I wonder how the timebenders are doing?
Chapter 35: The Adventures of Sandman and Coldman
Zuzu's Valley
The timebending spirits continued to hang around the snowy field of Zuzu's Valley, the sky alit beautifully with sparkling stars and Northern Lights. Clockwork had been teaching Jagar King the ways of timebending. "Time is the Element of Memories. A great and sacred power only granted to a choice few. Someone like you who holds great memories of the past can wield the rare ability of time-travel, and the manipulation of time itself. The Time Brake comes from slowing the memories, and not envisioning them too quickly. But when you do, you are able to make time move faster. And when thinking back to previous times, you can Rewind it."
"So, our timebending comes from our memories?" Jagar asked.
"Yes. Including myself." Clockwork said, becoming an old man. "Unlike you, however, I was designed specifically to serve Dialga, as an eternal Time Spirit. Much like Fi was designed to serve the Hero. But Dialga created me mainly to help other timebenders train with their powers. You see… Time is a very dangerous element. Manipulation of time is not something to toy around with. The reason Dialga chooses very few of us is because he must only trust the ones worthy enough to use it wisely. But while Time is powerful enough as it is, it works even stronger when accompanied by its sister element, Space."
"But don't Dialga & Palkia hate each other?"
"They do. And so leads to this tale: Dialga sensed he would gain these many apprentices in the future, and Palkia became jealous. As a result, he randomly chose a being from the black hole planet, Zathura, that he hoped to make his apprentice one day. I suppose you can guess who that turned out to be."
"Dimentia."
"That's right. Although, there was a second one, but he vanished along with the planet. Palkia granted Dimentia her spacebending, and she later became the almighty dictator she once was."
"But why can't I use my timebending to save Yuki and change the past?"
"Because… simply stomping on a bug in the past could drastically affect the future. In not always a positive way. Even dark times in the past have had some positive effect in the eventual future. Such as Nigel's leave for GKND. He may have upset his friends greatly because of his leave, but if he had stayed, Dimentia would've conquered the universe, and the GKND would have never returned to their homes."
"But YOU were the one who helped bring her back to LIFE."
"I granted her a Gigai, and not just because she has a role to play in this quest. It's because even the darkest hearts can be turned to good, if led on the right path. You see, Jagar, while everyone has someone in their life that symbolizes their darkness… they also have someone who brings them light."
"Like Rachel with Nigel…" Jagar figured.
"Just like that." Clockwork said, becoming a baby.
"But… what could possibly happen if I went back and saved Yuki that wouldn't end up good?"
"You'd be surprised. But as stated before… while I teach you these powers, how you use them is up to you. Even a Light Element can be used darkly, just as dark ones can be used for good. Each element has light and dark power to them. And only you can choose how they're used."
Jagar sighed. "Fine… I won't change the past."
"Very well. Let us continue your training."
Yuki's Cave
Yuki Crystal had gone back to sitting by his cave, head rested on his hand. "Hey." At the voice, he looked up above the cave and found Olive Pioji, smiling at him.
"Oh, hey. You're one of those timebenders, aren't you?"
Olive slid down the icy slope and stopped beside him. "Pretty much. Otherwise, I'd be nearly dying from this cold." Yuki only looked away in depression and anger. "…So, what happened with you, anyway? I mean… how did you get that curse?"
"Hm… on a mission one day, somebody hit me with an ice ray. I don't know who it was, but it changed me forever. I froze the Supreme Leader's brother by accident, then I got banished, and Jagar wouldn't come with me."
"Well, it wasn't his fault. And besides, at least he apologized. You don't have to be so angry at him. He's just trying to be your friend again."
"Sigh… I just don't know anymore."
"Well… he was the only friend you ever had, wasn't he? Besides those Ice Climbers. Even if you don't like them, they're a pretty friendly couple. It's too bad you couldn't have more friends during your time."
"Well, I couldn't. Don't know why, but people thought I was a freak before, and they think so more NOW. Screw them…"
"Gee, and I wonder why." She mumbled.
"What?!" he shot up.
"Nothing! But hey… if you want, you can come with us. After Jagar's done with his training. We can use all the help we can in stopping Gnaa."
"Hmph. Gnaa can take over the world for all I care."
"Universe." She corrected.
"Whatever. I'm staying right here."
"Fine. But listen… if you want someone to talk to, just come to me." With that, she walked off with a smile.
Yuki looked down with a frown and sighed again.
Mt. Malladus
Ganondorf's horse dashed along the fields with the demon thief riding on, following the devious little bean riding atop his bird. Hannibal had led Ganon all the way to Mt. Malladus, flying all the way to the volcano top. The bird landed on the small stage in the center of the volcano, Ganon's horse stopping, allowing the Gerudo to step off and look around. "Mt. Malladus?" he questioned.
"Indeed." Bean replied. "Here is where Ah will reveal to you your TRUE origins! Just sit down 'n' relax." Surrounding them appeared to be a Satanic Circle, candles lit around it.
Ganon sat down and crossed his legs, closing his eyes in meditation. Bean hopped off his bird as the circle glowed while he began chanting. "Ifalas zaraz i is zarak. Ifalas zaraz i is zarak. O Mighty Evil of the Underworld. Feared by all, even Malladus. Awake thyself from the depths of your new form! Your new soul, and speaketh to us once mo'!"
The flames began to circle the Gerudo thief, who looked terrified as they engulfed him. "UWAAHH!" Ganondorf suddenly found himself falling into a swirling darkness.
"OOMPH!" Ganondorf fell in the center of a horrible, demonic field. The man looked around, teeth clenched in slight terror as he looked to a dark cave ahead. The man felt a tinging sensation in his head as he decided to enter the cave.
Ganondorf carefully trekked the impending darkness, searching for anything that might ambush him. He stopped, hearing a monstrous growl ahead, spotting some kind of prison cell. Ganondorf shouted, "Who's there?", running toward the cell.
Ganon heard one last screech as a dark, terrifying, demonic voice spoke, enough to give even Ganon the shivers. "So… you found your way to this miserable realm. Seems my old friend, Bean found you after all."
"What? What is this? Who are you?"
"This unholy realm lies deep in your subconscious. The darkest part of your already horrid soul. You think your great powers come from Malladus Uno, but you're wrong. It is true that Malladus was too weak as a ruler. That's because I am the Underworld's true ruler. Destroyed millenniums ago by the very person YOU despise. For I… am your PAST LIFE."
"What?" Ganondorf was horrified. …He recognized this demon. No horror can be greater within The Underworld. The supreme ruler of Hell itself. "You… it can't be!"
A figure emerged from the dark depths. An unsightly monster, with no eyes. Nothing but an enormous, wide mouth with dozens of sharp teeth. The beast erupted a deafening screech, Ganon shielding his ears as drool and saliva spat from its huge tongue.
"HUFF." Ganondorf shot back awake as the vision ended, the flames dying down as he gasped for air.
"So, how was it?" Bean asked with a smirk.
"Th…That thing… said it was my past life. It said…"
"And it is true. It is the true Demon King of the Underworld. Sealed away, and destroyed, for its terrifying powers. Jus' like me. And it is PROOF that you are the rightful ruler of the Underworld!"
"But… that thing… what was it?"
Bean grinned widely and evilly, exposing his rotten teeth. "For now, we'll refer to it as… The Imprisoned."
Nightmare Land; Nightmare King's Throne
The Nightmare inhabitants were screaming and running in panic as Stormtroopers and other Brotherhood villains were invading. "AIEEEEEE!" Jar Jar Blinks screamed, running frantically around the throne room. "Oh-shi NOO! We-sa bein' bombad pretty BAD! They-sa gonna WRECKY this-a leetle factory, ma-sa meh-sa ME-sa! OOM." Darkrai smacked him.
"JAR JAR! Calm yourself down. You were a general, weren't you? Get down there and ready my troops!"
"Oh-sa, me-sa GO-SA!" Jar Jar saluted and ran off. "WYEEEEE!"
Downtown, the Nightmares ran for their lives as legions of Stormtroopers fired about, blasting the town to smithereens. "AAHHH!" Eenus the Hillbilly screamed. "We gettin' bombacked, and we AIN'T hearin' a knock-knock joke! YA CAN'T go all bomback without a knock-knock joke! WHO'S THERE?! WAH!" He ducked from a gunshot.
"GAAAH!" Mr. Oldman screamed, an explosion blowing him away a few feet. "Ohhh! I can't remain here much longer, lest I get exploded. YIPE!" He ducked some shots from a TIE Fighter. "Ohh, Wesley Dodds, where are youuu?" But to his enlightenment, the ship that he knew belonged to Wesley Dodds started coming in for a landing. "THERE YOU ARE!"
The ship landed as the Sandman, along with Mandy and Katie, stepped off to approach the old man. "Ah, Larry! How've you been?" Dodds asked perkily.
"Larry Oldman?" Mandy asked to Katie, who shrugged.
Larry immediately ran up to them. "Oh, Dodds, you're finally here! I wanna go home! I wanna be away from this land of creepy monsters and lasers flying through the air. How can a city in the depths of space produce air at any rate?"
"Hold on, Larry. We're not leaving yet. We've got work to do."
"HUH? ?"
Sandman then held up what seemed like a mechanical backpack of ice attached to a hose, tossing it to Oldman. "Whaddya say, Frosty?"
"DAHH!" he immediately dropped it. "Ah-Are you cuckoo, Wesley? I thought we gave up the superhero business AGES ago!"
"Well, desperate times calls for desperate measures." Dodds replied. "The world's being attacked by freakshows, and that calls for help from all the superheroes available. That includes us."
"Nnn, forget it! I got scared of all the evil villains and the scary monsters. In addition, the icepack was too cold to withstand."
"Well, listen, Mr. Ancient." Mandy began, glaring. "If these guys continue to run around and destroy our world, you might never get any peace. Always having to duck cowardly from cannon fire."
"D'oohhh. You're right. Mayhaps it is time to get in the uniform again."
"That's the spirit!" Dodds exclaimed, picking the pack up and tossing it to him again. "Welcome back, Mr. Coldman!"
"So, Mr. Oldman was Mr. COLDman?" Katie asked, surprised.
"That's FROSTY Coldman." Larry corrected, wrapping the pack around his arms and holding the attached hose.
"I wonder why he was excluded from the comics?" Katie asked half-sarcastically.
"Never mind." Mandy said, drawing her sword. "Let's blow these creeps and find the Nightmare King. There has to be some reason he wanted me to come here. Let's get going." (Play "Asteroid Coaster Act 1" from Sonic Colors.)
Stage 32: Nightmare Land
Mission: Find the Nightmare King!
Act 1
The four of them charged into the Nightmare city as the monsters ran the opposite direction from the Stormtroopers. Mandy began jumping the Troopers, slicing them as she hopped along while Katie just blew them back with Fear Scream. Some of Gramma Stuffum's Spinach Soldiers headed their way, but Mr. Oldman fired ice beams and froze the monsters, allowing Dodds to shoot some gas and melt them.
Mandy and Katie dashed over to the Nightmare Town Square where Imperial Walkers were blasting the Nightmare King's statue. Mandy and Katie ran over to two Walkers and Wall Jumped up their legs, reaching and entering the hatch. Katie Fear Screamed at her Troopers while Mandy used Scare Stare to make them jump out through the windshield. Like usual, the two used the Walkers to shoot off the other ones, and Mandy even blasted a TIE Fighter that came their way.
Wesley and Larry then headed into one of the buildings, where Girl Troops ambushed them as they headed up the stairs. Larry froze the girls' weapons while Dodds simply rolled over to kick them away before kicking them across the face, knocking them out. When they reached the top floor, some of Mumbo's large bunny ninjas dropped down, their carrot nun-chucks ready. Dodds fired gas at the bunnies which dissolved their carrots and made them faint.
At the top of the skyscraper, they could see a Stormtrooper controlling a crane on the building across the street. The crane held a wrecking ball, which the soldier used to wreck the Nightmare buildings. When he tried to wreck the building they were standing on, the two old men leapt onto the ball and rode it over as it swung back. They jumped to the Trooper's building and Larry shot an ice beam that froze the Trooper's head. The soldier began frantically moving the crane's levers, making the ball swing around before crashing the part of the building below the crane, making the crane topple over and crush a Walker that Mandy and Katie were dodging.
The fearbenders saw the Sandman wave to them and nodded before using the long, fallen crane to reach the top of the building. The two girls then started jumping buildings as TIE Fighters flew by, trying to blast them. The girls found two small turrets and decided to use them to shoot the Fighters as they came by. After shooting 5 of them down, they shot a 6th one, which made it crash into the building Oldman and Dodds were standing on.
"NNEHH!" Larry screamed as the building toppled over, but they jumped and landed safely on the ground.
"You do realize we're doing more harm to the city than actually saving it." Katie noted.
"That's how the world goes, Katie: you spend money to make money, and you destroy the city to save the city. Plus, it's the law of action shows. Now get ready to jump." She instructed as another TIE Fighter came, aiming and blasting the left panel of the Fighter to make it tilt so that the other panel faced upward. Right when it passed by, the girls hopped on the horizontal panel and began riding over the city at high speeds.
The Fighter flew higher up to shoot parts of another tall building, but the ship was quickly taken out by a Plasma Cannon, the girls jumping off and landing on some kind of roller coaster, zooming and swerving around various other buildings. The track was destroyed by a Walker ahead, so they quickly jumped to a coaster beside them, zooming to a pathway between some buildings, that was halfway up the buildings, and jumped off before the coaster rode off the broken track.
Stormtroopers hid behind crates along the glass pathway, popping out to shoot at Mandy and Katie. Mandy defended with her sword while Katie stylishly dodged her way over and knocked out two Stormtroopers, taking their guns and tossing one to Mandy. The two proceeded to shoot the rest of the Troopers before continuing down the path.
The two headed up a wide staircase to a higher glass path where they were ambushed by Girl Troops. They were hit by the Girlifyers, but were unaffected, seeing as they were already girls, including Mandy. Mandy was easily able to run over and slice the weapons in half before knocking the girls out. They continued to another staircase, leading down to a circular platform where Bio Spark Nightmares were battling Denta Drones. The girls grinded down the rail in the center and made it down, both using Fear Scream to make the Drones' braces break.
Afterwards, they dropped onto the road below, meeting up with Wesley Dodds and Larry Oldman. "Well, you girls seem to have things under control." Dodds noticed.
"Yes, but enough wasting time with these small fry. Let's get to the factory." Mandy ordered, running ahead with Katie.
"The factory? Mmm, but I'm not allowed to get the factory smog in my lungs." Larry whined.
"Let's go, Old Man!" Dodds shouted, pushing him ahead.
"AWWW right, then!"
The four ran toward the Fear Factory's front gates, guarded by a Gigant Edge and a Kibble Blade. Sandman aimed his gas gun, but the Gigant Edge protected with his large shield. Afterwards, the Kibble Blade tossed his boomerang and tripped the old men. "Seems like they don't want us inside." Katie noticed.
"Seems like they're going to be disappointed." Mandy said as she dashed over to the Gigant Edge, who swung his sword, which Mandy defended against before leaping over and striking the monster from behind. She afterwards jumped on its head and stabbed through the opening where his eyes were. The Kibble Blade tossed its boomerang at her, but Mandy easily caught it and tossed it back, knocking the monster out. Katie then erupted a Fear Scream and blew their fallen forms back, knocking over the fence. "Let's go." Mandy commanded as the four of them ran into the factory. (Play "Fear Factory Returns" from Donkey Kong Returns!)
Act 2: Fear Factory
The four of them began their journey through the first hall of the factory. They first came to a huge room with a bottomless pit, having to jump small platforms to get across. They carefully jumped as some of the platforms smashed into each other, then started hopping treadmills. They got to a much longer treadmill and ran opposite of where it was pushing them, dashing under Slammin' Steels and jumping sharp Nightmare weapons that came down.
At the end of the treadmill, where it came out of a machine, the four hopped to a bridge that led down another hall of the factory. As they went along the bridge, Dodds sprayed his poison gas as some Bronto Burts zoomed at them, knocking the pink flies out. When they proceeded down the hall, some Fire Galbos popped and spat fire at them, but Larry fired an ice beam that froze the limbless dragons solid, smashing the frozen forms to pieces. Some Water Galbos came out to blow water waves at them, but Larry froze them too as they proceeded.
The hall led them to another huge room with a dark pit. They were on the side of a wall littered with steam pipes, which had steam shooting out of some parts, leading up like a staircase. Larry blew ice at the steam and was able to freeze them into ice handles, which Mandy and Katie used to swing upwards, reaching a higher point where there was a Sir Kibble guarding a lever. Mandy kicked the guard over the edge and pulled the lever, making a staircase appear for Wesley and Oldman to get up.
The four continued down the path to the left, still alongside a wall, which turned a corner down another left, then went right. Bigger jets of steam blew out of pipes along that wall that would blow them into the pit. Dodds stylishly leapt across them first, followed by Larry, who ran past them in a frantic fashion. When Mandy and Katie tried to run through, the last one blew Katie over the edge, but Mandy quickly grabbed her right hand before she could fall, helping the Nightmare back up. Recalling Mandy's unkind nature, Katie was slightly touched by her action.
After making it across, the four reached another hall that led down to a room where giant mechanical hands were lifting crates and pounding some Nightmare material that went along a treadmill. Dodds saw a hand moving over them along the ceiling and decided to grab it, Larry holding onto his legs as it carried them to a rather colorful crate. The hand lifted the crate as it carried the old men to another room in the factory.
Mandy and Katie shrugged to each other before hopping and running along the treadmill. They jumped atop one of the pounding hands as it rose back upward, then grabbed onto a crate carried by another hand. They let go and dropped to some hands passing various crates, jumping along the crates before grabbing another crate that was lifted upwards. That hand dropped the crate onto another treadmill which the girls rode into a slot leading to the next room.
They were now in an even larger room, of dozens of treadmills moving crates down tons of slots, over another pit of endless darkness. "Don't mind us, just passin' through!" Dodds exclaimed as he and Mr. Oldman still rode the hand carrying the colorful crate along the ceiling, into another opening.
The girls decided to start hopping the treadmills, as well as small platforms hanging from chains and holding other crates. They reached a circular platform where a Bonkers and a Bugzzy ambushed them. The hammer monster, Bonkers tossed some coconuts at Katie, who caught and threw them back, while Bugzzy zoomed over and grabbed Mandy in its pinchers, throwing her near the edge, but she easily landed on her feet. The Bonkers tried smashing Katie with its hammer, but she blew a Fear Scream and stunned him, leaving Mandy to slice him with her sword. As for the Bugzzy, it tried grabbing Mandy again, but she swiftly flipped behind and stabbed it.
A cannon then appeared on the platform, and the girls looked ahead over the pit to see a large moving eyeball with hands, moving in a circle. Mandy hopped in the cannon's control seat and took aim at the eye, shooting it once, causing a treadmill to extend from their platform. The eye moved faster, but she was able to shoot it a second time, making the treadmill go longer. When it started moving at super speeds, TOO fast for Mandy to hit, she decided, "Oh, forget this.", shooting one of the two beams that held the eye and making it drop.
The treadmill extended the rest of the way, but it went super fast in the opposite way they wanted to go. Two Wheelies luckily dropped down, and the fearbenders got onto the wheel monsters, riding them across the very long treadmill at a fast pace. Once on the other side, they disembarked their Wheelies and reached a rather large door with two megaphones facing it. The two girls nodded and blew a Fear Scream into the megaphones, causing the door to open.
The two ran inside and headed down a staircase, reaching a lower point in the factory with several giant cogs. They watched to the right as Dodds and Larry still rode the hand carrying the colorful crate over the dark pit, this time Larry holding onto the edge of the crate for dear life. "GYAAH! Mr. Dodds! Perhaps you could provide a little assistance before I plummet to my doom."
The girls shook their heads in disbelief before proceeding to carefully jump across the gears, so as not to get crushed. They stood on a platform on a gear moving clockwise, and were lifted to a hook on a chain, grabbing hold of it as it carried them across the pit to some gears laying horizontally. A squad of Poppy Bros. Juniors tossed bombs as the girls leapt across the gears, Mandy slicing her sword across the bombing Nightmares. When finally at another large door on the other side, a Poppy Bros. Sr. ambushed them, tossing its large bombs. The happy creature merely skipped around as Mandy struck it several times before he was taken out, not bothering to fight at all.
A small slot opened on the door afterwards with some angry eyes staring out. Mandy stared into the angry eyes, making them fright by the Scare Stare, the slot closing and the door opening. After passing down one more hall, the girls arrived at the room where a chicken controlling a robot was stomping Star Bits atop a huge bucket, breaking them into Star Dust which poured onto Nightmare creatures, bringing them to life. (It was the same room Nigel saw on his first journey here.)
"This is the room where he makes Nightmares." Katie explained.
Mandy looked to her left and spotted an elevator. "Let's go." She ordered. She pushed the down button and the two got on as it carried them downward.
After getting off, they went through a small hallway that led to an enormous room, seemingly big enough to be a battlefield, that had many platforms and chains leading farther upward, too high for them to reach. On a huge square in the center, there were several smaller square spots going around it. The girls looked up as the hand holding the old men and the colorful crate came into the room, several stories high from them.
"GAAAHHH!" Mr. Oldman screamed when the hand finally dropped the crate, the two landing in the center of the room, Dodds on his feet and Larry on his stomach.
"Well, that was a fun ride." Sandman said as Larry helped himself up.
"That's weird." Mandy said. "Why would it drop the crate in the center of this big room?"
"Oh hah hah ho!" At this, the four looked to one of the higher-up platforms, spotting two Stormtroopers with a floating egg-shaped container, containing a green-oozed alien with slug eyes, wearing a crown. "I reprogrammed the crane to carry it here, since I heard you FOOLS were coming."
"Hey! That's King Goobot!" Katie exclaimed, recognizing the alien. "He used to buy Nightmares from us!"
"Nnn, that's right." Goobot spoke with a British accent. "The Brain has sent me here to gather Nightmare substance, and he was kind enough to lend me his Stormtroopers."
"We're totally getting another promotion for this, Gary!" Dan said to his friend excitedly.
"Aw yeah! Now if we're done, we need to help the others on Planet Vaporia." Gary said rushedly.
"Alright, alright." Goobot said, floating off. He stopped a few feet and turned back to look down at the gang. "Oh! And I hope you kids like Jack-in-the-box! AH hahahahahaha!" The container of goo cackled as he flew off, followed by the Troopers.
"Mmm, I'M not a kid! I dislike the ways of children…" Mr. Oldman whined.
"Never mind him. What is this thing, anyway?" Mandy asked, looking at the colorful crate. (Stop the music.)
The four looked with slight terror as the box began to expand itself. "I think we're about to find out." Dodds said. (Play the "Mad Jack" Theme from Donkey Kong 64!)
The four were absolutely horrified when a gigantic, monstrous jack-in-the-box popped out of the crate. The beast held the face of a clown, painted white, with red around its lips and eyes, and long springy arms. Its bright yellow eyes bore a psychotic look as its mouth gave a wide, horrible grin. It looked down at the four and screamed, cackling as it swung a large knife at them with its right hand.
"GYAAAAHHHH!" Mr. Oldman screamed louder than ever, his eyes and mouth widened in fear (basically the cartoon animation where the eyes pop out).
"When did Darkrai make this? !" Katie screamed.
Mandy shook her head from the fearful sight and said, "Grrr. I'm not afraid of this thing. Let's take him out!"
Boss fight: Crackjack
The four scattered as the boxed demon stabbed its knife at the floor, pulling it back out and looking to where they scattered. He retreated to his box and started hopping around the room, creating huge shockwaves that made them lose balance. Along the walls, spikes, which looked like lightsabers, appeared as parts of the walls; divided into squares, began sticking out, trying to stab them as well.
The Crackjack hopped over to Mandy and came back out, sticking his tongue at the girl while trying to stab his knife at her, Mandy barely dodging. An ice ball hit the back of his head and he looked back to see Larry wielding his hose. The man screamed and ran as the jack-in-the-box hopped over to him.
Meanwhile, Mandy noticed the spikes sticking out of the wall seemed to line up like a staircase. She saw this staircase led to a platform with a Plasma Cannon. "I have an idea!" she exclaimed, already jumping up the platforms, careful so the spikes didn't come out and hit her. Once she reached the platform, she took control of the cannon and aimed at the monster. "Hey, Crackhead!"
The beast was about to stab Larry in a corner before looking to Mandy with questioning eyes, still keeping his grin. "Ha?" Mandy immediately fired the Plasma Cannon, dealing a huge shock to the demon's face. The jack-in-the-box fell over, his head knocked dizzily on the ground as Mandy dashed over, dealing several blows to his head with her sword.
Crackjack quickly recovered, rubbing his right eye as it was bruised. He screamed in more anger as he took the knife in both hands, and Mandy ran as it chased and jabbed down after her. He charged his last strike, but still missed and got his knife stuck in the ground. Dodds took this moment to dash up its arm and spray gas in his mouth, making him choke and wobble around a little before toppling over again. Mr. Oldman approached the fallen monster and sprayed ice in its left eye, freezing and blinding it.
The demon helped himself back up and screamed even louder, stomping his box around and causing more shockwaves. He started to inhale some breath and fired his own massive Fear Screams, nearly deafening the group as his screams created explosions. He folded and punched both arms to the ground to create little slicing shockwaves with his knife that went in five directions.
Katie looked and saw another series of spiked squares sticking out, making a path to another Plasma Cannon. She carefully hopped her way up the platforms as the Crackjack bounced over, trying to blow Fear Screams at her which she dodged. The mad jack then spat Fear Spheres at her, but Katie countered with her own spheres as she jumped her way up. When the monster was about to charge one last Fear Scream, Katie made it to the cannon and fired an electric blast.
The beast took another zap and fell to the ground once again. Katie jumped down afterwards as all four gathered by the monster. Katie hit it with Fear Scream, Oldman froze it in ice, Dodds shot gas and melted the ice, and finally, Mandy leapt over and sliced down with a jump strike. (Stop the music.)
The demon jack shot back up and wobbled frantically, screaming loudly with absolute pain. His screaming slowly ceased before falling back down, his crazy eyes darkening out. The square spots around the room's center then rose into tall platforms, each higher than the last as it made another path.
"Hoo. Glad that's over." Mandy sighed.
"Yes, so let's go before any MORE scary things happen." Larry said cowardly. The others agreed and Mandy went first, jumping up the platforms, followed closely by the others. At the top of the last platform, they jumped to a platform with a ladder that started the path up the towering, hollow room.
Just then, the head of the fallen Crackjack detached from its springy body and rolled a few feet away. The group stopped and turned their attention as the severed head began growing a mechanical spider body. The new body helped itself back up as the head rotated upwards, eyes lit back up and facing the group with its psychotic expression, erupting another loud scream. (Play "Mad Jack's Revenge" on YouTube!)
"Oh no! Look at it now!" Katie exclaimed.
"Come on. Let's get out of here before we're spider bait." Mandy ordered, climbing up the ladder first.
"Nnn, wait for me!" Mr. Oldman screamed.
The four climbed to the next platform and swung chains to another across from them as the spider scampered up the walls. They dashed up a staircase as the spider jumped to the wall across from them, spitting giant fireballs and blowing up some of the stairs. At the top of the stairs, Mandy took control of another Plasma Cannon as the spider leapt over to them, gripping the bottom of the platform while its head bent up and faced them. As fire charged behind the steel teeth in its wide-open mouth, Mandy fired a plasma blast inside him, giving him a shock that sent him falling back down.
Some platforms to the right of them activated, zooming up and down as the four hopped on the first one, quickly jumping to the next one when it came up, then making another quick jump to the third. This time, Mandy slipped on her landing; a rush of fear in her heart as she fell, but Katie helped her back up, and the four jumped to the path on the side. The spider recovered and started climbing back up as the four grabbed and climbed a chain, taking them to a higher foothold.
Across from them was another staircase, but they had to cross two treadmills to get to it. There was also a gap between the two treadmills with two chains between them, which they would have to swing. They walked along the first treadmill, thankfully moving where they wanted, but the Crackjack spider suddenly popped up and grabbed the bottom of the treadmill, bending his head up so he was in their way.
The four hurriedly ran back up the treadmill as the clown face spat fireballs at them. Dodds unfortunately tripped, and the treadmill started moving him to the monster, but he aimed his gun and fired a gas blast while it charged another fireball, the impact of the gas and fire exploding and making the monster fall a little. The man quickly recovered and swung the chains to the next treadmill, followed by the others as the spider started to crawl back up.
They made it to and ran up the staircase on the other side, reaching another Plasma Cannon. Rather than grab onto their platform, the spider clung onto the wall parallel from them, Mandy failing to shoot him as he quickly scampered around, spitting fireballs that Larry kept back by freezing them. Katie was able to toss a Fear Sphere and stun it, allowing Mandy to shoot it with the plasma and make it fall to the ground.
Once he fell again, a large hand stuck out of the wall beside them, letting them jump on to lift them upwards. It stopped partway up, and the rest of the towering room seemed empty. Just then, a bunch of large drums popped out the rest of the way, with more large hands pounding them.
The four jumped to the drum beside them and were flung upwards when the hand banged it. They landed on the next drum and kept being bounced as Crackjack recovered and started after them again. The beast aimed its spinner at them and started shooting spider webs as they bounced up the large drums. Some webs came for Wesley, but the Sandman fired some gas that dissolved the webs, continuing to bounce higher. Katie blew a Fear Scream at one of the webs, blowing it back to hit Crackjack's face, covering it, the clown shaking around and trying to pull it off.
Finally, the four reached the top of the room, standing on a circular foothold to the side that went around a large hole. Crackjack suddenly shot back up, its spider legs standing on the sides of the foothold as it faced the gang with a wide, maniacal grin, Larry shaking in his pants. "Ha?" The beast cocked a brow as it noticed the four Plasma Cannons on the ceiling around him.
Mandy stood by a switch and declared, "Taste plasma, you unsightly, misplaced fear!", before slamming her fist on the button.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!" The spider clown took an enormous shock from the surrounding Plasma Cannons. When the cannons stopped, the beast was finally tired out, dropping down the nearly hundred-story room and landing with a thundering thud. Its spider body was shattered and the head rolled off once more. His eyes turned sad as a tear dropped, his head shattering to pieces.
"I think you meant to scare Billy. Not me." Mandy stated.
"Good goin', Girl!" Katie cheered, giving Mandy a high-five. (Stop the music.)
"Hey, look! Nnn, there's the door!" Mr. Oldman yelled, pointing to the door across from them.
They walked out into a hall that Katie immediately recognized. "Hey! We're in the Hall of Fear!" she exclaimed, indicating the alignment of doors that led to peoples' fears.
The four looked above the door they just came out of and saw the label read 'Billy'. "Huh. That really WAS Billy's fear." Mandy noticed.
"Yup. So, ready to go meet Darkrai? He's just down this hall." Katie said.
"Totally. I wanna get this stuff cleared up." With that, she started down the hall.
Darkrai's Throne Room
The four of them finally arrived at Darkrai's throne room, finding the Nightmare King himself seated on his throne, with Customer Service standing before him. "Ah, if it isn't four of our favorite people!" Customer grinned. "Mr. Dodds, Mr. Oldman, Katie, and, of course, little Mandy." The McKenzie girl only furrowed her frown.
"I see you made it past the incursions outside…" Darkrai observed.
"Yeah… what were all those Stormtroopers and stuff doing here?" Katie asked.
"They just invaded this town a few hours ago. They wanted to free some hostile Nightmares and steal our Star Bits and Nightmare Juice to create their own monsters. Pretty soon, I fear they'll be doing so, using their own Nightmares in Gnaa's legions. But we'll worry about them in time. Now… the fact that you're here, I assume this can only mean you received The Chronicler's message?"
"Yes." Mandy answered, walking forward. "He said you would tell me more about my fearbending. Will you?"
"Har hm hur hur. There's hardly any reason to." Darkrai laughed, floating down from his throne. "You seem to be pretty attached to it already. Even that monster gave you the chills."
"Not more than it did Frosty there."
"Mmm, I take offense to that comment." Mr. Oldman said.
"But are you trying to imply that I'm scared?" Mandy asked the King.
"Hmm… I wouldn't be surprised. Fear is a very complex emotion. It can clog the mind of even the most noble warriors. Anyone… especially fearbenders. The power of Fear became so strong throughout my father's years of granting nightmares to children, it became an actual bendable element. And since the gods of old decided to grant the mortal beings their bending powers, my father did so as well. Granting fearbending to the most frightened hearts he could sense."
"Well, I may have been frightened as a child, but I'm a big girl now. I've conquered my fear."
"I'm the Nightmare King, Mandy. I should know that's not entirely true." He inquired, drifting closer to her. "While your bravery has gotten greater over the years, it is only because you were afraid of your own fate. But your fear has led you to develop a mistrust in others. Even those that care about you, and wish to befriend you. Like Rachel." At this, Mandy's angered expression became saddened. "Now all you do is order people around, using your fear. Like Billy and Grim, and even your own parents." Mandy looked down in depression. "Ah… but you shouldn't worry, Child. If you opened up, and trusted people more often… you would live a more peaceful life."
"Yeah. I don't see that happening very soon." Mandy stated simply, her furrowed expression returning. "But tell me something else: The Chronicler said I had another power, laying 'dormant' within me. What did he mean?"
"Mm, hm hm hur hur. I was hoping you'd ask." With that, he drifted up to his throne and lifted the seat up, revealing a secret compartment underneath with a small wooden chest.
The ghostly king held the chest in both hands as he drifted back over to Mandy. He opened the chest and presented it to Mandy, who looked inside to see it was a tiny golden triangle. Her eyes widened when her chest started glowing, and a necklace with a similar, bigger triangle, with a triangle-shaped hole on its bottom, floated up from under her shirt and hovered above the chest. The tinier triangle levitated itself and slowly attached to the necklace, forming one golden, glowing triangle.
"What…" Mandy was speechless.
"That necklace you wore was but one of two parts of an ancient and sacred treasure called the Triforce of Wisdom. The original holder of the Triforce Piece was the princess of an ancient kingdom. Your long-time ancestor, Zelda, who married the Legendary Hero, Link, who held the Triforce of Courage. After dueling with the vicious demon thief, Ganondorf, Zelda had the Triforce of Wisdom broken into these two pieces. One she kept to herself and passed it down generations of her family… and the other, she entrusted to the spirits. Which so happened to be me."
Mandy watched in slight amazement, eyes still furrowed as the Triforce Piece was slowly absorbed into her right hand. Mandy gasped when the Triforce vanished into her skin and a tattoo of the whole Triforce appeared on the back of her hand. "What…What is this?"
"The mark you see on your hand is the Triforce. The Triforce of Wisdom is but one of three pieces that make up the most powerful relic designed by the spirits. As the descendant of Zelda, you are the holder of the Triforce of Wisdom. Your cousin, Rachel, has already discovered the Triforce Mark inside her: the Triforce of Courage."
"Stupid Rachel." she could only say. "But what about the 3rd piece?"
"The 3rd piece is currently divided in half. And both halves… lie in the very demon that battled the Hero long ago, still alive today: Ganondorf, and his daughter. And when all three pieces of the Triforce come together… the great triangle will be whole. And he who touches it will have whatever his heart desires."
"Whatever his heart desires?" Mandy asked, now fascinated.
"Yes… but those who seek it for their own selfish gain, rather than for the good of the world, will end up destroying themselves. As they say, be careful what you wish for."
"Hmm… can't argue with that. Wishes do backfire. But just one more thing: what is this?" she asked, suddenly pulling out the treasure map she had earlier.
"Mmm… that. I snuck that map under your pillow when me and Blinks came for your nightmare."
"Is true." Blinks said, suddenly popping up beside Mandy, who pushed him back down.
Darkrai held the map and waved his hand above it. Mandy gasped, and her eyes widened, when he caused it to show an image of Nightmare Land. "It is the Marauder's Map. A magical map designed by the spirits to show the image of any place, at any time. InCLUDing…" he waved his hand again, and the image of Nightmare Land changed to one of when Nightmare Land was being built, "…what it looked like in past times." The image changed back to current Nightmare Land.
"So… this map… can show you the past?"
"In a way, yes. It also pinpoints your location." He said as the map zoomed in to the Fear Factory, showing an overview of all the floors and rooms of the place. Several little footprints moved about, with labels by them to show who they belonged to, including Mandy's and the others'. "The map identifies if there is a presence by sensing their footprints, and it tells you who it is. Doesn't work too well if the being is floating. Such as myself." She noticed that Darkrai didn't appear on the map.
Darkrai folded the map back up and handed it to Mandy. "But why did you give me this?" she asked.
"Oh, I believe you'll find it quite useful. Why don't you take it to Planet Secco and try there?"
"Sigh… whatever." Mandy sighed as she walked off.
"Yes, anyhow… I received your helper's call earlier." Dodds said to Darkrai.
"Who-sa woosa?" Jar Jar asked.
"He means Morpheus." Darkrai said. "Morpheus is my apprentice. Originally my father's, but since my father's gone, he works for me now. Earlier, I had him send a vision to Wesley Dodds and the members of the White Lotus that Lord Gnaa and his legions have returned."
"Currently, the others of my team are supposed to be ambushing the heroes and challenging the ones who bend their elements." Dodds explained. "Honestly, I don't know why Iroh agrees with these plans of King Bumi. Anyway, I'm supposed to be going after the Toxic Four's leader."
"The poisonbenders are headed to Planet Avalar." Darkrai responded. "Dialga called me earlier and said all four would be there. You can wait in the Silver River Forest and ambush them."
"Sounds like a plan." Dodds said, starting to head off. "Be seein' ya, Darky. Say hi to Morpheus for me." The others followed him and left down the hall.
"Ooh? But-sa, Da'ky?" Jar Jar spoke up. "They-sa only DREE poisonbendies now. Ones-a them went oh kaboomy."
"Mmm hm hm hm hm." The King chuckled. "I suppose that mistake will rectify itself soon enough."
G.U.N. H.Q.
The GUN Commander, Brett Gunkan, arrived back at his office, holding an ice bag to his aching head as he went to sit at his desk. "Ohhh…" he groaned as he felt a pain surging through him. "So… Rourke is dead. The metahuman curse is getting worse by the second." The man sighed as he put his bag on his desk. "No matter." He said, getting up and walking to his window. "I will not stand by and watch these monsters dirtify our world." What looked like brown tree roots started to grow around his body, the Commander bending over as some brown, tree-like creature, with green eyes and a mouth, appeared on his back, and Gunkan's eyes turned red. "No matter what it takes, I will avenge Lyle and DESTROY those freaks."
"And all other metahumans who dare to pollute our world." The monster said in a deep, evil voice.
AND so begins the galactic part of the quest. So yes, Mr. Oldman is Sandman's sidekick. And the Marauder's Map is from Harry Potter, but it works differently here.