Hel-lo, everybody! Guess where we're finally goin'? Halcandra!
Chapter 45: Dream Phantom
Planet Flora; Dathomir Region
"Welcome to Dathomir." The leader of the mariachi band spoke, the owls standing on the branch of an ancient, filthy, foggy swamp, free of any other signs of life or light. "A forbidden region, long forgotten by the inhabitants of Galaxia for its terrible scenery, monstrous creatures, and wicked alien witches." He coughed. "Plus, it stinks here, too."
Rumpel Stiltskin and Gruntilda Winkybunion were currently walking through this ruined bog, followed by the coldhearted child that was Yuki Crystal, the boy leaving a trail of ice in his path. Ironically, his bright white ice was the only thing with color and vibrancy within this bleak swamp. "Bleh, this place gives me the creeps. Even with no nervous system, the tingly feeling seeps." Gruntilda rhymed.
"What are we doing here, anyway?" Yuki asked.
"This swamp is home to none other than my mentor." Rumpel replied. "A marvelous witch who worked as my private magical teacher and made me the lovable helper elf you see today. Lucinda Talzin."
"Remember this witch, I do indeed. But for nothing more, than her evil deeds." Grunty said. "Though she and my ancestor, this is true, did found a popular magic schoo…l."
"You don't mean Hogwarts, do you?" asked Yuki.
"Luna Nova."
"Oh ho ho, my dear Gruntilda." Rumpel chuckled. "Mother Talzin wasn't evil. She was only using her magic for what she thought was right." His mischievous grin suggested otherwise.
"What she thought was right, so you say. But with awful gifts, she loves to play. The story, I remember, of this girl named Ella. A spell from Talzin made her life quite Hella."
"'Hella'?" Yuki asked. "Lady, you're totally making up words."
"Lucinda was a wonderful teacher for me." Rumpel smiled. "Ahh, and the smell of this swamp brings back so many memories. I'm just dying to see her again."
The elf had led them to a wall in a dark, dead end of the swamp. He tapped his wand on the wall in several places, making tiny green dots appear and lines connect, forming the picture of the head of some woman with long hair, wearing a crown. The image faded as green lines drew from the ground and shaped into a rectangle, making a door that sunk below the ground. The three were permitted entry into a cave that emitted green mist.
They walked and stopped in the center of the cave, where a magic cauldron of green liquid rested. On the opposite side of the cauldron, facing away from them, was a figure dressed in a bright orange robe, wearing a hood with a pointed head, along with long wings on the back of her robe, designed like a fairy's. (Play "Hall of the Zombie King" from Banjo-Tooie.)
The figure turned and faced them, revealing to be a woman with pale-white skin, with long black fingernails, black painting around her eyes and mouth, and silver eyes. Rumpel approached the alien witch and smiled with glee. "Mother Talzin…"
"Ahh…my dear Rumpel …" the witch spoke in a echoey voice, stepping around the cauldron to greet the elf. "How long it has been…"
"Long enough, my dear Mistress." Rumpel bowed. "Even after all these years, you're still beautiful as ever."
"Ah, please, call me Lucinda. You flatter me too much…" she smiled, turning away. "But no one can deny I was once so much more beautiful. I was the kindest fairy on all Avalar. My selflessness went without end, granting gifts to the many happy citizens of that world. Such as my gift of eternal love to a newly married couple, or when I gave an unhappy child the simple life of a squirrel. Or, was it a skunk? Even so, the ungrateful citizens were unhappy with my gifts… and so, the fairies had me banished to this wasteland, where I slowly decayed into the unsightly form before you. Why doesn't anyone appreciate my gifts?"
"Oh, don't worry, Lucinda." Rumpel smiled and stood. "I completely saw the good you were trying to do for those ungrateful people."
The witch turned and smiled at her apprentice. "I know you did, Rumpel. That is why I was happy to pass my teachings to you, seeing as I am trapped here. Tell me… are you using your powers well?"
"Oh, I'm using them exquisitely, Lucinda. Just recently, I helped an angry, hotheaded girl learn to love and get along with her annoying brothers. At the cost of several buildings and houses." He mumbled that last part.
"Ah, yes. I have watched that very performance through my magic cauldron. I have taught you well, Rumpel. It's a shame that all you got in return was a black eye from that ungrateful Irish."
"Mmm, yes, Lucy. Children are such horrible creatures when it comes to gratitude. Matter of fact, they are quite awful in general. But thankfully, I have brought you someone… who might fair well with one of your extraordinary gifts." He directed her attention to the icebender in the cave entrance. "This is Yuki Crystal. Poor child, cursed with the powers of ice. He's in such awful control of his powers, he can't help but freeze anything he touches." Yuki only gritted his teeth and growled at the elf.
Mother Talzin approached the boy, reaching an arm to pat his cheek. "You poor, unfortunate child… I've been watching you for some time, yesss…"
"Bleh, get off me!" Yuki yelled, swatting her disgusting hand away.
"Ah, but such temper. There's really no need to be ashamed of your powers. They are a gift. A gift from a marvelous spirit…"
"'kay, don't give me that crap, I heard it enough times in this story."
"Ah-he-hem." Rumpel coughed. "What Yuki means to say is, he isn't really 'ashamed' of his powers… he just lacks the proper control."
"Ah, of course." Talzin replied, pacing around the boy. "And you wish for me to grant you the skills you need to control your icebending, so that you may help people in need."
"Precisely, my dear." Rumpel grinned. "I would have done so myself, but I thought this was a task far more fitting for your magic. Right, Yuki?"
"Uh…I guess. But to heck with helping people! I wanna get better with my powers so I can take revenge on ALL those idiots! Numbuh 362 and everyone else who got me banished!"
"Ah, Boy, but why would you seek revenge?" Lucinda asked warmly. "Somebody with great powers like yours surely knows the only real way to use them is to help people. Do not try to hide your feelings. It is not revenge, but forgiveness you seek from your friends. And helping them with your powers will help you achieve that. For that reason, I will gladly grant you control of your powers. And even make them more powerful than before."
Yuki looked confusedly at the clearly-misguided space-witch. He then glanced to Rumpel, who smirked as he twirled his hand and gave a nod, gesturing for him to take it. "Uh…fine, whatever." Yuki decided.
"Good… Oh. But I am getting ahead of myself. I would gladly grant you the gift of control, but my powers have been decaying over the ages. I am in desperate need of… my shadow."
"Your shadow?" Yuki asked.
"I am a shadowbender, of course. And a shadowbender is nothing without their loyal shadow. When the fairies threw me onto this planet, Mama Odie imprisoned my shadow within an infernal Genie Lamp. Without my shadow, even my powers are of no use, and I cannot get into sunlight. But if my shadow was recovered, so would my powers."
"But where's the shadow's lamp?"
"If it was Mama Odie that had it imprisoned," Rumpel smirked, "I have a pretty good idea where it might be. And once you're done with Yuki, I have my own little favor I'd like to ask of you. Something that would benefit a… certain Dark Master."
"Nnn, I sense trouble is brewing near." Gruntilda said. "But for such a reason is why I'm here!" And with that, all three witches (including Rumpel Stiltskin) burst into wicked cackles. (End song.)
Battleship Halberd
The Kids Next Door and Team Sonic were currently playing on the decks of their flagships, not wearing helmets but still breathing fine as Eva and Kade did another KNN News Segment. "Good evening, fellow operatives." Eva spoke into the mike and camera. "After we last left off, we met up with a handsome boy named Rainier on Planet Secco, who, after scoring big in a podrace, joined our group. We just finished up totally wrecking an enemy space station and rescued the Star God, Jirachi, whom is currently resting as we are awaiting his recovery. We'll be back with a report very soon."
"And, cut." Kade finished, switching off the camera. "Another wonderful segment!"
"By the way, Kade, how come in some parts of space, we need air helmets to breathe, but in some parts, we don't?"
"Ah! Good question, Eva. You see-"
"DUN NA NA NAH, dun na nah, dun na nah, TO GALAXIA!" Numbuh 4 sang as Kade explained to Eva in the background. "DUN NA NA NAH, dun na nah, dun na nah, off TO Galaxia!"
"Hmm. Fascinating stuff." Eva replied after hearing the explanation.
Mika and Rainier were currently at the Halberd's edge, as Mika conjured a pink Psycho Sphere in her hand, and launched it off to the starry skies. "Whoa!" Rainier gaped, impressed. "How do you make that again?"
"I dunno." Mika answered simply. "You basically imagine a bunch of, well, Force in one place, and you channel enough before you throw it. Oh, but check this out!"
"Whooooaa!" Before he knew it, Rainier was lifted off his feet, hovering around the air, er, space. He was slightly startled at first, but the sensation lightened his mind, feeling absolutely no weight or mass.
He looked down at Mika, who smiled. "Do you like it?"
"Y…Yeah!" Rainier felt filled with wonder. "It's…It's like I've gone to the spirits!... It's so incredible!"
"Hm hm! Well, I'm not surprised! Levitation basically works, well, the same as Peter Pan. If you just imagine it's happening, well, it does. Like so!"
"WHOOOoooa!" Rainier suddenly felt himself flying around the bridge. "WhoooOOOAA!" He soared right over Mika, a good distance away from the ship, doing a few flips and twirls as he flew back. "Heh, heh! Mika! I feel so…so light!"
"Ha ha!"
Eventually, Mika gently landed Rainier beside her on his feet. "You're incredible! So, your master was the clone of a powerful spirit, wasn't he?"
"Sure was!" Mika replied. "Mewtwo was the greatest. Other psychicbenders don't get more powerful than him, no way."
"I'm sorry to hear about your parents, though."
"Oh. It's okay. It was painful to watch at first, but you slowly forget about it over time."
"It's something we have in common, really."
"Hm?"
"Well, almost. I'm not entirely sure where my parents are right now. Just that they were sold by the Hutts when I was little."
"You think they're alright?"
"Sure. I mean, they are earthbenders. They can pull through anything. But enough about that! Come on, show me more psychicbending!" he demanded excitedly.
"Hehe, okay!"
A few feet away, Emily and Chad watched the two, and were also touched by Mika's antics. "Awwwe. Aren't those two adorable?" Emily cooed.
"Ha ha. Yeah." Chad chuckled, trying to hide the cheesy feeling he felt from watching Mika.
"By the way… I'm glad you didn't take the Bang Gas." She smiled to the Dickson.
"Hm… cool." He looked away, frowning.
"Why didn't you?"
"…I figured… I could live with being just a regular human."
"Well, that was very noble of you." Chad then blushed hotly when Emily pecked a kiss on his cheek.
"Hehe…" he grinned very sheepishly. …But deep down, he felt very guilty. He couldn't let Emily know… not yet.
"Guys!" Gabe yelled, running outside. "Come on up to the bridge! Jirachi's coming to!"
Cockpit
Nigel and Jeremy rocked the little star child in their arms, the spirit groaning as his eyes started to twitch, lots of people gathering to watch. The big screen was on so the Sonic and Mario gangs could see from their ship. In a few seconds, the baby god opened his eyes, seeing Nigel and Infinity's smiling faces. "Oh… N-Nigel? Jeremy?" he gave a light smile.
"Hey, Jirachi. Did you miss us?" Jeremy asked warmly.
"Only a whole lot!" he cheered, flying up and twirling around.
"So, how's freedom from the Star Rod?" Nigel asked.
"Just great! I've been having the time of my life without having to worry about-" He stopped flying around and loudly gasped when he noticed the mismatched face of the infamous space clown. "AHHH!" He instantly flew behind Nigel. "Dimentia's back! What's she doing here?"
Dimentia looked away in anger at his reaction. "Patience, Jirachi." Meta Knight spoke. "You are in safe hands. The incident involving Zathura and the Irkens is in the past. Dimentia has changed now."
"She…She has?"
"Yeah, she's totally changed!" Gabe exclaimed, nudging the former galactic leader. "She helped Numbuh 1 and the others save a planet from destruction!"
"Really?"
"Yah!" Rachel smiled, wrapping an arm around Dimentia. "Also, she's really sorry for all that stuff involving GKND. Right now, she just wants to have friends and make up for everything. Right?"
"Oh… well, yeah." Dimentia frowned still.
"Hmm… it's hard to believe." Jirachi said.
"Well, you'll have to believe." Misty Greene replied. "Because Dimentia is your Guardian, and you'll have to stick with her so we can defeat the Dark Master."
"My Guardian?"
"You are a Firstborn, Jirachi." Meta Knight said. "Each Firstborn has a Mortal Guardian, and Dimentia is yours. You must let her capture you, in order to save the universe."
"I'm not sure. But if it's for the universe…"
"I have the Spirit Ball right here." Jagar said, holding up the magic Pokéball.
Dimentia took the sphere and immediately tossed it at Jirachi. The Star God grunted from the impact of the ball hitting his forehead, but nothing else happened. "What? It didn't work."
"That's strange." Eva said. "Celebi and Manaphy were captured, why didn't Jirachi?"
"Hold on a second!" Angie spoke up. "Didn't Groudon say something about a Jeweled Scepter?"
"Angie is right." Meta Knight replied. "The Spirit Ball will not allow Jirachi inside until his powers have been restored completely. To do that, we must retrieve the Jeweled Scepter and its light power source."
"Then we have to go to Halcandra." Magolor announced. "That's where Groudon said the Scepter would be."
"That still leaves the matter of this light source." Blaze said through the monitor.
"We'll worry about that for later." Magolor replied, pressing a few buttons at his station. "For now, let's go for that scepter. Buckle up, kids. Next stop: Halcandra." And before they knew it, both ships took off into lightspeed.
Ghost Zone Prison
The inmates of Ghost Zone Prison sat in the cafeteria, eating their gross, gooey lunches undisturbed, until- "RAH-HAH!" Crazy Courtney popped her head up below one of the tables, making the prisoners scream and fall back.
Penelope Taynt peeked her head in from behind one of the doors with her still-crazy expression, sneaking in and approaching behind the freaky child. She tapped Courtney's shoulder, so the crazy child turned to face her. "Hello. My name's Courtney."
Penelope just aimed the persona-catching device; the DNA Revitalizer, at her and said, "You belong with Amanda, please!" And she fired away.
"RAAH-HAAAH." Crazy Courtney was sucked into the device, left to float around the small capsule.
"ONE down!" Penelope shouted, crossing Courtney's name off a list of Amanda's personas. "Now, to go about tracking the others. Good thing I still have Amanda's toenail, please." She then held up a toenail and placed it in what looked like a DNA tracker. "With this, I'll be able to track down the rest of Amanda's personas. Fear NOT, Amanda! I'M-a comin'! Please!" With that, she dashed off, shoving down several prison guards.
Brain's Star Destroyer
Danika, Nolan, and April were asleep in a room on the Star Destroyer. Nolan was in his own bed on the left side of the room while the girls slept in bunk beds, with April on top. The handicapped was having trouble going to sleep, tossing and turning from nightmares.
A vision flashed in his mind of that night, when Koda Shrieves, aka "Figure", grabbed Corey Sanderson, took his knife, and sliced him across the throat.
"AH!" Nolan yelled, shooting awake and sitting up in his bed. He glanced to his left to see the girls were still sound asleep. "What was that all about…" he asked himself, then sighed. "I need a glass of water." He pushed his blanket off and heaved himself onto his wheelchair, rolling down the ship's hall in greyish-blue Jimmy Neutron pajamas.
Nolan stopped on his way to the kitchen when he passed a slightly open door, rolling back to peek inside. Monsieur Mallah's arm was wrapped over Brain as they both lay in a hammock. Nolan smiled as he extracted the mini monitor from his chair and used it to take a picture. "That's gonna be somethin' funny to remember."
Nolan continued and made it to the kitchen, where he sleepily opened the refrigerator, took out a glass of water, and started to drink.
Unbeknownst to him, a dark-cloaked figure in a hood quietly snuck down a hall, peeking to the boy in the kitchen. As Nolan drank the clear liquid, he instantly stopped, hearing the figure's footsteps in the room. He turned to see who it was, and his mouth dropped wide open. (Play "Duel of the Fates" from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace!)
The man threw his hood back, exposing his red, spiked head, decorated with black lines. He reached his right hand in his cloak pocket, drawing out a red, double-sided lightsaber, twirling it around. Nolan's fingers slowly released their grip on the water, the glass falling and shattering on the ground. "You? No… it can't be!"
"I must have… revenge."
Boss fight: Darth Maul
Nolan hurriedly tried to roll back the way he came, but the demonic Sith Lord grabbed and tossed him to a wall with his psychic. Nolan looked up and quickly rolled away as Darth Maul jumped and did a landing stab, sticking his sword in the floor. Nolan turned back and fired a missile, but Darth Maul pulled his weapon out and flipped back, grabbing a few chairs and a table and tossing them at Nolan, the boy shielding his eyes as the objects missed by a few inches.
He uncovered his eyes to see Darth about to run and strike him, so he extended a grappling hook from his chair and grabbed a blue lightsaber on the counter, switching it on and swinging to defend against Darth Maul's quick strikes. Darth Maul rolled behind and kicked his chair into the wall, then tried to run and stab him again, but Nolan quickly moved away, getting Maul's sword stuck in the wall. Nolan turned and fired a net around him, giving Maul a shock, but the Sith was able to pull his sword out and slice it.
Nolan extracted a metal claw from his chair and put his blue saber in, using the claw to swing the weapon at Darth Maul from a safer distance. Darth Maul still defended his strikes, starting to step backwards as Nolan rolled closer. The Sith Lord started proceeding backward into the hall he came from, swinging his double-saber faster as Nolan's claw swung faster as well. He was able to fling Maul's arms behind his back, but still holding onto his sabers, so Nolan switched on his wheelchair's rocket boosts, drew out two sharp points on the front of his chair, and shot forward, forcing the Sith Lord back and sticking him to the wall by his cloak.
Nolan pulled back as Darth Maul recovered, continuing to swing at Nolan some more while he defended with his claw's saber. Nolan stood, er, sat his ground when Maul started throwing psychic blasts at him, but the last one was able to push his chair back, the great force making Nolan tumble out of it. He looked up and gasped as Maul was about to stab him, covering his eyes, but uncovered when Maul was pushed back by some poison gas.
Nolan felt a pair of hands grab his arms, lift him up, and throw him back in his wheelchair. "Need a hand?" He looked up and gave a wide smile at Wesley Dodds. They both looked to see Darth Maul blowing the gas away and facing them once more, gripping his sabers ready. They both gave a battle ready expression as Dodds declared, "Let's sack some Sith."
Nolan drew out his blue lightsaber and rolled over to Maul, starting to swing at him some more, without the metal claw, as Wesley just threw punches and kicks at him. Maul dodge-rolled away down a corridor to their right, using his Force to blow them back. Maul high-tailed away as the two recovered and chased.
Nolan and Dodds fired their weapons as they chased Maul over a long, thin bridge over a large chasm, the Sith Lord still running and using his sabers to protect. Dodds immediately ran up the walls and dashed along the ceiling, dropping in front of Darth Maul, and grabbed his sabers, trying to pull them away while Maul pulled back. Maul was able to take them back and defend when Nolan tried slicing him from behind, but Dodds was able to punch him across the face a few times, pushing him back over the edge, but Maul landed on a lower bridge and started running.
Dodds and Nolan dropped down there and chased toward a hallway where red barriers were lined up, switching on and off automatically. When the barriers switched off, Dodds ran and caught up to Maul, throwing punches and kicks at him while Maul still swung his sabers. The two were battling around some kind of deep hole, the barriers switching back on, preventing Nolan from joining the fight. The Sith rolled behind the old man, but Wesley turned just in time to spray gas in his face, blinding his vision for a short while as Maul swung around aimlessly.
"I can use some help here, Nolan!" Dodds shouted, still trying to dodge Maul's strikes.
The barriers lowered just in time, so Nolan rolled in to help, but Maul got his vision back and used psychic to blow him into a wall. That's when Dodds gave a battle cry, leapt from over the pit to strike Maul, but the Sith quickly turned and pierced his sabers right through his chest. (End song.)
Nolan looked up and gasped in horror, seeing the red saber through his friend's chest, the Sith then tossing him at a wall. "You… let us down… son." Were Dodds' last words before he passed.
Nolan's face scrunched in anger, screaming with rage as he sped toward the red-skinned Sith, swinging his blue saber even faster. He was able to cut his double-sabers in half and kept swinging until he was able to slice the Sith Lord RIGHT through the middle, horizontally. Darth Maul squeezed out the last of his breath, slipping his hood back on and limping backwards. He made it a few feet away before his body fell to the floor, in half.
Nolan slowly approached the fallen psychic, growing ever more curious as to why he would break in and attack all of a sudden. He carefully grabbed the side of his upper half and rolled him over. Nolan looked with horror as the hood slipped off, exposing Corey Sanderson's deceased head. He slowly backed up his wheelchair in shock, but that caused him to accidentally roll over the edge, falling into the endless shaft below. "AAAAAHHHHHH!"
Real world; Nolan's Room
Nolan immediately shot wide awake. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! !" His loud screaming caused Dani and April to startle awake.
"AHH!" Danika screamed back. "What's wrong, Nolan?!"
Nolan panted heavily, trying to find the right words. "I just had the craziest dream!"
"Don't tell me you were naked in front of the whole Brotherhood, 'cause that stuff gets old." April said.
"No. It was something WAY crazier than that."
"Well, I'd love to hear about it, but I, am, tired. Tell me in the morning." April yawned before rolling over.
Danika stood up and walked over in her pitch-black, shadowy pajamas, sitting beside Nolan on his bed. "You can tell me about it. A dream of yours, you'll be thinking about it for days." She figured.
"…Well… I fought Darth Maul."
"You mean the Sith Lord?! That's so cool! Did you win?"
"Well… kind of. Wesley Dodds came to help me."
"That old guy you used to be friends with?"
"Y-Yeah. We fought him together, and… Maul killed him. Then I sliced Maul in half, and he…he turned into Corey Sanderson. Also, before the fight began, Maul said… 'I must have revenge.'"
"Hmm… that would make sense. I heard that Darth Maul was one of Palpatine's greatest apprentices. He fought against Obi-wan Kenobi and was killed. But there's a rumor that he was revived by an evil space-witch called Mother Talzin… then all he sought was revenge."
"Then my guess is, I had the dream with him, because we relate in that sense."
"But what did Corey Sanderson have to do with it?"
"I think I know. Before Dodds died… he said I let them down."
"How d'ya figure?"
"Well, for one thing… Mr. Dodds left me a set of his costume. I…I think he wanted me to be his successor. But…"
"But you wound up as Brain's apprentice."
"Y…Yeah. And then Corey. After I joined the Brotherhood… I promised Corey that I would make things right. But that's what I'm doing, really. I'm helping the Brotherhood so I can give metahumans a fair place in the world, instead of being hated. Sigh… but I guess it isn't as simple as I thought it'd be."
Monsieur Mallah secretly listened to the two's conversation from outside the room, then decided to leave down the hall.
"Sigh… I just don't know what to do any more." Nolan sighed in doubt.
"Ah, cheer up, Nolan." April mumbled from her bed. "You're doing just fiiine. You're pretty much the favorite of the last living Sith Lord in the cosmos."
"I guess so…" Nolan replied, depressedly.
Danika then smiled and stood up. "You know what'd make you feel better? Come on, let's go to the kitchen and get some Purple Flurp!" she suggested, playfully pinching his cheek with her toes. "That soda cheers anybody up!"
"Hehehe…" Nolan blushed. If there was anyone that could make him smile, it was Danika. His mind then sparked as he remembered something. "Hold on a second!" He helped himself into his wheelchair again and extracted the mini monitor, skimming it. "Aww…" he moaned with disappointment when he couldn't find the picture of Mallah and Brain.
Somewhere else in the Destroyer
Gary was currently patrolling a hall at this time as Mr. Boss approached and stopped him. "Listen, Gary, we need to talk." But he then noticed Monsieur Mallah coming from behind Gary. "Uh, h-hey, Mallah!" the two saluted.
"Gary. Jeffery." Mallah greeted and passed by, uninterested.
The gorilla entered Darth Genious' dark chamber, finding his master gazing at a stone statue of his father. "Ahh… isn't my father's carving just exquisite, Monsieur Mallah? When we take over, I will have these placed all around the world, with me by his side. People will forever gaze upon them and remember the glories of the Sith."
"Exquisite indeed, Master. But ve have a problem."
"Oh, yes. I have already sensed the nightmares clogging Nolan's mind. No doubt the cause of certain meddling Nightmares themselves. We've nothing to worry. My incredible powers of manipulation will keep Nolan on our side. And once we've obtained enough Star Power, they and all the universe's heroes will be ours to defeat."
From the shadows, they were watched by a dark cloaked being wearing some kind of mask with a tube in its mouth. Morpheus left the villains as he phased through the walls of the ship and took off for Nightmare Land.
Nightmare Land
There, he was awaited by Darkrai, Customer, and Jar Jar. Morpheus kneeled before the king and spoke. "I've delivered the message, Master. And the same one to Mr. Dodds."
"Good. Our nightmares will get through to them yet. They've never failed before." Darkrai spoke.
Planet Avalar
Wesley Dodds and Larry Oldman were still resting on Planet Avalar. Sandman just had the same Nightmare as Nolan, immediately shooting awake after Darth Maul stabbed him. "AHH!" he shot his gas gun upwards.
"GAHHHH-GAH-HOYYYY!" Mr. Oldman screamed, jumping out of his seat on their ship. "Dooodds! Don't frighten me like that! My pants get all yelpy when I frighten."
"Uh… sorry, Mate." Mr. Dodds thought for a moment. "Hmm… so, if I'm right… what Morpheus is trying to tell me is… that Nolan truly has taken to the Dark Side." He gave a sigh. "I don't believe it. I was afraid this might happen. That boy got put up with so much crap during his time. …And you can always count on a Sith Lord to make things worse for people like him. …Sigh, I just don't know what to do, Larry."
"Ahhh. Do not give in to despair, yet, Master Dodds." At this, both men turned and noticed the chubby, grey-haired old man that was their leader.
"Master Iroh." Dodds bowed. "What brings you here?"
"This planet was always peaceful for relaxation. The Silver River really heals the old bones. Anyway, you must not worry for Nolan too much. Seeing the two of you, reminds me of me and my nephew. His mind may be troubled, and his heart overtaken by darkness… but one day soon, he will find his ultimate destiny, and see what he truly wants in life."
Iroh's words were able to give Dodds an encouraged smile. Larry, however, didn't seem at all too interested. Just weirded out by that man showing up out of nowhere.
"At any rate, let's fix us some tea!" Iroh perked up. "Some Jasmine Tea will always hit the spot."
Halcandra's Atmosphere
The Halberd and Blue Typhoon flew out of hyperspace and were now approaching a red and orange planet that seemed almost entirely made of lava. "Well, we're coming to Halcandra." Magolor reported. "80% boiling magma, packed with tons of lava geysers and constantly crashing meteorites, making this the perfect place if you're either a fire/earthbender."
"When things crash here, they go ker-ploopey." Marx said happily, still bouncing on his ball as he kicked on some sunglasses. "Better cover UP! Ah hahahaha!"
Everyone shielded their eyes as both ships burned bright orange, entering the atmosphere. They flew past the planet's black clouds of volcano smog and ash, hovering a good distance over the lava-filled surface. "The ground is far too unstable to land anywhere." Meta Knight said.
"I'm detecting strong magnetic readings coming from that volcano ahead." Tails reported.
"That's gotta be the Jeweled Scepter." Magolor figured. "We'll need a small team to go out and retrieve it."
"This looks like my kinda place." Nigel smirked.
"Hey, I'm an earthbender! I'm going, too!" Angie shouted.
"'Guess that means I am, too." Eva figured.
"And I shall accompany you." Meta Knight offered. "Sword, Blade, Magolor, look after things."
"Oi, be careful, Meta Knight." Blade Knight cautioned.
"That place'll roast you to a golden-blue-brown, eh?" Sword Knight said.
"Kirby, Dimentia, you should come, too." Meta Knight suggested.
"Poyo!" Kirby agreed.
"Somehow I feel like I'm getting my butt burned." Dimentia commented.
"Very well, then. The more the merrier. Let's go." The operatives gathered onto the Sector L KNN News bus, driven by Kade, while Kirby and Dimentia squeezed on the Warp Star, and Meta Knight just flew with his wings as they launched to the fiery inferno. (Play "Dangerous Dinner 1" from Kirby's Return To Dreamland!)
Stage 39: Halcandra
Mission: Find the Jeweled Scepter!
Act 1
The team flew closer toward the magma surface, already having to quickly dodge geysers of lava that popped out from below. Some fireballs came for Meta Knight, but the Star Warrior swiftly dodged them and bat the last one away with his sword, making it bump the side of the C.O.O.L.-B.U.S., but it kept going. Another fireball came for Kirby, but the pink puff inhaled it and spat flames at other fireballs coming for them.
Large flame snakes started popping and diving in-and-out of the lava, so the gang had to make quick turns to avoid them. They started zooming between tall, pointy rocks as bigger lava geysers started to pop up. Kirby flew the Warp Star higher as a geyser nearly burned them, but the lava drops nearly hit Dimentia, missing by a few inches. The two gaped when a huge lava blob, called a Blargg, rose from the lava behind them and chomped its huge mouth, destroying the Warp Star and making them crash on some safe land with several cracks of magma.
"Time to land." Meta Knight said, deciding to land beside them. Kade flew the C.O.O.L.-B.U.S. by so Eva, Nigel, and Angie could jump down as well.
Angie already felt her bare feet begin to sizzle on the piping hot rock, so she yelped around before hopping on Nigel's back and wrapping her legs around him. "Carry me."
"Ugh."
The six continued up a hill, avoiding fiery geysers from the ground, and reached the top, overlooking a magma river that flowed downward. Eva used her Ice Breath to freeze a stone platform for the six to get on and start flowing slowly. They flowed to the bottom of the hill and turned a corner to their right. Lots of sharp rocks sat in the way of the river, but Nigel and Angie were able to combine their bending and bend the lava to make them avoid the rocks. The river was coming to a dead end, so the two swung their arms out to make a lava geyser lift them onto the path above the wall.
They walked along a small path before reaching a large pool of lava with several geysers shooting out. Eva froze platforms on the geysers for them to jump across, dodging fireballs as well. They made it to another rocky pathway and sidled along a wall over some lava. A Blargg popped out of the lava, but Eva quickly threw some water on it before it could chomp its huge mouth at them, freezing the monster into solid stone as Angie used earthbending to shatter it.
They made it to a small field where four Lizalfos spotted them, running over and swinging their iron tails. When one of them swung its stone arm at Angie, she easily grabbed and held it back, ripping it off and tossing it back at the Lizalfos. Dimentia fired lightning at another one, but it defended with its stone arm, but Eva was able to run behind and slash it with her Phantom Sword. Meta Knight flew behind and sliced one's tail off, allowing Kirby to inhale it and gain the Hammer ability. He used his hammer to knock out that Lizalfos, then ran to attack the last one, who defended with its arm, only for Nigel to burn it from behind.
With them gone, they walked over to another lava river flowing down a hill into a cave. They stood on some kind of large wheel-shaped stone as Angie used her bending to break it from the wall so it could start rolling. The group carefully balanced on the rolling stone, watching out for spots that caught on fire as it spun in the lava. As it started to roll into the cave, a bunch of Fire Keese flew down from the stalactites on the ceiling to bite them, Eva quickly swatting them away with her sword.
When the stone started to sink, the team quickly jumped onto a platform, where several flaming Stalfos rose up from the magma. "Kirby, eat this." Eva ordered, throwing some water toward Kirby for him to inhale. Kirby's skin became like pure water as he became Water Kirby, the liquefied puffball spewing small waves at the flaming skeletons and turning them to dust. Kirby started to skid along the surface of the magma, leaving a hardened solid trail for the others to follow him.
Kirby led the trail to a cave leading further inside. They looked to their right as magma waves surfed their direction, in which Eva and Kirby quickly used their water to freeze them for Angie to then shatter them. When they got to a wider part of the cave, they looked up as square-fractions of the ceiling started coming down, hurrying before they could get crushed. Boulders started to crumble down from the ceiling, but Meta Knight flew up and protected the group by slicing the stones with his sword.
The group finally reached the dead end of the cave, which had a huge pit of lava. They noticed the lava slowly rising and some platforms leading upward, so they quickly jumped their way up the platforms before the lava came too close. The last platform they jumped to immediately crumbled upon their landing, falling and floating into the magma. "Hold on tight!" Meta Knight ordered as the magma blasted the rest of the way a lot faster, flinging them to the sky. The group landed on another river and flowed quickly downward before it came to a stop on a safe foothold. "Hoo. That was a close call."
"Let's go." Nigel replied. "The volcano's just up ahead."
As they all looked up to the burning mountain ahead of them, they noticed large, flaming meteors hurling down from the sky. "That's not going to be very easy." Eva figured. (Play "Dangerous Dinner 2".)
Act 2
They started their adventure up the long hill toward the volcano as meteors rained all around. At one point, they had to jump across tall platforms in the magma, watching out as meteors rained down on some of them. Some meteors crashed the bottoms of other pillars, making the group quickly jump the next ones before they toppled over.
They reached and started walking another rocky pathway as more meteors came down, some of them shifting side-to-side in midair by some kind of magic. The group narrowly avoided these meteors and continued up the hill, running as meteors shot down and started destroying the path. They reached another small field, this time with three Dark Lizalfos. The upgraded monsters ran forward and unleashed poisonous breath at them, intoxicating Nigel, Eva, Dimentia, and Angie. Kirby tried to inhale the poison, but he transformed into Sleep Kirby and was knocked out.
Meta Knight spun his sword to keep the gas away, then started flapping his bat wings to blow it back, poisoning one of the lizards so he can fly over and slash it. The other one tried to smash him with its tail, but he defended with his sword, then spun away to the air as the other Lizalfos jumped and spun its tail, batting the knight away. At this time, the gas wore off on the others, and one of the lizards noticed them and blew more gas. "Oh yeah? Eat this!" Nigel yelled, throwing some fire at the gas and making it explode, blowing that lizard back. Afterwards, Dimentia trapped the last one inside a barrier. The Dark Lizalfos blew some gas to try and melt it, but ended up encasing himself in his own breath, fainting from the stench.
That Lizalfos dropped a Cube Wisp which Nigel absorbed, using his Color Power to freeze the lake of lava ahead of them. They were able to skid along the slippery surface closer to the foot of the volcano. But right when they were about to go up the frozen hill that led up the mountain, more meteors started raining down, destroying the frozen terrain and making the kids have to jump to the foothold on the side. They walked up the small slope until they found a Water Galbo that was glowing with a star around its body. Kirby smiled at the armless/legless dragon and sucked it right in. (Cue "Super Ability" theme!)
Kirby's body became water again, but a stormy cyclone appeared on his head instead of a small wave, along with a star emblem on his forehead. He was Tsunami Kirby. The super-watered puff unleashed a massive wave that surfed up the magma hill, the gang jumping on and surfing with it. They reached a foothold and ran further up the volcano. More meteors were shooting their way, but Kirby made another wave that took them further up, easily dodging the flaming balls.
When they stopped, meteors crashed on the road ahead of them, setting it to flames, but Kirby unleashed a wave that put the flames out in an instant. They hurried inside a cave, where they found another huge lake of lava, Kirby unleashing another tidal wave that carried them across, wiping out some Fire Keese, too. Ahead of them was a magma river that made several snaky turns down the cave. They all surfed on Kirby's tidal wave with barely any effort down the river, wiping out all the Blarggs that got in their way and tried to chomp them.
They finally reached the end of the cave, where the stairway that led to the crater was protected by a magma waterfall. Kirby charged the last of his power and unleashed a tidal wave that completely flooded the room. Everyone held their breath as the magmafall started freezing into stone. The stone crumbled to pieces as the water started draining away, allowing the others to breathe. Kirby lost the Tsunami Ability and cheered, "Pah!", running up the stairs ahead, followed by the others. (End song.)
They were finally at the volcano's crater, immediately spotting the purple scepter sticking from the ground at the edge of the lava. The scepter was hook-shaped, and had a little light-blue jewel in its hook. "Finally. Let's get that thing and get off this planet." Dimentia said eagerly, walking over and gripping the staff. But the moment her hand came in contact with it, the volcano started trembling. When the tremors stopped, the head of a massive dragon with a snaky neck emerged from the lava, roaring at the alien jester.
"E-yeah. Had a feeling something like that might happen." Eva figured. That's when three more dragon heads popped out, the lead one grabbing the scepter in its mouth and swallowing it.
"It is the guardian dragon of Halcandra. Landia!" Meta Knight exclaimed.
"Aww. Why couldn't he be like the dragons in fairytales?" Angie whined.
"You'll have to go back to Avalar for those kinds." Dimentia replied. (Play Landia's Theme from Kirby's Return To Dreamland.)
Boss fight: Landia
The quadruplet dragon gave a battle cry before starting to spit fireballs that the group avoided. Nigel and Angie tossed fire and rocks at the heads, but the snaky necks helped them dodge and move around so as to confuse them. Eva was charging up a large ball of water and chucked it to one of the heads, but it did no damage as the head shook the water off. The heads started moving around some more as some of them smashed at the foothold, blowing the kids back a little. When Eva saw one of the heads open its mouth wide to charge fire, she charged another water ball and tossed it inside, making the head shake around and stun.
The other heads started coughing fireballs that Angie and Eva shielded with their elements. Two of them lied their necks across the ground, brushing back-and-forth to try and shove the kids into the lava. Meta Knight jumped and got on one of the heads, jabbing it with his sword and making it screech. The other head that was still up charged another flame, so Eva tossed another water ball into its mouth, hurting it.
The four heads sank beneath the lava and came back out with the rest of their body, starting to fly around the sky. The dragons spat bigger fireballs from the air that Angie protected with her rock barriers. The dragons stopped above the foothold and charged down with a quaking landing, unleashing a fire shockwave. The dragon flew a few feet from the ground and flapped his wings faster to try and blow them off the edge, but they stood their ground. Eva bended her Water Fists and used them to grab Landia's tail, able to swing the dragon around and slam him to the ground on his back. Angie and Nigel bended a ball of lava that Eva froze into solid stone with Ice Breath, allowing Angie to slam the round rock onto Landia's stomach.
The dragon got back up and gave another battle cry, flying back under the lava and splashing large lava drops onto the foothold, setting those parts on fire, only for Eva and Angie to put them out with their bending. The four heads stuck back out and glared at them again. The dragon turned around to use its flaming tail to start sweeping along the foothold to push them over the lava. Angie was able to stick two rocks up and hold the tail still for Eva to bend some water and put it out.
The dragon pulled its tail back in and turned back to face them, starting to cough out more large fireballs and setting parts of the field on fire. Eva bended another water ball and was able to toss it into one of the heads, making it stun. The kids quickly dodged when the heads started slamming the ground some more. They narrowly dodged the slamming heads as Angie noticed one of them charging another blast. The earthbender quickly kicked a rock, as big as their mouths, up and clogged its mouth, causing the charged flame to explode inside it.
The quadruple-headed flew out of the lava and started soaring the skies again, spitting more giant fireballs that the team dodged. Angie flung a few small rocks up and damaged the dragon a little before it came back down. Landia made a spark and separated into four dragons that flew around in separate directions. They flew all about to try and confuse them, spitting out fireballs that Eva and Angie still protected against. Afterwards, the four dragons swooped down and pushed the two girls away, but Meta Knight grabbed a dragon and struck it a few times before jumping off. One of the other dragons tried to gnash at Dimentia, but the former leader swiftly dodged and fired lightning, stunning and making it drop to the lava.
The lead dragon made a spark and called the others back, forming back into one body. The dragon swooped back-and-forth along the ground, nearly blowing Nigel and Kirby into the lava, but Angie made a rock platform to catch them. When Landia swooped back, Angie shot a jagged rock from the ground and jabbed Landia in the stomach, making it fall on its back. Eva bended her Water Fists again and swung them around before landing a powerful punch on Landia's stomach.
The four-headed dragon flew back up and became enraged. It roared once more as its red skin became dark-blue, diving back under the lava. Landia started splashing bigger waves of lava toward them that Eva quickly froze with waterbending, but the waves came so fast, they pushed through the frozen waves and pushed her back, Nigel grabbing her wrist before she fell over the edge. The lead head stuck out of the lava again, the kids looking around for the other heads, then were startled when the other ones started popping from below the ground to try and push them over.
Angie used Seismic Sense, closing her eyes and sensing where the heads were popping up. She felt one below her feet and stomped the ground, causing an Earthquake to bump it. That's when the leading head charged another huge fireball and hurled it, Kirby using Super Inhale to suck it in and spit it back in its mouth, but Landia spat it back faster, so Kirby quickly sucked it in again and fired, doing damage this time.
The heads retreated back below ground and flew up to the sky again. It started spewing blue fireballs, and when Eva and Angie tried to shield from them, the hotter flames pierced their water and earth shields and blew them back. Landia flipped and shot toward the foothold, landing several heavy quakes that made everyone topple over. The dragon separated into four again, each getting around a different corner of the field. The lead dragon coughed out a fireball to another one, and the dragons started passing it from one to the other over the foothold, the group avoiding so as not to get burned. The ball came faster and faster before the lead dragon caught and spat it straight up, the massive ball coming down with a thud and unleashing a blue shockwave that they barely jumped.
The dragons formed back together, swinging their wings and blowing wind and crumbled stones at them. Angie quickly flung the rocks back at their heads while Eva grabbed the tail in her Water Fists. When she swung it around and slammed it on its back, Landia was still able to recover. The massive dragon shot to the other side of the crater, gave a powerful charge, and shot along the lava.
"He's going to destroy this foothold!" Meta Knight exclaimed.
"Not if we can handle it." Eva responded. Angie quickly stomped the ground and made an earth barrier pop up, then Eva splashed some water over the wall and froze it in an instant. When Landia crashed through the barrier, it BUMPED its heads, tripped, and turned over on its back dizzily. Kirby sucked in a small rock on the ground and transformed into Stone Kirby. Kirby flew high above the dragon before becoming a sharp, hard diamond, dropping down and smashing the dragon's stomach with great force.
As a result of the impact, Landia coughed out the Jeweled Scepter, the staff about to land in the lava before Dimentia flew over and caught it. The dragon turned red again and shrunk down, separating into four dragons that were about the kids' height. (End song.)
The kids slowly approached the little fallen dragons when they slowly recovered and stood up to face them. "Awe! They're a lot cuter when they aren't big and scary!" Angie grinned happily.
The dragons and operatives then looked up when they heard the engines of their two ships. "Great job, guys! You've recovered the Jeweled Scepter!" Tails called.
Jirachi then flew down from the Battleship Halberd to check on them. "Are you guys okay?"
"Sure we are." Nigel smiled. "We're one step closer to restoring your power, Jirachi."
The four-parted dragon then looked back-and-forth between the children and the Star God they knew so well. The calmed dragon started to sense that these children were friends with the young star child… although they still weren't too sure about Dimentia. The lead dragon smiled and approached Nigel, rubbing his leg and licking him. "Awe…" he cooed.
"Poyo!" Kirby smiled as another dragon rubbed against him.
"Okay, guys, that's enough." Magolor told them from the Halberd's deck. "We got the Jeweled Scepter, but we still need to find the Light Source. Groudon said Mother Wisp was responsible for it, so let's get over to Planet Wisp and talk to her."
"Dragons cute! Dragons cute!" Marx cheered.
"Good idea, Magolor." Meta Knight replied. "Let us go, kids. Perhaps we can visit and play with Landia later." With that, the six gang members gathered into the ship as they both took off.
After they left, the four dragons couldn't help but give a suspicious glare toward Magolor. There was something about that creature that they just didn't like…
O-KAY, not the best chapter, but I think that scene with Nolan went well. I mean really, Darth Maul is the coolest! I sort of based that off Star Wars: The Force Unleashed when he randomly appears. Anyhow, next time, we will head to Planet Wisp. Later.