Operation: MASKED, Part 9: Night of the Were-en

Chapter 9: Night of the Were-en

Alternate Sector V Treehouse

Cheren woke up from his slumber with a shock. He found himself on the couch in Termina Sector V's treehouse, under his blanket with most of his clothes on the floor. He reached for his glasses on the table and sat up, his eyes immediately met with the morning glare shining through the treehouse's window. "Grr, stupid Giants." Cheren grumbled with annoyance. "I'm tired of them ignoring me. …What is their deal…"

The sound of wings flapping caught his attention. He curiously glanced toward the balcony and walked out. He searched around and noticed another owl statue sitting by the railing. The Uno son raised an eyebrow and walked over to strike it with his sword. There was a flash, and its wings opened up. "Well, I see you have come relatively far in your travels." Cheren looked up and saw Kaepora Gabora seated atop a branch.

"Oh, you again?"

"You've been having trouble with sleep. Sleep is important, you know. Remember that sleep relates to dreams, and dreams connect to your memories. Try to think of good memories as you sleep, and be bound for pleasant dreams. Your dreams can come to reality, so if you dreamed of being with someone you've been away from, that person can appear beside you. …Would you like to hear what I said again?"

"Uugh." Cheren rolled his eyes. "Say, Owl Guy, you seem pretty knowledgeable. Do you know anything about those Giants? Why are they ignoring me?"

"Ahh, the Giants of Termina, hm? You desire is to destroy Majora, yes? Perhaps they do not want him to be destroyed?"

"What?"

"Majora is a very fascinating creature. His manipulation over darkness is unparalleled, and misery is spread wherever he goes. Sadly his power has not been up to full potential. Things were a lot more terrifying in the past. But as amazing as Majora is… I should tell you that the powers of Space and Time are out of his limits."

"'Out of his limits'? Is that why he needs Miyuki? But why would he want control over time?"

"Why indeed. Perhaps he just wants to get in touch with his deeper memories. Hoo-hoo-hoot!" And with that, the brown owl took off to the skies.

Cheren looked at the floor and thought to himself. At the tower, Booster made a bed for Miyuki—er, Majora; whatever! And… she/he wanted to have nice dreams. And if Miyuki's a timebender, then her power comes from memories. And if memories connect to dreams, and dreams come in your sleep, if Majora had good dreams; in Miyuki's body; then he—er, she…

"Grrrrr!" Cheren gripped his head, "My head hurts! Why do bad guys have to make things so complicated! !" However, it was then that a memory clicked in his mind. "Wait! I remember something!" he smiled. He pulled out his Spirit Flute and said, "Back to the jungle we g-…" He stopped himself and looked down at his bare feet. "Oh. Better put on clothes first… unless I wanna be an earthbender. Hehe!" With that, he hurried back inside to do so.

Jungle of the Apes

The Uno child performed the Song of Soaring and was suddenly warped to the statue in Jungle of the Apes. "Hey, it worked! Now I need to find Slithers."

He made his way across the thick jungle again and located the giant, green snake, guarding the Cobra Mask beside his big container of coffee. Cheren's eyes locked on the coffee as he pulled out his M.U.M.B.L.E.R.. He shot a M.A.R.B.L.E. over and blew the wood container to pieces. The snake's eyes widened as coffee spilled everywhere.

"Aaaaahh! Hurrrr… no matter… they ssstep on grasss… anyway…" His eyes became weary as he lay his head down. Soon, the snake was lost in slumber.

Cheren put his Kateenian Mask on and began to carefully cross the pile of sticks. He had to slowly move his feet between the gaps of the sticks, making very little cracking sounds at a time. He was just inches from the snake as he slowly reached his arms behind its tail, the tips of his fingers clutching the top of the mask. He was able to lift it over his head, wobbling back and stepping on a stick. The snake's eyes shot open, and he instantly snapped at Cheren, who zipped away as fast as he could. He stopped to catch his breath after making it across the twigs.

"Heeeeh…" Slithers only sighed before going back to sleep. "Oh well… Slitherss tired… of guarding it, anyway…"

Cheren smiled and held up his mask in victory.

You got the Cobra Mask! This mask enables its wearer to speak Parsel Tongue! If you find any tiny holes in walls, try peeking for some snakes! The sneaky critters may have useful info!

Sector V Treehouse… er, Termina

Cheren performed the Song of Soaring once again, becoming wind as he was blown back to the balcony on Sector V's treehouse. On his way back inside, he was immediately greeted by Thomas. "Hey-hey, look who's up bright and early!" the son of Patton and Fanny exclaimed.

"With some more awake than others." Cheren replied with a yawn.

"Where did you go, anyway?"

"Just out for a morning walk. That carnival really wore me out."

"Well, I hope you aren't too beat. Celeste said you wanted to head to Holoska next, right?"

"Y-Yeah?..."

"It turns out, Holoska's at the very top of the world. Daytimes don't usually last a long time there. So, if we wanna make some progress and not freeze to death, we gotta get goin'."

Before they headed off, they heard the door open, and saw none other than Truman Kirman slumping in. The boy was without his glasses and his shoes, his blue eyes barely open as he shifted his socked feet across the wooden floor, all the way to the kitchen area where he tiredly grabbed some Rainbow Munchies and poured them in a bowl, eating and chewing them softly.

"Heh… sleepwalkin', huh?" Cheren chuckled.

"Yeah, he's been doing that a lot lately." Thomas replied. "You know, we actually forgot to tell you, he used to be a Delightful."

"He was? What happened?"

"Father brainwashed him, but he got out a couple years ago and joined us. Pretty admirable, really. His parents were Eric and Ashley, two of Father's favorites. Being their son and breaking from Delightfulization, that deserves a place in the museum."

"Wait… who's Eric?"

"The blond boy from Father's Delightfuls, why?"

"Hehe! In my universe, he's called Bruce, and he got married to someone else, and Ash married Dave."

"Ya don't say? You'll have to tell me more on the way to Holoska. I already have some food packed, you'll have plenty to eat for breakfast." With that, Cheren began to follow Thomas to the hangar, but stopped and turned to look at Truman. The lifelessness in his tired eyes and the slow crunching of his food put an uneasy feeling in Cheren's breast-

"Whoa-whoa-whoa!" Cheren spoke up just then, looking at the ceiling. "No! You are NOT saying that!"

What? I'm just trying to be descriptive.

"Dude, you already fail at writing enough as it is. Your descriptions are already bad, you are NOT typing THAT!"

OK, OK, FINE. It put an uneasy feeling in Cheren's CHEST, you happy?

"Dude, who are you talking to?" Thomas asked.

"Uh-… nobody." Cheren shook it off and hurried after Thomas.

"Oh yeah, and don't worry about those robo-pirates." Thomas assured him. "Harry called Global Command and they have operatives patrolling all around the North Pole. They'll keep them away while we sail into Holoska."

Drilovsky Household; Hyrule Dimension

Panini Drilovsky was quietly drifting in the realm of dreams, in only her orange gown and purple Rainbow Monkey slippers. The Irish-Polish shot her eyes open and looked around, finding a familiar brown-haired boy in the distance. "Cheren!" her voice echoed in the darkness. Cheren stared at the girl as she excited ran to him. But as she was inches away, she bumped into an invisible force field. She frowned and moved her hands around the barrier.

"Hehehe…" Cheren only gave a happy grin as he faded into the darkness.

Panini frantically pounded on the barrier and called, "Cheren!"

Panini shot awake in her room with a gasp. She stared at the morning rays shining through her window with a feeling of sadness. She shook this off and through her covers off to quickly get dressed. Maintenance

Tortuga Island

Pirates and drunken, hairy men were swinging bottles of rum all around the land as accordion music played in the distance, fists flying and jaws being dented all around as Captain Slag and Rusty Pete guided Nerehc into the run-down village. "Well, here ye be, boy. Tartuga Oiland, land where ALL sea-lovers and deck-moppers come ta drink and partay 'til the noon is nigh." The fat captain looked down at the boy and asked, "Now, what be yer reason fer us havin' sailed ya to these shores, boy?"

"There're kids that live here, right? I'm just looking for someone who can play me a good theme song." Nerehc stated as he skimmed the raggedy town. He looked to the corner of an open area and saw a familiar Spanish child strumming a Mexican guitar as he sat on a box, attracting many listeners who dropped coins into his sombrero. Nerehc smirked as he skied over and pushed the people out of the way to get in front of the child. "Do I… know you?"

The Spanish child looked confused and spoke something in Spanish.

"I guess not." Nerehc frowned. "But that guitar of yours, eh, Pablo, how good are you?" He pointed at the guitar.

"Mui bueno!" he exclaimed as he strummed a familiar tune to Nerehc's ears.

The Negative nodded his head to the music and said, "Yeah, yeeah, VERY good! Now, tell me something, Pablo: do you seek adventure away from this penniless town? A life away from all the sorrows and hardships and desire to see the outside world, in exchange for a little work? As rightful Prince of the Demon Realm, I would gladly pull you away from this town of poverty if you would submit to my rule and play that catchy little tune for me whenever the need arises."

The boy barely understood a word from Nerehc's mouth. "…Que?"

Nerehc face-palmed and mustered all the Spanish he could comprehend. "Would you… be mi amigo… por favor?"

"Ohh! Si!" he nodded excitedly.

"Sweet, I got a minion!" he exclaimed as Captain Slag and Pete approached him. "Now, the first order of business is to teach you English. WHICH, I will leave Rusty Pete to that."

"You c'n count on me, Cap'n!" Pete exclaimed with a hiccup and a salute.

"Arr, so ya got yer wee guitar strummer. Now, what be the next order of business, Cap'n?" Slag asked with a tone of smugness.

"Now, we're going after Cheren. Any idea where he might be?"

"Uhh, I come bearin' the news, squire." A pirate spoke as he suddenly ran up to them. "It seems the fleet of wee munchkins be stormin' up a brigade up in northern Holoska."

"Then that's where Cherry is goin' next." Nerehc smirked. "Chart a course for Holoska, Slag, we're going ice-fishing."

"Arr, ye expect us to charge a whole fleet of whiny munchkins unscathed, scallywag?"

"Leave the whiny brats to me, Slag." Nerehc's eyes remained cool and sharp behind his sunglasses as Pablo strummed a quick, dramatic tune with his guitar.

KND Armada; over the seas (Play the Sky Troops Theme from Shadow the Hedgehog.)

Aerial Defense, Act 3

Mission: Bust through the KND fleet and get to Holoska!

Nerehc charged and leapt off the side of the pirate ship, kicking on his rockets as he flew onto the first S.C.A.M.P.E.R.. Several KND operatives on jetpacks tried to shoot him, but he spun his sword and blocked the lasers as he shot purple fireballs to each of their packs, sending them falling. Nerehc set fire to that S.C.A.M.P.E.R.'s engines before leaping and flying onto a C.O.O.L.B.U.S.. He flipped over and kicked into the bus's window, proceeding to slice and burn all the KND operatives onboard. He went to take out the pilot, who saw him coming and only screamed as he jumped out the window himself. Nerehc shrugged before taking control of the C.O.O.L.B.U.S. and shooting it straight toward a flagship.

He jumped out and let the ship explode onto the flagship. He landed atop a flying operative's head and bounced across several others' before making it onto a flagship. "All troops, ready positions. Send the S.M.A.S.H.B.O.T.s after him."

"What are the acronyms for those things again?"

"I, have, no idea."

A pack of KND troops took land on the ship, controlling large 2x4 robots with missile launchers on their shoulders. Nerehc swiftly skied around the deck, tricking the robots into destroying each other. Some of the robots tried to grab him in their electrical hands, but he only sliced the hands off with his sword before electrocuting the operatives. After wiping out the robots, Nerehc skied over to a nearby turret, looking up at all the smaller KND ships overhead. After a few seconds of thought, Nerehc only sliced the turret with his sword and simply shot the ships down with his lightning.

Nerehc watched as Captain Slag's ship came sailing by with little trouble, the robotic pirates dancing joyfully. Nerehc smirked as he flew back onto their ship, skied across, and jumped onto another S.C.A.M.P.E.R.. He cut a hole open on the roof and jumped in, dashing to the pilot and cupping his hands over his eyes and mouth. The ship zoomed out of control before colliding with another flagship, but not before Nerehc flew out and soared over the seas. A swarm of operatives on jetpacks flew out to shoot at him, but he easily dodged the kids and zapped lightning at each of them, watching as they fell toward the seas.

Nerehc kept flying along and firing lightning at every small KND ship in his wake, giving the pirates easy access through the fleet. "Heh. A universe without benders makes them unprepared for the big games." Nerehc taunted. "Alright, time to take out the flagship and ditch these brats."

Nerehc flew ahead to the biggest ship in the fleet, designed like a giant conch-shell, meaning it probably belonged to the SKWID Squad. They sent out more S.M.A.S.H.B.O.T.s to take him out, but they proved no challenge to Nerehc as he zapped lightning at the first two pilots. The rest of the operatives controlling robots only panicked with fear, quickly pushing the eject buttons and flying out of them before Nerehc could do damage. However, Nerehc showed no mercy as he zapped lightning at each of them while they were airborne. Nerehc charged across the deck of the ship toward the entrance, which was guarded by packs of KND operatives. While Nerehc could easily do away with them all, he was growing bored of this repetitive crap, so he decided to fly around to the front of the ship.

In the front of the ship, the two pilots were currently shuffling through Yipper Cards. "Trade ya for a 91?"

"Pfft, please, that's worse than the 87."

"So, you have the 514!"

"Yeah, but that's not as good as the… hey, who's that?" he asked, noticing Nerehc flying to their window.

"I think that's the kid we're supposed to be stopping."

"Hey, where'd he get those jet-shoes with the purple rockets? ?"

"I dunno. Must be newer models-" Before the pilot could finish, Nerehc had broken in and sliced him across the chest.

The other pilot got down on his knees and begged, "Please-please, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna- DAAAAAH!" Nerehc immediately sent him flying out the window.

Nerehc only shook his head in disbelief before destroying the controls with his lightning, then setting the whole room on purple fire. "Warning. Self-destruct sequence activated. You only have a few minutes to make your way off-" Right away, Nerehc shot out the window and flew away from the ship. "-Or just… jump out and fly a safe distance away… whatever works for you. Cheater."

Nerehc returned and kicked back on the deck of Slag's pirate ship. Rusty Pete brought him a can of soda as the flagship exploded in the distance, the fleet turning away. "Arrrr! Next stop: nigh Holoska!" Slag announced as Nerehc enjoyed his beverage. The Negative was looking forward to his reunion with Cheren. (End song.)

KND Moonbase; Hyrule Dimension

Things were still calm at KND Moonbase. Francis was currently filling out papers at the Global Tactical Station (since his sister was temporary Supreme Leader, he was working his own shift, plus her previous one). "Well, that's the last of it. Guess I better bring them to Panini." He stacked the papers neatly together and proceeded to the Supreme Leader's office. "Sis, here are the papers for… huh?" When he opened the door, he saw no one at the desk.

He approached and sat the papers down at the desk as he picked up a folded note. He opened the note as his eyes skimmed across the paper. His eyes widened in shock. His scream was heard all throughout the Moonbase.

"PANINIIII!"

Holoska; Termina Dimension

After a simple, easy-going journey, Thomas and Cheren had arrived at the cold, frosty tundra that was Holoska. The son was barely shining on the snowy plains as white clouds covered the sky, and flakes were flying everywhere. Once the operatives stepped out of the warmness of their S.C.A.M.P.E.R., their faces were instantly met with the extreme coldness. Thomas was dressed in a heavy red coat, black mittens, and large black boots, while Cheren stuck to his regular clothing, his feet sunk below the deep snow.

Thomas sucked in some breath and blew it out. It could plainly be seen in its white, smoggy form in the cold. "Just like the cold they used to have at Arctic Base. Heh, when you're related to my dad, this kind of cold doesn't really get to you, you know?"

Cheren was shuddering at this moment. "Y-You don't say…"

"Don't tell me you're getting frostbite." Thomas smirked. "I figured someone who's apparently demon-blooded would be immune to cold."

"My mom was a summer person… our family is very complicated."

"So, what are we doing here, again?"

"Well, I…I think my sword landed out here. My other sword, that Miyuki stole. …And I think someone else may be out here, too. That's all I can configure."

"Annnd where did you learn this info?"

"A dream that the… Zoni gave me? There were a bunch of.. salamander.. people in it…"

Thomas shook his head in disbelief. "A little tip, don't drink too much soda before bedtime, or you'll have bad dreams."

"Pssh," Cheren rolled his eyes, "that's the lamest excuse-" he stopped himself when he watched a shooting star suddenly appear in the heavens, shooting down to Earth at a quick speed and crashing in the distance."

"Whoooa…" Thomas and Cheren's mouths hung agape. "You sure these dream people didn't tell you to come see a meteor shower?"

"It wasn't too clear. But it's still something worth investigating, let's go." (Play "Summit Beyond the Clouds" from Rayman 3!)

Stage 11: Holoska Snowfields

Mission: Investigate the mysterious meteor.

The two operatives started their journey between a small, snowy trench, watching as Miniblin were happily building snowmen up ahead. The little demons were now wearing mittens and earmuffs as they enjoyed their time in the snow. Cheren, however, didn't buy their cuteness and kept his guard up, approaching the short demons. The monsters took notice the kids and raised their pitchforks, sticking large snowballs onto them and spinning before hurling the snowballs at the heroes. Cheren blocked the snowballs with his shield before tossing his shield at the monsters to knock them out.

On a cliff above, a yeti monster rolled a big snowball up and over the edge, attempting to bowl over the operatives. Thomas grabbed Cheren and pulled him into a safe gap in the wall, avoiding the snowball. They hurried back out as Cheren shot his Hookshot at the monster's head and knocked it dizzy. He noticed a Hookshot target on the wall by the monster and held Thomas's wrist as he latched them up there. Thomas pulled out a S.L.U.G.G.U.H. and punched the yeti with it to knock it out.

They continued ahead to find a small lake of freezing cold water, with broken ice platforms drifting along the surface. On the other side of the lake was a hillside where yetis were rolling down more snowballs from atop a wall. Cheren noticed the cave at the top of the hill was sealed with a large chunk of ice. Cheren also noticed a small cave that the lake flowed into, but didn't see anyway of getting in without freezing. They looked to their left and saw a fireplace with a pot of tea hanging over it. Gaining an idea, Cheren approached the fireplace and gently took the steaming teapot, taking out his Empty Bottle and pouring some tea inside of it. The two quickly hopped across the icy platforms, over the lake, and began dashing up the snowy, slippery hill. The giant snowballs continued to roll their way, but the two narrowly maneuvered around them as they made it atop the hill. Cheren dumped the tea onto the ice wall, and the piping hot substance instantly melted it.

They entered the round, narrow tunnel and stopped when a giant snowball bowled from a left corridor, crashing and shattering on the wall. They peeked down that corridor to find another yeti pushing giant snowballs their way. They saw a gap in the wall and quickly ran to take cover in it, but couldn't make it as the snowball caught them and rolled them back to the start. They ran for cover in the entrance to let the next snowball pass. Cheren then noticed the Hookshot target in the gap up ahead and held Thomas's wrist as he fired the Hookshot and pulled them to it. They waited for the next snowball to go by before Cheren launched his Hookshot to pull them to the target in the next gap. They were getting closer to the yeti, so Cheren decided to toss the Bananarang to stun him. They hurried over as Thomas knocked the beast out.

They pressed forward in the cave to an area where the cave stretched taller. They approached a wall and looked up at a ledge above when suddenly, the icy floor beneath them crumbled and sent them falling into a hole. The two immediately pressed their feet against both sides of the wall, their backs pressed against each other, and instantly stopped falling inches away from an icy pond. "Well, this is… awkward." Cheren said, noticing their position.

"Just… get us up…" Thomas grunted as both he and Cheren started walking up the wall, keeping their backsides squished together. They were able to make it up out of the hole, and kept going up until they made it above the ledge. They forced their weight toward the ledge to safely get on top of it. Up ahead was a chasm of large, sharp icicle stalagmites. There were Ice Keese asleep on the ceiling, but they woke up when they felt the operatives approach. Cheren simply hit them with his Hookshot to knock them all down. A tightrope was all that led over the chasm, so Cheren became a Kateenian and proceeded to cross it. Thomas tried to cross next, but was unable to keep his huge boots on top stably. He flailed his arms before quickly jumping back to the safe ledge.

Cheren sighed in disbelief as he encouraged him to 'just wait there.' He found a weak plant growing out of the wall and became a human to water it with his S.Q.W.I.R.T., watching it grow into a round, purple plum that was half his height. However, the plum immediately froze solid due to the extreme cold, so Cheren felt it useless at the moment. He walked to an opening on the right up ahead, coming to a small cavern with what appeared to be hot spring water. He scooped some water into his bottle and hurried back to where the plum was, dumping the steaming liquid and unfreezing the fruit. Cheren grabbed the plum and walked back to the icicle chasm. He saw the tallest icicle sticking up from the middle and had to slice the tightrope before tossing the plum onto it.

The plum stuck successfully and served as the perfect platform for Thomas to get across. They reached the end of the cave and made it to an outside area, where several crates were stacked on top of each other, making a stairway upward. At the top of the crate pile, some Bokoblin were guiding other Bokoblin into coffins. "Hehe! We call this one, 'coffing'!" One Bokoblin said.

"Guys, can't we just get the yeti to roll giant snowballs at them?" the Bokoblin in the coffin said.

"No way, this is a lot more fun!" the first one exclaimed, slamming the coffin shut. "Annnd, go!" He kicked the coffin over the edge, sending it bouncing down the pile of crates. Cheren and Thomas dodged before the coffin smashed them and started to jump their way up the crates. More coffins were being thrown down by the Bokoblin, but the kids narrowly ducked each one as they made it to the top. The Bokoblin drew swords and prepared to fight them, but Cheren performed shield thrusts to knock swords out of each one's hands, allowing Thomas to punch them in the crotch with his S.L.U.G.G.U.H.. They passed an opening in the wall to a more open area.

The sky seemed to be becoming darker each second, and the snowing getting more extreme. In the near-darkness, they could see packs of Miniblin building more snowmen. Cheren pulled out his sword and ran to the first two Miniblin, but before he could strike, their snowman suddenly came to life and engulfed Cheren in one bite. "Did, that, blow, your, MIIIIIND, EEAAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Cheren fought his way out of the laughing snowman and shot a M.A.R.B.L.E. into his mouth, blowing him up. The Miniblin raised their pitchforks in anger, but Cheren and Thomas knocked both of them out easy. The other snowmen around the area came to life, but Thomas punched their heads off with his S.L.U.G.G.U.H., leaving Cheren to shoot bombs into the openings on their bodies, blowing them up.

The Miniblin retreated as the sky became slightly darker. The two saw a nearby river with big ice platforms flowing across it. They ran to leap on one of the ice chunks, allowing it to safely take them across the shivering cold liquid. From the walls above, yeti were throwing giant snowballs onto their platforms, making them have to jump to other ones. It was only a minor annoyance as they drifted to the other side. They jumped off onto a safe land on their right, which led out of the canyon. The great expanse of a field of snow was within their wake. (End song.)

They couldn't get far into the snowy field before the sky turned pitch-black. The blizzarding snows were coming down harder than ever. The land became so dark, the way ahead was invisible. The freezing winds were hitting hard on Cheren's face. His arms were folded tight over his body, his teeth clenched tight together as tiny specks of ice formed over his skin. "S-s-s-so-o… c-c-col-ld…" he managed to get out, his legs growing more stiff by the minute. "W-w-w-why… i-is it s-so da-a-ark… out he-ere?... It wasn't this dark 10 minutes ago… f-f-f-f-f… Can this be… M..M…Majora's magic?..."

Thomas stopped and turned to face him. "Come on, Cheren. This is what Arctic Training prepared us for. What, was your training base set in the Hawaiians?"

"N-n-n-no-o-o…"

"Well, you wanna save Miyuki, right? Come on, let's keep moving."

Cheren watched him walk ahead and stood up, keeping his right arm in front his face as he pressed forward across the snow. The wind seemed to blow against his face even harder, but he continued to withstand it as he trekked forward with all his strength. To his misfortune, Cheren tripped on a rock that he was unable to see, and he fell into the snow. His glasses fell off as a result. He sat up and shook the snow out of his hair and reached for his glasses. However, a powerful gust of wind blew across the land, and Cheren watched in horror as his glasses were blown into the pitch-black sky. "NOO! !" He reached for his glasses in agony, but they were soon gone from sight.

Cheren was on his knees, squinting his eyes tight to see a way ahead. All that surrounded the boy was cold and darkness. The land that was already dark was darker than ever now that he was unable to see. He was shivering ever faster from the cold, tears streaming down his eyes. He felt so helpless out in this wilderness. "Wwww…why?" he stuttered with despair in his voice. "W-w-why… did I… come here… I'm no-ot… m…my mom! I could never… be like her… She can do anything… and I… was never meant to follow her… I…I'm nothing."

"Cheren…"

"Nn…" Cheren's eyes weakly opened, looking up and facing ahead.

"Cheren…"

"M-Mom?"

A ghostly image of his mother stood in front of him. "Cheren… yoou muust gooo to the Dagobaaah System…"

Cheren's eyes furrowed with disbelief. "…Really?"

Rachel's ghost chuckled. "Come on, I couldn't resist…" Her ghost gave a humorous smile as she faded into the darkness.

Cheren shut his eyes again and continued to shiver. He heard footsteps stomping through the snow, and Thomas's voice was heard. "Are you OK?"

Thomas helped the boy up and hugged him close, Cheren's face buried in his coat's chest. "Mom…" Cheren breathed as he sobbed, "Mom…"

"I'm not your mommy, so don't get any ideas. But, come on, dude, I'm going to help you across, just hang in there."

Cheren remained close to Thomas as the Drilovsky boy slowly trekked across the field. But even in Thomas's eyes, the land was dark and hard to see. They managed to get a reasonable distance when a sound reached Thomas's ears. "Do you hear that?" he whispered, quickly stomping in the direction of the beating sound. They found a pack of yeti pounding on a single, light-grey wolf. The wolf whimpered with pain as the yeti prevented it from standing.

"Look what they're doing to that poor thing…" Thomas whispered.

Cheren opened his eyes and could make out the blurry image of the wolf being beaten to death. He let go of Thomas and limped ahead, pulling out his M.U.M.B.L.E.R.. He launched a M.A.R.B.L.E. in the direction of the nearest yeti, watching it explode. The yeti were startled by this explosion and quickly hurried away.

Thomas and Cheren approached the fallen wolf as it breathed weakly. "I don't think saving it helped much, dude… this thing is dying." Thomas observed with remorse.

Cheren could only feel sympathy for the poor wolf. Seeing him lying there, helpless, reminded him of how he felt just now. And still is, as a matter of fact. Without a moment's more hesitation, he pulled out his Spirit Flute and performed the Song of Healing.

Doo-doo-dooo, doo-doo-dooo, doo-doo, do-do-doooo.

The wolf closed his eyes in peace, feeling all of his pain disappear. In a flash, the wolf was gone, and only his mask remained. Cheren picked the mask up, brushing the snow off.

You got the Wolf Mask! This mask inhabits the soul of a lone wolf. Wear it to transform into a wolf. As a wolf, all you'll need will be your senses to see the way.

"Is that another one of those… transformation mask thingies?" Thomas asked. "Put it on."

Cheren looked at the wolf's mask and placed it on. Right away, he felt the same sensation overcome his body. In a flash, the wolf's fur grew across his body, his teeth grew sharp, and Cheren was transformed into the wolf itself, with only his brown hair and eyes staying the same. "WHOA! !" Thomas fell onto his bottom, startled at Cheren's sudden transformation. "Nice wolfie… you're still the same, right? Not a… w-werewolf?"

Cheren looked at the frightened boy before turning and looking out into the darkness. The pitch-black land ahead was still too dark for his animal eyes. However, a strange whiff suddenly hit his nose. He closed his eyes and sniffed around. The source of the smell was coming from something up ahead. "W-Wait!" Thomas yelled as Cheren ran in that direction.

Cheren didn't get far until he noticed a green scent coming out of a big, brown boot in the snow. The werewolf child sniffed the boot. Immediately, an image of Panini Drilovsky appeared in his mind, as well as the girl's playful laughter in her Irish accent. Cheren came out of his thoughts and sensed a trail of the familiar green scent. The wolf growled in anger, grabbing the boot and tossing it into Thomas's hands before running off into the darkness. "HEY! Where're goin'?!" Cheren ignored the boy's calls.

After realizing the wolf was gone, Thomas proceeded to sniff the boot. "EAAH! Cheren has bad taste in smell."

Cheren hurriedly followed the path of the scent, feeling that his friend might be in trouble. He ran great miles across the snowfield until he reached a canyon area. He kept dashing across the canyon, ignoring any Ice Keese or other monsters he came across. He soon came up to a dead-end wall that the trail led into. Cheren sniffed around the ground and started to dig, finding an underground cavern. He kept running and jumping his way across ledges as the trail led downward.

Pretty soon, Cheren arrived at an outside gorge. He saw a pack of wolves surrounding an unconscious Panini Drilovsky, who was missing her left boot. Cheren stood upon his cliffside and gave a loud, "Hoooowwwwl." The wolves looked up and noticed him. His sharp eyes met with those of the other wolves. The wolves turned tail and headed into the intersecting caves.

Panini was slowly starting to awaken now as Cheren jumped down. When she saw the fierce-looking wolf approaching her, she backed away in fright. "AAH! S-Stay back!" she yelped, conjuring a green fire in her hand.

The wolf stopped and calmly approached the frightened child. Panini stared at the wolf's hair and chestnut-brown eyes, glimmering in her emerald green flame. Her flame slowly shrunk and vanished as she crawled forward. "Cheren?..."

The wolf only panted and stared back into her emerald eyes.

"Is…Is that really ya?"

Cheren stared at her with a look that said, 'Hehe, yup.'

Panini gave a heartfelt smile and hugged the wolf around the neck. "I…I missed ya." Cheren immediately licked the girl's face, earning a playful giggle.

Back with Thomas

The Drilovsky boy impatiently waited with the brown boot in his hand when he saw Cheren suddenly come out from the darkness, still in his wolf form. "There you are! What's the big idea, ditching me with a smelly boot? ? Huh…" Thomas saw another figure come out of the darkness, a girl with frizzy black hair and an orange shirt, missing a boot. "Who's this…"

Cheren set his head on the ground and used his paws to pull his mask off. In a flash, Panini watched him return to normal. "Thomas Drilovsky… meet Panini Drilovsky. Panini Drilovsky, this is your Terminan brother."

"Brother??" they both exclaimed.

"So… this is the girl from your dimension?" Thomas asked.

"Cheren, what kind of place IS this?" Panini asked.

"It's our alternate universe! Same Kids Next Door, same people… but with DIFFERENT outcomes. You see, in this universe, our parents had different children!"

"But how did she get here??" Thomas exclaimed.

"Yeah… how DID you get here?..." Cheren asked suspiciously.

"Well, it's just… I missed ye so much, and… I had to come make sure you were okay… so I went up to GKND Headquarters, and…"

"NO! Absolutely not!" Jerome Winkiebottom yelled.

"Aww, come oooon!" Panini whined. "If yer sister suddenly splorped to an alternate dimension, wouldn't YOU want ta check on her? ?"

"The fact that my sister could be hurt is the very reason you aren't going. She used too much power trying to make this Transportifier thing work! And we're not even sure if Cheren made it there in one piece."

"All the more reason why I should go in there, too!"

"No! Sending another operative in there is too risky. You should just return to Earth and forget about the whole thing." And on that note, he walked away.

Panini only sighed in depression before turning around to leave. But right as she did, the Zoni flew in, giving the machine a blast of their power and bringing it to life. "WHAT the-" Jerome jumped around when he heard the machine activate. "How did that thing-" Before he could finish, the Zoni flew down and started beating him with golf clubs, knocking him out cold.

Panini stared at the spiraling vortex with amazement, the colorful lights spinning in her eyes.

"It just sort of… activated on its own." Panini explained. "Ah don't know why, but Ay wasn't gonna wait for an explanation."

"So you risked coming here just to… see me?" Cheren asked.

"Ay just couldn't help it, Cheren… wondering if ye survived or died… I had ta find out."

Cheren smiled and took her hands. "Well, I'm glad you came. Things just weren't the same without you around."

Panini gave a heartfelt smile back.

Panini Drilovsky joined your party! This reckless little firebender produces a heat that can melt even the coldest ice!

"…What was that?" Panini asked.

"Um, that was nothing. Hehe." Cheren chuckled.

Later

To their surprise, the blizzard started to calm after a short while. Thomas set up a small igloo for them to rest in as they laid their sleeping bags down inside. "Well, we had a rough day, er… night. I can't tell." Thomas said. "Let's just get some rest and see if the sun feels like comin' up, tomorrow."

Cheren was just finishing unrolling his sleeping bag when he realized that they only brought two with them. Thomas was already asleep in his bag while Cheren and Panini looked at each other, wondering which one should have the remaining one.

"Umm… you take it." Cheren offered.

"Naah, ya take it. Ya need it more than Ay do, Ay'm a firebender."

"Heh, I'd feel bad. You should take it, you risked a lot coming here."

"Yer the one that went on the long journey, YOU take it!"

"Why don't you BOTH take it, and stop keeping me up?" Thomas yelled from his bag.

Cheren and Panini exchanged a glance and shrugged, "Eeh." With that, both friends did their best to squeeze in there. The sleeping bag was tight for the two of them, so there was a lot of fidgeting around. Their bodies were pressed against each other as they had finally squeezed themselves in. Only their heads were sticking out, and they glanced to each other as their cheeks were pressed. "Sorry." They both said, pulling their arms out as they shifted their bodies. They eventually got into a position where their arms were raised above them, their hands touching.

"Hehe… it kind of works." Cheren chuckled.

"Yah!"

Cheren and Panini remained silent for a few seconds, feeling sheepish. "…Hey, Panini. How much do you know about timebenders?"

"Um… I dunno, the basics? They control time…"

"Do you know if timebenders can warp across space?"

"Hmmm… Well, Ay think they can warp ta different locations as they jump across time…"

"Yeah, but, can they… warp across dimensions, in general?"

"Ayyy… don't think so. Why do ya ask?"

"Well, because, Majora doesn't hold any power over Time or Space. And since Miyuki's a timebender, I thought the purpose for possessing her was so he could warp to this dimension… but since timebenders can't warp across space, I wonder how Miyuki was able to get here?"

"Maybe they just threw together a dimension traveler from somewhere."

"But from where? I doubt they could make one in such a small amount of time. Majora didn't know the original entrance was closed."

"Come on, Cheren, why're ya always so worried about this stuff?"

"It's all just too… weird, Panini. I feel like there's more to this whole thing than just Majora."

"Who names a demon Majora, anyway?" Thomas asked randomly. "That's the only 'weird' thing."

"Majora's a good name." Cheren replied.

"Well, compared to others like Ganon or Malladus…" Panini followed.

Cheren shook his head, "That's not the point!"

"Look, Cheren, who cares how Majora was able to get here. Isn't the whole point of this adventure ta beat him?" Panini asked.

"I guess so. But… I can't stop thinking about it."

Panini yawned and struggled to roll over, putting her left arm around Cheren while her right up was sticking up. "That's why ya need sleep… good night, Cheren."

Cheren only smiled and rolled over as well, putting an arm over Panini. After all this time, being with her again just felt so warm. It was her presence alone that made all of the cold in this frozen wasteland seem nonexistent. …And maybe the fact that Panini was a firebender, so she would be pretty warm. For the first time in several days, Cheren could sleep well…

Land of Frost and Frogs (Play "Land of Frost and Frogs" from Homestuck!)

Before they knew it, Cheren and Panini found their selves in a beautiful land that was totally covered under a white blanket of snow. The skies above were far more vibrant than the ones in Holoska, and were covered in beautiful blue and green neon auras. Pink hummingbirds searched for nectar in frozen red flowers, and frogs were frozen inside of thick chunks of ice. "Wh…H-How did we get out here? ?" Panini asked, amazed.

"The… Zoni brought us?" Cheren shrugged.

Panini found herself wearing an orange jumpsuit and saw Cheren wearing his golden jumpsuit. "Fine… but why did they bring us here?"

"I dunno. I guess we'll just have to run around here and find out."

Stage 12: Land of Frost and Frogs

Mission: Find out why the Zoni brought you here.

Cheren and Panini started their venture up a snowy hillside, where White Wolfos leapt out of the snowy blanket. The wolves leapt at Panini, but the firebender girl shot flames and knocked them back. One of the Wolfos tackled Panini from behind, but Cheren threw on his Wolf Mask and tackled the Wolfos off of her, biting away at it. The wolves retreated as Cheren ran forward in his wolf form, with Panini running after him. They crossed the frosty hill and reached a cliffside, where several ice chunks of frozen frogs lay below in a chasm of icicle stalagmites. Cheren used his paws to dig around the snow, and the wolf discovered an Arrangement Pad buried underneath.

Cheren pulled off his Wolf Mask and put on Sackboy's, transforming into the yarn-stitched boy, much to Panini's amazement. The Sackboy stood on the pad and got an overview of the chasm, grabbing each of the frozen chunks and stacking them into a pathway to cross into a cave in the mountain. They entered the cavern and found huge stacks of frozen ice blocks of frogs. Panini set the ice to flames and melted the blocks, leaving only enough for a staircase to the path above. The unfrozen frogs hopped away after being freed.

They continued down the cavern and made it outside, where strange, blue iguanas were ice-skating around a frozen pond. Cheren walked to the edge of the pond and held his arm out for Panini. "May I?" Panini smiled and blushed, taking his hand as he pulled her out onto the skating rink. They held each other close as they spun and glided across the rink. They stretched out, holding only one hand, then let go to perform a spinning jump, then grabbed each other again as they glided around several small islands in the rink.

Cheren pulled Panini along as the girl tilted her head back, letting the wind blow through her hair. Cheren used his free hand to pull out his sword and used it to scratch along the surface of the ice. They kept skiing around in circles as Cheren scratched the letters 'KND' into the ice, finishing with an underline. The iguanas stopped skating to watch Cheren and Panini, who peacefully spun in one spot. For once, the two were without worries or fears, and felt totally free. After spinning for several minutes, they skied over to a land beside an opening in the wall, gasping for breath. "Wow, that was fun!" Panini breathed.

"Yeah…" Cheren gasped with a smile. "Well, we should probably keep moving. Can't lose focus, right?"

Panini frowned slightly. "Yah…"

They found a narrow pathway outside of the skating rink that led into another cave. There was an icy floor ahead with several stalagmites sticking up. There were two blocks on the ice floor, and a dark chasm alongside the wall at the end, which had a ledge above it. One of the blocks sat beside the chasm, while the other was at the beginning. Cheren studied this puzzle for a bit and figured it out easy. He simply pushed the closest block around a maze of the stalagmites, the block sliding across the floor with each push. It reached the second block, which served as a barrier to keep it from sliding off. Cheren then pushed it right, then pushed it into the chasm so it made a foothold. Cheren then pushed the other block right, then on top of the first one to make a platform for them to jump up onto the ledge.

They followed the path and left the cave, coming onto an outside pathway that led up and around the mountain. Ice Keese flew at them, but Cheren easily kept them away with his sword. When they entered the next cave, Cheren spotted a tiny snake that retreated into a hole. "Ooh, let me try something!" Cheren said as he slipped on his Cobra Mask. He bent over the small hole and uttered something in Parsel Tongue.

The small, skinny snake slithered out and spoke, "Hundreds and hundreds of sweeps ago, a great frog by the name of Don Gero prospered. He vanished during the Old Demon Wars, and no one knows where he has gone."

The snake went back inside as Cheren removed his mask. He and Panini trekked ahead in the cave of deep snow, coming to a locked door. Cheren looked at the snow and became a wolf, starting to dig around the pure white substance. Eventually, the wolf stumbled upon a key, which they used to open the door. They were taken outside, continuing further up the spiraling pathway. Giant snowballs were rolling down, but Panini had them dissolved by her green flames. They reached another cave with a very snowy floor, the exit ahead sealed by metal bars. As they walked ahead, wondering what to do, Panini was suddenly pulled beneath the ground by snowy white arms. Cheren gasped, and was suddenly pulled under as well.

The two were thrown back above the surface as Cheren used his senses. He discovered the snowy blobs, known as Eenos, creeping beneath the snow. The wolf child ran around and started digging up the monsters, leaving Panini to toss fire and melt them. After all of the monsters were wiped out, the bars opened. The operatives hurried outside and went further up the pathway. They soon reached the very top of the mountain, which looked to be some kind of volcano. There was a small house seated at the end of a walkway over the volcano. Cheren changed back into a human and exchanged a curious glance with Panini. They crossed the walkway and entered the house ahead. (End song.)

Inside this house was only a simple desk with an empty chair, and some kind of computer seated atop the desk. They approached this monitor and found what appeared to be a chat session. The computer read as follows:

VeneerGuise began pestering majorMonstros

MM: …

VG: ^U^

MM: …MMight I ask why you've decided to bother MMe today?

VG: Can't I be troUbleD into ContaCting a lifelong frienD after a most DreaDfUl Day? =C

MM: I am not into such trivial interactions.

VG: hmhmhm. why are yoU highblooDs always so DownCast? :C

MM: Siiiigh…

VG: something wrong?

MM: Why… what are we doing here, Sanula? Why do we play, knowing what is going to happen?

VG: all Destinies are voiD, zan-

MM: Do not say MMy name!

VG: =(

MM: MMy name is a very important part of MMe! It's what holds MMy power and character! You do not just say it.

VG: bUt noboDy knows yoUr name… Can't jUst one, very Dear frienD have the privilege of speaking it? :C

MM: I would never allow a Yellow Blood to utter something so sacred.

VG: =C

VG: then I will respeCt yoU for it. bUt still… mUst yoU have so mUch DoUbt? we are Doing an inCreDible thing, yoU know… we are Creating a branD new Universe! ^U^

MM: do I care if a new race is given life, when ours MMust sink into extinction?

VG: ==C

VG: bUt isn't it yoUr Dream? to Do the kinDest of honor, of giving life?

MM: MMy dreams lie elsewhere… if we are creating this new world, I want MMy own visions engraved in it…

VG: hmm… :C

Unknown Location

In the darkness, the black-haired horned female with glasses watched as Cheren discovered the abandoned monitor, using one of her own. She removed the eyepatch from her left lens, staring at them with her seven-pupiled eye with a smirk. She pressed a button, and her screen showed an image of the Zoni hovering over the Land of Frost and Frogs. Her eye brimmed with an eerie glow. Her screen locked onto one of the Zoni as its antennas sparked. The Zoni was shocked by an invisible force, its eyes and aura turning red. "I am yours to command, Master Vriska."

"Gr8!" the female smiled. "Then do something for me…"