Operation: MASKED, Part 15: The Way of the Ninja

Chapter 15: The Way of the Ninja

Somewhere in the sea

"Cough, cough, hack, huack!" Having nearly drowned in the sea, Nerehc found himself rescued upon a small boat. After wiping off his sunglasses and regaining his vision, he saw it was his Mexican sidekick, Pablo. "Well, I guess you're good for somethin' than just playin' music."

"Era difícil escabullirse, casi me ahogué. (It was hard to sneak away, I almost drowned.)"

"What? Ugh, no one can understand you. It'd be easier to learn Japanese." He sighed. "Damn pirates. I'll get them back somehow. Hey, maybe I can trick Cheren into helping me! He hates them, too!" Nerehc smiled. "Where is Cheren, anyway? …And where are we?" As he spoke, they could see they were nearing close to a strange island of forests.

"…Hey, what's this?" Nerehc asked, suddenly spotting something red floating in the water. He quickly grabbed it and turned it over, discovering that it was a familiar shield.

Land of Fire

Cheren awoke to the sounds of birds chirping, rustling leaves and dim rays of sun looming over his face. The sun and leaves were soon blocked by Kellie's vibrant face. "Hey, Cheren? I know you're supposed to say 'Good morning' when you wake up, but since it's afternoon, do I still say 'Good morning', or 'Good afternoon'?"

"Huh?" Cheren questioned, still in his ninja form.

"Oh well, I'll just take a guess. Ahem… Good morning, sleepyheeeaad!"

Cheren sat up and found a red Rainbow Monkey was placed on his chest. He held the Rainbow Monkey and stared at it closely. It looked awfully familiar…

"That's a Don't Have Scary Dreams When You Randomly Fall Asleep Rainbow Monkey!" Kellie explained. "I borrowed it from Harry; the others keep talking about how you just conk out."

"…So this is Harry's…" Cheren asked in his gruff ninja voice.

"Mm-hm! I think his mom got it as a birthday present."

"Makes sense… this looks just like mine."

"Oh?"

"My mom got it for me… I used to have nightmares. Not so much anymore… well, almost."

"Almost?"

Cheren stood up. "Never mind. Thanks." He gave the Rainbow Monkey back. "It was nice. But let's keep going. The village should be up ahead. I really wanna try out this ninja form." With that, the two friends pressed forward.

Village Hidden in the Leaves

The rest of their journey wasn't long before they reached the Hidden Leaf Village. It was a wide, expansive town of colorful roofs, trees towering over almost every street, and a humongous mountain that towered over the town on the other side, which bared a resemblance to Mount Rushmore. Engraved on the mountain were six heads of what they believed to be very important people. The head that stood out was the one engraved beneath the other five; it was of some man with spiky hair and whiskers on his face.

Cheren was surprised at how big this place was; far bigger than the villages from every other area they've been to (excluding Carnivilia), and much bigger than he was expecting to be a village. Kellie, however, was just taking in the sights with wide, eager eyes. "Wooow! This place is gihugic! You think these people know where the Leaf Village is?"

"This is the Leaf Village. Finding this place was the easy part. The real hassle is finding the temple. So let's find whoever's in charge, do a little test-thingy that requires finding three of something, learn the song to enter the temple, and then do the temple."

"Hey, how did you know we'd have to do all that?" Kellie asked as they started walking down a street. "Are you psychic?"

"Not unless this ninja was a psychicbender; otherwise, I'm closer to fire. But since I didn't have a chance to try out this form in the dream world, let's see if any of these people know anything about being a ninja." Right away, they spotted a random child reading a book titled Ninja Training in the Hidden Leaf (in Japanese) and walked over to him. "Hey, kid. Is that a ninja training guide?"

"Um… yeah?"

"You studying to be a ninja?" Cheren smirked.

"Um… I guess so."

"Great! Then refresh my memory: what can these ninja guys do?"

The child stood in thought for a few seconds before pointing upward. "You see those Hidden Leaf symbols on the buildings?"

Cheren looked up and saw what was apparently the village symbol along the rooftop ledges. "Yah?"

"It says that you can leap to any ledge that has that symbol, and hang on to it."

"Don't I already have a tool that can latch onto targets?" Cheren asked. "That's pointless."

"Wait! It says more." The kid spoke up, eyes fixed on the book. "It says if there's another symbol nearby, you can leap to it, and make sort of a Wall Jump chain. You can also camouflage yourself in some areas and sneak up on enemies, and you have shurikens that can explode."

"Is that what being a ninja is about? I thought it'd be a bit more complicated; like spiritually and days of endless training."

"Huh? Oh no, this is a guide to a game that came out in March; if you wanna know how to be a real ninja, you should go to the academy."

"Ehh, I'll just go with the game guide. Thanks, kid." Cheren patted the kid's head before walking away.

Kellie followed her ninja-transformed friend with a look of confusion. "Umm… Cheren?"

"Yeah?"

"I thought you didn't know Japanese."

"I don't. But he was speaking English."

"No he wasn't!"

"Yes he was, that was clear English."

"IT WAS JAPANESE!!"

"How would that…" However, when Cheren looked around at all the large Japanese signs, they suddenly appeared as pure English to his eyes. "Hey… I can read Japanese! Well, when I'm in this form, anyway."

"Cool! You think he used that headband to cheat on his language tests?"

"Probably… not." They stood in thought for a few seconds before a thought occurred to Cheren. "Hey, Kellie. Why did you want to come here, anyway? You don't look like someone who'd be into this ninja stuff." But then again, this is Mr. Beatles' daughter I'm talking to. Unless he's different in this universe.

"No. But I wanna be a ballerina when I'm older! And I heard this place has the best ballet school in Japan!"

"So they have something aside from ninja training?"

"They also have Rainbow Monkeys here they don't sell anywhere else! I wanna bring a few home!"

"You do that. I'm trying out this form." With that, Cheren looked to one of the many symbols atop the roofs and took a tremendous leap to one. Already feeling the rush, he started leaping around every building in the village. "Ha ha! Batman and Mr. York got no dibs on this!"

Gotham City

During one of his regular scouting missions, Batman was reading this fanfic with disappointment. "Sigh… there's another one." With that, he added Cheren's name in the list of People to beat the snot out of for ripping off my look, under Nolan York's name.

Hidden Leaf Village; Rainbow Monkey shop

"THIS one's the most adorablest!" Kellie exclaimed, cheerfully hugging a Rainbow Monkey with a ninja outfit to her chest. However, another one caught her attention. "No, THIS one's the adorablest!" She gasped widely. "No, THIS ONE is the adorablest!"

The shopkeeper, a man with a wide, creepy forced grin, watched her as he said, "They are all quite fascinating, dear girl! Why not buy them all?" And quit holding up my LINE.

Kellie searched her pockets. "Oopsie… I forgot to bring money."

"THEN WHAT GOOD ARE YOU TO ME?!"

And in a flash, Kellie was thrown out of the shop, landing face-first against the ground.

On Cheren's end, the ninja boy excitedly leaped around the many buildings. The ninja was able to leap at quite a long range, depending on where the targets were of course, and he was also able to hang on to the symbols and stick to the walls like a chameleon. "Definitely the best mask I've found so far." he decided. "But I should probably try to learn a little more about this Puppet Clan. Who runs this village, anyhow…" After skimming the village for a short time, he spotted a building with a red roof, designed like three domes, that almost looked like a mansion. There were guards outside the building, and the Japanese symbol on the front could be translated as "Hokage".

Feeling like this could've been the mayor-or-something's house, Cheren leaped into the building's courtyard and onto the roof. He crouched down and crawled to the roof's ledge as he hung his head by the window. He saw a group of ninja inside an empty room, and they appeared to be talking to someone he couldn't see. "Five of our men were found unconscious in the forest, and we have found no sign of Konohamaru." a ninja with bushy eyebrows spoke.

Konohamaru? Could this be THAT ninja? Cheren thought to himself.

"You think he was captured by the Puppet Walkers?" a female ninja asked.

"No." The unseen person, a woman, responded. "The Puppet Walkers possess anyone they overpower on the spot; and if he was taken to their hideout, our spies at the shrine would've noticed. Something else must've happened to him…"

"Something else doesn't add up." a third, male ninja said. "When we examined the ninja unconscious in the forest, they were still alive. And if the Puppet Clan possesses anyone on the spot, something else must've defeated them."

Guilty. Cheren thought.

"You're right, Shikamaru. Someone else must be in the village. But we don't know if they're friend or foe. Keep an eye out for any suspicious types."

Cheren quickly lifted his head up and crawled back on the roof. "Hmm. I better be careful. I'd hate to get on these guys' bad side. Have another problem to deal with. Huh?" He suddenly noticed a strange rustling in the trees along the hillside. Cheren leaped over and followed the rustling, seeing it was a strange, wooden child with an orange raggedy shirt, yellow shorts, and an orange hat, all made out of straw. The creature also had tiny bright red eyes.

Cheren chased the creature all the way up the mountain monument, watching as it hurried into an opening in the forest. Curiosity overcoming him, he chased the Skull Kid. (Play the "Sacred Grove" theme from Zelda: Twilight Princess.)

Stage 22: Lost Woods

Mission: Chase the mysterious Skull Kid.

Cheren wound up in a calm, quiet, mystical forest, where dim sun rays shone through the trees. As he took his first steps inside, the Skull Kid himself appeared just a few feet away. The strange being carelessly danced around as it played a wooden ocarina. When the creature took notice of Cheren, it played a long, hard note into the ocarina, summoning a squad of Puppet Walkers. Cheren threw a series of quick kunai knives at the puppets, using his agile ninja form to slip away as they tried to grab him. He tossed a shuriken to chop the heads off a row of puppets, and afterwards flipped behind the last one to rip its head off.

After wiping them out, Cheren quickly noticed the Skull Kid had run off. He dashed down a path between the woods, but quickly came to a fork in the road. He decided to run to the right, in which he came to an area where there was a path on his right, and a path down below. He decided to jump to the lower path and head through, but to his surprise, he ended up back at the start. Or at least, it bared a resemblance to the starting area. He ran through and came to the same two-way fork from before. He decided to take the left path, and he ended up at the start again.

That's when another group of Puppet Walkers ambushed him, so Cheren leapt around and started throwing kunai. The Puppet Walkers didn't prove much a match as Cheren took them out. He hurried down the first path, then took the right road. He was about to take the next path on his right, but he suddenly noticed a ledge above with a Hidden Leaf symbol. He leapt onto that ledge and pulled himself up to find a third path. He followed it and came to a pond area, where the Skull Kid was dancing to his ocarina on a higher ledge.

Cheren got in the water and swam around to find a lower ledge, but it was too high to grab onto. He looked back at the shore and noticed the leaf-boat plant dangling over the water. He swam back and reverted to a human to water the plant with his S.Q.W.I.R.T.. As the leaf grew into a boat, a squad of Puppet Walkers appeared to the Skull Kid's call. Cheren let the monsters surround him before performing a spin attack, wiping them out in one fell swoop. Afterwards, he used the leaf-boat to gently cross the water, arriving at the ledge for him to climb onto where the Skull Kid waited. Unnoticed by the Skull Kid, Cheren successfully struck him in the back.

The Skull Kid jumped down to the lower path and ran further through the woods. Cheren followed him along the path, only to find himself on a ledge over a chasm. There was an opening down on his right, but there was a platform with a pathway above him, too, as well as a third one in a corner. Cheren switched to ninja form to leap to the symbol on the right wall, and from there leap to the upper path. Immediately, a squad of Puppet Walkers appeared, so he reverted to human to wipe the puppets away with a spin attack. Regardless, he still wasn't sure which path was the right path. Before he made a decision, Fi jumped out with a report.

"Master Cheren, I have new information to report."

"Well, what else is new?"

"The instrument the Skull Kid holds is an ocarina, Master. Listen closely for the notes the ocarina creates. The path where these notes can most be heard is likely the path the Skull Kid has ran."

"Hmm… good tip." With that, Cheren went to stand by the path he was currently at, looming an ear close to listen for the notes. Not hearing them well enough, he jumped over the ledge and threw open his Pirate Sail to glide to the path in the corner. He took land along the ledge and heard the ocarina notes much stronger. He followed that path and came to a new area, which had four different paths on four different levels, each on top of the other. The lowest path Cheren could just jump down to, and use a ladder to get back up. The second lowest Cheren could glide to with the Sail. The one above it had a Hookshot target for him to latch to, and the last one above that had a Hidden Leaf symbol.

Cheren became a ninja and leapt to the highest path, but he quickly took notice of the strange tunnel on the ceiling. The tunnel had vines growing along the walls, vines that the Hookshot could grab onto. Cheren became a human and climbed down to the second-highest path to get a good angle, using his Hookshot to latch onto the vines and pull himself to the tunnel. As suspected, the ocarina notes could be heard fairly well, and as he climbed the cramped tunnel, they only got stronger. Cheren had to dodge around the vines as rocks dropped down from above. As he drew closer to the top, he could see the Skull Kid happily swinging upside-down, his legs wrapped around a plum dangling from the ceiling.

Cheren made it into an opening along the tunnel wall, in which he had a good angle to stand and shoot the Skull Kid. He pulled out his bow and shot the Skull Kid directly, sending him falling down the long tunnel to the ground below, along with the plum. The creature recovered from his thud and ran down a newly opened path as Cheren dropped down as well.

Cheren grabbed the plum and followed the Skull Kid, ending up at another area with a wide chasm. A wooden, circular device sat over the chasm as it spun around, and the four ends around the circle had spikes with skulls on them. However, one of the spikes was empty, so Cheren was able to throw the plum onto it. He waited for the circle to loop around again before jumping on the plum. Around the chasm were four pathways which the plum platform passed by in a loop. Cheren jumped onto and checked each one, but neither of them had music sounding out. When Cheren looped around again, he noticed an out-of-place ledge on the wall between two of the paths.

He leapt onto this ledge and found an Arrangement Pad. He turned into Sackboy and got an overview of the chasm, and was able to grab and lift the spinning device higher, realizing there was a second level of this area. When he got out of Rearrangement State, he wondered how to get to the second floor. He soon noticed the Hidden Leaf symbols around the area and became his ninja form. The Leaf symbols led upward, allowing Cheren to Ninja Leap his way to the second floor. He stopped and grabbed hold of the last symbol, waiting for the plum platform to come around. When it did, he made a successful leap onto it, gaining him access to four more paths. He jumped off at a random path and immediately heard the music sounding from it.

The next area was another chasm with several wind currents blowing up from it. Simple enough, all Cheren had to do was glide around using the Pirates' Sail and check each of the four pathways. However, when he checked all four, none of them had music sounding from them. He didn't see any second floor to this room, or any area below. However, he released his grip on the Sail a little to get lower, and when he was near the chasm, he heard faint notes coming from it. This gave him the crazy idea to drop down and plummet to the dark chasm. To his total shock and relief, he landed on solid ground, hurting his legs a little in the process.

The chasm was still too dark to see, so Cheren became a wolf to get a grip on his surroundings. He found a secret, pitch-black cave and wandered around, the ocarina sounds becoming louder and louder. As he kept aimlessly wandering, he stumbled upon the Skull Kid himself, immediately slashing him with his wolf fangs. The Skull Kid cowered away immediately and escaped through a new opening, which let light into the area.

Cheren followed him down a staircase to another water area. There was no other way to go except the tunnel beneath the surface, so Cheren dove under and began to swim through. He swam into a wide underwater cavern with several tunnels and a Froak swimming around. The tunnel in the farthest corner was blocked with boulders, and when Cheren swam by it, he heard the ocarina notes sounding from behind (strange since they were underwater). However, the Froak was all the way at the cave's entrance, so Cheren had to swim over and lure it to the rocks (having to grab an air bubble along the way). The slow puff-fish took its time, but Cheren was able to lure it over and bash it into the rocks, blowing them open.

He resurfaced and found himself in a small area with five different paths. From left to right, it was a long jump over a chasm, a path with unstable platforms over a chasm, a ledge with a Hidden Leaf symbol, a path blocked by a flame wall, and a ledge with a thin, wavy crack below it. There was also a stone tablet by him, which read, From first to last. Remember your journey. Cheren wasn't entirely sure what it meant… maybe this part of the maze was different from the others. He first decided to choose the path on the very left, turning into wolf form to leap to the platform over the chasm, then to the continuing path.

To his total anger and annoyance, he ended up at the very beginning of the maze. He mentally smacked himself, having to make his way through the whole maze again. When he finally arrived at the 5-way intersection again, he studied the tablet more closely. Remember your journey… he noticed that each path required a different mask. He put on his Kateenian Mask and leapt over the chasm with unstable platforms, ending up in a similar area. He then became Sackboy and unraveled into a single strand to slither up the crack to the path on the ledge. This led him to the same area again, where he then became a wolf and leaped over the long-jump chasm. The fourth mask was Slag's, so he became the chubby captain and passed through the flaming wall in the fourth area. Finally, the only one left was Ninja, so he switched to his ninja form and leaped onto the ledge with the Leaf symbol.

Cheren was brought to a wide, circular enclosing of the forest with several ruins laying about. The Skull Kid stood upon a thin platform in the center, mindlessly playing his ocarina. He immediately noticed Cheren when he dropped onto the arena's ground. He flinched and, not seeing any other path to go, blew in his ocarina to summon more Puppets.

Sub-boss: Skull Kid

The Puppet Walkers were sent after Cheren as the Skull Kid leapt to one of the platforms on the ground. Cheren took his time in doing away with the Puppets before turning his attention on the Skull Kid. He tried to run and strike, but the Skull Kid was quick to leap to one of the platforms along the walls.

As the Skull Kid summoned more Puppet Walkers, Cheren noticed all of the Leaf symbol targets around the highest part of the wall. He tossed an exploding shuriken to distract the Puppets before leaping up to one of the symbols, then started Ninja Leaping above the arena. He stopped and gripped one of the symbols as he stared down at the Skull Kid, who looked confused as to where he went. Cheren leaped to the symbol across from the Skull Kid before leaping over and knocking him down directly.

The Skull Kid recovered and shook from the dizziness before leaping down to one of the floor platforms. From the angle the platforms sat, Cheren figured he couldn't ambush him from above; not to mention the Skull Kid started looking around upward. Cheren wiped out the newest round of Puppet Walkers before thinking of a way to sneak up on Skull Kid. He saw there were plenty of ruins to hide behind, so he used them to his advantage to make his way closer, moving a bit closer whenever the Skull Kid looked away. However, the Skull Kid summoned more Puppet Walkers which took notice of Cheren, alerting the Skull Kid to his location and causing him to retreat to another platform.

Cheren beat the puppets away again before starting to think of a plan to catch him. He searched around in the ninja's pockets before pulling out a strange cloak. When he held it up, it seemed to blend in with the environment around it like some invisibility cloak. He used this to his advantage when sneaking up on the Skull Kid a second time. When he summoned the Puppets, Cheren used his cloak as he lay flat on the ground to blend in with the environment. He was eventually able to make it to Skull Kid, flipping onto his platform to kick him.

The Skull Kid leapt to a random spot in the field and summoned more Puppets. As Cheren took them on, the Skull Kid only ran around the field of ruins, and when Cheren tried to get close, the Skull Kid leaped to the opposite end. Cheren pulled out a kunai knife and decided to use a different tactic: after taking out the Puppet Walkers, Cheren kept a reasonable distance as he tried to stay behind the Skull Kid. When the Skull Kid stopped to look around, Cheren quickly threw the kunai knife and stuck the creature into a wall by his shirt. Unable to shake away, Cheren ran and dealt the final kick against the creature.

The Skull Kid only sported a smile as it recovered from his attack. He jumped and vanished in thin air as the forest began to shine brighter. "Heeheehee! What fun!" the child giggled.

A new path was opened on one end of the arena. Cheren removed his Hidden Leaf Headband and returned to human form before seeing where this path led. (End song.)

Cheren came to a more peaceful, sunny area of the forest, hearing only the sound of wind rustling through the trees, and calm ocarina notes filling the air. The Skull Kid sat all by his lonesome on a tall stone pyramid with ancient writing, freely playing his ocarina like always. Cheren quietly approached from behind and stood patiently until he finished his song. When the Skull Kid's instrument silenced, he turned to face Cheren.

Cheren only stared weirdly as the Skull Kid sniffed him and laughed playfully. "Heeheeheehee! You have the same smell as him! The fairy boy from the woods! Well, almost like him. He wore masks like you do."

"You mean… Link?"

"That was his name. I think. People called him a lot of names. I was never really sure. But he did turn into weird things. By putting on masks. It was like he was a whole different person. When he wore that mask. People saw him as that person."

"Well… he did become that person, didn't he? Because those peoples' souls were-"

"Not just them. Others, too. Like that froggy. So no one knew who he was. Many different names. Different faces."

"The heart of the masks…" Cheren thought aloud, remembering what the Mask Man said.

"You could say that. He did many great things with those masks. Righted many wrongs. Won many hearts. (Literally and fig.) Righted my wrongs. When my heart was stolen."

"Stolen? Your wrongs?"

"I wear mask, too. Evil mask. Caused much pain. But friends forgive."

"You mean you wore… Majora's Mask?"

"Mm-hm. Evil mask evil. Heart of darkness. Was saved by him. And big friends forgive. And stop evil."

"'Big friends'… the Giants?"

"Big friends stop evil. But not without Link's help. Or whatever the name. But scary mask back again, huh?"

"Yeah… it's possessed a friend of mine."

"Mmm. But things not feel so bad now. Maybe something different. Mask find… special body."

"Don't remind me…" Cheren sighed. "But, wait… you've worn Majora's Mask before. What did Majora do?"

"Hmmmm. Don't remember. Mind too foggy. Only made of wood, after all. But I remember him needing something. Pretty ocarina."

"You mean… that one?" he pointed to his wooden ocarina.

"No no. Other one. More shiny. Very special. Controlled time."

"It… controlled time?"

"Mask thing need it. Used it with his power. Controlled time. I dunno."

"And Miyuki's a timebender…" Cheren began to think, "and that means he DOES need her power for something. Er, but how did you and Majora get to this dimension? Or were you already…?"

"Took big doorway. Underground. After making boy Deku."

"The same one he tried to take before." Cheren remembered. "So then… we still don't know how he got here this time."

"I dunno either. Neither did Link. Place was mysterious. How's anything happen?"

"Heh heh heh." Cheren remembered something else. "Oh yeah, those Puppet Walkers… were you the one controlling them?"

"A little. They just came. They like ocarina. They bother you?"

"Well, not really… but they're terrorizing the town. I thought maybe they came from you."

"Noooo. Maybe. I like playing. I can never remember it all. Maybe check temple."

"Temple?"

"There's temple somewhere. Somewhere hidden. I dunno where. Maybe use this?" he held up what looked like a ballerina's dress.

"Where'd you get this?" Cheren asked, taking it.

"I found it. At school. Inside locker. Dunno who lost it. You want?"

"Umm… no. But I know someone who might. Nice meeting you." With that, Cheren hurried back to the Hidden Leaf Village.

Village Hidden in the Leaves

As Cheren exited the forest, he realized he was at the top of the massive mountain monument. He carefully stepped closer to the monument's ledge, gaping at the amazing view of the village below. His eyes and smile grew wide at how high he had gotten just from chasing that Skull Kid. He heard a 'ribbit' sound all of a sudden and looked to see an orange frog hopping on one of the monument's heads. He put on his Don Gero Mask and went over to speak to the frog. The frog mentioned the name 'Don Gero', but everything else he said was in complete Japanese. Since Cheren couldn't wear the Don Gero Mask and Ninja Headband at the same time, he would never know what the frog was saying. Regardless, it seemed to work as the frog vanished in a puff of smoke.

When Cheren went back to staring at the vast horizon, he just couldn't resist what he was about to do next. He grabbed his Pirate Sail, leapt over the edge, and threw it open, gliding high above the village as if he was a skydiver. As far as he remembers, this is probably the most exciting thing he's done on his journey. Flying what felt like several hundred meters in the air really gave him that sense of adventure.

Slowly, Cheren sunk lower and lower before his feet touched the ground on some random street. "There you are!" He turned around at this familiar girly shout. "Where've you been, Cheren?" Kellie asked with her usual cheery smile, carrying tons of souvenirs. "After I remembered I had some money, I bought loads of things! By the way, do you have a credit card?"

Cheren sighed. "Anyway, I got you a little something of my own." he said, showing her the ballerina dress.

Kellie gasped excitedly, dropping all of her other items. "My own ballet tutu?!" she exclaimed, taking it and twirling around. "Where did you get this!!"

"From a… friend in the woods. Well, put it on!"

Kellie hurriedly fit the dress around her waist. "It fits! (Though there's something weird about it.) Oh well WHEEEEEEEEE!" When Kellie attempted to twirl, she was suddenly spinning around at high speeds. When she came to a stop, she became dizzy, wearing a goofy smile. "That was cra-a-azy-y-y-y."

"Heheheh. You'll have plenty of fun with that." Cheren chuckled.

Kellie got the ballerina's dress! Her dream as a ballerina has come true, sorta! Her ability to spin like a whirlwind will dazzle most enemies! Oh, and she can float, too! (But both people can use the Sail, so it doesn't matter.)

"(Is that them?)"

" (Yeah, they fit the bill.)"

The two raised their brows at some Japanese voices, turning to find three ninjas, which Cheren recognized as the three he eavesdropped on. "(Who are you kids?)" the ninja, Shikamaru asked.

"Uhh, 'scuse me a sec." Cheren said as he threw on his Hidden Leaf Headband, becoming a ninja before their eyes.

The three's eyes widened. "Ko…Konohamaru?" Shikamaru asked.

"Umm, I guess so." Cheren replied. "That was, uhh, one of my new transformation jujus."

"But I thought you really WERE Chere- OOP!" Cheren bonked Kellie on the head.

"Lies!" the bushy-browed ninja exclaimed. "You are not Konohamaru! Any trained ninja would recognize that brown hair as… er, an imposter!!"

"Am I really that obvious?" Cheren remarked.

"State who you are! And what you've done with Konohamaru!" the female ninja demanded, raising a kunai knife.

"Would you let me go if I told you I healed his soul, and now it's in his headband?"

"I see. So by trapping his soul, you were able to take his form by wearing his headband." the bushy-browed deduced. "What power is this?"

"I'm not sure if we should take him to Hokage." the female said. "His powers might be too dangerous."

"Nah, they're pretty limited in most areas." Cheren remarked.

"We shall take him anyway." Bushy-Brows said. "Keep your guards up and do not let him try anything."

"Can I come, too??" Kellie asked cheerfully.

"Umm… I guess so." the female replied.

"Yaaay!" With that, they were escorted to the building from before.

Hokage's Residence

The two were escorted to the Hokage's office, which was the room Cheren was previously spying on. They stood in an empty room with a flat, wooden floor, before a desk with a crystal ball. Behind the desk was a woman with light-yellow hair and light-brown eyes. She looked very young, but stern, with clear skin, red-painted finger and toenails, and wore a green open sweater with a pale blouse. Her most notable feature was the tiny purple diamond painted on her forehead, and Kellie most noted her seemingly large breasts. All in all, she reminded Cheren of her mom. Weird as it sounded.

The woman sat silently with her hands folded, staring curiously at Cheren, who bared close resemblance to the ninja named Konohamaru. "Lady Hokage!" the bushy-brow ninja spoke. "This boy was the one who defeated our ninja in the woods! He has the strange ability to imprison peoples' souls and take their forms. And this girl is…er, his less-appreciated partner."

"Hey!" Kellie yelled.

"Boy, you guys learn fast." Cheren remarked.

Lady Hokage calmly stood up and walked around the desk. "So this was the one who defeated our guards with… arrows?"

"Yeah, but only because they were totally slow." Cheren retorted again.

The Hokage made a light smirk. "Hm! Looks like they shoulda spent more on our budget!"

"Lady Tsunade!!" the female ninja yelled. "What're you laughing at??"

"Relax, Tenten. These guys don't look evil. They didn't kill anyone, did they?"

"Well, she did." Cheren gestured at Kellie.

"I did not, the puppet did!!" she snapped back.

Cheren chuckled. "Anyway, your friend was stabbed by one of those Puppet Walkers. I played this song and healed his soul; which sort of involved trapping it in his headband. It's a long story, and… I don't even get most of it."

"Hmm… I see." Tsunade looked down with remorse. "So Konohamaru is no longer around."

"Well, unless you count spiritually."

"Well… as long as we have you to fill in for him… maybe we have a chance. A few days ago, this little girl in a mask went to the Naka Shrine. She broke the three elemental seals inside and awakened the Puppet Clan."

There we go. Cheren thought when he heard the word 'three'.

"The Puppet Clan is an ancient race that seeks to control the world by robbing everyone of their free will. We've done our best to fight back, but the puppets keep getting back up. We think they're being controlled themselves, by another force. Coincidentally, a group of monsters have moved into the Sarutobi Tower, so we think the force might be coming from there."

"SO," Cheren said immediately, "we have to go into this Naka Shrine, get the three seals back, use them to hold back the Puppet Clan and then learn a special song that opens the path to the tower, where we will defeat the source of the monsters and save the day. Right?"

Tsunade was speechless at how quickly he figured all of that. "Um… yes."

"GREAT! Then point us to the shrine so we may do so!" Cheren exclaimed with fake enthusiasm.

"Um… right this way." Tsunade made an anime sweatdrop, leading the two outside.

"He has Konohamaru's spirit, that's for sure." Tenten commented.

Outside the Naka Shrine

Tsunade guided the two to an area in the woods, not far from the village, with a small building. Inside was just a small, dim concrete room with a stone slab laying on the other side. "This shrine used to be a meeting place for a certain family in the village. It was also where we keep the Puppet Clan sealed. We normally keep the entrance closed so not many get out. The seals are still down there, too, so-"

"Yeah, yeah, just open the cruddy thing." Cheren interrupted.

Tsunade approached the slab and performed some kind of jutsu that caused the slab to slide to the left, revealing a staircase into a dark dungeon. "After you bring the seals back to the sealing room, they'll reveal the song that opens the way to the tower. Be careful in there."

With that said, Cheren and Kellie began their venture into the dungeon. (Play the "Shadow Temple" Theme from Zelda: Ocarina of Time.)

Stage 23: Naka Shrine

Mission: Find and return the three elemental seals.

Cheren and Kellie passed through a dark, dank tunnel and came to a fork with three different paths. Each path had a symbol on the wall beside it: water symbol on the left, fire symbol right, and air symbol in the middle. There were also Warp Gates beside each one, deactivated at the moment. They decided to take the left path first, going down a few ledges that led progressively lower in the cave. Their first little trial appeared to be a narrow hallway with several puddles of water, formed by the tiny droplets that came from the ceiling. On the other side was a giant Blue Bubble, the skull alit with a big blue flame. It was turned away from them at the moment, but when it turned and spotted the two, it shot over and burned them with its fire.

They recovered and watched the Bubble fly back. When it turned around, Cheren was able to hide him and Kellie with the cloak. When it turned away, they took this time to sneak over quietly, but when Cheren took a tiny step in a puddle, the Bubble heard the splash and shot over to push them back. Seeing their slipup, the two repeated the process again, hiding whenever the Bubble looked over, and careful not to step in the puddles. When they reached the Bubble, it was still turned away as Cheren quickly reverted to human form and used a shield bash to knock it out of its fire. Cheren sliced the Bubble and destroyed it, and the two pressed on.

They came to a cylindrical room where a path led around the room, downward over a chasm. They followed the path as Skulltula ambushed them from the ceiling, the giant spiders frightening both Kellie and Cheren. Cheren defeated them like usual by flipping them on their backs and stabbing them, and they continued as the path led them to a wider open cave (though in retrospect, they could've used the Sail to float down there).

The ground was covered with spikes, but there were three open square areas in the spikes with pink, circular pads with flower designs on them. The pads were slowly rotating, so they probably meant for Kellie to use her twirl attack. The Asian girl ran at the right wall, jumped, and kicked off to use the dress's hovering ability. She landed on the first square and spun rapidly on the Flower Pad, making the surrounding spikes sink below. This allowed Cheren to cross to where she was, and when she stopped spinning, the spikes returned. Cheren held his hands open for Kellie to leap off, allowing her to float to the pad on the right side.

She spun and deactivated the spikes around her, letting Cheren cross over. Blocking their way forward was a large fence, and the entrance on the left side was sealed with metal bars. When Cheren reached the right side, he noticed the small opening and stepped inside, finding an eye switch inside the gate. He shot the eye with an arrow and unsealed the gate. He jumped back to where Kellie was as the girl wall-kicked off the fence and floated to the left Flower Pad, spinning to make the spikes sink. However, the spikes from the right side got in Cheren's way, so he had to use the Sail to glide from the ledge in the fence over to Kellie. He couldn't get back there with the spikes in the way, so Kellie had to float over to him and put the spikes down again.

When both had made it over to the left, there was a clear path that led to the door, giving them easy entry. They didn't walk far before they suddenly slipped down a slope into a great, wide pit. They fell with a thud on the bottom, seeing there were plenty of Leaf symbols around the wall, on different levels. They saw the Flower Pad on the ground and Kellie went to activate it. The pad came out like a screw as Kellie spun on it, causing water to flood the room from below it. Cheren became a ninja and quickly leaped to one of the Leaf symbols, watching from above as the water filled partway up the pit. It was at level with a ledge with another Flower Pad, but electric eels swam out of some open gates and aimed to shock Kellie.

Cheren kept his position above the water and threw kunai knives at the eels as Kellie swam over to the Flower Pad ledge. It didn't take long until she made it, doing a Ballet Twirl to unscrew the pad and flood the room some more. Cheren was caught in the water this time, having to revert back to human, and when the water stopped rising, they saw there was a tunnel still UNDER water, likely leading to the next pad. They both dove under and swam through the tunnel, where Cheren had to take out Froaks in the way using a Torpedo Spin. Their air was also pretty limited, since there were no air bubbles, but the tunnel didn't go too far before they made it to a safe ledge with the Flower Pad.

Kellie spun on the pad, and the pit flooded the rest of the way. The tunnel had an exit directly upwards, allowing them to swim out easily. They reached the surface and climbed onto a ledge with a stone pedestal sitting by the wall. A dark-blue spherical gem sat on the pedestal, and it looked like the Water Seal. The inscription on the pedestal read, Revive the seal with its element. This likely meant for Cheren to squirt it with the S.Q.W.I.R.T..

The sphere brimmed light blue as water flowed through it, making it theirs to collect. On the left wall was a deactivated Warp Gate with a crystal switch beside it. Cheren struck the switch and activated the gate, giving them a shortcut to the start. This time, they took the right path, which was apparently the Fire trial. It was another narrow hallway, similar to the previous, but it led to a wall where the path above was cluttered with rocks. There was a Leaf symbol below the rocks, but it didn't help in getting rid of them, and M.A.R.B.L.E.s wouldn't reach that high. However, Cheren remembered his ninja form had exploding shurikens, so he became a ninja and tossed one up to blow the rocks away.

He then Ninja Leaped onto the ledge and used the Hookshot to pull Kellie up to him. The path led downward into a small room covered in small flames. They had to walk around a narrow, snaky path between the flames to reach a stone tablet, which read, The light can only be found within the darkness.

Cheren's sword starting flashing just then, so he answered Fi's call. "Master, I have a report. I have examined Kellie's dress, and it appears to be made with an air-like substance, which enables her to spin so quickly. I conjecture this substance also allows her to spin fast enough to quickly put out flames. I'd suggest using this to your advantage."

"On it. Kellie?" With that, Kellie spun around the room like a whirlwind. The flames caught on her dress as it burned in a Hunger Games fashion, cleaning the entire room of them as it turned darker and darker. They saw that one of the walls had a crack in it with light peeping in, so Cheren fired a M.A.R.B.L.E. at it to blow open the path. It led to a similar room with torches lined up in a particular, snaky N-like shape. The room that followed was a wider open cave in which the floor was covered with the small flames. Slag Cheren could withstand flames, but they seemed to go too far to make it, plus the fence door on the other side was sealed with bars.

However, they reentered the torch room and memorized the particular pattern, feeling it might be a solution. They went to the flaming cave and Kellie began rapidly spinning through the flames, trying to leave a trail that matched the lineup of the torches. This plan succeeded as all the flames vanished, and the gate opened. Behind the fence was the pedestal with the Fire Seal. Cheren launched a Fire Arrow at the seal and made the sphere alight with orange. They activated the nearby Warp Gate and warped back to the start.

Lastly, they took the middle path, which was the Air trial. Already, they were brought to a wide open cave where Puppet Walkers ambushed them. The Puppets were stronger than the ones from the Lost Woods, but Cheren was able to take them out in seconds. There was also a Beamos in the cave, a one-eyed sentry that stood in one place as its eye slowly rotated. Cheren shot the Beamos with an arrow, but it didn't penetrate, then he tried to use a bomb, but it seemed immune.

As a backup plan, Cheren decided to have Kellie spin around the sentry. The Beamos spotted her and began firing its laser, its eye spinning faster as it tried to chase her. It eventually spun so fast that its eye popped out and exploded, opening the sealed door ahead. Behind was a room with a great wide chasm. There was a Leaf symbol hanging from the ceiling by a pole over the ledge, so Cheren jumped to it in his ninja form. Kellie spun on the nearby Flower Pad and made the pole lift upward and turn and move toward another symbol, which Cheren jumped to. Kellie stopped spinning and jumped over the ledge to float to a platform with another Flower Pad. She spun on it to make the Leaf symbol face a higher ledge, allowing Cheren to leap to it. He became human and pulled Kellie up with the Hookshot.

The ledge had a Swap Pad and another Flower Pad. Kellie spun on the pad, and they lowered three poles that square panels, each lined up like a triangle. Kellie started to Triangle Jump her way up as the panels rised back upward. When they reached maximum height, Kellie floated to a ledge with the other Swap Pad. Both her and Cheren got on theirs and swapped places. Cheren launched his Hookshot down to pull Kellie back up, and the two climbed onto another ledge and continued.

They arrived at a straight, slightly narrow hallway with a large fan on the other side. Kellie tried to twirl her way through, but the winds were too strong. Instead, Cheren turned into Slag and lifted Kellie to carry her through, his heavy metal body unaffected by the fan's strength. Slag moved slowly, but they eventually made it as they dropped into a gap in the ground to a room below. This room had the Air Seal, but they don't recall having any items to make air. They instantly remembered Kellie's dress, so the Asian girl spiraled around the symbol, the wind from the dress making the sphere glow white.

They activated the Warp Gate and used it to return to the starting area. With all of the seals gathered, the ground opened to reveal a stairway, leading to a room with a large, stone circle with three slots on each side. Each slot had a symbol by it, meaning Water, Fire, and Air respectively, so Cheren placed each seal in its respective slot. The stone circle began to rotate slowly as the symbols glowed. (End song.)

"Is that all?" Cheren asked, unimpressed. "I expected a bit more."

"Ah well. Wait for this chapter to be rewritten." Kellie replied.

"Well… the song should be playing now. Let's get it over with."

Cheren pulled out the Spirit Flute and began to play along as the stone wheel emitted some kind of tune. The music sounded like a rock-and-roll, encouraging tune that echoed throughout the caves and outside of the shrine. The Puppet Walkers that dwelled throughout the forest began to lose their grip on the ninja slaves, feeling powerless to the echoing tune. The song came to an end shortly, and Cheren felt more empowered than ever.

You learned the Leaf Ninjas' Rock! Nothing grants encouragement more than hearing this! (Unless you heard something better. XP) This song opens the way to Sarutobi Tower! (And once it's open, it'll have no more use. :P)

Outside Sarutobi Tower

Night fell by the time the kids made their way out of the caves. Tsunade led them to another path through the woods, arriving at a ledge over a vast chasm of waterfalls, sort of like Niagara Falls. In the middle of the chasm sat a large platform with a massive tower, designed like ancient Chinese architecture. "That song was written a long time ago, to give encouragement to those who needed it." Tsunade explained. "Its notes contain powers that weaken those of the Puppet Walker Clan. You hit them pretty good, but we won't get rid of them until you destroy the monster in the tower. If you succeed, you'll have our gratitude, so feel free to ask us for anything. …But you think you can tell me where to get one of those flutes?"

"They are… sorta rare." was all Cheren could say.

"Hmm… Oh well. Good luck." With that, the Hokage left them to their business.

Cheren stood on the edge of the cliff and performed the song before the tower's imaginary ears. The tunes echoed across the roaring falls as slight tremors could be felt. Pillars rose up from the depths to where the kids were, making a pathway that led to the tower's entrance. They began to make their way across, but two of the pillars were too far apart from one another. There was a small platform with a Flower Pad, and when Kellie spun on it, it moved the platform over to the other pillar. The rest of the pillars were easy to cross, and on the last one, they had to use the Pirate Sail to glide to the massive pillar where the tower stood. They went up the wide stairs and entered the Chinese building, and the 5th dungeon began. (Play the "Dragon Road Night" theme from Sonic Unleashed.)

Dungeon 5: Sarutobi Tower

Mission: Destroy the source of the evil in the tower.

The inside of the tower had a flat, wooden floor and several Asian decorations lying around. There were a couple of Beamos around the room, but Kellie defeated them like before by spinning around the eyeball creatures and getting them dizzy, causing them to explode. The first door was locked, but there didn't appear to be any chests around. Cheren smashed the large, black pots in the corners, but didn't find a key, although he did find the first Stray Fairy, this time colored orange.

They saw there was a second floor above them, with only a narrow walkway around the sides of the room. There was a poster hanging from the ceiling by ropes, at level with the second floor, and it was perpendicular with one of those old Asian curtain panels on the floor. Across from that was a platform hanging from the ceiling, at level with the walkway, indicating what Kellie had to do. She ran and kicked off the curtain panel, then off the painting, and onto the platform, where she then leapt to the walkway. In one of the corners, she could see a small chest, which she ran to open to find a Small Key. She jumped down to Cheren and went to open the locked door, allowing them into the next room.

This room looked smaller in width, but was actually a bigger room divided by a wall in the center. There was an entrance to the parallel side in the wall on the other side of this room. There was also a wall of lasers piercing the wall in the center, aimed horizontally at the left wall. Cheren and Kellie were a little worried as to what these were, so they approached slowly as Cheren whooshed an arm by the top one. Nothing happened, so the two shrugged and walked through them. However, the entrance to the other side was immediately sealed with metal bars. They exchanged confused glances and walked through the lasers again, and the bars opened. They walked through again, and the bars shut, and this process just kept repeating until they got the gist of what was going on.

To help solve their dilemma, Fi emerged from the Master Sword. "Master, I am detecting One-way Beamos on the other side of this wall. As the name implies, it is a type of Beamos that only faces one set direction. Rather than attack, they act as a security system, shutting down the route ahead if a presence passes their vision. The route will only reopen if each of the presences passes through their vision again, from the opposite side."

"I get it… they still have the top unguarded. Can you Wall Jump, Kell?" Cheren asked.

"Okay!" With that, the cheerful girl ran at the wall beside the lasers and kicked off, going over the exposed opening. Kellie grinned as she passed through the lasers from the opposite end, making them close the door. But when Cheren passed through, they tricked the door into opening. Cheren smiled ecstatically at this, and Kellie Wall Jumped over the lasers again to follow him. When they crossed to the other side of the room, they found the six Beamos' perfectly lined up and facing the center wall, each at different heights. The only way by was a tight opening on the very right; but the real problem was, there were lasers coming from the CEILING, too! There was a row of Beamos on the ceiling, making a perfect row of lasers aimed at the floor.

When they cut through the gap and passed the lasers, the door ahead sealed shut with metal bars. They came back through, and the bars reopened. Kellie tried to Wall Jump over the horizontal lasers, but passed through the ceiling lasers instead. The same result happened as she walked back through. They tried every way possible to solve this puzzle. Cheren tried walking through first, then having Kellie go to the previous side, Wall Jumping the lasers, then walking through, but they couldn't because the door to that side closes. Obviously, Cheren couldn't Wall Jump like Kellie… so the only way through was for ONE of them to pass. Cheren had Kellie go back to the previous side and Wall Jump the lasers, then pass through from the doors' end. This allowed Cheren to walk through from the other side, allowing the doors to open.

As Kellie hurried back to the other side, Cheren told her, "Sorry, Kell. I think only I can get through. We can't get both of us past."

"But you can't go in there alone!"

"I have to. But I'll come back for you, I promise. Hopefully, this dungeon might have something for this."

With that said, Cheren entered the next room without Kellie. The next room was rather small, and most of the middle was taken up by a sandpit. On Cheren's left was a sealed door with a Flower Pad in front of it, and another sealed door straight across from Cheren. When Cheren walked onto the pit, a circle of Leevers emerged and began closing in on him. Cheren simply did like before and wiped them all out with a spin attack. He noticed a slight crater in the sandpit and went into his wolf form to dig it up, finding a hidden switch. He stepped on the switch, opening the metal bars blocking the southern door. Cheren became human and entered this door, finding a small storage room with two big, brown hand monsters, called Floormasters.

The hands both turned green and lunged at the Uno child, but Cheren dodged to the side. He quickly struck the first hand, then dodged when the other tried to attack. He lunged at the second with a jump attack, then turned to do away with the previous. However, both hands broke into three smaller hands as a result, making six smaller hands. Two of them leapt onto and grabbed Cheren's neck, using all of their might to choke him, and Cheren struggled to pull them off as the others approached. He was able to yank them off and dodge-roll out of the way before performing a spin attack to wipe them out. Having defeated the monsters, a giant chest appeared in the center of the room. Cheren grabbed the item inside, and it was just what he suspected.

You got the Dungeon Map! Whaddyou wanna pa'ty or somethin'?

Cheren returned to the sandpit room and searched for another way to go. Above was another second floor area, with an eye switch on one of the ledges. Cheren shot the switch with an arrow, and the eye turned to reveal a Leaf symbol on the other side. He went into ninja form and leaped to the symbol to climb onto the second-floor walkway. From there, he could enter a northern door, appearing in a smaller room with a One-Way Beamos on the left side, and some kind of mirror statue sitting in the center. Near the top left corner of the room was a strange, blue eyeball. Cheren shot the eyeball with an arrow, but when he faced it, the eye closed immediately, and it would only reopen if Cheren looked away. Slightly confused, he had Fi examine it.

"Target locked: Eye Guardian. Similar to One-way Beamos, they serve as a security measure. The door is kept shut whenever a presence is sensed in the room. If said presence is facing the Eye Guard, it will shut itself to avoid possible harm. However, its eyes are very sensitive to light energy. I'd suggest finding a means of using this, Master."

"Simple enough…" Cheren figured, looking at the Beamos and mirror statue. Cheren saw a little path carved alongside the Beamos and he was able to push it, and when the laser touched the mirror, it bounced off onto the ceiling. It wasn't facing the eye, however, but there were handles on the sides of the statue which enabled Cheren to turn it. It was inches away from the Eye Guard, but wasn't at the right angle to touch it. Cheren had to move the Beamos a little further down to get the laser to aim directly at the eye. The laser aimed dead center on the eye, the Eye Guard began to well with tears and turn red before falling down and breaking.

The metal bars unsealed the door on the right of the room, and Cheren entered to find himself on an outside balcony. He had to jump to another balcony foothold over a short gap, but there were Beamos lasers lined up on the edge, aimed at the ceiling. He decided to jump through them, but this caused a large gate to seal the way ahead. He jumped back through, making the gate open, and looked up to find a Hidden Leaf symbol on the ceiling past the lasers. This still didn't help him, however, as he would trigger the lasers anyway. However, he noticed a small platform on the ceiling beyond the lasers, with an eye switch below it. He shot the switch, and the platform began to move back and forth in midair.

Cheren noticed it blocked the lasers whenever it came by, and it was also at a good alignment with the Leaf symbol from his view. He went into ninja form and leaped at the symbol when the platform blocked the laser, the foothold serving as the perfect shield to get across. There was nowhere else to go, but there was a Hookshot target on the balcony above. He pulled himself up there to find a door on this new balcony; but he saw another balcony foothold far across the roof, with a Beamos on it. When he tried to run across, he learned the roof was slipperier than it looked, and he was forced off the ledge, landing on the lower balcony. He latched his way back up again, figuring he'll know how to get there later; it's not like he COULD kill a Beamos, anyway.

He went in the door and ended up in a room with a larger sandpit, taking up almost the whole floor. The door was locked ahead, so he figured the key might be buried in the sand somewhere. He became a wolf and ran out to search the sand, but just as his feet touched the sand, something began to quickly burrow in his direction from underneath. When it reached him, a large, dark-yellow wormlike creature snapped Cheren in his mouth, the wolf-boy furiously shaking around until the creature spat him back on the safe foothold.

Cheren reverted to normal and had Fi examine the creature. "Target locked: Sandworm. As the name implies, it is a large worm that dwells underneath sandy areas. It waits for its prey to set foot on the sand and runs to strike instantaneously. A Sandworm is only vulnerable when it shows itself above the sand. Unfortunately, a Sandworm only reveals itself when it is confused as to where its prey has gone."

"I see." Cheren said, noticing all of the Hidden Leaf symbols above the pit. He switched to ninja form and leaped to one of the symbols, quietly dropping down on the sand. When he saw the Sandworm burrowing over, he quickly leaped to a symbol on the other side of the room. He held on tight and watched as the Sandworm surfaced below where he just was. As the worm looked around confusedly, Cheren tossed a shuriken that exploded and killed the beast.

Cheren dropped back on the sand, knowing it was safe, and went to retrieve the key the monster dropped. He opened the locked door and found himself in a small room with doors on each side. The door ahead was locked, the door on the right was sealed with metal bars, but the door on the left was open. There were also Beamoses standing guard around the room. There was no other way to go, so Cheren entered the left door. (Pause music.)

He ended up in a nearly pitch dark room as the door sealed with metal bars behind him. He only took a few steps before purple flames were thrown at him, Nerehc EiznekCm skidding to a stop in front of him. "I wasn't expecting a total stranger here; unless you're who I think you are."

Cheren pulled off his headband and reverted to human form as he readied his sword. (Play the "Dark Pit Battle" theme from Kid Icarus: Uprising.)

Sub-boss: Nerehc EiznekCm Onu

Cheren immediately jumped forward and started swinging his sword as Nerehc countered. Their little clash stopped when Nerehc shield-bashed Cheren, stunning him as Nerehc kicked him against the wall. Cheren defended when Nerehc tried to strike him when he was down, then tried to slash Nerehc, who back-flipped as Cheren got up. Cheren drew out his bow and tried to shoot him, but Nerehc protected with his shield. When Nerehc raised his shield, Cheren's eyes widened as his image reflected off it. "Is that… THE MIRROR SHIELD??"

"I found it." Nerehc said simply. "I figured it wouldn't hurt to get you in trouble with your mom after giving you a beating." Nerehc then tossed the shield at Cheren, who ducked as it returned to Nerehc like a boomerang. During Cheren's unguarded state, Nerehc sped over to throw more swings, but Cheren was quick to counter. There was a point when the two swords pushed against the other, with Nerehc slightly overpowering Cheren, but the Positive boy hit him with a shield bash and struck him while he was stunned.

Nerehc jumped back and began to wave his blade around as sparks surged through it. He charged an electric ball with his power and launched it at Cheren, who quickly bounced it back, but Nerehc kept knocking it back with his shield as this game of sword-tennis seemed to have no winner. "Ugh, this is hopeless!" Cheren proclaimed, deciding to knock the electric sphere to the side. Rather than hit the wall, however, the ball swung around to Nerehc's side, the Negative quickly turning and sending it back with his shield. It then came around Cheren's side, but he knocked it back, and Cheren got an idea as this repeated. When the ball came around at Cheren, he would knock it to go around Nerehc again. When Nerehc turned to bounce it, Cheren ran in to strike him while his guard was down. Nerehc defended from his strike, but ended up taking the shock from the sphere instead.

This allowed Cheren to get some easy hits off of him. He got several blows before Nerehc flipped behind him and swung his blade, but Cheren dodged behind Nerehc, who turned as both clashed their blades against the other. They were both able to score some hits off of the other before Nerehc suddenly leaped away. As Cheren searched the darkness for him, Nerehc suddenly jumped out and circled him in a ring of purple fire. The space inside was very tight, and being so close to the flames hurt Cheren's eyes. He tried to stay dead in the center as the circle slowly began to close in. Cheren began to sweat greatly, looking for a way out, but then remembered Slag could walk through flames. He threw on Slag's Mask and stepped through the purple flames quickly, in the opposite direction of where he saw Nerehc's shadow.

Nerehc watched the flames vanish, becoming confused when he saw no trace of Cheren. Nerehc kept his guard up and calmly searched the room for his counterpart. Unknown to him, Cheren became a ninja and used his cloak to blend with the floor. When Nerehc walked close, Cheren quietly crawled behind him and tackled him to the floor, dealing a series of rapid punches against him. Nerehc got to his feet as Cheren took off the Leaf Headband, defending from Nerehc's quick strikes again. When their swords came in contact once again, both counterparts used all their strength to push against the other. Sadly, Cheren was overpowered as his sword was sent flying into the wall. He tried to run and grab it, but Nerehc immediately slid in his way, making sure Cheren doesn't grab the sword.

"Not gonna happen!" Nerehc declared. The Negative charged an electric sphere and threw it at Cheren, who tried to bounce it back with his shield, but ended up taking the shock anyway. Nerehc smirked as he kept throwing fast electric balls at Cheren, who dodged as fast as he could. He tried rampantly to think of an item to counterattack those spheres. He reached in his pocket and the first thing he pulled out was his Empty Bottle. He gasped as another sphere was sent at him, so Cheren immediately took a swing with his bottle. To his and Nerehc's utter surprise, the ball was sent straight back. "What?!"

Nerehc took the painful shock as Cheren ran behind to grab his sword. Just as Nerehc became unstunned, he raised his blade to defend against Cheren's, but the Uno son knocked it out of his hand in one swing, making Nerehc fall to his knees. (End song.)

Nerehc started to pant heavily as he stared at his empty hand. "If only I hadn't almost drowned… I would've had you, Uno." Nerehc threw the Mirror Shield against the floor and sped over to grab his sword. "I guess I'll look for another way out of this dimension myself. Feel free to stay here if you want." With that, he burst through the wall of the dark room and escaped, creating a hole with a light shining into it.

Cheren watched as little Pablo hurriedly ran toward the hole, using all the strength his little legs could muster to climb into it, going after Nerehc. Cheren only shook his head in disbelief before retrieving his stolen treasure. (Replay "Dragon Road Night" theme.)

You got the Mirror Shield! This is another one of the Three Sacred Treasures, along with the Master Sword! Its reflective surface can bounce back attacks, and even reflect light! Despite that it's a mirror, this shield is impenetrable! (So sorry, old shield. :3)

Cheren then began to look for a way out of the dark room, seeing as the metal bars still sealed the door. However, he took notice of the strange sun-face on the wall across from the door. As he stepped into the new patch of light, his shield immediately began to bounce the light directly off. He smirked and redirected this light onto the sun switch, making it illuminate with a grin. The room's entrance opened, allowing Cheren outside.

Cheren didn't have anywhere else to go at the moment, so he made his way all the way back to the first floor, to the room with the One-way Beamos where Kellie waited. "There you are!" the girl yelled from the other side of the beams. "Do you know how long me and Left-Alone-In-A-Spooky-Dungeon Rainbow Monkey had to wait?"

Cheren chuckled playfully. "Just hang on." With that, Cheren was able to use his shield to redirect the lasers at the Beamos. Despite the fact the lasers weren't deadly, they made the Beamos' tear before exploding. Cheren made sure to take them all out before Kellie could cross. However, as a result of defeating all of the Beamos, a chest appeared in the room, which contained a Stray Fairy. Kellie joined Cheren this time as they returned to the small sandpit room. There, Kellie stood on the Flower Pad and did her Ballerina Twirl to make the sealed door open.

Inside was another small storage room with a One-way Beamos on the left facing directly at the right. There was an Eye Guard in a corner of the room and a mirror facing it from the intersecting corner; but neither the mirror nor the Beamos was movable. Instead, Cheren used his Mirror Shield to redirect the laser at the mirror, making it bounce into the Eye Guard. The Eye Guard welled with tears before collapsing, causing a large chest to appear. What awaited inside came as no surprise to Cheren.

You got the Compass! You bring great honor to all compass-finders everywhere!

Cheren led Kellie up to the balcony area, where Cheren checked the map for any Stray Fairies. There was one on the floor above them, which Cheren recognized as the lone balcony with the Beamos on it. As they looked around for a way up, they found a pot in the corner with a strange sprout inside. Cheren watered the sprout with his S.Q.W.I.R.T., and it instantly grew into a Peahat. He held onto Kellie as he latched onto the Peahat with the Hookshot, letting the floating plant carry them to the third-floor balcony. The Beamos spotted them and immediately tried to shoot with its laser, but Kellie does her rapid twirl around the monster, making it dizzy and explode. A Stray Fairy came out as Cheren caught it, and the two made their way across the balconies.

When they returned to the larger sandpit room, Cheren saw there was a Stray Fairy marked on the map. It was buried in an area of the sandpit, so he became a wolf and hurried over to dig it up. He reverted to human and captured it before they continued to the room with the two Beamos. Kellie spun around the Beamos and wiped them out, causing the metal bars sealing the north door to open. They went outside and found their selves on a small balcony, on the backside of the tower. The parallel side of the balcony had a gap in the fence, but they couldn't see a visible platform below. Cheren studied the map and saw there WAS a platform on the first floor below, and that they might have to use the sail to glide to it. Cheren also noticed a Stray Fairy far to the left of where they were. The fairy was trapped in a bubble, so Cheren shot an arrow to pop the bubble, then used the Great Fairy Mask to call it over.

Kellie wrapped around Cheren as they jumped off and used the Pirate Sail to safely float onto the platform on the first floor. They went in the door and appeared in a small room with a Beamos. On the right side was an entrance to a hallway with several mirrors lined up along each side, with a mirror statue in the middle. Kellie was about to take out the Beamos, but Cheren held her back, suspecting it might have to do with a puzzle. They walked out to examine the hallway, which led to another open room with several mirror statues sitting around, each facing a different direction.

Cheren noticed the Eye Guard on the ceiling, as well as the mirror on the eastern wall, and one hanging on the ceiling that aimed right at the Eye Guard. Each of the statues had handles on them, so Cheren immediately realized what he had to do. He began turning each mirror to set up a possible path for the Beamos' beam, knowing he'd probably have to get the angling just right. Afterwards, he returned to the hall and had to push the statue over in front of the hall's entrance, so that the Beamos could hit it. With all that done, he ran in front of the Beamos and had it zap its laser at him. Cheren blocked with his Mirror Shield and bounced the laser into the hall's mirror, where it deflected and bounced off the other mirrors, and into the room where it made the series of ricochets off the mirror statues, successfully hitting the Eye Guard and destroying it.

This caused the metal bars protecting the door to open. They entered a smaller room with three Flower Pads and One-way Beamos that seemed to move back-and-forth in a set direction. One of the Beamos was on the left wall and aimed at the right as it moved along that wall. Another Beamos was on the ceiling near the other side, facing down and shifting left and right as it passed over a pad on the very left. The third Beamos was on the wall on the other side, facing the parallel side as it shifted up and down, in which the beam was over the third Flower Pad.

Cheren knew he had to defend Kellie from the beams as she spun the pads, but was curious as to what the beams would do, since the door was already sealed. Kellie happily skipped forward and let a beam pass her to find out. "AAAIIEE!" she screamed when trapdoors opened all over the floor, and Cheren quickly shot his Hookshot down to pull Kellie up. She caught her breath before proceeding to activate the first pad, in which Cheren only had to protect her from the one laser. The next pad was protected by the ceiling laser and the east-wall laser, so Cheren had to defend Kellie from both so she could activate it. The last one was guarded by the ceiling laser and south-wall laser, but Kellie was guarded against both as she activated the last pad.

The metal bars opened and the two entered another storage room. All it had was just a small chest with a key inside, likely used to open the door on the third floor. But first, Cheren checked his map and saw there was a Stray Fairy in one corner of the room. There was a box in that corner, so Cheren Youth Rolled and broke it, freeing the Stray Fairy. Cheren also noticed there was a Stray Fairy in the trapdoor room, on the west side. He figured it was beneath the trapdoors themselves, so he let one of the lasers pass by and quickly flipped onto the safe foothold. Indeed, he saw a Stray Fairy in a bubble and proceeded to free it with an arrow. He called the fairy up with the Fairy Mask before the trapdoors closed.

They crossed the trapdoors and reentered the mirror room when a particular locked door caught Cheren's eyes. It looked to be the entrance to the basement, but it happened to have the Boss Lock on it. He smirked and made a note of that door before the two made their way back to the third floor; the platform which they glided to had another Peahat plant, which Cheren watered with the S.Q.W.I.R.T. to make it grow, afterwards latching on with the Hookshot to lift him and Kellie back up to the third floor.

They went in the locked door and appeared on another balcony. There was a wide gap between their foothold and the next, but there was a gutter on the side of the wall between the two. The only problem was there were One-way Beamos on the roof below, aiming a wall of lasers directly upward, and some of them went past the gutter. The two decided to grab hold of the gutter and climb across anyway. Like any cliffhanging area, Cheren had to cut away Snapdragons that were in the way. When they passed by the lasers, they heard a gate close, but the path ahead seemed open.

They reached the foothold and looked around for what the lasers may've closed. They noticed a closed gate on the wall that happened to have a bubble with a Stray Fairy inside. Cheren had an idea, but to their dismay, they had to climb all the way back to the previous platform. The gate reopened when both of them passed through, and when they got on the first balcony, Cheren launched his Remote Control Bananarang to go around the lasers and pop the Stray Fairy's bubble. Cheren called the fairy over with the mask and caught it before they returned to the next platform.

They found a small platform with a Flower Pad, so Kellie began spinning on it to make the platform levitate. It hovered to the second floor before beginning float over the lower balcony, toward another foothold. They had to go through a square-shaped archway that had laser beams coming from the left and right, making it impossible to defend with the Mirror Shield. When they passed the lasers, a window where a ray of light was coming out ahead closed, blocking the light. They also noticed the sun switch near it, and when they made it to the platform, they saw the door was sealed with metal bars.

They got back on the platform and Kellie didn't spin so that it could return on its own. They passed by the laser archway and saw the window open, wondering how they could get past them. Cheren later took notice of the Leaf symbol on the wall above the archway. He became a ninja and leaped to the top of the archway and let Kellie pass through the lasers. Cheren then hung onto the opposite end and flipped below the top, then back on, causing the window to open when he passed the lasers. Cheren leaped back to the platform and had Kellie stop spinning so they could go back to the window light. Cheren used the Mirror Shield to bounce the light at the sun switch, causing the door to open.

The door led to a small room with a yellow switch. Cheren stepped on the switch, and a hatch opened on the floor, lowering a ladder down to make a shortcut to the lower room. Afterwards, they entered the door on the south side, coming to a small room with several sun switches along the walls. There was a patch of light in the center and a barred door on the left side. Cheren stood in the light and used the Mirror Shield to shine it on one of the suns. The sun switch strangely faded into nothingness, but a chest appeared under it. Cheren decided to open the chest, and was suddenly frozen with a freeze blast from it. Kellie giggled at his frozen shocked expression, and Cheren glanced hatefully at her before the ice broke.

Cheren shined the light on another switch, but that one shot darts at him. He shined on a third one, and a piano fell on him. The fourth one, a mechanical arm reached out and beat him with a frying pan. When shined on the fifth switch, the sun actually illuminated and opened the door. However, when Cheren checked the map, he saw there was a chest containing a Stray Fairy in there. He looked at the sun switch the chest was apparently under and shined on it, but he was crushed by a safe. He stood up aggravatingly and shined on more switches, and was tackled by wild coyotes, flipped like a patty by a spatula, and crushed by another piano. He was finally able to find the right switch to make the chest appear, retrieving the Stray Fairy inside. "How were they able to set all those traps up??"

The next room had what looked like a barred elevator in the middle, and a Beamos in front of it. On the left wall was another Eye Guard, and in the right corner was a mirror. Cheren knew he had to bounce the laser off the mirror, but it wasn't at a good angle with the Eye Guard yet. He noticed a crate in the far left corner and went to break it, finding an Arrangement Pad underneath. He became Sackboy and used the pad to scoot the mirror over so it was level with the Eye Guard. With that, he changed back to human and got on the Beamos' side, opposite the mirror, and deflected the Beamos' laser off onto the mirror, bouncing it at the Eye Guard behind him.

The elevator opened, and Kellie decided to spin around the Beamos first and take him out before they entered. The elevator took them upwards, and they suddenly found their selves at the top of the tower. (Pause song.)

The elevator sealed with metal bars upon their exit, and directly across from them was the blue and yellow chest, surrounded by flames. There were eight torches, four parallel on each side of the chest, that began puffing. Before their eyes, the torches grew larger and circled around in one spot, forming a tall, slim entity that was made out of fire, with the exception of its tiny, ball-shaped head. "Heh heh hah hah heh hah!" The entity laughed and drew out two flaming sticks as it began to dance. (Play the Mini-Boss theme from Majora's Mask.)

Sub-boss: Flare Dancer

The Flare Dancer started to twirl around rapidly, throwing fireballs out as it did so. Cheren tried to shoot Ice Arrows at its head, but it didn't seem to penetrate as the Flare Dancer started skiing around the area. It skied circles around them as it threw more flames from its sticks, leaving a circle of fire in its path. The dancer stopped skiing eventually and sucked its flames back into its body, then repeated the process as it began twirling. Not sure how to defeat it once again, Cheren called Fi.

"Target locked: Flare Dancer. This flaming entity has the ability to make flames dance. The flames can be easily scattered apart using explosives, but the dancer will call them back to its body if they do so. The flames' controller will only be vulnerable once all the flames are extinguished, Master."

Right away, as the Flare Dancer was twirling in place, Cheren grabbed the M.U.M.B.L.E.R. and shot a M.A.R.B.L.E. at it, making the Flare Dancer slip and fall as five small flames were blown from it. Cheren quickly tried to put the fires out with Ice Arrows, but the dancer got back on its feet and sucked the flames back in. Cheren shot another M.A.R.B.L.E. and blew more flames out, but the dancer leapt to another side of the field to avoid rapid explosions. It was about to suck the flames in, but they remembered the flame puzzle back in the shrine. Kellie began twirling around and catching all the flames with her dress, setting her dress aflame in a Hunger Games style. The flames were eventually blown away as she kept spinning.

Cheren kept bombing the Flare Dancer and Kellie kept blowing out the flames. Soon, the Flare Dancer's body was blown out completely, leaving just the tiny, armless bomb-shaped imp. The imp started running around as Cheren tried to chase it, giving a swipe with his sword whenever he got close. After a few more hits, the eight torches alit with green flames, and the controller gathered them all over his form to grow into a green entity of dancing fire.

Cheren did the same as before and blew the dancer up with M.A.R.B.L.E.s. However, the Flare Dancer broke into smaller versions of itself, rather than small flames. Cheren blew up the dancer with the controller, but it simply jumped to another Flare Dancer. When Cheren blew up these smaller dancers, they scattered into flames that Kellie had to blow out quickly. The last remaining Flare Dancers started to ski around the area, leaving a trail and tossing flames at them, but Cheren shot bombs in their path and had them explode anyway.

When Kellie extinguished the last of the flames, the controller was free to be attacked once again. Cheren chased it around the field and dealt more blows before the torches alit with blue flames. The controller formed a blue Flare Dancer and the third round began. Cheren tried to blow it up with a M.A.R.B.L.E., but when he approached it, the dancer immediately leaped to the other side. The only other option Cheren had was to become a ninja and throw shuriken bombs. The shurikens succeeded and broke the dancer into smaller flames. Before Kellie could put them out, however, the Flare Dancer made the blue flames levitate in the air and fly at Cheren like missiles.

Cheren reverted to human and bounced the fires away with the Mirror Shield, sending them at Kellie, who was able to catch them in her twirl and put them out. They repeated the process until the dancer was left defenseless again. Cheren chased the controller around the field again and dealt the last round of blows when he was close. The Flare Dancer swelled like a balloon and vanished in an explosion. (End song.)

With the monster defeated, the elevator reopened, and the flames surrounding the chest disappeared. If it wasn't obvious before, well, the item inside the chest was…

You got the Boss Key! It's a key… and, not sure, but it MIGHT have something to do with the BOSS.

Before they left, Cheren checked the map and saw the final Stray Fairy was in that room (or roof), and was dead in the center. However, they saw nothing there. The ground wasn't diggable, and there were no hidden switches. However, Kellie tapped Cheren's shoulder and pointed upward, spotting the neon bubble high up in the sky. Cheren fired an arrow directly upward and freed the Stray Fairy. He called it down using the Great Fairy Mask, and the orange fairies were saved. "Okay. Now to search for the Fairy Fountain."

Outside Sarutobi Tower

Upon their return across the series of pillars, they saw there was a secret platform behind one of the pillars, with a Flower Pad. They got on and Kellie did her twirl to make it float toward the side of the falls in the distance. It turned out, there was a secret cave behind those falls, and the Fairy Fountain was inside.

Cheren released the bottled-up orange fairies and let them merge with their friends in the center. If their show hadn't gotten old already, they vanished in a bright flash, and the Great Fairy emerged from the fountain.

The fairy wore a white sleeveless shirt and long, thin pants. She was barefoot and had a Hidden Leaf Headband on her head as she sat cross-legged, eyes closed as she hovered in midair in a meditative state. The fairy calmly opened her green eyes and looked at Cheren before closing her eyes again, still in her meditative state. "Sooo, you have come this far." she said in an Asian accent.

"OOOOH! A fairy!" Kellie stared in awe. "Are you a princess with a floating castle?? Do you have glass slippers?"

Cheren rolled his eyes and focused on the fairy's statement. "…You… know what I've been doing?" he asked, confused a little.

"Of course. I sensed the feeling of desperateness and determination in your heart. You have traveled quite a ways to find that which you seek. My name is Chin."

"Ta ha ha!" Kellie laughed.

"Heheh, that is kinda funny." Cheren chuckled.

"I see what is in your mind." Chin continued. "There is a war that wages inside you. Would saving Miyuki at the cost of her happiness be a right choice? Or is her happiness worth more than the world itself. These conflictions slow you down, steering you away from your goal."

"I see you're apparently the wisest of these fairies." Cheren said.

"In the Land of Fire, many people have set powerful goals over the years, and have struggled on their way to achieving it. Why, if you just knew how much Naruto had to go through… to get where he is as Hokage. Many don't know where their path would lead them, many didn't know what would happen… but they set these worries aside, knowing there was only one way to find out: to continue on their paths and achieve those goals. The Puppet Clan is the opposite of these feelings. They are mindless beings created from the doubtful emotions of people in ancient days. Their goal was to suck all the strength and willpower from the world and make it their own. But to be able to steal the willpower… they would need willpower to begin with. In the end, their mission was a hopeless one."

"So what you're saying is… that I should defeat Majora and save Miyuki from him. And I shouldn't let my worries about how Miyuki might feel get in my way."

"Yes… discovering the answer is all part of the journey."

"Yeah, I kinda figured all that already. Anyhoo, got any new abilities? Although I don't exactly use them much…"

Chin chuckled. "It sounds like your path is already decided. May the winds of favor blow in your way. And to ensure that they do… I shall grant you this." Chin fell into total silence as a calm breeze blew across the fountain, giving Cheren and Kellie the chills. Cheren watched as a strange green sphere, encased in a mystical blue diamond, formed before him.

You've got Farore's Wind! This ancient magic allows you to create a warp point in any room of a temple! Simply go to that room and set your warp point, and you'll be able to return to it if you leave! …You are now kinda pissed you didn't get this way earlier. :P

"Well… this came a bit late." Cheren said simply.

Chin closed her eyes and went back to meditating. "I see you have been much informed before your journey to this land. But be forewarned… the ears can often deceive… as what the ears touch can be deceiving."

"Hm?" Cheren raised a brow.

"Farewell… and may the winds of fortune bring you peace." And on that note, the fairy disappeared with the wind. Cheren stood there looking confused at her warning.

Sarutobi Tower

The kids made their way back to the northern area of the first floor, where they previously discovered the oddly-placed Boss Door. It was just as big as a regular door, and when they unlocked it, they saw it really was a stairway that led to a deep, dark basement. If they knew anything, it was that basements always spell trouble… especially when they happen to be the locations of Boss Rooms. Cheren carefully took the first step on the stairway, the decaying wood creaking beneath his foot.

Cheren just sighed and continued the rest of the walk down casually, Kellie stepping behind him. There was barely any light down there, if any at all, and Kellie looked totally worried. The only thing that scared Cheren down there were the spider-filled webs, but he tried not to let it bother him. Though he was praying to Arceus they didn't have to fight any giant spider monster. Besides, considering every other Zelda game had that, it'd be cliché.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and began to look around; though it wasn't easy, seeing as it was pitch-black. The eerie quiet within the darkness was subdued when a calming tune caught their ears. It sounded like a piano, playing probably one of the saddest tunes they've ever heard. The piano sounded close, but far away at the same time. They felt their way around the basement cave before coming to what seemed like a vast, open space, a realm of infinite blackness. The only thing that had color was the enormous pipe organ in the distance, in which the keys appeared to be pounding themselves to produce this sad music; even though it was making piano sounds.

The kids went down a few more flights of stairs before reaching a ledge with a Flower Pad platform. But rather than use that, they noticed the organ was in reasonable distance for the Pirate Sail to glide to. So they used the Sail to glide there instead, their flight feeling more at ease with the piano sounds. The music grew louder as they drew closer, and they still had no idea what was making it play. They expected to find out when they took land.

The two dropped on the keyboard as the mysterious force continued to pound the keys. As they watched this, two large, purple ghostly hands suddenly appeared, the fingers of each one pounding keys on both sides as the kids jumped with fright. Connected to the hands, skinny purple arms appeared that vanished into a big, purple cloak. At the top of this cloaked body was the demon's face: a purple plastic theater mask, with a grinning mouth, long nose, and joyous eyes, with no real eyes or teeth visible in the sockets. Seeing this creature reminded Cheren a lot of the Mask Man, or rather what the Mask Man really looks like.

The demon's song slowly came to an end before he officially took notice of the operatives' presence. After a few seconds of silence, the demon played a few more notes, the organ sounding like an actual organ now as he mimicked the first bit of the haunted house theme. "HoooooOH. HOOOH!" the demon cried in an eerie tone that echoed across the realm. The battle began as he continued playing the organ, providing his own haunted house theme for the battle. (Play "Inside the Church" from Banjo-Kazooie.)

Boss fight: Masked Musical Demon, MOZAND

The terrifying demon swiped its right hand across the first row of keys in attempt to smack them, the operatives quickly jumping to the second row. After a few more notes, the demon swiped his left hand across the row, and they rolled down to the first row. The monstrous organist then rapidly played a series of keys, slowing to a stop around the end. He sat and did nothing for a few seconds, but the kids were taken by surprise when a bunch of keys became electrocuted, giving them a painful shock, the demon afterwards slamming his hands on the keyboard.

The demon gave his echoey, cocky laugh as he swiped his hands across the keyboard again, the operatives dodging each swipe. When Mozand started pounding random keys again, Cheren kept an eye on the ones he was pressing. When Mozand stopped, Cheren quickly pulled Kellie onto one of those keyboards, as the ones he pressed didn't electrify. When Mozand slammed down on the keyboard, the kids were sent flying into the air, taking land on top of the pipes.

As Mozand searched frantically and confusedly for the kids, the two saw the top of the pipes had Flower Pads. Kellie hurriedly began spinning on each one, and each one caused part of the pipe to rise upward, revealing mirrors that faced directly at the monster, as well as Hidden Leaf symbols below them. Meanwhile, Mozand activated dim purple searchlights from his eye sockets, and he was thoroughly searching the top of each pipe. Seeing how many pipes there were to activate, Cheren quickly became a ninja and ducked down with Kellie, using his cloak to hide them. When Mozand didn't see them, he searched around the opposite area, allowing them to safely activate the other pads.

When the two hurried to the opposite side of the organ, they were too late to hide as Mozand spotted them. The demon was about to raise its hand and smash them, but Cheren tossed a shuriken and exploded the hand. The demon cried and shook its hand from the pain and smoke, but when he looked in their direction again, Cheren immediately hid them. Mozand began his search around the organ once again as Kellie finished activating all the mirrors. When Mozand caught wind of this, he punched the pipes and sent the kids falling to the keypad.

Cheren saw Mozand charging energy in his eyes and had an idea what the mirrors might be used for. In his ninja form, he leaped to the Hidden Leaf symbol below the mirror on the very left. Mozand unleashed heat vision lasers at the mirror before lowering them down to Cheren, who already began leaping to the other targets. Since Mozand was now slowly swaying left and right, he had to get the lasers to redirect at the right angle. He was able to grab below a mirror at level with the demon's head, tricking the beast into zapping lasers at the mirror and making them bounce back at his masked face.

The monster cried from the heavy burns, gripping his unchanging face before his head fell and thudded against the organ. Cheren reverted to human and began striking his mask with his sword, which surprisingly did damage, since the mask looked like it wouldn't take hits from a sword. The demon sat back up and gripped its scratched face, roaring with anger. Mozand rapidly swiped his fingers across the keys, knocking Cheren down in the process, before smashing his hands on the organ, the tremor causing most of the mirrors to pop out of their slots in the pipes.

The monster went back to playing his organ, using one hand at a time in attempt to crush the two while he used his other hand to pound the keys. When he failed to smash them with either hand, he was preparing to do more rapid swipes across the keyboard. Cheren hesitated to find a way to avoid it, then remembered the Leaf symbols on the pipes. He quickly became a ninja and grabbed one of the symbols, while Kellie Wall Jumped off the pipes and used her ballerina dress to float, the two safely avoiding Mozand's quick swipes.

When they dropped back on the keys, Mozand proceeded to do the same pattern again. Rather than just stand around and allow him to do so, Cheren decided to take action by striking the hand playing the organ with his sword. He was able to cut both hands, cancelling Mozand's attacks. Roaring with rage, the shadowy demon unleashed heat lasers at the keyboard, attempting to singe the two. Cheren raised his Mirror Shield and attempted to redirect the heat at Mozand's face, but the demon immediately stopped and wagged a scolding finger at him when he saw what Cheren was doing.

Cheren simply ran and avoided the heat vision to think of a way to beat him. He noticed the mirrors had fallen onto the keyboard, and when the heat vision passed over one, it bounced off, giving him an idea. Cheren got behind one of the fallen mirrors and caught the heat vision with his Mirror Shield. Afterwards, he had it bounce off the lower mirror, right up into Mozand's face. The demon felt his mask burn as he collapsed onto the keyboard, allowing Cheren another round of swings at his face.

Mozand recovered and angrily shook his head once again. This time, he decided to swipe all of the mirrors off the keyboard, stuffing them safely under his cloak. He also banged the keys with enough fury and force that he sent Kellie flying to the top of the pipes. Mozand continued with his previous pattern and attempted to smash Cheren with one hand at a time. Cheren ran to strike the hand playing the organ, but Mozand quickly swiped him away before returning to playing. Knowing that wasn't gonna work, Cheren just avoided the attacks to think of another plan.

When he was about to do the finger-swipe attack, Mozand's eye sockets were suddenly clogged by familiar teddybears. Cheren looked up and smiled at Kellie on the pipes, wielding her T.H.U.M.P.E.R.. Mozand confusedly searched around, unaware of blindness, as Cheren became his ninja form and threw shuriken bombs at the hands. Mozand screamed from the pain in his hands and used his heat vision to burn the teddybears blinding him. Cheren reverted to human and used his Mirror Shield when Mozand zapped more heat vision his way. With no mirrors to bounce the beams to, and knowing he couldn't redirect directly at his face, Cheren was puzzled at how to damage him.

During his moment of thinking, Cheren was absentmindedly directing the beams at Mozand's cloak, burning parts of it off. He soon saw all the mirrors Mozand had taken and tried to direct the beams at them. The lasers bounced off, but they shot in the opposite direction, almost hitting Kellie on the pipes. When Cheren looked up, he noticed the mirrors still in the pipes and got an idea. "Kellie! Grab one of those mirrors!"

The Asian girl nodded and bent over the ledge to yank one of the mirrors out of the pipe. When Cheren directed the heat lasers to where she was, she held it like her own Mirror Shield and bounced the heat at Mozand's face. Mozand ceased firing when he instantly caught on to their trick. He roared angrily at Kellie before unleashing heat lasers at her this time. Kellie defended with the mirror and directed it at the exposed mirror in Mozand's cloak. The beam began burning on the keyboard as a result, so Cheren quickly ran in front and bounced it off with his Mirror Shield. He aimed the beam right at Mozand's face from below and had his mask burning in seconds.

Mozand screeched from the flames and his head collapsed onto the keypad for the final time. Cheren ended this battle by dealing the last series of strikes against the mask. (End song.)

"OOOOOOOOOOooh! EeeoooooOOOAAAAAIII." Although Mozand was shaking and screaming in immense pain right now, his expression didn't change a bit. The smile and happy expression remained on his visage as it collided with the keypad one last time. The mask popped off its body and fell flat on the keyboard, while the rest of the shadowy entity fell into the dark abyss.

Cheren sheathed his sword in a stylish fashion as Kellie gently floated down beside him. The two grinned and did a fist-touch before Cheren approached the fallen mask.

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

The mask brimmed with light and shrunk back to its normal size, the spirit having been freed thanks to the Song of Healing. "Awww! Now it's a tiny mask!" Kellie grinned.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't wear it." Cheren chuckled. He then went to add the mask to his collection.

You've seized Mozand's Remains! You've just freed the innocent spirit that was kept imprisoned within the body of evil Mozand!

"Yaaay! We won!" Kellie cheered. "So what happens now?"

"Well, now I fall asleep, meet the Giant, and you drag me back to the treehouse."

"Okay!"

With that said, the evil mask flashed and sent Cheren into slumber.

Spirit World (Play Giants' Theme from Majora's Mask.)

Once again, Cheren and Fi were in the Spirit World. This time, they stood on a platform over an endless forest with Chinese buildings, looking at the Giant in the distance. "Well… that makes five of you. And I know who you are now. You're spirits of happy feelings. Right? You're made of the good of this world."

"Roooooorr-rr-rr-rrrrRRrr."

"But that's not the whole story, is it? There's something else about you… something that sets you apart from other gods."

"OOORRRrrrrRRRROR."

"'Save… our… friend…'" Fi spoke.

"Yeah, I know… I'll save the last one. And by the time I do… maybe I'll have solved this mystery."

Cheren's vision ended in a flash of light.