5. A Real Crazy Weirdo

Adams Tech Co.

Emily hurried back to the building as things had calmed down a bit. "Emily, there you are!" her mother yelled, running to her. "Where did you go??"

"Hehe, relax, Mom!" Emily blushed. "Just thought I'd, monkey around a bit and catch some monkeys." They looked to the containment capsule where the 10 monkeys were held.

"But… How did you-"

"With my T.E.L.A.-N.E.T.!" Emily held the net up. "I locked on the containment chamber so the monkeys would be transported inside! Or anything else I felt like catching, he he he."

"Well… great job, Em!" Kim smiled. "'Course there's still a bunch more that escaped from the lab, but we can track down the last few in town easily. Come upstairs, want you to meet someone."

Kim guided her to a laboratory on the highest floor of the building. A brown-haired woman in a lab coat was speaking to an employee before he walked away. "Emily, this is one of our leading scientists, Rebecca Jake. Professor Rebecca, this is…"

"Holy cow!" Emily perked. "I know you! You used to be in the Amish Sector!"

"Hm hm hm… did I?" Rebecca smiled. "I've been surrounded by technology so long, I can hardly remember ever living on a farmland."

"Hu hu! You became the KND's best scientist after you transferred to the Aquatic Lab! Hardly any experience and you were a natural! I gotta have your autograph!"

"Hm hm, maybe later. We have a feeling who's behind all these escaped monkeys. No doubt, it's the work of Specter."

"Who's Specter?" Emily asked.

"Specter was one of many test-subject monkeys we had here in the lab." Kim explained. "11 years ago, we created the Peak Point Helmet and placed it on him. It was a helmet that could grant artificial intelligence, and we created hundreds. But those were Pipo Helmets, lesser variants, and Specter's was the core helmet, which granted him artificial psychicbending. Using his powers, he broke out of the lab and stole the other helmets, giving them to all sorts of monkeys. He tried to take over the world, but we managed to stop him. I don't see how he-"

"Why, with my superb planning, of course." They all jumped when a TV came on, displaying Specter's image. (Cue Specter's Theme from Ape Escape.)

"Specter!" Kim gasped.

"Though I will confess, I couldn't have done it all on my own. Mr. Mogul, for example, provided great assistance in duplicating these Pipo Helmets. As for how I escaped myself…"

"HE HAD HELP FROM I: Mmmooojo Jojo," A green-skinned, black-furred monkey appeared, with a purple cape, white boots and gloves, and a white, purple-striped helmet over his head, "who has heard of Specter's miraculous designs and sought to make an alliance with him, which is what I did, after I rescued him, due to my ingenious planning, because I am smart, and you imbeciles are-"

"Okay okay, I think they-" Specter tried to speak, but his mechanical collar sparked, reverting to his nasally voice. "DAAAH this voice-modifier will be my bane! Cut the camera, cut cut-!"

The screen switched to a picture of a monkey shrugging sheepishly and holding a potato camera. Next to him read, Technical difficulties. Sorry about that.

The screen soon cut back to Specter, back in his cooler, echoey voice. "Ahhh, that's better. Now without any need to go into all the details, I have successfully assembled my army of over 500 apes, and as we speak, they are producing more Pipo Helmets and hunting more apes to add to my army. And commanding those monkeys are the five most intelligent apes in my army, next to Yours Truly of course. Sadly, my Freaky Monkey Five cannot be here now. But if you are wise, you'll stay where you are and not have to meet them."

"What's wrong, Specter? Afraid we'll send all your monkeys back to the zoo? 'Cause THAT'S what's gonna happen- snort!" Emily declared.

"Hmph… am I afraid of some girl who looks like she has uncontrollable sweatglands?"

Emily blushed and shifted her foot.

"Very well… I accept your challenge, little girl. But just so you know, it's not just me and my army of apes. We have many legions, and they're spread across much of the universe. I look forward… to more." The screen blanked. (End song.)

"Legions across the universe… where've I heard that before?" Kim questioned.

"Either way, we can't let Specter or any of those apes run around." Rebecca said. "They'll drive any place they visit into chaos. …And it looks like they got pretty far using our transporters."

"So let's get out there and stop them!" Emily perked. "I grabbed some of the monkeys' fur so I can track them with my-"

"Hold on, Em, we aren't even sure how strong his forces are." Kim replied. "And those legions he mentioned, they could be-"

"I know." she said quickly and knowledgeably. "It's just like when Gnaa appeared with his allies, isn't it, Mom? The past is repeating itself, and my archaeological instincts tell me it has to do with this inevitable doom that Cheren mentioned. I need to find this Specter guy and find out what he knows about… well, any of this. Then I have to tell Cheren so he can tell all the other kids. Come on, Mom, just let me go!"

"What's this about an… inevitable doom?" a scientist asked.

"Oh, right. You guys probably haven't heard, hehehehe."

"Well, she did a great job rounding up these few monkeys." Rebecca noted. "She could help us catch some more. But doing it by yourself might be too much."

"Way ahead of you!" Emily perked. "Can one of your transporters send me to Nashville? I have a few friends that can help."

"Nashville, Tennessee?" Rebecca asked, observing a transporter's monitor. "A few monkeys are actually around that area. …I wonder if they're attacking Kids Next Door regions?"

"That's what I'm gonna find out." Emily declared. "I'll find out what Specter's up to and catch every last monkey! Get ready to warp me!"

"Hold on, we still didn't agree to let you go!" Rebecca yelled. "We can't even call you back with the teleporter. You might-"

"It's okay, Becca." Kim intervened. "I think Em might be on to something about Specter. And I know she can handle it." She smiled at her daughter. "She has that Garley-Adams smartness. Right?"

Emily blushed and scratched her head. "Huhuhuhu- snort."

"Well… if you say so." Rebecca agreed. "We'll send our Infobox Drones out too to give you help if you need it. Good luck, Emily."

Emily excitedly hopped on the teleporter and warped to Nashville. Kim's daughter was off on another adventure. …By which she meant her first adventure.

The Tree of Beginning

The R.O.A.D.S.T.A.R. landed just outside the mountain range of the Tree of Beginning as Cheren and Nebula climbed out. They approached the seemingly dead-end wall, where two teeny Minish guards stood. "Halt! Who goes there?" one spoke in a voice no one could possibly hear at a normal height.

"Uhhhh…" Cheren moaned.

The guard rolled her eyes and pulled out a Minish-size megaphone (a miniphone). "I said, who GOES there? Giant humans…"

"We're with the Kids Next Door." Nebula responded. "We're here to speak with the Minish KND Leader."

"On what grounds?"

"On the grounds that we brought Floran Spring Cherries."

"Yaaaaaaaay!" A storm of tiny cheers squeaked across the wall.

"Fine. You can come in. OPEEEEN!"

A group of earthbender Minish hauled the tremendous (kid-sized) gate open, Cheren and Nebula having to duck to get in. They patiently followed the Minish guard up the populace tree, where many Minish roamed the forest of flowers beneath their feet. "AAAAAAHH!!" Cheren looked by his left foot, seeing a Minish kid in an open spot. "YOU SQUISHED 10 OF MY PIKMIN!!"

"Um… sorry."

"Aw, GREAT! Now I owe Mulberry 5 nuts! Dumb humans visiting our tree…" She led her Pikmin away in anger.

The two were led to the near-top of the tree, the guard stopping before a tall stone pillar. "Numbuh Hundred Acres, Sir: these human Kids Next Door have come to speak with you."

This thin pillar that towered many stories was a throne, where the Minish Leader sat high and proud, viewing for miles. He was at neck level with Cheren and Nebula, and it looked as though his throne could be easily snapped between their fingers. "And to what do I owe this blocking of my view?" Minish Leader Lenari wore a blue shirt, black shorts, black shoes, and a black pointed hat. He really loved that color, apparently.

Nebula bent down slightly and spoke professionally, "Numbuh Hundred Acres, I am Numbuh Eternal, Supreme Leader of the Galactic Kids Next Door. This is Cheren, Leader of Earth's Kids Next Door. We are here to request an alliance with your organization, and your membership in the Galactic Kid Council. In doing so, you will be provided with assistance from other KNDs, if you so need, but you will also be required to attend regular council meetings and assist our members if requested. It's all written in this contract if you want to join." She pulled out a paper with the written information. "Just sign here. …You can make a tiny signature if you want, we can magnify it."

"…Hmmmm…" Lenari studied the contract thoughtfully. "To be honest, we Minish KND have always been a discreet organization, with our main purpose providing secret assistance to the Human KND."

"Well, this way we can be helping each other." Cheren noted.

"Well, making ourselves more open might only lead to negative consequences on our end. Besides, we're kind of at a negative standpoint with the humans at the moment."

"Whaddyou mean?"

"About 5 months ago, a group of humans broke in here and kidnapped our princess, Gonshiri. We've determined they were some royal types, who occasionally kidnap our kind to be made as slaves, and we're trying to locate and rescue her. Before that happens, signing any treaties or major legal documents shouldn't happen without her consult."

"Maybe we can help. Do you know what her kidnappers looked like?" Cheren asked.

"They looked like knights in fairly colorful armor. That's why we assumed them to be rich people. Anyway, I'll think about your treaty, but I can't sign now, and I can't promise the princess will agree, either. She's… kinda snotty."

"Thank you for your time." Nebula said, putting the contract away. "If you make up your mind, get one of Cheren's operatives to tell him, and he'll tell me. That is, if he's a good boy." She smiled witfully.

"Just be careful not to step on any of us on the way out."

"Well said." With that, Nebula warped them both out, the flash making the tiny Minish leader dizzy for a few moments.

The two reappeared just beside the R.O.A.D.S.T.A.R.. "Well, I guess I'll head back to GKND." Nebula decided. "Also… something weird." She gave Cheren a letter. "This was inside our mailbox, meant to be given to you." Cheren looked at it confused. "I don't know who it's from, but… well, just watch yourself. You have a knack for getting into trouble. 'specially with me." She winked. "Ciao." And she warped away.

Cheren had no idea what it could be, either. A letter given to Nebula to give to him… who in Galaxia would be acquainted with him, besides the operatives. He cracked it open and found a heart-shaped symbol with a face at the bottom on the note's cover. He opened and read, Meet me at Roguetown Station, 8pm tonight. Tell no one. Signed with a heart. Cheren folded and hid the note in his jacket with a very suspicious look. Here we go again…

Dream Realm

Sheila was fast asleep on the C.O.O.L.-B.U.S.. While everyone else was sitting boredly… Sheila was already on an adventure.

"WAAAAHH- UUH!" She fell past many leaves and bounced down a series of branches, finally crashing on the ground. "Nnnnn… ?" She rubbed her head and looked up, feeling a shadow over her. A gang of ruthless thugs with light-brown sack-like clothes, big round hats, shotguns, and scarecrow-like faces stood over her with rageful looks. She stood up and merely wore a baffled expression, scratching her head. The thugs were pretty confused their selves, exchanging glances with each other. For many minutes, no one said anything. Just… stood there weirdly.

"LOOK OUT BELOOOOWW!" The green fairy creature that Sheila saw before, with the big grinning mouth, zipped down and crashed facefirst in the tree, following to his back before Sheila. He shook back to his senses and got up. "Dang it, knew I shoulda packed a parachute. I'm not late am I, stopped by at the Quickie Mart to grab this Coffee Candy, gotta say, whaddo people-" He turned and finally noticed the thugs. "YAAAAAAHHH!"

Startled, the beings started trying to shoot him, but the fairy frantically dodged and grabbed Sheila by her tail. "QUICK, let's get outta here!" He flew her away.

"What the heck-"

"My name's Murfy, I'll explain later, let's GOOOO!"

Stage 6: Toons in Trouble

Mission: Follow Murfy into the castle.

Act ½

The fairy flew fast through the forest of giant trees, evading the gunshots of more thugs from the branches. "Watch out for the Hoodlums, kid! Speakin' of which, grab those yellow things, those're Lums." Sheila did so and grabbed the little energy spheres with wings, letting them disperse into energy inside her form. Hoodlums were coming down on parachutes trying to blast them, but Murfy dodged around them and left Sheila to punch them down. "Oh no, they're taking the Electoons!" Murfy exclaimed, seeing blimps hauling cages onto their decks, containing tiny, pink sphere-like creatures – with faces, blond ponytails, and hands and shoes separate from their bodies. "Those poor little guys! They'll be forced to play harmonicas and eat stale rice pudding! Oh, the toonanity…"

Murfy then had to shift different altitudes to avoid incoming tree branches and Hoodlums on parachutes, followed by wooden walls blocking their path. Hoodlums were now riding by either side of Sheila on hoverbikes, Murfy pulling her upward when they tried to shove, then getting back beside so Sheila can kick them out of the air. "Pull those legs in, Sheila! 'Cause here come the DRAAAAGOOOONS!" A storm of blue, chubby dragons with large chins were flying from ahead, blasting fireballs and attempting to snap them when they passed by. A larger, purple dragon was then charging at them, mouth wide open as it prepared a powerful fire blasts, but Sheila stretched out and began spinning her left leg, charging more light into her foot before sending a mighty Light Kick that forced the dragon's mouth shut, the fire exploding inside, and sent him falling out of the sky.

"Great job, Kid. Tell ya what, I'll reward ya with yer first parachute jump. PARACHUTE NOT INCLUDEEEEED."

Murfy released Sheila and allowed her to drop to the distant ground. She merely spun her tail to lighten her fall, ensuring a safe land on her feet. Murfy then flew down to meet her. "Uwaaaah sorry for the mess, kid. By the way, nice raccoon costume. When does it come off?"

She glared with hands on her hips.

"Hahaha, I'm just kidding, just kidding! Ah, look at your face. The name's Murfy, nice ta meet ya. Anyway, I got somethin' you wanna look at: the Manual." He held up a small booklet titled Guide to Legend of the Seven Lights, with a picture of two crossing keys. "This guide's got everything you need to know, but I'll go over the basics." He opened and flipped the pages, "Once upon a time, Arceus created many universes, one was outta control, so he had to seal it, blah blah blah BOOORING." He read through very fast. "Okay, so the world's about to end, and the only way to save everyone is find these 20 Keys of Light and Darkness, and the Lights awaken themselves by finding these cubes and reading what's on them, sounds simple enough. Oh-oh-oh, and get this, it says you need the Firstborn to help ya, too."

"But blimey, the Firstborn all went an' scattered!" Sheila yelled. "The Guardians just let them go!"

"Well then I guess you'll just have to find them again." Murfy grinned witfully. "I know your parents enjoyed that the first time, now their kids gotta awaken themselves as Guardians. Geez, why's everyone sleepin' so much, am I right?" He patted her chest. "Oh, uh, by the way I forgot to mention, every action wins ya points. Let me demonstrate: ya see-"

"YEAH YEAH yeah, Ah know what points ah, we do stages all the time."

"Great, then I can save a little oxygen. But just 'cause I'm gettin' paid, I'll walk ya through this stage, anyway. I'll help ya with some puzzles, but don't expect me to break the game like I did in Rayman Legends. Just when ya really need it, okay?" (Play "Teensies in Trouble" from Rayman Legends.)

Act 1

Sheila ventured across a small field of wooden barracks as Hoodmongers popped out, ready to shoot her with rifles. "Okay, Sheila, let's see what ya got. You're the infamous Sunny-Fist, put that fist to good use." Sheila charged her Light Fists and easily knocked them out in one punch, letting the Black Lums fly away. "Bravo, kid, wonderful." Two Hoodbooms stood atop two parallel towers and threw grenades down, blocking with shields when Sheila punched her spheres, but she simply grabbed their grenades and tossed them back to blow them up. "Bravo, Sheila, that's usin' yer noodle."

Sheila Wall Jumped between the two towers to make it atop a wooden wall blocking her path, then hurried down the stairs to a more open field of charging Hoodlums. Sheila spun her two fists and charged huge Light Fists, launching them forward and destroying the swarm in an instant. "Look, kid, I know you're overpowered and all, but try and die it down, we don't want these stages to get boring. Save that strength for the big guns." Sheila proceeded across the field and jumped up a series of wooden platforms with varying heights, having to use Murfy to cut down ropes above so she could swing to distant ones.

"Help me." A squeaky voice called. Behind one of the wooden towers was a dangling cage, so Sheila punched a Light Sphere to smash it open. A group of Electoons floated to the ground with helicopter hair and grinned happily at their savior. Sheila got to a platform where the space between it and the next was too far, in which Murfy pointed out the switch on a further tower, beyond her vision. But there were so many other towers, Sheila simply punched Light Spheres at different ones until the right ricocheted path would lead it to the switch.

"Hey, who're they calling 'Maddy'?? Oh wait, that's a different Murphy. Man, we got too many characters with the same name. We got TWO Carols, TWO Jessies, two Emilys, two Sandys, and we even got three Andrews later if ya count André. Don't ya think those'll get confusing later on?"

A bridge appeared for Sheila to cross, bringing her to a catapult pulled back. "Oi, launch me across!" Sheila said, hopping in.

"Don'tcha wanna aim it—oh fine, I'll do it." The catapult seemed aimed at a castle across a river, but Murfy turned the catapult at the small plain beside it. He cut the rope and- "WOOOHOOOOOO!" filled Sheila with that sense of excitement she loved so much. She plopped on her front and scraped across the ground upon landing, face filling with dirt. "PLEAH, pluh!" She spit and wiped the dirt off before marching to the castle's entrance. However, she first noticed a ditch a few feet away, covered by wooden planks, hearing a "Help me" underneath. She smashed through with a Ground Pound and broke another cage, freeing Electoons.

Sheila continued to the castle entrance, but right then, two Hecklers – buff Hoodlums with protective armor – charged out the front gate to start blasting Sheila with their shoulder cannons. She dodged their blasts and punched their armor with her spheres, but they couldn't penetrate. "Okay, maybe it wouldn't kill to be a LITTLE overpowered!" Murfy panicked. Sheila dodged back when the Hecklers threw punches, spinning her fists to charge bigger Light Spheres and blasting both of their armor clean off. They ran separately and tried to shoot back, but Sheila proved much faster as she charged her fists and punched them in the back, forcing the Black Lums from their bodies. After the fly-like creatures retreated, Sheila approached the newly-opened front gate.

"You know, I was told that Operation: MASKED would have sexy fairies with great big," held his hands by his chest, "eh, hair. But instead we got those little snot-nosed twerps to appeal to a younger audience. It's not like we don't have a 7-year-old that f***in' cusses. Ay-ay-ay." He flew in the castle first. Sheila calmly followed as the screen darkened to signal the new act.

Act 2

It was much calmer inside and smelled of dust, many cobwebs with spiders lain around, and rats roaming across the floor. Sheila jumped up a few tall steps as Hoodloons; bat-like Hoodlums, flapped down to ram Sheila headfirst, but she could knock them out in just one simple Light Sphere. After jumping up the steps, Sheila grabbed onto a small ledge along a left wall, climbing over a spiked floor with skulls. Once across, Sheila grabbed and climbed a chain up a long shaft where Flameyes – flame spirits with big eyeballs – drifted down slowly, forcing Sheila to navigate around as she climbed, but Murfy also poked some and made them poof. There was also a cage hidden in a hole in the wall, which Sheila punched to free more Electoons.

Sheila made it atop the shaft and viewed a vast chasm with a rotatable platform in the center, which Murfy could grab and turn using a wheel on its bottom. He made one of the ends stop by Sheila's ledge to allow her on. The door on the other side was sealed, with two magic pyramids, blue and yellow, on its sides, requiring two Magic Spheres to be placed on top. Murfy first allowed Sheila to get off on the left path, where a zigzaggy path led across a spiked hall. It shifted off balance toward Sheila's direction wherever she walked, threatening to slide her in the spikes, but she could just jump and regain balance. Across the hall was a blue Magic Sphere which Sheila had to then carry across the tilting path, forcing her to take the many routes it had to shift the balance. Once close enough to the end, she tossed the ball to the safe ledge, then carried it onto Murfy's platform to throw it onto the blue pyramid.

Murfy then lets Sheila off beside the right path, with a river of lava with many rising and sinking pegs. Once again, Sheila could easily jump the pegs and reach the yellow sphere, but in carrying it back, she had to keep an eye out and quickly step onto a nearby rising peg. She made it across and returned to Murfy's platform, throwing onto the yellow pyramid to open the door. "Wait a second, there are TEN Firstborn now? What happened to just Eight?? Maaan, can this quest be ANY longer?"

Sheila was brought into a narrow, snaky hallway with a series of spikes that just grew taller as the hall drew on. The walls were close enough for Sheila to Wall Jump, having to keep a steady pace across the hall, and above the rising spikes. She saw a cage dangling from the ceiling and jumped her way up to break it open (she assumed the Electoons would be able to land safely between the spikes). She made it onto a safe ledge and entered a wide, round room guarded by a—holy f***, no one could possibly pronounce that. Think I'll just call them Hoodrollers, a chubby, sack-like Hoodlum being rolled around by a small Hoodlum on top, called a Hoodhelper.

Sheila dodged the chubby creature as it tried to flatten her, throwing Light Spheres that only bounced off its belly. She decided to focus on the one rolling it, and jumped up to throw a kick to knock it away. The Hoodroller stood back up and tried to charge Sheila on its own, with the latter being unable to pierce it with punches. As she kept avoiding, she noticed the following door was sealed with an iron "X", which she tried to, but couldn't break with her spheres. So instead, she positioned herself so the door was behind the Hoodroller, then charged a strong enough Light Sphere to send the bulky creature into it, breaking the door down.

She marched into a long, narrow hallway with many obstacles lain in her wake, but none she couldn't take her time going through. But a storm of hisses was heard behind, and she turned to see a swarm of small creatures that looked like Electoons, except they were blue balls with red shoes, pale blue hair, and white gloves. "Holy crud! It's the Doomtoons!" Murfy panicked. "RUN, Sheila, RUN!"

The Doomtoons unveiled big mouths and teeth and began to chase Sheila across the hall. Murfy slid doors open up or down, making Sheila jump or duck, then had to grab rings and swing them up a wall, with Murfy having to lower some so she can reach. She made it to a straight path and ran to a bigger passage where Murfy had to turn more floating planks for Sheila to run on them. She got to solid ground as the path twisted sideways along the left, then right wall, with a river of lava below, then had to jump between vertical wooden platforms on parallel spike walls, with Murfy having to move the platforms in position for her to jump them.

Sheila made it to and dashed up a wall with her Mobian speed, once again jumping between walls when Doomtoons popped out of one, and they flooded the shaft as fast as she ran. The shaft became wider as she ran up a fixed, spiraled path, shooting a sphere at a floating cage with wings. Once near the top of the shaft, she jumped off and grabbed a dangling chain in the ceiling's center. A flushing sound was heard as all the Doomtoons spiraled and sunk like a toilet. Murfy pulled a lever on the base of a new hall, extending a bridge over for Sheila to drop on and cross. "Wonderful job, Sheila, the overpowered raccoon shows no limits. Now let's get your grade and progress the story, what's her grade?"

Sheila received 5760 points in the stage and got a B.

"Yeah, fair enough." (End song.)

Murfy and Sheila finally arrived at a pitch-black room with a blank, round pool to their left. Hanging from the ceiling was a cage which Sheila proceeded to punch and break. A slim, black magic hat with a star dropped on the floor. (Play the Opening Theme from Rayman.)

The slim hat danced around before a blue, long-nosed creature in a sleek black cloak and red shirt emerged, grinning as a magic wand appeared. "HI, folks! Ya wanna know what's goin' on? Let me tell you the story of RAYMAN!" A magical projection appeared, displaying a vast, magical land with towering mountains (normal ones and candy ones), thick forests, and fields of musical instruments.

"In Rayman's World, nature and harmony lived together in peace. The Great Protoon was the source of nature and balance in the worllld." The screen faded to a pink, magical sphere with electricity inside, floating in the center of some stone hands.

"Yeah, BORING, right?" the Magician noted. "No way THIS is gonna last."

"Ooh-ooh-ooh! Here comes the best part!" Murfy shook. The screen cut back to the beautiful lands as they became dark and stormy.

"Oooone fateful day: the EEEVIL Mr. Dark STEALS the Great Protoon and DEFEATS Betilla the Fairy as she TRIES to PROTECT it!" A dark-blue-cloaked figure with yellow eyes, no visible appendages, just floating gloves and shoes, and a round blue hat, held the Protoon in his hand and shocked a fairy girl with lightning.

"That is of course… until Rayman kicked his ass!" Another figure with separate body parts, white gloves, yellow shoes, purple shirt, and orange rabbit-like hair, punched Mr. Dark away and caught the Protoon. "But now Mr. Dark has RETURNED, and has teamed up with André the Black Lum to STEAL the Great Protoon again! Oh, and he teamed up with this Ragaj Gnik freak too, but also: The Electoons—who used to levitate around it!—LOSE their magnetic STABILITY and SCATTER all over the WORLLLLD!"

"But may I just say, Mr. Dark looks sexy in that cloak cloak cloak cloak." Magician's voice echoed. He coughed and shook back to focus. "So uh, basically Mr. Dark and André are trying to take over the Dream World, and their Doomtoons and Hoodlums are going around and locking all the Electoons in cages—OOOOOHH will the horror STOO-O-O-OP?" The image of a cage in a damp dungeon, with sad eyes weeping in its darkness, displayed onscreen. "They DEFINITELY need a hero to save them now! Don't you think? Rayman?" The screen switched to a beach setting with an empty canopy. "RAYMAN?" It then showed a peaceful blue forest, no one there. "RAAAAYMAAAAN!"

"We can't find Rayman anywhere!" Murfy panicked. "All those cages are just sittin' there, locked! What'll we do! If we don't get the Great Protoon back, kids'll never have a happy dream again! OH GOOOD it's-"

"WILL YOU put a sponge in it?" Sheila yelled. "Look, I wanna help ya get yer Proton back, but I kinda got me own business. What's these 20 Keys and where're we gonna find them?"

"Well, I can already tell ya that you're one of these Seven Lights," Murfy noted, reading the manual, "because you awakened yourself at Candied Island. Aaaand uuuuh there's a few other things," flipped pages, "but your main job is helping us save the Protoon. 'Cause like, it's the primary core of the Dream World, and dreaming is a really big thing in this quest. The rest of the things will take care o' themselves."

"Well, okay, I guess I'll help. But I kinda need ta get back to me mates, 'fore they worry."

"Don't worry, you will, but there's a bunch of places we gotta visit in the Dream World first. I think if we visit the Land of Toads, we can get an idea on who some of these other Lights are. But if we wanna progress in the Dream World, we need to save more Electoons, and Mr. Dark actually brought some o' them to the waking world. Magician, can ya give us a hand?"

"Yes Sir!" The Teensie approached a small, round pool and formed a ball of magic in his hands. He let the ball drift into the pool as it zapped into a spiraling portal. "This will take you to the Hall of Doors, where you can access the many lands in the Dream World, or the waking world itself! Mr. Dark's guys have occupied most of the lands and trapped the Electoons in cages. Just break the cages if ya see 'em, and they'll help you open the worlds that Mr. Dark locked. And while you're at it, pick up those little golden Lums along the way. You'll need them to upgrade your powers. Not that you need to, hah ha. So GOOD LUCK!"

Her need for adventure once again sparking, Sheila eagerly dove headfirst into the pool, Murfy following. "OW!" A ding sound.

"I shoulda told ya, they've laid a few steel beams here for the construction project. Hehahahahaheh!" Murfy grinned sheepishly.

Vorselon's Warship

"…" Maddy Murphy lay unconscious on a hard bed, her arms and legs strapped. She awoke and looked tiredly around the pitch-black laboratory. …She assumed it was a lab 'cause of the uncomfy table.

"So we meet at last…" She looked left at the sound of metal footsteps, a red-eyed being marching close. "The whiny brat I had to spend the last 5 years spying on. The one who 'as SUCH a problem with 'freaks'. Well… IS THIS FREAKY ENOUGH FOR YOU?!" He shot directly up to Maddy's face.

"AAAAH!"

"Verily." The skinny blue robot walked away. "To think to accomplish the most brilliant scheme in the world would involve babysitting this snot-nosed kid. It's NOT the kind of work I signed up for."

"Who are you?!"

"I… am Doctor Arthur Nefarious." He turned back. "And you are one of the key components in our grand scheme." He approached her again. "So tell me… WHAT ARE YOU HIIIDIIING?!" And yelled in her face.

She shook her head to relieve the pain in her ears. "What are you talking about, I'm not hiding anything! And where are we, anyway?"

"You are in my SHIP." Lord Vorselon spoke, coming out of the darkness. "The ship of LORD VORSELOOON! Where we have taken you to the far reaches of space, MANY parsecs from your home planet!"

"What?! Are we in Galaxia?"

"Far from it." Nefarious smirked. "We are in the Solana Galaxy. My home region, and specially picked since those snotty Kids Next Door haven't extended this far. Here is where I'll conduct my experiments and extract whatever info I need from you. And you will tell me the secret of your powers… N-N-N-N-N-NOW-" He shook furiously and was about to scream, until the satellites in his head malfunctioned. He froze stiff as a radio transmission played.

"Oh, CALCULON! Is it true you are really a vampire?"

"No, Monique. For it is you, who is actually… A WERECAR!"

"NOOO, Calculon." Nefarious's butler, Lawrence approached and lightly bonked his master's head. "It was your half-brother, Boxy. He injected me with this serum of gorilla fur that contained-"

A harder bonk, and he was back to normal. "Siiigh… look, there's a lot of stuff right now that I don't want to get into, so just tell us what your secret is and we'll be golden."

"Look, I don't have any secrets OR powers. What'm I, some freaky metahuman?"

"Oh, you have SOMETHING inside of you, and I will find it." He turned away. "But let it be known, my methods are not rainbows and lollipops. SAY HELLO TOOO:"

"Not the Hypertronic Brain Scrubulator!" Lawrence shut his eyes.

"-THE HYPERTRONIC BRAIN SCRUBULATOOOR!" Nefarious whipped out a mechanical drill with a glass container and small monitor. "This trinket will extract your brain's juices and SEE what you have to hide! Don't worry, you'll still be alive, just… a bit less intelligent. STAAART IT UP!"

The deadly drill whirred to life as Nefarious carefully loomed it toward Maddy's cranium. The girl desperately tried to shake away, but the cuffs were too tight, and the drill was seconds away from piercing her flesh.

Just then, the doors blew open, and a grenade flew in and exploded on Nefarious's head, making him toss the drill away. "WHAAAAT?!"

A smoke bomb was thrown in, fogging the room as Nefarious was lost from Maddy's vision. A yellow-ish brown, furry catlike alien with green eyes and an armored suit ran in and started plucking Maddy's cuffs loose with a large wrench. "Let's go. This smoke's only good for so long."

"Who are you?" Maddy asked, sitting up.

"I'm Ratchet, we'll introduce each other later. We have to get off this thing, CLANK LET'S GO!"

A small, toy-like robot flipped onto Ratchet's back. "One data file for a Mister Ratchet?" He held a small disk.

"Nice going, buddy."

"Wait, we can't go yet!" Maddy yelled. "Someone else got captured with me."

"We'll save him, here's your stuff." He told her rushedly, tossing her a sack. "Those're your weapons, right? Nefarious had 'em in the corner."

Maddy pulled out a S.C.A.M.P.P.. "Okay. Let's go."

"Oh, poo." Nefarious moped. "I was finally gonna see if this thing was safe for flesh creatures." At this, Lord Vorselon was gone in a flash. (Play "Vorselon's Ship (Fighting the Troops)" from Ratchet: A Crack In Time.)

Stage 7: Starship Vorselon

Mission: Save Drake Puncture and break out of the starship!

Ratchet and Maddy charged down the hall as alarms blared and doors tried to seal them, but Maddy's M.A.R.B.L.E.s and Ratchet's grenades blew them down easily. "Attention all troops, Dr. Nefarious orders the IMMEDIATE capture of the Lombax and our bratty prisoner! And Lord Vorselon encourages your following that order, for the sake of him not being the Scrubulator's test fleshy! SO GET TO IIIIT!" Vorselon thundered.

"So who is that guy?" Maddy questioned.

"Who, Dr. Nefarious? He's just an old coot that's been terrorizing the Solana Galaxy awhile. He disappeared several years ago, but I guess he finally turned up." Ratchet explained. "Which reminds me, why's he after you?"

"Heck if I know. That Vorsetron guy just kidnapped me outta nowhere."

"Well, we'll straighten this out. Let's look for your friend in the prison wing. Qwark, what's it like out there?" he spoke in his wristwatch communicator.

"Um, Ratchet, just outta curiosity, making like a big crybaby and retreating if things looked scary was an option, right?"

"NO, Qwark, it WASN'T."

"I was afraid you might say that. Anyway, don't be mad if I left a little mess on the ship. Gonna find a space-dump now."

"Siiiigh. Just don't leave us hanging, Qwark."

They breached an armory chamber as swarms of Nefarious Drones began to blast them, in which Maddy began blasting some with a B.A.J.O.O.K.A. and shorting them out. "Ahh. I'm calcium-intolerant." A robot beeped before fainting. Ratchet threw a smoke bomb at a squad, allowing Maddy to jump around and kick all their glass domes. Ratchet caught one's arm in his OmniWrench and swung him into others as its tentacle-arm stretched, and when Maddy grabbed and hurled one to him, he batted it away with the wrench.

The duo proceeded down another hall as the floor gave way in many parts, leaving only small footholds in-between gaps. "Ratchet, those will be much too far to jump." Clank said.

"Maddy, grab onto me, I'll fly us-" However, the Murphy girl easily kicked off the walls to each foothold, getting across in seconds. "You were saying, buddy?" Ratchet hovered across using Clank's helipack, catching up with Maddy in another large room where Microdrones charged at them. The smaller robots were easy to wipe out with Ratchet's wrench and Maddy's M.A.R.B.L.E.s, but they soon had to duck the machineguns of Protomantises from the other side. Even Maddy's B.A.J.O.O.K.A. wouldn't short-circuit them right away, so they had to stay behind the available cover and keep shooting.

Maddy swiftly rolled toward the left robot and kicked his left gun, causing him to shoot the other. When it tried to shoot her again, she fell to her back, kicked up on his guns, and caused him to blast the ceiling, making a chunk fall down and crush him. The group charged into another hall and reached a room with a deep chasm, only a few certain footholds. A bridge led them to a central platform where Drake Puncture was locked in a capsule. "Drake!" Maddy yelled.

"Uuuugh..." Drake woke up. "Boy, whaddid I eat last night. Dreamt we got abducted by aliens."

"Uhhhh... may be a little truth to that. Can we break the cage open?"

"Using bombs might be kinda risky with him in there." Ratchet said. "It looks like three Battery Bots go in those slots. We'll find 'em and let 'im out safely."

They first crossed a left bridge which ended up scrolling vertically, upside-down, and along the walls to a high platform. "You go that way, I'll take this." Ratchet said, using Gravity Boots to defy the gravity of this particular-colored path and walk up and upside-down. He got to the platform and caught a frantic Battery Bot in his wrench, jumping down to the cage and throwing it in one of the slots.

Maddy followed the right bridge to an open area where Splitterbots – Nefarious Drones with buzzsaw hands – spun their blades to life and loomed closer. Maddy flipped and dodged as they stretched their buzzsaws, grabbing one's arm and pulling it against other drones, slicing them in half. "No fair. I just had this exterior waxed." Others kept launching their arms and slicing their allies as Maddy dodged, until there was one left. She rolled to it, dodging its saw when it launched, then spared a smirk before ducking the returning saw, letting it pierce the robot's face.

She faced the frightened Battery Bot and quickly grabbed it, forcing it in a slot. Ratchet took the north bridge to a closed door, but began climbing across a pipe along the right wall. Parts of the pipe were broken and released electricity, making Ratchet wait 'til it stopped, and when the pipes ended, he jumped to a higher, parallel pipe. They eventually brought him to a high foothold in the corner where the last Battery Bot was. He grabbed it and floated back to Drake's platform to finally free him.

The door across the north bridge opened as more Nefarious Drones poured in. "Time for the Drakester to put a hole in things." Drake grinned coolly. He aimed his right, grappler hand and launched, piercing a line of drones and swinging them against the others.

"I am really glad I got picked for Decom.." Maddy said with disbelief. The trio charged into the newly-opened hall and blasted incoming drones.

"Sir, they've rescued the other prisoner and they're proceeding through the 30th wing."

"Well, COME ON, Lawrence, THINK of something! Let's see, um… hey MAAADDYYYYY. I've got your favorite CAAAANDYYYY. It's GUMMY Nuts! You go CRAZY over those! Remember when Zach told you there were Gummy Nuts in the yard and you walked into his PIE trap?! Those were good times, right! Just come and have some so I can do my experiment!"

"Your manner of persuasion is exemplary, Sir."

"Gee, Maddy, that's some stalker you got." Drake said.

"'kay, now I'm officially creeped out." Maddy agreed.

They turned a left corner and encountered some Arc Strikers, Nefarious Troops that launched electrical waves along the floor. Drake launched his grappler, but one of the Strikers defended with electric and shocked Drake across the hook's line. Maddy easily short-circuited them with her B.A.J.O.O.K.A., and the juice allowed Ratchet to freeze them with his CryoMine Glove. A door opened behind the robots, exposing the empty space. "Qwark, are you still out there??" Ratchet called.

"Heh heh, funny story Ratchet, I actually got lost while trying to follow the ship and I accidentally started attacking a giant ice cream cargo ship. They got a little peeved, heheh. Um, trying to locate you guys, now."

"Siiiigh. Alright, Maddy, Drake, put these on." He tossed them air helmets. "We'll try to hide on the side of the ship." They stepped beyond the oxygen barrier and progressed along the path on the side of the ship. A couple of smaller ships flew by and destroyed the path, blowing the trio off. "WHOOOOAA!"

"Quick, hold tight!" Drake grabbed Maddy's hand, and she grabbed Ratchet, before the former used his harpoon hand to latch a peg sticking from the ship, pulling them to it. He released as the momentum and low gravity sent them a few meters across the side, where Drake could pull them to another peg flinging them downward and under the ship, then pulled them to another peg on its bottom. There, they tried to take a firm stance and move across the bottom.

Laser turrets emerged, which Drake shot with his harpoon and Maddy with B.A.J.O.O.K.A. (causing juice to float in the low gravity), while water also emerged from a pipe, joined by a flushing sound. "Hooooooo. Lord Vorselon will watch the amount of chili burritos he consumes." The trio soon made it to a hatch on the bottom and climbed in, reverting right-side-up and removing their helmets. They passed a narrow hall and shot through more Nefarious Drones before the hall became wide, with a series of horizontal energy bars scrolling up over a dark chasm.

"Perhaps we should go up." Clank suggested.

"Really, buddy, what makes you say that?"

"Excuse me for trying to hold onto classics, Ratchet. Mm hm he he he."

The trio gripped and swung across the bars before they went too high and vanished. Each set of bars scrolled up between parallel poles which ended at certain points where the bars vanished, but other parallel poles were stationed on higher parts and allowed a new set of beams to scroll higher. At the moment, the team could only swing to an opening across the chasm, but this only brought them to a dead end. Thankfully, the walls were close enough for them to Wall Jump and reach a higher set of beams, proceeding to swing across again. At the end of this new path, they held on the last beam as it scrolled up to bring them to a higher set, where they could swing across and reach the new pathway.

"Come on, Maddy, PLEASE come back!" Nefarious cried. "Remember all the good TIIIMES you had? Look! I even have your baby pictures! You were so CUUUUUTE in that little diaper. If you let me examine your brain, you'll get to review ALL of those good times! It's only one small scrubulation! COME BAAAACK!"

"I hope there's galactic authorities in this region!" she yelled.

They appeared above a wide room with several barred pipes within the walls, and two platforms with screws on them, one taller than the other. Before they could stare too long, a door slammed shut on their ledge and forced them to the room's floor the same time as Protomantises marched out and began blasting. "Alright, you guys hold 'em off, we'll look for a way out." Ratchet said as he hurried to a nearby round corridor. He climbed onto a platform with what seemed like a boat and a screw, which Ratchet latched with his OmniWrench and began turning. Once the screw sank down, some water flowed and flooded the room partway, and Maddy immediately began to panic when the liquid raised her by her waist.

"AAAAAAHH! HEEEL- pb-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl." She quickly submerged and couldn't regain control.

"Hold on now." Drake dove in and grabbed her arm around his head, swimming to the cavern where Ratchet & Clank were. He quickly stepped onto their platform and laid Maddy down as she gasped for breath.

"What happened?" Ratchet asked.

"She's got the Sonic Condition."

"The what now?"

"She don't like water."

"Why did you do that?!" she screamed. "I can't get across this room now!"

"I do not see the problem. I am a robot and I have no quarrel with water." Clank said.

"I am NOT swimming in that!!"

"Well, we've got a boat right here. Might as well use it." Ratchet figured.

They pushed the rowboat on the water and helped Maddy on, rowing it across the water instead. Unfortunately, the Protomantises and Protoguards set their selves on buoyant platforms and kept firing, with Drake having to latch them with his harpoon and yank them in the water. "No. Please. I just ate-" One said before Drake pulled him in. They rowed over to another cavern with a higher platform, formerly too high to reach, but with the raised water, Ratchet could hop on and turn the screw.

The water raised another foot, so the team rowed back out and fended off flying Microdrones. They were now high enough to reach the first of the two pillars in the room, where Ratchet turned the next screw and raised the water. This time, some Splitterbots flew out and launched buzzsaws that destroyed their boat, so the three frantically jumped and grabbed the ledge around the side of the second pillar. Maddy kept her grip tighter than the others as they climbed around the spiral ledge to reach the top. The Splitterbots still had their aim on them, so Clank fired mini lasers from his antenna and shot them in the water. "Those were 1 million Bolts I still don't regret. Mm hm he he he." He remarked.

Once atop the platform, Ratchet turned the screw and opened a hallway on a nearby ceiling corner. Some drones flew out to stop them, but they easily used the drones as platforms to hop to the cave. The three exchanged victorious smirks, but panicked when the water continued rising. It continued rising throughout the hall, so the trio ran through quickly. They first hopped a trio of platforms to a narrow path that curved right, and afterwards hopped a few stairs just before the water reached their feet.

They had to Wall Jump between two close walls over a long chasm, seeing the water rising below them, making it hard for Maddy to focus. She kept her balance until they reached the end and ran up a slope that curved right. Before them was another long hall where the path continued several stories above the end wall, so they had to grab the ladder-made wall and climb up, in which the ladder made several zigzaggy turns to impede their progress, while they also had to alternate walls when their current ladder ended.

But when they made it to the top, it was merely a small platform overlooking a corridor beneath them, which was already flooding. "Whaddo we do now?!"

"We're going for it." Drake stated, taking Maddy's hand while Ratchet took her other. "Hold on tight, guys!" He fired his harpoon into the room at the end of the passage and pulled them under the water and into the room. They held their breath as strong as they could as Ratchet grabbed the screw in his wrench and struggled to swim around and turn it. Maddy was already frozen stiff and practically lifeless, so Drake knew she wouldn't be any help in turning this screw. Thankfully, Ratchet's task was accomplished as the door to the hall sealed, and the water slowly drained out of their chamber.

They were all quick to gasp for breath, Maddy especially, before the next door slid open and allowed them entry out. They climbed a short ladder to a hall that led them to a wide, circular room. (End song.)

"I don't know what you kids do for a living on your planet, but it's clearly enough to hold your own." Ratchet said as they took time to catch their breath. "Now there's apparently an airlock a few floors up, hopefully Qwark comes by the time we get there, then we'll be Scott free."

"Bwa ha ha! And what makes you say THAT?" A giant, two-headed robotic dog dropped from the ceiling, Lord Vorselon beside it. "Dr. Nefarious still has experiments, Human Maddy! And he will carry them out!"

"What does Nefarious want me for, anyway?"

"Bwa ha! Lord Vorselon will NEVER tell you we are searching for the 20 Keys, based on Lord Gnik's orders! Nor will he tell you about the other villains we have aligned with!"

"Lord Gnik? Other villains?"

"VORSELON, you dope, it's LESSER LORD Gnik!" Nefarious proclaimed. "UM, I mean... no, we know no one by that name! Now about those Gummi Nuts..."

"Sorry, Nefaro, but the Drakester has fooled you good!" Drake grinned, his teeth sparkling.

"You did nothing." said Maddy and Ratchet.

"Ooooo! How DARE you make a fool of Lord Vorselon! He will make you pay for such insolence, with PAIN! Attack them, Dao Dog!"

"RAAAAARRRR!" The group readied to battle the two-headed dogbot. (Play Egg-Cerberus' theme from Sonic 2006.)

Boss fight: Dao Dog

The dog hopped to the other side of the room and launched electric spheres from both of its mouths. Drake dodged forward and fired his harpoon at the left head, but it dodged aside and stretched that head over to snap Drake, but he jumped back. Ratchet tossed grenades at their heads as he ran beside Drake, the two taking aim at a head and shooting their Swingshot and harpoon. They caught both tongues of the dog and played tug-o-war with it. "MADDY, you're up!" Ratchet yelled.

The Murphy girl rushed up to the dog's tail and grabbed ahold, and Dao Dog immediately felt this as he flung Ratchet and Drake away and began to run around. He wagged his tail furiously to fling her off, but ended up throwing her right onto his back, clutching onto a wire like a strand of fur and hanging on further. It was like riding a bull at the rodeo, but the sensation was familiar to Maddy in some way, so hanging on was no hassle. "What are you DOING, Dao Dog?!" Vorselon shouted when the dog finally seemed to submit. Maddy made it charge to the wall, jump, and perform a series of large Wall Jumps around the circular room. A huge container of electrical energy was hanging over the center via four beams, so Maddy made the dog jump headfirst into the container and dropped off before it endured a horribly painful shock. "Lord Vorselon KNEW the rodeo function was a bad idea! He would like to speak to the fool responsible."

"It was YOUR idea, DUMMY!"

The dog kicked out of the container and landed itself on the walkway around the second floor. Several platforms came down for the three heroes to jump their way up when the room began to flood with electric energy. Dao Dog blasted energy spheres as the trio made their ascent, but he wasn't the best at aiming with the spark in his brains now. They had to swing Swingshot targets and bounce a few spring platforms, eventually making it onto the walkway. Dao Dog jumped and perched itself on the platform where the electric container hung from, and the four beams connected to each corner of this walkway. He began to shoot electric spheres at certain parts of the walkway so they split into two, and went opposite ways around the path to shock the heroes.

They couldn't go onto Dao Dog's platform without him blasting them, and latching grapplers on him would be too risky if he yanked them into the pit. Each of the four beams were connected to large screws on the walkway, so Ratchet proceeded to go around and unscrew them while Maddy shot the robot with her B.A.J.O.O.K.A.; juices makes robo-dogs short-circuit for a few seconds, apparently. They avoided the spheres and distracted the dog enough for Ratchet to unhook all the screws and cause the platform to fall. The dog plummeted to the electric pool below and took the shock. "Brr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r. Dao Dog: activate the REAR boosters!" announced Vorselon. Two rockets activated on Dao Dog's rear as it flew up from the pool and took off down a large, wide tunnel near the ceiling. A series of grind-rails came down when the ship shook, so the trio began to ride them after the dog.

There were three parallel rails for each of them, but Dao Dog fired electric spheres from the distance that whooshed across the rails, forcing them to jump to other ones. The rails were also collapsing behind them, so if they slowed down, they would surely fall. The tunnel became pretty snaky, therefore the rails did too, but it eventually dropped them into another circular room. Many Nefarious Drones ambushed them, launching buzzsaws and lasers as the trio dodged, while Dao Dog hopped to the other side of the room. The robots seemed to keep piling in as they searched around for a way to destroy the dog.

"Ratchet, there are two Battery Bots in that container up there." Clank pointed to a glass container above the other side of the room. "Perhaps we could use them to power the electromagnet." And hanging just over the room, a giant magnet.

"Okay, I'LL get 'em down." Maddy fearlessly rushed up to the robot as it snapped its fangs. When both heads lunged, she slid underneath, grabbed onto the tail, and let the robot fling her to its back as she began to bull-ride it again. Running around the room caused him to smash a lot of the smaller robots, before Maddy finally had him tamed and screeched to a halt on the opposite side from the capsule. She made him face up at the capsule, run forward, and leap to chomp both ends in its mouths to pull it down. The Battery Bots were free when the capsule shattered, so Ratchet and Drake ran to grab one and shove them both into a slot on either side of the room. The magnet buzzed to life as Dao Dog looked up curiously, but Maddy was already off his back when it flew up and stuck to the magnet like glue.

Vorselon came in to check the battle, panicking when both Dao Dog and the magnet began to short-circuit. "NO! That magnet is experimental! Lord Vorselon hasn't yet perfected it to pull the caps off pickle jars, its intended purpose." He fiddled around with a remote to make the dog shake furiously.

Electricity was sparking all around both machines, until the magnet fell off its latch with Dao Dog with it. "Uh-oh." Right to Vorselon no less, as the hunter was smashed under the crumbling scrap. His capsuled head flew off safely, bouncing on the floor as he switched on a rocket and shot for the exit. The door was already closing at this time, so his capsule got stuck, shaking around a little before he shot inside and the door closed. (End song.)

"Okay, Mad, we'll officially sign you up for the rodeo." Drake said as they stared at Dao Dog's smashed body.

"Eh, it's not a bad idea. Can we get outta here now?"

"The airlock's right over there." Ratchet pointed to the door under the Battery Bots' capsule. "Quick, let's go before more-" They heard Vorselon's door open as a far larger swarm of robots marched in, ready to saw or melt them.

"Should've expected this cliché trap." Drake said as the trio backed against the airlock.

"Qwark, we can really use your HELP right now!" Ratchet cried into his wristwatch.

"I'm almost there, Ratchet, but don't exactly know where you're located!"

But it was then Maddy felt a strange sensation. She turned to the hatch behind them, and as everything turned dark, she could see a small, distant aura beyond the wall, headed their way. "I do! You're coming right toward us, just stay as you are!"

"How do you know this, Maddy?" asked Clank.

"I…I don't know, I just see his aura somehow."

"Oh my God, Maddy's an aurabender!!" Drake exclaimed.

"I am NOT, I just… I don't know what it is, I just see him!"

"We may only have precious seconds to land in Aphelion before your heads implode. Can we trust Maddy's judgment?" Clank asked.

Ratchet was only panicking at the approaching buzzsaw-bots. "Better than having no brain to judge with, LET'S GO!"

Ratchet slammed his hand on the button to the side as the hatch flew open. "WHOOOOOOOAAAA!" They shot out the lock like a vacuum and fell into the endless darkness, but a ship zoomed by and caught them in its cockpit.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Nefarious shook with great rage. "That Qwaaaaarrrrrrk I'm gonna tear his fleshy limbs off next time I see him, MARK MY WORDS I'LL-"

A toilet flush was heard in the next room as water came flowing out. "Um, Sir? The pipes are backed up again. Shall I fetch the Plumber?"

"Ugh…"

The team of Ratchet, Clank, Mad and Drake were upside-down and bunched atop each other in the back seat. "Nice save with the Aphelion, Qwark." Ratchet said.

"There was never any worry, Ratchet." The muscular superhero in the green and black jumpsuit grinned. "True heroes ALWAYS show up very late on the scene!"

They rolled back right-side-up, "Yeah, not as late as Aquaman stopping some mugger on the beach." Drake said.

"So tell me," Qwark smiled coolly, "is this the little lady captured against her will for Nefarious's gain?"

"Um… yeah?" Maddy replied nervously.

"There's no need to fear anymore, Little Girl," he assured, wrapping his muscular arm around Maddy's head, "because from this point on, Captain Copernicus Leslie Qwark will protect you! The atrocities and horrors you might've witnessed on that ship," he squeezed her closer, speaking with an emotional tone, "I will not rest until every ounce of that precious little soul of yours is cured!"

Ratchet and Clank exchanged weird glances at his weeping. "What kind of galaxy do we LIVE IN where such horrible men can just KIDNAP little girls and do whatever with them! The nerve of that Dr. Nefarious, robbing a sweet innocent of her childhood! Well, I will defend this child with my life, or MY name isn't Copernicus Leslie- QOUII!" Maddy finally kicked him in the gut.

"Another second under that armpit and YOU would've ruined my childhood! Just take us back to Earth so we can get back to our next-to-normal lives."

"Earth, right! Uuuuh, and which quadrant was that?"

"I dunno… Milky Way?"

"If such an area exists, it is not within our data maps." Clank replied. "I fear Dr. Nefarious may have taken you farther than we anticipated."

"Well, don't you alien guys like, pick up signals or something?" Drake asked. "Hang on, I'm gonna try and call my sector." He tapped his wristwatch communicator, but it only showed static. "Huh… bad reception."

"If your technology is mainly limited to your planet, receiving a signal this far out will be impossible. Perhaps we may find something of use on one of the nearby planets."

"Here's one! Peoples α." Qwark responded, viewing his terminal. "The planet of gangs, thugs, and hustlers. Where every morning tune's a rap song, and every sport's a street race where the wages are high."

"That planet is the home to many stolen ships and materials." Clank said. "Surely we may be able to find an intergalactic radio antenna. With it, we could probably link signals of distant galaxies to your communicator, thereby contacting your home planet."

"Plus, it'll be easier to hide from Nefarious's troops among the crowd." Ratchet noted.

"Then Peoples α it is." Maddy decided. "Let's contact Earth quick before my brother gets worried. …And before he starts snooping around my diary."

Somewhere on the sea

"Ahhhh… the salty air smells great." Danny Jackson sighed, leaning over the rail of a 4x4 ship. "Glad we can finally enjoy it with those pirates gone. Don'tcha think so, Mel?"

His aforementioned sister was curled on the deck in a fetal position, hair a mess and eyes frantic. "We're a-all gon-na die, all go-onna di-ie…"

"Sheesh, Mel, lighten up." Eric told her. "If anyone should be afraid, it's me. I couldn't even get my shirt out of a tree branch, but you're the toughest waterbender I know! And the prettiest. Except for your mom—in both genres—but still-!"

"Mel, Cheren said it was going to be okay." Danny told her assuringly. "That we just have to build up our skills and find these 20 Keys, wherever the heck they are. But I think you're getting too hyped on it. Why don't we go for a swim, nice soak on our skin will get the thought out of our heads! And it wouldn't hurt to practice waterbending."

"Siiigh… maybe you're right. Seeing the fishies so carefree might relieve my stress." Melody smiled.

"THAT'S the spirit, Mel!" Eric perked. "Now I remembered to pack your swimsuits, Melody I wasn't sure which one you preferred, so I packed-" But when he turned around, they had already splashed in the sea, only their shoes and socks left behind. His communicator rang, so he answered.

"Way ahead of you, Er, but thanks for the offer." Melody noted.

"Siiiigh." Eric really wanted to see her in that cute white bikini.

The duo swam far below the surface, swimming fast along the current and keeping their breath thanks to their waterbending. They found swarms of fish and sea creatures, who seemed totally carefree beneath these calm cool waves that reflected the sun's gleaming light. Needless to say, the worry was lifted from their minds and souls. It was so peaceful under the sea. These fish had no worries… and neither did they. They reminded them there was still hope in the universe, and there was still a chance.

Eric stared dreamily at the sea, just thinking how happy Melody must be right now. But his eyes widened at a growing, shining object falling from the heavens.

Melody and Danny stopped their swimming to answer a call from Eric. "Mel, Danny, quick! Get outta there, there's something coming!"

Confused, they looked up when the sun seemed to be shining brighter. …Wait… that was no sun… "OH MY GOD!!" Melody screamed, immediately swimming away with Danny at breakneck speed, spinning their arms like propellers. The shining object splashed in the sea and erupted an enormous explosion. Melody and Danny tried to evade the shockwave of seafloor sand, but ended up blown away.

Just as well, the explosion created an incredible wave that sent the ship miles across the sea, with Eric hanging on tight. "MELODYYYYYYY…"

The area under and above the surface became swallowed in smoke following the explosion. From the sky, the resulted cloud of smoke shaped like a tremendous pie. As it slowly cleared, a mechanical ship sailed in the fog, a voice sounding from its megaphone. "This is a message to all morsels who dare dwell on the sea. Your realm is now under the command of Sheldon J. Plankton: THE GREATEST GENIUS ON EARTH! You have had but a small taste of my arsenal of homemade Pie Bombs. Submit to my rule or have your whole ocean a WASTELAND of FIRE AND CHERRY!"

Mansion Under the Sea

"EEEEEHH heh heh heh heh heh heyyyy! Alright, now let's blow up the Gulf of Mexico." Plankton said eagerly, crossing a sea off his list.

"Ooooo hoohoohooo! Brilliant plan, Plankton!" laughed the Dirty Bubble, a large brown bubble with evil eyes and a mouth of sharp teeth. "Pretty soon the sea'll be too polluted for those fish to live!"

"And it will be all ours to command." Manray, a man in a red jumpsuit, blue boots and gloves, and a blue mask with red eyes and teeth, grinned evilly. "Sooooo deliciously evil."

"Yeah, maybe… but just where do you plan to live afterwards?" asked Dennis, a green Fishman bounty hunter in a cowboy uniform, red bandana, sunglasses, black boots, and black cowboy hat.

"Relax, we'll filter all the poison 'soon as all these sea dogs know who's boss." Plankton answered calmly. "Besides, the people of Oceana will fall head-over-heels once they get a taste of… our secret recipe!" He hopped over to a huge safe, squeezed inside the tiny lock, and cracked it open. The safe revealed a tall, thin stairway with a single, tiny bottle seated on a table on top. "Mr. Krabs' Secret Formula to the fabled Krabby Patty! It took over 25 years, but he's FINALLY caved in!"

"Robots are progressively covering all shores on the European and Canadian coasts, the Americas are facing trouble due to the opposing armies." briefed Karen, Plankton's W.I.F.E.. "But Plankton, I still don't think these cohorts of yours can be trusted."

"What, you mean these guys, of course they can! We understand each other, right?" Plankton gestured putting an arm around Manray.

"As long as you're not speaking gibberish, sure!" grinned Dirty Bubble.

"Not THEM, I mean Lord Gnik and those other guys. There's something weird about him, Plankton, I just can't put my hard-drive on it."

"It's Lesser Lord, Dear, and don't worry! Evil plans with fellow multi-world evil-doers haven't gone wrong before."

"Yes, except-"

"DON'T MENTION Nicktoons Unite!"

"…Nicktoons: Globs of Doom."

"Oh boy."

Unknown base, forest area

The helicopter carefully took land inside a hatch that opened on the ground. Jessie, James, and Meowth led the handcuffed Mika into a small chamber with a large TV screen. "Ooooo wait until the boss sees that we caught her!" Jessie squealed with glee. "Our promotion is in the bag!"

"Yeah! And the Boss will make ME Top Cat again!" Meowth grinned.

"I don't get it, Meowth, were you ever?" James asked.

"Hey, you got your special beliefs, I got mine, so let's leave it at that!"

"What is this like a sooper exclusive tea party or something?" Mika asked.

"You'll see once we get there." confirmed Jessie. "We just have to call the Boss and let 'em know we're on our way!"

With that, Jessie typed in a code as the static on the TV began to clear. "Great news, Mr. Giovanni! We captured the psychicbender, Mika without trouble!"

A shadowed man petting his Persian, sitting on a chair with one leg over his other could be seen. "Jessie and James, is it. Captured the Logia psychicbender who was deemed the Heiress of Madness? What sort of tomfoolery is this?!"

"Er… Well, it's no tomfoolery, Sir. She's right here." James brought the woman up closer.

"Um, I got a few comments about that 'nickname'." Mika furrowed her eyes. "First off… AWESHUUUUUUM!"

"…?! This is impossible! How could YOU blundering buffoons have captured her?"

"Well, these blundering buffoons have a few hidden talents." Jessie winked.

"And very keen manners of persuasion." smiled James.

"Plus those chi-cuffs you gave us sure did help!" perked Meowth.

Mika studied her cuffs, not seeing any chi symbols. She lit a small pink light in her palm a brief second. "Hmph. I'll play along with your trick for now. And assume this is the woman that trained under my creation."

"His creation?" said Mika quietly. "Does he mean… Mewtwo?"

"I will send a transport to carry Mika back to our hideout. You three on the other hand must stay there and man the forces in that world. And this woman had better not be some impostor, or you will be facing the rough end of the claws." He switched off.

Chariton Household

Sunni Chariton threw many items into two backpacks, throwing one to Darcy while she slipped the other on her back. "Sunni, I still don't know about this. If Mom let herself get caught, maybe she's trying to do something."

"Even if that's true, Mom promised to train me, and I can't wait anymore. We're going to help her with whatever she's doing, and I know only one other person that can train us. So let's go." She was marching out the door first.

Both girls climbed in their dad's car as he drove them to the pier. They parked and rented a small yacht, ready to ship off to sea. "Where're you kids going again?" the bearded, one-eyed captain asked.

"He'll take us." Rainier assured. They walked to the front of the deck, where someone was balanced on one foot on the water. "Ready to go, Lucario?"

His eyes were closed, fists touched together. "Yes. Let's go."