toughest icebending team in the North Pole!" Popo exclaimed.
"We're really the only ones. Except for Yuki." Nana followed.
"Yuki?!" Jagar gasped.
"Yeah. He's this kid that was banished here several months ago." Nana replied.
"Pretty mean, isn't he?" Jagar asked.
"Huh… you know him?" Popo asked.
Jagar sighed. "He was my best friend. We had a fight and… well, I need to speak to him."
"Ah… I see." Popo nodded. "Well, we'd be happy to guide you to him."
"He lives past Zuzu's Valley." Nana followed. "A bunch of monsters have been swarming around here, lately, but we can take 'em."
"So can we." Jagar said. "I'm Jagar King."
"Olive Pioji."
"Misty Greene."
"And we're the Time Spirits." Jagar finished.
"Time Spirits? Cool!" the twins exclaimed.
"Well then… shall we go?" Popo asked.
"Yeah. The sooner, the better." Jagar said. (Play the "Ice Climbers" Theme from Smash Bros. Brawl!)
Stage 25: Zuzu's Valley
Mission: Get through the valley and find Yuki Crystal!
Act 1
The timebenders and Ice Climbers began their journey through the snowy field, ambushed right away by a pack of White Wolfos. The Ice Climbers bashed them in the head with their hammers as the wolves leapt at them, while Olive froze some in time, blowing them back. They followed the icebenders over an icy hill and slid down, landing in an icy canyon cliffside where Chilfos ambushed them from igloos, throwing ice spears. Jagar caught two spears in his hands and threw them back, stabbing the Chilfos as the Ice Climbers ran over and shattered their heads with their hammers. The two children waved their arms to the right, making the snow shovel the last of them over the edge.
The Climbers then used their powers to make snow fall down from the cliffs, making small hills for them to walk up, then continuing along the cliffside. More White Wolfos ran across the cliff, only for the Ice Climbers to knock them over the edge. Some Chilfos walked down the hill and started knocking Mini-Freezards; which looked like ice hockey-pucks with red eyes, over at them, the Ice Climbers knocking them back with their hammers, only for the Chilfos to keep bouncing them back. A Mini-Freezard was coming at Jagar, so he used his Time Brake to slow it down, and was able to do a Rewind to make it go back, tripping the Chilfos.
"Nice one!" Misty exclaimed. The other timebenders did the same and Rewound them, tripping the ice soldiers. Once they were gone, they were at the end of the cliff, but saw another one far over a chasm. The Ice Climbers took out and held both ends of a rope, and Popo threw Nana all the way on the other side.
"Grab on!" he told the Time Spirits. The three grabbed on and slid down the rope to the other side. After making it across, Nana pulled Popo over, continuing up the path. At the end of the cliffside was an entrance to a cave that was guarded by a Big Freezard, the ice statue blowing an ice breath that froze the timebenders. The Ice Climbers, however, held the breath back, beating the statue a few times before it shattered into Mini-Freezards. The Climbers hit the ice pucks off the edge before unfreezing the spirits.
They went inside the cave and came to a rocky wall, the exit at the very top. The Climbers took out their rope again, holding both ends as they started their way up. "Get on!" they told them again. The timebenders stood on the horizontal rope as the Ice Climbers carried them upwards. Some Ice Keese flew down to stop them, but the spirits froze the bats in time and knocked them away.
As they were getting closer to the top, a Freezard started blowing large ice balls down, the Climbers and spirits having to jump the two walls to avoid. Once they reached the top, the twins smashed the Freezard into ice pucks, leaving the spirits to kick them off. They continued up the cliffside, knocking off Ice Bubbles; floating skulls with wings, that came their way. They finally reached the top of the mountain, pushing over a few more Chilfos before the area started to shake.
Suddenly, a chunk of the mountain came off in an avalanche, the five of them holding on tight as they rode it down the mountain slope. Some Bullet Bills were fired from the bottom of the slope, but the five kids avoided them, sliding off a cliff into a large underground cave. They landed in a soft pile of snow, recovering and going over to climb some ladders up some walls into the cave. Inside, they had to sidle along a wall over a dark chasm, dodging as huge icicles came down. A couple Ice Keese tried to bite them, but the Ice Climbers swat them away with their hammers.
They made it to the next path, continuing along to a spot where large snow chunks were falling through a hole in the ceiling over a pit. "Time Brake!" Jagar yelled, making the falling chunks slow down enough for them to hop across them. They resumed normal speed after they got across.
They then arrived at a series of old bridges going across to several platforms over another dark chasm. Some Stalkins, little skeleton troops, appeared on the other side and scampered over to the benders, poking their tiny spears and making them wince a little. The Ice Climbers easily crushed the tiny skeletons with their hammers while the Time Spirits just stomped them.
At the end of the last bridge, the five hopped their way across some tall platforms that toppled over once they stepped on them, over to a long, snaky skeleton bone, sliding across the straight bone over to the end of the cave. There, two Stalfos came up and started swinging their swords at the icebenders. Popo hit his hammer against one's shield, taking it out, afterwards knocking his sword away and smashing his head. As for the other one, Nana flipped over, knocked its head off, and the timebenders attacked its headless body while she grabbed the head and threw it over the edge.
Nana and Popo high-fived before breaking down the ice wall the skeletons guarded, proceeding out of the cave. (Play "Frozen Hillside" from Smash Bros. Brawl.)
Act 2
They walked out of the cave to the freezing blizzard outside, barely able to see the way ahead as they walked up the hill. More White Wolfos leapt out of the snow and tried to tackle them, but Popo and Nana blew Ice Beams and froze them solid, smashing them to pieces. They came to another wall and used their power to make snow fall down into a small hill for them to walk up. They continued along another cliffside, dodging as giant snowballs rolled down to them. They found some Chilfos rolling the snowballs down and the timebenders used Rewind to make the Chilfos melt back into water. When they reached a dead end, the Ice Climbers shoveled a bunch of snow out of the way beneath them, revealing a secret cave along the wall.
They crawled in through the tunnel and came out the other end in the dark cave, the only light seeming to be from the glow the Ice Keese emitted. The frozen bats swooped down and attempted to freeze them, but the Ice Climbers hit them away again. They climbed a few ladders up some walls before finally finding the cave's exit.
The five were now standing on a cliff, overlooking a distant chasm. "Here we go!" Popo and Nana exclaimed, holding hands as they launched ice from their gloved hands. A floating ice road was conjured before their eyes, and the icebenders slid over the chasm, similar to Iceman. The timebenders shrugged before hopping on themselves, sliding fast as wind over the deep bottomless pit. The Ice Climbers then separated into two separate paths, the spirits doing so as well, Jagar and Misty taking the left path and Olive taking the right.
Nana jumped gaps made between her own path that Olive had to jump as well. Popo just made a bunch of up-and-down ice hills before going over a loop-di-loop, followed by Jagar and Misty. The two paths finally connected again, the two kids making a Mobius Strip and swerving around before finally landing back on a small path, still over the chasm.
The wind became even stronger as they tried to stay on the thin path. More Chilfos appeared and hit Mini-Freezards over to them, but the Ice Climbers countered by making mini icebergs and sliding them over, tripping the Chilfos, the strong winds blowing them off. They reached the end of the path that cut off, the path ahead much too far to jump. But when the wind blew in that direction, the Ice Climbers yelled, "JUMP!", holding hands and leaping over, the strong wind blowing them across. Olive shrugged and decided to mimic them, jumping over, followed by Misty, then Jagar.
The male timebender didn't quite make it, and was holding onto the edge, the girls quickly pulling him up. "I see people doing that a lot in the future." Misty commented.
"Your time skills are unparalleled." Jagar remarked. From there, the Aurora Borealis was in sight, as well as a bunch of caves. Before they could proceed, a four-armed Stalfos, called Stalmaster, emerged from the ground, his four swords ready. Both Ice Climbers tried to hit him, but he swung his swords too fast, defending himself and striking the Climbers back. The timebenders ran to punch him, but he was still quick to defend, throwing fast strikes back.
When Jagar recovered, he saw the Stalfos jump and come down on him, but he quickly used his Time Brake to slow him down, the swords still pointing and coming down, so Jagar kicked the weapons away before grabbing the skeleton's fist. Jagar swung and threw him over the edge, pulling Stalmaster's arm off. The Stalfos helped itself back up, but Popo and Nana made the ground slippery with an Ice Beam, making the monster slip and fall over. The arm tried to strangle Jagar, but he simply threw it over with him.
"Yay! We did it!" Popo and Nana exclaimed, high-fiving.
"Come on. Yuki is this way." Popo said. With that, the three spirits followed the twins over to the caves. (Stop the music.)
"So, like… are you two Eskimos?" Jagar asked the two icebenders.
"Well… sort of. We're from Alaska." Popo said. "The two of us always wanted to be Arctic explorers… but when we discovered our powers, we decided to come here."
"Oh, and just so you guys don't get the wrong idea, we aren't related." Nana said.
"Really? You two look like twins." Olive replied.
"Nope. Best friends." Popo said.
"No matter how much we're alike." Nana followed. "Look! There's Yuki!" she exclaimed, pointing to the spike-haired child in the cave, still warming his hands over the fire.
Jagar could only smile in delight. After nearly 5 months, he finally gets to see his old friend again. "Hey!" he yelled, running to the icebender.
Yuki rose a brow and turned toward the cave entrance, seeing the smiling, excited Jagar. Yuki only gave his usual frown, eyes furrowing as he fired an ice blast, pushing Jagar out of the cave. He landed facefirst in the snow, standing to rub the snow off his face as he looked to see Yuki walking over. "So, you finally decided to look for me. Took you long enough…" Yuki said smugly.
Jagar coughed some snow out and said, "Wait, Yuki! I wanted to find you months ago, but I… uh-"
"You what?"
"I… got killed by a crazy space clown and became a spirit- OOMPH." He was hit by another blast.
"Oh, THAT'S believable. Well, if you're a spirit, this probably doesn't hurt."
"Hang on!" Olive interrupted. "The three of us are Time Spirits, and he wanted to see you earlier, but he got held up by this Dark Master stuff. See, we had a mission, but he disobeyed his orders just to come and see you. Doesn't that count for something?"
"He really missed you, and he wants to apologize." Misty followed.
"Please. If he really felt bad, he would've come with me the MOMENT I was banished. But instead, he stayed behind with the NORMAL operatives. He wasn't banished for HIS freaky powers. Why didn't he come with me?"
"BECAUSE: even he knew powerful beings like timebenders didn't deserve to be with the likes of lowly Eskimos." At this, everyone looked upward, seeing the familiar maniacal elf on his flying goose.
"RUMPEL." Olive yelled.
"No! That's not true!" Jagar refuted.
"Oh ho ho, yes it is! Jagar knew he was better than you, and he was right." Rumpel grinned evilly. "Young Mr. King had plenty more friends than mean old Yuki. He didn't deserve to be banished, so he wasn't, and he certainly wasn't willing to sacrifice his home life for his best friend! Oh…" He gave a fake sorrowful expression. "But how upsetting is it… that you were KILLED. Shortly after his banishment? HA HAA! How unfair life is to the unfortunate freaks!"
"Mmmm." Jagar growled at the elf.
"Hm, but who am I to mock thee so? I was always taunted by the elves. But what do I do? Become the greatest lying dealer in the known Wizarding World! Heh heh! You three could have, too, but instead you chose the good life as Time Spirits. In which you have NO life at all!"
"At least we don't use our powers to bully people!" Misty yelled. "That's the very reason Dialga trusted us!"
"Maybe, but not everyone knows the future. Sooner or later, one of you will be too tempted to use the Power of Time unwisely. And I THINK I have an idea…" he smirked at Jagar.
"What?"
"Oh, never mind for now. Anyways, I don't think the Dark Master would like it if I let you spirits hang around, so… I'm gonna make this quick. You may be already dead, but a spirit's immortality is limited when in the Mortal World, so I'll be able to destroy you! Get 'em, Breezard!" Just then, a swarm of Mini-Freezards spawned from the snow below him. The magical elf waved his wand and formed them together into a Big Freezard. He then took out his Growth Potion and poured it on, making the ice statue grow into a bigger demon with two arms.
"Alright!" the Ice Climbers exclaimed. "Time to kick butt!" They and the timebenders readied for battle. (Play the "Kirby Boss Theme Medley" from Smash Bros. Brawl!)
Boss fight: Breezard
The Ice Climbers started knocking mini glaciers at him while the ice beast fired icicles at them. The timebenders ran over to hit him with Time Blasts, but the monster started pounding its fists at them. Jagar used Time Brake to slow a fist down, allowing Popo and Nana to bash it several times. Time resumed normal speed and the monster screeched in pain. While it did so, Rumpel sent his witches to swoop down and throw bombs, the icebenders freezing and shattering them before they exploded.
Misty grabbed one of the bombs, and while Breezard charged an ice blast in his mouth, she threw it in, shattering him into Mini-Freezards. The Ice Climbers took this time to smash some of the fallen ice pucks. Rumpel finally used his magic to form the beast back together, giving it four legs and a spiky tail. The ice beast then started chasing, swinging his tail and knocking the Time Spirits away.
The Ice Climbers ran behind and grabbed the tail, hauling their selves on. Breezard ran in circles, trying to shake them off, but they made their way to its head, bashing his many eyes a few times while the Time Spirits ran to attack his legs. The legs shattered and Breezard fell over dizzily, the witches proceeding to toss more bombs. They evaded all the other bombs while Olive grabbed the last one, tossing it in the beast's mouth and splitting his parts. The Mini-Freezards zoomed along the ground faster, but Popo and Nana were still able to shatter quite a few before Rumpel formed them back together. The devious elf then gave it legs AND wings, the monster taking off and flying around in the air, dropping icicle torpedoes from the sky.
It then charged and swooped down at the kids, but Popo and Nana jumped onto its back. The ice monster tried to barrel-roll them off, but the couple held on, then went over to smash the ice wings with their hammers. The beast dropped to the ground, but recovered with its legs. It tried to swing its tail at them again, but Popo grabbed on and yanked the tail off, the spike ball flying over to Jagar, who grabbed and swung it into its left front leg, making the monster fall over again.
The witches tossed more bombs while it was stunned, the Ice Climbers freezing and smashing them again. When the witches threw the last bomb, Rumpel poured some Growth Potion to make it bigger. The five kids pulled their strength and lifted the big jack-o-lantern bomb upwards, hauling it over to the ice beast and destroying it in a huge explosion.
It destroyed all but one Mini-Freezard, the frightened ice puck growing two stubby legs and cowering away. Jagar ran over and kicked the little puck up at Fifi, hitting the goose clear in the head and knocking it out, her and Rumpel falling to the snow. The Ice Climbers hugged and did another pose while Jagar just brushed his hands off. (Stop the music.)
"Oh no. My poor monster. How can you be so cruel?" Rumpel said with a fake teary expression.
"Oh, give me a break." Jagar rolled his eyes. He looked over at Yuki and said, "You could've helped, you know."
"Sure. 'Cause you always helped me in the past." The boy walked away angrily. The Ice Climbers exchanged a glance before running after him.
"Yuki, wait! I-"
"BOO hoo, hoo hoo!" Rumpel whined, pacing by the male Time Spirit. "Oh, Yuki Crystal, please, for poor, helpless Jagar! He doesn't even know how to bend well."
"Hey!"
"Well, lookee here, buddy." Rumpel smirked. "These are modern times. What happened between you and Yuki, was in the past. And the past… cannot be undone." He tauntingly waved a finger in his angered face. "Unless if you were a well-trained timebender, like me. If I were you, I'd be using my power to just, GO back in time, and change everything. But… I'm stuck with the curse of… getting to only use my powers when making a deal." He gave another smirk and turned to him. "I can make a deal with you… whaddya say?"
"He says 'no'." A staff suddenly separated Jagar from Rumpel, the two looking up at the Time Ghost himself. "Nice to see you, Rumpel."
"Clockwork!" Rumpel snarled. "Grrr! You win this time, timebenders. But this isn't the last you'll hear of Rumpel Stiltskin." The elf snapped his fingers and woke Fifi up, the goose flapping her wings and taking off as Rumpel hopped on. "Enjoy your mortal afterlife, kids! AHH ha ha ha hah!" They watched as the cackling elf took off with his witches.
The Ghost of Time then looked down at Jagar. "So… I see you went to visit a friend from your past?" Jagar only looked away in shame.
"Hey, go easy on him. It's not easy being a spirit when you aren't able to see your friends or family." Misty said.
"No, I understand." Clockwork replied. "The afterlife can be so cruel, despite what they say. Being free of the world's troubles, that's good. Being kept away by ones you loved most… that's the catch. All good things come with a price. Especially… great power like ours."
"Clockwork, I need you to train me." Jagar said suddenly.
"Hm?" he rose a brow.
"If I was fully trained, I could go back in time and save Yuki from that accident, and stop him from ever being banished."
"Now, Jagar… you know what happens to those who meddle with time."
"But what's the worst that could happen? Yuki wouldn't be banished, and he could have his happy life back in the KND."
"Uh, I'm not too sure about that 'happy' part- Ow!" Olive said until Misty punched her arm.
"It's not about what would happen… it's a matter of how you use your power." Clockwork stated.
"Sigh…" Jagar sighed.
"I will teach you how to use your powers. But I won't be able to teach you… how you use them. That's your decision."
"Er… okay." He nodded, confused. "Let's do it."
"Good… we'll start from the beginning."
Ar-geh. That one was… eh, not so hard. The Vaporians come from The Darkest Hour, but I came up with their name. And the Ice Climbers are, well, from Ice Climber. Next time, we will venture to the Xiaolin Mountains. See you then.