Operation: MASKED, Part 17: A Land That Once Was

Chapter 17: A Land That Once Was

Alternate Sector V Treehouse

Panini was still unconscious when Cheren had brought her back to the treehouse. She was laid on Harry's bed as Kellie finished wrapping bandages around the cut on her chest. "Well, she's still alive…" Harry said relieved, noticing the girl's low breathing. "We'll take her up to Moonbase for better treatment."

"Dude, this looks more serious than a papercut." Celeste replied. "I think a real hospital would be more like it."

"You might be right." Harry figured. "Of course, there's always the trial of explaining what happened."

"I wish somebody would." Melissa said, looking over at Cheren. The Supreme Leader was seated on the floor and turned away from them, arms around his legs as his eyes were wide with horror, and his hair a mess.

"I just…I just lost control there!" Cheren said, his heart racing after the experience. "I don't even know what happened! One minute I was angry, and the next…!"

"Was this something to do with your head catching fire?" Celeste asked.

"More like somethin' to do with him being part demon." Thomas figured.

Cheren stared at his open hands, still shaking. A Demon State… is this what happens when we…

"Aww, cheer up, Cheren!" Kellie smiled happily. "A lot of people go crazy and make mistakes! See?" With that, she held up a picture of Amanda Bynes. "You know what makes them feel better?" She took out a purple Rainbow Monkey and said, "A Make You Feel Better After You Accidentally Almost Kill Your Best Friend Rainbow Monkey PLUS!"

When Kellie tried to give him the Rainbow Monkey, Cheren just raised a hand up and blocked her. "No." He finally stood up. "I just…I need to try and put this whole thing behind me. I'm going to Old Scotland… and rescuing the last Giant."

"Truman still isn't back yet." Thomas reminded.

"That's okay." Cheren sighed. "I'm going alone this time. If ever turn into… THAT again… there's no sense in letting anyone else be hurt."

"Come on, dude, you really think you'll turn into that 'flame head' again?" Celeste asked.

"Well, it's probably better, anyway." Cheren said in a more hateful tone. "This way, I won't be slowed down as much. We'll be able to rescue the Giant a lot faster if I go on my own."

"Cheren, you know you'll never get far unless one of us goes with you." Melissa told him.

"You never know unless you try." Cheren said. "Anyway… I'm going. I'm hoping you guys can look after her better." And with that frustrated look, Cheren walked to the hangar.

Unknown Location

"Well, well… it worked." Majora said, somewhat amazed.

"Yes, and now that he's all by his lonesome, being rid of him should be a blast!"

"It should make things a bit easier. Regardless, the process is already near completion. By the time he would find the next Giant, it'll be ready. First, we must have our agents enact the next step. So that way, none of them can prevent this."

"You still remember our end of the deal, right?"

"Yes, yes, I'll get you what you want. So long as we conquer this world without any problems."

"I'll hold you to it."

Old Scotland (Play the Little Girl's Theme from Kid Icarus: Uprising.)

Cheren landed along the edge of what looked like a vast, desolate valley of decrepit ruins and several fallen weapons. The winds blew across the grass of this ancient land as the grey, gloomy clouds drifted above, not a speck of sunlight pouring onto this wasteland. Fi emerged from Cheren's sword to confirm their location. "Master Cheren, we have successfully arrived in the ruins of Old Scotland, mostly referred to as DunBroch Ruins. My records show that this was the site of an incredible battle that eventually brought this land into ruin. As you can see, remnants from the ancient days are scattered around this land. Aside from the grass and trees, it is clearly free of almost any form of life that once thrived here. But if what the Mask Man says was true, the final Giant which we seek lies somewhere in these ruins, awaiting rescue within a temple. I'd suggest finding this temple as soon as possible, Master."

Cheren was a little saddened at the look of this wasteland. The atmosphere just felt so depressing, and among these ruins, there were also many gravestones. Everything just felt so lonely… it's time like this he wishes he had a friend to give him company. …No, no. That would only make things harder, having to watch after another person. It's better that he's on his own. He shook off these thoughts and began his journey across the valley.

Stage 26: DunBroch Ruins

Mission: Search for the temple in which the Giant sleeps.

There was a clear path that stretched across the grassland, so Cheren decided to follow it and see where it would lead him. There were skulls littered around almost all parts of the ground, and some of them grew wings and came to life when Cheren walked by, as they turned out to be Bubbles. Having to fight them ruined the calm and quietness of this land, so Cheren took them out quickly. After doing so, he looked down at a tiny pond that was beside the path. The pond looked as filthy and dead as all the ruins, and floating in was what appeared to be the bones of a dead frog. This made him question if frogs really had bones.

Cheren kept walking as he passed by an old, abandoned stand with barrels in the back, and the shopkeeper's skeleton lying against the counter. Fi stopped Cheren from continuing and spoke, "Master, take a look." She indicated said stand on his left. "This shack resembles the Powder Keg shack we found on Tortuga. Master, I can sense a strange force emitting from these remains."

"Ohhhhh…" a faint, eerie sigh sounded from the bones as tiny, blue lights floated around it.

"Huh?..." Cheren curiously examined the bones closer.

"There's not been visitors… for several hundred years. This land had been decayed… for centuries."

"Y-Yeah, several hundred years, I got that." Cheren nodded.

"It was all the war's doing… demons came out of nowhere… with the walking dead. There was no end… Scotland fell. I remember it like it was yesterday… when the little masked girl visited my shop. After that… bad things happened."

"A little girl?!" Cheren exclaimed. "What did she look like??"

"She was… wearing a scary mask, I know that much. It… gave me nightmares. I… don't remember anything else. It was soooo long ago…"

But Miyuki came to this world just recently. Cheren thought. How would she…

"If you wanted to visit… you'll find nothing here now. The path ahead… is blocked anyway. A landslide… there's no way through. Unless you want a Powder Keg. They… hold up well over the generations… But I don't think you're strong enough-"

Cheren immediately threw on Slag's Mask and became the buff, chubby captain. "ARR, lay one to me, ancient lad!"

"Ohhhh… you're just another figment of my ghostly mind. Okay… you can have one." With that, an invisible, ghostly force lifted a Powder Keg up and dropped it by Cheren. The force also held a lit match and used it to alight the long fuse. "Just for fun's sake. Better hurry."

Cheren sighed and lifted the keg above him as he trudged down the path. The path got a little wider as ruins laid in his way, forcing Cheren to walk around and make him lose time. When the road looked a little more clear up ahead, there were ruined columns stationed along the sides, and these columns fell over and blocked those parts of the path, still forcing Cheren to go around. Already, the keg's fuse was nearly burned, and it seemed a lot shorter than the one on Tortuga. He came to a shorter point in the path that was blocked by a single boulder. Cheren set the keg down a safe distance and reverted to human to use a M.A.R.B.L.E. to blow the boulder away. He quickly changed back to Slag and carried the keg through a much wider path, down a slope between a slight trench.

The landslide was right there, and Cheren threw the keg over and hurried away before it could explode. The pile of boulders vanished in the huge explosion, revealing a tunnel. Cheren hurried through and came out on a platform within a trench with a vast chasm. There weren't any paths too follow, but in the left direction, there was a distant platform where the trench made a turn. It was too far to fly over with the Sail, but there was a Walltula covering something a few feet over the trench. Cheren shot the Walltula with the Hookshot, and it fell down to reveal a hidden Hookshot target. Cheren latched himself to the Hookshot, and this got him high enough to make it to the platform with the Sail.

Cheren kicked off the flapped the Sail open to safely glide over, and from the platform, he looked to the second part of the trench. There were Hidden Leaf symbols stationed on both walls, so Cheren became a ninja and used them to leap his way across the walls. He came to a wider area where he leaped off onto another ledge. There were no other ways to go, but Cheren's sword started flashing, so he summoned Fi. "Master Cheren, I have important information for you. I am sensing a strange thirst for blood lurking around the area. Perhaps there is a mask you are holding that is able to summon the unseen, Master."

"Hmm…" Cheren remembered the Garo Mask he got from Dr. Facilier and put it on to see if it would do anything. A few seconds went by, and nothing, but when Cheren took a few steps forward, he flinched when a dark-yellow hooded figure leaped from the ground, dressed in a garb that almost resembled the mask, white eyes staring out from the blackness of his hood.

"Master… you called?" it asked.

"Uuum." Cheren was already confused.

"…! You!" the figure whipped out a sword and pointed at Cheren. "What are you?!" Suddenly, the area was surrounded by fire, and the Garo whipped out a second sword. It zipped by Cheren, who tried to dodge to the left, but ended up taking a cut against the leg. It was a small cut, so he only winced a little. The Garo turned and aimed to slash at him again, but Cheren raised his Mirror Shield in defense and knocked his swords away. His guard down, Cheren leapt and slashed the figure across the chest, and the flames vanished.

The Garo fell to his knees in defeat and spoke, "Regrettable! Although, my rival, you are spectacular. I shall take my bow by opening my heart and revealing my wisdom. To witness the grave history that happened here, you must gather the stones that open the way to yesterday. Belief or disbelief rests with you. To die without leaving a corpse… that is the way of us Garo." With that, the creature stood, took out a bucket of oil, dumped the oil on him, then lit himself on fire with a match before jumping into the chasm, where Cheren watched the light of his fire fade away as he fell.

"…Well, no wonder they all died." Cheren said.

"Hm hm hm. My, my. You certainly put on a show."

"Huh?" Cheren looked up at the trench's ledge, where there sat a purple-cloaked figure, wielding a stick in one hand, his bare legs hanging over the edge.

"That was a Garo. They were once a race of ninja from a neighboring country, used for spying and assassinations. Their spirits only awaken when one who wears their mask calls for them. There's an interesting aura about you, Boy. An aura I haven't sensed for some time now."

"Well, I… get that a lot, sort of." Cheren smiled sheepishly.

"This land has been in ruin for some time. It has lost its guardian deity long ago. That was what caused this land to go into war."

"But Majora didn't return again until just recently. How could he've been the cause of these centuries of ruin?"

"Time is an illusion in this world, boy. When you look close enough, it's as easily traversable as the ocean, or sky. The way to history… may only be a few steps away. Or in this case, a Hookshot to a tree." With the snap of his fingers, a short, decayed tree emerged from the ground beside him. Before Cheren could ask any more, the ghostly man disappeared.

Cheren only shrugged before using his Hookshot to latch himself to the tree, reaching another path above the trench. The path led straight toward what appeared to be the remnants of an old town. He passed through the town's ruined front gate and walked to the center. Strangely, he found a Warp Gate, that looked in perfect condition, but it was deactivated and connected to two cords attached to slots. It looked like something was supposed to fit in those slots. Still, to confirm this, Fi came out.

"Master Cheren, judging by the shapes of these slots-"

"Fi, just SHUT UP." And Fi went back in the sword. Cheren first decided to head in the left direction of the town, where he found a withered garden. There was a mound of dirt that looked out of place, so Cheren became a wolf and dug it up. He found a strange brown sphere with dark-blue stripes, and suspected that was what fit into one of the slots. He reverted to human form to pick it up and carry it to the left slot. Afterwards, Cheren went to have a look around the ruined town, thinking the next sphere was buried in the ruin. He broke open a withered crate in an alleyway and found an Arrangement Pad. He was able to use Sackboy to move some of the rubble out of the way, and under that rubble was the second sphere. He reverted to human and went to place it.

He wasn't sure what these spheres were for. That's when he had Fi to give useful info. "Master Cheren: I have analyzed the spheres, and have concluded they are Timeshift Orbs. They are mystical orbs that can revert any area to a time-state from the past. They are activated by means of timebending energy, or at least some Time Dust, matter produced by means of timebending, to give them fuel. By my records, Timeshift Stones were mainly a mass production on Planet Secco, and it is the only planet that manufactures them to my knowledge."

"Then what would they be doing here?" Cheren asked. "I'd understand if this dimension had its own Secco… but how would they get to Earth?"

"I cannot provide an answer to these questions, Master. However, the device which the orbs are linked to appears to be a Warp Gate designed for traveling through time. There is an 88% chance the orbs' energy serve as the power source to do so, but their energy has been depleted as of the moment."

"Great. Know any good timebenders we can contact real fast?" Cheren said sarcastic.

"Unfortunately, I am not familiar with any quick-access timebenders, Master. However, there may be another solution: the Master Sword was forged with some Time Energy. It enabled the sword to be kept in a special time stasis field, to keep it from withering away across the years, and it once enabled your ancestor a means of traversing two different eras."

"Seriously?!" Cheren exclaimed eagerly. "Wow, if I knew that, I woulda brought this during the D.U.S.K. incident. (I don't even remember how we got outta that…)"

"Indeed. There is a 70% chance a simple thrust of the sword will give the orbs power."

"Okay… let's try it." With that, Cheren struck the first orb, and it lit up. He went to strike the second one, and watched as a light-blue energy transferred through the cords. The Warp Gate was powered, opening a spiraling, blue door. (End song.) Cheren curiously stared closer, the sounds of roaring and weapons clinging on the other side. A white light engulfed him as he stepped through, and he had no idea what to expect.

DunBroch Kingdom, more than 800 years in the past (Play Magnus' Theme from Kid Icarus: Uprising.)

Cheren landed smack in the middle of a battlefield, screaming and rolling away quickly before a Scottish warrior charged him. All around him, skeleton warriors, and a few demonic forces, were clashing with muscular, rather hairy, human warriors. They appeared to be in a small town of stone buildings, which bared resemblance to the ruins he was previously in. As clear as Fi would make it, he's been transported back to the past.

Cheren hurriedly made his way through all the fighting, as he seemed to be in the middle of several warriors' conflicts. It was like trying to fight your way through a crowd of dancing teenagers, only now with the risk of being stabbed with a sword or an axe, or causing someone else to meet such a fate. Cheren was able to squeeze into the alleyway where the Arrangement Pad would've been in the future, panting heavily as he sat behind the crate he would destroy. He peeked out and fearfully watched the bloody clashes between the Scottish men and the undead forces. Cheren felt a presence loom behind him, and he turned and gasped at the imposing Scottish warrior glaring at him.

"Who are ya?" he asked. "You're supposed to be out fighting! Wait, you look a little too young. How old are ya?"

"Um… 9-and-a-half?" Cheren answered.

"Eh… what was the age restriction again?" the warrior thought to himself. "Eh, whatever. Ya got the sword, so get out there!" With that, the warrior grabbed Cheren and threw him out into the battlefield.

"Waaah-" Cheren was hurled headfirst through the mouth of a skeleton, getting stuck. The Stalfos looked around confused before discovering the boy in his head. He forced Cheren out and attempted to strike him, but Cheren bounced his weapon back with the Mirror Shield and dealt a series of blows to finish him.

Since he wasn't sure of where he should go next, he decided to run around and cut down all of the skeletons he could. Normally, a Stalfos would be harder, let alone an army, but since they were already occupied with the DunBroch army, that eased up on the difficulty. When he turned another corner of the town, he was behind a squadron of Stalfos slowly closing in on a group of distracted warriors. Cheren shot a M.A.R.B.L.E. in the center of the Stalfos and blew them all away in one blow.

He fought his way to the other side of the town, where there stood two wooden towers on the sides of large, wooden gates. The Scottish warriors were trying to climb up the left tower, but two Bulblin Archers were easily keeping them down with arrows. Cheren shot the Bulblins down with his own arrows, and the warriors cheered when they were able to reach the top and pull a lever. Cheren fought his way to the right tower, where a Fatblin was guarding at the top, kicking down any soldiers that tried to climb up. Cheren got to the side of the tower, at an angle where the Fatblin was unprotected, and shot a few arrows at him to make him turn around. His distraction allowed the soldiers to reach the tower and pull the heavy monster down. They climbed to the top and activated the second lever, causing the large gates to open.

"The way to the castle is open!" one yelled. "Assist the king! Move!" Cheren ducked as the horde of soldiers charged by him, leaving the town as they charged toward a castle in the distance. But what really caught Cheren's attention was the gigantic treehouse growing over the castle. Is that a Kids Next Door's treehouse?

Cheren followed the soldiers, feeling this 'king' would give him some insight, and also curious about the treehouse. As they charged down a field, Cheren saw some Bulblin Riders charging from the opposite way. Cheren shot the Bulblins with arrows and caused the Bullbos to stop in place. The warriors soon arrived at a series of wooden fences with Bulblins shooting rapid arrows from towers. Cheren ran to the nearest disguarded Bullbo and rode on top of it, using it to charge through the series of barriers and knock the towers down.

The warriors cheered once again as they followed Cheren on his way to the castle. After crossing a bridge, Cheren got off the Bullbo and charged into an open field with a row of Fatblin in his way. Cheren figured he'd leave the Fatblin to the soldiers and ran past the chubby monsters. He was coming to a small bridge that led to the castle, but a Sumoblin was guarding it. Even though he knew how to beat a Sumoblin, this particular one had no chasm behind him. And Cheren wasn't strong enough to haul him over the edge.

He figured he'd need to enlist the help of the DunBroch soldiers, who were currently occupied with the Fatblin. Cheren ran to lay a series of blows against each Fatblin, then allowed the Scottish warriors to finish the rest. When a good number of them had gotten by the Fatblin brigade, they charged toward the bridge. Two of them ended up in a shoving contest with the Sumoblin, who was strong enough to hold them back. Cheren assisted the soldiers by shooting the Sumoblin with arrows to weaken his defenses, and the soldiers were able to overpower the Fatblin and throw him over the edge.

Cheren joined the soldiers as they charged up the pathway to the castle. When they made it to the castle's courtyard, they found more soldiers being overpowered by much smaller skeletons, called Stalkin. When he looked to the castle's entrance, he saw a very large man, with brownish-red, messy hair, a puffy mustache, a left peg-leg, and a cape made of some kind of fur, battling the four-armed Stalfos, Stalmaster, along with four normal Stalfos.

Cheren left the other soldiers to assist their friends while he went up to battle the Stalfos. While the skeleton soldiers had their eyes fixed on the large man, Cheren shot a M.A.R.B.L.E. under the Stalmaster and blew them all away. However, the Stalmaster survived the explosion, fixing his head back on before turning angrily at Cheren. Cheren kept his shield raised when the monster was about to attack, but the peg-legged warrior behind him pierced the Stalmaster with his sword and threw the skeleton down the stairs, his bones scattering apart.

The other warriors were about to attack the Stalmaster's head, but it floated away as his body parts came back together. "Mrrrr… that must be the one we were warned about. Everyone retreat… for now." And just like that, the Stalmaster and any other undead forces sunk back to the ground. (End song.)

Cheren sheathed his sword and took a moment to catch his breath from the fighting, but was startled when the large man gave him a forceful pat on the back. "HAA ha haaa! Now 'ere's a lad who knows how ta fight! I 'aven't seen a wee boy fight so well since… I WAS FIVE!"

The gathered warriors joined in laughter, and Cheren blushed.

"So what's yer name, lad?" the man asked.

"C-Cheren." He stuttered. "Um, I need to see the king about something."

"Yer lookin' at 'im." The man smiled proudly. "What is it ya want, lad? OOH, let me guess: ya want to marry my daughter!"

"WHAT?!" Cheren wouldn't ever expect that. "N-No, I'm-"

"Ahh, don't be sheepish, lad, come on in! We'll let ya meet her!" Cheren was forcibly pulled in by the king's large, buff hand, his attempts at protests gone unheard.

DunBroch Throne Room

The king led Cheren to a throne room of three thrones, a big one, small one, and medium one, and a dining table in the center. "'ey, Elinor! Bring Merida out now, we 'ave a guest!" The king called as he brought Cheren before the thrones. Other warriors were gathered around the room as well.

A slender woman, with long brown hair and an emerald-green robe, walked out with who Cheren believed to be Merida, a girl about his age, wearing a silky, smooth blue dress with golden patterns at the bottom, and a tight, white hood over her head (I honestly don't know what that thing is called, so someone look it up. You know, when she's in that outfit she's forced to wear. :P).

"Everybody, this is Cheren!" the king introduced. "Ehh, Cheren, Ay don't think we've introduced ourselves. That man over there is Elbaf!" he pointed to a random soldier, who smiled and waved. "And that one is Elbaf!" The soldier beside him waved. "Beside him is Elbaf! And there's Elbaf. That's Elbaf. And that's Elbaf. And way over THERE is Elbaf. And there is…" Cheren just stood there in boredom, tapping his foot impatiently. He spared a glance over to their princess, watching as a thick strand of hair stuck out from under her hood. Her mother squeezed the strand back in, and the princess put on a grumpy look. "…That one's Elbaf, that one's Elbaf, and THAT one's… eh…" the king finally reached the final man, but he was having trouble recalling his name. He closed his eyes and snapped his fingers, trying to think. "Eh, was it… Rubar… somethin'?"

"Elbaf-"

"RIGHT, ELBAF, Ayyy… was going to say that!"

Cheren sighed. "So I'm guessing YOUR name would be-"

"You're right! King Fergus!" he grinned. "This is my wife, Elinor, and daughter, Merida! Go on, say hi!" he insisted as he shoved Cheren toward Merida.

Cheren stared at the princess's surprised, beautiful blue eyes, and gave a light blush. "Um… hi?"

"Fergus, what are ye doing?" the queen whispered to her husband.

"Ooh, right, right, forgive me. This boy wants ta marry her!"

Both Cheren and Merida jumped back from each other in shock. "I NEVER SAID THAT!!" he yelled.

"Are ye crazy, Fergus?!" the queen asked. "Only one of the LORD'S sons can marry her! And they're not even old enough, yet!"

"Oh, that's right…" the king slumped in realization. "Eh, what was the age restriction again?"

"Sixteen! Besides, he'd have to win a competition to be able to marry her, ya can't decide now."

"Ehhh, Ay can pull a few strings!" Fergus grinned. "Actually, Boy, where are ye from, anyway?"

"Er, Virginia?"

"Aye, Virginia, Virginia…" Fergus began to think. "Umm, is that by, Italy or something?"

"No, it's… in the future."

The entire room fell into a dead silence. There wasn't even a coughing sound, or someone dropping a pencil. Cheren began to feel very nervous about this response. But in an instant, the whole room burst into laughter. "HA HA HA, THE FUTURE!" the king laughed, putting an arm around Cheren. "Looks like we got a wee little TIME-traveler!" The men laughed some more. "Aye, but seriously, lad, where are ye from?"

"Uh, just… far away, okay?" Cheren slipped out of the king's grasp. "Anyway, there's a few things I need to ask you. First about that giant tree growing over your castle."

Merida gave a light gasp.

"Ehh, the big tree?" Fergus asked. "Ehh, it's just a wee little treehouse our daughter likes to climb up to sometimes. Ah wouldn't say it's that big."

"You sure?" Cheren asked. "It's about as high as, well, I guess you don't have skyscrapers, yet."

As they talked, the queen noticed her daughter backing away slowly. "Merida, where are ye goin'?"

"Oh… Ay just…" Merida quickly shot her finger forward. "Dad! Is that Mor'du?!"

"What?!" everyone gasped and looked to where she pointed, including Cheren. "Where?!" the many warriors had their weapons ready.

In a flash, Merida whipped out a smoke bomb and threw it to the ground, shrouding the whole room in white smoke. As Cheren tried to see his way around, a hand was cupped over his mouth, and he saw the princess grabbing him from behind. "Just keep silent and everythin' will be fine." She whispered.

Cheren muffled an 'Okay.' But that's when Merida slammed the boy's head hard against the ground, and everything went black and quiet.

Somewhere on the sea

Nerehc and Pablo were back on their little rowboat, drifting along an empty part of the vast sea, with Nerehc still looking frustrated over his latest defeat with Cheren. "Sigh, I can't leave that do-goody Cheren alone for 1 second without him being able to turn into several new forms. Is that just the special treatment he gets in this dimension?"

"No sé. (I dunno.)" Pablo said.

"Sigh, I shouldn't even be trying to worry about Cheren. All I wanna do is get the heck outta here. …Of course, that's why I went after Cheren to begin with. Still, if I don't get back, Mom's gonna fry me to a crisp. There's GOT to be a way back."

"Tal vez si deja de tratar de luchar con Cheren, se le puede decir cómo volver. No veo el momento de la lucha contra él, señor. (Maybe if you stop trying to fight with Cheren, he can tell you how to get back. I do not see the point in fighting him, senor.)"

Nerehc clutched Pablo by the shirt and yelled in his face, "DUDE! LEARN ENGLISH! LEARN!! ENGLISH!!"

"English."

"Wah!" Nerehc flinched when the Zoni suddenly appeared behind him.

"English..."

Nerehc exchanged a confused glance with Pablo. "Um… y-yes, I would LIKE him… to learn English."

"English… ENGLISH!..." the Zonis' eyes grew wide.

"Um…"

"STOP… THE ENGLISH!"

"Um, I was only saying 'cause I can't understand-" Nerehc was given a shock by the Zoni, and he fell unconscious.

Kingdom of Darkness

Nerehc found himself in a strange city of tall, purple buildings under a pitch-black sky. When he stood, he saw that a purple jumpsuit with a three-swirl symbol, that lined up like a triangle, was over his body. "What…What is this place?" (Play "Blarg Space Station" from Ratchet & Clank.)

Stage 27: Kingdom of Darkness

Mission: Look around and see if you find something.

Nerehc used his rocket feet and skied through the first road of the purple city, getting weird looks from the passing pitch-black shadow people that looked like chess pieces. He turned a corner to find a road that was apparently in some kind of gang war, with the white pieces shooting against the black pieces. Nerehc was currently on the shadow creatures' side, so they were shooting away from him, but this didn't stop him from slicing the weird things with his sword. This made the other shadow creatures angrily shoot at him, but Nerehc blocked with his sword and went over to knock them out.

The white pieces cheered at this, but Nerehc was kind of peeved at them for almost shooting him. So, he sliced the happy white beings and knocked them clean out. He skied further down, coming to a row of purple trash cans and trash bags, but more of the black chess pieces came out and began shooting at him from behind. Nerehc raised a wall of purple flames to hide from the assaulters, then skied along the right wall to slip behind the black creatures, where he sliced them all in one slide.

Nerehc then turned in to an alleyway and Wall Jumped up the walls to reach the rooftops of the city. He could already see a horizon, but it wasn't very far off. Nerehc figured he was on some kind of moon. He began jumping across the rooftops, keeping his eye down below for anything of interest. As he crossed the moon, it looked like it was rolling, since it was that small of a planet. Eventually, a large, purple castle rose up in the distance, definitely catching Nerehc's interest.

Nerehc looked below to see two more black chess guys reading a newspaper, and he jumped down behind them. "Hey, the Queen's got a new prisoner. Some guy that fell on Derse a few weeks ago."

"Was it a salamander?"

"No, it's… a human."

"Human? You mean those things with the snow-white skin?"

"No, this one has a light-brownish color. …Like that kid."

"Huh?" the two finally noticed Nerehc, and the Negative child immediately took out the right one, then kicked the left one down before standing on and aiming his sword at him.

"Hey." He grinned innocently. "You mind telling me the name of this planetoid?"

"Um… it's Derse."

"Ahh, Derse. And, how would one get into that castle?"

"Um… try knocking?"

"Okay. Lemme try." He bent down and lightly tapped the guy's forehead with his knuckles. "Knock…" followed by a punch that knocked him out, "KNOCK. Yeah, that doesn't work for me. I prefer to get creative about it." With that, Nerehc turned a few more corners of the town, where more black creatures tried to shoot him on his way to the castle. They were all very terrible shots, and Nerehc was able to slice them all in seconds. They were probably aiming their guns upward, or backwards.

When Nerehc made it to the front door of the castle, he decided to try what the chess man suggested: he gently knocked on the door, and said, "Knock-knock."

A tiny slot opened to reveal a black chess's furrowed white eyes. "Who's there?" he responded.

"Shocking."

"Shocking who?"

"It's shocking that I was going to do this." With that, Nerehc zapped the guard through the slot and afterwards used lightning to blow the door open. "Well… not really."

Nerehc charged into the first hall as several guards were already coming to shoot him, but Nerehc swiftly sped around and sliced them all. There was one guard remaining, so Nerehc threw his sword and stuck him to the wall by his collar. "Where's the prison block?" he demanded.

"Downstairs. I think the stairs leading downward should help you."

"Okay, Sarcastic." With that, Nerehc knocked the guard out and pulled his sword back before heading to the nearest staircase. He slid down the stairs into a hallway with several prison cells, and apparent criminals behind them, mostly white guys. Nerehc looked at a sign on the ceiling that read Minor criminals. There was an intersecting hall that read Major criminals/Refused to pay taxes, and straight ahead was a door labeled, Prisoners so special that the Queen just has to see them. Why are they so special?

Nerehc nodded (disbelieved) and sped into that door, only to appear in a smaller hall with another door, labeled Door 2. He sped forward, and found Door 3, then passed 'Nother Door, then into Yet Another One, then into We Sure Love Doors, then finally reached a room with a large, secured door labeled Finally, You Made It. Nerehc peeked into the small window to see what was up. (End song.)

Sitting on one end of the room was a pitch-black queen, wearing a black crown and rather colorful getup, and she was facing who Nerehc assumed was the human. He couldn't get a good look at him, but he was baldheaded, and a slight mustache and beard. "Who is he?..."