O-kay, let's hurry up and do this Sun Temple. Play the "Lanayru Mining Facility" Theme from Zelda: Skyward Sword.
Chapter 43: Podrace Pummeling
Stage 37: Sun Temple
Mission: Find the Sun God, Solaris.
The group entered the first room of the temple, where they saw a door across from them, and a pathway on their right, leading to a pit with a wall on the other side with a flame with an eye. When the team walked to it, the eye opened and the flame started moving around the wall. Rachel took out her arrows and attempted to shoot the eye, but when she did, it made an 'X', and part of the path beneath her crumbled down. Nigel and Blaze immediately grabbed and pulled her back up.
"Okay… no arrows." She figured.
"Perhaps this will work." Blaze said, shooting a fireball at the eye, which seemed to have worked, for it went faster. Blaze shot three more flames at the eye, going faster each time, but she missed the fourth hit and jumped back before the floor crumbled. The eye kept zooming along the wall, but Blaze was finally able to hit it. The door opened as a result, so the six continued to the next room.
Next, they were in a very long, narrow hall with the next door on the other side, rows of square panels making up the floor. As they proceeded to walk through, the floor panels behind them rose into pillars, up to the ceiling. "Yuh-oh! Run!" Sonic yelled as all the other floor panels started rising to the ceiling, and everyone ran before they were crushed.
"It's locked!" Nigel yelled, seeing the door closed ahead.
"Up there!" Dimentia yelled, noticing a blue switch on the ceiling. They saw the rising panels approaching, so Nigel hurried and stood on the one below the switch. When that panel lifted him upwards, Nigel hurriedly pushed the switch and rolled off before he was crushed. The door opened, so they all ran inside just when the panels came.
The next room had a staircase, with big stairs, up to a locked door. On the opposite side from the staircase was a key. When Rachel went to grab the key, the walls along the ceiling opened, letting in a bunch of angry Scarfies, chomping their mouths as they flew to bite at them. Rachel aimlessly swung her sword at them while the others did the same with their powers. Nigel ran onto the first stair and held his hands open for Rachel to toss the key to him. When he caught it, he tossed it at the wall when Sonic dashed up, the speedy hedgehog running to open the door and hurry in, followed by the others, quickly closing it before the Scarfies came.
Next, they were in a very dark room which Nigel and Blaze lit up with their flames. They looked down and saw a swarm of spiders crawling toward them, trying to shake them off when they tried to climb their legs. Nigel and Blaze just lit their selves up and burned the spiders, Rachel and Sonic spun and shook them off, while Dimentia just shocked them off her and Jagar (shocking Jagar in the process). Nigel and Blaze walked forward and lit up two torches, causing the next door to open.
They continued to a room with what seemed like broken treadmills, leading into empty slots, with sand all over the floor. Rachel stepped in the sand, and quickly stepped out when she sank a bit, so the gang just walked along the walkways and treadmills until they reached a ladder and climbed to a higher ledge.
"What kind of room is this?" Sonic asked, noticing a few fallen robots.
Jagar then noticed a Timeshift Stone near to them. "I guess we're about to find out." With that, he used timebending on the stone and turned it on. (Play the "Lanayru Mining Facility (Past)" Theme.)
Before they knew it, the sandy ruins had transformed into a mechanical factory. The fallen robots were restored, the treadmills started speeding, carrying containers of Wisps, and the many mechanical devices beamed to life. The quicksand that had covered the room had also dissolved, revealing the dark, bottomless pit. The fallen robots beside the group revealed to be Beamos, totem pole-like robots with one eye, that immediately fired lasers at them. Rachel easily did spin attacks and cut parts of the robots down before stabbing their eyes. "O-kay, didn't see that coming." She said. "Fi, what's going on?"
Fi instantly popped out. "Master, signs indicate that eons ago, the robots have transformed this temple into a factory, either for making weapons or mining for Timeshift Stones. It appears they have kidnapped the Wisps to use their unlimited power source."
"'Guess that explains all the Wisps." Sonic figured.
"Wait, you've seen them before?" Nigel asked.
"Well, yeah. I used their powers to stop one of Eggman's plans not too long ago."
"Really? I can use their powers, too."
"Well, well. That should be a lot more helpful." Sonic smirked.
"Two Wisp wielders are better than one, I suppose." Dimentia figured. "So, let's use 'em to move on."
"Right then! Let's do it!" With that, Sonic sped down and broke one of the Wisp containers on the treadmill, freeing a Spike Wisp and a Drill Wisp. The drill shot into Nigel while Sonic took the spike. "SPIKE!" Sonic yelled, turning into a pink spike ball and rolling along the walls over the pit. When he reached the ledge on the other side, he stepped on a switch that extended a bridge for the others to get across.
They passed a door into the next room, outside of the Time Stone's range, that was almost completely filled with sand. "There's probably a stone buried in here." Jagar said.
"No problem. Just a little Time Dust, and…" Nigel began, taking out the bag of Time Dust and pouring it on him. "DRILL!" Nigel became a yellow drill and burrowed beneath the sand. He drilled his way past a couple Sandworms before finding the Time Stone and striking it. The stone powered to life and drained away the entire sand floor, revealing the long pathway that led downwards. Nigel spotted a lever and went to pull it, making a ladder stretch up for the others to climb down. They continued along the path down as Rachel sliced and killed a few Beamos in their way. At the bottom of the room, they found a pedestal with a small orb, emitting the same glow as a Time Stone.
"Master, this object appears to be a Timeshift Orb. A smaller version of the Timeshift Stone that is meant to be carried around." Fi reported.
"Well, there's gotta be a use for it." Rachel said, picking up the orb and walking to the next room, which seemed completely buried in sand. The range from the Time Orb thankfully kept the sand back, giving them a path to walk through. When they spotted a Time Stone, Jagar switched it on and cleared out the whole room of its sand. It also restored three statue-like face robots, called Armos, which immediately began trying to bounce and crush them.
Sonic used his tornado ability to spin the propellers on their heads, making both mouths on each one open and reveal the blue gem that was their weak spots. Blaze kicked the first one's with her burning high-heels, Rachel stabbed at the second one's, while Dimentia made the inside of the third one's explode.
This opened the door to the next room, which was a little less sand-covered. They spotted another Time Stone high up on a box, so Rachel let Jagar sprinkle some Time Dust on one of her arrows, which she fired and made the stone light up. The huge room had yet another bottomless pit with the only way across seeming to be a platform with a propeller to make it move along a track. They stood on as Sonic used airbending to make the propeller spin so the platform moved along the track. As it did so, they had to avoid some steam that blew out of pipes.
After turning a few corners and avoiding steam, they found a container with two Laser Wisps. Sonic broke them out and absorbed one while Nigel took the other. Nigel grabbed Rachel and Dimentia while Sonic grabbed Blaze and Jagar. As a result, they all became lasers and zoomed over to a cyan diamond, which bounced them through a series of other diamonds around the room before they came to a stop on another ledge.
Next, they were at a treadmill that was moving fast in the opposite way they wanted to go. Sonic easily started boosting along the treadmill, then made a quick turn at the next one going left. He was coming up to a robot on a ledge working a lever, so he jumped and Home Attacked it before flipping the lever, changing the treadmills' direction so the others can let them carry them across.
They arrived at the last room finally. Across from them was a huge door covered in barb wire. Fi instantly popped out and reported, "Master, I am detecting an evil aura emitting from the other side of this door. There is a 20% chance it is the Sun God we have been searching for."
"So, there's something else waiting for us." She deduced. "But how can we get inside?"
"There seems to be a Time Orb within that fallen chest." At this, they noticed a broken chest to their left, in front of a hallway of sand, with a Time Orb inside it.
"Well, that's simple enough." Jagar said, going over and using timebending on the orb to activate it.
"Jagar, wait!" (Stop the music.) Rachel was too late to stop him as the orb made a small part of the surrounding area come to life. (Play the "Tricky Treasure" Theme from Rayman Origins!)
The Tricky Chest came back to life, spotted the group, and immediately started dashing down the hall behind him, using the Time Orb to make himself a trail. Sonic growled and started dashing after the speeding chest, sidestepping to avoid the many electrical barriers that popped up because of the orb.
Sonic spotted and absorbed a Spike Wisp, using his spike form to roll up the wall and chase the chest. The chest jumped off to a ledge beside them, so Sonic switched back to normal and pursued, trying to stay within the orb's range so he didn't drown in sand. He chased the chest along a series of treadmills that he constantly sidestepped and avoided electric barriers. As he chased it along another ledge, he had to avoid Beamos that popped up and fired lasers.
The chest started jumping some platforms, so Sonic Home Attacked some Bladed Spinners that popped up to get across. He then had to carefully jump some treadmills that tried to roll him into more barriers. The chest then jumped back to the path where the chase began, this time running in the opposite way, back to the starting point. Sonic chased the chest and dodged the same electric barriers as last time. When the chest made it back, he screamed at the sight of the other group members in his way. When he looked back and saw Sonic speeding toward him, he closed his eye as the hedgehog Boosted right through him.
The chest was pushed into a wall, coughing the Time Orb out in the process. The orb was coughed out of the chest's range, resulting in the chest falling to pieces again. (End song.)
Sonic made a whistle and shouted, "That was tight! !"
"Hm hm hm, well done, Sonic." Blaze chuckled. "Let us proceed…"
Using the Time Orb to get past the barb wire, they passed the large door into a massive room, where they stood on a high ledge, overlooking a massive sandy pit. As they tried to proceed, the Time Orb suddenly went out. "Master, I sense we are arriving close to the Sun God's chamber. Some bending abilities such as time will be unavailable." Fi spoke.
"I'm guessing that's it." Sonic figured, pointing to a door on the other side of the pit. They jumped to the thankfully-solid sand and slowly walked across. Before they could go any farther, the room immediately started quaking as sand poured in, starting to fill the room higher so that the door was blocked off. Before the kids knew it, a gigantic Sandworm popped out of the sand, chomping its banana peel-like mouth as it came down, the group dodging before it could snack on them, diving into the sand. "And I'm guessing they're not gonna make it very easy." (Play the "Molgera Boss" Theme from Zelda: Wind Waker!)
Boss fight: Molgera
The team carefully searched around for where the beast might pop up again. Sonic felt the ground beneath him move and immediately jumped before the worm's mouth chomped on him. Molgera dove back beneath the surface and burrowed around before stopping below Rachel. Nigel quickly ran and pushed her away before the worm popped up and ate them. "Uh, we could really use some help now, Fi!" Rachel shouted.
"Master, subject identified as: Molgera. It is an ancient sand demon that seems to have made its nest within the temple since the planet's decline."
Rachel barely jumped out of the way before the worm chomped her again. "Anything else? ?"
"Molgera's weak point appears to be the tongue."
"Oh, THAT helps!" Rachel then carefully waited for the worm to pop back up. When the ground beneath her started to spiral in a tornado, she immediately ran before being sucked in to the beast's mouth. She spotted its tongue sticking out and launched her Hookshot at it, pulling it over so she can then begin slashing at it. Molgera made a few yelping sounds before sinking beneath the surface.
Molgera remained below ground where it fired Sandworms, the minions jumping above ground to bite at the six, but they fought them back. The last Sandworm was strangely glowing yellow. Nigel, seeing this before, destroyed it and released a Drill Wisp. He absorbed it and became a yellow drill, burrowing beneath the ground and cutting through other Sandworms. Molgera held its mouth open as the bald Brit got closer, allowing Nigel to drill inside and damage its tongue, then drilled out and came above ground again just in time.
Molgera became angry and started jumping in-and-out of the ground, trying to swallow them. When it was coming for Blaze, the fire cat tossed a flame and burned its tongue, pushing the beast back. Molgera popped out of the ground again and, this time, started flying around the room. He spat out dozens of flying Sandworms that came for them, held back mostly by flames and Rachel's arrows. Sonic then decided to Home Attack off the Sandworms up to Molgera's body. The last worm was glowing pink, so when Sonic destroyed it, he absorbed a Spike Wisp.
When Sonic landed on Molgera's body, it started flying around in all directions, trying to shake him off. Sonic became his pink spike ball form so his spikes would stick to it, allowing him to roll along Molgera's body and reach its mouth. When Molgera held its mouth open, and was coming down to eat the others, Sonic quickly Spin Dashed inside, doing severe damage on its tongue and internal parts. Molgera was finally knocked back into the sand after Sonic shot out of its tail. "Yuck! Good thing this thing's made of sand."
Molgera gave one final screech before flying out and up to the high ceiling of the room. There, it twisted and curled itself until it was safely locked inside a cocoon. The sand ceased flowing into the room, and the sand that flooded the room dissolved away. "Good riddance." Blaze said to the monster before the six of them proceeded through the door ahead. (End song.)
Solaris' Altar
At long last, the group was back outside. They stood before a long staircase, leading to a giant torch. The area surrounding the long staircase was miles above an enormous, bottomless black chasm, which Rachel and Blaze gulped at. "Sure is high up…" Blaze said, nervously.
"Y-Yeah…" Rachel stuttered. "L-Let's keep going."
The six proceeded up the flight of stairs until they were at a platform with a picture of the sun. Eight curly lines led up to eight strings, connecting to a giant magnifying glass facing flat. Nigel and Blaze lit up the lines simultaneously, allowing the flames to go up the lines and burn the strings, allowing the glass to tilt, so that one side faced the torch and the other faced the sun. The bright, shining desert sun poked through the magnifying glass, creating a beam to the giant torch. The torch alit with a great, big flame in an instant.
The kids looked up as a gigantic, stone-like figure appeared in the sky, glowing with a slight golden light, with the shape of a phoenix behind his back. "Well done, children…" the entity spoke. "You have done well to find your way to this temple within these ancient ruins."
"Well, we did have a little help from your little worshippers outside." Rachel reminded.
"Ah, yes. The fallen ones of the past. Such a sad fate that's become of them. I am the Sun God they speak of. Solaris."
"Wait a second." Sonic spoke. "You're not the same Solaris I fought back in Soleanna, are you?"
"No. I am the real Solaris. What you fought back in Soleanna was my inferior copy."
"A clone?" Nigel asked.
"Yes. One day, one of my flames fell from the heavens and landed on Mobius. The King of Soleanna found this flame and used it to clone his own Solaris. This led to disastrous results, for the existence of two Solaris' caused the balance of the dimension to fall apart, and for the timeline to split in two. The clone overpowered me… but thanks to the young hedgehog here, the clone was subdued. Once I recovered, I used my timebending powers to send Sonic back in time, so he could destroy the flame that would lead to the clone's creation, preventing the clone from ever existing."
"I remember when Sonic told me of that story." Blaze said. "About how I was used to contain Solaris's flames… and how my father died. Then you truly are the real Solaris my people worshipped."
"Yes. But now that timeline exists only in the past. Now, seeing as you're here, The Chronicler must've sent you his call."
"Yes. He sent it to me." Nigel spoke. "He said you would tell me more about my Fire Element. And, well… I've been wondering… if my flames come from my ancestors of the demon family… does that mean they're evil?"
"I would like to know myself." Blaze followed. "Are my flames a curse?"
"Very reasonable questions. True, fire can be easily mistaken for a Dark Element. But it is not, I assure you. Nigel… your family history involving Malladus and the demons says nothing about you or your flame. Your heart is kind and true. Your passion burns strong for your friends. There is nothing evil about it." Nigel gave a smile. "And Blaze… you especially. The gems you carry with you are of my own creation. They are seven scattered pieces of my light. Powerful firebending relics. You see, of all the elements, Fire is the closest one to Light. It is the closest one to the soul. With a good soul, like yours, it can easily be used for light. But a dark soul, like Ganondorf's… his fire is totally bound to the darkness of his heart. This is due to the evil power that resides within him."
"The Triforce of Power, right?" Rachel asked.
"More. There is something about Ganondorf that makes him very unlike other mortals. Why his bond with the demons is so great. You see… Ganondorf is the very reincarnation of a demon."
"He…He is?"
"Yes. You see, Rachel, there has been more than one incarnation of your ancestor, Link. The first one existed during the Old Demon Wars. Before Malladus was created by the Supreme God, Arceus, there was another Demon King before him. But his powers were so tremendous, and his heart so evil… that Arceus feared what may happen if he roam free. So, Arceus had him imprisoned within an evil sword that he lay rest within the Underworld Castle. Afterwards, he created Malladus to take his place and rule the Underworld as Demon King. And Malladus knew not of the sword's origins. Only that he was meant to guard it. Until…
"When Malladus was on the verge of losing another war, the Yin-Yang demon known as Hannibal Roy Bean came to him. He persuaded Malladus into drawing the massive sword from its pedestal… and he did. Thus, he awakened the original Demon King. He was called… Satan."
The six gaped in horror.
"However, most people referred to him as 'Demise.' Demise subdued Malladus, and took over as Demon King. But not long passed until the gods sealed him beneath the earth. However, his loyal servant Ghirahim sought to awaken him, continuing the Old Demon Wars. 'Twas when the Legendary Hero was born… Link. The Hero of the Sky. With the help of the guiding spirit, Fi, Link awakened the powers within the Master Sword and destroyed the Demon King. Malladus and his men were free to awaken. They trapped Ghirahim within an evil sword, similar to Fi, and hid that sword within the Negaverse. But Demise was not defeated, for he was reborn in the form of a mortal. And that mortal carried on his works and grew his demon army in his path to take the Triforce."
"Ganon…" Nigel said quietly.
"Yes. But as Demise was reborn, so was Link. And the new Link, with the help of the princess, Zelda, used the power of light and vanquished the evil Ganon… trapping him within the depths of the Evil Realm."
Ganondorf swirled around and around, falling into the endless white limbo that would be his prison. He shouted with pure anger in his voice: "G…GYAAHH! Curse you… ZELDA! Curse you… SAGES! Curse… you… LINK! ! Someday, when this seal is broken… I will come back and exterminate your descendants! AS LONG AS THE TRIFORCE OF POWER IS IN MY HAAND! !"
"And he did…" Solaris continued. "In his desperate attempt to destroy the Demon Royal Family… and find the lost pieces of the Triforce. But for many long years, he failed and was put to rest. Over and over again… but he never stayed down."
"Just like Malladus." Nigel replied.
"Indeed. Proof of his godlike power. But for these thousands of years, the Triforce pieces have been lost to the ages. …Until now."
"I have the Triforce of Courage… and Mandy has the Triforce of Wisdom." Rachel spoke. "If Ganon finds these parts-"
"He could awaken the Triforce, and bring disaster to the land. Just as he did in days of old."
"Well, we'll stop him!" Nigel declared confidently.
"I know you will. We timebenders… know a lot of this stuff."
"But wait a second." Jagar spoke. "If you're a timebender, why didn't you fix this ruined land?"
"It is just as the robot captain guessed. These Timeshift Stones have only the power to revert to previous moments in the past. But it can never truly restore life. It will constantly replay the same events, over and over again, like the reset button on a videogame. And furthermore, Time is a very dangerous element. You must know the dangers of manipulation of Time. You are aware of the Time Dust you've been producing?"
"Yeah, but… I don't know what it is."
"Much like sand is the scattered fragments of earth, Time Dust is scattered fragments of time. When an earthbender hurls a rock, that rock will likely crumble to dust upon impact. In a similar way, when a timebender bends time, it interferes with the flow of the timeline, scattering small fragments of the timeline into dust."
"So, when we bend time, we scatter the timeline?" Jagar asked.
"Yes. But it is no great concern. Minor timebending abilities, such as what you've been using, scatter very little. But abilities such as time-travel can greatly scatter parts of the timeline. Such as changing events in the past. But there is only so much time in the universe, just as there is earth. But the past should never be changed. That is why I had to leave this planet remain the way it is."
"So, there really is no hope for this land." Blaze said, glumly.
"Do not fear. Time is always changing. Perhaps, one day, these robots can be restored a different way. It need not concern you, however. For now, you must return to your friends. A friend is here to guide you back."
"ROOAAR." They looked to the tops of one of the walls as a large yellow tiger with black lightning-like stripes and a gray cape jumped and landed before them.
"This is Raikou. The Thunder Lion. Better hold on tight. He'll get you back in no time. …Haha. Get it? Time?"
"We'll just see who's faster." Sonic smirked. "Wanna race?"
"You bet!" Blaze smirked. With that, the two animals dashed over the walls and started speeding across the wastelands, followed by the others riding the Thunder Lion.
Battleship Halberd; bridge
Fanny and Shaunie were on the Halberd's bridge, barefoot as they stood on opposite sides with battle poses. Fanny looked more confident, while Shaunie was struggling to maintain a still pose. The desert sun was so hot on the 5-year-old's skin, and his feet couldn't handle the ship's scorching metal. "Can't we train inside, Fanny?" the boy whined.
"If yer gonna be stronger, Shaunie, ya have ta learn ta cope with the heat." Fanny stated, the sun taking no toll on the strong firebender's skin. "Okay, test number 1: run up to me and hit me as hard as ya can. We need ta see how strong you can punch first."
"Are you sure it's okay, Fanny?"
"Sure it's okay. Heck, the point of this was to fight me, anyway."
"Mmmm…" Shaunie looked afraid. "If you say so. …Aaaaahhhh!" With a determined look and a battle cry, Shaunie charged at Fanny as fast as he could. It was hard to run on the scorching metal, so Shaunie didn't move too fast. Fanny maintained her pose as her brother came, his right first raised and ready to punch. And once Shaunie made it to Fanny, he THREW his fist with all his force. Fanny felt no pain against her leg, and she didn't budge an inch.
"Come oooon! Is THAT all you can do, Shaunie? ?"
"I punched as hard as I could, Fanny!" Shaunie whined.
"Ugh, well yer gonna need ta punch a lot harder. Now I'm gonna try to attack ya; not too hard, and you try to block and punch me back. Okay?"
"Y-You won't firebend at me, will you?"
"Of course not. Okay, get ready." She raised her fists. Shaunie raised fists, too, but was more nervous. "Go!" Fanny started to throw her fists, fiercely, but lightly. Shaunie did his best to dodge, but she was too fast. He tried to block, but his sister was much stronger. She wasn't hitting as hard as she normally would, but her fists still felt very painful to Shaunie. "Come on, Shaunie! Look at my movement and dodge!"
Fanny threw another punch, but Shaunie managed to duck it, much to his excitement. However, his joy vanished when Fanny swung her foot and kicked him back. He got up as Fanny threw more punches, but Shaunie cried, "Oh, just stop it, Fanny! I just can't do this! I'll never be as strong as you!"
"Uuuugh! Shaunie, you're never gonna be strong if ya DOUBT yerself! If ye wanna be stronger, ya have ta have fire in yer punches."
"But I can't firebend! !"
"I'm not talkin' about bendin'. I mean ya have to have passion. Ya need the eyes of a tiger, the heart of a lion… ya need the burnin' aura of a true warrior. Yer wee size doesn't matter, as long as ya've got the courage."
Shaunie sighed in hopelessness. "I'm sorry, Fanny. I just don't have it like you do. I'm always gonna be a spineless wimp."
"Siiiigh. Well, what was the point of askin' me to train ya? ? I mean, ya can't just run AWAY from all yer problems! Wait a minute. …" It suddenly dawned on Fanny. "Running away! That's it! Shaunie, let's try something else!"
"Hm?" Shaunie looked up, still frowning sadly.
"This time, yer going to run away from me!" Fanny smirked, back in her battle pose. "I'm gonna chase you, and you just stay away. OK?"
"Um… okay."
"Right then! On yer mark, get set, run for it!"
"Eyaaah!" Shaunie jumped back when Fanny tried to grab him. The 5-year-old began running about the bridge as his older sister chased. He ran to the front-most end, then had to run past Fanny's, dodge-rolling as she almost grabbed him. Fanny chased him the opposite direction, but when she was drawing close, Shaunie leapt and kicked off Fanny's head, running back toward the front. Fanny chased, but Shaunie suddenly slipped past her and ran the opposite way. Fanny yelled in anger and began to throw fireballs, much to Shaunie's fright. She threw flames at his feet, but Shaunie was quick to jump and dodge. Fanny tossed flames as fast as she could, but was slowly losing strength.
Fanny began to pant in exhaust, and soon, she just couldn't throw any more. Shaunie looked at his slumping, sweating sister, and his face showed determination. "Aaaaaahhh!" Fanny looked up in surprise when Shaunie suddenly charged, and shoved her with full force over the ship's edge. Fanny landed facefirst in the sand, her face buried. Shaunie carefully stood on the ledge, looking down with worry. But when Fanny looked up, she smirked and gave a thumbs-up. "…He he ha!" Shaunie smiled happily.
"HEEELP!" They then turned their attention toward the man in the green jacket, running around frantically as usual. "There's a big race going on downtown! Someone could get hurt! Also, I don't know how I ended up on this planet! HEELP!" And he ran off.
Fanny helped herself up and brushed the sand off as Eva walked by. "Ho, boy. This spells trouble." Fanny figured.
"Better go see." Eva replied. Shaunie slid down the ship's side as they all ran after them.
Tatooine Town
The many alien citizens of Tatooine Town had all gathered to watch the spectacle that was the podraces. Dozens of racers, including some Brotherhood villains, were gathering onto the track with their vehicles ready as the two child reporters, Nick and Chip (from the actual show, not my assistants), watched from their station above. "Welcome, podracing fans, to the 156th annual podraces." Nick announced. "We have quite the competition today. Racers of many species in many different crafts. And what could be a more perfect day for podracing with the sun breaking through the barely-existent clouds."
"And I don't think those'll be the only thing breaking!" Chip continued. "And here to announce the start of the race, is none other than your planet's recent conqueror: Invader Tak!"
The purple-eyed female Irken as mentioned walked over and spoke into the microphone. "Thank you, thank you. As the most recent and 'rightful' ruler of this planet, it does me great honor to watch over a sport I'm OH so fond of."
Sector V and the other team members were down in the audience at this time. "I thought Numbuh 1 and you guys overthrew Tak?" Hoagie asked to Ava and Kweeb.
"Eh. We kinda decided to let her still be ruler after beating the Tallest." Kweeb replied.
"Wonderful day for a race, eh, Mario?" Peach asked, sitting beside the Italian plumber.
"Oh yeh!"
"Too bad Luigi couldn't be here. He used to love kart-racing."
"Now, let's meet this year's competitors." Tak announced.
"Now just arriving on the track: the supreme King of Dreamland, as well as his loyal snail advisor: King Dedede & Escargoon." Nick introduced, and everyone applauded as the two sped onto the track, smiling and waving their arms. Dedede was a fat, blue penguin in a red king's robe and Escargoon was a large white snail with a mustache.
"So, those two are still alive, too." Meta Knight observed. "I am surprised he is still the king."
"Coming right behind them," Chip followed, "the maniacal Princess of the Fire Nation, the siren of blue flames herself… Princess AZUUULA!" The vicious Fire Nation Princess, in her usual black armor, rode in on her black and red motorcycle, throwing blue flames all around as the audience applauded.
"Up next, we have the boy with the attitude, the evil boy genius who wields the Shen Gong Wu: Jack Spicer!" The white-skinned boy genius with blood-red hair sped onto the track, inside a little cart with lasers that looked similar to his Jackbots, raising his thumbs up and cackling away.
"And last, but certainly not least." Chip continued. "The teeny meanies from Planet Kateenia. The troublemaking trio who can swipe literally anything under your nose: the Bitesize BOYS!"
The tiny trio of teenage Kateenians sped onto the track, riding none other than the stolen Bat Wing of Katie's. "Come on, boys, let's show these big shots how it's done!" their leader exclaimed in a squeaky voice, the others agreeing.
"Step right up and place your bets, heehee! Last chance everybody, so who-sa gonna win, hehe!" Watto called out to everyone on the track.
Morgan and Mika watched as he drifted by with worried expressions. "Ohh. Where's Rainier?" Mika asked, shaking impatiently.
"They should be done by now." Morgan said.
"…Wait! There he is!" Mika yelled with delight, pointing as Rainier rode over on what seemed like a 2x4 dragon craft.
"Oh ho ho!" Nick announced. "Seems we have one last racer. It's Rainier Chariton, in his brand new-"
Kids Next Door: W.I.N.G.M.A.N.
Winged Implement Negates Gravity Milling About Nonsensically
"This baby should win me the race!" Rainier said, confidently.
"Just be careful, Rainier. These guys look pretty tough." Mika replied.
"Eh heh heh heh! That li'l ol' junk heap ain't gonn' getcha nowhere!" King Dedede laughed with a country accent.
"Uh, double-negative, meaning I will get somewhere." Rainier smirked.
"Eh heh heh heh… huh?" Dedede stopped laughing and looked confused.
"Eh, come on, le's just get in the race, huh?" Watto said, guiding Rainier over to his starting position while the psychics got in their seats. "Come on, Boy, ya really don't think you gonna win, huh?"
"Heh. 'fraid you gonna lose another servant, bug face?" Rainier smirked.
"Geh… you brats make me sick. Make me wish Irkens were still here, yah?" Watto mumbled, flying off.
"Hahaha! You don't stand a chance against us, huh?" the leader of the Bitesize Boys taunted. "We'll run you down and roast your corpse over a bonfire!"
"Not before I squish you beneath my foot."
"Heh. You're all fools." Azula smirked cockily. "It's obvious that only true royalty and perfection will come in first. Not nose-picking weirdoes like Jack."
"HEY! Harsh words are harsh, Lady." Jack Spicer yelled, picking his nose.
"Quit yappin', both of ya!" Dedede shouted. "I gonn' be winnin' this race. So, get ready to eat mah dream dust!"
Eddy then came over to Rainier and whispered, "Don't worry, Kid. I have total faith in you."
He then ran over to the betting booth with a load of cash he got from other viewers and shouted, "Put it all on the shrimpy aliens in the black bat ship!"
"Okay, I want all racers to get their selves lined up while I explain the rules." Tak called into the mike. "Once my robot, FIR waves the starting flag, you'll all begin to race 3 laps around the track. Use any method you can to win. Take the speed boosts on the ground for extra bursts of speed, and use the ramps to take off and navigate your way over the aerial parts. That is… if your vehicle is meant for air travel.
"Along the track, you'll find mystery blocks that will give you an item of random choice for you to use in the race. The Green Koopa Shells, you can use to fire at other racers, or if you miss, they'll just keep bouncing off the walls until they hit somebody. The Red Shells will automatically home in on the racer in front of you. The Stars will make you invincible for a short time, the Bloopers will blind the visions of other racers, the Blue Koopa Shells will go after the person in 1st place, and… blah blah blah, figure the rest out yourself. The person in 1st place will receive a gold trophy, and whatever precious item they must've bet before the race."
"ON your marks." Nick began as everyone readied their cars. Tak's SIRbot, FIR, stood on the starting line, getting ready to wave her flags.
"Get SET." Chip continued. The racers exchanged fierce glances and glared ahead. The tension was rising inside Rainier, the boy sweating, desperately waiting for the race to commence.
"Oh! Oh! Didn't say go yet!" Tak said rapidly. "Didisaygo? No! Didn'tsaygoyet! Whenisaygo, youmaygo. Ready-No-Okay, GOO! !"
The racers zapped over the starting line in the blink of an eye, leaving a huge cloud of smoke in their path. Rainier coughed and tried to blow the smoke away, trying to start up the W.I.N.G.M.A.N.. "Whoa! WHOOA!" Finally, the vehicle took off and started speeding down the canyon. (Play the "Twinkle Circuit" Theme from Sonic Adventure!)
Sub-game: Podracing
"AND they're off!" Nick exclaimed.
"Whoa, looks like Rainier had a bad start there. This new racer's already dead last!" Chip followed.
"Heh heh heh!" Watto laughed.
Rainier desperately tried to catch up to the other racers. He was thankfully coming to a mystery block and rammed it. A roulette spun on his craft before stopping at 3 Mushrooms. He smiled and pressed the up-left button, the Mushrooms giving his craft a burst of speed.
Ding Dong Daddy was currently in the lead, ahead of the Bitesize Boys, grabbing a mystery block of his own. It came up 3 Banana Peels, which he took out and began dropping behind him. The Kateenians barely dodged while a couple alien racers slipped on them and crashed. Mad Mod hit a block and grabbed a Red Koopa Shell, firing at some Jawa in front of him, taking them out.
As they were turning a corner in the canyon, Rainier spotted a speed boost between two walls on a hill, immediately going up and crossing it, giving him a burst of speed so he passed Kitten and Fang in their pink limo. They were now going along the side of a steep slope over a bottomless chasm, and Kitten and Fang hit a block and gained 3 Green Koopa Shells. They smirked and fired the shells, Rainier swiftly dodging and allowing the shells to hit Katnappé, Johnny Rancid, and Gizmo, making them plummet in the pit.
Rainier was now coming up to Azula, ramming the princess's motorcycle and passing by, waving good-bye as they were just exiting the steep slope, the princess growling at him. Azula thankfully hit a box and grabbed a Lightning Bolt. The princess smirked as she activated it, causing lightning to zap everyone on the track, shrinking them down. Azula cackled as she sped by Rainier, squishing Knightbrace and Johnny 13 (I just realized, there are 2 villains named Johnny who ride motorcycles! XD) before all the racers re-expanded.
Dedede & Escargoon had just grabbed a Tanuki Tail. The raccoon tail appeared on the back of their limo as they sped closer to Ding Dong Daddy, whacking him with the tail and taking out his car. "Eh heh heh heh heh!"
They were now speeding into another canyon, taking a turn on the large, wide road as Sand People fired at them from above with sniper rifles. The Sand People dealt a few shots on the Bitesize Boys, making their stolen craft swirl and slow down, allowing other racers to pass. They were then coming to a huge, bottomless gorge, shooting up a ramp and activating their vehicles' aerial functions: the W.I.N.G.M.A.N.'s wings, Dedede's limo's glider, Azula's rocket shoes, and so on.
They were flying across the canyon, avoiding rocks and Sand People shooting snipers. After coming out of there barely unscathed, they were speeding up to the starting line, crossing it, and beginning Lap 2.
"AND the 1st lap is DOWN!" Nick shouted.
"Let's see who will survive 'til the end!" Chip reported.
As Rainier was coming through the canyon once again, he passed the mariachi band on a rock. "Don't give up, Amigo. Just keep your spirits high… and try to get the others to crash."
Rainier rammed a mystery block and gained a Golden Mushroom. He started boosting continuously, ramming a few other racers to get ahead. Dedede gained a Banana Peel and dropped it, making Rainier unfortunately slip, and for the other racers to get by. They were then going along the slippery slope once again. Rainier grabbed a Blooper and sent it off to blind the other racers with ink.
"Ah, Ah can't see!" Dedede yelled as their limo swerved out of control.
"You aren't even driving." Escargoon replied, blind as well. "Help us out, Waddle Doo."
"I'm on it!" Waddle Doo exclaimed, hopping out and taking the wheel to drive them across. Azula easily wiped the ink from her eyes and hit some Teen Ninjas, pushing them over. When they passed through the wide canyon area again, the Sand People started shoving huge boulders down to crush them. The racers narrowly avoided while one of the boulders crushed Puppet King back into his jack-in-the-box car.
The Six Gum Gang spun their lassos and wrapped them around a boulder, lifting and swinging it around before tossing it in the path of Mad Mod and Control Freak, making them crash. The racers shot up the ramp and started gliding over the gorge again. This time, the Sand People; who were sandbenders, started making parts of the stone pillars collapse, crushing Mumbo Jumbo and a few more aliens. Jack Spicer grabbed a Bullet Bill and used it to easily fly across the chasm, shooting through boulders and even taking out the Six Gums.
"Mwah ha ha! See you at the finish line, losers!" the boy genius taunted, now in second place behind Dedede as they crossed the starting line, beginning Lap 3.
"Annnd the final lap of the race is here now, folks. It's anybody's game now." Reporter Nick called.
"And so far, Dedede & Escargoon are in the lead!" Chip exclaimed.
"Ah HA ha ha! We're gonna win! We're gonna win! We're gonna win!" the two villains cheered gleefully.
"Ah, crap! We're losing!" one of the Bitesize Boys said as they were now in last place.
"Heh heh! Good thing we bribed those guys into giving us a free Blue Shell!" the other one replied.
"Alright boys, let's teach these fools a lesson." Their leader said, pushing a button and launching the blue spiked shell.
"The Blue Tortoise Shell is-a Mario Kart's greatest weapon." Wario spoke. "It-a magically finds the lead car in the race, and it takes it out, eh hehe!"
"…WHOA!" Rainier barely dodged right as the blue shell zoomed by.
As they were going along the steep slope again, the shell zoomed past and took out Jack Spicer and Princess Azula, both villains screaming and falling into the pit. When they were out of the slope area, King Dedede & Escargoon sped even faster as the shell caught up, but had no luck escaping it. They looked up as the blue shell flew above them, spinning around and charging an attack. "WHOOAA!" Their eyes and mouths opened widely as the shell crashed down and exploded, taking out their car.
"AH HAHAHAHAHAHA!" the Bitesize Boys cackled, speeding ahead in the lead.
"And now it's only Rainier and the Bitesize Boys." Nick announced. "Who will take the crown, and who will take the pound?"
"The big fat ugly human, that's who!" the Bitesize leader cackled.
"Heh heh. Shyeah. I'm takin' the crown." Rainier smirked.
As they passed through the second trench, the Sand People ran onto the track and used their bending to raise columns of earth, Rainier quickly dodging once more. One of the rising columns, however, took out his right wing, but the boy kept going.
The mariachi band was now playing music on one of the ledges over the bottomless chasm. "You know, the wind is really nice up here."
The two race crafts had just gone up the ramp and started flying over the chasm. Along the way, the Kateenians grabbed a mystery block with a Bob-omb, the three cackling and dropping it to Rainier's craft. Rainier gasped as the Bob-omb made a strange sound before exploding, causing the boy's 2x4 craft to spiral and crash in one of the pillars. As a result of the explosion, the ledge that the mariachi band was on crumbled, and the owls still stood on the ledge as it plummeted to the chasm below.
"CAN'T YOU GUYS FLY? ?" Rainier yelled to them.
"We… never took lessons." The band leader admitted shamefully before they were out of sight. Rainier only gave a puzzled look and shrugged.
"HAHA, YEAH, YEAH!" Watto cheered to the Bitesize Boys.
"It looks like the Kateenians have this race wrapped up, ladies and aliens." Nick announced.
"COME ON, RAINIER!" Mika yelled, she and the operatives continuing to cheer.
Rainier put on a determined look and started his craft up again, getting it out of the wall and taking off.
"Oh ho! It looks like Rainier's still goin'. Not like he has much a chance now." Nick said as Rainier was back on track, tailing right after the little aliens.
"That trophy is MINE! AH HA HA HA HYEEE!" the leader shouted.
Rainier spotted another mystery box and grabbed it, and to his delight, he gained a Star. "OH YEAH!" Rainier blinked the colors of the rainbow as his W.I.N.G.M.A.N. sped even faster.
"WE DID IT, WE DID IT! …HUH?!" Just before the Bitesize Boys could cross the finish line, Rainier shot through and rammed them. "WHOOAA!" (Stop the music.) The Kateenians were forced out of the Bat Wing, flying through the air over the audience.
In the audience
"MAN, Violet, is there anything you won't eat?" Abby asked Violet as the catgirl slurped some alien ooze.
"Werecat form gives you benefits. But I wish I had some popcorn." But to her joy, the tiny aliens landed in her green ooze. The Kateenians looked up and gasped in horror as Violet licked her lips, her eyes widened as she grinned with sharp cat teeth.
"AND THE WINNER IS RAINIER! !" The 13-year-old blew kisses and waved his arms as tons of excited viewers cheered.
"WOOHOO! RAINIER! !" Mika screamed.
"OH NOOO!" Watto cried in defeat.
"And this concludes the 156th annual podraces." Nick continued. "And now to go into my night job as the parking lot mugger! I'll see you there. But you won't see me, until it's TOOO late!"
"Um, and so concludes the race's end, good-bye everybody!" Chip finished.
"Alright! You did it, Rainier!" Mika cheered as she and the operatives walked out to greet him.
"Now we can get off this planet!" Hoagie exclaimed.
"Aw, no, NO!" Watto yelled, flying over to them. "You-sa usin' your Jedi powers to see future, and SEE he gonna win! You cheated!"
"Cheated? Oh, no." Morgan shook her head. "We're just Padawans. We're far from learning how to predict the future."
"But we don't need that power to know the 2x4 craft always wins!" Mika declared.
"Which means, I get to come with them." Rainier finished.
"Oh no!" Watto denied. "You-sa not goin' anywhere!"
"But we had a bet, and you lost."
"No. I not losin' to a bunch of bratty kids. You goin' back to that junk heap, and then you-"
"WAIIT!"
"Huh?" Watto looked over to see Ed riding the cardboard bus with a bucket over his head.
"I WAS IN THE RACE, TOO!"
"WAAAH!" Before Watto could evade, the cardboard bus ran him right over, crushing him like a fly.
"Huh?" Ed uncovered his head and looked to the squished alien below his bus.
"Eh… okay. You-sa can go now. Ouch." Watto gave in.
"YYES!" Rainier and Mika cheered and high-fived.
The rest of the gang were just coming down from the audience. Violet sucked her fingers and licked off the ooze, her stomach full from the delicious snack she just had. "So, we all ready to go?" Hoagie asked.
"You bet!" Rainier cheered. "Soon as I get my things, we're off this rock!"
Before Eddy could follow them, he found himself surrounded by the many angry aliens he made bets with. "Uh… h-hey, guys." He stuttered fearfully. "Uh, about your money, um…" Before he could say anything more, the aliens started beating him senseless. "No wait! I'll pay you back! G-Go easy on me! MOMMYYYYY!"